The wheels on the train cars rattled rhythmically down the rail road tracks as it steadily made it's way across the lands of Equestria to its next destination. Steam puffed periodically into the air from the smoke stack of the elegantly designed train. The train was not the pony express that the common pony used. This was a privately owned trained specifically designed by its owner with smooth lines and classy angles through out the engine and all the cars attached to it. The maroon red and brown paint of the train gleamed in the sunlight as it travelled down the tracks to the next station.
In the caboose of the train was a unicorn mare arranging a few items before she left. The caboose was designed like a small bedroom apartment. There was a decently large bed that was comfy and a few dressers for clothes. A mirror hung on the wall over the dresser and the attached bathroom was stocked with all necessities including a shower.
The mare finished putting things away, collected a note pad and pen in her magic and walked out of the caboose. The unicorn mare had a darkened gold color coat with a teal mane done up in a tight bun. Her dark violet eyes gazed harshly out from behind thin spectacles. She wore a form fitting, black, secretary suit that went down to her hip and still displayed her paper and quill cutie mark. The gentle clatter of the wheels could be heard as she left the caboose and transitioned to the next car in the line.
The next car in the line was the staff quarters. Here was where the kitchen staff, janitors, and butlers of the train slept and lived while the train travelled between cities and towns. It wasn't as nice as the room that belonged to the mare, but it was sufficient for the dozen or so ponies that resided in here. As she passed through, she received a few nods and a greeting or two which she returned before making her way to the next car.
She frowned to herself as she left the staff quarters. Even though everypony was generally friendly in there, she found dealing with them annoying as she had a much more important job compared to them. She continued on and opened the door to the kitchen and dining car. The clinking and clanging of pots and pans filled her ears as she passed by the on duty cooks and into the dining hall. The kitchen was always stocked with the most exquisite foods from around Equestria and always had at least one cook on duty at all times of the day. She always enjoyed eating the food here; the vegetables were always crisp and sweet and she liked trying some of the foods from around the kingdom.
The mare opened the door leading out of the dining car and closed behind her with a click and opened the next door into the recreation car. This car had things like a billiard table, a table for card games, and other various things of entertainment. She completely ignored the contents of the room as she preferred reading over playing games. It was far more relaxing to lose herself in a story and enjoy the quietness than listening to the loud noises of pointless chatter. She moved on to the next car in the chain.
She opened the door to her favorite car on the train and smiled. The next car was the study and lounge with large cushion chairs and velvet couches to relax on. The car had several sound proofing spells on it making the wind noise and clatter of the train wheels an almost nonexistent disturbance. She loved being here to unwind from the stresses of work during her off time. She loved reading her romance novels here while drinking some strawberry and grape juice. Unfortunately, she did not have time to relax in her favorite red velvet couch and pick up on the last chapter of her book she was reading; she had other duties she must attend to.
She forced herself to leave the lounge and go into the next car. She shut the door behind her and gazed upon the car that was designated as the master bedroom. The bed itself was about twice as large as her bed and was even more luxurious. The bed and blankets would cradle a pony in warmth and comfort creating the most refreshing night of sleep. There were a couple of dressers filled with clothes as well as a wardrobe set aside for coats and suits. The master bedroom even had a walk-in bathroom complete with a bath tub and a large sink and counter combination with a large mirror hanging on the wall. The mare would be lying to herself if she said she wasn't jealous of the living arrangements the owner gave himself while travelling; but she didn't complain as the room she had was still considered middle class luxury compared to others. She strode through the room and to her final destination.
The final car attached to the train's engine was the office room. It was, in essence, an office away from the office. Several filling cabinets were lined up along the walls with drawers filled to the brim with supplies placed strategically around the room. Against the opposite end of the car was a drinks cabinet filled with the owner's personal selection of drinks that he enjoyed to refresh himself while he was busy working. Near the adjacent wall, was the a large, dark oak wood and mahogany desk with a tall office chair placed behind it. In the chair sat an earth pony stallion looking over some paper work. He had a tan coat and a brown mane that was swept back and combed neatly in place. He had a few age lines that put him around the beginning years of being considered middle aged. He wore a sharp, navy blue business suit with a red tie that was slightly loose at the collar for comfort.
The stallion's piercing blue eyes looked up from his work at the sound of the door opening and glanced at the mare standing before him.
"Ah Ms. Note Pad, I’m glad to see you. how are you?"
The mare cleared her throat in a prim and proper fashion before responding, “Good morning Mr. Sportsen. I am doing well right now and I have the schedule for today,” she levitated the note pad up to present to him before bringing it back down in front of her.
“Excellent!” Sportsen put the papers he was holding down to fix his attention on his secretary, “So what do we have planned for today?”
Ms. Note Pad gave another curt clearing of her throat before bringing the paper in front of her eyes, “Today at 9:30 in the evening, we have a dinner arrangement with Mr. Strike Out in Applewood to discuss sales for the baseball department. Before that, Ms. Shunt will be arriving on the train to talk about the distribution of a new line of roller skates for the roller derby sport. At around lunch time, we should be receiving the mail for today and there should be last month's pay roll invoice for the toy making and merchandise department. And for this morning we will be arriving in the town 'Ponyville'.”
Sportsen had closed his eyes as he listened to his schedule being read off by Ms. Note Pad. He opened them again when she finished telling him about his arrival in the next town and sighed.
“Ms. Note Pad, how many towns and cities have we been to on this trip so far?”
She made a quick flip to a certain page, “274 locations in total, sir.”
“And none of them had an idea that I was looking for, correct?”
“Correct sir.”
Sportsen let his head fall back and sighed again. He had put several million bits into this trans-Equestrian trip to look for the next big hit. Out of the hundreds of thousands of ponies he met, nopony had the one thing he wanted. It was tough seeing thousands upon thousands of different game ideas all across the land and rejecting all of them. Many games that were presented to him were extremely well made and could easily sweep across Equestria as the next fad that would last for a good while. But Sportsen had turned them all down. He was looking for something really special that would really 'Wow' the masses, and he was determined to find it; even if he had to go through another hundred thousand games to find it.
“Alright then, what is this 'Ponyville' like?”
“Well sir,” Ms. Note Pad studied her pad of paper again, “The town is a small place with a population of less than three thousand ponies. It is a relatively rural town with the well known apple orchard, 'Sweet Apple Acres' nearby and sits on the edge of the Everfree Forest. Currently, Princess Twilight Sparkle is claiming the town as her place of residence and is also the home of the elements of harmony.”
“Mmm,” Sportsen hummed, “Well, at least there won't be any mountains that I have to climb. What time will we be arriving in Ponyville?”
“Our scheduled arrival in Ponyville will be at around 10:46, Mr. Sportsen.”
He gave another tired sigh, “Very well; lets make this quick when we get there. I don't want to spend all day shaking hooves with ponies who don't have any games to offer like the last town. I swear, some of these towns are lucky enough to just have me pass through and to only have four ponies who actually decided to make games was really a waste of my time; and none of them were good to begin with! Don't these ponies know that I have a plan I’m trying to accomplish...” Sportsen continued to grumble to himself while Ms. Note Pad took the cue to leave the office and preform other duties around the train that needed to be taken care of. They only had a couple of hours before the train would arrive in Ponyville.
~~~
The maroon red and brown train rattled and screeched to a halt in the Ponyville train station. it bellowed out a cloud of steam from it's chimney stack as it sighed into a relaxed state from it's long haul across the country side. several cooks and kitchen hands stepped onto the platform to stretch their legs and breathe in the fresh air of the outside for a few free moments before having to go back to work and restock the kitchen with food and other supplies.
Sportsen and Ms. Note Pad were amongst the group to step off the train. He stood there briefly to stare at his employees and to readjust the red tie on his suit before taking his first steps in this small town. He glanced at his surroundings with bored interest and passed judgment on the exterior condition, the internal design, and the ponies of this town. Most of the ponies wore content smiles on their faces and greeted each other pleasantly. There were a couple of ponies that caught his attention and his eyes lingered on them briefly before losing interest.
“So what is next on my schedule in this town,” he said without turning to look at Ms. Note Pad.
“First, we are meeting the mayor at the town hall for a short meeting. Then we will have a short break for lunch, followed by holding auditions for the ponies who have made games.”
“Mmm,” he grunted in response, “Do you know where the town hall is?”
The pair paused outside of the entrance of the train station. Ms. Note Pad stopped a pony that was passing by to ask directions.
“Pardon me, but do you know where town hall is?”
“Sure,” the stallion obliged, “Just head down this road until you enter the center of town. After that, take a small right and it should be on the left.”
“Thank you,” Ms. Note Pad turned back to Sportsen and gave a small nod, “Shouldn't be too hard to find.”
He nodded and the two pressed forward into town.
Ponyville had the same friendly atmosphere as the train station did when Sportsen arrived. All the ponies were cheerful and seemed to know each other in one way or another. The town had a warm color palette painted across it's homes and businesses with a few exceptions to a select number of buildings; in particular, one bakery that was designed like a gingerbread house.
Finding the town hall was not too difficult for Sportsen or Ms. Note Pad. After asking one more pony to point out the town hall, they found the tower-like building that was their destination. Sportsen opened the double doors to the lobby of the town hall and strode inside with Ms. Note Pad following behind. The lobby had its space filled with the usual things like a receptionist's desk, a few chairs for waiting, ponies moving back and forth across the floor to different rooms for different tasks, and a couple of plants for decoration. Standing at the center of the casual bustle were two mares.
The first mare on the left was an older earth pony with a tan coat and a wispy white mane in a relaxed business hair cut. She had a pair of gentle, soft, blue eyes that peered out from behind a pair of light yellow spectacles. She had a soft smile on her lips as she spotted Sportsen's arrival. The second mare standing to his right was a younger pony with a lavender coat and a purple mane and a single highlight slightly off center. She had a horn which made Sportsen assume she was a unicorn, but when he noticed the wings neatly tucked at her sides he quickly dismissed that conclusion. She had a pleasant demeanor around her as her purple eyes portrayed a planned and calculated encounter.
“Mr. Sportsen!” the older pony greeted, “A pleasure to finally meet you! My name is Mayor Mare and this is Princess Twilight Sparkle.” She stuck a hoof out to shake with Sportsen which he politely took.
“Pleasure to meet you Mayor, and greetings your highness,” he took a small bow towards Twilight, “It is an honor to finally meet you.”
“Thank you,” Twilight said with a hint of uneasiness, “It's nice to meet you too.”
“I assume that you already know why we are here Ms. Mayor,” Sportsen directed himself back towards the mayor.
“Indeed. We are aware of your tour around Equestria in search of the next big hit game,” she gave a soft chuckle.
“We have already made arrangements to hold tryouts for the everypony who have developed game ideas they would like to present to you,” spoke Twilight with a sense of accomplishment, “We will be holding the tryouts in the sports field behind the elementary school house not too far from here. We have also taken the liberty to provide drinks and snacks for everypony during the event."
"How will the participants be organized at the field? will you be holding several contestants at once while others wait, or will there just be a single line?"
"The field has a table set up for you with a list of all the ponies who have made a game to present, so there will be a single line formed in front of the table with room off to either side for ponies to demonstrate their ideas," Twilight responded with the practiced answer.
Sportsen put on a surprised face, " Impressive, Princess. I have heard of your organizational skills from others and I am glad to see that the rumors are true. It sounds like you have planned out the entire event.” Twilight blushed slightly at the flattering words from Sportsen.
“So when will the auditions be held today?” he continued asking.
“The Princess and I have decided to hold the trials some time before lunch. If you would like, we can head out now to eat before we head to the field to begin.”
Sportsen nodded at the offer from the mayor, “Yes, that would be the best course of action. If you would be so kind as to show us to a particularly good restaurant for myself and my secretary to eat, we would be most grateful,” he put on a charming smile as he asked the two mare in front of him.
The mayor nodded with a little bit more vigor than usual, “Oh, of course Mr. Sportsen! I know of a nice little place that serves excellent lunch meals!”
The mayor briskly trotted out of the town hall with a slightly confused Twilight who smiled nervously after the mayor. Sportsen smiled to himself as he and his assistant followed after the two for lunch.
~~~
The field that Princess Twilight and the mayor talked about over the early lunch was not too far from town. It was a short walk from where they dined for lunch to the school house on top of the small hill outside of town. The school house was a small red building with a couple of play sets a few meters to the side of the main building. The group strolled between the play sets and the red school to the field behind.
It was a large, flat field with a border of trees surrounding the edges of it. The grass was neatly cut to a short length with sparsely any dirt patches on the field implying that it was a well maintained field. However, Sportsen's eye caught a few patches of grass were colored with a lighter green then others spots. He deduced that the field was just recently repaired for his arrival and wanted to make a good impression on him in the hopes that he would choose somepony from their town. He let an amused grin cross his lips; it was an admirable attempt, but ultimately a futile one.
Near the middle of the field was a single table with a couple of chairs set out and some papers on it. There was already a line forming in front of the table. Sportsen let out a silent groan to himself as he saw how long the line was before he even sat down. The line was wrapping around the edges of the field on the opposite side and was beginning to follow the tree line behind the school house with more ponies filing in behind them. Sportsen was happy that so many ponies came out with possibly new and different ideas for games, but was discouraged by how long it could take to go through so many ponies.
He sighed again, “Ms. Note Pad, what time is it?”
“Almost ten minutes to noon, sir,” she answered.
“Well, we might as well get this started. I still have a schedule to keep if I don't find what I’m looking for here.” He stepped over to the table with a few chairs set out and sat down along with Ms. Note Pad.
Sportsen looked down at the small stack of papers on the table and flipped through them briefly to get a sense of the names and how many ponies would be attending today. After glancing at the first three pages, he noticed that all three pages were written in a triple column style with names written from the top of the page down to the bottom. He quickly skimmed through the rest of the pages to see if there was any break in the three column format pattern only to find the last page not completely filled. He did a double take through the stack again.
“Is every single pony in town showing up to this thing?!” he wondered to himself.
He glanced up at the first pony in line who smiled haphazardly at him. He looked back down at the list of names and passed it to Ms. Note Pad sitting beside him. Ms. Note Pad pulled out a quill and dabbed it in an ink jar before setting it close to the paper ready to scratch names off the list. Sportsen looked back up at the first pony still standing a couple of feet away from them.
“Alright, lets begin. Please tell me your name and what kind of game you have made.”
The stallion took a few nervous steps forward and cleared his throat before speaking, “Hello my name is Gizmo,” he spoke with a slightly nasal voice, “And here is the game I created...”
~~~
The ponies quickly blurred together as Sportsen trudged his way through the list of contestants. He was glad so many ponies took an enthusiastic approach to his offer, but it felt like the entire town was participating in his tryouts today. The town mayor and Princess Twilight were standing nearby working at the drinks and food stands or keeping the line of ponies organized and flowing.
Sportsen took a sip of water from his cup that was brought to him and set it back down on the table as the next pony stepped forward. He glanced at a nearby clock as it read 2:14 in the afternoon. Sportsen had already gone through dozens of ponies and all of the games they presented were declined. He spotted a couple that he liked and had Ms. Note Pad make a note on them for future reviewing, but none stood out as a real eye catcher. However, many of them were simple variations of games that had already been shown to him before or were just lazy copies of somepony else's game with one change or two to avoid being seen as a mimic; but he could see right through their ploy. One memorable one from today was a group of fillies with the idea of making a giant water balloon fight. Although, he quickly turned down the idea when they pulled out their catapult for demonstration.
He rolled his head back to face the pony in front of him as she tried to convince him of a game about flower picking. After listening for only about 45 seconds he dismissed the mare.
“NEXT!” he shouted as the mare with a rose for a cutie mark started crying and whining about how 'Horrible this was'.
The next pony stepped forward and Sportsen eyed the mare with a cowboy hat.
“Howdy, sir,” she said, “My name is Applejack and this is my sister Apple Bloom.”
His eyes darted between the two obvious farm ponies. “Hello,” he said in a friendly tone, “And what kind of game have you made?” he asked for probably the billionth time in his life.
“Well, its a rather simple game if you ask me,” Applejack absentmindedly replied as she began pulling out a couple of apples, “All you need is three small things that are the same and are some kind of food.”
“Okaay,” Sportsen motioned to continue.
Applejack smiled, “First you start off with juggling the three things in the air,” she sat back and tossed the apples in the air and began to expertly juggle them in the air, “You have to juggle them for at least a few moments before you have to pass them to the next pony,” she quickly passed the apples to her apparent, little sister as she began to juggle with some skill, “And there is a time limit to the whole thing. The last pony caught juggling has to catch one of the foods in their mouth and eat it. If you miss, then you are out of the game.” The little sister tossed the three apples in the air. Applejack and her sister caught two of the apples in the air with their mouth and smiled as they bit happily into them. The third apple landed with a heavy thud on the table in front of Sportsen who stared at for a second disapprovingly before raising his gaze to the ponies standing on the other side of the table.
He let them finish chewing their snacks before speaking again, “Tell me Applejack, how exactly do you plan on mass producing the juggling apples for your game? You said that any kind of food item will do, but if I were to choose your game how would you or I make any kind of earnings off of it?” he said with a scowl.
“Um, I do understand the point you are trying to make Mr. Sportsen, but I do have an apple farm we could use to supply the apples,” Applejack admitted.
“What's to stop a pony from going to the grocery store and just buying the apples there for a cheaper price then buying them from you?” he said pointedly, “I’m sorry ms. Applejack, but I don't think juggling is going to be a big hit as very few select ponies are even able to learn how to juggle in the first place. I’m sure if you wanted to join the circus, they would be more than happy to apply your skills at juggling there,” he shot back with a hint of annoyance.
The underhoofed insult did not pass over Applejack and she stared at him in stunned dismay.
“Hey! That wasn't very nice!” the little sister shouted in defiance.
“Apple Bloom! That's enough!” Applejack hissed to quiet her sister. She looked back up at Sportsen and shot daggers at him which he returned with his own cold stare. She grudgingly tipped her hat in respect and wordlessly walked away and led her sister away who was sticking her tongue out at him.
“NEXT!” he shouted.
The next pony in line stepped forward and Sportsen raised an eyebrow in surprise. An ivory white unicorn with an impeccable purple mane stepped forward up to the table. She gave a soft smile with half lidded eyes. He smiled in return, but with a courteous and polite one as he did not allow himself to be swayed by good looks and flattery.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Sportsen!” she said with a high class voice, “My name is Rarity. How are you today?”
“I’m well, thank you,” he nodded curtly, “And what game do you have to present?”
“Oh, I think you are going to love this one,” Rarity gave an enticing chuckle. Sportsen steeled himself against falling in to this mare's charms.
“I call my game, 'Battle-istas'. Its a really fun game and is really easy to play. You need at least three ponies to play the game; at least two ponies for judging and one for preforming. The other thing you need is a lovely selection of dresses which I have some right now!” The mare levitated several elegant and finely detailed dresses off of her back to hold in front of Sportsen. A frown began to crease his lips as he inspected the designs.
“All of these dresses I have made myself in my store, Carousel Boutique. This one in particular,” Rarity pointed to a certain royal purple and yellow dress with blue jewels embedded on it, “Is one I am very proud of. It was originally designed for the-”
“Stop!” Sportsen interrupted Rarity before she could continue.
“Miss, I have been in this the business for a really long time; and I have seen more sales pitches than I can count. Now I must ask you, are you planning on trying to sell me an idea for a game or are you trying to sell me some clothes?”
“Uh, uhmm, buh,” Rarity stuttered, “Uh, how about I interest you in some uniforms?” she gave a half hearted smile.
Sportsen gave a deadpanned look, “...No, NEXT!”
Rarity gasped, “Ah! How rude!” she angrily collected her clothes and stomped off with a defiant 'Hmph'.
~~~
A few more ponies went by before another interesting pony came up to the table. This pony was a Pegasus with overly confident grin on her face and a ball tucked under her wing. He looked the Pegasus up and down before giving a pleasant smile.
“Hey there!” she flashed a coy smirk at him.
“Hello, how are you?” Sportsen asked politely.
“Pretty awesome right now. My name's Rainbow Dash! Ever heard of me?” she leaned her head in and wiggled her brow hoping to get a response.
He furrowed his own brow, “No, I’ve never heard of you before. Should I have?”
Rainbow looked offended, “I’m only the greatest flier of all Equestria and the only Pegasus to have preformed the sonic rainboom! I've saved fillies and colts from danger and am one of the greatest heroes of Equestria!”
Sportsen gave a disinterested look and shrugged, “Sorry, doesn't ring a bell; do you have a game you wanted to show me or was that it?”
Rainbow gave a huff, upset that her name didn't give her an advantage but she pressed on, “Well, even if you haven't heard of me I think you're going to like this game that I made anyways.” She flashed another confident grin.
“So what do you have for me, kid?” Sportsen leaned back into his seat giving Rainbow dash the stage.
“So, its called 'Ultimate Extreme Kickball' and I think you are really going to like it!” She pulled the ball out from under her wing.
“I’m sure I will, but unless you have made a really new variation on 'Kickball' I’m not sure it's going to be that big of a seller.”
Rainbow's eyes widened slightly in panic, “Wait! Let me show you how awesome it is; it will just take a second!” she held up a hoof hoping to dissuade him from brushing her off like a dirt on his shoulder.
“I really don't think that will be necesasar-”
“No, its cool! Just watch!” she took off into the air with her ball.
“First, a pony kicks the ball really high in the air!” she tossed the ball in front of her and gave it a swift kick sending high into the air, “Then a pony has to fly up and catch the ball!” Rainbow put on a burst of speed after the ball and caught it in mid air high above the ground, “Finally, who ever catches the ball has to preform as many tricks and stunts as they can before tagging the pony!” she pulled a flurry of stunts and maneuvers on her way back down to the ground while carrying the ball and blasted past the table where Sportsen and Ms. Note Pad were sitting at scattering papers everywhere. She skidded on the ground and stood proudly of her amazing display of skill and speed.
Sportsen grumbled to himself as he and Ms. Note Pad fought to collect all the papers that were scattered to the wind.
“So what do you think of my game now? Pretty awesome, huh?” Rainbow trotted back over in front of the table and stood with her eyes closed and a smug smile on her face.
“I think you've showed off enough and need to let the next pony in line to come forward. NEXT!”
Rainbow's mouth fell open in shock before her head fell again in grumpy acceptance.
When Sportsen sat back down with all of his papers collected, the next pony stepped forward. It was another Pegasus with a long flowing pink mane and a shy demeanor. Sportsen softened his expression and gave a warm smile to invite the pony in and make her feel comfortable.
“Afternoon!” he spoke in a kind tone, “How are you today?”
“Oh, um, just fine thank you,” she said quietly.
“And what is your name?”
“Um, my name is Fluttershy,” she was slowly opening up to him with more confidence when she saw that he wasn't going to yell at her.
“And what kind of game do you have to show me, today?” Sportsen asked politely.
“Um, well, its not really a game. But I was wondering if you might be interested in looking at what I have made anyways.” She reached back and rummaged around in the saddle bag she was wearing.
Sportsen gave a slight pained expression, “I’m sorry dear, but I am really looking for a game right now,” he looked at Fluttershy's deeply dejected and downcast eyes and felt a pang of remorse. He winced slightly as he watched Fluttershy's potential creation be rejected before even being seen.
But it was too much for him to handle and he caved in, “How about I give it a quick look and we'll see what it looks like.”
Fluttershy's instantly brightened and quickly dug back in her saddle bag to grab her things. Sportsen grinned at seeing this pony eager to prove herself with her creations. He threw a sideways glance at his secretary and received a disapproving stare.
“Oh come on,” he mused at her in a whisper while they waited, “I bet even you could not have said no to that face.”
“Yes I could, actually; and quite easily as well.” she quipped.
“Sure,” Sportsen chuckled at Ms. Note Pad.
Fluttershy finally pulled out all of the items she was carrying with her and placed them delicately on the table. Several pony-like figurines were arranged in a semicircle for the two of them to look at.
“I spent a lot of time designing these and finding the right color for each one and I still have several other designs ready to make too,” Fluttershy explained excitedly.
Sportsen reached out and picked one of the pony figures up to examine more closely, “These are really well made,” he commented.
He rotated the doll over in his hooves looking at every aspect of it from its finely carved body to the soft string used for its mane and tail. Fluttershy waited with baited breath unsure if Sportsen was going to like her toys. Eventually, Sportsen set the doll back down on the table and addressed Fluttershy again.
“I really like how well made they are,” Fluttershy brightened a little bit more at the praise, “But like I said before, I’m currently looking for a game right now.” Fluttershy's face fell again in despair which caused Sportsen's own heart to fall in despair.
“But,” he paused to make sure he had Fluttershy's attention, “I’ll tell you what I can do. I can definitely pitch this design for a new toy line to my sister company that I own called 'Hashbrown Inc'. They're the company that deals with all the toys and dolls that we make. When I have the time, I will definitely make sure to bring this to their attention because I think this will really sell well. In addition, I will send you a letter to let you know how things go.” he smiled along with Fluttershy as she beamed with joy.
“Oh thank you so much, Mr. Sportsen! I’m so glad that you like them! Would you like to have them for later? I can always make more!”
“Yes please; I can definitely use them to show to the board when I give them the idea. Ms. Note Pad, will you please have them placed in a bag for when we leave?”
“Yes, Mr. Sportsen,” she answered in an exasperated tone.
“Thank you; and thank you Fluttershy. I wish you luck on your toys,” he grinned.
“Thank you, and you have a really nice day, Mr. Sportsen,” Fluttershy smiled as she stepped to the side to allow the next pony to step forward.
He grinned to himself as he watched a satisfied Fluttershy walk away before facing the next pony in line, “NEXT!”
The next pony in line practically bounced up to the table. Sportsen had to let his eyes adjust to the vibrant colors that was standing on the other side of the table. A wild eyed earth pony mare with an untameable mane smiled broadly at him. He put on his own smile to hide his unpleasant feelings.
“Hiya! My name is Pinkie Pie!” she said with a hyper bounce in her voice.
“Nice to meet you, Pinkie Pie. And what kind of game do you have to show me?”
“Oh boy mister, do I have a game to show you,” she turned her head slightly to the side with a knowing grin.
“I’ll bet,” he muttered to himself in his head.
“I have this really fun game that I made and I call it, 'Musical Fun Games'!!” A small burst of confetti flew into the air as the pink pony made the big reveal.
Sportsen struggled to stop his eyes from rolling as he said, “And how do you play 'Musical Fun Games'?”
“Oh, it's super easy,” Pinkie giggled, “First, you need some music playing!” she dashed off and returned with a small beat box that began to play music from its speakers while Pinkie Pie started bouncing around in a circle.
Sportsen noticed Ms. Note Pad's usual stoic face cringe a little at the selected music that was playing. He could agree that the music playing was not his first pick in musical choice, but he did not stop the pink pony from continuing her demonstration.
“You bounce around for a few seconds and if you hear somepony shout 'Flugel Horn!',” she disappeared in a flash and returned a moment later carrying some kind of an instrument, “Then you have to start playing a Flugel Horn!”
Sportsen could only describe the next few moments of sound as loud, grating, metal sounds and horror. Pinkie took a deep breath filling her lungs to maximum capacity and blew as hard as she could. A terrible screeching noise of vibrating metal and spit came from the other end of the instrument and the faint sound of the word 'Flugel Horn' could be heard through the abomination that could be called sound. Sportsen clapped a hoof over one ear and winced in pain. Thankfully, the cruel and unusual torture ended as quickly as it began.
“Then, you have to go back to dancing around in a circle again!” Pinkie tossed the horn to the side and went back to bouncing around in a circle.
Sportsen stuck a hoof in his ear to clear it out and hopefully reduce the ringing in his ears. But before he could talk, Pinkie Pie spoke up again.
“You keep dancing in a circle until you hear somepony shout, 'TWITCHY TAIL'!!!”
Pinkie Pie dove for cover underneath the table where Sportsen and Ms. Note Pad were sitting. He and Ms. Note Pad stared in bewilderment at the spot Pinkie Pie once occupied to where she was hiding below the table top. Pinkie Pie was glancing in the sky with a terrified face looking for some unknown danger.
“Ms. Pinkie, what in Equestria are you hiding from?” Ms. Note Pad asked with an air of annoyance.
“My twitchy tail was a-twitchin'. And a twitchy tail is never a good sign,” Pinkie continued staring at the sky while she explained herself.
“And what exactly does a twitchy tail mea-” Sportsen tried to ask when a soft splat was heard and felt on Sportsen's head.
Pinkie came out from under the table to investigate, “What was that? Ooh, is that frosting on your head?” she stepped forward to smell the white 'Frosting' that was slowly smearing down Sportsen's head.
Pinkie retracted in disgust after smelling the substance, “Ugh! That is not frosting!” she pinched her nose to block out the smell.
Those who were close enough to hear the entire exchange between Pinkie Pie and Sportsen began snickering and laughing at the realization and disgust slowly creeping across Sportsen's face. He grit his teeth in anger as the pungent smell crept it's way up his nostrils.
“Ms. Note Pad,” he stood up from his chair, “Please take care of things for me while I am gone. I need to go clean up and change before this gets any worse.”
“Yes sir.” Sportsen pushed his chair back in and headed back for his train while Ms. Note Pad took over the proceedings.
“Wait!” Pinkie shouted, “What about my game?!”
“NEXT!!” Sportsen shouted over his shoulder.
Pinkie Pie's face trembled slightly as she stood there before she lowered her head in defeat and walked away.
Sportsen bit back his frustration as he trudged back into town and hoped that a quick shower and some fresh clothes from his private train would make him feel better when he came back.