Ponyville's Annual Superbowl Party

Chapters

So Close
Why Not to Bet with a Timelord
For The Love of the Game
A Short Introduction (optional)

So Close

So CloseWritten by: *TimeTravlnDEMON*

Halftime to 2nd Half:

“And that brings us to the end of the first half! The Ravens go into the locker room up 21-6.”

At this proclamation, every pony in the room got up and started moving around the library, many finding their ways over to the refreshments table. One pony, however, had sat still as a statue since the end of the first half. This mare, clad in a red and gold 49ers jersey, was the Great and Powerful Trixie, though at the moment she could best be described as Shocked and Confused. Having grown up in San Francisco, she was very interested in this game, and this was not the way she had envisioned it going at all. To paraphrase the local mailmare, she just didn’t know what went wrong.

Twilight Sparkle was also a little worried about the way the game had been going so far. While she had never been a big fan of hoofball, or sports in general, her and Trixie had been dating for a little over two months now, and she knew just how seriously her marefriend took anything related to San Francisco sports. Seeing the condition Trixie was currently in, Twilight made her way through the crowd, hoping to calm the blue unicorn down a little bit before the showmare’s mind melted down into a seething cauldron of anger and profanity.

“Hey Trix,” Twilight cheerfully said as she settled down next to her marefriend, giving her a quick peck on the cheek. “You ready for the Beyonce show? I hear it’s supposed to be amazing,” Twilight finished, hoping to divert the mare’s mind from the ineptitude her team had shown so far.

“Yes, Trixie supposes it will be rather nice,” Trixie replied. She sounded so glum and melancholy that Twilight wanted nothing more than to just sweep her up into a big hug until she felt better. Knowing just how well that would probably go though, Twilight pressed on in her quest to distract Trixie from her current mood.

“Trixie,” Twilight said after a minute of silence between the two, “what did I say about using third-pony to talk?”

“Trix-I remember what you said Twilight, but it’s hard to remember that when my mind is on something else.”

“Well, you’re still trying, so that’s all I can ask for.” Twilight finished her statement by giving Trixie another gentle kiss, this time on the lips. Hopefully that would be enough to cheer her up.

Twilight’s plan seemed to work for a little while, and Trixie’s mood actually seemed to stay up for the rest of halftime. After a minute or two of comfortable silence between her and her marefriend, Trixie got up and socialized with the other ponies gathered at the party and generally seemed to be enjoying herself. One minute, she would be seen chatting with Rainbow Dash by the punch bowl, and the next would see her and Pinkie Pie finding some way to prank the aforementioned cyan pegasus. Twilight felt as if a giant weight had been lifted from her shoulders, seeing Trixie mingling and enjoying herself. The lavender unicorn gave herself a slightly smug mental pat on the back for cheering her marefriend up.

= = = = =

Trixie’s good mood evaporated rather quickly once the ponies all settled down for the beginning of the second half. Pressing her side up to Trixie’s, Twilight could tell how tense the other mare had become. Soon enough, the last commercial (one featuring a baby promoting a financial company that everypony found quite funny) ended and the feed showed the 49ers getting ready to kick off.

“Don’t worry Trixie, I’m sure this half will go much better than the last one,” Twilight whispered as the earth pony kicker delivered a powerful buck to the teed up hoofball. “See, that looks like a pretty long kick. That’s a good sign, right?”

“Trixie agrees. That is definitely a good way to start the half.” Twilight could feel her marefriend relax slightly as the ball was caught almost at the back of the endzone, the pegasus return man taking off. He’ll get tackled any second now and the 49ers will have locked the Ravens in pretty poor field position to start the half. He’ll be tackled any second now…any second now…any sec-and he was running free, having easily overtaken the much slower kicker. The pegasus entered the endzone to the raucous cheers of the Ravens fans at the game, as the announcers reported that that was the longest kickoff in Equestrian Hoofball League history, 109 yards.

Twilight and Trixie both sat in stunned silence, either tuning out or just not registering the excited chatter and the isolated cheers from the Ravens fans gathered at the party. Slowly, Twilight turned to look at her marefriend, quickly noticing the thousand-yard stare boring its way into the far wall of the library. After observing this phenomenon for fifteen seconds or so, Twilight finally worked up the courage to speak.

“Well, that wasn’t the way they wanted to start the half, was it?” Twilight asked with a few nervous chuckles, hoping to lighten the mood a little.

An eye twitch was the only response she got out of Trixie.

‘Well, so much for just sitting back and enjoying the party for the second half,’ Twilight thought with a pout on her face. ‘Maybe if the 'Niners go down much more, I can convince Trixie to sneak upstairs with me and we can have a little fun of our own’. The pout lessened slightly as she thought about this possibility, suddenly not as adverse to a Ravens win, even if it meant having to listen to Trixie’s complaining about it for a week afterwards.

Trixie suddenly spoke up, dispelling Twilight’s very pleasant daydreams involving her and Trixie playing ‘Quarterback and Center’. “Thank Celestia the 49ers have the ball. At least this game can’t go any worse, right?”

Right when Trixie was done saying that always ill-fated phrase, half of the lights in the Superdome suddenly decided to turn off, almost as if the white alicorn herself had heard Trixie and decided to play a particularly nasty prank (a quick glance across the library revealed that the princess was, in fact, as surprised as everypony else by the sudden power outage). The sudden silence was broken by Trixie yelling “YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!” at the top of her lungs, enraged almost to the point where her mane and tail were in threat of bursting into flame, just like a certain lavender unicorn’s occasionally did.

Twilight quickly sprung up and steered Trixie towards the drink table, hoping to calm her marefriend down before her anger went past the point of no return. Once they were a suitable distance away from the rest of the party, Twilight shot Trixie a look of pure annoyance before speaking up.

“Trixie, what has gotten into you tonight?” Twilight hissed, trying to keep their conversation private. “I know how passionately you follow the 49ers, but this is ridiculous even for you.”

Trixie looked as if she was going to reply with a scathing comeback before a look of defeat crossed her face and her whole body visibly drooped. “Tr-I don’t really know either. I guess I’m just frustrated because I was only about a year or two old the last time they won the Super Bowl, so I just want to see it happen myself. When I look back on it though, I can tell how much stress my moodiness tonight caused you. I’m sorry for ruining your evening.” Trixie turned away from Twilight, presumably to find somewhere she could sit by herself. Before she took more than a couple of steps, however, she felt a hoof on her shoulders. She turned back, lavender eyes locking onto a set of purple ones filled with love and understanding.

“Trixie,” Twilight began, “you haven’t ruined anything. I will admit, your antics have been difficult to keep up with sometimes, but I’ve had a great time. And, from the looks of when you were walking around and mingling with other ponies during halftime, you look like you’ve had a pretty good time too, when you’ve been able to step away and calm down. So, how about we look at this delay in the game as a chance to walk around, talk to everypony else for a little while, and just relax. I think you’d be a lot happier that way. Plus,” Twilight slyly said, “I think they’ll be back next year. So, if the Ravens win this year, we can just wait another year for the 49ers to win it.”

Trixie hesitated at this, her mind telling her Twilight was right while her heart told her to keep going like she was before. Eventually, Brain managed to convince Heart that it was better to have a happy marefriend and not worrying about the result of the game than having a grumpy marefriend and stressing out about the game. Trixie then smiled at Twilight and moved her face a little closer to Twilight’s. “I suppose I could do that…on one condition.”

Twilight grinned, leaning forward and sharing a kiss with Trixie. As they parted, Trixie smirked and said “I was going to ask if you could give up your spot on the couch. It’s much comfier than mine. I suppose that works instead, though.”

The two mares proceeded to make the most out of the power outage that they could. They mingled with the other partygoers, talking to almost everypony there at some point, in between watching the ever-famous Super Bowl commercials that played. Thirty-four minutes later, the power came back on, and play resumed. This time, however, the game was watched by an entirely different Trixie. Sure, she was still the passionate 49ers fan that Twilight knew and loved, but she found herself being much calmer about the successes the Ravens had on offense. Of course, this could have been because of the fact that the lights going out seemed to have brought a completely different, actually competent 49ers team onto the field.

When it came to fourth and goal for the 49ers to win, Trixie only reacted to the level everypony else did at the alleged holding call in the endzone. As the clock was running out and the Ravens started celebrating their win, she was definitely upset, but she realized something that night. While having your team win a championship would be great, it is better to be able to enjoy the game with your friends and loved ones. After Twilight talked her into calming down for the second half, Trixie had a much better time, simply because she was talking with everypony else and enjoying the party, instead of just sulking on the couch like she did in the first half. Plus, Twilight had a pretty good point during their talk.

The 49ers probably would be back next year. She would just have to hope they won then.

Why Not to Bet with a Timelord

Written by Hellslayer2000

Edited by Garbo802

= = = = = =

"Hey Shining, how do you think the game’s going? Seems like the Ravens are winning super duper easily so far,” Pinkie said, addressing one of the more game-focused party guests.

"Oh, hey Pinkie Pie. It’s going pretty well so far. I’m glad the Ravens are winning; they beat the Packers, you know. I think we’re going to leave after half, though." Shining Armor said lying down with his drowsy wife on a nice heart shaped rug Cadance insisted they bring to avoid what she called party germs.

"Good evening miss Pie and sorry I'm late; but I had some important business to attend to involving some pelicans and a power line." A chestnut earth pony stallion with a dark brown mane and hourglass cutie mark said.

"That's ok with me, I'm just happy made it. Oh, I should probably introduced you to Shining and Cadence." Pinkie then gestured for the two to get up, and Shining elbowed his wife to wake her up.

"What, Shining?!" She growled before noticing a new pony in front of her. "Oh."

"Well Doctor, these are my friends Shining Armor and Prince Cadence." Pinkie said happily, noticing the smile on the princesses face.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Doctor, but surely you have a name," she wondered.

"Nope, just the Doctor," was his reply.

"Hey doc, do you like Hoofball?" Shining asked, hoping he could watch the game with somepony other than his bored and drowsy wife.

"I've always loved hoofball! In fact, my favorite Superbowl is Superbowl fifty-six were the Los Pegasus Dashers beat the Oatland Raiders."

Shining just stared confusedly. "You know its only Superbowl forty-seven right."

"I must do a better job remembering when I am," mumbled The Doctor quietly enough so Shining Armor could not hear.

"What was that?" asked the royal guardsman.

"Oh, nothing important," said The Doctor, suppressing a smile. His though about time travel had just given him an idea. "So, what quarter is it again?"

"It's half time."

'Ok, you up for bet?" the Doctor said with a smirk.

"Don't do it shining, the doctor is gonna give wallet a big old boo bo!" Pinkie megaphoned into his ear, literally holding a megaphone.

"Oh he can't be that bad; hell, he thought there have already been fifty-six superbowls!" Shining replied while lifting the pink mare off his back.

"Shining, please don't bet much though." Cadence said with a soft loving voice.

"Ok, what's the bet." shining asked ignoring his wife

"Fifteen grand says the kickoff return is a touch down."

"Okay, I'll take that bet." Shining spoke with confidence, thinking this was a chance to make a lot of bits, and also impress Cadence, if he could keep her awake. Who knew (no pun intended), maybe after they got back to Canterlot they could have a little fun, if you catch my drift.

So the confidend Shining Armor, smiling Doctor, ever-jubilant Pinkie Pie and barely-awake Cadence then watched as the snapper snap, the kicker kick, and the punt returner catch the ball in the very back of the end-zone.

"Perfect kick," commented Shining, more confident than before. "They'll have him down before the fifty." The returnman went past his 20 then his 30 40 50 then the other teams 40 ... and all of a sudden, he was very much alone. Shining watched with fearful eyes as the stallion ran it into the end zone.

"Touchdown Ravens!" the announcer shouted as half of the Library erupted in applause.

"Pinkie?" Cadance asked in shock.

"Yes, Cady."

"Do you want to come with me to the bar? I have a feeling this evening is gonna be a long one."

"Noppie doppie, this gonna be the funniest superbowl party ever," replied the pink mare.

Meanwhile, the two stallions were busy making more bets. "Alright, I got that one wrong but there's no way you'll get another one. I bet you twelve thousand bits this next play will be a first down," Shining declared, making his own bet this time.

After some thought, the Doctor agreed. Seconds later, the play started and Capernik then through the ball incomplete.

"That's another twelve grand," said the time turner gleefully.

"Yes, I'd suppose that is," muttered Shining through clenched jaws.

Suddenly, half the stadium's power went out. Through the gasps of surprise from the others watching, The Doctors voice was cool as he made his next bet. "I bet fifty thousand this blackout will last more than thirty minutes, and this drive will end in a San Francisco score."

If he'd been less mad from loosing his last two bets, Shining probably would've noticed that the Doctor's bet was far too realistic to be a reasonable one. But he was too far in at this point. "Deal," was all he said.

Just over half an hour later, Shining Armor lost 50 grand.

"Mother bucking fetus eater! How hell do you know what's gonna happen? its like your time traveler or something."

"Yeah, a time traveler." The Doctor gave a awkward smile.

"But Doctor, you are a--" Pinkie tried to say, interrupted by The Doctor's hoof in her mouth.

"Hey shiny, your coin bag has been hit hard, you should stop." Pinkie said with her ability to speak back.

"I'd listen to her if were you, I don't want to stomp on your coin purse," said the time turner, satisfied with the amount he'd already won. He also knew that angering someone as important as the captain of the royal guard wasn't a good idea, no matter how long he stayed in his present timeline.

"Eighty-thousand says the 49ers score a touchdown."

"Um..I think took enough of your bits."

"No, you're accepting my bet." Shining said with a burning rage.

"Fine, I'll take the bet." he said, knowing fully well that this play would end in a touch down. And it did.

"Yes, finally I won something!"

"Ninety-thousand on a ravens fumble and a San Francisco Field Goal."

"Shining, you should quit while you're ahead," Pinkie advised wisely.

"No, I'm getting all my money back and then some. I'm on a hot streak; I can feel it!"

But he was wrong.

"Buck!"

"Shining, langue! Their are young fools here." Pinkie said furiously.

"Sorry."

From that point on, The Doctor kept the betting at a minimum with minor bets of only a couple thousand, not wanting to embarrass the royal guardsmen further. Shining also seemed content to make small bets, at least for the time being. However, the temptation of guaranteed money was too much for the time-traveler, and he made one final bet for the ages.

"Ninehundred-thousand Niners rushing touchdown!"

"Deal!" shouted Shining Armor without thinking. Within a few seconds, he wished he'd thought it through more.

"Shining armor! how much money did you lose!?" His wife screamed from behind.

"Um....fourteenhundred-thousand," he mumbled, in fear of a literal royal ass whooping.

"What was that again sweetie? I couldn't hear you."

"Fourteen-hundred thousand" shining said with a smile trying to save his life.

"Win the money back our you will not touch my flank for fourteen-hundred thousand years." She said, giving him a glare that could rival Fluttershy's.

"Okay, I'll try." Shining then noticed that the 'Niners were first and goal. He new this would be his last chance.

"Everthing I have, Plus a night with my wife, that the 'Niners score on this drive."

"What!" Candence screamed with a fired rage in her voice.

"He can to its a law, I checked." The Doctor said with confidence.

The first play was a run straight back into the line. The next was an incompletion. The third down play was also an incomplete pass, this time in the end-zone. Then came the final play the 'Niners; the QB takes the snap, surveys the field and then: "It's incomplete!"

"No!" Shining screamed. "How can I keep losing everything!" The stallion was to absorbed in his self pity to notice what happened next.

"Hey doc, how bout this if the ravens take the safety you win both me and Cadance, but if they dont then I get all of the money you from shining and Cadance. Sounds super duper fair to me." Pinkie made the bet with a confidant smile.

"Deal!" The Doctor said excitedly about the prospect of two mares at once.

The ravens QB took the snap and proceeded to make an unbelievable run from the end-zone. The Doctor was awestruck,"How did ... that's not supposed to happen their supposed to take the safety. How ... just how?!"

"Mm-hm, I would like money now if that Oki Dokie with you." Pinkie said, giving him a smile.

"Yes, here it is." The Doctor said disgustedly, giving pinkie the money. "I think I'm gonna go now."

Pinkie then walked over to a broken shining and handed him his money.

"Thank you! I owe you so much." Shining then walked over to his wife, "Ok honey, you ready to go?"

"That's a nopie there shining, I won a night with her and I'm gonna get it."

"Fine, but please don't hurt her."

"I'd never hurt a friend, Silly. You should know that."

= = = = = =

"So, how was it." Shining said asking his wife over breakfast.

"Best night ever!"

For The Love of the Game

For The Love of the GameWritten by *Pick-SixEdited by *Featherprop

Postgame

“Woo! Yea! Go purple! Go red! Beat the team! Score the point! WOOOOO!”

Braeburn glanced over at the golden-eyed mare with an amused expression on his face. “Miss Hooves, the game's over.”

Derpy's frenetic cheering slowed, and eventually stopped altogether. “Um, woo?”

She and Braeburn stood alone in front of the television as the Superbowl champions celebrated their victory. The other ponies were milling about in the library, conversing with each other, or grabbing some more food before getting ready to head home. Derpy giggled as the television showed a pony in a black and purple uniform making a confetti angel.

Derpy had accepted the invitation to the Superbowl party with absolute joy, and over the course of the night she had become enamored with the game that she and the other ponies were watching. It was like no other sport that she had ever seen; instead of having to put the ball into a net or hit it with a stick, the ponies on the field just threw it around and ran into each other. It looked really fun! Even the ball itself was shaped strangely. Instead of being round, it was a weird pointy shape, and bounced around in random directions whenever it hit the ground. Derpy felt that she could relate to that last bit; her landing attempts often ended in the same fashion. Watching thousands of ponies in the stadium having such fun with a seemingly random and accident-prone sport had given the wall-eyed mare a warm, happy feeling in her chest. Maybe the ponies who gave her a hard time just never watched hoofball!

Braeburn had played varsity hoofball in school himself, and continued to follow it with a passion that he would describe as “really passionate.” Braeburn had never been one for fancy word-play. When he heard that his cousin and her friends were hosting a Superbowl party, and that he'd been invited, he was on the next train to Ponyville in a flash.

Braeburn's smile grew even broader as he regarded the pegasus sitting next to him. Though they had just met earlier in the evening, they had spent the entirety of the game sitting next to each other. Braeburn would point out rules and formations to Derpy, while she cheered whenever something exciting happened. “I take it ya'll enjoyed th' game?”

Derpy gave a grin that stretched from ear to ear. “Yes! It was so fun watching them run around! The crowd was loud and happy and singing and they had signs and it looked like so much fun!” Braeburn blinked at the barrage of words as she continued. “I even liked the in-between parts!”

Braeburn raised an eyebrow. “The commercials?”

The grey mare nodded emphatically. “Yes, those! They were like little stories that always had a happy ending!” Derpy's demeanor shifted to one of slight embarrassment, scuffing her hoof on the ground self-consciously. “I get a lot of advertisements in my mailbag, and sometimes I like to make up happy little stories about the ponies that are in the pictures.” She stopped fidgeting and grinned again, her unease forgotten. “But I didn't have to make them up this time, because somepony else did!”

The Appleoosian stallion chuckled at Derpy's excitement. He had never seen somepony so enthusiastic about a game that they barely understood. It was refreshing, in a way- years of memorizing stats and following each little success and failure of his team sometimes made Braeburn feel like being a fan was a second job. Her energy reminded him of his foalhood, when his Pa would take him out into the fields and toss the ball around with him for hours. Those wonderful days were what had sparked Braeburn's love of hoofball...

“Braeburn, are you okay?” The stallion snapped out of his reminiscing to look up at Derpy, who was eyeing him with some concern. “You got really quiet and looked kind of sad for a minute.”

Braeburn forced a small smile. “I'm fine, Miss Hooves. Was just rememberin' some... good times.” He decided to change the subject. “So, will ya be watchin' the games come next season?”

Derpy's concern for her new friend dissipated quickly. “Please, call me Derpy! Miss Hooves is my father. Wait, that's not right... Anyway, You bet I'll be watching next season! I don't know all of the rules and stuff yet, but I wanna learn them! I think it'll be even better next year, now that you've taught me how to yell at the T.V. properly!”

Although Derpy's comment wasn't intended to be malicious, Braeburn felt heat rush to his face. He considered himself to be a very polite pony; though he could get excited at times, it was rare for him to be anything other than a perfect gentlecolt around other ponies, especially the fairer sex. Still, passion overtakes prudence in the best of ponies from time to time. The memory of his reaction to a play earlier that night sprang to his mind. He had jumped to his hooves and began shouting obscenities, flicking his forehoof from his side toward the television, as though he were throwing something at it.

Braeburn rubbed the back of his head abashedly. “Er, yeah... I'm sorry about my behavior earlier. It was downright crude of me to act like that. To be honest, though, I still think it should've been called pass interference.” after a moment, he shrugged. “Ah, well. What's done is done. One play certainly didn't lose 'em the game.”

Derpy frowned, mad at herself for not taking the stallion's feelings into consideration. “I'm sorry your team lost, Braeburn.”

Braeburn flashed a grateful smile to the blonde mare. “Thank ya kindly, Miss Derpy. It's alright. There's always next year.”

The pegasus mare brightened at his words. “That's right! And I'll know more next year, too! Like..” Derpy's eyes began to focus on the tip of her muzzle. “The Ravens' helmets! I like their colors, but does the 'B' on the bird stand for 'Bird'? I think that's redundant.” Derpy beamed proudly at her use of the complicated word. Most of the words and phrases on her word-a-day calender at home left her brain as soon as she changed it to another day, but redundant just played in her head over and over again for some reason, so it remained in her vocabulary.

Braeburn listened to the wall-eyed mare chatter away with a mixture of puzzlement and admiration. Dear Celestia, I had no idea that a mare could be so confusing and so adorable at the same time.

Derpy's eyes widened as they focused, perfectly aligned for once, on Braeburn. “You think I'm adorable?”

The stallion's expression froze into one of abject terror as he realized that he had spoken his thoughts aloud. His mind scrambled for a reply as his mouth stuttered and stammered. “Uh, I-I... Yes! I mean, what? I'm thirsty. Let's go grab something to drink!” He began walking stiffly toward the snack table as a confused Derpy followed behind him.

Braeburn swore at himself silently. The Apple family was renowned for speaking their minds, and he was no exception. Still, that particular trait had surfaced at the worst possible time, and then his reaction to Derpy's reaction had been even worse! smooth, Brae, he lamented.

When Braeburn reached the table, he poured a generous amount of punch into two glasses, giving one to his marefrie-- friend who was a mare. Derpy accepted it gratefully and began gulping down the sweet, fruity concoction. She finished off the glass with a satisfied sigh, followed by a loud belch.

Derpy smiled meekly and set her glass on the table. “'Scuse me.”

The stallion laughed and tipped his hat in respect, happy for the distraction from his slip-up. “That was mighty fine, Miss Derpy. Still, I think Applejack has ya beat. At one of our family reunions a couple years back, she actually cleared the field of crows after downing two mugs of cider!”

Derpy giggled at the image of the orange-furred mare belching loud enough to scare off wildlife. “I've heard so much about those reunions. So much family together in one place, having fun...” She gave a wistful sigh. “I wish my family had reunions like that.”

Braeburn finished his glass of punch and set it on the table. He gave a small burp of his own, careful to cover his mouth with his hoof. He was in the presence of a lady, after all. “Excuse me. Well, if'n you'd like to, you should stop by the next Apple shindig! I'll vouch for ya.” He flashed a smile, happy to have an excuse to see her again.

The mare wanted to jump in the air and give a resounding “YES!” but for once, she was cautious and subdued. On one hoof, she was rarely invited to parties by any pony other than Pinkie Pie, and an invitation to an Apple-exclusive event was something that would make anyone excited. On the other hoof, that very exclusivity gave her pause. She didn't want to take advantage of the generous nature of the Apple family, especially since she didn't know any of the Apples particularly well. With the exception of tonight, she had hardly spent any time with any of them. Derpy looked up at Braeburn nervously. “I-I don't know, Braeburn.”

The stallion's face fell. Of course she would decline. He mentally smacked himself; how could he have been so forward? “I'm sorry, Miss Derpy. I wasn't thinking. Here we are, just having met tonight, and I go and make a fool of myself. I hope ya can forgive me.”

Derpy shook her head vigorously, causing her eyes to spin. “No! You didn't do anything wrong, Braeburn! It's just that... I don't know any of the Apple family well. I've spoken with Applejack and Big Mac a few times, but you're the only one that I've spent any real time with. I'd love to go, I just don't want to impose on a family event.”

Braeburn let out a breath that he hadn't even realized he was holding. “Oh, is that all? Shoot, that's not a problem at all! It's not like ya'll are just showin' up outta the blue, I'm invitin' ya! Trust me, the Apple family extends further than just blood relation. You'll be welcomed with open hooves!” The stallion gathered his courage and forced himself to ask hopefully, “as fer getting' to know each other better, well, I don't leave until tomorrow afternoon.” The stallion steeled himself for what came next. “Would ya do me the honor of joining me for lunch tomorrow? I understand if you have prior plans and can't make it,” he added hastily, “I just thought that maybe we could talk hoofball and get to know each other better.”

This time, Derpy did jump into the air. “YES! That sounds like so much fun!” Lunch with friends was always fun in the mare's eyes, and doubly so if that friend thought she was adorable! “When and where?”

Braeburn blinked at Derpy's exuberant performance. He was a bit surprised that she had agreed so willingly, given her reaction to his previous invitation. Still, he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. “How about noon at that cupcake place?”

The grinning mare nodded. “Sugarcube Corner? That sounds great! I like muffins better than cupcakes, though.”

Braeburn chuckled at Derpy's words. “Then muffins are what we'll have.”

Derpy's eyes sparkled at the mention of her absolute favorite treat. “Really?! YAY!” Her right eye shifted its focus from the stallion in front of her to the clock on the wall next to her. She gave a gasp as her vision focused and she saw how late it was. Time must have sped up while they were talking; now, most of the ponies that had crowded the library for the game were dispersing.

“Ohmygosh! Braeburn, I'm so sorry to cut this short, but I have work in a few hours! Don't worry though, I'll make sure that I'm done with my route early, so I can meet you at Sugarcube Corner. Noon, right?”

The stallion nodded in confirmation, feeling guilty for taking up so much of Derpy's time. “Yes, ma'am. I am sorry that I talked yer ear off tonight. I'll make it up to ya tomorrow, I promise. Let me walk ya to the door.”

He took Derpy's glass in his hoof, setting it down next to his, and then walked with her to the door in comfortable silence. In true gentlecolt fashion, he opened the door for her and bowed in respect. Derpy giggled and there was a bit of extra bounce in her gait as she walked out into the brisk night air. The chill of the night air tickled Braeburn's nose, and he cast a concerned look at the departing mare.

“Miss Derpy?” The pegasus turned at the sound of her name. “It's mighty cold out here. Would you like me to walk you home?”

Derpy was flattered that he was worried about her keeping warm, but gently declined. “It's ok, Braeburn. I may not be the best flyer, but I still have an easier time in the cold than most. I'll be fine. I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

Braeburn gave a wan smile and nodded silently. “Good night, Miss Derpy.”

A commercial from earlier that night flashed in Derpy's head, and she called out to Braeburn as he was closing the door.

“Hey Braeburn!” The stallion leaned back out of the doorway, cocking his head in curiosity as Derpy stood on her hind legs and began to circle her midsection with her forehooves.

“Discord double-check!”

The stallion stood in the doorway for a moment in stunned silence, before bursting into laughter and shaking his head. “I hope you never change, Miss Derpy.” He closed the door, still chuckling.

Derpy fell to all fours and beamed happily. It was official; she loved hoofball.

A Short Introduction (optional)

Hoofball: The ancient sport of the earth ponies. Evolved from its earliest forms that dated back to the Pre-Equestrian Earth Pony clan, the sport has become more than just a bunch of muddy stallions running around in the fields. A few rules, safety pads, and forward passing shaped the sport into what it is now. As centuries passed, the sport spread to the other races as well, and nowadays, a good portion of the EHL is made up of Pegasi – mostly in Wide Receiver and Quarterback positions – of course, with wings bound. There is even the occasional unicorn in the league, although unicorns usually fill coaching roles rather than playing in the game itself.

But what else did this modernization of hoofball bring, other than a few rules changes? Bits, of course. After the implementation of the magic-powered television, the sport could be broadcasted to homes all across Equestria. The most viewed of these games – of course – was the championship match between the two best teams of the year. Over the years, the splendor of this game, the Superbowl as it came to be known – grew. Halftime shows by the popular music artists and commercials ponies actually wanted to watch. It became not only a game, but an event.

And how do ponies celebrate major events in Equestria? Parties! Lots and lots of parties. The Superbowl has never been an exception, and the Superbowl party became just as important as the game itself. It was a place for food, conversation, friends, rivalries, and most importantly, hard cider. In the small town of Ponyville, those things are in ready supply. Food from Sugarcube corner, cider from Sweet Apple Acres, friends from all over, and their conversations filled those traits. And of course, Equestria’s greatest partyer – Pinkie Pie - was the host. The party has been hosted in many locations over the years, but this year, it was taking place at the town library, and already, things were starting to take off ...

Table of Contents:

1st Half:

2nd Half:

So Close by TimeTravlnDEMON

Postgame:

For The Love of the Game by Pick-Six