Rainbow Dash and Applejack were running a race on foot while Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Spike watched from the sidelines. Rainbow's wings weren't tied this time, as she was a lot more willing to play fair than she was at the Running of the Leaves.
As they got near the finish line, Rainbow Dash started to run ahead of Applejack. She was about to win this race!
CHOMP!
Applejack bit Rainbow Dash's tail and pulled her back, and sprinted to the finish line.
"No fair!" said Rainbow Dash, who didn't even continue running after Applejack won. "I didn't use my wings or anything!"
"I'm mighty sorry Rainbow," said Applejack. "Ah couldn't resist."
"You can never resist biting my tail, can you? Sometimes you're trying to hold me back from doing something rash, and a lot of the time it's kinda cute, but can you not do that in the middle of a race? At least for the Running of the Leaves I stopped playing fair first."
Although, come to think of it, Applejack hadn't bit Rainbow Dash's tail for a long time. Not since they got sucked into the Power Ponies comic. She had thought Applejack was losing interest in biting tails.
"Ah call a rematch. Ah promise ah won't bite yer tail until after the race is over."
"Deal!"
As they ran again, Rarity felt jealous of Applejack, her eyes on Rainbow's tail. Her tail was simply divine. It wasn't styled particularly fancy like Rarity's tail, but how many ponies had rainbow tails? The only tail more beautiful than Rainbow's tail, in Rarity's opinion, was Princess Celestia's tail. Why did Applejack get to bite Rainbow's tail all the time?
The only tail Rarity had ever bitten was Fluttershy's tail, when stopping her from paying an outrageous price for a cherry. Ironically Fluttershy was also the only pony to ever bite her tail, to save her from falling off a cliff due to Nightmare Moon. But she couldn't just bite Rainbow's tail for no reason... could she? She had once pinned Rainbow's tail to the ground when she was trying to fly away shortly before the Parasprite invasion. She had to do this with her hooves as she had pins in her mouth. But she wanted to bite Rainbow's tail. There had to be a reason Applejack bit her tail more than any other pony.
As far as Rarity knew, there were eight times before today: When she had tried to attack Nightmare Moon, when she accused Twilight of being a spy, when she asked Twilight to give her her ticket, when she tried to fly up the dragon's mountain, during the Running of the Leaves, when she tried to attack the Flim Flam brothers, when she and Applejack were guarding the fake Crystal Heart, and when the ponies were being sucked into the comic. The times she hadn't witnessed, Applejack had told her about.
So, half the time Applejack had been trying to hold her back from doing something rash. But for the ticket, the Running of the Leaves, the fake Crystal Heart, and the comic? Applejack must love biting Rainbow Dash's tail. Above all other tails, for she had said she bit Spike's tail first when on their way to rescue her from the Diamond Dogs, and it was Fluttershy who bit Rainbow Dash's tail then. Did it... taste really good? No, tails couldn't possibly have a taste. And if it did, it would taste too spicy even for Pinkie Pie. Who had also bitten her tail twice. Maybe she just really liked Rainbow's tail. Or maybe she thought it was fun because more opportunities presented themselves to her.
"I win!" said Rainbow Dash as she reached the finish line, ahead of Applejack by a nose.
"Good game, Rainbow," said Applejack. They did a brohoof, and then Applejack bit Rainbow's tail. Rainbow chuckled a bit. Sometimes she found it annoying when she was stopping her from doing something, but it was kinda amusing.
"How come I never get to bite her tail?" said Rarity.
"Because you've never tried," said Twilight. "I'm sure she'll be flattered that you want to."
"Look, a cloud's right next to the ground," said Rainbow Dash. "That punk must've gotten too heavy. I'll go thin it out so it floats back up."
She flew over to the cloud, stood on top of it, and whipped it repeatedly with her tail.
"Her tail whips are so dazzling!" said Rarity. Maybe not as graceful as her, but she still liked the way her tail moved. Maybe not divine so much as cute.
After about a minute of tail whips, the cloud floated back up to the sky.
"Better make sure it stays there," said Rainbow, and she started to fly upward, but stopped in place, feeling a tug on her tail.
"Applejack!" said Rainbow Dash, who turned around and was surprised to see Rarity biting her tail instead.
"Oh, do forgive me Rainbow Dash," said Rarity, releasing Rainbow's tail. "You do... whatever it is you were going to do."
"No problem," said Rainbow, and she flew up to the cloud. Once she was sure the cloud wasn't falling again, she flew back over to Rarity. Sounding curious rather than annoyed, she said "Why'd you do that? I thought only Applejack bit my tail. Well, Fluttershy bit my tail once, but we were being pulled into a hole."
"Did it bother you? I'm dreadfully sorry. I know Applejack always has a reason for it, but I just really wanted to bite your tail, coz it's simply divine!"
Rainbow Dash blushed affectionately. "Aw, thanks Rarity! Even Applejack never said something like that."
"What did I tell her?" said Twilight to Pinkie and Fluttershy.
"Ah just thought yer tail is the most fun to bite," said Applejack. "When I'm not steppin' up to keep ya from doin' somethin' rash. Rarity, y'all can bite her tail as much as ya want."
"When it comes to talking about 'divine' tails," said Rainbow Dash, "your tail is pretty cute too."
Now it was Rarity's turn to blush out of flattery.
"I especially like how you whip your tail back and forth," Rainbow continued. "It's so..." Was 'graceful' the word she was looking for? That's how Rarity would describe it, but there was only one word Rainbow could use. "Awesome!"
"Aw, that's so sweet, Dashie," said Rarity, and the other four thought so too.
"So, I was wondering... could you whip your tail like that while I try to bite it?"
"I'd love to!" said Rarity, and she started whipping her tail back and forth repeatedly, in a similar style to when it had grown back after defeating Nightmare Moon.
Rainbow Dash was mesmerized at first. Rarity's tail was so beautiful, so graceful, so... awesome! Why had she never bitten her tail before? She'd never really given it much thought, even though Applejack had bitten her tail more times than she could count, and she had bitten Twilight and Pinkie Pie's tails twice, and Fluttershy and Applejack's tails once each, Applejack being right after she had done the same to her in the Running of the Leaves. Of all her friends, Rarity was the only one who's tail she hadn't bitten. She just hadn't had a reason to bite Rarity's tail yet, but now she did!
She snapped out of it. Now was her time to try to bite Rarity's tail. She liked the challenge of trying to bite a moving target. Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, and Fluttershy's tails hadn't really been moving when Rainbow had bitten them.
She hovered in the air next to Rarity's tail. She tried to bite, but missed, and Rarity's tail whipped her lightly in the head.
"Oh, I'm sorry Rainbow Dash, did that hurt?" said Rarity, stopping her tail whips.
"Not at all!" said Rainbow. Rarity's tail whip was too light to hurt even a little bit. "Keep going!"
Rarity continued to whip her tail back and forth. Rainbow tried biting her tail again, but missed. Another light, harmless tail whip to the face. Rainbow let Rarity whip her a few more times before backing up, and trying again, this time as fast as she could. Rainbow's teeth closed around Rarity's purple, stylish tail, and she pulled on it lightly.
"I win!" said Rainbow through Rarity's tail.
"Well done," said Rarity, who liked the feeling of Rainbow pulling on her tail. Something about it was cute. She hadn't appreciated it when Fluttershy had bitten her tail because she had been about to fall to her death at the time.
Rainbow released Rarity's tail. "Now I'm gonna fly around, and see if you can bite my tail!"
"Will I be able to reach it?" said Rarity.
"Don't worry! I won't fly too high or too fast!"
"Can ah compete too?" said Applejack.
Rainbow chuckled. "Next round. You're a world-class athlete like me. Let's give Rarity some practice first."
"Sounds fair," said Applejack, who sat on the sidelines with Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Spike.
Spike was a little jealous. Rainbow Dash and Rarity had seemed a little too friendly with each other. It was probably nothing, Rarity was just as friendly with Fluttershy and Applejack sometimes. He'd have to bite Rarity's tail sometime. He hoped it wouldn't hurt, but they didn't seem to feel any pain at all. The only tail he had ever bitten was Applejack's tail when she was bucking him off her in the Iron Pony Competition.
Rainbow started to fly, and Rarity chased her around, trying to bite her tail. Initially her tail was always out of reach at the last second, but Rarity started to run faster, motivated by wanting to bite such a beautiful tail again, and Rainbow eventually started to ease up, thinking she might have been going too fast for her.
As Rainbow flew straight, Rarity ran up behind her and jumped, but Rainbow flew to the right at the last second, causing Rarity to fall face-first to the ground.
After about five minutes, Rarity caught up to Rainbow Dash again, anticipating a turn. Rainbow turned to the left this time, but Rarity followed, jumped up, and caught Rainbow Dash's tail in her teeth. Rarity pulled her to the ground.
"Not bad," said Rainbow Dash.
"Would you like me to whip my tail again before Applejack jumps in?" said Rarity.
"That'd be AWESOME!"
"This time I'll walk around. It won't tire me out, but it will be a little more of a challenge."
Rarity whipped her tail back and forth, while walking around the racetrack, not fast, but not too slow either.
Rainbow Dash flew behind the unicorn and tried to bite her tail, receiving a painless tail whip to the face. This was more challenging than before. But Rainbow could still fly fast, so she always kept up with Rarity.
Rarity was halfway across the racetrack when Rainbow Dash finally bit her tail and pulled on it, stopping her in her tracks.
"Now, Rarity, Applejack, see if you can catch me!" said Rainbow Dash. "First to three tailbites wins!"
"Ooh!" said Pinkie Pie. "A contest! Can I enter?"
"If you want," said Rainbow Dash.
This would make things more harder for Rarity. But, she could always set up a time with Rainbow Dash to do this on her own again.