Who's the toughest?
"Everypony, and griffon, say cheese!"
"Cheese!" Screamed Rainbow and Gilda. Pinkie pie insisted on taking a photo of the girls to commemorate their rekindled friendship. The pair were posed in front Gilda's scone cart, fore legs around the other's neck.
Pinkie held the photo and smiled. "Aw! You two look so cute!"
"Thanks Pinkie.", Gilda said. The griffon turned to Rainbow and whispered, "Where'd she get the camera"
"It's best not to ask" Rainbow replied. She placed her leg back around Gilda's neck. "But who cares? If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have my lame friend back."
Gilda chuckled and bumped Rainbow with hip, "Who you calling lame, dweeb."
Rainbow bumped her back. "Who you calling dweeb, loser."
Gilda turned to Rainbow and gave her a playful sneer. "Oh yeah. Will this loser is about to kick your sorry flank!"
Gilda leapt at Rainbow Dash and threw her to the ground. The blue Pegasus bucked the griffon off her back and wrapped Gilda in a headlock, grinning like a schoolfilly.
Pinkie saw the girls rough-housing and flipped her pink mane. "NO! You can't start fighting again! You just became friends again!" Pinkie dove for the girls and pulled Rainbow off.
"Calm down, Pinkie. We're not fighting, we're just competing.", Rainbow said, shaking her head.
"Yeah, we did this all the time when we were little", Gilda added.
Pinkie scrunched her face and turned her head sideways. "Competing? What for?"
"Duh! To see who's the toughest!", Rainbow boasted.
"Which we both know is me", Gilda countered.
"No, me."
"Me!"
"ME!"
"ME!!"
"Enough!", Pinkie yelled. "You can't keep going like this! You two need to just have a competition already and settle this, so you can go back to hugging and complimenting each other."
Rainbow frowned, but she knew Pinkie was right. Talk was cheap, it was time for action.
"Alright then Gilda, what game do you want to lose at? Racing, tag, air jousting? Doesn't matter what it is, I'm gonna win."
Gilda kept a straight face, but was panicking on the inside. She knew Rainbow would win any contest of speed. If she was going to beat her friend, she had to go with something in her wheelhouse; a test on endurance. Griffon hides were tougher than ponies, especially the light Pegasi. She just had to find the right game...
"Well Gilda? Some time before next year?"
"Gimme a minute, I'm thinking!" Gilda responded. Her eyes were darting for something, anything she could base the game around. A flowing tumble weed, a pile of rocks, a stray cactus...
"Aha!", Gilda shouted, "I know the perfect game to play, and you're totally going down, Rainbow.
Rainbow humphed. "Well then say it already!" Pinkie turned to face Gilda, curious at what her friends were to play.
"You see that cactus over there?" Gilda pointed a talon to their right. Rainbow and Pinkie saw the stray plant, growing out of a crack in the road. The cactus was shaped like small ball; round, the needles sprayed out in a circular pattern.
"Yeah, I see it.", Rainbow answered.
Gilda slanted her eyes and made an evil grin. "Cool. The game is to see who can sit on the cactus the longest. First one to bolt loses"
Rainbow's and Pinkie's eyes grew to the size of saucers. "Are you nuts?! You want to sit on a cactus?! I don't want any needles going up my butt?!", Rainbow screamed.
Pinkie chimed in, "that does sound pretty painful. And not the good kind of painful, like one of Applejack's bear hugs."
Despite the protests, Gilda wasn't budging. She turned her back the fillies and walked away, swinging her flank with exaggerated swagger.
"Eh, whatever. I shouldn't be surprised. You always were a softie."
Rainbow's switch was now flipped. "Excuse me?!"
Gilda looked over her shoulder. "You heard me. You were always a little baby whenever you got hurt. You'd act all tough, but I could see you tear up with every scrape or bruise. You wouldn't last a second on the cactus."
"I don't act tough, I am tough!"
"Then prove it."
Rainbow gulped and turned her head to the cactus. Just imagining sitting in the cactus made her rear hurt. But, she couldn't back down. She never backed down from a challenge; she wasn't going to start now.
"Alright Gilda, you're on! First one to jump off the cactus loses! Pinkie, you can judge."
"...ok." Pinkie sighed. It was on thing judging the bee cover competition between Applejack and Dashie, they were wearing protective suits. Now her two friends were going to Intentionally hurt themselves for a dumb contest.
Gilda nodded her head. "Alright Dash. My the best griffon win.", she said, flying over to the cactus.
"You mean best pony.", Rainbow retorted, floating next to Gilda. Pinkie hopped along behind her.
The two contestants stared down at the cactus. The needless twinkled in the sunlight. They spiraled around the cactus in multiple rows, from the top to the base.
A shiver ran up the girls' spines. Gilda considered dropping the game. Back sucked in her apprehension. She wanted to impress The ponies with her toughest, show her friends how cool she can be.
"Ready Rainbow?", Gilda asked.
The Pegasus gulped once more. "If... If you are."
"Pinkie?"
Pinkie pie reached behind her back and pulled out a stool. She sat on the chair and crossed her legs.
"I'm ready to watch the tushy torture."
Gilda shook at the answer and faced Rainbow Dash. The girls gave each other nod and turned around. Their hind quarters hung over the cactus, each derrière covering half off the plant.
Pinkie produced a boxing match bell and grabbed the string. "When you hear the bell, drop your rumps. On your mark..."
Rainbow Dash closed her eyes.
"Get set..."
Gilda took one last deep breath.
"Go!", Pinkie yelled, ringing the bell.
Both girls lowered their behinds on the cactus, the pins immediately plunging into their rumps.
Gilda quickly realized she over estimated the toughness of her hide. Her bottom was ablaze with stings. Each needless pulled her flesh taunt and tight; not enough to break the skin, but certainly bruise it. She concentrated on not yelling, instead keeping her mouth open in a silent scream.
"AAAAAA!" Rainbow Dash, however, opted to scream out loud. The needles drove in her butt, poking and prodding her in multiple points. She stood up straight, which unfortunately shifted her weight further onto the cactus.
"AAAAAA! Horse apples, that hurts!" The Pegasus exclaimed. The surface of her flank burned with pain. Her eyes began to water and her voice went up several octaves.
Gilda shifted attention from her aching ass and turned to look at Rainbow. The Pegasus was worse off than her. Maybe if she coaxed her, she could get Rainbow to quit so she could get off this tortuous plant.
"Hey", Gilda said, wincing. "You're not looking so hot there, Rainbow? You wanna give in? I won't blame you"
Rainbow sniffed and wiped the tears for her eyes. "No...No way. This is nothing. I could take more."
Pinkie pie watched to the girls squirm on the cactus. She didn't agree with the competition, but she did want to be helpful. As such, she offered a helpful opinion to make the contest more exciting.
"Why Do you guys try wiggling yours butts on the cactus?"
The pupils in the girls' eyes shrunk into tiny dots. They looked at each other, silently begins the other to give up.
Rainbow Dash tried a play. "Well, I would, it there's no need for me to. Gilda's gonna reach her limit pretty soon, and I'll win regardless."
Gilda fought through the pain and retorted, "Yeah right! I nowhere near finished! I could totally wiggle my rump and be just fine! Just watch!"
Why do I do these things, Gilda thought. She had dug her grave and now had to lie down. She closed her watery eyes and swirled her rump in small circles. The movement exposed her pin points to the air, sending new waves of pain threw the griffon. Tears rained down Gilda's face and saw rubbed her bottom around her cactus space. She made a tiny 'ow' and 'ouch' with each rotation.
Rainbow Dash sighed. Now that Gilda rose to the challenge, she knew what she had to do. She uttered a quiet curse word and began grinding her rear on the cactus. The motion removed some needles while adding more at the same time. The alternating pain sent shockwaves through the Pegasus. Sweat poured down her body, the stinging taking a toll on her muscles. She grit her teeth hard, but didn't stop rubbing her behind on the needles.
"Hmm?", Pinkie thought out loud. "You're both still tied. We need to do something drastic, something sure to break one of you. But what?" Pinkie scratched her chin as she pondered. What else could they do? The only way to add anything to the competition would be for someone else to add something?
A lightbulb flickered over Pinkie's head and she suddenly bounced up and down. "I've got it! The perfect way to end this game right here?"
Pinkie hopped over to Rainbow Dash's side. The Pegasus's eyes were closed, too focused on enduring swaying her hips in the cactus to notice her friend.
"Hey Dashie~", Pinkie sing songed, Turing around and sticking her rump in the air.
"Huh?" Rainbow asked, opening one eye.
"Catch me!", Pinkie yelled as she back flipped into the air. She spun around and landed on Rainbow's back.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!", Rainbow shrieked. Pinkie fall pushed Rainbow's rump at the way into the cactus, so far her bottom was touching the green surface. The new surge of pain pushed Rainbow to her limit. She jumped of the plant and landed on the ground, her thorn covered rear in the air.
"Pinkie", Rainbow asked through the tears, "why the hay did you do that?!"
"To take this challenge to the final level! If you can take me landing on you and still stay on the cactus, you'd be the undisputed toughest winner. Speaking of which..." Pinkie gazed at Gilda, smiling wide at her.
Gilda watched the whole ordeal and wasn't sure how to process what just happened, but Pinkie's smile made the message sink in.
"Wait, Pinkie! Don't you dare..."
The griffon was too late. Pinkie pie sprung back on her hind legs and leapt into the air, landing square on Gilda's back.
Gilda roared as the pressure pushed her posterior down into the cactus. Like her flying friend, she hopped off the plant and landed face first in the dirt.
Pinkie trotted to the front of both girls and held out her arms. "Congratulations, it's a tie! You're both the toughest pony and griffon in all of Equestria! You both rock!"
Pinkie's cheers were falling on deaf ears. Rainbow Dash and Gilda were looking into each other's eyes, the two forming an unspoken agreement. They both had the same idea of what to do next.
The two friends stood back on their legs and slowly walked to Pinkie. The pink mare was still cheering when the pair stood on either side of her.
Pinkie pie caught the look each friend had on her face and chuckled nervously. "Something wrong girls?", Pinkie asked. The girls responded by each grabbing onto Pinkie's shoulder...
"Ouch!"
"Awesome Dash! My turn!" Gilda said. She was sitting on top of Pinkie Pie, she rear end pinning Pinkie's head to the ground. Dash stood behind Pinkie, using her wing to hind Pinkie's tail in the air. Dash reached behind her and plucked a needle from the cactus and kindly handed the needle to Gilda.
"Girls", Pinkie pleaded, "I'm really sorry for what I did? Don't you forgive me now?"
Gilda's response was to plunge a needle into Pinkie's bottom. Her derrière was covered in needles by this point, but Gilda found spot.
"Owwww!"
"Nice Gilda.", Dash congratulated.
"Come on girls, enough already! Can you please take the thorns out?"
Gilda and Dash flashed sinister grins. Dash reached over and grasped a needled lodged in Pinkie's tush.
"Whatever you say, Pinkster." Rainbow Dash yanked the needle out.
"OWWWWW!"
"My turn", Gilda said, reaching out a claw.