Chasing a Dream [Cancelled]

Chapters

First Impressions
A Little Hard Work Never Hurt Anyone
For every action...
...there are consequences.
Angel the Devil
Slumber 101
Meet the Crew
Bonus Chapter - Dawn of a New Friendship
Bonus Chapter - Star-crossed Friends

First Impressions

Everywhere he looks, he can see hundreds of people gathered. Everyone is chatting excitedly amongst themselves. Why wouldn’t they be? This is the big event. And it’s starting now.

He jogs in place for a few seconds to warm up his legs. Behind him, the shadowy faces of his teammates silently cheer him on. He isn’t going to let them down now. Standing ten feet back, his coach gives him a nod. This is his moment.

“Are all the racers in position?” an amplified voice booms out. The silence of everyone at the line confirms the question, no words needed. The crowd cheers in anticipation.

Then all falls silent when the man in orange stands in the middle of the field. His arms are held out sideways. In one hand, he holds a red flag. In the other, he holds a small firearm. In his mouth is a shiny black whistle hanging around his neck.

The tight feeling in his gut flares up, and adrenaline courses through his limbs. His body is so wound up it feels itchy.

Suddenly, the referee gives his whistle three short blows.

TWEEEE

There is a pause.

TWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

The referee raises both the flag and the gun over his head.

Silence.

The flag swings down and the trigger is pulled.

BANG

He springs forward with all his might and falls face first in the mud.

As far as mornings go, Night Chase was having a pretty good one. Unlike the day before, he had not slept through his alarm. A delicious breakfast of cinnamon oatmeal and pineapple had him hopping to a merry beat. Quite literally, in fact; as the lavender-skinned boy with burgundy-colored hair clad in a gray t-shirt and jacket made his way down the sidewalk, he couldn’t help but hop on one foot the whole way.

“Well, somebody got up early for once.”

Night pivoted on his foot and looked behind him. A sky-blue girl with white and blue hair was jogging to catch up to him.

“Min!” Night cried. “How ya doing?”

“I told you not to call me that,” Minuette smirked, giving Night a punch in the shoulder.

Night’s grin widened. “I don’t care,” he replied simply.

Minuette gave him a blank stare. Immediately, Night’s cocksure grin vanished and a bead of sweat rolled down his face.

“Do I need to ask mom to give you a root canal?”

“N-no ma’am. Um, M-Minuette, ma’am.”

Minuette gave Night a wide grin and draped her arm over his neck. “That’s what I thought,” she laughed. Night found himself laughing too.

Minuette was Night’s closest childhood friend. They’d been close since first grade, when everyone had cooties and boys and girls voluntarily segregated themselves from each other. Night thought the whole “cootie-phobia” was asinine, and Minuette’s mother was a doctor, so, though it wasn’t her specialty, she knew a thing or two about germs. Opting to play with each other instead of the groups, the two had been best friends ever since.

Though the two enjoyed playing jokes with each other, Night discovered in the third grade that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. During a normal checkup at the dentist’s office, Minuette’s mother pretended that Night was going to need a root canal and told him about how much it would hurt. Then she strapped him in the chair and produced a mad scientist’s fantasy of horrifying drills and picks. Night had been hysterical, and once they revealed the prank, Minuette’s family had no intention of ever letting him live it down. Even though he knew better now, Night couldn’t help but get panicky whenever anyone mentioned the dreaded surgery.

As Minuette skipped down the road, practically dragging Night by the neck along the way, she suddenly turned to him in confusion. “Say, Night? Where’s your drawstring bag?”

Night slid out of his friend’s grip and readjusted the strap of the backpack on his shoulder. “Oh, that? I decided yesterday to start leaving it in my locker. That way I can’t forget my shoes in the morning."

“Oh, no,” Minuette bemoaned. “Now how am I supposed to harass you for forgetting things?”

“Ah, don’t worry,” Night laughed. “I’m sure you’ll find another way. You always do.”

As the two entered the grounds for Canterlot High School and approached the statue in the center, Night finally walking on both of his feet, he suddenly had an epiphany.

“Hey, Minuette?” he asked, staring off into the sky.

“Yeah?”

Night jerked his head in her direction and grinned. “Can I see your homework?”

Minuette threw her hands into the air. “Are you kidding me?!” she cried, exasperated.

“Of course I am!” Night laughed. “C’mon, give me some credit. You know how good I am at math.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Minuette mused. “Maybe I should let you copy my answers. Then I can report you to Principal Celestia’s office and tell her about how you think she’s-”

“Finish that sentence, and I will end you,” Night warned, having stopped in his tracks and pointing his finger at Minuette in a threatening manner.

Minuette stopped and looked at Night. The two were motionless as they stared each other down. Then the corners of Minuette’s mouth twitched into a sly grin.

“...hot!”

“RAAAAAAHHH!”

Night dropped his backpack and charged. Minuette squealed with laughter as she turned and ran. Night followed closely behind her, but never ran at full tilt. He knew he could catch her whenever he wanted, but there was something fun about prolonging the chase.

Minuette continued to flee from her assailant into the grass. Night saw this and decided that now was the perfect time to catch her.

“You’re dead!” he yelled as he broke into a sprint, his arms stretched out.

It didn’t go as planned. Minuette knew that Night was coming in for the tackle at that moment, so she juked to the side and ducked. Night went stumbling over her harmlessly. At least, it was harmless for her. Night watched in horror as he went careening over Minuette and toward another student, his momentum rendering him completely helpless to stop himself. The girl turned, and her eyes went wide. Night plowed into her hard.

“URK!”

“AAH!”

Taken completely by surprise, the girl was knocked off her feet and slammed into the ground. Night realized that they even slid across the grass a short distance, covering the arm of his jacket in grass stains.

“Oww…” Night moaned. His momentary deliriousness was instantly replaced with alarm as he looked at the girl he’d just run over. “Oh, crap! I am so sorry! Are you okay?”

“Nngh…” the girl groaned, forcing herself to open her eyes. They were wet, and her face was clearly pained.

Night’s heart sank. “Oh, crap,” he half-whispered. “Did I hurt you?” Night reached under the girl’s back and helped get her into a sitting position. Now that she was upright, Night could make out some of her features. She had large, soft pink hair, held with a white butterfly hair clip, that flowed gracefully over her shoulders and the side of her face—at least, it would if it hadn’t been dragged through the ground.

Her outfit was fairly simple. She wore a white top with a green skirt that almost came down to her knees. She had on some cute knee-high boots that matched her skirt, and she was carrying a yellow backpack. It was strange, but she looked… somewhat familiar.

“God, Night, what have you done?”

Night shook his head when he heard Minuette’s voice. He focused on the girl in front of him who was rubbing her right arm, which had been pinned under her body when he brought her down. He saw a trickle of blood run between her fingers and down her arm. Night ran his fingers through his hair in panic.

“Oh, my- I- I am- I am so sorry about that,” Night stuttered. “Are you okay?” he whispered.

The girl nodded painfully, which just made Night feel even worse. “Hey, do you want to go to the nurse?” he offered.

The girl met his eyes. “Um… if that’s alright with you,” she muttered.

Night nodded. “Yeah, no problem.” He stood up and helped the girl to her feet, then wrapped her arm around his shoulder. He turned his head toward Minuette. “Minuette, I’ll catch you later, okay?”

Minuette nodded. “Yeah, I’ll see you. Hope everything’s okay.”

Night nodded in response, then began walking the girl toward the school building. “I’m really sorry about this,” he told her. “I just- I feel terrible.”

“It’s fine. You didn’t mean to,” she responded.

“That doesn’t make it okay.”

The two continued walking in silence until they reached the nurse’s office in the school. Nurse Redheart took the girl into the back and thanked Night for helping her there. Even though Night insisted that he was at fault and deserved no thanks, the nurse paid it no mind and offered to take him in too. Night declined, so she wished him well as he made his way back outside to retrieve his backpack and eventually make his way to his first period class.

English class was always a basket of roses. Night sat in the center of the room. Three desks to his left, two to his right, two in front, and two behind. This had the unfortunate effect of making him called upon almost every time whenever a question was posed. Fortunately, there was rarely any need for the teacher to call on students in English, so it wasn’t too big of a deal, but it still irked him.

It was still another five minutes before the bell, so the chatter in the room was unrestrained. Night wasn’t lucky enough to have the class with anyone he knew particularly well, so he usually used this time to read a book. After all, he was dying to know if Peter Johnson would be able to return the lightning bolt to its proper place.

The noise, however, made reading difficult. With only a page read after a grueling effort, Night closed the book and glanced around the room. Ms. Cheerilee had just entered the room and was setting up some papers for class. A guy with light green skin and white hair walked past her desk and placed an apple on it, as was his tradition each day. The desks to Night's left were half-filled, although the ones in the back row were always empty.

To his right, though, he could make out a distinct conversation. He stole a glance and saw a gray-colored guy talking to a cyan-colored guy. They both had jet black hair and were wearing jackets, which kind of annoyed Night. Jackets were his thing.

The two were talking about girls, unsurprisingly, though the gray one kept referring to his girlfriend as “boo,” which was just bizarre. Suddenly the conversation shifted to the tan kid with brown hair sitting behind them.

This kid was new to the school. Very new, in fact—he transferred here just last week. At first, Night thought he might have found the first person who was quieter than he was, but once the two in front more or less dragged him into their little circle of friends, he talked a fair amount.

The bell rang and the class quieted down. Ms. Cheerilee started her lesson on some grammar rules that Night already understood. Bored, Night laid his head on his desk and watched his teacher with a glazed expression, eager to get out.

“So you think you’ve got it this week?”

It was now lunch time at Canterlot High School. Night Chase looked up from his seat and saw a guy standing at the opposite side of the table. This guy was a medium brown color and had curly black hair. He sat down and looked at Night expectantly, sipping from a carton of milk.

“Oh, hey, Tonal.” Night scratched the side of his head. “Probably not,” he admitted. “The last two practices have been less than stellar for me.”

“Hey, come on Bro, don’t say that. You always give Ace and Blitz a run for their money.”

“Still haven’t beaten them,” Night rebutted. “But why are we even discussing this? Cross country’s a team sport.”

Tonal Groove took a bite of his apple. “That it is. But it’s not competing with your teammates. The idea is for you to push each other to become better,” Tonal explained.

“Yeah, teamwork and camaraderie all the way,” Night scoffed. “You’re not in the top three, you don’t know how tense it gets.”

“Hey-!”

“Right. Sorry. I know. No disrespect. You’re our lead backup and tiebreaker, you’re vital to the team,” Night apologized. He leaned back in his seat, chewing on a bite of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. “So, any idea what coach will have us doing for practice?”

Tonal looked to the side in thought. “Well, we did hills on Monday and speed yesterday, so probably distance today.”

Night tilted his head. “Eight miles?”

Tonal nodded. “More than likely.”

“That, I can get behind.”

There was some commotion going on somewhere in the cafeteria, louder than usual. It was odd, but Night decided to pay it no mind.

Night looked down at his half-eaten lunch. “Hey, so… how are you and Mistletoe doing?”

Tonal beamed. “Oh, great! It’s cool seeing her every day in band, so we’ve got it easy until the football season ends. Well, I mean, band is hard, but-”

“Yeah, I got it.” Night gave him a thumbs-up. “So’d you tell her that joke yet about how her hair’s supposed to be white instead of red?”

Tonal rolled his eyes. “Bro, come on. Not only are you the only person who knows the difference between holly and mistletoe, but you're the only one who thinks it's funny.”

“Well, the fact of the matter is, that simply isn’t true. I learned about the two from-”

Night’s words were suddenly cut off when he found that he couldn’t breathe. An arm was wrapped around his neck and held firmly in place against someone’s torso. His assailant pulled him back, making him hang out of his seat.

“You jerk! Apologize right now!”

While Night was flailing and trying to pull the attacker’s arm off his throat, Tonal jumped out of his seat and ran around the table. He grabbed the person behind him and finally yanked the arms from around Night's neck. Night coughed while cool air poured back into his lungs.

Night stood and turned around. “What the hell was that?” he shouted. He found himself looking at a blue girl with multicolored hair.

...No. It couldn’t be.

“Rainbow Dash?!”

Rainbow regarded him with a glare. “Who the hell do you think you are?”

Night stared at her incredulously. “What are you talking about?”

“You know damn well what I’m talking about! Why’d you hurt Fluttershy like that?”

“What? Girl, you’re crazy,” Tonal interjected. “Night didn’t hurt anybody.”

“Oh, and I suppose I’m making up the fact that she was taken to the nurse? Or that she’s bruised and looks like she was dragged through the mud?”

Night’s eyes widened. “Oh, that.”

Tonal turned to Night, dumbfounded. “Bro, what the-?”

“That was an accident!” Night cried. “You really think I meant to do that? How stupid can you be?!”

Rainbow charged Night and hit him in the stomach. As she reached him, though, Night reached and grabbed hold of her hair. With the wind knocked out of him, Night’s knees gave out and he fell to the ground, dragging Rainbow down with him. Rainbow shook herself loose from his grip, which pulled a few strands of hair from her head, and reached back with a fist.

“Rainbow Dash! Stop!”

Before the punch could be thrown, a pair of arms wrapped around the violent girl. Through his hazy vision, Night could see a familiar pink hairdo and butterfly clip.

“Fluttershy? What are you doing? He’s the one who-”

“You didn’t let me finish! His running into me was an accident! And he apologized!”

Night felt someone helping him into a sitting position, most likely Tonal. He was vaguely aware of several girls running up to the two in front of him. Not that it mattered. At that moment, the stomping of feet, a flash of midnight blue, and a harsh tone broke Night out of his trance.

“You two,” Vice Principal Luna hissed, pointing at Rainbow Dash and Night. “Come with me now.”

A collective gasp in the room silenced any remaining chatter. Night realized just then that the normally rambunctious cafeteria was now quiet and still. The realization of what the Vice Principal had said only hit him moments later.

“Wait a minute, what’d I do?!” Night cried. Wordlessly, Luna grabbed him by the arm and Rainbow in the other and marched them out of the cafeteria. After a short walk, along which Night stumbled several times, he found himself sitting in a chair with a fuming teenage girl next to him and an angry authority figure across from him. Ah, the Vice Principal’s office. The place that disorderly and delinquent peers frequented for a multitude of reasons. Needless to say, this was Night’s first time seeing it.

“Alright, now would you two like to explain to me what that was all about?” Luna stated.

“Well, from what I gathered, it actually started before first period,” Night explained. “I accidentally tackled some girl into the ground, then after apologizing, I took her to the nurse. Then at lunch I guess she told her,” -Night indicated Rainbow sitting next to him- “that I did that, so she came over and started choking me.”

“I thought you were trying to hurt her!” Rainbow defended.

“And that makes it okay to strangle people?” Night retorted.

“Enough!” Luna snapped. "Now, Rainbow Dash. What happened?"

"Well, when I showed up to lunch, Fluttershy looked terrible," Rainbow recalled. "I had her tell us what happened to her, and when she said some guy tackled her into the ground, I lost it. She described what he looked like, then Pinkie said she knew who that was and pointed to the table where he sits. So I went over and demanded he apologize. Then he taunted me by calling me stupid and pulled my hair. Then you showed up."

"Bull!" Night cried. "You left out the part where you punched me and laid me out!"

“Silence!" Luna interjected. "Whatever misunderstanding there may have been, that doesn’t excuse the poor behavior…”

Night smirked at Rainbow, who glared daggers back at him.

“... from both of you.”

“Wait, what?”

“Yes, Mr. Chase. You too. While Rainbow may have struck you, you further antagonized her and pulled her hair. According to the school’s policy, that’s considered retaliation, and that makes you two equally responsible for fighting. You will both be serving after-school detention this afternoon.”

“What?!” Night and Rainbow cried simultaneously.

“I’ve got soccer practice this afternoon!” Rainbow argued.

“I’ve got cross country!” Night yelled. “Besides, why the hell should I have to serve detention? She attacked me! And I never even hit her!”

“As I stated before, pulling her hair is considered grounds for retaliation.” Luna’s stare became cold. “And I will have absolutely none of that language in my school. Are we clear, Mr. Chase?”

Night let out an annoyed sigh and turned away from Luna’s gaze. “Bet if I was shot, I’d still get in trouble.”

“What was that?”

“Yes, Vice Principal Luna,” Night answered.

Luna nodded, though she clearly wasn’t buying his sincerity. “Very good. I’ll see the two of you here at the end of the day. Go back to lunch. I don’t want any more trouble from you two.”

Night and Rainbow nodded, then turned and left the office. Walking side by side, the two made their way back to the cafeteria, which was already abuzz with chatter again.

“Man, this sucks,” Rainbow moaned.

“Tell me about it.”

The two gave each other a tense glance. They held it for a moment.

Night let out a snort. “See you in a few hours.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow replied. The two then made their way back to their respective tables.

Author's Note

I'm pretty sure a meteor strike is the only way that could have gone any worse. :pinkiecrazy:

So in case you haven't read the long description all the way through, I'd like to give a BigHuge "Thank You" to Azure_Shadow for creating the fantastic The Pie of my Eye, which is directly responsible for this story's creation. Also Huge "Thank Yous" to BRyeMC and CogWing for supporting me along the way. And another to Cog for making the awesome sauce-some cover art. You three are fantastic.

A Little Hard Work Never Hurt Anyone

“Thank you both for showing up,” Vice Principal Luna stated. “Skipping detention is grounds for much more serious punishment. It’s good to see some students taking responsibility.”

Night leaned on his arm while he shifted in the uncomfortable chair in the Vice Principal’s office. Why did he have to be here at all? He should be stretching with the team right now. This wasn’t right.

“So what are we gonna have to do?” Rainbow Dash asked. She was sitting immediately to his left.

“Well,” Luna began. “Ordinarily this type of disciplinary action is just a mandatory study hall. However, one of our janitors called in sick today.” Luna leaned forward in her seat. “So here’s what I’m going to propose: You two can decide to either serve an ordinary detention, or you may choose to sanitize all of the tables in every classroom in the 300 Hall.”

Night blinked several times. “I-I’m sorry, we can just… clean the rooms instead?”

“Yeah! Let’s do it!” Rainbow cried. “I don’t have any work to get done anyway, and I’d much rather be moving around. Besides, the faster we get the tables done, the sooner we can leave. Right?” Rainbow turned to Luna for confirmation.

“That is correct, Miss Dash. Provided you do a satisfactory job, of course. However, that’s only if you both agree to it. What do you think, Mr. Chase?”

Night glanced at Rainbow, who was giving him a look that said that she’d strangle him again if he answered wrong. Night shrugged. “Eh, sure. I’ve got plenty of experience wiping down tables anyway. Why not?”

Luna nodded. “Very well. The two of you can report to Room 301. I’ll be there shortly.”

Night and Rainbow stood and exited the office, then turned down the hall to the right and made their way to the 300 Hall. Rainbow Dash walked right beside Night, the two of them taking their time getting there.

Night shrugged. “I’d rather be moving around too,” he said simply, answering the unasked question.

The two said nothing more and entered the classroom. The 300 Hall was also known as the Science Hall. Every classroom was designed to accommodate certain fields of science, and all were equipped with the things necessary to perform labs. As a result, large, heavy, black tables replaced individual desks in most of the classrooms here. Night sat down at an uncomfortable plastic chair at the table nearest the door while Rainbow sat at the table next to him. The two maintained their silence as they waited patiently for the vice principal to arrive. Night tapped out a beat with his fingers while Rainbow leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling.

Once a few minutes had passed, Luna entered the doorway with two bottles of window cleaner and several rolls of paper towels.

“Do try to be conservative with the paper towels,” Luna said as she placed the supplies on the table in front of Night. “We don’t want to go through more than one roll.”

“Yeah, sure,” Night said absentmindedly. He stood up and grabbed a roll and a spray bottle. Rainbow Dash did the same.

“So, what, we just wipe off the tables in each room?” Rainbow inquired.

“In addition to the teachers’ desks and the few chalkboards,” Luna added. “If you’re quick about it, you should be done in about thirty minutes.”

“A’ight, cool,” Night remarked. “We’ll be back at a quarter ‘till.”

Vice Principal Luna nodded and left the room. When the click of the door being shut sounded, Night turned and faced Rainbow. The two stared at each other in silence, not really sure how to break the ice. After an awkward moment of shuffling feet, Night finally found his words and said something deeply profound:

“Um, I guess… I’ll get over there and… you can get here?”

Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, sure.”

Wiping the tables wasn’t a particularly grueling activity. Three sprays with the bottle on the table and two paper towels did the job nicely. Even though the tables were large rectangles, because they were narrow, Night could reach every spot when standing on one side.

Unfortunately, Night learned a bit more about the tables than he’d ever cared to know. The black surfaces hid dirt and grime well, as evidenced by the amount of the stuff that came off on the towels. Night made a silent vow to always take a personal bottle of hand sanitizer to any science class from that day forward.

It was in the middle of the third room that Night realized how bored he was. Sure, moving around helped a bit, as he’d suspected, but it was still uneventful. Having to do the task with a girl who was pissed at him certainly didn’t help matters. And the fact that it was Rainbow Dash with whom he was stuck…

Rainbow Dash was intimidating. Night knew that she could tussle with the guys, and those weren’t just rumors—he’d seen it for himself. She was competitive in every sport, and virtually everything else. She was always on some sports team throughout the year. Right now, she was the captain of the soccer team, hence her aggravation at her current situation, and was already preparing for the upcoming basketball season. Night had heard rumors that she had been playing on the boys’ team last year, but he couldn’t be certain. He’d never attended a game.

The fact that Rainbow was practically revered at Canterlot High School didn’t help matters. She and Pinkie Pie were the two most well-known students. And rightfully so. Rainbow and Pinkie were so outgoing that anyone who claimed to not know them was just lying, plain and simple. So if the details of their little confrontation got out, Rainbow was sure to have the support of the whole-.

“So how exactly did it happen?”

Night blinked and looked up from his task. Rainbow was looking at him quizzically.

“Um… what do you mean?”

“I mean, tell me about this morning,” Rainbow elaborated. “I’d like to hear from you how you ran into Fluttershy. I only heard her half, and she insists that it was an accident.”

“Next room, okay?” Night asked as he finished wiping the last table in the room. Rainbow nodded and the two exited into the hallway. “Truth be told,” said Night, “I really didn’t see her—you said her name was Fluttershy?—until the moment I ran into her. We just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.” The two of them entered the next room and looked in dismay at the filthy chalkboard.

Rainbow sprayed the nearest table with the cleaner. “Okay, but I really want to know how that happened. What were you doing right before you ran into her?”

Night raised an eyebrow. “Um… nothing really noteworthy. I was just walking to school with Minuette when she said something to make fun of me. So I started chasing her around the school grounds, and when I tried to tackle her, she dodged and my momentum carried me into your friend.”

“Oh, I see.” A mischievous grin spread across Rainbow’s face. “So you were fooling around with your girlfriend when that accident happened.”

Night’s eyes went wide and his face started heating up. “Wh-... no. No, Min ain’t my girlfriend.”

“Oh, really? Sounds to me like you two are already pretty close.”

Night stared at her incredulously. “Yeah… we’re childhood friends.”

“And nothing more?” Rainbow asked teasingly.

Night gave her a pitiful look. “No. Why’s that so hard to understand?”

“Okay, dude, fine. I believe you,” Rainbow said with a chuckle. “I’m just trying to find out more.”

“Well, she’s really got nothing to do with what happened. I ran into your friend, plain and simple. And I’m sorry about that.”

Rainbow put her hands up defensively. “Alright, chill dude. I was just messing with you. And I do believe you, so we’re cool, okay?”

Night let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good to hear.” He finished the table he was wiping as Rainbow got to the last one.

Could it really be this simple? Night had been hopeful that they could talk it out and resolve the issue peacefully, but he hadn’t expected it to be this easy. He figured that, as short-fused as Rainbow was, she would have been a bit more defensive. Yet here she was now, initiating the peace talks. It caught him off-guard, to say the least.

Rainbow grabbed her roll of paper towels and cleaner and exited the room, Night following right behind. He wanted to say something, but he wasn’t sure how to break the ice. His skepticism toward her already made things difficult for him.

Besides, how could he just talk to her casually like old chums when they had been fistfighting just a few hours ago? And over something as trivial as a misunderstanding.

...Wait, maybe that was it. It was just a misunderstanding. Now that they’d managed to clear the air between them, wouldn’t it make sense that Rainbow’s able to let it go? Why shouldn’t he be able to do the same?

As the two entered the next room to be cleaned, Night lightly punched himself in the head to reprimand himself for his foolish thinking. So long as he didn’t say anything completely stupid, things should be fine between them. So, what to talk about first?

As Night watched Rainbow begin to scrub the tables, he thought back to what their misunderstanding had been about. That girl. That was the immediate connection the two shared, albeit an awkward one.

“Hey, Rainbow?” Night finally said.

“Yeah?”

“I was wondering…” Night paused. He felt weird asking her. “Do you think you could tell me a bit about… oh, what was her name, Something-shy?”

“About Fluttershy? Why?” asked Rainbow.

“I dunno. It’s just that I think I’d like to know more about the girl I flattened,” Night chuckled. “Seriously, though, I still feel bad about the whole thing, so I was thinking it’d be good if I knew a little about her.”

Rainbow looked up at the ceiling. “Wow, where to begin.” She was silent for a moment as she tried to think of what to say. “I suppose… she’s true to her name.”

“Shy and timid, huh? I think I figured that out with the two sentences we shared.”

Rainbow chuckled. “Yeah, she’s always been that way. I’ve known her for as long as I can remember. We’ve been best friends since we were toddlers, kinda like you with Minuette.”

Night frowned in surprise. “Really? That’s interesting. It seems like the two of you couldn’t be any more different. I wouldn’t have guessed you two would be so close for so long.”

“Looks can be deceiving,” Rainbow replied. Night chalked that phrase up to a generic cliche, but wisely decided to say nothing about it. “I know that sounds silly, but I’m totally serious. It can be hard to get through to her sometimes, but when Fluttershy makes up her mind, she’s one of the strongest-willed people I know.”

“Huh. How so?”

Rainbow sprayed the teacher’s desk. “Being as timid as she is, Fluttershy was always prone to getting bullied. I would always come to her rescue and chase off the jerks who were teasing her.”

Oh, Night thought. I guess that would explain it.

“But then one day, she surprised me.” Rainbow stared at the ceiling and absentmindedly wiped the same spot on the desk. “It was the first time I’d ever been bullied for being a tomboy. Not ashamed to admit that,” she added.

“Nothing to be ashamed of.”

Rainbow smiled. “Anyway, that’s when Fluttershy stepped in. She stood up to those guys on her own and told them to leave me alone. She actually called them ‘big dumb meanies,’ which, for her, is like the holy grail of bad words.”

“I can imagine.” Night and Rainbow laughed.

“It’s funny, but I don’t think I’d ever been more proud and honored to be her friend than at that moment.” Rainbow gazed to the side, completely lost in thought. “Anyway, she may come off as being super timid, but when push comes to shove, she knows how to hold her own.”

“Unless somebody literally shoves her,” Night chuckled.

“Hey, are you trying to get on my bad side?”

Night gave Rainbow a wide grin. “No, ma’am. I’ve already been there, and I can’t say I like it very much.”

The two shared a laugh for a moment before Rainbow finished at the teacher’s desk. “Okay, I think we’re done here. Next room?”

Night nodded and he and Rainbow walked to the hallway.

“So what does she like to do?” Night asked. “Aside from standing up to bullies and being quiet, I still don’t really know anything about her.”

Rainbow opened the door to the third-to-last room in the hall. This science room was different. Instead of tables, there was one large central structure that had natural gas faucets installed into the tabletop. Six work areas jutted out from the center, allowing for up to twelve groups to work on labs at one time. The two sighed when they saw the struggle they would face when trying to wipe every square inch of the surface.

As Night began spraying the tabletop, Rainbow spoke up. “Fluttershy has a really big thing for animals. Do you know the animal shelter?”

Night furrowed his brow in thought. “That… um…wait… isn’t that near the edge of town?”

“Yeah. Canterlot Animal Shelter. The thing is, she works there.”

Night did a double-take. “Wait, you mean she volunteers a lot of time there?”

Rainbow shook her head. “Nope. She actually works there part-time. She can’t do a whole lot since she’s still a student, but they’ve already reserved a place for her to get an internship there in a few years. She’s going to study to become a vet.”

Night was speechless. That was an incredible goal to be working toward, and so soon! It actually made him feel a bit inadequate.

“That… wow.”

“I know, right?” Rainbow grunted as she leaned on the table to get a hard-to-reach spot. “Fluttershy’s pretty awesome. It’s been her dream for a long time.”

“Her dream, huh?”

The two remained silent for a while after that. The ticking of the wall clock and rubbing of the tabletop were the only sounds that could be heard. This continued even as they finished up and moved to the penultimate room in the hall.

“So what about you?” Rainbow finally asked.

“Hm?”

“What do you like to do? Now you know about Fluttershy, but we don’t know about the guy who tried to kill her. So what’s your story, you lunatic?”

Night rolled his eyes at the playful jeering. “Well, first I escaped from jail. Then I sneaked into a costume store and got my hands on some lavender body paint, allowing me to infiltrate this school in disguise, hidden in plain sight.”

Rainbow smirked as she stepped into the room. “Oh, really, tough guy? What were you in for?”

“I’m the most hardened criminal you’ll ever meet,” Night said slyly. “I tore the tag that says ‘Do Not Remove’ off of my mattress.”

Both Rainbow and Night burst into a fit of chuckles. “Okay,” Rainbow uttered between laughs. “You like to tell idiotic stories on a whim. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Night sighed contentedly. “Seriously, though, there’s not much to say. I run cross country. I’m pretty good, but not the best. I play video games. I like cartoons. I’m good at math and english. And I have a couple friends who put up with me for some reason. That’s pretty much it.”

“How long have you been running?”

Night shrugged. “Since seventh grade, so that makes this… hard math, I know… year five.”

Rainbow smiled and nodded. “That’s dedication.”

Night resumed working on the tables in the room. There were only a few in this one, so they were already halfway done. It was already 3:45, and they still had more than a room to go before they were finished. Night nodded and picked up his pace, which Rainbow noticed and accommodated.

“Be sure to tell your friend that the guy who attacked her was just some random loser, akay?”

“Nope,” Rainbow replied, which elicited a raised eyebrow from Night. “I’d be lying if I said that.”

Night was briefly caught off guard by the compliment, but quickly switched gears. “Okay, then. Be sure to say that he was a charismatic hunk of a guy who gets all the ladies.”

Rainbow smirked. “That’d still be lying.”

Night actually laughed out loud. It wasn’t easy to find people who appreciated his sense of humor, let alone played along with it. People like Minuette and now Rainbow Dash were one in a million.

“You ready to finish this up?” Night asked as he wiped down the last table in the room.

“Yeah. Tell you what, whoever finishes more tables in the last room wins.”

“You’re on.”

“Excellent job, you two,” Vice Principal Luna stated. “We appreciate the work you did. However, next time, try to use fewer paper towels, okay?” She held up a lone brown hollow cardboard tube that Night had handed her. There was a line of clear, dried glue along its length.

“Hey, whaddaya mean, ‘next time?’” Rainbow interjected. “I’m not planning on coming back!”

“Me neither!” Night said. “What, are you gonna start using students as free labor?”

A mischievous smile spread across Luna’s face. “You know, Mister Night, I hadn’t thought of that. That’s not a bad idea.”

“Ah, crap.”

“I was joking,” Luna laughed. “Anyway, my sincere thanks for your hard work today. I hope you two can get along now.”

Night glanced over at Rainbow who smiled back. “Yeah, I don’t think that’ll be a problem anymore.”

“That’s good to hear. Have a good day, you two.”

Night and Rainbow waved to Luna as they exited the office. With their backpacks in tow, they stepped out of the building.

“So, you heading to soccer?” asked Night.

“Yeah, I let the team know earlier that I’d be late, so it’s not too big of a deal. What about you?”

Night rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “Well, coach doesn’t let us know ahead of time where we’re running, and it’s probably a long one today, so I honestly have no idea where they are.” Night chuckled. “So I’m thinking I’ll just head home early and work out a bit there.”

Rainbow adjusted the bag on her shoulders and turned in the direction of the soccer field. “Okay, then. See ya around.” Rainbow then began jogging away, so Night started walking toward the schoolyard exit.

“Hey Night!”

Night glanced back over his shoulder and saw Rainbow calling to him from the distance. “Stop by my lunch table sometime, okay?” she yelled. “I’d like you to meet everyone.”

Night smiled and nodded. “‘Kay!” he yelled back. “See ya!”

Night was glad nobody was angry with him anymore. In fact, if he wasn’t mistaken, he’d just made a new friend. Rainbow Dash, huh? She was pretty cool. Maybe she could introduce him to her friend—he’d already forgotten her name again. Flitter-something. Perhaps he could patch things up with her.

Night stared at the street before him. Except for a single car driving a ways in the distance, it was empty. Night started hopping in place to warm his legs up.

“Okay, let’s get home in ten minutes.”

Night sprang forward on the concrete and took off running.

Author's Note

An extra thanks to BRyeMC and CowgirlVK for proofreading this chapter for me.

For every action...

The recent rainfall gives the whole trail a deep, chocolate-colored look. The dirt is wet, but not sloppy enough to be called mud. Droplets fall from the green tree leaves onto the ground-level foliage, mimicking the sound of rainfall. The clouds part and the sun starts to shine through, illuminating the forest with streaks of light.

He looks to the sky and sees a brief flash of color. Making his way to a small clearing, he sees an arching prism of colors glowing faintly in the sky. Entranced by its beauty, he starts following it. Every few feet, he finds a new spot with a break in the trees to make out the colors and continues following the fascinating display.

Before long, the trees clear out completely. The sky is unobstructed, and he can see the rainbow in its entirety. Before him sprawls a wide field of light green grass. Patches of flowers appear in various spots among the field. The raindrops resting on the blades of grass make the whole field shimmer. He wants to roll around in the grass and forget all of his troubles. A few pink butterflies land on a patch of flowers nearby and start pollinating.

Everything is peaceful.

Quiet, serene, and peaceful.

Night gently massaged his belly with his hand as he made his way down the sidewalk. Though the pain was enough to make him wince, the bruising that Rainbow Dash had left yesterday wasn’t bad. It’d be gone by the end of the day. Shrugging, Night adjusted the strap of his backpack and continued walking.

“Night!” a familiar voice called. Night turned around to see Minuette running up to him. “Lyra told me what happened yesterday. Are you okay?”

Night smirked. “Yeah, I’m fine. Bit of a frank exchange of ideas. Nothing to worry about.”

“Are you sure?” Minuette asked with concern. “Because if she’s giving you trouble-”

“Min, seriously, everything’s fine. Rainbow and I actually left on pretty good terms.”

Minuette glanced to the side. “Well, okay. I just don’t want you getting hurt in a fight or anything.”

“Oh, please. Me? Get hurt in a fight? With this build?” Night started flexing his muscles.

Minuette quickly sized him up. “Yep. They’d snap you like a twig.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

The two shared a laugh as they reached the entrance to the school. Night was happy to see the courtyard free of any debris or construction workers. The constant noise of workers repairing the front of the school after the infamous incident at the Fall Formal was enough to drive anyone crazy. Now that they were finished, school was slightly less miserable to attend.

Night glanced over to the field where he had been chasing Minuette yesterday. He cringed a little when his eyes fell upon a patch where the grass had been torn up from someone being dragged along the ground.

“Night?”

“Hm? What?” Night turned to face Minuette.

“I was just wondering,” Minuette started. For some reason though, Minuette wasn’t looking at Night. In fact, she seemed to be deliberately looking away from him. “I need to tell you something.”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“It’s kind of important.”

Night’s playful attitude was immediately replaced with a serious one. “Oh, I see. Do you want to talk about it now, or…?”

“Actually, I’d like to tell you in private. Would it be okay if I come over after school today?”

Night nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, of course. No problem. I’m happy to talk to you about anything. Just let me know, okay?”

“So I’ll see you after school?”

“Well, I have practice after school today. Setting aside time to shower after I get back… you want to stop by around six?” Minuette nodded. “Alright, I’ll see you then. Remember, I’m always here for you, okay?” Night smiled and held out his arms.

Instead of reciprocating the hug, Minuette stood locked in place, staring straight at the ground. Upon closer inspection, Night saw that her face was flushed red.

“M-Min? Are you-?”

“ThanksI’llseeyouthenbye!” Minuette sped away into the crowded halls of Canterlot High.

Night looked on with concern. “Geez, this is really eating her up. I hope she’s okay.”

Night slouched in his seat, waiting for the first period bell to ring. He had given up on the idea of reading his book before class and instead decided to find out if he could relax so much that he would literally melt into a puddle.

“I’m telling you, she got in a fight with some guy during lunch,” the gray guy in the group of three friends to Night’s right stressed. “Half of the cafeteria saw it.”

The tan guy shook his head. “If none of us saw it, then I don’t believe it. Rainbow would never do that.”

“I heard the same thing,” the blue guy added. “Pinkie said so herself.”

“Yeah, and the bae, too.”

The tan guy shook his head again. “That doesn’t sound like her at all.”

“Are you kidding?” the blue guy laughed. “She’s the first one I would pick to do that!”

“Shut up, Swift!” The tan guy shot up in his seat, causing the whole desk to lurch forward. The sudden outburst caught the attention of the entire class, shocking everyone into silence. Night’s ears perked up as he observed the scene unfolding in the eerie stillness of the room.

“Whoa, Rivet, calm down,” the gray guy pleaded, stepping between Rivet and Swift. “He didn’t mean anything by that.”

“Yeah, sure he didn’t,” Rivet scoffed.

“Rivet,” Swift spoke gently. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to imply that Rainbow is violent. She’s just really excitable. I’m not trying to talk bad about her, honest.”

Rivet stood still for a moment, trying to calm himself down. Once he did, he slowly sat back down and looked at Swift.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “That wasn’t right of me. I just… I’m having a hard time believing that she got in a fight with somebody out of nowhere.”

“Well, actually-” the gray guy said.

“That’s not what happened.”

The three guys turned in the direction of the new voice. Night suddenly felt self-conscious when he found himself being stared at by the three guys. He blinked as his eyes darted around to each person. After an awkward five-second lapse, Night finally connected the dots.

Wait, did I just say that?

Swift’s face looked puzzled as he scrutinized the new person. “Wait, aren’t you Night?”

“Um…”

Swift’s face lit up. “Yeah! You’re the one who got in the fight with Rainbow!”

The guys all gave Night a funny look, the most notable one being Rivet’s. Not knowing what else to do, Night broke into light, awkward laughter.

“Yeah, that’s me. But I promise it’s not as bad as it sounds!” he hurriedly added. Rivet’s glare lightened, but he continued to stare with suspicion. “Seriously, it was just a little mix-up. We both jumped the gun a little, we both served detention, and now we’re actually on good terms.”

“Really? So, are you, like, friends now?” Rivet asked.

“I… yeah, I guess so.”

At that moment, the bell signifying the start of class rang. “That’s cool,” the gray guy remarked. “I guess we’ll be seeing a lot more of you.”

“I… uh… yeah. Yeah, sure.” Puzzled, Night turned in his seat to face Miss Cheerilee at the front of the room, who was massaging her temples like she had a pounding headache.

Wait, what did he mean by that?

It was the fourth period of the day, which meant Phys Ed was starting for Night. After changing into athletic shorts, Night slammed his gym locker shut and headed outside. Today’s class was taking place on the track encircling the football field. As he strolled toward the field, he heard the patter of feet approaching him from behind. Night cringed as he awaited the inevitable.

A hand clamped down on his right shoulder. “Hey, bud, how are things in bronze-ville?” a voice snickered in his ear.

Night groaned. “Hi, Ace. How are things this fine and lovely day?”

The light-blue guy with white hair smirked. “I know that tone,” he playfully chuckled. “You in a bad mood again?”

“Actually, I was doing pretty well until you showed up,” Night deadpanned.

Ace’s smile faltered slightly, but he maintained his composure. “Alright then. Well, good luck today.”

“Why, because I need it so bad?”

“Alright dude, what the hell is wrong with you?”

Night turned to look Ace directly in the eye. “I could ask you the same thing, jerkoff. Why do you always go out of your way to remind me that you’re better than me?”

“Dude-”

“No, shut up and listen. I’m sick and tired of you. Starting this Saturday, you’re never going to beat me again.”

“Night, you’re being an ass right now.”

“Am I? Fine, maybe I am. But it’s astonishing how little I value your opinion.” With that, Night stormed off in the direction of the track.

Ace stared in shock at what had just transpired. He was still speechless when a hand clamped down on his shoulder. Turning, Ace saw a guy with lemon-yellow skin and orange hair give him a sympathetic look.

“Can you believe what he just said?!” Ace muttered in disbelief.

The yellow guy sighed. “I’ve noticed for a while that Night doesn’t seem to like us, but man was that rude.”

“Hey, Blitz?”

“Hm?”

“I don’t… gloat too much, do I?”

Blitz gave Ace an amused look. “What makes you say that?”

Ace shrugged his shoulders, sighing. “I was just thinking, what if he’s right? Am I being too showy and making people upset?”

Blitz shook his head. “Not even close. It might not be a bad idea to reign it in a little, seeing as Night’s being so pissy, but he had no right to blow up like that. Seems to me like he’s got some issues to sort out.”

Ace gave a shrug in response, but appeared to be deep in thought for a moment. Suddenly, realization dawned on him. “Hey, Blitz, you go on ahead. I just remembered I forgot something in the locker.” Blitz nodded and jogged in the direction of the track, leaving Ace alone as he made his way back to the gym locker room.

It was lunchtime at Canterlot High School, and a group of five girls were seated at a table together, each with their trays of food in front of them.

“So, still no word on Sunset Shimmer?” Applejack asked.

“It doesn’t appear so, no,” Rarity replied. “Principal Celestia said she’d let us know any relevant information that the police releases. If she hasn’t come to us yet, then everything must still be under wraps.”

“At least we do know that Sunset Shimmer’s been missing because she was suspended,” Fluttershy supplied.

“Yeah, we just don’t know for how long or even her whereabouts,” Rainbow Dash stated. “How are we supposed to carry out Twilight’s task of befriending her if we don’t even know where she lives?”

“I reckon we’ll just have ta cross that bridge when we come to it,” Applejack said. “Celestia’ll prolly have somethin’ for us in a couple weeks. ‘Till then, we prolly shouldn’t worry ourselves over it.”

“Yeah!” Pinkie Pie spoke. “We have other things to worry about for now. Like Dashie’s detention yesterday.”

“Yeah, how did that go?” Applejack asked Rainbow. “Any problems with that boy?”

“Nah, everything’s good,” Rainbow answered. “Night’s actually an alright guy.”

“Well, that’s certainly a relief to hear,” Rarity said. “At least we’re not dealing with some ruffian.”

“Not at all. He was pretty sincere with his apology. By the way,” Rainbow Dash turned to Fluttershy. “He said he was interested in getting to know you. Just to be on a friendly basis with the person he tackled.”

“Well, he did seem nice when he was taking me to the nurse,” Fluttershy said. “I’m sure I wouldn’t mind meeting him.”

“Then go talk to him, silly!” Pinkie jumped in. “He’s right over there.” Pinkie pointed across the cafeteria, where Night and Tonal were sitting at their usual table, chatting.

“Wait,” interrupted Rainbow. “Yesterday, I invited him to come over to our table to talk to us, so I think he should do it first.”

“And, um… well… I don’t think I’d be comfortable… approaching a boy.”

“Sugarcube, nobody’s makin’ you go out there. You can just take it easy. You’ll probably meet up with him again at some point.”

Fluttershy smiled. “Thanks, Applejack.”

“Still, I thought he would have come over here by now,” Rainbow pouted. “Maybe he really doesn’t care?”

“He’s prolly just nervous,” Applejack defended. “Not everybody’s as easygoing as you, RD. Why don’t you just give it another day?”

While Rainbow Dash was grumbling to herself, Pinkie’s face lit up. “I know!” she cried. “How about we throw a party for him?”

“Darling, that’s your solution for everything,” Rarity said.

“Not everything,” Pinkie argued. “That would be the wrong answer to the fifteenth question on today’s math test, which, by the way, was F(b) - F(a) ≈ 0.7497.”

Rarity stared at Pinkie for a full ten seconds before finally blinking and shaking her head. “Okay, it’s your solution for everything social.”

“While I’m normally not opposed to a Pinkie Pie party, I ain’t so sure it’d be a good idea this time,” Applejack interjected. “I mean, if I’m right and Night ain’t comfortable ‘round mixed company, then I don’t think he’d be too keen on one of yer parties. I mean, he don’t know any of us, and barely even knows RD.”

Just as Pinkie’s hair was beginning to deflate, a quiet voice spoke up.

“Maybe something a bit more low-key? Like, a night out at a restaurant?”

Pinkie’s face lit up once again. “That’s a great idea, Fluttershy! We can all go to Applebuzz and just order appetizers!”

“Oh! Maybe Clyde could come along,” Rarity suggested.

“You’ll make any excuse to drag your boyfriend into everything, won’t you?” Rainbow snarked.

“Well, I think this is a good one. We want Night to be comfortable, so why not bring along some boys that he can relate to? Besides, he’ll need to get to know them sooner or later.”

Rainbow thought about Rarity’s argument for a moment before pointing a finger at her. “Alright, you win this one,” she conceded. “I’ll ask Riv later today.”

“Yay! Swiftie’s coming! This is going to be the most awesome low-key party ever!” Pinkie cheered.

...there are consequences.

“Goddamn, where the hell are my shoes?!”

Night frantically paced about the locker room. He was already changed into his running shorts and was ready to put on his running shoes. However, he was now scouring the room in his socks, trying to find his missing shoes. For some reason, they weren’t in his locker when he checked.

Night glanced at the clock on the wall that was protected by a mounted cage. It read 3:20. “Ah, fraggle,” he cursed. “The guys already left. I should really talk to Coach about letting us know the day before where we’re going next practice.”

Not sure what else to do, Night wandered into the adjacent bathroom. Even if he couldn’t run today, he might as well answer nature’s call since he was there. He started to pull down his pants as he pushed open a stall door, but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw it.

Inside the toilet was a single black and silver shoe. A running shoe. His running shoe.

Night’s mind went blank. The water was clear and unused, so he reached in and removed the shoe from the bowl. It was completely waterlogged and started dripping water back into the toilet in a consistent stream.

Curious, Night exited the stall and opened the adjacent stall’s door, dripping water on the floor the whole time. Confirming his suspicions, the other running shoe was placed inside the second toilet. Night removed that one as well. They hadn’t been placed in there recently; the way every bit was soaked despite half of the shoe being above the water’s surface indicated that they had been there for a few hours.

Night slowly walked out of the bathroom and back into the locker room. The shoes were totally unusable. It would take days for his shoes to dry out, and he didn’t have a second pair. He couldn’t run in his tennis shoes, and his spikes were at home.

“GODDAMMIT!” Night screamed as he hurled his shoes at the lockers as hard as he could. The sound of the shoes hitting the lockers was like two bombs going off. Splatters of water decorated the doors where the shoes had connected.

Night let out a deep sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Throwing a tantrum wasn’t going to solve anything—he knew that better than anyone. Still, it was hard to control his urges, and he didn’t always succeed, especially in the face of such misfortune. Grumbling under his breath, Night went to the paper towel dispenser and got enough to stuff and wrap both of his shoes individually. Once he completed his task, he placed his shoes in his backpack and threw it on the bench. Staring at the exit, Night cracked his neck.

“Like hell if something like the wrong shoes are going to stop me from practicing today.”

The park was a place that rested on the outskirts of town. Since the school was toward the middle of the city, getting there required navigating the several winding streets and neighborhoods. Just getting there was a two-mile trek, and the path the team usually took wound around its perimeter, which was another four miles.

As Night crossed the last main street before reaching the suburban neighborhoods, he couldn’t help but think about everything that led to this situation he was currently in. He was only a mile in and already his feet were sore, so he was sure to have blisters by the end of the day.

“Of course, that’s all because of the shoes I’m wearing now,” Night said to himself as his feet pounded the pavement. “Now the question is, who would put my… nah, there’s really no question about it. I guess I was kinda rude to Ace today, but that doesn’t justify it at all. That’s just low.

“Then again, why even dignify his actions with a response? He’s being petty, and I don’t need to acknowledge him. He’d probably like it if I did. I don’t need to prove anything to him. ‘Course, if that were true, idiot, you wouldn’t be so worked up over beating him. Which I am going to do, no question. But if I don’t…

“No dude. That’s stupid. That’ll just increase the odds that you will lose. C’mon, man, 17:30. 17:30, that’s gonna be your time. 17:30. Ace will be dreaming he could be as good as you. 17:30. You’re not going to lose to some whiny brat who threw a tantrum by ruining your shoes. 17:30. Right. You’re going to beat that son of aaaAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

Before Night could finish his undoubtedly vulgar sentence, he felt his left foot twist under his weight and slip out from beneath him. Caught off-balance, Night began to fall as his right leg came forward from his running rhythm. Unfortunately, because his left leg was no longer supporting him, the angle was completely wrong and he felt the top of his shoe scrape the sidewalk. There was no chance of recovering from this fall, and Night’s body knew it before his mind had even caught up. Squeezing his eyes shut, Night braced for the impact.

It hurt a lot more than he thought it would. The moment he made contact with the ground, Night heard the sickening sound of flesh scraping on stone. He could literally feel as little bits of himself were shredded off and left on the sidewalk. After sliding for what felt like a hundred feet, he finally skidded to a stop to the sound of loose gravel bouncing uncontrollably.

Night let out an agonized yell, trying his hardest to keep his profanity to a minimum. With a pained grunt, he managed to roll himself into the grass, where between shaky breaths with his teeth clenched shut, he inspected himself for any damage.

For the most part, he’d succeeded in protecting his face with his forearms. There was maybe only one or two nicks on his face, and his arms weren’t that bad either. The outermost layer of skin was scraped off his arms, and there were some pebbles lodged in his skin, but they were easy to brush off. The damage was mostly superficial.

The same could not be said for his knee, the source of the majority of his pain. One glance at his right leg, and Night knew he was in trouble. His entire knee had been scraped raw as generous amounts of blood was seeping from the wound. Trickles were quickly making their way to his sock and dyeing it red.

Dreading what he would see, Night looked at the sidewalk. He’d somehow not noticed an entire section that was poorly maintained and consisted mostly of loose gravel and pebbles. There was a human-sized imprint in the gravel that stretched about two or three feet and had a faint red trail running through it. It ended right in front of where Night sat.

Night tried his hardest to brush that whole ordeal off and either continue on his way or at least make his way back. However, as he tried to stand, he found that his leg was too weak and shaky to support his weight, and he fell back down. Groaning, he clawed at the grass, trying to alleviate his agony.

“Oh my goodness! You’re hurt!”

Night turned his head to face the direction of the voice. His eyes widened when he saw its source: a girl with a white top, a green skirt, and big, flowing pink hair.

It was the girl from yesterday.

She made her way over to Night’s side and knelt down, inspecting his knee closely. Night, unsure how to respond, didn’t move or say anything. He just stared at her, almost as if in a trance.

“This is pretty bad,” the girl concluded. “We need to get this treated right away.”

“W-what? No… no, no need, I’m fine,” Night insisted.

The girl glared at him. “You want to leave this gash uncovered and untreated? It’ll get infected, that’s for certain. No, just stay here and don’t move. My house is right across the street. I’ll just grab some supplies, and I’ll be right back.” She then turned and crossed the street, walking toward one of the houses’ entrances.

Night blinked a few times, stunned by the directness of the girl’s orders. This… this was the same girl that he’d tackled, right? The soft spoken and timid one? For some reason, this girl who’d just crossed the street carried herself differently, like she was confident and determined. In fact, she was a little intimidating when she gave her order.

Not willing to try his luck by disobeying, Night made no attempt to stand up. He did, however, notice a maple tree in the yard. After reasoning with himself that he wouldn’t be leaving the vicinity, Night crawled his way to the tree and propped himself against it, resting his back against the trunk. He leaned his head back and took some deep breaths, trying to get his breathing under control.

Out of the corner of his eye, Night saw the pink-haired girl exit one of the houses. Even at a distance, he could see that she carried a red first aid kit, a roll of paper towels, and two plastic bottles in her hands. Hurrying across the street, the girl got down next to Night and placed the supplies on the ground.

“So, did you fall on the sidewalk right there?” the girl asked.

Night stared at her, slightly baffled. “Um… uh… well, yeah. Yeah I did.” Night looked at the scrape more closely, and his eyes went wide with shock. Earlier he’d been distracted by the pain and the blood. Now that he was looking at it with full attention, he saw that it was caked in grass and dirt and even had bits of gravel and pebbles embedded in his flesh.

“It’s okay,” the girl soothed. “It looks worse than it actually is. This is pretty simple to treat. I first need to rinse it off.” She then grabbed one of the bottles, which was a plastic sports bottle, and aimed the nozzle at Night’s knee. Giving the bottle a squeeze, a moderately strong stream of water came shooting out. Night flinched slightly, but noticed that the dirt was coming loose and most of the pebbles were being swept away.

“So…” Night muttered. “You know what you’re doing?”

The girl looked him in the eye. “Of course. I’ve done this dozens of times with animals at the shelter, and plenty of times on other people as well. You’ve got nothing to worry about, Night.”

Night scratched the side of his face in embarrassment. “Well, thanks. This is going to sound really douchey, but… what was your name again?”

Fluttershy smiled gently as she unscrewed the top of the second bottle. “My name’s Fluttershy. Remember me from yesterday?”

Night chuckled. “Yeah, I definitely remember that.”

Fluttershy poured a small amount of the contents of the bottle onto a paper towel, then reached into the first aid kit and removed a pair of tweezers. She rubbed the tips with the towel, then proceeded to pick at Night’s wound. Night grimaced when the tweezers dug into his knee, trying to remove the smaller pebbles that hadn’t been dislodged. Rubbing alcohol, Night thought. That’s what the bottle is.

“So how long have you been at the school?” Fluttershy asked.

Night looked at her. “That’s… an odd question.”

Fluttershy suddenly flushed with embarrassment. “Oh! I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have asked something so personal. I just wanted to talk with you a little. It’s supposed to be relaxing for-”

“Hey, hold on a sec, it’s okay! I don’t mind answering at all. It just caught me a little off-guard is all.” Night looked up at the sky in contemplation. “Well, I’ve been at CHS since the beginning. If you haven’t seen me before, it’s because you hadn’t noticed me. The better—ow!—the better question is how long have I been here in Canterlot. My folks and I moved here when I was six. Before then, I lived in Manhattan and I just realized that I’m rambling since all you asked me was how long I’d been at our school and I ended up giving you my whole back story for some reason, so I’m going to shut up now. Right after I ask what you have in your hand.”

Fluttershy had already finished with the tweezers and now had a moist wipe of some kind in her fingers. “It’s an antiseptic. I need to sterilize the wound,” she said matter-of-factly. Her face then softened. “Just so you know, this is going to hurt a bit.”

“Thanks for the warning, but I’m sure I’ll be fiii-AAAAAAAGGGHH!” Night flinched violently as Fluttershy started wiping the scrape in a circle. “Oh… man that hurts more than I thought it would!”

“I’m so sorry!” Fluttershy squeaked. “But we need to do this. Just three more steps.” She then discarded the now bloody wipe and tore open a packet of ointment from the kit. Dabbing it gently on the wound, Night flinched a little, but managed to keep himself from squealing in pain.

“So…” Night stuttered through shaky breaths. “You’re really-! good at this-! huh? Gotta-! admit, I didn’t think you’d-! be so relaxed around blood.”

Fluttershy discarded the packet and reached for a gauze pad. “I don’t like it, but I have to be able to handle it for whenever an animal gets injured. I wouldn’t be a good vet if I can’t perform surgery. Now if you don’t mind, could you hold this in place for me?” Fluttershy was pressing the gauze against Night’s knee, which at this point had almost stopped bleeding. Night held it down with a free hand as Fluttershy produced a large bandage roll from the first aid kit.

“Geez, did you fit an ambulance in there?” Night joked, eliciting a slight smirk from Fluttershy. She shook her head in amusement, then started wrapping the bandage around the gauze and knee. “So, a vet, huh? Rainbow Dash said something about that, if I recall.”

“Oh, yes,” Fluttershy said with a smile. “I’ve wanted to be a vet for most of my life. I’ve always connected with animals easily, and what better to do than take care of them? They’re always so loving and appreciative, at least in the long run.”

“Oh, yeah? What about more difficult ones?”

Fluttershy paused with the bandage. “Actually, that almost never happens. Even the more restless ones that give the certified vets a hard time seem to calm down after I talk to them.”

Night smirked. “You know, I can see that. They’re responding not only to your tone, but the very energy you give off.”

Fluttershy pulled the bandage roll taught and revealed a pair of scissors. “Really? What makes you say that?”

“Well, for starters, you’re doing it to me right now.”

Fluttershy blinked a few times in surprise. “What?”

“Absolutely. There’s just something about you that’s just so… relaxing. You’d be great at calming down any patients, human or animal. Seems like you already found your calling.”

Fluttershy blushed slightly as she cut the bandage, then started securing it with some cloth tape from the kit. “Um… thank you,” she whispered.

Night glanced away. “And you didn’t even have to do this for me. I think this might be my comeuppance for yesterday.”

“That’s nonsense!” Fluttershy scolded. “What happened yesterday was an accident and nothing more.”She then dropped her voice and leaned closer. “I’m not mad about yesterday, and nobody deserves to get hurt like this. So I don’t want to hear you say that again.”

Night sighed with a sad smile on his face. “Thanks, but even so, I still feel bad about it.”

Fluttershy met his eyes. “Well, there’s no need for that because I forgive you. Now, I just finished up with your knee. How does it feel?”

Night turned his attention back to the injury, now covered securely by a white bandage. He tried bending it, but the bandage locked his leg in place. “Doesn’t hurt too bad anymore. I think I can stand up on it.” Night pushed against the trunk of the tree with his back and used it to slide himself onto his feet. This time, his leg didn’t give out, but a little pain still lingered.

Fluttershy nodded. “So long as you don’t put too much weight on it and do nothing other than light walking, it should heal very quickly.”

“Just light walking, huh?...Okay, yeah. Alright. Great. Wonderful. No problem. Super.”

Fluttershy frowned. “Well, um… it-it might come off as early as tomorrow,” she reassured him. “They need to be changed once a day anyway, so I’ll bring the kit to school tomorrow and take a look at it at the end of the day. Um, that is, if that’s alright with you…”

“Well, doctor’s orders,” Night joked. “Yeah, that, uh, that’d be great.” Suddenly Night found himself getting bashful. He glanced awkwardly to the side, blushing slightly. “Hey, listen,” he muttered. “I, um… I really appreciate this. Thanks. Thanks a lot.”

Fluttershy smiled warmly. “You’re welcome. Do you need to be somewhere now?”

Night looked up in thought. “Hmm… I’m obviously done training for today,” he muttered. “But I need to get back to the school before I go home…” He turned to Fluttershy. “Do you have a phone I could use?”

Fluttershy nodded and handed him her cell phone. Night punched a number into it and gave her an appreciative nod.

“Hey mom,” Night said into the phone. “Hi... Yes… Yes, I know it is… Well, I had a bit of an accident, so… No, not like that time in third grade… Mom, please… Seriously, please stop… Well, I fell and injured my knee, so if you could pick me up… Spruce Road… My stuff’s at the school, so if we could stop back there… It’s not that big a deal. I can’t run on it, but I can walk just fine… I’ll tell you the whole thing in the car, okay?... Alright, thanks. See you in fifteen… Love you too… Bye.” Night ended the call and handed the phone back to Fluttershy, grinning. “Thanks again. My mom’s coming soon, so I won’t be stranded here.”

Fluttershy giggled as she packed her supplies back into the kit. “Would you like me to wait with you?” she asked.

“Um… sure. If you want to,” Night said.

Fluttershy stood up next to him wordlessly as she held her hands behind her back. Night swayed awkwardly a bit since nothing to talk about was coming to mind. He glanced at the girl next to him, hoping she’d have something to say. Several minutes passed in uncomfortable silence. Fluttershy was swaying too, and her face looked… slightly distraught.

“Is something on your mind?” Night finally asked.

“Oh! I, um, well…” Fluttershy stuttered. “I… I guess, actually, yes.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. Well, see, I was… maybe… wondering if you… perhaps…” Fluttershy took a deep breath and looked Night directly in the eye. “I was wondering if you were busy Saturday night.”

Night’s eyes shot wide open and his face heated up. He was pretty sure he could hear the snapping of electricity as his brain short circuited. Where the hell had this come from?!

Fluttershy realized after a moment what she had just implied, and a look of sheer panic crossed her face. “No no no! I didn’t mean it like that! I wasn’t trying to- oh my, that’s so embarrassing! What I meant was-” Fluttershy stopped to breathe and calm her nerves. She continued in a much more controlled voice. “Rainbow Dash and I were talking to our friends about you, and they decided to throw a bit of a… welcome party.”

“Wait, really?”

Fluttershy nodded. “We decided we’d just go out to dinner at Applebuzz as a group. Rainbow was probably going to invite you tomorrow at lunch, but since you’re here, I… decided I’d ask you. So, are you available Saturday at six?”

“Alright, that does it,” Night said, turning to face Fluttershy directly. The abruptness startled her a bit, but the friendly smile on Night’s face calmed her down. Night began counting off with his fingers. “You withstood a tackle from me, you bandaged my knee, and now you’re inviting me to dinner with your friends, which, yes, I’d be happy to go. I don’t care whether or not you forgive me, I want to pay you back somehow, if only to show my appreciation.”

Fluttershy stared at Night in awe, blinking a few times as she digested his words. Finally, she said, “well, um… okay. What did you have in mind?”

Night opened his mouth to answer, but got caught on the first words. He scrunched his face into a pout and glanced at the ground. “Good question,” he mumbled. After a moment, though, something came to him. “Wait, you work at the animal shelter, right?”

Fluttershy gave a nod, slightly confused.

“So then, by any chance… do you know if… the shelter maybe… possibly accepts… volunteers?”

Fluttershy’s eyes lit up. “Oh, yes! The shelter always accepts volunteers, though they’ve been scarce lately. We’re always in need of an extra helping hand. Actually, I’m working tomorrow after school. We could go together and I could show you around. Um… unless you don’t want to, that is.”

Night laughed good-naturedly at her sudden shift in tone. “Yeah, actually, that’s perfect. I guess I’ll see you then.”

At just that moment, a familiar black car rounded the corner of the street. “Wow. Good timing,” Night commented. He turned to Fluttershy. “I guess I’m going now. So I’ll… see you tomorrow?”

“Okay then,” Fluttershy said softly, nodding. She picked her kit off of the ground and watched as the black car came to a stop in front of the two.

As Night started to open his door, he turned and called over his shoulder, “Hey Fluttershy. Thank you again. For everything.” He never heard her response, if she even gave one, because he slammed the door behind himself and let out a sigh.

“Who was that?”

Night glanced at the woman sitting in the driver’s seat of the car. She wore a business casual top with a thin, fashionable overcoat and long pants. Her fiery red hair flowed down to her shoulders, which contrasted her light, aqua-blue skin well.

“Hi mom. That was Fluttershy, a friend of mine.”

“Really?” Night’s mom asked, intrigued. “I’ve never seen you with her before. She’s awfully cute.”

Night looked out the window at the disappearing figure of Fluttershy walking away in the distance. “Um… yeah, I guess so,” Night admitted. He continued to watch her until she disappeared completely from view into her house. He sighed. “It’s weird though. I swear I’ve met her before, but I can’t for the life of me think where or when. Is that weird?”

“Maybe you have met her before. Why don’t you ask her the next time you see her?”

“Sure, maybe.”

“Now then,” his mother said, her tone suddenly becoming stern. “Do you mind explaining to me why you look like a soon-to-be amputee?”

After a tiring car ride of interrogations from his mother, Night managed to finish telling the whole story in the kitchen. Now that she would let him go, he glanced at the microwave’s clock and saw that it was 4:15. Plenty of time to get a short nap in before doing his homework. He could get up by 5:30 and finish before 7:00, provided there were no distractions between then.

Night’s eyes went wide as he remembered something important: Minuette was supposed to come over at 6:00. Sighing, he pulled out his phone as he approached the staircase leading to his bedroom.

Night: Hey Min. Sorry, but I had a bad day today and hurt my knee. I hate to do this, but could we reschedule for tomorrow maybe?

Night sent the text message and started heading to his room. He hadn’t even reached the top of the stairs before his phone buzzed in reply.

Min: What? What happened?

Night: Was running and fell and f***** up my knee. Taking care of it.

Min: Ill be right over

Night: What? No! It’s not a big deal. I don’t want to inconvenience you.

Min: Its not a problem. I can help you take care of it

Night: It’s already healing. Seriously, don’t waste your time.

Min: Are you sure?

Night: Yes. So what did you want to talk about? Can it be over the phone, or does it have to be in person?

Minuette didn’t reply right away. In fact, Night was staring at his phone for two whole minutes before he finally got her surprisingly short reply.

Min: Forget it

Night: What?

Min: Forget it

Night: Why?

Min: Doesnt matter

Night: Liar. You wanted to come over to talk about it. I know it’s a big deal.

Min: Just forget about it

Night: Are you sure?

Min: Yes. It doesnt matter anymore

Night: Well, okay. If you change your mind, please don’t hesitate to ask.

...

After a few more minutes of waiting with no reply, Night tossed his phone onto the bed. That had certainly been a strange conversation. Minuette had been oddly insistent on visiting him, even though he wouldn’t be able to hang out with her like they usually did. He’d tried to make that clear, but Minuette didn’t seem to care. Didn’t she get that he didn’t want to burden her with taking care of him? His knee will fix itself up soon anyway, so he didn’t want her to waste her time on him. Night felt guilty about postponing their discussion, but he knew it’d be lost by his injury. Minuette was the type of caring girl to focus on that type of thing, and he would hate to be the focus when the whole point of the meeting was about her.

“I just don’t get what she’s thinking,” Night mumbled to himself.

Minuette stared at the ceiling of her room with her head resting on her pillow. After Night’s last text, she’d placed her phone on the nightstand and stared off in disbelief for a solid ten minutes.

A soft knock on her door indicated someone about to enter, followed by the door gently opening. A middle-aged woman with light blue skin and sea foam color hair entered Minuette’s room. She wore a white lab coat over her scrubs and was slightly fatigued from a day of work.

“Hi, sweetie. How are you?”

Minuette sighed, her gaze never shifting from the ceiling. “Hi mom. Night’s being an idiot again.”

Author's Note

So, how about that last episode? Wasn't Minuette so adorable?! :rainbowkiss: :heart:

Angel the Devil

Nothing looks familiar to him at all. Twisting, turning paths branch and fork in seemingly every direction. The sun is low in the sky, making everything shady and unrecognizable.

He darts around frantically, calling for help. None comes to him. The once beautiful area is now cold and uninviting. Staying here is dangerous, but so is venturing any further. What is he to do?

He turns around to find that the path he was walking has disappeared. He’s never been the kind to admit he’s in over his head, but even he can’t deny what he’s feeling right now.

He’s terrified.

The snapping of twigs nearby makes him jump. He’s alert, but can’t make anything out in the foliage. What if this place has bears? Or wolves? Or other creatures that will swoop in and eat him when he’s defenseless?

Not knowing what else to do, he curls up on the ground and starts to cry.

Ruby DeJure hummed to herself softly as the sound of sizzling pancake batter hit the skillet. It had been some time since she’d tried her hand at pancakes. She blamed that on someone else in the household. Though she was never very good in the kitchen, she still loved the excitement of making things.

“Well, I’d better go now,” said Sales Pitch, a tall man with deep purple skin in a uniform shirt. “I’ll see you Sunday.”

“Bye, honey,” Ruby said, placing a kiss on his lips. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’m sure you’ll have fun. Oh, I won’t see him until tonight, so tell him I said ‘good luck,’ okay?”

“Will do,” Ruby said, smiling. “Take care.”

With that, Sales left the house, leaving Ruby alone in the kitchen. She flipped the pancake and inspected her work. A little overdone, but not bad for the first one of the batch. She stacked it on a serving plate and started preparing a second one.

Within a few minutes, Ruby could hear thumping on the stairs. She turned to see her son standing at the kitchen’s entrance, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

“Wassup, mom?” Night mumbled. “Those pancakes? What’s the occasion?”

“Well, today’s my day off, so I figured you’d like a special breakfast for the day.”

“Awesome-sauceome. I’d never turn down pancakes.”

“But first,” Ruby said with a stern look. “You need to get dressed.”

“Aww, come on, I’m decent.” Night gestured to his body, which was being covered by nothing more than a single pair of boxer shorts.

“No you’re not. Now get dressed.”

With a huff, Night rolled his eyes and turned. “Not like you’ve never seen me naked before.”

“That was back when you were still peeing the bed!”

As Night got dressed in his room, Ruby finished making the stack of pancakes for the two of them. She’d just finished setting the table when Night came back, clad in jeans, a tee shirt, and a lightweight jacket.

“Much better,” Ruby noted. “Now please, have a seat.”

“Thanks,” Night said as he sat down. He started digging into the food laid before him. “Fo whaf’s vrilly vee occavion?” Night asked with his mouth full.

“Pardon?”

Night swallowed. “Breakfast. Even on your days off, you rarely make me breakfast. Usually you ask me to cook you pancakes.”

“But you’re so good at it!” Ruby whined.

“Beside the point. I figure you’ve got something awesome going on. So what’s up?”

Ruby sat down at the table and poured herself some coffee. “Well, actually, my girlfriends and I are going out this weekend. I’ll be leaving myself in just a couple hours.

Night nodded. “Ah. One of those wine-tasting tours you enjoy going on?”

“You know it.”

“Alright, well, have fun. You already know my weekend plans.”

Ruby’s eyes lit up. “That’s right. Your father wanted to wish you good luck.”

Night raised an eyebrow. “‘Good luck?’ For what?”

“For tonight, of course,” Ruby said slyly, a smile creeping onto her face. “You’re finally going on a date with someone!”

“Ugh,” Night groaned. “I knew it was a mistake telling you. It’s not a date. We’re just going as friends. Hell, I don’t think you can even call us that, seeing as we’ve only talked-”

“What did you just say?”

A chill ran down Night’s spine. Trembling, he slowly looked up at his mother across the table. Ruby’s face had noticeably darkened, and her eyes glowed dangerously bright. Night gulped when he saw the ominous aura radiating from her body, making her look like a villain out of a shonen anime.

“I-I mean…”

“Did I just hear you cuss?”

“I’m sorry, mom!” Night pleaded, squeezing his eyes shut and bowing his head so that his face was almost in his breakfast. “That was careless of me, and it won’t happen again. I am above using vulgar slang, and I will not repeat the offending word in this household again!”

“Hmm…” Ruby mused, her eyes half-lid in contemplation. “Alright, I’ll let this one slide, since the word was rather tame.”

“Thanks mom,” Night whispered.

“Now then,” Ruby said with a smile, having cheered up immensely. “Will you be wearing something different tonight? You’re never going to impress a girl with that. Except maybe for-”

“No, mom, I’m not, because I’m not trying to impress anyone. Besides, we’re going to an animal shelter. Why would I wear something nice only for it to get scratched or pi- peed on?”

“Well, okay, do what you want,” Ruby pouted. “I’m only speaking from experience and what I’d like to see if I were in her shoes.”

“So you’ve thought about how I’d look if I were to go out with you.”

Ruby gave her idiot son a deadpan stare. “Your attempt to make things awkward failed,” she responded.

Night grinned. “Darn. I’m getting rusty.”

The rest of the morning went by as normal. Once Night had finished brushing his teeth and packing his lunch, he went up to his mom and gave her a hug.

“Bye mom. Have fun this weekend. I’ll see you when you get back,” he said.

“Thanks sweetie. I will. You have fun on your non-date, as well as your actual date tomorrow,” she joked.

Night rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Sure thing,” he responded.

Ruby then placed a kiss on the center of Night’s forehead. He wasn’t sure why, but it was the one gesture of hers that didn’t embarrass him, even in public. There was just something about it that filled him with calm.

“I love you,” said Ruby.

“Love you too,” Night replied. With that, he made his way to the front door.

Just as he was about to leave, Ruby called, “Wait, Night?”

Night looked back at his mom. “Yeah?”

Ruby stared at Night for a moment before finally saying something.

“Good luck.”

Night gave her a funny look. “That again? Uh… yeah, sure. Okay, bye.” Night then stepped out of the house and shut the door behind him.

Ruby was left standing alone in the house, staring at the door where her son had been only a moment ago. After a full minute of silence, she spoke.

“Good luck with Minuette.”

As Miss Cheerilee droned on about about the literary significance of some dead author or another, Night’s mind wandered elsewhere. Minuette hadn’t met him on the sidewalk that morning. Considering her studious nature, it seemed unlikely that she’d decided to cut class, so chances were pretty good that she was here. She either left early or was dropped off by her mom, despite the dentist’s office being in the opposite direction from the school. It wasn’t the first time something like that had happened, for various reasons, but it was still unusual.

So she was still mad at him for rescheduling. Night hated making Minuette upset, but what choice did he have? Still, they’d endured worse, so it would surely only be another few days before the tension between them disappeared. Everything would be back to normal by Monday.

Shifting in his seat, Night reached down and rubbed the bandage on his leg through his jeans. Though he hadn’t taken the bandage off, the scrape was healing quite nicely. With a little luck, Fluttershy would be able to take it off for good by the end of the day. Too bad the damage had already been done: Night had texted Coach Soarin last night about his minor injury. Coupled with the days of practice he’d missed, Night was ineligible to compete at the meet in Appleloosa tomorrow.

Sighing, he laid his head on the desk and closed his eyes. At least the next two days would be interesting. He had never been to an animal shelter before. Maybe tonight would be pretty cool. And seeing Fluttershy in her comfort zone was sure to be a sight.

“Am I keeping you up, Mr. Chase?”

Night groaned, lifting his head to face his teacher. Half of the class laughed. “Sorry, Miss Cheerilee. Won’t happen again.”

It was lunchtime and the girls were sitting at their usual table. Rainbow Dash was the last to arrive, smacking her tray of food down hard enough to get her friends’ attention.

“Guys, I need you to listen to the greatest idea in the history of ever.”

“Please tell me this isn’t another one of your extreme sports ideas,” Rarity moaned. “We don’t want you getting hurt again over something so foolish.”

“For the record, baseball would be cooler on skateboards while wearing football equipment, but that’s not the point. I think we should start a band!”

“A band?” The four girls looked at Rainbow with confusion.

“An’ why’s that?” Applejack asked.

“Well, I got the idea last night when Rivet played some guitar for me,” Rainbow explained. “He let me try it out a little, and I totally got how to play it! It was super-easy, and he said I was a natural at it. I think he might have even been a little jealous…”

“Well, that’s great, but why does that mean we have to form a band?” Applejack questioned.

“Um, duh? You need a group to have a band. I mean, I could obviously carry the band myself, but it would be really neat if we could all play together.”

“Oh, I don’t know, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy whispered. “I’m not particularly good at any instrument.”

“It’s fine,” Rainbow reassured her. “You can play something simple if you want. I was actually thinking that we would be the lead songwriters.”

“That sounds fun!” Pinkie cheered. “I call drums! I can totally hit those drums with those sticks!”

“Hang on a sec, sugarcube. I don’t think this is a great idea. I mean, instruments are pricey, and is there really any reason to form a band in the first place?”

“Come on, AJ, it’s just for fun. Stop making it such a big deal.”

“Well, why don’t we bring it up with the boys tomorrow?” Rarity suggested. “Maybe they’ll have some ideas.”

“Oh, that’s right!” Rainbow realized. “We still need to invite Night or this whole thing will be pointless.”

“Um, actually Rainbow-”

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy, I won’t ask you to invite him. I know you don’t feel comfortable doing something like that. I’ll take care of it.”

“But Rainbow-”

Before Fluttershy could finish, Rainbow Dash was already gone. Fluttershy sighed and returned her attention to the rest of her table. Everyone else watched as their friend went to the table across the cafeteria and chatted to the dark-skinned boy. They tried to stifle their giggles when they saw Rainbow Dash physically recoil in response to something Night said to her. They immediately pretended to make small talk amongst themselves when Rainbow started making her way back. Rainbow stood next to Fluttershy’s seat, her eyes wide, jaw dropped, and totally silent. Fluttershy slowly looked up at her best friend.

“No way…”

Fluttershy gave a sheepish grin.

“You talked to him on your own?!” Rainbow cried in disbelief.

“Good fer you, sugarcube!”

“And she’s even taking him to the animal shelter after school today!” Rainbow added. “How is that even possible?!”

“Ooh!” Rarity noted. “Could it possibly be a daaaaaaate? Are the two of you going oooooout?”

“N-NO!” Fluttershy squealed, completely flustered and hiding behind her hair.

“Oh, relax darling, I’m only teasing you. But now I simply must know how you met with him yesterday.”

Fluttershy sighed. “O-okay, here’s what happened…”

“Yo! Sorry for the wait,” Night said as he jogged up to the courtyard statue where Fluttershy was waiting. “I had to tell Coach Soarin something, but we’re good now.”

“Okay, so you’re ready to go, then?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yep. Lead the way.”

The two began their walk toward the shelter in the same direction as the neighborhood where Fluttershy lived. That must have been convenient for her, not having to go out of her way to get to work from either her house or her school.

“So, how is your knee?” Fluttershy asked.

“Oh, it’s doing a lot better. Halfway through, I actually forgot that I had it on. I haven’t taken it off yet though, so I don’t know how it looks.”

Fluttershy nodded with a smile. “Good. I’m glad you’ve kept it on this whole time. Rainbow Dash always tries to take her bandages off too early.”

“Yeah, I can see that. She does seem a bit stubborn. And of course they won’t heal right if they’re not bandaged.”

“Right! That’s what I keep telling her, but she doesn’t want to listen.”

Night laughed. “Sounds like she’s being childish. But I’m sure she just doesn’t want you to worry.”

“Probably,” Fluttershy admitted with a chuckle. “Anyway, I’ll clean it and replace the bandage if necessary when we get to the shelter.”

“Alright, thanks,” Night said with a nod. The two then continued to walk in silence, the only sound being their shoes on the sidewalk and the occasional stray car.

After a full minute of this, Night started to feel awkward. Why the hell could he never seem to hold a conversation with people? He mentally berated himself after he momentarily considered cracking a joke about tackling her. He was sick of bringing that topic up, and she was probably not interested in hearing about it again. Why was he so bad at talking about new things? Night hated feeling like this as he typically did, but this time was even worse because this was Fluttershy.

...Huh? Why did that make it worse? What was so unique about Fluttershy? What made her any different from the dozens of people he didn’t talk to on a daily basis? Sure, he’d gotten unintentionally physical with her—goddammit, he thought of that again—but she was just another face in the crowd.

...Right?

Night cleared his throat awkwardly to get Fluttershy’s attention. “Hey, um, this is… gonna sound a little weird, but… by any chance…” Night looked away, blushing slightly. “Have… have we met before?”

Fluttershy looked at Night quizzically. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean before this past Wednesday. I feel like I’ve seen you before, but I can’t place it. Do you remember me from somewhere or know anything about this? Maybe why you look familiar to me?”

Fluttershy scrunched her face in deep thought. She looked really cute when she was thinking hard.

Wait, what?

“Well, maybe you’re thinking of when my friends and I took down Sunset Shimmer at the Fall Formal. The whole school saw us.”

Night stopped in his tracks and said nothing. He just stood there, staring into space, unmoving and unresponsive. Fluttershy started to skitter about as his odd behavior was making her anxious.

“N-Night?”

Finally Night blinked. He turned to look at Fluttershy with a blank, straight face. “Yeah. I, uh… Yeah. I guess you were there. That must be it.”

“Night?”

“Well, okay, whatever. That’s cool. Guess that explains that.”

Fluttershy took a step back. “Night? Are you okay?”

“Hmm? Yeah, I’m fine. So, you mind telling me a little about what I’ll be doing at the shelter? This’ll be my first time there.”

Fluttershy hesitated at first, but finally she shook her head and continued walking alongside Night. “Well, since this is your first day, you’ll most likely be helping with stocking shelves and feeding the animals. The more advanced things are done by the employees.”

“Makes sense,” Night shrugged. “Now, you’re an employee, right? So what will you be doing?”

“Mostly the same things as you, but a little bit of working with the animals too. I’m not yet certified to actually treat the animals, but the staff like having me in the room. I suppose it’s good for me to see how it works for myself, and they also say the animals are calmer when I’m with them.”

Night laughed. “See? I was right!”

This made Fluttershy giggle, plastering a sweet smile across her face. For an instant, Night thought that he’d like to capture that moment when he made her laugh, and maybe, just maybe, make her laugh more times to come.

When Night and Fluttershy entered the animal shelter, they were greeted by a young receptionist at the front desk.

“Oh, hi there Fluttershy!” the woman greeted with a smile. “Who’s this you brought in?”

“Hello, Felicia. This is my classmate, Night Chase. He’ll be volunteering for the afternoon.”

“Wonderful!” Felicia beamed. “It’s been too long since we’ve had any extra help here.” She turned her attention to Fluttershy’s guest. “I’ll just need you to sign some forms here, and then we can get you started.”

“A'ight, cool. Can’t wait.”

As Night finished signing the paperwork while Fluttershy went to the back to get into her uniform, he noticed a little fuzzball sitting on the desk. He jumped when it opened its eyes and stared daggers at him.

“Gah! Ugh, jeez. What’s that, a rabbit?”

“Oh, that’s Angel,” Felicia explained. “He’s Fluttershy’s pet.”

“Really? Huh. Weird name for a guy. Well then.” Night lowered his head so that he was at eye level with Angel. The rabbit’s glare did not waver. “Hey there, guy. I’m Fluttershy’s friend. I'm-”

*SLAP*

Night was suddenly staring at the wall to the side, his eyes wide with shock and his left cheek stinging from the paw-shaped mark imprinted on his face. He waited a full three counts before he slowly creaked his neck back so he was facing the rodent. His glare was met with one just as intense.

“I know you didn’t just do that,” Night growled. “Behave like that, and we’re gonna have a problem, you and I. So here’s what I suggest: You never do that again, and I’ll be willing to overlook this little incident. So how about it? Do we have a-”

*SLAP*

“ALRIGHT, GET OVER HERE!!!”

Angel tore off into the room behind the desk, and Night gave chase while Felicia started howling with laughter. Angel darted into the women’s changing room and Night skidded to a halt. Sure, he may have been overcome with the desire to throttle the little bastard, but there was no way he was running in there. There were 43,000 possible different outcomes, and he was not liking his odds of getting a good one.

“Ah!” A soft voice let out a yelp from behind the door. “Angel! You startled me! You’re not supposed to come in when I’m changing.”

Night’s face went red and he gently smacked his forehead against the stone wall, simultaneously happy and pissed at the image that was suddenly put in his head. He walked out of the employee room and back into the lobby. Felicia was still trying to stifle her giggles at the situation.

“I should have mentioned that he doesn’t take very kindly to new people,” she stated.

“Yes, you should have.”

A few minutes later, Fluttershy stepped out into the lobby wearing her white uniform. Night would have commented on the outfit or mentioned how good she looked if that long-eared rat hadn’t been sitting on her shoulder at that moment.

“Night, I’d like you to meet Angel, my pet bunny and longtime friend. Angel, this is Night, my classmate.”

Night and Angel stared each other down for a few seconds, neither’s gaze wavering. “Charmed,” Night said through a forced smile and clenched teeth. Angel responded by jumping into the breast pocket of Fluttershy’s uniform and snuggled up.

“Oh! Angel, you know you’re not supposed to go there,” Fluttershy giggled.

Oh my god, Night thought. He’s actually taunting me.

“Thanks for waiting, Night,” Fluttershy said, oblivious to the silent duel that had just occurred. “I’ll take a look at your knee in the back, and then we’ll get started.”

Night shrugged. “Right. Thanks again.” He was ready to move on from that unpleasant encounter. Still, from the sound of things, Angel was here to stay. Night had a nagging feeling that he hadn’t seen the last of him, but that could wait. For now, Night was ready to do what he could to help out.

The next four hours went by relatively smoothly. After cleaning his wound and replacing his bandage, Fluttershy showed him around the shelter. He spent most of his time running about, performing simple tasks like changing blankets and filling food bowls for the animals. There was one Labrador that had been brought in to get some shots. He was a feisty one, so Fluttershy was asked to assist with the process. Night couldn’t enter, but the barking he’d been hearing for the past ten minutes had completely ceased, so he guessed that the girl had worked her magic.

To Night’s relief, Angel hadn’t bothered him the whole time he was working. He supposed that even Angel knew that messing with people while they were caring for animals could lead to some bad results. Regardless of whoever benefited the most from it, Night was happy. He’d worked jobs in the past with irritable coworkers before. Before he knew it, 7:30 was rolling around.

“Looks like we’ll be saying goodbye soon,” the head veterinarian commented. Night was resting in the break room when the doctor had walked in. His name tag read “Dr. Stable.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Night replied. “Kind of a shame. I actually really enjoyed it here.”

“Glad to hear that. Looks like Fluttershy found us a great helper.”

“Well, I never half-ass anything I do.”

“And we’re greatly appreciative of your efforts. That’s actually why I stopped by.”

“Well, you’re very welcome,” Night said with a smile. “I’ll have to do this again sometime.”

“We’d love to have you again,” the doctor replied. “So as thanks for your help today, we’d like to offer you a one-on-one session with any one of the animals.”

“Huh?”

“This is normally a thing we do with people interested in adopting a pet, usually a cat or a dog,” Dr. Stable explained. “It gives the soon-to-be owners a chance to play with the pet and decide if they'd like to take it home. There’s a room here we use specifically for that session.”

Night looked at him with curiosity. “When you say ‘play,’ what do you mean?”

“We take the pet in its cage into the room, and then let it out after the door is closed. It would just be you, one of the doctors, and whichever animal you selected. There’s an assortment of toys the two of you can use.”

Night paused for a moment before a grin started spreading across his face. “You know, I think I’m liking this place more and more by the second.”

“So is that a yes?”

“Definitely. In fact, I already know which one I’d like.”

“Fantastic. I’ll let the staff know, and I’ll come and get you once everything is ready.”

“Uh, wait, just a second,” Night interjected. “I was- I was wondering if I could ask a favor of you.”

“Certainly,” the doctor replied with a smile. “What is it?”

“Do you think… maybe… I could have…” Night blushed a little as he formed the next words. “...Fluttershy in the room instead?”

The doctor frowned. “I beg your pardon?”

Night started stumbling over his words. “I just- see, it’s like- um… ah… not- not like…” He cleared his throat and caught his breath. “It’s just that… I’d like Fluttershy to be there. She brought me here, and I just think it’d be nice if we shared that together.”

The doctor raised an eyebrow. “Fluttershy told me that you volunteered of your own volition.”

“Well… yes. But I wouldn’t have if not for her.”

Dr. Stable thought for a minute. “Well… technically it’s a safety violation to not have an official, licensed, full-time staff member present… but we all know Fluttershy is qualified, and if not for those reasons, nobody here would object to that.” He thought some more. “Alright, fine. We will bend the rules this one time. But know that I will be supervising through the window.”

Night smiled and nodded. “I understand. Thank you very much.”

The doctor left the room and Night slouched back into his seat. As exciting as the session sounded, he was oddly distracted by something else pervading his thoughts.

Why was I insistent on being with Fluttershy? Yeah, I’m grateful to her, but what am I trying to accomplish? Am I thanking her? That doesn’t make sense. ‘Hey, watch me have fun playing with a puppy. Oh, BTW, thanks.’ What the hell? And the puppy I saw wasn’t really aggressive, so it's not like I'm afraid to be in the room with him without her there to calm him down.

What am I doing?

Why do I keep thinking of her?

Just then, the door opened, and Fluttershy stepped through. Her uniform was a little dirty and her hair slightly frazzled from a day’s work, but despite everything, she still looked great. She greeted Night with a smile.

“Dr. Stable told me what you asked. I’d be happy to go in with you.”

You know what? Forget it. Who cares? All I know is I’ve been enjoying the time we’ve spent together, and I’d like to keep it that way.

“Great. Thanks,” Night returned. The two left the room and browsed the room filled with kennels, each containing a puppy less than three months old. The selection was vast, and several were very tempting, but Night was already dead-set on the chocolate brown lab he’d seen earlier. Sitting right next to a purple and green dog of some sort was an adorable little brown ball of fluff. When it saw him, it immediately got up and started pawing at the cage door of the kennel, panting with joy.

Fluttershy, who was carrying the puppy’s kennel, and Night entered the private room in the back with the glass windows. Dr. Stable waved from behind the glass with a clipboard in hand. When the door shut behind them, Night sat on the tile floor on his knees. Fluttershy undid the lock and opened the cage door. The puppy bolted out and ran up to Night, standing on its hind legs while its front legs pawed at his torso.

Night played with the puppy for some time. It was particularly fond of the chew toy, which Night enjoyed waggling above the puppy’s head just beyond its reach. This unfortunately meant that the puppy gnawed at his hand on occasion, but he knew it was just playing.

To nobody’s surprise, the puppy took well to Fluttershy too. Night encouraged her to play as well, and it discovered that her fingernails were perfect for scratching those hard-to-reach places. Both of them laughed when it flopped onto its back in a state of delirious ecstasy after being scratched right above the tail.

Night looked at Fluttershy, who was currently demonstrating for him how to hold the puppy in his arms, similar to holding a baby. “Hey, Fluttershy?” She looked up at him. He sighed. “I just wanted to say… thanks. I’m glad you brought me here.”

She smiled at him. “No, thank you for deciding to come. The staff was really happy with you.”

“I was made aware of that, yes,” Night laughed. “But really, I mean it. Thank you for bringing me here. I really… had a great time.”

Fluttershy’s cheeks were tinged with pink. “You’re welcome. So, did you know that this little guy doesn’t have a name yet?”

“Really?”

“That’s right. So far, he’s just been called by his number assigned when he came here, Number 121.”

“Maybe I’ll call him '11 Squared.'”

“What?”

“Terrible, terrible math joke. I don’t know why I said that out loud. Please pretend I never said that out loud.”

Fluttershy giggled and held the puppy out for Night to take. He was apprehensive at first, but then found that holding it in his arms was actually pretty easy. The little guy burrowed into Night’s chest and closed his eyes.

“Aww, hey l'il guy,” Night cooed. “Are you getting sleepy? It’s almost 8:00. That’s past your bedtime, isn’t it? We can’t have that………… Brando.” Night looked at Fluttershy. “Brando,” he repeated.

“Aww, that’s an interesting name.”

“Well, it just seemed right.”

“Why’s that?”

Night blushed. “It’s a little embarrassing.”

“What is it?” Fluttershy asked, deeply curious.

Night sighed. “I thought… he looked like a bowl of bran flakes.”

Air squeaked out from Fluttershy’s mouth as she tried to cover her laughter with her hand. Night’s face flushed red and he turned away.

“I’m sorry,” Fluttershy managed to say between breaths. “It’s just that that’s a first hearing something like that.”

“Hang out with me long enough, and I guarantee I’ll top it with something worse.”

“I like it though. You’re right. He really does look kind of like bran flakes.”

Time was up for the one-on-one session, so Night gently placed Brando into his kennel, and the two returned him. After Fluttershy changed back into her regular clothes and both of them wished the staff good night, the staff reciprocating, Night and Fluttershy exited the animal shelter and stood for a moment in the crisp night air.

“Do you think you’ll come again?” Fluttershy asked.

Night laughed. “After all that, good luck keeping me away! So… do you need me to walk you home?” he offered.

“That’s alright. I live very close by. I’m more worried about you getting back. Don’t you live further away?”

“Please. I’ll be fine. If I get jumped, I’ll just run! Nobody can catch me!”

Fluttershy didn’t laugh. Stealing a glance at her, Night saw that there wasn’t any humor on her face. Night sighed to calm himself down, then continued in a much more serious voice. “We both know this is a safe neighborhood, and you know I can handle a little hike home.” He paused for a moment, thinking. “How about this: I’ll text you when I get home so you’ll know that I got back safe, okay?”

“But we don’t have each other’s numbers.”

“Oh… well… do you want to exchange numbers?”

“Um… o-okay,” Fluttershy murmured.

After the two put the other’s number in their phone, they stood and faced each other awkwardly.

“Um… alright then. I guess I’ll see you around.”

“W-wait!” Fluttershy called. “Are you still coming to Applebuzz tomorrow?”

Night smacked his forehead. “Oh, right! Definitely. Now… wait, what was the plan? Are we all just meeting up at the restaurant on our own?”

“I believe so, yes.”

“Ah… okay. Great. I’ll see you at six. Be safe.”

“You too,” Fluttershy wished. With that, the two went their separate ways to their homes, prepared to face what would surely be an eventful tomorrow.

[30 minutes later]

Night: Told you I’d be fine. :3

Fluttershy: Thank goodness. I’ll see you tomorrow! :)

Slumber 101

Minuette sighed. Despite the atmosphere, which consisted of rock music, pizza, ice cream, and a kick-ass superhero movie with costumed movie stars playing in the background, she wasn't feeling the energy in the room. She didn't even look up when two girls there started arguing whether Cole Evans or Richard Downey Jr. was the hotter guy. Instead, she busied herself with her phone, scrolling through the latest Stumblr posts.

"Hey, Minny! You there?"

Minuette snapped out of her trance and looked at the blindingly yellow girl with sky-blue hair. She was about six inches away from her face, staring intently. Behind her stood two other girls, one with puffy bright pink hair and the other with straight burgundy and violet hair, the latter of whom also wore a set of thick-rimmed glasses. All three of them were looking at Minuette with concern.

Minuette smiled and put her phone away. “Yeah. Sorry girls, what were we talking about?”

The bright yellow girl named Lemon Hearts stared at her intensely with a frown. “Alright, spill. What’s bugging you?”

“W-what?”

“It’s just that you’re normally the life of the party,” the pink-haired girl named Twinkleshine commented. “You’re always joking around with the rest of us, so for you to be on your phone is raising some red flags.”

“Between the four of us, we all know that I’m the most likely to keep to myself,” the girl with the glasses stated. “But I’m livening up the party more than you tonight, so obviously something’s not right here. What gives?”

“Ugh, Moondancer, you’re being accidentally rude again,” Lemon Hearts scolded. She turned her attention back to Minuette. “She has a point though.”

“Girls, I’m fine,” Minuette insisted. “There’s nothing wrong. Sorry for making you worry. I’ll join the party now.”

“You liar,” Twinkleshine said, squinting at Minuette with suspicion. “You’re hiding something from us, and I intend to find out. So why don’t you tell us what it is before I…” Twinkleshine cracked her fingers. “...Force it out of you?”

“You wouldn’t.”

Twinkleshine snapped her fingers. In an instant, Minuette found herself trying to fight off Lemon Hearts and Moondancer at the same time as they started to pin her arms and legs against the bed. As she struggled, Twinkleshine loomed over her with a malicious grin.

“N-no, wait-! Please n-hahahaHAHAHAHAHAHA-!”

Deaf to her pleas, Twinkleshine swooped in and started viciously tickling Minuette all over. Minuette struggled and gasped for air between laughs, but couldn’t break free from the three-pronged attack. As she thrashed about, tears started to form in the corners of her eyes. Of all people, why did it have to be her closest friends who knew how ticklish she was?

“AHAHAHAHA *gasp* Alright, I give up! I-HAHAHAHA-I’ll tell you! Stop!”

Twinkleshine backed off with her assault, and Lemon Hearts and Moondancer let go of her limbs. The three had fallen into a laughing fit of their own, slowly coming down as Minuette caught her breath. Once everyone had relaxed, Minuette silently groaned at having been completely had and now having to confess.

“Okay,” Minuette said while wiping a stray leftover tear from her eye. “You girls are right. Something has been bothering me. You all know Night, right?”

The three gave each other a funny look, communicating silently, before they looked back at Minuette. “Uh, yeah, we’re familiar with him,” Moondancer stated.

“We’ve known him as long as we’ve known you,” Lemon Hearts added.

Minuette’s face flushed red with a slight purple tinge. “See, the thing is… I might… actually… have a bit of… a crush on him.”

Minuette looked at the faces of her friends to gauge their reactions. What the saw was not anything she’d expected. All three of them were staring at each other with looks of bewilderment. Finally, Twinkleshine coughed and spoke.

“Um, that’s what you wanted to tell us?”

“N-no! I mean, that’s part of it. I’m actually… Wait, what’s that supposed to mean?”

Lemon Hearts let out a sigh. “About you liking Night. We… kind of assumed that was already common knowledge.”

“You what?!” Minuette shrieked, turning even redder than before.

“Saying you were obvious about it would be an understatement,” Moondancer deadpanned. “I mean, is that your idea of keeping it under wraps? Spend every moment together whenever possible? If you actually had any classes together, I’d think you two were connected at the hip.”

Hearing that made Minuette flush harder than she had ever before in her life, making Moondancer pinch the bridge of her nose in annoyance. “Ah, geez, not like that. Point is, we know you have a crush on Night. So what’s the problem?”

Minuette might have answered the question if she wasn’t busy dealing with the tears that were falling from her eyes. With a sob, she buried her face into the pillow.

“Moondancer!” Twinkleshine cried in disbelief. “I can’t believe you! How could you say that to her?”

Moondancer nervously stuttered, “But… but-I mean… we all-”

“It doesn’t matter that we all knew. That was a really insensitive thing to say!”

While Twinkleshine scolded Moondancer, Lemon Hearts leaned against the bed and started rubbing Minuette’s shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay. Moondancer didn’t mean it like that. That’s just her way of looking out for you. We’re all looking out for you. We’d like to see you end up with Night too.”

“Yeah,” Moondancer spoke up. She walked over and stood at the side of the bed. “I’m sorry I worded that so harshly, Minuette. It’s just that we have noticed and are surprised that nothing’s happened yet.”

Minuette mumbled something unintelligible into the pillow, prompting Lemon Hearts to lean in and say, “What was that?” Minuette then turned her head so that half of her face was still smothered by the pillow, but she could now speak clearly out of the corner of her mouth. Her eye was damp and had left a streak on the pillow.

“That’s just it,” Minuette drawled. “I don’t think Night’s ever going to see me that way.”

Twinkleshine leaped over Minuette onto the other side of the bed and sat down next to her. “That’s crazy. Why do you think that?”

“Because apparently I’ve been announcing that I like him with a giant, neon sign, and he still hasn’t noticed!” The girls flinched as Minuette rolled onto her back to speak more easily. “I was supposed to met him yesterday so I could tell him, but he cancelled because he got hurt at practice! I said I’d see him anyway so that I could take care of it for him and confess at the same time, but he insisted I didn’t. And then he has the nerve to ask me if we could talk on Saturday. Gee, I don’t know! Are you sure I wouldn’t be getting in the way of you doing absolutely nothing?!”

Minuette grabbed the second pillow on the bed and pressed it on her face, sandwiching her head, and moaned. Her friends waited in silence for a few moments for her to calm down. Meanwhile on the T.V., an action scene began to unfold. The girls had left the movie running in their haste to get to Minuette, so the scene had continued without them. Lifting the pillow slightly, Minuette could see a man dressed in flamboyant reds, whites, and blues carrying a large, circular shield out of the corner of her eye. He was surrounded by a group of four aliens, but he used his martial arts skills to beat the crap out of all of them himself. The last one he punched in the face so hard that it went flying thirty feet into a parked car, causing the vehicle to crumple under the impact.

Minuette tossed the pillow aside and sat up, giving a sheepish grin. “That’s Night’s favorite scene.”

“Huh?”

“The part where Captain Freedom punches the alien in the face. That’s Night’s favorite superhero, so he loves scenes that make him look awesome because he’s overshadowed by all the other heroes.”

“How do you know that?” Lemon Hearts asked.

Minuette rolled her eyes. “I’ve known Night since first grade. I’m not sure I could list ten things I don’t know about him.”

“You know what, Minuette?” Twinkleshine said, leaning in close. “Night is an idiot.”

“First grade,” Minuette groaned.

“No, I’m serious. Night is being a complete idiot not to notice you. You know something as obscure as his favorite scene in a superhero movie, and even why it’s his favorite. If Night had any idea how lucky he was to have you with him, he’d be all over you!”

“In that case,” Lemon Hearts joined in, “what we need to do is make it totally obvious to him. I’m sure if he knew you liked him, he’d like you back, so let’s make him realize that you’re perfect for him.”

“Or,” Moondancer interjected. “She can just tell him like she wanted to before. That way there’s no chance of making a mistake.”

Twinkleshine clicked her tongue. “Oh, Moondancer, my naive amiga. Don’t you get it? There’s nothing romantic about that!”

“What?”

“What’s more romantic, coming clean all at once, or making the guy realize for himself how much he’s in love with you?”

“How is the first one not romantic?”

“Well, let’s see. ‘I really like you.’ ‘Really? Um, I guess I like you too.’ Or, ‘Minuette, I’m in love with you,’ and they kiss under the moonlight. It’s sort of like pudding. Coming right out and saying it is like making instant pudding—it’s good, but not great, and it’ll never replace the real stuff, which takes a lot of time, effort, and ingredients to make. I want some pudding. Lemon Hearts, can I use your kitchen and make some pudding?”

“Ooh, can you make it vanilla?” Lemon Hearts asked.

“Pudding does sound good,” Moondancer admitted.

“I-w-wait, what? When did we start talking about pudding?” Minuette cried.

“Regardless,” Twinkleshine continued, oblivious to Minuette’s interjection, “we need some way to make Minnie grab Night’s attention. Make him want to explore that minty fresh mouth of hers.”

“Twinkle!”

“But what if he hasn’t noticed her because he’s got the hots for someone else?” Moondancer suggested.

“Ooh! That’d be a problem. Lemon Hearts, maybe we need to find that out first. We can dress Minnie up as sexy as we want-”

“WHAT?!”

“-but if he’s looking down some other girl’s shirt, it won't matter. So we need to figure out who this girl is and-”

“Twinkleshine!” Lemon Hearts cried. “I’m surprised at you! How could you suggest we do something so mean to a girl we don’t know?”

“This is all supposing that there is a girl,” Moondancer mumbled.

“Suggest what? All I was going to say was that we talk to her and kindly explain that Night’s already taken,” Twinkleshine elaborated.

“Oh. Well, I’m surprised. That’s actually quite mature of you to-”

“-and that she’s never going to beat Minny, no matter how hard she tries!”

“Aaaaand you crossed the line to scary.”

“So what? This is an emergency! Moondancer, you have a big brain, right? I need you to help me track all the girls Night talks with and use your brain to figure out who he likes. Lemon Hearts, you’re the fashionable one. I need you to make Minny hot enough to turn on Lyra. Now let’s do it!” Twinkleshine stormed off to the kitchen. The sound of an electric mixer turning on could be heard moments later.

Minuette just stared forward, totally speechless. Finally she cleared her throat. “Um… what just happened?”

Lemon Hearts rolled her eyes. “Twinkle just got overzealous. Well, looks like we’re in, Minny. We’ll help you get Night.”

Minuette gave Lemon Hearts an exasperated smile. “I don’t have a say in the matter, do I?”

“Knowing Twinkle, probably not,” she answered, smiling back.

“This is going to be a disaster,” Moondancer deadpanned.

“Or it could be a huge success. Whenever there’s something to gain, there’s always a risk,” Lemon Hearts said sagely.

Moondancer sighed. “Fine, I’m in. I still say it’s a bad idea, but no way am I abandoning you girls.”

“So we’re really doing this,” Minuette half-laughed, still somewhat in disbelief. “I wish Lyra was here. She knows the most about relationships.”

“True, we haven’t seen her much lately,” Lemon Hearts murmured. “Ever since she started dating Bon Bon, they’ve been inseparable.”

“In that case, why don’t we start inviting Bon Bon to our sleepovers too?” Moondancer suggested. “They’d feel more welcome, they could stay together, and we’d get to know her better.”

“Moondancer, that’s a great idea!” Lemon Hearts cried.

“Well, it just seemed logical,” Moondancer said dismissively, trying to hide her blush.

Just then, Twinkleshine walked into the bedroom with a triumphant grin on her face. “Our sweet, succulent savior Mistress Pudding is in the fridge!”

“Wow Twinkleshine, that was… impossibly fast,” Lemon Hearts noted.

Twinkleshine’s face fell. “Okay, so it might be her cousin, Lady Instant, but regular pudding takes too long! I wanted some now!”

“Agreed,” Lemon Hearts admitted.

“Girls?” Minuette spoke up. All three of them turned their attention toward her. “I want to thank you three for being some of the best friends I could ask for. No matter what happens, we’ll always stick together.”

“Well, duh!”

“You couldn’t get rid of us if you wanted to.”

“We love you, Minuette.”

Minuette smiled as tears started to form in her eyes. But unlike the tears from earlier, these were tears that Minuette was happy to shed. “I love you too, girls. Let’s worry about planning tomorrow morning. Tonight, I just want to have some fun!”

Everyone cheered, thus truly beginning their night of movies, music, videogames, truth or dare, pudding, junk food, and sleeping bags.

Meet the Crew

The sounds keep coming—they won’t stop! Behind him, next to him, above him, who knows anymore? A gust of wind shakes the trees, rousing the terrifying growling of the forest. Anything could have come for him by now and he’d never see it coming.

He whimpers softly in his fetal position. Nobody is coming to save him. He’s lost, afraid, and scared out of his mind. He is going to die here in this frightening, hostile forest.

The howling wind dies down. The trees stop rustling. He can hear the pitter patter of footsteps nearby. He stays as still as he possibly can, hoping to wait out the monster nearby. It’s so close he can hear it breathing. He feels the monster’s horrific claw on his back, ready to tear him to shreds. It’s found him. This is the end.

“Are you alright?”

Night: So how’d the race go?

Tonal: New PR!!! 20:18!

Night: Kickass, BRO!

Tonal: Its a fast course, and the weathers perfect. Youd love it.

Night: Yeah, I’m sure I would have. So how’d THEY do?

Tonal: Ace didnt run today.

Night: What?

Tonal: Coach said he got in some trouble and couldnt run today.

Night: Sweet. And Blitz?

Tonal: Ran a 17:51.

Night: He PR’d? Dammit.

Tonal: K the girls are running now L8r BRO.

Night: Yah, later.

Night closed his phone and stared up at the ceiling. He had a strange, mixed feeling of excitement and guilt. On one hand, Ace got what was coming to him. It felt good knowing that he was being punished for ruining his shoes. On the other hand, cross country is a team sport, and he knew he shouldn’t be rooting against his own team. Of course, if it was up to Night, the team would make regionals without Ace. Maybe Blitz too, while he was at it.

Night sighed and instead decided to focus on the positives. Tonal was getting closer and closer to breaking twenty minutes. Night promised he’d treat him to dinner the day that happened. Later tonight, he’d be going out with Fluttershy to meet her friends. Well, not going out exactly, but going out. To dinner. Together. Night tittered to himself at the thought. He’d literally met the girl three days ago and only spent one outing with her. It was way too soon to even be considering… that.

Though after tonight, it’d be two outings. What was the rule anyway? Was there even a rule? Maybe not. After all, short flings happen between people who barely know each other. Not that Night could ever see himself doing that, but still, it was interesting to think about.

Maybe he just needed someone else’s perspective. Maybe Minuette could help him out. She was much better at understanding people. Perhaps she would…

Oh, crap, Minuette! Night hadn’t followed up with her after their last text conversation, and now he’d been out of contact with her for more than a full day! Night couldn’t even remember the last time that had happened.

Before he could allow himself the chance to second-guess himself, Night had already dialed Minuette’s number. She answered before the second ring.

“Hello, Night?”

“Hey Min, how’re you doing?”

“Um, not bad.”

Night smiled and relaxed a bit. “That’s a relief. Hey, listen, I wanted to apologize for Thursday.”

“What?”

“Yeah, that day was a mess, and I kind of dropped the ball. I said we could meet up, but then some stuff happened, and I wasn’t thinking clearly, and I really shouldn’t have cancelled. It’s just… you wanted to talk to me, but when I scraped my knee, I didn’t want the talk to become about me. But, you know, if I was actually thinking, I would have realized, ‘Oh yeah, we’ll talk about what happened for like ten minutes, then move on.’ So, yeah. I’m sorry about that.”

There was a moment of silence on the phone, then Night heard a small giggle.

“It’s okay. Thanks for apologizing.”

Night let out a sigh of relief. “Ugh, thanks. I much prefer being on your good side. Lower chance of sustaining bodily harm,” he joked.

“I’m not going to attack you,” Minuette laughed. “I’ll just strap you down in the dentist chair and keep the drills running nearby.”

“I’m pretty sure that violates my Eighth Amendment rights.”

The two laughed. It made Night happy to hear his friend laugh again. Minuette was so rarely in low spirits; she was like a prototype Pinkie Pie—all of the peppy attitude minus the hyperactivity. Hearing her sound back to normal put him in a good mood.

“Hey, so, I was thinking, you want to come over in, like, an hour?” Night asked.

“Really?”

“Yeah, the Gamecube’s always set up, and if you, I don’t know, change your mind and want to talk about whatever was bothering you, I’d still be happy to listen.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’d like that. When do you need me gone?”

“Well, I have something going on at six tonight, so I’m thinking five.”

“Oh? What do you have planned?”

“Fluttershy invited me to dinner with her friends.”

There was a noticeable pause on the other end. When Minuette finally spoke, her voice sounded off. “Who’s Fluttershy?”

“You were there when I… Oh right, none of us exactly introduced ourselves. She’s the one I tackled on Wednesday.” Once again, Minuette didn’t reply, so Night took it as his cue to keep talking. “Uh, she bandaged my knee when I fell Thursday and then invited me to go to dinner and meet her friends tonight. Pretty sure that means Rainbow Dash will be there too. Oh, and I went to the animal shelter with her yesterday after school. She’s really cool. I think you’d—”

“I have to go.”

Night did a double take at his cell when she said that. “Huh? I thought you were coming over really soon.”

“Yeah, I just remembered I have something really important to do right now,” Minuette said. She sounded exasperated. “I can’t make it.”

“Oh. Oh, well, okay then.”

“Bye.”

“I’ll—” The phone beeped as Minuette hung up. Night stared at his phone for a minute. His jovial mood had completely vanished. He slumped onto the floor of his room and absentmindedly tossed his cell onto his bed.

“...see you later,” Night finished.

“Ugh! I’m such an idiot!”

Minuette screamed into her pillow, drowning her self-hatred in cotton and bed sheets. Her friends from the previous night had already left, but she hadn’t yet bothered to clean her room, so snack food wrappers and movie cases were scattered around the floor, making it hazardous to try and walk anywhere. At the moment, however, her room’s cleanliness was the last thing on her mind.

“I did it again! Why do I do this?! Every time he says something I don’t like, I hang up! Why?! No wonder he doesn’t know!”

Minuette lay on her bed face-down with her pillow balanced on the back of her head for several minutes. It was one of the few times she’d ever tried wallowing in, well, whatever she was feeling. Eventually she decided that being unable to breathe was inconvenient, so she rolled over and sat up. She reached for her cell and dialed Twinkleshine’s number.

“Hey!” Twinkleshine practically shouted. “Long time no see!”

“Twinkleshine, it’s been four hours,” Minuette said.

“Yep!”

Minuette paused to let Twinkleshine finish her thought, but eventually realized that she was just going to leave it hanging like that, so she cleared her throat and continued. “I’m going to the rec center this afternoon, so if you need me, that’s where I’ll be.”

“Oh no, what happened?” asked Twinkleshine.

“What? What makes you think anything happened?”

“Because you always go there to let off steam, so something had to have happened in the last hour that upset you for you to spontaneously go.”

Minuette sighed. “Anything else about me that’s embarrassingly transparent?”

“Your shower curtain. Why didn’t you tell me your goodies were so big?”

“Wait, WHAT?!”

“I’m kidding!” Twinkleshine laughed. On a dime, her voice got serious. “So what happened?”

“Well, Night called me… and I messed up. He called to apologize and invite me over, but then he started talking about a girl he was with yesterday, and I just… hung up.”

“Ooh, I’m sorry,” Twinkleshine said softly. “We’ll have to work on that. But… did you at least get the girl’s name?”

Minuette paused for a moment. She briefly wondered if telling her friend was really the right thing to go, given the situation. But the more she thought about it, the more she pictured Night dating some girl she’d never met. And holding her hands. And hugging her. Pulling her in close. Leaning in and…

“I think he said ‘Fluttershy.’ ”

The walk to the restaurant was a long one, or rather, it felt much longer to Night than it actually was. After that phone call, he wasn’t in the mood to play any games, so he just got his homework finished early. True to her word, Minuette hadn’t shown up that afternoon, so Night spent the rest of his time listening to some video game OSTs and keeping updated with Tonal on the cross country race results. It was a good day for everyone—everyone who ran, anyway. At 5:00, Night took a shower and dressed up in a polo shirt and khaki pants. It wasn’t much, but semi-formal attire was always safe in a pinch.

The restaurant was a twenty-minute walk from his house, so after saying goodbye to his dad and putting on a light jacket, he left at precisely 5:25. Despite the fact that the evening was quite nice, Night couldn’t enjoy his walk. He was still brooding over the phone call, even when he’d absentmindedly stumbled into the street, scurrying back to safety before any car approached him.

His pace had been a little slower than usual, so he was only eight minutes early when he reached the restaurant, which was decorated by multiple neon lights not yet lit. A picture of a bee flying out of an apple that had a bite taken out of it was juxtaposed with the name of the restaurant.

“Applebuzz restaurant,” Night read. “You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. I must be cautious.” After rolling his eyes at his own stupid reference, he stepped toward the entrance, but was stopped by somebody standing near the door.

“Hello, Night,” Fluttershy said with a smile.

“Fluttershy? Oh no, how long did I keep you waiting?”

“Not long at all. Pinkie suggested I wait outside to meet you just a few minutes ago. You’re a little earlier than expected,” Fluttershy said as she twirled a strand of hair between her fingers. Night noticed that she was wearing her usual boots and skirt, but instead of the white sleeveless top, she had on a green sweater that matched her skirt.

“You look nice,” Night complimented. He was hoping it wouldn’t come off as being forward; he just didn’t know how else to break the ice.

Fortunately, Fluttershy didn’t seem put off by the remark. She didn’t blush, but she shied away slightly and smiled. “Thank you. You look nice too.”

“Thanks. I wasn’t sure how formally I should dress, but I figured since it was Applebuzz on a weekend, I probably didn’t need to go out and rent a suit.”

Fluttershy giggled at his quip, then said, “Well then, shall I introduce you to everyone?”

Night grinned and bowed to his escort. “T’would be an honor, madame,” he said in a jokingly posh tone.

Night held the door open for Fluttershy and allowed her in, following closely behind her. She motioned to the hostess that she had already been seated earlier, then led Night to the back of the restaurant. Up to this point, Night had no trouble interacting with Fluttershy and figured things would go well the whole evening. However, it was at this moment that he started to lose his composure.

“SURPRISE!!!”

Night was taken aback by a smiling pink face instantaneously being so close to him that her nose was actually touching his. Once she took a step back and his eyes could focus, he saw that it was none other than Pinkie Pie, the most popular girl in the school. Even Fluttershy seemed startled by her entrance. Pinkie stood in front of a large table that had both a booth wrapped around three sides of the table and chairs set up against the side facing the walkway, presumably for a large group. There were already several people sitting down and looking at the new arrival. However, Night’s attention was drawn most to a banner stretched across the wall above the table that read:

“Welcome to the group?!”

“Ah huh!” Pinkie cheered, “As the newest friend of Fluttershy here, we have decided to throw this party to welcome you into our circle of friends!”

Night’s eyes darted around, taking in all of the scenery and trying to follow what was happening. “Wait, hold on a second. What are you talking about?” He turned to Fluttershy. “I thought you said I was just meeting your friends. What’s all this about an initiation or something?”

Upon hearing this reaction, Pinkie’s smile faltered and her hair deflated somewhat. To make matters worse, Fluttershy was beginning to look flustered and apologetic herself. He hadn’t meant to offend anyone, but he panicked slightly when he found himself being the central focus.

Fortunately, a girl at the table with a distinct Southern accent spoke up. “Don’t worry ‘bout that, sugar. Pinkie was just really excited to get to know ya and went all-out with the decoratin’. We just wanted to get on friendly terms with ya since ya met Fluttershy.”

Night breathed a sigh of relief. “Alright, thanks. I, uh… sorry, I guess I overreacted a little. I’ve never been here before, actually. Is the food any good?”

Pinkie’s hair had returned to its poofiness, and Fluttershy gave the girl at the table a smile of relief, a silent “thank you” for intervening. Now that Pinkie was reenergized, she bounced around as she began introducing everyone.

“Okie dokie then!” Pinkie said. “You already know Fluttershy. I’m Pinkie Pie, and these are Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rivet, and Swifty.”

Night’s gaze went to each person as they were introduced. However, when he finally got a look at Rivet and Swift, his eyes went wide.

“Y-you guys—!”

“Hey there,” Swift said.

“How are you doing?” Rivet asked.

Night continued to stare at the boys from his class, completely dumbstruck. He stood there shaking his head, the little gears in his head slowly turning. It was several seconds before he finally put the pieces together. Once he did, he started to laugh. “No. Way. This is what that guy meant, we’d be seeing more of each other? Oh my god, that’s hilarious.”

“Ooh, you already know each other?” Pinkie asked.

“Eh, barely,” Night admitted. “I just sit next to them. I had no idea this was happening.”

“This is perfect! Now you can be the best of friends!”

“Uh, yeah. Yeah.” Night shifted uncomfortably at the suggestion.

“Well, come on, sugar, grab a seat,” Applejack invited with a smile. “We don’t bite.”

Night thanked her and timidly pulled out a chair set up on the side of the table facing the walkway. Pinkie had somehow materialized behind the table in the booth sitting next to Swift, which caught him by surprise. Fluttershy slowly sat down in the chair next to Night, looking at Pinkie, who was egging her on to sit there the entire time. Applejack sat on the other side of Swift across the table from Night, and to his left sat Rainbow and Rivet. The booth to his right was strangely empty.

“Speaking of Clyde, does anyone know when those two will get here?” Rivet asked.

Night looked at him with confusion. “Who’s Clyde?”

“He’s the gray guy in our class,” Swift answered.

“Oh, him?”

“Someone talking about me?”

Everyone turned to see a couple walking up to the table. The tall gray guy from Night’s English class was wearing a button-down shirt and dress pants with a leather belt. Holding onto his arm was a beautiful pearly-white girl with violet hair that was elegantly curled in a way that seemed to defy gravity almost as much as Pinkie’s. It seemed that neither of them held back when it came to dressing up for the evening—the girl was wearing a dress that matched her colors perfectly. Night felt himself getting embarrassed when he realized he was completely underdressed compared to these two.

“We were just telling the new guy about you,” Rainbow Dash remarked.

“Oh? You weren’t too mean, were you?” Clyde joked. He than turned to face Night directly and held out his hand. “I’m Clyde. It’s nice to see you again.”

“Yeah, you weren’t kidding,” Night chuckled. “Night. And this is…?”

“Rarity, sweetie,” the girl said with an almost song-like charm to her voice. “I must say, it’s such a pleasure to meet you after all we’ve been hearing.”

“Same. Nice to meet you,” Night mumbled.

The newcomers sat in the booth to his right, taking up the last of the seats available. With everyone seated, Night saw just how diverse the group really was. From left to right, he saw the school’s best athlete, a sugar-fueled ball of pep, a charming Southerner, a beauty fit for royalty… and Fluttershy. As for the boys, Night didn’t quite know how to describe them, but they seemed friendly enough.

“So, I’ve… never been here before,” Night admitted. “I don’t know what to get.”

“You’re not supposed to get an entree, actually,” Rainbow explained. “Whenever we do this, we all just order appetizers and share them. They’re enough to fill you up and save you money.”

“Really? Wow, I’d never even consider doing something like that on my own,” Night said. He picked up the menu. “Hmm… do they have wings?”

Clyde perked up when he heard Night ask. “Best wings in town. You’ve got to try the honey barbecue sauce.”

Night smirked. “Oh, a lightweight, huh? Can’t handle the heat?”

Clyde looked at him strangely. “What?”

Night could feel his stomach tighten, threatening to expel what little contents were inside. He held the menu up close enough to cover his entire face. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “Sorry.”

Several minutes passed until the waitress came and took everyone’s orders. After placing the orders, she collected the menus and left.

Rarity leaned forward. “So, Night, why don’t you tell us a little about yourself? I’m sure you can provide a more reliable assessment than Rainbow Dash.”

“Hey, I didn’t talk bad about him!” Rainbow Dash argued.

“I’m only teasing,” Rarity giggled.

“Accuracy aside, whatever Rainbow said about me was probably more interesting,” Night remarked. “Honestly, there’s not much to tell. I run track and cross country… and that’s pretty much it.”

“Oh, there must be more to you than just that.”

“Well, sorry, it’s just… I don’t know what you’re looking for.” Night started rubbing the back of his head. “I mean… I don’t know.”

“You play any video games?” Swift interjected. Night turned to him, grateful for something more concrete to discuss.

“Yeah, actually, mostly Nintendo and a little indie stuff.”

“You said you run track and cross country,” Clyde said. “So you’re an athlete. Do you ball?”

Night did a double-take at Clyde. He stared at him, completely dumbstruck. “.......What?”

“Do you ball?” Clyde repeated.

Night looked around the table, completely baffled. Everyone else was looking at him expectantly. “Do I… ball? Um, is that… a euphemism for…?”

“What? No! You never heard of balling?”

“Should I have?”

“He’s asking if you’ve ever played basketball,” Rivet explained.

“Oooooh… that’s what you call it? I’ve never heard that before in my life. Uh, no, no I don’t. I’m kind of rubbish at the game.”

An awkward silence fell over the group. Night’s face was turning almost as red as his hair. He would have hidden behind the menu again if the waitress hadn’t taken their menus away, so he glanced over to Fluttershy. She returned his expression with a sympathetic one. She looked apologetic, like she was regretting putting him through something he didn’t want.

Night stood from the table. “Bathroom,” he mumbled.

Night had been sitting on the toilet for over ten minutes. The evening was not going well at all. He ripped off a square of toilet paper and fiddled around with it between his fingers. Anything to take his mind off of tonight.

The door creaked and Night heard footsteps clatter onto the tile floor of the bathroom. The person coughed and spoke up.

“Night? Are you okay?”

“Rivet?”

“Yeah. You’ve been in here a while. Are you doing alright?”

“Of course not,” Night snapped. “Whatever gave you that idea?”

“Sorry,” Rivet apologized. “It’s just that everyone noticed how uncomfortable you seemed to be, and we’re concerned.”

“Oh, is that all? Just everyone noticed? What a relief; I was afraid I was successful in masking it.”

Rivet paused for a moment. He then let out a sigh and said, “I’ll just tell them you weren’t feeling well tonight.” He started to exit the bathroom.

“R-Rivet, wait.” Night buttoned his pants and came out of the stall. He sighed. “Look, I’m sorry for getting testy with you. I’m just freaking out right now, like I’m going to hurl. I was really hoping I’d be able to talk to at least half of the people here, but I’m striking out almost every time.”

“You’re doing fine, man. I was pretty much the same way meeting Swift and Clyde for the first time.”

“I doubt you were thrust into a huge party with a ton of people you don’t know.”

“True, but when I understood that they were nice guys just trying to extend their friendship to me, I just let myself relax and be comfortable around them. If you’re afraid that people are judging you, don’t be. Nobody here’s trying to make you feel bad. In fact, they’ll feel bad if they think you’re not having a good time.”

Night stared at the floor in contemplation. He had never considered that before. Sure, his discomfort was making everyone else uncomfortable too, that much he understood, but he’d never thought about how hard everyone else must have been working.

“So I’m too busy trying to impress everyone and not realizing that they’re trying to impress me? And I’m making things worse by being so tense?”

“I wouldn’t have phrased it like that, but… I guess so.”

Night took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Okay. I’ll give it a shot. Again. But first, could you tell me a little about everyone so I, you know, have some idea of how or what to talk to them about?”

Rivet smiled. “Sure thing.”

Fifteen minutes after Night first escaped to the bathroom, he and Rivet returned to the table. In the time that they’d been away, their waitress had arrived with everyone’s food and placed the appetizers around the table. There were three orders of wings, the other two being Clyde’s and Swift’s, and several bowls of chips and cheesy fries set up for everyone to share. Night noticed that Fluttershy had a bowl of what looked like spinach dip in front of her.

Night sat in his chair and Rivet scooted around Rainbow Dash to get in the booth.

“Everything alright there, sugar?” Applejack asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Night answered. “I just needed a minute. Well Clyde, let’s see if these wings are as good as you say.” He took a bite of a chicken wing without any sauce. He savored the taste briefly. “Dang, these are good. Invite me out here more often.”

A small chuckle went around the table. It wasn’t much, but it was a start at a second impression.

“So Night, do you play an instrument?” Rivet asked.

Night gave him a subtle, knowing nod. “I think I took piano lessons for three weeks ten years ago. So, no, though I wish I did. I take it you do?”

“Hell yeah he does!” Rainbow interjected. “Rivet’s an awesome guitarist. He can play anything you ask!”

“Well, not anything,” Rivet admitted sheepishly.

“Oh, that reminds me!” Rainbow said. “Guys, we need your opinions on something.”

Everyone at the table looked at Rainbow quizzically. Night noticed that even Rivet didn’t seem to know where this was going. However, the girls seemed to.

“Rainbow Dash, we’re not really doing this, are we?” Applejack asked.

“That’ll be up to them,” Rainbow replied.

“What’s going on?” Swift asked, voicing the thoughts of all four of the guys at the table.

“Only the best idea ever!” Rainbow boasted.

“Rainbow wants to start a band with just us girls,” Rarity explained. “I must admit, I find the idea appealing. What better way to tackle a new style of clothes?”

“I’m sure you’d look fabulous,” Clyde said seductively, causing Rarity to swoon. Rainbow rolled her eyes. “I guess that’s a yes from Clyde,” she said. “What about the rest of you? Think it’d be a good idea?”

“Where did this even come from?” Swift asked.

“Well, Riv here let me play his guitar a little, and I did awesome, so I decided that we should form a band.”

Night blinked and raised an eyebrow. “Uh… that’s it?”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow back. “What do you mean, ‘That’s it?’ ”

“I think he means it seems like there was barely any thought put into the decision,” Rivet explained. “I mean, you played my guitar once and now you want to form a band?”

Rainbow looked heartbroken at having her idea shot down. Rivet and Night both looked at each other, realizing their mistake.

“What I mean is, um, we… haven’t heard how awesome you are yet for ourselves!” Night backpedaled. “I mean, that’d be pretty cool. But maybe if you all tentatively form a band and perform for us, we could be like, ‘Yeah, go for it!’ ”

Night looked around the table sheepishly, silently pleading that they’d like his suggestion. Evereyone’s faces were hard to read, but they all looked to be in thought.

“I totally call drums!” Pinkie announced.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Swift said.

“Whatever the boo wants,” Clyde said. Rarity was already making a mental list of the details to include in their outfits, muttering something about flashiness and congruity.

Applejack sighed. “What the heck? Ah suppose it might be fun. Ain’t doin’ something for fun enough of a reason?”

Rainbow perked right up upon hearing the support. “Yeah! That’s what I was saying, AJ! So you want to hear how great we’ll be before we do it?”

“Well, if you do that, then you’re already forming the band to decide whether or not to form the band,” Swift pointed out.

“True,” Night said, “So I guess the point is that you didn’t even need to ask for our input in the first place.”

“I guess that means if everyone’s in agreement, then sure, why not?” Rivet said. “We’ll be your first fans.”

Rainbow grinned. “Awesome! The Rainbooms are gonna take the world by storm!”

“Let’s not get carried away, darling,” Rarity said.

A few hours had passed and everyone at the table was finished for the night. After paying the bills (which Pinkie generously covered for Night since she was hosting in his honor), they all congregated outside the entrance and were saying their goodbyes. High fives and hugs were exchanged left and right. Night turned to Fluttershy.

“Hey, thanks for inviting me out here. I really had a great time,” he said with a smile.

Fluttershy squirmed uncomfortably and stared at the ground. Night frowned when he saw her expression. She seemed to deliberately be avoiding his eyes.

“Um… is everything okay?”

“Good night,” Fluttershy whispered.

“What was that?” Night asked. He never got his answer. Fluttershy turned away and started walking home on her own. Night stared at her as she walked away, disappointment growing on his face.

Rainbow Dash, who at this moment was waving to everyone else as they went their separate ways, looked over and saw this interaction take place. She strolled up to Night. “Have a good time?”

Night paused a moment before answering. “Y-yeah, I did.”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “Everything okay?”

“I… I don’t know what happened. I thanked Fluttershy for inviting me out here, but she just left almost without a word. Did I do something wrong?”

Rainbow dash scratched the back of her head. “Well, you might have… neglected her a bit during dinner.”

“Neglected her? What do you mean?”

“Well, it was nice seeing you talking to everyone there, but I don’t remember seeing you talking to Fluttershy much at all.”

“That’s ridiculous!” Night cried. “I asked her about her appetizer.”

Rainbow Dash looked at him like he was the stupidest person she’d ever met. “Riveting. Anything else?”

“Of course, I—” Night stopped when nothing during the evening came to mind. He wracked his brain trying to come up with any point that he’d addressed Fluttershy directly. His eyes went wide with horror when it dawned on him that he hadn’t said a word of meaningful conversation to her the whole time. “Oh my god. I’m horrible! I completely forgot she was right there!”

Night shook his head and stared at the ground in utter disgust and disbelief at what he’d done. “No wonder. Now I feel terrible. Aw, man, how am I supposed to apologize for that?”

Rainbow Dash looked about her thoughtfully. “Well, I’d suggest you give her a sincere apology next time you see her, then ask to hang out.”

Night looked at her in confusion. “Okay, the first part I get, but ask to hang out again? Wouldn’t that be overstepping the boundaries?”

“What makes you say that?”

“Well, if I were her, I’d probably be pissed and not want to talk with me anymore. Wouldn’t asking her out be a bit… presumptuous?”

“A bit what?”

“Um, arrogant. Totally full of myself.”

“Oh, right.” Rainbow smirked. “You’ve got a lot to learn if that’s what you think.”

“Can’t deny that,” Night admitted. “But still, I don’t know if I’d be comfortable doing that. Even if I’m wrong about her, that’s just not something I think I can make myself do.”

Rainbow whistled. “Wow. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

“We?”

“First things first, we need to fix that self-doubt issue you seem to have. And I know just what to do. This Monday, you’re going to ask Fluttershy out on a date.”

Night looked at Rainbow in alarm. “What? Why?”

Rainbow grinned evilly. “Because you can’t say no to this.”

“And why can’t—” Night’s voice got considerably softer once he put the pieces together. “No.”

“Night, if I recall…”

“Don’t do this,” Night pleaded.

“...you owe me one favor…”

“Please don’t.”

“...because I managed to clean more tables than you. I’m redeeming the IOU coupon. This Monday, I want you to apologize, then ask Fluttershy out on a date.”

Bonus Chapter - Dawn of a New Friendship

It was midday at Horseshoe Bay, a popular destination for beachgoers just outside of Baltimore. There were far fewer visitors than during the summer, but the warm weather, which was ending soon, was enough to attract a number of the locals to one more outing. As such, the beach had just the right number of people: enough to be a lively place, but not so many that it was crowded.

In the distance, the regal lighthouses stood proudly at the ends of the two peninsulas, welcoming ships into the maw of the bay. The crystal clear water sparkled in the autumn sun, inviting everyone to indulge in its cool depths. However, the most eye-catching spectacle was not the scenery, but rather the posse of ladies with deceptively young, curvaceous figures that had just entered, all wearing their best swimwear. Carrying an assortment of beach towels, umbrellas, sunglasses, and other various supplies, the three middle-aged women breathed in the salty sea air with joy.

“Ah, this is just what I needed!” Violet declared, stretching in a way that was fully intended to show off her figure.

“Restrain yourself, Violet,” Daisy said as she laid her blanket on the sand. “We didn’t go on this trip to hunt for men.”

“Maybe you didn’t,” Violet replied, “but I’m the only one who’s not married! Anyone’s fair game for me.”

“Violet,” Ruby said soothingly, “we’re all here to relax. We can’t exactly do that if you’re going around flirting with every guy you meet.”

“Sure you can! Don’t worry about me. It’s how I unwind.”

Ruby rolled her eyes and finished unpacking their things while Daisy set up the parasol in the sand and the food on the picnic table. Meanwhile, Violet was already out of sight, getting friendly with whichever unfortunate guy happened to be close enough to be held captive by her motor mouth.

“So we’re going to Sherry’s after this?” Daisy asked, snatching a handful of chips from the plastic bowl.

“That’s the plan,” Ruby said, unwrapping half a sandwich. “We’ll stop by her orchard on our way to Baltimore, spend the evening in the city, then head out into the country tomorrow for the rest of the stops.”

“Got it,” Daisy said. “But try to relax, okay? You always stress about the details. Just take it easy for once. I for one am going to fall asleep on this inner tube and drift gently out to sea.”

“I’ll be sure to send for a rescue team.”

Time passed as the women enjoyed their afternoon. At one point, some young men had set up a tournament of beach volleyball and invited everyone to join. Violet jumped at the opportunity to see some sweaty beefcake, and with a little goading, convinced Daisy to join in as well. Ruby decided to just watch from the sidelines, which meant paying them no attention while she sunbathed in the sand near the picnic table.

“Well, lookie here. You alone, hot stuff?”

Ruby peeked an eye open and saw two men in their early thirties standing over her. She uninterestedly glanced around, then closed her eyes and went back to tanning. “No, actually, I’m here with some friends. We were going to be leaving soon.”

“Hey, that’s perfect!” the first sleazeball said. “We were planning on going too. Why don’t you bring your friends and join us? It’ll be a fun time!”

“We already have plans, thank you very much,” Ruby replied sternly. She opened her eyes again and gave them a cold glare.

Unfortunately, Ruby discovered then that her Death Stare only worked on people that rivaled at least that of a potato in intelligence, so neither of them picked up on it.

“Aw, why not make a change of plans?” Sleazeball #2 said. “We can show you a great time!”

Just as Ruby was about to get up and shut the men up herself, a cracking sound was heard. The second guy suddenly went limp and collapsed onto the ground. Standing behind his body was a very pissed off woman who looked to be in her early- to mid-thirties. She was quite beautiful, with dark blonde hair and light orange skin that accentuated her light blue eyes. Her bikini hugged her figure well, drawing attention to her hips. The woman winced as she held her right hand in pain.

“Were these guys … bothering you miss?”

The first guy was in shock, but his expression quickly turned to anger. “Why you bitch!”

“Stop right there!” The man froze in place and turned to look back at Ruby. She was now standing and staring him down. She was a few inches shorter than the man, but she could feel him shrinking away from her glare and commanding voice and presence. Even the new lady looked startled.

Ruby went in at the guy. “I gave you and your friend plenty of chances to leave peacefully. However, you’re testing my patience. This is your last chance: pick up your friend and get out of my sight, or I’ll arrest you here and now for harassment and aggravated assault. Are we clear?”

The guy said nothing. He went pale white, picked his friend off the ground by wrapping his arm around his shoulders, and walked away. He didn’t look back.

Ruby let out a sigh, then turned to the new lady. “Are you alright?”

“Me? I was going to ask you.”

“Oh, I’m perfectly fine. But you punched him in the head. Is your hand okay?”

The woman rubbed her hand a bit. “It hurts, but it’s not broken or bleeding.”

Ruby smiled. “That’s a relief. Hey, why don’t you stay a little? I could use the company. Want some lemonade?”

The woman nodded and followed Ruby over to the picnic table. A half-full covered pitcher of lemonade was set out. They both sat down.

“I hope it’s not too diluted,” Ruby said as she poured a glass. “The ice cubes are already almost gone.”

“I don’t mind,” the woman said. She took a sip. “So, you’re a police officer?”

Ruby blushed and looked away sheepishly. “Well, no. I do work in the legal system, and I am friends with most of the officers in my city, but I’m just a deputy clerk.”

“Then why—?”

“Those guys didn’t need to know that. Plus, it was more intimidating to say I could arrest them than that I could get somebody else to arrest them.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed. “But isn’t impersonating an officer illegal?”

“Yes it is,” Ruby admitted. She gave the woman a smile. “So, are you going to turn me in?”

The woman laughed. “No, I guess I won’t be doing that. Thanks for the save.”

“I should be thanking you, Miss …?”

“Dawn Writer,” the woman replied.

“Ruby DeJure,” Ruby responded. “I’ve met very few people who would do what you did back there.”

“What else would I do?” Dawn said. “I can’t leave someone in trouble all alone. That would go against my Christian values.”

“Well, not too many people have the courage to do that. I may have been able to handle them myself, but I really appreciate you stepping in like that, Miss Writer.”

“Please, just call me Dawn. ‘Miss Writer’ makes me sound old.”

“As long as you don’t make me feel old, not a problem.”

“Okay, Ruby, I have a question: Why didn’t you just tell those guys you’re married?”

Ruby blinked several times. For the first time all day, she’d been caught completely off guard. She glanced at her left hand to check if she’d removed her ring for the day, lest she lose it in the water. It wasn’t on her finger, so she looked back at Dawn with undisguised surprise.

“How did you know that?”

“Call it a mother’s intuition,” Ruby said. “You look great, but I can tell you’ve had at least one.”

Ruby raised an amused eyebrow at Dawn. “Oh you can, can you? Alright, I’ll give you that. But how does that prove I’m still married?”

Dawn shrugged. “I just guessed. But even if you weren’t, you could have still said you were and they’d have left you alone.”

“Hm. That’s good thinking,” Ruby admitted. She noticed that Dawn’s cup was empty. “Want some more?”

“Please.” She watched Ruby fill her cup again with watered-down lemonade. “So how many kids do you have?”

“Just the one,” Ruby answered. “Teenage boy. You can imagine what that’s like.”

“Oh, tell me about it. Five hours of sleep a night. Is embarrassed to be seen with me by his peers.”

Once again, Ruby couldn’t hide her surprise. “You … you know?”

“Hm? Yep. My son’s in high school. I unders—” Dawn stopped when she realized what Ruby was implying.

Ruby’s eyes widened when she realized her mistake. “Oh my gosh, Dawn, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

Dawn sighed. “Yes, I had Soul when I was … very young. But that’s a whole ‘nother story.”

“I’m so sorry, Dawn,” Ruby apologized. “Um … so, if he’s not here, then what are you doing?”

“Well, Soul and his father are excited to see the new Star Wars movie, so they decided to marathon the series this weekend in preparation. I needed to get away from all that, so here I am. What about you?”

“Oh, my friends and I like to get together from time to time and go wine tasting. It’s an annual tradition around this time of year. We go to as many cities as we can, but we also find hotels to stay in. Today’s our easy day with only one stop along the way, so we’re just enjoying the weather out here.” She suddenly looked out at the ocean with regret. “I wish I’d brought Night here at least once over the summer.”

Dawn tilted her head in interest. “Is your son in high school too?”

Ruby nodded. “He’s into Star Wars too. We should see if they can ever hang out together.”

“That might be difficult,” Dawn said with a frown. “We’re actually moving away from Baltimore to Canterlot in a few weeks.”

Ruby did a double-take. “Wait, Canterlot? Really?” That’s where I live!”

Dawn’s eyes went wide. “Really? Oh, then that’s perfect! You can show us around while our sons get to hang out.”

“That’s a great idea! You be sure to let me know when you make the move, and we’ll meet up to welcome you.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Dawn said. “I look forward to seeing you again, Ruby.”

“Likewise. I think Canterlot’s about to get a little more interesting. Do you mind if we exchange numbers?”

“Not at all,” Dawn said with a smile.

Ruby and Dawn continued to chat for a half hour, talking about some of the things to expect in the city, great spots to visit in Baltimore, places to avoid, and what their kids were like. Finally, Ruby stood.

“Well, it’s been fantastic talking with you this afternoon, but the girls and I need to head out soon.”

“You’re visiting The Charry Orchard tonight, right? Do you have a designated driver?”

“Eh, more like a designated fewer-shots-than-the-rest-of-us,” Ruby admitted.

Dawn’s eyes widened in horror. “You can’t be serious! Driving while drunk? What kind of officer are you!”

“A clerk, the right term is ‘intoxicated,’ and of course I’m serious. A single shot doesn’t even get me buzzed.”

“You’re unbelievable! What kind of irresponsible behavior is that? I won’t stand for this!”

Ruby blinked a few times before looking at Dawn quizzically. “Come again?”

“You heard me. I’m coming with you. The Lord won’t let me let some ladies get drunk and get themselves killed driving to their hotel. I’ll get you where you need to go.”

Ruby stared at Dawn, speechless. She suddenly smiled. “Dawn, I’m touched that you show so much concern for me. You know what, I would be honored if you’d come with us.”

“Are … are you sure?”

“Absolutely. You’ve been a complete delight today. Consider it my thanks for defending me from those guys earlier.”

At that moment, Violet and Daisy walked up to the picnic table. They were covered in sand from the game, and Violet was moping. “Why are the most attractive guys gay?!”

“Oh, Violet, you’re being melodramatic,” Daisy said.

“I really thought he was interested! Oh, I’m never going to find a man.”

“That sounds terrible,” Ruby said with disinterest. “Violet, Daisy, this is Dawn. Dawn, my girl friends Violet and Daisy.”

“Hello, Dawn,” Daisy said with a wave.

“Are you getting hammered with us tonight?” Violet asked.

Dawn stared Violet down. “No. I’m here to keep you in line. Any funny business goes down, and you’ll wish you’d been pulled over by the cops.”

Violet gaped and tried to speak, but nothing came out. She couldn’t form the words to create a sentence in response. Ruby whistled.

“You just left Violet speechless. Please, teach me your ways, Dawn.”

As the four ladies gathered up their things and prepared to leave for the evening, Ruby thought about how lucky an encounter this was. She had inside information on the new neighbors in town, though they wouldn’t be living anywhere near their neighborhood, and among them would be a new student.

Ruby smiled at Dawn as the four of them piled into the car. In a way, it worked out well for Dawn since she’d taken a cab out to the beach. As they drove, Ruby thought about the opportunity Night would have to open up and make a new friend.

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait, only for this to not be the kind of chapter you were expecting. I needed to write this for something that will happen in the future. In the meantime, I will be hard at work on Chapter 8 when I'm not busy working. Hope you liked this, and here's to the next chapter coming at you with godspeed.

Bonus Chapter - Star-crossed Friends

[SP: Pizza?]
[NC: Sounds good to me.]
[SP: The usual?]
[NC: Actually, I’d like anchovies this time.]
[SP: Fine. Half anchovies. Be there in an hour.]

Sales Pitch placed his phone on his desk. He was just finishing up the last of his work and was starting to clean up. Work had been more of the same, though he was hopeful for future prospects. Gathering the last of his supplies in his briefcase, he called the pizza place and placed the order before locking up the shop and heading to his car taking the highway home, his thoughts wandered to his son.

Night was a good kid, but it had been bothering him for the last couple years how much he kept to himself. He liked Minuette and Tonal, and he had no reason to doubt that Night liked them too, but his son had taken far less initiative to spend time with them than before. There were times that he would ask Night if he would call them, one time even asking him directly why he wasn’t hanging out with them much anymore, but Night never gave very satisfying answers. Too often he would be told “maybe” before being ignored completely.

So when Ruby told him about a girl that Night was seeing, he was skeptical, but hopeful. His wife did have the tendency to make things out to be more than they were, but that tendency also meant she could see things before anyone else. Whether or not she was onto something with this girl he’d never met had yet to be seen, but if it meant Night was being more social, it had to be a good thing. He did vaguely recall his son going out and doing things with someone recently. Whatever Night was going through, Sales was confident that it was a step in the right direction.

Sales pulled off an exit ramp. It wasn’t the one he needed to get home; rather, it was the one that put him closest to the pizza shop. He had done this trick many times before: Order the moment he finishes work, then drive straight to the shop. The pizza was ready for him as soon as he got there every time.

When Sales pulled into the parking lot and stepped out of the car, he could already hear a fuss being kicked up inside the store.

“ … be serious! How do ya screw up the most important thing this place has?”

Sales stopped in his tracks. The pitch. The tone. The fiery temper and total command of attention the voice demanded. Could it really be?

Sales stepped inside the store and was hit by a wave of heat and the greasy smell of spiced meat. The red and white checkerboard pattern on the walls and floor helped illuminate the waiting room, which was nothing more than a small corridor that led up to a single cash register. Sitting on the bright red benches were several people who looked slightly annoyed. Whether it was from waiting or from the one rowdy customer’s behavior was unclear.

The cashier was sweating and trying to reduce the tension in the room. “Ma’am, please. We’ll be replacing the broken oven tomorrow. Until then, we can only make one order at a time with our one good oven, and there are other people waiting who ordered before you.”

The woman huffed and pivoted before stomping away from the counter and sitting down on a bench. Sales looked around tentatively before settling for sitting next to the loud woman on the bench. A moment of silence passed before Sales cleared his throat and spoke up: “That was quite the show you put on there, White Star.”

The woman turned to Sales wide-eyed. A look of indignation crossed her face before pausing as she recognized him. Her anger melted away when it finally clicked.

“Sales Pitch?”

Sales grinned. “Good to see you too, Starry.”

White Star punched Sales in the arm. “Shut up! How are you doing? It’s been years since I saw you.”

“Aside from one freshly bruised arm, I’ve been great, actually.”

“Ah, sorry about that. So, what have you been up to? Last I recall, you were still in high school when I graduated.”

White Star brushed her hair aside. “Well, I managed to graduate, and I got married to Sound Barrier.”

“Ah, good old Sound Barrier. I knew there was a reason I liked him. Nice guy able to match your intensity. Well, congratulations. How long has it been?”

“Right after we graduated. I gave birth to Zero and we got married later that summer. His sister Wind a couple years later.”

“That … oh, I see. Unusual course of events. Well, I’m glad things worked out for … wait, if you had a kid as soon as you graduated, then that means … my son’s the same age.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Ruby and I had Night when we were twenty.”

White Star’s eyes suddenly went wide. “R-Ruby? As in …”

Sales Pitch grinned. “Ruby DeJure.”

White Star shuddered. “You married a scary woman.”

“So did Sound Barrier.”

White Star clocked Sales Pitch in the arm again, drawing the attention of some of the waiting patrons. She and Sales then started laughing. “You know, I really missed having you around those last two years of school. You were a total wimp, but you were a cool wimp.”

“I see that your sense of humor hasn’t changed. And I have gotten stronger since we last met. Fatherhood will give you that drive to go to the gym once in a while.”

“Sorry sweetheart, but being a mom’s a lot tougher.”

Sales shrugged. “If that’s how you think, then all I can say is, you and Ruby will get along just fine.”

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

Sales smiled and let a moment of silence pass between them before a new thought came to mind. “Come to think of it,” he said, “what are you doing here anyway? This place isn’t exactly in the neighborhood.”

White Star started beaming. “Well, you actually caught me in the middle of a big change. Our family is moving to Canterlot next month!”

“No way. You mean we’re going to have to see and talk to each other regularly? And after all the effort I put into escaping you.”

White Star glared playfully. “I will punch your bruise.”

“And that will hurt, which is why I will ask that you not do that.”

“So I finished meeting with the real estate agent today and finalized everything,” she continued. “I figured in celebration I would bring a couple pizzas from Canterlot back to the kids. As long as I drive 80 on the highway, I should get home while it’s still hot.”

“That seems slightly dangerous. I’d be worried if you were anyone else.”

“Of course, with the oven broken, I’m stuck here waiting to get my order. But I guess that worked out well for us.”

“No kidding. And who knows? Maybe our boys will get along the way we did when we were their age.”

“As long as he doesn’t mind being with a delinquent anime fan,” White Star laughed.

“You mean like that mang-uh stuff? I think they’ll have a lot to talk about.”

White Star’s grin kept getting bigger. Sales wondered if her smile might actually spread wider than her face. He never got the chance to find out, because at that moment, White Star’s name was called by the cashier boy.

They stood up together and walked to the counter. While White Star paid for the pizzas, Sales thought about the prospect of his old friend’s new family moving to Canterlot in a month. He had seen, perhaps even facilitated, though that would be a bit egotistical of him to think, a noteworthy change in White Star’s attitude during high school. They called her the Manhattan Maverick. No leash could keep her tethered. She was a loose cannon. Mercy be unto all who got in her way. That was what got her in trouble so much. But he’d noticed a shift in her demeanor his senior year. Looking at her now, she was almost unrecognizable from her delinquent youth. His parents had called her “unmarriageable.” Yet here she was now, that same fire burning bright, but contained in a cozy fireplace rather than a raging wildfire, moving into town soon with her husband and two kids. His parents were dead wrong. To see her come so far after all this time ….

“You know what?” Sales said. “We’re getting you a housewarming gift when you move in.”

White Star was carrying the pizza boxes in her arms and peered over them at him. “Come again?”

“A housewarming gift. To say, ‘Welcome to Canterlot, where old friends reunite and new ones are made!’ That’s not actually the tagline. I just added that in. But this is something to celebrate, and I’d like to be there for you.”

“Wow, Pitchy, I’m touched.”

Sales’ face flushed. “Huh boy, there’s a nickname I’d have rather forgotten.”

White Star would have pinched his cheek like she’d done when they were young, but with her hands full, she settled for bumping up against his shoulder. “You know what, I would love to meet your family. If you’d like to drop by for a visit when we move in, we’d be happy to have you.”

“Great! Lemme just get your info ….” Sales grabbed a napkin from the counter and pulled out a pen from his pocket. White Star told him the date they’d be moving in and their address, which he wrote down.

“Well, I’d better let you go,” Sales said. “Don’t want those pizzas to get cold. Or for you to start driving 90.”

“It was great seeing you again,” White Star reciprocated. “I think this move will be really good for Zero and Wind.”

“If your boy is as outgoing as you were, I think he’ll be a good influence on Night. Anyway, I can’t wait to see you again.”

Sales waved while White Star sort of shook her body on account of her arms being full as she made her way to her car. Sales nodded as she drove away.

“I’ll see you again, you Shooting Star.”