The Wonderbolts Cup

Chapters

Chapter 1: Invitation to Awesomeness
Chapter 2: The Unexpected Player
Chapter 3: No Pain, No Game
Chapter 4: Rainbow Dash and the Strom Riders
Chapter 5: Let the Games Begin

Chapter 1: Invitation to Awesomeness

The Wonderbolts Cup

Chapter 1: Invitation to Awesomeness

Rainbow Dash screamed.

However, if you asked her later she would say it was not a girly high-pitched scream like everypony thought they heard; no it was a very tough action-y type of scream, the kind only given by professional athletes and adventurers.

She stared, transfixed at the piece of paper in her hooves. Her eyes scanned over it repeatedly while she breathed, “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh.” It was then that she felt the stares of several ponies on her. She turned around and gave a sheepish grin to the ponies of the marketplace who had stopped their shopping thanks to blue pegasus’ outburst. Rainbow Dash cleared her throat, “Ahem, nothing to see here folks, just got some exciting news, that’s all. Go back to doing… whatever you were doing heh, heh.”

The crowd shrugged and returned to their daily business, while Rainbow Dash, with paper in hoof, took to the skies leaving a rainbow contrail in her wake. She decided to head home where she could squee like a filly in peace.

It was a beautiful, sunny, and cloudless afternoon in Ponyville, thanks to Rainbow Dash and her weather team having cleared out all of the clouds earlier that morning. Rainbow enjoyed her handy work as she soared over the town, taking in the warm sunlight and sweet blue skies that graced the day.

Her cloud home floated on the outskirts of Ponyville over a nice grassy field. She landed below her home and trotted over to a small clear pond where an old tortoise (or at least he looked old, Rainbow had never asked Fluttershy his age) was peacefully sunbathing on its shores. He looked up at the approaching mare and slowly smiled.

“Hey, Tank, I got some more food for ya,” Rainbow said as she reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a bag of fresh lettuce. That had been the reason she had traveled to the market in the first place. Despite what a lot of ponies thought, Rainbow took very good care of her pet. She tore the bag open and dropped a hoof full of lettuce right in front of him before tucking the bag away to store for later. Tank began to (slowly) munch on his lunch while Dash petted his head. “You eat up buddy, your pal Rainbow Dash has some things to do.” Without waiting for a response, the chromatic pegasus shot up to her cloud home.

She stepped through the door and dropped her saddlebag unceremoniously next to the door. Remembering the rest of Tank’s food, she rummaged through the bag until she found it and made her way into the kitchen to put it away in the fridge.

As one could imagine, everything in Rainbow Dash’s home was made out of clouds; cloud chairs, cloud tables, and even a cloud refrigerator. It was made out of highly condensed and very cold Nimbostratus clouds that produced enough chill to keep things stored within them fresh for days. Rainbow tossed the bag inside and took off for her room upstairs.

Anyone who looked at Rainbow’s room could get a pretty good idea of her interests and hobbies. The room was adorned with Wonderbolt posters, figurines, and other signed memorabilia. Next to her cloud bed was a stack of every Daring Do book in the series so far. And on a shelf next to the window was a wide array of pictures depicting action shots of the athletic pegasus herself, or group shots of her and her best friends.

Rainbow Dash leapt onto her bed and landed on her back with her hooves stretched out in front of her still holding the most exciting piece of news she had gotten in a while. Knowing that there was nopony else around to judge her, she let out a loud squee of delight before reading the paper again out loud:

“Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and The Wonderbolts are proud to present:

The first international Skyball tournament

The Wonderbolts Cup

One team from each town/city is allowed to participate. The tournament will follow standard Skyball rules. Nine players are allowed for each team. All participating teams must sign up at Canterlot Castle on August 10th. The winning team will be awarded 1,000,000 in prize money and a chance to play one final game against The Wonderbolts themselves.

All participants must be 18 years or older and must be of a winged species.

All revenue will be directed to the Hurricane Randy relief fund.”

Rainbow Dash’s smile faltered a little as she read the last sentence. Right, she thought, the hurricane that tore up Baltimare two weeks ago.

The Baltimare weather patrol team had thought it was just a small ocean storm and decided to let it run its course thinking it would blow over in a day or two. They would have been right if a warm low-pressure system hadn’t moved in from the south and merged with the storm. By the time the pegasi realized what was happening, it was too late. The damage had been extensive too say the least. Much of the city and the adjoining Horseshoe Bay had been devastated by the super storm. Thankfully nopony had been killed and few had been injured; but thousands were now homeless.

Indeed, Rainbow Dash felt bad for everypony living in Baltimare. She shuttered to think what it would be like to be homeless, then again she had five awesome friends that she could depend on if anything like that happened. Still, Rainbow’s spirit could not be brought down. A chance to professionally play her favorite sport and, if she made it far enough, play it against the best flyers in all of Equestria! She could show them all of her awesome moves and stunts and get all of their autographs…again! She would be sharing a stage with Spitfire! That thought alone was enough to send Rainbow Dash spiraling into a fit of squee’s. This could be her ultimate chance to show them she was Wonderbolt material.
Oh, and the prize money sounded pretty good too.

Of course she’d have to split it nine ways, but that hardly mattered when placed next to the idea that she could be playing with The Wonderbolts!

She leapt off of her bed and into the air, excitement and adrenaline pumping through her veins. “This is going to be the most epic thing in the history of awesomeness!” she declared. “I’m going to enter the Skyball tournament and I’m going to win!” She let the words wash over her for a moment, feeling the effects of her own charisma before a thought popped into her head. “But, I’m gonna need a team first.”

It was time for a pegasi town meeting.

Author's Note

First off, this place needs an action tag.
Second, I really don't know how a hurricane would form in Equestria, so I kind of improvised. If anyone has better idea feel free to say something.

Chapter 2: The Unexpected Player

That night Ponyville town hall was filled with a plethora of pegasus ponies. Every stallion and mare who was a resident of Ponyville had shown up for the emergency meeting. Rainbow Dash was both flattered that the pegasi looked up to her like a leader, and impressed at how quickly they could gather on such a short notice. When she had made the fliers that afternoon she had expected some of her fellow pegasi to show up, but not all of them.

Of course, she hadn’t exactly specified the details of the meeting. All of the papers she had printed simply said, “Super important emergency pegasi meeting!!! Please attend! (Snacks will be provided.)”

Pinkie Pie had been all too willing to bake six dozen cupcakes despite the limited amount of time she had been given. “A pegasi party?! Oooh, oooh can I come too, pleeeease?” Since Rainbow Dash had felt a little guilty over asking Pinkie to bake such a tremendous order she had allowed the pink earth pony to join. She now sat in the back munching on her tasty treats.

Dash made her way to the podium at the front of the room and cleared her throat for silence. The chatter amongst the ponies immediately died out and silence gripped the room. “Ahem, thank you all for coming on such short notice,” she began.

“What’s wrong Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy who was sitting in the front of the audience asked, her voice quivering with fear. “Is there another hurricane coming?”

“No,” Rainbow scoffed, “There’s no hurricane coming. The only way a hurricane could hit Ponyville is if we made it. No, the reason I have called all of you here today is for this.” She pulled out the tournament flyer from her saddlebag and held it up for all to see. “As I’m sure some of you know, the princesses are putting on a tournament for Skyball and each town is allowed to have one team. The winner of the tournament gets 1,000,000 bits in prize money and the chance of a lifetime; to play the sport of kings against The Wonderbolts!” Putting the flyer away, Dash began to pace the front of the room. “Of course all of you know it’s my lifelong dream to be a Wonderbolt, so this could be my perfect chance to really show ‘em what I’m made of. That’s all I want; for the eight who join me, the prize money is totally yours.” Well that wasn’t entirely true. Dash thought she might take a teeny tiny percent of it. Weather pony wages only paid for so much.

“But it’s not just about that!” she continued. “Most of Equestria thinks Ponyville is just a one horse town next to the Everfree Forest! This is our chance to show everypony that there is greatness sleeping right here in this town! That the next generation of great fliers is gonna soar right out of Ponyville! I mean, you guys are great fliers aren’t you!?”

There was a loud cheer of, “YEAH!”

“That’s what I thought! This is our time to make history; Skyball’s no longer just a recreational activity or a college sport. The princesses are about to take this thing to the next level. There’ll be team from all over Equestria, and according to the flyer, maybe even all over the world! And we’re going to be the ones to bring home the glory first! Who wants to tell their grandkids that they won the first Skyball tournament?”

There was a loud cheer.

“Who wants to play for fame and fortune?”

The cheers raised an octave.

“Who wants to follow me down victory road and totally crush any team that gets in our way?”

The crowd went nuts, cheering and stomping there hooves at the prospect of glory and fame. Rainbow Dash mentally patted herself on the back. Man, can I give a speech or what? She waited for the euphoria of the crowd to die down a little before she finished her speech. “Alright-y then, all teams have to sign up on August 10th, that’s a little more than three weeks from now so I’ll be having tryouts this Friday starting at nine o’clock on the dot. Bring your game face!”

With that the meeting was adjourned and the pegasi began to clear out, all of the murmuring with excitement. Rainbow began heading out herself before she was stopped by a very bubbly Pinkie Pie. “Wow Dashie that was such a good speech! I totally felt super inspired to play with you so can I play huh, can I, can I?!”

Dash blinked a few times. “Uhh, Pinkie, you’re not a pegasus so… yeah you kinda… can’t really play.”

Pinkie stopped her bouncing and looked crestfallen for a moment. “Oh yeah.” Her smile returned in the blink of an eye and she began to bounce around again. “Oh well, maybe Princess Celestia will hold a Hoofball tournament I can play in instead.”

Dash let out a breath of relief, glad to see that Pinkie didn’t take the revelation too hard. She motioned to leave again when she was stopped this time by Fluttershy. “Umm, Rainbow?”

She turned around, “Oh, hey, ‘Shy. Did you like my awesome speech?”

Fluttershy nodded, “Oh yes, I was very moved. Didn’t you hear me cheering with everypony else?”

“Uh, of course I did,” Dash lied. It was well known fact that Fluttershy wasn’t the loudest pony around. “Anyways, did ya need something?”

Fluttershy pawed the ground nervously, opening and closing her mouth repeatedly like she was trying to find the right words to say. “Um, well, you see… I was wondering if… you know if you don’t mind…”

Dash gave a quiet groan. “’Shy, no offense, but could you tell me what you’re going to say sometime before midnight?”

“Iwannaplayskyball,” she spilled in one breath before hiding her face in her mane.

“Come again?”

Fluttershy took a deep breath. “I want to p-play Skyball. On your team. I-if you don’t mind.”

Rainbow Dash stared at Fluttershy for the longest time unable to fully comprehend what she had just heard. It was another well-known fact that Fluttershy wasn’t the bravest or the most outgoing pony around. Rainbow was glad she had showed up with everyone else, but she hadn’t expected Fluttershy to actually want to play.

“Wait a minute, you want to play Skyball?”

“Um, yes, that’s what I just said.”

“Fluttershy, why in Equestria, would you want to play Skyball? Do you even know how to play?” Dash wasn’t even sure if Fluttershy had ever played in type of physical sport in her life.

“Oh, well, I know the basic rules… and stuff,” Fluttershy said less than confidently.

“Uh huh, “Dash nodded unconvinced. “And again, why would you want to play? You’re like, the least competitive pony I know.”

Fluttershy took a deep breath, prepared to give her explanation. “Well, you remember my parents, right?”

“Yeah, nice folks.” Like their daughter, Fluttershy’s parents were some of the nicest ponies you could find, but Rainbow Dash was having a hard time seeing what that had to do with anything.

Fluttershy nervously rubbed her forelegs together. “You see, they retired to Baltimare last year and… well… you know what happened.”

Rainbow gaped at her. “Oh geez, Fluttershy, that’s terrible. How much did they lose?”

“In a word, um, everything.”

Dash felt horrible. How could two of the nicest pegasi she had ever met lose everything? It wasn’t fair. Gentle Wing and Sunny Sky had always been quick to lend a wing to anypony in need. They had even let Rainbow stay with them when she and her own parent had had their… disagreement about Rainbow dropping out of school. To know that they were now homeless seemed like a pretty cruel joke by the universe.

“I’m sorry ‘Shy, I can’t imagine what that must be like. Do they have a place to stay?”

The yellow pegasus nodded. “Yes, they’re staying at a hotel until I can clear some space in my house. First I have to find some new home for my animal friends, but that shouldn’t take too long… I hope.”

“Well that’s a relief,” Dash said, wiping some nervous sweat off her brow. “But I don’t see what that has to do with…” Her eyes widened as the last piece of the puzzle fell into place for her. “You want the prize money to give to your parents!” she cried with realization.

Fluttershy nodded, “Yes.”

“But wait,” Dash said, thinking aloud. “Won’t the relief fund help them out or something?”

“Not exactly, the relief fund is more for the city itself than for everypony there. Everypony affected will get a small share, but I doubt it’ll be enough to cover everything that was lost.”

Dash bowed her head. “I see,” she said solemnly. “Fluttershy, what you want to do is completely awesome and sweet of you and I’m sure your folks would be proud. But there are two problems with your idea. First of all, can you even play Skyball?”

“Yes… no… kinda?” Fluttershy gave a sheepish grin.

“’Shy-“Rainbow began until the other pegasus threw herself at Rainbow’s legs, pleading her case.

“Oh, please let me play Rainbow, please, please, please. I’ll do whatever it takes, I’ll play any position; just let me help mom and dad pleeeease!” She looked up at Rainbow Dash with watery eyes.

“See that’s the other thing, I kinda can’t just let you join the team; it wouldn’t be fair. You’d have to try out just like everypony else otherwise they’ll think I’m playing favorites.” Dash was moved by Fluttershy’s desire to help her family, but she was still an athlete who valued fair play.

Fluttershy chocked out a soft sob. “B-but Rainbow-“

“Hold on, I’m not done yet,” she interrupted with wing since her hooves were occupied. “I can’t pick favorites come tryouts, and you can barely play the game in the first place. Clearly there’s only one solution to this.” Fluttershy’s eyes widened with fear believing that her dreams were about to be crushed in an instant. Dash looked down at her and smiled, “I’m just going to have to train you so hard, that I’ll be forced to pick you to join my team!”

Fluttershy leapt up and threw her hooves around Dash’s neck. “Oh thank you Rainbow, thank you, thank you, thank you! And my parents will thank you too, just you wait! Oh, they’re going to be soooo happy!” she bubbled.

“Hold on their girl,” Rainbow Dash choked. “First, you still need to make the team, and second, we need to actually win and that can’t happen if you kill me first.”

Fluttershy let go and blushed furiously but was unable to stop smiling at her best friend. The smile was infectious; as Rainbow caught a case of the grins as well, sharing in her friend’s happiness. “Alright, ‘Shy, training starts tomorrow at nine, meet me in the southern field and be ready to work your flank off.” Dash was halfway to the door before she stopped and looked over her shoulder, “Actually, make that noon, tomorrow’s Sunday and I need to sleep in.”

******

Fluttershy arrived in Ponyville’s southern field a few minutes to twelve, sweatbands and goggles ready to go. Some distance away from her, two very tall poles stretched up into the sky. They stood in opposition to each other with about three hundred yards of grass in between them. At the tops of both poles sat five large hoops arranged with the largest one in the middle, big enough that a pony could fit comfortably in it; starting from the three o’clock position, each hole got smaller and smaller; the smallest being at the twelve o’clock position.

Dash showed up a few minutes later wearing her coaching uniform: a black and white striped shirt and hat and a whistle around her neck. Tucked under one leg was a large blue ball with a rough looking surface and four hoof sized indents around it. The ball was sized so that it would just barely fit through the smallest goal hoop. She dropped it to the ground before landing in front of the yellow mare.

“Alright, Fluttershy are you ready?”

“Yes,” Fluttershy said with a confident nod. “I went to Twilight and got a rule book last night and spent all of this morning reading it.”

“Excellent, then let’s see how much you’ve memorized. Start from the beginning.”

Fluttershy cleared her throat. “Okay then, um, each team has nine players total, but you don’t need all nine to play the game, just to start it. Technically the game could go on even if one team was down to only one player,” she recited. “The object of the game is to get the skyball through any one of the five hoops and score more points than the other team. The middle hoop is worth one point, the three o’clock hoop is worth two, six o’clock is three, nine o’clock is four, and twelve o’clock is worth five points.”

Rainbow nodded clearly impressed. “Very good, now let’s talk about passing and scoring.”

Taking another breath, Fluttershy continued, “The ball must be carried by your front hooves, or um, in some cases claws, but can be passed anyway as long as it does not deliberately hurt another player. Scoring works the same way, except the pony scoring can’t move inside the goalie’s zone to score which is ten feet from the goals.”

“Alright, name and define the positions.”

“Well, first there’s the goalie who, well, guards the goal. Physically hitting the goalie is an automatic penalty. Then there are the two defenders for each team, they try to stop the ball before it gets to the goalie. Finally, there are two high-fliers, two mid-fliers, and two low fliers who do most of the actually playing.”

“Now, if the other team has the ball, how do you take it back?”

“Um, well, you can knock the ball out of the other player’s hooves, but if you hit their wings or face it’s an automatic penalty. Most of the time players just intercept the ball during a pass.”

Rainbow clapped her hooves together. “Very good, Fluttershy, I’m impressed.”

Fluttershy blushed, “Thanks Rainbow.”

“Yeah,” she rubbed the back of her chromatic mane with a hoof. “So, I did a lot of thinking last night about all this, and I’m totally psyched you wanna play. Not just because you wanna help your parents, but because… well, we don’t spend a lot of time together like we used to and I miss hanging out with you,” she finished quickly.

“Aw Rainbow-“Fluttershy smiled, moving in for a hug.

“Nope,” Dash stopped her with a hoof. “Not turning this into a sappy moment, that’s all I wanted to say. No hugs.”
Fluttershy looked crushed.

She rolled her eyes and groaned, “Fine, one hug-“Fluttershy nearly tackled her. After a moment of reluctance, Dash returned the embrace while in her head she counted to five. “Alright, hug’s over.” Fluttershy let go, still smiling widely at her.
Dash cleared her throat, getting serious again. “Now after much thought…” she paused. “Actually it only took me like ten seconds to think of this,” she confessed, “I realize that the perfect position to train you in is the goalie position. They have the lowest chance of getting injured.”

“Oh good, so it’s safe?”

“For the most part.” Dash looked the other mare in the eye. “But it’s probably the most important position on the team. How well you defend those goal posts means the difference between victory and defeat.”

Fluttershy gulped.

Rainbow pointed up to the west goal hoop. “Now get up there and take a position. I’m going to throw the ball at you and you have to block it, understand?”

Fluttershy nodded and took off to the skies, placing herself in front of the middle goal hoop. Rainbow scooped up the ball and followed after her. Placing about a hundred feet in between them, she shouted, “Ready?” She saw Fluttershy give a weak nod. Blowing on her whistle to commence the practice, Dash took off forward at impressive speeds. Stopping about twenty feet from the goal, she hurled the ball forward.

With a loud ‘eeep’ Fluttershy covered her face with her hooves as the ball struck her in the gut and sent her sailing through the hoop and to the ground below. Rainbow Dash facehoofed; she could tell this was going to be a long week.

Chapter 3: No Pain, No Game

Fluttershy slowly crawled her way up the path to her cottage. The sun was sitting loftily on the horizon casting a beautiful orange glow to the sleepy world. It was a breathtaking sight that Fluttershy would have usually taken in and admired; but today she was far too sore to care. Finally making it up her walkway she slumped against the door to give herself a quick break before going through the arduous chore of actually opening it. Every muscle in the pegasus’ body was screaming in protest at her. She had just returned from the worst workout of her life, coached by a very passionate Rainbow Dash. Apparently training for Skyball didn’t just mean learning how to be a goalie, it included wing-ups, sit-ups, and laps; lots and lots of laps.

Fluttershy couldn’t hold it against her friend though, trying to make her the best she could be. The sore pegasus just wished it didn’t hurt so much when the ball made contact.

WHAM

“Keep your eye on the ball ‘Shy!”

WHAM

“You can’t hide your face every time it comes toward you!”

WHAM

“You can’t turn around either!”

WHAM

“Oooh, uh, well you blocked it that time… with your face…”

Scared of being hit again, Fluttershy had begun to flinch every time the ball got close which led to it being scored even more often than when she coward behind her hooves. That in turn led Rainbow Dash to force Fluttershy to do fifty wing-ups every time she shied away from the ball. By the end of the day, Fluttershy had managed to block one goal other than the block performed by her face. It had only happened because Fluttershy had turned so sharply that her wing had managed to slap the ball away.

Rainbow Dash was not impressed.

Slumped up against the door, Fluttershy wasn’t sure what hurt the most: her wings, her stomach, her face, or her pride. Well she didn’t have much pride so she settled on her wings.

She would have fallen asleep there if Angel Bunny hadn’t opened the door causing her to topple through and fall on her still sore face. “Ow,” she moaned weakly.

Angel gave his nose a concerned twitch.

As if she had heard it, Fluttershy looked up and said, “Don’t worry, I’m fine, just really sore.” She pushed herself off of the floor and made her way to the couch where she flopped onto it letting out a small yelp of pain when she landed on her sore stomach. A moment later, Angel hopped over with a bag of ice and held it up to his mistress. She took the bag and placed it on the joints of her wings letting a sigh of contentment escape her lips as the cold ice chased away the burning pain. “Thank you, Angel. I knew being an athlete was hard but… maybe I’m not cut out for this…”

Angel crossed his paws and began twitching his nose again.

“I know but-“

The rabbit’s nose continued to twitch while he kept a stern look on his face.

Fluttershy sighed in defeat before putting on a look of resolve. “You’re right, Angel, I can’t give up! I have to keep going for mom, dad, and Rainbow Dash! I just have to try harder!” She suddenly yawned, the short boost of adrenaline brought by her new determination quickly faded and her weariness caught up to her. “I’ll try harder tomorrow, I promise.” She snuggled into her sofa, too tired to bring herself to her bedroom. Angel came and threw a blanket over her as she drifted off to sleep.

Fluttershy had felt like she had just fallen asleep when she heard a heavy pounding on the door. Groggily, she moved her stiff body to get up and trudged her way to the front of her house. From the window she could see it was still dark outside. She opened the top half of her door to find Rainbow Dash grinning at her. “C’mon ‘Shy, we got a long day ahead of us!”

The yellow mare blinked then let out a large yawn. “What time is it?” she asked, rubbing her eyes.

“A little after five,” Dash said cheerfully.

“Why are you up so early?”

“For training, duh. Now let’s go, we got a full schedule for today.”

Fluttershy’s stomach let out a loud growl. She blushed and asked, “Um, is breakfast on the schedule?”

“Yep, at nine,” Dash said as she took off to the skies.

Fluttershy’s stomach growled again and she let out a small whine. She couldn’t help but wonder if Dash was secretly enjoying this.

******

“Come on Fluttershy, you call those wing-ups? I’ve seen sparrows move their wings faster than you!” Dash yelled as she watched Fluttershy struggle to complete another set.

She was definitely enjoying this.

“Rainbow… why do you have… to insult me… it’s not very nice,” Fluttershy panted in between pushes.

“To motivate you of course.” She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a black and yellow book. “I stopped by the library yesterday and got this book called Coaching for Morons.” She flipped it open to a bookmarked page and continued, “Says here that a good way to motivate somepony is to insult and taunt them a little so they can prove their self-worth.” An odd expression crossed her face and she groaned, “Great, I sound like Twilight now. If you tell anyone I was reading something other than Daring Do, I’ll triple your training regimen.”

Fluttershy collapsed to the ground having finished her last wing-up and breathed, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”

The two pegasi had been training for a few hours and the sun was slowly making its way into the clear sky. Part of Fluttershy’s training was to help Rainbow clear the clouds from around Ponyville. Afterwards, Dash brought the already winded mare back to the makeshift Skyball field and had her fly a hundred laps around it for endurance. When she had finished, Dash declared that it was finally time to warm up with wing-ups and sit-ups.

Alright, now let’s work on your agility,” Dash said as she put the book away.

“Can’t we take a break first?” Fluttershy pleaded.

Rainbow tapped a hoof against her chin in mock thought. “Tell you what, I’m going to tie this flag around my tail,” she pulled a red flag from her bag and began to tie it to the end of her rainbow tail, “if you can catch me, then we’ll get something to eat.”

The yellow pegasus gaped in horror. “B-but Rainbow, you’re so much faster than me! How am I supposed to catch you?”
“Don’t worry; I won’t be going at full speed or anything. Besides, the trees of the Everfree will slow me down.”

Fluttershy’s eyes dilated to pinpricks. “Th-the Everfree F-Forest?” she stammered.

“Yeah, I figured weaving through the trees would be a great way to help your agility.” Rainbow stretched out her wings and leapt into the sky. “Ready? Go!” She bolted out for the tree line leaving her friend calling after her.

“Rainbow, wait!” Fluttershy wailed, scrambling to her hooves before taking off after her.

Fluttershy entered the thick canopy of twisted and gnarled tress that was the Everfree forest, barely keeping up with Rainbow Dash. She could see the very tip of the chromatic trail left behind by her colorful friend weaving its way through the cluster of close knit trees. She followed it as close as she could, ducking under branches and swerving around low hanging vines. She could hear a playful laugh up somewhere ahead of her.

“Come on Fluttershy, you call that speed?”

Swallowing some of her fear, Fluttershy put in a burst of speed to keep up with Dash, chasing her through the wild forest. She zigzagged in and out through the trees, slowly edging closer and closer to her target. Soon she could see all of Rainbow Dash and not just her colorful contrail. The blue pony banked right and Fluttershy mimicked her exact movement. Dash faked to go right then jerked to left, but Fluttershy stuck to her like tree sap. She reached a hoof out; the flag was almost in grabbing distance! So focused on getting the flag, Fluttershy didn’t react fast enough when Rainbow swerved to the right again. The next thing she knew, Fluttershy was on her back staring up at dancing rabbits with a sharp pain in her forehead.

“Ohmygosh, Fluttershy are you ok?” Rainbow zipped back around and leaned over her friend with a concerned expression. “How many colors are in my mane?”

Fluttershy stared up at her trying to concentrate. It was hard to count the colors with Rainbow’s twin standing so close next to her. “Umm, nine?”

Dash bit her lip. Uhh, close enough. C’mon girl, let’s get you some food… and a big bag of ice.”

******

The two ponies sat at an outside table of one of Ponyville’s popular cafes. It was midmorning and the streets were now filled with busy ponies going about their day. The café was crowded as usual and some of the other customers were giving Fluttershy a few odd looks.

She sat across from Rainbow Dash, holding a large bag of ice to her head. Thankfully the world had stopped spinning and now all that was left was a very persistent headache. Rainbow had apologized profusely on the way to the restaurant and of course, Fluttershy had forgiven her. Still, the blue pegasus couldn’t help but feel guilty.

“Like I said, I’m really, really sorry Fluttershy,” she apologized once more. “I’ll pay for the whole meal so you can order whatever you want.”

Fluttershy adjusted the ice pack a little and cringed a bit at the pain from her headache. “Oh no, I couldn’t let you do that. Besides, it’s just a little bump.” She moved the ice bag to show Rainbow who instantly felt worse about her friend. What Fluttershy had described as a ‘little bump’ was actually a large purple welt on her forehead. If it was any larger, ponies could mistake her for an alicorn.

Rainbow was about to tell her to put the ice back over it when a friendly familiar voice greeted them. “Good morning Rainbow, good morning, Flutter-" Twilight Sparkle stopped and gaped at the purple bruise on the pegasus’ head. “Fluttershy, what in Equestria happened to you?”

Fluttershy self-consciously put the bag of ice back over her bruise. “Oh, um, just a… flying accident. I was being clumsy… it’s no big deal really.”

Twilight gave her a skeptical look. “Uh-huh,” she turned to a guilty looking Rainbow Dash, “Rainbow, can I see you over there? I need to talk to you about that book you checked out.” Without waiting for a reply, she turned and walked away.
Rainbow groaned knowing she was about to be chewed out, but followed after the unicorn regardless, leaving a confused Fluttershy alone at the table.

When the yellow pegasus was out of earshot, Twilight rounded on Dash. “What in Celestia’s name happened to her?” she fumed.

“Nothing!” Dash said defensively.

Twilight gestured over to the lonely pony. “She’s practically growing a horn and you’re telling me it’s nothing?”

“Ok, ok; we were training in the forest and there was a teensy little accident. But she’s fine, honest!”

Twilight let out an exasperated sigh. “Don’t you think you might be over doing this? I know you want to help her but I also know how much you like winning and I’d hate to see something… worse happen to her.”

Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck, thinking. Winning was nice, she wasn't going to lie. And helping Fluttershy learn to be good at something was icing on the cake. She looked over at Fluttershy, reading the menu with the bag of ice on her head and grimaced. Maybe she was pushing her a little too hard. “Yeah, Twilight, I hear ya. I guess I could tone it down a bit for a while.”

Twilight smiled and said, “Thanks Rainbow.”

******

After an enjoyable breakfast, the two pegasi stood on the Skyball field once more. Twilight had wanted to come along and support but Rainbow had said that the training sessions were private. Twilight had countered by saying that training in the middle of a gigantic field just outside of town could hardly be considered ‘private.’ Rainbow rebutted by saying that the unicorn would just be a distraction. Twilight finally relented after making Rainbow promise she’d go easy on Fluttershy.

Rainbow was now holding up the ball for Fluttershy to see. On it was a crudely drawn picture of a bunny rabbit. Fluttershy tilted her head to one side in confusion. ”Umm, Dashie, what am I looking at?” Her headache and disorientation were gone, but it was still hard to make out Rainbow’s two-year old like scribble.

She grinned, “See, I had an awesome stroke of inspiration on how to make you catch the ball. See my awesome rabbit? You’re going to pretend the ball is a rabbit and if you don’t catch it, it’s going to fall… to its death.”

Fluttershy gasped in horror. “Oh no, the poor bunny!”

“See, its working already. But remember, it’s a ball; just pretend it’s a rabbit, ok?” Fluttershy took a deep breath and nodded. “Good, now get up there and show me whatcha got!”

Both mares flew up into the sky and took their positions; Fluttershy in front of the middle goal hoop and Rainbow Dash about a hundred yards back. The blue pegasus took off towards the goal, accelerating as she went. About ten yards from the goal she leaned her hoof back and threw the ball back yelling, “Catch the rabbit!”

The ball soared straight towards Fluttershy who had begun trembling the second Dash had started for her. Upon hearing those words however, Fluttershy found a resolve: she couldn’t let that poor bunny fall to its death! Bracing herself, she put her front hooves out and grabbed the ball, tucking it in against her stomach. She held it for a few seconds before realizing what she had just done. A smile broke over her face and she whispered, “I did it. I-I caught the ball.” She looked up to see Rainbow beaming at her. “Rainbow look, I caught the ball!”

Rainbow flew over and clapped her on the shoulder. “I knew you could do it ‘Shy! All you needed was a little persuasion.” She had also read that in Coaching for Morons. “Now, let’s do it again.”

For the next several hours, they practiced the routine over and over again with Rainbow Dash giving harder throws to catch. She would weave, loop, fake, and throw the ball aggressively and sometimes with full force. She made sure Fluttershy was guarding every hoop by coming at her from every angle.

And Fluttershy didn’t miss a beat.

It was almost dinner time, and both mares were sweaty, tired, and hungry. Rainbow promised this would be the last goal before dinner and was coming at Fluttershy from all the way across the field. With only a few yards between her and the goal, Dash tossed the ball into the air and kicked it with her back hoof watching it fly towards the three o’clock hoop. Fluttershy of course, was ready. She dived to the side, hooves out wide to catch the ball when the unthinkable happened. The ball made contact with her hooves, and she closed her forelegs to secure it, when the combined sweat of her and the ball caused it to slip out of her hooves and down towards the earth below. She watched in horror as the ball spiraled down to the ground far below her, her mind reeling from the fact that she hadn’t been able to catch it initially. It had felt so secure in her arms! She dove after it, trying to save it from a terrible fate, but it was too late. The ball hit the ground with a thud and Fluttershy landed next to it, scooping it up into her arms and cradling it while sobbing painfully, “You poor bunny rabbit! I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry!”

Rainbow Dash landed next to her giving her a half-lidded stare. “Hey, ‘Shy… Fluttershy… FLUTTERSHY!”

She snapped her head up and looked at her best friend through watery eyes. “He was so young,” she sniffled.

“It’s a ball, Fluttershy, remember?”

She looked at it for a moment before blushing furiously. “Oh… right.”

Author's Note

This is so much easier to write than my other story. Probably because I'm not trying to turn it into an epic novel. And I don't have to worry about canon interference.
Anyway, next we'll meet the full roster for the Ponyville team!

Chapter 4: Rainbow Dash and the Strom Riders

Chapter 4: Rainbow Dash and the Storm Riders

As the week continued to wear on, Fluttershy continued to improve her skills with each passing day. She mastered catching, blocking, and returning passes and gained a great deal of confidence along the way. Rainbow Dash continued to swell with pride, both at her friend’s progress and her awesome coaching skills. She now had another item to add to her list of ‘Things Rainbow Dash is Totally Awesome At!’

The duo walked back to Fluttershy’s cottage after their last day of training. Tryouts were tomorrow so Rainbow Dash had let them end early so Fluttershy could get her rest. They stood on the bridge over the babbling stream facing one another as they prepared to part ways for the day.

“You did a great job today ‘Shy. You’ve seriously improved a whole lot since we started,” Dash complimented.
Fluttershy beamed. “Thanks Rainbow, but I couldn’t have done it without you, you’re a really good coach… most of the time,” she finished, absentmindedly rubbing her forehead.

Not hearing the last part of her sentence, Rainbow puffed her chest out and gloated, “Yeah, you’re right, I amaze even myself sometimes. But really ‘Shy, you’ve gotten a lot better. If you play at tryouts like you did today, I’ll have no choice but to put you on my team!”

“You really think I can do it?”

“Pshh, think so? I know so!”

Fluttershy smiled then frowned and said in a quivering voice, “B-but what if I mess up?”

“You won’t. Just stay calm and you’ll do fine.”

Fluttershy nodded. “You’re right… but what if I drop the ball?”

“Fluttershy, you’re going to be fine.”

But the yellow pegasus couldn’t help it. Panic and nervousness were starting to build in her stomach. She stammered, “B-but, wh-what if I- hmph.”

Rainbow jabbed a hoof into Fluttershy’s mouth and made eye contact with her. “Listen to me ‘Shy,” she said in a calm and supportive voice, “you’re. Going. To be. Fine. Ok?”

Fluttershy nodded and the hoof was removed from her mouth. “Thanks Dashie, that means a lot.”

Rainbow flexed her wings preparing to take off. “No problem. Now, you get some rest and stay positive. Everything’s going to be fine, trust me.” She took off into the air, waving goodbye to her friend. Fluttershy returned the wave before turning and heading up her walkway and into her home.

The pegasus was met with a quiet symphony of various animals chattering and squeaking amongst themselves. The volume increased as they all turned towards Fluttershy and gave her a warm hello in their various animal tongues. Fluttershy made her rounds, greeting all of them and tending to any of their needs before coming to Angel who was lying curled up on the sofa. Sensing her presence, he looked up and twitched his nose a few times in question.

“Rainbow Dash ended practice early so I could rest up for tomorrow,” she answered. Angel gave a nonchalant shrug as his stomach began to growl. He looked up expectantly at Fluttershy who cooed, “Oooh, sounds like somebunny is hungry.” Angel gave her a half-lidded stare, but she took no notice of it. “How about I make us some dinner,” she said as she made her way to the kitchen.

A short time later, she and Angel sat down at the small table in the living room. Dinner was a rich tomato soup and a nice fruit salad. The white rabbit happily munched on his piece of lettuce while his owner told him about some of the events from earlier in the day.

“… And then, Dashie was flying at me in a corkscrew trying to confuse me, but it didn’t work! I still smacked the ball away, I was so happy! I can’t believe how much I’ve gotten better this week. Just think Angel, if I get on the team, I’ll be one step closer to helping mom and dad,” Fluttershy gushed.

Angel picked up a cucumber and nodded happily in agreement.

Fluttershy continued to smile until more dark thoughts began to rear their ugly heads. A look of panic drew itself across her face. “But what if I don’t make the team? Or, what if I do but we lose anyway? Oh no, then mom and dad will never get their house rebuilt! What if they end up on the street or-” Her rant was cut short by a cucumber hitting her in the face. She looked down to see Angel giving her an exasperated look. “You’re right, I’m thinking too much again. Besides, if that happens, mom and dad can just stay here longer. We can make room right?”

Angel was about to nod his head before he stopped to think about it. More ponies meant more mouths to feed, which meant less salad for him. He eyed his delicious bowl of leafy greens and made a face.

Fluttershy had to win this tournament.

******

Pegasi crowded the south field where the makeshift Skyball field stood. The milled about, stretching, boasting, and preparing to prove their worth to a judging Rainbow Dash. The pegasus in question stood underneath the western goal hoops with her coaching hat, a whistle, and a clipboard with every contestants name on it. Checking her watch, she noted that it was time to get started if they wanted to finish before dark. She blew her whistle and shouted, “Alright everypony, line up!”

In a flurry of movement, everypony fell into single file as Dash marched up in front of them. She counted up over fifty pegasi in total had shown up for tryouts; an impressive number. “Alright gang, all of you are here because you want three things: fame, glory, and riches. Unfortunately, only eight of you can come with me to get it.” She paused and looked up and down the line. Expressions varied from cool and confident, to downright nervous. And of course one of the nervous ones was Fluttershy. No playing favorites, Dash. If ‘Shy wants it, she’s going to have to fight for it.

She cleared her throat and continued, “Now, it’s time to put you through your paces! Let’s go, fifty laps around the field!” She blew her whistle and the pegasi took off, eager to prove themselves.

Rainbow kept a sharp eye on all of them, silently judging their performance; noting who was keeping a good pace, who was looking tired and so on. She saw Thunderlane effortlessly leading the group and smirked. Huh, and here I thought he was a slacker. He looks like he’s barely breaking a sweat. Not too far back from him was, to Dash’s surprise, Derpy Hooves with her carefree smile. She was making it look like flying fifty laps was the easiest thing in the world. Rainbow took down some notes while thinking, Wow, ten seconds in and they’re already surprising me. This might be tougher than I thought. Looking up again she saw Fluttershy tucked into the middle of the flock. She wasn’t doing badly, but she wasn’t doing great either.

Rainbow marked them off as they touched down one-by-one after finishing their last lap. The ones in the back were already looking winded. Rainbow shook her head; if they didn’t have the stamina to keep flying for long periods of time, there was no way they would make the team.

Only giving them a minute to rest, she blew her whistle and lined them up for the next drill. After what had happened with Fluttershy, Dash had learned that it was probably a bad idea to try and tell groups of pegasi to play follow the leader through the Everfree. So instead she took some clouds from the sky and lined them up across the field leaving some space in between them. The objective was to get from one end to the other as fast as possible without touching the clouds and without dropping the ball. It was a good way to test maneuverability.

Rainbow Dash explained this before lining them up and prepping her watch. Thunderlane had volunteered to go first. Dash tossed him the ball and with a blow from her whistle he took off, weaving in and out of the clouds with relative ease. He reached the other side and Dash stopped her watch at 34:13, pretty impressive.

One after another, the pegasi made their way down the field trying to maneuver through the cloud course as fast as possible. Some clipped their wings on the edge of the clouds while others accidently dropped the ball. Once again to Rainbow’s surprise, Derpy managed to make it through the entire course with a notable time of 37:56. How she did it Rainbow would never know.

Fluttershy went up a little after Flitter who flew a 38:12. Rainbow tossed her the ball and gave her the most subtle of nods before blowing her whistle. Fluttershy leaped into the air and took off down the field at impressive speeds and swiftly darting through between the thick clouds. Her training was clearly paying off. She reached the end and Rainbow clocked her time in at 38:10, just a hare faster than Flitter, but very impressive for Fluttershy.

By the time they had finished with that exercise, Rainbow Dash had been able to mentally weed out some of the weaker contestants, but there were still many pegasi who looked promising.

Next, Dash had them work on hoof-eye coordination by dividing them up into pairs of two and having them pass the ball to each other. They were lined up going down the length of the field. One pegasus stayed in place and tossed the ball to their partner. Each time the ball was caught, the pegasus would fly back five yards. If they dropped the ball or missed the pass they would have to start all over again. The goal was to be the first pair to be able to pass the ball from opposite ends of the field. Here Fluttershy was exceling greatly thanks to her training. She easily caught every ball her partner, a blue pegasus named Cerulean, threw at her. They could have gone the distance if Fluttershy’s throwing leg had been just a little bit stronger. Cerulean had almost made it to the other side of the field when Fluttershy threw the ball a little too softly. Cerulean made a dive for the ball but couldn’t reach it before it touched the ground and forced them to start over with Fluttershy apologizing profusely for the rest of the time.

Cloudchaser and Flitter had been the first team to make it all the way to the end of the field and they had managed to not drop the ball once. Thunderlane and Raindrops had finished next followed by Snowflake and Cloud Kicker. Dash waited for a few more groups to finish before moving on to the last activity of the tryouts; scrimmage matches.
Dash split them up into five different teams, completely at random. Every team would get to play one another in short games of ten minutes each.

The first two teams took to the field to start their scrimmage match. They picked their preferred positions and readied themselves for the match. Rainbow flew to the center of the field where a mid-flier from each team met her for the tossup. Rainbow threw the ball straight up into the air and both players made a move for it. The ball was caught by Blossomforth who took off down the field with Airheart close behind her. Sensing her opponent’s presence, Blossomforth tossed the ball up to Cloud Kicker who received it and continued the drive. An opposing high-flier, Bluebell, came up behind her and with a powerful jab knocked the ball that had been tucked under her leg. Airheart caught it and quickly looped around back towards the other goal with two pegasi on her tail. She tossed the ball to Blueberry Cloud who took it down about seventy yards before making a downward pass to Bon Voyage who was waiting with outstretched hooves. The ball was about to reach its intended target when Drizzle swooped in and snatched it away. She then tossed it up to Thunderlane who began to make his way back down the field. He gracefully dove under an oncoming Airheart and easily outmaneuvered the two waiting defenders before juking out the goalie and throwing the ball in for a two point goal.

Dash was writing down some of her observations when she heard a voice call out from behind her, “Whoowhee that sure is some fancy flyin’.” She spun around and saw four other mares walking towards her.

“Uhh hey girls, what are you doing here?” Dash asked surprised to all of her friends.

“We came to watch of course!” Pinkie smiled.

Rarity nodded. That’s right. Pinkie Pie told us you were having tryouts for your little aerial sports team and that Fluttershy was participating so we came to cheer her on.”

Rainbow smile and nodded. That was just like her friends, always there to support each other; she couldn’t ask for better ones. “That’s cool of you guys.”

Twilight walked around to try and get a look at Rainbow’s clipboard, but the blue pegasus pulled it close to her chest and gave Twilight a look. She frowned and asked, “Well… how’s Fluttershy doing so far?”

“Not bad. She’s definitely better than a lot of other guys who tried out thanks to my awesome training,” she boasted. Twilight rolled her eyes while Dash continued, “But it’s gonna come down to how well she plays in the scrimmage match. All she has to do is prove she’s better than the other four goalies.” She glanced at her watch and blew her whistle signaling the end of the first match. Next up was Fluttershy and her team.

She flew up to her position in front of the goalposts and drew her goggles over face while taking a slow, shuddering breath to try and calm the butterflies in her stomach.

“You can do it Fluttershy, we believe in you!”

She looked down and saw four colorful ponies waving up at her excitedly. She smiled and could feel her heart soar at the sight of them. Her friends had come to cheer for her! Taking another deep breath, Fluttershy put on her best game face, ready to play.

Looking out across the field, she saw Rainbow toss the ball up and two pegasi she didn’t quite recognize leap for it. The pegasus for her team grabbed the ball first, but it was quickly knocked out of his hooves and given to the opposing team. The lime green pegasus took the ball down the middle of the field while both of Fluttershy’s mid-fliers closed in on him from the side. Seeing that he was getting boxed in, the pegasus dropped the ball down to who he thought was one of his teammates but instead gave it to Cloudchaser who was a low-flier with Fluttershy’s team. She gave him a quick mock salute and began to drive the ball back the other way passing it between her fellow low-flier, Flitter and herself. The duo took the ball down the field, using their teamwork to evade the defenders. But the goalie, Dizzy Twister, would not be fooled so easily. Cloudchaser moved up and threw to score but was denied by a catch from the khaki colored mare. She passed it back to one of her own teammates who took it back up the field.

The players made their way to Fluttershy and her posts and she braced herself, trying her best to look confident. The lime green pegasus was back and flying straight towards her, his hoof stretched back like he was about to throw the ball. Instead he tossed up and kicked it towards her at high speeds.

Fluttershy’s new game instincts began to kick in. Catch the Rabbit! It screamed. She put her hooves out and caught the ball in her chest using her wings to help stop the momentum the ball was carrying. She could hear her friends cheering with delight down below and she allowed herself a quiet cheer as well.

The scrimmage matches continued on for a better part of the day. The sun was sinking beneath the horizon by the time the last match had finished and Rainbow Dash had assembled all of the participants in front of her. Many looked exhausted, some on the verge of fainting, while others looked proud of the performance they had put out today.
Rainbow Dash looked out over all of them, the clipboard documenting their performance in one hoof. She cleared her throat and started, “Now, I’ve been watching all of your performances very closely and you all did very well. You’re all really good fliers, but I can only take the best of the best if we want to bring this cup home to Ponyville. So without further ado, I will announce the lucky winners who play for Ponyville.” She looked down at her clipboard, going over the eight names she had scribbled down. It had been some tough choices, some more than others, but she felt that in the end she had made the right decisions. She hoped.

“All right first, the pegasus who will join me as mid-flier: Thunderlane.” There was a round of applause for the black stallion as he stepped forward and gave a high-wing to Rainbow Dash. She continued, “Next for the positions of high-fliers, we have Raindrops and… Derpy Hooves.” She couldn’t keep the tone of surprise out of her voice. Dash still couldn’t figure out how that clumsy pegasus managed to play so good.

There was another round of applause and Derpy threw her hooves up and shouted, “Yaaay!” accidently hitting another pony in the snout. Both mares moved forward and took their place next to Thunderlane.

“For our low-fliers we have Cloudchaser and Flitter.” Another round of applause as both mares stepped forward, grinning madly and hoof bumping one another. Rainbow had noted that they worked best together and decided to keep it that way. “Next, on defense is Snowflake and Cloud Kicker.”

There was a large shout of,” YEAAHHH!” as a white muscle toned pegasus marched forward and stood next to his partner Cloud Kicker, dwarfing her in stature.

“And finally our goalie.” Rainbow Dash looked down at the clipboard again. In the end it had come down to Fluttershy and Dizzy Twister who had proven herself to be very good. She looked up at Fluttershy who was staring nervously at the ground then towards Dizzy who was staring back at her with a confident look; not arrogant confidence, but the kind that said ‘I know I can do this.’ Rainbow admired that. She looked down at the paper once more and read, “Our goalie is…” she swallowed a lump in her throat and hoped karma wouldn’t get her back for this later.

“Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy’s head snapped up as her name got called. She could hear the pegasi around her giving her a loud round of applause and her friends cheering even louder. She had done it! She had made the team! She stumbled forward, her legs shaking with excitement as she took her place next to her best friend.

Rainbow flashed a quick smile before addressing the rest of the crowd. She saw the disappointed looks on their faces and felt for them. If she could take all of them she would. “The rest of you did really great. Like I said, you’re all still good fliers and if this happens again next year, maybe you’ll be up here. Good job guys, fly home safely.” With that, she dismissed them all and watched as they scattered away, some looking a lot more dejected then others. Rainbow couldn’t help but look for Dizzy Twister in the dispersing crowd; but she was already gone. Ignoring the small pang of guilt, she turned back to speak with her new team and found her friends congratulating Fluttershy.

“Oh my gosh, Fluttershy that was so spectacularly amazing! They were like, ‘woosh’ but you were like, ‘nuh-uh’ and then you went, ‘smack’, it was so cool!” Pinkie continued to rant on about the yellow pegasus’ skills while her other friends gave her more moderate praise.

Rainbow stepped over and waved her hoof. “Alright, alright, I know you guys are happy for her, but now this is a team only meeting, so I’m gonna have to ask you guys to leave.”

She ushered her friends to vacate the field as they called back a few more compliments and promised to have a party at Sugarcube Corner later that night. Alone, Dash turned to face her team once more. “Okay, to business. First, congratulations to you guys; with a team like this, I know we can go all the way and win this thing!”

Snowflake let out another cry of, ‘YEAAAHH!”

Dash grinned and continued, “Alright, training is every day from nine till… whenever I say we’re done; got it?” They all gave a quick nod of their head. “Good. One last thing, we need a cool team name for ourselves. Fortunately I’ve already got a great team name for us; we can be called the-“

Thunderlane cut her off, “If it has the words, ‘Rainbow’, ‘Dash’, or ‘awesome’ in it I’m vetoing it now.”

The blue pegasus gave him a cross look and huffed, “Fine, does anypony else have a better name in mind?”

Derpy shot her hoof into the air. “Oooh, oooh, can we be the-“

“No muffins!” Rainbow grumped.

Derpy put her hoof back down looking crestfallen.

The team was silent for a while, all of them trying to think of a clever team name. Dash was about to just tell them to sleep on it when Thunderlane spoke up again, “How about the Storm Riders?”

Dash thought on it for a second before her face lit up. The Ponyville Storm Riders! I like it! All in favor?” There was a chorus of “I’s” that made the decision unanimous. Dash nodded, “Then it’s settled; from here on in we’ll be the Strom Riders. So whose ready to ride this storm to victory?” Her team let out a reveled cheer that lifted her spirits. “Alright, good stuff today team, I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow.” Most of the pegasi flew off towards town, making small talk with their new teammates and basking in their victory; the first of hopefully many. Only two pegasi were left on the grassy field.

Fluttershy walked up to Rainbow Dash wearing a bright smile. “Thanks so much, Dashie. I could never have done this without you!”

Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck. “Well… you earned it ‘Shy, and I’m proud of you. You put a great effort out there.”
Fluttershy blushed. “Thanks. I promise I won’t let you down!”

“I know you won’t.”

The cheerful pegasus gestured toward the lights of Ponyville. “Come on, Pinkie said she was going to throw a party for us.”

Dash continued to rub the back of her neck. “You go ahead, I’ve got to uh… get the ball and put some stuff up. I’ll be over there in a bit.” Fluttershy nodded and waved to her friend before flying off towards town leaving Rainbow Dash alone in the darkened field.

She felt happy for her friend. She really, really did. But when she thought about Fluttershy’s success, she couldn’t help but think of Dizzy Twister. She looked down at the papers on the clipboard that held the truth of her actions. It had only been a small margin, tiny… miniscule even. But Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but think that it would come back to haunt her in some way, shape or form. She flipped the paper over and looked at the point values she had given during the scrimmage matches. There it was, in her hoof writing. By one measly point.

Dizzy Twister had beaten Fluttershy.

Author's Note

As if out to prove me wrong, this chapter was harder to write than I thought. I also decided to split up some events between this chapter and the next to keep them at an even pace.
So yaaay, Derpy! I love her too but don't expect anything super special out of her. She's not the main focus of the story.
Also I changed the prize money to 1,000,000.

Chapter 5: Let the Games Begin

The train ride to Canterlot was a short one. The feelings of excitement and chatter of how many other teams would be participating was enough to occupy the Storm Riders’ attention until the train pulled up into Canterlot Station. Today was the registration day for all teams wanting to participate in The Wonderbolts Cup, and the official start of the tournament.

The train came to a stop with a loud screech and a release of steam. Rainbow Dash led her team off the platform and through the city streets, heading for the castle courtyard where the registration was taking place. Her heart was racing a mile a minute; she was so excited.

The streets were decorated with winged lightning bolt shaped balloons and blue and yellow streamers that were strung from the lampposts. Groups of pegasi zipped through the air above, chatting amicably about the upcoming games.

Rainbow took a deep breath, smelling the competition, feeling her adrenaline building. She couldn’t wait to play against her first her opponents; to lead her team to sweet victory; to hear fans scream her name! Competition was what she lived for.

The nine ponies reached the castle courtyard, where most of the competing teams had already gathered. Near the castle door was a large table where several clerks were seated, signing teams in onto the official roster. Players were scattered about, engaged in friendly conversations or, heated arguments over which team was the best.

“Alright gang, cough up,” Rainbow said, facing her team. “Eleven bits each.” They had agreed to split the one-hundred bit entrance fee. Since there were nine of them, Rainbow had offered to pay the extra bit. Money was the last thing on her mind; she just wanted the fame and recognition, and a chance to play agisnt her heroes.

Each of them handed Rainbow their money, and she tossed the coins into a small bag. “I’ll go sign us in and see if there’s a schedule yet,” Rainbow said after she had collected all of their fees. She broke away from the group and pushed her way through the crowd until she reached the check-in table.

“How can I help you?” the clerk asked brightly.

“I’d like to check in the skyball team for Ponyville.” Rainbow tossed the bag of bits onto the table. “I’m the team captain, Rainbow Dash!”

“Very well, Miss Dash, I’ll just need you to fill out a few forms and get signatures from all your players.” He reached under the desk and pulled out a rather tall stack of papers.

“A few forms?” Rainbow said in disbelief.

The clerk waved his hoof dismissively. “Just rules, regulations, and a few formalities.”

Rainbow groaned, but took the pen he handed her. She wished Twilight was there to read the papers instead. Rainbow scanned through the first few pages until she grew bored. She then proceeded to skim through the rest, stopping only to sign on the dotted lines. After what seemed like forever to her, she reached the end and tossed the pen onto the table.

“Finished,” she gasped, like she had just done one of her workouts.

The clerk took the stack of papers and read quickly flicked through them, making sure Rainbow had signed in all of the correct places. “Very good. I just need you to fill out one more form—”

“Auugh!”

“Don’t worry, it’s really small. All it says is that we, as the cup committee, cannot be sued for any injuries that may occur during or in between playtimes.” He pulled out a very slim document. “I just need everyone on your team to sign it.”

Rainbow sighed in relief at the sight of the small form, taking it and the pen with her, as she headed back to her team. “Alright guys, just sign this and we’ll be set!”

“What is it?” Flitter asked, taking the paper with a wing.

“It just says we can’t get mad if one of us gets hurt or something.” Rainbow said nonchalant.

“We aren’t going to get hurt right?” Fluttershy asked.

Rainbow shrugged. “Maybe a few bumps and bruises, but relax, Fluttershy. Hurting the goalie is a penalty anyway. Besides, it’s not like anypony here is out for blood.”

“Out of the way dweebs! Winning team coming through!” a sharp voice cut through the air.

Rainbow Dash paused at hearing it. It was voice she hadn’t heard in a long time, but it sounded painfully familiar. She’d know it anywhere. Whirling around, she found herself snout-to-beak with the last creature she thought she’d meet there.

“Rainbow Dash, I knew I’d find you here,” Gilda growled.

“Of course I’d be here,” Rainbow said, looking at the griffin with surprise. “The question is, why are you here?”

Gilda rolled her eyes. “Entering this lame tournament, what else? I’m not going to let an easy opportunity to score a million bits pass by.”

Rainbow gaped at her. “You’re entering the cup? How? You aren’t even a pony, what town would you play for anyway?” She stretched her neck over Gilda’s shoulder. “You don’t even have a team!”

Gilda raised her talons. “In order: yes; by signing up, duh, the form didn’t say you had to only be a pegasus to play; we’re playing for the griffin embassy, and,” she pointed to the afternoon sky. “My girls should be here any second.” As if on cue, eight more griffins came swooping out of the sky, landing behind Gilda, who was looking quite smug.

Fluttershy made a loud whimper and hid behind the biggest object she could find, which happened to be Snowflake.

Gilda eyed her and said to Rainbow, “Still hanging out with dweebs, I see. Too bad. We could have been on the same team and split the prize money, but now I’m just gonna pulverize you and your wimpy team!” She and her fellow griffins began to flex their claws in a menacing manner.

“Oh yeah?” Rainbow could feel her blood boiling. No one insulted her friends! “We’ll see about that! Me and my team are going to fly circles around you, right guys?”

Theirs was a half hearted cheer, carried only by Snowflake’s cry of, “YEAH!”

Gilda snickered. “That’s cute. Wittle baby Dashie thinks she can beat me at skyball. Who was it that won almost every time we played one-on-one?”

Rainbow felt her cheeks burn. “That was years ago! I bet I could beat you right here, right now!” Rainbow knew that it was dumb challenge, there was hardly any way her team could beat Gilda’s with only two weeks of practice. But there was no way she was going to let Gilda make a fool of her.

“I’d love to kick your flank, Dash, but I want a bigger audience around to seem me totally humiliate you.” Gilda grinned savagely. “Do me a favor and try not to lose to anyone else before that, okay?” She ruffled Rainbow’s mane, and quickly recoiled when Rainbow tried to snap at her. She shrugged it off and laughed, “Later dweebs!”

Rainbow fumed as she watched her former friend walk off towards the registration table. She couldn’t believe she had once enjoyed hanging out with Gilda. Of course, perhaps Gilda was just being extra spiteful on purpose, because of Rainbow’s decision to not hang out with her anymore. Regardless, Rainbow swore she wouldn’t let Gilda show her up.

She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see Cloudchaser and several other of her teammates looking nervous. “Rainbow, I’m starting to have second thoughts about this. I wanted to play, not get clawed to death,” Cloudchaser said.

“Relax guys. We can still win this! Gilda may look scary, but you can’t let her intimidate you. Besides, intentionally hurting other players is still against the rules.” Rainbow gave them all her best confident smile. “If we train hard, we can beat anyone, including Gilda and her team!” She put her hoof out. “Come on, let;s show her, and everybody else, what ponies from Ponyville are made of!”

One by one they put their hooves on top hers, Fluttershy being the last, still visibly shaken by the idea of having to play against a team of griffins. Together, they threw their hooves in the air and shouted, “Storm Riders!”

******

A few signed papers later, the Storm Riders were officially apart of the roster for the Wonderbolts Cup, along with Gilda’s team, the Black Talons. All of the teams now stood in the courtyard waiting for Celestia to start the tournament.

From the front balcony over the main door, Princess Celestia stepped out from behind a red velvet curtain to the sound of glorious fanfare. She was flanked by Luna on her right and Spitfire, The Wonderbolts captain on her left. The crowd screamed at the sight of their princesses and their idol.

When the cheers died away, Celestia spoke. “Greetings everypony, and every griffin as the case now stands. I welcome you to Equestria’s first Wonderbolts Cup!” She waited for the crowd to finish cheering again before continuing. “First let us remember the real reason why we are having this event: to raise money for the city of Baltimare and all those affected by the horrible hurricane that has displaced many civilians.”

Celestia smiled. “Truth be told, my sister and I had been planning to hold this event for a while. What better way to start a new tradition than to help a city, and subsequently all of Equestria back to its hooves with it?”

There was round of applause, and Rainbow whispered to Fluttershy, “A tradition? As in, this could become annual? Ah man, that would be so awesome!”

“Now, changing topics a little, let me remind you what each of you and your teams are playing for.” Celestia lifted a large trophy from behind her with her magic. It was golden, shimmering brightly in the sun. Sapphires coated the base, and at the top, three pegasi circled around a diamond that represented the skyball. “This is the cup the winning team shall receive along with the prize money of one million bits, and a final match with The Wonderbolts themselves.” She gestured to Spitfire who held up a hoof and waved to her admiring fans.

“Now, to make things interesting,” Celestia continued, “The tournament will be held throughout the duration of the summer. Every able city has agreed to help host, so teams will play against one another in a different stadium each match. Every team will have three preliminary matches before the knockout rounds begin to get a feel for the competition.” She looked down at her little ponies, giving them her benevolent smile. “More than anything, I hope all of you enjoy yourselves and remember good sportsmanship. Winning isn’t everything.” Her face went stern for a moment. “Not that I need to tell you, but cheating and foul play will not be tolerated.”

Rainbow eyed Gilda through the crowd. She was muttering to some of her teammates, hardly listening to a word Celestia was saying and quietly snickering. Rainbow made a face of contempt. I’m gonna wipe that grin right off of that smug beak of yours.

“Well, I believe that covers all the finer details. Vanhoover has agreed to host the first match. and it will be held in five days time. Tomorrow I will announce the first two teams playing after I review all the entries. Now, without further ado...” Celestia lit up her horn and bright fireworks bursted across the sky. “Let The Wonderbolts Cup begin!”

The crowd went crazy, and the fanfare began once more. Ponies began to disperse, eager to resume their training and improve their chances at winning the cup. Rainbow cheered alongside her teammates, her heart set alight with the desire for victory, and to see Gilda lose.

“C’mon on, gang, we gotta get back to Ponyville and keep training! We’re gonna make history and be the first team to win the cup!” Her team cheered in agreement, eager to bring glory to their tiny town.

Someone shoved into the back of Rainbow Dash. She whirled around to see Gilda walking away, looking complacent. “Fat chance, losers!” she called out behind her, before taking off to the skies. “You dweebs are going down!”

“Oh yeah? Well we’ll show you!” Thunderlane yelled, shaking a hoof after her. Rainbow had never seen him so driven.

Rainbow gestured for her team to follow, making her way through the crowded courtyard and back towards the train station. “Let’s go. If we want to put Gilda and her cronies in their place, then we’re in for a long, hard week of practice.”

She ignored Fluttershy’s whimper of misery.

Author's Note

Good news, this story isn't dead!

Bad news, I have to give you a short chapter before the real excitement starts. Next chapter, we'll have our first full-fledged match!