It was a day unlike any other at the School of Friendship. Students were all a buzz, and the teachers were wrapping up their jobs for the day. However, it was getting close to Hearth’s Warming Eve! And, that meant that the students were now on winter break. School was officially out for the next two weeks, and as the Young Six were packing up for their trips back home, Twilight and Rainbow Dash would help them get to the station to spend time with their families.
As the students were getting ready packing, Spike decided to take a quick peek at one of the presents before Hearth’s Warming. He shook a box, which let out a rattle. He couldn’t wait to find out what it was. “It's that new bowtie I wanted, isn't it?” he said, excitedly.
“You'll have to wait and see.” Twilight said.
“I'm waiting!” Spike said, still filled with excitement. “But in the meantime, I'm shaking!” He continued to shake his present.
Unbeknownst to them, at that moment, a cloaked figure was already above the tree, and sprinkled some dust on it. As that happened, the fire of Friendship burned more brightly than ever. And then, it exploded, sliming the tree and covered Spike.
Twilight had shielded herself from the slime, and Rainbow was not too near the tree when that happened. So, they were good. However, Spike was slimed, as he tried to shake it off of him frantically! Luckily, Twilight got the slime right off of him.
“Wha... What happened?!” Spike asked, as he saw the whole situation unfolded.
“Everything's ruined – that's what's happened!” Twilight said, as she saw the decorations and tree ruined by the slime.
Rainbow Dash noticed a can of magic dust on top of the tree, and flew up, getting a closer look. “And I don't think it was an accident.” She said sternly. “Somepony was up here!”
Just then, they saw the cloaked prankster about to leave. “Over there!” Spike shouted. The figure opened the window and out into the cold.
“Outside!” Twilight said, and they went outside to try to figure out where he or she was.
Spike noticed the door closed, and knew where that led. “That's the students' quarters!” Spike said. They all rushed inside to the student dorms before skidding to a stop.
Rainbow was the first to speak up. “Might as well give up, whoever you are!” She said, seriously. “We got ya cornered!”
There was no response. “Hello?” Twilight asked. “Is anypony there?” Still no response.
“I'll check the back door!” Rainbow said, as she flew off. Twilight and Spike both checked the students’ quarters to see if anyone else was there.
“I don’t see anyone. You see anyone, Spike?” Twilight asked.
“Not yet.” Spike said. They both went to the entrance.
Rainbow zoomed back to them. “They’re not there!” She said in alarm.
“What?!” Twilight and Spike both said in shock.
“What do you mean?” Twilight said, getting worried.
“Just what I said!” Rainbow said, her voice getting louder. “Our students aren’t there!”
They both gasped. All 3 did a run though of the dorms. Sure enough, no one was there.
“Where could they be?” Spike asked with worry.
“Well, we DID send them for Winter Break, didn’t we?” Rainbow asked.
Twilight’s eyes widened, as she realized what that meant. She facehoofed and groaned. “I can’t believe this!” She said angrily. “I can’t believe our students would leave when someone came out of nowhere and ruined our decorations!”
“They’d better come back to the scene of the crime and fess up what happened!” Rainbow said, now angry as Twilight.
“But whoever did it had to have come in here!” Twilight reasoned. “We saw them!”
“So, what happens if we DO catch anyone in the act?” Spike asked curiously.
“Whoever did this won't be going home over Hearth's Warming break.” Twilight said seriously. “She or he will stay here for some one-on-one friendship lessons. Also, that would mean no holidays for that creature if he or she doesn’t confess. The guilty party has to stay over the break.”
“Unfortunately for US, our students aren’t here!” Rainbow shouted, which frightened Spike.
“Girls, stop!” Spike said, breaking up the fight. “This arguing will take us nowhere! For now, we have to wonder why that creature would want to sabotage Hearth’s Warming Eve!”
“And once we find out who did it, just you wait!” Rainbow said, still angry.
“Wherever those students are...” Twilight said, underneath her breath. “They’ve got a LOT of explaining to do when they get back!”
Meanwhile, the Young Six, with Cozy Glow were already on their way to the station to head back to their kingdoms to celebrate the holidays. They were already starting to make the long trip home.
“Golly, it sure was nice of you to help us pack, Sandbar!” Cozy Glow said, As they checked in for their next trip.
“No problem, Cozy!” Sandbar said.
“Hey, it’s much better than having to pack a mess full of stuff and then, bring it like a paper-mache exploded!” Smolder said, as the others all shared a laugh.
“You know, there was something similar to that I wanted to talk to you about.” Gallus said, a little uncomfortable. “The craziest thing just happened. Someone ruined Headmare Twilight’s Hearth’s Warming decorations.”
“That IS something crazy to wonder about.” Silverstream said. “And, we were just packing like our professors told us too!”
“And, as we left, I heard Twilight say that whoever did it had to have come in here!” Ocellus said, a little worried. “They must have saw someone do it.”
“Well, it couldn’t have been us.” Yona said confidently. “Friends were already in rooms.”
“And whoever did it ran into our rooms.” Cozy Glow added. “No one came out, but all of us left before Twilight saw us.”
“So, she thinks one of us did it?” Smolder asked, worried.
“If any of us were accused, Yona feel offended by this!” Yona stated.
“I’m pretty sure it was just an accident, and not on purpose.” Gallus tried to calmly say.
“Why would they think we sabotaged Hearth’s Warming Eve?” Smolder asked. “It’s not like we—!” Just then, Smolder felt a burp, and then unexpectedly, she belched out a letter out of her mouth.
“Whoa!” Gallus and Sandbar both said in shock at the sight of her seeing that.
“I didn’t know you could do that!” Ocellus said in shock as well.
“Neither did I.” Smolder said, as she started to unravel the note.
“Do dragons usually do that sort of thing, or just Spike?” Silverstream asked curiously.
Smolder unrolled up the letter, and read it. She was very shocked at what she saw. "Uh, oh." She said softly.
"What’s going on, Smolder?" Silverstream asked, as she tried to see the letter, while Smolder tried to hide it from her.
"Nothing." Smolder said, trying to cover it up. "It’s just a little something..."
No one believed the excuse. "What, Specifically?" Ocellus asked.
"A punishment." Smolder said, after taking a deep breath.
"Yes, but what punishment." Ocellus asked again.
"A very, very bad punishment." Smolder said, starting to get even more nervous.
"Okay, are you going to tell us what’s going on or not?" Cozy asked, starting to get impatient.
Smolder took in a deep breath, and explained. "Okay. Well, apparently, it says from Twilight that the guilty party won't be going home over Hearth's Warming break, and he or she will stay here for some one-on-one friendship lessons."
"WHAT?!" The rest all said in shock.
"But, what if none of us confesses?" Silverstream asked with worry.
"Then..." Smolder sighed. "I guess we all have to stay over the break." This made some of them gasp in shock, while some of them groaned in disappointment.
"Aw, but the holidays!" Sandbar started to wail.
At that moment, the orange dragon felt another burp, and then unexpectedly, belched out a second letter out of her mouth.
"Two letters in ONE day?!" Gallus said in shock and exasperation. "What are all the odds???"
Smolder quickly unrolled it, and was even more shocked at what she saw in THIS one. “You'll all get yours in Tartarus, you lying, thieving...bleeping bleepers.” Smolder read. “And once we find out who did it, just you wait!” She realized who it was from. “It’s from Professor Rainbow Dash!” Smolder said in shock. This made everyone gasp in shock.
“Oh, great. Now we have to send Professor Egghead a card.” The Griffin said unenthusiastic and sarcastically.
“I know the professors would suspect we did it.” Silverstream said. “But, they would never curse at us like this before!” She started.
“I know I’m used to getting hate mail before, but you’re not.” Gallus said, pointing to the others.
“I never knew our professors would sent us hate mail.” Smolder said sadly.
“Yak feel pretty hearthbroken about this.” Yona added.
“Then, there’s only one way out.” Gallus decided.
“It’s clear what we must do.” Smolder said. “We've gotta either clean up the whole mess at school, or buy a new tree and decorations for it.”
“But we don't have the money for it.” Cozy Glow said sadly. It looked like it would be futile.
Just then, Ocellus had a sneaky idea. “Unless-“ she thought out loud.
“There is no ‘unless’, Ocellus!” Gallus said to her. “Don’t you get it? We’ll just have to go back and face our professors while cleaning up the mess!”
“Please let me explain, or I'll never be able to tell anyone!” The changeling said. Gallus shut his beak. “Soooo.. I was thinking, does anyone know the game, Jeopardy!?” She asked.
Everyone was silent for a brief moment. “Um...Golly, well...I have a question.” Cozy said, raising her hoof. “What is Jeopardy!, by the way?"
Ocellus was dumbfounded, as her mouth was agape. “Wow, Cozy...just...wow!” She said in shock. “I-I'm sorry if I'm rude this time, but... SHAME ON YOU!” Those last words made her friends jump in shock.
“Ocellus, why are you blaming me?” The filly asked. “It’s not like you expect me to know something like that in just two seconds!”
“That’s BESIDES the point!” Gallus said, getting everyone’s attention. “Ocellus, Continue.”
“Thank you, Gallus.” The changeling said. “Soooo...I was thinking ‘Why not go on Jeopardy!, and try in win money, so we could win a new tree AND decorations for Headmare Twilight at the school?”
Everyone was silent again. They didn’t know what to say. Finally, Silverstream broke the silence. “W-what? Ocellus.. that game is for adults! Why would we attend an adult show?" She asked in shock.
"We are close to being adults, Silverstream! Why would you budge in my plan that I'm planning to do?" Ocellus said with a smart smirk.
"We’re not budging, Ocellus.” Sandbar said. “But, Jeopardy! is the show where adults play the game by answering adult-based topic's question, and we are not adults! Please, Ocellus.. try to understand..."
"Yeah, Ocellus.” Smolder said, trying to help. “It's maybe better we shouldn't attend the show like that. You know that we are not geeks to win a money game."
“No! Ocellus is actually right for once!” Gallus said, coming to her side. “We could actually go on Jeopardy!, and if we do well enough, we could win a new tree for Twilight and the school! Don’t you get it?! We could be doing the school a favour! We could be helping Twilight instead of just being the guilty party of who wrecked what?”
“You can’t be serious!” Cozy said in shock.
“I concur with filly.” Yona agreed.
“Oh, I AM serious.” Gallus said, strictly. “And she is too! Besides do you want to clean up the mess and not go home for break?”
“But, If we are giving advice then why would you add more chilli sauce into that? Please, we CAN'T attend the show.." Sandbar said by moving his hoof to the sky. “If we were adults this time, we would have accepted to join the show."
“Come on, Sandbar!” Ocellus tried to reason. “It’s for the school!”
“And, you shouldn’t try to sadden her like this!” Gallus pointed to the changeling, who was starting to cry.
"But guys! Please try to understand! We are not-" Smolder said before the griffin interrupted.
“Unless you have a better idea...” Gallus started to say.
The others were silent. They were looking to each other with weird expression on their own faces. Ocellus and Gallus were both sweating that would they accept to attend the show, as she wanted to attend Jeopardy!. She only wanted to play for money to buy new decorations. After a brief silence, the decision came.
"Ocellus, we’ve made a decision." Sandbar said first by breaking the silence.
"Y-yeah?" Ocellus said with a smirk, and nervously.
"We.. will.." The Aqua bug was sweating with fear as the next few words would be said, by the rest of the students.
"ATTEND THE SHOW!" Everyone except the changeling and Griffin cried out in unison.
"R-Really?!" Ocellus asked in shock.
"Yeah!” Silverstream said excitedly. “How will we never attend the show you like, and stay to clean up?"
"T-THANK YOU SO MUCH, EVERYONE!" Ocellus said by hugging her friends. "T-thank you.. I am happy that I have friends like you.”
“Just one question.." Gallus said. "A-are you sure it's free of cost?"
"What?! Nooooooo!" Ocellus said sarcastically."Why would we care about money? We are gonna get cash when we return home, and save the school! It's free of cost and we all can join it for free!"
"W-wow.. I never knew this show would not take cash from us!" Cozy said.
“Well, what are friends waiting for?” Yona said as she ran up to the train platform, pointing her hoof in the right direction. “To Jeopardy!”
The students got on the train to California for registration. Along the way, they all shared some snacks, told stories, and even took a little nap. Before they knew it, they reached Anaheim, and went off the station and waited for a cab.
"Okay! I'm ready! The place where Jeopardy! registrations are!" Ocellus was keeping herself ready to tell the cab driver.
"Yeah, you'll have to say it like that." Smolder said to her.
"Yeah, yeah.."
The cab driver reached to the students, asking where to go.
"Ma’am, where you want to go?" The cab driver asked.
"Yeah! We’d like to go to the Sony Pictures Studios!" The changeling happily replied.
"Um.. yeah. You got it.” The driver said, as he revved up the taxi.
"OKAY, EVERYONE! HERE WE GO!” Ocellus shouted happily as everyone got in, and the car took them over to the studios.
When they reached there, they paid the driver and made their way inside. They were surprised at how well clean and nice the office looked as they gazed upon it.
“Wow!” Ocellus said hushed with excitement.
“Wow, is right!” Sandbar said as he looked inside. “What a pad!”
“It’s like everything we ever wished for!” Silverstream said, softly in excitement.
“Yak liking this so far!” Yona said hushed as well.
“Golly, this is amazing!” Cozy added.
“Cool!” Smolder said.
“Awesome!” Gallus said as he pumped his fists.
They stopped at the registration desk, and smiled with excitement. Ocellus walked up to the receptionist. “Excuse me,” she asked. “Is this the place where you register for Jeopardy!?”
The receptionist looked at her and smiled. “Yes, it is.” She said.
Ocellus was about to to burst, but managed to contain herself. “Thank you.” She said, before going back to her friends. “This is it!” She said.
“Awesome!” The others said.
“So, how do we go on?” Silverstream asked.
“Hold on!” The changeling stopped her. “There can be only three contestants in the game. And, we can’t all be on the show.” And the other two players might be skilled at the game. That means...” she thought about it before finishing her sentence. “It’ll have to be one of us.”
Everyone else sighed. “Only one of us?” Sandbar asked.
“So, we gotta choose wisely about who will be on the show.” Smolder said, understandably.
"MOSTLY ME!" Silverstream raised her claw.
"Um, I want to join because, I never watched the show before but, I feel those topics are just based on historic stuff! Heh heh..." Cozy Glow said, giggling nervously.
"Uh, Cozy? There will be different topics chosen by the studio. Not just based on studies." Sandbar explained.
"Oh! Okay then.. get ready to bear the insult..." The filly shook her head.
"Me! Choose Yona!" Yona said.
"No! Choose me!" Smolder said after.
"No! Me!"
"Everycreature, STOP!" Ocellus screamed. "Would you all stop fighting?"
"Um, I'll probably won’t because.. I-I'm just too embarrassed to answer a question..." Gallus said, rubbing himself nervously.
They all thought about who would go on the show, they murmured amongst themselves about who’s more smarter for trivia. Finally Ocellus spoke up. “I’ll do it,” she said.
“Wait, what did you just say?” Cozy asked and the others' eyes lit up in hopeful excitement.
I said that I can do it,” the aqua bug replied. “I’m the smart one around here, and I mean...?”
"So, you're calling us not smart?" Smolder asked defiantly.
"Like dumb?" Cozy asked as well.
"I'm not saying that." Ocellus said. "It's just that people are not used to seeing anything like you guys. Also, I know for a fact that Silverstream tends to get over the top with her enthusiasm, Gallus has a hot-headed temper along with Smolder...who clearly has a tendency to breathe fire..."
"Hey!" they both said.
"Sandbar probably wouldn't know HOW to participate, and Yona would just smash stuff off the handle..."
"It's true." the yak admitted. "Yona tends to take smashing a bit too far."
"And, Cozy's not old enough to be on the show." the bug finished. The filly raised a hoof in anger, but stopped herself and realized she was right.
"And, I do tend to get a little too excited." the hippogriff added.
“I do like studying and taking some time to prepare for tests, so I'd like to be on the show.” the bug finished.
"Are you sure you want to do this, Ocellus?" Sandbar asked nervously. "I mean, I know you want to fix the damage to the school of friendship..."
"It has to be me." Ocellus said determinedly. "I'm pretty smart, and this could be my first time going on a game show."
"So, are you still up for it?" Gallus asked.
"I am." His friend said.
The rest all looked over at each other. Cozy sighed, realizing that they were right. "No contest." She said.
“Alright!” Ocellus said a bit too loudly, pumping a hoof in the air and hovering in place. “This is going to be so awesome!" A couple of seconds later, she watched her friends point to a small sign on the wall that read ‘Quiet Area.’ “Oops, sorry,” she whispered with a slight giggle.
She walked up to the desk and tapped her hooves to get the receptionist's attention. "Where do I sign?" she asked.
Later, as Ocellus signed up for the show, the rest of the students gathered to sit in the audience alongside a few other fans of the show.
"I can't wait to see Ocellus compete on the show!" Silverstream said in excitement.
"Me neither!" Smolder added.
"It'll be superb! It'll be smashing! It'll be stupendous! It's--!" The hippogriff continued, before Sandbar covered her mouth abruptly.
"It's starting!" he said, getting her to be quiet. Just then, the set lit up, looking like an array of metallic slabs as the theme to the show started up.
"THIS...IS...JEOPARDY!" Johnny Gilbert, the announcer called out. "Let's meet today's contestants!" three of them were shown. "A sports commentator, originally from Las Pegasus...Herd Happily!" The first contestant was a zebra, in a nice business suit, with a football cutie mark. "A baking saleswoman, and social media sensation from Sugar Packet Place...Buttershy Shy!” The one in the middle, looked a lot like Fluttershy, only her mane was a dirt yellow, and she was pink with an orange beanie and scarf with red glasses. “And, a changeling from Ponyville, Equestria...Ocellus Pharynx!" The one in the last podium was Ocellus and she was ready to play.
"And now, here is the host of Jeopardy!...Alex Trebek!" Johnny announced to everyone. The audience clapped as a figure dressed in a gray business suit and necktie walk out onto the stage, waving to the audience.
"Thank you, Johnny Gilbert! And, welcome to a very special edition of Jeopardy!" Alex said as he welcomed everyone.
"Thank you, Alex." Ocellus said, a little too excited to him as she blushed.
"You're welcome, Ocellus." Alex said as he nodded to her before turning to the audience. "This is the very first time we have taken our program out on location..."
“Ocellus’ last name is Pharynx?” Smolder asked from the audience.
“That’s Thorax’s brother!” Gallus said in realization.
“We have three new contestants with us today.” Alex continued to announce. “One of them, at least, very eager to show how bright she is. So, let’s get right to it! Players, good luck! Here’s the Jeopardy! Round.”
The board lit up, and displayed all the money values ranging from $200 to $1,000. As Alex announced the categories, they were revealed.
“And, here are the categories for you....”Alex said. “We’ve got “Potent Potables”, “Blockbuster Movies”, “Crossword Clues with the Letter ‘D’ in Quotation Marks”, “Non-Football TV”, “Japan/US Relations”, and finally, “Nobles of Royal Decent.”
Ocellus looked at the categories and knew what she was playing. While she was getting ready, her friends were talking in the audience quietly. “She’s doing it!” Gallus said, excitedly. “She’s actually doing it!”
“Golly, think she’ll win the Money for the decorations?” Cozy Glow asked.
“Let’s hope so.” Sandbar said as they all watched.
“Ocellus, could I get you to pick a category and an amount?” Alex asked the changeling.
“Uh, I’ll take ‘Non-Football TV’ for $200.” She said. As the Jeopardy! Round started.
As the game progressed, Ocellus was answering pretty much most question on the show correctly, and she did pretty well in both the first round, and Double Jeopardy! Round as well. At last, it was time for the Final Jeopardy! Round, and already, she was at quite a huge amount: $22,000. (Don’t tell Cliff Clavin!)
“Can you believe it?” Gallus asked. “Ocellus is going into Final Jeopardy! with $22,000!”
“Yeah. I can’t believe she actually made it this far.” Smolder admitted. “It makes me feel kinda depressed.”
“Why?” Cozy asked.
“She probably might blow it before she even gets there.” The dragon joked.
“SMOLDER!” The others said, as Gallus nudged her hard.
“What?!” She asked. “I was just joking!”
“Well, don’t joke about things like that!” Yona said, seriously. “Yona know changeling can make it!”
“You gotta have faith.” Smolder admitted.
Meanwhile, the final Jeopardy! Round was about to start. “Welcome back, Ladies and gentlemen.” Alex Trebek said to the audience. “Our final Jeopardy! Category is...”Bodies of Water.” “In a moment, contestants, I’ll give you the clue. You will then have 30 seconds to write your question. Here we go! Our final Jeopardy! question is...” the window revealed the clue for everyone to see. “This body of water gave Salt Lake City its name. Good luck players.”
The round started, and the Jeopardy! Think music played.
Ocellus’ eyes widened, and was shocked. She didn’t know ANYTHING about bodies of water, as she started to sweat with fear. She fretted a little bit, and started to peek at the other contestant’s question.
Alex took notice. “Ocellus, you’re not looking over there to see what Buttershy is writing down, are you?” He asked.
“Oh, no! Not at all, Mr. Trebek!” Ocellus said quickly. “I definitely wasn’t.”
“Okay, well you got about 5 seconds to go.” The host warned her. And, she got right down to writing her question down. The music stopped, and it was time to review the answers.
“Oh, my gosh!” Silverstream said, as she pointed. “Ocellus is nervous!”
Gallus saw, and could instantly tell what that meant. “Oh man! Ocellus doesn’t know the answer!” He said, worried.
“You’d be too, if you were on the show.” Sandbar said.
“Shut up!” The griffin and hippogriff said to the pony. “Come on, Ocellus!” They both silently cheered.
“Alright, contestants, This body of water gave Salt Lake City it’s name.” Alex said as he walked to Herd’s podium. “We’ll start with you, Herd.”
“I hope pal can make it.” Yona said worried.
Herd’s answer was incorrect, and he wound up with $0. “Buttershy, we’ll come to you. What did you put down?” The host asked as the answer was revealed.
“You’re so close, but you’re incorrect, unfortunately. And that means it’s going to cost you....”
“$29,000. That’s going to cost you as you drop down to $400.” Alex said, as he was ready for Ocellus’ answer. “And it takes us to Ocellus. Ocellus, good news for you. Both of our contestants came up with incorrect responses. So, even if you’re wrong...as long as you didn’t do anything foolish, you are the new Jeopardy! Champion.” The changeling was sweating with nervousness and was shaking her head. “You wrote down...”
“What?!” Smolder said. “That’s all she can think of?!”
Silverstream just facepalmed. “We’re doomed.” She said. Gallus just was biting his nails nervously.
“Nothing?” The host asked. “The correct response was ‘What is the Great Salt Lake?’, and let’s see what you wagered.”
“Oh, look at that. You didn’t wager anything.” Alex said in surprise. “Well, big payday for you, Ocellus as you won and are now the new Jeopardy! Champion!” Everyone cheered as Ocellus was dumbfounded with utter shock.
“I am?!” She said surprised.
“She is?!” The others all said in shock as well.
“She’ll be back tomorrow to play against two new challengers, and I hope you’ll be there too.” Alex said, as he closed out the game. “So long, Everyone.”
Gallus was utterly shocked, as well as the others. Ocellus come back for another game of Jeopardy!? They couldn’t believe it! “What?! Ocellus gets to come BACK for more Jeopardy!?”
“I thought it was just one game and that was it!” Silverstream said. “What went wrong?”
“Actually, I’m not sure you noticed this.” Sandbar said to them. “But, contestants who won get to participate for 5 games total and then, they’re done.”
“So, Ocellus has to play 4 more games before we go home?!” Cozy asked horrified. “But, it’s the holidays!”
“Actually, Jeopardy! Tapes 5 games each day...with 2 days of taping every other week.” Sandbar said.
“So, all we have to do is watch the next four games for Ocellus to win?” Smolder asked confidently. “No biggie! We can pull that off in less than an hour flat!”
“Yeah...We can.” Gallus said, giggling as he sweated.
“Uh, Gallus?” Silverstream asked. “You look a little jumpy. Are you okay?”
“Uh, yeah! I am okay!” He replied. “Come on! Let’s watch some more games!”
His friends felt a little suspicious about how he felt, but they believed him. The next game came on, and Ocellus was partnered up with new contestants each game. She did well on all 3 rounds and win each game, making her a champion.
In her second game, she won $22,799. For her third, she won $15,000. In her fourth, she won $18,399. She was now on her fifth and final game and she was already in Final Jeopardy! with a total amount of $20,500.
The rest were shocked that their friend won. “I can’t believe Ocellus made it this far!” Cozy said hushed with surprise.
“Me too!” Yona said excitedly. “Changeling really smart!”
“I hope she can win this Final Jeopardy! Round.” Sandbar said worriedly.
The category was announced: “Reality TV”, and the answer was ‘Ponyville's greatest dessert makers face off in a jelly battle royale, judged by Princess Celestia!’ The players had 30 seconds to answer as each of them wrote a response down.
Finally, the think music ended and it was time to review their answers. Alex reviewed each of the answers from each contestant. The first one, Octavio Pie answered incorrectly with "What is The Great British Baking Show?" and lost all his money.
The second contestant, Davenport answered incorrectly as well with "What is Cake Boss?" and lost all but $200. So far, Ocellus was getting cold feet as she was about to be called up next. Everyone was nervous for her as well.
"Ocellus, you were on this one....very quickly." Alex Trebek said as he made his way over to her. "Let's see what you put down?"
"You are indeed correct!" He said stunned. "I'm impressed! You really DO know your television!" Ocellus sighed with relief as she wiped the sweat off her head. "And you wagered?"
"Oh, you wagered everything!" Alex said surprised. "Well, that's all for our Jeopardy! champion. You have won for 5 games in a row, and you get to come back in our Tournament of Champions!"
"WHAT?!" Gallus said. "On the Tournament with actual champions?! I don't know if I can handle any more of this!" he started to rub himself nervously while he hyperventilated and sweat.
The others could definitely tell he wasn't himself. "Gallus, do you have something you need to say? You seem like you've been keeping something in." Sandbar asked.
Gallus only let out in inarticulate yell and then replied. "I'm fine Sandbar!" he said with a mixture of fear and happiness, "I'm just breathing for a minute. Getting ready for Jeopardy! is such a hard job for one enthusiast."
No one believed his excuse. They could tell something was wrong. "Gallus, you don't have to lie to us." Silverstream said gently, "We can tell you're really upset and it hurts us too."
"Please tell us." Cozy said calmly. "We don't like to see you like this."
"What's going on, Gallus?" Smolder asked him.
Gallus trying to hold his emotions in, but it was just too much for him to handle. Finally, he blurted it out. "I can't take it anymore! I screwed up and put goo powder in the Fire of Friendship on top of Princess Twilight's tree!"
Everyone gasped in shock as they all heard this. Ocellus was trying to register all this. "Uh, what's going on?" she asked.
"WHAT?!" Everyone except Gallus, and Ocellus said in utter shock.
"Griffon mess up decorations?!" Yona asked.
"It's true!" the griffin blubbered. "I didn't even intend to! I just figured if I made a mess, our teachers would make us stay to clean up. We'd be together a little longer. I felt like I never had a place in Griffonstone, so I wanted to be with all of you through the entire holiday break!"
"Why would you do that?" Silverstream asked, now on shouting level.
Gallus just blushed. "Oh blunder." he said sadly, hanging his head down low.
"Gallus, how could you?!" Smolder said, now angry at him.
"I didn't want to!" he tried to reason with his friends.
Cozy facehoofed and gave him an icy stare. "You know, I might have expected this of you Gallus, but this time, you've really gone too far on all this!" she said.
"I thought you were our friend!" Sandbar said. "I'd never thought you'd stoop this low! I can't believe this!"
"Yona pretty hurt by what griffin did!" Yona said, sulking at him.
“Well, if you hadn’t put that powder on top of that tree, none of this would’ve happened!” Smolder shouted.
“THAT WHOLE MESS WAS YOUR FAULT, AND YOU KNEW IT!!!!” Silverstream said, furious at him.
“I just wanted to help fix things...” Gallus started to say to his friends. “Because we all had friends in need.”
“Well, you wasted your time.” Cozy said, sulking at him.
Gallus was stymied at what his friends were saying to him. “Is it true?” He asked. “You guys just want to stop being friends with me after the mistake I just caused?”
“You’re an even bigger moron than I THOUGHT you were!” Smolder said. “You just couldn’t admit it, could you?! This is unbelievable! Y’know, when we all met you, we all saw you as a friend, and now we just see you as a criminal! You oughta be ashamed of yourself, Gallus, as to do something so spiteful as that, and then covering it up! We are pretty mad at you, and right now, we just feel like it would be better for the rest of us if you would just get your own darn blue feathers and just GO AWAY!"
"Look, I'm sorry, you guys." Gallus confessed, feeling remorseful. “Really I am. I never meant for any of this to happen. And, also, I just don't like to see you fighting. That's not what the holidays are about! No matter what you call them or how you celebrate! D-Do you know how lucky you all are? With your stories about sharing and-and kindness and getting together with everycreature that you care about?"
The students stopped and thought about it, and realized that their friend was right. The holidays were really a time to share kindness and be with their friends and family.
Cozy was the first to speak up as they all thought about what their friend said. “Well, you’re not easy to talk to.”
“And you ARE pretty stubborn as well.” Sandbar added.
“And you even tend to fly off the handle!” Silverstream replied. “No matter, how big or small little problems are!”
Gallus frowned sadly and looked down at his feet. He also felt bad about what he did to Twilight's Hearth's Warming decorations as well. Then, he felt a claw on his shoulder.
"But, that doesn't mean you're not our friend." Silverstream said in a soft tone.
Gallus looked up at her before the others spoke.
"I agree! No matter if you're angry or not, you're still our great friend!" Sandbar said cheerfully.
"Yeah. And you know who else thinks you're a jolly good friend?" Yona asked with a grin, "I do!"
Gallus smiled, "Thanks, you guys." he sighed before he spoke again, "I guess eve I need to learn that there's more to friendship than just making mistakes and learning them." They all hugged and embraced this moment.
Just then, as they let go of the hug, Gallus went back on panic attack. “But, what are we gonna do?!" He asked frantically. "If we tell Ocellus that I caused this, it'll hurt her feelings, and I'll be a bad friend. But if we keeping lying to her, and pin the blame on someone else, we'll be the laughingstocks of Equestria, and we'll be worse friends.”
Cozy quickly grabbed panicking Gallus “You need to tell her the truth, Gallus." she said bluntly.
"Why?! Why do I have to tell her?!" the griffin said, nervously and scared.
"Because you do." Silverstream said.
"Yeah, I know." He said sadly.
“Oh, if she finds out, she would be so upset.” Sandbar said in agreement.
“She'll totally freak out!” Smolder said in agreement.
“Well, what do you all suggest?” Cozy asked.
“I say we just fix it all before she notices.” Gallus said. “No lying necessary.”
“How will that work?!” Silverstream asked panicked.
“Yeah, I see your point.” Gallus said in realization.
After the show wrapped up its programming for the week, the pals went to pick up their friend just as Alex stopped them, with Ocellus.
"Aren't we forgetting something, Gallus?" he asked. "You were down $5,200."
"But, Mr. Trebek! I--!" Gallus started to squawk out.
"I asked you before the game if you knew the rules, and you said you did." He cut him off, and snapped his fingers. "Judges?" Two bodyguards came right on both sides of him. Gallus was sweating extremely, wondering how he even knew about it.
But Trebek laughed. "I'm just messing with you, Kiddo." He ruffled his head calmly. "Personally, I didn't expect you to take it that hard. You're almost as funny as Marge Simpson was."
"Who's Marge Simpson?" Sandbar asked.
Alex chuckled. "I think I've made my point. You can go now." and the two guards left. "You all did pretty well, and the right thing in coming to this studio today, and you didn't rest until you set your mistake right." He turned to Ocellus. "So, how are you going to spend your prize money?"
"I'm going to donate it to the School of Friendship to replace the Hearth's Warming decorations that got ruined." She said confidently.
"Perfect choice." The host said. "And just in time for the holidays." He wrote out the winner's prize money on a big check.
"Y'know. It's crazy." Smolder said. "You went on a game show and actually won that prize money for 5 consecutive games in a row. All while Gallus accidentally poured goo powder over the tree..."
"What?" Ocellus asked, now starting to feel annoyed. The gang all froze, Ocellus turned to them, giving them a menacing look.
"Oh, did I say that out loud?" Smolder said nervously, as she suddenly blushed, and was sweating as well. "I meant to say that we were going to pull a last-minute Hearth's Warming prank, with the Goo Powder. We never said that you couldn't go on the show because of that. What we were trying to say was that..." Ocellus was looking angry at them, while Smolder was really nervous. "Run, Gallus. Run!" she shouted, as they both dashed out of the studio, leaving behind 4 confused students, and one mad changeling.
"I can't believe Gallus did something like this!" Ocellus said angrily.
"We know! I didn't even know he was one to prank during the holidays!" Silverstream added.
"Ocellus, calm down!" Yona said to her. "Yak no like changeling fighting, so Yona say to Ocellus 'Stop Fighting'!"
"Yeah!" Cozy Glow added. "Besides, Gallus suggested you go on Jeopardy! so that we all could fix what has been ruined. I'm pretty sure he's sorry."
Ocellus was a little miffed at the fact that Gallus was the one who had caused all this, but took a deep breath and realized that he was a good friend to her. She couldn't stay mad at him forever.
At that moment, Alex returned with a giant check, which he presented to the winner. "Here's your check for the School, Ocellus." He said as she took the check. "You are one of our favorite champions! You are welcome to come visit the studios whenever, and remember to come back for our annual Tournament of Champions which is next season in November!"
Ocellus smiled like Pinkie Pie would, like never before! She hugged him happily. "I will, Alex!" She said happily. "I will!"
"I hope you do...and Happy Holidays!" he said, smiling. "Well, I need to go. Bye, kids!" and he walked off the metallic set, and out of the studio.
"Bye!" The students said as they waved.
"This day was awesome!" Silverstream squealed. Everyone looked at the hippogriff with their eyes wide open. She felt uncomfortable, but soon after, they all shared a laugh.
"Thank you, guys." Ocellus said.
"For what, Ocellus?" Cozy asked.
"For you all helping me attend the show..."
"No, Ocellus! It's okay!" Sandbar said, comforting her. "We all love to enjoy you, playing games! "
"But, still...this is what Gallus wanted me to do...you all are true friends who helped me achieve this dream..." the bug shed tears.
"Oh...Ocellus..." Everyone else (minus Gallus and Smolder, and Ocellus) said as they all hugged her for comfort. Ocellus had one of her best moments of her life by going on the show, and winning the money needed to get the supplies. On top of that, she gets to come back for the Tournament of Champions! And true friends like Gallus and the others have the ability to do this. They all left the studio and found their friends and got on the train back home.
The train arrived back at the Ponyville station, where they all got off. They had won the money, but now they had to get the supplies. "All right, guys." Smolder said. "We need to get the supplies for the classroom. But to make matters worse, is that some of us HAS to get the tree. But I've noticed that we have a strategy that can kill two birds with one stone."
"Why would dragon kill bird?" Yona asked. "That's not nice."
Smolder facepalmed. "Not important right now, Yona." She said. "Sandbar, Cozy, Ocellus, and I will go to the streamer store to get the party supplies, while the rest of you..." She pointed to Gallus, Yona, & Silverstream. "...will go to the tree lot, and buy a reasonable tree . This will have to be a team effort. But, that's where you guys come in." She pointed to them. "The faster we go, the faster we can get back to the school without headmare Twilight noticing us." She pointed to them. "Can I count on you guys to get all we need and bring it to the school lickty-split?"
"Hmm hmm. With pleasure." Silverstream said.
"You had me at 'Tree shopping' Gallus said to her excitedly.
"Alright then." Smolder said, as she clapped her hands rapidly. "Let's split up and get shopping. We've only got a limited amount of time, people, so go, go, go!" and they all split up to get what they needed for the classroom.
Smolder, Sandbar, Cozy & Ocellus headed to the Streamer Store for some regular Xmas supplies other than outrageous, expensive decorations.
"I don't know why we didn't just come here in the first place." Smolder said as they arrived at the store.
"Uh, could it be because we were broke?" Sandbar said, serious and sarcastic. Everyone shared a stifled laugh.
"Well, you know us, Ocellus." Cozy said. "We crave the hustle and bustle."
He only looked for a few minutes before he had found some streamers and other simple Hearth's Warming decorations they were going to use for the party at the school. They bought them and, were out of the store in an instant.
Meanwhile, Gallus, Silverstream, & Yona were at the tree lot, hoping to get a tree that was just right for the school. "Let's get this over with." They all nodded as they went in.
They approached the salespony. "I'd like to buy a tree." Gallus said. "Not one that falls apart, but one that's just right."
"Well, you're in luck!" the salespony said, as he showed them a variety of trees. "We've got 300 trees here. This is the Christmas Tree Emporium of all of PonyVille!" He got out one tree to show them. "Now, you are not going to find a tree like this here tree! This one's built to last, and no needles coming off this one." He put it on the ground and they saw that some needles had fallen off that one.
"Uh, that's not one we're looking for." Silverstream said. "We're looking for one that's more durable."
"Okay!" the Salespony said as he got out another tree. "Now, here's a tree! This here is a tree!" He put it down, and no needles fell off it this time.
"Oh, Yona think that tree looks skimpy." Yona said, because of how she looked at it.
"Well, you can just...put it in the corner." The salespony aid excitedly.
"Don't you have anything...bigger?" Gallus asked.
"Yeah." he looked at the tree. "Hell, this ain't no tree!" He threw it off to the side, and got out one that was extremely durable, and was big enough for the classroom. "Now, this here is a tree!" he set it down in front of them.
They all looked at it, and gazed at its beauty and how tall it looked. "Gallus, it's just the right size for the school!" Silverstream said happily.
"Now, that tree perfect." Yona agreed.
Gallus took a good look at the tree and decided that is was perfect to fit in the classroom. "We'll take it." he said. And they purchased it, and they all used teamwork to carry the tree out the lot, and back to meet up with their friends.
They met up within 5 minutes, carrying all the supplies with them. “Did you guys get the supplies?” Gallus asked.
“Got them right here!” Sandbar said, as his team showed them the decorations. They ogled at how beautiful and shiny they were.
“Great!” Silverstream said. “And, we’ve got a tree!” The tree team showed them the tree, as the other team was surprised at how big it looked.
“That’s a pretty big tree.” Ocellus said surprised.
“Yeah, but it was all worth it!” Gallus said. “We have everything we need to fix the school, just in time before Hearth’s Warming!”
“Good!” Smolder said with relief. “Now, let’s go....before we catch cold.”
They all made it to the entrance of the school of Friendship easily. They now had to go in and fix everything. “Do you see anyone inside?” Smolder asked.
Gallus peeked through the window. “Nope. I don’t see anyone.” He said.
“Alright.” Smolder said, relived that they managed to get get the new supplies, without getting caught. “We’re going in.” She opened the door, and the Young Six saw Twilight at the door, and she was not happy. They were shocked to see her.
“I knew it!” She said, angrily, pointing at them. “I knew you’d go and leave the school just as one of you ruined all my decorations! I had a sick feeling that it was one of you!”
“Hold on, Twilight!” Gallus said. “We can explain—“
“NO!” Twilight cut them off. “This is inexcusable! I’m giving you all detention for ruining decorations and running off like that! That’s it!”
“But, Twilight!” Cozy tried to say. “We were just trying to—“
“I told you guys to come back and clean the mess up, and none of you listened to me!” Twilight cut them off again. “I never knew you could pull a mean prank on the school!”
“Wait, Twilight!” Ocellus tried to say. “We were just—!”
“I don’t want to hear it from any of you tonight!” Twilight said furiously. “You are all serving detention, AND staying after the break! That is final!”
“But, Twilight!” Smolder started to say.
“WHAT?!” The alicorn asked, frustrated. “What is it?!” She was taking a few short deep breaths.
“What we were trying to say is that...we went on Jeopardy!, and won enough prize money to buy you new decorations and a tree!” Ocellus said calmly. They showed her the bag of decorations, money and the new tree they bought.
Twilight saw what they got, and was surprised. She didn’t expect this to happen. “What?” She asked. “You all did this for me? For the school?”
“Yeah.” Silverstream said. “We were just trying to fix what was ruined. That’s all.”
Twilight smiled, as she melted with happiness. “Everyone, I like it. I really do!” She hugged them all in a warm embrace. “Thank you.” She then broke the hug. “But, I’d like to know what happened as you all left. I did see a cloaked figure sneak into you quarters, and I would like to know who.”
Gallus started to feel nervous, as he took in a deep breath and walked up to her. “It was my fault.” He explained. “I put goo powder on the fire of Friendship so that we all could stay after the break together! The others had nothing to do with this, so please don’t take it out on them. Okay?”
Twilight glared at them for a little bit. Then, she glared at Gallus. Finally, she decided. “Alright. Silverstream, Ocellus, Smolder, Sandbar, Yona & Cozy Glow...since none of you were behind this whole prank, you’re all off the hook.” The remaining six students all sighed with relief that they weren’t in trouble.
“As for you, Gallus...” Twilight said, as she glared at him. “...I'm proud that you told me the truth, and I'm glad to see you've been paying attention in Professor Applejack's honesty classes. But you're still going to have to make amends and stay over break for extra friendship lessons by yourself. I’m disappointed in you.” Gallus sighed with sadness, and looked down.
“And you have every right to be, Headmare Twilight.” Gallus admitted calmly. “It was all my fault from the start. I didn’t want to go home for the break anyway.”
“Why not?” Twilight asked.
Gallus sighed. “Well, we do have one holiday in Griffonstone that we celebrate.” He said to her. “It’s called the Blue Moon Festival. The one time of year when griffons are nice to each other. Well, as nice as we can be. Families get together to eat and then complain about the food and give each other presents they don't like and mostly just try not to yell at each other. But...I don't have a family.” he teared up as he saids those words.
“What about Grampa Gruff?” Twilight asked. “You have him for a grandpa, don’t you.”
“That's just his name. He's not anygriff's actual grandpa. I felt like I never had a place in Griffonstone.” The griffin said sadly. “And then, I came here and, well, met all my friends. So I don't want to go home for the break.”
Twilight was shocked by the response she received. Gallus...an orphan? She never imagined that. She always thought that he had a family. She then started to have an idea while smiling, as she looked at him. “Gallus, I think I have a solution for all this.” She said sweetly.
“Really?” He asked, teary-eyed. “What’s that?”
“I can be your mom,” Twilight said, smiling warmly.
“Really?” Gallus asked. “You’d do that for me?”
Twilight nodded. “Yes, Gallus.” She said. “I always thought you would have a family. But, after hearing that you were an orphan...it just pains me to see you like this. I can’t bear to watch you suffer anymore.” She took his claw. “I think you need something that you never had before. And what better way than to start with this moment?” She hugged him sweetly. “I promise to always be there for you.”
Those words were enough for Gallus to hug Twilight back with excitement. “Thank you. Thank you, Twilight.” He thanked her as more tears came out of his eyes, only this time they were tears of happiness.
“And, hey!” Silverstream added. “If it makes you feel any better, I'll stay with you over the break as well.”
“Me, too!” Ocellus added.
“Yona stay also!” The yak said.
“I'm staying!” Sandbar said as well.
“Me too!” Smolder said as well. “I guess pony holidays can't be that bad.“
“You guys don’t really need to do this.” Gallus said warmly, and surprised to them.
“Come on, Gallus!” Silverstream persuaded. “You’re our friend, and we’re not going to abandon you when things go bad." She pulled the others into a a mighty huge group hug.
Gallus calmly broke the hug. “No, really. You don’t have to do this.” He said. “You deserve to be with your families for the holidays. I insist. Go spend the holidays with your loved ones.”
“All right.” Smolder said. “But, if you change your mind...”
“I won’t.” He said calm but firm. “I’ve already GOT the best gift any one could ask for.”
The students started to leave as they went back to pack again for their holidays. “Happy Holidays, Gallus!” Ocellus called out as she and her friends left.”
“Hope you have a good time!” Cozy said.
“Thanks!” He said, happily. “And to you too!” He waved at them, as they left.
As for Twilight, she now had to do two things: Sign documents to adopt Gallus and make a bed for him to sleep in a furniture store. But first, she would ask Spike to show her new son the castle. “Gallus, follow me.” Twilight came out of the embrace as she turned and started walking.
“Twilight? Where are we going?” He asked as he followed her.
“I’ll take you to Spike to show you the castle.” She said. “Besides, I think he’ll like that he’s now got a ‘big brother’.”
Gallus was confused. “But can’t you just show me the castle, yourself?”
“Gallus, I need to do two things: I need to sign some documents for you to be my son, and then find a bed for you to sleep at night.” She explained as she looked at him.
“I understand ...” he said, sadly.
“Hey. Don’t be sad, Gallus.” Twilight said, reassuringly. “When I finish doing this, we can be together for as long as you want. And, I'd be honored if you would join my friends as the guest of honor at our holiday table.” Twilight said as she hugged him with a wing. “We’re family now.”
This made him manage to smile a little. “OK...Mom.” He said, and decided that from now on he would start calling Twilight, “Mom.”
Twilight’s wing stopped hugging him and went back to where it was. The two went right to the Castle of Friendship, as she opened the doors with her magic, revealing the throne room. Spike saw Twilight with Gallus.
“Spike, I need you to do me a favor.” She said to him.
Spike went to Twilight with a smile. “Yes, Twilight. What do you want me to do?”
“Show Gallus the castle, please?” Twilight asked. “I have to go to the City Hall to be able to sign some documents to adopt Gallus and go to a furniture store to make him a bed.”
“Of course I can do that, Twilight.” Spike put one for his on the head, just like a commander’s.
“Great.” Twilight looked at Gallus with a smile. “I’ll be right back. OK?” Gallus nodded happily with a smile, as Twilight turned and started walking.
He and Spike watched Twilight leave for a few seconds, before Spike turned to him with a smile. “Come on, Gallus! I’ll show you to the dining room first.”
As the rest finished packing at the school, Twilight came to them. “I think you'll all enjoy the time off to be home with your families to celebrate your own traditions.” She said happily. “Attention, everycreature! School is officially out! And for those of you traveling outside Equestria, I called your kingdoms and told them that you’ll be a little late in coming home.”
“You did?! Are they mad at us?” Ocellus asked, getting cold feet.
“No. Of course not.” Twilight said understanding to them. “They’ll understand perfectly. Go pack up, and we'll take you to the station.” Everyone cheered with excitement as Twilight left to get her friends and help the others leave for their homes to spend the holidays together.
“Hey, this reminds me of another story!” Sandbar said, as they were finishing packing. “‘The Time Marge Simpson Lost On Jeopardy!’.”
Everyone was a little confused. “You’ve been watching too many game shows.” Smolder said sarcastically as she smiled.
“What? No, I haven’t!” Sandbar tried to cover it up.
“Sure, you haven’t.” Ocellus said as she giggled.
“Sandbar want Yona braid mane?” Yona asked, suggestively.
“Uh...no thanks.” Sandbar said, giggling nervously
“Hearth's Warming Eve is here once again!” Silverstream sang in excitement as the friends all enjoyed this moment to pack up, before they all left for vacation.
It was a great day for the Young Six as they all went on Jeopardy!, and won enough money to buy new decorations, a new tree and even donate to the School of friendship. On top of that, Gallus would now be Twilight’s son as she would sign the adoption papers, and make a bed for him to sleep in. And, Spike would now have a big brother-like figure with him now living with Twilight and her assistant. It was not only a great day, but a spectacular day as the students helped set things right and changed it for the better.
Right now, they had to get to the train station to celebrate the holidays with not only their loved ones, but with the kingdoms they lived at dearly. It would be a great Hearth’s Warming for each of the Young Six, especially Gallus. And also, one that they wouldn’t forget.