The Equestria Games had come once again. This time, the venue chosen was Dodge Junction. An old bullfighting stadium had been refurbished for the occasion. The entire royal family, from Twilight and her husband and children to Shining, Cadance and their son, Anthem, were among the audience, along with delegates from their neighboring countries, including Head Strong Jr., and Tawny, who had come to cheer the minotaur and griffin teams on.
In a first for the games, the Changelings had entered their own team for the various events; Sleight, Chrysalis and Glinda cheering from the stands (Glinda having shed her "Glenda" guise for the occasion)
"Ooh, this is so exciting!" Glinda cheered.
"Sure is, Glin." Sleight nodded. "I've always wanted to watch the Equestria Games. Never thought it'd be from a royal box."
"There's so much joy in the air." Chrysalis smiled. "National pride, patriotism, and a lot of love. Let's hope our subjects can control themselves."
"I'm sure they will." Sleight chuckled. "They'll be too busy cheering our team on to feed."
Down on the field, Shine and Celestia were making some last-minute inspections, joined by his wife, Big Red and Cherry Jubilee. Big Red was the leader of the Dodge Junction team, having coached them ever since shortly after the last game twenty years or so back.
"Whoo, dawgies, what a sight!" Big Red smiled. "Ah ain't never been this place so good!"
"Yeah…I didn't think we even have a bull-fighting stadium before." Shine glanced around.
"It was amazing, how quickly this old place was spruced up." Cherry declared. "I suppose when you have the right incentive..."
"And what greater incentive is there, then the greatest sporting event in our nation's history?"
Ms. Harshwhinny walked over. Her mane was going gray fast, and her face had several more lines, but she had the same stern, no-nonsense air that she had always displayed.
"Ah, Ms. Harshwhinny." Celestia smiled. "Good to see you again."
"Always an honor, your majesty." Ms. Harshwhinny bowed.
"So, Ms. Harshwhinny, what made you decide to have the games hosted here in Dodge Junction?" Shine asked.
"Well, your highness, I figured that the past few games have always been held in big cities and capitals... I just thought it would be nice to have it in a more rural setting for a change." Ms. Harshwhinny explained.
"Are ya sure?" Big Red smirked. "Because Ah heard from somepony that yew were caught having relations with some-"
"No, I wasn't." Ms. Harshwhinny said curtly.
"Really?" Big Red asked. "He went into very vivid details-OW!" Ms. Harshwhinny had just kicked his hoof.
"So sorry." Ms. Harshwhinny deadpanned. "I must have slipped."
Up in the royal box, Vito was getting cozy with Glinda.
"This is nice, isn't it?" Glinda smiled. "I'm free to be myself in public without anypony staring."
"If I were you, I wouldn't mind the stares." Vito declared. "You're gorgeous either way."
"Oh, you..." Glinda nuzzled against him.
Strut Step had found time in her busy schedule to attend, and was currently catching up with Pureblood.
"Great to see you in pony again, Pure." She smiled. "Have you gotten taller?"
"I guess." Pureblood shrugged.
"Have you done something different with your mane?" Strut asked, stroking t lightly.
"N-not that I know of." Pureblood stuttered, blushing.
"Well, whatever you're doing, keep it up." Strut tousled his mane. "It looks good on you."
"Thanks, Strut." Pureblood smiled goofily. "You look good, too. You always look good."
"Just 'good'?" Strut frowned. "Not 'great'?"
"I, er..." Pureblood gaped.
"Relax." Strut snickered. "I'm just ribbin' ya. Thanks for the compliment."
"Anytime." Pureblood beamed.
At the same time, Dusk Glow and Starlight Twinkle were chatting with their old friends Tawny and Junior.
"It's been too long since we last saw each other." Dusk smiled. "How are things?"
"As well as you'd expect." Tawny shrugged.
"Let's not talk politics." Junior snorted. "Let's enjoy the Games."
"Yeah." Starlight agreed. "Best of luck to your teams!"
"And yours." Tawny nodded.
Elsewhere, in box seats not far below the royals, none other than Grimiore, alongside with the wives/marefriends of his brothers, as well as his own wife, and Daring Do (carrying a giggling Michael) and Caboose (who was currently serving as a royal guard), were taking their seats in a reserved area of their own.
"My, these are amazing seats." Mayor mused.
"Tell me about it." Vinyl lounged in her seat. "How do you guys get seats so close to the royal dudes?"
"Connections." Grimoire smiled. "The Napoleon family is well-known all over. Of course, being an acquaintance/in-law to Princess Celestia certainly helps."
"I'll bet." Bon-Bon smirked.
"Who cares how we got the seats?" Berry Punch shrugged. "We got 'em, that's the important thing!"
The sounds of fanfare echoed.
"Ooh, the teams are coming in." Lyra leaned forward.
Down below, the teams were gathering; the minotaurs, griffins, Changelings, and ponies from all across Equestria and beyond.
One notable team was the one that hailed from Bitaly. The Bitalian team almost never made it to the games, because the team mostly consisted of none other than the Napoleon Brothers. Due to their "business", the brothers were almost always whisked away on some 'business' trip and the team had to forfeit, but this year, they caught a lucky break.
The team was led by Salt, and all the brothers except Grimoire and Caboose were his teammates. Bringing up the rear was a unknown charcoal-colored Earth pony of powerful stature, his Cutie Mark being a hammer with a sickle on the end of the handle.
"Okay, bros, this is it, the big league, let's win us some medals!" Salt yelled. "In fact, let's win the most medals of the entire games!"
"We'll do our best." Murray nodded, surveying the other competitors. "But that's some stiff competition."
"Hah, they don't stand a chance against Bitalian stallions!" Vinny smirked.
"Got that right." Slot chuckled. "We're gonna mop the floor with 'em!"
"Don't be so sure." Lars frowned. "These are the best athletes around. We'll be hard-pressed to beat them."
"Don't even think that!" Salt rounded on Lars. "No talk of losing, either. We're gonna win this, got that?"
"Competitive, much?" Sonny cringed.
"Less talking, more walking!" Salt yelled. "We're falling behind the others."
"Dude, we're just gathering for the opening ceremony." Vinny frowned.
"Hey, there's no slouching at all today! As of now, we are to give it a 130% all the way!" Salt bellowed.
"Don't you mean 110%?" Lars muttered.
"You heard me right." Salt glared darkly at him.
Grimoire observed the scene from his seat with a frown.
"What's Salt's deal?" Grimoire frowned. "Never before had I seen him so worked up over a couple of medals…"
"It's for our foal." Redheart declared, rubbing her pregnant belly. "Salt wants to show off the medals to 'our boy', after it's born."
"Wait, it's a colt?" Bon-Bon asked.
"I don't know. Salt seems to insist that it will be." Redheart rolled her eyes, "And he wants to get a head-start on becoming the 'inspirational' father figure."
"I see." Grimoire smiled. "While it's nice to see him thinking of his kid, he might be going a little overboard."
"That much is plain to see." Zecora agreed. "Will he take it too far? Maybe."
"Salt just wants the best for our child. He would literally move mountains just for this little guy." Redheart sighed blissfully, glancing down at her belly.
"Why aren't you on the team, Caboose?" Daring asked. "I mean, your brothers are all there."
"Salt said there wasn't any room for me." Caboose shrugged half-heartedly. "He hired this Russiaddlan strongpony for the final spot."
"What?! Unbelievable!" Daring growled. "Putting winning over his own brother. He's not even Bitalian!"
"Um, actually, according to Lars, he have been a Bitalian citizen for a year now." Lyra raised a hoof. Daring glared at her. "But yeah, it's not cool what he did to your husband."
"Look, It's okay." Caboose sighed. "I guess I'm just not athletic enough for him, I can live with that... Hey, where's Hurri?"
"Down below." Daring smiled. "She wanted to get some snacks."
Meanwhile, Hurricane was rushing to the concessions stand when she bumped into Gauntlet.
"Oh, hi." She blushed.
"Hi, yourself." Gauntlet smiled.
Ever since the contest they held against their fathers, Hurricane and Gauntlet had taken a liking to each other, though neither one was ready to admit it.
"Come to cheer the Canterlot team on, huh?" Hurricane asked.
"Yep." Gauntlet nodded awkwardly. "My dad guarding the royal box. Maybe I could come and join you..."
"That'd be nice." Hurricane gushed. "Right now, I'm just getting some snacks. I could get you something, if you want..."
"That's okay." Gauntlet turned her down. "I had a big breakfast. Thanks for asking, though."
"No problem." Hurricane almost slipped as she walked away backwards "See ya soon!"
"I'll be in the box when you get back!" Gauntlet called, more enthusiastically then he intended.
Up in the royal box, everypony was talking excitedly.
"Ah, this brings back memories." Twilight smiled. "Remember the Games held in the Crystal Empire, Spike?"
"Like I could ever forget." Spike snorted.
"Me, too." Flash nodded. "I was just a regular guard at the time, but I still had a pretty good view."
"What was it like, mom?" Anthem asked.
"Outstanding." Cadance smiled. "There were a few bumps in the road, but in the end, it turned out great."
"I wish I could have been there." Anthem sighed. "Couldn't you and dad have had me a few years earlier?"
"Not without you being born out of wedlock." Shining shrugged.
"Excuses, excuses..." Anthem joked.
"Hi, Spike." Miracle waved.
"Hey, Mir." Spike smiled.
"I heard you're going to light the torch." Miracle declared.
"Sure am." Spike nodded.
"Can't wait to see it." Miracle smiled.
Down below, Blue Blazes and Mist were talking with Spitfire and Soarin', who were coaching the Cloudsdale team.
"Good luck today." Blue smiled.
"Thanks, son." Soarin' nodded.
"And how's our little grandkid doing?" Spitfire asked.
"It's doing fine." Mist smiled. "Which is more then I can say. It's getting hard to walk with all this extra weight."
"I know the feeling." Spitfire recalled. "Blue was one big baby..."
"Mom!" Blue cringed.
"Well, you were!" Spitfire shrugged. "I could barely even move near the end."
Mist giggled loudly.
"Nice." Blue sighed. "Way to support your fiance."
"Relax, mr. pouty." Mist teased. "Let's go find our seats."
"Okay." Blue smiled.
Not long after, when everypony was in their seat, the opening ceremony began. Spike, succeeding at where he failed so many years ago, lit the torch.
"Yeah, Spike!" Miracle cheered. "That's my dragon!"
"'Your' dragon?" Starlight frowned. "What are you, his marefriend or something?"
"Or something." Miracle blushed.
A megaphone was set up in the middle of the stadium, as Big Red approached it, being chosen by the town to announce the opening of the games.
"Howdy, everypony!" He declared. "First of all, Ah'd like ta thank the Equestria Games commitee once again for decidin' to hold the Games in mah home. It's such an honor. Boy, Ah tell ya, Ah never dreamed we'd see such an honor. This li'l town, with it's dusty plains, friendly folks, and terrific cherry trees, that Ah use ta make the best cherry wine in Equestria... Ya'll oughta try some-"
"Get on with it!' Salt yelled.
"Right." Big Red straightened his hat, "Let the Equestria Games begin!"
All manner of sports, rather than simply Equestrian ones, were played, such as the minotaurs' log toss…
"Let's git 'er done!" Big Red hefted his log with no more effort then a regular pony would give a broom, and flung it clear into the horizon.
The crowd stared, nonplussed, for a moment, then broke into cheers.
"YEAH!!" Cherry whooped. "That's my darling Big Red down there!"
"Don't hold back on our account, Cherry." Twilight joked. "Really let it out."
Then there was the griffins' claw carving, the goal of which was to carve a statue out of wood in a certain time (the other teams were provided with prosthetic claws for that event).
Slot, clutching his claws, stood on one leg and spun until he became a whirling dervish. The dervish spun around the wood, quickly reducing it to a giant heart. Coming to a stop,Slot finished it by carving "S.N. + V.S" in the center.
"WHOO!" Vinyl cheered. "Yeah, baby!"
Then there was the Changeling game "slime dive", where the competitors jumped into a vat of slime to retrieve a flag.
Vinny burst out of the vat, flag in hoof, trying to catch his breath.
"Ha... no problem..." He gasped.
"Didn't you have a watch?'" Murray pointed.
"...Be right back." Vinny groaned, diving back into the slime.
"I don't know why they're so repulsed." Chrysalis frowned. "The slime isn't that bad."
"Yeah, it's even good for the skin." Sleight added.
"I'll take your word for it..." Blueblood cringed.
To Salt's delight, the Bitalian team began racking up the medals as they won events after events.
"That's it, guys!" He cheered. "I can't wait for my little colt to see all the medals we got!"
"It might be a filly, y'know." Vinny pointed out.
"Or it could be a colt." Salt countered. "And one of these days, he'll be in for a treat!"
"You're only setting yourself up for disappointment." Murray mused sagely.
"Well, at least I'm not chicken-curd when it comes to planning parenthood." Salt spat.
"Why must you be such a culo-brain at these times?" Murray glared.
The next event was the shotput. The Russiaddlian pony, Hammer N. Sickle stepped forward.
"This is vat I was born for." He declared.
With one good throw, he sent the ball flying out of the stadium.
"Whoo-hoo!" Salt whooped. "Another gold medal for junior to feast his eyes on!"
As the Games progressed, Bitaly and Dodge Junction were neck and neck, each gaining sizable amounts of medal.
"Shoot, we might just win this whole shebang!" Big Red told his team.
"Not if I have anything to say about it..." Salt seethed.
The hurdles came, and once again, Hammer stepped up.
"Go, Hammer!" Salt cheered, "Throttle those back-water hill-billies into the ground!"
The race began. Hammer cleared the first couple of hurdles easily, then started to falter.
"What... the..." He groaned, clutching his chest.
"Whoa, something's up with Hammer…" Murray noticed.
Hammer tried to shake off the pain… but it soon became too much, and he collapsed.
"No, no, no!" Salt yelled, "Hammer!"
As the Bitalian team raced over, the medics examined Hammer.
"What's wrong?" Lars asked.
"It's a mild coronary." One medic declared.
"A heart attack?" Sonny gasped.
"Yes, but a small one." Another medic said. "Given time, he'll recover completely."
"But we don't have time!" Salt growled. "We need him!" He turned to Hammer, "Come on, man, you have to get up!"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Napoleon. Looks like those butter-caked blinis came and bit me on the flank." Hammer muttered.
"Oh come on! Can't you guys give him a pill or something?" Salt pleaded.
"Give it up, Salt." Slot frowned. "Hammer's out of commission. Accept it."
"But... the Games..." Salt muttered.
"We're allowed a sub, but we gotta make it fast." Lars declared.
"Then let's get crackin'!" Salt dashed off, being followed by his brothers.
They rushed over to Grimoire's seat in the stands.
"Grim, ya gotta take Hammer's place!" Salt begged.
"Afraid not, brother." Grimoire shook his head, "I'm not as young as I used to be. Sports isn't my thing, anyways."
"Oh, that's a lot of bull!" Salt snarled, "You and Zecora go at it like-"
"Assault, if you don't want to end up like Hammer, I would suggest you not finish that thought." Grimoire glared.
"Or else your health would go south for the sins of your mouth." Zecora glared.
Salt let out a growl as he ran further up, to the royal box, the brothers following.
As he did so, Iron stepped in front of the entrance.
"Do you have authorization to see the royals-" Iron stated professionally, but was cut off unceremoniously as Salt shoved him aside.
"Out of my way, Dwayne Jockeyson, I need to talk with Prince Blueblood!" Salt growled with the ferocity of a stallion on a mission.
"What?" Anthem gasped.
"Me?!" Blueblood frowned.
"Salt, you can't be serious..." Dusty sighed, aware of what her uncle had in mind.
"Blueblood, time to step up as son-in-law of the Napoleon Family!" He yelled.
"I can't participate." Blueblood shook his head. "I'm royalty. It's against regulations."
"Besides, Blueblood isn't really the athletic type." Shining explained.
"Unless, of course, he has a mane emergency." Flash snickered. "Then he runs like a champ."
"Hmph, very funny." Blueblood pouted.
Salt stifled a curse, as he turned to Pureblood. "How about Pureblood? He's strong!"
"Oh for Faust's sake, Salt, he's only a young boy." Dusty gasped.
"Hey, we can pass him off as a midget." Salt shrugged.
"I think that would be illegal." Pureblood frowned.
"Only if we get caught." Slot said matter-of-factly.
"What about Caboose?" Daring asked, her and Caboose stepping into the royals' box shortly after them. Tailing them was Redheart, concerned about her husband's well-being.
"Oh come on, Daring, I'm fine, really." Caboose shrugged.
"Seriously, he'd be great." Daring told Salt.
"Great?" Hurricane snorted. "He'd be awesome!"
"Yeah, let daddy play!" Michael added.
"Sorry, Dare, but I don't think that would be the best idea…" Salt shook his head.
"And why not?" Daring challenged.
"Well..." Salt cringed.
"He's not very..." Lars waffled.
"He's kind of..." Sonny mumbled.
"Sports isn't really his..." Murray started.
"He blows." Slot stated bluntly.
"He does not, Slot." Murray countered.
"Yes, he does." Slot insisted. "He blows. He blows hard, harder than any mare, including Vinny's."
"HEY!" Vinny yelled.
"I'd like to let Caboose in." Salt declared. "But it's just not-"
"Salt, that's enough." Redheart walked over. "You have to take Caboose. There's no other choice."
"But..." Salt gulped.
"Of course, if you forfeit, our son won't get to see any medals." Redheart announced sing-songy.
That certainly hit a spot for Salt.
"Oh, alright!" Salt groaned, "Caboose, you're in." Salt sighed.
"OKAY!" In the time it took for everypony to glance in his direction, he somehow quickly changed from his armor to a games' uniform, smiling brightly. "I thought you'd never ask! You won't regret this, guys!"
Caboose barreled down to the field.
"I already am…" Salt groaned to himself.
The games continued, starting with the pole vault. Caboose excitedly got ready for the event.
"Here we go!" He giggled. "Top athlete Caboose, ready to go!"
Salt turned to a nearby Earth Pony, who was a undercover member of the mafia.
"Hey, you." He called.
"Me?" The pony perked up.
"Yeah. What's your name?" Salt asked.
"Um, Linus, sir." The pony answered.
"Okay, Linus, here's the deal." Salt declared. "I have a feeling that I'm going to lose it several times in the next hour or so, so if you see me without something to break, I want you to give me something to break."
"Oh... so the Anger Management package, I'm guessing?" Linus inquired.
"Yeah." Salt nodded. "And make sure that the object gets bigger and bigger each time. Don't care if it is living or not, I just want something to break. If you fail to comply, I will break your back."
"Um... okay..." Linus gulped.
"Glad we had this chat." Salt smiled, patting his shoulder.
When the time came for the Bitalian team to vault, Caboose charged forward.
"Leeroy Wingkins!" He yelled.
All seemed to be going to plan, at first. Caboose stuck his pole into the ground, rose up... then fell back down as the pole snapped.
"YA-HA-HA-HOOEY!" Caboose yelped as he hit the ground.
"Linus!" Salt yelled.
"Here, sir." Linus brought over a clipboard.
"Thank you, Linus." Salt nodded, as he promptly snapped the clipboard in half.
Things got worse from there. At the horseshoe relay…
Caboose held up a horseshoe and aimed it at the waiting Slot.
"Keep your eyes open… and focus on your goal!" Caboose declared, as he wound up and after a small 360, flung the horseshoe… only for it to come back like a boomerang, "Oh, crud, not again!" He ducked under it, and it flew towards Murray.
"Oh, no." Murray gulped.
*BAM*
The horseshoe conked Murray out instantly.
"Ouch, Murray is going to feel that in the morning." Lars winced.
"Linus." Salt said coldly.
Linus set down a chair for him.
"Thank you, Linus." Salt nodded, as he then proceeds to kick it into so many pieces.
When the ice archery event came, Caboose was busy practicing for his turn.
"Okay, Caboose, a bow is no big deal. It's just like a crossbow… except harder." Caboose tried to rally himself.
He tried to pull the arrow back… only for it to slip out of his hoof and hit the ground near his feet.
"Uh-oh." Caboose gulped, as ice instantly froze him to the ground, "Um, guys?"
"Ah, Caboose!" Vinny groaned.
"Talk about getting cold hooves." Lars deadpanned.
"Linus!" Salt groaned.
Linus then gave him a TV.
"Thank you, Linus." Salt muttered, as he then smashed it down on the ground, as he let out a peeved sigh. "Guess I have to step in for him…"
After Salt narrowly won the ice archery event (and Caboose had defrosted), it was soon time for the long jump… and it was Caboose's turn again.
"Okay, here comes the BOOM!" Caboose bellowed as he ran for his jump… only for him to trip at the start. "Boom." He mumbled, his face in the sand.
"Linus!" Salt cringed.
Linus brought over an entire cabinet.
"Thank you, Linus." Salt nodded, proceeding to tear it apart with his bare hooves.
After more and more of Caboose's mishaps and many events later, Salt was at his wit's end, running himself ragged through frantic pacing.
"Linus... be frank with me... how badly are we losing?" He asked, clutching his mane.
Linus checked the score.
"Well, it seems like we are tied still." He declared. "We made a good comeback with the other events."
"Well, that's better than nothing." Salt turned to a portable pool with a whale in it. "You got lucky, Flippy."
The whale moaned.
The final event came: an obstacle course consisting of pitfalls, pools, and angled slopes with ropes to climb up with, devised by the ponies of Dodge Junction themselves. The home team chose Big Red as their runner.
"Okay, I'm ready to win." Salt stepped forward, composing himself, "I'm going to win this thing, and get my boy that medal!"
"Again, what if it's a filly?" Vinny asked.
"It's going to be a colt, Faust dang it!" Salt barked. "Now let's do this!"
"Not so fast." Ms. Harshwhinny declared, coming onto the field. "Since you substituted for your brother in ice archery, you used up your last turn."
"Wait, what?!" Salt gasped, "If I can't do it, then who else is there?"
"The only pony with a turn left." Ms. Harshwhinny declared. "Caboose."
"Oh, Faust no." Salt cringed.
"Well, we're boned." Slot sighed.
"Come on, guys." Caboose smiled. "I can do this!"
"He is our only shot, you know." Murray admitted.
"Alright, fine." Salt groaned, his eye somewhat twitching. "It's up to you, Caboose."
"Yes!" Caboose smiled.
"But if you mess up and lose the medal for me and my son, I swear I will gut you like a fish." Salt declared, glaring viciously at Caboose, before giving a sickly smile. "No pressure or anything."
"Oookay." Caboose gulped.
Big Red, Caboose and the other competitors took their places at the starting line.
"May the best stallion win." Big Red smiled at Caboose.
"You too." Caboose smiled back, before whispering to himself, "And may the loser not be filleted..."
With a burst of magic from the referee's horn, they were off. Big Red got an early lead, criss-crossing the pitfalls.
"Jest like dodgin' gopher holes!" Big Red declared.
Caboose managed to get back some distance during the pool portion, his smaller frame enabling him to swim faster.
"Go Caboose!" Daring cheered.
"Yeah, dad!" Hurricane and Michael yelled.
"You can do it, Red!" Cherry urged.
Then came the slope. Caboose grabbed the rope, and started to pull himself up. Big Red started to overtake him, while Caboose lost steam with each passing pull.
"Can't... do... it..." He huffed and puffed. "Must... talk... like... this!"
As he struggled to hold on, he thought of his loved ones; his brothers, his wife, his daughter. He had to keep going. For them.
"Can't stop now." He gritted his teeth. "Gotta keep going!"
With renewed zeal, Caboose doubled his efforts, catching up to Big Red just as he leapt off the slope to the trampoline below. Caboose followed, bouncing off the trampoline and landing in perfect form. The final part of the course was a 100 meter dash to the finish. Willing all his strength into his legs, Caboose charged toward the finish line.
"Still in this, pardner?" Big Red smiled. "That's the spirit!"
As they charged towards the finish line, the crowd know it would be close.
"Come on, Caboose!" Salt yelled.
"You can do it!" Murray added.
"Just a little more!" Vinny cheered.
Flippy the whale gave a moan of encouragement.
"Go for it, Big Red!" Shine smiled.
"Almost there!" Cherry grinned.
"you can do it!" Mist yelled.
"Win this, grampa!" Miracle added.
As they finished the race, a photo was taken... revealing them to have tied, with Caboose's horn having touched the line at the same time as Red. The crowd cheered for both sides, impressed by their skills.
"That's my 'Boosey!" Daring cheered.
"That's my dad!" Hurricane added.
"Daddy!" Michael squealed.
"Whoo, dawgies, what a race!" Big Red mopped his brow. "Nice moves out there, Caboose!"
"Thanks." Caboose wheezed. "You weren't…so bad… yourself."
"Way to go, Caboose!" Murray smiled.
"Nicely done." Lars agreed.
"Didn't know you had it in you." Sonny declared.
"Yeah, no kiddin'." Slot snorted.
"Great job, bro!" Vinny added.
Salt approached Caboose, his face impassive.
"Sorry I didn't win, Salt." Caboose sighed.
"Why?" Salt asked. "You were amazing out there!"
"Really?" Caboose smiled.
"Really." Salt nodded. "What's one less medal? We still won enough to really impress my future son."
"Or daught-" Vinny tried to correct, only to be back-hoofed by Salt.
"It's a boy." Salt said with the same sickly smile.
At the medal-giving ceremony, the referees were at a loss as to what to do with the medal the Bitaly and Dodge Junctions teams had tied for.
"You can have it." Salt told Big Red. "With my compliments."
"Naw, yew take it." Big Red smiled.
"No, you." Salt countered. "I insist."
"So do Ah." Big Red growled.
"But I insisted first." Salt frowned.
"I know how to solve this." Caboose grinned. Taking the medal, he grabbed it in both front hooves, and, with a great deal of effort, broke the medal in two. "There! Now we each get a half!"
Salt gaped at the broken medal, his eye twitching.
"What?" Caboose asked.
It was an Equestria Games to remember, and not just for the sporting events...
"No, Salt, don't hurt the whale!" Murray yelped.