“These apple scones are delicious!!” Apple Bloom beamed, savoring the sweet flavor.
“Ah’m glad you enjoy it, sugar cube.” The orange earth pony commented, glad that somepony else was enjoying her cooking other than her family and friends. Grabbing the pan off the counter, she walked over to the sink and started washing the dishes.
“Thank you again for making a few last minute scones, Applejack. We had a little bit of a rough morning.” Fluttershy said regretfully.
“Discord?”
Fluttershy looked away.
“It’s okay Fluttershy, we all know about Discord’s antics. It’s nothin’ new.” Applejack put in, not wanting Fluttershy to feel bad for Discord’s behavior. She then peered at Apple Bloom. “If anythin’, i’m hopin Discord wuzn’t too hard on ya this mornin’.”
Apple Bloom swallowed her mouthful of scone before she answered. “It wuz nothin’. Discord may have gottn’ me this mornin, but ah got’im back.” Holding back a snicker, she took another bite out of her scone, unaware of a serpin-like creature slithering on the sealing above them.
Applejack full-out laughed at Apple Bloom’s comment. “Well I’ll be. Ah don’t think anypony has gottin’ Discord yet! Don’t tell Rainbow Dash though. She’s been tryin to get the jump on Discord since he’s been reformed.”
“Well, ah don’t think he’ll mess with me fer a while now.” Apple Bloom huffed, biting into her apple scone. As she continued to chew, she found that the sweet taste of apple’s turned bitter. Scrunching up her face, Apple Bloom spit the remaining scone out of her mouth and inspected the scone, only to find pieces of green beans inside. She turned to Applejack and Fluttershy who were busy chatting with each other, then back to the scone in her hand. But when she took a look, she found the green beans gone.
“What the-“ Apple Bloom started, only to catch a white tufted tail slithering out of the door out of the corner of her eye. Seeing what happened, she glared after the slithering draconequuss.
“Oh, it is on!”
“She did WHAT!?” The cyan pegasus screamed at Fluttershy, who flinched slightly at her outburst.
“Ah got back Discord fer dunkin me this mornin’…..” Apple Bloom answered hesitantly.
“I’ve been trying to get Discord back for forever and you get him on your first try!?” The pegasus squinted her eye’s at Apple Bloom, gazed her over and mumbled a quick, “You got lucky,” under her breath.
Coughing into her hoof, Fluttershy spoke up, “Rainbow Dash, I was hoping you’d be able to show Apple Bloom some fun activities to do while she’s here. Something that would keep her entertained when Discord and I are busy.”
Perking up at the thought of rigorous activity, Rainbow Dash went into coach mode.
“Heh, so long as she’s with me, there’s no way she won’t have an awesome time!” Rainbow Dash boasted, turning towards Apple Bloom. “What kind of games are you good at?”
Apple Bloom rubbed her chin in thought. When she really thought about it, she didn’t really play much. Other than beating our cleaning record and having scavenger hunts with our cleaning supplies they didn’t really have time to play anything. As Apple Bloom thought more on it, she suddenly remembered a real game that they played. On Scootaloo’s birthday, they gave her a soccer ball that they found in the fields out back. It was a little deflated but not deflated enough where they couldn’t play some soccer.
“Ah kinda know how ta play soccer.” Apple Bloom replied.
“Soccer eh? No sweat. I ace at soccer!” With a quick swoop, Rainbow Dash disappears and reappears with a soccer ball. Tossing it on the ground in front of Apple Bloom, she stops it with her hoof and tests it’s durability. She’s never seen a ball that wasn’t damaged in some way, or a new one for that matter. Apple Bloom felt a light flutter in her chest. It felt nice to appreciate something as simple as a nice soccer ball.
“So, wanna play a round?” Rainbow Dash questioned, wanting nothing more than to have a little competition. Wanting to stretch her legs herself, Apple Bloom agreed. With a determined grin, Rainbow Dash indicates Apple Bloom to follow. Apple Bloom followed her onto the huge soccer field in the back of Discord’s mansion. Meeting in the middle, Rainbow Dash tossed the soccer ball in between them. “You know the rules kid?”
“Kick the ball into the other’s net. Got it.” Apple Bloom answered.
“Nothing to it. Now,” Rainbow Dash crouched down, “are you ready?”
Apple Bloom copied Rainbow Dash’s stance. “Ah wuz born ready. And by the way, only a jerk doesn’t let a filly win.”
Rainbow Dash smirked at her comment. “Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on ya…but not by much.” Looking toward Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash tosses the whistle that was around her neck making Fluttershy catch it clumsily. Fluttershy met Rainbow Dashes gaze. “Blow the whistle on three Flutters!”
Fluttershy hesitated, but then started counting down. “One…”
Rainbow Dash crouched down again.
“Two…”
Apple Bloom dug her hooves in the ground.
Fluttershy blew hard on the whistle, sending the two ponies towards the ball.
Rainbow Dash grabbed the ball first and started heading towards Apple Blooms net. Slightly growling at the failed attempt to get the ball, Apple Bloom runs after the blue pegasus.
Fluttershy told Apple Bloom about Rainbow Dash’s speed on the way to meet her, and she was not wrong. Rainbow Dash was indeed fast, but she could also tell that she was holding back. She wasn’t using her wings and she wasn’t running at full speed. She tried to keep up as much as she could, but the mare was just too fast for her.
As Rainbow Dash got closer to the net, she levitated into the air and back-flipped the ball into her net, earning her a point.
Hoof-bumping the air, Rainbow Dash kicks the ball over to Apple Bloom.
“I’ll give you a chance to get yourself a point, kid. Let’s see what you got.”
Apple Bloom took the opportunity to make a point and headed towards Rainbow Dash’s net. She could hear Rainbow Dash coming up behind her and tried to speed up. When she was about to make her shot, her hoof slips and was sent tumbling forward. On her back, she sees Rainbow Dash steal the ball and head toward her net; scoring herself another goal But that wasn’t all she saw. She only saw it for a moment, but she could have sworn she saw a banana peel on the field before it winked out of existence.
She honestly wouldn’t have believed it if she didn’t know of a certain draconequuss that has been messing with her all day. Growling in irritation, she runs at full speed toward that ball. In one swift moment, she stole the ball from Rainbow Dash and starts heading towards the goal. Hearing Rainbow Dash coming up behind her, Apple Bloom ducks and weaves the ball away from Rainbow Dash. Seeing the goal only a couple of hooves away, she sees her chance to make a goal, only to see the tail of a certain draconequuss hanging from the tree behind.
She could see the goal and taste the victory of scoring a goal….although….
Hesitating for just one moment, Apple Bloom kicks the ball toward to goal…only for it to fly over it and into the tree behind. With a large smack and a large thud, Apple Bloom saw Discord get hit with the ball, fall off the tree and land in the shrubs below.
Hiding her laugh behind her hoof, she watched as Discord teleported away from them.
Coming up behind her, Rainbow Dash stops next to her.
“That was some kick, kid. But now the ball is gone.”
“Ah’m sorry. Ah’ll go find it ferr ya though.”
“Eh, no worries. I got what I wanted.” Rainbow Dash smirked and looked down at Apple Bloom. “I know what your made of now. I think you’d like obstacle courses more.”
Smiling at her statement, she looked at her other side and saw Fluttershy land softly next to her.
“I hate to intrude, but I promised Rarity that I’d have her in for a fitting.”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, “Fiiiine. But make sure Rarity gets some sport’s gear in there. She’s gonna need it.” She added with a wink at Apple Bloom.
“Oh don’t worry. Rarity is going to love the projects.” With a giggle, Fluttershy turns towards Apple Bloom. “C’mon Apple Bloom. You’re going to love Rarity.” And with that, Fluttershy starts heading toward the mansion with Apple Bloom in tow; with a pair of mismatched eyes following their every move.