//------------------------------// // A Gentle Breeze // Story: Best Princess Contest // by Pen Stroke //------------------------------// “All right, everypony, it’s time for us to begin the best princess contest! The first challenge comes from Fluttershy, who is about to explain the rules,” Spike said, he and Baritone Broadcast looking over the edge of their balloon and down to the grass of the slapdash stadium where Fluttershy was standing, her voice getting spread across the crowd thanks to some carefully applied magic spells. “When I think of what a leader, a princess, of Equestria needs, I think of kindness. The ability to be gentle and apply just the right amount of force. For that, the challenge I’m giving the princesses is one that even the most skilled of weather ponies have trouble with.” Fluttershy gestured to a long stretch of grass. There was a very clear starting line with a few bird perches set in a line. At the other end of the stretch of grass, marked on the sides with chalk lines, was a wooden table and some cushions. “They are going to provide a gentle breeze for our volunteers who have been magically changed into breezies.” Fluttershy gently extended her wings, revealing the six ponies who had been magically transformed into one of the smallest, lightest, and most delicate denizens of Equestria. There was a collective murmur of daws and “so cute”s from the crowd. “For everything I know about Breezies, I’ve helped calculate how long it should take for our breeziefied volunteers to go from one end of the course to the other. Half of the points for this challenge will come from getting the breezies to the finish line in the appropriate amount of time. The other half of the points will come from how the volunteers judge your ability to keep a consistent, gentle breeze for them to ride on. “This isn’t a race. This challenge is all about being able to be gentle and controlled, and you have to do it without using magic. You have to make the breeze just like the weather teams do, using only your wings.” “And there you have it, an appropriate choice of challenge from the Element of Kindness, Fluttershy,” Spike said. “Baritone, where do you put the odds for this first challenge?” “The only thing I think I can say is that princesses may have difficulty with this challenge, especially since most of them are far more practiced at their magic than their wings. Princess Cadance might have some surprises for us since she was originally a pegasus. On the other hoof, Princess Twilight Sparkle is the one who is the most inexperienced with her wings. I can’t see her scoring well in this first round.” “I don’t know, Baritone,” Spike said as he grinned at his announcing counterpart. “I think there’s more mathematics to this challenge than you’re realizing, and when it comes to mathematics, I put Princess Twilight at the top.” “I have heard rumors that she is the most quick-witted with the numbers and formula of the four princesses,” Baritone retorted. “Still, speaking of math: for those just getting seated, we’re going to reiterate the scoring for this Best Princess Contest. Every challenge is worth up to ten points. In some challenges, a princess’s individual performance will be all that matters. In others, they shall be directly competing against one another for the highest point score. But at the end of the day, the princess who gets the most points out of sixty will secure the title of ‘best princess.’ “And it looks like we won’t have to wait long to get started as Princess Celestia takes her position.” ~~~ Twilight stood just off to the side of the breezie challenge. She was next to Cadance, who in turn was standing next to Luna. All of them had their eyes on Celestia as she took her position at the start of the breezie course. Though Twilight was interested to see how well Princess Celestia did, her mind was going over her strategy. The breezie course was a long, narrow rectangle. The breeziefied volunteers would do their best to stay in the course as they glided on the breeze. Fluttershy had set the ideal time for the course at one minute and thirty seconds. If they took longer than that to get all the breezies to the finish line, then they’d start losing time points. But on the other hoof, if they made the wind too strong, the breezie volunteers could get jostled around or made uncomfortable. That too could result in points being lost. Putting that all together, Twilight calculated that there was one perfect breeze. That a specific wind speed could be employed that would make the volunteers arrive at the finish line just under the time goal while providing a very smooth, gentle ride. Guestimating the length of the course, Twilight already had a fairly good grasp on the perfect wind speed. The difficulties came from obtaining and maintaining that breeze over the length of the course. “Ready? And… Go!” Twilight put her thoughts to the side for a moment to focus back on the contest. Celestia had started her turn, and Twilight noticed her alabaster wings were already spread wide. It was a smart move. It meant she wouldn’t waste time unfurling her wings and getting them in a position flap. It was a good tactic, one Twilight intended to use for her own challenge. Then came the flapping, Celestia beating her wings with almost mesmerizing grace. A single flap of her wings and the breeziefied volunteers were gingerly lifted from the bird perches that was their starting point. Another flap and they were gently on their way, starting to drift down the course. Even in those two flaps, Twilight felt she was learning tricks and tactics to apply to her attempt. And that knowledge proved out one of the larger rules of the contest: that the princesses would rotate who went first in the more individually focused challenges. Whoever went last had a huge advantage, and for this first challenge, Twilight knew she had to make the most of her position at the end of the line. Twilight focused back on the challenge. Though she had to marvel at Celestia’s control, Twilight couldn’t help but notice the difficulties Celestia faced. Even if they were allowed to stay standing at the starting line, her wingspan meant that Celestia was used to larger, deep flaps. Normally that would possibly lead to an inconsistent breeze, but Celestia was doing her best to incorporate that into her technique. She was putting some of her efforts into giving the volunteers a small lift in altitude with each beat of her wings. That meant they were able to glide between flaps without getting too close to the ground. It was surely not a traditional breeze that would be normally used to help keep breezies aloft, but it was undeniably effective. The breezies reached the end of the course, landing gently on the cushion covered table. When the last of them was over the finish line, the timer stopped. Fluttershy quickly went to the volunteers at the finish line, speaking with them before using a wing to hold up a scorecard. Baritone’s voice began to fill the air as he announced the results for all watching. “And Princess Celestia has secured a rating of five from the volunteers, but at a time of 1:44, she’s just barely going to get four out of five points for the time portion of the challenge. However, that still gives our princess of the sun a solid nine points from her first challenge! She has certainly set a high bar for the other princesses to beat. And next up is Princess Luna.” Princess Celestia trotted away from the breezie challenge course as Luna trotted forward. Twilight could see the two share some quick words. Celestia had a playful smile on her lips. It was an expression Luna countered with a stern look of determination. Twilight could see that rivalry between the two sisters was bubbling to the surface, but hopefully, things wouldn’t escalate between the two of them. Shifting her focus, Twilight was a bit surprised to see where Princess Luna was standing. The princess of the moon was standing several body lengths away from the starting line. Fluttershy seemed to share Twilight’s concern, as she went to speak with Luna. Yet, even after speaking with Fluttershy, Luna did not move any closer. She remained several dozen steps back, wings spread and at the ready. Once more, Fluttershy announced the start, and immediately Luna used her wings to take off from the ground. She was doing as the weather ponies usually did, keeping herself in a hover while trying to control the breeze. She also seemed to be creating a stronger wind than Celestia did. Twilight’s eyes flicked to the volunteers, actually a bit worried about them if such a strong breeze should hit them. Yet, they were lifting off from the bird perches gently. As the breezies moved down their course, Princess Luna gently flew forward as well, closing the gap between her and the starting line of the course. Twilight now better understood Luna’s tactic. Luna was creating a stronger wind around herself, one that was cascading outward away from her position. Yet, the further the wind got from Luna, the weaker it became. By the time it reached the volunteers, it was just the right strength. Yet Luna’s tactics revealed a part of the equation that Twilight had not considered. That the further away the breezies got from the pony creating the breeze, the weaker the breeze could get. This was especially true when it was just a single pony making the breeze, even if it was a princess. Princess Celestia had managed to account for that fall off. Twilight assumed she had just flapped her wings with greater force as the breezies got further away. Princess Luna was taking an alternative approach, keeping the strength of her breeze constant by maintaining a constant distance between her and the volunteers. Yet, as Twilight was watching, she could see something that Luna wasn’t accounting for. Since she was airborne, her wind had a slight downward angle. The breezies were heading not towards the soft cushions at the finish line. They were on a collision course with the table itself. Taking her eyes from the volunteers to Princess Luna, Twilight could tell that Luna had come to the same realization. With the course almost over, she abruptly made a very strong flap with her wings, directing most of it towards the ground. The wind bounced and swirled off the grass, and came up beneath the breezies to give them a final push upward so they would land on the pillows. It was a successful tactic, but it certainly didn’t look like it was the gentlest of maneuvers. “And that’s a run of 1:24 for Princess Luna,” Spike said, his voice filling the air and layering over the cheering crowd. “Now let’s see what the score is from the volunteers.” As before, Fluttershy spoke with the volunteers briefly before holding up a scorecard so that it was visible to the hot air balloon. “Oooo, but that’s a three from the judges,” Spike continued. “That last little gust of wind did look pretty rough.” Though Twilight couldn’t see it, she could almost hear Baritone nodding his head as he spoke. “An unfortunate mistake right at the finish line. Princess Luna still walks away from this challenge with eight points, which means she’s still well in the running for the title. Next up is Princess Cadance.” Already, Twilight found that she was next up to the challenge. She shifted on her hooves and twitched her wings, feeling the nerves starting to build in her muscles. Yet, that was truly the last thing she wanted in a challenge that required such a high level of control. With each new piece of information, her own strategy was evolving and getting more detailed. Yet, no matter how good the plan, it would fail if she was unable to execute it properly. Cadance took a position similar to Celestia, planting her hooves very near the starting line. Yet, she was already doing something that Twilight and the crowd had not seen before. She was facing the wrong way, with her head pointing away from the starting line. Once more, Fluttershy went up and looked to be ensuring that Cadance was ready to proceed. Twilight saw Cadance nod her head and, as before, Fluttershy started the clock. Cadance began flapping her wings as if she was getting ready to take off, but at the same time was keeping her hooves very firmly planted on the ground. The breezified volunteers began to gently float, and slowly Twilight began to see the brilliance of Cadance’s position. Yes, Cadance had to look over her shoulder to judge and manipulate her wind, she was doing so with a high level of control. Pony wings, like bird wings, were designed by nature to propel a pony forward while maintaining the desired altitude. By standing with her back facing the course, Cadance was working with that natural design instead of against it. It was ensuring Cadance was able to use her wing muscles to their full potential, both in power and control. In a way, Twilight realized the vertical hovering technique Luna employed had many of the same benefits. It was likely why the weather teams used the same hovering position when the breezies were floating through Ponyville as part of their migration. It allowed them to generate the breeze using the natural mechanic of their feathering wings while also allowing a squad of weather ponies to stay airborne together. That thought made Twilight further appreciate how Celestia had chosen to make her attempt, as flapping in reverse was surely more difficult than Twilight had initially realized. Still, besides the odd starting position, Cadance’s attempt ended up looking a lot like Celestia’s. The breezies had some small gusts of wind that they rode in a gentle waveform until they finally arrived at the finish line. The time was 1:39, good for four points, and the volunteers’ score was five. Cadance had netted herself nine points as well, tying her up with Celestia. “And last up to the kindness challenge, Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Baritone’s voice boomed over the stadium as the crowd cheered. Twilight felt her nerves rise again, and they tried to bring her lunch up as well as she tasted a bit of bile form in the back of her throat. Still, Twilight swallowed those nerves back down and began to trot out, passing Cadance who had a rather pleased look on her face. She had every right to be happy. A nine out of ten was a great start, but that smirk helped calm Twilight’s nerves further. She was intent now. She was going to be the only princess to get a perfect score in the kindness challenge. She would do it to beat Cadance. “Are you ready, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked once Twilight was at the starting line. Fluttershy had already done as she did for all the other rounds and gotten the volunteers positioned back on the bird perches at the start of the course. “Yes,” Twilight answered as she took her position facing the course as Celestia had. “Wait, actually…” She turned around, taking Cadance’s posture. She then took a few steps back and took to the air as Luna had, but no, none of those felt right. She was putting together the last details of her plan, and it came down to how she wanted to stand. “Okay… wait… wait… okay, for real this time,” Twilight said, standing perpendicular to the course with the starting line on her right side. Perhaps she was going against the natural design of her wings, but for her plan, she was willing to risk it. “All right then. Ready… Go!” Fluttershy cheered, a quiet sound that, even if it was amplified across the stadium, was still very demure and polite. Twilight began flapping her right-wing and only her right-wing. She did not move it in a traditional wing beat, but instead was just gently fluttering it up and down. It was a kind of wing flap more similar to how an insect would buzz its wings, but it was having the effect Twilight was hoping for. It was letting her produce a very consistent, controlled breeze, one that had already lifted the volunteers off their bird perches and was carrying them down the course. Up, down, up, down, up, down. Twilight’s wing was already getting tired from the rather unnatural wing flap. Such short, stiff, quick strokes were taxing on her wing muscles, but she only had to do it for a minute and a half at worst. The breezies passed the halfway point, the only part of the course that was marked. Twilight could tell she was a little slow, and that her breeze was starting to fall off. So she had to buzz her wing even harder, widening her stance a little as she began to strain herself more. Updownupdownupdownupdown. Her wing was going to feel weird after the challenge was done, and hopefully, the next challenge wouldn’t involve any flying. But still, she had to keep focused… keep up the wind and keep gently increasing its strength so that it would be at the appropriate intensity once it reached the volunteers. Updownupdownupdownupdown. Updoupdoupdoupdo. Ududududududud. The last breezie crossed the line, and Twilight let her wing flop limp as she felt some sweat on her brow. That had taken way more energy than she anticipated, but it was done. She was sure she had locked down a perfect score from the volunteers. The gust of wind had been controlled and calm the entire way, smoother than any of the other princesses. The only thing she was uncertain of was her time. How long did it take her to get the breezies across the finish line? “And we’ve gotten a score of 5 from Fluttershy,” Spike’s voice announced across the audience. “And with a time of 1:29, Princess Twilight Sparkle has gotten a perfect score on the kindness challenge.” Twilight smiled, looking across the crowd as she heard cheers. Yes, she had beaten Cadance! She went to look in the direction of her sister-in-law and saw Cadance was applauding respectfully. Yet… Twilight soon realized that Luna and Celestia were looking at her with similar expressions. It was then the realization hit Twilight. Yes, she had beaten Cadance… but she had beaten Luna and even Celestia as well. She had beaten her mentor at something, and Twilight wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about that. That and Twilight knew her fellow princesses would be eager to close the gap in the next challenge.