Ten More Yards

by 5aszs

BACK TO NORMAL

“2, 4, 6, 8, who do we appreciate, Sycamore, Sycamore, gooo Sycamore!”

Sycamore Oak’s football team ran out onto the field to huge cheers from pupils and staff. Thunderhoof was at the front leading, waving to the students and teachers as the team reached the middle of the field.

Lakefield’s team came out to a much quieter audience, the teachers encouraging the foals to be polite and clap for the away team.

In the middle of the field, Thunderhoof and Alabaster shook hooves as did Mr Bouncer and Lakefield’s head coach. The three referees arrived a few moments later and the two captains went over to them.

“Thunderhoof, if we get the toss, we’re gonna kick it okay?”

“Yes Mr Cobalt,” said Thunderhoof before walking to the middle of the field.

As they waited for the coin toss, Lakefield spread out and began warming up.

“Sycamore has won the coin and elected to kick the ball. Lakefield will be receiving the ball first.”

Thunderhoof and Alabaster returned to their teams and began warming up with them.

Whilst his team warmed up, Mr Cobalt flipped through his notebook. Without Atomic and Pablo playing, Sycamore’s offensive game had to be changed. Stormcaller and Starburst would both step into the roles of starting running back and primary wide receiver respectively. Mr Cobalt was well aware of Alabaster’s abilities at quarterback, and the defensive plan for Sycamore was to put as much pressure on Alabaster as possible.

As the away team began their stretches, a few Lakefield players called Alabaster’s name and pointed to the far right of the spectators gathered. Alabaster stopped stretching and led some teammates away.

“Thunderhoof, look.”

Thunderhoof and Starburst watched their opponents approach the spectators, wondering what they were doing. In between the players standing in front of the spectators, Thunderhoof saw glimpses of Chestnut shouting at Alabaster.

“Let's go.”

Thunderhoof galloped towards Alabaster, Starburst following behind him. As they approached, Thunderhoof heard the remnants of what he thought was most likely teasing.

“And what are you gonna do if I keep talking about her, huh?” Alabaster sneered, looking down at Chestnut.

“Just… shut up and leave me alone,” said Chestnut, but the Lakefield players laughed.

“Saffron, Saffron, Saffron. Are you gonna start crying now?”

Thunderhoof pushed through the Lakefield players and shoved Alabaster aside. “Leave him alone now.”

Alabaster stumbled but did not fall, and he glared at Thunderhoof. The two stood face to face, evenly matched in height. The Lakefield players surrounded Thunderhoof but Starburst was there by Thunderhoof’s side, keeping them back.

“Talk to him again and you’ll have me to answer to,” Thunderhoof gritted through clenched teeth.

The quarterbacks continued glaring at each other.

“What’s going on here?”

Miss Bellflower approached the group and crossed her forelegs, a frown on her face.

“Let’s go guys, they'll be sorry they ever messed with us anyway,” said Alabaster, and the Lakefield players left.

The players dispersed and went back to their teams.

“You okay, Chestnut?” Thunderhoof asked.

“I'm fine. Go on,you’re missing your warmup.”

Thunderhoof and Starburst returned to their teammates and after stretching quickly, began throwing and catching practise. Mr Cobalt had planned for Blaze to play a few snaps in this game, and so both Thunderhoof and Blaze took turns throwing to each receiver.

As he practised, Thunderhoof spotted a few Lakefield players with their coach gesturing towards him, trying to look discreet. He made a note to himself to keep an eye on the opposing team.

After a few minutes, the players cleared the field and both special teams came on. Sycamore’s kicker took the ball from the head referee and placed it on the 35-yard line. As soon as the whistle was blown, the Sycamore Oak-Lakefield game was underway.

---

At 27 Mayfield Avenue, the Tangerine family were enjoying Pumpkin Spice’s welcome home party. There had been an emotional reunion between Pumpkin and Tea Rose, and Butterscotch was excited to see her aunt, yelling ‘Pupki!’ as soon as she saw her. The adults and Atomic had gotten through the brownies fairly quickly, and were currently playing ‘Pin the Tail on the Pony.’ A paper with a large picture of a pony was stuck to the wall, and the sisters were up first.

“No Rose, your left! Yeah, keep going, slowly……now stop and turn a tiny bit to your right. Okay….no that’s too much to your right!”

Atomic and Syracuse giggled as Tea Rose and Pumpkin bickered briefly.

“You’re finally there, now just…… not there!”

When she heard laughter, Tea Rose ripped her blindfold off and also laughed. She’d stuck the tail onto the pony’s stomach.

“Alright, Atomic, Syracuse, you’re up.”

Tea Rose gave Syracuse the blindfold and Atomic stood a few metres away. Syracuse stood in the middle and spun around 5 times.

“Take 3 steps forward Dad. Okay, now… take a half step right. And keep walking until I say stop……..stop!”

Atomic had directed Syracuse to stand right in front of the picture. Syracuse held up the tail and slowly moved his hoof towards the wall.

“Yes, Dad, you did it!”

Syracuse took off his blindfold. The tail was exactly in the right spot.

“We’re such a great team!”

Atomic and Syracuse high-fived, and the party resumed. After an hour, when the food and drinks were nearly finished, Tea Rose announced that Butterscotch needed to have a nap, and the party ended there. As he tidied up with his father and aunt, Atomic heard a knock at the door.

“Mom, there’s somepony at the door, I’ll get it!”

Before Tea Rose could answer, Atomic hurried towards the door and unlocked it.

“Thunder, hey - woah!”

Thunderhoof’s purple mane was messy, he had a large bruise under his cheek and he looked like he was limping.

“Hey Atomic.”

“What the hay happened to you?!”

Thunderhoof sighed. “It's a long story.”

---

Lakefield’s kick returner knelt with the ball deep in the endzone, signalling a touchback. Sycamore’s defense and Lakefield’s offense made their way to the field. Thunderhoof spoke with Mr Cobalt briefly, before joining his team in the huddle on the pitch.

“Stormcaller, you’re up.”

Sycamore’s first play would be a run down the middle, opposite to the passing plays that the home team tended to start with. The teams lined up opposite each other on the 25-yard line, and Thunderhoof crouched begins his center, observing that the Lakefield defenders were spread out, a sign that they were in zone coverage.

“Hut!”

Thunderhoof turned around and gave the ball to Stormcaller. The offensive line had managed to push back the defensive line to create a gap in the middle and Stormcaller galloped through it for a gain of 7 yards.

As he lined a few yards behind his offensive line, Thunderhoof scanned the field. It was strange not seeing Atomic lined up with the receivers. The young quarterback looked back at the ball and called for the snap. As he dropped back, a linebacker burst through the offensive line and charged towards Thunderhoof. Before the quarterback had any time to scan the field for an open teammate, he was taken down hard, wincing when he hit the grass.

The center and left guard rushed over to Thunderhoof and helped him up. Thunderhoof called his team back into the huddle and called a play action, with Stormcaller staying back as extra protection.

This time, the Lakefield defenders did not get any pressure on Thunderhoof, and he had enough time to see Starburst breaking away from his defender on his curl route. Thunderhoof threw the ball just as Starburst reached the top of the route, and Starburst caught the ball at the 35-yard line for a first down.

As the snap clock continued running, Mr Cobalt called Thunderhoof over and whispered in his ear briefly. When Thunderhoof came back to his team, he told them the play and they broke from the huddle, lining up on the scrimmage line.

From the 35-yard line, the center snapped the ball to Thunderhoof, but as he turned to give the ball to Stormcaller, both defensive ends pushed past the offensive tackles and galloped towards Thunderhoof and Stormcaller. The quarterback and running back were thrown to the grass and as he fell, Stormcaller felt the ball being ripped out of his hooves. The ball bounced away and was scooped up by a linebacker. Luckily for Sycamore, the tight end Pacific Sail was close enough to tackle the linebacker so that he was not able to return the ball for a pick six.

On the sidelines, Lakefield’s offense cheered. Thunderhoof loosened the straps on his helmet and pulled it off as Sycamore’s offense came off the field.

“Plenty of football left to be played guys, don’t worry,” said Mr Cobalt as he flipped through his notebook.

As Stormcaller apologised for losing the ball, Sycamore’s defense weren’t doing much better than the offense. Alabaster had gotten into a rhythm and had plenty of time in the pocket. Maverick, the best defender on the team, found himself being double-teamed on every snap and he was growing more and more frustrated.

“Just put one guy on me, that's all I need,” Maverick muttered to himself after every play.

In under three minutes, Lakefield had moved the ball from the 20-yard line to Sycamore’s 25-yard line. Sycamore’s secondary were struggling against the larger and stronger receivers, benefiting from the excellent job Lakefield’s offensive line were doing to protect Alabaster. The only positive thing Sycamore’s defense had done on this drive was restrict Lakefield’s run game to less than 5 yards per carry.

Lakefield had the ball at the 25-yard line on a 3rd-and-6, and Alabaster scanned the defense quickly.

“Hut hut!”

As he leapt off the ground, Maverick was met by the left tackle. Lakefield’s tight end, who was normally lined up next to the right tackle to block, but since it was a 3rd down, he’d been given a route to run. Maverick grinned as he dug his hooves in and shoved the tackle aside, charging towards Alabaster.

A huge cheer sprung up from the crowd as Alabaster was sacked for a loss of 5 yards, and Maverick stepped over him and celebrated briefly. As he came off the field, Maverick was swarmed with high-fives and hoof-bumps.

“Excellent job, defense! That's how you start a game!”

Lakefield’s kicker converted the 38-yard field goal to give the away team a 3-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

---

On the other side of Fillydelphia, Pablo Scar was bored out of his mind. It had been hours since he had finished all of his homework, but other than the radio and a few dusty old books, there was nothing that Pablo could do to entertain himself.

Pablo’s grandmother - a kind and quiet mare called Daffodil - had fallen asleep on her resting chair hours ago, and her loud snores filled the otherwise quiet house. In the kitchen, Pablo was pouring himself a glass of water. As he left, he caught sight of the clock hanging above the kitchen door, and he suddenly got an idea.

I could go to school and watch the match. Grandma’s not going to notice and I’ll be back way before Mom and Dad come to get me.

Having decided on his plan, Pablo drank his water quickly and left the cup on the table. He went upstairs and to get his saddlebag, checking that his money was in his saddlebag. Palo fancied getting a hayburger and chips on his way to school. He peeked into the living room to check Grandma Daffodil was still asleep.

Okay, time to go.

Pablo unfurled his wings and opened the front door. Closing it behind him, Pablo took off for Sycamore Oak.

Fillydelphia was a city mostly comprised of earth ponies, and there were few ponies in the sky. This made it much easier for Pablo to speed through the sky. Spotting a takeaway shop a few minutes away from the school, Pablo descended and started slowing down, landing a few yards away from the shop’s entrance. As he entered the shop, Pablo found himself at the back of the queue. Remembering that students from nearby high schools often came to this shop, Pablo sighed as he waited, hoping the ponies in front of him wouldn’t take too long to order.

---

“Let’s go guys, let's show ‘em what Sycamore’s all about!”

A good return by Stormcaller meant the home team were starting the second quarter on their 40-yard line. Adjusting to Lakefield’s blitz packages, Mr Bouncer assigned Stormcaller to stay back on most plays as extra protections. Starburst, tight end Pacific Sail and the other receivers would run shorter routes that developed quicker, giving Thunderhoof more time to throw the ball.

As he lined up behind his center, Thunderhoof saw the Lakefield defenders had crowded the middle, most likely intending to blitz. Thunderhoof knew his receivers were running across the field, so there was going to be at least one open pass to throw. Thunderhoof moved back and braced himself for the hit he knew was headed his way.

“White 90, white 90, hut!”

As he predicted, Lakefield’s front seven came charging forward, easily pushing through the gaps. Starburst was the first open receiver and the closest to Thunderhoof, so the quarterback flung the ball to him before he was sacked.

Starburst caught the ball and carried it for another 15 yards before getting out of bounds to avoid a tackle. Back at the 35-yard line however, things weren’t looking good for Sycamore. Thunderhoof groaned as the defenders slowly got up off him. His right foreleg (his throwing leg) had taken the brunt of the force, and he struggled to get up. Around him, he heard the Lakefield defenders laughing and they took their time getting up. Thunderhoof knew this was revenge for defending Chestnut before the match. He wasn't sure if he would be able to throw the ball.

Sycamore’s first aid staff (who were on standby on the sidelines) rushed onto the field and pushed through the crowd of players to get to Thunderhoof. A few moments later, they helped him come off the field.

“We’re going to take him to the medical room, he’s not going to be able to play the rest of the game,” the head nurse told Mr Bouncer.

Thunderhoof winced as he took another step on his sore leg. “I’m fine, I can still play sir.”

“Thunderhoof, I’m not gonna risk it, okay? you‘re struggling to walk, you’re hurt. Blaze, you’re up.”

As Blaze suited up to get on the field, Pablo arrived by flight just as Thunderhoof was led off the field.

Thunderhoof is injured?! What the hay?!

On the other side of the pitch, Pablo spotted a tree that still had a few leaves left, and he figured that he would be able to get there without anypony seeing him. He flew towards the spectators and flew over them slowly, reducing his wing movement and gliding through the air. Pablo reached the tree and perched on a branch, pushing leaves aside to get a better view of the game.

On the field, Blaze took the first snap and tossed the ball to Stormcaller. Pablo cheered as quietly as he could as Stormcaller passed the first down marker and was tackled at the 30-yard line for a 20 yard run.

On a 2nd-and-8 at the 18-yard line, Blaze took the snap and dropped back, seeing Starburst had an opening on his slant route. Starburst caught the ball and took the ball into the endzone for Sycamore’s first touchdown.

Starburst spiked the ball as the spectators cheered loudly. On his tree, Pablo pumped his fist and moved forward slightly to get a better view.

With the score 7-3 to Sycamore, Lakefield took over and Alabaster dominated the drive, finding open teammates easily and even running the ball himself a few times. The away team’s drive took up most of the second quarter. With 35 seconds left, Lakefield’s running back carried the ball into the end zone for a touchdown. The extra point went through the uprights and the first half of the game ended, the score 7-10 to Lakefield.

---

In the tree, Pablo suddenly felt an urge to empty his bladder, and he slowly turned around and pushed through the leaves to the back of the tree. Looking behind to make sure nopony could see him, Pablo jumped off the branch and flew quickly to get to the toilets in time. Once he’d entered the building, Pablo landed and ran into the colts’ toilets, entering the first cubicle.

“Alright, I think the first half has finished, so you can still go and watch the match.”

“Thanks Miss Bellflower.”

Pablo gasped. He had a chance to get an answer to the question he’d asked nearly two weeks ago.

“Amber!”

Amber Breeze stopped suddenly. Maybe she was just imagining things. There was no way Pablo was right behind her.

“Hey Amber.”

Amber turned around and Pablo closed the taps and came out.

“Hey...Pablo.”

Amber was not ready to tell Pablo that she did not have feelings for him, but she knew the sooner she got it over and done with, the quicker she could move forward from this incident.

“Did you…..uh…. like the song I wrote for you?” Pablo asked nervously.

“Yeah, it was really good. Listen Pablo,”

Amber cringed as Pablo’s face dropped when she told him she only wanted to be friends with him.

Hopefully he doesn’t get upset or anything.

Pablo stood in silence. This was all Atomic’s fault - if he had not interrupted them Amber could've been telling him what he wanted to hear. Remembering that the match’s second half was due to start soon, Pablo took a deep breath. He had to put on a brave face.

“That's okay. I'm happy to be friends with you.”

Amber breathed a sigh of relief and hugged Pablo. Pablo held Amber for a few moments before letting her go.

“I'm not actually supposed to be here. D’you wanna watch the match with me from a tree?”

---

It was 16:27, and there were only 2 and a half minutes left in the game.lakefield had held onto their lead for most of the match. The score was currently 17-10 to the away team, and Sycamore still had 65 yards to go.

Blaze had had to use his legs to escape several sacks from the Lakefield front seven, who were able to get pressure on the quarterback on nearly every play. Stormcaller had played decently but clearly wasn't as good as Pablo. Starburst on the other had stepped up in Atomic’s absence and was the key target of Blaze’s passes.

Just before the ball was snapped, a Lakefield tackle jumped forward prematurely, and whistles were blown. The offsides penalty brought Lakefield ten yards forward and gave them an automatic first down, helping in their attempt to tie up the game.

“Come on guys, let’s go get a touchdown,” Blaze said in the huddle, clapping his hooves.

On the 45-yard line, Sycamore’s first play was a screen pass to Starburst. Mr Cobalt hoped that all of the pressure Lakefield were sending up front, they’d neglect the sidelines.

Starburst caught the ball. Ahead of him, Pacific Sail and another receiver blocked the 2 closest defenders, giving Starburst a clear path to the end zone.

On the sidelines, Sycamore’s players cheered Starburst on, crowding around on the sideline and chanting Starbust’s name. Mr Bouncer told his team to move back to avoid a penalty.

At the 10-yard line, Starburst was finally tackled. He was mobbed by his teammates and it took a while for the crowd to quiet down. Everypony watched the teams line up on the 10-yard line. Blaze read the defense’s formation. He knew there was no way they’d be able to cover everypony in that blitz formation.

“Hut hut!”

Uncharacteristically for Sycamore’s center, the ball was snapped too hard. Luckily Blaze was able to control the ball, and he took his customary 5-step drop back. Sycamore’s offensive line and Stormcaller were doing a great job holding back the blitz, and sprinting inside the end zone, Starburst saw the ball coming his way. After he let go of the ball, Blaze threw up his forelegs in premature celebration

What the hay?!

In the end zone, Lakefield’s number 34 knelt down in the end zone with the ball, signalling a touchback. The safety had been able to jump in front of Starburst and catch the ball.

Dejected, Sycamore’s offense slowly walked off the field to loud boos. On the sideline, Maverick was trying his best to get the sentence fired up, reminding them that they still had time to force a turnover and get the ball back.

“Come on, let’s finish the game strong, no matter what,” said Mr Cobalt.

Lakefield’s offense started the ball at the 20-yard line. Watching on the sidelines with a bandaged foreleg, Thunderhoof assumed that Lakefield would run the ball a few times and kneel the ball to end the game. But Alabaster had other ideas.

Alabaster threw a dime downfield for 30 yards, then he ran the ball himself for an extra 14 yards. At the 36-yard line, Lakefield’s running back carried the ball for 10 yards.

“What the hay?! Why aren’t they just kneeling?!”

At the 10-yard line, Alabaster turned around and locked eyes with Thunderhoof and sneered. On a 2nd-and-6, Alabaster scrambled to the far right and threw the ball over two defenders to connect with his tight end in the end zone for a touchdown. It was an incredible throw. There was no coming back from a 14-point deficit with only 11 seconds left.

On the sideline, Thunderhoof glared at Alabaster, who was too busy celebrating in the end zone.

He did this on purpose.

A few moments later, the referees blew their whistle to end the game. As the two teams swarmed onto the field to shake hooves, the same Lakefield players that had been harassing Chestnut before the game made a beeline for him. Out of the corner of his eye, an already annoyed Thunderhoof saw Alabaster lead some teammates over to the dispersing crowd. He knew exactly where they were going. He pushed through the ponies on the field, limping towards Chestnut.

Chestnut and the other school newspaper members had gotten lots of good pictures of the match. It was typical for one of the reporters to interview the winning team’s quarterback for the following week’s article.

“Hey Chestnut, did you get some good pictures of us? Hey, maybe we should get Saffron to join us for pictures?”

Lakefield players laughed as Alabaster reached over and pinched Chestnut’s cheeks tightly.

Chestnut’s face burned red with embarrassment.

“Yeah, remember how he’d look at her in Prench?!” another colt retorted as he made a face, and this time the Lakefield players laughed even louder.

Chestnut took a deep breath. Around him, his Sycamore classmates were watching on in silence. None of the teachers had noticed what was going on, so Chestnut was on his own.
The colt took a step forward and tried to compose himself.

You can't have somepony defending you every time. Come on Chestnut, say something!

“Shut up and leave me alone.”

Alabaster continued laughing, making a point to ignore Chestnut.

“I said, shut up and leave me alone!”

Ponies turned around and saw the growing tension on the sidelines.

The Lakefield players stopped laughing. Alabaster stood over Chestnut, sneering down at him.

“The buck did you say?”

Thunderhoof had almost reached Chestnut, but he decided to hang back and watch, surprised that Chestnut had the courage to stand up for himself when he was clearly outnumbered.

Alabaster pushed Chestnut back. “Come on then, get me to shut up? Or are you gonna start crying?”

Chestnut was sick and tired of being pushed around by his former classmates. They’d ruined his chance to tell Saffron how he felt in his own time, and they were embarrassing him in front of his new friends. He just wanted it to stop.

Thunderhoof gasped loudly. There was no way that had just happened.

Alabaster blinked slowly. His nose was sore. In front of him, Chestnut was breathing heavily. His right hoof was outstretched and shaking.

Alabaster jumped over the yellow line separating the match and spectators. He crashed into Chestnut and the two rolled around on the floor. Alabaster threw wild punches, and whilst most of them were off the mark, some connected with Chestnut’s head and face.
Around the fighting colts, foals watched on in awe, whilst teachers and coaches charged in to try and break up the fight. Thunderhoof limped forward as fast as he could and snuck through the crowd. As Alabaster and Chestnut were pulled off each other, Thunderhoof was enraged. Chestnut had a huge cut on his face and a swollen cheek. Aside from his bruised nose, Alabaster had only a few scratches. As he saw the other Lakefield players high-five and congratulate Alabaster, Thunderhoof’s anger reached a boiling point. Not only did they deliberately injure him and beat his team, but now they’d attacked Chestnut too. He wasn't going to get away with this.

As Alabaster was being led away, he suddenly felt somepony pulling him back. Alabaster lost his balance and tumbled onto the grass. Above him, Thunderhoof glared down at him. With his good foreleg, he drew it back and struck Alabaster in the face as many times as he could before he was dragged off by Mr Cobalt and a few other teammates.

In a tree far from the field, Pablo and Amber were watching the altercation in shock. Chestnut was the last pony they expected to start a fight, but Pablo found himself respecting Chestnut for standing up for himself. He looked down as everypony on the field began to disperse, waiting for a clear opportunity to leave undetected.

Pablo stood up and put his saddlebag on. “Amber I gotta go, I have to get back to my grandma’s house before she wakes up.”

“But how am I supposed to get down?” Amber asked.

“Oh yeah.”

Pablo directed Amber to climb onto his back. He took flight and slowly dropped down, landing as softly as he could.

“Thanks Pablo.”

Pablo said goodbye to Amber and flew out of the school as quickly as he could.

---

Inside 27 Mayfield Avenue, Atomic was shocked. The last thing he ever expected from Chestnut was to start a fight, and he wished he was at the game to give the Lakefield players a piece of his mind.

“Then they took me inside and let me off because it was my first time,” Thunderhoof concluded.

“Wow. I wish I was at school today.”

“Thunderhoof.”

Tea Rose came into Atomic’s bedroom. “Your mother’s here.”
“I'll see you tomorrow at school Thunder.”

After Thunderhoof left, Atomic decided to pack his school bag for the next day. He went downstairs to clean up the living room with his mother, father and aunt. Afterwards, he had dinner at the dining room and got ready for bed.

At 20:30, Atomic turned his bedside lamp off and fell asleep quickly. As he dreamt, any worries about seeing Amber at school faded away. For now, Atomic was at peace.