Friendship is Shining: Clash of The Iron Mares

by Hopeful_Ink_Hoof

Rating: teen
Tags: Applejack, Trixie, Rainbow Dash, Shining Armor, Twilight Sparkle, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe
Length: 22653

Shining Armor is asked to judge who the better athlete is: Rainbow Dash or Applejack.

In the aftermath of Discord's attack on Ponyville, things slowly return to normal. However, there are some things that never seem to change: such as the competitive nature between Applejack and Rainbow Dash. The two friends and rivals come to Shining Armor with a request to help decide which of them is the better athlete. Will the two come to a peaceful -- if disappointing -- answer, or will the rest of Ponyville get caught up in the event?

Meanwhile, new faces are showing up in town, and Twilight Sparkle is put in a situation that could be uncomfortable for her when she finds herself trying to help a rather boastful filly.

Published 2016-01-03 00:00:02 UTC
Last updated 2016-03-04 19:18:31 UTC

Lonely Nightmares

Shining Armor stood alone in the middle of the street. All around him was Ponyville, with no signs of any other pony. Above, the sky was gray. Not cloudy or dark, but actually gray. As if all the blue had been taken from it. The road under his hooves was rough and uneven. Cobblestones were cracked, and some were even missing. The rest of the ground was mostly dirt. Occasionally there was a clump of dead grass or weeds sticking out. The buildings were boarded up, the windows and doors all covered. Paint chipped and peeled from the walls.

"Hello!" Shining called out. His voice echoed and echoed, but got no reply. "Rainbow Dash? Rarity?" His ears twitched as he looked around. "Twiley?"

There was no answer.

"They left you," a voice whispered from somewhere. Shining Armor turned in the direction of it, but only saw another building.

Although... were the windows blue? Green? Before he could be sure, they were black and empty once again. Well, the parts of it he could see through the boards that is.

Turning away, Shining Armor found himself now standing in front of Sugarcube Corner. Much like the other buildings, the windows were boarded up and the paint was peeling. However, there were still holes in it from the giant ants, and the front door was missing.

"Pinkie!" Shining Armor called out as he ran for the door. If any pony knew what was going on, it would be Pinkie Pie. She was friends with everypony in Ponyville and would know what was going on with them more than anypony else.

Stepping inside, Shining Armor saw a Pinkie Pie sitting by the far wall.

"PINKIE!" he shouted as he ran toward her. As he got closer, he noticed that she was all wrong to be Pinkie Pie. Her mane was not its usual puffy self, and Shining Armor realized that her coat was not actually pink, but gray. The realization made him slow down, but he still moved toward her.

"Pinkie?" he said again as he reached her. Reaching out with a hoof, he touched her on the shoulder.

As soon as he did, "Pinkie" crumbled. There was an ear-piercing wail as the pony turned to a shapeless pile of dust.

"They left you," the mysterious voice said again. "They will always leave you."

"Who's there?" Shining Armor shouted, turning around. "Show yourself!"

There was only silence as everything became still. There was nothing else here.

But maybe there was something upstairs.

Shining Armor turned toward the stairs and went to climb up them.

And up.

And up.

And up.

Walking across the... front lawn for lack for a better term... he made his way to the front of the cloud house.

"Dash?" he called out as he reached the front door. "You home Dash?"

Rainbow Dash was supposed to be The Element of Loyalty. She always said that she would never leave a pony hanging. So there was no way that she would leave a friend behind.

Shining Armor knocked.

The door creaked open on its hinges.

Shining Armor stepped inside.

The door slammed shut behind him and knocked the stallion forward, face first into the cloud made floor.

The entire room turned dark as the clouds went from white to nearly black. Lightning flashed and danced along the walls as thunderous booms filled and echoed through the hallways. A freezing wind came blasting through, hitting Shining Armor and shoving him backwards. Despite his best efforts, he could not get a hold of anything to keep from being pushed.

"They aren't here for you," the voice called out.

Shining Armor hit the door and broke through it, the clouds puffing around him as he went. There was a second where he seemed to be floating in the air before dropping.

With a grunt of pain, Shining Armor landed on top of Carousal Boutique. Slowly, he wiggled his way down along the slope toward the edge. After getting a firm grip on the awning, he swung over the side and lowered himself. Now on the path of the second (or was it the third) floor, Shining Armor made his way toward the window. The glass had been shattered, and shards of it still stuck up, looking like the razor sharp teeth of a predator. Still, it was either go in through there, or try to climb down to the ground.

Taking a deep breath and bracing himself, Shining Armor stepped into the boutique.

"Rarity?" he called out as he went inside. "Sweetie Belle?"

There was no answer.

Calling out again, Shining Armor made his way to the stairs, heading down to the main room. The air smelled stale and musty, the wallpaper was torn and hanging loosely, and the stairs groaned with each step he took.

At the landing, the floor and steps tilted, turning the stairs into a slide. The shift caused Shining Armor to slip, his chin hitting the wood as he started to skid down. Despite his best efforts, he could not get a good grip to stop himself. His hooves could not get purchase on the polished wood, and he could not get a hold of the banister.

Fortunately, there was a rug at the bottom, so his landing was not too hard. Although it was unpleasant. The rug was soaking wet and falling apart. It also smelled of stagnant water and mold, which made Shining Armor cough. Wiping at his face, he got up and walked toward the main show room.

Standing there was a familiar white form with purple.

"Rar-" Shining started, but stopped, remembering what happened with "Pinkie Pie."

However, it was too late. The thing that he thought was Rarity turned around, revealing it had no eyes, and walked toward him. It was larger than Rarity, larger than him even. Probably around the size of Big Macintosh. As it got closer, Shining Armor realized that it was not even an actual pony. It was more like an over-sized sewing dummy. The white was actually the fabric covering it, with parts of it discolored and patched together. the mane and tail were swaths of cloth, same color as Rarity's except for the moth holes and dark stains.

The thing's mouth opened, revealing a massive collection of sharp objects creating an array of uneven teeth.

"None of your friends are around," the voice whispered. "When you need them the most, they will always abandon you."

The figure lunged at Shining Armor, its "teeth" the last thing he saw.

Shining Armor eyes shot opened as he woke up. Unfortunately, nothing else seemed to respond. He could not turn, could not lift his head. At the moment, it did not feel like he could even breathe.

Finally, Shining Armor was able to move. Gasping, he sat up, trying to catch his breath. His body felt soaked with sweat, and his heart pounded in his chest.

He was in his room, in his bed, in his home, The Golden Oaks Library in Ponyville. Everything had been just as it was before he had gone to sleep.

"Everything's fine," Shining Armor whispered to himself. "It was just a bad dream. Everything's fine."

After climbing out of bed, Shining Armor grabbed the sheets and blankets, pulling them off the mattress and balling them up. He would have to wash them later. Making his way downstairs, he tossed them into the basement to take care of later before continuing on to the kitchen. Before anything else, he would need coffee. Since his battle with Discord, he had been drinking a lot more of the stuff than he used to. Which made sense since he had not been sleeping as well since. Although this had been the worst night so more.

It also looked like he was going to need to get more coffee beans if he was going to keep this off.

"Shiny?" a familiar tired voice called out from behind him. "What are you doing up so early?"

"I should be asking you that," Shining Armor answered, turning around to face his sister. "You should be in bed Twiley. You got school in the morning."

The filly rubbed at her face as she tried to stifle a yawn.

"I thought I heard you," Twilight said, "so I came to see what was going on."

With a smile, Shining Armor walked over to his little sister and pulled her into a hug.

"Nothing for you to worry about," he told her. "Just a bad dream is all. Go back to bed."

Twilight Sparkle tilted her head and stared up at her brother. Her eyes narrowed as she studied him. It had been a look Shining Armor had seen on his sister's face before, normally when she read or was told something that did not seem to quite add up the way it should to her.

"Really?" she asked.

"Really," Shining said. "Now back to bed."

Twilight stood there a moment longer, still staring at her big brother. Only when another yawned forced its way from her mouth did she break eye contact.

"Fine," Twilight said. Turning, she left the kitchen.

Shining Armor watched her go, then turned his attention back to his coffee.

It was going to be another long day.

Author's Note

Golem by MadHotaru (deviantart)

A good idea of what he saw near the end of the dream. I would have preferred one without Rarity in it, and think there was one that showed such a creature fully, but couldn't find it. Unfortunately, googling "My Little Pony, Sewing dummy, monster" didn't give me any usable results.

Twiley's Morning Worries

In the cool autumn morning of Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle walked to school. Her head was low and ears pulled back as she went. A few steps behind her were two others, listening to the filly's rant.

"And he says that he's okay," she grumbled, "but I know that he's lying. He hasn't been sleeping well, and has been drinking a lot of coffee. He tries to act normal, but I know there's something wrong." She let out a huff, tail flicking with frustration.

"Maybe he doesn't want to worry you," Pumpkin Cake suggested. "There were times where Mom or Dad act kind of weird, and Pinkie says it's because they're worried about something, but don't want us to worry too. Like one time, they created a chocolate volcano cake, but something went wrong with the chocolate lava."

"Besides," Pound Cake added, tossing a wing over Twilight, "you've got nothing to worry about. I mean you're brother saved all of Equestria twice, and Ponyville like four or five times. He has to be the toughest unicorn alive."

"I suppose," Twilight sighed. "But I can't help it. He's my brother. He's been there for me my whole life. I don't like the idea of something being wrong. It makes me feel like I need to do something."

Pound gave Twilight a gentle pat on the back.

"What about Spike?" Pumpkin asked.

"He's worried too," Twilight answered. "Whatever is going on, Shiny won't talk to him about it either."

Pumpkin bit her lip and seemed to slow down a little.

"So," Pound piped up, "are you excited about The Running of The Leaves?"

The question caused Twilight to slow down, turning to look at Pound.

"The what?"

"The Running of The Leaves," Pound repeated. "Didn't you have anything like that in Canterlot?"

"I don't think so. What is it?"

"It's something they have here every fall," Pumpkin answered. "When all the leaves have turned brown and are ready to drop off the trees, we have a race where ponies run through The White Tail Woods. This is supposed to help get the leaves off and we get to have fun. There's also some treats and prizes."

"It all is supposed to celebrate how Ponyville was created by earth ponies," Pound added, "kind of like Winter Wrap-up."

"We don't have anything like that," Twililght answered. "There aren't a lot of trees around Canterlot. Most of them are in the park, or private gardens. I don't know what they do to get the leaves off."

The rest of the walk to school was in silence. Twilight Sparkle was lost in her thoughts, considering the question that had never really occurred to her before. It also made her wonder what else she had missed out on. Back in Canterlot, she spent most of her time trying to learn. She never really paid much attention to what was going on around her. Well, not anything that she did not find educational and entertaining. She had not really had much in the way of friends either. There were some neighbor kids and classmates she liked -- like Moondancer -- but she never really considered them friends or spent much time with them.

It now left her wondering how much she had missed out on.

The three of them arrived at Ponyville Elementary shortly before the school bell rang. Twilight headed straight for the schoolhouse and her classroom.

As usual, the teacher was already there at her desk. She looked up at Twilight as she entered the room, giving a gentle smile.

"Twilight," Miss Feather Bloom said, "I would like you to see me after class today."

"What?!" Twilight squeaked out, eyes going wide. The teacher wanted to see her after school? Did she do something wrong? Miss an assignment? Was she going to be sent back a grade? For--

"You're not in any trouble," Feather Bloom cut in, holding up a hoof. "I just want to discuss something with you that you might be interested in."

Twilight Sparkle continued to stand there, staring wide eyed at the teacher while hyperventilating. Finally, she turned and continued toward her desk, slowly getting her breathing under control. By the time the rest of the class came in, the young filly had her breathing and heart rate back to normal.

Just before class was about to start, a pony that Twilight did not recognize came into the room and stood by the teacher's desk. The new pony was an earth pony, probably a colt but could be a tomboy like Rainbow Dash or Scootaloo. The new pony had a mostly white colt, with patches of brown on it, as well as a brown mane an tail.

"Alright class," Miss Feather Bloom called out, getting everyone's attention. "We now have a new student joining us today." She then turned to the pony beside the desk. "Please, introduce yourself to the rest of the class."

"'ello, all," the colt said with a smile, waving a hoof. "My name is Pipsqueak. My family and I just moved here from Trottingham. I like adventure stories and really hope to become an adventurer some day myself."

"Thank you," Miss Feather Bloom said. "Now please take a seat."

As Pipsqueak walked toward the desks, Twilight Sparkle noticed something strange. Several of the other fillies were staring at Pipsqueak, and blushing slightly. A few of them watched him walk by, turning away when he looked in their direction.

Included among them were Trixie and and Pumpkin Cake. The two made eye contact as the colt passed.

The pair of unicorns started glaring at each other. The air seemed to crackle with electricity between them.

Oh, saddle sores, Twilight thought, rolling her eyes.

This could be a problem.

Judge Shining Armor

"Couch!" Spike ordered, pointing a claw toward the doorway.

"What?" Shining Armor asked, turning to the dragon.

"I said 'couch.' You know, that big soft thing that ponies normally sit on, but is also big enough to lay down on. Which is what you are going to do: lay down and take a nap."

"Spike," Shining Armor said, "I don't need a nap. I'm--"

"Dead on your hooves," Spike cut in. Crossing his arms over his chest, he stood up at his full height (which, admittedly, was not very impressive). "You're exhausted. You haven't been sleeping well. You don't want to talk about it, and I can't really force you."

"There's nothing to talk about," Shining snapped. "I've just had some bad dreams is all. It's nothing."

"Fine," Spike said, "but it's still left you missing out on sleep and you're starting to mess up. Now as your assistant, your friend, and your brother, I am telling you to go take a nap before something happens." Walking over to the stallion, the young dragon started to push him toward the main room. "I'll wake you when lunch is ready."

"Okay, okay," Shining said, stepping away from Spike. "I'm going. I'm going. No need to shove. Are you sure you can handle this on your own?"

"Yes," Spike said. "Now go get some rest."

With a sigh, Shining Armor headed to the main room and the couch. Spike could be really tough and stubborn when he wanted to be. Now that he thought about it, it was probably a family trait. The same thing could be said for him, or his sister, and especially their mother. Spike was kind of overreacting though. It was just a couple of nights with bad dreams. It was not a big deal.

Reaching the couch, Shining flopped down on it and stretched out. He felt silly. He was not some cranky colt, and he was not even tired. There was no need for him to nap. It had just been a few bad nights. He would catch up on it in another night or two. There was no reason to treat him like a sleepy foal.

"Shining!" A voice called out. "Ya in there, sugar cube?"

Blinking and yawning, Shining Armor rolled off the couch. He must have dozed off at some point. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes he made his way toward the door.

A quick series of hard knocks struck the door.

"Come on," a second voice called out. "Open up already!"

"I'm coming!" Shining Armor shouted as he walked toward the door. "Just give me a --" he let out another yawn "-- second." Horn lighting up, he took a hold of the knob and pulled the door open.

Standing there was Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Despite being close enough to each other to fit through the doorway, there seemed to be some sort of space between the two of them. The pair were facing away from each other, but both were glaring at the other from the corner of their eye.

"...Is... something the matter?" Shining Armor asked, glancing between the two mares.

"Yeah, something's the matter," Rainbow snapped. "Applejack thinks she's a better athlete than me because she won one stupid game."

"As you can clearly hear for yourself," Applejack said, "somepony is bein' a mighty sore loser."

"I don't like losing," Rainbow admitted. She then turned her attention back to Shining Armor. "So we decided to settle it once and for all."

"An iron pony competition," Applejack continued. "A series of challenges that the two of us will compete in against each other. One on one. Whoever wins the most is the better athlete."

"And that's where you come in," Rainbow Dash added. "We want you to help create the games and be the judge."

"Me?" Shining asked, eyes wide.

"We both trust ya to make the challenges fair," Applejack said, "and not to be tempted to show any favoritism for either of us."

"So when I win," Rainbow declared, "nopony can complain about it."

"You mean when I win," Applejack growled, turning to narrow her eyes at her friend turned rival.

The two stared at each other for a moment, ears back and bodies tense. Shining Armor almost felt like it was going to turn into violence at any second.

"Okay," Shining Armor said, getting the attention of the two and ending the glaring match. "I'll do it. But I'll need a couple days to create and set up the challenges."

"That's great," Pinkie declared, hopping in place. "We can invite ponies to watch then. There can be treats, and drinks, and even prizes for whoever guessed the winner right. Ooh. Ooh. Can I be an announcer?"

"Pinkie!" Shining Armor said as he overcame the surprise first. "Where did you come from?"

"The kitchen," Pinkie Pie answered. "So, can I?"

"Hey, wait a minute!" Spike called out as he came running into the room. "If there's going to be a sporting event, I want to be the announcer."

"Okay," Pinkie said. "I'll do color commentary." She grinned. "And with Dashie in it, there should be plenty of colors to comment on."

There was a collective groan from the ponies and dragon assembled.

"Anyway," Pinkie continued, "just make sure you don't have it the same day as The Running of The Leaves. It would be sad if nopony showed up to watch because they were all running through Whitetail Woods."

Shining's ears perked up to him as he suddenly got an idea.

"What if we made that the last event?" A smile spread across his face as he turned back to Rainbow Dash and Applejack. "We can have the competition the day before, keeping score of how each of you do on what. The then next day, the two of you can join the run, and your position at the end of the race will be taken into account."

Horn lighting up, he grabbed a sheet of paper and a pen. He started to write as he walked.

"Let's see. It has to be events that both will be able to compete in. Most of them should be balanced, although some should be more toward the strength of one or the other. That way..."

He trailed off into a humming sound as he wrote, heading toward the kitchen and leaving the others alone.

"Well I guess we're done here," Applejack said. "I should head back to the farm. Got work I need to do. 'specially if I'm going to be ready to kick your sorry flank this weekend."

"Well make sure you have plenty of tissues," Rainbow Dash said as she followed after her friend. "Because I'm gonna leave you cryin'."

"And I should probably start telling everypony all about it," Pinkie announded, before turning to Spike. "By the way, I think something might be burning in the kitchen."

With a yelp, Spike ran back to the kitchen, hoping that lunch was not too badly damaged.

Peer Pressure

"Alright class," Miss Feather Bloom said. "That ends class for today. I'll see you all tomorrow."

With that, the students started to get up from their desks and grab their bags. Some moved quickly, practically up and out the door before the teacher had even finished dismissing them. Others at a slower pace, taking their times so as not to get caught up in the rush, and walking with their friends as they went.

Twilight, however, was not really moving. She was still sitting at her desk, staring at the teacher.

"Twiley?" Pound asked. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Twilight replied, looking up. "The teacher just wants to see me after class is all."

"What did you do?" Pumpkin asked.

"Are you kidding?" Pound asked Pumpkin. "This is Twiley we're talking about. She doesn't get in trouble at school. If anything, she could probably correct the teacher's work."

Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes. Where did this idea of her being some sort of school genius come from? Yes, she was smart. She was well aware of that fact. The schoolwork came pretty easily to her most of the time. If not, she just had to go back and read over what they were being taught again. But she was still learning. She did not know more than the teacher. If she did, she probably would have been able to skip ahead.

Although it would be kind of neat if she were able to be working on a doctoral thesis at her age. Doctor Twilight Sparkle.

"She said I wasn't in trouble," Twilight finally said. "Just wanted to talk to me about something."

"Okay," Pound said. "Well, we'll wait outside for you then."

"By the way," Pumpkin added, "if it turns out she lied, Pinkie Pie knows a really good lawyer."

The pair of siblings then left, watched by a rather confused Twilight Sparkle. One part of Twilight wondered what Pinkie Pie needed a good lawyer for. Did somepony have a restraining order on her, or maybe had her arrested from criminal trespassing? Maybe there was an incident with the party cannon and either bruising or eye trauma. There were quite a few possibilities if Twilight really thought about it.

Another part of Twilight wondered why her friends would think that she would need a lawyer. She was just going to talk to the teacher. Even if Miss Feather Bloom did lie about Twilight being in trouble, what was the worst that could happen?

Twilight would have to stay after school, working off her punishment. Her family would be so disappointed, that they would disown her, kicking her out in the street. With no home of her own, she would not be able to study and do her homework, causing her grades to suffer even further, and possibly forcing her to be held back a year. That would mean that all of her friends would move on, leaving her behind. Plus, it would end up limiting her college choices, taking the most prestigious and exclusive off the table. That was even assuming she would be able to go. After being disowned, she would have no financial support from her parents, and that same mark on her record would make her ineligible for most scholarship. Twilight would have to get a job to pay her way through college. That was assuming she had any money left after paying bills and buying food. She could already see herself stuck at some coffee shop, working long hours for little money as some pony got upset that the order was not exactly what they wanted with thirteen thousand four hundred and twenty-seven different descriptors used to expressing what it was supposed to be. There was no way she could remember all of those. How could any pony tell the difference anyways? And what if one of her former friends came in and did not even recognize her?

"Twi--"

"I DON'T WANT TO WORK AT STAR BUCK'S FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!" Twilight shouted.

There was a fluttering noise that drew Twilight Sparkle from her panicked imaginings. Blinking, she found the teaching now standing directly in front of her, wings spread and green eyes wide. The sight of Miss Feather Bloom surprised sent a feeling of embarrassment through Twilight.

"Sorry," she said with a slight smile. "I was just... uh... thinking about... something..."

"Yes," Miss Feather Bloom said slowly before taking a deep breath and tucking her wings back.

"Now Twilight, there was something I wanted to speak with you about."

Here it comes, Twilight thought, bracing herself. Good-bye academia.

"Some times," Miss Feather Bloom stated, "our school uses a peer to peer tutoring program. It is not for all, but there are times when student will be more comfortable opening up with one of their own, or a student who recently had to learn the same thing will find it easier to explain to another.

"You are a very intelligent filly, Twilight. You ask a lot of questions, your grades are very high, and you seem to have a very strong comprehension of the material. Were it not for the fact that the quality of your work here in class is comparable to what you turn in with your homework, I would almost think that an older pony -- such as your brother -- was helping you. To that end, would you be interested in becoming a peer tutor, Twilight?"

"Me?" Twilight blurted out. "A tutor?" Shifting in her seat, she thought about it.

It would not really be all the different. She already helped Pound and (occasionally) Pumpkin with their homework. Especially when it was something she seemed to have a pretty quick comprehension of. So having to explain it to others was something she had a little experience with. It would really just mean that she would have another pony in their study group and would probably have to explain things more often. Plus, doing so now would give her an advantage to become a tutor when she was older, which would probably look good on her transcripts and college applications.

She might even get her cutie mark from it.

Would a tutoring cutie mark be different from a teaching one? If so, what would it possibly look like?

Twilight then remembered that the teacher was right there, looking at her and waiting.

"Sure," she finally blurted out. "I would love to help out my fellow students if I can."

"Wonderful," Miss Feather Bloom said with a smile. "I will speak to the students you may be tutoring and have them meet you tomorrow after school. I'm sure they will appreciate your help."

A smile formed on Twilight's face as she grabbed her stuff and left her desk. She headed out, a feeling of excitement in her. She was going to be able to help some ponies. Not like her brother did or anything, but still. If things went well, they would excel in their classes because of her. Maybe even some day, they would be thanking her for her help as they received some sort of award from Princess Celestia.

Outside stood Pound and Pumpkin Cake. The twins turned to Twilight as she approached, moving to join her.

"So what happened?" Pound asked.

"Nothing bad, I guess," Pumpkin added.

"Not bad," Twilight nearly squealed out. "Good. Great even. Miss Feather Bloom asked me to be a peer tutor." She clapped her forehooves together excitedly. "Just think. I'll get to help another pony enjoy the fun of learning."

"Well we better get what we can from you before you go all professional," Pumpkin said.

"Just don't forget us little ponies," Pound added with a smile.

"Don't be silly," Twilight said with a roll of her eyes. "I'm not going to become famous for becoming a tutor. Besides, I could never forget my best friends..." Pausing, she turned to look at the pair of them. "...I wanna say: Squash and... Gram?"

Judging from the looks on their faces, neither Pumpkin nor Pound found the joke very funny.

Faces New And Familiar

For Shining Armor, the night had been a little restless, but for a different -- more familiar -- reason than the last few. This time it was because his mind was busy with planning. He stayed up later than intended, staring at the ceiling as he thought of possible challenges for Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

When he fell asleep, it was pretty peaceful. Also the dreams -- that he could remember -- were by no means as frightening. Although he found them very interesting. From what he could recall, they mostly were around running. More specifically, Applejack and Rainbow Dash running. If Shining Armor were in it at all, it was just behind the pair of mares. The entire time, he basically saw nothing but their backsides, toned muscles flexing and shifting with each movement as they went.

It also left him with a slightly uncomfortable situation when he woke up that morning. One that could have been very embarrassing if Spike or Twilight had come into his room to wake him up. Fortunately, neither one of them did.

The morning went by quickly. There was some sorting, reorganizing, a bit of inventory, and an attempt at some research. There were some similar competitive events in the past, stories where to characters would resort to challenges instead of actual fights. Unfortunately, most of the stories -- the actual historical stories at least -- did not give much in the way of specifics when it came to what the challenges were.

Still, he found some things that looked like they might be entertaining for what was now supposed to be an event with spectators, and hopefully provide a fair challenge to both Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

"Hey, Shiny Hiney," Pinkie Pie said from behind the stallion, causing him to yelp and jump.

"Pinkie!" Shining cried out. "Where did you come from?"

"I thought you knew that already," Pinkie Pie replied moving to stand in front of the stallion. "You see Shiny, when a mare and a stallion love each other very much--"

"NO!" Shining cut in, the start of the speech bringing back memories of his parents very awkwardly trying to explain it themselves. "I mean..." He sighed, shaking his head. "Never mind. What brings you here today?"

"Well..." Pinkie sat down. "There's a new pony in town named Sonata Dusk, and she's a singer. She just moved here so she doesn't have any friends besides me, and just left her sisters behind to come here. It's a little sad and kind of reminds me of how I left behind my own sisters back on the rock farm when I first moved to Ponyville. Two of them will actually be coming to visit me this weekend. They'll be able to see the Applejack and Rainbow Dash's competition, and will be participating in The Running of The Leaves.

"Anyway, Sonata could use a chance to perform, and an opportunity to make new friends now that she lives here in Ponyville. Sooooooo... I was thinkiiinnng... Mmmaybe she could sing before Applejack and Rainbow Dash started their competition."

Leaning in close, she made her big blue eyes as wide as possible.

"Pleeeeeeaaaaase?" she asked.

Shining Armor looked at Pinkie Pie and her puppy dog eyes. It was odd. He knew that she was a full grown mare, but looking at her with that face made him see her as a little filly. She was also really good at making that face. Too good. No grown-up should be that capable of making a puppy dog eyed pleading face.

"I suppose she can sing something while the ponies are gathering and waiting for the competition to start," he finally said. Before he had finished talking, he was wrapped up in a Pinkie Pie hug. He could hear his vertebrae popping as the moved under the pressure.

"Oh, thank you thank you thank you," Pinkie squealed out. "You have no idea how much this will mean to Sonata. I'll bet she'll be so happy, she'll want to be your friend too." She let out a gasp. "Maybe you'll really like each other and start dating, then get married and have foals of your own. She could be like a big sister to Twiley, and think of all the parties I could throw for you." Her brow furrowed. "Although I don't think I'd do the bachelor party. Last time I did that, I ended up eating the whole cake before I could jump out of it."

"Pinkie," Shining Armor wheezed out, "ribs."

"Sorry," Pinkie Pie said as she let go. Stepping back, she let out an embarrassed laugh and rubbed at her puffy pink mane. She suddenly let out a gasp.

"I almost forgot." Reaching into her mane, she pulled out a five and one half by eight and one half piece of paper and passed it to Shining Armor. "Here's a copy of the flyer for the competition."

On the flyer was a side view head shot of both Rainbow Dash and Applejack. The pair were glaring each other, teeth bared and ears pulled back. A jagged diagonal line separated the pair. Across the top was printed "Clash of the Iron Mares! Applejack! VS Rainbow Dash!" Along the bottom was the date and location of Sweet Apple Acres.

For some reason, Shining Armor turned the flyer over. There on the back was "distraction!" written by a pony.

Shining looked up from the paper to ask about it, only to find that he was alone.

Pinkie Pie was gone.

It was not really much of a surprise. Pinkie Pie did tend to do stuff like that pretty often. It was still always a bit strange and confusing however. Pinkie Pie was not exactly known for being subtle or quiet. So it was always hard for Shining Armor to figure out how such a mare like that could sneak off without making a sound.

With a sigh, Shining Armor set the flyer aside. Since his concentration had already been broken, he figured he may as well take a break. There were other things he had to do around the library anyways.

Wait. Did Pinkie say she was once in the cake of a bachelor party?

Well after lunch and an incident with the mail, Shining Armor continued on with his day and resumed his work. This time there was the sound of a bell ringing, indicating that somepony had entered the library. Considering how little the research was helping, the chance for a new distraction was welcoming. Setting aside the current book he was reading -- a story of an earth pony that was supposedly super strong and had to perform seven "impossible" trials -- Shining Armor headed to the main room.

"Welcome to Golden Oaks Library," Shining said as he entered. "Anything that I can help... you..."

Standing at the door was a white coated earth mare with a long, deep green mane and tail. She was tall and lean, with hints of toned muscle underneath her coat. Her green eyes narrowed as a small smirk tugged at her lips. She stepped forward, those muscles flexing as it drew attention to her shapely flank and the heart shaped emerald cutie mark on it.

"Perhaps you can," the mare purred out as she moved closer. "I'm staying in Ponyville for a few days, and could use something to read before... bed." Her shoulder pressed against the stallion's, stroking along his side with her body. Her flank did the same, sending a thrill through the Shining Armor. Her tail gave a flick, teasing the tip of his nose.

"Do you have any romance novels?" she asked. Her shoulder stroked across Shining's own flank before she pulled away.

"Ruh... Ro... Y... yes ma'am," Shining Armor managed to stutter out. "We have quite a few actually, miss..."

"Crystal Heart," the mare answered with a smile as she looked over her shoulder. "But please, call me Crissy." She gave him a wink.

The act caused Shining Armor to blush. Taking a step back, he turned to keep his gaze from focusing on the feminine backside. With a cough, he tried to collect himself.

"Yes," he managed to say. "Well, as I was saying, we have quite a few romance novels. I can show the section with them if you'll just follow me."

"With pleasure," Crystal Heart said as Shining Armor started walking through the library.

Shining now found himself very much aware of his own backside, and the possibility of it being thoroughly watched by a rather flirtatious and attractive mare.

"I don't suppose you happen to know the content of the novels, do you?" Crystal Heart asked.

"Sorry, no," Shining answered.

"A shame," Crystal sighed out. "My favorites are the one where a young stallion in the guard falls in love with the young princess. Although... if there was one about a handsome librarian who finds himself infatuated with a mysterious new mare in town, I wouldn't mind giving it a... peruse."

Something about the way she had said that last word sent a thrill through Shining Armor. Admittedly, he was not entirely certain how to react to the mare. He was somewhat attracted to her, and the flirting had gotten his attention. At the same time, he was also a little intimidated by how aggressive she was. Plus, there was a little bit of doubt. Maybe she was just this way with every pony she met.

Not to mention how he felt about some of the other mares in his life.

Pushing the thoughts of the new mare aside for now, Shining Armor led Crystal Heart to the shelf filled with romance novels.

Twilight Tutor

"Do we have enough of everything?" Twilight asked, pulling out her checklist. "Paper? Pens? Pencils? What about refreshments? Do we have plenty of snacks? What about drinks? Is there enough lighting? How's the ventilation in here?"

"Twilight!" Spike snapped, throwing up his arms. "Would you calm down already?"

"But this is important to me," Twilight whined, ears pulling back. "This is my first time tutoring and meeting these ponies. I have to make a good first impression."

"But they already know you," Spike retorted. "They're in your class, for crying out loud."

"Doesn't mean they know me. Not like I talk to everypony in my class. I spend most of my time with Pound and Pumpkin. This is less a shared social occasion and more a direct social interaction." She moved toward Spike, eyes wide. "I need everything to be perfect."

Closing his eyes, Spike took a deep breath and slowly let it out, traces of smoke escaping from his lips in the process. Taking in another breath, he opened his eyes and looked at the filly.

"Twiley," he said calmly. "Take a deep breath and relax." He watched as she did as he told her. "Good. Now listen. You can't control everything that happens."

A gasp escaped Twilight as her eyes went wide.

"You take that back!" She said, pointing a hoof at the dragon.

Spike rolled his eyes and placed a claw over the hoof, pushing it down.

"All you can do," Spike continued, "is your best. In this case, that means trying to be a good tutor and helping the ponies understand the material. You'll do fine."

There was a moment as the two of them stood there, looking at each other. Finally, Twilight let out a sigh and gave a nod.

"You're right," she admitted. She then looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "Now, about those refreshments?"

A sigh escaped Spike as he rolled his eyes and shook his head. How could a pony that was supposed to be so smart have such a hard time learning something?

"There are plenty," he finally said. "I made them just like you asked."

"Thank you." Twilight moved up, giving Spike a hug. "You're the best help a pony can ask for." Her ears perked up and as went wide as a thought occurred to her.

"Although..." she said as she broke the hug. "...Maybe I should taste a couple of them. Just to be sure?" She grinned, looking at Spike with wide purple eyes.

"That doesn't work on me," Spike said, looking away from Twilight. "And you know they're fine. Besides, the ponies you're tutoring will be here any minute. You can wait until then before you start snacking."

"Can't blame a filly for trying," Twilight said with a smile. "And I do mean when I say thanks. You're a lot of help."

"Hey, I'm practically your big brother too. Part of my job is to look out for you." This time he moved to Twilight, giving her a hug.

There was a knock at the door. Twilight let out a gasp at the sound, her entire body tensing. Her grip tightened on Spike enough that he felt it even through his scale and muscles.

"Oh, saddle sores!" Twilight cried out. "That's them! We're not ready yet. I'm not ready yet!" Breaking the hug, she grabbed Spike by the shoulders. "What do we do Spike?" The filly began shaking the dragon. "What do we do?!"

Spike took a hold of Twilight and pulled her grip off him. Holding onto her shoulders, he held her at arm's length.

"Look at me," he said. "You... are going to calm down, collect yourself, and get ready to be an amazing tutor." He then let her go, taking a step back. "Meanwhile, I'm going to answer the door and show them in."

"Right," Twilight said with a nod. "Okay. Right. I can do that."

As Spike left to get the door, Twilight tried to get in control of herself. She would be fine. She would do this. She could do this. She will be fine and a good tutor. Whoever Twilight was tutoring would be in good hooves. They would get along just great. Everything would be fine.

"Twiley?" Spike said, in a voice that sounded nervous. "Are you calm?"

The very fact that he felt the need to ask that made the answer change from yes to no. Something had Spike nervous, and that was making Twilight nervous again.

You can do this Twiley, she told herself. Pushing all of her fear and nervousness and deep down as she could, she turned toward Spike and did her best to smile.

"Okay," she said. "I'm calm."

"Good," Spike said. "Because your first pony is here for tutoring and..." He took a deep breath and straightened. "You just might want to--"

"For crying out loud!" a familiar voice called out. "Stop being so dramatic. It's not like I'm here to challenge Twilight to a duel or something."

Trixie?! Twilight thought, her entire body freezing. Her mind blanked out, some part of it trying to reject the possibility. She must have been mistaken. She must have misheard. That must have been a different filly's voice.

Stepping into the doorway was the pale blue unicorn filly with silvery mane. The same one that strongly disliked Twilight, blaming her brother for chasing off what Trixie saw as a talented unicorn magician. What happened while Discord was loose did not really change things between them much. For her part, Twilight had nothing against Trixie, save for the irritation of some of their past conversations. Still, the idea of being stuck helping her after school was not appealing.

"Trixie?" Twilight asked. "You're one of the ponies I'm tutoring?"

"Yes," Trixie said, letting out a snort. "My grades have dropped a little." She rolled her eyes. "Not like it was a big deal or anything. But Miss Feather Bloom is worried it might get worse or something if I don't get help with it now." She let out a sigh and sat down. "I don't see what the big deal is. I already know what I'm going to do with my life, and I don't need to know history or math to do that."

A part of Twiliight was shocked at the statement. How could a pony not be interested in learning? Yes, she had heard of such things, but to actually meet a pony like that? And math and history? Those were very important things to learn. On Twilight's list, math was in third place (after magic and science), and history was fifth (following just behind grammar).

Another part of her was already coming up with an idea.

"Don't need to know math, huh?" Twilight asked, eyes narrowing.

"That's right," Trixie said, sticking her nose in the air. "I don't need math. I'm going to be a great stage magician that everypony will love."

"Okay," Twilight said as she gave a small smirk. "So, let's say you're performing at a theater, for five hundred ponies at twenty bits a seat. The theater takes twenty-five percent of each seat sold, letting you have the rest." She took a step closer. "How much should they pay you according to their deal?"

Trixie stood there, considering the question. Her face scrunched up and brow furrowed as she tried to do the math in her head. As she worked, she began to chew her lip. Then rub her chin. One of her ears gave a flicker.

"How does five thousand bits sound?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," Trixie replied. "That sounds good."

"Which means you just got cheated out of two thousand five hundred bits."

"What?!" Trixie cried out, eyes wide. "Why would you do that to me?"

"I'm just making a point," Twilight stated. "If you knew the math yourself, you would have known that you should have gotten seven thousand five hundred bits."

"Okay," Trixie conceded, "math can be useful."

Twilight smiled at that statement.

"But what good would history do me?"

And that brought the smile to an end. More so because she did not have an immediate answer to it. She could probably come up with something if she had time to think about it.

"Twiley," Spike called out, getting her and Trixie's attention, "your other student is here."

Shortly, the familiar new form of a white and brown colt stepped into the room as well. His mouth hung open as he stared more at the building itself, eyes wide.

"Wow," he nearly whispered. "I've never seen anything like this before."

"Pipsqueak?" Twilight asked. "I'm tutoring you too?"

That got Pipsqueak's attention. Turning to look at the two fillies, he smiled and walked toward them.

"You must be Twilight then," he said.

"Yes. I'm Twilight Sparkle, but most just call me Twiley. And this," she turned to point at Trixie, but stopped.

Trixie seemed to be staring at Pipsqueak. Her eyes were wide and glassy, and her mouth and ears drooped. There was also a faint hint of pink to the filly's muzzle.

Twilight moved closer to Trixie.

"This," Twilight said, this time poking the other filly in the ribs, "is Trixie. She'll be getting tutored with you."

The poke caused Trixie to jump slightly. The blush on her face grew brighter as she glared at Twilight for a second. She then turned her attention back to the colt, giving a smile.

"Hello," she said with a slight bow of her head.

"Nice to meet you," Pipsqueak said as he moved closer. Taking a hold of Trixie's hoof, he brought it to his mouth and placed a kiss on it.

For a moment, Twilight was worried that Trixie was going to faint.

"...yes..." the other filly finally managed to sputter out.

"Well then," she turned to Twilight, "should we get started? I'm sure Pipsqueak is just as eager to learn as I am." She then gave a big friendly grin.

The Big Day

The day for The Iron Mare competition finally arrived. The morning was cool and fresh, with dew still clinging to the grass. Most of the clouds had been cleared from the sky, with a few small ones left over the bleachers to provide some of the audience members with shade, or a place for pegasi to sit for a better view.

Ponies were already gathering, getting ready to watch the event. Although not all were there just to watch. Big Macintosh and several others were setting up a refreshment stand to sell snacks and drinks (made fresh and right on the farm in Macintosh's case) to the collected ponies. There were also booths being set up to sell collectibles to the crowd, and even one that was selling raffle tickets for a major prize to be given away at the end of the day's event.

Sitting in the bleachers at the front were six young ponies, five of which were fillies. On one side sat Scootaloo and Pound Cake, with Scootaloo holding up a home made "Go Rainbow Dash!" sign that had a crudely drawn picture of the mare and her rainbow contrail across the bottom. One the other was Apple Bloom and Pumpkin Cake, with Apple Bloom holding a poster of three red circles (they were supposed to be apples). Between the two groups sat Twilight Sparkle and Sweetie Belle, both being more neutral on the subject.

Nearby stood Shining Armor, dressed in a cap and a black and white striped shirt. His horn glowed as he carried a clipboard with him, doing a last minute check on everything.

"Shiny!" Pinkie called out. "There you are. Wait riiiiight..." she pushed him an inch to the left "...here. I'll be back in a jif."

Before Shining Armor could even ask, Pinkie Pie was gone, only to show up again a second later. This time she had a -- rather surprised looking -- earth pony mare with her. The new mare had a very pale blue coat with a light blue mane and tail with darker streaks (it was a lot of blue), pulled into a ponytail. Judging by the size of her eyes, she seemed just as confused about being there suddenly as Shining Armor was.

"Shining," Pinkie said, "this is Sonata Dusk. Sonny, this is Shining Armor." Pinkie moved between the pair, pulling them closer together.

"Now, I need to get to the announcer desk, so I'll just leave you two to get to know each other better." She gave Shining Armor a wink, grinning widely. "See you two later."

She then bounced off, leaving the two ponies. The pair separated, getting some space between them as they each looked at the other.

"I...uh..." Shining Armor held up a clipboard. "I have some things I need to take care of before the game actually starts."

"That's fine," Sonata said. "I need to get out and start singing anyways. But thanks for letting me do this." She gave him a peck on the cheek before heading toward the main staging area.

Shining Armor stood there, a little caught off guard by the sudden kiss. Even if it was just on the cheek. The spot felt strangely warm now. Actually, both of his cheeks felt kind of warm.

Stop it! he told himself, shaking his head. You don't know her. Just get back to work. Pushing the thoughts aside, he started to walk.

Then after realizing he was heading the wrong direction, turned around and went the right way.

Elsewhere, Pinkie Pie made her way to the announcer's table. There, Spike sat behind one of the microphones already. As Pinkie arrived, the young dragon turned to her, raising an eyebrow.

"Hi, Spike," Pinkie called out. "You ready?"

"I was born ready," Spike declares, sitting up and puffing out his chest.

"Really?" Pinkie tilted her head, looking at her. "How would you know that?" She let out a gasp. "Do you remember being born? What was it like? How did you know this would be the moment your whole life was culminating to?"

At the questions, Spike shifted. He turned toward Pinkie Pie further, narrowing his eyes.

"Are you serious?"

"Of course not, silly," Pinkie replied, giving Spike a gentle pat on the head. "I'm just teasing you, Spiky. Besides, I never got that idiom. I mean, I know our cutie mark is supposed to be representative of what we are invariably to do with our lives, but it is shaped by our personality, likes, interest, hobbies, and experiences. That's why we get them at a later point of our life when we finally figure out what it is that we want to do as opposed to being born with them. Thus, no pony is ever actual born ready for anything."

"Are you done?" Spike asked.

"Absolutely," Pinkie Pie said as she plopped down at her own microphone.

Turning on the microphone, Spike took a deep breath.

"Good morning mares and stallions," Spike said, his voice coming out through the speakers for all to hear. "And welcome to the first ever Ponyville Iron Mare Competition."

There was a pause as some of the ponies in the audience cheered.

"We're your announcers. I'm Spike."

"And I'm Pinkie Pie," Pinkie picked up. "We'll be telling you about what happens during the game, as well as provide some background information on the ponies and who knows what else."

"Before the actual games start however," Spike added, "we are to have a musical performance by one Sonata Dusk."

"Sonata just moved to Ponyville from the coast," Pinkie said. "Her favorite activity is singing, and her favorite food is crunchy tacos. Plus, she's single, and said she likes the smart bookish types. In a way, this is like her singing debut. Just think, if she ever makes it big, we'll be able to say that we knew her when she was just starting out." She gave a wide grin.

"Well she's taking the stage now," Spike said. "So let's give her a chance and see how she does."

There was a gentle murmur from the crowd as the two announcers went quiet, waiting for Sonata Dusk. The young blue mare walked out toward the center of the area, eyes wide and looking around. As she got closer, the murmuring grew softer, the crowd going silent as they focused on Sonata. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she started to sing.

Her voice was high and clear, carrying all the way across the farm. As she sang, a red glow began to emanate from a small gem around her neck. As she continued to sing, her voice grew stronger. Not exactly louder, but clearer. The tones and variations became easier to hear, although not seeming to become greater in volume. The ponies listened, ears perking up and eyes glassing over.

Not far from the staging area stood Shining Armor. As he listened to the music, something about it called to him, drew him toward it. He did not have much to compare it to, but he thought it was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard. He wanted to know the mare with that voice better. He needed--

A flash of pain split through his skull, causing him to grunt out. He lost focus, and with it, his magic. The clipboard he held fell to the ground as he pressed a hoof against one eye.

Once the strange pain passed, Shining Armor's horn lit up again. Picking up his clipboard, he tried to remember what he was doing. He also made a mental note to go see a doctor after this was all over. From what he understood, that pain was on the level of a migraine, and he had never suffered one before. More so one that so suddenly appeared and vanished. He should probably get it checked in case it was a symptom of something dangerous.

For now, he had a competition to judge.

As Sonata Dusk's song moved toward ending, the glow from the gem faded and disappeared. The ponies that had been listening blinked and shook their heads, coming back to their senses. Once she was finished, the audience stomped their hooves, applauding the mare's performance.

"Wow," Spike said. "That was pretty good."

"Yeah," Pinkie replied. "It was mesmerizing." Her face scrunched up as she watched Sonata Dusk walk away from where she had been standing. One of Pinkie's ears twitched. She could not quite place her hoof on it, but something about this whole thing was bothering her. Not even her Pinkie sense was able to help her with it.

"Well, since that's over," Spike said, breaking Pinkie's train of thought, "it's time for Ponyville's first ever Iron Pony Competition to begin!"

Head to Head Montage

"Breath-holding."

"A fair challenge since neither of them probably have a lot of experience in it, but both need to have a lot of lung capacity."

Two large tubs of water were brought out onto the field. They were about three times the size of a pony, with clear sides, and a handle on the bottom. Applejack and Rainbow Dash each took one of the tubs and dove down to the bottom. The two of them grabbed the handles at the bottom as the counting began.

At fifteen seconds, both were still holding on.

At twenty, Rainbow Dash started to let out bubbles, but stayed under.*

At thirty, Applejack let the handle go and shot up, gasping for air.

It was just past the minute mark that Rainbow Dash finally emerged. A grin spread across her mouth as she rested against the side, panting slightly.

*****

"Barrel weaving."

"Just to be clear, they have to weave back and forth between barrels while running. They don't have to try and weave a barrel out of sticks or anything like that."

"Who would think that it would be something like that?"

"...And this is going to be a bit of a hard one to guess. Barrel weaving is a part of rodeos, and Applejack has probably done this very thing before. At the same time, it relies on speed and agility, which are Rainbow Dash's biggest strengths."

"And it looks like Applejack is getting to go first."

Applejack got in position, head low and ears pulled back.

"Ready?" Shining Armor asked. "Go!"

Applejack ran forward, running toward the barrels. The rest of the world was shut out as she focused on it. As she got close, she moved off to one side. Not by much, but enough to avoid running into the barrel. As she moved past it, she turned to slip between it and the next, passing on the other side. The motion was repeated again and again as she made her way toward the end.

At one point, she felt her coat brush against something.

"Oh," Pinkie said. "Looks like she hit one of the barrels."

"That's going to cost her a five second penalty," Spike explained.

Applejack reached the end and the timer was stopped.

Seventeen seconds.

A personal best for Applejack. Or it would have been if not for her slip-up. In a race like this, a single second could make a major difference.

She was pretty sure she was about to lose this one.

"With the five second penalty," Pinkie said over the speakers, "that's going to put her at twenty-two."

"That means it's Rainbow Dash's turn and it looks like she's ready to go."

Rainbow Dash took her position at the starting line and crouched down, ears low and wings half-open.

"Ready?" Shining Armor asked. "Go!"

At the command, Rainbow Dash took off. She flew low to the ground, wings flapping as she went. Reaching the barrels, she worked to weave between them, banking back and forth as she made her way through.

Reaching the end, she had made it in eighteen seconds.

"Wow," Pinkie gasped out. "That was actually a second slower than Applejack."

"True," Spike conceded, "but remember that Applejack got a five second penalty, technically putting her at twenty-two and give Rainbow Dash a four second win."

*****

"Bale tossing."

Rainbow Dash went first. Grabbing the rope around the bale, she spun her whole body to gain momentum before letting go.

The bale of hay went flying through the air before landing on the ground, just a few inches short of the furthest mark.

Excitedly, Rainbow Dash took off and flew around to the other end, landing past the end of the distance mark. A grin spread across her face as she looked at how close she had gotten to the far end.

"Aw, yeah!" Rainbow cheered out, puffing out. "Beat that A.J.!" She then started doing a little victory dance.

Applejack smirked, letting out a snort. Slowly, she took off her hat and set it aside before walking up to take her position on the field.

"That's weird," Apple Bloom whispered. "I've never seen Applejack take her hat off like that before."

Reaching the bale, Applejack took a hold of the rope for her own hay bale and begun to spin. After nearly a full turn, she let go, sending the hay bale flying through the air.

Which then hit the showboating Rainbow Dash.

"Ooh," Pinkie said with a wince. "That had to hurt."

"If not physically," Spike stated, "then at least Rainbow's pride."

*****

"Rodeo bucking."

"Cattle roping."

"Hit the target."

"Push-ups."

*****

As the sun set, the sky shifted from blue to a lovely pink with hints of orange and purple. On the field, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were moving their separate ways. Both of them were covered in dirt, panting slightly, and feeling the aches in their muscles. However, they both kept moving, neither wanting to be the one to admit they were exhausted or needed a break.

Fortunately, there was no need for them to.

"With that, we end The Iron Pony Competition for today," Spike said.

"And what a competition it was!" Pinkie Pie cheered out. "It was amazing to see these two go head to head in challenge after challenge."

"All of which ended in a tie," Spike added. "Which means that the entire thing is going to come down to who can do better in The Running of The Leaves tomorrow."

"Also," Pinkie added, "don't forget that we still have the raffle for those who bought tickets for today's competition."

"Did... anypony buy tickets that it would be a draw?" Spike asked.

"Hmm..." Pinkie shifted, tapping her chin. "That's a good question. Hold on." She then took off, heading for the raffle booth.

Meanwhile, ponies were already leaving their seats in the bleachers. Apple Bloom headed toward her sister and Scootaloo ran over toward her idol.

"Hey, Twi," Pound called out. "Pumpkin and I are going to get some of the left over treats. You want to come with us?"

"You two go ahead," Twilight replied. "I want to go see how Shiny is doing." She paused. "But... if you want to grab a slice of pie or two for me, I would appreciate it."

"Okay," Pumpkin said, "but we're not going to get you a whole one or anything like that."

Twilight rolled her eyes but said nothing about it. It was just some innocent teasing between friends, but she did kind of regret telling them about how she ate herself sick on pie the first time she was at Sweet Apple Acres. At least it turned out that she was not the only one to have done such a thing.

Back at the announcer table, Pinkie Pie returned, carrying a sheet of paper with her.

"Okay," Pinkie said as she returned, "according to this, they had four ticket options available: Rainbow Dash wins; Applejack wins; it ends in a draw; and unforeseen. That last one is supposed cover things like injury, disqualification, monster attack, or basically anything that would cause the games to end prematurely."

"Considering where we are and what goes on around here, can't say I'm surprised," Spike said, leaning in his chair.

"Right," Pinkie agreed. "Anyway, tickets for Applejack or Rainbow Dash winning are both over a hundred, with Dashie having fifteen more ponies bet on her than Applejack. Fifty-three ponies got tickets for the draw, and forty-seven got miscellaneous."

"So, one of fifty-three ponies will win the raffle?"

"Yep. And we should get over there. That way we can make sure that everypony can hear the winning number being called."

"Right."

The two then got up and headed for the raffle booth. On their way, they were joined by Shining Armor and Twilight. At the booth, they found Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, and the Apple Family all standing around.

"Alright everypony," the booth operator called out, "get your tickets out and ready." Reaching into a bowl, they pulled out a ticket.

"The winning number is: zero-six-three-seven-four-nine. I repeat, the winning number is: zero-six-three-seven-four-nine."

Several ponies looked down at the tickets in their hooves.

"Well tarnation!" Granny Smith called out, jumping in excitement as best she could at her age. "That there's my number. Looks like I'm the winner here today!"

Applejack stared, wide eyed, as Granny Smith made her way up to the booth.

"You... you... you betted against me?!"

"Don't be silly," Granny said as she held up the ticket. "I betted the two of you were both too plum stubborn to lose."

Shining Armor could not help but chuckle, shaking his head.

He then caught sight of something that made him freeze.

Standing slightly away from the crowd was a pony that looked like... Pinkie Pie? Except her mane was flat--

Shining Armor and his friends had just been thrown off the train from Canterlot. Discord had just defeated them. Near him stood Pinkie Pie. Her coat and mane were not their usual bright shade of pink, and her mane had turned flat, falling over her face. She did not care about making ponies happy. She did not care about Discord threatening Equestria. She did not care about anything.

-- and her entire coat was gray.

Shining Armor stood in a nightmarish version of Sugarcube Corner, the place dark and decaying. A figure that looked like Pinkie Pie, but with a gray coat and flat mane, stood near the corner of the room. Shining Armor placed a hoof on the figure's shoulder, and an ear-piercing scream filled the air as the thing crumbled to dust.

Eyes wide and mouth open, Shining Armor found that he suddenly could not breathe. He had to get away. To get someplace safe. He needed to get home as soon as possible.

"Okay," he blurted out, "that's it for today. Twiley, Spike, I'll see you at home."

He then lit up his horn and vanished with a pop.

*****

Back at The Golden Oaks Library, Shining Armor appeared with a pop in the center of the room. He then collapsed on the floor, panting and exhausted.

He had never teleported so far before. It had left him completely drained.

Why in Equestria had he done that? He had never felt like that before. The fear, the dread, the inability to breathe, the need to just get away from it, it was all new to him. And why? Because of a mare that looked like...

Shining tried to give a shake of his head as he pushed the thought aside, but was too tired and weak to actually make the effort. It hardly mattered. Besides, it was not fair. He was freaking out and running away from a mare he had never met and did not know. That was not very nice of him. Maybe it was a moot point. Maybe he would never have to see that mare ever again.

That was silly. Of course he would see her again. Whether she was another new pony around town or just visiting, Ponyville was a small town. Shining Armor was absolutely going to run into that mare again, especially since Pinkie Pie would probably throw a party for her at some point in the close future.

In the most immediate future, Shining needed a nap.

Curling up where he was, the stallion closed his eyes, and went to sleep.

Author's Note

*I don't know if there is actual research on it, but I read something about it somewhere and have tried it out myself. If you breathe out slightly and not breathe in, you can actually stay submerged underwater for longer.

Race Day

With the start of the new day, came a new challenge. It was the day of The Running of The Leaves. Ponies were signing up and getting their numbers. Others were there to observe or offer support.

"So you two aren't entering?" Twilight asked from her spot in the line.

"Pinkie's still being an announcer, and mom's working on a big order," Pound explained. "So dad needs us to help with the refreshment stands. Make sure there's plenty of water and that everypony gets some when they need it." He smiled. "So we'll get to see you run and keep you going. Could probably cheer you on a little too."

Twilight appreciated the thought, but she could not help noticing that Pumpkin Cake was distracted for some reason. Moving the best she could, Twilight tried to see where Pumpkin was looking.

Standing in one of the other registration lines was the recognizable brown and white form of Pipsqueak.

"Why don't you go talk to him?" Twilight asked.

"What?" Pumpkin said, jumping slightly. "Who?" She shifted, ears twitching. "What are you talking about?"

"Pipsqueak," Twilight said. "I see you looking at him. Go over there and say hi."

"What?" Pumpkin cried out, eyes wide. She took a step back, ears dropping as she shook her head. "No. No-no-no-no. I can't do that. I mean... I don't know him."

"...don't you get to know him by talking to him?" Twilight asked, tilting her head. It was a little strange for her. She had never seen Pumpkin Cake flustered or nervous like that before. Normally, the filly was pretty calm unless somepony was giving a pony she knew a hard time (like when Twilight first met Pound Cake).

"No," Pumpkin blurted out. "I mean, yes that's how it works, but no. I can't do that. I mean... I can't." She shook her head.

"Sure you can. Just go over there, introduce yourself, and invite him to do something after the race or so."

"Right," Pumpkin said as she turned around. "Right. Okay. I can do that. What's the worst that can happen? He says no. That's all."

Twilight bit her lip to keep from speaking out. At that question, Twilight's own mind started creating a far worse worst case scenario: one that had Pumpkin humiliated in front of school and forced to go into hiding until she could move to another city where nopony had ever met her before, living the rest of her life as a hermit that spent her days among books doing nothing but reading.

A small part of her thought that last part sounded kind of nice actually.

However, that was not the point, nor would it have been helpful. In point of fact, it would be counter-productive and make Pumpkin Cake all the more nervous about talking to Pipsqueak.

"I can do this," Pumpkin Cake repeated. "I can do this. I can do this. I can do this." She took a deep breath and let it out. "Can you give me a push or something?"

With a faint sigh and roll of her eyes, Twilight reached out, placed a hoof on Pumpkin's flank and gave it a little shove.

Pumpkin Cake stumbled slightly from the push, but caught herself quickly. Using the momentum, she continued to walk forward, heading toward the colt. As she went, she repeated to herself that she could do this.

Pipsqueak turned and looked at her, and Pumpkin froze.

He was shorter than she thought, having to look up at her with those big brown eyes. Also kind of cute. Pumpkin had the urge to just pull him close and snuggle him like a stuffed toy or something.

"Hello," Pipsqueak said with a smile. "You're from my class, right?"

Pumpkin stood there, looking down at him. She tried to reply, but for some reason could not. Her mouth would just not move. Maybe she could at least nod.

Turns out that she could not.

From the way Pipsqueak was starting to shift, it was probably starting to make him uncomfortable.

Say something. Say something! SAY SOMETHING!

"So..." Pipsqueak started.

"SCONES!" Pumpkin blurted out, causing Pipsqueak -- and several of the other ponies in the line -- to jump.

"What?" Pipsqueak asked brow furrowing.

"Scones!" Pumpkin repeated. "You."

Pipsqueak just stared at her. She was pretty sure that he was nearly ready to bolt.

"Sorry about that," Pound said as she suddenly landed beside his sister. "I'm Pound Cake, and this is my sister Pumpkin."

"Oh," Pipsqueak said, relaxing a little. "Nice to meet ya."

"You too. Anyway, what my sister was trying to ask is do you like scones?"

"Sure," Pipsqueak answered. "Haven't had many of them, but they were pretty good."

A smile spread across Pound's face as he moved closer to his sister, wrapping a hoof around her.

"Well, our parents own and operate a bakery called Sugar Cube Corner," he explained. "We make all sorts of treats and snacks. Maybe tomorrow afternoon you can come by have try a scone or two. First one will even be on us." He pulled his sister closer. "Right, Pumpkin?"

This time, Pumpkin managed to nod. She glanced over at her brother from the corner of her eyes as she did. One part wanted to smack him for coming over and interfering in her attempt to talk to Pipsqueak. Another part wanted to thank him for saving her from being a complete and total idiot, unable to say anything coherent. At the same time, a part of her wanted to smack herself for needing saving in the first place.

"That sounds like fun," Pipsqueak said. "How 'bout I drop by 'round three?"

"Great," Pound said. "Well, we'll leave you to your registration. See you on the track. We'll be at the water stations."

Pound then took a hold of Pumpkin and pulled her away. The two of them walked away from Pipsqueak, heading back to where Twilight was standing. As they went, Pumpkin Cake dropped her head, letting out a massive groan.

"Don't worry," Pound said with a grin. "I'm sure you'll do better next time."

"I can't do worse," Pumpkin grumbled.

"Sure you could," Pound replied, getting an immediate glare from his sister. "You could trip and fall, stumbling into him and knocking him over. If you had a drink, you could spill it on him. That would be especially bad if it was something hot." He perked up and grinned. "Oh. Or you could fart!" He chuckled at the thought. "Like a really loud wet one that just--"

"OKAY!" Pumpkin shouted, turning toward her brother. "Okay. I get it! It could have gotten worse. Thank you, dear brother, for making that quite clear."

"You're welcome, sis." Stretching out a wing, Pound wrapped around Pumpkin and pulled her into a hug. "I'm always happy to make you know that you could have done far worse and humiliated yourself more than you actually did."

Pumpkin grumbled, a few choice words under her breath. She was now even more inclined to smack him, even if it was only playful teasing. Still, she was grateful that he was there for her, and trying to get her mind off of what happened... even if it was by trying to come up with possible scenarios of how it could have gone even worse.

At the other line, Twilight was at the table, getting her number. After putting it on, she walked over and joined the Cake twins.

"So, how did it go?"

"Pumpk-OW!" Pound yelped out as he got jabbed in the ribs.

"Fine," Pumpkin said. "He's coming to Sugar Cube Corner tomorrow at three for scones."

"Good for you," Twilight said with a smile.

"Attention ponies," a voice called out. "We're about to start The Running of The Leaves. If you are finished registering, please make your way to the starting line immediately."

"That means me," Twilight said. "See you two later."

"Good luck," Pound called out as Twilight turned and headed off.

"And we should probably go help dad at the refreshment stand," Pumpkin suggested.

"Yeah," Pound replied. "And don't forget we need to ask him about making scones tomorrow."

On Your Mark

At the starting line, Shining Armor was performing a last minute check on the pair of competing ponies. His horn glowed with energy as he was putting on the finishing touches.

"Is this really necessary?" Rainbow Dash grumbled, head low and ears pulled back with a bright pinkness to her cheeks. She looked back at the rope wrapped around her barrel, tying her wings to her side.

"This here is a race," Applejack said. "You may 'a' gotten away with usin' your wings yesterday, but this time you ain't flyin'. Win or lose, you're runnin' the race."

"Like it matters," Rainbow huffed, turning to glare at Applejack. "I could beat you even if you hobbled me."

"Okay," Shining said calmly, stepping between the pair. "Let's all keep calm here. Don't want to say anything too boastful or over the top, do we?"

The two mares shifted, looking past the stallion to glare at each other a moment longer. It made Shining Armor more than a little uncomfortable. He felt like he was caught between two predators (like a hawk and a lion), and anything he did very well might set off one or the other. At best, he would get shoved out of the way. At worst, he would be caught in the middle and end up getting it from both sides.

Since his horn was already glowing and he had his magic active, Shining started to get a shield spell ready. If something happened, he could just put it up around the pair. That way, no other ponies would get caught in it.

"Fine," Rainbow snapped, turning away. "Actions speak louder than words anyway." She started for the line. "I'll show you that I'm the fastest pony in Ponyville, with or without my wings."

"We'll just see about that," Applejack snapped back. She then turned away from Dash and started walking off in the opposite direction.

"Uhm... Applejack," Shining said gently. "The starting line is over there."

"Oh, right." Blushing, Applejack turned around and started in the right direction.

With a slight chuckle, Shining Armor started to walk away. While he did want to join the race, he had to keep track of Applejack and Rainbow Dash. A task that would be easier if he did not have to try and keep running along the track. Well... technically it would be easier on the track if he could keep up with them and they both kept close to each other, but that was unlikely.

As he walked away, Sonata Dusk appeared in front of him, causing Shining Armor to bump into her.

"Oh, sorry," Shining Armor said as he moved to walk past the mare.

"It's fine," Sonata said as she stepped in front of him again. "In fact, I was looking for you." Getting closer, she pressed against his chest. "I was thinking that maybe after the race we could get something to eat. Just you and me. The two of us. Alone. Together." She smiled and fluttered her eyelids.

"Uhm," Shining said as he stepped away. "As tempting as that is, I'm not entirely sure I'll be free after the race. I may have to go over the results to see who won first. Plus there's the matter of how my little sister is feeling after this since she's running as well. She may not be too happy with how she did or something."

"Well there's no need to do anything right after the race," Sonata replied. "I'm pretty much free all day today." Moving closer, she pressed her nose to his.

Shining Armor froze, not really sure what to do. This mare was invading his personal space, and touching him. The second part was the more confusing part. Not so much that she was, but how she was. Her nose was touching his. It felt weirdly intimate. He could feel himself blushing very hard.

"I'll keep that in mind," Shining Armor blurted out as he pulled away and started walking. There was something kind of odd about Sonata. He could not quite place his hoof on it, but something about her made him uncomfortable.

"Hello cutie."

Speaking of uncomfortable.

Crystal Heart stepped into view, smiling up at Shining Armor.

"How good to see you again," she said as she moved around him. "Are you entering the race as well?"

"No," Shining Armor replied, feeling himself get tense. "I'm... I'm... here more to watch. Two of my friends are competing against each other. Plus my sister is running as well."

"Aww," Crystal Heart whimpered out, sticking out her lower lip. "What a shame." She turned around, her back to him, then looked over her shoulder and smirked.

"I actually entered it myself," she said, "and it's my .... first time." She stretched out her back, lowering her front end and raising her backside, which she then gave a little wiggle before straightening up again. "I was sooo hoping for a little company on the run. Maybe a big, strong, smart stallion I can trust to... watch my back." She then gave a flick of her tail, the tip brushing against Shining Armor's nose.

"Ye-yes," Shining Armor managed to stutter out. "Well it's a nice back."

As soon as he realized what he had said, Shining Armor's eyes went wide as he slammed a hoof over his mouth. He could not believe that he had just said that. It had just slipped out. Why? Why would he say something like that?

"Well thank you for noticing," Crystal said with a smile. "Yours is quite nice as well."

Shining Armor was unsure how to respond to that.

"Thank you?"

"Just imagine," Crystal continued, stretching out one leg. "It's going to be shifting, and flexing as I run. Glistening with a light sweat and the warm autumn sun. Swaying back and... forth with each step. By the end, my entire body would be... hard and tense. Heart pounding, blood pumping, exhausted, but soooo... satisfied." She licked her lips.

The description created a very vivid and... interesting image in Shining Armor's mind. One that a different part of his anatomy was expressing quite a strong approval of. The thought of Crystal, stretched out... eyes closed... moaning...

"Well I have to get going," Crystal said, breaking Shining Armor's fantasy. "Need to get ready for the race and all. I will see you around after... Shining."

Something about the way that she had said his name sent a shiver down Shining Armor's spine. He watched her as she went, his eyes on her backside as he continued to think about what she had said earlier. There was also something about the way that she left that was bothering him. It was like she had suddenly gotten nervous and needed to get away.

"Hello, Shining Armor," a familiar voice said softly from behind him. Turning around, he found Princess Celestia, standing there with that subtle hint of a smile she normally had on her face.

That explained it. Shining Armor had spent most of his life around Celestia, so he was pretty used to her. However, most ponies were still very nervous around the princess, as he had witnessed himself. As such, it made sense that a pony would wish to keep from getting to close to one of the rulers of Equestria.

"Princess," Shining said, giving a slight bow. "You came to watch The Running of The Leaves?"

"Indeed," Princess Celestia answered with a smile. "I have attended a few before, but not as often as I would prefer. It is always nice to watch the ponies doing something they enjoy. Plus, from what I have heard, two of your friends are going to make it extra entertaining this year."

"Everypony seems interested in watching Applejack and Rainbow Dash race," Shining noted, looking around.

"Well something new is always exciting," Celestia stated. "Also, I have gathered that both are quite competitive and stubborn. As such, neither would be very willing to relent."

Shining Armor nodded. In the few months he had lived in Ponyville, he had seen how both of them could get when it came to doing something. Now that he thought about it, that seemed to be part of the problem. The two of them could be similar in such a way that neither wanted to back down, which led to situations like this.

"The race should be starting soon," Princess Celestia said. "Would you care to join us and watch?" She turned and motioned toward the crowd of spectators.

"Thank you," Shining Armor replied with a vow, "but I can't stay and watch from there. I need to keep an eye on Applejack and Rainbow Dash just in case."

"Understandable," Celestia said with a nod. "Best of luck, my student."

With that, the princess and stallion parted ways. Celestia made her way to an area where several guards were waiting, keeping a space open for her. Shining Armor made his way toward a different spot: a hill that was just before the first turn. That way he would at least be able to see the beginning for a while. Plus, it was high enough to let him look for another spot further along.

At the starting line, the ponies that were racing shifted, many of them looking ready to begin. A few were already running in place (which -- from what he had been told -- was a bad idea since they would wear themselves out sooner).

"Ponies!" the mayor shouted, raising a flag. "On your marks!" The ponies stopped running in place. "Get set!" Several lowered their heads, ears back and bodies tense.

Mayor Mare dropped the flag.

The race had begun.

All Wet

Pumpkin Cake stood at one of the tables set up along the path. Her jaw was clenched tight and brow furrowed as she concentrated. Small blue sparks flickered from her horn as she focused on the pitcher.

Despite her efforts, the pitcher was not even covered in a magical aura, to say nothing of being levitated.

Looked like she was going to have to keep filling the cups by hoof.

"Pumpkin!"

The shout caused Pumpkin Cake to jump, her magic surging enough to push the glass pitcher across the table before fizzling out.

Trixie stomped up toward her, ears pulled back and eyes narrowed. Reaching out, she poked Pumpkin in the nose, squishing it and making it ache.

"I saw you talking to my Pippy," she growled out.

"Pippy?" Pumpkin asked, blinking.

"And I saw how you were looking at him," Trixie continued. She then took another step forward, pressing her nose against Pumpkin's.

"Stay away from my Pipsqueak," she growled out, "or else!"

Anger surged through Pumpkin Cake. Being told what to do was not really a big deal to her. It was a part of her life. Her parents, her teachers, some times Pinkie Pie, and on occasion even Twilight. Most of the time, she did not really mind it. With her parents and Pinkie, it was normally because of her chores or something to do with the bakery. With her teacher, it was about her school work. Twilight was sort of the unofficial leader of their little group, and tended to get ideas that they pretty much went along with.

Under the right circumstances, Pumpkin was perfectly fine with being told what to do by certain ponies.

These were not the right circumstances, and Trixie was certainly not one of those ponies. The addition of a vague -- and probably empty -- threat only made Pumpkin angrier.

"Or else what?" Pumpkin Cake growled back, pushing forward to pressing her own head against Trixie's, eyes narrow and ears pulled back.

The question seemed to throw Trixie off for a second. Her glare faltered before looking away. The physical contact between them broke as Trixie took a step back.

It was easy for Pumpkin to figure out that Trixie had not come up with a proper idea of what the "or else" would be.

"I'll..." Trixie started. "I'll..." She suddenly straightened up, looking Pumpkin in the eye again.

"I'll saw you in half, and mail your butt all the way to Manehattan."

The statement sounded so ridiculous, that it threw Pumpkin off for a moment. While she did not know much about magic yet, she was pretty sure that there were no actual spells that would allow one pony to actually separate another in half. Even if there was, then it would probably have to take a unicorn with a lot of magic to do it. Like Shining Armor. No way a filly her age could do it, even if that filly did have her cutie mark already.

With that, Trixie turned away and started to walk off.

The confusion quickly vanished as Pumpkin's anger returned anew. There wasno way she was going to let that bratty filly leave thinking she had somehow won.

Pumpkin grabbed one of the filled plastic cups on the table.

"Hey, Trixie!"

Trixie stopped and turned around, raising an eyebrow.

"You look like you could use some water."

Pumpkin Cake then threw the cup, hitting Trixie in the head and dumping the water all over the other filly. It caused Trixie to freeze, eyes wide and mouth hanging open as the water dripped from her face and mane. A smirk spread as Pumpkin looked at what she did.

That smirk then faded as it was replaced with horror, Pumpkin realizing what she had done.

"Oh, Celestia," she whimpered out. "Trixie. I'm so, so sorry. I don't know what came over me. Let me--"

The rest of the statement was cut off by Trixie's scream of rage.

"TRIXIE WILL KILL YOU!" she bellowed before charging at Pumpkin Cake.

Trixie then slammed into Pumpkin, who in turn fell back and slammed into the table, which in turn tipped over. There was a thud as the table hit the ground, shortly followed by the sound of glass shattering as the pitcher did the same. Glass, plastic cups, and water now covered a patch of the running path. As were the two fillies.

Admittedly, Trixie had caught Pumpkin Cake off-guard when she had charged. However, now that she was thinking again, Pumpkin found she could easily handle the angry filly. Growing up her entire life with a twin brother had left her with plenty of experience when it came to wrestling with another pony. Although this one was more inclined to actually try and hurt her instead of just playing around.

Gripping one of Trixie's forelegs, Pumpkin pulled her hind legs up between them. Getting her hooves against Trixie's barrel, she let go and shoved up hard, sending the other filly backwards and off her. Soon as she did, she rolled over, getting back on her hooves.

Trixie did not get up.

Instead, she was lying there, forehooves pressed against her chest as gasped out. Her eyes were wide with terror as she shifted and kicked, wriggling around on her back.

"Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cake!"

Pumpkin's heart froze in her chest at that. Slowly, she turned around, her stomach feeling heavy with the dread of what she knew she was about to see.

Standing there was her father. The normally tall -- if skinny -- pony seemed massive, looming over her. The look in his eyes pinned her in place, burning through her body to see her very soul.

"What in Equestria is going on here?" Carrot Cake asked, pointing a hoof at the turned over table, the spilled water, shattered pitcher, and scattered cups on the path.

Pumpkin Cake looked from her father, to the mess, to Trixie, and back to her dad, still staring at him.

I am so dead.

Author's Note

Don't worry. Trixie was not seriously hurt. Just had the air knocked out of her lungs.

Race Time Highlights

Applejack and Rainbow Dash both stood at the starting line, front and center. The pair of friends and rivals were both tense, ready to go. Occasionally, their gazes would shift between watching the mayor with the flag to glare at each other. A circle of empty space had formed around the pair, the nearest ponies glancing at them nervously.

As soon as the flag was down, the two of them took off as fast as they could go. Clouds of dust kicked up as they ran at full speed, nearly side by side.

So caught up were they in trying to outdo each other that neither noticed a rock sticking up in the path. Applejack's hoof hit the rock, throwing her off-balance. Before she could figure out what was going on, she found herself falling forward. There was a small burst of pain as her nose hit the ground, followed by the taste of dirt in her mouth.

As she laid there, the sound of Rainbow Dash's laughter echoed through her ears. It was soon followed by the sounds of others running past her.

Getting up, Applejack brushed the dirt from her face and spat the mouthful she had gotten. She could not believe that her friend -- former friend -- would do such a thing as trip her.

Well, she was not going to let a cheating no good scoundrel win like that.

Applejack was up and running again.

*****

Feeling that she had gotten sufficiently far enough ahead, Rainbow Dash decided to finally slow down a little. After all, this was a long race, and Rainbow Dash did not want to have to wear herself out completely if she did not need to. She was already ahead enough that she could win this, and if she did so while looking like she was not even winded, all the better.

At her more casual pace, Rainbow Dash looked around, taking in Whitetail Woods in the fall. There was a hint of crispness to the air, a change of scent to it. The leaves had shifted from green to a variety of yellows, oranges, and reds. Some had already fallen to the ground and dried up, creating a nice crunching sound under her hooves. She could hear the hooves of other ponies running along.

Which... seemed closer than she expected.

"Try to keep up, slowpoke," Applejack shouted as she ran past, her tail flicking Rainbow Dash in the nose as she did.

There was a burst of discomfort as Dash's wings tried to pop out in surprise, but were stuck against her due to the rope around her barrel. She could not believe it. She had left Applejack in the dust. Rainbow Dash was well ahead of everypony. There was no way she should have been able to catch up already.

No way was she going to lose.

Rainbow Dash charged after Applejack, once again running as fast as she could. Slowly she ate up the distance that had formed between them, making her way closer and closer.

Soon they were once again side by side. Rainbow Dash's eyes narrowed as she looked at Applejack.

Missing the root that was sticking out and causing her to trip over.

"Ha!" Applejack shouted. "That'll teach ya."

*****

The two of them continued to run. This time, they were not as close as they had been, but were beginning to alternate between which of them had the lead.

Soon they would be reaching the first water station on the race.

As they got closer to the station, they also got closer to each other. Eyes narrowing, they glared back and forth.

Rainbow Dash tilted her body, bumping into Applejack.

Applejack bumped back.

Rainbow Dash bumped again. So did Applejack.

"Look out!"

Before either of them could realize what was actually said -- much less actually do what they were told -- the two of them ran into what was a large mess on the trail: wet dirt, scattered cups, and broken glass.

There was a loud crunch of glass being broken under hooves, followed by small shards of it digging into frogs and loud yelps of pain.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were both taken off the track and toward the first aid tent. There they were quickly examined.

"Well the good news is that the injuries aren't too bad," Nurse Redheart stated. "No need for stitches, but it will need bandages. The bad news is that you're not going to be able to finish the rest of the race. In fact, you're going to have to stay off of it for the rest of the day." She gave them a small smile. "Looks like the race is over for the two of you."

"What?!" Rainbow Dash shouted out, eyes going wide (and again her wings trying to spread out, only to be stuck and sent discomfort through her body). "That is totally not fair. I was just about to get the lead and start winning."

"Oh, please," Applejack huffed, rolling her eyes. "I was just pacing myself. Gonna pull ahead of ya and win the race by a country mile."

"Knock knock," Shining Armor called out from the door of the tint. "Mind if I come in."

"It's fine," Redheart called out. "Provided you aren't disturbed by the sight of blood. I need to clean the wounds to prevent infection, then dress them." She then grabbed a pair of forceps.

Shining Armor stepped inside, looking at the pair of them.

"What's the prognosis?"

"We'll be fine," Applejack answered. "Though neither of us gonna be finishing the race today." She then turned to glare at Rainbow Dash.

"Oh don't give me that," Rainbow snapped. "I would have been in the lead if you hadn't tripped me."

"I didn't trip you," Applejack snapped back, sitting up. "And even if I had, it would have been fair since you tripped me first."

"I did no such thing! And could somepony take this stupid bucking rope off me already?!"

"Okay," Shining Armor called out, getting the pair's attention. "That's enough. Now both of you calm down and relax."

The two looked at the other, then let out a snort and turned away. They flopped back down in their seats, scowling at the walls of the first aid tent in silence.

Shining Armor could not help but roll his eyes. It was kind of funny that the whole problem between the two of them was that they were too much alike. He was tempted to tease them about it, but it seemed like it would be a waste. Instead he moved toward Rainbow Dash, horn lighting up with magic as he began to untie the rope.

"Neither of you tripped the other," he told them as he undid the bindings. "Applejack tripped over a rock that was in the path, and Rainbow Dash did the same thing with a root." He then watched the two, taking in their reactions.

The angry scowls slowly faded, shifting into sheepish looks. Applejack even reached up, rubbing the back of her head with her good hoof.

"You both probably would have noticed if you weren't so focused on competing with each other," Shining added.

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash conceded. "And normally I'm really good at noticing everything around me." With a sigh, she smacked herself in the face. There was a flash of pain from the wound and a hiss from the mare.

"Can't believe I got hurt from something so stupid."

"Me too," Applejack said. "I'm... I'm sorry I got so competitive and stubborn."

"So am I," Rainbow added.

"Well it seems as though you two have learned quite a lesson."

All of the ponies in the tent turned to find that Princess Celestia was standing in the doorway, head high and a knowing smirk on her face.

"Princess," Redheart said. "Forgive me for not bowing. I am a bit busy at the moment."

"It is quite alright," Celestia stated as she entered. "The health of my little ponies takes priority over outdated customs."

She then turned her attention to Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

"As I was saying: it seems that you two learned quite a lesson from today. Perhaps you would be willing to write a report about it to me?"

There was a moment of silence as Shining Armor, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack all stared at the princess. Nurse Redheart continued her work, padding and wrapping the injured hooves of the mares.

"What?" Rainbow finally asked.

"Princess?" Shining Armor said.

"It is something I have been considering for a while," Princess Celestia explained. "As wonderful a job as Shining Armor has been doing with his friendship reports, there are times when it seems as though he was not the only one who has learned something about friendship. To that end, I was thinking that perhaps his friends would be willing to help him and me out. That they could write their own reports to me about friendship when they have something that they learned from themselves." She quirked an eyebrow. "Such as how a pair of mares learned that maybe they should not let their competitive nature get in the way of their friendship."

That got a bit of a blush from the two mares.

"That is, of course, if you are willing to do such." She took a step back. "Now, I will leave you to your convalescence. There is still a race being held, and I would like to see what else may occur."

Tea and Scones

Twilight Sparkle sat at a table near the back of Sugarcube Corner. The place was pretty quiet. Most of the ponies were probably at home resting and relaxing after The Running of The Leaves yesterday. There were still a few ponies around, including a grey pegasus mare with eyes that never seemed to quite line up with each other, and a small unicorn filly that was with her.

A lot of ponies were surprised that the pegasus had won the race for some reason. Still, the two of them were really happy about it.

Twilight then looked at the clock.

It was about sixteen minutes until three. That would mean that Pipsqueak would be showing up soon for his and Pumpkin Cake's... date? Was it a date? A casual get together? Twilight was not entirely sure, and there were no real books that clarified the line between casual and romantic activities aside from intent of those involved.

At the thought of her friend, Twilight turned her attention to where Pumpkin Cake was working. She felt bad for her friend. Grounded, with no allowance until all the damages had been paid for, and extra chores around the shop to help with that. From what Twilight had been told, that last part was not actually a big deal since all of them had to pick up extra work if one or more of them were away from some reason or other (such as when Pinkie is off helping to save Equestria). Although Pumpkin did not seem really upset about it. Probably because the punishment could have been worse, especially since ponies had gotten hurt from the broken glass.

Pound Cake came up to Twilight's table, carrying chocolate glazed strawberry cake donuts and glasses of milk. Setting one of the glasses and two of the donuts in front of her, he sat down with the rest.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Pound asked. "I mean, spying on Pumpkin and Pipsqueak on her date?"

"We're not spying," Twilight replied as she grabbed one of the donuts. "We aren't hiding, she knows we're here, and we aren't doing it for any sort of organization, government or otherwise." She then took a bite.

It was delicious.

"But we are going to be sitting here -- in a distant corner of the bakery -- watching my sister as she tries to spend some time with a colt she might like," Pound stated.

Twilight nodded as she chewed. Grabbing the glass, she took a drink of the milk.

"Besides," she said, "this way we can be out of the way if things go well, but able to help her out if something goes wrong." She tilted an eyebrow. "You do want to help if it goes like it did yesterday, right?"

At the question, Pound shifted, looking away from Twilight. His eyes narrowed as he tapped his chin, letting out a hum.

"Pound," Twilight sighed rolling her eyes.

"Alright, alright. Yes. If something went wrong, I do want to help my sister... eventually."

Twilight let out a snort and shook her head. She then took another bite of her donut.

"Is that Trixie?" Pound asked.

Twilight looked at where Pound Cake was, finding that Trixie was there and had just come in. The sight caused Twilight to gasp, which led to her donut being sucked down her windpipe.

Eyes wide, Twilight coughed as she tried to get past the shock, and the donut out of her lungs.

"What?" she finally managed to wheeze out. This was bad. Bad bad. Like spent two months on a science project only to accidentally destroy it before school bad. Nightmare Moon bad.

"We need to do something," she finally managed to wheeze out. "If she's here when Pipsqueak shows..."

Before either of them could get up, Pumpkin Cake was coming from behind the counter and making her way directly toward Trixie.

"Hi Trixie," Pumpkin said as she walked up to the other filly. "Thank you for coming."

"Well I'm not going to turn down free food," Trixie said, sticking her nose up in the air. "Besides, I'm pretty sure you're not going to dump a drink on me again."

The statement got a wince from Pumpkin, taking a slight step back.

"Yeah... Again, sorry about that." Pumpkin then straightened up and took a step. "So, just come take a seat over here, and I'll be back with your drink and free snacks."

Trixie followed to a table and took a seat. Once she did, she continued to watch Pumpkin Cake as she went back behind the counter. Trixie then turned back to her table, not paying attention to anything around her.

One last cough escaped Twilight Sparkle as she sat there, staring wide eyed at Trixie. Leaning over, she moved closer to Pound Cake.

"Should we do something?" she asked.

"Like what?" Pound asked.

No answer came to Twilight right away. From the way Pumpkin had reacted, it seemed that not only was Trixie's arrival here expected, but planned. Why? It seemed like Pumpkin was up to something.

"She didn't mention anything about this to you?" Twilight asked.

Pound simply shook his head.

"Pipsqueak will be here any second," she said. "Why would Pumpkin ask Trixie here knowing that? Especially after what happened."

"I have no idea." Pound looked toward the door.

With a huff, Twilight Sparkle took a hold of the donut and started eating it again. At the moment, it looked like the only thing to do was to sit and wait. Whatever was going on was probably going to happen soon anyways. They would just have to sit and wait, maybe step in if something happened.

Pumpkin Cake came back to Trixie's table, carrying a tray with a slice of cheesecake on it. Smiling, Pumpkin set it down on the table before the other filly. Excitedly, Trixie grabbed a fork, cut a massive piece of the cheesecake, and swallowed it whole.

Trixie then grabbed at her throat and fell to the floor, still.

"That's right!" Pumpkin said, wrapping her black cape around her and stroking her mustache. "I poisoned the cheesecake. That shall teach you for getting in my way, fool!"

No. That was silly of Twilight to think. Pumpkin was not going to kill Trixie. And if she was, it would not be by poisoning. That would be bad for business.

Trixie sat at the table, drumming a hoof on the table and kicking her hind legs out of boredom. A snort escaped her nose as she turned to look in the direction of the kitchen, ears pulled back.

The room suddenly went dark as the sound of maniacal laughter filled the air.

The kitchen doors were blown off their hinges, shattering into splinters as it went. From the opening emerged a pony that looked kind of like Pumpkin Cake. It was the same size as Pumpkin, and had a similar body type. The most noticeable difference was that her coat had taken on a bloody red color, with her mane and tail turning black. She was also dressed in what looked like Nightmare Moon's helmet and peytral.

"I am Black Forest!" the nightmarish filly declared before laughing again. "And now, Trixie, you will pay for what you have done! Then all of Equestria will fall before me!" This was followed by another peal of maniacal laughter.

Twilight shook her head and grabbed her milk to take a drink. That was ridiculous. Pumpkin would never turn evil. Well... not yet at least. She would at least wait until after she got her cutie mark and got her talent figured out. Besides, if she did turn evil, it would have made more sense for her to actually do that when she and Trixie were actually fighting.

Trixie sat at the table waiting for her snack to appear. She shifted in her seat, letting out a snort of frustration. Eyes narrowing, she turned to look toward the door to the kitchen.

"What's taking so long?" she growled out.

"Hiiiiiiyah!"

Pumpkin Pie dropped from the ceiling, dressed in a black ninja outfit. With her shout, she landed on top of the table, the tip of her sword digging into the surface. Straightening up, she turned to the other filly and pointed the tip of the blade at her.

"Trixie," Ninja Pumpkin said, "I challenge you to honorable combat. The winner shall be allowed to pursue the romantic interests of Pipsqueak. The loser shall be shamed." She lifted her sword, striking a battle pose. "Do you accept?"

Trixie jump up and stood on her seat, eyes narrowed as she glared at Ninja Pumpkin. Bringing a hoof up and across her chest to her shoulder, she made a throwing motion. A piece of fabric appeared, covering her from sight.

When the fabric fell away, Trixie was dressed in a dark purple ninja outfit of her own. Pulling out a pair of kunai, she struck a pose of her own.

"Very well," Kunai Trixie declared. "I accept your challenge. Prepare to be shamed by your defeat."

With battle shouts, the two of ninjas jumped into the air, flying towards each other.

"That's not even an accurate representation of ninja fighting," Twilight cried out, setting her glass down on table.

"What?" Pound asked, turning to look at her. "What was that?"

A bright blush spread across Twilight's face at Pound's gaze, realizing that she had actually said that out loud.

"Nothing," she said as she turned away from him. "Just thinking about something."

There was a soft scuffling as Pound Cake moved closer to her. Twilight could feel his eyes on her, studying her closely.

"Were you imagining my sister as a ninja?"

"What?" Twilight asked as she turned to face him. She let out a giggle. "That's silly, Pound. Why would I imagine her and Trixie as ninjas?" She grinned, one of her ears twitching.

"So you did," Pound declared with a grin.

"...yes," Twilight finally admitted, slouching down. "I guess those ninja comics you and Spike read have gotten to me a little."

"I would make a totally awesome samurai," Pound said, puffing his chest up. "And you could be one of those sage wizards that can cast spells and make potions."

"That would be kind of neat."

"Sage Twilight" did sound kind of cool. She could wear one of those straw hats, and a long white robe with the yin-yang symbol on it. She could also carry a staff, a wooden one with a brass ring on top that had other brass rings looped through it. Although it seemed like it would be kind of tiring drinking tea all the time. Maybe she could learn to play the flute as well. How long would it take to learn to do that? Although she would look really weird if she grew a long white beard.

Before Twilight could get too caught up in imagining herself as a sage and Pound as a samurai, the two of them wandering the countryside to protect ponykind from bandits, evil warlords, and monsters, Pipsqueak came through the door, stepping into Sugarcube Corner. As soon as he did, Pumpkin Cake started to walk toward him.

"Well it looks like we're going to see what she's up to," Pound said, pointing at the pair.

"Hey Pipsqueak," Pumpkin said as she walked up to the colt. "Glad you could make it."

"Thank you for inviting me," Pipsqueak said with a smile. "I've never been in a bakery before, to say nothing about one that looked like a gingerbread house." He looked around. "But what's with the odd marks on the walls there?"

"Oh, we're still repairing the place from when some giant ants attacked and ate it," Pumpkin explained. "Anyway, if you'll follow me please, I'll show you to your seat." She then started walking, followed by Pipsqueak.

Until they reached the table where Trixie was already sitting.

"You remember Trixie," Pumpkin said, pointing to the filly in question.

"Sure I do," Pipsqueak answered. "How are you?"

"I'm... fine?" Trixie replied, raising an eyebrow. "What... what are you doing here?"

"Pumpkin and her brother invited me over," he said with a smile.

"And he will be joining you," Pumpkin said. "So just take a seat, and I'll be back with your tea and scones."

Pipsqueak sat down at the table opposite of Trixie, who turned to look at the other filly with a raised eyebrow. Seeming unaffected by it, Pumpkin Cake simply headed back toward the kitchen.

"So this is the first time I've seen you away from school stuff," Pipsqueak said. "What kind of stuff do you like, anyways?"

The question got Trixie's full attention. She turned to look at Pipsqueak, wide-eyed as his attention was entirely on her. A bright blush spread across her face as she shifted.

"Trixie... er.." she gulped. "I mean I really like magic. Not just actual magic like spells, but stage magic: illusions, sleight of hoof, things like that."

"Really?" Pipsqueak asked, perking up. "Do you know any tricks?"

"I'm still learning, but I have learned a few card tricks. Want me to show you one?"

"Yes, please."

The blush faded as Trixie smiled. Turning to her saddlebag, she opened one of pouches and pulled out a deck of cards. With practiced eased, she slipped them out of the box and shuffled them with her hooves.

"Notice I am using no magic on them at all."

As Trixie continued to set up her card trick for Pipsqueak, Pumpkin Cake returned with a tray. She set a cup of tea before of the ponies, as well as cream, sugar, and a plate of what must have been the scones.

"If you two need anything else, just let me know."

She then left the two, making her way to where Twilight and Pound were sitting, staring at her with wide eyes.

"What are you doing?" Twilight asked, nearly shouting. One hoof stomped on the table as she raised up and leaned forward.

"Giving Trixie and Pip a chance to get to know each other," Pumpkin stated, sitting down. "You going to eat that donut?"

"Yes," Twilight answered, pulling the donut to her. "And don't change the subject. Why? I thought you invited him here because you liked him and wanted to spend time with him."

"Like I said before, I don't know him." Leaning across the table, Pumpkin took one of the donuts from Pound Cake. "Yeah, I think he's kind of cute, and I like that accent, but that's not really anything big. That's not really anything to build a good relationship on." She took a bite, enjoying the chocolate glaze and strawberry flavoring.

"But that was the main point in inviting him," Twilight declared. "To get to know him. To spend time together and find out what you had in common. Why give that up before you even try?"

Pumpkin looked at the pair a moment, chewing slowly. She shifted to get more comfortable before swallowing and licking her lips for crumbs.

"Because I wanted to make it up to Trixie." She turned to look at the two other ponies. "As mad as I was at what she did, she was asking me to let them spend time together." She sighed, turning back to her friends. "Besides, I feel bad about it. As mad as I was, I shouldn't have made it worse by dumping water on her. If I hadn't done that, she would have just left, and nopony would have gotten hurt."

She took another bite.

"Plus, you did say she sort of hung out with him when you were tutoring the two of them, right?"

Twilight nodded.

"So that kind of means she was getting to know him first," Pumpkin continued. "Wouldn't be fair to move in on him then. And... I don't want to be the type of filly who gets mean and such over a colt. No guy is worth hurting somepony else over."

She set the rest of the donut back onto Pound's plate and brushed her hooves together.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to work."

Pie Sisters

Shining Armor stretched out, grateful to have a relaxing day. As much fun as it had been to plan and observe Applejack and Rainbow Dash compete -- and it had been kind of exciting to see his little sister participate in The Running of The Leaves -- he was glad it was all over. With Twilight off spending time with her friends, and Spike off trying to help Rarity hunt gemstones, he had the library to himself. So it was the perfect day to do nothing but relax.

Especially since he did not sleep too well last night. That mysterious gray mare had caused him to have nightmares again.

Maybe he should go do something with Pinkie Pie. Spending some time with her would probably help put some of the issues that were causing the nightmares to rest. Even if not, her positive and optimistic mood would cheer him up for a while.

A knock at the door got Shining Armor's attention. Not just a normal knock either, but a rapid, somewhat hyperactive knock that could only bring one pony to mind.

As he got up, Shining Armor wondered what the chances were. Making his way to the door, he readied himself for whatever was going to happen next. Especially since Pinkie Pie rarely knocked. Or noticeably used the door for that matter.

As expected, there was Pinkie Pie. She stood there, front and center of the door with a wide grin spread across her face.

Shining Armor smiled back...which then froze on his face.

Standing behind Pinkie Pie were two other mares. Both were earth ponies. One was a dark gray coated mare with a lighter shaded mane cut short and sticking up in the back, a sour look on her face. The other was... her.

The mare from the other day. The one that looked like Pinkie, but gray coated and flat-maned.

"Hi Shiny," Pinkie said, getting Shining Armor's attention back on her. "You took off really fast after the games and then there was all the excitement of The Running of The Leaves yesterday, so I never had the chance to introduce you to my sisters. They're heading back home tomorrow morning, so today is the last day to get to meet them."

"Okay," Shining Armor said before moving aside. "Well come on in. Can I get you anything?"

"Lemonade, please," Pinkie answered. "Ooh! Ooh! And cookies if you have any."

"...Pinkie... you work in a bakery. Plus, you've been leaving treats here during your visits."

Pinkie let out a gasp, eyes going wide.

"You know about that?"

The statement made Shining Armor stop and turn to raise an eyebrow at Pinkie Pie.

"You leave bits of confetti and a little piece of paper that says 'in case of (whatever) emergency, Love! Pinkie Pie,' on it."

"Oh. Right." Pinkie smiled, letting out a giggle as she rubbed the back of her head. "Still, lemonade and cookies for all of us would be great."

"No problem," Shining Armor said.

Once he was in the kitchen and alone, Shining Armor let out a massive sigh as he sagged.

So the mare that had freaked him out the other day was one of Pinkie Pie's sisters. That would explain why she looked similar. And now she was in his house.

Closing his eyes, Shining Armor took a deep breath. He could handle this. No problem. At most it would be an hour or two. He would just have to go back out there, meet them, make some friendly conversation, and he would be done with it. They would go back to their farm and probably not visit for a couple months. By then, he would be well over the dreams.

Placing four glasses of lemonade and several cookies on a tray -- then all of them since this was Pinkie Pie, and her sisters possibly had the same appetite -- Shining made his way back to the main room.

Before he had even stepped into the room fully, the tray had been taken from him and set onto a nearby table. Pinkie then brought the lighter maned sister to meet him.

Judging by the look on her face, the sister was not happy about something.

"This is my older but not oldest and just by a few minutes before me sister, Limestone Pie," Pinkie announced.

"Hello," Shining Armor said, offering his hoof.

Limestone glared at him, then at his hoof, then at him again. Something got Limestone's attention, causing her to look away. With a huff and roll of her eyes, Limestone returned her attention to Shining Armor and smiled.

Although "smile" was being generous to the point of inaccuracy. It looked like something between a pained grimace and an angry sneer.

"Nice to meet you," she said (growled?) from between clenched teeth. She then took a hold of his hoof and gave it a shake that would have put Applejack's to shame.

After releasing her grip on his hoof, Limestone turned away. As Shining Armor rolled his foreleg to make sure that his shoulder was still in its socket, Pinkie Pie wrapped one of her own around his neck.

"Don't mind Limestone," she whispered. "She just gets a little cranky when her blood sugar gets low... or when she's just hungry... or tired... meeting new ponies... off the farm..." Pinkie pulled away rubbing her. "Almost all the time really. But she does have a nice side once you get to know her."

Shining Armor doubted that he would ever see it.

"And this is Marble Pie," Pinkie announced as she pulled the other mare to stand in front of him. "She's the baby of our family."

For a split second, one of Marble's eyes looked up and met Shining Armor's. A blush then spread across her face as she looked away, hiding behind that long flat mane of hers.

This... was not Pinkie Pie. Yes, she had some similar features, but she seemed like she would have more in common with Fluttershy.

Shining Armor felt himself relax a little as he smiled.

"Nice to meet you."

"Mmhmm," Marble said after a moment, giving a nod. Her lips gave a small twist that hinted at a smile.

A small pang of guilt made its way through Shining Armor. He felt bad for being afraid of the mare now standing in front of him. Granted, it was not her that had frightened him for the most part, but still. Marble Pie seemed so shy and dainty. He could not imagine her even hurting a fly.

It was at that point that he remembered how Fluttershy had once stood up to a full sized dragon on her own, and had left it crying before it left Equestria.

And Fluttershy was pretty much a normal pegasus.

This mare was the sister to Pinkie Pie, the strangest pony he had ever met.

Maybe Shining Armor should be a little cautious about her after all. Just, not because of something he dreamed about. But for now, he should just relax and be hospitable.

Let the Games Begin

"Our first contestant," Spike announced, "is Applejack."

Applejack stood at the edge, trying to get herself to move forward. Except she was having a bit of difficulty doing so. This was not what she had in mind when she had agreed to this challenge in the first place. Sure she expected that there would be some ponies watching, but not that it would be this big a production. She was pretty sure that darn near every pony in town had shown up to watch. If she saw Princess Celestia and Princess Luna in the crowd, she would not have been surprised.

"Applejack was born and raised right here in Ponyville," Pinkie Pie said, "with the exception of a short stay in Manehattan. Although the second oldest of the siblings and second youngest in the Ponyville branch of The Apple Family, she is often seen as the one who is in charge of the farm. A lot of her work involves bucking the apple trees. Applejack is also experienced with entering rodeos, where she performs stunts like barrel racing, trick roping, and bucking broncos."

"Wow," Spike said. "She's good at all sorts of bucking, huh?"

Although it sounded like Spike had meant it innocently enough, Applejack could not help but blush slightly at the innuendo of that statement. Judging from the few snickers she could hear, it was safe to guess that she was not the only one.

Well, if any of them tried anything, she could demonstrate her bucking skills on their face.

...in the kicking sense. She would kick them in the face.

Reaching the center of the arena(?), Applejack took off her hat and raised up high, smiling widely as she gave a wave.

"And our second contestant," Spike announced, "Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash took off from where she had been waiting, and flew across the field. A grin spread across her face as she went. Above the crowd, she did a corkscrew, holding one forehoof up as she went.

This was the kind of thing she loved. Two of her favorite things: flying and performing for a crowd. Granted, it was no performing with The Wonderbolts, but it was something. Whatever was going to happen, she was totally up for it. Plus, she might just show Applejack a thing or two. And some of the other ponies as well. Even if she lost (that was a laugh), it would be a totally awesome show. Mares and stallions would be drooling for her. Maybe even a certain stallion would notice her a little more.

"Rainbow Dash original comes from Cloudsdale," Pinkie Pie told the audience, "the biggest and best known pegasus city in all of Equestria. She is training to be a stunt flyer in hopes of one day becoming a member of The Wonderbolts, and is currently a member of the Ponyville weather team. Rainbow is also the only pony alive to have accomplished the legendary... SONIC RAIN-BOOM!"

With the last word, there was a massive echo.

"How did you do that?" Spike asked, looking at Pinkie Pie curiously.

"Trade secret," Pinkie answered with a grin.

Rainbow Dash flew back toward the center of the staging area. She dropped lower and lower as she went, buzzing Applejack and knocking the hat right off the other mare's head. This got a glare from Applejack as she put the hat back in place.

After landing, Rainbow Dash stuck her tongue out.

Applejack stuck her tongue back. She could be just as childish as Rainbow Dash if she wanted.

Before their petty bickering could get any further, Shining Armor moved to step between them. His horn lit up as he moved to look at the two of them.

"So are you two ready?" he asked.

"Ready!" Rainbow Dash declared, puffing up her chest.

"Ah'm ready," Applejack said.

Shining Armor gave a nod and turned toward the crowd.

"The first event," Shining Armor announced, his voice augmented by his magic to be heard by the entire crowd without yelling, "will be the high striker."

A ten foot tall board was brought out. At the top end of it was a bell, and at the bottom was a mechanism for hitting.

"For those of you not aware," Spike said as the event was said up, "the high striker is the proper name for the test of strength game often seen at fairs and carnivals."

"Ooh," Pinkie gasped out. "So that's what it's called."

"Right," Spike replied. "The intent of the game is to ring the bell at the top by hitting the trigger as hard as possible. The impact sends a weight up along the length and toward said bell."

"Sounds like an interesting way to start the competition," Pinkie said. "And it may give a great example of how dynamically different our two competitors could be."

"Well, we're about to see," Spike said. "It looks like the challenge is ready, and that Rainbow Dash is going first."

Rainbow Dash stood in front of the game, studying it for a long moment. It seemed easy enough. She just had to hit the target hard enough to ring the bell. It was not even that high up. Hardly a challenge. She could probably do it in her sleep. Well, maybe not asleep. After all, she did have to hit a target smaller than her head.

Taking off, Rainbow flew away from the game and toward the other side of the field. She then shot toward the high striker, wings flapping as she picked up speed. There was no need for her to go as fast as she could -- that would actually risk destroying the thing before she could hit it (which would be fun) -- but she still wanted to hit it pretty hard. Just before reaching it, she turned and stuck out her hind legs.

There was a thud as she slammed into it, hitting the target dead center. The weight flew up along the length of the board, hitting the bell with a clear ring.

Rainbow Dash grin at that, stretching her wings out wide as she landed. The cheers of several ponies in the crowd reached her as she walked away, moving to sit under an apple tree.

"Beat that," Rainbow said as she passed Applejack.

Applejack did not say anything, but her eyelids drooped as a smirk formed on her face. She made her way toward the high striker, taking her sweet time.

How casual it was bothered Rainbow Dash for some reason. It was just the start, so it made sense that it would be on the easier side, but some uncertainty on Applejack's end would be nice. Although it hardly mattered. Rainbow had managed to ring the bell, and the was the purpose of the game anyways. The best that Applejack could possibly hope for is to tie her. Nothing for her to worry about yet.

Applejack reached the machine and looked at it. She then stretched out one of her hind legs as far as she could and looked at it. Lowering it, she turned around and backed up, tongue sticking out from between her lips as she measured the distance. Leaning forward, Applejack then tugged both her hind legs in and kicked out. The pair hit the target, sending the weight up and up.

It hit the bell, sending a loud ring through the air.

Then it knocked the bell off, and kept going.

There was silence as ponies stared, wide-eyed and slack-jawed at the now broken high strike, the weight vanishing from view as the bell fell to the ground with a metallic clang.

"Woo-hoo!" Apple Bloom shouted from her seat. "Go Applejack!"

Rainbow Dash was also among those that were staring in awe at what happened. Her hind legs gave out from under her, causing her plot to flop against the ground. She hardly moved as Applejack walked by, still smirking.

"Years of apple-bucking," Applejack said. With a quick flick of one back leg, her hoof struck the tree they were under.

One apple fell from the tree, hitting Rainbow Dash on the head before landing right in front of her.

Rainbow Dash could only stare as Applejack continued to walk off.