“Carrot dogs! Get your carrot dogs here, fresh from Ponyville!”
Golden Harvest meandered her way through the audience, pausing every few moments to accept a couple of bits from anypony interested in her wares. “Best carrots you’ll ever taste, home-grown from my own garden! Get some proud Ponyville produce today! Cake, juice, curry, fries, soup or just plain scrumptious carrots; if it’s made of carrots, I’ve got it!” She beamed as she cast her gaze over her potential customers, seeing a decent amount of them look up with interest:
“I’ll have one!”
“Me too!”
“Save some for me!”
Golden's smile widened as every one of her customers threw her a few bits for whatever they desired in return. Soon, the carrot cart was empty of products, instead replaced by the jingling sound of golden bits. Elated, she turned her cart around and made her return towards her allotted space at the lower areas. On the way, she passed Applejack, and shot her a gleeful grin.
“I just cleaned up out there, AJ! I hope your apple brown betties go down a treat as well as my carrots did!”
The other orange mare blushed a slight magenta at her friend’s words. “Aw, shucks, Carrot Top,” Applejack replied, using her friend’s nickname. “If I could sell half as much of my crop as you have yours, I’d be rollin’ in enough bits to buy Sugarcube Corner off the Cakes!”
She looked up to witness the crowd eyeing her own cart hungrily. “Er, scratch that—I’ll be able to start up my own chain if this here crowd’s anythin’ to go by!”
As Golden Harvest lumbered off with her new golden cart, Applejack found herself swamped by perky ponies practically pouncing on her perfect apple pies. Wait ’til Granny Smith gets wind o’ this!
* * * * *
“I hope you’re enjoying yourselves, girls?” Princess Celestia broke off her conversation with Shining Armor. “I know you've all certainly deserved a special treat after everything you've all learned.”
Inside the V.I.P. crystal box, on either side of her were Luna and Cadance, each appearing thoroughly enjoyed with their plush, expertly-crafted seats. On Cadance’s right, Miss Harshwhinny sat on a long sofa with two crystal guards, a clipboard in hoof and a stern eye on the race track. Twilight—rocking back and forth with a huge grin on her face—sat on Luna's left. Pinkie Pie and Rarity both had track-side seats. Though she wore a lazy smile from her comfort, only Rarity bothered to acknowledge that her seat even existed; Pinkie's uncontrollable restlessness resulted in her seat's frequent vacancy while she bounced around unrestrained. The royal pet, Philomena the phoenix, perched upright on her Mistress’ shoulder, watching the hyperactive pink pony with mild interest.
“Oh, yes, Princess Celestia. Very much so.” Rarity gave a light curtsey. “I am supremely honoured that you consider us all worthy of such an invitation. Why, it’s like a dream come true for me! Watching the graceful, the sophisticated, the marvelous—”
“I think she gets the idea, Rarity,” Twilight said. She gave a light chuckle to herself; her friend simply harrumphed with indignation, but dropped the issue all the same. “Anyway, yes, it’s lovely to be here in the crystal box with you, Celestia.”
“You betcha, Your Highnesseseses!” Pinkie bounded up into Celestia's face, her infectious hyperactivity on vibrant display. “Best seat in the house. There’s AJ aaaaaall the way over there, selling her beautifully baked apple brown betties. And look! there’s Sassaflash selling her super-sweet sarsaparilla! Oh and of course, we have Rainbow Dash and Spitfire over at the starting line having a smashingly solid staring standoff! But wait! you can’t forget the Wonderbolts and their amazing, aerodynamical, accurately acrobatical air show!”
“Wonderbolts?" Princess Cadance looked around Celestia's frame to stare at Pinkie. "You mean the Cloudsdale team? I didn’t think they were racing as Wonderbolts today. They’re only civilians, I heard.”
“Not those Wonderbolts, silly.” Pinkie chortled. “Those Wonderbolts!”
She pointed her hoof into the air, high above the stadium. The box’s occupants all followed her hoof to see three other specks zooming straight towards the ground from the upper clouds.
“How are your eyes so… telescopic, Pinkie Pie?” Twilight strained to make out the rapidly growing blue blurs.
Pinkie whipped her head around. “I ate a lot of carrots when I was a filly.”
She turned back to the sky and “ooooh”ed as the Wonderbolts pulled up from their dive, barely inches from the ground. Back up into the air they shot, amidst the crowd’s hyperactive cheering. Separating high above, each Wonderbolt peeled away from one another and zoomed through the air in a particular pattern. When they had finished, the letters ‘E’ ‘q’ and ‘G’ were visible in the form of smoky cloud trails.
“Well, not the most elegant performance I’ve seen from them, but impressive all the same.” Rarity turned to Twilight. “Then again, it’s probably because their top three are competing. Oh, I do hope Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy aren’t freaking out down there.”
“Fear not, fair Rarity. Your friends are quite calm and collected.”
Princess Luna's smooth, regal tone drew Rarity's attention. “In fact, we ourselves are quite amazed at Fluttershy’s resolve out there. Why, she looks ready to take on the world! We adore her new manestyle, too.”
Twilight nodded. “I’m so proud of her. She’s trained super-hard for this day. Come to think of it, maybe even harder than Rainbow Dash! I’m just wondering how Bulk Biceps is gonna go with those rings.” Her smile drooped, replaced with a contemplative frown. “I know we managed to convince the officials to give him larger ones but he’ll still need to fly with absolute precision to make it through them cleanly.”
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt! A shrill whistle pierced the veil of crowd noise, signalling the competitors to take up their official starting positions.
“Ooooh, they’re starting!”
Pinkie's shrill pitch filled the crystal box as she zipped to the edge. “Get ready, everypony—Flight Bulkbowshy is gearing up for take-off!”
She shot a cheery smile back to Twilight. “I just know they’re gonna win the trophy. Our team can’t be beaten, not with Rainbow ‘Superultraextremawesomazing’ and Fluttershy ‘Starethecompetitionintosubmission’ on the team! I’ve put all of my saved-up bits on them for victory!”
“You what?” Rarity and Twilight both jumped, each falling out of their seats.
“Why would you do a silly thing like that, dear?”
Rarity stood and, collecting herself, magically wiped her flank with one of her conveniently positioned kerchiefs. “I mean, yes they’re our friends—of course we certainly want them to do well—but everypony knows that the event favourites are the Cloudsdale team. I put just a few bits on them to win…”
Rarity hesitated for a moment as Pinkie appeared right up in her face, glaring with an unsightly pout. “Er, heh heh, but of course I’ll be cheering for our friends, darling. You have to admit, though, it’s the smarter bet.”
Twilight eyed the odds on the large billboard, supported by clouds over the stadium.
Cloudsdale: 2.2
Fillydelphia: 14.1
Ponyville: 6.4
Las Pegasus: 8.5
Griffon Kingdom: 20.4
“She’s right, Pinkie.”
Twilight walked over to the hyperactive party pony and draped a wing over her back. “Although we want our friends to win, especially after all the work they’ve put in, there’s no denying that Cloudsdale has the most elite, well-conditioned team of them all. I hate to say it, but I think Cloudsdale really have this one in the bag.”
Twilight’s spiel came to a halt when Pinkie shifted her disapproving gaze from Rarity to herself. “But, uh, well… why don’t I alter my bet, then? Just for you, Pinkie. I’ll put half on the Wonderbolts and half on Rainbow’s team. With the way the odds are, I can only come out a winner anyway. Better?”
Twilight continued to smile with uncertainty as Pinkie's eyes became slits. Just as a few telltale beads of sweat began to run down Twilight’s face, Pinkie brightened and bounced back into her seat with a single leap.
“Sure, girls. You can bet on whoever you like, with your smarty-smart pantsness and your fancy thinking. But I had an itchy nose, flappy ears and wiggly knees just before—which means that something nopony expects is going to happen!”
Pulling a bowler hat and bubble pipe out of her mane, Pinkie placed the hat snugly on her head and the pipe in her mouth. “Therefore,” she continued in a rather posh voice, “it is logical to determine that the outcome of this event shall be in favour of the favourites’ closest opponents.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow as the rest of the princesses giggled.
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt!
“Ladies, perhaps we should once more redirect our attention to the race?” Stifling their amusement at Shining Armor's suggestion, everypony turned back to face the track, where the competitors were fully poised for performance.
* * * * *
Out in the centre of the track, Spike heard the double whistle blast, signalling his time to stand at the starting line. Beneath the aerial rings he ran, coming to rest a few metres before the contestants. In his right claw he grasped an emerald-green flag.
“Come on, Spike, you can do it!” he said to himself as the eyes of every pegasi and griffon fixed upon him. “All you gotta do is raise your arm and swing it down fast when you hear the third blast. Nothin’ to it. It’s not like there’s thousands of ponies watching your every move, ready to critically judge you if you mess up! No, not at all.” He gulped and looked around the stadium at the spectators, all screaming themselves hoarse.
“Oh, boy.”
With a final examination of his surroundings, his eyes caught the crystal box, his glance coming to rest on the beautiful marshmallow pony with the royal velvet mane. As she waved and blew him a kiss, nothing else mattered. He had a job to do; nothing was more important than providing a perfect performance for his own sweet pony princess.
“All right, Spike, you’ve got this.” He held up his arm, ready to deliver the final, crushing blow to the air in front of him.
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt! Brrt!