Chapter 158: Games Ponies Play
A few more days went by after reforming Discord and the Summer Sun Celebration was around the corner and everyone was making preparations for the festival as this year, it was being held in Canterlot instead of Ponyville, whcih was a bit of a disappointment for Spyro, but he was happy to be apart of the celebration again this year, this time without being put in the spot light and being announced as the Prince as everyone across Equestria knew who he was. The rooster crowed as it usually did, letting everyone know it was time to get up, but today, Spyro and his friends were asked to help out at the Crystal Empire as they were nominated to hold the Equestria Games that were coming up and he was glad to help out however he could. As he got up, he was the first to walk out, heading to the bathroom to freshen up when he heard someone in the bathroom puking, walking in to find that it was Applejack puking in the toilet, looking a little pale before puking again.
"AJ!" Spyro said, rushing over and kneeling down next to her. "AJ, what's wrong!? Are you ok!?"
"A... Ah don't know." Applejack replied, looking miserable. "Ah never felt like this before."
"What in tarnation is going on in there!?" Granny Smith said, creaking along. "Applejack, are ya alright?"
"Ah don't know." Applejack replied, sitting down. "Ah just woke up and felt like Ah ate a rotten apple and needed to... hurl."
Applejack then rushed over and puked again, Spyro there comforting her while Granny Smith looked at her granddaughter with worry as she stood there, watching as she finished up and flushed, Spyro helping her up and out of the bathroom.
"Why don't you go back to bed AJ?" Spyro suggested. "The girls and I can handle preparations for the games inspector ourselves."
"That's nice of ya hun, but Ah can handle it." Applejack said, walking into her room and getting her hat, putting it on. "Ah'm not gonna let a little tummy trouble put me down. Come on hun, we got a train to catch."
"Well, we're gonna need somepony to pet sit for our pets." Spyro pointed out. "Knowing Scorch, he's gonna be cranky if somepony doesn't take care of him."
"And Winona is also a bit needy and wild if she doesn't get to play and exercise." Applejack said. "But Spike promised to pet sit for a gem or two. Maybe Scorch and her can go to him."
"That's not actually a half bad idea." Spyro said. "I got a few spare gems that I haven't enchanted yet. Maybe he can take care of him."
"Well what are we waitin' for?" Applejack said, going down stairs. "Let's get going."
Applejack walked down the stairs while leaving Spyro and Granny Smith up there, looking down and watching Applejack, but they were both worried about her than they were before, looking at one another as they looked back to the farm mare.
"AJ's been acting weird as of late." Spyro said. "Certain smells seem to bother her, she's a bit moody, and now this? What's wrong with her?"
Granny Smith thought about it for a moment before it hit her, smiling at Spyro as she elbowed him, making him look at her.
"Ya little rascal!" Granny Smith said, laughing as she walked down the stairs.
"What!?" Spyro asked, the world pausing as he looked at the readers. "What the heck am I missing here? First Discord and now Granny Smith?" He looked down at the stairs, still confused before looking back at the reader. "I maybe smart, but I'm not a mind reader ya know." He then began walking down the stairs, pausing in the middle before sighing as he rubbed his eyes. "Ok, I can read minds, but I don't do it all the time. Believe me, if you read some of the stuff I read going on in some of the minds in some of the worlds I visited, you'd be getting an eraser out and erase your brain to where its smoother than a baby's bottom just like Squidward did in that one episode on Spongebob Squarepants."
The world resumed and he went down stairs with the others, seeing that Applejack was getting Winona while Scorch was perched on Scootaloo's back, looking to Spyro as he lifted his foreleg and the Phoenix flew over and perched on his leg, rubbing his head on Spyro, showing affection.
"When will you guys be back?" Scootaloo asked.
"Don't know." Spyro replied. "But when the Games Inspector arrives and makes her decision, we'll return home."
"Ah hope the inspector says that the games will be held in the Crystal Empire this year!" Apple Bloom said. "It'd be a great place for the games!"
"I hope so too." Spyro said. "I always wanted to see these Equestria games after Rainbow Dash mentioned them. Too bad we can't leave our pets at home."
"Unfortunately, Big Mac is out delivering some apples and the fillies are gonna bein' doin' who knows what they are gonna be doin'." Applejack replied. "And Spike was kind enough to offer to look after them while we're away from a jewel."
"If I know Spike, he's probably gonna eat the jewels." Spyro said, getting his saddle bags on. "We better hurry before we miss our train."
They got their pets and made their way to town towards the library, passing by some of their friends who wished them luck until they reached the library where the others were at, dropping off their pets for the baby dragon to take care of while they were away.
"Oh, hey guys!" Spike said. "Here to drop off your pets as well?"
"Sure are." Applejack replied. "Gotta say Spike, ya got yerself a regular pet daycare here."
"You sure you can handle all these pets at once Spike?" Spyro asked, not sure Spike can handle them on his own. "Taking care of this many pets is a big job."
"Oh, don't worry, I can handle this." Spike replied. "How hard can it be to take care of a few pets?"
Spyro just rolled his eyes and lifted his foreleg again, Scorch hopping off his back and onto the foreleg, nuzzling his master before he left.
"Well, as you may know from caring for a hatchling, Phoenix's are powerful creatures and have a bit of a temper if not treated correctly." Spyro said, using his magic to pull out a book. "Here's a list of what Scorch likes and doesn't like, so please make sure you study it thoroughly, otherwise you're gonna have a very angry Phoenix on you."
"Yeah, yeah, I got it." Spike said, taking the book as Spyro put a gem in his little cup.
A moment later, the train whistle blowed, letting them know it had arrived for them.
"That's our train everypony." Applejack said. "We better hurry or we'll miss it."
"See you in a little while Scorch." Spyro said, patting him gently on the head. "Spike will be takign care of you while I'm away. Be good for him, ok?"
Scorch nodded his head, nuzzling Spyro one more time before going over to Spike and perching on the spine on his head, watching as the group left and made their way towards the train station. At the train station, they gave the conductor their tickets and boarded the train for the Crystal Empire, watchign the scenery go by.
"Princess Cadence said she's never seen the Crystal Ponies so excited before." Applejack said. "Says this'll be a real treat for them."
"Well of course this would make them excited!" Rainbow Dash said. "It's only 'the' biggest sporting event in all of Equestria! Being nominated to host the games is a huge deal!"
"Didn't cloudsdale host the games one year?" Rarity asked.
"I wish." Rainbow Dash replied. "Cloudsdale was supposed to host the games a long time ago when I was a filly. Fillydelphia got to host the games that year. And it's imperative we help the Crystal Empire host the games in the Spring! They lost a thousand years due to an evil curse, and we are not going to let them loose this opportunity to host the games!"
"And this is exactly why Princess Cadence has asked for us to help convince the games inspector to allow the Crystal Empire to host the games this year!" Twilight said. "And we cannot afford to let her down, can we everypony!?"
"No!" They all cheered in unison.
They were excited to help out however they could, clearly excited for the ga,mes ot be held in the Crystal Empire, but as they made their way, Spyro couldn't help but look over to Applejack, though she seemed fine at the moment, he was still worried about her after discovering her hurling in the toilet in the morning, but also knew how stubborn she was, so he decided to just let her do what she could while also making sure she didn't over exert herself. During the journey, he was working on the present for Scootaloo, fixing some of the issues, but then his mind wandered to the pages that Discord gave him, putting the device in the saddle bag and pulling the pages out to read what was on them and se what it was that Discord was trying to tell him.
"Hey Spyro, whatcha got there!?" Pinkie asked.
"Something Discord gave me a few days ago." Spyro replied. "Some pages from a tome that comes from my library. I only just gotten around to reading them to see what's written on them."
"Well, whatever it is, maybe it can help us with the games inspector." Twilight said. "She's very strict and puts everypony in every place she visits through the ringer to find the perfect location for the games to be held. If everything isn't perfect, then the Crystal Empire won't hpold the games this coming spring."
"You heard the pony, we need to get this right!" Rainbow Dash said. "Don't want what happened in Cloudsdale to happen in the Crystal Empire where they don't get to hold the games!"
"Well, I think it's mostly due to the high costs of applying spells to allow for non-pegasi ponies and non-ponies to walk on the clouds." Twilight said. "Those spells are expensive enough, but applying them on a daily basis for the games, that could have bankrupt Cloudsdale."
"Still, we need to make this perfect for her, otherwise it'll be all for nothing!" Rainbow Dash said. "Come on everypony, from the top! We need to practice the steps!"
"While on a train car?" Spyro asked.
"No time to practice when the train stops!" Rainbow Dash replied. "Who knows when the games inspector will arrive, we need to do it now!"
They got up, all except for Spyro he watched his friends get into position, Spyro face smacking himself as the world paused, looking to the reader.
"We all know this is going to go wrong in a heart beat, right?" Spyro asked.
The world resumed as the ponies did some kind of cheerleader kind of stunt, Applejack and Pinkie on the bottom, Twilight teleporting them onto their hooves while Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew uptop, landing on their backs, but before they could say anything, the train was stopping, causing them to collapse ontop of one another, Spyro shaking his head as the car door opened.
"Now arriving at the Crystal Empire ladies and gents!" The attendant said. "Next stop, the Crystal Empire! Watch your step getting off everypony."
"Probably should've watched our step while on it too." Applejack said, glarring at Rainbow Dash.
After getting themselves up, they walked off of the train and got onto the station for the Crystal Empire, the train leaving them as they all made their way into the Crystal Empire to see how everthing was going. When they entered the Crystal Empire, the elven writting lite up as Spyro walked by, a circle of the ancient language under him as they saw that all of the Crystal Ponies were busy cleaning everything up, polishing the crystals, cleanign the streets, sprucing up the palace, everything under the sun, making them all marvel at how the city looked.
"Wow, the Crystal Empire looks sparklerific!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I mean, it even sparklier than when we were here last!"
"I hear you there Pinkie." Spyro said. "They must have everypony in the Crystal Empire here making this place perfect."
"This must be why Princess Cadence asked us to handle the welcoming commitee." Twilight said. "Everypony else is bust sprucing the place up."
"And she probably believes we'd be awesome at it too!" Rainbow Dash said, making everyone roll their eyes. "And hopefully we can make the games inspector realize how amazing this place is and it won't crush some poor filly or colts dream of getting to see the games in their home city!"
"Rainbow, leave the dramatics to Rarity." Spyro said. "Doesn't exactly suit you. Anyway, where are we supposed to meet the princess at?"
"From what the letter said, she's supposed to met us in the local crystal spa." Twilight replied. "She'd fill us in on what we need to do there."
They continued towards the spa where the princess was at, asking around a bit to where the spa was at and after some time, they found the spa itself, which it was a domed building with hearts on it, walking in and finding the princess being treated by the spa personnel in light of the games inspector coming.
"Ah, there are my ponies!" Cadence exclaimed excitedly.
She and Twilight rushed over to one another, happy to see each other.
"Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake, clap your hooves and do a little shake!" Cadence and Twilight said, doing their little greeting, which Spyro couldn't help but laugh a bit.
"Oh my..." Rarity said, looking around. "This Spa... it's absolutely spectacular! I think I died and gone to heaven."
"Go ahead and try whatever you'd all like." Cadence said. "It's all complimentary for the welcoming committee. There's a crystal mud bath to help soothe your body and rejuvenate your coat."
"Knowing Rarity, she'll want to wrap herself up to avoid dirtying her coat." Spyro said, making the others giggle.
"I know it's a little weird to climb into mud, but if you give it a chance, you'll find it very relaxing." Cadence said.
However, Pinkie was on a rope, swinging on it towards the mud bath, which Twilight was freaking out as she let go and fell into the mud bath, everyone expecting her to splash, but the mud actied like jello, Pinkie laughing as she sunk into the mud with a furious Twilight walking up to her.
"So relaxing!" Pinkie said.
"Pinkie Pie, now's not the time to be messing around!" Twilight said.
"Oh, relax Twilight and enjoy yourself." Spyro said, getting a massage. "We got some time until the game inspector comes."
"Spyro's right Twilight." Cadence said, walking over to a massage table. "Relax, the game's inspector won't be here for several hours. More than enough time to get ready and get my ceremonial headdress done."
"Ceremonial headdress!?" Rarity asked excitedly.
"Yes, the ceremonial headdress." Cadence replied. "When important guests were coming, the princess of the past would have her hair done in a traditional manner. Basically, weaving crystals into their manes in a specific manner. And knowing the games inspector, she'll have done her homework and will want to see my mane done in the traditional fashion, but... there's one problem." She nodded and one of the ponies brought over a scroll, unrolling it for them to see. "It's written in the elven language that Spyro was talking about. And unfortunately, nopony else besides Spyro can read it."
Spyro took the scroll and began to look it over, understanding the language as he smiled at the princess.
"Don't worry Princess, I'll read this to the attendants and they can follow the instructions." Spyro said.
"Actually, I have something else in mind for you Spyro." Cadence said. "I already have a mane sylist coming in who knows how to do the Ceremonial Headdress, so I would like for you and your herd to greet the games inspector while I get my mane done."
"You can count on us princess." Twilight said.
However, a moment, a crystal pony in a black messangers uniforn came in, looking worried as she ran to the princess, bowing to her and to Spyro.
"Your highnesses, I apologize for the intrusion." The messanger said. "But your mane stylist is very sick. She has the flu and cannot come in today out of fear of you catching it."
"Oh, that's terrible." Cadence said. "I hope she gets better soon. Does anypony else know how to do the Ceremonial Headdress?"
The other Stylists shook their heads, showing they didn't have any clue how to do the Ceremonial Headress others than the pony whose done it before.
"Well, guess we can make due without the headdress." Spyro said, which Rainbow Dash got in his face.
"You kidding me Spyro!?" She exclaimed, zipping to the princess. "We're trying to land the Equestria games here! Everything needs to be perfect, otherwise we'll have blown our chance!"
"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight said. "Stop causing everypony stress."
"Well, I suppose I can give it a try." Rarity said.
"Oh Rarity, you'd be doing me a huge favor!" Cadence said, her excitement turning to fear. "Oh, but the instructions are written in elvish."
"Don't worry princess, I got this." Spyro said.
He turned his bracers off, feeling lighter than a feather as he zipped out of the spa, creating a vortex as he ran by and causing everyone to hold onto something to not get blown away or fall down, surprisng Cadence.
"Wow!" The princess exclaimed. "How fast is he?"
"Who knows." Rainbow Dash said. "With those bracers on, it's hard to tell how strong and fast he really is."
A moment later, Spyro ran back inside, the vortex catching up with them as everyone braced for it, but Spyro just extended his foreleg and the vortex dissipated, keeping everyone from falling down as he truned his bracers back on.
"Here, this should do the trick." Spyro said, passing the scroll to the ponies. "I translated the words on it to make it easier to read."
"Oh Spyro, you're just wonderful!" Cadence said, hugging him.
"Ah, it's nothing." Spyro said, the hug ending. "Besides, we still got time until the inspector comes so-"
"Uh, that's the other thing I forgot to mention." The messanger said. "The games inspector, Ms. HarshWhinny, she's arriving on the next train."
"WHAT!?" Everyone shouted.
"Why didn't you tell us that first!?" Rainbow Dash shouted. "That's in, like, fifteen minutes!"
Everyone began to panic, everyone rushing around to try and figure out what to do and how to get everything ready, even Spyro was freaking out as he looked around, wondering what to do as Twilight trotted up to Rarity.
"Rarity, how long will it take for the princess to be ready?" Twilight asked.
"Well, judging by the instructions, it's all very complicated." Rarity said. "But I'm sure there'll be some shortcuts that I can find."
"Great." Twilight said. "Everypony else, we gotta make sure to find the pony with the flower printed bag. That will be Ms. Harshwhinny."
"Oh, one more thing." Cadence said. "Spyro, I need you to help with security. There have been sightings of Nobodies around the city and unfortunately the Crystal Heart has little to no effect on them. Do you have anything that will help take care of them?"
"Actually, yes I do." Spyro replied. "I've been dabbling in crystal magic for some time. I should be able to create some crystal structures to help take care of them."
"Excellent!" Cadence said. "That would be a huge relief to some of the Crystal Ponies."
"Alright everypony, we don't have much time until she arrives." Twilight said. "Spyro, take care of the security and meet us at the train station as soon as possible."
"You got it Twilight." Spyro said.
The group rushed out to get to the train station to greet the games inspector that was coming, everyone feeling a little nervous as they want to make the inspector feel welcomed so that she would like the empire. They got to the train station a minute later before the train arrived, waiting anxiously as the train stopped and allowed the passangers out, watching them exit the cars as they waited for the games inspector to come out when they spotted a yellow Earth Pony with a green mane, wearing red glasses and a chicken for a cutie mark. The ponies saw that the pony they spotted was carrying a red bag with flowers on it, though it looked scratched up, but they knew that the games inspector would be carrying a bag with flowers on it, so they had the right pony.
"Uh, pardon me miss." Rainbow Dash said.
"Yes, what is it?" She asked, looking annoyed.
"Oh boy..." Twiligth said, taking in a deep breath to calm herself down before approaching her. "I know you weren't expecting anypony to be greeting you, but we're here to welcome you to the Crystal Empire."
"And you all came here to do that?" She asked, everyone nodding their heads while giving a nervous smile. "Well, darn' tootin' if that ain't the cat's meow! Ya'll didn't have to come and do that just for me." Everyone breathed a sign of relief, relieved that she wasn't as harsh as they believed she would be when Applejack suddenly felt dizzy, feeling ill again as she shook her head. "You ok dearie?"
"Yeah, Ah'm alright." Applejack replied. "Been kinda dizzy for a while, but Ah'll be alright. Besides, the princess wouldn't want your visit here to be ruined by somepony having a dizzy spell."
"The princess!?" The pony asked, clearly excited. "As in, Princess Cadence!?" The ponies nodded their heads, making the pony cheer. "Well tie me up and throw me down! This just keeps getting better and better! Hey, will I get to meet Prince Spyro as well? I heard so much about him! Is he really a hybrid!?"
"He is indeed." Twilight replied. "He's currently helping to oversee security for the city. In the mean time, would you like for us to show you around the empire?"
"I would love to have a tour of the empire." The pony replied. "Oh, can;t forget my bag."
"Allow me." Fluttershy said. "I love flower print."
She tried to pick the bag up, but when she did, she fell onto the ground, the bag being heavier than she expected, picking it up and smiling as they reached the arch way into the Crystal Empire.
"Our first stop on our wonderfully, sparklerific tour is the castle!" Pinkie said. "Where we have a amazingly, wonderific welcome planned for you!
"The castle!?" The pony asked. "Are you kidding!? Well hot hot, what are we waiting for!?"
She and Pinkie bounced together towards the castle, believing this would be easy, but Applejack felt another dizzy spell, pausing for a moment as she held her head, Twilight noticing and stopped.
"AJ, you sure you're alright?" Twilight asked. "Maybe you should see a doctor."
"Ah told ya'll, Ah'm fine." Applejack replied, trotting along. "If Ah were sick, Ah'd would've told ya'll before we left."
Twilight wasn't fully convinced, teleporting in front of Applejack and making her stop.
"AJ, we both know how strong you are, but now's not the time to be stubborn." Twilight replied. "Why don't you go and check on the princess, see how everythings going and meet us at the castle."
"Alright, fine." Applejack said, walking away. "But Ah ain't seein' no doctor!"
Twilight shook her head, knowing that her friend was very stubborn, but with how she's been doing, she knew that her friend needed to see a doctor about what was happening, following her friends into the city to show who they believed to be the game inspector around. however, they didn't notice Spyro running up to the train station, panting as he ran as he caught his breath, looking around to see if his friends were there, but finding that they were no where to be seen.
"Did I just miss them?" Spyro asked himself, wiping some sweat off his head. "Must have gotten the games inspector before I got here." A moment later, the train left and as it did, Spyro noticed a dark orange earthpony wearing a purple coat and dress shirt with a flower decorated back, looking at her watch. "Or they more than likely got the wrogn pony. I doubt that they got lost coming to the train station.'
The mare looked around and noticed Spyro approaching, looking surprised as she dusted herself off and made herself look presentable, bowing to Spyro as he approached.
"Your highness." The pony said.
"Oh, please rise, you don't need to do that." Spyro said, the pony straightening herself up. "You seem to know who I am. And I take it you're the games inspector, correct?"
"I am." She replied, pulling out badge. "I am Ms. Harshwhinny, and I am here to inspect the Crystal Empire to see if it is a suitable location for the Equestria games."
"Well you've certainly gotten one of the best places to be at." Spyro said, looking to the empire and wondering where his friends are. "If you have time, I'd be more than willing to show you around the empire if you like. I got to make some security checks around the city, maybe along the way, I can around, show you some of the wonders of the Crystal Empire."
"Well, I do have some free time before I need to meet with the princess." Harshwhinny said. "Do you know when she'll be available?"
"Uh, she's currently getting her mane done in the traditional Crystal Empire way." Spyro replied. "She might be a little while."
"Oh, I see." Harshwhinny replied. "Well, with all these monsters running about, it would be nice to see the kind of security measures the ponies of the Crystal Empire are taking."
"Great." Spyro said, seeing Ms. Harshwhinny reaching for her bag when Spyro lifted it up with his magic. "Allow me."
He then placed the bag on his back, which cause the mare to giggle a bit.
"My, aren't you the gentlecolt." Harshwhinny said. "Tell me, you have a mare friend?"
"Eight actually." Spyro replied. "Well, nine more like it. I'm a herd leader."
"Really?" She asked, both of them making their way to the empire. "They must be very lucky to have somepony like you."
"Yeah, very lucky." Spyro replied as they walked along. "And I'm happy to have them as well."
They continued into the Crystal Empire, making small talk as they went to keep the inspector happy as they went. Back in the Spa, Rarity was going her best to make it perfect while having to cut some corners, using her magic to levitate some gems to put into her mane while everyone else was rushing around to try and make things perfect for the inspector incase she decided to come in and check everything out. A moment later, Applejack walked in to see how everything was going, walking over to Rarity and Cadence as the unicorn was trying to figure out what to do.
"How's it goin' Rarity?" Applejack asked.
"Oh, well, to be honest, it's more complicated than I thought." Rarity said. "But thanks to Spyro for translating the words, it has made things a bit easier. But I tried looking for shortcuts and... well..."
Applejack looked at the princess and her eyes widened, she and a few of the other attendants saw the mess her mane was in, frazzled and sticking out with gems everywhere.
"Fer cryin' out loud Rarity!" Applejack said. "That looks aweful! Please tell me ya'll can fix it."
"Yes, i should be able to fix this." Rarity said. "Now I know that step twelve is not optional, I should be able to fix the issue."
"Good, now I need to get back to the others." Applejack said. "They're taking the Games Inspector to the castle and Ah... Ah..."
Applejack started to feel weak, her vision blurring as she started to breath heavily, everyone looking at her as they heard her breathing.
"Applejack, are you ok darling?" Rarity asked. But she didn't get an answer as a second later, the orange farm mare collapsed on the floor, falling unconscious and scaring everyone. "Applejack!"
"Quick, get a doctor, now!" Cadence ordered, two attendants rushing to help her while a third ran to get a doctor as ordered by the princess.
At the castle, the others were busy showing the pony they believed to be the Games Inspector the inside of the castle, looking around and marveling at how it looked.
"I can't believe I'm in the Crystal Castle." The pony said, looking at it. "I've only ever seen pictures, but never did I imagine I'd see it." She then gulped a bit, looking a bit nervous as she looked around. "From the... inside."
"Aw, she's so nice." Fluttershy said.
"Hey, don't let her lull you into a false sense of confidence!" Rainbiow Dash said, looking serious. "It's all part of the game. And where the heck is Applejack!? She should be back by now."
"Uh, mind if I run outside real quick?" The pony asked, stretching her legs out. "It's been a long trip and I really need to stretch my legs."
"Oh, uh, I suppose it's alright for you to run out to the balcony." Twilight said. "We were planning on doing a routine we were practicing, but we're missing a member to make it work."
"Great, be back in a jiffy." She said, rushing to the balcony.
"Rainbow Dash, see what's taking Applejack so long to get to the castle." Twilight said.
"On it!" Rainbow Dash said.
The pegasi flew ut the window and towards the spa, flying outside while leaving the others with the 'inspector' as she took some breaths outside to calm down her nerves. Back at the spa, Applejack was just waking up, feeling a headache coming on as she sat up, everypony there continuing their work while the doctor they got was collecting blood samples and checking her out.
"Hey, what the heck you doin'!?" Applejack shouted, about to kick the doctor.
"Applejack, you're awake." Rarity said, in the middle of her work. "I would get up and hug you, but I'm currently busy trying my best not to ruin the mane."
"Rarity, who the heck is this guy?" Applejack asked, scooching away from the doctor.
"He;s a doctor we got for you." Cadence said, looking over. "You fainted and we were worried."
"Ah'm tellin' ya, there's nothin' wrong with me." Applejack said.
"That we know of." The doctor said, putting all the samples in his bag. "But your fainting spell was quite worrying. You didn't have signs of a fever, yet your heart rate was a bit high when I listened. I'm going to run some tests on your blood and other fluid samples that I took. Should have the results back before you leave."
A second later, Rainbow Dash came barging in, zipping in and crashing into the wall, making everyone flinch as she slid down, seeing the farm mare and getting up.
"AJ, there you are!" Rainbow Dash said. "Why are you still here!? And what's with the doctor?"
"Cadence's idea." Applejack said. "Ah told them, Ah'm fine."
"Well I hope so!" Rainbow Dash said. "We need you at the castle now! Twilight's going to look for Spyro as we need all the hep we can get."
"Well let's get going then." Applejack said, getting up. "Don't wanna be cooped up here forever."
Before the doctor could object, Applejack and Rainbow Dash ran out of the room and made their way to the castle to do their little performance. After a wehile, they had arrived at the castle, they went upstairs were the others were waiting for them.
"There you are AJ." Twilight said. "Where were you?"
"Sorry, sorry for makin' ya wait." Applejack said. "Had a bit of a faintin' spell in the spa, that's all."
"A fainting spell!?" Fluttershy asked with worry. "Are you alright!?"
"Yeah, yeah, Ah'm fine now." Applejack said. "Anyway, shall we get to the cheer."
Without waiting, they performed their cheer like they did back on the train, Pinkie and Applejack on the bottom, Twilight in the center all alone while the two pegasi were above, Twilight supporting them.
"Two, four, six, eight, name a place that's really great!" They cheered, hopping off and started the next verse of the chant. "One, two, three, four, keep on coming back for more!" they then made another tower, Fluttershy hivering over the top of it while Rainbow Dash made a heart out of the trail of rainbow that she left behind, Pinkie and APplejack on the bottom with twilight being supported up, standing on Pinkie's back and on Applejack's tail, though how she was able to stand on the tail was a mystery. "Four, seven, nine, and three, a place we all want to be! Four, three, two, one, the Crystal Empire, that's the one!"
Pinkie got out her party cannon and pulled the string, firing a large amount of confetti everywhere, sending the ponies tumbling and flying everywhere as the 'Inspector' cheered for them, enjoying the cheer.
"That was spectacular!" The pony said, trotting up to them. "I'll tell ya what, I have traveled far and wide, but never have I been greeted like that before in all my travels!"
"I'm glad you liked it." Twilight said. "The princess will be pleased to hear that."
"Honestly, I'm surprised she knows anything about me at all." Trhe pony said, confusing them, but they took it as her way of trying to trip them up, pretending to act as thoguh she wasn't the Games Inspector.
"Well, of course she knows about you." Twilight said. "She's been looking forward to your visit for weeks."
"Oh, goody!" She said excitedly. "Is she here!?"
Twilight then looked over to Applejack, having come from there, which she motioned that she wasn't ready, making them all very nervous.
"No, not yet." Twilight replied.
"Oh, that's alright." The pony said, looking up and getting nervous again. "I'll just wait for her, out there, where I'll do my stretching."
She then rushed out, leaving the group in the castle to get some air while the others grew anxious.
"Oh, how much longer will it take for Cadence to be ready!?" Twilight asked anxiously.
"Don't know." Applejack replied. "Last Ah saw, Rarity was in the middle of fixing her mane when Ah left with Rainbow Dash."
"And Spyro?" She asked. "Where's he? He should be here by now!"
"Maybe he's fighting some of the Nobodies that the princess was telling us about." Fluttershy suggested.
"Maybe." Twilight said. "I'll go check ont he princess, see how she's coming along. I'll also see if I can find Spyro as well, figure out what's taking so long."
"We'll keep the inspector busy while you're gone." Rainbow Dash said. "Give her a tour of the castle."
"But we've hardly ever been here!" Twilight pointed out.
"It's just another test to throw us off!" Rainbow Dash replied. "Now go!"
Twilight nodded and rushed through the castle to find Spyro and check on the princess, hoping that nothing was going on that might ruin the empires chances of housing the Equestria games. With Spyro, he was showing her some of the areas where the games would be conducted at, some of the open fields, the stadium, even showing her to the food court so she could try some of the food that the Crystal Ponies would be serving, which she seemed to really enjoy before making their way to the castle.
"I must say, my visit here is so far been wonderful." Harshwhinny said. "Though I was surprised your friends weren't there instead of you."
"Well, chances are they probably had something come up and needed to take care of it immediately." Spyro said.
"Possibly." Harshwhinny said. "Now, about this 'Struggle' you were telling me about. I find it rather fascinating."
"Well, it's just a single round where two combatants fight to get one anothers orbs within sixty seconds." Spyro replied. "My friends and I would usually do it as training to practice dodging and fighting. In the beginning, I'd always loose, but as I got better with my swordsmanship, I got better at it. And it's actually pretty fun too."
"Hmm, interesting." Harshwhinny said. "Maybe I should think about adding it to the games then, spice things up a bit."
Spyro smiled, glad to see that he was winning her over as they were approaching the castle, Twilight coming out and passing them as she made her way to the spa.
"Hello there." Twilight said.
"Hello yourself." Harshwhinny said. "First one of the day besides your own Spyro."
"Hey Twilight." Spyro said. However, a moment later, they both froze, realizing who they passed and looked at one another. "Twilight, there you are!"
"Spyro!?" Twilight asked.
"You know her?" Harshwhinny asked.
"Yeah she's my friend." Spyro replied. "She's helping to make sure everything's ready for you Ms. Harshwhinny." As he said her name, Twilight felt her heart just freeze, her blood going cold as she started to pale as she realize who it was he was with. "Can you wait a moment please? I need to talk with Twilight for a moment."
"Alright, ut do be quick." Harshwhinny said. "I don't have all day."
Spyro and Twilight moved away from her so they couldn't be heard, Twilight looking at her before groaning.
"Twilight, where the heck were you!?" Spyro asked. "I went tot he train station, but you and the others weren't there."
"We did go there and picked up a pony with the flower patterned bag." Twilight said. "We thought she was Ms. Harshwhinny, but... you sure she's Ms. harshwhinny?"
"Of course I'm sure." Spyro replied. "She showed me her credentials. The pony you picked up was the wrong one."
"Oh, what are we gonna do!?" Twilight asked. "We're giving a tour of the empire to a random pony!"
"Wait, maybe this is a good thing." Spyro said, an idea coming to him.
"How the heck is this a good thing!?" Twilight asked.
"An unbiased source." Spyro replied. "Somepony whose been given the hospitality of the Crystal Empire, but isn;t an official or a friend. Twilight, continue to give the pony you have the tour. I'll stay with Ms. Harshwhinny."
"But I was on my way to check up on princess Cadence." Twilight said. "She isn't in the palace yet."
"Hmm, what could be taking so long?" Spyro asked. "Alright, new plan, check on Cadence and make sure she's ready before we get to the Spa. I'll continue to give Ms. Harshwhinny the tour, try to slow her down with some random stuff."
"Alright, but we need to hurry. " Twilight said, looking to the earth pony. "I don't think we can keep her busy for... where'd she go?"
Spyro looked to where the games inspector was originally, finding she wasn;t there as they both panicked.
"Ah, she's gone!" Spyro exclaimed, looking around. "Bugga, bugga, bugga! Ok, new, new plan! Twilight, stay with the others and keep giving your guest the tour! I'll try to find Ms. Harshwhinny and check on the princess!"
"Alright, but be quick!" Twilight said. "I don't know how long we can continue the tour and how much mre we can show her."
Twilight ran back inside to tell the girls what she had just learned while Spyro ran in the direction of the spa to check on the princess, looking arpund for the games inspector while he was looking when he found her near some of the vendors, looking over some of the food, ut to his horror, she was also next to the spa, making alarm bells ring in his head as he approached.
"Ms. Harshwhinny!" Spyro said, getting her attention. "There you are. I was afraid I lost you."
"Apologies for that." Harshwhinny said. "I was in a bit of a hurry and decided to check out more of the city while you were talking to your friend."
"Eh, no worries." Spyro said, lookign nervously at the spa. "Eh, let me check to see if the princess is ready or not."
"She's here?" She asked, looking at the spa. "At the spa?"
"Yeah, she's getting her mane done here." Spyro said. "I'll just pop in and see if she's ready. Be back in a tick."
He then rushed in, closing the door behin him quickly as he looked around, trying to find the princess when Rarity rushed over.
"Spyro, what are you doing here!?: Rarity asked, blocking his view.
"Rarity, we got a probem." Spyro said. "Ms. Harshwhinny is outside and-"
"You brought her here!?" Rarity exclaimed, making him clean his ears out.
"Yeah, but not by my choice." Spyro said. "She walked here on her own after I lost her. Please tell me the princess is ready."
"No, she isn't ready!" Rarity said, Spyro trying to see her, but Rarity blocked his view. "I had to skip so many steps that it has gone terribly wrong. The onyl way to save her mane is through a very delicate conditioning rinse that has to go perfectly if there's any hope of saving her hair!"
"Oh come on Rare." Spyro said, trying to get a look. "How bad can it be?"
"Imagine her mane as porcupine quills!" Rarity said.
"Rarity, Sora's hair is just as spiky." Spyro said. "That's not bad."
"Well imagine it like she went through a hurricane, her hair was split apart and was hit with green and brown dye." Rarity said.
"Yikes, that is bad." Spyro said. "Well, how much time do you need?"
"As much as you can give me!" She said, pushing him out. "Just stall her!"
She then tossed him out, making him land on the ground with a loud thud as he started to see stars, Rarity closing the door as he got up.
"Ok, stall, not an issue." Spyro said, looking around and finding Harshwhinny was gone. "And she's gone again. Could this day get any worse?"
"Monsters!" Someone shouted. "Monsters near the library."
"Me and my big mouth." Spyro said, pausing the world. "Honestly, I lost count how many times that we either got jinxed or something went wrong. Hey readers, if you were keeping count, could you tell us how many times it is now? I might need to start putting a jinx counter and any other kind of counter that can be thought of on this story."
The world was then unpaused as he rushed over to the library to see what he could do about the uninvited guests. Back in the castle, they were giving the pony they had mistaken, showing her around until Twilight arrived, letting her friends know what was going on while their guest was busy.
"Wait, we go the wrong pony!?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking at the one they were giving a tour to. "Then who the heck is this!?"
"I don't know, but Spyro believes we can turn this into a good thing." Twilight said. "He said continue with the tour while he keeps the real games Inspector busy."
"Ah hope we can make this work." Appeljack said, looking worried. "All this is causing me to become short of breath."
"AJ, maybe you should sit down a while." Twilight said. "Calm yourself down a bit. I'll go outside and see if Shining Armor can help. Hopefully we can make this all work."
"Well do hurry, will ya?" Applejack said, looking at the pony and seeing her gulp and mumble a bit. "Ah don't know how much longer we can keep the tour going."
Twilight nodded and ran out of the castle and towards the stadium where her brother was said to be at, training some ponies and helping them to improve their jogging to make a good team for the games coming in the spring. As twilight was approaching, Shining Armor, he blew the whistle, having them run around the track to imporve their endurance when he spotted his sister coming his way, glad to see her.
"Twiley!" Shinint Armor said as she approached. "How's it going?"
"Honestly, it could be better." Twilight said. "We got a serious problem."
"What's wrong Twiley?" Shining Armor asked. "What happened?"
"Well, we sorta went to the train station to get the games inspector, but we picked up the wrong pony by mistake." Twilight answered.
"You what!?" Shining Armor asked, clearly shocked. "How the heck did you do that!?"
"She had the same flower patterned bag as Ms. Harshwhinny." Twilight replied. "Thankfully, Spyro found the correct pony and says we can make this work. He thinks we can have the pony we picked up as an unbaised source, somepony who was given the proper treatment as any other important pony would. Have her talk to the Games Inspector about how great the city is and explain why the Crystal Empire should house the games."
"That might actually work." Shining Armor said, looking pleased. "Spyro's pretty smart, I'll give him that. So, where is this pony anyway?"
However, a moment later, she ran outside, glad to be out of the castle as she then ran the track, knocking some ponies down and surprising Shining Armor.
"That would be her." Twilight said, looking to Rainbow Dash as she flew over.
"Heh, guess the castle doesn't have a gymnasium." Rainbow Dash said, watching her run the track. "And I'm guessing she doesn'tlike being inside all that much."
"Rainbow, stop her!" Twilight said. "She's going to hurt somepony!"
However, before they could stop her, she ran into one of the hurdle posts, getting a pot on her head andcausing her to run around like a chicken with it's head cut off, running into the city and down random streets with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy right behind her. In the city, Harshwhinny was looking around, trying to find Spyro and continue the tour when the guest with the pot on her head ran into a puddle, getting her wet and making her growl when a Twilight Thorn walked by, the pony running into it's foot and making her fall to the ground, lifting the pot to look at it and scream in terror.
"MONSTER!" She screamed.
It reached down to grab her when a Keyblade flew by, cutting it's hand and making it howl in pain as Spyro flew by, knocking it to the ground before grabbing his key.
"Hey ugly, watch your step!" Spyro shouted, coming down for another attack. "You might squish somepony!" It looked up and used it's other hand to try and grab Spyro, but he just turned himself into a cloud, passing through without harm when he turned back to normal, smiling as he smacked it hard in the head and launched it into he air, smiling as it was coming down, getting the blade ready to attack. "So ware katedo, sumero SUMO DO WA!"
he then swung the Keyblade like a baseball bat and hit the Twilight Thorn in the head, sending it into the sky, straight for the mountains as he watched it, the pony looking at him in admiration.
"Y-y-y-you're..." She said, completely speechless.
"You ok?" Spyro asked.
"YOU'RE THE PRINCE OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS!!!" She screamed, making Spyro's eardrums pop out as he covered his ears.
"Ah, no so loud." Spyro said. "You'll miss the explosion."
"What explosion?" She asked.
"Wait for it." Spyro said, looking at his watch. "Three... two... one!" Nothing happened, lookign at him in confusion as he cleared his throat. "I said one!" A moment later, the Nobody did explode, looking up and seeing the explosion high in the sky. "Better late than never."
"Is everypony alright?" Shining Armor asked, rushing up.
"Yeah, we're fine." Spyro replied. "Twilight Thorn came out of nowhere, but I handled it."
"And such a brave and heroic manner too." The pony said, giving him the googoo eyes, which made him back away slowly. "I must say, this has been the start of the best vacation I could ever have!"
"Spyro, where's the Game Inspector!?" Twilight asked.
"The what now?" The pony asked.
"How should I know?" Spyro asked. "I was looking, found her near the spa, loster her again after checking on the princess, went looking for her again, only to have a mob of Nobodies attack the city and get flung around like a ragdoll by a Twilight Thorn!"
"Wait, so you thought I was somepony else?" The mystery guest asked.
"Afraid so." Spyro replied. "What is your name anyway?"
"Oh, I'm Peachbottom." The pony replied. "I'm just a regular mustang from Mustangia."
"Great, we have no idea where the games inspector is and times running out!" Rainbow Dash said. "What now!?"
"We start looking around!" Spyro replied. "Search everywhere for Ms. Harshwhinny! She's a dark orange earthpony with a blonde mane, wearing a purple jacket and a white dress shirt!"
Everyone salluted, running in different directions to find her, searching the food courts, the stadium, the library, basically any and everywhere they could think of before coming to a bakery, everyone exhausted from searching for her and hoping she hadn't left already.
"Any luck?" Twilight asked.
"None." Spyro replied. "And there are so many scents in the air, it's hard to track her."
"Well, where haven't we searched?" Applejack asked. "We looked everywhere."
"Everywhere except the Spa." Pinkie said, makign everyone freeze. "But it's unlikely she'll be there. That's where Princess Cadence is."
"Quick, to the Spa!" Spyro exclaimed.
Everyone rushed over to the spa, running and flying as fast as they could before stopping at the window, spotting Ms. Harshwhinny on one of the chairs getting a facial while also in the same room as the princess.
"We're in luck, they haven;t spotted one another yet." Rainbow Dash said.
They walked in and as they did, Rarity spotted them, waving them over.
"Oh, hello everypony!" Rarity said. "You're just in time. I present to you, Princess Cadence, better than ever!"
A moment later, the princess came out from behind the screen, wearing a silk dress and her hair done with gems embedded in the hair, everyone shocked by how amazing she looked while Spyro was completely speechless, his eyes sparkling as he looked at her, pausing the world and looking at the reader.
"If she wasn't already married, I'd invite her into the herd in a heartbeat." Spyro said, resuming the world and turning to the princess.
"So, this is where I find you!" Harshwhinny said, approaching them. "The prince sid you were getting your mane done in here."
"Ms. Harshwhinny." Cadence said, approaching her. "How was your visit?"
"Well, how do I put it, it was miserable." Harshwhinny replied.
"What!?" Cadence asked, clearly shocked. "Why? What happened?'
"First of all, there wasn't a welcoming committee at the train station to greet me as I was promised." Harshwhinny said.
"What do you mean?" Cadence asked.
"She means we got the wrong pony." Rainbow Dash said, walking up. "We wanted to do our best to make sure the Crystal Empire got to host the games so badly, but we goofed. When I was a filly, I wanted Cloudsdale to host the games, but it didn't happen, so I thought I could do everything I could to make sure the Crystal Empire could hold them this year, but I blew it. I'm sorry."
"Aw, you don't need to be sorry." Harshwhinny said. "Besides, even if you weren't there, being with the Prince made up for it."
"It did?" They all asked.
"Why certainly." Harshwhinny said. "When you weren't there, he showed me around the entirity of the Crystal Empire, showed me the stadium, we talked to some of the ponies here, heck, I even got to learn that a Prince of Light and Darkness originally lived here in the Crystal Empire. plus, I got to hear from somepony else how you were amazing hosts."
A moment later, Peachbottom walked over, surprising everyone that she was there.
"Ms. Peachbottom!?" Spyro asked.
"Well, I came here to relax after being saved from that Twilight whatever you called it." Peachbottom replied. "And while I was relaxing, I was telling Ms. Harshwhinny here about how I recieved the warmest and most friendliest reception she has ever had, which in my expert opinion amounts to the first ever unvarnished, unrehearsed, unbiased appraisal from a pony about a potential candidate for the Equestria games!"
"Wait, does that mean...?" Rainbow Dash asked, her eyes widening in pure joy.
"Yes, the next host of the Equestria games shall be... the Crystal Empire!" Harshwhinny said.
As she said it, Rainbow Dash cheered the loudest as she flew into the air, litterally crying tears of pure joy, trying to wipe them away to keep her cool, but when they announced that the Crystal Empire would house the gakes, all of the Crystal ponies cheered and as they did, the castle glowed and unleashed a powerful burst of magic into the sky, creating the northern lights for everyone to look at. A while later, they all arrived at the train station to return home, glad to have been a big help with getting the Crystal Empire to be selected to host the Equestria games, with the addition of Struggle thanks to Spyro.
"Feels great to help others get what they want, but you never had." Rainbow Dash said. "Almost as good as geting it yourself. Almost."
"Aw, don't be sad little rainbow." Spyro said, giving her a peck on the cheek. "We can still come back and watch them."
"You're right, we can!" Rainbow Dash said.
"Anypony here Ms. Applejack?" A pony asked, looking to see a messanger. "Somepony said she'd be here."
"That'd be me." Applejack said, walking up.
"Letter for you Miss." The messanger said, giving her a letter. "And congradulations!"
He then trotted off, leaving them all confused as to why he'd say that as she opened the letter, pulling it out to read what was on it when her eyes widened as she read it, feeling her heart drop.
"You ok AJ?" Spyro asked, sensing her shock.
"Uh, yeah, yeah, Ah'm ok." Applejack replied. "Doctor finished the results from when he examined me back in the spa."
"A doctor examined you!?" Spyro asked, worrying for her. "You ok!? Are you seriously ill!?"
"It's alright sugarcube." Applejack replied, putting the letter in her saddlebag quickly. "Nothin' life threatenin'. Just some exhaustion due to some changes and stress."
"Well, that's a relief." Spyro said, hugging her. "Let me know if it's something serious, alright?"
"Sure thing hun." Applejack replied, hugging him back. "Sure thing."
They were about to leave when Spyro heard something hit metal, turning around to see some luggage tumble onto the ground, spooking Fluttershy while Spyro looked at it quizzically, wondering what did that when he looked up, seeing a large emerald in the gutter ontop of the station, looking at it quizically when he heard a squeek, looking behind the luggage, but not finding anything. Scratching his head, he shrugged his shoulders and got onto the train and getting into the passanger car.
"Whooh doggie, am Ah tired." Applejack said. "And boy are my dogs barking." As she sat down, they heard something bark, spooking everyone in the car as Applejack lifted one of her hind legs. "How about that, they really did bark."
Spyro was suddenly suspicious, wondering what the heck that was that made that sound when Rainbow Dash walked in with Fluttershy nearby.
"Hey guys, you hungry?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I'm starving!"
"Sure, Ah can grab a bite." Applejack said. "Been craving some of that crystal Corn all day."
They started to walk into the dinning car, wanting to get something to eat when Twilight stopped, turning to see Spyro examining the bench Applejack was sitting on earlier.
"You coming Spyro?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah, in a minute." Spyro said, walking to the bench. "I think heard soemthing and want to check it out." Shrugging her shoulders, she went into the dinning car to get something to eat while Spyro went to the bench, sitting down as his forelegs were hanging on the ground, hearing panting and sensing anxiety rising as he looked out the window. "Squirrel." A moment later, Winona burst out from underneath the bench, barking while Spike was holding on for dear life, yelling as Winona ran back and forth along the car, dragging the baby dragon on the ground, stopping a moment later, to scratch her neck while Spike groaned. "Spike? What are you doing here? Wait, where are the other pets?"
"Don't worry, they're here." Spike said, Spyro looking under the bench to see the crusaders with the other pets, wondering how he never spotted them the entire time they were in the train or in the Crystal Empire.
"Heh, hey Spyro." Scootaloo said, giving a nervous smile. "How was the Crystal Empire?"
"Let me guess, they got away and onto the train?" Spyro asked Spike.
"Actually, it was Angel who ran away." Spike replied, sitting up. "Not going to lie, pet sitting is harder than I thought. I didn't pay attention to some of the pets needs and paid for it. I'm sorry Spyro."
"Hey, the pets are all still here, that's what counts." Spyro said, seeing the empty container of crystals and a half eaten gem. "Don't worry, I'll get you a load of gems when we're home."
"You mean it!?" Spike asked excitedly.
"I promise." Spyro said, giving the baby dragon a playful nuggie.
After a while, they arrived back at ponyville, which Spyro opened a portal for Spike and the crusaders to exit out of and pretend they had just arrived.
"Hey everypony!" Spike said. "Thought it would be better to meet you at the station!"
"And we can't wait to hear everything about the Crystal Empire and see if you got us any Crystal Snow Globes from the train station!" Sweetie Belle said, the other crusaders and Spike cringing at what the oblivious filly just said.
"How did you knwo they sold Crystal Snow Gobes?" Rarity asked, the filly cringing at herself for blowing their cover.
"Uh... lucky guess?" She suggested, trying to play innocent.
Thank fully, they didn't think much about it as everyone was distracted by their pets running and flying up to them, happy to see them back.
"Hey Scorch, you been a good boy?" Spyro asked, knowing the truth, but not revealing it.
"You did an amazing job taking care of the animals Spike." Twilight said. "I should have never doubted you."
"Hey, what can I say?" Spike asked, tossing the half eaten emerald into the air. "I told you I could handle it."
He then stuck his tongue out, eating the gem while everyone looked at him quizically.
"Uh Spike, wasn't that for your cake?" Twilight asked.
Spike realized what he did, looking at his claw as he fell to his knees.
"WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!?" He shouted.
Spyro couldn't help but chuckle at the baby dragon, slamming his hoof into the ground and making dozens of gems grow from the ground, varying colors as Spike looked at them with hunger, gathering all he could before running back to the library, everyone laughing at him. A while later, everyone went home with their pets, Spyro and Applejack walking with Scootaloo and Apple Bloom back to the farm house as the sun was setting, Spyro putting his bags on the rack as did Applejack, but she waited until everyone was upstairs, reaching for the letter when Spyro turned around.
"AJ?" Spyro asked, getting ehr attention. "You ok?"
"Yeah, just fine." Applejack replied, giving a smile. "Just gonna stay up a bit, that's all."
"Ok, but don't stay up too late." Spyro said, giving a warm smile. "We got a lot of work ahead of us tomorrow and we need to be at the top of our game."
"You got it hun." Applejack replied.
Spyro walked up the stairs, leaving Applejack alone in the living room and once she heard Spyro's room door close, she breathed a deep sigh, reaching in and getting the letter the messanger delivered to her, opening it up to read it again, wanting to make sure she read it correctly.
Dear Ms. Applejack,
I am happy to inform you that your blood work showed no foreign pathogens in your system and there was nothing wrong with you physically. As for some of the symptoms that your friend described earlier, along with your sudden fainting spell, dug a little deeper and found something interesting in the urine sample I got from you earlier and found aple ammounts of Equine Chronic Gonadotropin, eCG for short. This allowed me to come to the singular conclusion as there is only one way for this kind of hormone to be present in your urine.
Allow me to be the first to congradulate you Ms. Applejack ahead of time on your good fortune and bright future into motherhood.
Applejack read over the letter severak more times, continuing to check to see if this was just a dream or a prank when she dropped the letter, looking surprised and having a mixture of joy, yet shock and fear in her eyes as she looked at the letter on the ground, touching her hoof to her stomach as she felt her heart race.
"Ah... Ah'm pregnant." Applejack said.