Competing From the Heart

by Aramadon

Prologue

Her heart was pounding so hard that she could feel the veins pulsing under her skin. She had never before experienced such a confused jumble of emotions. Strong emotions, yes, but never as mixed up and thrown together as now, standing in front of the door. She felt scared, excited, hopeful, nervous…and that’s just off the top of her head. There were emotions inside that she didn’t even know how to name. She was happy to be here, but part of her wished she was anywhere else. On top of all that, it just felt so weird to be feeling all of this in front of a door she had entered hundreds of times before. Even so, there was nothing for it: now was the time for action. Applejack raised her hoof and knocked.

* * *

There it was again – that date on her calendar. No matter how much she tried to ignore it, it just kept getting closer. She kept changing her mind as to whether or not she was even going. Was she, Rainbow Dash, the type of pony to show up to some fancy dance? Well, she’d been to the Grand Galloping Gala, and she’d dressed up for more than one occasion in Canterlot, so it wasn’t like this was something she never did. Even so, this was a Ponyville town dance, not something in Canterlot, and a pony could be judged by the types of events she showed up to and the ones that she didn’t. On the other hoof, there definitely were positives. She’d been meaning to ask somepony out for a while now, and this was just the kind of event to ask her to – and if she came along, there’s no way it would be bad for Rainbow’s reputation. After all, even the worst of events could be made cool if you brought sufficiently awesome company – and she knew just the mare she was going to bring.