Strawberry Sunrise held up a forehoof to shield her eyes from the sun as she stepped through the doors of Ponyville General Hospital, her brow furrowed with determination. She ran her tongue between the gap in her teeth and looked towards the market, from where she could hear the shouts of the one who had done this to her.
When she had paid Applejack a visit a few days ago, the last thing she'd expected was to have a stool smashed over her head, but that was exactly what happened; the incident had left her with a missing tooth, a black eye and the kind of headache that would belong more to the worst hangover imaginable.
When word of what happened spread, many ponies took Applejack's side and said that Strawberry Sunrise probably deserved it. Given how much she'd been riling Applejack in the weeks before she snapped and decided to recreate the Equestrian Wrestling Federation in the middle of the market, even Strawberry Sunrise had to admit that these ponies had a point.
She let out soft sigh as she began walking towards the market; she only had one thing on her mind at that moment, and that was having it out with Applejack again. This time, however, she swore to herself that things would be a lot different. Ignoring the stares, pointing and stifled laughs of everypony she met, Strawberry Sunrise arrived at the market, her destination in sight.
Applejack stood behind the counter of her stall with a large grin on her face, serving a line of customers who were all jostling for a better view of the counter, upon which sat the remains of the very stool the farmer had used to hit Strawberry Sunrise with. One of the legs was missing and the rest were cracked, but the object still took pride of place on the counter, as though to remind those who saw it that Applejack was not going to take any guff.
Strawberry Sunrise saw it as well, and quickly looked away; she swallowed nervously and approached the counter.
"Thank ya kindly, partner." Applejack said, taking some bits from the stallion she was serving. "Enjoy those apples, and have yerself a nice day, y'hear?" The stallion nodded. "Attaboy. Next!"
Strawberry Sunrise cleared her throat. "Applejack," she said. "I want a word with you, if you'd be so kind as to give me a moment."
Applejack glared at her. "Filly, you must be as crazy as a box of rabid dogs," she snapped. "I'm pretty darn sure that I made mahself clear the last time ya 'wanted a word' with me."
"You did." Strawberry Sunrise nodded. "You made yourself abundantly clear, but I'm here to set the record straight once and for all. When you hit me with that stool, Applehack, you made me realise something about myself; something that made me feel uneasy at first, but quickly came to terms with."
Applejack crossed her forelegs and looked at her. "I made you realise that you were bein' a plothead, and that you're here to tell me you're going to stop insulting me and mah product?"
To her surprise, Strawberry Sunrise shook her head. "No, Applejack," she replied. "I'm not going to stop insulting you or your filthy, disgusting, nasty, putrid, flea-ridden apples. I'm here to tell you that I want a rematch; you and me, right here, right now."
Shocked gasps and murmurs arose from the ponies around, while Applejack simply laughed. "Shoot, Strawberry Sunrise, I must have hit ya harder than I thought." she shook her head. "But I ain't gonna fight you; I admit that I lost mah temper, but – honestly – I never should have hit ya in the first place, and fer that, I'm sorry. But believe me when I say that I am never, ever, gonna lay a hoof on you, or anypony else, ever again."
Strawberry Sunrise narrowed her eyes and walked behind the counter to where Applejack was standing. "But what if I was to do this?" she said, pushing Applejack to the ground. "Surely you're going to defend yourself now, Applecrack?"
Applejack stood up and dusted herself off. "Nope," she replied, adjusting her hat. "I am not gonna fight you, Strawberry Sunrise; you need to accept that, and just head on home to rest."
"I'll rest once I've beat your flank all the way to Canterlot." Strawberry Sunrise snarled, poking Applejack in the chest with a forehoof. "Face me, coward!" The only response she got was Applejack taking a couple of steps backwards to regain something that remotely resembled personal space, space which Strawberry Sunrise quickly invaded as she got close enough to slap Applejack in the face with one of her wings. "Come on, bumpkin, hit me!"
"Oh, for Celestia's sake!" a stallion in the crowd yelled. "Come on, Applejack, can't you just humour the crazy mare? All you have to do is knock her out again, at which point you can go back to your stall; I've been waiting twenty minutes already!"
Applejack shook her head. "I said I was past all that now," she replied. "I just had a moment of weakness, an' I regret it. In my position as a teacher at the School of Friendship, I need to set a good example to everycreature around me."
Strawberry Sunrise wasn't convinced. "I don't care how long it takes, or what I have to stoop to doing," she said. "Mark my words, Applejack, sooner or later, you are going to hit me, and we will have a fight that creatures will talk about for decades to come!"
Applejack sighed. "I really feel for you, sugarcube," she said sadly. "I am so sorry that you feel the only way for us to have any kind of discourse is through violence; I suppose me hittin' ya in the first place didn't exactly help matters, though." She picked up the broken stool and held it out. "Instead of us fighting in the middle of town, how about I let ya hit me back instead?"
"No!" Strawberry Sunrise whined. "That won't cut it, Appledunce; how many times do I have to tell you to hit me?"
Applejack dropped the stool on the ground and sighed. "And how many times do I have to tell you that I ain't gonna hit you because it's wrong, and I regret what I did?"
"Whatever," Strawberry Sunrise grumbled. "Just hit me already!"
Applejack grabbed a hold of her. "Now listen here, missy," she said angrily. "You need to get a grip and calm down 'fore you say or do something that you'll regret... or something that gets ya jailed. I'm sorry for what I did to ya, and will gladly go to court and pay a settlement, but right now you need to back off an' leave me be!" She pushed Strawberry Sunrise away from her, causing the pegasus to lose her balance and fall to the ground. "Oh, shoot, now I didn't mean to do that; are ya okay, Strawberry?" To her surprise, Strawberry Sunrise began cackling madly. "Oh, great, now she's gonna use this as an excuse to hit me ba—"
"Yes, YES! That's exactly it!" from her position on the ground, Strawberry Sunrise grabbed hold of Applejack's forelegs and looked up at her. "Just like that, Applejack, but harder!"
Applejack's ears flattened against her head, her pupils shrank to pinpricks, and she began blushing furiously. "Say what now?!"
Strawberry Sunrise stood up, her own forelegs making their way up Applejack's body until they came to rest on her haunches. "I see why you hit me, Applejack," she said. "It's because I was being naughty, and naughty fillies get punished. So please, please, do it again; I want you to break me in half, you sweaty farm titan!"
Applejack pushed Strawberry Sunrise off her, eliciting another fit of mad giggles. As she watched the pegasus thrash around on the ground, repeating the words "Hit me!" over and over again, she glanced at the ponies around her – who were backing away as quickly as their legs would carry them – and groaned.
"That does it," she said. "From now on, Mac is gonna run the stall."