//------------------------------// // Love Like a Sister Would // Story: The Impact of Humans on Ponies // by the koopanater //------------------------------// "Where is that girl?" As Huston continued to settle down into his new life, things haven't exactly changed much. Xavier still works inside his room to work on his new project (To which he says that it will be better than the last) while also continuing to work at the spa alongside Jasmine, Cali has begun to job search (she believes that she may have a lead as a cook at a local restaurant) and Huston has started looking around to get inspiration for his art. All of this was happening throughout the week, but something was off, and three humans could feel it as Cali was finishing breakfast. "She's probably still in her room." Xavier said worried. "She's been sitting in there a lot lately now that I think about it." "Yeah, it's honestly worrying." Huston commented. Cali looked out to worry about Jasmine. "I'm going to check on her. You can get started on breakfast." Cali put the last of the food onto the table as she went out of the kitchen, surprising the two guys. Once Cali got to Jasmine's room, she knocked on the door. "Hey Jas, you okay? Breakfast is ready you know." There was no answer to Cali's announcement, and that made her worry more. "Jas?" Still no response. "*sigh* I'm coming in." When she opened the door, she wasn't expecting to see Jasmine to be just lying in her bed, her position making her face away from her. "Um, hey Jas?" Finally, Jasmine reacted to Cali's calls and got up to look at her, but Cali was immediately taken aback at the face of depression that Jasmine was making. "Jas? You okay?" "Not really." She responded sadly, her depressed state clearly coming through her voice. "Um..." Cali began to sweat a slight bit. "Crap, what do I do? Um, what would Xavier do? Mmmm, oh! Um, do you want to talk about it?" She said with a smile, though it looked a bit awkward. Jasmine made eye contact with Cali, which surprisingly made her nervous (she wasn't sure how to comfort someone through her words without sounding harsh) "Can you promise me you won't tell anyone? And to not laugh?" "You know I never break a promise." Cali commented. "Please, don't tell anyone. Pinkie especially." The last part caught Cali off guard, but she kept her cool. "Since you're insisting so much, I will promise." Jasmine sighted as she prepped to tell Cali what was bothering her. "My birthday is coming up tomorrow..." Cali simply stared at her blankly. "Umm, what?" "Yeah, I know that's a strange thing, but it's not something I like." Jasmine said sadly as she grabbed a pillow and hugged it. "My birthdays are never fun. You know how I told you that my parents weren't around much, right?" Cali simply nodded. "Well, they were also gone every birthday of mine. All they did was get me some presents they thought a girl would like and a cake, but all I wanted was to spend time with them for once." "Mmm, That explains some of why you don't like your birthday, but not all of it." Cali stated calmy, not getting the full picture. "Well, that's because of my class." Jasmine said looking to the side, hugging her pillow tighter. "For as long as I remember, they would always bully me and take advantage of me because of how I acted. But it only got worse on my birthday." Jasmine looked like she wanted to continue, but she began to clench her eyes closed as if to hold back tears. "Hey, you don't have to tell me about what they did." Cali said, trying to calm her down. "I can get what's going on from here. So you don't want to celebrate your birthday because of others treating you badly then." "It's not just others though. For some reason something always goes wrong. Like one time when my birthday was on a weekend, my favorite dress somehow managed to rip itself on a chair." "Ouch." Cali cringed. "Now that's just terrible." "Yeah, so I think I'll just stay in my room for a while. Sorry to worry you." Jasmine then laid back into bed, sighing. While Jasmine was fully expecting Cali to leave, the room's guest never left. "Mmm, I hat seeing her like this. She usually so bubbly." Cali thought to herself as she crossed her arms. "Grr, there has to be a way to cheer her up..." Cali began to run a bunch of ideas through her head, all of them not exactly helpful in this situation. At least until one passed through and a lightbulb went off and she pounded her fist into her other hand. "Oh, I have an idea!" Cali's exclamation managed to spook Jasmine greatly as she rose swiftly. "Oops, sorry. Why don't we have a day out?" "I'm not following?" Jasmine said, tilting her head. "I mean the two of us go out and have a day for you. Just you and me, none of the others." Jasmine looked at her concerned. "Are you sure you're up for it?" "I am. Just trust me, I'll make sure you have a great birthday. Alright?" Jasmine stared at her for a while, long enough for Cali to start sweating nervously. "Well, I guess we could..." Jasmine began. "But can you promise me-" "Enough with that, I promise it will go great." Cali smiled, though Jasmine looked at her hesitantly. Finally, Jasmine sighed in defeat. "If you think it will go fine, then sure. We can go out." Jasmine said with a sigh, prompting a smile from Cali. "Don't worry, I'll make sure it goes well. Just stay here for now and rest up, I'm going to look around for things to do tomorrow. Oh, and breakfast is ready whenever you're up for it" Jasmine didn't hesitate to agree with her as she fell back into bed, still worried about how the day will go. Cali gave a sad sigh and smiled sadly as she closed the door and went back to the kitchen. Once she re-entered the kitchen, the two guys looked at her. "So, is she okay?" Xavier asked. "Calm down, lover boy, she's fine." Cali replied, getting a red face from Xavier. "She's just in a bad mood, so I'm going to take her out tomorrow for a girls day." She gave a half-truth, she wasn't going to say why she was upset. "Hmm, alright. Sounds like fun." Huston agreed. "Thank you Huston. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go around and scout for some things to do tomorrow." Cali said with a wave of her hand, leaving the kitchen to go out. "Good luck." Huston waved before turning to Xavier. "Now, why'd she call you 'lover boy'?" Xavier simply tensed up. "Hmm, what would be good for her to do..." Cali was now wandering around town, thinking about what Jasmine would like to do. "Let's see... I could take her to Sugar Cube Corner for some treats, but then Pinkie would find out with her crazy Pinkie sense or whatever. Maybe I could treat her to dinner, but then I would have to use the small amount of money that I've collected from odd jobs around town. Maybe I could take her to Fluttershy's, she does like it there..." As she was thinking of things to do, she smelled something off. "Huh? *sniff* Do I smell, smoke?" When she looked up, she was shocked to see a large column of smoke rising into the air. "Ah crap! It is!" Running quickly over to the column, she was concerned when she saw that it was coming from Carousel Boutique. "Crap, Rarity!" She wasted no time to burst through the door, ready to help save- "Rarity! Rrgh, you ruined the surprise! I was gonna serve you breakfast in bed!" When Cali opened the door, she was surprised to see Rarity on the floor by the stairs, and to her right was Sweetie Belle in the boutique's kitchen, where the entire room was practically covered in smoke. "Um, is everything okay?" Cali asked, still worried that a fire would happen. She didn't get an answer though as Rarity got up and began to walk over to the young filly to scold her before- "Well! G'mornin', Rarity!" A male voice yelled out, startling Rarity as she looked at the table to see two older ponies sitting at it. "Father! Mother!" "Huh, mother and father?" Cali asked as she came around the corner to investigate. "AH, are you one of the humans that we've hear so much about?" The stallion asked. "Um, yeah. Name's Cali sir." She introduced, tipping her hat. "Well pleasure to meet cha'. Name's Hondo Flanks, and this is my wife Cookie Crumbles." The stallion now known as Hondo introduced, the mare waving to greet her. "Nice to meet ya." Cali said before turning to the burnt food. "So, is that the cause of the smoke?" "Yep, and I'll have you know that Sweetie Belle here cooked this yummy lookin' breakfast all on her own." Hondo said with pride, rubbing the filly in question's head. "Erm, yeah. Sure." Cali said with hesitancy, seeing that everything on the table looked more like sculptures made of coal. "I... figured." Rarity said as she sniffed a glass of black tar-like liquid. "I didn't know you could burn juice." "I've been giving her lessons." Cookie Crumbs explained. "I wouldn't be surprised if she's got a cutie mark in fancy cooking by the time we get back from our vacation." "I honestly doubt it..." Cali though as she stared at the table, smelling the smoke coming off of it, but Rarity reacted differently. "V-vacation?!" Rarity exclaimed. "Is that this week? As in 'starting this very instant' this week?!" "Yep!" Sweetie bell said as she put a bowl of... bubbling... burnt... liquid?.. on the table. "Uhhh, is that applesauce?" Cali asked. "Nope, toast." Sweetie said proudly, getting a dumbfounded look from Cali. "We're gonna have the bestest time two sisters could ever have!" She said as she hugged Rarity. "I'm gonna go grab my stuff from Dad's wagon." Once she left the boutique, Rarity began to question her parents. "So, now, when you say 'a week'... is that, um, seven whole days?" "And six nights, I know! Such a short time to spend with your little sis." Cookie Crumbles smiled. "Huh, well hope y'all have a good time." Cali wished. "Thank ya kindly." "But I've got such a long to-do list." Rarity began to plead. "Rarity! She's your sister, right?" Cali exclaimed. "You make room for family!" Rarity looked at her for a moment before sighing. "Yes, you are right. Oh well, I suppose 'spend time with your sister' will just have to be added to the list." She said before another crash was heard by the door. When they looked, they saw Sweetie Belle in front of a mountain of suitcases. "Just a few necessities." Cali decided that, since there wasn't any immediate danger, she would go about her original plan. Once she left, she took her time to look around for good ideas. Unfortunately, she was having some trouble, and was not sitting at a table thinking. "Mmm, why is it so hard to think of things to do?" Cali thought to herself. "Why is it when I'm speaking my opinion, I have no problem on what to say, but when I'm thinking of something like this I can't think of one thing." After staring forward for a few seconds, her head fell onto the table face first. "*sigh* I suck at this..." As she was sitting there upset, a voice caught her attention. "How's the sleepover at Rarity's goin'?" Raising her head up, she looked to her side to see that both Sweetie Belle and Applebloom were near her, the latter with a flyer with her. "Why, it's smashing!" Sweetie said, mimicking her sister, confusing Applebloom and Cali who began to get up. "Okay kid, what's with the sarcasm?" She asked, surprising the two. "Oh, howdy Cali. Didn't see ya there." Applebloom admitted. "Don't worry about it, I did join in unannounced." Cali said with a wave. "I need to ask though, what's up Sweetie Belle? I thought you were excited to hang out with Rarity. What gives?" "I just wish we could do something special together that didn't include me goofing anything up." Sweetie replied upset. "Did something happen?" Cali asked. "Well I tried to help her today but everything I did ended up being a nuisance to her." "Hmm, sounds like something she'd reason with." Cali admitted. "Well, why not try The Sisterhooves Social together!" Applebloom recommended as she showed the flyer she had to Sweetie Belle. "Applejack an' I do it every year! You an' Rarity can compete against other sister teams in all these neat events!" "That sounds like the perfect way for us to hang out!" Sweetie Belle said as she took the flyer and began to run off back to the boutique. "Rarity will think it's an excellent idea." Once Sweetie Belle ran off, Cali began to get interested. "Sisterhooves Social? What's that kid?" "It's a competition where sisters compete in a race and whoever wins in it wins a trophy. Me and Applejack compete every year." Applebloom explained, catching Cali's attention. "Really? Hmm. I wonder..." Cali thought for a bit before smiling at the small farmhand. "Hey kid? Do you think I could talk to your sister?" A Bit of Time and Some Walking Later Applebloom led Cali from town over to Sweet Apple Acres where Applejack was working. After a bit of time looking around, they managed to find the pony moving around some hay bales. "Hey AJ." Cali said waving, catching the attention of Applejack. "Howdy Cali. What brings you here?" "Well, I wanted to ask you about something. I heard something from your sister about a 'Sisterhooves Social', and I wanted to know more." Cali's question managed to confuse Applejack. "Why are you interested in it? You don't have a sister, right?" "Well, yeah. But I wanted to see if I could enter with Jasmine." Cali admitted. "It's... *sigh*. I'm going to have to explain, aren't I?" "Well, it would clear up some things." Applejack concluded, earning another sigh from Cali. "Yeah, I figured. Well, long story short, Jasmine's kinda in a bad mood. She's going through something and isn't herself right now." "Shoot, I'm sorry for her." Applejack sympathized. "Do you know what she's going through?" "Erm, sorta. I'm not allowed to say though, I promised that I wouldn't say." Cali said. "Oh, I'll respect that." "Anyway, I said that I would help her by getting her mind off it and doing something with her. When I heard of the event from Applebloom here, I though maybe this would be something that she would like and help her get over what's got her down." "And you think that this'll help her?" "Well, I was thinking about the whole thing, and I think a part of what's got her down is her daily life. If she's not over at the spa, she's not really doing much outside of sitting up on a cloud and thinking or reading. And usually when something happens, it's not very calm like Nightmare Night." Cali explained, thinking about all that's happened. When she was thinking about what Applebloom told her before coming over, she realized that a lot of the time the group got caught up in something serious, so she thought a simple event like this would help her cheer up. Applejack put a hoof to her chin and thought for a bit. "And before you say anything about us not being sisters, I know we aren't. But ever since coming here and hanging out with you and the others, I feel like I've gotten closer to Jasmine than most of you. So much so that I'm starting to see her as my sister. No offence by the way." "None taken. And if you think that this is something that will help her, then I'll talk to Granny. She's helping out this year, so I'm sure we can fit you in." "Thanks AJ. You're too kind." As the two were talking, Applebloom noticed something coming their way. "Huh, isn't that Sweetie Belle?" The two stopped their conversation to look at where Applebloom was, and sure enough Sweetie Belle was coming their way, but she seemed quite sad. "Yeah, it is. But why's she coming here?" Cali asked as she went over to Sweetie Belle. "Hey kid, what's got you down?" "Rarity." She answered bluntly, catching Cali off guard. Deciding that this was something that needed explaining, she brought her over to the others so that she could talk it out. After some time, Sweetie Belle explained what happened after Cali left Carousel Boutique, from multiple mishaps that Sweetie did to them severing their relationship after Rarity not wanting to do the Social. Once finished, the three had different reactions to Sweetie's story. "'Uncouth'?" Applejack exclaimed, shocked at the description Rarity gave. "She said the Sisterhooves Social was 'uncouth'?" "Yeah! Uncouth?" Applebloom continued, taking a bite out of an apple. "Wait. What's uncouth?" "It's not just the Social. She thinks I'm uncouth." Sweetie said, offended at what Rarity thought. "Honey, Rarity thinks everything's uncouth." Applejack comforted as Applebloom walked over to her sister. "What's uncouth?" Applebloom asked with a mouth full of apple. "It means uncivil. Y'know, bad mannered?" Applejack explained, getting a burp from her little sister in response. "Exactly." "Lovely." Cali deadpanned. Her reaction to Sweetie's story was more mixed than the others. While she did feel sorry for Sweetie, she also thought that something was off. "Sweetie Belle, just give Rarity some time. She'll come around. Sisters always do." Applejack consoled, putting a hoof over Applebloom. Sweetie Belle simple looked away in shame. "Not sisters like Rarity." The three were worried about Sweetie Belle's situation. But while the Apples were thinking about her and trying to cheer her up, Cali was thinking something else. "Come on, now." Applejack said with a grin. "Apple Bloom and I got some chores to finish up on. Maybe you can help out." "You sure you want me to help? I just mess everything up!" Sweetie whined. "Oh come on, that's just stinking thinking." Applejack waved it off before walking over to an open field with a bunch of rotten apples. "Watch." Applejack then picked up one of the rotters by the stem and tossed it into the air. The apple flew in the air for a bit before landing into a bucket that Applebloom was holding. This continued for a bit with Applejack tossing rotten apples into the air and Applebloom catching them in the bucket, laughing as they did it. Cali and Sweetie Belle watched them, getting confused looks from them. "This is a chore?" Sweetie Belle asked curiously. "Since we can't sell the bruised apples, we gotta collect them all for the pigs to eat." Applejack answered before tossing another apple. "It's a lot of work, so we make a game out of it." Applebloom explained. "Ah, making a chore more enjoyable. Makes sense." Cali commented. "Wanna try?" Applebloom asked Sweetie Belle. "Um, okay!" Sweetie Belle nodded with a small smile as Applejack kicked an apple towards her. However, the apple landed on Sweetie Belle's horn instead. "Ow!" She said, rubbing her head with her hoof. "Ooh, you okay kid?" Cali asked, leaning down to help her. "Yeah, I'm okay." Sweetie confirmed. "You're right, it is hard work." "That's why we do it, together!" Apple Bloom spoke up as, finishing up with Applejack. "Hmph, Rarity never wants to do chores together." Sweetie said with an irritated expression. Saying that, Cali looked at her with a mixed expression. "I'm honestly starting to doubt her." Later, at Sundown As the day went on, both Cali and Sweetie Belle continued to follow the Apple sisters around the farm as the two did chores around the area. As they did, they watched how close the two were as they were not only able to get over small things each of them did but also how well they worked together. Sweetie Belle was felling quite jealous at them, but Cali was more focused on her. Once the two sisters were done with their chores it was sundown, so Applejack suggested that they camp out for a bit around a campfire, to which the others agreed to do so. Now they were sat around one roasting marshmallows, with Cali setting up a tent for them (she was going to head back home once she finished and had a marshmallow) It was pretty nice and quiet for them until... "Sweetie Belle!" The group looked over to a hill leading to them, and on it was none other than Rarity who was running over to them. "Oh, I have been galloping all over looking for you. I-" Once Rarity made it to her sister however, Sweetie Belle only turned her head away. "Hello un-sister." Sweetie Belle spoke in full sarcasm. "What are you doing here? Better be careful, you might get some dust on you." The other three looked at them in worry, wondering about how this will go and if this will only make things worse. "Oh, Sweetie Belle! I want to apologize! We are not better off without each of our sisters!" Rarity pleaded. "I'm not better off without a sister either." Sweetie Belle admitted. "Spending the day with Applejack and Apple Bloom made me realize that." Rarity smiled as she began to reach in for a hug "Oh, Sweetie, you don't know how happy I am to hear-" She was cut off however as Sweetie Belle swatted her hoof away. "And that's why I'm adopting Applejack as my big sister!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed, hugging Applejack's leg, shocking all of them. "WHAT!?" Rarity screamed. "What?!" Both Applejack and Applebloom yelled out. "...What?" Cali said confused, and a bit off-put. "A sister is someone who loves and takes care of another sister. Applejack's a real sister." Sweetie Belle explained. Applejack however, wasn't thinking this was a good idea also. "H-Hold on, Sweetie Belle. Don't get ahead of yourself here." Applejack started nervously. "Besides, she's my big sister!" Applebloom said as she gripped Applejack's other leg, making her nervous again. "Or maybe she should be your sister, so she could teach you what a good sister is supposed to be!" Sweetie said to Rarity, making the whole situation more uncomfortable. "Heh, um, actually, I-" "But I don't need lessons on being a good sister, I-I promise!" Rarity pleaded. " Listen! I'll show you how to cook my favorite quiche! Or, or, I'll show you the proper way to beautify your mane. Won't that be fun? Hm?" Sweetie Belle however didn't look as happy. "Hm! You want me to go home with you, so we can do what you wanna do?" Sweetie asked angrily. "Uh... yes?" Cali facepalmed at Rarity's answer. "Just forget it!" Sweetie Belle yelled as she walked away, upset at the whole thing. Watching her leave, Cali began to think again about Sweetie's stance on the situation. "I'm gonna go now, see ya." Cali said as she waved and left, leaving the others confused at what happened and why she left then. When Cali left however, she didn't aim for home, but instead for Sweetie Belle. She didn't have to look much however as as she found her sitting by a tree. "Hey kid, got a minute?" Sweetie Belle looked up at Cali, her eyes filled with mixed emotions. "Sure." Cali went over and sat next to her. After a second of silence, Sweetie Belle spoke up. "Let me guess, you want me to forgive her so we can be sisters, right." "Not exactly." Cali admitted, confusing Sweetie Belle. "I've been thinking about how you've been acting about this, and I think you need to apologize too." Cali's explanation shocked Sweetie Belle. "What!? Why should I?!" Sweetie Belle yelled. "All I've done is try to help her!" "Well, have you thought about what she's thinking?" Cali asked. Sweetie hesitated for a second, which gave Cali all the proof she needed. "Listen, I know all you wanted was to help your sister out today, but I think you never thought about what she's going through. She's a busy pony, so she may not have all the time in the world for you, but she still loves you. And besides, you haven't exactly been the best sister either." Sweetie looked at her with a face that portrayed confusion. "I mean, you did touch her stuff without asking, and I'm sure that no one likes it when someone else touches something important." Cali's words hit Sweetie Belle, thinking about the things that she did. "Take it from someone who's living in a house with three others, Not everyone's going to want to do something or even have the time. Just be considerate of them, that's just what family does." Cali then got up. "I'm going to head home, I'll see you tomorrow kid." As Cali was walking away from Sweetie, the small foal was thinking about her words, wondering if her sister really was that unkind to her. Later at the Human Household When Cali made it home the sun had set and night took place. Of course Cali didn't mind getting home late, but she was a tad bit worried about the others, mostly Jasmine. When she entered the house, she saw that the guys were simply sitting around a table in the living room, playing cards. "Looks like you two keep busy." Cali said, getting their attention. "Ah, welcome back Cali." Huston greeted. "Did your search go well?" Xavier asked, putting his hand down. "I think it did, but there was quite the ordeal that happened." Cali responded. "Oh, what happened?" "I'll tell you later. For now I'm going to check with Jasmine." "She's been held up in her room all day, so good luck." Huston said, getting a thumbs-up from Cali as she went up the stairs to Jasmine's room before knocking. "Hey Jas, it's me. You awake?" "Mmm, yeah." A voice spoke from the other side, prompting Cali to open the door to see Jasmine still in bed moping. "Hey there, how ya holding up?" Cali asked. "Mmm, okay." Jasmine said, her tone a bit less depressed than this morning. "That's good to hear." Cali said. "Now, I think I've found something that might be interesting." Cali then went over to Jasmine's bed and sat on it, telling her about what she found out, mostly about the Sisterhooves Social while keeping out everything about the situation with the Belle sisters. Once she was done, Cali looked at Jasmine and smiled. "So, sound interesting?" "Well, kind of. But isn't that only for sisters?" "Yeah, but I talked with Applejack and she said she'll see about getting us in despite that." Cali explained. "Okay..." Jasmine thought for a bit about the situation, weighting the options. After a bit of that, Jasmine made up her mind. "Well, if you think it'll be fun, I guess we can go." Cali smiled at that. "That's good. And don't worry, this will be fun, trust me." Cali said as she stood up and walked to the door. "Better get some rest, tomorrow's a big day after all." Jasmine nodded and wrapped her blanket over her, drifting to sleep and getting a smirk from Cali as she closed the door. The Next Day The day of the Sisterhooves social came, and many sisters across the town were excited. Of course, not all were actually sisters or ponies as two humans entered the area, one with a bit of a sad look on her. "Well, here we are." Cali said, raising an arm to emphasize it. "How's it look?" "It looks... nice." Jasmine admitted. "That's good." Cali said as she reached for something inside of a satchel she had with her. "I got you something, sorry but I didn't have time to wrap it." What Cali pulled out was a pair of boots, nothing too fancy but they were nice. Although, Jasmine didn't exactly know what to think. "I know, not impressive to look at, but I asked Twilight if there was a spell out there to protect against things like mud and such, and turns out there was. So these boots are enchanted to keep you clean from today's activities." "Oh wow, t-thank you." Jasmine said, her voice with genuine thankfulness in it as she took them and put them on. "I-I'll cherish them." "Now there's no need to go that far, Jas. After all they aren't the main thing we're here for." Cali said, getting a nod from Jasmine. When Cali was looking around the place, Cali noticed something. "Hey Jas. Why don't you go look around? I'll catch up with you before the race." Jasmine was a bit hesitant to leave her, but she trusted her enough to not abandon her, so she did as she went over to look at some of the events. When she left, Cali's attention went to what took her's a moment ago, that being the Apple sisters and Sweetie Belle walking around. When Cali looked at them, she saw that Sweetie Belle didn't have the happiest expression on her, it was a mix between sadness, anger, and just a hint of guilt. She wanted to go over to see them, but she heard the horn that signaled the race was about to start. When Cali was going over to the meeting place, she took one last glance over to the three to see that Applejack's hat and a green bandana was on Sweetie Belle, giving the impression that she was going to team up with her for the race. Once Cali met up with Jasmine, they looked up on a stage to see Granny Smith on a rocking chair, messing around with a megaphone. "Is this thing on?" Granny Smith wondered aloud through the megaphone, accidentally rotating the megaphone backwards. "Ehh...I don't think this thing is on. Hello?" It wasn't until Big Mac went up to her and whispered into her ear did she realize the problem. "What is the...oh. You have to say so. Confangled modern doohickeys." Granny Smith said, smacking the stand the megaphone was on so it spun back to face the right way. "Now, the event you've all been waiting for! The Sister Soci...The Socialhoof..." Granny fumbled with her words for a bit before giving up. "Oh dabnabbit, you know, the big race! We have five teams this year for the event! So you all head on up to the finish line, you hear?" Big Mac once again went up to her ear and whispered to her. "The start line!....That's what I said." With that, the teams went over to the starting line to get ready. "Alright Jas, let's give it our all out there." Cali encouraged with a fist pump. Jasmine looked at her for a second before smiling. "Okay, let's do it." She said as she looked forward with a determined look in her eyes. "And may the best sisters win!" Granny Smith announced as she continued rocking her chair. "On your marks...get set..." As the teams of sisters readied themselves, Granny Smith moved too far on her rocking chair and accidentally poked her eye with the megaphone, but the teams weren't focused on that and were only ready to race. "GOOOO!" The teams all shot off quickly, all of them aiming for first place. Their first obstacle was a simple mud pit, it wasn't the biggest thing to worry about, but it was enough to slow anyone down if they got caught in it. For the human pair, it wasn't difficult as they easily leapt over the pit. As they were running along however, Cali heard Applejack's name be shouted by Sweetie Belle, making her guess she fell in. She was a bit worried, but she didn't dwell on it since this was a race, no mercy. The next two obstacles weren't too difficult either for the humans being a barrel step and a bunch of crates stacked up, but then again they were quite easy for humans to do, leaving them in first place. Their first actual obstacle was approaching however, as it was something that Jasmine wouldn't like, pie eating. It wasn't the pie that was the problem though, it was the way they ate them, no utensils or even slices, just faceplant into it, and it was obvious on Jasmine's face that she wasn't happy about it. At least, until she looked over to Cali, who was looking at her with concern, not because of the race, but of how Jasmine would feel about it. Her looking at Jasmine like that sparked something in her, so she decided to do one thing, and plunged into the pie to finish it. This action shocked Cali, since she thought that it would take longer to convince her, but she didn't dwell on it long as she dived into hers, since this was a race. When they each finished their pies, they were still in the lead as all the other contestants were still eating theirs, but it would change since while Jasmine was cleaning her face off from the pie, Sweetie Belle and Applejack, who was covered in an absurd amount of mud, came in and ate their pies in one bite, shocking the two and letting them know that the race was just getting started. The two teams were always neck on neck with each other, each in hopes of shaving a second or two off their times as to win. At the grape stomping, both Applejack and Cali tossed all the grapes they had into their respective vats in one go, then giving a boost their younger teammates to land into the vats. When Sweetie Belle and Jasmine landed into their vats, they began to stomp their grapes, fast enough to finish at nearly the exact time. With their jars of grape juice on stools, the two teams ran to the next event. It was an event similar to what Applejack and Applebloom were doing yesterday, as there was a basket to catch apples that were laid out. The two teams didn't waste time however as while the younger members grabbed their baskets, the older ones leapt and slammed their tables that held the apples, sending them all flying like a catapult. Fortunately, the two baskets were held high, and in one swift act all the apples in the sky landed into the baskets, letting the two teams move forward. After the two groups finished balancing eggs on their noses, it was a sprint to the finish. The two sister teams were neck and neck with each other, and neither of them wanted to lose. After a bit, they saw the finish line rapidly approaching them, so the picked it up. When they all got close enough to the finish line, they all jumped forward, leaving a cloud of dust upon impact. It was tense to wait for the dust clear and reveal the winners, and when it did there were only two arms across the line, and those arms belonged to two humans. When the two realized what happened, the got up shocked as a referee brought over a blue ribbon. Handing the ribbon over to Jasmine, the spectators that watched the race came from the stands and picked them up for a victory lap. While Cali was thrilled that they won, Jasmine's reaction was very different. "Whoo, we won the race Jas!" Cali called to her friend. "How's that for a-" When Cali turned to Jasmine however, she was shocked and concerned to see that Jasmine had tears streaming down her face. "GAH! You okay?! Did you get hurt or did something get ripped, or-" "N-no." Jasmine wiped the tears away. "I-I'm just so happy that we won! This has been the best birthday ever!" As Jasmine was expressing her joy, the crowd overheard what she said. "Wait, it's your birthday?" Somepony in the crowd asked, to which Jasmine nodded without realizing what they said, going wide-eyed after what she did. "Well then happy birthday to you." The crowd soon put the two down and surrounded Jasmine, all of them giving her heartfelt wishes and congratulations for her birthday. All of them wishing her happy birthday was enough to move her to tears, and they flowed. Watching this scene was Cali, crossed armed and smirking. "I say today has been successful." Cali said out loud. She then looked over at the finish line, curious on how her opponents were fairing. Surprising her though was Rarity at the finish line, hugging her little sister, said sister was hugging her back. "Huh, when'd she get here? And when did she make up with her?' Cali simply shrugged at the scene. "Eh, whatever. They made up with each other, so I can't complain." "Cali!" Cali looked over to Jasmine to see here running over but wasn't prepared for her to jump onto her with a hug. "Thank you for this! I can't thank you enough!" "Heh, no problem... sis." Cali responded, under her breath at the end as to not let Jasmine know. One thing was for sure though, the two's bond grew even closer and were ready to take the world together.