//------------------------------// // The Courses // Story: The Cutie Cup // by Mathew_The_Raridash_Fan //------------------------------// An announcer welcomed the spectators and told the contestants to make their way to the relay track. The crusaders, like everyone else, each went to one of the three legs. Each race was one at a time to avoid clashes. A lot of the teams failed to complete the race in under a minute. Several others were disqualified after dropping the horseshoe. It was finally time for the crusader's to do their round. Sweetie Belle gripped onto the horseshoe and readied herself. The sound of a canon indicated that the race started. She galloped passed the starting line as fast as she could. She used the formation that Rainbow Dash taught her to run even faster. Apple Bloom barely had enough time to react when Sweetie Belle gave her the horseshoe. She didn't waste any time, though. She focused on Scootaloo who was ready to take the horseshoe and complete the race. The passing was unnoticeable between them. Finally, Scootaloo galloped with the finish line being the only thing she cared about. She heard Rainbow Dash's voice cheering her on. She didn't care if it was real or not, she took it as encouragement and ran faster than she ever ran before and passed the finish line. The crusaders looked at their time and saw “0:55” and cheered. They qualified for the next round. There was no doubt they would make it, but they were expecting better than 55 seconds. They didn't dwell on it, though. Instead, they decided to talk to their sisters. Apple Bloom found Applejack near the front of the crowd and galloped over to her. Applejack congratulated her younger sister on qualifying for the next round. Her excitement vanished when she saw a lot of the contestants. Most of the teams that got disqualified had two or three unicorns, so that made the chances of the Crusaders going against an all earth pony team greater. Everypony knew that earth ponies were known for their strength, and tug-o-war never failed to prove it. “Apple Bloom, there's a chance you'll go up against all earth ponies,” Applejack warned her, “But don't you fret. With all that time working on the farm and training with Rainbow Dash, I'm sure you and your friends got this!” “Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo never worked on a farm,” Apple Bloom informed. “That ain't important,” Applejack told her, “What's important is you try your hardest! Understand?” “Yes ma'am!” Apple Bloom replied enthusiastically. She ran off to find her two friends. The second course wasn't going to start for another five minutes, so they took the time to go over their plans. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo agreed to have Sweetie Belle in back, but Sweetie Belle wanted to be in the front. Apple Bloom reminded her that they trained with Sweetie Belle in the back, and she didn't want them to change things up. Apple Bloom found a stray rope and suggested that they should practice. She took one end of the rope and held it firmly in her mouth while Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo did the same with the other end. They pulled as hard as they could, but Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo fell forward. They continued to practice until the announcer told them that the next course was about to start. They made their way to a large open area with scattered ropes. Each rope was two different colors and had designs which matched the team hoof bands. The crusaders searched for their rope and saw three ponies already there. They were going against a unicorn colt and two earth pony fillies. According to the rules, if any pony picked up the rope before they were told to, their team would be disqualified. Most of the teams waited patiently with the exception of a few foals who were restless. Apple Bloom found Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, along with Peppermint Twist, in front of a rope not too far from them. The announcer told the ponies to pick up the ropes, and everyone did so. They held them firmly. They were told to began, and they pulled at the ropes as hard as they could. Apple Bloom imagined that she was trying to pull a cart out of mud. Scootaloo's jaw started hurting, but she ignored it. Sweetie Belle struggled to not let go. The ponies against them didn't even break a sweat. Most of the tug-o-war games were finished. The crusaders didn't want to give up, and neither did the team they were going against. They were able to make progress, though. The rope inched slowly towards their side until Sweetie Belle stepped on something slippery and almost fell over. Fortunately, a force pulled her back up. She was startled, but she didn't release the rope. The other three ponies were more surprised. Their mouths opened wide in surprise and released the ropes. “How did she not fall over?” Garden Sprout, One of the earth ponies from the other team asked. “I though it would work,” Clef, the unicorn told her. Sweetie Belle heard what they said. 'Those cheaters,' she thought. She wasn't sure how she didn't fall over either. It was like some sort of magic pulled her up. It wasn't long before she remembered how the magic felt. It was familiar in every way, similar to Rarity's magic. It was Rarity's magic! Sweetie Belle scanned the audience for her sister who sat near the center in the front row. She was talking to Twilight about something, but Sweetie couldn't hear anything. She trotted up to her and gave her a big hug. That startled Rarity, but she returned the hug. “Thanks for saving me!” Sweetie squealed. “I told you I will look after you, dear,” Rarity reminded. “They cheated!” Sweetie told her. Twilight interjected, “That was what we were talking about. It was definitely deliberate.” “They are disqualified. I do not see why we must take further action,” Rarity said. “Rarity, the fact that they were not disqualified for cheating is the problem.” Twilight informed. “Yes, but didn't I cheat, too?” Rarity pondered aloud. The question silenced Twilight. Rarity did cheat. She did it to even things out, but nevertheless, she cheated. It was her duty to report all cheaters, but was it necessary to report her? She did the right thing. It wasn't like she never used magic to help someone else. She remembered when she lit the flame during the Equestria Games after Spike failed numerous times. “You prevented the success of a cheater, nothing more,” Twilight informed. The announcer told the contestants to go to the field for the third course. Sweetie Belle found her friends and got ready for the item finding. They agreed on a strategy to find the items quickly. All three of them agreed to memorize the list and look around their section for any of the items:a blue horse shoe, a red quill, an orange belt, a green toy boat, and a purple rope. Sweetie Belle took the left section, Apple Bloom took the middle, and Scootaloo took the right. Scootaloo walked through the pile of junk making sure not to step on anything. She was able to make out every individual item, but she didn't see any of the items on her list. She didn't give up, though. She continued searching. Near the buckets, she saw one of the items she was looking for, a toy boat. She runs to the buckets and drops the boat into an empty one and went back to searching. Apple Bloom scanned her entire section for any of the items. She thought the item search was going to be like searching for bruised apples, but she was mistaken. It was more on the lines of finding a key in a trashcan. She moved items around just in case her items were hidden under something. As she continued moving things around, she felt something tickle the bottom of her hoof. She lifted her hoof to find a red quill sticking up from the ground. She picked it up and searched for a bucket to put it in. She found one with a green boat and remembered that it was one of the items on the list. She went back to her section and continued her search. Sweetie Belle looked around everywhere. Her attention to detail was nothing compared to Rarity's. In fact, it was non-existent. All she saw was a large mess. She couldn't find anything on the list. She feared that she was going to cost her team the Cutie Cup until she turned around and saw something hidden behind an orange helmet. She couldn't tell what it was except that it was blue. She got close to get a better look and saw a blue horse show, one of the items on her list. She picked it up and hurried to one of the buckets. She searched for an empty one with no luck. She thought she lost until she noticed a green boat and red quill in one of the buckets: two of the items on the list. She dropped the horse shoe in that bucket and continued searching. Scootaloo's search continued her search. She didn't know what items were on each section, so she looked for everything. It was hard to not to step on anything in the mess, but she was careful. Her search paid off because behind a yellow wagon wheel was an orange belt. She retrieved it and quickly put it in her bucket and continued looking for the items. Apple Bloom knew that the boat and the quill were found, so she searched for the other three. Some of the items had to have been in the other sections, but she had no way of knowing. She dug through the mess hoping to find another item. As she searched more, she started to think that her section only had one item. That was until she saw it near the end. It reminded her of Applejack with the orange color. It wasn't her sister's rope, but it would have matched her. She carried it to the bucket and noticed that the other four items were in there. She told her friends, and they stopped looking around. “We're gonna win the Cutie Cup!” Apple Bloom told her friends. “This is only the third course,” Scootaloo pointed out. She didn't want to get her hopes up yet. The crusaders had practice rock climbing, but she wasn't sure if it was enough. “Scootaloo's right,” Sweetie Belle agreed, “we don't know who we're going against.” “Diamond Tiara,” Apple Bloom answered under her breath. The other two looked around and saw Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, and Peppermint Twist relaxing. She thought they would have been out last round. Even if they were all earth ponies, there was no way they were strong. “We should do some push ups to prepare for the rock climbing, get our upper body strengths up,” Scootaloo suggested. The others agreed, and they did twenty-five push ups each. Scootaloo looked at the wall. It was taller than she imagined. The wall was slightly angled, but it still looked like it was straight up and down. She cautiously backed away and slammed into somepony. She quickly apologized and realized it was Rainbow Dash. “Hey, Scoots, are you nervous?” Rainbow asked. “Of course not!” Scootaloo lied. Beads of sweat fell from her forehead, and her hooves slightly shook. “That's good!” Rainbow responded. She knew Scootaloo was nervous, but she knew not to call her out. “Just remember, you are one of the five teams to get this far. If there were champion rock climbers, chances are that they were disqualified during one of the previous courses. I know you and your friends are strong enough to get to the top!” “You really think so?” Scootaloo asked excitedly. “I know so,” Rainbow told her confidently. Scootaloo went back to her friends just as the announcer told them to get to the wall. She rolled her eyes in annoyance because she just came from there. The other two happily made their way to the wall, though. The wall was in the shape of a pentagon with a platform on top. They needed to be one of the first two teams to get to the top to make it to the final round. All of the foals were hooked up, but according to the rules, only one member of each team could start in a five second interval. They agreed to let Sweetie Belle start followed by Scootaloo and finally Apple Bloom. The announcer announced to start of the course, and Sweetie Belle made her way to the top. She occasionally slipped on a couple of the holds, but she was able to keep her balance. Scootaloo started next and knew which holds to grab. It was different than climbing a mountain, but it wasn't necessarily harder. Apple Bloom's strength gave her a big advantage. She was able to pull herself up to the top quickly. Scootaloo reached the top first and waited. Apple Bloom quickly joined her. Silver Spoon and Twist made their way to the top, too. Sweetie Belle continued slipping, but she quickly made it to the top. Diamond Tiara got there quickly after. Apple Bloom groaned in annoyance. They were going to go against Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. She was hoping to go against a likable team. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were excited about getting to the final round, but they didn't want to go against ponies that constantly teased them. Unfortunately, that's how things turned out, and they couldn't do anything but accept it. “Are y'all thinking what I'm thinking?” Apple Bloom asked. Her eyes were narrow with suspicion. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle shook their heads. She told them accusingly, “I wouldn't be surprised if they cheated to win!” “How did they cheat?” Sweetie Belle asked, confused. “I don't know if they did, but I have a feeling they will,” Apple Bloom replied. “We have no proof that they would cheat, but I'm going to tell Rainbow anyways,” Scootaloo told the others before galloping off. She found Rainbow Dash and repeated what Apple Bloom thought. “We'll keep an eye out on things,” Rainbow agreed. Her friends nodded. Cheaters didn't deserve the Cutie Cup. Rainbow knew she cheated from time to time, but she played fair when it mattered. The Cutie Cup was an important historical event that didn't happen often. Winning it was a one in a life time opportunity. Scootaloo wanted to stay with Rainbow Dash, but she had to get back to her friends to discuss the final course and their strategy. She waved goodbye to Rainbow Dash and galloped back to the others. She told them that Rainbow was keeping an eye out on things, and they agreed to not worry about that. They had other things to worry about. The capture the flag course was different from an actual game of capture the flag in the sense that the teams only had three members. It didn't matter what roles the members of the teams used, but it was highly advised to get the role suited for their strengths. It was against the rules to put the flag in an area that none of the team members could reach, so narrow spaces and clouds were off limits. Sweetie Belle wanted to hide the flag in a crack with her unicorn magic, but rules were rules. The final course was going to take place at the town hall. The Cutie Mark Crusaders quietly discussed their plan. Scootaloo was going to search for the flag that the Tiaras were going to hide while the other two were going to stay on their side to protect their own flag. All three were confident that they could win with their strategy. At last, the announcer announced the final course. The Crusaders were given a blue flag while the Tiaras were given a red one. Both teams hid their flags in a strategic point within the parameters of the area. After both teams hid the flags, the final course began. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom agreed to be close enough to the flag so they could protect it but not so close that the location was obvious. Scootaloo looked around for anything red. Artificial trees were set up all around the town hall, so it was easy to hide the flag. She couldn't see any sign of red. She knew it had to be somewhere unless the Tiaras cheated and never hid the flag in the first place. She wasn't about to jump to conclusions, though. Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle saw Diamond Tiara searching for the flag. She hid behind a tree to stay out of sight. She didn't want Diamond Tiara to win. The crusaders had to win. They deserved it more than the Tiaras did. The sky continued getting darker, and it was getting harder to see anything. The cold air pierced through the ponies' fur covered bodies. Sweetie Belle wished that she had one of Rarity's scarfs. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo didn't mind though. As for the Tiaras, all three of them were shivering. No one gave up though. Scootaloo saw something red in the corner of her eye and went to check it out. She grinned as she saw her flag. Silver Spoon and Peppermint Twist were guarding it. Scootaloo knew that Twist's peripheral vision was poor, so she easily sneaked pass her. She grabbed the flag, and the announcer announced the end of the final course. The Crusaders won.