Chapter 4
The first training session
The large group of ponies entered the castle, marvelling at the beautiful hallways and decor.
"Wow!" Arion gasped "this place is beautiful!"
"Oui!" JP agreed "It sparkles a lot!"
"Hence Twilight Sparkle!" Pinkie joked
"That's not funny." Twilight replied
"Oh come on!" Pinkie moaned "why can't you laugh for a second?"
"Anyway." Twilight ignored "this way to the hoofball stadium."
"I hope it's not like the Ice Arena from before." Riccardo shuddered.
"You'll see."
The ponies made their way into a large room, where only a certain amount of light from the roof was let in to reflect of all the magnificent purple walls and ground. The ground was made in crystal with the colour of Twilight's body. There, the borders of a hoofball pitch, two goal posts, multiple team benches were present, surrounded by a massive grandstand.
"Woah!!!" Arion gawked "the roof opening is able to shine down on the entire pitch so it can reflect the light of the pitch to the spectators in the grandstands!"
"Sherwind, when did you turn into a geek?" Victor asked
"Normally Peabody would make such a description." Riccardo chuckled
"Hmph. Looks like I got beaten to the punch then." The pony named Peabody huffed.
"This" Twilight introduced "is the newly built Twilight Stadium. Although the floor is made of crystal, it is magically enchanted in order to operate like a normal hoofball pitch would be."
"Info, facts, description... LAME!!!" Rainbow sneered "can we just get to training now?"
"Oh okay then..." Twilight grumbled.
"Right then." Evans replied "I'll be your coach! I'm Mark Evans by the way, but you can call me Coach Evans."
"Well, we are all ears Coach!" Pinkie replied.
"Right, from what Arion told me, here's what I got for each of you. We'll start working on how to dominate the position you've been given. So Lyra..."
The Ponyville team have experienced their first ever time of training for hoofball, and how hard it is. As Lyra practised and trained her goalkeeping skills with Sam and JP, she was also worried about something else.
"No Lyra" Sam explained as Lyra dodged JP's kick on purpose. "You need to face and save the ball."
"B-But... I'm afraid that it will hurt!" Lyra explained
"Then..." JP replied "why do you want to become goalie?"
"W-Well, it's because... It's a personal secret, something that I like." Lyra answered
"In that case," Sam replied "let your love for whatever you have overpower your fears."
"Combining that with always concentrating on the ball, you'd be unstoppable! And after many tries, I'm sure that fear of getting hit by balls will be gone for good!" JP added
"Yeah!" Sam agreed "for example, it's like you're trying to pretend to be that mythological creature called a human on which he can use its hands securely grip the ball!"
"WHAHHH!!! How do you know!?" Lyra gasped
"Wait... What? That was just an example!" Sam replied "It's just one of those mythology studies!"
"Oh... Oops, my mistake." Lyra blushed hard
"Don't tell me..." JP realised "the reason why you want to be a goalie, is because you want to have hands? That you want to be like a human?"
"... Yes..." Lyra blushed even harder and redder, a fear that she may be laughed at.
"Well then, whatever floats your boat, keep at it!" Sam encouraged
"What? You don't find that weird?" Lyra asked
"Of course not!" JP answered "well, it is a bit weird, but if you want to use that love to be a great help to hoofball, then keep at it!"
"O-Okay then! I'll do my best!!!" Lyra nodded as confidence returned to her.
"In that case..." Sam started and as he cut his speech off, ran and kicked the ball towards Lyra.
"Here goes!" Lyra breathed as she stood in front of the approaching ball "come on hooves! Block the ball like a human's hands can!" And standing on her hind legs, caught the ball with her two front hooves.
"I did it!" Lyra exclaimed
"Well done!" Sam applauded "looks like you're getting the hang of it now!"
"Just keep on thinking on the sole reason why you want to be goalie" JP reminded "and you will master the position!"
"Right!!!" Lyra nodded, she was really happy that her habits have been accepted thanks to hoofball "this is going to be fun!" She said to herself.
JP left Lyra with Sam to practice on their own and went to train the defenders.
"Right!" JP started his lesson "the main purpose of a defender is to be able to stop the ball from getting close to the goalie at all costs! Steal the ball, make sure you keep it in your possession and pass it to the Midfielders and Forwards!"
"Easier said than done." Bon Bon replied
"That's why I'm here to make sure you think twice!" JP answered "now, what are everypony's main stats?"
"Hmm..." Vinyl wondered.
"In that case, let me help you get started. Try some jumping exercises!" JP instructed "then, we will go to slide kicking and blocking!"
Derpy, Bon Bon, Vinyl and Fluttershy worked their guts out in order to learn and perfect the basics and art of defence.
"Remember Fluttershy" JP reminded "it is best you save the energy for your wings to perform special moves." As the group continued on their training routine, JP has something special in mind.
"Now, some of you who don't know what a special move is, it is a move where you are able to use your technical energy and one of the 4 elements to pull off stylish and yet powerful moves in order to save, block, dribble or score a goal! For example, a technique I learnt by myself called Flapjack Defence is a block move where one pony propels another to steal the ball from the opponent! And guess what? One of you can be able to do that with the right practice!"
"Ooh! Is it me?" Vinyl asked
"No..." Fluttershy responded "only one pony tried to mimic JP's move from before, and that was--"
"Miss Derpy!!! Yes, she tried to do it before." JP finished "and I think you have the potential."
"I do?" Derpy replied
"Her?" Bon Bon chuckled "can she really pull off a move like that?"
"She can if she tries! Don't put her down!" Vinyl encouraged
"I'll um, do by best!" Derpy nodded
"Genial! Now, let's test who will be Miss Derpy's partner. Why don't you three take turns to try kicking her?"
"Kick her!? Literally!?" The three gasped
"Je suis desole..." JP apologised "I meant propel."
"I'll try first." Vinyl volunteered. As she prepared her legs ready to kick Derpy, sweat poured from her body as she feared of kicking the pegasus in the wrong area instead of the hooves.
"I'm doing it!" Derpy alerted
"I'm ready." Vinyl nodded, at that response, Derpy performed a backflip and Vinyl positioned her back legs to connect her hooves to Derpy. However, Derpy slipped from Vinyl's hooves like with Pinkie and Vinyl ended up kicking Derpy's back again.
"Oww!" Derpy cried in pain
"Ooh..." The other defenders winced
"My my..." JP whistled "are you ok? Can you get up?"
"It will take more than a kick to break me!" Derpy picked herself up.
"Right then... Anyone else?" JP asked. Even though Vinyl tried again, as well as Fluttershy or Bon bon taking turns, either Derpy slipped off her partner's hooves and gets kicked in the back, Fluttershy on the other hand, is too soft with her kicks, and when she gets grilled up, she 'accidentally' misses and kicks Derpy in the back. In the end, JP had to call it off before Derpy gets a serious injury
"Oh la la... This is harder than I thought." JP sighed "maybe this is how Coach Sharp felt?"
In the Midfielder session, Riccardo and Arion with a few other Raimon midfielders are teaching the basics of blocking and dribbling the ball. Twilight found it quite hard to dribble the ball properly without fumbling it and losing it altogether.
"Oh dear... This is harder than I thought!" Twilight sighed
"Hey Princess!" A green pegasus called out "you need to look at the ball in order to keep the ball and dribble faster!"
"Really? Okay, thanks for the advice!" Twilight called back and followed the pegasus' advice. She started to get a little faster and kept the ball on her more often, but she was so focused on the ball that she didn't see what's in front of her and trailed between the Forward session and bumped her head on the goalpost.
"Oww..." Twilight cried
"That's not very nice Aitor. Don't trick the Princess like you tricked Lucian." Riccardo sighed
"Heh heh heh..." The pegasus named Aitor evilly chuckled.
"Is... Aitor like this every time?" Twilight asked as she brought the ball back
"You'll get used to it. So will he." Riccardo assured "regardless, always remember to look in front, dribbling the ball will get easier."
As Twilight tried a few times, she got the hang of it in the end.
"Hey hey! Look at me go!" Twilight chuckled
"Think you can do it Octavia?" Riccardo whispered
"My pleasure." Octavia nodded and with one burst of speed, snatched the ball from Twilight.
"Hey!" Twilight angrily replied
"You need to make sure you hold on to the ball, as well as steal it." Riccardo reminded "while you were practising ball dribbling, I taught Octavia how to steal it."
"Oh..."
"Now both of you are going to do the opposite." Riccardo instructed "Twilight, you try to steal the ball from Octavia."
As the 2 midfielding ponies continued on taking the ball from each other, Arion and another pony were teaching the other 2 midfielders of Ponyville.
"That's the spirit Pinkie!" Arion encouraged as Pinkie danced around the Doctor while holding the ball. "Hey Eugene, what do you think?"
"She certainly holds on to the ball very well" Eugene (Eugene Peabody) analysed "could be a little faster, but she could be ready to learn a special move for herself or two! But that's really out of logic, she's only new to this and she's dribbling the ball like a pro!"
"Mr Peabody" Doctor answered "if there's one thing you should know about Pinkie, she defies logic. We don't know why and she doesn't know either. So this stays as being Pinkie Pie."
"Okay." Eugene nodded confused "how about we try this? Pinkie pass me the ball."
"Alley-oop!" Pinkie booted the ball over to Eugene.
"Now both of you try to take it from me."
"Charge!" Pinkie yelled as the two Earth ponies dived towards him.
"Predictable..." Eugene whispered to himself. Eugene imagined that there was a starting "3..2..1..GO!" sound as he tapped his back right leg on the ground twice before slamming it on the ground and dragging it back to put himself in a starting position, carefully looking at the two charging ponies. The moment he heard a high pitched beep for "GO!", he yelled "Dragster!" And like a speeding car, zoomed straight past the two ponies, surprising them to their wits.
"That was fast!" The Doctor replied as he recovered from his shock.
"Zoom!" Pinkie added "just as fast as Rainbow!"
"It's my special move." Eugene returned with the ball after he slowed down. "It's called Dragster!"
"It it another one of those 'special dribble moves' like Arion's Easy Breezy?" The Doctor asked
"Yep!" Arion nodded "but both of you aren't at the point of learning it yourselves yet. Let's continue practice!"
"Okay then!" And without any warning, the Doctor stole the ball from Eugene and started dribbling. "Get the ball from me then!" He chuckled
"Challenge accepted!" Pinkie replied and galloped after him.
"These ponies really seem to take practice very seriously!" Arion laughed
"Of course!" Eugene nodded "hoofball was just announced as a new sport in Equestria! Why would they not try it out?"
Finally, in the Forwards training session, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were being instructed by Victor and the pegasus named Lucian Dark.
"I won't go easy on you even though you're mares and because you're new to this." Victor warned
"Don't worry." Rainbow Dash replied "I always love a challenge!"
"Be patient Rainbow, it may be harder than you think." Applejack calmed
"Now let's begin." Victor instructed "being a Forward is more than just kicking the ball into the net. It requires willpower, precision, and a lot of physical power..." Rainbow Dash started sleeping as Victor warbled on, Lucian nudged her but wouldn't budge.
"Now." Victor said with a sharp tone that woke up Rainbow Dash "let's see who's been paying attention. Rainbow? How about you try?"
"M-Me?" Rainbow Dash gestured to herself.
"Yes." Victor nodded and gestured "kick the ball into the net."
"O-Ok, shouldn't be that hard." Rainbow replied. Taking a step back for a running kick, Rainbow kicked the ball as hard as she could into the net.
"I see the power, but you lack the will." Victor analysed
"What?" Rainbow moaned
"When you kicked the ball, you kicked it as if you were being told to. Like you're just following orders."
"Well of course!" Rainbow Dash replied "you told me to kick it!!!"
"Hmm... You are the representation of the Element of Loyalty. Are you not?"
"Why yes! I'm Rainbow Dash! The friend that is the most loyal of all!"
"I can understand. I too was once loyal to the former holy emperor of Neighpon that once ran a certain organisation."
"Really?"
"There was an organisation known as Fifth Sector that controlled hoofball. From the selection of teams to the pairing and outcome of matches."
"And you were loyal to that organisation?"
"I caused quite some trouble with Raimon before I joined them." Victor explained "I mean, all I just did was follow orders. To destroy Raimon. I never really cared about hoofball or the consequences of my mission. It was in order to help those whom I love. 2 ponies made me realise the error of my ways sooner or later, I started to like hoofball once again."
"I see... Who were these 2?"
"My brother Vladimir and of course, Sherwind. You see, due to trying to rescue me from falling from a tree, I accidentally crushed Volodya's hind legs. I followed Fifth Sector so they would be able to provide the money for treatment on his legs. A former coach of mine said the money would be donated when I crush a certain somepony... You know who he is."
"Arion?"
"That's right. But there was something about that pony that seemed to confuse me, he never held any grudges against me. In fact, he never has any revenge with anyone, he's very sympathetic to everypony he meets, even for imperials like me. He has such naive innocence, but with Volodya, that's what made me realise the how hoofball was getting corrupt at that time. So I decided to play for real now, to love hoofball once more."
"Oh Victor..."
"Turns out it was really for the better. As soon as I started playing hoofball as it really was, somepony had provided the fees for my brother's treatment. Heh heh, I guess it's karma. Volodya would be able to walk and play hoofball again, all because I helped make hoofball happy." Victor concluded with a disgusted grin "why did I say that hoofball was happy? Sherwind must have some influence on me."
"That's... An amazing story." Rainbow replied
"When Fifth Sector was disbanded, I started being loyal to myself now, continuing to play hoofball with Sherwind and the rest of Raimon, because we love hoofball."
"Very touching..."
"I hope you didn't get too comfortable." Victor started "you'd better give it your all on your next kick. Score a goal for what it's worth. Be loyal to yourself too."
"Okay then!!! I'll be sure to give it my best!" Rainbow replied determined. "Yahhh!!!!!" She roared as she kicked the ball into the goal one more time.
"Heh... I've seen worse." Victor analysed "but you're improving, at a turtle's pace."
"Hey!" Rainbow cringed offended
"Relax. Slow and steady wins the race."
"Okay then."
"Hey Lucian, I'll have my time with Rainbow over here, go help the farm pony." Victor called
"O-Okay then!" Lucian replied.
After 2 hours of kicking, dribbling, blocking and saving, Coach Evans decided to call it a day.
"Alright everypony! Training is over! I've never seen anything like this! Mares actually giving it their all! Better than Nelly and Cameilla" Evans concluded "well done Princess and you too Doctor! Can't forget the sole stallion!"
"Thanks." The Doctor blushed
"If you keep on continuing this performance, I'll teach you all a special tactic!"
"A special tactic?" Twilight asked
"A special movement that requires the entire team. It can be used to advance on the opponent's goal or defend your goal." Evans explained
"Cool! Sounds awesome!" Rainbow jumped
"Well then, see you all tomorrow!" Evans waved and with that, the Raimon Eleven left the castle.
"Lots of blood, sweat and tears everypony." Flash approached with replenishing drinks and supplies "Spike has prepared the baths in the castle. Feel free to cool down there."
"Oh dear. All of you look shattered. That's pretty much why I don't want to play hoofball." Rarity sighed
"But.." Applejack started
"Don't try to convince me! I don't want to spend training like this just to win some game!"
"Rarity..." Fluttershy tried to explain
"Don't worry about it, we understand." Twilight replied.
"You got to admit, that training was something." Octavia added
"Hey Derpy." The Doctor started "how's your back?"
It's..." Derpy started "something new. A pain that I've ever felt."
"I don't think it's just your footing." Doctor continued "I've been watching."
"What do you think I'm lacking?"
"Trust." The Doctor replied
Meanwhile in a corporate building, Filthy Rich was busy managing his finances and business.
"Mr Rich" one of his employees informed "somepony wants to see you."
"Is it my daughter?" Filthy replied
"No, it's the businesspony from overseas. He's come to visit you."
"Oh really? Send him in." Filthy replied interested.
"At once sir." The employee replied and went out. The employee returned with two distinct looking unicorns. One was white with a red wavy mane and tail and has the cutie mark of a shooting star. The other had a light-olive coat with a light-green mane and tail, with the mane tied up with a hair band. That unicorn had a cutie mark that similarly resembles a black hole with a yellow circle in the middle of the black hole.
"Mr Rich, it is an honour to meet you in person for the first time." The white unicorn started "I'm sure you know who I am."
"The savvy business stallion, I know" Filthy replied "living up to your name, the honour and pleasure is all mine."
"I've had my eye on Equestria for a time now, there are some certain resources that are quite interesting."
"I could say the same about Neighpon."
"One example is the zap apple jam, I've heard that it's made from quite special ingredients that can only be available and harvested for 5 days. There are also certain requirements in order to harvest them.
"That's right!!!" Filthy nodded "not only that, one of the Zap Apple farmers is also one of the 6 heroines of Equestria!"
"So I've heard." The olive unicorn spoke "the bearers of the Elements of Harmony who were known for driving out the dark forces. Applejack of Honesty, Rainbow Dash of Loyalty, Rarity of Generosity, Fluttershy of Kindness, Pinkie Pie of Laughter and Twilight Sparkle of Magic, who has recently been made Princess."
"Thanks for the history lesson." The white unicorn laughed "but I am already convinced with Mr Rich's work here." He then turned to Filthy "I think we would get along very well as business partners!"
"That would be brilliant!" Filthy exclaimed
"Under one condition."
"Anything."
"I didn't come to Equestria just to do business you know. If there is any other non-business related service I can provide, it's a done deal."
"Well..." Filthy thought until a loud slam of the door came from the entrance to his room, revealing a small light-pink filly.
"DADDY!" Diamond Tiara yelled
"Sweetheart!" Filthy greeted with joy as he trotted towards her "now's not a good time. I've got some discussion with some new business partners, can we talk about this later?"
"No!" Diamond Tiara replied "I want to talk about it now!"
"It's ok." The white unicorn butted in. "Hello little lady! What's your name?"
"I'm Diamond Tiara! I'm Filthy Rich's daughter!"
"What a very nice name!" The olive pony complimented "she's very sweet Mr Rich."
"She can get a bit off at times." Filthy chuckled nervously "she doesn't get along with three of her classmates at school."
"Because they're blank flanks!" Diamond Tiara explained
"Don't call them that!" Filthy snapped "that's not nice!"
"Anyway" Diamond Tiara continued "do you know any thing about hoofball?"
"Hoofball?" The two unicorns gasped in realisation
"Why yes! I've heard it was officially announced as a sport in Equestria! But what does that have to do with me?"
"I wanna start a team!" Diamond requested "and I want super strong players and a super strong coach!"
"Oh my..." Filthy started "it's going to take me some time though... I need to finish negotiations with our business partners here."
"Mr Rich" The white unicorn started "I think we've got a deal now, and allow me to help your daughter's request"
"Really???"
"Mr Rich, and Miss Tiara, I know a super strong coach to help you start your new hoofball team. In fact, two super strong coaches!"
"Who is it?" Diamond asked
"Why!" The olive unicorn laughed "it's us!"
"Both of you have played hoofball before?" Flithy's eyes widened
"When we were foals, yes." The unicorn nodded "hoofball is very popular in Neighpon and it's still popular today!"
"In fact" the olive unicorn added "hoofball saved our lives. Once, we used to play it in order to show power and strength in order to dominate all of Neighpon."
"but thanks to a certain pony from a certain school, he helped showed us what hoofball was really for, and how it's supposed to be enjoyed!" The white unicorn continued
"And to that, we still love hoofball, even more than running a sturdy business." The olive unicorn conluded
"Mr Rich." The white unicorn offered his hoof to which he shook Filthy's "we've got a deal. Not only will we be business partners from here on out, me and my secretary here will also be coaches for your daughter's hoofball team."
"Thank you sirs!" Diamond bowed in respect "by the way, do you know any super strong--"
"Players?" The white unicorn finished "well, it's not about strength, but the close bonds that you have with the ponies you love."
"And since you're still a filly," the olive unicorn advised "why not make a team of foals and fillies? How about you invite your schoolmates?"
"What!? But..." Diamond protested
"Trust me little one." The white unicorn interrupted "if you want to play real hoofball, then play with your friends. We learnt it first hand from experience and humiliation. Do the same thing as we did, without humiliation."
"Hmm... Okay then, I trust you." Diamond nodded
"How about after school?" The olive pony suggested "we'll meet you at your school."
"Deal!" Diamond Tiara nodded