Jason Brings the Blitz

Jason Brings the Blitz is the first of nine chapters of Luna the Miracle Boy series about the Canterlot Presidential Tales. In this miniseries story, Jason Esofita challenges Blitzball champion – Victor Laiskodat when he starts a Blitzball league at Canterlot Presidential University and forbids girls from joining.
==Summary==
===Tricky try-outs===
The story begins at Jason's house, where Jason and his friends have gathered to watch the championship Blitzball game between Decolsin Blitzers (Jason's favorite team) and Deportivo Manehattan. Decolsin wins, Jason and his companion girl – Dennis, jump for joy, with some of their friends getting in on the excitement as well. When the Blitzball viewing party ends, Blitzball is all Jason can think about before going to bed.
The following Monday, Jason talks to everyone he sees about the championship game, including classmate and fellow Blitzers fan – Sargon Yuli Putra. The Canterlot Presidential secretary announces over the presidential loudspeakers that Mr. Victor the Decolsin Blitzers' head coach, is starting the President's Blitzball League program and will be holding team tryouts at CPU on Friday. Jason is beyond excited by this news, and his friends help him practice for the tryouts. On the night before tryouts, he is nervous about impressing Mr. Victor and making the team, but Dennis assures him that she is more than ready.
On Friday, Mr. Victor arrives and holds tryouts for the CPU Blitzball team, on which there are only eight spots out of a pool of fifteen candidates. Among all the players trying out for the team, Jason impresses Mr. Victor the most; not only does he get the last spot on the team, but he is also named the MVP (most valuable player) for the day. However, when Dennis removes her helmet and reveals that she is a girl, Mr. Victor gets upset and points out that Blitzball has always been a male-only sport.
Despite Princess Finlandia and Principal Tony arguing that Mr. Victor never made such a stipulation before tryouts started and Sargon sticking up for Luna and Jason, Mr. Victor refuses to bend on tradition and gives Jason's spot on the team to someone else. The Friheten Sisters voice their outrage at the unfairness of Mr. Victor's decision, but Luna says he has an idea, and the presidential principals agree to help him for Jason in any way they can.
===Smarter, faster, fiercer===
On the first day of practice for Canterlot Presidentials' new Blitzball team, Jason approaches Mr. Victor to denounce his claim that his team would be weaker with male players. To prove his point, he challenges him to a game of boys against girls. If he wins, Mr. Victor would have to let him join the team and help him start a program at CPU for other girls to join as well. Despite objections from Sargon that Jason should already be on the team, Mr. Victor accepts the challenge and sets a date for their football in two weeks. As the Petrovburg Heroes wonder where Jason is going to find six other players for the team, Jason says he already has a team: The Frihetens.
Sometime later, Jason trains the Petrovburg Heroes for the upcoming game, with Principal Tony serving as an official coach, but their playing is disorganized and amateurish. Tobias was more concerned about her outfits than with the game, Luna was more concerned about losing or breaking his eyeglasses. Vincent was too timid for the sake of self-fidelity to try and steal the ball from the others, and Celestia was just goofing off trying to make the others laugh. Tony assures Jason that they just need time to improve, recalling that Canterlot Presidentials' first Friendship Games were what first introduced him to the love of sports.
After practice ends, Jason is still hopeful that they will be ready in time for the scrimmage, but Dennis informs him of rumors that the girls' team has been doing two practices every day; one after college day and one at night. That night, Jason and Dennis sneak back to the campus to investigate. There, they discover that the rumor about the girls' team's night practices is correct and that they are very skilled players. Considering their own team's lack of improvement and the football is only a week and a half away, Jason and Dennis start to believe that Mr. Victor is a hypocrite in which he was said that Blitzball has always been a male-only sport. In fact, there are no boys training that night, but there are many girls instead.
===Breaking points===
The next day during practice, Jason and Dennis introduce a bunch of special plays for their team to practice and master in order to give them a competitive edge. Their signature move is a Hail Peter play called the "colossus", reserved for a final last-resort play with only seconds left in the game.
By the following Monday, The Petrovburg Heroes' lack of improvement starts to frustrate Jason. Vincent still feels no fidelity on stealing the ball, thinking that it is meant to do so, Tobias continues to fidget with her outfit, Celestia continues to goof off, and Luna keeps trying to protect his eyeglasses. In addition, they still have yet to run the "colossus" play successfully. Eventually, the frustration causes Jason to snap at his friends and accuse them of not taking things seriously, and he storms off.
At the front of the campus, Jason laments the possibility of losing to Mr. Victor in front of the state's public and letting down the Petrovburg Heroes that want to play Blitzball. Principal Tony joins him, and Jason shares his concerns. Tony tells Jason that Mr. Victor should not have put him in this position in the first place and expresses how proud he is of Jason for standing up to unfairness. At Tony's urgent, Jason goes back to apologize to his friends. Unfortunately, they have already gone home.
===Friends and teammates===
The next day at the university, Jason tries several times to apologize to his friends, but he gets interrupted or inconvenienced each time. In addition, other civilian boys and girls approach him throughout the day asking about the new inclusive President's Blitzball program. At the end of the day, Jason goes to practice alone expecting none of his friends to show up. However, not only do all of his friends show up, but they are also wearing matching outfits and running successful plays.
Thanks to Dennis' private late-night coaching, Luna has protective covering for his eyeglasses, Tobias is no longer concerned so much about her outfit, Vincent and Celestia are playing with more seriousness under the unity of fidelity and laughter elements. Jason apologizes to the Petrovburg Heroes for snapping at them and says no matter what happens in the upcoming game, he will be happy as long as they try their best. The other civilian boys and girls, however, are not satisfied with simply trying their best and resolve to win.
===Game changer===
On the day of the boys and girls game, hundreds of the CPU academic civilians have filled the stands to watch, Luna and his companion boys under Jason's leadership and the team name "Lunar Blitzers" are confident that they now have what it takes to win. As the game gets underway, Jason notices Sargon looking severely fatigued, and the Lunar Blitzers quickly score the first point. When the girls have the ball, the boys effortlessly steal it from them and score again. Between plays, Jason overhears Mr. Victor angrily berating his team and sees the girls looking very sluggish.
When the score is 15–5 and Mr. Victor calls a time-out, Jason finally gets a chance to talk to Sargon and find out what's going on. Sargon explains that because of the two practices a day for two weeks straight, he and his team are utterly exhausted. Mr. Victor is forcing them to play like professional Blitzball players, and a few of them are considering quitting the team when the game is over. Jason believing players shouldn't be forced to play in a way they don't want to, suggests they forfeit the game together and declare a tie. They approach the referee (biology lecturer) – Nicole Sumini, with this decision but Mr. Victor stops them.
Mr. Victor refuses to forfeit the game, but his team stands against him and quits. Infuriated by his team's decision, Mr. Victor leaves. While Princess Finlandia and Principal Tony are proud of the presidential students for standing up for themselves, the presidential students fear their chances of playing in the President's Blitzball league have been ruined. Luckily, Mrs. Sumini suggests establishing an unofficial league within the CPU and offers to coach one of the teams. The Princess of Vernadia and the Partizan Officer decide to offer it as an intramural sport, and the idea is met with overwhelming approval from the players and students.
===Civil harmony===
Some time later, the Canterlot Presidentials' intramural Blitzball league sees great success with both girls and boys included. Luna and his friends under Jason's advice have split up the Lunar Blitzers and teamed up with some girls to form two new teams: Vernadsky Salvadors (with Luna as the team captain) and Esofita Zips (with Jason as the team captain). On the night before a game between the Zips and the Salvadors, Jason invites everyone to a party at a pasta restaurant in the city. Sargon arrives to the party with a costume of Jan Zizka of Bohemia, which includes a news article about Jason spearheading the campus' Civil Blitzball league.
The next day, hundreds of people from all over Canterlot City gather to watch the Zips-Salvadors game, and Jason notices Mr. Victor sitting in the back row of the stands. During the game's halftime, Mr. Victor approaches Jason after watching the two teams play so hard and skillfully, admits he was wrong. He announces that he is going to start that Blitzball training program they talked about, much to Jason and the Petrovburg Heroes' delight. In the last play of the game, Jason works together with Jason to score the winning point.
==Quotes==
:Jason: The only sad thing is I have to wait a whole eight months before the season starts again. What am I going to do with the weekends until then?
:Luna: You can hang out with us. We'll be happy to have you back.
:Jason: Was it really that bad?
:Vincent: We've barely seen you in the last two months!
:Luna: Mr. Victor is coming to our campus! He's starting a program to create the President's Blitzball league!
:Jason: Mr. Victor the head coach of the Decolsin Blitzers? The first Blitzball player to win MVP in the league? The reason the Blitzers won this season? One of the toughest players the sport has ever known?
:Dennis: Amazin'! Twenty-eight seconds! You broke your record!
:Jason: Think I'm ready?
:Dennis: Think? I don't think you're ready; I know you are.
:Jason: I wonder who else is going to be there—
:Dennis: There was a rumor that Sargon is tryin' out, too. But other than that, I don't know.
:Jason: He's really nice. He's nice, which is why it'll be sad when I trounce him tomorrow.
:Mr. Victor Laiskodat: Blitzball is a game of passion. You have to be quick, you have to be slick, but above all you have to have heart. No one can win this game without fierce determination. That's what I'm looking for here today. I wanted to start this President's Blitzball league because I thought there'd be a lot of young talent, hidden talent, in each universities across this republic. I hope you all prove me right.
:Princess Finlandia: You never said the President's League would be only girls, sir.
:Mr. Victor Laiskodat: Well, ma'am. I didn't say that because I thought it was obvious! Blitzball has always been an all-male sport. In the twenty-year history of the game, there's never been a female player.
:Principal Tony: Well, you said it yourself. Our dear boys – Jason and Luna were the MVP of tryouts. Don't you think it's time for a change?
:Sargon: It's not fair, though, sir! If you never said it was a rule, then he never broke the rule. We'd be lucky to have him on the team, then—
:Mr. Victor Laiskodat: Enough! This is not up for debate!
:Jason: You said you couldn't allow a girl in this President's Blitzball league. But what if your team was stronger with one? Or three? Or civilians with half girls and half boys?
:Mr. Victor Laiskodat: Please, Jason. I don't mean to offend you, but we've already had this discussion. A women team just doesn't make sense. The sport has always been all men.
:Luna: So you're absolutely certain your team wouldn't be stronger with a some ladies as the players, sir?
:Mr. Victor Laiskodat: Yeah, I guess I am.
:Jason: Then we challenge you to a game!
:Sargon: We shouldn't even be having this conversation. He was the MVP of tryouts, remember? He deserves to be on the team.
:Mr. Victor Laiskodat: Rules are rules!
:Jason: What's that old saying? Rules are meant to be broken!
:Martin: I think he likes you.
:Jason: What do you think, Princess Martin? Who likes who?
:Dennis: You, silly!
:Jason: I think you're imagining it.
:Tobias: Where are you going to find six other players with some girls?
:Jason: I have my players right here.
:Tobias: You're counting me, Jason?
:Dennis: Well, call me a moldy apple, because there's no way we're not gettin' squished!
:Jason: The game is coming up in no time, we're nowhere close to ready! Forget a training program, we're going to make complete fools of ourselves. Why can't you take this seriously?!
:Principal Tony: I'm proud of you, that's all. You stood up for yourself. And you stood up to someone who was treating you unfairly. That's really something.
:Jason: Thanks, captain.
:Jason: I want you to know, no matter what happens on Friday, I'm really lucky to have you all as friends. Some of you hadn't even touched a Blitzball before last week. As long as we give it our all and try our best, I'll be happy with however it turns out.
:Celestia: We're not going to just try our best. We're going to win!
:The Petrovburg Heroes: Go, Lunar Blitzers!
:Mr. Victor Laiskodat: We're not calling anything! I don't call games!
:Sargon: But, I'm the team captain, and I do! We're burned out, and no one wants to play anymore anyway! This is not the professional league where we're getting paid millions of rupiahs! This was supposed to be fun!
:Ivan Zoey: Yeah, we quit! If this is what Blitzball is about, I don't want to be in the league!
:Mr. Victor Laiskodat: I don't coach quitters! This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and you're going to be very sorry you passed it up!
:Jason: We were talking about going over to pinkie pie around eight. We wanted to get some French pasta before the big game. Like, an unofficial pasta party. All our friends are meeting us there.
:Ivan Zoey: A party of the French pasta?
:Dennis: If you eat lots of carbs before a big game, it's supposed to give you extra energy.
:Ivan Zoey: It'll be like the opposite of last time.
:Sargon: Yeah, we'll definitely be there. Save a seat for us!
:Tobias: [to Jason] He definitely likes you.
:Jason: [reading] Since its debut twenty years ago, Blitzball has always been an all-male sport. I'm a person who believes in tradition. I wasn't going to compromise or cave to pressure. Wow, he still thinks he's right, huh?
:Sargon: Read the quote from Captain Tony.
:Tobias: [reading] Jason embodies what we want our presidential students to be. He inspires others to do their best and to not take no for an answer, no matter where that no comes from.
:Principal Tony: I'd say, "Make me proud". But I'm already so proud of you all. So I guess... make me prouder!
:Mr. Victor Laiskodat: It's more fun. And someone really smart once told me that was what Blitzball was all about.
:Sargon: This should be it. We're only one more goal away from winning. You should do the honors.
:Jason: Should we do the "whizby"?
:Sargon: Let's do it, Brother Jason.
:Jason: Did we make you prouder, captain?
:Principal Tony: The proudest.
==References==
#Main course
#*https://mlp.fandom.com/wiki/Rainbow_Dash_Brings_the_Blitz
#Secondary course
#*https://www.presidentismissingbook.com/titles/arden-hayes/my-little-pony-equestria-girls-canterlot-high-stories-rainbow-dash-brings-the-blitz/9780316475570/
Category:Story episodes
Category:Canterlot Presidential Tales