"Welcome, one and all, to the annual Equestrian minesweeper tournament!" boomed the voice.
The announcer went on to talk about the day and the event, but the ponies ignored it. They were too preoccupied to bother with the announcements. Twilight paced around the room, looking all over. Applejack stood in the center next to a table, biting her lip. Rainbow Dash didn't show any emotion, but sat quietly near Applejack, her mind racing.
The room was decorated sparingly, yet royally, but it was expected of the royal castle of Canterlot. Expensive paintings and intricate designs covered the walls. A small table stood in the center of the room, but that was the only furnishing. Otherwise, a carpet with a beautiful design lay on the floor. For the purposes of the tournament, the room had been cleared out.
"It's almost time for the final round to begin with our three finalist teams preparing in the Canterlot Castle for the final, and most difficult, match!" said the voice, the sound being projected by magic.
Twilight looked up at Applejack and Rainbow Dash. They were still sweating from the previous match, all the hot lights beating down on them.
The crowds cheered at the announcement, in a few minutes the contestants would be back out on the field and after the trophy and cash prize. A large sum of bits was up for grabs for the winning team.
As Twilight opened her mouth to speak, Princess Luna burst through the door.
"What is this? What are you all doing in our dining room?" Luna stared quizzically at the ponies. She had been working on her speech, trying to move out of the old ways of speaking, but she still used the royal "we" instinctively.
"Luna, this is a holding room before the next round begins."
"Round? Round of what?"
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Don't you know, the Minesweeper tournament?"
Luna blinked her eyes, she knew of no tournament. She tried to remember such a thing, but couldn't, reasoning that she must have been asleep during it. After all, the tournament took place in the afternoon and went into the night, the only time Luna was awake.
"No, I don't."
Twilight was about to say something, but remembered Luna's banishment to the moon. She still found no reason to explain it to her.
"Well, this room is a holding room. We wait here until the next round starts." Twilight resumed her pacing, Luna's eyes following her around the room.
"Why are you trotting around the room?"
Twilight sighed. "Because, the final round starts in a couple of minutes and Pinkie Pie was just disqualified for her Pinkie sense. The judges say her tail doing weird things and finding mines and now we're down one mare. I'm trying to think of somepony that could take her place."
Luna's face broke out into an uncontrollable grin. "Can I partake in your team?" Her eyes pleaded, for it had been almost a thousand years since she had taken part in a sport.
Twilight looked at her. "Have you ever played the sport before?"
"No."
Twilight wanted desperately to say no, the finals were no place for a newcomer, but the options were limited. Fluttershy was far away somewhere in the viewing stands, too scared to play in the games due to her fear of being watched by crowds. Rarity was also spectating from the stands, calling the sport "uncouth" and refusing to take part in it. There wasn't many other options, and Luna was in the castle already.
Twilight let out another sigh. "You can join our team."
Luna let out a squeal, but quickly stopped herself as she remembered that she was royalty. She had never played a sport before, and surely it would be fun.
"How does one play this game?" asked Luna.
Twilight led her over to the window that overlooked the playing field. It was massive, and the stands were matched. They held most of the population of Equestria. This tournament was a huge deal for the ponies, and the winners gained the largest and most magnificent trophy ever created.
Twilight pointed at the field. "See that?"
"Yes," responded Luna.
"That's the playing field." The entire field was divided into squares, each one a light gray color.
Luna nodded. "How do you play this game?"
"It's simple, the objective is to flag as many 'mines' as possible. Each square has either a number, a mine, or nothing underneath it. When you press on the square, it reveals what is under it. When you think you've found a mine, you don't press on the square, but place a flag on top of it. At the end of the game all the mines you flagged are tallied up and the team with the most mines flagged wins!"
"That seems easy enough." Luna stared down at the large field, the bright lights shining on it. Every single square looked the same. "How do I know which one has a mine underneath?"
"You use the numbers," said Rainbow Dash, trotting over to join the princess and Twilight by the window. Applejack followed and they all stared out the glass.
"Each number you find represents the number of mines around the square that has the number. If a square says 'one', then there is one mine around the eight spaces that are around it," continued Rainbow Dash.
"Yes," started Twilight,"You use the numbers. Once you find out where a mine is for sure, you place down a flag and claim the spot. You have to be careful, though. You only have a limited amount of flags, so you have to be absolutely sure that you're putting a flag on a mine. Putting a flag on a space that doesn't have a mine is a waste."
"How many flags do we get," asked Luna, pleased that she had used the word "we" correctly in a sentence, while still meaning to only refer to herself.
"Each of us gets thirty flags. You can carry ten at a time. There's three teams competing and at one hundred and twenty flags per team and only three hundred mines, we have to make sure we get the most."
Luna nodded once again, processing all the new information. "What happens if we press a mine by accident?"
"Then we lose all our points," said Applejack.
"All of them? Is that not a harsh punishment?"
"Not as harsh as the small explosion that the mine creates," said Twilight,"That's why we have to be extra careful to never press a square without being sure that it isn't a mine. You don't want to be hurt by the explosion."
"Is that not a bit... dangerous?"
"It's a bit dangerous, but it's incentive not to go around and press all the squares while you have low points. Just use the flags to mark them and you'll be fine."
Luna looked at Twilight. "Where are these 'flags'?"
Twilight led her pointed at a corner of the room where all the equipment had been thrown. "We're given the flags when we go down to compete. Our color is gold."
Twilight trotted over the pile of equipment and picked up a black band. There were two bands, one smaller one attached to a bigger one. Through a small contraption, a short flap of the small band protruded.
"This is used to hold the flags while you're not using them. You where it on your body and slide the flags into the smaller band. When you use a flag, just pull the band tighter. It's simple." Twilight put the band on herself, demonstrating how to tighten and loosen the smaller band. Then she dug back into the pile, pulling out a small device.
"This is a headset. It is magically connected to the other headsets and lets us talk to each other from far away. Where it at all times. We need to communicate if we want to win. Some of the mines take team effort to get to. When you press down a square and it shows up blank with no number or mine, it will turn blue."
Luna's mind raced, trying to remember all the different rules of the game, but as she did so Twilight continued to talk.
"There's going to be a gold pegasi that is flying up in the sky. She'll keep track of how many flags we have placed and how much time is left. We only have half an hour to get as many as mines as we can. Don't pay attention to the other pegasi, they're for the other teams."
Luna tried on one of the bands, sliding it on underneath her wings.
"You can't do that," said Rainbow Dash,"Flying is against the rules and so are teleportation spells. As much as I hate being grounded it's a rule, and breaking it gets us disqualified."
Luna groaned and placed the band over her wings. She felt contained, but it was the only way.
"Well, it looks like the final round of the tournament is going to begin in just a moment. The three finalist teams will be going head to head in this final match!" The voice boomed over the crowd, and they cheered after the message had been delivered.
"This is it," said Twilight. The four ponies trotted out of the room, putting on their headsets and bands.
"Remember Luna, the other teams aren't going to show mercy, so you have to be quick and smart. Don't let them get the best of you." They descended the stairs of the castle and exited. Soon they were nearing the playing field.
The stands were packed full with ponies, and they stretched out over almost the entire field. From his position in a hot air balloon, the announcer would be commenting on everything that was going on. The sun had already gone down, but the hot lights lit up the field and the stands. Each gray square was illuminated perfectly.
There was a large gate that blocked entry to the field. Outside stood some stallions of the royal guard and a pony with a clipboard. Twilight trotted up to her and nodded. She looked at Princess Luna and was about to go into a bow, but Twilight stopped her.
"Luna is our new team member."
The pony with the clipboard scribbled something on the parchment and nodded her head, leading Twilight and her team to the gate. Just behind the gate, the gray squares started. The other teams stood behind gates on different sides of the field. Stallions came up from behind each of the four ponies and placed ten flags into the small loop of the band. Luna found herself more conscious of her balance with the long poles on her back.
Rainbow Dash stretched out her legs since her wings were useless. Applejack kicked one leg after the other behind herself to keep warm. Luna just watched and did nothing, wondering why Twilight was staring at the field so intently.
Suddenly the announcer's voice came over the area. "The final round will begin in one minute." The crowd let out yet another roar, but still nothing near its full potential.
"This is it," said Twilight,"We'll have to split up in the beginning just to make sure we cover as much ground as possible. Rainbow Dash and Applejack, you'll to the far sides of the field because you're the fastest, and I'll go towards the middle. Luna, you stay near our starting gate because you're new to this. Just take your time and don't press any mines."
Suddenly the announcer's voice could be heard.
"Thirty seconds left until the game begins."
Twilight looked up at the stars and Luna felt her legs starting to shake.
"Twenty seconds left."
Luna had just realized how much pressure was being put on her to win. Everypony was watching.
"Ten. Nine... "
The crowd counted down along with the announcer as Luna's legs shook more violently. She had never been exposed to something like this before, and she didn't want to let down Twilight or her friends.
"Five. Four... "
Suddenly the crowd became louder, and the pony with the clipboard nodded to the stallions at the gate.
"Three. Two... "
The stallions' horns glowed as they started to pull the gate doors open.
"One!"
The crowd was almost at it's loudest, and the gate was almost fully open.
"Zero!"
There was no time to lose. Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash shot through the gate, speeding towards the different sides of the fields. From the other sides of the square field, the ponies from the other teams came galloping out of their gates. Luna looked up and saw the golden pegasus holding the scoreboard. There were two numbers displayed on it. One was the amount of time left, counting down from thirty minutes, and the other was how many flags had been placed by her team. Two other pegasi floated in the distance, keeping an eye on the ponies.
Suddenly there was a loud clicking noise, and the announcer's voice came on again.
"And they're off! The tiles and mines are live, and it should make for an exciting match. It seems that all the teams have spread out over the field to try and get the most mines possible."
Luna looked around the field. It was a square, ending in a gate on three sides and in the bleachers on the other. Ponies cheered from the stands, watching as the teams galloped around the tiles. Luna looked at the different ponies galloping across the field. Across their backs were flags, but the fabric was a different color. Unlike the gold of Luna's flags, the other teams had blue and red.
Without another thought, Luna stepped onto the first tile, pressing her hoof gingerly on it as to make sure she didn't activate it. She stepped onto the field, the gray tiles underneath her. With another look at the clock, she realized that a minute had already passed, and she had barely moved from the gate, let alone done anything. Without hesitation, she stomped a hoof on the tile below her.
Even though she was expecting it, the tile sinking down into the ground cause Luna to take a step back. Suddenly, the tiles next to that one started to sink down, too. The ripple of sinking tiles went on for a few feet, and then stopped. Holographic numbers powered by magic hovered over some of the pressed tiles.
She looked in front of her. There were bunch of ones. Twilight's voice echoed in her head, repeating the rules of the game to her. Each number meant how many mines were nearby.
She looked at the ones again. Most of them floated against a line of unpressed tiles, but there was one that was directly diagonal from an unpressed tile. She counted the squares around the one, and sure enough, seven of them had already sunk.
Looking up at the clock, she realized that she would have to get moving if she wanted to be any sort of asset to the team. Thoroughly convinced that she had found the mine, she magically levitated a flag out of the band on her back and stuck it into the tile. The golden pegasus fiddled with the scoreboard, and the number of flags placed went up by one.
Rainbow Dash's voice came through the headset, startling Luna.
"I've got two flags on the left side of the field how are you doing?"
"Ah got one and am going for another," said Applejack.
Just as Luna was about to speak, Twilight's voice came through the device.
"I've gotten two as well. How are you doing Luna, gotten any yet?"
"Yes, I have gotten one!" she exclaimed.
"Good job."
Luna smiled, happy that she was helping out the team. She stood proudly in front of her placed flag.
"Luna, I can see you standing still from the other side of the field. Get moving!"
Twilight's voice was commanding. This annoyed the princess, she was usually the one who gave the commands. She was about to speak back, but time was slowly ticking away and Twilight was correct. Luna looked at the tiles around her, unsure as of how to deduce which one didn't have a mine.
She saw another one floating above a tile. Scanning the adjacent tiles, she found that one of them had her flag in it, but the other two hadn't been touched. She trotted over to the unpressed tiles next to the flag and pressed one. Sure enough, the tile was safe and caused a massive ripple out to the side, a number or two popping up along the way. Luna gave herself a mental pat on the back. She was picking the game up quite quickly.
She trotted through the newly created blue tiles. A one popped up every here and there, but none of them were diagonal from an gray tile. She kept trotting until she found a two. There were three gray tiles line vertically down next to the two, so it was impossible to figure out which ones had a mine. She checked around her, and surely enough there was a one right next to the two.
Luna processed the information. If there are three tiles, and the one and the two are next to each other, that means that only one of the mines can be in the eight squares around the one, and the other one has to be outside that square.
Luna looked down at the tiles again. She placed two flags down, one diagonally from the one, and the other next to it so that it was diagonal from the two. This way, there was only one flag next to the one and still two flags next to the two. Luna surprised herself with her ability to solve problems, and happily pressed on the unflagged tile. Surely enough, it turned blue and sank down slightly, causing yet another ripple.
The timer ticked down, minutes fading away as Luna trotted through the blue squares and picked out the mines. A one diagonal from a corner tile? Flag it. A two next to a corner tile? Flag the tile and the one next to it. Luna looked around the field and saw the the other ponies galloping through the field. In the distance, she saw a three, and directly next to it were three blue flags. She continued to press the gray tiles, hoping a three would pop up.
Eventually, Luna flagged a mine and pressed the tile next to eat, causing a large ripple effect. When it finally stopped, Luna looked at the numbers that had showed up. In the distance was one she hadn't seen before. It was a purple four.
With a slow trot, Luna made her way toward the four. It was a guaranteed four points. Luna giggled as she thought of how happy Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack would be. She looked behind herself and saw three flags bouncing up and down on her back. She stopped her trot and looked back at the gate where she had to go to get more flags. She turned to go back and get another set of flags, but another pony from the distance perked her head up.
Luna watched her as she noticed the four and galloped towards it. There wasn't any time to lose. Luna's hoof guards clicked against the tiles as she galloped forward, speaking into the device in front of her mouth.
"I require an additional flag."
There was an immediate response from Twilight.
"Luna, if you need more flags go back to the gate and they'll give you more."
"No, I require one at this precise moment!" Luna surged forward, her heart pumping as she raced towards the four. The other pony saw that the princess coming and doubled her efforts.
Rainbow Dash's voice came through the headset. "I've got one flag left, so I'll come help you. I have to get a new set anyway."
In the distance, Luna spotted Rainbow Dash's galloping toward her, the bright colors of her mane sticking out in the night.
The other pony was galloping faster than Luna, but was farther away. Luna tried to spread her wings to give her the advantage, but the band kept them shut. She snorted, realizing that galloping was the only mean of transportation she could use, as teleportation was against the rules.
Luna heard the crowd cheering and hollering, and her focus shifted for a short moment to listen to the announcer.
"It looks like we have a race between Team Gold and Team Red to claim four mines!"
All the ponies in the stands were looking at the scene, two ponies charging toward a four. Luna felt her legs starting to ache, she hadn't galloped in such a long time. Rainbow Dash was closing in on the four, but was still a good distance away.
There it was. Luna pushed off the ground one last time and found herself right next to the four. Her horn lit up and levitated the remaining flags she had. Briefly counting the tiles around the four, she confirmed that all of them were mines, as there were only four unpressed tiles adjacent to the lit square. Rainbow Dash was still on her way, so Luna would have to settle for three points. The pegasus wouldn't be there for a short while.
Luna felt a sharp pain from her side and toppled over, the flags dropping onto the tiles. Their metal poles clicked on the tiles, sliding away from Luna. She fell down, her crown flying off of her head and landing on a tile nearby. For a short moment, Luna's eyes were closed as she recovered from the pain, but they shot open in search of the pony who had done the act.
Sure enough, the pony that had been racing towards the four stood above Luna.
"You cannot tackle us! That is against the rules!"
The pony laughed and looked at Luna. "No, it's not. It's too bad, these mines are mine." Grabbing a flag from her back with her mouth, the pony trotted towards the unclaimed tiles.
Luna picked herself from the ground, levitating her crown back to its rightful place. She had never been tackled before, and she didn't plan on it happening ever again. Her eyes turned a glowing white and her horn lit up.
"Nopony hits a princess!" Luna tried to spread her wings once again to give herself a larger appearance, but the band held them close to her sides. She charged forward, eyes fixed upon the pony. The pony dropped the flag she carried in her mouth and turned, but it was too late. Luna leaped from her gallop and slammed the pony to the ground, body pressing down an empty tile.
The crowd gasped at first, but broke out into a frenzy. All eyes were on the two ponies that were fighting. It wasn't apparent who they wanted to win, as when either pony would get hit there was no difference in the cheering.
Luna watched as the other pony picked herself from the ground. As a princess, Luna was supposed to know all her subjects. She dug through her memory, recollecting the name of this pony. Luna caught a glimpse of her cutie mark, and along with the pony's dark blue coat Luna knew it was a unicorn named Starlight. Luna was sure she had seen the unicorn around the Canterlot castle at every now and again.
Without wasting any time, Luna looked back at the golden flags that laid on the tiles. She lifted one into the air and attempted to stick it into one of the mines. Before she could place it into the tile, Starlight had already gotten back up and levitated a flag of her own. She quickly maneuvered it towards Luna's flag, swooping underneath as to block her flag. With a quick flick, Luna's flag was thrown to the side, giving Starlight a chance to claim the spot. Starlight snorted and switched her target. Instead of stabbing the flag into the tile, she aimed for Luna. She lunged forward with the flag, attempting to hit her with the blunt edge of the metal flag.
Seeing the flag fly towards her, Luna sidestepped, bringing her own flag in front of her for protection. Starlight did the same, bringing her flag back to her side.
Luna had had enough of this unicorn. She lifted her flag into the air and swung it at Starlight, but their flags met in the air to form an 'X' with a loud metal clang. They pushed with equal strength, both of them sweating while the magic surged through their horns, pushing the flags against each other. Starlight relented her force slightly for less than a second, but it only took one second to make that mistake. Luna switched the direction of her flag, circling Starlight's flag around before flicking it to the side. Luna's golden flag rose into the air, preparing to cut down on the defenseless unicorn. Without missing a beat, Starlight recovered control of her own flag and used it to swipe Luna's to the side. With an open lane for attack, Starlight dropped her flag and leaped at Luna, shoving her to the ground once more.
The crowd went wild. The fight wasn't violent enough to be stopped by the guards, but still intense enough to rouse the audience. Guards kept a close watch on the fight, making sure that they'd be able to jump in should anything get out of hand. A little physical contact was good in the sport of minesweeper.
With Luna on the ground, Starlight picked up her flag and whacked her across her snout, causing her to whimper in pain. The guards leaned forward, ready to jump in. With Luna subdued, Starlight turned towards the unclaimed mines. Luna lashed out with her hind hooves, but could not reach Starlight. She could only watch from the ground as her foe trotted towards the tiles she had worked so hard for.
Luna's eyes only caught a glimpse of the flying pegasus, who let out a yell as she smashed into Starlight. With her hooves held out in front of her, Rainbow Dash tackled the unicorn to the ground, causing her to lose control of her flag. With a powerful flap of her wings, Rainbow Dash restrained herself from following through with the tackle and falling with Starlight. Instead, the force of the flying tackle threw her into a group of unpressed tiles. Her eyes were closed as she fell.
The crowd fell silent, all of their cheering from the fight sucked dry. With an audible click, Starlight's body pressed a tile into the ground. The crowd held their breath, everypony waiting to see if she had landed on a mine. Luna and Rainbow Dash's gazes were fixated on their enemy. Almost all of Equestria watched. There was a small, electronic tick, barely able to be heard even in such silence.
A "1" lit up over Starlight's bruised body, and all throughout the crowd ponies released their breath, relieved that Starlight had not landed on a mine. However, the tackle had hurt her, and she laid on the ground holding her side. Luna watched her struggle, but Rainbow Dash had turned her attention away from the unicorn.
"Take these flags off my back and get all the spots before she gets back up," said Rainbow Dash.
Luna nodded, and without a word she took the three flags that Rainbow had brought and promptly stuck them around the four. Trotting over to her lost flag, she levitated it over to the last of the tiles around the four and claimed the spot, looking over at the scoreboard to see how much help the four flags had been. The golden pegasus fiddled with the scoreboard and added four points, bringing the total to thirty-five.
Rainbow Dash held out a hoof to Luna, who stared at her quizzically.
"You're supposed to bump my hoof," said Rainbow Dash.
Luna shoved Rainbow Dash's hoof to the side, refusing to accept her sign of accomplishment.
"You did not warn us about any fighting!" yelled Luna, her speech entering the royal Canterlot voice for the first time in a while. "I agreed to play a sport, not to get into fights!"
Rainbow Dash took a step back from Luna, unsure of what to say. Luckily, Twilight's voice came through the headset.
"Well, it usually doesn't elevate to that but this is the finals, Luna, and that can happen."
Luna calmed herself, noticing that she was completely out of flags. Without another word, Rainbow Dash trotted in front of Luna toward the opening gates, where a fresh batch of flags lay waiting. Luna followed Rainbow Dash, the clock slowly ticking down to zero.
There were fifteen minutes left, and the golden pegasus held the lowest number.
