Rainbooms in Paris

The Soccerer

RAINBOW DASH

I stand before Kim, right in the middle of the field, the football in between us. I see Marinette sitting beside Alya in the bleachers, her face bright. Everything must've gone well on her side.

Now it's my turn.

"The rules are simple. First to score five goals wins..." Max says, then goes on to explain all the other basic rules. I'm nodding, but on the inside I'm strategizing.

Kim is a big guy, and clearly relies on his strength and speed. I may not be as strong as he is, but I am quick, and I need to make up what I lack with strategy and tricks.

Somehow, this train of thought leads to Applejack. Strong, honest Applejack with whom I always had friendly competitions.

I shake my head, clearing all thoughts of Applejack. Now isn't the time. Not when I have a game to win.

Max blows the whistle, and I manage to take possession of the ball before Kim. In a matter of seconds, I make my first goal. I grin, hearing my classmates cheer from the bleachers.

Kim, however, is a tough opponent. Before long, we're both tied with four goals each. The ball is currently in my possession, and I'm running towards the goal. I'm about to kick the ball into the goal, winning, just like the time I played a match with Princess Twilight.

I pause a moment, the nostalgia hitting me like a brick. But that one moment of distraction was enough for Kim. I turn around and see him heading for the opposite goal with the ball.

As if I'd let him win.

I run after him, impossibly fast, steal the ball from him and go towards the goal. The rush of wind in my ears is deafening and drowns out the cheers of my classmates. I kick the ball, hard, and just after it hits the goal, I notice that I'm glowing a light blue.

I mentally curse. I must be ponying up.

Ignoring my classmates who are now running across the ground towards me, I dash into one of those locker rooms and close the door. Why am I ponying up ? I haven't exactly displayed any loyalty, have I ?

But I don't pony up. Not really. The blue glow fades after a few minutes.

Just then, there is a knock on the door.

"Hey, Rainbow ? You in there ?"

It's Marinette. I push open the door and see her looking at me, her expression full of concern.

"What happened ? Are you alright ? You just.. kicked the winning goal in and dashed out of the field. No pun intended," Marinette adds. She looks like she's internationally cursing someone as she says the 'no pun intended' part.

"I'm fine. I just-" I pause a moment, then quickly say "-needed a moment to myself. I always do this after a match, you know. Just... straightaway bolt into the locker rooms, regardless of victory or defeat."

"Okay..." Marinette says, but I can tell she doesn't buy it. At least she doesn't question it though. "Come on. You don't want to miss the victory dance we've planned for you, do you ?"

I crack a small smile at that.

"Victory dance ?"

"Unfortunately, no," she says, smiling. She seems to be at ease,  as if something big was off her shoulders.

"I take it that the Lila situation went well ?"

Marinette nods fervently, her smile growing wider.

"Yes ! And Adrien was there, too, you know. We talked a bit after the whole thing." She's full-on grinning now, her face having that faraway expression which showed she was thinking of him.

*****

It's dark when I am finally on my way back to the hotel. I walk through the streets, hands in my pockets, whistling under my breath when someone grabs me and pulls me into an alleyway.

I'm shoved back, and I stumble for a moment before regaining my balance. I look up and see a big figure blocking the entrance to the alley.

"Kim," I snarl. In the dim light, he looks like a phantom.

"Dash," he spits my name, and sneers at me. "You pathetic freak."

"Are we having some sort of insulting competition now ?" I ask sarcastically. "Because last time I checked, I was the one who won a football match against you."

"You did. By sheer dumb luck."

I blink.

"Are you stupid ?" I say. "Are you- Are you dumb ? How can you be so Goddamn arrogant that you can't accept the fact that you lost ?!"

"You think I didn't notice, Dash ?" He clearly ignored all my words. I tense up, wondering if he's saying what I think he's saying.

"You're abnormal, a freak. You did something on that field, something devilish. And I will make it my job to find out and expose to the world how much of a freak you are," he rambles on, like a villain from a bad action movie, oblivious to my discomfort.

Then he slips away into the night.

When I reach my hotel room, I find an envelope on my bed - parchment coloured, covered in thin cursive writing.

I open it and read through the contents, eyes skimming through the words multiple times, before I finally register what's in it.

It's an invitation.

Not just any invitation, but one for a birthday party.

And not just any birthday party, but that of Chloe Bourgeois.