Celestia holds a competiton to decide who the most serious pony in equestria is.
After Twilight and Spike argue over who the most serious pony in Equestria is, they leave it up to Celestia to decide who is right. After hearing their cases, Celestia decides to hold the First Annual Equestria Seriousness Competion! Who will win? Who will be named the most serious pony in all of Equestria?
Here's the fun part: I will not choose who wins. The winner of each round will be based on votes in the comments.
"Twilight!" cried the voice of a small baby dragon. "Are you ready for breakfast?" The purple unicorn who the young drake was addressing looked up from the book she was reading at the sound of her name.
"You bet I am, Spike. I've been up all night reading this fascinating book on griffons." Twilight stated as she made her way to the kitchen.
"You really shouldn't do that you know." warned Spike.
"Why can't I read about Griffons?"
"No, you shouldn't stay up all night reading. It's not good for you." said Spike as he gave Twilight her plate of toast with butter and eggs.
"I guess you have a point." Twilight conceded with mouthful of eggs. "Wow. These eggs are amazing! How'd you cook them?
"It's not about how I cooked them, It's about where I got them. Yesterday I went to Fluttershy's and she asked her chicken friends to give me some eggs." answered the dragon.
"Oh, we should go by later and thank her for that. Anyways, let me see what I have planned for today." the purple mare said as she levitated her calendar towards her. "It seems today we have to meet with Mrs.Harshwhinny in the Crystal Empire."
"Not her." Spike complained. "Harshwhinny is like the most boring pony ever."
"Spike, that's rude." Twilight said. "She's just likes being serious."
"Then she's the most serious pony in all of Equestria." Spike corrected.
"Oh, you know that's not true. If anyone is the most serious pony in Equestira, it would probably be me."
"What!" exclaimed Spike. "Oh, Twi. You can be uptight, you can worry to much at times, and you go crazy over very little thing, but that's not seriousness." Twilight was completely shocked by her assistant's remarks.
"How can you think I'm not serious! Do you know how serious you have to be to be the personal student of Princess Celestia and a princess yourself. Very serious, Spike. You need to be very serious."
"Whatever, Twi. Are we going to go meet Mrs.Harshwhinny or not?" Spike grumbled.
"We will, but first we need to make a little stop on the way."
Princess Celestia was currently sitting on her throne, preparing to tear into the giant peace of cake she had before her. In one quick motion, she levitated the whole piece into her mouth and swallowed it without chewing.
"There's noting like chocolate." stated Celestia as she began to daydream about other chocolate delicacies she could put in her mouth.
"Princess?" asked a voice that snapped Celestia back to reality. She looked down and saw one of her guards looking back up at her. "Princess Twilight Sparkle and Dragon Ambassador Spike are here to see you."
"Oh, a surprise visit? Wonderful! Send them in." commanded the Princess of the Sun. The doors to the throne room opened and a purple alicorn princess with a small purple dragon on her back came barreling through the entrance. "Twilight?" asked the Princess. "Why are you in such a hurry to get to me."
"One..uh..second...uh...let..me..uh..catch..my..uh..breath." wheezed Twilight. Celestia instead looked at the dragon and asked him if he knew what was going on.
"No clue." Spike said nonchalantly.
"Earlier this morning, Spike and I had a disagreement about who the most serious pony in Equestria is. Spike thought it was Mrs.Harshwhinny, but I believe I am the one."
"I see, and you want me to decide who is correct, yes?"
"Exactly," replied the still gassing for air Twilight Sparkle.
"Allright, but to make this fair, I will need each of you to explain your cases. Spike, you may go first."
"First off," the drake began, "have you ever seen that mare smile? She has a scowl on twenty four hours a day. Second, remember how she was during the Equestria Games? She wouldn't stop bossing people around and wouldn't take a break until the whole thing was over." Spike finished.
"Hmmm. You have some good points there, Spike. Twilight, you may proceed with your case."
"Great! I brought this ten page essay on why I'm the..."
"Stop! Never mind Twilight Sparkle. I know you well, so there is no reason to present your case."
"Nice." commented Spike who gave the Princess of the Sun a wink.
"Both Mrs.Harshwhinny and you, Twilight, are very serious ponies, however I must say neither of you are the most serious in Equestria."
"What!" exclaimed both Spike and Twilight.
"The only true way to decide the most serious pony in Equestria is to hold a competition! Yes, we will have the FIRST ANUAL EQUESTRIA SERIOUSNESS COMPETITION!" shouted the princess.
"You're pretty bored right now aren't you?" spike asked.
"Maybe a little. yes." Celestia replied.
"Anyways I will announce the contest soon, but first I need a list of competitors." Celestia's horn suddenly started to glow as he used her magic to create a paper out of thin air. As the piece of parchment floated to the ground, Twilight grabbed the letter with her magic and read it out loud.
"The competitors will be myself, Mrs.Harshwhinny, Maud Pie, Photo Finish, Cherry Jubilee, Big Macintosh, Octavia, and Dr.Stable."
"Genius, isn't it." asked Celestia.
"Yep, this is sure to be one heck of a competition." Spike said sarcastically. "Who is the most serious pony on Equestria? Who really cares?"
"I do, for one." Twilight scolded. "And the Princess Celestia does as well."
"I'm sure Luna will be exited with this too." Celestia added. "Then it's settled. My guards and I will spread the word and in one week's time the FIRST ANUAL EQUESTRIA SERIOUSNESS COMPETITION WILL BEGIN!"
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.
"Mares and gentlecolts, I am proud to announce that the second round competitors will be chosen immediately." After Maud Pie had won the first round of the FIRST ANUAL EQUESTRIA SERIOUSNESS COMPETITION, ponies instantly wanted another round to commence. As a result, Princess Celestia and Luna traveled back to Canterlot to pick the the competitors for the second round. At the moment, Celestia continued to address the crowd of ponies from her royal balcony. "In the first round, Maud Pie advanced to the final four, but Dr.Stable was eliminated. Now, just as before, my sister will randomly choose the ponies competing in the second round!" The crowd cheered as the Princess of the night made her way to the edge of the balcony.
"Ponies all around Equestria, you are now about to know who will compete in the scond round!" The crowd now was silent as Luna levitated up the glass bowl that contained the names of the competitors. "Since Maud Pie won the first round, her name will not be in this draw. Neither will Dr.Stables's because he was already eliminated. Now, let the drawing begin!" Luna stuck her hoof into the glass bowl and swished it around. After she felt she had mixed the names up a decent amount, she grabbed on to one and pulled it out. Ponies were biting their nails as Luna began to read the name. "The first competitor competing in the second round will be Octavia!" The crowd went crazy when they heard the name, especially the ones from Manehatten. "Now, the next name." Once again, Luna placed her hoof in the bowl and swirled it around. And again she grabbed onto one and pulled it out. "In the second round, Octavia will be competing against Big Macintosh!" All around Equestria ponies cheered and began to make bets on who they thought would win. Eventually, Princess Celestia stepped forward next to her sister.
"Since round one of the competition took place in Ponyville, round two will be held in Manehatten!" Once again, the ponies from Manehatten began to cheer louder than the other members of the crowd. "Tommorow afternoon, another pony will a round and another pony will be eliminated. My sister and I will see all of you there!" Back in Ponyville, Twilight and Spike were once again arguing about the competition.
"You may have been right about Maud, Twi, but Big Mac will win this round for sure."
"Sorry to disappoint you, Spike, but Octavia is just more serious than Macintosh."
"How do you figure?"
"She's a musician and she's an earth pony. It takes a lot of time and energy to play an instrument with your hooves. She must be a real hard worker."
"And Big Macintosh doesn't work hard. He tends to the tress on Sweet Apple Acres every day!"
"Being a brute, doesn't make you serious. Anyway, I guess we'll have to see who's right tommoorw then."
"I guess we will."
Preparations for the match were done quickly and soon a whole day had passed. Manehatten was now filled with ponies who had come to watch the second round. In the middle of the city, a field was sectioned off to use for the event. A crowd surrounded the field and they cheered as Princess Cadence came into view.
"Ponies of Equestria! I would like to thank you all for either being here to watch the competition, or tuning in from your homes elsewhere. It makes us feel great to know that you care so much!" The ponies around the field cheered at the princess's kind words. "Now, how about we start the second round? My husband, Shining Armor will be your announcer for today." She turned her head and winked to her husband, who was with the two competitors.
"Thanks for the intro, Cady." Now, he spoke up, addressing the crowd. "Hello folks, like my beautiful wife just said, I'm Shining Armor and I will be announcing today's event! I think it's time to meet our competitors." The crowd cheered as the grey mare and bulky red stallion made their way to the center. "Her name is Octavia. She is a musician that plays classical music and is from here in Manehatten! His name is Macintosh. This stallion is an apple farmer who works on Sweet Apple Acres back in Ponyville! Both are known to be super serious, but only one can stand at the top. Who's it going to be?" Cadnece once again made her way to center field as the crowd began to loose control.
"Ponies! Please settle down. The competition will start soon enough. Now, it is time to read the rules for this round." She levitated a piece of paper to her face and began to read. "For this round, the three events will not be judged by a two out of three system. The challenges are designed to be finished quickly, so the pony that finishes all three first will be declared the winner! The first event will be a game of chess against each other. The winner gets a head start, while the looser has to wait for a two minute penalty. The second event will be a crossword puzzle. However, this is no ordinary puzzle. This one has one hundred words!" The crowd gasped at the large number. "And finally, the last event will be a thousand word essay. The pony that turns in their essay first will be declared the winner!" Shining Armor once again addressed the crowd once his wife had finished.
"Allright ponies, let's get this show on on the road. Ready? One...Two...Three...Go!" Shining said, ringing a bell. At the sound of said bell, Big Mac and Octavia began their game of chess. Both ponies started off strong with big moves that took out important pieces. Eventually, Octavia got the upper hand and took Big Mac's queen. It was not long until she had trapped Macintosh into a checkmate. "It seems Octavia has won the chess game. She can go on ahead, but Macintosh will have to wait out the two minute penalty." Big Mac watched as his opponent began to work on the giant crossword puzzle. He could see that she had already gotten a large number of words. By the time the penalty was over, Big Mac was behind by a large margin. Octavia had competed almost half of the puzzle. However, Macintosh had always been exceptionally good at word games. The stallion like to do the morning crossword in the paper every day before starting his farm work. In no time at all, he had caught up to Octavia and they had finished the puzzle at nearly the exact time. "I can't believe it! Even with the penalty, Macintosh has managed to finnish the crossword puzzle at the exact same time as Octavia! Now, all they have left to do is the essay!" The crowd around the field was silent as the two competitors began furiously writing out their papers. Being the intelligent and serious ponies they were, Macintosh and Octavia finished in just under ten minutes and rushed to give their papers to the judges. "It seems we have a tie, but that's no problem. The judges need to count the words to make sure there are one thousand. In the end, the winner will be decided by who has the better essay."
"That will not be necessary, Shining." said one of the judges. "It seems Mr.Macintosh's essay only contains nine hundred nighty nine words and will have to be disqualified." Big Mac sighed at the stallions words. He was certaintly good with words, but numbers were not his strong suit.
"It seems we have a winner." declared Shining Armor. "The pony that has won the second round of the FIRST ANUAL EQUESTRIA SERIOUSNESS COMPETITION IS Octavia!" The crowd cheered when they heard that Octavia, a pony from Manehatten, had advanced to the next stage. "Congratulations to her for making it to the next round." Just like at the first round, ponies flooded the field and lifted Octavia above the ground. They carried her off as they chanted her name. Big Macintosh just sighed and gave a single, "EEnooope."
A New Game: Twilight and Celestia v. Spike and Luna
After the first two rounds of the competition, Celestia announced that there would be a three day "intermission" until the third round. The princess had wanted to let anticipation for the event build up more than it already had. Also, she wanted to visit the pony and the dragon who gave her the idea in the first place. Celestia was currently waiting in her throne room for Twilight and Spike to arrive, for she had sent them a letter to meet them in Canterlot. Soon enough, she heard two voices coming down the hall, but was surprised when the voices seemed to be arguing.
"So, you got the first two right. That doesn't prove anything!"
"Actually, it proves that I was correct one hundred percent of the time!"
"And If I get the next two right, we'll both be at fifty."
"Think about that Spike. I'm competing, remember. To get that one right, you'll have to bet against me."
"Oh yeah."
Eventually, Spike and Twilight made it down the hall and into the throne room, where Celestia had been listening to their entire conversation. "I see you two have a little competition of your own going on."
"Yes, Princess. Spike and I have been trying to pick who will win each round. So far, I've guessed correctly on both rounds, while Spike was wrong both times."
"I can still win the next two!"
"Calm down, Spike." Celestia said. "No need to worry. After these two rounds, we will still have four competitors left. There will be more rounds."
"I guess you're right. See, Twi. The princess is on my side."
"Actually, I'm just telling you the facts. If I had to pick a side, I would choose Twilight." Twilight Sparkle jumped into the air with glee when she heard her mentor speak those words. Just then, the doors to the throne room opened and Princess Luna walked in.
"I couldn't help overhear that you have a little competition going on, Tia, and that you and Twilight are ganging up on poor Spike."
"That's not what's happening!" Celestia exclaimed.
"It doesn't matter really. You and Twilight could never beat us."
"Us?"
"Yes, since you have joined forces with Twilight, I have no choice to join Spike's team." Now, it was the dragon's turn to jump into the air with glee. "Now that we have picked teams, how about we make this game a little more interesting."
"I'm listening."
"How about whichever team gets the most round guesses wrong at the end of the event has to admit to all of Equectria that the other team is better."
"Deal."
"What!?" shouted Spike and Twilight. Before they could say anything else, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were already shaking hooves, sealing the deal.
"Good luck, lulu. You'll need it."
"Don't worry about us, Tia. After all, everyone knows I'm the more serious sister." After a long period of silence, all three alicorns and the one dragon burst out laughing.
Ponyville, at the moment, was completely full. Ponies from all over Equestria flooded the streets of the small town. A giant crowd had formed underneath the castle of Princess Twilight Sparkle. This was all because of a little surprise Princess Celestia had in mind. She announced that from now on, Princess Twilight and Dragon Ambassador Spike were to pick the matches for the FIRST ANUAL EQUESTRIA SERIOUSNESS COMPETITION. In fact, that is what was about to happen, for Twilight and Spike had made their way out to their royal balcony. Ponies cheered and then silenced themselves as they saw their princess arrive.
"Mares and Gentlecolts!" began Twilight. "On behalf of all of the Equestrian royalty, we would like to again thank you for your enthusiasm. We know many of you here today are from out of town and we appreciate you coming all the way here to see the this. Most of you look pretty excited, so we won't keep you waiting any longer. Spike!" Another wave of cheers spread throughout the crowd as the dragon whelp made his way into view. "For those of you who don't know who this is, his name is Spike. Spike is the official dragon ambassador to Equestria, as well as my little brother. He will be drawing the names for the third round." Spike held up the glass bowl that had been previously handled by Luna.
"Ok, ponies!" Spike called. "Are you ready for this!?" The crowd below once again let out tons of cheers as Spike said those words. "I guess you are. Now, let's get down to it." Spike reached into the glass bowl and swirled his claw around. Eventually, he grabbed one and pulled it out. "Alright, the first competitor in the third round will be Mrs.Harschwhinny!" Surprisingly, only one pony in the entire crowd cheered at the name, and that was Pinkie Pie. Harshwhinny had a reputation for being a stick in the mud and no pony really liked her. "Ok. I love the enthusiasm. Any way, on to the next one." Spike once again reached a claw in, swirled it around, and pulled a name out of the bowl. He brought it up to is face to read the name. "The second competitor who will be in the third round is..." Just then, Spike let out a huge sneeze. A burst of fire came out of his nose and hit the paper. The name instantly was burned and turned to ashes. Every pony gasped as Spike sat there, embarrassed. "Sorry about that. Don't worry though, I saw the name and it was Cherry Jubilee!" Twilight Sparkle then walked forward and joined Spike on the balcony.
"Did you hear that every pony? The third round will be between Mrs.Harshwhinny and Cherry Jubilee. It has been decided that the match will be held in the Crystal Empire. Good luck to both competitors and we will see you tomorrow."
After the names for the third round had been announced, Spike and Twilight walked back into the castle. Celestia and Luna had been waiting for them, but were watching the event on a portable TV.
"What happened out there!?" demanded Celestia.
"I sneezed." replied Spike, meekly.
"I know that, but why did you let the paper burn up? That could have been a disaster!"
"Oh please, Tia. Spike saw the name in time, so there is no need to get upset. No harm, no foul." Luna chimed in.
"I guess you are right, sister. I apologize, Spike."
"It's okay. Every pony gets angry and you will definitely be angry when Luna and I win the next round."
"We'll see about that." Twilight began. "I'm guessing you two will pick Mrs.Harshwhinny."
"Yep."
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but Cherry Jubilee will be the one to win."
"And why is that, Sparkle?" Luna asked.
"She runs her own business. That takes seriousness. Mrs.Harshwhinny just works for a committee."
"So!" Spike replied. "Have you met Harshwhinny? No pony is more serious than her, especially not Cherry Jubilee."
"I guess we'll just have to wait till tomorrow to prove you wrong."
"I guess we will." With those words, Spike turned and walked down a hall. Luna followed him, but Celestia and Twilight stayed to talk.
"Are you sure Harshwhinny can pull this off, Spike?"
"Oh, I'm sure. I'm just glad I didn't get caught."
"What do you mean?"
"I burned the name on purpose. I had pulled Twilight's name, not Cherry Jubilee's."
"What!?"
"You heard me. I hate to admit it, but Twilight could have won. However, now that Cherry is going up against her, there's no way Harshwhinny can lose!"
"I like the way you think, Spike."
"So do I."
Now, it was the Crystal Empire's turn to be loaded with ponies. There were ponies from all over Equestria there, making it look like it had during the Equestria games. The stadium that help the games was now the home of a different event. Being the rulers of the Empire, Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor were the announcers for the third round. They made their way to center field as silence washed over the crowd.
"Hello, Crystal Empires!" Shining Armor spoke. "It is time for the third round of the FIRST ANUAL EQUESTRIA SERIOUSNESS COMPETITION!" The crowd then broke their silence and let out a grand cheer. "I can hear you're ready, so let's get started. Allow me to introduce our competitors. This official looking mare is Mrs.Harshwhinny. She's the head of the Equestria Games Committee and a well known stick in the mud. And this other mare is Cherry Jubilee. She runs her own cherry packaging business on the edge of Equestria. Both are great competitors, but there can be only one winner!" Now, it was Cadence's turn to speak.
"This round will be a regular, best two out of three contest! The first event will be about work ethic. Both competitors will be telling a group of construction ponies how to build a small doghouse. The one that completes their doghouse first is the winner. The next round will be about stamina. The two will have a staring contest and of corse, the winner of the contest will win that event. Finally, the last event will be about public speaking. The ponies must given an impromptu speech about whatever topic they choose. The one who gives the better speech will win that event! Now that we know what's going on, it's time to start. One...Two...Three...Go!"
Instantly, both competitors started to make their way towards the first event. Cherry Jubilee got their first and began ordering her team to build the doghouse. Harshwhinny got there shortly after and did the same, just with a lot more ferocity. Both mares were barking orders as their teams desperately tired to finnish their doghouse first. Soon, both houses were almost complete and just needed to have the roofs put on. Cherry Jubilee felt confident she would win and smoothened her tone, causing her team to relax and take a break. However, Mrs.Harshwhinny had no intentions of losing and kept on barking orders. Her team kept on working and finally put the roof on top.
"The winner of the first event is Mrs.Harshwhinny!" Cadence exclaimed. "Now, on to the staring contest!"
Both ponies took their places and soon the contest was on. Harshwhinny and Jubilee both took a final blink before opening their eyes to as wide as they could go. Minutes passed by and nether competitor seemed to give an inch. The crowd was completely silent except for a small stallion in the back, who was silently muttering, "Kiss. Kiss. Kiss. Kiss." Eventually, Mrs.Harshwhinny eye's began to close, but she barely managed to keep them open. After a while, it looked like Harshwhinny was done for, but just Cherry Jubilee's eyes snapped shut. Ponies gasped at the realization that Mrs.Harshwhinny had won.
"There you go, every pony. The winner of the first two events and the third round of the competition is Mrs.Harshwhinny!" Instead of going crazy, the crowd all groaned in disappointment, for no pony wanted to her to be the victor. Mrs.Harshwinny could only sigh as she silently walked off the field.
Today, no doubt, was a special day. Today would be the closing match of the first round of the FIRST ANUAL EQUESTIRA SERIOUSNESS COMPETITION! Usually, the two competitors competing would be chosen by random draw out of a glass bowl and that match would take place the following day. However, it being the final round and all, there were only two ponies left. This is why Ponyville was once again filled to the brim with ponies. They crowded around a field deep in Sweet Apple Acres that was sectioned off specifically for the competition.
One of the competitors was none other than Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship who lived in Ponyville. The other was the certainly serious camera mare, Photo Finish. The two were standing on opposite sides of the field, with ponies cheering for them and giving them words of encouragement. One of these ponies, on Twilight's side, was Princess Celestia. She needed Twilight to win in order to keep the lead in the little wager she had with her sister. If Photo Finish were to win, both her and Luna would be tied at two a piece. However, if Twilight were to come through for her, Celestia would expand her lead to two. She scowled as she looked across the field and saw Luna and Spike talking to Photo Finish.
"Now do you see why you need to win?" Spike asked. Him and Luna had just finished explaining to Photo Finish about the bet they had with Twilight and Celestia.
"I see. You two want me to win so you can tie the game?"
"Precisely." Luna answered.
"In that case, Photo Finish will not disappoint!" She galloped to center field, as Twilight began to do the same. The competitors met at the middle, where Applejack and Big Macintosh were waiting for them. Since the contest was taking place on their farm, it was decided that they would be the announcers of the match.
"Hello, every pony!" Applejack exclaimed. "I hope ya'll are ready, cause we got one heck of a show for ya today. It's time for the final match of the first round of the...uh...seriousness contest thingy...Ain't that right Big Mac?"
"Eeeyuppp."
"Alright! Over here we got our first competitor, Twilight Sparkle. She's the super serious Princess of Friendship with a love of books. And over there we have Photo Finish. She does stuff with pictures or somethin. Anyways, let's get this thing started!" Big Mac stepped in front of his sister to address the crowd. "My brother will explain how this round works."
"This round will be a normal two out of three match. As always, the winner will move on to the next stage of the competition and the loser will not." Twilight glanced over at Spike, who she saw was sticking his tongue out at her. She quickly returned the gesture before turning her attention back to Big Mac. "It'll work like this. Both ponies while have ta each complete one puzzle, and whoever does it the quickest will win the first event. The second event will be a series of word problems. Whoever gets the most right after ten minutes will be the winner of that even. Finally, the third event will be a plain old test. Whoever gets a higher score will win that event and the match."
"There ya have it, ya'll. Now let's get started!" A bell sounded and the two competitors raced to their first event. Photo Finish got their first, but Twilight arrived soon after. They began to furiously working on the puzzles that lie before them. They were extremely complicated, with interesting shapes and colors that needed to be matched, not to mention the amount of pieces there were. Twn minutes went by and still neither of the competitors were even halfway done.
"Time!" yelled Applejack. "There is a ten minute time minute for each event. The pony that had gotten the furthest on their puzzle will be the winner." She walked over to both Photo Finish's and Twilight's puzzles. After careful consideration, she decided who had gotten the furthest. "Alright, ya'll. It looks like Twilight here as won the first event!" The entire crowd let out an enormous cheer. Every pony was screaming at the top of their lungs, except for Luna and Spike. "Let's get to event number two!" The time bell sounded once again and the competitors began to work on the word problems. Like the puzzle, they were long and complicated. Both Photo and Twilight were having a hard time with them. Minutes past, nine to be exact, when Photo Finish claimed that she was done.
"Looks like Photo Finnish finished her puzzle." Applejack walked over to where Photo was standing and looked hard at the puzzle. She noticed that all of the edge and corner pieces were missing. Applejack then glance under the table and saw the missing puzzle pieces. "On second thought, it looks like she isn't done. Actually, Photo seems to have cheated. You know what that means, right ya'll. Diquali...disqueli..diss..."
"Disqualification?" Big Mac asked.
"Yup, that. That means Twilight Sparkle is the winner!" The crowd erupted into an enormous cheer. Every pony in Ponyville were stomping there hooves, except for Twilight, Photo, Luna and Spike.
"Wait!" Twilight screamed. "Does this mean I can't take the test?"
"Sorry, Sugarcube, but there's no need to. You already won."
"But, but...why!?" On the other side of the field, Luna and Spike were talking with Photo Finnish.
"What was that!?" Luna scolded. "You tried to cheat to win!"
"You needed me to win, so I did what I had to do to make sure that I did."
"Well that makes sense." Spike added sarcastically. "It's not like any pony would notice that the entire edge of the puzzle was gone."
"It seemed like a good idea at the time."
"Just get out of our sight." Luna scoffed. The camera mare quickly sprinted off the field and away from Luna and Spike. "So now what?"
"We just have to guess the next matches right and hope Twilight doesn't win again."
