Chapter 13: First Game
Aaron, Paul and Kyle were practicing some drills for their upcoming Basketball game, along with a bunch of other male students for the basketball team. Then their basketball coach walked up to them.
"Alright, boys," the coach said. "It's the first game of the season and we're going up against the Southwest Middle School Sea Lions."
"The first game of the season," Aaron said. "It's gonna be exciting."
"Let's get to practicing your drills," the coach said.
"Yes, sir, Coach Little!" the Basketball team said. Then they all went over to one side of the court, practicing their basketball plays. Eventually, they all left the gymnasium. As soon as they left, the cheerleaders were also leaving another part of the school. Smolder was in her human form and she walked up to Aaron.
"Why are you in your human form?" Aaron asked.
"Meh, some people still don't know we're actually dragons," Smolder said. She then pounded Aaron's shoulder. "Well, mostly me because I was born a dragon and you were born a human."
"Yeah, that's true," Aaron said. "But now, we're both of each species mixed into one. Even if we have to transform into the other species." Just then, Marissa's car pulled up in front of them. Aaron and Smolder got into the car and then Marissa drove off.
"So, you two had good practice?" Marissa asked.
"Yeah," Aaron said. "Our first game is on Friday. We're going up against the Southwest Sea Lions."
"Well, that's good to hear," Marissa said. "So, Smolder, are you and the other cheerleaders going to be cheering for the boys basketball team?"
"Yup," Smolder said. "We've been practicing the routines for the past couple of weeks. Although, one of the cheerleaders suggests we do a pyramid with me on top. In dragon form."
"Did you try that?" Aaron asked.
"The first time we tried that, we all fell to the ground," Smolder said. "Dragons are heavier. Not as heavy as certain aged yaks, but still pretty heavy."
"And that's why Yona was on the bottom," Aaron said, making Smolder nod.
"Yeah, that's true," Smolder said.
"Hey, do any of your friends from Equestria celebrate the holidays around the 25th of December?" Marissa asked.
"Most of them," Smolder said. "I've already been to the Dragon Lands for the Feast of Fire."
"Who won the story contest this year?" Aaron asked.
"There was no need of a story contest this year," Smolder said. "All the dragons thought that since you defeated Ragnarok the Reaper and united both our worlds together in peace and harmony, you deserve all the gems for being a legend."
"I've become a legend?" Aaron asked.
"What you've done for both countries was amazing, Aaron," Marissa said. "Back on topic. What about your friends back in Equestria?"
"Silverstream's going back to Mount Aris to spend the Three Days of Freedom Celebration," Smolder said.
"Sandbar and Ocellus are spending Hearth's Warming with their families," Aaron said. "Hopefully Ocellus knows all about Hearth's Warming by now." Smolder snickered at that.
"And Yona's got the Snilldar Fest," Smolder said after she finished snickering. "I remember her smashing a bucket after telling us how she spends the holidays."
"What about your griffon friend?" Marissa asked. "Gallus. How does he spend the holidays?"
"Oh... that's not a good story for him," Aaron said.
"In fact, it was the reason the six of us on our first year of attending the School of Friendship why we weren't going home for the holidays," Smolder said.
"He was living on the streets of Griffonstone," Aaron said. "He didn't have a family to go home to."
"Oh, that's so sad," Marissa said. She then thought of something. "Tell you what, when I called the resort we're going to be staying at for Christmas, they said that for a family Christmas Vacation, it would be best for all of us to stay in the same hotel room. Or should I say, the Grand Villa."
"The Grand Villa?" Aaron asked. "That's three bedrooms, two of them with queen beds and a sofa couch."
"Exactly," Marissa said. "Anyway, how about we invite Gallus to spend the holidays with us? Since he doesn't have a family to go home to."
"Actually, I was wondering," Aaron said, looking at Smolder. "Did someone invite Gallus to spend the holidays last year?"
"Sandbar asked him," Smolder said. "But he was bored out of his mind through the holidays."
"I doubt that he'd want to go to Yakyakistan with Yona," Aaron said. "It's colder up there than it would be in Griffonstone in the winter."
"That's true," Smolder said. "And I don't know about Mount Aris or Seaquestria."
"It probably depends on what side of the Equator that area is," Aaron said, making Smolder nod. "I have no idea about the Changeling Hive."
"And I doubt the Dragon Lands wouldn't be a good choice for Gallus," Smolder said. "He'd be overheated. Plus, he wouldn't be able to bathe in the Dragon Lands."
"Why? Is the water too hot?" Marissa asked.
"What water?" Smolder asked. "We dragons bathe in hot lava."
"What about the water from the Dragon Lord's throne to Flame-cano Island?" Aaron asked.
"Oh, right," Smolder said. "I forgot about that. But that water's not so clean. Plus, there's the giant Sea Worm in the water."
"Oh, yeah," Aaron said. "Spike almost got eaten by that thing during that race."
"So Gallus has no place to go," Marissa said. "Well... perhaps we can invite him to Hawaii with us."
"Are you sure he's gonna be okay with this?" Smolder asked.
"Well, we won't know until we ask him," Marissa said. "When we get home, you go contact him and we'll ask him together."
"Alright," Aaron said.
The three of them arrived home. Liam's Police Car was pulled up in the driveway.
"By the way, Liam is here making home cooked burgers," Marissa said. "He's been a big help. Bringing you both home from school, helping with keeping your secret."
"It almost sounds like you're inviting him to live with you," Smolder said.
"Well, we won't know that yet," Marissa said. Then the three of them got out of the car and headed for the front door of Aaron and Marissa's part of the house. When they went to the kitchen area, they saw not only Liam, but Gallus in the kitchen, preparing the burgers. Gallus was in human form.
"Yeah, you got it," Liam said.
"Guess it helps having human hands more than having talons," Gallus said.
"Gallus?!" Aaron and Smolder asked, nearly scaring the griffon turned human, almost dropping the burger patty.
"Oh, sorry for the surprise visit," Gallus said.
"What brings you back here?" Aaron asked.
"Meh, something about Princess Twilight trying something to eventually help her with ruling Equestria," Gallus said. "I have no idea what she's doing, but she's wanting family only to help her with this project. Which means, all guard training is cancelled until the project is done."
"Wouldn't it leave Princess Twilight defenseless?" Smolder asked.
"Meh, if it's family only, she probably got her brother there to help," Aaron said. "So she wouldn't be totally defenseless."
"Yeah, that's true," Smolder said. "We haven't seen him since Ragnarok attacked the clubhouse."
"Yeah," Aaron said. "I barely got to talk to him that day. Although, I did get to talk to Princess Cadance outside of Vegas."
"And yet, when her baby came to that same spot, Flurry Heart tried cuddling you," Smolder said, smirking.
"Yeah, that was cute," Gallus said.
"So, why didn't you go back to Griffonstone?" Smolder asked, looking at Gallus.
"Princess Twilight thought that I shouldn't go back to being homeless back in Griffonstone," Gallus said. "She suggested that I should spend some time with one of my friends. I'd go with Silverstream, but she's out of town with her family. Along with the others. Luckily, Princess Twilight suggested I'd come to this world."
"Actually, I'm okay with that," Marissa said. "You can stay as long as you want to. Or until your training gets back on." She then thought of something. "In fact... how would you like to spend the holidays here?"
Gallus put a talon to the bottom of his beak and thought of it. He then said, "Well, anything's better than spending the holidays in Griffonstone all alone."
"Well, we're gonna be heading out of town for Christmas," Marissa said. "We would like for you to come with."
"Where ya going?" Gallus asked.
"Hawaii," Aaron said. "Smolder and I actually won a trip there when we competed on the game show."
"Oh, yeah," Gallus said. "Hey, Liam was just talking about that. He said that episode came on last week on something called Paramount+."
"Really?" Smolder asked. "It's on there already?" Smolder then ran over to the living room area and turned the TV on. She then went to the Prime Video app, and went to the Paramount+ channel on Prime Video. She then searched for Legends of the Hidden Temple and found the episode she was looking for. They watched the show as they were eating dinner.
It was the night of the first basketball game for Summer Valley Middle School. Marissa, Liam and Gallus were sitting in the bleachers, watching the game. It was almost the end of the first half of the game. The Summer Valley Middle School Dragons were behind the Southwest Sea Lions, the score being 23-31. Gallus was in human form.
"C'mon, Aaron!" Gallus called out. "You can do better than that!"
"He's doing his best," Marissa said. "He's not as strong as a dragon as he was in human form. He and the team are doing their best."
Aaron was then given the ball, standing behind the 3-point line. Two of the opposing team members were about to block him from making a pass. But Aaron took the shot, and it went in as a bank shot, just before the buzzer buzzed, ending the first half of the game. The score was now 26-31.
The two teams went back to their benches. Aaron then took a drink of water as the coach started talking.
"Alright, team," Coach Little said. "So we're down by five points. Not bad for our first game in years. Especially with our new classmate, Aaron Blazer." The rest of the team started congratulating Aaron for getting them this far on their first game. "Alright, boys. We've got two more quarters to go. So everyone, warm up."
"Pardon me, coach," Aaron said, getting up. "But I have to use the restroom. I've been waiting to go since the middle of the second quarter."
"Well, go on ahead," Coach Little said. "Anyone else?" Paul then raised his hand. "Alright, hurry up." Then Aaron and Paul started running towards the bathroom. Not knowing that Gallus was following them into the bathroom as well.
"It's alright! It's okay! We're gonna pull the win today!" the cheerleaders called out. Smolder was in her dragon form, wearing the cheerleader uniforms along with the other cheerleaders. "It's alright! It's okay! We're gonna pull the win today!"
In the boys restroom, Aaron and Paul were heading for some urinals. Then Gallus's voice came up.
"Nice job, Aaron!" Aaron and Paul got surprised. "You've done awesome!"
"Who are you?" Paul asked. "Are you from Southwest Middle School coming to spy on us? Or psych us out?"
"Relax, Paul," Aaron said. "He's a friend of mine."
"Who is he?" Paul asked.
"Paul, this is Gallus," Aaron said. "He's my best friend. We've met in Equestria." Paul looked towards Gallus. He tapped his medallion and transformed into his griffon form."
"'Sup?" Gallus asked.
"Whoa!" Paul said. "He's your best friend?"
"Yeah," Aaron said. "We met at the School of Friendship back in Equestria."
"It's actually nice having a friend who helps out a friend in need," Gallus said. "Aaron helped me out when I was hoping to go out with Silverstream."
"You helped him out?" Paul asked, looking at Aaron.
"Of course I did," Aaron said. "He practically humiliated himself in class. He was making goo goo eyes at her."
"W-w-what?!" Gallus asked, stuttering. "N-n-no I wasn't!" He then continued stuttering.
"Prime example," Aaron said. "And yet, that was a fan comic."
"Wait, some fan comics actually happened?" Paul asked. "How many did you see while you were there?"
"Just two," Aaron said. "Some I missed. In fact, it was a pair of comics that led to Gallus and Silverstream's relationship together."
"Really?" Paul asked, looking at Gallus.
"He made the two of us a picnic together with some of our favorite foods," Gallus said. "He even added some stuff for s'mores, even though we didn't have any s'mores where we come from."
"Sandbar and I had to show the whole group how to make s'mores," Aaron said.
"Wow," Paul said. Then they all headed for the urinals and did their business. Although, Gallus had to turn 90 degrees to the left, and put a leg up, him peeing into the urinal. Paul noticed that and asked, "What are you doing?"
"He's quadruped," Aaron said. "He usually pees like that when there isn't a bathroom around. You don't even wanna know what the urinals in Equestria are like."
"You really don't," Gallus added.
It was the last quarter in the game with less than 30 seconds on the clock, and the score was Dragons with 44 points as the opponents with 46 points. There was a reporter interviewing Smolder, asking her why she was attending a middle school in Florida.
"This world is actually amazing," Smolder said. "There are a lot of things here that we have in Equestria. Also, the main reason I'm here is because..." She then looked over towards the Summer Valley Middle School Basketball team. More specifically at Aaron.
"Ah, I see," the reporter said. "You fell in love with someone."
"Well, he actually ended up in Equestria first, and I had to drag him through a portal to get him home."
"I see," the reporter said. "Alright, I have no further questions. Go Dragons."
Back at the Summer Valley Dragons, the team was huddled up. The coach was laying out the last play.
"Okay, boys," Coach Little said. "We're down to our last play, and we're on defense. We need to get the ball, get it to our side of the court, and get at least 3 points."
Aaron looked towards the opponents, seeing they swapped out one player for a big guy. Aaron then said, "Looks like we're having a big guy going against us. He's gonna try to block our comeback."
"Alright then," Coach Little said. "Let's try to get around him. Get those three points. Hands in." Then the team put their hands in. "Dragons on three. One, two, three..."
"Dragons!" the team said. Then Aaron, Paul, Kyle and two other team members went out onto the court. Aaron, Paul and Kyle were at the top of the box, waiting for the opponents to come towards the court that the dragons were on the defensive side. One of the players was passing the ball to another player as he was passing the half court line, but Aaron and Paul started running towards the other side of the court. Paul grabbed the ball, started dribbling it, and then he passed it to Aaron. Aaron grabbed the ball and was about to take the shot, but the big guy from Southwest Middle School came in and pushed Aaron closer to the basket, past the 3-point line, as Aaron was taking the shot. The referee blew his whistle before the ball went into the basket.
The score was now tied 46 a piece, and there was five seconds left on the clock.
Marissa, Liam and Gallus cringed at Aaron getting hurt. Gallus then said, "C'mon, buddy. Get up."
Aaron then got up from the ground, the referee checking on him. He then asked, "Are you okay?"
Aaron then spun his head and moved his arms a little, responding with, "I've taken harder knock downs." He then flashbacked to when Smolder was teaching Aaron how to fly like a dragon during his time in Equestria, both beneath the school, and outside of the school.
The ref then called out, "One foul shot. White, 42, offensive foul. Red taking one shot."
Smolder then looked towards the cheerleaders and said, "Alright, girls. Let's give Aaron some support." Then they started clapping and called out.
"LET'S GO, AARON!" They, along with the crowd supporting the Summer Valley Middle School basketball team, did the same. Aaron then breathed out. He then bounced the ball in front of him, making the ball spinning back towards him, him catching it. Then he took the shot, without jumping. The chanting and clapping stopped. The ball went towards the box on the backboard. It bounced towards the inner hoop, bounced back towards the backboard, and then went down towards the rim of the basket, and slowly rotating into the basket. The ball then went down into the net, through it, and went down to the ground, getting the last point, the score being Dragons 47, Sea Lions 46.
The Sea Lions team then took the ball, and tried making a half court shot, before the buzzer, but the shot was made after the buzzer. The ball didn't make it into the basket anyway. The game was over, and the crowd cheered.
"That... was... awesome!" Gallus said.
"Aaron made the winning shot," Liam said. "Not bad, kid." The team then ran over towards Aaron and lifted him up, carrying him towards the locker room, all of them chanting his name.
Eventually, Aaron, Smolder, Marissa, Liam and Gallus returned to the house, Aaron still in his basketball uniform, and Smolder in human form.
"That game ended incredible," Gallus said. "That was a good shot, Aaron."
"Did you seriously tell the referee that you've taken harder falls?" Smolder asked.
"Well, it's true," Aaron said. "And that was back in Equestria."
"Oh, that's right," Gallus said. "You were teaching him how to fly."
"Oh, right," Smolder said. "I can't believe I forgot that."
"Alright, Gallus," Marissa said. "As usual, you get the couch."
"Meh, I slept on worse things," Gallus said.
"Didn't you have a bed back in Griffonstone?" Aaron asked.
"It wasn't exactly a mattress I was sleeping on," Gallus said. "I was sleeping on a stone slab, with nothing but a blanket, and a rock as a pillow."
"Well, at least you all are gonna enjoy Hawaii," Liam said.
"Actually, Liam," Marissa said. "I told my family about you, and they would like to meet you over Christmas." They all looked towards Liam.
"I'll go tell my family that I won't be spending Christmas with them," Liam said. "Although, they are understanding. I'll go pack my bags for Hawaii."
"Aaron, why don't you take a bath?" Marissa asked. "You kinda stink."
"Alright," Aaron said. He then headed upstairs. Gallus followed.
"Hey, wait," Gallus said. "I still need to know about Christmas. Princess Twilight has asked me to get details about this holiday."
Smolder smirked and shook her head. She then said, "I better hit the shower as well." She then headed for her part of the house, changing into her dragon form, taking off the Cheerleader Outfit she had on.
Back in Equestria, in Canterlot Castle, Twilight, Spike, and the entire family were there, discussing what Twilight was going to do.
"Are you sure about this, Twylie?" Shining Armor asked. "What if this goes terribly wrong?"
"It won't, Shining," Twilight said. "I'll make sure that what I'm doing is going to go smoothly."
"Twilight," Twilight's mother, Twilight Velvet, said, a little worry in her voice. "This might not go as well as it went in this book." She held up the Past Sins book she had gotten from Aaron. "Although, the ending part of Chapter 6 was so sweet. This might have been a big mistake."
"Don't worry, Mom," Twilight said. She then put a hoof on her belly. "I won't let anything bad happen. Because I'm gonna make this right."