I have no idea what BaconLettuceTomatoSweg gave me but it sure as heck did its job. So enjoy!
It was one of those days that, in pony terms, Sonic wished Celestia had not risen the sun. From the moment he had woken up to now his mind thought of nothing but Rainbow Dash, and what exactly he should do about this race. And when the time came for the race to begin Rainbow hunted him down and practically dragged him to the same starting line where this entire mess had begun. Sonic stared at the white painted line, his previous debate sent to recess while the new one argued on whether or not he should just ditch the race entirely. He looked over to Rainbow Dash and that debate instantly ended with a no.
Rainbow, with anger still burned in her eyes, stared down the path ahead of her. Sonic was almost sure that the ground would burst into flames with the look she was giving it. Dark bags hung over her eyes from, most likely, lack of sleep. Never the less she stood ready to take off. Grinding her teeth to dust and digging a trench with her hoof.
'Maybe I can still reason with her' A tiny thought in Sonic's head said. It was micro seeing Rainbow's state, but it was big enough to try.
"Hey Dash" Sonic dared
Slowly Rainbow turned her head and moved her glare to Sonic. It was a glare that scared Sonic to the bone, but he still pressed forward.
"What" She said coldly
"I was thinking that, ya know this race is stupid and that we should just drop it and-" Sonic tried playfully before Rainbow cut him off
"We. Are. Racing! End of story!" Rainbow snapped, turning back to the race path
Sonic just starred at Rainbow after that. He watched her and made a mental comparisons of the bight happy Pegasus from the first race, and this hate filled pile of fur and feathers. The previous debate returned from earlier with a much more lean to one side. He just wanted his friend back, and felt there was only one way to see the Rainbow Dash he knew once more.
"Okay Everypony!" Twilight called from above
They both looked up to see Twilight taking her rightful place as the announcer.
"This will be the final race between Sonic and Rainbow Dash for the title of the true fastest thing alive!"
Rainbow huffed at that. It was going to be her no matter what.
"And since you already know the rules and guidelines" Twilight paused and pulled out the green flag
"On your mark...get set...GO!"
The two were off, and Sonic finally made his decision. Making it look as real as possible he stayed right behind Rainbow Dash.
At the finish area everypony, and Mobian, else either waited for the racers to show or talked amongst themselves. After all being rounded up by Rainbow they could have easily chosen to leave and skip this race. But most chose not to out of the fear of what Rainbow would do to them if they didn't stay. Among the crowd was a nervous Amy Rose. Who at first chose to sit away from her friend Pinkie Pie as she build up the proper 'make up' conversation. When she had it down pretty well she made her way over to the pink party pony.
Amy took a deep breath and approached her pink friend, what she wanted to say fully planned out ready to be told
"Pinkie I-"
"I am super cinnamon bun sorry!" Pinkie shouted
Well so much for that.
"Wait, why are you sorry?" Amy asked taken aback
"Because. I got so caught up in wanting Dashie to win that I completely ditched you in the baking party we were suppose to have!"
It took Amy a moment before she was able to remember what exactly Pinkie was talking about. Wanting to impress Sonic she had asked Pinkie to help her improve her baking skills. Pinkie, as she usually did, took it overboard and insisted on having baking party. And she remembered they agreed to have it yesterday, and Amy completely forgot about it because of the race.
"And even worse!" Pinkie continued "I never threw Sonic a 'Congrats on being the fastest' party! That's like two whole parties he could have had but didn't! He must be so disappointed!"
Amy chuckled and put her hand on Pinkie's shoulder
"I'm sure Sonic will understand Pinkie. And to make up for it we could have an even bigger party with double the fun for the double win"
Pinkie's eyes widened, her smile following close behind. Jumping up she stayed in the air more than physically possible as she shouted
"That's a great idea! TWO IN ONE PARTY!"
When Pinkie finally descended she landed straight in Amy's arms and the two shared a hug.
"But can we still have a baking party afterwards?" Pinkie asked
Amy chucked once more "Sure Pinkie. And well make it an extra special baking party"
The two pulled away, shared a smile, before bursting out laughing.
While that went on Knuckles was gathering enough courage to hopefully have the same ending with Applejack. He walked over the farm mare just as she finished selling some apple juice to a mother and her filly.
"Enjoy!" Applejack called happily, waving them off
"Hey Applejack?"
Applejack's smile immediately dropped upon recognizing the voice. She turned away from him so that she avoided eye contact.
"Howdy Knuckles" She greeted flatly
Knuckles scratched the back of his head nervously "Hey I just wanted to apologize about the bet I made."
Applejack raised an eyebrow in interest. Knuckles sighed and readied his apology speech he had also been working on.
"I know how hard you have to work to keep your family standing on two fee-uh four hooves. And that every bit counts. And I can see why you're mad at me. It was wrong of me to rob you of so many bits just for a stupid bet"
"You darn right it was!" Applejack snapped, turning to him "I could have done a lot with 50 bits!"
Before Knuckles could continue Applejack lowered her head.
"But I have ta admit. I'm more mad at myself"
Now it was Knuckles turn to raise an eyebrow "Why?"
Applejack stamped her hoof "Because ah feel like such a darn fool for accepting that bet! I wasn't thinking about my family when I should have! Being 50 bits short of money isn't good for a farm. And it's gonna be all my fault if we end up struggling! All because ah wanted to gamble!"
Applejack looked up from her rant when she heard the sound of jingling. What she saw was Knuckles holding up a large, brown, bag most likely full of bits.
"Why don't we just forget this bet ever happened" Knuckles offered
Applejack was too shocked to speak at first. That bag looked way too big and full to hold just 50 bits.
"Knuckles, how many bits are in that bag?"
"The fifty you bet I think. I was never good at counting." Knuckles obviously lied handing the bag over
"Plus, what you've been though, you deserve it"
Applejack almost felt like crying, having no idea what to say. Luckily Knuckles did it for her holding out his hand.
"Friends?"
Applejack gave him a sneaky smile. She spit on her hoof and held it out to him, daring him to take the challenge. Knuckles returned that smile, spitting on his glove and shaking the hoof. They got through a couple shakes before they both pulled away and made disgusted noises. Noises that quickly turned to laugher as they wiped the spit away.
"Someone's coming!"
Everypony and Mobian stopped whatever they were doing and looked ahead. And to all their surprise Rainbow alone was heading straight for the goal. Some where shocked, some were at disbelief, and some were in doubt as they looked around to see if Sonic had already crossed the finish line. But sure enough Rainbow crossed the finished line, making the victory hers.
Once Rainbow crossed the line she panted heavily and quickly looked around. When she realized that the win was indeed hers she took off into the sky and yelled loud so that everypony could hear her.
"AND LET IT BE KNOWN PONYVILLE AND ALL OF EQUESTRIA THAT I, RAINBOW DASH, AM THE TRUE FASTEST THING ALIVE!"
At first all she received back was silence. But very quickly everyone that attended screamed, stomped, or clapped for the Pegasus.
Whether the cheers were out of adoration or ponies just being good sports Rainbow didn't care. All she cared about was that the cheers were for her and her alone. She soaked it all in. Her confidence rising, her anger subsiding, and her pride being restored to its former glory.
It was the biggest moment of triumph Rainbow had ever felt. Bigger than any race, competition, or challenge she ever faced.
She had finally beat Sonic the hedgehog.
She relished in how good it felt to finally be in the spotlight again. Feeling that nothing could possibly ruin the moment for her. Until one question from a random pony killed all of it instantly. A question that made Rainbow's heart go from pride, to guilt.
"Hey, where is Sonic?"