Perfect Game

by Player 4

Chapter 4

The EHA staff arrive onto the scene.

"We have been informed that a lovely and creative pony from Ponyville has invented a change to our iconic game of horseshoes, and that the change has garnered very high ratings. We would like to see it for ourselves, so we can decide if we want to take into consideration making the change official.", one stallion said.

Shoeshine heard this and burst right out of her chair and in front of them. She was tired, but had to be right there. Her invention was being taken into consideration by the actual EHA; she couldn't rest on this.

"Of course!", the blue mare quickly says. "Head on over here."

The ponies walk over to a stake, where the EHA staff take on throwing the bronze, silver, and gold. Despite the extremely positive reactions Shoeshine has garnered from the Appleloosa folk, she was nervous here. After all, these were ponies from the EHA. The official governing body of the game. If they didn't like it, it wouldn't go into effect.

But those worries were melted away when Shoeshine heard one of the stallions say "Oh wow! I've never felt like this when playing horseshoes before!"

"Neither have I!", another stallion said.

Shoeshine begins to realize that her home-made, one-pony, random creation was really going this far. It was her goal to make it this far, but she kept holding onto that thing called "realism", where she acknowledged that it was likely a pretty low chance the EHA would actually adopt it.

But it seems like they will, as the stallions continue having fun, competitively telling each other "I've got gold!", "I'm going to get this!", among other things. When one of the players got a gold ringer, there was some big celebration!

Most of the appeal of Shoeshine's invention seems to have come from the fact that there is a hierarchy of horseshoes that determines how many points you can get, and your next color is decided by what you just threw. More points, more risk, more suspense, more fun.

After the game, the EHA staff members walk up to the inventor with smiles; a sign that they have made the decision she was looking for.

"You are the designer of this new game mode, correct?"

"Correct."

"And your name is...?"

"Shoeshine, your honor."

"Miss Shoeshine, we have experienced many amazing horseshoe games in our careers of governing the rules."

"But never have we experienced a game like that."

"We would like to give you a big thanks for inventing that game mode, and we are going to put it to a city vote on whether to adopt it. The vote will be done today; polls will open in just a few hours.

This was something that had never been seen before. Prior to this, any changes related to the game were voted on only by EHA staff. The league has always had the protocol that a major change would be put to a vote by the Appleloosa residents, as it's mostly their game, but since this was the first major change that been put on the game, this was the first time that protocol has ever been used.

Shoeshine is stunned, realizing the longshot accomplishment that she had achieved. "Thank you!", she says.

Despite being one of the wealthiest ponies in Ponyville, due to her work with valuable materials like gold and silver, this is the biggest success that Shoeshine feels she has ever experienced. While the vote still had yet to be held, it was practically guaranteed the change would win by a landslide. The crowd in this street was over 70% of Appleloosa's population, and they had yet to find a single negative review.

To think that something she just came up with on the spot while sitting at home made it this far; not to mention that it did so this quick! It immediately garnered high praise and pounded right through each step to official EHA adoption that would normally take a while.

Shoeshine has no words. Needing time to process this, she heads back to her lawn chair, hoping to get a good chunk of rest in before votes start being cast.

---

It's time. Ponies begin heading to polling stations to check boxes and drop them in a box.

As expected, the implementation of Shoeshine's invention won by a landslide. Or rather, a mountainslide. 94% yes to 6% no. How crazy is that?

So there it was. Bronze, silver, and gold was now the official, standard way of playing horseshoes.

Ponies are back at the streets playing more of the game, but they soon realize the sun is setting. And tomorrow is Monday, so they'll have to go back to work tomorrow.

Or will they?

Author's Note:

I know this story doesn't seem very dramatic yet, the tag might look confusing with these four chapters, but the drama is coming. This is still the beginning of the story; there are a lot more chapters to come.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

I'm a little surprised there isn't a slice of life tag. Why isn't there one?

[Player 4]

10321685
Now that you've said that, I do think there should be one. Thanks for the feedback.

I guess that when I think "Slice of Life", I tend to think of things outside of work. And since sports are often a thing that is done as a profession, and because this story is about sports, I saw it as not Slice of Life. But I think I will add it now.

[Player 4]

I think it's also because I find Slice of Life to be an extremely broad tag that has a hard time really giving a hint of what the story is like, due to its high use. Like, if almost every story has the tag, then what's the point? What does it mean?