Perfect Game

by Player 4

Chapter 10

Author's Note:

This chapter was edited after publishing due to my discovery that scores between 85 and 89 aren't possible under this scheme, and for inclusion of how many ringers vs. stake hits the players got, as I thought that because the players were coming so close to perfect, it was too important of a detail to be left out. Apologies for the mistakes!

Following Autumn's help event and the remaining hours of the day, which, due to the lack of a game, also featured a lot of practicing, another classic cycle of sunset-moonrise and vice versa ensued. Upon the dawn of the morning, the residents of Equestria turn their calendars to Friday.

It has now been five days since the beginning of this whole new-horseshoes-and-perfect game saga. Outside of Appleloosa, nothing has really changed, but inside the city, these have been a historical, unprecedented five days. A legendary game that had been active with the same rules since the dawn of the city's existence got a real, official revamp. As if that weren't enough, the revamp garnered so much enthuasiasm that the traditional Monday-Saturday work schedule, which had also been active in Appleloosa for an incredibly long time, had been temporarily abandoned. Horseshoe games were being held at times where work would typically happen.

In the midst of this party, it felt like Appleloosa was holding its own personal Equestria Games. Only one city and only one sport, but the magnitude of how much attention was being given to it, and the fact that the city's seemingly rock-hard schedule had been paused, it really did feel like the Equestria Games here in the countryside town.

To Appleloosa's residents, these last few days seemed like way more than a mere five days. Because of how eventful they were, time seemed to go by slower. When it gets hit with a barrage of new information, your brain takes more time to process it. Due to that, the Appleloosa folk felt like they had been here for a month.

But it really was only day six of this, and with yesterday's postponed game now about to take place, players and fans begin taking their trips over to the continuous destination: Shoe Stadium.

---

Even if this whole thing overall has been incredibly eventful, the last two days seem to have been more so, making their events quite a headache to remember, and making the three beginning days seem like a distant memory. Even some of the players were thinking "Wait, what happened last game?", as one of them did while on his way to the stadium.

What happened was that they started inching closer and closer to perfect, with scores in the 70s becoming common, and a few in the 80s occurring. But then seeing an abrupt slowdown that caused a good deal of confusion.

However, that seemed to pale in comparison to what happened next... what was it again? Oh yeah, right.

The sad situation that Autumn Apple was going through had been taking up most of the memory room for that day, leaving the game to fade away a little.

On top of that, yesterday completely lacked a game due to that help event for Autumn. A whole day without a single trace of the game to be looked at, plus the most recent game having been overshadowed. No wonder ponies were forgetting about it.

I mean, that is good thing; it shows they really care about others' feelings. Being willing to put a sporting event aside in favor of sending out help to a struggling citizen; that spoke for itself.

And it worked just as well as they had hoped. Autumn woke up this morning feeling super motivated. She now completely rejected the idea of leaving the competition. She was 100% in it. And even if she were to play poorly and get another "oooh" from the crowd, well, now she was feeling armored against that! "If that happens, I will silence that crowd by playing better!", she thought to herself.

Autumn was also trying something new this game. She didn't like being Contestant #1 because of too much pressure, and she also didn't like being #27 because it gave her more time to be anxious. While she doesn't think she'll be experiencing that level of anxiety today, she still decides to go in the middle. This game, she is Contestant #13.

---

Over at Shoe Stadium, the clock turns closer to game time. Autumn and the other 27 players head into the stadium's player tunnel for game number three. They can hear the excitement from out in the field, which rubs off on them.

"Alright, y'all! Let's do this!"

"Yeah!"

Right after that motivational, the opening horn sounds. "Here I go!", Contestant #1 says.

---

Although a flattening-out of their scores had indeed happened in the last two games, the players had decided not to set out in a search for something wrong with their playing like they did last time. They didn't think there really was anything wrong at all; they just figured that they had to practice more. They also thought that since last game had seen a comeback, things could easily go differently this time in regards to scores going up or down.

Contestant #1, agreeing with this, says to the crowd, "You're about to see the basics succeed here!"

The announcer begins speaking. "Hopefully he's right! Can these ponies defy their gaming demons and keep the scores going up here?"

"I sure hope so!", Shoeshine says, back in the co-announcer position.

With the competition now having progressed to the point where new players can no longer join, and Shoeshine realizing that she definitely did want to be the co-announcer again, not just a player, she dropped out of the playing field. It was difficult for her to do so, as she did love the game and wanted to win the title, but hey, she had invented the new rules in the first place, and plus, they were official now, for the whole thing. It's not like the end of this tournament was going to change the game back to the old scheme. At this point, that was good enough for her.

Shoeshine got to the other side of her struggles by following her own advice to Autumn: give it time.

---

The game commences. Contestant #1 heads on up to the stake, goes at it, and scores 72 points. Not a bad start.

Contestant #2 then scores 81. Alright! Looks like we're going up!

After that, a big one happens; Contestant #3 pulls off an amazing 84! Only one gold ringer was missed; #3 hit the stake once and had to go back down to silver as a result, but then threw a 6-point silver ringer, and then went all-gold from there on out!

Two five-point upgrades in a row, and a new high score that's also just one gold ringer removed from the big goal! The crowd goes loud!

And so does the announcer! "My goodness, everypony! We're only one more throw away from perfect!", he exclaims.

Shoeshine wants to be excited at this, but feels the predictable skepticism coming on. "Erm, yes, this is very exciting, but I wouldn't get optimistic just yet. Remember what has happened before.", she says.

"Yes, you're absolutely right. But it's hard not to be excited!", the announcer responds.

The crowd cheers in agreement with that, and both them and the announcers hope that Contestant #4 would outscore #3 and keep the rise going.

Ultimately, Contestant #4 ends up with 81 points, due to throwing two stake hits. That's a fallback, but it's still more than #1 and #2 scored.

"To be honest with y'all, I don't really see a problem if the score flattens out.", the announcer says. "That's sure better than going down, and the 'flattened' score averages have been consistently going up higher than they were in the preceding games."

"Hmm, now that I think of that, you might be right.", Shoeshine responds. "We all got frustrated at the scores going up and then failing to go more up, but even when that happened, the average score in every game was still higher than it was in the last game. Like, in the second game, a score of 65 was seen as bad, but remember, that same score was considered good in the first game. Progress was being made regardless."

Much of the crowd touches their hooves to their faces, seeming to think about this new opinion for a moment. But it might have to be saved for later, as Contestant #5 emerges.

He scores 79 points. Worse than the last few players, but like Shoeshine said, this is a higher average. Back in the first game, a score of 79 would have been seen as extraordinary. The players are moving upwards.

After #5 finishes, contestants #6, #7, and #8 score 81, 81, and 73 points respectively, giving credibility to what the announcers were saying. No fast upgrading of the numbers, but this many scores in the 80s was not something that had been seen before.

Contestants #9, #10, and #11 come along and do a bit better, scoring 81, 81, and 84 respectively.

Contestant #12 then scores 84 as well. He had the same result as #3: eight ringers and two stake hits.

Now it's time for Autumn. Having received the effective help from yesterday's meeting, she feels great. She is confident that even if she doesn't play well, it won't kill her mood.

Feeling this newfound confidence generated by what she had been through, Autumn eagerly runs up to the stake and starts going at it.

She proceeds to score 80 points. Okay, there we go! No fallback like last time! This is about where the score has been hovering for most of the game; the crowd cheers for her!

With this, Autumn can declare that her stress outbreak is over.

After a relieved Autumn returns to the players' tunnel, Contestant #14 follows. She scores 83 points. #15 and #16 score 81 and 82.

The next ten players, #17 through #26, all score between 80 and 85. The numbers in this game have remained very close to each other. Yes, it was still a much higher average, but both the fans and players were unsurprisingly hoping for more.

Now, only two players are left. Only two left to lift up the static scores and bring this saga ever closer to its completion.

Contestant #27 takes his turn and, wow, does just that! 84 points! Only one missed gold ringer!

"Amazing! That's two who got just one away! Now we need that last one!", the announcer exclaims.

"Yes! Let's go!", Shoeshine responds.

#28 does not get perfect, but still manages 84. That's three one-miss games; it's a bit disappointing that none of them could get perfect, but the fact that three came so close is a good sign.

With the strong ending, and the average scores being in the 80s, the crowd cheers for the overall good result. Even though the scores had remained flat for most of the game, they widely regard it as a success!

The announcer lets the skepticism go a bit. "I take it we might see perfect in the very next game!"

Shoeshine does the same, trying to let some confidence shine through. "You know what? I think so too! We just might!", she adds.

The closing horn sounds; it's the end of game number three.

---

The emotional environment from this game being much more positive than the last one, the players and fans make their way out of Shoe Stadium feeling great about today and their chances tomorrow.

"I don't think we need any more new techniques! Just keep doing what we've been doing and we're good!", one player says.

A fellow player high-hoofs him.

---

So, is he correct? Are the players good to go at that perfect with the style they've got? Is it now only a matter of time?

Comments

[Fluttershylover3]

One could actually get 87 (1-9 are gold ringers while the last is the stake)

[Player 4]

10763249
Oh yeah! You're totally right.

I'm not very good with math, so I was thinking there were mistakes in this story that I missed. Thanks for pointing this out!

[Fluttershylover3]

10763253
Your welcome and the story is decent though not sure how many read this