The timer was running down, there were four minutes left of the second half and victory was as good as theirs. Seventy six minutes had been played. Seventy six brutal minutes. The final had lived up to its promised expectations, not one of the thirteen players on either side would emerge unscathed. They all had cuts and bruises to show for their efforts.
Two minutes left, and Apple Honey began her third full length run of the pitch that game. Ball held firmly in her mouth she ducked and wove around the opposing team. She didn't care if her lungs were bursting from the effort, that her tired muscles were hurting, that her left wing was probably fractured, they didn't slow her in the slightest, the pain fuelled her adrenaline, making her that tiny bit faster, that little bit sharper. The opposing team captain, a unicorn, had been sent off for the illegal tackle, she hadn't even had the ball when his horn had slammed into her wing sending her sidelong into the pitch. Inhibitor rings or no, horns still hurt like Tartarus.
“Good job my wings are taped up” she thought to herself with a grin, all pegasi had their wings secured before the game started, makes it fairer for the earth pony players.
Ninety seconds left and Apple Honey was three quarters down the pitch nearing the opposing goal line, this would be her third and final try of the game. Her team didn't need it, they were ahead by twenty points, but Honey wanted to give the crowd a big finish, so she went for it.
“Yes!” Seventy seconds left and she dropped the ball in the middle of the scoring zone, earning her team, the Manehatten Sharks, another four points to add to the forty they already had, increasing their lead even more. All Honey had to do now was make the conversion. The referee placed the ball on the little mound, and Honey squared up to face the goalposts. She began her run up, galloping towards the ball and gave it a mighty swat with her foreleg, belting it through the air and straight between the two uprights of the goal for another two points.
The crowd, all seventy five thousand of them, erupted in noise, some cheered, most booed, Apple Honey didn't give a flying buck for any of them. Let the idiots make whatever noise they liked, all she cared about was the win. Her team, HER team, the Manehatten Sharks had won the Equestrian Rugby Super League final for the third time running, making nine years undefeated. The final score was forty six to the Baltimare Ravens’ measly twenty. Which probably explained the boos from the crowd seeing as this year the final was being played in Manehatten. The trophy was handed round, and reporters took photos for the papers while Apple Honey and her team, sweaty, bruised and bleeding, posed for them. Honey loved it, she lived for this part and revelled in the glory of another high profile win. Best team in Equestria three tournaments in a row? Buck yeah!
Hoisted on the shoulders of her team mates Apple Honey gave silent thanks to all those long training sessions with her Aunt Dash when she had been a filly. All those running of the leaves she had done with her Momma Jack and Aunt Dash had sculpted her body to its physical peak, and while her aunt was quicker in the sky, on the ground Honey left them both in her dust every time. Her smile faltered slightly. Thoughts of Ponyville, her old home, brought her mind back to the note she had received by dragon mail before the big game had started. Apple Honey had given it a quick look over but hadn't been too concerned with it, nothing, absolutely nothing broke her mind set before a game. Winning and being the best at whatever she put her mind to doing was everything to Apple Honey, if she couldn't be the best, the pegasus saw no point in doing it. Now the game was over, the victory secured and recognition assured, and the high adrenalin was wearing off, Honey allowed herself to drift back to the note she had received as her team carried her back to the spacious locker room and the much needed showers.
“Apple Honey,
Please come home to Ponyville at your earliest convenience, we need to see you and your sister urgently. I wouldn't write to you unless it was very important for you to come home. I won't go into details in a letter, you need to hear this in person.
Yes, your sister will be here too (hopefully), I know you two don't exactly get on together, and I understand why, but this has to stop sometime Honey.
Please hurry, yours,
Momma Fluttershy”
“don't exactly get on…” Apple Honey had to suppress a laugh at that, her Mom certainly did have a flair for understatement. Didn't get on..hate was more like it, and Honey knew both her Moms knew it full well too. She also knew her Momma Fluttershy would never write or say such a thing to anypony. Indeed Honey doubted whether her Mom had the capacity within her to hate anything, she was so damn kind and gentle.
The team physio gave her wing the once over as she got down from her team mates shoulders, unstrapping her wings and allowing them to move freely for the first time after the eighth minute game. Her left wing did indeed have a hairline fracture along its leading edge. Nothing serious, certainly not requiring hospital attention. After her much needed shower the physio would bandage her up, advise her to refrain from flying for a day or two and she’d be right as rain.
Shower. The word ran through her fatigued brain like a welcome drug. “Must get to shower”. While the rest of the team had a large communal one they all shared, the perks of captaincy granted her her own shower just for her. Almost as big as the team shower Honey had plenty of room to stretch out her tired wings and muscles. Setting the temperature for the coldest setting she pressed her hoof against the button, and prepared herself for the icy water. The first blast of water came, and Honey gasped as it nearly took her breath away. She loved the icy shock of the cold water, it invigorated her as it washed away the mud, blood and sweat covering her coat. She stood in the flow of the cold water, watching transfixed as the filth of the game drained away from her body, revealing beneath the layer of mud a burnt yellow coat and close cropped dark pink mane and tail. She was almost a spit image of her Momma Fluttershy, except for being a few shades darker. Honey had chosen to crop her mane and tail as short as public decency would allow, barely enough to cover her ass, because as she pointed out, a lengthy mane and tail just gave the other team something to pull or trip you up with, so it had to go.
Now the first layer of filth had been washed away Honey turned up the heat a little to open her pores properly before lathering on her shampoo, taking her time to get the foaming soap everywhere, especially her cutie marks, a rugby ball inside a red apple. She winced a little as the heated water washed into her various cuts and bruises from the game, cleansing the wounds. The athletic pegasus spread her powerful wings under the water and despite her best efforts found herself thinking about the letter and her family in Ponyville.
True she hated her sister with a passion, and had done from as early as she could remember, which if Honey tried really hard was about the age of five, just before they had started old Cheerilee’s school. She could conjure the image in her mind's eye, that damned little filly had been so thrilled just for walking over the bloody living room! Yeah Honey got it, her sis had done something brilliant, and Honey was pleased for her, but the way her Momma Jack had carried on it was as if her sister had single hoofedly won all the Super Leagues. Honey spat in the shower at the hated memory.
That's when the jealousy and the resentment had first settled in her heart for her sister. Ever since then Apple Honey felt she had to work twice as hard to get half the recognition and attention lauded on her precious sister. Yeah she hadn't asked to be born disabled but as Honey had pointed out, she was quick to play on it, her ‘fragile little filly’ act fooled everypony else except her.
“Still,” she thought as she began towelling herself off after the shower,“ it sure would be nice to see the old place again, and to catch up with Momma Jack and Shy. Maybe ah could go after all. Couldn't hurt to visit, even if mah sis is there.”
Apple Honey didn't care a flying buck about not seeing her sister for fifteen years since that last awful fight they had had in the living room of Sweet Apple Acres. Their fights had always been spectacular, but this last one had been the last straw between them. Words had been exchanged, dreadful terrible words neither could take back and which neither wanted to take back. Ten years of hate had boiled over in that last fight, it had come to blows, as their fights always did, which lead to their most heated spat ever, which in turn had lead to them both leaving home that night.
No, Honey felt regret for not seeing her parents in at least four years. They had written to her, keeping up with her sports career, asking her over for visits, but Honey had always fobbed them off, she was always too busy. Shame bucked her in her guts then as Apple Honey got into her limo and the unicorn driver took her home to her Manehatten apartment. Too busy to see her own parents. What kind of Apple was she if her career came before family? As the car pulled away from the now empty stadium towards her place, Honey even thought it might be nice to see Cloud Blossom again after fifteen years. Very deep down in the darkest recesses of her heart she did love her sister, of course she did, they were family, but she also knew the minute they set eyes on each other their old argument would resurface, and old wounds would be reopened. No, it was better for all concerned if she and her sister didn't meet again, but at the same time Honey couldn't ignore her Mom. Especially now the Super League final had been played and won, there wouldn't be any games for at least four months, and they were little home games against local teams, nothing major.
By now the limo had stopped at her apartment, getting out she thanked her driver and gave the unicorn the week off on full pay, she could afford it and he was a good guy, if a little shy.
Opening the door to her three story place she was greeted by the wall of sound that told Honey her husband was home after one of his gigs. She’d been married to Baritone for seven years now, had first fallen in love with his music at one of his band's metal concerts when they had been touring Manehatten. Her parents and aunts had all made the wedding, in fact the only absent family member had been her sister, who was definitely not invited. In fact for the first few years of their marriage Baritone didn't know she had a sister, until her Momma Jack had mentioned Cloud in a visit four years ago. Bless him he was smart enough to know not to mention her around Apple Honey.
She crept down the hallway, she didn't really need the carpet to absorb the clopping of her hooves, there was no way Baritone would hear her approach over that noise. Carefully Apple Honey stuck her head around the door frame that lead to their den, and sure enough the light grey stallion was gyrating away to one of Dying Roses’ earliest number one hits “unbreakable souls”, his unruly dark blue mane and tail thrashing about his flanks, his cutie mark of a skull with a crossed microphone and pen in front of it being hidden and revealed as he ‘danced’ about, oblivious to his solo audience. Apple Honey leant against the doorframe, a wistful look in her eyes as she watched him perform.
“I could rut you all day long…” the thought came unbidden to her dirty mind, bringing with it memories of when they had done just that, their famous ‘day of six times’ still fresh in her mind. Making her mind up, Honey went to the well stocked kitchen and retrieved two lagers from the fridge. Creeping behind her husband she slapped one to his firm flank, announcing her presence and making him squeal like a filly all in one motion. Giggling herself Honey lowered the volume on the stereo system while Baritone attempted and failed to recover a bit of dignity from his wife's surprise assault.
Taking their beers and stifling his own giggles Baritone opened them before hoofing one back over to Honey. “Good game then I take it?” He asked while she chugged most of her bottle.
“Yup! The Rockets totally kicked their flanks! Forty six to twenty in the end! Ah scored four tries and conversions mahself, if ah say so all humble like.” Apple Honey’s triumphant tone wavered somewhat when she saw the frown on Baritone’s face. “What, what's up?”
“You mean to say you let the Ravens put twenty past you? Were you asleep Honey?” Baritone tried his best to keep his straight face but gave up half way through, giving in to his sniggers at Honey’s look of shock. Realising she had been ‘gotten’ and seeing as she had nothing soft to hoof to throw at him she merely stuck out her tongue and sunk the rest of her beer.
“Not funny Bari.” Although she said it with a grin. A thought occurred to her then, and seeing as her hubby was in a good mood now was as good a time as any. “Sweetie what you got planned for the next few weeks?”
“Headline tour of Baltimare next two weeks, then the Roses are supporting Vinyl Scratch in Las Pegasus the week after…”
“Oh…” Honey couldn't keep the disappointment from her voice.
“What's up babe?”
“Oh..nothing..it's ok, forget it.” Yeah, like he’ll buy that, nice one Honey.
“No, come on tell me what's up?” Baritone was worried now, it wasn't like Honey to be like this, all hesitant and nervous. He also knew better than to push, he was well aware of his wife's stubborn streak, it was as wide and prominent as her Momma Applejacks.
Reluctantly Apple Honey showed her husband the letter from her Momma Fluttershy. She watched as his blue eyes scanned the letter, when they reached the end she added, “and ah was thinking, ya know, of goin’, with you for moral support.”
“Sorry I can't, babe we need these tour dates.”
She understood of course, Baritone and his band needed these dates like she needed her games, and the last thing Honey wanted was for him to risk his livelihood, especially as they were finally starting to make it big. With a shrug Apple Honey flashed him what she hoped was a winning smile, “ah’ll be fine ah guess, ain't like ah’m goin’ to war, just a family get together.”
“With your family, what's the difference?”
"Oh har har. Very funny Mr. Comedian.” She retorted, flashing him a mock scowl. Very suddenly a huge yawn broke over her, and bed seemed a very good idea just then. Putting her empty bottle down, Honey turned to walk to the door, before stopping to look over her shoulder, giving Vocal her best ‘come hither’ look and swishing her short tail aside to tease him with a view of herself.
“Ah’m goin’ to bed, ya comin’?”
Baritone smirked at the view of his wife's finely toned athletic rear he was presented with, before answering, “dunno, depends what you intend on doing in bed,” to his love as she sashayed that finely toned athletic rear of hers out the den to their bedroom. By the time he had followed her, Honey was draped over the bed waiting for him. Jumping up onto the bed beside her he gave her a quick nuzzle. “So, you going, to Ponyville or what?”
“Yeah, ah guess ah will. Ah’ll write Momma Shy a letter tomorrow, let her know ah’m comin’ home fer a spell.”
"Okay, that's cool, now what about tonight?”
“Y’all have to see wontcha?” Apple Honey gave a devious smirk as she turned out the lights.