It was a quiet, sunny day in Ponyville and the air was filled with an atmosphere of warmth and happiness. Birds chirped joyously amidst the trees swaying gently in the cool summer breeze, and the little creatures of the land scampered around the grassy fields and forest floor. Nopony could have asked for a more relaxing, quiet day to lay back and just enjoy living life.

Fluttershy was out in her garden, watering her plants that she cared so deeply for. Her main love was for the multitude of creatures throughout Equestria, but her plants also held a special place in her heart. There were even some times when she felt as though they were speaking to her, but she knew that was silly.

That is, until she heard a very faint voice.

"What do you think?"

"Doesn't look too promising. Do you see anypony else with her? It looks like she spends most of her day cooped up in that cottage. I don't think she'd be the best choice for...entertainment value..."

"Hmm...yeah you're right...let's move on."

"...Hello?" Fluttershy inquired with a cautious whisper, putting her ear up against the plant she had just been watering. "Are you talking to me?"

Moments later, her inquiry was answered by the loud sound of a motorized, travelling stage of sorts that burst through an opening in the forest near her. It landed with a loud thump on the ground and spit up dirt behind its rear wheels as it rode past Fluttershy's cottage.

Fluttershy dove into a nearby bush for cover from the sudden, noisy appearance of the vehicle, only to perk her head slightly above the bush to watch the vehicle speed off into Ponyville. A momentary spark of curiosity somehow found its way into her heart for a fleeting moment before she dismissed it to continue watering her plants from the safety of her quaint little home.

The vehicle stopped in the middle of Ponyville in an area where many ponies were congregated around this strange new thing in town. Ponies opened the windows of their homes to get a better look, while others came outside to see what all the excitement was all about. As soon as there was a decent crowd surrounding the vehicle, its sides burst open and unfolded into a giant stage and music began to play.

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A very handsome, brown pony wearing a pink suit appeared on the stage holding a microphone. His hair was slicked so far back, it looked like his head was a waxed bowling ball. He opened his mouth to speak to the bemused crowd. "Welcome everypony, to The Best Friends Game!" His deep, powerful voice boomed.

An uproar of applause sounded immediately from somewhere on the stage while the ponies surrounding it still stood with confused looks on their faces. Lyra and Bon Bon stood together on one end of the crowd.

"What's the Best Friends game?" Lyra asked the stallion on the stage.

"I'm glad you asked, cyan unicorn!" the announcer replied enthusiastically. "This is a game in which three teams of ponies are expected to predict answers that the other would give when asked certain questions. The winning team with the most points at the end of the show will win the grand prize!"

"Ooh, like a game show?" beamed a smaller filly from the front row.

"Yes, little one! In fact, this is a game show!!"

"Who gets to play?" asked a random, older stallion from somewhere in the audience.

"We need three teams of two, but the teams have to be best friends in order to qualify!"

Lyra immediately turned her head to Bon Bon, her face beaming. "You wanna do it?"

Bon Bon rolled her eyes and smiled. "Sure, why not? Sounds like fun."

"Come on, up then!" the announcer continued. "Now, who's next?"

A chorus of murmuring sounded throughout the crowd. Somewhere in the midst of it, Derpy found herself near Doctor Whooves. Now, they weren't that close, at least not to the level of Lyra and Bon Bon, but Derpy's desire to be a part of this game show burned with a fiery passion. "Um...Doctor Whooves?" she said as she tapped him on his right flank.

"Yes?" he replied politely.

"...do you want to try and win the prize together?" she asked him, shying away as her sentence trailed on.

"Absolutely!" he replied. "It's always been a dream of mine to be on a game show. Let's win this thing!"

Derpy's eyes lit up and they made their way through the crowd towards the stage.

The announcer spoke up once more. "That's two teams, everypony! Only one more team can play!"

Cranky Doodle Donkey and Matilda were watching idly from afar. Well, Matilda was watching. Cranky was busy doing some business in an outhouse.

"Cranky!" Matilda shrieked at him. "Get out of the john! We've got to do something!"

His voice replied, muffled and irritated. "Can't it wait a minute? You can't really rush these things, you know!"

"CRANKY!"

"Okay, okay! I'm coming!"

Cranky opened the door and rushed over to her. "Now, what is this all about?"

"They're doing a game show honey. We can compete together to win the grand prize!"

"What's the grand prize?" Cranky replied un-enthusiastically.

"The announcer didn't say."

"Well, I've lost interest. If you need me, I'll be finishing up some business..."

Matilda smiled and continued speaking. "That announcer stallion sure is handsome, though..."

Cranky stood in his tracks and turned around. "Come again?"

"Oh, I was just saying that the stallion on stage looks really handsome, is all."

Cranky groaned for a few moments before speaking. "Alright, we'll play. And we'll see how handsome this stallion really is."

"WE'RE COMING!" Matilda's voice shrieked as she took Cranky by the hoof and galloped towards the stage. The announcer pony gave them both smiles as they walked up onto the hardwood floors and stood next to the other two pairs of ponies that would be participating in the game show.

"Alright, everypony!" said the announcer. "Are you all ready to play...The Best Friends Game?"

The crowd of ponies stamped their hooves in applause, completely out-doing the prerecorded applause that played beneath them.

"Now, let's start our show by getting to know the contestants, shall we? Let's start with you two: the bubbly cyan unicorn and her quiet friend. How long have you two known each other?"

"Well," said Lyra, "I've known Bon Bon for a while now. Ever since I came to Ponyville, she's been my best friend."

The audience "awww"-ed.

"And what about you, Bon Bon? How did you two meet?"

"Well, that's a complicated story," she replied. "Well, actually, there's more than one story."

"What do you mean, more than one?" the announcer asked dramatically.

"Nopony really agrees which is the right one," added Lyra. "It's best to just roll with it."

"Al-righty then! Next friends! You two: the brown stallion with that very stylish bowtie and that grey pegasus with the amazing eyes! What's your deal?"

"Well," said Doctor Whooves, "we--"

"I meant the pegasus," interrupted the announcer, "how did you acquire those dazzling eyes?"

Derpy blushed. "They've always been this way, I guess..."

"Well, they're beautiful," repeated the announcer. "Now, for the last team..."

"But I didn't get to say anything..." Doctor Whooves muttered dejectedly under his breath.

"Cranky Doodle Donkey and Matilda!" the announcer announced excitedly. "Now isn't this a cute couple? Who doesn't love a cute, old pair of asses?"

Several parents of young fillies all instinctively covered their children's ears.

"Who are you calling old!" Cranky yelled. "I'm probably only a few years older than you, you old codger!"

"My mistake," said the announcer. "Well, what's your life story then? How did you two meet?"

Matilda opened her mouth to answer the question, but Cranky shut it with his hoof. "We're not here to tell you our life story," said Cranky. "We're here to win that grand prize...whatever it is."

"Al-righty then!" the announcer said, looking away from them and back to the crowd. "Is everypony ready to start the first round?"

An applause of hooves stamping against the ground roared.

"Well then, let's get started! Please split up your teams. One of you will go behind stage and put on ear muffs, and the other will stay here to answer our first question.

Bon Bon, Derpy and Cranky stayed on stage while Lyra, Doctor Whooves and Matilda  were escorted back behind out of view by two stylish mares wear shiny clothing.

"First question," said the announcer, "what is your friends most irritating habit?"

A chorus of "ooh"s sounded from the audience.

"You first, Bon Bon. Don't be afraid to be brutally honest. Keep in mind that when you've all answered, the rest will come back on stage and answer the question for themselves."

"Well..." trailed Bon Bon, "sometimes Lyra can be a little too..."

"Too what, darling? Messy? Loud?"

"Sometimes she can be a little clingy, you know? Every time I want to go out by myself and just enjoy some solitude, she always shows up wanting to spend more time together. I mean, she's my best friend, but sometimes a pony's gotta have some alone time, you know?"

"I know exactly how you feel," the announcer replied. "Derpy?"

Derpy's eyes went wide, and her expression blank. "Umm...I don't know...can I pass?"

The announcer laughed. "I'm sorry, this show doesn't really work that way. Surely there's something?"

"Well," Derpy replied, "I guess one thing is that he's a little obsessed about his bow ties. I think he has something like...63 of them."

"Great Celestia, that is a lot of bow ties!"

Derpy put on a small, nervous smile.

"Next contestant: Mister Cranky Doodle Donkey!"

Cranky grunted. "What was the question again? I wasn't paying attention on account of being distracted by your bowling-ball shaped cranium."

The announcer laughed off the insult, obviously used to humoring himself. But he wasn't the kind of pony to let an insult go without a backhanded compliment in reply. "Hah! I love it when contestants aren't afraid to speak their minds, and what a fitting name you have! The question was this: what is an annoying habit your friend has?"

"Oh, that's easy," Cranky replied, "Matilda nags me about everything. You wouldn't believe how much she nags me for the simplest things."

"Oh, I could believe it!" the announcer replied enthusiastically. "Great answers, everypony! Now, please sit tight while we bring back the other contestants to see how they would answer these questions about themselves!"

The two stylish mares brought back the other ponies to the stage, and the announcer continued. "Alright, contestants. The question we asked your team-mates was as follows: what is your most irritating habit? We'll answer one by one and reveal what your teammate answered. First up is Lyra and Bon Bon. Lyra, what is your most irritating habit?"

"Hmm," Lyra thought, putting her hoof to her chin, "I guess my most irritating habit would be that I sometimes play my harp a little too late at night."

"Is that what your teammate answered?" the announcer said rhetorically, pointing to the two stylish mares holding up a large piece of cardboard. They turned it over to reveal Bon Bon's answer.

Lyra turned around and her heart sank, looking at Bon Bon. "You think I'm clingy? I thought we were best friends!"

"I didn't mean it like that, I just--"

"I can't believe you'd say something like that about me! We've been friends for so long! Do you hate me? Has everything all been some kind of act? How do I know? Who are you?"

The audience went dead silent for several seconds as her words echoed throughout the town. The announcer broke the silence. "Al-righty then, everypony! Next contestants!"

The two stylish ponies rushed off to grab the next piece of cardboard and stood behind Derpy and Doctor Hooves.

"Mister Doctor Hooves," said the announcer pony.

Doctor Hooves put up a hoof to speak. "Actually, it's just Doctor. You see, I'm actually a profess--"

"Mister Hooves! What is your most annoying habit?"

Doctor Hooves grumbled a little bit under his breath and then let it go. "Well...I guess...sometimes I'm a little obsessive about my bow tie collection."

"Correct!" the announcer announced excitedly. Derpy jumped up into the air and hugged Doctor Hooves.

Doctor Hooves celebrated momentarily until coming to a sudden realization. "Wait...you think my obsession over bow ties is annoying?"

"Nah, not really," replied Derpy with her shoulders shrugged. "I think they're great." She smiled.

"Final contestants! Matilda, what is your most annoying habit?"

"Oh, I don't know. Me and Cranky always get along so well, it's hard to think that there's anything I do or say that would be annoying. I guess, maybe sometimes I spend a little too long doing my mane in the mornings?"

"A little?" Cranky replied. "More like a lot."

"Wait, is that what his answer was? Do we get a point?" Matilda asked the announcer. He pointed towards the cardboard sign behind them.

"YOU THINK I NAG TOO MUCH?" Matilda boomed.

Cranky smiled. "Hey, the announcer stallion told me to answer honestly and I answered honestly. Can you blame me?"

Matilda gave him a sneer, and the announcer continued speaking. "Well, that's the end of the first round everypony! We have Team Lyra/Bon Bon at 0 points, Team Mister Hooves/Derpy at 1 point, and Team Cranky/Matilda at 0 points. It's still anypony's game!"

The audience cheered and stomped their hooves once more on the ground in applause. Meanwhile, Lyra and Bon Bon were sitting away from each other, as were Cranky and Matilda. Derpy and Doctor Hooves seemed rather content though.