//------------------------------// // Tryout // Story: Amor Fati // by BRyeMC //------------------------------// The next morning, Clyde jolted awake by a loud alarm coming from his phone in his pocket. He quickly dug in his pocket, grabbed his phone, and turned it to silence. He sighed and looked over at his couch. Thinking Rarity was still sleeping, he instead saw her sitting there with her phone. The blanket he laid on her during the past night was neatly folded up beside her. She smiled as he looked at her. “Good morning, Clyde.” “Morning,” he replied. “Did you sleep well? I’m sorry I sort of kidnapped you, but I didn’t want to wake you up.” Rarity laughed. “It’s fine. I’m glad you let me sleep and took me to a safe place is all that I’m concerned about. When I woke up, I was quite confused where I was, but I once I saw you sleeping over there, I wasn’t worried.” She looked around the room and back to the couch she was sitting on. After rubbing her hand over the seats she looked up at him. “Your couch is simply wonderful. It's very comfortable.” “Yeah, I sleep on there all the time.” Clyde stood up and looked out the window in his living room. It was cloudy, but the sun was shining through a small gap in the clouds. He checked his phone and saw it was a quarter to noon. “It’s almost noon?” “Yeah, I’ve been up for two hours now,” said Rarity looking outside the window. “Two hours!” “Well, I was going to leave and walk back to my house while you were sleeping, but that would have been extremely rude of me, so I just sat here, watching TV and looking at my social media account.” Rarity glanced back at Clyde with a smirk. “You still haven’t uploaded a profile picture!” Clyde rubbed his head to avoid talking about the profile picture again. “You could have woken me up.” “Clyde, that would have been rude too. You didn’t wake me up last night, so why would I do it to you?” Clyde gave her a blank stare and nodded. She was right. Rarity got up from the couch and walked over to the door. “I hate to ask, but could you be a gentleman and take me home in your car? Some client ordered a dress for a Halloween party and I need to work on it today.” Clyde nodded and ran towards the door. He grabbed the keys off the hook near the door and opened the door to his house and his passenger side car door for Rarity. He drove her home and like last time, they both waited for the song on the radio to stop playing before any farewells were given. “Here you are again,” said Clyde turning the volume knob off. “Thank you!” said Rarity with a smile and lit up eyes. “I think last night was more wonderful than our date at the café.” “You didn’t even hesitate on that one,” said Clyde with a laugh. Rarity gave a quick smile before darting out of the car. She gave a wave and Clyde sped off back to his home where he would listen to music for the rest of the day, taking his mind off tomorrow’s tryout. * * * * * ~ ~ ~ Monday morning quickly came and Rarity complained when her alarm went off, ending her relaxing and lovely sleep. She spent the afternoon the day before working on a client’s dress for Halloween. She hated leaving dresses unfinished if they were close to completion, so she didn’t go to bed until one in the morning. She stumbled out of bed and ran to the bathroom to beat her sister, Sweetie Belle, there so she could get ready for school. Luckily for her, Sweetie Belle wasn’t up yet, so there was no fight for the bathroom that day. Most mornings were like this for the two sisters, as Rarity always wanted to make sure she had the most time possible beautifying herself. Since meeting Clyde, she always made sure she looked extra pretty as possible for him, even though she only saw him maybe three times a day, and that was if she was lucky. After getting a shower and getting dressed, Rarity snuck into the bathroom again to put on her light blue eye shadow along with her mascara and eye liner. After looking in the mirror and batting her eyelashes, a barrage of knocks were heard from outside the bathroom door. “Rarity! Open up! We are going to be late for school!” “Just one moment, Sweetie Belle! You know how perfect I need to look!” “Just get out and put on your makeup in your room!” yelled back Sweetie Belle. Rarity laughed. “I simply can’t do that. My mirror in my room isn’t magnified enough.” “Argh!” moaned Sweetie Belle from outside the door, “this is why I can’t stand doing this every morning!” “I love you too!” trilled Rarity. After another minute of applying her mascara, Rarity walked out of the bathroom and headed downstairs. Sweetie Belle gave her a dirty look before running inside and slamming the door to quickly shower. Once in the kitchen, Rarity sat down at the table and texted Clyde wishing him good luck on his tryout today. She watched him send a “thanks” and thought about the tryout. She knew nothing about sports, other than her father’s prestigious and illustrious football career at Canterlot High, but was very supportive of Clyde’s choice to tryout for the team. She knew her friend Rainbow Dash was also trying out for the girls’ team today as well which made her start thinking of something. “Rarity, I’m ready to leave,” said Sweetie Belle walking into the kitchen. She was wearing her normal outfit of a yellow dress with a dark pink jacket. Rarity shook her head to break the daze. “What? Oh, very well. We will leave at once.” Sweetie Belle looked at her sister strangely with her green eyes and tilted up her head. “Is there something I should know about?” Rarity looked away from her. “Whatever are you talking about?” “Is it a boy?” “Sweetie Belle!” yelled Rarity, showing a sign of blushed cheeks, “that’s quite an accusation!” Sweetie Belle grinned. “It is isn’t it!” “Sweetie Belle!!!” yelled Rarity again in a louder tone. “Fine, you’re walking to school.” She stormed out of the kitchen and walked into the main room of her boutique. after walking by some dresses and other outfits that were on a clothes rack, she took a seat at one of the cushioned chairs near a mirror to put on her boots. After quickly waving her feet around after the boots were on, Sweetie Belle ran up to her. “No! I’m sorry! Scootaloo already made Apple Bloom and me late this month so I can’t be late again!” “I only jest, Sweetie Belle,” said Rarity with a sigh. “You know I would never force my dear little sister to walk to school. It’s simply too far away. All I ask is to not invade or question my personal life.” “Fine,” said Sweetie Belle, “all I wanted to know who it was.” “You will in time,” said Rarity with a smile. She got up and walked over to the door where her keys were hanging from a small hook. “But I hate waiting!” squealed Sweetie Belle, “just tell me! I need to know these things!” “Why? What for?” “Because I’m your little sister who is annoying to ward off boys!” said Sweetie Belle with a smirk. “It’s basically common sense in the “Sibling Rulebook.” Rarity laughed. “I don’t think C–er, I mean–he would mind you.” Sweetie Belle perked her head up and gave an evil smile. “What was that?” “N-Nothing,” said Rarity turning away from her. Sweetie Belle could see the growing shade of red on her face. “C-Can we just leave now? We are going to be late, and we sure don’t want that, haha.” Sweetie Belle watched as her sister nervously looked at her. After a few more seconds of watching her get worked up, Sweetie Belle laughed. “Yeah, let’s get out of here. I have to search for this mysterious guy today.” She walked out of the boutique laughing while Rarity rolled her eyes and locked up the building. Upon arriving at school, Sweetie Belle ran off to find her friends as Rarity slowly, yet elegantly, walked through the hallways. Instead of heading to her homeroom, she walked down one last hallway before seeing Rainbow Dash at her locker. “Oh hey, Rares,” said Rainbow Dash throwing some books into the small and compact locker. “How was your weekend?” “My weekend?” asked Rarity putting a hand on her chest, “it was lovely. I would even go as far as saying simply divine.” “Awesome,” noted Rainbow Dash before rummaging through her backpack again to throw another book in her locker. After a few moments, she stopped and stared at Rarity who was still looking at her. “Uh, is there something I can do for you?” “Hmm? Oh yes, there is actually.” Rarity put her back to the lockers and leaned against them. She stared at the students walking by and noted all the poor fashion choices. “You are trying out for the basketball team today, yes?” “Trying out?” said Rainbow Dash in disbelief at her friend’s appreciation towards her, “I’ve been the girls’ team captain for the past two years! All I need to do is show up.” Rarity looked over at her with a smile. “Then why don’t you try out for the boys’ team?” “Wait, what?” asked an extremely confused Rainbow Dash. “If you make the girls’ team every year without any challenge, why don’t you play for the boys’ team? With your skills, I’m sure you can be one of their best players still.” Rainbow Dash put her hand to her chin and began tapping her pointer finger on her lips. After a series of taps and mental thinking, she looked at Rarity. “You’re right! Not only will I be famous for being on a boys’ team, but that may also help me get into any college I want! I can easily join the Wonderbolts Academy then!” She slammed her locker door and grinned at Rarity. “Thanks Rares!” As she turned to leave, she gave Rarity one last strange look. “What’s the matter? Do I actually have something on me this time?” asked Rarity, frantically patting her outfit down with her hands. “No, you’re good,” stated Rainbow Dash. “You’re not telling me to join the boys’ team because of this Clyde dude, or are you?” Rarity turned away and with a raised hand, flipped the end of her hair. “I have no idea what you’re talking about...” “Rares, it’s fine,” laughed Rainbow Dash. She walked up and placed her arm around her friend. “I don’t know what you’re planning, but I’ll go along with it. This might be the first time I’ve seen you get really interested in someone before. Besides, now I can finally see who this guy is.” The bell rang and Rainbow Dash quickly left, leaving Rarity to hurry to her class. As she walked through the noisy and crowded hallways, see could only smile after passing Clyde in the hallways. * * * * * When Clyde passed Rarity in the hallways, he smiled at her smile and continued walking towards his math class. Now that he had a “good luck” text from her and a smile, he felt no nervousness in his entire body. He actually wished he could go to the gym now and tryout, but he had to wait until after school. Luckily for him, school that day flew by due to the constant flow of work. At 4pm, Clyde entered the gymnasium and saw Tyrone and other boys standing around. Tyrone quickly ran up to him once seeing his entrance. “Well, here we are C,” said Tyrone looking at the hoop across the gym again with his hands on his hip. He nodded a few times and smacked Clyde on the back. “You ready for this?” “More ready than I’ll ever be,” responded Clyde. He felt fine all day, but as soon as he entered the gym, anxiety and doubt began to impact his mind. Clyde looked at the other boys standing around and took notice who was there. The only two that stood out to him was Thunderlane and the bulky and notorious Bulk Biceps. Everyone else was unfamiliar to him. Clyde was surprised that Big McIntosh wasn’t there as he thought he was really good when he played against him in gym that day he met Rarity. He also wondered why his two friends Rivs and Sticky weren't there, as all they do is talk about basketball. Clyde looked at each boy and saw they were all were different sized and unique in shape of body, making it easier and harder to tryout against. Clyde continued his analysis until Tyrone ran up beside him. “Yo, which one of you dudes are my backup for when I need that quick rest?” The boys ignored him and Tyrone laughed. He walked up to the closest boy near him. “Hey, do you want to be my backup?” “Uh, do you want me to?” asked the boy. Tyrone laughed and patted him on the back. “I like your attitude dawg, say what’s your name?” “Swift Justice,” said the boy proudly in an almost heroic pose. “Swift, huh? So are you fast or something?” “Maybe, I never really played basketball before,” said Swift sheepishly. “My name has nothing to do with sports.” Tyrone looked at him and stroked his chin. “Then why are you trying to play basketball, dawg?” “Playing any sport during school looks really good on a transcript!” Swift leaned in closer and looked around the room, stopping at Tyrone on the second glance. “Also because it might help me pick up a chick,” he whispered. Tyrone stared at him before giving a giant smile and laughing. “My dawg! You are the realest dude I know!” Tyrone wrapped an arm around Swift and kept laughing. “You stick with me and I’ll teach you the ways to ball and pick up chicks, but first, we have a team to make.” Tyrone and Swift exchanged a ‘Bro Shake’ and walked away from each other. As Tyrone walked up to Clyde, the locker room door burst open and there stood Coach Iron Will. He slowly advanced towards the group as they either gulped in fear, or in Tyrone’s case, began laughing. He was wearing a large hoodie that was at least two sizes too big and large sweatpants that touched the floor of the gymnasium. In his large hands, he holding a clipboard with a handful of papers attached to it. He looked at each boy sternly. “Hello ladies,” said Coach Iron Will, “are you ready to make Iron Will’s basketball team?” “Hold up! I’m here!” Iron Will and the group all turned towards the voice near the doors of the gym. They gasped as they saw Rainbow Dash standing in the doorway. She began walking over to them with a grin on her face. “What are you doing here Miss Dash?” asked Iron Will in his normal booming voice, “the girls’ team tryouts are tomorrow.” “I know that,” said Rainbow Dash who stood between Thunderlane and some sophomore boy. “The thing is, the girls’ team can still do good without me. This team needs my help.” “We don’t even know if we are good yet,” said the boy beside her sullenly. Rainbow Dash shot a glance at him and laughed. “That’s why I’m here now to make sure we are good!” She looked at the boys and finally to Iron Will. “Now, let's go already, I’m ready to play!” “Wait, girl,” said Tyrone who stepped out of line and stared at Rainbow Dash. “You can’t just come in here and say you are good. I need to see some proof now.” “Are you serious?” Tyrone nodded and ran up to the basketball rack near the line. He grabbed two and bounced one to Rainbow Dash. “This won’t take long, Coach. I just need to see with my own two eyes if this girl can ball on our level.” Iron Will laughed and shrugged, walking to the line with the other boy. Rainbow Dash took the basketball and laughed. “Fine. Challenge accepted.” She dribbled the ball out to one of the hoops Tyrone was waiting at. “What do you want me to do?” Tyrone led her to the baseline of the court and stared at the far basket. “Sprint to the other end, you know, a fast break,” he said before zooming off, bouncing the ball down the court as he ran by. In a few seconds, Tyrone ran into the paint and with one hand, floated the ball up and into the net. The line of boys began clapping until Iron Will glanced at them to stop. Tyrone waved at Rainbow Dash which made her laugh. She threw her ball high into the air to wipe her hands on her chest. Once the ball made it back to the floor, she rushed forward towards Tyrone and the basket. As she got closer, she moved to the left of the hoop and went under it before throwing the ball off the backboard and going in. The boys in line again applauded her blazing speed and reverse layup. Iron Will this time didn’t yell at them, but nodded at her skills. Tyrone led Rainbow Dash this time to the paint and threw his ball back towards Iron Will and the others. “Alright girl, let’s do two simple one on ones.” Rainbow Dash nodded and bounced her ball to him. As he touched the ball, Tyrone began doing some dribble moves to try and go past her. Rainbow Dash didn’t fall for any of his tricks and kept tight defense on him most of the time. The two battled it out for twenty seconds before Tyrone did a step back and drained a jumper. Tyrone laughed and handed her the ball. Before even speaking a single word, she faked a crossover to turn him around so she had a small window to drive past him and make a layup. The line of boys cheered again. Iron Will laughed and nodded again. Rainbow Dash smirked as she walked up to Tyrone. “I’m letting you win,” said Tyrone. “Sure you are,” agreed Rainbow Dash sarcastically. “Alright, one last challenge, post moves.” He took the ball and turned his back towards the hoop. Rainbow Dash responded by placing her right arm against his back and bent her knees. Tyrone bumped his way into the paint and faked going right only to do a post fade. For Rainbow Dash’s turn, she did the same procedure, but finished with an up and under at the rim. “So, am I a baller like you now?” asked Rainbow Dash confidently. “You did aight, girl,” replied Tyrone. “I can ball with you. Although, up and unders are moves for rookies.” “I’m smaller than you!” yelled Rainbow Dash. “Chill girl, I know that,” said Tyrone looking at Iron Will, “let’s just see who is the top player after we make the team.” “Deal,” laughed Rainbow Dash. The two of them quickly ran back into line before Iron Will looked up from his clipboard. “Alright ladies”-he stopped and looked at Rainbow Dash-”and lady, Iron Will is now beginning the school basketball team tryout! Lucky for you, Iron Will has already made a great decision!” “A decision?” asked a confused Thunderlane, “does that mean we don’t have to tryout now?” “Haha, NO!” yelled Iron Will. “All of you are still trying out, except you don’t have to worry about not making the team. You are all on the team since there’s only a dozen of you here and that’s the required amount a team needs to play.” The line looked at each other and shrugged. “So, Coach,” began Tyrone, “why are we here wasting this time then? Let’s start ballin’!” “Not so fast! Iron Will is not letting you all go skip around thinking I went easy on you! You are still trying out, but for the starting lineup!” The line sighed. “Don’t even think about being a star player with that attitude! When I blow this whistle, we are starting!” Tyrone looked at Clyde and gave him a thumbs up. Before Clyde could respond, the whistle blew and the twelve of them ran on the floor. For five hours, Clyde and the rest of them did drills and scrimmages on the court. They all started with basic agility, speed, and vertical drills to start it off. Clyde felt rather confident in his speed and agility since he wasn’t as tall as most of them, but compared to Rainbow Dash, he wasn’t as good, as she was clearly the fastest and most agile on the team. He didn’t worry about his vertical that much due to his height, but he did take note to try to improve it eventually. After an hour, the basic drills were done so Iron Will moved them to offense where they began with a simple shootaround. The layup part of the shootaround was no sweat for Clyde, but once he began to work farther away from the basket, he started having problems. Compared to Tyrone and some others, his jump shots were faltering. The last part of the tryout, was game-like scrimmages and scenarios. Iron Will had them go five on five, with the leftover boys being substitutions. Other than Tyrone, Clyde didn’t know his teammates at all. Tyrone was paired against Thunderlane while Clyde was against a boy named Caramel. On offense, unless Clyde was open for a shot or had an open lane to drive and score, he mostly passed it to his teammates so they could score. He also kept the ball secure and never lost it from dribbling or losing it to his defender. On the defensive side, Clyde was adept at stealing the ball, whether it was from bugging Caramel or stealing it in the passing lane. Every steal he had led to a fast break where he would throw it up for Tyrone to dunk it. They continued playing and sitting out for the others to play until Iron Will called off the tryout two hours later. Clyde slumped down against the wall beside Tyrone, sweat pouring down from his face. “Good work, ladies!” yelled Iron Will. He looked over at Rainbow Dash who had a smirk, but he ignored it. “With the intensive data I’ve been collecting watching you amateurs play, Iron Will has found the most suitable lineup with the best shot at winning the championship!” “Amateurs?” asked Tyrone with a laugh. “Coach, I’m no amateur. I can carry this team on my back if I had to.” The room quickly filled with diagreeing sighs. “Enough of your talk, son!” yelled Iron Will. “If you want to back up your smack, then you better cut your slack!” Tyrone blinked. “What?” Iron Will ignored him and looked back at his list. “To begin, Iron Will will announce the starting front court: Thunderlane and Bulk Biceps!” Thunderlane slouched up and smiled. “Really! I made the–” “YEAH!” yelled Bulk Biceps, flexing his massive arms. Iron Will nodded. “You both had the most rebounds and are two of the bulkier members on the team. With Thunderlane’s post game, and Bulk’s defensive prowess, it’s the best choice.” Thunderlane and Bulk knuckled each other and everyone else looked at Iron Will to see whose name was called next. “For the wingman and small forward, as much as I hate to say it...” Tyrone quickly stood up and began patting his chest and pointing to the sky. He gave a small dance and looked at Iron Will. “I won’t let you down, Coach.” “Good. Iron Will just wants you to play so we can win! Now sit down!” Tyrone gave a salute and dropped to the floor. He looked over at Clyde and bumped him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, dawg. You’ll be the shooting guard.” “I hope so,” said Clyde sadly, thinking about his efforts during the tryout. He kept thinking about how bad he did with jump shots and thinking it dropped his grade. He promised to himself he would improve on them as soon as possible, even if he came off the bench. “Anyways, now for the backcourt,” began Iron Will, “the backcourt was a much more contested decision, as most of you were top candidates. The chosen winners were the perfect balance with what the starting five already had. First off, playing the two, is Ms. Rainbow Dash.” Rainbow Dash jumped up and shouted. “Yes! I knew I was good enough to make the starting five, no sweat. Was it for my blazing speeds or my versatility?” “You are excellent at nearly every aspect of the game. The one thing that penalized you the most was your need to not pass it to open teammates and your turnovers and carelessness with the ball. You can’t play the point if you do that all the time.” Rainbow Dash rubbed her head and laughed. Iron Will dropped the serious attitude and smiled. “Also, when the competition sees a girl in the lineup, they will be stunned and shocked! As for the media, I’ll get famous for coaching a girl on the boys’ team!” Iron Will laughed to himself thinking about his future glory, as the students looked at each other. “Hey Coach!” yelled Thunderlane trying to break him out of his dream, “who’s our point?” Iron Will coughed and shook his head. “Oh yes. The point.” Iron Will paced the line where he looked at every student that wasn’t called yet. He stopped at Clyde and pointed to him. “You!” “M-Me?” asked Clyde in shock. “Yes, you! You were the only one to guard the ball well, play fantastic defense near the three-point line, and most importantly, pass the ball!” “That a boy, C! Let’s go!” yelled Tyrone as he smacked him on the back. Clyde’s astonishment for making the starting lineup made him not feel the smack. Iron Will looked down at him again. “However, you need to work on your speed and perimeter shots more since you are a guard.” Clyde nodded and Iron Will walked away. Clyde sat there stunned that he could even be considered the point guard of the team. The point can easily be debated as the most important role on the team. Not only do they carry the ball the most, but they are responsible for making plays and getting their team involved with the game, offensively and defensively. He took a mental note to work even harder now. “What about the bench?” asked Caramel. “Who is the sixth man?” Iron Will gave a big laugh. After a good minute of hard laughter, he looked down at Caramel and stopped. “Oh, you were serious? Iron Will doesn’t know the sixth man! The bench is not that important anyways to Iron Will’s offensive game plans. The starting five will be carrying the most minutes by far.” He looked at the seven boys not in the starting lineup and sighed. “But, I guess if Iron Will had to choose someone from what he saw tonight, Iron Will would have to pick Swift Justice, but that role can easily be overtaken by a great game off the bench!” The boys angrily looked at Swift, who nervously laughed to ignore them. “I guess I’m better than I thought! I guess it’s because–” “Iron Will doesn’t care how you started from the bottom and are where you are now! Just be ready to replace the guards or this thug.” Iron Will pointed to Tyrone and laughed. Tyrone shook his head and held his hands to his hip. “Thug? I ain’t no thug, Coach. I just know how to ball.” Tyrone walked over to Swift and plopped down beside him. “Don’t worry man. As my substitution for when I’m in foul trouble or tired, I’ll help you become the greatest sixth man in the history of sixth mans.” “Really?” asked Swift in awe. “Damn straight, dawg.” He turned his head and gave Swift a sly grin. “Also, I’ll teach you my ways of getting girls.” Tyrone and Swift laughed as Iron Will blew the whistle. “That’s enough for tonight! Tomorrow, your real practice begins! So don’t be late! Your information and schedule sheets are by the door!” Iron Will strided out of the gym as the boys began to pack up and leave. Clyde went to leave before being stopped by a voice. “Hey! Wait up!” He turned around to see Rainbow Dash run towards him, stopping before crashing into him. “So, you’re Clyde, huh?” Clyde blinked. “Yeah, why? Am I famous?” Rainbow Dash laughed. “Not that I believe. I only ask because Rarity talks a lot about you in our group message we have and I’ve never seen you before.” Clyde felt his face begin to get warm at the mention of the certain girl. “Really? Are they good things?” “Well, yeah.” “Well, that’s good,” said Clyde, sighing in relief. “It’s nice to meet another one of her friends. I already met Pinkie and briefly met Applejack.” “Were you scared of Pinkie?” asked Rainbow Dash with raised eyebrows. “No, but she is randomly scary.” Rainbow Dash laughed. “Couldn’t have said it better.” Clyde nodded with a laugh and felt a thick arm wrap around his neck. “Yo C, how are you feeling?” asked Tyrone. “I can’t breath....” Tyrone quickly released him and shrugged. “Sorry dawg.” He watched Clyde drop to the floor and rub his neck and take breaths of air before quickly snapping his focus to Rainbow Dash. “You have some serious ball skills. Can’t wait to take this championship with you and C.” He extended out his hand. “Thanks, but I already knew that,” said Rainbow Dash with a smirk. “I’m ready to win as well.” She grabbed Tyrone’s hand and accepted the friendly and formal handshake. “Can I ask you one last question?” he said as their handshake ended. “Shoot.” “Is that your normal hair color?” “Well, my name is Rainbow Dash.” “That’s crazy though...”