Competing From the Heart

by Aramadon

Until She Can't Faint Any More.

A cool, crisp night greeted Rainbow Dash as she flew her way towards Sweet Apple Acres. The night had officially begun, meaning that she had to fly by the low light of a crescent moon. In fact, it was so dark that she returned to her own house first, and navigated by the skies. There was one particular start that she could follow straight from her house to Applejack’s. Rainbow bit her lip. If there were no lights on at the Apple family home, she was worried she might fly right on by it.

So far, the night was as quiet as it was dark, so she was left alone with her thoughts. I can’t believe Applejack beat me to it! I hate getting somewhere second. Especially…well, it’ll all work out. Applejack will understand, and we’ll work something out.

Yes, all she had to do was go up to Applejack and tell her that she was going to be her romantic rival. Okay, so maybe that wasn’t something she looked forward to. She just had to tell herself that things were going to be just fine. Rainbow gulped. Applejack and I are always able to work something out.

* * *

Applejack had hoped that her state of emotional Limbo would have worn off by the time she got home, but it seemed that she wasn’t going to be so lucky. Perhaps she had to sleep it off. Taking a deep breath, she looked up towards the gate to Sweet Apple Acres. She let herself smile – at least she was home. What’s more, there seemed to be more good news – her best rainbow-colored friend and favorite athletic rival was swooping in from the sky to greet her. Once Rainbow Dash had landed, the farmer jogged up to her friend and gave her a great big hug. “Howdy, Rainbow! You don’t know how good it is to see you right now. What brings you around?”

Her friend seemed a little bit awkward and stiff in Applejack’s embrace. Applejack backed off a couple steps and looked Rainbow in the eye. “What’s up?”

Rainbow cleared her throat. “Okay, well, I just came over from Rarity’s place.”

Oh. OH. “Well, yeah…how much have you heard. Sorry for not tellin’ ya, but I didn’t really think I had anything to announce just yet.”

“Actually, it’s more than that. You see…well, there’s just no easy way to say this – I also asked Rarity out.”

Applejack’s eyes widened and her through suddenly felt dry. “You…did? And…what did she say?”

“Well, she was worried about what you might think.”

“Ah, yes. She did agree to go on a date with me.” The two of them got quiet, and Applejack found herself just staring at Rainbow. What does a pony even say in a situation like this?

“But, from what I understand, you two aren’t actually together.”

“Well, no.” As soon as the words, left her mouth, Applejack bit her tongue. Consarn it, why did she have to be so honest? About this too, of all things.

Rainbow stood as straight as she could, and proclaimed loudly, “Well then, Applejack, I challenge you for the heart of Rarity!”

Suddenly, the entire world felt jumbled to Applejack. And probably tilted a little bit to the right. “Challenge? How does that even work?”

Rainbow continued, not missing a beat. “Well, you don’t have plans for your date to be for the dance this Saturday, right?”

“No.” Consarn it again, Applejack. Why do you have to go and tell her these things?

“Well then, we’ll each have a date with her. I’ll take her to the dance, and you’ll finish planning whatever date you’re going to set up. Then, we’ll see who she chooses to keep going out with. We can keep going on dates for as long as it takes! Unless, of course, you’re not up to the competition, and you’d rather withdraw.”

Applejack looked at Rainbow with steel in her eyes. “Of course not. You’re on.”

“It’s decided then. Now, I just have to tell Rarity that we’ve started an official competition for her.” Rainbow poised to take off towards Rarity’s boutique, but Applejack grabbed Rainbow’s tail in her mouth first. Upon feeling the resistance, Rainbow settled back down and folded her wings again. “Uh…Applejack?”

Applejack spat the tail back out of her mouth and stepped up to look Rainbow in the eyes. Just a few inches away, she stopped. “There’s no way I’m letting you go tell Rarity that by yourself. We’re going together.”

“If you say so. It’s getting pretty late for us to walk there, though.”

“In that case, I guess you’ll have to give me a ride.”

Rainbow moved her head back a little in surprise. “But…you never let me give you a ride to places.”

“I usually like to walk when I can. I prefer to keep my hooves on the ground, unless there’s special circumstances – and we’ve got special circumstances here, don’t we?”

Rainbow shrugged and turned around. “Well then, climb aboard.”

* * *

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Rarity’s eyes flittered open once more. Groggily, she scooted off of her fainting couch and shuffled toward the door. She grabbed the door in her magic by instinct, but then stopped herself – a lady always needed to look presentable. Shaking herself awake, she peeked a look in a mirror. Deciding that she still looked fabulous (it’s a good thing she had practiced how to take emergency naps without messing up her hair), she felt a major wave of deja vu. Once that passed, she opened the door to be greeted by the sight of a Rainbow…and an Applejack.

A sense of foreboding settled within her stomach, but she greeted them graciously just the same. “Hello, girls. Do come in.”

As two of her closest friend walked into her boutique, A part of Rarity wished that she could just start talking to them about how her store was doing, maybe ask them to try on a few dresses, and just generally pretend that there wasn’t a metaphorical elephant in the room. Oh well, she supposed. Best to get it over with.

“So, have you two come to an understanding?”

Applejack cleared her throat. “Yes. We’re all important friends to each other here, so we had to.”

Rainbow Dash nodded, and took her turn to speak – “Neither of us was going to back down, so we decided to do what we always do – start a competition.”

Rarity tilted her head. “Wha?”

Applejack continued, “If you want to go to the dance with Rainbow, I figure you should go. If you still want to go on a date with me, then we should do that. And, when you’re ready, you can make your choice. You can choose either of us as your special somepony…” Applejack lowered her head slightly, “Or neither, if that’s what you end up going with.”

Rainbow then said something else, but Rarity didn’t quite hear it – everything was getting to be a little hazy. As they continued to explain their agreement, Rarity sat hoping for her brain to come back online. “Nope, I told you I was done for the day.” Fabulous. This couldn’t possibly go wrong.

The pair seemed to finish what they were saying, and looked at her expectantly, but she had no reply to give. Rarity watched Silence come back into the room. It seemed she was pregnant now. Rarity supposed that congratulations were in order.

Through whatever fog was currently inhabiting her mind, she could only think of one action to take. “Yes, we’ll do that thing you just said. Well, I’m glad that’s settled. Thank you for coming over, dears. I’ll see you both tomorrow, probably.” She opened the door and ushered them outside – “You two have a nice night, now.”

As she closed the door, she turned toward the kitchen. Even Rarity could only faint so many times in a row. She knew what she needed this time – ice cream. Oh dear Celestia, was it time to break out the ice cream.

Comments

[Hobbestc]

Gotta wonder if Rarity is even into mares, lol.

[Archangel of the Silent]

5130584 In that case, good on you.

Surely you two know that's not how this works? I'm still allowed to have faith in the "clouded judgment" excuse, right?

[Papillon Rose]

Some days are like that.