Tales of Apple Scratch: Roseluck & Fleetfoot

by RoyalRainbow


Chapter 4 – Watching from the Sidelines

Chapter 4 – Watching from the Sidelines

It was the third day of the Equestria Games in Ponyville, and it’s the day that Fleetfoot had been looking forward to for so long.  This Friday, it featured some really excited events such as the Titanian Magic Duel Tournament and the Wrestling Tournament, but truthfully, it was the last event that Fleetfoot was anxiously waiting for. It was on that day that her Ponyvillian friend, Roseluck, was competing in the Rhythmic Gymnastics.

Impatiently, the white-haired Jupitarian waited on the sidelines for Rose to start her trial.  Throughout Friday’s last competition, Fleetfoot hardly paid any attention toward the other competitors.  Her vibrant, fuchsia eyes are mostly glued to Roseluck on the other sideline.  In the beginning, the vigilant Wonderbolt noticed on happy the red-haired Eponian was when she rotated her ankle around with ease.  Fleetfoot was definitely glad to see Rose making a full recovery since that disastrous 100-Meter Hurdle Qualification's match.

However, Fleetfoot’s expression gradually shifted from relief to dread as she observed how worried Roseluck became all of a sudden.  Unable to hear much from a distance, the Jupitarian’s sharp eyes tried to figure out on what was at play for Team Ponyville.  With their “Doctor” entering the scene, he presented a violin case to a surprised Applejack.  Then, Roseluck approached the tall, blonde girl closely with quivering lips and big, teary eyes before two more of her teammates joined in as they mimic their pleading expressions with the farmgirl.

Heh, she is such a cutie!  Fleetfoot mused with an amusing smile over Rose’s involuntary adorableness.

With a gruff, Applejack gave in and accepted the music sheets from her team before she walked away to take the time and memorize them.  From recalling that Vinyl Apple Scratch wasn’t present at the moment, Fleetfoot assumed that Rose needed a substitute for musical arrangement.  And with Vinyl absent due to her magical exhaustion from the magic tournament’s final match, the team desperately turned to Applejack for her aid since it looked like that she had some experience when it comes to music.  At the very least, everything on Rose’s side had calmed down with their dilemma sorted out as Fleetfoot sighed in relief over this.

Aside from the rest of the competition, the only time Fleetfoot took her eyes off of Roseluck was when Rainbow Dash was up next.  She and the other Wonderbolts have always been good friends with the captain of Team Cloudsdale ever since the aspiring fan became the Councilor of Sports and Ethics.  As the next act began, Fleetfoot was quite impressed by Rainbow’s performance as she literally got the ball rolling.  Soon enough, Fleetfoot was joined by her fellow teammate and best friend, Spitfire.

“You know, I’m quite surprised to see you so attentive here, considering that none of our teammates are competing in this event.” Spitfire greeted with a smile and a crooked eyebrow.

Hastily, Fleetfoot tried to cover up her own reasons for being here.  “Oh… well… I heard that Rainbow Dash was competing today, so I was quite surprised to hear that and I thought I should see this myself.”

But Spitfire wasn’t too convinced as she assumed with a witty smirk on her face, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that you were waiting for someone else.  Perhaps a special masseuse in mind.”  Seeing how Fleetfoot blushed automatically on that reaction, the fire-haired commander teased her a little bit further.  “One who wouldn’t mind giving you a little “T and A” to go with that massage for next time, hmm?”

But Spitfire’s wide grin shrunk drastically when she noticed a sudden change in Fleetfoot’s expression.  No longer was the white-haired Jupitarian embarrassed by her friend’s kidding.  Instead, she was seriously piss-off.  With all their training and battles they’ve shared over the years, Spitfire recognized that serious look on her comrade’s face.  And she doesn’t have to see it just in those cold, fuschia eyes of hers.  With all of her might, Fleetfoot tightly gripped the railing that seperated the two Wonderbolts from the rest of the competition as she greatly restrained herself from hitting one of her closest friends.

“Don’t you dare talk about Roseluck like that!” Fleetfoot hissed with an ice-cold glare as she kept her infuriating voice low enough so that it was just between the two of them.

Suddenly, her aggressive demeanor vanished in an instant as it left a blank expression on her face.  She just realized that she unintentionally revealed the identity of her masseuse due to how defensive she was acting toward Spitfire.  As Fleetfoot had anticipated, the other Jupitarian redisplayed her usual playfulness.

“Ooooh… so that’s who gave you the massage the other day!” she confirmed with a very shrewd smile.

With the tables turned back to the increasingly flustered Fleetfoot, she gave in with mild grump and finally confessed the truth, “Fine, Spitfire!  You got me!  It was Roseluck, alright?  But she was just being very nice to me when my shoulder was getting sore from yesterday’s workout, and she offered to give me a massage for that!  So don’t you think so little of her like that ever again!”

After receiving that stern warning once again, Spitfire lightly waved her arms in defense while she responded into a more serious, sympathetic tone, “Sorry, Fleetfoot.  I guess I got a little carried away with my teasing there.  Of course I would never mock Roseluck like that.  I know how much you really care about her.  You know that, right?”

After calming herself down, Fleetfoot softened up and expressed a simple, friendly smile as a way to show that she had accepted Spitfire’s apology.  Once that was resolved, the two Wonderbolts turned their attention back to Rainbow Dash as it looked like her choice of music and rhythmic dancing had kicked up a notch.  As Rainbow’s routine began to build up toward its climax, Spitfire was unable to contain her curiosity for too long before she decided to ask her neighboring spectator.

“So… how was that massage?”

Surprised by that suspicious question, Fleetfoot inquired cautiously with narrow eyes, “Why do you want to know?”

“Just curious, that’s all.” she reassured in a casual tone.  “Look, I won’t tease you any further about that.  I promise.”

A bit hesitant at first, Fleetfoot could help but break into a huge smile as she recalled from yesterday’s incidence, “Honestly… it was the best massage of my life!”

“Really?  That’s hard to believe considering that we have the best massagers that money can buy.”

“Ha!  They pale in comparison compared to her!”

“That good, huh?  Care to be more specific?”

“Well… despite how delicate she looks, Roseluck is really good with her hands, whether you want it rough or gentle.”

“Heh, that’s what she said.”  But Spitfire’s sly muttering wasn’t quiet enough for Fleetfoot to catch that as she sharply glared at the kidder.  With a nervous smile, Spitfire added, “Sorry, I couldn’t resist.  The setup was just too perfect of an opportunity to miss.”

After a subtle shrug, Fleetfoot carried on with her recollection as a faint blush spread across her smiling face, “But it’s not just that.  It’s her hands… those wonderfully warm hands of hers!  I don’t know how to describe it, but every time I feel that warm touch of hers, it just… thaws out my heart and melts all of my troubles away!”

“Wow!  I have to say… from the way you were describing her, I’m a bit envious of you right now.” Spitfire chuckled lightly.  “Maybe you can ask her to give me a massage someday.”

“Over my dead body.” she grinned with a dark chuckle.

After good, brief laugh between the two, Spitfire then said, “You know, it’s been a while since I’ve seen that smile of yours.  I haven’t seen you this happy since Sunny--!”

Upon letting that one name slip out by accident, Spitfire shut up immediately as she quickly placed a hand over her mouth.  With dread, she looked at Fleetfoot to see if she heard that by any chance.  Unfortunately, she did.  But she wasn’t showing any anger by Spitfire’s slipup; she wasn’t showing any form of emotion at all.  From that one taboo, her glowing smile dissolved into an impassive face as she turned her melancholy gaze away from her orange-haired teammate.

“Fleetfoot, I’m sorry!” she exclaimed concernedly.  “I didn’t mean to let it slip out like that!”

“It’s… it’s fine, Spitfire.” she responded emotionlessly without even looking at her.  “Please just… don’t bring that up again.”

Without another word, the apprehensive lieutenant nodded before both of the women turned their attention back on Rainbow Dash, who had just finished her routine and received roaring applause while the rainbow-hair team captain anxiously waited for the four judges: Rarity Belle, Fleur de Lys, Hoity Toity, & Photo Finish.  After a good minute of unbearable silence, the judges raised their scoring cards and Rainbow received scores so high that she had secured first place for herself on the game’s leaderboard.

After that, Roseluck switched places with Rainbow as she nervously approached the mat of the performing area.  Upon the arrival of the next competitor, Spitfire lightly nudged Fleetfoot to break her out of her gloominess.  Once she lifted her head up, Fleetfoot’s eyes grew widely as she finally saw Roseluck was up next.  Upon seeing Roseluck’s appearance, the Jupitarian smiled brightly as she waited in anticipation for the Eponian’s performance.

As Fleetfoot had expected, Roseluck was very graceful when it comes to her ribbon dancing due to her background as a ballet dancer, but as the Applejack’s fiddling picked up speed, the white-haired spectator is completely amazed by how increasingly bold Rose’s dance routine was.  It wasn’t just jumps, leaps, kicks, and pirouettes; it was assorted with multitudes of cartwheels and daring tosses of her flaring ribbon-wand.  She even caught her bedazzling instrument with the use of her toes in the midst of her fourth cartwheel before reclining into an elegant sitting position.  It was probably one the reasons why Fleetfoot was so entranced by Roseluck; she was full of surprise.

While the Wonderbolt’s astonished eyes were fixated on the twirling ballerina, Spitfire was more focused on her friend’s expression.  The way how Fleetfoot brightened up from seeing Roseluck’s presence served as a clear indication to the observant Captain of the Wonderbolts.  Fleetfoot may not realize it just yet, but through Spitfire’s eyes, this could help pull her friend out of the cold she shut herself in for far too long.

Once Roseluck was done with her final pirouette as Applejack’s final note came to an abrupt end, the red-haired Eponian was rewarded with thunderous applause from the audience and the spectators from other teams.  After she modestly waved to her cheering friends on one side of the mat, Rose turned around and locked eyes with the smiling Fleetfoot.  From their fixated gazes, the Jupitarian beamed with pride as she offered a thumbs-up and a wink to the blushing Eponian, who responded by waving bashfully to her supportive friend.

Then, Roseluck and everyone else noticed that the judges were ready for the athlete’s scoring.  One by one, the first three judges showcased their scores that equaled the same first three scores as Rainbow’s.  But once the final judge displayed the last score card, nearly everyone, including Roseluck and Fleetfoot, gasped in shocked at the final tally to Rose’s overall score: she beaten Rainbow Dash just by half of a point.

That meant Roseluck took the top spot in the Rhythmic Gymnastics’ leaderboard!

Team Ponyville cheered ecstatically over their flower girl’s astounding win as Fleetfoot joined in from afar by squealing with uproarious delight while also hugging Spitfire firmly.  Meanwhile, Rose wept in disbelief over her remarkable victory, but eventually she smiled widely over the likely possibility of her first medal.  For the rest of the competition, the others couldn’t measure up with Rainbow & Rose’s individual scores.  Once everything was settled, Princess Cadance presented the three medals to the winners of Friday’s last game.  Rainbow even congratulated the softly sobbing Roseluck for her grand accomplishment since the silver medalist wasn’t that thrilled about gymnastics to begin with.

As the latest gold medalist joined up with her overjoyed teammates, Spitfire suggested to Fleetfoot with a pat on her back, “Come on!  Let’s go congratulate her!”

“W-we can do that later, Spitfire.” she flustered on that suggestion.  “Just let Roseluck celebrate it with her teammates first.”

“Nonsense!” Spitfire retorted with a shrewd grin as she pulled on the blushing Fleetfoot’s arm strongly.  “She would appreciate it if you were there for her as well!”

Following the commander’s lead, Fleetfoot hesitantly flew alongside with Spitfire as they travel to the other side of the gymnasium.  Once they landed right next to Team Ponyville, Roseluck ceased her celebration with her friends as she stared at the surprisingly shy Fleetfoot.  With a playful push, the smirking Spitfire caused the blushing sergeant to step forward and approach the equally shy athlete.

“Umm… congratulations on your first gold medal, Rose.” Fleetfoot tenderly praised the younger competitor as her shyness began to diminish.  “You were truly amazing out there.  I knew you had what it takes to go for the gold.”

In response, the overjoyed Roseluck quickly flung her arms around Fleetfoot’s neck and strongly held on to her before she whispered with fresh, new tears, “Thank you.”

From Rose’s gratitude, Fleetfoot carefully wrapped her arms around the delicate, weeping florist and softly embraced her.  In the midst of their hug, Fleetfoot once again experienced the tender warmness that was radiating from Roseluck’s body.  And just like how she described it to Spitfire earlier, Rose’s miraculous warmth began to melt nearly all of Fleetfoot’s worries.  Not wanting to overexert their embrace, Fleetfoot reluctantly let Roseluck go before she maintained a cooler attitude.

“Well, since you lived up to your promise, I guess it’s my turn to do the same for you.” she winked with an all-knowing grin toward Roseluck.

“I’ll be rooting for you, Fleetfoot.” she smiled warmly after wiping her small tears away.

“…Thanks, Rose.”

As the two depart ways once more, Roseluck rejoined with her friends and carried on with their recent celebration while Fleetfoot and Spitfire turned around and walked away in a cool, casual manner.  With an arm wrapped around Fleetfoot’s shoulder, Spitfire cleverly grinned over her friend’s recent display of affection.

“See, now that wasn’t so bad, now was it?”

Embarrassed and infuriated by that shrewd tactic, Fleetfoot muttered in a low growl, “I hate you so much right now.”

Ignoring that predictable reaction, she chuckled heartily, “Love you too, Fleetfoot!”