//------------------------------// // Flounder to the Finish. Epilogue // Story: Twilight Gets a Puppy, Season 4 // by TDR //------------------------------// Twilight Gets a Puppy Season 4 By TDR Flounder to the Finish. Epilogue [ Crystal Empire] “In lucent of the ostentatious display being quite exemplar as well as compellingly put together, in lieu of or even because of the age category presented. The originality was something quite unexpected when compared to other rival ternion, who while also putting their own spin on things, with the exception of the group plagiarizing miss Brisby's well known work, Nimh, still seemed to incorporate elements of other works and sometimes even each other. The choreography was much more refined than expected in this category of display, while still requiring work, it could almost be on par with at least a moderate amateur performance. The motivation however was truly the biggest point of interest as they seemed exceedingly driven and that energy was expertly channeled into their presentation, with no displays of stage fright, nor hesitation in what I expected were several impromptu changes in the routine due to small errors that were expertly ad-libbed on the spot. While noticeable they hardly deviated from the message of the performance. In light of the combination of these elements of the display I shall be giving a favorable tally to this group.” The other judges, the competitors, and the entire audience stared at the speaker. Except of course for the collection of mares, and a few stallions, that fainted at the sound of his voice. Shining Armor snorted in amusement as Rahs stared back at everyone staring at him. His ears flattened to his head and he let out a sigh. “Woof.” “He says it was good.” Shining Armor smirked holding back a chortle. “OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHH!” the whole stadium erupted as Rahs smacked his head into the judges desk beating his forehead against the wood as he held up a card reading 8.9. “I must agree, that the performance was superb.” Miss Harshwhinny stated with a hint of more emotion in her voice than she had expressed with any of the other ones aside from Dinky Doo's group. Granted that filly could give a rock a heart attack without trying. They had to talk Cadence down from giving her group a 80 on a ten point scale. She held up a place card with a 7.2 on it, her highest score thus far save for the aforementioned Dinky Doo, who got . 2 higher. Still with the last judge having shown her tally, the winners by .5 overall for the Ponyville district, were the Cutie Mark Crusaders. “Spike I need to have a word with you.” Miss Cheerilee stated as she pulled the small dragon to the side of the back room of the stadium, frowning down at him. The rest of the area was filled with screaming foals and a number of family members and others congratulating the Crusaders. “Hmm what's up?” Spike questioned. “I am quite cross with you for lying to me about the train, and I am even more cross with you threatening Diamond Tiara.” “Ahh found out about that huh?” Spike let out a sigh. “It was uncalled for Spike and I had hoped you would remain the more level headed one in class that I could trust.” Cheerilee scolded. “While I rather expect this sort of thing from your sister, I trusted you to do better. So imagine my surprise when several other students brought this to my attention.” “She needed it.” Spike stated, unrepentant. “it is not your place to judge that. Nor did she need to be terrified like that for no reason Spike.” Cheerilee stated with a glare. “ You should have informed me and I would have dealt with her.” “Maybe, but you and I both know punishment doesn't take with her, it just makes her madder and more eager to go after the ones who she perceives are the cause of her punishment. Besides do you really want to deal with spoiled again?” Spike offered. “That is not your call to make Spike.” Cheerilee stated.”Spoiled is all mouth any way, Filthy Rich is much calmer and easier to deal with. Problem parents are my concern, not yours.” “Yet Diamond remains a bully. Whose favorite targets are friends of mine.“ Spike pointed out. “Thing is this is to protect her as well as the Crusaders. What do you think Princess Luna would do if she knew her 'younger sister' was being bullied? How well do you think Applejack would handle it when she has a hard time with her own emotions and even her own body after this curse of hers. Heck the less said about what Rainbow Dash or Scootaloo's parents would do the better.” Spike offered. “And that's hardly even all of it.” “What?” “What happens if Diamond finally pushed one of them too far and they lashed out at her. Diamond might be an earth pony but she doesn't have near the power or durability a life long farmer like Bloom has, not to mention Applebloom's still learning things from your mare friend, and Zecora has taught her some potentially dangerous things. Then there's Sweetiebelle, who's being taught magic by Princess Luna, who wants to train her up to be a magus. A war mage...“ Spike offered. “And we can't forget Scootaloo, who despite not having a major patron like the others, is a powerhouse on her own and is likely the most physically fit out of all of them, including Applebloom. Add into the fact that she's taking two martial arts classes because Dash did and so far she's really good at them. Would you rather I terrify Diamond Tiara or let one of them snap, which Scootaloo almost did this time?” Cheerilee stared down at the dragon a moment before letting out a sigh. “I cannot fault your logic Spike. I can fault your execution. And I will be bringing this up with Nightlight and Twilight Velvet as I expect your sister would just give you a high hoof if she caught wind of this. I will also be assigning detention and it will be some time before I place my trust in you fully again.” “Expected, and accepted.” Spike nodded. “For now however go back to the party, we will discuss this again later, and you will leave Diamond Tiara alone.” Cheerilee ordered. “So long as she behaves herself.” “Spike.” “Fine, fine....” [Ponyville] “The nerve of that ass... How the heck does Rarity deal with him?” Twilight fumed. “Likely the same thing he thinks about you Sparkle.” Chrysalis offered from the Library couch. “Chrysalis? What are you still doing here? Shouldn't you be in the Crystal Empire judging the Games flag carriers?” “Pffft yeah right. I sat in on, I lost count of how many, junior recitals and other events preformed by foals when we were still hiding. For every decent performance there are thousands of foals that are only skilled enough to be a back ground tree in a desert scene. The parental love was great, but holy fuck was the rest bad." Chrysalis waved a hoof in the air dramatically. “I have no idea how your brother can stand it.” “He can't.” Twilight smiled darkly.”I tricked him into going to the Empire for something else and let Shining and Cadence trap him there for this as I signed him up to be a judge.” “Bucking Tartarus mare. You are far more evil than I thought.” Chrysalis clapped her hooves in approval. “I am almost upset I sent a stand in and missed his reaction, almost.” “A stand in?”Twilight offered.” You trust some one else to assume your identity?” “Just this one.” Chrysalis grinned. [ Crystal Empire] Shining Armor took note of Cadence's reactions to the foals. His wife's lowest score for the day was 9.8 and that was only because a pegasus foal who flubbed a line swore and she had to dock the team for that. This would be a discussion later he could feel it. Shining himself was just making up arbitrary scores at random depending on how well the foals seemed to have their act together. Miss Harshwhinny and Rahs were taking this far too seriously and had ranking and reasons for every single decimal point they gave or took away. Then there was …. 'Queen Chrysalis'. The changeling sitting to his left was a stallion. He was also smaller than Shining was. He had a tiny paper crown on his head from Hay Burger and long stringy hair that Shining was pretty sure had started life as a mop before it became covered in green mildew. He also had a sticker on his chest that read ' Hello, my name is 'Queen Chrysalis and definitely not Bees'. He made up scores based on what number he could remember, or he copied some one elses card. At one point he held up an uno draw four card. Cadence played along with it. Shining didn't say anything, but rolled his eyes at the changelings antics. Miss Harshwhinny was not amused, but that was normal. Rahs was grumbling under his breath about digging a shallow grave for his sister as the 4th hour of nine hours of events began.