"Here we are. Row 6. Told you we'd make it."
With a gasp and a skip, Rainbow Dash leapt off her father's back, darted above the row of chattering pegasi and landed firmly in her puffy, white seat. Her ears flopped back and forth and her tiny wings fluttered, absorbing everything they could from the air and sounds of her new surroundings.
"No flying!" called the security stallion at the edge of the stands.
"Sorry!" her father replied with a wave before trotting to his seat beside her. "It's her first time! Fillies!"
"Ohmigosh, ohmigosh, ohmigosh," the filly squeaked, swinging her attention around as the environment around her battled brightly for it. The supporters decked in dark red clothing bustled nearby, and the cloudy structure supporting them reflected the high-noon sun with eagerness. The familiar Cloudsdale breeze caressed her cheeks and patted her eyes, and there, right in front of her, were the opening workings of the event, setting up for her and her alone.
Her eyes started at the referee standing in the center of the ‘airfield’—a rectangular cloud that spanned the space between the stands. He had a gleaming, silver whistle strapped around one foreleg and a white, rubber ball with a crimson stripe underneath the other. Her eyes then watched the pegasi in matching red jerseys warming up on one side of the airfield beneath one of the goals—a frame of thick cloud two yards in width and length, encasing a loose net and floating just a few meters off the airfield. She then spotted another black-shirted official rapping on the frames of one of the goals with her hooves and tugging on the nets with her teeth.
Lastly, her eyes glued to the billowing crimson banner – exactly opposite of her across the airfield – sporting three sets of distinguishable teeth across its length. She perked up in excitement when she read the jagged, white words in front of the teeth: The Cloudsdale Chimera.
"Y'know, I can take you home if you're bored," Dash's father teased, bending down to her level with a grin.
"Are you KIDDING me?! This is the best day EVER!" she cheered.
"Did you tell that to the Chimera?" her father asked, nudging her shoulder. "Might help 'em win. The Tremors are awfully good this year."
"They don't need it!" she hollered as she dealt the air around her a flurry of swift punches. "They're the best hoofball players in all of Equestria! Trottingham won't know what hit 'em!"
Her father laughed and patted her on the head before taking in his own deep breath of the atmosphere and letting out a satisfied sigh. "This brings back memories," he mused. "I wonder if the team will recognize their old friend up here in the stands."
"Old friend?" Rainbow Dash questioned. "But you were the boundskeeper!" She pointed to the official near the sidelines who was propping himself up on a checkered flag and yawning with a free hoof.
"Best boundskeeper this stadium's ever seen!" her father objected, puffing his chest. "Always take pride in your work, Dash, no matter what. Ponies'll take notice of that sort of thing."
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes dramatically and received a vigorous head rub from her dad. After a few seconds of squirming he released her and patted her back lightly.
"Hey, thanks for comin' out with me, Dashie,” he said, standing up to view the stands around him. “I can never convince your mother to come to Cloudsdale games. The team could use your support.” He made a tiny wince as he noticed the vast amount of empty seats around him. The Cloudsdale section of the stadium was not even half-filled, but the blue section across the field was full of noisy supporters singing a famous song for the Trottingham Tremors.
"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "This'll be a nice warm-up before next weekend when Mom takes me to see the Wonderbolts for the first time EVER!"
A few Cloudsdale supporters in front turned to grimace at her, but she was too busy watching the players to notice.
"Uh-huh," her father replied. "Count me out."
Rainbow Dash retorted, "You’re missing out! The Cloudsdale Chimera may be the best hoofball team ever, but The Wonderbolts are the best team of fliers in all of Equestria!"
"I dunno about the best hoofball team, but we are the founders of the whole sport!" her father announced proudly, bumping a hoof against his chest.
As the athletic pegasi lined up on opposite sides of the referee and two of his fellow officials, Rainbow Dash took the opportunity to look for familiar faces in the line of home players. She only knew a few of them – by name only – but there was one in particular she was looking to spot.
“THERE HE IS!” she screamed, causing her father to jump. He followed her hoof to the pony wearing the number 9 jersey and cringed at his sight. He was a statuesque pegasus with an eager smirk, and he was eyeing the crowd hungrily. He ran a hoof through his white mane, right from its base to its slate-black ends. His dusty fur gleamed from intense grooming and his fully sprung, black-tipped wings stood ready for action.
"Raven Blitz!” the excited filly celebrated. “He's SO AWESOME! He used to be a Wonderbolt! His wingpower is, like, over sixteen!"
"It takes more than wingpower to score goals, Dash. Plus…"
Her father paused, baring his teeth at her with a smirk that matched the subject's.
"...Raven Blitz sucks."
"WHAT!" Rainbow Dash squeaked, jumping out of her seat and pressing her nose up against her father's. "How could you say that!? He's awesome!"
"What, just because he's a former Wonderbolt?"
"No flying!"
"Sorry!" Rainbow Dash's father called again, pulling her back to her seat by her tail.
"He's the best part of the team,” Rainbow Dash pouted as her flank hit the clouds again and she crossed her forelegs in a snit. “Why don’t you like him?”
"It's not just me," her father replied, crossing his own legs mockingly, "Cloudsdale forked over a ton of money to the Wonderbolts so he could be a hoofball player. We had to sell a bunch of our other players and replace our coach with this new girl just to afford him! It's game six now and we haven't even scored a goal yet. Two losses and three draws. We’re all kind of unimpressed."
Rainbow Dash stood in her seat and leaned over the back of the empty one in front of her, raising her head high and beaming at the players. "You'll see," she said. "Raven Blitz will score a million goals today!"
"He won't even reach nine hundred thousand."
"You're on!" Dash giggled as her father rustled her mane roughly and tickled her stomach. "Stop it!” she wheezed. “The game is about to start!"
On the airfield, the players were now spread out among their separate halves. Some of them were on the cloud madly trotting in place, jumping up and down, or looking up at the sun and muttering to themselves. Others were in the air flapping their wings excitedly and performing sporadic flips. Raven Blitz and a pink mare stood over the ball at the center of the airfield and exchanged focused words.
At the edge of the airfield, two groups of substitutes and their coaches were sitting on separate clouds on opposite sides of the tunnel. The Trottingham coach was wearing only a hoofball cap and two watches, while his young Cloudsdale adversary wore a tightly-fitting pinstriped suit around her blue fur. She was scratching a hoof in her curly, cyan mane while cautiously surveying the empty seats in the stands.
*TWEET!*
There was no more time for crowd watching. Every eye in the stadium turned to the ball as it was kicked off by Raven Blitz, and passed backwards by the pink mare beside him. The teams overlapped and began lightly bumping into each other, both on the cloud and in the air. The Chimera players started in possession, moving the ball by tapping it with their hooves and sometimes propping it into the air to punch to their flying teammates.
"Is that Pink Slip?!" Rainbow Dash shouted, still leaning over the seat in the next row. She pointed to the pink mare hovering in front of the Trottingham net. She was watching the ball carefully and buzzing away from her defenders whenever they drew close.
"You know Pink Slip?" her father asked.
"Of course!" she replied, keeping her eyes trained on the ball. "She was the league's top scorer last year!"
"Oh, you've done your research, eh? Yeah, that's her. It's a good thing we kept her last summer! She's not the fastest, but she's one of the most agile players out there."
Rainbow Dash fluttered her wings excitedly and watched as Pink Slip flew back to latch on to a pass and lob it to Raven Blitz, who was hovering above the cloud more than thirty yards from the Trottingham goal. With a kick from his back hooves, he neatly lifted the ball over his head and rose behind it, aiming with a front hoof. Pink Slip was flying ahead but stopped and moved out of the way as he telegraphed his next move.
Coming as a shock to him alone, a Trottingham defender tapped it out of his way and flew past him, leaving him to awkwardly float with his hoof in the air. The Cloudsdale fans groaned as he blushed and waved to Pink Slip, whose warm smile faded the moment she passed him on her way back to defend.
Meanwhile, the Trottingham players were attacking ferociously, easily picking the holes in the Cloudsdale defence and nearing their goal with every pass. It wasn't until a stallion with a blonde mane and a pelt the same shade as his jersey rushed one of the blue-shirts and lashed the rolling ball out from under her hooves. It flew out of the sky, where the boundskeeper quickly gave chase. The tackler wore a frown made of stone as he stood up and adjusted the white band of fabric around his shoulder. Rainbow Dash sat back in her chair and exhaled in relief.
"That’s Padlock, the captain!" she cheered in recognition. "He's a wall! Nothing gets by him!"
Her father sighed himself and applauded the captain. "Good thing we didn't lose him, either. He's like family!" he declared.
For the opening minutes of the first half, the ball was traded between the teams numerous times. Cloudsdale attacked with style, cleanly trading the ball between the lower and higher players and opting to send the ball to their two forwards at every chance they had. Conversely, the Trottingham players waited their turn and kept the ball rolling on the cloud whenever they had possession. Their manager was constantly pulling back on his front hooves and shaking his head at his players, while the mare in the suit threw her hooves at the away team’s net and kicked an invisible ball towards it.
But the game's tempo turned drastically when there was a miskick from a flying Cloudsdale player with a white coat and a green, curly mane. She chased after the ball as it left her, but it reached a blue player in the sky who punted it past the thrown Padlock and onto a galloping forward. Fuming, and with the concerned noise from his supporters behind him, Padlock gave chase. The forward neared the corner of the airfield before pivoting and firing the ball across the net, where the defenders each tried to block a player as the ball came looping in. Without their captain they were outnumbered, and an unmarked Trottingham player glanced the bullet off of his forehead and towards the net, which sprung tightly as the ball rotated against the mesh.
Across the way, the lake of blue supporters erupted in cheers and began singing the name of the scoring player. The Cloudsdale supporters threw up their hooves and fell back in their chairs, shaking their heads disapprovingly. The now leading players celebrated in front of their ballistic supporters, and Padlock soared purposefully towards the white mare, whom Rainbow Dash's father identified as Jubilee, another new signing. She hovered just above her captain and scowled as he berated her, turning her cheek away from him as Pink Slip flew in to ease the veteran's tension. When calmed, he simply pointed to the ball in the net and left to retake his position again.
Rainbow Dash was seated gazing at the lifeless ball in her team's net as Jubilee begrudgingly glided over to pick it out. The filly slowly shook her head with her mouth agape. "I don't believe it..."
Her father meanwhile was watching Padlock, shaking his head as well and matching the captain's furrowed brow. "You're better than that," he muttered.
As Rainbow Dash looked at the crestfallen manager, players and supporters, she tugged on her father's wing and looked up to him solemnly. "What'll we do now?" she asked as the Chimera restarted the game.
"Hey, cheer up!" he exclaimed, wrapping his wing around her. "It's not so bad. As I always say, there's nothing worse than a one-nothing lead. Besides, you're always most vulnerable after you scoooOOOO—LOOK, LOOK!"
Rainbow Dash swung her head to the airfield, where Pink Slip, Jubilee and Raven Blitz were storming the Trottingham defence straight from the kick-off. The mares split up and dragged their defenders away from them, leaving Raven Blitz on his own about twenty yards away from the goal. Padlock slotted the ball to Pink Slip who flicked it off her back hooves for the lone pegasus. He wasted no time, absorbing the ball's flight with a front hoof and propping it into the air, before taking flight and spinning around to fire.
*PUM!*
The ball truly rocketed off his buck. Rainbow Dash's voice caught in her throat as the ball hurtled towards the net. Blitz landed gracefully on the cloud, before bringing a hoof to his ear and paying the watchful supporters an aloof smile.
“Pay attention!” a nearby supporter exclaimed.
*PANG!!*
The ball rattled the net's frame, completely reversing its velocity and sending it back to the gray forward. The former Wonderbolt’s body shriveled and swiveled at the sound, and he desperately tried to control the returning ball. He stuck a hoof into the cloud that only proved to be a launchpad, deflecting the ball ten yards above him. He took off towards it with extreme speed, reaching it in seconds and grabbing it between his legs. He then winced and dropped it.
*TWEET!*
The referee gestured to the flying player by holding an invisible ball between his hooves. "Holding!" the crowd heard him call.
Rainbow Dash groaned with the rest of the Cloudsdale faithful and threw herself back onto the seat, slouching and overlapping her back hooves on the seat in front of her. She wrinkled her nose and watched as the winning team's fans laughed and shouted names at the former Wonderbolt. He was trying his best to laugh with them, awkwardly moving away from the spot where he had made the error and smiling at his teammates. Padlock – the only player not avoiding his gaze – was glowering fiercely at him.
The game started again almost immediately, and it wasn't long before the Trottingham players lost the ball to Padlock, and the attack was resumed—much to Rainbow Dash's delight. The Trottingham manager stayed remarkably calm the entire time his team was under siege. Pink Slip began avoiding the sky, keeping a close eye on Raven Blitz's movements, passing to him whenever she could and encouraging him to pass to her at every chance he had.
The Trottingham Tremors all seemed content with being on the defence, and Rainbow Dash started feeling bored as the match in front of her grew more and more cagey. Every time a Cloudsdale attack was foiled by Trottingham – or by themselves – the home players were forced to stop a counter attack and regain their ground all over again.
One of the only impressive Cloudsdale players was Pink Slip, finding it easy to dance among the defenders but hard to receive a decent pass from her strike partner. Finally, one of the defenders in blue grew tired of waiting his turn fairly and clamored into Pink Slip while she protected the ball.
The referee blew his whistle to stop the play, and the teams collectively took to the sky inside the Trottingham half for a free buck. The Trottingham players lined up halfway between the Cloudsdale attackers and their net, hovering back and forth together to find the best position to close down the angle. Padlock and Jubilee flew up to meet Pink Slip, who was holding the ball and waiting for them. They both flew into position to take the kick, before bumping heads and snarling at each other. Pink Slip smiled worriedly and tried to split them up, but the hotheads ignored her. A couple of Trottingham players chuckled and pointed as their fans cheered sarcastically.
Rainbow Dash's father placed a front hoof on his chin and slouched as far as he could. "Just let him take it, Jubilee," he muttered.
Rainbow Dash draped her forelegs over her head and groaned.
"What the hay is wrong with them?" she asked.
"We got Jubilee from Canterlot. She was a great player for them, but she also used to be their free buck taker."
Finally, Jubilee was pulled away from the ball and forced to join the attackers scattered on either side of Trottingham's wall of players. Padlock turned away from the goal and nodded back at Pink Slip, who waited for the referee's whistle. When it came, she tossed the ball into the air and moved out of the way. The Trottingham players bolted to close down the shot, but it came off like a cannonball, perfectly connecting with Padlock's hind leg and hurtling towards them.
“AUGH!”
The ball brushed one of the Trottingham players in the forehead and deflected far out of play. The whole crowd heard his warrior's grunt as he fell onto the cloud beneath them and rolled three whole times across the airfield. Padlock made an angry gesture for the player to get up and began to fly away before being confronted by an angry mob of blue-shirts, pushing him around and yelling in his face. Soon, Pink Slip and the rest of The Chimera flew towards him to help push them right back. The angry storm grew in strength and number, and the referee madly blew on his whistle as he tried to brave it.
"Aw, c’mon," Rainbow Dash's father sighed, covering her eyes with an outstretched leg, "I didn't bring you here to see this."
Rainbow Dash pulled his cover away and stood in her seat. "Did he do that on purpose?" she inquired.
"Only he knows for sure…”
*TWEET!*
*TWEET!*
*TWEEEEEEET!*
The referee – evidently weary of the proceedings – called the first half to a close. The two mobs of players split up and trudged towards their coaches, angrily trading glances with each other along the way. The last player to leave the airfield was the Tremor with a now messy mane, gliding behind the other ponies with a physiotherapist at his side.
A few of the ponies around the rainbow supporters also began to stir as they slowly made their way to the concession stands. Rainbow Dash's father remained in his seat, sitting back and folding his legs in thought. He looked towards the young coach and murmured to himself. "Welp, your time to shine, Flash. Let's see what you've got."
"Is that the new coach?" Rainbow Dash inquired.
"Signal Flash," her father answered. "She's not got a lot of experience – hence the price tag – so she has a lot to prove."
Rainbow Dash turned her attention to the remaining fans around her. They were all sporting a similar pose as her father, either voicing their own concerns out loud or conversing with each other. She opened her ears and listened.
"…It's been hours since this team's scored..."
"…Why did we buy that pretty boy...?”
"…We should have seen that goal coming! It's practically their signature move..."
Rainbow Dash's ears perked and she turned to tug on her father's wing again. "Hey Dad, does Raven Blitz have a signature move that he could use?"
He scoffed loudly and replied, "Yeah, autographs."
The supporters around them let out an honest laugh, turning his way and nodding. Rainbow Dash deflated in her seat again.
“That’s not funny,” she pouted.
"I have an idea," her father continued, raising his voice so more supporters could hear. "Maybe we should ask for some advice from the ponies who invented this sport."
An injured chuckle rippled throughout the supporters in earshot, while a few at the edges leaned over to tell the joke to their friends. Soon all but one of the slouchers was sitting a little taller in their seats.
"That's not funny, either," Rainbow Dash grumbled, slouching far enough to slide her rump off the edge of her seat. "This stinks. Cloudsdale is so bad their own fans are laughing at them... I wish I was watching the Wonderbolts."
The supporters turned her way and scowled, but she didn't acknowledge them.
"Hey, have a little faith," her father replied, pulling her up with his wing. "You've gotta stick with your team through the good and the bad.”
“Really?”
“Of course! That’s what makes a true fan. Besides, we have to make fun of ourselves, because if we don’t…"
He paused to point to the blue supporters across the airfield, singing and smiling with each other.
"…they will."
A few minutes later, the players were out on the airfield again, seemingly settled from the first half's finale. A few new faces had replaced players of each team, and the formations that entertained during the first half took shape again—though on opposite sides of the field. Signal Flash took her seat again and repeatedly tapped her hooves together, switching her view to each of her players one at a time.
Rainbow Dash noticed that a new substitute had come on and taken Raven Blitz's position on the cloud. He was a slim and sleek looking pale blue stallion with long brown hair and an emotionless gaze. Raven Blitz was now in the air closer to Pink Slip, meaning there was one extra attacker on the field, but one less midfielder.
“I see Flash didn’t have the guts to take Princess Blitzy off,” her father chided. “And is that Featherclad? We can't even string a decent attack between the new and old players, and her solution is to bring the kid on?" He placed a hoof on his forehead and winced before leaning back in his seat and sighing heavily.
"Is he bad?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"No... I mean—I’m glad they’re going for it, but… Featherclad’s never played well against top teams like Trottingham."
*TWEET!*
Rainbow Dash and the rest of the Chimera supporters straightened in their seats again as the Trottingham players kicked off the second half and retreated into their side of the airfield hastily. Slip, Blitz and Clad chased them down in a rush, closing down the Tremors wherever they could. Trottingham played precisely and intricately between themselves, taunting the Cloudsdale supporters with every pass, and seemingly not interested in extending their lead.
It took about ten minutes for a blue player in possession to become impatient. He charged at Jubilee and tried to put the ball between her legs, but she wasn’t fooled. She closed up and knocked the ball past the flustered attacker before passing to Padlock, who called out something unclear and punted the ball with tremendous force up the airfield. The Trottingham defenders casually went to retrieve it, only to discover a sprightly pink player soaring onto it first. She kicked the ball down to the cloud and past the defenders where a stealthy Featherclad had sneaked under their radar.
“He’s through!” Rainbow Dash cheered.
Two defenders in the air crashed into each other and the other two on the cloud gave chase with Blitz and Slip practically nipping at their tails. Featherclad threw a quick look to the net – about fifteen yards away – before tossing the ball in the air and winding up a left hoofed shot.
But the closest Tremor had other plans for the youngster. Just as Featherclad’s hooves left the cloud he was grabbed by the waist and hauled down roughly, letting out a small grunt that reached both sides of the stands. The Trottingham fans all shrank in their seats while the Cloudsdale fans expanded and shouted together.
“THAT’S A PENAL—“
*TWEEEEET!*
“YEEEAAAHHHH!!”
Rainbow Dash and her father embraced in the air as the referee pointed to the halfway line and shook his head. The Trottingham players swarmed him and protested, but he waved them away. The Cloudsdale supporters’ cheers, although happy at first, began to fade away as they all pointed to the offending player and screamed for a dismissal. The referee didn't pay the outrage any mind, and the Cloudsdale players seemed happy enough that the penalty was called. Pink Slip picked Featherclad off the aeroturf with a hug while Raven Blitz flew towards the ball in a flash.
“Awesome!” Rainbow Dash shouted.
“Pink Slip’s never missed one of these!” her father added.
“What’s he DOING?!” a Cloudsdale fan blurted.
Everypony but Rainbow Dash watched in horror as Raven Blitz carried the ball towards the halfway line. Padlock stopped him in midair and pointed at Pink Slip with a dumbfounded smile. She soon caught up, and the three players had a heated argument in midair. The referee loudly blew his whistle at them, and the discussion ended with a large grin from Pink Slip as she placed her hooves on Raven Blitz’s shoulders and nodded. Padlock looked to his coach for backup, but she just shook her head and grimaced. The fans in blue were busy celebrating loudly.
“If Pink Slip can do it I’m sure Raven Blitz can!” Rainbow Dash stated confidently. A few angry supporters turned to face her, and one adult even stood from his chair and opened his mouth to speak, causing her to become small in his stare and lean into her father.
“Now listen here, little fill—“
“Eyes on the game, Buck-o,” her father commanded as he put a wing around her. The disgruntled supporter turned back around and slumped in his seat.
“What’s his problem?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Let’s just hope Blitz can score this, Dashie.”
Raven Blitz stood with his proud smirk and the ball in his hoof at the halfway line as the other two teams were spread out in the Trottingham half, preparing to collect the rebound. The referee gave him the signal, and the Cloudsdale star lifted the ball into the air, spun around acrobatically and bucked.
Pink Slip may have immediately put her hooves in her face, but in truth, he didn’t miss by much. It was close enough for the fans of both sides to hold a collective breath as it soared through the air, but low enough for the Trottingham player to relievedly gather beneath the net without being accused of blocking the shot.
“No…” Rainbow Dash lamented.
The Cloudsdale fans slumped in anguish, but the players had no such luxury. Padlock shouted an order to get back into position, and the Trottingham attack was on instantly once the opposing coach threw his hooves forward for the first time that match.
“No-no-no-no,” Rainbow Dash muttered.
Raven Blitz stood in amazement for his miss, and was practically invisible as the red and blue players stampeded past him. If he had turned to the Cloudsdale supporters, he would have had a chance at seeing his number one fan looking at him with sympathy, but he instead turned to the Trottingham fans, who were noisily berating the star with ecstatic jeers. He sat down on his cloud and dropped his head.
The ball, meanwhile, was much busier than him. It was throttled past Jubilee, then two more players, then past Padlock onto an onrushing attacker. The boundskeeper didn’t wave his flag for offside, and the Trottingham player took a free shot on the Cloudsdale goal.
“No!” Rainbow Dash screamed.
Padlock and the Tremor soared towards the net in hope and fear that it would miss. Pink Slip put her wing around Raven Blitz and picked him up gently, patting his head and giving a friendly knock to his shoulder.
The ball clanged off of the frame of the net , but the Trottingham forward made quick work of the rebound before daintily flipping over Padlock’s tackle, and for the second time that match, the ball rippled the back of the net. The goalscorer flew towards his supporters – still half berating Raven Blitz – and made a heroic slide in front of them, pumping his front hooves with verve.
This was the final offense for many Cloudsdale fans. A few red-shirted pegasi stood up to leave the stadium, shaking their heads and throwing their hooves disappointedly at their team.
“Where are you going?” Rainbow Dash protested to the leaving fans.
“What’s the point?” one of them replied.
“No way this team’s coming back from two down,” said another.
“So?!” she yelled back. “We have to stick with them through the good and the bad!”
Her father let out a single, impressed chuckle and patted her on the head. He then reminded the disgruntled fans, “Cloudsdale’s come back from worse.”
Most of the angry supporters sat back in their seats and crossed their hooves, but a few still exited the doors.
“Their loss,” Rainbow Dash was assured.
The game restarted quickly, and although it was Cloudsdale’s turn to be on the front hoof, there didn’t seem to be anypony looking to score. The Chimera was slumped over, seemingly waiting for the game to end, and the Tremors were happy to keep possession and wear out the clock. Jubilee and Padlock were at odds twice more. Pink Slip continued to struggle to work with Featherclad’s style and Raven Blitz’s lack thereof. Signal Flash’s last substitution brought about more cheers from the Trottingham fans because it didn’t involve the disgraced Wonderbolt. Rainbow Dash fought to stay optimistic for her father, and it was with ten minutes left in the game that she was truly tested.
The Trottingham player that – if you asked any red supporter – was lucky to still be on the airfield deftly stole the ball from Raven Blitz and left him on his rump on the cloud. With a talented pass, he set the Trottingham captain on her way in the midfield. As her forwards peeled away and dragged defenders with them, she came up against the impossible barrier that was Jubilee and Padlock. She had options left and right, but instead, she played the hero.
She flicked the ball high over a diving Jubilee and pushed off her back to retrieve it. Padlock rushed towards her before she could pass, but stopped cold and changed directions when he saw the player aiming to shoot. After a finessed punch from the Tremor’s front hoof, the ball tantalizingly looped over Padlock and bounced off the bottom frame of the goal before snuggling itself comfortably in the net. Padlock could only reach the net in time to grab onto the bottom rung of the frame and swing depressingly to and fro.
A neutral spectator would have called it a stunning goal, but the Cloudsdale supporters only saw a tragedy. The group that had originally planned to leave after the second goal doubled in size with the third. Rainbow Dash only let out a small mutter.
“Maybe we should go too…”
“What the—” her father uttered.
On the airfield, all but one of the Trottingham players was celebrating with their fans. There was a conversation occurring between Raven Blitz – still on his rump – and the player in blue who had made the assist. The Cloudsdale fans and players all watched curiously.
The leading player was smirking widely and lending a hoof for the former Wonderbolt, but as soon as he moved to take it, it was withdrawn. The Tremor then stood over Raven Blitz and sneered at him, pursing his lips together and letting out what looked like a single syllable. But when Raven Blitz cocked his head away in shock and touched a hoof to his face, the truth became clear.
Rainbow Dash took to the air above her seat and hollered. “Did he just SPIT on him!?”
It was loud enough to cause the referee and celebrating players to swing their heads around to the duo, and angry enough to force the departing Chimera supporters to rush back to their seats again and yell. “He just SPAT on him!”
Another storm broke out in the airfield. Pink Slip pushed the cocky Trottingham player out of the way and picked up her teammate. Jubilee and Padlock both pressed their noses against his and grabbed his jersey, and the referee blew his whistle madly. He tried to split them up, but he stood even less of a chance of calming them down than he did before half-time. The celebrating players rushed to help, though they hadn't seen what had taken the attention away from their stunner.
“That’s not just low… That’s the lowest of the lows!” A Cloudsdale supporter declared.
Suddenly, something froze all the Cloudsdale players at once. As Pink Slip dragged the hotheaded duo through the air by their tails and Raven Blitz stared frozen at his hoof, there was a call from the substitutes' bench. Signal Flash was waving her forelegs madly to get their attention, causing the Cloudsdale players to look at each other in confusion. There wasn't time for a pep talk – and hoofball didn't have any timeouts – so when the Chimera was altogether staring at her, she simply pointed a hoof to the ball, then to the Trottingham net, and finally stamped it into the cloud.
“Wanna get a closer look?” Rainbow Dash’s father said, bringing her attention back from the tension on the airfield.
“Are we allowed?”
“No, but I don’t think he’ll mind.”
He pointed to the edge of the stands, where a few fans from the front rows were lining up against the barrier at the edge of the stands underneath the security guard, who was hovering just under the rainbow supporters’ view.
“Can you believe these hay-eating Trottinghams!?” he seethed.
“Come on!”
The rainbow stallion took off towards the edge of the stands and his filly sailed lightly behind him. He landed and pushed aside a few angry pegasi and felt the crash of his daughter as she landed on his back and peered over his head. The Cloudsdale faithful were a wall at the edge of the stands—as close to the team as possible without the referee needing to pause the game and oust them. The Trottingham fans were doing the same.
It was Cloudsdale’s final kick-off. There were only minutes left, and their wasn't a single attendant that didn't know it—least of all the players. The anguish that the game had caused them was oddly absent. All that could be seen now was a squad of stoic members—every last one of their wings fully sprung. Jubilee scuffed the airfield and snorted, while Pink Slip whispered something inspiring into Featherclad’s ear and patted his back.
The referee gave a wary look to both sets of fans, rolled his eyes animatedly and brought his whistle to his mouth.
*TWEET!*
“Go!” Rainbow Dash cheered, and the players obliged. Raven Blitz tapped the ball to Pink Slip and she passed it back with flair. The overlapping ritual was slower than usual this time, as every last Tremor held back to help with the defence.
Featherclad led the initial charge. After receiving the ball from Jubilee, he cut through the defences on the cloud, finding it easy to entice the Tremors into tackles that his young legs could easily evade and proceed past. Raven Blitz hovered just inside the final third of the airfield and watched as the player that perhaps could have replaced him blew by defenders as though he were a leaf in a breeze. It didn't give him a great opportunity to shoot, but it did get him closer.
“Woah,” Rainbow Dash exhaled.
He reached the corner of the airfield and began throwing his head up to look for backup. Pink Slip was weaving around the defence in front of the goal and Jubilee was offering an easier option closer to the halfway line. Raven Blitz did not get involved.
Oddly enough, it was Padlock who joined the attack. Featherclad propped the ball in the air and slashed at it with his hindleg in an overhead kick, and the captain came charging in and planted his head firmly against it. It skimmed the nearest edge of the goal and flew out of the sky for a boundskeeper to chase.
Pink Slip hovered with her forehooves on her waist, giving her captain a disappointed look and gesturing to the space she had in front of her. He merely shrugged his shoulders and flew back into position past Raven Blitz, who continued to watch.
“It was a little short,” Rainbow Dash’s father commented.
Play was restarted when a Trottingham player booted the ball up the airfield, as if taking a shot from the rear edge of his own half. A Cloudsdale defender headed the ball to Jubilee, and the charge was reborn. Raven Blitz watched from up the airfield as Jubilee came against two heavy tackles. She shielded the ball and took the brunt of the force, like a red rock absorbing the current of a blue river. There was one kick out and another push, but she managed to shake them off and take the ball into the air. The referee raised his hooves to signal for play to continue despite the fouls.
As she charged and juggled the ball she came against a defender less willing to commit to a tackle, and she was forced to slow her flight. Padlock was behind her on the cloud, so she bounced it down to him and flew past the players as though still in possession. Padlock didn't bother controlling the ball, opting instead to split the bewildered defence with a slicing pass to Jubilee, making her way up the airfield.
Raven Blitz was finished watching. He sped past Pink Slip in the air towards the goal and landed on the cloud where there was little resistance. Jubilee passed the ball to Pink Slip and she wasted no time bending the ball around the defenders and sending the Wonderbolt on his way.
“He’s through!” cried Rainbow Dash’s father.
With a confident smirk, he sprinted alongside the last defender – the one with the loose grip on his saliva – and shielded the ball. It didn’t take long for the challenge to come sliding in, and to everypony’s surprise, Raven Blitz flapped his wings repeatedly and stopped running, before rolling the ball back a half of a yard with a front hoof. The slippery cloud sent the Tremor far out of the way, and left Raven Blitz with an open sky to shoot.
He had at least two seconds to line up the shot, and that was more than enough for the team’s sharpshooter. There was a tight angle, but the star player could score it. The talisman whom the fans loved and adored would have their name cheered as the ball went in – despite it being worth nothing – because that player was their favourite.
It was the star’s time to shine, so Raven Blitz swiveled away from the goal. The desperate defenders caught up and slid into him, but he protected the ball and took the tackles bravely. One player’s hind leg dragged his own out from under him and almost put him into a splits. Unfazed, he dug his front hooves into the cloud and lifted the ball towards the sun, leaping after it as the referee waved to play on.
With a majestic front flip, Raven Blitz thrust the ball with the back of his hind leg diagonally across the airfield. A pink and red streak zoomed through the air towards it, chased desperately by two bolts of blue. After she reached the ball, Pink Slip tossed it up and twirled, evading the two tackles that came her way. When the ball reached the cloud again she cracked it with a front hoof like a thunderbolt, bent it around the two Tremors and nearly punctured the net inside the Trottingham goal.
The ponies in blue shrugged their shoulders. Their supporters slumped slightly and sighed, with a disappointed grimace for their lost clean score. Their coach didn’t even flinch.
But the Cloudsdale faithful detonated. A noise louder than the full side of the stands had accomplished all game exploded from the home fans and even caused them to spill onto the airfield. Pink Slip evaded the players wishing to celebrate with her to assault Raven Blitz with an enormous hug, and a pile of ponies began forming in front of the Trottingham goal.
The players in blue hovered around the referee, and they all gave each other confused looks. Then, with a shrug of his shoulders, the official glanced at his watch.
*TWEET!*
*TWEET!*
*TWEEEEEEET!*
