Episode 11
"The Great Bowling Showdown"
There's a new bowling team in town, and they're starting to take dominance in the local area. They're even getting up to the professionals, a surprising feat for a team that's relatively young. Naturally, some suspicious is hovering around this team.
Upon further investigation, the team discovers that the group of three bowlers are students from a rival school. And four members discover the dark truth behind the young bowling team's victories. Even worst, the bowling team is lead by one of Rainbow's harshest and most cruelest rivals.
[Beginning of Episode]
The episode starts with two students whispering to each other. Rainbow notices this and walks up to them.
"Hey," Rainbow said. "What are you two talking about?"
"Haven't you heard?" one of the boys said. "There's a new bowling team here in town and their name is The Lightning Bowl Society."
"Really?" Thunder said as he walk up to the boys. "Lightning Bowl Society. I swear that something about that name rings a bell in my head. What's up with that?"
"They're Canterlot City's newest bowling champions," another boy said. "They've been dominating the leaderboards ever since they came into existence. Though, you've got to say. I'm a little suspicious about their recent victories. All these winnings, man. They seem a tiny bit unnatural."
Thunder looks at Rainbow. "You're thinking of something?" he asks.
Rainbow ponders for a moment. "Just who is this bowling team?" she asks herself. "And how did they win so many games against the other teams so quickly?"
It seems like Rainbow and her team are launching an investigation behind the recent victories behind this mysterious bowling team. It has been said that they're so young, yet they were able to dominate the leaderboards, crushing even the professional bowlers. Could they be made up of professionals? Or are they made of cheaters? It seems like an investigation is the only way to get a answer.
The team then travels to the park to find some answers. The weather is a bit cold. It's only a bit after the new years celebration, over a month since Rainbow left.
The area is experiencing a notable boom in the popularity of sports. Normally, most people dismiss these sports as a waste of time and something that true athletes can do. Now, sports are becoming a popular hobby to do in the free time, as people are getting a bit bored and are unsure about what to do when they still have time remaining. The effects are clearly seen at the park, where people are practicing sports games there.
Back to the group, Rainbow is still having her mind on that bowling team as the others walk behind her.
"Ooh!" Pinkie said as she skips around. "Are we going to the park to have a little walk?"
"Pinkie," Applejack said, turning around. "Rainbow's suspicious about the new bowling team that popped up recently. I think they are founded a few days after Rainbow left us for the competition center and that major game got aired."
"I can't believe that they're able to defeat even the professionals," Rarity commented. "Isn't that what the masters ranking is for? The professionals who are seriously dedicated into a single hobby? And I don't even think that a few weeks is considered enough to be dedicated. A-are you sure that's the case?"
Rainbow is clearly thinking about this hard. She's knee deep into this. She's thinking about sports, the oddity of the the group of bowlers, a boy...yeah she's getting lost in her thoughts.
"What is she thinking about right now?" Pinkie asks. "Is she thinking about sports games?"
Rainbow looked back on the road and notices four students at a table. One of them seems to be catching her eyes the most.
"Hold on," Rainbow said, commanding the others to stop. "I think I saw someone. Let me check." She orders the others to not follow her. She then travels to the table where the four students are sitting. "Excuse me," she said as she came to the table. "Mind if I interrupt?"
One of the girls, the green girl with the orange hair, turns around towards Rainbow. "Oh, sorry," she said. "Didn't notice that you are there. We were just talking about our latest victories. Say, have we met before?"
Rainbow's eyes had that stern look that tells everyone that she is serious. Nothing will be taken lightly. She gives no response.
The girl inspects Rainbow to check if she's the one who she met some time ago. "Rainbow Dash, isn't it?" the girl guesses. "Been seeing you on the news fighting off the threats. Name's Lightning Dust. Nice to meet you."
Rainbow's stern look only grew more prominent as she possess the name. "Lightning Dust?" she questions. "You still have a rivalry with me, don't you?"
Lightning stands up from her seat. "Well, of course I am," she said. "Even after all these years, we still had a grudge against each other."
"Okay..." Rainbow said, glaring harder. "So. What are you doing recently? What about those recent victories?"
"Oh, I took the competition to a sport that I'm sure you've never played before," Lightning said. Then, she pulls out a picture of what seems to be a heavy ball. "Bowling!"
Rainbow was shocked by this. "Are...are you serious?" she asked. "So you took bowling instead of fighting against me in a sport that I commonly play? But...that must mean that...you are..."
"That's right, Rainbow Dash," Lightning said as she and the rest of her team stood up in unison. "We are the Lightning Bowl Society! And now...we are the city's newest bowling champion! Surprised?"
Rainbow was stunned by this. She was speechless. "You...you can't be serious!" she said. "Are you saying that you managed to beat even the current champions this quickly? How? How did you do this?"
"Wait! Hold up a second!" Thunder said as he came in.
"Oh...Thunder," Lightning chuckles. "It seems that when I'm somewhere, you always seem to follow. You know what they say? With lightning comes thunder. Lightning is the flash, thunder is the sound that lightning makes."
Rainbow slams her hands on the table, looking very angry. "How did you manage to defeat the professionals in such a short amount of time?" she interrogated. "Tell me! Tell me your secret!"
Lightning brushes off Rainbow's angry questions. "Oh, chill out, my prismatic friend," she said. "My team only won because we're good. If you wanted a taste of what we can do, just stop by the local bowling alley someday. You'll see what I mean. Come on, girls. Let's leave."
Lightning and her friends left Rainbow alone as the rest of her friends came by her side.
"So. they're the new bowling champions?" Applejack asks. "Something tells me that their method of winning is a bit...suspicious."
Rainbow is clutching her fist so much that she feels like punching Lightning in the face the next time they meet.
Pinkie bounced around Rainbow and stopped right in front of her. "Hmm, it looks like you're not happy with them becoming bowling champions," she observes. "By the way, what's your history with her?"
Rainbow recalls the memories she gained from when she was friends with Lightning Dust.
Lightning Dust and Rainbow Dash once attended the same school while growing up. The two discovered that they have the same attitude, the same hobbies, and the same competitive spirit.
However, as they're growing up, the two diverged into completely different people. While Rainbow became an athlete with a sense of the safety of others-likely because her father happened to be a coach-and a sense of humility, Lightning became highly competitive and willing to do anything to win.
During a long distance race around the school, Rainbow is at the final stretch, determined to win first place at the race. She's been training very hard for this event, and so far she is doing fine. She haven't intentionally hurt anyone during the race and made sure that she won fair and square. Her parents are sitting at the stands, cheering for her.
Suddenly, Lightning came up from right behind her and proceed to push Rainbow into the concrete road. Lightning passed the finish line while Rainbow tumbled on the rough ground, stopping just before the finish line.
Lightning's victory was very divisive. Some praised Lightning for winning, while others berated her for shoving a potential victor out of the way at the last moment. Lightning has said that this is the way it goes in marathons. Everyone is in for themselves and must do anything to claim victory.
Rainbow, however, disagrees. She lifted herself up, holding on to the spot on her upper arm where there is a cluster of cuts.
"Lightning Dust..." Rainbow mutters before flashing her head forward. "THAT'S IT! I AM DONE WITH YOU!"
Lightning shrugs the yelling off. "What's the matter?" she asks. "Did you think you deserve that win?"
"That's not what I'm talking about, Lightning," Rainbow said, trembling under her anger. "I once thought we were similar. But you turned out different and transformed into a cheating beast! How dare you! You swoop in and stole my victory at the last moment. Do you know how important this race is to me?"
"It's just a race, girl," Lightning shakes off. "Chill out. Get over with it. I'm sure that you'll win someday."
Suddenly, Rainbow can hear the groans coming from behind her. She turns around and spotted even more people who look like they were injured. It seems like they are tired. More of their stamina must've been dedicated into healing their injuries. They seem to be having an angry look, directed towards the person behind her.
Rainbow turns around, shaking from her built up anger. "You hurt these students as well?" she asks. "You inconsiderate jerk! How dare you do this to these people?"
"They were in my way," Lightning claims. "You have to do what you have to do. Being a jerk to others is a part of racing."
"NO! It's not!" Rainbow shouted. "I'm a athlete, and my father told me to be considerate of other people, even if they are your opponent. You can't just walk on top of them as you please. And your teammates? You have no right to abuse them. They are supposed to be your allies, not a doormat."
"So what?" Lightning questions. "If they got hurt, it's the fault of their own. Not mine."
"Yes, it is YOUR fault!" Rainbow fired back. "You just pushing the other runners away whenever they got in your way. You intentionally hurt them for your own personal gain."
"Rainbow, would you please calm down for a moment?" Lightning asks. "You're overreacting to my own actions. Why can't you be like me and brush off these faults?"
"Because I have friends," Rainbow answers. "And I care about them. I wouldn't do such a horrible thing such as pushing them away if they're in my way. They'll think I'm a monster and break up with me. And that's exactly what you did to me. I don't want to be like you. I no longer want to be your friend. And if the sport world is like that all the time, nothing but a bunch of jerks who are out for each other, then I'm not willing to hang around you ever again!" Rainbow the runs away from Lightning, still holding on to her scars.
"Wait! Rainbow!" Rainbow's father said as Rainbow's parents jumped off the seats to go after her. "What about your injuries?"
Lightning sighs. "Oh, Rainbow Dash," she said. "You'll never be a professional if you care so much."
Rainbow looks under her shirt and looks at the scars left behind from rubbing against the ground. She unrolls her sleeve.
"Well, what are we going to do now, darling?" Rarity asks.
Rainbow knows only one way to get under this. "Guys, it's time to investigate the bowling alley."
The following day. Rainbow hangs out outside the bowling alley, waiting for the rest of her friends. Soon, three arrived. Applejack, Thunder, and Pinkie have arrived, but there's no sign of two of the members.
"Ahh, you've arrived," Rainbow said. "Where's Rarity and Fluttershy?"
"Well, Rarity just isn't in the mood for bowling," Applejack answers. "She appears to be designing outfits for...prom night attendants."
"What about Fluttershy?" Rainbow asks again. "I thought I invited all of my teammates to come to here."
"Well, dear friend Fluttershy is not interested in bowling," Thunder answers. "I presume it's because of all the people. Or it might be because there's someone she dislikes in here, and we all know who that is."
Rainbow lets out a sigh. "Okay, let's head inside." Rainbow then opens the door, allowing her team to come in.
Waiting for them inside is Lightning's team. It seems like she is anticipating them to come in. "So, I saw that you decided to come on," she said. "So, are you ready for some bowling?"
Rainbow nodded in agreement. "Sure," she answers.
"I wasn't talking to you," Lightning said. "I am talking to him." She points her finger at Thunder, surprising the entire team.
"What? Me?" Thunder asks. "You're challenging me for a duel?"
"One on one duel, Thunder," Lighting said. "I don't want a team battle as we all know how long those matches can last. Trust me. I've got to get back home as soon as possible. How about we call this...the Bowling Storm match?"
"Does that mean that some storm clouds will be hovering over us and the building will be flooded?" Pinkie asked. "Or is it a match that is set in a rain that's dropping bowling pins and bowling balls and-"
Applejack slapped Pinkie on the back. "No, it's not that kind of battle," she said. "Get it together!"
"Alright, let's duel," Lightning announces. "Get your bowling shoes on, Thunder."
"What?" Thunder gasped. "But, I didn't say that I'm-"
Lightning threw herself on top of Thunder, intimidating him. "Just do as I say and start this duel already!"
The bowling duel between Lightning Dust and Thunderlane begins. People are gathering to watch these two face each other off, with the two teams sitting in the dark in the seats. The match then beings on the first frame, with both players launching their balls towards the pins on the other side of the alley.
Thunder kicks off the match with a strong start. He rolls the ball towards the pins, giving it a spin so its path is curved. The ball then hits the pins in such a way that all of the pins are knocked over, earning him a strike. The audience applauds his efforts of starting out strong.
While the pins on Thunder's bowling lane (don't mind the attempt at avoiding a pun) are setting up, Lightning looks over from the other land and gives him a glare. Clearly, he has a strong start. His chances of winning are high. But wait, they are playing on separate lanes that are right next to each other. Seeing this, Lightning decides to perform a dirty tactic.
The pins are being set up and Thunder picks up his bowling ball. Before he can launch it down the lane, Lightning decides to reach over from her lane and throw her ball towards his lane. Her ball goes down the gutter as it travels down the lane, missing the pins entirely. The move made a handful of the audience members groan, while Rainbow and her friends were quite shocked at this maneuver.
"Did she just-" Rainbow said in disbelief.
"I can't believe that she cheated!" Applejack gasps. "She threw her ball down his land and landed it in the gutter!"
"Oh, now I know why you two broke up as friends," Pinkie said as she understands what happened.
Rainbow looks at Pinkie. "Didn't I tell you that the other day when I decided that we should investigate?" she asks.
Lightning gave a smug look at Thunder's shocked face. "Oops," she said, passing the intentional screw as a mistake. "My bad. That was a clumsy move by me."
Thunder's anger is growing inside of him. He cannot stand Lightning just as much as the last time they hung around as friends. Looking back towards his lane, Thunder flings the ball towards the pins. The ball does not knock down all 10 pins at once, only 8. Thunder has just completed his first frame, while Lightning hasn't even completed her first yet.
As the match continues, Lightning continues to screw Thunder over by swinging her ball towards his lane instead of her own, landing it in the gutter and registering it as a miss for him.
Later in the match, Thunder is at his fifth frame. Lightning only got to her third.
At this point, Applejack couldn't take the cheating habits and stood up. "Okay, Lightning," she said. "That's enough! Stop what you're doing right now!"
Lightning stopped just before releasing her bowling ball. "What?" she asked. "Is there something that's bothering you?"
"Yes, there is something that's bothering me," Applejack answered. "You are cheating to give yourself an advantage! You can't just throw your ball at someone else's lane. That's against the rules!"
"So what?" Lightning asks. "There's nothing stopping me from ruining someone else's day. They're in my way."
"You act like you didn't care?" Applejack continues to yell. "Well, I'm telling you my honest opinion. This match is unfair! This match is uneven in your favor! You want to win, sure. But you can't win by screwing your opponents over you lying rodent who can't accept defeat!"
Everyone in the bowling alley gasped, except for Rainbow and her childhood friends. Thunder stopped what he's doing and listen to what's going on.
"This is why I broke up with you as a friend," Rainbow tells Lightning. "You have no sympathy with those who you hurt. You just don't care about them. You just wanted to win by any means possible. Even if you have to cheat to get what you wanted. Tell me, what's more satisfying? Working to get what you wanted? Or cheating the system to get what you desire?"
"Oh, that's easy," Lightning answers. "Cheating to get what you wanted. I loved it when my rivals suffer."
Rainbow had enough of Lightning's heartless habits. She decides that there's only one way to put her cruel rival to rest. She stood up and head towards Thunder, taking the ball from him.
"Reset the scoreboard, guys," Rainbow ordered. "I'll show you how pathetic Lightning is if she is forced not to cheat."
Rainbow and Lightning restarted the bowling match between them and stood on lanes that were far from each other. Because she could not cheat to gain an advantage, Lightning would have to rely on her own skill to win.
On the first few frames, Rainbow was struggling to knock out all of the pins. The most she got were about 9 pins out of 10. Meanwhile, Lightning got an early lead with a strike and a spare, coupled with knocking out the majority of the pins. In the middle frames, Rainbow is starting to get the hang of it and threw the bowling ball in such a way that it knocks out all of the pins at once. It was so effective that she got three strikes in a row, netting her a huge amount of points.
As the round progressed, Lightning found that Rainbow is starting to catch up with her even with a small flub in the beginning. In her worry, Lightning tried to throw her ball across the building to hopefully land it on Rainbow's lane. Unfortunately, the gap is too large and Lightning lost her bowling ball to a gutter two lanes away from her. The audience gave her a disapproving look. Stressing out a little more, Lightning grabbed a slightly heavier ball with a mass that she's not used too. As a result of her losing confidence, Lightning would not get either a strike or a spare for the remainder of the match. Meanwhile, Rainbow continued to dominate the scoreboard.
The difference is score was so great that the conclusion was clear. Rainbow wins. Lightning has lost so much confidence in herself over the fact that she is unable to cheat that her performance severely dropped. When the last of the pins was knocked down, the audience flocked to Rainbow, cheering her on for the victory.
Lightning collapsed to the ground in defeat. She clutches her fists tighter as she feels the need for revenge. And then she jumped to her feet and started to run towards Rainbow, ready to pick out a fight with her. The audience notices this and moves out of harms way.
"You'll pay for this, Rainbow!" Lightning yelled as the threw in a punch.
Rainbow jumped out of the way of Lightning's fist. "Oh, you mad?" she asks. "Are you mad that you lost? Well, if you wanted to take revenge on me you've got to catch me first. See ya, Lightning!"
"Hey!" Lighting yells as she saw Rainbow running away. "Wait for me! This isn't over yet!"
Lightning continued to chase Rainbow down around the bowling alley, from one side of the building to in front of the main entrance. And its the main entrance. Lightning skid to a halt once she saw the previous professional bowlers she and her team defeated earlier.
"What?" Lightning gasped. "How did you-?"
Pinkie giggled from the seats. "Teehee," she said. "I called them while the match was going on. I think they needed a rematch."
The professional bowler glared down at Lightning Dust. "So, it was you who defeated us earlier, didn't you?"
"I-I told you not to tell anyone about this," Lightning said. "I told you not to tell anyone about how I managed to win!"
"Oh?" the bowler responded. "Is that so? Well, hate to break it to you, but we'll never forget your dirty tactics. You may tell us not to share your secret, but you cannot tell us to forget. I demand a rematch against you, but without your cheating ruining the game. So, how'd you like it if I kicked your butt?"
Lightning was indecisive about how to respond.
After the scandal was reveled to the public, Lightning was banned from entering any bowling alleys until she learns to not to cheat to get herself a victory. Whenever an official competition has her as one of the participators, everyone has their eyes peeled to make sure that she doesn't cheat.
One of Lightning's friends delivered the news to her mother. And it's really bad news.
"Humph," the woman said as she sits in her office reading a newspaper. "Those rodents over at Canterlot High are starting to win over us?"
"Yes, mother," the girl replied. "The school is turning back quick over the past few months. They have a long string of defeats against us, until that girl came. That prismatic haired girl."
The woman took a closer look at the newspaper. "Well, they might've won against us in this field," she remarks. "But when it comes to the Columbia Games Junior League, they won't stand a chance against us."
[End of Episode]
From the Author:
I was originally going to name this "With Lightning Comes Thunder" and was going to make this similar to a cartoon that one of the Friendship is Magic writers worked on temporarily and left after writing two episodes, one of which is very similar to one of his previous works. However, I changed gears midway through production and turned it into a Rainbow Dash versus a rival episode. Which might be taking the spotlight away from the others.
What is this Columbia Games that this mysterious woman speaks of? Does Canterlot High have a rival school that they have a grudge on? What is going on here? You won't find answers to these questions until much later in the timeline.
Written by TheAPPstore
My Little Pony characters/franchise property of Hasbro.
Inspired by Super Sentai, property of Toei Compony.