Diamond Tiara the hoofball coach

Chapters

Picked last
The game
Learning the tactics

Picked last

It was just no fair. And not the kind of fairs where you’d dress up as Starswil the Bearded or any other kind of old stallion, older than the princesses, the fair about justice and equality, the fairness one.

How could she – And Diamond Tiara looked around and scoffed, imagining herself in all her presence and beauty she was sure she had. – Not get picked first? Or even second to last? How could she have been the last filly to be picked?

Diamond Tiara looked at the game being played, she had refused to join. Normally she wouldn’t even want to enter the stupid competition anyway, but she had decided to try something new, just once. It had backfired horribly, the worse possible thing, as the sister of that dork would put it, had happened.

She was the last filly to be picked.

It was like they didn’t see just how awesome she was at hoofball! She could kick a ball with strength, and pass it away from her when they were passing it at her. She was a team player and everything! What? Didn’t they see that?

Diamond Tiara had never been the most athletic of fillies, she admitted that, but she was still superior to little Pip or the mute Featherweight! For Pip every trot she did, was equal to three or four of his, and for Feather, though he could sneak up on her, he didn’t even speak! How could he play with tactics if he didn’t speak?

To Diamond Tiara it was humiliating, being picked last. Sports was one of the things she admitted she wasn’t superior at, one of the few things she wasn’t superior, but she also wasn’t the worse of the worse, now, was she?

Diamond Tiara couldn’t let such injustice and unfairness go unpunished, she wasn’t going to hurt anyone seriously – She was not interested in spending any more time after class in detention. – But she was going to make them eat their own act of picking her last. – the stupidity of it would not go unscathed.

Diamond Tiara imagined her eyes glowing like the eyes of a super bad pony. She wasn’t a supermare, but she still had the power, not of Grayskull, like that He-Colt tv show, but of being charismatic.

Diamond Tiara had always been very charismatic...well that was the word she used to describe it, her charisma was a combined secret formula that involved looking with her eyes wide open, a puppy dog stare, as it’s called, plus some slight tears, and a whinny wording of the word please.

Some might call it manipulative and it was, partially, but it wasn’t considered that way by Diamond Tiara, it was just one of her many, many special talents, as she put it.

It wasn’t like she was intending on hurting anyone, no, it was just she was going to prove to the pony that had been picking, and to the world, that she was good at sports, what, just because she ate her fair share of sweets she wasn’t athletic?

Colts liked the curves! She was just the most beautiful! They were probably jealous! And while she wasn’t super buffed like Bulk Biceps, she was athletic.

She walked around the recess thinking of ways to hit back. She had refused to join the game when she was picked last, taking it as a personal offense, they had told her to suit herself, and went back to playing, starting another game.

Diamond could probably go play one of her portable consoles, like Button did, or try to find treasure, like Pip normally did. She was good at helping others! Wasn’t that what her cutie mark meant? She had assumed it meant she was as precious as a jewel, and her special talent was criticism, polishing others to shine bright like a Diamond Tiara (even if they couldn’t afford it), via the way of criticism but the way of cruelty was one harsh way. – Not making her any friends besides Silver Spoon.

So she was going to help them, by the way of showing them not to disrespect her. She was going to train herself in hoofball, being like those famous players, and she was going to be the very best, like no one in the school had ever been.
It was time for a montage!

She ran 100 feet, she kicked a ball she had “borrowed” with all the strength of a limp pony, she even managed to dodge an unmoving tree with the ball on her hooves. She was now the best player in the whole wild recess!

Next day she was going to play, and show them just how much she was the very best! Or, if not as good as the very best, the second very best...or the third...or the fourth.

Diamond shock her head from those depressive thoughts. Steadying herself. That night she had trouble sleeping, giggling to herself to how she would show them. She was actually going to do it, she was actually going to be the player who wasn’t going to be picked last!

That morning at recess she was, once again, picked last, but it didn’t bother her nearly as much as the last night, because she was ready to show the world just how much she would kick their collective plots.

The ball was passed to her and she was just a few hundred feet from the goal post. She ran, and the world seemed to slow down as she moved, she could see another filly, from the opposite team approaching, she was going to dodge her and shoot! She was the best, she was going to earn it, transform and earn all their respect she was going to...

The ball was taken from her hooves by someone who hadn’t stopped to day dream in the middle of the field, and her team groaned. Diamond Tiara came back to reality and felt really awful about losing the ball.

The other team advanced and Diamond Tiara ran behind them, surprisingly, despite the pain in her belly from running, this wasn’t half bad, she was actually enjoying this.

She somehow got the ball again and she readied herself to kick it into overdrive, she put all her strength on her kick, and the ball went flying. Diamond Tiara was sure it was going to enter! But it didn’t.

She would normally be mad. But not anymore, she was sure they’d end up putting it there somewhere in the 30 p minutes of recess.

She got the ball plenty of times in the following 22 minutes remaining, and though she didn’t score it. She helped her team (at least she liked to think like that) – By passing the ball. hoofball was a sport that was best played as a team, and the screams of “pass me” which she tentatively obeyed, multiplied her fun. Her team lost, but she didn’t care. She had never cared much for hoofball, but she knew this much all team had a coach, and she was going to help them.

The game

Though there wasn't a whistle to signalise the beginning of the game, the game was on. Diamond Tiara watched as the ball bounced from place to place. She had instructed the team of what to do. Twist was on the goalkeeper position, and Rumble and Scootaloo were in the flanks, ready to run as needed and pass the ball. A varied, colored bunch was in the other positions, and Pipsqueak was the finisher.

The game wasn't on a 4-5-1 position, it was more of a 8-4-1 position, 14 players playing on the team of this game of hoofball. The defense was where Diamond Tiara had invested more, it formed a wall of almost impenetrable strength. Though she had informed Twist just how important, not just to her, but to the team, her position was, if by some odd chance they passed through the defenses. Twist had nodded and Diamond Tiara trusted Twist, even if she had been mean to her in the past, it didn't mean she hated the other filly, so she was sure the other would try her best.

The ball was on Diamond Tiara's team, which she had nicknamed the pinks, though she kept that nickname to herself, sure that they would scoff at her. She had decided that she was going to play and she was in the defense, she could see that the defenses were good at cutting off any attacks, but as they had the ball, she helped pass it along to Scootaloo.

She ran as fast as she could, while still dodging, she even jumped on a couple of occasions, while showing impressive control over the ball. Scootaloo was one athletic little filly, but even she couldn't work alone, so she passed the ball up to a classmate of her, who passsed it along until it reached Rumble. They were running as fast as they could, ready to kick the ball into the goal post, but the goalkeeper of the other team, Ruby, was ready to catch it.

Rumble attracted the goalkeeper of the other team by standing next to the goal, and then, when he was cornered, passed it to Scootaloo, that due to circumstances, had the whole goalpost opened. She shoot it and the ball entered. She gave out a cheer, that was reciprocated by the entire team. They had managed to score a goal.

The ball was in the middle field and it was shot back as the other team reformed and tried to counter the goal they had suffered, so far Diamond Tiara's tactics seemed to be working, and she smiled at that Her team reacted and grabbed the ball, shooting it to the sides, where it was gotten by Rumble.

Unfortunately for Diamond Tiara, not all plays are brilliant or end up working and Rumble lost the ball. He was getting ready to shoot when it happened, a decent shot that was lost. Pipsqueak came down from the zone in front of the goal post as the ball was returned to their side of the field. The opposing team attacked, reacting accordingly to Diamond Tiara's tactics, they had a plan.

A series of quick fake steps and passing the ball occurred leaving the pinks' team confused, they were attacking but it was still 8 defenders to 3 offensive ponies, when they got in front of the huge wall they tried to shoot it high, but it was lost in the mud pits beyond the usual recess area.

When the ball was returned, muddy, the game began again, Twist shoot the ball up far, an impressive reach, leaving Diamond Tiara to wonder if she should have put twist on the opposition to the other's defense, but she got no chance to dwell into that because the game kept going, at a fast and almost confusing pace.

The game was stuck in the mid-zone, having almost no shots to the defense, it looked like Scootaloo's goal was the only one the game was going to have. The defense had become sloppy, as they were tired from just hanging in the back, despite Diamond's orders they sometimes went to catch the ball in the opposing field.

Diamond Tiara feared a draw, for her defense lines were breaking. She, clearly a valuable team member, as she told herself, was getting increasingly annoyed, they knew she wasn't....the best, and she hated to admit it, but she was probably among the worse, and she couldn't hold her own if they came for her.

Her fears were realised when, with seconds left to tick before recess was over, an opposing team (which Diamond had nicknamed the blues) passed the defense line. She tried to go and run, and stop him, but the colt easily passed her, leaving her on the dirt, it was now all up to Twist.

Twist looked at the ball through her glasses, and Diamond Tiara could only watch. She had a deep fear in her stomach that the ball would enter the goal, even if she trusted Twist, it was something every hoofball player felt when their team was seconds away from a victory and in this exact situation, she tried to run, but she was slow, there was only Twist and the colt, who shot.

The ball gained up speed and Twist launched herself, she was lanky and her legs were long, but Diamond didn't know if that was going to be enough, Twist had always seemed like a dork, but, much to her satisfaction, Twist managed to hit the ball with the tip of her hoof. It wasn't much, but it was enough to get the ball to not enter.

The bell rang signalising the victory, and Diamond felt a sense of satisfaction, this was what hoofball was all about, team playing, respect, faith, she was glad for the victory of course, but deep in her heart she was even more glad for her team, it seemed her special talent of polishing diamonds in the rough was true.

She was going to be the greatest hoofball coach ever. And though most of the cheers went to Scootaloo, and Twist, her tactics got a fair share, gratifying her.

Learning the tactics

The first step towards getting her team to win the big game (as they had begrudgingly accepted her as a “coach””, seeing as she was good at bossing them around, as proved when she was the editor of the newspaper), was to watch as many hours of hoofball as she could, in the short hours she had between finishing her homework (she had to be the best at school too!) and going to bed.

She tuned in to the sport’s channel. The Real Mareid team was playing, and Diamond Tiara, from the few things she had known from hoofball before last night, she knew that Mareid was one of the best teams around. She looked at their tactics, as an official match for the Equestrian leagues, the team only had 11 players, but they were playing in a 4-5-1 formation, with the striker Coltiano Ronaldo playing as their finisher.

Diamond Tiara watched the entire game, their flowing game style and quick passes and dodging of opposing players, made the recess playing seem amateur by comparison, well it was amateur, but she looked at the game, forming plans.

It seemed their attack relied on speed, and their defense was based on tall and strong players...she had few tall players in her team...she had Twist, and she was thinking of putting her as a goalkeeper, after all, the goalkeeper was usually the tallest player on field. The quick passing from defenses to attack and dodging to pass to Coltiano Ronaldo so he could score was the key there, and Diamond Tiara took notice.

She had a few quick players. Rumble was one of them, and while it had been agreed that no one could use their wings, he could get himself in a real speed. Scootaloo was another, the little orange Pegasus was fast as they came, and while Pipsqueak was short, he was also surprisingly agile.

She had her team formed, the colts and fillies were in the same teams everyday, now she just needed to pick positions for each and every one of them, Normally they’d all launch themselves at the ball, but this wasn’t going to be like that. Diamond Tiara had tactics on her side and she was sure she was going to win!

Diamond Tiara was a very ambitious young filly, and she was ready to kick the challenge into oblivion by using tactics. True she pushed her colleagues once in a while, but when it came to things she cared about, she really was ready to work her little head onto it.

After writing down their positions on sheets of paper, Diamond Tiara got back to thinking of a tactic to win the game. She wasn’t sure, but she thought she just might have gotten it. She watched another couple of games to be sure. But the Real Mareid tactic seemed to be the best, stand back when the opposing team attacked, and a quick counter-attack, while the other team struggled to come back to defense, and the score.

Diamond Tiara smiled gleefully, she was sure this was going to be the best game of Hoofball ever, she was as sure of it as she was sure that Diamond Tiaras ruled, very, and not just because they shared her name.

She was ready for this