Cloudsdale Cumulus (4-1) vs. Manehatten Maelstrom (2-3) Air Hockey Game!

Spring Shower and Thunderclap had met up in Town Square as planned and were now on their way to Cloudsdale for the Cumulus v Maelstrom game. Spring Shower was clearly quite excited-- she had a blue and silver vest on and also a blue ball cap with her mane in a ponytail out the back of the cap.

"Oh, here, wear this!" Spring grinned as she stopped flying and pulled out a bandana, tying it around Thunderclaps neck, "There's going to be a lot of Cumulus fans there, always a good idea to pick your side." she winked to him.

"Now-- here's the basics of Air Hockey--" Spring explained as she flew alongside Thunder, "Air Hockey has been around a long time-- there's debate between the Griffins and Pegasi about who invented the game-- I feel there is probably a combination of both races games mixed into what we now play--" she said.

"There's ten teams in the league, broken into three divisions," Spring continued, "We're in the Western Division, along with the Cumulus and the Maelstroms in the west is the Fillydelphia Flyers. The Central Division has the New Saddle Tornados, Canterbury Flames, and Hoofington Manticores. The Northern Division has the Windsoar Hurricanes, Detrot Red Wings, Marelin Lightning, and our biggest rivals, the griffin team the Gryphus Talons."

"We're the only real competative team in the Western Division--" she added "Canterbury is the best in the Central, while Windsoar-- another Pegasi cloud city is a top Northern division team-- although usually Gryphus ends up being the other top team against us."

Thunderclap looked at the bandana tied around his neck. "So I guess you're choosing my team for me, eh?" He joked. "I'm just kidding. You know more than I do. I'll trust your judgment." He flew alongside Spring. "But this game sounds really competitive. Not surprising. Most pegasi I have met are a little bit competitive."He looked at Spring Shower. She looked very nice in her clothes, but he did not know if it was a good idea to say that right then. So he decided a different route. "I like your hat." He said smiling.

"And I've heard about this griffin team before. I met a griffin on my travels who was a big fan of the Talons. I didn't know what the Talons were at that time, however. " He continued flying. He hadn't had a nice casual flight like this with another Pegasus in, well, he never had a casual flight like this with another pegasus. He quite liked it.

"Well-- I suppose I could have offered you a Windsoar Hurricanes bandana," Spring said with a smirk, "I'm sure that'd have gone over really well with the hundreds of Cumulus fans that'll be there tonight. When you dont know the teams, go with the home team, Thunder." She told him with a giggle.

"Thanks! I love this hat!" she said touching it with her hoof, "the Cumulus havnt lost a game I've attended since I've gotten it, good way to make sure I enjoy the game" she beamed as she continued to fly for Cloudsdale.

"The griffins are, well-- theyre kinda seen as the bad guys of the air hockey league..." Spring Shower said in a straight voice, "besides being the only griffin team-- they're a bit aggressive out there-- and theyve already got a size advantage on the pegasi..." she explained.

"Well with that good luck hat, we're sure to win!" He said with a smile. "It seems like you really like this game. It sounds like a lot of fun. I'm surprised I've never heard of it before. Maybe its cause I grew up in a small town with a small pegasus population." He continued flying, adding a loop or twirl every so often to stop it from getting boring. He smiled at Spring Shower. "I'm sure to have a lot of fun."

"Well, maybe the griffins do have a size advantage. But I would like to see a griffin size up to me!" He said, extending his large wings and showing his large body. "I haven't seen many ponies that are bigger than me. And that griffin wasn't bigger than me either." He smiled.

"It's about time you learn a real Pegasus game," she said with a smile, "a lot different than those earth pony games-- Kickball-- Hoofball-- you know the ones." she said with little laugh.

Spring smiled and rolled her eyes, "You'd make a great goalie, thats for sure--" she grinned, "but you dont stack up to some of those griffins-- you must have met a small one." she said as she watched him do a loop.

"There was one year-- Manehatten had a brand new forward, a young stallion, but he was great-- Manehatten won their first and only world cup, beating the Gryphus team--" she explained, looking a little serious, "the very first game the next season, the Gryphus team apparently didnt take kindly to losing to a team they considered a joke-- the Maelstroms-- the young stallion got injured and never played again--" she explained.

Thunderclap's smile faded. "Actually, I don't know those games. I was always too busy helping my parents on the farm, I never really had many chances to play games." But in his usual Thunderclap self, his smile quickly returned. "And my village wasn't only earth ponies! There were two other pegasi my age, and a unicorn." He said matter-of-factly. He then laughed and turned to face Spring, lazily flying on his back.

"Well it sounds that they really do play dirty." He said with a scowl. "And they get away with this? Well that is just not right." He continued, "I mean, there is nothing wrong with competition,but have they never heard of sportsmanship? Or honour? If one does not play fair, they only cheat themselves."

"They're griffins..." Spring Shower scowled remembering when she heard about that incident, "The game was being held in Gryphus-- griffin referee, griffin fans, so the incident didn't even get called a penalty... Its why they don't allow Gryphus games to have a griffin referee anymore..." She said.

Her smiled came back slowly, "The dirtiness isn't that bad-- this was an isolated incident-- its still a rough game and players still get hurt-- but they try to keep it fair-- with the occasional fights..." she explained.

"You know-- you're a big guy--" she grinned, "If you didnt wanna get risk getting struck by lightning, you could try out to be a goalie for the Cumulus next season, even though I don't think you'd have anything for Warwing," she laughed.

Thunderclap shook his head. "No, they can play their game. I have no interest of playing professionally. I'll stick with breaking up storms. That's my special talent, after all." He said, showing his double lightning bolt cutie mark. "Plus this Warwing guy sounds tough. And probably way more experienced than me. I wouldn't stand a chance against him."

Thunderclap did a barrel roll. "You know, I've had a great time just flying and talking to you. I bet this game is going to be great." He grinned and winked. As they got closer to Cloudsdale they saw more and more pegasi. "Looks like quite a crowd." He said.

"It has been a nice flight!" Spring smiled to him, "you're going to see more Pegasi here then you've probably seen in your entire life-- and this isnt that big of a game!" Spring laughed.

Finally the pair of blue pegasi reached Cloudsdale. The skies were abuzz with pegasi flying around, mainly flying towards the Stadium that is used for many events, including the Best Junior Flyer competition. As they flew towards the stadium there were tons of pegasi in blue and silver, which was clear to be the colors of the Cloudsdale team. There were a handful of ponies wearing a teal and cream combination as well, likely routing for the Manehatten team.

"Rainbow Dash tried to form a Ponyville Air Hockey team, but the league has very strict regulations about admitting a new team, and we didnt have the players nor the money required to get a team started" she explained, "It was probably for the best, most of the good players would wanna try out for the Cumulus--" Spring started to explain as she got distracted looking at something.

She stopped flying and watched two very large griffins walking by the front entrance of the stadium wearing red and black. The bigger one probably easily a foot taller than even Thunderclap. Spring flew right up next to Thunder and pointed out the two griffins, "thats... thats Wrynn Blackfeather... he's the captain of the Talons..." she said, staring as the Pegasi down on the clouds got out of their way and stared.

Thunderclap scratched his head. "Rainbow who know? You seem to have forgotten that I'm new to town. I barely know anypony." Thunderclap shrugged. He began to look around. He had never been to Cloudsdale before, and I was wonderful. He had never seen anything like it before. "Wow, its so amazing." He said as he gathered in all the sights.

His attention was taken away from the city when Spring pointed out a griffin. "Man, he is a big guy, isn't he? Doesn't look so tough." He then looked down at his companion. "Sure he looks big and strong, but he doesn't look like the kind of guy who puts mind into a fight. Mostly brute strength, am I right?" He asked.

"Right right, I just thought that maybe you'd heard of some of these ponies--" Spring Shower said, watching the griffin, "a few of them are quite well known yknow" she added.

Spring Shower looked at Thunder in a little bit of surprise, "He didn't become the captain of the Talons for his strength and ability alone-- he is one of the best strategists in the league..." she explained to him, "He's not a griffin you want to run across." she told him

Spring Shower grabbed Thunder's arm in surprise as a pegasus tried to throw a drink at Wrynn only to have the griffin backhand it out of the air and grab the pony by the neck, snarling at him before tossing him to the side. The rest of the ponies moved out of the way as the two griffins proceeded into the stadium.

Thunderclap looked down at Spring Shower grabbing onto him. If he could be protection for his friend,then he would. He stood there strong, staring as the pegasus was thrown to the ground. "I guess he is here to pick up on other teams strategies, eh? Not a bad idea." He was not mad. The pegasus got what was coming to him. If someone threw a drink at him, he would react as well. "Seems like this game is taken pretty seriously." He remarked.

He then looked down at his friend. "You OK? You seem somewhat surprised. Don't worry, I'll protect you." He joked and laughed.

Spring Shower looked up at Thunder as she realized she was holding onto him. She quickly let go and composed herself, "I dont need to be protected," she said with a little bit of a huff, "It just caught me offguard with what was going on." she said, glancing back down at the ponies on the clouds.

"Next week the Cumulus take on the Talons..." she explained, "Its always one of the most anticipated games of the season outside of the playoffs, that and when we take on the Hurricanes." she said.

"The Talons have a bye this week-- so I assume they're here to see how the Cumulus are playing..." she agreed with Thunder, "they've already got an advantage-- they're going to have an extra week off prior to the game and its going to be in Gryphus..." she said with a sigh.

Thunderclap laughed. "You don't need to get so huffy." He said. "I was just making a joke, I doubt you need my protection." He watched as the griffins continued to walk in. "Seems like they aren't very liked in this town. I understand they are rivals, but one should still respect them." He said. He shrugged. "Oh well, what do I know about this game?"

"So should we go get our seats, or is there any place you were planning on showing me?" He asked. "Cause I'm starting to get real excited about this." He grinned.

Spring Showered rolled her eyes at Thunder with a little smirk, "I was surprised, is all," she explained to the big pegasus, "and no, theyre not liked in this town... theyre the arch rivals of the Cumulus and here they are at a Cumulus game stirring up trouble..." she said with a little bit of annoyance in the behavior of both the pegasi and the griffins.

"nope, lets go get our seats!" Spring said grabbing Thunder's hoof and flying towards the entrance of the stadium, pulling Thunder with her.

Spring landed on the cloud ground and walked with Thunderclap to their seats. Spring looked around at all the attendees for the game. The stadium was about half full of pegasi, mainly wearing blue and silver, although plenty also wearing teal and cream-- there were also some griffins, although not many wearing any particular colors, although some were wearing colors of the teams actually playing, no sign of Wrynn though-- and still some more coming into the stadium.

"Hey Thunder, look up there" she said leaning over to Thunder and pointing up to one of the luxury boxes, a couple pegasi could be seen, a yellow mare with a fiery orange mane, along with her was a white stallion with a black looking mane, "That's Spitfire! captain of the Wonderbolts! and I think thats Soarin up there with her" Spring explained excitedly, "The Wonderbolts have a reserved box at all Cloudsdale games, although it varies which ones actually show up-- they often scout Air Hockey games for potential members"

Thunderclap was suprised when Spring Shower grabbed him and started to drag him along. "She must have strong wings to be able to pull me along" He thought. They arrived at their seats as Thunderclap looked around. Spring was right. There were more pegasi here than he had ever seen in his whole life. "Never seen so many pegasi before, or griffins." He remarked to his friend.

Spring Shower then pointed towards some ponies up in a luxury box. "The Wonderwhatknow?" He asked, but instantly regretted it. He had been asking way to many questions, and it was probably taking its toll on her. "Sorry about all the questions. You see, where I grew up, we never had any time to play games, or any time for celebrities. The only famous ponies I knew about were the princesses. You don't have to answer my questions from now on. I'm sorry." Thunderclap then turned his gaze to the playing area, waiting for the game to start.

Spring Shower stared at Thunderclap with her mouth agap, "How... how do you not know who the Wonderbolts are...?" She asked in bewilderment, "They're some of the best known fliers in all of Equestria-- I suppose you wouldn't have heard about them if you were living under a rock or something-- but even then I'd think someone passing by said rock might have referenced them..." she said a little teasingly.

Spring continued to scan upwards, looking at the VIP boxes, trying to see if she could see the Griffins from earlier somewhere. She figured they would not be sitting with the rest of the crowd, even in Cloudsdale, a captain of a Air Hockey team would be treated to a VIP booth--

Finally the lighting changed some as clouds moved over the top of where the stands are, drawing all attention to the center area as an announcer began to call out the names of the starting players for the Manehatten Maelstroms-- the second to the last player, the goalie, seemed to surprise Spring Shower, "Oh, I knew the goalie for the Manehatten team got hurt last game-- but I didn't know they would be starting Freefall-- he was apart of the Canterbury Flames last season but got traded... he's good..." she said a bit curious.

The announcer next began announcing the entrances for the starting players for the Cloudsdale team, lights being shone on them as they entered-- When the announcer finally announced the captain of the Cumulus, Starwalker, the crowd all got up and cheered, including Spring.

Thunderclap nodded. "I may as well lived under a rock. I grew up out on the fringe. Nothing in the rest of Equestria effected us. Went right over our heads." He chuckled. "Kinda pathetic, isn't it?" He joked, playfully elbowing Spring, lightly. "So how long until the game starts?" He asked.

As soon as he said that, the lighting changed. "Oh, that is when it starts." He said. The Manehattan team came out first, to underwhelming applause. Then the Cloudsdale team flew out. Wanting to be on the good side of his new friend, stood up and applauded for the team. "I'm really excited."He said to his Spring Shower, trying to be heard over the noise.

The game started as the players passed a balled between one another with use of a xistera attached to one of their front hooves (see Jai Alai). There was also plenty of checking into other players in an attempt to get them to drop the ball. There was much contact and an almost constantly movement of the players aside from the two goalies. both were large pegasus in padding and a mask covering their faces (I'm thinking a paintball like mask).

The cheers raised and died depending the possession of the ball and where they were in relation to the Maelstrom's goal. The Cumulus took a shot at the goal and the crowd cheered only to let out a big 'Awwh' as Freefall blocked it. The Cumulus kept up a strong offense but the Maelstrom goalie kept strong and managed to continue up the good defense.

The Maelstroms took control of the ball, getting close to the Cumulus goal, on a break away the Maelstrom player with the ball shot and scored for the first point of the game. There was a handful of cheers, while a majority of the stadium had a hush come over it. Spring Shower looked shocked.

The period came to an end with the Maelstroms leading 1-0 over the Cumulus. Spring sat there looking a bit surprised and even a little upset.

Thunderclap sat bewildered. This was a fast paced game. Contrary to his size and personality, the only games he played were slow, thinking games. He tried his best to follow. He used Spring Shower as a guide as to when he should cheer or boo. After the Manehattan team scored, he went suddenly quiet. "Man, if only our defense got on that guy we could have stopped him." He moaned. Thunderclap was getting surprisingly into the game. "But you were right. That goalie is pretty good."

Thunderclap turned to look at his friend. Spring Shower looked upset. "Hey Spring, are you OK? You don't seem well." He asked, with genuine concern. "Do you need anything?"

"Yeah-- I'm fine..." Spring Shower said a bit flatter than her usually happy self, "I just am not used to us ever being behind when I'm at game-- especially to the Maelstrom..." she said adjusting her hat on her head a little bit.

"Freefall is good, but i don't ever remember him being that good..." Spring share thought, "I guess sometimes it just takes a change of scenery to breath new life into a pony..." she said looking up at the scoreboard.

Spring watched a little quietly, and without her usual smile, as some young pegasi did a small game on the field, it was hardly as entertaining as the regular game and a lot of the crowd were talking amongst themselves or up and about.

Finally the game picked up again.

Thunderclap looked down on his friend. "Hey! We still have two periods left! We can still get them, right?" He smiled and put a front leg on his friend's shoulder. "Besides, we got your lucky hat, right? So try and cheer up. I don't like it when my friends are sad." He said as he tipped Spring Shower's hat.

He watched a group of young pegasi play a small game on the field. He smiled as he watched them play. "I wish I could have done stuff like that when I was young like that." He sighed and shook his head. "Oh well, no use dwelling on the past."

Soon the game got back up again. Thunderclap smiled. "Alright guys! Go out there and cream them!" He yelled.

"We'll rebound and win this," Spring Shower said with determination, "I just can't recall the last time we've ever trailed against the Maelstroms... it's odd..." she said seriously.

"I played pee wee air hockey when I was a little filly," Spring said, watching the foals play, "you don't realize how bad you are until you're all grown up watching the new foals play," she said with a smirk.

Thunderclap beamed. "That's the spirit!" He said. "No use getting down. It won't change anything." He then got solemn as he stared out at the field. "Ya, I guess you had a more playful and relaxed childhood than I did. Not surprising, most ponies did. I'm a little bit envious, but I guess I could have been worse off."

"And I know what you mean. I have so much I could tell younger me about breaking up storms. But everypony has to start somewhere, right?" He said. He then
looked at his friend and wondered. "What would I be like now if I was raised in the same environment as her?" He thought

The game picked back up again and the Cumulus team to be focused on the game once again. They're defense was stronger and they kept control of the ball even moreso than they did the previous period. Freefall kept up a good job at the goal, but eventually a point was made and the Cumulus fans in the stadium went wild. The period ended without any more points with a tied game.

"I can't recall the last time we went into the last period with the Maelstroms tied at 1-1," Spring said in a bit of surprise, but in a little bit better of a mood, "if their offense was as good as their defense, we might actually be in trouble!" she laughed.

The arena announcer announced theyd be doing a game during the break. He called out a seat number and asked that fan to go to the center of the stadium, where there was a cloud platform with a couple pegasi waiting.

Spring Shower raised her eyebrow and checked her seat number. It was one off... She looked up and at Thunderclap with a bit of shock.