Black Celebration

BLACK CELEBRATION

The night was black. Babs Seed could hardly see her own hoofsteps as she ran through the darkness. It would have been impossible to see her pink mane in the black night, but wind whipped through it feverishly. Her eyes peered into the aphotic scenery as she ran, and she grinned. The night belonged to Babs Seed!

It was a hot, windy night. The wind was ferocious and threatened to topple Babs over at any moment. The heat was intense, and it was hard to breathe. The air, however, was extremely refreshing and kept Babs running. She found it exciting to be fighting the elements.

"Babs!" she heard a voice call, and the mare looked into the sky, stopping her hooves with sudden force. It was Scootaloo, flying in majestically from the skies. The swift pegasus made a quick stop in front of Babs, her brilliant wings closing instinctively. She shook out her mane and grinned at Babs, putting out a hoof. Babs bumped it with her own and gestured towards their destination.

Scootaloo's eyes narrowed, accepting a challenge. Babs took a breath in, nodding, and the two rocketed towards the Cutie Mark Crusader's tree house. Their hooves pounded on the soft earth and their eyes stung slightly from the wind. The ground grew more and more worn as Scootaloo and Babs neared the old treehouse, and as they neared Apple Bloom came into sight.

Apple Bloom stood on the porch of the treehouse, and she looked as she usually did. Her long red mane was braided and she wore a bright green bandanna around her neck. Nopony could actually see the color of it, but Apple Bloom almost never went without her bandanna and they all knew what color it was anyways. She wore a bow, and it whipped in the wind as much as her bangs.

"Babs! Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom called, opening the door to the treehouse for them.

"Wait for me!" cried another voice, higher in pitch. Sweetie Belle ran into sight, frantically trying to keep up with the athletic ponies. Sweetie Belle wasn't very good at running, and she didn't need to be. Sweetie Belle was a music addict, a singer with the voice of an angel. Her pink-and-purple swirled mane, with luscious curls, danced in the frantic wind.

Babs Seed and Scootaloo quickly entered the treehouse, which was warm and bright. Sweetie Belle quickly caught up with them, and with one finalSLAMthey were all inside.

The treehouse had changed from when they were foals. A lush, crimson rug carpeted the floor and the walls were covered in artwork courtesy of Apple Bloom. The scarlet-maned filly had found her cutie mark in painting and artwork in general. She was an artist at heart, and the walls of the treehouse were her canvas throughout life.

Apple Bloom had lit candles, and only a few had been blown out so far. Paintings of wings and bleeding hearts surrounded them, and the whole room smelled of smoke and vanilla. The light in the treehouse was dim, and the creepy black drawings on the walls of the treehouse created a truly gothic atmosphere. Babs Seed smirked at the girls and went to the closet, pulling from it the keg of cider they had kept hidden.

It was time to have a black celebration. At the end of every week, Babs, Sweetie, Bloom, and Scoots would all meet up and drink as much as they could by candlelight. They played drinking games and told stories to unwind. They drew funny pictures and talked about boys they liked. The best thing, though, is that is was always dim. They could still see eachother in the candlelight, but they liked it to be as dark as possible. That's why the called it a black celebration.

It was a practice in survival, but also a routine in trust.

"Cider time," Babs said, grinning. The girls knew their routine. Sweetie Belle pulled a stack of cards off of a nearby shelf, and Scootaloo pulled the glasses out from under that. Apple Bloom took a seat on the rug, and soon the girls all joined her, sitting in a tight circle. Sweetie Belle shuffled the cards and scattered them about. Apple Bloom poured cider into every glass and soon everypony had a drink in hoof.

"Let's have a black celebration!" Scootaloo declared, holding her drink up.

"What are we celebrating?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"A black celebration tonight!" Babs chuckled and clinked her glass against Scootaloo's. "To celebrate the fact that we've seen the back of another black day!"

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom clinked their glasses with the others, and they all took a swig of acrid cider. Giggling, Sweetie Belle took the first card up.

"Jack of clubs!" Sweetie Belle called.

"That means stallions drink," Apple Bloom groaned.

"We're off to a great start," Scootaloo muttered, and Babs laughed.

"We should get some colts up in here sometime," Babs said, grinning deviously.

"No WAY!" Sweetie Belle gasped, breaking into embarrassed laughter. Sweetie Belle was always shy around colts, unlike her friends.

"Why not?" Babs asked, "Colts are a lot of fun."

"Especially between your legs!" Scootaloo said, and Apple Bloom high-hoofed her orange friend in approval. Scootaloo picked up the next card.

"10 of clubs! That's social, everypony drinks!" And everypony did. Apple Bloom picked up the next card.

"King. That's a waterfall!" Apple Bloom picked up her drink, glared at it for a moment. She then took a big drink, glugging her cider down. Babs took her drink up and copied Apple Bloom, then Sweetie Belle, and finally Scootaloo. Apple Bloom could drink for a long time, and by the time she was done Sweetie Belle and Babs were gasping for air. Scootaloo drank for the longest, and that made her King.

"Nice one," Sweetie Belle gasped. She liked to drink, but she liked to sip her alcohol. Babs flipped the next card over.

"Six of hearts! That's an I Never. I never....kissed my cousin!" Babs declared. Apple Bloom leaned over, dragging Babs' shoulder down, and kissed her right on the lips. Babs couldn't believe that her cousin had such soft lips, and they tasted like strawberry lip-gloss. Apple Bloom was probably wearing some. Suddenly Apple Bloom snaked her tongue into Babs' mouth, and wiggled it on the roof of her mouth, tickling her unsuspecting cousin. When the kiss parted everyone broke into laughter once more. Babs was blushing and she breathed heavily.

"You gotta drink, Babs!" Apple Bloom said, taking a drink herself.

"You didn't have to use tongue!" Babs laughed, taking another sip of her cider. Babs admired her cousin, and even though she was younger, she really looked up to Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom could carry on when all hope was gone, and in her optimistic eyes life was paradise.

Sweetie Belle drew a card.

"Ace!" Sweetie Belle immediately took one drink.

"Four! Questions!" Scootaloo shouted, excited. This was her favorite part of any game. "Hey Babs! Why do you touch yourself?"

"Why did your Mom fuck your Dad?" Babs asked her right back, evoking laughter from Apple Bloom.

"Why do I hate my life?" Scootaloo asked Apple Bloom, waving a hoof in the air dramatically.

"Why do I want to take you up in my arms?" Apple Bloom asked Sweetie Belle, fluttering her eyelashes coyly.

"Why do you want to forget all you couldn't do today?" Sweetie Belle asked Scootaloo, putting a hoof to her forehead in fake woe.

"There's nothing I couldn't do today!" Scootaloo shouted, her wings flapping excitedly. She had done it. She had lost at her own favorite game. "Damnit!" Scootaloo shouted, throwing her card to the ground. Sweetie Belle high-hoofed Apple Bloom and Babs.

Apple Bloom drew an 8.

"Categories. I choose... Tonight."

"Apple Bloom," Babs said, looking to Sweetie Belle for the next word.

"Belief!" Sweetie Belle said, putting a hoof to her heart dramatically. Scootaloo rolled her eyes, and groaned.

"Ugh! Relief!" She took another sip of her drink, clearly happy to be unwinding after a tough week. The other girls could relate. They looked to Apple Bloom and she grinned at them.

"Black Celebration!" she declared, lifting her drink high into the air. They all clinked glasses, drunk and happy to be in the company of good friends.

"I'll drink to that!" Babs declared. And they did.