The Rise of Passion

"Are you sure about this?" asked Ocellus. "If we don't do it right, we could end up destroying our friends."

"Well, you should have thought about that before signing up for it," scolded Smolder. "It's too late to back out now. We've already called them here, we have all of the equipment, and if we run off, all of our friends will suffer the consequences."

The doors opened, and some chuckling was heard out in the hallway. Ocellus swallowed hard, nervous about what they were about to do. "We can reschedule. We can just say we forgot something and try again another day," pleaded Ocellus. "We aren't really backing out, just doing it later."

Smolder shook her head. "Calm down, Ocellus. We're as prepared as we can be, and this isn't going to hurt them, or anypony. Everything's going to be fine. Zecora promised."

Ocellus let out a few uncomfortable whines as the door opened the rest of the way, and two ponies walked in.

"Oh, good, you're here already," smiled Rainbow Dash. "Saves us the time of waiting for you to show up. Let's go right into it, then."

"Hold on," said Fluttershy. "Shouldn't we start with a few pleasantries, first? Ocellus looks absolutely mortified."

"She'll be fine," waved Smolder. "She's just nervous about this whole thing. Who wouldn't be?"

"You," smirked Rainbow. "Me. Anypony with a backbone."

"Well, obviously," smirked Smolder right back. "But sure, let's dispense with the pleasantries. Rainbow, you look cool today."

"I look cool every day," snorted Rainbow. "Did you shine your scales this morning?"

"Are you kidding? I wake up looking this good."

"You're both being very disrespectful to Ocellus right now," scolded Fluttershy, hugging her. "Discounting her nerves like you've never had performance anxiety." She turned to the changeling and looked her in the eyes. "You can do this, Ocellus. We're not going to judge you."

"They called us here to judge something," corrected Rainbow. "They want us to tell them what's wrong with it. The sooner they show us, the faster we can give them a review, and the sooner they can work on fixing it."

"Well, we can't give a review until they're ready to show us what they have, can we?"

Rainbow grunted. "Fine..."

With Fluttershy directing her and trying to make her feel better, something that was only reinforcing her doubts, Ocellus took several deep breaths. "Okay. The reason we called you in here today is regarding this year's buckball league."

"Awesome," nodded Rainbow. "You're joining the team this year, right?" she asked, elbowing Smolder.

"I don't plan to," snorted Smolder. "Maybe if this doesn't work out."

"So, something that we overlooked last year, amidst the gameplay and cheerleading, was the lack of refreshments. Both for the athletes and for the spectators." Ocellus pulled the cover off of a wagon she'd brought with six coolers with spigots.

"We were chatting with Silverstream, and she suggested that we work on drinks while she tries some snacks with Pinkie Pie," explained Smolder. "We brought four drinks to serve to the fans, and two to keep the team hydrated. We want to know your opinions, as both athletes and fans alike."

"Fair point, fair point," nodded Rainbow. "Walk us through it."

Smolder took a glance at the window as she grabbed two tasting cups. Gallus was not yet in position to step in, so she had to stall for a bit. Luckily, she had five tastings that she could go through. "This first one is a pineapple and lime punch."

Rainbow and Fluttershy took a sip. "It's a little bit tart," noted Fluttershy. "I think it would be okay, if you sweetened it up a bit more."

"Lots of electrolytes, though," noted Rainbow. "Perfect for a sports drink."

"That's for the fans, actually," mumbled Ocellus. "Try this. It's a honey and ginger lemonade."

Rainbow scrunched up her nose after a sip. "This is a really weird one."

"I think it's delicious," argued Fluttershy, "but perhaps not the best idea for a buckball event. Chess team, maybe?"

Smolder looked up again. Still no Gallus. "Okay, so the next one we've prepared is more... seasonal. For the winter matches. Buckball is serious business. We don't let trivial things like weather stand in the way of a good time."

"That we do not," smiled Rainbow. "What do you have for us?"

"This was inspired by Applejack," smiled Ocellus. "She has this awesome caramel apple cider."

"The best," agreed Rainbow.

"This is butterscotch apple cider."

Rainbow chugged it down excitedly, and while Fluttershy was more inclined to sip, she couldn't help but smile. "This is delightful."

"More like amazing!" gushed Rainbow. "This stuff's going to sell out before halftime!"

"So that's a definite yes!" smiled Ocellus. Contrary to the plan, she genuinely did want to improve the concessions for the buckball league.

As Smolder turned around one more time, she spotted Gallus in the window. He gave her a thumbs up, and she returned a nod. It was time for the final drink, even though there were three jugs left.

"This next one is a calming herbal tea." She poured two cups from the only jug with a red spigot. "This is one we were going to give to the team."

Rainbow blew a raspberry. "That's a horrible idea!"

Even though this was inherently a trap, Ocellus had actually thought that a calming tea would be good for the team. It would help them quiet their thoughts and focus on the game, marking an increase in performance. While it was good to take care of the players' bodies, she thought it might be just as good an idea to take care of their minds. To hear Rainbow say that the idea was horrible, even if that wasn't what they were really drinking, made her want to cry.

"Rainbow Dash!" scolded Fluttershy. "That's not very sporting of you! Surely, I don't need to remind you about the end of your first season of buckball."

"That I scored the winning goal?" snorted Rainbow. "No, you don't need to remind me."

Fluttershy scowled, a rare sight, then softened her face as she hugged Ocellus. "You see, Rainbow had to make the winning shot because she'd blown an eight point lead."

Rainbow turned around "What?!"

"She'd been focusing so hard on making goals that she'd ended up turned around and scoring points for the other team because it was always a clearer shot."

Rainbow dashed over to Fluttershy and stared her down. "Don't tell them that!"

Fluttershy was unmoved. "If Rainbow had calmed her nerves with a mug of calming tea, she wouldn't have had to make up all of the extra goals she'd made for the other side." She smirked, knowing that if Rainbow denied it, there was written evidence of the screw-up.

"Fine," grunted Rainbow. "It's not a bad idea..."

"So, you'll try some?" sniffled Ocellus.

"Yeah, sure..."