Ponyville Junior Hoofball Tryouts

[Lux]

Zecora noted the fact that the one pony had an interesting accent, definitely not from Ponyville. Hearing her speak with others the filly mentioned coming from a place called Roam.

"Nice to meet you Marzipan. You appear to know much about hoofball from what I have seen during this short time span."

The next pony was a familiar one to the zebra named Sunrise Beach. The zebra chuckled at her forwardness in her introduction.

"Of course Sunrise Beach I do still know. You and your friends stopped by my hut some time ago."

The last pony was Purple Haze who was very excited to get the practice started.

"I am glad that you are ready to play as it is indeed a very nice day. Now as Rainbow Dash said to you, we will be splitting into lines of two. Since I am in change of you three, two of you will pair up and one of you will need to find another pony. Take your time passing the ball as accuracy is better than speed overall. Now off you three go, and I will watch to see what you know."

***

Scootaloo still couldn't understand why Rainbow Dash was accusing Apple Bloom of not being a team player. She was always a team player with her and Sweetie Belle! Casting aside this criticism she lined up across from Apple Bloom and began to pass a hoofball back and forth. Scootaloo began to feel like this was a boring activity as she knew how to pass fairly well. What she really wanted to do get to actually playing a scrimmage. Then she could show Zecora, Rainbow Dash, and the others what she was made of. Strangely though her friend Apple Bloom didn't say much, merely content with smiling while passing the ball. Maybe she was afraid that talking would lead to the pair being disciplined. As she thought Scootaloo kicked a hoofball too far to the right, making it roll off to a nearby pair of ponies passing.

"I got it," Scootaloo saying breaking her vow of silence as she went to where the nearby pair to retrieve her ball, "Heh, sorry you two. Guess I wasn't watching where i was passing."

[PedestrianWolf]

"Purple can be hard to like, understand too cuz’ she speaks all Fet Loch like, but you get used to it, well after a few months!"

"Me? Oi dinnae have an accent!"

The way Sunrise Beach and Purple Haze teased each other, it was clear that they had been good friends for awhile. Marzipan wasn't sure she would be able to fit in well with them. She felt a bit like a third wheel. But Snickerdoodle was still there at the sidelines, watching the practice. It would look bad if the little pegasus didn't at least try.

When Zecora suggested that they split up into pairs to practice passing the ball, Marzipan leapt at the chance. Tapping Purple Haze on the shoulder, she asked shyly, "Do you want to partner with mi? We pass de ball, maybe talk about where we are from to each other?" The earth filly had expressed an interest in hearing more about her hometown of Roam. Besides, the turquoise unicorn seemed far more interested in showing off for the colts.

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash was concerned about Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. They'd seemed fine earlier, but since she'd given some advice to Apple Bloom they'd been real quiet. She was worried about that - some fillies took all the advice they could get to get better, others got really sulky when they were given some advice. And to be a good team player, you needed to be able to take it! Dash herself sometimes had problems with that, herself ... she didn't quite know what to say to them. But to call them out in front of everypony would surely make things worse, so she pretended not to notice. She'd have to keep an eye on things, though. Perhaps talk to them quietly, later.

She'd hate to have to cut the CMC. That would really stink - even if they were pretty young for this league, they were still an enthusiastic and dedicated bunch. And even if she did like them, she had to remain neutral in this, as her responsibility as a coach! Still, she sure hoped they did awesome!

"Hey, I said take a step backwards every time you pass, not just amble!" she called to a couple of other fillies, "the idea is to get further apart so I can see what your range is!"

​

Purple Haze hesitated, glanced over at Sunrise Beach. She'd wanted to team up with her friend, there, but Sunrise was acting kinda odd. About those colts. And she wanted to make new friends anyway, so ... "A'ight! But ye'd bae keep up!" She snagged one of the hoofballs and gave it a kick, passing it to Marzipan. She hurried over to the other line that was forming of all the background fillies and colts, and grinned happily. "So, wae kinda nibbles they got in Roam? Ye know how tae cook a'tall?"

​

[brianblackberry]

Sunrise Beach was so busy checking out the colts, especially the adorably cute Starlight, that she initially missed the call for pairing up to do some basic ball tossing. Alas this left her without a partner as Purple Haze teamed up with the new filly, Marizpan. It was understandable; like Purple, sunrise too wanted to make more close friends; although she had at least a few acquaintances she got along well with, like the CMC, she only had one true BFF. Still she couldn’t help but feel a little left out, and a little jealous…

Unfortunately, all the other foals in her group had paired off, that only left one choice for the little turquoise unicorn, Miss Zecora. Lame; adults aren’t as fun to hang with, and they never seem have anything interesting to talk about anyway, but what could she do otherwise? Sulk? Not with an opportunity to show what she really could do! Surely as an adult, the zebra mare should be able to catch anything the filly could toss at her, right? “Like, well Mizz Zecora, I guess it is like, you and me. Uh, which is totally righteous right? Cuz’ I’m like really awesome at this, check it out!” With that Sunrise turned around and gave the round hoofball a swift, powerful kick with her hind hoof, which flew directly at the zebra. “Ha! Totally tubular! Catch!”

[SteelEagle]

OOC- Holy Cow, I remember wating for Mud but then this slipped through the cracks!

Apple Bloom was starting to feel better. Sometimes what it took for a little filly was just to stew a bit and vent internally. Yeah, it didn't make sense what Dash said, especially as she went about congratulating the others despite them crashing and causing a scene that could have hurt ponies. It didn't make a lick of sense and it was wrong, but the past was the past. As she allowed her frustrations to leave her, she continued to kick the ball and pass back and forth with Scootaloo. Scoots was normally so dang good and accurate with her passes that it made Apple Bloom curious as to why today of all days she was a little off, but it didn't matter much. Scootaloo would get her game together when it counted most. You could count on that!

And then the ball sailed wide a bit, which elicited a little laugh from Apple Bloom as she saw it roll up to some of the others. Well, it'd get done well eventually. It was food to see everypony else really working their tail off so far, even if the distance wasn't the best so far. At leas everypony was in high spirits, which made Apple Bloom glad as she allowed her previous anger to vent out in concentric waves. Apple Bloom trotted alongside the pegasus Crusader of hers and met up with her at the pair of other fillies passing their own ball around. Apple Bloom picked their own ball and then head bopped it to Scootaloo with a chuckle, “hehe, think Rainbow Dash is gonna teach everypony how ta do that? Ain't all that useful most of tha time...but its fun!” Apple Bloom ended with a hearty laugh before turning and smiling when she saw Zecora and decided now was as good a time as any, “howdy, Zecora! Didn't think Ah'd be seeing you here.”

[Lux]

Seeing that the groups were unevenly matched, Zecora knew that somepony would be left out without a partner. In this case the energetic Sunrise Beach was the lucky or unlucky pony. She did appear to look like she would rather have a partner but resolved to keep her hopes up.

"I will most certainly partner with you Sunrise Beach, as in practice I can also teach."

The energetic filly gave a swift kick to the ball which sailed towards the Zebra. Zecora wheeled around and gave the ball a kick back, glancing behind to see if it was aimed towards the filly.

"You do have great power in the way you kick, an you will do well on the field if you are also quick. The third thing that you should have my filly is a good sense of accuracy. With these three parts combined in competition you should do fine."

Her ears perked up as a familiar voice called her name. Turning she could see Apple Bloom happily passing the hoofball back and forth with her friend Scootaloo. She questioned why the earth pony would not expect her to be at the hoofball field. Perhaps it was because the ponies only assumed that Rainbow Dash would be the only adult there. It certainly wasn't that Zecora appeared the non-athletic type. A thought though came to mind as she let out a little chuckle.

"Why Apple Bloom I am shocked at what you say. Do you not think that I would know how to play? Interest to you this fact may be, but I did play hoofball as a filly. There were no official teams like here to play, but we gathered together and had fun anyway. So when I am coaching or playing you see it is a memory of home in Unyasi."

"Wow Apple Bloom, that's a neat trick you have there," Scootaloo said seeing her friend bounce the ball off her head, "If I know Rainbow Dash she'll teach you those cool things too. I want to learn how to get more power in my kicks."

Scootaloo intercepted the ball and returned it, but her kick was off and the ball scooted across the field and stalled a few feet away from Apple Bloom.

"See what I mean?"

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash watched over the foals as they passed to each other, prodding the ones who were more interested in talking than trying out, getting them to stay in a straight line, and generally keeping an eye on how good they were doing. She stopped one filly who was laughing a bit unkindly at her partner's inability to receive her passes, and said, "You know, getting the ball to her is your responsibility. It's not her job to chase after it - we're testing your ability to get it to her."

She stepped on, nodding to a few others who were doing a good job, and her ears perked up as she heard her name. She stepped past the next couple of pairs to get to Scootaloo. "Here, pass the ball back, Apple Bloom!" She corralled the ball and ruffled Scootaloo's mane. "Here, like this... a good kick isn't just done with the hoof, it's done with the whole body! A good pass has a firmly planted hoof as the base, then you start the kick from the hoof that's not moving. You press off there, up to the shoulder, your body pressing off of that, and you should already be moving towards the ball even while your hind leg is coming up, readying for its own kick." She demonstrated in slow motion. "Just before your body is fully extended, that's when your hind hoof gives its kick - your body should be fully extended for the kick just as your hoof reaches the ball, but your leg still isn't fully extended. Then you don't kick *to* the ball ... you kick THROUGH the ball." She slowly nudged the ball away, so that it rolled a width or two, then took another step closer and did the whole thing faster - though not at full speed - so that even this low-power kick sent the ball flying over towards Apple Bloom at a decent clip. "Give that a try, see how it works for ya! Once ya get that down pat, I'll show you how to add a wing-flap at just the right time to give it even more power!" She smiled at her young friend and gave her short purple mane another fond ruffle, then stepped back to see how Scootaloo did with the instructions.

​

[PedestrianWolf]

"So, wae kinda nibbles they got in Roam? Ye know how tae cook a'tall?" Purple Haze asked, as she lobbed a ball towards Marzipan. The little pegasus reached out with one hoof to stop the ball, then deftly returned the pass. "Ah, si! A great many things. Mi familia, we have a sweet shop in Roam. Mostly gelato and leetle cakes, but also I make ah, taffy." Hoof-pulled taffy was her speciality. She enjoyed mixing the sugars, dyes, and flavorings together to make little eye-catching treats. And it never failed to draw a crowd of curious onlookers when she stood in front of the big shop window with her copper kettle and marble slab. "How abouta you? A master chef in da cucina?" The earth pony's cutie mark was a carrot, so Marzipan figured her special talent must be food related, somehow.

While waiting for the ball to be returned, the little pegasus kept half an eye on her other potential teammates. Marzipan felt fairly confident that she would make the cut, maybe even be on the first string lineup for the team. But she wasn't sure yet which position she wanted to play. That would probably be the coach's job, to put her in the best possible spot for her skill level.

[brianblackberry]

As Zecora returned the hoofball with a swift, powerful kick, Sunrise Beach smiled excitedly. It was a rare opportunity to find somepony, or in this case someone who had some real strength when it came to returning hoofball kicks. Normally she just had her BFF Purple Haze, who was pretty good at the game, but even as a strong earth pony, she was still also just a filly. Sunrise wanted the challenge kicking the ball with an adult who didn’t hold back just because she wasn’t a grown up!

The turquoise filly didn’t have to run far to intercept the zebra mare’s return kick, it was pretty accurate, and fast! She had little time to react but gave the ball a well placed head-butt so to send it straight up; sure she was showing off but these were the tryouts after all, this was her chance to shine and she was determined to impress! After all, nothing less than starting lineup as the Striker would do!

“Like, ready for a really radical fast ball?! Check this out!!” Sunrise announced confidently towards her striped partner before swiftly turning around and kicking the ball as it came back down with all her strength in Zecora’s direction. As she looked back though, Sunrise quickly realized her mistake; Zecora had turned her attention towards Applebloom and Scootaloo, giving the latter some advice, oblivious to the projectile now buzzing towards her! “Like, Miss Zecora, look out!!”

Knocking an adult silly with an errant hoofball in front of the coach on tryout day??! Totally lame Sunrise, like totally lame!!

[SteelEagle]

Apple Bloom nodded excitedly, not realizing how much Zecora played or knew about hoofball. Now that'd be something they could talk about next time while Zecora taught Apple Bloom more about potions. What was her favorite team? Player? What was her first game like? Apple Bloom's first game had been a semi-pro local team. They weren't all that good but knowing that the players out there giving their all were the same ponies she saw in the market buying produce made it all seem very relateable. Then as she learned the game she saw bigger and better teams, getting all sorts of nice jerseys and seeing all types of great players and teams. She had a nice little collection of both memories and stories to share with Zecora now. There was so much they could do! Of course it'd have to mostly wait. She was busy teaching and Apple Bloom didn't want to get in the way.

“Well, Ah didn't know that at all but that's super cool, Zecora! Now we have so much to talk about? Do you think there's a potion that could make a pony real good at hoofball?” Apple Bloom asked excitedly, for a moment almost forgetting she was at practice. Only a moment though as Rainbow Dash approached the fillies and colts of the practice, teaching the finer points of a good, solid kick.

The little filly did as she was told, kicking it back to Dash who then went about coaching as a coach should, by doing. Apple Bloom listened and watched intently her teacher of the day. She knew the elements of a good kick- heck, bucking was a type of kick and she was getting that down pat. But she watched, subtly adjusting her back hooves as she did. This lesson was more for the others than for her but you never ever passed up an opportunity to learn or improve and this was that opportunity. She was inspecting her back hoof position when she heard a nice pumpf of the ball being kicked and instinctively looked up and jumped, catching the ball in her chest and knocking it to the ground. The air was momentarily knocked out of her chest, but she recovered and then knocked the ball towards Scootaloo with a smile. Now that Scoots had what Dash had said down pat- if there was anypony the pegasus crusader would listen to it would be Dash- they could really get into it. Apple Bloom bounded back across in front of Scoots, taking position.

It was then that she heard Sunrise yell out, her head snapping towards the sound of the ball-

[Lux]

Scootaloo heard that when certain ponies got to know each other they developed a mental bond. Oftentimes it was just one pony filling in the sentence of another. But there were times that she heard where a pony could detect that their friend needed help without even saying it, like telepathy. Of course the orange filly didn't know how true that was, or maybe that only unicorns with some secret magic could do that. But when she waited for Apple Bloom to return the ball in their kicking practice, Scootaloo got a big surprise of Rainbow Dash offering her a one on one coaching experience! Was it telepathy or just that Rainbow was in the vicinity to hear the Pegasus talking to her fellow Crusader? Scootaloo couldn't tell but was excited for the moment.

The filly stood and watched as the rainbow manned mare went over the basics of a good pass kick. Rather than just tell the filly what to do, Scootaloo watched as in slow motion the mare demonstrated how each leg and hoof worked during the kick. She could see the problem now that she didn't extend her body enough while kicking, giving the kick only half the power it should. It all came together as Rainbow gave a kick to the ball, albeit not the hardest power but enough to illustrate the point, at Apple Bloom who deflected it back to the filly.

"Give that a try, see how it works for ya! Once ya get that down pat, I'll show you how to add a wing-flap at just the right time to give it even more power!"

"You got it," Scootaloo said knowing this was her time to shine. She backed away from the ball then took off running, her kicking leg poised to strike. In the moment when she was close to the ball and felt fully extended, she struck the ball with her might. The ball took off like a rocket towards her friend as Scootaloo stood pleased at the result, hoping that it was enough to please Rainbow Dash and that Apple Bloom would be able to intercept it.

Zecora could see that her tales of playing hoofball in Unyasi sparked Apple Bloom's attention. The zebra wasn't one to gloat but she explained this to prove a point: never judge a pony or zebra at first glance. But instead of Apple Bloom asking about how she played the filly defaulted to something else the zebra was know for: potion making. It wasn't her fault though as anypony could try and connect the interests together. She couldn't help but chuckle though at the fact that Apple Bloom seemed to want to get an edge over others with a miracle potion.

"Why Apple Bloom, where did you get that notion that everything could be solved with a potion? True my potions do help many with illness ind injury, but they are not good for substituting something as simple as technique and practicing. If you knew a pony had an edge through potions or magic, then your feelings towards them I believe would be tragic. I use my potions for the most necessary of situations, not to be better than the competition. Through exercise, technique and practice you'll see a greater improvement that any potion you drink would be. And best of all my little filly, the effects would be permanent instead of potions which can be temporary."

“Like, ready for a really radical fast ball?! Check this out!!”

Hoping that her advice resonated with Apple Bloom, Zecora turned back to her partner Sunset Beach. The filly was definitely strong in her technique, perhaps a little less with controlling the power of her kicks. A driving kick to the goal wasn't the same as a pass kick. As she turned she saw the ball coming at her, aimed right at her face! There was no time to react other than Zecora closing her eyes and turning her face away as the ball struck her in the side of her muzzle, causing the mare to crash to the ground.

Achievement Unlocked: Stripes Seeing Stars

[Bramble Rose]

Purple Haze's eyes lit up. "Ye din sae! Oi dinnae e'en know what those are! Ye'll hae ta visit soon, an' Oi'll lend ye me kitchen, so ye kin show me how tae make ... uh ... Jella Toe and Cucinas and Ladle Cakes! An' Oi'm right fond a taffy, a'course! Oi'll make ye th' main course, and y'all kin make desert! Oi don' fesh tae bein' a master chef, but Oi wanna be soon! Oi practice all th' time!"

She kept on passing the ball, all full of energy now that she had someone to talk kitchen talk with! Her passes weren't quite as accurate as normal, but they had plenty of oomph behind them! "We dinnae have really nice kitchen stuff, jes' what we could scrounge up, but it'll do in a pinch, roit? Dinnae need fancy tools, jes' some talent! Oi make garlic-roasted carrot sticks, an' carrot pot pie, which is different than carrot pie, an' Oi make chimicarrotchangas, an' Oi've a garden blend juice, an' carrot cakes, oh, ye'll love moi carrot spiced cupcakes!"

She almost wanted to quit tryouts and hurry home just to start cooking RIGHT NOW! Almost! She was so caught up in meeting her new cooking buddy that she didn't even notice her bestie near knock out Zecora!

​

Rainbow Dash

Dash grinned to see Scootaloo's next kick work so much better than before. "Good job!" she chirped up, ruffling Scootaloo's mane again. "Though I bet your partner there has a few tips about getting in a good kick, eh? She and her big sis both. Keep on bein' awesome!" She turned away to continue coaching and whatnot, just in time to see Zecora take one upside the noggin and plant her chin into the pitch. Dash recoiled in surprise, fumbled with her whistle, and gave it a good, loud blow. "Everypony stop!" she called. She didn't want another stray ball hitting Zecora while she was down! It was just a quick flap of her wings to get to Zecora, where she settled down on the ground to check over the ref.

"Hey, 'cora! You OK? How many hooves am I holding up?" she asked, then she turned her head towards the watching colts and fillies. "Hey, somepony go get the water jug and a cup!"

​

[brianblackberry]

Ermahgerd!! Sunrise Beach looked on in shock as her well placed kick beaned Miss Zecora right on the side of her head, knocking the zebra mare down. As bad as the situation was, Sunrise for a moment thought how awesome her kick was to do that before shaking herself of such a terrible, self-serving thought. Oh she was going to be in trouble now! What was the penalty for knocking an adult to the ground with a hoofball anyway? A year of Saturday detentions cleaning the hoofball grounds, having to live in the Everfree forest?!? What if she got kicked off the team before ever like, qualifying for the team? That would be so totally laaaaaame!!!

Coach Dash asked for a jug and glass of water and Sunrise was determined to be the one to bring them, eager to make up for her accidental mistake; it was the very least she could do. With a bluish glow of her horn, Sunrise nervously poured water ingo the nearest glass and then levitated it along with the jug behind her as she galloped as fast as her little legs could carry her to where Dash and Zecora were. "Like, I got it, I got it! Here you goooowhoaWHOA-" Without warning, Sunrise tripped over her own hoofball, temporarily losing control of her still weak magic. The glass, now free of the glow suspending it, flew forward, splashing it's watery contents all over Rainbow Dash and the still woozy Zecora as it fell to the ground at the same time Sunrise herself face planted into the grass. The jug fared a little better as it simply dropped into the soft earth and tilted slightly to the side, dripping water.

Ughhhh.. Tripped over her own ball, that was lametastic enough, but spilling water all over the adults, how could this moment get any worse?!

[PedestrianWolf]

Purple Haze seemed excited to talk about food and cooking, clearly it was a passion of hers. "Ye'll hae ta visit soon, an' Oi'll lend ye me kitchen, so ye kin show me how tae make ... uh ... Jella Toe and Cucinas and Ladle Cakes! An' Oi'm right fond a taffy, a'course!"

Marzipan giggled. There may be a language barrier between her and her new friend, but food was a language that everypony could understand. The little pegasus hopped from side to side, flapping her wings every so often to catch the passes that her partner was sending her way and kicking them back towards the earth filly. She didn't practice as much as she should, so her passes weren't really accurate either. At least she didn't send the ball way down the field, or over Purple's head.

The mention of carrot cake had her intrigued. At home, she was used to making cakes with frut and nuts, but she never had cake made with carrots. That sounded very interesting, and possibly delicious. Her tummy growled just thinking about it. Hopefully soon the coach would call for a break so they could dig in to the snacks her cousin brought.

Marzipan was just about to return a pass when Coach Dash blew the whistle and called for everypony to stop. The little filly stumbled a step, sending the ball a few feet away from her with a clumsy half kick. She turned to see that the zebra referee was down, and coach was hovering over her. "Ciò che sta accadendo?"[what's happening?] she wondered out loud, to nopony in particular. Just then Sunrise came running over with a jug of water, which she managed to spill all over both adults when she tripped over a stray ball. "Oh mai..." the pegasus filly put a hoof to her mouth in surprise, then stifled another giggle. She felt bad for everypony involved, but it was a little bit funny, too.

[SteelEagle]

Apple Bloom imagined that if Scootaloo ever got full control of her kicks that she could be a pony to watch out for, a real great attacker who would score many, many goals. But before that fever dream could come true Apple Bloom had to see if Scootaloo could develop that control. You couldn't have greatness without actually being great and if she knew anything, she knew Scootaloo had it in her. And considering the way the ball Scootaloo kicked slammed into Apple Bloom's unaware face as she gazed at the developing situation with Zecora, Scootaloo at least had the power of it all down. The ball impacted on Apple Bloom's right cheek like a freight train, snapping her head in the opposite direction. Her hooves scrambled underneath her to remain up but this was a mostly failed operation as she went down to just her left hoof stabilizing against the ground and preventing a full collapse. After a woozy second she got back up on her back fetlocks and then on all fours, shaking her head. Her pupils in her eyes may as well have been stars for how often they rolled around in her head before she regained her composure, the ball bouncing back towards Scootaloo in good form randomly.

“Unnf...good kick, Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom replied weakly before she started walking it off as if it was no big whoop.

It sorta was, at least a little bit. Scootaloo had really put something on that ball and she wasn't prepared for it all, her whole head feeling like a bottom being spanked after a particularly naughty act. It hurt quite a bit but she wouldn't let it show, at least not now. Zecora was still down and Apple Bloom was gonna be there to make sure she was dandy. Gotta have both adults ready to go! It also helped that she was an Apple and Apples didn't go down easy, ear-splitting headache or not! Why, it would be silly foolhardy for her to give in to that when she had that legacy to live up to. So she sucked it up, hid away the pain, and trotted to Zecora and Rainbow Dash. Poor Zecora didn't look any worse for wear and nopony looked any better when Sunrise tripped over herself and lost control of the water that then went all over the adults. Apple Bloom winced- partially because of the pain in her head but mostly out of embarrassment for Sunrise, who Apple Bloom trotted on over to help up. Talk about a poor day so far for Sunrise, Abby could only hope that an extra lap or ten was the only extra punishment. With that in mind, Apple Bloom turned back to Zecora.

“Y'all...okay Zecora? Ahh...” Apple Bloom shook her head, giggling a little as she shot Sunrise a bit of a stare, “that was one heck of...a kick thar, Sunrise. I'll go an' get tha water everypony and...” Apple Bloom trailed off, trotting on over and pouring a nice cup of water and then coming on back to the fallen Zebra.

“Here ya go!”

[Lux]

"Everypony stop!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as Scootaloo immediately halted. But she had already gave the hoofball a kick. She gasp as the ball landed not in Apple Bloom's capable hooves, not even on her forehead which she could easily bounce it back. Instead the ball struck Apple Bloom in the cheek, and down she went. Great, Zecora was already down and now her best friend was down too.

"Apple Bloom, are you ok?" Scootaloo said frozen in place not wanting to move unless Rainbow Dash said so. To her relief, Apple Bloom got up albeit a bit dazed.

“Unnf...good kick, Scootaloo,”

"Heh, thanks. Sorry I didn't watch when I kicked the ball."

Zecora saw nothing but blackness and heard only muffled voices. Slowly though she started to come to as the voices became clearer.

"Hey, 'cora! You OK? How many hooves am I holding up?"

Before answering this, Zecora felt a splash of icy cold water in her face.

"AHHHH!" the zebra said sitting bolt upright as she looked around at the sea of pony faces, "Oh hello Apple Bloom, you're face looks like it's filled with gloom. Thanks for the water, it will surely make me feel better. And yes Sunrise, that kick was a surprise. It was my fault though as I should have watched as where the ball should go. But before we waste the day, let us continue to play."

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash

Rainbow Dash grinned wryly and helped Zecora to her hooves. "Water and better? You're absolutely sure you're okay?" she asked, but it was only a hoofball... Still, if Zecora was feeling woozy, Dash hadn't been expecting help today anyway. "If you're dizzy, you don't have to keep helping out today."

But in the end, she had to trust Zecora to know what was up. She stood up and gathered the colts and fillies back together, and proceeded to run them through some more solo exercises to see how everypony was doing. For a while she had them running in figure eight patterns, passing to each other on the run. Then they were shooting on the goal, with the young ponies taking turns at playing the part of goaltender.

"All right, everypony! Take ten!" she called. "Everypony go get some water and some snacks, but eat light, cause in ten minutes we'll be starting to see who works as a team just right! That'll show me what I need to assign you to teams, and you'll go head to head in a proper match!"

​

Purple Haze was concerned about Zecora, of course, and felt bad for her bestie's embarassment. She patted Sunrise on the back reassuringly, letting her know that everything was all right. And thankfully, everything was! She kept talking with Marzipan about her favorite subject: Food - which seemed to keep straying over into math as well. To Purple's little mind, food and math were intrinsically mixed. But to be polite to Sunrise, she also brought up the Wonderbolts sometimes, and let her gush over them. She didn't see what the big deal was with the Wonderbolts, but lots of ponies seemed to like them. She wondered what Marzipan thought of them...

She was pretty proud of how she'd played as goalie. She hadn't stopped the most balls, but she'd had a few really good kickers that she had to go against. Hopefully, Dash wasn't so big an egghead that she wouldn't see that ... despite how much fun she was having, she was glad when a break was called. "Oi cannae wait tae see what yer nibbles taste loik, Marzipan!" she said, trotting over with a spring in her step. The tryouts had hardly been rough for her - she was used to working all day in the field, and back home just heading next door sometimes involved a fifteen minute gallop, so she wasn't tired in the least. But first things first, she did want some Canterade. She filled one of the little cups and drank it right down to the bottom, then politely stood around waiting for everypony to have their turn with the cooler so she could get some more! "What did ye bring?"

The standard snacks were already there - the Canterade, and the orange slices. But she could see some tantalizing plates of golden something that looked like butterscotch that the other little background ponies were already clustering around.

​

[brianblackberry]

As embarrassed as Sunrise Beach was in regards to her tumble and spill, that feeling paled in comparison to her surprise that she didn't get in any actual trouble for the accident. Other than a disapproving stare and sardonic compliment from Applebloom, nopony chastised her for what happened, not even Coach Dash! The turquoise filly was sure the coach would at least lecture her about being the same page as her teammate, or that she was not paying attention, or just being too reckless, but there was nothing; she was off the hook! Still, her dam always taught her to at least apologize if you did somepony wrong, even if it was incidental. With that in mind she trotted up to Zecora and gave her best smile, "say umm, Mizz Zecora, like, umm, sorry for kicking the ball at you when you weren't looking, that's my bad. I just wanted to show off my radical ball skills but like, should have been paying more attention, like sorry again!"

The next couple practice runs went considerably better for Sunrise, mainly because she didn't cause any injuries or somehow face planted in front of her friends, not to mention the colts. The figure eight running and passing actually were flawless for her, as it played on her strengths, the goal tending however bit less so, although she did better than the majority, she certainly wasn't up to par with her bestie Purple Haze's ability in front of the net. All of this was important but it what was Coach Dash announced coming up after break that really mattered, determining team position!

She trotted up to Purple and Marizpan, she had been listening to their conversation all morning and although the majority of the time it was about fancy foods Sunrise could even barely pronounce let alone know anything about making, Purple did bring up the Wonderbolts on more than one occasion. "Like hey! Did you know our coach is one? How totally awesome is that? Sure, like you could say she is only in the reserves, but still isn't it so righteously cool we have a Wonderbolt?! She can't be an egghead if she is like, a pro athlete!" Maybe Purple mistook the coach for somepony else, she wasn't that knowledgeable on the aerobatic team after all, despite Sunrise's best efforts to keep her bestie up to date on the roster and their stats. No egghead would be interested in being a Wonderbolt anyway; they were all into studying books all day, like Princess Twilight.

"How about you Marzipan? You into the Wonderbolts? Ever get to see their shows in Cloudsdale? I hear those are like, the best! You can only see them though if you can fly and junk though. So Jelly!"

[Pretzelparty]

Bebop Slide

So far this was pretty fun, the ponies attending were really nice, Bebop had made two new friends, and she was even getting quite a workout. Bebop had been participating in each event, so far she did pretty well on the laps, she was pretty good with kicks but she fell just a bit short of the more physical prone ponies present. While she didn't seem to be suited to to many of the movements that would suit most of the roles that required most movement, she had excellent twitch reflexes in regards to both her magic and short movements. As practice dragged along she seemed to show remarkable promise as a Goalie. There were only a few balls that manged to get past her, and even those she managed to at least clip them while they were on course to the net.

So far the only thing that gave the little unicorn pause was that doozy of a kick that had a few casualties; Zecora and Apple bloom. Abby seemed to be pretty unphased by the incident, save for a slightly wobbly start to her walk over to Zecora. Scootaloo was currently in a mixed mood of apologetic and embarassed...

Rainbow Dash

"All right, everypony! Take ten!" she called. "Everypony go get some water and some snacks, but eat light, cause in ten minutes we'll be starting to see who works as a team just right! That'll show me what I need to assign you to teams, and you'll go head to head in a proper match!"

​

The filly leapt in excitement, finally a break! The filly galloped on over and snatched up her notepad and pencil, once again holding it at her side in her magical aura. In her excitement the very first pony she went to see was the coach, jumping up and down to get her attention with the little notepad orbiting in front of her. It seemed like the adrenaline was getting to her since still had quite a bit of bounce in her step, on the paper she brandished in dash's direction it asked if she did a good job... and also if everything was okay with Zecora.

[PedestrianWolf]

After all the running and passing and practice kicks at the goal poor Marzipan was tired. She slowly flapped her way over to the snacks table with the other colts and fillies to partake of some water and orange slices. She was also ravenous, so she hoped that the cookies her cousin had brought weren't all gobbled up by the time she got there. Fortunately there was plenty to go around, and she got her hooves on two haystacks and half an orange. Sitting off to the side by Sunrise Beach and Purple Haze, she asked her companions "Soo... who do youa think weel make tha team? I'ma gonna be a forward certo! What abouta you?"

[SteelEagle]

Well, at least Zecora was dandy enough to continue being the best zebra this side of the water. It didn't ever feel very good to have your head swimming in a sea of suspicious fluidity like Apple Bloom's head felt like at the moment but for Zecora everything appeared fine. Good. She wanted her zebra friend here today to see everypony have fun. The only thing better than one trusted adult around was two and with both Dash and Zecora around this team was going to get a double dose of training. Even if Zecora didn't strike Abby as the most sporty zebra in the world, she had a good way with children. And heck, maybe they'd both have big ol' head bruises to show off next time Abby visited for a nice potion surprise. “Y'all just make sure ta drink up, Zecora. Don't wantcha ta have to leave! More bushels are always better than fewer, Ah say. Well, so does Applejack...anyway...” Apple Bloom trailed off as Rainbow's new order came down form on high, more so figuratively than literally.

Lunch time! Apple Bloom snapped off a quick salute and bounded towards the snacking area. Apple Bloom knew the value of some nice good old fashioned, but for today she had packed something a bit lighter than normal on account of the harvest being overwhelming. A nice little group of granny smith apples prepared by Granny Smith of the Apples! Of course you had the normal assortment of Canternade and other treats, but for Abby she was set. Well, a bit of Canternade never hurt anypony so maybe a cup of that. Along the way, Abby looked back at Scootaloo and smiled. “Ah'm fine. Yer kick was good but it wasn't that good,” She winked, giggling as she approached the larger group. Speaking of kicking, Sunrise had a whale of a kicker in place of a hoof. If they could get her to control it then boy howdy would she be a good one. Bepop and Purple had both shown some good promise as goalies when Abby had dared to glance over. Not a bad start all things considered. Apple Bloom popped open her small apple saddlebag and tossed one Scootaloo's way.

“Catch, Scoots! Anypony else want one?” She tossed another one up, this time catching it in mid-air with a giant CHOMP motion, felling the apple in one move. Yes, the things one learns as an Apple. She poured herself some Canternade when it was clear and started to look at Sunrise's legs. Not bad. Heck, she could probably do a lot more with them. They seemed a bit on the flabbier side of things, all soft like. Not like Abby's which were certainly more packed and lean. “Sunrise, you sure do have some power in yer legs! Y'all do any practice or workouts for 'em? Yer always welcome at Sweet Apple Acres if ya wanna buck with me!”

[Lux]

The dizzy feeling cleared as Zecora managed to stand up and move about. There was still a concern on many of the ponies' faces as if they were unsure that the zebra would take a few steps and keel over again. But thankfully it was only a hoofball and not something heavier, and if there was one thing she knew from helping other ponies it was that things could have been worse. The first pony to attend to was Rainbow Dash who was concerned about whether she could continue as an assistant coach. There was no secret that Rainbow felt confident to lead the herd of hoofball players on her own and Zecora's appearance was a shock to her as it was to everypony, but she was by no means willing to head home after this one incident.

"Thank you for your concern Rainbow, but there is something that I know. I know that I feel well enough to stay and I have faith it will continue this way. It will take more than a hoof ball to cause me to fall. As long as I am well enough to stay, I will continue to help you in any way."

Turning her head, Zecora could see a remorseful Sunrise Beach who apologized multiple times for her actions.

"it is ok Sunrise. Yes your kick took me by surprise. Right now I feel better than before, and as time passes I will feel better more. It will take much more you see to keep helping you away from me. But let this be a lesson to you that you need to watch what you do. Hoffball isn't a way to show off or get fame but working with others and have fun playing the game. But this event did remind me of when I was a filly. I want to show to my friends what I could do, the same thing that happened to you. But just as you did to me, I accidentally caused an injury. I remember feeling very bad but in the end no pony was mad. From that day on I learned that my skills needed to be restrained so I would reduce the chance of hurting my friends again."

“Y'all just make sure ta drink up, Zecora. Don't wantcha ta have to leave! More bushels are always better than fewer, Ah say. Well, so does Applejack...anyway...”

"Yes, I will stay hydrated today so that I can continue to help you all play."

With the incident of Zecora being resolved Scootaloo was ready for an all important event in hoofball practice: snack time. It was hard work practicing and the filly needed a moment to rest. She was happy to see that her friend Apple Bloom was also fully recovered from her own hit with the ball too. She would hate to see her friend be the victim of a knockout by hoofball. But Apple Bloom was a tough filly, perhaps tougher than any other pony in her class. Maybe it was kicking all those trees or that she had a steady diet of apples. Maybe they were super apples! It wouldn't be a surprise considering how strong Applejack was and how big Big Macintosh was and how Granny Smith could live that long!

“Ah'm fine. Yer kick was good but it wasn't that good,”

"Oh really?" Scootaloo said with a smirk, "Well let's see about that when we get into a real game!"

Apple Bloom then tossed her a big Granny Smith Apple which Scootaloo caught. Maybe now that she had one of those super apples the orange filly would be... more super than she was now!

“Sunrise, you sure do have some power in yer legs! Y'all do any practice or workouts for 'em? Yer always welcome at Sweet Apple Acres if ya wanna buck with me!”

"Yeah, you have some strong kicks. I'd hate to be on the receiving end of those back hooves!"

[Bramble Rose]

Purple Haze rolled her eyes as Sunrise began the campaign for the Wonderbolts again. "Oye, Sunrise, if ye loik th' Wonderbolts, that's all well an' good, an Oi'm glad ye love sommat that much, but they're nae really an athletic team. They're more loik ... synchronized swimmers. Sure'n we think it's spiffy tae fly, but they're pegasus ponies. It's loik walkin' tae them! Sure'n they're pretty an' all, but Oi heard Dash talkin' wi' me big brae. Was all about how excited she was 'bout a test she took. Paper test, writin' down answers. An' she's all giddy o'er it, an' 'bout how she studied fer it. 'at sounds loik an egghead tae me!"

She was happy to get back to talking about practice, though. "Oh, we're shoo-ins, Marzi! Obviously th' best ones 'ere. We're roit lucky that we grabbed ye up, aye? Oi'd love tae be a defender er even th' goalie. But ye two're obviously good fer forwards! Maybe Sunrise'll e'en be Stroiker, aye?"

​

Rainbow Dash

Dash grinned down at the excited little mute unicorn, giving a ruffle to Bebop's mane. "Well, sure! Not promising anything, but you've been doing great! Til we're done, though, nopony knows their fate. You'll have to wait til tomorrow to see the postings, but you showed some real hustle out there. Zecora's doing just fine, thanks for asking. Now go get some drinks, gotta stay fit!"

As the fillies and colts went off to the snack table, and she was finally alone with Zecora, she grinned over to the Zebra. "Cute kids. What do you think of them? The Cutie Mark Crusaders are doing all right, but they might be a bit young. Nopony standing out above th' rest, though. No stars here... Sunrise is pretty darn good, though. That lil' unicorn ... Bebop? She showed real hustle in the goal, but she's a mite small. Good forwards will just kick over her. Purple did good there, too. Let's put Bebop as goalie for one team, and Purple for the other. Wonder if we should split up Sunrise and Marzipan and send them against each other, or put them on the same team and see how well they work together? And same with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. Wish we had some more of the older fillies and colts for the team. No real obvious Strikers ... but I guess at this age that's normal. Lots of good foals here today... gonna break my heart to have to pick just 15 or so."

​

[brianblackberry]

Sunrise Beach puffed up at Apple Bloom's praise, feeling awfully proud - even if she still felt a bit guilty about Zecora. "Like, thanks oodles! I had to move around a lot cause my mom's always getting new jobs in new cities, and one of the few things I could always depend on is that I could find a pickup game here and there! That's like how I learned the game, just by like, playing, no fancy books! Even got mah cutie mark through Hoofball! The bucking idea sounds neat, though, that'd be a great way to build up power! I think I'll have to take you up on that!"

She turned back to hear her bestie Purple Haze dismissing the Wonderbolts again. "Wh... wh... what?! Of course it's a sport! They're... yeah, swimming's a sport, too, and ... you!" She was nearly incoherent with her indignation. "It takes endurance! And coordination! And teamwork!" She turned to Marzipan. "Right? Right?" she asked, looking for confirmation, then turned back ot Purple. "And ... and ... you think those Highland Games are sports, and they just chuck things, play crazy music, and drink lots and lots of cider! Oh and belch, grody!!"

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to get herself under control, then let out that breath slowly. "So anyway! Yeah, we're totally in! Like, who else is gnarly enough to make the team? Well okay, Scoots and Abby there are pretty good, and that brown little unicorn mime seems pretty righteous for her size, but c'mon, us three are totally a shoo-in! We're not just athletic, we're also a team! And Purple knows th' coach!"

[PedestrianWolf]

Marzipan watched Sunrise and Purple argue back and forth, turning to watch each verbal volley like it was a tennis match. Clearly the little unicorn was a huge Wonderbolts fan, the way she got all indignant and defended them against the earth pony's dismissive comments.

 

"Oye, Sunrise, if ye loik th' Wonderbolts, that's all well an' good, an Oi'm glad ye love sommat that much, but they're nae really an athletic team."

"It takes endurance!  And coordination!  And teamwork! Right?"

 

This last comment was directed at Marzipan. She blinked, half a cookie still in her mouth. As she chewed, she thought about an answer that would satisfy everypony.

 

"Ah, er... si. Flying is easy, lika walking, but is also lika Sunrise say, teamwork. To fly alla fancy isa very hard, molto practica. Although, I know nada abouta eggs on heads." she said with a puzzled expression.