Perfect Game

by Player 4

Chapter 8

Author's Note:

Wow, another chapter where I got it all done in one night!

It's the next day, and close to time for the second game.

Some good updates have been made from yesterday. While Shoeshine was still undecided on where to completely go from here, and was still in doubt she ever would decide that, she did decide to be a player for today.

Well, provided the EHA allows it.

Hopefully they do. But either way, Shoeshine's choice came from the realization that making a decision wouldn't make sense if you haven't experienced all the options. She had to measure being a co-announcer up with being a player in order to figure out which path she wanted to take. And yesterday she was a co-announcer, so today, player it is.

And Autumn Apple, who was already a player, decided to push past her nerves and continue playing. She did indeed discover that bad feelings always wane over time, and you'll no longer agree with the things you said. Such is the case today. Autumn knew what she was getting into, but she definitely didn't want out of the competition anymore. So she holds her head high and does her practice, then heads out for the game.

---

Shoeshine's original plan for today was to head back to Appleloosa and go into the EHA's office building to ask if new players can join starting from this second game. But it seems she has been beaten to that.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash, who were very luckily able to get a day off work today, decided that they wanted to join in on the competition, and they were here at the EHA hub to ask if they could before Shoeshine even boarded the train coming from Ponyville.

AJ and Dash walk into the dark building. "Oh, hello there!", the front desk pony says. "You two are part of the inaugural group that brought this new horseshoes scheme to the forefront, aren't you?"

"That is correct", Applejack says. "And we're here to ask if new players can join this 'ere competition in spite of it havin' already started."

"Yes! We couldn't play the first game because we had to work.", Rainbow Dash adds.

"Well, you're in luck, because the question board workers are free right now. Head on over there."

"Thanks a lot!", Applejack says. "Have a swell day there!"

The front desk stallion smiles.

"Oh hello!", one of the ponies working at the question board says. "I know you two! You were part of the inaugural group."

Applejack and Rainbow Dash look at each other in slight surprise. They expected ponies referring to their group to fluctuate with their names, but they clearly aren't. "Inaugural group" has been firmly cemented.

But that doesn't really mean anything, and Applejack strikes up the intended conversation. "Howdy there!", she says to the EHA worker. "So, we are here to ask, can new players join this perfect game competition even though it's already in progress?"

"What she said. There are qualifying players, such as us two, who couldn't attend the first game because of work commitments."

"Thank you for the question. We here at the EHA have been expecting somepony to ask about this. So we worked a lot on it, and we decided that yes, as of now, because it is so early on, new players can join the competition as of this moment."

AJ and Dash give each other a high-hoof in happiness.

"The only catch is, notice my use of the phrase 'early on.' This competition will eventually get to a point where adding new players wouldn't make sense. Like, if the majority of ponies are scoring in the 70s and 80s, with great evidence that a perfect game is about to occur soon, then it will be closed off."

"But since the current highest score is 70, well away from the maximum, you two and others are welcome to join."

"Thanks so much! We were worried!"

"Anytime, my ponies. Just present me your qualifying documents, sign onto this paper, and you'll be good to go. And, on a last note, make sure to tell any other players who didn't make to the first game that they can do this. Because eventually, it will have to be closed off. They have limited time."

"Will do! Thank you so much!", Applejack says as she and Rainbow Dash show their qualifying papers and sign themselves on to the player list.

They then excitedly head out to the streets to practice for their first pro game. "Thanks again!", Applejack says.

The EHA stallion feels good. "I love seeing happy customers.", he says to himself.

---

As they are in game mode, the Ponyville Express arrives at a station that Applejack and Rainbow Dash are close to, with Shoeshine being one of the ponies that comes out.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash are excited at this, knowing they had the answer to the blue mare's burning question. Good thing she had arrived now and not earlier, because now, she doesn't need to go to the EHA to know if she can join or not!

Rainbow Dash flies up to her for the news. "Hey there, Shoeshine! Applejack and I have got great, great news!", she says with a smile.

After a brief buildup pause, Applejack finishes off the sentence. "You can join!"

At that moment, Shoeshine develops a facial expression that looks like a mix between happiness and surprise.

Well, maybe it was mostly surprise, as she needed further clarification.

"You said... I can join in?"

"Yep! The EHA said that since we're still early in the competition, it is still open to new players.", Rainbow Dash says.

At this moment, Shoeshine closes her eyes in a smile, feeling a great deal of relief. She feels like she had bunch of dirt inside her that got suddenly cleaned out in a second.

"Wow! Thank you so much for getting that info, AJ and Dash! I thought I was going to have to ask the EHA at their office, but you beat me to it!", Shoeshine says.

"You're welcome! Oh, and did I mention that AJ and I are playing in today's game?"

"You are? Great! And that leads to me to tell you... I'm playing too! I decided to give it a go at least once to see where I'll be going from here."

"Great choice! Can't know where ya wanna go next if ya haven't tried both options!", Applejack says.

"Indeed.", Shoeshine responds, hugging the two ponies.

"Now, let's practice! I see you two were already doing it, well, let's do it with three players now!"

"Alright! Game on!", Rainbow Dash says, high-hoofing Shoeshine.

---

Later in the day... it's game time! The stadium starts filling up, with ponies hoping to see some shining improvement from yesterday.

Over in the tunnel, the players, whose numbers had been extended to 28 due to Shoeshine, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and another new player joining, tried to jumpstart each other.

Shoeshine, who seems to have been dubbed the "locker room leader" due to her role in starting these new rules (even though this wasn't a locker room, ponies have no need for it in this game), puts her hoof on a bunch of other ponies' hooves that are hanging out close together, and gives out a short motivational speech.

"Alright, players! We're going to believe in ourselves and play our absolute best today, yeah?"

"Yeah!", the players shout in unison.

"Great! Awesome!", Shoeshine says. She then hears the stadium's signature horn. "It's time, so Contestant #1, go out there!"

Contestant #1 was no longer Autumn Apple, but one of the ponies in the group who had visited the analysis center. One of the youngest players here, the teenage colt ran out onto the field, excited to use the new techniques he had learned.

At the stake, the young player remembered to grip his teeth tighter on the horseshoe, and throw a bit later when his head was closer to straight at the stake, rather than releasing it at a curve.

Well, it seems to have worked! His first throw hits a gold ringer, good good. He throws his second shoe with the same style, and it lands another gold ringer. So does his third one! And his fourth one!

...But not the fifth one. That one hit the stake.

The pony was frustrated, but kept going by telling himself that it probably wasn't going to be perfect the first time. He keeps throwing. His silver-shoed fifth throw leads to a ringer, giving him gold back. Then that gold sixth throw lands a... ground hit?

Huh.

This was a rare sight in the professional sphere; a grand total of two ground hits were seen in the previous game.

The crowd gives Contestant #1 the crowd treatment, and he decides to respond. That was even rarer!

"Well, y'all, let me tell you that was an outlier!", he shouts into a microphone. Then he proceeds to throw the bronze horseshoe and gets a ringer with it, bumping him back up to gold.

The crowd realizes they have been defeated, and start cheering for #1 again.

In the end, he managed to accumulate a score of 72! The record had been broken right off the bat!

The crowd cheers, and the players start to feel that they have the proper momentum. Already a new record, and they had the techniques.

Some players were skeptical, given what happened last time. But they decide not to say anything, because they don't want to kill the excitement that's beaming inside the player tunnel and on the field.

"There we go!", #1 says excitedly. "The analyst was right! Go on, Contestant #2, we've got this!"

Contestant #2 was also a member of the analyst-visiting group, and a classmate of #1. Feeling the heat, she goes out.

#2 manages to get a score of, wow, 75! It looks like they do have the momentum!

"Well, we all know what happened last time, but that doesn't mean it will happen again! There's definitely a chance here, am I right?", the announcer says.

The crowd lets out a loud "Yeah!", signifying that they are feeling that a perfect game is incoming.

Now it's time for Contestant #3, who was none other than Shoeshine.

A player this time around, Shoeshine didn't expect to top the 75 score, as she hadn't played the last game, nor did she even know if she would actually be competing for the trophy, but she is ready.

The bronze-silver-gold scheme's inventor manages a 65 score. Not bad at all, at least as of right now, and given her situation. Under normal circumstances, a 10-point drop like that would send the crowd into a "boo", but they seem to understand why Shoeshine wasn't quite as advanced. Many of them even give a cheer.

Feeling happy, Shoeshine heads back in to make way for Contestant #4, who was Applejack. And then #5 was Rainbow Dash! Three members of the inaugural group consecutively, and it wasn't intentional! Totally a coincidence!

Applejack, a popular figure in Appleloosa despite not living there, feels the heat from the crowd and gives her first pro go at the game. Her score adds up to 68.

Coming up next, Rainbow Dash gets 71. None of the three inaugural group members who had gone as of yet were able to crack the highest score, but they still did marginally better than the average at the previous game.

Going from Contestants #6 to #13, the scores tend to hover in the mid-to-high 60s with a few 70s and one outlying 50. Not bad scores overall, especially not compared to game one, but kind of a disappointment because of the scores that had been happening earlier. Just like last game, it seems the early players were building up red-hot momentum, only for it to flatten out later.

"Does this happen because the two best players tend to go first?", the announcer says over his microphone.

Mmm, it's possible. But the momentum could go back up, as there's still lots of players to go. Contestant #14 gets 73 points; okay, that's an improvement.

#15, #16, and #17 all get their scores in the 70s, with one 74, but no 75 and up. Better...

#18, #19, and #20 get 68, 69, and 70 respectively. Interesting how they went in order...

Then, Contestant #21 is about to be a game-changer. The yellow-coated mare, with the beautiful look of gold on yellow as she throws, accumulates a score of 80.

The crowd goes loud. Finally, they were starting to see a comeback, and they were a mere 10 points away from perfect!

Contestant #21, with a great treatment from the crowd, encourages her successors in the tunnel to go for that perfect!, in which they say "Yeah!", to her in response.

Contestant #22 got 79 points, only one behind #21. Great; the progress is still showing!

#23 and #24 slip down to the mid-70s. Okay, it's a small decline, but it doesn't mean a downward trend, right?

...Or maybe it does. Contestant #25 manages only 68 points, in which case, the word "only" wouldn't have been used there had he been an earlier player. Back then, 68 was average. You can see how quickly the bar for a "good" score has been raised.

Contestant #26 shoots up to 74 points, maybe that's a sign of further change!

Now, with only two players left, here comes Contestant #27, who was Autumn Apple. Yes, she really was all the way down here at #27 after being #1 in the last game. She did that on purpose, thinking that being number 1 contributed to her ill feelings the past day.

But on the bad side, it had given her more time to anticipate what she would be feeling during play. She starts to wonder which is worse: getting it over with quickly and feeling the potential bad feelings afterward, or delaying them and letting them run through your mind for a while, regardless if they were going to come true or not?

In either case, though, Autumn couldn't dwell on that right now. She had gone this far; there was no turning back now. She had to give it her all.

Autumn muscles herself out there with all the emotional strength she can muster. Trying to feel good about herself and feel the crowd's cheers, makes the throws, and scores...

61?

You could say "well, at least it's higher than the 50s", but, remember that there were 80s being scored in this game. The bar had been raised high.

From the disappointing score, Autumn receives a loud "Ooo...", from the crowd... and it's too much. She can't hold it in, and runs off to the tunnel. It's unclear if she was crying or not, given the noise, but either way, she was not good.

The crowd notices this and they start to feel bad for her, with more sad faces coming in.

It affects the announcer too, who says, "Yikes. I do not like the look of this, folks. It is clear that we have upset somepony, and with that, I'm not sure if it's appropriate to continue the game."

It surely wouldn't feel good or organized, with only one contestant being left, but the crowd seems to agree with the announcer, as a bunch of nodding is present. However, not wanting to make a decision just yet, the announcer goes with "this game has been paused until further notice." The crowd nods in support of this.

---

Over in the tunnel, the players, all of whom were still there, felt the need to go up, but realizing that swarming would make the situation worse, let only the closest friends to go up to try and comfort the sad Autumn, at least for now.

She wasn't crying hard, but it was clear the crowd response to her score got to her.

Feeling a bit scared about proceeding, but knowing it needed to be done, Shoeshine walks up to Autumn and starts with a good starter for comforting somepony.

"Just let it all out. Say what you need to say. We'll listen." Shoeshine had correctly guessed that Autumn was trying to bottle up something.

The sad mare starts speaking. "Oh my ponies, I don't think I can play this anymore. I'm too emotionally fragile to handle the inevitable that comes with being an athlete. You don't play well, the fans let you know. Only ponies with thick skin can handle that."

Shoeshine, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash are unable to respond to this, so they give a go-ahead to Contestant #28, who walks up and starts patting Autumn on the back.

"First of all, Autumn, there is nothing wrong with being more sensitive to criticism and reactions. Different ponies handle it differently. And even if you are 'emotionally fragile', that doesn't mean you can't be a great athlete. I have seen plenty of athletes overcome big adversaries to become greats, sometimes one of the greatest."

Autumn takes this in. "Okay, I guess that's true, but I don't think I can apply that to myself. I just don't feel up to being in this competition anymore."

Shoeshine, remembering her decision-making situation that's still ongoing, responds to this.

"Let me tell you, Autumn, from something I'm going through right now, you must give it time before you make a decision. You never know how you'll feel in one day, two days, or a week's time. It especially wouldn't be good to decide to leave right now, because your emotions are fresh. Whenever something like this happens, after it wanes off, you don't still want to do the things you said you would do when you were upset, right?"

"Yeah, that is right", Autumn says, seemingly doing better now. "I should give it time, and, thank all of you for being so kind. I could see the rest of you in the back there feeling for me and wanting to go up, but realizing that making a frenzy would make me worse. Y'all did so well."

"And those of you who talked, thank you for your words. I needed them."

Wow, that was successful! Fast!

The ponies give happy faces, some of them holding their hooves over their hearts. A friendship symbol.

Autumn then bravely goes out onto the field and has a microphone put up to her. She then says something big.

"Now, about y'all out here, as the pony who got upset, I request that the game be finished. Seeing a great game finished, especially when we have just one more player, makes me feel good. So please do it."

The crowd cheers, and the announcer perks up. "Okay, so there we have it! She said it! Alright then, Contestant #28, come on out whenever you're ready!"

Contestant #28 being the only one not in the inaugural group who talked to Autumn, gets a short hug from the comforted brown-coated mare as she heads out onto the field for the last round. She scores 68, but doesn't really feel anything; all she can feel right now is that she successfully helped a sad pony.

The feeling of that great and altruistic accomplishment combined with a completed game flourishing across Shoe Stadium, the ponies at the place cheer as the closing horn is sounded.

And that's it for game two.

---

After the game, Autumn, walking out of the stadium with quite a lot of ponies, including her friends (and cousin, Applejack) from the inaugural group, thanks everypony for today, as she obviously would do, but also asks for more, because she needs more.

"Again, I can't stress this enough, y'all did so well at making me feel better. But unfortunately, that's only temporary. I know almost for sure that the bad feelings are going to creep back up on me again, probably at night when I'm alone, so I need more help. I'd like y'all to schedule a meeting where I head to a place to sit down, and those of who are available to and want to come can head over and talk to me. That would mean a lot."

A bunch of ponies nod, fueling Autumn's confidence that she would receive an invitation soon enough.

---

So, this was pretty interesting! A semi-repeat of the first game that featured momentum seemingly signifying a road to perfect that later falls down, only to have it come back later, which was different from the first game. And then for even more, game two's momentum fell back down later, and then... yeah, that. Sad, yes. But it got solved, or at least it had been solved enough for the time being. And this experience will definitely make Autumn stronger.

"Hard times lead to good times.", a pony says.