“Alright, move over, Rarity,” Rainbow Dash said as she slid in to the chair opposite the table from where Applejack sat. “Alrighty…” She spat on her hooves, rubbed them together, then smirked. “You ready to choke on your own apple seeds?”
“Reckon I’ve no clue what that means, but it doesn’t mean I’m gonna whoop yer hiney any less!”
“How about less talking and more hoof wrestling?” Twilight exclaimed.
“My word!” Rarity gawked at her. “You’re certainly into this, aren’t you?”
“Last time I ever hoof wrestled, I couldn’t walk straight for a week!” Twilight smirked. “So, I just enjoy watching other ponies do it instead! It’s fun, not to mention highly informative!”
“I like the fun part!” Pinkie said.
“Uhm…” Fluttershy suddenly floated her nervously grinning face in front of everypony. “Twilight has a good point. You c-can easily get hurt doing this. Why don’t we… uhhh… play a game of cards instead?”
“Dun you fret, Fluttershy,” Applejack said, tilting the brim of her hat and smirking. “Rainbow Dash knows exactly what she’s getting into.”
“Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…” Fluttershy rubbed her hooves together and stared nervously at Rainbow Dash with a prolonged wince.
Rainbow saw the expression, and she replied with a wink. “Ahem…” She faced Applejack directly. “Enough stalling, farm girl. We doing this or not?”
“I’ve been ready for over a minute now.” Applejack’s forelimb propped on the table and leaned forward, clasping over Rainbow’s.
The pegasus instantly shuddered. She cleared her throat and fought mentally to fight the goosebumps. “Uhhhh-sp-spotter, please?”
“Igotit!” Pinkie zipped over and squatted until her wide eyes were even with the table. “Okie dokie lokie! On the count of three, let the epicness begin!”
“Roger that!”
“Eeyup.”
Pinkie took a deep breath. “One…”
Twilight and Rarity craned their necks to see.
“...two…”
Applejack licked her lips and glared over a rigid smirk. Rainbow Dash stared back, her ruby eyes quivering with each thudding heartbeat.
Fluttershy was gnawing and gnawing on her hoof and--
“...three!”
“Hnnnnnngh!” Applejack twisted Rainbow’s hoof towards her end of the table.
Rainbow Dash clenched her teeth, instantly sweating. Her body jerked towards Applejack--almost a little too easily. She found her wings springing back for balance, and she had to struggle just to coil them tightly by her side. With flaring blue nostrils, she tensed her muscles as hard as she could, pulling at the warm grip Applejack’s hoof had made with hers.
“Oooooooh!” Pinkie hopped in place while her eyes remained somehow level with the table. “So close! Closey closey closey! This is a fight for all the marvels!”
“Fascinating…” Twilight murmured.
Rarity fanned herself. “It’s certainly going on for quite a while.” She leaned closer to the other unicorn while her eyes remained locked on the struggle. “Did it last this long last time?”
“No…” Twilight shook her head. “Rainbow Dash beat Applejack three times straight during the Iron Pony Competition.”
“Huh. You don’t say…”
“Not… helping…” Rainbow Dash grunted.
“Don’t t-take it out on them, sugarcube!” Applejack sneered into the forelimb-quivering struggle. “This is… nnngh… all you and me!”
“It’s g-gone on for long enough!” Fluttershy smiled awkwardly. “Perhaps we can call it a tie?”
“A tie?!” Applejack grunted. “You kiddin’?”
“Don’t worry, Flutters!” Rainbow hissed. “I j-just… gotta show… Applejack who is… who is… boss…”
“Ya seem to be sweatin’ an awful lot, darlin’.”
“Grrrrnngh… I got this!” Rainbow Dash clenched her eyes shut and fought against the tingling sensation in her forelimb.
“Rainbow…?”
She shook and shook…
”Rainbow…”
A pair of ruby eyes flew open.
Applejack smiled gently against a backdrop of twinkling stars over the rooftop of Canterlot. ”Quit yer fussin’. I’m right here for you, Sugarcube.”
Rainbow’s mouth fell open, quivering. Her ears folded back and she tried to say something when--”Whoahhh!”--she was suddenly being tossed sideways.
“Haaaaugh!” Applejack’s whooping cry echoed against the windows of the fast food joint. She slapped hers and Rainbow’s hooves over her edge of the table.
“AJ wins!” Pinkie bounced and cheered. “AJ wins!”
“Yeeeha!” Applejack leaned back, pumping her hoof in the air. “Nothin’ beats the apple family muscle--Owwwww...” She winced, flexing her forelimb. “Shucks! That took a lot out of me! Well played, Rainbow Dash.” A beat. She glanced down, then did a double-take. “Land’s sakes!”
“Uhhhhhhhhhh…” Rainbow Dash lay on her back like a fuzzy blue turtle, her forelimbs sticking up. “...what?” She blinked at the ceiling, then smiled nervously. “Oh! Uhm… good job! You totally showed me up!”
“Let’s hear it for Applejack! Tosser of Dashies!” Pinkie Pie slid over to Applejack’s side. “Hip-hip--”
“Awwwww dun push it, sugarcube.” Applejack gently patted Pinkie’s shoulder and reached a hoof down to Rainbow Dash. “You okay down there?”
“Uhm…” Rainbow Dash reached her hoof up, wincing from the slight tingling sensation. “You bet! I’m just catching my breath, is all.”
Applejack hoisted Rainbow back to her hooves with remarkable ease. “Whew! Did you lose some weight or somethin’ since last time?”
“Since… last… time…?”
“You totally schooled me at the Iron Pony Competition, girl!” Applejack smirked and leaned in to nudge the pegasus in the shoulder. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were out of practice.”
“Er… yeah… well…” Rainbow Dash avoided her gaze.
“Rainbow’s been working all week!” Fluttershy suddenly spoke up, gulping in between her exclamations. “She’s likely very tired.”
“Awwwwww…” Applejack’s ears folded. “Shoot, now I feel bad, like I just kicked a good pony while she was down.” She reached over and rested a hoof on the pegasus’ shoulder. “I’m awful sorry, Rainbow. I didn’t even put that into consideration.”
“No no, AJ. It’s…” Rainbow Dash flung a pointed look at Fluttershy. “It’s A-Okay. Blame it on the hay fries.”
“Erm… right…” Fluttershy hid her muzzle behind a lock of pink hair. “The hay fries…”
Rainbow bit her lip.
“That was so exciting, though!” Twilight exclaimed. “Almost makes me want to take up hoof wrestling myself!”
“Pffft. Sure.” Rainbow rolled her eyes with a smirk. “If you want Spike turning the pages of your books for the next two weeks, then have at it.”
“I must say, you’re being remarkably calm about this,” Rarity said. “Usually you get extremely irritable over losing.”
“Eh…” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “You win some, you lose some.” She blinked, then blinked again. She rubbed a hoof over her eyes, re-imagining a canopy of stars over the Canterlot sky. ”Yeesh… what was that, Zecora…?”
“Huh?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “What about Zecora?”
“Er… n-nothing!” Rainbow Dash perked up, smiling awkwardly. “Who’s for ice cream?”
“Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu--!” Pinkie began.