//------------------------------// // Chapter 33 Wanna Play Footie? // Story: The Slow Mo Stallions // by gamershot //------------------------------// Twilight was glaring at Gavin, fuming with anger. Her eyes were narrowed and filled with fire as her gaze bore into the pegasus and tore into his very soul. Gavin was staring back at her, eyebrows high and tail between his legs before he finally said something. "Twilight..." he squeaked, his strong London accent loud and clear. Twilight looked away from him and breathed deeply, calming herself down after her little outburst. "Oh, sorry Gavin, sorry everypony," she croaked, " I just need to know what happened, what's going on now and why does my horn hurts really badly?" she asked. Applejack jumped up on to Twilight's bed and sat next to her. She put her foreleg around Twilight's neck and pulled the distressed unicorn in for a hug. "There, there Twi," she soothed, "everything’s just fine, don't you worry Sugarcube." Twilight sighed and hugged Applejack back; felling glad that she still had the comfort of her friends. Applejack let go and stood back up next to Gavin and Dan. Twilight looked around at her friends, surrounding her. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were both sat up as well. "So, Gavin, what did happen anyway?" she asked calmly with a slight smile. Before the tan pegasus could open his mouth to respond, Pinkie Pie had jumped in front of him and started explaining for him. "OH! I got it! There's a device called an Xbox which is a portal which lets you go to different worlds like the Minecraft one and in there there are big scary monsters, like creepers and they explode when you get near them but when they get hit by lightning they get supercharged and make an ever biggerer explosion like BOOM KKKHHHHFFFFSSSS RAWWR!" yelled the excitable pony, her face turning blue. Pinkie stepped back and took a huge breath; her natural pink colour flooding her face once again. Twilight blinked slowly, getting her thoughts together; she'd become very good at understanding Pinkie over the time she'd known her. "Okay..." mumbled the unicorn, looking back to Gavin, "I don't believe it." she said plainly. Gavin raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "What?" he asked. "I don't believe that it's a portal, and I don't believe that these monsters are real." she replied simply. The two English-stallions looked to each other and sighed, they kind of knew that Twilight would figure it out. "We'll explain it to you later Twi." mumbled Gavin. "Yeah, maybe when we’re more alone." added Dan. Twilight nodded at them and smiled slightly, before plopping her head back onto the pillow and falling to sleep near instantaneously. "Okay then?" said Gavin quietly. The room fell silent for a few seconds, until Fluttershy spoke up. "I'm kinda tired too." she said quietly, letting out an adorable yawn. "Yeah, I think I gotta go to sleep too." admitted Rainbow Dash (as much as she didn't want to). Rarity nodded along with the others, before trotting over to Twilight and giving her a hug good bye, "Goodbye Twilight, we'll come back tomorrow." Twilight kept sleeping as Rarity turned around to look at the others. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had already started drifting off. After the day’s events, they could all do with a rest. Applejack yawned and rubbed her eyes, some of her coat still charred and covered in ash. None of them had had the chance to wash themselves properly after the explosion. The only clean one was Gavin who seemed (unsurprisingly) resistant to the explosion. "Look, Ah know that it's still early," she said before yawning again, "but ah think we need t' go to bed nice 'n early." she added. "Yeah, I'm about ready to hit the sack." agreed Dan. "You all need a wash too." snickered Gavin, trotting past them and towards the door. The others joined the pegasus in trotting down the sterile halls; all relieved that the stressful day was over. They could now relax. Dan and Applejack caught up to Gavin, Rarity and Pinkie not far behind them. "God, it's been a mental day." said Gavin, looking at the friends to his side. "Yeah, absolutely bonkers." agreed Dan with a slight chuckle. "Ah just can't wait to get 'n the shower and calm down." added the farm pony with a smile. They trotted on and chatted lightly, the stallions deciding to explain the rules of football to the mare. By the time they looked forward and saw the great spread of trees of Sweet Apple Acres ahead of them, they hadn't even realized that Pinkie and Rarity had left. "Shucks, Ah didn't realize that we'd been walkin' fer that long." chuckled Applejack, breathing in the sweet smell of apples. "Yeah," agreed Dan, "hey we should have a footie match in the field!" he suggested excitedly. "Oh, that'd be top!" agreed Gavin. Applejack shook her head playfully before picking up the pace. "Really?" she asked, raising a brow. "Yeah!" replied the unicorn, "I'm sure you'd be great with that apple kicking skill of yours" "Ya think?" she asked, blushing slightly, "but there're only three of us" "We can play every man for himself" suggested Gavin with a smug smile. Eventually Applejack sighed and gave in, after they'd begged, pleaded, and implored her for a few minutes. "Alright, but it better be fun like y' said." she sighed. The stallions cheered before hoof bumping behind the farm ponies back. "But no magic n' no flyin'." she said, not wanting the stallions to have an unfair advantage. "Absolutely." agreed Gavin politely. When they reached the barn, the two stallions were giddy and giggling, excited to play their game. Gavin was fed up of the disregard for real football in America and hadn't played the game in a while. "Alright, I have a ball in the barn." said the farm pony, opening the doors and trotting inside. She emerged a few seconds later, struggling to kick a ball out with her hoof. "Now we just need a big enough field." mumbled Dan, looking around and seeing nothing but trees. Applejack had already set off galloping away when she turned around and shouted to them. "Way ahead of ya!" she yelled happily, "Follow me!" Gavin and Dan galloped after her happily, laughing madly as they chased her. She'd resorted to holding the ball in her mouth; it was still hard, but easier than kicking. She led the two eager stallions to a large empty field, soft, short grass swaying slightly in the wind. She stopped and turned around to look at Gavin and Dan for a second before dropping the ball to her hooves. She smiled cheekily, Gavin and Dan sporting grins that looked like they'd crack their faces. Each of the ponies turned around and walked about twenty large paces out. They then made a long ditch in the ground each with their hooves, the soft ground allowing it to be moved easily. They then looked at each other to check that they were in line. Once they were satisfied with the make shift goals, they trotted into the centre, determined (or in the case of Gavin, goofy) expressions on their faces. "Alright, I think Ray would want me to say this before we start," said Gavin before he cleared his throat, "LLLLLLLLLET'S PLAY!"