Rainbow Dash batted Pinkie Pie on the muzzle. “Tag, you're it.”

“Nu-uh,” giggled Pinkie. “You have to go around the third wicket first!”

Applejack lifted up her catcher's mask. “That means she gets a free-throw, right?”

Fluttershy chewed her lip and glanced up at Rarity. “Can I move my knight to the blue square?”

“Go fish, darling,” Rarity said.

“Oh darn.” Fluttershy drew three new playing cards from the deck.

“Girls,” said Twilight, scratching her head and squinting at a heavy book, “I don't think any of this is in the rules for cricket.”

The prompt: Ponies playing games.

*

This is a thirty minute writing prompt, meaning you have thirty minutes to finish your story from the time you start writing. You may take as much time as you wish to think, plan, or outline before you begin, but once the first word is on the page, the timer begins. When you are finished, post your story to this thread, and, in the tradition of the TMP mods of yore, I will read and give it a comment when I can.

Traditionally, TMP prompts would have a six to eight-hour window in which to submit, but for these legacy prompts, there will be no limit after the prompt is up. Go ahead and post something a year from now, if you like. Just bear in mind that I'm less likely to respond with feedback to anything submitted more than a day after the prompt. Good luck!

3772798 Well, here's mine.

Legacy Prompt 8: Game Night

Every Friday night, there was a secret gathering of ponies. This group did not broadcast their intent or their activity widely, and membership was strictly invite-only. Where they gathered often varied, though it was usually at one of the member’s homes. Cloaks often covered their bodies, and if anypony took a casual look, they might be mistaken for a small cult. However, as is often the case, the truth is stranger than whatever fiction that anypony could imagine.

“As you travel,” said Doctor Whooves as the ponies sat around a table in one of Rarity’s workrooms, “You come across a group of five Diamond Dogs, digging for gems. A cart full of gems is already loaded up behind them, and they do not have appeared to noticed the group yet.” The other ponies sitting around the table all rustled through the sheafs of parchment laying on the table. Doctor Whooves consulted his own piece of parchment.

“Right, Ditzy,” he said, “you had the highest initiative roll, so you get to act first.”

“Okay,” said Ditzy Doo, “I want to try and steal the cart of gems.”

“Roll for it,” said Doctor Whooves, pushing a small, twenty sided plastic ball towards Ditzy, who picked it up in her teeth and then gently tossed it onto the table. It rolled to a stop just in front of Rarity.

“Twenty,” said Rarity, and Doctor Whooves glanced back down at his sheets for a moment.

“Ditzy steals the entire cart of gems without the Diamond dogs noticing. Rarity, you’re next.”

“Right. I will cast Fireball at the Diamond Dogs,” said Rarity, picking up the twenty-sided die with her magic and rolling it along the table. “Twelve” she said, once the die had come to a stop.

“Okay, so applying the +4 modifier, that comes to a score of 16, so you successfully cast. Roll for damage.” Rarity did so, coming up with a ten, and once all effects and items had been taken into account, Doctor whooves spoke again.

“You damage three of the Dogs, reducing them to half health, but because they are now crying in pain, you have drawn the attention of the entire group, so no unaware bonuses anymore. Bon Bon, you’re up.”

“Right,” said Bon Bon, “I charge the group, drawing my sword in the process.”

“Okay, Drawing a weapon while moving...you have to roll,” said Doctor Whooves, waiting for Bon Bon to roll the die. “Okay, so you successfully draw your sword, the Sword of Eternal Doom, which grants you an extra D6 for every enemy you’re engaging. Bon Bon, how many are...”

Before Whooves could finish his sentence, Bon Bon interrupted. “All of them.”

“Of course,” muttered Whooves, “right, roll six dice for damage.” There was another clatter of dice rolling on the table, and then Whooves did some calculations and spoke. “Bon Bon kills two of the damaged Dogs and gives the rest minor wounds. Cloud Chaser, it’s your turn.”

As Cloudchaser narrated her actions, so continued Game Night at Rarity’s house, as the five ponies went on adventures from the relative safety of Ponyville.
---
AN: I have never played anything like D&D, so this may not be the most accurate.

3772798
First, I freely admit I went over the time limit. This took long enough I can guarantee it would have been excluded from the original TMP; I think I was closer to the back end of an hour than to the thirty-minute mark. It's just that once the idea gripped me, it wouldn't let go. As always, if the time taken or, in this case, the length disqualifies it, please let me know and I will remove the post.

Legacy Prompt 8: Battle

“Bon Bon, where are you?” Twilight walked through the park, trying to pick her sometimes friend, now informant, out of the crowd. Her eyes were flitting around, her gaze jumping all over the place as she ambled along. “You told me to be he… Wuahg!”

Twilight reared, flailing her hooves for balance, as a cream-haired pinkish unicorn mare ran into her. Literally ran into; Twilight had to sidestep on her rear feet to keep from being knocked to the ground. The other mare was not so fortunate; she ended up going sideways and sliding across the grass, several small wooden tiles spilling from her saddlebags as she did so. “Oof,” the pink mare grunted, then “Oh, I’m so sorry!”

Twilight walked over to her. “Hey, I don’t mean to complain, but perhaps you could be a bit more careful next time?” Then, “What were you doing moving so fast, anyway?”

“I’m sorry,” the pink mare said again, “I’m supposed to be meeting a friend to play games this afternoon, and I was trying to find a good spot to set up when my feet started slipping out from under me.”

Twilight frowned thoughtfully. “Well, I don’t think you did any real damage, so it’s not really that important. Do you want some help picking up the pieces you dropped?”

“Thank you, that would be lovely.” The pink mare nodded, a sheepish grin on her face. “Especially since it was my fault.” She stuck out a hoof. “I’m Spun Sugar.”

“Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight said, taking the hoof and shaking it. “Now let’s get to work.”

Ten minutes later, the last of the little five-sided wooden tiles Sugar had spilled were rounded up, all but two of them safely stowed away. The last two were in Twilight’s grip as she looked them over. “What kind of game did you say this was?”

Sugar looked up from her saddlebag. “I didn’t, yet. It’s called ‘Conquest’, and… well, have you ever played chess?”

Twilight chuckled, her eyes going unfocused as she recalled fond memories of games against Princess Celestia and, before that, her brother. “A few times, yes.” She started to toss the tiles toward Sugar. “I take it this is similar?”

“Somewhat.” Sugar looked up. “It may be a while before my friend gets here; would you care to play a bit against me while I wait?”

Twilight glanced around the crowd. “Might as well. It looks like my own meeting was a no-show.” The two stepped over to a small table, and Sugar began to pull out her game.

“The basic rules for Conquest are pretty similar to those for chess. They’re both simulated war games, after all.” Sugar hauled out a white cloth bag, levitating it over to Twilight as she dug around for its mate. “That’s the pieces of a white array; there are others, but if we’re starting from chess that’s probably the best place to begin.”

Twilight nodded. “White it is, then,” she said, beginning to sort her own tiles. “So, how do these markings translate?”

Sugar glanced over. “Tips go toward the other player. Double horseshoe is an earth pony; since they charge ahead, it’s the equivalent to a rook. Horn is a unicorn, that’s a bishop. Wings is a pegasus; that’s a knight since they can fly over other pieces. The smaller ones with the single horseshoe are the pawns, but they have to go in a specific order. Each one should go in front of the piece matching the small emblem at the tip of the pawn.”

Twilight did as she was told, setting up her side of the board. After a moment, she frowned. “I’ve got three bishops,” she said.

Sugar glanced up. “Are they all the same size?”

“They… no, one of them is a bit smaller than the other two.”

“Flip it over; that’s a unicorn’s pawn, not a unicorn.”

Twilight did so, and the piece was revealed to have a single horseshoe with a smaller horn on it. “Why the bishop on the back?”

“Promotion.” Sugar shrugged as she set her own pieces up. “You can’t just promote a pawn to whatever you feel like; when you promote, you flip over the tile.” She looked up. “That’s why it’s important to have them in the right spots.”

Twilight grinned, a pleased flush of warmth running over her as she comprehended the idea. “Pretty clever,” she said. “I’d wondered why tiles. Do the other pieces promote the same way?”

Sugar smiled, an eager teacher with a clever student, causing another flush of pleasure to cover Twilight. “They do, yes. Earth pony and unicorn both get a one-step move matching the other, while pegasus adds a 3,2 jump to the 2,1 knight jump.” She set the last of her pieces in place. “Largest two pieces are the champion, with the crossed horns - that’s the captain, earth pony and unicorn rolled into one, and then there’s the q… the princess, with the crown.” She looked over at Twilight’s side of the board. “No, you’ve got those backwards. Princess goes on the right for both players.”

“Oh, sorry.” Twilight swapped the two pieces and their respective pawns. “Anything else I need to know?”

Sugar nodded. “Pawns move differently in Conquest. Instead of move ahead, capture to the side, they can move and capture on any of the three squares in front of them. They don’t get the double step on their first move, though.” She looked up and grinned, a sneaky expression. “There’s one more rule too, but I think I’ll let that wait until we actually reach that point.”

Several moves in, both players made a capture, trading a pair of pawns. As her turn came around again, Sugar picked up the pawn she’d taken from Twilight. “Time for that last rule,” she said. “In chess, once the pieces go off the board, that’s it, they’re gone. It’s called capturing, but you’re really killing them, aren’t you?”

Twilight shrugged. “I guess so; I hadn’t really thought about it.”

Sugar grinned again, and this time the grin seemed a lot less friendly. “Such a waste, don’t you think? Better to make use of your captives.” She took the piece she’d taken, turned it, and plunked it down on the board again, its tip pointing toward Twilight. “Your move,” she said.

“Wait, you can do that? Just plunk your captives back down to… fight for… you…” Twilight’s eyes went wide with shock, then narrowed in concern. “Something about this doesn’t sit right with me,” she said, starting to stand.

“Sit down and play, Miss Sparkle.”

At Sugar’s command, Twilight’s heart skipped a beat. Gone was the friendly mare she’d been speaking with, and worse, Twilight’s own body had reacted, obeying the command despite her will. “You… you’re not a pony, are you?”

Again, Sugar gave her unfriendly smile. “And she finally gets it. You didn’t really think I ran into you by accident, did you? Everyone knows Twilight Sparkle enjoys chess - what better way to get close to her than a new variant?” Sugar snickered. “Yes, Miss Sparkle, I’m exactly what you’re probably thinking, and yes, this is our version of your little game. Now play.”

Without conscious thought, Twilight’s hoof snaked out, grasping a pegasus and moving it on the board. “What do you intend to do with me, you monster?”

Sugar advanced the pawn she’d just put back on the board. “After this game, you’ll congratulate me for winning, then invite me back to your house to play another round. Then, this afternoon, you’ll go join your friends for some fun.” She snickered again. “Well, somepony who looks like you will, at any rate.”

Twilight’s hoof reached out again, moving the other pegasus piece forward. “I won’t let you get away with this,” she said.

“Like you have a choice.” A unicorn, freed by the movement of the pawn, reached out to snag Twilight’s first pegasus. “I’ve been lacing my instructions to you with my power; you can’t hope to resist me this late in the game.”

“I have to try.” Twilight used her second pegasus to snag Sugar’s unicorn. “Silk,” she muttered as she did so.

“What was that?” A freed earth pony took the second knight.

Twilight used her own unicorn to capture the earth pony. “Cold cider.” She gathered the piece with the captured unicorn, both of them under her hoof, pressing down on them. A few seconds later, she traded a pair of pawns for one of Sugar’s pegasus pieces. “Summer breezes,” she muttered, moving the new piece under her hoof as well.

“You know,” Sugar said as she moved her champion forward, “if you want to just surrender, that’d probably be easier than handicapping yourself that way. Shouldn’t you put some of those back in play?”

Twilight snarled. “They’re my friends,” she said, her hoof curling more tightly around the pieces in question and her vision starting to narrow, “and I won’t let you hurt them!” Then, making her next move, to capture a pegasus pawn, “Trick moves.” Her ears started to ring, drowning out her opponent’s comments. “Brownies and ice cream,” she said several moves later, capturing another Earth Pony.

Twilight glanced up in shock as Sugar dropped the piece she’d been moving and stepped over to Twilight’s side. “Twilight, look at me.”

“Not gonna,” she said, “not gonna let you…”

“Twilight, look at me.” Unbidden, Twilight’s head spun to face Sugar. For some reason, the disguised changeling’s expression was worried, nervous. “Twilight, listen. I Release You.”

At those words, a shudder swept through Twilight’s body, the force rocking her hard enough to cast her to her side, off of her seat. Sugar grabbed Twilight, lowering her to the ground, her expression no longer malicious, but instead sorrowful. “Don’t move your hoof, Twilight,” she said, “I need to bandage it.”

“Ban...wha…?” It was at that point that her hoof chose to join the conversation, radiating pain from somewhere in the center. “Aagh!”

Sugar had pulled a few strips of cloth out of her saddlebags; she tore them and made a makeshift bandage. “That should hold until we get you to the doctor,” she said.

Twilight lurched away. “I’m not going anywhere with you, monster!” She made the unfortunate mistake of stepping down on the bandaged hoof, causing her to fall.

Instantly, Sugar was there, catching her. “No more tricks, Twilight. I’m not sure if you passed or you failed, but the test is over. Now let me help you, please!”

Blearily, Twilight focused on one word. “Test? What test?” Then, as realization hit her, “Wait. Bon Bon? Is that you?”

‘Sugar’ grinned ruefully. “Yeah, Twilight, it’s me. I did warn you last week that I’d be trying to ambush you.”

“And I fell for...eesh, what did you do to my hoof?”

“You did it to yourself, Twilight. I think you were starting to hallucinate or something; it looked like you were trying to protect your pieces from me, and you were pushing down on them so hard you broke through the skin. I suspect it looks and feels worse than it really is, but I’m no medic. Now will you please come with me so somepony who knows what they’re doing can look at it?”

Twilight nodded, hefting the injured hoof over Bon Bon’s shoulder. “Remind me to come up with a better defense against you next time.”

“I dunno,” Bon Bon said, “I certainly wasn’t in control of you; I spent five turns trying to stop you before I did it the hard way. If you can learn to do that on purpose, you might just have something worthwhile there.” She swept her magic across the pieces, scooping them through the air and into her saddlebag. “Now let’s get moving.”

“Yes, boss,” Twilight said, and the two set off.

3776085 I was sorta hoping DnD would come up. I'm a little surprised that you haven't played, since apart from the cloaks, this sounded quite a bit like most any tabletop session I've ever been to.

3776862 The hard limit on length in the original TMP was 2000 words. I copy-pasted this into a word document to check and it clocked in just barely under at 1998. So yeah, you should try and be careful about that. Also keep the continuity rule in mind. This story doesn't make quite as much sense if you haven't read the one where Bon Bon promised to train Twilight to resist mind-control. I'm not going to ask you to remove it or anything, just that you try a bit harder to stay within bounds next time.

Now, setting aside all the rules-lawyering, the story itself is lovely. Is Conquest based on a real-world variant of chess, or did you make it up?

Bon Bon really should be more careful in precisely how she goes about ambushing Twilight, unless she wants to be an orange for the rest of her life.

3777497
Please forgive me. I apologize, and will do my best not to violate the rules thus again.

As to the questions - Conquest is a personal theoretical homebrew, but largely based on the rules for Shogi, aka 'Japanese Chess'. The idea of pieces other than pawns promoting, all pieces having a specific promoted value, and captured pieces being put back into play under their captor's commands* all came from there. The altered pawn movement and promoted piece movements come from a few things I've read about various fairy chess variants. It's always possible someone else has created something similar, but if so I don't know of it.

*I think that's supposed to represent the pieces being mercenaries in Shogi, but the idea that Changeling Chess included a rule for brainwashing was too good to pass up.