//------------------------------//
// 190 Postgame 
// Story: Tales from a Con 
// by Admiral Biscuit 
//------------------------------//


Postgame


For whatever reason, you’d never thought of ponies playing sports. Not foal games, and not quite professional athletes—collegiate level, maybe?

At least, you can tell yourself that, based on how thoroughly they trounced you. The rules for Buckball were simple enough, and you’d thought you and your team had a chance. You were sorely mistaken. Your co-workers might be genial enough at work, but on the field they were out for blood.

Summer Breeze . . . her name was wrong, you decided. She could use her wing to hook a buckball at near supersonic speeds. You’d never known what being hit with a meteor felt like, not until you blocked one of her shots.

With your face.

At least they’d been kind enough to give you time to recover before restarting the game. What was that old saying? You miss half the shots you don’t take? Does it count if you’re seeing double?

“You did good,” Aloha says. She was the opposing team’s unicorn, and the one who had convinced you to play the stupid game in the first place. “Especially for a newbie.”

“Easy for you to say.” You rub your muzzle with a hoof. “Is it possible to lose your sense of smell from a hit? Because I think I have.”

“It’ll come back,” she assures you. “You think that’s bad, you’ve never been on the receiving end of one of Yuma Spurs’ kicks.”

“Kicking a ball, or—”

“Doesn’t matter,” Yuma chimed in.

“She strikes like lightning, but twice as fast.”

Well, you knew that to be true when it came to the buckball field, at least. It’d be interesting to see if Summer Breeze could throw faster, or if Yuma Spurs could kick faster. From an academic standpoint, pure scientific interest.

When it came to picking teams, well, there had been a bit of unfairness, that’s the only logical explanation. They hadn’t just beaten you, they’d eviscerated you. Normal, ordinary ponies, at least to your encounters with them so far. Of the trio, Yuma Spurs is the most notable, since she likes to wear a dressy shirt with long sleeves for her forelegs. And a cowpony hat, to and from work—she’s even got a personal hook to hang it up on.

The other two rarely dress fancy. Summer Breeze keeps her mane up in a bun which not only lasts the workday, but also a full game of Buckball. Her styling regime might include glue. Aloha’s always got a beaded scrunchie around the base of her tail, and mane that skirts the line between messy and deliberate.

“Say,” Aloha says, jerking you out of your thoughts. “We were gonna go to the spa later on, after we all get rinsed off. You wanna join?”





[CHOICE]



>Sure, bonding with friends is important even after they wiped the playing field with you (Hero)
>Are you kidding? You’re gonna see if you can find some ringers for the next pickup game (Chaos)






[CHOICE A: Hero] 
“Maybe,” you say. “Which spa?”

“The thermopolium. We’ve got a tub reserved.”

“Do you.”

Aloha nods. “Always do; it’s a good way to relax after the game.”

“And to bond,” Yuma adds. “We don’t always play on the same team.”

You nod. “Next time somepony suggests a pickup game of Buckball, I’m getting one of you on my team.”

“That’s fair,” Aloha says. “You need all the help you can get.”

You stick your tongue out at her.

“And . . . you’ve been a good sport,” she adds.

Yuma Spurs and Summer Breeze nod.

“Well, I have learned a thing or two,” you admit. Said lessons were 1: you were hopelessly outclassed by them, and 2: don’t block a ball with your face. “So why not?”

“I knew you’d like the idea.” Aloha grins.





[CHOICE B: Chaos]
“That’s a kind offer, but I have other plans.” For now, those plans are vague and nebulous, but you know some ponies, and they know some ponies.

You could spend a lot of your free time practicing and training, and you might get better, but the fact is that you’d still probably get smoked by those three. You’re not ashamed to admit it, there’s no sense in lying to yourself.

Especially since you have an option B. You might not be all that good at Buckball, and you might not be able to get good during a quick training montage, but you know some ponies who are good. Good enough, in fact, that either of them by themselves could mop the floor with the other team. Or if they’re still not good enough, you could see if Michael Jordan wanted an Equestrian vacation.

Aloha and her friends might have won this round of Buckball, but for the next? They won’t know what hit them.