Equestria Games (event)

The Equestria Games is the biggest sporting event to take place in Equestria. The event was first the subject of a WeLoveFine.com T-shirt design, is later mentioned in three episodes of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, and is also coming up in books. Ms. Harshwhinny is the Head of the Equestria Games as well as the Games Inspector. Different years' announced hosts of the Equestria Games include Fillydelphia and the Crystal Empire.

Depiction in the series
The Equestria Games, according to Ms. Harshwhinny, are "where ponies from all over the land compete for glory in various athletic pursuits".

The Games are first mentioned in the synchronously-set episodes Just for Sidekicks and Games Ponies Play. In the former episode, Fluttershy says Princess Cadance "needs us to do a great job welcoming the Head of the Equestria Games when she visits the Crystal Empire tomorrow". In the latter episode, Cloudsdale lost out in a bid to host the Equestria Games to Fillydelphia in a flashback to when Rainbow Dash was a filly, and in the present day, the Equestria Games inspector Ms. Harshwhinny says "Every city and empire wants to host the Equestria Games" and chooses the Crystal Empire to be the next host of the Equestria Games.



One tradition of the Games has a pony or group of ponies from each city in Equestria chosen as a flag carrier for their represented city. In Flight to the Finish, the fillies and colts in Cheerilee's class come up with flag carrying routines in the hopes of being chosen to carry the flag for Ponyville. Rainbow Dash states that she was a flag carrier for Cloudsdale when she was a filly. By the end of the episode, Ms. Harshwhinny chooses the Cutie Mark Crusaders as Ponyville's flag carriers.

The Equestria Games are mentioned again in Rainbow Falls, where the titular location serves as the venue for the Games' qualification tryouts. Teams of three compete for open slots to compete in the Games; one such team consists of Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Bulk Biceps. One apparent rule of the Games states that a competitor can only compete in one event.

Other depictions
A T-shirt released through WeLoveFine.com in early August 2012 reads "2012 Equestria Games" and lists nine categories: fire breathing, apple-bucking, wrestling, swimming, magic, taekwondo, weightlifting (weightilfting [sic] in the initial versions due to a typo by artist Heather Carlton ), hoofball, and flying - artistic. The art is reminiscent of the style used for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

In chapter 1 of the My Little Pony Equestria Girls screenplay novelization My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: Through the Mirror, "The Princess Summit", the Crystal Empire's "Equestria Games stadium" is mentioned by the story's narration.

On December 16, 2013, Hasbro's My Little Pony Facebook page posted an image including the Cutie Mark Crusaders and the text "The Equestria Games are coming!"

In the upcoming book My Little Pony: Winning Style, the Equestria Games in the Crystal Empire are "just a few weeks" away. On pages 8-9, the Crystal Ponies are training to compete in a running race during the Equestria Games, and "Long Jump" is set to win the race against "Rapid Rush" and "Toastie". Page 18 states that tennis is a very popular sport at the Equestria Games, and page 20 states that Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust "can't wait for the flying competition at the Equestria Games."

A description of the upcoming storybook My Little Pony: Welcome to Rainbow Falls! states "Tour another awesome area of Equestria as the ponies attend the famous sporting event known as the Equestrian [sic] Games in this fun storybook illustrated with artwork from the hit TV show."

On February 7, 2014, coinciding with the Opening Ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, the Hub Network posted a screenshot from the upcoming Equestria Games episode. This picture gives the first view of the stadium, four of the competing teams, including Ponyville and Cloudsdale's teams, and Shining Armor making an announcement in his captain of the royal guard uniform.