Chapter 17

     "C'mon Sugarcube," Applejack said during breakfast. "Just have a bit of toast."

"I'm not hungry," Fluttershy insisted.

Twilight pushed a plate with eggs and potatoes towards Fluttershy. "Applejack is right. You'll need your strength for your first Quidditch game."

     Fluttershy reluctantly took a bite out of the fried potatoes and scrambled eggs.

"Good luck today Miss Fluttershy," said a voice from behind. Professor Trixie was standing over her.

Twilight and Applejack glanced at each other nervously, as if Professor Trixie was about to lecture them or take away points from Gryffindor. 

     Trixie grinned. "Perhaps you'll manage to make it a close game. Even if it is against Slytherin."

Finally, she turned and limped away.

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     "Welcome to the Hogwarts Quidditch season opener!" Pinkie Pie announced. She sat next to Professor Luna in one of the taller towers surrounding the field, and she spoke into a microphone, broadcasting her voice through several intercoms on the field.

     "This is an intense match up," Pinkie continued. "The rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin has become the most spiteful rivalry in Hogwarts history!"

     Fluttershy stood in a wooden tunnel on the edge of the field. She wore red and gold robes with the number five on the back.

     "Are you scared?" Soarin' asked as the chasers began flying onto the field. 

Fluttershy nodded.

     "Don't worry," Soarin' said. "I felt the same way in my first game."

Dashie and the other beaters flew out next. They began flying laps around the Quidditch field.

"How was it?" Fluttershy asked.

"My first game?" Soarin' scratched his head. "I don't really remember. I took a bludger to the head in the first few minutes."

      Fluttershy backed away from the field nervously.

"Well," Soarin' said. "You're due on the field."

He pushed Fluttershy out the tunnel, and Fluttershy had no choice but to flap her wings and try to look like she knew what she was doing.

     The Slytherin seeker skillfully looped around the stands doing summersaults and flips. He flew past the green fan section and high fived the other Slytherins.

     Fluttershy turned back to look at the red fan sections. She saw Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity. Scootaloo was wearing a ridiculous home made lion costume to resemble Gryffindor's mascot, and Big Macintosh was helping students find their seats. Fluttershy was going to let them all down. She was no athlete. How could she compete against these ponies?

     "All players are on the field, and we are ready to begin the game!" Pinkie announced.

Professor Spitfire released the bludgers and the snitch. The small golden ball zipped in front of Fluttershy's face, then disappeared all together.

     Professor Spitfire blew her whistle. "I want a nice clean game!" She shouted. She tossed the quaffle into the air, and the chasers began zooming back and forth.

"Cappuccino takes the quaffle for Gryffindor!" Pinkie exclaimed. "He passes it off to Juicy Fruit! Juicy Fruit is going for the hoops! She's lined up to take a shot! Oh no! Thunder with the steal! Slytherin has the quaffle!"

     Fluttershy treaded air, wondering how long Pinkie Pie could keep this announcing up. She watched the game, scanning the air for the smallest flicker of gold.

"Icy Rain with takes the shot! Soarin' makes a fantastic block! It's still anypony's game!"

     Fluttershy watched the other seeker doing some flips and waving to the crowd. 

"Juicy Fruit to Cappuccino! Thunder is closing in! Ouch! Thunder takes a bludger to the back of the head, courtesy of Dashie!" Pinkie held her head proudly. "My twin sister! Way to bash some Slytherins!"

Professor Luna held her hoof over the mic, but you could still make out angry whispering about being impartial over the intercom.

"Sorry about that folks," Pinkie apologized. "Juicy Fruit with the quaffle, and an excellent score for Gryffindor! The score is now 10-0!"

     The red fan section erupted into applause.

"Let's go Gryffindor!" Scootaloo shouted, still wearing her ridiculous lion costume.

"It looks like Gryffindor got the quaffle again!" Pinkie shouted. "Juicy Fruit is weaving towards the Slytherin hoops, but wait! What's this? Thunder is flying side by side with Juicy Fruit! Thunder is actually pushing Juicy Fruit to the side! They're stuck together! Like pie on a clown's face! Like peanut butter on jelly!"

     Thunder pulled back and rammed Juicy Fruit one last time. Juicy Fruit spiraled into the canvas walls surrounding the field.

"A flagrant foul!" Pinkie cried. "Why is Spitfire not calling that?"

Luna covered the mic again. This time, Fluttershy could hear Luna giving Pinkie a few choice words. These were words Fluttershy had heard all too often when Mr. Tiara got upset.

     "Alright," Pinkie Pie announced reluctantly. "That wasn't necessarily a foul. You be the judge!"

Professor Luna smiled, satisfied.

"Looks like Slytherin has the quaffle. They're up against two chasers instead of three with Juicy Fruit out. Cloud Kicker has the quaffle. She throws, but Soarin' blocks! What's this? Icy Rain and Cloud Kicker kick both bludgers at once towards Soarin'! He dodges one, but the other nails him right in the kisser! That play was even fouler than Professor Luna's language! Cloud Kicker isn't even a beater!"

     Instead of covering the mic, Luna just hit Pinkie upside the head.

"You're never announcing again," Luna spat.

Pinkie shrugged. "I can live with that. But wait! What's this? The golden snitch has reappeared!"

********************

     Applejack and Twilight watched eagerly as Fluttershy and the Slytherin seeker chased the snitch. 

"What is Fluttershy trying to get again?" Twilight asked. 

"The silver twitch," Rarity said.

"Actually," Applejack explained. "It's the golden snitch."

"What's this?" Pinkie Pie's muffled voice rang over the intercom. 

     Applejack and Twilight looked up to see what it was. Fluttershy was flailing about, with a strange light blue glow around her.

"Somepony must be jinxing her!" Rarity cried.

Twilight held up a pair of binoculars and looked across the field at Professor Trixie in the staff section. She was concentrating hard on something and her horn was glowing light blue.

     "It's Trixie!" Twilight exclaimed. "She's jinxing Fluttershy!"

Applejack looked through the binoculars to see for herself.

"Well I'll be!" Applejack crowds "She is jinxin' Fluttershy! What do we do?"

Twilight thought for a moment.

"I've got a plan," she said. "Follow me."

     Twilight and Applejack crawled underneath the wooden stands. After weaving under hundreds of hooves, they reached the staff section on the other side.

"Ready?" Twilight whispered once they had crawled underneath Trixie's dangling cloak. 

Applejack nodded.

     Twilight's horn glowed, and a small streak of orange shot out. Trixie's cloak ignited.

"Fire!" One of the professors screamed. "You're on fire!"

Trixie hopped up and began stomping on her blazing cloak, trying to put out the flames. She hopped up and down and knocked Professor Jet Set over.

***********************

     Fluttershy finally regained control after the spell released her. She was able to begin flying again and catch up with the Slytherin seeker.

     The golden snitch zipped back and forth in front of them, just going fast enough to elude them but slowing down just enough to taunt them.

"Fluttershy and Pluto are neck and neck!" Pinkie announced. "Whichever seeker catches the snitch gets 150 points and wins the game for their team! Pluto pulls ahead by a nose! Fluttershy pulls ahead by a nose! Pluto pulls ahead by a nose! No wait! It's not a nose! More like half a nose! Or a smidgeometer! Pluto is ahead by a smidgometer!"

     Fluttershy and the Slytherin seeker both began chasing the snitch downwards. They were high up, but losing altitude fast as they both dived for the snitch.

"It's Pluto!" Pinkie screamed. "It's Fluttershy! It's Pluto! Fluttershy pulls ahead by two sevenths of a smidgeometer!

It's anypony's game!"

     The grass was getting closer and closer. Pluto and Fluttershy chased the snitch directly towards the ground. They had to pull up soon.

"What's this?" Pinkie cried. "Pluto pulls out of the nose dive, but Fluttershy's still going! She's headed straight for the ground! Can she pull up in time?"

     The snitch stopped going downwards and danced off in another direction. Fluttershy pulled up just in time. Her hooves skimmed the neatly trimmed grass below.

"The snitch is in sight!" Pinkie exclaimed. "It's time to make a grab for it!"

Fluttershy leaned forward, sticking her left hoof out. She could almost feel the paper thin metallic wings of the snitch.

Suddenly, her right hoof touched the ground. It got stuck in the dirt, sending her whole body into a flip.

The Gryffindor's rushed the field to see if she was alright.

Fluttershy stumbled to her feet. 

"It looks like she's fallen ill!" Rarity said.

     Suddenly, Fluttershy spat out a small golden lump into her hooves. It was covered in saliva, but everypony recognized it as the snitch.

"Fluttershy caught the snitch!" Pinkie shouted. "Gryffindor gets 150 points and the game ends as a result! Gryffindor wins!"

The fans in red erupted into cheering. Professor Luna began jumping up and down excitedly before grabbing Pinkie in an awkward hug.

     "We won!" Luna squealed as she squeezed the life out of Pinkie. 

"I'm... happy... too... Professor..." Pinkie choked.

The other Gryffindors picked Fluttershy up on their backs and marched towards the castle.

"Go go Gryffindor!" They chanted.

*********************

     When Fluttershy arrived in the common room, all she desired was a cup of cocoa and a nice warm bed. Instead, every single Gryffindor student was crammed into the small common room lobby. Colorful balloons and streamers lined the walls, and Pinkie was handing out cupcakes and cups of punch.

"What's going on?" Fluttershy asked.

"It's a party silly!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Haven't you ever been to one?"

     Fluttershy hadn't ever been to one, but she wasn't exactly sure she wanted to. Everypony was stomping around to the loud music that filled the air. Some of the older students were having a contest to see who could ram their head into the wall the hardest, and several of the picture frames had been shattered as a result.

     "In addition to being an excellent Quidditch announcer, I'm also a great party thrower," Pinkie said.

"It seems a bit messy," Fluttershy said.

"It's supposed to be messy," Dashie explained. "Just don't worry about it!"

"By the way," Pinkie said. "You did a great job out there. You won us the game!"

     Fluttershy blushed. "Oh, it was nothing."

"But it was something!" Dashie said. "It was a whole lot of something!"

"Hooray for Fluttershy!" Pinkie shouted.

"Hooray for Fluttershy!" The other ponies echoed.