//------------------------------// // 19: The Seven Day Challenge // Story: The Games We are Forced to Play // by Kablam Pony //------------------------------// Twilight Over the next couple of days, Twilight was visited by Connor on a regular basis in the library for reading. He would come in at around late morning or early noon and would read nonstop until closing time. The only times Connor would take a break from reading were to stretch out a few tight muscles from sitting so long or to get some food and drink outside. Twilight didn’t find his presence intrusive or mind him staying so long in the library. In fact, she was happy that Connor was taking so much time to learn about proper flying technique and about their world’s history. He never raised any issues about being unable to read her books so Twilight assumed that Connor was able to understand Equestrian writing. The day after Twilight and Connor came back from the Wonderbolts show, he spent the entire afternoon reading basic and advance flight patterns, some history texts on the Wonderbolts and its organization, and other noteworthy events about spectacular flying feats. He would occasionally ask Twilight for clarification on some more obscure topics he was reading or ask for a second way of describing something than how it was described in the books, and Twilight was more than happy to help Connor learn more about her world. The next day Connor spent the first half of the afternoon reading more on flying, but his interest seemed to wane from tiredness or boredom and he began drifting around the library looking at the other available books on her shelves. He would pull a couple of books off the shelves to take them back to his table that he was using and set them down to crack open and begin reading again. Twilight was too focused on other things to notice exactly what books he was pulling off the shelves as she was more concerned with preparing a speech for the new arrival in Ponyville. On the third day in the afternoon that Connor was in the library, Twilight’s curiosity finally got the better of her. She paused in her writing and set her quill down to look at Connor who was laying on an arrangement of throw pillows set up like a couch and his face buried in a hard backed book. “Hey Connor,” Twilight called to get his attention, “What are you reading right now?” He placed a hoof in the book to mark his reading spot before flipping the book closed to read the title, “Daring Do and The Crystal Head,” he replied. “Really? How do you like it so far?” “It’s interesting,” he raised his brow and glanced down at the book, “I’m surprised at how similar it is to another famous fictional archeologist I know of from my world; though I think my world only had movies about him and didn’t have any books. It’s still pretty cool, though.” “Hmm,” Twilight hummed, “I was wondering, how come you aren’t working with Rainbow Dash right now? I thought you and her would still be cloud busting or doing some more flying practice.” “Rainbow said that the weather schedule was supposed to be a little bit more cloudy right now for the next few days,” Connor answered without looking up from his continued reading of the Daring Do book, “Since we don’t have to break the clouds up as much as before, she’s giving me some time off to relax.” “Are you enjoying your time off?” Twilight asked. “Very; I am enjoying the peace and quiet.” Connor took a moment to look Twilight in the eyes before going back to his reading. Twilight smiled contently and turned back to her speech writing. She was glad to hear Connor was enjoying his time here and was finding things that he could like. Twilight always enjoyed a quiet evening to relax after eventful days and after the full day of traveling to Cloudsdale, saving Connor from the pony police, and touring around Cloudsdale again, she could understand Connor needing some time to relax. Even Twilight took a day off to relax from the stress of protecting Connor and the frustration she felt for Rainbow Dash when she found out about her temporary scape-goating. The silence returned to the library for a while as Twilight continued writing her speech and Connor continued reading his book. The minutes slowly ticked by as the day went on while Twilight finished writing more of her announcement speech. The mayor had requested Twilight to announce the upcoming arrival of the important pony coming to Ponyville. A clock in the room struck two o’clock in the afternoon when a knocking was heard at the front of the library followed by an opening and closing of a door. Twilight looked up and spotted Mayor Mare standing there with her usual gentle smile. “Good afternoon Princess Twilight!” the mayor greeted, “How are you this afternoon?” “I am doing well, thank you,” Twilight set her quill down on her desk and stood up to face Mayor Mare, “how can I help you?” The mayor entered deeper into the library so as to be closer to Twilight and not have to shout, “I was just coming by to see if you had finished writing your speech for today’s announcement. I was planning on holding the meeting at 3:00 this afternoon, but if you needed more time I can postpone it to later in the day.” “Actually,” Twilight’s expression brightened as she glanced over to the writing desk, “I’m almost done! I just have a few more lines to write and then I will be finished; I will be ready to go by 3:00.” “Excellent!” the mayor shared in Twilight’s good news, “Then I will start gathering everypony in town at 2:30 at town hall for the announcement at 3:00. I will see you then, Princess Twilight!” with her final words, Mayor Mare left the library to begin preparations. Twilight watched the mayor leave for a little before trying to head back to her desk and continue writing, but Connor spoke up before she could start. “What was all that about?” he asked. “Oh, the mayor wants me to give a little speech today for the arrival of an important pony soon,” Twilight made her way and sat back down at her writing desk. There was a slight pause as Twilight finished up the last few words of her speech before Connor spoke again. “I got that, but what is exactly happening? What’s this whole ‘Announcement’ about?” He set the book that he was reading down to focus his attention on Twilight. “Well if I told you,” Twilight finished writing and rolled the scroll up before giving Connor a coy grin, “It would ruin the surprise!” “Oh come on!” Connor whined, “You can’t even tell me anything?” “Nnope!” Twilight took the scroll in her magic and got up to leave all while holding her head high and her eyes closed, maintaining her coy smile and refusing to give any details. “Are you sure you can’t tell me anything? I just want to know if this announcement is going to be important enough for me to see.” “Well if you want to know more about it, then you will just have to come to the town meeting at three o’clock and find out,” Twilight smirked again. Connor groaned loudly, “Fine! I’ll go and see your little speech!” he said in half play annoyance. He got up and trudged over to follow Twilight out the door while putting on a fake pouting face before smiling again with his crooked smile. Twilight giggled while he passed by and she flicked her tail playfully as she followed after Connor who was heading for the town hall. ~~~ At around 3:00, the area in front of town hall was filled with everypony from Ponyville. Mares and stallions greeted each other again while the foals trotted off to join their friends before being pulled back to stand next to their parents. A soft murmur of confusion fluttered around the crowds as they stood there anxiously. Rumors flowed in and out of the crowd as everypony speculated on what the announcement would be. Many were sure that it was another festival or another town wide party that would be happening. Some thought that Princess Celestia would arriving in Ponyville again while others thought another monster was heading for their homes. A couple of rumors said that the announcement was about the world ending soon, but that idea was quickly laughed off. At the town hall, a small pedestal sat at the top of the stair case that lead to the large, pink, front doors. Mayor Mare was standing behind the pedestal with a curt smile waiting for the crowd to slowly die down. Twilight was standing a couple of meters off to the right of the mayor waiting patiently for her to begin. At the front of the crowds surrounding the town hall, Twilight could see all her close friends smiling cheerfully; even Connor was standing at the front of the crowd. Although his face was more of a neutral expression then smiling, Twilight could tell he was still a little excited to be there. The mayor cleared her throat before announcing, “Fillies and Gentlecolts!” The low rumble of the crowd was quickly hushed by neighbors and all attention was focused to the front. “I am glad to see everypony here. Today, I would like to announce a special occasion that will happen in one week. For those who have read the newspapers recently, there has been a business pony traveling all over Equestria looking for new and exciting opportunities,” Mayor Mare paused to make sure she had everypony’s attention before continuing, “His name is Richard Sportsen and he has been traveling from city to city looking for new and unique games to become the next big hit. I have invited Princess Twilight Sparkle to elaborate more the subject, so if you would please give your attention and a warm welcome to our princess, Princess Twilight Sparkle!” Mayor Mare stepped down from the pedestal inviting Twilight to take the spot light. She glanced at all the ponies cheering and looking excited to hear more about this ‘Richard Sportsen’ and how it was going to affect Ponyville. The nervous butterflies started to fill her stomach, but the supportive smiles of her friends and years of presenting research papers and scientific projects to teachers and Princess Celestia quickly pushed the butterflies out. Twilight stepped out onto the pedestal as cheers for Twilight met her ears. She pulled the scroll with her speech written on it out from under her wing and took one last, deep, calming breathe before opening her mouth to speak. “Thank you. Yes, as Mayor Mare has already stated, the well-known entrepreneur pony Richard Sportsen will be arriving soon in Ponyville; in one week to be exact,” the crowd oohed a little before letting Twilight continue, “As you have heard, Sportsen is looking for a new idea or game to promote as the next big thing in Equestria. He has offered sponsorship and compensation for the winner who presents the best game as well as an invitation to a party at the Canterlot castle.” The ponies cheered at the prospect of becoming rich and famous as well as a trip to visit the castle in Canterlot. Twilight was thrilled at the enthusiasm shown by the crowd, but she still had a few more details to explain so she waited for the crowd to quiet down again before pushing forward. “Since the mayor thought it would be a good idea to involve the entire town in this, she has suggested that every pony try to come up with a game to show Mr. Sportsen. Everypony has seven days to create a new idea to present to Mr. Sportsen and on the seventh day we will hold try outs in the Ponyville elementary school sports field when he arrives.” As Twilight was about to end her speech, Mayor Mare jumped in to add one last detail, “If by some chance one of our Ponyville residents is chosen as the winner, I would like to request the winner, if they would be so generous, to donate some of the winnings to helping fix some of Ponyville’s structures and parks to keep our lovely town beautiful!” There was another small cheer from the assembly of ponies, but most were too focused on trying to get a head start on developing their new game ideas. Twilight took this opportunity to finish the speech and end the announcement, “Thank you everypony who came out here today. If there are any questions about preparation or the schedule, please do not hesitate to ask mayor mare or myself. Enjoy the rest of your day and good luck to everyone!” Twilight gazed upon the riled members of Ponyville as they chattered and discussed excitedly with their neighbors or by themselves as each pony tried to quickly think up a game that was both new and unique compared to everypony else. Everyone from young fillies and colts to full fledge adults were talking together to see who’s idea would be the one to be picked by Richard Sportsen. Even Twilight’s friends in the front had their heads bowed in concentration on what to make. She stepped down from town hall and joined her friends’ circle, “Hi girls! So what did you think of the speech?” “It was wonderful Twilight,” Fluttershy complimented. “Yeah!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, “You’ve got me pumped for this next week! I’ll bet you that I will come up with the most spectacular, most amazing, most awesome game you have ever seen!” Rainbow pumped her hoof into the air in confidence. “What makes you so sure, sugar cube? What if I get picked as the winner for this little show and tell?” Applejack cocked an eyebrow challenging her Pegasus friend. “Oh ho ho, oh Applejack,” Rarity chuckled, “I don’t mean to be rude, but I don’t see your game being something that everypony would want to play. Some of us prefer a bit more class and finesse. Why, if I was picked, this would do wonders promoting my fashion lines to the top and even on magazine covers!” Rarity fluttered off into her dreams while everypony else gave her a quizzical look. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m so nervou-cited! I don’t know what kind of game to make! Should it be for foals or adults? Do I want music with it or dancing? Do I want pie eating or juggling? I can’t decide!” Pinkie Pie buzzed between acting out her thoughts. “Calm down Pinkie,” Applejack yelled, “We have a whole seven days to figure it out. That’s plenty of time to get ready before Sportsen arrives.” “Yeah! Alright everpony, we have a whole week to get ready before Sportsen arrives. So let’s see who can make the best game out of the seven of us! We’re going to have to work extra hard to make the best games this Sportsen guy has ever seen!” Rainbow put her hoof in the center, “Who’s with me?” Everypony laid their own hoof on top of her’s; everypony except Connor. They looked up at the last member in the circle, “Come on, Connor! This is going to be awesome!” Rainbow pleaded. “Come on, sugar cube,” Applejack drawled, “Let’s see what you can do with that sharp head of yours.” “Huh?” Connor looked up out of his daze, “Oh sorry, I was thinking about what kind of game I should make. Yeah, there’s no way I’m going to let this pass by. I want to see what kind of things you ponies can come up with!” He put his hoof on top of the pile in the middle. Everypony grinned, “That’s the spirit! Now let’s, DO THIS!!” they threw their hooves in the air and they all cheered. ~~~ Somewhere else in Ponyville, a similar cheer was shouted by three distinct fillies. ~~~ Twilight laughed with the rest of her friends, but soon realized a small fact that they overlooked. “Sorry Rainbow Dash, but I won’t be able to participate in this little competition. I’ll be busy organizing everything and getting ready to welcome Mr. Sportsen to Ponyville, but you can probably help each other out with your games.” “That’s alright dear, I think we will do just fine for now.” Rarity put a reassuring hoof on Twilight. Twilight smiled and waved good bye to everypony and left to meet with Mayor Mare for a little bit to discuss preparations for Mr. Sportsen’s arrival and how the show and tell would be held. It was going to be a lot of planning and Twilight could expect a sleepless night and at least one headache over this next week. Even though Twilight was a princess, Ponyville was still her town and she was still the best organizer in Ponyville; her repeated performance of making spring arrive on time during winter wrap up for the last four years was proof of that fact. This week was going to be a stressful one and she wanted to get a head start on it. So she left for the mayor with plans already forming in her mind.