The date was Monday 17th of December, and after a week of suspension, Atomic, Amber and Pablo were back at school. Pablo came in with a noticeable bruise on his cheek, and he claimed that he had gotten into a fight to anypony that asked. Atomic had left home in a hurry, eager to see all of his friends again. Amber also left for school early and she met Atomic at the gate, greeting him with a hoof bump.
“So, how was your week?” she asked.
“So boring! I swear, it's all Pablo’s fault!”
“Atomic, you were the one that did the dare, though,” Amber pointed out as the two began walking inside.
“Well, yeah, but ….. I had to!”
“Hey, Atomic!”
Thunderhoof galloped up to Atomic and high-fived him.
“Where the hay have you been?!”
Atomic opened his mouth, but then the bell rang.
“I’ll tell you after homeroom. Come on, let’s go.”
Thunderhoof and Atomic said goodbye to Amber and went to room 7 for homeroom.
“Buster the clown, he’s here to make you smile,
Buster the clown, he’s here to make you laugh!
Buster the clown, you’re gonna have a great time
When Buster puts his hands on his hips and moves like this!”
Atomic and Amber laughed as their friends sang the song that had landed the two in huge trouble. As soon as recess began, Atomic and Amber left Maths and met with all of their fifth-grade friends and Maverick, Moon Dust, Spade Ace and Jackpot. They were all inside the school building sitting at an outdoor working space, laughing and having fun together.
The same could not be said for Pablo. His new friends, as much as he loathed to admit it, were not the same as Blaze and Mustang, and he longed for his old friends. Over his week of suspension, he had also come to the realisation that he had not treated his former friends in the kindest manner, and he wanted to apologise to them. Amber, the only real friend Pablo had left was with the colt he despised the most, and he resented Atomic for getting him in so much trouble. He came out of the colts’ toilets and went straight outside to look for somepony to talk to.
In the middle of a conversation, Amber spotted Pablo and quickly got up to go and talk to him.
From the desk, the others watched Amber and Pablo talk. To their surprise, amber came back to them with Pablo in tow. She moved her saddlebag so that Pablo could sit down next to her.
There was an awkward silence, as everypony tried to think of something to say.
“Look, it's Buster!”
Foals from the lesson that Atomic had gatecrashed galloped over to him. Atomic got up and met them in the middle of the corridor.
“It was so cool what you did!”
“And funny! I've never seen Mrs Clementine get so angry!”
“Do you guys still remember the song?” Atomic asked.
“Of course we do!”
As the young colts and fillies sang the song, Pablo got even angrier. Everywhere he went today, there was a reminder of what had happened, and the bruise on his cheek throbbed continuously.
When Atomic came back to the table, the silence returned, and it was eventually broken by Amber.
“So who does everypony think is gonna win the Sugar Bowl?”
Everypony began talking at once, the majority of them declaring that the Fillydelphia Dragons would lift the EHL trophy in February. Pablo and Maverick were the only ones who disagreed.
“Canterlot Knights win in a blowout, La Salle gets the regular season and Sugar Bowl MVP,” Maverick boldly predicted, but Pablo shook his head vehemently and finally spoke up.
“No way, the Cloudsdale Hawks are winning it! They’re the best team in the league!”
All eyes were on Pablo, and the neon green colt uncharacteristically shrunk back from the attention.
“The Hawks are more likely to win it then the Dragons, so Pablo’s half right,” said Maverick, and Pablo sighed in relief as the others looked away and disagreed loudly.
“Okay, how about MVP?” Amber asked. “I think it's gonna be Comet Chaser, he’s so awesome!”
Comet Chaser was the star quarterback of the Las Pegasus Flamingoes, and the team’s high-flying offense and solid defense brought them to the 2nd seed in the league, ahead of the Cloudsdale Hawks but behind the Canterlot Knights.
“Did you see that no-look pass he threw in Week 8 against the Detrot Rams?! Best pass of all time!” Pablo exclaimed, and the others nodded in agreement.
“I still think La Salle’s the best quarterback in the league, but Comet Chaser’s MVP,” said Thunderhoof, before suddenly pulling out a notebook from his saddlebag.
“Since everypony here is on the hoofball team, I’ll give this all to you now.”
Thunderhoof gave out copies of Sycamore Oak’s matchups for the season. Atomic took a copy from Chestnut and scanned through the list, checking off the different schools. Suddenly, his heart stopped.
Week 13: West Fillydelphia Eagles
What the hay?!
I should’ve known this was gonna happen!
The match is ages away though, I’ll worry about it later.
“Hey guys.”
Blaze and Mustang had been kept behind to finish off their work, and their eyes widened as they spotted Pablo sitting with their friends.
Still feeling guilty about mistreating Blaze and Mustang, Pablo took a deep breath and stood up.
“Can I talk to you guys in private for a sec?”
Blaze and Mustang looked at Pablo apprehensively, before agreeing. If Pablo tried anything, he was outnumbered anyway.
Pablo led the pair to the end of the corridor. He looked back at the group and saw that they were all talking amongst themselves. He turned to Blaze and Mustang.
“Blaze, Mustang, I’m sorry.”
“Huh?!”
Pablo had never apologised for anything before, and Blaze and Mustang wondered if the forlorn colt in front of them was even the same Pablo that they had known for years.
“You guys were the only ponies that were ever my friends, even if I didn’t appreciate it. I know I was a bully and not a nice pony to be around.”
“...What made you change your mind?”
Pablo looked back to the group, particularly at Amber. After he’d gotten into a fight with Atomic a few weeks ago for harassing Chestnut, she had made him promise never to treat somepony like that again. Pablo intended to keep that promise and not ruin his budding friendship with Amber.
“Let’s just say somepony made me realise that I needed to change.”
Pablo lifted his head up and stuck out a hoof. “If you don't wanna be friends with me ever again, I understand. But can we at least be civil?”
Blaze and Mustang looked at each other, and then at Pablo.
“Of course we’ll be friends with you, how could we not?”
Blaze gently pushed Pablo’s outstretched hoof down and pulled him into a hug with Mustang.
“Guys, look!” Thunderhoof whispered, pointing at Pablo, Blaze and Mustang.
“They’re friends again, that’s good,” said Amber, and pulled out chairs for Blaze and Mustang to sit with them.
As Pablo walked back to the table with Blaze and Mustang, he silently thanked Amber, promising that he wouldn’t let her down.
“Amber’s pretty cool, isn't she?” Blaze asked, and Pablo nodded.
“Yeah, she really is.”
Pablo had a smile on his face and was daydreaming. Blaze nudged Mustang.
“You don't think…?”
Mustang stopped Pablo by standing in front of him.
“Do you have a crush on Amber?”
“N-no! Why would you think that?! I don’t-”
Blaze and Mustang smiled and shook their heads, knowing that Pablo was lying.
“Alright, maybe I do.”
“What did you say?”
“I said maybe I do,” Pablo said loudly.
As they returned to the group, Pablo groaned and covered his face to hide his red cheeks as Blaze and Mustang continued teasing him.
“So are you guys cool now?” Atomic asked and Blaze nodded.
The bell rang a few minutes later and the group split up to go to their lessons, agreeing to meet up in the canteen at lunch. Since they had Maths with Ms Ivory, Atomic and Amber walked together.
“D’you think Pablo’s gonna hang with us all the time?” Atomic asked, and Amber shrugged her shoulders.
“No idea, but it was alright today, wasn't it?”
“Maybe, but it's not like we’re gonna be best friends or anything,” Atomic retorted, and Amber punched his shoulder jovially.
“You’re saying that now, but by the end of this year, you will be. Trust me.”
Amber smiled at Atomic and the colt’s cheeks quickly reddened. He turned away and took a deep breath.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, my tummy kinda hurts, that’s all.”
“I never said thank you, you know.”
“For what?”
Amber stopped Atomic and led him away from the crowds.
“For saving me from that foal’s home. I’d still be there if it wasn't for you.”
“You came up with the plan too, you know. And you distracted that care worker. We’d have been done for,” Atomic replied a little nervously.
“Thank you.”
Amber hugged him tightly, tip toeing slightly to place her head between Atomic’s head and left shoulder. Atomic returned the embrace readily, secretly trying to stop himself from blushing.
Amber broke the embrace after a few moments, staring at Atomic quietly. She suddenly leaned in and kissed him gently on the cheek.
“Come on, Ms Ivory will make us stay behind if we’re late.”
She walked past the shell shocked Atomic and off towards room 7. Atomic touched his cheek gently and breathed out slowly.
I need to talk to Thunder and Chestnut.
As soon as they had finished eating, Atomic dragged Thunderhoof and Chestnut away from the group as they left the canteen, telling the others that they were going to the toilets. He pushed them into the first empty cubicle he saw and squeezed in after them. He locked the door and put his ear against it, making sure nopony outside would hear them.
“You know that ponies normally use the toilets alone and not with others,” Thunderhoof remarked.
“Ha ha, very funny. This is serious.”
“Is something wrong?” Chestnut asked in a concerned tone.
“Well yes, but...no. kinda?”
Atomic took a deep breath.
“I think I…. no I do. I….like Amber.”
Thunderhoof smirked. “Yeah, I already knew that.”
“What?!”
“It was kinda obvious, you know, the way you were looking at her, always blushing when she talked to you. Even Chestnut agrees.”
Atomic turned to Chestnut. “You do?”
Chestnut nodded. “I could tell you did.”
Atomic sighed. “Okay, so you guys already knew. What should I do?”
“Tell her, duh! She might like you back too!” said thunderhoof, but Chestnut shook his head.
“I don't know if you should, she might just see you as a friend,” the timid colt said. Chestnut took a deep breath.
“Promise you’ll never tell anypony this?”
Atomic and Thunderhoof promised.
“Last year, there was this filly in my Prench class. Her name was Saffron and she’d moved to Fillydelphia from the Crystal Empire. I don't know when I started liking her, but she was always so nice to me. She helped if I didn’t understand the work and she always stuck up for me when the other colts in my class would tease me.”
“One day, I decided I was going to tell her how I felt. I went to the library at recess and made a card. I wanted to give it to her after Prench, which was the last lesson that day. When the bell rang, I picked up my saddlebag and left with Saffron because we went the same way home. We were just talking when I heard somepony start reading the letter out loud.”
“Yeah, it's kinda hard, but I think I’ll understand it soon.”
“You will, you’re actually really good at Prench, you know.”
Chestnut blushed and thanked Saffron for the compliment.
“Maybe I'm not that bad - ”
“DEAR SAFFRON, I’VE WANTED TO TELL YOU THIS FOR A LONG TIME NOW, SO HERE GOES!”
Chestnut whipped his head around and saw a colt standing outside his Prench class, waving about a familiar piece of paper. Chestnut realised that he must have dropped the card in class , and now his big plan was about to be ruined. Chestnut began galloping through the crowd of pupils, desperately trying to get his card back before it was too late.
“YOU ARE AN AMAZING, KIND AND BEAUTIFUL FILLY. YOU ALWAYS STICK UP FOR ME AND WITHOUT YOU, PRENCH WOULD BE AWFUL.
Chestnut reached the colt reading out the card and tried to grab the card. But the colt was a good few inches taller than Chestnut and he laughed as he lifted the paper above Chestnut’s head. Chestnut jumped up but the colt sidestepped him and finished reading.
“DO YOU WANT TO BE MY FILLYFRIEND?”
All eyes were on Saffron, who stood frozen in shock. The colt and his friends began laughing loudly and Chestnut wanted the ground to swallow him up. The card that he had spent so much time on was ripped up into little pieces and dropped over him.
Chestnut slowly picked up his saddlebag and looked down at the pieces of paper, trying to hold back tears. Suddenly, he remembered that Saffron had heard every word of the card, and he rushed back towards where he had left her to try and explain to her.
But she was gone.
“After that day, she didn’t speak to me again. It was like…… I was invisible.”
Atomic and Thunderhoof were silent as Chestnut finished his story.
“But it doesn't matter. Amber could actually like you,” said Chestnut.
“What if she just sees me as a friend?” Atomic asked, chewing on his hoof nervously.
“Then we have to help her…..realise that she likes you,” said Thunderhoof, and he took out a notebook from his saddlebag. At the top of a new page, he wrote in bold ‘OPERATION B AMBER.’
“Guys, this is what we’re gonna do.”
“Atomic, what are you doing?”
Atomic made a high-pitched noise and turned around. As part of Thunderhoof’s plan, Atomic was to bring some flowers to school the next day for Amber. At home, he went straight for the vase of flowers on the dining table. Atomic smiled at his mother and quickly tried to put the flowers back into the vase discreetly.
“Just….hanging around, you know, doing nothing,” Atomic said with a grin.
“Okay then, if you say so.”
Tea Rose turned around and left the living room. Atomic quickly put the flowers back in the vase and left to go to his room, planning to wake up early tomorrow and take the flowers then.
“Atomic?”
Tea Rose came out of the kitchen smirking.
“You can give Amber something better than flowers, you’re a bright kid.”
“But-what-huh?”
Atomic’s mouth hung open as Tea Rose headed back to the kitchen laughing.
The next morning, Thunderhoof stood waiting outside impatiently. Atomic as usual was running late.
“Okay, love you mom, bye!”
Atomic closed the door behind him.
“Where’s the flowers?”
“Oh, I'm not taking them.”
“Why?”
“I thought of something better.”
“Alright, maybe flowers weren't such a good idea.”
Atomic smiled and patted his saddlebag as the two crossed the road. A pack of EHL cards to get Amber started in collecting them was a much better idea, and Atomic knew that she would love it. As they passed through the school gates, they saw Amber talking to Pablo. Atomic groaned.
“And of course, he’s talking to her.”
Atomic and Thunderhoof walked past Amber and Pablo. Amber greeted Thunderhoof with a hoof bump and Atomic with a hug, the latter of which did not escape Pablo’s attention. Pablo reminded himself to follow Blaze and Mustang’s advice.
“Just be yourself.”
“Yeah, and then she’s bound to like you.”
Pablo nodded, but then sighed.
“What if she doesn't like me for who I am?”
“Pablo, if she didn’t, then she wouldn’t be friends with you,” Blaze pointed out, and Mustang nodded.
“You guys sure she’ll like me too?”
“Yeah, definitely.”
As Amber let go of Atomic, Pablo greeted Thunderhoof, who returned the greeting with a smile. When Atomic and Thunderhoof went inside, Amber resumed talking to Pablo about their plans for the day.
“So I’ll come to your Maths class at 3:15 and we'll go,” said Pablo.
“Okay, sounds like a plan.”
The bell rang and students began filing going inside to go to their homerooms.
After they had eaten their lunch, the twelve colts and one filly went to the library. Maverick and Jackpot pushed 2 large tables together so that everypony could fit. Moon Dust took out his radio and turned to the sports station commentating on the Fillydelphia Dragons-Vanhoover Raiders. The Raiders were one of the worst teams in the league whilst the Fillydelphia Dragons had already guaranteed playoff spot, so the game was pretty meaningless for the Dragons. Nevertheless, it was a chance for the Dragons to get another win and go into the playoffs with momentum.
Around the radio, Atomic, Starburst and Stormcaller were predicting how many receiving yards Nick Foals would have for the game, with Atomic making the boldest prediction of 200 yards.
“Come on, the Raiders have the worst cornerbacks and safeties in the league. It's gonna be way too easy for Nick Foals!” exclaimed Atomic.
Moon Dust shushed the others and turned the volume up as the Raiders kicked off. The foals cheered quietly when the Dragons’ kick returner was brought down at the 40-yard line.
As the game continued, Atomic decided that now would be the best time to give Amber the present, and he quickly took his saddlebag and pulled Amber aside.
“I got you something I think you’ll really like.”
Atomic reached into his saddlebag and took out a small packet.
“It's a pack of EHL cards. There aren't gonna be too many good ones in there but I can bring you some of my elite ones from home.”
“I was asking Pablo about these this morning! Did you read my mind or something?!”
Atomic laughed and pointed at his head. “No magic.”
Amber took the packet and hugged Atomic tightly. At the table, Pablo saw the two hugging and pointed it out to Blaze and Mustang.
“Relax, it’s probably nothing. Don’t even worry about it,” Blaze reassured.
Pablo nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.”
Atomic and Amber returned to the table just as the Dragons began their first drive of the game at their 40-yard line.
“And Cartwheel drops back with the ball, scanning the field…..the o-line is doing a great job here, he’s got all day to make a throw! And….Nick Foals catches the ball. Twelve yards, first down.”
“And the Dragons continue moving the ball downfield, the clear difference in talent is clear for everypony to see. Fillydelphia is in the red zone now, lets see what their first play is going to be….. the ball is snapped just as Nick Foals runs across the scrimmage line….and he gets the handoff! It’s an easy fifteen-yard touchdown run for Nick Foals!”
When lunch finished, the Dragons-Raiders game was coming to the end of the first half, with the Dragons up by 2 touchdowns. The librarian opened the library doors and made sure that all of the pupils left the library.
“We'll tell your guys the score when school ends,” said Moon Dust as he packed up his radio into his saddlebag.
The friends left the library and went to their lessons; Maverick, Moon Dust, Jackpot and Spade Ace went to Maths whilst the fifth-graders headed outside for PE.
“Will your teacher let you join us again?” Pablo asked Amber.
“Probably not. Guess I’ll be stuck doing boring old dance today.”
“Oh, okay.”
Amber sighed. “But it was fun working with you Pablo. Maybe I can sneak away from the lesson and join you for a bit.”
Pablo grinned. “Okay, but don’t get in trouble.”
Behind them, Atomic rolled his eyes as he watched Amber and Pablo talk.
Why does he always talk to her?!
How am I supposed to ever get amber to like me if Pablo’s stealing her away from me everyday?!
Next to him, Thunderhoof saw that Atomic did not like what he was seeing, and he placed a hoof on his best friend’s shoulder.
“Relax, it'll be fine.”
Atomic nodded, focusing on having fun in PE.
To start the lesson, Mr Bouncer’s 5th-grade class did their usual three-lap warm up and returned to their teacher in the middle of the field.
“Alright, I’m gonna split you up into groups of five and you’re going to practise blocking and tackling for a run play. There’s going to be a running back, two offensive linemen and two linebackers. When you have your group, pick a position and I’ll explain more about this drill.”
Atomic ended up in a group with Pablo, Pacific Sail, Banoffee Pie and Starburst. Pablo immediately announced he would be the running back and Atomic ended up being a linebacker. He decided that being a linebacker would be the best position, since he would be able to tackle Pablo.
Mr Cobalt gave a hoofball to each group. “The running back has one simple job; follow his blockers and get past the linebackers, extra points if you break any tackles. Everypony will have three tries at each position, and then we’re gonna play a match.”
Pablo picked up the ball and the colts lined up in position. Atomic and Starburst crouched down and Atomic put one hoof on the ground, rmerbing the position from training sessions with the West Fillydelphia Eagles.
For his first try, Pacific Sail and the other guard leapt up and pushed Atomic and Starburst to the right, creating a huge amount of space for Pablo to sprint through.
Mr Cobalt had watched the first try and praised Pablo, Starburst and the other guard for their play. Atomic and Starburst got into position again.
“Hey, as soon as he starts, I’ll go to the left and you go to the right, that way Pablo will have nowhere to go,” Atomic whispered, and Starburst agreed with him with a nod.
Pablo held the ball for a few seconds before sprinting to the left. But Atomic was waiting for him. Before Pacific Sail could block for Pablo, the neon green colt lost the ball as he was brought down by Atomic, and it rolled away.
“Okay everypony, last go and then you’re gonna switch positions,” Mr Cobalt called out.
On Pablo’s last try, he was able to break a tackle from Atomic and get through to the other side.
Mr Cobalt looked at his watch and realised that there wouldn’t be enough time for a match if everybody had 3 turns each in the drill. He blew his whistle and called the class to gather in the middle.
“Guys, were just gonna play a match for the rest of the game now.”
The colts cheered and after a few seconds, Mr Cobalt whistled and waited for silence.
“Thank you. I’m gonna split you up into 2 teams. Blaze, Thunderhoof, you two are gonna be my captains. I’ll let you pick one pony each.”
Blaze and Thunderhoof chose Pablo and Atomic respectively. As Mr Cobalt put the rest of the class into either team, Atomic was comparing the two teams, trying to figure out which team was stronger.
“Alright everypony, pick your positions and take a bib from your captains.”
Thunderhoof’s team wore yellow bibs whilst Blaze’s team had red bibs on. On Thunderhoof’s team, everypony on the school hoofball team was playing their designated positions - Atomic and Starburst were the main receivers, Pacific Sail was going to be the tight end and Banoffee Pie was one of the cornerbacks.
On Blaze’s team, the captain was going to be playing as quarterback. Pablo played his usual position of running back. Stormcaller decided to switch from playing running back and wanted to try out being an offensive lineman with Mustang.
“Don’t worry, Storm, just follow me when I’m blocking,” said Mustang.
Mr Cobalt took out a coin and Blaze won the coin toss, choosing to receive the ball first.
In the huddle, Blaze decided to start off with a quarterback run play to surprise the other team, with everypony else blocking one pony on the team. Mustang and Stormcaller were both going to be blocking the strongest defender on the other team (a colt called Tusk who was playing at left defensive end).
The center snapped the ball to Blaze and Pablo sprinted ahead to block for his friend. Mustang and Stormcaller put their hooves on tusk’s shoulders and tried to push him back. Bus at they blocked, Stormcaller suddenly lost his footing and fell, leaving Tusk free to break through and run after Blaze. But it was already too late - Blaze has gotten past the first down line and eventually slid to avoid being tackled, making his team’s first play a fifteen-yard run from Blaze himself.
The next play was going to be a play action; Blaze would pretend to hand the ball off to Pablo, only to keep and look for an open teammate. Blaze took the snap and held the ball tightly as Pablo faked getting the ball. Blaze dropped back slightly and looked downfield, waiting for a teammate to get open.
Downfield, Atomic was marking Banoffee Pie, and he was mostly keeping up with him. On the other side of the field, Starburst was losing his one-on-one matchup and Atomic saw Blaze wind his foreleg back to throw a long pass.
Blaze made a successful pass 30 yards downfield, and Starburst was able to get a hoof onto the ball, but it wasn’t enough. The receiver caught the ball and galloped towards the end zone. Atomic chased the receiver as darts as he could, but he couldn’t reach him in time.
At the end of the lesson, the colts packed up all of the equipment and went back to the changing rooms. Atomic put the bucket of hoofballs at the door and went inside to get changed.
“You know what you should do about...you know who?”
Atomic rolled his eyes. “Thunder, I know who you’re talking about.”
Thunderhoof looked around to make sure nopony was listening and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Okay, I was saying that you could be, more…..touchy feely with her.”
Atomic scrunched his nose up. “Touchy….feely?”
“Yeah, like, give her a hug or put a leg around her shoulder, that kind of thing. Fillies love that.”
“Oh, and you're an expert in fillies now?” Atomic queried with a smirk.
“Trust me, it'll work. Do it now after we get changed.”
When school ended, Atomic left PE with Thunderhoof and Chestnut. A few steps
behind them, Pablo was getting some advice from Blaze and Mustang.
“Make sure you get her a good gift, something she’ll like.”
“I was gonna get her an EHL card pack, but Atomic already got her that,” Pablo grumbled.
“You have to show her that she’s more than a friend to you. Spend more time with her,” Mustang insisted.
“And you guys won’t mind?”
“Of course we wouldn’t.”
Ahead, Atomic saw Amber and gave her a hug.
“Ooh, Atomic likes Amber!” a few fillies needed. Atomic ignored them and led Amber away with a foreleg on his shoulder.
Pablo saw this and quickened his pace, reaching Amber and Atomic quickly.
“Hey Amber, should we go now?”
“Oh, yeah! I’ll see you tomorrow Atomic!”
Amber left with Pablo and Atomic was seething when Thunderhoof and Chestnut reached him.
“What’s his problem?! Everytime I try and talk to her, he steals her away from me!”
Later that night, Atomic was getting ready for bed, still irritated about what Pablo had done. He lied down and closed his eyes, willing himself to fall asleep.
In his bed, Pablo was pleased with how the day had gone, and he was sure that Amber would feel the same way about him sooner rather than later.
That’s it. Tomorrow I’m gonna hang out with Amber the whole day and there’s no way Pablo’s gonna stop me!
Tomorrow is gonna be the day Amber likes me back, and nopony’s going to stop me!
Atomic and Pablo both fell asleep quickly, unaware of the chaos they would cause at school the next day.