Author's Note
You don't need to know the full rules of Treehouse going into this story, but if you think it would help, you can find the rules Here.
First Game
“Come on, show me an AIM. An AIM, or a WILD would be fine, but I’d really like an AIM!”
Starlight Glimmer held the black cube in her magic, and vainly attempted to coax it into showing the face she wanted. Satisfied that she had said her piece, she cast a randomization spell on the die. It rotated the die by a random angle along each of the x-, y-, and z-axis. Then the spell clung to her horn, preventing her from using any more magic to change the way the die was facing. Without her magic to hold it up, the die fell to the table. It landed on a corner, bounced back up, spun around in mid-air, and finally settled on the table. The white letters on the top face spelled AIM.
“Yes! Just what I needed!”
Starlight had three green pyramids in front of her, one each in three sizes. The small was stacked on top of the large, while the medium was lying on its side, pointing at the tower. There was another trio of black pyramids in the center of the table. The black pyramids were arranged almost exactly the same as Starlight’s pyramids, except the medium one pointed away from the tower. The randomizing spell was still blocking Starlight’s horn, so she used her hoof to spin her medium around until it pointed in the opposite direction. Now her trio was an exact match for the black trio.
“I won again,” she said with a contented sigh.
“That’s nice,” said Fluttershy, as she flew into the living room from the kitchen. She held a tea service between her forelegs, which she placed on the table, taking care not to knock over the pyramids that were already set up. “Of course, it would be more impressive if you were playing against somepony.”
“Hey, I’m still new to this game,” Starlight said. “I need all the practice I can get.”
While Fluttershy poured the tea, Starlight used her magic to reset her green pyramids to their starting arrangement. She stacked the medium on top of the large, then stacked the small on top of the medium, forming what was called a “tree”. She also moved the black pyramids to their starting arrangement: with the small standing up in the center and the large and medium on opposite sides, lying down, pointing away from the center.
“When did you say Discord was supposed to be here?” Starlight asked.
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that,” Fluttershy said. “He always arrives at exactly four o’clock every Tuesday.” She glanced at the clock on her mantle. “Two more minutes.”
“I find it a little hard to believe that the self-proclaimed Lord of Chaos always arrives exactly on time,” Starlight mused as she took her teacup from Fluttershy. “You’d think he’d show up five minutes late one week, then ten too early the next, just for kicks. I mean, that would make more sense, right?”
“Actually, no, that doesn’t make sense at all,” said Fluttershy. “Ponies like you and I might arrive late somewhere because we misjudge how long it takes to travel, or we sleep in when we shouldn’t, or something like that. But Discord isn’t constrained by such trivial matters. He can warp time and space to suit him, so it makes sense that he always arrives on time.”
Starlight put up her forelegs in consignment. “Well, you would know Discord better than I would. If you say he’s going arrive on time, then I believe you.”
“Why should you settle for the mere speculation of a mortal pegasus when you can hear the truth straight from the draconequus’s mouth?”
“Speak of the devil,” Starlight muttered, as it slowly dawned on her that Discord had arrived.
“Fluttershy, my dear,” Discord said, “I thought it was just going to be the two of us for tea. What is she doing here?”
Starlight flinched, before saying, “Well, good afternoon to you too.”
“If you must know,” Fluttershy said, “I told Starlight about the pyramid game you showed me last week, and she said she liked it. So I invited her over to join us for a game of Treehouse. Is that going to be a problem?”
Discord grimaced at Starlight. “Well, I suppose not. She already knows how to play, right?”
“Of course,” Starlight said. “Fluttershy taught me the whole game already.”
“Okay, good.” Discord took a seat behind the red tree of pyramids. “I hate those lengthy info dumps that just bring the story to a halt. The only thing worse than listening to a boring lecture is being forced to deliver one yourself. So, let’s not waste another moment, shall we?”
As Discord said that, he reached for the die. But when he closed his fist, he grabbed nothing but air. Starlight had taken the die in her magic. Discord reached for it again, but Starlight pulled it away once more.
“Ah, ah, ah,” Starlight chided. “I get to go first, because I’m holding the die.”
“Of course,” Discord groused as he took his teacup from Fluttershy. “She really does know how to play this game after all, doesn’t she?”
Starlight waited until Fluttershy took her seat behind the yellow tree before rolling the die. For her first roll, she got a SWAP. She counted off four seconds, waiting for her magic to return. Then she lifted the small and medium pyramids off her tower, and swapped their positions, putting the medium on top of the small. She anticipated tipping her tower over soon, and with the small pyramid in the center, her pieces would be in the right order when she did.
Discord grabbed the die, and rolled it between his lion’s paw and his eagle talon. With a flick, he sent the die tumbling across the table. It landed on TIP. His face drooped. “It’s not how I would have liked to start, but oh well.” He carefully tipped his tower over, so that it pointed toward himself, the same direction the medium black pyramid was pointing. Then he separated the pieces, making sure none of them touched.
Fluttershy nudged the die closer to herself. Then she sandwiched it between her fore hooves and picked it up. She spun the die around as best she could, and let it drop. It came up AIM. “Well, all my pyramids are stacked up, so I can’t aim my own pieces, but I can aim one of the pyramids in the House.” She reached for the center of the table, and spun the medium pyramid around to point in the same direction as the large.
At that moment, Starlight regretted teaching Fluttershy that move. Sure, it set back Discord, but it also set her back as well. If she got a TIP now, she’d have to choose between having her pyramids in the right order, but pointing all wrong; or having them point the right way, but be out of order. Neither option was particularly appealing. So, when Starlight rolled the die, she hoped she’d get a HOP, or another SWAP. But she got AIM instead.
“Hmm, this could be interesting.”
Since Starlight couldn’t aim any of her own pyramids, she had the option to aim one of the House’s pyramids. She thought about pointing the medium back the way it was, but at this point, aiming any of the House’s pyramids to the left would only help Discord. And she didn’t want to do that. So she opted to point the small pyramid to the right. It only helped her game a little bit. She was now two moves away from winning, if the die would cooperate with her.
Discord rolled a WILD.
“Wonderful! And I know exactly how I want to play it, too!” He reached for the House’s pyramids, and swapped the small and medium pyramids without turning them. “Whoa, wait a minute,” he said. He did not let go of the pieces, but instead held his mismatched hands on them for a little while. Then he switched them back, and pulled his hands away. “Maybe that’s not the best move,” he muttered.
Starlight could practically see the gears turning in Discord’s head. Using a WILD to make a swap on the House was the only way to make that particular move, so it made sense to take advantage of that. The move he planned to make would have put all his pieces in the right order, but he’d need three AIMs to get them all pointed the right way, which wasn’t very likely.
“No, let’s go ahead and do that,” he said, switching the small and medium black pyramids once again. This time he let go, and nudged the die toward Fluttershy to let everypony know he was committed to that move.
Fluttershy rolled a TIP.
“Oh, drat!” Discord groused. “That’s exactly what I was afraid of!”
Fluttershy tipped her tower to the right, which made all her pyramids point in the right direction. They were still in the wrong order, but she could fix that with a single SWAP. She was now one move away from winning.
“Okay, I’ve got to make a move on the House if I want to win,” Starlight muttered to herself. “I’d really like a DIG, or a WILD, that’s fine too. Come on, DIG!” With that final plea, she cast the die. It came up HOP. “Ugh, not what I wanted.” She took a good long look at her trio, and at the House. “Although, this might actually help me.” She carefully lifted the top two pyramids in her stack, and moved them to the left of the large. “Yeah, this can work. I can still pull this out.” She passed the die to Discord.
Discord rolled a SWAP.
“But I don’t want to swap!” he moaned.
“Too bad,” Starlight said, in a tone that was equally sympathetic and mocking. “If you can do it to your own pieces, you have to. And you can always swap your own pieces.”
“Hmm, you do have a point, Starlight. And I know just the pieces I want to swap too!” Discord reached behind his back and pulled his wings off. Then he put his bat wing back where his feathered wing used to be, and vice versa. “Oh, yes. I’ve been having a real crick in the right wing lately. I keep telling myself ‘Discord, you have to get your parts rotated to keep them balanced.’ But I kept putting it off, and putting it off, and you know how these things can get away from you.” Discord chuckled to himself. Then he casually nudged the die to Fluttershy. “Okay, your move.”
Fluttershy pushed the die back to Discord. “You still have to swap two of your pyramids,” she said. “That’s the rule, remember?”
Discord ground his teeth, and made a face at Fluttershy. But Fluttershy just stared back at him, with a look that was equal parts contempt and disappointment. She held his gaze until he finally drooped his neck. “Fine, I guess I’ll swap these two.” He swapped his small and medium pyramids without turning them. “Maybe I can dig the small back into place.”
“Thank you,” said Fluttershy, as she took the die from Discord. She took just a moment to look at her trio and the House. She was still one swap away from winning. She closed her eyes and rubbed the die furiously between her hooves. She kept her eyes shut tight while she tossed the die and let it tumble. She turned her head away, and waited for either Starlight or Discord to react to her roll. But there was no response. Eventually, curiosity got the better of her, and she opened one eye.
The die had come up DIG.
“Oh, feathermucker!” Fluttershy shouted, insofar as Fluttershy is capable of shouting. She gasped and covered her mouth. “I’m so sorry, please excuse my language!”
Starlight snickered to herself. “It okay,” she assured her friend. “Remember what I taught you? Sometimes, you’ll roll a lemon…”
“…so, make lemonade,” Fluttershy finished. “You’re right, I think I know what to do.”
“Wait a minute, you taught her?” Discord said, pointing at Starlight, then at Fluttershy. “I thought Fluttershy taught the game to you? At least, that’s what she told me.” Discord’s face turned sour as he glared at Starlight.
Starlight shifted nervously in her seat. She wasn’t sure if she should say anything. Fluttershy hadn’t sworn her to secrecy, and besides, the two of them had every right to do what they did. On the other hoof, if Discord was this upset over merely suspecting what they had done, who could say how mad he’d get if those suspicions were confirmed? Starlight decided it might be best to keep her mouth shut for the time being.
Discord turned to Fluttershy. “Why did you really invite Glim-Glam to our game, Fluttershy?”
“Well, um…” Fluttershy stammered. Her eyes darted around, from Discord, to Starlight, to the door, and back again. Her lip quivered. She twirled her hooves about each other. She jostled her head so she could hide behind her mane. And still, she didn’t say a word.
Starlight sighed heavily. “Fluttershy invited me over for moral support,” she confessed. “After she taught me how to play Treehouse, she and I worked together to figure out some tactics we could use to help us win the game. I didn’t think she needed my help when she went up against you, but she insisted I come along to help her out in case she got stuck.”
“So, you two were conspiring against me?” Discord asked.
“Ehhhn, ‘conspiracy’ isn’t quite the word I’d use to describe what we did. I think it might be more accurate to call it ‘practice’.”
“‘Practice’?”
“Look, we weren’t plotting to cheat you out of the game, if that’s what you’re thinking. I was just helping Fluttershy improve her skills, so she has a better chance to beat you fair and square. What’s wrong with that?”
“Besides, you win this game too much anyway,” Fluttershy added.
Discord flinched when he heard that. “I beg your pardon?”
Fluttershy huffed loudly through her nose, then brushed her mane out of her eyes so she could look Discord in the eye. “I said, you win this game too often, and I’m sick of it. I want to enjoy this game with you, Discord, but I’m not going to enjoy myself if I’m always getting beaten. I want to win at least as often as you do, because I want to feel like I’m on your level. I want to feel like we’re equals.”
“Equals? That’s an interesting choice of words.” Discord turned back to Starlight.
Starlight put up a hoof, and returned Discord’s glare. “Don’t. Just…don’t even.”
“I see,” Discord said. “It’s not enough that you have power over every other area of my life, is it Fluttershy? You have to have power over our board games too?”
“What are you talking about?” Fluttershy asked.
“I think you know exactly what I’m talking about. ‘No, Discord, you can’t flood and then freeze Sweet Apple Acres!’ ‘No, Discord, you can’t banish Tree Hugger to another dimension!’ ‘No, Discord, you can’t re-route the train tracks into an active volcano!’ Shall I go on, or have I made my point?”
“Well, why do you think I told you not to do those things?” Fluttershy shot back. “Do you think it’s just because I enjoy bossing you around?”
“What other possible reason could there be?”
“Oh, I don’t know, how about this: because I don’t want to see my friend turned back into stone for another thousand years?”
Starlight gasped. She had never heard Fluttershy say anything so powerful, so direct, so on point. She wanted to bellow in support of the epic dressing down she gave Discord with that one sentence. But Discord’s face fell, making him look as pathetic as he probably felt. So, Starlight figured it would have been woeful counter-productive to say “Ohhhhhhhhhh, you just got served, sucker!” Instead, she bit her tongue.
Discord straightened back up. “You’re right, of course. I realize I still need your guidance to stay in the good graces of Equestrian society. And I am eternally grateful for that. However, it still bothers me every single time you tell me not to use my powers, because it feels like you’re stifling some part of my soul. Like you’re holding me back from being the truest, purest form of myself.” He gestured toward Starlight. “Remember when this one separated you from your cutie mark? It’s something like that.”
Starlight cringed, and rubbed her horn. “You just had to go and bring that up, didn’t you?”
“It’s nothing like what Starlight did to me,” Fluttershy said. “When she stole my cutie mark, she transformed me into a shell of what I once was. Separating me from my special talent made me feel like a prisoner in my own body. What I’m doing for you is the complete opposite of that.” Fluttershy turned to Starlight. “Uh, no offense.”
“You know what I just realized?” Starlight said. “I never properly apologized for everything I did to you back in my old village.”
“It’s okay, I understand…” Fluttershy began.
“No, I need to say this, and I need you to hear me. Fluttershy, I had no idea how much I hurt you when I stripped you of your cutie mark. How much I hurt everypony, really. I wasn’t in my right mind at the time, and I didn’t have any real friends. I mean, I didn’t have the kind of friends who could open up to me, and tell me the truth about what I was doing to them. For that, I have no one but myself to blame.” Starlight sighed, and hung her head. “Maybe if I was more willing to listen to ponies who had different points of view than I did, and if I wasn’t so insecure about admitting I was wrong, then maybe I would have given up my crusade against cutie marks long before you and your friends showed up in my village.” Starlight blinked back tears. “You didn’t deserve what I did to you, Fluttershy. I wish I could take it all back. I wish I could undo all the misery I caused you, and everypony else. But I can’t. All I can do now is tell you how truly sorry I am.”
When Starlight looked up, she saw Fluttershy with a pained smile on her face, and bittersweet tears streaming down her muzzle. She couldn’t tell if she was happy or sad, but it was probably fair to say it was a little of both.
“Thank you,” Fluttershy said. “I know that wasn’t easy for you to say. Of course, I’d forgiven you a long time ago. But I’m glad you’re opening up to me about this. Confessing your sins is an important step toward putting the past behind you. I’m proud of you, Starlight Glimmer.”
At this, the dam burst. Starlight screwed her eyes shut, and sobbed quietly. She felt hot tears trickle down her cheeks. Soon, she felt Fluttershy put a foreleg around her neck. She returned the embrace, and took comfort in her warm fur. After all the pain and misery she caused her, Fluttershy still saw the spark of decency in Starlight’s soul through the cloud of resentment and bitterness. Starlight did not deserve a friend like Fluttershy, but she was glad she had one. Suddenly, a strange sniffling sound broke her reverie. It wasn’t her, nor was it Fluttershy. She gingerly pushed away from the hug to get a good look at Discord. She wasn’t sure, but Starlight thought she saw tears pooling in his eyes.
“Discord, are you okay?”
Discord sniffed, and brushed the tears away from his eyes. “I’m fine,” he said, his voice a cross between a sob and a hard edge. “It’s an allergic reaction. Must be something in the air.”
Fluttershy and Starlight exchanged a knowing glance. Without saying a word, each knew what the other was thinking, because she was thinking the same thing.
“Right, allergies,” Fluttershy said. “Whatever you say.” She trotted back to her place at the table. “Now, where we were?”
“You rolled a DIG, but you haven’t moved yet,” Starlight said.
“Right, thank you. I remember what I was going to do.” Fluttershy slid her large pyramid in the direction it was pointing, past the medium and the small, all the way to the end of the line. Then she stood it upright. She pushed her pieces to the left, so they were in line with the House.
“Good move,” Starlight said. She picked up the die and rolled a WILD. “Very nice. I’m going to use that as a DIG on the House.” She put the small black pyramid inside the medium, and stood the stack up. It now matched the tower in her trio, while Fluttershy and Discord still had all their pieces separated.
“Really?” Fluttershy said. “After all that emotional bonding, you go and make a move like that? We hugged and cried and everything, and not two seconds later, you’re messing up my strategy?”
“It’s like you said, games are only fun when everyone is on the same level,” Starlight said. “If I don’t play the best game I can, you won’t have as much fun when you beat me.”
“You’re right, I did say that,” Fluttershy muttered. “It’s just, I didn’t expect you to be so…cold.”
“If the horseshoe were on the other hoof, I’d expect you to play just as hard,” Starlight said while Discord rolled the die. His roll came up WILD as well.
“Funny you should say that, Glimmy…” He let the statement hang in the air as he reached for the House. Placing a talon on the tower Starlight had just built, he tipped it to the left, letting it separate naturally. The small and medium pyramids were a perfect match for Discord’s trio; he just needed to get the large pointed the right way. “I really should thank you. If it weren’t for your move, I wouldn’t be this close to winning.”
Starlight mimicked the act of swallowing. “No, no, Discord, thank you for making me eat my words.” She smacked her lips. “Yep, tastes like crow. Why am I not surprised?”
Fluttershy chuckled to herself as she rolled. She got AIM, so she tipped her large to the right to match the House.
With a “come on, die, show me some love,” Starlight rolled, and got a DIG. “Yes! Let’s put these two pyramids back the way they’re supposed to go.” Once again, she dug the House’s small under the medium, so that the House matched her trio, and not Discord’s. It was the only way she could keep her chances of winning alive.
But Discord rolled an AIM, and he spun his large around to point to the right. Despite Starlight’s earlier setback, he was right back in the thick of things.
Fluttershy rolled a HOP, and since all of her pieces were lying down, she got to move the House instead. “Well, well, well,” Fluttershy said, with a slight chuckle to her voice. “Looks like that horseshoe is on the other hoof sooner than you realized!”
“Yes, I can see that,” Starlight said. “And I stand by what I said. So make your move.”
Fluttershy reached for the center of the table with her teeth. She carefully picked up the medium pyramid and set it down to the left of the small it had previously nested on. Now, all three House pyramids were separate, and in the same sequence as Fluttershy’s trio.
Starlight rolled a DIG. “Ugh,” she winced. “Well, this might not be so bad.” She stood the House’s large upright. It was the only move she could make.
Discord rolled a SWAP. “Not again!” he moaned. “This game is supposed to be chaotic in a way that helps me and hinders my opponents, not the other way around!” With a grumble, he switched his small and medium again. The irony was not lost on him that he was undoing his previously unwanted SWAP.
Fluttershy rolled a TIP. She tipped over the House’s medium, pointing it to the right to match her medium, and putting it out of sync with the House’s small. Starlight’s medium and small were still in a tower, and the only moves that disassemble a tower always leave all the pieces pointing in the same direction. By de-syncing the House’s small and medium, Fluttershy ensured that Starlight would need two moves to get them to match, rather than just one.
“Nicely done,” Starlight said, and she meant it. She wanted to encourage Fluttershy to play the game strategically, which in this context meant playing aggressively. If Fluttershy won the game, Starlight would be happy that she won using strategy she developed.
Starlight rolled a HOP. “Oh, sure, now you decide to show up.” Still, she disassembled her tower, placing her medium pyramid to the left of the small. All Starlight had to do now was aim her medium pyramid to the right, and she’d win the game.
Discord looked a little disinterested when he took the die from her. She couldn’t blame him; between his bad roll, and the changes she and Fluttershy made to the House, his chances of winning looked pretty slim. When he saw that he rolled an AIM, he stood his small pyramid up. It was a good move, and a sign that he hadn’t yet given up.
Fluttershy rolled a SWAP. She blurted out a series of unintelligible syllables, before chewing on her bottom lip and forcing air through her teeth. Starlight guessed she was about to say a certain word beginning with the letter F, and was trying to stop herself from actually blurting it out.
“Did you put on another kettle of tea, Fluttershy?” Discord asked. “Oh, wait, never mind, that’s just you.”
Fluttershy released the breath she was holding and chuckled. Starlight chuckled with her. She could see something in her friend unclench, as she turned back to the game. With a disappointed sigh, she swapped her small and large pyramids. It was a lateral move, but it was the best move she could have made.
Starlight quickly took the die from Fluttershy and rolled it. Distracted by Discord’s joke, she didn’t notice that the House was still unchanged, and she was still one move away from matching it. So when her roll came up WILD, Fluttershy and Discord both sighed the hard sigh of a defeated player. Starlight had to take a second look at her pyramids and the House before she realized she had already won. With a smirk, she tipped her medium pyramid to the right, making her trio a perfect match for the House.
“And look at that,” Starlight said, “I even won while playing against other ponies! Aren’t you proud of me?”
Fluttershy rolled her eyes, not the least bit amused that Starlight was throwing her own words back in her face. “Good game, Starlight. Congratulations.” She extended a friendly hoof, which Starlight bumped. Then she turned to look at Discord with a disapproving glare. “Don’t you have something to say to her?”
Discord grimaced, and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Oh, come on, now,” Starlight said. “Don’t be a boodlefutz about this.”
“What’s a boodlefutz?” asked Discord.
“Somepony who complains when they have no justifiable reason to complain. I get it, you played the best game you could, and you thought you were going to win. But you lost, and it feels like you were just wasting your time. You still want to be the winner so desperately, you’ll do anything to reverse the outcome of the game. But we all played fairly, and now the game is over, which means the outcome is not going to change, no matter how much you complain about it. That leaves you with two options: you can accept your defeat with the grace and humility that will allow you to maintain the degree of respect we have toward you. Or, you can just be a boodlefutz. Your choice.”
Discord dry heaved in an overly exaggerated manner. Fluttershy had warned Starlight that he might act this way, so she followed her lead, and did not react to Discord’s histrionics. When Discord saw that the two mares were not affected, he sighed mournfully.
“Good game, Starlight,” Discord said through his clenched teeth. “Congra-ah-ah-ah-ah…” Discord suddenly started coughing for a while. “Excuse me. Congrat-ch-ch-ch-ch…” Discord huffed, and shook his head. “Congratula-sh-sh-sh-sh…”
“Discord!” Fluttershy said, not quietly, but not shouting either. Discord flinched anyway.
“Congratulations,” he finally blurted.
“Thank you, Discord,” Starlight said, in the sweetest voice she could muster. “It was an honor and a pleasure to share this game with you both.”
Discord’s face softened when Starlight said that. “Hmm. You know, there might be something to this ‘losing with grace’ business that I never properly considered before. It makes me regret the reason I taught you how to play the game in the first place.”
Fluttershy arched a brow at Discord. “And that reason was?”
“So I could beat you at it all the time.”
“Oh, Discord,” Fluttershy sighed.
Starlight slammed a hoof on the table, then raised it in triumph. “Called it!”
While the two of them were busy reacting to Discord’s little revelation, a certain eagle talon reached for the die and palmed it. “Perhaps we could play again? I promise not to be a boodlefutz if I lose this time.”
“Sure, I’m game,” Fluttershy said.
“Me too,” said Starlight. She took the liberty of resetting the House to its starting configuration while Discord and Fluttershy returned their pyramids to the tree shape. Starlight reset her own pyramids, then she noticed something missing. “Where’s the die?”
“Looking for this?” Discord said. Starlight turned, and saw Discord wiggling the die in the air, like a foal playing keep-away with a classmate’s hat.
“Okay, fine, you go first,” Starlight said.
