“So do you got any idea what Twi wanted to meet us about?” Applejack asked Rarity as the two of them made their way down the street towards the library. It was a pleasant afternoon, and they enjoyed a cool breeze blowing through their manes for a moment before returning to their conversation.
“I only know what you do, I expect.” Rarity replied airily. “Something about a game she wanted to try out. She didn’t even stay long enough to explain what the game was, just ran off saying she had to find Rainbow Dash.”
Applejack snorted and rolled her eyes. “She must be very excited about this game, then. Just glad Ah don’t have much work to do at the farm tonight. She told me that the game could run a mite late.”
“Oh dear, you don’t think she’s planning another sleep-over, do you?” Rarity asked in mock horror. “I didn’t think to bring any of my night gowns or facial creams with me!”
“Ah think she might have mention it if we were to be stayin’ the night.” Applejack reassured.
“Really, though.” Rarity went on, as they approached the door to Twilight’s library. “I find it a little hard to believe that Twilight could get this excited about a simple little game. It’s the kind of thing I’d expect from Pinkie, not somepony as serious as her.”
“I KNOW RIGHT!” Pinkie shrieked in Rarity’s ear, somehow appearing right out of nowhere behind the duo. Rarity whinnied in surprise and jumped a foot into the air, her mane shooting out straight on end like she’d been electrified. Applejack didn’t fare much better, leaning away from the other two with a startled gasp and nearly losing her hat before slamming a hoof on it to keep it in place.
“You don’t think Twilight is trying to edge in on my territory, do you?” Pinkie continued, completely oblivious to the distress she’d caused. “I mean, when Twilight says hop, I say how high, and not just because I like hopping, because who doesn’t, right? But Twilight is the one who’s always in charge, and it is fun sometimes, but I’m the one who plans the parties and fun get-togethers, and I don’t think there’s room for two fun-party-ponies in this town. Unless… there IS room for two party-ponies in this town, and we could plan them together, and…”
“Calm down, Sugercube.” Applejack admonished, placing a hoof on the pink pony’s back and holding her down to stop her jittering. “Ah’m sure it’s nothing like… whatever you’re worryin’ about.”
Before Pinkie could answer, the door opened and Twilight poked her head out. “Just in time, girls! I just finished setting it up. Come on in!”
She stepped aside to let the three new arrivals in, Rarity shooting dark glances at Pinkie’s back, and ushered them over to the table in the center of the library. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were already at the table, the former leaning on her elbows and looking surprisingly bored. Fluttershy looked up from studying the contents of a box and waved to her friends in greeting.
“Get ready for a dull time.” Rainbow warned as they joined her at the table. “The egghead found an educational game to play.”
“I’d call it more historical than educational.” Twilight said, happily ignoring the light-hearted name calling. The newcomers gathered around the table and got their first look at the game.
The board, spread over the oaken tabletop, depicted a map of Equestria and all of its surrounding nations as they were a long time ago. Each nation was colored differently to easily tell each other apart, and divided into a number of overly-simplified territories. The oceans, which surrounded the whole continent, were also divided into differently shaped spaces. Six notebooks and six pencils were spaced around the board, obviously meant for the players. The slightly crumpled cardboard box contained a number of stacks of tiles, a cloth bag, and an hourglass that looked like it counted about fifteen minutes.
“Diplomacy.” Rarity read, lightly tapping the edge of the box with her hoof and recoiling at the faint trace she left on the dust covering it. “Where did you find this, Darling? It’s positively filthy!”
“I just stumbled across it while I was making some room in the basement!” Twilight answered, levitating a feather duster from under the table and brushing off the offending dust. “Somepony had shoved it between one of the roots and a bookcase and must have forgotten about it. It looked like it had been there for years, but all the pieces are still here.”
“So how do you play?!” Pinkie asked, eager to learn a new game. “Is it an exploring game? Or are we building civilizations? Oh! I bet we have to manage resources, like farms and banks and stuff!”
Twilight shook her head and mentally shifted into lecture mode. “No, in this game we each take command of a nation and try to take control of the rest of the board. We do this by marching our pieces into unclaimed territories and pushing the forces out of the other player’s spaces. Each time you take a territory with a symbol like this, you can add a new army to the board. There are three types of units: armies, navies, and air forces, and they each have different ways of moving and affecting the game.
“But here’s the best part! There are no dice or cards or anything like that. Each turn, we each just write down where we want our pieces to go and then we move them! It’s got all the strategy of chess but with far, far more possible scenarios! Why, the fact that six ponies can play it at the same time alone…”
“And that’s the whole game.” Rainbow Dash grumbled. “We just talk to each other for a while and move pegs on a glorified chart. Color me unimpressed.”
“What, don’t think ya got what it takes to win?” Applejack pressed, knowing just how to get the pegasus motivated.
It worked like a charm. Rainbow Dash straitened up from her slouch and slammed her hooves challengingly on the table. “You know I have what it takes! Let’s get started already!”
“But… um… won’t it be a little difficult to keep track of everything? I mean, none of us have played this before…” Fluttershy’s question broke apart into mumbles.
“I already thought of that.” Twilight said, placing a reassuring pat on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “The rules book had a ton of examples of what would happen in any given situation. Spike volunteered to be the turn-keeper and he’s been studying them since I found the game.” She raised her voice. “How’s it going, Spike?”
“It’s a lot more complicated than it first looks, you know.” Spike answered from his perch on the staircase, waving a thin booklet at the assembled ponies. “Nearly all eighteen pages of this is ‘what ifs’ and ‘when this happens’. I’m gonna need five minutes each turn just working out what’s what!”
“I’ll help if you need it, but I should remain impartial if I’m taking part.” Twilight turned her excited gaze on her friends. “So, want to play?”
“Well, duh!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“Sure, sounds interestin’.” Applejack grinned.
“If she’s playing, I’m in!” Rainbow Dash declared, matching AJ’s grin.
“If everypony else want to.” Fluttershy said, offering a brave smile.
“Well…” Rarity said, tapping a hoof lightly on her chin. “I suppose it does sound fun. Why not?”
“Excellent!” Twilight clapped her hooves and levitated the cloth bag out of the box. “Then the first thing we have to do is pick our nations!”
“Oh! Oh! Me first!” Pinkie shouted, bouncing onto the table and reaching into the bag before anypony could respond. She dug around a bit before pulling out a light purple plastic card. “It says… the Tapir Empire?”
“They’re this one here in the south.” Twilight instructed, tapping the territories on the map with the same color as the card. “They start with mostly seafaring units. You should probably try and consolidate you hold on the southern seas until…”
“Come on, Twilight. It’s not much of a game if you tell her what to do.” Dash interrupted, reaching into the bag and pulling out a card. “The Buffalo Tribes? Aw, come on! Can’t I be the griffons or the elks instead? They are at least a bit cooler.”
“Now behave, Rainbow. You did pick it fair and square.” Rarity levitated a card out of the bag, which still looked a bit grimy to her eyes, and held it up close to read. “Well, speaking of which, I’ve got the Griffon Kingdoms. This could be interesting…”
“Fluttershy? Do you want to pick next?” Twilight asked, floating the bag over to her.
Fluttershy dipped a hoof quickly in and out of the bag and peered closely at what her card said. “Um, the Naqah Caliphate? Who are they?”
“That’s the camel’s land.” Twilight explained, tapping to the appropriate nation on the board. “It looks like your right in between several other nations.”
“Oh, my…”
“Guess it’s my turn.” Applejack said, pulling one of the last two cards out of the bag. “The Elkheim Clans, huh? Alright, this sounds like fun!”
“Then that means…!” Twilight said, pulling the last card out of the bag with her magic to make sure her memory wasn’t playing tricks on her. “I’ve got the Principality of Equestria! Yes!”
Twilight hopped and hovered for a few seconds in her excitement, her inexperienced wings struggling to keep her aloft. She suddenly seemed to realize what she was doing and dropped back to the table with an embarrassed blush spread over her cheeks.
“W-well, I guess we’re ready to start then. Spike! Are you ready?”
“Coming.” The baby dragon replied, jogging over to the table and placing the rules book down in front of him. “Um, are you sure you guys want to play this? The book here calls it ‘the true test for one’s bonds of friendship’. That sounds a little ominous…”
“Oh, Spike. It’s just a game. What could possibly happen?” Twilight looked around the table for confirmation and received five nods.
“Well, alright. If you say so.” Spike reached out and grabbed the hourglass. “You get twice as long on the first turn to get started, so I’ll flip this twice. Ready, set… and go!”