After much elimination it was time for the final part of the Year of the Dog competition. With 200 dog Animalians who had entered the contest, there was a lot of elimination to go through. But finally, the best of their breeds have been boiled down to a single contestant from each class of dogs, male and female. Now that they've proven themselves to be the best of their breeds, it was time to see who was the best in show.
This was where the resemblance to dog shows ended. Now it was time to see who had the strength, grace, and beauty to be Mr. or Ms. Zodiac for 2018. This was where the contest took on the elements of a traditional beauty pageant, though there were quite a couple differences.
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Beth waved to the crowd as she walked out onto the stage, wearing training shorts and a sports bra. Both showed off her muscular, curvy body well enough, but this wasn't all about looks. Animalians prized physical strength just as much as physical beauty. It was this particular aspect that allowed Beth to come out on top in the the Working/Guarding group.
The previous Miss Zodiac competition was a lot smaller since there were only a few hens competing. But most of the elements from that were used here again, asides from the Best of Breed competing. Right now, Beth needed to bend 14 metal bars out of shape in the quickest time possible. These bars were made from aluminum, so while they weren't the hardest metal to bend, they weren't the most malleable. Beth was certainly going to have her work cut out for her. And even if she exceeded in this event, it might not be enough to win the Miss Zodiac tiara.
She scanned the crowd before spotting Eliza waving at her. She was one of the few felines in the audience, which prompted a lot of 'cat at a dog show' jokes. She was also able to spot Daniel Richardson in the crowd. She was a little bit grateful that Daniel didn't compete, claiming he had an 'unfair advantage' and not much of a swimmer anyways. But also, she kinda wished he was in the show. As more of her heterosexuality awoke, the more she was aware that Daniel to irresistible to any female canine. It made her think back to the volleyball tournament they had in Miene Atoll at spring break.
But then Beth cleared her head. She had bars to bend. As soon as the timer started, she started working on the bars. Bending the aluminum bars was surprisingly tough, harder than crushing a metal can. But she was still able to strain her muscles and force the bar into an unstraightened shape before moving on to the next one. She kept all her focus on the bars, not the cheering crowd or the timer. Finally, she bent her fourteenth bar and raised up her hands in victory. The crowd cheered loudly at that. When Beth looked at the clock, she saw she had over 12 seconds to spare. That was a pretty good time. She wondered if the males will have a harder time with their thicker bars. But she doubted many of the girls would be faster than she was here.
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Tiffany walked to the end of the catwalk with all the grace expected of a woman of her stature. The dress she wore hugged her curvaceous body tightly, living little to the imagination. She would have been wearing high heels, but her canine paws weren't built for such things anymore. Still, there was little question she was the loveliest poodle in Animalia.
She paused and posed for her fans before heading back towards the stage. She was pretty sure she had nailed it. She was definitely doing her best to win since Riley hadn't gotten this far. The poor Rottweiler hadn't done too well with his guarding challenge. Riley's problem was that he was a little too overly-protective. That wasn't to say he was always trying to guard her from any perceived threats, but Riley clashed with Rick a few too many times. It wasn't quite enough to get disqualified, but he did knock a lot of seconds off his appointed guarding time and couldn't quite make up the difference. So it was Simon's stepfather, Luke, who won the male division of Working/Guarding. But Tiffany was determined to win this contest for the both of them.
As soon as she walked backstage, she walked past the other dogs getting ready to strut out and went straight to Malice. "Well, I hope that wasn't too much for you," said Tiffany, "I'd hate for you to lose your nerve too soon."
"It's not over until the fat lady sings," said Malice, "Who is the fat lady anyways?"
"It's just an expression, pay it no mind," said Tiffany. While the two of them were no longer fighting over Simon, they still saw each other as rivals. They had officially buried the hatchet at Mieni Atoll, but they saw this competition as the ultimate showdown between them. Whoever won here, even if it wasn't one of them, there would be no lingering hard feelings. Any future competitions would be friendly and fair.
Just then, they heard the announcer say, "For Working/Sledding, Mary Alice Wesley."
"That's my cue," said Malice as she walked towards the stage.
"Break a leg," said Tiffany before watching the TV monitor. This was a closed circuit, only a few TVs in the building were showing this footage. Tiffany watched as Malice walked out onto the catwalk. She had to admit the dress looked very good on Malice, her body being just as curvy as Tiffany's. And the husky was able to walk very gracefully without stumbling over herself. "Not bad, Mary Alice, not bad," admitted Tiffany. But she wasn't about to give up just yet.
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At very long last, it was time for the final announcement. All the contestants from both sexes were lined up. To reveal the winner, Clara herself walked on stage, wearing a lovely red dress in the Chinese style. "Thank you all, you have all been wonderful contestants," said Clara to the various dogs. It was a bit odd for a cat to be the one to announce the winner here, but the cat was the unofficial 13th member of the Chinese Zodiac in some myths. "If it were up to me, you would all be winners. But while you're certain the best of your breeds, we're looking for the best of the best."
She gestured offstage and two chickens walked on stage. There was Sun Tsu, the Chinese rooster who had competed against his Western rival, Alexander the Great, last year. There was also Tara, the hen who won last year's Ms. Zodiac. Each one of them was carrying a crown in their hands. Each crown had twelve octagonal gems that showed the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac. Sun Tsu's crown was gold while Tara's was silver. "But only two dogs here can claim the title of Mr. and Ms. Zodiac this year and receive this crowns to pass on to the winners of next year's competition," said Clara. Sun Tsu and Tara held up their crowns, the Rooster gem in the front before they turned them slightly so that the Dog gem was in the front.
Then Clara received an envelope from the judges. Using one claw, she easily opened it and pulled out the paper inside. "And now, the winners of the Year of the Dog Pageant of 2018 are..."