"You're gonna join?" Rainbow asked, excitedly leaning over the table towards you.

You nodded your head enthusiastically, "Well, you're gonna wanna ask Applejack."

Thankfully, you already knew exactly where Applejack was due to your previous interaction with her. You got up and walked over to the stall Applejack was working at, and thankfully it wasn't as busy this time around.

"Howdy, again, sugarcube! More cider?" she asked, already preparing two more glasses.

"Actually, I was wondering if I could enter the cider drinking contest." you asked, worried about the possibility of her saying no.

She didn't answer straight away, and instead went to put away the two glasses.

"He is awesome at it. He downed a whole glass in a single second!" you heard Rainbow say as she hovered over to you.

"Is that so?" Applejack questioned, taking a seat opposite the counter.

"It sure is! So are you gonna let him in or what?" Rainbow seemed slightly overhyped about this whole ordeal, but you weren't gonna be the one to burst her bubble.

Applejack looked deep in thought for a moment, but deep down you knew she had already made up her mind.

"Ya'll bet ah am! Ah've been waitin' for some worthy competition for years!" she exclaimed, attempting to tease Rainbow.

"Hey! He might be able to do it fast, but he's no where near as awesome as me, and neither are you!" Rainbow bragged, sounding almost insulted.

"We'll see about that won't we?" Applejack replied, now looking her dead in the eyes. It didn't seem serious, but you knew that they took their rivalry quite seriously.

"Well, we've still got like 15 minutes to burn, so how about some more cider?" you asked, noticing more customers coming towards the stall. While Fluttershy was helping supply other stalls with cider, each stall still had large amounts of ponies coming to them.

"Can do!" Applejack said as she pulled out the two glasses she had just put away. She filled the cups with apple cider and put the straws into them, before handing them to you and Rainbow.

Carrying the glasses seemed easier this time, as before long you and Rainbow were sat back at your table.

You didn't down the beverage this time, and instead savoured it.

"Hey, Rainbow," you said, looking up to her.

"Yeah?" she asked after taking a large gulp of her drink.

"How's Tank?" you asked cautiously, not wanting to upset her.

"Oh, Tank..." You wondered if you had just upset her, even though last time she said that you hadn't, "He's getting better, actually!"

She seemed happier talking about this subject than she did last time.

"He's not fully recovered yet, but he's getting there!" she explained, before going back to her drink.

"That's great!" you said, before also going back to your drink.

"Fluttershy said that he'll be better in a day or two." she added, sliding her empty glass into the middle of the table.

Before you could say anything in response, you were interrupted by none other than Pinkie Pie slamming into the table at light speed, sending the empty glasses flying into the air.

"It's competition time!" she screamed, bouncing up and down whilst shaking the table.

You were slightly shocked that it had already been 15 minutes, but Rainbow seemed to be pretty excited.

"C'mon, Storm!" she said as she flew over to the stage.

You followed her over, and saw the past contestants leaving the wooden stage that had been set up just outside the farm house. There were different rounds going on all throughout the evening, but this one was the main event. Applejack was already there to meet the three of you, despite just being at her stall.

"Applejack! Their here!" Pinkie shouted over to her.

Applejack had finished helping prepare the round with her brother Big Mac, and then stepped down from the stage. Ponies were already gathering around to see the main event.

"Howdy, fellas! Ready to lose?" Applejack greeted you all, cheerfully.

"Ha! Says you!" Rainbow retorted, locking eyes with the earth pony.

Pinkie Pie glanced at you worriedly, and you did the same to her.

"Let's go, everypony!" she interrupted, cheerfully, as she began bouncing up to the stage.

"Yeah! Let's go!" you also said, tapping Rainbow on the shoulder lightly in order to get her attention. You knew their feud was all in good fun, but also knew how out of control it could get.

The four of you took your places at some wooden tables, where apple cider would be served to you. The competition was to be split into 2 rounds.

The rules of round one were whoever can drink 5 mugs of sweet apple cider wins, and the top 2 move on to the next round.

Big Macintosh brought out a tray which held all the mugs of apple cider needed for the round. He placed the glasses in front of you, and then left the stage.

You looked at your friends, nervously, knowing that they had done this many times before. You were up against:

Applejack, the creator of the very apple cider you were drinking.

Pinkie Pie, the over hyped pony who could potentially down metric tons of the stuff before feeling any form of pain.

And Rainbow Dash, the fastest pony in Equestria. And that seemingly applied to drinking too.

"Ready to lose, Storm?" Rainbow shouted to you over the sound of ponies cheering.

"Are you ready for a silver medal?" you retorted, causing her to glare at you competitively.

Granny Smith walked over to the megaphone that had been placed on the edge of the stage and began her countdown.

"3..."

"2..."

"1..."

"Go!" Granny Smith commanded, and almost instantly you and the others began downing your drinks.

It hurt ever so slightly drinking so fast, but you loved the taste so much that you couldn't care less. You had finished your second glass, and were now onto the third.

Glancing around, you saw that Rainbow Dash was neck and neck with you, while both Applejack and Pinkie were a whole glass behind. Applejack may have made the stuff, yet she clearly wasn't the faster drinker.

Before long, you and Rainbow were onto your final glass, Applejack and Pinkie not far behind. You could barely focus over the sounds of ponies cheering, but you did it.

Slamming the mug onto the table, you looked around to see that Rainbow had finished at the exact same time as you, ensuring both of your places in the next round. Both Applejack and Pinkie Pie had been eliminated, but they weren't too far behind.

"Wow, Rainbow! You've never drunk that fast before!" Pinkie exclaimed with some slight surprise.

"Heh. Having new competition means I've gotta try even harder right?" Rainbow said nervously whilst rubbing the back of her head.

"Nice job, partner!" Applejack congratulated you, extending a hoof out to shake.

You obliged and shook her hoof happily.

"Now, you make sure to show Rainbow Dash what for, ya hear me?" she whispered, in a slightly more serious tone.

"I'll try." was all you could promise. You didn't know if you could beat Rainbow, but you certainly wouldn't go out without a fight.

Rainbow hovered over to you, a sly smirk on her face.

"I'm surprised you're still in, rookie!" Rainbow joked, crossing her hooves boastfully.

"Didn't you tell me to join?" you asked.

"Well, yeah, but I didn't actually expect you to get second place!" she exclaimed, uncrossing her hooves.

"Do you mean first place?" you corrected her with a joking grin.

Rainbow landed beside you, a competitive smirk on her face.

"We'll see about that, Storm." she said, quietly, almost as if to intimidate you. It didn't really work, but nevertheless you knew this wouldn't be easy to win.

The rules of round two were as follows. Whoever drank the most apple cider within 2 minutes, was the victor.

You and Rainbow Dash both took your places, and Big Mac walked on stage with his tray of cider. Each of you were given 10 mugs each, not that you were expected to get through them all.

You looked over to Rainbow, who was bracing herself for the ensuing stomach ache she was about to experience. You were probably gonna be experiencing similar pains, but you would cross that bridge when you got to it.

Granny Smith once again approached the megaphone and initiated the countdown. This time the crowd counted down with her, drowning her voice out almost completely.

“3! 2! 1!” the crowd shouted. You focused on the mugs of cider that was before you. You were already feeling slightly sick, but you wanted to beat Rainbow.

“Go!”

And with that, the final round of the evening begun. Both you and Rainbow chugged your first glass in a few seconds, and moved onto the next.

Out of the corner of your eye you could see Applejack and Pinkie stood on one side of the stage, while Twilight, Spike, Fluttershy and Rarity stood on the other. They didn’t seem to be cheering for either of you, so assumed they were taking both of your sides.

You were onto your 4th glass with a minute to go, and you were now feeling quite ill. Glancing over to Rainbow, she couldn’t seem to manage much more either. The fire that was once in her eyes had been replaced by pain, but she wasn’t one to give up.

And neither were you.

With 30 seconds left to go, you realised you would have to go full throttle to win this. Using all the energy you had left, you downed the final 2 glasses, and slammed the empty mug down onto the table.

The crowd gasped as the clock hit 0.

Rainbow still had 2 glasses of sweet apple cider that had not been drunk. She looked over to you, a mix of both defeat and shock on her face.

You had drunk all 10 glasses in under 2 minutes.

“Storm, that’s never been done before...” you heard Twilight say to you from the other side of the stage.

The crowd was eerily silent.

”That’s a new Equestria record!” Pinkie Pie screamed, causing the crowd to erupt into cheers.

“Nice job, sugar cube! You won!” Applejack congratulated you as she approached you, “And ya’ll prize is free apple cider all year round!”

You couldn’t quite believe what you were hearing. Free apple cider all year felt like a dream, even if you felt ill at the mention of it.

Suddenly, you felt yourself be pulled into a hug. You were quite startled, until you realised who it was. It was Rainbow Dash.

Twice in one night? You never expected Rainbow to ever hug anypony in public, let alone twice in one night.

“Nice job, Storm.” she congratulated you as she moved away. She was looking straight into your eyes, smiling warmly, and something about it made you feel like you were burning. Burning in a good way.

Eventually, the crowd had dispersed, and the Mane 6 were gathering at the base of the stage.

That is, except for you and Rainbow, who was still sat on the stage next to you. She didn’t seem to bothered about losing, and in fact seemed rather proud of you.

“Well, at least I beat Applejack!” she said, laughing slightly.

“You know, I could always share the prize with you.” you said to her, smiling.

“You’d do that for me?” she asked, seeming a lot more quite than she usually is. She seemed a lot more... vulnerable, when she was like this. You hadn’t seen her act like this since your flight training below your house.

“Sure!” you simply said. It wasn’t really a big deal.

She didn’t respond for a few seconds, but eventually she let out a quite “Thanks.”

Maybe the cider was getting to her, even if there was no alcohol in it.

“I”m gonna go check on Tank, but are you down to hang out tomorrow?” she asked, returning to her usual personality and tone of voice.

“Sure, but I’ve gotta go to work first.” you explained sadly, slightly upset that your work was taking away from your time to hangout with her.

“Don’t worry about that, sugarcube! Take the day off!” Applejack interrupted, “Think of it as part of your prize!”

The earth pony turned back to her other friends, and you turned back to Rainbow with a smile on your face.

“Well in that case, we can hang out all day!” you said happily. Rainbow had an equally big smile on her face.

“Great! I’ll see ya tomorrow!” Rainbow said before flying off into the night sky. Her rainbow colored contrail was even more prominent, and even more beautiful than it ever had been.

“Storm!” Spike called as he ran up to the bottom of the stage, “Me and Twilight are heading out now, if you’re coming.”

You looked up, and Twilight was looking at you with a smile, as if waiting for an answer.

“Sure, I’m coming.” you answered, leaping of the stage.

You said goodbye to the remaining members of the Mane 6, and then followed Twilight and Spike across the vast Sweet Apple Acres.

What an awesome night, you thought.

Author's Notes:

I wanted this chapter to be somewhat short, maybe around 1,000 words. But it intended up being twice as long, somehow. I’m not complaining, but I don’t really know how I stretched a single contest out to 2K words.

Anyway, the next chapter will be another Rainbow focused one, but then I plan on having a chapter without a Rainbow Dash appearance, which will be the chapter I mentioned in the authors notes of last chapter.

Hope you enjoyed