True Victor: Winning for Farmponies

by HapHazred

After the Canterlot Games Closing Ceremony

"Can't believe that after all that I only got a gold and a silver," Rainbow muttered as she trotted away from the stadium, the afternoon light glinting off her set of medals. "I must have been tired after that dumb night on the mountain. Plus, I think I got a cold from all that snow."

Applejack sneezed. "You think you got it bad. Pegasi got nice fluffy coats, right?" She packed her own bronze medal away. "I was lucky to even place third on the sprint."

Still, she thought. A gold and a bronze. There were worse things that could have happened.

"I guess," Rainbow said, nudging her friend. "Fancy a wing?"

Applejack grinned. "Boy, would I."

Rainbow draped her blue wing over Applejack's side. Applejack smiled.

"That's better," she said.

The remaining events had been tough, especially considering how unrested the pair had been. Rainbow had easily won the sprint, but fatigue had caught up with her on the long-distance flight and she had been overtaken by some flyer from Manehattan. It had been worse for Applejack. Every muscle she had ached, and her hoof was sore from wrestling with Victor. Hoofit had easily overtaken her on the sprint, and so had somepony Applejack had never even heard of.

It had still been two days of enjoyment. Applejack had been sure to get Granny Smith to take a picture. She held it up so she could see it properly. There was her, Rainbow, and even Haywire and a few of the other athletes. Spitfire was next to Rainbow, looking very professional. She had even worn a tie, which she had claimed chafed constantly.

Harshwhinny was nowhere to be seen. Applejack felt sad at that. Even though the games inspector had lied to her and to a certain extent used her, she still couldn't have made it this far without her, and it was hard to feel angry when all she had done was to get her son out of a catatonic state.

"Ah, there you are."

Applejack turned to the sound of the voice.

Not far away was Harshwhinny. Her eyes were grey and her mane was still a mess, but she was actually smiling. Next to her, in a wheelchair, was Victor.

Gone was the empty, blank machine that had easily beaten Rainbow, and gone was the vicious, insane tyrant that Applejack had knocked out in front of the temple. This Victor looked tired, sapped of energy, but coherent and awake. Healthy, even, if it wasn't for the bandages wrapped around his hooves. He held them up.

"A little souvenir from our, ah, boxing match," he said. He gave an awkward chuckle. "I wished to apologise. I was... not myself."

Harshwhinny scowled. “I told him he needed rest, but…”

Applejack noticed his cutie-mark. It was complete, now. An identical copy of Harshwhinny's: just a regular golden trophy.

"The doctors called me to come and see him," she said. "I'm sorry I missed your events."

Applejack nodded. "Ain't no problem," she said. "So, you're healed?"

"Well, healing," Victor said, pointing to a very prominent black eye. "I can't practise or compete for a while, so I'll be seeking occupation elsewhere for a time. The doctors have told me that focusing too hard on winning is, well, damaging. To me, at least."

"Well, yeah. It's not about winning," Rainbow said. "It's about being the best you can be."

Victor tilted his head. "Quite. It's something that you can forget rather easily."

“Yeah, I know,” Rainbow admitted, rubbing the side of her head with an embarrassed smile.

Victor gestured towards Applejack's gold medal, hanging off her saddlebag. "I should hope that you feel you've earned that, now?"

Applejack nodded.

"Yup."

Victor gave Applejack a look of relief. "Good. That's good." He breathed out. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I seem to have missed the past five years. I'd rather like to catch it up."

Harshwhinny beamed at Applejack and Rainbow. "Thank you both," she said. "If you ever want me to coach you again... Well, I shan't lie to you next time."

Applejack grinned. "Perhaps next time the Canterlot Three comes around," she said. She turned to Rainbow. "We gotta go. Got a train to catch."

"Yeah we do," Rainbow said. "Bye, Ms. Harshwhinny. Bye, um... Victor, was it?"

"Victor Valiance. Goodbye, number eleven."

"It's Rainbow, actually."

"To be honest, I quite like number eleven. And you are...?"

"Applejack," Applejack said. "From Ponyville."

Victor snorted as he and Harshwhinny left. "Of course you are. All the weird ones are from Ponyville..."

"Ain't nothin' wrong with that."

"Never said there was."

With that, Victor left. Rainbow and Applejack returned to walking towards the train station. Applejack couldn't wait to put her new picture up next to the one on the dresser. She gave Rainbow a sideways look.

“So, about your lil’ speech on the mountaintop…”

“Don’t make it weird.”

“It sounded pretty weird.”

“I only meant for, like, hugs and stuff. Nothing too mushy.”

“Stuff? And hugs is pretty ‘mushy’.”

“Hey, if you want it to be weird that bad, fine, let’s make it weird,” Rainbow said, nuzzling Applejack, who smiled. “You’re cool. I wanna be mushy with you.”

“There are worse things than weird,” Applejack said. “And I like mush.” She grinned. “Guess I couldn’t resist those hooves.”

“I sometimes think you’re making fun of me.”

“I would never.”

Rainbow pressed herself against Applejack. “Thanks for being there. On the mountain and during the games. You could have been anypony, but I’m super glad it was you.”

“Likewise, partner.”

The two kept waking. Now pressed against her, Rainbow’s eyebrow raised.

“Hey, you’re walking a bit different, now.”

“You mean less like a pegasus?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Rainbow said. “What, were all those practise sessions just not worth the trouble?”

Applejack shrugged. “Just somethin’ Victor told me,” she said. “Say, you want me to teach you how to move like an Earth pony?”

Rainbow smirked. “I’d like that, yeah.”

---

***

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The End

Author's Note:

And that's a wrap.

I hope you enjoyed the story, since I certainly enjoyed writing it. Thanks again to Tchernobog and Yaoi Mistress for helping out, it was much appreciated.

I had most fun with this story for playing around with some ideas I've had for a while, namely the 'winning' cutie mark.

If you want to comment, please feel free, as I always enjoy reading comments. I hope to seeing you guys soon!

Cheerio!

Comments

[CommanderCuddle]

Aye its a thing

[Seether00]

Overall a good story. The AppleDash seemed a bit tacked on though. The story was fine without that.

[Weehawk]

7753576
Pretty sure Dash doesn't lose often. Have we see her lose a competition besides the running of the leaves? Now she's not perfect, and might lose on some technical trick based stuff. She's a known athlete, basically for being unbeatable at the pre-games, but that's likely just on the speed factor, maybe weather stuff.

[HapHazred]

7802103 She still only got second at the Equestria Games relay. She's no stranger to coming second.

Besides, no matter how good of an athlete you are, you can still lose. This is because generally, at big sporting events, you're competing against other good athletes. Not to mention, if you're exhausted or off your game, you're going to be less effective.

I don't think it's that big of a stretch for her to place other than first, given the situation.

[Weehawk]

7802667
RD carried a team that couldn't otherwise qualify to second place against the next 3 best athletes in a team event. Team sports are more likely to see the best athletes take less than first. I see Rainbow as the likes that almost always takes first in solo events, and if she retires before declining, maintaining that to the end of her career like a few irl athletes.

I haven't read this story yet, it's on my list. So if you're referencing this story specifically I have no comments for that yet lol. <3

[huntersunday]

I really enjoyed this, it was a very interesting.

[Dafaddah]

That was quite a rush! I enjoyed it tremendously!

[HapHazred]

7934720 Cheers, glad you enjoyed it.