Par for the Horse

by GreenZelta

Rating: everyone
Tags: Random, Slice of Life, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Spike
Length: 5440

Spike takes Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkiepie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash to play golf, a game played primarily by Canterlot nobles. Their different styles of playing the rather simple game quickly causes a friendly competition to arise to see whose style is best.

Published 2011-07-19 21:43:09 UTC
Last updated 2011-07-19 05:19:10 UTC

Par for the Horse

"I'm telling you guys, this'll be fun. All the ponies I know from Canterlot play this game." Spike explained from atop Twilight Sparkle.

"Ah don't know Spike, those ponies have a pretty strange definition of 'fun'." Applejack replied, looking around at the green fields as the seven of them walked. Applejack had never played nor heard of this game before, having never been in Canterlot for anything more than business.

Rarity quickly defended the game against Applejack's words. "Just because you don't like it Applejack doesn't mean it isn't fun. If it's played in Canterlot it must be a game fit for royalty." She couldn't imagine what such as game exactly was but knew it must be good.

Twilight Sparkle looked around, noting the fairly clear landscape with several numbered flags on the horizon. "Is this... golf?" She asked inquisitively, receiving a nod and a small "That's it!" from Spike. "I've read about this before," Twilight continued, adjusting the bags she was carrying slightly as she did. "I never had a chance to play but it's a pretty big deal in Canterlot." Her previously reclusive attitude had prevented her from ever even seeing a game of golf in person, but that never stopped her from reading about it.

"This game seems soooooo boring." Rainbow Dash fluttered upside down besides the calmly strolling ponies. "There isn't any action or danger or anything even remotely awesome."

"Come on girls!" Pinkiepie bounced ahead of the group cheerfully. "This is a game! Of course it's going to be fun!"

"Yeah!" Spike joined in as Rainbow Dash groaned slightly.

"Oh, this is it!" Spike called out. The group stopped as the dragon hopped onto the ground, snatching a fairly large ball about the size of his own head from out of the bag Twilight was wearing.

"Isn't the ball supposed to be just a little bit smaller?" Twilight questioned, using her hooves to display the approximate size of a real golf ball.

"That's only for unicorns that can use magic to hold the clubs correctly," Spike answered as he set the ball on a marked location. "Not everypony can do that, so most use these instead."

Spike got ready to display the game, taking a slight run at the ball before kicking it a short distance. "And that's how it's done!" Spike exclaimed, also pointing to a distant flag marked with a one. "You just kick this ball into the hole marked by the flag over there. The fewer shots you make the fewer points you get, the pony with the lowest number of points at the end wins."

Rainbow Dash chuckled slightly. "Let me get this straight, we don't want points?" She felt it was an amusing point as most games required you to gather points to win rather than avoiding them.

"Um... how do we know how many points we get?" Fluttershy asked quietly, to which each pony donned an expression as if stumped by the exact same question.

"Just leave the points to me," Spike quelled the questions, taking out a clipboard and pencil to keep track of the score. "all you guys need to do is get this ball in that hole in the fewest shots."

"This should be easy, just line up the trajectory of the projectile with the hole factoring in the wind speed and you'll have the most efficient s-..." Twilight began formulating a plan before Rainbow Dash quickly cut her off.

"Twilight, you are such an egghead. You just need to get the ball in the hole as fast as possible, simple as that." Applejack took opposition to Dash's statement, also being very competitive so long as Rainbow Dash was around.

"Ya'll can't just go around hittin' things without knowin' what yer doing. You've got to hit the ball into the hole with the least number of hits Dash." Applejack scoffed as she moved in face to face with Rainbow Dash, only to be given a weak retort by the Pegesi. "I knew that! I ju-"

Rarity cut in shortly, walking between the two with a slight 'a-hem'. "Golf is a graceful game, not just any ruffian can play." Rarity tilted her head slightly while glaring at the two competing ponies as the sun struck her purple mane. "Clearly a certain... elegance is needed."

Applejack didn't like Rarity's 'uppity' attitude, ready to give her a peace of her mind before Fluttershy quietly attempted to speak. "Um... excuse me..." Rainbow Dash zipped swiftly over to the quiet pony, smirking with a comical look. "What? Are you going to say that you know how to do this better than we do?"

"N-no..." Fluttershy stalled for a moment, backing away a slight amount from the encroaching blue pony. A slight silence lingered momentarily before Fluttershy spoke again. "Well, maybe..."

Pinkiepie bounced across the group, never really being too invested in proving herself to anypony. "You silly ponies, this is a game. Duh. You're supposed to have fun at a game, I am clearly the best at doing that!" With an inverted smile at the competitive Rainbow Dash, Pinkiepie bounced away.

Rainbow Dash stepped forward, taking charge of setting up a way to settle this once and for all. "How about we make this a competition then and simply prove that I'm the best?" She placed her hoof forward, soon met be Applejack's own hoof. "You're on, Ah'll just have to knock that hot air right out of yer head."

Twilight contemplated for a moment before joining in, placing her hoof with the others. "This seems interesting, plus I'm sure it'll make for a neat story for Celestia." Pinkiepie eagerly joined in, simply wanting to get to the playing part, stating "Okie dokie" as she joined in. Even Fluttershy slowly placed her hoof in the group without saying a word.

"Looks like I will have to keep you ponies from ruining this perfectly good game." Rarity stalled for a moment as she looked at the somewhat filthy pile of hands before carefully placing her own on top.

Rainbow Dash chose to play first, already bored from waiting and also pumped up to show her skills in action. "I'll get this done in ten seconds flat!" Already in the air, Rainbow Dash gained height as the other ponies looked on. Once at a fairly steep height the pegesi closed her wings and begin to drop like a bullet, gathering speed quickly as the air audibly rushed past her. *Fwoosh!* both Rainbow Dash and the ball vanished, knocked into the air as the pegesi opened her wings and spun into a quick turn.

The rest of the group cheered as the ball flew far, very far. Rainbow Dash let out a quick "Yes!" before noticing were the ball was headed. The waters placed below the ball's trajectory waited eagerly, Rainbow Dash couldn't save the ball in mid flight as per the rules and could only yell out as it fell. "Nononononononononono!"

*Splunk* The water sounded as Rainbow Dash ducked her head, completely crestfallen by the quick failure. The group fell silent as Rainbow Dash trotted back to the start. Spike jotted down the event on the scoreboard, readying to speak to Rainbow Dash before she cut in. "Yeah, yeah. Just get me another ball."

After a short moment the next ball was placed and Rainbow Dash began to build speed once more. With another quick maneuver she snatched the ball from the ground and launched it into the air, whizzing forward as the white bullet shot into the distance. It was still a very uncontrolled shot compared to most, yet it managed to avoid the water and also managed to travel more than half the length of the course in a single shot. "Ha! I knew it'd work once I got it down correctly."

"Ya, enjoy yer lucky shot Dash." Applejack retorted with a quick competition driven sentence. The group quickly made their way over to the shot, Rainbow Dash already getting ready to strike it again by the time they managed to travel the distance. "Just watch! I'll get it in the hole with this shot!" Rainbow Dash proudly exclaimed as she again dove down and struck the ball, launching it over a small hill and towards the green.

The ponies gasped as the ball neared the hole, cheering as the ball seemed like it was going to make it. But this changed quickly as the ball simply continued to fly, the group and Dash herself held their breath until the projectile made it's way a good distance over the green and into some distant trees. "Uh." Rainbow Dash felt some nerves set upon her from the misjudged shot. "No problem, at least it's over there now. I don't think any of you can do that in even three shots!"

The boasting soon stopped as her shots continued to overshoot their target a few more times even as she got very close to the hole. "Come on! Stop bouncing out of the hole!" She shouted at the ball as it stood less than an inch from the hole. The mere push from Rainbow Dash's voice causing the white sphere to topple backwards into the hole.

"Ha, I didn't even hit it that time. No more points!" She grinned, only to watch as the rest of the ponies glared at her with disapproval. "Err... fine... give me the point..." Dash sighed as Spike wrote down her score so far.

"My~y~y~y~y turn!" Pinkiepie gleefully bounded towards the ball as Spike placed it on the grass. Placing herself around the ball looking at it carefully, she eyeballed the golf ball closely as if inspecting it.

"Pinkiepie, what are you doing?" Twilight asked.

Pinkiepie picked up the ball and bit it slightly before setting it back down and responding. "Making sure it's real, duuuuuh."

Pinkiepie reared back and struck the ball quickly. With a slight kick the ball spun forward and around on the ground, never leaving the ground once before managing to stop back at the point that it had started from. "Oooooh." Pinkie cried after the ball completely stopped spinning.

"You need to hit the ball forward dear..." Rarity offered some stray advice to the attention lacking pink pony.

"Oh, okay!" Pinkiepie hopped up and moved around the ball. Dash facehoofed at the sight as Pinkie set herself on the opposite end of the ball, readying herself to kick it away from the hole.

"Pinkiepie..." Applejack attempted to help before Pinkiepie herself demanded silence.

"Shhhhhhh!"

With a short windup and a bit of rearing Pinkie kicked the ball awkwardly from the side away from the hole.

"Hahahaha! That shot was terrible!" Dash shouted out from the air as every other pony paid attention to the shot itself. The shot pouncing off of a nearby tree and spring-boarding off a branch before zipping right over Rainbow Dash's surprised face. It wouldn't travel far but would just barely roll to the top of a hill, gently rolling forward toward the distant hole before stopping at nearly the half way point.

All of the ponies remained silent, dumbstruck by the success of the strange shot, except for Pinkie who trotted off toward the ball. She sang a rather calm, slow, and melodious tune as the group made it's way to where her shot placed itself.

"I'm just walking about, no worry, no doubt;
this game is so fun.
It's just like a walk, just hit stuff and talk;
you don't have to run.

No matter what you do, the fun will come through;
it's not about winning but playing.
Just talk with your friend, no points 'till the end;
make sure your shots aren't straying.

Check the surrounding, make your shots outstanding;
And take care of the water, it's a bit of a bother.
If you eat these thick greens you may ralf,
surely this is how you play goooooooolf."

Pinkiepie's tune finished with her now third shot taking place, the ball bouncing off of a nearby hill and shot to the far right, missing anything similar to the right direction before rolling in the opposite way due to the spinning placed by the misaligned kick. With a handful of further kicks, each either being great or terrible in some random manner, the ball eventually reached the hole with a long, winding roll across the green.

"What took you so long?" Twilight asked Pinkie as she finally made her way back to the rest of the group at the start of the hole. Rarity prepared to take her shot, opting to use the smaller ball and club as the Canterlot folk do.

"I fell into the hole and you won't believe what I found!" Pinkie replied to Twilight as she bounced excitedly up and down.

On one hoof Twilight didn't want to know, yet on the other hoof she was curious; Pinkie sometimes tripped over some very neat things like this. "So what did you find?"

Pinkiepie moved in closer to Twilight, as if it was some kind of secret. "I found..." She paused for a moment, looking around as if someone might be listening in. "a..." Dramatic pause placed here by Pinkiepie. "ball!" Twilight groaned loudly as Pinkiepie revealed the large, white golf ball.

"Silence!" Rarity cried out at the group of talking friends. "True golf shots are played in complete silence, elegantly handled by a skillful hoof and this tool." The group silenced themselves as she prepared to make the shot. Rarity psyched herself mentally, she could become a great golfer among the Canterlot royalty; the future Pony Woods. All it took is a bit of practice and her natural talent for everything elegant.

*clank!* The metal club levitated quickly forward and knocked the small white ball into the distance. The smaller balls were of similar density-to-size ratio as the large balls to prevent either type from having an advantage, this fact showed clearly as Rarity's skillfully placed shot made not quite half way across the distance to the hole.

"Whoo! Way to go!" Futtershy cheer sounded out somewhat enthusiastically. Clapping ensued from some of the other ponies; Applejack, Fluttershy, and Twilight all respected the game's traditions while Pinkiepie simply enjoyed clapping as she overtook the otherwise calm noise with cheering.

Rainbow Dash was not impressed, she yawned as the group made it's way to the ball. "Yeah, that was alright Rarity."

Rarity snorted a small amount and turned her head as she continued onward. "That's fine. I wouldn't expect you to understand this game anyway." To which Rainbow Dash huffed, grumbling to herself about Rarity's attitude as she flew forward.

The graceful Rarity prepared to make her second shot, taking a moment to silence the other ponies again and line up the club with the rather small ball. Within several moment though the club was brought back, Rarity focused hard on hitting the ball correctly while Rainbow Dash let out a loud. "Booooriiiiiiiing!"

*Twitch* the ball sliced terribly and veered off into the distance awkwardly. Rarity's focus was ruined and her face became skewed shortly before she turned to accuse Dash. "You did that on purpose!"

"Yeah, I did. Your shots are sooooo boring to watch."

"It's not about being exciting, golf is about precision and grace. If you don't like it go play another game."

"Pfffffft. My shots were nothing but 120% pure awesome, your shots are just incredibly lame."

"Oh, IT. IS. ON!" Rarity moved toward Rainbow Dash but was stopped just short by Twilight stepping in between the two.

"Stop! Both of you!" She waited a moment to try and settle down Rarity who cried foul.

"I should get to try again, after that rude interruption."

Twilight shook her head as she responded. "We can't do that, I don't even know where the ball was placed previously..." She then turned to Dash. "But you can't do that again, next time you'll get an extra point."

With a duo of huffs both Dash and Rarity sighed and replied: "Fine..."

Rarity continued to quietly and calmly return her ball to the green and sink it. The group waiting patiently to talk until between her carefully placed shots. The ball eventually managed to make it's way onto the green and into the hole.

"Now let me show ya'll how it's really done." Applejack walked up to the larger ball placed on the ground and prepared herself quickly. With a quick snap her legs pummeled the ball and sent it flying straight down the flat. The ball was also shot far away from the water and other hazards, landing in a perfectly clear area. The path wasn't the most direct but it was also the clear safest, there was no possible way that the ball could have land within the hazards.

"Oh good heavens Applejack, you are supposed to be aiming toward that hole." Rarity pointed out much to Applejack's dismay.

"That was just what ah was doin'! Ah just went around all those pesky traps so it didn't end up in the water like Dash."

Rainbow Dash did not enjoy this comment, speaking up against the clear slander. "Hey! At least I made it more than only a third of the way across on my first shot!"

Applejack retorted smartly with a smirk. "You mean before or after it ended up in the water?"

"Enough! Again!" Twilight yelled out once more. "Can we get through one person's turn without arguing with one another?" The three each sheepishly stepped down from their previous argument. "Good, now let's go find that shot."

The group easily made their way to the clear opening were the shot had landed and Applejack took place to kick once again. The distance from the ball to the hole was mostly clear, and a good distance down was a clear opening. With a powerful kick and a small grunt the ball launched forwards and upward at very high speeds, nearly making up the distance lost by the first shot.

"Wow AJ! You're strong, that ball was like 'Zhoooooooommm!' and 'wham!', right into the open area right over there next to the green!" Pinkiepie motioned as if she herself has been the ball, jumping forward and pretending to buck as if kicked by Applejack.

"Thank ya kindly." Applejack replied modestly. "Ah guess all that apple bucking leaves me with a pretty good kick."

Continuing the course Applejack cautiously played to the green, the ball rolling onto the green several hooves away from the hole.

"Come on Applejack! Just one good shot and you have it!" Twilight cheered from the side as the orange pony took careful aim, rearing back as the group cheered louder.

"Alright! This looks like it's it!" Spike announced as Applejack began to kick, slowing down just before hitting the ball. The ball slowly rolled forward to just over three fourths of the distance, not being close to the hole but making the following shot trivial. "Or not..." Spike continued, sounding nearly defeated. "At least her next shot will make it for sure."

Just as predicted Applejack lightly tapped the ball to roll it into the hole, an easy shot from the short distance.

"Go ahead Fluttershy, I want to watch a bit more before I take my turn." Twilight stated to the quiet pegesi.

"Oh, ok..." Fluttershy slowly made her way to the ball, rounding it before taking her place and readying herself nervously.

"Don't worry sugarcube, you can do this." Applejack provided some moral support as most of the rest joined in. The tension built as Fluttershy prepared to kick, rearing back slowly as the others all cheered she on. She would close her eyes, not wanting to watch what happened

"Here goes..." *Thunk* A brief pause took place before Rainbow Dash burst out in laughter.

"Ahahahahaha! That was the most pathetic shot ever!"

Fluttershy sheepishly opened her eyes again and lowered her head, disheartened. Looking back, Fluttershy could see the ball not even one fourth of the distance to the hole; it was a terribly weak kick. Rainbow Dash continued to roar with laughter along with Spike who now joined in as the others attempted to support the meek pegesi.

"Don't worry about those two dear, your shot was perfectly fine." Rarity minimized the two laughing in the short distance.

"Yep, you nearly made it as far as ah did on the first shot." Applejack reminded Fluttershy.

"I'm sure you'll get better as we play some more, just keep trying." Twilight encouraged Fluttershy with a soft touch.

"Yeah! You didn't even get it into the water or anything either!" Pinkiepie cheekily yelled out from above Fluttershy, to which Rainbow fell silent.

"Alright, I'll do it." Fluttershy picked herself back up, flying toward the ball with some amount of enthusiasm. The others followed her as she slowly made the following shots. The next several were similar to the first, for which Rainbow Dash attempted strongly to stifle her laughter after a strong warning from the others. It was not until the final shot less than a fourth of the distance away when Fluttershy's soft approach would come into play.

With encouragement from the others Fluttershy would prepare for a fourth time to kick the ball. She placed herself carefully behind the golf ball and reared back, ready to buck with all her might.

"You can do it Fluttershy!" Spike called out, trying to counteract his hurtful laughing from a few moments ago.

*Thwack!* The ball was sent sprawling, flying through the air right to the green only a very short distance from the hole. With a soft *Thud* the ball hit the distant land and slowly began to roll, the distance making it difficult to see the ball as everypony cheered for the nice shot. They all began to make their way toward the green, ready for Fluttershy to make the next shot easily.

Then suddenly, the ball vanished from sight as the group made it's way closer. "Hey!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, breaking the previous conversation. "Where did the ball go?!" The others all stirred, looking in the distance for the ball or some trace of were it went. "I know!" Pinkiepie predictably cried out. "A giant bird swooped down while we weren't looking and snatched the ball off the ground!" The others rolled their eyes as they searched and walked forward.

"-so the ball was placed in the museum," Pinkiepie finished her story of where the ball had traveled to as the group made it to the green. "and Equestria was saved thanks to Superpony!" She grinned happily as Applejack shook her head.

"Somethin' tells me the ball ain't at no museum." Applejack looked around the green at the nearby area for the ball in question.

"What ball?" Pinkie asked innocently as she bounced back out of the way.

"I found it!" Twilight called out from next to the flag and hole. "It's in the hole!"

The other ponies gasped slightly, the fact that Fluttershy had managed to avoid dealing with the green altogether was a feat. "Wow Fluttershy, that was an amazing shot." Rarity praised awestruck.

Blushing heavily, Fluttershy dug at the ground slightly. "Thanks..."

"You're the last one up Twilight!" Spike called out, to which the purple unicorn took her place.

Spike had a club and small ball ready for the unicorn to use, but Twilight opted to use the larger one. "I'll use this ball instead, I have an idea I want to try out." The others all quizzically waited for what the idea might be. Using magic directly on the ball itself was prohibited, but most other uses for magic were allowed.

Taking out a map of the area from her bag Twilight looked at the layout of the grounds heavily, taking careful note of the clear areas by marking them down. "All ready, let's see if this works." Twilight walked up to the ball and focus, her horn glowing with magic as the area in front of the ball would glow, a long and transparent string shot forward like a trajectory marker; marking the path that Twilight planned for the shot.

The landing area was surrounded by several hazards, placed perfectly between them, several of the other ponies disbelieved that such a precise shot was possible no matter how direct the shot was.

"Ah don't think you should do that Twi, you'll end up in the water or in the sand or somethin'." Applejack voiced her concerns, to which Twilight would reply with confidence.

"Don't worry Applejack, I know what I'm doing." Focusing yet again Twilight surrounded herself in magic, the spell causing her to move around the ball quickly and rear back a set distance.

Tightening the focus on both spells, Twilight unleashed her kick. The ball flew almost exactly as the trail detailed, deviating only minutely due to shifting wind and given error.

"It worked! I knew I could do it!" Twilight cried with success as the ball landed carefully among the hazards.

The ponies congratulated and talk about the two spells used by Twilight as they walked to the ball, not even Rarity could say anything negative about the skillful application of magic. "I'm telling you Applejack, it's all in the precision and grace that her spell copies." Rarity called out against the other ponies' words.

"No no, she shot right into the traps while completely avoiding them; no need for caution at'all." Applejack reinstated her point.

"That was cool! All those threads and the magic and the ball was like 'woosh!' right through the hazards!" Pinkiepie ran around emulating the ball with a path along the ground, nearly running into Rainbow Dash.

"It still wasn't fast enough, she won't even make it to the hole on her second shot!" The rainbow manned pegesi cried out.

"Um..." Fluttershy interjected. "I don't think that's the point Rainbow Dash..."

Twilight ignored most of the chatter, choosing to instead focus on finding the next location for her spell to aim the ball at.

A fairly close open area sat near the green on this side of a hazard... or she could just shoot for the green and make it over the hazard! There was no reason to expect the spell would not work since it managed to work once, she reasoned, so it should be easily capable of handling this.

Forming the same set of spells again, the group watched anxiously for another result like previous. Some had even set aside their thoughts to think that Twilight's magic might be the best way to play golf. With another stretch of magic crossing further than previous, all the way to the green, Twilight was bound by her own magic once more.

Having to adjust Twilight's body to make the shot, the unicorn spun around the ball for the right angle and then began rearing back. Requiring more distance than previously, Twilight was reared back further than before, and further, and even further...

"Owowowowow!" Her hind hooves dug into her flank as the magic forced them back, she released both spells to a result of dismay. The ball launched itself right into the bunker hazard, landing with a loud thud and sinking deep into the pit. Twilight herself fell flat against the ground, her back legs becoming limp with pain.

"Are you alright Twilight?" Fluttershy rushed forward, making sure the hoofmarks on her flank weren't going to be permanent. The others all rushed forward too, making sure that the injured unicorn wasn't seriously harmed.

"Yeah, ow." Twilight grasped Applejack's hooves as she steadied herself. "It looks like the spell took it too far, I don't think I can physically kick nearly as far is it wanted me to."

Continuing with only a minimal amount of pain, Twilight finished up the hole. It took several good kicks to dislodge the stuck ball, but after this Twilight was able to use her magic once against with more caution in order to sink the ball into the hole fairly easily.

"So what's the score? What's the score!?!" Rainbow dash impatiently pestered Spike as he tallied the scores.

"I'm working as fast as I can, geeze." Spike replied with some annoyance.

"Keep yer saddle on Dash, Spike'll give us the scores once he's done." Applejack said in attempt to keep the impatience down to a more reasonable level.

"But who won?!? Whose style is the best? I want to know!" Dash did not give up so easily, having to be forced back away from Spike by Applejack.

"I must say Twilight," Rarity spoke directly to Twilight. "I never thought magic could do that."

Twilight smiled shortly before rubbing her flank in pain. "Yeah, too bad it ended up biting me in the flank."

"I... um... liked your club method too Rarity. It was nice." Fluttershy softly stated, having enjoyed the calm atmosphere it forced.

Rarity grinned with a boast "Well it is the most graceful manner." She paused for a moment, remembering as if mesmerized. "I don't suppose that your method was too bad either... such precision..."

"Yeah I'd say!" Rainbow Dash followed Rarity's words closely. "I could hardly get into the hole while on the green and you hit it from like a mile away!"

Pinkiepie had lost all spans of attention ages ago, if she ever had any in the first place, and just off to the side she ran around talking about Rainbow Dash's turn. "And then 'voosh!' Rainbow was like 'pow!' and the ball flew through the air and over the green and over the trees!"

"So... Applejack," Rainbow Dash would rather calmly float towards the mare in question. "Maybe being a bit more cautious isn't all that bad. I mean, it wasn't as cool as mine but you didn't end up in the water."

Applejack would be nearly touched by Dash's realization, returning the complement. "Ah suppose your method ain't too bad, I could have been a little more direct... even if you were a showoff."

"Alright everypony!" Spike walked up to the awaiting ponies who all fell silent. "The winner is..."

The group held their breath...

Everything remained silent...

Pinkiepie blinked...

A bright blue bird passed through the nearby distance...

Spike took a long breath in as he prepared to read the result...

The silent moment would barely pass before Rainbow Dash would break. "Let me see them already!" She would bolt to the clipboard and snatch it from Spike's hands. Looking over the scores she would recoil with surprise, releasing a similarly surprising statement. "We tied!"

"What do you mean 'we'?" Rarity asked, walking forward to view the board herself.

"I mean that all six of us tied!" Dash answerd back, dropping the board to reveal the set of six fives all across the scores.

A huge, over-dramatic gasp escaped from Pinkiepie's mouth, only to have the words covered swiftly by Applejack's hoof. "So ah guess our bet didn't matter, did it. We all played differently and still got the same points in the end." Applejack rationalized out loud.

"And we all had fun!" Pinkiepie shouted out from the other side of the group as she had just been just a moment ago, having escaped Applejack somehow. "See, that's all that really matters!" She would bounce about as all the others would simply laugh a bit.

"I suppose we did." Twilight smiled happily, surrounded by all her friends. "Let's all go get some lunch!"

With agreement from the rest of the group, the seven of them headed back toward Ponyvile.

'Dear Princess Celestia,

I learned today that it often doesn't matter how you approach a problem, because as long as you give it your best effort your results will match. There is no one solution, no right way to handle any single situation, and everypony will have their own idea of what they should do. None of these ponies are wrong and everypony has the choice to make their own actions. While some actions may not produce the best result, doing what you believe is right is never the wrong answer.

Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkles.'

"Did you get all that Spike?" Twilight asked.

"'... Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkles.' And done." Spike replied, reading his own writing out loud as he finished. "So do you think we'll ever play golf again?"

"I don't know..."

"Well, if we do, I'll have to show you my tail slapping technique! It's the best! I bet I could get fewer points than you guys!"

Twilight rolled her eyes at the ignorant young dragon, heading back to work as Spike continued to talk.