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Post by Zecora on Oct 31, 2011 19:06:21 GMT -5
Everything had been set up for the event, thanks to the efforts of a crew of ponies brought in by the business stallion. Apparently, whatever the entrepreneur had done to advertise his promotional contest had done the trick, for a crowd of ponies had gathered around the large stage that laid beside Sugarcube Corner.
Zecora paced behind the wooden stucture. She was impressed how quickly this event had been put together; it was only just a few days ago that she was first approached with this opportunity. The promoter had sent her a set of clothes for her role, although the zebra was uncertain of what to think of the deep red vest and bowtie she wore now. The audience was waiting and Zecora jostled her golden bands in anticipation. All that was left was for the contestants to arrive.
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Post by Rarity on Oct 31, 2011 19:15:22 GMT -5
Coming straight out of Pinkie's mouth and deep into Rarity's mind, she wanted whatever Superstore Equestria had to offer, and all that stood in their way were two other ponies. Whatever this game was about, Rarity was certain she could win. Fashion? Leave it to her. Eating? That was more...Pinkie's department, but given a nice cloth and maybe something nice to drink, Rarity could partake in the event as well. Rarity, followed by the hopping pink mare made their way to the corner, and stepped onstage.
"Zecora, dear, so lovely to see you again. Pinkie's told me all about this contest, but...what exactly will we have to do here?" She looked back to the stage to see it had four seats in pairs of two. "And for that matter, who are our opponents? You don't mean to say Pinkie and I have to fight in this game do you?" Rarity looked around as nopony from the crowd was stepping up. She scheduled for both Sweetie Belle and Horizon to be in the audience as she played the game, and also caught a glimpse of her unicorn friend, Twilight. Rarity waved, happy to see that her friend had come to cheer her on, or so she thought. "Hello! Twilight! Come to see Pinkie and I win, hmm? Well, we wont disappoint you."
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Post by Pinkie Pie on Oct 31, 2011 20:15:23 GMT -5
Pinkie stopped by a window to see her transparent reflection. Her hair was slightly smoother, since she had spent what felt like hours smoothing down her hair with conditioner, which at first seemed ineffective, but now Pinkie's wild hair was slightly better looking (even if it was a primitive attempt), which was what Rarity would've wanted her to do. As she walked downstairs to go outside for the contest, she grabbed a cupcake and topped it with hot sauce. Gummy took the bottle from her, because he loved the hot sauce and was very rarely allowed to it.
Pinkie skipped outside in a hurry, partly because she didn't want to be late, and partly because she was excited for the contest. She caught sight of Zecora wearing the red vest and bowtie, and she giggled.
"Cool outfit!" Pinkie chuckled. "I can't wait to start!"
When Pinkie saw Rarity, she smoothed back her hair a little. Maybe, if she wasn't nice-looking enough, Rarity would quit the contest! Then Pinkie would have to forfeit. Or worse, enter with somepony else! No, no, Rarity wouldn't do that.
OR WOULD SHE? Pinkie panicked. Pinkie took a few deep breaths. Rarity wanted to enter, for that fancy prize! She was getting ahead of herself.
"Hi Rarity!" She stammered, coming up behind her. "Ready for the competition thing?"
What was the competition again? It was a- hmm. Was it a... digging contest? No, Rarity would NEVER join that. It was on the tip on her tongue (or maybe it was the tip of her mind, since she wasn't actually talking). Oh well, Pinkie thought, inspecting her hoof. I'll find out soon enough.
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Post by Twilight Sparkle on Oct 31, 2011 21:38:44 GMT -5
Twilight walked past the crowd trying to meet Rarity. Something seemed... Wrong. She asked her if she had come to cheer her on. Didn't she know that... "Hey Rarity." She said slightly puzzled. "You know we're your opponents, right?" She said nodding to Zathra. She extended a hoof to her friend smiling. "We have to shake hooves before we go against each other. Its good sportsmanship." She said following rules she had read in books about competitions.
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Post by Rarity on Oct 31, 2011 22:58:26 GMT -5
Rarity smiled as Twilight approached her, happy that he friend was greeting her like she would on a normal day, even though Rarity was technically famous now. "It certainly is nice to see you on a-" Rarity cut out her words as she heard Twilight mention that they were going to be opponents. A small hair in the back of Rarity's mane jumped out as Rarity's jaw flew open. "Y-You're...you're going to be our opponents?"
Rarity was worried at first, but then shut her jaw and gave off a friendly laugh. "Why of course, this will certainly be fun. I'm so sorry Pinkie and I will have to beat you in this competition. It's just the way things have to be sometimes. I'm certain you understand. We'll look back on this sometime and have a nice laugh." Rarity was obviously over confident as she made her way to her seat, next to Pinkie. Their team was certainly ready for the event to begin.
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Post by Twilight Sparkle on Nov 1, 2011 0:58:59 GMT -5
Twilight looked at Rarity giving her a strange look. Twilight put her hoof down, as Rarity hadn't made a point to shake with her. She seemed as though she were either over confident or mean. She was probably just excited, she reconciled. "Well, may the best team win!" She said, her smile returning. It wasn't often events like this chose Ponyville to be the host, so she was just glad to be a part of it all as well as put on an interesting show for everypony else.
Zathra who had been talking to a pony now returned to Twilights side. A little too close for Twilight to be comfortable, actually. She escaped to her seat and thanked Celestia the seats weren't right next to eachother. It wasn't that she didn't like Zathra, it was just that between him and Fenris she didn't know quite what to do. Twilight had been informed of the game on short notice and Zathra was readily available, so she ended up taking him as a teammate. They now both sat awaiting the start of the festivities.
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Post by Zecora on Nov 1, 2011 12:06:28 GMT -5
Zecora greeted the two pairs of friends as they arrived, but, before she could say much more, they had already exchanged words and made their way to their seats. It appeared it was time to get the show started.
Ascending the ramp to the platform, she pushed aside the curtain and trotted to the middle of the stage.
"Welcome, ponies of this fine township!
Today these two teams will 'Test their Friendship'!"
A cloth banner unfurled from above her, revealing the words "Test Your Friendship" in bold print. Cheers of excitement poured from the audience and the zebra glowed with enthusiasm.
"These two pairs of friends will set out to attest,
which of their bonds is strongest in this contest!
If I said they were only fighting for friendship, I would be telling lies,
for these four ponies will also be competing for a lovely prize!
Zecora nodded to an elaborate display behind her. It was a scale model of an impressive, circular complex. A rolled up slip of parchment laid on a pedestal in the center of it, a golden ribbon resting neatly on top.
"The lucky winners will likely be ones of envy,
for they will receive a rather special shopping spree:
An expense paid trip to the wondrous city of Manhanttan and a gift certificate chosen
for the Superstore Equestria, the new boutique that holds the desires of every mare and stallion."
The crowd responded with expressions of awe, a mix of "ooooooos" and "ahhhhhhhs" among them.
"Before we get too far along let's first get to know,
the dear contestants of this here show."
She turned around to the pair of Rarity and Pinkie, giving them a friendly wink before continuing,
"So team number 1, tell us a bit about yourselves
and why your think you'll be browsing the Superstore shelves."
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Post by Rarity on Nov 1, 2011 14:16:37 GMT -5
Rarity was used to speaking in front of a crowd at this point, and was happy to share a bit about herself with the crowd. The only thing off limits was speaking about Horizon, considering the Royal Guards may or may not have known he was behind the incident at Count Von Hoofmore's ball. "Well, as some of you might know, my name is Rarity. I'm in charge of the local Boutique in town. Do stop by sometime, to the Carousel Boutique, where our fabrics are chic, unique and manefique."
While it was a shameless advertisement, Rarity continued talking. "Yes, I'm the Rarity you've all probably heard about in Hoity Toity's review of the top 50 best designs in Equestria, and I even designed the dresses for Sapphire Shores' tour, costume changed included." Now, at this point, Rarity could talk about herself all day, but there were more important issues to take care of, making sure Pinkie was up to the task so they could win that prize was one of them.
"Now, my friend Pinkie Pie and I are destined to win today because we're simply two in a pod. I'm beautiful, smart, elegant, luxurious, sophisticated, and not above showing it off, while my friend Pinkie is, well, she's Pinkie Pie." Rarity bowed to the crowd as if she had already won the award. She did feel like she was being a little over confident, and maybe a little mean, but she wanted to win that shopping spree, and with Twilight paired up with a complete stranger, they'd have the best chance. As long as Pinkie didn't blow it by being...well, too much Pinkie.
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Post by Pinkie Pie on Nov 4, 2011 21:45:02 GMT -5
Pinkie looked over the crowd. Everypony there was familiar. Frankly, she felt she didn't actually need to tell her friends and acquaintances about herself, but she didn't want to ruin her and Rarity's chances of winning.
"Well, I'm Pinkie Pie, as you all know, and I work at Sugarcube Corner, throw parties, play games and I have a pet alligator named Gummy! I wish to win today because my friend Rarity-" She looked tenderly over at the friend. "-Always works really, really, REALLY hard, and I think she deserves a break for once. We are all bestest of friends! Thank you."
Pinkie rubbed her nose. Would Rarity think she was silly for saying that? But it was true.
She noticed her hair was getting messier and messier. This was insane! It was as if a creature had crawled into her mane and-
Wait a minute.
Where did she put Gummy, anyway?
Smiling nevously, she back up and hid behind Rarity as she wrenched Gummy from her mane.
"Bad Gummy! You should be inside!" She whisper-yelled at him. Gummy, as usual, didn't show any emotion and waddled slowly off the stage, Pinkie eyeing him suspiciously. Slowly, she noticed that she was meant to be up on the stage, and she came out from behind Rarity.
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Post by Zecora on Nov 4, 2011 22:39:15 GMT -5
Zecora was pleased that Rarity presented herself with her usual eloquence. Pinkie's kind words were touching as well, bringing a wide smile to her face once again. That is until Pinkie decided to act like....well, Pinkie. Stifled laughter murmured throughout the crowd and the zebra cleared her throat loudly before continuing.
"You have met the first team, but what of the second?
Let's hear from team two and how their bond is reckoned."
She turned to the pair of Twilight and Zathra now. While she was familiar with Twilight and the two of her friends that were also competing, she did not recognize this fourth pony at all. Admittedly, she didn't know everypony in Ponyville, but she had come to know those closest to the purple unicorn, thanks to her occasional visits for tea. Who was this unicorn that sat next to Twilight? Soon she would know, Zecora reasoned.
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Post by Twilight Sparkle on Nov 4, 2011 23:38:17 GMT -5
Twilight looked at Zathra as if to ask if she were to go first. She then proceeded to adress the crowd. "My name is Twilight Sparkles. As most of you might know, im the princess`s student and I..." She paused suddenly. Why did she want the prize? "And well... Im just here for fun." She said with a smile. She then gave a nod to Zathra to signify she was done.
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Post by zathra on Nov 5, 2011 0:33:25 GMT -5
Zathra nodded to show he recognized that Twilight was done, and stepped forward. "Well, my name is Zathra, i run the Blacksmith i opened here about a month ago. I met Twilight a couple weeks ago when i helped set up nightmare night. I don't really mind winning or losing... though, it would be nice to win, i'm just here for the fun". Zathra walked back to twilight, standing father away so that she wasn't feeling like her personal space was being invaded.
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Post by Zecora on Nov 5, 2011 1:24:06 GMT -5
Zecora returned a sagely nod to the team's answers. With the introductions over, she readdressed the crowd of ponies.
"We've heard from our players and now we move onto,
explaining how they will test whose friendship is most true!
A series of questions is what I will ask first
to one of the ponies with which we conversed.
They will write down their answers and try to successfully match
what their partner will say after returning from their dispatch
After another rotation, we will be able to surmise
which team will be going to Manehatten with the coveted prize!"
Zecora was really getting into the role she had taken! While the zebra may have been a bit hesitant when she first signed up, she couldn't be more glad that she had taken the opportunity now. It reminded her of when she would get the chance to tell her own tales during the village gatherings at night, putting on her best acts to draw the attention of her listeners.
Facing the two pairs of friends once again, she continued,
"Without any further delay, please select who will first answer,
and send the other pony backstage to come back later."
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Post by Horizon Flare on Nov 5, 2011 6:25:46 GMT -5
Horizon was in the crowd, being invited by Rarity to follow the competition. Of course, the Pegasus had also gotten the task of watching Sweetie Belle while Rarity was playing the game. This was the first time Horizon saw Rarity's friends; he thought it a bit odd that she hadn't introduced him to them, but he didn't really mind. He was content enough with the white Unicorn and couldn't care less about her circle of friends as long as he didn't have to have anything to do with them.
After Rarity's opening speech, the Pegasus clapped and whistled excitedly. He was sure Rarity would win, especially with him there to cheer at her! He was eager to see what Rarity and the others would do in this 'Friendship Game.' The prices, at least, were very decent, but how was the game itself?
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Post by Rarity on Nov 5, 2011 12:53:49 GMT -5
Rarity smiled at Zecora and was a little too wrapped up in the glory of the prize to notice the audience, but she knew she had support. "Well, Zecora, I suppose Pinkie Pie can go first. I'll go backstage. It'll be a shame that all these nice ponies will miss seeing me more, but I'm sure they can handle just a few minutes without me." Rarity smiled and looked over at Twilight and Zathra. While normally, a friendly 'Good Luck' of some sort would come from Rarity, she scoffed and flipped her hair back, much like something Trixie would do.
Rarity didn't mean to be unsettling or cruel, she had her heart set on the prize was all. Rarity sat on a stool backstage and put on some earphones, luckily she was allowed to watch, or listen to something to pass the time. She smiled and watch a re-run of Sapphire Shores' show. Rarity was certain she was going to win with Pinkie, but perhaps her boastfulness was pushing it too far, she worried about calling herself 'The Great and Powerful Rarity' at some point, but knew it wouldn't be THAT bad.
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