“I think I can safely state that that was the worst thing I’ve ever experienced in my life,” Twilight said as she trudged forward.

Rarity nodded and kept pace with the others. “Just watching it was awful. I cannot imagine having been on that stage.”

Ignoring the snickering coming from both the pegasus above and the baby dragon to her side, Applejack said, “There’s some chores on the farm that can come close to how bad that was.” She rolled her eyes as Rainbow Dash and Spike burst into full-fledged laughing. “But yeah, today was bad.”

“Rainbow Dash!” a voice called.

Their group slowed as Scootaloo emerged from the crowd and ran towards them. Pinkie, Fluttershy, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle followed shortly after.

After skidding to a stop, Scootaloo took a moment to catch her breath before shouting, “I’m so sorry I didn’t get to watch you compete. We got trapped in that dumb House of Fun/World of Knitting place thing.”

Rarity shook her head. “Ugh. This carnival has had one problem after another.”

“Hey, Scoots.” Rainbow Dash landed and rubbed Scootaloo’s mane. “Not a problem. It’s probably best that you missed this.”

“Sorry we’re late,” Fluttershy said. “So… did you win?”

“Yeah!” Pinkie bounced up and down. “Did you get that ultra-rare, limited-edition, signed Wonderbolts poster?”

Applejack grimaced and placed a hoof on the back of her neck. “Well. That depends on your definition of winning. Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and myself made it past the final round of the PIEathlon, and so did a bunch of other ponies. Probably more than the organizers wanted, considerin’ there was only one prize. I knew somethin’ was up when they announced a final, no-holds-barred, all-or-nothing tie-breaker round. They offered anypony that dropped out a free soft pretzel.”

Rarity sniffed. “Not the best consolation prize considering the amount of pie-eating the competition had.”

“I wish I had taken the pretzel.” Twilight frowned.

“Basically, no one took them up on their offer.” Applejack lowered her hoof and took a deep breath. “They stuck us in these chairs and had some contraption set up to make ’em spin. It started off fine, but then those chairs started spinnin’ faster and faster. I think their intent was for us to just get dizzy and fall off, but let’s just say the competition was fierce this year and nopony was letting go.”

“I was afraid to,” Twilight said. “They didn’t even have safety mats set up!”

Applejack nodded. “Right. So, because our competitive spirit was so high and we didn’t want to break a leg, we held on longer than they had been plannin’ for. So, we went faster. Now, keep in mind we were already packed full of pie, and I don’t know about the rest of them, but I was already feelin’ mighty ill.”

Twilight groaned. “I will never eat a pie again.”

“So, it was really only a matter of time before... well…” Applejack eyed the grinning faces of the children who were enjoying hearing the story more than she was telling it. “Let’s just say the inevitable happened. And remember, we were already spinnin’ really fast.” Her ears drooped at the chorused “Eww” and the giggles that followed.

Rarity closed her eyes and shivered. “It was the most horrifying thing I have ever had the displeasure of seeing. It caused a chain reaction that spread through all the contestants and even several of the audience members. I’m lucky I was standing so far back!”

“It was amazing!” Spike said. “We have to come back next year!”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash said. “I’m not even mad the poster was caught up in the middle of it all. I hope somepony was taking pictures.”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “You can only say that ’cause you fell off early.”

“‘Fell off’ nothing,” Rainbow Dash said with a flick of her hoof. “I realized what was about to happen and took to the sky so I could watch it.”

Sighing, Applejack turned back to Fluttershy and Pinkie. “So, long story short, nopony won, they hosed us off the best they could, and the carnival will probably be closed down for health safety reasons.”

Twilight started walking again. “I’m going home to find a spell that will allow water to raise past its boiling point without evaporating, and then I’m going to find another spell to make me immune to extreme heat. It’s the only way I’ll ever feel clean again.”