The audience was loud from within the stadium’s interior, but once Twilight was in the open air, it was a force that threatened to overtake her senses. Banners and flags were being waved around, most with the WBE logo but some also featured Rainbow Dash and what must have been the other competitors. The smell of food was intense as many ponies ate, even with the hiked up prices within. More proof that keeping outside food off the field was a laughable premise. The noise was the most defining feature of the audience. Talking, laughing, cheering. It all blended together into what could only be described as one thing: the sounds of a sporting event.

Twilight looked ahead at the short gate that the competitors would soon walk out from and onto the field. The twin stages seemed so far away. Both stages were slightly elevated for better viewing and contained an ingredient rack, a line of countertop, and a fast-baking oven. Those ovens were an amazing bit of magic, even if they tended to burn out after a few uses. Just standing on one of those stages and feeling all those eyes upon you; it would be a feat in itself to not be so nervous that you locked up and fainted. Twilight shook her head to clear her senses. Rainbow Dash was going to have her work cut out for her.

To the left and right of the gate was a walkway that stretched around the stadium with a railing in place to keep the audience separate from the field. Booth number two was the first booth on the left. It was more than large enough to seat the seven ponies.

“Oh, my. These seats certainly are comfortable,” Rarity said as she sat down on the cushion that ran the length of the booth. The other ponies agreed as they sat down too. “So much better than those hard things the rest of the audience is sitting on. I really must thank Rainbow Dash for the ticket again. Aren’t you going to sit down, Sweetie?”

“In a second,” Sweetie Belle said, her voice muffled as she chewed furiously. “I’m almost done with the cotton candy, but I ran into a tough part.”

“Uh, Sweetie Belle?” Apple Bloom said. “You’re trying to eat your tail.”

Sweetie Belle stopped chewing and looked at the pink and purple ‘cotton candy’ that was attached to her. “Oh,” she said and dropped her tail. “I guess I’m done then.” Sweetie Belle took a spot next to her giggling friends.

Twilight smiled as she relaxed. Her bags were in front of her for easy access. She removed the contents within and sorted them. Tonight would be a night to remember. It would certainly make an interesting letter to the Princess. Pinkie and Spike were still nowhere to be seen, but if they really were planning a surprise, they would have to make an appearance soon.

“This is so exciting. This is my first time attending the WBEs,” Twilight said.

“Same for me,” Applejack said. “I’ve always wanted to go, but I never had the time to travel.”

Rarity nodded in agreement. “I know what you mean. We’re lucky the competition is in Ponyville this year.”

“I saw Rainbow Dash at the competition three years ago under Cloudsdale,” Fluttershy said.

“Oh? What happened?” Twilight asked.

“Um... everypony there was so untalented. It was really fun to watch. Rainbow Dash made a pie that smelled so bad that nopony could get close enough to taste it without passing out. Sweet Soufflé was still the champion then. She, well... she made a cake, and...”

Twilight waited a few seconds. “And?”

Fluttershy lowered her head and quietly said, “...it... it was horrifying. I feel so sorry for the pony that tasted it. She was in a coma for over a month. The doctors said it would be a miracle if she could ever taste again.”

The other ponies stared in shock at Fluttershy.

“Hold on now,” Applejack said. “They have taste testers for this thing? Is that really such a good idea?”

Twilight looked to Applejack. “How else are we supposed to know if what they bake is inedible? The taste testers’ reactions are often part of the show itself, and it’s not like they have to swallow the food. Besides, I hear the pay is extremely generous, and they get free medical and dental.”

Applejack just shook her head. “I don’t think you could pay me enough to taste a cake that would put me in a coma.”

“Well, anything Madam Soufflé makes is kind of a special case seeing as bad baking is her special talent.” Twilight took out her history book and opened it. The Cutie Mark Crusaders groaned.

“Madam Sweet Soufflé of the Soufflé family,” Twilight read. “Born to a long line of famous bakers, it was always assumed that Sweet Soufflé would grow up to take after her family’s tradition. However, it soon became apparent that she had no talent at baking whatsoever. She was afflicted by the ‘Bad Baking Phenomenon’ that had started occurring a few years prior. This did not deter her parents, though. Many magical and herbal remedies were sought, but none could stop the bad luck that happened when Sweet baked.

“One day, after creating blueberry muffins that were capable of staining a pony’s tongue blue by just being in their proximity, Sweet Soufflé discovered her special talent was being bad at baking, earning her a cutie mark of a chipped measuring cup. She has since embraced the art of bad baking and went on to found the Worst Bakers in Equestria Festival.” Twilight lowered her book. “It’s thanks to Sweet’s positive spin on being a bad baker that the Worst Baker in Equestria Competition even came to be.”

Apple Bloom’s face lit up. “You can do that? You can get your cutie mark by being bad at somethin’?”

“Well, ya see...” Applejack said. She looked around, trying to find the words that would stop what could only be described as a disaster waiting to happen. “That is to say... uh...” Applejack looked toward Twilight for help.

“It must be possible, seeing as how Sweet did it. Although I imagine it is incredibly rare. I can’t think of any other cases where a pony got a cutie mark that way,” Twilight said.

“Wow!” Sweetie Belle said. “We’re already bad at so many things!”

“Oh! I know,” Scootaloo said. “We could be terrible bakers just like Rainbow Dash!”

“Cutie Mark Crusaders, worst bakers in Equestria, yay!” the crusaders yelled while slapping their hooves together.

Applejack and Rarity's faces cringed as they thought of the fate of their kitchens over the coming days.

“Um, Twilight?” Fluttershy said, “I know booth two is for us, but I was wondering. Who is booth one for?

“That one is specially reserved in case Princess Celestia shows up. Princess Luna too, now that she has returned.”

“Oh. Um... then who is that pony sitting there?”

Twilight looked at booth one on the right side of the hallway that they had emerged from. Sure enough, a white unicorn mare with a long pink mane was sitting there. “I’m... not sure who that is. She looks familiar though.”

“I’ll find out,” Apple Bloom said as she got up and walked out of their booth.

“Apple Bloom,” Applejack said, but her sister was choosing to ignore her. “Pardon me, girls. I better make sure she doesn’t be rude to that pony.”

Twilight smiled as Applejack followed Apple Bloom to confront the strangely familiar pony.

“Attention, everypony!” a female voice announced from the stadium’s speaker system. “The opening ceremonies will begin in fifteen minutes. Please be sure to find your seats. For those of you already sitting, your seat is underneath you!”

“Wouldn’t that mean they’ve already found their seat?” a young, male voice asked.

“Oh, yeah! Good job, everypony. You’re champion seat finders.”

Twilight listened as the speaker system clicked off. The audience seemed a bit quieter now that the show would soon be starting. “Did that sound like Pinkie and Spike to anyone else?”

The others nodded. Twilight looked up to the announcer booth rising up from the stands a dozen or so rows behind her. The angle was too steep for her to see anypony inside.

“I better go check on this,” Twilight said as she got up.

Spike clicked off his microphone, looked out at the audience, and smiled. This was amazing. In less than a year, he had gone from announcing a makeshift competition for his friends to the real deal. He was going to enjoy tonight immensely. Pinkie also seemed to be enjoying herself. Or rather, she seemed to be enjoying the swivel chairs the announcing booth had. Spike watched Pinkie spin until she fell out of her chair and started giggling. Sometimes Pinkie could be a bit much, but she added that crazy randomness that was missing from his own announcing style. Together, they made the perfect team.

Spike looked down again at where Twilight and the others were sitting and noticed Twilight was missing. A quick glance at the stairs confirmed Spike’s suspicions.

“Pinkie! She’s coming. Hurry and get back in your chair,” Spike said to the woozy and giggling pony.

Pinkie obeyed and they both turned the chair’s backs to the door. Soon, there was a knock.

“Hello?” Twilight’s voice said. “Is anypony there?”

The chairs spun around slowly until they stopped with Spike and Pinkie facing Twilight. “Surprise!” they both shouted.

Twilight’s mouth hung open. Spike laughed and turned toward Pinkie. “Oh, man,” Spike said. “Did you see the look on her face?”

“How could I not? It’s still there!”

Spike and Pinkie continued to laugh, and Twilight shut her mouth. Twilight looked back and forth between them. The reality of the situation sinking in. “You two are the announcers?”

“Was there ever any doubt,” Spike said as he attempted to look professional. “I told you we would get the job.”

“Yes, but I didn’t think you were being serious. How did this happen?”

“Well... that’s kind of a funny story,” Spike said.

“I’m still laughing about it,” Pinkie said.

“There were these two ponies named Regal Din and Snuggle Cakes that were claiming to be the announcers. We spoke with Sweet a little while ago—she’s the president of the WBEs but you probably already knew that. Anyway, Sweet told us that Regal and Snuggle were originally asked to be the announcers, but thanks to Rainbow Dash, our names were put forth as replacements. I’m sure getting us to replace some official announcers took some convincing—”

“—and a lot of begging and pleading—”

“—but in the end, the announcing gig was passed on to Ponyville’s amazing announcing duo, us!” Spike proudly stood up on his chair.

Pinkie continued the story. “Then there was a mix-up in the paperwork and nopony ever told the previous announcers that they were fired. That’s why I hate paperwork and keep all my important information in my head!”

“Uh... yeah... Anyway, long story short, that’s how we became the announcers.”

“We sent someone to untie Regal.”

“Untie?” Twilight said, raising an eyebrow at Spike.

“Yes... well... when Princess Luna came and took away one of the announcers for being a kidnapping dark magician bent on the overthrowing of Equestria, we kind of thought she was helping us stop the impostors. So we tied up Regal and left him at a party.” Spike grinned nervously and forced a short laugh.

Twilight looked at Spike then rolled her eyes. “Well it seems you two know what you’re doing. I’m sure you’ll do a great job. Now, I had better—”

“Hot dogs!” a voice bellowed. “Get your hot dogs here! Made from delicious tofu. Please try one before telling me how disgusting they look. Hot dogs!”

Pinkie’s face brightened up as she rushed towards the end of the booth and hung over the side. “Hey! Mr. Hot Dog Seller. Up here!”

Twilight stepped out of the way as an earth pony with a large case of steaming hot dogs around his neck stepped up to the announcer booth. “What’ll it be, miss?”

Pinkie tapped her chin with her hoof as she looked into the air. “I’ll haaaave... one hot dog with ketchup, relish, onions, hot fudge, nuts, whipped cream, and a cherry on top. Oh! And chocolate sprinkles.”

Twilight stared at her friend in disgust. “Are you ordering a hot dog or a sundae?”

“Sorry, miss,” the hot dog vendor said. “We’re all out of chocolate sprinkles. Is tutti-frutti okay?

“Yeah, that sounds even better.”

Twilight watched in horror as the hot dog vendor made Pinkie’s order exactly as she had wanted. After Pinkie paid, the vendor turned toward Twilight. “And how about you, miss? Would you like a delicious tofu hot dog?”

Twilight swallowed hard. “Actually, I, uh... I should probably be getting back to my seat. Bye, you two. Good luck.”

Spike watched Twilight make her escape. He looked at the hot dog that Pinkie was noisily eating then at the hot dog vendor. “I’ll have what she’s having.”

“You’re not going to believe this,” Twilight said as she sat back down in her seat. “Spike and Pinkie Pie really are the announcers.”

Applejack chuckled. “I can do you one better, Twilight,” she said, then leaned in closer to whisper. “That pony over in booth one is Princess Celestia in disguise.”

“What?” Twilight said, loud enough that some of the audience around her glanced her way. Twilight grinned sheepishly, and when the audience stopped looking, she stood up. “I need to speak with her. If she’s here, I should—”

“Twilight Sparkle, don’t you dare,” Rarity said. “She is here to enjoy the competition, not have ponies flaunting after her all night. That’s why she’s in disguise after all. Let her enjoy herself.”

“But, I...” Twilight hung her head then sat back down. “Fine, but once this is over, I’m going to speak with her.”

Twilight looked over at the disguised princess, who was smiling at her. Twilight smiled back. Tonight was just one surprise after another.

Lights turned on, brightly illuminating the center field. Music could be heard as a marching band began to come onto the field.

“Fillies and Gentlecolts!”Spike’s voice said from the speakers. “This is Spike, Equestria’s number one baby dragon announcer.”

“You’re also the only baby dragon announcer.” Pinkie giggled.

“And that just makes it true.”

“Hello, everypony! This is Pinkie Pie, joining Spike to bring you all of tonight’s announcing, along with all the blow by blow, step by step, word by word, piece by piece, sea by shining sea—”

“Pinkie...”

“We’ll be providing the commentary too.”

“It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for!”

“It’s the opening ceremonies for our bad baking ponies!”

The audience roared as groups of ponies began to take the field. Apple Bloom and the other Crusaders stood up to get a better view. Applejack chuckled as she removed her hat. “Come on, Apple Bloom. Let’s get you the best seat in the house.”

Applejack leaned forward, and a smiling Apple Bloom climbed up onto her sister’s shoulders. Sweetie Belle looked up at her sister.

“Oh, all right,” Rarity said as she leaned forwards. “Just do be careful of my tiara—ah! Sweetie! You’re all sticky! Are you sure you got all the cotton candy off? Wait! Don’t!”

Sweetie Belle was sideways on Rarity’s shoulders as she struggled to move.

Rarity sighed. “You’re stuck to me, aren’t you?”

“Sorry, sis.”

“Not a problem. We’ll just have to go find somewhere to clean up.” Rarity got up and started walking towards the aisle.

“But if we leave now we’ll miss the start of the competition,” Sweetie Belle said sadly.

Rarity gave a longer sigh, then sat back down. “I suppose we’ll just have to wait for the halftime show. It won’t be so bad... sitting here... feeling the sugar slowly solidifying into my mane.”

Scootaloo looked up at her two friends then back out onto the field.

“Scootaloo,” Fluttershy said. “If you want, you can sit on my—ah!”

Scootaloo was already on top of Fluttershy’s shoulders. “There’s Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo yelled as she climbed on top of Fluttershy’s head and started waving. “Rainbow Dash! You rock!”

“Oh dear,” Fluttershy said as Scootaloo’s hooves stepped on her.

Rainbow Dash and seven other competitors stood in a line on one of the stages. In front of the competitors was a unicorn in a red dress. Five more ponies walked past the stages to a booth set up halfway between the field’s center and the audience. Around the outside of the field stood eight unicorns. Their horns began to glow and magic started to take form in the air in the center of the stadium. The magic changed into a transparent mirror image of the stage with all the competitors. The image zoomed in on the unicorn in the dress. The marching band’s music came to a crescendo then stopped.

“Welcome, everypony!” the unicorn said.

Twilight marveled at the magic. Not only was it providing an easier view of the stage, but it also served as a sound amplification system.

“My name is Sweet Soufflé. Many of you may know me as the president of the WBEs. I wish to take this opportunity to thank each of you for your continual support. I hope all of you will enjoy this year’s show and the display of talent from each of our bakers. I’ll now turn things over to our judges and lively announcers.”

The audience cheered as Sweet Soufflé stepped off the stage and began to exit the field.

Spike’s voice came from the speakers. “You heard her. It’s time for our lively introductions of this year’s competitors. Let’s start off with a pony that needs no introduction.”

“But we’ll give her one anyways!” Pinkie’s voice said.

“The Worst Baker in Equestria two-time champion. Ponyville’s very own weathermare extraordinaire, Rainbow Dash!”

Rainbow Dash stepped forward and stood proudly before the cheering fans.

“But Rainbow Dash isn’t the only Ponyvillian here tonight,” Pinkie said. “Neither rain nor snow nor dark of night will keep this mailmare from terrorizing your taste-buds. Ponyville’s premiere postal pony, Derpy!”

Derpy stepped forward and waved to the audience.

“But it wouldn’t be fun if it were only Ponyville competing,” Spike said, taking his turn at introducing. “That’s why we have a stallion hailing from Equestria’s capital. Producer of Canterlot’s most popular brand of ink, Royal Blue!”

Twilight gasped. “Oh my gosh. Royal Blue is here?”

“Who?” Applejack asked.

Twilight levitated out a jar of ink and showed it to Applejack.

“Blue ink number three. A product of Royal Blue INKorporated,” Applejack read.

“All the way from Hoofington,” Pinkie said. “She’s the maker of some of the most amazing fireworks. Let’s give a big pow, boom, and ker-splosion to Sunny Lights!”

“A cool breeze on a summer day. Blowing in from Cloudsdale’s Wind Works. Give it up for Fair Breeze!”

“You’ve heard of Bridleton’s peaceful parks copiously comprised of terrific trees. Now give your regards to the ranger that’s no stranger to danger, Evergreen!”

“‘Stranger to danger?’ What are you talking about, Pinkie?”

“Sorry, my rhyming got a little carried away. She really is a park ranger, though!”

“Okay, then. Our next competitor comes from... uh... no location given? Hey, this stat sheet is blank except for her name! Oh, well. Let’s hear it for The Great and Powerful Trixie!”

“And finally, we have a very special guest with us tonight. Also from Canterlot. Our very own Prin—hold on! Ear flop, back shiver, nose itch!”

“Ah! What’s that mean? Is something bad about to happen?”

“No, silly. It means I was about to tell a secret that I didn’t know was supposed to be a secret. I wonder what—oohhhh! Our final competitor is Morning Dew!”

“She’s a special guest?”

“She is if you like coffee!”

“Well... there you have it. This year’s competitors!” Spike said then waited for the cheering to die down. “Alright then, first up to compete is Trixie on stage number one. All other contestants please head to the waiting booth at the edge of the field.”

“You know, Spike. I’m often asked why there are two stages on the field when only one is used at a time.”

“You are?”

“No, but I wish I was. Then I could tell them it’s because it’s quite common for a stage to be made unusable after a contestant is finished. Each stage is exactly the same, so we will keep swapping between the two while a new stage gets flown in to replace the old one.”

“That’s an interesting piece of trivia. The first round is the Speed Round. Our competitors will be timed in how long it takes from their start to placing their baked goods into the oven.”

“For those wondering how much time the competitor has? It’s a seeee-creeeet.”

“That’s right. The competitors must use their own judgment for how long they will perform. Each judge will award up to five points based on how well the baker performed. Up to five more points will be awarded based on how long it took to bake, but those points will be hidden until everypony has had a turn at baking.”

“But what about the taste? Aren’t there any points awarded for that?”

“I’m glad you asked, Pinkie. Since these ponies are some of the worst bakers in Equestria, it should be assumed that anything they make is inedible. If a taste tester is able to taste, swallow, and keep down their food, then they are disqualified.”

“But most taste testers won’t be able to get past the tasting step.”

“Other things that will disqualify our bakers are: leaving the stage, accidentally or otherwise; failing to complete their chosen baked good; failing to provide a sample for taste testing; and using magic. Pegasi may use their wings to fly but only if they remain above the stage and keep their flight extremely short.”

“And how short is extremely short? It’s a seeee-creeeet.”

“Uh, actually it's three seconds.”

“Oh.”

“Anyway, I see the competitors and judges are all sitting in their proper places, so let us begin!”