Chapter Three
You breathe out a yawn into your hoof as you prepare to lift the next crate. Releasing a grunt, you’re able to bring it up onto your back and stand with all four legs. Considering the weight of these boxes, you swear that almost all of these ponies today are shipping dumbbells. With strained steps, you’re able to get to the wagon before being faced with the challenge of getting it on there. After another, much longer grunt, you stand on the tips of your hooves to carefully slide it off your back and into the wagon bed where you can push it to a better spot.
“Come on, buddy. You draggin’ flank or what?” says the gritty voice of your manager. You look up to his stern face, his furrowed brow and the frown underneath the stubble he’s somehow able to sport over fur. The look is betrayed somewhat by his soft blue eyes.
“Sorry, Boxey. Sir,” you say, standing straight up in an effort to look more awake. “I was up late last night. Didn’t get enough sleep.”
“And just what were you doin’ last night?” he asks.
“...Bowling,” you say.
“Bowlin’? The alley closes at 8. Where’d you find late night bowlin’ and why?” he asks.
“Long story,” you reply instinctively, not feeling like explaining your Bowler’s Bet or whatever it was to anypony who didn’t need to know.
“Well, alright. But we’ve gotta get these boxes loaded up and ready to go to Appleoosa on the next train, so we need some hustle!” he says.
“Yes sir,” you reply, lazily lifting a hoof into a salute. He responds with a look somewhere between doubt and concern, but makes no further comments and takes his leave.
The moment he is out of sight and the door shuts behind him, you drop your hoof to the floor with a haggard sigh. For a moment, there was a fleeting moment of hope that he would send you home for the day or something. Of course, you know that’s completely wishful thinking. The wishful thoughts continue as you pray for the day to end sooner, having gotten little sleep last night after your session. You've been running ragged for a good portion of the day.
You just hope it will all pay off in the long run. You've been making a little bit of headway under the guidance of Allie. Your performance is still nothing spectacular. Even a foal would scoff at the scores you manage to hit with your bowling. But hey, a bad score is better than no score, right?
Still, Allie sure seems confident in your skills. Even through the occasional cringing expression you caught her sporting on her face after your rolls, you could see a glimmer of hope within her eyes. Not to mention that she never scolded you so much as she critiqued you with your bowling. Positive criticism, at that. She’s nothing if not optimistic, and by Celestia does your performance need a bit of that.
You shake your head lightly. Save the bowling mindset for later. Right now, you need to get these crates all packed up before Boxey unleashes his wrath upon you. You turn back to the loading dock to grab another. As your weary eyes settle upon the boxes, you find yourself yawning again. You could almost take a nap on them in your current state, splinters and back pains be damned!
You push both the rebellious thoughts out of your head and the current crate onto the wagon, getting up to slide it to the back. Looking around, you guess that you still have another half-dozen or so crates to load, at least. A frustrated groan gurgles in the back of your throat as you hop off the wagon and back into the warehouse for another crate.
Steeling your resolve, you get ready to just get this current project done, tiredness and dragging flanks aside. Taking another, you hoist it up with gusto and take it to the wagon with a jogging pace, but still careful as to not rattle around the crate’s contents. Lifting up and a slide puts it in place on the wagon.
Then you catch your breath, realizing that there’s no way you’d be keeping up that pace. It’s going to be a long one...
~*~*~
Opening the door, you collapse on the couch to rest your aching limbs. After the wagon to Appleoosa, there were three more wagons to load up. Sure, the money was decent and the labor was probably good for your body, but at this very moment you regret your choice of employment.
Are you hungry? You don’t even know; the thought of moving to the kitchen and making something makes your hooves call out ‘Haha, how about doing that later?’ And later it shall be.
Instead, you happily opt to lazily shift yourself around until you’re laying on your back, staring up at the ceiling. Slinging a hoof over your stomach, you take a few moments to simply catch your breath. You haven’t had a single break all day, so you relish in this one moment of solitude you get to have before your session later tonight.
You actually contemplated asking Allie if you could reschedule or something. Anything that would allow you a bit of extra rest after having had consecutive sessions with her. For all you know, these practices could end up doing more harm than good! But with how stubborn she can be, you’re not sure if she’d allow such a “lazy-colt” attitude.
You’ve bounced the idea of asking around in your head for some time. Unable to predict her possible reaction, you simply sigh and lift your hooves, propping your head on them. Perhaps you could just write her a letter or something. It’d spare you the issue of having to deal with it face to fa-
*knock knock*
Your eyes shoot open at the intruding noise coming from the front door. You lift your hooves over your eyes as your head leans back, a murmur of angst escaping your lips all the while. As your head hits its apex, you open your eyes and plop your hooves down to your sides as they land on the cushion with a quiet thump. The one day you don’t want any company, of course. Right.
Slowly scooting off the sofa, you land on your hooves and drudge your way to the front door. Whoever it is, you hope that the visit is short. You were in the middle of something, that is to say nothing, and you wanted to get back to it.
Twisting the knob with a hoof, you repeat to yourself one last time the wish to make this visit as quick and painless as possib-
“YOU.”
You hear the accusation before you’ve even opened up the door all the way. On the other side is Treble, his scowl much deeper than usual. His less than friendly greeting gives you a feeling of fear and resentment.
“What is it, Treble?” you ask.
“What’s this I hear about a bet with Hardball’s team!?” he asks. “And that if we lose, one of us gets banned from the bowling alley!?”
Oh right, he’s involved in that, too. Considering you only see him on a weekly basis, you hoped to be able to put off mentioning to him.
You give a little nervous chuckle. “Yeah, uh... how’d you hear about that?”
“I was in the bowling alley today,” he begins. “I was there to buy some of their ball-wiping rags for my bandmates and I heard somepony mention it.”
“What do they need rags from the bowling alley for?” you ask.
“I found it’s really good for cleaning my bass with,” he says. “It’s not too thick, but holds moisture really well without just pushing liquid around and my bandmates wanted some.”
“Huh. So who happened to mention it?” you ask.
“I don’t know. Figured I heard them wrong at first, but then I heard it again. And again.” His gaze locks onto you. “Different groups of ponies, spreading the word all around. It’s all they’re talking about there! This ‘Bowler’s Bond’ crap?” he says.
“Yeah, that...” you say as your hoof finds its way to the back of your neck. “Look, it’s not like we instigated it or anything.”
Treble gives you a look that seems to be a mixture of confusion and pure frustration. “What the heck does that mean? Did the bet just walk up and shove itself into your face or something!? Let alone a bet that could cost one of us our bowling career!?”
“Look, it’s hard to explain, alright?” you say defensively. How exactly do you explain how Allie caused the bet out of a lack of attention? “For one reason or another, we’re in this bet. It really can’t be helped!”
“Oh, yeah, that’s great. Just fantastic!” the stallion responds, tossing his hooves into the air and shaking his head. “Great hearing that it’s hopeless from the dead weight of the team!”
Your mouth drops slightly at that. “Hey! I didn’t ask for it to happen! And insulting me isn’t going to change anything!” you lift your head up slightly, lowering your eyes to meet his. “And as a matter of fact, I’m actually getting better.”
He ceases shaking his head for a moment to give you a questionable glare. “Oh, really now? Can you actually, you know, hit the pins?”
“I’ll have you know that I can!” Not all of them, but... “All my recent practice hasn’t gone anywhere!”
“Recent practice?” he asks, surprise replacing the ire in his voice.
“Yep! I’ve been getting some one-on-one practice with Allie herself!” you say, sticking your chest out a bit with a hint of pride. “She’s really been helping me.”
“The two of you during the day or something?” he asks.
“Actually, she’s too busy during the day managing the place,” you explain. “So she keeps a lane open at night so it’s just us.”
You think you see a smirk begin to grow on Treble’s face. “So what are these practice sessions like?” he asks.
“Pretty intense. She really pushes me hard,” you say.
“So is it just about the bowling or do the two of you perhaps, I don’t know, talk about other things?”
“It’s just bowling, bowling, bowling. Tips, techniques, what have you. Little time to discuss anything else.” As soon as it came, the smirk on his face vanishes. “Did you want to join us?”
“No no no, I’ve got other things to do during the night,” he says.
“Like what?”
“Sleeping,” he responds. “You’ve got some serious bags under your eyes going.”
You give a sigh. “Yeah, I haven’t gotten much sleep lately...” you grumble. “But hopefully it’ll pay off.”
He clicks his tongue. “I’d hope so, for your sake. ‘Cause if we lose, it ain’t gonna be me walking out of that alley!”
You hold up a hoof defensively. “I promise you, none of us are going to be kicked out. We’re going to win and gives those punks what’s coming to them!” You put on a smile in assurance, despite it betraying the shaky confidence within you.
He eyes you warily for a moment before letting out a silent sigh. “Guess I’ll leave it to ya, then. Keep up the...whatever it is you’re doing at the alley.”
You chuckle slightly before pulling your hoof into a lazy salute. “Sir, yes sir.”
The motion manages to elicit a roll of the eyes from the stallion. Either way, he turns around and begins to trot off towards the town, leaving you alone. You calmly close the door, and then immediately turn and slump to the ground, your weary legs finally getting the better of you.
You shake your head as you yawn. Not only is the sleep deprivation getting to you, but now you’ve got Treble’s ever-judging eye on you, too. Great, just what you needed. More pressure.
Pressing a hoof to your forehead, you try to clear your thoughts. You and Allie have been making some progress, but it’s nothing you can call spectacular. Considering the allotted time you have left, you conclude that you might want to step it up for the next few sessions.
Of course, that’s for later this evening. Right now, that couch over there has never looked more alluring...
~*~*~
A couple of pins clatter against the back of the lane. Pumping a hoof in the air victoriously, you turn back to Allie who marks your score. The couch nap you had earlier was just what you needed to get you fired up for practice tonight.
“Well, well, well! You’ve managed to hit pins four times in a row!” she says excitedly.
You give a little chuckle. “It’s still a little miracle whenever I can hit them.”
“Don’t say that. You’re really improving,” she says. It’s definitely true, it’s only been a couple nights under the coaching of Allie Way and your score has been going up rather steadily. “See? You’ve already managed to beat your highest league score in only six frames!” She uses her magic to float the scorecard in front of you. Sure enough, it has the markings of what’s surely your best game ever.
You shrug at it, though. “Still, my score’s not that impressive. I mean, compared to you or even Treble and Sea Swirl.”
“We don’t care about their scores right now. Or my score. All we care about is your score, and it is going up!” she exclaims.
“Heh, by tiny increments at that.” you remark.
“And that’s still improvement, nonetheless!” she says with a smile. It turns out to be infectious and you can’t help but smile along with her. She then stands up and trots over to your side. “Alright, toss another one. And this time, try to angle your hips to the left just a teeeeensy bit more!”
You give her a nod in confirmation and head over to the ballrack. Almost as if on cue, your ball rolls into the rack, ready for use. You lift it into your hooves and step up to the beginning of the lane. The pins stand at the end, awaiting your toss. Staring down the lane, you take a deep breath as you always do before making your play. You begin to take your steps.
One, two, three...
You count as you move forward, making sure to not overstep or understep your mark. As you grow closer, you keep Allie’s most recent suggestion in mind, subconsciously moving your hips further to your side. The change is slight, but enough for you to feel the difference.
Four, five...
With a final step and one last adjustment on your hips...
Six!
You let the ball loose. It lands upon the track with a graceful THUNK! As it grows closer to its mark, the ball slowly begins to drift a bit more to its left. You begin to grow a bit more uneasy, hoping that you didn’t over-adjust your hips at the last second or something. However, it doesn’t come close to the gutter and takes out a sizable chunk of the pins with a ceremonious crash.
“WOOHOO!” Allie cheers, her cry echoing through the entire alley. “Now if we can get you doing THAT every time, we’re in business!”
“I was afraid I put too much in the hips for a second there,” you say.
“You can never put too much in the hips!” Allie says, throwing a hoof up into the air for emphasis. Eventually, the hoof comes slowly back down to the desk as she says, “And by that I mean... you can totally put too much in the hips; I just got excited.” Her happy demeanor is instantly back as she continues, “But! The hips are important!”
“Yeah, but I can’t seem to get them right, no matter how many times you tell me how...” you say. Then an idea pops into your head. “Hey Allie, do you think you can just show me how?”
“What?” she asks.
“You’ve shown me how to throw, how to stand, and how to victory dance,” you say, the last part with a little chuckle. “But you haven’t shown me this. Just get up, do a follow through slowly, and let me watch your hips,” you explain.
“I, um... okay,” she says as she gets up from her seat.
As she makes her way towards the ball rack, you rotate around her, effectively trading places. Taking her seat, you watch as she retrieves her usual ball, bringing it to her chest. She steps over to the lane, lining herself up with the pins.
She casts a glance or two back to your direction as she shuffles her hooves around, getting her positioning just right. You keep your vision glued to her hooves, taking note of their locations in regards to the score marks on the floor. You can’t help but notice the toned stature of her legs as you watch her get into position. You pass your gaze over her body, noting her pose and form. You bring your eyes up to meet hers just in time to see her speak.
“Okay, so, hips...” she starts, readjusting the ball in her foreleg. “Essentially, you want to keep them mostly straight as you go.”
She begins taking steps towards the lane. As she moves, you bring your eyes back, right to her Cutie Mark. Her backside stays completely straight as she slowly walks forward, her hips barely gyrating with each movement of her long legs. The sound of her hooves plodding on the floor planks is the only sound filling the air for a brief moment.
“Once you get about halfway,” she speaks up. “That’s about when you start to lower your ball, so you’ll start angling your hips then, too.”
She slowly begins to lower her ball to her side. As she does, you notice that her hips slowly begin to shift to the left. It’s very slight, but when it comes to bowling, every adjustment makes a difference. Her flank begins to gradual move outward, and her legs follow suit. Her body begins to stretch out as her backside moves.
“And when you finally get to the end of the walk...” she then brings her hoof forward. As she does so, her back swings out to her left greatly. As her backside makes its move, her right hind leg ascends. As her hind hoof hangs suspended in the air, her foreleg swings outward. The ball remains in her hoof as she pauses in this final pose for a few moments, allowing you to observe.
“Aaand that’s all there is to it,” she concludes. You notice a faint hint of red on her cheeks.
“Are you okay?” you ask. Her blush and lack of emotion in her explanation concerns you a bit. She’s normally as happy as can be when passing on her bowling expertise.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she says with a little giggle, joy starting to come back into her voice. “It’s just I’ve never done an instruction basically inviting somepony to stare at my backside.” As her words reach your ears, you feel a little warmth come to your cheeks as well. “So, you ready for a demonstration at full speed?” she asks.
“Yep!” you say with a little nod of your head. She takes her position again as you watch her hindlegs again, trying not to take in anymore detail than necessary. As she stands up ready to throw, you observe those toned yet slender legs, standing strong and proud all the way to her nicely rounded cutie mark.
“You’ve got some nice flanks, though.”
THUMP rrrrrclunk vvvvvvhh clu-CLUNK.
Both of your hooves are planted firmly over your mouth as Allie glares back at you, both of your faces glowing red.
This was the second time you’ve ever seen Allie throw a gutterball.
“I-I- that,” you stammer helplessly. “I mean that- you- uhh....”
“What-What did you just...” she starts, her eyes widening in what you can only assume is fury. “...What?”
“I-I didn’t mean- I mean, I DID mean, but- NO! I-”
“You were supposed to be watching me to get the motions!” she barks. “Not to ogle at my...mmmph!” she lifts her head up towards the ceiling, obscuring her features from your view. In response, your stomach sinks like a rock.
“A-Allie, I was!” you say defensively as your hoof moves to the back of your neck. “I did get the motions! The hips swinging, the legs, the fla- the steps, everything! I swear, I wasn’t just doing that to get a glimpse at...I-It wasn’t that! I just, I...Uh...”
Your words trail off as Allie brings her head back down to meet your eyes. The look on her face nearly causes your stomach to twist. That smile she wears is a complete one-eighty to the anger she had moments ago. Even then, it sent an unsettling vibe down your spine.
“Uh...Allie?”
“I’ve got an idea on how I can teach you.” she says. Her eyelids slowly descend into a squint as her smile widens slightly.
You feel your own eyes widen in response. “O-Oh? You do?”
“Come on. Get your ball. Now.” she commands, spouting words rapidly.
You’re not entirely certain if it’s out of fear or politeness, but you waste no time in pulling yourself over to the ball rack.
Allie presses the little reset button on the ball return for a fresh frame, bringing the mechanical arm down to sweep in all the pins you caused her to miss. The clicks and clacks of the pins getting knocked back echo through the building, almost like a dry, mirthful chortle.
You hear the grinding of the motors as a new set of pins comes down, giving an almost spectral like glow of white from the lane lights. They rock back and forth among themselves, like a crowd of ponies about to witness some unfortunate event. There is one final low buzz before it all goes silent.
“Take your position...” Allie says, her voice ripe with the tone of glee and your impending doom.
“A-Allie, I-”
“Take... your position,” she repeats, cutting you off.
You swallow as your throat begins to feel rather parched. Lining your hooves up with the marks on the ground, you try to calm yourself as you stand up straight, ball to your chest, as if ready to throw.
“Now then, I’m sure that you’ll remember your hip positions after this,” she hisses into your ear. “Are you ready?”
Shakily, you nod to confirm. A couple hoofsteps tell you that she’s moved behind you. You cannot see her, nor do you have the will to turn your head back to look at what she may be doing.
After a few long, silent moments, the fur on the back of your neck beginning to rise, you feel something come down on either side of your flanks.
“GAH!” you shout involuntarily. You look back to find Allie gripping your backside. Quite forcefully at that. “A-Allie!? What the-”
“Oh, relax, relax!” she commands. “I’m just showing you how to swing your hips, it’s no big deal!” The smile on her face detests what should be an incredibly awkward situation for her. Even more awkward than it already was.
“I-I think I can manage it on my own!” you say a bit more forcefully than you would have liked. “I just need a few tries!”
“Sure, you could do that. Or you could just let me demonstrate like this so you can get it in one go!” she offers. “I show you how to do it manually, and then you can try it for yourself.”
“B-But I- you could- just-” you babble aimlessly. Even with just a single sentence to explain it, she was right. It would be about the best way to show the motion to you, awkward or not. “...Ugh, alright.” you resign. “Just, please, warn me the next time you’re going to do that!”
She giggles for a brief moment before responding. “Don’t worry, I will. And hey, you know I wouldn’t have grabbed your butt if it wasn’t for a good cause, right?”
You turn your head slowly with a half-lidded glare plastered on your face. It only elicits more giggles from the mare behind you. The urge to fight rolling your eyes quickly escapes you as they go full circle.
“Just go ahead with your first step and I’ll position your hips accordingly as we go through,” she says.
With a sigh, you stand tall towards the pins, trying to ignore the hooves on your behind. You take your first step and wait for Allie to move your hips, but she doesn’t.
“You want to keep it straight one your first step, as you know. You’ll begin your swing on the next one.”
You slowly take another step and Allie starts shifting you to the side. With another step, Allie brings your back half to an almost 45 degree angle with the lane.
“Isn’t this a bit far?” you ask.
“Trust me, your follow-through will have a lot more force like this.”
“Okay...” you say, as you take another step. Allie’s hooves guide your backend the other direction this time. With your final step, the one you would’ve thrown on, she brings you into your normal position.
“And that’s how you do it!” she says cheerfully.
“Great. Thanks. Can you let go of my butt now?” you ask.
“Fine...” she groans, taking her hooves back. She walks back behind the desk as you retake your position a few steps before the lane. “But you know what?” she begins to ask.
“What?” you say, a little annoyance still in your voice.
Allie giggles. “You’ve got some nice flanks.”
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IT LIIIIVES!
This story is still alive? BUCK. YES.
I SAID WHAT?!
Me and my big mouth...
An update? Jeez, been awhile.
YEAH!
"I" really need to learn how to keep my thoughts to myself
Outstanding effort! Please, continue.
I really love the back-and-forth Allie and I have going. It keeps the dialogue fresh and a nice blended mix between adorable and awkward //dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Pinkie_Pie_lolface.png
Very glad to see an update for this! As usual, your writing styles don't disappoint.
Have a great day!
I love the flank grabbing part.. XD
I seem to have put my hoof in my mouth in the best possible way.
Keep the gears whirring, and the... 910s... kody-ing?Never mind.... Nothing to see here. Move along.
derpicdn.net/media/W1siZiIsIjIwMTMvMDEvMjEvMTVfMDJfMzJfODA2XzIxOTY5N19fVU5PUFRfX3NhZmVfc29sb193aW5rX3NoaXJ0X2FsbGllX3dheV9hcnRpc3RfY2Fzc2V0dGVzZXQucG5nLnBuZyJdXQ/219697__safe_solo_plot_wink_shirt_allie-way_artist-cassetteset.png
Allie is just the cutest!
Good chapter!
more romances pls
and updates
Why have I never questioned this?
Everything I know is a lie.
Lol, dat sneaky mare