[hack and spit]
[rustling wind]
[crash]
Hey, Applejack. Whatchya doin'?
[grunt]
Well, I was practicin' my distance buckin'.
Distance bucking? What for?
Because Cousin Braeburn and the rest of the Apple Family
in Appleoosa seem to think
that their team can beat Ponyville at Buckball.
[crash]
[whoosh...thunk]
WHAT? Ha! That's ridiculous! Nopony beats Ponyville!
I mean, I could beat the whole town of Appleoosa at Buckball
with one wing tied behind my back.
[crashes and grunts]
[crash]
So I can count on you to join the Ponyville Buckball team?
Oh, yeah! I am so there. I've just got one question.
Mm?
Uh, what's Buckball?
[groan]
* My little pony * * my little pony *
* Aaaahhh *
* My little Pony *
* I used to wonder what friendship could be *
* My Little Pony *
* Until you all shared its magic with me *
* Big adventure! * * Tons of fun *
* A beautiful heart! * * Faithful and strong! *
* Sharing kindness * * it's an easy feat *
* And magic makes it all complete! *
* To have my little pony *
* Do you know you're all my very best friends? *
So basically, Buckball is the coolest game ever.
Offense! Defense! Teamwork. Non-stop action.
It's got it all!
Wow, Rainbow Dash. You sure seem to know a lot
about this game. I've never even heard of Buckball.
Yeah. I'm kind of an expert.
Hah, an expert who hadn't heard of the game either
until I told you.
Well, it's a new game.
I probably know more than most ponies
so that makes me an expert.
I don't know anything about it at all.
But it sounds like there's a ball and bucking,
so I'm betting it's super-duper fun.
The point is my cousin Braeburn
somehow convinced a Pegasus
and a unicorn to come play
with him on the Appleoosa team.
And he can't stop bragging about how his team
is gonna beat ours.
But, um, we don't have a team.
Well, between Applejack and me,
we've got two thirds of a team.
All we need is a unicorn.
That's where you two come in.
Uh, they know we're not unicorns, right?
Uh, obviously. You're gonna be on my team
and Fluttershy is gonna be on Applejack's team.
We'll play against each other, along with whatever unicorns
wanna try out until we find the best one.
Oooohhhhhh! Phew, that's a relief
because I left my unicorn costume at home.
I know a lot of you are here because I told you
what an amazing game Buckball is.
And even though it's already an Apple Family favorite,
most of you probably don't know anything about it.
So I thought we'd give you a quick demonstration.
The two earth ponies are on offense.
They meet in the middle of the field for the buck off.
They both try to be the first one to kick it.
[grunt]
And the Pegasus is on defense.
She tries to keep the ball from going in the goal
and passes it back to the earth pony on her team.
Just give it a little kick, Pinkie.
[squeal]
[whimper]
[thunk]
Oooh! I get it!
And all the unicorns have to do is float these here baskets
around the outside of the field
and catch as many balls as possible for their team.
You two get the idea?
Absolutely!
Oh, I don't know. That ball moves pretty fast.
All right. Now let's see which of you has what it takes.
Um...what do I do?
When the ball comes towards you... catch it.
[whistle tweets]
OK, just try your best, Pinkie.
I have been doing this a lot longer than you.
HA-uhh.
Nice kick.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whee! Haha!
Great save, Fluttershy!
Coming your way, Pinkie!
Somersault, kick!
[whoosh]
[panicked shout]
Hey, this game is easy!
Oh, it actually is kind of fun.
Where did Pinkie Pie learn to buck like that?
And Fluttershy's spinning tail catch is pretty amazing!
Um... OK, well let's see what the rest of you can do.
Now, don't expect to be able to beat me twice in a row.
Well, hello there Mr. Ball. Whee!
Hiyah!
Hurry along, butterflies,
before that ball comes and hits you.
Nope. Um. OK, let's see what the rest of you can do.
Nope.
Definitely, not.
Noooo.
Not a chance.
No.
Nope.
And...no. Uh, this didn't go how I thought it would.
[happy squeals]
It sure didn't.
This game is a whole lot more fun
than I thought it would be.
It's exactly as much fun as I thought it would be...
A WHOLE BUNCH!
Carrying my water, my water, my water.
Carrying my water on my shoulder pole.
SNAILS, LOOK OUT!
Amazing!
You should be more careful with these.
You could lose them.
Hey, Snails? Can you float one of those baskets over here?
Sure.
What do you want me to do with it?
CATCH!
Anything else?
Wow, Snails, you're a natural at Buckball.
It's a good thing, too. We were running out of unicorns.
Do you think you'll be ready to play with Applejack
and Rainbow Dash against the Appleoosa team?
I guess I'll find out. Plus, after I deliver this water,
I don't really have anything else to do.
Well, Snails, with you on the team,
Ponyville is one step closer to crushing Appleoosa.
And after today, it's pretty clear
who the other two players should be.
What do you mean?
I thought you and Dash were going to play.
Yeah. If you're not crushing Appleoosa, who is?
[laughs]
Uh you two, obviously.
Um, you want us to play Buckball
against Appleoosa instead of you?
Mm hm.
That's un-credible.
Unbelievable and incredible? Come on.
I can't explain it, but you two are really good
at this game and if it means beating Appleoosa,
I'll give either one of you my spot on the team
quicker than Granny Smith can core an apple.
Me too. I'd normally be so pumped all of Ponyville
was counting on me to win,
I'd run right over the competition,
but you still flew rings around me.
Oh, I'm sorry. I was just having fun.
Well, you can have all the fun you want as long as it's
while you're beatin' the hide off of Braeburn's team.
I do like fun.
Honestly, the game was a little scary at first,
but once I got the hang of it, I had a pretty good time.
Let's get this party started!
All right, but if we really wanna beat Appleoosa,
we're gonna have to get serious.
Serious?
Serious how?
With serious practice!
Wow. This looks pretty intense.
Well, duh. You two are gonna be representing
all of Ponyville, and more importantly...Us!
That's why before we leave for Appleoosa tomorrow,
you two are gonna practice just as hard as we would.
So, let's hop to it.
Snails already has a head start on you!
OK. If you wanna win,
you've totally gotta get this drill down.
I-I-I do?
* [heavy electric guitar] *
[gasp]
It's all about ball control.
Ready? GO!
Come on! Faster! You don't want Ponyville to lose
because you can't get into high gear, do you?
Whoaaa.
All right, being able to buck a ball into a goal
from any direction is the most important thing in the game.
If you say so.
WHEEE! WOOO!
Keep it up! Just one miss'll ruin the Apple Family's
Buckball reputation forever.
WHOA...What?
Whoops.
Come on! Push. Push! PUSH!
[clang]
[chirping birds]
Come on now! Every shot is for Sweet Apple Acres.
And me! And Dash! And all of Ponyville!
Whoa. Ow.
Faster!
Whoa.
C'mon, now!
Whooaaa!
C'mon!
[scream]
Keep it up!
Whooaaa!
C'MON!
[music ends]
What in the apple happened to those two?
I don't know! They mopped the field with us before.
[grunt]
All right! That's it for today, y'all!
[phew!]
I thought practice was supposed to make us better.
Maybe we just need a little rest.
Or a whole lot of it.
Just be sure to get your heads in the game before tomorrow.
All of Ponyville is counting on a win.
I really don't want to let
Applejack and Rainbow Dash down, or anypony else,
but after that practice, I'm not feeling very confident.
Maybe we weren't that bad.
[groan]
I guess I was hoping you saw something I didn't.
I know our friends want us to win,
but how can the whole town be counting on us
if most ponies have never even heard of Buckball?
I know! How can we disappoint a pony
who doesn't even know we have a team?
Or that we're going to play Appleoosa.
Yeah, I don't think we need to worry.
I'd be surprised if anypony in this town
cares about this game at all.
Go Ponyville! Go Ponyville! WIN! WIN! WIN!
Ponyville, Ponyville! Way to go! You can do it!
Whoa. The whole town really seems
to care about this game a lot.
[gasps]
[cheering] Woo-hoo, go Ponyville!
We kinda went around town and talked up the team a little.
Yep. We wanted to make sure you two knew
that all of Ponyville was behind you.
Greaaaaat.
I hear the whole town's already planning a parade
for when you get back after whoopin' Appleoosa.
That should feel pretty good.
It should?
Totally! Just spend the whole ride to Appleoosa
thinking about everypony cheering
for the victorious Ponyville Buckball Team.
I bet Princess Celestia even comes to congratulate you.
If that doesn't get you in the zone, I don't know what will.
I don't know what zone Rainbow Dash is talking about,
but I'm pretty sure I don't want to be in it. Do you?
Hey, you two are supposed to be in the zone.
You see... The thing is... Thinking about everpony...
thinking about us... there's just no way...
THERE'S NO WAY THAT WE CAN GET IN THE ZONE
BECAUSE THE ZONE SOUNDS LIKE A HORRIBLE PLACE
SINCE WE ARE TERRIBLE AT BUCKBALL
AND WE ARE GOING TO LOSE AND LET EVERYPONY DOWN
AND WE DON'T WANT TO PLAY ANYMORE!
[blubbering]
I'm still OK with playing, in case you were worried.
I don't get it. They're naturals.
Why wouldn't they want to play anymore?
Maybe us telling them how much everypony was counting on them
messed them up somehow.
What? That's crazy talk.
Having ponies depend on you is exactly what you need
to focus and...
Get serious and play hard and...
Get ready to totally smash the competition and...
And none of that sounds like Pinkie or Fluttershy, does it?
[sigh] Guess not.
We got so wrapped up in what's important to us,
we went and ruined what was fun about the game for them.
[grunt]
What do we do now?
[loud knocking]
Pinkie? Fluttershy?
We know you're in here.
We've looked in every other car on the train.
[Fluttershy] Maybe you need to look again.
[Pinkie] Yeah. Because we're totally not in here.
[Fluttershy] And we're definitely not in here
if you're going to try and make us play against Appleoosa.
Or anypony else!
[ahem]
Oh, we're sorry to let you down,
but it's better to do it now
than during the game against Appleoosa.
You don't have to play against Appleoosa.
We don't?
Nope. We're gonna take your place,
so you don't have to worry about that at all.
Why didn't you say so?
But... We can't take on Braeburn and his team
without any practice
so we need you to play just one more time...
Against us.
Now I know we mixed up the teams before,
but since Dash and I really need the practice,
we'll play against the two of you.
Oh, I don't know how much practice you'll get
against us. We've been playing just awful.
Don't worry about it.
Applejack and I just need a little workout.
Yep. You two just do your best.
I can do that.
Oooooh!
[gasp]
[ahem]
Ooooh!
Looks like you two really do need practice.
Wheee!
[snoring]
[music ends]
[giggles]
If you need more practice, we can keep going.
Yeah. I could do this all day.
Uh, no thanks.
Playing against you two is just as humiliating now
as it was when we weren't trying to show you
how awesome you are.
Wait. What?
Finally!
[thunk]
You must have noticed how you aren't bad anymore.
Oooh yeah. Weird.
But um, why were we so terrible before?
I guess some ponies thrive on pressure
and some ponies don't.
And even though we weren't playing, we were treating
you like us which totally stressed you out.
And that just sucked the fun right out of the game for you.
And having fun is what makes you
really, really, really good.
But being good doesn't matter if we're too afraid
of letting ponies down.
Yeah. What about all those ponies back in Ponyville
counting on us to win.
I'm sure folks want you to win,
but not if worrying about it makes you miserable.
Winning's never worth that.
But how do we keep from worrying about it?
You could do what I do and not think about it.
Seriously, I don't think about anything. Ever.
Hmm, works for me!
[roaring cheer]
[Announcer] And with another bouncing goal from Pinkie Pie,
the score is tied!
You guys are amazing!
Braeburn is really good!
So is that Pegasus. Oh I don't know if we can win.
You know what I would do...
Not think about it?
not think...
Oh. Yeah. That.
And as long as you're having fun,
it doesn't matter if you win or not.
[whistle tweets]
Hee-hee! I think it's more fun this way.
And Pinkie wins the buckoff. But her shot's rejected!
Back to Braeburn, whose kick's stopped by another
Fluttershy save. Next point wins.
Lots of tense back and forth here.
Fluttershy unleashes her patented spin move.
But Braeburn's there to-
NO! It's Pinkie with a somersault kick.
What a move! And that's the game! Ponyville wins!
PONY-VILLE! PONY-VILLE! PONY-VILLE! PONY-VILLE!
Looks like you three made quite an impression.
Well, cousin, I have to admit,
your Ponyville team played a pretty good game.
Ha! Good game? We bucked the hooves right off of you.
Yep. You sure as shootin' did.
I'm gonna have to get real serious about a strategy
for our rematch.
Oh, I wouldn't get too serious.
Yeah. Everypony knows the secret to good Buckball
is just having fun!
[laughter]
* My Little Pony *
* friends *