Chapter 1 "The Invite"

Beams of light from the sun shined radiantly over the small Equestrian town of Ponyville.  Feelings of joy and happiness filled the air as ponies, unicorns and pegasi shopped in the town marketplace.  Among these ponies were three young fillies that everypony were all too familiar with.  They were Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweet Belle, who known to themselves and everypony else as the Cutie Mark Crusaders.  While usually the three youngsters would be out and about looking at ways to get their cutie marks, their attention was stalled for the moment as they stared at an interesting poster stuck up on a information stand.  The poster featured images of stallions and mares alike engaged in the sport of professional wrestling.  The heading for the poster read "Pony Wrestling Federation Presents: Hoovamania VI, Live from Canterlot Royal Stadium"

"Cool!" Scootaloo spoke in excitement.

"This looks amazing to go see," Apple Bloom shared in the same atmosphere with her pegasus friend.

"I don't see why you two are so excited to see something like this," Sweetie Belle, the unicorn, said.  Unlike her two friends, Sweetie Belle wasn't much a of sports fan.

"Wrestling is so cool," Scootaloo hopped up with joy.  "Ponies from all over Equestria compete in the P.W.F. with the dream of becoming the World Heavyweight Champion."

"And Ah have a cousin who's in it too.  Name's Honeycrisp and is the only member of our family to take up wrasslin'," Apple Bloom smiled.

"I hope I can get myself a ticket to this," said the little orange pegasus.

"I'm not much into these kind of sports but if you are planning on seeing this, I'll come along too," Sweetie Belle spoke to her friends.  Even though Sweetie Belle didn't like wrestling, she didn't want to feel left out if her friends went to view the event.

Above in the sky, a blue pegasus with rainbow mane and tail flew across the open heavens.  Her name was Rainbow Dash.  She had finished up her morning weather patrol and was planning on going down to Sugarcube Corner to hang out with her friends.  Her eyes caught a glimpse of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.  Rainbow Dash swooped down and landed just behind the trio of fillies.  "Hey there little fillies," Rainbow Dash greeted.

"Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo exclaimed.  Rainbow Dash was a pony Scootaloo looked up to like a role model.  Every time she saw the blue pegasus, her excitement always was front and center.  While they were friends with her too, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle didn't often share the same zealous joy at the sight of Rainbow Dash as their filly pegasus friend.

"What'cha looking at?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Apple Bloom pointed at the poster with her hoof.  "The P.W.F. event, Hoovamania, is coming to Canterlot."

Rainbow Dash took a closer look at the event poster.  She was natural athlete and loved sports; among them was wrestling.  

"Awesome!" Rainbow Dash spoke out in excitement.

Scootaloo looked up at the adult pegasus she idolized and asked, "Would you ever take up wrestling, Rainbow Dash?

Rainbow Dash let out a small chuckle and said to the small pegasus, "Heh, if I wasn't bent on becoming a Wonderbolt, I'd probably take a shot at joining the P.W.F."

The response from the pegasus brought a huge smile to Scootaloo.  Images of Rainbow Dash as a wrestler and winning one of the championship titles ran through her head.  Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle also smiled at Rainbow Dash's answer to their fellow crusader.

"Cool!" all three fillies exclaimed together.

"Well, I better be on my way.  Meeting up with my friends at Sugarcube Corner," said Rainbow Dash.

"I better go too and see if my parents can take me to Hoovamania," said Scootaloo as joy was still strong with her.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders started trotting off.  "See ya later, Rainbow Dash," Apple Bloom called back to their older friend.

"Catch you three later," Rainbow returned the call.  With that said, Rainbow Dash flew back into the clear blue sky and flew off in the direction of Sugarcube Corner.

Business at Sugarcube Corner was pretty quiet for the mid-afternoon.  Customers had come and gone throughout the day purchasing various desserts and breads.  The quietness though hadn't kept several ponies from the enjoying the day inside the premier bakery of Ponyville.  Pinkie Pie, the baking apprentice of the Cakes, the owners of the bakery, had just brought out a tray of her homemade cupcakes and began frosting and decorating them.  Applejack, the apple farmer of Sweet Apple Acres, was reclined back against the side of the staircase to the second floor resting her eyes and chewing on a sprig of wheat.  Rarity, the seamstress and owner of Carousel Boutique, was sitting at a table reading the daily Ponyville newspaper.  Fluttershy, the local animal caregiver, and Twilight Sparkle, the town's librarian, were playing a game of checkers.  Twilight's mood at the moment was on slight frustration due to Fluttershy's inactivity on the checkerboard.  "Come on, Fluttershy.  You've been staring at that checkerboard for ten minutes without making a move," Twilight spoke up.  She tried not to seem mad or aggravated as Fluttershy was prone to timidness.

"Right,"  Fluttershy quietly answered back to the purple unicorn.  "Um--maybe if I move this one--no--not there.  Maybe this one over here--no--that won't work either.  Or maybe this one--"  Now without Fluttershy's inactivity, the yellow pegasus' decision-making was the thing to wait on.  Twilight let out a soft exhale of air in mild frustration.

Rainbow Dash flew into the bakery and landed in the center of the shop.  The rest of her friends smiled at her arrival.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late.  Had a few things to finish up," the blue pegasus said to her five friends.

"That's okay, sugarcube," said Applejack as she lifted her hat above her eyes.

The arrival of Rainbow Dash brought joyness to Pinkie Pie as she hopped up and down and smiled.

"With everypony here now, the cupcakes are ready," the pink Earth pony cheered.  Pinkie Pie brought a tray of decorated cupcakes over to the counter.  Each of her friends grabbed themselves a cupcake and snacked on them.  Smiles and the usual "mmmm" sounds pasted on to each of the ponies.

"Your cupcakes are so divine as always Pinkie Pie," Rarity remarked to the young baker.  Pinkie Pie only chuckled back.

The quietness of cupcake eating was quickly shattered as Spike, the baby purple dragon, ran into the shop with a scroll in hand.

"You guys!  I just got a letter from the Princess," Spike called out to his pony friends.

"A letter from Princess Celestia?" Twilight asked.  

"Not just a letter, something extra," Spike pulled out seven slips of silver and gold colored paper and held them up for the ponies to see.  "Check it out!  Seven tickets to Hoovamania."

The announcement only brought questionable looks to Rarity, Fluttershy, and Twilight's faces.  To Rainbow Dash and Applejack, it was like a message from the heavens landed right in front of them.  Pinkie Pie hopped in excitement, but only because in her mind, tickets to any type of event usually meant a party.  Rainbow Dash quickly flew up to Spike, grabbing one of the tickets from his little hand.

"All right!  I've always wanted to see Hoovamania live.  This is too awesome," the pegasus spoke with great happiness.

"What's Hoovamania?" Twilight asked.

"Only the biggest and best event of the Pony Wrestling Federation.  Some of the best athletes in all of Equestria compete in it," Rainbow Dash quickly explained while clinching the ticket tightly between her front hooves.

"Not to mention mah cousin, Honeycrisp.  Haven't seen her since the family reunion last year and it would be sweet to see her wrassle at Hoovamania," Applejack commented with similar liking.

"What does the letter say, Spike?" Twilight asked.

Spike unrolled the scroll, cleared his throat, and read, "My faithful and dearest student, Twilight Sparkle, it is my pleasure to invite you and your friends to the Pony Wrestling Federation event Hoovamania two weeks from today at the Canterlot Royal Stadium.  My dear sister, Princess Luna, and I will be in attendance for the event and would like you and your friends to join us for the evening.  Yours truly, Princess Celestia."

"Princess Luna and Princess Celestia like watching wrestling?  They've just gotten cooler," Rainbow Dash declared at the response of the letter.

"Oh please.  Why would anypony want to watch ponies assault each other for entertainment?" Rarity asked as she held the newspaper back up to read.  Like her little sister, Sweetie Belle, Rarity also disliked these kind of sports.

"It's a form of athletic sport.  Both Rainbow and Ah have watched wrasslin' since we were little fillies.  Ponies fighting their way to becoming champion is like me striving to be the best in the rodeo or Rainbow jettin' towards becoming a Wonderbolt," Applejack explained to the skeptical unicorn.

Rainbow Dash flew up to Rarity and pulled down the newspaper to see Rarity's face.  "And seeing it live is an experience all in itself.  They always put on an awesome show for everypony.  Plus, getting to watch it with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, how cool is that?" the cyan-colored pegasus asked.

The white unicorn thought for a moment and then came to a conclusion.  "This would be a chance to visit with both princesses," she answered back to Rainbow Dash.

"With both of them there, we can enjoy something together," Twilight spoke at the thought of seeing Princess Luna and Princess Celestia again, whom the latter acted as a mentor to her since she was a filly.

Despite the excitement and the discussion going on around her, Fluttershy was still focused on the checker game.  She finally moved one of her red checker pieces to another square.

"There.  Your time, Twilight," Fluttershy smiled to the purple unicorn on the other side of the table.  Twilight looked at the kind-hearted pegasus as if to say 'about time'.

Pinkie Pie continued to hop up and down and proclaimed, "This sounds like fun.  It's going to be a big party."

Twilight Sparkle looked around the bakery at each of her friends.  The mood was that of exhilaration.  They all seemed eager to go to the wrestling event and bond with the Princesses.

"So we're all going to go?" Twilight asked her friends.

Twilight didn't have to wait a second for the other ponies and the little dragon to cheer out in unison, "Yeah!"