3rd Person POV

"Is this thing on? I don't think this thing is on." Granny Smith muttered, trying to figure out how the megahorn standing in front of her worked. "Confangled modern doohickeys. Now, the event you've all been waiting fer! The Sister Soci- The Socialhooves- Oh, dabnabbit, you know, the big race!"

The crowd of sisters all began to cheer in excitement, Sweetie Belle cheering the loudest. Applebloom had given permission to Sweetie Belle for using Applejack as her sister for just this event, meaning the downtrodden filly would finally be able to participate in the Social. Now wearing the Apple family bandana around her neck, she listened intently to Granny Smith's explanation of the race.

"We have five teams this year fer the event! So y'all head on up to the finish line, y'hear?" Granny called, before Big Mac whispered in her ear. "The start line! That's what I said." She corrected frustratedly.

"That's us!" Sweetie Belle yelped gleefully, before Applebloom came up and poked her side.

"Just, one, day!" She reminded, a scowl on her face. "Good luck!" she added happily before walking away. She stood behind the barriers and watched, waiting to see Rarity and Applejack switch places. She looked around to see if Ghost was coming back from wherever he went, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"And may the best sisters win! On your marks..." Every sister there dug their hooves into the ground. "get set..." Sweetie Belle's eyes narrowed, ready to win this.

"Gooooo!"

And with that, every single racer sped off. Applejack purposefully shot off with a late start, letting all of the other sisters get ahead. Sweetie Belle was too caught up in hopping through the first mud puddle to realize that behind her, Applejack had splashed and sunk into the same mud puddle.

Underneath the mud, Applejack took off her hat and slapped it onto Rarity's head, giving the mare the signal to switch places. Sweetie Belle turned her head and saw 'Applejack' pulling herself out of the mud. "You okay Applejack!?" The muddy mare gave her a head nod.

The 'sister' team shot off towards the bucket steps, successfully navigating the small steps and avoiding falling over. When it came to the box hurdles, 'Applejack' managed to leap to the topmost box in one leap, but Sweetie Belle got stuck on the first leap. "Applejack, help!" the filly yelped, holding out her hoof. The mud covered mare grabbed Sweetie's hoof and pulled her up onto the box, before leaping down onto the ground and running towards the pie eating table.

Trial after trial, the 'sister' duo managed to act perfectly in sync to overcome them, leaving the spectators and other competitors absolutely floored. The pair came to the egg cradle portion of the race, carefully balancing an egg between their muzzles. They placed the egg into the basket and began to go towards the home stretch, bouncing along happily as they forgot that this was a race.

Berry Punch and Piña Colada both zoomed by the two, leaving them dizzy and in the dust. With a look of determination, Sweetie Belle and 'Applejack' sped forth after the competitors, the two pairs of sisters neck and neck.

"C'mon Sweetie Belle! You can do it!" Applebloom cheered from the finish line, as the final leap approached. With a grunt and jump, both pairs of sisters jumped over the final hurdle, creating a large cloud of dirt and dust. When the dust finally settled, the pair slowly opened their eyes, only to find that they had missed the finished line by just an inch. Berry Punch and Piña Colada had managed to completely clear the finish line, making them the winners of the Big Race.

A crowd full of cheers erupted, all of them congratulating the winners as they received the coveted blue ribbons. Applebloom let out an audible groan. "Ooh, so close! You almost won!" She exclaimed, a bit bummed but happy that Sweetie Belle was able to participate.

Sweetie Belle was expressing the same attitude that Applebloom was, but she was much happier. "Thank you, Applejack! You were amazing! I don't even care that we didn't win!" Sweetie admitted, nuzzling 'Applejack gratefully. "This was so much fun!" With that, Sweetie Belle threw herself at 'Applejack' for a hug around her neck, but in doing so, knocked her hat off.

Sweetie Belle didn't notice at first, but gasped when she saw a white horn protruding from 'Applejack's' head. "Huh?" Sweetie Belle whispered confused. She looked at the very muddy mare and wiped the mud from her flank, revealing 3 blue diamonds instead of red apples. "Rarity?!"

"Heh, well I guess the cat is out of the bag now!" Rarity sighed, wiping the mud from her face. "Applejack! I think you can come out now!" With a large gasp for air, Applejack emerged from the mud a bit blue in the face, but you couldn't tell because she was absolutely covered in mud like Rarity was.

"I don't get it..." Sweetie Belle mumbled, absolutely befuddled. She had started the race with Applejack, how'd she end it with Rarity?

"We switched places over at the very first mudhole." Applejack explained, motioning to the mud all over the two mares.

"So, we did the whole competition... together?" Sweetie Belle realized, looking up at Rarity with wide eyes.

"That we did, little sister. Well, except for the start line." Rarity admitted, looking a bit guilty about it.

"But ya finished together! Ah just wish Ghost was here ta see ya two..." Applejack muttered, still looking around for the colt.

"Y-Yes, well, I'm sure he must've had something important to do. Well, allow me to wash all of this unsightly mud off so we can go and have a proper celebration!" Rarity exclaimed, excusing herself from the group and walking towards the edge of the Apple orchard as fast as she could. Everypony in the group gave her a strange look, but they all chalked it up to her just acting weird from being so covered in dirt and grime. When she finally left their line of sight, she sighed and looked around.

'Rarity' burst into a ball of green flames, leaving Ghost completely undisguised and a bit irritated. "Alright Rarity! Get back down there, the race is over." Ghost called out, wiping the remainder of the mud off of himself. Rarity walked out of the treeline, a few tears in her eyes.

"She... she did so wonderful in that race... and look how happy she is now..." She whimpered happily, wiping the tears in her eyes. "and I wasn't the one to make her feel like that..."

"Rarity, this is going to be a time where the phrase 'What they don't know won't hurt them' really comes into play. There's no need to tell Sweetie Belle about this, because in the end it doesn't matter. To her, she was able to race in the Sisterhooves Social with her sister, so all is well. Ok?" Ghost explained, trying to make sure that Rarity didn't do anything that would ruin what they just pulled. He didn't need Sweetie Belle mad at him too.

"I..I know. Then let us go down there and I shall make some real memories with my little sister!" Rarity exclaimed, fire back in her heart.

Ghost knew that what he did wasn't very trustworthy, but in the end it was no different to Sweetie Belle. It might have been a bit more emotionally beneficial for Rarity if she had ran the actual race, but Ghost knew enough about fear to know that it was capable of make the strongest pony cower in terror.

Sometimes, a little white lie was the better than a harsh truth.