//------------------------------// // The Main 6's Muddy Race // Story: Messy Ponies // by The Dark Wolf //------------------------------// One day in the middle of spring, Rainbow Dash challenged her friends to a race, promising not to use her wings. They all accepted, Applejack always being one to compete with Rainbow, Twilight wanting to see if they could beat her when they weren't busy tricking each other, Pinkie Pie wanting to have fun, Rarity wanting to make new sports outfits to show off during the race, and Fluttershy not wanting to disappoint Rainbow Dash. Rarity spent the night working on their outfits, barely hearing the pouring rain outside. The next morning, the Main 6 and Spike met up at Carousel Boutique. Rarity presented each pony with her new outfit, already wearing her own. Rarity's outfit was a sparkly purple tank top and skintight pink shorts. Twilight Sparkle's outfit was a sparkly dark blue tank top and skintight red shorts. Rainbow Dash's outfit was a rainbow T-shirt with a red lightning bolt at the front, and skintight white shorts. Applejack's outfit was a red T-shirt with skintight black shorts. Fluttershy's outfit was a white tank top and skintight green shorts. Pinkie Pie's outfit was a sparkly dark pink tank top and light blue skintight shorts. "These look lovely," said Fluttershy. "Why, thank you, darling," said Rarity. "You look even more beautiful in that," said Spike to Rarity. Rainbow Dash loved how athletic it made her look, as well as the rainbow color which fit with her perfectly. "Now, where are we going to race?" said Twilight. "This way!" Rainbow Dash led her friends toward the racetrack. When they got there, Rarity gasped. The racetrack was made of dirt, and the rain from last night had turned it into a muddy track. "Oh, sorry Rarity," said Rainbow Dash. "I didn't think it'd be mud. You can drop out of the race if you want." Rarity appreciated the offer. But, she wanted to run this race, and had a little more tolerance for getting dirty than she used to. "Oh, it's fine, darling. I'll run the race anyway. I've gotten dirtier at the Sisterhooves Social than this race will probably get me." "If you say so." "This'll make the race so much more fun!" said Pinkie Pie excitedly. They walked over to their places at the start line, Rarity cringing a bit at the mud squishing under her hooves. "On your marks... get set... go!" Spike raised a flag. The ponies immediately began galloping across the muddy racetrack. As they ran, they splattered mud on themselves, though only small drops of mud got above their knees every few seconds. Rainbow Dash and Applejack pulled ahead, neck in neck, and probably getting splattered the most because they ran faster. Twilight ran at a more steady pace, though not as slowly as she had run in the Running of the Leaves, as this race was considerably shorter. In front of her, Pinkie Pie ran slightly faster. Fluttershy was running the slowest, but she didn't care whether she won or lost. She just thought it was fun to be a part of the race, and to not let Rainbow Dash down by refusing her challenge. Rarity ran just in front of Pinkie Pie, but she was disgusted at all the mud that was getting on her hooves, at running through mud for such an extended period of time. Her mind wasn't entirely on running because of this, causing her to slip in a slick patch of mud and fall backwards. She rolled backwards a bit, stopping facedown. "Rarity, are you all right?" said Fluttershy, stopping and sitting down in the mud next to her. Rarity was covered in mud from head to toe. "I would be if I wasn't so dirty." "It's all right. I'll give you a nice wash under Rainbow Dash's raincloud when this is over." Fluttershy stood up and held out a muddy hoof. Rarity took her hoof, not caring how dirty Fluttershy was because she was much dirtier. As Rarity and Fluttershy continued to run at their own pace, Pinkie Pie looked to the right and saw a large Discord-shaped balloon flying by. No doubt Discord was being playful today. "Ooooh!" said Pinkie, stopping in her tracks to look at the balloon. Twilight, who was running right behind Pinkie, was not prepared for Pinkie's sudden stop. Twilight slammed into Pinkie's butt and fell on her back, landing in the mud with a slight splash. A few extra splotches of mud got on Pinkie, but she didn't notice. "Pinkie!" said Twilight, sitting up. "Oops! Sorry Twilight!" said Pinkie. "You really shouldn't have run right behind me." Twilight had to agree. She stood back up and started running again while Pinkie continued to stare at the balloon, until Rarity ran by her. Not wanting to miss out on the rest of the race, Pinkie bounced after them, splashing mud with each bounce. Fluttershy was just running faster when she saw a frog hop in front of her, trying to cross the racetrack. Fluttershy didn't want to step on it, so she jumped over it, flapping her wings slightly. In her sudden fear of squishing the frog, she only stayed airborne for about a second, and fell face-first in the mud. She looked to her side and saw the frog safely hop to the other side. Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were still in the lead. Both athletic mares were playing fair and running as fast as their hooves would carry them. As they approached the finish line, it seemed as though they were going to tie. Then Rainbow tripped over a rock. Because of the speed she had been running at, she tumbled forward through the muddy racetrack, moving at a slightly slower pace than she had run. Applejack crossed the finish line seconds before Rainbow Dash slid past it feet-first on her back. "Ah win!" said Applejack. Rainbow sat up, completely saturated in mud and annoyed that she had lost the race because of tripping on a rock. But, she remembered to be a good sport, so she gave Applejack a hoof bump. "I'll try harder next time." Twilight crossed the finish line third. She felt she did well by placing only behind the two athletes. Rarity finished next, and sat down to rest. She didn't care that she was sitting in mud, because it was impossible for her to get any muddier in her current state. Fluttershy crossed the finish line fifth, having overtaken Pinkie. Pinkie bounced past the finish line last, more splattered with mud than Applejack. As soon as she was across, she promptly began rolling around in the mud, giggling and having fun, not caring that she had placed last. "Typical Pinkie," said Twilight, and the ponies laughed. After congratulating Applejack on winning the race - and being the cleanest pony, for she only had muddy hooves and relatively small splatters of mud on the rest of her - the ponies walked to the side of the track, where Spike was keeping score. "Spike, go to my castle and get us some soap," said Twilight. "At least three containers. We're going to need a lot." "Right away!" Spike ran off towards the castle. "I'll get the water," said Rainbow, flying into the sky. "I don't mind being covered in mud," said Pinkie cheerfully. "In fact, I think it's really fun!" "Speak for yourself," said Rarity. "Besides, we are having a party at Sugarcube Corner, if you recall, and we simply must wash off and be spotlessly clean before that." "Oh, right. How could I forget about a party? Especially one I was hosting? Silly me!" "And we should probably leave these outfits on. They need to be washed too." Soon Rainbow Dash returned with a grey raincloud, and minutes later, Spike returned with three bottles of liquid soap. Rainbow Dash kicked the raincloud, which started to rain hard. All six ponies stood under it, enjoying the shower as the rain washed the mud off them, for the most part. Their outfits still looked a little dirty, but the worst of the mud was gone, so they stepped out of the rain. "I believe Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and I should go first," said Rarity. "We got the dirtiest." "I'll wash Rainbow Dash," said Applejack. Rainbow Dash nodded in approval. "Um... maybe I should wash Rarity," said Fluttershy, remembering what she had said to her during the race. "Then I'll wash Pinkie Pie," said Twilight. Applejack, Fluttershy, and Twilight each picked up a bottle of soap. They each squeezed some soap out of the container onto Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie, respectively. They made sure to get a bit on every part of them, on their backs, their sides, all their legs, their rumps, and in Rainbow's case, her wings. "Oh, darling, please use more," said Rarity, for Fluttershy had squeezed her soap bottle too lightly, not putting enough soap on her. "I'm filthy." Fluttershy squeezed a little harder, putting enough soap on Rarity to make the bottle half-empty. Rarity was satisfied. Pinkie giggled at the funny feeling of Twilight pouring the soap on her. "That was a little too much," said Rainbow Dash as Applejack squeezed the soap container too hard near her back. The only places they didn't put soap was on their manes and tails. "Oh, I forgot the shampoo," said Twilight. "I'm on it!" Spike ran back towards the castle. While they waited for Spike, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Twilight began rubbing Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie all over with their hooves. In seconds the soap became foamy. "Ahhhh," Rarity sighed, enjoying Fluttershy's massage on her back and the cleanness of the soap as it was washing away all traces of that repulsive mud that had gotten on her. Pinkie Pie laughed as Twilight was rubbing her sides with her hooves, making the soap foamier. "Stop! That tickles!" "Careful with my wings!" Rainbow Dash said as Applejack was now rubbing them firmly after washing her sides first. Applejack rubbed a little softer, and then started to scrub Rainbow Dash's butt. By the time Applejack was washing Rainbow's back, Fluttershy was rubbing Rarity's rear, enjoying how soft it felt, and Twilight was rubbing Pinkie's behind, causing Pinkie to giggle because she thought the sensation was funny. Soon Twilight moved to scrubbing Pinkie's back legs with her hooves, and Applejack did the same to Rainbow Dash. Applejack finished with Rainbow's back legs faster and started her underbelly. Rainbow started to laugh and tried to stay still, for she was ticklish. Fluttershy finally moved on from Rarity's butt to her sides. Rarity loved how gently Fluttershy was rubbing her. She wouldn't have chosen any other pony to wash her. Once Twilight had cleaned Pinkie's back legs thoroughly, double checking so as to not miss a spot, she started on her front legs. Applejack finished washing Rainbow Dash first, because she had scrubbed harder and faster. It took a few more minutes for Fluttershy and Twilight to finish, as Rarity enjoyed Fluttershy massaging her as if she was at the spa, and Twilight wanted to make sure she had scrubbed every inch of Pinkie and that there wasn't a single dirty spot left on her. When they were done, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie were completely covered in soap suds, except for their manes and tails. "I got the shampoo," said Spike, who had returned in the middle of the wash. "Let's do this part ourselves," said Twilight. One by one, the ponies each put a dollop of shampoo on their hooves and lathered their manes and tails completely. Then, it was time for Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie to wash Applejack, Fluttershy, and Twilight. "I'll apply just the right amount of soap for you, Fluttershy," said Rarity as she squeezed some of the soap on Fluttershy. "Just don't scrub too hard," said Fluttershy, who saw how hard Applejack had scrubbed Rainbow Dash and wasn't sure she'd be comfortable with it. "Of course, darling." Rainbow Dash, of course, had every intention of scrubbing Applejack as hard as she could. This was how they liked it. "Ah don't know why ah have to do this too," said Applejack. "Ah got the least dirty out of any of you." Pinkie squeezed her bottle of soap too hard, so that Twilight was almost as soaked with the liquid soap as she was with rainwater. Their soap bottle was now empty. "Pinkie!" "Oops... I guess I got a little too carried away." Rainbow Dash started scrubbing Applejack's sides, just as vigorous as Applejack had scrubbed her. Rarity started on Fluttershy's back, as Fluttershy had done for her. Fluttershy liked it, and relaxed knowing Rarity was being just as gentle with the soap massage as she had been with her. Would she have expected any less from Rarity? Pinkie Pie started on Twilight's butt, which promptly became covered in thick foam. Pinkie rubbed faster than Twilight had, but Twilight didn't mind. Rainbow Dash quickly finished Applejack's sides and got to her back, while Rarity delicately rubbed her soapy hooves against Fluttershy's wings, and Pinkie moved down to Twilight's back legs. As the washing progressed, the soap became more foamy, and, like the ponies washing them, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Twilight greatly enjoyed this. Rainbow was scrubbing Applejack's back legs when Rarity scrubbed Fluttershy's rear, and Pinkie scrubbed Twilight's underbelly. Then, Rainbow moved up to Applejack's underbelly, Rarity moved down to Fluttershy's back legs, and Pinkie moved up to Twilight's front legs. Finally, all six ponies stood covered in soap bubbles, and, in the case of their manes and tails, shampoo. Twilight had twice as much foam on her as the others, looking as though she had been sprayed with whip cream. "Now, let's rinse," said Twilight. "Hold on," said Rarity. "We haven't done our back hooves yet." "I think we should wash our own back hooves," said Rainbow Dash. "I don't like other ponies touching my hooves." "Besides, I'm really ticklish there too," said Pinkie. The ponies sat down and rubbed their soapy front hooves against their back hooves for about ten seconds. Then, they stood up and walked back under the raincloud, which was still raining. In seconds, the soap was rinsed off them. They walked out of the raincloud, as sparkly clean as they were dripping wet. "Wow," said Spike, looking at how much Rarity was sparkling, and her wet mane. She looked simply dazzling. "Ah don't suppose you know how to dry us off right away," said Applejack. "Leave that to me!" said Rainbow Dash. She flew fast around her friends, creating a whirlwind much like when she first met Twilight. When it cleared, all of them and their outfits were dry, though their manes were a bit puffy. Fortunately, Rarity was ready to fix that.