All Over the Board

by Brass Polish

1 Sovereignty

It was the last day of school before the Hearth’s Warming holidays. In celebration, Miss Cheerilee’s class was having a party in the schoolhouse. Pinkie Pie was hired to deliver some snacks to the party, and arrived right when the first bell rang with a trailer of baked goods.

“Who wants butter tarts!” she called as she burst into the schoolhouse.

Apple Bloom, Twist, and Diamond Tiara ran to the wagon to take a sample each.

“It’s gonna be a good party,” said Diamond Tiara, taking a bite of her tart.

Apple Bloom and Twist were about to shovel their own tarts in, but the sight of Diamond Tiara toppling to the floor and twitching with her eyes crossed stopped them in their tracks.

Pinkie Pie screamed. “Diamond Tiara’s been poisoned!”

The sound of Pinkie Pie freaking out caused Diamond Tiara to snicker.

“Gotcha!” she called.

Cheerilee and the other school ponies didn’t take the joke as well as Pinkie Pie did.

“I thought I’d tainted the pastries somehow!” she cackled. “Good one, DT!”

“Wanna join the party?” asked Diamond Tiara after the two of them were done laughing.

“Do you know who you’re talking to?” grinned Pinkie. “Uh… but I’ve got responsibilities at Sugarcube Corner today. I’ll pop in later with another cartload of snacks.”

“Pinkie Pie might have gotten a kick outta your prank, Di,” Silver Spoon said after the party pony left, “but you scared the heck outta the rest of us.”

“I know,” giggled Diamond Tiara. “I spotted you from the floor. It looked like you were gonna faint. And you were standing right next to that game box you brought too. What game did you bring, anyway?”

“Oh! It’s called Sovereignty,” Silver Spoon was getting excited. “It’s a… um, it’s kind of a board game, but there’s also cards and dice, and a guide book.”

“I’m game,” Button Mash overheard and sidled up to Silver Spoon. “What’s the idea?”

“Well, the middle of the game board is a dungeon,” Silver Spoon opened her box and began taking things out. “And the players’ game pieces represent warriors whose kingdom they serve has been overthrown. They start the game by getting liberated, and…”

“Who liberates them?” Dinky showed interest as well.

“Uh… some guy,” said Silver Spoon.

“What’s his game piece?” asked Dinky.

“He doesn’t have one,” said Silver Spoon. “Just use your imagination. So, each player is supplied with gear, as in a deck of cards and some dice, and given a section of the map, or board, to reclaim from the overlords.”

“What represents the overlords?” asked Dinky.

“This book, I guess. If you make it that far, this guides you on who they are and what they do,” explained Silver Spoon.

“If you make it that far?”

“Me and my mom haven’t gotten there yet,” said Silver Spoon.

Diamond Tiara, Button Mash, and Dinky found the game really confusing, so naturally, they quickly got into it. They were barely aware of the party around them as they made their way along their respective sections of the board.

“Hey, anyone for pin the tail on the pony?” Gilt Eyes interrupted the five distracted foals.

“We’re busy,” said Button Mash and Dinky.

“You’re just gonna flip the poster on me while I’m blindfolded,” Silver Spoon shook her head.

“You don’t even need a blindfold,” grinned Gilt Eyes, magicing Silver Spoon’s glasses off.

“Knock it off!” Silver Spoon grabbed her glasses back instantly. “I’m playing here if you don’t mind!”

Gilt Eyes observed the game’s progress. “Wow, Spoony. I thought you were the one who brought this game. Look how far behind everypony else you are.”

“She was winning at first,” said Dinky, “but she stumbled upon a tribe of lumberjack vigilantes who took her for a spy and catapulted her back to square one.”

“How did you not die?” asked Gilt Eyes.

“I found an umbrella buried in the snow along my way,” said Silver Spoon, “so I Marey Poppinsed down to the ground.”

“Hey, can you pick a new area of the board now that you’re back at the start?” asked Gilt Eyes. “That bit with the gold mines looks cool.”

“No, you gotta stick with the part you choose,” answered Silver Spoon. “You can take it if you want. Ponies are allowed to join the game while it’s in progress.”

“Nice! I bet I’ll get further than you,” Gilt Eyes picked a game piece and parked himself between Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara.

“Not if you’re a breezie,” chuckled Diamond Tiara, pointing at the game piece Gilt Eyes had hastily chosen. “Try digging for gold like that.”

When Pinkie Pie returned to the schoolhouse with another wagonload of sweets, she stuck around for fifteen minutes to mingle with Cheerilee and the school ponies. She had a round of pony tail pinning with Snips and Snails, and she had some fun with Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle with a frisbee, but she hadn’t spared much of a thought for the corner of the classroom where the Sovereignty board game was. And Silver Spoon, Diamond Tiara, Button, Dinky, and Gilt Eyes were so invested in their game that they didn’t even know Pinkie Pie had dropped by again.

“Careful, Silver,” warned Diamond Tiara. “You’re getting closer to the lumberjacks’ camp.”

“Yeah, and this time, they’ll be expecting you,” said Button Mash.

“That’s why I picked up that stool I found,” said Silver Spoon. “It’s got termites. I’ll get those lumberjacks distracted by wrecking their trees.”

Something splatted on Dinky’s part of the board.

“I’m being attacked by a jam donut!” she exclaimed.

“Sorry,” Apple Bloom picked up the snack she’d dropped. “Looks like your game piece didn’t get moved.”

“That’s because the pieces and board are magnetic,” said Gilt Eyes. “Silver Spoon said there’s a good reason for it, and I guess…”

“That wasn’t it,” grinned Silver Spoon. “You’ll see what it is when Button gets to his end of the board.”

Button was the closest to the end, and when he reached it on his next turn, Silver Spoon revealed a folded extension.

“Whoa! I’m not even close to the end!” exclaimed Button Mash.

Apple Bloom was intrigued, and decided to join the game. This prompted Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle to abandon their frisbee and see what the fuss was about. Nyx and Lazybug joined in soon after. Even Cheerilee expressed interest in playing. She was lucky, as there were only eleven pieces, and the rest of the class wanted to play now and had to settle for watching.

“The final bell’s gonna ring soon,” said Cheerilee.

There was a collective “Aw” in the classroom.

“But I’ll tell you what,” Cheerilee went on. “We can carry on with this party tomorrow. We can come back here and keep playing this game.”

“You’re saying we should spend our first day of the holidays at school?” spluttered Snips.

“I like that idea,” said Diamond Tiara. “We’ll all get to start over.”

“What?! Why don’t we just leave it here overnight and pick up where we left off tomorrow?” asked Button Mash.

“Well,” said Silver Spoon, “if the rest of you would like to play, then tomorrow…”

She paused impressively.

“I’ll bring the expansion packs.”

“There are expansion packs?!” cried the class.

“Extra board sections, more decks of cards, another pile of die, a second volume of the guide book,” Silver Spoon listed, “and of course, more game pieces.”

No one objected to the game restarting next day, and so Silver Spoon packed her game away when the final bell rang, and everypony departed.

The next morning, Pinkie Pie awoke to Gummy spitting a note from Mrs Cake onto her face.

“Oh! I don’t have to foalsit the twins today,” she said. “I guess I’ve got a free day. What should I do? Should I try making Granny Pie’s 15 hour recipe again? Seventh time’s a charm. Or should I update the files in the Party Cave? I haven’t added folders for Nyx or Winter Squash yet. I know! I’ll go to the castle and see how Starlight’s cure for Amber’s disease is coming along!”

She saw that Gummy had a whisk in his mouth.

“Aw, sorry Gummy,” Pinkie patted her pet alligator on the head, “I know you love helping me bake, but I didn’t know I’d have the day off, so I haven’t got any of the ingredients ready. See you later.”

“Well, we’ve studied the Crystal Heart’s magic as much as we can,” Starlight told Pinkie when she barged into the lab Twilight had set up for her. “But we haven’t thought of a way to drive the Venomodo’s virus out of Amber.”

“Hey! Remember when the Tantabus was terrorizing everypony in town’s dreams, and we all used our mental powers to fight it off?!” exclaimed Pinkie. “Amber, you were in town that night after that temp job!”

Amber, Starlight, Twilight, and Spike gasped.

“Princess Luna’s dream magic didn’t harm Amber either!” cried Twilight.

“Great! I thought we hit a dead end! Thanks, Pinkie!” smiled Starlight.

“I’ll get a quill and paper,” Spike dashed from the lab.

Pinkie Pie looked around. She spotted Owlowiscious napping on a bottle rack.

“Where’s Nyx?” she asked.

“I’m not sure. Lazybug came by and they both ran off this morning,” said Twilight.

“Alrighty,” said Pinkie. “I’m gonna go buy some chocolate, gnash, buttercream, and stuff for the next time I have an impromptu day off.”

And Pinkie Pie bounced away.

During her time at the market, Pinkie Pie didn’t see any foals.

“That’ funny,” she said to herself. “It’s the first day of the Hearths Warming holidays. I thought I’d see foals all over town. It’s not that cold out. And the town’s not busy getting rid of that tree.”

Having bought everything she needed for her super-special, triple-chocolate, fifteen-layer marjolaine recipe, she returned to Sugarcube Corner to store it all away.

“Huh. No foals here getting milkshakes or anything,” she observed.

She spotted Derpy in line.

“Hey, Derpster!” she called, glomping the mailmare without notice. “How’s Dinky enjoying the holidays?”

“Uh, I’m not sure,” said Derpy after Pinkie had loosened her grip on her neck. “I haven’t seen her much today. We didn’t have breakfast together. Featherweight dropped by early this morning and they both went away somewhere.”

“Huh. Maybe all the foals are playing somewhere,” suggested Pinkie Pie.

“I wish I knew where,” said Derpy.

“Maybe I’ll ask around when I drop off all my stuff,” said Pinkie. “It sounds like all the foals are doing something fun.”

She was quite right. Cheerilee and her students had been playing Sovereignty since sunrise, and those expansion packs that Silver Spoon brought along were already providing a plethora of entertainment. But it seemed that none of the foals had told anyone what they were doing. Not thoroughly anyway. Pinkie Pie had gone to Carousel Boutique to ask Rarity where Sweetie Belle was, and she said her sister left early in the morning. That was all she knew. So Pinkie Pie went to Sweet Apple Acres to inquire about Apple Bloom. But Applejack, Big McIntosh, and Granny Smith all had no idea where Apple Bloom had gone to after breakfast.

“Well, this is a bit suspicious, but there’s no need to fret,” Pinkie said. “I’ll check the treehouse while I’m here.”

It was empty.

“Huh. OK. There are plenty of other parents and siblings of the school ponies to question,” she said calmly.

Quick chats with everyone from Thunderlane to Silver Tuna to Crosspatch were inconclusive.

“Well, there’s one family left to ask. And by process of elimination, they’re bound to have some useful information for me,” Pinkie reasoned.

The only foal who hadn’t gone to the schoolhouse first thing in the morning was Diamond Tiara. Her mother often gave her odd jobs to do whenever Randolph was having one of his lumbago episodes. Today, she had her mopping the front hall until all the melted snow that had been tracked in the previous day was gone. As soon as she was finished, she left the house. She hadn’t gotten too far away when she heard a knocking behind her. She looked back and saw Pinkie Pie hammering on the door. Filthy answered, as Randolph was not fit for butler duties either.

“Hey Filthy, I can’t find any foals anywhere around town,” said Pinkie. “Is Diamond Tiara home?”

“She was,” replied Filthy. “And please, call me Mr Rich.”

Diamond Tiara had an idea. She fled the scene so as not to be spotted by Pinkie Pie.

“Well then,” said Pinkie Pie, “Since no one knows where their foals are… TIME TO PANIC BEYOND REASON AND RATIONALITY!”

Author's Note:

Inspired by the Thomas & Friends episode "Disappearing Diesels"; although I am aware there are other TV show episodes with similar plots.

Comments

[Rhanoa]

Diamond Tiara, Button Mash, and Dinky found the game really confusing, so naturally, they quickly got into it.

I like when kids act like kids.

That’s because the pieces and board are magnetic,” said Gilt Eyes. “Silver Spoon said there’s a good reason for it, and I guess…”

Your face when this was a jumanji game all along.

Nerd Silver Spoon is best nerd.