Author's Note
Something short I decided to write out of boredom. I hope you liked it.
Challenge Accepted
"Alright, everypony, that'll do for today," Rarity cheerfully called out to her other band members. The Ponytones were having their rehearsal at Carousel Boutique, and it was coming to a close as afternoon began to settle in the sky. "Thank you all for coming here today," She said, smiling to her friends, "and thank you, Sweetie Belle, for joining in." She patted a hoof on Sweetie's head as she turned away in embarrassment. The other band members said their goodbyes to each other, and started towards the door, when Rarity had an idea. "Hey, do you guys want to go out for ice cream?" She asked them as Big McIntosh opened the door.
Toe-Tapper turned around and started to rub the back of his head. "I'm sorry, Rarity, but I have to...Uh..." He began saying before slowly stopping. "I have to water my plants!" He yelled, suddenly. It caused to Rarity to jump back slightly. "Sorry, again," He murmured, before dashing out the door.
"Well, that was odd," Rarity muttered, "Well, anyway, how about you, Big Mac? Wanna come?" He shook his head, then leaned up to her ear and whispering a single thing.
"Chores."
"Well, that's quite alright," She responded as he backed away from her face. He gave a little nod to Sweetie Belle as he passed her on his way outside. "Well, that just leaves Fluttershy and Torch Song," Rarity said, turning back towards the other two members.
"Actually..." Fluttershy murmured, "I have to feed the animals at my cottage." Before leaving, she turned back and squeaked out a tiny apology.
"Bye, then!" Rarity called as she left. "So, just us three, huh?" She asked, growing slightly impatient with her band members' departures. "What do you say, Torch Song, ice cream, my treat?"
Torch Song gazed about for a second, then turned back towards her. "Nope," she said, then went out the door as the others had.
Rarity sighed, grumpy about not getting to spend more time with her fellow singers. Turning around, she found herself at the shining face of Sweetie Belle, making a nervous smile. "Heh, I suppose you want ice cream, don't you?" Rarity asked the slightly embarrassed filly. Sweetie Belle gave a little nod in response. "Well then, let me just clean up a bit first," Rarity said, flashing a grin to her sister. Rarity began to take up the sheet music and lowered the stands with her magic while Sweetie Belle sat by the door. When it was all put away into a closet, the two of them set off for Sugarcube Corner.
Sweetie Belle and Rarity started to converse as they headed down the road. "You did very well today, Sweetie Belle," Rarity said warmly, "though, it might've been better if you actually sang in the rehearsal." She chuckled as Sweetie Belle blushed.
"How was I supposed to sing with Big Mac staring at me the whole time?" Sweetie asked, trying to excuse her shyness.
"Don't worry, Sweetie," Rarity started, "humming your part is sort of like singing it." She giggled as Sweetie looked away. "You'll get there, someday," She comforted.
"Not with all the mistakes I'd make," Sweetie murmured, "And besides, I didn't want to be dragged into your practice anyway." She turned her head back towards her sister. The two of them finally reached Sugarcube Corner, and walked inside. Looking around, she noticed a big sign promoting a specialty dessert called the "Ice Cream Island Challenge."
They trotted up to the counter as Sweetie Belle began to beam in excitement. "Hello, Pinkie Pie," Rarity greeted as Sweetie stared into the glass counter holding the various flavors. Pinkie Pie cheerfully responded and asked for their order. "I'll have just a plain vanilla cone," Rarity started, then turned to Sweetie Belle, "and what do you want, Sweetie?"
Sweetie Belle stood motionless for a second, appreciating the many assortments of ice cream available, before being asked a second time. "I want..." She trailed off, before pointing to the vanilla tub. "I want that, with extra sprinkles!" She cheerfully declared as Rarity wrapped her foreleg around her. Soon, Pinkie Pie gave them their cones and Rarity picked them up with her magic, paying her a few bits as she walked to a table. Sweetie clambered into a booth, while Rarity sat down on the opposite side, holding her cone in front of her. "You don't need to hold mine, anymore," she said, proudly, "I can hold it in my own magic!"
"Really?" Rarity playfully asked, "I'd like to see that."
"Watch me!" Sweetie cheered. She began to focus hard on the cone, until eventually her horn lit up and an aura surrounded the base of it. Wobbling slightly, it slowly moved towards her, and she went in for a lick, only for her horn to fizzle out as she came close. "No!" She cried out as it fell down. Before it hit the table, it was suddenly covered in a deep blue light, and floated back up to Sweetie's face. "Thanks," she murmured as Rarity held it still. Sweetie started to blush as she licked the ice cream.
"Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it eventually," Rarity cheered as Sweetie continued to eat. After a short while, the two of them had licked up all of their ice cream, and Rarity began to bite into the waffle cone.
"Why'd you make me do that, anyway?" Sweetie Belle asked, interrupting Rarity's chewing.
"Do what?"
"You know," Sweetie started, "make me sing for the Ponytones?"
Rarity wiped her cheeks with a napkin. "Well, you said you were bored, and you have a lovely singing voice," she said, taking another bite, "I thought you would have fun."
"Well, I was hoping we could've done something together," Sweetie Belle replied, finishing off her dessert.
"We were together, Sweetie" Rarity responded, "didn't you have fun?"
"I had fun," She muttered, "it's just that I wanted to do something, just the two of us." She looked downwards.
"I know Sweetie, but I have a busy schedule sometimes, and I can't control that," Rarity said, eating up the rest of her ice cream. "Besides, we do things together all the time when I get the chance."
"No we don't," Sweetie whined, "Name one thing we've done together in the past week."
"We just did a rehearsal together!"
"That was for your band!" Sweetie scoffed in response.
"But you said you had fun!" Rarity replied.
"I lied," Sweetie grumbled, "you know I don't like to sing with others, I just screw up." She gave a sour look.
Rarity focused for a second, then thought of something from a few days ago. "What about when we went to the spa, just you and me?" She replied, "That was just the other day."
"Rarity, you brought me along so you could get the sister's discount," Sweetie said flatly, "And even then, I had to sit in the waiting room all day." She looked at Rarity with a hurt expression. "We never do anything I wanna do."
"Well, business has been slow lately, so I needed the discount to afford it," Rarity complained as Sweetie Belle began to sulk in her seat. "Come on, Sweetie, don't be like that. There's gotta be something we can do that you'll like."
Sweetie Belle looked around the restaurant for a while. Soon, she noticed the big promotional sign at the front again, and she pointed to it. "Let's do that," She said, "just the two of us!"
Rarity stood up and went to read the board. "The Ice Cream Island Challenge," she read aloud, curiously. "Two ponies must join together to eat the Ice Cream Island Bowl dish before sunset. First ponies to beat the challenge get it on the house!" She turned towards Sweetie Belle, who was looking back at her with a straight expression. "I don't know, Sweetie Belle," She started, "it doesn't seem very, shall we say, proper."
Sweetie frowned. "Why does everything have to be proper?" She complained, "Come on, Rarity, it'll be fun!"
Rarity started to consider for a moment whether or not she should, but when Sweetie Belle's sad stare swayed her opinion towards it. "Fine," she said after a while, "We'll do the silly challenge."
"Hooray!" Sweetie Belle squeaked as she threw her forelegs up in excitement. Reluctantly, Rarity rejoined her at the table and gestured for Pinkie Pie to come over and take their new order.
"All right, the rules are as follows!" Mr. Cake announced to the whole restaurant as Mrs. Cake and Pinkie Pie placed the enormous bowl on the table. "You have until six o'clock tonight to eat all of the food in this bowl," he said, gesturing to the massive piles of ice cream and smaller treats inside it. Rarity gulped as she looked up at the highly stacked dessert, while Sweetie Belle began to lick her lips in excitement. "You have about two hours," He continued, "after which, if you have eaten it all, then you get your picture taken and placed on the Wall of Fame!" Rarity turned and noticed the empty corkboard behind the counter with the label "Wall of Fame" written at the top. "As a bonus, if you do succeed, you'll be the first contestants to win, and your meal will be absolutely free!" He finished as a few other customers began to gather around the duo. Rarity gave a nervous smile while Sweetie just happily waved at them before turning back to the bowl. "Are you ready, ladies?" Mr. Cake asked.
"I'm ready!" Sweetie Belle squeaked cheerfully. She leaned in and sniffed the milky tower.
Rarity gazed around the meal, noting all the food stacked in it. There were several huge areas of ice cream, each a different flavor, and they joined together in a little sea of melted caramel. On top of the ice cream, there were pillars of bananas, holding up a massive, carefully balanced cookie, which held a carefully carved chocolate pony statue in its center. "As I'll ever be," she said quietly, picking up a spoon in her magic.
"Then, let the challenge begin!" Mr. Cake called to the crowd, who gave a few cheers. Rarity grabbed a big spoonful off the pink side stuffed it in her mouth, her taste buds rolling in pleasure as the strawberry flavor filled her mouth. She sat there for a second, enjoying the delicious ice cream, before feeling a little prodding in her side. Looking up, she saw Sweetie Belle pointing to the bowl, her mouth full of cookie and caramel.
"Huwwy awp!" Sweetie commanded, crumbs flying out as she talked, "We onwy haff two houws!"
"Sweetie Belle, don't talk with you mouth full," Rarity said, wiping her face with a napkin, "and we have plenty of time, don't rush." She broke off a piece of the cookie disc with her magic and took a bite. The lovely taste of chocolate chips and nuts filled her mouth and she smiled, enjoying the snack.
On the other side of the table, Sweetie Belle was busy struggling to simultaneously eat a frozen banana and focus hard enough to lift her spoon. Slowly, a bright green aura surrounded one side of it, and she pushed it into a mound of vanilla ice cream. Trying to go fast, she quickly shoved it into her mouth and swallowed. She shoveled in two more scoops before her head seized up in pain. "Ack!" She cried as brain freeze ravaged her noggin. Rarity had closed her eyes to enjoy the taste of the caramel on her small spoonfuls of lemon-lime flavored ice cream, covered with coconut shavings. When Sweetie Belle had cried out, she opened her eyes, then ducked fast as a spoon shot by her head. "Sorry, Rarity!" She whined, rubbing her head.
"Sweetie, I told you to slow down," Rarity scolded as Sweetie started eating again. "Be careful, you're still new at using magic, so brain freeze is dangerous."
"Okay," Sweetie Belle murmured through a mouthful of chocolate, having picked up the statue and bitten off its head. "Look!" Sweetie called to Rarity as she finished it up. "We're nearly a third done with the bowl!" Rarity looked down and noticed that the cookie had fallen onto the ice cream, and the bananas had sunk down at odd angles as it melted. "We'll be done in no time!" She squealed, raising Rarity's hopes.
"Maybe this won't be so bad after all," Rarity thought to herself as she bit down on a banana.
"Ugh..." Sweetie Belle moaned as she finished off another bite of caramel and chocolate ice cream. A bigger crowd had gathered around the sisters, and a few were chanting their names as they finally finished half the bowl. "My tummy hurts..." She whined as it made a few grumbling noises.
Rarity wasn't faring much better. "Mine too..." She complained, biting off a big chunk of cookie, soaked in melted vanilla. Looking back at the bowl, she groaned as she saw how much was left. Reluctantly, she picked up the last frozen banana, which was covered in leftover ice cream from all the sides. She lifted it up to her mouth, her lips quivering, until finally she brought herself to take a bite. The crowd cheered as she soon scarfed down the rest of it, wiping her face with a napkin. She made a goofy little smile at them. "It's-" she burped, "nothing, really."
"Rarity? Is that you?" She heard somepony from the crowd ask. Looking up, she saw Twilight Sparkle trotting up to her booth. "What are you doing?" She asked as Rarity blushed in embarrassment.
"Oh, you know," Rarity started, making a nervous chuckle, "just spending time with my sister..." She pointed to Sweetie Belle, who was struggling to lift her fourth spoon out of the mushy pile. "We're doing this silly challenge to eat a lot of ice cream," Rarity explained. Twilight started to say something, then ducked as Sweetie launched her utensil across the room, embedding itself alongside the others. The crowd laughed while the little filly shyly shrank back, a few of them throwing their own spoons to help her out.
"Sweetie Belle, are you okay?" Twilight asked, turning to her. In response, she moaned as she held her head in pain. The poor girl was covered in splotches of melted ice cream, matting her mane and fur. Twilight rubbed her back for a moment, feeling several sticky spots catch her hoof.
"I'm fine," Sweetie said, giving off a little belch. "I just need to eat a little more..." She muttered, picking up one of the spare spoons and shoving the last bit of lemon-lime ice cream into her mouth. "Ta-dah," Sweetie burped, before looking blankly for a moment. She gave a little lurch, and her cheeks extended, but she grabbed her mouth quickly, and ran to the bathroom.
"Is that even allowed?" Twilight asked Mr. Cake as he cleaned up some stains from the table. "I mean, she's losing some of the ice cream, right?"
"Relax, Twilight," Rarity said calmly, shoveling another few spoonfuls into her mouth, "She's done it twice already." Twilight glared at her, noticing similar messy spots on her face, and a used pile of napkins on the table. Rarity made a reach for her own mouth, but swallowed a few seconds later, shivering as it went down.
"Maybe you should quit while you're ahead..." Twilight replied to her sickened friend.
Rarity looked down at the unfinished bowl, and felt worse as her stomach grumbled from all the dairy churning in it. "You have a p-" She paused, suppressing another burp, "Point." She turned back towards Mr. Cake as Sweetie Belle came back from the bathroom. "How much do I owe you?" She asked as Sweetie climbed back into the booth, moaning.
"Giving up?" He asked, "Then that'll be two hundred bits, please."
Rarity's eyes flew open as she heard the price. Looking back at the dessert, she guessed that a third of it was left. Checking her purse, she realized she had only brought about twenty bits. "Sweetie Belle," She started, causing her to look up from her sickly pose, "keep eating." Reluctantly, she picked up the last big hunk of cookie and began to nibble on it, tasting the frozen cream glued to it.
"But Rare-" Sweetie Belle began to whine, before hiccuping, "Rarity..."
"I know you're sick, Sweetie Belle, but we must," Rarity replied, reaching across and rubbing her chocolate-stained hoof on her head. "Come on..." She murmured, lifting up Sweetie's spoon and leading a spoonful into Sweetie's face, splattering it around her mouth. Upset, Sweetie lapped it up, groaning as she felt sickening sweet taste again. "That's it, just keep eating..." Rarity said, shoveling another big bite into her mouth and her own. She looked outside, and noticed the sun getting awfully close to sunset. "Gotta hurry!" She moaned, quickening the pace of the spoons. Mr. Cake pointed to a clock, saying they only had about half an hour left, which made her even more worried. She kept stuffing spoonfuls of chocolate and vanilla into their mouths, spilling drops along the table and onto themselves. Twilight mentioned something about getting more napkins and left the two.
"Please, no more..." Sweetie whined, ice cream dribbling out the corner of her face.
"Just...a little...more..." Rarity kept saying, though the bowl still had a good chunk left. Mouthful after mouthful went into both of them, until finally, "Argh!" Rarity and Sweetie Belle both cried out, feeling their heads pounding from brain freeze. They quickly lurched forward in pain, and bonked into each other, their horns shorting out as they bumped. Then, everything went dark for the two of them.
Rarity slowly creaked her eyes open. Peering around, she saw various colors around a small landscape, and towering pillars holding up a massive disc. The air was freezing cold, and the ground was wet to the touch. She leaned up from her laying position, and cast her eyes out on a big bright brown sea. Hearing a little moan, she turned and saw Sweetie Belle rubbing her head as she got up from her spot nearby. "Wh-what happened?" Sweetie asked, shivering from the cold and the pain, "Where are we?"
Rarity crawled over to her sister, her legs weak being knocked out. "I think..." She started, gazing about the strange new location. She came to a bizarre realization. "I think we're on Ice Cream Island."
Sweetie Belle groaned as she smelled the sweet scent in the air, noticing that the place did bear more than a passing resemblance to the dessert. "What?" She said in confusion, "B-but how?"
"I don't know, but we gotta figure out how to get back," Rarity said, putting her foreleg around Sweetie. She tried to stand up, but the pounding in her head and the slippery ice cream beach knocked her back down. Rarity began to moan as her migraine continued, while Sweetie Belle continued to massage her own head.
"My head hurts..." She whined. Sweetie Belle made her own attempt to stand up, when pain shot through her stomach. "Ooh..." She grabbed her belly, removing her hooves from her head and holding it instead. "So does my tummy..."
"Well, it's your fault," Rarity retorted, feeling grouchy from her headache. "If you never made us do that silly challenge, we wouldn't be here." She turned away from Sweetie as her head pounded harder. She turned back when she heard a little noise. Sweetie Belle was laying down on the ice cream beach, covering her eyes, whimpering.
"I'm sorry, Rarity," Sweetie sobbed, "I didn't mean for this to happen..."
"Well, it did, and now we're facing the consequences," Rarity responded, giving a snort of derision. "Why'd you want to do something so uncouth as an eating challenge, anyway?" She asked, "Why couldn't you have just eaten your ice cream and gone home?"
Sweetie Belle sniffled as Rarity glared at her. "I just wanted to do something fun, alright?" She whined, "You're always so busy with your work!"
"Sweetie Belle, I have to do work to keep my business afloat," Rarity scoffed, "And I'm not always too busy for you! I let you practice with the Ponytones, remember?"
"That's just it, Rarity, even when you're not working, it's stuff that's like work!" Sweetie replied, "We never do something fun for both of us, it's always you wanting to help yourself!" She turned away and sat down grumpily, her headache worsening. "I just wanted us to do something I wanted to do for a change."
Rarity's angry stare softened. "Sweetie, I know I do a lot for myself, but you didn't need to force me into a ridiculous contest with you just for my attention," She said, pulling herself closer to her. "Why didn't you just say you wanted to do something else?"
Sweetie Belle turned her head back to Rarity, her eyes looking down slightly. "I didn't want you to get mad..."
"Why would I get upset?" Rarity asked, stroking Sweetie Belle's hair.
"Well, I just thought," Sweetie Belle started, "you know, 'cause you get so angry when I help sometimes..."
"Oh Sweetie Belle," Rarity said, "I only act that way because I have to get things done." She hugged her. "You can always tell me if something's bothering you." Sweetie Belle looked back up at her, a small smile on her face.
"Really?"
"Yes," Rarity replied. The two of them joined together in a warm embrace.
The crowd began to mutter among themselves as several minutes passed. "Should we call a hospital?" "Not yet, maybe they'll wake up." "Are they still breathing?" "Five bits says the fat one wakes up first!" Twilight Sparkle cut through them, carrying napkins in her magic.
"Oh my gosh, Rarity!" She cried out as she noticed the fainted ponies, their heads balanced perfectly against each other above the bowl. She started to shake them, trying to wake them. "Oh, please be okay!" She murmured. Sitting down to wait, she noticed them making strange groaning noises. A few minutes later, Rarity stirred from her sleep, and Twilight gave a sigh of relief. Suddenly, she sat bolt upright, causing Sweetie Belle to fall face-first into the bowl. "Rarity, you're awake!" Twilight yelled as she quickly turned her head from side to side.
"I'm...awake?" Rarity asked, looking about the room as Sweetie Belle groggily opened her eyes from inside the melted ice cream. "Oh thank goodness, I had the strangest dream," She said as Sweetie lifted her head out of the bowl, dripping the goo onto the table. Rarity turned to her. "You were in it, Sweetie, and we were on a giant version of Ice Cream Island."
Sweetie Belle gave her a strange look. "That's funny, I had the same dream," She murmured quietly.
Rarity looked a big curious, but then noticed Mr. Cake walking up to them. "Just giving you girls your ten-minute warning," He said, pointing to a clock. The two of them stared at each other, Sweetie Belle groaning while holding her stomach. Rarity focused for a second, then got a determined look on her face.
"Come on Sweetie, let's do this," She said, picking up two spoons. In response, Sweetie whined and clutched her belly harder. "It'll be easy, just a little more!" She said, shoveling a few spoonfuls into their mouths.
"Rarity, I don't wanna anymore..." Sweetie Belle muttered, "My tummy..."
"Come on, Sweetie!" Rarity said enthusiastically, "Just a few more spoonfuls, then we get our picture on the Wall of Fame. Doesn't that sound nice?" Sweetie Belle moaned for a few seconds, then turned back to Rarity, giving her a little smile and nod. "That's the spirit," Rarity shouted, spitting a few drops of ice cream at the crowd. Soon, ten minutes had turned to five, then to three, until finally they were at the last minute.
"Rar-i-ty! Sweet-ie Belle!" The crowd chanted as the two of them tried their hardest to devour the remaining ice cream. Time ticked down slowly, and eventually they began to count down the leftover seconds. "Ten! Nine! Eight!"
Weakly, Rarity picked up the last of the ice cream in two spoonfuls, and started towards their mouths.
"Seven! Six! Five!"
Her stomach rumbling, Rarity reluctantly bit down on hers, while Sweetie Belle groaned on the other side. She looked towards Sweetie with an encouraging smile, trying not to vomit.
"Four! Three!"
Sweetie Belle peered out of her mostly shut eyes, and noticed Rarity's weak grin, and slowly opened her mouth.
"Two!"
She bit down hard, the sticky vanilla slime filling up her mouth as she suppressed a gag.
"One!"
Nodding, the two sisters swallowed their mouthfuls simultaneously. The crowd roared with cheers as a small flag was thrown into the bowl. Rarity and Sweetie Belle collapsed in their seats, lying their faces down on the table. "Congratulations, girls!" Mr. Cake yelled, "You have successfully completed the Ice Cream Island Challenge!"
In response, they each raised a hoof and waved it slightly, groaning out, "Yay..."
"As a reward for completing the challenge, your meal will be absolutely free! Now, come on, let's go get your picture taken for the Wall of Fame." Rarity and Sweetie Belle sat still in the booth, only moving slightly as they breathed in and out. "Come on!" He said, the crowd lifting them up and carrying them to a big tarp. "Smiles, everypony!" Mr. Cake called out. Rarity and Sweetie Belle glanced at each other, and made big goofy grins. "Say 'Fuzzy Pickles!'" He said as he got behind the camera. Rarity and Sweetie Belle turned back towards the camera, still holding their silly expressions.
"Fuzzy Pickles!" They yelled in unison as the camera flashed and took the snapshot.
