The loud whistle went off and Clyde looked at Coach Iron Will and his teammates as they quickly huddled around near their bench. He was faintly panting, as was the others except the bench squad, and they all awaited Iron Will’s plan in silence. He stopped scribbling down the plan on the small whiteboard and looked up, before completely throwing the whiteboard away.
“Take the best shot!” he ordered. The team looked at each other confused at the rather simple play.
“Really? That’s the plan?” questioned Tyrone. “Not even where to go or who to screen?”
"Yeah, Coach. That seems a little wack," agreed Thunderlane.
Bulk Biceps gave a final nod to end the conversation.
Iron Will snorted. “Iron Will has watched all of you grow as a team in the past two years.” He looked up at the large scoreboard above the court. “We only need a basket to win with ten seconds left. You’ve played enough games together to know what to do.”
The whistle blew again to signal the end of the final timeout in the game for Canterlot High and Clyde and the rest of the starters walked back to their usual positions on the court for inbounding the ball. Clyde stopped near the midcourt line and looked around the arena.
Seeing how it was the State Championship game, both teams played in a neutral court that belonged to either a professional or college level team. Manehattan was almost exactly the same distance from Canterlot High and their opponents, Griffondale High, making it a perfect neutral court. Clyde already sat in the stands to watch a Kneighs game with Rarity back in February during their week-long visit, but playing on the same court, with all the fans watching in the plethora of seats was something completely unworldly to him. He tried finding his brother and Rarity in the stands, but there were too many people to focus on in the situation. Soon, the opposing point guard stood next to him and blocked him from seeing Tyrone, the inbounder.
Clyde snapped back into reality and focused on the game instead of the fans. After the referee bounced the ball to Tyrone and blew his whistle, the fans of both Canterlot and Griffiondale shouted in nervousness and confidence, respectively. Tyrone quickly threw the ball to Thunderlane who just came off a screen from Bulk. Clyde and Tyrone ran towards the hoop as Thunderlane quickly sprinted to the far side of the court. He stopped and passed it to an open Tyrone, but as he caught the ball, two defenders ran over to him and tried to get him to turn the ball over. Clyde quickly looked at the clock above the basket and saw that there was only five seconds left, and with no one else open, he did a small spin around his defender and ran to get open. Tyrone instantly saw Clyde run and launched the ball over his head to him. Clyde caught the ball without stopping and quickly jumped to shoot, drifting away from the basket and seeing a hand almost cover his face.
He was at the apex of the jump with one second remaining, but time and space seemed to be completely frozen. All Clyde could hear was his heart beat in a constant rhythm and all he could see was the side of the backboard and orange rim that jutted outwards as he somehow remained floating in air at that split second. Clyde focused on the rim and released the ball as time rushed back into place and he landed on one foot and jogged backwards. The buzzer went off and the ball perfectly swished through the net.
An eruption of cheers emitted from Canterlot High’s fan section as players, and even students from the crowd, ran to tackle Clyde. Tyrone was the first to get to him and he nearly knocked him down himself, but with the extra force of Bulk Biceps, a mosh pit soon formed around him on the court and Clyde couldn’t move. He knew hitting the game-winner would cause a riot, but he never imagined it being this crazy.
After a few minutes, the riot slowed down and Tyrone helped Clyde up off the court and patted his back. He gave him a smirk and walked away to celebrate with others.
After more students gave him smiles and nods as they walked by, Clyde was soon ambushed and hugged tightly by Rarity for a quick moment before she smiled at him. She held his face in her hands and gave him a kiss before letting her wondrous blue eyes seep into his.
"You did it!" she cheered and hugged him again. "My favorite player in the whole world won our school a championship!"
Clyde shrugged before grinning. "All I hit was one shot. The team gave me a chance to shine, but I'm not a hero."
"But you are a hero, darling! You're my hero!" She brushed a hand on his chin and kept her seductive smile on him. "Isn't that all that matters anyway?"
Clyde gave a warm smile and kissed her forehead, wrapping his arms around her. Because he was just subbed into the game a few seconds before that timeout, he wasn't sweaty at all so Rarity didn't try playfully running away from him. Rarity cooed at him in bliss because of the loving hug and Clyde felt euphoria instantly hit him. Not only was he the guy who won the championship for his school with the buzzer beater, he was also the guy who had the prettiest and greatest girlfriend a guy could ask for. Nothing could ruin this moment for him as he felt like he was a king.
"Good game, Clyde!" yelled Shale who walked up to them. "Let me tell you, that crowd was crazy to traverse through, but you should probably wake up now. You might be late for school."
Clyde blinked. "Huh?"
~ ~ ~
"Clyde! Wake your ass up! It's time for school!"
Clyde jolted awake and was immediately terrified as the lights of his room flashed on and off repeatedly. He quickly looked at the light switch and saw the silhouette of a figure standing in his doorway. Clyde rubbed his eyes to fully wake them, trying his hardest to focus on the figure. After his eyes began to take in light, there he saw that Shale was the cause of his preemptive awakening.
"Get up, Clyde," repeated his brother. "I'm about to take my early morning jog around Canterlot and I want to make sure you don't sleep in."
Clyde yawned and looked at his phone. Once he saw the time, he looked up at Shale in bewilderment and anger. "It's five in the morning?! I don't need to be up for another two hours!!"
Shale chuckled. "Waking up early can be good for you if you rest early the night before. Maybe you shouldn't talk to your girlfriend all night long on that webcam program."
"She needed help with her final history project," said Clyde defensively. "Normally we don't chat that long into the night, but like I said, she needed help with research." Clyde frowned and yawned. "You woke me from a cool dream."
"Oh? What happened."
"I was back at the Championship game and I was the one who hit the game-winner, not Tyrone." Clyde felt saddened to experience a dream like that, but the feeling of making the big shot to win the game was something he always wanted to do. Of course he was happy the school won anyway, but he felt like he didn't do anything that game.
"Yeah, but remember, he wouldn't have made that shot if you didn't steal that ball and passed to him. You had a great game with all your assists. Sure you had a rough game with shooting the ball, but you helped your team nearly score every point they put up by passing to the open person." Shale gave a comforting smile and turned to leave. "I'll see you later. Have a good day at school, you only got a few more weeks after all." Shale walked out of Clyde's room and ran down the stairs. Clyde heard the front door of the house briefly open and close before quietness filled his room.
Clyde laid in his bed staring at the ceiling. Shale left the lights off in his room, and since the sun wouldn't be over the horizon for another hour or so, he laid in darkness. Clyde tried falling back asleep, but couldn't. He gave a sigh after a few minutes went by and picked up his phone. After nearly blinding himself from the illuminated screen, he scrolled through his sports feeds and yawned.
An hour and some videos later, the sun's shine cracked through the gaps of his window blinds and light slowly flooded his room. He decided to finally get up and shower to start the day.
Once his shower was done, he dressed into his normal clothes and ran downstairs to eat a bowl of cereal. As he ate, he texted Rarity saying he would pick up and drive her and Sweetie Belle to school since he was up early. Rarity quickly responded back to him with a smiley face emoticon and an emoticon that was winking and blowing a kiss.
As Clyde exited his house, the cool and refreshing early morning breeze of May hit him gently. He always loved the month of May, and not because it was the last month of school. The weather was always nice when it didn't rain and everyone was just in a better mood overall because summer was only a few weeks away. Clyde got into his car and sped off towards Rarity's home.
Upon arriving at the small shop's entrance, Clyde was surprised to see both Rarity and Sweetie Belle already outside waiting for him. He leaned over to open the passenger door and pulled the seat forward so Sweetie Belle could sit in the back. Sweetie Belle quickly got in the car while Rarity elegantly walked over to it, as if she had time to spare, and sat in the passenger seat.
Rarity leaned over the center console and gave Clyde a warming good morning kiss. “Thank you for picking us up, darling.”
“She isn’t even at school yet and already she kisses him...,” stated Sweetie Belle apathetically from the backseat.
Rarity ignored her and gave a small yawn. “Oh my. Maybe I shouldn’t have procrastinated that history assignment after all.”
“Did you finish it?” asked Clyde.
“Yep! Finished it at around two in the morning.” She gave her purple backpack a small pat then looked at Clyde. “I’m extremely sorry if I caused you to stay up a little longer last night. You must be simply exhausted.”
Clyde shrugged. “Truth be told, I’m running on less hours of sleep than you because of my brother, but I don’t mind. As long as you finished your assignment, I’ll be happy.” He flashed her a smile.
"This is why I'm super lucky to have such a wonderful boyfriend as you." She brushed her hand along his face while showing her sultry smile. "I feel like I'm spoiled."
"It's because you deserve to be."
Sweetie Belle groaned and looked out the car window. "Maybe I should just walk to school today. We'll be here all day at this rate with all this lovey-dovey talk..."
Clyde and Rarity looked at each other and gave one last smile before Clyde decided to drive the car to end Sweetie Belle's discomfort. She didn't normally oppose them being all "cute" with each other, but since school was about to start, Clyde assumed she just wanted to get there to talk to her friends, and possibly just get out of the car in general before they decided to get even more passionate with each other.
A fairly short drive later, Clyde pulled into the student parking lot behind the school and turned the car off. Rarity got out of the car to move her seat forward. A few seconds later, Sweetie Belle quickly thanked him for the drive and said goodbye before dashing out of the car and into the school.
"She's quite eager for school," noted Clyde as he got out and locked his car.
"Maybe she has a secret boyfriend she doesn't want me to know about," joked Rarity with a smile. "She doesn't really stay home as much during the weekends recently, so it's plausible she meets him somewhere each week."
"Anyway, shall we head inside?"
Rarity nodded and strapped her backpack over her shoulder and walked up to Clyde.
As the two walked the path towards the back entrance of the school, Clyde could tell every student was in better spirits due to the fair weather. He exchanged some nods and smiles with his fellow peers as he walked by and towards the steps, but he soon felt a hand clasp his.
"Clyde, darling, can I ask you something?"
Clyde turned to look at Rarity. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong. It's just I noticed something rather interesting."
"Oh?"
Rarity tightened her grip on his hand. "Well, I noticed you don't ever hold my hand while we are at school. You do it sometimes when we are walking through town or the mall, but you haven't held my hand in school since... honestly, I can't even remember how long ago."
Clyde stopped walking to look at her and then to their hands that were locked together. He gave a frown and looked at her eyes. "I never really thought about it."
"Do you not love me anymore?" asked Rarity disheartened. Clyde knew she was playing around, but he always hated hearing her angelic voice show sadness.
"I think it's impossible for me to stop loving you at this point," said Clyde. He earned a smile from Rarity and he looked at their hands again. "I guess because I always thought holding hands in school was for new couples to do to signal they are now officially off the market. Since we've been together for so long and are always seen walking and sitting near each other, and because you are one of the most popular girls at school that has won the school dance crown three times in a row now, and even repeated as Spring Fling Princess a few weeks ago even, everyone knows that both of us are always going to be associated with each other."
"Always?" asked Rarity in a playful tone with raised eyebrows.
"I sure hope so."
Rarity giggled. "As do I." She looked away briefly before tugging him to continue walking. "Can we hold hands anyway at school? I still find it adorable and it's like we are still young and madly in love."
"But we are still young and madly in love," stated Clyde with a grin.
"Indeed we are," purred Rarity in a whisper, stopping in her tracks and holding his face with her free hand. Her face was only an inch or two away from his and he could feel her gentle breaths of air. "And I'll show you exactly how much I love you after school is done and we are alone by–"
"¡Hola, Rarity y Clyde! ¿Cómo están?"
Rarity instantly jumped back from Clyde. He looked to his left to see the always-smiling Pinkie Pie watching them and wearing a pink poncho. Atop her head was a pink sombrero that went well with her choice of attire.
"Good morning, Pinkie," said Rarity politely with a hand on her chest. "You nearly scared me."
"Lo siento, Rarity. ¡Yo estoy mucho contento porque hoy es Cinco de Mayo!" She gasped. "¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo, mis amigos! ¡Hoy es un día especial y me olvidé de decirles amigos!"
Clyde and Rarity looked at each other extremely confused. Clyde pulled out his phone to translate what she said, but stopped when he saw the date on his lock screen. "Oh, it's May 5th. That's right. I guess you'll be speaking the language for the whole day?"
"¡Sí!" nodded Pinkie. "'¡Estoy teniendo una fiesta después de la escuela en la cafetería! ¡Espero verle allí! ¡Hasta luego!" Pinkie flashed one last grin and ran into the school.
"Well, I can't say I didn't see that coming," stated Clyde scratching his head.
"It is Pinkie after all," agreed Rarity.
The two of them laughed before they finally walked into the school, holding hands because Rarity wanted them to.
~ ~ ~
After the final school bell rang, students fled the classrooms. Instead of rushing to the parking lot or outside, the students made their way to the cafeteria for Pinkie's small "fiesta". Clyde was happy that since he had almost no fuel from the few hours of sleep he had, the day seemed to fly by.
Like any normal Cinco de Mayo gathering, there were many types of festive and colorful decorations that were hung all over the cafeteria and tables of food that related to the holiday. Quesadillas, nachos, and tacos were the main attraction while chimichangas and fried ice cream were the favorites on the dessert table. After Clyde finished eating his fried ice cream and found a bottle of water, he made his way over to Rarity and her group of friends because no one from his "squad" was present. He sat down at a nearby table and pulled out his phone to read the sports feed while listening to their always-amusing conversation.
"This food is delicious, Pinkie," said Sunset sweetly. "Did you help with the food?"
"¡Sí! ¡Mi tía me ayudó a cocinar toda esta comida!” explained Pinkie excitedly and with a huge smile. “¿Les gusta la comida?” she asked and looked at each of her friends. They looked at Sunset who seemed to be the only one who could fluently understand Pinkie. After Sunset gave a nod, the others replied with one of their own. “Bueno. ¡Voy a ir a visitar a los otros estudiantes para ver si les gusta la fiesta también! ¡Adiós!” She quickly waved and ran away to the crowd of people.
“Well, at least that’s over with,” stated Rainbow Dash after she saw Pinkie surprise a group of students who were talking to each other. “I never bothered to take that class so I didn’t understand anything she just said.”
“You really should take some lessons on it in the future,” retorted Sunset. “Who knows when it can come in handy.”
Rainbow Dash pulled out her phone. “Nah.”
“Suit yourself,” grumbled Sunset shaking her head.
“Well, folks,” began Applejack, “hate to make it short, but Ah promised Apple Bloom Ah would finish her chores from last night.”
“Why did you do that?” questioned Rainbow Dash.
Applejack smirked. “So Ah can enjoy the family gatherin’ this weekend while she is busy doing my chores. No Apple can miss the first meeting of the summer!”
“I’m impressed AJ, that’s pretty evil of you,” laughed Rainbow.
“Pfft. It ain’t my fault she didn’t look at the calendar. She should know by now when our family meetings are.” She laughed, tipped her hat, and gave a wave before leaving the room.
“Yeah, I should probably go, too. Soccer practice is in an hour.” Rainbow Dash gave a ‘cool’ thumbs up as she walked away from them with her back towards the group and out of the room. Rarity turned to the two girls still remaining in the group.
"So, Fluttershy and Sunset. What are you girls doing today in this lovely weather?" asked Rarity curiously.
"I'm not sure," replied Sunset with a frown. "Fluttershy talked about going to the mall or something to look around and possibly get our nails done, but we haven't talked about it since this morning."
Fluttershy smiled. "I'll be willing to go if you still want to, Sunset. I think it would be fun."
"Ooh! That's sounds lovely!" gushed Rarity. "I don't want to sound rude, but could I join you girls? I really could go with a pedicure or something."
"Of course!" said Fluttershy in her quiet-toned joy.
"We'd love to have you join us, Rarity." Sunset soon frowned again. "However, you will have to drive because Fluttershy and I walked to school together today."
"I'm afraid I didn't drive either. Clyde took Sweetie Belle and me to school today..." The girls simultaneously frowned until Rarity looked at them and smiled. Soon, Fluttershy and Sunset smiled as they figured it out. All three girls slowly turned their heads towards Clyde.
It took a few moments, but after a weird feeling of people looking at him and the fact that the group stopped talking, Clyde looked away from his phone and saw the three girls looking at him. "Did I miss something?"
~ ~ ~
"Thank you for driving us to the mall today, darling."
It was now a few hours before nightfall as Clyde sat in his car with Rarity in front of her home. The two just got back from dropping off both Fluttershy and Sunset after spending nearly two hours at the mall. Clyde refused to walk with them through the mall and instead went around the mall by himself, looking through the various stores' windows to see if anything intrigued him. He eventually caught up with the three girls as they left a clothing store and together they walked out of the mall and he drove them back to their homes.
"Well, I didn't want to leave you or your friends at school without a ride, so I really had no choice," laughed Clyde.
Rarity smiled. "I still thank you for taking us." She opened up the passenger door and stepped outside. "My mother made fresh cookies last night before she left for her business trip. Do you want to come in to have some? I know you like my mother’s food."
Clyde nodded and turned off the car. "Your mom's food is always delicious."
Rarity laughed and unlocked the shop's door. Opal was sitting on the counter giving a small meow as she walked by her. Clyde stopped to rub Opal's head, and letting her rub her face on his hand, before heading into the kitchen.
There was a plate of cookies on the kitchen table that was covered with a plastic wrap to keep them fresh. Rarity took two of the chocolate-chip cookies and handed one to Clyde before she nibbled elegantly on hers. Clyde could tell by just looking at the cookie it was going to be amazing. It was perfectly round and even though it was made a day before, it was still soft. He bit into the cookie and felt the chocolate melt in his mouth.
"These should be illegal," said Clyde after clearing his mouth of food. "How are these so good?"
Rarity giggled. "Mother is an excellent cook after all. She has recipes for nearly everything. She said she would teach Sweetie Belle and me all her recipes eventually."
"Rarity cooking?" asked Clyde playfully, "now that would be a rarity."
"I can cook!" retorted Rarity with a smile, "it's just you always wanted to take me somewhere to eat and you don't really like the food I know how to make."
Clyde shook his head. "No, you are the one who wants to eat someplace because you don't have to pay for it."
Rarity giggled again. "Touché."
"But I'll eat anything you make, just because you worked hard on making it."
Rarity looked at the kitchen table. "How about we have one of those nice, romantic dinners here on Saturday where I shall cook and serve the food then?"
"That sounds wonderful," stated Clyde with a loving smile. "I bet you'll go all out with decor as well?"
"What? Me?" asked Rarity acting surprised. "Why would I ever do something like that, darling?" She flashed a sly smile before giggling. She instantly walked over to him and gave him an intimate hug. Clyde responded by wrapping his arms around her lower waist. "Are you still tired?" she asked while looking up into his eyes.
"Not really."
"Good."
Clyde knew that tone. "Why?"
"Oh, no reason..."
"I don't believe you."
Rarity gave a cheery laugh. "I was wondering since no one should be home for a few hours..." She coughed and leaned closer to his ear so she could whisper. "In honor of Cinco de Mayo... Qu'est-ce que tu dis nous allons à mon salle pour le fin de jour?" She backed her head away from him a few inches so she could kiss him softly.
"That's not even the same language," replied Clyde with a smile, "and I'm not exactly sure what you said, but it sounded seductive and extremely sexy."
Rarity lowered her eyes and winked at him. "That's all that matters." She leaned closer to his ear again so she could whisper the sentence again, this time in the language Clyde could understand in.
"I'd enjoy that," he replied with a smirk.
"We both will," she purred seductively.
Clyde didn't get to reply as Rarity kissed him again for a few seconds longer and grabbed his hand. She led him out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her room.