It was a peaceful morning in Ponyville. The sun was just coming up to peek over the horizon, giving everything a slight ethereal glow. A cool mist suffused the town with a quiet calm, disturbed only by the most staunch of early risers. Risers like Applejack, who keeps to the morning through any weather, or Rarity, who prefers such morning lulls to get extra work done before the hustle and bustle of the day starts. As it so happened, Twilight Sparkle was also up early this morning, for similar reasons as Rarity's. She rested well the night before and found that a peaceful work environment did wonders for her research.
Research that was oddly out of place for a morning such as this, as the ambiance would later be described the 'calm before the storm'.
As it so happened, the night before had been stressful for Twilight. Both Applejack and Rarity vied for her attention all evening, preventing her from getting any work done, and it grated on her nerves. This wouldn't normally have been a problem, as her work entails helping groups of friends solve problems that are causing friction between them, but this time neither Rarity nor Applejack seemed willing to budge. By the end of the day, she had asked both of them to leave and come back tomorrow so she could rest and think on the issues at hoof.
The issue itself being Winona and Opalesence. Apparently, Winona had 'terrorized' Opal, who had begun to shed furiously all over Carousel Boutique. Twilight felt the problem would better be solved by Fluttershy, but she was out on a weekend retreat with Discord. Thus the predicament she found herself in now, searching through her trove of books.
"I know I had something on pet behaviors somewhere..." Twilight briefly considered getting Spike, but having seen him sleeping so peacefully earlier, she didn't have the heart to wake him.
Just at that moment, she heard the ring of a bell coming from the foyer. "Twilight, darling! Have you come to a reasonable conclusion?"
Twilight inwardly groaned. "Hello, Rarity. I'm sorry, but I haven't come up with anything yet. Just give me a little more time to-"
"Twilight!" sounded another, far more rural voice. "Did you... Oh. Howdy, Rarity."
"Applejack."
Twilight's fur practically stood on end from the tension emanating from her two friends. "Girls, calm down. Like I said, I don't have a solution just yet, but give me some time, and I'll think of something."
"Twilight, while you're busy doing research, my poor Opal is going bald! I demand that you make Applejack restrain her mutt!"
"How dare ya blame this on Winona?! Your vicious cat scratched her up somethin' fierce!"
As Applejack and Rarity devolved into another shouting match, Twilight's patience reached its limit. "QUIET!" The two paused and glared at her. "Girls, I've been trying to come up with a solution, but since you two are just going to fight over it anyways, go fight somewhere else! I can't think with you two at each other's throats!" Twilight's horn flared as she teleported back to her room where she could have some peace and quiet to think.
Applejack and Rarity looked at each other with fire in their eyes. "Fight somewhere else, huh? Ah think that can be arranged."
"Indeed." Rarity looked down at the seat cushions laid around the foyer. "And I think I have just the method to do it."
Applejack nodded, realizing Rarity's intentions. "Winner decides what to do with the loser's pet."
With a nod, both mares turned and walked to opposite sides of the room, each picking up a pillow...