Chapter 25

RainbowDash was back up front with CherryBerry at the tipoff again now. Everyone was silent as ever now as the two ponies stared into each other's eyes.

RainbowDash couldn't help but slip a gulp, as she tried to maintain her confidence.

"Ready?" The referee pony began, his whistle in his mouth as he spoke.

He then blew the whistle, instantly making Rainbow spring from on her hooves to the ball. CherryBerry was just a tad bit slower than her like usual.

RainbowDash instantly tipped the ball off towards Twilight, who began dribbling eagerly down the court and into the two point line.

"Get her!" Lyra called suddenly from behind the sudden scene.

Minuette and BeautyBrass hared over to the lavender alicorn, blocking her attempt for the basket a slight bit too quickly.

Twilight half reared with the ball at the sudden block and then turned to look for a pass. "Somepony get open now!" Twilight demanded as BeautyBrass and Minuette threw their hooves up in front of her, threateningly.

"Over here Twilight!" Applejack's sudden accent broke the gym walls as she skirted the sidelines of the court for an open pass from Twilight.

Twilight instantly gave a forceful bouncepass to the orange earth pony, causing Applejack to simply catch the ball.

Applejack quickly turned and began dribbling, a hint of doubt and unsureness pricking at her as she slowly began making her way deeper into the basket's aim point.

Lightning Dust though suddenly saw how Applejack oddly wasn't being guarded at the moment and then zipped over towards her, her green hooves flashing in front of AJ's face instantly.

"H-Hey!" Applejack snarled as she shifted to head back up the court, in attempt of getting away from Lightning's block.

Lyra though was instantly at her face, blocking her escape.

This made irritation begin to crawl up Applejack's throat.

Move!... Come on!

Suddenly a whistle was blown from on the sidelines and in came Rarity. She instantly hurled for Fluttershy. "F-Fluttershy I'm taking your position now sweetie" Rarity smiled cheekily and yet hurriedly causing Fluttershy to just droop her ears, seeming she hadn't been doing much ever since the game resumed. "O-Oh..." Fluttershy headed off for the benches next.

Meanwhile though, Applejack finally then began to look for a pass. She instantly spotted Rarity nearby and chest passed it to her.

Rarity was unfortunately unaware of the oncoming ball though, causing it to make contact with her side. She gave a small yelp. "Oh!" She reared as the ball bounced off her flank and into the hooves of BeautyBrass.

BeautyBrass beamed before heading back down the court.

Applejack just gave Rarity a vicious glare at the sudden act.

"W-What?" Rarity frowned. "I-I didn't know it was coming! Besides! I hit my beautiful ravishing flank!" She admitted with a sob, shame crossing her face sadly.

Applejack just continued onwards though, not having much of a choice anyhow.

RainbowDash and PinkiePie meanwhile were tailing BeautyBrass down the court. Rainbow desperately urged her hooves to pick up some more speed as she ran but nothing would happen.

PinkiePie on the other hoof was sweating like crazy as she tried to keep pace with BeautyBrass.

"C-Come on!" Pinkie breathed, but the two ponies were too late. BeautyBrass simply stopped short and flew the ball into the basket like a pro would.

She then turned to flash them a smirk, causing Rainbow to just turn her head away angrily avoiding the gaze and Pinkie to just give a prissy smirk back at Brass.

"That's my team! YEAH!" SwiftHoof was calling out from on the sidelines now as the crowds of ponies roared with glee from the stands.

RainbowDash just felt humiliation cross her mind again. Why couldn't they just finish this easily?...

She glanced up at the timer. 7 minutes left. There was no way they'd catch back up to the opposing team.

Pinkie suddenly caught sight of her friend's disapproving gaze and gave her multicolored friend a small nudge. "H-Hey are you having... any fun?" Pinkie asked quite lowly.

There was a small pause before Rainbow answered.

She just gave her pink friend a look before slowly shaking her head. "No. Cause we're not winning..." Dash muttered.

PinkiePie nodded understandingly. She knew very well at how her friend was feeling at the moment.. Even just seeing the look on her face made Pinkie's own hope drop.

I-I thought we had a chance at doing this... but... on second thought. We didn't even have a chance to begin with

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