The mane six and knightly six decided to go their separate ways around the Gala and would meet back at the castle in two hours. They thought it would be nice if each girl had one of the knights to go with them. Yorkshire was with Fluttershy and Knighton was spending time with Princess Luna. Twilight and Spike went off together to look around the Gala to see what they could do. That left Llanfair going with Pinkie Pie, Tregaron went with Rarity, Penarth with Rainbow Dash, and Rhayader with Applejack. All went to different sections of the Grand Galloping Gala.
Pinkie Pie and Llanfair went to the section of the Gala where it was like a carnival. It was a new addition to the Grand Galloping Gala, where adults and kids could have fun. Pinkie Pie's eyes were in complete awe of what she was seeing. It was her vision of the Gala coming true; there were rides, games, and concessions stands where they served yummy junk food and candy.
"Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed. "This is MUCH better than the last Galloping Gala!"
"What happened last time?" Llanfair asked.
"It was awful! Super-duper-terrible!" she replied. "There was no excitement at all! It was so dull! None of this was even here!"
"Was it really that bad?"
"To ponies like me, it was a nightmare… But! Now that this carnival is here, we can have all the excitement we want! So, what's your favorite part of a carnival? The rides? The food? The candy?"
He smiled. "To be honest, I've never really had the pleasure to try candy."
She gasped loudly. "You've never tried candy before?! Quick! To the concession stands!" She dashed off, quickly being followed by Llanfair.
He laughed as he kept close.
Is she always this hyper? he thought.
He continued to follow her until she made a sudden stopped. He tried to halt, but slipped and fell on his back. He groaned and looked up, only to see Pinkie's big bright blue eyes.
"Come on, Llanfair!" she said with her brows raised high. "Stop fooling around!"
"Uh… isn't that what we're doing right now?" he asked.
She stayed silent for a moment.
"Oh yeah! We are fooling around!" She helped him up and took him to one of the concession stands that were selling cotton candy. "We would like two sticks of cotton candy please?" she said to the vendor.
"What is cotton candy?" Llanfair asked her.
"You really don't know much about candy, do you?"
He shrugged. "I wouldn't know? I never tried it."
"Here's how it works for cotton candy." she said, showing him the vendor twirling a small paper stick around in a large spinning machine that was releasing strings of pink sugar. "You spin that stick around in that spinny thingamajig and strings of pink fluffy candy build up around the stick until you have a gigantic fluff of candy the size of a pillow! It's very sweet and yummy! Yummy for my tummy!"
He chuckled. "Let's get that tummy filled then! And mine! I haven't eaten in a while." He looked to the vendor who had two sticks covered in pink cotton candy. He carefully took the sticks. "Thank you." he said, paying the vendor. He handed one of the sticks to Pinkie Pie. "Here's one for you."
"Thank you!" She immediately took one big bite, eating off half of the cotton candy. "Mmmmm! Such sweet, sugary goodness! Please try it! You'll love it!"
He took a small bite of the cotton candy and felt its sweet taste on his tongue.
"This is good!" he exclaimed happily. The cotton candy immediately dissolved in his mouth. "Oh wow! It melted!"
"That's what makes it so fun and stunning!" she said. finishing up her cotton candy. "Hurry up and finish that! We have more goodies to try, and rides to ride!" She began to hop away, smiling and giggling.
Llanfair quickly finished his cotton. "Wait for me, Pinkie Pie!" he cried, catching up to her.
. . .
Applejack and Rhayader decided to go to the county fair; another new addition to the Gala. They galloped under the banner that was the entrance of the fair. They looked around and saw various events going on: pie eating contests, cow milking contests, rodeos, vegetable contests of who had the biggest vegetable, food baking and raffle games. A part of the Gala best suited for country ponies.
"Mah new favorite part of the Gala!" Applejack said. "Ah'll enjoy comin' here every year! This place always reminds me of the apple farm."
"I can tell." Rhayader said. "I have been to a couple of fairs like this back home before I became a knight. As a colt, I loved to compete in the pie eating contests. There were so many flavors to eat: raspberry, cherry, apple cinnamon, and anything else. I can still taste the memory of flavors on my tongue."
"Did ya win any of 'em?" she asked.
"I won in a couple," he replied. "but I always got sick after every contest."
She chuckled. "Ah ought to get mah Granny Smith to make a pie for ya. She makes the best apple pies in Ponyville."
"I would like that very much."
Applejack's ear twitched, hearing strange music. She heard the music being upbeat, traditional with violins and clacks of rhythm.
"Huh, that's the strangest music Ah've ever heard."
Rhayader perked his ear up and listened.
"It's riverdancing." he said.
"Riverdance? Ah don't quite follow." she implied, tilting her head.
"Riverdancing is an ancient tradition by the old nomads on the island off the coast of the Equestrian land." he explained. "The dancing expressed happiness to the ancient race of Earth ponies. It consists of fast step dancing. It's amazing to watch the legs step and move so swiftly."
"Is it anythin' like tap dancin'?" she asked. "Cause when Ah was a filly, Ah took some tap dancin' lessons for a few years."
He looked to her and raised a brow, smiling. "You want to give it a try?"
She grinned to him. "You betcha!"
"Let's follow the music then!" he said, pointing the way.
And they did. They walked a little bit to get there. They soon stopped, seeing ponies in green, red, and white all clacking their hooves loudly on the concrete ground with rhythm, dancing to the music. The music was being played by three violinists, an accordion player, a recorder player, and two drummers. They all finished the dance with three loud clacks and everypony around them were applauding loudly.
Applejack's eyes widened when she saw how fast their hooves were moving when they danced.
"Land sake!" she exclaimed. "That has got to be the fastest dancin' Ah've ever seen!"
He laughed. "That's riverdancing for you."
The musicians set the mood for the next song. They first began it with a soft introduction that would be used for slow dancing, but the drummers started to make quiet beats.
"Come on!" Rhayader said to Applejack. "You said you wanted to try riverdancing, right?" He clacked his hoofs in rhythm.
"Y-yeah! Ah'll give it a shot." she said with a little worry in her tone. She carefully listened to the beating rhythm of the music. At the right possible time, she began to tap her hooves against the hard ground with rhythm. Soon, she and Rhayader were clacking their hooves along with the other ponies who were dancing.
"Oh mah stars…!" she said, looking down at her moving hooves. "Ah'm doin' it! Ah'm actually doin' it!"
Rhayader laughed. "It's a lot of fun isn't it?"
They both moved into the crowd of the dancing ponies. Altogether, everypony were clacking their hooves almost at the same time. Suddenly the music grew more upbeat and the rhythm grew quicker. Soon, all of the instruments of the band were being played, and everypony's hooves were clacking faster. Applejack and Rhayader quickly adapted with the faster beat and rhythm. Together, they became quite a riverdancing team. They both smiled at each other while dancing close.
"How does it feel?" Rhayader asked.
"Just like when Ah was an itty bitty filly!" she replied, laughing with joy.
They continued clacking their hooves against the concrete. They saw ponies that were watching the dancers had faces of amazement. Then a flute form the music group started to blow loudly, signaling the climax of the song. All of sudden, all of the dancers stopped but Rhayader, who was still dancing. They circled around him watching his rhythm on the concrete. Applejack, who was close to him, watched up front. She too wanted to join the solo. She jumped in and danced with him; performing in front of the dancers as a pair. Now all of the instruments of the music group grew louder and louder. All watched Applejack and Rhayader dance beautiful with their quickened hooves. At the same time, the rest of dancers joined in, stomping their hooves in rhythm, making their clacking heard from all around the county fair. Everyone there was completely happy and without a care in the world. The music suddenly had a dramatic stop, making the dancers end their dance with six loud clacks.
The crowds went wild with applause and cheering, going nonstop for a long while.
Rhayader, Applejack, and the dancers gave the crowd deep bows.
"You did a wonderful job, Applejack!" Rhayader said, patting her shoulder.
"Wow… Ah barely remember dancin' that well." she said, panting and sweating. "But that was amazin'!"
"This calls for a little celebration!"
"Yeah! Let's get some pie! Mah treat!" She trotted off to find a pastry stand.
"No! Let me treat you!" he protested, following her.
"No way!" She laughed. "You did somethin' for me that Ah enjoyed, so Ah'll be the one treatin' ya!"
He sighed, shaking his head and smiling. So much for being a gentlecolt.
. . .
On the other side of the Gala, Rarity walked around showing off her new beautiful dress with Tregaron by her side where the high class ponies were gathered. Many ponies looked and saw the purple maned mare in a gorgeous dress. They all clamored with one another, muttering and whispering.
"A lot of ponies seem to like your new dress..." Tregaron whispered.
"Yes. I thought it would be fitting to make a new one of this year's Gala." Rarity said.
"I have to admit, that dress is very stunning."
She smiled. "Thank you. I worked very hard on this dress. I am hoping that everyone would be mesmerized by my… grace and sophistication."
"And you probably deserve to be seen with such amazement."
"Of course I deserve it. I am Ponyville's best fashion designer after all. I hope that my name will stretch all over Equestria!"
He chuckled. "That is a very nice dream."
"Do you have any hopes and dreams, Tregaron?" she asked.
"I don't really have many dreams." he replied. "But the only hope I have is to become one of the greatest knights in all of Equestria."
She looked up to him and smiled.
"I think you're already getting close to that goal." she said, agreeing to his thought.
"You really think so?"
"Yes. You and the knights helped bring peace again. Fighting for your life and for others is a very brave and compassionate deed. That is something you and other ponies should be very proud of. You and the boys have such strength and strong hearts, not to mention good looks too." She giggled.
He blushed and chuckled. "Thanks. I come from a family of good looks."
"Oh really? What's your family like?" she asked.
"I was the only child of the family." he replied. "My father was a shopkeeper and my mother was his assistant. I got my coat color and body from my father, and my eyes, mane and tail color from my mother. It was a dull life running a shop. My parents didn't want that for my sake. They wanted me to have an adventurous life, just like my father wanted to do when he was a colt. But never got to live the dream."
"What did they do?" Rarity asked.
"Like other ponies who become knights, I was sent to live in the home of a knight who taught me how to fight, and behave like one." He let out a quiet sigh. "I haven't seen my parents since… I sure do miss them…"
She looked down and frowned. "I'm sure they miss you too."
"I just know that one day, I'm going to see them again." he said looking up at the night sky. "And when I do, I will tell them of the adventures I've had being a knight."
"I bet they would love to hear all about it." she implied. She placed her hoof on her throat. "Forgive me darling, but all of this chatting is making me thirsty."
"May I get you something to drink then… milady?" he asked with a grin.
She giggled and nodded. "I would like that, thank you very much."
Tregaron showed her the way, letting her walk before him and followed her from behind.
. . .
Rainbow Dash and Penarth entered the gaming section of the Gala's amusement park. They looked around and saw various attractions of different games to play: ring toss, high striker, crossbow target shooting, etc.
"Hey Penarth, you good at any of these games?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Penarth laughed. "We did games like these in training. I might be able to get a good shot at them."
"I'm pretty good at the whack-a-mole with my super speed of course! Nopony can beat my speed!"
He raised a brow and grinned. "Is that a challenge?"
She thought about what she just said and smirked. "Yeah, I guess it is!"
"I accept it then!" he announced. "Let's see if you're actually fast at whack-a-mole!"
"You're gonna eat my dust Penarth!" she said laughing. Together, they galloped over to the whack-a-mole stand. "I'll let you go first."
"Alright then." He paid for the first round. He picked up the mallet, raising it over his head as he got ready to whack the moles. The game started slow with one mole popping out of one of the five holes. Penarth whacked the moles one-by-one. Soon the moles began to pop out and disappear at a faster rate. He tried to hit the moles as fast as he could, but was starting to miss some. For a few minutes, his arms swung in semi swift motion, trying harder. The moles were then coming out much faster. As he kept going, he felt his arms quickly getting tired and ache. The bell rang, announcing that the game was over. He dropped his arms and panted, sweat running down his face. They looked to see what the score was and saw that it was seventy-eight out of one hundred.
"That's very impressive for somepony like you." Rainbow Dash said, intrigued with his quick reflexes. "Nopony else can be that fast."
"Well, a knight does have to have good reflexes and a sharp eye..." he said, wiping his brows. "It's your turn."
"Alright! Watch the pro!" She paid for the next round of the game and picked up the mallet.
Penarth kept a good eye on her arms.
As the game started, Rainbow Dash whacked the moles that were popping out one after the other at first.
"This is like the warming up part for me." she said, hitting the moles. The level of speed in the game increased. As the moles popped out faster, she hit all of them. After a while, many moles were popping out of the five holes at fast speed, but Rainbow Dash was capable of whacking every single one of them.
Penarth raised his eye brows, surprised at how calm she was while doing the game at the harder levels. He watched her arms move around swiftly without slowing down.
The bell rang calling game over. The score was shown as one hundred out of one hundred.
"Ha!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "They don't call me Rainbow DASH for nothing!"
"Wow! You're amazing at this!"
"Thanks! What's your challenge for me?" she asked.
He looked around seeing what game he was great at to play next with her. He glanced over and found a crossbow shooting gallery.
"I challenge you to a game of crossbow shooting!" he replied pointing to the shooting gallery.
She laughed. "Alright! I'll accept that!"
"I have to warn you," he smirked. "I'm a pretty good archer. Llanfair taught us how to shoot professionally."
"Pfft! Anyone can shoot a bow." she scoffed. "I'll show you."
She walked over to the shooting gallery with Penarth following her. They saw that the targets had four circles on each one: the red dot in the center was the bull's-eye, the yellow was the second around the red, the white was third, and the black was the last and biggest circle on the target. Rainbow Dash paid for the first round and acquired three bolts for the crossbow. She slipped one in, pulling back the bow string until there was a click, locking the mechanism. The goal was to see if one of them could get the highest points by hitting the bull's-eye of the target or get close enough to it. She held the crossbow and aimed at the target carefully. When she had her target in sight, she pulled the trigger releasing the bolt at a swift speed. The first one pierced the white circle of the target.
Penarth chuckled. "You were saying?"
She stammered. "Uh… uh… it was the wind! Yeah! The wind blew it to the side!"
He rolled his eyes. "There hasn't been any wind since this morning."
"I know I'll get it this time!" She slipped the second bolt in and aimed at the target again. She pulled the trigger, and the bolt flew into the yellow circle. She groaned in frustration and smacked her face with her hoof. "Oh, come on!" she growled. She slipped in the final bolt and aimed once more. "Come on, stupid bolt… Don't fail me now…" She pulled the trigger and the bolt flew. It pierced the center getting her a bull's-eye. "Oh my gosh…! I did it! Yes! I got a bull's-eye! I got a bull's-eye!" She hopped up and down laughing.
"Congratulations." Penarth said. "It's my turn now."
"Beat that!"
"Alright. I will beat it." He paid for the next round and got the same amount of bolts Rainbow Dash got from before. He slipped one into the crossbow and aimed. He pulled the trigger and the first bolt flew into the bull's-eye.
Rainbow Dash dropped her jaw and gasped. She shrugged her head into her shoulders and crossed her arms. She looked away.
"Lucky shot…" she grumbled, forming a pouting face. "I know you won't get the next one."
She heard a second shot, striking the target with a thud. She looked and saw that the second too struck the red dot.
"Okay! Another lucky shot!" she said, now tapping her foot. "There's no way you'll get the third one into that red spot! There isn't enough room left for the last one to fit!"
Penarth slipped the third and final bolt into the crossbow. He turned to Rainbow Dash and smirked.
"There's always a way." he said.
Without looking, he shot the bolt to the target, splitting one of the previous bolts in half and pierced the red circle on the target. He saw her face change into a stunning expression with her eyes completely widened, her pupils as tiny as grapes, and her jaw dropping halfway down to her knees.
"I got the bull's-eye didn't I?" She simply nodded. He turned to the target and found all three bolts in the bull's-eye but one that was split in half. "Well, I guess I did get it." He stepped away from the crossbow, standing next to Rainbow Dash. He closed her jaw and chuckled. "Want to call it even?"
She hung her head down and sighed. She looked up with a smile. "Yeah. Even Steven." They both bumped their hooves. "So, what do you wanna do now?" she asked.
"Let's play some more games. But let's not try to get too competitive, alright?"
"Alright."
They went on to play other carnival games, satisfying each other with their senses of fun and being good sports.
. . .
After a couple of hours, the fours knights and mares plus Twilight and Spike met back at the castle. They all had smiles on their faces, each knowing that the others had a great time. When they all got together again, they all looked at Llanfair and Pinkie Pie. H got his face painted as a rabbit's face. His face was white with little red painted dots on his cheeks, his nose was painted black with whiskers, and front buckteeth were painted on his bottom lip. They all snickered quietly, but eventually laughed.
Llanfair rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah. Laugh it up, laugh it up."
"Does the bunny want a carrot?" Rhayader teased.
"Ah would never expect a knight to do somethin' that silly!" Applejack said, chuckling tears.
Pinkie Pie giggled. "I think it looks very cute, don't you agree Llanfair?"
He blushed and turned his head. "I guess… Besides getting my face painted, Pinkie Pie showed me the candy stands and the rides. And you guys have got to believe me, the rides were awesome! I haven't had this much fun in years!"
"Yeah!" Pinkie Pie said, hopping up and down happily. "He was screaming like a maniac when we were on the roller coaster! When we got off the ride, his body was shaking crazy like pair of cymbals!"
Applejack smiled. "Well, Rhayader and Ah went to the county fair."
"Applejack, the moment I heard about a county fair being opened here at the Gala, you were the first thing that came to my mind." Rarity said.
"Somethin' kinda different was happenin' there. A lot of ponies were doin' somethin' called riverdancin'. It's some sort of ancient tap dancin', so Rhayader and Ah gave it a try, and boy howdy, that was the best dancin' we've seen and done!"
"Applejack was actually doing better than I was." Rhayader said.
"Aw shucks!" Applejack said, patting his shoulder. "You're too kind." She turned to Rainbow Dash and Penarth. "What did you two do?"
"Rainbow Dash and I went to play some of the new carnival games." Penarth replied. "She beat me at whack-a-mole."
"Yeah, but he got even with me at the crossbow shooting gallery." Rainbow Dash added. "After that, we decided to call it even and played some more games."
"I think you beat me at more of them. You had them in the bag." he said
"Well you were pretty skilled with some of the other games." she replied. "You were a lot of fun to compete with."
He chuckled. "Thank you Rainbow Dash. You were a lot of fun too."
"So Rarity, what did you and Tregaron do?" she asked them.
"We just took a stroll together while I was showing off my new dress and Tregaron was kind enough to get me a drink." Rarity answered.
"She and I talked for a while, talking about some stuff that happened in the past." Tregaron added. "Well… I was talking about my past most of the time."
"And what a past you have." Rarity smiled.
"I'm very happy that all of you had a wonderful time with each other." Twilight said.
"What did you and Spike do then?" Rarity asked.
"Oh, we went to a few attractions, nothing really special." she replied.
"What about that gem you won me?" Spike asked.
She giggled. "Oh yeah, funny story about that."
"What happened?" Llanfair asked.
"Twilight and I found this little psychic game to see if the customer could really be a psychic." Spike explained. "And if you won first prize, you get a red gemstone."
"Ah'm guessin' she won, right?" Applejack asked grinning.
"You bet!" he replied with a big smile. "Even the owner was really surprised that somepony had actually won first place! Man, that gem was so scrumptious." He rubbed his belly with chewed up gem inside.
"Let's go find Fluttershy!" Pinkie Pie giggled. "I bet she has a lot to tell us!"
Rarity smiled. "Being with Yorkshire all evening, I believe she will have something to tell us."
"Is Knighton with Princess Luna?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Oh yeah!" Twilight said. "He'll have a lot to tell us too!"
"What are we all standin' 'round here for?!" Applejack asked everyone.
They all entered the castle together in hopes to find Fluttershy, Yorkshire, and Knighton. One of the royal guards was waiting for their return.
"Princess Celestia wishes for a meeting with the knights." the guard said. "You ladies are also asked for your presence if you wish to attend."
"Girls," Llanfair said. "would you be interested in coming with us to this meeting?"
The girls nodded without hesitation.
Llanfair nodded back and turned to the guard. "These ladies will be coming with us to this meeting. What business does the princess have with us? I know she sent us a message to come here after our battle, but she did not explain why."
"I'm afraid I do not know what she will have in store for you gentlecolts." the guard replied. "Come this way." He walked on, leading them to where the meeting would take place.
"I wonder what Princess Celestia wants to talk to the knights about." Twilight whispered to Rarity.
"I'm curious about that too." she whispered back. "It might be of great importance."
"There's only one way to find out."
The followed the guard through the castle hall to attend the meeting for the knights with the high princess of Equestria.