"And that's why I'm the greatest, and most totally awesome pony of all time!" Rainbow Dash declared, finishing her convincing speech. She shot up into the air, performed a flip, before returning to the ground to stand beside her friend and rival, Applejack. The earth pony smiled a little, amusement glinting in her eyes.
"That's just a load of hooey," Applejack insisted. "RD's the better pony because her eyes are magenta and mine are green? What does that even mean?" She raised her head high, a frustratingly smug smirk upon her face.
"It means that I'm cooler than you will ever be!" Rainbow Dash blurted out in reply, but, inside, she knew AJ was right. Their points were getting weaker and weaker as the debate went on, starting off with obvious and helpful statements, such as: 'Rainbow Dash performed the Sonic Rainboom' and 'Applejack works very hard for her large family' and now coming down to: 'Applejack has a real sister, not just an adopted sister' and 'Rainbow Dash has magneta eyes, which, are, better... for some reason.' Whatever! It wasn't just Rainbow Dash's fault - everything Applejack was saying was pathetic, too.
Twilight Sparkle and Spike were taking down notes, exchanging puzzled glances. A long list was at their feet of every single point these two competitive ponies made. "So, who won?" AJ and RD asked in unison, their voices excited.
The alicorn began to stammer awkwardly, "Well, umm, err," and then she turned to Spike, a mischievous grin on her face, "What do you think, Spike?"
"W-what?" the dragon exclaimed, beginning to tremble. "N-no, Twilight, you can decide, you're all the more intelligent, and a better judge. I need to, uh, go, somewhere..." He begun to scurry away, but was soon dragged back by Twilight's powerful aura. He begun to struggle, desperately trying to break free of her grip, but it was no use.
"Come on, Spike! Who won?" Twilight smirked. RD's ears flattened slightly - this wasn't just a game, this competition was serious! No matter which pony was chosen the judge, they only messed around and made excuses. At this rate, everypony in Equestria would've been asked the painful question of who was the better pony.
Yet the truth was obvious. Rainbow Dash was so much better, and she couldn't see how Applejack compared. Yet most ponies saw them as equals, and it made no sense whatsoever. It was starting to make Rainbow angry.
"And it's a tie!" Spike smiled nervously, most likely frightened of what would come next. And he better be. Rainbow launched herself at him.
"Are you serious?" she whined. "Spike, you must have a personal favourite."
"I really don't!" the dragon protested. "You're both amazing. Applejack is a great farmer, and her applebucking is fantastic. You're the best flyer I've ever seen, plus you performed the Sonic Rainboom!"
RD sighed. When Spike presented an argument like that, it was hard to fight back. She was still annoyed, though, and felt somewhat relieved when Applejack spoke for her, "Thanks anyway. We'll have to try something else."
It was late that night. Rainbow Dash had settled down in her comfortable bed, and was fighting the urge to think. She needed to think of a plan that would help her beat AJ! There had to be some way...
Rainbow couldn't even remember exactly when the rivalry had started, but that race... when she and Applejack had competed with such determination, had to have prompted something. For a while, everypony had thought they'd gotten over everything, but Rainbow Dash had never been satisfied. For most ponies, tying was okay. And sure, it was better than losing, which was the biggest humiliation of all. However, this wasn't enough for Rainbow. She needed to be better. Stronger, braver, faster, cooler. She had to prove that, somehow.
The mare couldn't deny that AJ truly was awesome. She sure had done some amazing things, and Rainbow secretly admired her, though she would never admit it. She was actually rather close to Applejack, and truly did care for her... but there were things they needed to settle. The two ponies had been through so much together, and so many questions had been answered, yet not the simplest of them all.
RD continued to do something she didn't do often - think deeply. She knew Applejack well, and perhaps that really would come in handy. But what could the cyan pegasus possibly use against the earth pony that was actually sensible? Then a single thought galloped across her mind - what did other ponies do to get what they wanted?
Those ponies sure did some unusual ways. Fluttershy would ask politely. Pinkie Pie... umm... does something. Twilight would most likely just beg. And Rarity...
That's it! Rarity flirted to get what she wanted! And it usually worked! Rainbow Dash's mind begun to work. She could flirt with AJ, and then maybe the orange mare would admit who was really the best!
But there was just one problem - was Applejack actually a fillyfooler? As far as RD remembered, AJ had never had a crush on any stallions, and when she was the Element of Honesty, she probably wouldn't be able to hide those feelings very well. Then again, nopony had ever straight out asked Applejack if she had a crush on anypony, and that would be the easiest way to know for sure...
A devious grin appeared on Rainbow's face as she hatched a cunning plan. Tomorrow, she would go find Scootaloo, and get her to innocently ask Applejack if she had ever had a crush on anypony. Better a little filly like Scoots do than Rainbow Dash, because, despite AJ's honesty thing, she would surely guess that something was up. If by any chance the earth pony still was hesitant, Scootaloo could bring up the subject of... having romantic feelings for Apple Bloom! Maybe she could talk about how embarrassed she was to be in love, with it being her first time and all and with Scootaloo appearing so tough, and the fact that she had recently discovered that she was a fillyfooler. That would surely work well, as it would shift AJ's mind towards mares, plus, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom could almost be seen as younger representatives for the rivals.
The whole idea did seem a little cruel, the rainbow maned mare would admit, but after, it would all be worth it. The huge competition between the two ponies that had been going on for so long would be over, and RD would be victorious. And she had no worries at all concerning whether a certain pegasus filly would go along with her plan, because Scootaloo would practically do anything for her idol.
But does that make me too much like Rarity? Am I using Scootaloo in the same way that she used Spike? Not that she really used him, but still... Rainbow Dash sighed. She would make sure Scoots knew of her intentions, after all, Scootaloo never spoke about romance, as it disgusted her, and the idea of Scootaloo being madly in love with Apple Bloom would sure seem embarrassing.
Other ponies would call RD crazy for what she was about to do, but it was for a good cause. If by any chance Applejack managed to brush off the strong flirting whilst being a fillyfooler, she really was the better pony. But that was never going to happen. Dashie knew that AJ would never be in love with Rainbow, however, if she flirted heavily and hinted enough, surely she would get the pleasure of seeing apple pony blush.
This was actually quite degrading for Rainbow Dash too - she had never expected to stoop so low as to flirt with her best friend so that she could win some lame competition. Whatever, maybe the pegasus really was as crazy and wacky as Pinkie, but she didn't care. Her desire to win had taken over.
But there was just one obstacle standing in her way - Rainbow had pretty much never flirted in her life. Yes, there was that one time with Soarin, but at the time she had been impersonating Rarity... though she would never admit it, that had been kinda fun. But she would need to flirt really hard. Though she was nowhere near as good as Rainbow, AJ was still a tough cookie, and wouldn't crack and crumble towards her rival so easily with some playful flirting. Dashie needed to get lessons from a certain unicorn... and that unicorn wasn't Twi.
That sure would be a funny thing to see, the purple princess flirting. She'd be so bad, stumbling all the time and blushing. A bit like what happens between her and that pegasus guard, Flash or whatever he's called. Well, they can both quit trying - they're never going to be in a relationship.
Well, neither were Rainbow and Applejack, for this was just a game. She could go on playing fair, but RD was far from a patient pony. She had had to wait for success long enough, and she wasn't going to stand by any longer. Nopony could deny Dash's power if AJ herself admitted that Rainbow was the victor. What could possibly go wrong? The Element of Loyalty had this win in the bag.
So it was settled. Tomorrow, she would tell Scootaloo about her plan, and send her to pester Applejack. It was also best that Rainbow told Rarity what was going on, because suspicions would only rise if she randomly asked for flirting advice. Dash doubted that Rarity would spill the beans to anypony, as she would most likely find the situation rather exciting and thrilling, and the pegasus was certain that the fashionista's guilty pleasure would be watching one of her closest friends crazily flirt with another.
Be ready, Applejack. I'm coming for you.