G5 Adventures in Garfield's Fun Fest

It was only a week or two after our Equestrian heroes got back from their latest Unity Quest in Fernfield, Washington with Violette Rainbow, where they helped five golden retriever puppies save their parents from dognappers and helped the Buddies settle into their brand-new homes…

…also teaching Violette a lesson about change-- even though it can be hard sometimes, the outcome may be worth the change itself.

A few days after Violette started school, she wrote Izzy and the others a letter saying how much the experience in Fernfield helped her adapt to new changes, and that school was going great!

Those words were like music to the Mane 6's ears.

But now that the Mane 6 were back, it was time to start holding an event that Sunny and Hitch loved since they were little-- the Maretime Bay talent show, a special event held near the beginning of autumn to showcase everypony’s special talents.

And this year would be even more special, since all three pony kinds were going to be involved in the festivities.

Soon, the big night finally arrived with excitement sky high, cause by the time the sun officially went down, the show would officially begin.

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There were many different kinds of acts in the running this year:

• Glory, Peach Fizz and Seashell had put together a special ballet routine, since they had all been taking dance lessons for a few months
• Rufus was going to be doing his magic act
• Posey and Dahlia were teaming up to showcase the new skills they've learned with their earth pony flora magic
• Rocky was going to be doing a baton twirling routine with Jazz

And once all the listings had been made, it was up to the Mane 6 to make sure that everypony was ready to go by the time the curtains opened, as well as introduce each of the acts when it was time for them.

However, this wasn't going to be the only talent-related adventure they were going to have... they would soon find out that there would be more talent trouble coming their way.

Now, back to the story.

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In the Crystal Brighthouse, the Mane 6 were making sure that the performers had their last-minute practice sessions in, and Pipp was tasked with making sure every performer looked and felt their best... despite putting a lot of pressure on herself. “A patch of eyeshadow for you… a little bit of blusher for you, and mascara for you. Ha!”

However, she cringed when she saw that Posey looked more like a hideous clown than anything, causing Pipp to chuckle nervously, wipe Posey's face and started again, this time a bit more lightly.

Across the room, Hitch and Sparky were showcasing their own moves for the Pippsqueaks, hoping that the three fillies would let them in on their routine. “Step, heel, heel, step, shuffle bump! Jazz hooves!” Hitch said with a smile as he danced around and twirled before he made a jazz sign with his hooves. Sparky tried to follow, but he lost his balance and rolled across the floor as he hit a pole that fell on Hitch, causing him to yelp before he looked at the Pippsqueaks. “So… what do you girls think?”

“Eh… no offense, Sheriff Hitch,” Peach Fizz spoke first, “you and Sparky are great at that kind of dancing.”

“But ballet is a bit more… dignified and less… jazzy,” Glory tried to find the best words to explain. “And… we designed the routine to fit us and us only.”

“Maybe you can dance with us at our recital coming up,” Seashell patted Hitch on the hoof, “but we gotta get to practicing. Come on, girls!”

And just like that, the three trotted off, leaving Hitch to blink in surprise as Zipp approached. “Uh… what just happened?”

Zipp tried to stifle her laughter at this. “You just got voted out by a bunch of fillies… no big deal or anything, sheriff.”

However, Sparky couldn't contain his laughter and burst into giggles, rolling onto his back while Hitch sighed and laid his head on the floor. Well... there was always next year.

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On the other side of the room, Izzy was brushing Dahlia's mane while the pink earth pony panted heavily, freaking out about her first onstage demonstration. “What if I freeze up?! Or what if Posey and I accidentally trip over one another with our vine routine?!” she asked, her lavender eyes filled with panic. “Or what if I only make flowers the size of an amoeba?!!!”

Misty could hear Dahlia's panicking all the way from the other side of the room, and left Sunny's side to see what she could do to help. “Dahlia, Dahlia! You’re gonna be fine! You’re just overthinking your routine a little bit,” she said. “Let me ask you one important question-- do you enjoy doing this routine with Posey?”

“Sure I do,” Dahlia nodded, finally a bit calmer than before. “We’ve been working so hard on it for weeks, and we both really want it to go well.”

“Then, you should focus on you and Posey having fun together and doing your routine well, not what all could go wrong with your routine itself,” Izzy said as she stopped brushing Dahlia’s mane. “Having fun is what the talent show is really all about!”

“Huh… I guess I never really thought about that before,” Dahlia said, putting her hoof up to her chin in thought. “Thanks, girls. I was really about to lose my head. I wanna go tell Posey the same thing.”

Dahlia then got up and walked over to Posey with Pipp, the two of them talking for a moment before hugging each other with smiles on their faces.

This caused Izzy to sigh happily. “I just love really amazing friendships…”

“Speaking of really amazing,” Sunny told the Mane 6, “it’s time to get the show started! Everypony, take your positions! We’ll announce the show and then we’ll be right back!”

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The second that the Mane 6 stood on the stage in front of the crowd, the crowd of ponies cheered and stomped their hooves in thunderous applause as Sunny stepped forward to speak. “Welcome, everypony! We’re so happy to announce the start of the annual Maretime Bay Talent Show!”

“All our performers have worked so hard in the past two weeks,” Pipp continued with her own mic, “and we’re excited to get to see how each act has blossomed into the best act it can be!”

“But while they’re all winners in our eyes, this is a friendly competition, and the winner will receive an all expenses paid trip to Ponytropico for a week-long vacation!” Zipp announced, getting another round of cheers from the crowd. “And now,” Hitch interrupted, “give it up for your judges-- from Zephyr Heights, Queen Haven herself!”

Queen Haven waved to the crowd as they cheered, and Cloudpuff howled excitedly about the occasion. “From Bridlewood,” Misty continued, “my dad… Alphabittle Blossomforth!”

“Hey hey hey!” Alphabittle waved to the crowd. “What’s up, everypony? You all know I love a good competition as much as the next pony, so let’s get ready to have some fun!”

“And, last but not least, from Maretime Bay,” Sunny finished, “we have the one… the only… Phyllis Cloverleaf!”

The crowd cheered once more as Phyllis smiled and waved from the judge’s table. “All right, let’s get this show started off right!” Hitch said as he looked at the schedule in front of him. “First off we have our very own Pippsqueaks from right here in Maretime Bay performing a very intricate dance routine-- give it up for Peach Fizz, Seashell and Glory in their maiden performance!”

The ponies in the crowd cheered excitedly as the three fillies made their way onstage to dance to one of Pipp’s classic hits, Where’d It Go, with a very exciting ballet routine that they had been practicing for months now in class.

But as the Mane 6 watched the Pippsqueaks onstage, they suddenly felt a familiar tingling coming from their cutie marks, and looked to see them glowing in the certain way that meant they were being summoned by the Unity Crystals once more.

Misty sighed before looking at her friends with a tired expression. “And I actually thought that things were going to get a bit easier from here-- you know, just… a take it easy kind of night.”

“I know what you mean, Misty,” Zipp said, “but when the Unity Crystals summon us, somepony usually needs our help.”

“We should be back before the Pippsqueaks finish their routine and Rocky and Jazz go on, so we should just leave everything as it is right now,” Sunny advised her friends. “Let’s head back to the Brighthouse, get our things and head to the Crystal Room-- we have a new mission to go on, and I, for one, can’t wait to see where it’ll take us!”