//------------------------------//
// Roundup Rodeo 
// Story: A Bittersweet Apple 
// by MegaTJ 
//------------------------------//

Roundup Rodeo

Thorny and his sisters gazed on in awe at the giant, portable stadium that housed Ponyville's biggest rodeo of the year. The early evening hours were set ablaze as the lights from the event lit up the surrounding valley, making it a star on the ground of the darkening world. Even with the ponies making their way to it around them, they couldn't help but stand there dumbfounded until an outside force caused them to get off their flanks and move toward it too.

Somepony snickered behind them. It only just caught Thorny's ear, but it was enough for him to stand up and turn around with smile. He looked up the second he remembered that Rainbow Dash wasn't much of a walking pony. She was still trying to get a grip on her laughs at the sight of his sisters still wide-eyed.

"Are all rodeos this big in Ponyville?" he asked the giggling Pegasus.

"No…just this one", she laughed. "Come on! You need to get your sisters moving if you want to make sign ups!"

With that she flew to the stadium, leaving Thorny to pick his sisters from the ground and carry with him. The other side of the gates were no less impressive. It was very decorated with the different ponies photographed competing in the year's before. Banners, streamers, lights and even flags were placed all around the halls depicting different event stations and snack stands. He looked around for where Rainbow Dash had gone and found her hovering above a lengthening line near the bend of the vast corridor.

He ushered his siblings to the line before it could get too long. The last thing he wanted to do was get stuck at the end where by the time he signed up the rodeo would be over. He got behind a dark red stallion that towered above him. He paid no mind to him, he was too busy keeping his sisters from wandering off towards the many attractions the place had to offer. It'd be a little hard to get his name on the registry while looking for two lost fillies.

"C'mon, Thorny, let's get some cotton candy!" Apple Sprout urged with a tug on her brother.

June Berry pulled in the other direction against Thorny's other hoof. "No, apple pie!"

"If y'all don' quit Ah'm goin' two ways in half!" he protested. "Celestia, somepony come by t'take you two!"

His request to the heavens was answered immediately as a gray unicorn happened by with his own younger ponies in tow. He saw the Earth Pony struggling with the two trying to pull his hooves off. He immediately crossed the small distance to give assistance. "Thorny, would you like me to show your sisters around?"

He looked up to see the Carousel Boutique's assistant tailor and one of his best friends standing not even five feet away. He sighed. "Linen, Ah oh ya one."

"Ah, no repayment needed, it's the least I can do after you fixed the floorboards of the attic." He took the hooves of Thorny's sisters and led them away from the relieved stallion. He turned around to find that the line had moved forward by three whole ponies. Hurrying to keep his place in line, he galloped forward to secure the sixth position from the table. The line moved along at a pace smoother than he could previously determine with his sisters testing the breaking points of the tendons in his shoulders. When the big pony in front of him signed his name and left for wherever it was he was going, Thorny was surprised to see Granny Smith managing the lists spread out over the top of the table.

"Ah was wonderin' when ya was gonna get here", she chuckled, "Just put yer name wherever ya wanna compete. Or jus' sign the big list an' you can go at'em all."

Thorny obliged and signed the largest, and most filled, list on the table not at all noticing who had signed it first. She slid the number sixteen across the table to him. He grabbed it up. "Thank ya, Granny Smith."

"Good luck, sonny", she replied as he walked away. "They'll call fer ya after a while."

With his name finally on the paper, Thorny left for where he saw the other ponies from the line go. He rounded the corner of the hallway and found himself in what looked like a large souvenir shop. The place was busy with ponies going from one booth to another to purchase some kind of memorabilia ranging from designer cowboy hats to rock candy. There was a door on the other side where, he hoped, would lead him to a practice area. Navigating the crowd was a challenge considering the space between ponies was less than a foot. Thorny pushed through as politely as he could. No pony seemed to notice his large frame creeping through in an attempt to prevent knocking somepony over.

The adjacent room was less crowded. It appeared that it was just a place for the bathrooms, and nothing more than that. He turned to brave the crowded tourist trap once again, but caught sight of a third door just to the side of the restrooms. Behind that door was another hallway. He sighed in frustration. "Ah need a map."

"There you are! Had a feeling ya got lost." Thorny whipped around to see Rainbow Dash looking down at him from the air. "C'mon, let's get out on the dirt already!"

"'Bout time!" Thorny laughed.

On the way back, Thorny saw signs with maps of the place plastered every so many feet. He would have cursed himself for not seeing them on the way to the wrong side of the complex, but he couldn't blame himself for having to focus on one thing at a time. Rainbow Dash led him past the sign up line, which had begun to wrap around the bend and out of the entrance.

Since he wasn't much of a quiet pony, Thorny looked up at his Pegasus guide. "Been here before?"

Rainbow flipped over and lazily coasted along on her back. "Only this year and last year when AJ got me into'em."

"How many ya been in?"

Rainbow Dash counted the times she ever signed up alongside Applejack for a shot at a blue ribbon. "Six times…I think. I really don't keep track of that stuff. You?"

"Twenty times! Been at it since Ah was little", he proclaimed proudly.

"Yikes", Rainbow Dash commented, "And not one ribbon?"

Thorny's pride withered away into disappointment. His head shook to confirm that she hadn't forgot what he told her earlier in the week. He turned his frown from her to the path ahead. At the end of the long hallway, Thorny saw the walls and floor stop suddenly to give way to the gigantic field. He couldn't help but gallop forward with excitement. The second his hooves hit the dusty ground of the outside he felt much more relaxed and ready to take on the rodeo. Rainbow Dash landed next to him and together the two stared around at the crowd that had gathered for the event.

"I don't remember the crowd being this big last year", Rainbow Dash, "Just more ponies to see me win!"

Thorny ignored her to go on to the field, where tons of practice material lay in wait. Looking over what was set out for the competitors, he knew that he could only warm up. The only things he was unprepared for was the events that didn't require equipment. He leaned forward to start off his stretches. Occasionally, he gazed around to check out the competition. Many of the ponies he knew were from Ponyville. There were some from out of town and even one or two foreigners.

"These chumps won't know what hit'em", Rainbow Dash boasted, taking a stretching stance next to him.

"Ah wouldn' be thinkin' like that if Ah were you", Thorny warned.

"Why not? Look how scrawny most of'em are!"

Seeing that she was speaking the truth somewhat put Thorny at ease. He was used to competing in rodeos where even some of the mares towered over him. Here in Ponyville there was probably one or two colts that stood any chance against him in any muscle contest. Rainbow grunted next to him as she stretched as low to the ground as she could. He watched her, and noticed that she was number six in the rodeo.

As time passed, more and more ponies filled the small, enclosed field. Rainbow and Thorny slowly found themselves crowded to the point of not being able to move. Fortunately, a few officials moved the fences farther into the main field were the events were set up. It wasn't much longer after they were able to continue warming up when somepony tap a microphone, causing a little feedback to echo over the stadium. The crowds fell silent as they waited for the announcer to start the rodeo.

"Howdy, and good evenin' Ponyville!" boomed a mare's voice from many sets of speakers around the stadium. "Welcome t'the fifth annual Roundup Rodeo! We got lots o' excitin' events this year! If yer new, listen up for the rundown. We run this rodeo like a big tournament. You'll get paired up with different ponies and y'all'll go at it. If ya get eliminated, ya get three more chances before yer completely outta the game fer overall! That don' mean ya can go fer ribbons in the others though! Our field can handle all events at once, jus' listen fer yer number!"

The gates to the practice field opened up, letting the competing ponies through to the vast valley of a field. Thorny started to go with the others, but stopped when he noticed Rainbow Dash looking around. "Whatcha lookin' fer?"

She snapped to him. "Nothing, c'mon, let's go!"

He thought that was a little weird, but followed her without a second thought. Along the way, he noticed a huge board being worked by a small team of Pegasi. They were busy arranging numbers on a thirty-two count tournament bracket. They were in numerical order, meaning he was up against number fifteen. He looked around but didn't see anypony wearing the number in the crowd.

The first eight ponies stepped up to the four different challenges. He wasn't much interested in spectating just yet. He was more interested in scanning the audience seated in the high stands for his sisters, or really, anypony he knew in the colorful crowd. His eyes failed to spot anypony who had taken a seat near the first rows, and soon after that faces became unrecognizable as they got farther from the ground. He did see, however, Rainbow's fanclub waving signs bearing her face and words of cheer and support.

He could hear the events starting off behind him, but still didn't turn around. His nerves finally caught up to him as the memories of past rodeos and his losses creeped into the back of his mind. His attempt to deter the feelings ended in only multiplying them immensely. He could only imagine how pathetic he looked being the only pony who was sweating buckets without even exerting himself for a ribbon.

The stress was bearing down on him so much that he wasn't even aware that an official was calling his number until Rainbow Dash gave him a nudge. He shook himself loose of the tension to see that she was pointing a dirt-covered hoof to the farthest event. From where he was he couldn't tell what it was, but figured that it would be best to see what it was when he got to the irritated judge waving him to it.

"Stand here", he was instructed by the judge.

He stood on the white line, and when he looked downrange, saw two sets of single-file poles sticking up from the ground. On the other side, a unicorn stood ready. Thorny counted the poles on his side, noting that the ground bore twelve of them. His nose and cheeks started to bead over with sweat. Pole bending wasn't exactly on the top of his training list. He gulped upon seeing the judge making his way to the middle off to the side. She put her whistle into her mouth and, making sure that both were ready, blew as hard as she could into it.

Like a whip, Thorny was sprinting for the end of his poles. They all conformed into a single, blue and white striped blur to his side while his hooves put land behind them. The last pole came up faster than he could react, causing him to slip trying to cut a tight turn. He managed to keep his balance, but it cost him, down at the other side, his opponent was already starting back. He kicked forward and weaved in and out of the poles as fast as his body would go without whipping his flank into one. When he got to the end, he used his weight to his advantage. Dipping low, Thorny gripped the ground with his forehooves to allow his flank to rotate him around. The unlost momentum propelled him back through the poles.

Back and forth he went through the obstacles until he rounded the last one for the second time. Somewhat dizzy from dodging the poles, Thorny made a beeline back to where he first started. He dared to peek at how the other pony was doing. Relief cooled his nervousness when he saw that she was just coming out of her second set of weaving. He looked back and hurriedly slid to a stop just on the other side of the line. Rainbow Dash met him with a high hoof. He let a sigh go somewhere amidst his heavy breaths.

"Dude you were flying!" she cheered. "How'd ya go so fast?"

"Ah just pretended mah tail was on fire", he joked.

She rolled her eyes. "Looks like we're both going to the second round."

"Yep", he agreed, "Wonder what'll be next."

"Oh, you're over at the other end. Winners rotate around. I'm right here."

"Oh, alright, see ya later." He nervously trotted to the other end. It looked like hay chucking, which was something he was grateful for. He watched the third and fourth competitors hurl bales tied with different colored wire as far as they could. His confidence grew a bit when not one of them could fling the cubes of hay more than twenty-five yards.

"Number sixteen and number fourteen!" called an official.

Checking his flank to make sure that his number hadn't changed, Thorny walked up to the white line from where he would send cubes of hay flying. He waited while the officials returned the hail bales back to their original places. He sized up his opponent. She was a violet Pegasus with a yellow mane. She didn't look very happy with him. The daggers she glared at him didn't set right with his stomach, causing the stallion to turn and look back over the now-clear field.

"Alright, you two", the judge said, "Yer jus' throwin' the bales as far as ya can. The one with most distance wins!"

Thorny grabbed the lasso provided from the post to his left and eyed his small pyramid of hay as he set it up. He couldn't see, but the mare behind him decided to take her approach of the event by simply grabbing a bale by its ties and whipping it out on the field where it landed past a marked line of forty yards.

In the stands, two fillies strained to see what was going on down on the field. They were sure Thorny was struggling. From their seats atop a safety rail, it looked like all the green pony was going to do was twirl his lasso above him while the Pegasus next to him chucked bale after bale out on the field.

"What's he doin'?" Apple Sprout asked through a mouthful of cotton candy.

"Ah don' know", was the simple answer from her sister.

"I do hope he isn't becoming nervous", Linen commented.

They continued to watch as the circle of the top of the lasso grew in size until Linen calculated it to be near physically impossible to hold such a shape. He tossed it over the perimeter of the bottom layer of hay. He pulled the rope taut and squeezed the four bales together. He took a running start, pulling them along with him. He ran away from the line, and then back to it. He stopped to let the bales slide past in the lasso and use the passing momentum to bring it into a winding loop. The hay circled around him four times before Thorny released it out over the field. It sailed passed the forty-yard mark, landing somewhere on the fifty, and sliding to a stop just before the seventy.

The world around Thorny stopped spinning and settled on an impressed-looking judge and a bewildered mare. He grinned goofily at his accomplishment.

"Ya still got three more there, bucko", the judge chuckled, wanting to see more of what Thorny had.

With the lasso nearly on the other side of town, Thorny resorted to taking the bales of hay and simply bucking them as hard as he could. All the time spent in the orchard with Applejack reinforced his rear hooves, enabling him to kick the dried straw farther than he thought he ever could. All three bales landed five more yards more than the first mass of four did. He thought it was his imagination, but he could have sworn the crowd got a little louder the second the final bale of hay skidded to a stop in a heap of dust.

The judge tallied up the final score, mainly for record purposes; it was clear who won. Thorny's second time walking back to where the other competitors were waiting in the designated area off to the side was accompanied by several compliments. His confidence soared upon hearing how impressed the other ponies were.

"Ah might jus' have a chance", he chuckled to himself.

Since his event finished second to the others, he sat down to relax before the next round cycled through. He watched the competition from a vacant bench. Most of it looked like it had since the rodeo started: uninteresting. He saw Rainbow Dash whip the scarf off some poor colt in pole bending, but didn't get up to congratulate her. He would just have to cross back over the field and expel much needed energy.

"Lookin' good out there, Stranger", said somepony behind him.

"Thanks", he replied, taking the compliment with a smile, but not recognizing the voice it came from. He sighed in content at the last of the stresses having finally faded away. He still felt the pony behind him, and when he turned around, he saw why.

"Applejack?"

"Yer darn tootin'", the orange Earth Pony laughed.

"What are ya doin' down here?" he asked.

She turned to the side to show him the number twelve she taped to her flank. "Same thing as you!"

He stood up with excitement. "Ah thought ya didn' do rodeos."

"Gotcha, then! Ah go t' every rodeo that comes t' Ponyville an' then some! Jus' wanted t' surprise you!"

The look painted to Thorny's face was hard to appraise, but surprise was definitely one of the things she could have used to describe it. He smiled after several seconds much to her relief. "That's great!" he exclaimed, "Now Ah got real competition t' worry 'bout."

Seeing how he took the news rather well, Applejack saw an opening for a little bragging. "Ya sure do, cowboy. Ah'm not goin' easy on ya!"

"Ah'd be mad if ya did!" he laughed.

The smile faded from Applejack's face as if somepony had attached lead weights to the corners of her mouth. She really hadn't thought of that. Her whole plan of letting him win any competition they were in together filled to the brim with doubt that it was going to work. The fact that Thorny was still smiling didn't do much to assure her that he was joking. She had a feeling that Thorny was the type of pony that enjoyed the thrill of a challenge, and that didn't exactly make her feel any better.

Lucky for her, she didn't have to mentally writhe in front of him for much longer. "Number twelve!" an official called from the barrel racing event.

"Go get'em, Applejack!"

She turned back to see Thorny nodding her off, to which she complied with happily. The longer she was in his presence, the more the confusion pressed down on her. Now she didn't know what to do. The desire to give kindness and let him win now conflicted with the thought that he may not like it at all. The impasse was so bad her mind couldn't even come up with a worst-case scenario. Her luck took a downward spiral into a black abyss when she saw who was at the starting line waiting for her. Argh! This is the last thing Ah need right now!

"Yeah! Hey AJ!" Rainbow Dash cheered. "It's about time I got somepony who can come close to beating me!"

Applejack remained silent. Her mood had already gone sour in the heat of what had transpired over the course of the last five minutes, and now not only was she not in the presence of Thorny, she was dealing with an emotional battle that would more than likely follow her into the barrel race with the one pony who was surprisingly fast on her hooves for a Pegasus.

Regardless of what was going on or how she felt, the orange pony still readied herself for the race ahead. She crouched down low to get leverage for her back hooves. Rainbow did the same, but didn't get as low. Neither looked at each other. Instead they studied the path of barrels ahead of them. Applejack immediately saw it was different this year. Instead of a straight line, the two sets split off and wrapped back around to the starting line. She wasn't prepared for the new arrangement, but luckily, neither was Rainbow Dash. Applejack figured if she could keep from slipping, she could overtake her rival at the bend.

"Three! Two! One! An' GO!"

Applejack's body moved without her thoughts accompanying it. The only thing that she focused on was zigzagging in and out of the dirt-filled barrels. She caught Rainbow Dash out of the corner of her eye. So far both were tied for first. The bend came up four barrels later. Applejack tightened her path so that she was just barely missing the wooden containers. She came out of the turn and looked to see that Rainbow was beating her. Applejack pushed her hooves into the dirt harder. She wasn't about to lose to Rainbow Dash with Thorny watching. She reexamined that last thought, then turned her attention to the crowd the stallion managed to push himself to the front of.

The sight of him was all it took for Applejack to find the hidden gear that she needed to unleash a tidal wave of speed. She launched past Rainbow Dash and ended the race by a landslide. Her lungs begged for breath, causing her to stop and gasp for air. The lights around her dimmed when the blood caught up with her head, but she shook it off to go see Thorny before it was his turn out on the barrels.

"Woowee! Ah've never seen ya run like that!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, me neither", Rainbow huffed, clearly disappointed at the loss. She hovered in place, muttering something about how Applejack got lucky.

The farm ponies ignored her for each other, Applejack reveling in Thorny's praise, and Thorny impressed with how well she performed. It was short lived, however. It wasn't much longer before Thorny was called out into the mass chaos to compete in the very same event Applejack had just finished. She sat with Rainbow Dash, but was more caught up with her thoughts again to watch Thorny go up against a blue Pegasus.

The subject didn't change, yet she still couldn't find a solution to it. She thought about what might happen if she did her best and won. Maybe he wouldn't mind, but then again it could upset him that he didn't win his first Ponyville rodeo. She didn't know him to get mad over anything, and that made it even harder to tell if she was going to mess up with whatever decision she made.

"Guy's good", Rainbow said, giving an interruption to her thoughts.

"Yeah", she agreed, "Real good."

"Can't believe he's never won a ribbon be—" Rainbow noticed her mistake too late. The damage had been done. "Uh, please don't tell him I told you that."

While Rainbow left with a heap of fear and guilt, Applejack finally had the answer she had been looking for. Disbelief didn't even present itself over the fact that Thorny had never gotten a ribbon in a rodeo before, because she was going to help him get his very first. The old plan she formed the day before came back to the front of her mind full-force. She rehearsed it to make sure she didn't forget anything and finished just as Thorny was stepping away from his race with a proud smile stuck to his face.

"Now that the easy stuff's over", Applejack said, "Ya ready fer the hard part?"

Thorny had no idea what he was getting into when he answered with a nod. The next challenges were not only against tougher ponies, but were themselves tougher. Obstacles and high nets were planted on the field of the hay chucking event. That made it hard for anypony to use height to help distance. Thorny and Applejack both scraped by with only a few yards ahead of the ponies they were against, leaving Rainbow Dash with her second loss and facing disqualification. Pole bending wasn't much harder if you were a pony with suction-cup hooves. The greased ground nearly caused Thorny to face his first loss. If his reckless opponent hadn't slipped and spun out of control, he wouldn't have moved up on the bracket. Applejack and Rainbow both dominated the poles, using their light weights to their advantage and gliding gently along on top of the slick.

The rodeo drug on for the participants. Grueling exercise and even tougher tasks wore them down so much that they couldn't even give somepony the correct time or even day of the week. The numbers on the giant board eventually turned into the names of the ponies going on to the semifinals. With only one loss, Thorny found himself in the top four before he knew it. On the board with his name were Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and a pony named Mind Fracture. The four were offered a thirty minute intermission to rest and get ready for the most difficult part of the rodeo. Each gladly accepted.

Thorny found himself alongside Applejack at the refreshment stand nearest the field. They were mainly silent, with the exception of the two chugging cup after free cup of water down. Slowly, they slowed their guzzling down to a sip every few seconds. Not much longer after they had been thoroughly hydrated Thorny spoke.

"Dang, Ah ain't been worked so hard in mah life", he exclaimed.

"Jus' wait 'til Zap Apple season", Applejack chuckled.

"Whassat?"

"You'll see later on."

Thorny smiled upon noticing just how dirty they were. It looked more like they were the unfortunate victims of a horrible accident than a rodeo. Their hooves were dry, but still contained the stains of the color. Their fur was full of dust and dirt, not to mention that the weight of their manes was twenty percent dirt. Exhaustion presented itself in the worn looks on their faces.

Applejack felt Thorny's smile warm her damp, crusty, and stiff fur. She smiled bashfully, sure that he couldn't see the way her face was heating up. She took a deep breath in preparation to face him. "How ya holdin' up, Thorny?"

He sighed heavily. "All Ah can say is Ah'm gonna sleep good t' night!"

"Ah'll say", she agreed. "Jus' two more left. Can't wait."

Thorny downed another cup of water. "Ah can't believe Ah lasted this long. Ponyville's tough."

"Yer doin' good, Thorny", Applejack complimented, "Ah'm proud of ya."

The resting heart in Thorny's heart rocketed to his throat. "R-really?"

She nodded honestly. "Yeah, Ah always see ya workin' in the field, an' Ah really didn' know what t' expect."

"Thanks, Applejack", he replied, "Hey, uh, maybe we could spend some time t'gether outta work. Maybe…fer…lunch or somethin'?"

His offer struck gold in the form of a deep red blush when Applejack realized that Thorny had just asked her to a date. She mulled it over, marrying the fact that she only rarely ever saw him outside of the farm with the absence of an excuse to get out of it.

"Yeah, but let's wait 'til after the rodeo t' plan somethin'", she suggested.

Thorny yawned, "Ah'm with ya, there. Can't hardly think."

"Stay awake, Cowboy!" Applejack laughed. "Don' need ya fallin' out out there."

Her comment received a sarcastic eye roll from the stallion downing his eighth cup of water. "Ah'll be fine", he sighed, "Ain't nothin' Ah can't handle."

"Remember what happened the last time ya said that?"

"Sure do. Took a big nap, that's what", he replied. He pushed himself away from the table. "Take a walk?" he asked.

"Where?"

"T' the dirt", he chuckled, "We're gonna be late gettin' back."

Applejack shot off her stool and on her hooves. Wordlessly, they backtracked the path they took to refresh themselves and ready for what they were heading right back into. The two didn't make it a race; fatigue may have interrupted common sense, but it took a mental process even more instinct than that to reason that it wasn't wise to gallop back. The halls were pretty vacant as the spectators were still in their seats observing the few ponies up to competing for the single events.

Nothing really happened on the way back with the exception of the echoes coming from the two sets of hooves. The thundering sounds of cheers and applause got louder the further along they trotted. Their worn frowns and bloodshot eyes morphed into shocked expressions when they saw the surprise that awaited them when they stepped out into the cool, damp evening.

The mere shockwave from the erupting audience nearly had the two farm ponies taking flight. They looked around to see that the whole stadium had transformed insanely fast. The crowd had by now chosen which contenders they liked best and were now divided into four massive groups waving large signs and banners bearing their names and pictures. How exactly all of these things came about neither could even imagine.

"An' here they are, everypony", the announcement mare announced, "Now that they're all back, let's get t' the semifinal round before the big obstacle course!"

Thorny and Applejack spotted the Pegasi waiting for them near a judge. They quickened their pace to a light gallop to see what was going on. "Okay, t' decide who goes up 'gainst who, we got a really advanced way of doin' it fairly." The four leaned in for what they thought was going to be a complicated and drawn out explanation. "Ah'm thinkin' of a number between one and ten." There wasn't a facehoof powerful enough. There just was not. Since none of them could come up with a way to display their disappointment, they resorted to choosing a number.

"Four", Thorny said immediately.

"Nine", said Mind Fracture.

"One!" Rainbow exclaimed.

"Six", Applejack mumbled.

"Alright, Thorny got it. You go ahead an' get t' the plow racin' strip", the judge instructed.

Thorny left the group to guess the next number while he got hooked up to his plow. So far, it hadn't been a challenge. Not the mud nor the heavier plows. Now it looked like the whole strip had been reset and lain with gravel. The farm stallion winced. That was going to be horrible on his hooves. When the final clasp was clicked into place, Thorny looked up to see the group of ponies dispersing. Applejack and Rainbow Dash left for the final round of pole bending. Mind Fracture started in his direction.

"By now, y'all know how it's done", said the judge while the blue Pegasus got hooked up.

Thorny nodded. He shifted his focus to the racing mares. He didn't know how they were doing, and it by the time he shifted his gaze back, Mind Fracture was ready with his plow. Thorny straightened up. It was the final round before the big event, so he had to tough this last one out.

The judge stepped ahead in between them. "Alright! Ready? One! Two! Three! Go!"

Thorny gritted his teeth and stepped out onto the gravel. He dug in and dragged the plow behind him. Before the rodeo he had never pulled a plow before let alone over the toughest terrain that the evil hosts of the rodeo could find. His already by now sore hooves screamed in agony for him to stop. He couldn't hear them over the orders the strive to impress Applejack were barking at him. He couldn't brave a look at his opponent for fear of seeing the Pegasus ahead. The plow suddenly stopped when it hit hard clay. Thorny leaned forward for more momentum. The plow inched forward. The agonizing battle with the piece of farm equipment drudged on with slow, torturous steps forward.

The world didn't go by as slowly as Thorny's psyche made it out to be. He collapsed on what he thought was still dried clay, but the cheering suggested that something else happened. Thorny came to to realize that the crowd had exploded into chaotic applause at his success of beating Mind Fracture by three feet. The poor Pegasus just had no more strength to pull the heavy plow. He was down for the count.

"Way t' go, Thorny!" Applejack cheered just in front of him. She and Rainbow Dash smiled at his arrival to the semifinals. They helped him out of his harness and left the field. The three ponies stopped at the water stand he and Applejack almost drank dry the previous break.

Thorny was the first in a stool to get off his tender, heavily callused hooves. He didn't lose much water in the race, so he passed on the chance for a few more free rounds. He rested his head on his hooves and his hooves on the table with closed eyes.

"Ya alright?" Applejack asked.

"Jus' hurtin'."

"Feel ya", sympathized Rainbow Dash, "And we all have one more to do!"

"Excuse me."

The trio turned to see Thorny's previous opponent barely standing with a jet black Pegasus with a crimson mane holding him up. "I would like to congratulate you for your achievement of defeating me in our race", he told Thorny. He turned to Rainbow Dash, "I'm sorry to inform you that I am in no condition to continue competing. I surrender the opportunity for third place to you."

"Third?" Thorny inquired.

Rainbow Dash nodded with a huff. "Applejack beat me in the barrel race."

"That means it's you an' me on the obstacle course, par'dner", Applejack announced, giving him a pat on the back.

"Ah'm in fer a world o' trouble", Thorny realized incredulously.

"I wish you both luck", Mind Fracture said, turning to leave.

"I'm sure you'll do juuuust fine", cooed the mare, firing a wink at Thorny, causing him to blush.

Applejack's face nearly caught fire. If she wasn't afraid of embarrassing herself in front of Thorny, she would have given Fracture's companion a piece of her mind. She let them get out of her sight before opening her mouth. "It ain't gonna be that bad", Applejack assured.

"Are you kidding!?" Rainbow bellowed, "It's gonna be a slaughter!"

Applejack shot her a stern glance, and received a "What did I do?" shrug from Rainbow Dash. She turned in her stool to rest on the bar with Thorny. "You okay?"

"Yeah, Ah jus' gotta give it mah all when Ah get out there", he admitted. "Ah can't go easy on ya jus' 'cuz yer mah boss."

His competitive words lifted her lips into a smile. The more he got fired up about the race, the prouder he would feel about winning first place. Sure she would give up her combo of fifty-seven straight Ponyville blue ribbons, but she would make a very special pony very happy. She pushed herself away from the table. She had to get her mind off of the emotions plaguing her, and she had a feeling she knew how to do that. "Say, Thorny, there's a bunch o' time t' kill while the rest of the obstacle course gets set up. Ya wanna walk around?"

"Frat'nizin' with the enemy?" he asked with a grin.

"No, nothin' like that", she chuckled, "It'll help us forget 'bout how tired we are."

"Doubt that'll happen", he replied, "But sure thing."

"I'll catch up later", Rainbow stated when they got up. She yawned heavily. "I'm just going to rest my eyes for a sec."

The two Earth Ponies shrugged, then left Rainbow to snooze at the bar. More ponies filled the corridors to build giant lines for the bathrooms before the interlude ended. It wasn't so bad they had to fight the crowd. As a matter of fact, most ponies got out of the way when they saw the finalist lazily parting the colorful sea of Earth Ponies and unicorns with their presence. Murmuring chased after them, however both ponies were too tired to pick up on what any of them translated into. A little while later, the aimless walk came to an end in one of the most energetic of ways.

"THORNY!" two high-pitched voices rang. The owners of the voices tackled him with hugs. Unable to catch the weight, Thorny went overboard. With an "oomph!" and a laugh, he did his best to rough house with the girls. Ultimately, they won.

"We finally gotcha, Thorn!" Apple Sprout cheered, sitting on his right forehoof.

June Berry squirmed on top of the left one with a, "Yay!"

Applejack put a hoof to her mouth to help muffle her laughs. The helpless stallion looked around for any means of escaped when his eyes fell on the pony he left foalsitting them. Linen watched the scene amused until the look Thorny gave him was ready for its license to kill. "Apple Sprout, June Berry", he called. "I'm sure your brother is very tired. Why don't you both release him so we can go get the ice cream I promised?"

"Ice cream!" they shouted together.

Forgetting that they were on top of their brother, the fillies took off back for the gray unicorn. Once Linen made sure that he had them all in line and that his little brother wasn't going anywhere, he had them wave goodbye to the farm ponies, and together they started in the opposite direction. "Good luck!" Linen called over his shoulder, "I'll be, how does Ponyville say it? Ah, yes, rooting for you!"

Applejack helped Thorny up to spare his muscles. He dusted himself off only to uncover dry mud underneath. He shrugged. "Ah'm goin' fer a dip in the river after this, anyways."

"Ya sure?" Applejack asked, "It's pitch black outside."

"Gotta better idea than cleanin' mah house?"

"Well, since ya said it like that, Ah'm comin' with ya."

Thorny enjoyed the sound of that. It would be the first time to the river since his first day at Sweet Apple Acres. "Jus' don' hurt yerself this time", he joked.

She rolled her eyes, which wasn't the fuss Thorny was hoping to get from her. He didn't egg her on anymore, though. He really didn't want to deal with an angry Applejack on the obstacle course. The thought of the last event brought his brow into a furrow. "Say, how long's our break?"

"An hour", she replied.

"Nap time!" Thorny declared suddenly, jumping to the nearest empty bench.

She peered over him. Whether or not he was faking it, Thorny was out cold. Unfortunately, there were no other empty benches around, but that didn't stop Applejack from sitting on the floor in front of Thorny's. She leaned her head back against his warm body, and slowly drifted off.


T


An hour to recuperate from hard exercise wasn't exactly enough to be able to relish. Almost as soon as they closed their eyes, they opened again to meet their tiny reflections in the black abyss of a rodeo official's shades. Applejack saw herself first. She reached back and swatted Thorny lightly. He snorted the rest of his snore and woke abruptly to see an impatient Earth Pony standing over them. He yawned, "Howdy, par'dner."

The official shook his head. "The obstacle course's done, y'all."

"Great", Thorny replied, lying back down, "Five more minutes."

"C'mon, lazy bones. Ya can sleep when yer dead", Applejack urged.

"Alright, alright. Ah'm up!"

The judge escorted the two back, keeping the pace by staying behind them and nudging them along when they fell behind. In the hour of their nap, the halls cleared completely. Their hooves echoed eerily through the air. The crowd outside rumbled through the walls. Excitement began to pump into their systems with every step closer to the bright opening of the hall. On the outside, the crowd cheered upon seeing the remaining two ponies enter the stadium.

Thorny stopped just outside the exit to appreciate his fans' joviality. He waved to the whole stadium before moving on proudly to take his spot next to Applejack, who passed him to psych herself up for the large course awaiting their run-through.

"An' here they are folks! Applejack an' Thorny Hopper ready t' duke it out in the obstacle course for the blue ribbon! Who's gonna win, the return champion, or the newcomer? There's only one way t' find out!"

Thorny looked over the field. Five obstacles stood in the way of victory. Taking a glance to his left, he saw Applejack ready to leave him in the dust. The look of determination filled him with eagerness. He couldn't wait to see how well he would do against her. If he did beat her, then maybe she would be impressed.

The mare, in turn, experienced the exact opposite of what he was feeling. Anxiety, doubt, and even a smidgen of fear clung to the back of her head. All the planning in the world didn't help the fact that now she had to carry them out. She forgot to think about when she would purposely flub the event. Then it came to her. The last obstacle came out into a clear path for them to sprint. All she had to do was let him pass her there. Then, everypony would be happy and she would still look like she did her best.

"…Two!" the announcer called amidst the mare's thoughts. "Three! Go!"

Applejack tripped over herself in panic in her attempt to dash out ahead, giving Thorny room to take a commanding lead. She chased his tail to the first challenge of stump jumping. She watched him sail over two at a time while she took them one by one. Her hooves launched her over each one, keeping her from falling any farther behind as she flew over the sawn trees.

Ahead, her stallion rival had already made it to the rope swing. Thorny grabbed the shortest in a high leap. He swung forward, but his weight combined with the lack of length in his rope brought his body back down where he landed just inside of the mud pit below. He recovered as quickly as he landed, looking behind to see Applejack just grabbing a rope.

She landed on the other side on the pit and pursued him to a pair of hoops suspended by cables. He jumped from the small platform provided only to get his large frame stuck halfway. She laughed at him along the way of making it through her hoop. She rounded the next bend to find swinging bales of hay. She went into the forest of swinging straw without twice checking what she was up against. Applejack dodged a slow swinging bale. She didn't see another, much faster bale until it knocked her aside with enough force to leave the mare on the ground with no wind in her system whatsoever.

Thorny barreled past, taking hits left and right, yet not even flinching. Applejack forced herself up and after him to the low crawl. Thorny slid to a stop in front of it, then carefully got low to crawl through the mud. That was where Applejack overtook him once again. In a diving jump, she sailed underneath the wire and slid across the mud to the other side. She momentarily stopped to shake off the mud and continued on. Behind her, Thorny came out of the mud with no intentions to shake it off.

Now was the time. The final sprint had come at last, and with the finish line only yards away, Applejack slowed her pace. Not enough to make it obvious but enough to let Thorny rocket past. It was only a split second. The moment his nose was past her, she put everything she had into her hooves. She stayed just behind his tail for the last leg of the race. When the line to end it all was but five feet away. She closed her eyes. Thorny had won. She smiled with happiness at how it all worked so perfectly. That was, until she felt herself push through something.

Applejack's eyes opened just in time to witness a roaring ovation and falling confetti. Confused, she turned to see Thorny picking himself up from the ground mere inches from the finish line. He rubbed away the pain from his fall and looked up with surprise to see Applejack being congratulated by the rodeo's owner.

The next hour and a half went by in a blur if your name was Applejack. Even though she stood on top of the tallest rostrum and held the first place prize, she felt as if she accomplished nothing. Three days of planning wasted. Thorny would never forget it. He'd never forget how he got beat by a girl. Those and similar thoughts plagued her until she left the stadium for a sleepless night. Crickets chirped in the moist grass along the way back to Sweet Apple Acres. Most ponies would have enjoyed their songs combined with the cool air of the growing autumn night. Applejack however, wanted nothing to do with happiness seeing as how she royally messed up the chance of making Thorny happy. She continued to sulk on the road home. It wasn't long before the silence was broken by the last pony in Equestria Applejack expected to see.

"Hey, Applejack! Where are you going!?"

As if her imagination was playing a horrible trick on her, she turned to see Pinkie Pie bouncing after her. The only reason she didn't take off in a sprint was the fact that she had absolutely zero energy. "Whadda ya want Pinkie Pie", she asked somewhat harshly.

"You left without seeing Thorny!" the pink mare exclaimed.

"So?"

"'So'? So he's in the infirmary right now with a sprained ankle, that's 'so'! That rock he tripped on really hurt him!"

"Is he alright!?" Applejack panicked.

"The doctor's don't know if he's going to be able to walk home! He's going to miss dinner! And desert after dinner!"

"Ah gotta go see'im!"

Pinkie Pie watched her friend tear off back to the stadium. When she lost the orange mare in the large crowd exiting, she picked up the dropped blue ribbon and happily bounced away.

T

Thorny sat alone in the small room. After telling Linen to take his sisters home with him for the night, there was nopony else to talk to until the doctor got back with a wheelchair. His hatred of the confounded chairs didn't mask what his mind was really focused on. He wish he knew why Applejack left the way she did. Why wasn't she happy to win first place? It didn't make much sense to him. Maybe he mistook her for that type of pony. The door creaked open. He looked up expecting the doctor. The pony on the other side was just the pony he really wanted to see.

Applejack smiled guiltily upon seeing Thorny and his bandaged hoof. "Hey…"

Even in the dim room she could make out his smile. He erupted excitedly. "Ya missed it! Ah met Princess Celestia! She came down t' congratulate me on second place! Why'd ya leave? She wanted t' talk t' you too."

Instinct took over her mouth and she quickly gave him the excuse of, "Ah'm jus' really tired…Ah didn' even know you were hurt."

Thorny took it. "Oh, alright", he replied. "Well, Ah hope ya ain't too tired t' go out t' morrow.

"What?"

"Pinkie Pie's throwin' us a party 'cuz we won!" he explained.

"Yer okay 'bout second place?"

"Yeah! Why wouldn' Ah be?" he asked, "It's mah first ribbon since Ah started rodeos! It's the best thing t' happen t' me since Ah got hired on with you!"

He showed no signs of embarrassment at what he just said, probably because Applejack got embarrassed for him. She chose her next words carefully. "…Well, Ah'm real proud of ya, Thorny."

"Thanks, but not as proud as Ah am of you!" he beamed, "Can't nopony else say they got a boss that can whup anypony in a rodeo!"

The Earth Pony stared at him. She had no idea what to say or do now. She hadn't planned this part out, and now there was a hideous blank left in her mind. Should she just say thanks? Should she kiss him, even though she'd prefer not to trade mud? The confusion made it hard to stay still, and she shakily rose up to give him a small hug. "Thanks…Thorn."

She let him go to find that he was smiling differently now. Thorny never smiled at her like that before. It made her feel really light and happy. Something behind him caught her attention. She focused past his smile to see a pile of different sized poles used for building in the stadium. An idea forming, she grabbed two short ones and a roll of bandage tape.

The injured stallion didn't need to ask her what she was doing. He simply held out his hoof and let her wrap the poles tightly against his leg so that the poles were sticking out past it. She used the same wrapping technique she'd witnessed him use before and securely finished his splint in a few seconds.

Thorny admired her work. "Ah couldn' a done it better mahself! Good job, Applejack!"

She helped him down from the table, where he tested how well she did by stepping down with the injured hoof. The wrap held, allowing him to walk. "C'mon, Thorny. Ah'll walk ya home."

She didn't have to, but she leaned against his side to help keep weight off the splint. They left the infirmary, eventually the stadium, and soon found themselves in the dark on the way to Thorny's house. The cool night did bug them too much. Their warmth bathed them in comfort.

Kinda like sharin' a blanket, Applejack thought with too much exhaustion to realize what she said. Ah really gotta do somethin' nice fer him soon…