Ponyville Junior Hoofball Tryouts

[PedestrianWolf]

Marzipan felt really badly now. Not only did her inattentiveness cause her to run into her teammates, but now the pony pile was causing an obstruction to the other players too. No sooner had they started getting up, then another trio of fillies ran into them. She disentangled herself from the group, and shook her head to try and rid herself of the ringing in her ears.

"Oye! Careful there!" "Like are you alright?" "Y'all okay?"

"Si, yes, I am fine. Is everypony else, uh, o-kay-e?" The little pegasus filly wasn't sure she was pronouncing the word right. It didn't matter too much, really. After making sure that all the fillies were on their feet again, she apologized some more, then offered a proposal.

"We start running again now, yes? Focus on goal. In bocca al lupo!" And with that statement, she took off at a gallop, wind in her mane and a huge grin plastered across her face. "You catch me now, eh? Hiyah!"

In bocca al lupo in Italian means Into the mouth of the wolf, or Good Luck.

[brianblackberry]

Sunrise Beach tilted her head in confusion as Marzipan claimed she was alright, at least that is what Sunrise though the pegasus said. Ugh! Accents and foreign words! Why are they so hard to figure out?! Even her bestie Purple Haze was hard to understand some days, and the earth filly was still far easier to follow than her older brother. At least Marzipan appeared apologetic, prompting Sunrise to believe it was all just an accident anyway. "Like, uhh, it's fine; just we don't want to be too like, clumsy, or the coach will think we can't hack it! Even if she is like, an egghead."

Before Sunrise could elaborate on the egghead part, the cream colored pegasus said something in her language that Sunrise swore she heard before, but like much of the Itailian language, she couldn’t remember what the words actually meant. Before the turquoise unicorn could inquire, Marzipan was off like a bolt of lightning, daring the others to catch up! Sunrise was incredulous! “Heyyy! No fair! Like, if it’s a race you want...”

Unfortunately for Sunrise, she couldn't even finish speaking before she found herself suddenly caught up in a magical aura, temporarily lifted out of the pile, but more importantly, off the ground, unable to move anywhere! “Like, what’s the deal here? This is bogus!” Before she could protest further, she was back on her own hooves, “like uhh, thanks, I guess…” She wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the other unicorn’s intervention; after all, what if the other unicorn wanted to be the Striker, and she wanted to make sure Sunrise did poorly in the laps! No way was that going to happen! Sunrise didn’t say anything else, just gave the other unicorn filly a suspicious look before she took off after marzipan, “c’mon Purple, she’s like, got a head start on us!”

There just wasn't time to check on the other ponies; she had to prove her worth to the coach!

[Pretzelparty]

“Like, what’s the deal here? This is bogus!” Before she could protest further, she was back on her own hooves, “like uhh, thanks, I guess…”

Bebop gave Sunrise a skeptical look. She'd stopped her team and along with Applebloom the two had helped their fellow athletes back to their hooves and all they got that halfhearted thanks? Bebop would have just given Sunrise a simple nod as if to say,"No problem." but before she could Sunrise had already shot bebop some looks of her own then darted off after her friend who had already taken off. She wasn't sure if it was that feeling of competition that compelled Sunrise to act that way, but Bebop could never approve of impoliteness. For now though, Bebop was willing to let it go for the time being as a certain unfortunate pegasus didn't react fast enough to her prior signal.

Poor Scootaloo apparently hadn't seen Bebop's signal in time. The poor orange filly soon found herself colliding with the pile up and was left severely jumbled in the head. She wasn't about to leave her teammates behind to keep running, no more than she'd leave the three pony pile up alone earlier, so she galloped back to Scootaloo in time to hear her speak.

"Ugh! Can anypony tell me the number of that wall that hit me?"

"Oh hey Apple Bloom... um which one is you?"

Bebop made it in time to stand beside Applebloom, a trio of bebops soon infiltrating scootaloo's view. upon hearing Scootaloo's question the trio of Bebops pointed the hooves all at the Applebloom to their side and then offered scootaloo a hoof to help her up.

[Bramble Rose]

Ooof, erf, oog! Colliding ponies made the world spin and tumble again, but Purple could tell that Marzipan had made it out, and was apologizing. "Ach, well, it's nae a -" Wait a minute! Why, that little cheater! Purple had to appreciate Marzipan's strategy, and got a big grin on her face as she tried to wriggle out of - ACK!

Her hooves churned empty air helplessly as she was floated free... "Comon... comon..." Purchase! As soon as her hooves hit soil she was off like a little orange and green bolt, right behind Sunrise as she hurried to try to catch up with the quick pegasus pony. Aw, horse apples! Her wonderful lead was ruined! Well, time to see what earth pony stubbornness was worth in a race!

​

Rainbow Dash started towards the pile-up, but stopped to see how the young colts and fillies would handle it. Quite well, it seemed! They all seemed relatively all right, helping each other out like good team-mates. She grinned proudly. Yup, when the laps were over she'd have some glowing praise for this lot, that was for sure!

​

[SteelEagle]

That wasn't expected. Nor was it very nice! Here they had stopped instead of getting a lead on them to check up and ensure they were okay and Purple, Sunrise, and Marzipan didn't really bother to show any appreciation for their helpers. Well, you could teach skills, you could build strength, you could run and increas eyour endurance, but you could never create a pony's character. Besides, there was always the chance that the three of 'em were just caught up in the thrill of competition instead of realizing they needed to work together, but that was something that could be taught too. Rainbow Dash was a smart pony and knew all about teamwork and good sportsmanship and before they had to take the field together as a team Apple Bloom had all the faith in the world that they would be able to come together as one great unit. And then, well then, let all the other teams tremble! Yeehaaawwwww PONYVILLE!

'Course, she couldn't leave without Scootaloo, whom she pulled up off the ground. The one on the right side, to be particular. It was a lot better than the one in the middle or on the left. She patted Scootaloo on the back and gave a worried expression. Hopefully it wasn't anythig serious, just a bit of a head bonk' that was seemingly super common in their crusading together. She nodded towards Bepop and smiled, thankful for her effort as Apple Bloom considered that they weren't going to 'win' the laps and were never meant to, and that making sure they went through the end together was far more importany. They would need Scootaloo, one way or another though honestly Apple Bloom was much more in the 'one way camp' than the 'another' camp. It didn't involve tossing the pegasus on her back and carrying her the rest of the way. While she could do that, well, Scootaloo was a darn good player and she wanted the pegasus to show it to her idol.

"Are ya okay ta run, Scootaloo? You can lead tha way. We'll keep pace with ya," Apple Bloom offered warmly, determined to see it through.

[Lux]

Scootaloo in her foggy mind saw Bebop waving wildly at the three Apple Blooms, although still unsure who was the real one. Maybe none of them were, or maybe they all were like when she happened to see several Pinkie Pies in town. As the right Apple Bloom, or at least the one on the right, pulled her up, the others rudely just staring at her, Scootaloo began to regain her senses. The three clones then merged into the friend she knew, albeit one that had a concerned look on her face. All she did was roll into a pile of ponies. It wasn't that bad, was it?

"Oh hi Apple Bloom," the orange Pegasus said while checking to make sure she was fit to practice, "I'm glad i found the real you. And thanks too Bebop. I guess I couldn't stop in time. Anyway, are we ready to go again?"

Scootaloo hoped that the mishap could be pushed as far from her mind as possible as she shifted gears to training for hoofball.

[PedestrianWolf]

Marzipan kicked up her heels and ran as fast as she could go for about a dozen yards, then slowed up a bit to let her teammates catch up with her. This time she made sure to keep her wings tucked against her sides, and didn't let her attention wander. Causing a six pony pileup was not the way she wanted to start her introduction to the other colts and fillies of Ponyville. The little pegasus lengthened her strides, stretching her legs to their limits. She was focused now, so focused. It may not be a race, but she was going to put on a good show for the coach anyways.

[MudBug]

It'd been a while since the little foal had tried anything outside of school, he'd mostly been busy being his aunt Spearmint's little dentist helper, but she and a letter from his fond but estranged parents had encouraged the foal to try something a little different for himself. Besides it'd be a good chance to earn his cutiemark! Still...learning about the Hoofball Tryouts, he was rather....reluctant to say the least. Even with his little gym saddle bag and tiny hoof sweat bands, another band to keep that overly fluffy mane out of his eyes for once. The young colt had certainly had a growth spurt over the years, no longer a tiny little foal he could easily match the height of any earth pony colt.

Speaking of which.

"I can't believe my dad told me to come to tryouts with -you-." The slightly larger colt snorted.

Champ had always been a rather rough around the edges young earth pony, ever since coming to Ponyville from Fillydelphia and now was no different, but since the issue with Cheerilee and the Everfree Forest, he'd atleast learnt to cool it down a little bit.

Just a little.

As the dark teal coated young male trotted alongside the white pegasus onto the field, he watched the ball pass around, the girls seemed to be doing rather well for themselves despite it being a try out. Even he could admit that amidst the little ego solidified social wall he'd built for himself to keep most, if not all ponies out. However he was quite eagerly watching the little match...until-

BAM.

Oh no don't laugh. Don't laugh. Don't-

"BWAHAHAHA!!!! OH! OH MAN!!" The colt was soon on his back, holding his belly slightly from the sight of watching the filly pile-up in the middle of the field, much to his little friend's frown.

"Champ! You promised your dad you'd try to be nice!" Starlight scolded, tail tuft wriggling irritatedly as he watched the teal cold roll his eyes and move back to his hooves. It was definitely a start, atleast he wasn't calling them names. Back on topic, the white foal used his now, much stronger wings, to good use and fluttered out slightly onto the field with Champ in tow, heading for Rainbow Dash's side. He didn't want to throw off the game in full swing after all and the girls looked like they were enjoying themselves.

"Miss Rainbow Dash!" He called out with a smile, stumbling just a touch as he landed before looking up at the blue pegasus. "Me and Champ wondered if we could, uhm, try out for the tryouts?"

He could feel the cold stare of Champ already boring into the back of his head for that -awful- attempt at a joke.

[brianblackberry]

Sunrise Beach began to hit her stride, distancing herself from the others and slowly catching up to the beige pegasus, Marzipan, her confidence growing. She knew she could do this, sports were her specialty after all, she was sure of it! She was full of enthusiasm and drive for sports and other physical activities, heck she knows she'll be a sports star, well that or a royal guard! One of the two, that is what her cutie mark told her!

As the turquoise filly continued towards the finish line she noticed in the corner of her eye two new ponies who had shown up, no doubt to try out for the team as well. Neither looked to be unicorns, which was good, less competition for the Striker position then! Both were also colts, which alone gave her a reason to check them out even more; once she was finish with the race of course!

Then it dawned on Sunrise that she may have known one of them. She took a quick double-take to be sure; she was right, the white pegasus, he was Starlight! The little pegasus colt she met a few times before a year or so back. She remembered he was very sweet, and quite little for a colt of his age, had a n adorable rainbow stripe through his mane and tail, was adorably cute. He looks so different now… So grown.. He’s gotten like, hawt! Sunrise kept looking in the direction of the pair, checking the pegasus and his fairly good looking friend out a bit too much, not paying attention to the track; a fact she only realized when she suddenly tripped up!

No, no, no! This is bad, gotta get up quick! Bad enough to trip up on the laps in front of the team and the coach, looking like some four left footed egghead, but in front of the colts too! How totally embarrassing!

Sunrise jumped up and quickly started to run again, hoping she wasn’t too far behind. Needed to focus on the track, don’t look around. Focus on the race, not on the colts.

Too late for that, why did he have to be so handsome?!

[Pretzelparty]

"Are ya okay ta run, Scootaloo? You can lead tha way. We'll keep pace with ya,"

"Oh hi Apple Bloom," the orange Pegasus said while checking to make sure she was fit to practice, "I'm glad i found the real you. And thanks too Bebop. I guess I couldn't stop in time. Anyway, are we ready to go again?"

The dark brown filly gave a eager nod as she looked to her partners. The little unicorn put on her best look of determination and looked at the track, assuming one of those about to race posture you'd see some of those professional race ponies get into when they first started off. Even if the ponies she and her friends had helped out earlier were a bit rude, Bebop wasn't about to let this little setback on the track ruin this day.

Whoever wound up leading their group in the laps again, Bebop was sure to keep galloping right behind them and pace herself accordingly. She still seemed to have enough energy to spare as she was still able to keep up beside the two crusaders. She may have one or two beads of sweat on her but she was nowhere near winded enough to stop. As the trio came around the next turn the noticed that some new ponies had come by; a couple of colts. This was going to be fun!

[Bramble Rose]

Rainbow Dash turned to see the two colts approaching. "Tsk. You're late! Of course you can try out, but you wanna be on the team, you have to be on time! So hurry up, you two team together, and stay together as you get six laps around the field in! No flying, just running! Get moving" She clapped her hooves on the ground. "Move move move! You're already a couple laps behind!"

​

Purple Haze was worried. She knew she wasn't a fast runner - she was a long-distance runner. But she could work all day in the field. Did Dash understand enough about sports to know that speed wasn't the only important thing? She was awfully obsessed with speed, despite being such an egghead. She was quickly at the end of their little group of three, just barely able to keep up by pushing herself really hard - but that wasn't going to last.

What *was* it that Sunrise kept looking at over her shoulder? She was going to EEP! Purple leapt over the tumbling Sunrise, managing to avoid another pile-up, and quickly gave her a hoof up so they could keep going, falling a little behind Marzipan now. "Mars, wait up!" she gasped. "Oye, Sunrise! What are ye sae-" She glanced over her shoulder and saw the colts, then. "Ohhhh... ye *loik* him!" She giggled and rolled her eyes. "'e is a cutie, Oi'll givee 'at. But ye better keep yer eyes on yer runnin'!" She was panting, then, and didn't have the breath left for more talking.

​

[SteelEagle]

Scootaloo seemed all rearing to go which was fine by Apple Bloom. This had been a frustrating start to the day because of a little bit of rudeness and a lot of clumsiness. She was all for helping her fellow ponies out and making sure everypony was okay and truth be told that WAS real sportsmareship, but c'mon. She was here to run and get rough and be the best player she could be and help her team be the best it could be. All of this starting and stopping was starting to get annoying. She just wanted to get the lap over with and get onto some real lessons and testing of their skills. So with Scootaloo ready to rock and roll and Bepop rocking and harmonizing about, Apple Bloom felt confident that now was the time of times.

After Scootaloo was up, Apple Bloom took off. No more missus nice filly. They had paced themselves and not had any massive faults for long enough. She wanted to get these six laps over with and she wanted them over fast. Her legs moved swiftly and decisively as her body pumped enough oxygen to power seventeen reactors that were powered by a filly's oxygen! She breathed and pumped and galloped and sweated and she breathed and pumped and galloped and sweated and she did it again and again, feeling just as fine as she ever had. Now was not the time for waddling about like a bloated tick, now was the time for sleek movements and swift hooves and Apple Bloom had both in spades. The Crusaders Plus Bepop moved past the downed Sunrise- Apple Bloom had noticed the cute colts who had just started their own laps as well but was either not old enough to really care or too focused, answer dependent on who you asked- and continued the gallop. She just wanted to ee the laps finished.

It wasn't too long before she did so, finishing the sixth lap with a little huffing but no puffing. Frankly, she could have ran thirty- she was all about endurance and stamina. After she finished, she took a wide trot's berth to allow her friends to catch up. Best to present themselves as a team. "Coach Dash, we're finished!" Apple Bloom yelled once the trio had finished, tail bobbing excitedly behind her as her front right hoof tapped ground energetically and expectantly. Once they were all done, no doubt Rainbow Dash would have them start really trying out and training for the team. How would the others fare? Apple Bloom was confident of her own abilities but Celestia knew that a few ponies here, colts included, were mysteries to the filly. But all mysteries can be solved by good coaching!

[Lux]

Legs: check.

Head: no longer spinning.

Vision: no longer seeing three of her friend Apple Bloom.

It was all systems go for Scootaloo to get going again. She could tell that her friends Apple Bloom and Bebop were anxious to get this lap running over and done with so they can get to the really reason why they were there: kicking hoofballs and taking names! Anypony worth their salt could run whether it was running with friends or running to school to not be late or even running away from something creepy! While running was good to get you from one end of the field to the other, there was much more to do than run in circles all day.

As the yellow earth pony and the brown unicorn took off, Scootaloo charged ahead, her blood pumping into every leg muscle she could afford! Although not the fastest runner a Pegasus pony's body was typically lighter than the other pony types making every movement she made easier on her body. She rushed past some colts who were laughing at the pony pile up, not worried about them now but making a mental note to watch them. Everypony here had the opportunity to be a teammate or a pony to play against, and time would tell where things would stand.

Finally she made a valiant dash to the finish line, slightly winded but still in good spirits. It was a great way to get practice started.

"All set Rainbow Dash... I mean Coach!"

[PedestrianWolf]

The almond coated pegasus looked over her shoulder to see if her teammates were catching up, when she saw Sunrise Beach stumble and nearly fall on her face. The little turquoise unicorn righted herself quickly and kept running with the help of Purple Haze, who had caught up with them by then. Marzipan wondered what on earth Sunrise was looking at when she tripped. As she rounded the corner, she found the answer; a couple of colts had entered the field.

*sigh* Boys. Of course.

It wasn't that Marzipan didn't like boys, but they tended to play a bit too rough. She had nearly broken a wing a few months ago when an earth pony colt had tried to tackle her while playing a pickup hoofball game. Luckily she was nimble enough to avoid injury, and she had given the oaf a good tongue lashing while hovering over his head. The little pegasus was pretty certain she would not be allowed to do that here, even if it was in another language that the coach didn't understand. Especially not with all the hoof gestures that went with the cussing out.

Hearing Purple beg her to wait up, Marzipan slowed her pace while keeping her strides long. By the time the three finished their laps, she had a stitch in her side and was breathing heavily, but she felt good. It had indeed been awhile since she had the opportunity to just run in an open field. But hopefully now that laps were done, they could start doing some drills and ball handling.

[MudBug]

At the Coach's admonishment, Starlight blushed in slight embarrassment, they were a little late weren't they? Getting ready this morning it hadn't been a surprise that of most of getting ready was his aunt flustering over his safety instead of getting him ready...he doubted Champ had the same excuse despite his overly protective father, maybe the colt had been slacking off as he was prone to. However as the blue pegasus gave them their task, the little white winged pony gave her a small and playful salute before running onto the track.

"Yes ma'am!"

As he ran, his 'team mate' begrudgingly followed and he could hear the groan in the back of the earth pony's throat as they both took up the starting lane, no flying, he could do that. After all this was to see if he could get onto the hoofball team, the young boy wanted to help in whatever way he could and as he made his way over her had to notice Sunrise practically falling over herself with a confused blink.

"Gosh.." He started, mostly talking to himself as she watched the turquoise filly he'd known so long ago get up and get back to the race. "I hope she's okay..."

"Who cares, let's get on with the laps! I'm anxious to get some kicking done today y'know!" The earth pony just snorted, his retort saying enough before he took off like a shot, leaving his 'team mate' in the dust for a moment or two before he saw the smaller pegasus trying to keep up. Champ just scoffed, having got his cutie mark for atheleticism he assured himself that this would be a cakewalk for him, which, from the looks of it, it was. His strong legs practically pushed him down the course as he saw Starlight over his should struggling to keep up with the strong legged colt.

Typical scrawny Starlight.

There was a smirk on the colt's face before he saw the pegasus actually keeping up with him, finally meeting the colt neck to neck even if he did look extremely out of breath at this point and the deep turquoise male just snickered to himself as he continued his lap, at this point passing a few of the girls without a real care. They were done with theirs, he had to be done with his.

"Outta the way!" He called with a snort as he continued onto his second lap.

Starlight meanwhile was more than a little puffed up, he'd just learnt to hover recently and he'd thought that was taxing enough! But now he'd had to run harder than he ever had in his life just to keep up with a colt was supposed to be teamed up with him! He just wondered if Champ knew that! As they approached the girls just as they were finishing off, the white pegasus puffed out his cheeks at Champ's brusque words at them before he swerved and ran around them frettingly.

"Sorry! 'Scuse me! Sorry! Nice running! Nice to meet you! Sorry if we're interrupting- Hi Sunrise! -Sorry! See you when we're finished!"

Smooth, Starlight, smooth.

[brianblackberry]

Sunrise Beach blushed, not so much for the fact she tripped, but because Purple Haze so quickly figured out why she tripped, “what? No! Like I didn’t say I liked him!” It was true, she never actually admitted it, even if Purple was right, she did always liked him, even when he was just a small pegasus, but now he was so much larger, and hawtter! Her bestie also noted Starlight was good looking, or maybe she was talking about the turquoise colt, who certainly wasn’t bad looking, but she didn’t know him like she knew Starlight. “Like, the pegasus is who I was like, just checking out, his name is Starlight by the way, I just ya know recognized him and junk, that’s all.” Sunrise felt Purple could at least know that much, just in case her friend was scoping him too, before she took off like a bolt.

For a moment or two, Sunrise refocused on the so-called race she had turned the warming up laps into in her mind; determined to catch up with, and surpass Applebloom and her group, and get second place as Marzipan was just too far ahead. She took one look back though and saw her bestie falling behind. Then it hit her like a sudden realization; she was leaving her bestie behind for a stupid race that didn’t count for anything, how could she have been such an over-competitive lame-o? Besides she needed to hide and hold off on her A-Game until she tried for the striker position!

Sunrise stopped and waited the green earth pony and turned around when Purple came by so she could gallop alongside her, maintaining the same speed. Of course there was a question that was nagging the turquoise filly, and not just about the position she was aiming for. “So ummm… Like, what do you think of the two colts Purple?” She was genuinely curious; she was also looking for an opening to talk more about Starlight without being oh so obvious about it. It was that moment Marizpan appeared to have the same idea Sunrise did and gave up her first place spot to join them. That was pretty cool of the new filly to do in Sunrise’s mind.

Sunrise Beach was about to comment to Marizpan when the turquoise colt barreled between them, yelling at them to get out of his way and almost knocking them over in the process! “Like hey! That was totally bogus! Not cool colt, not cool!” All she could think without a hint of irony was how he arrogantly almost caused another pile up as she crossed the finish to join with Applebloom and the others.

Of course that just gave her a much better excuse to eyeball the white colt galloping around the track, even giving a wave in his direction, smiling broadly, her braces showing.

[Lux]

"This opportunity is very great," Zecora said while trotting towards the field, "I hope that I am not too late."

The zebra looked different that how she normally dressed. She was dressed in a typical black and white stripped shirt that hoofball referees were dressed in, an odd sight considering that Zecora already had a similar color and pattern with her coat. Her neck and leg rings were also missing as were her large gold earrings, replaced by a whistle. Although Zecora wasn't a type that participated in many sports, she knew about hoofball from her observation of the game. In actuality it was because of her fairness and eye for detail that made her an ideal referee for the game.

"Good afternoon Rainbow," Zecora said while taking note that the fillies and colts were busy running laps, "How does the practice go?"

Permission given by Bramble Rose to have Zecora referee. She will be watching for any unnecessary roughness and good sportsmanship on the field.

[Bramble Rose]

Purple Haze

Purple Haze kept up with the other two as best she could, which got easier as they went into the last lap. She got a little grin on her face as she noticed she was definitely running easier than the other two by that point in time. True, she didn't have breath for talking, but she was really good for the long haul.

That didn't keep her from trotting in a small circle and then collapsing to the grass to pant a little as they finished their last lap, grinning. Then she could finally continue the conversation. "heh... nae bad, Mars! Good runnin'! An' Sunrise, duh. Ne'er doubted it. Oye.... Whew. So, Sunrise, ye want me tae gae off an' tell that colt ye ..." then, as she was looking at them, she realized what Sunrise had told her several laps ago. "The *pegasus*?!" she says, surprised. "Really? Oye mean, sure, nice coloration, but he's a mite on th' small side... now th' earth pony on th' other hoof..."

She shrugged. "Oye, Mars. Wotcher doin' in Ponyville? Ye've a stranger accent than most th' ponies round here."

​

Rainbow Dash

Dash looked up as Zecora came up to her, smiling brightly. "Zecora! Hey, good to see you!" she said, lifting up her hoof for a hoof-bump. "Wasn't expecting you to be here today, but good on ya! We don't actually need refs for the tryouts ... well, maybe later ... but if you want to help watch the foals, I wouldn't mind the hoof. Why don't you take that group over there," and with that she pointed at a group of a dozen foals that included Sunrise Beach, Purple Haze, and Marzipan, "and I'll grab this group over here," and Dash gestured to the group including the rest of the foals. "And I'll grab those two late colts, too."

With that, she first swept past the group she'd just directed Zecora too. "All right, fillies and colts! Not bad, not bad!" She pointed at one background pony. "You, Silver Star! you need to stick with the group more, all right? And you three!" she pointed out a trio of colts. "More running, less chatting! You can hang out later, when you're not trying out! Take this seriously or go home!" One of the colts made a 'mya mya mya' motion mocking her and rolled his eyes. "Aaaand, that's it, you're out!" The colt protested, but Dash insisted, and he grumped and stomped away. "I intend to let you all have fun, but if you can't be serious during tryouts, how can I trust you to be serious any other time?" She patted Marzipan on the shoulder. "I saw you hanging back to stick together with your group. Good job."

Then she moved on to the other half of the group. "Apple Bloom! I know you ended up together, but for most of it you guys weren't exactly sticking close! If you're on the field and you rush ahead like that, then wait for them to catch up, you're going to be a sitting duck! Gotta work as a team, no matter what, and that sometimes means holding back so you can stick with everypony else!" Which had been one of the harder things she'd found about training with the wonderbolts. Holding Back. Ugh...

She stepped back and gestured to the zebra. "This here is Zecora, and she's going to be helping me in testing you with ball handling! Don't get too used to her being on your side - she's the ref, which means she's going to be fair in EVERYTHING. And that means even if you did something wrong." She pats Zecora on the shoulder, and said in a softer tone, "Test your group for about twenty minutes, then we'll take a break for oranges, 'kay?"

​

[SteelEagle]

What Rainbow said didn't really make much sense when you looked at what had happened that whole race. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Bepop had stuck together the whole course. She had made an effort to do so. She could have simply sprinted from the start and likely like Bepop in the dust but she didn't do so. Meanwhile, the other group got into as much trouble as they did because they had jumped out ahead and treated it like a race until they started to crash and burn. Apple Bloom and her group had been the ones making a consistent effort to show consistency, with good pacing and not trying to leave anyone in the dust. The other group had started off trying to outrun one another and only when it started to go wrong did their tune change. And even when it changed, it didn't change much. They went from crashing because of their own flawed beliefs that winning was everything to crashing because they couldn't stop gawking at some new colts. Not much of a change, but did they hear anything about messing up the team because they couldn't hold their focus for more than a minute? No.

And did the trouble-making colts hear anything about their incredibly rude behavior? No. All they got was an admnonishment for talking, not treating their teammates like dirt. It didn't make a sense. Why was Apple Bloom, the filly who had held back the most for the longest, getting the biggest sets of complaints? And what did coach Dash even mean by what she said that Apple Bloom hadn't been sticking close? She had been sticking close to Scootaloo and Bepop. They had nearly been hoof in hoof together. If she meant with the other part of the team, how could Apple Bloom have been expected to keep up at them with the start AND allow Scootaloo and Bepop to keep up? She couldn't be in two places at once. If anything, at the end when Apple Bloom finally went all out was when she had the greatest distance from anypony else yet that was when she was apparently closest? It didn't make any sense. It hurt Apple Bloom's mind to try and make any sense of it because it was patently illogical. Was it just coach speak? Apple Bloom didn't know. Coaches tended to sound right even when they're wrong though, and this didn't even sound right.

She didn't understand it at all. Maybe it was Zecora's arrival. Yes, that was it. Zecora's arrival had distracted Coach Dash and she had misplaced her thoughts. What she said fit Sunrise or Purple a lot more than it did Apple Bloom after all. So it was about Purple or Sunrise and the fact that their desire to turn it into a race at the start and not learn to keep pace caused the first crash. Then their inability to not gawk at some colts caused the second one. Crashes can injure players and hurts the pace, and neither crash was some sort of unavoidable mishap, a pure accident. They were both filly-made and it sure as heck wasn't Apple Bloom's fault. So it didn't make any sense for Apple Bloom to be given a talking to and they get away scot-free despite being the cause of two crashes and not sticking together at the start. And so in the single two seconds after Coach Dash had spoken to Apple Bloom, her mind had already twisted the meaning. Same words, different target- more deserving ones. And just as quickly she nodded her head to Coach Dash. Even if she was wrong, made right by Apple Bloom's effort alone, the filly wouldn't contradict and correct her coach in public. Bad form.

"Yes, ma'am," Apple Bloom snapped off a salute before trotting towards Zecora, ready for some ball handling.

[Lux]

There was nothing like a good review to hold Scootaloo's attention. Even though she wasn't a big fan of negative criticism the orange filly wanted something at least to gauge her progress. And who better to hear this from that the number one pony she looked up to?

Another new face joined the group in the form of Zecora. The filly couldn't help but giggle hearing that she was a referee as the zebra looked like the jerseys that the hoofball refs wore! But Zecora was also a fair and honest one to fill the roll.

The main advice of the day was sticking to each other, something that Scootaloo made a mental note of. She understood this, and she also felt that Rainbow Dash was spot on about the three goofy colts who were just there to talk than actually do anything. Strangely though Rainbow Dash singled out Apple Bloom as one of the culprits for not keeping up! The filly wondered why as after all the earth pony set the pace for the rest of the group and even hung back when Scootaloo became caught in the pony pile up. But she didn't want to question the motives of the coach and so merely nodded

***

Zecora nodded in understanding as Rainbow Dash explained that while she was not needed to ref. she could help as something of an assistant to aid the practice. This was something Zecora nodded in understanding as she looked over the three that she would be in charge of. All the ponies seemed to do well, albeit maybe a little uncoordinated, but that would be fixed in time.

"The introduction I do thank you," Zecora said after hearing Rainbow Dash explain her purpose to the other players, "I intend to referee it is true. I hope that I can inspire you all in the ways of learning hoofball."

She then pointed to the three fillies in the crowd, all who had fixed attention as to what would happen next.

"Now you three will come with me. In a short time I hope that you all will soon know how to better handle a ball. But before that if is all the same, would you please give me your names?"

[PedestrianWolf]

After the laps were done, Marzipan walked back and forth a bit to cool down, and flapped her wings to increase airflow (and let her tired legs rest a bit). The other two fillies in her trio chatted about the colts who had joined the tryouts late. The little pegasus didn't pay too much attention to their conversation, since the subject didn't really interest her that much. Instead, she idly checked out all the other fillies and colts, wondering who was going to make the cut for the team, and what positions they would end up playing.

"Oye, Mars." Purple Haze queried from her position in the grass. "Wotcher doin' in Ponyville? Ye've a stranger accent than most th' ponies round here."

"Hah! I could say the same of you." Marzipan retorted. "But no. I am from Roam, Itaily. I come here to study art with mi couzzina, Snickerdoodle." The filly pointed to the vanilla custard pegasus mare still standing on the sidelines, near the snacks table. Which now had more on it than just orange slices and water. A pile of chocolate butterscotch haystacks (made with real alfalfa!) now occupied the center. Seeing the younger filly point in her direction, Snickerdoodle wiped a few errant crumbs from her hooves and waved.

Coach Dash came up to the group and complimented her. "I saw you hanging back to stick together with your group. Good job." Marzipan beamed as she fluttered a few inches from the ground. "Grazie! No problema."

A zebra trotted on the field with a whistle around her neck. She was introduced as the referee, but for now would assist with warm ups. Coach Dash assigned Marzipan's little group to her, while the rainbow pegasus took the others, including the two colts. The fillies turned their attention to the newcomer. "Now you three will come with me. In a short time I hope that you all will soon know how to better handle a ball. But before that if is all the same, would you please give me your names?"

"Si, buon..." the almond coated pegasus started to say, but trailed off, remembering the reaction the coach had to her when she greeted her in Itailian. "Er, I mean, hello! I am Marzipan."

[brianblackberry]

Sunrise Beach had a panicked expression as she quickly wrapped her forelegs around her bestie, Purple Haze, to prevent her from saying anything to the colts, especially Starlight, "like, nuuuuu way! You like can't tell them that, that would like be soooooo embarrassing! You like gotta promise not to say anything!! Like, cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye promise!!” Sunrise was reasonably sure that Purple wouldn't reveal anything to the colts, even if she had a reputation for getting involved with her brother’s love life; he was just her brother though, Sunrise was her bestie!

Sunrise did grump a little over Purple evaluation of Starlight, so what if he wasn’t some burly earth pony? He was adorably handsome! “Like, he used to be real little when like, I first hung with him but now he’s like, gotten all bodacious and junk! Besides, so what if he is a slim pegasus, didn’t you like, used to have a crush on some unicorn dude? Say, like, what ever happened to him?”

Sunrise hoped to get to talk to Starlight immediately, but coach Dash divided the foals into two groups and the two colts were separated from Sunrise's group. As much as that may be a bummer, at least she and Purple were together, and she knew the referee, or was it assistant? Either way she knew the zebra well enough to remember her name, Zecora, who they met during their abortive attempt at treasure hunting in the Everfree a year or so back. When the zebra mare asked for the group to give their names, the turquoise filly spoke out proudly, “Sunrise Beach! Like you remember me, had to visit you place for the poison joke cure, for my friends. Like also the best at ball handling in Ponyville!” Although her cutie mark more represented her enthusiastic spirit, hey it was still a beach ball and could easily also represent her mad ball skills!

Purple asked Marzipan what brought the pegasus filly to Ponyville and even ironically commented on her accent, which Sunrise in her travels did recognize as Italilian. The unicorn filly snickered, “yeah, like 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!” It was a light-hearted jab, truth was all three of them were from elsewhere and didn’t speak standard Equestrian dialect. She figured she could also share that little fact, “like I’m from the Gallopocus Islands! Ever been there? They like, have the most bodacious beaches and most gnarly waves! Oh and like the most awesome tropical fruits and junk!” What was extra cool though was Marzipan’s cousin brought food! Well hopefully they can have some during break.

First thing was first, ball control, no problem there! Sunrise ran over and flipped one over her head with her nose only to catch and balance it with the bottom of her hoof of her now extended back leg, see not a problem and that was just a beginners' trick! Hopefully Starlight was watching.

[MudBug]

After the boys were done with their part of the track, which ofcourse meant Champ finished long before Starlight, they trotted over to where the others were to listen to the adults as they spoke - so Zecora was the referee? Neither of them saw any problem with that, granted the large aqua colt kind of raised a brow skeptically. What did the zebra know about hoofball? Then again it was an international sport, so maybe he was jumping to conclusions.

Starlight on the other hand was rather excited to see what knowledge the wise and whimsical older mare could impart on them.

The small pegasus had noticed the odd looks he'd been getting now and then and worried it was because of his lack of cutiemark, but only for a fleeting second even if it did make his wings flutter shyly against his flanks. He'd also noticed it was his friend Sunrise who had been giving him the most stares.

Was something on his face?

Was it his hair? His hooves?

...He was very confused but when he caught Sunrise's eye he offered the tiniest of awkward waves with one of his hooves before his 'partner' roughly shoved him in the side to catch his attention.

"Pay attention, runt." Champ whispered roughly. "I'm not getting left behind because you're too busy looking at the fillies."

The pegasus just blushed intensely at the insinuation, t-that wasn't what he was doing at all!!!! Gulping he just stood there and stared at the captain and the referee patiently, still completely unaware of his old friend's analysis of him. But when Sunrise did her trick, the memories of the enthusiastic filly and her ballplay soon came rushing back and he reared up cheerfully.

"Wow! Sunrise that was so cool!!!!"

[Bramble Rose]

Dash frowned as Scootaloo and Apple Bloom looked shocked at her comments. As if she hadn't seen Apple Bloom circling around at the end there, waiting for her two team-mates to catch up? They'd started off well, but ... ah well. They were listening, and that was the important part. She was surprised Scootaloo hadn't been the one in the lead. That little filly liked to move fast, too! She respected that.

"All right, fillies and colts! Line up in two lines, facing each other! One along this line, one along this line!" She flitted from spot to spot, gesturing. "Now, come on, even it out! You lot! Split up so half of you are on the other side! We need even numbers! Good! Now, I want to see you passing to each other! First we're going to be testing your skill at passing, so I want you to get it as close to the other side as you can! Every time you pass the ball, take a step back!" She let the teams stay together, knowing that Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, at least, would want to take this opportunity to chat. She wasn't sure how Bebop was going to chat, too, as passing didn't leave a lot of time for writing notes, but she was sure the filly knew how to handle herself. She started floating up and down the lines, watching technique, and seeing who was taking this seriously.

​

Purple let out an 'ack' as Sunrise practically tackled her to the ground in her panic. "A'ight, A'ight, Oi give! Oi'll nae ... wot? Cupcake? Wot are ye talkin' about?" Sunrise had some *weird* stuff, but that took the cake.

Then she blanched as Dash scolded three colts for chatting, and listened attentively instead of chatting more with her friends, while Dash was talking. Pfft. As if Dash had any sort of attention span. She had no idea what that egghead was doing coaching hoofball ... but she was the coach, and her da had always drilled her to respect the coach.

When the blue pegasus pony went flying off with the other group, Purple started off with the other group to gather around the zebra. "Me?" she replied to Mars, "Oi dinnae have an accent! Art, eh? Sounds bonnie!" She gave a wry, teasing grin. "Oi know who tae go to when we need help paintin' th' barn, then!"

She let out an *mmph* as Sunrise poked fun at her about that unicorn. "Dawn? Ah, he an' I were jes' friends. 'sides, he liked this *other* filly... " she said, her head high as she assumed the most casual expression she could. Not having any real defense towards this teasing, she turned back to Marzipan.

"Roam, eh? Oi've ne'er heard much a' that! We'll have tae talk later bout-" Oop! Time to be serious again! She stood up straight as everyone started calling out their names for Zecora. "Purple Haze, Ma'am! An' Oi'm ready tae play some ball! Wotter we doin'?"

​

[SteelEagle]

Apple Bloom did as instructed, splitting off into a team with Scootaloo though there was still room as part of a trio or foursome for others to get involved. At least she was past getting reamed by the coach for no good reason at all. Oh well. She couldn't really expect Dash to be the best coach of all time like she had hoped. She would just keep in mind that it was entirely how you were at the end that mattered to Coash Dash, not what you had been doing throughout. Some coaches worried about the whole thing and others only about the smallest fraction of it and she guessed Coach Dash was the second type. Oh well. Time to move on. She was now in a team with Scootaloo and that would be just fine by her, though she wouldnt mind if somepony joined her. They were onto some skill based parts of the drill and she was fine with that. She wasn't a great shot as she hardly ever had the ball down there but she could pass very effectively. Getting the ball out of the defensive end of the field was always important and she did so with quickness.

So she passed with Scootaloo, her hooves snapping as she did so. Back and forth. Back and forth. Apple Bloom didn't even know if she'd get reamed for talking with her friends- though she doubted it since the other fillies had been talking and causing accidents and weren't in any trouble for it- so she kept quiet, passing back and forth with Scoots with a smile on her face. If somepony were to break the silence, it'd be her. Once or twice a pass would go wide just a bit and she'd knock it back with a backhoof- she had this down.