Rainbow and Applejack have a simple unspoken rule with their friendly rivalry: Keep their friends out of it. But it was only a matter of time before one of them bent the rules.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash's rivalry is near-legendary among their friends, but has always followed a simple rule: Keep their other friends out of it. Today, Rainbow feels like breaking that rule. Meaning Applejack will have to get creative and play a bit dirtier than usual.
Special thanks to these fine people
Edited and Proofread by Setokaiva AMAZING cover art made by Zolfyyy
It was a little after noon when Rainbow Dash touched down in front of Sweet Apple Acres and began trotting forward. She had agreed to help Applejack with some farm work today. The speedster pegasus usually detested farmwork, but still agreed to do it this time seeing as how she hadn't helped out Applejack in a while, also all they would be doing is cleaning things up in the barn.
She walked up to the already open barn and tapped her hoof on the door a few times before entering.
“Applejack, hello? You in here?” Rainbow asked as she stepped into the barn, the hay on the floor audibly crunching under her hooves.
Rainbow Dash was slowly advancing into the barn and looking around when Applejack came down from the second floor to greet her. “Well howdy there Rainbow!” Applejack said in a cheerful tone, causing Rainbow Dash to turn and face her. “Ah’m happy to see y’all came ‘round, ah’m in need of some help here. Follow me back up to the second floor!”
“Kay.” Rainbow Dash said as she flew over to the hatch that led to the second floor and Applejack took the ladder back up.
Rainbow Dash touched down onto the second floor and waited near the hatch for Applejack. While Applejack was slowly making her ascent up the ladder, Rainbow lazily looked around the room. It was pretty much a cluttered mess with various objects all over the floor and walls. This floor, much like the first, was covered in hay as well. Rainbow Dash looked down and kicked some hay with one of her forehooves.
After a few more seconds, Applejack emerged from the hatch and got up onto the floor. “Ah’m a might thankful for ya helpin me today.”
“No problem,” Rainbow Dash said as she looked around. “It’s a lot worse than I thought, though. What happened up here?”
“It’s Applebloom and her friends, they been playin up here a lot lately and makin’ a huge mess of things. That’s why ah put a lock on the hatch a few days ago. Applebloom got annoyed, but ah told her it’s dangerous to be playin up here seein’ as how ah got pitchforks, shovels and all this other farm equipment just lyin’ ‘round the room. Since ah like the things to be stored in this room in a very neat and tidy way, ah gotta clean it, also Applebloom ain’t allowed up here anymore.”
“I see,” Rainbow Dash responded.”Well I guess we should start cleaning then.”
Applejack nodded, told the pegasus what to do, and both of them got to work.
---
Rainbow Dash and Applejack had been working and talking for the past few hours organizing and straightening out the barn. They were almost done when Applejack had to lasso a few bales of hay that were in the barn and bring them outside.
Applejack picked up her rope and started to twirl it above her head with Rainbow Dash hovering in the air to her left. Applejack cast the lasso on the hay bale and missed.
Applejack let out a slight annoyed grunt and pulled the lasso back before twirling it over her head and casting it on the hay bale again. The lasso went too high and caught on a pitchfork that was up against the wall instead, causing it to fall onto the hay bale Applejack was trying to rope. Applejack facehoofed. “Oh, for Celestia’s sake.”
Rainbow Dash started to laugh as Applejack went and untied the lasso from the pitchfork. “Wow Applejack! You really must not have it today,” the pegasus said while still snickering.
Rainbow Dash’s eyes were closed, her laughing was dying down when she suddenly felt all four of her hooves yanked together. Rainbow Dash opened her eyes and they instantly widened when she saw a rope tying her hooves together. Before she could even react or say anything she was pulled to the ground and landed on the hay covered barn floor with a thud.
The dazed pegasus opened her eyes and saw Applejack standing by the hay bale with the lasso in her mouth, her eyes followed the rope back to her hooves. “Hey! What gives!?” she asked, shooting a glare at the work horse.
Applejack chuckled a bit. “Y’all said ah didn’t have it today and laughed at me so ah thought ah would lasso ya to test that theory.”
Rainbow Dash wiggled her hooves a bit and slipped out of the lasso. “Well you didn't have to pull me to the ground!” she said as she stood back up on all fours. “You just caught me off guard!” She took a few confident steps towards Applejack. “I guarantee that if I knew you were going to lasso me there, I would have been able to dodge it!”
“Would ya really now?” Applejack asked.
“Absolutely!” Rainbow Dash said standing tall with pride before before hovering a few feet in the air again. “Wanna try me?” She asked with a confident glare.
Applejack took a few steps past Rainbow Dash and chuckled. “Maybe later, but not right now.” She replied before successfully lassoing the hay bale and walking it outside.
While Applejack was dragging the hay bale outside, Rainbow continued to hover behind her and decided to playfully push Applejack a bit farther. “You know, it’s cool if you just want to admit you wouldn't be able to do it.”
Applejack put the hay bale at the side of the barn and turned around to face Rainbow. “What are y’all tryin’ to say?”
Rainbow Dash landed in front of the earth pony. “Nothing really, just that I know you couldn't lasso me if I expected it. You're just saying ‘maybe later’ instead of admitting that I'm just too awesome and fast for you to catch and tie up!” Rainbow Dash replied with a bright smile.
Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Is that a challenge?” the blonde maned mare asked with intrigue.
“Maaaaaaaaybe.” Rainbow Dash playfully replied while rocking back and forth on her hooves.
Applejack closed her eyes and started walking back to the entrance of the barn. “Fine then, let's make a bet. Ah want y’all to come back here at nine o'clock tonight and we will see if y’all can avoid being caught and tied by me till seven in the mornin’, sound good?”
Rainbow Dash returned a confident grin. “Ten hours? No sweat!” the pegasus boastfully replied, hovering a few feet off the ground again. “I’ll do it, but you need to have a good reward for when I undoubtedly win!”
Applejack thought for a moment. “Ah could give y’all five-hundred bits for your troubles and admit you were right.” She said, giving Rainbow a nervous smile.
Rainbow Dash just hovered in the air with her front hooves crossed and gave the farm pony an unimpressed look. “Really AJ? Come on now! I deserve better than that!”
Applejack nervously rubbed the back of her head. “Well Ah’m not sure what else ah can offer ya, Unless you have any ideas.”
Rainbow Dash thought for a few moments.”Hmmm, how about when I win, you tell me how awesome and amazing I am everyday for the next week and at the next cider season you give me all the cider I want for free and without me having to wait in line!”
Applejack ran her hoof along her chin for a moment before answering. “Hmmmm, you drive a hard bargain, Rainbow. Ah’ll do it! But ah ain’t goin easy on ya and if ya win don’t think ah’m ever gonna give ya this chance again! Ah can’t just have any pony cutting in line and gettin cider for free! Now if you lose to me, you have to do farm work everyday for the next two weeks!”
“Ha! You’re on!” Rainbow Dash replied. “I’ll see you later tonight then!” The pegasus shouted as she slowly flew backwards. “Wow Applejack, you are so going to regret this!” Rainbow Dash snickered before turning around and flying in the direction of Ponyville.
Applejack grinned at the pegasus as she flew off. “We’ll see ‘bout that, Rainbow… we will see.” Applejack lassoed the last two bales of hay and put them at the side of the barn.
After finishing up a couple other small things, Applejack looked around and climbed up the ladder in the barn that lead to upstairs. She walked around the room and looked for something. She had been drawn to a large circular container in the corner of the room and she opened it to see golden-brown material inside. Applejack stuck the tip of her hoof into the material and tried to lift it out only to have a strand of the material come up with her hoof, stuck to it. She had pulled her hoof out and wiped the material off on the floor, she then turned the container around revealing a label that read adhesive. A devious grin crept across the face of the earth pony “Perfect,” she muttered to herself.
---
Rainbow Dash flew over Ponyville on her way to Sugarcube Corner. From her vantage point she could see ponies trotting about the streets and roads, all of them normally going about their activities. She also noticed quite a few foals walking around in the mix too, it wasn't surprising, seeing as how school let out a couple hours ago. Before long Rainbow Dash made it to Sugarcube Corner and touched down onto the bustling street before trotting in.
Rainbow Dash blinked, surprised when she saw Fluttershy, Rarity, Twilight, and Pinkie all sitting at a table near the back of the shop.
Pinkie Pie quickly noticed the pony and started frantically waving her forehooves in the air. “Hiya, Rainbow Dash! Over here!”
Af is she wasn't already going to without Pinkie’s overly enthusiastic greeting, Rainbow Dash promptly trotted over to the table. “What are all of you doing here?” the pegasus asked as she approached the table.
“Pinkie Pie decided to invite all of us over for dinner.” Twilight answered.
“Pinkie Pie is trying out a new recipe for hayburgers that she found. We all just got here about five minutes ago so she hasn't started making them yet.” Fluttershy added on.
“She would have invited you and Applejack over, but as I recall you two were busy with other matters,” Rarity said, finishing the explanation.
“Yeah, but me and Applejack finished up already,” Rainbow Dash said, pulling up a seat.
“Not that I know of.” Rainbow said while sitting down. “Actually I kind of have a funny story to tell you all. Me and Applejack are kind of in the middle of another challenge with each other. Even though she doesn't realize I totally have her beat this time!”
“Ohhhh another challenge! What is it? NO NO! Let me guess! Best cook? Best looking pony? Best Swimmer? A rap battle?” Pinkie rattled off excitedly.
“No, none of those things,” Rainbow Dash calmly answered back. “I have to go back to Sweet Apple Acres at nine o’clock tonight where Applejack gave me a challenge. If I can avoid being lassoed and tied by her, which I totally can and will by the way, until seven in the morning. I get a super awesome reward!” Rainbow Dash said, eyes glistening at the word ‘reward’.
Twilight put one of her forehooves to her chin “Sounds more like a test of endurance. Interesting.”
“What would this supposed reward be, Rainbow Dash?” Rarity asked with her interest piqued.
“If Applejack wins, I have to do two weeks of farmwork.” Rainbow Dash answered in a bored tone of voice. “But if I win, Applejack has to tell me how awesome and cool I am everyday for a whole week! Not only that, I get all the free cider I want next cider season without having to wait in line!” she said with glee.
“FREE CIDER!?” The other four ponies simultaneously asked, causing the pegasus to lean back a bit in shock.
Rainbow Dash took a second to recover from the shock before sitting upright again. “YEP! That’s what I said, free cider!”
“How in Equestria did you get free cider out of Applejack?” Twilight asked in bewilderment.
Rainbow Dash simply shrugged. “I dunno, I just kinda asked her and she agreed to it, she did say she would only do it this one time though.”
“Hmmm I see.” Twilight responded. The table soon went awkwardly quiet with the ponies all just looking at each other in silence for about a full minute before somepony finally spoke again.
“I think I’m going to go start those hayburgers now.” Pinkie said while slowly stepping away from the table.
“Yes quite that sounds like a… good idea.” Rarity said, just as awkwardly.
“So ummm… how has everypony’s day been?” Rainbow Dash asked in an attempt to break the awkwardness.
“Oh it was uhh… good.” Twilight answered first, her words short and snappy as if she was trying to avoid speaking.
“Yes, I had a good day as well.” Rarity followed.
“I just look after my animals.” Fluttershy answered in a monotone voice.
Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “You know, you guys have been acting real strange since I brought up the free cider I’ll get when I beat Applejack’s challenge, are any of you jealous?”
Twilight’s eyes widened. “N-No, Rainbow, we’re happy for you! I mean it’s not like any of us drink that cider every year and would love to not pay for it or wait in line.”
Rarity just gave Twilight an unimpressed look. “Subtle, darling.”
Rainbow thought for a moment. “You know, maybe you could all come with me and I could convince Applejack to let you in on the challenge.”
Twilight put her hoof to her chin. “I don’t know, Rainbow Dash, Something tells me Applejack wouldn't be willing to risk all that profit.”
“Don’t worry, Twilight! I got this! Just come with me and let me do the talking!” Rainbow Dash confidently boasted.
“Alright then, I’ll try it, are we all in, girls?” Twilight asked, sticking her hoof out.
Fluttershy thought for a few moments before nodding and putting her hoof over Twilight’s “I’m game.”
Rarity used her forehooves to fix her hair a bit. “Normally I would not agree to this but I simply cannot pass up the promise of free cider if Applejack allows it and we are successful! Count me in!” Rarity confidently said, sticking her hoof out over Fluttershy and Twilight’s.
The three ponies all agreed and pulled their hooves back. They all casually talked while they waited for Pinkie to come back with the hayburgers.
A few minutes later, Pinkie walked downstairs carrying a platter of fifteen hayburgers on her head, three for each pony.
Pinkie got up to the table and started passing out the meal to each of the ponies. “Here you go! I hope you all like it! It’s a recipe I found just a few days ago!”
Twilight had spoken up as Pinkie passed by her. “Pinkie, I wanted to let you know we are all going with Rainbow Dash to Sweet Apple Acres to see if we can be a part of the challenge her and Applejack are doing.”
A huge smile came onto Pinkie’s face as she put Rarity’s burgers down in front of her and sat down herself. “Whew, that’s a relief! I was worried that we would all eat and Rainbow Dash would fly off to Sweet Apple Acres and win that challenge and we would all be jealous cause Rainbow would have free cider and not have to wait in line while we would still have to camp out and pay and all that stuff!” She finished, taking a large breath.
“So... does that mean you’re in?” Fluttershy asked.
“Are you loco in the coco?” Pinkie asked. “Of course I’m in! I would be crazy to pass up free cider!”
All the ponies ate their burgers, left Sugarcube Corner and agreed to meet outside Sweet Apple Acres just before nine.
---
It was about ten minutes before nine now, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Twilight were all trotting over to Sweet Apple Acres, as well as Rainbow Dash who was gliding along with them.
When the mares got done eating at Surgarcube Corner they all had a little less than than three hours before having to go to Sweet Apple Acres for the long night ahead. While they weren't sure if Applejack would let them be apart of the challenge or not, most of them took precautions anyway.
Both Rarity and Twilight went home and took naps, with Twilight opting to read up a bit on endurance challenges before hers. She had also asked Starlight Glimmer if she wanted to join the challenge, to which she politely declined. Starlight had stated that she wouldn't be any good at the challenge, and she didn’t care for cider anyway.
Rainbow Dash took the time to practice her reflexes, not only while flying but also on her hooves, a thought that came when she realized that Applejack might pull the no-flying rule on her.
Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie didn’t really do anything other than their usual routine.
The five ponies got to Sweet Apple Acres and noticed the barn was both lit up and open, prompting them to walk towards it. As they got closer they were able to see Applejack leaning up against the barn on her side with both her front and back legs crossed. Her stetson hat was down over her eyes and she had a stick of hay in her mouth. Her laid-back posture and look indicated a mare who was just as confident as her competitor in her abilities to win the challenge of the night.
Rainbow Dash had walked up to Applejack and gave the pony a smug grin and glare as the other four ponies stood behind her. “I hope you’re prepared to lose some bits this cider season, Applejack!” Rainbow Dash taunted.
“Ah would give up on the trash talkin’ if ah were you,” Applejack said. She stood up straight, and used her forehoof to tip her hat back up. “It might not be as easy as ya…” The earth pony stopped what she was saying she noticed Pinkie, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rarity standing behind Rainbow Dash.
“Might not be as easy as what?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Applejack ignored Rainbow Dash's question and was more focused on the ponies behind her. “Rainbow, mind telling me why ya brought along Pinkie, Twi, Rarity and Fluttershy?”
Rainbow Dash was about to open her mouth to answer Applejack when Pinkie interupted her. “Rainbow Dash told us about the challenge you and her were having tonight and said that if she wins she gets free cider and we all like cider too so we want in!”
“PINKIE!” Rarity, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash, all yelled at her in unison in a scolding tone.
Applejack shot a glare at the pegasus and took a few steps towards her. “So y’all went ‘round town tellin’ ponies I was gonna give ya free cider if ya won the challenge?”
“No I didn’t!” Rainbow defensively shouted. “The only ones I told were them!” The pegasus said as she pointed at the four ponies behind her. “I was thinking maybe they do the challenge with us and if one of us is left uncaptured when the challenge ends we all win! You still have to tell me how awesome I am every day for a week and give all of us free cider without having to wait in line at the next cider season, sooooooo...”
“Absolutely not!” Applejack responded, stomping her hoof. “Ah’m takin a big enough risk just lettin you have free cider, Rainbow! Ah even told ya when we made the challenge that ah can’t have just any pony cuttin’ in line and gettin’ cider for free!”
“But we’re not just any ponies, we’re your friends!” Pinkie Pie gleefully responded.
“It’s ok if you don’t feel comfortable taking the risk, Applejack, we understand,” Twilight said in a neutral, though slightly disappointed tone.
Applejack sighed. “Gimme a few seconds.” She took a deep breath, and turned around. She thought of her position and what she spent the last two hours doing… maybe she was more prepared to take on all her friends than she thought. What if they won though? How many bits would she lose in cider sales from them alone?
Her thoughtful reverie was interrupted when a familiar raspy voice broke through.
“See, Applejack? I knew you were too scared to take on all five of us! You know, I’ll still let you admit you can’t do it, if you wanna save yourself the embarrassment.” Rainbow Dash taunted.
Applejack knew the mind game Rainbow was trying to pull again. She used it earlier in the day to coax Applejack into doing the challenge, she noticed then too but purposely took the bait. Rainbow Dash probably figured if the trick worked once it would work again, but Applejack wasn't usually one to fall for the same trick twice. Despite the taunts from the pegasus, Applejack had thought things over and had reached a decision.
Twilight saw Applejack still standing with her back to them and gave a sigh. “Looks like she’s not going to budge. Let’s go, girls.”
The four ponies turned and started walking away, while Rainbow Dash shot a glare at the work horse.
A couple seconds later, Applejack turned around and finally spoke again. “Wait!”
All four ponies stopped and looked back to face Applejack.
“Ah’ll do it!” The earth pony enthusiastically said with a grin. “If y’all can survive until 7 in the mornin, ah’ll give y’all free cider without havin to wait in line this year!”
Both Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie’s eyes lit up with excitement while Twilight was skeptical. “But Applejack, weren't you just worried about the bits you would lose if we all won? Why the sudden change of heart?”
“Well, ah thought it over and ah reckon, y’all will have a pretty tough night ahead of ya considering some… surprises ah have in store.” Applejack chuckled deviously.
“Oooooh I love surprises! Especially fun surprises! What kind of surprises do you have?” Pinkie excitedly asked.
“Sorry! Not tellin ya!” Applejack answered.
“Well then what are we waiting for? Let's start!” Rainbow Dash was about to fly off when Applejack stopped her.
“Hold up Rainbow, since y’all are playing now ah’m gonna have to make some new rules. The first rule applies to you, Twilight, and Fluttershy.”
“Oh, here it comes.” Rainbow lazily said.
“No flying allowed!” Applejack cheerfully said with a smile, while at the same time Rainbow Dash recited the infamous rule in a monotone voice. The annoyed pegasus touched down on the ground and pawed at the dirt beneath her hooves. While she didn’t like the rule she was at least relieved that she worked on her on-hoof agility before coming.
“Now this next one applies to you, Twi.” Applejack said, stepping over to the alicorn.
Twilight already had a good idea of of what Applejack was gonna say but decided not to guess and just let Applejack say it. “Alright.”
“If ah manage to lasso ya, ah don’t want ya teleportin all over the place, otherwise it’s unfair.”
“Don’t worry, Applejack, I have every intention of playing fair,” Twilight responded. “But let me just clarify something; so I can still use magic, just not teleport away when and if you catch me?”
Applejack nodded. “Y’all can use magic as long as it doesn't break any of the rules.”
“Got it!” Twilight replied with a smile. “I was actually thinking you were going to tell me I couldn't use magic at all.”
“Ah thought about it, but ah reckon as long as it doesn't break any rules ah’m fine with it.” Applejack said as she walked into the barn and motioned for the others follow her. Once they were inside, Applejack grabbed some rope and started tying Rainbow’s wings to her body, as the pegasus rolled her eyes. “So here is how the challenge is gonna go. Imma be searching the orchard for y’all all night, if ah find ya, ah have to lasso ya, tie ya up, and get ya to the barn. If y’all can escape before ah get ya to this here barn then you’re still in the game but if ah get ya in the barn, y’all have to stay here for the rest of the night. Ah’m also locking the barn door to make sure none of y’all can escape.”
Applejack finished with Rainbow Dash and began to tie Fluttershy's wings to her body. While the earth pony was doing that, Rainbow Dash looked at the rope around her body and tried to move her wings, obviously they didn’t budge.
As Applejack was tying Fluttershy, she spoke again. “If any of y’all leave the apple orchard before the challenge is over, ah win by default.”
Applejack finished tying Fluttershy’s wings and was getting the rope to do Twilight’s, when Rarity asked a question. “Applejack, I was just wondering, will anything happen to us if we lose? Or will Rainbow Dash just have to do the two weeks of farmwork?”
“Ah’ve actually been thinking of that, and ah came to a decision. If y’all lose, y’all have to do farm work for me for one week. It don’t feel right for me to have just Rainbow slavin’ away on the farm when all y’all were a part of the challenge.”
Rarity’s eyes widened in horror.
“Hmmm, that makes since.” Twilight replied. ”I guess I can have Starlight and Spike take care of things at the castle if we lose.”
“I used to work on a rock farm when I was a filly! So no biggie!” Pinkie replied.
Fluttershy said nothing and just nodded her head in agreement.
Rarity started backing away from the group. “Um y-you know I just remembered I umm have a very important order of dresses to make for tomorrow and I umm I have to get my beauty sleep. S-So I’ll just be on my way and leave you all to your challenge.”
Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Twilight all shot suspicious glares at Rarity, causing the pony to nervously glup and force a crooked smile.
Applejack had finished tying Twilight’s wings to her body and scrutinized Rarity, along with the rest of the group.
Rarity looked on for a couple more seconds before realizing none of them were buying her lie and slowly walked back over to the group. “I don’t want to do farm work, though! Just imagine the dreadful state my hooves coat and mane will be in at the end of each day! I will have to take constant trips to the spa just to get it all out!”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “I don’t see why you're even complaining about it, Rarity, we got this in the bag! Even if me Twilight and Fluttershy can’t fly, there is no way Applejack can catch all five of us in one night!”
“I will have you know that I'm not complaining, I'm whining.” Rarity said, regaining her composure for the most part.
“Whining, complaining, same thing. Point is we got this.” Rainbow confidently boasted.
Twilight tested her wings, but the rope held them firm. It felt weird not being able to use her wings, almost like she was a unicorn again. She shrugged it off and turned to Applejack. “So is that everything, Applejack?”
“Sure is!” Applejack took her hat off and pulled out a watch. “Ah got this here little watch so ah can tell what time it is… It looks like it's 9:14 now, so I’m gonna start the challenge right away and it will end at 7:14 in the mornin’. So once ah say go, y’all are gonna run off into the orchard and y’all can’t come out until the challenge is over! Ready?”
All her friends nodded in unison.
“Go!”
All five of the ponies rocketed out of the barn and into the Apple orchard.
Applejack had entered the orchard about two minutes ago to look for her targets, armed with only several bundles of rope, and a watch under her hat. She trekked through the dark orchard, alert and on her guard. While she was supposed to tie her friends up, she purposely left out that they could tie her up if they could take the rope from her. One of them could still think to ambush her and try it, making the work horse just as careful and cautious as her friends were.
Fluttershy was walking through the orchard and looking at the trees, wondering if she could spot any birds or other animals on the trees. Then all of the sudden, she felt a rope grip her left hind leg and pull her off the ground, hanging her upside down from one of the apple trees. Fluttershy became scared and let out a loud scream before quickly covering her mouth with her forehooves.
Despite the fact that the scream was brief, two ponies did hear it. Both Rarity and Rainbow Dash heard the scream before it abruptly ended.
After hearing the scream and how close it seemed, Rarity started trotting a bit faster as she muttered something to herself. “Pretty sure that was Fluttershy, and she's nearby… hard to believe Applejack has already gotten to her.”
Rainbow Dash heard the scream, and rolled her eyes. Wow, Fluttershy, I know you're not the best at these kind of things, but you couldn't even last TEN MINUTES? The pegasus thought to herself.
Fluttershy tried to calm herself down and look at her situation. She seemed to have gotten caught in a snare trap. She tried to move her wings to fly up and get the rope from around her leg. Her wings didn’t budge, and she was then reminded that Applejack had tied her wings to her body, to prevent her from flying. Fluttershy struggled some more, but the snare held her tightly within its grasp. The poor pegasus started to hyperventilate. What was going to happen to her now? Was she just supposed to wait here for Applejack to come and capture her?
Fluttershy then noticed a gray owl land on the branch the snare was attached to, and tried speaking with it.
After some quiet noisemaking, Fluttershy was able to get the attention of the owl, and asked her to peck away at the rope that was tied to the tree, the owl did as asked and Fluttershy fell to the ground.
The timid pegasus stood up, dusted herself off, and talked to the owl some more. “Thank you so much for saving me, Ms. Owl.”
“Whoo who.”
“What… what do you mean I should be more careful?”
“Whoo who who… whoo.”
“There are traps all over the orchard?”
The owl nodded.
“I wonder if that's what Applejack meant when she talked about ‘surprises’.” Fluttershy muttered to herself, the pegasus turned to the owl again. “Would you mind helping me with another favor, Ms. Owl?”
“Who?”
9:51 PM
Twilight was carefully snaking around the orchard. She had gone into stealth mode after thinking she heard some hoofsteps nearby a couple minutes ago. She was making her steps and actions as quickly and quietly as she could. She was frequently searching her surroundings, on alert for the slightest indicator that Applejack or any other pony could be nearby. Twilight had been walking backwards when she suddenly felt both of her hind hooves step into something slimy.
Twilight’s eyes widened and she tried to turn around to see what she had stepped into, but couldn't. “W-What the?” she gasped.
Twilight was about to struggle against the substance, but then her conscience kicked in. She knew she would only get herself caught if she didn't do things calmly. The alicorn had taken a couple seconds to calm down, the first thing she needed to do was assess her situation. She looked behind her and saw a strange, slimy-looking substance. She tried to lift her hind hooves out, only to have thick strands of the substance come up with them and eventually pull her hooves back down into it.
“Seems to be some kind of... adhesive.” she theorized to herself.
Twilight tried to see if she could get out of the glue on her own and attempted to lift one of her hind hooves out. She was able to do it, but it took more strength than she would have liked, she wanted to zap the rest of the sticky goop away but feared her location would be revealed if she did and ripped her other hind hoof from the glue using her own strength.
Once Twilight was free from the sticky hold of the trap she turned around to see what got her, before her lay a decently sized patch of golden brown colored adhesive. “Ok, so Applejack set traps up as well… guess I know what the surprise was.” Twilight muttered to herself.
10:33 PM
All five ponies were still in the challenge and aware of the orchard’s traps by now. Rainbow Dash had gotten caught in a adhesive trap about twenty minutes ago. Rather than backing out when she felt the adhesive grip her hooves, she decided to stubbornly trudge through the trap, a decision the pegasus regretted now due to her aching legs.
Twilight had been creeping her way through the orchard when she briefly met up with Pinkie Pie, who hadn’t stumbled upon any of the traps yet. Twilight was relieved about that and warned Pinkie to look out for them. The party pony acknowledged the warning and the two quickly split up again.
Rarity had met up with Fluttershy about ten minutes ago, and was happy to see that she had not been captured like she thought. Fluttershy had told Rarity what happened to her and how the owl was helping her navigate the orchard now. The gentle pegasus warned Rarity about the traps and split up from the unicorn.
Rarity was walking through the orchard now completely alone, her eyes darting back and forth as the inky blackness of the area was starting to get to her. She had looked down at her aching hooves and groaned. She wasn't sure if she would make it the rest of the night.
Rarity was lost in her thoughts when she suddenly heard a loud crunch under her hooves, causing her to let out a yelp of surprise.
A few seconds after the fashionista yelped, she heard rapidly approaching hoofsteps. Rarity’s eyes widened and she put out the light from her horn in response.
The hoofsteps stopped. Rarity was worried, but forced herself to keep moving.
She continued to walk onto the mystery object, causing more crunching to come from it. Rarity had assumed from the texture and sound of the material that it was simply fresh hay. While she was mostly sure she was right, she wasn't completely sure and she was too afraid to light her horn again to check
Rarity continued to creep across the large patch of hay, and wondered what it would be doing in the orchard. Her concentration was broken once again when a rope came down around her neck, she became terrified and tried to run but the rope tightened and forced her to the ground.
She lit her horn again and turned just in time to see Applejack jump on her.
Applejack had lunged at the generous pony, pinned her down, and had her inescapably hogtied in under a minute.
Applejack smiled. “Whooooo-weeee! That was a might close one, ah was worried ah was gonna lose ya for a second there, good thing ah laid down this here hay trap.”
“Applejack!” Rarity exclaimed while struggling in the hogtie. “Where did you come from?”
Applejack started dragging her new captive to the barn. “Ah was close by when ah heard a scream so ah went and saw where it came from and saw the light from ya horn after a tiny bit of runnin. Ah got worried when you put the light from your horn out and ah thought ah was gonna lose ya but y’all just walked further into my hay trap. From there ah was able to track where ya were by your hoofsteps because of the sound the hay was makin’ and capture ya that way.
Rarity struggled against the tight hogtie but had no luck. “Can you at least transport me to the barn in a less brutish way? You’re ruining my well groomed back!”
“Ya can tough it out! We’re almost to the barn anyway.”
After another two minutes of walking for Applejack and being dragged for Rarity, the two mares finally made it to the barn. Applejack pulled Rarity into the structure and left her on the floor.
“This is where y’all are gonna stay for the rest of the night!” Applejack happily proclaimed.
“How lovely,” Rarity replied in a sarcastic tone as she continued to struggle against her bonds.
“Welp, time to go back and wrangle the others.” Applejack said before walking towards the entrance.
Rarity's eyes widened. “Wait a minute, Applejack, you don’t intend to leave me tied like this, do you?”
“Why not? Ah reckon y’all can get out of that yourself.”
“You never said you would keep us tied up! Applejack, this is unacceptable! I demand you come over here and untie me at once!” Rarity shouted at the earth pony with a glare.
“Yeah, that's not happenin’.” Applejack said before before trotting out of the barn. Once outside the barn Applejack closed and locked the door, trapping the hogtied unicorn inside.
Rarity heard her fate seal with the click of the lock, and breathed a hopeless sigh. “How utterly brutish of her.” The fashionista muttered as she calmed down and began untying the rope using her magic. “Leaving me tied up and locking me in here, as if I'm nothing more than one of her common farm animals.”
After a few minutes of working the knot, Rarity was finally able to get herself untied and stand on all fours. She took a couple steps forward and heard that crunching under her hooves again, it then occurred to her that the entire floor of the barn was covered with hay. Rarity found it ironic that in a cruel twist of fate she was essentially caught by Applejack hearing her walk on hay, and she would now be stuck hearing that crunching sound underneath her hooves for the rest of the night.
Rarity didn’t have much to do in the barn, and just decided to lay down and nap until she had some company in the room.
11:22 PM
Twilight was a bit less cautious now, seeing as how it had been a fair amount of time since she saw or heard anypony, however she still had a lingering nervousness. Twilight was also made uneasy by not knowing what time it was and wished she had a way of finding out. She looked at the moon’s position and guessed it was close to midnight.
Twilight continued to trot about the orchard when she saw something swaying back and forth on a tree in the distance. Twilight was sceptical of approaching at first for fear that it might be some sort of trap, but her curious nature got the better of her and she cautiously went over to investigate.
As Twilight got closer to the tree she was able to make out the swinging figure as Pinkie Pie with a rope around one of her hind legs hanging her upside down and tethering her to the tree. “P-Pinkie pie?”
“Oh hey Twilight! Wanna hang upside down and swing with me? It’s super fuuuuuuun!” The party pony enthusiastically offered.
“Ummm no… how did even you get up there?” Twilight asked.
“Well I was just walking along maybe a few minutes ago when this rope tightened around my hind leg and pulled me up here so I decided to swing until the rope snapped.” Pinkie quickly explained as if it was no big deal.
Twilight let out a sigh. “Here, Pinkie, let me help.” The alicorn said as her horn started to glow with a violet-red aura that quickly enveloped the rope and released Pinkie within a few seconds.
Pinkie got back up and all fours and opened her mouth to thank Twilight, when a western voice came out of the darkness. “Well, well, well, look who ah just found.”
Twilight eyes widened in fear, and the ears of both ponies involuntarily twitched.
Applejack then walked into the view of both ponies, lasso at the ready. Twilight saw Applejack and immediately took off. “Run, Pinkie!” she yelled, already running off into the distance.
Pinkie Pie just waved. “Bye, Twilight, see ya later!” She then turned around to face Applejack. “Hey, Applejack, this is some challenge isn’t it?” she asked as Applejack lazily threw the lasso around Pinkie's neck and tightened it. “Wait I’m not supposed to be talking to you, RUN!” And with that, Pinkie took off like lightning.
Pinkie was now running through the orchard with the lasso around her neck and Applejack being dragged behind her, holding on for dear life with the lasso in her mouth. Pinkie Pie had took off running while Applejack was in midair during her jump to tackle her and she was unable to stick the landing, but the earth pony was determined not to lose her prey.
Applejack was unable to get her hooves firmly planted back on the ground due to Pinkie Pie’s erratic movement and was starting to get hurt from the dragging. Applejack, not being able to hold on for much longer tried speaking to Pinkie in desperate last ditch effort to stop the wild mare. “Pinkie Pie! Stop!” she shouted through clenched teeth.
“Sorry Applejack, no time to talk! Running from Applejack!” Pinkie Pie looked behind her and noticed Applejack still hanging on the rope. “GAH! APPLEJACK!” The party pony started running twice as fast and Applejack was forced to let go of the rope for fear of getting injured if she held on.
Applejack rolled across the ground and slowly got up on all fours, with a few scrapes and bruises. “Dagnabbit, ah was sure ah had her!”
12:09 AM
Despite the fact that Twilight was sure she had escaped Applejack quite a while ago, the mare was still on red alert. She was quickly cantering through the apple orchard, beads of sweat rolling down her face and panting from exhaustion seeing as how she had given herself very little time to rest in the last forty minutes. Twilight was leaving nothing to chance, though, and was doing everything within her power and the rules to make sure she wasn't Applejack’s next victim.
As Twilight was moving across the orchard, she felt a snare trap tighten around her hind leg and hang her from the tree. “Dang it!” she growled, before teleporting herself back to the ground in a bright but brief pink flash.
Twilight realized she had just acted on instinct and used her teleportation spell. The already exhausted alcorn feared her position being given away if Applejack was close enough to see it and bolted from the scene.
As Twilight was galloping away, she heard hoofsteps directly ahead of her. Twilight looked up and saw Applejack galloping at her with a lasso in her mouth.
The alicorn screamed and immediately ran to the left to get away, picking her pace to sprint.
“You’re mine, Twi!” Applejack shouted as she chased Twilight down.
“I’m not letting you get me so e-easily, Applejack!” Twilight grunted back, fighting her exhaustion and pushing herself to run faster.
Twilight had been running from Applejack for about a minute, she was exhausted and felt like she was going to collapse when she suddenly lost her coordination and tripped. Twilight tried to get back up to keep running but her overworked limbs demanded a rest and denied her movement. She was done for.
Twilight heard Applejack come up behind her and stop. Almost immediately she felt her sore legs being lifted and tied as Applejack placed the lasso around them and tightened it, causing Twilight to yelp in pain.
Before hogtieing and securing her catch, Applejack decided to break character for a moment and make sure her friend was ok. “Ya alright, sugarcube? Ya look pretty plum tuckered out.”
Twilight responded with a nod. “Yeah I’m fine, I just need to rest my legs. I pushed myself real hard to try and get away from you,” she said through her panting.
“Alright then,” Applejack responded before hogtieing Twilight's legs. “Ya know, y’all gave me a right good workout there. Ah was honestly surprised ya were able to run that fast! Ah knew ya would slip up sooner or later, ah thought ah saw a tiny glimmer through the trees and took off runnin toward it.”
Twilight couldn't help but passive-aggressively grumble to herself. She was annoyed that the reason she was caught was mainly due to her own carelessness and force of habit. “Did you catch Pinkie?” Twilight asked as Applejack finished the hogtie and started to drag her across the ground.
“Ah think, ah’ll keep that a secret for when y’all get to the barn.” Applejack replied in a snarky tone that nearly confirmed Twilight's suspicions
After a few minutes of dragging. Twilight and Applejack found themselves at the barn.
Twilight saw Applejack open the barn door and looked inside, much to her surprise, Pinkie was nowhere to be seen, and the only other pony Twilight saw was Rarity, who was sound asleep.
Applejack dragged Twilight into the barn and went to leave out. "Now y’all play nice in there ah gotta go back to the orchard," she said on her way out, waking Rarity up in the process.
“Wait, you’re just going to leave me tied up like this?” Twilight asked with surprise in her voice.
“Yep!” Applejack said as she began to close the door. "Ah reckon Rarity can help ya out with that. And ya can untie your wings if ya want, too.”
Twilight looked on as Applejack closed the door and locked her and Rarity in the barn.
12:45 AM
Rarity had helped Twilight get untied while trying to wake herself up, After Twilight had been untied, the two mares were sitting down and just discussing the challenge and how they were captured.
After their conversation had ended, Rarity stood up and started looking around. “Ugh, this barn is so… drab,” she said in an annoyed tone while kicking some of the hay on the floor. “I don’t think Applejack realizes how much some interior decorating would spruce this place up. Even just a tiny bit of color and paint would do wonders, everything is just so… plain and brown… and wooden.”
“I guess Applejack doesn't really care… I mean, it's just a barn.” Twilight said while standing up and stretching.
“Hmmm… well I still think it could use some work. I suppose all this sitting around with nothing to do is making my thoughts wander.” Rarity replied. “I do wish we could see how the others are holding up.”
Twilight put her forehoof up to her chin… “Hmm. Maybe I could cast a spell that would let us watch them.”
“Do you know how to do something like that?” Rarity asked.
“I’ve read a couple books about scrying spells. Let's see if I can remember how it works.” Twilight responded as her horn lit up and she closed her eyes to conterate.
After a few seconds, three balls of magical energy began appearing in front of Twilight. Rarity watched in awe as what appeared to be pupils formed on the balls of magic. After a few more seconds the pupils on the magic balls started looking around as if they were eyes.
Twilight looked in front of her and smiled. “And now,” Twilight said before using her magic to project a screen near the back of the barn. Both Rarity and the alicorn walked over to the screen and in a few seconds three separate views appeared and they were all of the barn from where the eyes were, making it quite clear where the image was coming from.
Twilight wiped the sweat off her forehead and looked to Rarity. “I’m pretty sure you understand how this will go,. This screen will show us everything these eyes see so we can use them to watch the others.”
“Most ingenious, Twilight. So you will be able to locate the others with these? I hope they are not too distracting,” Rarity said, still surprised.
“Oh, that reminds me.” Twilight said before casing an invisibility spell on the eyes. “Now we can’t see them, but I can still know where they are by looking at the screen.” Twilight then sent the magic eyes out to look for her friends. After a few minutes they were able to find all three and to watch them.
1:02 AM
Rainbow Dash was walking along the orchard, her anxiety was rising as the night continued and her drowsiness was starting to catch up with her. She had been waking up earlier lately at around 6 or 7 in the morning to perfect flight patterns that The Wonderbolts were working on, seeing as how she was one of them now. The latest she had stayed up since she got into the elite aerial force was probably 1:30 or 2:00 AM tops, and the effects of her sleep schedule were starting to take their toll on the mare.
Rainbow Dash, despite her drowsiness was trying to stay aware and alert. At one point she heard some hoofsteps trotting towards her, the pegasus quickly ducked behind a tree nearby and tried to see if she could make out who the mystery pony was.
A couple seconds later, the hoofsteps stopped and Rainbow Dash nervously checked her surroundings fearing Applejack may be tracking her. All of the sudden an Owl descended upon the pegasus as if from nowhere and began to fly around her, annoying her. “G-Get away, stupid Owl! You’re going to blow my cover!”
“Who! Who!”
"GAH!" Rainbow shouted in annoyance, then bolted away from the owl and back onto the trail. Only seconds later, however, she bumped into another pony.
Rainbow Dash sprang up immediately and was ready to take off running again until she stopped for a second and noticed who the pony was. “Wait, F-Fluttershy!?”
“Oh hi Rainbow Dash, it must have been you that Athena saw in the trees. Sorry if she scared you, she was just looking out for me, weren't you?”
The Owl landed on Fluttershy’s foreleg and gave a nod.
“Wait, who now?” Rainbow asked.
“Athena. That's what I named this owl since she decided to help me navigate the orchard and keep me out of traps. She saved me from a snare trap back near the beginning of the challenge and we’ve been talking all night,” Fluttershy explained while smiling at the owl.
“You’re using an owl? Isn’t that against the rules?” Rainbow Dash asked?
“Applejack didn’t say anything about it, so I don’t think so.” Fluttershy replied while lovingly nuzzling the owl.
Rainbow Dash was about to speak again when from out of the trees, a lasso came down around her neck and tightened immediately.
Rainbow Dash's heart skipped a beat and she knew Applejack had found and caught her. She tried to run off only to have the rope tighten even further around her neck and force her to the ground.
Fluttershy became frightened and backed away as Athena quickly flew back into the trees. “Wait! Athena!”
Rainbow Dash thought she might have been caught until her and Fluttershy heard shouting coming from behind the trees.
“Gah! What are ya doin! Get away from me, ya varmint!”
It was clear that Athena was creating a distraction so Fluttershy quickly helped Rainbow Dash out of the lasso and the pegasus bolted off.
“Thanks, Fluttershy, tell that owl she’s super awesome!” Rainbow Dash shouted at her as her voice became more distant and echoey.
Fluttershy whistled for Athena to come back to her and galloped off as well.
Applejack was left there in the trees, scratched up and annoyed. “Fluttershy!” The earth pony growled to herself. “Ah forgot about her bein’ able to talk to animals. She's gonna be a tough one to catch.”
Even though Applejack missed the chance to catch Rainbow Dash, she was kind of relieved in a weird way. The original challenge Rainbow Dash proposed was that Applejack couldn't lasso her if she expected it, and she didn’t expect it here, so maybe it was a sign.
1:34 AM
Pinkie Pie was happily trotting around the orchard when her all four of her hooves were suddenly pulled together by a hidden lasso.
The party pony yelped in surprise and tried to free her legs when Applejack jumped out from the trees. “Hoo-wee! Got ya! I saw ya comin this way and made up this here lasso to catch ya.”
Pinkie Pie gasped at the sight of the work horse and tried to struggle again but Applejack was holding the lasso too tight for her to budge and she glared at Applejack as she approached.
“There ain’t no use strugglin! Ah got ya this time! Maybe ah’ll take ya back to the barn the long way round seeing as how ya’ll gave me that ride earlier.” Applejack smugly said as she began hogtieing her freshly caught captive.
Pinkie's eyes widened. “Wait, a ride? What ride? You were on a ride? How did I give you a ride? I didn’t give you a ride! Where was I when you were on this ride?”
“Y’all were… ya know what, never mind, it's not important.” Applejack said as she continued to hogtie Pinkie.
“Okie Doki Loki!” Pinkie said cheerfully. She then looked around for a way to get out of this and her eyes were drawn to Applejack's legs.
Applejack was finishing up the hogtie when all of the sudden she felt a sharp pain shoot up her right foreleg and looked down to see Pinkie biting down hard on it. “GAH! Pinkie Pie! Stop that!” she shouted as she tried to move back from the pony.
Pinkie Pie released Applejack’s leg and fidgeted with her bonds for a few seconds before slipping out and running off.
In the few seconds it took Applejack to open her eyes and recover from the bite, she was able to see Pinkie stand up and run further into the orchard. “Oh no ya don’t!” Applejack growled as she pulled out another lasso and gave chase. “Ah ain’t losin ya this time, Pinkie Pie! You’re comin’ with me!”
Pinkie Pie didn’t respond and just kept running. After a few more seconds, she felt a lasso come down around her neck and suddenly turned around.
Applejack shut her eyes and stopped to tighten the lasso, but didn't feel it tighten. She heard hoofsteps getting closer and opened her eyes just in time to see Pinkie Pie circle her once and keep running the other way. She looked back, noticed the rope tightening around her own legs, and realized what Pinkie was trying to do. Not wanting to be dragged again, Applejack quickly released the lasso from her mouth.
“You’ll never catch me, Applejack!” Pinkie Pie shouted from the darkness, prompting Applejack to give chase once again.
This time, instead of trailing directly behind her, Applejack decided to run through the next row of trees over, hoping for Pinkie to let her guard down or wear herself out, making her easier to capture.
Applejack had been trialing Pinkie for almost three minutes when she suddenly felt her hooves run into something sticky. Applejack looked down and was both horrified and embarrassed to see that she had run into one of her own glue traps.
As Applejack struggled to get out of the sticky muck she heard Pinkie’s running growing fainter and fainter until by the time she was able to free herself from the glue it was gone completely.
Applejack ran into the next row of trees and looked around for a bit before stomping both of her forehooves in frustration and throwing her hat onto the ground. “Dagnabbit! Ah can’t believe ah let her get away again!”
Applejack put her hat back on and looked at the ropes around her back, after a few seconds the earth pony realized she was running out of lassos and angrily stomped off to get more.
2:17 AM
Rainbow Dash was walking across the orchard now and struggling to stay awake. She hadn't stayed up this late for a while now. Her efforts to stay awake were further hindered by the quiet and tranquil nature of the orchard. The pegasus looked up at the branches of the apple trees surrounding her, they all looked like comfortable beds she wished she could climb up to and get a good night's sleep in, however it was a risk she couldn't afford to take. She knew Applejack was on the hunt and could pop out, anytime, anywhere, and anyplace.
Her drowsiness was very apparent, even to the point where Rarity and Twilight could see it through Twilight’s spell in the barn and were commenting on it.
Rainbow Dash continued to walk along, nodding off once again when she heard a loud crunch from under her hoof that stunned her back to wakefulness. “GAH! Who’s there!” She shouted, looking around and putting up her forehooves in a fighting stance.
After settling down, she looked down and realized she had just stepped on another hay trap. “Stupid hay!” she shouted before kicking it and moving along the trap. “I can’t believe I’m this tired, I thought it would be way easier to stay awake all night. I’ve done it before!” Rainbow Dash angrily said to herself outloud. Rainbow Dash tested her wings that were still secured to her sides and grimaced. “If Applejack hadn't tied my wings up I would probably be able to fly and be a lot more awake.”
“Probably, but then where would the challenge in that be?” A smug western voice replied from behind the pegasus.
Rainbow’s entire body stiffened, and she slowly looked behind her before bolting off immediately when she saw who the pony was.
Applejack gave chase and pulled out her lasso. “Hey, Rainbow, ya alright? Ya look a little tired!”
“Shut up, Applejack!” Rainbow Dash shouted back before sprinting off as fast she could.
While Rainbow was fast, Applejack was still able to keep pace, and after about thirty seconds, was close enough to the pegasus to lasso her.
Rainbow Dash noticed the lasso, and quickly did a side jump into the next row of trees to avoid it.
The lasso missed, and Applejack quickly pulled it back and began twirling it over her head again as she continued her relentless pursuit. Applejack had failed two capture attempts in a row now, and she was determined not to lose Rainbow again. Applejack got close enough to Rainbow Dash once again, and cast the lasso on her.
Rainbow Dash felt the lasso come down around her neck. She gasped and tried to run away faster, only to have lasso instantly tighten and almost choke her, causing the tired pegasus to fall to the ground with a yelp.
Applejack saw Rainbow fall, and instantly jumped on top of her. One thing the earth pony noticed immediately was the tightness of the lasso around Rainbow Dash's neck, it was causing her to cough and was too tight for Applejack’s liking so she loosened it.
Applejack quickly went to work hogtieing Rainbow Dash, and had her new catch secured in under two minutes. “So what was all that talk about me not bein’ able to lasso ya if ya knew ah was gonna do it?” Applejack smugly asked.
Rainbow Dash let out an irritated groan in response, rolling her eyes. Applejack soon started dragging her along the ground. “You and I both know I would have beat this challenge if you just let me fly!” Rainbow shot back.
“Ya know, ah was actually gonna let ya fly, seein’ as how ten hours is a pretty long time on your hooves n all. That’s also why ah set up traps all ‘round the orchard, ah was hopin ya would either land or step into one of um and that would give me a better chance to get ya. But then y’all showed up with the others and ah had to change the rules to keep things fair,” Applejack replied matter-of-factly.
For the last three minutes, Rainbow Dash had been fidgeting with the hogtie as Applejack dragged her along. She was able to get the hogtie looser and looser, and would just have to do a bit more before she was free and back in the challenge. Rainbow Dash was just able to see the barn now, and knew she didn’t have much time left.
Just as Applejack was exiting the Orchard, she felt the end of the rope she was dragging along suddenly get much lighter. The work horse looked behind her to see Rainbow Dash gone and sprinting back into the orchard. Applejack shot a death glare at the pegasus and darted off like a rocket to recapture her prey, pulling out a fresh lasso as she ran.
Rainbow Dash felt satisfied and triumphant, but knew she wasn't safe yet. Applejack was hot on her trial and not giving her any slack. Rainbow Dash looked behind her and tried to pick up her pace when she noticed Applejack catching up faster than she thought she would.
Applejack noticed this, and with a frustrated grunt, pushed herself to try and keep up. “You’re not getting away from me, Rainbow! Ah’ll chase ya ‘round the orchard all night if ah have to!”
As much As Rainbow Dash hated to admit it to herself, Applejack was right, there was no way she would be able to shake her in her current state. The pegasus started to pant and sweat both from the running and the fear of her current situation. If she was going to lose Applejack, she had to get creative, maybe even try to use one of the traps against her.
Rainbow Dash made a left turn and kept running, she looked all around for either a glue or a snare trap, she could lure Applejack into. After about a full minute of looking at nothing but darkness she, unsurprisingly, saw nothing, which caused her to become even more stressed. She needed to find some relief from this brutal test of endurance, and fast. Despite the fact that Rainbow was an athlete, every pony had their limits, and she was reaching hers. Her tired mind coupled with the already long night and this exhausting running made her body desperately want to stop and take a break.
Applejack was also becoming exhausted as well. She knew Rainbow Dash was the only one who could go hoof to hoof with her in terms of endurance, and this chase was pushing her to her limits. For the past two minutes or so she had been chasing Rainbow Dash, and every time she would speed up to go in to lasso her Rainbow Dash would notice and put more distance in between them. Applejack knew that at this point it was just a matter of who would run out of strength first.
After about thirty more seconds of running, Rainbow had hit her breaking point, and felt like her body couldn't take anymore. She was about to just stop and surrender to Applejack when she saw a glue trap right ahead, dimly illuminated by the moonlight. She knew this could be her only chance, and pushed herself to keep running and jump over it. If she could make this jump, Applejack would likely run into the trap, and then Rainbow would be home free.
Rainbow Dash ran up to the trap and took the jump. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the pegasus began to sail over the trap. Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash, eager to execute her plan as quick as possible had made a grave error and did her jump too early, causing her to land right into the trap.
Rainbow Dash’s hooves landed in the glue with a wet splotch. She immediately struggled to move forward and get out. “NO! C-come on!”
Rainbow Dash tried to move forward as fast as she could, but It was no use. The glue held its new prisoner firmly within its sticky grasp. There was no way she could free herself from the trap in the few more seconds it would take for Applejack, who much like Rainbow was panting and covered in sweat, to trot up and claim her prize. Rainbow Dash was finally defeated.
2:38 AM
Applejack had gotten Rainbow Dash to the barn and dropped her off, but not before asking some questions about Twilight's tracking spell upon seeing the very obvious magical projection at the back of the barn. Twilight explained what it was about, and assured Applejack there was no way they could communicate with the others using this spell and that it was only strictly to watch them. After the explanation, Applejack was ok with the idea and left out of the barn again, locking the door behind her.
Rainbow had struggled against her hogtie after Applejack left out. “Ummmm, A little help here?”
Twilight dispelled the eye watching Rainbow Dash, and helped untie her wings. Rarity did the same with her hooves.
Rainbow Dash stood up and looked At Rarity and Twilight. “Thanks… So, she got both of you already?”
“Unfortunately,” Rarity responded.
“Me and Rarity sort of unintentionally gave our locations away and Applejack caught us,” Twilight added on, useing a forehoof to nervously rub the back of her head.
Rainbow looked off to the side and gave a sigh as she brushed her forehoof across the floor. “Well, you’ll never guess what happened to me! Apple-”
“No need to recount the story to us, darling,” Rarity chimed in, cutting Rainbow off. “Twilight and I saw the whole thing already,” she said, gesturing to the screen at the back of the barn.
“Oh, right,” Rainbow nodded, stretching her stiff wings. She already knew what the spell was about from Twilight explaining it to Applejack.
“You put up a real good fight, Rainbow. We were both real surprised and almost felt like cheering you on when you broke out of that hogtie.” Twilight said, trying to bring Rainbow out of her sad and defeated state of mind.
The rainbow-maned pegasus pawed at the ground. “I may have put up a ‘good fight’ but it doesn't matter, Applejack still got me! I'm just annoyed and I wanna get some sleep. I’m totally wiped out.”
“We’ll try to stay quiet for you, then,” Twilight replied as Rainbow slumped down on the hay, and quickly fell asleep.
“I do hope Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy will be enough to get us through the night.” Rarity nervously whispered as she turned to face Twilight's screen again.
“It’s a possibility. They both have been doing very well. I guess we'll just have to see.” Twilight replied as she turned to watch the screen some more along with Rarity.
3:13 AM
Fluttershy was resting while talking to Athena, and started wondering who was still in the challenge. “Athena, can you please check something for me?”
“Who?”
“I would like you to fly up and look around the orchard and look for my friends.” Fluttershy said.
“Who? Whoo who who?”
“No, I just want to see which ones are still in the challenge, you don’t have to send them a message or anything.” Fluttershy replied.
“Who who!” Athena replied before flying up and looking around the orchard.
A few minutes later, Athena came down and landed on Fluttershy's outstretched foreleg. “What did you find?” she asked the bird.
“Whoo who who whoo who whoo who.”
“So you’re saying you only saw two other ponies in the orchard?”
Athena nodded. “Whoo who who.”
“The one with the hat is nearby? Oh… oh no.” Fluttershy released Athena off her foreleg and started walking away. “We’d better move. Come on, Athena.”
“Who.”
Fluttershy walked for a minute or so, then, just as she was about to step between two apple trees, Athena suddenly flew in front of the pegasus and gestured her to go right.
Applejack had been observing the duo from a distance. She didn’t want to be seen by Athena, so she was only able to get close enough to make them out as two silhouettes. She would have captured Fluttershy the moment she saw her, but she knew the owl would thwart any capture attempts made by her just like last time. Instead of going on the attack, Applejack decided to watch how the owl helped Fluttershy out instead.
After Applejack witnessed the owl direct Fluttershy to go right, she walked over to where the owl redirected Fluttershy. Applejack found one of her glue traps at the point where the owl stopped the pegasus, and realized that Fluttershy was using the owl to avoid the traps. Applejack was both impressed that Fluttershy thought of that and worried about the considerable advantage it gave her.
The farm pony continued to follow them for a couple more minutes, hoping for something to happen that would give her an opportunity to strike.
Applejack was creeping forward when she was suddenly pinned down. Applejack looked up and saw Pinkie Pie towering over her with a Smile on her face.
“Hey there Applejack, whatcha doin?” Pinkie asked, her head hanging merely inches from hers.
Applejack heard galloping and glared at Pinkie, obviously Fluttershy heard her name and bolted. “Pinkie Pie! Get off me!” Applejack shouted while squirming to get free.
“Actually, Applejack, I was just walking around the orchard when I had this crazy idea! I thought about how you’ve been trying to tie us up all night and I thought it would be super fun to try it on you, so I’m going to tie you up!” A wickedly evil smile creeped across Pinkie’s face.
Applejack’s eyes widened in horror. This was the absolute last thing she wanted happening to her. The earth pony tried struggling, but Pinkie was not letting her go anywhere. “Pinkie, ah swear to Celestia if y’all do this to me ah’m gonna make ya pay!”
Undeterred by the threat, Pinkie used her mouth to pull one of the premade lassos off of Applejack’s body and began to tie her hooves together. “Make me pay? Why? What am I paying for? Did you buy something without me knowing? Sorry Applejack, I didn’t bring any money with me sooooooo I can’t pay for anything for you!”
Applejack would have facehoofed if her legs weren't currently being tied together, and simply rolled her eyes.
In a couple minutes, Pinkie had Applejack tightly hogtied. She grinned, jumping up and down in front of her captive. “Wow, Applejack that was fun, and exciting! Now I know why you’ve been trying all night to get all of us!”
Applejack struggled against the hogtie, and shot a glare at the bouncing pony. “When ah get outta this… you’re next!” Applejack threatened in a dark and serious tone.
Pinkie Pie looked at Applejack in confusion for a few seconds before remembering something pretty important. “Oh, right! We are doing that challenge thing for the cider! Silly me, I completely forgot! So does that mean I have to run away screaming?”
Applejack said nothing, focused on untying herself.
“Okie Doki Loki!” Pinkie took in a deep breath and galloped away screaming, leaving Applejack tied up and steaming mad.
Applejack tried to untie herself. She was incredibly annoyed at how Pinkie had served as the bane of her existence throughout the entire challenge. Both times she had encountered her she had failed to catch her and this was the most insulting thing the party pony had done all night. As Applejack did what little she could to loosen her bonds she vowed to herself that she was going to definitely catch Pinkie next.
Applejack still wanted to catch the party pony, not only because the challenge demanded she do so, but Pinkie made it personal by tying Applejack up and doing it so easily.
4:00 AM
Applejack had gotten free from the hogtie and redid all her lassos about 15 minutes ago and she was now on the hunt for Pinkie Pie, creeping through her orchard, on red alert.
The moon had now sunk down over the hills of Sweet Apple Acres, plunging the orchard into a state of darkest just before the dawn. In response to her decreased visibility, Applejack was listening around extra carefully for the slightest sound to tell her someone was nearby.
After a few minutes of searching, Applejack heard a distinct bouncing noise nearby, slowly growing louder. Applejack realized the sound was coming from the next row of trees over to her left and she slowly made her way there. The earth pony hid behind one of the apple trees and tried to see if she could ambush Pinkie.
Applejack heard the bouncing growing louder and louder still and started to sweat in anticipation. This was her chance to redeem herself and she knew Pinkie would put up a decent battle before allowing herself to be caught as she had clearly demonstrated throughout the night.
The earth pony looked to her right, and saw Pinkie merrily hopping along with her eyes closed. Applejack was about to take out her lasso and catch Pinkie when an idea popped into her head. It was stupid, but maybe just stupid enough to work. Applejack then stepped out from the tree she was hiding behind.
Pinkie opened her eyes and saw Applejack standing in her path, causing her to stop dead in her tracks. “Oh hey there Applejack! I didn’t know you united yourself! I bet it was fun, wasn’t it?”
Applejack put a plastered smile on her face and tried to play along. “Yep, it sure was Pinkie! Ah was actually scared ah wasn't gonna get out.”
Pinkie bounced up and down in front of Applejack. “I know, tee hee, that's how I feel whenever I get tied up! And then I always think what if I can’t get out? What is the pony who caught me going to do with me? What will happen to me next? Will I die? Am I this pony’s slave now? What if-”
Applejack just looked at Pinkie Pie as she continued to ask question after question. “Uhhhh, Pinkie?”
The party pony didn’t hear Applejack and just kept spouting hypotheticals. “-and they never let me see my family again? What if they let me see my family again but I’m part of their family now so they’re technically not my family anymore? Is the pony good? If the pony was good then why would they tie me up? What if I wasn't even tied up by a pony? What-”
Applejack's eyes widened as Pinkie’s hypotheticals got more and more ridiculous. “Pinkie.” Applejack said in a slightly louder tone this time.
“-by diamond dogs and they make me work in the mines for the rest of my life? What if I got caught by changelings in disguise? What if they take me back to where they live? Where does a changeling live anyway? I wonder what it's like to be put in one of those cocoon thingies.” The party pony gasped in horror. “What if they put me in a cocoon!?”
“PINKIE PIE!” Applejack yelled with a stomp of her forehoof.
Pinkie looked back at Applejack. “Oh hey, Applejack, I’m sorry, I forgot you were standing there.” Pinkie Pie quickly creeped up to the farm pony and started closely scrutinizing her. “You're not a changeling, are you?” she asked suspiciously.
Applejack facehoofed in response. “No,” she answered in an annoyed tone.
“Ok, I believe you… for now.” Pinkie said before backing away from Applejack.
“Look, Pinkie, ah was just thinkin, since y’all tied me up, how bout ah tie you up now?” Applejack asked while getting her lasso out.
“Sounds like fun!” Pinkie said while hopping past Applejack. “But you’re gonna have to catch me~”
“Now wait a minute, y’all didn’t catch me.” Applejack said as Pinkie bounced in place.
“Uhh, yes I did, silly. You just didn’t expect it!” Pinkie responded.
Applejack let out a sigh, seeing as how the entire point of her plan was to tie up Pinkie Pie without having to chase down or lasso her. “Fine, I’ll-”
Before Applejack could finish speaking, Pinkie bolted off. Applejack gave chase, twirling the lasso above her head.
After about a minute of running Applejack had gotten close enough to lasso Pinkie, and so she cast the rope on her. The lasso came down around Pinkie's neck and Applejack kept running with her. Applejack’s plan was to keep pace with Pinkie until she ran out of energy and take her out her while she was weak.
Shortly after Applejack lassoed Pinkie she started to rapidly run in erratic zig-zag patterns and every which way as Applejack desperately tried to keep up with her. Pinkie looked back at her friend at one point and smiled. “Wow, Applejack, you’re good at following me around. Have you done this before?”
Applejack honestly couldn't tell if Pinkie was being sarcastic or not but one thing was for sure, she was NOT losing her again.
Another minute of running passed, Applejack still had Pinkie lassoed and was trailing her, but she was beginning to get exhausted from all the running. Pinkie had showed no signs of fatigue or slowing down. Applejack was fearing losing the wild mare when all of the sudden Pinkie was yanked upward by her hind hoof and hung from one of the trees.
Pinkie had triggered one of Applejack’s snare traps. The farm pony evilly grinned as she slowed her gallop to a trot and stepped up to her new catch.
“Well, well, well, what do we have here!” Applejack said as she began circling Pinkie Pie, who glared at her.
“This isn’t fair, Applejack! I didn’t use a trap on you! I want a redo!” Pinkie Pie said while crossing her front hooves and pouting at the work horse.
“Ah ain't givin’ ya any redos, Pinkie, ya been givin’ me trouble all night.” Applejack said before getting Pinkie down from the tree and pinning her.
“Trouble? What trouble?” Pinkie asked as her friend began hogtieing her.
Applejack groaned. “Well for starters, y’all dragged me through the orchard earlier, then later on ya bit my leg and tried to drag me around again! And then y’all tied me up!”
“Oh well… You were trying to catch me! I had to escape somehow!” Pinkie replied. The party pony could feel the rope tightly constricting her legs as Applejack finished the first knot.
Applejack took out another rope and tied it around Pinkie’s legs as well, ensuring the earth pony would not be able to escape. “Well ah could have been seriously injured from what y’all did to me.”
“So does that mean you’ll untie me if I apologize?” Pinkie asked.
“No,” Applejack simply said in response.
“Well then, no apology for you!” Pinkie shouted as she looked away.
Applejack finished the second knot and started dragging the party pony to the ‘party’ in the barn.
4:27 AM
Pinkie had been dragged into the barn by Applejack squirming and screaming like a child, waking Rainbow Dash up in the process. Applejack quickly dropped the pink nightmare off strode out the door, and locked her captives in yet again.
Rarity and Twilight and a groggy Rainbow Dash all walked up to the screaming and struggling party pony and stared at her until she abruptly stopped screaming. “Oh hi guys!” She resumed her screaming. “Help someone! I’ve been ponynapped! Somepony please save me!”
Rarity and Twilight looked at each other confused until Rainbow Dash finally spoke up “Can you please quiet down, Pinkie! You woke me up!”
Pinkie looked at Rainbow Dash with pleading eyes. “But I have to scream to let ponies know I'm caught so someone will come and save me.”
Rainbow Dash let out a pained groan. “Please, Pinkie, I’m not awake enough for this.” The haggard pegasus said before walking over to a support beam and placing her head against it.
Twilight and Rarity went to work untying Pinkie, and in a couple minutes had the earth pony back on all fours again.
Twilight began explaining to Pinkie how the monitor spell in the back worked while Rarity walked over to Rainbow Dash.
“Rainbow Dash, I would like to inform you of something.” Rarity said to her in a monotone but prim fashion.
“What is it?” the pegasus groggily asked while slowly turning to face Rarity.
Rarity quickly looked back at Pinkie and Twilight over by the monitor before stepping up closer to Rainbow Dash. The unicorn suddenly glared at the pegasus and aggressively placed her hoof against Rainbow’s chest. “I'm warning you, Rainbow Dash, we are dangerously close to losing this challenge. If Fluttershy cannot pull through for us, I assure you that you are going to pay for my spa bills!”
“Why me?” Rainbow asked.
“Because you are the one who was so sure we would win and had this, as you say, in the bag. It is only appropriate that you cover my spa expenses for the absolutely dreadful dirt and grime I will get covered in each day!”
Rainbow Dash’s mouth went agape as Rarity swiftly turned around and walked back over to Pinkie and Twilight. The pegasus looked on for a few seconds before she slowly fell to her flanks and buried her head in the floor giving the longest and most pained groan of the night.
4:56 AM
The sky was beginning to get lighter as Celestia was beginning to slowly raise the sun and start the new day. Fluttershy looked up at the slowly brightening sky and over to Athena. Fluttershy knew that Athena was a night owl and that she would have to leave her to go to bed soon. “Athena, can I ask you something?”
“Who?” the owl replied.
“How much longer do you think you will be able to stay awake?”
Athena looked up and faced Fluttershy again “Whoo who.”
“A half hour?” Fluttershy asked.
Athena nodded—
And then all of the sudden her wings were pinned to her sides by a rope, and she was pulled into the darkness of the orchard.
“Athena!” Fluttershy shouted before cautiously taking a few steps forward her entire body shaking with fear.
Suddenly Applejack jumped out from the trees. “WHOO-WEE! ah finally got that owl!”
“Applejack? What do you mean you got that owl? Did you do something to Athena?” Fluttershy asked, taking a few steps back from her friend.
“Nothing that bad. Ah just tussled her up so she won’t get in the way of me tusslin’ you up.” Applejack said with an evil grin while beginning to twirl a lasso above her head.
Fluttershy’s eyes widened and the terrified pegasus took off like a rocket with Applejack giving chase, an all too familiar scenario for the farm pony tonight. Fluttershy's eyes were darting all over the place as she tried to spot any traps with the help of the early morning light.
Fluttershy looked behind her and noticed she was losing ground between her and Applejack. She was thinking of a way to slow her down when an idea suddenly struck her.
While running Fluttershy suddenly jerked the back of her body to the left and bucked one of the apple trees. The apples fell onto the ground just before Applejack came up on the tree, and much to Fluttershy's luck, it worked, and Applejack rolled on one of the apples and painfully fell.
Meanwhile, the four ponies in the barn had watched Fluttershy's applebucking stunt, their mouths agape with surprise until Twilight broke the silence. “How did none of us think of that?”
Applejack had quickly recovered from her fall and went on the chase again. Fluttershy had made a right turn during the few seconds Applejack was down in attempt to throw her off the trail.
Fluttershy’s gallop had slowed to a trot before she stopped by a tree to catch her breath
Fluttershy had been by the tree for about half a minute and was still catching her breath, when a rope came down around her neck. The pegasus panicked and tried to run away, but the rope tightened immediately and forced her to the ground.
“Well, that was easier than ah thought.” Applejack said as she walked up and started to hogtie Fluttershy.
Fluttershy sighed and looked down. “Are you at least going to untie Athena?” Fluttershy asked as her hooves were bound tighter and tighter, causing her her to slightly quiver in fear.
“Don’t ya worry,” Applejack assured as she finished the hogtie. “Ah’ll go back and untie the critter as soon as Ah get ya to the barn.” She started dragging Fluttershy along “Ah just didn’t want to be attacked by that thing again just ‘cause ah had to catch you.”
A few seconds after Applejack started dragging Fluttershy to the barn, an enraged Athena descended upon the earth pony and started brandishing its sharp talons at her. Applejack screamed, causing the rope to drop from her mouth.
Fluttershy took the moment to work the hogtie loose as Athena mercilessly kept at Applejack while angrily hooting at the earth pony and threatening to scratch her half to death.
While Fluttershy was halfway through getting out of the hogtie Applejack ran up to her, causing her to stop fiddling with the rope. “Fluttershy, can y’all call off that crazy owl?! This varmit is chasin’ me all over the place!”
Fluttershy gave Applejack a sly grin before answering. “Sorry Applejack, but no. She needs to vent her frustration out at you.”
Applejack’s pupils shrunk to the size of pinpricks as Athena came back into view, and threatened to attack Applejack again, causing her to run.
Fluttershy was finally free after a couple more minutes of working the rope, and whistled for Athena to come back to her. Athena came back towards Fluttershy and flew with the pegasus as she ran.
As the farm pony got back up after recovering from the owl attack and started walking forward, words couldn't describe how much she wished she had remembered Fluttershy’s ability to talk to animals and made it against the rules. It had given her such a massive advantage that it was almost scary.
5:31 AM
Golden rays of early morning sunlight were now shining through the orchard and cutting through any morning fog as the day slowly began to start. Fluttershy and Athena had not encountered Applejack for the last half hour, but Fluttershy was still on high alert.
Fluttershy was walking along when Athena suddenly flew in front of her. “Whoo who who whoo.”
“You need to go to bed now?” Fluttershy turned around and took note of sunlight seeping into the orchard. “Oh, t-that’s right. Ok then, thank you so much for your help, Athena. If it wasn't for you I wouldn't have made it this long.”
“Who whoo.”
“Do you still want to stay with me at my cottage?” Fluttershy asked.
Athena nodded.
Fluttershy gave a warm smile “You remember the directions I gave you, right? And where you can sleep?”
Athena nodded yet again.
“Alright, see you later then.” Fluttershy said to the owl with a smile as she flew off.
Fluttershy’s friends were still watching her from the barn and Rainbow Dash got nervous after seeing the owl fly off. “Soooo umm… that owl is coming back...right?” The pegasus asked in a shaky voice.
“I don’t think so.” Twilight replied with a tinge of nervousness in her voice as well. “Fluttershy is on her own now and I’m not even sure how long she has left. However since she had to let that owl go… it can’t be any longer than two hours.” Twilight theorized, putting a hoof to her chin.
“So we’re gonna lose.” Rainbow Dash said taking a deep breath in annoyed and sleep deprived rage.
“I don’t think you should be that dismissive of Fluttershy's abilities, Rainbow Dash. There is still a chance she could pull through for us.” Twilight said as she watched the monitor.
Rainbow Dash simply rolled her eyes, unswayed by Twilight’s hopefulness.
Fluttershy was trotting about the orchard as more of the sun shined and the day got brighter. Fluttershy was able to see much better now due to the sunlight and avoid any traps without help.
It also made her wonder what time it was and how long she had before she would win the challenge for her friends. She pretty much knew she was the last pony left but she tried not to think about it mainly because of the pressure but it was still there.
The pegasus was also starting to nod off, struggling to stay awake as sleep deprivation was finally starting to catch up with her. A few seconds after literally sleepwalking Fluttershy violently shook her head to wake herself back up. “Come on Fluttershy, you can do this,” she said to herself trying to muster up some self motivation. “All you have to do is just stay awake and alert.”
Applejack was still searching for Fluttershy weaving in and out through trees until she spotted her in the distance and started creeping closer. Applejack had gotten closer to Fluttershy, noticed that the owl was nowhere to be seen and was overcome with relief. She had checked the clock in her hat, finally being able to see it in a place other than near the barn and saw that the time was 5:53. The earth pony grinned, knowing she would catch Fluttershy with an hour left to spare.
Fluttershy stopped to take a yawn. After she had finished, her eyes widened as she thought she heard something, a sound akin to dry grass crunching under a hoof and started to trot away.
Applejack saw Fluttershy moving away a bit faster, and decided to drop the stealth game and just get it over with. Applejack rocketed out of the tree like a bullet towards the yellow pegasus.
Fluttershy saw Applejack coming up fast on her and tried to run away, but found herself pinned before being able to reach a full gallop. Fluttershy looked up at Applejack with wide, scared eyes and tried to get away, but it was no use. She was done for.
“Sorry Fluttershy, but you’re mine now.” Applejack said as she placed the lasso around Fluttershy's hooves and began to tightly tie it.
Fluttershy had struggled for a few seconds before letting out a sigh and letting Applejack tie her up, too tired to fight back.
Applejack noticed the hopeless sigh and stopped for a moment. “Ya alright, sugarcube?” the earth pony asked Fluttershy in a caring tone.
Fluttershy nodded “I’m just really tired, so I just decided to let you catch me, you win.”
Even Applejack was a bit surprised by the surrender as well. “O-Oh. Ah honestly though you were gonna put a a bit more of a fight.”
“I probably would put up more of a fight, but I’m too tired. Besides, I met Athena and she's waiting for me at my cottage now so it was all worth it… she's so nice.” Fluttershy responded, then yawned.
“Alright then.” Applejack said as she finished hogtieing Fluttershy and started dragging her back to the barn.
6:05 AM
Applejack opened the door and dragged Fluttershy in, and put her near the middle of the barn. “Since Ah don’t have any more of y’all to catch, ah’ll help untie ya.”
Twilight helped untie Fluttershy along with Applejack, and had her back on all fours in under a minute.
All the main six stood side by side in front of Applejack with Fluttershy on the end stretching her wings.
Applejack grinned at her friends, then took her hat off, revealing the clock on her head. She brought it down it down with a hoof and glanced at it. “Well, would ya look at that. 6:07 AM.” Applejack chuckled smugly, then put the clock on her head and covered it back up with her hat. “Well, Rainbow Dash, looks like ah won after all. What do y’all have to say for yourself now?”
The tired pegasus let out an irritated groan, rolling her eyes.
Applejack let out a chuckle. “Well, ah guess ah expected a bit more of a response than that.”
“So what happens now, Applejack?” Twilight asked.
“Applejack started walking back towards the door. “Well, seeing as how ya’ll are captured now and there's still an hour left in the challenge, ah reckon ah’ll lock ya’ll in here till until it's over.”
“Are you serious?” Rainbow angrily asked with a stomp of her forehoof. “You’re going to keep us in here for another hour even though you already won?”
“Sure, why not?” Applejack shrugged. “Ah mean, we did agree the challenge would be over, at what was it... 7:14? Yeah, so ah think it's only fittin’.”
Rainbow Dash scoffed, and turned her back to the door. “Do whatever you want.” She said before walking near the back of the barn and laying down.
“Don’t worry, ah be back at 7:14 sharp to let ya’ll out.” Applejack said before closing the barn door and locking her friends in for the last time.”
After Applejack left out of the barn Rainbow Dash growled. “Great, so not only are we Applejack’s slaves for the next week, we’re also trapped in this stupid barn for another hour!”
“Well we would have been locked in here for just as long if Fluttershy was still in the game.” Twilight calmly responded.
“Yeah but at least then there was a chance we could still win! Now that Applejack caught Fluttershy there’s no reason for us to still be in here,” Rainbow grumbled back.
6:29 AM
Rays of sunlight were beginning to shine their way into the barn through many tiny holes in the wood and thin spaces in between certain planks giving the whole inside of the barn a golden hue to it as Sweet Apple Acres bathed in Celestia's golden morning light. The 5 ponies in the barn had filled Fluttershy in on how they were all captured and all agreed to sleep until the challenge was over.
7:14 AM
The lock on the barn door clicked open and Applejack opened it with a bright smile on her face. “RISE AND SHI- oh.” Applejack stopped what she was about to say when she saw her five friends sound asleep in the barn. She had figured at least one of two of them would be asleep but not all five.
She ventured into the barn and looked at all the ponies out like a light, she wanted to wake them and tell them the challenge was over but decided not to and to just let them wake up normally.
The farm pony smiled and left out of the barn to start her day, not closing the doors behind her.
11:08 AM
Twilight, Rainbow, Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy woke up throughout the morning, and had been relaxing at Applejack’s house. Pinkie was the last to wake up at around 10:50, and now that they were all awake, Applejack had called them out to the barn.
Pretty much all five of the ponies knew what Applejack was going to talk about, and accepted it. “Now that y’all are awake, ah can tell ya when the punishment will be.”
All the ponies nodded while Rainbow Dash let out an audible groan “Yeah yeah, let’s hear it.” the pegasus said, clearly holding back a decent amount of annoyance.
“Well since y’all lost y’all are gonna work on my farm for a whole week. This means mostly apple buckin, but also field ploughin’, hay bailin’ and general cleanin’.” The farm pony explained.
“When do you want us to start?” Twilight asked.
“Ah’m thinkin’ three days from now. That’ll give me time to clean the mess ah made of the orchard; ya know, with all those traps,” Applejack replied with a nervous grin.
“How long for each day?” Fluttershy asked.
“Ah’m thinkin y’all get here at 8 AM sharp and work until about 4 PM. That sounds plenty fair to me,” Applejack answered.
Rainbow Dash let out another groan, but Applejack didn’t pay any attention to it.
“So is that all?” Rarity asked with a tinge of annoyance in her voice.
“Ah think so, y’all can go back home if ya want. Ah have some traps to clean up right ‘bout now, unless one of y’all want stay and help me out.” Applejack replied.
Twilight’s eyes widened. “No thanks!” she quickly said before teleporting away in a flash of light.
“I just remembered I’m late for a Wonderbolts meeting!” Rainbow Dash said before zipping out of sight at a lightning fast speed.
“I will have to decline, darling, I just now at that very moment got a huge order of dresses that will take me exactly three days to complete, ta-ta!” Rarity said before running away.
“Um, I need to make sure Athena made it to my cottage safely,” Fluttershy demurred, then hesitantly flew away.
Applejack looked at Pinkie who was still standing there. “And what’s your excuse, Pinkie?”
“Me? Oh, I don’t have one, I just don’t feel like doing it. See ya later, Applejack!” And with that, Pinkie bounced away, happily humming to herself.
Rainbow Dash was walking to Sweet Apple Acres, not excited to begin what she saw as an entire week of slavery. She had woken up around six, and as usual had practiced some moves for the next Wonderbolts show she was scheduled to perform in. Rainbow Dash couldn't express in words how much she wished that show was scheduled for this week so she could have at least a day off, but unfortunately it was a little under a month away. The only solace she could find in this situation was that her friends were enslaved along with her.
Rainbow Dash was continuing forward with her head down, when she heard a set of hoofsteps quickly trotting up behind her. She turned her head to see none other than Rarity, and quickly looked forward again. “Oh no,” she muttered to herself.
“Well, good morning, Rainbow Dash, on your way to Sweet Apple Acres I presume?” Rarity asked in a sarcastic and annoyed tone.
“Please Rarity, don’t do this to me today,” Rainbow Dash pleaded in response, not wanting to deal with anymore than she had to. “I’ll pay for your spa bills.”
Rarity nodded. “It’s only fair, Seeing how me having to dirty myself for the next seven days is well… mostly your fault,” she responded, clearly satisfied by Rainbow’s lack of defiance on the matter.
“At least I wasn't caught first,” Rainbow Dash muttered to herself.
“What was that?” Rarity asked, shooting a suspicious glare at the pegasus.
Rainbow’s eyes widened. “Umm, n-nothing.”
The two ponies silently walked to Sweet Apple Acres together.
Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Applejack were already waiting for the two ponies as they trotted up to the barn.
Applejack looked at the two ponies with a smile as they walked in. “Alright, now we just gotta wait for one more, then we can start.”
“I wonder where Twilight is? It’s not like her to be late for anything,” Fluttershy said.
“I’m sure she will be along momentarily,” Rarity replied, inspecting her hoof.
Just then, a bright pink flash erupted near the entrance of the barn, and disappeared just as quickly, leaving Twilight standing in its place. “I’m here.” she said, promptly trotting up to her friends.
“Perfect, now that y’all are here, ah can tell ya what y’all are gonna do today,” Applejack said. “Today ah figured y’all would get the hard job outta the way and help Big Mac plough the fields. Ah got an extra plough with a harness for Rainbow to use, but the rest of y’all are gonna have to use the older ploughs.”
7 hours later
Sweat dripped from Rainbow Dash's face. She took another step with the plow, and her hoof sank into the soft dirt. None of her friends were faring much better; there were a lot of problems throughout the day, from getting stuck in the deep soft dirt to the ploughs not working as well as they should.
They all had a break around noon where they had eaten something and drank some lemonade, but it had not been an easy time for any of them and they were happy to be almost done with the day.
They finished ploughing the fields with about a half hour to spare, where Applejack let them relax. By the time the five friends finished, they were all exhausted, and their hooves were caked with dirt.
The only good thing to come out of the day was Applejack’s assurance that it would be the most exhausting and dirtiest thing she had planned for them to do the whole week.
---
Day Two
Rainbow Dash was walking to Sweet Apple Acres again. She was tired and her legs were aching. She had hoped to Celestia that Applejack had something easier for them to do today.
Rainbow Dash saw Rarity waiting at the entrance of Sweet Apple Acres. She knew what Rarity wanted. Once Rainbow Dash had got to the entrance of the orchard, she sighed. “How much do I owe you?”
“Eighty-four bits, darling.” Rarity replied, closing her eyes and outstretching her hoof.
The amount was higher than Rainbow Dash thought, but she sucked it up, and paid Rarity her bits. “Here. You’re lucky I brought a hundred bits with me just to be safe,” she said, and placed the correct amount in Rarity’s hoof.
Rarity checked the amount, and placed it in a coin pouch. “Thank you.”
Rainbow dug a forehoof into the ground. “Are you going to pay me back for this in any way?” she asked innocently.
“Certainly not in bits. If I did, then this would be quite pointless,” Rarity promptly replied. "However, I may consider some form of compensation if the thought occurs.”
“Alright,” Rainbow Dash said before walking to the barn.
Days two and three were just apple bucking, and nothing that they all hadn’t already done in the past.
---
Day Four
Rainbow and her friends strode up to the barn, and saw Applejack standing in front of a large vat of something, but it was too high to tell what from where they were standing.
Applejack looked at her five friends, and smiled conspiratorially. “Ah bet y’all are wondering what’s in this here vat behind me.”
Fluttershy and Rarity had no response, while Twilight and Rainbow just gave the farm pony a shrug.
“Oh, oh, I know! Is it cotton candy? I bet it’s cotton candy!” Pinkie Pie enthusiastically guessed.
“Sorry, Pinkie, but ah’m gonna tell ya right now there ain't no cotton candy in that vat.”
Pinkie’s mane deflated slightly. “Aww…”
“So what is in it, then?” Rainbow Dash asked, getting annoyed at Applejack beating around the bush.
“How about y’all walk up and see for yourselves,” Applejack said, stepping aside.
Rainbow flew over to the vat, while the rest of her friends walked.
Rainbow looked into the vat and let out a quiet, “Oh,” before gliding back down to the ground, her ears flat against her head.
Twilight got up to the vat and looked in, her eyes widened. “Oh boy… I think we might be in for a rough day.”
Rarity looked into the vat and immediately turned to Applejack, eyes wide with terror. “A-Applejack, darling. Now you know I have agreed to do this week of farmwork as punishment for our umm… loss. B-But I’m afraid I simply cannot bring myself to set hoof in that vat.”
Applejack groaned. “Ah know you’re just worried ‘bout gettin your hooves dirty. Sorry, Rarity, but y’all are working on my farm this week, and while working on any farm, y’all are gonna get dirty.”
Rarity glared at her. “I have accepted that I will have to dirty myself up a little this week, but this is unacceptable!” She closed her eyes, and turned away. “I would like to request you give me a different task today, or just let me sit this out.”
Applejack thought for a moment. “Fine. Ah’ll give you a different job or let ya sit this out, but ah got one condition for ya.”
Rarity turned to look at Applejack again. “Hmm?”
“If ya sit today out or accept another job ah have for ya, all y’all are gonna work for me for another week starting tomorrow,” Applejack said with a grin.
Rarity froze in place. She nervously looked over to her friends, whose looks indicated what choice she should go with. She turned back to Applejack and glared at her before letting out a sigh of defeat. ”Fine… I’ll do it.”
Fluttershy looked to Applejack. “Do you really expect us to spend eight hours doing this?”
Applejack nodded, and walked up to the vat. “The pony who brought these grapes to me said that he needed them stomped into a fine juice by the end of the day. Normally ah wouldn't accept that kinda job, but the poor feller looked pretty desperate and was offering quite a few bits for it. Ah figured ah could get it done since ah had y’all workin for me this week.”
“Can I at least have some boots or something to wear on my hooves? Grape stains are an absolute nightmare to get out, especially with my color of fur,” Rarity pleaded.
“Sorry, Rarity, but he wants ‘em stomped by hoof naturally, so none of that is allowed,” Applejack answered sternly.
The ponies all slowly climbed into the vat. Rarity winced when the grapes were immediately squashed under her weight and the weight of all the others as they all began to casually trot about the vat. The sound of all the ponies walking in the vat produced a distinct squashing sound that nopony seemed to notice, while Rarity was struggling not to become ill from the sound and slowly started lifting her hooves up and putting them back down on the grapes underneath her.
After a few seconds Fluttershy had passed by Rarity and noticed what she was doing to ‘contribute’. All she was doing was standing in one place and lifting her hooves up to stomp the grapes. “Umm, Rarity, no offence, but I'm not sure how helpful it will be if you just do that for eight hours.”
“Then what do you suggest I do, Fluttershy?” Rarity asked.
Fluttershy was about to answer Rarity when a raspy voice broke through. “Maybe you oughta try trotting around the vat like the rest of us,” Rainbow Dash suggested in an annoyed tone as she swiftly passed behind Rarity.
“Yeah, that,” Fluttershy said.
Rarity took a deep breath to calm herself down and get her bearings. “Well, I suppose I have no choice,” Rarity said with her eye slightly twitching. The unicorn slowly started walking across the grapes, and after a few minutes she was trotting through the grapes at the same pace as the others despite the fact that she would rather be doing ANYTHING else.
8 hours later
As the grape juice began to pool in the vat throughout the day, the five friends had to begin walking slower so none of it would splash out or risk staining their fur any more than it was. By the end of the day, the five of them were just wading in the dark purple liquid looking for unstomped grapes like they were needles in a haystack.
By the end of the day they seemed to have all the grapes in the vat liquefied under their hooves, and were standing halfway up to their knees in grape juice. Applejack told them all to stay standing in the vat while she drained all the juice out, which took around a half hour.
After Applejack was done, her five friends stepped out of the vat on wobbly legs and onto towels to dry and wipe their hooves off. Rarity almost left with a twitch, her legs below the knees taking on a distinct lavender color from her time in the vat.
---
Day Five
Rainbow Dash walked up to Sweet Apple Acres, her hooves aching from all the work she had done throughout the week. Pinkie Pie was bouncing right beside her. Though the two ponies took showers the night before, both of them still had slightly purple-tinted hooves from the work the previous day.
Rainbow Dash got to the farm and saw Rarity waiting for her yet again like clockwork, her hooves completely white and pristine again.
As Rainbow strode up, Rarity simply closed her eyes and stuck out a receipt on her hoof. Rainbow gave a sigh, took the receipt, and looked at it.
Her eyes flew wide with shock as she looked back up at Rarity “Th-th-three-hundred fourteen bits?! What, did ya buy the place?”
Rarity shook her head, and opened her eyes. “I only spent what was necessary to clean my coat, and nothing more. You should be well aware that those grape stains had a good eight hours to set in, so I was forced to resort to their most expensive deep cleaning services.”
The pegasus groaned. “I don’t have that kind of money, Rarity!”
“Well, yes, I do suppose it is quite a large payment. Even I struggled with paying it… hmm. Perhaps you can pay me for this one later,” Rarity responded.
“Come on, Rarity! Can’t you just let me off the hook with this one time? Please!” Rainbow Dash begged.
The unicorn put her hoof to her chin in thought. “Hmm... “
Rainbow Dash nervously rubbed her forelegs together, waiting for Rarity’s answer.
Rarity glared at Rainbow Dash, then closed her eyes, and sternly stomped her hoof back down onto the ground. “I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash, but I simply cannot. I’m doing this to teach you a lesson. A lesson about making promises you cannot keep.” She opened her eyes, shooting a pointed look at Rainbow. “If I am to recall the events of that night correctly, you assured our victory was at hoof before the challenge even started.”
“But isn’t this week of working our flanks off punishment enough?” Rainbow Dash asked in an annoyed tone.
“More of a side effect of losing the challenge.” Rarity flatly answered as she turned around but started walking to the barn.
Rainbow Sighed. “So that's it, huh? You’re not going to cut me any slack?”
Rarity stopped walking and looked down for a few seconds. She then turned around and looked at Rainbow Dash. “Listen, darling, I really don’t want to do this to you, but I refuse to let you get away with paying anything less than what is on the receipt. That is the only way this lesson will stick.”
Rainbow Dash glared in frustration. “Fine!” The pegasus shouted before stomping past Rarity and over to the barn. “I’ll pay you for the next three days next week.” She growled. “I need bits for myself to live on, too, ya know.”
The five friends spent the rest of the day and day six peeling the apples they gathered in the barn during days two and three. The ponies were all thankful for the two days of apple peeling, while it was tedious it wasn't all that exhausting or dirty.
---
Day Seven
The last day of work was spent doing odds and ends around the farm. Things like cleaning the barn or apple house, getting objects like hay bales to their proper destination and so on.
At the end of the day, Applejack called her friends into the barn, and they promptly followed her instructions.
They all stood side by side as Applejack stood in front of them with a smile on her face. “Well, it looks like y’all are done with the week of work, so—”
“Thank goodness!” Rainbow chimed in, interrupting the farm pony.
“Yeah, ah know, Rainbow ya’ll are glad to be done. Maybe this will teach ya to never underestimate my lassoin’ skills again,” Applejack said with a smug grin.
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, not saying anything.
“I never underestimated your lassoing skills, though!” Pinkie shouted. “I always thought you were super swift and quick and agile and precise and always tied things real tight and won awards and—” Pinkie’s rambling was cut short when a lavender hoof covered her mouth.
“I think she gets it, Pinkie,” Twilight said before removing her hoof from the earth pony's mouth.
“Okie Doki loki!” Pinkie replied, looking at Twilight before turning her head forward to face Applejack again.
“Thanks for the compliment, Pinkie, ah still appreciate it. Anyway, ah wanted to show y’all something before ya leave. Ah would like y’all to follow me into the kitchen.” Applejack turned around and started walking out of the barn.
“Why the kitchen?” Fluttershy asked.
“Y’all will see in a bit. There’s just something ah wanna show ya,” Applejack replied.
“I just hope it’s some dinner or a nap, because I’m beat from all that work,” Rainbow groaned.
The six ponies got into the kitchen and Applejack told them to all to sit down at the table and close their eyes which they did.
“Ohh, this is so exciting,” Pinkie chimed. “I wonder why she had us close our eyes I bet she has cotton candy for us this time!”
The ponies heard the sound of a refrigerator door opening and closing. Applejack could be heard slowly walking back to the table and set something down on it. “Alright! Y’all can open your eyes now!”
The five friends opened their eyes to see six tall cups of cider on a platter in the center of the table.
Rainbow Dash’s face lit up instantly. “It’s cider!” she exclaimed, quickly taking one of the cups in her hooves. She looked at the cup for a few seconds before curiously glancing up at Applejack. “Hey, wait a minute, why do you have this cider? Cider season isn’t for a couple months yet.”
Applejack took off her hat and smiled. “Well, ah figured ah would surprise y’all with a cup of cider for all the hard work ya did this week, so there's one cup for each of us.”
“Oh my, how nice of you. Thank you very much.” Fluttershy said, gently taking a cup from the platter.
“EEEEEEEE, you gave us the one thing that's better than cotton candy!” Pinkie said as she hastily took another cup off the platter.
“Hmm, how quaint and surprising. I suppose I can indulge in a cup before heading off to the spa.” Rarity levitated a cup off the platter.
Twilight was already levitating her cup, and looked to Applejack. “This was very nice of you, Applejack. When did you make this cider?”
Applejack took the last cup off the platter, and looked at Twilight. “Ah whipped it up last night after dinner. Ah woulda felt kinda bad if ah had ya work like that all week and didn’t give y’all at least a little somethin’ to thank ya even if it was a punishment.”
"Well what are we waiting for then? Let's all have a toast and get to drinking!" Rainbow Dash happily said as her held her mug out.
The six friends all toasted and took their first sips.
