Under the Blue Moon

Chapter 13 – Blue Moon Valentine

It was Valentine’s Day at Canterlot, and most people were spending their time with the ones they love.  And while Lyra and Bonbon would be on their Valentine’s date, that wasn’t the case this year.  The reason was that they didn’t want to leave Tidal hanging all alone.  So they decided to hang out at Canterlot High where the wooden table benches were located at the side of the school.  But it wasn’t just to hang out, but to keep Tidal’s new friend, Rivet, company until Rainbow Dash showed up.  And so far, she was running late.

“Where is she?” Rivet said.  “Did she decided to cancel at the last minute?  Maybe she’s caught in traffic.  Or what if it’s worse.  What if she-”

“It’s OK.  I’m sure she’s just running late,” Lyra said and she placed her hand on Rivet’s shoulder, trying to calm him down.

“Yea.  I’m sure nothing bad has happened to her,” Bonbon added.  “Besides, the boys basketball playoffs start tonight, and she’s their key player.”

“I know, I know.  It’s just… she wanted me to meet her here.  And she never even said why?” Rivet said.

“I’m sure she just need a distraction from tonight’s game,” Tidal said.  “You start thinking about it for so long that it can mess with your head.”

“OK, OK.  Just relax, that’s all.”  Rivet started to take slow, deep breaths.

Bonbon leaned over to Tidal and whispered, “How are you able to understand games like this?”

“Remember what I did to the QB last semester at my old school?” Tidal asked, which Bonbon nodded.  “That’s why the students were against me.  They were expecting big things in the playoffs.  Instead, it all fell apart thanks to me.  Competition can be crazy at times.  That’s why I wanted to avoid all that.  But this time, it’s different here.”

While all four of them were sitting and waiting, a little girl with purple skin and dirty blonde hair quietly came out of the school.  She was wearing a turquoise shirt and skirt that had a symbol of a little green dragon on it.  As she quietly walked up behind Tidal, she surprised him by wrapping her arms around his neck.

“Hi, cuz!”

Tidal looked to see who it was and recognized the girl.  “Hey Cynder.  How are you doing?”

“Oh, just getting by that’s all.”  She looked to see the others that were with him.  “Hi, Lyra.  Hi, Bonbon.  Hi… um?”

“Oh, this is my new friend, Rivet,” Tidal responded.

“Oh!  Hi, Rivet.  It’s nice to see my cuz making some friends this time.”

“So how are you doing at Miss Cheerilee’s home,” Bonbon asked Cynder.

“It… has it’s ups and downs.”

“I’m guessing that she’s making sure you go to bed on time and not play games all night,” Tidal said.

“Yea,” Cynder replied, feeling deflated.

“I’m sorry that I had to take the guest room from you when I came over,” Tidal said.

“Oh, that’s OK.  Mom told me that you needed some space to help you recover,” Cynder replied.  “I think it was mean that those bullies did to you at the old school.”

“Well, that’s in the past,” Tidal replied.  “Oh, your mother had to go check on the house today.  She hopes that you, Eclipse, and Aunt Lulu can move back in soon.”

Rivet has a confused look on his face.  “Was there something wrong with the house?”

Cynder replied.  “It started to show cracks in the foundation.  We had to move out and store everything away so that they can repair the foundation, which were going to take a couple of months, maybe more.  The weather didn’t help out that well.  I was to stay with mom while Eclipse was to stay with Aunt Cadence.  But unexpected company changed all that,” as she looked at Tidal.  “Mom wanted to make sure he got better after was she heard from Aunt Tia.”

“Speaking of which, how’s Eclipse doing at Crystal Prep?” Tidal asked Cynder.

“Trying to stay out of trouble, that’s for sure.”

“He better, or he could end up like me,” as Tidal started to rub where the bullet scar was at.

“I’ll make sure that you told him that.”

Lust then, four girls started to walk towards the group.

“About time you got here.  Rivet’s been worried that you wouldn’t show,” Lyra explained.

“Sorry.  I was waiting for the others to show up before coming over,” Rainbow Dash said, pointing out Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy.

“Hey there, Cynder.”

“Hey, Applejack.”

“I’m guessing that you wanted to see Tidal, since he’s gotten better,” Applejack said.

“Well, Miss Cheerilee is working at the library at the moment, so I figure why not,” Cynder replied.  “Oh, I forgot one thing.”  Cynder reached to her back and pulled out a small envelop that had a card in it and handed it to Tidal.  “Here you go.”

Tidal took the envelop and opened it, pulling out the card inside and reading it out loud.

“To my favorite cousin in the world.”

He opened it, to which a small paper fell out.  He read what was inside the card.

“Even if you can be a pain sometimes.  Happy Valentine’s Day.”  And hand written on it was, “and Happy Belated Birthday.  From Cynder and Eclipse.”

“Thanks, Cynder.”

“You haven’t even read the paper that was with it,” Cynder replied.

Tidal picked up the paper and unfolded it.

“A video game tournament?  You know that I don’t have gaming skills like you and the others,” Tidal explained.

“Dud.  You didn’t do well on Mario Kart early on when we were playing,” Pinkie Pie said.

Applejack slapped Pinkie on the back of her head.  “You’re not helping.”

“Just take a look at it,” Cynder said.

Tidal looked at it in detail.  “Not cut up for the big leagues?  Are you more 8-bit old school?  Then prove that the classics are more challenging than before.  What started all the tournament craze is back again.  Prove that you are an 8-bit champion.  Grand prize is… five thousand dollars?”

“That’s right,” Cynder replied.  “And me and Eclipse are willing to pay the entrance fee if you want to compete.  The tournament will be held late in June.  And will be at the same place as the tournaments that we are planning to compete in.  So, what do you say?”

“Well…”  Tidal thought for a moment, then had to ask Cynder a question.  “Do you know what games they would be?”

“Not sure.  All I know is that it will be a platform game, puzzle game, and racing game in one.”

“I bet that it’s going to be Street Fighter,” Rainbow Dash said as she displayed some karate moves.

“That’s a fighting game that started on 16-bit systems,” Tidal corrected.  “The puzzle game would likely be Tetris, which I’m good at.  The platform game could be a Super Mario game, but Castlevania could be another option.  That would be a challenge.  As for the racing game, Rad Racer is the most likely choice, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was R. C. Pro Am.  That’s a different story.  If you plan to cover the fee, then count me in.  Maybe all those times I played my father’s old system will come in handy.”

“Cool.  We’ll get you all set up,” Cynder said.

“Tidal, you really have changed,” Bonbon said.

“Yea.  And it’s all because you came to our school,” Lyra added.

Tidal let out a chuckle.  “I guess so.”

“Hey Cynder!”  The staff lady with light pink skin and purple hair walked outside from the school.

“Hi, Miss Cheerilee,” Applejack replied.

“Oh, I’m surprised to see all you here,” Miss Cheerilee replied to the group.  She looked at Cynder and said, “I just got off the phone with your mother.  She said that they finished with the house and that you can move back in next weekend.”

“YES!!!”  Cynder started to jump up and down in celebration.  “Now we can live back together again.”

“I can’t believe that it took so long to fix the house,” Fluttershy said.  “But it’s nice to see the family living together again.”

“Well, I just finished up in the library.  Ready to go home?” Miss Cheerilee asked.

“You bet!”  Cynder replied in excitement.  “You take care, Tidal.  And I’ll make sure that you’re entered in the tournament when we get the chance.”

Miss Cheerilee and Cynder started to walk to the car as Cynder started to wave goodbye to the others.

“It’s nice that they can finally live together again,” Lyra said.

“Yea.  Can you believe how much work Vice Principal Luna had to go through with the insurance company?  She really had to go through loopholes to get someone to pay most of the work,” Bonbon explained.

“At least she has enough money to cover the remaining expenses from all those tournaments,” Tidal added.

“And it won’t be long before you join the family of gamers,” Rainbow Dash said with excitement.

“Let’s not get carried away about that,” Tidal said.  “Besides, is there a reason that you wanted Rivet to come over here.  We had to keep him company until you got here.”

“Oh.  About that.  I was hoping that Rivet can teach me how to play guitar.”  She held up the guitar case that she was carrying.  “I need a distraction until the game tonight, and Clyde has gone to see Rarity.”

“Isn’t Rarity under the weather?” Lyra said.

“Eeyep,” Applejack replied.  “But that doesn’t stop Clyde from seeing her.  Gives in sickness and in health a new meaning.”

“Well, I would love to teach you, but I didn’t bring my guitar,” Rivet said.

“That’s OK.  I was hoping you can guide me so that I’m doing it right,’ Rainbow Dash replied.

Lyra, Bonbon, and Tidal, just stared at each other, knowing what all that would lead to.  But they were interrupted by their cell phones going off.  They all looked to see a group text from Rarity showing her holding some flowers.  And it had the text saying, “Look at what my bae did for me.  How sweet.”

“What did I tell ya,” Applejack said.

As Rainbow Dash put her phone away, she said, “So are we going or not.  I was able to get the key to the music room from Coach Iron Will so that we can practice.”  She grabbed Rivet’s hand before he could even replied and took him inside and towards the music room.

“I wonder if fireworks will go off between those two,” Pinkie Pie said, thinking about it.

“Speaking of fireworks, why don’t you two go on ahead and do what you wanted to do today,” Applejack said, referring to Lyra and Bonbon.

“Don’t worry.  We’ll keep Tidal company, won’t we?” Pinkie Pie said, grabbing Fluttershy who nodded.

Bonbon looked at Lyra and came to an agreement.  “OK.  We’ll see you later, Tidal.”

“Bye,” Lyra said, as they both left the area, waving back to Tidal until they were out of sight.

“About time those lovebirds left.  This might be the last time they have this moment,” Applejack said, which peaked Tidal’s interest.

“What do you mean, Applejack?”

“Well, with the Spring Fling coming up, Bonbon was talking to me about each of them asking a guy out to the dance.  They felt like they couldn’t keep having this kind of relationship while keeping it a secret from the school.  But they wanted to ask a guy out that understands what they are going through.  And would you like to know who Bonbon was thinking about asking?”

Tidal had a questionable look on his face.  “Who?”

“You, Tidal.”

This surprised Tidal.  “Really?”

“Eeyep.  But I’m not sure who Lyra would ask for the dance.”

“Oh.  I know, I know,” Pinkie Pie said waving her hand.

Tidal was curious again.  “Who?”

Pinkie went up to Tidal and quietly said, “You didn’t hear this from me, but she was thinking about asking Tidal out to the dance.”

Now, Tidal’s eyes went wide open.  “You mean she wants to ask me out as well?”

“It’s a secret!” Pinkie quietly said.

“Um, if both Lyra and Bonbon want to ask Tidal to the dance, wouldn’t that be a problem,” Fluttershy said.  “I don’t think he could take two girls to a dance… um, if you know what I mean.”

“Does Lyra know that Bonbon wants to ask Tidal out as well?” Applejack asked.

Pinkie thought for a moment.  “I don’t know.  Maybe she doesn’t know.  Or maybe she does know and is testing Bonbon out.  Oh maybe-”  Applejack covered Pinkie’s mouth until she stopped talking.

“I don’t think Bonbon knows the same thing,” Applejack said.

“So… Bonbon wants to ask me out to the dance.  But Lyra wants to do the same.”  Tidal was taking it all in before realizing what was going on.  “OH MY GOD!!!  I’m now stuck in a love triangle!”

Pinkie Pie said, “That’s a good thing, right?”

“If they don’t know it, then it’s a bad thing,” Applejack said.  “You might want to decide on who to ask before either one of them do it for you.”

“Well, is there a reason why they might be interested in me?” Tidal asked.

Applejack was the first to speak.  “Well, I asked Bonbon that, and she told me that she thinks you’re nice, but also thinks you’re somewhat damaged on the inside. She wants to be by your side and help you get through the hard choices in life.”

“OK.  And what about Lyra?”

Pinkie Pie decided to answer.  “Well, Lyra thinks you’re fun to talk to and might be full of energy.  She wants to help you enjoy the fun things in life.  Oh, and she likes it when you both discuss video games together.”

“That’s what Bonbon told me as well.  Didn’t think that would mean anything at the time,” Applejack said.  “Looks like you got your hands full on this.”

“Yep.  And about a week to decided before the dance,” Pinkie Pie added.

“Oh great.”  Tidal was stuck trying to decide who to ask before they ask him.  He looked to the girls and asked, “Who should I ask out?”

“Well, that might be hard to say,” Applejack replied.  “Maybe you should talk to Rarity about it Monday.  She has more know how about all this love stuff than any of us.”

Tidal asked, “Do you think you can explain what’s going on and ask her to see me Monday?”

“We can do that,” Pinkie replied.

“How can we if she’s under the weather?” Applejack said.

“Maybe she will show up to the game tonight.  You know she would love to see Clyde in action,” Pinkie Pie said.

Before Applejack could respond, Fluttershy said, “She might wear a surgical mask to the game, just so that anyone else doesn’t get sick.”

Applejack took that to thought.  “You might be right.  OK.  If we see her tonight, we’ll explain what’s going on and have her talk to you about what your going through.  I’m guessing this is your first rodeo, right?”

“Yea.  I have zero knowledge how love truly works, since everyone was always against me back home,” Tidal said.

Applejack placed her arm around his shoulders and said, “Don’t sweat it.  Rarity has helped you out since you got here.  And I’m sure she’s not going to let you down in this as well.”

“I hope you’re right, Applejack.  I hope you’re right.”