Chasing Rainbows

by Calamity Jay

Rating: mature
Tags: Sex, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Human, Romance, Original Character, Rainbow Dash, Profanity
Length: 23274

A promising young athlete with a bright future ahead of him gets mixed up in a feud that leads to some surprising discoveries. Will he be ready to face them?.

Longshot, a premier athlete from Canterlot HS. He is talented, strong, fast, everything one could ask for in an athlete. But most of all, he is humble, respectable, and amicable as well. A true team player on and off the field. However, even with all of his raw talent, there was only ever one person who could beat him at anything, despite everyone he's beaten before: Rainbow Dash. His competetive rival. The only other athlete in the entire school who could match him in every physical category.

And on one Friday afternoon, they will clash once more. Who will come out on top?

Edited by: Lunatone

Cover image is not mine, but thanks to the god who made it.

Published 2017-10-23 04:00:06 UTC
Last updated 2018-01-04 13:49:06 UTC

Part 1 - The Games Kids Play

It was a quiet morning. Almost too quiet, save for the small birds and insects that sang their songs in the trees and in the grass. The ground on the soccer pitch was wet, the dirt soft and pliable like dough as my cleats dug into it.

The rubber soles of my shoes squeaked from the wet grass as I took a sharp step forward. “Rrraghh!” I grunted loudly as my foot impacted the ball, sending it flying twenty yards into the back of the net. It bounced a couple of times as it landed in the far corner, right where I was aiming for.

Behind me was a ball bag, its contents spread out on the grass. So far, I had scored about seventeen shots. And trust me, that was easier said than done. Sweat poured down my cheeks as I walked back to my mark to set up for another shot. My long socks were covered in grass and were damp from the heavy dew that coated the ground.

“Hrraggh!” I yelled loudly as I belted yet another ball. It curved in the air and soared into the top left corner. Target hit. When I came out here, I decided to work on curving my shots. Extremely useful trick when going up against a strong goalkeeper.

My heart worked hard to pump blood through my body as I continued my workout. I sent ball after ball into the back of the goal net, each shot better than the last despite the wet condition of the pitch.

“Nyaghh!” Another ball was sent flying. It landed on the bottom right. Exactly where I wanted it to be.

Soccer. This was my game. Top scorer in the league. Twenty goals as a freshman in varsity. Now team captain and the number one contender in the region.

No one knew who I was when I started. Some young kid with a dream. A dream to play as a professional.

“Hah!” I grunted as I netted yet another ball.

Some people didn’t think I could make it very far. “He’s too short. He’ll never make a name for himself.”

I stand at only five feet, seven inches, my legs not being the longest either. In the soccer world, people think I’m nothing because of that. Now that I stand on top of the mountain with three district titles and four time All-Region striker awards. I’m taller than any of them will ever be.
Now, I’m at the end of my high school career. The world stood in front of me as I would be leaving this place in two weeks time. I knew what I was going to do. The game was calling my name. In the summer, there was going to be tryouts held by ISAC, the International Soccer Association of Canterlot. It was a place where the best soccer players from schools around the area would gather on one field to strut their stuff in front of scouts that represented various teams from leagues all over the world. From there, they would pick the absolute best of the best.

And I was going to be one of them. I would make sure of it.

However, before any of that was to happen, I had one last obstacle to face. The post season for the soccer teams was over. The boys and girls teams of Canterlot High both came away with district titles, as expected. Every year, after the season’s end, the school would allow both teams to play against each other.

For what, you ask? Simple. For fun. And some bragging rights.

“Nyagghh!” Another ball was sent flying.

There was an endless rivalry between us and them. For the past three years, the girls had come out on top. Last year, they beat us at three goals to one. This year, however, we boys have been preparing, eager to get our chance to beat the girls. As for me, it was my last year. I still had something left to prove, though. I’ve conquered many opponents before, but there was always one who could beat me.

Only one. A rainbow-haired devil with eyes like a pink rose armed with thorns. Her feet were just as quick as her wit. Her senses as sharp as her tongue. Her body as strong as her spirit.

Rainbow Dash, the captain of the girl’s soccer team. She was my rival, my worst nightmare.

“Gaggh!” I gave one final yell as I pelted the last ball into the net. A heavy sigh escaped my lips as I doubled over, mildy exhausted from the workout. The sun was rising above the clouds, which meant that first period class was on its way. Everyday before class started, the soccer team would have an hour practice, just to keep us on our toes. My eyes squinted involuntarily as I stared at the sun, breathing heavily as I wiped sweat off my face with my white training shimmel.

“Time to go in,” I sighed, wiping some sweat away from my eyes as I picked up the bag and made my way over to the net. I shagged and bagged the balls and pulled the string, closing the mesh bag tight. I strolled on over to the open equipment shed, picking up the keys from a bench that sat on the sidelines. I stood in the warm shed, dropping the ball bag from where I found it and exited the hot box, sliding the heavy metal door closed. I slid the rusty bolt into place and locked it with a heavy padlock that hung from it.

I kicked at the concrete path, my cleats clacking along as I made my way to the locker room to meet up with my teammates.

Huh? Who am I? I forgot to introduce myself, eh? How rude of me.

My name is Longshot. You may not know me very well. But you will.

I stepped into the air-conditioned boys locker room, which currently smelled like sweat and old bath soap. Dark blue lockers lined the walls, a number of their owners stood in front of them, getting dressed for the morning practice. Idle chatter echoed off the tiled walls and wafted into the conjoined bath and showers.

“Hey there, Cappy,” Twister, the thin, shaggy-headed midfielder greeted. He leaned against a locker with a small, friendly grin on his face. I slapped his palm loudly in our usual greeting gesture.

“Sup, T?” I said, returning his smile. “What’s happening?”

“Jus’ hangin’ around ‘til practice starts,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “Ya didn’t tire yerself out now, didja?”

“Maybe a little,” I said, waving my hand dismissively. “Ain’t nothing Coach can throw it us that we can’t expect. Besides, it’s the end of the year.”

“That might be true, but you know him,” Twister warned, “That cheeky bloke might give us another surprise finisher at the end.”

I thought about it for a second, chewing on the inside of my cheek. “Well, whatever the workout is today, we’ll be ready. I hope.” I gave him a shrug of my shoulders before stepping over the wooden bench that sat in front of the row of lockers and plopped down on top of it. Slipping off my cleats, I wiped away all the grass that got stuck on my training socks.

“So, have you heard, yet?” Twister initiated the conversation again, leaning on his knee as he placed his foot on the bench next to me.

I gave him a questioning stare, my eyebrow raised in suspicion.

“Heard what?” I asked.

“So you haven’t heard that yer favorite rival has been stirring up the shit bowl?” Twister laughed incredulously. “Good Goddesses, you daft or something? You’re a fuckin’ celebrity in the school and you’re as gormless as a blind service dog.”

“English, please, Twist?” I begged, “I don’t understand that old country slang of yours.”

“She’s been making a big ol’ fuss about how she’s gonna mop the field with us today,” he explained, “And, she’s had some special things to say about you, mate. Lotta things.”

I looked away from him and stared at the ground, running a hand through my damp hair in frustration.

“Is that all she’s been saying?” I asked. This bit of news confused me. Rainbow Dash was always a bit of shit talker, especially when me and her were about to compete in something. At least it was all in good fun. Now that I hear she’s been talking smack behind my back, that was something new.

Ever since she came from some other school, she’d never been one to shake the cage like this. She came in the middle of freshman year, where I saw her on the soccer field during the winter tryouts, taking shots to show off her skills to Coach Spitfire, the manager for the girls team.

Something was up. I felt it in my cajones. Whatever it was that had her in a tizzy, I felt like I would soon find out.

“Doesn’t matter, I think,” Twister scoffed, crossing his arms with a confident smile. “We got one last chance to beat the girls, mate.”

“And that’s a chance I won’t pass up,” I added, relacing my cleats. I tapped my feet on the ground a few times and stood up sharply, stretching out my back with a groan. “You ready to go?” I asked him.

“Yup!” he gave me another smile and clapped me on the back. “Let’s get to it.”

“Longshot!” and in walked my big and tall Co-Captain known as Fastball. He peeked his buzz-cutted head in from the door that led into the main hallway, where the rest of the athletics facility was. “Coach said we gotta be ready in five minutes!”

I only nodded once before cupping my hands around my mouth. “Alright, y’all got five minutes to get dressed and in the squad room! I don’t feel like doing extra push-ups and neither do you! Stormcloud, Thunderlane, Blitz! That means you!”

“What?!”

“Aww, c’mon I just got here!”

“J-Just hold on!”

“Get a move on then, will ya!?” Twister shouted in accordance as we exited the locker room.

I stood just outside the wooden locker room door, my arms crossed as I quickly, but sternly ushered my teammates out of there. Meanwhile, the younger Junior Varsity players filed out of their own locker room, their cleats clacking loudly as they jogged to the meeting room.

“Let’s go! Let’s go!” I yelled, kicking Thunderlane on his rear while he struggled to slip on his shoes. “Come on, ladies! Move it!” I clapped my hands loudly as I turned around and walked over to the entrance of the squad room.

We all settled onto the benches that were placed in a long line down the middle section of the squad room. Coach Soarin stood directly in front of us, leaning against a podium next to a giant chalkboard which currently held a hastily drawn replica of the soccer pitch. There were blank positions marked up and down the field, consisting of three rows.

Two positions at the top, four in the middle, and four taking up the our final third. In layman’s terms, this was a 2-4-4 formation. It was a defensive set up. I immediately knew where Soarin was going with this.

“Alright, boys, listen up,” he tapped a pen on his podium. “Today, is officially the last game of the year. Even though it’s not sanctioned by CISD, but who cares, right?” We all answered with a few chuckles. “So, for this one, I think we’re gonna go in with our usual starters.” He turned around to the chalkboard, and labeled a few of the positions.

“Longshot, Fastball,” he called, “You two are up front leading the attack. I want you guys to be merciless. Take every chance you got, okay?”

“Yes, sir,” we responded in unison.

“Good, now as for the midfielders,” he turned around and scratched a few more names onto the diagram. “Twister, Hotshot, Light Streak, Stormcloud, I want you four working with your strikers to keep that ball in their final third. Got it?” They all nodded. Twister smiled and bit his lip in anticipation.

I shook my head and scoffed.

“As for our third,” he scribbled more names, “Pop Rocket, Break Limit, Blitz, and Thunderlane, keep that ball outta the box. And Sky Stinger you’ll be on the net today. Be a wall out there. Understood?”

They all nodded.

“Good, for this morning, we’re going to work with patterns A, B, and C,” he said, adjusting his cap slightly. “Nothing too fancy, just basic stuff, alright? I know y’all wanna beat the girls, but c’mon. You know that they know our fancy plays. Well, almost all of them. Okay? Any questions?”

I thought back on some things as he waited. This would be the last practice I would ever have with these guys. Sparing a look at my teammates, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of nostalgia. There were about six of us that were seniors, including me, Fastball, and Twister. And we’d been playing together since the pee-wee leagues.

But now… This was the last time. With this team at least.

“Okay, then!” he clapped his hands and we all hopped up off the benches. “Let’s break it out before we head out onto the field.”

We all let out a cheer and gathered together in a tight circle in front of the chalkboard, all of us laughing and cheering as we were about to give one last hurrah. Quite literally.

“Any last words, captain?” Coach asked as we all placed our hands up high in the air. I paused for a moment to look at each and every one of my teammates in the face. “Well?”

“It’s been a helluva year, guys,” I laughed, shaking my head at the many ridiculous moments we faced together. “We started off rough this year, guys. I know we did…”

I flashed back to the moment where we got shut out by a nationally ranked team.

“...But in the end, through hard work and dedication, we came out on top…”

I thought back to the moment where I scored the winning goal at the district championship.

“I couldn’t be more happy with you guys,” I laughed as I saw the faux tears and trembling lips that Twister and Fastball were giving me. “I expect to continue hearing great things about y’all in the years to come. In the end though, I’m gonna miss you. Every single one of you.”

“You do know me and Twist are gonna see you at the tryouts, right?” Fastball interrupted. The rest of the team jeered and razzed as he dared to poke fun at me, the fearless captain.

“Yeah, yeah, quiet down,” I said. They simmered down and I gave them all one last look. I would do my best to remember their faces when I graduate. “I guess this is it, then. I just got one more question to ask you…” They all asked ‘what?’. “Who are we?!”

“WONDERCOLTS!”

“What team?!”

“WONDERCOLTS!” We broke the circle and paraded outside to start our morning practice.

So, after the morning practice was done, we all showered up and went off to our classes smelling like cheap dollar store shampoo and discount cologne. My slightly wild hair was still damp as I sat in my English Composition class with Twister sitting behind me as per usual. I twirled my pencil idly in the dim classroom, the contents of the current slide of our teacher’s presentation reflected off our eyes in the darkness, his lamp sitting behind him as he lounged back on his office chair.

His voice droned on and on about some writer who’s name I happened to not care too much about. This class was particularly easy for me since he himself didn’t care. I mean, hey, it’s high school. What do you expect?

A few rows to my left sat the one and only Rainbow Dash, where she leaned against the wooden from of the desk, dressed in a red t-shirt and torn light blue jeans. Her white sneakers tapped nervously against the floor as she sat there with a visibly bored expression. I could tell she wanted to get out of here as much as I did.

I was wearing an old pair of jeans, trainers, and a maroon shirt that bore the insignia from my favorite soccer team, the Trottingham Devils. Oddly enough, Dash liked the Devils too. I’d seen her rocking some of their gear. If that weren’t strange enough for you, she hated the Fillydelphia Flyers as much as I did.

Why we weren’t best friends I’ll never know.

“Oi,” Twister thumped my shoulder and I twisted my neck around to peer at him. “So, you ready for the game?”

“Does a bear shit in the woods?” We both shook with silent laughter. “What do you think?”

“Well, I’ve been hearing more stuff throughout the day,” he continued, “Some bloke in third period was sayin’ some interestin’ things.”

“What kind of things?” I asked curiously.

“Well, come on, mate.” He thumped me on the shoulder again. “Fill in the blanks for yaself. Ya know, people have been talkin’ ’bout the two of you.”

“They do that all the time,” I whispered back sharply, waving my hand dismissively.

He leaned in closer. “No-no, but in another way though. People have been thinking that there’s a little uh…tension between you and her.’

I turned back slowly to glare at him. “Huh?”

“I know that’s crazy, right?” He laughed quietly. “Who’d’ve thought that you and her could actually be a couple? Crazy shit there, mate. Don’t you think they’ve completely fallen off their wagon?”

I chuckled nervously scratching at my neck. “Uh, yeah.

“Longshot, Twister,” our teacher spoke up and we both widened our eyes like we were deer caught in headlights. “Is there anything you would like to share with the class?”

“No, sir,” we responded. He gave us no acknowledgement as he continued the lesson.

I felt Twister lean close to my ear. “Honestly, in my opinion, I think you’d be great with her,” he snickered, “Let’s face it, ’Shot. She’s a real slapper. I think anyone would call you a legend for taming that wild beast.”

We both snickered quietly as pressed my face into the desk to mute my laughter. Soon after our silent mirth died down, I spared a glance over to where Rainbow was sitting and the weirdest thing happened: She was looking at me. She was looking at me with this curious look on her face. I couldn’t quite figure out what she was thinking, but I stared at her back with a neutral expression.

Honestly, it weirded me out. I tilted my upwards, wordlessly asking her what was up.

In response, I saw her shake her head and roll her eyes, resuming her previous pose. I scoffed and shook my own head, crossing my arms as I paid little attention to what was on the board. At this point, I would have taken out my phone, but the teacher was like a hawk. If any of us had our phones out, he’d catch us right away.

A few minutes go by and the time for the bell to ring is approaching. Suddenly, I felt a light impact on the side of my shoulder.

“What the,” I grumble under my breath before I spotted a ball of paper on the floor. There was only one person who could have thrown that. Looking up, I glared at Rainbow only to see her with an easy grin on her face. She motioned her hand for me to pick up the ball of paper. I groaned silently as I bent over to pick up the wad of notebook paper.

Upon unraveling, there was a hastily scribbled illustration that depicted a stick figure Rainbow Dash (she labeled herself) shooting a soccer ball into the net while there was stick figure version of me lying on the ground crying. Below the drawing was a simple question:

"Ready to get thrashed?”

I scowled before a little smirk cracked its way across my lips. I grabbed my pencil and wrote back a response.

“Bring it, Skittles.”

It was hard not to laugh as I quietly balled it back up and stealthily tossed it back across the room. Much to my non-surprise, she caught it in her hand easily with a smug grin on her face. I had to hold my hand to my mouth as I saw her reaction. Her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree, and I swear through the darkness of the room, I could see her cheeks turn red. She unballed the paper herself and scratched a response back. I had my hands behind my head with a cocky grin as she threw the paper and it softly landed on my desk.

Carefully undoing it, I saw the response she wrote:

“You are so on >:)”

I glanced up to her and she had a sneer on her face. She smashed her fist into her palm and pointed at me before drawing a line on her neck with her thumb. Oh, so that’s how it was going to be? I didn’t feel like gracing her with a response, so I sighed and crossed my arms again.

The minutes ticked by and suddenly the bell rang loudly.

One more class and it was game time.

Everyone in the class gathered their stuff and hastily made their way out the door to get to their next class. Just as me and Twister were about to step out from our row, someone decided to step right in front of me.

“So, you think you’re pretty funny don’t ya?” she sneered at me with her arms crossed. “I’m gonna make you regret it later on. Just you wait.”

I gave her my signature smirk. “Like I said. Bring it.”

“You’ll see later.” She pointed at me and walked away, her prismatic hair whipping around her shoulder as she strutted away. As she walked away, I couldn’t help but let my eyes wander down her small figure. Goddesses damn, was she short. Shorter than me. She was at least five foot four, or maybe less. For a short girl, she had a hell of a booty- body. Body. Not to mention, the shirt she wore was form-fitting and…

To put it simply, I started staring at her ass while she walked towards the door. Most of the class had left so they wouldn’t be able to witness this embarrassing display of interest. I felt my heart jump as her feet stopped moving and turned around to face me.

My cheeks heated up as I looked up and saw Rainbow Dash standing there with a smug little grin on her lips. Behind me, I could have sworn I heard Twister’s muffled cackling. Asshole. She had a hand on her hip as she stood there staring at my dumbstruck expression.

“Enjoy the show while you can, dork,” Rainbow said. “The next time you see my ass will be when you’re chasing after me while I score goals on you.”

“Why don’t you save it for the field, Dash?” Twister laughed as he leaned his elbow on my shoulder. “There, you two lovebirds can settle who gets to sleep on the couch tonight.” I delivered a swift nudge to his ribs as payback. He wheezed before letting out a laugh.

Looking back at Rainbow, I was shocked to see that an embarrassed scowl had appeared on her face, her arms crossed as she seemed to be trying to avoid eye contact with me. Honestly, this girl was an enigma. I wondered what went through her head. Perhaps there was a little hamster in there. And right now, Mr. Nibbles seemed to have tripped while running on his wheel.

She harrumphed and placed both hands on her hips with an irritated look. “Just you wait and see,” she warned, “me and the girls are gonna whoop all of your asses.”

“Excuse me?” our teacher had suddenly decided to butt in. “Is there something going on that I should be worried about? If so, can you please take it outside? This is my only free period.”

We all stared at him with our mouths open before Twister suddenly decided to clutch this situation. He grabbed and nudged me over to where Rainbow stood and threw his arms over our shoulders. “Oh don’t worry ’bout nothin’, sir!” he said with a guffaw, “We were just havin’ a little spat over who was goin’ to win the game this afternoon.”

He adjusted his glasses. “Yes, well, good luck to the both of you. Now, if you please?”

We all nodded and made our way out the door. Rainbow had swatted away Twister’s arm and we all stood out in the hallway while Mr. Grumpy slammed the door on us.

Rainbow walked ahead of us and turned around, a bemused expression on her face. Thankfully this section of the hallway was kind of empty now that not many people had classes in this part of the school.

“I’m warning you,” Rainbow said sternly. “Just wait ’til this afternoon. I’m gonna kick your ass up and down the field!”

“Why don’t you stop talking the talk, huh?” I replied. “Seriously, what’s your problem?” Right now she seemed angrier than usual. Like I said, she talks shit but this time she seems legitimately mad.

“Nothing! That’s what!”

“Doesn’t necessarily look like it,” Twister said.

“Twist, please,” I begged.

“Look, Rainbow, why don’t you go to your next class?” Twister suggested, “We’ll settle this on the field.”

Her face contorted into an angry glare. Inside her rosy eyes I could see flames burning. I couldn’t help but wonder just what exactly was pissing her off. If Twister was telling the truth, maybe people have been giving her shit over the little rivalry between me and her.

She let out a frustrated sigh before crossing her arms. “Fine,” she mumbled. “See you dweebs on the field.” We both stared as she almost stamped down the hallway towards the main highway of the school where everyone walked around.

I sighed as I placed my hands on my hips.

“What the bloody hell was that all about?” Twister wondered.

“I don’t know, Twist,” I replied. “I have a feeling we’ll find out soon enough.”

An hour goes by and it’s finally time. The bell for eighth period blared throughout the school as everyone trekked to their next class. Meanwhile, the entire boy’s soccer team flocked over to the athletics building where we would get dressed in the locker rooms.

The entire team was salty. All day long we had been licking our chops and starving for a chance to play one last game against the girls. The seniors were especially frisky. We were ready to give one more fight before we were set to graduate. Next week was the last week of school and finals would be happening. Which meant no more soccer for the rest of the year.

I sat in front of my tall locker. My elbows rested on my knees as I sat hunched over, earphones in as I listened to some ambient hip hop music. The soft drum and bass always calmed me down before a game. Prior, I had already dressed in my uniform, sans the shirt. Usually, the jerseys were dark blue with sleeves that were white with yellow trim; the shorts dark blue shaded with a tinge of lighter blue separated by a white line that ran down the leg. The socks normally matched the shirt as well

This time, since both teams had the same uniform designs, we would be wearing the away team jerseys which bore the same patterns except the sleeves were blue and the rest of the shirt was white as well as the socks on my feet.

My name and number were emblazoned on the back while the school acronym was stitched in across the chest in dark blue letters.

I sighed as I slipped on my jersey, feeling the soft polyester material glide over my skin. My shin guards were still undone on my legs, my socks rolled down. I strapped up my shin guards and pulled my socks up over them. I laced up my cleats nice and tight, tapping the toe against the tiled floor of the locker room.

Everyone else was speaking idly among themselves about one thing or another. The seniors were quiet, especially Twister which was a sign he was as serious about this as I was. For the game, Coach Soarin told us that they would be giving us the regulation eighty minutes to play. The only problem I could think of was that there would be no extra time. No penalty round. Just a straight fight to the finish. This kind of twist raised the stakes. Me and the boys would have to play our best if we wanted to win.

We had a score to settle from last year.

“Okay, last call!” Coach Soarin came in all dressed up in his outside gear. On top of his boonie hat rested a pair of sunglasses. He wore a pair of light blue sweat pants and a white shirt with the Wondercolts emblem stitched in on the left breast in blue lettering. “Let’s go, boys! Time to get out there and show ’em what we’re made of!”

“Yeah!” we all cheered as everyone finished getting their uniforms on.

“Let’s go kick some arse, boys!” I heard Twister shout in his funny accent, slamming his locker shut before sprinting outside.

“Let’s get some, fellas!” Fastball cheered, closing his locker as he clapped me on the shoulder.

“Hoo! Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!” Hotshot razzed.

“C’mon, Captain!” Coach yelled at me. “Get your boys all riled up!”

I smirked up at him from my seat. It’s showtime I slapped my knees with both hands and shot up from the bench.

“C’mon I wanna see some hustle, get moving!” I herded my teammates off towards the backdoor of the locker room that led out to the field, where the girls would be waiting for us. We all jogged in line out the door onto the concrete path. I was in the front like a drill sergeant leading his troops during a five mile march. For me, playing soccer was always like a surreal experience.

Every single game I played felt like I was stepping out onto the pitch of a humongous stadium. And that's how I played. I played like every game was important. Like every game was the last.

In this case, it was. For now, at least.

I looked ahead and saw that the girls were already outside stretching out in a wide circle. In the middle was none other than Rainbow Dash, leading her team through the exercises. Coach Spitfire, dressed in a similar fashion to Coach Soarin except with shorts, was there on the field watching over her girls. I saw her look over and smirk as me and the boys made our way onto the field to warm up.

“Longshot!” I heard Coach yell. “Get the team stretched out and ready to go! You got ten minutes!”

“Yes, sir!” I replied back. “Alright, circle up!”

The ten minutes went by faster than I thought. It was time to begin. Both teams had lined up on the sideline by number while the captains went out to the middle of the field for the coin toss. For the boys, it would be me and Fastball while the girls had Cloudkicker and Rainbow Dash. This would decide who’d be getting the ball first. Prior to this, coach had told me he wanted us to get the ball for the first half if we won the toss.

In the middle of the field stood Coach Rapidfire, she wore a small headset and a yellow referee shirt as well as several other coaches behind her that were dressed in a similar fashion.

Rapidfire stood there with the coin in her hand as me and Fastball walked at a good pace down the halfway line.

“Okay, captains,” Rapidfire said and nodded at the four of us when we finally reached the center circle. “Stand opposite each other, please. “We moved to our respective sides of the pitch. “Alright, I'm sure you all know the rules about this game. You’ll have two forty minute periods, at the end of which, whoever has the most goals wins. There will be no penalty round or extra time after regulation time has ended. We clear?”

The four of us voiced our acknowledgement.

“Good, now, when I flip the coin I want you to call it in the air, Longshot.” Since the boys were the away team this year, we got to call the toss. “You ready?" she asked me.

"Yes, ma’am," I answered. She nodded once and the coin rang as it flipped into the air. “Tails!” I called out before it hit the grass. Upon closer inspection, the coin was sadly not the side that I called. I swore I heard Rainbow snickering.

“Okay, looks like the girls get to decide—”

“We want the ball first,” Rainbow declared quickly, “And we’ll kick off that way.” She pointed behind me. Or maybe at me I didn’t know. What I did know was that she had that same smug little grin on her face that frustrated me so much. Goddesses damn girl was so full of herself. I was already pissed.

“Alright, that settles it,” Rapidfire said as I stared Rainbow down. “Now shake hands and get ready to come off the sidelines when I blow the whistle. Begrudgingly, I reach forward with my hand and shook Rainbow’s. When we made contact, I tightened my grip to the point where it was almost a death grip. She smirked back as I did so and tightened her grasp as well.

My hand turned white from the pressure. I shook Cloudkicker’s hand briefly and then Fastball and I jogged back to our bench.

“Starters up, let’s go!” Soarin ordered as the rest of our starting eleven jumped up off the bench. We gathered into a huddle next to our bench where coach had a few more things to tell us before we began.

“Okay, boys, this is it. I want you all to leave everything on the field. Seniors, this is your last chance to get back at the girls for beating us last year. Now, since we don't have the ball, I want you guys to stick to formation B until we can get a good attack going then we'll switch to formation A.”

As he talked, my mind wandered elsewhere. I’d been in this situation before. Coach going over the game plan once more before we stepped onto the pitch. It was almost muscle memory.

“Stick to your basic patterns, boys. Keep their strikers away from the box. Midfielders, I want you near your strikers at all times to help get that ball into the net. Keep them from getting into our third. And remember, don’t give them any chances to score. I guarantee you, they will capitalize on it.”

My left ear twitched as I heard the girls doing a sort of cheer on their bench. I peeked over to see them doing some sort of dance which involved them huddling close together and moving side to side as they held each other’s shoulders. Shaking my head, I turned back to focus on coach’s speech.

“...And remember boys, be careful out there,” he warned, “I don’t want any of you getting hurt.”

Rapidfire blew the whistle and I tensed up. I guess my body knew what time it was. Game time, baby. “Okay, let’s do it to ’em!” He clapped his hands and we all drew in closer.

"Yeah!" we all cheered, putting our hands up to break out.

"Alright, guys, let's get out there and score some goals!" I shouted, all of our hands connecting in the air. "Now, who are we?!"

“WONDERCOLTS!” my teammates shouted in response as we broke from our huddle. The eleven of us stepped out onto the field as well as the girls and took our positions. I jogged over to my starting position near the center circle. Our midfielders had our back while our wingers and secondary midfielders brought up the rear with our fullbacks.

I inspected the opposition and they seemed to have their regular starting lineup as well. Rainbow Dash and Cloudkicker stood in the center with the ball. The twin sisters Flitter and Cloudchaser were the center midfielders along with Lightning Dust and Daisy. Raindrops and Night Glider were the wingers and Lyra and Bon Bon brought up the rear as fullbacks. Lastly, Vapor Trail was their goalkeeper.

Once we were all in position, Rapidfire looked around once again to the line judges and made sure they were ready. Meanwhile, I wiggled around a bit to loosen my body up. Rainbow had her foot on the ball, ready to begin when the whistle blew. The coach placed the tiny piece of metal in her mouth…

The loud, shrill voice of the whistle rang out across the field. And then suddenly, it was all quiet. My heart rate spiked up to new levels. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion for me. I was hunched over in a ready position. I was itching to get that ball away from her.

Suddenly, Rainbow looked over her shoulder at me, a hand on her hip. A hard look was on my face as I stared back, ready for her to make a move. She stared at me with those rosy red eyes of hers. A smirk on her face as we stared each other down. I stood on my toes, my cleats digging into the grass.

For a brief moment, she flashed a wolfish grin before she slid the ball with her foot over to Cloudkicker, before she flicked it right back towards Rainbow as she tore down the middle. Son of a biscuit she was going straight for it.

It was on.

“Go! Get her! Get her!”

“Watch the flanks! Get back on D!”

“Twister! Go for it!”

“How the bloody hell she do that!”

“Go for it, Rainbow Dash!”

This was the most intense game I’ve ever been in. The entire time we’ve been neck and neck. Neither side was willing to give up the ball too easily. Nevertheless, we still had the league’s best scorers so scoring for both teams was inevitable.

As of now, the score was tied up at two goals each. I scored the first goal in the first fifteen minutes. Fastball and I were able to get the ball past their second and third with relative ease. I broke away from the defenders and shot one into the net. The second goal was scored by Twister who decided to mix it up on the front lines. I was shocked, to say the least, that the girls let us score twice in a row so early in the game. The whole first half we went back and forth on the pitch, the girls unable to get the ball past Sky Stinger. There were a few close calls, but they could never capitalize on us.

However, in the second half, things got perilous. The girls suddenly went on the offensive, even though we had the ball first. No matter what we did, we couldn’t keep strong possession and kept losing the ball. I didn’t know if we were just tired or we were letting the girl’s team get to us. Either way, the recent plays weren’t in our favour.

We made several mistakes and the girls made us suffer for it. They scored two goals in a row within ten minutes of the other. As of now, there were about thirty minutes left in this half.

By the way Rainbow Dash was tearing down the field, I saw that she was looking to break up the tie.

I turned on the jets and made for the third line.

“Hotshot, switch it! Check Bravo!” I signaled to the midfielder and he moved to the forward position. We usually did this in urgent situations.

THIS. Was an urgent situation.

My legs burned as I panted heavily, pumping my arms hard to catch up with that rainbow-haired she-devil. She turned over to the left side of the box, looking to make a cross. Cloudkicker along with Flitter and Cloudchaser were there waiting. I arrived at the box, where the rest of the third line was covering the goal. Rainbow had the ball and was currently being crowded by Pop Rocket and Blitz, who were trying to get the ball away from her.

Much to no avail. She somehow dribbled past them BOTH and stepped into the box looking to pass to one of her teammates. Dribbling past yet another one of our defenders, she flanked around to the center of the box. I shot off from my back heel and made to take the ball away from her.

I slid forward with my right foot sticking out in an effort to make the tackle. That’s when everything turned blurry. I know my foot came in contact with something. My eyes were closed as I felt someone fall on top of me. Okay, that hurt more than I expected. The impact rocked my lower body and something hit my abdomen hard. The air was knocked out of my lungs and I felt myself gasping for air.

The whistle blew loudly and I could hear several people voice their displeasure.

“Aw c’mon, coach! That was all ball!” I heard Stormcloud yell.

“Yeah! He didn’t even touch her leg!” Twister agreed.

“Don’t even argue with me on this, boys,” I heard Rapidfire reply sternly, “His foot came in contact with her leg. That’s a penalty kick.”

“WHAT?!” they all shouted incredulously.

“Yeah! Whoo!” I heard a few of the girls cheer.

Meanwhile, the weight on my chest hadn’t left yet. My arms were on the ground and my eyes were still closed from the pain.

I cracked open my eyes to see that Rainbow Dash was laying on top of me with this... weird look on her face. Her cheeks looked red. I wasn’t sure if that was from the heat or... something else? Her eyes weren’t hard or fiery like the way they were before. No. Her eyes had a certain softness to them like she was concerned about something.

Or maybe concerned about me. Her face was really close to mine. Our noses almost touching. I could feel her heavy breathing tickle my face. Her legs were almost intertwined with mine and her arms were placed at my sides below my armpits.

I hated to admit it, but in this brief moment of closeness, I felt... something. Something weird. Maybe it was the feeling of her lithe, athletic form laying on top my body was almost... exciting. Her shiny hair hung over her shoulders and glimmered brightly in the sunlight. I almost felt the urge to hold on to her. Feeling her strong body with my hands.

The moment was ruined when I saw her eyes leave my sight and she got up from the ground, dusting herself off. I stayed there, struggling to catch my breath. I saw Cloudkicker walk up to Rainbow.

“Way to take one for the team, Dash!” she clapped her captain on the shoulder.

“Hehe, yeah!” She gave her trademark cocksure grin and cheered alongside her teammates. When she looked back at me, I saw her give me that same sneer I hated so much.

Why you stuck up bitch! I seethed internally as I clenched a fist and slammed it on the ground. She fucking planned that! I know it! Suddenly, Coach Rapidfire walked up to me.

“Longshot, you okay there?” she asked, whistle in hand. “Can you keep playing?”

I exhaled through my nose as Fastball helped me to my feet. “Yeah, just got the wind knocked out of me,” I replied.

“Okay, well get your boys set up we’re doing a penalty kick.”

Shit I shook my head as me and my boys got out from the box to set up once again. Rainbow grabbed the ball and placed into the center mark in the box, spinning it once to make sure it stuck. Now, I was worried. Sky was a good keeper, but Rainbow never missed when it came to hitting penalty shots. I’ve seen her in games and she had a perfect penalty kick record. She was a Goddesses damn sniper.

My heart pumped quickly as Sky set his heels on the goal line and loosened himself up. Everyone went quiet as Rainbow raised her hand up to signal that was ready. Rapidfire blew the whistle and Rainbow wasted no time creeping forward to take a shot at the goal. Sky was on his toes and ready to jump on the ball.

Rainbow rushed forward to take a shot but the sly girl stopped before her foot came in contact with the ball. Sky was a little too hot to trot and jumped to the right to stop the ball that would have been flying at him. Instead, Rainbow took a cheeky little shot to the opposite side of the goal and practically tapped it into the net. My entire team groaned as Rainbow threw up her hands and sprinted off down the sideline, her teammates following her.

The lot of them were squealing with delight as their lady and savior Rainbow Dash broke the tie single handed. They all crowded her as they celebrated. Currently, there was just a little over twenty minutes left in the second half. Not much time was left. The score was now three goals to two.

We had a lot of ground to cover. As the boys and I set up again, I turned to Coach Soarin, who stood on the sidelines with his arms crossed. Taking a look back at my team, I could see that a few of them were at their limit. We had four subs to use and I signaled over to coach that we needed to switch things up.

“Rapidfire! We’re sending in subs!” Rapidfire nodded and blew the whistle, signaling the assistant coach running the electric clock to stop it to send in the substitutes. Coach looked back to the bench. “Alright, Bottle Rocket, Facade, Starbuster, Wildfire, get in there! Break Limit, Pop Rocket, Stormcloud, Blitz! Switch out!” Meanwhile, Spitfire was in the middle of switching up her team as well. We needed two goals to win this. It was a long shot, but long shots were my specialty.

Once the fresh legs were set up in their positions, Fastball and I set up in the center circle, the ball at his foot.

“Hey, Fastball,” I muttered while the girls were still setting up. “I think you know what we need to do.”

“Yeah,” he said while nodding. “You make the call.”

“Got it,” I cupped my mouth with my hands, "Guys, listen up! Formation A, motion zero, check Zulu!”

They all nodded in acknowledgement and moved to their designated positions. This kind of formation was for strictly offense. One that we only used in case we needed to go for the win in short time. The wingers and midfielders would be playing close up to the opposite side of the field. We needed all of our players near the opposite side of the field in order to keep possession away from the other team. Our goalkeeper would be playing up near the halfway line to get the ball back on their side. In short, we were going for the win like a bunch of maniacs.

It was a risky strategy, but there wasn’t much time left. It was do or die.

Rapidfire blew the whistle and I shared a brief look with Fastball. We both smirked and nodded.

“How about we do some schoolyard bullshit?” he said.

“Yeah, let’s do it.” I then slid the ball over to him to start the game back up. “Let’s go!”

The war was on. Fastball was double-teamed by two of the girls before he passed the ball back over to me. I tore down the side of the field, keeping an eye on offside flag and waiting for my boys to setup the cross. Lyra and Night Glider left their positions to challenge me for possession. A small smirk came to my face as I bolted towards them. They wanted to play, huh?

Lyra came at me first, a hard look on her face as she stuck a foot out to try and take away the ball. I stopped hard and slid the ball back behind me and twisted my back foot around it, spinning my way around her. Lyra got her legs twisted together and fell over. Night Glider was next as she made an attempt to get the ball away from me. She then slid forward, aiming for the ball. I knew that trick too well. I was surprised she would even attempt a paltry trick like that on me.

I placed the ball in between my feet and jumped up high into the air, my knees touching my chest. The look on her face was priceless as I went soaring over her head. The ball came out from my feet and hit the ground rolling and I got a hold of it again.

“’Shot, back here!” Twister had made his way down the field with me and I passed the ball back to him and sprinted into the box, where the rest of the defenders were waiting. Bon Bon challenged Twister but he kicked over to Fastball who was on the outside in front of the box. He kicked it over to Bottle Rocket who then passed it on to Thunderlane who was waiting behind him. We kicked the ball around to each other, playing a very convoluted game of keep away. Rainbow Dash tried to take the ball away several times but there was always someone else there to back up one of our men.

This play was all about rotation. We would bide our time until an opportunity showed itself. I moved next to the net. Fastball and Twister were there inside the box with me. I saw Stormcloud coming around the left side of the box. He was being covered by Lyra but she made no attempt to get the ball from him. He was going for a cross.

I stood out in the center of the box, signaling for him to send it in. He nodded and pelted the ball with his foot. The ball flew up high and we were all shoving each other to get a header in. My heart jumped as I saw the ball was heading right for me and my whole body clenched.

This was it. I needed to get the ball into the net. Or, I would have, if Rainbow Dash hadn’t jumped right in front of me. She literally almost flew up into the air as her head came in contact with the ball and it went soaring out of the box. Cloudkicker was there waiting for it and she kicked it as hard as she could to get it out of the box. Even though Sky was there at the halfway mark, she was able to clear all the way past the halfway line. Sky made a beeline for it as it flew past him. I panicked when I saw Rainbow Dash and several other girls bolt off across the field. Since our goalkeeper was outside of his box, he wasn’t going to be able to grab the ball with his hands.

“Go! Go! Get back on defense!” I shouted and we all sprinted hard back to our side of the field. Taking a brief glance at the clock, I saw that there was a little over ten minutes left in the game. It was going to take a miracle to win now. With the ball hurling towards our side of the field and Rainbow Dash going after it, we were going to have to put all of our cards on the table to win.

Fortunately, Sky was able to get a handle on the ball, he dribbled it back to the far left sideline and began tearing down the field with it. Rainbow Dash and Cloudkicker were in hot pursuit and there were two of our boys going to support him. He through passed it over to Bottle Rocket, who bumped back over to Fastball who was there waiting for him to get it back to the halfway mark. I was relieved to see that Rainbow Dash was nowhere near the ball, and went back to her position near the center circle, most likely waiting for a rebound.

I spared a look at the clock: 8:53 left and we had the ball. I called for the ball from Fastball down in front of the box. There were currently three defenders between me and the net. I quickly placed my foot on top of the ball. By my estimate, I was about thirty to forty yards out from the goal down the middle with defenders in the front. Luckily, they decided not to challenge me.

Time felt like it was slowing down. I took a deep breath. My foot was placed on top of the ball as I laid out my options. I could take the shot from here or I could come up with another strategy.

Ah, fuck it. Let’s see what happens. Improvisation was the only weapon in my arsenal. I released the ball from my foot and took a step back.

Keeping my head down, I took a step forward and reeled back my right leg. My foot impacted the ball at breakneck speed and I let out a huge grunt as I sent it flying over everyone’s heads. The ball curved just like I wanted it to and it was aimed right at the top right corner of the net. Vapor Trail was too busy guarding the center of the net to make a block attempt. The ball impacted the back of the net, bouncing off the pole at the right trajectory to bounce right in. A cacophony of cheers erupted from the boy’s team.

I threw up my hands in celebration as my teammates came up to me to celebrate. Since I put away the equalizing goal, it was all up to us to get another one into the net if we wanted victory. The clock read just over five minutes left.

It was all or nothing.

Dash and Cloudkicker placed the ball in the center and wasted no time in getting it off. The two of them weaved their way around our midfielders. Cloudkicker tore down the sideline where me and Bottle Rocket were waiting. She stopped and passed the ball back behind to Flitter who then passed it to her sister. Cloudchaser zoomed down the opposite sideline. I was becoming frustrated since the girls were doing well to keep the ball away from us. Finally, Lyra had the ball down the center and I went for the tackle. Before she could get going, I slid in and my foot connected with the ball. It came out from under her and Fastball was there waiting.

“Go! Go!” I shouted. The girls had the majority of their defenders near our side of the field so it was easy pickings for me and Fastball. The two of us tore down the field, with the girls chasing after us. Lyra and Cloudchaser were on his tail. I waved my hands and he kicked the ball down to me.

I touched the ball in my stride and shot towards the keeper’s box, where Vapor Trail was waiting. This play had breakaway goal written all over it. Steeling myself, I decided to take this one. No way was she going to block it. I could sense the two girls chasing after me. Too bad for them, they weren’t going to catch me. I pushed my body into overdrive, pumping my arms and my legs moving past their limit.

I set foot in the box and Vapor Trail tried to sneak the ball out from under my feet. I wasn’t going down that easily.

Kicking the ball over the tip of my toes, I chipped it over the head of Vapor Trail and it went soaring into net, bouncing as it hit the ground. An eruption of cheers exploded from our sidelines. I saw Lyra and Cloudchaser behind me, hands on their knees, gasping for air. I saw Twister sprint to me, wrapping his arms around my neck as he vigorously rubbed my head in appreciation. Three of my other teammates ganged up on me in a vicious group hug, cheering as we had scored the tie-breaking goal.

It wasn’t over yet.

“Alright, boys, line up!” Rapidfire blew the whistle, signaling for play to continue. I spared a glance at the clock and saw that it read just under three minutes left to play. The girls stood no chance. There would be no extra time after the clock ran out. Which meant we would finally win after a long battle.

Immediately as Rapidfire blew the whistle again, Rainbow Dash and Cloudkicker tore down the field with the ball, trying their hardest to get into the goalkeeper's box. It was a vain effort. We were all tired, but we trained hard for situations like this. I saw that Rainbow was slowing down, her movements wide and slow instead of quick and snappy. Hell, I was tired too. My throat burned from the hot air as I worked hard to keep the air flowing.

One minute and twelve seconds to go. Fastball had managed to clear the ball from our side of the field, prompting the girls to go and chase it down. We mostly stayed on our side of the field, consolidating our defenses while Fastball and I mixed it up with their strikers in midfield. Rainbow Dash took the ball from Flitter and tore down our sideline, with Fastball and Bottle Rocket in pursuit. I stayed in my position close to the halfway mark.

I saw her take the ball and passed Bottle Rocket. She moved to the corner, looking to make a cross in. She reared back her right leg and kicked the ball hard. It flew into the center, but luckily, Sky Stinger was smart enough to snatch the ball out of the air. I heard all the girls groan as they began jogging back to their side again. Rainbow Dash shook her head in disappointment as she caught up with her teammates. Even from where I was at, I could feel her burning up with anger, and I had a feeling she wanted to punch something.

Sky slid the ball over to Facade who began dribbling the ball downfield. It was over. There was less than a minute left and we had the ball in our possession. I saw that most of the girls had given up already. They had their hands on their hips, kicking at the grass and shaking their heads. Only the strikers and midfielders tried to make some effort at getting the ball back, but we would just pass it on to someone else.

Then, before we knew it…the final three whistles blew.

*FWEEEET* *FWEEEET* *FWEEEET*

“Alright, that's game!” Rapidfire yelled out. “Okay, guys, go to your sidelines and shake hands!”

“Yeah!”

“Whoo!”

“Alright!”

We were all shouting, cheering, and jumping like wild animals as we jogged back over to the sideline, where the rest of our teammates were cheering as well; all of them were giving high fives, bear hugs, and jumping all over the place while Coach Soarin stood there, a smug look of satisfaction on his face. I saw him smile over at Coach Spitfire, nodding his head slowly. She would only shake her head, rolling her eyes as she gathered her girls up.

Soon, we were all lined up ready to shake hands with one another. Rainbow Dash stood at the front and BOY she did not look happy. When our hands connected, she gave me this… weird look. A death stare if you will.

When that happened, I had a feeling that this wasn't over. Not by a long shot.

To be continued...

End of Part 1

Part 2 - One-on-One

Author's Note

Here's Part 2. It's a little long, but worth the read. Enjoy.

Part 2 - One-on-One

“Alright, boys, hit the showers!” Coach Soarin yelled as we all made our way back to the boy’s locker room, while I stayed behind along with Twister and Fastball, cleaning up the field along with Coach Rapidfire.

“Helluva game, you three,” she said to us, rolling up the net from the goal post. “And you Longshot, scoring the winning goal with less five minutes to play. Top stuff right there.”

“They don’t call me Longshot for nothing, ma’am,” I joked causing Twister and Fastball to snicker.

“Yeah, well, good job either way.” She smiled at me. “I hear that you’ll be going to the pro tryouts later this summer.”

“Us too,” Fastball added. “We’re all gonna try and get on the same team together.”

Rapidfire placed a hand on her hip. “You sure you wanna do that?” she said, raising an eyebrow at us. “That’s gonna be hard to do. Especially in the professional world.”

“Eh, they’d have to pry us apart with a damn crowbar, haha” Twister chuckled. “I sure as hell ain’t lettin’ these two go that easily.”

I picked up the ball bag and pulled back the drawstring. “As soon as the Trottingham Devils give me that contract, I’m going with them regardless if you guys are coming with me,” I said, hoisting the bag over my shoulder as we all made our way to the equipment shed.

“Let’s if they actually like your shitty ball skills first, ’Shot," Fastball chided, jabbing my arm as he carried a small stack of cones. We all placed the equipment in their proper places. I threw the bag of balls in the corner of the shed while Rapidfire placed the rolled up net on a shelf hanging on the wall. Twister and Fastball then left the shed to go shower up and head home.

Before I could leave, I felt Rapidfire place a hand on my shoulder. “Longshot, you got a minute?”

Turning around to face her, I smiled and nodded. “I think so, what is it, coach?” I asked.

“Are you sure you want to go straight to the pros, Longshot?” she asked me with a hint of concern in her voice. “College is still an option. You could always play ball at a local university. I hear Manehattan University is going to have a good team this coming year.”

I pursed my lips in thought. “I dunno, coach.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to play in the pros. I’d do anything to make that happen.”

She crossed her arms. “Well, it is a nice thought, but I want you to think about this.” She placed a hand on my shoulder. “Making it in the pros doesn’t always work out for everyone. It’s hard to make a name for yourself in a league where there’s already a bunch of big names.

I looked away from her briefly, mulling over what she said. “You should at least get a degree so you can have a backup plan in case you don't make it.”

At the time, I knew what she said made sense, but…

“I dunno, coach. I just really wanna go straight to the pros. Make good money playing for a professional team!”

“I know you do, but like I said,” she repeated, “the big leagues aren’t easy for new players. I know you want that check at the end of the month, but earning a spot on a team is hard enough.”

“But I’m so determined to make it. I believe in myself, ma’am.”

She let go of my shoulder. “You have talent, Longshot. You’re probably the best soccer player in the area, but that’s not going to mean anything in the tryouts. There will be players that are as good as you are, or maybe even better. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t go try out, but I am saying you should give it a second thought.”

“Yeah, but when would I get another opportunity like this?”

“You will get another one, trust me,” she said, giving me a friendly wink and smile. “Even though you have raw talent, doesn’t mean you won’t have much to learn. Which is why I think you should go play college ball. You get experience, plus even a scholarship that’ll pay for your education. We even got some pull over there at Mane U. We could get you a scholarship offer.” That did sound pretty good, actually. I would get to go to school, make new friends, and not have to pay a single dime for it. Not to mention, it’s college! College is always fun in some way or another.

“I’ll think about it, coach,” I said with a grin. “Thanks for the tip.”

“Please do.” She clapped me on the shoulder again as she walked out of the shed. “Oh, and make sure to lock the shed.” She flashed me another smile before exiting, leaving me to my thoughts.

For a few minutes, I stood there in the shed, reflecting on things. Maybe I should take her up on the offer. Hell, maybe she’d do the same for Twister and Fastball. It did sound pretty damn tempting.

I would going to a good college for free. Mom would probably like that. I’d have to give it some serious, serious thought. Welp. It was time to leave. I kicked at the concrete floor of the shed as I turned around and- hello!

“Hey. You!” There stood Rainbow in front of the entrance, a silhouette in the bright afternoon sun. In her hand, resting against her hip was a soccer ball. Why she had it in the first place was beyond me. “We got some unfinished business.”

I crossed my arms indignantly. “What’s that supposed to mean? My team won fair and square. I got no business to settle with you.”

She glared nukes at me, her rosy red eyes almost shining in the sunlight. “Well guess what, we do. I ain’t done with you yet.” So, she wasn’t satisfied yet, huh?

Smirking, I leaned against the wall of the shed casually. “What’s wrong, Dash? Can’t handle being beaten at your own game?” That little quip was a mistake. She hurled the ball right at my face but I was able to dodge it. “Whoa. Someone’s a little salty.”

“I. Hate. Losing.” She growled with clenched teeth. “If you’re man enough, you’ll step out onto the field again and play me in a one-on-one. And this time, you won’t have your friends to back you up.” As much as I wanted to beat her again, I was tired from the long game. Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, stood like she was ready to go another round.

“Look, I don’t got time for this, Dash,” I scoffed as I started walking towards the entrance. However, she held out an arm and barred me from leaving. “Uh, excuse me?”

I nearly fell off my feet as she shoved me with her left arm. “If you don’t do this, I’m pretty sure everyone would like to hear how I tackled the shit out of you during the game. The great Longshot tackled by a weak little girl. I think everyone would get a kick out of it. Especially if I told them about how badly you cried after.”

This got a rise out of me. “You wouldn’t,” I muttered through gritted teeth.

“Try me,” she sneered. I glared at her hard, wishing that I had laser vision to blast her with.

“Get the ball,” I grumbled, “And I’ll see you on the field.” The same confident smirk returned as she entered the shed to grab the ball she threw at me.

“You got it, dweeb.”

The two of us stood near the halfway mark, the ball placed right in between the keeper’s box and the middle circle. We stared each other down, waiting for the other to make a move.

“So, first one to five goals?” I offered. She fiddled around with the ball before stopping it with her foot.

“Sure thing, dork.”

I smirked at her. “All that shit talking you’ve done, I’m gonna make you eat your words.”

"Or you could just kiss my ass while I dribble this ball past you like I've done dozens of times?"

"We'll see about that," I shifted into a ready stance, "you gonna get this started or what?" Without another word, she kicked the ball off to the left to try and get it past me. I wasn't going to let her past me that easy.

Staying on my toes, I tried hard to contain her to the outside. Once she got behind me, there was no way I'd be able to stop her. She stopped hard and I nearly fell off my feet, but I was able to keep my balance. Reversing the ball, she then started dribbling to the other side in an effort to confuse me. Too bad I wasn't going to fall for that old trick. I stayed vigilant as I tried to contain her attack. However, I kept my legs open a little too wide. I stuck in my left foot to try and kick the ball out from her feet, but she slipped it in between my legs and shoved me out of the way.

Cursing to myself, I felt the rush of anger as she tried to get away from me. Now, bear in mind, this was pretty much streetball. Anything went and this was not an official game. What I did next may have been over the line, but I was pissed and sick of the shit she was giving me. I slid forward putting all three years of frustration I felt towards her into it. My foot came in contact roughly with her heel and the ball came out from under her, rolling out of bounds.

"Ungh!" I heard her groan as she was toppled and fell on her ass. Her eyes were filled with anger as she turned back to glare swords at me. "What the fuck was that for?! Huh?!"

She shoved me hard as I got and stood a few feet away from her. "That was for all the shit you've been giving me!" I shouted back at her.

"Fuck you!" she spat, jogging after the ball. She kicked it back at me and I caught it with my foot. "Do some stupid bullshit like that again and I'll kick your ass!"

"Whatever, your ball." We set up again and went at it. This time she pressed hard down the middle. I bided my time, looking for an opening to take the ball away from her. She faked to her left and spun around to the opposite direction, causing me to lose my balance. I slipped and she took the opportunity to take a shot into the goal. The ball soared into the net and I heard her let out a cheer.

"Yes! Eat shit, dork!" she stuck out her tongue like a ten year old and paraded down to the center line to set up again. "Get that ball, would ya?" Growling under my breath, I spat out some drool from my mouth and grabbed the ball from the net. We set up once again.

"One nil, dirtbag," she laughed, "Better find some way to catch up."

"Don't worry," I snarled, "This ain't over by a long shot."

I set the ball down and immediately took off. I dribbled down the sideline, keeping the ball in control as Dash tried her best to contain me from the inside. I stunted and shifted the ball to my right foot, going back around to the opposite side of the box. She was all over me, waiting for the moment that I would mess up. It would never come. I shifted the ball in between my feet and skipped up into the air, using my feet to toss the ball up into the air over our heads. Using the momentum from my feet, it spun forward and landed inside the box, where I then took the opportunity to chase it into the goal net. Or rather, I would have. If someone hadn't stuck their damn foot out.

"Whoa!" I grunted as I face planted hard, stars popped out in my vision as I laid there on the ground. An intense pain erupted from my nasal area.

"Haha!" her voice cracked as her raucous laughter echoed across the field. "How'd that feel? Payback's a bitch ain't it?"

Placing my hands on the ground, I pushed up off the grass and felt a warm liquid pouring out from my nose. Upon opening my eyes, I saw the green grass was spotted with splotches of red.

"F-Fucking... shit..." I groaned, blowing the blood out from my nose. I coughed from the copious amounts that fell from my nose like a waterfall made of red Kool-Aid.

"Come on, you big baby," she laughed, "Just cause you play shitty offense, doesn't mean you have to cry about it."

A strong wave of anger pulsed through me. I felt the powerful urge to just... do something back to her. But I couldn't, could I? She's a girl. People would think I was the scum of the earth to hit a girl like that. Although, something deep down tried to convince me that she deserved it, and that it would have been worth the amount of trouble I would get into.

I wasn't thinking. I was running on pure instinct. And my instincts were pissed.

"You know what's also shitty?" I quickly rose to my feet, grabbing the ball that lay discarded a few feet away from me. "Your attitude!" I turned around and tossed the ball as hard as I could at her. It didn't go very far before it came in contact with the right side of her face.

"Augh!" she groaned as she doubled over, covering her face. The ball, meanwhile, bounced as it hit the ground and rolled off to Goddesses know where. It took me a moment to realize I was breathing heavily. A lump began to form in my throat. When did I feel like wanting to cry? I watched her get back up, her long hair covering her eyes. When she looked up, what I saw next was shocking. She had tears in her eyes, but behind the tears was the fire of anger. Eyebrows furrowed and teeth clenched. Her right check was red from when the ball hit her.

"You..." she growled in a whisper, her fists balling up. "You’re dead..."

Shit.

Everything was a blur as I heard her let out a war cry before tackling me to the ground. I would have found some way to stop it, but she seemed to know what she was doing. She had grabbed my knees and literally pulled my feet out from under me.

"I'm gonna murder you!" She straddled my waist as she began raining down blows on me. I raised my arms up in an effort to protect myself. In all honesty, it felt like I was getting attacked by a vicious puppy. Yeah, she was that small.

"Get the hell offa me!" I yelled. Although, that’s not to say her punches didn’t hurt. The damn girl was able to land a few good hits on my face.

"You're fucking dead!" she grabbed me by the throat and began slamming my upper body repeatedly against the ground. Okay, this was hurting quite a bit. My mind was in a haze as I tried to figure out what to do while under fire. And then she stopped, grabbing me by the collar of my shirt. I stared into her watery eyes which betrayed the angry look she had.

"What... the fuck is wrong with you?" I gasped out, holding on to her wrists tightly.

"You, you stupid idiot!" she shouted in my face. "You are what's wrong with me!"

"What the hell are you talking about!?" Before I could react, she reared back her right arm and delivered a swift, stinging slap to my left cheek. Alright. Not gonna lie. That one really hurt. We were both panting. I laid there limp in her grasp as I recovered from the slap. She still straddled my legs, locking me in place.

"What do you think I meant by that, huh?" she asked, shaking me roughly. "Tell me!" With my nose and some of my face caked with dried blood, I looked her in the eye. Oh man. The look in her eye. I knew the answer already. Even so, deep down, I felt like I knew it all along.

"You like me, don't you?" I asked, a small smirk coming to my face. I had gained some confidence back and tried to get control of the situation. "You're hopelessly into me aren't you?"

"No shit, dumbass," she shook her head in disbelief. "It took you this long to figure that out? You're slower than I thought.”

"Then, what's with all the shit you've been giving me?" I asked, furiously wiping away some of the blood with my hand, staining my Wondercolts jersey red.

"What, you think it's easy for me to admit something like that?" she asked, finally letting go of my collar, but she still sitting on my stomach. "You think the other girls wouldn't have caught on by now? They've been teasing me so much and I got so sick of it!”

I tried my best to process this. "And, you give me the impression you despise me because..?”

"It's our last year, Longshot," she sighed, the fire in her eyes fading, "I didn't want to like you anymore because... I know where you're going after graduation. I know you're gonna go off to play in the pros, and when you do, you'd forget all about me."

"That's why I tried so hard," she looked away from me, cheeks tinged with red. "I tried so hard to make myself hate you. That's why I started telling people that I was going to kick your ass and all that just to show that I didn't like you."

Though she had relayed the final truth to me, I had only question to ask. "Why would you go and do something stupid like that?"

"I didn't think it through, alright?" she thumped me on the chest, "I just went with my gut feeling."

"So you didn't consider how I would feel about all this?" I scoffed and shook my head in defeat. "I don't believe this shit."

"Yeah, well, believe it, dirtbag," she crossed her arms, "I like you. And there's nothing you can do about it."

"Really?" I scoffed, "Well what if I said I liked you too?" She recoiled, looking away while sporting an obvious blush, though she was scowling hard.

"Hah! That's nothing!" she argued, crossing her arms she finally regained a modicum of her usual confidence. "What if I said I think you're really hot and I wanna bang you? What would you think of that?!"

"Pfft, bullshit! That's nothing compared to what I think of you and that smoking hot body you have!"

Her cheeks reddened to where she almost looked like a tomato. "Y-Yeah, w-well... You... I..." She grabbed onto my collar again, pulling me very close to her face. I felt her warm breath on my face as I felt my cheeks begin to burn up.

"Just shut up and kiss me, for Goddesses’ sake."

I didn't fight back as she pulled me in for the kill. Our mouths were pressed together in a passionate embrace, her fingers dug into my shirt as they pulled at the very fabric it was made of. I kept my eyes open while she kept hers shut tight, almost if she was afraid to open them. I smiled to myself grabbed her by the hips and twisted our bodies around on the grass. She was now under me and I felt her wrap her arms around my neck. I got really into the kiss as I ran my hand down one of her legs while I held myself up with the other.

Suddenly, she wrapped her legs around my lower waist, pulling me in even closer. I was now trapped and I couldn't move even if I wanted to. I took the liberty of running my hand down her leg until I found my way under her shorts where I then was able to reach the one physical feature I liked most about her.

My fingers dug into the thing fabric of her athletic tights, causing her to let out a very uncharacteristic squeal. I immediately wanted to hear more. I kneaded the pliable flesh of her ass like cake batter, relishing in the feel and size of it. Never had I been more aroused in my entire life. I moved away from her lips and concentrated on kissing and sucking on her neck. She cradled the back of my head, moaning loudly as I worked on her.

"You... you act like you've done this before..." I didn't answer. The truth was, I had never been with a girl before. She didn't have to to know to know that. This felt right, though. It's funny seeing how we were fighting with fists not moments ago. Now we were fighting with our tongues. Life works in strange ways.

"Longshot... can we stop for a minute?" she moaned out breathlessly. I didn't want to stop. I was so lost in the moment. Still, I had to control myself for now. I got up off of her and sat back on my heels, allowing her to sit cross-legged in front of me. The look she had on her face was priceless. She looked so flustered. Cheeks red. Chest heaving. Hands clenched. A Kodak moment if I’ve ever seen one.

"Longshot?" she called out my name, and I sat back on my rear, leaning backwards on my palms.

"Yeah?"

"You really like me back, huh?"

"I guess the message didn't get through?" I joked. She blushed and socked me on the shoulder. "Ow! I mean, yeah, I do. It just took me a long time to realize it."

"Why is that?"

"'Cause, there was so much shit between us," I explained, "I was so obsessed over beating you and proving that I was the best athlete in the school. You were on my mind almost everyday. I kept thinking, 'How am I gonna beat Dash?', 'I gotta get better to beat Dash'. Next thing I knew the obsession to beat you... turned into something else."

I stopped when I saw this confused look on her face.

"Really?" she asked, "I mean, I like you cause you're kinda hot." I furrowed my brow and gave her a condescending glare. "B-But you're also really nice! And funny too!"

Scoffing, I shook my head. "And here I thought you were shallow."

"Well, I'm not, alright?" We both laughed at that. Our mirth lasted for no longer than a few seconds before a silence fell between us. The sun off in the distance was beginning to set, meaning that it was time for us to head home. Thankfully, the locker rooms stayed open til later.

"You know, I think we should get out of here. Take this somewhere else."

"This?" I queried, gesturing to me and her, "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, what, you think we're finished?" she chortled, "I have the biggest lady boner right now. And if you don't help me take care of it, I'll beat the snot out of you for real." Welp. I was up for that.

"Okay then," I slapped my knees and hopped up from the grass; I offered Dash a hand and lifted her petite form off the ground. A thought hit me after that. "Wait, where exactly did you want do this?"

"My place, duh~!" she thumped me on the back of the head. "Where else did you think?"

"Honestly, I didn't really have an idea," I confessed, scratching my neck. "I was hoping you had a plan."

"Well, now we got one," the two of us jogged back to our respective locker rooms. "See ya in few!" she shouted as she jogged away. I opened the door to find an empty locker room. All the lockers were closed and most of them cleared of their contents. What saddened me even more was the fact that I knew some of those lockers were going to be assigned to new people the following year. Including mine.

I then opened my locker for the last time, and began stripping off my game uniform.

"Ready to go?" Dash asked, tugging at her light blue hoodie.

"Yep," I finally caught up with her outside the athletics building, where she was waiting for me. It would be a little difficult to explain to Coach Soarin tomorrow that there was blood on my uniform. And the reason why I took so long getting in. Everyone had left by the time me and Dash decided to go in, even the coaches seeing how their parking spots were empty.

We began walking over to the student parking lot not too far away from where we were. Dash's hair looked a little stringy and damp, probably because she took a shower. For some reason, it made her look more attractive. As we walked, we didn't really say words; we simply enjoyed each other's company. Much to my pleasure and surprise, she wrapped her arm around mine and leaned her head on my shoulder.

I looked down at her with raised brows and she just shook her head and giggled.

"So, quick question," I said, "If we're gonna do this, I mean, your parents mind me stopping by to have wild sex with you?" She blew a small raspberry and let out a laugh, her voice cracking as she did so. "Please, I have my own place!"

That blew me quite back. "You... you do?" I stared down at her wide-eyed, "That's... cool? I mean, how do you manage to pull that off?"

"Easy, I work with my friend Pinkie Pie at the local bakery near the school. The Cakes super lenient with me and they pay good too!”

"It's real easy for you ain't it?" I asked, smiling at her.

"Kinda, sometimes it can get pretty boring staying there all evening, but the bakery is close to my apartment building, so I don't have to walk that far when I have to go in. Plus, I don't have to pay much rent anyways. It's a small, little apartment, but it's really all I need."

"What do you have for entertainment?" I asked jokingly.

"Well, porn helps." That caused me to laugh, but I secretly expected her to be the porno type of girl. Not that I had a problem with that. "But I sometimes go dumpster diving. You wouldn't believe the stuff people throw out."

"Hah, I bet." We arrived at the student parking lot and, lo and behold, it was completely deserted. Save for a few cars here and there. "So, you got a ride?" She let go of my arm and stepped in front of me with this cute little look on her face.

"Welllll, I was sort of hoping you'd help me out with that." I arched a brow and smirked at her, giving her the inquisitive stare. She increased her cuteness power by placing her hands behind her back and standing up on her tiptoes.

"I dunno, you're gonna have to convince me," I snickered.

"Alright then," she walked forward and placed her hands on the back my neck. "Please..." she pecked me on the lips. "Give me..." she planted a deeper kiss. "...a ride?" she accented her words with one last lingering smooch that lasted for a good few seconds. I felt something wet slither around my lips, which was more than likely her tongue.

Goddesses, she had the greatest set of lips I ever had the privilege of kissing. Each peck held such fire and passion behind it. I wondered if she’d ever been with another guy. Then again, this girl was an athletic prodigy. Who else knew what she was good at?

I would soon find out.

We broke apart the kiss and I smirked down at her. "Alright, come on," I placed my arm around her shoulder and walked over to the far side of the parking lot where my truck was waiting. It was a small black pickup. Nothing too special. But I liked trucks so that was a plus.

"Nice ride," she laughed though I sensed some level of snarkiness in her tone.

"Don't make fun of old Panther," I chuckled, patting the hood of my pride and joy. "He may be a little old but he never lets me down." She gave me this sort of questioning smirk.

"I'll never understand men and cars," she rolled eyes as she walked over to the passenger seat.

I sighed and shook my head. "It's a truck," I grumbled. We both got in and I threw my bags into the backseat. Pulling out my keys, I slid them into the ignition and turned over the engine. I buckled up and settled into the seat, making small adjustments to the mirrors and such. Dash meanwhile buckled up and sat quietly next to me on the bench seat, leaning her head on my shoulder. For a tough girl, she seems like a bit of a cuddler.

Hmm, I could get use to that.

The whole ride to her apartment, we hardly said a word besides some offhand comments about the traffic or some other thing. Inside my head, the whole situation was weird; she's already acting like we're a couple and all we've done is get into a fight and kiss in the middle of a soccer field. It made me wonder if she really liked me that much. This was all a little too fast, but I would go with it for now. I didn't want to question anything too much and ruin my chances of being with her. If I showed hesitation at the wrong moment, she might think I don't feel the same way. Speaking of feelings, I could dare say that what I felt for her was more than just "like". All that frustration I felt with her and wanting to try my hardest to beat her. In the end, it grew into something more.

Something more significant and meaningful.

Before I knew it, we stopped at a large brick building with a fire escape running down the structure. The building itself looked old and worn. Immediately I began to doubt the quality of the conditions that Rainbow was living in.

"Alright, we're here," she said with a hint of excitement in her voice. "C'mon!" Grabbing our bags, we hopped out of my pickup and made our way out of the parking lot and towards the lobby of the apartment complex.

Upon entering, it was a quiet little place; the receptionist sitting there chewing a wad of gum and reading a magazine. Light music played from a speaker on her desk. We paid her no mind as we walked down a hallway to the left. I noticed there wasn't an elevator. Upon second thought, this building wasn't too tall to begin with. We entered a stairwell and started up the steps.

"Hurry up slowpoke!" She hopped up the steps two by two and I had to keep up with her.

"Yo, what floor are you on?" I asked, almost slipping on the cement stairs.

"Third floor!" Her voice echoed in the stairwell. Shaking my head, I jogged up the steps with sore legs.

"Welp! Here we are!" She pulled out a small key from her pant pocket and slipped into the keyhole. On her door was a bronze "32". "Come on in." She pulled me into her apartment room and... wow. Just, wow.

Despite the shady appearance from the outside, the room looked pretty well kept. The floor wasn't filled with stains and looked fairly clean. The paint on the walls wasn't peeling off. And the furniture looked clean and functional. To my right as I entered was wooden entertainment center with a small TV sitting atop it. In front of the TV was a small futon. Over to the far right was what looked like a small kitchen with a fridge, stove, cupboards, and a sink. Standard issue stuff.

Over to the left was an ajar door that I assumed led to her bedroom. Just beyond the front door, was a fairly sized wooden desk; a closed baby blue laptop rested on top of it next to a desk lamp. Off in the corner of the room next to the kitchen was an area fan that was currently off.

"This is pretty cozy," I said, placing my bags down next to the futon. "How do you keep this place so clean?"

"It's all I got," she said as she entered the compact kitchen, throwing her bag on a small table "Might as well keep it clean, right? Oh, by the way, make yourself at home." I didn't reply as I heard her shuffling around in the kitchen, the fridge open as she bent over to reach for something. I won't lie, I sneaked a few glances while she was sifting through the fridge.

What? Sue me.

I lounged back on the futon, placing my left foot over on the cushioned seat. My legs thanked me as I finally got off my feet after a long day. Letting out a sigh, I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. Though the room was a little stuffy, it was nice and cool. Just as I got comfy, I felt my pocket vibrate and immediately knew who was trying to get a hold of me. Upon reading the text, I saw that it was my mom who decided to message me, wondering where I was.

+Sorry, I forgot to tell you I was stopping by Twister’s place to celebrate. We won!!!+

+Congrats, son!!!! Make sure you don't come home too late! Your sisters and I wanna hear all about it!+

+Will do. See u soon!+

Now I know what you're thinking: why would I lie to my wonderful mother about where I really am? Let me ask you this: wouldn't you, considering the circumstances, do the same? I closed my phone and slid it back into my pocket.

"Hey, Longshot, want something to drink?" She asked from the kitchen. Opening my eyes, I turned to see that she was still sifting through the fridge.

"Well, what do ya got?"

"Some apple cider. Courtesy of Applejack!"

The name sounded familiar. "Uh, sure!"

I could hear the clinking of bottles as she nudged the fridge closed with a bump of her hip. She sauntered over to the living room with, surprisingly, four bottles of cider. More than I asked for, but I wasn’t about to complain. With a devilish grin, she handed me a bottle and set the others down on the coffee table. I inspected the bottle she'd given me and saw a big red apple with the name "Sweet Apple Goodness" emblazoned across it. At the time, I didn't think too much of it.

"Man, you're gonna enjoy these, trust me," she giggled as she twisted her cap off and took a long pull off the bottle. I watched her take a few large gulps before she pulled back sighed blissfully. "Ahhh, that's the good stuff."

Twisting off my own cap, I took a sip from the cider and...

"Grrmph!" I almost choked as I felt the burning liquid swamp the back of my throat. It took me a few moments after I swallowed my sip that took all my willpower not to chuck it up. "Fuck, what's in this?!" Rainbow cackled as I broke into a coughing fit.

"That's hard cider, genius," she held on to her belly as she started laughing madly. "What, don't tell me a big, strong soccer star like you has never had a drink of the hard stuff before." I gave her a look that told her everything she needed to know.

"Wow, I'm impressed," she smiled casually and took another easy sip. "Really, I am."

"Yeah, yeah," I lifted the bottle up to my mouth to take another pull. This one was a little easier since the shock was gone. Now that I was finally able to get a feel for the flavor, the taste was... actually pretty good. The bitterness from the alcohol mixed in incredibly with the sweet flavor of the apple. Taking another look at the bottle, I saw that there was was a small label that said "hard cider" right below the logo.

"Man, you know, this stuff ain't half bad," I laughed, taking yet another sip. "I could get use to this."

"Plenty more where that came from," Rainbow smirked as she took another drink.

I scoffed as I set my bottle down on the coffee table. "So this was your plan tonight? Get me drunk and then have your way with me? Classy. I like it."

"I thought you would, heh," Rainbow gave me a mischievous grin. "But, I kinda thought you'd be up for it."

"What gave you that impression?" I asked, picking my bottle back up.

"Well, I felt your man-knife digging into my leg back on the field..." I was in the middle of a sip when she said this. The sudden jape caused me to choke on my cider and I pulled the classic spit take all over her rug. She suddenly broke out into another fit of wild laughter, her voice cracking as she did so. I struggled to wipe my mouth of the alcoholic apple juice, setting down the bottle before I coughed like a smoker who took a bad drag. When I finally recovered, I looked to see Rainbow struggling to keep a straight face.

"What?" I asked incredulously.

"Jeez, you're a real lightweight aren't you?" She took another deep swig. "You literally can't hold your alcohol."

"S-Shut up," I stammered, "You're like, eighty pounds. There's no way you could drink as much as me."

"What, you wanna have a drinking contest?"

"Maybe, yeah!"

"Okay then, it's your funeral," she got up from her seat and went back into the kitchen, opened up the fridge, and strutted into the living room with TWO whole six packs of hard ciders in tow. They clinked in their packages as she set them down in front of us like we were about to play a very interesting game of Russian roulette or something.

"Where the hell do you get these?" I asked, grabbing my own half full bottle. "You're underage. WE'RE underage." I said, gesturing to the two of us.

"My friend Applejack's family makes some damn good hard cider, and she saves a few six packs for me," she chugged the remainder of her cider and grabbed another one. I went slack jawed as she downed a whole bottle unphased. I didn't know if I should have been impressed or frightened.

"So, I've beaten in you a lotta things," she said, opening a new bottle. "I wonder if I can beat you at this."

"Well let's see about that," I tried chugging the rest of my own cider, wincing as the alcohol burned my throat. After some time passed, I was able to throw it back and I slammed the bottle down on the table. "What'd you think of tha-"

"Man, you're slow," she snickered at me with an easy smile, opening up yet another bottle. I looked down at her side and saw that she downed the one she opened while I was busy with my first drink.

Just what did I get myself into?

"Hey, no fair. You had a head start!" I accused.

"Well let's start again," I nodded and grabbed another bottle, unscrewing the cap. "So, cheers?"

"Cheers," she smiled as we clinked our bottles together.

"Down the hatch!"

Now, I've made a few mistakes here and there. Did a few stupid things that I regret to this day. Had to deal with a lot of backlash, drama and stuff. This, however, was probably up there with spray painting the car of vice principal Luna. Somehow, we ended up sitting on the floor of her apartment, leaning back against the futon. In the middle of our little game, we decided to order some pizzas. A lot of pizzas. Like, two or three. We were really hungry. For some reason, we put on a really bad rom-com movie ironically just to make fun of it in our buzzed state. Things in life were just a tad bit more hilarious after a few drinks.

The two of us were in tears by the end of the movie, which ended in a really awkward and clumsy sex scene which was probably CGI anyways. “Oh ho ho man!” I laughed as I took another bite of pizza. “The fuck was that?! Even porn actors can do better than these amateurs!”

“No kidding!” Dash laughed madly as she washed down her pizza slice with a large swig of her cider. “Jeez, you and I could probably make a better sex scene!”

I turned and gave her a bleary smile. “Oh really? How would you go about doing that?”

“Easy!” she finished yet another drink and slammed the bottle down. In front of us was a graveyard of half empty pizza boxes and finished bottles. The madwoman had two more six packs in her fridge and we got to work on them. “I'm like, ten times hotter, and better, than the actress!”

“Yeah, and I bet I could make you moan louder too!” I said in a drunken slur. “I mean, that dude had some shit moves! And that's coming from a virgin!” While I took another sip from my cider, I saw Dash give me a weird, questioning look.

“You're a virgin?” she asked, all the hilarity from before was suddenly gone. “Wow, I mean, that's… shocking.”

“Whaddaya mean by that? Ain't that a good thing?” I said indignantly. “At least I'm not some asswipe who went for the first tail he could get! I'm o’er here lookin’ for the right woman, y’know?” Dash continued to stare at me as I continued my drunken rant.

“Like, like, like, I don't understand these dudes, who, who, go for these chicks with low self esteem! And then they're braggin’ about it like they deserve a fuckin’ cookie or somethin’!” I took another sip. “Like, honestly, where's my damn medal?! I'm the fuckin’ top scorer for the boys’ team! All these girls comin’ to me like I'm actually interested in talkin’ to ‘em! I just wanna play sports, can't they just leave me alone?! Like. Seriously.”

My rant had no real direction. I just yelled and bitched about whatever came into my mind.

“And then I'm just tryn’a get into the pros! It's my dream!” I lifted the empty bottle up to lips and was slightly heartbroken that there was nothing in it. “Aw, man. All gone. Got anymore?” She blinked once before snapping back to attention.

“Uh, nope,” she laughed nervously, “All gone. That was all I had for the month.”

“Aw, man, now you're breakin’ my heart,” I slurred, setting the bottle down on the coffee table. “Well, at least we still got pizza. I think.” We didn’t. She ate almost everything in the boxes. I wondered where she put it all.

Moments passed before she finally spoke up.

“So, you're really a virgin?” she asked.

“Ayep,” I nodded, pursing my lips. “Ol’ Longshot ain't a boy, but not yet a man.”

“Why?”

“Just never really had time to think about it,” I shook my head, “I was so focused on you.” She stayed quiet after I uttered those words. Her mouth closed as she stared at me, eyes nearly half-lidded. From what I remember, she even looked like she was blushing. In that moment, I felt her inch closer to me.

“I spent all my time training hard to get better,” I continued, unaware of the rainbow-haired girl that was slowly becoming increasingly amorous. “All these girls would come to me, askin’ for my number, pictures, and stuff. I hated it.”

I felt her body leaning up against mine; her breath tickling my neck.

“But… it took me time to finally realize,” her hand slowly moved up and down my arm, goosebumps forming on my skin. “The only number I ever wanted… was yours.” I glanced over at her and… she was giving me this weird look. She wasn't smiling or anything.

Just… she seemed like she looking through me. Her mouth was ajar as she stared at me, eyes half lidded. I felt myself moving my face closer to hers. Snaking my arm behind her lower back, my fingers dug into the soft fabric of her hoodie and pulled her closer to me. Not a word was exchanged between us as we suddenly closed the distance and our lips connected in an alcohol-fueled passion. I groaned as I used my other hand to grab her just below her ear. We turned into a writhing mass, using our hands to explore each other's bodies.

She got up from her spot and sat on my lap, straddling my legs. Dash looked down at me, not with her usual confident smile, but with a look of longing and need. Without thinking, I reached forward and unzipped her hoodie. She pulled it off and tossed the piece of clothing off to another part of the living room. My mouth watered and my heart throbbed with desire as I was finally able to appreciate the details of her wondrous body from this angle.

We resumed our kissing and I smoothly ran my hands up her shirt, relishing in the feeling of her smooth, rippled back. She pulled back, looking me in the eyes as she lifted up the hem of her cotton t-shirt and pulled it over her head. Underneath was a black sports bra. Not wanting her to feel lonely, I pulled up my own shirt, but struggled a little bit since my motor skills were a little impaired.

“Here, lemme help you,” she said breathlessly as she practically ripped off my shirt and tossed it. She stopped for a second to run her hands up and down my chest, a look of hunger evident in her eyes. I almost moaned out loud from the heavenly sensation of her delicate hands smoothly gliding over my skin. It was enough to get me going. I pushed her off my lap and twisted our bodies until she was under me in front of the futon. The rug beneath it was soft, fuzzy, and comfortable. Our lips mashed together furiously as our little game escalated

She removed her hands from the back of my neck and down towards my… hello. I nearly let out a groan as she started fumbling with my belt. My pants loosened as she managed to undo it. Next she went for my zipper and button but they were no match for those swift, delicate little fingers of hers. My trousers were now fully loosened and I felt her start to pull them down my legs.

“Wait.” I said, trying to pull away but she used her free hand to pull me in and suckle on my neck.

“No,” she muttered into me ear. “Please, no.” She twisted our bodies until she was on top. Pulling away, she grabbed the waistline of my pants and forcefully tugged them all the way down to my ankles. I suddenly found myself in my boxers with a turned on female writhing on top of me. Now it was her turn. I shoved her off me and immediately started fumbling with her pants in an effort to remove them. She laughed and squirmed, fighting me every step of the way as I tried to unbutton her pants.

“Heheh- hahahahah!” she squealed, twisting her body around frantically. “That- that tickles!” And she's ticklish too? She's full of surprises. I laughed along with her until I finally was able to unbutton her pants. Leaning back, I pulled the waistband of her tight jeans all the way down and tossed them off to the side, exposing a pair of light gray boy shorts. Now that we were both undressed, I paused to look back up at her. She smiled down at me, an expectant look on her face.

“You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do this,” I said, intense arousal coursing through me.

“Yeah?” she laughed, “I bet you jerk off to fantasies like this every night.” Her pants finally came off and I smirked at her triumphantly before I slowly moved my hands towards the waistband of her underwear. Before I could reach my ultimate prize, she suddenly grabbed my hands.

“Wait,” she said, leaning up and coming out from under me, sitting cross-legged. “So, you really do jerk it to me every night?” A mad blush crept its way onto my cheeks. I looked away in shame, scratching the back of my neck.

“Well, I wasn’t exactly serious when I said that. I was kinda just goin’ with it, ya know?”

She shook her head and laughed. “Heh, yeah, right. Nice tent by the way,” she looked down at my crotch, biting her lip. I gasped as she stretched out her leg and started fondling me with her foot. “Oh yeah, you definitely want a piece of me, don’t ya? I bet you do jerk off to me.”

“I don’t!” I denied her the satisfaction of knowing the truth. There were a few times in the past where I wondered what it’d be like to go twenty toes with her. Okay, more than a few times.

“Don’t lie, Longshot…,” she smiled coyly, “C’mon, admit it. You fantasize about me.”

“No, I don't.” I gasped loudly as her socked foot snaked its way over the waistband of my loose boxers and into my boy’s cloth prison.

“If Applejack were here, she’d beat the shit out of you for lying so blatantly,” she scoffed, “Look at you, you’re as hard as a diamond.” I groaned and squirmed as she used her foot to stroke me from inside my boxers. Goddesses, she knew how to work me over real good. And she was just using her foot!

“She hates liars, and so do I,” she pulled back her foot, crawling over towards me. She pushed me back onto my rear and I had to lean back on my palms. Grabbing my chin, she forced me to look into her eyes, a domineering flame behind them. “Now, I wanna hear you say it.”

“Say what?”

“I want you to confess,” she repeated, “I wanna hear you admit that you have fantasies about me.” I didn’t know why she was doing this. Maybe she wanted to hear my confession so she could lord it over me for the rest of my life.

“W-What if I don’t want to?” I stammered.

“Then I guess you can just make your way to the exit,” she stopped her heavenly ministrations. I almost begged her to keep doing it. Given this ultimatum, I really wanted to fuck the ever loving shit out of her like the goddesses intended me to, but saying no wasn’t going to help me in that endeavor. Looks like she won this round. Again.

“Fine,” I sighed, hanging my head in defeat. “I… have fantasies about you…” I literally growled as I uttered that sentence.

“I’m sorry, what?” she pulled my head up. I felt like I was staring into the eyes of a sexy succubus. “What was that?”

I blushed madly as my eyes darted away from her. “I have fantasies about you,” I said with a little more conviction.

She laughed and shook her head. “Hold on,” she got up from the floor and walked over to her discarded pants, sifting through the pockets until she pulled out her phone.

Was she…? No, she wouldn’t.

Unlocking it, she pointed the camera at me as she sat down once again. Her eyes were focused on the screen as she, presumably, opened the camera app.

Fuck. She would.

“Now, say it one more time,” she asked again, “With feeling. Loud and clear.”

“I-”

“And make sure you look at me.”

I stared incredulously at her. I couldn’t believe what was happening. Here I was sitting in her apartment, half naked with a hard on and all the embarrassment the world could offer. She was recording me like I was doing a taxi cab confession or something. This was absolutely ridiculous, but in my inebriated mind, this was okay to go along with.

“Jeez, sweet goddesses above,” I muttered to myself before looking into the camera with the straightest face I could offer. “Rainbow Dash, I have sweet fantasies about you. There, I said it now put away the camera.”

She shook her head and laughed. “I wanna see it now,” she said.

I raised a brow at her.

“I wanna see how you do it,” she continued, a sly smile on her face. “I wanna see how you take care of yourself when you’re alone. Go on, do it.” This was unreal. Yet, it was happening. It was absurd. Embarrassing. Emasculating, even. This crazy chick was literally asking me to jerk off in front of her. She gave me the grin of a shit eater as she tauntingly started running her hand up and down her thigh; the other giving attention to her left breast.

Fuck sakes. I was so drunk and horny at the time, I just… had to go along with it. Judge me as you will, but I had to do what I had to do.

“Fine,” I groaned and shook my head, pulling down the waistband of my shorts, fully releasing my boy from his prison. To be honest, I wasn’t the biggest, but the way her eyes were lighting up when she saw me in all my glory, she looked like she was receiving a really expensive Christmas present.

“Do it. Slowly.”

Nodding, I grabbed my dick and started doing my business right in front of her. No, not that kind of business. I started pleasuring myself for her sick enjoyment. Was she taking advantage of me? Maybe. Was I enjoying it? Hell yeah. Groaning silently, I continued working on myself, while Rainbow watched with fiendish amusement, sitting on her side, palm laying flat on the ground. The moments ticked by. I kept at it while she watched. I didn’t necessarily go at a fast pace, but just fast enough to actually make it feel good. Letting another groan, I saw her smile widen.

“Faster,” she demanded. I looked over to where she sat, giving her a bemused look. “Don’t look at me, keep going! Faster!” Without any warning, she stripped off her shorts in a flash and crawled over to me.

“Say, ‘ahh’,” she said, but I refused. Suddenly, she reached forward and grabbed hold of my scrotum, quite roughly I might add. My mouth opened involuntarily and she stuffed her underwear into my mouth. I let out a yelp but she held a finger to my now gagged mouth.

“I don’t wanna hear it,” she said sternly, frowning at me, “Now, keep going.” I couldn’t breathe right with the underwear stuffed into my mouth, which, now that I think about it, had a bit of a sweet taste to it. Strangely enough, that only made my arousal skyrocket.

“How ‘bout a little persuasion?” she said as she leaned back, propping herself up with an elbow. Spreading her legs wide open, I now had full view of her privates. Much to my expectation, she was cleanly shaven. “Yeah, you like what you see?” I couldn’t help but stare as she started rubbing up and down her quickly moistening slit with her right hand, biting her lip as she did so. I started making my way towards her, but she pressed her foot against my chest.

“Where do you think you’re going?” she smirked at me, “Go ahead and resume your little vacation. And keep those shorts in there if you know what’s good for you. Momma don’t like it when her kids are disobedient.” I never took Rainbow for a dominatrix type in the bedroom- or rather, living room, in this case- since I always imagined she’d be the submissive type. Considering I had used underwear in my mouth, I’d say I missed this shot by a mile.

For the next few minutes, we watched each other get off… to each other. She moaned quietly although just enough for me to hear her. I kept quiet most of the time, however, it was when I started feeling the familiar burning in my lower belly did sounds escape from my mouth. I watched with fervent fascination as she furiously fingered herself to me; wet noises filled the atmosphere of the small apartment room. The point of no return was approaching for me. I wanted her so badly, but of course, she had to turn this into a fucking competition. Heh, get it? Fucking competition? Anyways, I imagined she wanted to see who would climax first. Man, there was no way I was gonna let her win.

Although, from how frantic her moaning became, I’d say I was in the lead. Her eyes became half lidded and rolling back into her head as she was becoming overtaken by the tidal wave of pleasure she gave herself. Meanwhile, my own end was on the way.

“You stop now, you lose,” she managed to gasp out. “Don’t you fucking dare stop.” I smirked at her through the underwear in my mouth. My nostrils burned from the cold air as my pace involuntarily quickened. I found myself becoming desperate for some sort of release.

“Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah,” Rainbow moaned out with exasperation, her eyes closed and head thrown back as her end was near. I hissed and groaned as the fire in my belly grew into a raging inferno.

“Ah- ah- Ahhhhhhhh~!” Rainbow wailed as she suddenly fell onto her back, spasming and twisting violently as her whole body was rocked by a powerful orgasm. Her toes clenched and her knuckles turned white as she scratched at the rug.

I smiled and cheered silently to myself as I stopped just before the dam broke. Before I could catch my breath, I quickly made my way over to where she lay on the floor, broken by her own climax. She bore a silly-looking smile, but she looked as though was in heaven.

Now, however, it was my turn.

Her mouth was open and I got a devilish idea of my own. As quickly and quietly as I could, I grabbed her underwear and a tore off my socks from my feet. I then tied them together in a firm knot, giving them a few test pulls. Rainbow was still seemingly passed out, so I still had a chance to put my plan into action.

It was now or never. I immediately jumped on her prone figure, using my weight to hold her down.

“What the hell are ya- umpf!” I stuffed the underwear into her mouth before she could utter another word. I used the tied up socks and held her fidgeting hands together, double-knotting them with skillful ease around her wrists. Her hands were now bound together with my cotton tube socks. Now that she couldn’t give any smart ass retorts, OR resist me, I got up from on top of her, placing my arms on either side of her body. She stared up at me with a curious glare, wondering just what the hell she was doing.

Man, was she about to find out.

“You know, I never took you for the dominating type,” I said, smiling casually, “But… I say consider this as payback. You know, for making do what I did. Yes, I do have fantasies about and yes I do jack off to you. Is this one of those fantasies? Nah, but I have a feeling it’s about to.”

Her eyes softened with fear as she wordlessly wondered where I was going with this. However, beneath that, I could sense excitement. Her body trembled with every touch. I slid my hands all the way down from her shoulders, stopping to admire the softness of her perky, yet charmingly small breasts. I slid them down past her toned abdomen, her curvy hips, and then down to her narrow slit. Something was telling me she was a virgin. I didn’t care. Deep down, I could feel a hunger. And when there was a hunger, a man has to eat.

“I feel like eating a bit south of the border,” I chuckled, getting down on all fours. She closed her legs in modesty, but I firmly, yet gently parted them again, leaving my prize wide open. With not another moment to waste, I leaned forward, sticking out my tongue as I gave her a taste test. I ran my tongue all the way up and down her slit, which was currently still damp from her vigorous fingering. This was something I’d been wanting to do for a long time.

Licking up and down with a sensual grace, Rainbow suddenly started spasming, her hips bucking as I worked on her. In order to keep her down, I held on to her thighs tightly. She moaned, nearly screamed through the piece of clothing in her mouth, frantically trying to breathe. I felt some pity towards her, but I felt she deserved it a little. This was, after all, payback for everything she’s done and said to me.

I didn’t hate her. I didn’t do this out of hate, nor out of lust. The feelings I had for her were strong. I was doing this because I wanted to. More than anything else. Especially with her. If there was ever a girl I’d want to give my virginity to, it was her. Ever since we first met, it was always her. And now, I got my wish. I was finally doing it with Rainbow Dash, the athletic prodigy of Canterlot High School. All those other girls in the school didn’t matter to me. They never did. As of now, they were all just distant memories.

She let out one final moan, arching her back as if she was being exorcised. Her womanhood convulsed around my mouth and constricted my tongue as it tried to milk the cock it so desperately needed.

Which I was going to give. Right now.

I pulled down my boxers to my lower thighs and quickly got myself into position, hovering my tip over her entrance.

“Mmm! Mmm!” she seemed to be begging for my attention. Not wanting to hurt her, I looked up and saw that she had a pleading expression. Puzzled, I pulled the underwear out of her mouth. “Wait… It’s… my…”

She struggled to catch her breath, sweat pouring down her cheeks.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I’m… I’m a virgin…” That sentence hit me like a truck. “I’ve… never been penetrated before. By anything!” she seemed legitimately frightened at this point. The girl who was stuffing her shorts into my mouth and watching me jackoff was suddenly telling me she’s never been penetrated.

This woman… I sure know how to pick ‘em don’t I?

“I… okay,” I let out a deep breath. “I’ve never done this either so… I might need your help a little. And this might hurt a little bit.” she nodded in compliance. “Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle.” To give her extra assurance, I planted a soft kiss on her lips, allowing it to linger for several seconds. Pulling my hips back, I grabbed my shaft with my hand and pressed up against her delicate petals. We both gasped as our sexes made contact for the first time. For me, it felt so warm, wet, and… inviting. I spared a glance up at her, just to make sure she was alright. With no sign of objection from her, I pushed in and entered her.

Inch by inch, I pushed my way in. She writhed below me, eyes closed as she moaned aloud from being filled up for the first time. Shockingly, I felt little to no resistance as I pushed further and further inward. I let out an involuntary moan from the sensation. It felt as if my manhood was suddenly ten times warmer than any other part of my body.

“Oh, shit,” I murmured, finally reaching my full length as our hips touched. Man, she took every inch of me inside her.

“Unf, it feels like you’re in my stomach,” she moaned out.

“Are you okay? Do you want me to pull out?” I offered.

“No,” she shook her head violently. “Fuck me. Gimme all you got.”

“You sure-”

“Yes, I’m sure,” she half-shouted, writing impatiently. “Now, just fuck the shit outta me, you halfwit!”

I nodded and started thrusting my hips in and out. The sensation was like no other. I slid in and out of her velvety insides, the lubrication from her arousal made it seem so much smoother. By the fucking heavens, this was so much better than I thought it would feel! The fact that I was doing this with the girl of my dreams somehow made this just as sweet. I leaned down close to her face, making sure that she looked me in the eye while I fucked her. Loud slapping noises filled the room as we made love for the first time and, hopefully, it would not be the last time. She moaned my name loudly as she bit down on my shoulder, though not so hard as to draw blood. We continued in this position for what felt like an eternity, but was probably only several minutes.

“Turn me around,” she demanded. I quickly complied and turned her body around until she was flat on the ground.

This is what I was waiting for. Her bound hands were behind her back as she lowered her head to floor and raised her ass up high in the air. I nearly drooled with anticipation as I ran my hand over the curve of her small, yet beautifully toned rear. It was almost as if it was hand carved by the Goddesses themselves. She spread her legs wide enough and used what she could of her hands to spread her ass cheeks wide enough for me to get an eyeful of her. I spent another few moments admiring my favorite feature about her, massaging, squeezing, and groping every inch of it. She almost seemed to go cross eyed from the sensation.

“Fuck me,” she begged. I grabbed my shaft and pressed the tip against her entrance once again, and, for what would probably be the last time for the night. Previously, I had warmed myself up and I nearly came when we first started. Now, it felt like my lower body was on fire. No, my whole body felt hot. Though I was fatigued from the soccer game, the extra fuel I got from the boys downstairs seemed to energize me. I couldn’t say the same for my stamina however. One good push would probably throw me over the edge.

I needed to finish. She’d finished twice already. It was time I got some attention.

My hips smacked against her luscious ass as I fucked her with a newfound vigor. I hunched over her small figure like a predator feasting on his prey, leaning all my weight on her to assert my dominance. With each and every thrust, she would press her ass up against my hips, wordlessly egging me on. She stared up at me with a soft, loving look in her eye. They say actions speak louder than words. I would agree with that. I leaned my chin on her shoulder, nibbling on her neck, groaning with every thrust. She didn’t need to say anything. I knew how she was feeling. Now that we were doing this, our bond only grew stronger.

Before I knew it, the time was near.

“Fuck,” I groaned into her ear. “I’m gonna come.”

“Not inside,” she begged, “Here, untie me.”

“Why?” I slowed my hips down.

“Just do it. And sit down on the sofa.” Doing what she told me, I untied her hands and sat back on the couch, where she then sat between my legs. “You’ll like this, trust me.”

She then unhooked her sports bra and allowed it to fall to the floor, exposing her breasts. They were as perfectly sculpted as the rest of her body. Then, she grabbed my dick and began stroking up and down, right before she drooled all over it, adding extra lubrication.

“Ah, fuck,” I groaned, throwing my head back against the sofa. “I’m almost there.”

“C’mon, big boy,” she giggled mischievously, gaining some of her usual confidence back. “Come for Momma.” A chill ran down my spine when she uttered those words, giving me that seductive smirk she wore so well. The sight was too much for me. Now, prior to this day, I had not bothered to take care of myself for a good week. I was too focused on the soccer game.

I let out one final groan as a huge wave of relief and pleasure spread throughout my entire body. My eyes shut tightly as I let out a series of gasps and silent screams while Rainbow continued to massage my spasming cock, coaxing out as much of my seed as possible. My lower muscles clenched from the powerful orgasm she graciously gave me and I hissed with each spurt I sent flying. When the euphoria finally ran out, and my boy finally began to relax, I peeked an eye open to see that most of Rainbow’s chest was covered in my spunk, most of it dripping down to her abdomen.

“Wow,” she marveled at the mess I made. “You came like a broken garden hose. Looks like someone was a little backed up.”

I cracked a tired smile. “Yep, I saved it all for you.”

“Good,” she laughed, rising up from the floor. Much to my shock, and joy, she dabbed her finger on some of my man sauce and brought it to her mouth for a taste. “Hmm, not as bad as I thought it would be. It’s kinda sweet actually.”

“Been eating a lot of fruit lately,” I chuckled, shrugging my sore shoulders.

“Well, even though it was both our first times, you were pretty good,” she laughed, picking up my shirt and used it to wipe herself clean. Okay, she did that on purpose.

“Thanks, you were fucking amazing-”

“But!” she interrupted.

“But?” I asked, completely stupefied, eyes bulging from the sockets.

“We’re not quite through yet,” she said as she stretched out her back and neck in front of me. I heard popping noises as her bones moved back into place. I was a little too busy admiring her figure to notice what was about to happen.

“Huh?” I asked, dumbfounded before she got back on all fours below me.

“Ready for round two?” I swore I heard a boxing ring bell go off in the distance before she reared back like and pounced on me like a cat.

Dear Goddesses grant me the strength to pull through this…

Later on…

“Wow…”

Silence, as well as the smell of sweat and shame, permeated the air of the small apartment. My body was damp, sticky, and stuck to the shaggy carpet that we used as a makeshift bed. Dash lay next to me, our feet on opposite ends as we lounged together on the floor. She was on her back with her left foot dangling from her knee as she rested her hands behind her head. I laid on my side, propping myself up with an elbow as I gazed at her.

Her hair was an absolute mess. Her cheeks were still red, though her breathing had finally slowed down after we finished… thoroughly exploring each other. After our first romp, we continued our little game for the next four… five… maybe six hours. I was nearing unconsciousness after our fourth round, but I somehow managed to stay awake, though we stopped periodically to rest and rehydrate. Her skin glistened with sweat and it made her seem like she was glowing.

Was it that good, you ask? Well, yeah. It was.

“That was something…” she muttered to herself, stretching her body out before turning to face me. A tired smile rested on her face.

“I’ll say.” Over the course of our little sexcapade, we tried almost everything we could think of that ranged from bondage, to blindfolds, to spanking, to roleplay. Speaking of roleplay, she decided to bust out this… intriguing outfit she had for just such an occasion. Said intriguing outfit was comprised of a girl’s uniform from her old school that was one size too small and heavily modified. I definitely had a fun time with my… student.

“I dunno about you, but I’m pooped,” she breathed out a sigh, closing her eyes for a brief moment before opening them back up and gazing at me with those pink gems of hers. Behind them was the warm glow of passion and what might have even felt like love. She reached over to me and held my cheek with her hand. “Man, you’re really awesome. You know that?” The only person she ever called awesome was herself. If she was willing to let go of her ego for me, then I must be something special. I smiled and gently kissed the hand she held my cheek with, taking hold of it with my own.

“Not as awesome as you are,” I said in the gentlest tone I could muster. For awhile, neither of us said a word. We simply basked in each other’s presence. The closeness and intimacy I felt with her was a comforting sensation. Not only that, I loved looking at her body. She was a goddess in human form. I explored every single one of those soft curves that ran along her small form and enjoyed every second of it. I loved running my hands up and down her smooth skin.

It all felt too unreal for me. I might as well have died and gone to heaven. Even though I didn’t know too much about her as a person, there was only so much you could learn about someone through mere words. Through the years of constantly competing with her, I learned more than I ever could. I learned that she’s loyal to her friends and teammates, hates losing, and will do whatever it takes to win. Maybe, just maybe, our journey together wasn’t over.

Maybe the Goddesses had more in store for us than I thought.

“Hey, Longshot,” she said in a half-whisper. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure thing,” I whispered back.

“Would you stay with me?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Even though I can be an asshole with you?” she asked, her expression becoming unsure. “It’s happened in the past. Boys didn’t like me because of me. Turned them off. Most of them only wanted me for my body…”

She looked away from me, but I grabbed her chin and forced her to look me in the eye.

“Listen, I don’t want you for just your looks,” I pulled her in and gave her a quick peck on the lips. “I’d think twice before I ever thought of using you for sex like that. ‘Cause I know you’d kick my ass for that,” she giggled tiredly at my little joke. “I want you for you.”

“R-Really?” she started choking up, tears forming in her eyes.

“Really, really,” I confirmed, pressing my forehead against hers, the biggest grin on my face. She suddenly started giggling, pecking me on the lips repeatedly, whispering “thank you, thank you” over and over again. She repositioned her body again, this time lying down directly beside me. We were both sweaty as hell, but I didn’t care. I was too tired for a shower anyway. She pulled down a wool blanket and a large pillow from the futon, placing it below our heads and covering us up. I reached over to check my phone briefly.

It was almost four in the morning. Time for bed. Rainbow pressed her body close to mine, laying her head down on top of my chest, clutching me tightly. I wrapped my own arm around her neck. The room was cool from the air conditioning and the area fan Dash had. We had turned down the lights prior to collapsing, a small night light was plugged into an outlet next to the kitchen. Sleep eluded me for a while. My lover’s breathing had become steady and rhythmic. I could tell that she had fallen asleep. But I couldn’t help it. My mind wouldn’t shut off. I thought about everything that had led up to this moment. I thought back to the time we first met on the soccer pitch. She had shorter hair back then. Short hair to match her short temper. Damn, calling her "my lover" felt strange, but good in a way.

Then, I thought about the very first time we competed against each other. A one-on-one basketball game during break. She beat me of course. I started thinking of how hard I trained so I could beat her. All those hours I spent on the field and in the weight room, making myself stronger. All those miles I ran and the shoes I wore out. I was chasing something. What was it? Of course, I thought I was chasing victory. I wanted to win. I thought that was the most important thing.

But now, my thinking has changed a bit: winning isn’t the most important thing. Not by a long shot. Looking down at my unconscious bedmate, I gently kissed her on the forehead and she giggled softly in her sleep. As I closed my eyes, in that moment, it came to me. I had finally realized just what I had been chasing after:

A rainbow.

Epilogue

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.