Wonderball

Chapters

First Play, On the Wings of Victory
Second Play, Applications, Apparels and Apples
Third Play, Day of Tryouts
Fourth Play, Timid Wings
Fifth Play, Finishing Tryouts
Sixth Play, And the Team is...

First Play, On the Wings of Victory

-=≡On the Wings of Victory≡=-

Flashes of blue and yellow streaked across the sky. Six pegasi flew in an arrowhead formation, each of them the pinnacle of flying skill. They were the Wonderbolts, the best aerial team in all of Equestria. Bouncing in between them was a white ball with two black lines running perpendicular to each other across the middle. By repeatedly knocking the ball between them, the pegasi carried it down the field of contest.

Their opponents only had three pegasi in the air. Two unicorns and an earth pony were on the grassy ground below. All of them wore uniforms of silver and black. The three pegasi were charging into the Wonderbolts, desperately trying to snatch the ball away. On the ground, the two unicorns were using magic to try the same thing. Waiting for his chance to do something, the earth pony had his hooves dug tightly into the dirt.

It was the final game of the debut tournament of the newest game sweeping across Equestria, Wonderball. The match was between the Cloudsdale Wonderbolts and the Manehattan High Towers. Two teams of six were on a field of trimmed grass. White lines were painted to denote the edge of the play area. On each end were the methods of scoring, either a hoop that extended into the air on a pole or a rectangular goal on the ground.

Surrounding the play area was a massive stadium with rows upon rows of seats. It went so far back that the ponies had to use binoculars to see what was going on. The roar of the crowd was deafening. They stomped their hooves in unison to create a rhythmic boom. Off to the side was a great scoreboard with large numbers visible to all. The Cloudsdale Wonderbolts had a score of ten, and the Manehattan High Towers had a score of eleven. In the middle of the board was a clock. It didn’t circle from one to twelve but from sixty to zero. There were only two hands, the seconds hand and the minute hand.

Current time on the clock: Two minutes.

The Wonderbolts were leading an attack, trying to take back the lead. But as they got closer to the goal, it got harder to keep the ball. Every time they passed, the unicorns on the High Towers made an attempt to take the ball away with telekinesis. The opposing pegasi also had less area to cover.

On one pass, one of the High Tower unicorns was able to influence the ball. She wasn’t powerful enough to grab it completely, but she could slow down the speed slightly. That was all that was needed for her teammate to swoop down and kick the ball towards the waiting earth pony below.

The announcer roared, “What a steal by Rainstorm and Night Flower! Their teamwork sends the ball to the waiting Dust Cloud. He’s scored three points already and assisted in a two-pointer. Against an all pegasi team, he hasn’t had a chance to do much defense, but now it’s back on offence!” The announcers excitement filtered through the crowd, increasing the volume of their cheering.

Dust Cloud, the grey earth pony with dark green hair, galloped down the field with the ball dribbling in front. His powerful hooves trampled the grass on his way towards the Wonderbolts’ goals. Flanking him on either side were the unicorn teammates.

The Wonderbolts were already flying back to defend. Three of them were tied up by the High Tower pegasi, but the other three were free to steal the ball back. Dust Cloud weaved left to right as the Wonderbolts zipped by in streaks of blue. The pegasi made several attempted swipes at the ball while trying to avoid the legs.

The grey pony passed to one of his unicorn teammates as the pressure got too much. The teal unicorn stopped when she got the ball. A light green glow wrapped around the ball. She attempted to pass to her fellow unicorn, but a streak of blue knocked the ball into the sky.

“From behind, Spitfire!” the announcer shouted. “She broke free and took the ball back for the Wonderbolts!”

The fiery-maned pegasus grinned at her teammate that recovered the ball. With the unicorns pulled away from the goal, they were able to blitz in without much interference. Their ability almost made the opposing pegasi look like baby birds learning to fly for the first time.

Swirling through the air with the ball bouncing back and forth, the Wonderbolts dominated the skies. A feint brought them into a clear shot. A stallion pegasus with black hair flipped through the air and performed a somersault kick. With a blaze of fire, the ball passed cleaning through the hoop.

“Two points!” the announcer roared. “Within the final seconds of the game, the Cloudsdale Wonderbolts have taken the lead with a magnificent shot by Soarin!”

In a mad scramble, the Manehatten High Towers tried to get back down the field. The second hand ticked down to the end of the game. Right before time was up, one of the unicorns with attempted to shoot directly to the goal from more than halfway down the field. The shot never made it as one of the Wonderbolts smashed it into the ground.

Simultaneously, a cheer and groan came from the crowd. All of the pegasi landed on the field, finally able to rest their wings again. Sweat dripped off their muzzle and onto the ground. But all of the Wonderbolts raised their hoof in victory. Without enough security, the fans started to pile onto the field.

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Rainbow Dash cheered. Her wings thrust out, causing her rainbow streaked hair to flutter.

She couldn’t feel the full rush of excitement, however. Rainbow Dash was inside Sugarcube Corner watching the game on one of those new inventions known as the television, vision that gets teleported to screens on black boxes.

“Wow, you’re still so excited after seeing this for the seventh time,” Pinkie Pie said.

“Because it’s so awesome! And the Wonderbolts won!” Rainbow Dash held up both hooves in a cheer.

The finals of the tournament had actually been played week before. Rainbow Dash had asked to record it on the other new invention, the digital video recorder, at Sugarcube Corner. Almost all her free time was spent at the bakery now. She didn’t care about the glass cases full of colorful frosted cakes or the bubbly pink decorations, however. All she wanted was to watch the game. As exciting as it was, some of the other customers were getting tired of such loud and boisterous activities. No one had been able to get past rainbow pegasus to put on something else, however.

Rainbow Dash was sitting at the counter. Next to her was a pink pony with curly, even-more-pink hair. A sleek, shiny television was installed onto the wall right in front of them. Underneath that was the black box that could record shows. The Cakes were the first business in Ponyville to incorporate the visual entertainment into their business, and it was working. The rest of shop was full of ponies. The ponies enjoyed the delectable desserts, such as cupcakes with sprinkles, rich cheesecakes, lighter-than-air angel cakes and much more while watching television.

“Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash said authoritatively. “Let’s round up the girls. I want to play.”

“Ooh, yay!” Pinkie Pie squealed. She zipped off before coming back. “Mr. Cake, I’m taking my break.”

Before Mister Cake could even get out any words, Pinkie had ran out again. “Okay, Pinkie,” the yellow stallion with the strong chin said anyway.

It didn’t take long for Pinkie to gather up everyone else, and they all had some free time as well. Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack and Spike followed Pinkie Pie out to an open field. It was a great location with nearly flat ground and some trees nearby for shade. A makeshift boundaries had been made by driving stakes into the ground and then tying a rope in between them. There was also the goals, cobbled together with wood. Each side had both a hoop thrusting to about second-floor height and a goal on the ground. Rainbow Dash was already there and bouncing a ball on her head repeatedly. Unlike an official game ball, theirs was a simple one with cheap stitchings.

When she noticed the others had arrived, she let the ball drop into a cradle made by wings. “There you girls are.”

“I don’t see why you insist on playing this, this sport,” Rarity said. She was a prissy unicorn with a fashionable hairstyle that avoided sweat and dirt as much as possible. “It’s fun to watch, but to play? This sport really only was invented by the television company to sell more televisions. Quite an ingenious plan, though”

“What? Playing it is great!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “The rush of charging towards the goal, the feel of making a clutch play, how can you not enjoy that?”

“Quite easily, actually.”

A purple alicorn stepped forward. Her wings were pressed tight against her body. “Are we dividing into the usual teams?” Twilight asked.

“Yes,” Rainbow Dash answered the alicorn. “We’re on our last best-of-five game. This one decides it all.”

“Y’all going down,” Applejack said, filled with confidence. She pushed up the cowboy hat on to reveal a grin underneath the brim. “We’re gonna to take the win.”

“We’ll just see about that.”

The rainbow pegasus and the farm pony locked eyes, both trying to outstare the other.

“Alright, alright, save it for the game” Spike said. He was the only guy of the group and the only one not a pony. Spike was a small, purple dragon, and he had a whistle in his claws. A sharp blast of noise captured everypony’s attention. “Everyone remember the rules?”

A yellow pegasus meekly raised her hoof. “Um, do I have to spend the entire game time flying?”

“As a bouncer, you are allowed to land.” Spike spoke in an official tone. “Just so everyone knows, let me explain the basic rules again.

“Fluttershy, you and Rainbow Dash are bouncers. That means you two fly around in the air, bouncing the ball to your teammates.

“Twilight and Rarity are snatchers. You can manipulate the ball with magic. And you can’t move while in possession of the ball.

“Lastly, the movers are Applejack and Pinkie Pie. You two dribble the ball along the ground,” Spike finished with each position, sounding like he only read the summarized version of the rules. It wasn’t too important as they weren’t being serious anyway.

“A hoop shot is worth two points while a goal shot is worth one. This will be three on three with a game time of thirty minutes. Everypony got that?”

The group nodded.

“Okay. Take your places!”

Spike ran over to the a highchair at the edge of the field where he had a decent view of the actions. On an attached table was an hourglass.

One team consisted of: Twilight Sparkle, a student of magic and the recent alicorn. Rainbow Dash, the fastest pegasus around. And Pinkie Pie, the most happiriffic pony to wield a cannon.

The other team was: Rarity, who would much rather spend her free time at the spa. Fluttershy, a meek pony that almost flies away from the ball as much as towards it. And Applejack, who has muscles of steel from working on a farm all her life.

Their referee, timekeeper and scorekeeper was Spike, friendly neighborhood dragon.

“Place the ball in the center,” Spike commanded. He curled his claws around the hourglass. “Let’s have a good, clean match. By land, air or mysticism, go for the goal! Play start!” The hourglass was flipped over and slammed down. Its sand started trickling downward.

Applejack was the only pony for her team that rushed forward. She had to compete with Rainbow, Twilight and Pinkie for the ball in the middle of the field. Fluttershy was only meekly flying forward while Rarity hadn’t moved at all. Run and risk the chance for sweating for something so unimportant? Not for the prim unicorn.

With magic, Twilight snatched the ball first. She had to immediately stop as the ball was now in her possession. While waiting for the others to get into position, she used magic to shift the ball around, avoiding Applejack’s attempts at stealing it.

Once Rainbow Dash was down the field, Twilight launched it over to her. Fluttershy tried to ram the ball in midair, but she missed completely as her eyes were closed.

“Come on, Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash said, despite being on the other team. But she received the ball and kicked it down.

Pinkie Pie was the intended target, but she was merrily hopping along in a manner lacking any urgency. The ball rolled along in front of her, being pushed forward a bit with every jump. Charging up from behind was Applejack.

Rainbow Dash could only place a hoof on her head. “Go faster, Pinkie!”

She dashed towards her teammate and left a trail of rainbow in her wake. Right before Applejack reached, Rainbow Dash cut in front and kicked the ball towards the goal.

Rarity, who had spend the entire time so far examining her hooves, turned to face the ball. Her long eyelashes swept through the air as she blinked innocently. “Not so fast.”

A purple glow formed around her horn and the ball. Now that it had been shot, she was free to use magic on it. The speeding shot was gently slowed just enough for her to influence it. Rarity’s eyes narrowed in concentration as her movement magic affected the ball. It curved to the side and bounced off the edge of the goal.

Running around and chasing the ball wasn’t Rarity’s style, but she was no slouch when it came to tending the goals. With her magic, she could reach up to the hoop as well.

Applejack curved by, recovering the ball along the way. Her hooved furiously beat along the ground as she avoided a steal attempt by both Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. Only Twilight stood in her way now. The farm pony focused her eyes and grinned as she charged forward.

There was a brief look of shock on Twilight’s face when she realized she would need to get physical. Her lowered stance signified that she was willing. When the two of them went at each other, Twilight’s wings suddenly burst forth and blocked Applejack’s way.

A sharp whistle blew through the air. “Twilight, illegal use of wings as a snatcher!” Spike called out. “Twilight gets one penalty mark.”

“Sorry, Applejack,” Twilight said. “I got excited and my wings just popped out.”

“It’s no big deal, Twi,” Applejack responded. “It’s better for us now.” A grin spread across her face.

Applejack walked to the space of the foul with the ball. Before resuming play, she glanced back at Rarity and up at Fluttershy. Then her gaze turned towards a point in the sky. Her brain was working furiously during this brief time to think of a strategy. As the primary offense for their team, it was her job to get past three opponents and score. The best way to do that was...

Suddenly charge off while everypony else was wondering what she was looking at. Already, Applejack dashed past Pinkie and Twilight. Only Rainbow Dash reacted fast enough to keep up.

“Cover me, Fluttershy!” Applejack shouted.

“Okay,” Fluttershy said in a bare squeak.

She flew towards Rainbow Dash with wings beating furiously against the air. Her eyes were shut tight. And she kept on flying without aim as the other pegasus had long since moved from that position.

Rainbow Dash was hounding the ball-carrier relentlessly. Her multi-colored mane whipped in the air as she twisted and turned, slicing right through the pass of the ball. Applejack wasn’t making it easy, however. She bounced the ball between her hooves and popped it into the air with a quick flick, narrowly avoiding Rainbow’s steal.

Applejack looked up at her pegasus teammate. “Turn around, Fluttershy!”

The meek pegasus did so, still with eyes shut.

Thinking fast, Applejack headed directly into the flight path. With all that time spent fending off Rainbow Dash, the other two were catching up. Before they could, Applejack jumped. Her sleek, powerful body sailed easily through the air with the ball securely locked between her forelegs.

Fluttershy nearly crashed into her teammate. She zoomed by below the leaping Applejack. The tip of her wings actually brushed against the farm pony’s stomach. She also inadvertently blocked the path of Twilight and Pinkie just long enough for Applejack to get some distance again.

The opposing team’s goal rushed up to greet Applejack, but she also knew Rainbow Dash was right behind her.

Applejack lowered her head and pumped her legs even faster. As she neared the goal, she let the ball get ahead just a bit as she swung her body around. The muscles of her hind leg tensed up. It was like water building up against a barrier, just waiting for enough strength to break through. Gushing and charging, the walls were beginning to crack. It was small at first, but then, the entire force exploded out.

Applejack extended both legs and shot the ball toward the goal. The grass parted to the side from the power of the shot.

Rainbow Dash made a desperate dive only to receive a face full of dirt. A gouge was left in the ground from how fast she was flying.

“One point to Team Rarity!” Spike called out.

Fluttershy staggered to her hooves after flying around blind. Nerve-wrecking sweat dripped off her muzzle. She had a shaky grin and let out a small, “Yay.”

“Hey Spike!” Applejack thrust a leg towards the referee. “Why is it Team Rarity?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Rarity said from across the field. “I’m the prettiest, so my face is on the team.”

“We don’t even have any uniforms!”

There wasn’t enough time to continuing arguing as play resumed with Twilight magicking the ball over to Pinkie Pie. It was their turn to counterattack.

Half an hour seemed to pass by too fast. The game ended with a last push by Team Rarity to score a goal, but with only one main attacker, they just couldn’t get enough points. Everypony was hunched over and breathing hard at the final whistle. Spike ran over with a case of cool, refreshing apple juice on his back.

“Thank you kindly,” Applejack managed to say before she took a bottle in her mouth and tilted back.

Only Rainbow Dash was still energetically moving. She almost slid along the ground with repeated body thrusts and arm flexes. “Oh yeah! We won! Go Team Twilight!”

“It was really close, though,” Twilight pointed out. “Three to two.”

“Who cares? That was an awesome final goal Pinkie!”

After spitting the now empty bottle out, Applejack said, “We’re doing another best of five!”

Rainbow Dash leaned in with a smug grin. “You’re-” The pegasus cut herself off. Her eyes opened wide. “Oh, oh, oh!” It was almost possible to hear the gears turning furiously in her mind. As her eyes went wider, a smile appeared to go along with it. “We should totally do it.”

“Do what, Rainbow?” Applejack asked with one eye narrowed suspiciously.

Rainbow Dash hovered into the air. Her legs were spread wide, and her wings were stretched out to their full magnificence. “We’re good enough. Let’s make an official team!”

Second Play, Applications, Apparels and Apples

-=≡Second Play, Application, Apparels and Apples≡=-

That one, simple declarative phrase, “Let’s make an official team!” from Rainbow Dash seemed like just an absurd thing to the rest of the ponies when she had first said it. But soon, they began to wonder. It was possible afterall. The first Wonderball tournament had concluded already, and due to its runaway success, the EWE (that’s Equestria Wonderball Eventers) were expanding. They were taking new applications for official teams from everywhere.

“Come on!” Rainbow Dash said at Twilight’s library, where the alicorn was currently trying to read.

As always, the books were neatly organized in shelves that surrounded the outer wall. Not a quill or inkwell was out of position. Everything was had a place, and they were all measured out perfectly. A wooden horse head watched over the entire main floor.

Twilight looked away from her book concerning the interaction between magical vortexes of different chiralities. “I don’t know, Rainbow.”

“We must be good enough to compete, at least,” Rainbow said. “I know we can do it!”

“It’s not just our skills I’m worried about. We would need to run a team and travel to the tournament sites. Who would run the library while I’m gone?”

“Well, no one ran the place,” Rainbow Dash pointed out. She swept a wing over the rows and rows of books. “I’m not really sure how books were handled, though. I never came in here before you did.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “It was a big mess. I think ponies just took what they needed and put it back wherever when they were done. And what about Rarity? Or the Apple Farm?”

“I’m getting to them. Fluttershy, reluctantly, and Pinkie Pie are already on board. So, what do you say? It’s not like we’ll be gone for all that long. The first tournament only lasted for two months, and there seemed to be enough more than enough time between games for players to go home.”

It was obvious she wasn’t going to get any reading done right now, so Twilight closed the book. Magic floated it off to the side, on a pile of other books she had planned to read. “If you’re going to run a real team, you can’t just go around asking your friends.”

“Er, well.” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head. With undaunted determination, she pressed her forelegs against the ground. “Tryouts then. We will hold tryouts. You’re coming, of course.”

Twilight nodded.

“Got to fly. Going to make up flyers and distribute them. Ooh, I need to request the official registration forms too. So much to do.” Rainbow Dash was almost gushing with hooves pressed up against her cheeks. She had flown upwards a bit while speaking out of excitement.

With a simple, “Bye,” the pegasus rushed out of the library, dragging some loose pages in her wake.

Before continuing to convince her friends, Rainbow Dash had another important stop. It was the town hall building for Ponyville. It sat alone in the center of a round, and it towered over all other buildings. Wooden beams supported the multi-floored structure. A set of large double-doors stood facing the town.

Rainbow Dash burst into through and proclaimed, “Mayor, I want to register something!”

Everyone else in the hall turned to look at her. What she had not noticed as a long line of ponies needing things. The mayor, a mare with grey hair yet was still young-looking, was at the desk taking on concerns one at a time.

“Ahem,” one of the town hall staff said. He motioned to the end of the line. “Please wait your turn.”

All of Rainbow Dash’s excitement was sucked away by the long, snaking line in front of her. She smashed her head against the nearby post. When several minutes passed before the line even moved, her head returned to the post in exasperation, though this time she used a wing to cushion the strike.

The clock in the room ticked like thunder. Every movement of the second hand was time wasted in line. The pegasus tapped her hoof, walked forward in line, straightened out her feathers, walked forward in line, performed some pushups, walked forward in line. Anything to try and take her mind off the waiting, really.

“Hey,” Rainbow Dash said to the pony in front. “Can I get in front of you? I need to, uh, get back home quick to my sick grandmother.” Her eyes widened until they were shimmering from catching the light.

“Nice try, Rainbow Dash,” the pony in front said. “Your grandma doesn’t live here.”

“Grandfather? Aunt? Uncle?”

Nothing was doing.

Her wings were drooping, and her muzzle was near the ground, but Rainbow Dash waited patiently, shuffling forward every so often. She only looked up when her head came into contact with something. It was a desk! She was finally there!

“Rainbow Dash, what can I do for you?” the mayor asked.

Rainbow planted both forelegs firmly on the wooden surface. “Mayor, I want to request that you request a team registration form from the EWE.”

“Ooh, the EWE!” the mayor said excitedly. “Why, I happen to have the forms right here.” The mayor ducked under the desk for a brief moment before returning with a small stack of papers in her mouth. “The EWE have been sending out forms to all towns and cities to broaden the sport. Oh, and have this as well.” A thick book was slammed onto the table.

“What’s that?” Rainbow Dash asked cautiously.

The mayor placed her hoof on top of the book. The cover had a picture of the official ball used in Wonderball. Coming out of it was a pair of wings that glittered with light. A cloud of dust covered the lowest portion of the ball. “This is the current edition of the rules, or so I’ve been told. It also has everything needed to qualify as an official team. Be sure to read over it carefully.”

The mayor laughed exuberantly. “This is so exciting. To think Ponyville will have its very own team.”

“Rulebook?” Rainbow Dash muttered as if she was only finally realizing that brick on the table was something she had to read.

“Yes.” The mayor had a toothy smile.

“R-right.” The pegasus gathered up the forms and the rulebook. She was going to suffer neck strains carrying them around in her mouth for too long. They were flipped onto her back with the wings acting as barricades to keep them there.

Why was there so many rules? All Rainbow wanted to do was play, not read an encyclopedia. The organizing of ponies she could handle. But this? This was ridiculous.

She took a seat at a nearby bench with the rulebook open next to her. This was not the riveting tale of Daring Do, not in the least. Everything was so formal and dry. Reading it was only slightly more fun than watching paint dry. After Rainbow had spent twenty minutes on the first page, she slammed the book shut and let out a grunt. She was never going to get through this on her own. The forms weren’t much easier to work through, either.

Everything was collected onto the aggravated pegasus’s back again. Rainbow dashed off as fast as possible while still maintaining balance. Coming up ahead was a great tree with a thick trunk. It had windows and a door. Lamps hung from many of the branches. It was the library again.

“Twilight! Congratulations, you are on the team,” Rainbow Dash proudly proclaimed as she burst in.

The alicorn let out an exasperated sigh as she turned away from her book once again. “Rainbow, I thought you were going to hold tryouts.”

“I already know you are the best pony for this job.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes. “What job?”

Rainbow Dash let out a chuckle as she walked over. Her wings were still held high, blocking out what was on her back. “You get to be my vice-captain. And your first duty as vice-captain is to read over all of these and make sure I’m doing everything right?” It was more a hopeful request than an order. She shunted the rulebook and forms onto the table.

The pages had slipped over, with half of them spilling onto the floor. An even larger smile was on Rainbow Dash, as if showing more teeth would increase the chances of her friend saying, “Yes.”

Magic enveloped the fallen sheets of paper and then brought them back up. Everything was squared up nicely. Twilight stared at the thick book of rules. “Fine, I’ll do it.”

“Yes! Yes, yes, yes! Thank you, Twilight,” Rainbow cheered. “Okay, now I am really off to start tryouts. See you there.”

She zipped out, leaving the bookish alicorn to look over everything.

Rainbow Dash soared through the sky, eager to start her next task. Saddlebags stuffed with tryout information flyers were strapped around her body. The posters were colorfully done with a picture of Rainbow Dash being the most prominent thing. The drawn pegasus was staring out intensely and had a hoof pointing towards the reader.

The tryouts were being held in two days. That wasn’t a lot warning, but Rainbow Dash couldn’t stand waiting any longer. All through the day, she soared through the sky, dropping down the flyers and letting them land wherever they wanted. She also planned on putting them all over her friends’ places. Twilight’s library and Sugarcube Corner was already plastered to the point where ponies could no longer see out the windows. Now it was on to Rarity’s clothing store.

The Carousel Boutique was a posh building that had just the right mix of colors and accompanying styles. It drew the attention of ponies from far down the street. This was certainly a place designed by a pony with great sense of appearance.

Without even speaking to the proprietor, Rainbow Dash started to put up her flyers. The sounds of shuffling and knocking on the window caused the owner of the store to come out. She was looking flabbergasted at someone messing up her beautiful exterior.

“Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?” Rarity said with a slight whine.

“I’m holding tryouts for the Ponyville Wonderball team!” Rainbow said without looking over. All her attention was still focused on putting up another poster. “You’re coming too.”

“Am I?”

“Of course! You are pretty good for the game. If we are to have the best possible chances of winning, I want to have everypony try out.”

Rarity took off a pair of red-rimmed glasses to better give a glare. “You do remember that I despise outdoor activities right?”

“Come on, please! You are really good as a snatcher. I think you have a great chance of making the team. You can do the same thing as you do now, be the goalkeeper.”

The unicorn chuckled. “Yes, I am rather good at that, aren’t I? But what about my store?” WIthout waiting for an answer, Rarity started to pace around. “Wait, wait. Ideaaaaa!”

Rainbow Dash waited silently with a hopeful smile.

“Okay,” Rarity said, “you know how the teams always give interviews right? I will come to tryouts if you agree to wear my designs when doing interviews. With this, and the magic of television, I’ll be able to spread my business around Equestria!” She let out a delighted squeal. “And, and I can design the uniforms too. It will be the most fashionable- thing- ever!”

“Only if you try your best,” Rainbow Dash agreed. “Though, uh, remember, function over form for the uniforms.”

“Sure, sure.” It didn’t seem like Rarity was really paying attention since her mind was already lit up with ideas and images. “Two days from now, right? I’ll be there.”

“Great! Can’t wait to see you, Rarity.” Rainbow saluted before flying off.

As Rarity was going back inside, her eye caught the huge mess of posters on her store window. Shaking her head, she used magic to pull down all of them. One was placed back perfectly in the corner. There, that was a nice location that was easy to read as customers came in. No need for such garish overcompensation.

After going through the rest of town, Rainbow Dash headed out towards the farm. There was just enough flyers left to put on the trees lining the road, so anypony visiting the farm would see as well.

The pleasant cottages faded away into rolling green hills. Rows upon rows of apple trees were planted. Their canopy blended together into a cloud of green. Dots of ruby, emerald and gold shined through them. A simple wooden fence separated the different orchids. A mighty, red barn standing just off the road pulled the eye’s attention. Surrounding it were pens and shelter for other animals. A modest home, where the Apples lived, was further into the farm.

From an aerial vantage point, Rainbow Dash scouted for Applejack. There, going through the trees doing her duty of picking up any fallen apples. Her little sister, Apple Bloom was there as well, helping out with a wooden bucket on her head.

“Hey, Apps!” the pegasus called out as she landed.

“Apps?” Applejack asked.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Trying something new.”

“Try again.”

“Anyway, Ap- ple- jack.” The name was pronounced with a stress on every syllable. “Have you seen? You’re coming right?” She held out the last flyer for tryouts.

Applejack first tossed a rotten apple into the pail before turning to the sheet. “Wonderball tryouts, is it? I want to, Rainbow, I really do, but I can’t leave the farm for so long.” Her head shook sadly. “I’m sorry, but I can’t join the team.”

The pegasus felt the wind get pulled out of her wings. She had a look of disbelief and couldn’t manage to get out another word from the shock. Next to her, Applejack was the best athlete in Ponyville, (though Applejack was likely to dispute the order). She needed those legs of steel for the team.

Apple Bloom ran over, nearly spilling the pail on her head. It merely slid onto the ground, though, with content still inside. “What? You got to go, sis. It would be so cool to see you and all the others on television. And you’re so good!”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash agreed. “You’re probably the best mover in town. The team needs you. I need you.” She tried her best pleading look, though it wasn’t something she had a lot of practice in.

“So does the farm,” Applejack said. Her hoof swept across the ground. “Who’s going to pick up all these fallen apples? Big Mac has his own chores.”

“I’ll do it,” Apple Bloom chirped.

“You say that now, but once you need to do everything alone, that tune will change quickly.”

“But don’t you want to form a team?”

Applejack sighed. She tipped her hat down to avoid looking at the other two. “I do. I really do, but there’s just so much stuff to do here. It just wouldn’t be right for me to go galloping off and leave you, Bic McIntosh and Granny Smith to do everything.”

“But think how great it would be if you were a national sports star!” Apple Bloom said with awe at future possibilities.

“How long would I be gone, if I did play?” Applejack asked, almost reluctantly since that meant she hadn’t slammed the door on her joining shut tightly.

“I,” Rainbow Dash said in an elongated sound that became raspy, “really don’t know. The sport is still new, and they’re working out a more formal schedule. I do know that there is enough time between games to come home and help out! I mean, come on, it was alright for you to leave for a long time during that rodeo convention.”

“That, that was completely different!” Applejack stammered. A bright flush of red was on her cheeks. It quickly vanished as she glared at the rainbow pegasus. “I’ll talk with Granny Smith and Big McIntosh first, see how they feel about it. No guarantees okay, Rainbow?”

There was still a bunch of work to be done, so Applejack tipped her hat before striding off.

Apple Bloom was about to follow before a blue wing blocked her way. Rainbow Dash scooped the younger Apple sister over and whispered, “You’re going to help convince Applejack, right?”

“For sure.” Apple Bloom had a bright twinkle in her eye. “I think it’s totally cool to have a Wonderball team, and it would be even cooler if mah sister was on it.” Before running off with the bucket full of fallen apples, she gave Rainbow Dash a wink.

Third Play, Day of Tryouts

-=≡Third Play, Day of Tryouts≡=-

It was a lovely and wonderful day to feel the cool breeze and bright sun. The temperature wasn’t too hot or humid. Everything was just perfect for holding the tryouts for the Ponyville Wonderball team. The location was their makeshift playing field. It used to look pretty large when only six ponies and a dragon was using it, but seeing many Ponyville ponies waiting made it feel like a real sports field. A minefield of obstacles had been set up already. No longer was the flat grassy land just a location for hanging out with friends. Now, it was a launching point to something great.

Unicorns and earth ponies were all gathered on the ground. Some of them were waiting in colorful groups, others were doing some light exercise instead. Pegasi flitted through the sky, occasionally blocking out the rays of the sun.

Rainbow Dash peeked out from a tent flap, where all the documents had been kept to prevent them from flying away in the wind. Her widened eyes took in the numerous ponies wanting to try out. “This is fantastic,” she squealed.

Below her appeared Twilight and Spike.

“This is quite a large turnout,” Twilight said. “Your flyers really did the trick.”

“I know. It’s great! And look, there’s Pinkie, Fluttershy and Rarity. But,” Rainbow’s voice fell low as she scanned around the field, “I don’t see Applejack anywhere. She’d better show up.” Her hoof ground into the dirt nervously.

Twilight glanced over at the clock on the table with all the documents. “We’d better start. We’re already five minutes late.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow mumbled. “You’re right.”

The pegasus stepped out in front of the large gathering. A whistle was around her neck, and a cap was on her head. A loud blast of noise caught everyone’s attention. “Alright, gather up. Movers on the left, bouncers in the middle and snatchers on the right.”

Once the three groups had settled down, Rainbow Dash began to pace back and forth. Occasionally, she stopped to give an evil-eye to those near the front. “You are all here because you desire glory! You desire fame! And a select few of you will get it! I am aiming to create the greatest Wonderball team in all of Equestria. Whatever the EWE decides, my goal is to win it. It will be ours!”

“You should all know me. I mean, I am the most awesome pegasus in town, but I am the captain of the team, Rainbow Dash. This is Twilight, the vice-captain. We will look through all of you and choose the remaining members of the team. What I want isn’t just ability, but guts, determination and persistence.”

The gathering of ponies had their entire attention fixed on the captain. Not one eye went astray. They were filled with a burning determination.

“Any questions so far?” Rainbow Dash asked.

A yellow pegasus with long flowing pink mane raised her hoof just barely above the heads of others. “Um, since you seem to have a lot of participants, can I go home?”

Rainbow Dash’s hoof shot out like a spear. “No, Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy sank back down and peeped, “Okay.”

“Anypony else?” When no one said anything, the captain turned to her second-in-command. “Alright. You tell them all the technical stuff.”

Twilight stepped up now to look out at the crowd. Even after speaking at her coronation, a relatively small group of people still caused her mouth to dry and heart to beat faster. The words of the book ran through her mind, over and over again. She knew what needed to be said. Now to get it out there.

“I’ve been reading the latest edition of the Wonderball rules. It’s quite fascinating how the sport is still evolving. Did you know it’s about fifty percent thicker than the first edition. Many rules were changed, some were removed-” The captain nudged Twilight to make her get back on track.

“Right. The game of Wonderball. First off, the basics. There are two teams of six, though we can have a total of twelve ponies for backup purposes. Each team has a goal and a hoop suspended off the ground. The object of the game is to get the ball through the goal or the hoop. One point for a goal shot, and two point for a hoop shot.”

Twilight used her magic to project an image onto the air. It currently showed what she was talking about at the time, which was the method of scoring. Her hooves motioned to the image at times to emphasize certain aspects of the game.

“There are three positions, the mover, the bouncer and the snatcher. Other than that, there are no official positions such as goal defenders or attackers. The game is very fluid and dynamic. Strategies can change from second to second. A team doesn’t even need to field all three positions. You can have all bouncers, a split of snatchers and movers, or anything else.

“The bouncer can be anyone that flies in the air. Flying skills and willingness to get hurt are a must. You’re job is to help move the ball down the field in more unpredictable ways. The only way you can move the ball is by bouncing it off a body part, hence the term bouncers. It is considered a foul to hold the ball at any time. Based on my research, bouncers are also expected to tackle the opposing teams’ bouncers and keep them away from your teammates.

“Movers are anyone that does not fly and cannot use magic. They are the main way to move the ball down the field. Ability to control the ball is important as the entire other team will try to steal the ball from you. There are rules against touching the movers while they have the ball, however. To get the ball away from them, you need to slide in between their legs without touching them. A mover without the ball is free to be blocked.

“Lastly, there are the snatchers, anyone with magic. Only a very limited amount of magic can be used, however. Magic can only be used on the ball itself. No targeting the other players. Also, magic cannot be used on the ball if its in possession of an opposing player. What you need is the ability to snatch the ball while its in a pass. Snatchers are allowed to use their bodies to steal a ball too. One more rule, a snatcher cannot move while they have possession of the ball.”

Twilight wiped her brow as the image flickered away. “Whew. Hope everyone got that. I distilled it down as much as possible. Don’t even get me started on what constitutes a penalty. There are pages upon pages-”

“Thank you, Vice-Captain Twilight,” Rainbow Dash cut in before the winded explanation became a storm. “A total of twelve players to a team. I want six bouncers!”

“What?” Twilight asked.

“It could be just like the Cloudsdale Wonderbolts!”

“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea. Training to be as good as the Wonderbolts on their own strategy is going to be near impossible. I think we need a more balanced approach, something like four of each position.”

Rainbow Dash rubbed her chin. “Well, I can see that.” Her voice dropped low. “There probably aren’t five pegasus around that can match me in Ponyville anyway.” And then it returned back to a volume where everypony could hear. “I’m going to be a bouncer, and Twilight is a snatcher. That leaves three bouncer positions, three snatcher positions and four mover positions. We’ll start with the bouncers!”

All of the pegasi flew over eagerly, all except for one. Fluttershy carefully scooted over on the tips of her hooves, trying not to make a sound at all. Maybe if she stayed low enough, no one else would notice her.

Rainbow Dash flew a circle around her prospective bouncers with a great grin. Waiting underneath with pads and pens for recording information were the team vice-captain, Twilight and the team secretary, Spike. They started handing out information cards for the participants to fill out.

“Let’s see if anypony can keep up with me,” the captain challenged.

<><><>

“Hurry!” a small filly said.

“I’m hurrying, I’m hurrying,” her friend responded.

The two young ponies zipped along the ground on a board of wheels. A white unicorn was crouched in the front while the orange pegasus provided movement. Her tiny wings buzzed with power as they flapped faster than the eye could see. A set of handlebars helped them control their means of transportation.

Their scooter went so fast down the winding road that the wheels left the stone several times. It wasn’t any time to go slow, however. The tryouts for the Ponyville Wonderball team was starting, and they didn’t want to miss a thing. Safety was still important, so both of them had on helmets.

The cottages and well-made pathways were slowly replaced by open space and dirt roads. A large hoop extending into the sky by a pole appeared as the hills rolled away. Sparkles appeared on both ponies’ eyes as they approached the field. All of the pegasus had been gathered while the unicorns and earth ponies were waiting off to the side.

“Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo, the pegasus powering the scooter called out.

Rainbow Dash, who had been flying through the air, landed next to them. “Hey, squirt.”

“Did you start the tryouts yet?”

“We were just about to. Waiting for everypony to finish filling out their information.”

The two fillies stopped at the main tent.

“I still can’t believe you got Rarity to come here,” Sweetie Belle said.

It was her older sister that answered. “Why, Sweetie Belle? I’m not that much of a stickler for keeping clean. I learned that a bit of excitement and messiness can be good, at certain rare times.”

“Uh, yeah.” Sweetie Belle rubbed the back of her head. “Anyway, good luck, sister!”

Rainbow Dash looked between the two fillies with a frown on her face. “Where’s Apple Bloom?” she asked while trying to sound nonchalant.

“We haven’t seen her today,” Scootaloo said. “In fact, we have no idea what she’s doing.”

“O-oh. Okay.” The brief moment of doubt soon disappeared. “Well, get ready for a show then! The bouncer tryouts start now!”

A sharp whistle blast called all the pegasi over to the field, where an obstacle course had been set up. Rainbow Dash landed at the start line. Looking down, the test was primarily that of power and accuracy. Sandbags with straps were piled up near the start. From there, the potential teammates needed to charge through several weighted bags hanging from a beam. At the end were three painted targets. Twilight was waiting with one of Pinkie’s cannons that had been modified to shoot out whatever random balls they had acquired. The goal was to bounce balls to as many targets as possible.

First up, Rainbow Dash demonstrated what they had to do. A sandbag was strapped onto her back to make things extra hard. But even the added weight was no problem for her. In less than a second, she had accelerated to full speed. Wind blew through her mane, and a trail of rainbow followed behind.

Spike was at the side, making notes on times.

Coming up ahead was the line of hanging weights that had to be muscles through. Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes as she sped up. A howl shrieked in her ear as the first hanging bag came upon her. She raised her hooves and plowed right in.

The initial impact came with a loud thud, but Rainbow Dash didn’t relent one bit. Her body was a missile, and nothing was going to stop her. The rainbow trail behind her had vanished, but she reached through the heavy obstacles, sending them flying off to the side. Getting through was not as simple as just charging in at full speed, however. The wings had to be retracted at the right time, or they would get caught along the way. The times when she could flap were narrow and precise, but Rainbow Dash made it look easy.

Finally, she came to the last part of the course. Hovering above the spot designated by a table, Rainbow Dash waited for Twilight to start the barrage. The pegasus completely missed the first shot, however, as a bunch of streamers and confetti blinded her. The ball caught her in the gut, nearly bringing her to the ground.

“Woopsie,” Pinkie Pie said from the sidelines. “Guess I forgot to unload it.”

As Rainbow Dash flew back into position with limp wing flaps, she raised a hoof. “One more time,” she choked out.

Without anything in her way, Rainbow Dash bounced three balls onto three targets, the last one going off her rump. The crowd let out an appreciative sound as the last ball hit the red center.

With a smug smile, the pegasus returned to the others. “Now, I’m not looking for that exactly. Just be as awesome as possible.” Rainbow had all of the ponies’ information on a clipboard on whatever order they were handed back. “Alright, first up is Snowflake.”

“YEAH!” a burly white pegasus roared. His muscles alone were almost larger than most of his peers, and veins were crawling all over them. His wings were absolutely tiny when compared to the norm.

“Go get ‘em, big guy!” Rainbow Dash said.

He put up an impressive showing, nearly knocking over the hanging weights with his girth. The bag wrapped around his body didn’t seem to affect him any, either. When it came to actually bouncing the balls to the target, the massive pegasus was not good. In fact, he was pretty horrible. The balls went so far off course, they weren’t even in the field anymore. All the while he was going through the course, Spike had been at the side, with pen diligently scratching against the evaluation sheet.

“Not bad on the power front,” Rainbow Dash said. “But you could still use a lot of work. Alright, next is..."

One by one, the pegasi went through the obstacle course. Not one of them came close to matching Rainbow Dash’s performance, but a few weren’t too bad. They had to pause the trials to reset some knocked over obstacles when a grey pegasus with yellow eyes somehow knocked over the support beam holding the weights and then bounced the ball right back into the cannon.

While two members of the team were attempting to push the support beam back up, Twilight said, “Rainbow, I’m a bit worried about Snowflake.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” she started uncertainly. Her eyes shifted sideways to the muscular pegasus, “doesn’t it seem like he uses muscle enhancing supplements? The EWE doesn’t allow certain substances to be used.”

“Let me ask,” Rainbow Dash said. She quickly planted the post into the ground before flying off towards him.

“Hey, Snowflake.” The team captain tilted her head, trying to think about the best way to word things. Unable to come up with any, she went straight in with, “You’re not juicing, right?”

“YEAH!” Snowflake responded with such force that his tongue flapped out in the open.

“Uh, yeah you don’t use performance enhancing stuff or yeah you do?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“YEAH!”

Rainbow Dash held her mouth crooked as she stared at him. The burly pegasus recoiled a bit from the, Are you serious? stare. Letting out a sigh, the team captain turned away. She would deal with it later if she had to.

For now, the pegasus she wanted to see the most was coming up. Turning to the group, Rainbow Dash called out, “Fluttershy, you’re up!”

It wasn’t immediately apparent where the meek pegasus was, however. Only when the crowd parted was she revealed to be huddling near the ground, long pink strands over half her face. Fluttershy looked around at the others before realizing they were all looking at her.

“Come on, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash said, “show them how it’s done.”

“Meep,” Fluttershy meeped.

Fourth Play, Timid Wings

-=≡Fourth Play, Timid Wings≡=-

Rainbow Dash looked proudly out at her friend. “Fluttershy, show them how it’s done.”

“Meep,” the cowering pegasus meeped.

Fluttershy stepped forward awkwardly. Her face was kept lowered, away from the gaze of the other ponies. It wasn’t so bad. Her heart was only beating at a light rock n’ roll instead of death metal, and her wings weren’t locked up either. Flying in front of an audience still wasn’t something she was keen to do, however.

A pair of giggling voices caused Fluttershy to recoil away from the source. It wasn’t loud, but the noise cut through all other sounds, cutting directly into Fluttershy’s mind. From behind her pink mane, she peeked out at two pegasi, chatting with each other.

Both of them were a pale shade of purple, nearly the same shade, in fact. One had teal-colored mane with a pink bow holding it in place. The other had a shorter, white mane that swept upwards.

When they noticed Fluttershy was spying on them, the one with the bow said, “Sorry, Fluttershy. Cloudchaser was just telling something funny about a news story she read. Good luck!”

“Good luck,” the one called Cloudchaser called out.

Both of them waved encouragingly.

Fluttershy took a deep breath. Just getting through this was her top priority. The chances of her making the team were slim to none anyway. As long as she tried her best, Rainbow Dash certainly couldn’t complain. One step at a time, she walked to the starting line. From the corner of her eye, she caught on to two bright expressions. Pinkie and Rarity had moved to the front, and both of them wore blinding smiles.

Spike came over to strap on the sandbag. The timid pegasus’s legs buckled under the weight, and she let out a gasp when the strap was pulled taut.

“Ready?” Spike asked. His claw was poised over the stopwatch’s start button.

Fluttershy nodded once.

“Go!”

Unlike everypony else, who rocketed off the start line, Fluttershy flew forward at a modest pace. It wasn’t from lack of trying, however. Her wings were flapping as hard as they could, but the weight on her back was just too much.

When she arrived at the first challenge, Fluttershy pushed forward. Instead of shifting slightly to the side and cutting across it at a slight angle, like all the others, she slammed into the heavy obstacle head on. All she accomplished was getting the wind knocked out of her. Fluttershy’s legs wrapped around the hanging weight tightly as it swung forwards. On the return trip, Fluttershy was tossed onto the ground.

“Come on, Fluttershy, try again!” Rainbow Dash called out.

Fluttershy made a minor whine as she staggered onto her hooves again. She bit her lip to keep from crying out of embarrassment. Mumblings from the audience drifted to her ears, but they were too far away to understand. Taking a peek back, nopony looked like they wanted to laugh. Instead, they were all waiting patiently.

Slowly, she rose back into the air again. The force of Fluttershy’s wings rippled through the grass around her as she readied for the next attempt. When she flew forward, everypony’s eyes widened. The chattering gave way to total silence. There were only the sounds of wings beating through the sky.

Unlike the other’s who forced their way through, Fluttershy almost gracefully fit through the gaps by curving her body. Charging in directly was a bad idea, and her strength wasn’t enough move the obstacles. This was the only way she could think of to get through. Like the wind, the timid pegasus made her way through with minimal disturbance.

It was felt like a refreshing splash of air when the sun finally shined through the obstruction. Her wings extended out in jubilation at finally being free. Long, pink hair swept through the air. Her friends were enthusiastically cheering from the sidelines. Pinkie let out a shrill whistle.

“Ready for the second part, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked from behind the cannon.

Feeling more confident from the cheers, Fluttershy nodded. But the loud bang from the first blast caused her to drop downward and the ball to sail overhead. When she returned to position, there was a forced smile on her face.

“I’m really ready this time, Twilight,” she called out in a breathy tone.

For the next two shots, Fluttershy did surprisingly well. Both of them hit their target, and the last one was even a bullseye much to the joy of the audience. They were fluffy shots, though, ones that arced into the air and landed softly as the ball pleased.

The timid pegasus landed facing away from everyone else. Her chest heaved from the pressure of performing in front of others. That hadn’t gone all that bad, though, right? She made it through to the end at least.

Spike ran over to Twilight with his notes on times and abilities. He leaned close, using the clipboard to cover his mouth. “Uh, Fluttershy does realize that the point of a bouncer is to bounce things away forcefully and not slide in between them, right?”

“Oh hush, Spike,” Twilight said.

Rarity and Pinkie Pie were cheering loudly, especially the pink pony, who was standing on hind legs only to wave her forelegs.

“Woohoo! Go, Fluttershy!” Pinkie wooped.

Rarity nodded in agreement. “That was most excellent flying, darling.”

Fluttershy looked away from the two of them with her cheeks burning bright. Not even her pink mane could hide that. “Thank you.”

The rest of the pegasi took their turns under the keen observation of Rainbow Dash, Twilight and Spike. By the end, the team secretary had several sheets full of notes already recorded, and that was just for the bouncer position.

“Alright!” Rainbow Dash said as she landed in front of the others. “It’s time for-” Originally, she had wanted to call out the mover candidates, but a quick scan of the crowd revealed that Applejack still hadn’t arrived. Just what was that farm pony doing? Rainbow was really starting to get worried now, but as the captain, she couldn’t let it show on her face.

“Time for the snatchers!” she called out.

“Ooh, I guess it’s my turn to demonstrate the obstacle course.” Twilight Sparkle, the vice-captain of the yet unnamed Ponyville Wonderball team, stepped up to the starting line of the snatcher course. The glint of magic surrounded her horn.

Once again, Spike was there to take down notes on how the participants were doing. For this run only, Rainbow Dash was ponying the cannon.

Slightly up ahead and to the left was a paints targeted. This time, the goal was to prevent the ball shot from the cannon from hitting the target. Moving on from there was several stacks of crates of varying heights. The top of the crate totem poles were painted different colors, and a ball was placed in the middle of it all. Using magic, the candidates had to touch the ball to the color called out by the test administrators. Finally, they had to move a metal hoop through a winding and curving metal pole. Every time the hoop touched the pole would be a point deduction. This was designed to test magical strength and control with telekinesis.

“Ready.” Spike called out. “Set. Start!”

Twilight didn’t move, though. She crouched low with horn pointed forward. A look of intense concentration burned in her eyes. Though she hadn’t moved yet, sweat rolled across her face. Everything other than the cannon was tuned out.

Seconds passed without anything happening, and then a deafening boom. Immediately, Twilight wrapped her magic around the fired ball, not an easy task due to the speed and force. Narrowing her eyes even more, the alicorn’s horn became bright enough to shine through a foggy night. The ball swerved to the side, avoiding the target completely.

Over the next four shots, she got even better. The last ball fired by the cannon was not only stopped, but caught within her magical powers.

With a pleased smile, Twilight moved onto the next part of the course, accuracy and speed. Before she got fully situated, the instructions were already flying.

“Red! Blue! Orange!” Rainbow Dash called out in rapid succession. “Red! Yellow! Purple! White!”

Twilight followed all the instructions perfectly using magic to touch a ball to the proper stack of crates. The ball gracefully curved through the air in fluid motions. Suddenly, she stopped with the ball hovering near her head and turned towards Rainbow. “There is no white.”

“Oh, right,” Rainbow muttered. “I think they’ve seen enough, onto the next part.”

Passing the hoop through the winding pole was no problem. Twilight finished it quickly and with zero mistakes.

Spike rushed over waving his evaluation sheet. “That was great, Twilight. You set the bar pretty high.”

“Well, it’s not like they need to beat me.” Twilight glanced away with a chuckle.

“Awesome,” Rainbow said at the end. “Everypony got that? Okay, first up is..."

Most of the unicorns did pretty bad on the obstacle course. They either couldn’t manipulate a speeding ball with magic or didn’t have fast enough of a control. Many times, they turned their heads before the ball reached its destination, leaving them to move it blind.

A unicorn mare with a soft green fur that almost felt minty fresh did rather well. At least Rainbow Dash was impressed with her speed. Out of all the trials thus far, she had the fastest time, albeit with some mistakes. Not any more than average, however.

Finally, Rainbow Dash called out, “Rarity!”

“Rarity,” Spike repeated, but with a lot more dreaminess to his voice. He almost floated over on pure affections. “Good luck.”

“I shan’t need it,” Rarity said, “but thank you, Spike. Now then, Rainbow, let’s get started.”

With grace and poise, the white unicorn made her way through the obstacle course. Having so much previous practice with being a goalkeeper, five out of five balls were fully stopped and caught. From there, she had no problem doing the reactive exercise. With head held high, Rarity made it look easy.

Strutting forward, Rarity cleared the precision portion of the test without losing a step. The air around her almost shimmered with magical energy from her elegance. The metal ring was gently placed back onto the starting position once she finished. Flipping her hair, she ended with a smile and a pose.

“Woohoo!” a cheering came from the side. “Go, Rarity!” Sweetie Belle was hopping up and down, somehow appearing above the crowds. She was actually standing on Fluttershy’s head to get a better vantage point. Her small hooves waves in a blur through the air.

Spike had been captivated the entire time. Even when doing sports, Rarity was amazing. “The highest score,” he sighed. “And I’m not just saying that.” The notes were held up to prove his point. “You really did score higher than Twilight.”

“Oh.” Rarity batted her eyelashes towards her alicorn friend. “Is that so?”

“Well,” Twilight said, “you did catch more balls than I did. And we had near the same time in the other tests. Nice work, Rarity.”

“Thank you, darling.”

Rainbow Dash also slipped over and whispered, “Just by comparing you to the previous unicorns, I can already tell you’re getting onto the team.”

“And our deal?” Rarity asked.

“You got it. I’ll wear whatever you want during interviews.”

“Most excellent.”

It didn’t take long for the remainder of the unicorns to finish their trials with nopony really standing out. Twilight organized up the notes and then stacked them together with the pegasi information. Finally, it was time for the movers. Or was it?

Rainbow Dash walked around nervously, occasionally looking at the earth pony group. There was still no sign of a cowboy hat sticking above the rest. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were still only at two-thirds strength as well.

“We need to continue,” Twilight said after a few minutes. “Everyone’s getting restless.” The droning coming from the participants steadily grew louder.

“Okay,” the team captain sighed. “Start handing out the information forms to them.” Of course this could have been done earlier, while they were conducting the previous trials even. But she wanted to stall as long as she could. It no longer seemed possible.

It only took a few minutes before ponies were clamoring to have their forms collected. One at a time, Rainbow Dash collected them when Twilight could have easily gathered the lot all at once.

“Okay,” Rainbow said without a hint of trepidation. It just wouldn’t do at all if the team captain was seen to be worried. “Let’s get started with the mover trials!”

“Hold on just one minute there!” a voice yelled out from the back of the group. It was powerful and rang out clearly through the chatter.

Fifth Play, Finishing Tryouts

-=≡Fifth Play, Finishing Tryouts≡=-

“Hold on just one minute there!” a strong voice cut through the crowd. It was powerful enough to physically part them as the ponies looked back to who had just arrived.

For a brief moment, the rays of the sun only revealed a shadowed mare on the hill. But the pony charged down, kicking up a cloud of dust along the way. A distinct, wide-brimmed hat was on her head. The crowd let out excited murmurings when they saw who had shown up.

Jumping off from the pony’s back was another, smaller pony.

“Hey, y’all. Hope we aren’t too late,” the smaller pony said with her large bow bouncing from her vigor.

“Apple Bloom!” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo said at the same time.

The three Cutie Mark Crusaders ran together and bumped hooves.

“And Applejack!” Rainbow said. She immediately rushed towards the farm pony, stopping only when the heat of her breath could be felt by the other. “You’re late.”

Applejack at an apologetic grin as she leaned back. “I can’t be late if I was never guaranteed to come in the first place.”

“And? Did you come here just to tell me you can’t make the team?” Rainbow Dash said harshly.

“Actually, Rainbow, I didn’t come at the start because I wanted to finish up my chores for the day quickly. That way, I can concentrate on the trials. Now, am I eligible or not?” Applejack thrust her hoof into the pegasus’s chest.

“You’re family is okay with you being here?”

“Yup. I’ve talked it over with my family, and they all think I should do it,” Applejack drawled, more than usual. Her head was tilted down to hide a tinge of red. “They’ll find a way to manage.” She let out a chuckle. Not once did her family try to stop her from trying out for the team. Knowing it was something she wanted to try, they encouraged her to come, especially Apple Bloom. “Never you mind. We’ve got it all worked out.”

There was no need to even question any more. Rainbow Dash gladly exclaimed, “You’re in.”

“Excellent, now fill this out.” Spike thrust a form and pen towards Applejack.

Using her mouth, she scribbled down something so fast, it was difficult to read. None of the ponies in charge were about to complain, however. Spike happily accept the form and placed it with the other movers.

Rainbow Dash flew around with renewed vigor. When she spoke again, her voice was fierce. “Alright, everypony. I’m going to demonstrate the mover’s course as well. This will test your ball handling and running ability.”

She bounced and dribbled one of the rough balls around to the starting point. It was the most straightforward of all the courses. Simply make it to the end while passing through all of the obstacles. It started off with several posts to swerve through. Following that were raised beams that ponies would have to step over while driving the ball underneath. The final task was a race around the field.

At Spikes whistle, Rainbow Dash barreled down the course, proving that she would make an excellent mover as well. Her hoofwork was fully capable of performing quick turns and swerves while mostly maintaining control of the ball. At times, her cuts were too sharp and ball flew out of control. It was cheating a bit, but she flew out to quickly recover the ball as this was only for demonstration purposes only.

After leaving a trail of dust all around the field, Rainbow Dash returned to the start line with her wings drooping near the ground. “There. There,” she tried to say while panting. “It’s. Easy. Right?”

Applejack was the first one over, and she wore a smug look. “That was fine and all, Rainbow, but why don’t you watch how a real mover does this?”

“Psh.” Rainbow Dash stomped on the ball to pop it up. A huge grin was on her face when she kicked it over. “Be my guest.”

Applejack stopped the ball by rearing up and using her chest. Before starting, she made sure her hat was sitting firmly atop her head. The ball was pressed tight against the ground as she crouched down, preparing to burst out into a sprint.

Spike raised a claw towards the sky. “Ready, Applejack? Set. Go!” He pointed down the track.

The farm pony nearly exploded off the starting line with her hind legs muscles rippling from effort. A huge cloud of dust was left far behind as she galloped forward. Her ponytail whipped in the air, but the hat somehow remained glued on her head.

Applejack couldn’t quite run at full speed through the posts while keeping control of the ball, but she certainly had a better time than Rainbow Dash. During turns, she leaned so sharply that her body nearly touched the ground, but forward momentum kept her going strong.

The next part of the course was almost too easy for Applejack. She almost looked like a rocking horse going over the raised bars. It was done all in one smooth motion while keeping control of the ball. And that hat was still stuck on her head, steady as a rock.

Then came the final part of the course. Applejack smirked seeing that it was just a long run around the field. Time to really put the spurs to ot. Thinking it over, spurs would be unpleasant. Better just to run faster.

Lowering her head, Applejack stormed around the field. Loose grass chased after her, but all the them petered out quickly. Swinging into the final turn, she was now going for the final straightaway. Applejack blew past the finish line with a time that set the bar well above the what anypony could hope to reach.

Starting off from the high point, the following movers all felt less than impressive. Their times were more than double what Applejack did, and they had much more mistakes with some losing the ball to somewhere off the field completely. One after another, all Rainbow Dash could do was put her hoof on her face. The sole medium point was a grape-colored mare with a mane of deep burgundy. She wasn’t fantastic, but her ball handling was pretty good.

“Pinkie, you’re up,” Rainbow Dash said, trying to remain upbeat. “Please have less than ten mistakes.”

“Not to worry, Rainbow Dash,” Pinkie said with a bright smile.

And the party-going pony kept her word. With her bouncing method of movement, she made it past the first two obstacles almost as if they weren’t there. Hopping from side to side, she passed by the posts, and the raised bars might as well have not been there. Unfortunately, Pinkie kept up the slow, bouncing pace while humming happily, even when going around the field. She certainly had no issues keeping the ball under control, however.

“How was that?” Pinkie asked as she bounced through the finish line.

Rainbow Dash rubbed her head. “That was fine, I guess. Certainly better than most of these other movers. It would be great if we could get Big McIntosh as well.”

Applejack gave the pegasus a most incredulously dry stare. “Are you trying to close down Sweet Apple Acres?”

“Nevermind,” Rainbow Dash rescinded.

The day was winding down by the time everypony had finished their trials. For such a short notice, a lot of the townsponies had arrived. Rainbow Dash, Twilight and Spike convened in front of the group.

“Thanks for coming everyone,” Rainbow Dash called out. “You all gave it your best shot, but we only need ten of you. We’ll be basing our selections on how well you performed here today and how much potential we think you have. Uh, I’ll figure out some way to announce it tomorrow, so wait until then.”

“How about the town billboard?” Twilight said with a raised hoof. “We could put up the team roster there.”

“Good idea. Alright, Twilight and I are going to talk over who should be on the team now. You can all go home.” When their friends didn’t leave, Rainbow Dash flapped her wings, as if that would blow them away. “You girls, too.”

“Why do we have to leave?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Because Twilight wants to keep this official and stuff. That means we can’t have you here while we do any of the decision making,” Rainbow Dash said as if she was letting out one long sigh.

Rarity nodded. “I think that’s wise.”

Sweetie Belle was swaying excitedly next to her sister. “I’m sure you made the team, Rarity.”

“Applejack, too!” Apple Bloom called out.

Scootaloo was grinning broadly. “Rainbow Dash is already on the team and is the captain as well, so all is awesome.” Her eyes sparkled when she spoke of her idol. The small pegasus wanted to get uncomfortably closer, but that might be seen as weird as they weren’t related in any way.

“Okay, okay,” Rainbow Dash said. “Clear out so we can get to work.”

This time, the wing flap worked. Her friends cleared away like birds, leaving only a pegasus, an alicorn and a dragon in the large field. Night was approaching, and they still had a lot of things to do. Now that tryouts were over, the three obstacle courses were just a sprawling mess that needed to be cleaned up.

But Rainbow Dash was more eager to start on the team selections. “Come on, Twilight, Spike!” she called out from the manager’s tent. “Let’s do this.”

Certain choices were easy, but they were offset by some really difficult ones. For hours, Twilight, Rainbow and Spike pored over all of the notes. To the pegasus, this was exciting. In her mind, she imagined how each of them played and how they would fit onto the team. She pushed forward, reading and comparing everypony intently. Sweat rolled down her furrowed brows, and her tongue was stuck out thoughtfully.

Spike had long since left the tough decision up to the captain and vice-captain of the team. After a long day of watching other ponies do such vigorous physical activity, the young dragon was beat. He had snuggled up among some of the sandbags with tail curled around his body. An empty sack had to do for his blanket.

Rainbow Dash slapped down the pile of evaluation. “So you agree with my choices for snatchers and bouncers?”

“Of course,” Twilight said.

“But about the movers.” Rainbow rubbed her hoof against her mouth. “We only have two solid candidates. Everypony else could run, but their ball handling skills were really bad.”

“Well, if you want to, we can look for ponies outside of ponyville. Nothing in the rules says all team members need to come from the place the team is founded,” Twilight pointed out. Twilight had a bright expression, almost like what a teacher would show to students. “We don’t need to fill up every slot. To satisfy the EWE, a team only needs the minimum six members. We are free to add more to the team later.”

“I suppose. But we don’t know anypony to call,” Rainbow Dash mumbled thoughtfully. “And taking only two movers is just asking for trouble if one of them gets injured or tired. We already only have three snatchers.” Giving one last glance through the applications, her eyes stopped again on a certain one that actually wasn’t too bad. With some work, that pony could be good. “How about this one for our last mover?”

Twilight nodded. “Yes, I think she’ll do.”

“Okay!”

Rainbow Dash was about to make a proclamation before someone called out, “Excuse me, Rainbow Dash?” It was a rather boyish mare’s voice. “Are you still here?”

“Yeah?” the team captain responded.

A grey pegasus with yellow hair was curiously looking in through the flaps of the tent. Her initial confused expression was replaced by a smile when she saw that the captain and vice-captain were still here. She was looking at them, probably. Her yellow eyes seemed to be pointing in different directions.

“Derpy? What is it?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I put down the wrong name on my form,” Derpy said.

Twilight used magic to pull out all of the bouncer forms. All of the sheets were lined up in the middle of the air. One was pulled in closer. “It says Derpy Hooves right here. Everything else looks okay as well. What’s wrong?”

“My name is Ditzy Doo,” Derpy said sadly. “My friends just call me Derpy Hooves for short, but I need to use my for the form, right?”

“Wait, your name is Ditzy Doo?” Twilight said.

Rainbow Dash pointed out, “Yeah. I did call her that when we were wrapping up winter that one time. Derpy is just our short name for her.”

“Uh.” Twilight tilted her head. “If you count the number of syllables, Derpy Hooves is exactly as long as Ditzy Doo. If you count the number of letters Derpy Hooves is actually longer.”

Both pegasi looked at Twilight as if she had just shattered their entire world perception. Their eyes went glassy and wide, and their jaws were hanging open.

Twilight just shook her head as she rolled up all the forms with magic. A hard thwack against the table brought the two pegasi back from their thoughts. “Okay, Ditzy. Here’s the your form.” She set the rest of the forms down in two folders. One was definitely thinner than the other.

“Oh, you can call me Derpy, Twilight. Everypony else does.”

Neither the captain or the vice-captain wanted to say it, but they had already decided that the accident-prone pegasus wasn’t going to be on the team. Both of them politely smiled as Derpy started to change her information.

“Anyway,” Rainbow Dash said to Twilight, “we should start cleaning up the field of stuff we don’t need for practice.”

“Where should I put the form once I’m done?” Derpy called after them.

“Oh, just that folder on the table.” Twilight motioned over there with her hoof.

After Derpy had finished modifying the name, she went to put it into the folder only to find that there were two of them. “Uh.” Her cheeks puffed out as she tried to figure out which one to use. Both Rainbow Dash and Twilight were busy outside. Not wanting to disturb them, she just put her form in the thinner folder, thinking it was better to balance them out.

Sixth Play, And the Team is...

-=≡Sixth Play, And the Team is...≡=-

An air of anticipation filled the town of Ponyville. An energy filtered through the citizens, making them move slightly faster and smile more. It was a bright day with nary a cloud in the sky. All of the pegasi had made certain of that as Rainbow Dash wanted perfect conditions for that day.

Everypony in town was looking forward to finding out who made the team, even those that didn’t try out. It was an exciting event that Ponyville could rally around. Then, it was on to cheering for the team at official matches. Ponies walking down the street were already gossiping about possibly seeing their friends of neighbors on the Equestria sport stage.

It was right after lunch that a large group of ponies had gathered around the billboard in the town square. Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were all in attendance. The town hall beamed down proudly right behind it.

Twilight, Spike and Rainbow Dash had to squeeze through the crowd to reach the billboard. Questions of who was on the team came from all sides on information that was about to be put up in just a few moments. Waiting next to the board was the mayor, looking her official best with perfectly grey hair and a well-tied adornment around the neck.

“Is that the list for the Ponyville Wonderball team?” the mayor asked.

“Yes it is!” Twilight happily said.

“Since there are so many ponies here, how about I read it out loud instead of everyone trying to look at the list?”

“That would be wonderful, mayor! This is the same list of names we submitted to the EWE.” Twilight floated the list over to the mayor.

The mayor beamed at the captain and vice-captain of the soon-to-be official team. “Quiet. Quiet, everypony.” The crowd silenced down and had their attention raptly on the leader of the village. She straightened up the elegant collar before proceeding.

“The official Ponyville Wonderball team (name to be decided) has the following members,” the mayor said in a voice that carried all the way through gathering. “In the position of mover, we have Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Berry Punch!

“In the position of snatcher, we have Twilight Sparkle, Rarity and Lyra Heartstrings!

“In the position of bouncer, we have Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Cloudchaser, Snowflake-”

A cry of, “YEAH!” interrupted the list of names.

“-and Ditzy Doo!”

A grey pegasus flew into the air, waving her forelegs excitedly. “Woohoo! I made it!” She spiraled so far away that she crashed into one of the wooden pillars of the town hall.

As the names were read, there were stomping of hooves and calls of congratulations. Ponies clapped hooves with those that were selected. In just one moment, the chosen members had gone from regular pillars of the community to mini-heroes. If the team actually did good, they would become huge heroes.

And then Rainbow Dash noticed something off. “Wait, what? Did you just say Ditzy Doo?”

“Why, yes,” the mayor said. She held out the list of names and the forms behind it. Sure enough, Ditzy Doo’s name was on both.

“How did this happen?”

Twilight gasped as the memory of a seemingly innocuous comment resurfaced. “When I told Derpy to place her form back in the folder, she must have put it in the one for the team instead of the general folder. I told you to let me double check it!”

“I don’t know if Derpy is accident-prone or an evil genius,” Rainbow Dash mused. “I guess we can leave her in since we don’t have anyone else?”

“I guess,” Twilight half-heartedly agreed. “Even with Derpy, we’re still only at eleven members.”

“Congratulations from Ponyville to the new Wonderball team!” the mayor proclaimed to the cheers and adulation of the townsponies.

Through all the joy, a harsh voice raged out. “That’s not fair!” The crowd parted to reveal a pale-purple pegasus. A pink bow was clipped to her windy-green mane. The crowd backed away even more when they saw her sneering expression.

“Flitter?” Cloudchaser gasped in shock. “What are you talking about?”

“The only reason Fluttershy is on the team is because she’s Rainbow Dash’s friend!” Flitter cried out.

Fluttershy fell close to the ground as all of her happiness had deflated. “Um, well,” she tried to say but couldn’t find anything to contradict that statement. It was probably right after all. “I’m sorry.”

“That’s not true, Fluttershy.” It wasn’t any of her friends saying that but Cloudchaser. “Flitter, what’s gotten into you?”

“It’s nothing!” Flitter cried out. She suddenly became aware that all eyes were on her. Her wings beat furiously in an attempt to retreat from the innumerable stares.

“Hey!” Cloudchaser reached out, but all she touched was air. “I’m sorry, Fluttershy. I’ll be right back.” She took off after Flitter.

It was a chase through the skies. With the clouds cleared away, Cloudchaser easily saw the target. Her legs were extended straight as possible, reducing her size to a straight line. Gliding forward, she easily caught up.

“Flitter!” she cried over the strong winds. “Let’s talk!”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Flitter said defiantly.

“Stop, would you?” Cloudchaser said with such an angry force that the other pegasus slowed down out of surprise.

The two of them landed in a wide open field within view of Sweet Apple Acres. Their horizon was a row of lush trees.

“Flitter, what’s wrong?” Cloudchaser asked.

“You never see,” Flitter said.

“Well, tell me then!”

Flitter looked away to hide her tears. “It’s just that you’re always making it. First to the Wonderbolt Academy and now this. I tried. I tried so hard, but it’s never good enough. You’re just so much better than me at flying and sports.”

“But what does that have to do with Fluttershy?” Cloudchaser asked.

“If she wasn’t on the team, maybe I would have made it.”

“But, uh, I’m pretty sure at least two other pegasi scored higher than you.”

Flitter responded with an ugly glare. She couldn’t keep it up for long, however, and it melted away into a frown again. “Remember when we were kids? You used to look up to me because I was good at flying. But then as we got older, you just naturally got better. I worked so hard, but you were always ahead.

“I’m frustrated that I can’t keep up with you anymore!”

“Flitter,” Cloudchaser mumbled. “Why did you never tell me before?”

“It’s my problem. You didn’t do anything wrong. You’re just more naturally talented than I am.” Flitter drooped towards the ground. Deciding not to resist, she just fell onto the cool grass. “Cloudchaser, you should go.”

“What?”

“Go back to the team. They probably want to talk to you. I feel like being alone right now,” Flitter said dully.

Cloudchaser looked back towards the town. Even from this distance, she could see the crowd at the center of town. She really wanted to return, but it wouldn’t feel right just leaving Flitter out alone like this. Back and forth, Cloudchaser looked between her two choices.

Flitter had made a point to look away, though.

“You’re fine, right?” Cloudchaser asked.

“Yes.”

“Alright. I’m going to go back then. Okay?” she asked uncertainly.

“Fine. Could you apologize to Fluttershy for me?”

“Yeah, sure.”

After one final look, Cloudchaser went back to town. The atmosphere had already recovered into one of celebration, and the heroes of the day were in the center. Among all the ponies, one massive, muscular pegasus still stood out. The ten players were soon joined by their eleventh.

“Cloudchaser!” Rainbow Dash snapped. “What happened?”

“Nothing. Everything’s fine.” Cloudchaser looked around and found Fluttershy moping near the back, as far away from the onlookers as possible. “Hey, um, Flitter wanted me to apologize.”

“It’s fine,” Fluttershy said. “I hope she is alright.”

“I guess she’ll be okay.”

Rarity flipped her mane and turned her nuzzle towards the sky. “Flitter should come here and apologize herself.”

“That’s not necessary,” Fluttershy said. “It’s fine, really.”

“Well, that’s that, I suppose,” Cloudchaser said. “So, what now?”

A few of Fluttershy’s friends still weren’t certain that things should be dropped so easily, but there was nothing to be gained from pushing it further, either.

Rainbow Dash waved her hoof to call the attention of the team. “Alright. First order of business is to set up a training schedule.”

From near the edge, Pinkie slid through the legs of the others and into the center. “Wait! What about our team name?”

A murmur of agreement went out among the team. Even more ponies agreed from the crowd that was still gathered around.

“Oh yeah, that,” the team captain muttered. “Any ideas?”

“Fruit Salad?” Berry Punch suggested. “Or Hay Fries? Maybe Apple Cider?”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “Are you just hungry?”

They got suggestions from more than just the team. All of the villagers wanted to get involved as well, since they were the Ponyville team. It was near impossible to pick out anything being said in the din. Rainbow Dash nervously jerked around, trying to at least acknowledge everything said. With hooves rubbing against her head, she shouted, “Quiet!”

Surprisingly, it worked.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes swiveled around. Everypony was waiting with held breath for some kind of big announcement. “Uh, well.” She looked around. After clearing her throat, her voice became more confident. “Team names are often something the city is known for, right? So what’s Ponyville the best known for?”

Almost unanimously, everypony pointed towards the combined group of Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. An alicorn princess and the elements of harmony? What more could there be than that? It wasn’t something they made a big deal about, but it was the undeniable shining spot in their town.

“Oh, right. Us,” Rainbow murmured.

Lyra piped up with an excited chirp. “How about the Harmonies, then? The Ponyville Harmonies!”

“I like it,” Twilight said, and most of the other team members shared her sentiment. “How about you, captain?”

“Yeah, yeah!” Rainbow Dash said. She shot a quick glare to Snowflake before he could add anything. A wide grin pushed her cheeks outwards.

The entire team had been lined up by the mayor and her staff. They stood as eleven proud ponies ready to take on the rest of Equestria. Rainbow Dash understood why a warm feeling was lit inside her body and why she just couldn’t stop grinning. Her wings itched as they wanted to spread out widely and proudly. With their name now solidified (and needed to be sent in to the EWE), they now really felt like one team, not a gathering of friends.

The mayor announced with a voice that clearly carried across the town center, “I present your Ponyville Harmonies!”