Dash Challenges Sparkle! A Race for the Ages!

Twilight enjoyed waking after sunrise. She appreciated her teacher's work, to be sure, but she enjoyed being woken by the gentle sun. The angle would gently warm her bed, slowly and peacefully waking her. Her bed was positioned in such a way that, when the sun would reach her face, it would be a soft welcome to the day, rather than an abrupt jolt. Mornings like that meant you would have a good day. A day that was peaceful. A day you could be happy. A day where nothing could go wrong.

This was not going to be one of those days.

This morning was filled with the sound of something loud and metallic. It made Twilight jump approximately 7.6 feet in the air if she cared to make a guess. She did not, however, as she was looking for whatever was making that sound. Her eyes finally locked one a large orange-ish blob and something shiny.

Rubbing her eyes, she soon saw it was Applejack, ringing a large triangle. "Well good morning! Hope you got plenty of sleep last night. We got a full day ahead of us."

It took approximately 1.36 seconds (again, she did not care to guess) for Twilight to formulate the most eloquent response she could think of. "Buh?"

"C'mon, sugarcube. We've got to get you up and fed, then we're going to go to the training course. Doc's gonna have a look at ya and make sure you're fit for racin'!"

Ambassadors from all walks of life would have agreed her next statement was the only one appropriate given her situation. "Huh?"

"You didn't forget about your race with Rainbow Dash, did ya? Now come on! Get yourself freshened up and down for breakfast in half an hour. We got a schedule to keep to."

The word 'schedule' had a deep influence on Twilight. Her brain, bleary as it was, latched on to the word and processed information. 30 minutes to get freshened up and downstairs. Gotta keep to the schedule. Time to get moving. It was halfway through her shower when her brain wondered why she was doing this.

"Oh thank you so much! I really appreciate your help in this, Fluttershy. Though, I have to wonder if she'll stick to the regimen."

Fluttershy sat across from her friend at a table laid out with a plate full of select fruits and a bowl of oatmeal. "Oh, I'm glad to help, Rarity. I have to admit though, when you asked me to help with Twilight's diet, I thought you meant you were worried about her eating too many hayburgers. But this should help her train. It's based on the diet program I helped Rainbow Dash develop for her training."

Rarity looked at it. "Really? She eats this for breakfast?"

"Oh, well, no. See, the oatmeal uses extra cream and butter. She's an Earth Pony too. Plus, the fruits are salted a bit. Rainbow Dash wouldn't eat as much either. This is designed around all three races."

Applejack, having walked in towards the middle, asked, "So a bigger breakfast because she's an alicorn? With more variety? You sure?"

Fluttershy nodded. "When Discord got sick, I realized I didn't know much about taking care of a sick draconequus. And then I thought about Twilight and Cadance. They were ponies, but if they got sick, what would need to be done? I got some pointers from Cadance and I asked Princess Celestia as well. The Princess sent me a book with advice. She said an alicorn hasn't gotten sick in over 700 years, but it does pay to be prepared. Alicorns need a wider variety of food because they are all three races. They need fatter foods to support their Earth pony stamina, sugars for energy for their flying, and lots of veggies for their magical ability. Fruits are good in the morning because they're sugary too."

Rarity and Applejack listened to all this. Applejack said, "Hoowee! That's quite a tall order! You really do look out for everypony."

Rarity asked, "Wait, why did you salt the fruits? That seems a curious thing to do."

"Oh, that's for the training. A little bit of salt will help her resist dehydrating. Just makes sure she gets lots of water during her practice."

"I'm sure I'm going to need more than water after today." Everyone looked at the princess who had just come down. "What's with the breakfast?"

Applejack smiled and gestured towards the table. "Apparently, Fluttershy got some advice on building meals for alicorns, plus she came up with Dash's training diet! Put the two together, and you got yourself a breakfast that'll help you break walls!"

Twilight look at the food. She looked at her friends. She looked at the kitchen. "You know what, coffee first, then breakfast. It's way too early for this."

Fluttershy fluttered in front of her. "Um, Twilight? That wouldn't be a good idea. The caffeine could make you sick during training."

It seemed that was the straw that broke the camel's back. "WHAT?! NO COFFEE?! HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO FUNCTION IN THE MORNING?! I DIDN'T EVEN WANT TO RACE, BUT RARITY SAID 'OH DAAAAAAHLING YOU HAVE TO!' YOU KNOW WHAT?! I DON'T! FORGET THIS! I'M GOING BACK TO BED, SLEE--"

Rants of that nature are seldom stopped easily. Usually, the best way to stop them is to knock the ranter unconscious. Applejack could have hogtied her and wrapped rope around her mouth. Rarity could have cast a simple Hush Now spell to save their ears. Fluttershy could have used the Stare. In fact, it was Fluttershy who stopped her.

With naught but a simple hug and a "Please?"

For centuries, tacticians could demonstrate this as a perfect example of a sneak attack. There you are, right in front of your enemy (in this case, a ranting alicorn), and completely subdue them using such an unorthodox method. It was quick, effective, and completely out of left field.

Twilight had just one condition before surrendering. "Why?" Fluttershy looked at her. "Why is it so important to race Rainbow Dash? I mean, I get she rarely challenges others, but what makes it so important?"

Fluttershy looked at her almost in tears. "You don't know her like I do. The first time she ever challenged another pony to a race, she wanted to make an example of them. They were mean just because they thought they could get away with it. She wanted everyone to know what they did, and she wanted to heap the humiliation of getting beat on top of it. She doesn't challenge ponies for herself, she does it for others."

"Now hold on a second, I know that isn't true," hollered Applejack. "She kept boasting and bragging how she was going to beat me in that race. Said I didn't have the gumption to face her. You can't tell me she did that for me."

Fluttershy looked at her and shook her head. "You kept to yourself a lot, but Rainbow Dash saw how hard you worked and what you did for the town. In fact, not a lot of ponies knew who you were. But once she starting annoying you about the race, a lot of ponies took notice. She said you deserved some recognition for everything you did."

Twilight looked at her and asked, "Then why do I need to race her? Ponies already know me and they know I'm not a bully or anything. So why me?"

"Ponies know you as the Princess of Friendship, not as Twilight Sparkle. Ponyville knows you pretty well, but she probably wants all of Equestria to know that Twilight Sparkle is someone to know. And out of it, she expects a race that will be talked about for... well, a long time!"

All three of them looked at her shocked by what they heard. Had it come from Rainbow Dash, they wouldn't believe it. Fluttershy, however, spoke from experience and the heart. Twilight knew that, as loyal as she was, Rainbow Dash was not a selfish pony at heart. Sure, she got a good race out of it, and the first time earned her a cutie mark. Now, she's doing this for a friend, to share with the world a new level of, as Dash would put it, 'awesomeness'.

Twilight sighed, not in defeat, but in contentment, knowing this would be worth it. "Fine. No coffee."

Sugarcube Corner was about to hit its breakfast rush when Rainbow Dash walked in. "Morning Pinkie!"

From the kitchen, the ever-bubbly Pinkie shouted, "Rainbow! Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh you're not gonna believe it! You'll never guessed what happened!"

"Pinkie, please, let the twins sleep a little more. Rainbow, you can come back here," came a friendly, soft voice.

"Thanks, Mrs. Cake." Rainbow stepped in slowly, making sure not to bump any of the stacks of muffins, cupcakes, donuts...

"Rainbow! Guess whaaAAaat?" Pinkie asked in a sing-song voice.

...cruellers, bear claws, eclairs...

"Uh, no idea. Hey listen, work should be quick today. We got a lot done yesterday and we got a few drizzles for next week, so I was thinking we could hang out around lunch."

...bagels, buns, croissants...

"That should be OK. But I've got something better for you!"

...rolls, cakes, danishes...

"Well, what is it?"

...pies, loaves, cookies...

"Twilight's finally agreed to race you!"

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie didn't notice, but everything around them seemed to stop.

"Uh, I challenged her yesterday, remember?"

"Yeah, but she wasn't really wanting to I mean please Queen of the Book Fort against the Sonic Rainboom but she realized that you weren't challenging her just so you could beat her you challenged her because you thought she deserved a shot against the best racer there is and you get a good race at the same time so now she sta..." Pinkie was turning blue.

Mrs. Cake shouted, "Pinkie! BREATHE!"

Pinkie suddenly took a deep breath. "Sorry! This is just so exciting because they're gonna have so much fun and I'm going to get to throw a big party when the race is done!"

Rainbow Dash just smiled. "Oh yeah, this is gonna be fun. I gotta go, Pinkie. See you for lunch."

Mrs. Cake couldn't believe what she heard. On one hoof, Twilight was no athlete. On the other hoof, she was a freaking princess! Just then the milkmare made her delivery.

Oh, Cup Cake had some good gossip for her today!