//------------------------------// // Press Start // Story: My Little Pony Adventure: Neck-and-Neck // by PhycoKrusk //------------------------------// “Ohmigosh, how awesome is this?” There were three key things happening in, around, and near Ponyville on the day this story begins. The first of them was a mass visitation from Earth, the world on the other side of the mystic portal discovered by Princess Twilight Sparkle. Besides ponies, there were also scores of humans and Mobians about, and while the humans were neat, it was the Mobians that most ponies were interested in (even if they were only a tiny fraction of the visiting population); although also bipedal, they otherwise had animal forms, and most were about the same size as a pony, making them much less strange. That was, truthfully, pretty awesome. The second was the great fair that was going on inside Whitetail Wood. It was the biggest fair that Ponyville had seen in a long time; even bigger than the Summer Sun Celebration, and even bigger than the one celebrating Princess Twilight’s coronation. Many ponies had to come in from far outside of Ponyville just to make sure that enough vendors were present. Several humans and a few Mobians had come through the portal in advance of the fair so they could make sure there were enough vendors. No fewer than a dozen new inns had been constructed on the outskirts of the town, and were full to capacity. That, too, was pretty awesome. But what was most awesome of all was the third thing happening, also in Whitetail Wood. It was a race, but not just any race. It was the race to end all races, or so it had been billed as. More to the point, however, was that one of the racers was Ponyville’s own Rainbow Dash. And that, for three fillies wandering the fair grounds, best friends and sisters in the quest to find their special talents, was what made it the most awesome thing of all. “I’ll tell you how awesome,” Scootaloo said again, somehow not having run out of steam despite already having been on her hooves for some time, “Too awesome!” Her wings, underdeveloped though they were, were almost buzzing with excitement. “Too, too awesome!” added Sweetie Belle, walking alongside Scootaloo and practically vibrating with delight. It would have hardly been surprising if sparks were jumping off her horn from her excitement. “Yeah, girls, I get it,” Apple Bloom followed-up, walking alongside Sweetie Belle, “It’s amazing, and we get to see this amazin’ race, just like both o’ ya’ll have said like, every minute for th’ last hour. I get it.” She would’ve have thought everything was too, too, too awesome if her friends didn’t insist on bringing it up constantly. Well, two out of three ain’t bad. “No, I don’t think you really do,” Scootaloo said back, grin never wavering as she took in all the sites of the fair around her. “A day off from school, a fair, and we get to see Rainbow Dash in the race of a lifetime! Today is awesome!” At least, the day was awesome, until her next step forward (admittedly while she was picking out a game to try and not paying attention to her surroundings) when she collided with someone and fell back onto her hindquarters. Quickly shaking the dots out of her vision, Scootaloo looked up to see exactly who it was she’d bumped into. The red dress caught her attention first only because it was a striking color. But it only took another moment to realize that she hadn’t bumped into another pony, but into a Mobian. A hedgehog, probably based on the pictures she’d seen, somewhat taller than a filly, boots matching her dress, rose pink quills styled in a bob, and sitting on the ground just like she was and looking exceptionally apologetic. “I’m sorry!” the hedgehog said, getting back onto her feet and offering her hands. “I guess I wasn’t watching where I was going.” Scootaloo stared for a moment, but then hooked her hoof in the hedgehog’s hands and clambered back up to standing. “It’s cool,” she replied, “I mean, it was just an accident. No harm done.” “Well, look who it is, Silver!” In an instant, the mood changed, and the three fillies and one hedgehog turned to observe two more fillies casually walking over towards them; pink-furred, purple-with-white-streak-maned Diamond Tiara, and grey-furred, silver-with-slightly-lighter-silver-streak maned Silver Spoon. “If it isn’t the No-Cutie Mark Crusaders,” Diamond said, continuing her earlier line of speech, “What brings you blank flank losers here? Going to not get your cutie marks in watching your fake big sister crash and burn?” The Cutie Mark Crusaders all ground their teeth, but kept quiet in the hope that they might seem like uninteresting targets. The day was supposed to be awesome, and the last thing they wanted or needed was three bullies ruining it for them. Only Diamond and Silver were laughing, however. The hedgehog did not join in with the two rude fillies, and in fact, she actually looked very annoyed with both of them. “That wasn’t a very nice thing to say,” she said. “So?” Diamond said back, “What? Are we supposed to stop just because they don’t like it?” “You know who else wouldn’t like it?” the hedgehog asked, expression serious and hands on her hips, “Sonic, that’s who!” All five fillies knew that name, but it had the strongest effect on Diamond Tiara, whose eyes immediately widened. “Well, I’m sure he’d know I was, just kidding,” she said just a bit too loudly, looking just a bit too panicked. The hedgehog looked back to the three fillies she’d bumped into, expecting to find them wearing expressions indicating that Diamond was full of it. All three of them were, looking thoroughly unamused by pink-furred earth pony. With a sigh, the hedgehog turned back to Diamond. “Well, I guess I believe you. For now.” And then she slipped back to a smile. “But since you were ‘just kidding’ and we’re done with that, why don’t you introduce us?” “O-of course!” Diamond replied, still just a bit too loudly. “Uh, Amy, this is Scootaloo —” raising a hoof, she indicated the pegasus — “And Sweetie Belle —” the unicorn — “And Apple Bloom —” the yellow-furred earth pony, and then the hoof went back onto the ground. “Girls, this is Amy Rose. She’s a very good friend of Sonic the Hedgehog.” Amy herself didn’t even get a chance to say anything. “You know Sonic?!” Sweetie exclaimed, darting in front of Amy so suddenly that the hedgehog gave a startled hop. “Y-yeah,” Amy said uncertainly, although she quickly returned to smiling, “I first met him when he saved me on the Little Planet. We’ve been friends ever since.” “Oh, wow,” Sweetie said back, “He saved you? He sounds even cooler than they say he is.” “Well, at least one of you blank flanks sees reason,” said Diamond with a huff, “I mean, it’s only obvious who’s going to win.” “Yeah,” chimed Scootaloo, mouth drawn into a frown, “Rainbow Dash.” “Ha! See? Can’t even read the writing on the wall,” Diamond snarked, although she was careful to bite back any further comments about the pegasus’ ability to read, lest those words find their way back to a certain someone. But she didn’t stop, necessarily, sidling up next to Sweetie Belle. “You know, Sweetie, you’re sharper than I really ever gave you credit for. Why don’t you hang out with us instead?” Sweetie Belle, if nothing else, was able to see that something wasn’t quite right in all this. “You want me to hang out with you?” she repeated, “But I still don’t have my cutie mark. Isn’t that, like, the one thing I really need?” “Well, Amy doesn’t have a cutie mark, either!” Diamond replied, “No, no, no cutie marks required. To get in this club, you just have to be sharp, and being sharp here means being a Sonic fan, just like you, and me, and Amy, and Silver.” “Um…” Silver Spoon began to say before she stopped and said nothing. It was still too late to stop all the attention from suddenly moving to her. “‘Um’?” Diamond asked, “What do you mean, ‘um’? We’re here to see Sonic win. That’s the only reason we’re even out here at all!” Silver managed to keep her composure for a few seconds before her expression filled with panic and she had to explain herself. “I’m sorry, DT! I really, really am!” she exclaimed, “But I, I want Rainbow Dash to win!” “What?!” “I’m sorry,” Silver repeated as he expression turned just a bit wistful, “She’s just, she’s so cool….” “I don’t believe this,” Diamond said with a huff, turning away from Silver, “My own best friend, turned against me.” “Wait!” Amy suddenly said with a wide smile. “This means there’s three of us each! Half of us for Sonic, and half for Rainbow Dash. That’s perfect!” The fillies were stunned. “It is?” asked Apple Bloom. “Of course. I mean, this is supposed to be a friendly competition, although if Rainbow Dash is anything like Sonic, it might not stay that way,” Amy replied, “And friendly competitions are always better when you have someone rooting for the other team, and they’re even better when you have a friend to go against, just like we have here. See? Perfect!” Not one of the fillies could think of a counterpoint to that claim, even though they tried. Scootaloo tried especially hard, but even she couldn’t think of a reason why Amy’s assertion wasn’t true. “Well, I for one would be happy to welcome Sweetie into our fold,” Diamond Tiara conceded before throwing an angry glare at Silver Spoon, “Especially since she’s not a traitor!” Silver, for her part, ‘hmphed’ and trotted to join Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, head held high. “You’re only saying that because you picked Sonic,” she said, suddenly whirling around on Diamond with an angry glare of her own. “When you know Rainbow Dash is going to stomp him into the mud and then take him to the cleaners!” Diamond was caught off-guard when Sweetie Belle suddenly in front of her, seemingly uncharacteristically aggressive. “You’ll never beat Team Sonic!” she retorted. Scootaloo took a step forward. “Team Dash!” she said. “Team Sonic!” “Team Dash!” “Girls, please!” Amy pleaded, “Everyone knows that Team Rose is the best! Besides, we don’t have time for this!” She gestured towards the grandstands, “The seats are filling up, and we haven’t gotten cotton candy yet! We can’t watch the race without cotton candy. And maybe we can meet Sonic before it starts!” Not waiting for a reply, she turned and hurried towards the sea of vendors that had set up in the wood for the day. “Cotton candy?“ said Sweetie Belle. “Meet Sonic?” said Diamond Tiara. In an instant, both of them were galloping after the hedgehog. “Amy! Wait up!” Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Silver Spoon watched them for a few seconds. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom looked at Silver Spoon, nonplussed. Silver Spoon looked back at them, indifferent, and then offered a shrug. All three of them went trotting after their friends.