-=≡Second Play, Application, Apparels and Apples≡=-
That one, simple declarative phrase, “Let’s make an official team!” from Rainbow Dash seemed like just an absurd thing to the rest of the ponies when she had first said it. But soon, they began to wonder. It was possible afterall. The first Wonderball tournament had concluded already, and due to its runaway success, the EWE (that’s Equestria Wonderball Eventers) were expanding. They were taking new applications for official teams from everywhere.
“Come on!” Rainbow Dash said at Twilight’s library, where the alicorn was currently trying to read.
As always, the books were neatly organized in shelves that surrounded the outer wall. Not a quill or inkwell was out of position. Everything was had a place, and they were all measured out perfectly. A wooden horse head watched over the entire main floor.
Twilight looked away from her book concerning the interaction between magical vortexes of different chiralities. “I don’t know, Rainbow.”
“We must be good enough to compete, at least,” Rainbow said. “I know we can do it!”
“It’s not just our skills I’m worried about. We would need to run a team and travel to the tournament sites. Who would run the library while I’m gone?”
“Well, no one ran the place,” Rainbow Dash pointed out. She swept a wing over the rows and rows of books. “I’m not really sure how books were handled, though. I never came in here before you did.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “It was a big mess. I think ponies just took what they needed and put it back wherever when they were done. And what about Rarity? Or the Apple Farm?”
“I’m getting to them. Fluttershy, reluctantly, and Pinkie Pie are already on board. So, what do you say? It’s not like we’ll be gone for all that long. The first tournament only lasted for two months, and there seemed to be enough more than enough time between games for players to go home.”
It was obvious she wasn’t going to get any reading done right now, so Twilight closed the book. Magic floated it off to the side, on a pile of other books she had planned to read. “If you’re going to run a real team, you can’t just go around asking your friends.”
“Er, well.” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head. With undaunted determination, she pressed her forelegs against the ground. “Tryouts then. We will hold tryouts. You’re coming, of course.”
Twilight nodded.
“Got to fly. Going to make up flyers and distribute them. Ooh, I need to request the official registration forms too. So much to do.” Rainbow Dash was almost gushing with hooves pressed up against her cheeks. She had flown upwards a bit while speaking out of excitement.
With a simple, “Bye,” the pegasus rushed out of the library, dragging some loose pages in her wake.
Before continuing to convince her friends, Rainbow Dash had another important stop. It was the town hall building for Ponyville. It sat alone in the center of a round, and it towered over all other buildings. Wooden beams supported the multi-floored structure. A set of large double-doors stood facing the town.
Rainbow Dash burst into through and proclaimed, “Mayor, I want to register something!”
Everyone else in the hall turned to look at her. What she had not noticed as a long line of ponies needing things. The mayor, a mare with grey hair yet was still young-looking, was at the desk taking on concerns one at a time.
“Ahem,” one of the town hall staff said. He motioned to the end of the line. “Please wait your turn.”
All of Rainbow Dash’s excitement was sucked away by the long, snaking line in front of her. She smashed her head against the nearby post. When several minutes passed before the line even moved, her head returned to the post in exasperation, though this time she used a wing to cushion the strike.
The clock in the room ticked like thunder. Every movement of the second hand was time wasted in line. The pegasus tapped her hoof, walked forward in line, straightened out her feathers, walked forward in line, performed some pushups, walked forward in line. Anything to try and take her mind off the waiting, really.
“Hey,” Rainbow Dash said to the pony in front. “Can I get in front of you? I need to, uh, get back home quick to my sick grandmother.” Her eyes widened until they were shimmering from catching the light.
“Nice try, Rainbow Dash,” the pony in front said. “Your grandma doesn’t live here.”
“Grandfather? Aunt? Uncle?”
Nothing was doing.
Her wings were drooping, and her muzzle was near the ground, but Rainbow Dash waited patiently, shuffling forward every so often. She only looked up when her head came into contact with something. It was a desk! She was finally there!
“Rainbow Dash, what can I do for you?” the mayor asked.
Rainbow planted both forelegs firmly on the wooden surface. “Mayor, I want to request that you request a team registration form from the EWE.”
“Ooh, the EWE!” the mayor said excitedly. “Why, I happen to have the forms right here.” The mayor ducked under the desk for a brief moment before returning with a small stack of papers in her mouth. “The EWE have been sending out forms to all towns and cities to broaden the sport. Oh, and have this as well.” A thick book was slammed onto the table.
“What’s that?” Rainbow Dash asked cautiously.
The mayor placed her hoof on top of the book. The cover had a picture of the official ball used in Wonderball. Coming out of it was a pair of wings that glittered with light. A cloud of dust covered the lowest portion of the ball. “This is the current edition of the rules, or so I’ve been told. It also has everything needed to qualify as an official team. Be sure to read over it carefully.”
The mayor laughed exuberantly. “This is so exciting. To think Ponyville will have its very own team.”
“Rulebook?” Rainbow Dash muttered as if she was only finally realizing that brick on the table was something she had to read.
“Yes.” The mayor had a toothy smile.
“R-right.” The pegasus gathered up the forms and the rulebook. She was going to suffer neck strains carrying them around in her mouth for too long. They were flipped onto her back with the wings acting as barricades to keep them there.
Why was there so many rules? All Rainbow wanted to do was play, not read an encyclopedia. The organizing of ponies she could handle. But this? This was ridiculous.
She took a seat at a nearby bench with the rulebook open next to her. This was not the riveting tale of Daring Do, not in the least. Everything was so formal and dry. Reading it was only slightly more fun than watching paint dry. After Rainbow had spent twenty minutes on the first page, she slammed the book shut and let out a grunt. She was never going to get through this on her own. The forms weren’t much easier to work through, either.
Everything was collected onto the aggravated pegasus’s back again. Rainbow dashed off as fast as possible while still maintaining balance. Coming up ahead was a great tree with a thick trunk. It had windows and a door. Lamps hung from many of the branches. It was the library again.
“Twilight! Congratulations, you are on the team,” Rainbow Dash proudly proclaimed as she burst in.
The alicorn let out an exasperated sigh as she turned away from her book once again. “Rainbow, I thought you were going to hold tryouts.”
“I already know you are the best pony for this job.”
Twilight narrowed her eyes. “What job?”
Rainbow Dash let out a chuckle as she walked over. Her wings were still held high, blocking out what was on her back. “You get to be my vice-captain. And your first duty as vice-captain is to read over all of these and make sure I’m doing everything right?” It was more a hopeful request than an order. She shunted the rulebook and forms onto the table.
The pages had slipped over, with half of them spilling onto the floor. An even larger smile was on Rainbow Dash, as if showing more teeth would increase the chances of her friend saying, “Yes.”
Magic enveloped the fallen sheets of paper and then brought them back up. Everything was squared up nicely. Twilight stared at the thick book of rules. “Fine, I’ll do it.”
“Yes! Yes, yes, yes! Thank you, Twilight,” Rainbow cheered. “Okay, now I am really off to start tryouts. See you there.”
She zipped out, leaving the bookish alicorn to look over everything.
Rainbow Dash soared through the sky, eager to start her next task. Saddlebags stuffed with tryout information flyers were strapped around her body. The posters were colorfully done with a picture of Rainbow Dash being the most prominent thing. The drawn pegasus was staring out intensely and had a hoof pointing towards the reader.
The tryouts were being held in two days. That wasn’t a lot warning, but Rainbow Dash couldn’t stand waiting any longer. All through the day, she soared through the sky, dropping down the flyers and letting them land wherever they wanted. She also planned on putting them all over her friends’ places. Twilight’s library and Sugarcube Corner was already plastered to the point where ponies could no longer see out the windows. Now it was on to Rarity’s clothing store.
The Carousel Boutique was a posh building that had just the right mix of colors and accompanying styles. It drew the attention of ponies from far down the street. This was certainly a place designed by a pony with great sense of appearance.
Without even speaking to the proprietor, Rainbow Dash started to put up her flyers. The sounds of shuffling and knocking on the window caused the owner of the store to come out. She was looking flabbergasted at someone messing up her beautiful exterior.
“Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?” Rarity said with a slight whine.
“I’m holding tryouts for the Ponyville Wonderball team!” Rainbow said without looking over. All her attention was still focused on putting up another poster. “You’re coming too.”
“Am I?”
“Of course! You are pretty good for the game. If we are to have the best possible chances of winning, I want to have everypony try out.”
Rarity took off a pair of red-rimmed glasses to better give a glare. “You do remember that I despise outdoor activities right?”
“Come on, please! You are really good as a snatcher. I think you have a great chance of making the team. You can do the same thing as you do now, be the goalkeeper.”
The unicorn chuckled. “Yes, I am rather good at that, aren’t I? But what about my store?” WIthout waiting for an answer, Rarity started to pace around. “Wait, wait. Ideaaaaa!”
Rainbow Dash waited silently with a hopeful smile.
“Okay,” Rarity said, “you know how the teams always give interviews right? I will come to tryouts if you agree to wear my designs when doing interviews. With this, and the magic of television, I’ll be able to spread my business around Equestria!” She let out a delighted squeal. “And, and I can design the uniforms too. It will be the most fashionable- thing- ever!”
“Only if you try your best,” Rainbow Dash agreed. “Though, uh, remember, function over form for the uniforms.”
“Sure, sure.” It didn’t seem like Rarity was really paying attention since her mind was already lit up with ideas and images. “Two days from now, right? I’ll be there.”
“Great! Can’t wait to see you, Rarity.” Rainbow saluted before flying off.
As Rarity was going back inside, her eye caught the huge mess of posters on her store window. Shaking her head, she used magic to pull down all of them. One was placed back perfectly in the corner. There, that was a nice location that was easy to read as customers came in. No need for such garish overcompensation.
After going through the rest of town, Rainbow Dash headed out towards the farm. There was just enough flyers left to put on the trees lining the road, so anypony visiting the farm would see as well.
The pleasant cottages faded away into rolling green hills. Rows upon rows of apple trees were planted. Their canopy blended together into a cloud of green. Dots of ruby, emerald and gold shined through them. A simple wooden fence separated the different orchids. A mighty, red barn standing just off the road pulled the eye’s attention. Surrounding it were pens and shelter for other animals. A modest home, where the Apples lived, was further into the farm.
From an aerial vantage point, Rainbow Dash scouted for Applejack. There, going through the trees doing her duty of picking up any fallen apples. Her little sister, Apple Bloom was there as well, helping out with a wooden bucket on her head.
“Hey, Apps!” the pegasus called out as she landed.
“Apps?” Applejack asked.
Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Trying something new.”
“Try again.”
“Anyway, Ap- ple- jack.” The name was pronounced with a stress on every syllable. “Have you seen? You’re coming right?” She held out the last flyer for tryouts.
Applejack first tossed a rotten apple into the pail before turning to the sheet. “Wonderball tryouts, is it? I want to, Rainbow, I really do, but I can’t leave the farm for so long.” Her head shook sadly. “I’m sorry, but I can’t join the team.”
The pegasus felt the wind get pulled out of her wings. She had a look of disbelief and couldn’t manage to get out another word from the shock. Next to her, Applejack was the best athlete in Ponyville, (though Applejack was likely to dispute the order). She needed those legs of steel for the team.
Apple Bloom ran over, nearly spilling the pail on her head. It merely slid onto the ground, though, with content still inside. “What? You got to go, sis. It would be so cool to see you and all the others on television. And you’re so good!”
“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash agreed. “You’re probably the best mover in town. The team needs you. I need you.” She tried her best pleading look, though it wasn’t something she had a lot of practice in.
“So does the farm,” Applejack said. Her hoof swept across the ground. “Who’s going to pick up all these fallen apples? Big Mac has his own chores.”
“I’ll do it,” Apple Bloom chirped.
“You say that now, but once you need to do everything alone, that tune will change quickly.”
“But don’t you want to form a team?”
Applejack sighed. She tipped her hat down to avoid looking at the other two. “I do. I really do, but there’s just so much stuff to do here. It just wouldn’t be right for me to go galloping off and leave you, Bic McIntosh and Granny Smith to do everything.”
“But think how great it would be if you were a national sports star!” Apple Bloom said with awe at future possibilities.
“How long would I be gone, if I did play?” Applejack asked, almost reluctantly since that meant she hadn’t slammed the door on her joining shut tightly.
“I,” Rainbow Dash said in an elongated sound that became raspy, “really don’t know. The sport is still new, and they’re working out a more formal schedule. I do know that there is enough time between games to come home and help out! I mean, come on, it was alright for you to leave for a long time during that rodeo convention.”
“That, that was completely different!” Applejack stammered. A bright flush of red was on her cheeks. It quickly vanished as she glared at the rainbow pegasus. “I’ll talk with Granny Smith and Big McIntosh first, see how they feel about it. No guarantees okay, Rainbow?”
There was still a bunch of work to be done, so Applejack tipped her hat before striding off.
Apple Bloom was about to follow before a blue wing blocked her way. Rainbow Dash scooped the younger Apple sister over and whispered, “You’re going to help convince Applejack, right?”
“For sure.” Apple Bloom had a bright twinkle in her eye. “I think it’s totally cool to have a Wonderball team, and it would be even cooler if mah sister was on it.” Before running off with the bucket full of fallen apples, she gave Rainbow Dash a wink.