//------------------------------// // First Round: Maud Pie v. Dr.Stable // Story: The Most Serious Pony In All Of Equestria // by The Delirium //------------------------------// After Princess Celestia made the announcement that the First Annual Equestria Seriousness Competition was to take place, preparations for the contest were quickly done. News of the competition spread throughout Equestria like a wildfire and soon every pony knew of it. A week's time passed in a heartbeat and the first round was ready to begin. All around Equestria, ponies were glued to their televisions to see who would be in the first round. In Canterlot, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were about to make the announcement. An enormous crowd of ponies were stomping their hooves and cheering as the princesses made their way onto the royal balcony. "Mares and gentlecolts." began Celestia. "We would like to thank all of you here, as well as all of you ponies at home, for supporting the competition!" This sent the crowd into another wave of cheers and applause. "Now, without any more delay, my sister will randomly draw the contestants' names for the first round!" Princess Luna stepped forward and used her magic to levitate a glass bowl so the crowd and cameras could clearly see it. "In this glass bowl," Luna began, "there are the names of the eight competitors in this contest. I will randomly draw two of these names. The two ponies who I choose will compete in the first round of the competition. Each round will consist of three events that test a pony's seriousness. The pony that wins two out of the three events will move on to the next round. The pony that losses will be eliminated from the tournament. Now, the draw!" Luna reached her hoof into the glass bowl and swirled it around. Finally, she grabbed onto one of the slips of paper and lifted it out of the bowl. Luna brought it up to her face to read. "The first competitor will be Maud Pie!" Once again, the ponies in the crowd went wild. "Now, the second draw." Luna again reached her hoof into the bowl and pulled out another slip of paper. "In the first round, Maud Pie will be competing against Dr.Stable!" Now, the crowd went completely ballistic. Ponies were running around the streets of Canterlot, predicting who they think will win the match. "Ponies!" ordered Princess Celestia, calming the crowd down. "The first round between Maud Pie and Dr.Stable will commence tomorrow in Ponyville. My sister and I will see you there!" Back in Ponyville, ponies were lined up outside the hospital to wish Dr.Stable good luck. Every pony except one alicorn and one drake were there. Twilight Sparkle and Spike were at home, still arguing about ponies being more serious than other ponies. "I'm telling you, Spike, Maud will win tomorrow for sure." "No way. Dr.Stable is a doctor. And every pony knows that doctors are the most serious kinds of ponies." "That doesn't even make sense. Just because a pony is a doctor doesn't mean they have to be serious. That's just stereotypical. Besides, I've spent time with Maud. She can be more serious than even me." "I wouldn't know. You and Pinkie never invited me to hang out with her." Spike said dejectedly. "Oh, Spike." Twilight said while nuzzling her assistant. "I'm sorry about that." "It's fine." Spike replied, pulling her into a hug. "I'm over it." The two continued to embrace until Spike decided to ruin the tender moment. "So you admit that you're not the most serious pony?" "What!" "Good Morning Ponyville!" yelled a pink mare in a hot air balloon as a crowd cheered beneath her. "My name is Pinkie Pie and I'll be your announcer for today's competition. Today, we will hold the first round of the First Annual Ponyville Seriousness Competition!" Pinkie cried as the crowed roared under her. "Now, Let's meet our competitors!" Pinkie stopped the balloon over the field and silenced the crowd. "Our first competitor comes from a rock farm on the outskirts of Ponyville. She enjoys righting poetry and geology. You'll never find a mare more obsessed with rocks. Here's my sister, Maud Pie!" At the sound of her name, Maud stepped out of the crowd and onto the field. The crowd cheered her on as she made her way to the center. "Our next competitor lives in Ponyville, bus born in Trottenham. He's the doctor that every pony knows. Here he is, Dr.Stable!" Now the stallion made his way to the center of the field, receiving tons of applause on his way. Once both ponies were ready, Princess Celestia joined them at center field. "Competitors! It is my honor to have you compete in this contest. Unfortunately, by the ned of the day there will only be one winner. As my sister explained yesterday, we will have a best two out of three event system. Now, it's time to reveal the first contest." The crowd went silence as Celestia pulled out an envelope and began to unseal it. She pulled out a slip of paper and read it carefully. Once she was done, she addressed the crowds. "The first event will be seriousness literature!" The crowd remained silent because they did not know what seriousness literature meant. "Allow me to explain. Both ponies will have ten minutes to write any type of literature or document. Our judges will decide which is more serious. Let the competition begin!" Now, after the princess had explained the event, the crowds were wild once again. "Allright competitors!" Pinkie Pie screamed from her hot air balloon. "It's time to start! At the sound of the bell, you may start writing. When the bell sounds again, you have to stop. Then judges will decide the winner. Okay! One, two, three, go!" Pinkie said as she rang the bell. Instantly, both competitors began furiously scribbling on their paper. The crowd was hushed as both Muad and Dr.Stable worked on their submissions. Finally, ten minutes was over and Pinkie sounded the end bell. "Done! Okay competitors. It is time to turn in your work!" Both ponies gave their papers to the princess, who brought them over to the judges table. After conversing with the judges, Celestia returned to the field. "It appears we have a winner. Maud Pie wrote a sonnet about rocks. However, Dr.Stable wrote out a hospital bill. This was the clear winner. As a result, the first event goes to Dr.Stable!" The crowd was in chaos as ponies either yelled in happiness or disappointment. Dr.Stable was in absolute glee, while Maud's expression never changed. "Now on to the second challenge! A hooves on situation. Both ponies will have a serious intuition acted around them. How they respond will determine the winner. They will do this one at a time. Dr.Stable, since you won the first event, you may go first." Celestia and Maud left the field as a group of actors began their scene. "Doctor, oh Doctor. This mare has fainted! What do we do?" one of the actors cried. "Check her pulse. I'll see if she's breathing." Dr.Stable ordered "Ok. Yes, she has a pulse and I can se her breathing." "Then that is all I can do." "What!?" "Without my medical equipment I can't determine the problem." "Then I guess your turn is over." said the actor as Dr.Stable trotted off the field and Maud walked back on. "Ok, let's start again." the lead actor commanded. "Oh! This mare has fainted! What do we..." Before he could finnish, Maud had jabbed a hoof into the actor playing the fainted mare's stomach. She quickly gasped for air and reeled in pain. "She's fine." said Maud as she walked off the field. Celestia quickly came back on. "Ok. Now that the round is over, our judges will determine a winner." After trotting to the judges table and back, Celestia was ready to announce the decision. "It seems that while her methods were unconventional, Maud's way was more serious. She wins the second event!" The crowd, including Pinkie Pie this time, went wild once again. "Now for the tiebreaker, the event has already happened." Many ponies gasped in shock and confusion at the statement. "It was decided that if there was a tie, the pony who kept a serious expression on most of the time would be declared the winner. And I think it was clear who won this event. So, it is my honor to say that the winner of the third event and the entire first round is Maud Pie!" The crowd went nuts and flooded the field. Ponies lifted Maud onto their shoulders and carried her off. "Well, there you have it ponies. Maud has won her first round! Yay Maud!" yelled Pinkie as he jumped out of the balloon to congratulate her sister." "I guess you were right, Twi." Maud did win. Looking down at her assistant, Twilight Sparkle gave an "Eeeyuup," that would have made Big Macintosh proud.