//------------------------------// // THE TENTH DOWN // Story: Ten More Yards // by 5aszs //------------------------------// “So fifty brownies, sixty cupcakes, and forty cookies. That’ll be…..” Atomic, Thunderhoof, Chestnut and the other colts organising the bake sale to raise money for the hoofball team had met up in the library after school, and Thunderhoof was currently calculating how much money they needed to buy the treats they were going to sell at their bake sale. “If a brownie, cupcake and a cookie is at least one bit each, which they probably won’t be, then we’re looking at least one hundred and fifty bits,” Thunderhoof declared, underlining the final result. “So how much do we each have to pay?” Starburst asked, and Thunderhoof picked up his quill again. “Eleven and a half bits.” Everypony turned to Jackpot, stunned that he had worked it out so quickly. “What? I don't wanna fail Maths again.” Thunderhoof checked Jackpot’s answer by adding up the numbers before nodding. “He’s right, at least thirteen and a half bits from each of us should be enough.” “We should check which shops have the cheapest stuff, that way we can save money,” Spade Ace suggested, and Banoffee suddenly jumped out of his seat. “I know how we can save money! I can ask Pinkie Pie if she could send us some stuff!” “Pinkie Pie?! The Element of Harmony Pinkie Pie?!” the others cried. “Yeah, she’s my cousin,” Banoffee replied, but the colts were still shocked. “You know, Pinkie Pie, Banoffee Pie. It's kinda obvious.” “Wait, so would she actually send us the stuff?” Maverick asked, still a little skeptical. “I haven’t seen her since last Hearth’s Warming, but I can try.” “Alright then, Banoffee, send a letter to Pinkie Pie about the bake sale, and make sure you tell her how much stuff we need,” Thunderhoof said, closing his notebook. The colts picked up their bags and tucked their chairs in before the librarian could remind them to do so, and as headed out of the library, Thunderhoof suddenly stopped against one of the bookshelves and took out a thick book with a fireball on it's cover. He flipped the book over and read the blurb. “How can you even read books that long? I’d struggle to make it to the halfway point,” Atomic remarked. “I know, but it wouldn’t kill you to try reading, you might actually like it,” Thunderhoof replied, walking over to the librarian’s desk. “Please, the only book I would ever read is one about hoofball, and there aren’t any books like that here.” The librarian looked up from her desk and quickly took out her register, copying Thunderhoof’s name down onto the bottom of the page and writing the book’s title and it's return date in the same space. “So, looking forward to playing us?” Atomic asked us as they headed out of the school, and Thunderhoof shrugged. “Yeah, but I still wish we were playing with each other and not against each other.” “Me too, but you know that we gotta play our hardest, no matter what?” Thunderhoof sighed and quickened his pace to keep up with his friend. “Yeah. I don't even know if I'm gonna start though. Do you remember Alabaster, that white pony from the tryouts? He’s a quarterback too and the coaches really like him. I think they’re gonna pick him over me to start.” “I don't think I'm gonna start either. Our coach has me playing defense.” “What?! But you’re a receiver!” “I know, and I told him that. But he said that he decides where everypony plays best, and according to him, I'm best on defense.” “We both have today to prove ourselves to our coaches then, otherwise they won’t let us play.” The two colts turned onto Mayfield Avenue and standing outside his house, Atomic saw a relative he hadn’t seen in months waving erratically. “Oh no.” “Atomic, it's me, your Aunt Pumpkin Spice! Did you miss me?!” Pumpkin Spice was Tea Rose’s younger sister by eight years. A loud and bubbly pony, she was currently unemployed, having being dismissed from her last job as a barista in a cafe. She often turned up to her older sister’s house when she needed money, and Atomic had no doubt that it was money that had driven her to make the two and a half-hour journey from her flat on the other side of Fillydelphia to get here. “Oh man, is that-” “Yeah,” Atomic replied dejectedly, sighing loudly. “Tell me how practise goes, okay?” I gotta get ready to go to training.” Thunderhoof hoof-bumped Atomic and went inside his own house. Atomic slowly walked towards his own house, thankful that he had training so that he wouldn’t have to spend too much time in the company of his aunt. “Atomic, pleased to see me?!” Pumpkin Spice beamed, hugging her nephew tightly. “Yeah, I, uh, didn’t know you were coming.” “I thought I’d surprise your mom and come round. She won't mind, will she?” “Nope, I think she’s gonna be really happy to see you,” Atomic said unconvincingly, memories of the blazing arguments between his mom and his aunt the last time she visited running through his mind. Pumpkin, you can't expect me to help you out every time you need money. I have a family to look after! Oh, because living the perfect family life is so hard, isn't it?! I really feel for you, it must be so tough to have a perfect husband help you look after your two wonderful bucking kids! As Pumpkin Spice knocked on the front door loudly, Atomic waited slightly behind her, expecting his mom to pick up where she had last left off. Tea Rose opened the door holding Butterscotch and was shocked to see the last pony she expected on her doorstep standing there with a broad smile. “Pumpkin Spice!” “Yep, the one and only. Did ya miss me?” “Of….course I did. Here Atomic, take Butter upstairs to her cot, she needs to have her nap now.” Tea Rose have Butterscotch to Atomic and hugged her younger sister quickly. Tea Rose led Pumpkin Spice to the dining table. “Have a seat, I’ll make you some coffee.” “Oh, no coffee for me.” Tea Rose smiled. “Understandable, you do spend all day making coffee. I’d get sick of it after a while too.” Pumpkin Spice smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, about that……” Tea Rose looked at her sister confusedly before it dawned on her. “Again?! Really?!” “Hey, it wasn't my fault! I was just tryna bring something new to the cafe, you know, to bring more customers in.” “Explain.” “Basically, about three weeks ago, a customer came in to get his morning coffee, and we started talking whilst I was getting his coffee for him. He told me he had a really long conference that day and he didn’t know how he was gonna get through it, so being the nice pony I am, I left the till and added something to his coffee.” “What did you add?” “.....some extra coffee beans to get his energy up. I found them in a plastic bag at the back.” “Okay, why is that so bad?” “I’ll get to that. The customer ended up really liking his coffee, and I thought I was really on to something. So for the next week or so, I added extra coffee beans from that plastic bag to every coffee that I made.” “And then?” “A week and a half later, a bunch of customers stormed into the cafe, demanding to see the manager. When the manager came out, they started yelling about how the coffee they had ended up giving them food poisoning, and that they wanted their money back. One of the customers saw me watching behind the till and pointed, yelling that I was the one who had made his coffee. The others all started crowding around me, demanding that I give them their money. My manager asked me what I had done to their coffees and I went to the back and showed him the extra coffee beans I’d been adding to the coffees.” “And?” “....Turns out the coffee beans had expired three weeks ago. He fired me on the spot.” Tea Rose groaned. “Are you serious? You had that job for less than a month!” “It wasn’t my fault! How was I supposed to know that the damn coffee beans were expired?!” “Forget it. How are you paying for your rent?” “I’m…...not. The stupid landlord kicked me out last week.” “What?! Where have you been staying?!” “At a friend’s house, but I can’t stay there forever. So I was wondering…….” Tea Rose sighed. “Yes, you can stay here until you get back on your hooves.” Pumpkin Spice jumped out of her seat and hugged her older sister tightly. “You won’t regret this, I swear. Also could you give me some money? It's just that I don't have a job right now and I wanted to get a few things.” Tea Rose sighed again. “You have to pay me back whatever I give you though, okay?” “Of course! When have I ever broken a promise?” “Right, huddle up, I have an announcement to make.” The Eagles’ under-thirteen head coach waited for his team to gather around him in the middle of the pitch, and when everypony was stood in front of him, he took out his clipboard. “Our first match this season is against the West Fillydelphia Buccaneers, at five o’clock on Saturday. I am now going to announce who will be starting that match and what position you will be playing.” Coach Stargaze looked back down at his clipboard and began to read down the sheet of paper fastened onto the front of the clipboard. “On offense, we’re gonna have Alizarin at quarterback, Tiny Thunder at centre……..” As Coach Stargaze listed through the offensive players starting on their first weekend game of the season, Atomic tuned out, having already accepted the fact that he was stuck on defence for the time being. “On defense, it's gonna be Helios, Steel Stud, Colt Ice and Crescent as the defensive linemen…..” Atomic waited for his name to be read out on defense, but was stunned when Coach Stargaze had still not said his name as he finished announcing who the kicker and punter was. “Those of you who I haven’t called out, you’ll be sitting on the bench for this match, but that doesn't mean that you won't play in upcoming matches. You're free to go home now.” As the others quickly headed off the pitch, Atomic hung back and waited for Coach Stargaze to walk past him. “Coach, can I ask you something?” Coach Stargaze looked up from his clipboard. “Yes, you can.” “Um, how come I'm not starting on Saturday?” “Coach Bouncer and I have evaluated your performance over the last few training sessions and we have decided that it would be best that you did not start on Saturday.” “But why, am I not good enough or something?” “Atomic, you only recently joined the team. For now, we want to make sure that our most experienced players are on the pitch. You'll get your chance soon.” Coach Stargaze walked away, leaving Atomic alone on the pitch. “And then she said that she saw him in the club talking to another mare that night! Can you believe it?!” As Atomic stepped inside his house, his mother and aunt’s laughter rang out loudly throughout the house and as he entered the living room, the two burst into laughter again, with Pumpkin pouring herself another glass of red wine from the bottle on the small wooden table in front of her. “What’s so funny?” Tea Rose quickly got up from her seat. “I’ll go get you your dinner, Atomic.” Pumpkin Spice patted the space next to her as Tea Rose left the living room. “Sit here, I wanna ask you something.” Atomic tentatively sat down on the sofa next to his aunt. The fact that he wasn’t going to be starting the Eagles’ first match of the season was on his mind and he was in no mind to listen to his aunt’s gossip. “So, you're in fifth grade, right? What high school are you gonna go to?” “No idea, I haven’t even started thinking about that.” “I’d recommend Lakefield, most of the teachers there are alright. At least they were when I went there.” “What was high school like for you then?” Atomic asked, suddenly curious. “It was okay. Why don't you ask your mom what Lakefield was like for her? She had a wild time there, from what she’s told me. I remember this one time a teacher she hated must’ve failed her end-of-year project, and you know what your mom did? She waited until everypony had left the school and then she-” “Pumpkin, let me take that bottle to the kitchen.” Tea Rose snatched the wine bottle off the table and gave Atomic his dinner, glaring at Pumpkin before leaving the room. “Wait, so what..did..Mom..do?” Atomic asked in between mouthfuls of the pasta he was eating. “Forget it, it's not important anyway.” As Atomic ate his dinner, Pumpkin got up and left the room, coming back a few minutes later with a book she had taken from Syracuse’s study. She fell back onto the sofa and opened the book up to the first page. Nearly ninety minutes later, just as the sun concluded setting in the west, the front door was unlocked and Syracuse locked the door behind him. “I’m home!” Syracuse walked into the living room to say hello to his family but instead bumped face first into Pumpkin Spice. “Pumpkin Spice! I, uh, didn’t know you were here.” “Yeah, thought I’d come round and say hi,” Pumpkin Spice replied with a smile. “But it’s gonna be dark soon, shouldn’t you be on your way home now?” “Yeah, I’m gonna be staying here for a while, just until I get back on my hooves.” “What?!” Syracuse and Atomic cried at the same time. Syracuse stepped past Pumpkin and headed to the kitchen to find his wife. “Rose, I need to talk to you.” Tea Rose turned around. “Hey, I didn’t know you’d come back. I’ll get you your dinner.” “It doesn’t matter. Why didn’t you tell me about Pumpkin Spice staying here?” “She came whilst you were at work, how was I supposed to tell you?” “Okay fine, you wouldn’t have been able to tell me. So why is she saying that she’s gonna be here for a while?” “She doesn't have anywhere else to go! What, do you want me to kick my own sister out?!” Syracuse took a deep breath. “No, it's not that. It's just, Pumpkin Spice is…..” “Is what?” Pumpkin Spice stepped into the kitchen tentatively. “Is this a bad time?” “No, it's fine,” Syracuse left the kitchen and was almost immediately stopped by Atomic. “Dad, did you know she’s gonna be staying here?” “I had no idea, your mom decided that.” “Anyway, Dad, I need help. We have our first game on Sunday against Thunder’s team and I'm not even starting. What do I do?” Syracuse led Atomic into his study and closed the door behind him, directing ihs son to sit in the chair tucked into the large desk. Syracuse sat down on the chair opposite Atomic. “So first of all, how’s training been?” “Coach’s making me play on defence?” “Why?!” “I don't know, cause he thinks that I play best there.” Syracuse placed a hoof under his chin. “Should I talk to him?” “No, I'm not a baby. I just need to prove to him that I can play on offense.” Syracuse got up from his chair and took out a thick, dark brown book sticking out of the nearest bookshelf, titled ‘A Guide to Hoofball For Beginners.’ He sat back down and opened the book to the contents page, scanning down the page before turning to the middle of the book, to a section titled ‘Offensive Positions.’ “Okay, we need to decide what position you’re best at.” Atomic frowned slightly. “Wide receiver, why are you asking?” Syracuse read through the descriptions of the different offensive positions silently, before suddenly closing the book and getting up. “Come on, we’re gonna go to the garden.” Syracuse, Atomic, and Thunderhoof, who had been roped into helping out, were stood in the middle of the garden at eight thirty. They were due to start half an hour earlier, but Tea Rose insisting that Atomic went to bed and Atomic and Syracuse’s attempts to change her mind had delayed the impromptu training session. Syracuse stood in front of Atomic and Thunderhoof, holding a hoofball. “Right boys, we’re gonna go through each position on offense and Atomic’s gonna try out each one. We don’t have time to practise every single position properly, so we’re gonna do them quickly. Whichever he plays best at is the position, he’s gonna play there for the Eagles. Understand?” The colts nodded and Syracuse tossed the ball to Atomic, informing him that he was going to start as quarterback. Atomic nodded and took a few steps, holding the ball hesitantly. Syracuse lined up in front of him and asked Atomic to give the ball back to him. Thunderhoof was acting as the receiver for this play and he was waiting for the ball twenty yards away from Atomic. “I’ve never thrown the ball before Dad.” “Just give it a go.” “Okay, er, 3, 2, 1, go!” Syracuse snapped the ball to Atomic, who immediately chucked the ball to Thunderhoof. The ball flew wildly in the air, spinning horizontally instead of the preferred spiral. Thunderhoof ran forward and only just managed to grab the ball and secure it. “That was…good. Let’s try that again,” said Syracuse, and Thunderhoof threw the ball back to Atomic, and Syracuse noted that the ball travelled in a perfect spiral, landing straight into Atomic’s hooves. “Now that's what I call a perfect throw. Keep at it and you’ll most definitely be a pro someday,” Syracuse complimented, and Thunderhoof blushed and quietly thanked him. Atomic couldn’t understand why he felt a flash of jealousy when his father complimented Thunderhoof’s pass, but he was now determined to throw the best pass he could possibly manage. He gave the ball to his father and moved back, completely focused. Syracuse snapped the ball to Atomic, who moved back straightaway. He then lifted his right foreleg up, and threw the ball high. The ball travelled in a perfect spiral and Thunderhoof made the easy catch without needing to move. “Okay, let’s move on to running back,” Syracuse declared, before suddenly stopping in his tracks. “There’s not enough of us for this drill, we’re gonna need somepony to join us.” “Rose, I’m just going to the shops, I’ll be back in ten!” Pumpkin yelled before slamming the door shut. “Maybe your aunt could help us out,” Thunderhoof suggested, and Atomic shook his head feverently. “No way, she probably doesn’t even know what hoofball is!” “We'll ask her when she comes back,” Syracuse decided, and the the three ponies simply passed the ball to each other continuously until they heard the front door open. “I'm back!” “I’ll go ask her,” Syracuse threw the ball to Thunderhoof and went through the back door and into the kitchen. Pumpkin Spice had his back to him and it looked like she was trying to push something into one of the drawers unnoticed. “Pumpkin Spice, could you do a favour for me?” Pumpkin Spice gasped and quickly turned around to face her brother-in-law, trying to push what she had bought into the cupboard discreetly using a hind leg. “Sure, what’s up?” she replied, trying her best to act like nothing was wrong. “Would you mind helping me out in the garden?” “Er, yeah sure, okay.” Pumpkin Spice followed Syracuse out of the back door and into the garden, where Atomic and Thunderhoof were waiting for them. “So, for this running back drill, we’re gonna have Thunderhoof as the quarterback, myself as the center, Pumpkin will be a defensive tackle and Atomic, you’re gonna be the running back. When I snap the ball to Thunderhoof, he’s gonna hand the ball off to Atomic, who’s gonna try and get to the end of the garden without being tackled.” “Wait, so do I do?” Pumpkin Spice asked. “You’re gonna try and tackle Atomic before he gets to the other side of the garden, and I'm gonna try and stop you. Understood?” Pumpkin Spice nodded briefly, and Thunderhoof gave the ball to Syracuse as he positioned himself a few yards behind him. Atomic quickly followed and stood behind Thunderhoof. When Syracuse snapped the ball to Thunderhoof just as Pumpkin Spice took off and collided with him. Thunderhoof turned around and handed the ball to Atomic, who took it with one hoof and dashed past his father and aunt. Pumpkin Spice waited for Atomic to pass her before pushing Syracuse away from her and chasing her nephew. Syracuse, however, was much quicker than his sister-in-law, and he was able to reach out and bring her down gently, making sure that she didn’t hit the grass too hard. Atomic was able to avoid Pumpkin Spice ‘ flailing hoof and when he reached the fence at the other side of the garden, he threw the hoofball down emphatically. “Atomic, it's eight-thirty now, you need to go to bed!” Tea Rose yelled. “We just need to do one more thing and then he’ll be going to bed,” Syracuse replied. “Right, we won’t have time to do the tight end activity so we’ll finish up with wide receiver.” “Finally, lets go!” Atomic clapped his hooves and ran over to Thunderhoof. “Wait, so am I gonna be doing the same sort of thing?” Pumpkin Spice asked, a little out of breath. “Yeah, pretty much. Why, do you want to go back inside? Because you can if you want, it doesn't matter.” Pumpkin Spice shook her head. “No, I'm fine. Haven’t had this much fun in ages.” The adults waited for Atomic and Thunderhoof to decide what play they were going to run. Thunderhoof surveyed the garden, before coming to a decision. “Okay, you're gonna run a slant route, and when you reach the middle, I’ll throw it to you.” “Wait, what’s a slant route?” Thunderhoof quickly and quietly explained the route that Atomic would be running. They moved away from each other and Atomic took his place five yards to the right of Thunderhoof. Syracuse snapped the ball to Thunderhoof and Pumpkin Spice ran after him. As instructed, Atomic ran in a straight line for five yards, before suddenly cutting inside the middle. The sudden change of direction, combined with Atomic’s speed, meant that Pumpkin Spice lagged behind. When Atomic reached the spot that he and Thunderhoof had agreed upon, he opened up his body just in time to see the ball flying towards him. However, Thunderhoof had thrown the ball too hard, and it continued travelling to the right of Atomic. Instinctively, Atomic sped up to get closer to the ball, and as it fell down towards the grass, he stretched out his right hoof and caught the ball, pulling it into his body. “Woah, that was amazing!” Pumpkin Spice cried, and she ran over to help her nephew up. “You’re definitely gonna become a hoofball player when you’re older.” Atomic smiled. “Thanks.” What if I got my cutie mark?! Atomic quickly checked his flank and was disappointed to see that it was still bare. His mood was lifted though by the fact that he was best at wide receiver, and he knew he would be the Eagles’ top receiver sooner rather than later. “We'll, I think it's pretty clear to everypony what position you should be playing,” Syracuse declared. “I should probably go home now guys, my mom’s gonna be expecting me,” Thunderhoof said, and he high-fived the others before heading inside the house to leave through the front door. Atomic threw the ball back to his father, and he followed him and Pumpkin Spice inside. BANG! Atomic suddenly woke up. He rubbed his eyes quickly and checked the time, relieved when he realised that school wouldn't be starting for another six hours. In the midst of his relief, his attention was brought back to the sound that had woken him up. He slowly got out of bed and quietly opened his door, making sure that the hinges did not creak. He stepped out into the hallway and looked over the bannister, seeing that the living room light was on. He tiptoed across the hallway to his parents’ room, opening the door. His parents were both sleeping soundly in their bed, and Atomic decided to wake up his father first. “Dad, Dad, wake up.” Syracuse mumbled and slowly opened his eyes. “Oh Atomic, it's you.” “Dad, I think somepony’s in our house.” Syracuse quickly sat up. “What?!” Just then, the sound of a bottle smashing rang out from the living room, confirming Atomic’s theory. Syracuse got out of bed and bent down to pull out a bat from underneath the bed. Tea Rose yawned and opened her eyes. “What’s going on?” “Somepony’s in the house,” Syracuse replied, and Tea Rose tumbled out of the bed. “I’ll call the police!” “Let me just go down and check who it is first. Go and check on Butterscotch.” Tea Rose nodded and quickly left the room to check on her daughter. Syracuse lifted up the bat and slowly left the room, with Atomic following behind him. The two headed down the stairs and just before they entered the living room, Syracuse suddenly stopped. “Atomic, go back to bed, I’ll deal with this.” “But what if something happens to you?!” “I’ll be fine. Now go back to bed.” Atomic nodded and turned around, quietly heading back the stairs. As soon as his father had turned back around, Atomic crept back down the stairs and waited quietly a few yards away from him. Syracuse lifted his bat up and stepped into the living room. “What the buck!” Pumpkin Spice was slouched on the sofa facing the door, greedily gulping down a bottle of trotska. Once she had finished it, she dropped it onto the floor, and the glass fragments landed on top of a steadily growing pile. She burped loudly and spun her head round. “Why the buck are you shouting, Specter? I'm right here,” Pumpkin Spice slurred, sinking lower into the couch. Syracuse stormed into the living room and carefully stepped over the glass. “What do you think you’re doing drinking at this time?!” He snatched the unopened bottle that was closest to him. “And where did you get all of this from?!” “From that…..that place where you like, get things. What’s it called.....a trop?” The cries of Butterscotch could be heard becoming louder and closer, and Tea Rose came into the living room holding her bawling daughter. “Pumpkin, what in Equestria do you think you’re doing?!” “Drinking, what does it bucking look like?” Pumpkin sneered, before burping again. “Atomic, go to bed now! And take your sister with you!” Tea Rose gave Butterscotch to Atomic, but he remained frozen in shock, having never seen somepony so inebriated before. “Now!” Tea Rose and Syracuse waited for their children to reach the first floor of their house. “Give me that.” Tea Rose took the two other full bottles on the table and carefully placed them on the couch behind her. “I gave you that money so that you could start saving up to rent your own flat, and you blew it all on alcohol?!” When her younger sister did not reply, Tea Rose got right up in her face and looked to be ready to slap her. “Well, do you anything to say for yourself?!” Syracuse gently pulled his wife back. “Rose remember, the kids are trying to get back to sleep.” Tea Rose took a few deep breaths to calm herself. “Syracuse, get me a broom.” “Why d’you keep calling him that, it's Specter,” Pumpkin garbled. Syracuse looked to his wife for any answers as he handed her the broom, and she simply shrugged her shoulders. Together they cleaned up the mess that Pumpkin Spice had made, with Syracuse bundling up the glass into a bin liner and taking it to the bins outside their house. “Come on, get up. You’re gonna go wash up right now.” Tea Rose led her sister towards the bath to help clean her up, and merely seconds later, the sound of retching followed by vomiting echoed throughout the house. “Hopefully I can play today, but we'll see.” Syracuse and Atomic were only a few minutes away from the Buccaneers’ grounds, which was to host the first match of the Western Fillydelphia U13 season. Atomic had been provided with the Eagles’ kit and helmet, and he was currently holding the helmet as he made predictions. “If we lose today, then it'll be bad for the team, but it could mean that I start the next match,” Atomic theorized. Syracuse put an arm around Atomic’s shoulder. “You will start at least a few matches, you weren’t put on the team for no reason.” “Hey, Atomic!” Thunderhoof waved erratically at his friend from the other side of the street, and he quickly crossed the road to join them. “Hey, how come you’re by yourself?” Atomic asked. “Mom and Dad said I could go myself. How come you’re wearing your kit now?” Atomic frowned slightly. “What do you mean, we’re the away team, that what we have to do.” “It's just that we have away team changing rooms as well, so your team can get changed in there.” “So I wasted my time getting changed.” “It doesn’t matter Atomic, at least you’ll be on the pitch early. Thunderhoof, are you starting?” “No, but I managed to convince our coach to let me play in the second half, so I’ll be on the bench for a bit.” The three arrived at the Buccaneers’ headquarters, joining the back of the long queue. Whilst talking to Thunderhoof, Atomic felt somepony tap his shoulder. “Helios!” The two hoof-bumped and once Atomic had introduced Helios to Thunderhoof, they conversed idly about hoofball to pass the time. “Right, you know what we’ve been practising in training, and we know how this team plays. Stick to the game plan and make sure that every play is perfect. Eagles on three.” “One, two, three, Eagles!” The other side of the pitch had been prepared for spectators, with most of the plastic, foldable chairs being taken up. Syracuse had made sure to sit in the front row so that he would be able to cheer for his son’s team. On the pitch, the U13 Eagles had received the kickoff and taken the ball to the twenty-seven yard line to start their first play. The two teams lined up on the scrimmage line, with Alizarin trying to deduce what type of coverage the defence was running. He instructed the receiver standing to his right to run in front of him. When nopony on defence ran with him, Alizarin knew that the Buccaneers were running zone coverage. Confident that their play would be able to beat the defense, he crouched, waiting for the ball to be snapped. On the second count, Tiny Thunder snapped the ball to Alizarin and the Buccaneers-Eagles matchup was officially underway.