Three weeks went by since our adventure with A.K. Yearling, also known as Daring Do..... Hey! Anyway, the day after our quest, I went to check on Swagger, only to receive the biggest surprise since my wives told me they were pregnant. Swagger and Twilight hooked up. I figured I'd keep it quiet since I found out on accident, but when you're married to the element of honesty, you can't hold on to a secret for long.

Next thing I know, I'm hiding Swagger from an over-protective Shining Armor and an inquisitive Cadence. After a few explosions and a couple of musical numbers, Swagger was invited to meet with Twilight's parents. I do not envy him.

Anyway, I get a letter from Mrs. Harshwhinny asking me to help her with a sports promotion involving the kids at the school. And that's where we head to now.

https://youtu.be/efRTosGodyU

I waited outside the schoolhouse for Julia to give me the signal. Sorry, Mrs. Harshwhinny. Anyway, I told my kids that they'd be getting a big surprise sometime today, boy were they in for one. I started hearing the end of Harshwhinny's speech, so I got ready to show myself. " And now, I would like to present the one who'll be coaching your teams, though I don't think he needs much introduction." That's my cue. " Children, I'd like you to say hello to..."

I opened a portal into the classroom and jumped through. " Joe, the king of Herot, and your coach!" The second I appeared, all the kids gave off a cheer, though when I looked over to my kids, they tried to hide their faces. Can't say I blame them, having your parent come in while class is in session is always embarrassing, and I'm gonna milk that. " Jack, Orion, Scootaloo! Didn't I say I had a surprise for ya!" This caused the class to giggle their way while my kids tried their best to become invisible.

" Ahem!" I turn my attention over to Julia to see she was unamused with my antics. " Must I remind you, that as a coach, you must maintain a professional attitude?"

" Come on Julia. If I don't embarrass my children in front of the class, then what kind of father would I be?" Julia rolled her eyes while my kids shrunk further in their desks. " Alright, time to be serious. As you may all know, the Equestria Games are only a few months away and will be held in the Crystal Empire. Many creatures will attend the games as athletes, but, you will have the opportunity to support your town. By carrying the Ponyville flag at the Equestria Games!" This got a round of applause from the whole class.

" Settle down now, please." When the noise trickled to a stop, I continued my speech. " Now then, for those of you who wish to participate, you will need to make a team from two to five members. Once you have your team, you'll create a routine on carrying the flag. The routine will be judged on grace, style, and originality. While you work on the routine, I will coach you on where you need improvement and whether or not it's appropriate for an audience. And to help me with that, I'd like you to meet my assistant coach, Discord."

Discord appeared out of Diamond's desk, making her yelp, and stood by me. He had on a pair of denim overalls, a straw hat, and a corncob pipe between his teeth. This is what I get for letting him watch the Waterboy. He turned to the class and gave a terrible cajun accent. " A fine lookin' bunch we got here. Might 'ave ta, put sum through the grind though." I slapped him upside the head, making him spit his pipe out. " Ouch! Was that necessary?"

" Damn right it was necessary. Now quit acting like a fool." He retrieved his pipe and started smoking pink bubbles. " Anyway, in three days' time, the teams you formed will be judged by Mrs. Harhwhinny and three other judges, in the Crystal Empire. The team that wins, will carry the flag for Ponyville during the opening ceremony." Again, the children got excited about the chance to win. " That's what I like to hear. Now, all teams will meet us at the front of the school at three o'clock sharp. I'll leave the rest of the details to Mrs. Harshwhinny. See ya!" With that, Discord and I left the schoolhouse.

On our walk home, Discord made idle conversation. " This will certainly be three fun-filled days. By the way, I'm surprised you asked me to help coach these kids, instead of your buddy, Swagger."

" To be honest with you, I feel we haven't spent enough time together and this felt like the perfect opportunity. Not to mention that Swagger kinda scares the kids a bit, not my kids but the other kids you know." He nodded his head while we headed home till three.

3 o'clock

Discord and I stood in front of a stage in an open field a few yards away from the school. " Well, I hope these kids give us one-hundred percent," I told Discord while checking over my clipboard.

" I hope we see a few flops." Discord conjured a couple of lawn chairs, a plastic drinking helmet, a giant foam finger, and a tub of popcorn. " Alright, let's get started!"

The first routine we had to watch, was Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. They both had on matching dresses with too much frill to it. " Alright, show us what you got." When they did their routine, it was just their handshake they do while holding up the flag for Ponyville at the end. We both waited to see if there was more, but there wasn't. " Okay, a few notes. One, the routine was too short. Two, you forgot to showcase what your town means to you. Finally, the dresses need to go." Diamond let out an irritated huff and got off the stage with Silver Spoon following behind.

" Well, that was terrible," Discord told me while filling his helmet with more beer. " Who's next on the block?"

I looked at my clipboard and saw who was up next. " Snips and Snails. Hopefully, they have something organized." The two young colts made it onto the stage. Snails carried a bucket of lobsters, while snips carried a couple of beach balls, and they both had rainbow afro wigs on. " This oughta be interesting."

" Twenty bits says the fat one messes it up." Discord proceeded to stuff his face with popcorn while the two started their routine. The two of them balanced on one hoof on each ball and started juggling lobsters at each other while singing the Ponyville anthem. So far, they were doing pretty good, until one of the lobsters went right into Snips' mouth tail first and clamped on his nose, causing him to land on his head. Luckily, his afro broke the fall. " Hahaha, that was beautiful!"

I slapped him upside his head before going back to the two colts. " You two alright?" Snips was doing his best to get the lobster off his face while Snail gathered the rest into the bucket. " Okay, well on the note of your routine, it was pretty good, but for your safety, let's get rid of the lobsters and replace them with something else, preferably something that doesn't bite or snap." They gave me a confirming wave before gathering their things and left the stage. " You know, apart from the lobster in the mouth, those boys had a decent routine going."

" Yeah, I'll give them that." Discord went and tossed me a beer while snatching my clipboard and gave it a look. " Oooh, now this will certainly be interesting."

" What, who is it?" Before I could get an answer from him, the stage started to fill with fog while music could be heard. " Nevermind." I sat back in my chair and watched as my kids and the rest of the crusaders come onto the stage before closing the curtains. " Okay, show me what you got."

https://youtu.be/EBohdltpVUY

The boys provided the music with the magic of the harmony song and props with their illusions while the girls started the routine with Scoots narrating. " Since the dawn of recorded time, in one town of amazing amazingness... different creatures coexist."

The curtain opened back up and Bloom stepped on the stage with ribbons on her forelegs to start them off. " We are Earth Ponies..."

As she moved across the stage, Sweetie came out from the opposite direction. " We are Unicorns..."

Sweetie hoped across the stage while Scoots landed on a cloud. " We are Pegasi..."

The boys then came onto the stage fully wolfed out. " We are Lycan!"

The background then changed to Ponyville's eastside while Scoots took back the narrative. " And the town where friendship reigns are our home." They set up a hoop with a tarp in the middle. " Now welcome to the stadium, the flag of the place we love best..." Scootaloo then burst through the canvas on her old scooter with the ponyville flag attached. she then swerved to the right and then back to the center, leaping off and being caught by her brothers while Sweetie and Bloom stood on her outstretched hooves.

" Ponyville Forever! Yay!" The cheer ended with Scootaloo's scooter passing in the background with the flag while the boys added some fireworks and a long and loud howl.

When it was over, my jaw was hanging open and Discord was in freeze-frame with his popcorn halfway into his mouth. It wasn't until the kids got off the stage and came up to us did we regain our senses. " So, Joe, whaddya know?" Bloom asked me.

" That was very good. You five met the criteria needed for the routine and you did it with style and grace, also, nice use of the Hey song." They looked very proud of themselves and they should be. However, I still needed to give them notes. " I do have one little note for you. At the beginning of your routine, maybe try to use better grammar." They nodded yes before heading off to do their own thing.

While they headed off Discord came up to my side. " That may have been the best routine out of the whole bunch!"

" Yeah, they did pretty well."

At the dinner table.

" You should have seen them, they had the best routine out of all the others!" I was at the dinner table with my wives, kids, dad, and Discord, and I was telling them how proud I was of their routine. "Scoots did an excellent job narrating the routine and the five-star pyramid at the end was the piece de resistance. Also, good job on using the harmony song to your advantage boys."

" Thanks, though, I provided the music while Jack did the illusions," Orion told us between bites of his chicken.

" Well, I'm very proud of all three of you. And, to celebrate, mama and I made a special dessert." Luna and Jackie got up from the table and went into the kitchen.

While they went to go get dessert, I noticed that Scoots looked a little down. " Hey, Squirt. Something eating at ya?"

She stopped picking at her salad and gave a huff. " It's not a huge deal, but a little bit after we did the routine, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon came up to me. They said that since I can't fly on my own, Mrs. Harshwhinny won't accept our routine. So I've been trying to fly without my crown and I couldn't even get all my hooves off the ground. So...I've been thinking about dropping out of the team."

The boys nearly did a spit-take at their sister's news. It would seem that my little girl needs some sound advice from her father. " Scoots, I know you're self-conscious about your wings, but that doesn't mean you have to quit. Besides, the routine wouldn't work without all of you together." Scoots seemed to see my point and a small smile appeared. " Also, those two telling you all that, shows that they're afraid of your routine, and rightly so." This made her smile grow even larger.

" Yeah, besides, when has Diamond and Silver ever said a kind or truthful word to any of us?" Jack asked his sister, proving my point even further.

" Okay, I guess you're right. But I still want to be able to fly with my own wings one day."

" Well, if you want, I can help you build some muscles in your wings on the weekends?" She nodded her head at that idea just as the ladies of the house came in with a large apple-cobbler with a tub of vanilla ice cream. " Woohoo! That's what I'm talking about!"

Two days later, Crystal Empire.

Today is the day the kids show off their routine to the judges at the empire. On the days leading up to today, Discord and I coached the teams and improved their routines, those that took our advice. Snips and Snails still used live lobsters, but they were smart enough to but rubber bands on the claws. The rich girls made their routine worse by adding more lace and added more moves to their hoof shake. The only cheers they got were from their parents. When my kids and the crusaders did their routine, the whole stadium was in an uproar, no surprise there.

With the routines for Ponyville and the other towns done, we waited for Julia to announce the team to carry the flag for Ponyville. " And the team to represent Ponyville for the Equestria Games is... Cutiemark Crusaders!" As soon as they heard their name called, they went wild. Scootaloo and the other crusaders came together in a group hug while Jack and Orion let out a victory howl. While they celebrated, Julia came over to me. " It would seem the apple doesn't fall far from the tree when it comes to acting professional."

" Yeah, I still have to teach them humility after victory. But right now, I think I'll add to their moment." I conjured the forces of the harmony song and let it loose to help celebrate the winning team.

https://youtu.be/JAEDQwMtf4o

As the song played on, Julia rolled her eyes before handing out the floral wreaths to the kids. While that was going on, Discord appeared next to me. " Well, that was fun. We should do something like this again."

" Anytime buddy." Knowing my luck and the way this world works, that time could be right around the corner.

Author's Notes:

I really didn't know how to work with this episode seeing as Scootaloo has a family to support her through Diamond and Silver's taunting. Anyway, onto a chapter derailing from the episodes.

Clip

https://youtu.be/cUF9XJamAK0

https://youtu.be/uMm-KWEMMmM