• Published 12th Apr 2020
  • 5,802 Views, 204 Comments

The Student from Warpla - SparkStone



A new student from a Human tribe goes to the School of Friendship on a mission. As he makes friends, he learns more about himself as well as the world around him.

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Part 20 - Basketball

Author's Note:

Sorry for not posting in the past few days.
I had a lot of stuff (I'm moving out right now as this part is being posted)

I also had trouble continuing off of the original Part 20 and decided to take it back later when I finish Part 21.

As for the reason why: I wasn't having fun continuing off of Part 20 - Hotel. It felt strained and I was getting tired. I was only 800 words in and I realized I was either getting bored or annoyed of it. So I took a step back and see where i could progress from.

In other news, I've been having a series of (shockingly) good news
Finished classes, graduating, henceforth the reason I'm moving back to home.

Don't worry, I'm not bored of this story or its concept yet. Thank you for showing concern and comment often. Comments help keep my interest rolling.

I'll leave Part 20 - Hotel on the story a little while longer.

In Valiant’s room, he shows his naked back to Chewka as he has his needles and marking tools. Chewka inspected Valiant’s back to check on his numerous markings. He pulls out his needles and gently prod the lines repeatedly until he got the information he needed. Finishing up his work, he puts away his equipment and gives the diagnosis.

“It seems that they’ve been wearing out as of late,” Chewka informed him. “You’ve been in many precarious situations lately, haven’t you?”

“Equestria isn’t as peaceful as anyone would have thought,” Valiant noted. “Aside from an attack from possibly one of our enemies back in Warpla, we also have creatures from Klugetown.”

“I’ve noticed. In any case, you should rest for the time being. I need to take the other students to purchase clothes. We won’t be gone too long and will return as soon as we finish selecting and acquiring everyone’s attires.”

“Alright. Thanks again.”

Chewka walked to the others and explained the plan for the morning. Smolder wasn’t in the idea of wearing outfits in public as she preferred to keep her hobby to herself and Valiant. When they heard that Valiant was going to rest for the morning, they seemed to have thought that Valiant was just tired except for Gallus who knew what he'd been through the other night. The kids, Spike, and Chewka left to go clothes shopping once more. Valiant sat on his bed, considering what he could do to pass the time. He looks over the pile of homework and finds something he can work on while he waits for the others. It’s the second day since he’s been here in Manehattan. It’s truly a new experience as he stays in the big city for the first time.


Valiant was working hard on his papers. It was the essays that proved difficult for him to come up several pages worth of information to explain a few concepts. Not having much to go on, he lacked in creativity to create content for subjects even when he knew a lot about them. As he pondered how to approach his assignment, the door opened to reveal Sandbar and Yona returning with bags of clothes.

“Oh, hey,” Valiant greeted them. “I see you’ve got some new clothes.”

“Hey Val! Yeah, ours was pretty easy to get and Yona managed to finish hers early.”

The young yak pulls out her green dress with sequences on the back half and thin white stripes on the front. “Yona got prettiest dress!”

“It looks nice,” Valiant smiled. “Any other plans for the day?”

“Sandbar said we’re going to go to the city again!” Yona told Valiant. She tapped her cheek and her eyes dazzled a bit at an idea. “Why don’t you come with us too?”

Sandbar flinched after Yona made the suggestion and turned to Valiant who saw no reason to decline. Valiant accepted the invitation to their little adventure.

“That sounds like fun. Did you have any ideas on where you’d want to go?”

“Um… Nowhere in particular,” Sandbar stammered, looking away. The poor pony was hiding the fact that he found a restaurant he wanted to eat at with Yona, but with the addition of Valiant, his plans have taken a turn.

“Exploring the city while we’re here is always a good idea,” Valiant stated.

“As long as Valiant doesn’t get lost again!” Yona reminded them of yesterday’s problem. Valiant scratches the back of head, somewhat embarrassed of the fact.

“I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen again. Shall we be off then?”

Yona gives a cheerful nod while Sandbar sighs, missing his chance alone with Yona for the day.


The three walk through town, scanning the nearby buildings for something to do. Sandbar felt a bit bitter not being able to go with Yona for just the two of them. However, he wasn’t about to hold resentment and simply saw this as another day to spend time with his friends. As they walk, nothing seems to spring out to them in particular. Valiant looked at the clothing store only outfitted for ponies and restaurants he didn’t want to eat at just yet without Silverstream.

“It’s pretty boring without the others here,” Yona sighed.

“I’m sure we can make this day pretty fun, right Sandbar?” He said, looking over to the distracted Sandbar, looking at the restaurants they were passing by. He snaps back to Valiant as soon as he realizes he was being talked to as well.

“Huh? Oh! Yeah, totally!”

They continued on with disinterest on their faces until they heard something down an alleyway. Sandbar was quite cautious, not wanting to run into trouble.

“Um… Maybe we should ignore that? We don’t know what could be happening over there.”

Valiant thought about the past two days and couldn’t help but agree. Between fighting on a train and in a warehouse, he didn’t want his friends to go in and get into trouble. However, Yona had other plans.

“Yona wants to see what’s over there!” she insisted, running on ahead of them. “Come on! It could be fun!”

“Yona, wait!” Sandbar called out, reaching to her. She continued and the pony looked to Valiant who merely shrugged before chasing after her. Sandbar sighed and followed them in. As they went down the cement path, they found Yona looking past a fence. When they caught up with her, they realized the sound was coming from a basketball hitting the rims of the hoops held up on both sides of what seemed to be a basketball court. They saw three ponies playing a game together with the orange ball.

One was a mare with a pink braided mane and green coat with a cutie mark of an orange basketball. Another was a stallion with a blonde mane, a blue coat, a cutie mark of a telescope, and a navy blue hat to match his eyes. Lastly was an orange pony who seemed slightly younger than the other two. He had a black curly mane with purple eyes and a cutie mark of a bag of bits and jewels. The three were passing the ball around before swiftly scoring it into the hoop. Yona hopped in excitement, shaking the court enough to even have Sandbar fall over.

“WHOA! Yona wants to play!” she exclaimed, running into the court and to the three ponies. “Can Yona and friends play with you?”

“Yo, are you challenging us homie!?” the blue stallion asked with his hoof waving around.

“... What?”

“Yo, chill man! They’re just looking for a good game.” the mare told him before turning to the others. “Sorry dudes, he’s just in the zone right now and he doesn't like having his groove off the beat when he’s on fire, you know what I’m saying?”

“I… I don’t think so...” Valiant admitted, struggling to understand what kind of mixed up lingo he’s hearing.

“We understand! We were just looking around to see what was going on here!” Sandbar responded, somewhat able to comprehend what they’re saying.

“Cool, cool, I dig your chill man,” the mare told him, bumping his shoulder. “The name’s Bubblegum. The one who was hollerin feisty was Farsight and our shifty swift pal is Bagger.”

“I’m not sure if I got their names right...” Valiant stated, trying to dig out the words thrown into her sentence like a blender full of rocks.

“Is the ponies mouth broken?” Yona wondered.

“Hey man, that’s just our lingo, ya get me?” the curly haired equine named Bagger told Yona. “You just gotta listen and get a feel of it. Once you let the words flow with you, you can jive with our mellow and be talking like the smooth kids in no time!”

“I… I’m not sure if I want to talk like that...” Valiant strongly insisted. “I think many of my peers would have difficulty understanding me.”

“Well, enough about the way we curl our tongues!” Bubblegum said, waving her hoof. “You three wanna get down on the court with us? A good ol’ three on three action oughta get real intense, ya dig?”

Valiant and Yona looked around to see if there was a shovel for digging. Sandbar grinned and said, “We’d love to! But this is Yona and Valiant’s first time playing a game.”

“Oh, don’t stress it none amigo!” Bubblegum assured him. “We’ll totally hold back and give you all enough time to shimmy in the game until you’re all readied up!”

After explaining the basics of the game, Yona and Valiant understood that they have to get the ball to the hoop and perform dribbling while they have the ball. The teams got into position and got ready to start the game. The ball is thrown in the air, signalling Sandbar and Bubblegum to reach it. Bubblegum manages to take the ball and runs with it to their goal. Yona quickly jumps in the way, stomping the ground causing it to shake. Bubblegum trips from the little quake and the ball bounces over to Valiant. He holds the ball and bounces it twice before throwing it into the hoop, scoring a point from the other side of the court. The opposing team was astounded he began complimenting him.

“Yo, that was TIGHT! You totally nailed that ball in!” Bagger stated.

“Man, that was pretty sick, dude! You sure you haven’t played this before?” Farsight wondered.

Valiant stared at them, unsure of what to say from the words he just heard. Tight, sick, and nailed just sounded too alien from whatever sentence they were trying to put together. Sandbar patted him on the back and said, “They were complimenting you, Val.”

“Oh! I see… Though, is sick really a compliment?”

“Yo Yona, you sure got a handle on this with all that ground pound action you got!” Bubblegum stated. “Though, if you could, less stompy stomp this time, okay?”

“Oh! Okay! Yona work hard not to do that!”

“Man, you got your own lingo, don’t you Yona?”

“Lingo?”

“Yeah! The way you talk!” Bubblegum stated. “Just like how the boys and I share the same slang, you have your own way talking to ponies! Nice!”

Yona smiled brightly as the trio of basketball players were getting along nicely. The game continues with Valiant demonstrating his speed, dexterity, and accuracy scoring many points. Bubblegum and her boys were still game and managed to score enough to keep up with their opponents. Sandbar was having a hard time keeping up while Yona passed by Farsight and Bagger stealing the ball. Truth be told, Yona had accidentally hit them in the head with her horns when she passed by them to take their ball.

Sandbar was having a good time, despite the others being much more accustomed to this high pace and skill level. Even Yona was performing much better than he would have thought for an activity she’s never played before. Taking another break between games, Sandbar thought about the day thus far. He was still pretty bummed out that he couldn’t go someplace with just Yona. As he was deep in thought, Bubblegum approached him without him even noticing.

The game tied up and Sandbar was at the front with Bagger to match up against. Valiant and Yona were behind him, ready to back him up. The game starts and Sandbar lunges at the ball, managing to take it and rush to the other side. Bagger and Farsight tried to stop him, but didn’t expect Sandbar to pass the ball over to Yona. Bubblegum quickly snatches the ball from Yona, only for her to be countered by Valiant who slid by and took the ball from her. In one quick motion, Valiant jumped to the hoop with Bagger rising up as well to block the shot. Valiant however turned to Sandbar and threw him the ball. The young pony grabs the ball and tries to throw it in the hoop with no one blocking. He takes the shot and the ball heads over to the hoop, the final shot for the winning game…!


“Sorry guys… Sandbar spoke in a defeated tone.

Valiant and Yona pat him on the back. The throw that Sandbar performed hit the rim of the hoop, only for it to somehow bounce off and go all the way to the other side of the court, scoring for the other team. It was pretty embarrassing to say the least. His friends were still very supporting.

“It’s okay Sandbar!” Yona told him as she patted him on the back. “That was a really good throw!”

“It was quite impressive that you managed to pull that off,” Valiant pointed out. “The likelihood of that happening is slim to say the least.”

“Gee, thanks Val,” Sandbar responded sarcastically.

The trio laughed regardless of their win or loss while Bubblegum and her friends approached them.

“That was fun! We ought to hang out again if you’re still in the neighborhood!” Bubblegum stated.

“It’s getting pretty late, so we’re gonna head on home.” Farsight pointed out. “You should go too. Nasty folk might pop out if you stick around too long in the night, ya feel me?”

“Right on… pal...” Valiant stammered, trying to keep up.

“No need to force it, Val! You’ll always be the coolest cat on the street! Especially with those moves!” Bagger assured him.

Valiant smiled as the two groups said their goodbyes for the night. Valiant, Sandbar, and Yona head to the hotel with sore muscles and a genuinely good time. Nights like these where nothing terrible happens we're times the three can truly appreciate, especially the magnet of trouble that Valiant had become lately.