Old enemies challenge the Mane 6 and the Background 6 to a new sport, hoofball. Fortunately, help from overseas allowed them to stand strong, but it was just the beginning...
A few enemies challenged the Mane 6 and Background 6 with a game of hoofball with the guaranteed destruction of Ponyville if Twilight's team loses. Meanwhile, Equestria has decided to open its gates to foreign ponies from foreign lands after Celestia had closed them after banishing her sister. Now, a large number of ponies from the region of Inazuma, Neighpon have a giant love for the game of hoofball and they will do whatever it takes to make sure that others will not abuse it. Can the Equestrian and Neighponese ponies work together to save all of Equestria and prevent hoofball from being a murderous sport?
This is a crossover with Inazuma Eleven GO: Light and Shadow. Note that I will be using the English dub names normally though I will refer to their Japanese names.
Shining and Flash watched a massive dirigible floating down onto a newly made landing pad.
"Man." Shining breathed "Isn't it wonderful to see that Celestia has decided to welcome other foreign ponies again?"
"Affirmative." Came a sharp response from his lieutenant, Flash Sentry. "This was why this temporary airport was built while she and the building company are organising an actual airport. I guess she really wanted to have ponies from other lands visiting the land of Equestria once again after everything had settled down. Why did she close off our borders anyway?"
"It was due to the fight with Princess Luna 1000 years ago when she was Nightmare Moon. She had to work hard to try and maintain control after her sister's banishment."
"Isn't that just raising the sun and the moon on her own?"
"Ok ok, the real reason is becauase she really can't let the fact that she banished her own sister to other lands, it would be bad for reputation. Now after dealing with Tirek, she and Princess Luna decided to open our borders once again."
"And currently, a certain land wants in. Neighpon was it?" Flash asked, checking the list.
"Yep. And that's why she ordered us to construct this makeshift airport. With us and a few other guards as temporary custom officers and border guards." Shining nodded "Neighpon as I'm sure you know, is a land located far to the east of Equestria. They have access to more advanced magic, science and welfare. This dirigible which is able to travel large distances is an example. They also have certain... Special talents around them."
"I've heard. There was this recent foreign convention where I've had a fair share of knowledge of their talents and creatures."
"Looks like the dirigible is opening its doors." Shining alerted "remember, your job is to check every passengers passport, ticket, and their incoming passenger card. Make sure you address their name to me so I can tick them off and... Remember to give them a smile and the utmost kindness and respect to them in order to make them feel welcome."
"How?"
"Like what you do to Twily of course!" Shining joked
"You mean I will show them how honoured and thankful we are for visiting our lands." Flash corrected with a sigh.
"Well, here they come!" Shining jumped and as the other royal guards instructed the Neighponese ponies to form a queue and what to do when they reach the customs booth, Flash did his job swiftly and accurately to make sure nopony had to wait hours before heading to collect their luggage and into the arrival area where they will be able to step onto Equestrian soil once more.
"Now let's see here." Flash addressed as he checked a pony's passport. "Marisa Kirisame, female pegasus, occupation: Magician and fast flyer, reason for coming to Equestria: Vacation from Danmaku. From what I've studied, Danmaku is roughly translated to "bullet hell" in English. Tough job?" He asked with a nod from a white pegasus wearing a black hat with white frills and a purple ribbion and some symbol item called a Hakkero as a cutie mark. "Very well then, you deserve that break." Flash replied as he passed the passport already stamped and approved back to the pegasus and showed her through the exit gate "welcome to Equestria!" He said before coming to the next passenger. However, he saw a small levitating unicorn doll above him holding a passport and handing it to Flash. Flash looked ahead to see a blue pony wearing a colourful and stylish dress with a blond mane held together with a red alice band smiling back at him. With a few confused glances which alternate between the pony, the doll and the passport. Flash gave one last confused look at the passenger before opening her passport and scanning her personal particulars.
"Alice Margatroid, female unicorn... Yōkai? You're an actual supernatural monster?"
"I was once a pony before I became a Yōkai." The unicorn briefly explained
"That's awesome. Occupation: Magician and seamstress and puppeteer, that explains why your dolls are levitating and are able to carry your small items and passport. Reason for coming to Equestria: Vacation from Danmaku... Are you friends with that pegasus before you? Miss Kirasame was it?"
"One of her best friends." Alice agreed
"And is her other best friend Reimu Hakurei?" Flash asked "she was that shrine maiden earth pony before Marisa."
"Yes. We decided to go individually."
"Just before you go join your friends" Flash added as he gave the stamped and approved passport to the same doll, "there is a clothes store in Ponyville called the Carousel Boutique. It is run by an extremely skilled seamstress called Rarity. You may want to drop by."
"Really? How interesting, I'll think about it." Alice replied as she obtained the passport from her doll.
"Welcome to Equestria!" Flash beamed as he showed her the exit gate.
Flash's temporary job as a customs officer was very interesting. Meeting new ponies who seem to have really mysterious identities and characteristics.
"So you 4 mares are friends travelling together... Doremi Harukaze, English name Dorie Goodwyn, female earth pony... Hazuki Fujiwara, English name Reanne Griffith, female unicorn... Aiko Senō, English name Mirabelle Haywood, female pegasus... And Onpu Segawa, English name Ellie Craft, female unicorn... It's great to see that your purpose here is to visit a close friend of yours that lives in Equestria... Momoko Asuka? Yes, her name is on the Equestria citizen databases, I'll make sure that you get your friend's address from the guards in the arrival hall." He signalled to a nearby royal guard who got the message and flew off.
"Thank you for your help!" The pink mare thanked
"One more thing..." Flash asked after giving the 4 mares their stamped and approved passports. "Your occupations... I understand that you are primary school students, but should you leave it at that? Why do all 4 of you feel the need to write... Witchling?"
"It did say occupation." The orange mare answered
"But... It sounds like this type of occupation is meant to be kept secret..."
"Nope!" The blue mare happily shook her head
"So... Nothing bad will happen to you then? Like turning into a frog?"
"That's right. Nothing will happen to us!" The purple one cheerfully nodded.
"Okay then! Stay safe, and welcome to Equestria!" Flash greeted, showing them the exit gate.
"A married couple? Let's see... Akito Tenkawa, male earth pony... Wait... YOU'RE FROM MARS!?!?"
"It's now a Neighponese colony." The earth pony replied
"Oh okay, technology, technology... The furthest we can go to space is the moon and that's via Celestia's banishment. It's not nice at all... Now occupation: Cook and part-time pilot of the Nadesico... Is it some kind of ship?"
"Yep."
"Okay then... Yurika Misumaru-Tenkawa, female earth pony, occupation: Captain of the Nadesico."
"V!" The earth pony held her hoof as if making a victory sign.
"I guess ship duty is pretty rough, you've come to the right place for a vacation. Hope you enjoy it, and welcome to Equestria!!!" Flash greeted as he has stamped and approved the couple's passports and sent them through the exit gate."
"A family? How lovely!!! Here for a family vacation?... I see, passports and passenger cards please." He asked as a stallion, mare and filly handed their passports to the lieutenant.
"Mamoru Chiba, English name Darien Shields, male earth pony. Occupation: high school student... Hang on, aren't you a little young for marriage?"
"I didn't say we were married, I just said we're a family" The stallion replied
"Wait... WHAT!?" Flash bellowed with surprise.
"Just continue reading. You'll understand" The earth pony advised
"Okay then... Reincarnation of Prince Endymion? Is he some prince in Neighpon?"
"During the Silver Millennium, yes." The stallion nodded "and like other princes, not alicorns."
"Indeed." Flash nodded "the current prince in Equestria is just a unicorn. What is this reincarnation thing? Were you originally a prince?"
"Yep, then I died. After being reincarnated, I realise that I was a prince later on. For now, I'm still a high school student."
"Okay then, it's an honour to meet a prince in advance." Flash chuckled as he finished the stallion's details and proceeded to the mare.
"Usagi Tsukino, English name Serena Tsukino. Female alicorn... ALICORN!?!?" Flash gasped "are you a princess?"
"Well um..." The mare started
"Hang on a sec." Flash interrupted as he checked her occupation. "Okay then, high school student and reincarnation of Princess Serenity of the Moon Kingdom, all good. I guess you also died and got reincarnated."
"Yeah." The mare chuckled.
"Wait... The Moon Kingdom? THE MOON!? YOU LIVE IN THE MOON!?"
"During the Silver Millennium, yes."
"I thought the moon was just barren and empty. A 1000 year prison for Princess Luna when she was Nightmare Moon, but there was actually a castle there?"
"Oh my, the moon is barren? I'm afraid not."
"Princess of the Moon huh... Are you related to Princess Luna?" Flash asked "she's the princess of the night."
"No... Not that I can remember."
"Oh well. I can talk to the princess, maybe she knows you." Flash assured. After stamping and approving her passport, Flash looked at the filly's passport.
"Chibiusa." Flash read and looked down at the filly smiling innocently back at him. "English name Rini. It says here you're the daughter... Of Usagi and Mamoru... Ok, what the hay is going on? You guys aren't even married and you have a daughter!?"
"Oh, I forgot to write it down." The filly chuckled. "I'm their... Future daughter."
"Oh Celestia... Time Travel!? Well, one of the princesses did travel back 1000 years to when Nightmare Moon and Discord." Flash replied and continued reading the filly's personal particulars.
"Female Alicorn... No surprise there. Your occupation is a primary school student and Neo-Princess Serenity. A bit young to be an alicorn don't you think?" Flash chuckled as he stamped and approved the filly's passport.
"You know, you three are really strange and interesting, two of you being reincarnation of royalty and having a daughter from the future. But everypony is always welcome to Equestria so enjoy yourself to your heart's content!" Flash happily replied as he returned the family's passports and showed them through the exit gate.
"A group of eight friends huh?" Flash asked as a new set of ponies approached the booth "well then, may I see your passports and arrival cards please?... Yu Narukami, male earth pony, high school student, part-time tutor, caretaker and etc, vacation... Yosuke Hanamura, male pegasus, high school student and part-time mall worker, vacation... Chie Satonaka, female earth pony, high school student, vacation... Yukiko Amagi, female unicorn, high school student part-time innkeeper, vacation... Kanji Tatsumi, male earth pony, high school student and part-time textile worker, vacation... Rise Kujikawa, female unicorn, high school student and mega-idol, vacation... Naoto Shirogane, female earth pony, high school student and detective, vacation... And Teddie, male earth pony, vacant occupation, vacation... Apparently Mr Teddie, your recent X-ray tests had been attached to your passport."
"Wha? Who did that!?" Teddie yelled at his friends.
"And from the results, it showed... Absolutely nothing..."
"Uh... I can explain--"
"Don't worry about it." Flash stopped "what matters is that you came to Equestria for a reason and it's for a well-earned vacation." And with that, he stamped and approved Teddie's passport and passed the 8 passports back "welcome to Equestria!" Flash greeted as he showed them the exit gate.
"Thanks Mr guard!!!" Teddie called back.
Flash continued his usual temporary job until a certain group approached the booth. A light blue pegasus stepped forward and got Flash's attention.
"Um, hi..." The pegasus said "I'm--"
"Hang on." Flash interrupted "I've seen you before..." And checked the pegasus' passport.
"Y-You do?"
"Oh wow! It really is you!!! I've seen you before in a convention held here! You and the others behind you!"
"But I haven't been to Equestria before..."
"I know, there was a poster about you. Merchants who find other means of travelling lands had been bringing them here all the way from Neighpon to Equestria. Tell me, I know you're here for vacation, but are you also here... To play hoofball?"
Ponyville, the village where the castle belonging of Princess of Friendship stands tall. In this town, everypony had fun doing their own things and happy to know that their prosperous village is watched over by a princess and her 5 friends. Currently in the castle, the 5 friends have something to share with the townsponies: the great news of foreign ponies coming to Equestria. Pinkie Pie for some reason, knew that they will be coming BEFORE Princess Celestia opened the borders.
"Pinkie Sense?" Applejack asked
"A friend in Neighpon?" Rainbow asked
"Perhaps you always wished for other ponies to come." Rarity guessed
"NOPE!!!" Pinkie jumped and answered "I just know!" Which then led to loud sighs of irritation.
"Hold on just a minute girls!!!" A loud voice commanded. The 5 looked up to see Twilight descending the stairs. "There's a reason why we have to keep this news secret before we can officially announce it."
"And why?" Rainbow asked
"We don't to give them attention as soon as they come here, let them settle down."
"Okay then, you're the boss!" Pinkie chuckled
"Can we go out for our morning walk?" Rarity asked
"Sure!" Twilight nodded
"Princess!!!"
"Good morning Princess."
"Top of the day to you Princess and ladies." Everywhere, the many ponies of Ponyville formerly greeted the Mane 6.
"Wow. Ever since you got your own castle, everypony's been making meet and greet to us every time we pass by them." Pinkie noted.
"I could get really used to this." Rarity grinned. As the mane 6 continued walking, they bumped into another group of 6 ponies.
"Oh! Doctor! What a surprise!" Twilight greeted
"Good Morning Princess and friends." Doctor Whooves bowed.
"Hello Twilight! Rainbow! Applejack! Rarity! Pinkie! Fluttershy!" Derpy called
"Derpy!" Octavia snapped "that's not how you greet the princess!"
"No. It's ok Octavia." Twilight blushed
"How are you today?" Rarity asked
"We're all doing fine!" Bon Bon replied
"Yep!!! Just trying to find something that would make my hooves work as hands." Lyra replied
"Oh dear... This human business again." Applejack sighed.
"Hey!" Vinyl piped up "since we are all here, why don't all of us do something together?"
"That doesn't sound like a bad idea!" Rainbow replied "I was bored anyway."
"Right then..." Fluttershy asked "what should we do?"
"I know I know!!!" Pinkie replied "let's have a party!!!"
"Again?" Twilight asked "maybe we could do something else like--"
"AHHH!!!!" A scream pierced from somewhere nearby which apparently got everypony's attention.
"Look like we have something to do now." Rainbow spoke "this seems like trouble."
"Princess! Princess!" Carrot Top called out "there's a problem!"
"What is it?" Twilight asked
"A group of ponies are destroying some general property and terrorising others!"
"That's really serious!" Fluttershy emphasised
"That's what I just said..." Rainbow retorted
"That's not all though" Carrot continued "they are using something peculiar to destroy and terrorise Ponyville."
"Magic???" Rarity asked
"No... A hoofball."
"WHAT!?!?" The 12 blurted out.
"We need to find out what's going on." The Doctor commanded.
"Right." Came the reply and lead by Carrot Top, the 12 galloped after her.
The ponies arrived to see 11 ponies hurting ponies and destroying properties with a hoofball.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing!?" Twilight ordered "as princess, I command you to cease what you are doing!"
"Well Well!!! 'Princess' Twilight Sparkle." One of the ponies looked at Twilight with an evil grin.
"Trixie!?" Twilight gasped "I thought you'd--"
"Not by a long shot." Trixie replied "Trixie still haven't forgiven you after that magic duel."
"But then, what about--"
"That means nothing!!!" Trixie interrupted "Trixie has a bone to pick with you, and others also have a bone to pick with your friends!"
"Oh Twilight..." A voice giggled from a orange unicorn
"Sunset!" Twilight exclaimed
"Hello Rainbow." A pegasus with Trixie called
"Lightning Dust!!!" Rainbow gasped
"Listen here now." Sunset continued "I'm sure you 6 recognise the 11 of us. We all have yet to get our own back."
"But, isn't it your fault that you decided to perform an action that caused your humiliation?" Fluttershy reasoned
"SILENCE!!!" Sunset replied "We challenge you to a game of hoofball."
"Hoofball? Really?" Pinkie replied "I've heard of that game. Never played it."
"Ugh!!! No deal!" Rarity refused "I'm not playing such a sport that will get my hooves and fur dirty!"
"Rarity." Applejack sighed "that's the point of sport. You get covered in dirt and filth. You can always just take a shower!"
"Only if we play proper hoofball." Rainbow replied "otherwise, no deal."
"Okay then..." Twilight asked "we'll have to vote. Do we want to play?"
"I'm in for a game of football!" Rainbow chirped
"I'd like to teach these ponies a lesson one more time, even if its dealing with a game I haven't heard of." Applejack nodded
"Hoofball sounds like fun!" Pinkie agreed
"I... I really don't want to get hurt by them... And I don't know how to play hoofball... Sorry." Fluttershy shook her head
"Are you kidding me!? OF COURSE NOT!!!" Rarity shrieked "I don't want to play against our old enemies, and I don't want to get covered in filth!"
"Depending on this situation," Twilight concluded "I have to say no. Even if it's a 3 to 3 draw, I get the final decision and I say forget it. I'm not going to waste time with our enemies over some silly game."
"Dear Twilight." Trixie sighed "I'm sure you're well aware that you don't have a choice in this. If you don't accept..."
"We will destroy Ponyville." Lightning finished "and don't you dare test our power..."
"Y-You can't do that!!!" Twilight defended
"Oh we can and we WILL." Sunset glared
"I guess we have no choice then..." Twilight sighed and replied "fine, let's play hoofball."
Under the Princess' orders, the Ponyville construction team under the supervision of Spike built a neat football pitch with a grassy turf near the playgrounds. There, the two groups went to their respective side to warm up.
"Umm... Are you sure this is a good idea?" Fluttershy asked "I really don't want to do this."
"Relax." Twilight comforted "I've read everything about hoofball is played. We need 11 ponies on a pitch with a maximum of 5 ponies as substitutions. The aim of the game is to get more points than the opposing team in 60 minutes. In order to do this, you need to kick the hoofball into the opposing team's net."
"And that's the ball in the middle of that pitch right?" Pinkie asked as she pointed at a ball patterned with black and white hexagons.
"Right." Twilight answered "the only problem is that we need 5 more ponies to join our team."
"I'm sorry Twilight." Rarity piped up "but I'm not playing hoofball and you can't change my mind."
"Please Rarity?" Applejack pleaded "we need all the help we can get! The fate of Ponyville depends on this game!"
"I SAID NO!!!" Rarity cried "I can't, I won't!"
"Very well then..." Twilight sighed "If you don't want to play either Fluttershy, I understand."
"N-No Twilight." Fluttershy replied "I don't have anything against hoofball, I just don't want to get hurt. But if Ponyville is going to be in danger because of this game, then I will do my best to help."
"Thank you for lending me your aid Fluttershy." Twilight thanked "now we'll need 6 ponies to join us."
"Princess?" The Doctor approached with the other 5 following behind him "consider us joining your team."
"Are you sure?"
"We also want to protect our beloved village." Bon-Bon replied "I will not let it be destroyed."
"Thank you, all 6 of you." Twilight bowed "you honour me with your courage and bravery. Now here's the plan..."
"Mares and Gentlecolts!!!" Mayor Mare announced "today we have a special occasion here in Ponyville!!!" Many ponies gathered around to hear what the Mayor has to say.
"There is a hoofball match near the playgrounds to decide the fate of our village!"
"Seriously Mayor?" Cheerilee asked "can you do anything about it?"
"I wish I could..." The Mayor sighed "but I'm just a Mayor."
"Then what are we going to do?" Mr Carrot Cake cried
"Don't worry! The Princess and her friends will protect us..." The Mayor comforted "by playing hoofball!"
"Where is it? I wanna watch!" Granny Smith croaked
"Near the playgrounds, there is a beautiful pitch made for this occasion!" Mayor answered.
"Hey sugarcubes, look..." Applejack pointed to an approaching hoard of ponies surrounding the pitch.
"Looks like the entire of Ponyville came to watch." Rarity noted
"We need to win this!" Twilight encouraged "for the sake of everypony!"
"Woohoo!!!" Comes the reply of the team.
"Fillies and Gentlecolts!" The Mayor announced again "welcome to this wonderful game of hoofball! The first unofficial game in Ponyville! I am Mayor Mare, and I will be your announcer for today with Spike as the referee." And the young baby dragon waved his claws and showed his whistle, flag and cards. The entire crowd cheered of excitement. "Today is going to be an exciting match, for it will determine the fate of Ponyville!" The cheers of excitement were then replaced by screams of fear.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have said that." The Mayor apologised "In this match we have the team fighting to protect Ponyville, a new an energetic team led our magical princess as captain, team Ponyville!" The exciting cheers and roars came back as Twilight stepped on to the pitch and waved.
"And the team fighting to destroy Ponyville is lead by The Great and Powerful Trixie, the Ponies of vengeance!" The crowed however, booed at the opposing team much to Trixie's dismay.
"All right" Twilight commanded "do you understand the rules and positions of hoofball and a team?"
"Yes." Came the replies
"I've chosen the Basic Formation that requires 4 defenders, 4 midfielders and 2 forwards and of course, 1 goalkeeper. Select a position which suits you. I'll be a midfielder."
"Goalkeeper! Dibs on being Goalie!!!" Lyra started
"Yes" Bon Bon haughtily joked "because holding the ball with both hooves like hands is allowed for the goalie."
"In that case..." Fluttershy started "I'll be the defence."
"I will too!" Derpy raised her hoof
"I don't like the sound of that..." The Doctor feared
"No worries then!!!" Vinyl cheered "I'll keep an eye on her in defence too!"
"Then I'll be the last defender." Bon Bon volunteered.
"Now" Twilight changed "I have a suggestion on who would be the forwards."
"Me! Definitely me!" Rainbow Dash called "I call the spot and the shots."
"Yes." Twilight nodded "I thought you and Applejack would take the front"
"Yes!!! This is so amazing!!!" Rainbow jumped "I can't wait to play!!! I'm counting on you Applejack! Don't make me drag your weight."
"Hah!" Applejack laughed "Don't expect me to drag YOUR weight!"
"So I guess Octavia, Pinkie and I are the 3 remaining Midfielders." The Doctor concluded.
"Yes. Now, is everypony ready?" Twilight asked
"YEAH!!!" Comes the excited response.
"I'll be supporting you from the stands!" Rarity called "teach them a lesson!"
"Well!!! Both teams are ready!!!" The Mayor announced "and with the coin toss from Spike, with Ponyville picking heads... It's a heads!!! Ponyville gets to decide who starts the first half!"
"We will." Twilight decided
"And in that case, let the match begin!!!" The Mayor announced followed by deafening screams of cheers.
Ponyville vs Ponies of Vengeance
Ponyville Formation: F-Basic (4-4-2) (Positions from left to right)
Ponies of Vengeance (4-3-3) Formation: F-Broadsword (Positions from left to right)
FW: Sunset Shimmer, Trixie, Lightning Dust MF: Suri Polomare, Spot, Gilda DF: Rover, Flim, Flam, Dr. Calleberon GK: Fido
Stadium: Ponyville pitch
"You know" Twilight giggled as the two captains meet. "Your team says 'Ponies of Vengeance', but your team contains a griffon and 3 diamond dogs."
"Shut up Twilight." Trixie snapped "you'll be overpowered by us soon enough."
"Alright team, to your positions!" Twilight commanded her team
"All of you, to positions!" Trixie commanded her team. As Rainbow and Applejack approached the ball, they had the look of trust and cooperation in their eyes.
"You ready for this?" Rainbow noted
"Born ready!" Applejack replied. And with Spike's whistle, the game was on!
Receiving the ball from Applejack, Rainbow Dash ran towards the opponent's goal, skilfully dribbling the ball.
"Can't get this ball!" Rainbow taunted as she dodged Lightning's attempt to block and charged through Gilda's block.
"Take this then!!!" Rover called out and slide tackled Rainbow's legs.
"Ahh!!!!" Rainbow Dash yelped in pain as she collapsed to the ground.
"Rainbow!!!" Fluttershy called
"Hey Spik- I mean ref! That was a foul!" Twilight called but the baby dragon was busy picking a worm off the grass.
"Oi! Focus on the game!" Vinyl yelled which made the Dragon jump and lose his about-to-be snack.
"Oh... Sorry." Spike apologised
"Quick! Get the ball!" The Doctor alerted, seeing that Rover had passed it to Gilda.
"I'll get her!" Pinkie volunteered and jumped at Gilda
"Not this time dweeb!" Gilda replied and charged straight at Pinkie, headbutting her body.
"Hey!" Spike yelled as he blew his whistle "that's a foul!" But Gilda ignored the whistle and kept running. "HEY!" Spike roared "I said that was a foul!"
"Pinkie?" Derpy asked "are you ok?" There was no response from the Party pony, except that she was lying upside down and holding a flower with her hooves.
"S-Stop!!!" Fluttershy stepped in front of Gilda's way "y-you will not get past... m-me..." Fluttershy expected the griffon to charge straight at her but instead, decided to pass the ball behind to Trixie.
"You're not worth my time." Gilda replied but tackled the shy pony anyway.
"Heads up Lyra!" Twilight called "she's approaching you!"
"Ok..." Lyra said to herself "here goes nothing!" But as Trixie kicked the ball, Lyra suddenly felt an adrenaline of fear rush through her as a high speed ball was coming her way. She doesn't want to get hit by it, but she can't let it go past her. She stood there, scared and horrified.
"Ooh!!!" Lyra cowered and raised a hoof to try and block the ball, but it hit her hoof very hard.
"Ahh!!!" Lyra screamed in pain as the ball continued flying until it hit the back of the net.
"GOAL!!!" The Mayor cried out "a magnificent goal from Trixie! This makes the score total 1-0 to the Ponies of vengeance!" This followed with a lot of booing.
"HEY!!! I said that was a foul from Gilda!!! No go-" Spike objected until some claw grabbed him and tied him up as well as taping his mouth.
"We don't care about the rules." Spot answered "we only just want to hurt you and then destroy Ponyville. Who cares about hoofball? It's a stupid game."
Applejack and Rainbow realised that they need to up their game. After the kick-off, they quickly passed the ball with each other, making sure they keep it away from the opposing team and approached the goal with ease. The coordination between the 2 ponies caused the crowd to go wild with praise.
"Now Applejack!" Rainbow signalled as she kicked the ball.
"Right!!!" Applejack nodded and with a strong buck, kicked the ball straight to the goal. Fido on the other hand, just yawned and stopped the ball with one hand. The crowd was stunned at that save, so was Applejack
"What!?" She replied shocked "how could he have stopped it?"
"Hup!" Fido grunted as he tossed the ball to Dr Calleberon.
"Alright everypony!" Lightning called "time to break open our special tactic! Sky's the Limit!" And in response, the Ponies of vengeance formed a dot-to-dot zig zag pattern on alternating sides of the pitch. Dr Calleberon kicked the ball high in the air, sailing over Rainbow and Applejack and heading straight towards Flim. Instead of receiving the ball, Flim kicked it while it was still in mid-air, the ball soared high in the air, passing Octavia and Twilight. Like Flim, Suri kicked the airborne ball and it soared above Pinkie and the Doctor and approaching Trixie. Finally, Trixie kicked the ball once more, making sure the ball flew over Fluttershy and Bon Bon before Sunset was able to receive it.
"N-No way..." Octavia replied, stunned after that special tactic. "H-How?"
"The ball hardly even touched the ground!" Twilight analysed, only a few of the crowds managed to cheer for Trixie and her team due to that special tactic.
"Derpy, Vinyl! Sunset's coming your way! Be careful!" Bon Bon warned.
"I'll stop her!" Rainbow Dash replied and sped down the pitch, not noticing that Lightning Dust stuck her leg out to trip her over.
"Ow!!! Hey!!!" Rainbow Dash started as she picked herself up from the ground.
"Oops. Sorry Rainbow Crash." Lightning snickered.
"Oh no!!!" Rarity cried "Twilight and the rest are getting battered and bruised all over!"
"Hello once again Rarity!" Suri greeted
"S-Suri!!!"
"My my my, not supporting your team? I'm wounded."
"W-Why you."
"Even I have the guts enough to play!!!" Suri taunted "afraid of getting your 'fur spoilt'?"
"Don't you dare...!"
"It's not that pretty anyway." Suri concluded and trotted away with a laugh.
"What is this hoofball?" One of the crowd called out. "This game is just physical abuse!!!"
"This is such a horrid game!!!" Another pony shouted out. Soon, nearly the majority of the crowd are beginning to insult football due to the performance of the Ponies of vengeance. Soon enough, Rarity felt like joining them.
"This hoofball is worse than I thought!!!" Rarity screamed "this isn't a game!!! This is just a way to hurt ponies!!! I say hoofball should be banned!" After calming down a little, she whispered "but I still want to help my friends out, no matter the situation they're in. Without playing, can I help my friends in a game of hoofball?"
"Don't be so down, you can be of great help Lady Rarity!" A voice answered beside her.
"Oh!" Rarity jumped to see a stallion standing next to her "it's you... Did you just say I can help?"
"Follow me." The stallion replied "we need to get a number of supplies for the Princess and her team before half time rolls in."
No matter how much everypony tried to stop Sunset from getting close to the goal, everypony was taken down by the opposing team.
"I don't have the ball!" Pinkie scolded as Gilda tackled her to the ground.
"And I don't care dweeb!" Gilda retorted.
"Oh! Whoopsy daisy!" Flim chuckled as he barged into Applejack, knocking her off balance.
"Hey! What's the big idea!" Applejack replied
"That's bad sportsmanship Flim!" Flam replied and slide kicked Applejack while she was regaining her footing.
"I know Flam!!!" Flim replied "but you're doing it too! I guess we're both bad sports!!!" And the brothers laughed at the poor farmer on the grass.
"You varmints..." Applejack cursed.
"I'm not going to let you get close!" Derpy assured as she stepped up to Sunset.
"Try me!" Sunset replied as she dodged Derpy's block, before kicking the ball to her head.
"Derpy!" The Doctor cried.
"Hey! That's not nice!" Vinyl replied as she ran towards the unicorn
"I know. I'm not nice at all." Sunset answered back and delivered the ball straight into Vinyl's face, breaking her glasses in the process.
"Vinyl!!!" Octavia gasped
"Argh!!! I can't see!" Vinyl replied as she tried to squint her eyes in order to see properly. Therefore, she was unable to see that Sunset dribbled the ball past her and kicked it straight at Lyra.
"N-No, I must block it!" Lyra huffed and as she stood in front of the ball, she raised her hoof to the ball but it was too fast. The ball hit her face instead and flew into the goal.
"GOAL!!!" The Mayor cried "and Ponyville goes down hard! Looks like it's a 2-0 lead for the Ponies of vengeance." The booing from the crowd got louder and louder.
"Hey ref!!! Are you even seeing this!" Rainbow roared battered and bruised. All Spike could do was make muffled sounds as he tried to wriggle free.
"Spike!!!" Twilight called as she freed Spike from the ropes and tape. "Are you ok?"
"Of course not!!!" Spike replied "I've been tied up and taped by Spot!"
"That's IT!!!" Twilight raged and stomped towards Trixie "this was supposed to be a proper and honourable game of hoofball! Why are you playing so rough!?"
"Don't you get it?" Trixie sniggered "we are only here to hurt you and your friends. You have been nothing but irritating ponies in our lives. Who cares about the rules? Who cares about fair play? Who cares about hoofball? Hoofball is nothing more than just running around a pitch and kicking a ball into a net! There is nothing special about it!"
"You're wrong!!!" A loud voice called out from the crowd. The entire crowd stopped yelling and complaining to see who just yelled that. A light blue pegasus with a brown mane walked straight up to Trixie and Twilight. "Hoofball is not 'nothing'! It's means a lot to many others, it means a lot to me!"
"Who are you?" Trixie raised an eyebrow. "Do not interrupt a game!"
"What's the point of not interrupting a game that you constantly abuse?" The pegasus retorted "hurting your opponents, tying up the referee. The crowd is getting the wrong idea of hoofball. It's not a horrible sport, it's a beautiful sport!!!"
"Why do you care?" Sunset approached "we only just want to hurt Twilight, her friends and anypony who's affiliated with them."
"Hoofball is not used for bullying!" The pegasus replied "and you shouldn't hurt any ponies at all! If you keep on playing so rough and disrespecting hoofball..." The pegasus tried to hold his sadness and frustration and yelled "... You're making hoofball cry!!!"
"Hoofball? Crying?" Lightning laughed "that is the most dumbest thing I have ever heard. Hoofball isn't even a living thing, how can you treat it as your friend?"
"Well, hoofball is alive to me and it is my friend." The pegasus continued "and I will treat it with the utmost respect. I'm not going stand and watch the name of hoofball being smeared in the mud! I will show you what hoofball is really worth and how it's supposed to be played!!!" And the pegasus turned to Twilight. "Please! Let me play for you! I want to save hoofball!"
"Well, you certainly do have a lot of love for this game..." Twilight replied "this sport isn't really common here in Equestria."
"Hoofball is quite popular where I come from." The pegasus explained "I've played a lot of hoofball there."
"Wait... You're not from Equestria?" Pinkie jumped
"Save the introductions for later." The mysterious pegasus replied "please let me play, please, please, please!!!"
"Urgh... I'm not sure if this is against the rules." Twilight explained "but under circumstances like this..." Twilight sighed in a moment of decision and replied "what position do you play?"
"My dominant position is a midfielder." The pegasus answered "my secondary position is forward. I can play any type of position though, except for goalkeeper."
"In that case... You'll be taking Rainbow's spot."
"What!?" Rainbow cried
"Thank you for your helping us." Twilight thanked
"You may not be better than me." Rainbow remarked "well, no one really is, but you better do good!"
"Don't worry!" The pegasus promised "I'll do my best! For you and hoofball!"
Substitution Ponyville Rainbow Dash-> ???
"What's this?" The Mayor announced "it seems that Twilight is substituting Rainbow Dash for a mysterious pegasus! Does um... Anyone know his name?"
"You'll regret getting in our way!" Gilda threatened
"Don't let her get to you stranger." Applejack warned
"Okay then. Just focus on the ball." The pegasus replied. Spike blew the whistle to resume the game and Applejack takes the ball at kick-off.
"Take this!" Spot yelled and tried to make a slide tackle for Applejack once again.
"Nope!" Applejack replied and with the ball, jumped over the sliding diamond dog.
"You got lucky..." Flim started
"... Not anymore!" Flam concluded and both blocked Applejack's way
"Alright stranger. All to you!" Applejack signalled and passed to the pegasus, who neatly received it.
"Let's see what he can do." The Doctor replied as he watched the pegasus zipping towards the goal until the ball was blocked and stolen by Dr. Calleberon.
"So much for doing well." Rainbow grumbled.
"We'd better help them." Twilight noted. Dr. Calleberon was ready to pass to Suri but as he kicked the ball, it was intercepted halfway.
"Wait... What?" Dr. Calleberon realised that the ball he passed was missing
"Where did it go!?" Suri asked Dr. Calleberon with a threat.
"I just passed it to you!" Calleberon replied
"You losers!" Gilda butted in "that pegasus over there has the ball!" And pointed at the light blue pony running in the opposite direction with the ball.
"I-I thought I just blocked him... He's that fast!?"
"Wow! That pegasus is very fast to recover and even to take the ball from under their noses!" Bon Bon analysed
"Hmph... I've seen better" Rainbow Dash replied
"Alright, this is my chance. Here goes!" The pegasus said to himself and kicked the ball hard as he could towards the goal.
"Woah!" Fido gasped at the sudden speed of the ball and barely deflected it with its hand. However, Fido did not know that shot was going to miss on purpose, and when he put his hand in the way of the ball, it changed the ball's direction straight into the goal. Spike blew the whistle, it was half time. The entire crowd was silent, team Ponyville and the Ponies of vengeance were silent, and Rainbow was speechless... At the pegasus' powerful kick.
"Oh man! We were totalled!" Vinyl blurted as she was guided by Octavia to the player's bench. "This sport is really rough! Even I can hear the crowd disliking it!"
"We're losing 2-1, do you think we'll be able to win this?" Fluttershy asked "I know that we managed to score a goal but..."
"Well, at least our new pegasus friend here prevented getting another goal in and scored one too." Lyra noted "thanks for your help um..."
"Oh no." Applejack realised "don't tell me she hates this game so much that she decided to leave us!"
"Desert you? I'm crushed!" A familiar voice called out. The entire team turned to see Rarity carrying supplies. Well, carrying her part of the supplies, just two baskets of water bottles and isotonic drinks. Flash carried the majority of the supplies in a wheelbarrow.
"Rarity! You came!" Twilight exclaimed "and... Flash? What are you doing here?"
"I'll explain..." The pegasus explained.
It only took an hour for Flash and the guards to fully approve everypony's arrival to Equestria and as Flash packed up his job, the pegasus decided to leave his group of friends to hang out with this guard who knew him.
"So, your name is Flash Sentry?" The pegasus asked
"Yes. Pleasure to meet you."
"So, how does Equestria roll?"
"There are 4 princesses, the princess of the Sun, Moon, Love and Friendship. Currently, the princess of the Sun and Moon watch over Equestria alternating between day and night. The princess of Love watches over a land called the crystal empire and the princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle, watches over Ponyville."
"Wow! So, you only have 4 alicorns?"
"Is that a surprise to you?" Flash replied "because I find it surprising that most of the Neighponese ponies are alicorns, about 20 of them. Are they all princesses or princes?"
"Oh no" the pegasus shook his head "there are at least more than 90!"
"WHAT!?!?"
"We only have a few princesses and princes. In Neighpon, the non-royal alicorns are considered to be normal and they are just as ordinary as the rest of our ponies. They have the strength of a normal earth pony, the speed of a normal pegasus and the magic power of a normal unicorn. The only advantage is that normal alicorns can do all the things an earth pony, pegasus and unicorn can, just for convenience."
"I... See."
"I'm friends with some alicorns and they're not even royal!"
"Right." Flash nodded until a guard landed next to him.
"L-Lieutenant" the guard reported "there's a problem."
"What is it?" Flash replied and the guard whispered in his ear.
"Really? I'm sorry about this, but I have to go." Flash apologised to the pegasus and flew with the guard to the direction of Ponyville.
"Woah hey! What's the rush?" The pegasus asked as he easily caught up with him
"You fly pretty fast." Flash complimented
"What's wrong?" The pegasus continued asking
"There's a commotion happening in Ponyville regarding the Princesses and her friends. Somepony has challenged them to a match of... Hoofball."
"HOOFBALL!?"
"Yes, and if the princess loses, they will destroy Ponyville. I must get there as soon as possible."
As the three flew over the commotion of Ponyville, all they saw was a group of ponies beating up Twilight and her friends."
"W-What is this? This isn't how hoofball's meant to be played!" The pegasus cried in horror
"Go talk with the crowd on what's happening." Flash commanded the soldier who saluted and flew off.
"What are you going to do?" The pegasus asked
"I'm going to try to stop this game before somepony else gets hurt."
"Wait!!! You can't do that!!!"
"But..."
"Listen to me." The pegasus explained "there is still a way to help your friends get better."
"Okay, I may be an official guard of Equestria and you being just a tourist, but when it comes to hoofball, my judgement call's going to be on your decision."
"Okay then."
"Just one question. How can we help them?"
"Well, that's what being a manager is all about!"
"Manager?"
"You set up their training, you supply them with drinks and food in order to get their energy back during matches, provide some spare kits and especially what's happening right now, provide lots of medical packs."
"Right. I know a few places where they supply those things."
"You're going to need help though... One pony can't do it by himself."
"Wait... What are you going to do?"
"I'll see if I can get into this match, help your Princess' team."
"...Hmm?"
"What's wrong?"
"One of the Princess' friends is not currently in play... It's Rarity. She could definitely help."
"Are you sure she's not a substitution?"
"She does not want to be directly involved with any kind of sport. To help her friends indirectly though, yes. I'll get her help."
"Right. You need to get everything ready before half time."
"Roger."
"And that's how it goes." The pegasus concluded as Flash and Rarity offered isotonic drinks and applied medical treatment on the ponies.
"I see."
"Wow" Pinkie noted as Flash treated Fluttershy's wounds "you're a real medic."
"I learnt advanced first aid." Flash replied "I always want to keep my comrades alive as long as possible."
"Is there anything you can do that is NOT soldier-related?" Rainbow moaned
"Hush darling! At least he's treating your wounds. Be grateful for that!"
"Vinyl." Flash started "your glasses are shattered during that first half. Give them to me, I'll make sure they're repaired."
"Thanks." Vinyl thanked and gave her broken glasses to Flash.
"Despite the fact knowing you can still see WITHOUT your glasses, I understand that these glasses mean a lot to you when you put them on. That's why you feel weakened when you take them off."
"Yeah, It really means a lot." Vinyl nodded
"It is very dangerous to wear glasses on the field." Flash continued "that's why I bought you a pair of goggles for the situation." And pulled out the goggles "The lens has the same design as your glasses, you can also adjust the tightness of the goggles using the straps over there. Tell me if it's okay for you. If not, I'll get a replacement."
"No..." Vinyl replied as she put the goggles on and adjusted it to her liking "it's fine, I like this a lot. Thanks."
"Just doing my job as a manager and soldier Miss Scratch." Flash bowed
"So Rarity..." Twilight asked "is it okay if you become a manager for our team?"
"It's the least I can do." Rarity nodded
"And you Flash?" Twilight asked "can you also be a manager?"
"A princess outranks the royal guard captain." Flash bowed "therefore, I will do whatever you ask. Consider me as a manager of your team then."
"Thanks once again. I just hope that Shining won't get the wrong idea."
"He'll understand, nothing is wrong with supporting a hoofball team."
"TWILIGHT! FLASH!" A voice roared from the distance.
"I spoke too soon didn't I?" Flash asked Twilight as both turned to see Shining Armor stomping towards them.
"What is the meaning of this!?" The captain asked abruptly.
"I'm now appointed as manager to Twilight's hoofball team." Flash calmly replied
"Did you agree to this?" Shining asked
"I asked him personally." Twilight calmly answered
"What the hay's a manager!?" Shining continued ranting "is this just an excuse to be with my siste- I mean, a princess!?"
"Not at all!" Twilight defended "Flash's job as a manager is to help keep a hoofball team in top condition. Providing drinks, snacks, getting information and treating wounds!"
"And for the record" Flash added "Rarity was the one treating Twilight's wounds. I treated other ponies."
"Um, excuse me sir..." The pegasus asked
"What's your problem?" Shining snapped back
"Bro- I mean, captain!" Twilight scolded "don't treat a new friend of mine like that!!! I am doing nothing with Flash at all either!"
"Oh..." Shining calmed "sorry for losing my temper."
"That's good to know." Twilight smiled "but there is still punishment for you!"
"Aww, no... Come on Twily!!!" Shining whimpered
"You'll be a manager for this match! With Flash and Rarity!" Twilight decided
"Oh... That... Doesn't sound bad. It's just to give our team-mates drinks and treat wounds huh?"
"Exactly." Flash and the pegasus nodded.
"Right. Break time is nearly over. We're counting on the three of you!" Twilight winked as the team made their way back on the pitch."
"You know..." Rainbow started as she watched the pegasus.
"Yes?" Flash asked
"Do you think that shot was a fluke?"
"Hmm... From what I can see from a soldier's view... He's... Holding back."
"Holding back!?"
"Yes..." Shining agreed "this pegasus... He has some strong energy inside him. I can feel it."
Spike blew the whistle to initiate the second half.
"And now the game has started again!" The Mayor announced as the two teams battle it out to get the ball. "From a quick goal from Ponyville's mysterious new player, Ponyville now trails 2-1. Will they be able to tie the score?"
"I'm gonna crush you you little brat!" Sunset threatened and charged straight towards the pegasus with the ball.
"Stand strong!" The pegasus said to himself and braced for the charge. As he felt the contact of the unicorn, he saw a chance and managed to shove her to the ground and take the ball.
"Woah! He completely blocked Sunset's advance!" Fluttershy exclaimed
"Still not good enough..." Rainbow Dash mumbled
"Hey! Foul!" Sunset cried
"No foul!' Spike replied
"Applejack!" The pegasus called and kicked a long pass
"I got it!" Applejack called out and received the ball after having a tussle with Flam.
"Kick the ball as hard as you can!" The pegasus advised "but aim to where the goalie is not!"
"Right..." Applejack gathered and looked at the right corner of the goal. "I'm going to aim straight for you!" She mumbled and with all her might, kicked the ball hard.
"I'll stop it once again!!!" Spot taunted and paced himself ready to jump. When he felt like it was ready, the massive dog jumped for it...
"Please get in..." Applejack prayed.
...But his hands failed to reach the ball in time. Spot fell onto the ground as the ball hit the back of the net once more. The entire crowd this time, went into uproars of cheers.
"GOAL!!!" The Mayor announced "with a long pass from the mysterious player, Applejack has certainly given Spot the surprise of his life! The score is now tied with a 2-2!"
"Brilliant move Applejack!" The pegasus complimented "hoof bump!"
"Thanks stranger!" Applejack replied and returned the hoof bump.
"That was amazing!" Twilight called
"Hmm... I guess he's starting to look cool." Rainbow mumbled
"Didn't we say that's not all?" Flash replied
The two teams continued play to their limits. With both teams managing to keep the ball away from their respective goal, supported with the cheers of the crowds, the time started to tick to it's full time. When there were only 10 minutes left, the 3 forwards started to play rough.
"That's enough you creeps!" Sunset sneered as she leg-sweeped the ball off Applejack and barged into the pegasus.
"Ahh!!!" The two grunted in pain
"That's not NICE!" Pinkie yelled and with a leg-sweep, took the ball off Sunset, only to be viciously tackled by Lightning Dust.
"Hey!" Twilight yelled and successfully blocked Lightning Dust after the pegasus brushed past the Doctor and Vinyl.
"Not this time Twilight!" Trixie called and also viciously tackled Twilight.
"Ahh!" The princess screamed in pain
"Twily!" Shining screamed
"Princess!" Flash screamed.
"Those ponies..." The pegasus talked to himself "these ponies are completely disregarding the beautiful game of football!" As he watched Trixie gallop into the defenders to take them down on purpose, anger started building inside. "I must not... No, I WILL not let them hurt my friends and hoofball!" And with that, he broke into a mad dash, heading straight for Trixie.
"Huh? It seems like the mysterious player for Ponyville is drastically picking up speed and getting closer to Trixie!" The Mayor announced
"Persistent are you?" Trixie growled "you got into our way, you evened the score, you surely have guts, but you don't have enough power to take the ball from me!"
"Oh I do!" The pegasus retorted "Whirly-Whirly!!!" And with his wings stretched out, he made a small jump. As he landed, a small whirlwind forms around him and it quickly grew. The whirlwind stretched out into a single line of wind that dived straight for Trixie. Trixie stopped halfway as the line of wind blocked her path and started to form the whirlwind once more around her. The whirlwind became bigger and stronger until Trixie realised that she was no longer touching the ground. With one final push, the pegasus jumped out of the whirlwind with the ball while Trixie was sent spiralling through the air.
"Woah!" Vinyl gasped "did he just... Create a whirlwind to get the ball!?"
"No way!" Fluttershy exclaimed "he used his wings to his advantage!" The entire crowed immediately burst into roars of excitement and cheered on the pegasus as he made his way towards the goal.
"Would you look at that!" The Mayor announced "this mysterious pegasus has pulled off a completely special move to take the ball back!"
"No way! He can do that?" Rainbow gasped, jaws wide open.
"Looks like we are beginning to see his true colours." Shining grinned
"No wonder he cares about hoofball so much. He takes it very seriously on the pitch! Look at that skill!" Flash nodded
"Grr!!! No way you're getting past me you no-name loser!" Gilda growled as she charged straight for him.
"I have a name thank you very much!" The pegasus teased "besides, getting past you is going to be Easy Breezy!" On that moment, the pegasus picked up such speed that he started leaving a light-green trail. As Gilda got real close, ready to claw down the pegasus, she did not notice that the pegasus had his right leg on the left side of the ball so at the right time, made a 180 degree turn around the griffon with the ball. Gilda finds out a split second later that she charged and clawed at nothing but the light-green trail and unable to retain her balance, fell down in a embarrassing heap.
"Amazing! He just rotated a half circle around Gilda!" The Doctor analysed
"That spin is making my eyes go dizzy!" Derpy called out
"And look at that!" The Mayor commentated "with another windy special skill, that pegasus is tearing through the pitch with ease!" And a reply of cheering and encouragement from the crowd came up.
"You know the stuff I said about hoofball?" The same crowd member from before replied. "I take it back. This pony certainly shows me what hoofball truly is worth!"
"Me too." The second one replied. "From what I've seen, I don't think hoofball's a horrid game, it's... So beautiful!" And at that, everyone started cheering for hoofball due to the performance of the mysterious pegasus before them.
"Hmph..." Rarity huffed. Flash could see that she was still pretty upset, and that she was trying to hold something back.
"Admit it Rarity." Flash spoke "this game isn't as horrid as you may think. In fact, I think hoofball is amazing."
"F-Fine." Rarity conceded "I shall admit that hoofball isn't as horrid as I thought it would be, only because of the pegasus' performance. I shall also admit that hoofball shouldn't be banned at all. Yes, it does look beautiful, but I will still refuse to take part in it."
"Very well then." Flash nodded "If that's your decision. I do have a suggestion. For my sake and Princess Twilight's."
"Still be a manager for the team of Ponyville?" Rarity replied "sure, I can still do that."
"Ooh... I'm tempted to say it! But... Urgh... I won't admit it!" Rainbow mumbled within Shining's earshot.
"No..." Shining shook his head "this pegasus still has one more trick up his sleeve."
"Wait... How?"
"Do you see how he uses his pegasus prowess and the element of wind to his advantage? He used it to steal the ball back and to skilfully dribble the ball past his opponents..."
"So... Do you mean?"
"Yes." Shining nodded "he's going to use this advantage one more time... To score a goal."
Only 3 minutes remain and the pegasus was getting very close to the goal.
"I'm going to block it this time!" Spot taunted
"No you won't!" The pegasus replied "this ends right here and right now!" And with one powerful leg, kicked the ball a few meters away from himself, but not far enough to reach the goal.
"Hah! That's not powerful enough!" Spot laughed but as he looked one more time, he stood and stared frozen with fear as the pegasus made a mad dash towards the bouncing ball. When the pegasus was at a certain distance, he made a jump for the ball, using his wings to lunge himself forward.
"Raahhhh!!! Zephyr Shot!" The pegasus roared as he jumped and turned himself around to deliver a buck kick on the ball so hard that it was engulfed by an energy with a bluish-white aura which was also surrounded by several spiral winds. The ball took off from the pegasus' kick and sped towards the goal at a high-velocity which turned the energised ball into an energy beam which was made stronger by the spiral winds.
"Stop that ball!" Suri shrieked at Spot. Spot got that message at used his paws to suppress the power of the ball.
"Grr... Hnng... G... Gaahhh!!!" Spot grunted as he tried to hold the ball back, but the shot from the pegasus was so powerful that it broke through the diamond dog's save attempt, making the ball hit the back of the net with full force until it decreased in velocity where it harmlessly bounced on the grass.
"GOAL!!!" The Mayor yelled followed with massive cheers that shook the entire pitch. "And with a stunning display of furious winds, the pegasus has managed to score the third goal for Ponyville!!!" And with that, Spike blew the whistle three times to signify the end of the match "and that everypony, is the final whistle! Ponyville has made a spectacular comeback with a stunning victory that has saved our precious town with a score of 3-2!!! Let's give a hoof for Applejack and the light blue pegasus!!!"
"HURRAH!!! HURRAH!!! HURRAH!!!" The crowd cheered in response as the team of Ponyville gathered together
"We did it!" Bon Bon cheered "we actually did it! We saved Ponyville!"
"But let's not forget" Rarity added "it was Twilight's brilliant leadership that has seen us through!"
"I hope you're joking Rarity." Twilight glared "I didn't do most of the work. It was our pegasus friend here!"
"You know." Rainbow Dash started as she approached the pegasus. "Despite you having a similar coat colour as I do, I really can't hold it anymore. Let me be the first to say that your skills were SO AWESOME!!!!!"
"Aww... Thank you very much!" The pegasus blushed
"We are in your debt." Twilight bowed "and yet, we never had the honour to know your name. I'm Twilight Sparkle. The 4th Princess of Equestria!!!"
"N-No way!" The pegasus gasped "the captain of the team is one of the 4 Princesses? I cannot believe it! How does JP say it? Oh la vache!"
"And I'm Rainbow Dash!" Rainbow greeted "pleasure to meet you!"
"And you're Rainbow Dash!?" The pegasus exclaimed "oh boy! Truly, I am the luckiest pony in the world to meet up with Equestria's fastest flyer!"
"Wait..." Rainbow corrected "I'm not really the fastest flyer..."
"Well you are to me!!!" The pegasus replied causing the cyan rainbow pony to blush.
"So um..." Fluttershy spoke "what is your name?"
"Oh! I completely forgot about introductions, my apologies. I am one of the midfielders of the first Raimon Eleven, Tenma Matsukaze! But you can call me by my English name, Arion Sherwind!" The pegasus introduced and bowed.
"Oh yes. I've read that bowing is a traditional way to greet people in Neighpon." Twilight remembered.
"So you are an actual hoofball player." The Doctor asked
"Your skill was amazing!" Derpy complimented "I'm so dizzy looking at it."
"But Derpy..." Octavia sighed
"You know what this victory calls for?" Pinkie asked "a party!!!"
"Count me in!" Vinyl added
"This... Is not over." A wrathful voice whispered from behind the team. The group turned around to see Trixie, redder and angrier than ever.
"But..." Fluttershy started
"Shut your trap!" Trixie interrupted "you dare drag our names in the dirt once again!?"
"But that's because you dragged the name of hoofball in the dirt!" Arion reasoned
"I swear to you... We will not forget this humiliation. We will come back for you Twilight, your friends, your ponies and especially you!" Trixie pointed at Arion "we will get our own back against you, Arion Sherwind!!!" And with a puff of smoke, the Ponies of vengeance disappeared.
"Well I hope that's the last time we see them." Rainbow sighed with relief
"I wonder..." Flash thought
As everypony cleared away from the pitch, Twilight wondered something
"This hoofball..." Twilight asked "Is it fun?"
"Only if you work hard for it!" Arion replied "everypony can play it!!!"
"Yeah" Rainbow nodded "It seems very challenging, and I like a challenge."
"In that case... Spike, take a note." Twilight instructed and Spike pulled out a quill and parchment and began writing Twilight's dictation.
"Blah Blah Blah Neighpon Blah Blah Blah Ponyville..." The 14 ponies around her listened on as she warbled "... Therefore, I'd like to make hoofball an official sport in Equestria!"
"WHAT!?" They cried out
"Your faithful former student and the Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle." Twilight finished "now send it Spike. I've got something good to do with the castle and other areas of Ponyville." Spike took a deep breath and blew green fire which engulfed the letter as it flew away to Canterlot.
"Now then" Twilight turned to Arion "do you have some place to stay?"
"Yes! I do." Arion nodded "the entire team are staying in a certain manor in Ponyville. A friend bought it for us so we could enjoy Equestria without any limitations!"
"Wonderful! What's it called?"
"Shōen Manor!"
"Shōen?" Twilight wondered "that old manor's already rebuilt?"
"I heard it was modernly refurbished!" Arion continued "why don't all of you come around tomorrow? I'll properly introduce you to my team!"
"That would be lovely!" Rarity replied
Meanwhile in Canterlot, the two royal sisters are busy sharing their thoughts on the Neighponese visiting Equestria and it's ponies.
"To think we would see our long-lost friend again." Luna wept with joy
"Yes." Celestia nodded "the princess of the Moon is certainly doing well!"
"Well sister?" Luna asked "have thou seen anyone that thou know or is rather alike to thou?"
"Well, not really." Celestia replied
"Are thou hiding something from me?"
"Okay then. I met this young orange pegasus with his coat and mane as colours of the sun."
"Oh really?" Luna joked "Discord would not be happy."
"That pegasus is too young for me!" Celestia replied stunned by the joke. "He looks like he's still in Middle School"
"Like Twilight, I mean... Twilight's friends?"
"We only have kindergarten and junior schools for the young ponies in our education system." Celestia reminded "once they graduate, they're now part of the workforce. Neighpon however, has a stricter education system. A middle and high school for adolescent ponies and university for early adults. But yes, he certainly looks as young as Twilight's friends. Speaking of that pegasus..."
"Thanks for letting me stay awhile Princess." A pegasus with a heavy accent from a certain country thanked as he flew to the foot of the throne. "But do you really need to go into all the trouble just to cure my illness?"
"Consider this as a welcome gift." Celestia chuckled "besides, there's something about you that seems very similar to me."
"From what I've studied about Equestria." The pegasus explained "I know that you are the Princess of the Sun."
"Indeed I am."
"Maybe it's because of this?" The pegasus asked and displayed his cutie mark.
"A cutie mark of the sun!!!!" Luna gasped
"It's not just that..." The pegasus continued "There's a--" And paused as he saw a small green mist of smoke head towards Celestia where it rolled into a sphere and re-materialising a letter.
"Oh? What does Twilight have for me?" Celestia wondered loudly
"Isn't she the recently crowned princess?" The pegasus asked
"She's also a former student of mine." Celestia added "now let's see... Trixie causing trouble?"
"Oh dear..." Luna sighed with irritation
"A foreign pegasus saved their flanks?" Celestia read
"How sweet." Luna sighed with relief
"... Arion Sherwind? Interesting English name for a Neighponese."
"Arion!?!?" The pegasus cried out.
"Thou know this Arion Sherwind?" Luna asked
"Sure. He's one of my closest friends as we share a love of a certain sport."
"... And due to his performance, I have decided to make hoofball official! I wait upon your agreement and the other Princess' agreement. Your faithful former student and the Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle." Celestia finished
"And that's the sport Arion and I love." The pegasus replied
"Hoofball?" Celestia asked "Is it very popular in Neighpon?"
"Yes." The pegasus nodded "we pour all our heart and soul into playing this game."
"Is it that dedicated?" Celestia replied "hmm... If you insist..."
"Sister?" Luna asked
"This may be fun..." Celestia giggled "I'll make sure I forward this to Cadence. Do I have your agreement on this plan my dear sister?"
"Hmm... We don't see any problem with this... We say yea."
"Very well then." Celestia nodded and with her and Luna's signature, sent it to Cadence before turning back to the pegasus. "May I ask you a favour?"
"Anything Princess."
"In return for curing your illness, I want you to..."
"Teach you how to play hoofball? My pleasure." The pegasus bowed
The next morning, Twilight was ready to greet Arion and his football team. Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rainbow and Derpy came along.
"I can't believe that Rarity couldn't come." Rainbow sighed
"Let her have some time with that certain foreign unicorn she was talking about." Fluttershy reasoned
"Just wondering... Why did you have to come along Derpy?" Rainbow asked
"I wanted to meet new friends!"
"Don't you have to go to your mailing job?" Twilight asked
"Hah! Today's my break day. I'm working fully on the day after tomorrow!"
"But that's the occasional break day for all working ponies!" Fluttershy corrected
"Looks like you've got your timetable swapped around again!" Pinkie joked
"Hey! Don't make fun of me like that!" Derpy replied
"Settle down girls! We're already here!" Twilight noted. The 5 ponies looked up at a 3-story tall building with a red-tile roof.
"Are you sure it's here?" Rainbow asked. Twilight looked at the manor's name on the gate to clarify it.
"Yep! It looks like we're here!" Twilight nodded
"There's a bunch of cones and a hoofball here in the front yard." Pinkie noted "how could it NOT be this place?"
"Aww look! There's a dog over here!" Fluttershy squeaked at the white and black-spotted dog sleeping in his dog house.
"Well then," Twilight began as she approached the front door. "Here goes..." And knocked on the door. A few seconds later, the door was opened by a female earth pony that had a blue coat with a dark blue mane and tail.
"Hello, can I help you?" The mare asked
"I'm looking for a Pegasus named Arion Sherwind. Is he around?" Twilight asked
"Oh!!! So you must be Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria!" The mare gasped and bowed "it's an honour to meet you!"
"It's nice to meet you too!" Twilight returned
"Why don't you come on in?" The mare asked "everyone living in this manor is a part of the Raimon Eleven!!! I'm Aoi Sorano, Skie Blue in English. I'm one of the three primary colour managers of Raimon."
"Primary Colours???" Rainbow asked "I understand what a manager is, but what's with the 'primary colour' title?"
"My surname should give you hints." Skie giggled
"... OH!!! Blue!" Rainbow realised after 3 seconds. "So that means the surnames of the other 2 managers are Green and Red?"
"There's a few letter additions on their surnames." Skie answered
"We can talk about introductions all day!" Pinkie butted in "but can we do it inside?"
"Oh sorry." Skie apologised "come in."
As the 5 ponies entered the room. Multiple voices went "Welcome!!!", shocking the 5 visitors as they saw many different ponies around them.
"Welcome, Princess Twilight and her friends, to our humble abode." A beige unicorn with a pale-brown bushy-like mane bowed
"Hey Rick! That's not how you're supposed to greet them!" A voice laughed " you need to do it more majestically!"
"Oh be quiet!" The unicorn named Rick retorted "sorry about that. It's just everypony here decided to pull this surprise welcome since we heard that Arion just invited the Princess of Friendship here. And I said no, a surprise is not a good idea, but I was overruled."
"It's ok, no need to be so formal all the time." Twilight blushed "besides, Pinkie over here likes surprises!"
"I've seen better." Pinkie replied
"Anyway, let me introduce myself, I am Riccardo Di Rigo. It's a pleasure to meet you. I am the captain of the Raimon Eleven."
"Nice to meet you too!" Twilight returned the greetings
"Hey!" Pinkie jumped "can you guys so pull off those special windy moves like Aria could here?"
"Arion." Arion corrected "and to answer your question, the team has their own individual set of special skills and moves."
"It's not just based on wind either." Riccardo continued "the special techniques of hoofball is based on the 4 elements. Wind, Earth, Fire and Wood."
"Ooh! Ooh! Can we get a demonstration then?" Pinkie asked
"Better yet, since there are 5 of you, why don't we play a 5-on-5 battle?" Arion asked
"Alright!!!" Rainbow punched the air then thought awhile. "Wait... 5 ponies only? Isn't it normally 11?"
"Come outside, we'll show you." Arion instructed
The 5 ponies and team Raimon stationed themselves in front of the Manor where both sides took a simple battle formation.
"A battle is a quick 15 minute game of where you need to complete an objective." Arion instructed "get the ball, keep the ball away from others, and score a goal."
"But... We don't have our goalie." Twilight complained
"I-I'll volunteer." Fluttershy raised her hoof
"JP! Sam! Victor! You'll be with me and Arion for the battle." Riccardo commanded
"Whatever." A purple earth pony with a very unique hairstyle replied and took the ball in the front yard and got into his position with the ball.
"Your first objective" Victor instructed "get the ball from us."
"Shouldn't be that hard!" Rainbow chuckled and with Skie blowing the whistle, Rainbow immediately charged forward for a slide kick.
"Predictable." Victor taunted and jumped over the pegasus with the ball. He then kicked it over to a small yellow earth pony with a brown mane that looked like it had two pointy ears and the mane was held together with a headband.
"Try getting it from me this time!" The pony called. Twilight immediately took that chance and blocked his advance. The small pony however, just moved the ball around her and continued dribbling the ball.
"My turn!" Derpy cried and she headed towards Arion, but the small pony kicked the ball to Riccardo instead.
"You're marking the wrong person!" Pinkie bellowed
"Oops! Sorry!" Derpy apologised. In order to make up for Derpy's mistake, Pinkie stood like a wall in front of Riccardo.
"You're not strong enough to block me." Riccardo taunted as he charged straight through Pinkie "Arion!" He signalled.
"Right!" Arion replied as he recieved the ball.
"We've only got 5 minutes left!" Twilight replied
"I... I got it!" Fluttershy replied and with a swift jump, managed to slide kick the ball off Arion. The whistle blew to say that Twilight and friends managed to complete the objective and in conclusion, won the battle.
"Yes!" Rainbow punched in the air "first battle win!"
"You did it Fluttershy!" Twilight congratulated
"Oh it was nothing..." Fluttershy blushed
"Impressive." Riccardo nodded "but that was just the first battle. Let's see if you can hold the ball for 5 minutes."
Twilight and co managed to keep the ball away from their opponents by passing it to each other away from Riccardo and co.
"Their passing is sharp and swift." Sam analysed "it looks rather hard to break their formation."
"Not for long." The small pony replied "It's time to bring out my special skill! Flapjack Defence!" And performed a backflip. With his hind legs landing on Arion's, the small pony was propelled through the air due to Arion's buck kick, heading for Twilight who has the ball.
"What the..." Twilight tried to figure out why a small Earth pony was flying towards her until with a quick swoop, the pony flew past her with the ball on his forehead.
"You can do that!?" Rainbow replied, the whistle blew to signify the end of the battle.
"Oui!" The small pony replied as he dusted himself after his landing. "It's a block move called Flapjack Defence! I'm Jean-Pierre Lapin by the way, but everyone must call me JP!"
"Nice to meet you JP. I'm Rainbow Dash!"
"You held on pretty well, but not long enough." Riccardo started
"Sorry." Twilight apologised
"One more battle match." Riccardo continued "this time, you score a goal."
With Rainbow starting with the ball, Skie blew the whistle to begin the final match. Like what they did in the previous battle, Twilight and co managed to hold on to the ball till they got close to the ball.
"Now's your chance Rainbow!" Twilight called and kicked the ball towards her.
"Hahh!!!" Rainbow yelled and with a strong kick, volleyed the ball towards the goal.
"Good kick, but not good enough to get past me!" Sam noted "Combustion Catch!" He yelled and a flame erupted from one of his hooves via combustion. He jumped into the air, spinning four times in the clockwise direction before slamming his flaming hoof on the ball. As he caught the ball and brought it close to his chest, the flames on his hand die out in a steam.
"Oh come on! How are we supposed to get past that?" Twilight moaned "this special skill thing is so annoying!"
"In that case," Derpy piped up as she spotted Riccardo dribbling the ball, "let's try that move JP perfromed!"
"Okay then!" Pinkie replied and as Derpy performed a backflip, Pinkie used her hind legs to propel Derpy. However, Derpy's legs slid off Pinkie's and the poor pegasus got kicked in the flank instead.
"Oww..." Derpy moaned
"You need lots of practice and trust between each other to pull off that move." JP explained
"Let's finish this." Riccardo remarked and kicked the ball towards the goal.
"Catch it Fluttershy!!!" Twilight called
"Don't be scared! Face it like you faced that dragon!" Rainbow added
"L-Like... The dragon?" Fluttershy remembered. As she stared at the approaching ball, it started to form into the large sleeping dragon before in her mind. Immediately, her eyes arched in anger and with one hoof, stopped the ball without being pushed back.
"Woah!!!" Pinkie replied "you did it!"
"Very good." Riccardo applauded "perhaps your secondary position could be a goalie?"
"You blasted ball!" Fluttershy scolded "how dare you decide to fly toward me and my friend's goal!?"
"Wait... What?" Victor blurted as he saw the kind pegasus chewing out the ball.
"Looks like she took the ball dragon thing too seriously." Rainbow shrugged as Fluttershy continued yelling at the ball.
"Why don't you go where you're supposed to? The other goal!" Fluttershy concluded and with one mighty kick, sent the ball flying towards Sam.
"Woah! That's some kick!" Arion exclaimed. JP proceeded to block it with another defensive move on which he blocked the ball successfully. but as Fluttershy kicked the ball with a lot of spin, it also seemed to drag the earth pony's hooves along with it, causing him to lose his landing. Rainbow immediately took the chance and give one last all-out kick.
"Hahhhhh!" Rainbow roared as she turned to give a buck kick straight towards the goal.
"Ugh!" Sam at the time, thought that it wasn't necessary to use his special save skill again and decided to punch the ball away. However, the ball was too high for him to reach and as the ball soared pass him, it hit the back of the net.
"Yes! It went in!" Rainbow cheered as she did a little forward somersault as a goal celebration. The whistle blew to end the battle.
"That was something." Riccardo complimented "that previous battle took me by surprise. Especially with your save Fluttershy."
"Thank you." Fluttershy giggled
"Say, I think you've played very well in that match." Arion noted "why don't we help you go an extra mile?"
"Sounds like a great deal!" Pinkie nodded excitedly in agreement.
"Yeah!" Derpy nodded "I want to learn that Flapjack defence move too!"
"Well" Twilight decided "how can we say no?"
"It's settled!" Arion jumped "let's begin now!!!"
"Everypony! Everypony! There's an announcement from Princess Celestia! Everypony must assemble in the town square!" A loud voice echoed out.
"An announcement?" JP wondered
"We should go too." Victor added
"Oh!... Was THAT accepted that fast?" Twilight wondered
The 5 ponies that visited Raimon managed to meet up with the other 7 with the Raimon ponies in tow. Everypony surrounded a life-size spectral image of Celestia standing in front of the town hall.
"My fellow ponies." The princess started "there was incident in Ponyville yesterday that nearly brought the town to ruin."
"Oh... That." Some ponies muttered
"However..." The princess continued with another spectral form in the many other cities such as Manehattan, Appleloosa, Canterlot, the Crystal Empire and all the other cities. "This incident has passed with a great inspiration to the Princesses!..."
"... Cadence honey" Shining asked "What is this all about?"
"Didn't your sister tell you before you left Ponyville?" Cadence giggled
"No..."
"... And with all the Princesses in agreement" Celestia concluded "I declare that hoofball has now been recognised as an official sport!" All the cities in Equestria wondered what was this hoofball. Ponyville on the other hand, cheered their heads off.
"Also..." Celestia added "there will be an upcoming tournament open to all hoofball teams! Further details will be announced later in the days ahead. That is all, continue on with your day." Celestia finished and with a bow, her spectral images around the towns and cities vanished.
"W-Wait, you..." Riccardo started "agreed to make hoofball an official sport!?"
"Not just that!" Pinkie added "she drafted this rule!"
"I was there." Arion added "isn't this wonderful Captain?"
"B-But... This was supposed to be a holiday..." Riccardo continued
"Well it won't be anymore!!!" A sharp voice replied.
"Coach Evans? You can't be serious!" Riccardo turned "don't tell me we're going to enter that tournament! Let Equestria have their own game!"
"Of course not!" Evans chuckled "we'll be training them instead. This is what we agreed on, right Princess Twilight?"
"Well yes, we did..."
"However" Skie added "we can act as managers for your team!"
"I'm afraid I'll be taking that spot darling." Rarity replied
"And I'll be too." Flash approached "Princess Twilight's orders."
"In that case..." Arion replied "let's train!"
"Yeah!!!" Raimon, the Mane 6 and the Background 6 cheered.
"But..." Riccardo interrupted "we don't have a place to train. The manor is pretty small compared to a pitch."
"I've fixed that problem!!!" Spike piped up, everypony looked down to see the baby dragon.
"And you are?"
"I'm Twilight's assistant Spike! The Princess has decided to allow construction of any hoofball pitches at anypony's request! That is, if they fit the requirements."
"And I've also built one last night in my castle!" Twilight added "it shall be called the Twilight Stadium!"
"And why is it not Ponyville?" Applejack asked
"because I requested a proper stadium built in Ponyville." The Mayor answered behind her. "It will be done in a few days."
"Thank you Mayor." Twilight nodded
"What are we waiting for?" Pinkie cried out "let's play hoofball!"
Meanwhile, the ponies defeated by Twilight's hoofball team had been travelling away from Equestria feeling ashamed of their defeat and were starting to point names and curses at each other.
"You fool!"
"Hag!"
"Why are you all so lame and weak!!!"
"Silence! No one calls the Great and Powerful Trixie weak!"
"Well well well..." A voice interrupted. The 11 turned towards a red mane earth pony.
"Who are you?" Trixie started
"Nice match from before." The pony replied "of course, your actions need to be suppressed."
"Trixie has told you already! We don't care about the rules!"
"What if following the rules... I mean OUR rules would make you greater than ever and have more power?" The entire team stayed silent
"Think of me as just teaching all of you the meaning of hoofball, how to play it properly, and how to win."
"... Will we get our revenge then?" Trixie asked
"You'll get more than that, you'll get anything."
"F-Fine. We accept." Trixie nodded
"Excellent." The pony grinned "welcome to Fifth Sector."
The large group of ponies entered the castle, marvelling at the beautiful hallways and decor.
"Wow!" Arion gasped "this place is beautiful!"
"Oui!" JP agreed "It sparkles a lot!"
"Hence Twilight Sparkle!" Pinkie joked
"That's not funny." Twilight replied
"Oh come on!" Pinkie moaned "why can't you laugh for a second?"
"Anyway." Twilight ignored "this way to the hoofball stadium."
"I hope it's not like the Ice Arena from before." Riccardo shuddered.
"You'll see."
The ponies made their way into a large room, where only a certain amount of light from the roof was let in to reflect of all the magnificent purple walls and ground. The ground was made in crystal with the colour of Twilight's body. There, the borders of a hoofball pitch, two goal posts, multiple team benches were present, surrounded by a massive grandstand.
"Woah!!!" Arion gawked "the roof opening is able to shine down on the entire pitch so it can reflect the light of the pitch to the spectators in the grandstands!"
"Sherwind, when did you turn into a geek?" Victor asked
"Normally Peabody would make such a description." Riccardo chuckled
"Hmph. Looks like I got beaten to the punch then." The pony named Peabody huffed.
"This" Twilight introduced "is the newly built Twilight Stadium. Although the floor is made of crystal, it is magically enchanted in order to operate like a normal hoofball pitch would be."
"Info, facts, description... LAME!!!" Rainbow sneered "can we just get to training now?"
"Oh okay then..." Twilight grumbled.
"Right then." Evans replied "I'll be your coach! I'm Mark Evans by the way, but you can call me Coach Evans."
"Well, we are all ears Coach!" Pinkie replied.
"Right, from what Arion told me, here's what I got for each of you. We'll start working on how to dominate the position you've been given. So Lyra..."
The Ponyville team have experienced their first ever time of training for hoofball, and how hard it is. As Lyra practised and trained her goalkeeping skills with Sam and JP, she was also worried about something else.
"No Lyra" Sam explained as Lyra dodged JP's kick on purpose. "You need to face and save the ball."
"B-But... I'm afraid that it will hurt!" Lyra explained
"Then..." JP replied "why do you want to become goalie?"
"W-Well, it's because... It's a personal secret, something that I like." Lyra answered
"In that case," Sam replied "let your love for whatever you have overpower your fears."
"Combining that with always concentrating on the ball, you'd be unstoppable! And after many tries, I'm sure that fear of getting hit by balls will be gone for good!" JP added
"Yeah!" Sam agreed "for example, it's like you're trying to pretend to be that mythological creature called a human on which he can use its hands securely grip the ball!"
"WHAHHH!!! How do you know!?" Lyra gasped
"Wait... What? That was just an example!" Sam replied "It's just one of those mythology studies!"
"Oh... Oops, my mistake." Lyra blushed hard
"Don't tell me..." JP realised "the reason why you want to be a goalie, is because you want to have hands? That you want to be like a human?"
"... Yes..." Lyra blushed even harder and redder, a fear that she may be laughed at.
"Well then, whatever floats your boat, keep at it!" Sam encouraged
"What? You don't find that weird?" Lyra asked
"Of course not!" JP answered "well, it is a bit weird, but if you want to use that love to be a great help to hoofball, then keep at it!"
"O-Okay then! I'll do my best!!!" Lyra nodded as confidence returned to her.
"In that case..." Sam started and as he cut his speech off, ran and kicked the ball towards Lyra.
"Here goes!" Lyra breathed as she stood in front of the approaching ball "come on hooves! Block the ball like a human's hands can!" And standing on her hind legs, caught the ball with her two front hooves.
"I did it!" Lyra exclaimed
"Well done!" Sam applauded "looks like you're getting the hang of it now!"
"Just keep on thinking on the sole reason why you want to be goalie" JP reminded "and you will master the position!"
"Right!!!" Lyra nodded, she was really happy that her habits have been accepted thanks to hoofball "this is going to be fun!" She said to herself.
JP left Lyra with Sam to practice on their own and went to train the defenders.
"Right!" JP started his lesson "the main purpose of a defender is to be able to stop the ball from getting close to the goalie at all costs! Steal the ball, make sure you keep it in your possession and pass it to the Midfielders and Forwards!"
"Easier said than done." Bon Bon replied
"That's why I'm here to make sure you think twice!" JP answered "now, what are everypony's main stats?"
"Hmm..." Vinyl wondered.
"In that case, let me help you get started. Try some jumping exercises!" JP instructed "then, we will go to slide kicking and blocking!"
Derpy, Bon Bon, Vinyl and Fluttershy worked their guts out in order to learn and perfect the basics and art of defence.
"Remember Fluttershy" JP reminded "it is best you save the energy for your wings to perform special moves." As the group continued on their training routine, JP has something special in mind.
"Now, some of you who don't know what a special move is, it is a move where you are able to use your technical energy and one of the 4 elements to pull off stylish and yet powerful moves in order to save, block, dribble or score a goal! For example, a technique I learnt by myself called Flapjack Defence is a block move where one pony propels another to steal the ball from the opponent! And guess what? One of you can be able to do that with the right practice!"
"Ooh! Is it me?" Vinyl asked
"No..." Fluttershy responded "only one pony tried to mimic JP's move from before, and that was--"
"Miss Derpy!!! Yes, she tried to do it before." JP finished "and I think you have the potential."
"I do?" Derpy replied
"Her?" Bon Bon chuckled "can she really pull off a move like that?"
"She can if she tries! Don't put her down!" Vinyl encouraged
"I'll um, do by best!" Derpy nodded
"Genial! Now, let's test who will be Miss Derpy's partner. Why don't you three take turns to try kicking her?"
"Kick her!? Literally!?" The three gasped
"Je suis desole..." JP apologised "I meant propel."
"I'll try first." Vinyl volunteered. As she prepared her legs ready to kick Derpy, sweat poured from her body as she feared of kicking the pegasus in the wrong area instead of the hooves.
"I'm doing it!" Derpy alerted
"I'm ready." Vinyl nodded, at that response, Derpy performed a backflip and Vinyl positioned her back legs to connect her hooves to Derpy. However, Derpy slipped from Vinyl's hooves like with Pinkie and Vinyl ended up kicking Derpy's back again.
"Oww!" Derpy cried in pain
"Ooh..." The other defenders winced
"My my..." JP whistled "are you ok? Can you get up?"
"It will take more than a kick to break me!" Derpy picked herself up.
"Right then... Anyone else?" JP asked. Even though Vinyl tried again, as well as Fluttershy or Bon bon taking turns, either Derpy slipped off her partner's hooves and gets kicked in the back, Fluttershy on the other hand, is too soft with her kicks, and when she gets grilled up, she 'accidentally' misses and kicks Derpy in the back. In the end, JP had to call it off before Derpy gets a serious injury
"Oh la la... This is harder than I thought." JP sighed "maybe this is how Coach Sharp felt?"
In the Midfielder session, Riccardo and Arion with a few other Raimon midfielders are teaching the basics of blocking and dribbling the ball. Twilight found it quite hard to dribble the ball properly without fumbling it and losing it altogether.
"Oh dear... This is harder than I thought!" Twilight sighed
"Hey Princess!" A green pegasus called out "you need to look at the ball in order to keep the ball and dribble faster!"
"Really? Okay, thanks for the advice!" Twilight called back and followed the pegasus' advice. She started to get a little faster and kept the ball on her more often, but she was so focused on the ball that she didn't see what's in front of her and trailed between the Forward session and bumped her head on the goalpost.
"Oww..." Twilight cried
"That's not very nice Aitor. Don't trick the Princess like you tricked Lucian." Riccardo sighed
"Heh heh heh..." The pegasus named Aitor evilly chuckled.
"Is... Aitor like this every time?" Twilight asked as she brought the ball back
"You'll get used to it. So will he." Riccardo assured "regardless, always remember to look in front, dribbling the ball will get easier." As Twilight tried a few times, she got the hang of it in the end.
"Hey hey! Look at me go!" Twilight chuckled
"Think you can do it Octavia?" Riccardo whispered
"My pleasure." Octavia nodded and with one burst of speed, snatched the ball from Twilight.
"Hey!" Twilight angrily replied
"You need to make sure you hold on to the ball, as well as steal it." Riccardo reminded "while you were practising ball dribbling, I taught Octavia how to steal it."
"Oh..."
"Now both of you are going to do the opposite." Riccardo instructed "Twilight, you try to steal the ball from Octavia."
As the 2 midfielding ponies continued on taking the ball from each other, Arion and another pony were teaching the other 2 midfielders of Ponyville.
"That's the spirit Pinkie!" Arion encouraged as Pinkie danced around the Doctor while holding the ball. "Hey Eugene, what do you think?"
"She certainly holds on to the ball very well" Eugene (Eugene Peabody) analysed "could be a little faster, but she could be ready to learn a special move for herself or two! But that's really out of logic, she's only new to this and she's dribbling the ball like a pro!"
"Mr Peabody" Doctor answered "if there's one thing you should know about Pinkie, she defies logic. We don't know why and she doesn't know either. So this stays as being Pinkie Pie."
"Okay." Eugene nodded confused "how about we try this? Pinkie pass me the ball."
"Alley-oop!" Pinkie booted the ball over to Eugene.
"Now both of you try to take it from me."
"Charge!" Pinkie yelled as the two Earth ponies dived towards him.
"Predictable..." Eugene whispered to himself. Eugene imagined that there was a starting "3..2..1..GO!" sound as he tapped his back right leg on the ground twice before slamming it on the ground and dragging it back to put himself in a starting position, carefully looking at the two charging ponies. The moment he heard a high pitched beep for "GO!", he yelled "Dragster!" And like a speeding car, zoomed straight past the two ponies, surprising them to their wits.
"That was fast!" The Doctor replied as he recovered from his shock.
"Zoom!" Pinkie added "just as fast as Rainbow!"
"It's my special move." Eugene returned with the ball after he slowed down. "It's called Dragster!"
"It it another one of those 'special dribble moves' like Arion's Easy Breezy?" The Doctor asked
"Yep!" Arion nodded "but both of you aren't at the point of learning it yourselves yet. Let's continue practice!"
"Okay then!" And without any warning, the Doctor stole the ball from Eugene and started dribbling. "Get the ball from me then!" He chuckled
"Challenge accepted!" Pinkie replied and galloped after him.
"These ponies really seem to take practice very seriously!" Arion laughed
"Of course!" Eugene nodded "hoofball was just announced as a new sport in Equestria! Why would they not try it out?"
Finally, in the Forwards training session, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were being instructed by Victor and the pegasus named Lucian Dark.
"I won't go easy on you even though you're mares and because you're new to this." Victor warned
"Don't worry." Rainbow Dash replied "I always love a challenge!"
"Be patient Rainbow, it may be harder than you think." Applejack calmed
"Now let's begin." Victor instructed "being a Forward is more than just kicking the ball into the net. It requires willpower, precision, and a lot of physical power..." Rainbow Dash started sleeping as Victor warbled on, Lucian nudged her but wouldn't budge.
"Now." Victor said with a sharp tone that woke up Rainbow Dash "let's see who's been paying attention. Rainbow? How about you try?"
"M-Me?" Rainbow Dash gestured to herself.
"Yes." Victor nodded and gestured "kick the ball into the net."
"O-Ok, shouldn't be that hard." Rainbow replied. Taking a step back for a running kick, Rainbow kicked the ball as hard as she could into the net.
"I see the power, but you lack the will." Victor analysed
"What?" Rainbow moaned
"When you kicked the ball, you kicked it as if you were being told to. Like you're just following orders."
"Well of course!" Rainbow Dash replied "you told me to kick it!!!"
"Hmm... You are the representation of the Element of Loyalty. Are you not?"
"Why yes! I'm Rainbow Dash! The friend that is the most loyal of all!"
"I can understand. I too was once loyal to the former holy emperor of Neighpon that once ran a certain organisation."
"Really?"
"There was an organisation known as Fifth Sector that controlled hoofball. From the selection of teams to the pairing and outcome of matches."
"And you were loyal to that organisation?"
"I caused quite some trouble with Raimon before I joined them." Victor explained "I mean, all I just did was follow orders. To destroy Raimon. I never really cared about hoofball or the consequences of my mission. It was in order to help those whom I love. 2 ponies made me realise the error of my ways sooner or later, I started to like hoofball once again."
"I see... Who were these 2?"
"My brother Vladimir and of course, Sherwind. You see, due to trying to rescue me from falling from a tree, I accidentally crushed Volodya's hind legs. I followed Fifth Sector so they would be able to provide the money for treatment on his legs. A former coach of mine said the money would be donated when I crush a certain somepony... You know who he is."
"Arion?"
"That's right. But there was something about that pony that seemed to confuse me, he never held any grudges against me. In fact, he never has any revenge with anyone, he's very sympathetic to everypony he meets, even for imperials like me. He has such naive innocence, but with Volodya, that's what made me realise the how hoofball was getting corrupt at that time. So I decided to play for real now, to love hoofball once more."
"Oh Victor..."
"Turns out it was really for the better. As soon as I started playing hoofball as it really was, somepony had provided the fees for my brother's treatment. Heh heh, I guess it's karma. Volodya would be able to walk and play hoofball again, all because I helped make hoofball happy." Victor concluded with a disgusted grin "why did I say that hoofball was happy? Sherwind must have some influence on me."
"That's... An amazing story." Rainbow replied
"When Fifth Sector was disbanded, I started being loyal to myself now, continuing to play hoofball with Sherwind and the rest of Raimon, because we love hoofball."
"Very touching..."
"I hope you didn't get too comfortable." Victor started "you'd better give it your all on your next kick. Score a goal for what it's worth. Be loyal to yourself too."
"Okay then!!! I'll be sure to give it my best!" Rainbow replied determined. "Yahhh!!!!!" She roared as she kicked the ball into the goal one more time.
"Heh... I've seen worse." Victor analysed "but you're improving, at a turtle's pace."
"Hey!" Rainbow cringed offended
"Relax. Slow and steady wins the race."
"Okay then."
"Hey Lucian, I'll have my time with Rainbow over here, go help the farm pony." Victor called
"O-Okay then!" Lucian replied.
After 2 hours of kicking, dribbling, blocking and saving, Coach Evans decided to call it a day.
"Alright everypony! Training is over! I've never seen anything like this! Mares actually giving it their all! Better than Nelly and Cameilla" Evans concluded "well done Princess and you too Doctor! Can't forget the sole stallion!"
"Thanks." The Doctor blushed
"If you keep on continuing this performance, I'll teach you all a special tactic!"
"A special tactic?" Twilight asked
"A special movement that requires the entire team. It can be used to advance on the opponent's goal or defend your goal." Evans explained
"Cool! Sounds awesome!" Rainbow jumped
"Well then, see you all tomorrow!" Evans waved and with that, the Raimon Eleven left the castle.
"Lots of blood, sweat and tears everypony." Flash approached with replenishing drinks and supplies "Spike has prepared the baths in the castle. Feel free to cool down there."
"Oh dear. All of you look shattered. That's pretty much why I don't want to play hoofball." Rarity sighed
"But.." Applejack started
"Don't try to convince me! I don't want to spend training like this just to win some game!"
"Rarity..." Fluttershy tried to explain
"Don't worry about it, we understand." Twilight replied.
"You got to admit, that training was something." Octavia added
"Hey Derpy." The Doctor started "how's your back?"
It's..." Derpy started "something new. A pain that I've ever felt."
"I don't think it's just your footing." Doctor continued "I've been watching."
"What do you think I'm lacking?"
"Trust." The Doctor replied
Meanwhile in a corporate building, Filthy Rich was busy managing his finances and business.
"Mr Rich" one of his employees informed "somepony wants to see you."
"Is it my daughter?" Filthy replied
"No, it's the businesspony from overseas. He's come to visit you."
"Oh really? Send him in." Filthy replied interested.
"At once sir." The employee replied and went out. The employee returned with two distinct looking unicorns. One was white with a red wavy mane and tail and has the cutie mark of a shooting star. The other had a light-olive coat with a light-green mane and tail, with the mane tied up with a hair band. That unicorn had a cutie mark that similarly resembles a black hole with a yellow circle in the middle of the black hole.
"Mr Rich, it is an honour to meet you in person for the first time." The white unicorn started "I'm sure you know who I am."
"The savvy business stallion, I know" Filthy replied "living up to your name, the honour and pleasure is all mine."
"I've had my eye on Equestria for a time now, there are some certain resources that are quite interesting."
"I could say the same about Neighpon."
"One example is the zap apple jam, I've heard that it's made from quite special ingredients that can only be available and harvested for 5 days. There are also certain requirements in order to harvest them.
"That's right!!!" Filthy nodded "not only that, one of the Zap Apple farmers is also one of the 6 heroines of Equestria!"
"So I've heard." The olive unicorn spoke "the bearers of the Elements of Harmony who were known for driving out the dark forces. Applejack of Honesty, Rainbow Dash of Loyalty, Rarity of Generosity, Fluttershy of Kindness, Pinkie Pie of Laughter and Twilight Sparkle of Magic, who has recently been made Princess."
"Thanks for the history lesson." The white unicorn laughed "but I am already convinced with Mr Rich's work here." He then turned to Filthy "I think we would get along very well as business partners!"
"That would be brilliant!" Filthy exclaimed
"Under one condition."
"Anything."
"I didn't come to Equestria just to do business you know. If there is any other non-business related service I can provide, it's a done deal."
"Well..." Filthy thought until a loud slam of the door came from the entrance to his room, revealing a small light-pink filly.
"DADDY!" Diamond Tiara yelled
"Sweetheart!" Filthy greeted with joy as he trotted towards her "now's not a good time. I've got some discussion with some new business partners, can we talk about this later?"
"No!" Diamond Tiara replied "I want to talk about it now!"
"It's ok." The white unicorn butted in. "Hello little lady! What's your name?"
"I'm Diamond Tiara! I'm Filthy Rich's daughter!"
"What a very nice name!" The olive pony complimented "she's very sweet Mr Rich."
"She can get a bit off at times." Filthy chuckled nervously "she doesn't get along with three of her classmates at school."
"Don't call them that!" Filthy snapped "that's not nice!"
"Anyway" Diamond Tiara continued "do you know any thing about hoofball?"
"Hoofball?" The two unicorns gasped in realisation
"Why yes! I've heard it was officially announced as a sport in Equestria! But what does that have to do with me?"
"I wanna start a team!" Diamond requested "and I want super strong players and a super strong coach!"
"Oh my..." Filthy started "it's going to take me some time though... I need to finish negotiations with our business partners here."
"Mr Rich" The white unicorn started "I think we've got a deal now, and allow me to help your daughter's request"
"Really???"
"Mr Rich, and Miss Tiara, I know a super strong coach to help you start your new hoofball team. In fact, two super strong coaches!"
"Who is it?" Diamond asked
"Why!" The olive unicorn laughed "it's us!"
"Both of you have played hoofball before?" Flithy's eyes widened
"When we were foals, yes." The unicorn nodded "hoofball is very popular in Neighpon and it's still popular today!"
"In fact" the olive unicorn added "hoofball saved our lives. Once, we used to play it in order to show power and strength in order to dominate all of Neighpon."
"but thanks to a certain pony from a certain school, he helped showed us what hoofball was really for, and how it's supposed to be enjoyed!" The white unicorn continued
"And to that, we still love hoofball, even more than running a sturdy business." The olive unicorn conluded
"Mr Rich." The white unicorn offered his hoof to which he shook Filthy's "we've got a deal. Not only will we be business partners from here on out, me and my secretary here will also be coaches for your daughter's hoofball team."
"Thank you sirs!" Diamond bowed in respect "by the way, do you know any super strong--"
"Players?" The white unicorn finished "well, it's not about strength, but the close bonds that you have with the ponies you love."
"And since you're still a filly," the olive unicorn advised "why not make a team of foals and fillies? How about you invite your schoolmates?"
"What!? But..." Diamond protested
"Trust me little one." The white unicorn interrupted "if you want to play real hoofball, then play with your friends. We learnt it first hand from experience and humiliation. Do the same thing as we did, without humiliation."
"Hmm... Okay then, I trust you." Diamond nodded
"How about after school?" The olive pony suggested "we'll meet you at your school."
One day, Rarity was busy picking up supplies for her store while in deep thought about Twilight and the rest of her friends playing hoofball. She felt... Excluded just being a manager.
"What is this feeling of... Loneliness?" Rarity asked herself "is it because I did not want to play hoofball though everypony wanted me to? What can I do?" Rarity started to worry as she hurried on, not looking where she was going and bumped into a pink earth pony.
"Oh my! I'm so sorry!" Rarity apologised
"Oh no no! It's ok, no problem." The pink pony replied.
"... That's some weird accent you've got." Rarity answered
"I can take that as a compliment." The pony sarcastically joked
"Hey..." Rarity took a close look at the pink pony, whose pink mane was tied in 2 spiky pigtails and had a naturally straight and wavy tail. This pink pony also had naturally feminine eyelashes with a bright blue iris, sported with a cutie mark of a hoofball surrounded by mist. "You look very stylish."
"Really? Now I can take that as a real compliment!" The pony laughed
"No..." Rarity corrected "you look very beautiful!!! Oh how I am so honoured to meet you! My name's Rarity."
"Uh... Well hi Rarity." The pony greeted back "I'm..."
"Let us save our introductions for later." Rarity interrupted "why don't you come into my boutique and try on something that can bring out your stunning style?" And pushed the pony towards the boutique "I'd love to know all about you! Say, are you one of the visitors from Neighpon?"
"Yes, but..." The pony explained
"That's very lovely! Why, I bet every mare would be jealous at your looks and I'm sure you would attract a lot of stallions!"
"Envious mares? Attracting stallions? Are you trying to imply that I'm a... Wait! I'm..." The pink pony tried to object but Rarity was already occupied with the planned activities for the two of them. With a green pegasus watching from nearby.
"My oh my..." Aitor laughed "what did you get yourself into? Have fun with the clean freak fashionista, cause I'm not pulling you out." And trotted away.
Meanwhile Flash was busy trotting around the area on high alert for any small conflicts... No he's not, he's just buying and refreshing isotonic drinks, food, tea, baguettes, etc. All for the hoofball team of Ponyville.
"Being a manager is... Extremely difficult. So many supplies and rations to capture." Flash sighed.
"That's why we'll help you, soldier foal!" A chuckle from behind. Flash turned around to see three mares, one with a coat of sky blue, one that has a rose red coat and the last mare has a jade green coat, the three primary colours together... Sort of.
"Hmm... Are those???" Flash pointed
"Yep!" The Green pegasus stated "these should be the remaining things that you need to get on your shopping list."
"Thank you very kindly. It clears out most of my missions. May I know your names?"
"You don't know us?" Skie asked "oh yeah, you didn't come along with the Princess to visit us. I'm Skie Blue, one of the managers of the Raimon Eleven. Princess Twilight has told me all about you."
"Jade Greene." The green pegasus answered "another manager of Raimon."
"And I'm Rosie Redd. Manager and photographer of the Raimon Eleven." The red unicorn replied "it's very nice to meet one of the managers of the Ponyville Eleven."
"But mares can also be hoofball players. Why can't stallions be managers?" Flash asked
"True..." Jade wondered
"By the way." Rosie asked "have you seen the other manager? I think her name was Rarity..."
"Lady Rarity?" Flash replied "yes, she at her famous carousel boutique. I recall she was dragging a pink earth pony along."
"Really? I guess we'll have to meet her later." Jade sighed
"There's something strange about Rarity's new customer though..." Flash added "she looks very pretty... But at the same time, my instincts are telling me that she is--"
"--A 'he' ?" Rosie finished with fear in her eyes
"... It seems you know this mare... Wait a minute..." Flash replied
"Nothing's wrong." A voice called from afar, the 4 ponies turned around to see Aitor strolling up to them. "I'm pretty sure that's just another stylish mare that came to visit."
"But Rarity is the only stylish pony in Ponyville." Flash reminded
"Aitor..." Jade glared
"Whatever, good luck getting him out!" Aitor laughed as he flew away.
"Get Riccardo. NOW." Skie commanded
"Roger." Flash saluted and flew off to the direction of the manor.
In the Carousel Boutique, Rarity was happily choosing and picking the most stylish dresses for her stylish customer, who was sweating nervously as he was fitted into yet another pink frilly dress.
"Uhh..." The pony winced as he looked at himself in the mirror. Although, one time when he stepped into a normal pink dress with no accessories or attachments, he did look very cute and pretty in his own opinion, but wearing too many female clothes one after another is crossing the line. "Rarity, there's something I need to tell you..."
"Yes?"
"I've been trying to tell you this, but I'm not what you think I am..." The pony explained
"What are you getting on about?" Rarity asked, the doors to the Carousel blew open, revealing Riccardo, Flash and the Raimon managers. "Oh my! New customers! It's great to meet you! Let me just finish with this gorgeous mare first." Riccardo wasn't listening, he was completely speechless at the shocking but beautiful appearance of his own cross-dressed teammate and friend.
"GABRIEL!!!" Riccardo yelled with horror.
"Wait..." Rarity stopped "Gabriel? That's your name?"
"Yes." The pink pony Gabriel nodded "Gabriel Garcia. People call me Gabi for short."
"B-But that means!!!"
"Yes, I'm a stallion. Not a mare. I've have been trying to tell you this ever since you dragged me towards your boutique."
"I-I-I..." Rarity stuttered, her face growing as red as fire.
"Bad time Rick." Gabi sighed "we better gallop."
"She may not let us go that easily..." Flash implied as Rarity stutters grew in pitch, staring at Gabi, her mind full of confusion and rage.
"In that case..." Gabi breathed "Mystifying Mist!" A thick mist flew into the boutique, fogging up the interior and shielding the group from Rarity's view.
"Mystifying Mist..." Flash wondered "how can you control it? You're not a pegasus!"
"No time to explain!" Gabi replied "everypony get out of here!!!"
"Hey!!! Where did all this fog come from?" Rarity gasped as she tried to find vision through the forest of mist. Luckily, she managed to spot the open entrance and galloped after them. "No wait! Please! Come back!" Rarity cried. In response, a heavenly light shone from above and in it's spotlight, a large Parthenon rose from the ground bringing heavenly choirs of singing. Rarity was distracted for a short moment by it's beauty, but then remembered why she galloped out of her shop. Going around the Parthenon, she continued galloping towards the path in hopes of catching up to the escaping ponies, not knowing that there was another Parthenon in the way and collided head on. Rarity gave up the chase as she lies defeated on the ground.
"Oh Celestia..." Rarity cried as the two Parthenons faded in view. "What did I do to deserve this? Is this my punishment for not joining hoofball with Twilight and friends?"
"That was a close one." Skie sighed as they watched the crying Rarity from a safe distance.
"That was pretty mean though." Flash noted "I think you've broken her heart. You'd better apologise to her next time you come around for hoofball practice."
"Okay then, whatever you say sir."
"Now." Flash changed "can you explain how you can send a dense cloud of mist into the boutique?... And how can you summon these Parthenons?"
"Mystifying Mist." Gabi explained "is a hoofball blocking technique. But this is the first time I had to use it for escaping."
"Hoofball? Are you kidding?" Flash replied "you actually use all sorts of techniques and energy that harnesses the 4 elements, just to keep, steal, catch or kick a ball?"
"Yep."
"Then what about the Parthenons?"
"That would be me." Riccardo answered "my dribble technique, Athena's Anthem. Though, I can't use the move twice at a split second. I don't know who performed the second one."
"Sorry." Rosie piped up "that would be me. I thought she wouldn't be distracted for long, so I put in another one."
"Wait." Flash noted "you three managers also play hoofball? As well as have special techniques of your own?"
"Anypony can play hoofball!" Jade chuckled "and when they put in lots of practice, anypony can learn a special move by nature!"
"You should try it sometime." Skie encouraged "and so should Rarity."