Youngblood

by Centurion Pike-Wall

30~Speciality

Author's Note:

🇺🇸 Happy Independence Day, everyone! 🇺🇸

January 6th, 3095 Imperial Calender (1523 AD)
PRJU Gym

Depressi's PE class stood around the gym, talking amongst themselves. Their teacher, Coach Sandbar, had not yet arrived, and so they were left to their own devices. Depressi himself was sitting down, back leaning against one of the bleachers. He stared up at the ceiling, before his eyes fell down to directly in front of him.

He stood up and instinctively stiffened when he saw the coach enter the gym. "Sorry I'm late, class", he said. "I had to work a few things out, but I'm here now. Good morning, class!"

"Good Morning, Coach!", the class said, as one and in a pleasant monotone.

Coach Sandbar stood in front of the collection of students, a lazy smile on his face. "Alright then. Today, we're in-between units and are restricted to the gym for the next week due to some extra snow the pegasi are bringing in. Anyway, I was thinking that, in the meantime, you all wouldn't mind playing dodgeball for a few days?"

A few cheers broke above the general excited chatting amongst the students. Depressi himself couldn't help but give a small smile. He hadn't played the game before personally, but he knew one of his friends from outside of Creui who had. While he couldn't remember all of the rules off of the top of his head, the way it had been described to him made it seem like his skill with ranged implements would come in handy.

Coach Sandbar gave a lazy smile. "I thought you might! Anyway, um... Hot Rock?"

A large colt with a bluish-white coat and a dull gold mane nodded. "Yeah coach?", he asked, his deep voice reminding Depressi of a thunderclap.

"Can you go grab the balls for us? They're in that closet over there", the Coach said, pointing to a door that only stood out from the rest of the wall because of the protruding handle.

"You got it", Hot Rock said, heading over to the closet.

"Now, due to it being a bit of a varied game, I'll go over how this game will work", Sandbar said. "There will be two teams. If you get hit, you're out, and stand on the sidelines. If you catch the ball, then the person who threw it is out and one of your teammates can come back in. You can't use your wings or magic to catch the balls; either dodge or use your hooves."

By the time he had finished, Hot Rock had returned. He lightly said, "Excuse me. Coming through. On your right." When he was in the front of the group, he lightly tossed the net-bag in front of the coach, who looked down at them.

"Thanks, Hot Rock", he said, to which the colt smiled. "Now, I need two volunteers to be team captains." He laughed when he saw at least ten hooves raise into the air out of the class of thirty. "Alright, alright. Hmm... Ok. Thunderhead, and... how about Big Top."

Thunderhead, as well as the dark orange and pale green and white mare, walked to the front, standing on either side of the Coach. Sandbar opened his mouth to speak, but stopped himself. "Uh... anyone have a bit?"

"Yes, sir", Depressi said, pulling his wallet out of a pocket in his tunic. He handed it to the couch, who smiled.

Sandbar said, "Thanks. Now, call it in the air."

As he tossed it up into the air, Big Top called, "Heads."

Sandbar caught the coin, before turning it over and resting it on his other foreleg. He lifted it up, revealing which side it landed on. "Heads. Alright, Big Top. You can choose first", Sandbar said, returning the coin to Depressi.

She looked over the assembled group of creatures in the gym, finally falling on Depressi. She scrutinized him for a little bit, before her eyes continued to scan. "Hmm...", she mused, tapping her chin. "... Cherry Bomb."

The Dark brown and blonde colt trotted over to next to Big Top. Before he had even come to a stop, Thunderhead had said, "High Society."

High Society giggled, trotting up next to Thunderhead. "Such a gentlecolt", she said, grinning. Thunderhead, meanwhile, stiffened somewhat, a grin splitting his face as well.

Big Top rolled her eyes, before looking back into the crowd. Once again, her gaze fell onto Depressi, a small smile of her own growing across her features. "Depressi", she said.

Depressi stood up, walking over next to her. He sat down next to Cherry Bomb, the two sharing a quick look before Cherry Bomb resumed looking ahead. Depressi did the same, only breaking his gaze at the slowly dwindling group of his classmates to steal a look at the other team.

+++++~+++++

A few minutes later, the teams had been divided up evenly, as well as a few pieces of jump rope laid out to indicate the zones for out players. "Alright then", Coach Sandbar said. "Everyone against the far side of the court. When I blow the whistle, you all run forward and can have at it." As he said this, he opened the sack of balls and let them fall out into the center of the improvised arena.

All of the others tensed up, preparing to sprint forward. Depressi, meanwhile, simply crouched down slightly to avoid being such a big target. He didn't want to rush forward with the rest of them; too much exposure when getting in close, and he didn't want to be caught in the immediate and likely chaotic crossfire.

True to his belief, when Coach Sandbar blew the whistle, all hell broke loose.

Almost the entirety of both teams rushed forward, scrambling for the limited collection of balls. Only a few managed to achieve their objective in the mad dash, sometimes slamming into one another in an attempt to grab the balls. Those that failed to grab them scrambled back to avoid the first salvo, which slammed into both sides. It reminded Depressi of a demonstration of cannons held at the fort, given the way that the balls slammed into and threw down their targets. Soon, those that had been hit stalked off to the side, leaving the balls scattered across both sides of the arena.

The initial barrage had ended, with many of the remaining students slinking to the back of their side. That being said, the arcs of fire didn't slow. The balls rolled around them, being picked up and tossed back into the opposite side and towards the enemy.

Depressi himself would occasionally grab one of the balls, all the while ducking and weaving to avoid being slammed by one of the balls. When he had one, he would attempt to get clear of his teammates and pick off another student on the other side in a similar position. While only a few hit their mark, the students on the other side moving just as much as him, a few of his shots would occasionally find their target.

Soon, the fire had died down as numbers dwindled. The salvation granted by a ball being caught was seldom invoked, though a few would return back to the arena after a few balls were caught. Soon, only a total of three remained: Depressi, Thunderhead, and, by either the luck of the Gods or simple blind chance, High Society.

The two of them threw balls at Depressi simultaneously, apparently trying to overwhelm him. Thunderheads ball he was able to duck under, allowing it to sail over his head and into the far wall of the gym. The somewhat slower ball of High Society, however, was coming in at a way he wasn't able to dodge fully from his current position. Instead, he raised his paw, open wide in an attempt to catch it.

As the ball hit his paw, he slammed his digits shut, holding onto it. He stood up higher, realizing that he had closed his eyes while awaiting the impact. Gazing at the other two, he couldn't help but smile at the stunned look on High Society's face, which soon turned to frustration.

"Don't worry", Thunderhead said. "I'll get hi-OW!" He cried as the ball slammed him in the chest, knocking him to a knee.

"What is that phrase you Equestrians have?", Depressi asked. "'Keep an eye on the ball?'"

Overcoming their shock and realizing what he had done, Depressi's team erupted into cheers, a few of them patting Depressi on the back. Thunderhead, meanwhile, scowled and said, "Oh, buck you."

"When and where?", Depressi asked, resulting in laughter from most of the other students and a bright blush from Thunderhead.

"Alright, alright", Sandbar said. "That's enough. Everyone get back onto their sides, and we can have another round." Depressi did so, smirking at Thunderhead. Given the differences between Equestria and Pryhan PE, he had never really been able to fully enjoy this class. However, this had really gotten his interest peaked and blood pumping.

Comments

[THERDSTORYWHISPERER]

Great chapter!