“Just before the bell goes, I’m gonna give back your tests, okay?”
Miss Bellflower picked up the pile of comprehension test papers on her desk and began handing them back to the front row of students.
“Miss, how did everypony do?” one of the students sitting at the back of the classroom asked.
“Most of you have definitely improved from last time, but there are a few of you that have stayed the same grade. But all of you can improve, no matter how well you’ve done.”
“I didn’t even finish the test probably, so I know I did really bad!” Atomic said to Chestnut, trying his best to mask his growing worry that he had failed yet another comprehension test.
“Atomic, you’ve improved a little bit, well done. But I need to speak to you so just stay behind when the bell goes, okay?”
Atomic took his test back from Miss Bellflower and turned it over, his face falling.
“Yay, I improved from a total trainwreck to a minor disaster!”
Chestnut’s eyes widened when Atomic showed him his test paper. On the front, a score of eighteen out of forty had been written with ‘see me’ written neatly in red underneath the score.
“It’s just a small test, so at least it doesn’t affect your working grade,” Chestnut said, trying his best to cheer up Atomic.
“My working grade is pretty bad too, so this doesn’t really bring it down too much.”
As the bell rang, the rest of the students packed up their belongings and Miss Bellflower took the test papers back as the colts and fillies left.
“I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Chestnut waved goodbye to Atomic and closed the classroom door behind him.
“Atomic, come up here please,” Miss Bellflower pulled out a seat from one of the tables at the front and moved it next to her desk. Atomic sighed and went to the front of his class, already knowing what Miss Bellflower was going to say.
When Atomic sat down, Miss Bellflower took out his test paper and laid it down on the table between them.
“Atomic, how many hours did you spend revising for this test?”
“Umm……. a few,” Atomic nervously replied, avoiding making eye contact with his teacher.
“Okay then,” Miss Bellflower looked at Atomic skeptically, before shaking her head and continuing with what she wanted to say.
“Atomic, this is your last year of elementary school, and the exams that you take at the end of this year will essentially decide what high school you can apply to. You are a bright colt, with a lot of potential to do whatever you want, but getting these sort of scores in a key subject like English are going to be very detrimental to your future.”
Miss Bellflower took out a folder from underneath her desk and opened it, turning to the fourth page.
“Atomic, this year you are averaging a D for English, and as you know, you have to pass this year in order to be accepted into any high school.”
Atomic slowly nodded and continued looking down at the desk. Miss Bellflower sighed and moved the test paper back over to her side of the desk as she continued.
“Atomic, I have decided that I’m going to move you down to Miss Sapphire’s class.”
Atomic suddenly looked up and shook his head quickly.
“Please, Miss! I don't wanna join her class that’s where all the dumb ponies-”
Miss Bellflower frowned at Atomic and he stopped and cleared his throat before correcting himself.
“I mean, I can and I will improve Miss, I promise. Can I make a proposition?”
“......I'm listening.”
“If I get anything lower than fifty percent on the next test, then I will go down to Ms Sapphire’s class.”
“Hmm..” Miss Bellflower rubbed her hoof on the side of her face as he considered Atomic’s proposition, before appearing to have made a decision.
“Alright then, you have to get higher than fifty percent on the next test in two weeks’ time or you will be joining Miss Sapphire’s class. Do we have a deal?”
Atomic nodded and he said goodbye to Miss Bellflower as he closed the door behind him. Outside the classroom, Thunderhoof was already waiting for him.
“Chestnut said that Miss Bellflower was talking to you but he never said it would take this long!”
“She was just talking to me about my work in class.”
The two colts silently walked through the corridor and pushed the large double glass doors to step outside.
“Oh yeah, what did you get for the comprehension test?”
Atomic slowed down and discomfort was evident on his face.
“Not...that great. What did you get? ”
“Thirty-three, but not the highest in the class this time.”
“You're actually so lucky that you can still get really high grades without doing any revision. It's not fair! You gotta tell me how you do it!”
“I do some revision, it's not like I don't do anything at all.”
The two colts crossed the busy high street road quickly.
“What time’s training again?”
“Five o’clock, and this is like the fifth time I’ve told you today Atomic!”
The colts passed a few of the stalls and Atomic stopped in front of their usual stall, pulling Thunderhoof in to join the back of the short queue with him.
“At least give me a warning if you’re gonna do that!”
“Who are you kidding, we both know you’re so happy that I reminded you!” Atomic teased, and Thunderhoof pretended to be angry for a few moments before sighing and looking through his saddlebag for his money.
After ordering their vegetable wraps, Atomic and Thunderhoof ate as they continued making their way home.
“What do you think, your coach, is gonna make you, do today?” Atomic asked, pausing every few words to take a bite from his vegetable wrap.
“Just some more drills, but we’re probably gonna start training with the first team. What do you think your group is gonna do today?”
“Probably that stupid bull in the ring again, it’s not like we do anything else.”
The two colts turned onto their road and made their way through their neighbours that were either passing by or going their way.
“Wait, Atomic, isn’t that your dad?”
“That’s impossible, he finishes work at-“
Atomic followed Thunderhoof’s outstretched hoof and it was pointing to his father, who was standing at their front door waving.
“How was school today buddy?” Syracuse ruffled his son’s mane and Atomic blushed.
“Good to see you Thunderhoof. How’s the family?”
“They’re fine sir.”
“That’s good. And call me Syracuse, no need for the sir.”
“Yes si-I mean yes Syracuse.”
Thunderhoof’s mother came out of her house and called Thunderhoof inside to have his dinner.
“See you at training Atomic!”
“You too!” Atomic replied with a wave.
“Right, I have some good news for you,” Syracuse announced as he led Atomic inside, and they came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs.
“Did you get tickets for another Dragons game?!”
“No, but do you remember when I told you a while back about the Eastern Fillydelphia Eagles, and that they were going to have tryouts for their under-thirteen team? Well, one of my friends told me that he was taking his kid to their tryouts today.”
“But I’m supposed to go to training today, what am I supposed to tell Coach Tornado?”
“Oh don’t worry about that, I went to the Broncos and I told them you couldn’t come to training today because you had a dentist appointment.”
“Oh, okay.”
Syracuse was surprised that Atomic wasn’t as excited as he hoped he would be.
“It’s a chance for you to play on the first team of a very good team, instead of being a reserve on a good team.”
“But what about Thunderhoof?”
“You guys will still see each other at school, and besides you’re neighbours, you’ll see each other everyday anyway.”
Atomic took his saddlebag off and sat down at the bottom stair, and Syracuse sat down next to him.
“If you wanna keep playing for the Broncos, then that’s fine Atomic, I’m not gonna force you to switch teams.”
“No it’s okay Dad, I’ll go to the tryouts today,” Atomic lifted his head up and wore a determined expression on his face.
“Okay then, get settled down and then come out into the garden in a bit, we’ll do some training.”
Syracuse had set up several plastic orange bowls in a zigzag starting from one end of the garden to the other, with a few metres between each cone. As Atomic came out into the garden, Syracuse told him to stand to the left of the first cone and he turned on his stopwatch.
“This activity is gonna help with your agility. You’re gonna run through these cones and I’m gonna time you okay? For every cone that you hit, there will be a five second penalty, got it?”
Atomic nodded and crouched down. His breathing slowed down and his eyes narrowed, the only thought occupying his mind was to get through the cones in the fastest times possible.
“Three, two, one, go!”
Atomic leapt forward from his starting position and tilted his body to the right so that he could get past the first cone. He then twisted his body in the opposite direction to avoid hitting the second cone, and he continued altering the direction his body was heading in whilst still moving in order to get past the other cones. However, on the last cone, one of Atomic’s back legs lagged a little behind the rest of his body and clipped the final cone, and this threw Atomic off balance slightly.
“An almost perfect run except for that last cone. Your time was nineteen seconds, would’ve been fourteen without the penalty.”
Atomic nodded and took a few seconds to catch his breath before helping his father clear away the cones for the next activity.
Syracuse picked up the hoofball behind him and motioned for Atomic to move back to where he had started the previous activity.
“I’m gonna test your hoof-eye coordination and reaction times, okay? First of all I’m gonna-”
Syracuse suddenly threw the ball at Atomic, who reflexively threw his arms up to catch the ball. The ball ricocheted off his hooves and bounced against the fence behind him, dropping onto the grass.
“You didn’t give me a warning!”
“I shouldn’t have to. When you’re on that pitch, you have to be prepared for anything everytime. Whether you’re thrown a good ball or a bad one, you always gotta be ready. Throw the ball back to me.”
Syracuse took a few steps back and threw the ball to Atomic’s right, forcing him to move quickly to his right in order to catch the ball.
“Good.”
Atomic made the rest of the catches, using his speed to move quickly to where the ball was thrown each time in order to make the catch.
“Syracuse, it’s four thirty, I thought you two were supposed to leave now!”
“Shit!” Syracuse threw the ball to Atomic and picked up the bowls before running inside. Atomic quickly followed him and placed the ball on the kitchen table as his father pushed the bowls into one of the cupboards.
“Okay Atomic good luck, do your best, and remember, whatever happens, you do your best, okay?”
Atomic nodded and hugged his mother before doing the same with Butterscotch, who was sitting calmly in her pram.
“Rose, you taking her anywhere special?”
“Just some mother-daughter shopping, but we should be home before you guys.”
The family left the house together and said goodbye to each other before heading off in separate directions.
“Dad, aren’t we gonna take a taxi?”
“Nope, the club’s within walking distance from our house, so we’re gonna use our legs to get there.”
“A taxi would be quicker. Just putting it out there.”
“Nope, we’re gonna walk.”
Entering the Western Fillydelphia Eagles main building was an unusual experience for Atomic. On the one hand, he didn’t have his best friend with him to keep him company. But on the other hand, Atomic had been presented an opportunity to both redeem himself for his unsatisfactory performance in the Broncos’ tryouts and play for arguably one of the best young hoofball team in Fillydelphia, and he was not going to let anypony stop him from achieving that.
“Remember, no matter what happens, make sure that you try your best, okay son?”
Syracuse and Atomic hugged tightly for a few moments before letting go of each other.
“I will Dad.”
“Good luck.”
The father and son said goodbye and turned around to go in opposite directions; Syracuse towards the pedestrian crossing, and Atomic towards the Eastern Fillydelphia Eagles. He walked up towards the large double doors and raised a hoof to open the door, but the doors moved apart as if by magic to let Atomic inside.
The main lobby was a lot larger than the Buccaneers’ one had been, yet it was almost completely filled with almost thirty colts, with only a few that appeared to be the same age as Atomic, with most of the colts being older. The atmosphere was tense, and silence hung heavy in the air as each colt stood silently with a serious expression on their faces. Atomic also noticed that each colt was wearing a white label.
The receptionist noticed Atomic and directed him to her desk so that he could sign his name on the sheet, and after looking through her drawers, she took out a label and copied Atomic’s name onto it, before handing it back to him and telling him to keep the label on at all times.
Atomic pressed down on his label so that it didn’t fall off, and he tried to start a conversation with the colt next to him.
“S’up, I’m Atomic.”
The colt looked down at Atomic’s outstretched hoof for a few seconds before turning away.
“Er, okay then.”
Atomic shuffled to the front of the crowd and looked at the colts standing next to him, unnerved by their stoic manner.
What is up with these guys?
“Has the equipment arrived yet?”
A stallion wearing a white cap with a whistle hanging around his neck came out from the door behind the receptionist’s desk. He was a tall pale green stallion with a bushy black moustache that hung over his top lip and covered the lower half of his face. His stern grey eyes swept through the lobby, his gaze resting on each face for a few moments before moving on to the next pony.
The receptionist shook her head in response to his question and the stallion continuing looking at the group of hopefuls before coming from behind the receptionist’s desk and walking past the front of it.
“When they do arrive, tell them to come straight to me. You lot, come with me.”
The group followed the coach through the corridor, arranging themselves into a line. Atomic found himself being moved to the back of the line by the other colts and he tapped the shoulder of the colts in front of him.
“Hey, why is everyone acting so weird?” he whispered.
The colt shook his head and made a shushing motion before turning back round to face the front.
Is this what it's like here all the time?
The stallion led the group through a few more corridors, and Atomic was surprised at how much bigger the Eagles’ compound was than the Broncos’ one. Each corridor was at least twenty metres long and was covered in a dark green wallpaper and the floor was covered with a smooth black carpet.
“We’re running late in regards to the schedule, so we’re gonna get straight into a game when we get onto the pitches,” the stallion announced as he led the group towards a set of double doors at the end of another corridor.
We’re not even gonna do any warm-up drills?
They don't waste time here.
The stallion pushed the double doors open and the colts walked through them one by one out onto the pitch. Atomic couldn't see over all of the other colts in front of them but as he emerged, he gasped loudly.
Woah.
The group had just walked onto a full hoofball pitch, complete with two goalposts at the opposite end zones. The cones on the pitch were being quickly cleared away by ponies running onto and from the pitch. There were dark green barriers that surrounded the outside of the pitch and behind them Atomic could see two other pitches, one on either side of the barrier, occupied by colts that were a good few years older than him running from one side to the other, with coaches on both sides yelling at the colts to run faster.
“Line up in front of me.”
Atomic and the other colts quickly and quietly arranged themselves into a horizontal line in front of the stallion as asked.
“My name is Coach Stargaze, and I am in the charge of the under-thirteen team here at the Western Fillydelphia Eagles. Today, it is your job to impress me enough to put yourself in the running for a place on this team.”
Coach Stargaze’s firm tone captured the attention of all of the colts, and after pausing for a few moments to make sure everypony was listening, he continued.
“A place on this team is never guaranteed, and this includes those who are already on the team,” Coach Stargaze nodded at some of the colts standing to one side of the line.
So even ponies already on the team have to fight for their spot.
“Right, get into a circle, I’m gonna lead you through some stretches.”
The colts quickly got into a circle, leaving a space for Coach Stargaze. He joined the circle and raised his left hind leg and right arm, holding them simultaneously. The colts also lifted the same hind leg and arm.
“Hold for fifteen seconds, then switch hind leg and foreleg.”
Five minutes later, Coach Stargaze concluded the warm up.
“Right, let’s split you up into two teams; who wants to be captain?”
Several of the colts’ arms shot up in hopes of being picked, but Atomic shied away and tried to escape the attention of Coach Stargaze, which did not go unnoticed.
“You, Atomic Tangerine, you're my first captain,” Coach Stargaze pointed at Atomic and told him to stand next to him.
Coach Stargaze turned back to the remaining colts to choose the second captain.
“And the second captain is gonna be...Tiny Thunder.”
A tall pale yellow colt nodded and moved to stand on the other side of Coach Stargaze.
His parents definitely got his name wrong.
Coach Stargaze quickly split up the remaining colts into two teams and once the last colt had joined Atomic’s team, he took out a coin and called the two captains over for the coin toss.
“Call it,” Coach Stargaze asked Tiny Thunder.
“Heads.”
Coach Stargaze flicked the coin up into the air and it landed on the grass with Celestia’s face facing up.
“Heads it is. Kickoff or receive?”
“Receive,” Tiny Thunder replied almost instantly.
The two captains shaked hooves and Coach Stargaze handed each captain a plastic bucket stuffed with bibs. When Atomic rejoined the rest of his team, he handed out the orange bibs to his teammates.
“Guys, we’re kicking off. Who’s the best kicker?”
“I’ll do it, I’m the kicker for the team,” one colt declared.
“So, let’s decide who’s gonna play where. Is three will be the linebackers, you two can be the cornerbacks, and…...you four can be the defensive line.”
The older, light red colt designated everypony’s positions and as they spread out, Atomic confronted him.
“Hey I’m supposed to be the captain, it’s my job to tell everypony what position they’re playing.”
“Relax dude, just helping out the captain like a good teammate should do,” the colt spoke with a condescending tone and patted Atomic’s head before joining the others.
Atomic narrowed his eyes and watched the colt join the others before shaking his head and taking his position with his team. Coach Stargaze threw the ball to the colt in the middle and he carefully placed it down in front of him. He then turned around and raised his hind legs before booting the ball far across the pitch.
The two teams quickly began to charge at each other as the ball landed at the five yard mark on the other side of the pitch in the possession of the other team. Tiny Thunder was one of the largest ponies on the pitch, and he quickly moved it to his mouth and used his teeth to grip the strings before sprinting towards the right side of the field.
Atomic and his teammates quickly swarmed towards the runner, but several players were taken out of the efforts to bring down the runner since they had to deal with his teammates protecting him, leaving three players to take down the runner. The runner used his size to charge through the first two defenders, leaving Atomic being the only player close enough to try and stop him.
Atomic lowered his head and charged at the runner, aiming for his midriff. He dove forward and wrapped his arms around the runner, trying to bring him down. The runner desperately twisted himself to try and slip out of Atomic’s grip, but with the help of Atomic’s teammates, he was ultimately brought down at the thirty yard line.
Atomic’s team high-fived each other before moving away from the other team and huddling up to decide their tactics.
Okay, maybe now I can finally take charge.
“Okay, they have Tiny on their team, so they’re probably gonna run a lot of running plays, and we need to counter that. Make sure that as many of you as possible are rushing him each play. That’s the only way we can stop him.”
Atomic glared at the older dark red colt for taking charge again, and Atomic knew that he had to do something otherwise his chances of making the team would be diminished.
“Make sure that you guys give it your all and do whatever it takes to bring them down. On three!” Atomic placed a hoof in the middle of the huddle and the others looked at each other bemusedly before joining their hooves with Atomic.
“One, two, three, LET’S GO!”
The team lifted their hooves up simultaneously and began to get into their positions.
“What’s your name, kid?”
Atomic turned around and saw that the colt who had spoken up twice was smirking at him.
“Atomic. What’s yours?” he asked skeptically.
“Alizarin. Now, come on, we don’t have all day to be standing around and chatting, we have a tryout to get through!”
Alizarin chuckled and trotted past Atomic.
“I know what you’re doing!” Atomic called out, and Alizarin turned around and grinned.
“I’m gonna do whatever it takes to keep my place on the team, maybe you should do the same to try and get on the team.”
Alizarin chuckled before taking his place in the team’s defensive formation, and a few seconds later, Atomic did the same, his teammate’s words still ringing in his head.
Two can play at that game Alizarin. You won’t beat me so easily.
Atomic lined up at the end of the defensive line and crouched down, placing a hoof on the ground. When the whistle was blown, the two lines locked, neither being able to barge past the other. The quarterback handed the ball off to the halfback behind him and Atomic noticed that he was about to run past him. As the halfback sprinted past him, Atomic pushed past his opponent and grabbed the halfback before he could get past him, pulling him down to the ground, at the thirty-seven yard line, so they still had three yards to travel.
Atomic’s teammates all clamoured around him, giving him high-fives and patting his back.
“That was good guys, let’s keep it up and they won’t score on us,” Atomic encouraged, before going through the next play.
The two teams lined up once again and the offence quickly executed a passing play, with the quarterback throwing the ball upfield to a waiting receiver at the twenty-five yard line. The receiver caught the ball with ease and he was able to move the ball ten yards before he was brought down.
“Come on guys, we can stop them, they’re not gonna score on us,” Alizarin brought the team together into a huddle.
“Right, this time we’re gonna run a blitz, okay? We need to stop their quarterback from passing it long all the time, otherwise they’re just gonna keep pitching it down the pitch and they’ll eventually get the TD,” Atomic kept glancing at Alizarin, waiting for him to interject, but surprisingly he didn’t.
The two teams lined up and when the whistle was blown, the quarterback threw the ball long to a sprinting receiver on the right hand side of the field, and he was able to make the catch. His defender grabbed him from behind and tried to pull him down, but the receiver was able to shrug off the tackle attempt and keep running. Atomic’s team quickly began to chase after the receiver, desperately trying to reach him before he reached the end zone. Alizarin was the pony closest to the receiver, and he used his long legs and large strides to get closer and closer to the receiver. Unfortunately, the receiver was too far ahead and he crossed into the end zone just as Alizarin had reached the ten yard line.
Damn it!
The receiver threw the ball down and celebrated with his teammates.
BEEP!
Coach Stargaze walked onto the pitch and blew his whistle, ordering everypony to get off the pitch. Ten ponies carrying equipment such as a yardstick, cones, and buckets of hoofballs came onto the pitch, and they spread out to set up their respective stalls.
“This is what we were gonna start off with before going into a match, so everypony sit tight for a few minutes and then we'll get properly started with these tryouts.”
The group sat down silently on the two benches on the sideline, still with their team. Atomic found himself sitting next to a dark orange colt that looked his age, and he decided to try and strike up a conversation with him.
“Hey, I’m Atomic. You, uh, already on the team or are you trying to get on it as well?”
The dark orange colt turned around and looked behind Atomic to make sure Coach Stargaze wasn't looking at him before answering.
“How old are you?”
“Fifth grade, and you didn’t answer my question.”
“Look, you wanna make it into the league, don't you?”
“Yeah.”
“You don't wanna be wasting your time trying to make friends here, at the end of the day, we’re all competing against each other. Do you really wanna be friends with the ponies who could take your spot in the league?”
“No, but-”
“Exactly. Take my advice, if you get on the team, the only pony that can keep you on the team is you, nopony else. Don't waste your time trying to make friends.”
Atomic sat silently, mulling over the colt’s words in his head.
“And to answer your first question, it's Helios.”
The ponies had finishing setting up the different drills and left the pitch to head back inside, and Coach Stargaze walked onto the pitch to talk to the group.
“We’re gonna do some drills and then we’re gonna finish off the match. I’ll tell you who’s on the team at the end. Let’s go.”
Coach Stargaze led the group over to an empty space at the back of the pitch.
“Forty-yard dash, I don’t think I need to explain this one to anypony. Line up, and first pony get ready.”
The colts quickly organised themselves into a line and Atomic ended up standing right at the back in front of Alizarin.
“We meet again, captain,” he saluted with a smirk, a twinkle in his dark blue eyes, and Atomic rolled his eyes before turning his attention to the colts doing the forty yard dash. Most of them were very fast, with only a few running average times, and Atomic began to slightly panic that he wouldn’t be fast enough as the line became shorter and shorter.
“Next! Hurry up, we don’t have all day!”
Atomic watched Alizarin step forward and Coach Stargaze blew his whistle. Atomic felt a strong rush of wind crash into his face and he took a step back to steady himself. Alizarin galloped across the distance with ease, his long legs an advantage, and as he crossed the forty yard mark, Coach Stargaze stopped his stopwatch.
“Next!”
Atomic stepped forward onto the starting mark and crouched, his breathing slowed down and he almost emptied his mind completely, with only one thought remaining; to run the fastest time possible.
“Go!”
Atomic leapt from his starting position, pumping his legs as fast as he could, his front and hind legs moving in succession to carry him to the forty yard line. He passed through the ten, twenty and thirty yard lines in quick succession, pushing himself to reach even higher speeds as he came to the end of his run.
“Okay, that’s everypony done, let’s move on!”
Atomic quickly rejoined the back of the queue and followed the others moving on to the next station, and Coach Stargaze stopped next to the yardstick. Another pony was stood next to it making final adjustments to the yardstick, which was attached to a thick wooden base, and when he stepped back and nodded at the coach, the colts were introduced to the next drill.
“Here, we are going to test your vertical jump. It’s important, especially for cornerbacks and wide receivers, that you have enough explosive power in your lower body muscles to lift yourself up. First pony, let’s go!”
The colt at the front of the line walked up to the yardstick and stood next to it, waiting for the helper to move the yardstick forward. He then bent down and jumped, stretching his arms up as high as possible and his hoof smacked against the ruler.
One by one, each of the colts took their turn at the drill, and before he knew it, Atomic was next up. He slowly walked over to the yardstick and stood next to it, looking at the higher end of the yardstick and aiming to reach there. He arched his back to straighten his body and his right arm stretched up, his right hoof travelling up the yardstick before settling at the 11 inch line with a definitive tap before coming back down with the rest of his body.
The helper recorded Atomic’s result and handed the clipboard back to Coach Stargaze, who then led the group over to the final drill.
“Get into groups of five and spread out.”
“Come on Captain, let’s do this!” Alizarin cheered as he sauntered over to Atomic, ignoring the younger colt’s dirty looks and slapping him on the back.
Atomic ended up in a group with Alizarin, Helios and three other colts he didn’t know, and they waited for further instructions from Coach Stargaze. He went round the groups and handed a ball to one pony in each group whilst ordering the others in each group to move well away from each other in a zigzag pattern.
“Those of you holding the ball are the quarterbacks for this drill. One by one, the rest of you are gonna run across and catch the ball. When you catch the ball, you’re gonna pass it to the next person along the line. You have to make three clean runs, without dropping the ball. Every time you finish a run, each pony has to take four steps back. If you drop the ball, you have to start again. First group to finish wins.”
When Coach Stargaze blew his whistle, the pitch descended into a frenzy, with each colt doing all they could to make sure that their group won so that they looked good in front of Coach Stargaze.
Atomic’s group wasted no time in getting started, and Atomic sprinted across in front of the quarterback, leaping into the air to catch the ball. As Atomic landed, he quickly turned around and threw a high pass to the next colt in their group, which unfortunately was too high for the colt and his arms flailed hopelessly in the air, his hooves desperately trying to reach the ball but only managing to scrape the bottom of it, and it landed with a small thud.
“Come on, hurry up, we have to start again,” called out the colt at the front of the line, and when the ball was thrown back to him, he almost instantly threw the ball to Atomic hard and fast. Atomic barely managed to catch the ball, and he was grateful for his father’s last minute coaching in their back garden.
The group were able to complete their first two runs successfully, and as they began their fourth run aiming to get a third clean run, Atomic noticed that the group next to them were neck and neck with them and he rallied his team to pass and catch faster.
“Come on guys, let’s finish this!”
Atomic was able to make his catch easily and when he passed the ball to the next pony, he spotted that the other group had just dropped the ball and were trying to restart as quickly as possible.
The last quarterback threw the ball long and hard to the last pony, and at first the ball appeared to have been thrown too short and the last receiver sprinted forward desperately, before tripping over his own hooves and sliding across the grass. But luckily for the group, the ball was close enough for the colt to stretch out his arms and grab it before it hit the grass, pulling it into his body.
“Yes, we did it!”
Atomic’s group celebrated with each other, and Atomic high fived each pony, reluctantly doing the same with Alizarin, who was wearing a huge smile on his face.
Coach Stargaze finished adding notes to his clipboard and brought the groups to split off into their teams to resume the match that they had been playing at the start of the tryouts.
The colts on Atomic’s team slowly walked towards him, and fuelled by what he believed was a good performance from him in the drills, Atomic began to speak.
“Look, we all wanna get on the team today, so instead of worrying about if you look good in front of Coach Stargaze, let’s all work together to win this game. Does anypony here wanna lose this match?”
The colts shook their heads.
“Then let’s go out there and beat the living crap of these guys, alright?”
Atomic put a hoof in the middle and looked around at the others, beginning to get slightly nervous when nopony else did the same.
“He’s right. We’re gonna have to work together if we wanna beat Tiny Thunder’s team.”
Helios joined his hoof with Atomic’s and gave him a reassuring smile.
One by one, the other colts joined hooves in the middle.
“One, two, three, LET’S GO!”
“YEAH!”
The team threw their hooves up into the air and high-fived each other as they made their way onto the pitch, and unbeknownst to Atomic, Coach Stargaze had been standing only a few metres away from their huddle, and he continued watching Atomic for a few more seconds before making some notes on his clipboard.
The other team quickly resumed the game with a kickoff, and as the ball flew across the pitch, Atomic’s team prepared themselves to protect whoever caught the ball. The ball ended up landing in the hooves of Helios, and he wasted no time in transferring the ball to his mouth and sprinting with it. He streaked past two defenders near him, but Atomic saw that Tiny Thunder was gaining on Helios from behind, barging aside Atomic’s teammates as he came closer and closer to Helios. Atomic ducked under the outstretched arm of an approaching opponent, and used his speed to chase after Tiny Thunder, weaving through the other team’s attempts to bring him down.
This is gonna hurt.
Tiny Thunder grabbed onto Helios and began to pull him backwards. Helios tried his best to escape Tiny Thunder's grip, but he quickly began to slow down. Suddenly he felt Tiny Thunder’s hooves slip away, and he quickly looked back to discover that Atomic of all ponies had tackled him. Helios turned around and was able to gain five more yards before he was eventually brought down.
Coach Stargaze quickly blew his whistle and the two teams split off. Atomic lay on the ground, holding his shoulder and groaning.
“You alright, kid?” Helios ran over to Atomic and crouched down next to him.
“It feels like I collided with a brick wall. What does that guy eat for breakfast, bricks?!”
Atomic tried rolling his shoulder and after a few slow rotations, he tried lifting his arm up, but he found that he could only lift it a few metres and he cried out loudly.
Coach Stargaze jogged onto the pitch and everypony stepped aside to let him get through to Atomic.
“What happened?”
“I, um, kinda landed had on my shoulder. But I’ll be fine, I can still play,” Atomic reassured quickly, slowly pushing himself back up and trying his hardest not to wince. Coach Stargaze looked at him curiously for a few seconds, before quickly glancing at his watch.
“It's six fifty, we don't have much time left, let’s go!”
The two teams huddled separately to discuss their tactics and play was hastily restarted at the forty yard line. The quarterback faked handing the ball off behind him before throwing a short pass to Atomic who had run a route across to the far right of the pitch to try and catch the ball. He jumped high into the air and grunted as he made contact with the ball, and he just managed to pull it into his mouth before he landed. However the pain in his shoulder had yet to subside, and Atomic cried out in pain as he tried to run forward, and his defender was able to stop him in his tracks easily.
I have to keep going.
Atomic got up from the grass and regrouped with the rest of his team, and to his relief, the quarterback suggested to run a running play, and he quickly agreed with the idea. The two teams broke from their huddles and lined up in front of each other again. When the whistle was blown, the quarterback tossed the ball behind him to the fullback, who quickly set off towards the thirty yard line. Atomic and Alizarin saw that Tiny Thunder and another defender were making their way towards the fullback, so they set off from their positions and charged at the defenders to protect the fullback, and Atomic audibly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Alizarin was headed towards Tiny Thunder.
“This is gonna be the last play! It's past seven o’clock and I have to announce who’s on the team!” Coach Stargaze called out, and his words had an instant impact on the colts. Any conversations taking place instantly stopped and the two teams slowly lined up once more, each colt preparing to give their all in this play to prove to Coach Stargaze that they were deserving of a place on the team.
Coach Stargaze blew his whistle and the quarterback took several steps back, surveying his passing options. He spotted that Atomic had broken free from his defenders and was signalling for the pass.
Atomic tried his best to block out the thudding sensation of pain in his shoulder as he landed with the ball, and he wasted no time in sprinting forward, his only aim being to reach the end zone and tie the game for his team. His defender slipped whilst in pursuit of Atomic, meaning that the only ponies that could stop him were on the other side of the pitch , and when they noticed that Atomic had a clear path to the end zone, they changed direction quickly, desperately trying to reach him.
Atomic turned his head to the left to check on the defenders and once he judged that they wouldn’t be able to catch him, he slowed down in order to ease up the pressure on his sore shoulder, making sure that he didn’t put too much weight on it in order to prevent aggravating the injury further. Atomic decided to check if his opponents were any closer, and was horrified to discover that Tiny Thunder was thundering down the pitch, closing the distance between the two. Atomic turned back around and sped up, wincing with every step that he took. Tiny Thunder continued advancing and was now only a few yards away from Atomic, who was beginning to panic that he would not make it to the end zone. Helios was the closest teammate to Tiny Thunder, but he was too far away to help. Tiny Thunder began to reach out his arms and he ended gaining a firm grip on Atomic, and he tried to pull him back. Atomic cried out when he felt Tiny Thunder’s rock hard hoof press down on his sore shoulder, and he used the other side of his body to twist out of his opponent’s grip. Luckily for Atomic, Tiny Thunder was still not close to maintain his grip on Atomic, and after breaking free, he dove forward towards the end zone, his arms outstretched with the ball to ensure that it's nose crossed into the end zone for the touchdown.
“Touchdown.”
Atomic cheered from his position on the ground and his teammates quickly helped him up, each colt giving him a high-five and Alizarin gave him an emphatic slap on the back.
“You should be captain more often kid, that was awesome!”
Coach Stargaze blew his whistle for the final time and called the colts over to the sideline.
“Right, well played all of you. Now, for what we’re all here for.”
Coach Stargaze looked down at his clipboard before nodding and telling the colts to move back. One by one, he read out the names of the colts that had made the under-thirteen team, and each of them joined Coach Stargaze’s side.
Come on, come on, say my name already!
Atomic watched the colts next to him continue walk over to the other side. He realised that Tiny Thunder, Alizarin and Helios were all selected and he began to prepare himself for the inevitable feeling of crushing disappointment that he had failed at yet another tryout, and he hung his head low, trying his best to hold back tears.
“Atomic Tangerine.”
Atomic’s head snapped up and he stared at Coach Stargaze, his eyes wide.
“Did, did you say my name sir?!”
“Yes I did.”
Atomic held back from celebrating openly, but his elation at being chosen for the team was clear in the way that he appeared to bounce over to the other side.
After Coach Stargaze had finished reading the list, he told the unsuccessful colts that they were free to try out next year and after dismissing them, he addressed the others standing next to him.
“You have all been selected for the team today because of your displays of passion, commitment and above all determination. You will all be the driving force behind our campaign this year to successfully defend our league title.”
Coach Stargaze told them the details of their first training session before dismissing them, and Atomic found himself heading out with Helios.
“I know this is a dumb question, but you were already on the team, right?” Atomic asked.
“Yeah, that’s right. Well done on making it in though. How old are you?”
“Ten. What about you?”
“Twelve. You know you’re probably the youngest colt on the team. Coach Stargaze must think pretty highly of you to put you on the team like that. But you deserve it.”
The two colts passed through the main lobby and Helios held the door open for Atomic. Once they made it outside, Atomic spotted his father waving to him from the other side of the road, and he couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.
“My brother’s waiting for me over there. I’ll see you at training?”
Atomic nodded and the two said goodbye to each other before heading their separate ways.
“Atomic, how was it, did you get in?!”
Atomic nodded with a huge smile on his face and Syracuse pulled him in and hugged him tightly.
“I knew you could it!”
“Ow, ow, you’re hurting me,” winced Atomic as the two separated, rubbing his shoulder.
“We'll get that checked over at the doctor’s tomorrow. Come on, we gotta get home and tell your Mom the good news!”
Nearly an hour later, Atomic had come to the end of his re-telling of the trial to his mother.
“Well done Atomic!” his mother cheered, and Atomic graciously accepted a short hug from her.
Just then, Syracuse came into the living room, holding an envelope in his mouth.
“Just found this lying in the hallway. We must’ve missed it when we left the house.”
Tea Rose took the envelope from her husband and opened it, her eyes scanning through the letter inside.
“Atomic Tangerine, care to explain this?!”
Tea Fose held up the letter to show Atomic, and although her hoof covered most of the letter, Atomic was able to make out Miss Bellflower’s name written neatly in black at the bottom of the letter.
Oh crap.