Students returned to their seats as the buzzer for the final quarter sounded.

Butterscotch, Dusk Shine, Applejack and Elusive sat in the bleachers, watching as the teams came back onto the court. Rainbow Blitz looked refreshed, smiling and waving up at his fans (and friends) who’d come to watch his game.

“Hi! Hi, Rainbow Blitz!” blared out of the speakers. Everyone turned to see Bubble Berry bouncing up and down in his seat, waving to his friend. A scowl from one of the professors stopped his flailing. “Oops… sorry, Professor Artemis.”

Bubble Berry’s commentating companion, Vinyl Scratch, chuckled as he spoke into the microphone. “Welcome back, everybody. At the start of the final quarter the Shadowcolts have a fifty-five to forty-eight lead. It’s been a very tight game so far; between former Wondercolts, now Hoofington Shadowcolts’ captain, Lightning Powder; and newly promoted Canterlot Wondercolts captain, Rainbow Blitz, this surely has become a grudge match.”

“Yes, and ‘grudge’ rhymes with fudge!” Berry added.

“Yes it… does?” Vinyl looked to his confusing companion. “What?”

“And I like fudge,” Berry continued, as if it explained everything. “But if I eat too much fudge, I get a pudge and then I can’t budge.”

“S-so…” Vinyl stammered as he tried to regain control of the situation. “No fudge?”

“No thanks,” Berry chirped. “I had a big breakfast.”

Professor Artemis slapped a hand to his forehead, obviously trying to hold in his frustration, as Professor Solaris suppressed a laugh at his brother’s expense.

“Wondercolts’ start with the ball, Blitz passes to Chaser.”

Butterscotch watched nervously as Lightning Powder kept to Rainbow.

Despite his captaincy, Powder was aggressively dogging Rainbow every moment he could. He’d already been called out on four fouls.

Storm Chaser broke down the court, narrowly avoiding two of the opposing Shadowcolts, before passing through to Carrot Curl. Carrot drove the ball into the low post, jumping to make a shot, as Lightning Powder broke away from Blitz to block the shot. Carrot passed the ball to Blitz, his feint having worked, as Blitz received the ball and launched, slam dunking the ball in.

Powder fumed as the crowds cheered for the exciting play.

“Oh, I don’t know if I can watch,” Butterscotch muttered, looking to his feet as Lightning Powder passed the ball to Raven Wing. “I know it’s just a game, but do they have to be so aggressive?”

“Well, the games ain’t usually this bad,” Applejack answered. “From what Ah’ve seen, it’s probably that Lightning Powder’s fault. Y’all know how bad he took it when Coach Lockheed kicked him from the team.”

“Ooo!” Berry Bubble called out over the speaker. “He’s definitely going to feel that.”

The four looked back to the court as one of the other Shadowcolts helped Raven back to his feet. The umpire tossed the ball to Raven as he stood on the free-throw line. The first shot went in, as did the second.

“And Raven extends the Shadowcolts’ lead by another four points,” Vinyl added. “The Wondercolts are going to have to work hard to close that gap, with so little time left on the clock.”

“Silly! Clocks don’t run out of time! Time is an infinite resource.” Bubble Berry gasped loudly. “Unless they are low on batteries. Oh no! Do we need more batteries?”

Many spectators chuckled at the exasperated look on Vinyl Scratch’s face.

Butterscotch continued to switch between watching on the edge of his seat, and hiding his face behind his fringe so that he didn’t have to watch. Even Dusk Shine had gotten into the excitement of the game, evident by him having put down his Rules and Statistics of Basketball book. Applejack and Elusive maintained their current interest in the game, which had always been rather invested. Applejack, because Blitz was one of his best friends, and Elusive because Lightning Powder had insulted one of his designs for the team jersey.

The Shadowcolts’ lead had decreased, the score was sixty-five to sixty-three. Rainbow Blitz currently possessed the ball and was trying to find an opening for a shot. If he could at least get a shot, they could go into overtime, and the Wondercolts might still turn it around. The Shadowcolts’ were living up to their name though; every one of the Wondercolts’ had a Shadow blocking them.

No! Not everyone! Blitz spied Storm Chaser out by the three-point line. Blitz swore he could feel the clock ticking down; he passed the ball quickly to Storm Chaser, who took a jump shot right as the buzzer sounded.

Blitz’s breathing stopped, the crowd going silent, as the ball hit the rim.

In that second, you could have heard a pin drop.

Time resumed, as the ball fell in.

The crowd erupted in a deafening roar.

“Canterlot Wondercolts win the game!” Vinyl Scratch screamed over the speakers. “Final score Sixty-six to sixty-five. Canterlot Wondercolts win the game!”

The Wondercolts crowded around Storm Chaser, cheering for their teammate. Rainbow Blitz slapped the shorter man on the back in congratulations as their coaches crossed the court to meet them.

“Good game, everyone!” Assistant Coach Glider congratulated them, beaming as she looked around at the team. “You guys played great.”

“Great teamwork, everyone! Wouldn’t expect any less from a Wondercolt.” Coach Lockheed joined in. “The shot was brilliant, Chaser. Hit the lockers, boys, I’m sure you all have some celebrations to get started.”

Rainbow Blitz looked around, spying his friends still jumping and cheering from the bleachers.

“I’ll catch up with you guys soon,” Rainbow Blitz said, as he started towards his friends.

“Ha! Off to see your cheering squad, eh Blitz?” Carrot Curl laughed.

“Say ‘hi’ to your boyfriends for us!” Storm Chaser guffawed, earning himself a playful punch in the shoulder from Blitz.

“You wish I was gay, Chaser! You’d feel less guilty about checkin’ out my ass when I leave,” Blitz said as he walked away. He picked up his pace into a jog, ignoring the laughter and jeers of his team mates.

“Hey Butters! I didn’t think you make it!” Blitz smiled as his friends, lead by his shy, pink-haired friend, came down to meet him. “On a scale of one-to-awesome, how good was I—”

“Blitz you were amazing!” Butterscotch tackled his friend in a hug. Dusk Shine, Elusive and Applejack voiced their agreement.

“Hey, I’d never play half as good if it weren’t for my oldest bud!” Rainbow ruffled Butterscotch’s hair. He was acutely aware of how quiet and anxious his oldest friend would have been during the game. Either chewing on his nails on the edge of his seat, or doing that silly thing where he hides behind his hair.

Rainbow wanted to see his friend come out of his shell, so he put in just that little bit more effort and attention, to try and coax his best friend out. And Butterscotch was certainly out of his shell at the moment, it made Rainbow proud.

Something distracted him though. Something was happening, and he wasn’t sure what was going on. The gentle press of very soft, delicate lips against his own. Silk-like hair brushing against his face, and hands pressed against his chest.

What?

Blitz stepped back, a look of shock on his face. Butterscotch stood before him, blushing profusely, the look of wild panic on his face.

What?

“Oh, Blitz, I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have… I didn’t mean.”

Dusk, Elusive and Applejack watched in silent horror, uncertain what to say or do.

Butterscotch stepped forward. “Blitz, please. I’m sorry.”

“Get the fuck away from me!” Blitz lashed out, fist connecting with the smaller man’s face. Butterscotch landed on his backside, sprawling across the floor. Elusive was the first the drop down and check on his friend.

“What in Tartarus is going on here?” Coach Lockheed stormed across the court to find his star player, and another student on the floor, an obvious shiner already forming on the prone student’s face.

“Is everything alright here?”

“Professor Solaris,” Dusk Shine stuttered. “Oh, umm, there was just a little, umm, altercation between Butterscotch and Rainbow Blitz here—”

“Rainbow Blitz was all like ‘How awesome am I?’ and then Scotchy was all like ‘You’re so amazing!’ and then Blitz was like ‘Awww, you’re awesome too Butterscotch’ and then Scotchy was all like smoooooch and then Blitz was all like wham!” Bubble Berry narrated excitedly. Then he seemed to deflate. “And now two of my friends are both sad.”

“Blitz, hit the showers, now!” Lockheed snapped, ignoring the exasperatingly-strange-and-suddenly-appearing sixth student. “We’ll talk about this later.”

Rainbow Blitz stormed off towards the locker rooms, ignoring the concerned looks and poorly-timed jeers of the few teammates still around.

“Are you okay, Butterscotch?” Professor Solaris asked in a warm, gentle, fatherly voice.

“Y-yes, Sir,” Butterscotch replied in a whisper, as Elusive and Dusk Shine helped him to his feet. “I’m sorry.” Butterscotch’s voice wavered, as if ready to break into tears.

“It’s okay.” Solaris turned to Dusk Shine. “Dusk, why don’t you take Butterscotch back to his dorm room. You should probably have him put some ice on that, it should ease any swelling and reduce the bruise.”

“Yes, Sir,” Dusk Shine answered. Putting his arm around his friend, he and Elusive lead Butterscotch out of the stadium.

“Ah guess Ah’ll check on Blitz when he’s cooled down. Berry, you comin’?”

Bubble Berry looked toward the locker room, and back to the exit his friends had just left.

“Yeah,” he answered, dejected. “Yeah, okay.”