Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Rainbow Dash felt like she could see the ball coming from anywhere.

   It was like a breeze to her, seeing it jump from player to player like a blur of blue and yellow colors, but her eyes saw it almost like in slow motion. She observed the way the players from the opposite team received the ball, calm and concentrated at first as it was passing through the defence.

   Then, the speed increased. Her eyes followed every step, her hands perfectly positioned in front of the net, waiting for the attack. It would happen very soon, she saw other teams do that trick many times before, and she patiently waited for the moment she’d see the slight movement of the setter’s hands aiming at the player that was going to make the attack.

   Sure, the setter’s body was all pointed to number 4 on her right, that’s why her team’s defense were more concentrated there, but they weren’t really looking at the setter’s face while she was making the move. Her pupils were in the corner of her eyes, looking at the other side as if waiting for someone, and there she was. Number 8 emerged to the left as soon as the ball was passed to her and she thought no one would notice.

   But it was already too late. Unfortunately for them, Rainbow was already there.

   She jumped in sync with the ball right on time to see Number 8’s face of disappointment as she saw the ball ricochet off Rainbow’s right hand, touch the net and go down to the narrow space between her and her other partner, too fast for anyone in the other team to even react.

   “Great move, Rainbow.” said Fluttershy in a low voice behind her.

   “Thanks.”

   All the players came for a hug and Rainbow lifted her face to see the scoreboard as it moved one point up at her team’s favor. It was always a pleasure every time that happened, no matter how small was the difference or even if the game had only started, they were one more point closer to winning now.

   And the cheering… she could hear people saying her name in the crowd.

   That was pretty cool too.

   It was already 20 against the other team’s 17, and Rainbow was sure that at least half of their points were her doing. She wasn’t really counting the points she made on the other 2 though, she only knew they finished in 25-20 in the last set and 25-18 in the first one, which was considered by her as a hands down victory.

   Even if Rainbow wasn’t the one scoring, she often made the decisive move that led to the other team players to score. Not that she wanted to brag or anything, but the others would be in big trouble if she weren’t in their team, and that was a fact. The other team already lost two sets, they had to win that one if they didn’t want to be out of the competition, and they would be winning by now if it wasn’t for her fast moves.

   Then came the moment when they were most likely to lose a point: it was Fluttershy’s turn to serve. She could see her friend’s hand shaking as she was given the ball, her eyes turned to her while getting ready, and Rainbow gave her the smile she was waiting for.

   You can do it, she was trying to say, but despite all her efforts not to show it, she couldn’t tell if Fluttershy was reading her face. If she was, she’d see that that wasn’t what she believed at all.

   Fluttershy was very good at blocking, she was the tallest in their team, and being tall like she was, you’d expect her to also be good at serving, but that wasn’t really the case. She could do it in their trainings just fine, it wasn’t the best serve ever, but it was good enough.

   The problem is that serving was the only moment where everything depended on only one player, she needed to do that all alone, and being there in the State Championship, the most important thing they’ll ever be doing in their Middle School, with all the eyes looking at her, she knew this was what Fluttershy hated the most.

   To be honest, Rainbow didn’t know how she convinced her to play volleyball in the first place.

   Her hands were a little sweaty, she took a deep breath and lifted the ball as soon as she was given the permission. It seemed like it was going to pass over the net, but by half a ball, it ended up staying on their side of the court.

   She heard the whistle.

   “I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash.”

   Rainbow looked at the score once more, now it was 20 to 18, a little bit closer, but no need to panic. They were still going to win, the difference just couldn’t be smaller than that.

   Cloudsdale were one of the favorites to win the tournament, it has been quite a while since the last time they lost a game, Rainbow didn’t even remember what defeat sounded like anymore, and she hoped she wouldn’t be reminded of that anytime soon, specially to a school that almost never competed on anything. How was Ponyville in the quarter finals anyway? That was the real question, they were nothing but a small middle school in the same district as Canterlot.

   And if Cloudsdale wins this one set, they already are in the semifinals.

   It was number 4’s turn to serve, her ball came on a curve and fell perfectly into Rainbow’s hands, thank God. She passed it to the setter and before she knew it, it was one more point in their favor.

   21 to 18. They were pretty close now.

   They passed the ball to her and she prepared to serve. There was one spot right in the back were no one was protecting, it was a little risky, but if she sent the ball there, she could do an ace. And if she did it again, it’d be 23-18, just two points away from victory.

   When she heard the sound, Rainbow lifted the ball and hit it. She stretched her neck to see where it went, and it fell right in the corner.

   She did it, that was one hell of an ace.

   Rainbow was going for a group hug when she saw the other team doing the same. It was only then that she looked at referee, his hand wasn’t pointing towards her side. She had just lost a point.

   “Wait, a point for them?” Rainbow asked the referee, she almost couldn’t believe it.

   “Your ball was out.”

   The other players in her team came to ask if the point was right, but the referee was sure of his statement. She missed it by one inch or two, now it was 21-19.

   Stupid, stupid.

   “Don’t worry, Rainbow, we’re still winning.” said Fluttershy on her side.

   “Yeah I know.”

   But it would’ve been perfect, this was supposed to be the move to make the coaches gawk, she was sure to enter the main team in high school if she had made that ace, no doubts about that.

   And by only one inch, she missed her best opportunity.

                                          [...]

To say that things went downhill after that was an understatement. The other team somehow managed to keep it up, they followed them closely, hoping for the time where they would fail.

   And it happened, it fucking happened.

   They lost that set, 26 to 24.

   Something had changed in that team. They were more focused, she couldn’t tell if it was the speech the blondie setter gave during a time break, Rainbow didn’t hear any of it, but that seemed to have motivated them in some way. They were more organized and were making fewer mistakes, even started up front in the fourth set, which was already making her uneasy.

   Sure, Cloudsdale managed to recover, but it went pretty much like the ending of the third set, with the exception that now it was Ponyville that had the advantage.

   And it ended up almost the same as the last.

   25 to 23. For them.

   “We won’t let’em get the victory tonight!” Rainbow said to her teammates before entering the court for their third set. “No more mistakes, we won’t take it easy on them, let’s do what we were doing in the first two sets, I want that team back! Who’s with me?”

   All of the other players shouted in agreement.

   “I’m with you.” Fluttershy raised her hand.

   “Flutters, no offense, but… I don’t think you can play this set.” She put a hand on her shoulder. “You know, you seem tired and… we’re really needing someone that has a powerful serve, someone like Angel Wings.”

   “Oh… yes. Ok, then.”

   “I know you understand.”

   “Yes, no problems, Rainbow.”

   They scratched their muscles and went into position for the fifth set to start. The team was more rested now. Along with Fluttershy, some of the players that were more tired were substituted and everyone tried to regain their spirit.

   Rainbow knew what to do now, she feared she had taken their setter for granted, their Number 9 was hands down the best player on that team, it was her she had to get her eyes on.

   That blondie may be good, she could give her that, but she wasn’t Rainbow Dash.

   They started the set winning. Angel Wings’s serving made them stay 2 points ahead right at the beginning, and Rainbow was able to make a few points and block their attacks by reading Number 9’s movements. It was all going according to plan.

    One of Rainbow’s amazing spikes made their eleventh point, but Ponyville scored soon after, so now it was 11-9.

   And it was time for Number 9 to serve.

   As soon as they heard the whistle, the sound of her palm against the ball echoed through the whole court. She was careful enough not to serve the ball at Rainbow’s direction, so she aimed at the players she knew weren’t that good at catching, and she made it, it was one more point for them.

   What Rainbow wasn’t expecting was that she was going to make it again.

   Everyone was waiting for another ball like that one, they were hoping she would send it to the back, but her next ball barely made the net and fell up front, there was no one there to catch it.

   “Blossomfourth, why did you get out of your position?” you were supposed to be facing the net!” Rainbow shouted at the middle blocker.

   “Hey! How was I supposed to know the ball would be so short? Someone had to be guarding the middle.”

   “I was guarding the middle, this is the job for the people in the back!” she raged. “I told you, no more mistakes.”

   “Yeah, ok. Whatever you say, boss.”

   Boss. Yeah, she was right, Rainbow was the boss, but that was because it seemed like no one else had the competence to be. It was 11-11 now, all because of two moves, two consecutive dumb mistakes that could’ve been avoided. They could’ve closed the set by now.

   She didn’t let Number 9 make another point though. She sent it right to the middle, and Rainbow rushed to catch it right before it fell to the ground. Her team attacked, the ball touched the block and went out.

   But they never got more tham two points ahead again. Cloudsdale still had the advantage, but just by one point, Ponyville was always scoring after them. Soon it was 17-16, they only needed to get this one point to break the cycle, then she could finally send these Ponyville folks back home.

   It was a challenging game, props to them for lasting that long, but that show had to be over.

   Her team served. She looked at the ball as the libero caught it and the team started passing. Soon it got to Number 9 again as expected, and Rainbow waited to see her passing it to number 8. She was already preparing to jump, but that never happened.

   She didn’t pass the ball. Instead, she scored the point herself.

   Number 9 knew they’d be expecting her to set the ball, she was the setter after all, and taking advantage of that, she jumped pretending she was going to do it and just slid the ball to their side of the court. This time, Rainbow couldn’t read her moves.

   She could hear some people on the stands cheering her on now. Traitors.

   “How’s that for a point?” she heard her mocking through the net with a funny accent.

   This Number 9 girl was starting to fucking piss her off.

   Now they were face to face. She was a little bit taller, but Rainbow never let this intimidate her, she wanted to see if this girl could really keep up.

   It took a while for someone to score, no one was willing to let the other team take the advantage. The ball went to their side, then to the other, then to theirs again and when their libero caught it, the ball went so sloppy that no one in the defence managed to lift it up again.

   17 to 18. Damm it.

   She snapped her neck and her arms, preparing for the next round. It was the first time Ponyville came in front during the entire fifth set, everyone in the bench and in the stands were apprehensive, she could see Fluttershy bitting her nails from there.

   Ponyville served the ball. It went right into the libero’s hand, she passed it to the setter and Rainbow rushed to get to a place where she could avoid the block. She hit it as soon at it was set to her, but number 8 was able to get there quickly and sent the ball back.

   Angel Wings dove to the ground and caught it, bumping to the back of the court where Blossomfourth dig it to the front again right into Vapor Trail’s hand. Her spike touched the block and went to the other team’s defence, their opposite hitter sent a spike that touched Rainbow’s hand, slowing it down for the defence to catch.

   They prepared to attack again. Rainbow  and Vapor jumped at the same time, they didn’t know who would end up receiving the ball, but it turned out to be Rainbow.

   She saw a perfect place where the ball could land, but her spike was prevented.

   By number 9. Again.

   They fought for the ball midair. Rainbow tried to push it to the other side, but her arms were longer, she hit it where her hand didn’t reach and Rainbow saw through the corner of her eye as the ball passed next to her right arm and into the ground. And this time, there was no one there to save it.

   She was expecting to hear that number 9’s hand had touched the net or that she went over, it was the only chance she had. But then she heard the whistle, the referee pointed his arm to the other team.

   It was over.

   They… lost.

   She looked at her other team players. They were all sweaty, tired, disappointed, all leaving the court quickly, not a single one made eye contact with her. But Rainbow didn’t want to go, she wanted to play one more time, it couldn’t be over yet, it just couldn’t.

   After all they’ve been through to be there, they’d be going home with nothing.

   “Come’on, Rainbow, you did great today.” Fluttershy held her arm, trying to get her out of the court. “It’s not your fault.”

   Of course it wasn’t her fault, she knew whose fault was that.

   She couldn’t stop looking at Ponyville while they celebrated. It should’ve been Cloudsdale doing it, it was their turn to be the champions, it had been five years since the last time her school won that tournament, she was convinced their bad luck would stop this year because this time they had her.

   But there they were, smiling, hugging. Number 4, number 8… she didn’t even bother to learn their names, they didn’t matter. Number 9 was also there, obviously, her blond hair with two hair ties at both ends of her ponytail. Now she saw her name on the back of her shirt, she’d never seen her in any of the volleyball competitions she’d participated on.

   Who was this… Applejack anyway? Where had she been all this time?

   “Yeah, ok then” she gave Fluttershy her answer. “let’s go home.”

Chapter Text

Everything was piece and quiet until Rainbow felt a pillow hitting her right in the face.

“Rainbow Dash!” she opened her eyes to see her mother standing angrily at the door. “How many times do I have to tell you to get up?”

“I’m going, mom.” Her voice came a little hoarsely, she cleaned her throat and, fighting the urge to stay for just 5 more minutes, Rainbow got out of bed. She didn’t hear it, but she was sure Windy had called her countless times, she’d kill her if she didn’t get up that instant.

Her bangs were messy just like it always was every morning, a lock of rainbow hair was covering her eyes, so she combed it to the side and used her hair straightener to keep it that way. After that, she changed her clothes, thinking about what would be best fitting to wear on a first day of high school. A Nike t-shirt, sneakers and leggings should be fine, honestly, she wouldn’t think of anything better than that anyway.

Attracted to the delicious smell from downstairs, she almost forgot about her turtle. Tank was quiet in his aquarium, she didn’t know at what time Windy had fed him the day before, so she gave him some more.

“There, there, food is here, buddy.” she touched his hull to wake him up. “Mommy will be back in the afternoon.”

That sounded so much like Fluttershy all of a sudden, it seemed like her stay was already taking effect on her behavior.

Tank’s aquarium was on a dresser facing her bed, and on the wall above it was where her dad had nailed her old shelf full of everything she’s ever won, all laid out exactly like they were back home. The trophies, medals, even the participation ones that her mother decided to keep, they also came with some photos of her and the team, her parents never seemed to miss any shot.

They were put in chronological order, the ones on the top shelf were the oldest, there she had her first participation medal for the Little Kickers that she won when she was 4, the next was a small trophy she won in the swim team when she was 6 or 7, the first thing she’s ever competed.

From that on, most of the medals and trophies were from volleyball. On the second shelf she had a silver medal and a trophy for when her team got second place in the Junior Volleyball Association, her first gold medal in the elementary team, and a couple more stuff she got from her local club back in Cloudsdale.

Now that Rainbow was going to high school, she needed to rearrange more space to put new awards. There was still a place left in the lower shelf, she had reserved that spot for the trophy she’d get in the Middle School State Championship, but that ended up not happening.

“RAINBOW DASH!” she heard her mom yell from downstairs. She got distracted once again, it was her ADHD speaking.

“COMING!”

She rushed through the staircase to find the table already prepared for breakfast. Fluttershy had just made pancakes and was putting them on a pile, that was where the smell was coming from. Rainbow sat on her usual seat where a plate was already put for her and served herself.

“I thought you guys had already had breakfast by now with you calling me like that.” She said it to her mother.

“We didn’t, but you’d go to school without breakfast if I hadn’t called you.” Windy answered. “Can you pass me the syrup?”

The pancakes were delicious, Rainbow knew Fluttershy could cook, it was something she learned from her mother, but she didn’t know she was that good.

“So, Rainbow, are you excited for your first day at the new school?” her dad asked at the other end of the table.

“Oh yeah, specially with the sports program they have.”

“And it’s all thanks to your mother, you know” Windy started saying. “I was also thinking about you when I applied for this job, I know they have one of the best volleyball teams of the state, better than the one I had when I was your age.”

“I know. They’re Canterlot, after all.”

“Yeah, they are. And soon you’re gonna be so good that you’ll surpass me.”

Rainbow gave her a smirk. “…It’s not gonna be that difficult, I’m already awesome.” This made her mother smile, rolling her eyes at the sillyness.

“Did you look at the school to see how you can enter the volleyball team?”

“No, dad, they’re still going to tell us about that, possibly today.” She took a sip of her chocolate milk. “me and Fluttershy are going to sign up. Right, Flutter?”

Fluttershy nodded timidly, only now Rainbow realized she haven’t even sit yet, she was in front of the sink already washing the dirty dishes from the pancakes she made.

“Honey, go sit, you don’t need to do all of this.”

“I know, Mrs. Whistles, but I really want to. I want to be useful.”

“You already were very useful this morning, your pancakes are delicious. Sit and eat with us before Rainbow eats everything.” her dad said. Rainbow let out a gasp.

“Hey!” she grumbled, but Bow’s words were what finally made Fluttershy sit.

Rainbow still couldn’t believe her mother agreed to have Fluttershy live with them. Canterlot was a few hours away from Cloudsdale, they wouldn’t have time to see each other very often, and Fluttershy was already worried about how she’d handle high school with Rainbow not being around, so moving to Canterlot with her best friend’s family must have been a relief to her.

Her parents were supporting her by sending money every month, Rainbow’s family weren’t spending anything more with her being there; but for Fluttershy, it still wasn’t enough.
It wasn’t the first time she did something similar since they moved in. A couple of days before, she found Fluttershy taking care of her mother’s garden, she said she really liked gardening so it wasn’t a problem at all, even though they’d just moved there and the plants haven’t even grown yet.

That same week Rainbow found Fluttershy cleaning her room, it was a mess and Rainbow had promised to clean it, but by the end of the day she always ended up forgetting and just wanted to rest after practicing a lot. Then one day, she got home and her bedroom was completely clean, Rainbow told her best friend this wasn’t necessary and that she didn’t need to feel like a visitor now that she lived with them, but she couldn’t deny she kinda wanted it to happen again. Cleaning her room was boring as hell.

“Are you ready to go?” Windy asked them.

“No, wait!” Rainbow swallowed what was left of the pancakes, drank one more sip of milk and left the table.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

She looked at her mother for a few seconds.

“Ah, right...” she took her plate and mug and put them on the sink.

…

Their home wasn’t as close to school as it was when they lived in Cloudsdale, she was used to going to school on foot or bike, but this was the house they were able to afford. The good thing was that they’d always have Windy to give them a lift, she got a job in their school as an elementary P.E teacher, they’d only stay in different buildings.

Rainbow got out of the car and looked at the entrance in front of her. It must have been twice the size of her old school, with twice the amount of students. There were groups of people talking near the stairs and some entering the building, where in front of it was a statue of a horse, the school’s symbol.

This wasn’t news to her, she’d already been to Canterlot for tournaments, but this time it was different. She wasn’t in rival’s land anymore, this was her home now.

“It’s so… huge.” Fluttershy commented next to her.

“Yeah, isn’t that awesome?” Rainbow said excitedly, pulling her arm. “Come’on, let’s go in!”

They went through the entrance and followed the crowd. Rainbow didn’t know exactly where they were going or even if they were supposed to follow them, but they did anyway, and this brought them to the school’s court.

It was so different than she remembered. The amount of people made it feel smaller than the last time she was there, and the fact that it was daytime instead of night also contributed to this weird sensation, she didn’t think she’d ever seen how Canterlot High looked like during the day.

She and Fluttershy picked up a spot in the stands and waited for whatever it was that was going to start. In the middle of the court was where all the teachers were standing next to one another, in front of them was a table with some papers on it. The tallest one of them, a woman with long wavy hair that appeared to be in her 50’s, took the microphone and started talking.

“Hello, good morning, students! I’m Celestia, the principal of Canterlot High School. First, I want to say welcome to our new students that are arriving this year!” someone started clapping and everybody followed along excitedly until she continued talking again. “As some of you here already know, our school’s policy has always been to provide the best quality of learning and education of the state, and this is something we do with the most pride and…”

After just a minute of speech, she’d lost Rainbow’s attention completely. She looked up at the court’s huge ceiling where there was a basketball stuck in one of the metal beams and wondered how long was it stuck there, then her attention went back to her other side while some girls were gossiping about people she didn’t know, apparently someone had cheated on this girl and she was so sad that she didn’t come to school. Rainbow wished she could know more, but it was difficult to hear.

And then, when she finally went back to the principal, she was talking about a whole different topic that didn’t even made sense anymore.

“Did she say something about the sports teams?” Rainbow poked Fluttershy.

“Not yet. Weren’t you listening?”

“Yeah… not really.” She said. Fluttershy laughed.

“Well, it wasn’t that important anyway.”

After the principal’s speech, the vice-principal Luna also spoke some words and then passed it on to the teachers and other member of the staff. The crowd seemed to be very excited about some of them, and by that only, Rainbow could already imagine who were the boring teachers and the cool ones.

She was starting to lose her attention again until the last one of the teachers, a woman with a crazy cool spiky hair, started talking:

“Hello, newbies!” The crowd of upperclassman cheered and whistled at her, she seemed to be the most loved of the teachers. “My name is Spitfire and I’m the athletic director of the school, I’m also the coach for the female basketball and volleyball teams, so if you’re a girl and and want to apply for any of those, you’re gonna see a lot of me. And both of them happen this fall, so I advise you to go to the orientation session for the extracurricular activities and sports teams that is going to happen this Thursday, we’re going to provide more information about the schedule there.”

“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!” Rainbow spoke in a thin voice while shaking Fluttershy’s shoulder, her eyes sparkling. “She’s amazing!”

After the presentations were over, all the students gathered to receive their papers with the schedule for the classes and the numbers of their lockers; then the English teacher, Rainbow had already forgotten her name — Cheer… something — started making a tour with them through the whole building.

They went to the locker room right next to the court, then to the school cafeteria, the library, the nurse room, visited some of the rooms and then it was time to go to class for some ice-breaker activities. They sat on the two seats available at almost the end of the third line, in front of them there were a group of three girls that already seemed to know each other.

She loved first days of school, they wouldn’t do anything but chat, have lunch and do some group activities. No classrooms, no notebooks, nothing. And specially for them that were freshman, the whole first week was going to be very chill.

“Hey, are you two alone?” a girl asked loudly, Rainbow didn’t know if she was talking to them or not. “Well, not alone alone because you were talking just a minute ago so you obviously know each other, but I bet you’re new here because I’d certainly remember if I’ve seen a girl with rainbow hair before.”

Yeah, she was clearly talking to them.

“Yes, we are new.” She answered.

“That’s perfect, I love to meet new people!” she said. Rainbow didn’t know the reason for so much enthusiasm. “I’m Pinkie Pie.”
She extended her hand and Rainbow took it.

“Nice to…”

“These are my friends Twilight Sparkle and Rarity, we used to study here in middle school in the other building, and if you two weren’t there then you’re obviously new. Were you from Crystal Prep? Wait, don’t answer yet, Maretonia? Manehattan High? Wait, was it…”

“We are from Cloudsdale.”

“Cloudsdale? I LOVE Cloudsdale, I have some friends that live there, you know, so I went there a few times. Did you know that…”

“Gosh, Pinkie, darling, would you let the girl breathe?” interrupted Rarity next to her. Thankfully. “Sorry for that, she’s a dear, but she can be a bit much sometimes.”

“You didn’t tell us your names.” The indian girl, Twilight, spoke after her.

“I’m Rainbow Dash.”

“Oh, funny that your name is Rainbow and your hair is also rainbow. Which one came first?” Pinkie asked.

“Well… my name, obviously. Have you seen someone be born with a rainbow hair before?”

“Oh.” She giggled. “Yeah duh, silly me.”

“So you had your hair dyed all colorful just to match your name?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah, why not?” she took a lock of hair from behind her ear and brought it to the front. “Rainbow in the hair, rainbow in the name.”

“I think it’s a neat idea” Pinkie commented. “I too am thinking of dying my hair pink, like, shocking pink.”

“Oh, I think that’d suit you.”

“And your name?” Twilight asked Fluttershy. Rainbow went to the side to let her see them as she was in the back, she wanted Fluttershy to answer it on her own.

“I’m Fluttershy” she whispered.

“Sorry, I’m not hearing you.”

“I’m Flut… hum… I’m…”

“She’s Fluttershy.” Rainbow had to answer for her. “She doesn’t speak very much.”

“Stick with us, Fluttershy!” Pinkie stood up and put a hand over her shoulder. “I promise we’re cool!”

“Is everyone here already? No one wants to go to the bathroom before we start?” the teacher called their attention. The noises in the room soon started ceasing.

Just as she asked, there was a knock on the door. A blonde girl came over, her breathing uneven from running.

“Ah’m… so sorry, Miss…”

“Cheerilee.”

“Cheerilee.” the girl corrected herself. “Ah was a little bit lost after going to the bathroom, too many corridors…”

“That’s alright, dear. Take a seat that is still available.”

Rainbow couldn’t stop looking at her as she was sitting on the only empty seat up front next to the wall, she was sure she had seen that face before.

The freckles, the blonde hair with an elastic band at the end. And was she speaking in a country accent?

She couldn’t be…

“Ok, students.” The teacher continued on saying. “For those who didn’t hear, my name is Cheerilee and I’ll be your English teacher this year. I hope to have a lot of great moments together with you. I take it that most of you don’t know many of your classmates yet, so we’ll take this part of the morning and the afternoon to get to know each other better.”

Miss Cheerilee explained what they had to do first. She put her name on the board and wrote three statements about her, but one of them were false, their job was to figure out which one of them was the false one. Then after that, each student was going to do that same thing and the whole class had to guess it.

She was expecting it to be less fun then it was. With 30 classmates in the room, there were some of them that weren’t really creative in coming up with things – or maybe their lives just weren’t really that interesting – but overall, it was quite fun to guess what these people had done or not just based on their appearance, specially because she was often right in her guesses, even when they weren’t spoken out loud because of Pinkie Pie who usually raised her hand first.

There was only one column of students missing now, and it was the one close to the wall where the blond girl was sitting. Rainbow now remembered her name, it was…

“Applejack, mah name’s Applejack” she had just answered Miss Cheerilee’s question. “And the three facts ‘bout me is that… Ah have an older brother and a younger sister, Ah’m very carsick and… mah favorite sport is soccer.”

Oh, she already knew the answer to that, for sure.

“Okay, who wants to start?” just as the teacher was finishing saying, Pinkie already had her hand up in the air.

“Me, choose me!” she exclaimed.

“Go on, Pinkie.”

“Hum…” she put a hand on her chin. “I think the part about your siblings is wrong, maybe your brother is the youngest and your sister is the oldest.”

“No, not that.” answered Applejack.

Now it was Twilight that raised her hand.

“You’re the oldest sister then?”

“No.”

“Maybe you’re not carsick?” Rarity took a guess.

“Oh no, that’s very true.”

“I know what it is.” Rainbow spoke out loud without thinking, She didn’t necessarily want to answer, but it was too late now. “it’s the soccer thing, it’s not your favorite sport.”

“Is that it, Applejack?” asked Miss Cheerilee.

“Yes, that’s it.” She gave a look at Rainbow that clearly showed that, if she didn’t know who she was before, now she definitely recognized her. “Ah like soccer, but volleyball is mah favorite sport.”

“How did you know that? You answered with so much conviction.” Miss Cheerilee turned her head to her.

“I don’t know, I think it was the way she said it.” Rainbow came up with an explanation last minute, then she turned to Applejack again, a smirk on her face. “Guess she just wasn’t that good at lying.”