“Well,” Rarity says to Doug as they and the rest of the spectators watch Applejack and Twilight Sparkle square off, “When I woke up this morning, I certainly wasn’t expecting this to happen.”
“And it seemed like such a nice start, too,” Doug replies with a heavy sigh, a short wave of his hand getting Rainbow to land next to him. He tussles her mane, Rainbow taking the chance to rub up next to him. In front of them, Applejack and Twilight have begun to wildly gesticulate at the various contests, both ones they already performed in and the ones yet to come. Doug glances to Rarity, “Do you ever feel… oh, what’s the word. Constrained by Applejack?”
“She certainly doesn’t care for practical magical applications, though she does tend to limit that particular sentiment to areas she runs. Such as at the farm.” Rarity glances towards Ponyville, specifically her Boutique, “I’ve never heard her mention any such prejudices against me or other unicorns, merely distaste at our preferred methods of executing our actions.”
“So, I guess I’m failing to see the problem,” Doug says as he motions to Applejack. “Twilight is doing everything Applejack wants, and yet Applejack continues to press arbitrary restrictions on her.”
“Horn envy?” Rainbow smirks, though she huffs a little at the admission. “Aww, I kinda want it to be wing envy.” She snuggles up next to Doug, “You want a nice pair of wings?”
“I’ve got all the wings I want right here,” Doug says, his saccharine tone matching his overemphasized smile. His hand shifts to between Rainbow’s wings, starting to explore the thick muscles. He grunts as Twilight and Applejack nearly slam their heads into each other, “Okay, guess I’m stepping in.”
Doug stands, Fluttershy wiping a bit of the sweat beading on her brow, and walks up to Applejack, resting a hand on her withers. She whips her head to the side to glare at him, though her harsh demeanor fades slightly at her stallion getting involved. “Walk with me, Applejack?” Doug says, as calm and nicely as he can.
Applejack turns back to Twilight, a look that says, ‘this isn’t over,’ Twilight returning a slightly hesitant nod. Applejack turns, walking past the growing crowd of ponies to the relatively unoccupied tree line.
“They can continue without us,” Doug says as Twilight and Trixie make their way over to a few hay bales. Spike’s voice fades into the background as he sits down, and soon the clamor of the ponies fades as well. Applejack huffs as she lays next to Doug, watching the two unicorns struggle to lift, much less throw, the bales of hay larger than they are. Her frown fails to disappear as Twilight slips, the bale of hay landing on top of the unicorn, though Doug’s smile turns to a thin smirk.
“So,” Doug says as he rubs into her mane, “you doing okay?” His gaze turns down, trying to take in the unusually subdued mare. Her anger, steadily building when she was facing down Twilight, seems to be festering, waiting to burst out.
Applejack looks up at the apple trees, trying to avoid Doug’s gaze. The apples on the trees, small red orbs and blossoms and green leaves, all the stages of growing represented around them. “It ain’t fair,” she finally says, recalling how Twilight had helped harvest apples from these very trees. “It ain’t fair that us earth ponies need a separate category all to ourselves. No matter how fast Ah run, Ah’ll never be faster than Rainbow Dash using her wings. Ah’m barely better than Trixie at roping, and Ah’ve spent years honing that particular skill! Blue ribbon champion of Ponyville, for Celestia’s sake, so it ain’t like Ah don’t know what Ah’m doing!”
“I hear you there,” Doug says, shaking his head. He thinks back to all the incredible things that he’s seen the ponies do, whether it is sprouting trees before his eyes, or flying close to the speed of sound, or nearly anything to do with magic. But also their ability to love and forgive, to welcome the stranger (even if it is mostly restricted to other ponies in that regard).
“Do ya?” Applejack says swiftly, though she snorts as she looks over at his seated form. She chuckles to herself as she shakes her head, “Ah guess you do. Probably better’n most of the ponies out there.” She winks at him, “Even with those weak ears of yours.”
Doug flicks his ear, “And it doesn’t help me at all to be resentful about that sort of thing.” He flicks Applejack’s ear next, the earth pony wincing for a brief second, before he starts scratching. “I’m reminded of a few of the games that I played before I came here. And what was considered ‘fair’ or ‘allowed’ in those games.”
“Oh yeah?” Applejack says, smiling. The two watch as one of the bales of hay arcs through the air, landing close to the middle of the marked path.
“So, we had sports that simulated fighting, like when Rainbow Dash and I, or you, wrestle. And maybe one person is stronger than the other. That can make them difficult or nearly impossible to beat. Kind of like if you used your full strength when we wrestle.”
“Well, Ah hold back to make sure you don’t get hurt.” Applejack nuzzles Doug’s chest, watching as a bale of hay initially surrounded in a raspberry aura blasts off into the sky. Applejack briefly grimaces at the show of strength, Twilight a cross between smug at winning again and almost apologetic by how much she is winning by.
“Sure, I guess. But, holding back for safety reasons, or not allowing certain moves because they lead to injuries is different than what I’m getting at. Do you hold back against Rainbow?”
Applejack snorts, “Of course not. She’s stronger than me, at least with her forelegs.”
“So, imagine that you only wrestled against me. You got used to how much you could safely push. Then you start wrestling Rainbow. Would you restrict her to only wrestling at half strength? Would you only allow her to defend herself like I would, because that’s what you’ve practiced against and are used to facing?”
Applejack sighs as she shakes her head. “No. But Ah wouldn’t want to be the pony that has to be coddled, either! Ah don’t want to need a handicap in order to beat them! And Twilight just being... Twilight puts all my hard work to shame!”
“Does she?” Doug asks, motioning to the apple trees around them. “Can she grow apples like you can?” He smiles at Applejack's smile and short shake of the head, continuing, “But, even then, I don’t think you need to find an area in which you are better than somepony in order to feel good about yourself. Because there is always a better pony at something.”
“That don’t sound quite right,” Applejack says. “Surely somepony is the best.”
Doug shrugs, “Best at what? One dimension of something, sure. Somepony might have the fastest mile time. But somepony else might have a faster half mile than that pony. And you’ll quickly find that there are so many different ways to take things that nopony is the best at everything.”
“Except Princess Celestia,” Applejack says with a smirk.
“How many foals does she have?” Doug replies, his hand moving to Applejack’s belly.
The two watch in silence as Rainbow Dash demonstrates bouncing a ball, tossing it to Twilight. The unicorn bounces it off her head once, then off her horn, the odd angle sending the ball off to the side. Applejack smirks, though she knows she isn’t much better, as Trixie uses her flank to bounce the ball a few times, many of the crowded ponies cheering.
Doug’s hand moves to Applejack’s flank, giving the taut muscles an appreciative squeeze, “Well, how are we going to put that resentment to good use? If there even is one; is it worth getting hung up on something that will never be? I’m never going to lift an ursa minor. Should I beat myself up about it because Twilight can?”
Applejack smiles back at Doug, tensing her legs, “Well, when ya put it like that, Ah suppose Ah might be overfilling the barrel just a mite.”
Doug pats Applejack on the flank, “I don’t think it’s worth getting hung up on whether or not you or Twilight is better at any particular task. Or you and anypony else, for that matter. If you want to hold somepony up as an ideal, as a goal, then great. But, for the day to day striving to improve, you have to compare yourself to how you were yesterday. Stop doing the things that are holding you back.”
“What about you, Doug?” Applejack says with a sour note in her voice, turning her head so her mane covers her eyes. “What if Ah think you’re holding me back?”
Doug sighs, closing his eyes for a few seconds as he thinks. “You’re probably gonna gripe at this, but I think that honesty is the best policy.” True to his prediction, Applejack snorts, turning to face him so he can see her rolling her eyes. “Along with that, you have to decide what your priorities are. If you’re trying to become the best wrestler, or the fastest runner, or the best apple tree farmer, then maybe I’m not a good training partner. You would be crippling yourself by training against a weak opponent. And, I would hope that I could accept that, and let you do what you want to do. Even if it isn't with you.”
Applejack snuggles into Doug, already wishing that she hadn’t brought up the topic. “Ah don’t think you’re weak.”
“I know,” Doug says with a smile, reassuring her with a quick rub of her mane. “If your priority is instead something along the lines of deepening the relationship that we have, getting to know each other better, then you have to resign yourself to that trade off, that you won’t have the best opponent for everything. And that’s what life is; nothing exists in a vacuum, everything has an opportunity cost, of what else you could be doing with your time. Or money, or reputation. Or who we invite into the herd. Are you happy with Twilight joining? And Trixie?”
The two look over, Twilight and Trixie hunkering over a box and straining to push the other’s hoof over. And, judging by the bored look on Rainbow’s face, they have been struggling in the same position for some time now.
“Ah… Ah don’t know,” Applejack says, a reluctant look back to Doug. “Do... do you think she wants to live and work under me?”
“If you can accept Twilight for Twilight, then yes,” Doug says. “And Trixie for Trixie, faults and all. Idiosyncrasies and habits, good and bad.”
“You know she’s going to want to change things up on the farm,” Applejack says, slowly getting to her hooves. “And Ah like how things go on the farm. Ah’m used to it, and it works.”
“I’d say I changed up how things go on the farm,” Doug counters, getting up as well and starting to walk back to the Iron Pony competition. “And it hasn’t been all bad, now has it?” Doug smirks as Applejack closes her eyes, a reluctant nod and smile breaking out as she catches up to Doug.
Two hoofballs sail towards the two, the purple one going considerably further than the azure one. Doug sprints forwards, barely snagging the azure ball out of the air as Applejack stalls, her mane swishing out to catch the purple ball. Off in the distance, Fluttershy moves a ‘four’ next to Trixie’s name, matching the four by Twilight's, though eight hash marks are next to Twilight’s name.
Applejack whips her head around, throwing the hoofball towards Doug. He drops the azure ball to the ground, his hands coming up to catch the purple ball - only for Rarity to leap in front of him and snatch the ball out of midair with her tail! Rarity’s horn glows, the ball levitating next to her. Rarity dances back and forth as Doug moves between her and Applejack, a few fake passes before the ball launches away.