Diamond Tiara could barely contain her excitement as she closed the front door to her family's mansion! She hadn't even been sure this would be possible when she'd set out to investigate the idea just a few short hours ago. To know now that it was possible filled the pink coated filly with joy! Now all she had to do was find one particular pony that she had found herself growing steadily more attached to since turning over a new leaf.
"Randolph? Randolph?" Diamond enthusiastically chirped and called, though being careful not to be too loud in case her mother might happen to overhear. Trying to explain to her mother why she was calling for that old butler by name was something the headgear wearing filly would rather avoid at all costs. Her mother would never understand.
But the butler was nowhere to be seen it seemed. Diamond wasn't deterred for even a second though, she knew this was a pretty big place (it was a mansion after all). How silly of her to expect any specific pony to be in a given location here at a given point in time. So she just went off in search of the butler, occasionally asking some of the other hired help if they'd seen him recently and being sure to thank them afterwards for their help.
At last, Tiara found the pony for whom she had been searching for for the past several minutes. She couldn't help herself and immediately ran up to give him a big hug. "Oh Randolph, I'm so glad to see you!" She told him as her cornflower blue eyes lit up like stars! "You'll never guess what I just found out."
Randolph simply smiled as he returned the hug to his young charge. "What is it, Mistress Diamond?" He asked her. "Are you here to tell me that Mistress Spoiled has finally agreed to give me that overdue raise?"
Diamond shook her head from side to side. "Sorry Randolph, still trying to work on that," She was quick to change the subject to something more pleasant. "But I've got something that's hopefully better. You know about the Sisterhooves Social, right? About their apparent loose policy on what counts as a 'sister'?"
The old butler firmly nodded in response. He seemed to know where this particular conversation was headed. "Do you mean to tell me that you've..."
"-Well, I wanted to make sure you were on board first," The rich filly answered before a smile that had formed on her face started to grow wider by the second. "But if you're okay with it then yes, we can participate in the social together. A day of fun between you and I. When's the last time we ever did anything like that?"
But Randolph hesitantly responded to his charge's offer. "I'm flattered you would ask, Mistress Diamond. But I'm not sure if these old bones are up for such grueling physical activity. I'm definitely not as much of a runner as I used to be back in my prime."
"It's not just a race, you know," Diamond explained in protest. "There's a lot of other fun stuff too. We can push a hay bale, eat pies and even carry eggs. And we can do it together, so I'll be there to help you just as much as you'll be helping me."
Randolph still wasn't so sure. "I'm not convinced it's best for me, Mistress Diamond. I know you've wanted to find a way to repay me for my services, and the social does sound like it would be fun. But..."
Tiara found herself resorting to an option she hated, pleading. It was something she'd done far too much of in her old days and she had strove to avoid it if she could help it. Alas, it seemed this was an occasion where she had no choice. She adopted the best, most sincere puppy dog set of eyes she could manage and changed her tone of voice to match it. "Pretty please, Randolph? All my friends are going to be participating. Even Silver Spoon with her big sister. I don't even care if we win or lose. All I care about is getting to do something with you to make up for you always being there for me."
Try as he might, the old butler couldn't resist those eyes. Yes, he'd been subjected to them so many times over the years from tending to the young mistress' every need, but something in his heart just made it a consistent weakness for him every time. "Oh, very well. I suppose a bit of modest stimulation won't be too much for these old bones," He declared while he began to stretch. "Besides, I could use a chance to feel young again, even just for a little while."
"Oh thank you, Randolph!" Diamond Tiara happily cheered and kicked her back legs! "I promise you, you won't regret this! We're gonna have the best time ever, you and I! Now I just need to go make it official." And she then raced away to get herself and Randolph signed up for the social.
Diamond was glad that there weren't that many participants in the Sisterhooves Social this year. Yes, she knew her odds of winning were probably low given that she had never been in any kind of race or athletic competition before (to say nothing of her doing it alongside Randolph). But that didn't mean she was already abandoning any hope or desire of winning. She was still a rich pony, and rich ponies always played to win no matter the odds.
The days leading up to the social were largely spent uneventfully, preparing for it and training alongside Randolph as best she could. Preparations that were spent mostly on the non race aspects of the social, but training was still training all the same.
At last, the day of the social arrived and Diamond and Randolph made their way down to Sweet Apple Acres where the aforementioned social would take place. They arrived to find Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Silver Spoon already waiting with their respective big sisters (even though Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were not technically related, but the social's loose policy on what qualified as a sister applied here).
All were a little bit surprised to see Diamond Tiara arrive with Randolph. He hardly seemed like the kind of pony who would be anywhere near an event as physically demanding as this.
Octavia Melody, Silver Spoon's older sister, was the first of the bunch to speak up. "I take it you will be competing in this race as Diamond Tiara's 'sister' as it were?" She inquired of the old butler whilst appearing to size him up.
Randolph firmly nodded his head in confirmation. "Indeed I am. The young mistress can be rather persuasive when she wants to be. And regardless of what chance we may have, I intend to compete with her to the best of my ability."
"Well, I wish you both the best of luck then," Octavia declared as she shook Randolph's hoof. "I sincerely hope you're not biting off more than you can chew, old stallion. I would hate for anything bad to happen to you as a result of this event."
Rainbow Dash just rolled her eyes. "Honestly, you shouldn't have even bothered to show up. I doubt you'll be anywhere near a match for Scoot and I. Not that I mean to brag, but we have won this event in the past."
Applejack only replied. "Hey now, you oughta save the trash talk for when the race has actually begun."
Silver Spoon, meanwhile, commented to her first and closest friend. "I hope you know what you're doing, DI. And the same goes for your butler. He does look rather old."
"You better not take it easy on us because of that, Silvy," Diamond remarked as she rolled her eyes. "We don't need your pity."
And before a response could be given, the voice of Granny Smith could be heard calling out. "Racers: On your marks, get set, go!" And just like that, the Sisterhooves Social had begun and the race was on!
The very first obstacle was right outside the starting gate, a huge pit of mud. Fortunately, Diamond Tiara had long gotten over her hang up on anything "dirty" or "uncouth", so the mud pit gave her no trouble at all. She just skipped along at her own pace, doing her best not to mind it. She'd be sure to wash off nice and good later on, lest she drag mud into the house and give her mother reason to yell at her.
Randolph, however, seemed to really struggle to keep up momentum as he slogged through the mud. It seemed like everypony passed him by with the greatest of ease before he had cleared the pit. "Sorry, Mistress Diamond," He apologized in between pants as he climbed out. "Perhaps we should've warmed up and stretched a bit before we started this."
"It's okay, Randolph," Diamond told him as she grabbed him by the hoof. "The social's far from over! We can catch up later on. Now come on, we have to hurry! We need to make it to the hay bale pushing. It gets easier after that."
"I sincerely hope so," Randolph thought to himself. "I might have miscalculated just how much these old bones can take. I have to do my best to soldier on though, for Diamond's sake!"
And so the two earth ponies trotted on at a relatively leisurely pace, not really seeming to even keep up with the competition that had passed them by. At least, that was the case until they got to the hay bale pushing section. As soon as they got there, both brought their heads up against their bale of hay and pushed hard! They were still behind much of the competition when they had finished, but now they no longer seemed to be destined for last place.
"Come on, Randolph!" Tiara eagerly encouraged afterward as they began to trot to the next section. "Now comes the stuff we've trained for. We'll show everypony what we're made of!"
The old butler nodded, increasing his pace ever so slightly. "You're right, Mistress Diamond. Let us make haste to the grape toss and squish. That'll be our chance to close the gap!"
Filly and butler soon reached their destination, finding that all of Diamond's friends and their big sisters were just finishing up. If they moved quick they might have a chance to close the gap and potentially take the lead! So Diamond rushed forward, eagerly encouraging Randolph as she stood by the bench! "Toss those grapes in! Let's get to squishing! This is our big moment!"
Randolph obeyed, jumping onto the bench and hurling the grapes clean into the air! They soon landed in a nearby bucket as Diamond scrambled up and began to press down on them with her hooves, assisted in the task by Randolph before long.
Tiara then happily led the dash to the next segment, arriving just as she saw all her friends and their big sisters sitting down for the pie eating contest! "If we can just take the lead here, we might have a chance to win this!" She giddily thought to herself and turned to call out! "Come on, Randolph! This is the best part!"
"I'm trying, Mistress Diamond," Randolph called back as he began to somewhat limp towards the table where the fresh pies awaited. "I might have pushed too far too soon."
Diamond responded by rushing over to meet the old butler halfway, leading him to the table herself. "It's okay, just sit down and focus on pie eating." She instructed before fastening a bib around her neck, ready to dig in.
By the time pie eating was finished, Diamond's face was full of crumbs and stains of different berries. But she didn't care, she would wash it all off afterward. And she was relieved to see that Randolph was almost finished with his pie, putting them just behind last social's champions Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash.
"This here social's gonna come right down to the wire," Granny Smith could be heard declaring! "All that's left is the egg carry, and then it's a straight dash to the finish line. I've never seen a social like this before, and I've seen a lot of socials in my time."
Randolph finished his pie a short time later, swallowing hard before noticing the state he and his young charge were in. "My word, Mistress Diamond!" He exclaimed as he trotted over to her. "We're a mess!"
Tiara could only shake her head. "I know that, but we can't worry about that right now. We're so close to the end! I didn't think we'd make it this far and still have a chance to win."
Silver Spoon could then be heard taunting as she and her big sister got up from the table. "I'll say. You've definitely surpassed our expectations, Di. But we both know your butler's not much of a runner! Catch us if you can!"
"Silver Spoon," Octavia could be heard calling as she trotted after the filly. "Must you always get ahead of yourself like this?!"
"Hey, a race is a race!" Rainbow Dash taunted as she and Scootaloo took off at lightning speed!
"Sorry, Diamond," Sweetie Belle spoke up as she and Rarity started to leave. "But we're all in this to win it. No hard feelings."
At that, a fire began to burn deep inside of Diamond. She was a rich pony at heart, and one thing that hadn't changed despite her change in behavior was her desire to avoid losing if she could help it! She all but took Randolph by the hoof and raced off with him in tow to the chicken coop! "We're not out of this yet!" She firmly declared!
Randolph desperately pleaded with his young charge as he tried to keep up with her frantic pace! "Mistress Diamond, please! You know how much I detest running, especially after just eating!" And he soon found himself beginning to slow down.
The pink coated filly became alarmed upon seeing this, skidding to a halt when her cornflower blue eyes saw her favorite butler looking ready to collapse! "Oh no!" She cried, turning back around and leaving the chicken coop right as she was about to enter it. "Randolph! Please be okay! Oh, I'm sorry I pushed you so hard!"
"It's alright, Mistress Diamond," Randolph panted. "I just need a moment to regain my strength is all. I've already spent so much of my energy today."
It was at this moment that Diamond realized that any chance or hope she might have had of victory was now all but gone. But she didn't care, the well being of the pony she'd entered this race with was more important. "It's okay, Randolph," She told him as she helped the old butler to his hooves. "Let's just finish the race as best as we can. Winning isn't everything, after all. And it's not like we would win any kind of prize money if we did win this."
Soon afterward came the announcement of the winner. "Congratulations to Silver Spoon and Octavia for an incredible last minute victory!" Granny Smith declared.
All eyes fell upon the finish line as one could see a clearly exhausted Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash, standing just short of said line as it was clear that they had been overtaken given their somewhat disfigured state of appearance. And the triumphant victors in Silver Spoon and Octavia posed triumphantly, their tracks indicating when they had made a desperate surge forward at the last possible minute.
The victorious duo soon approached Diamond and Randolph as Silver spoke to them. "Hey, you two lasted longer than I would've expected. Nice job. And I mean that sincerely."
Octavia added with a firm nod. "It was great fun to compete against you. And I'm glad to see you've both come out of it just fine. That is what's most important about this social."
Diamond happily nodded back while hugging Randolph. "Yeah, I agree."
As for Randolph, all he could say was. "I sincerely hope we can now enjoy a relaxing bath to rinse off all the muck we've accumulated. Oh, I am going to be so tired after all of this."