//------------------------------//
// Ch. 34 Once more free 
// Story: School! Flying! Falling! Goofing! 
// by Lazydrill 
//------------------------------//

"Static, I'm clear! Pass the ball!" Diving past and underneath Digit, you threw the ball quickly to Fog and Sky Edge, who zipped away as soon as they caught it. Digit and Lily darted right after the two colts, attempting to cease the ball and stop them from scoring a point through one of the three rings shaped out of clouds that were drifting in the air at one end of the colosseum.

Shifting your wings, you flew back to your own side of the field, keeping an eye on the ball at all times as it was passed from pony to pony on your team. As appointed defender, it was up to you to keep the ball from getting too close to the goals, and after you it was up to Lucky to keep it from going through the rings as goalie.

"So far so good Static!" Lucky called out to you from her spot on the middle ring where she sat. Turning around in the air, you looked at her and raised your hoof to the sky, which earned you a similar salute from the mare. Focusing back on the game, everything went indeed good so far, you had a certain pink alicorn to thank for that. Said mare was sitting on the first row of the view seats, accompanied by Berry Petal, surrounding the playing field of the grand structure, not participating in the hoofball game because she would have by nature an unfair advantage towards the team she would be playing against.

Cadence decided herself it would be for the best, which was accompanied with mixed reactions of the class. Of course, some were happy that she didn't play because of the reasons she gave, on the other hoof, there were some of the stallions that wanted to see her in action, including a part of you, but no pony needed to know that. Neither was told what happened between you and the princess in the infirmary. You were asked about what transpired between you and the alicorn, but the mare gave a swift and easy answer, a simple tea she made with the help of the doctor to ease your symptoms that Cadence described as a sudden headache caused by stress at her unexpected appearance in the class.

The class bought the 'white-lie' almost immediately, clearing you out from the barrage of uncomfortable questions. There was no doubt in your mind though, that once the Princess was gone and back to her own duties, that ponies would come and ask you again.

"KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE BALL STATIC! YOU LOOK LIKE A DAYDREAMING FOAL!!"

Your ears flattened at the booming voice of Iron Wing, nearly managing to make you lose focus and fall to the ground. Growling inwardly for yelling at you, you flapped your wings harder and made circling motions around your side of the field, as the coach says, keep going is better than stop and start-up again every time. 

The ball was thrown around the enemy goals but had yet to actually go through the rings. Not because a lack of attempts, but because a certain rainbow maned mare was given goal duty, making it very hard for your team to score. To say the teams were unfair was an understatement, the opposing team had most of the better players from your class, leaving only Lucky, Sky and Fog as the 'good' players in your team, with the others, including you, being average.

"One minute left, fillies!" Iron Wing announced loudly.

It only made you sigh it defeat. The score board underneath Cadence and Petal looked grim for your team, with the score being, thanks to Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust, zero to fifteen. "I miss the time where we could at least score something... bucking hay."

"Thirty seconds!"

Looking back to the other side of the colosseum, your eyes widened as Rainbow came out of the goal area with high speed, zipping past her teammates, snagging the ball from Dust Cloud, and headed straight to the three rings of your team. Her speed was ridiculous, as if her life depended on it she managed to shoot past most of your class in an instant. Flapping your wings, you went towards her, trying to make some effort in delaying her or grabbing the payload she was carrying. 

You managed to get in front of her flight path, making yourself as wide as you could to catch her. However, she didn't slow down in the slightest. A droplet of sweat dripped down your neck as the mare made no attempt to break her beeline towards you. Keeping eye contact with the cyan arrow, you could make out a smug grin on her muzzle, making you question if hovering in front of her was the best plan you could have come up with.

The distance between you and her was draining rapidly. Out of instinct, you suddenly flapped your wings and evaded the mare by mere inches by flying upward. Your breathing returned to normal as Rainbow bolted underneath you towards the rings, intending to score through the middle ring where Lucky still sat, happily flapping her wings one by one making the ring roll a few degrees every time.

"Lucky, block her!" Sky yelled from his chase after Rainbow

Lucky only chuckled and put her hooves to her muzzle, amplifying her voice, "Buck that! She almost cut through Static back there! No way I'm gonna fly in her path like that!" Well, she wasn't wrong. You were pretty sure Dash would have slammed into you, and possibly kill you with that speed.

Hovering in the air, you and the whole class watched as Rainbow threw the ball through the middle circle on the last second, Lucky clapping her hooves together with a chuckle. "Alright fillies and colts, time's up! Everypony lower yourself to the ground and line up." All ponies did as they were told, gliding to the ground and forming a line in front of the coach. Folding your wings to your sides, you glanced as Iron Wing walked from one end of the formation to the other. "Well, I have to say I'm surprised. With a score of eighteen to zero, this class has never been as one-sided. And while I know why one team had such a good score, I can't help but still be disappointed that not even one, single, bucking, point was scored, at all by the opposing group."

"They had all the good players on their team!" Sky Edge called out in protest. 

Iron Wing stepped right in front of him, looking down at the younger pegasi, "You mean like Dust Cloud? That colt can't even hold the ball! Let alone do anything with it! The only few actual good players that were against you," Iron poked his hoof lightly against Edge's chest, "were Rainbow Dash, Lightning Dust and Angel Wings! Angel Wings can't even kick clouds properly!" Sky Edge grumbled under his breath and took a step back.

"Cheer up Edge, it was a fun game!" Lucky said from next to you, making you roll your eyes. "Next time we'll do better! Right guys?" She looked around to you and the rest of your team while wiggling her hips and flapping her wings, a happy smile plastered on her muzzle.

Everypony on your team groaned.





"Ugh... My wings hurt, buck."

"Well, that's what you get for trying to keep up with Rainbow Dash, or doing any other form of exercise," Dust said as he sat on the fountain, dinking his beverage through a straw, "you should be like me, taking the gym classes more easy."

Edge glared briefly at Dust, "You are not taking it easy, you're just bucking lazy." Edge went back to his wings and looked through them.

Dust shrugged, not caring about Edge's remark, "Meh, if you say so. But it does not change the fact that I'm better off than you are. At the moment at least," he took a long sip from his drink.

You sat on the clouds in front of the fountain, your back leaning against it. Edge and Dust had been going back and forth for the past few minutes, Dust making small jabs to Edge with the latter just getting annoyed and shoving something back. Mostly you just let them be, offering a snicker whenever one of your friends made a good comeback.

Leaning your head a bit back, you let the sun shine fully on your muzzle, its warm rays warming your coat pleasantly. It had been a small two hours after the end of exercise class and you now enjoyed some time off from school. In fact, the only reason why you were still on school proper was because you were waiting for the mares of your group to come out of the building.

Sighing, you straightened your head and looked to the building, "What are the girls doing? Discussing main and tail brushes with the Princess? They take forever, our school day ended more than twenty minutes ago."

A small kick to your shoulder made you look to Dust, "Relax Static, later today we have the whole afternoon and evening to be around the mares," he sucked the last bit of juice through his straw and let out a large belch, which made you flat your ears in mild disgust, "besides, when do they get another chance to talk to a Princess like today? So I say we relax for a bit while we can, soon enough we'll have to be up and about, and I don't think 'Mr. Wing-pain' over here wants to use his wings anytime soon."

"Dust, one of these days I'm gonna punch you in the jaw."

"You know you love me, Edge."

"Shut up."

Rolling your eyes, you stood up and stretched like a cat, "C'mon guys, you two can roll in the hay when I'm not here, so play nice for now."

"Aww, and here I was hoping for a threeway."

"Dust, do something useful and put an apple in your mouth before you spew more distasteful stuff out of there." As soon as you said that he shrugged and took an apple out of his saddle bags next to him and took a bite from it. "I... didn't expect you to have an apple with you."

"I do on occasion, yet you ponies are always surprised." While chewing he looked to the school, following his gaze, you saw  other students coming out of the doors, but not the fillies you were waiting for.

Moving to the school, "I'm gonna look where the mares are, you guys coming with me?" you asked as you looked over your shoulder to the two.

Surprisingly, it was Dust that hopped off the fountain, "I'm coming with you. Edge will pull my feathers out if I stay around him longer like this."

"Not only your feathers..." Edge said as he moved to the spot that Dust left and lied down on it, "you two go ahead, gives me  some time to preen my wings properly. I'll wait here."

"Okay, see you in a bit. With hopefully the mares in tow," giving him a wave, Dust stepped beside you as you both made the way towards the school. "So what do you think the girls will be taking about what takes this long?"

Dust shrugged and swallowed a bite from his apple, "Beats me, it could be anything, really. From brushes, to healthy diet, Princesses stuff, gossip, or love, you know because she is the Princess of it and all."

Glancing at your friend you raised an eyebrow as you stepped up to the entrance of the structure, "You don't seem to be very... interested or excited in the fact she is the Princess of Love. What gives?"

Entering the school, he finished his apple and threw it into the bin that was next to the doors. Looking back at you, "For one, the 'Princess of Love', I mean, c'mon, why would we need a Princess of Love in the first place? What does she do as an alicorn that deserves that title and rank? Love is not something that needs to be tended to as it is natural to all ponies. Not unlike the sun and moon Princess Celestia and Luna need to move in order for us to live our lives." 

Stopping in the middle of the school, you looked about the halls, "You have a point, but I'm sure there is a reason for her title. Now where could they be?" 

"Right here!" Lucky yelled from the hallway to your left, making you and Dust glance curiously in her direction. Lucky cantered with a smile to the both of you, "Hey guys, what are you doing in the school? Didn't we ask you to wait at the fountain?"

Closing the gap, you Dust and Lucky met halfway, "Well yeah, but you girls were taking quite a long time. So we came to see if you hadn't been given detention." you said with a grin.

Lucky scoffed, and waved her hoof casually at you, "Pfft, as if." She looked over her shoulder to the hallway where she came out of, "Y'know, I was actually on my way to tell you Petal was on her way, too." Looking past Lucky you saw the pink mare walking out of the corridor together with the Alicorn. "Ah, speak of Cerbereus and he shall appear." Following behind the two pink mares came a small group of more fillies, a few from your class, including Rainbow, Lightning, Digit, Lilly and some from other classes that happend to come across the Princess.

"Oh, hey Dust and Static, what are you two doing inside the school?" Petal asked with a flick of her ear, looking from Dust to you respectively.

"Obviously they were concerned about you, fillies. Just as I said before, they'll come to you." The pink alicorn said with closed eyes and a small smirk on her muzzle, making some of the mares chuckle. You and Dust glanced at each other, both in confusion.

Glancing back at the mares, "Uhm, okay? Are you girls finished? We were gonna plan the vacation for in the winter, right?"

Lucky nodded her head, "Of course we are. But that doesn't mean we are on a very tight schedule, you need to relax!" She tilted her head sideways and closed her eyes with a toothy grin.

"I on the other hoof am, unfortunately." Cadence said. She walked out from the group of mares, "Fillies and colts, thank you all again for this great day. Hopefully you all enjoyed it as much as I did."

"I'm pretty sure Static didn't enjoy so much in the morning," Dust said with a punch to your shoulder. Looking to Dust you snorted and attempt to wack him with your wing, which he blocked with his own. "Ah-ah, only my sister can hit me like that."

"Pfft, just you wait Dust, I'm sure Lightning will hit you later today." Turning back to the alicorn, "It was a fun surprise to have you in our class today, Cadence. Will you be coming back this school year?" you asked with genuine curiosity.

Cadence shook her head, "I'm afraid not, my duties call me back to the Empire. I will be visiting some other schools throughout Equestria later this school year, though, just not High Altitude anymore." The fillies behind the Princess slummed a bit down at that. "I'm sorry girls, but it is what it is. Maybe you'll see me around again in the future." She said with a hopeful tone.

"Will you be going to Ponyville Elementary school?" you asked, wondering if she would visit your sisters' in the future."

"In fact I am, around next month I will be visiting them. Don't tell your siblings or any of the foals there though," she said with a wink, "it needs to stay a surprise." 

You gave a firm nod and a light chuckle, "Oh you're mean, now I can't tell my sisters you are coming. I'll have a hard time not to tell them."

"I'm bad aren't I?" she fluttered her wings and batted her eyelashes to you, making you blush lightly. "Anyhow, again, it has been wonderful. Farewell everypony." She turned to the door, walking away from the mares and past you, "Good luck Static, try to keep your mind clear during your first season." And with that, she walked out the door, her light blue aura closing the door behind her.

"What did she say? 'Good luck Static' and something after that, she was almost whispering." Dust said as he, too, watched the Princess leave.

answering him, "With my last year here, that's all."

He grinned, "Heh, true that, you'll need it." 

"Shut your plothole, you are worse off than me."

"Ooookay then, are we good to go guys, or you two wanna continue to discuss your relationship?" Lightning asked, hovering in the air with Rainbow fluttering next to her.

"We are good, but we'll need to do couple therapy some time soon," you said with a chuckle, turning around to the door, the group of friends followed you out to collect Edge and go plan the vacation ahead.