Amor Vincit Omnia

Chapters

Pinkie's Balloon Pop III: Balloon with a Vengeance [Halloween]
"...Your eyes are like starlight now." [Christmas Eve]
Paging Nurse Rarity [New Year's Eve]
Striking Out [Valentine's Day]
Wings, Basketball, and Intimacy [March Madness]
Más o Menos un Día Normal [Cinco de Mayo]
Mom [Mother's Day]
The End of an Era
"Oh, Manehattan, what you do to me..."
Under a Starry Sky
A Tale of Two "Rarities"
The (Love) Tales of Two "Rarities"
In Memoriam
The Fab and the Five
Christmas in the City [Christmas Eve II]
The Rapping Rari-T [Random Prompt #1]
The Night Before
Amor Meus Aeternus
20 Years Later [Epilogue/Finale]
A Very Clarity Christmas [Christmas Eve III/Bonus Epilogue]

Pinkie's Balloon Pop III: Balloon with a Vengeance [Halloween]

“Are you almost ready? You know I don’t like being late.” Clyde shifted his black-felt hat so he could look at himself in the large mirror in the main lobby of Rarity’s shop-slash-home. The Halloween party was about to start and like he was accustomed to for almost a year now, Rarity always took extra time to get herself ready.

“I’m almost ready!” yelled a voice from upstairs. Clyde smiled and looked back at the mirror, looking at his costume again. He nodded to himself on how well the costume turned out.

He wore an old, torn duster that was a few inches from touching the floor. The duster’s leather smell was rather strong, even though it was in Magnum’s closet for a long period of time. Underneath the duster, Clyde’s outfit consisted of a black button-up woolen shirt covering a plain white shirt and dark colored jeans. His boots were mostly covered by the ends of his jeans, which was fine by him, as he didn’t like wearing them anyway. Around his waist was his belt that had a holster for his fake revolver and around his neck was a black bandana. His bronze belt buckle shined in the mirror as he put a hand through his black hair and put his black hat back on his head.

Clyde took out his phone from one of his duster’s pockets and sighed. “Rarity, the party starts in five minutes.” He glanced up the stairs and in the hallway’s darkness, he heard the sound of high heeled boots clicking around upstairs. He turned away from the stairs and walked over to the counter. He leaned against it as he scrolled through the sports feed waiting for her to come downstairs.

In roughly two minutes, the sounds of the boots clicked louder as they echoed down the stairs. When the noises stopped, Clyde turned his head. As he saw Rarity, he instantly forgot where he was.

Rarity’s outfit matched Clyde’s theme of an outlaw. She wore a white lace and burgundy-trim black dress with a scarlet corsage that was placed on her dress near the chest area. A see through black, white, and red overskirt surrounded her lower body to give off a duster-type of look. Her black high-heeled boots and matching lace stockings ran up to her mid calf and thigh, respectively. To top it off, she also had a pair of black lace, fingerless glovelets. She looked over at Clyde and flipped the end of her violet and curly hair, making sure not to tip the white hat off her head.

“So? I take you like it?” She smiled at him. Clyde didn’t respond as he stood there looking at her outfit. To him, it was just like her nurse outfit she wore last year on Halloween day. “I guess I failed impressing you...”

Clyde broke out of his daze at the sound of disappointment in her voice. “What are you talking about? You look stunning. Like always.”

“You’re just saying that,” said Rarity with a grin. “You’re bias towards me.”

“Eh,” said Clyde with a shrug. “Maybe.” He slyly looked over at her to see her walk up to him. After a gentle punch in the arm, Rarity wrapped her arms around him and gave him a loving kiss. After the kiss was over, Rarity leaned a few inches away from him to look into his eyes.

“So, my love, out of this costume or last year’s, which do you prefer?”

Clyde thought for a moment before he felt heat in his cheeks. “I actually like them both and would not be opposed of you wearing them more often.” He laughed before giving a smirk.

Rarity giggled. “Is that so? Maybe I will wear them again, but you have to behave first.” She dropped a wink and Clyde instantly felt his cheeks blaze. Before he could react, Rarity hugged him tighter and leaned in for another kiss. She was abruptly stopped by a phone alarm going off. She frowned and stepped backward away from him.

Clyde took his phone out of his duster and read the small text on the screen. “It’s noon. The party has started,” he said, relaying the message to his lover.

Rarity shrugged this time. “Oh well. Now everyone can witness our fabulous costumes as we walk in late!”

“I thought you told me you hated being “fashionably late”?” questioned Clyde.

“Usually, but today I don’t think it matters much. We are only going to a simple Halloween party.” She walked over to the shop’s main door and looked back at Clyde with a smile. “Aren’t you coming, darling? We have parties to rob.”

Clyde laughed and tipped his hat. “Of course.”

After locking up the shop door, as her parents and sister were somewhere else for the day, Rarity climbed into the passenger seat of Clyde’s car. He quickly ran to the driver side and entered the car. Once he knew the two of them were ready, he drove off.

Clyde was extremely grateful that Coach Iron Will showed generosity in the young basketball season so far. Last year he had practice mostly every day around this time, so the only Halloween activity he was able to do outside of school was watch the Trotsburg movie with Rarity. Of course, for this year, he wanted to spend more time with her compared to last anyway as she was his girlfriend now instead of just a good friend.

“Do you think there will be a “Best Costume” award for us to win here?” asked Rarity as Clyde turned onto a street.

“I doubt it,” said Clyde, paying attention to the slow driver’s actions in front of him, “he said it was only going to be a basic costume party, even though it’s at noon.” He briefly looked over at her. “Why?”

“Oh, nothing. I just wanted to win as many awards and events I can this year with you. You already helped me win back my crown at the Fall Formal a few weeks ago, so I wanted to make sure I kept winning, whether they were as important as a school crown or not.”

Clyde laughed. “I’m sure you’ll win more stuff as the year goes by. Hopefully I can win a game for the basketball team in the playoffs this year, too.”

Rarity grabbed his right arm, the arm he usually has on the center armrest while driving, and smiled. “You’ll do fine this year, Clyde! When I watched some of your games at the park during the summer and I can confidently attest with my own eyes that you improved drastically!”

“I tried,” replied Clyde with a nod and smile. He flicked on the radio and the two of them listened to the music for the rest of the drive.

After a couple of songs and minutes, Clyde pulled along the curb in front of a house. There were plenty of cars already parked in the driveway and along the curbs, but Clyde luckily found a spot near the end of the driveway. He helped Rarity out of the car and together, the duo walked up the driveway and knocked on the door. The door remained closed for a few moments, but soon, a certain boy lit up as he opened the door.

“Aw shit, it’s my dawg, C!” said Tyrone excitedly. Sounds of the party in the house boomed out the door. Tyrone clasped Clyde’s hand and looked at him. “So, what are you, dawg? A cowboy?”

“Even better,” said Clyde, drawing his revolver and spinning it on his finger, “we are outlaws.” He put the fake gun back in its holster and chuckled.

“Aren’t we just simply lovely?” asked Rarity, trying to look flirty and evil, before giving up and hugging Clyde’s side.

Tyrone nodded at them with a smirk. “I’d say so.” He quickly turned around and motioned them inside. As the door behind them closed and they stood in the foyer, Tyrone looked at Rarity. “Your one friend is downstairs getting something ready.”

“Who?”

“That Pinkie girl. She showed up in a waste collector outfit and a big trash bag. I asked what the bag was for, but all she said was it’s important to the party.”

“Oh!” said Rarity suddenly as if she remembered something. “I will go help her. She’s downstairs, yes?”

“Yeah, girl. Near the pool table. The layout of this house hasn’t changed since New Year’s so you’ll find her easily.”

“Perfect.” Rarity turned to Clyde. “I’ll be downstairs if you need me, darling.”

Clyde nodded. “I’ll be down then. Have fun.”

Rarity flashed a big smile. “Oh, we will. Just wait.” She gave him a kiss and walked away, giving one last wink before turning the corner and entering the party in the living room. Clyde kept a smile as he watched her walk away.

“Damn, dawg,” said Tyrone with a whistle, “how’d you get lucky and get with her?”

“Don’t even think about it,” said Clyde with a deadly look.

“Chill, dawg. Damn. You know I have a bae, and plus, you’re my best dawg. I also know how much she means to you. You told me yourself.”

Clyde gave a light chuckle and a nod. As he looked at Tyrone, he noticed something odd about him. “Hey, T, when are you dressing into your costume?” Tyrone was wearing a basketball jersey and some shorts.

Tyrone burst into a laugh. “I am in my costume. I don’t need to “dress-up” and pretend to be something I’m not. I’m a baller so I have to show my passion.” He pinched and held up the jersey, making sure Clyde could see the ‘23’ on his chest. “One day, my jersey will be worn all over the nation.”

“I believe in you, T,” said Clyde patting his friend on the shoulder, “but we still need to win a championship for the school first.”

“Yeah, dawg. We’ll–”

“TYRONE! STOP SLACKING AND GET BACK TO ATTACKING!”

Clyde was confused on where the girly shout came from, but Tyrone froze in place and stood up straight. “Yes, Coach!”

Clyde looked behind Tyrone to see a small girl dressed in a gray baggy hoodie and matching sweatpants. Around her neck was a shiny whistle and In her hands was a clipboard. Her rainbow hair illuminated the room with its various streaks of colorful light.

“You dressed up as Coach Iron Will?” asked Clyde with a laugh towards First Light. Iron Will wore the same hoodie and pair of sweatpants everyday so the costume wasn’t hard to replicate. First Light seemed to make the plain outfit look better than Iron Will himself could.

“Of course!” giggled First Light. “Bae needs motivation so he can be the best baller he can be!” Her light-hearted giggles instantly faded and her face turned serious. Clyde could tell she struggled trying to look serious but he found the attempt amusing. “Don’t be boring like my brother, show them how to smother!”

“Y-yes, Coach!” Tyrone dropped to the floor and began doing push-ups. “Sorry, C, but I have to train. Enjoy the party!” He continued his pace as “Coach” First Light giggled and yelled at him for slowing down. Clyde gave them a wave and walked to the kitchen.

For the next few hours, Clyde spent time talking to his peers or teammates and eating some food. He talked to various people, but mostly the fellow basketball team, such as Thunderlane and Bulk Biceps. The Halloween party didn’t have nearly as many people as Tyrone’s New Year’s party, but there still were plenty enough for a party. For some reason, Clyde couldn’t spot Rainbow Dash anywhere. Normally, Rainbow Dash attended every school or public event possible, so her absence confused him. After the long debate about a sports team, Clyde walked away from a group of boys and headed to the basement.

As he was walking down the steps, Clyde noticed the carpet of the basement was covered in a sea of orange and black balloons. When he reached the floor, he looked around and saw Pinkie standing by the large TV, waving at him. She was standing by two other girls Clyde was used to seeing when he was with Rarity during school or sometimes at other random gatherings. “Hiya, Clyde!” shouted Pinkie Pie with a smile. Her waste collector costume outfit was a really random costume, but then again, it was perfect for Pinkie.

“Hi...” whispered Fluttershy, giving a slight wave. Fluttershy was one of the least known out of Rarity’s normal group of girls she hung out with that Clyde knew. Due to her quiet personality, Clyde never had a chance to talk to her, even after all this time of being Rarity’s boyfriend. He was, however, always glad to see she didn’t act like she hated him, but he also never could see Fluttershy hate anyone, just like Pinkie. She wore a long, brown trunk for a costume, with a hat with fake branches and leaves spreading outward. He knew Fluttershy always liked nature and animals, but he didn’t understand why being a tree was an option for a costume.

The third girl gave a welcoming smile. “Hello, Clyde.” Even though she was wearing a mask, Clyde knew the bright red and yellow hair. Her purple masquerade mask accented her purple and gold Victorian-styled dress.

Sunset Shimmer was a newly added member to Rarity’s group of friends after the Battle of the Bands event that occurred shortly after the Spring Fling. Compared to the Sunset Shimmer he briefly met during Fall Formal week over a year ago, he liked this Sunset Shimmer much more. He wasn’t as acquainted with her as much as Rainbow Dash, but Clyde had a few interesting conversations about music and sports with her during a shopping day with the girls during the summer that Rarity dragged him to, even to his disinterest with the idea. Luckily for him, it was the only “Girls Shopping Day” he was forced to go to.

“Hello, ladies.” He noticed someone was missing with them and frowned. “Where’s Rarity?”

A sudden giggle later, a pair of arms quickly wrapped around his torso from behind him. The pair of arms hugged him tighter before he heard an angelic voice behind him. “Looks like you found me.” She stood on the tip of her toes to place her head on his shoulder. “Do you like what we did with the place?” she asked.

Clyde tried quickly counting the balloons in his head, but gave up after twenty. There were at least two-hundred, maybe more, balloons scattered around the basement. “It’s dangerous to step anywhere, but I’m guessing this is another one of your “Balloon Pops”?” asked Clyde towards Pinkie.

“Yup!” she answered in joy. “I carried in a big trash bag full of them! Rarity and the girls helped me with making these for the past week!”

“Yeah, and of course your balloon pump broke, so we had to manually fill them with air,” said Sunset Shimmer, rolling her eyes. She shrugged and a smile formed. “But, it was fun filling them up with its contents, though.”

“Oh, yes! Spending time with the girls was very fun! Especially making these balloons!” agreed Fluttershy.

Clyde looked down at the balloons. The dark colors of the balloons made it impossible to see through them. “What is the prize this time? More movie tickets?”

Rarity and the girls laughed. “There aren’t prizes, per se, darling. However, there could be a prize if you get lucky.”

“What?” asked Clyde extremely confused.

“You and everyone else will find out soon enough,” nodded Pinkie.

“Oh, okay. When is that?”

“Now!” Pinkie skipped through the balloon field as if they were mines and hopped up the stairs to the main floor of Tyrone’s house. She leaned through the door and took a deep intake of air. “HEY EVERYONE! COME DOWNSTAIRS!” she screamed. After she gave a laugh, Pinkie quickly slid down the stairs and skipped back to her original spot near the TV, giving a large smile as if nothing happened.

Soon, the people in the kitchen began filing down the staircase and carefully found a spot to stand. Tyrone’s basement was spacious enough for all the people, but with the balloons on the floor, people had to gather closer to each other in order to see Pinkie. Tyrone eventually walked down the stairs and stood on the bottom step. “Aight, girl. Everyone is down here. What’s with these balloons?”

“Okie dokie! Friends, lend me your ears! It’s time for another installment of Pinkie’s Balloon Pop!” Pinkie jumped in the air to celebrate, flailing around and screaming in joy, while everyone casually stood there confused. Once grounded, Pinkie lit up a grin. “Unlike my last few balloon pops, this time the contents of these balloons are much more deadly!”

“Deadly?” asked a boy in fear, “you’re going to kill us?!”

“What!? No!” Pinkie shook her head. “We are playing Truth or Dare!” The room fell silent and a few coughs and sighs were heard from the crowd of people gathered in Tyrone’s basement. “Oh, come on! It’ll be fun!”

“I-I don’t know, girl,” said Tyrone scratching his head, “that may sound fun and all, but I don’t know if we can dig that, you feel me?”

“I think you’re just scared, T,” said a voice from the crowd. Tyrone quickly looked for the source before it stepped out of the crowd to face him. Thunderlane’s grin on his face made Tyrone shake his head at him.

“I ain’t scared, dawg.”

“Then why don’t you go first?” said Thunderlane with another smug grin. He shifted his combat helmet on his head and crossed his arms. Thunderlane was decked out in a soldier outfit, combat helmet and all.

“You don’t think I will?” laughed Tyrone.

“Nope.”

“Shit, I’ll do it.” The crowd cheered and Clyde shook his head. Tyrone let peer pressure win again. Tyrone took a few steps away from everyone, his head hovering over his chosen balloon. As he lifted up his foot, a shout from Pinkie stopped him.

“Wait!” yelled Pinkie, holding up her arms. “I didn’t tell you how to play!”

“I just stomp, girl,” said Tyrone, his foot still in air, “I got this.”

“No!” Pinkie shook her head. “Not that part, silly! That’s obvious! I meant the Truth or Dare part of it!” Tyrone lowered his foot and waited for her answer, giving a sigh. Pinkie looked across the room and nodded. “‘Kay! Before you begin, you must declare Truth or Dare! After popping the balloon with any means you want, then, you must obey the corresponding slip of paper within! There’s a slip for each. After the person is done with their Truth or Dare, they pick the next one in line!” She exhaled and smiled.

Tyrone smirked. “Aight. Dare.” He slammed his foot to the ground, smashing the orange balloon underneath. The loud explosion caused a few people to jump, including Rarity, which Clyde felt hug him tighter in reaction. Tyrone slowly lifted his sneakers and bend down to pick up his Dare slip. As he stood up, he frowned. “Break the nearest portrait on the wall?” He looked around the basement and once he saw a portrait, he began to cry. “Not that one... My mama is going to beat me...”

The room glanced at the portrait on the wall that Tyrone was crying about. It was a small dog, a tan chihuahua from what Clyde could tell. The dog had to be somewhat of importance to Tyrone’s family if there was a painted portrait on the wall of it. Tyrone sulked over to the portrait and sniffled. He took it off the wall, and with a mighty sigh, smashed it against the wall. The frame of the portrait fell apart and the picture of the dog fell to the floor and disappeared under the ocean of balloons.

A few members of the crowd laughed or coughed as Tyrone sadly walked back to Thunderlane. He looked at him angrily. “If I get grounded because of you, I know where to find you, dawg.”

Thunderlane waved him away. “Yeah, yeah.”

“Go ahead. Your turn, dawg.”

Thunderlane shrugged and burst into a chuckle. “Fine with me. I’ll pick Dare, too.” He picked up the black balloon under him and smashed it together with his palms. As he read the small slip, he twitched his eye. “Seriously?!”

“You can’t back out of it now!” said Pinkie with a giggle. She couldn’t possibly know what it was, but Clyde knew most of these dares had to be embarrassing or something of the like.

“You heard her,” stated Tyrone with a nod. Soon, the crowd around Tyrone begin to holler, awaiting Thunderlane’s actions.

Thunderlane shook his head and looked over at Tyrone. “Hey man... I need to borrow an orange.”

“Why?”

Thunderlane gulped and his face turned red. “I need to passionately kiss an orange for a minute...”

Tyrone blinked a few times before he, and the rest of the crowd, burst into a laughter. Thunderlane shook his head in embarrassment trying to conceal his face.

“Oh man,” laughed Tyrone, almost unable to breathe, “that is hilarious, dawg!”

“That is funny!” laughed Pinkie, “I don’t even remember who put that one in there!”

“Just get the damn orange!” yelled Thunderlane in embarrassment. “I want to get this over with!”

Tyrone patted him on the back before running up the stairs. After a few seconds, he ran back down the stairs to the basement with an orange in his hand. He handed it to Thunderlane while giving a coy smile. Thunderlane quickly grabbed it, trying his best to ignore the laughter around him. After a sigh, Thunderlane placed his lips on the orange and began to “passionately” kiss it. The rest of the room fell silent as they watched Thunderlane move the orange around in his hands and use his lips and tongue to kiss it all over. After the minute was over, Thunderlane dropped the orange to the floor and shook his head rapidly, nearly sobbing. “I can’t do that anymore, man. I just can’t...”

“There, there, dawg. You did good.” Tyrone game him a hug while Pinkie burst into a loud laugh. She looked around the room at the growing amount of smiles and smiled herself.

“I told you this would be fun! Who's next?!”

The Truth or Dare Balloon Pop went on like this for hours. The silly twist of the balloon pop soon took the party by storm, and laughter and ‘oohs’ carried throughout the basement. Pinkie had the biggest smile of all in the basement due to the fact so many people began to enjoy her newest activity.

Clyde noticed a lot of people picked Dare, which led to some interesting situations. Bulk Biceps had to sing a famous boy band song and dance to it. Seeing him do that in his snowflake costume made it even more amusing for people. As for a random girl, she had to say the whole alphabet of a foreign language while spinning.

Eventually Clyde was up and he decided to pick Truth for once. As he read his slip, he was glad it wasn’t something too embarrassing. Clyde said his favorite guilty pleasure song and walked back to his spot against the wall beside Rarity. Instead of picking an obvious choice for whose turn it was next, he picked Pinkie. Rarity gave him a pout.

“Finally! Truth!” Pinkie hopped off the couch and circled the room looking for her prey. After a quick nod, she dove down and held a orange balloon above her head. The balloon somehow popped by a magical force, or maybe because it was Pinkie, and the Truth slip landed perfectly in her palm. “Say the name of your crush!” she read aloud before giggling. “I don’t have a crush! I love everyone!” A few groans from random boys emitted, but Pinkie ignored them and continued her giggles. After a few moments, she glanced at Fluttershy and Sunset, before stopping at Rarity. “Your turn, Rarity!”

Rarity smiled. “With pleasure. I pick Dare.” The crowd fell silent and Clyde felt a nervous feeling within him. He hoped she didn’t get a dare involving another boy, because he would have to stop it. He wasn’t going to have any of that, even if it was a trivial party game.

Rarity stopped at a black balloon near the TV before digging her heel into it. With a loud pop, the balloon burst and she bent down to pick up the Dare slip. As she returned to a standing pose, she smiled with lowered eyes and looked directly at Clyde. “Oh, hello there, darling...”

The eyes in the room all slowly turned towards Clyde as well, making him feel nervous again. Clyde ignored them as best as he could to focus on Rarity. After knowing her for over a year now, he knew that look by heart and realized something was about to happen that Rarity, himself, or the both of them would enjoy tremendously. His nervousness washed away and he smirked. “I’m guessing I’m involved, so what is it?”

Rarity kept her coquettish gaze on him and giggled. In his peripherals, Clyde saw Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Sunset look at each other before smiling. “It looks like I have to be locked in a room and make out with someone in a matching costume for the rest of the game?” Rarity closed her eyes and elegantly chuckled. “How in heavens did I ever manage to get this lucky?”

“Wait, are you serious?!” asked Clyde in bewilderment. Boys from the crowd sighed in disappointment, wishing they had the same fate as him. Rarity walked towards him and handed him the slip.

“See?” she said with a big smile.

Clyde looked down and, sure enough, the dare Rarity detailed was written on the paper. He saw that there was a purple heart for a period to end the sentence on the dare, but before he could question it, Rarity grabbed his hands and led him away from the crowd. Girls in the crowd, including Pinkie and them, oohed at them while most jealously-filled boys shook their head. Clyde couldn’t feel anymore prouder of the moment, even though he could kiss her anytime he wanted to.

“Get it, C! Get it!” called Tyrone as Rarity led Clyde down the hallway of the basement. They stopped in front of the small door and Rarity quickly shoved Clyde inside.

She turned towards the crowd and smiled. “Now, now. Don’t be prying on us~!” she sang before closing the door and letting darkness enter the room.

The room was completely in a blackout and Clyde didn’t know what to expect. Suddenly, arms wrapped around him and he felt a gentle breath close to his face. He instantly blushed and put his arms around her. “So, I–”

“Shh,” whispered Rarity. He felt one of her fingers cover his lips. “My dare was to make out with you, not hold a conversation. I figured we could mix it up for a bit, so save the talk for later, darling.” She quietly giggled to herself and Clyde saw a sparkle in her sapphire eyes. Her eyes were the only visible light in the room.

Clyde couldn’t respond back as he felt Rarity press against him and kiss him lightly. He returned the action and soon, the two of them began kissing each other lovingly in complete blindness. Clyde had never kissed her in “complete” darkness before, but he did seem to enjoy it just as much. He never really saw her anyway while they kissed in complete daylight, as his eyes were always closed, so almost nothing changed. Their love for each other hadn’t changed nor had their personalities. What did change, however, was the setting and the clothing that they wore, which both of them didn’t care about at the moment.

As minutes went by and Clyde and Rarity continued their kissing deadlock with each other in total blackness, a single thought flowed through his mind. This was the best Halloween ever.

~ ~ ~

The city of Canterlot was beginning to be bathed in the glow of twilight as Tyrone’s Halloween party drew to a close. After Rarity’s dare, the Truth or Dare game lasted a few more rounds until everyone went. Fluttershy had to break open the closet door to get Rarity to stop kissing Clyde. Rarity gave Fluttershy a pout before clinging back onto his arm. Fluttershy smiled at them before helping Pinkie and Sunset Shimmer clean up the remnants of the balloon pop.

Eventually, Clyde and Rarity said farewell to their friends and peers and were stopped by Tyrone as they walked out of the house.

“Ey! Wait up, C!”

Clyde turned around. “What’s up?”

“What are you two doing tonight? Bae wanted to go to that haunted house near the mall and I figured, since you are my best dawg, wanted to come, too.”

“A haunted house?” questioned Clyde. Clyde always wanted to see what the thrill of a “fake” haunted house was, but he never had an opportunity to go with someone else. He refused to go himself because truthfully, he wasn’t a huge fan of horror-related things. That was until he met Rarity.

“A haunted house?” repeated Rarity with disinterest. “Absolutely not! Why would I go to some strange, dilapidated building where strange people that are dressed up in awful looking costumes try and grab me?”

“Come on, Rarity. I’ll be there with you if you need something to hold onto.” Clyde gave her a grin, but she shook her head.

“Yeah, girl. All you gotta do is let C carry you through it if you want. The people are saying this house is freaky.” Tyrone nodded.

Rarity crossed her arms with her head up high to ignore them. After a few seconds, she instantly smiled as if she had a revelation. “Now that I think about it, maybe we should go, Clyde. It could be fun.”

“Yeah!” exclaimed Tyrone happily. “We’ll meet up at the place around eight or so, C. You know where it is, right?”

“You just said it was by the mall. I’ll find it.”

Tyrone rubbed his head and lightly laughed. “Aight, dawg. See you then. Peace!” Tyrone quickly ran back inside of his house allowing Clyde and Rarity to enter the car. After starting it up, handing the auxiliary cord to Rarity to allow her to listen to her music from her phone, and pulling away from the curb in front of the house, Clyde drove back towards her home.

“So, how did you know?” asked Clyde a minute later at a traffic light.

“Excuse me?”

“How did you know which balloon it was on the ground? There were way too many to get that lucky.”

Rarity looked out the passenger side window. “Clyde, I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“Sure,” said Clyde with a smile. “You obviously had something to do with it. The slip was in your handwriting and there was that small heart you usually use when you write about or towards me.”

Rarity giggled and let out a dreamy sigh. “You have to admit, I did create a wonderful dare for myself.”

Clyde raised his eyebrow. “So, it was you?”

“Of course it was, darling! It was quite easy, too.” Rarity pulled out a small bottle of nail polish from her boot and showed it to him. The color was as black as the balloon she popped. “As you know, the girls and I spent some time with Pinkie this week to write these slips. I wanted to have fun, so I wrote my own dare, since our matching costumes were to signify us being a couple. Anyway, I placed the dare in a black balloon and marked it with this nail polish. It might be the same color, but this has certain glimmer so I could easily tell which balloon it was. You know what happened next.”

“I love how creative you are.” Clyde gave her a grin which caused her to smile greatly.

“Thank you, my love. I have to be creative at all times for my work and having you around now helps me very much!” She grabbed his right arm and snuggled into it. “Are you ready for the haunted house tonight?”

“I’m surprised you actually decided to go. Normally you hate horror stuff.”

Rarity slyly grinned. “I do. However, I figured if this house is truly as scary as people say, then I have a perfect excuse for you to stay over tonight! You have to protect me at all costs, correct?” She gave him a usual flirty wink.

Clyde smirked and quickly snapped his focus back to the road to prevent a crash. At a stoplight, he thought about something again he told himself earlier. Now it was a fact.

This was definitely the best Halloween ever.

"...Your eyes are like starlight now." [Christmas Eve]

At a quarter to six, Clyde stepped out of his car and shut the door. He walked around the car that was parked in his normal spot and gave the car a small ‘beep’ with a press of his keychain button. He patted the pockets of his jacket and quickly walked inside of Rarity’s home, trying to get out of the extremely cold weather as fast as he could.

Just like the prior year, Rarity invited Clyde to join her family for Christmas Eve dinner again for this one. Clyde always liked being around her family, and thoroughly enjoyed the moments where they invited him to do stuff with them, like the week-long summer vacation to their beach house in July. Even though he wasn’t part of their family, they made him feel like he belonged. It was something he hadn’t experienced in years.

Clyde hung up his jacket near the door entrance and patted down his black sweater in case there was lingering dirt or dust on it. His outfit was similar to last year’s, except instead of wearing khaki pants, he wore his jeans. He tucked his phone in his jeans pocket and walked towards the kitchen, hearing voices from upstairs as he passed the staircase by the doorway. He walked through the curtain and saw Rarity’s father standing by the oven.

“Hey,” called Clyde with a wave.

Magnum turned to him and smiled. “Good to see you, Clyde. How’ve you been?” Magnum wore what he had on last year–a maroon sweater with khaki pants. Clyde knew he wasn’t much into dressing formally, even for a simple family dinner.

“Pretty much the same. The season is underway and we are in the same spot as we were last year.”

Magnum nodded. “That’s good. I haven’t been able to watch a game yet this year.” He gave a humorful yawn. “Sometimes people are just too lazy to get off the couch.”

Clyde chuckled. “Well, none of the games have been close so far, so you aren’t missing much. Tyrone refuses to lose again and Rainbow Dash still is the number one option for when he begins drawing more defenders on him.”

Magnum nodded. “Old Iron Will finally has a good basketball team now. It’s probably the best team he’s coached since my days on the football team.” A female scream emitted from upstairs, in which Clyde assumed Sweetie Belle was running from Rarity who needed to use the bathroom mirror. Magnum shook his head. “Women. They take so long to get ready. Anyways, Rarity told me a few weeks ago you wanted to join the football team during the fall?”

“Well, Coach wanted me and Tyrone to be the corners to help us with agility and routes,” said Clyde. “I thought it would be cool, as I like defense more than offense personally, so I told Rarity about the idea. She quickly defused that idea from happening, however.” Clyde sighed.

Magnum frowned. “What for?”

“She didn’t want me to get hurt so then I couldn’t play the sport I actually was good at. Football is more injury prone than basketball, so she has a point. I think Tyrone and I could have been some awesome cornerbacks, though.” Clyde laughed at the idea in his head of Tyrone returning an interception for a touchdown and doing a little dance to celebrate, even if he knew he was going to get flagged for it.

“That’s too bad you didn’t play,” said Magnum, “I could have easily helped you become a good corner. After all, I was a pretty good quarterback.” He gave a smirk and Clyde knew he was joking around like always. A common inside joke of Rarity’s family that he learned over the year was Magnum always bringing up his high school days as the quarterback of Canterlot High. While the girls got annoyed with it, Clyde thought it was funny. Clyde knew he was a amazing player so he didn’t mind Magnum talking about it all the time.

“Look who’s here!” exclaimed Pearl as she walked into the kitchen. Pearl was dressed in another festive dress that matched Magnum’s maroon sweater in color. The dress wasn’t suited for a gala, but it was perfect for this informal occasion. She walked up to Clyde with a big smile and gave him a friendly hug. “Don’t you look handsome tonight, dear! Rarity will be down soon. You know her.” Clyde fought off his reddened-embarrassed cheeks and nodded. Pearl walked over to the oven and looked at her husband. “Did you check the turkey like I asked?”

“It’s almost done,” said Magnum as he began placing the silverware and plates on the dinner table.

Pearl opened the oven door, and after waving away some hot air, closed it. She turned to Clyde. “Say, this will be the first meal you ate with us since our summer vacation to the beach house!”

“I guess it will be, huh? Ever since school started again, I’ve been busy and unable to just relax.”

“That’s understandable, dear. So has Rarity. However, she tells us that your nightly phone call or web chat with her brightens up her mood!”

Clyde lovingly smiled. “She brightens my mood as well. To be honest, I’m not even sure where I would be now if I never met her. I probably wouldn’t be playing ball for the school and I wouldn’t have as many friends as I do now, too.” He glanced down at the polished kitchen floor with saddened eyes.

“Don’t say that! I’m sure you two would have met eventually.” She walked up to him and placed her hands on his shoulder. He looked at her to see a smile. “Besides, it doesn’t matter now to say stuff like that. What matters is what you two have done together since meeting! I’ve never seen Rarity so happy before ever since she began talking to you, so as her mother, I love having you join us for events like this! Seeing you two together brings a big smile on my face!” Pearl’s large smile caused Clyde to mimic it.

“Thank you,” Clyde nodded. “I had a lot of fun with you guys during the summer.”

“Of course! You’ll always be welcomed to join us for any vacation, especially since Rarity invites you to everything. I’m surprised you didn’t want to go with her to the beach house during August.”

Clyde slightly laughed. “She told me the August trip was going to be an annual thing for her and her friends to hang out at the beach. That’s her time with her friends so I would have felt out of place. I talked to her every night, like we always do, so it didn’t matter to me.”

A small click came from the oven and Pearl turned to it. “Looks like the turkey is about done!” She quickly rushed over to the oven and carefully removed the cooked turkey. She then began scavenging the refrigerator in search of other materials to work on the side dishes.

“Hey, Clyde.” Clyde turned to see Sweetie Belle walk past him and take a seat at the dinner table. Sweetie Belle was the last of Rarity’s family to seem to bond with him. Early on, she didn’t talk to him that much or even attempted to. It wasn’t until after Clyde and Tyrone helped her and her “Crusader” friends win a dodgeball tournament at school that she talked to him as much as her parents did.

“Hey,” replied Clyde warmly. He looked at her attire of a red sweater and black skirt. The sweater was a little big on her, making him think that it was Rarity’s at one point when she was younger.

Sweetie Belle picked up a the glass of water in front of her and gulped it down. She looked at Clyde. “Rarity is still getting dressed. I don’t know why it’s super important for her to get so dressed up for a dinner, but whatever.”

“Well, you know she loves to look marvelous whenever possible,” said Clyde with a smile.

“Yeah, tell me about it,” said Sweetie Belle rolling her eyes. “Try living with her. You’ll never see the bathroom for hours.” Clyde cracked a smile.

“Sweetie Belle, I’m not that bad with the bathroom usage,” a voice cooed from behind. “I just want to look nice for my wonderful boyfriend is all. Besides, Clyde understands and has no problem with it.” Clyde didn’t have any time to turn around, as a pair of arms hugged him from behind. Rarity kissed him quickly on the cheek and rested her head on his shoulder. “Good evening, my love,” she purred.

He turned his head to look at her. “Are you finally done making yourself look even more beautiful?”

Rarity smiled. “Why don’t you tell me how I did?” She let go of him so he could turn around and look at her fully, outfit and all. She wore a tan colored long-sleeved shirt along with a cotton maroon pleated skirt. It was as long as her usual everyday skirt she wore, but to go with a classy theme, she wore straight black tights underneath. Her luscious hair was extra shiny and styled, even more than her already everyday styled hair. Rarity batted her eyelashes and playfully winked.

“Why have me say something you already know? asked Clyde with a smirk. “You will never not be beautiful to me.”

“Because I simply adore you saying it.”

“Rarity, quit flirting with him and come help get the table ready,” ordered Pearl from across the kitchen.

“But, mother,” whined Rarity. She gave a pout, but only Clyde was paying attention to it. “Why can’t Sweetie Belle do it? She’s just sitting there!”

Pearl ignored her plea and showed a slight smile. “Because in a few years, you’ll need to learn how to set a table for your family.”

“You heard her,” teased Clyde.

Rarity shot him an angered look before smiling and walked over to her mother. Clyde took a seat across from Sweetie Belle and sat there waiting. Since Clyde was always treated as the guest, he never was asked to help, even if he asked to lend a hand himself. If the meal was going to be anything like the year prior, he couldn’t wait to eat.

~ ~ ~

Following dinner, and after some hot chocolate, Clyde spent his time on the couch cuddling with Rarity and watching some typical Christmas movie on some TV channel. He never got to see the ending, let alone a majority of the movie, as the both of them fell asleep within a few minutes of it starting.

Eventually, he felt a gentle breath over his face and he slowly opened his eyes. His first sight landed on a pair of sapphire eyes.

“Are you awake, darling?” asked Rarity in a whisper. She looked at the time on her phone’s screen. “It’s a quarter after eleven and I know you told me you wanted to be home by midnight.” She frowned.

“What’s with the frown?”

“I hate seeing you leave is all,” she said with a smile.

Clyde laughed. “I guess it depends if it’s still cold out then. I don’t feel like waiting for the car to start up for a few minutes just to drive home. I’ll check after we finish with our presents to each other.”

“Good!” Rarity beamed before dropping her expression into shock. “Presents! I must have forgotten to bring them downstairs! Will you excuse me for a moment and wait in the shop lobby for me, darling?”

“Of course.”

Rarity quickly kissed his cheek before quietly rushing upstairs. Clyde sat up and looked around the living room. The TV was still on, but mute. Rarity’s parents and sister were not in the room, so Clyde assumed they left the TV on for Rarity and him. He yawned and walked over to the shop section of the home. He flicked on the lights of the room and sat down on the cushioned bench near Rarity’s massive wall of shoes after taking his jacket off the hook by the door.

A few weeks ago, Clyde and Rarity decided that since Christmas Eve was special to them, their exchange of gifts would be that night. Clyde felt terrible last year for not getting her something, even though they weren’t dating. After all, she did gift him a customized basketball sleeve that he continued to wear for every game, practice, and park session. Because the gift was from her heart, it became one of his favorite things he owned.

Clyde smirked as he looked down at his jacket. He patted the pocket, making sure the items were still in place. He couldn’t let a slip up of not giving her a gift again, so he had to make sure this year counted.

Within a couple of minutes, Rarity walked into the shop lobby with a large Christmas present bag in hand and Opal following her. She carefully placed it on the floor beside him and sat down. Her face was lit up with excitement. “So, care to open yours up first?” Opal brushed against his leg and hopped up beside of him, giving a small pur.

He rubbed Opal’s head and before he could answer Rarity, she reached into the bag of presents and pulled out a thin and rectangular present. “You’re quite eager.”

Rarity smiled. “Presents are always fun! Especially since you owe me big time for not getting me something last year!” She giggled watching Clyde turn red.

“Yeah, sorry about that...”

“Clyde, it’s fine. I’m not angry with you.” She handed him her first gift to him and grinned. “Now, enough with that, let’s get to the fun part!”

Clyde smiled and nodded at her before focusing on the wrapped present in front of him. Instead of guessing what it could possibly be, he carefully tore open the corners and ripped away the glimmery and elegant wrapping paper. When he saw the object, a large grin appeared on his face and he gave a laugh.

The thin and rectangular gift was a framed collage that was shaped into a heart. All the pictures within the heart were pictures of Rarity and him throughout their time together. He quickly scanned the heart and recollected many memories he had with her, like their Valentine’s Night snuggle ‘selfie’, the Spring Fling, the beach house visit, the Fall Formal from a few months ago, and other random pictures she took with him over the year. Clyde wasn’t a big fan of getting his picture taken, but he always let her take pictures with him anyway to make her happy so she could put it on her various social media accounts. At least all the pictures were used for a good cause he thought to himself as he looked near the bottom of the frame. It had their names with some romantic quote about love and fairy tales.

“I thought you could use more decoration for your room!” said Rarity excitedly, “I had two of these made. The other is already hanging up near my bed.”

“Have we really taken that many photos together already?” asked Clyde with a bit of humor in his voice.

“Yep! And we still have so many more photos to add to the next collage, too!” Rarity laughed. “I’ll make more every year or so.”

“Fine with me,” grinned Clyde. “My room is pretty bland so I could use some Rarity to make it better. After all, she makes everything better.”

“I love you too,” she cooed, handing him his next present.

Clyde smiled at her before beginning his attack on the wrapping paper. The cubic box was somewhat heavy so he took extra precaution while opening the present. After removing all of the tape on the wrapping paper, he pulled it off to see the newest gaming console that Tyrone got last year. The console was bundled with the newest version of the yearly basketball game. Since it was over a year the console came out, the price had decreased slightly. However, it was still expensive.

“Since I know how much you love playing that basketball game with your friends, I had to get you one!” Rarity beamed. “Plus, this console can do so much more than gaming, but you already know that. I know how girls say boys don’t text while they are playing these games, but there’s an app where you can web chat while playing! Now we can continue our nightly calls to each other!” Rarity smiled away.

Clyde kept his gaze on the box and looked up at Rarity. “I never imagined I would ever get one of these. I hope it didn’t cost you that much.”

Rarity shrugged. “Truth be told, I spent the most this year on you than all of my friends and family combined, but it’s perfectly fine with me. I love you very much so you deserve the best things.” She smiled and leaned at him to hug him tightly.

“Thank you, Rarity,” said Clyde sweetly during their hug. She responded by hugging him tighter.

After Rarity wanted to end their hug, she pulled away from him and slyly smirked. “So, is it time for my gifts?”

Clyde nodded and after a few seconds, burst into a laugh.

“What’s so funny?” she pouted. “You don’t like my presents?”

“What, no! Compared to your gifts, mine are terribly wrapped.”

“Oh.”

“Like, they aren’t even wrapped.”

“Clyde...” Rarity shook her head. “What’s a present without it being wrapped?”

Clyde scratched his head. “In my gifts’ defense, they aren’t big enough to wrap up.”

“I’m teasing,” she giggled. “No matter what they are, I’m still excited!” She looked at him and grinned. Clyde could tell her anticipation was at the highest point. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small envelope. He handed it to her.

“An envelope?” asked Rarity apathetically.

“It’s the ‘wrapping paper,’” laughed Clyde.

Rarity sighed before giving a small grin. “While your attempt was cute, I really need to teach you better ways to present smaller gifts to people without the need of wrapping paper.” She laughed and took the envelope. After opening it, she pulled out a gift card to the mall in Canterlot.

“Since you love so many shops at the mall, I couldn’t pick just one so there’s $100 to whatever store or stores you want to spend it on.”

“Perfect! I’ll probably spend this in one day easily!”

Clyde knew she wasn’t kidding. He pulled out another envelope from his jacket and handed it to her.

“Clyde.”

“Yeah, I know. No more envelopes, but I promise this is the last one.”

Rarity opened the second envelope and found a nicely folded piece of paper inside. She opened it up and quickly read it, trying to figure out what it was. After a scan, she looked up at Clyde confused. “You are taking me on a trip to Manehatten on February 6th, but I’m not really–” She suddenly dropped the order slip and gasped, holding her hand close to her mouth. “Clyde! No! You didn’t!” She picked up the paper off the floor to look at the date again. Once she saw the same date, she dropped it again and lightly screamed in joy. Clyde sat there with a smirk, leaving Rarity to voice her reaction. “I can’t believe this is happening!” Her face turned to him and her large grin easily captivated him.

“I assume you like it?”

“Yes! I love you so much!” She lunged at him and hugged him tightly again, almost knocking him off of the cushioned bench and onto the floor. After she calmed down, she dreamily sighed. “I can’t believe I’m going to Manehatten with the most fabulous boy in the world for Fashion Week!”

“While I couldn’t afford getting you into a public showcase to show off your designs, I thought getting to see other people’s works might help your clothing just as much. I asked your friends and family if they wanted to go as well, but they all had something to do that week or just didn’t want to. Truthfully, I think your parents didn’t want to go because they want to see if I can take care of you for a week without help.”

“Hmm, possibly. However, I have complete faith in you and can’t wait to spend a whole week in Manehatten with my love!” She snuggled into his shoulder. “There are so many things to see and do! I can probably make a collage about our week in Manehatten alone with all the picture opportunities the city holds!”

“Yeah, and thankfully we will only miss a day of school because winter break is around that time.”

“What about basketball?” asked Rarity worriedly. “I don’t want you to miss out on games because of me.”

Clyde flashed her a smile to comfort her. “The playoffs won’t start until the Monday after we get back. Which means our bus will return home on Valentine’s Day, so I guess I need to think of something we can do that day, too.”

“That week will simply be divine!” cooed Rarity, sighing in bliss. She rested her head on his shoulder and hugged his torso. “Thank you for your gifts, darling. You definitely made up for last year.”

“But... I still have another present to give you.”

Rarity instantly shot upright. “Really?” she asked with sparkles in her eyes.

“Unless you want to wait until next year...”

“No!–she coughed–I mean, I would love to receive another present tonight.” She giggled and playfully winked to make him forget his sudden outburst. Clyde gave a smile and stood up, grabbing her hands and leading her towards the large mirror in the room. He turned her towards the mirror and stood behind her. “What are you doing, Clyde?”

“Close your eyes.”

Clyde saw her smile in the mirror before closing her eyes. He took out his last gift and opened the small box containing it. After fooling around with the small chain, he placed the necklace around her neck and carefully clasped it together, making sure not to pinch her skin. He glanced at her through the mirror and smiled.

“Can I open them yet?”

“Now.”

Rarity slowly opened her enchanting eyes. Upon seeing the new item around her neck, she instantly smiled and awed in joy.

The silver necklace held a small heart shaped pendant that shined with its bright luster. Also made of silver, the pendant contained multiple diamond and light blue diamond studs that covered the heart. Rarity seemed to enjoy it as she gently touched it and awed watching the diamonds sparkle.

“I wanted to put my favorite insignia as a pendant, just like how you put your diamonds on my basketball sleeve, but I realized mine isn’t as fashionable as yours, so I decided to go with finding a suitable pendant instead.”

Rarity grinned and leaned backwards, pulling Clyde’s arms around her so he could hug her from behind. Rarity was always a fan of surprise or known hugs from behind, and she did it to Clyde nearly every day. Clyde had no objections for letting her be the one being hugged this time. As his head rested on her shoulder, he heard her hum blissfully. Clyde didn’t dare to speak, but he soon also didn’t have to as Rarity leaned her farther back, turned her head slightly, and kissed at Clyde’s mouth. The two of them kissed in romantic silence for a good minute until Rarity broke out of the hug and turned to face him. Her eyes shone like the stars.

“I couldn’t wish for anyone else to spend Christmas with other than you, Clyde. Your gifts were simply magnificent and made mine look awful.” Her luminous eyes filled with sadness.

“Awful? Except the video game console, all of your other gifts have came from your heart and I can’t ever be disappointed in them. I love you and your creative mind,” said Clyde with a laugh and poking her forehead. “I had to get you wonderful gifts because you deserve them. Christmas Eve last year was one of the best nights I ever had, and it was all because of you.”

Rarity pecked him on the lips again. “It was a good night for me as well. Tonight could have been even better if you didn’t have to leave...” she gave a pout.

“I said I’ll check to see if it was still cold out,” said Clyde with a smirk. He walked over to the door and opened it up. The cold air quickly entered the shop, but Clyde knew it wasn’t too cold to make cars take long to get going. He took a deep breath of the cold December air and shut the door.

“You know,” he said while turning around to face Rarity, “I think it’s still a little too cold for me to leave. My new game console can wait for me to play in the morning.” Rarity’s face lit up again, as if he had another present for her. Clyde wasn’t sure if she knew he was lying or not, but he knew either way she didn’t care.

“Shall I start the movie for us to not watch?” asked Rarity with a sly smile.

Clyde laughed. “Of course.”

Paging Nurse Rarity [New Year's Eve]

Clyde laid on the couch in his home feeling completely miserable.

Some hours ago, Clyde caught hold of a cold and felt awful ever since. His voice was now hoarse due to his coughing spree, his fatigue was as low as it was after he played a basketball game, and his head was pounding with a mean headache. He wore sweatpants and a normal shirt so he could feel better about laying around Clyde coughed again before turning on the first of the yearly college football Bowl games on his TV.

Within a few minutes, his phone vibrated off of his chest and fell to the floor. Clyde struggled turning to his side to pick it up, but quickly answered it when he saw the name on the screen.

“Darling!” boomed a lovely voice from the phone into Clyde’s ear. “I just finished the outfit I needed to work on all week! Are you ready for the New Year’s party tonight or are you still under the weather?”

“I...” Clyde stopped and coughed away from the phone, “I’m in no condition to go...”

“Oh, my. Your voice sounds absolutely dreadful.”

Clyde frowned. He didn’t have a choice sounding this dreadful. “If you want to go to the party tonight, go ahead. All I’m doing tonight is laying here watching football anyway.”

“And leave you alone again! The only reason I went to last year’s was because you asked me to go and...” Rarity didn’t finish her sentence as she giggled into the phone. Clyde smiled too as he knew she was talking about their first kiss, or the multiple kisses that soon followed after it. Her voice quickly returned after her giggles ceased. “So! If you aren’t going, then neither will I! Instead, I’ll help nurse my love back into perfect condition!”

It took a few seconds for Clyde to realize what she said. “Wait, so you want to come over?” He pulled the phone away from him again to cough.

“I’m coming over to nurse you back to tip-top shape. I’ll be over in a few!”

Clyde never opposed of having Rarity visit him at his house for once, but he didn’t want to get her sick. “The door is probably locked and I don’t feel like getting up...”

“It’s quite alright, Clyde. I know where the second key is. I only know because I still have it!”

“Oh yeah, that’s right...”

“I’m hanging up now, Clyde. I don’t want you to speak until I’m there, okay? I will help you feel better and will see you in roughly thirty-or-so minutes! Bye!” She made a kissing noise to him before hanging up.

Clyde threw his phone onto the floor and sighed. He hated being sick and it seemed like every winter he caught something to make him feel weakened for a few days. He especially hated being sick on the important days where he had to be somewhere or do something. However, he always felt better no matter what condition he was in when Rarity was near him so he hoped she could end his cold quickly.

~ ~ ~

Clyde must have dozed off, because soon he heard the doorknob turning. He looked at his phone and about thirty minutes went by since Rarity got off the phone with him. He remained watching TV as he heard the front door open and close. After a few footsteps, Rarity came into his view and looked down at him. She was wearing her “comfy” outfit, composed of one of Clyde’s hoodies and her favorite leggings. What caught Clyde’s eye was the fancy-looking tote bag that hung on her shoulder.

“Hello, darling! Are you feeling better?”

Clyde shrugged. “I just woke up from my nap. Hopefully since you are here now, I’ll get better soon so we can go to T’s party.” Rarity smiled at him and Clyde tried to, but a sudden cough stopped him. He sighed again and looked at her tote bag. “What’s with the bag?”

“Oh, this?” asked Rarity taking it off of her shoulder. “I decided to bring along some blankets and stuff for tonight in case you don’t get better. You can stay on the couch while I’ll sleep on the reclining chair.”

“You could sleep in my bed if you want,” stated Clyde weakly. “It would be way more comfortable for you than that chair, but of course you know that.”

Rarity’s face filled with worry. “But then I wouldn’t be able to take care of you throughout the night! I would be upstairs and what if you wanted a glass of water in the middle of the night? You might be too weak to pour it! Even worse, you might fall down and since your voice is damaged, I might not hear you!”

Clyde shook his head and chuckled. “What would I ever do without you?”

Rarity gave him an alluring smile. “Anyway, I’m going to use the bathroom, Clyde. Don’t get up and worry me!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be laying here... like I have been all day,” said Clyde with disappointment. He heard her elegantly run up the stairs. Since the staircase leading to the upper floor was behind his head from where he lay and towards the kitchen, Clyde wasn’t able to see if she took her bag with her. Of course, it didn’t really matter to him much as he only wanted to end this slight sickness.

He faintly heard the bathroom door from upstairs swing open a few minutes later. As the sound of Rarity walking down the stairs grew louder, Clyde noticed a clicking noise was becoming more clear as well. When Rarity finally reached the bottom floor again and walked in front of the TV, Clyde instantly felt his temperature rising.

With her hands on her hips, Rarity looked down at Clyde with a seductive smile. Her outfit from a few moments before was gone and she was now wearing her short white dress that she wore for Halloween last year during school trying to masquerade as a nurse. He realized that the clicking noise was from her high heeled shoes. The little hat with the red cross was the only missing piece of the outfit, but Clyde knew she didn’t have to wear it to make him understand what she was dressed up as again.

She sat down on the edge of the couch near Clyde and put a hand to his head. “My, you are on fire, darling.”

“It’s probably because you wearing that outfit again...”

Rarity smiled. “I just had to wear it again to make you feel better. Plus, I told you I was going to nurse you back to perfect condition. It was only the most logical choice to wear it tonight.”

Clyde didn’t answer, mostly because he didn’t know how to answer. Clyde’s one weakest was seeing Rarity in sexy and seductive outfits, as it made him extremely flustered as it would with any boy his age. Rarity knew herself this weakness a little after they began talking to each other through text messages so she always tried making him feel that way for fun. Instead of being used to it by now, Clyde always felt like he was that shy boy when he first saw her in the gymnasium.

“Can I get you some water, Clyde?”

“Please...”

She gave him a wink and briefly got up and made her way to the kitchen. Clyde soon heard the refrigerator open and close. The clicking began and Rarity stood over him with a bottle of water in hand.

“Thanks,” said Clyde hoarsely. He grabbed the bottle without looking at her to avoid being flustered again.

“Ahem.” Rarity frowned. “For tonight, you will address me as ‘Nurse Rarity’, darling.”

Clyde blinked. “What?”

“You are my patient and I am your nurse. It only makes sense.” She winked again.

Clyde blushed and quickly drank some water. “Rarity, I really–”

“Clyde. What did I just say?”

Clyde frowned. “Sorry. Nurse Rarity, I really don’t think this is all necessary. I only have a slight cold. I love you helping me, but don’t you think the whole nurse act is overdoing it?” He gave a weak smile after coughing into his sleeve.

Rarity sat at the edge of the couch near his chest again and sighed. “And here I thought you were going to feel instantly better if I wore this outfit tonight and took care of you.” She looked at him slowly and lowered her eyes. Clyde saw her smile slowly form into a sultry grin. “Besides, darling, I thought you always wanted me to roleplay as a sexy nurse.” She winked.

“T-That’s for something completely different! I-I...” Clyde’s face blazed red as he reached for the bottle of water on the floor to calm down.

“I know it is, I’m just teasing, like always,” cooed Rarity. She touched his forehead again and giggled. “At this rate, I’m going to make you sweat away this cold with all this suggestive talk.” She blew air into his face while he downed the water as fast as he could. Clyde threw the empty bottle of water to the floor. “Are you all cooled off now?”

Clyde coughed. His face was still warm, but it probably was because Rarity had eye contact with him. “For now... until you say something else.”

“Oh, Clyde...” she giggled. “Why would I ever do such a thing?”

Clyde shook his head with a laugh. He finally found the strength to look away from Rarity’s nurse outfit to look at the TV. He never really made much attention to college football, as he liked college basketball more, but every New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day had the big Bowl games on that he watched with his brother before he moved to Canterlot. Normally he would have been getting ready to attend Tyrone’s party like he did last year, but all he could do was stay home and get better. At least he had his favorite girl in the world and her flirty and seductive shenanigans to keep him company for the day.

“Would you like me to make you some soup, Clyde?” asked Rarity.

“If you don’t mind. I should have a can or two somewhere in the kitchen.”

“Don’t mind?” asked Rarity aghast. “I'm your nurse! It’s my duty to fulfill your needs! I’ll go make some soup!”

Clyde smiled at her. “Thank you, Nurse Rarity.”

“That’s much better,” said Rarity with a nod. “Since you are behaving like a good patient should, maybe the sooner I’ll wear this again when you aren’t sick.” She quickly kissed his burning cheek and giggled, before walking towards the kitchen again.

Eventually, Clyde was called to the kitchen to eat a bowl of soup. After laying down for almost half a day now, he had no problem with taking a small walk. There was enough in the can for both of them to have a bowl. After finishing, Clyde felt saddened watching Rarity eat her bowl because of his condition, but she didn’t seem to complain about it. He wanted them to go eat a more refined meal for the holiday before the party but wasn’t able to. With a frown, he put the bowl in the sink and walked back to the couch. He grabbed the game controller beside him and flipped on the output channel.

He felt a lot better now than he did before Rarity came over. His cough remained, but it was greatly reduced. His headache was gone, probably because he “sweated” it away, and his voice didn’t sound nearly as bad. He figured just a good night of sleep would purge the cough from his system and he would be fresh to start the new year.

Once she was done eating and cleaning everything up, Rarity sat down on Clyde’s reclining chair to watch him play his basketball game. Rarity was never much of a gamer, but since Sweetie Belle and her friends had some knowledge of it, she at least knew why she never bothered with games. Most of the them were “too barbaric, inappropriate, or idiotic” for her. She didn’t mind sport video games, however, mostly because she knew people could actually be an athlete in life instead of a space-soldier that can travel to other galaxies or a murdering pirate assassin that can jump off buildings without dying.

Usually, whenever Rarity watched Clyde play, she had a habit of calling him out whenever he messed up or missed a shot just to tease him and make him focus more, but for that night, she let him play in solace. Clyde figured it was because he was sick.

Clyde eventually won the game and decided to turn on a movie for them instead letting her sit there. They decided on a comedy movie for once, instead of the usual romantic or romantic comedy genre. Rarity quickly threw a blanket around him before she sat down beside him on the couch. She gave him a smile and tightly hugged him and his blanket. Clyde felt so warm and content that his eyes began to give out on him.

~ ~ ~

Clyde wasn’t sure if the movie ended exactly around midnight or she turned it off, as he fell asleep shortly once the movie started. He believed he never even saw one part of the movie before falling asleep, only a preview or two of other similar movies. When his eyes were focused, he saw that the midnight event on TV and heard the people on TV get louder and louder in excitement.

“You’re awake!” said Rarity excitedly. “It’s only two minutes until midnight!”

“Really?” asked Clyde groggily. “Sorry I fell asleep.”

“It’s fine, Clyde.” Rarity gave him a smile. “You need rest, I understand that. I just hoped you would wake up to see the New Year!”

Clyde nodded and yawned. He noticed Rarity was still in her nurse outfit. “You’re still in that?”

Rarity looked over at him with a pout. “Why wouldn’t I be, darling? Unless... you don’t like it anymore.”

“What? No! I just figured you would be laying around like me at this time.”

She seductively grinned. “I could take it off for you right now since you want me to...” Clyde blazed red again as Rarity winked at him. “No, but I was going to go change back to the outfit I came here in after the New Year’s special is over.”

As on a queue, the countdown flashed on the TV and the two of them watched in silence. Last year Clyde knew what amazing event happened shortly after the clock struck midnight. As he wondered what he wished would happen in this new year, the TV flashed in bright colors and the people on it celebrated.

“Happy New Year’s, my love!” beamed Rarity, giving him a hug.

Clyde smiled in return. “I wish I could kiss you, but I’m still sick.”

Rarity frowned, but soon shrugged. “It’s alright, darling. We kiss all the time anyway. I’m sure we could both live without kissing in the next few seconds.” She turned away from him, but quickly giggled and kissed at his mouth. Clyde expected a quick kiss, but it eventually turned into a slow and passionate one. The kiss reminded him of their first kiss at midnight last year, but it also showed him how much better they both got at kissing each other. Rarity withdrew from him after a few minutes with a grin. “That was so worth it.”

“If you get sick, don’t blame me. I warned you.”

Rarity stuck out her tongue and giggled. “That’s alright. You know I have to feed my kissing desire whenever you are near, Clyde. But if I do get sick, then I can count on Nurse Clyde to take care of me.” She looked down at her outfit and laughed. “Although, you’ll probably need to find another costume. This won’t fit you.”

“Act like I would wear that,” said Clyde, trying to find humor somewhere in his weakened voice. He took a look at her bright blue eyes and couldn’t help to smile. “You know, I always wanted to kiss you while you were wearing that costume.”

“I know. And more,” purred Rarity causing him to blush. She rested her head on his shoulder and looked up at the ceiling, dreamily sighing. “This day marks our official first year of dating being a success, however, I believe we actually started unofficially dating after that movie in October.”

“You think so?” asked Clyde.

“Certainly! After that movie, we began talking to each other a lot more. I know you were too nervous to say anything, but I wanted you to at least ask me if I felt any similar feelings. Fortunately, we still managed to make it to the holidays without any problems and soon became a couple!” She turned and pecked him. “While this wasn’t an ornate New Year’s celebration, I still enjoyed taking care of you in a simple way to spend the night together.”

“I did, too. Thanks for being here with me, Nurse Rarity.”

Rarity giggled. “Of course, darling.” She quickly stood up and walked towards the staircase. “I’ll be back down after I change out of this. Don’t worry, though. You’ll see your sexy Nurse Rarity again, my love.” She dropped her flirty gaze and wink on him.

“I can’t wait,” stated Clyde with a large grin.

Clyde let the clicking heels noise wander upstairs until it ceased. He adjusted the blanket around him and put and pillow behind his neck to support his head. After crashing his head into the pillow, he began thinking about the new year.

It was hard to top last year’s compared to what Clyde had been through, but he had no doubt Rarity and himself could think of ways to improve their already strong and loving relationship.

Striking Out [Valentine's Day]

As Clyde opened his eyes, the plain, yet, very clean, white ceiling loomed above him. He gave a yawn and closed his eyes again, trying his hardest to fall back to sleep . After a few moments, he opened his eyes again and blinked. He soon realized he was laying on the carpet of Rarity’s bedroom.

Confused, Clyde looked at his phone that laid a few inches from his head and checked the date. It was Valentine’s Day and almost three in the afternoon. He put his phone down and yawned again. As he yawned, he heard and saw the massive bed that towered to his left move and soon, Rarity’s face poked from the side looking down at him.

“Clyde? Whatever are you doing down there?” she asked with a slight giggle.

Clyde smiled and shrugged and quickly sat up. Even while sitting down, her bed was still taller than him, but she leaned down to hug him anyway. “Did you sleep alright?” he asked her.

“Of course! My bed is a comfy heaven!”

“I slept surprisingly well on the floor without pillow and a blanket,” laughed Clyde.

“Why were you down there anyway?” she asked him. “You’re always welcomed to sleep with me. There’s plenty of room.” Her usual wink caused him to smile again. After seeing her wink, he began remembering the events of why he woke up on the floor.

“I guess when I carried you up the stairs and tucked you into your bed, my mind must have shut down after it knew you were safe in your bed. I either passed out while I stood up or maybe I rolled off your bed and was too tired to wake up.” Clyde laughed.

That was the best explanation he could think of. Due to the past week, Clyde never felt as tired as he felt now. Manehatten was a huge city and because they explored as much as they could in the week they were there, Clyde never rested peacefully. Time was of essence in their week-long travel so they had to do as much as possible.

In general, Clyde and Rarity both enjoyed Manehatten together with the little amount of time they were there. Not only did they get to see many of the famous locations the city contained, Rarity was able to witness many famous fashion designer show off their new collections. Plus, Manehatten was home to a plethora of stores so she always had something to do. As for Clyde, he finally was able to see a Manehatten Kneighs game. Even though they lost, like they always had this season, the two of them had a ton of fun and even got featured on the ‘Kiss Cam’. Clyde never spent so much money in a week before, but he didn’t have a single regret. Manehatten was truly a gem of a city and it was only fitting that he made sure his own gem was happy in it.

The bus to return them back to Canterlot left Manehatten at six in the evening the prior day. Since the bus ride was roughly five-to-six hours, the passengers had small TVs implanted into the headrest of the seat in front of them. Clyde decided to listen to music while Rarity either watched the movie, texted her friends, or uploaded the thousands of pictures she took during the week. When the bus finally arrived at Canterlot a little past midnight, Clyde drove Rarity back to her home. Rarity fell asleep before Clyde pulled up to her home, so he gently carried her inside and instead of driving home, he quickly fell asleep, too.

Rarity leaned forward and kissed his forehead. “I thank the wonderful mind of my darling, Clyde, for making sure I was home safe before shutting down.”

“Same,” he agreed. “I honestly can’t remember if I was even tired while driving last night. Good thing my priorities kicked in. I left our belongings in the car last night so I'll help you carry your bags and suitcases of clothes that are still in the backseat. ” Rarity smiled at him again. Clyde stood up from the ground and stretched. “It’s good to be home, though. The playoffs begin in two days and I can’t wait.”

“And I can’t wait to watch you! You guys will certainly win this year. You’re much more skilled than from what I saw last year. It’s probably because of me!”

Clyde smirked. “Most likely. I have to make sure I don’t let you down.”

Rarity lowered her eyes and crawled to the end of the bed and pulled him onto it. She kissed him for a minute and suddenly stopped. Her voice was close to a whisper, but it was clear enough for him to hear it perfectly. “Happy Valentine’s Day, my love.”

Clyde grinned. With the sudden change of topics, Clyde knew it was going to be hard for him to let her down while playing basketball. She always kissed him after every game for just doing a good job, even if he didn’t score.

“So, what would you like to do tonight?” asked Clyde.

“Tonight?”

“Yeah. You know, for Valentine’s Day.”

“Oh!” Rarity frowned and shook her head. “We don’t have to do anything fancy or superb for tonight. Manehatten was a Christmas and Valentine’s gift from you. You spent so much on me as of late.” She smiled.

“You got that right...” said Clyde with a slight chuckle.

“Anyway! Instead of doing something alone, why don’t we hang out with the others? We haven’t seen any of them in over a week!”

Clyde nodded at the idea. “What did you have in mind?”

“Well, not me, Pinkie.”

“Huh?”

Rarity reached behind him and picked up her phone off the bed. She opened up the group chat she was in with her friends and scrolled upwards through the messages. After finding the text, she showed Clyde the message. “She wanted to know if everyone wanted to go bowling tonight! She can reserve the whole place for a group of us for laser bowling.”

“Bowling?” questioned Clyde. “I haven’t bowled since I was a small boy, so I would be rather rusty.”

“That’s alright, darling! I bet a lot of us wouldn’t be aces. We just want to have fun!”

“I guess that’s true. Who would all go?”

“Well, you and me of course, and all of my best friends. Pinkie asked me to tell you that you were in charge of bringing the boys.” She gave him a wink. “After all, it is Valentine’s Day and it’s much more fun when you have a date. Luckily for me, my date is right beside me.”

Clyde smirked and let her kiss him and snuggle his neck, listening to her adorable squee of joy. “Any particular boys?” he asked her as he quickly tried to figure out who would want to go bowling later that evening. It was already three in the afternoon so it was quite short notice.

“It doesn’t matter to me in the slightest. You’re picking for the girls.”

Clyde rubbed his chin. “I’ll see what I can do.”

~ ~ ~

It was roughly 10 at night when Clyde pulled into the parking lot of the bowling establishment Pinkie wanted everyone to go to. He found a spot to pull into and quickly turned the car off. After helping Rarity out if the car, the two of them entered the building. As Clyde and Rarity walked into the main lobby, a sudden shout yelled out.

“It’s Rarity!” shouted Pinkie who dove over the counter and nearly tackled Rarity to the floor. She continued her hug until Rarity gently pushed her off.

“Hello, Pinkie. I’m glad to see I was extremely missed.”

“Of course you were! We missed your rants about people's clothing choices at lunch!” Pinkie’s big smile lit up the room.

Rarity crossed her arms and laughed. “It’s not my fault people don’t understand basic chic.”

Pinkie snorted and giggled. “Tell me about it!” She looked past Rarity and smiled at Clyde. “Hiya, Clyde! Glad to see you, too! Did you tell some people to come on out and bowl with us?”

Clyde nodded. “I sure did. They should be here any minute or so. I’ll just wait out here until they get here.”

“Awesome! Tell them everything is on the house tonight!”

“It is?” asked Clyde surprised.

“Duh! I planned this, so I paid for everyone’s fee!” said Pinkie happily. “I thought it was a good way to welcome you two back to Canterlot after living the luxurious life in Manehatten for a week!”

“I appreciate that, Pinkie, thanks,” said Clyde sweetly. While he never turned down free gifts, or at least tried to give them something in return, his mind was jumping in joy as he didn’t have to buy anything else. Of course, he gave Rarity roses when he picked her up, but roses were a necessity on Valentine’s Day. Especially for Rarity.

“Indeed, Pinkie. That was very generous of you,” stated Rarity. “I’m sure all of us here could’ve chipped in and helped rent this building tonight.”

Pinkie grinned again and hugged both Clyde and Rarity tightly. “Nah! I love you guys so it’s my pleasure!” After Pinkie’s bear hug was over, she left to go and talk to the rest of the girls who were sitting down on the chairs and seats waiting. They gave Clyde a wave as he turned to lean on the counter.

“You can go talk to your friends if you want,” said Clyde. “I’ll be fine waiting here.”

“Are you sure?” asked Rarity concernly.

“Yep. I know how much you are dying to tell them all about the city.” Clyde gave her a smile as she hugged him and quickly ran to reunite with her best friends. Clyde looked over his shoulder at them and saw them all laugh and hug Rarity when she arrived. He turned to look back outside the front doors and wondered why girls were much different than boys when friends see each other again after a certain duration of time. Girls would hug each other and laugh while boys would nod at each other, do a handshake, or not even care.

“Look who it is!” exclaimed a voice as the front door opened. Tyrone walked through the doors of the building and lowered his shades. “My dawg, C, is back from the city that never sleeps!” He walked up to Clyde and the two of them exchanged a “bro shake”.

“How’ve you been, T? Ready for the game on Monday?”

Tyrone laughed. “Damn straight, dawg. Tomorrow I’m going to ball at the indoor courts if you want to ball with me.”

“Yeah, I’ll go. Haven’t dribbled a ball in over a week.” Clyde looked at the doors again to see First Light and her brother, Rivet, walk inside. Rivet quickly went to use the restroom while his sister ran up to Tyrone.

“Are you ready to bowl, bae?” asked First Light to Tyrone while giggling. “I’m a pretty good bowler.”

“You know it, girl. Let’s go get ready I’ll help you find a nice ball.” First Light hopped happily towards the shoe counter with Tyrone close behind. He quickly stopped a few feet away from Clyde and looked at him. “Yo dawg, I wanted to let you know that when I was watching the Kneighs game, I saw you on TV.”

“Really? We really didn’t have good seats either. For them being so bad this season, the prices should be way lower.” Clyde gave a laugh. The Manehatten Kneighs weren’t his favorite team in the professional league, but since Rarity and him were a few blocks away from the Garden, the team’s official name of the arena, he just had to see a live professional game of basketball. The team was Tyrone’s favorite, however.

“Tell me about,” replied Tyrone with disappointment. “Anyway, the only reason I saw you was because Rarity and you were shown on the Kiss Cam.”

Clyde blushed and rubbed his head. “T-They showed that on TV?”

“Damn straight, dawg. You and her were really going at it.” Tyrone laughed and slapped his best friend on the back. “I didn’t know your lips were that amazing.”

Clyde felt his cheeks begin to burn, but he tried his best to joke around with the topic. “It’s probably more her than me. She likes to instigate me to kiss her all the time.”

“Not that I could tell. Both of you were really into it and you were the one to not pull away first. I didn’t know you had it in you, C. I never would have guessed my main dawg was the greatest kisser in Canterlot.” Tyrone burst into laughs again, making Clyde feel embarrassed.

“Don’t you have to go help First Light?” asked Clyde angrily.

“You right! I’ll talk to you later, dawg. Peace!” Tyrone quickly ran towards the shoe counter. He picked up the first pair he saw, threw them to the floor, hopped into them, and quickly ran towards the section where Clyde and the other boys would sit near. It was right beside Rarity and her friend’s section so all of them could easily talk to each other.

Soon, Rivet walked into the lobby of the building from his trip to the restroom and stopped to chat with Clyde. “Hey, how was Manehatten?”

Rivet was one of Clyde’s newest friends, but he was a good friend alongside Swift. Clyde realized both of them were in his English class last year and after a few weeks, he began talking to them more and more.

“You know, chaotic,” stated Clyde. “I’ve never seen so many people in one place before.”

“That’s a huge city for you.” Rivet looked out to the bowling lanes and saw First Light picking up multiple bowling balls trying to find that special one. “I saw you on TV the other day.”

Clyde instantly blushed again. “I thought you didn’t watch basketball games on TV?”

“Eh,” said Rivet with a shrug, “nothing else was on.” Clyde shook his head and turned his attention to the clock on the wall.

“Are you dudes ready to bowl?”

“YEAH!!!”

Clyde instantly looked towards the door and saw Thunderlane and Bulk Biceps walk into the building, sporting shades and leather jackets. The air around all of them was filled with a sudden “coolness”. Thunderlane looked behind him and scratched his head. “I swear Swift was right behind me.”

“He probably forgot his pair of shades to match your entrance,” joked Rivet.

“Probably. But he won’t ever be as “cool” as me,” said Thunderlane with a smile. Clyde swore he saw a sparkle in his shiny teeth. Thunderlane looked at Clyde and smirked. “Are you done being on the Kiss Cam now?”

“Did everyone just happen to watch that game?” asked Clyde angered and embarrassed. “They aren’t even good, but everyone decided to just randomly watch the game the day I so happen to be in Manehatten to see them?”

“Hey man,” laughed Thunderlane, “we are just messing with you. Ease up.”

Clyde sighed and shook his head. “I swear if someone mentions it again..”

The door to the outside world quickly opened up and the last of the guys Clyde invited entered the room. Upon seeing Clyde, Swift Justice pointed at him as if he hadn’t seen him in a long time and wanted to tell him something. “Clyde! Hey man, I saw you on TV the other day!”

The group around him began laughing uncontrollably as Clyde turned around without a word and sat down on the farthest side of the room. He leaned back in the chair and stared at the ceiling, giving a long sigh.

“This was totally not what I wanted to be known for on my first time on TV.”

~ ~ ~

When everyone was suited up and had a ball, the owner of the bowling alley turned off the lights, and soon, the lanes, pins, and even the balls, glowed brightly amongst the dark. The radio kicked on over the speakers above them and the place instantly filled with a calm mood.

The group split the two lanes they had to set up two games going on at the same time. One lane was for Clyde and his squad of brothers, while the other was for Rarity, her friends, and First Light. Sunset Shimmer sat at the terminal between the lanes to make sure scores and names were showing correctly, as she didn’t want to play. To make it interesting, they decided to have which ever team scored the most points after three rounds combined won. Sunset had a coin toss to see which team would go first. The girls won the toss, but deferred to the boys for first turn.

“Who wants to go first for you guys?” asked Sunset.

Clyde looked around and noticed no one raised their hand. As he was about to raise his own, Tyrone jumped up. “Shit. I’ll lead us off.” He strolled to the ball rack and practiced a few releases as Thunderlane and Swift stomped on the ground to amp him up. Clyde chuckled to himself and shook his head.

“Come one, bae! I believe in you!” yelled First Light.

“Hey! He’s the enemy!” retorted Rainbow Dash, “you can’t root for him!”

“Oh yeah!” First Light coughed and tried to look fierce by making her face look angry. “Don’t score, bae!”

Tyrone laughed. “Sorry, girl. I gotta send a message.” He looked over at the girls and smirked. Quickly, Tyrone began walking forward and with a quick movement, released the ball and turned to face his team. He had his arms raised in the air and when he finally heard the ball crash into the pins, the boys cheered and he nodded at them. “Boom.”

“Ooh. A strike to lead off the game,” stated Sunset as she watched the screen overhead flash the large ‘X’. “I’m guessing you are up first, Rainbow?”

“Of course I am! I have to counter!” Rainbow Dash smirked and ran up to the rack. She didn’t take as long as Tyrone, but with her quick toss, the glowing green ball sailed down the dark lane and obliterated the bright pins in its way. She raised her hand in similar fashion to Tyrone’s gesture and high-fived Applejack on the way to sit down.

“Tie game!” cheered Sunset alongside the girls.

Tyrone shook his head and motioned for the team to huddle in. “Alright, dawgs. We gotta get our heads in this game. RD can probably carry them back if she gets another strike.”

“What’s the plan, T?” asked Thunderlane.

“Simple. Get strikes. One of them is bound to miss.”

Thunderlane nodded. “Sounds good.” He got up from the bench and walked towards the ball rack. Thunderlane looked back at his team and pointed to them. He took a deep breath and walked down the lane, releasing the ball at the pivotal point. The ball rolled down the lane for a few feet before spinning straight into the gutter. The girls began cheering again at the miss.

“Damn it, Thunderlane!” yelled Tyrone, “what did I just say!”

“Yeah...” snorted Bulk.

“I’m sorry, guys...” replied Thunderlane with his head lowered. He grabbed another ball and rolled it down the lane, hoping it would make his team forgive him. The ball rolled near the gutter and grazed the far right pin, barely knocking it down. He walked over to his seat and sighed. “Is that good enough.”

“For that lousy job, I guess,” said Tyrone without looking at him.

“Way to go, Thunderlane,” said Swift shaking his head, “even I can’t mess up that badly.” Thunderlane covered his face in his hands while Fluttershy nervously stepped up to the lane.

“Oh man,” whispered Tyrone, “maybe they feel bad for us so they sent her out there early. We still might have a chance even after Thunderlane’s bad possession.”

Fluttershy nervously picked up the ball and looked back at her friends. “I-I don’t think I can do this...” she said weakly.

“Of course you can, Fluttershy!” encouraged Rarity with a wave. “Just roll it nice and slowly. We won’t be mad at you if you can’t get a single pin.” Rainbow Dash moved her body to object, but decided to keep her mouth shut.

“Okay!” nodded Fluttershy. She walked up to the line and placed the heavy bowling on the floor. With a gentle push, she quickly hopped up and covered her eyes. Everybody in the room watched the ball slowly roll down the lane in anticipation while Fluttershy kept her hands over her face. After two minutes passed, the bowling ball bounced off the first pin and in a strange domino-effect, all the pins fell down. Upon the sound of the pins falling, Fluttershy uncovered her face and smiled. “Did I win?”

“That was awesome!” yelled Rainbow Dash. “I didn’t know Fluttershy would be our ace!” Rainbow Dash quickly led Fluttershy back to the cheering team and smirked towards the boys.

None of them paid attention to her as all of their faces were in complete shock. “I think we are doomed,” said Tyrone with a sigh. “Bulk, my dawg, do you think you can get us back into the game?”

Bulk nodded at him. “Yeah.” He stood up and the seats shook as his massive frame walked towards the bowling rack. He picked up his ball and with a grunt, he launched the ball down the lane as if he was throwing a baseball. The ball crashed into the pins so loudly, it sounded like a bomb dropped.

“Way to go, dawg!” exclaimed Tyrone as he clapped.

“How was that even possible?” asked Rivet amazed. Clyde looked at him and shrugged. Bulk kept his head up as he walked back to his seat proudly.

Tyrone gave him a high-five and smirked. He leaned in closer to the boys to whisper to them. “There’s no way they can keep up their strikes.They will run out of firepower soon.” Tyrone looked at who they had left. “My guess is that Clyde’s girl is the one who fails.”

“Hey!” yelled Clyde. “I hope she gets a strike now just because you said that.”

Tyrone frowned. “Come on, C. You know I’m messing around, dawg.”

“Whatever.”

Clyde huffed and looked over to the girls’ lane. He watched Applejack rise from her seat, grab a ball, and roll it down the lane for an easy strike. She patted her hands and took her seat. As the Clyde’s team grew even more nervous and silent, Clyde quickly glanced up at the scoreboard. Three strikes to their two and a pin was something he would have never guessed. At the rate the game was going, Rainbow Dash could easily put the game away with her second roll. He looked back to his team to see Rivet stand up and accept the challenge. He grabbed the nearest ball on the rack and looked out to the end of the lane. With a nod towards the pins, Rivet began his attack.

The ball hit eight of the ten pins and left two standing. Unfortunately, the two pins that remained standing were the infamous seventh and tenth.

“Good luck with that one,” called over Rainbow Dash with a laugh.

Rivet ignored her and rubbed his chin. The 7-10 split was one of the hardest shots to hit in bowling, but Clyde could tell he knew he could do it. Rivet shifted slightly to the left and began his second roll. The ball rolled along the gutter line before hitting the very right of the far right pin, causing it to spin and clip the far left pin. Tyrone and Swift cheered as Rivet looked over at Rainbow Dash with a grin. “Easy.” Clyde watched Rainbow Dash shake her head with a small smile.

“That spare was good, dawg,” complimented Tyrone, “but we still are down because of Thunderlane. We need good rolls from Swift and C if we are to get back in this game.” Clyde and Swift nodded. Swift was more into the pep-talk than Clyde as Clyde saw Rarity finally walk up to the bowling rack. She looked over at him with a smile before frowning at the balls on the rack.

“Just pick one, Rares,” ordered Rainbow Dash. “Let’s go. I want to bowl again.”

“Yeah,” agreed Applejack with a single nod. “You don’t need to have a fancy-lookin’ ball for bowling.”

“If you want to bowl so badly, why don’t you just go again?” asked Rarity.

“Because I’m waiting for the other members of my team to bowl!”

Rarity stuck her head in the air at the sudden tone of voice from Rainbow. She picked up a bowling ball, or at least attempted to, as she struggled to carry it over to the line. Without putting her fingers into the designated holes, she dropped the ball and it instantly rolled into the gutter.

“I told you!” cheered Tyrone. Clyde shot him a look, but he and the others were celebrating their chance to make a comeback.

“Rarity, what was that!” yelled Rainbow Dash in confusion. “Fluttershy even rolled the ball better than that, and she barely pushed it!”

Rarity frowned and looked at the rack. “It’s not my fault these balls are too heavy for me to lift and roll properly. I need help since I don’t want my fingers to get stuck in the ball.” She lifted her hand and smiled. “My fingers are delicate as I just painted my nails a few hours ago.”

Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth and sighed. “Fine. Applejack, get–”

“No, no. I want Clyde to help me.” Rarity looked over at him and smiled again at him. “Oh, Clyde, darling? Can you help me roll this ball down the lane so I can sit back down?”

“That’s not even legal! He’s on the other team!”

“Rainbow, this is a simple game. I hardly see the foul.” Rarity shook her head. “What do you say, Sunset?”

Sunset shrugged. “We are doing this for fun after all. I have no problem with it, but his team might.”

“Damn right we have a problem,” began Tyrone standing up, “you can’t just take our dawg like that!” Tyrone looked straight at Clyde and pointed at him. “You better not help them, C! You can’t abandon the team!”

Clyde frowned, mostly because he was stuck in the middle of something, but also because everyone around him were getting so into this game of bowling. He sighed and stood up, walking towards Rarity. She replied with a happy grin.

“You’re a traitor, C!” yelled Tyrone. “A traitor!”

Clyde looked back at him. “It’s just one roll...” Tyrone ignored him.

As he reached Rarity, she gave him a smile. “I knew you would pick me, darling.”

Clyde quietly laughed and kept his voice down. “I’d rather have him mad at me than you. I would have gotten flooded with sad emoticons all night.”

“You are correct,” she giggled softly. She handed him the bowling ball and lowered her eyes. “I hope you don’t let me down and actually try to score.”

Clyde grinned with a nod and let her walk away. As he stared at the pins, the thought of sabotage came into his mind. He could easily just throw the ball into the gutter and walk away, but he knew Rarity would be upset with him if he did. Seeing how Tyrone’s personality made it easy for him to forgive someone, Clyde ultimately agreed to roll for points for the girls’ team. He tried to line up the roll, like Tyrone and Rainbow did, to improve the chances of getting the most pins. He released the ball after a few steps and watched it take down nine of the ten pins.

“Yeah! Thanks, Clyde!” cheered Rainbow. “I’ll take the nine pins anyday.”

“Thank you, darling!” called Rarity.

Clyde smiled at them and nodded before heading back to his team. As he approached, Tyrone stood up and stared straight at Sunset. “Judge. After a slight majority vote, we are issuing a request for a mid-game trade.”

“Are you joking me? You’re trading me away?” Clyde looked at each of his teammates. Tyrone, Thunderlane, and Bulk were ignoring his eye contact, while Rivet and Swift both shook their heads and shrugged at the vote.

Sunset looked at Rainbow Dash. “Do you agree to trade for Clyde?”

Rainbow Dash huddled in her team to discuss a possible trade. Clyde could tell Rarity certainly wanted him on her team as he saw her nod to every one of Rainbow’s comments. Clyde looked back at Tyrone and the boys to see they were also in deep conversation.

While this whole situation was pointless to him, Clyde did find some thrill of being the cause of excitement in the game. Since Sunset was on the computer terminal, she exchanged a laugh with him as they waited for the final announcement.

“Who would you want in return?” asked Rainbow Dash to Tyrone.

Tyrone looked at the guys and crossed his arms. “First Light.”

First Light perked up as she heard her name. “Me?!”

“Yeah, bae. Clyde for First Light.”

“Take the deal, Rainbow!” stated Rarity excitedly.

“Ah agree.” Applejack gave a single nod.

Rainbow Dash smirked. “Deal.”

First Light jumped up in joy as she quickly raced over to Tyrone. She sat down in the seat beside Rivet and rapidly moved about waiting for her turn to impress her bae. Clyde walked by his new teammates, giving Rainbow and Applejack high-fives, before being pulled onto the bench to sit beside Rarity. “Welcome to the winning side, darling,” cooed Rarity.

Rainbow Dash looked over at Tyrone’s team and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, forget those losers. We are glad you could join us.”

Clyde chuckled. ”Don’t worry, RD. I’ll show them what they’re missing and why it was a mistake to trade me.”

“That’s the perfect attitude for this team.” Rainbow Dash looked over at Sunset and nodded. “We’re ready to resume the game.”

Sunset adjusted the screen overhead to display the new teams. The scores didn’t change as First Light and Clyde both didn’t roll yet anyway. She looked over at Clyde’s old team and took a sip of water. “Time for you guys to send your next person up.”

Tyrone looked between Swift and First Light, the last two bowlers left for the first round. Swift was waving his hand frantically to go, but Tyrone ignored him and let First Light go instead. “You’re the clutch guy, dawg,” said Tyrone to Swift.

“You have enough faith in me to clutch?” asked Swift in disbelief.

“Uh...” Tyrone gulped and rubbed his head. Instead of directly answering Swift, Tyrone patted him on the back and laughed. “You’ll do fine.”

The attention soon turned to First Light as she skipped up to the rack of balls and picked the bright neon pink one. “This is going to look so cool!” she exclaimed in joy as she rolled the ball towards the pins. The bright pink sphere seemed to teleport down the lane at a breakneck pace before knocking down the whole right side of the pins, leaving six of them still standing. She frowned and stomped her foot. “Darn it!”

“Don’t give up, bae! You still have another roll to get the rest of them!” spoke Tyrone, trying to cheer her up. First Light seemed to instantly cheer up at the sound of his voice as her next roll was able to knock down a few more pins. Her final score for the round was eight.

“That will help us,” whispered Rainbow to Applejack before leaning back in her chair. “Pinkie. You’re up.” After a few moments, she looked around and blinked. “Where’s Pinkie?”

“Right here!” shouted Pinkie Pie as she hopped over the low wall behind the computer screen and ran up to the lane.

“Where were you? Did you ever know we received Clyde in a trade?”

“Cool! I was just drinking some coffee behind that wall to get myself amped up!” Her large smile brightened the room a little.

“Even more amped?” asked Applejack, “Ah’m not sure if we could handle that...”

“Nonsense!” snorted Pinkie with a slight giggle, “you can never be “too amped”! Being amped and excited is super fun!” Clyde wondered if Pinkie was able to launch into space with seeing the amount of times she was moving up and down.

“That’s great, now can you please just go already?” Rainbow Dash crossed her arms.

“Sure thing!” Pinkie grabbed a ball from the rack and tossed it down the lane. Like herself, the ball bounced multiple times and landed right in the middle of the pins, causing them all to fall down. Clyde wasn’t surprised how that even happened seeing how Pinkie was the one who just rolled.

“Only Pinkie would be able to get a bowling ball to bounce down a lane...” said Thunderlane with a sigh. Tyrone punched him in the shoulder to get him to shut up.

“She’s so amazing...” said Swift in a daze.

“Get in there, dawg. It’s your turn.”

“Right!” Swift hopped off his seat and marched confidently to the ball rack. Pinkie was still in her lane waiting for her ball to return to her. Swift became nervous as she almost touched him as she went for her ball. “H-Hey, Pinkie.”

“Hiya, Swift! You can use this ball if you want!” She carefully reached out her arms to let him take the bowling ball she just used.

“R-Really?”

“Yep! It worked for me so maybe it’ll work for you, too!”

Swit accepted the ball and smiled sheepishly. “Thanks! I owe you one!”

Pinkie giggled. “You can take me on a date to repay me!”

Swift twitched his eye and gasped. “A date!? Really!?!” He nearly dropped the ball on his feet in excitement.

Pinkie frowned and put a finger to her mouth. “Hmm, maybe not a date date, but good luck anyway!” She laughed and walked back to an empty seat near Fluttershy.

“Oh...” said Swift sadly. He sighed and lowered his head to sulk and looked at the pins. With a nonchalant and apathetic toss, he released the ball and slowly sulked back to his chair. As he sat down, the ball hit the pins, knocking all of them down, and a cheer emitted from Tyrone and the others.

“Damn, dawg! Way to go! I told you that you had potential to be the clutch bowler on the team.”

“I guess...” responded Swift, still bummed about the false hope Pinkie gave him, even though he knew she gave many false hopes all the time. He gave a long sigh.

Clyde felt bad for Swift, but he tried helping him many times in the past year. Swift was just unlucky and he couldn’t do anything about it to help him become lucky. Clyde looked at the score and saw his new team was winning still and was slowly pulling away. He got up and walked up to the ball rack to bowl finally for himself.

“Good luck, my love!” called Rarity with a smile on her face. She quickly blew him a kiss.

Clyde returned her smile and looked at the pins down the lane. Since he knocked down nine of them with only one ball the first time, he knew he could get all ten. With one last mental nod, he rolled the ball. When he saw all the pins fall down on the first try, he smirked and looked directly at Tyrone, eventually taunting him with the chest pound and stomp Tyrone does whenever he makes a clutch shot in a basketball game.

Tyrone laughed and shook his head. “Aight, C. I see you.”

Clyde high-fived Rainbow and Applejack on his way to his seat and earned a kiss from Rarity on his strike. His team was at least two strikes ahead after the first round, so if they managed to closely replicate what they did, they would win no problem.

~ ~ ~

Eventually, the game ended after Swift’s turn during the third round. He needed a strike to keep his team alive and Clyde had to get zero pins on his turn, but with Pinkie asking Swift to help her eat nachos, he didn’t care about bowling anymore.

It was close to midnight now and everyone was either sitting with someone or talking to a group. Pinkie had the building until two in the morning, so they decided to take a break from bowling after that intense game. Clyde and Rarity were sitting in the small food area sharing a milkshake.

“While it wasn’t the most romantic Valentine’s Day, I still enjoyed it tremendously.” Rarity set the milkshake down on the small table and gently pushed it towards Clyde.

“I did too.” He picked up the glass and sipped. Vanilla was always his favorite and because he felt slightly tired still from Manehatten, it tasted excellent. “I guess I was better than I thought at bowling.”

Rarity giggled. “Because I helped you.”

“Maybe. Maybe I was just gifted at bowling.” Clyde chuckled and soon stopped when he saw Rarity look at him seriously. “Yeah... maybe I did just get good rolls only because you were cheering me on.”

“As your number one fan, it is my duty to support you in all activities and help you get better!” Rarity lovingly smiled at him and grabbed his hand. “Even though you might not think, I’ll always be there for you, Clyde.”

“I know you will, and the same goes for me. I have no clue about fashion-related topics, but I know you’ll design awesome clothing and accessories anyway. Just because you’re perfect to me.” Clyde smiled when he saw Rarity notice what he called her. She grabbed his hand tighter.

“The time we spent at Manehatten made me realize how wonderful that city is for fashion designers like me. Don’t get me wrong, I love Canterlot, but I really would love to live there and fulfill my dream of becoming a famous designer, but I don’t know....” Clyde saw concern growing in her eyes. He rubbed his thumb over her hand.

“Don’t worry about me, Rarity. I would hate to be the cause for you to not follow your dream. I’m not even sure what mine is yet. You would be much better in Manehatten with someone who could support you financially.” He looked away from her.

“Don’t say that! Please...” said Rarity with tears forming in her eyes. “I want you to be there with me, not someone else! We’ll find you something to do there, but please, Clyde, I don’t care how we get there. All I know is I would be distraught if I didn’t have you with me and I know I can say the same for you.” She wiped her eyes and tried to bring a smile to her face. “I just want there to be an ‘us’ in the future.”

Clyde stared at her bright blue eyes. They would always be in his mind the most beautiful sight in the world. He found it hard to smile at the situation, but he managed to do it because of her eyes. He stood up and looked down at her. “Instead of talking about the future, let’s just focus on the present.”

Rarity nodded and got up from the chair. She quickly hugged him tightly as if she never wanted to let go of him. Clyde placed his head on top of hers and looked out across the floor to the others. Most of them were laughing about or eating. Clyde never wanted this depressing conversation to happen on Valentine’s Day, but he knew it would come eventually. High School was almost over for everyone and everyone had to think about the next step. Rarity began sniffiling and Clyde hugged her tighter, wishing in his mind everything would fall into place.

Wings, Basketball, and Intimacy [March Madness]