//------------------------------//
// Chapter 11 - Confidence test 
// Story: Dusk Shine in pursuit of Happiness II 
// by bigsnusnu 
//------------------------------//

Confidence Test

Inside a small wooden clubhouse built on a tree, a group of fillies met to begin their activities first thing in the morning.

"I’m starting the sixty-seventh meeting of the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" Apple Bloom announced, standing behind a small dais. "To start, I want to welcome our new member.  My cousin, Babs Seed!" The yellow filly added, pointing to her side where her cousin was, with a somewhat nervous look.

At Apple Bloom's announcement, all the other members of the club clapped to welcome the new member.  And by all the other members, the only other two members of that club: Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.

"Yay! We finally have another member!" Sweetie Belle cheered.

"Yeah! Now listen, these are the rules of the club…" Scootaloo said as she approached closely to Babs. "First rule of the club: Don’t talk about the club. Second club rule: DON’T TALK about the club! Third Club Rule: If this is your first time at the club, you have to-"

"Hey, wait!  How will new members join our secret club if we have those rules?" Sweetie Belle asked, realizing the little paradox.

"But how is it supposed to be a secret club if everyone knows about the club?" Scootaloo whined.

As both fillies started arguing about how cool, but impractical their rules were, Babs Seed just got confused, looking at them both and then at her cousin.

"Don’t worry." Apple Bloom said with a shrug, used to seeing her friends argue. "All you need to know is that we’re doing everything possible to discover our cutie marks." Apple Bloom added, showing her cousin the wall behind her.

Turning around, Babs Seed saw that the wall was full with dozens of photographs.  In all of them some or all of the members of the Cutie Mark Crusaders appeared doing some activity, such as climbing, cooking, beekeeping, water skiing, among many others.

"Have you really tried all that?" Babs Seed asked in surprise. Then Babs noticed a sheet of paper that was also taped to the wall and that had several things noted on it. "What’s 'Plan H'?"

Hearing Babs' question, the other three fillies were shocked and quickly looked away, since they had all forgotten that they had that note stuck there, which was the secret second objective of their secret club.

"Uh, yeah, well... It was a plan we had to make Dusk Shine fall in love with my sister and her friends." Apple Bloom said, a little embarrassed and scratching her head. "But we kinda stopped doing that since now Dusk is dating Applejack."

"Dusk is dating Applejack!?" Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle asked in surprise. "And what do you mean that we’re not doing Plan Harem anymore!?" Sweetie Belle questioned with annoyance.

"Well, Dusk and my sister have been dating for a couple of days, so I thought it was obvious that we wouldn’t need to make a choice for him." Apple Bloom replied.

"That… That's not fair.  We said that we would also make my sister become Dusk's marefriend." Sweetie Belle said, feeling uncomfortable thinking that her beautiful and elegant sister could lose to Applejack.

"Yeah, and we'd do it for Rainbow Dash too.  And for Pinkie Pie and Flutterhsy, if there was time." Scootaloo added, always prioritizing her personal heroine.

"But... Applejack and Dusk make for a cute couple... Maybe... Maybe we shouldn't interfere anymore..." Apple Bloom muttered under her breath, knowing that maybe she was being unfair, but she loved seeing her sister with Dusk Shine.

"But we promised!" Sweetie Belle insisted, who was apparently the most upset with the whole situation.

"Hmm... Maybe we should ask your sister and the others what they think." Apple Bloom said with a thoughtful look. "I mean, they must know that Dusk is Applejack's coltfriend now. Maybe they accepted that the two of them are a couple and they're okay with it." Apple Bloom added, clinging to the last hope she had so as not to interfere with her sister and Dusk's perfect relationship.

Without waiting another second, Sweetie Belle turned and ran out of the tree house in the direction of Carousel Boutique with a serious and determined look on her face.  As she ran, she couldn't get out of her head that Dusk was dating Applejack.  In her head, there was only one perfect mare for Dusk, and it was herself!  But if she couldn't be his marefriend, Sweetie Belle always hoped that Dusk would at least date her sister.  Therefore, Apple Bloom trying to cancel Plan Harem so that Rarity couldn’t be with Dusk was something that annoyed her a lot.

In addition, her sister had been very good with her since the day before when her parents left her in her care, since they were going on a trip.  Rarity had been very attentive, inviting her to the spa and preparing dinner.  If it hadn't been for a customer arriving in the evening with an urgent order, she might have been able to share more with her sister.

"I hope she liked the surprise breakfast I prepared for her." Sweetie Belle thought, just as she arrived at her sister's house, remembering that that morning she had made an effort to cook breakfast for Rarity.  She left it ready as a surprise before leaving for the Crusaders meeting.

As Sweetie Belle entered the kitchen, she was glad to see that her sister was already awake. However, to her disappointment, she saw that Rarity wasn’t eating the breakfast she had prepared for her.  In fact, the toast and juice she had prepared were in the trash.

"Rarity, you... Did you throw away the breakfast I made for you?" Sweetie Belle asked with a very sad look.

"Hmpf! I woke up to the smell of burning bread… Don't cook again without my supervision, you almost burned the whole kitchen!" Rarity said, berating her little sister with a look.

The fashionista mare still had small dark circles under her eyes, which she had tried to hide with makeup, a product of having worked all night.  That made Rarity more grumpy than usual. Something that her little sister didn't notice.

"It wasn't so burned!" Sweetie Belle said offended, approaching the garbage can and lifting the toasted bread she prepared, which was very burned, so much so that it looked like a large piece of coal.

Realizing that she was getting upset with her sister, Sweetie Belle closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself, after all, she was there for another mission.

As Rarity ate her breakfast, Sweetie Belle came up with a wonderful idea and she quickly ran out of the kitchen. For her part, Rarity internally thanked her sister for leaving, so she could at least eat her breakfast quietly again.

"I knew it!  I can surprise Rarity with this to stop her from being in a bad mood." Sweetie Belle said with a smile.

The filly had come to her sister's room and saw what a mess it was, with dozens of fabrics and ribbons piled up on the mannequins and the floor. So, Sweetie Belle quickly got down to tidying up the room.  Knowing how orderly her sister was, surely that mess had been left by Rarity after working all night.  But if she ordered it, Sweetie Belle was sure that Rarity would be in a good mood again, so that they could both talk about what was truly important about that day: Dusk and Applejack's relationship.

"AAAHHH...!" Sweetie Belle was startled to hear her sister scream on the first floor. "Sweetie Belle! What did you do with my clothes!?" Rarity shouted angrily, who had come out to the patio and now was going back into the house, to face her little sister.

"Oh! I did the laundry in the morning!" Sweetie Belle said, smiling proudly, approaching the bedroom door so that her sister could hear her.

"You washed the clothes... And look what happened to my incredibly expensive one-of-a-kind designer crocheted wool sweater!" Rarity said angrily as she went up the stairs, levitating with her magic a tiny cotton sweater, which in no way would fit Rarity or any pony. "This sweater is made from the finest cotton!  Now that you’ve washed it, it has shrunk, and no-AAAHHH…!" Rarity screamed again in horror when she saw her room and saw that everything was in order.

"Surprise!" Sweetie Belle yelled, full of energy. "I ordered your room!"

"B-But… what did you do!?" Rarity yelled angrily. Then she lowered her head and made many faces, as if trying her best not to explode with anger. However, as stressed and tired as she was, she couldn't control it and again she glared at Sweetie Belle. "This wasn’t a mess, it was organized chaos!  This is my inspiration room!  I put the fabrics on the mannequins to visualize and prepare the dresses that I spent designing all night!"

At that moment, Rarity stopped looking at Sweetie Belle when she saw a corner of her room, seeing a chest that was empty. A chest that she hadn't seen was empty, due to the mess in her design workshop the night before. A chest that shouldn't be empty, especially not that day!

"Sweetie Belle... W-What happened to the baby blue sapphires I had in that chest...?" Rarity asked, with a look of horror.

"Oh... Uh... Well, I..." Swetie Belle said nervously, knowing that her sister was very angry.

At first, Sweetie Belle thought about keeping quiet, but finally decided to take a chance and tell the truth.  After all, Rarity was her sister, and she would understand what she did.  In fact, perhaps after seeing it, she would get so excited that they would both be on good terms again.

Sweetie Belle went to Rarity's worktable and took out a big card, on which a score of baby sapphires were glued surrounding a drawing.

"Yesterday I was bored, so I made this drawing and decorated it with the sapphires you had." Sweetie Belle said with a small, shy smile. "I wanted to show you yesterday, but you were so busy that-" In that instant Sweetie Belle stopped talking when she saw that Rarity's jaw dropped, staring at all of her precious baby blue sapphires glued to crude cardboard.

"The sapphires were the finishing touch for a dress I had to deliver… The sapphires were the finishing touch, and now they’re covered in glue!" Rarity yelled angrily, knowing that those delicate sapphires would lose their exceptional brilliance from getting dirty with glue.  Then she, who hadn’t even paid attention to Sweetie Belle's drawing, only to the sapphires that surrounded it, furiously took the drawing, crumpled it in anger and threw it furiously to the floor.

Seeing that her sister wrinkled her cute drawing without a second thought, a drawing in which she had put all her love, Sweetie Belle began to cry, seeing how cruel her sister had been.

"Why are you upset?!  I'm the one who should be crying!" Rarity yelled, feeling even angrier at feeling guilty for making her little sister cry. Then Rarity covered her face and closed her eyes, trying to calm herself.

"Calm down, it's not her fault, she's just a filly." Rarity thought, breathing slowly to calm herself. "I think I exaggerated a bit, but… I'm just so tired… But I shouldn't have taken it out on Sweetie Belle."

"Listen Sweetie..." Rarity said, finally calming down. "I'm sorry-"

"You’re the worst!" Sweetie Belle yelled, this time being her the one who was furious, still crying over what Rarity had done. "I don't want to have a sister who only cares about herself.  You’re the worst, the worst!  That's why Dusk didn't choose you as his marefriend!" Sweetie Belle screamed furiously, remembering how foolish she had been to believe that she should support the love of Dusk and her sister.

Then Sweetie Belle turned and ran down the stairs, out of the house and slamming the door behind her hard.  Meanwhile, Rarity froze, with a look of amazement and pain at her little sister's words, especially those last words, which were like a dagger that went straight to her heart.

Right at that moment outside Carousel Boutique, Dusk Shine was walking towards his friend's house.  However, his plans would be truncated when he saw Sweetie Belle suddenly running away, crying profusely as she fled from there.

"Hey, Sweetie Belle! Wait!" Dusk yelled, following the filly.

Once Dusk caught up with Sweetie Belle, he accompanied her on her aimless walk and heard why she had run out of her house.  The lavender stallion learnt about the argument she and Rarity had had, although, hearing only one point of view, Sweetie Belle made her sister sound like she had been a complete witch without feelings.

"I understand that you're upset, but I'm sure Rarity is sorry too." Dusk said once Sweetie Belle finished speaking. "Deep down, she always thinks of others before herself.  If she scolded you, it’s probably because she had a lot on her mind.  Remember, she’s your sister, and she’ll always love you." Dusk added, lovingly messing up Sweetie Belle's mane.

After receiving Dusk's caresses, Sweetie Belle stared at him with gawking eyes, and then she threw herself to hug him tightly.

"She doesn't deserve you… Stay with me.  Be my coltfriend!" Sweetie Belle said tenderly, pressing her face against Dusk's soft fur.

"Hehe... Well, there are several reasons why that couldn't happen." Dusk said blushing, separating from Sweetie Belle and crouched down to look at her with a tender smile. "But the most important is that I already have a marefriend."

Only then did Sweetie Belle remember what Apple Bloom had told her about Dusk and Applejack. Then the little filly made a pouty face and looked away.

"So you finally chose Applejack..." Sweetie Belle said a little annoyed.

"Uh, yeah, I think so, but-" Dusk replied, until suddenly his eyes widened when he realized a small detail. "Wait, how do you know I had to choose?"

"Well, it wasn't just Applejack who was in love with you.  There was also Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash… And me, of course, hehe." Sweetie Belle said, smiling mischievously.

"Huff… How many times is this going to happen to me…? Was I really the only one who didn't know it!?" Dusk thought, blushing and hitting his face with his hoof.

"Why did you choose Applejack?" Sweetie Belle asked innocently, snapping Dusk out of his thoughts. "You don't like the other girls?  Did they give up?"

"Uh... well... it's something a little more complicated than that..." Dusk said, blushing and getting nervous, since he didn't want to explain to the young filly the complicated arrangement that he and his friends had regarding their new love relationship. "T-That reminds me, I was going to go see Applejack now.  Maybe Apple Bloom is there and you can play with her, hehe…" Dusk said quickly, changing the subject to avoid that uncomfortable question.

Then both ponies started walking towards Sweet Apple Acres, with a very talkative Sweetie Belle insisting on why she could be a better marefriend for him than Applejack.

"Reason number twenty-two: Since I’m not yet an adult, I only pay for half the fare on the train. That’s a great financial advantage for a couple!" Sweetie Belle said, just as they finally reached Sweet Apple Acres.

"Trust me, being a filly is not an advantage at all." Dusk said with a tired look.  Who after listening for so long to Sweetie Belle talking about being his marefriend, he already saw himself having a romantic dinner with Sweetie Belle, and then the guards arrived and took him to prison for harassment of minors. "Not even Princess Celestia could save me from that."

Suddenly, both Dusk and Sweetie Belle were distracted by a thumping noise.  They continued advancing through the farm, until they discovered what the noise was. It was from Applejack and Apple Bloom, who, while the first kicked some apples from the ground, the second went with a bucket on her head and caught them.

"Woah… that looks fun!" Sweetie Belle said excitedly, completely forgetting about Dusk and running to where her friend was. For his part, Dusk took advantage of the fact that he finally detached himself from the little infatuated filly to go be with his real marefriend.

"Hi Applejack, what are you doing?" Dusk asked once he reached the country mare's side.

"Howdy, sugarcube!" Applejack said, smiling when she saw who was visiting her. Visits that had been made daily since Dusk became her coltfriend. "Apple Bloom was alone because she had some chores, and Scootaloo took Babs for a ride on her scooter.  And since she was bored picking up the bad apples, we invented this game to make it more fun." Applejack added, kicking an apple again, which was cleverly caught by Apple Bloom, who in turn was also explaining to Sweetie Belle what they were doing.

"Hmm… It seems that Sweetie Belle seems to like it.  Maybe she could help you too." Dusk said, looking from afar at the two fillies.

"Sure, no problem." Applejack happily replied. "But why are you with Sweetie Belle?  Did Rarity ask you to take care of her?"

"Not quite." Dusk replied, proceeding to tell Applejack what had happened since he had found the filly unicorn. Of course, omitting the parts where Sweetie Belle hinted that she wanted to be his marefriend.

"Hmm... So she got into a fight with Rarity..." Applejack said after hearing the story, looking from afar at Sweetie Belle. Then she glanced at Dusk and gave a suspicious look. "So you... What were you doing walking around Rarity's house?"

"Oh! I was going to give this back to her." Dusk said with an innocent smile, levitating the little orange bow tie that he had worn on his first official date with Applejack.  After hearing that answer, for some reason Applejack sighed in relief and smiled again.  Something that caused a bit of surprise in Dusk, who didn’t understand the reason for that gesture.

"By the way, I just remembered.  I wanted to ask your help for something." Applejack said, kicking one last apple where Apple Bloom was and walking over to a small table nearby.  Then the country mare took a pile of papers that had been stacked on that table. "I wanted to see if you could distribute these flyers in the center of town.  I would go, but I’m very busy with stuff on the farm."

Dusk took the flyers Applejack gave him and saluted to his marefriend.

"Of course.  It’s the duty of every good coltfriend to help his marefriend." Dusk said as if he were a soldier, blushing slightly.

"Aw, quit it with the flattery, you doofus." Applejack said, blushing and looking away.  She was unable to avoid smiling when hearing that Dusk called her 'his marefriend'.

For her part, in front of Dusk and Applejack, Sweetie Belle kept gawking as Apple Bloom caught the apples that Applejack threw at her.

"Do you and your sister always do stuff like this?" Sweetie Belle asked in wonder.

"Yeah. Sometimes farm chores are a bit boring, so we always make games to make them more fun." Apple Bloom said, jumping up to successfully catch the last apple her sister had thrown at her.

"It looks really fun.  You should help her, Sweetie Belle." Dusk Shine said suddenly, who had approached where the fillies were to speak with Sweetie Belle before returning to the town. "Applejack needs some help to keep picking more apples.  I think you should stay and help them." Dusk added, wanting the little unicorn to have fun, and thus forget her anger with Rarity.

"Can I really help too!?" Sweetie Belle asked excitedly.

"Sure! That way, you’ll see that not all big sisters are a headache." Apple Bloom said innocently, who had already been listening to how her friend complained about her big sister before Dusk arrived.

"Uhh... Rarity and I never play like this... In fact, we never do anything fun." Sweetie Belle said with a sad look, remembering that she was still upset with her sister.

"No! I wanted was for her to stop thinking about her fight with Rarity!" Dusk thought, slapping his face when he saw that his plan hadn't worked.

"W-Who knows, maybe Rarity would like to play this, hehe..." Dusk said with a nervous smile, trying to enhance Sweetie's image of Rarity.  Although the truth was that Dusk also doubted that Rarity would stoop to throwing apples as a game. "I think I'll go talk to Rarity before handing out the flyers."

After that, Dusk left Sweet Apple Acres while Apple Bloom passed the bucket to Sweetie Belle so that now she was the one to catch the apples thrown by Applejack.

"So Dusk went to distribute the flyers?" Applejack said kicking some apples, as her little sister came to her side.

"Yeah, but he said he would go see Rarity first." Apple Bloom replied casually, watching her friend catch the apples. "Keep it up, Sweetie Belle! Catch those apples!"

The filly was so distracted that she didn't notice the strange look of mistrust her big sister had when she told her where Dusk was going. For the truth was that a small and dangerous idea had begun to circulate in the mind of the orange mare.





Back at Carousel Boutique, Dusk Shine got there just as Rarity did too, as she had apparently gone shopping.  Next to her was Spike, who, as always, had offered to carry her purchases.  All in order to be next to his lady.

"Darling, what a surprise." Rarity beamed, who was already in a better mood after breathing fresh air and walking around town.  Then she opened the door of her house and invited Dusk to come in. "I hope you haven't waited long. It's just that I had to go out urgently to buy some sapphires, since CERTAIN FILLY used up all I had." Rarity added with a bad-tempered face.

"Yeah... About that, I just wanted to talk about it with you." Dusk said, telling his friend what he had talked to Sweetie Belle and how much she had gotten angry.

"Huff, you believe too much everything Sweetie Belle says.  You know how manipulative she is." Spike said, after listening to Dusk, not believing that his beloved Rarity was as bad as Sweetie Belle made her seem.

"Yes, it’s true that in the morning I was a little in a bad mood, but I didn’t act like a complete witch as she makes it seem." Rarity said annoyed, going up to her room to store the sapphires.  The colt and dragon followed her up the stairs. "It’s true that I exaggerated a bit but… Great Celestia! Sometimes it’s so irritating to have a little sister who makes a mess in your house!" Rarity added, walking into her room with an annoyed huff.

"Well yeah, I have to admit it does look pretty messy." Dusk said, entering Rarity's room and seeing that there were pieces of cloth all over the floor and on the mannequins.

"Uh… Actually, I did this. Sweetie Belle actually cleaned it up." Rarity admitted bashfully. Then she remembered what her sister did again and got angry. "She tidied up my inspiration room and ruined all the work I had done the night before!"

"Oh… So those fabrics are the ones you’re using in your next fashion line?  They look good, although I don't know anything about fashion, hehe." Dusk said smiling.

"Um...yes, well, after Sweetie Belle took my initial job down, I started ordering again and came up with a better fashion line." Rarity said with a thoughtful look, thinking that maybe what her little sister did was not so bad.  However, her stubbornness made Rarity shake her head and deny such a thing. "B-But!...She just shouldn't have touched my things without permission… It's like the sweater!  A perfect designer sweater completely ruined!" Rarity yelled again, showing Dusk the beautiful wool sweater that had shrunk after Sweetie Belle washed it.

"Is that a sweater for Opalescence?" Spike asked naively, seeing the tiny sweater.

"What? No, this sweater is…" Rarity tried to correct, until she saw her cat.  Then the fashionista came over to her and quickly put the sweater on her grumpy cat. "Hmm... You know, it doesn't look bad at all..." Rarity said with a thoughtful look, seeing how cute her beloved cat looked in the sweater. "B-But it was an accident, just a fortunate accident." Rarity added quickly, thinking that she couldn't so easily forgive her little sister for her mistake. "It's like at breakfast, it could have burned down the house…!  Although… It was sweet that she wanted to make me breakfast…" Rarity said, feeling more and more regretful for having woken up so grumpy and having taken it out on her little sister.

"What’s this?" Dusk asked curiously, seeing a crumpled cardboard, filled with sapphires with glue, that was lying on the floor.

"Oh, it's just a drawing that Sweetie Belle…" Rarity said, taking the card and opening it.  But in doing so, she put her hoof in her mouth and was speechless.  She had been so angry this morning that she hadn't paid attention to the drawing, but only to the ruined sapphires.  However, now that she saw it, her heart broke with emotion when she saw the tender drawing that her sister had drawn, in which both sisters appeared with a heart background and the words: 'For the best sister'.  That made Rarity unable to hold back her tears and cried when she realized how cruel she had been to her little sister.

“Oh, Dusk!” The white unicorn cried dramatically, falling backwards for the stallion to catch her.  Dusk did so, of course, although with a huge blush on his face. “How could I be such an absolutely dreadful big sister?!”

"Come on, we have to fix this." Dusk said, standing the unicorn upright and smiling sweetly at her, wanting to help the sisters reconcile.

Wasting no time, Rarity completely forgot about her job, wanting to immediately go and apologize to her little sister.  For his part, Dusk commissioned Spike to distribute the flyers that Applejack had given him around town.  Thus, both ponies ran back to Sweet Apple Acres.

It didn't take much searching for Dusk and Rarity to find Sweetie Belle, who was still next to Applejack and Apple Bloom, the three of them jumping on a huge bucket of grapes to make juice.

"Sweetie Belle! Thanks to Celestia that I found you!" Rarity said excitedly. Sweetie Belle saw her sister and reluctantly stepped out of the huge bucket, along with Applejack and Apple Bloom, and looked at Rarity with an indifferent look. "I am so sorry, little sister.  I behaved like an ogre.  I didn't know how attentive you were being to me, and that cute drawing you did, I-"

"Hah! You mean the drawing drawing that said you were the best sister?  Don't worry, we all make mistakes." Sweetie Belle said with a fake laugh, looking away to Rarity's perplexity. 

"S-Sweetie, I… I'm really sorry.  I promise you that I’ll be a better sister, a big sister that you’re proud of." Rarity said, forgetting her pride and begging her little sister.  She realized that Sweetie Belle must still be very hurt with her.

"Yeah, I’ll have the best big sister in the world... Because now Applejack will be my big sister!" Sweetie Belle said, turning her back to Rarity and hugging Applejack, leaving everyone perplexed. "I’ve come to realize that Applejack is a real big sister.  She plays with Apple Bloom and they do everything together like real sisters."

"I can do that too!" Rarity said nervously. "We can go to the spa together, I can teach you to comb your mane, make dresses together..."

"Those are just things that you like!  Don’t you see!? You only think of yourself!" Sweetie Belle said furiously, turning around and walking away from the ponies. "Applejack will be a much better sister than you!  And she’ll also be a much better marefriend for Dusk than you!" Sweetie Belle yelled before running off, furious at her sister and how different she was from Applejack.

Seeing Sweetie Belle run, Apple Bloom stepped forward to go after her.

"I think I'll go with her to see her calm down.  And to explain that Applejack is MY sister…" Apple Bloom said, before running after her friend.

"I'm going too." Dusk added, concerned at seeing the little unicorn so furious.

That left only Rarity and Applejack alone there. The former was in shock again by the harsh words of her sister.  Applejack looked away nervously, not knowing what to say in this awkward situation.

"G-Gosh... I-I wonder if Dusk has already put out all the flyers I gave him, hehe..." Applejack said nervously, saying the first topic that came to mind to try to break that awkward silence.

"Dusk asked Spike to hand them out, and don't change the subject!" Rarity said with annoyance. "You… W-Why do you have to be so good!?  You make me look bad!" Rarity said frustrated, looking annoyed at Applejack.

"Dusk asked Spike to hand out the flyers?  Did he prefer to go see Rarity...?" Applejack thought, not hearing her friend's scolding. Again, an uncomfortable thought came to her mind, one that made her feel somewhat unpleasant at the thought that Dusk seemed to look for many excuses to see Rarity without telling her.

"I guess now you not only took Dusk away from me, but also my sister." Rarity looked away in frustration. Then she sighed and calmed down, knowing she couldn't blame her friend for what happened. "Listen, I-"

"And what will you do about it?" Applejack said suddenly, looking seriously at Rarity.

"Uh?" Rarity said, surprised by Applejack's look.

"I took Dusk away from you.  What are you going to do about it?" Applejack said, looking very seriously at her friend. "Remember that he’s my coltfriend. And also... that we have rules."

"What are you talking about?" Rarity asked, a little annoyed to see that Applejack told her that Dusk was her coltfriend. Then, Rarity's eyes widened as she understood what her friend was referring to and she also gave a serious and annoyed look.

For his part, after reaching Sweetie Belle and seeing that she was calmer, Dusk quickly returned to where his friends were. When he returned, he stopped for a moment when he saw that for some reason Applejack and Rarity were staring at each other with very serious glances.

"Something wrong?" Dusk asked.

"I'm going!" Rarity announced, turning quickly to turn her back on Applejack.  She was so upset that she didn't even say goodbye to Dusk. "Take care of Sweetie Belle." She added as she left indignantly, without even turning to look at Dusk or Applejack.

"What happened?" Dusk asked again to his marefriend.

"Nothing. I just...reminded her of something important." Applejack said, looking seriously at Rarity as she walked away. "By the way, what happened to Sweetie Belle?"

"Oh, she's doing better." Dusk said, a bit surprised by Applejack's surprising change of subject. "She said she was camping at the clubhouse tonight with the other Cutie Mark Crusaders."

"I guess it's for the best. Sometimes being apart for a while helps to reconcile later." Applejack said. "If they hadn't fought, we might have been able to convince Rarity to join Sweetie Belle in tomorrow's Sisterhooves Social competition."

"In fact, that was precisely my plan." Dusk smirked. "It occurred to me that Rarity-" At that moment Dusk couldn’t continue telling his plan, since Applejack put a hoof over his mouth to silence him.

"You don't need to tell me your plan.  I trust you." Applejack said, giving Dusk a little kiss on the cheek, then turned around and walked away. "Or at least, I need to learn to trust you." Applejack whispered as she went back to her tasks, leaving Dusk very confused by that strange attitude of his marefriend.

After saying goodbye to Applejack, Dusk finally returned for the third time that day to Carousel Boutique.  Fortunately, to speed things up, Dusk didn’t have to enter the house in search of Rarity, since the mare he was looking for was just outside the door of her house, pacing back and forth with her head down as if she was undecided about something.

"Rarity, are you okay?" Dusk asked upon arrival.

"Uh!? Dusk! I… Uh… Y-Yes, I'm fine." Rarity said nervously. Then, realizing that she was too nervous, she closed her eyes and took a slow breath to calm herself. "I'm fine, don’t worry.  You... did Applejack send you here?" Rarity asked, calmer now, at least on the outside.

"No, she doesn't know that I came here." Dusk said with a confused look, not understanding why Rarity was asking him that.

Hearing that, Rarity looked away with an annoyed look as she remembered a certain conversation. Then she closed her eyes again and looked at Dusk with determination.

"Well. Then I need to ask you a favor." Rarity said, looking closely, very seriously at Dusk. "I want you to help me get back... what Applejack took away from me." Rarity added with a slight blush.

"Sure, I'll help you get Sweetie Belle back.  In fact, that's exactly why I came here." Dusk reassured her. "I have the perfect plan."

"Yes... I didn't just mean Sweetie Belle." Rarity said, smiling at Dusk. Something that surprised and confused the stallion a bit. "Anyway, what is your plan?"

"Uh... y-yeah, I..." Dusk added, a little nervous at Rarity's possible hint, not sure if he had misunderstood it or not. "I was thinking that you could join the Sisterhooves Social." Dusk added, showing Rarity one of the flyers that Applejack had asked him to pass out.

"Sisterhooves what?" Rarity asked while looking at the flyer.

Dusk then explained to his friend the same thing that Applejack had explained to him the day before.  Once a year the Apple family held a sister competition at Sweet Apple Acres, where the sisters competed in a series of hurdles to win a race, and that almost every filly in town participated alongside their older sisters.

"Do they do it every year?  I've never heard of that." Rarity said, thinking and vaguely remembering that for years Applejack had mentioned it to her, but she had never paid much attention to it, since competing in such competitions was something she would never think about. "I... I'm not sure..." Rarity added, thinking how dirty she would be if she participated in something like that.

"Easy, I'll help you." Dusk said, smiling at his friend. While Rarity stared at him uncertainly, but then she thought that if Dusk helped her, she might be one step closer to her secret true goal.

"Huff… Okay. Everything is to recover the love of my annoying little sister." Rarity finally said, sighing in resignation. "I just hope that she agrees to participate with me.  After all, she said she didn't want to see me again… Gosh! Why did I have to have a sister with such a complicated character?"

"Hehe... Easy, I'm sure Sweetie will want to participate with you." Dusk replied with a nervous smile, thinking that Rarity didn’t realize that both sisters were more alike than they themselves believed.

After convincing Rarity that his plan would work, both unicorns returned to Sweet Apple Acres, only this time they went to one of the most remote fields there.  Both to avoid meeting Sweetie Belle and Applejack, and also so that no one would see Rarity practicing such vulgar activities. For his part, thanks to Applejack, Dusk already knew what activities the obstacle course would consist of. And although Dusk knew that telling Rarity the obstacles to practice was cheating, Dusk thought it would be well worth it as long as those two stubborn sisters could reconcile.

"The first obstacle will be to jump over a mud puddle." Dusk said, who had brought several buckets of water to make a small puddle of mud that Rarity could jump over.

As Dusk anticipated, Rarity's first reaction was to make a disgusted face, thinking that if she jumped over that puddle and fell, all her fur and beautiful mane would be ruined.

"This obstacle is easy; you just have to jump over it and you won't get dirty." Dusk said, touching Rarity and pointing at her. "But it’s important that if you fall, you can’t run away and abandon the race. So I have a little trick in case you do fall and get dirty… Just think you're in the mud bath at the spa!" Dusk added with a big smile.

"I think that will be impossible, darling." Rarity said, approaching to see the mud puddle and seeing with disgust that it was full of leaves and worms. "C-Can we move on to the next test?"

The next obstacle Dusk showed Rarity was some big boxes that had to be jumped up. This obstacle seemed more palatable to Rarity, and she started jump on them to practice.

"You jump too gracefully; you’ll waste a lot of time jumping like that." Dusk said after seeing his friend jump. "Follow me and jump like I do." Dusk added, standing next to Rarity to teach her to jump correctly in a race.

Both unicorns started running side by side, they both arrived in front of the big boxes and Dusk started jumping over them, followed by Rarity, who tried to imitate the way Dusk jumped. Then, not being used to those jumps, Rarity stumbled and almost fell from the boxes. Fortunately, Dusk managed to grab her by a hoof. However, the force of gravity was greater, and both unicorns fell together, toppling the stacked boxes, which fell on them.

After rubbing his head from a box hitting him, Dusk opened his eyes again.  Now he was lying right on top of Rarity, since he had intentionally stayed in that position to prevent the boxes from falling on his friend. They were both face to face, with Rarity lying on her back. That made Dusk blush and look away from the strange and suggestive position in which they had been.

"A-Are you okay?" Dusk asked, not looking Rarity in the eye.  He began to move his leg to get out of that position.  However, at that moment Rarity stretched her front hooves and hugged Dusk's neck, causing both of them to stare at each other again.

"I’ll always be fine with you." Rarity said with a cute blush and huge, bright eyes that captivated the weak stallion.

Then Dusk quickly used his teleportation and appeared right next to Rarity.

"S-Since the boxes fell, l-let's continue to the next test..." Dusk said nervously.

The next obstacle Dusk took Rarity to was pie eating.  A very simple test, in which they had to eat a whole pie before they could continue the race.

"The trick here is to take big bites." Dusk said, taking a pie and devouring it in just three seconds. "Blouh beeh?" 'You see?' It was what Dusk had wanted to say, but his mouth was still full.

"Darling, you have some pie just bit here...." Rarity said, smiling coquettishly.  She slowly brought her hoof to Dusk's cheek and swiped up some of the jam that was left there, and in passing, caressing his cheek.  Then Rarity put her hoof to her mouth and flirtatiously tasted the jam that Dusk had left on his cheek.  The gesture made Dusk blush deeply, and almost spit out all the pie he still had in his mouth.

"Cough! Cough! Cough...! L-Let's go to the next test!" Dusk said quickly, coughing the pie he had eaten and focused don the next task at hoof.

"Is she flirting with me!? No… She’s always been like this… Right?" Dusk thought, thinking that perhaps he was just overthinking thinks again.

Unfortunately for Dusk, the following tests that they continued to practice only further increased his insecurity about Rarity's way of acting.

Pushing a huge bale of hay together, Rarity never took her eyes off Dusk.  And since they both had to push their heads together, Dusk had no choice but to stare at her as well with a blushed expression.

The climax of how nervous Dusk could be that afternoon was when they got to the part where both had to carry an egg together by just using their noses.  When doing so, the only thing that separated their lips from each other was the little egg, it was as if they were almost kissing!  Dusk had Rarity's face too close. He could smell her perfume, feel her soft breath, see her beautiful blue eyes… That was more than Dusk could bear, and finally he turned away his red face, dropping the egg they were carrying.

"I-I think that's enough practice for today... I-It's getting dark already." Dusk noted, unable to look Rarity in the eye. "After that, you just have to run to the finish line with Sweetie Belle and you’ll win."

"Indeed, I think that is enough for today." Rarity said, watching the sun begin to set. Then she approached Dusk and gave him one last flirtatious smile. "Don't worry, you'll see that I won't lose the race.  When I have a goal in mind, I make sure I never quit until I achieve it." Rarity added flirtatiously, saying goodbye to Dusk.  

That night, as it hadn't happened for days, Dusk went back to sleep uneasily. Recently, Dusk had always felt a warmth in his heart whenever he thought about Applejack being his marefriend. However, that night, Dusk remembered again that Applejack was not the only mare who was in love with him, and he didn’t have only his current marefriend in his heart.  And the image that became stronger in Dusk's subconscious mind that night was that of a flirtatious and beautiful white unicorn, who had once again awakened in Dusk that doubt that he thought he had overcome.





At noon the next day, it was finally time for the long-awaited Sisterhooves Social race.  Thanks to all the flyers that Spike distributed around town, many fillies and their older sisters showed up at Sweet Apple Acres. Most of them were there with the intention of sharing a pleasant moment of sisterhood.  Although, there were one particular pair of sisters that weren’t exactly on good terms.  Of the two, the big sister was determined to win back the love of her little sister.

Rarity and Dusk Shine arrived at Sweet Apple Acres together and quickly began searching for Sweetie Belle.  Finally Dusk pointed to the distance and they both saw that the little unicorn was entering the barn with her friends. The pair quickly made their way to the barn, as there wasn’t much time until the race began.

"How are you guys gonna to participate if you don't have big sisters?" Dusk and Rarity managed to hear Apple Bloom ask Babs Seed and Scootaloo.

"We have a backup plan." Babs Seed said, grinning wickedly.

"Yeah, it’s too bad Rainbow Dash isn't here. But there’s another way to compete." Scootaloo said with a shrewd look. "It’s as intrincate and precise as a well-played game of chess.....Well, I don’t know how to play chess, but it’s a great plan nonetheless!”

"I guess Sweetie Belle’s gonna be the only one not participating then." Apple Bloom said, looking sadly at her unicorn friend.

"It doesn't matter, anyway... I didn't want to participate." Sweetie Belle said with a very sad look. Then she remembered her sister and got angry.  "Ugh! Who would want to compete with Rarity!?  She’s just a selfish pony who only thinks about herself!  She… She deserves to be alone! She’ll be left without a coltfriend and without a sister!  Mares like her are doomed to be alone forever. No one will ever love her ever!" Sweetie Belle screamed in frustration, as she hadn't been able to stop thinking about her sister and how bad she had been.

Looking up, Sweetie Belle saw that her friends were pale for some reason. Then she turned and went just as pale when she saw that Rarity was right behind her, looking at her as if she were about to cry.

Rarity had peeked in just as Apple Bloom was telling Sweetie that she would be the only one who wouldn’t compete in the race.  She had wanted to surprise her little sister, but she never imagined that the filly would say such cruel words.  Unbeknownst to her, Sweetie Belle had just attacked an old and painful wound that Rarity had in her heart.  Rarity could still remember her first false love, and the cruel words that the stallion had said that if he left, she would be alone forever and that no one would ever love her again.  Those words had been almost exactly what Sweetie Belle had said in her anger.  Those words were like a dagger to the heart for the fashionista unicorn. Those words hurt her more than anyone else. And Rarity could hardly bear it.

Rarity turned quickly and ran out of the barn, her tears floating in the air as she ran.  Dusk, who had read Rarity's diary, immediately understood how those words hurt his friend and he quickly followed her.  Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle was perplexed.  She didn’t expect her sister to run away crying over those simple angry words.  After all, they always argued, she didn’t understand how those words could have hurt her so much.

"She… She deserves that for being a bad sister." Sweetie Belle tried to convince herself that she had done nothing wrong.  Although deep down it hurt her to have hurt her sister like that, but her stubbornness was stronger than her forgiveness.

Not far from the barn, Applejack was making the final preparations before the big race. Then she looked up and saw Rarity run off with Dusk Shine chasing after her.  That made the orange mare squint suspiciously, knowing that something important was going on between those two.

Applejack took a couple of steps to go after Rarity and Dusk, however, in the end she lowered her head, sighed, and decided to go to the barn instead of going after her coltfriend and her friend.  She was determined to trust her coltfriend one hundred percent.

"I don't understand why Rarity got so upset, I'm the one who should be upset!" Applejack overheard Sweetie Belle say.  Who was apparently still trying to convince herself that she had done nothing wrong. "I'm the one who’s had a terrible day!  Maybe... Maybe I exaggerated a little bit, but... but she doesn't understand how stressed I was, and... and..."

"Easy now, sugarcube. I know Rarity will understand." Applejack said, approaching the little fillies.  She didn't fully understand what happened, but she understood that Sweetie Belle must have said something bad to Rarity. "Sometimes you do and say things you regret when you’re upset."

In that instant, Sweetie Belle's eyes widened as she realized something very important. Rarity had also been very tired and stressed when she got upset with her. Now the exact same thing had happened, only the other way around.  Finally, Sweetie Belle understood how similar she and her sister were, and her eyes began to fill with tears.

"It’s alright, don't cry." Applejack said, tenderly stroking the little unicorn's head.

"I know! How about you compete in the race with Applejack in my place." Apple Bloom said hastily, thinking that maybe that would lift her friend's spirits.

"Uh!? N-No… I… I think I should go…" Sweetie Belle said sadly.

"Come on.  Granny Smith planned this day to see happy faces, not sad faces." Applejack said, trying to motivate Sweetie Belle. "I'm sure you and Rarity will patch things up eventually.  After all, you’re sisters.  So for now, take the opportunity to distract yourself and think about something else."

"Yeah… I… I really want to give you my place!  I hate to see you sad." Apple Bloom said with a sad, forced smile.

Seeing that smile on Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle understood the sacrifice her friend was making to lift her spirits. Apple Bloom had been talking for days about competing with her big sister. She couldn’t simply decline the sacrifice that her dear friend was offering her.

"O... Okay..." Sweetie Belle said, wiping her tears away.  She hoped with all her being that Applejack was correct and that later she could reconcile with Rarity.

Minutes later, all the competitors were finally at the start line, ready to begin the long-awaited Sisterhooves Social race. There were about a dozen participating couples, most notably Applejack and Sweetie Belle. Standing next to them were another particular couple, composed of Babs Seed and Scootaloo, the latter wearing a huge fake mustache, which was apparently her 'brilliant plan'.  And at the end of the line of competitors, Apple Bloom stood alone, looking back, as if waiting for someone.

Behind the participants was the audience.  Several onlookers who had come there either to support one of the couples, or to simply enjoy that crazy obstacle course.  Meanwhile on the side of the starting line was Granny Smith, standing on a platform and ready to announce the start of the race  Of course, it would be quite a while before the race would begin, as the old mare was giving a long-winded speech of the origins of the Sisterhooves Social that only led into longer tangents. 

Not far from where everyone was, the lavender stallion had finally caught up to Rarity. She had stopped on her own, and after wiping her tears, turned to look where the other ponies not far from there.

"Rarity, I... I'm sorry for what Sweetie Belle said." Dusk said, trying to apologize for what the filly had said so that this sibling fight could finally end. "She doesn't know what you had to suffer in the past, and-"

"Enough, Dusk.  There is no justification.  What she said was simply cruel." Rarity said, looking seriously at Dusk.  A serious and cold look that made Dusk understand that no word he said would make Rarity forgive Sweetie Belle. "I was thinking of leaving here, but I’ll not please my cruel little sister.  I’ll stay here and show her that her cruel words will not affect me.  If she doesn't want to have a sister, good for her, and good for me." Rarity added, walking with a terrifying gaze back to where the race would start.

Just as Rarity and Dusk were reaching the back of the race crowd, somepony came up to the small stage where Granny Smith was sitting. The old pony had fallen asleep in her rocking chair while telling her story and had completely forgotten that she was supposed to start the race.  However, as soon as Granny was touched to wake her up, she screamed loudly, finally kicking off the long-awaited Sisterhooves Social race.

As soon as the race started, all the pairs of sisters ran at full speed.  However, there was a filly that took only a few steps and came to a complete stop. It was Sweetie Belle, who while on the starting line, had seen all the sister pairs together, supporting each other before the race.  And try as she might, Sweetie Belle couldn't get her sister's face out of her head, remembering the times they had both laughed together, which was in stark contrast to Rarity's sad face when she said those cruel words about she would be alone forever and that she would never find love.

"Come on, Sweetie Belle!  Can’t be wasting daylight on this!" Applejack said hurriedly, holding out a hoof for Sweetie Belle to take it and they would resume the race.  Then the little unicorn saw Applejack's hoof, and her eyes filled with tears.

"BWAAHHH! I… I want to run with my sister!" Sweetie Belle yelled, bursting into tears like she was a baby.  Applejack was left in shock at the filly's surprise outburst of sadness.

Seeing that Sweetie Belle was crying, Dusk turned to Rarity.  However, he was surprised to see that she was no longer by his side.  Rarity's reaction was almost instantaneous.  As soon as she saw her little sister cry, she instinctively ran off immediately, pushing her way through the audience. Then Rarity came out of the audience, ran at full speed, lowered her head as she ran, and in one quick and precise movement, lifted Sweetie Belle and onto her back, while still running to try to catch up with the others.

"R-Rarity!?" Sweetie Belle said in surprise, wiping her tears as she braced herself on her sister's back.  Then guilt filled Sweetie Belle's eyes with tears again and she hugged her sister tightly. "I’m sorry, Rarity! I… I didn't want to say those things. *sniff*"

"Oh Sweetie Belle, I deserved them for not being a good big sister." Rarity said, still looking down the road. "You’re my little sister, and we’re more similar than we care to admit.  We get angry easily, and we’re too stubborn to ask for forgiveness.  But we also love each other very much, and we’ll always forgive each other because that’s what sisters do.  Now… we have a race to win!"

Just then, the sister had reached the part of the race where they had to leap over the large mud puddle.  Knowing that they didn’t have enough time, Rarity leapt into the air without taking Sweetie Belle off her back.  She knew that with the extra weight, there would be no chance of clearing the puddle.  So Rarity simply closed her eyes and fell right into the mud, trying to at least keep her little sister from getting her fur dirty.

"Do it for her. Do it for her." Rarity thought strongly.  Giving himself the courage to move through that nasty mud as her pristine coat was dirtied.

Determined to show her little sister that she could be a good sister too, and that she could win the competition, Rarity gave her all after getting out of the mud.  The pair finally caught up with the laggards of the race. Then both she and Sweetie Belle, full of determination, quickly made the following obstacles, overtaking the other couples one by one. Jumping the obstacle boxes as if they were one, eating the pie quickly in one bite, pushing the huge bale of hay with all their might, throwing all the apples at once while the other caught them with perfect precision, carrying delicately and swiftly the egg between the two, just with their noses. Until finally, they both caught up with the leaders, and sprinted the last leg of the race to reach the finish line.

The four leading couples, including Rarity and Sweetie Belle, ran at full speed.  As everyone was about to reach the finish line, they all threw themselves to try to finish first, causing a large cloud of dust to be left in the surrounding air. That made the audience scream in amazement, waiting for the cloud of dust to disappear to see who had won.  Finally the dust disappeared, and Rarity and Sweetie Belle opened their eyes to see if they had won.

To their disappointment, they had fallen behind two other couples, thus they only came in third place.  Then everyone in the audience started clapping and screaming in excitement.  Not so much to congratulate the winners of the race, but to all the competitors, for having done one of the most tight and crazy races they had ever seen.

"Well, well, it looks like we have a winning couple." Granny Smith said, walking slowly with the trophy to the couple who had arrived first. "And the winners... not you two!" Granny added, glaring at the winning couple.

"What!? Why not? We got there first!" Apple Bloom said, who had been the one who had arrived first with her partner.

"Because this competition is 'The Sisterhooves Social', and only pairs of sisters are allowed!" Granny Smith answered, looking with narrowed eyes at Apple Bloom's partner, who was none other than Big Mac.  The stallion saw that Applejack wouldn’t participate with Apple Bloom and tried his best to dress up with a wig and dress to disguise himself as a mare.

"I… I don't know what you're talking about… I-I am a distant cousin of Apple Bloom. I’m… Orchard Blossom." Big Mac tried to say in a feminine accent.

Seeing that his cover was about to be exposed, Big Mac turned around in embarrassment and ran out of there. Then, after a few laughs, Granny Smith turned to the couple who had come second.

"The same goes for you two.  This race was for sisters only." Granny Smith said.  Although this time the grandma couldn't help but smile mischievously when she saw the second place couple.  “At least Big Mac tried to dress like a mare.”

"Yeah, I know.  It's just that I wanted to run with my marefriend." Dusk blushed, scratching his head in shame. While Applejack also blushed and looked away, happy but embarrassed that Dusk said in public that she was his marefriend.

Early in the race, as soon as Rarity picked up Sweetie Belle, Applejack was left alone as her partner had been taken away. It was then that Dusk also stepped out and pushed Applejack so that they both ran and she wouldn’t be alone.

It was then that Granny Smith finally turned to see the third couple that had arrived, Rarity and Sweetie Belle.  The elderly mare smiled and approached them to present the trophy.  However, just before handing it over, one of Applejack's cousins, who served as the race judge, whispered something in Granny's ear and she stopped handing out the trophy.

"I’m informed that Rarity carried Sweetie Belle early in the race and that is not allowed in the rules. So, you’re both are disqualified." Granny Smith said, turning one last time and finally handing the prize to the fourth couple that had arrived, Berryshine and her sister, two mares from the center of town.

As the audience finally applauded the victors, Rarity lowered her head with a very sad look.

"I'm sorry..." Rarity said very sadly. "I... I know how much you wanted to win-" At that moment, Rarity stopped speaking when she saw that her sister had hugged her tightly.

"I don't need a silly trophy to know that you’re the best big sister in the world." Sweetie Belle said, crying with happiness as she hugged her big sister.  Happy to finally have reconciled.

"And you’re the best and most loving little sister in the world." Rarity said, also shedding a happy tear at feeling the same as her sister. "But you can be a headache at times."

"You too." Sweetie Belle replied. Then both sisters looked at each other and started laughing.  Both finally putting their love before their pride and stubbornness.





After everyone congratulated the winning couple of the race, Granny Smith invited all the participants to a small banquet, where, as always happened in Sweet Apple Acres, the star was the apple candies and pies of the Apple family.  Meanwhile, Applejack and Big Mac, who was no longer in costume, began to remove the obstacles of the race.

In the family home, all the fillies ate happily with their older sisters, regardless of whether they had won or not.  They were just enjoying that beautiful bond of sisterhood together. All, except for the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who had been talking in the middle of the field where they had had the race.

"Did you see that?  I told you! Our costume was so perfect that no one disqualified us." Scootaloo said, smiling proudly with Babs Seed, holding in her hoof the fake mustache that she had worn in the race.

"They didn't disqualify you because you came in last place..." Apple Bloom said with a tired look.  She then looked at her unicorn friend with a sad look. "I'm sorry you couldn't win, Sweetie Belle."

“It’s fine, Apple Bloom.  The important thing is that I was able to compete alongside my sister." Sweetie Belle replied with a huge smile.

Seeing her friend in such a good mood, Apple Bloom smiled too. Then she remembered that there was another important topic to talk about, and that since her friend was in such a good mood, it might be the best time to talk about it.

"By the way... You all heard when Dusk Shine said that Applejack was his marefriend, right?" Apple Bloom asked, feigning disinterest and glancing at her friends.  Their eyes widened at the memory.

"Yeah... We all heard it." Scootaloo said with a sad smile. "It seems like it was true that Dusk finally chose Applejack over Rainbow Dash."

"Then you’ll agree that Plan Harem is no longer necessary, right?" Apple Bloom asked, wishing that no one interrupted the love that was being born between Dusk and her sister.

"No. I don’t agree." Sweetie Belle said, looking seriously at Apple Bloom, much to her friend's surprise.  "We started Plan H because we wanted everyone to be happy; Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. They all deserve to be happy!  And they all love Dusk very much!  I'm sure that hasn't changed."

"B-But Dusk already chose my sister!" Apple Bloom said nervously.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean we have to stop. That means we have to make Dusk also be the other's coltfriend!" Sweetie Belle said with a look full of determination, eager to help her sister in love. Because now that they had reconciled, she wanted her sister to be happy and to have her beloved Dusk as a coltfriend.

"It's true!  I still haven't asked Rainbow Dash if she accepted that Dusk is now Applejack's coltfriend, but I'm sure she couldn't have forgotten Dusk so easily!  We gotta help her so that Dusk falls in love with her too!" Scootaloo said cheerfully. Deep down, the orange filly fervently wanted to see Dusk and Rainbow Dash together.

Seeing the determined looks from her friends, Apple Bloom lowered her head in resignation, realizing that her plan didn’t work at all.

"Huff… Okay… We’ll continue with Plan Harem." Apple Bloom finally said reluctantly, sighing in defeat.

"Plan Harem?" Big Mac whispered to himslef. The big red stallion had been clearing the obstacles in the race near where the four fillies were, and had heard some of what they were talking about. A conversation that left him very confused, with a very uncomfortable look.

While that was happening in the center of the field, at the other end were Rarity and Dusk Shine in the barn. The white unicorn had asked Dusk for help to remove all the mud that had stuck to her fur when she fell into the mud puddle, and now Dusk found himself hosing down Rarity's muddy legs.

"You could take this off faster if you walked into the shower at home." Dusk said, slightly blushing as he helped his friend clean up.

"I’ll do that as soon as I get to my own home.  But I can't do it here. I don't want to go into Applejack's house and leave the whole floor dirty." Rarity answered, moving so that the water finished cleaning the mud from her hooves.

Being so close to Rarity and seeing her wet fur made Dusk feel more nervous than at any other time when being next to her.  It was almost as if they were taking a bath together, and that fired up Dusk's crazy mind with daring fantasies.  So the colt barely dared to glance at his friend, trying with all his might not to look at her in the front and thus not show his red face.

"All finish!." Rarity finally said, finishing washing her hooves and toweling off her fine fur.

"T-That's good..." Dusk muttered while looking at the ceiling to avoid seeing Rarity and blushing more than he was. "I-I think I'll go then." He then began to leave.

At that moment, Dusk stopped when he felt Rarity touch his back.  He turned around again and was surprised to see that Rarity threw herself to hug his neck. Thus preventing him from leaving, and at the same time being face to face with each other.

For an instant Rarity looked uncertain, but then she closed her eyes and looked at Dusk with her most loving and flirtatious look.

"Dusk... It's just you and me here." Rarity said tenderly, looking expectantly at Dusk. "I would like to thank you for everything you did for me today. Maybe… With a little kiss."

Hearing that proposal, Dusk froze.  He knew that his friend was flirtatious at times, but he never thought that she would do it so directly.  And now that she had him trapped between her hooves, Dusk couldn't help but see her face to face and admire her extravagant features... Rarity was so beautiful.  Her gorgeous eyes, her soft perfume and her soft little lips were just a small movement away from touching them.  At that moment, Dusk couldn’t stop remembering the kisses that Rarity had given him previously, and his body screamed to feel that warm and exciting sensation again...

"I can’t." Dusk finally said, closing his eyes and looking away. "Rarity,...you hold a very special place in my heart.  I really like you.  But...it wouldn’t be fair to Applejack.  She’s my marefriend.”

Hearing Dusk's words, Rarity widened her eyes in surprise, then lowered her head, and for some strange reason she put on a sad smile that Dusk didn’t see. Then Rarity stopped hugging Dusk and stepped back.

"Well said, my perfect gentlecolt." Rarity whispered so that Dusk couldn’t hear. Then she turned one last time before exiting the barn. "Remember Dusk, you’re not the only one with strong feelings.  I also feel something for you. I promise you those feelings won't change. And sooner or later I’ll kiss you, as your marefriend." Rarity said staring at Dusk, giving him a big, flirtatious goodbye smile.





While his beautiful friend left, Dusk couldn’t help but admire her beautiful figure as she walked and flicked her tail, and he blush even more as his mind again filled his head with fantasies.

"You have a marefriend!  You have a marefriend!  You have a marefriend!" Dusk mentally repeated himself nervously, giving himself strength so that his mind won over the worldly desires that his body was crying out for.

Outside the barn, Rarity sighed as many things went through her mind. She then saw Applejack hiding behind a nearby tree and put on an annoyed glance as she walked up to her.

"Did ya do it??" Applejack asked nervously once Rarity reached her.

"Don’t worry. Dusk is faithful to you. And I assure you that he’ll be as long as he’s still your coltfriend." Rarity answered reluctantly. Then she looked seriously at the country mare. "Why me?  Why did you have to choose me precisely to be the first to put Dusk to the test?"

At that moment they both remembered the talk they had had the previous afternoon, for which Rarity had left annoyed after chatting with Applejack...

'I took Dusk away from you. What are you going to do about it?' Applejack had said, looking very seriously at her friend. 'Remember that he’s my coltfriend. And also... that we have those rules.'

'What are you talking about?' Rarity asked. Then her eyes widened as she understood what her friend was referring to… 'Are you talking about the third rule?'

'We said we would put our love to the test, both with Dusk and with each other, to see if what we feel is true love.' Applejack said, reminding her what the third secret rule of their romance was about, the rule that Dusk was unaware of. 'I want you to be the first to try to seduce Dusk...' Was the last thing Applejack had said before Dusk arrived and that conversation ended that day.

"I asked you, because... Dusk always sees you and... I'm afraid of you." Applejack said with a fearful look. "You’re pretty, elegant, graceful … You’re the complete opposite of me.  I thought… you were my biggest rival to compete for Dusk's heart."

"Huff… Don't flatter me so much, you have your own virtues.  You’re funny, honest, trustworthy, and believe me, I'm sure Dusk also thinks you’re very pretty." Rarity replied with a small smile. Then she became more serious as she returned to the main conflicting issue: The third rule and the favor Applejack asked of her.  "I know we said we would put courtships to the test, but I never agreed with that rule. I know that we must confirm that what Dusk feels is romantic love and not friendship, and that as long as he’s the coltfriend of one of us, he must be faithful, but… I don't like pretending to be the homewrecker who tries to steal her friend's coltfriend."

"I’m sorry. I know the others will too if they get the chance, but… I wanted to know what would happen especially to you." Applejack said with a sad look.  Seeing that her friend was really sorry for asking her that favor, Rarity sighed and decided to forget her annoyance.

"Okay, I guess I was the best option to be first.  Perhaps the others had taken too seriously that flirting with Dusk and see how far they led." Rarity said, remembering how clever Pinkie Pie could be at evading the rules. "Besides, it's not like I disliked flirting with Dusk. Remember that I love him too."

"I know. That’s why I need to take advantage of my opportunity with Dusk now that I’m his marefriend." Applejack smiled.  A somewhat shy smile, which, like a good smile from the Element of Honesty, made it clear to Rarity that Applejack was still very insecure of herself being Dusk's marefriend.

For an instant, Rarity thought she could just walk away and leave Applejack with that little insecurity inside herself.  She was her rival in love after all.  However, it was also true that they were friends, and the friendship within Rarity fought against her jealousy in order to help her friend in love. 

"Listen, there are two things that you haven't realized and that can give you a lot of advantage with being Dusk's first marefriend." Rarity said slowly, knowing that she was advising a rival in love, but, always with a generous spirit, determined to help a friend anyway. "The first is… that you must pay attention to the rules that Pinkie Pie said.  Listen to them CAREFULLY." Rarity explained, deciding not to explicitly tell her about the loophole in Pinkie Pie's rules, but giving her an important hint. "And the second thing that will give you an advantage is... Do you know why I was so upset when Dusk chose you as his first marefriend?"

"Uh? W-Well… I thought it was simply because he chose me first." Applejack guessed, remembering that that day that Dusk found out that she and he were officially married, Rarity was the only one who gave an uncomfortable and annoyed look.

"It's not because of that." Rarity said, looking seriously at her friend and rival. "You’ll be dating for a month. And Princess Cadance's wedding is in a month!"

"So?" Applejack asked, still not understanding why that should be important.

"Can't you see it!?" Rarity huffed. "YOU will go with Dusk to his brother's wedding AS HIS MAREFRIEND.  You’ll meet Dusk's parents AS HIS MAREFRIEND. The nobles of the city, the princesses, his family… The whole world will officially see you as Dusk Shine's marefriend at the biggest event of the century!"

Applejack slowly took the weight of that situation and began to turn a little pale when she realized that she hadn’t noticed that important detail.  While Rarity, after giving Applejack those two clues that she could take advantage of by being Dusk's first marefriend, quickly put aside her friendly side, and returned to being competitive, standing in front of a rival rather than a friend.

"You better take advantage of these opportunities, because when it’s my turn, I’ll not miss it, and I’ll make Dusk fall madly in love with me." Rarity said with a competitive smile.

Then Rarity turned around and left.  As she did so, she was thinking about the three rules they had set for their crazy romance with Dusk.

"First rule: act like real couple. Second rule: don't ask Dusk for intimacy. Third rule: flirt with Dusk and put courtships to the test." Rarity thought, summing up the three rules. "Only those three, there are no more rules.  And yet, there is another very important thing that we didn’t put in the rules... How will the courtship end?  What if one of us refuses to end the courtship?  What if Dusk refuses to end one of the courtships!?" That last question made Rarity give a little chill, wishing Dusk would never think that, otherwise, their first courtship could be the only one.

Unbeknownst to Rarity, Applejack was thinking the exact same thing.  And while Rarity thought with fear about that last question, the orange mare thought about that same question with the secret little hope that Dusk would decide to stay with her forever.





At that same time in Canterlot, Dusk's future sister-in-law, Princess Cadance made a list of everything that was missing for her big day.  In just a few more weeks, she and Shining Armor would finally be married.  Like any bride, she knew that only a few weeks was a short time to check that everything was perfect, not to mention that she shouldn’t only be aware of her duties as a bride, but also as a princess and as a teacher.  But fortunately, everything was going well, and she was sure her wedding would go smoothly.

"Princess, did you want to see me?" Flash Sentry, one of the palace guards, said as he entered the room of the Princess of Love.

"Yes, come in." Cadance smiled.  She finished sealing some envelopes on a table, where there were hundreds of others in a neat pile. "I wanted you to deliver these invitations personally." Cadance added, giving Flash a few envelopes.

The orange pegasus approached the princess, took the envelopes, and read the names and addresses.

"These are... the invitations for Dusk Shine and his friends." Flash Sentry said a little surprised, remembering the time he had seen them when the princess sent him and a couple of guards to watch them drive the dragon off the mountain.

"That's right.  It took me a while to send them their invitations, because they’re not only invitations, it’s also a request so that they can help me with certain tasks at the wedding." Cadance said happily explained.

At the princess's reply, Flash Sentry gave an uncertain look.  He knew how the Canterlot nobles had tried to pressure them to be a part of the princess's wedding.  After all, although the nobles didn’t like the choice of the princess as a bridegroom, because he wasn’t from a noble family, they all wanted to be part of the wedding of the century.  A once-in-a-lifetime event, and from which they wanted their names to stand out. Yet Princess Cadance had insisted on making the arrangements herself, and keeping the wedding simple, or at least simple compared to the ostentatious marriages that other noble couples made in Canterlot. Therefore, Flash couldn’t help but be surprised that the princess wanted, as the nobles would say, 'simple country ponies', be part of the wedding preparations.

"I know how much the captain has had to endure for having such a high office and not being of the nobility. I myself have suffered it to a lesser extent.  However, we’re both military, and we can bear that and much more burden." Flash Sentry thought nervously. "But if those Ponyville mares get the stares and scorn of those snobs… I don't know if they can bear it. I'm not sure this is a good idea."

"You think it's a bad idea and the nobles won't accept it, right?" Cadance said, feeling the insecurity that Flash felt and guessing what he was thinking. "You don't have to worry.  Dusk and his friends have faced dragons, Nightmare Moon, and the Lord of Chaos himself!  I'm sure they’ll be able to withstand the looks of scorn from a few overbearing nobles.  Besides, I'm not asking for them help because they're friends with Dusk, but because they really are special, and the nobles themselves will have to admit it."

"What do you mean?" Flash Sentry asked.

"Rarity is an extraordinary dressmaker, and I'm sure she’ll soon be one of the best in Equestria. Pinkie Pie is a party expert, so much so that she even managed to get all the nobles to dance together at the Grand Galloping Gala.  Applejack is an expert pastry chef, in fact it was Fancy Pants himself who recommended her to me. Fluttershy has a unique and wonderful chorus of birds that sang at the last Summer Sun Celebration. And Rainbow Dash is the only known pegasus that can successfully perform a Sonic Rainboom." Cadance listed. "Each of them has proven her worth, and they need not prove it to any noble."

"Hmm... And you’ll still put them to the test..." Flash Sentry thought aloud for a second. Then he quickly realized his mistake and looked up nervously, checking with fear that the princess had heard him. "E-Excuse me, Princess! I… I didn't mean-"

"Don’t worry. You're right." Cadance said, interrupting Flash with a more serious and thoughtful look. "They’re very special, but for me, there is somepony more special than them… I know it’s unfair that I put them to the test, but I must make sure that Dusk finds true love. I'll make sure of it!" Cadance added with a look full of determination. Then she looked back at Flash and looked at him seriously. "Speaking of which... Have you already chosen what your first objective will be?"

Flash was surprised at the question, and then put on a confident smile.  He was going to greatly enjoy the special mission that Princess Cadance had entrusted to him.

End of chapter 11