I suppose you had to eventually. Unless you chose this first, in which case you might wanna question your priorities.
But do you know who does have her priorities mostly straight?
The Rich Pony. AKA Diamond Tiara. No messing around right now, this pony has PLANS. And today's plans involve playing a game. A game with those weirdo Cutie Mark Crusaders, and by golly she is gonna WIN!
WINNING is probably one of your favorite things. That and HAVING A CUTIE MARK. Both of which are things those Crusaders don't do or have. It's pretty great being on top. One thing you don't like is WAITING. Which is unfortunate, because that's exactly what you're doing right now. That mailmare should have been by already with your game- you even went out with your friend Silver Spoon to grab a couple carrots as a snack for this game to pass the time. Where the heck IS that grey menace?
You ring a bell, and very quickly the family butler arrives at your door. You command that he check the mail once again, post haste! He politely acquiesces, heading back downstairs. This must have been the fifth time you've told him to go out and check- you're starting to get tired from bossing him around.
No matter, that game will be here soon. That much is for sure.
There is a knock on your doorframe, and your butler stands there holding a package. It's here- it's FINALLY here! You gleefully snatch it out of his hooves and dismiss him.
You've been doing your research on this game ever since you heard those twerps talking about playing. There wasn't much to know- it uses the newest in crystal enchantment magic to project the game over a real world layout, and there was a cooperative element. Obviously, between you and Silver Spoon you could whoop the Crusader's butts at whatever challenge this game presented. All it took was sweet talking that Twist pony into inviting the both of you in on the Crusader's session. Easy.
As you opened up the packaging, you were greeted by the two crystal disks that contained the Server and Client parts of the game, alongside a book titled "SBARN" with the game's blocky house logo on it. Well, that was weird. Nothing you had read about said anything about a book.
Cracking it open, you saw blank spots for names on the inside cover, like a text book. Near the bottom, a set of rules were listed- whatever, you didn't need some book telling you how to write your name. Pulling out a quill, you write:
Diamond Tiara
The book flashes red once, and the ink vanishes. You grumble- fine, if that's the way it had to be, then so be it!
You begrudgingly glance over the rules:
-Username must be 2 conjoined words
-Username will be identified by first two letters, cannot be repeated with same two letters in a server
-Username must not exceed 413 characters
-First word of username must be lowercase
-Username must contain at least 1 capital letter
Well, that was simple enough, if needlessly complicated. And what was with that arbitrary character count? Whatever, this was simple. You thought for a moment- surely a rich and important filly such as yourself could be a little creative with a username. You dip the quill in the ink, and try again:
glamHeiress
The book flashes green- and the name stays! A small swirling pattern pops up on the next page for just a moment, before three other names list themselves on the inside cover:
cuteCrusader
pepperMint
tiptopYankees
Well, those first two were obvious- one of those Crusader twerps and that sad Twist pony. You furrow your brow at the last one, though- something about it seemed familiar, but you couldn't quite place it...
==> Diamond Tiara: Remember the Parade
The light above your head brightens- of course! It was the apple farmer's cousin from Manehatten! She was fun for as long as she was helping Silver Spoon and herself mess with the Crusaders- but then she had to go and get on the Crusader's side. Well, good riddance to her- she could hardly stand all her constant talking about that baseball team.
Although...
You grin, tapping your quill to Babs' name as it appears on the next page:
--glamHeiress [GH] started whinnying tiptopYankees [TY]--
[GH] Babs~! I'm happy to see SOMEPONY competent playing this game with us.
[TY] uh who
[GH] Oh Babs, you're such a kidder- it's me! Diamond Tiara.
[GH] We met in Ponyville?
[TY] oh yeah
[TY] youre that jerk that got me bein a jerk to my cuz
[TY] hey how about you like shove off or whatever i aint talking to you
[GH] Babs, please, we were friends for a while. I don't see why we can't be civil while we play this game together.
[GH] Your cousin seems fine with me and Silvy playing with you all. Let's just get along~
[TY] hmmm
[TY] nah youre up to something
[TY] i know you youre always scheming up something
[TY] probably trying to make this game not fun for Bloom
[TY] so you know what how about you leave me and my cuz and all her friends alone and i dont kick you in the teeth next time im in ponyville
[GH] You're so harsh! I haven't even done anything to you!
[GH] Whatever, the less time talking to you the better
--glamHeiress [GH] ceased whinnying tiptopYankees [TY]--
Well, that was a wash. So much for getting her on your side. But there's still time- maybe it'll be easier to turn her once you guys start playing. You fondly remember plenty of games of Monopony played to your advantage- if there's one thing you're sure of, it's that children's games drive friends apart faster than anything else.
So all you had to do was wait.
...Dang it.