Chapter 1: Initiations and Uniforms

1:1 The Proposal

Above Ponyville, lying atop a cloud, was Rainbow Dash. Lazing around, she simply stared at the sky, watching clouds float by. Usually, she would have been napping, flying, showing off or doing weather related jobs.

She let loose an exhaustive sigh. "Clouds have it nice. Floating in the wind, no cares in the world at all," Rainbow Dash sighed once more as she continued to stare at the clouds in an almost trance-like state.

Rainbow Dash had just finished training. The pressure of having an audience watching you would be sheer torture, so removing that pressure puts the mind much more at ease.

"Well," Rainbow Dash said out loud, breaking her trance. All that time competing really isn't nice to me, because yeah, it is tiring.

"Ra~ainbow!" a voice called out from down below.

Rainbow Dash peeked over the clouds edge towards the ground. The source of the voice was none other than Twilight Sparkle. Rainbow just wanted to go back to what she did best - nothing, but she decided to at least see what's up before deciding to reject Twilight's offer. She didn't bother standing up and rolled off the cloud. Rainbow began to let herself fall nose first akin to a bomb. Twilight gasped, preparing her magic and just before Rainbow slammed into the ground, her wings extended outwards and she slowed down. She allowed her legs to swing from under her, nearly kicking Twilight in the face. She allowed her legs to dangle back under her, and touched down gently, setting all four hooves on the ground.

"Yeah Twi?" Rainbow yawned.

Twilight stared at Rainbow for a few seconds before shaking her head, and quickly put her best smile on. "Sorry to disturb you Rainbow, but Rarity and Applejack wanted to talk to you. We were at the Library but we split up. We were going to meet in 10 minutes whether we found you or not,"

Rainbow let out a groan before wiping her face with her hoof. "She, err, they didn't happen to say why, did they?" Rainbow Dash asked sarcastically.

Twilight merely giggled at Rainbow's response. "C'mon, let's go," she said while Rainbow Dash let out a sigh and lazily hovered behind Twilight as they moved through the field of grass back to Ponyville.

Twilight and Rainbow arrived at the Library after a few minutes of walking to find Pinkie Pie standing in the centre of the room, staring directly at the door with wide eyes. Twilight stopped dead in her tracks as she entered the tree house. Rainbow Dash walked around Twilight, not caring about Pinkie's current antic, and simply ignored the mare's babbling.

"Ooh! You guys took forever to get back! Twilight and I must have had the same idea to go and check the fields since there are so many low clouds, and silly Dashie expects to be able to hide from everypony in the most obvious place ever, bu~ut as I walked..." Pinkie never seemed to stop, so Twilight sighed before she closed the door and stepped in. Rainbow Dash walked over and sat down.

Rainbow Dash groaned at Pinkie's antics before leaning back, allowing herself to sink into the chair. Twilight quickly trotted upstairs, while Pinkie Pie rambled on about how she and Twilight found Rainbow Dash earlier before breaking out into song about her trip back. Eventually, Twilight came back down, this time carrying Spike. The purple dragon was nose deep in a letter, writing words as Twilight spoke.

"... Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle," Twilight said as she came within earshot.

Spike finished writing, and rolled up the scroll. Rainbow Dash pondered the thought of it being some friendship report on loyalty. Looking at the two, it hit her: they weren't gone long enough to write a normal friendship report. This only caused Rainbow Dash to rub her temples in confusion, then decide to stop thinking about it all together. Spike took a deep breath as he held the scroll in front of him and unleashed a breath of fire, burning the scroll in a green flame. He watched as it vanished and magically flew to Canterlot. Rainbow Dash continued to watch Spike as he jumped down and walked towards Twilight's work area; it lay riddled with books and notes regarding dresses.

Oh no... I have to do something involving dresses? Wait, maybe it's just Twilight's subject of the week,Rainbow Dash thought as she became more alert.

The mere thought of being Rarity's living mannequin was a sheer nightmare to her. She looked away from Spike to see that Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity, had all come in to the Library. Pinkie Pie bounced around, still rambling on about something. Rainbow Dash only just noticed the drool seeping through the corners of her mouth, having been too caught up in her thoughts, and promptly wiped it away. She looked back to Spike only to see him finishing up his tidying of Twilight's work area. Stepping into her line of vision, Rarity approached her.

"Oh my stars, darling. You look absolutely exhausted. I do say you're admirable for your ability as a flier but please dear, take it easy once in a awhile. You cannot afford to live tired all the time, dear," Rarity said followed by a smile.

Rainbow Dash stared back, then smiled quickly at Rarity's show of concern. The white mare's smile grew before she turned away towards Spike, who was stacking books. Rainbow Dash sighed, fighting back a yawn in the process. Twilight started grabbing more books while Applejack and Pinkie conversed.

"So~o Appleja~ack, do you think her answer is yes?" Pinkie Pie asked. Applejack looked up at the ceiling for a second, thinking.

"Hmm, Ah 'spose so, but it all depends on whether or not Rainbow Dash'll be able to do that kinda work," Applejack said.

Rainbow glared at Applejack momentarily, long enough to warrant an acknowledgement, as the farmer slowly trotted closer. Applejack wore a smile with a look of slight interest.

"Jeez RD, you look more tired than Ah do," Applejack said as she approached Rainbow Dash sitting lazily in her chair.

"Ugh, how many of you are going to say that?" Rainbow Dash said as she rubbed her eyes. Applejack let out a small chuckle as she realized that Rainbow Dash had probably heard that comment several times that day. Rainbow Dash sighed and added, "sorry, just a little exhausted. I guess I have a slight headache from training too hard earlier. It kinda ruins everything else I'm trying to focus on."

Applejack smirked. "Well, Ah learned mah lesson during last year's Applebuck Season," she said, with a slight eye twitch. "Anyways, we were lookin' fer ya with hopes ya would sign something Twilight cooked up fer Sweet Apple Acres."

Rainbow thought for a second as she wondered what it would be. Knowing Twilight, it had to be something full of rules, instructions, and sheer strictness. Well, it is for Sweet Apple Acres... can't be all bad...Rainbow Dash thought, adjusting her seating position.

"Mind explaining it to me first?" Rainbow Dash said with a small scowl, still fighting back yawns.

"Ah think it'd be better if Twi did it. She did cook 'er up," Applejack said as she turned to walk back to Pinkie Pie, who had just finished her rambling.

Rainbow sighed. She watched Applejack's short walk back, wondering what they want her to do. Her eyes were locked onto the back of Applejack's head, her golden mane bobbing with each step she took. Rainbow stared at the hat on Applejack's head vividly, wondering how that thing hasn't fallen apart or been replaced yet. Lucky break, or maybe Rainbow just didn't know the benefits of taking care of one's stuff.

Applejack turned to talk to Pinkie Pie, showcasing her entire body to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow saw how Applejack's body showed the fruits of physical work; truly a character worthy of Rainbow Dash's competition.

Rainbow continued to stare at her rival, lost in her thoughts regarding her reason to be there. She quickly shook her head as her mind became plagued with various answers to her question, each different variations of things she already thought; all pointing to eventual assistance regarding Sweet Apple Acres. She sighed, her mind slightly eased yet expecting to do hard labour.

"Ra~inbo~w..." Twilight called out with a mellow tone, just short of whispering, directly into Rainbow Dash's ear. Rainbow Dash didn't notice Twilight approach until she nudged Rainbow Dash's shoulder.

"Huh?" Rainbow said, spinning her head towards Twilight.

"Sorry, I thought you were falling asleep."

Rainbow Dash sighed, thinking clearly but also slightly annoyed. Jeez, maybe I should, I dunno, not train so hard? Wait, that's stupid. … hey, Twi's right here.

"Hey, I asked Applejack and she told me to ask you why I'm here. What gives?" Rainbow Dash said, her voice slightly louder. She sat up more attentively.

Twilight cocked her head. "Oh? I thought..." Twilight sighed before smiling. "Well, Rarity wants to use you as a model for some uniforms," Twilight said.

"Huhn? Doesn't she know that... ugh, frillyclothes get in the way of flight?" Rainbow Dash said coarsely.

"Well dear, Rarity said while walking over to Rainbow Dash, "I'm testing some athletic attire. Jumpsuits, team uniforms and all that pizazz. I thought that I could make more business if I invested more into the sports industry," Rarity said.

Rainbow Dash blinked, and started thinking. Athletic sports often call for proper uniforms, and teams pay loads for uniforms... and I'm the only athlete around. Okay then.

"Well, okay I guess," Rainbow Dash said. If it has the slightest hint of frou-frou, I'm going to bail faster than a Sonic Rainboom.

"Well, actually, that is sort of a white lie. The Sports Industry could use a little more style in their uniforms, and I could make some more money, and finallybe able to pay for some ads in bigger cities... but, well, Applejack's reason is the other. She needs team uniforms," Rarity said with a sly smile as she left to talk to Pinkie Pie and Applejack.

Rainbow Dash raised a brow, unsatisfied with being left in the dark still. She quickly looked around to see if anypony was free, while sitting up in her chair. Twilight popped into her view, staring right at her.

"Applejack wants to create a team for a competition. One that has to be verified by Princess Celestia before we can confirm anything. Applejack is competing with some other businesses in a national competition in the city of Troronto," Twilight said.

"Troronto? Isn't that near the northern border of Equestria?" Rainbow asked.

Twilight nodded. "She has to grow, maintain, and sell her crops. The point is to make more bits than other businesses," Twilight said, stopping before she went into extreme details.

Rainbow Dash merely nodded. "Well, what does this have to do with me, or us. What does it have to do with uniforms and what does this have to do with 'verification' or whatever from Princess Celestia?" Rainbow Dash said as she slowly got out of her chair.

"You enter in teams which need approval from the Managers. Princess Celestia and the Master of Ceremonies, plus the judges. Sweet Apple Acres needs more than just Big Mac and Applejack to do it, as recent years have proven how badly they need the extra hoof. It helps to have teammates for once, and it helps even more to have an ad campaign."

"Where you come in is you can fly banners, and pull off performances during the sales month declaring something like, 'I can fly this good because I eat Sweet Apple Acre's Apples!' Something that helps ponies who would otherwise ignore it."

"As for the uniforms, you gotta look stylish, not to mention the eventual mass harvest is chaotic. Not in the sense that you're competing against others, but because of all the equipment being pulled, crop being put into storage for the time being, moving into the kitchen, setting up your fields, so on and so forth," Twilight said.

Rainbow Dash hummed in her thoughts. Applejack has to make sure that Pinkie and Rarity could help if they are assisting. Or were they assisting? Maybe it will be just Big Mac, Applejack, and myself, possibly Twilight as well helping.She sighed and wondered how she missed out on such a competition before. Maybe it is once every two years? Rainbow Dash took a quick stretch.

"Well, sounds like fun when you put it that way. What does the winner get?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight raised a hoof and opened her mouth, preparing to explain, only to say nothing. She placed her hoof on the ground and giggled. "Hehe, well, I'm not really sure. I had already started organizing and planning in my head the practices and drills that Applejack said we should do when she started rambling on about the Tomato family," Twilight said.

Rainbow Dash perked up. "Practice? Drills? This is just like an athletic competition!" she exclaimed as she cantered over to Applejack with Twilight following.

"So, you can handle bakin'?" Applejack asked.

"Yes!" Pinkie said, doing a quick salute.

Applejack turned to see Rainbow Dash and Twilight approaching. "Apples... I'm in!" Rainbow Dash said, unable to contain her excitement.

"Yee-haw, for once, we have a full team!" Applejack exclaimed.

Rainbow Dash smiled as she watched Applejack visually express her excitement. She felt herself raring to go, but couldn't fully shake off the exhaustion from earlier.

"So, um, what is the point, first? Oh, and the prize?" Rainbow Dash asked, chuckling at her slight forgetfulness.

Applejack turned towards Rainbow Dash. "Well, multiple farms compete 'n aim for the grand prize: free shipping and free product placement, paid for by the competition's committee," Applejack said. Rainbow Dash stared, unsure of whether or not to feel happy or disappointed. "Gosh, Ah can't imagine how much we'll save on shipping and how much we'll make on new customers," Applejack was giddy with excitement.

Rainbow's expression changed to a warm smile. She completely forgot about the prize, and just decided to let her friend enjoy her moment of excitement.

"So, um... Another question," Rainbow Dash said, watching as Applejack turned and smiled at Rainbow Dash. Y'know, maybe we could hang out some more during this competition. Get to know each other, and stuff. She coughed and began speaking. "S-so, um... who all, of all of us, are competing and, y'know, doing what?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Applejack giggled. "Sorry, mah mind is all jumpy. In previous years, we just had Big Mac 'n m'self." She let loose another giggle before clearing her throat. "This year, y'see, you would be best for carrying banners or skywriting with them clouds, an' during the competition, you could fly bushels of apples to th' kitchen. Much easier than paradin' through all them other team gophers," Applejack said.

Rainbow Dash stood on her hind legs and punched the air with her forehooves. "YES! Now I can show off my stuff for many to see!" she said.

"Heh, well, Twilight will be helping with organization throughout, thankfully. Last year, we lost so many apples when I was in charge... Hooboy," Applejack said, seemingly thinking about the event in question. Rainbow Dash wondered for a second.

"Wait, how do you grow Apples in a month?" Rainbow Dash pondered. Apples aren't insta-crop... well, Zap Apples are, but those don't count.

Applejack let out a light chuckle. "We don't. Th' judges are notified of how long a crop grows and we plant them beforehand. We planted apple trees at this year's location about 6 months ago. Every week, either Big Macintosh 'er I go there to check on 'em. With two weeks to the competition, and people starting to prepare, we gotta get ready. I was hopin' ya could begin advertisin' Team Apples as soon as possible," she said as she seemingly became lost in a victory fantasy as much as Rainbow Dash was.

"Got it. I just need a place to start, and a uniform," Rainbow Dash said as she looked over at Rarity.

"Well, I'll have it done as soon as I know what fits, what works, and what lasts on you first, dear. I can only create the uniform when I know what works," Rarity said, bringing a chest over with magic.

"Anyways, when does this great harvest begin? And what do we do beforehand?" Rainbow Dash asked.

The chest opened up revealing ten uniforms, all expressing simplistic designs, merely placeholders until Rarity can know what uniform fits best. Applejack chuckled at Rainbow Dash's question.

"Well actually sugarcube, the harvest begins when the contest does. We harvest half th' apples at th' start and begin preparing th' stand. Baking pies and other related goods. which Pinkie an' Ah'll be handling. will be done after. Then, advertising it to show our product, which you and Rarity will handle with her designing the ads an' uniforms." She paused, letting Rainbow Dash think.

Rainbow Dash nodded, taking it all in. She didn't realize, due to her distraction, and being tired, that Rarity was already stashing the suit on. She finally noticed, helping Rarity with putting it on before it snugly wrapped her body.

"Twi will be handlin' the organization, making sure we don't lose any crops for... various reasons," Applejack said. "Fluttershy'll be handling the stand, along with me, as well as handlin' any critters that come by."

They were all staring at the uniform Rarity had managed to slip on Rainbow Dash's body. It was simple and fit snugly on her. "It is orange with a few brown stripes simply because I can notstand the sight of a plain uniform, placeholder or not," Rarity said.

It had a few things on it for advertising, such as flips for banners or clips for dragging a cart, and so forth. Rainbow Dash examined herself and did a crouch. Feels good. Not great, but good,she thought.

"First, let me tell you the name of our campaign. Applejack gave me a fabulous idea simply by mentioning your name, Rainbow Dash," Rarity said as she looked over to Rainbow Dash to make sure nothing was out of place.

"Uh huh," Rainbow Dash said, getting slightly annoyed at how close Rarity was getting. A little too close.

"It is a great name. We kinda just had to get you here," Twilight said.

"'It is called 'The Apple Spectrum'!" they all said at once.

There was an awkward pause, as Rainbow retorted with a deadpan stare. She raised a brow, and her friends stared back in confusion.

"All that buildup for so little payoff?" Rainbow stared in disbelief.

Her friends stared at her in slight shock. It's punny and nice, but I was expecting something huge for something that was... described as being huge.Rainbow thought.

"What!" Rarity exclaimed. "That's a tad rude, Rainbow Dash. Honesty is the best policy but it is the idea of somepony else." Rarity moped as she puckered her lip. The others simply looked at Rainbow each with a slight glare, except for Fluttershy who couldn't.

Rainbow looked at her friends. "What? I expected something a little better than the 'Apple Spectrum'. Do apples usually come in a full spectrum?" Rainbow scoffed as she did a few jumps and push ups. "But the uniform is comfy and seems good so far. Not perfect, kinda itchy near my hooves," she finished off.

Rarity's horn lit up, magic activated, and the uniform was off of Rainbow almost instantly. Rarity was already grabbing the next one. Applejack sighed at Rainbow's reaction.

"Well, Ah'm sure the slogan'll grow on ya," she said letting out a small chuckle.

"It is a genius idea in my opinion. A spectrum of colours always remains visible when in the sky where the only contrast is blue. Even on the ground, the contrast there is usually grass or dirt roads," Twilight said while grabbing a book with her magic.

The title read Spectacle Prisms: The Entire Colour Spectrum Reference Guide. She quickly opened up to a page near the front and read it while Rainbow yawned. She really needed sleep.

"Even so, you'll be a perfect living advertisement, with the athletic physique, and the uniform plans I have prepared," Rarity said as she used her magic to teleport the next uniform onto Rainbow's body. "This one is a slightly different design from the last one; different material mixed with the same material to see how different fabrics react with skin. Is it too itchy? Does it pull on your coat? Those are the sort of questions I want answered." Her voice seemed to grow muffled.

Rainbow diverted her eyes to the ceiling of the room staring up. There were some garbled sounds that sounded like voices.

Ugh, I'm going to pass out soon, I can feel it. Voices are gibberish, my body feels numb. Kinda like a sugar crash. Ha, sucks to be you Rainbow. Really gotta work on my stamina.

Rarity looked at Rainbow, frowning and tilting her head to the side while examaning Rainbow.

"Oh, dearie. Maybe we should continue this... some other time," Rarity said.

Rainbow looked over to Rarity, spotting her frown. Everybody else looked at Rainbow when Rarity mentioned this. Spike walked up in front of her, held up his hand to her face and snapped. Rainbow quickly shot her head back. "Hnn, no, no. I'm... I'm fine," she said with a yawn.

My legs feel weak. Darn. This competition actually sounds interesting, yet here I am,Rainbow thought. She looked over to Twilight. Egghead has her nose in that book. Too distracted to notice anything. Hmm, Applejack.She looked over to Applejack.

"So, um, when exactly is the competition-contest thingy again? Also, next uniform," Rainbow Dash asked as Rarity teleported the current uniform off of Rainbow, putting on another one.

Hmm, what bugs me... Rarity's gonna wanna know...She looked at Rarity who waited for some kind of sign, eyes closed and breath held. Rainbow closed her eyes and shook. "Itchy all over," Rarity's eyes shot open wide as she immediately tore off the uniform.

Applejack stepped forward. "One month. Gotta start finalizing everythin' soon and usually now is when th' other businesses are finishing up an' takin' the rest of the time t' relax. Have none o' that on the Apple Family," Applejack said. AJ shook her head, Rainbow giving her the best deadpan stare she could muster. "Okay, terrible lie. We're pretty much 'wingin' it so to speak," Applejack said with a sheepish grin.

Rainbow shot a quick smile while rolling her eyes at the pun. Rarity fished out design number 3 made with a visibly smoother material. That uniform's fabric looks similar to uniforms that official teams use. Finally, something familiar.She almost jumped into the uniform before reminding herself Rarity would teleport it on.

"Perfect," she said. "I recognized it was similar to actual uniforms and I was right," Rainbow Dash said as she shot a quick pose.

"Fabulous!" she magically picked up a small notepad and wrote in it. "Number three," she said, and closed the notebook, placing it back in the box.

"Goodie! We can finally get our uniforms and we can get into that old fashioned team spirit and I, PINKIE, CAN BE A CHEERLEADER!" Pinkie shouted as she bounced. "Give me an A, give me a C!" she said as she trailed off, bouncing around the others.

Fluttershy walked up. "Oh, um, Rainbow, I want to ask you a favour," Fluttershy said.

Rainbow Dash looked over at Fluttershy. "Well okay. What is it?" Rainbow asked, doing a few push-ups in the basic uniform.

Fluttershy simply stared at Rainbow, mouth moving but no sound. Rainbow cocked her head. "What was that?" Fluttershy clenched her eyes tightly, hiding her face. "Um, I was wondering if... if you could, If you're free, help me with the flying thing..." Fluttershy said, growing quieter towards the end of her sentence..

Rainbow stared for a second before letting a chuckle escape. "Sure. Just name the time and place," she said, withholding a yawn.

Fluttershy looked around nervously for a second. "Oh, um, next... year?" She asked in confusion.

Rainbow stared with a look of disbelief. She sighed. "How about tomo—" Rainbow let out a large yawn. "—rrow?" she asked, starting to doze off again.

"Oh, um, that sounds wonderful but, I have some things to do with the animals," she said trailing off. "But after, we can."

Rainbow sighed. "Well, I can wait. No rush, Fluttershy..." she yawned once more.

Rarity was already fishing out sketches while Pinkie Pie was bouncing around, wearing a cheerleading outfit she got from the Pinkie Pie Space Time Continuum Void she seemed to have. Applejack watched everybody else talk while lost in her own thoughts, and Twilight was still reading. Spike finally stepped forward as he quickly glanced at Rarity. He motioned to speak, but was halted when he gagged. He burped, a green ball of flame exiting his mouth. It flew upwards and with a quick pop, the green flames disappeared leaving a scroll floating. Twilight's attention shifted from the book to the letter.

"Ugh, timing," Spike said as he sighed, grabbing the scroll and unrolling it. Spike cleared his throat. "My faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, I approve of the proposed plans for the Sweet Apple Acres team along with the Manager of the Market Harvest contest, Flat Breadbasket..."Spike let out a giggle which he instantly tried to contain, shared with Rainbow Dash and Twilight, while Applejack glared at them. "... Oh, um, we wish you and the rest of the Sweet Apple Acres team luck, Princess Celestia."Spike rolled up the scroll and walked over, placing it on Twilight's workbench.

"Dandy, she didn' need to know the members of th' team," Applejack said.

"Well, that's a huge load off my mind," Twilight said as she quickly resumed reading.

"So... um, we can leave a week early..." Fluttershy said.

Rainbow stared. Huh... what are these plans? Ehn, I'm sure I'll find out later. For now...She yawned once more, prompting a yawn from Rarity as she walked over. "Ah, dearie, I think you should keep this suit to get used to the feel. Maybe tug around a banner or cart now and then," Rarity said.

Rainbow wearily looked over at her and yawned while nodding.

"Hey, guys..." Rainbow said, gathering the attention of Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and to an extent, Twilight. "I'm... gonna sleep..."

She saw spots in her eyes, small at first before obscuring her vision in flashing lights. The world's sounds died out and gravity vanished. A sugar crash?