"Wow!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed as she watched the action unfold in front of her. "I had no idea my sister was such a hard hitter! Did you see how she totally slammed into Pinkie Pie and sent her flying back a few yards?"
"What about when my sis picked off that lateral by Twilight and nearly took it all the way back?" Apple Bloom said excitedly. "I knew she liked Hoofball, but I ain't ever seen her actually play it before. I never knew she was so good!"
"Ha, that was nothing!" Scootaloo bragged. "What about when Rainbow Dash made that pass to herself? That was so awesome! Especially since she ended up scoring on it! There's like, nothing she can't do!"
"Well, she didn't exactly throw it very far," Sweetie Belle pointed out.
"I think it actually may have actually been knocked out by my sis when she came after her," Apple Bloom added. "It looked like more of a fumble than a pass."
"Whatever, it was still cool," Scootaloo shrugged.
"More like lucky," Sweetie Belle muttered.
"Pfft, you guy's are just mad because your sister's are losing right now," Scootaloo scoffed.
"They're only down by one TD!" Apple Bloom said defensively.
"It's gonna be two in a moment here. Go Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo cheered.
Rainbow Dash turned to see her little fan on the sideline with her friends, jumping up and down and waving wildly. Dash smiled weakly and waved back.
There's no way I can lose now! Not in front of the Squirt! I need all the fans I can get!
But the Cutie Mark Crusaders weren't the only ones who happened to stop by to watch the game...
What started off as a few curious passing ponies who just wanted to take a quick glance at the game, soon escalated into a large group who were utterly riveted by the skill and passion that these six mares had for the game. Not only were they national heroes, but they played Hoofball almost as well as the pros. How had they not reached celebrity status by now?
By this point, it seemed as if half of Ponyville had come out to watch the game. Nearly every face in the crowd was a familiar one. They completely encircled the field, making sure to leave enough room in case one of the players went out of bounds. Ponyville, being the small town it was, didn't have a professional Hoofball team to call their own. But the town was full of fans of the great sport, and whenever the chance arose to take in a small, backyard game like the one they were watching now, or to take the train to one of the nearest big cities to watch the pros, they took it.
The six friends were a little taken aback by the sudden realization that nearly all of Ponyville had come to watch them play what was supposed to be a meaningless, friendly game (Twilight could've sworn she saw the Mayor somewhere in the crowd at one point). But they had all been very supportive and enthusiastic for both teams. They always cheered good plays and only offered sympathetic moans for bad ones. Even Spike, who was worried a bad call on his part would get food thrown at him, began to relax a bit when he saw how happy they were just to be watching a game.
The six mares decided to allow spectating, though it didn't exactly do anything to stifle their already burning desires to win. Losing this game in front of all these witnesses, no matter how positive and supportive of both sides they had been, would still serve as further humiliation. Hopefully they would all leave before the losing team was forced to hold up their less than desireable end of the bargain...
As of that moment, Team Rainbow Dash lead with three touchdowns to Team Applejack's two. Team Dash's second possession had been a disheartening four and out with Pinkie Pie making one spectacular catch for about thirty yards. But nothing more came of it as Twilight failed to catch two more passes (though in fairness, one was a tad overthrown), and Dash was sacked on the final play.
Proud of their defensive stand, Team Applejack took up their second offensive possession, eager for another quick score. So confident was Applejack, that she decided to pass up a sure-fire touchdown with Rarity and give Fluttershy a shot at catching a pass.
It proved to be a fatal mistake, though Applejack's pass was accurate enough, Fluttershy could do nothing to escape the aggressive coverage of Pinkie Pie. The result was an interception, which the pink pony returned for her teams second touchdown.
Fluttershy was once again close to tearing up, and though Applejack managed to give her a comforting smile, she was having a hard time holding back her building frustration. She was starting to think she may not want to risk throwing to her again, or at least not until they could get in the lead... if they could ever get in the lead. At least they got to try again right away.
Sadly, this second chance failed to yield any points. Applejack managed to complete a decent pass to Rarity, but the talented unicorn didn't get to impress this time as she was immediately tackled from the front by Pinkie Pie, who had slipped away to double team Rarity the instant she saw where the pass was going. Twilight smiled proudly at this; they had discovered that Rarity was not as strong when contacted from the front.
There's a solution to every problem!
Applejack attempted another pass to Rarity on the second play, but this time it was batted down by Twilight, who was giddy with excitement that she finally did something right. The third play resulted in a sack, and the fourth led to Applejack attempting to run when she didn't feel comfortable with attempting a pass. She only got a few yards before being dragged down by Rainbow Dash, turning the ball over on downs.
The sack on the third play had placed Team Applejack dangerously close to their own end zone. Applejack's failure to get many yard with her run gave Team Dash excellent field position.
It was then that Rainbow Dash performed her controversial "pass to herself." It was true that it wasn't so much a pass as it was a very long and far traveling airborne fumble. Dash had attempted to pass it off to Pinkie Pie, who was right in the corner of the end zone, shifting back and forth to avoid Fluttershy. But the shy pegasus actually managing to keep pace fairly well, and for the first time that day Dash didn't feel comfortable throwing in her direction. At the same time she tried to halt bringing her head forward to pass, she saw Applejack diving towards her out of the corner of her eye. With her trademark quickness, Dash hopped backwards and out of reach. Though she managed to avoid being tackled, she wasn't able to dodge Applejack's fore hoof as it swiped upwards and knocked the ball from her mouth. Because of how fast it happened, it was almost impossible to tell if Dash had decided to attempt the pass or if Applejack had jarred it loose, making it a fumble.
Dash had watched the ball sail loftily through the air not too far ahead of her. With Applejack pretty much out of the way, and Twilight and Pinkie Pie nowhere near close enough to make the catch, Dash did the only thing she could do: she charged forward, leapt into the air, caught the ball as it came down, and tumbled into the end zone for the third touchdown.
Their celebration lasted only a short while though, as Rarity and Applejack quickly rounded on Spike to try to convince him that that play could not possibly have been legal. While Spike was unsure of whether or not it was a pass or a fumble, he couldn't recall any rule saying the QB couldn't go after the ball in either case, so he stuck with his ruling of a touchdown.
With the game starting to slip away, Team Applejack began to resort to the long bomb to get things done. And for three straight plays it worked; Applejack completed good-sized passes to Rarity, and had brought them to within' eight yards of scoring by the fourth try. However, this time Twilight succeeded in knocking the ball away from her fellow unicorn. She had tipped it upwards, though, right towards Fluttershy. The shy pegasus readied herself, hoping this could be her chance to finally help her team. She attempted to do what Dash had done by leaping into the air to try and catch the ball as it fell to her. Sadly, she had undershot it, and ended up crashing to the ground with the ball falling incomplete a few feet in front of her.
Team Applejack had failed again. Rarity let out a very unlady-like growl of frustration, and Applejack yanked off her stetson and threw it to the ground angrily. Fluttershy whimpered quietly and buried her head under her forehooves in shame.
Rainbow Dash, starting to feel the game was well under her team's control, decided to let Twilight have another shot at catching a pass on their next possession. The very first play she zinged a quick one to her before Applejack had even made it to "Two Appleoosa." The pass was accurate, Twilight was a good, large step ahead of Rarity, and lo and behold... the lavender unicorn caught her very first pass!
With Pinkie Pie keeping Fluttershy well contained, Twilight had an open field in front of her. All she had to do was outrun Rarity...
Dash smiled as she watched the two unicorns race down the field, proud of her little egghead for finally coming through on offense. She didn't even notice that Applejack had taken off after them as well...
Twilight was right up against the right sideline as she passed the halfway point to the end zone. It was clear that Rarity was going to try to force her out-of-bounds instead of tackle her. Though the play was by no means a failure by that point, Twilight didn't want it to end that way. She wanted a more exciting finish to compliment her first completed pass.
From behind her, she could hear another set hooves approaching her quickly. Turning her head lightly, she saw who she thought to be just the pony she was hoping for out of the corner of her eye. Without a seconds hesitation, she tossed the ball backwards just before her right hooves stepped out-of-bounds. She spun around quickly with a wide smile on her face to see the result of her play. Her smile quickly became a horrified cringe when she saw who it really was who had been following her...
For as long as she lived, she would never truly comprehend how an orange-colored earth pony could've appeared to have been a cyan-colored pegasus in her peripheral vision. A trick of the light maybe?
Applejack had snagged Twilight's pass, managed to stop and spin around without stepping out-of-bounds, and sped off in the opposite direction. Twilight turned to Spike with a hopeful look that maybe Applejack hadn't been in-bounds when she spun around. But Spike had been standing right there next to her and had seen it clearly; he shook his head and pointed off in Applejack's direction, signaling a pick. Twilight just frowned angrily at her so-called "number-one assistant".
Applejack had very nearly returned it all the way, but Pinkie managed to save the touchdown, stopping her at about three yards away. It was still enough of a morale boost to pick Team Applejack out of it's slump.
Twilight approached her team with a sheepish grin. Dash glared at her intently, wordlessly asking for an explanation. Twilight had said that she just wanted to try something flashy and that she had thought it was Dash who was behind her.
Rainbow Dash just sighed in annoyance and shook her head. She tried to calmly explain to her egghead friend that laterals were best saved for emergency situations or last minute plays, like when the clock has run out or on fourth down.
In one quick pass to Rarity, Team Applejack had come up with their second touchdown, one that they desperately needed.
Rainbow Dash was utterly determined to score on this next drive, desperate to keep her team two steps ahead. She managed to get them down to within' five yards in three plays. Pinkie Pie had nearly scored on the third play, but that was when Rarity had given her the brutal knock that had sent her back a few yards. Her foreward progress had put her at about five yards out, though. Definitely manageable.
And this was where they found themselves now; dirty, sweaty, bruised, and even a tad bloody around their snouts... and none of them could've cared less. As far as they were concerned, this stopped bing a friendly game a long time ago. The urge to win for both teams was at a more sinister, almost maniacal level. Even Pinkie Pie was putting on more of an angry facade, her smiling becoming less and less frequent. Fluttershy also seemed a tad moody at that point, with her anger most likley directed at herself for not having done much for her team yet. And Rarity had pretty much taken her anger at Rainbow Dash and attributed it to the entire rival team, particularly Twilight, who was becoming more and more of a pill when it came to trying to lose her while on offense.
With the loud cheer of the crowd sounding off, the two teams got ready for the fourth play.
"C'mon, guy's! We gotta get in on this one!" Dash rallied her teammates.
"You bet your booty we do!" Pinkie chimed in confidently "And that's exactly what's gonna happen!"
"I swear by sweet Celestia, I will not mess up on this play!" Twilight declared, mostly to herself. She heard Rarity give a rather nasty laugh from across from her, and the two glared at each other intensely.
"HUGHG!"
Twilight sped off right into the end zone and spun around right at the rear edge. Rarity had stuck to her like glue, and it was too much for Twilight to put up with. Without even thinking, she violently pushed her defender away from her, sending her tumbling to the ground with a small shriek and leaving herself wide open. Dash noticed this right away, and sent the ball straight to her. It was a bit high, but it was definitely manageable; she took a tiny step back, reared up on her hind legs, snapped her teeth down on the rough leather, and came down on all fours.
She did it! She finally did it! She scored! She finally did something big! Eggheads rule! She closed her eyes and, spat the ball out and smiled in pride! Just listen to that cheering!...Wait... where was the cheering? There was hardly any cheering at all. There was some, but most ponies seemed to be moaning in disappointment.
Twilight snapped her eyes open and looked around frantically at everypony. "What? What's wrong? What'd I do?" A thought occurred to her to check where she was standing. When she looked back to check her rear hooves, she felt a slight burst of fear; her right rear hoof was a bit further back than her left... and though it was very close, it appeared to be just barely past the balloons that marked the rear of the end zone. She quickly turned to look at Spike, who seemed to be debating what to make of it. She gave him a pleading stare, hoping he would let her have this one. But after a while, he gave a sad sigh and shook his head.
"Sorry, Twilight," he muttered. He waved his hands in front of him, then made a pushing motion to the out-of-bounds area.
"No!" Twilight's heart sank. "Please, Spike! Can't you let me have this one? Please? I've been terrible all day! Please let me at least have this one!"
"Look, you told me to call the game to the best of my ability, so that's what I'm going to do," Spike said with a small level of confidence. "Besides, even if you hadn't landed out-of-bounds, you knocked Rarity down; that's offensive pass interference."
"That wasn't pass interference!" Rainbow Dash shouted angrily. "I hadn't even thrown the ball when she was pushed!"
"Well then it was illegal contact!" Applejack snapped back heatedly. "And since that was yer last shot, you guys lose a turn on your next possession. Now git over on defense! It's our ball now!"
Rainbow Dash groaned with rage and took off with an almost equally frustrated looking Pinkie Pie for the defensive side of the ball.
Twilight turned to Spike again, giving him an angry glare. "Sticking up for your marefriend huh, lover boy?" She sneered.
"Hey, I'm just trying to ref this game to the best of my ability!" Spike replied defensively.
"Oh really? Well you're doing a pretty lousy job if you ask me!" Twilight spat. "And you want to know another thing? You just reffed your way out of some ice cream, buddy boy!" She stomped off after the others.
Spike glared at her angrily at her as she left. "Oh yeah!" He shouted after her. "Well... we still have some ice cream back at the library! It's not really my favorite flavor, and we don't have any gems to sprinkle on it, but it's still ice cream! And I'm gonna eat it all when we get back whether you like it or not! So there!" He folded his arms, closed his eyes and smiled proudly.
Meanwhile, at the Golden Oaks Library...
Angle Bunny lifted the last carton of vanilla ice cream, which had by now melted down to a thick, gooey soup, to his mouth and began chugging it down greedily. All around him, Owlowisous, Winona, and Opalescence pumped their paws/wing in the air chanting "Chug! Chug! Chug!" in their own unique animal languages. Tank remained silent, but pumped his fore leg in the air as well, albeit a bit slower than the others. And Gummy just faced the opposite direction of the others, staring blankly at the wall. All of them had white, sticky melted ice cream staining their mouths/beak.
Spike had forgotten to close one of the windows before he left, and the pets had been wanting to do this for so long...
Back at the park...
"Well I, for one, think you are doing a wonderful job, Spikey."
Spike opened his eyes again and saw Rarity smiling and staring dreamily at him. He blushed a bit and rubbed the back of his neck. "Aw, thanks, Rarity. I just wish Twilight didn't have to be such a grump whenever things don't go her way. I let them have that weird touchdown earlier!"
"Oh, she can be such a drama queen sometimes," Rarity said with a roll of her eyes. "I know I tend to be one too sometimes. But when she goes off? Even I have to just bow down in glory before her dramatics!"
"Heh, at least you don't have to live with her," Spike muttered.
"And it was oh-so noble of you to stand up for poor little moi' after the utterly deplorable way she pushed me," Rarity cooed.
"Yeah well, I was just doing my job." Spike was blushing even more now.
"Well," Rarity began in a lower tone of voice. "If you continue to watch out for me and my teammates as well as you have for the rest of the game... I might be able to free up some time to go gem hunting in the near future... just the two of us..."
"R-Really? Just the two of us?" Spike's heart was pounding, and he began to sweat profusely.
Rarity just gave him a seductive wink, then headed off to join her team.
Spike just stood there dumbfounded for a moment, unsure of what to make of all this.
Did... did she just bribe me?
Spike shook that thought off. There was no way Rarity would lower herself to that. Maybe she was just messing around with him or something. For now, he would continue to call the game as fairly as he felt he had been so far. Still, he was really starting to hate this day...
High above the park, a contingent of hot air balloons had arrived, each one of them loaded with some very official looking ponies and technical equipment.
"For those of you just tuning in..." a well dressed unicorn stallion in one of the balloons said into a microphone levitating before him. "I am currently floating above Ponyville Park, where it appears that Equestria's well-known national heroes, the six Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, seem to be engaged in a bit of a friendly Hoofball game. But from what I can assume, and for reasons I cannot explain, what must have started as a friendly game, seems to have captured the interest of the entire town's population, not to mention several of our other news affiliates from around Equestria. While I may not be much of a sportscaster, I will do my very best to provide some play-by-play for this... very interesting... yet very bizarre series of events."
Clearly, it was a slow news day in the magical land of Equestria.
"HUHGH!"
Applejack began the first play of the drive. As she scanned the field, her heart began to sink. Fluttershy was once again proving no match for Pinkie Pie's coverage, and Twilight, who seemed to be playing with some serious newfound aggression, was all over Rarity. The farm pony had no options whatsoever, and Dash had just finished her count...
At that moment, some kind of crazy instinct took over, and Applejack lowered herself as her attacker leapt forward. When she felt Dash's body land on top of her, pushed off the ground, flinging the pegasus off her and sending her tumbling through the air before crashing into the ground brutally.
"Ohhhhh!" The entire crowd gasped.
Applejack saw an open field in front of her, and bolted.
Rarity kept Twilight well blocked, and Pinkie Pie proved unable to bring her fellow earth pony down by herself as she was dragged along right into the end zone. The crowd cheered Team Applejack as they celebrated tieing up the game at three.
"My, what an impressive run by the Bearer of the Element of Honesty, Applejack!" The news pony announced into his microphone. "I think I see why this game as drawn such a crowd now. Not only do these six mares wield the most powerful objects in all of Equestria, but they play Hoofball on the level of a professional team. Is there anything they can't do?"
Team Rainbow Dash gathered together for their next possession, Dash in particular looking very distraught. "Guys, we can't fall apart now! We had a chance to really put this one away a while ago and we failed."
"More like I failed," Twilight muttered sadly. Or more like that little butt I call my assistant failed for me! "I must be the worst Hoofball player in all of Equestria."
"Well, that's not entirely true..." Dash said in an effort to restore her friends confidence. "I mean, sure you've dropped passes, missed blocks, failed to make tackles, threw a pick, committed stupid penalties, and failed to stay in bounds on critical passes... but you haven't fumbled yet! As long as you don't do that, you aren't technically the worst player, you're just... pretty freakin' bad."
Twilight sighed sadly, and Pinkie Pie nudged her chin up with her muzzle. "C'mon, girls! If we score on this drive, we'll be one point away from winning!"
"It doesn't help that we only get three shots this time because of the penalty," Dash muttered as they got into position.
Dash completed a short pass to Pinkie on the first play, and was forced to throw the ball away on the second play (Applejack claimed it was intentional grounding, but Spike ruled she would've been out of the pocket when she threw). They still had a long field to go, and only one shot left...
"We droppin' the bomb on this one, Dashie?" Pinkie asked.
"That's exactly what they'll be expecting. We need to try something else..." Dash thought for a moment, then gave a bit of a sinister smile. "I think it's about time we reached into my little bag of tricks..."
Pinkie gasped with excitement. "Trick play time?"
"Yep! And I think I know just the one," Dash explained. "Let's hit 'em with the Double Reverse End Around."
"Ooooooh! I love that one!" Pinkie cheered.
"What do we do?" Twilight asked.
"When I hike the ball, both of you run behind me in opposite directions. I'll lateral to whoever's directly behind me, and then she'll lateral it to whoever's behind her. If it works, the other team will think one pony had the ball and will be drawn to her when it's really the other pony on the opposite side of the field who has it. By that time it'll be too late; one of you will have an entire open field ahead of you!"
Twilight understood it well enough, but she still looked uneasy. "I'll probably end up blowing this too, somehow." Or Spike will.
"Enough of the mopey-dopey, Twilight!" Pinkie chided. "I Pinkie Promise you you're going to do well this time!" She did the trademark chant and movements.
"But I-"
"Pinkie Promise!"
The offense then took their positions, Twilight starting to feel an urge to really put her all into this, mostly out of fear of what Pinkie Pie would do if she ended up breaking her own trademark promise.
"HUHGH!"
Team Applejack began to trot backwards as they always did, but stopped abruptly when they saw Pinkie and Twilight take off behind Dash in opposite directions.
"Aw, they're tryin' somethin' nutty!" Applejack called out to her teammates.
Rainbow Dash successfully flinged the ball back to Pinkie Pie, who in turn succeeded in drawing all three members of Team Applejack to block the side of the field she was heading for. She then flung it back to Twilight, who made the catch and pulled off a sharp turn, her eyes wide at the open field before her.
Team Applejack all went wide-eyed when they realized what had happened. They skidded to a stop and attempted go after Twilight, but she was already way ahead up the field and out of Applejack and Fluttershy's reach. Rarity was the only one who still had a chance to stop her, and she sped towards her fellow unicorn at full speed.
Twilight was once again right along the sideline. All Rarity had to do was give her enough of a push and she would go out-of-bounds. When she felt she was close enough, she launched herself forward, reaching out with her hooves. She felt them contact Twilight's flank, and though she didn't put as much force into her push as she wanted to, she felt it had been sufficient enough. As she slid into the ground, she was sure she saw one of Twilights rear hooves step out. She looked to Spike with a satisfied grin, expecting him to call the play dead. Her smile faltered into an expression of shock as she watched the little dragon run alongside Twilight on the sideline, allowing the play to continue.
Immediately Rarity began to feel her blood boil. "Why that incompetent little...!" She seethed through gritted teeth. "No gem hunting for him!"
Twilight's eye's went as wide as they could possibly go, the roar of the crowd filled her ears as she approached her goal. She'd done it! She'd finally done it! She was ten yards away... five... Touchdown!
Twilight wanted to go absolutely nuts right then and there, but first she had to check with Spike; she wanted the satisfaction of seeing him make the signal. She turned to him, the ball still in her mouth and eyes still wide as saucers... he was just standing there, staring at her, making no signal whatsoever.
No! No, it can't be! What now? WHAT DID I DO WRONG NOW?!
The crowd went silent at this sudden turn of events, and Spike spoke up. "Uh, Twilight? You uh... forgot to report to me as an eligible receiver."
Twilight's eye began to twitch violently, her face went bright red, her teeth clamped down tightly on the ball, threatening to pop it, and her body began to shake with rage.
Spike let this go for a few seconds, then burst out laughing. "Nah, I'm just kiddin', Twi!" He raised his arms. "Touchdown!"
Once again the crowd roared wildly, and Twilight's anger faded instantly as she leaped for joy into the air.
"She did it!" Rainbow Dash cheered. "That egghead actually did it!"
"What excellent play-calling by the Bearer of Loyalty, Rainbow Dash!" The news anchor announced. "And an absolutely beautiful run by the Bearer of Magic, Twilight Sparkle, who had just proven to everypony that she has just as much brawn as she does brains!"
As Twilight came back down from her leap, she spiked the ball into the ground gave a wild cheer. "WAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHOOOOO!"
Then... she broke out into quite possibly the most horrendously ugly and profoundly disturbing touchdown dance ever attempted. She stomped and flailed her hooves completely out of synch, bobbed and shook her flank wildly, and tossed her head around as if it were on a spring.
"Ooh eh ah, oh yeah! Ooh eh ah, I'm the greatest!" She sang.
The entire crowd went silent in an instant, the joy on their faces replaced by sheer horror. Even Twilight's friends could only watch in shock. They were right there on the field... yet they felt so helpless to stop it. Somewhere in the deathly silent crowd, somepony could be heard throwing up violently. Moments later, a small foal could be heard crying, "MOMMY, I WANNA GO HOME!"
From his hot air balloon, the news anchor slowly levitated the microphone to his lips. "Fillies and gentlecolts, in my thirty-one years as a news anchor I have seen some truly horrific atrocities. But what I am looking at right now... I... I cannot even begin to describe. It... it is simply beyond words... the sheer horror of this... this... I can't even find a name for this... evil. I just... I can't even... Why? Why would Celestia allow something like this to happen? Somepony... anypony... just... please... just make it stop." He added in barely a shaky whisper, "Just make it stop..."
Twilight finally noticed just how silent it had become, and her "dancing" slowly came to a stop. She bit her lip nervously as she noticed the horror on the faces in the crowd.
"Twilight..." she turned to see Spike standing next to her, looking more along the lines of angry rather than horrified. "If you ever do that again, I will revoke your touchdown."
Twilight blushed in embarrassment. She turned back to the horrified crowd, and felt she should do something to make up for that. She searched her mind, and blurted out the first thing she could think of: "Um... Stay in school!"
A few seconds of silence passed... then the wild cheering resumed. Twilight let out a sigh of relief and started back to her happily celebrating team. Somewhere out in the crowd, she heard a familiar voice shout, "That's my sister!" She froze.
Was that... Shining Armor I just heard? I thought he was supposed to be back in... When did he get here? Did he sneak away from Cadence just to watch me play Hoofball? How did he even know I was... eh... maybe I heard wrong.
From somewhere deep in the crowd, a white stallion with a blue mane was jumping up and down wildly with everypony else. "Atta girl, Twily!" Shining Armor cheered. "Way to kick flank, kiddo! I'm her brother! I taught her everything she knows! Well... not everything. I swear, I have no idea where that dance came from... but still! Go Twilight! You-"
"Ahem..." A familliar voice sounded behind him.
Shining Armor froze, then slowly turned around to meet the stern glare of his wife. He gave a sheepish grin. "Uh... why hello there, my love!"
"Went to go get yourself a new outfit, hmm?" Princess Cadence asked with a raised eyebrow.
Shining Armor blushed a bit nervously shuffled on his hooves. "My, uh... note didn't fool you, did it?"
"You mean this one?" Cadence levitated a note in front of her husbands face.
Cadence, love,
I just stepped out for a moment to find myself a more suitable outfit for our anniversary dinner tonight, since I don't really like the one I have now. I should only be gone a few minutes. I did NOT go to Ponyville to watch my sister and her friends play Hoofball at the park, just in case you somehow get that idea. So whatever you do, don't go looking for me there, because you won't find me. Because that's not where I am. It's the last place you'd want to look. Honestly. I'm not there. So don't go to Ponyville. Seriously.
Love you very much,
Shining Armor
P.S
Ponyville Park is in the east side of town, right?
"Nope, didn't fool me."
"Oh, come on, Love!" Shining Armor whined. "I heard on the radio that the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony we're playing Hoofball in Ponyville and that they were playing on a level that put the pros to shame and that the entire town was gathering to watch them! When I heard that, I said to myself 'Hey, that's my Twily! I gotta go cheer her on!' But then I remembered our anniversary was tonight, and I knew if I asked you if I could go, even for a little while, you'd say no. So I figured I'd just teleport down here real quick, watch just a few plays, then zip right on back before you knew I was gone. That's kind of what I was hoping for, otherwise I would've written a better note... but I was gonna leave after the next play, I swear! And besides, we made our reservations at the restaurant for eight, tonight. We have plenty of-"
"We made it at seven, Shining," Cadence said in a dry tone.
"What? Really?" Shining Armor racked his mind, then blushed in embarrassment. "Oops."
"Oops," Cadence parroted. "Come along, now. We can still make it in time if we hurry. You can watch Twilight and her friends play Hoofball another time."
"But what if there isn't another time?" Shining Armor protested. "What if they decide they don't like Hoofball and never play it again?"
"Oh, that would surly mean the end of Equestria, wouldn't it?" Cadence replied with mock theatricality. "Now march, soldier!"
"Awwww," Shining Armor groaned as he hung his head and trotted away. He quickly muttered to the stallion who had been standing next to him, "Never get married."
As Princess Cadence followed after her husband, she took one quick glance at the field and saw Twilight happily celebrating with her two teammates. She couldn't help but smile proudly at her sister in law. "You go, girl!"
Back on the field...
"Twilight, you are officially the greatest egghead athlete of all time!" Rainbow Dash congratulated her friend.
"Yeah, you rock, Twilight!" Pinkie added.
"Hey, we did that together," Twilight said humbly. "We're a team, after all."
Rainbow Dash smiled and looked over both of them. "You're right, Twi; we're a team. The coolest team in all of Equestria! Seriously, you... you guys are really making me proud right now. I couldn't have asked for a better-"
"Hey! Hold off on the drama a sec, Dashie!" Pinkie interrupted. "We're not done yet!"
"She's right, Dash. We still need one more touchdown," Twilight added.
"Right," Dash said confidently. "Time to finish off Team Applesmack for good!"
Team Rainbow Dash gave another cheer and took up defensive positions.
On the third play of Team Applejacks next drive (a play that was briefly interrupted when a drunken stallion ran onto the field, only to be bucked right off it by Applejack and hauled away by police ponies), Fluttershy found herself desperate to finally so something right. She was the only one who hadn't made any kind of significant play yet, which led her to feel something she rarely felt... frustration.
Once again, Pinkie Pie was trotting circles around Fluttershy as she ran her route. She saw that Rarity was no more open than she was, and that Applejack was in danger of taking a sack. Without even thinking, she called out to her friend in as loud a voice she could muster, "Applejack! Throw it here!"
And Applejack, either out of desperation or the fact that she wasn't thinking straight, sent the ball spiraling to her. It was good throw, but Pinkie Pie moved right into position to easily take it away. It was then that she felt a pair of hooves grab her around the sides and throw her to the ground.
"Cheater!" Pinkie shrieked as she went down.
Fluttershy immediately felt guilty about doing that to her friend, and the noise of disapproval the crowd made let her know that she wasn't going to get away with it. But still, she just wanted to make the catch so badly. Even if it wasn't going to count in the end, she wanted everypony to know that she at least could make the catch.
The pass was going to be right on the money... Fluttershy closed her eyes and opened her mouth wide, expecting to feel it wedge between her teeth at any moment. Only the moment never came. She opened her eyes again just in time to see a pink blur leap right in front of her, snatch the ball away, and land with all four hooves in-bounds before sliding out.
Fluttershy felt a mixture of shock and devastation. Shock that Pinkie Pie had managed to be so quick at getting back up and picking off the pass, and devastation at the knowledge that she may have just blown the game for her team.
"And even after that rather shameful display of interference by the Bearer of Kindness, Fluttershy," the news anchor announced in a mildly disgusted tone. "Bearer of Laughter, Pinkie Pie still manages to make the pick! I think that may very well qualify as the Defensive Play of the Game!"
As Team Rainbow Dash went wild with celebration, Fluttershy dejectedly approached her broken down friends.
Applejack didn't have it in her to yell at the poor pegasus, but she wasn't exactly up for offering words of comfort either. "Land sakes, Shy. If yer gonna commit pass interference, at least make it count," she sighed.
"I... I'm so sorry..." Fluttershy whimpered, a single tear falling from her eye. "I guess this is just another thing I'll never be good at."
For the next drive, Rainbow Dash wanted to accomplish two things: win the game in one play, and humiliate Applejack as best she could. As she set back to pass on the first play, she knew exactly how she was going to do just that...
She waited for Applejack to count to three, then let her come right after her. The farm pony was clearly no longer thinking straight as she blindly threw herself at the pegasus. She ended up getting flipped into the air just like Dash had been earlier, giving her rival an entire open field before her. With Twilight keeping Rarity well out of the way, and Fluttershy proving herself to be no threat whatsoever (so much so, that Pinkie had left her completely unguarded to go keep Applejack blocked), Rainbow Dash took off up the field at a mocking canter. In her mind, she had already won.
She trotted up along the sidelines and took in the adoration of the crowd. She smiled through the ball in her teeth and waved happily with a fore hoof. She noticed Scootaloo right at the front of the crowd, jumping up and down and cheering wildly. To her left and right sat Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, looking rather upset that their sister's had apparantly lost. Dash gave her little fan a quick wink and wave, then turned forward again and closed her eyes as she continued onward, attempting to demonstrate that she could, by this point, trot blindly into the end zone.
Fluttershy stood directly ahead of her, her knee's shaking and her heart racing. She was truly the last bastion of hope her team had now...
Why? Why me?
Then... something awoke in her when she saw the pain of defeat in the eye's of her teammates, and the boastful expression of pride on Rainbow Dash's face as she slowed to a complete trot at about twenty-five yards from scoring. It was similar to what she felt when she stood up to that dragon; anger at seeing those she loved hurt, and a strong sense of justice at standing up against such mean-spirited behavior. Her eyes began to narrow and her teeth began to grit. Rainbow Dash had no right to act this way! Not yet!
"You haven't won yet, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy said in a low, threatening tone. She lowered herself into a crouching position. "You still have to go through me..."
Ha ha! I did it! I scored the winning touchdown! I'm the greatest flyer in all of Equestria and quite possibly the greatest Hoofball player in Equestria! If I was anymore awesome, I'd be-
"EEEEEYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH !"
Rainbow Dash's eyes snapped open just in time to the yellow and pink mass that was Fluttershy slam directly into her frontside. She felt the wind knocked from her lungs as she was lifted at least a few feet off the ground. She was sure she had traveled maybe ten yards back before she finally crashed into the ground, landing hard on her back. Though her vision was a bit blurry, she could feel herself being pinned, and she could make out angrily glaring face of her normally peaceful friend just inches from her own. She could feel warm bursts of Fluttershy's hot breath on her muzzle.
"No... touchdown... for you!" Fluttershy breathed in a terrifying whisper.
Rainbow Dash groaned and licked her lips. She attempted to blink her vision back into focus and-
...
She had lost the ball.
Fluttershy's eyes widened as she noticed this. Looking up, she saw the ball lying plainly on the ground just a few yards ahead of them.
Spike was standing right there on the sideline, raising one hand into the air. "That's a fumble!" He shouted.
With naturally quick pegasus reflexes, Fluttershy scampered off of Rainbow Dash and towards the fumble. Dash attempted to go after her, but the moment she stood up the world spun around her and she tumbled back to the ground, groaning in pain.
Fluttershy snatched the ball up in her mouth and took off up the field. All around her she heard the loud roar of the crowd, as well as the cheering of her two teammates.
"GO, FLUTTERSHY, GO!"
"THIS IS YOUR MOMENT, DARLING! GO FOR IT!"
Fluttershy galloped with all due speed, scanning the field ahead of her for threats. To her left, she noticed Twilight had slipped past Rarity's blocking and was coming right at her side. Fluttershy remembered that she had requested not to be tackled, and that one touch was all it would take to end her run. While Fluttershy wasn't quite as good at math as somepony like Twilight, she could tell that at the speeds they were both going, Twilight would come directly into contact with her in about fifteen yards. She considered speeding up, but feared it was too late for that. Instead, thought of something a bit more devious...
She immediately halted her running, and while her forward momentum carried her a bit further, she had slowed down just enough for a wide-eyed Twilight to dive directly in front of her, missing her entirely.
Fluttershy picked up the pace again, her legs starting to burn with the effort. She was close. So close. But there was one more obstacle that needed to be surmounted; just ahead of her, about five yards from the end zone, crouching in wait with a sinister grin on her face, was the crazy pink pony who had been a thorn in her flank all afternoon.
"Sorry, Flutters!" Pinkie Pie teased. "But the party ends here!"
Her determination greater than her fear, Fluttershy narrowed her eyes and charged forward at full speed. Pinkie raised an eyebrow in confusion, not exactly sure why Fluttershy was barreling right to her when she knew all it took was one touch to end the play. She quickly shook off that confusion and, when she felt the time was right, leaped forward with her hooves out-stretched.
At that moment, Fluttershy pushed off the ground with all her might. Pinkie watched wide-eyed as the pegasus sailed directly over her, at least two pony lengths high. Not once had she flapped her wings. Even if Pinkie had been standing on her hind-legs and reaching up as high as she could, she wouldn't have even been able to graze Fluttershy's belly. She watched her friend in awe until she ended up face-planting right into the ground.
Fluttershy reached her highest point, then lowered her head into a dive. She tucked her head forward to ensure her neck and the ball would be protected. She soon felt herself come into contact with the hard ground and rolled forward, then propped herself back onto her hooves at the end of her roll. Right next to her, she heard the familiar voice of Spike.
"Touchdown!"
The roar of the crowd could be heard all the way in Canterlot. It was the loudest they had cheered all day. Fluttershy spat the ball out and gazed around at her adoring crowd. Normally she would've tried to hide back in her mane, being the modest pony she was. But the realization of what she had just done, and what it meant for her team filled her with pride. With a wide smile on her face, she politely bowed to all sides of the field, muttering "Thank you! Thank you, everypony!" She heard them chanting her name, and way off in the distance, she could've sworn she heard somepony blasting the Supermare Theme.
Up in the hot air balloon, the once perfectly reserved news anchor was absolutely losing his mind. "TOUCHDOWN, FLUTTERSHY! TOUCHDOWN! THAT HAD TO BE THE MOST SENSATIONAL, INCREDIBLE, MOST UTTERLY SPECTACULAR FUMBLE RETURN FOR A TOUCHDOWN IN THE HISTORY OF THIS SPORT! FLUTTERSHY HAD REDEEMED HERSELF! SHE MUST'VE LEAPT AT LEAST TEN FEET IN THE AIR! UNBELIEVABLE!"
Back on the field, Fluttershy was joined by her teammates, who both smothered her in a hug.
"Darling, you are the hero of our team!" Rarity announced grandly.
"Fluttershy," Applejack said, sounding close to tears. "I'm sorry I ever doubted ya. I'm darn proud yer on my team! Hay, I'm darn proud o' both o' ya!"
"Thank you, Applejack," Fluttershy replied humbly. "I'm proud to be on this team too."
As Team Applejack celebrated, Team Rainbow Dash just watched them with stunned expressions. Though they were a bit dis-heartened by this sudden turn of events, they couldn't help but feel a small sense of pride for their shy friend. It was hard to be angry at Fluttershy, and the smile she had on her face could warm even the coldest and bitterest heart. Even Rainbow Dash managed to put her injured pride aside and smile warmly at her fellow pegasus and oldest friend. "Not bad, Shy, not bad."
On the sideline, Scootaloo stared at the scene with her jaw agape. She felt a gentle nudge on her side, and turned to see Apple Bloom smiling at her.
"Ya gotta admit, Scoots; that was pretty cool," she said.
Scootaloo frowned a bit and tried to think of some defense for her idol, but there was just no denying the sheer badassery of Fluttershy. She eventually sighed in defeat. "Yeah, it was kinda cool."
Well, four to four... next touchdown wins... Spike thought to himself as he watched the two teams set up for the next drive. He gave a sad sigh. I'm pretty much screwed either way, aren't I...