Rainbow Dash should have been working. Instead, she was napping, lying face down on a knotty old tree branch, her legs slowly swaying back and forth in the air beneath her. A passing wind rustled the leaves and brought a smell of apples to her snout. She could kick around some silly clouds any time, but there was one thing that could only ever be found on the ground. A distinct sound of hooves striking bark rang out somewhere nearby, jolting her awake.

Dash smiled at the sound and settled back down to enjoy the last few moments of clear, fresh air tousling her mane and the comfortable feeling of bark on her stomach. She suspected a farm pony would be over soon to interrupt her nap. She looked forward to it.

Suddenly, the branches above her violently shuddered as a gray and blonde bullet rocketed into the tree.

“Hey Derpy,” Dash called up to the mailmare above her, not bothering to lift her head up off of her pillow. “Whatcha’ doin’?”

Derpy made several failed attempts to extricate her head from between two snarled branches before smiling back down. “Hey, Rainbow Dash, I brought you your mail!”

“Isn’t mail supposed to be delivered to houses?” Dash asked, stretching and turning over onto her back. She winced at the sight of Derpy’s legs tangled in the tree’s branches. “Do you need some help?”

“Nope, I know what I’m doing. This happens at least once a week.” Derpy smirked and held her head up a little higher.

“And I did go to your house.” She switched her escape efforts to trying to flutter her wings free, but only succeeded in causing a pair of apples to drop onto her head. She kept smiling, oblivious to the fruit thudding against her skull. “But you weren’t there, so I knew you would be here at Sweet Apple Acres.”

Dash raised a brow at that. She hadn’t told anypony where she was going. “How did you know I’d be here?”

“Because you’re always at Sweet Apples Acres,” Derpy said, smiling innocently.

“I am not.” Dash’s face crumpled up. “I’ve only been here for a couple hours.”

“Well,” Derpy said with a grunt, the entire tree trembling as she finally managed to wrench a hoof free, “you’re here whenever Applejack is here.”

“So?” Dash turned away. She could go wherever she wanted. “I just like how apples smell.”

Derpy gasped and jumped, or jumped as much as her leafy captor allowed. “Oh, me too! Apple muffins are the best!”

“Whatever.” Dash rolled her eyes. “Can you just leave the mail at my house? I’ll check it later.”

Derpy's face fell. “Aww, but there’s one I really wanted you to see. It’s, like, the coolest thing ever!” she cried, waving her free hoof rapidly back and forth in the air to demonstrate just how cool it was.

“Oh yeah?” Dash’s ears perked up. “What is it?”

Derpy stuck her muzzle down into the mail bag hanging next to her head, rummaging around for a moment before reappearing with a sheet of paper stuck between her teeth. Messy, colorful letters and a dozen exclamation points were scattered randomly over the page. She opened her mouth, letting the paper fall loosely twisting and untwisting through the air.

Dash sat up quickly and grabbed the leaflet before it had a chance to float away. She read aloud, “Announcing Ponyville’s first ever official extreme knife throwing competition…” She looked back up at Derpy through squinted eyes. “Seriously?”

“I know, right?” Derpy hoof-pumped, rustling the leaves of the tree again. “Isn’t it the coolest thing ever? The signups are tomorrow at town hall.”

“No, no it isn’t,” Dash replied, resting her head back down onto her pillow.

Derpy’s mouth gaped open so wide Dash worried her jaw might come unhinged. “But I thought you liked sports and competitions and stuff?”

“Not lame stuff.” And knife throwing was decidedly very lame stuff. Throwing knives at a wall wasn’t exactly Rainbow Dash’s idea of a good time.

Derpy’s eyes swelled and her mouth wordlessly opened and closed. “Well—well your tail is lame stuff!” With that, she rapidly snapped out of the tree and took off into the air, her head still stuck between the pair of twisted limbs. She dragged at least a quarter of the tree’s branches, shaking in time with her beating wings, through the air behind her while she flew away.

Dash watched her for a moment before shrugging and settling back down to go to sleep. Her nap lasted a total of five seconds before violent shaking overtook the tree again, sending her sprawling over the side.

Sharp pain flashed through her back and stole her breath. She sucked at the air, finding herself sitting on her back in an apple bucket, her legs sticking up into the air. She wiggled her legs uselessly, tilting the bucket but going nowhere. She heard laughter to her side. Her ears drooped. Of all the ponies she could have humiliated herself in front of…

“Well, would you look at that, Zap Apple season came early!” Applejack said with another laugh.

Rainbow Dash’s mouth curved up into a smile at the sight of her friend, but she checked herself and scowled appropriately instead. “Whatever, just get me out of here. How’d you not see the blue pegasus with the awesome mane sleeping in the tree?”

“Who said I didn’t see you?”

Rainbow Dash tried and failed to keep her scowl in place. “Yeah, yeah. You're so funny.”

“I keep telling you not to nap in my trees.” Applejack extended a hoof that Dash gladly accepted, allowing herself to be pulled up out of the bucket. “This must be the fourth time this week. Why do you sleep here when you could be out sleeping on one of those fluffy clouds anyway? I told you I was going to be bucking these trees today.”

Rainbow Dash chewed on her cheek and glanced at the tree. Applejack did have a point. But that was assuming she didn't want to be bucked out of the apple trees. “…I like how apples smell.” The explanation sounded weak even to her own ears.

“Are you sure you aren't here just to see Big Mac?” Applejack grinned.

Dash froze, suddenly looking and feeling a whole lot more like Fluttershy than herself. “What? No, I—I, uh, no. Er, I, uh... I just like the way apples smell,” she finished lamely.

Applejack frowned and tilted her head to the side for a moment before smiling again. “I was just joking,” she said, walking up to the barrel. “I’m glad either way. It’s always nice to see you falling out of one of my trees.”

Dash brushed some dirt off her chest and pretended to be annoyed at the quip.

Applejack turned and hoisted the bucket up onto her back. “Hey, uh…” Her voice trailed away. Dash wasn’t certain, but she thought she saw a trickle of sweat slip down Applejack’s forehead.

“Hey,” Applejack began again, her smile not looking quite right, “you hear about that knife throwing competition?”

“Yeah, Derpy just told me about it. Looks dumb,” Dash answered, swooping over and grabbing the barrel in between her own hooves. “I got this.”

Applejack smiled at her like she knew something Rainbow Dash didn’t. “Thanks, sugarcube,” she said, resting a hoof on Dash’s shoulder.

“No problem.” She looked down at Applejack's hoof, lingering on her shoulder a bit too long before finally falling away. Applejack looked to her like she expected Dash to do something. "Uh, no problem?" Dash tried again, shifting on tense legs.

Applejack sighed and began walking away. "You’re not enterin’ then?” she asked over her shoulder.

Dash stuck out her tongue. “No way.”

Applejack stopped, indicating a spot on the ground next to the tree with her hoof. “That’s probably for the best.”

“Why’s that?” Dash asked, unceremoniously dropping the bucket onto the ground.

“Oh, it’s nothin’.” Applejack’s shot her a sidelong glance. “I just know how much you hate losing.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dash asked, her eyes narrowed.

“I’m enterin’,” Applejack replied, puffing out her chest a little, “and I plan on winnin’.”

Dash jumped into the air, hovering in close to her friend’s face. “I could beat you at any stupid little knife throwing competition.”

Applejack smiled. “I know.”

“I could!” Rainbow Dash insisted, pressing forward.

Applejack simply smiled. “I believe it.”

Rainbow Dash searched her friend’s face for some sign of sarcasm or deceit, but only found a smile. “Fine!” she said. “I’ll do your stupid little knife throwing thing, and then I’m gonna win, and then I’m gonna rub it all over your face.”

Applejack leaned forward until their snouts were nearly touching, still smiling. “Oh yeah?”

Her friend’s warm breath tickled Dash’s cheek. She took a deep breath, taking the chance to enjoy the sweet smell of apples that forever seemed to follow the farm pony wherever she went.

Abruptly, Applejack licked the tip of Dash's snout. Dash jumped backwards, suddenly becoming uncomfortably aware of how close Applejack’s muzzle had been to her own. "What the hay?" Dash cried, her face flushed.

Applejack chuckled. "Oh calm down. I was just playin'. Don't pretend like you didn't like it."

Dash's eyes swelled to bursting before darting backwards. “I, uh, I’ve, uh…” She desperately searched the farm for an excuse to leave without looking like she was running away.

Applejack frowned and sighed. “Let me guess, all the sudden you gotta do something that you didn’t have to do two minutes ago?”

“Uh… yeah?” Dash tried.

“Best be off then,” Applejack said shortly, turning to the apple tree.

Dash lingered for a moment to watch Applejack buck the tree. She opened her mouth to ask if she’d done something wrong, but closed it again when Applejack’s hooves violently struck the tree, leaving a pair of gashes in the bark. She raised herself into the air and began gliding away, not sure where she was going.

“See you tomorrow!” she called down.

Applejack waved back up at her. Rainbow was too far away to say for sure, but it looked like she was smiling again.

Rainbow Dash angled her head down quickly, shooting through a cloud and bursting it into a shower of sparkling dew. She paused to survey her sky. Not a single cloud left. Thanks to her, Ponyville would be having another bright, shining afternoon. She dove in the direction of the town hall, winding calmly free in the air over little houses. Knife throwing must have been more popular than she had thought. There were at least fifty ponies gathered in loose circles around town hall.

She landed hard on the road, kicking up dust and spreading her wings wide in a dramatic pose. For a few short moments, all eyes were on her. She smirked and ignored the no-doubt impressed looks she received as she trotted towards a pair of tables in front of the entrance. An older gray earth pony stallion with a silvery mane sat behind one of the tables, dully sifting through a stack of papers.

Rainbow Dash looked over the crowd, sizing up her competition before turning to the stallion. “Hey, what’s up?”

The gray stallion looked up at her for barely a second and grunted, returning to his work.

“Okay…” Dash continued, “is this where I sign up for that knife throwing thing?”

The stallion frowned and examined her over a little pair of glasses resting on his snout. Apparently deciding there wasn’t already enough gray in his image, he had fastened a gray collar and bowtie around his neck. “Mm hmm,” Mr. Gray answered, picking a paper off the stack and sliding it across the table with a quill, “just fill out this entry form.”

“Okay.” Dash picked the quill up in her mouth. The form asked for basic information: name, date, allergies, blah, blah, blah. She scribbled away at the paper as fast as she could and slid it back across the table.

She closed her eyes and smiled, imagining Applejack’s reaction when she lost. Her eyes would open wide in amazement, and her jaw would drop all the way down to the ground.

“Oh Rainbow Dash,” she would say, stumbling over her words, “that was so cool. You really are the most awesome pegasus ever.”

“I know,” Dash would reply, casually flipping her hair to the side. Then she would lean in close to Applejack’s muzzle. “You’re pretty awesome too.”

Applejack would blush, overcome with emotion at being flirted with by her long-time crush. “Who is your partner?”

Dash blinked. “Huh?”

“You left the partner space blank. Who is your partner?” Mr. Gray repeated, pointing to an empty line on the paper.

“I don’t have one,” Dash said, letting the irritation at having her daydream interrupted show in her voice.

It wasn’t the first time she had gotten distracted by daydreams about Applejack. But it wasn’t like she was some filly pining after her first crush, even if Applejack technically was her first crush. Just like when she imagined she was flying with the Wonderbolts, she would live it out someday. She just needed to wait for the right moment. If everything went well with this knife throwing thing, she expected that moment would come very soon.

“Are you even listening to me?” Mr. Gray drawled out each syllable in a dull monotone with just the slightest hint of annoyance.

“Huh.” Dash blinked, realizing that Mr. Gray had been saying something to her. “Oh, uh, yeah. No, I wasn’t.”

Mr. Gray’s eyelid twitched the same way Twilight’s did every time Dash knocked over one of her bookshelves. “I will keep it brief this time then. You cannot sign up without a partner.”

“What?” Dash said, rising into the air. “That’s ponyfeathers! I don’t need a partner.”

Mr. Gray closed his eyes and took a deep breath, another move Dash was certain she’d gotten from Twilight before. He seemed like he was probably a bit of an egghead too. Maybe they were related.

He opened his eyes and let out his breath in a long, whistling sigh. “As I just explained, if you do not have a partner, you do not compete. Those are the rules.”

Dash rose higher into the air and opened her mouth to object when the pencil pusher abruptly waved her back down, closely inspecting a yellow clipboard sitting on the table.

“Hmm… your name is Rainbow Dash?”

Dash dropped back on the ground, rustling her wings. “Yeah, what’s it to ya’?”

“There is one other contestant in need of a partner,” Mr. Gray said, frowning down at the clipboard. “Apparently, she has pre-signed up with you in case you needed a partner. One Miss…” He lowered his face down close to the clipboard, eyes narrowed to slits. Those glasses didn’t seem to help him much.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Dash cut him off with a wave of her hoof, scanning the crowd again. “Sign me up with her.” She noted with a little niggle of worry that she hadn’t seen Applejack anywhere yet.

It didn’t surprise her that someone had already signed up to be her partner. It surprised her that there had only been one. She was something of a local star after all. It didn’t matter who she was paired with though, she would win regardless.

“Okay then,” Mr. Gray said, slowly scratching at the paper with his quill. He slid another paper across the table.

Dash groaned and planted both hooves into her face. "Seriously? How long is this gonna take?"

“Just sign this waiver, and I will take you over to the waiting area to find your partner.”

Dash dropped her hooves and eyed the newest form suspiciously. “What’s a waiver?” She didn’t like the way that word felt on her tongue.

“It just means that you agree not to sue if anything goes wrong. But you look capable enough,” he said with the smallest of smirks. “I am sure you will be just fine.”

Rainbow Dash paused, decided that was a compliment, and scribbled her name out on the bottom of the paper.

“Very good,” Mr. Gray said, gathering up the papers, stamping them, and neatly stacking them together with the rest. He smiled at his orderly little stack, the first smile Dash had seen on his face, before standing up. “Let us see if we can find your partner.”

Dash followed him at a close hover while he wandered through the crowd. He was taller than she had expected. “The rules are simple…” Mr. Gray began.

But Rainbow wasn’t listening. She was too busy swiveling her head around, searching for a familiar orange coat in the clustered groups of colors surrounding her every side. Every second she didn’t find Applejack, the nervous itch in her stomach grew.

Then she saw her. Applejack sat in the shade of a tree at the edge of the square. Dash smiled and rushed forward, bee-lining around groups of ponies to meet her, leaving behind a confused Mr. Gray. Realizing what she was doing, she stopped and lowered her smile into a smirk. She raised her head and chest before continuing at an easy trot.

“So,” Applejack said with a smile when she drew near, “you actually decided to show up, huh?”

In spite of herself, Dash smiled back, smirk forgotten. “I’d never miss the chance to see you.” Dash’s eyes widened as she realized what she’d just said and quickly corrected, “Y-you lose! See you lose. Heh, yeah…”

Applejack chuckled. “Yeah, I guess we’ll just have ta’ see about that. I’m guessin’ you didn’t bring a partner?”

“Ah, there you two are.” Mr. Gray appeared beside them, breathing heavily, saving Dash from answering. “Miss, uh, Applejack, your partner has finally arriv—”

“Wait,” Dash interrupted, earning another Twilight-like sigh from Mr. Gray. “Who’s your partner?” She couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d somehow been betrayed. Maybe she shouldn’t have expected her to, but Applejack hadn’t even asked her if she wanted to be her partner.

“Uh…” Mr. Gray’s eyes shifted between the two mares. Applejack winked, smiling like she’d just done something clever.

“…You are,” Mr. Gray finally answered.

“Who?” Dash asked, twitching her ears and searching through the knots of ponies around them for the perpetrator.

Somehow, Mr. Gray found a way to deadpan his expression even further. “You,” he said, pointing his hoof at her.

Realization sparked in her head as her eyes followed where his hoof was pointing. “Oh.”

She relaxed and pretended to cough, but her muscles immediately drew tight again. This brainless cousin of Twilight’s would ruin everything. Applejack and Mr. Gray were saying something to each other about rules, but Dash couldn’t hear. She needed to stop it, and she needed to stop it now.

“No way!” Dash shouted abruptly, drawing stares from ponies standing nearby. “I am not partnering with her.” Dash pointed her hoof down where Applejack stood. “Anypony but her!” She noticed Applejack’s ears droop a little.

The corners of Mr. Gray’s mouth dropped into a practiced scowl. “You have already been entered together. All partners are final.”

“I’m not partnering with her,” Dash repeated, scowling back at him.

“Then you both forfeit,” Mr. Gray said simply.

Rainbow Dash turned around and sat on her haunches. “Fine,” she said, crossing her forelegs over her chest.

She felt a hoof on her shoulder. “Rainbow, come on,” Applejack said quietly. “Surely you’d rather be my partner than lose without even tryin’, right?”

Dash fought down the urge to remind her friend not to call her Shirley and instead focused on the feeling of Applejack’s hoof on her shoulder. Applejack must have thought this was about their stupid rivalry. She couldn’t possibly understand how important it really was.

“No,” she said, adamantly hunching her back.

“If we’re partners, we’ll have to spend every day together practicing,” Applejack cooed, using a voice Dash had only ever heard her use while selling apples.

Every day. Dash glanced at Mr. Gray, looking as stone-faced as ever.

“Fine,” she muttered, suppressing the excitement rising in her voice, a new plan taking shape in her head. Actually, when she thought about it, she would rather be Applejack’s partner than do a lot of things.

“Alright then,” Mr. Gray said, distractedly, “I have already explained the rules to both of you. All competitors will meet here in exactly one week for the official showing. You will have that time to prepare.” With that, he marched back over to his precious paper stacks.

Applejack trotted around Dash’s side so that they were face-to-face. “Ah, stop being such a sourpuss,” she said, an infectious smile spread over her face. “Look at the bright side. Who could beat a team made up of the first and second top athletes in Ponyville?”

“Heh, you’re right,” Dash said, uncrossing her forelegs. This was definitely okay. “Wait, are you admitting that I’m the top athlete in Ponyville?”

Applejack smirked. “Whatever helps you sleep at night, sugarcube. Wanna come over to Sweet Apple Acres tomorrow afternoon and start practicin’? We should be done fixin' up the barn's loft by then.”

“I guess,” Dash said, shrugging with expert nonchalance.

“All right then. See ya’ tomorrow.” Applejack tipped her hat before walking off in the direction of her farm.

“See ya’.” Rainbow Dash watched Applejack’s tail flick back and forth as she walked off. She quickly turned away when Applejack looked back, focusing on everything but Applejack’s backside. When Applejack was finally out of sight, Dash allowed herself a small giggle and took off towards her own home.

Rainbow Dash spiraled down, twisting round and round in a circle though the air, her stomach lurching and mane rippling. She soared towards the empty field she’d seen Applejack standing in, pulling in and out of tight corkscrews that were sure to impress any ponies who might be watching. Especially orange farm ponies. She spotted Applejack standing on a little hill beneath her, busy tying one of Rarity’s ponyquins to a long, wooden board, its legs spread out over the wood.

“Hey, AJ,” Dash called out, somersaulting into her landing on flaring wings. She frowned when she looked up. Applejack hadn’t even turned around to see her landing. “Uh… what are you doing?”

Applejack tightened one final strap before turning around. “Just settin’ up our practice dummy.”

“Practice dummy?”

“Uh huh.” Applejack trotted past her to a stool standing a few feet away from the board. “No time like the present, I reckon. Let’s get started.”

Dash hovered over to her, grimacing. “I guess.”

“You wanna go first?” Applejack asked, pointing to a set of large, silver knives sitting on the stool, shining in the sunlight. They were some of the biggest knives Dash had ever seen, about the same size and shape as one of her ears.

“Eh, sure.” Dash looked back and forth between the knives and the ponyquin. Shrugging, she picked up one of the knives in her mouth, frowning at the metallic taste and lining herself up with the board. She let out what she assumed sounded like a fierce battle cry and charged straight at the ponyquin. Suddenly, her momentum halted and she felt herself being yanked backwards.

She turned around to see Applejack spitting her colorful tail out of her mouth. “Sugarcube, just what in the hay are you doin’?”

“Staphin’ phe phonyphin,” Dash said, talking around the knife.

Applejack facehoofed. “First of all, it’s knife throwin’, not knife stabbin’. Second, you’re supposed to be trying not to hit the ponyquin.”

“Whasph phe phoint of phat?” Dash asked, one brow raised.

Applejack’s eyes got all squinty in that cute way they always did when she thought Rainbow Dash was acting silly. “Have you ever been to a rodeo? Seen a professional knife thrower?”

“No, phwhy?”

Applejack sighed. “Alright, guess I should’ve explained what we were doing before.” She pointed at the board. “I thought one of us would be tied up to that board while the other throws knives at it.”

“Wait, what?!” Dash cried, letting the knife fall to the ground, eyes opening wide. Sure, she was a daredevil, but she wasn’t stupid. Usually. “Are you crazy?”

“No,” Applejack huffed, “if we practice enough, we’ll be fine. We might as well decide now who’s gonna be throwin’.”

Dash looked at the ponyquin, imagining it was herself tied up, spread-eagled on the old splintered board. It didn’t look good. On the other hoof, when she imagined Applejack tied up there... “There’s no way I’m letting you tie me up while I’m getting knives thrown at my face. Those things are big enough take off one of my hooves!”

“The thrower should be the more experienced—”

“I am experienced!” Dash declared, rising into the air.

“Okay.” Applejack pointed down at the knife Dash had spit on the ground. “Mind provin' it?”

Dash picked up the knife and shot a quick glare over her shoulder before facing the board. All she had to do was hit anything but the ponyquin. No problem. She tilted her head and then forcefully threw her entire body to the side, forelegs reared, back legs swiveling. She jerking her head and released the knife into the air.

She smirked as she watched it soar through the air, spinning towards the board. She turned to face Applejack, waiting to hear the thud that would toll out her victory. But her smirk faltered when the thud never came. Turning back around, she found that the knife had fallen lamely on the grass, just in front of the board.

Applejack trotted up beside her. “That really wasn’t that bad, you just need to—”

“I got it,” Dash retorted sharply, picking up another knife. "I can figure it out."

Except that she couldn’t. The knives absolutely refused to go anywhere except where she didn’t want them to. The next knife landed somewhere past the board. And, to Dash’s ever increasing frustration, so did the next two after that.

“Are you sure you’ve done this before?” Applejack asked, watching her stomp back to the stool for the fifth time.

“Yeah, I’m just a little rusty, that’s all,” Dash said, picking up the final knife.

She lined herself again, steeling her face. She narrowed her eyes at the ponyquin. It wasn’t even a fair match. It was just some stupid piece of plastic, and she was the fastest flyer in Equestria. She spotted Applejack watching her in the corner of her eye. She was not going to make a fool of herself in front of that mare.

Planting her hind legs firmly on the ground, digging deep into the dirt, she whirled herself around in two full circles. At the end of the second, she snapped her head to the side so violently her neck cracked, sending the knife tearing through the space between her and the board. A dull thud rang out over the field. Dash’s face lit up and wings flared at the sound.

But her face immediately darkened again when she saw the ponyquin. Sticking out of the dead center of its chest was her knife. Dash stomped on the ground and cried out in frustration before plopping down onto her haunches.

She blamed everypony but herself. The stupid knives that wouldn’t fly straight. Her stupid mouth that wouldn’t throw straight. The stupid sun that kept getting in her eyes. The stupid ponyquin that insisted on being impaled in the chest, and, especially, the stupid Applejack that had insisted they do this in the first place.

“Hey,” she heard Applejack say behind her, “it wasn’t that ba—”

“Whatever. Like you can do better!” Dash shot, jumping into the air. She grunted as she yanked the knife out of the ponyquin's chest and then quickly gathered up all of the ones that had fallen on the ground. When they were all lying between her legs, she threw them down on the ground in front of Applejack's hooves.

“Okay…” Applejack shrugged and picked them all up into her mouth at once. Rainbow moved off to the side and sat down on the grass, smirking. At least she had hit something. Applesmack probably couldn’t even manage that.

Applejack stood perfectly still for several seconds, staring at the ponyquin. Her gaze turned terrible, like she could will the knives into the board just by glaring at it. She stood that way for what Dash figured must have been at least a full minute, quietly staring down the ponyquin. Just as Rainbow opened her mouth to ask when she was going to start, Applejack spun around in a circle. One knife went spinning up into the air, flying so fast Dash lost sight of it as soon as it left Applejack's mouth. Then, leaving behind an echoing strike, it almost instantly reappeared in the space between two of the ponyquin’s legs.

Rainbow Dash’s mouth fell open. No way…

Applejack passed her a smug, knife-filled smile, looking more like a timberwolf than a pony, before spinning around in a circle again, launching another knife between the ponyquin’s limbs. She spun over and over in quick succession, sending a knife at the board with each spin.

When she stopped, a knife had been neatly stuck between each pair of the ponyquin’s legs, not leaving a single nick or a scratch. Applejack turned back to Rainbow, a cool smile on her face. “How do you like them apples?”

“That… was…” Dash pumped her wings and stretched her forelegs into the air, “awesome! How did you do that?!”

Applejack’s cheeks tinted red as she looked away. “Aww shucks, that was nothin’. I used to throw knives at rodeos all the time. You should see some of the tricks I used to do.”

“That was so not nothing!” Dash cried, swooping in next to her friend. “That was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen! Where did you learn to do that? I've never seen anything like that before."

"Well, I guess it was Granny who first showed me how," Applejack said, scratching her head. "But we don't throw much anymore."

"Why not?"

Applejack shrugged. "I don't know. It's been cut from most rodeos. I guess there isn't much point any other time. I'm surprised I can even still do it."

"Well, you should do it way more often." Rainbow Dash smiled. "That was so awesome!"

Applejack mirrored her smile. “Heh, thanks. Uh, you don’t mind if I’m the one throwing then?”

“Are you kidding me?” Dash raised her hoof up straight in the air. “I’d mind if you didn’t throw.” She elected not to mention that it was probably for the best if she didn’t accidentally stab Applejack in the chest while an entire crowd of ponies watched. Or any other time.

Applejack met her hoof in a quick hoof bump. “Alright then. I’ll just go grab those knives—”

“I got it!” Dash interrupted, jumping past her. She quickly gathered up all of the knives and smiled when she laid them down. “Do it again!”

Applejack chuckled as she picked them up. When she turned away to prepare to throw again, Dash let her smile fall. It couldn’t possibly have been going any worse. She’d made herself look like a total idiot. It seemed like she couldn’t do anything but embarrass herself around the other mare. Any other time she could be completely cool. It was just Applejack that transformed her into a stumbling foal.

“Somethin’ wrong, sugarcube?” Dash’s head snapped up at the question. Applejack was passing her a frown.

“…It’s nothing,” Dash said quietly. Applejack’s brows crumpled up and her frown tightened.

Dash inwardly groaned. “It’s just…”

Applejack smiled helpfully.

“You’re so much better than me at this…” Dash finished, looking down and away.

Applejack dropped the knives and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “It’s nothin’ to feel bad about. I told you, I’ve been doin’ this for years. You did really well for this being your first time.”

“Really?” Dash asked, her ears perking up.

“Yeah,” Applejack answered with an easy smile, “that was a perfect bullseye. I’ve never seen anypony get a perfect bullseye on their first try before.”

A smile spread across Rainbow’s face. “Heh, it was pretty cool, wasn’t it?”

“Sure it was,” Applejack said, nudging her in the chest. “Now how about we keep practicin’ and I give you a couple pointers.”

“Yeah, that’d be awesome!” Rainbow Dash said a little too loudly, hopping up onto her hooves.

Applejack stood in front of the board, straightening her back. “Knife throwin’s all about your stance. You just gotta…”

Rainbow Dash nodded and smiled. But she wasn’t listening, too busy enjoying the sound of Applejack’s voice to listen to the words.