-=≡On the Wings of Victory≡=-
Flashes of blue and yellow streaked across the sky. Six pegasi flew in an arrowhead formation, each of them the pinnacle of flying skill. They were the Wonderbolts, the best aerial team in all of Equestria. Bouncing in between them was a white ball with two black lines running perpendicular to each other across the middle. By repeatedly knocking the ball between them, the pegasi carried it down the field of contest.
Their opponents only had three pegasi in the air. Two unicorns and an earth pony were on the grassy ground below. All of them wore uniforms of silver and black. The three pegasi were charging into the Wonderbolts, desperately trying to snatch the ball away. On the ground, the two unicorns were using magic to try the same thing. Waiting for his chance to do something, the earth pony had his hooves dug tightly into the dirt.
It was the final game of the debut tournament of the newest game sweeping across Equestria, Wonderball. The match was between the Cloudsdale Wonderbolts and the Manehattan High Towers. Two teams of six were on a field of trimmed grass. White lines were painted to denote the edge of the play area. On each end were the methods of scoring, either a hoop that extended into the air on a pole or a rectangular goal on the ground.
Surrounding the play area was a massive stadium with rows upon rows of seats. It went so far back that the ponies had to use binoculars to see what was going on. The roar of the crowd was deafening. They stomped their hooves in unison to create a rhythmic boom. Off to the side was a great scoreboard with large numbers visible to all. The Cloudsdale Wonderbolts had a score of ten, and the Manehattan High Towers had a score of eleven. In the middle of the board was a clock. It didn’t circle from one to twelve but from sixty to zero. There were only two hands, the seconds hand and the minute hand.
Current time on the clock: Two minutes.
The Wonderbolts were leading an attack, trying to take back the lead. But as they got closer to the goal, it got harder to keep the ball. Every time they passed, the unicorns on the High Towers made an attempt to take the ball away with telekinesis. The opposing pegasi also had less area to cover.
On one pass, one of the High Tower unicorns was able to influence the ball. She wasn’t powerful enough to grab it completely, but she could slow down the speed slightly. That was all that was needed for her teammate to swoop down and kick the ball towards the waiting earth pony below.
The announcer roared, “What a steal by Rainstorm and Night Flower! Their teamwork sends the ball to the waiting Dust Cloud. He’s scored three points already and assisted in a two-pointer. Against an all pegasi team, he hasn’t had a chance to do much defense, but now it’s back on offence!” The announcers excitement filtered through the crowd, increasing the volume of their cheering.
Dust Cloud, the grey earth pony with dark green hair, galloped down the field with the ball dribbling in front. His powerful hooves trampled the grass on his way towards the Wonderbolts’ goals. Flanking him on either side were the unicorn teammates.
The Wonderbolts were already flying back to defend. Three of them were tied up by the High Tower pegasi, but the other three were free to steal the ball back. Dust Cloud weaved left to right as the Wonderbolts zipped by in streaks of blue. The pegasi made several attempted swipes at the ball while trying to avoid the legs.
The grey pony passed to one of his unicorn teammates as the pressure got too much. The teal unicorn stopped when she got the ball. A light green glow wrapped around the ball. She attempted to pass to her fellow unicorn, but a streak of blue knocked the ball into the sky.
“From behind, Spitfire!” the announcer shouted. “She broke free and took the ball back for the Wonderbolts!”
The fiery-maned pegasus grinned at her teammate that recovered the ball. With the unicorns pulled away from the goal, they were able to blitz in without much interference. Their ability almost made the opposing pegasi look like baby birds learning to fly for the first time.
Swirling through the air with the ball bouncing back and forth, the Wonderbolts dominated the skies. A feint brought them into a clear shot. A stallion pegasus with black hair flipped through the air and performed a somersault kick. With a blaze of fire, the ball passed cleaning through the hoop.
“Two points!” the announcer roared. “Within the final seconds of the game, the Cloudsdale Wonderbolts have taken the lead with a magnificent shot by Soarin!”
In a mad scramble, the Manehatten High Towers tried to get back down the field. The second hand ticked down to the end of the game. Right before time was up, one of the unicorns with attempted to shoot directly to the goal from more than halfway down the field. The shot never made it as one of the Wonderbolts smashed it into the ground.
Simultaneously, a cheer and groan came from the crowd. All of the pegasi landed on the field, finally able to rest their wings again. Sweat dripped off their muzzle and onto the ground. But all of the Wonderbolts raised their hoof in victory. Without enough security, the fans started to pile onto the field.
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Rainbow Dash cheered. Her wings thrust out, causing her rainbow streaked hair to flutter.
She couldn’t feel the full rush of excitement, however. Rainbow Dash was inside Sugarcube Corner watching the game on one of those new inventions known as the television, vision that gets teleported to screens on black boxes.
“Wow, you’re still so excited after seeing this for the seventh time,” Pinkie Pie said.
“Because it’s so awesome! And the Wonderbolts won!” Rainbow Dash held up both hooves in a cheer.
The finals of the tournament had actually been played week before. Rainbow Dash had asked to record it on the other new invention, the digital video recorder, at Sugarcube Corner. Almost all her free time was spent at the bakery now. She didn’t care about the glass cases full of colorful frosted cakes or the bubbly pink decorations, however. All she wanted was to watch the game. As exciting as it was, some of the other customers were getting tired of such loud and boisterous activities. No one had been able to get past rainbow pegasus to put on something else, however.
Rainbow Dash was sitting at the counter. Next to her was a pink pony with curly, even-more-pink hair. A sleek, shiny television was installed onto the wall right in front of them. Underneath that was the black box that could record shows. The Cakes were the first business in Ponyville to incorporate the visual entertainment into their business, and it was working. The rest of shop was full of ponies. The ponies enjoyed the delectable desserts, such as cupcakes with sprinkles, rich cheesecakes, lighter-than-air angel cakes and much more while watching television.
“Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash said authoritatively. “Let’s round up the girls. I want to play.”
“Ooh, yay!” Pinkie Pie squealed. She zipped off before coming back. “Mr. Cake, I’m taking my break.”
Before Mister Cake could even get out any words, Pinkie had ran out again. “Okay, Pinkie,” the yellow stallion with the strong chin said anyway.
It didn’t take long for Pinkie to gather up everyone else, and they all had some free time as well. Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack and Spike followed Pinkie Pie out to an open field. It was a great location with nearly flat ground and some trees nearby for shade. A makeshift boundaries had been made by driving stakes into the ground and then tying a rope in between them. There was also the goals, cobbled together with wood. Each side had both a hoop thrusting to about second-floor height and a goal on the ground. Rainbow Dash was already there and bouncing a ball on her head repeatedly. Unlike an official game ball, theirs was a simple one with cheap stitchings.
When she noticed the others had arrived, she let the ball drop into a cradle made by wings. “There you girls are.”
“I don’t see why you insist on playing this, this sport,” Rarity said. She was a prissy unicorn with a fashionable hairstyle that avoided sweat and dirt as much as possible. “It’s fun to watch, but to play? This sport really only was invented by the television company to sell more televisions. Quite an ingenious plan, though”
“What? Playing it is great!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “The rush of charging towards the goal, the feel of making a clutch play, how can you not enjoy that?”
“Quite easily, actually.”
A purple alicorn stepped forward. Her wings were pressed tight against her body. “Are we dividing into the usual teams?” Twilight asked.
“Yes,” Rainbow Dash answered the alicorn. “We’re on our last best-of-five game. This one decides it all.”
“Y’all going down,” Applejack said, filled with confidence. She pushed up the cowboy hat on to reveal a grin underneath the brim. “We’re gonna to take the win.”
“We’ll just see about that.”
The rainbow pegasus and the farm pony locked eyes, both trying to outstare the other.
“Alright, alright, save it for the game” Spike said. He was the only guy of the group and the only one not a pony. Spike was a small, purple dragon, and he had a whistle in his claws. A sharp blast of noise captured everypony’s attention. “Everyone remember the rules?”
A yellow pegasus meekly raised her hoof. “Um, do I have to spend the entire game time flying?”
“As a bouncer, you are allowed to land.” Spike spoke in an official tone. “Just so everyone knows, let me explain the basic rules again.
“Fluttershy, you and Rainbow Dash are bouncers. That means you two fly around in the air, bouncing the ball to your teammates.
“Twilight and Rarity are snatchers. You can manipulate the ball with magic. And you can’t move while in possession of the ball.
“Lastly, the movers are Applejack and Pinkie Pie. You two dribble the ball along the ground,” Spike finished with each position, sounding like he only read the summarized version of the rules. It wasn’t too important as they weren’t being serious anyway.
“A hoop shot is worth two points while a goal shot is worth one. This will be three on three with a game time of thirty minutes. Everypony got that?”
The group nodded.
“Okay. Take your places!”
Spike ran over to the a highchair at the edge of the field where he had a decent view of the actions. On an attached table was an hourglass.
One team consisted of: Twilight Sparkle, a student of magic and the recent alicorn. Rainbow Dash, the fastest pegasus around. And Pinkie Pie, the most happiriffic pony to wield a cannon.
The other team was: Rarity, who would much rather spend her free time at the spa. Fluttershy, a meek pony that almost flies away from the ball as much as towards it. And Applejack, who has muscles of steel from working on a farm all her life.
Their referee, timekeeper and scorekeeper was Spike, friendly neighborhood dragon.
“Place the ball in the center,” Spike commanded. He curled his claws around the hourglass. “Let’s have a good, clean match. By land, air or mysticism, go for the goal! Play start!” The hourglass was flipped over and slammed down. Its sand started trickling downward.
Applejack was the only pony for her team that rushed forward. She had to compete with Rainbow, Twilight and Pinkie for the ball in the middle of the field. Fluttershy was only meekly flying forward while Rarity hadn’t moved at all. Run and risk the chance for sweating for something so unimportant? Not for the prim unicorn.
With magic, Twilight snatched the ball first. She had to immediately stop as the ball was now in her possession. While waiting for the others to get into position, she used magic to shift the ball around, avoiding Applejack’s attempts at stealing it.
Once Rainbow Dash was down the field, Twilight launched it over to her. Fluttershy tried to ram the ball in midair, but she missed completely as her eyes were closed.
“Come on, Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash said, despite being on the other team. But she received the ball and kicked it down.
Pinkie Pie was the intended target, but she was merrily hopping along in a manner lacking any urgency. The ball rolled along in front of her, being pushed forward a bit with every jump. Charging up from behind was Applejack.
Rainbow Dash could only place a hoof on her head. “Go faster, Pinkie!”
She dashed towards her teammate and left a trail of rainbow in her wake. Right before Applejack reached, Rainbow Dash cut in front and kicked the ball towards the goal.
Rarity, who had spend the entire time so far examining her hooves, turned to face the ball. Her long eyelashes swept through the air as she blinked innocently. “Not so fast.”
A purple glow formed around her horn and the ball. Now that it had been shot, she was free to use magic on it. The speeding shot was gently slowed just enough for her to influence it. Rarity’s eyes narrowed in concentration as her movement magic affected the ball. It curved to the side and bounced off the edge of the goal.
Running around and chasing the ball wasn’t Rarity’s style, but she was no slouch when it came to tending the goals. With her magic, she could reach up to the hoop as well.
Applejack curved by, recovering the ball along the way. Her hooved furiously beat along the ground as she avoided a steal attempt by both Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. Only Twilight stood in her way now. The farm pony focused her eyes and grinned as she charged forward.
There was a brief look of shock on Twilight’s face when she realized she would need to get physical. Her lowered stance signified that she was willing. When the two of them went at each other, Twilight’s wings suddenly burst forth and blocked Applejack’s way.
A sharp whistle blew through the air. “Twilight, illegal use of wings as a snatcher!” Spike called out. “Twilight gets one penalty mark.”
“Sorry, Applejack,” Twilight said. “I got excited and my wings just popped out.”
“It’s no big deal, Twi,” Applejack responded. “It’s better for us now.” A grin spread across her face.
Applejack walked to the space of the foul with the ball. Before resuming play, she glanced back at Rarity and up at Fluttershy. Then her gaze turned towards a point in the sky. Her brain was working furiously during this brief time to think of a strategy. As the primary offense for their team, it was her job to get past three opponents and score. The best way to do that was...
Suddenly charge off while everypony else was wondering what she was looking at. Already, Applejack dashed past Pinkie and Twilight. Only Rainbow Dash reacted fast enough to keep up.
“Cover me, Fluttershy!” Applejack shouted.
“Okay,” Fluttershy said in a bare squeak.
She flew towards Rainbow Dash with wings beating furiously against the air. Her eyes were shut tight. And she kept on flying without aim as the other pegasus had long since moved from that position.
Rainbow Dash was hounding the ball-carrier relentlessly. Her multi-colored mane whipped in the air as she twisted and turned, slicing right through the pass of the ball. Applejack wasn’t making it easy, however. She bounced the ball between her hooves and popped it into the air with a quick flick, narrowly avoiding Rainbow’s steal.
Applejack looked up at her pegasus teammate. “Turn around, Fluttershy!”
The meek pegasus did so, still with eyes shut.
Thinking fast, Applejack headed directly into the flight path. With all that time spent fending off Rainbow Dash, the other two were catching up. Before they could, Applejack jumped. Her sleek, powerful body sailed easily through the air with the ball securely locked between her forelegs.
Fluttershy nearly crashed into her teammate. She zoomed by below the leaping Applejack. The tip of her wings actually brushed against the farm pony’s stomach. She also inadvertently blocked the path of Twilight and Pinkie just long enough for Applejack to get some distance again.
The opposing team’s goal rushed up to greet Applejack, but she also knew Rainbow Dash was right behind her.
Applejack lowered her head and pumped her legs even faster. As she neared the goal, she let the ball get ahead just a bit as she swung her body around. The muscles of her hind leg tensed up. It was like water building up against a barrier, just waiting for enough strength to break through. Gushing and charging, the walls were beginning to crack. It was small at first, but then, the entire force exploded out.
Applejack extended both legs and shot the ball toward the goal. The grass parted to the side from the power of the shot.
Rainbow Dash made a desperate dive only to receive a face full of dirt. A gouge was left in the ground from how fast she was flying.
“One point to Team Rarity!” Spike called out.
Fluttershy staggered to her hooves after flying around blind. Nerve-wrecking sweat dripped off her muzzle. She had a shaky grin and let out a small, “Yay.”
“Hey Spike!” Applejack thrust a leg towards the referee. “Why is it Team Rarity?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Rarity said from across the field. “I’m the prettiest, so my face is on the team.”
“We don’t even have any uniforms!”
There wasn’t enough time to continuing arguing as play resumed with Twilight magicking the ball over to Pinkie Pie. It was their turn to counterattack.
Half an hour seemed to pass by too fast. The game ended with a last push by Team Rarity to score a goal, but with only one main attacker, they just couldn’t get enough points. Everypony was hunched over and breathing hard at the final whistle. Spike ran over with a case of cool, refreshing apple juice on his back.
“Thank you kindly,” Applejack managed to say before she took a bottle in her mouth and tilted back.
Only Rainbow Dash was still energetically moving. She almost slid along the ground with repeated body thrusts and arm flexes. “Oh yeah! We won! Go Team Twilight!”
“It was really close, though,” Twilight pointed out. “Three to two.”
“Who cares? That was an awesome final goal Pinkie!”
After spitting the now empty bottle out, Applejack said, “We’re doing another best of five!”
Rainbow Dash leaned in with a smug grin. “You’re-” The pegasus cut herself off. Her eyes opened wide. “Oh, oh, oh!” It was almost possible to hear the gears turning furiously in her mind. As her eyes went wider, a smile appeared to go along with it. “We should totally do it.”
“Do what, Rainbow?” Applejack asked with one eye narrowed suspiciously.
Rainbow Dash hovered into the air. Her legs were spread wide, and her wings were stretched out to their full magnificence. “We’re good enough. Let’s make an official team!”