Despite everything, the sun still hung in the sky. The world still seemed to turn, he could tell by the nearly unnoticeable shift of the shadows over the metallic side of the dumpster, and birds still sung in the brilliant morning air. The sky was so very clear and blue as the sea, faint drifting clouds like waves crashing against the horizon. Despite all his troubles, the day went on.

Anyone would say that this was a glorious day, a wonderfully welcoming weather forecast and an abnormally abundant cheer drifting through the streets and into the swinging campus doors. A beautiful late summer day tangled in the beams of sunlight and the quickly changing hues of leaves, leaves which blew around him in his somewhat compromising position. But none of those things really mattered to him. He felt like trash, but hey, that came with the territory.

He sat up at last, wincing at the trouble his stomach muscles had lifting his weakened body to peer over the tall metal siding. He put his hands on it, and was quite sickened by the anonymous sticky substance that baked onto the bin like the leftover lining of cupcakes in those little round pans. He managed to pull himself up high enough to hoist his slim body over the tall metal obstacle, though his landing on the other side was less than graceful. Dusting the garbage and rubbish of his freshly pressed pants, he groaned audibly, glancing back at the familiar dumpster he thought he had outgrown. Surely throwing a kid into a dumpster was an old and tired ruse, but perhaps some people just never grew up or got creative about anything.

Sucking back the urge to mutter a cuss, Spike settled on a sigh as several teenagers bearing backpacks walked by. After they passed, he started following them from a distance, rubbing his swelling cheek absently as though the pain was welcomed. Up ahead, the group discussed mindless chatter: the sport they were going to play, their courses, their summers, as well as girls. It was typical high school yammering and he couldn’t help but conjure up the mental images of the several girls that he knew.

The school itself was no Canterlot High, but Manehattan Secondary School did the job of teaching and preaching the fundamentals of education well enough. The notion that all of the student body were decent students made him snort in response, but it was something the school was supposedly renowned for. Up ahead, a girl was approaching him. She had a wide, pleasant smile that slowly faded, shifting between concern and surprise before she settled on crestfallen. As they got closer together, she instinctively pulled out a napkin from her bag as well as a small comb.

“Hey, Twilight,” Spike weakly greeter her, attempting to smile.

“Spike, what happened?” she asked sternly, cleaning dirt off his face like a mother might, despite his struggling.

“I was walking to school and there was probably jello or something at the top of the staircase in the park and—” Spike paused, seeing Twilight’s unchanged expression. Her eyes briefly shifted towards his as she paused in her menial task. After a moment, Twilight continued with cleaning off the dirt, averting her eyes once more. Spike exhaled slowly, coming up with the truth.

“Felix spotted me walking and, I don't know, maybe he just decided that my mere existence aggravated him, I guess. Threw me in a dumpster afterward.” He couldn’t really look at her as he said it, he was trying to act like it didn’t bother him.

Twilight let out a drawn-out sigh and discarded the tissue. She quickly brushed off any leaves or dirt that was on his clothes before starting to remove any stains or mystery liquids that coated his previously clean-as-new outfit. He defied her each step of the way, flipping his hair and tugging at his clothes as though he liked the way they looked.

“Spike, it’s been seven years now. Why won’t you just accept help from others, or talk to someone other than me? He won’t stop if you won’t try to stop him,” she said, shifting the comb into her primary hand and brushing the plastic teeth through his ruffled hair.

“Because I can’t go around asking girls to fight my battles for me, and I want you to stop acting like you know what’s best. I can take care of myself,” Spike growled, crossing his arms defiantly.

“I know, Spike. I know,” she muttered dejectedly before putting the comb away again.

Spike sighed again, though quieter, taking a quick glance at the school grounds. All around, the groups had shown themselves: jocks; bikers; smokers; students with cars, the list went on. He mentally kicked himself for not putting himself in a group earlier in his high school life; now he was stuck as the black sheep in a group full of girls.

Upon entering the building through its old, beaten-down doors, they were immediately greeted by Pinkie Pie, enveloping them both in a massive hug.

“Hayo! Welcome-welcome back to school! Summer was so much fun, but I missed you all so so so much!” The pink-haired girl squealed, repeatedly hopping up and down though it dragged the two around uncomfortably.

“P-Pinkie, be quiet, will you!?” Spike whispered huskily, nervously glancing around.

“Hi, Pinkie,” Twilight said, returning the hug though not nearly as forcefully.

Many eyes in the front hall had their attention drawn to the trio, with Spike as the only one anxious about the spotlight. His face reddened as he resigned himself to his fate, just as Fluttershy approached them as well. Pinkie Pie released them from the hug and seemed shaky with excitement.

“Hi, Twilight. H-hello, Spike,” Fluttershy said in a rather excited voice, by her standards anyway.

Spike gave a small wave, eying their attire. Twilight was always the modest one but she had spurned a bit, opting for a formal ensemble. The other two were wearing clothes one would expect them to wear any day of the week. This caused the boy to look at his own clothes, worrying about any stains or tears in his new clothes. His worries were cut short, replaced with new ones.

He briefly pondered what he’d say if the other two asked him what happened… or if they, like Twilight, wouldn’t have to be told to put it together. To his relief, neither of them asked, seemingly caught up in discussing what had transpired over the summer. Spike’s eyes wandered, seeing if he could spot the few other girls akin to the group, but to no avail. For several minutes, he let the girls talk, responding only when he was prompted to. He was okay with it, as he wasn’t in much of a mood to chat anyway. Eventually, the familiar bell sounded and the two girls left, bidding the duo farewell.

“Alright, Spike. Do try to be careful, or ask for help next time. I only want you to enjoy learning or making friends, not dreading to see those degenerates at school,” Twilight reminded him, checking his hair once more.

Spike swatted her hands away before slouching forward, putting his hands in his pockets. He grumbled something to which Twilight either didn’t hear or pretended not to. Licking her thumb, she quickly tried to clean Spike’s face once more, much to his dismay, but he didn’t fight it too hard. It was clear by now: Twilight acted more like a mother than his older sister. And like a mother, she was going to take care of him whether he liked it or not.

She smiled, glancing at the small, thin film of saliva still clinging to his cheek as she placed a hand on her hip. He was barely two years her junior, though he often acted a lot older than that and Twilight found it all very refreshing compared to the juvenile atmosphere one typically experienced in school. Students continued to pile in the front doors, heading to their classes as the two siblings stood in the centre of the room, people passing around them like coffee beans spilling around feet. Not that Spike was looking at them, he was too preoccupied with the scuff on his freshly shined shoe. Twilight placed her finger on the bottom of Spike’s chin and tilted it up until his eyes met hers. She flashed him a warm smile.

“Chin up, you won’t make any friends if you’re grouchy. Try to make the best of it. And remember, if you have a problem, you have my number, okay?” Twilight did her best to reassure her little brother.

Spike only muttered a “Yes, Twilight.” Twilight’s smile shrunk a bit, yet she still gave him a hug. Spike’s face reddened noticeably but he still returned the hug. Even if it was embarrassing, she was still his sister, just looking out for him. He could show her that he was thankful, even if but a little bit.

“Hey, how about this? Maybe you should try and join a club? It’s not too late to start making friends, and what better way for friends to bond than through common interests, like... maybe sports?” Twilight gave him an option, but still his mood did not lift much higher.

“Sure, I’ll think about it,” Spike responded, his droopy voice no longer dominating.

Twilight’s smile returned as they broke the hug and went their separate ways, just as Spike noticed they were the last ones in the front hall.

When lunchtime came around, Spike refused a text from Twilight to hang out with the girls. He decided that if he was going to man up and finally stand up for himself, he was indeed going to take Twilight’s advice and join a club as soon as possible. Eating his lunch, he shuffled his feet as he made his way through the blue, white and black hallways adorned with lockers and garbage bins. He swerved around each student until he came up to the sports hallway, a place he was often less than familiar with. He trudged down the hallway and passed the doors for the boys locker rooms until he got to a bulletin board that hung next to the gymnasium doors. Glancing at it, he swallowed what was left of a fruit-snack and wiped his hands on his already dirty shirt, reading the various team flyers aloud.

“Basketball, baseball, soccer, fencing, swimming, rowing, football, golf, croquet. Sheesh, enough clubs?” Spike muttered, rubbing his scalp as he continuously looked over the potential clubs.

He crossed his arms for a moment, tapping his foot as he thought. Around him, other students walked around the halls doing menial pre-class chatter with one another. It was somewhat distracting as he was trying to weigh his options, but there were louder noises that caught his attention.

Inside the gym, a game of dodgeball was roaring between student parliament and some of the freshmen. Spike glanced in there briefly, taking in the immense fun some of the newbies were having. Grand, large smiles adorned the faces of several students that were clearly sports stars as well as ones who looked more like they belonged in science class. None of them seemed to be fighting or arguing over who got hit or what… it was just good fun, and Spike briefly wished he did that in his first year.

Sighing, the boy rubbed his cheek once more where a pink swelling was starting to advertise that morning’s events. It didn't hurt too much any more, he noticed. Spike glanced back towards the bulletin board and a thought started to bud up in his mind. He continued rubbing his cheek absently, thinking back to the incident earlier that day.

A shove from behind sent the boy with green hair stumbling forward. He fell to the ground, hands stinging from grinding the flesh against small rocks and pavement. He wasted little time scurrying to his feet, facing the one who shoved him. A boy with an expression somewhere between smug and distaste glared at him as he was rounded by two others. He spit at the ground in front of the green haired boy as the three cornered him by a dumpster.

“Spike, now that I’ve got your attention, I was hoping you’d do me a favour. Excuse me for skipping the usual 'how was your summer' bullshit, but maybe you could introduce me to one of those lady friends of yours. Maybe I’d show her a good time, you know, start out this year with a bang, no pun intended.” He grinned as his friends chuckled at the implications.

“Felix, why not just ask them yourself if you’re so eager to look like an incompetent fumbling dunce?” Spike said, balling his fists up in preparation.

“Now now, Spike,” Felix chuckled, “that’s no way to treat old friends, but hey, if that’s what you want—” A closed fist met the side of Felix’s torso, hitting him in the ribs.

He let out a cough, clutching his side as he stumbled back. Spike's own eyes widened as he realized what he had done. Usually he could keep his anger under wraps, but this year, it seemed, he was not going to take it lightly. Before Spike could retract his arm to prepare for the other two, one of Felix’s goons hit him in the left cheek, knocking him over.

The second goon stepped forward and kicked Spike once in the gut, soliciting a choking noise from him. The two then made sure that Felix wasn’t actually wounded, and then all three turned their attention to Spike as he grabbed the edge of the dumpster and pulled himself up, disposing of his bag off his shoulder. His body shivered and his cheek was starting to swell up already with tears building up in his left eye.

“Spike, didn’t your momma ever tell you not to start fights?” Felix taunted him, cracking his knuckles with a crooked grin.

Spike raised his fists, arms still shaking as he nervously glanced at them. It was hardly a fight, not once Spike returned to his senses and realized that he could not win against all three of them. It didn’t take much longer until Spike was sitting on the ground, leaned up against the dumpster as he held onto his gut. He let out several rough coughs, but he didn’t make much noise. Without wasting a second, the three boys grabbed his arms and yanked him to his feet before chucking him into the garbage dumpster. Grabbing his bag, Felix unzipped the opening and dumped the contents into the garbage bin atop Spike before dropping the bag at his feet and grinding it into the concrete with his shoe. For good measure, the second goon closed the bin over Spike as the three proceeded to school.

Spike’s face darkened as he thought of the incident in the morning, yet he glanced to one flyer as he thought about the whole fight.

‘That wasn't so bad. I didn’t really feel much pain from that, not anymore. I bet I could do a contact sport,’ he thought, eyes finding themselves directed towards the tacky football poster.

It was one of those cheap designs that was clearly produced in a slideshow program rather than an actual image editor. Flashy and adorned with stretched, pixelated clipart and shoddy word effects that clashed with each other; it was obviously made by an uneducated student parliament member that thought anything could look good coming out of the school’s black and white printers. God forbid they spend a little money printing colour posters.

Not minding the poor quality, Spike wondered if he should go ask Rainbow Dash in the cafeteria. But that would mean having to turn down a potential invitation to join the group for lunch if he were to seek them out, and if he couldn’t, he’d have to face all kinds of questions about why he was thinking of clubs suddenly. Already seeing the inevitable meeting and introductions occurring, he decided to wait and seek out the jock after school.

Taking a quick glance around, he stepped out of the hallway and headed towards his next classroom to finish lunch. As he sat down at a desk, teacher not present, he pulled out his phone and glanced at the contact list. It was only four of the six girls he knew; Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Applejack. He never needed Rainbow’s number, and he was usually too nervous to so much as speak to Rarity. A meek attraction towards the fashionista closed him off from asking, as well as what her reaction might be.

“A weakling that gets beaten up wants my number!? Bah! Come back later when you grow a spine!”

Spike pinched his chin. ‘Okay, that probably won’t happen, but she won’t want to talk to me. She already has so many friends, she doesn’t need me,’ he thought solemnly, his lack of self esteem apparent even in his imagination.

Noticing the way he frequently cut himself down, he realized the prospect of the football team seemed more and more enticing. He ran images of himself scoring various touchdowns, tackling foes, dodging great enemies. Spike, the seven-foot tall quarterback with muscles large enough to make Big McIntosh feel envious. He smiled stupidly at the impossible fantasy but the prospect of toughening himself up via football still rung in his mind.

As the phone’s screen went temporarily black, he caught a glimpse of his own reflection in the smooth surface. Though several fingerprints remained smudged across the reflection, he could clearly see himself staring back. His expression softened as he noticed his own eyes, an abnormality that had always irked him. Those eyes, bright green in colour and oddly shaped around the pupil, those had been a curse more than anything, as they had brought on many troubles between him and peers. They made him an outcast, and a target for boys like Felix. He blinked himself away though, clicking a button on his phone to bring up the bright screen once more.

With that, he scrolled down to Twilight’s name in his phone contacts and tapped it. A photo of the girl asleep at her desk, drooling all over a textbook was present; Spike’s caller ID photo for her, much to the scholar’s dismay. Near the top of the page, he tapped the IM icon and mashed out a quick text.

'Twilight, maybe joining football team. You know, maybe toughen self up. What do you think?'

SEND

With that, he sighed and set the phone down as he pulled out a sandwich, slowly unwrapping the plastic sheet from around it. Before he got a bite in, his phone vibrated repeatedly with one of the phone’s preinstalled ringtones playing. Twilight’s sleeping figure acted as the caller ID image once more, and it was as though he could not bare to ignore it. Spike set the sandwich down atop the plastic it had been wrapped in and hit the green phone icon.

“Hello?” he asked, surprised by the sudden call.

“Spike, hi! So glad to hear you’re joining a team,” Twilight shouted into the phone. She always did that, not knowing how loud she came across on the other end. Loud chatter could be heard through the device as well, including the squeaky voice of Pinkie Pie seemingly describing the mechanics behind an ice cream truck. A few giggles could be heard, one of which Spike identified easily regardless of the crappy sound. “I have Rainbow here if you wanna talk, or do you want me to put you on speaker phone?”

“No, Twi, that’s not nec—”

“Oopsie, sorry, Twilight! Haha!” A loud, bubbly booming voice sounded along with an entire cafeteria of loud, chatting voices.

"Oh, sorry Rainbow, Pinkie pushed me," Twilight apologized, sounding farther from the phone with each word.

"H-hey!" that was Applejack's voice, Spike could tell even through the muffled static. "Y'should apologize t'me, y'knocked Dash right into m'lap!"

"Oh you love it, babe," Rainbow's voice was quiet beneath her snickering, and Spike rolled his eyes at her usual flirtatious nature. She was always teasing like that; with Applejack, at least. It was usually amusing how flustered the farm girl would become when prodded like that.

"Get y'hand off o' that!" Applejack yelped, and the phone sounded like it was knocked across the table in the struggle.

The sound blared out of the earpiece for the phone suddenly, scaring Spike into dropping the phone. He rubbed his ear as it buzzed for a brief moment. Twilight could be heard scolding Pinkie Pie for a moment and by the time Spike recovered, his heart fluttered at the voice he heard.

“Twilight, is that dear Spikey? Where is he, don’t tell me he’s eating alone, is he?” Rarity’s voice rang true, though it was distorted a bit by the other ambient noises.

Spike was briefly stunned for a moment before he raised the phone up to his ear. He gulped a moment just as Twilight started to speak, “Y-yeah, it’s Spike, and—”

“No, no, I’m not alone, per se. I’m just w-waiting to talk to a guidance counselor to change a class, yeah,” Spike stuttered out an excuse hurriedly.

“Oh, yeah. Spike said he wanted to switch out of… that class, yeah,” Twilight agreed with a nervous laugh.

Spike breathed a sigh of relief.

“Oh. Well, be sure to come to our table tomorrow, Spikey. Some of us haven’t seen you all summer and would like to catch up, alright?” Rarity asked pleasantly, her voice raising at the end.

Spike gulped dryly, feeling all ability to think properly vanish.

“R-right, uh, sure. I will. No problemo,” he stammered awkwardly, feeling a smile force its way to his face even though he made an odd expression as he heard his own odd words.

“What are you doing?” A voice asked, and it did not come from the phone.

Spike looked up to see a teacher standing in the doorway, files in one hand and a coffee cup in the other. Spike swallowed once more for a different reason and started stammering again.

“Uh, sorry, gotta go,” Spike spat out as he ended the call.

“No food or drink in here!”

Spike strolled up to the grassy field at last, taking care not to bump into any soccer team members that waltzed by after a brief tryout. Several remained to clean up as the football team, the returning two members anyway, began to set up equipment for football tryouts. Rainbow Dash and Applejack could be spotted up ahead getting everything ready, as well as an expectantly preoccupied Twilight. The latter seemed focused more on a massive book than the field.

On the field: kickstands, cheap tires and cruddy practice gear was laid out. Already there were several other guys lined up for the tryout, which made Spike feel that the odds were not in his favour. The football team was the most popular sports team in school, clearly. He did his best not to just leave then and there, sighing as he took a seat next to Twilight. She was too absorbed into the book to even notice, as usual.

“Howdy there, Spike,” a southern voice called out, familiar in it’s unconventional twang.

Spike glanced over just in time to see Applejack jog up to the bleachers, holding a bag full of footballs strung over her shoulder. Twilight only clued in to Spike’s presence at that moment, raising her head and blinking a few times.

“Oh, hey you,” Twilight said, the glee apparent in her voice. The news of Spike wanting to join the football team must have set her in a good mood. She had been hoping for a long time that Spike would find something to do and love that suited him well.

“So, you’re tryin' out, huh? And here Ah didn’t think y'were one for sports,” Applejack said with a gentle and amused smirk, leaning against the side of the bleachers with an outstretched elbow.

“Well, I wanted to join a club, and I figured football was the most masculine and popular of them all,” Spike said as he tried to chew out a decent excuse. “I just wanted to learn to be a bit more of a man, you know? Besides, Shining Armour was always into football, so maybe this will give us something to talk about.”

There was a brief silence followed by a cough from Applejack. “W-well, alright ‘en. S-so, what do you reckon you’re best suited for?”

Spike shrugged his shoulders as he started twiddling his thumbs around absently. Silence took over once more with a brisk wind and incoming footsteps serving as the only ripple. Honestly, Spike had not really thought much about it; he didn’t know too much about football and that made him a little apprehensive.

A girl with rainbow hair popped up at the bottom of the bleachers, sporting a cheap foam Nerf ball. With a quick motion, she tossed the foam ball towards Spike just as he glanced over to her. Before the boy could do much more than gasp, it impacted his forehead, causing him to jerk his head back. The foam ball rolled down the bleachers and bounced about as it hit each following step. The rainbow-headed girl snorted a laugh loudly as she retrieved the ball, and the other two girls simply watched.

“Well, you’re no receiver, not with that 'catch'. That was just pitiful,” she said through the obnoxious laughter, tossing the ball into the air and catching it again without difficulty.

"Quit bein' s'darn rough with th' kid, it ain't no wonder all our tryout's leave in th' first few practices," Applejack smacked her friend on the back of the head lightly.

"You know you like it when I’m rough, AJ." Rainbow Dash grinned and crept closer to her friend, who rolled her eyes.

Spike let out a grin; she was just as he remembered. “Rainbow, I wasn’t really anticipating a ball to the face.”

Rainbow shook her head, humming dismissively. “I guess not, but still, you should be able to react to that weak throw.”

Sighing and nodding slowly, the boy hopped off the bleachers, leaving the three girls by themselves. Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow watched as Spike sauntered off, his head hanging a little low. Rainbow seemed perplexed while Applejack and Twilight seemed rather sad, the downtrodden boy most likely sensitive to such comments.

“Did I say something wrong?” Rainbow asked as she looked between the two girls, tilting her head in wonder.

“No, no,” Twilight muttered gently, watching her brother slump away. “I can’t really say, Spike’s an interesting guy, is all. Sometimes he just needs time to think things over.”

Spike stepped onto the grass and stopped short of a white line marking the edge of the field. He wasn’t sure what the word was, but premonitions of future glory, maybe being the game changer for his team flashed in his mind. Fantasies of being the best; they seemed so far away as Spike was certain he had no talent to begin with. Briefly, images flashed in his mind; running down the sidelines, opposing team hot on his trail as he carried the ball to victory, or perhaps centre field, throwing the enemy linemen to the ground. He glanced towards his left arm and flexed it, realizing he had no muscle whatsoever.

He let out yet another pensive sigh and gave the field a once-over. As he looked towards one end, he saw a black and white ball with a hexagon pattern rolling towards him. It stopped a few yards away, and looking up into the distance, Spike noticed a boy in a blue and white jersey wave out to him.

The ball in front of him he had little experience with, so he shrugged in response and burst into a light run. It was by no means a sports-star dash, but some onlookers could tell that it had potential. As he approached the ball, he yanked his foot back and swung it forward as hard as he could. His toe impacted the bottom of the ball and the sound of the synthetic leather connecting with his shoe was somewhat satisfying.

What was even more satisfying was watching the ball launch into the air, spinning wildly towards the soccer player. Spike, the distant boy and the three girls on the bleachers watched as the ball soared into the sky, higher than he thought or wanted to send it. Simultaneous winces were felt by all those who watched on, as the sun hanging above welcomed the ball into the open air above the field but stung at their eyes. From the 40-yard line, the ball cleared the goalposts and landed in the street immediately next to the football field.

All five onlookers felt astonishment with the exception of Spike, who watched in horror. Clearly he had not been trained on how to control kicks of any kind nor did he understand his own strength. He ditched his bag on the ground behind him as he started running towards the end of the field and the fence behind it. Upon reaching it, he leapt upwards, grabbing the six-foot high fence and clambering over it. Being somewhat short compared to the height of the obstacle, he fell over and his feet tingled as his body landed on the sidewalk, but he did not let that stall him. Checking both ways, he darted across the street and looked around for the soccer ball that had seemingly rolled under a car.

"Did that jus' happen?" Applejack blinked, pushing off of the bleachers in surprise.

"Damn," was Rainbow's only response as the three girls watched Spike running back towards the bleachers.

He returned the ball to the soccer player, who gratefully thanked him before he returned into the school. By then, Spike was huffing and out of breath as he stumbled back to his spot on the bleachers.

“Woah, that was actually a pretty decent kick, bub,” Rainbow said, going over and elbowing Spike in the side, which caused him to heave a bit and weakly swat her away.

“Huh. I guess so, sure. I kicked it as hard as I could, pretty sure that it wasn’t gonna launch like that,” he said humbly, avoiding Rainbow Dash’s gaze as if she would scold him for his lack of control or prowess.

Applejack whistled loudly, shooting Spike a smile as she caught his attention. “Well, we’re missin’ a kicker, Spike. And seems t’me, you just signed up for that.”

Twilight did her best to repress a smile as she watched her friends modestly praise Spike. Before long, she stood up, stretching her legs as she gathered her book and bags. After all, a sports field was no place for someone whose nose belonged in a book.

“Off so soon?” Rainbow asked simply, shuffling over on the boards to make room.

“Yeah, I just came by to see Spike try out. I’m actually really busy,” she said, rolling her eyes at the last word as she adjusted her bag on her shoulder.

“But it’s the first day o’school,” Applejack muttered, thinking to herself.

Twilight didn’t respond, instead stepping off the bleachers and heading towards the school, waving to the three. By then, several more people were starting to approach the field. Spike could recognize some of the faces; the British boy whom stood maybe a foot taller, a trio of numbskulls he had to share a few classes with. His view of those trying out was obstructed by Rainbow Dash’s face popping up inches from his own, causing him to lean back in surprise.

“Yo, Spike, I asked you if you remembered my number. You got shit in your ears?” Rainbow asked, waving her hand close to his face.

Stuttering incoherently, Spike found himself unable to speak as he clumsily yet quickly retrieved his phone. Unlocking it, he opened up his contacts list and pretended to scroll down several pages. Rainbow Dash didn’t seem to notice but Applejack could tell Spike was fibbing. Once again, a subtly solemn expression adorned her face that quickly gave way to a smile as Rainbow snatched Spike’s phone from his hands.

The boy panicked a moment but Rainbow didn’t seem to notice the lack of contacts, instead instantly slamming her thumb onto the “Add Contact” icon.

“Sheesh, how could you not have my number?” Rainbow muttered, shaking her head as she punched in her details with aggressive fingers. "How do you expect to get ahold of AJ when she's caught up in my bedsheets?!"

"Ignore her," Applejack brushed the subject away easily and chuckled at her best friend's violent typing fingers. "She thinks it's funny t'joke 'bout that stuff."

“Well, I never needed to know your number, I guess," Spike responded with a shrug, not looking directly at her until she tossed the phone back at him, which he fumbled to catch.

“Listen kid, you ever need help practising and shit, give me a shout, okay?” Rainbow Dash expressed an overzealous, friendly wink before returning to the subject at hand. “All right, AJ, what have you got planned for the tryouts?”

“Uh, me, planned? Ah thought that was your job?” Applejack nudged her team mate playfully, causing the girl to nervously laugh and act aloof. “Well, so much for captain.”

“Whatever, we have the most important player right here.” Rainbow Dash grinned and pointed her thumb at herself, drawing forth a chuckle from the freckle-faced farmer’s lips.

“Right, Ah forgot about the star runnin' back,” her tone was sarcastic, but lighthearted. Applejack shook her head as she turned back and addressed the younger boy beside her, “So you’re on the team now, Spike. Our first practice is tomorrow after school, y’hear? Now, don’t be late, we got lots’a ground t' cover.”

“I won’t be.” Spike nodded eagerly, biting his lip to keep his appreciative and ecstatic smile under wraps.

The two girls waved goodbye casually before heading over to the football field to greet the rest of the team. Spike still didn’t know much about what had just happened, but he was glad it did. He was never much interested in sports, so he was just as surprised as anyone to realize he might have had some potential behind those oddly remarkable eyes and clumsily large body. Just like that, he was on the team, he had a position and everything. Not that he knew much about it, but like Twilight always advised him, a little research is never out of the question. He retrieved his bag and pulled it over his shoulders, playing with the straps apprehensively.

What he really wanted to do was shout or sprint home, but he repressed the urges. Still, Spike was thrilled about his first day of the year. Usually any potential and excitement was robbed from him by Felix or his buddies, but this year would be different. This year, he would challenge himself, he would make friends, he would be good at something. He was going to be a man.