Welcome, Mares and Gentlecolts!
The clouds above Equestria were white and puffy with small snowflakes dancing and floating across the sky. Mothers let their small foals and fillies outside with their coats to play in the snow - making small snow angels, having snowball fights, making snow-ponies, etc. But what they were most excited for (and the adults as well) was the Winter Equestria Games.
The Games were held in a large stadium, known as the Canterlot Stadium. The walls for the entrance were around 30 feet tall and 25 feet wide, with many doors to different rooms where different things would be held. In the summer, the Summer Olympics would be held; in the spring, flower planting and the such would be held; in the fall, The stadium had small events, due to the Running of the Leaves being the biggest and held in Ponyville. In the winter however, The Winter Olympics were organized, planned and built for the biggest events ever made for the winter. One room was even reserved for the Winter Olympics only!
A young stallion would be walking the streets with baskets full of tickets for the ponies to collect and enter the stadium. As weird as it sounds, everypony needed a ticket to enter - without one, they couldn't even walk across the grounds of the stadium! So, when given the chance, ponies would make a large crowd around the stallion and take as many tickets were needed for family and such. When a basket would be empty, he'd simply have another basket right next to him, full of tickets for the Winter Games.
Only 5 hours remained until the Stadium would be opened and the construction would be finished.
Only 5 hours until mares squealed with excitement and stallions cheered.
Only 5 hours...
...until the Winter Equestria Games would start!
~~~~~~~~~~~
"I can't waaaaait! I can't wait wait wait wait waaaait wait wait wait wait wait wait," A certain pink, excitable mare squealed before taking a big breath. "UNTIL I GET TO COMPETE IN THE OLYMPIIIIIIIIIIICS!" Twilight shushed her, despite the fact that, deep inside, she was almost as excited as Pinkie was.
"I'm trying to read, Pinkie! Plus, this is a library! I know you're excited; we all are, but we aren't shaking in our seats or yelling until our uvula falls off!"
"...Fluttershy wouldn't agree with you, Twilight." Rainbow's lazy and careless tone groaned. Twilight looked at the Element of Kindness and saw that she was shaking in her seat with a large smile on her face. Her pupils were reduced to small dots, and her arms and legs were curled up so that she looked cold but happy.
"Well, almost all of us." Twilight stated with a cross of her arms. She levitated the book she was reading closer to her face and whirled her chair around to a desk so she could read it in peace.
"I can't believe we're all going to compete! I think I'll ace the Wing Warfare part. I mean, I am the fastest mare in all of Equestria." Rainbow droned before Applejack made a loud grunt. "Hehe, I mean, the fastest in the air."
"Maybe I'll win gold in the skating rink! I skated across the ice for 4 years during earlier winters and Winter Wrap Ups to practice for these Olympics!" Pinkie said, shaking her hooves with excitement. Fluttershy giggled.
"I think...that, maybe I could...win gold in the Skiing Struggle. Oh, but I could also win Silver or Bronze, if somepony else got gold! Oh, but I'm also really good in skating as well..." Fluttershy stuttered before Pinkie giggled, thinking that the two could probably do a duet. Applejack smiled and crossed her hind legs and fore-arms before pulling the tip of her cowboy hat to cover her face like she all of a sudden became serious.
"Nopony will beat me in the Snowboarding Skirmish," Applejack laughed softly, her eyes peering out from under the small space of where her eyes were even visible. "Standing on two legs ain't easy, but I buck trees everyday, don't ah?"
"Magic Match is the one for me," Twilight said quickly, her eyes not leaving the page on her book and only raising a hoof as if she were a foal in Kindergarten, wishing for the teacher to pick on her to answer a question. She lowered her hoof silently and put it on her left cheek to support her head comfortably.
"Where's Rarity?" Pinkie asked suddenly, wondering where their dear fashionista was. Twilight snapped her book shut and sighed, putting both fore-arms across it lazily.
"She said she was getting ready to prepare for her entrance at the Skeleton event." The alicorn stated, looking at the clock. "She said she's be back in about an hour, but it's been at least two hours ever since she said that."
"Maybe she's havin' second thoughts? Skeletonin' is pretty scary when it messes up." Applejack said with a bit of worry. Rainbow grunted.
"She'll be fine, AJ. I mean, yeah, it is pretty rare for a 'proper mare' like her to be doing something so brash and rough, but it is a famous event, and her dream was to become famous, wasn't it?" Rainbow's friends all nodded their heads, agreeing.
"I'm here, my dear friends!" A slam of a door made the group jerk their heads toward the entrance of the library.
"Goodness gracious, Rarity! You look absolutely gorgeous!" Applejack said in awe, despite the fact that she knew the makeup would probably mess up during the actual event.
The dress she was wearing was out-of-character; being bland, it was just a plain blueberry color with cyan outlines and multiple diamonds that were shaped into 5 rainbow hoops.
"I know that look, Applejack. The, 'She's going to give up' look. No, I'm not going to give up this time. I'm going to stand strong and win that Skull event!"
"Skeleton." Twilight corrected.
"Skeleton, skull, same thing." Rainbow smiled. Thinking it'd be stupid to try and argue, Twilight rolled her eyes and opened the book again.
"Rarity, I wasn't thinking that. I mean, I was only thinkin' that you'd have to take that dress off once the event started, that's all." Applejack sighed. Rarity smiled and sat down. "I know that, darling. I just want to make a big entrance so everypony can remember me as, 'the mare with the beautiful dress' if I fail."
"I doubt you'll fail, but alright." The cowgirl smirked, sticking a hay straw into her mouth and tipping her hat to doze off for a while.
3 hours later
"Almost ready?" The manager asked his coworker. The assistant simply nodded and wrote some notes on his clipboard.
"Lights are ready?" The manager asked the light-ponies working the lights before they flashed them on and off, on and off until the boss screamed that his eyes were hurting.
"Event rooms are ready?" A red stallion hollered, "EEEEEYUUUP!" from another room.
"I guess that means the stadium can open now!" He pressed a button before the large entrance doors opened with a drag. The group of eager ponies waiting outside squealed and ran inside, giving their tickets to a pony in a booth before entering and taking their seats inside each room. A few more ponies started entering, and soon enough, almost a billion ponies were already seated inside the stadium. Almost half an hour later, the event ponies showed up with large suitcases, all containing their suit and accessories.
"Come on, Rarity! We're gonna be late!" Rainbow screamed, her wings flapping like a humming bird's. Rarity was in high heels and her dress and was running and trying not to trip over sticks or step in mud.
"I'm trying, Rainbow Dash!" She retorted before not even caring about tripping and running with her head down, similar to a rhino charging. Fluttershy was running in a similar way, Pinkie was bouncing hilariously fast and Applejack was right behind Rainbow as they ran. Twilight, unable to run or fly fast, simply teleported to the entrance and handed all their tickets in. Twilight was the one holding all the suitcases, carrying accessories and suits just like the other event ponies. Finally, the group caught up and barged inside, eager to get ready to compete.
"Woaaah!" Pinkie awed, staring at the stadium's inside. Large doors led to different rooms, and each room was known which was which due to the sign saying which event would be held in which room at which times.
"This is totally worth paying for an apartment in some fancy town," Rainbow said. "Even though it was 87 bits, it was so worth it."
"Come on, girls! Let's hurry and watch Celestia light the torch!" A tiny filly screamed for her sisters, them following right behind her towards a large, open door. The group followed them swiftly after.
The room looked like a football stadium. Rounded seats covered the outsides, while stairs led to different seats when they entered. One sign read, "Visitors" while the other read, "Participants". An extremely huge torch was in the middle. It had a steel column and an oval top (that had bars to hold the loads of hay inside). When everypony got settled in their seats, they all burst into applause when they saw their beloved Celestia.
"Welcome, Mares and Gentlecolts!" She hollered when they all became silent, before applausing again once she spoke. "I'm sure you're all eager to begin the Games, so let me just light this torch and we may start the Winter Equestrian Olympics!" Quickly, the dramatic aura started to form around everyone. Celestia teleported to the top of the torch and flew upwards, before thrashing her head downwards as a red flame shot from her horn and onto the hay. A few milliseconds later, the torch exploded into flames as everyone stomped their feet in applause for a few minutes. Celestia teleported away, leaving the ponies to go back to where they were. The group was excited and ready to compete now!
"30 minutes until the events will be ready to start at when their time is ready." A voice from a speaker informed when they finally got back to the entrance signs. Everypony quickly looked at the clock near the door - it was 12:30.
"Wing Warfare doesn't start until 5:00!" Rainbow Dash complained when she darted her eyes to one of the event room's signs. "Uuuuugh! This is gonna be so booooriiiing! It'll take me about 50 minutes to get ready anyways, so I guess I can start to get ready around 4:00..." She plopped to the floor to rest her wings and walked into a room titled, "EVENT PONY LOUNGE". "I'm gonna get some snacks while I wait, 'kay girls?" The group nodded and waved to her.
"...oh...l-looks like my event starts right after Pinkie's..." Fluttershy murmured, looking at one of the signs. "Pinkie's event starts in 30 minutes, at 1:00..."
"Okaygottagobyegirls!" Pinkie blabbered before zooming into the Skating Rink event room to get ready.
"Magic Event starts tomorrow, since mostly all of the events are 2 hours, resulting in Fluttershy's event starting at 3:00, Applejack's starting 2 hours after Rainbow's, which means it's 7:00. Then, tomorrow, I think the stadium opens at 10:00 AM, so my event will start at 12:00 and Rarity's will start at 2:00. Then, more events that we can watch will happen, and I think we'll have to enter in the Semi-Finals and the Finals." Twilight explained. Rarity sighed.
"Did I seriously get ready for nothing?" Rarity groaned. Twilight frowned and nodded. "I'll see you guys tomorrow, alright? Me and Twilight will train back at the parks in Canterlot. Bye, girls! Good Luck!" The fashionista smiled before she exited through the door and Twilight teleported.
"Like Twilight said, I gotta go rest for my event, sugarcube. Come on, Fluttershy! Let's go rest and snack!" Applejack entered the lounge and shut the door behind Fluttershy.
Meanwhile, back in the Skating Rink...
Pinkie, expecting to go straight into the skating rink, she instead entered what appeared to be some kind of Locker Room. Similar faces from Ponyville, semi-familiar faces from Canterlot and non-familiar faces from faraway countries like Saddle Arabia and Germaney. Pinkie couldn't help but notice Vinyl Scratch and Octavia getting on their suits and snacking on chips.
Pinkie carried her suitcase to one of the benches and sighed, wondering who was going to go in a few minutes. While thinking, she zipped open her bag and pulled out a pink jumpsuit without sleeves or pant legs. Near her thigh was a small silhouette of a pony skating, then the words, "Olympic Suit" in black, right next to it on the right. Pinkie sighed, slipping on the suit and grabbing her skates from the bag. A workpony opened the doors to the rink before Pinkie could think about slipping her skates on.
"A pony named...'Pinkie Pie' will be coming up next, and then a duet with Vinyl Scratch and Octavia. You all can practice for 25 minutes before you'll have to get off the rink for the first skater to do her event." He stated before opening the door and holding it open while they all piled outside to practice. While the stallion was talking, Pinkie immediately put her skates on at the sound of her name being called to skate next.
Pinkie practiced her routine as she did before she entered the Olympics. The fact that they had to skate on four feet gave the ponies millions if not gazillions of options to choose from when doing poses to end with, poses to start with and tricks to do during their turn. Doing triple axels, double axels, smooth gliding across the ice - all on two hooves! Finally, a horn blew and Pinkie returned to the Locker Room. A mirror was by a sink near the benches, and Pinkie looked in it.
What other ponies saw in that mirror would probably be a random, fun, excitable pony staring back at them. They might've seen that pink pony with a pet no-toothed alligator. They might've seen what would be a childish yet mature mare, one that isn't afraid to do anything silly, but is afraid to lose her friends; a mare who thought it's funny to be scared on Nightmare Night, and mysteriously popped out of apple baskets muttering, "Fooorrrreeever!" when her friend came close to telling a secret.
That's not what Pinkie Pie saw. What Pinkie Pie saw, was Pinkie Pie; a mare nopony could come close to being exactly the same as her.
A workpony opened the door with a clipboard in his hoof. "Pinkie Pie, you're up!" He called before shutting the door.
What Pinkie Pie saw
was a winner, before taking a deep breath and exiting the Locker Room, out to the skating rink.
