Applejack bit down harder on the rope and stared across the field at her poly-chromatic foe.
This was it. The final round. The entire competition came down to this.
The first round had been a sprint - an easy victory for Dash; AJ's strength in running was her endurance, not her top speed.
The second and third rounds, hoof wrestling and deadlift respectively, had made up for it. They had both gone to Applejack, no contest. Really, only her brother had ever eaten her in those consistently.
The wrestling match in the fourth round had gone to the pegasus. (AJ blushed at the memory. She didn't care what Rainbow thought; licking her neck and pinning her while she was distracted was cheating.)
Now, it was down to the last event: Tug-of-war.
Applejack set her hooves solidly. That little prankster wasn't going to take this one! She'd just hold her ground, let her opponent exhaust herself, then reel in the blue pony and the victory.
As such, she was understandably surprised when the rope suddenly slacked off. There was nothing she could do as, unbalanced, she slipped backwards. Just as she lost her footing, Rainbow Dash hauled off with all the strength of one of her take-offs, wings beating furiously, and she found herself tumbling over the middle line.
"Well, Ah guess this means you win," she said to the pegasus, who was currently doing an impromptu victory dance.
"Yup!"
The farmer picked herself up. "Our usual forfeit, then?"
"Mmm-hmm..."
AJ blinked at her friend, who was advancing on her with a grin. "Wait, here? Isn't this a mite pubMMMMFFF!"
She found herself muffled with a kiss, which she happily returned.
She loved these little contests, these random challanges. As far as she was concerned, it didn't matter who lost - they both won.