With the sun high in the sky, the sheer quantity of heat pouring down onto the ground below was immense. Even in Canterlot, a city situated right in the high mountains, ponies were unable to escape those sweltering temperatures. And yet, the ponies there simply put up with it, for today, they had far more important things on their minds. Namely, the annual Canterlot rodeo, taking place right on the outskirts of the city. Ponies from all walks of life and every corner of Equestria had come to either participate or watch the athletics on display there. Races, tug-O-wars, jumps, and all manner of other games were being set up, with rewards and prestige granted to their respective winners. The stands were absolutely packed with many excited spectators, all cheering their chosen athlete as they participated in the arenas below. As for the participants themselves, they were huffing and puffing in the vast heat of the day, but nevertheless endured as they charged forward, always putting as much effort into their games as possible. Victory meant fame and a substantial sum of reward money for their respective cause, so every mare and stallion put their all into whatever they were doing.

But, out of all of them, there seemed to be one mare that was working harder and running faster than any other. Applejack. The orange mare, at this present moment, was participating in a race with about half a dozen other ponies. It was a long circuit, but she managed to hold her own against the other racers, her eyes never leaving the finish line. Even as her hooves ached and her legs strained, she kept on going. But, even so, she soon found that other ponies managed to get ahead of her, much to her dismay. Although she would often be blessed with a second wind, granting her the much needed energy she needed, even that was not enough, and soon, she found herself coming a close second. The crowds cheered as the winner leapt up, smiling and waving to her fans with a look of sheer joy upon her face. While Applejack was, admittedly, disappointed in her performance, she was, regardless, a good sport about it as always, and so walked up to the winning mare, offering her hoof. Although hesitant at first, the winner soon accepted, shaking Applejack's hoof and showing an appreciative smile to her. Tipping her hat, Applejack moved off, ready to participate in the next event. However, it was here that she stopped, and turned around to see that there, sitting in the stalls, were her five friends; Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity.

Looking away from them, she pulled her hat slightly, partly to obscure her face from them.

"Aw...why they gotta be here, seein me fail like this? Woulda been a lot easier fer me if they'd stayed at Ponyville."

She let out a grunt of annoyance, but soon put that aside as she began to notice an older stallion approach her. Recognising him as a member of the judging panel, Applejack composed herself and watched as the judge ceremoniously handed her an ornate green ribbon, her reward for coming second in the last race. Although frustrated at her earlier failure, Applejack nevertheless accepted the token, smiling genuinely at the stallion before moving off. There was time left in the day for one final event, and thankfully, it was the one she'd been practising for a long time; the obstacle course. Steeling herself, she moved off to join the other contestants, with her friends calling out to her at every opportunity. Applejack narrowed her eyes somewhat, steadying her breathing and focusing on the task at hand. There was a silence over the crowd as the nearby flag-waver raised his titular flag, ready to start the event. With baited breath, Applejack watched as he finally brought that flag down with great enthusiasm, causing both her and everypony else to charge forward. And just like that, everypony in the crowds let out a near-deafening roar of excitement as the racers began the event.

Having gone over this course several times from her preparations back at Sweet Apple Acres, the orange mare felt a rush of confidence as she raced ahead of many of the other ponies there. Within moments, she found herself at the very head of the group, running faster than all others, which led to a smirk forming on her face. But, very soon, the first obstacles appeared in the form of a number of hurdles. Bracing herself, Applejack waited for the right moment before making an almighty leap, passing the first with ease, and earning herself more than a few cheers from her friends. As many of the other racers did their best, with some leaping over and others simply crashing into the hurdles, Applejack stayed true, practically flying past the barriers every single time. However, she eventually found herself running towards the last hurdle, which she knew from experience was both the highest, and thus the most difficult to pass. Continuing her run, she counted the steps she made, until finally choosing her moment, putting all her strength into her back legs and sending herself as high as she could. The crowd watched her with awe, but it was short-lived, as her back hooves just barely scraped the top of that hurdle.

Seeing this, Applejack grunted angrily, but even so, she kept on moving, heading right towards the final part of the event; the bale-of-hay toss. Already ahead of the other contestants, Applejack ground to a halt as she approached her bale, leaning down and grabbing into the rope with her teeth. With that done, she began swinging the thing around as fast as she could, until finally, she released it. She watched eagerly as the thing flew far across the field, before landing hard on the other side. The nearby measurers took note of how far it had gone, all while Applejack stood aside and watched her fellow racers handle their own bales, looking on with concern as one of them actually managed to throw theirs ahead of her own. When the last of them had finally finished, the whistle was blown and the crowds cheered ever louder in honour of the participants. Panting heavily, Applejack watched with some worry as the judges discussed the event amongst themselves. She knew there were several things to consider when picking a winner, from the speed to the distance of the bale to how well they jumped over the hurdles. But eventually, they seemed to finally reach a conclusion, and stepped forward to speak. Once more, a silence fell over the crowd as all watched in anticipation, none more so than Applejack.

"And the winner of the final event...Sandy Pears!"

There was a roar of cheers from the crowd as the winning mare stepped forward, with the judges placing her blue ribbon around her neck. Soon afterwards, Applejack received her own prize, that of a red ribbon, and smiled as she shook the hoof of the judge who'd presented it to her. But, as soon as that stallion turned, Applejack looked down, gazing at her ribbon with great disappointment. However, she was interrupted from that when she heard a call from a distance. Looking up, she put on a smile as she saw her friends all running to greet her. Laughing nervously, she trotted over to meet them, with Pinkie Pie being the first to speak.

"That was super-dooper-awesome, Applejack!"

A blush appeared on the earth pony's face after hearing that.

"Aw shucks, sugarcube! Y'all don't need ta mention that!"

But, there was a general murmur of agreement amongst her friends, with Rainbow especially seeming happy for her.

"Are you kidding? You won more awards there than any other pony!"

Twilight nodded at that.

"She's right, AJ. You should be proud of what you accomplished."

But, Applejack looked away slightly, her look of disappointment returning once more.

"Ah know that's real good an all, what ah've done, but...ah wish ah could've held up Ponyville's name a bit better."

Rarity, upon hearing that, simply rolled her eyes.

"Applejack, I know you pride yourself on being the town's best athlete, but you don't need to worry about representing it. You did marvellously, and far better than any other pony from our town could have done. You did Ponyville proud by working as hard and achieving as much here today!"

Applejack gave another nervous laugh at that.

"Well...it's still a shame ah haven't been able to win any prize money fer the town after all this."

Pinkie Pie let out a brief giggle.

"Silly! Nopony's going to care about that! Ponyville's doing fine without rodeo prize money. Like that hole in the town hall roof? Twilight just paid for that herself with that shiny dragon gold she has."

Twilight, ignoring the contributions that Pinkie had just spotlighted, walked up to her friend and placed a hoof upon her shoulder.

"It's true...you didn't win any blue ribbons. And while you have every right to feel disappointed, given how many you've won in the past...that doesn't matter to US. What matters is that you worked hard here. You achieved more than any other athlete, you showed the world what those from Ponyville can do, and what's more, you gave me and the girls and everypony else one heck of a show while you did it. If that's not something to be proud of...I don't know what is."

Applejack looked to her friend, right into her eyes, and saw nothing but truth there. She had meant every word of it and, after looking to her other friends, it was clear that each of them had been honest with her also. It took some time, but Applejack soon let out a sigh, putting on a smile of appreciation to Twilight. As the two smiled at each other, the other mares moved in, resulting in a warm group hug. In time, they parted from one another, and when they did, Pinkie darted into the middle of the group, pointing at a nearby clock tower. As they turned to it, their eyes widened when they realised how late it was, and so, after giving each other a silent nod, they all ran together in the same direction, right towards the train station. Applejack was at the back of the group, but stopped briefly and looked behind her. As she gazed upon the rodeo, at all the winners, the losers, the happy crowds and even the obstacle course, she couldn't help but put on a genuine smile.

"Well...maybe next year."