My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship

by Danieru

63. A harsh welcome

Star Twinkle and his friends were about to head to the Crystal Empire for a specific task that Princess Cadence asked of them. And since all of them were away, someone had to take care of their pets. Thankfully, Spike offered to take care of every single one of them so Star Twinkle and his friends dropped off their pets at the Golden Oak Library where Spike would take care of them while they were away. Before Twilight went outside, she talked one last time to Spike. “You absolutely sure you can do this?” Twilight asked before she walked outside of her library.

“Of course. Wouldn't have agreed to it if I couldn't. Piece of cake. Speaking of cake, I got a little something I need to attend to,” Spike replied as he pulled out a cookbook and a chef hat, indicating that he was about to cook or bake something. It must have something to do with the gems that he was gathering from everypony in order to pay him for this taking care of all the pets thing.

“Yeah, like keeping an eye on a house full of critters,” Twilight replied, remembering the little dragon of his task.

Spike seemed to get what Twilight was getting at. “Uh, yeah, uh, that was totally what I was talking about. Relax. Go to your welcoming thing in the Crystal Empire. Spike's got it all under control,” he said before he closed the door so that Twilight could leave.

Meanwhile, Star Twinkle waited a few steps away until Twilight was done. She did seem to worry about Spike taking care of the pets but since everypony was already a little late, they could not waste much time. “I'm sure Spike can handle it so don't worry,” Star Twinkle said in order to remove Twilight's worries. It did seem to work and Twilight concentrated to go to the train station without worrying about Spike anymore. However, when Star Twinkle looked back at the library, he noticed how there was a lot of ruckus inside of it. Twilight didn't seem to hear it though so he just pretended he didn't hear or see anything and followed her before she decided to check on it.

Everypony was now at the train station, each of them wearing saddlebags on their backs for the trip. “Oh, this is gonna be a real treat. Princess Cadance said she'd never seen the Crystal Ponies so excited,” Applejack said being a little excited herself.

“Duh! Of course they're excited,” Rainbow Dash said. “They're up for the Equestria Games. It's only the biggest sporting event in all of Equestria,” she explained, though one could have figured that out themselves judging from the name “Equestria Games”.

“Didn't Cloudsdale host the Equestria Games one year?” Rarity asked.

“No. Cloudsdale should have hosted the games one year but in the end, they decided to hold them in Fillydelphia instead,” Rainbow Dash explained while having a really depressed expression on her face just thinking about that. “These Crystal Ponies lost a thousand years to an evil king's curse. They've had enough bad news. No way we're letting them experience the pain of losing out on these games,” she then added determined.

“That's surprisingly considerate of you...” Star Twinkle pointed out.

“What do you mean “surprisingly”?” Rainbow Dash replied offended.

But Twilight joined in before things could turn into a different direction. “Princess Cadance is counting on us to do our part to convince the Games Inspector to choose the Crystal Empire. And we are not gonna let her down. Are we?”

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie slid in the middle of the group. “NOOOOOOOOOOO!” She screamed on top of her lungs, much to everyponies surprise. She eventually, noticed how everypony looked at her and explained. “What? I was just answering Twilight's question,” she said casually.

“We should enter the train...” Star Twinkle suggested, causing everypony to nod in agreement before they all went inside of the train.

As usual, the train ride to the Crystal Empire would take quite some time so the group decided to skip the time by practicing a little something that they prepared for the inspector.

“Four, three, two, one! The Crystal Empire, that's the one!” Everypony cheered in unison.

Everypony seemed satisfied with this performance but Twilight still had some concerns. “One more time from the top,” she said, causing the rest of her friends to groan annoyed and exhausted.

“Oh, please! I think that was perfect,” Rarity said.

“We've run this, like, twelve times already. I think we've got it,” Applejack added.

But Twilight still insisted that everything should be perfect. “Cadance said the Games Inspector really puts folks through the wringer on her visits. There's no margin for error here. And this time we need to practice the steps,” she insisted.

“On a train car?” Applejack said confused.

Rainbow Dash eventually, got everypony to do as Twilight said since it was most important to her that everything was perfect as well. The seven ponies then practiced their little performance for the inspector. The first step was building a pyramid. Three ponies were on the ground and lifted two ponies on their backs, which then again, would lift two ponies on their backs. It was basically the Earth Ponies on the ground, the Unicorns in the middle and the Pegasus on top, meaning that Star Twinkle was on the ground between Applejack and Pinkie Pie while Twilight and Rarity were on top of him who again had Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy on top of them. And of course, while building this pyramid, the group was cheering some words again. ”Two, four, six, eight-” They began to cheer before their performance was abruptly stopped by the brakes of the train who was coming to a hold, making the group's pyramid collapse.

“Crystal Empire! Watch your step leaving the train!” The train conductor announced as he opened the door only to find a bunch of ponies either lying on the ground or with their faces against the wall due to that abrupt hold.

“Probably should've watched our step while we were still on it, too,” Applejack said annoyed as she lifted Pinkie up from her back.

“Yes...it was a rather uncomfortable stop,” Rarity said as she sat on the ground with her head still spinning a little. When Rarity tried to get up, she noticed how the ground was a little soft.

“Do you mind getting off of me?” Star Twinkle said who laid on the ground with Rarity sitting on him.

“Oh!” Rarity said embarrassed as she got up from Star Twinkle as quickly as possible. “I'm so sorry darling,” she apologized with an embarrassed grin on her face.

But Star Twinkle didn't seem to mind and got up again. After everyponies head stopped spinning, they decided to get out of the train and meet up with Princess Cadance.

On their way through the Crystal Empire, they quickly noticed how much more shiny it was then usual. The crystals literally blinded them. Every Crystal Pony made sure that everything was cleaned or organized. With everypony occupied like that, there was no wonder why Star Twinkle and his friends were asked to handle the welcome committee routine.

Star Twinkle couldn't help but notice that while everypony was cleaning the empire, they did seem excited in doing so. “Looks like everypony here wants to make sure that the Equestria Games are held here,”

“Of course, they do!” Rainbow Dash suddenly exclaimed next to Star Twinkle and making him jump in the process. “I remember how I felt like that back then,” she said, referring to the time where the Equestria Games were announced in Clouds Dale before she grabbed into one filly on the way and lifting her up. “But not as much as I remember the crushing wave of disappointment that came when things didn't work out,” she continued which made the filly almost tear up in sadness. “That right there. That is the face I do not want to see,”

Eventually, the group had to take Rainbow Dash away from the filly before she would cause a mass panic without realizing it. It didn't take long until the group found themselves at where they agreed to meet Princess Cadance at. They arrived at the spa of the Crystal Empire where Princess Cadance was already getting ready for the inspector as well. But as soon as she spotted the group of friends entering the spa, she quickly walked up to Twilight, causing both of them to do their little dance again.

“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” They both said as they did their welcoming dance.

“That is adorable...” Star Twinkle thought as he watched those two grown mares do something cute like that.

Meanwhile, Rarity already admired how the spa looked from the inside and as usual, when it came to the Crystal Empire she couldn't help but look at everything in awe. Princess Cadence noticed Rarity's admiration and offered everypony to try out the spa as much as they want, much to Rarity's desire. The Princess suggested to try out a crystal mud bath for example. She pointed towards a pool filled with some kind of green substance inside of it which is supposed to relax and rejuvenate you. Pinkie Pie quickly took the offer and jumped into the pool by swinging right into it with the help of a rope that for some reason hung from the ceiling.

Thankfully, since the mud was a little sticky and solid, there was no mess caused by Pinkie Pie. Still, Twilight couldn't help but scold her for that. “Pinkie Pie! Honestly!”

Princess Cadance walked up to her and reached her hoof to her chest before stretching it away again while breathing in and out slowly. This seemed to be some kind of gesture to help her relax. Twilight imitated this and seemed to have cooled off by it.

Again, Princess Cadance offered everypony to relax while they were there. “Go ahead, have a good time while I get my ceremonial headdress done,”

“Ceremonial... headdress?” Rarity immediately asked curiously.

Princess Cadance explained. “When meeting with important guests, it was tradition for rulers of the Crystal Empire to weave crystals into their manes in a very specific way. The Games Inspector is known for doing her homework. She'll certainly be expecting my look to reflect the importance of her visit,”

Star Twinkle didn't even know much about this Equestria Games, to begin with, but this whole “making a good impression” thing for the inspector was taken very serious by everypony so it was obvious that it was very important.

“With all those ponies doing the work outside and Princess Cadance wearing this special headdress, there is actually not too much to worry about anymore...” Star Twinkle thought in relief.

But everyponies attention was quickly drawn towards the entrance of the spa, where one pony literally slammed the door open in panic. The mare who entered the spa quickly bowed down to Princess Cadance and explained why she was in such a panic. “Princess, if I may have a word... I-I have two pieces of news for you. First, your mane stylist has the flu and won't be able to make it for fear of you catching it, too,”

Princess Cadance was obviously not taking this message to well and seemed a little worried. “Oh. Well... I hope she's better soon. Do any of the other stylists here know how to do the traditional royal ceremonial headdress?” She then asked to the rest of the crystal ponies who were inside of the spa. However, when nopony seemed to be stepping up, Princess Cadance's concern grew further, causing her to breathe in and out again accompanied by the same gesture as before. “Just a... small detail,” she said to herself as if she tried to calm herself down.

But Rainbow Dash seemed to think otherwise. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! You're trying to land the Equestria Games here. There is no such thing as a small detail!”

“I suppose... I could give it a shot,” Rarity offered, seeing how this was quite some problem.

If there was one pony to get this fashion problem fixed, then it was surely Rarity. Princess Cadance thankfully accepted the offer. “Thank you so much, Rarity. Fortunately, I have all the precise instructions right here,” she said as she unfolded a scroll in front of everypony out of a chest which turned out to be a several hoof long list filled with the instruction that made even Twilight's lists look pathetic.

But despite the length of the instructions, Rarity was confident to that she could do it and saw it as an opportunity to work on the hair of royalty. “Besides, the Games Inspector isn't expected for several hours. I'll have plenty of time to figure out exactly how to... do... this...” Rarity assured as she looked at the list with some concern in her voice.

Princess Cadance talked on more time to the messenger and asked for the second bit of news that she was talking about, causing the crystal pony to continue her message. “Yes, quite. The Games Inspector, Ms. Harshwhinny, will be arriving on the... next train,”

This news shocked the group. As if that headdress problem wasn't bad enough, now they were also pressured by time. “But that's only fifteen minutes from now!” Star Twinkle pointed out in a panic. But his panic seemed to vanish once he took a look at Twilight who was breathing in and out slowly, once again, accompanied by putting her hoof against her chest before stretching it away from her body. Despite this rather complicated situation, she was calm and tried to think about what to do next. She asked if Rarity would be done in time so that she could bring Princess Cadance to the castle to which Rarity assured that she would be.

This only left Star Twinkle and the rest to keep the inspector busy for a while until Rarity was done with the headdress. “Okay, we'll be fine. Everypony, just be on the lookout for the pony with the flower print luggage,” Twilight said as she leads everypony to the train station. “We bring the Games Inspector back to the castle, put on our big welcome committee how-do-you-do and then...”

“Put the pudding out to thaw before you eat it or you'll crack a tooth?” Pinkie Pie asked, which rather confused everypony.

“We need to remember that the Games Inspector arriving early is probably part of a plan to psych us out,” Rainbow Dash pointed out.

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“You said it yourself. She's got a rep for trying to catch hosts off-guard, just to see if we can handle the kind of massive pressure that comes with hosting the Equestria Games,” Rainbow Dash explained which actually made some kind of sense.

“She has a good point,” Star Twinkle agreed. “If she thinks that we can't even handle this situation, then there is no way that she will let the Crystal Empire host the games,”

“Exactly! Which is why we always have to be one step ahead and don't fall for any of her mind games. Anything she throws at us, we just need to remember she's testing us and roll with it,”

After arriving at the train station, the group quickly found a mare that fit Twilight's description. It was a yellow Earth Pony mare with a light green mane, light green eyes and a brown chicken as a Cutie Mark. She was also wearing a pink top. But noticeable was, of course, the bag that she was carrying, a bag with a flower prints one it just like Twilight said, making her the inspector that they were waiting for. As soon as the group found out that this was the pony that they were looking for, Rainbow Dash quickly greeted her and got the mare's attention.

“Yes, what is it?” The mare replied rather annoyed or even displeased after seeing the group walking up to them.

“Oh, no!” Fluttershy replied as if she thought that they already did something wrong to upset her.

Twilight calmed Fluttershy down and walked up to the mare welcome her as well. “Well, I know you're not expecting us, but we're here to personally welcome you to the Crystal Empire,”

“The whole lot of you came to do that?” The mare replied, probably not expecting that many ponies. It must be a little intimidating to have six ponies in front of you to greet you. But despite the surprise that the mare showed before, it quickly turned into an excited smile. “Well, darn-tootin', ain't that the cat's meow! Y'all didn't need to do that. Why I hardly expected anything like this,” she said in an accent that nopony seemed to have expected, while she shook everyponies hoofs one after another.

“Whew! The Princess wouldn't have had it any other way,” Applejack replied relieved.

“The Princess? Princess Cadance?” The mare replied almost stunned. “Well, tie me up and throw me down! This just keeps gettin' better and better!” She said as she jumped on her bag and spun around in excitement.

“Wow...I guess Rainbow Dash was right with her assumption. This inspector is definitely acting a little strange. I guess that is also supposed to catch us off guard and to see how we handle things,” Star Twinkle figured as he closely watched the behavior of this inspector.

The first stop was supposed to be at the castle, where the first surprise would wait for the inspector. As soon as she heard that that would only be the beginning of the welcome, she excitedly bounced towards it in Pinkie Pie style.

“She is really good with this whole faking out thing,” Star Twinkle said as he walked next to Twilight.

“She is,” Twilight agreed. “But we just gotta roll with it until the Princess gets there and we'll be just fine,” she explained as she walked right behind Pinkie Pie and the inspector who already walked off a little.

The group made it to the castle and the inspector was more than stunned once she walked inside and took a look around the inside of it. She watched in awe after noticing how everything inside was so shiny and clean. However, for some reason, once she looked up to the very high ceiling, she began to shake a little. But that only lasted for a second.

Fluttershy couldn't help but express how nice that inspector was but Rainbow Dash once again reminded her that this was only an act to confuse them so that they would get careless, which intimidated Fluttershy again.

Twilight was the one who took the lead when it came to talking with the inspector and offered her a seat for the upcoming welcome. But again, the inspector tried one of her fake outs again.
“Mind if I take a quick run outside first? It was an awfully long train ride and my legs could use a stretch,” she said as she literally stretched her legs a little.

But Twilight managed to convince her to sit down, explaining that the welcome was just about to start. The inspector took a seat on a nearby bench. Rainbow Dash saw that as a success and shared a hoof bump with Fluttershy. It was probably just a test to see if the group could handle a complex situation. A test that they passed from the looks of it.

Twilight took it upon herself to continue the welcome. “We'd like to thank you for this opportunity to introduce you to this wonderful kingdom! And since we're not even from here ourselves, who better than us to let you know just how welcoming this place can be!”

This was the signal for everypony to start their performance that they tried to practice back in the train. They all formed a pyramid. Pinkie Pie, Star Twinkle, and Applejack were at the bottom. Twilight was in the middle and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy was at the top. They soon began dancing around or in case of the Pegasus flying around all over the place. That performance was accompanied with a little cheerful song that they all sing in unison.

“Two, four, six, eight!
Name a place that's really great!
One, two, three, four!
Keeps you coming back for more!
Two, seven, nine, three!
The place that we all wanna be!
Four, three, two, one!
The Crystal Empire, that's the one!”

It all ended with the group forming the pyramid again and Pinkie Pie pulling out her party cannon out of nowhere and firing it across the room, sending the ponies flying across the room because of the knockback and covering the inspector in confetti.

The inspector was highly impressed by this performance and cheered and whistled after Star Twinkle and his friends were done but the group was still laying on the ground due to their exhaustion and missed it at first. That was until the inspector came rushing to their side with nothing but joy and happiness in her face. “Ooh, I tell ya! I have traveled far and wide, but I have never, ever been welcomed anyplace in the fashion that y'all have done here today,”

“That's fantastic! Princess Cadance would be so glad to hear that!” Twilight replied relieved.

“Honestly, I'm surprised she knows anything about me at all!” The inspector replied modestly.

“Of course she does! She's been looking forward to your visit for weeks!”

“Where the heck is she anyway? Wasn't she supposed to be here by now?” Applejack asked, seeming a little worried about her whereabouts.

“Yeah, she should already be here, shouldn't she?” Star Twinkle whispered back before he noticed how the inspector was gone.

They found the inspector outside on the balcony, grasping for some air. She seemed to want to stretch her legs, for now, meaning that she was still trying to test everypony. But Rainbow Dash saw through it and offered a tour to the castle. But Twilight seemed to be against that idea.
“Dash! We've hardly ever even been here before!” She pointed out stressed.

But Rainbow Dash was confident “It's just another test! We gotta roll with it, remember?” She reminded.

Like before, Twilight breathed in and out again, accompanied by stretching her hoof away.
“Fine. You all start giving her the tour, and I'll go see what's keeping Cadance,” she said before she left and entrusted everypony with the tour of the castle.

With the inspector being entrusted with Star Twinkle and the rest, they soon started the tour around the castle. Soon, they realized that what Twilight said was true. They knew nothing about this castle and had no idea what to say about it. And for some reason, the group decided to let Pinkie Pie do the explaining of the tour.
“So, you see this here?” She said as she stood in the middle of a big room of the Crystal Castle. “ This, um, this is, um... a big, round room. It's known for its roundness and bigness. And did I mention that it's round?” Pinkie Pie explained, clearly having not a single idea what to say about the room.

“Really smooth, Pinkie Pie...” Star Twinkle though, as he kept looking around in hope that Twilight would return with Princess Cadance.

However, just like before, once the inspector looked up to the ceiling, she began shaking in fear. “I think they call it a rotunda? A small, confining, rotunda...” she pointed out as her legs began to shake intensely.

“Whatever. Round is round, am I right?” Pinkie Pie replied.

Star Twinkle walked up to the pink mare and decided to give her some advice. “Just go easy, Pinkie Pie. Let's just make sure that she is happy and not bored or else we ruin everything,”

The inspector seemed unaware of the conversation of the two ponies and shared her opinion on the room as well. “You know... I love this sort of architecture. I-I-I detect a neo-Gothic inspiration in the design, yes?”

Pinkie Pie looked over to Star Twinkle, in hope that he understood what she just said but he only shrugged his shoulders. “...sure...” he said with a forced grin on his face, agreeing to her words.

Fortunately, Twilight stepped into the room, giving the ponies some hope that it was finally over with the welcome. But Princess Cadance was nowhere to be seen which quickly robbed them of their hope again. “There's a bit of a problem with her headdress. How's it going here?” Twilight asked.

Star Twinkle pointed behind him with his where Twilight could only see Pinkie Pie making some weird faces, in order to keep the inspector busy. “Can't you see?” Star Twinkle added with an exhausted expression on his face.

“I, uh, hate to be a bother, but the legs are cramping up on me with all this standing around...” The inspector interrupted still seeming to get this whole “handling with complex situations” thing going.

But Twilight figured that she was getting bored and said that Princess Cadance needed some more time to get ready. Again, Twilight did her little breath in and out thing in order to relax and came up with another solution. “I'll see if Shining Armor can come help. Can't one of you other ponies take over in the meantime?” She said before she left again.

Rainbow Dash saw this as an opportunity to take over. “Wanna stretch your legs, huh? Well, whatever you need, I'm sure we can provide. Let's just make our way to the castle's gymnasium. Our tour will now be headed...” She said before she looked over the hall and finding several identically looking doors in front of her. “...this way,” she said as she randomly pointed at one of them and leading the inspector through the castle.

Star Twinkle couldn't help but to question Rainbow Dash's action and walked beside her. “Are you sure that this castle has a gymnasium?”

“If it means keeping that pony busy, then yes,” Rainbow Dash whispered back.

It was actually not important which room they showed to the inspector, as long as it means buying some more time. And if that meant showing her every single room of the castle, then so be it.
And it almost felt that way. They were all walking through room after room after room. A gymnasium, however, was nowhere to be found, much to the inspectors dislike, who seemed to get more and more stressed the longer the welcome became.

Star Twinkle, again noticed how the mare was looking at the ceiling from time to time. And every time she did, her legs began to shake. Witnessing this several times, quickly made him realize something. He walked next to Rainbow Dash and shared his little discovery. “Hey, Rainbow Dash. Don't you think that she is acting weird sometimes?” He asked, which caused her to look back at him with her eyelids half open. “I mean, not like usual,” he corrected. “I mean like in, being afraid or something.” But Rainbow Dash didn't seem to see the problem and shrugged her shoulders. “Wait, let me show you...” Star Twinkle said before he walked up to the inspector. “Excuse me but do you see that up there?” He said as he pointed up to the ceiling.

“You mean up there?” The mare replied as she looked up to the ceiling as well with her eyes widening in the process. “That big, long and high ceiling?” She added while her legs began to shake again in fear. “Ahh! I can't take it anymore! I need to get outside!” She suddenly burst out in a panic as she ran away to the through the next door.

Of course, the group panicked as well and followed the mare before something bad would happen to her. This all led to a really long chase that took place all over the castle, leading some of the ponies to get lost or losing sight of the inspector. Rainbow Dash partly blamed Star Twinkle for this but he didn't have any time to worry about that and concentrated on finding the inspector. Eventually, he spotted her in the distance and saw how she found a door to the outside, which led to some kind of stadium, where multiple Crystal Ponies were running around through some kind of obstacle course.

Needless to say, the inspector was really relieved to be finally back outside and smelled the fresh air again. “I'm outside!” She said in excitement as she proceeded to accidentally join the obstacle race, knocking everypony who crossed her path away.

To everyponies surprise, Twilight and Shining Armor were in the middle of the race track watching how this scene occurred in front of them. Star Twinkle and the others went to their side and tried to explain things but with the inspector creating such a havoc, that was a little difficult and Shining Armor just wanted that this pony would stop rampaging through the stadium. “Make her stop!” Shining Armor exclaimed.

“Wait, that's the Games Inspector! Let her do her thing,” Rainbow Dash explained.

Shining Armor understood, but at the same time, he didn't understand why the inspector was running through the race track, knocking away everything in her way. Even the obstacles that the ponies were supposed to jump over. “Why would she do that?” Shining Armor questioned which was actually a legitimate question.

“I have no idea, but that's why she's who's in charge of choosing who gets the Games, and we're not,” Rainbow Dash explained which made it actually not sound too convincing after putting it like that.

The inspector continued her rampage and knocked one obstacle away after another. This caused one of the flower pots that were placed on the obstacles to land right on her head, making it stuck inside of it. ”Oh! Oh, get me outside for a run!” She exclaimed in a panic before she randomly ran across the field again.

Shining Armor tried to warn her that she was running towards a door but the inspector crashed right through it, making Shining Armor lower his jaw in shock.

“She has some really weird methods,” Star Twinkle assured, trying to explain it to Shining Armor.

Of course, the group couldn't just let the inspector run around blindly through the Crystal Empire so they choose to follow her and prevent any more damage. However, nopony except Rainbow Dash was remotely fast enough to even catch up to her. Star Twinkle and his friends could only see from a distance how Rainbow Dash was trying to get the flower pot off from the crazy mares head. She actually managed to pull it off and released the inspector from her confused rampage. Surprisingly, the mare didn't seem to be in a bad mood at all, despite all this. ”Oh, that felt good! Nothing like a great run to shake the cobwebs off these old bones,” she excitedly shared with everypony, who just arrived at the scene themselves. “These wide open spaces y'all got here remind me of home. This is great!”

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash crawled back to the mare in exhaustion. “So you're...enjoying your visit?” She asked, accompanied by heavy pants from her side.

“Oh, good golly, yes. I just love to travel and see new places. Such a beautiful spot you got here, too!” The inspector shared again after taking a look at the big field in front of her.

Being the Prince of the Crystal Empire, Shining Armor felt flattered “Why... thank you so much! I'm Shining Armor,” he introduced himself to the mare to which she seemed heavily excited.

“My, oh, my... I never met a Prince before...” The inspector replied a little embarrassed.

Shining Armor chuckled “I'm surprised. I'd think in your line of work you'd meet princes all the time,”

“Hardly. Just an ordinary wild mustang from Mustangia here to enjoy a little vay-cay. Never
thought I'd also be meeting royalty to boot,” she explained, much to the confusion of everypony else.

But to make sure, Twilight did ask a very important question, that on hindsight, they should have probably asked before. “You... are Ms. Harshwhinny, the Equestria Games Inspector, aren't you?”

But the mare only moved her head in confusion and gave an answer that the group did not want to hear at all. “Inspector what-now?”

Needless to say, Rainbow Dash quickly shared her frustration. “We got the wrong pony?!” She exclaimed in annoyance, causing Twilight to hyperventilate in a panic.

“Don't worry, don't worry,” Star Twinkle assured after seeing Twilight in this state. “Maybe Ms. Harshwhinny is still at the train station!”

Everypony didn't waste any time and quickly ran back to the station, in order to find the real inspector. But they were not in luck. They looked out for a pony with a flower print luggage but there was none, meaning that Ms. Harshwhinny must have been inside the empire somewhere so the next best thing was to split up in six sectors so that they could find her in time. However, Pinkie Pie pointed something.
“Well... except for the spa. What's the point of checking there? That's where Cadance is. If Ms. Harshwhinny is there, well, then, game over, right?” She said casually as she ate a cinnamon bun that she got from the station.

With that fear in mind, plans changed and the group went to the spa instead. They all peeked through the window and looked out for a flower print luggage. Star Twinkle was the first one to spot somepony like that. “I think that's her!” He said as he pointed to a mare with a dark orange coat, a light gold mane, and a gold trophy as a Cutie Mark. She was laying on one of the spa tables and had two pickles on her eyes which were most likely part of the treatment that she was going under. She was also wearing a dark purple suit and a light purple scarf around her neck.

Only a few steps away, they saw how Rarity way taking care of Princess Cadence. “We're in luck! I don't think either of them knows yet that the other one's here!” Rainbow Dash said relieved.

“I don't think “luck” is appropriate, after everything that happened today!” Star Twinkle replied, showing how the previous hours took their toll on him.

The group decided to walk inside slowly and quietly, but the bell at the door and Rarity's greeting, once she saw her friends, made that impossible. “Wonderful news, look! Princess Cadance, better than new!” She said happily while Princess Cadance revealed her royal headdress in front of everypony.

“Princess Cadance?” A pony said as she jumped up from her bed, making her pickles on her eyes fly away and revealing her light blue eyes.

“Oh, boy...” Star Twinkle said, realizing that things could get a little bad now.

“So, this is where you've been! I will have you know this is by far the worst welcome I've had in all my years!” The pony who highly seemed to be the real Ms. Harshwhinny, said in dislike as she walked up to the princess.

Needless to say, Princess Cadance was surprised to hear that, especially after thinking that everything went well so far. “I-I can't believe it... What was wrong with your welcome?”

“There wasn't one!” Ms. Harshwhinny said in a somewhat understandable angry tone in her voice.

Princess Cadance turned to Twilight and the others and demanded an explanation to which everypony slowly walked up to her in order to apologize if it hadn't been for Rainbow Dash who decided to explain things. “Princess, we gave our welcome to the wrong pony, left the right one waiting at the station, and completely ruined everything,” she explained with a few words. Everypony lowered their heads after those words, knowing that they messed up big time which was not unnoticed by Princess Cadance. But Rainbow Dash was not done and continued with her explanation. “When I was a little filly, I wanted so badly for Cloudsdale to win the Equestria Games. But it didn't happen. So I thought I could make up for that disappointment by helping the Crystal Empire win the chance to host the Games. But it looks like I ruined your chances instead,” she explained further while she lowered her head in sadness, trying to take the full blame for everything that happened.

Star Twinkle, despite not liking it, walked up beside Rainbow Dash and decided to not let her take the blame all to herself and stepped up. “No,” Star Twinkle said as he placed himself right next to Rainbow Dash, making her raise her head and looking at Star Twinkle confused. “It was not only Rainbow Dash's fault. Nopony of us were aware that we got the wrong pony,” he said in order to take some of the blame upon himself.

“Exactly,” Twilight joined in, placing herself next to Rainbow Dash as well. “I know it won't make things better but you should know that we all were responsible for what happened...”

After Twilight lowered her head in forgiveness, the rest of the group walked up to Star Twinkle, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash as well and stood ready for every punishment that Princess Cadance had in mind.

“Not so fast!” The false inspector from before interrupted after looking at the sight in front of her.

Shortly after, Ms. Harshwhinny took a step in front of her and shared what she had discussed with the false inspector. “I just finished hearing about how this pony was just treated to the warmest, finest, most fabulous reception she ever had,”

“Darn tootin'!” The other mare joined in.

“Courtesy of these fine ponies right here. Which, in my expert opinion, amounts to the first ever unvarnished, unrehearsed, and unbiased appraisal of a potential host of the Equestria Games. Which can only mean one thing...”

“You mean?” Princess Cadance started with a surprised look on her face.

“Yes,” Ms. Harshwhinny confirmed. “The next host of the Equestria Games will be...the Crystal Empire!”

After hearing those words, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but to jump into the air and do some loops because of her excitement. “We did it!” She cheered happily while she began to hug every single pony in the room, one after another.

“I'll go on ahead and share the good news with the ponies of the Crystal Empire,” Princess Cadance said as she ran off to the castle to spread the news.

Princess Cadance went to the balcony of the Crystal Castle and with a microphone in front of her, she announced that the Equestria Games were held in the Crystal Empire. She also took the opportunity to congratulate everypony in the kingdom for their hard work. After the news hit the crowd, the Crystal Heart, in the middle of the empire, released a bright light up into the air, like it did back then when King Sombra was defeated. It was a sign that everypony was happy about the news.

With all those things done, there was no more reason to stay at the Crystal Empire so the group returned to the train station to go back to Ponyville. The group was already in the line that leads to their train and waited patiently.

“You know, it feels good to help others get something you always wanted but never had. Almost as good as getting it yourself. Almost,” Rainbow Dash expressed relieved after thinking back what happened today. “Also,” she began before she turned towards her friends. “Thank you for supporting me back then. You know, when I tried to take the blame all to myself,” she thanked as she rubbed her neck in some little embarrassment.

Star Twinkle could swear that she was mainly looking at him so he turned his head around in embarrassment. However, when he did, he noticed something strange running up in his direction. It was Angel Bunny, Fluttershy's pet rabbit. While he came running towards the group, a gem was flying towards a cart of luggage, knocking it over in the process as soon as it hit it.

“Oh, my goodness,” Fluttershy said in surprise since she stood right next to it.

“Did you just see-” Star Twinkle started before the train conductor announced that the train was about to leave soon, making Fluttershy run towards the door, in fear of getting left behind. But Star Twinkle took it a little slower and tried to take a look to his right before he entered the door of the train. That is when he saw someone who he didn't expect to be there at all, entering one of the latter train wagons.

Despite, what he saw outside, he didn't mention anything to the girls and just convinced himself that he was imagining things. The group went to one of the latter wagons since the seats in the first ones were already occupied and sat down. As soon as Star Twinkle sat down, Pinkie Pie offered him a cinnamon bun before she sat down on another seat close by. It was until now, that Star Twinkle realized that he didn't eat anything for a while and that he was actually starving now. Star Twinkle was just taking a bite from the cinnamon bun and without even being able to taste the flavor, Pinkie Pie came dashing to his side. “They taste good, right?” She almost screamed into his ear, causing him to drop the cinnamon bun to the ground due to the shock. Pinkie Pie didn't seem to notice what she had caused and quickly returned to her seat while Star Twinkle only threw some annoying glances to her. But since he was starving at the moment, he didn't really care if his sweet dropped to the ground and decided to pick it up again.

To his surprise, the cinnamon bun was lifted to him, by a yellow hoof under his seat. “Thanks,” Star Twinkle said as he took the cinnamon bun out of the hoof, before taking another bite of it but as soon as he took the bite, his widened in surprise, after realizing what just happened. He began to take a look under his seat and the first thing he saw was Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, accompanied by most of the pets that Spike was supposedly taking care of. The three fillies only grinned and put a hoof in front of their mouths, wanting Star Twinkle to be quiet. Star Twinkle looked around under the seats and found Spike right under Applejack's seat with the rest of the animals next to him. He also put a claw in front of his mouth to ask of Star Twinkle to be quiet. “Spike?” Star Twinkle said confused, without realizing that he was saying that out loud.

“Yeah, Spike had to miss out on all this. He woulda' had fun here,” Rainbow Dash said, once Spike's name fell.

“What!? Spike? No! There is no Spike here!” Star Twinkle said in a panic, thinking that he just revealed that the little dragon was right under their noses.

Of course, this drew some confused looks towards him but the girls didn't seem to catch up to it.
“I'm sure he's having a great time watching all the critters back at home,” Twilight mentioned.

“Yes! Back at home! That's where he is! Right now!” Star Twinkle said in panic again, causing the girls to look at him once more.

Luckily, none of the girls seemed to pay too much attention to the nonsense that Star Twinkle was randomly saying out. It could be just Star Twinkle's imagination, but he could swear how he could hear Spike, slapping his claw against his forehead because of Star Twinkle's stupid outbursts.

“Think he's still got a handle on things?” Applejack asked towards Twilight.

Twilight did her breath in and out gesture one more time. “If he's staying calm and collected, I bet he's doing a terrific job as a leader,” she assured confidently and ironically.

“I hope you're right...” Star Twinkle replied while his thoughts were at the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Spike who were right under everyponies noses.

Later in Ponyville...

Like a miracle, Spike and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, as well as all the pets, were not noticed by anypony through the whole trip back to Ponyville. The group walked out of the train and it already departed shortly after. After it was gone, Spike, the Cutie Mark Crusaders and the pets of everypony were already standing on the other side of the rails. They were all heavily breathing as if they were in a rush only a few seconds ago. Star Twinkle figured that it was because they all jumped out of the train in a rush.

Everypony quickly walked up to their pets. So did Star Twinkle who was walking up to the fishbowl where his pet goldfish Comet was inside, making sure that he was alright. But from the looks of it, he was. Once Star Twinkle realized that Spike was standing there on his own, he decided to ask away the obvious question. “Sooo...” Star Twinkle began, making Spike turn around to him nervously. “Mind explaining why you were in the Crystal Empire?”

Spike did hesitate at first to answer that question but since Star Twinkle knew about him being around in the Crystal Empire. “Long story short, I was terrible, handling all those animals at once and only cared about all the gems that you guys gave me. But now I realized that that was wrong and that I properly should have taken care of them,” the little dragon briefly summarized.

It didn't straight answer the question why he was at the Crystal Empire or why the Cutie Mark Crusaders were with him but he noticed that Spike was having a hard time and that he must have learned his lesson in the process. The pets all seemed alright and that is what mattered the most right now. Star Twinkle looked over to his pet goldfish once more.

Comet didn't move one bit and just blinked once without changing his facial expression.

“Well, Comet looks happy so I guess that is the only thing that matters,” Star Twinkle said with a smile on his face.

Spike noticed the expression on Star Twinkle and looked at him surprised. “You mean, you are not gonna tell anypony?”

Star Twinkle nodded. This caused Spike to hug him in gratefulness, making Star Twinkle feel a little embarrassed. But he did pet Spike's head in return.

“What is going on here?” Twilight asked, seeing how the two were having their moment right now.

“Nothing!” Star Twinkle and Spike replied in unison to not cause any more suspicion about what happened today before eventually heading home like the others and ending this very tiresome but also kind of fun day.

Author's Note:

The Season Finale is coming up soon so make sure that you are ready for it.
Also!

After Season three ends, there will be two new stories up so make sure that you check out my profile on Fanfiction.Net or “My stories” on Fimfiction.com. The best thing, of course, would be if you follow me so that you instantly get an E-mail when a new story or chapter is coming out.

With all that said, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that you will return for the next one. Please leave also a review or a like (on Fimfiction.com) to let me know what you thought about this chapter or the whole story in general.

Bye Bye ^^.

Reading Order:

My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship Season 1 + 2(Chapter 1 - 53)

My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship - Diary of The Storm Wings

My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship Season 3(Chapter 54 - 65)