Chapter 7: Before the Contest
Morning came and the competing teams woke up and got themselves packed. They had two hours before their train left for Canterlot. Rainbow Dash, Gilda, and Lightning Dust were all sleeping in because they had literally nothing that they needed to pack aside from anything they could use to occupy their time. Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie woke up and they were ready to leave at any moment. Trixie and Twilight Sparkle woke up and they packed their bags. Both of them opted to wear their stage outfits rather than put them in their suitcases. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had woken up and they had some packing to do. They needed to pack their equipment.
Vinyl Scratch had given the four fillies some cases for each of their respective instruments. The blue maned pony had wished them the best of luck. Little did the foursome know that Vinyl Scratch also had a bet that depended on them to win the contest. The sunglasses wearing pony had decided to keep silent about her wager with her boss out of fear that such knowledge would stress out the four fillies. The Cutie Mark Crusaders packed up their instruments inside of the cases. Then they put their costumes inside of their suitcases. Apple Bloom and Babs Seed put their headpieces in small bags while Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle did the same with small jars of eye makeup. They filled their suitcases with things that would help them pass the time until the contest.
Ten minutes before the train arrived, every competitor had shown up at the station with their bags packed. All of them had chosen to bring along objects that could be used for fun. These ranged from books to toys to decks of cards. They were going to have a fairly long trip and two weeks was an awfully long wait for them. Every single pony in Ponyville showed up to see them off. The train pulled into the station and came to a halt. The twelve ponies, one griffon, and one dragon all grabbed their belongings and boarded the train. They marched off into the compartment that had been reserved for them and sat down. Their bags had been taken by the train staff and had been placed in a secured room of the train. Since competition was fierce, the room was guarded on the outside and inside. The chances of anypony getting in and sabotaging anything were extremely slim. The group of fourteen relaxed as the train moved on to the next town to pick up more competitors.
The train ride was pretty uneventful. The train would move along the tracks stopping every now and then at towns to pick up competitors. The fourteen friends from Ponyville were all doing whatever they could to occupy their time. Trixie and Twilight Sparkle were playing some sort of complex card game. Gilda had pulled out a deck of playing cards and was teaching the others how to play blackjack. While The Cutie Mark Crusaders were a bit young for such a game the others figured it was okay since they weren't gambling. Lightning Dust won a few rounds of blackjack before the game got more interesting. She and Gilda were the only ones who knew how to play but they had some competition once the others had learned the rules. Even Trixie and Twilight Sparkle joined in after an hour or so. The group of fourteen kept up their game for a while. Soon enough the conductor announced that the train would be pulling into Canterlot. The train slowed down and came to a stop in the station. The group of fourteen grabbed their stuff and they were out the door of the train. A few ponies approached them and carried their equipment. Two of the three carried the musical instruments while the third led the way to where the fourteen competitors would be staying.
After a few minutes of walking, they came to a hotel. They went inside of the magnificent building and were in awe of the white marble floors. The walls were painted beautifully. They made their way to the elevator wand waited. Soon enough the golden doors opened and the entire group went inside. Despite the presence of fifteen ponies, one griffon, one dragon, and their belongings, the elevator didn't feel cramped at all. The worker pony pressed a button and they were off to the ninth floor. After a minute or two, the elevator slowed to a stop. The group of seventeen left and walked down the hall. They came to the room and the worker pony opened the door. Once they were inside they gasped at how amazing it looked.
The floor was covered in a beautiful red carpet. The room had its own kitchen with gorgeous black and white tiles. The windows were large glass panes that showed an amazing view of the city below them. There was a door next to them that led the way to their own balcony. The walls were painted in a regal white color. There were two large sofas at one part of the room. There was a magnificent dining table with sixteen chairs surrounding it. There was a hallway that had several doors on it that led to four bedrooms and two bathrooms. Each bedroom had two large beds as well as a very large dresser. The bathrooms sparkled with cleanliness. The entire suite was just breathtaking. The worker ponies set down their burdens while the third worker pony handed each of the fourteen competitors their own keys to the suite. The three wished them luck and departed. The group of fourteen gazed in awe at the place. They couldn't believe that they were staying in such an extraordinary place. Each group had their own room. Rainbow Dash, Lightning Dust, and Gilda would have one of the four rooms. They would share a bathroom with Trixie, Twilight Sparkle, and Spike who took an adjacent room. Their bathroom was situated right in between the two bedrooms. Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy took the third room and they shared their bathroom with The Cutie Mark Crusaders. They all began to relax in the living room when they heard a knock on the door.
A pony that was a member of the contest staff entered the room. He told the group of fourteen that they needed to meet with the contest officials to discuss what sort of special effects or lighting that they would need to have for their performances. He said that acting groups had the first meeting. Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy left the suite and walked with the worker pony. The rest of the group stayed behind and chatted for a while.
Rarity and her team arrived at the place where the contest would be held. They met a pony that specialized in using lighting and special effects. He asked the foursome what they would need. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy all looked towards Rarity. She was the most experienced and was their leader of sorts. Rarity discussed her choice of effects with the official. There wasn't much she'd need in terms of special effects but lighting was a very big issue for her. Everything needed to be absolutely perfect. The lights needed to focus on the foursome just right. The official got everything down perfectly and Rarity was confident that it would go well. She left the area with Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. The foursome headed off back to the hotel.
When they arrived back at the hotel it was like they were in a war zone. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had found a large supply of small towels. They were tossing them all over the place as if they were having a war. Apple Bloom and Babs Seed were crouching behind couch cushions while Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle bombarded them with towel balls. The cousins retaliated whenever they could. Rarity opened her mouth to scold her sister but before she could she was grabbed by Rainbow Dash. The light blue pegasus pulled her behind the kitchen counter. Gilda and Lightning Dust had grabbed Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. They were all behind the counter next to Trixie, Twilight Sparkle, and Spike. Rarity gave Rainbow Dash a glare of annoyance.
"We have to put a stop to this." she said.
"Trust me you don't wanna do that." Rainbow Dash warned her. "Twilight tried to stop them and she took four towel balls right to the face."
"We figured it was best to just let this happen and try not to get hit." Gilda said.
"If you wanna stop 'em go right ahead." Lightning Dust told her. "But I'm warning ya. You're gonna take some hits if ya step into that battlefield."
Rarity accepted this and she sat down with the others. They just waited for the battle to end. Hopefully the four fillies wouldn't hurt each other or cause any damage to the suite. After a few minutes of fighting, they agreed to call a truce. They got out from behind their cushions and shook hooves. The rest of the group got out of their hiding spot. Rarity was about to scold them but she decided that it wasn't worth the time. They all worked together to clean up the mess that had been made. Gilda raided the fridge and cooked up a pretty good meal. The group of fourteen ate their dinner and then it was time for bed. Rainbow Dash and Gilda shared a bed while Lightning Dust slept alone. Twilight Sparkle shared a bed with Trixie leaving Spike to have a bed all to himself. Rarity and Fluttershy shared one of the beds while Applejack and Pinkie Pie shared the other one. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom shared a bed in their room while Sweetie Belle and Babs Seed took the other bed. All of them had a very peaceful sleep.
The next day arrived and none of the fourteen competitors had anything to do. Other acting teams were setting up their lighting and special effects so there was nothing for the fourteen friends to do. They passed the time by exploring the streets of Canterlot and doing whatever they could for fun. There wasn't a good spot anywhere in the city for them to practice their performances. They checked out various restaurants and other buildings and they found some very interesting spots. A few good restaurants here and there as well as a nightclub were enough to perk the interests of the flying trio and Spike. A library was spotted by Twilight Sparkle and she rushed in to look for a good book or two or twenty. Trixie found a store that sold some objects that could show off some impressive effects. The showmare pony purchased some of everything and put it in a bag. She wasn't going to use any of them during the contest but they could definitely be helpful for her career. The others found various ways to occupy their time.
The rest of the two weeks passed without much excitement. Rainbow Dash, Gilda, and Lightning Dust needed almost no effects or lighting for their performance. Flying would be done outside in the daylight so such things would hardly be useful anyway. Twilight Sparkle, Trixie, and Spike met with an official and Trixie made plans for a dramatic sort of entrance for the trio. The showmare said that this move would capture the audience's attention as well as the judges' interest. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had a lot of planning to do. Their performance required quite a bit of effects and stuff like that. Once everything was set up there was nothing more for the fourteen friends to do. The next day would mark the beginning of the contest. Day number one would be the flying acts. All fourteen friends went to sleep and anticipated the next day.
