Realizing it was something they had been planning to do but had almost forgotten about, a couple of ponies who had been down in the players' tunnel supporting Autumn Apple walked up to the EHA office and asked if the third game could be postponed in favor of this help event for Autumn. It was well-known by this point that the EHA has a kind heart, and its fans do too, which was nothing short of on full display in the last game with what had happened.
But still, since when does a major sporting league ever postpone an event in favor of somepony's emotions? Definitely not that I've ever heard of...
Well, the surprises continue to come in, and they agree. They also have a reasoning for it.
"We think Autumn has great potential in this competition. And unlike in other sports, players cannot be replaced with backups here. This is a competition to see who can be the first to get perfect; it wouldn't make any sense."
"We want every contestant to be able to compete at their full potential, which Ms. Apple cannot do right now. So yes, please hold this help event for her; game three can wait."
Well then! Surprising and sweet!
With the extra day, any ponies who were going to this event were going to make sure Autumn got treatment. The treatment she needs to feel better and play the game better.
It's time.
Autumn was feeling a bit better today. Shoeshine was right; give it some time. Autumn still was reeling from the crowd treatment and still thought she wanted to drop out of the competition, but unlike in the previous day, she felt motivated to practice again, and she did so.
There were no colored horseshoes and no scores being added up in the practice room; that had to be saved for game day, but it can't help but be noticed that Autumn getting a lot of ringers. That's definitely an improvement!
After practice, Autumn's emotional state changes a bit in that she feels... complicated. Right now, she has no active desire to stay in the tournament, but she also doesn't feel stressed about the crowd criticism. She feels... nothing.
Well, good thing she's getting this help event! Remembering this, she starts to feel blessed. Ponies were really doing this for her; an entire, organized event just to help her. My goodness, how kind.
The struggling mare heads out of her home to many smiles from passing-by ponies. Even though some of them couldn't attend the event, mainly for work reasons, that didn't stop them from giving Autumn all the support they could give.
She eventually finds the red barn where her help meeting is taking place. Feeling eager to give her emotions the release they so need, she heads in, to a group of kind-hearted helpers.
"Welcome, Autumn! Come over here, have a cookie, and talk what you're feeling out to us. We will do our absolute best to help."
Touched by this, she heads over and sits on the special chair, but doesn't eat yet; she just wants to focus on the talk.
The meeting starts.
"So, how are you feeling today?", one pony asks.
"I feel a bit more motivated to play; I was practicing before I got here and felt good doing so, but when I envision myself playing in an actual game again, I don't believe I can. I just can't shake off those memories of the crowd treatment. I don't think I can continue playing in the tournament."
The helping ponies need a bit of time to come up with a response, but it's not too big of a gap.
"Okay", one mare says. "Where I'd start off with, we must distinguish between not wanting to do something because you're not enjoying it, versus feeling like you can't do it."
"Oh yes. What she said. You still want to play, don't you, Autumn?"
"Absolutely!", she responds. "I love the game of horseshoes; it's my second passion behind music. Since none of the bands I work with need me at the moment, I knew it was a perfect time to put horseshoes at the front. Little did I know that it would coincide with a change being made to the game, and a competition! I have had great fun in this tournament, and I am on a mission to win. I want the title. I want to be the first to get perfect. But that crowd treatment..."
"Okay. So clearly, what you need help on is dealing with the crowd treatment. But remember what I said earlier about there needing to be a distinction between losing interest in something and being pushed out of it?"
"Yeah."
"Did you realize there was such a distinction?"
This question makes Autumn's eyes widen, because as she discovers, she was missing something big here.
"I guess I didn't.", she responds. "And now that I think of it, it seems that the impact I got from the fans was trying to shut down the reality that I still wanted to play in the tournament. I never lost interest in the actual game or the journey to the championship at all. But I felt like I needed to leave for my sanity, and to some extent I still do."
"But, is that ever a good option?", a stallion asks. "When has anything good ever come from giving up something you love because of an outside impact?"
"I can't respond to that saying there ever has. I have experienced being pushed away from something I love, and I know there's almost no feeling worse than that.", another stallion adds.
"Autumn, your sanity is important, of course, but pleasure also is. And you would have pleasure taken away by quitting the competition.", a mare says.
"And here's the thing with pleasure vs. sanity: there is no need for there to even be a versus. We can fix your problems with crowd treatment. That is reparable. But leaving is not. We're far enough in at this point that no new players can rejoin, and that includes drop-outs. What happens if you end up wanting back? Then the damage is done. It can't be fixed.", she continues.
Autumn agrees with this pony's words completely. It was clear to her at this point that dropping out of the tournament would not make her feel good. By this point, she had rejected the idea.
But she's unsure how she can become thick-skinned to criticism, so she asks.
"Okay, so how do we solve the crowd response problem?"
After a brief silence, a green-coated stallion offers something up. "Here's what I think.", he says. "The way I handle it is by thinking of the crowd treatment not as a criticism, but as a push. They're giving out a negative reaction to bad play because they want you to play well. If they had bad intent, they would cheer at poor play."
"I do get that", Autumn says, "but where I have a problem is, how harsh the treatment gets. Like, a messy painting wouldn't get a loud 'oooh' from a crowd."
"No, it wouldn't. You're right. But it's different in the sports world. It's a disadvantage to ponies who don't take criticism very well, like you, but it definitely can be done."
"I have something to ask you. Remember when one of the contestants threw a ground hit, and the audience reacted in kind to that, then the player responded to them, both verbally and with a play?"
"Oh yeah! He got a ringer after that! He used the crowd treatment as a catapult, and he defeated them! The crowd went silent after he scored that ringer!"
"Exactly! What we're getting at here, is turn negatives into positives."
Autumn doesn't quite believe this will work.
"But how will that work if my response to the negative is... negative?"
"Well, doesn't feeling that make you want to play better?"
"Of course it does. That's the only way to curb the criticism."
The helpers start to see a big opening here.
"So, you said you were practicing this morning; how well did you do?"
"Oh, that. Um, it turns out, I did really well. I threw ringer after ringer. If there had been a score count there, I bet it would have been much higher than 61..."
At this moment, Autumn's head had a bomb go off in it. She had realized something big.
She then speaks. "Everypony! I think I get it now! I did start playing better after what happened yesterday! I didn't consciously realize it, but it was motivating me!
"That's what it does, Autumn! The only way to stop the criticism is to do what it says, or prove that it's wrong. In your case it's the former, and your mind obviously didn't want that criticism, so it got energized to play the game better!"
"...Yeah! That's right! It certainly did set my subconscious off!"
With Autumn realizing an uptick in her playing, something that should work in the long run, the helper ponies believe they have seen a success.
"So, do you feel better, Autumn?"
"Overall, yes! Thank you so much everypony; it's really hard to describe how much I needed this! I would definitely describe talking it out as medicine. It really works.", Autumn says as she bites into a cookie, which she had been delaying for the whole meeting.
But it's not quite over yet. One pony who had witnessed what happened to Shoeshine a while ago chimed in with a comparison.
"Hey Autumn, did you hear what Shoeshine was going through just a little bit ago?"
"Yep. She was conflicted on whether to be a player or the co-announcer, which further led to a concern about her not being able to win the title if she didn't play at all, but wanting to not only play, and the eligibility, yeah, I remember that."
"Now do you remember what was the catalyst for her getting out of that situation?"
"Uh, no, I don't, actually. I wasn't there."
"Well, she got a very similar treatment to you. Two of Shoeshine's friends showed up, let her vent out what she was feeling, and calmly helped her by giving advice."
"Oh wow, that is how she got out of it? I guess that proves my statement even more!"
"Yes, it certainly does. Talking it out is nothing short of medicine."
The conversation begins dying down, Autumn finishes her cookie, and she and the others can feel the event has run its course.
"Well, looks like we're done here. I'm going to head home and practice more, which I feel motivated to do thanks to y'all here! Again, I cannot express my gratitude."
"Any time, Autumn. We could never let something like this go free. We were very happy to help."
Beautiful.
It's difficult to describe how much closure Autumn has seen today. Her desire to leave the tournament is gone. She got opened up to hidden brain activity that revealed an improvement in her playing. It felt so good. Autumn, feeling wonderful at home and practicing, consistently gets a lot of ringers.
Could this mean something?