Author's Note

WARNING: Lots of eyebrow actions ensue. Please proceed with caution.

You have been warned...

'I wanna play in the rain!' "Yeah? Well, F*CK you."

Atario, Stario, and Arthur knew James was going to blow any second. Therefore, Atario had already given them all Invincible Stars, just in case. His Stars always lasted a good sixteen to seventeen seconds. They watched as the Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie argued endlessly. It was only a matter of time.

James, who had stopped Facewhipping, was literally boiling mad like a tea kettle. His eyes suddenly burst into flames. "SHUT THE F*** UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!!" he shouted loudly.

That got everyone's attention. The guys quietly sighed from behind him, greatly relieved that he didn't level a building. Or the town.

The raging flames in James's eyes dissipated as the guys' Stars ended. He sighed as he walked up to Twilight. "Twilight... please calm them down. I'm going to take a walk. Hopefully then, I won't be too ready to blow something up." Twilight looked on as James walked down the street. She then turned to everyone behind her.

"Girls, there's no use arguing."

"But Twilight--" Rarity protested.

"EH!" Twilight put her hoof up, cutting her off. "This is my decision, and I'm gonna make it on my own. And I certainly can't think straight with all this noise." Her stomach growled again. "...Not to mention hunger. Now go on, shoo." The other five mares muttered in disdain as they reluctantly parted.

"And don't worry, I'll figure this out!" Twilight called after them. "...Somehow."

Twilight, Spike, Arthur, Atario, and Stario were at a restaurant table, each sitting on top of a mound of grass.

"Spike, what am I gonna do? All five of my best friends have really good reasons to go to the gala," Twilight began pulling single petals from one of the flowers in the vase that sat in the middle of the table. "Applejack, or Rainbow Dash? Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy, Rarity... oh, who should go with me?" she deadpanned as she licked the petals into her mouth and ate them.

"I think you're overthinking this. Technically, you did ask Applejack first. Before Rainbow Dash showed up out of nowhere, and sort of made a big fuss out of it in the first place," Arthur spoke up.

"Have you made your decision?" a waiter walked up to the table.

"I CAN'T DECIDE!" Twilight shouted, drawing the other customers' attention.

"Twilight, he just wants to take your order," Spike intoned while pointing at the menu.

Twilight paused, embarrassed. "Oh... I would love a daffodil and daisy sandwich."

"Do you have any rubies?" Spike asked, which got no reply from the waiter. "...No? Okay. I'll have the hay fries, extra crispy."

"And for you?" the waiter asked as he looked at Arthur, Atario, and Stario.

"Oh no, we're good, thank you," Arthur declined politely. They had all eaten a large breakfast before James took them there.

"Aw, I wanted something hard to drink," Stario complained as the waiter walked away.

"Not with your behavior today," Atario disagreed.

"What are you, my mom?" Stario glared at him.

"What do you think, Spike?" Twilight asked.

"I think we have to try another restaurant. I mean, I like grass just fine, but would it hurt anybody to offer some gemstones?"

"If this place is in any way similar to ours, they'd use those as currency... in special cases. And I'm pretty sure ponies don't eat their currency," Stario replied.

"I mean about the Gala and the ticket and who I should take," Twilight clarified.

"Oh. You're still on that?" Spike rolled his eyes.

"Spike, listen!" Twilight leaned over, launching the vase full of flowers. "How do I choose? And when I do choose, will the other four be mad at me? I mean, I could give up my ticket and give away two, but that would still leave three disappointed ponies. What if I--"

"Ah, your food," the waiter returned with Twilight and Spike's order.

"Daaaaaaaaaaamn!" Stario exclaimed quietly. "That was quick." Spike immediately started scarfing down the fries.

Twilight sounded relieved. "This looks so good! I'm sure everything will be much clearer once I eat." As she levitated the sandwich to her mouth, she paused as all the other ponies who were dining frantically ran inside the restaurant.

"Um, madam? Are you going to eat your food in ze rain?" the waiter asked from the door as one last pony ran through it.

"It's not raining... What's going on?" Twilight looked around and sure enough, it was raining at a fair rate. No wonder everyone else left for the indoors. But why wasn't it raining on them?

"...Has weather gone too far?" Stario asked dramatically to no one in particular.

"No, James said they can control weather here," Arthur answered.

"Oh," Stario paused. "Well, ...have ponies gone too far?"

That's when they heard a voice from above. "Hi there, best friend forever I've ever ever had. Enjoying the sunny weather?" Everyone looked up to see none other than Rainbow Dash, who was on top of a rain cloud. Behind her was Celestia's beautiful shining sun.

"Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?" Twilight asked skeptically.

"Whaddya mean? I just saw the smartest, most generous pony about to get rained on, so I thought I'd kick a hole in the clouds to keep her dry so she could dine in peace, that's all."

"Oh, I see what this is," Arthur facepalmed.

"Pretty low if you ask me," Atario agreed.

"Rainbow, you're not trying to get extra consideration for the extra ticket by doing me extra special favors, are you?" Twilight narrowed her eyes.

"Me? No no no, of course not." Rainbow said cheerfully.

"Uh-huh," Twilight wasn't convinced.

"*cough* Liar! *cough*" Stario said into his hand, in which Atario put his hands over his mouth to prevent from cracking up.

"Seriously, I'd do it for anypony," Rainbow laughed uneasily as other ponies scurried in various directions to find shelter.

"Rainbow, I am not comfortable accepting unwanted favors, so I'd appreciate it if you close up that rain cloud right now."

"Ugh. Fine," Rainbow groaned as she closed the hole in the cloud shut which a resounding *zip.*

"That's better," Twilight smiled as she levitated her sandwich to her mouth again... only for her to suddenly get drenched in rain. Her sandwich was not shown any mercy either. Spike held his hands over his mouth and stifled a laugh.

Guess who showed up out of nowhere... again? "Twilight, it's raining," Rarity said rather nonchalantly from under an intricately decorated umbrella.

"No. Really?" Twilight replied sarcastically.

"Come with me before you catch a cold," Rarity grabbed Twilight and pulled her away.

Arthur and Stario exchanged glances, but then saw two figures running towards them. As they got closer, they recognized them as...

"Red X? Blue Star? Where've you guys been?" Atario asked.

"Well, a certain someone passed out during the big hoof-wrestling match. I'm not going to point any fingers- Blue Star," Red X deadpanned.

"Hey, it's not my fault you decided to wait for me to wake up! You could've just woke me up, and we probably wouldn't be caught in this mess," Blue Star shot back.

Red X was going to retort a witty remark, when Arthur interrupted him. "Will you two knock it off? Let's go already!" Arthur followed after Twilight and Rarity.

"Were are we going?" Red X asked.

Twilight shook herself off, looking back to her usual self. She laughed nervously, however, when she noticed the wet condition she'd accidentally put Rarity in. "Heh... oops. Sorry."

"Oh no, it's quite all right. After all, we are... the best of friends, are we not? And you know what the best of friends do?"

"Uh...," Twilight stuttered.

Blue Star's eyes widened. "Rarity was just wet a second ago, but now she's dry, and she didn't even shake it off like Twilight did!" he whispered to Red X.

Red X, stared blankly before coming to an absurd (and joking) conclusion. "Sorcery!"

"Makeovers!" Rarity sing-songed as she pulled over a dressing wall (for whatever reason).

"D'oh!" Stario exclaimed as he, Arthur, Stario, Red X, Blue Star, and Spike were all harshly launched across the room.

The place literally shook as Rarity went wild, dust (yes, dust!) often trailed from behind the wall.

"Someone's hard at work," Stario waggled his eyebrows.

"What the f*coin* is she using!?" Arthur squinted in confusion. "It's sounds like tools a mechanic would use!"

"That sounds... f*Atari*d up," Atario said, his expression filled with shock. And that was saying something; he, following James, was the second best with mechanic tools.

"Am I the only one who thinks the concept of dressing a pony is ironic? Ow!" Blue Star asked, in which Red X slapped him upside the back of his head.

"That was for James," Red X deadpanned.

"There. Oh, you're simply darling," Rarity gushed as she finished.

"Uum... yeah, it is kinda pretty, isn't it?" Twilight smiled in admiration as she looked at herself. Stario whistled while he waggled his eyebrows. Fortunately, it was quiet enough to go unnoticed by anyone besides Red X, Atario, Blue Star, and Arthur (who hit Stario in his shoulder).

Spike, who was doing a gagging gesture, was startled to the point of accidentally sticking his whole hand into his throat when Rarity suddenly appeared in front of him.

"And you. Oh Spike, I have a dandy little outfit for the dashing gent," she said as she pulled over the dressing wall. Spike fruitlessly attempted to escape. The guys listened as Spike was going through the same treatment Twilight got mere seconds ago.

"That's a mean grip," Atario raised an eyebrow.

"I wonder if she's using a hammer?" Stario waggled his eyebrows.

"So she can make clothing for others besides ponies," Red X noted.

Twilight giggled as Spike was done being worked on. "Oh, Spike."

"Someone's trying to impress a lady," Stario waggled his eyebrows.

"...LOL wut," Blue Star smiled in amusement.

"Now you just need a hat," Rarity said as she put on said accessory.

"Ugh, I told you, I don't want any part of this girly gala gunk. See you back at the library," Spike zoomed out of the house.

"Oh, who needs him anyway," Rarity waved her hoof dismissively as she pulled a full-view mirror in front of Twilight. "This is all about you, and how fabulous you'll look at the Grand Galloping Gala."

Twilight froze. "Wait, the Grand--"

Rarity gasped, cutting Twilight off. "And oh, my goodness, what a coincidence. I happen to have an ensemble of my own, that matches yours to a T. We would be the belles of the ball, you and I. Everyone would be clamoring for our attention. All eyes would be on us, and then everyone would finally know, the most beautiful, most talented, most sophisticated pony in all of Equestria is Rarity the unicorn!"

She laughed nervously at the deadpan look Twilight was giving her. "Ah, and Twilight Sparkle, of course.

"I see what's going on," Twilight pointed an accusing hoof at Rarity.

"Heheh, epic fail," Blue Star muttered.

"You're just buttering me up so I give you the extra ticket. Well it's not gonna work," Twilight threw the outfit at Rarity, who ducked in time. The necklace did perch on her horn, however. "You're going to have to wait for my decision just like everyone else. Now if you'll excuse me, I've been trying all day just to get some lunch!" she exclaimed as she went the door, the guys following.

She recoiled as Applejack suddenly poked her head through the door. "Did somepony say 'lunch?'" she said as she pulled Twilight outside. When Twilight looked up, her jaw dropped at what she saw. In front of her was a huge cartload of apple-related sweets (especially pies).

"You've got to be kidding me!" Twilight exclaimed.

"I know, right!" Blue Star exclaimed. "All those sweets, and not a single cookie." Arthur deadpanned at him before smacking him in the back of his head.

"I hope Applejack doesn't expect her to eat all that," Atario said uneasily.

"I hope she used butter," Stario waggled his eyebrows. At that comment, Red X squinted in confusion before punching him in the shoulder.

Just then, they saw James walking towards them. "I hope you saved room for dessert," Stario waggled his eyebrows.

"Hell no," James furrowed his eyebrows.

"Oh, you ate?" Red X asked.

"No. I just don't want any dessert," James answered.

"You're such a buzzkill," Blue Star crossed his arms. James grunted in irritation as he looked over to see Twilight and Applejack. He raised an eyebrow when his eyes fell on the large cart full of various apple dishes.

"What's the occasion?" he asked.

"Applejack's trying to bribe Twilight with food for the ticket, if I had to guess," Atario answered.

James's other eyebrow rose. "Uh... is she supposed to eat all that?"

"That's what I said!" Atario agreed. "What boggles me is where she got the time to cook all this. And I know she didn't take them from storage, they smell like they're fresh from the oven."

"If that's the case, then she is very efficient," Stario waggled his eyebrows.

"Ah got apple pie, apple fritters, apple tarts, apple dumplings..." As Applejack continued to name the food, Twilight's (and Blue Star's) pupils were growing. "...Apple crisps, apple crumblers, and apple Brown Betty. Uh, the dessert, not my auntie. What do you say there, best friend?" Applejack asked. Twilight's stomach growled again as she furrowed her eyebrows in realization. "Is that a yes?"

"No... no!" Twilight exclaimed, startling Applejack into launching the apple brown betty, the poor dish landing on the ground. A single tear ran down Blue Star's cheek. Such a terribly tragic waste, it was.

"I don't know who I'm giving the ticket to. And all these favors aren't making it any easier to decide. In fact, I'm less sure now than I was this morning! Ugh!" Twilight groaned loudly before running past Applejack.

"So, that's a maybe?" Applejack watched as she disappeared in the distance.

"Probably not," Arthur deadpanned.

"Well, you have my vote," Stario waggled his eyebrows.

"Surprisingly, I lost my appetite," Red X intoned.

"My insides hurt," James catch-phrased.

"Well, darn, I couldn't possibly let all this food go to waste-- ow!" Blue Star flinched as Red X smacked him in the back of his head. "What the heck!"

"That's for James," Red X droned.

"Damn it, let James speak for himse-- OW!" Blue Star cried as James smacked him in the same spot Red X smacked him.

"...You guys are ass*sword brandish*," he rubbed the back of his head.