//------------------------------// // Fifth Play, Finishing Tryouts // Story: Wonderball // by ff0000 //------------------------------// -=≡Fifth Play, Finishing Tryouts≡=- “Hold on just one minute there!” a strong voice cut through the crowd. It was powerful enough to physically part them as the ponies looked back to who had just arrived. For a brief moment, the rays of the sun only revealed a shadowed mare on the hill. But the pony charged down, kicking up a cloud of dust along the way. A distinct, wide-brimmed hat was on her head. The crowd let out excited murmurings when they saw who had shown up. Jumping off from the pony’s back was another, smaller pony. “Hey, y’all. Hope we aren’t too late,” the smaller pony said with her large bow bouncing from her vigor. “Apple Bloom!” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo said at the same time. The three Cutie Mark Crusaders ran together and bumped hooves. “And Applejack!” Rainbow said. She immediately rushed towards the farm pony, stopping only when the heat of her breath could be felt by the other. “You’re late.” Applejack at an apologetic grin as she leaned back. “I can’t be late if I was never guaranteed to come in the first place.” “And? Did you come here just to tell me you can’t make the team?” Rainbow Dash said harshly. “Actually, Rainbow, I didn’t come at the start because I wanted to finish up my chores for the day quickly. That way, I can concentrate on the trials. Now, am I eligible or not?” Applejack thrust her hoof into the pegasus’s chest. “You’re family is okay with you being here?” “Yup. I’ve talked it over with my family, and they all think I should do it,” Applejack drawled, more than usual. Her head was tilted down to hide a tinge of red. “They’ll find a way to manage.” She let out a chuckle. Not once did her family try to stop her from trying out for the team. Knowing it was something she wanted to try, they encouraged her to come, especially Apple Bloom. “Never you mind. We’ve got it all worked out.” There was no need to even question any more. Rainbow Dash gladly exclaimed, “You’re in.” “Excellent, now fill this out.” Spike thrust a form and pen towards Applejack. Using her mouth, she scribbled down something so fast, it was difficult to read. None of the ponies in charge were about to complain, however. Spike happily accept the form and placed it with the other movers. Rainbow Dash flew around with renewed vigor. When she spoke again, her voice was fierce. “Alright, everypony. I’m going to demonstrate the mover’s course as well. This will test your ball handling and running ability.” She bounced and dribbled one of the rough balls around to the starting point. It was the most straightforward of all the courses. Simply make it to the end while passing through all of the obstacles. It started off with several posts to swerve through. Following that were raised beams that ponies would have to step over while driving the ball underneath. The final task was a race around the field. At Spikes whistle, Rainbow Dash barreled down the course, proving that she would make an excellent mover as well. Her hoofwork was fully capable of performing quick turns and swerves while mostly maintaining control of the ball. At times, her cuts were too sharp and ball flew out of control. It was cheating a bit, but she flew out to quickly recover the ball as this was only for demonstration purposes only. After leaving a trail of dust all around the field, Rainbow Dash returned to the start line with her wings drooping near the ground. “There. There,” she tried to say while panting. “It’s. Easy. Right?” Applejack was the first one over, and she wore a smug look. “That was fine and all, Rainbow, but why don’t you watch how a real mover does this?” “Psh.” Rainbow Dash stomped on the ball to pop it up. A huge grin was on her face when she kicked it over. “Be my guest.” Applejack stopped the ball by rearing up and using her chest. Before starting, she made sure her hat was sitting firmly atop her head. The ball was pressed tight against the ground as she crouched down, preparing to burst out into a sprint. Spike raised a claw towards the sky. “Ready, Applejack? Set. Go!” He pointed down the track. The farm pony nearly exploded off the starting line with her hind legs muscles rippling from effort. A huge cloud of dust was left far behind as she galloped forward. Her ponytail whipped in the air, but the hat somehow remained glued on her head. Applejack couldn’t quite run at full speed through the posts while keeping control of the ball, but she certainly had a better time than Rainbow Dash. During turns, she leaned so sharply that her body nearly touched the ground, but forward momentum kept her going strong. The next part of the course was almost too easy for Applejack. She almost looked like a rocking horse going over the raised bars. It was done all in one smooth motion while keeping control of the ball. And that hat was still stuck on her head, steady as a rock. Then came the final part of the course. Applejack smirked seeing that it was just a long run around the field. Time to really put the spurs to ot. Thinking it over, spurs would be unpleasant. Better just to run faster. Lowering her head, Applejack stormed around the field. Loose grass chased after her, but all the them petered out quickly. Swinging into the final turn, she was now going for the final straightaway. Applejack blew past the finish line with a time that set the bar well above the what anypony could hope to reach. Starting off from the high point, the following movers all felt less than impressive. Their times were more than double what Applejack did, and they had much more mistakes with some losing the ball to somewhere off the field completely. One after another, all Rainbow Dash could do was put her hoof on her face. The sole medium point was a grape-colored mare with a mane of deep burgundy. She wasn’t fantastic, but her ball handling was pretty good. “Pinkie, you’re up,” Rainbow Dash said, trying to remain upbeat. “Please have less than ten mistakes.” “Not to worry, Rainbow Dash,” Pinkie said with a bright smile. And the party-going pony kept her word. With her bouncing method of movement, she made it past the first two obstacles almost as if they weren’t there. Hopping from side to side, she passed by the posts, and the raised bars might as well have not been there. Unfortunately, Pinkie kept up the slow, bouncing pace while humming happily, even when going around the field. She certainly had no issues keeping the ball under control, however. “How was that?” Pinkie asked as she bounced through the finish line. Rainbow Dash rubbed her head. “That was fine, I guess. Certainly better than most of these other movers. It would be great if we could get Big McIntosh as well.” Applejack gave the pegasus a most incredulously dry stare. “Are you trying to close down Sweet Apple Acres?” “Nevermind,” Rainbow Dash rescinded. The day was winding down by the time everypony had finished their trials. For such a short notice, a lot of the townsponies had arrived. Rainbow Dash, Twilight and Spike convened in front of the group. “Thanks for coming everyone,” Rainbow Dash called out. “You all gave it your best shot, but we only need ten of you. We’ll be basing our selections on how well you performed here today and how much potential we think you have. Uh, I’ll figure out some way to announce it tomorrow, so wait until then.” “How about the town billboard?” Twilight said with a raised hoof. “We could put up the team roster there.” “Good idea. Alright, Twilight and I are going to talk over who should be on the team now. You can all go home.” When their friends didn’t leave, Rainbow Dash flapped her wings, as if that would blow them away. “You girls, too.” “Why do we have to leave?” Pinkie Pie asked. “Because Twilight wants to keep this official and stuff. That means we can’t have you here while we do any of the decision making,” Rainbow Dash said as if she was letting out one long sigh. Rarity nodded. “I think that’s wise.” Sweetie Belle was swaying excitedly next to her sister. “I’m sure you made the team, Rarity.” “Applejack, too!” Apple Bloom called out. Scootaloo was grinning broadly. “Rainbow Dash is already on the team and is the captain as well, so all is awesome.” Her eyes sparkled when she spoke of her idol. The small pegasus wanted to get uncomfortably closer, but that might be seen as weird as they weren’t related in any way. “Okay, okay,” Rainbow Dash said. “Clear out so we can get to work.” This time, the wing flap worked. Her friends cleared away like birds, leaving only a pegasus, an alicorn and a dragon in the large field. Night was approaching, and they still had a lot of things to do. Now that tryouts were over, the three obstacle courses were just a sprawling mess that needed to be cleaned up. But Rainbow Dash was more eager to start on the team selections. “Come on, Twilight, Spike!” she called out from the manager’s tent. “Let’s do this.” Certain choices were easy, but they were offset by some really difficult ones. For hours, Twilight, Rainbow and Spike pored over all of the notes. To the pegasus, this was exciting. In her mind, she imagined how each of them played and how they would fit onto the team. She pushed forward, reading and comparing everypony intently. Sweat rolled down her furrowed brows, and her tongue was stuck out thoughtfully. Spike had long since left the tough decision up to the captain and vice-captain of the team. After a long day of watching other ponies do such vigorous physical activity, the young dragon was beat. He had snuggled up among some of the sandbags with tail curled around his body. An empty sack had to do for his blanket. Rainbow Dash slapped down the pile of evaluation. “So you agree with my choices for snatchers and bouncers?” “Of course,” Twilight said. “But about the movers.” Rainbow rubbed her hoof against her mouth. “We only have two solid candidates. Everypony else could run, but their ball handling skills were really bad.” “Well, if you want to, we can look for ponies outside of ponyville. Nothing in the rules says all team members need to come from the place the team is founded,” Twilight pointed out. Twilight had a bright expression, almost like what a teacher would show to students. “We don’t need to fill up every slot. To satisfy the EWE, a team only needs the minimum six members. We are free to add more to the team later.” “I suppose. But we don’t know anypony to call,” Rainbow Dash mumbled thoughtfully. “And taking only two movers is just asking for trouble if one of them gets injured or tired. We already only have three snatchers.” Giving one last glance through the applications, her eyes stopped again on a certain one that actually wasn’t too bad. With some work, that pony could be good. “How about this one for our last mover?” Twilight nodded. “Yes, I think she’ll do.” “Okay!” Rainbow Dash was about to make a proclamation before someone called out, “Excuse me, Rainbow Dash?” It was a rather boyish mare’s voice. “Are you still here?” “Yeah?” the team captain responded. A grey pegasus with yellow hair was curiously looking in through the flaps of the tent. Her initial confused expression was replaced by a smile when she saw that the captain and vice-captain were still here. She was looking at them, probably. Her yellow eyes seemed to be pointing in different directions. “Derpy? What is it?” Rainbow Dash asked. “I put down the wrong name on my form,” Derpy said. Twilight used magic to pull out all of the bouncer forms. All of the sheets were lined up in the middle of the air. One was pulled in closer. “It says Derpy Hooves right here. Everything else looks okay as well. What’s wrong?” “My name is Ditzy Doo,” Derpy said sadly. “My friends just call me Derpy Hooves for short, but I need to use my for the form, right?” “Wait, your name is Ditzy Doo?” Twilight said. Rainbow Dash pointed out, “Yeah. I did call her that when we were wrapping up winter that one time. Derpy is just our short name for her.” “Uh.” Twilight tilted her head. “If you count the number of syllables, Derpy Hooves is exactly as long as Ditzy Doo. If you count the number of letters Derpy Hooves is actually longer.” Both pegasi looked at Twilight as if she had just shattered their entire world perception. Their eyes went glassy and wide, and their jaws were hanging open. Twilight just shook her head as she rolled up all the forms with magic. A hard thwack against the table brought the two pegasi back from their thoughts. “Okay, Ditzy. Here’s the your form.” She set the rest of the forms down in two folders. One was definitely thinner than the other. “Oh, you can call me Derpy, Twilight. Everypony else does.” Neither the captain or the vice-captain wanted to say it, but they had already decided that the accident-prone pegasus wasn’t going to be on the team. Both of them politely smiled as Derpy started to change her information. “Anyway,” Rainbow Dash said to Twilight, “we should start cleaning up the field of stuff we don’t need for practice.” “Where should I put the form once I’m done?” Derpy called after them. “Oh, just that folder on the table.” Twilight motioned over there with her hoof. After Derpy had finished modifying the name, she went to put it into the folder only to find that there were two of them. “Uh.” Her cheeks puffed out as she tried to figure out which one to use. Both Rainbow Dash and Twilight were busy outside. Not wanting to disturb them, she just put her form in the thinner folder, thinking it was better to balance them out.