Chapter 10: Acting Contest

The next day arrived and Rarity was starting to lose her mind. The white unicorn was extremely nervous about how her performance would go. She was breathing heavily and everypony knew that she needed to calm down. Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Fluttershy did everything that they could for Rarity. The unicorn was easily the best actress out of the foursome so if she lost her cool their entire performance was doomed. Rarity began to calm down a little. Trixie made breakfast for the entire group and they ate in silence. Rarity was still extremely nervous about the performance but then Sweetie Belle managed to calm her down.

The group of fourteen relaxed for a while. Rarity and her team had a bit of time before they had to go down to the contest area. The whole group talked and laughed for a while. Rarity was starting to get in a better mood. Her nerves weren't as bad as they were before. She was in a much calmer state of mind. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy noticed this and smiled. Hopefully Rarity would be able to stay in this relaxed state and keep a cool head when they had their performance. All too soon it was time for the foursome to leave. They bid their friends farewell and then they headed out the door. The elevator carried them down to the first floor and then they left the hotel and were off to the contest area. This would be a big performance for them.

Once they arrived they were greeted by a contest official. He told them that they would be the first team to perform. This made Rarity extremely nervous. Performing first could put them at a disadvantage since the judges might be so impressed by the later performances that they would forget theirs. Thankfully Applejack and the others managed to calm Rarity down and assure her that they could still pull off a fantastic performance. They stood in the waiting room until the official entered the room. He told Rarity that her team would be on stage in five minutes. The unicorn took some very deep breaths and managed to calm herself. Five minutes later the official returned and Rarity left the room with her three friends. They walked onto the stage and were greeted with cheers and applause. They looked at each other and began their performance.

Pinkie Pie and Applejack were standing on their hind legs and holding prop swords. Lights shined down on the duo which made the audience focus on them. They dueled with each other for a while as part of their performance. Rarity and Fluttershy encouraged Applejack since Pinkie Pie was playing the villain of the show.

"You shall never be victorious against me!" Pinkie Pie shouted with a mad cackle of laughter as she blocked every attack that Applejack threw at her. She had really gotten into the spirit of her character. "Why don't you just give up?"

"Never!" Applejack replied as she continued the fight.

The duo dueled for a minute or two before Pinkie Pie gave Applejack a malicious grin. Then the pink pony knocked the sword out of the cowgirl's hooves. Immediately after this she made it seem like she had stabbed Applejack right through the heart. The cowgirl pony crumpled to the ground clutching her chest. Rarity sprinted towards her fallen friend with tears in her eyes. The lights dimmed a bit as they focused on the fallen orange pony. Rarity held Applejack in her forelegs and spoke.

"Please don't die." Rarity said in a sorrow filled voice. "I cannot bear to lose you."

"I am afraid that my time is near." Applejack replied. She had managed to lose her country accent for the performance but it definitely wasn't easy for her to speak differently than normal. Applejack coughed a bit before her body went limp. Rarity bent over the now lifeless form of Applejack.

"Oh cruelest fate." Rarity wailed. "Why must you be so foul? Why must the innocent suffer so?" Tears rolled down the face of the white unicorn as well as the faces of several members of the audience.

Fluttershy had turned towards Pinkie Pie who had a very evil smile on her face. It was almost scary how enthusiastic Pinkie Pie was about this role. She seemed like such an innocent pony but in this performance she looked like evil in pony form. Pinkie Pie was certainly random.

"So this is how she falls." Pinkie Pie said nastily. "Such a pity. I had expected so much more."

Fluttershy picked up Applejack's forgotten sword and looked at Pinkie Pie. The yellow pegasus' expression was a mix of fear and anger.

"You shall pay for everything that you have done." Fluttershy said. Then she ran towards Pinkie Pie and engaged in a duel against her. The spotlights shined down on the duo as they fought. Finally Fluttershy managed to disarm Pinkie Pie and then the pink pony was defeated. Fluttershy dropped her sword and went over to Rarity.

"It is finished." she said quietly.

The duo stared down at the body of Applejack as the curtains closed on their performance. The audience went wild with applause and cheering. They had definitely been moved by what they had witnessed. Meanwhile Rarity and her three friends relaxed in the waiting room. Their performance was over and now they could only wait to find out if they had won or not. The second group went up and there were still another nine groups after that one. Since acting wasn't exclusive to a certain species of pony like flying and magic were, every town had an acting team. Eleven towns were competing in this contest.

After an hour or so, the final group came back. The contest official walked into the room and congratulated everypony. He said that the winner would be announced the day after tomorrow. All of the acting teams got up and left the room. They all headed back to wherever they were staying. Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy met up with their friends and they were complimented on their performance. The group of fourteen went back to their hotel room to relax until the next day.

While all of the others were calm, The Cutie Mark Crusaders were starting to get nervous. They were going to be performing tomorrow. The others had had their fair share of nerves but the fillies were even more anxious. This was because of the bet that they had made with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon before they left Ponyville. Each of the four fillies shuddered at the thought of having to carry the two bullies around for an entire month. They also wondered if they would get their cutie marks during this contest. This thought however was shoved aside by anxiety as well as excitement. The entire group went to bed and anticipated the next day where the final contest would take place.