1.5 - "Soccer?! I Barely Even Know Her!"

"Fits like a glove, see??" Scootaloo—grown into an athletic teenage high schooler—smirked and posed while flexing her lower body. "Well... that is... if people wore gloves on their feet. But... y'know what I mean!"

"Wow..." Twilight Sparkle smiled, standing between playing fields before the girl while cradling Spike in her arms. "You've mastered so much balance, too! You should be very proud of yourself, Scootaloo."

Spike's canine eyes squinted at Scootaloo's lower half. "Isn't it curved the wrong way?"

"Spike!" Twilight seethed.

"Hah hah hah! No, it's cool." Scootaloo waved a hand, then lifted her lower left leg—or what remained of it. "Running blades are shaped this way cuz they work better." She traced an outline of the prosthetic with her fingers, balanced on her good remaining foot. "I swear, I've run faster with this thing than before the operation."

"No doubt thanks to all of your excellent training," Twilight said.

"Sure, I guess. A lot of the credit goes to Rainbow Dash." Scootaloo hopped in place, grinning. "She's been with me every step of the way. Literally. Nowadays?! I'm fit as a fiddle! Check it!" She held her breath, bent low, flexed, and backflipped with the greatest of ease. "Haaaaa!" She posed on the grass, upright and smirking. "Ta-daaaaa!"

"Hey squirt!" Rainbow's voice cracked from the sidelines. "Save it for gymnastics! Don't be cracking your skull open on my watch!"

Scootaloo hollered back. "Awwww come on, coach! I landed it!"

"I know and it was awesome—but don't you get me fired! Stick to the soccer-ing!"

Scootaloo turned and shrugged at Twilight. "Sometimes I think there's no escape."

"She cares a lot about you," Twilight said with a nod. "But you should be giving yourself most of the credit."

"Yeah—that's what everybody tells me." Scootaloo snaked aside and dribbled a soccer ball over. She proceeded to juggle it up and down with her good foot. "But I really truly couldn't have done this all on my own. Personally, I try not to over-analyze it. Just keep running, y'know? Enjoy the world in fast forward so one doesn't go bonkers."

"Can you even kick the ball with that thing?" Spike asked.

"Well, funny you should ask that." Scootaloo winked at the dog. "Everyone expects me to be a middleback—cuz being on offense seems silly. I'm happy to play midfield and support my team. But—when the opposing side least expects it—I like to pull out a trick from friggin' nowhere. Watch—" Holding her breath, Scootaloo dribbled the ball up high, spun, and slapped it mercilessly with the side of her prosthetic.

The ball went sailing over the heads of many girls who were practicing. A few from other schools gasped in wonder. Many of Scootaloo's fellow teammates clapped and showed her thumbs up.

"Hah!" Scootaloo swiped sweat from her brow and posed proudly. "That always catches the opposition's fullbacks off guard!"

"Really snazzy stuff!" Spike beamed. He looked up at Twilight. "Say—could I get metal paws like that?"

"I dunno, Spike." Twilight smirked. "Keep ripping up Sunset's magazines and you just might get an opportunity."

A round of chuckles issued from that particular patch of field. Flash Sentry observed it—as he had happened to observe the entire conversation—from where he lingered on the northernmost edge of the bleachers. Pretending to be unassuming, he rested his back against the terraced framework with his hands dug into his hoodie.

With a contemplative sigh, the boi turned... moving to resume his lethargic "rounds" of walking around the spectator portion of the fields. At that moment, a gust of wind blew at his figure—knocking his hood back and exposing his silky blue hair. Wincing, the young man reached up in order to straighten the article—

"Oh hey! There you are!" a familiar, youthful drawl sang in his direction.

Flash winced... but pulled himself together in time to politely face the author of that voice.

Apple Bloom strolled up in a comfortably-fitting soccer jersey and shorts. She wasn't alone. Sweetie Belle was with her as well. Time had been kind to the two young women. Apple Bloom was fit with a muscular tone—like a miniature version of her sister. Sweetie Belle, in the meantime, had morphed into a God-damned supermodel. All of these details were fascinating and worthy of close analysis, but for Flash Sentry—all that mattered is that they were barely eighteen years old and already they were significantly taller than him.

"AJ mentioned that you might be stoppin' on by!" Apple Bloom beamed. "I must say it's mighty nice havin' ya on the sidelines to cheer us on!"

"Mmmmm..." Flash tried to temper his words carefully, remembering Scootaloo's tenacious countenance. "Thanks. Uhm..." He tried to give a thumb's up, but his fingers sorta lingered there in mid-air between them. "...good ball... kicking?"

"Well, we haven't hard our first game yet. But the next two sessions will have us sweatin' somethin' good against them Shadowbolts from Crystal Prep!" Apple Bloom winked with a smile. "Should be a slobberknocker for the ages! Hope it looks nearly half as good from the bleachers!"

"Yeah..." Flash muttered, squirming slightly in place. "...sure."

"You drove in with Twilight and Sunset?" Sweetie Belle asked. It had been ages since Flash heard her talk, and all of the squeakiness in Rarity's little sister had long evaporated.

"Uh huh."

"Is it true that you live with them now?"

Flash squinted. "Uh... huh...?"

"Heh..." Sweetie Belle's smile was slightly sultry. "That must be one heck of a dream come true."

"Sweetie Belle...!" Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. "For apples' sakes...!"

"Don't pretend that it isn't!" Sweetie Belle smiled at her friend and teammate. "You remember what it was like—back in the day! With the likes of Rumble, Pip, and Featherweight all gawkin' at Sunset between class periods! Shoot, Snips and Snails were her little toadies for a short time and they bragged about it for years!"

"That was ages ago..."

"Even still, I'd say you're a lucky dude, Flash." Sweetie leaned over—and even with such a dramatic gesture she couldn't bring her eyes to level with the boi. "Hey... uh... is it true that the two of them do it floating?"

"Sweetie Belle!" Apple Bloom gasped.

"Don't tell me you've never thought of it!" Sweetie Belle chuckled. "What—with Twilight's geode and all?!"

"You shoulda joined the Canterlot High School bowling league!" Apple Bloom frowned. "Cuz yer mind's always in the gutter!"

"I bet the mind reading goes a long way too." Sweetie Belle suppressed a giggle. "Got the scoop on that, Flash?" A beat. "Flash...?"

The young man had taken the first opportunity to sneak off across the fields.

"Well, now you gone and done it, Sweetie Belle!" Apple Bloom folded her arms with a huff. "AJ kept tellin' me to be on eggshells around him! And now he's done skedaddle!"

"I'm sorry, Apple Bloom."

"No you ain't! Land's sakes—I miss the days when you were puny and adorable!"

"Hey, I'm still adorable!" Sweetie Belle looked around. "But really—though—do you think they float when they do it?"

Apple Bloom looked over her shoulder, then her other shoulder. Finally, she leaned in towards her tall friend: "Reckon they had a 'zero-g' bedroom for it—but sacrificed it to let Flash in."

"Heeheehee! Talk about a sacrifice!"

"I know, right! Now git! We gotta check up on Scoots."

"Awwwwwww... but she only makes us look bad!"

"Humility goes a long way!"

"If you say so!"

As the two girls scampered off to join their teammates, Flash stood—hidden—behind a port-a-potty. He waited until they were long out of sight. Then, with a melancholic sigh, he lumbered off to find an even more unassuming spot along the fields.