Shut Up And Dance

Chapters

Chapter One: Those First Tricky Steps
Chapter Two: When Inspiration Strikes
Chapter Three: Elusive's Question
Chapter Four: Blitz's Answer
Chapter Five: Practice and Passive Aggression
Chapter Six: The First Round - The Jive
Chapter Seven: Drinking and Thinking
Chapter Eight: Bubble Berry's Bet
Chapter Nine: A New Opponent
Chapter Ten: Breaking Expectations
Chapter Eleven: The Second Round - The Cha-Cha-Cha
Chapter Twelve: Apprehensions
Chapter Thirteen: Battered and Worn
Chapter Fourteen: Viva Las Pegasus
Chapter Fifteen: Twisted Sisters
Chapter Sixteen: Skilled Quips and Painted Lips
Chapter Seventeen: The Third Round - The Disco
Chapter Eighteen: Victory and Vendetta
Chapter Nineteen: Searching For A Rainbow
Chapter Twenty: Learning The Truth
Chapter Twenty-One: The Morning After
Chapter Twenty-Two: The Foxtrot
Chapter Twenty-Three: Complications of the Mind
Chapter Twenty-Four: The Contemporary
Chapter Twenty-Five: During the Intermission
Chapter Twenty-Six: Shake It Off
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Liquid Courage
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Over the Cliff
Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Fallout
Chapter Thirty: Elusive's Admission
Chapter Thirty-One: Blitz and AJ's Discussion
Chapter Thirty-Two: Rainbow's Big Moment
Chapter Thirty-Three: The Couple's First Morning
Chapter Thirty-Four: Return of the Shim Sham Sisters

Chapter One: Those First Tricky Steps

Ugh… where the buck did that gust of wind come from?!

It’s only been a couple hours since that incident, but that question was still ringing through Rainbow Blitz’s head like some crappy pop song. And since he was stuck in the waiting room of Ponyville Hospital completely by himself, it wasn’t like there was much else for the cyan pegasus to focus on. He could’ve looked through some of the magazines at the end table by his chair, but his throbbing headache made him less than eager to try and read extremely old articles on crap he didn’t care about. So instead, he just leaned his head back and tried to clear his head; but even with the thick bandage that was wrapped around his forehead, the wall that was behind him still felt as hard as concrete.

Blitz wanted to feel grateful that a small head injury was the only thing he received from that fall, but he still couldn’t shake how it even happened in the first place. The Wonderbolts Super Show was going off without a single hitch, and his duo flight stunt with Soaring went perfect for the first half. But just as the two did the fly-around to prep for their Triple Somersault Barrel-Roll (a move that Prince Dusk Shine himself helped patent for his friend), he knew he felt like something was off when he began to gain elevation. He wasn’t sure if it was just poor wing-adjustment on his own behalf, or some freak-gust of wind that threw him off position, but the last thing he remembered before plummeting to the ground was feeling Soaring’s hind leg whack against the side of his head like a wooden bat.

And now, the cyan stunt-pony was waiting in the hospital by himself while the Wonderbolts Show wrapped up. He was beyond pissed that he couldn’t stay to help with the Grand Finale, but Rainbow knew better than to try and keep going after hitting the audience stand like that. Even if he was the only one injured, there’s protocol in place that specifically prohibits performers from continuing after a head injury (something about health risks regarding high elevations or whatever). But the fact of the matter was that he wasn’t the only one who got hurt after that crash. After all, that was the biggest reason he was still in this hospital after getting his head looked at.

Blitz had his eyes closed as he sighed slowly, hoping that mare who softened his fall wasn’t too badly hurt. The Wonderbolts carried a top-notch insurance policy that would pay off her medical bills with no problem, so the stallion was more worried about how this incident would look in the papers the next day. He was the newest recruit of the stunt team, so he could only imagine how his reputation would look on the Ponyville Tribune headlines. Heck, Rainbow wouldn’t have been surprised if this blew up on a national scale or something.

Alas, before his lingering thoughts or guilt could build up to grand proportions, he heard several voices yell out out at the same time and make the pegasus come back to reality. “BLITZ!”

Rainbow Blitz reopened his eyes and heard multiple hoofsteps coming his way. He peered towards the doorway just in time to see his friends gallop into the waiting room with panicked looks on their faces. Fortunately, the fact that Blitz was sitting on his own in the waiting room instead of being encased in a body cast in a hospital bed was enough of a relief for the group. The five stallions (as well as the baby dragoness) stopped in their tracks, and Dusk Shine was the first to sigh in relief when he saw how minimal Blitz’s damages really were.

“Oh, man!” exhaled the lavender Alicorn as a smile grew on his muzzle. “You wouldn't believe how worried we all were after seeing that crash!”

“Yeah!” added the pink stallion Bubble Berry, who somehow stretched himself over from the back of the group to the front like some living slinkie. He plopped right in front of Blitz quickly enough to make him jolt from his seat before exclaiming, “I mean, we tried to get right to you after seeing you fall into the crowd, but there were so many ponies that gathered around you that even I wasn’t able to get there in time! And then you were put on that stretcher and security came flying out from everywhere and we were all like ‘We need to see him, he’s our friend!’ and this mean guy who smelled like turnips just said ‘The Wonderbolts are friends to a lot of ponies!’ And by then you were already being flown off along with that other lady and we had to--MMMPH!!!”

Berry’s words were cut off prematurely by an orange hoof that was promptly shoved into his open mouth. The pony attached to that hoof, a fairly muscular stallion known as Applejack, tried to summarize his buddy’s ranting with a simple statement. “All we’re tryin’ to say is that it was pretty dang hard gettin’ to ya in time. We’re just glad ya ain’t that hurt, Blitz.”

Bubble Berry, even the hoof still in his mouth, made sure to nod in agreement before Applejack popped his foreleg out. Blitz rubbed the back of his head with a hoof and smiled back at them. “Yeah, thanks,” he said in a tired-sounding voice. “Believe me, I’m just glad it wasn’t a broken wing again.”

It was after that statement that Elusive, a white unicorn with a luscious purple mane, came up from behind Berry and asked with a raised brow, “Wait, does that mean you’re alright to fly? You did hit your head pretty hard back there. I’d hate to think anything too damaging occurred.”

“Oh, come on!” griped Blitz with a dismissive roll of his magenta eyes. “I’m not brain-damaged or anything! Do you see me drooling on the floor and going ‘Gooble Gobble’ or something?”

Elusive sighed with a flat stare pointed at the pegasus. Meanwhile Barb, the pudgy purple drake standing beside Dusk, tried not to snicker before adding her input. “I dunno, Blitz. I think we’ve all seen you drooling when you take your naps.”

Blitz groaned and looked away from the cheeky drake, although it was hard to ignore the sounds of a couple of his friends trying not to laugh at her remark. Dusk Shine furrowed his brow down at her in disapproval and said, “Barb, that’s not funny!” He then tried to rectify the situation by turning his attention back to Blitz. “Although it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to try resting on the ground, at least for tonight. If you want, I can easily get Barb to set up a room for you at the castle.”

“Hey, come on!” griped Barb back at the Prince.

Butterscotch, who was lingering at the other side of the group in silence, decided to speak up towards Blitz. “I can go get your tortoise and some things from your house, Blitz,” added the yellow pegasus in a meek, yet caring tone of voice. “It really wouldn’t be a problem.”

“Guys, don’t,” insisted Blitz with a raised hoof to stop any more offers from his friends. “It really isn’t a big deal, okay?! I just knocked my head a little. I’ve been through a LOT worse.”

Before he could add anything more to his claim, Blitz was interrupted by a female voice that came from the doorway. “Rainbow Blitz?”

Everyone turned to see the tan-coated and brown-maned unicorn mare that came walking into the waiting room. Her white lab coat seemed to be fairly clean, besides the multiple pen parks that were visible between her front pocket and the nametag that read Dr. Stable. Even when her horn lit up, the pale blue aura that illuminated around her glasses to lift them away didn’t do much to hide the annoyed look on her face. Blitz stood up from his seat, his tone quickly sounding concerned as he asked, “So… how is she, Doc?”

The doctor exhaled quickly under her breath, not wanting her own emotions to come through while floating her glasses into the front pocket of her labcoat. “Well,” she began with a light shrug of her head, “ the good news is that Toffee’s condition is stable, and she didn’t sustain any permanent damage from your impact.”

Blitz wasn’t even able to sigh in relief before hearing Elusive exclaim in shock, “Wait, it was TOFFEE?!”

Everyone looked to see that the unicorn looked absolutely mortified with a hoof covering his open muzzle. Even Doctor Stable seemed a bit surprised as she tilted her head at him. “Wait, you know my siste--”

Elusive pushed past everyone before the doctor could finish her question, and he rushed out of the waiting room like it was on fire. The white stallion galloped down the hall madly while shouting out in a panic, “Toffee?! TOFFEE!!”

The waiting room laid silent for a brief moment, with nopony knowing what to say. However, Blitz seemed to be the only one whose focus stayed on the doctor with a look of growing worry. “You… you said she’s your sister?” he asked while trying not to wince at her. Even though he could clearly see the resemblance now (especially since Stable’s fur and mane are the exact same colors as the mare’s), he never would’ve thought so beforehoof since Toffee was an Earth pony.

Stable sighed and nodded after returning her attention back to him. “Yes, she is,” she admitted, “but like I said, none of her injuries are too severe. Although she did suffer a broken leg and a concussion. But considering how hard you fell on her, I’m just grateful she’s alive and able to recover.”

Rainbow Blitz’s ears slumped down as an upset look swept across his face. The others looked away from the two to hide any awkward glances they may have had on them. Blitz pursed his mouth shut for a brief moment before saying in an honest and solemn tone, “I… I’m so sorry, Stable.”

“No, it’s really alright,” assured the mare with a sincere look on her face back at him. “I know it was just an accident. She told me herself that she isn’t mad at you, so I’m not going to be either.”

Of course, before Blitz could thank her for being so understanding, she then added in a more stern voice, “However, I’d rather not think about my sister’s condition right now, so I’d like to speak with you about your injury.”

Blitz blinked a couple times in confusion. “Wait, really? All I did was bump my head.”

“Maybe so,” retorted Stable as she floated her glasses back on and scanned a clipboard that was by her side. “But we still need to make sure you didn’t suffer any major brain injuries from that collision. I already scheduled you for an MRI scan tomorrow morning at ten, so you’ll need to refrain from flying until then. No exceptions.”

“WHAT?!” said Blitz in annoyed shock. “Oh, come on, Doc! I’m perfectly fi--”

“No. Exceptions.” she said in a sharp enough tone while staring back at Blitz to instantly shut him up. She then huffed briefly and added, “I know your flight regimen is important, but your overall health needs to come first. I’m afraid you’re going to to need some place on the ground to sleep for tonight.”

While Blitz groaned with his teeth clenched and his eyes away from the doctor, Dusk Shine couldn’t resist saying faintly, “Told you.”

Blitz instantly shot a nasty glare towards the Alicorn, which just made the stallion shrug with a smirk in response. Butterscotch went up to the other pegasus to give him a hug and said, “I’ll go get Armour for you, okay? Maybe that’ll cheer you up.”

Even though he was beyond peeved that he couldn’t even sleep in his own cloud bed tonight, the thought of his pet tortoise made him apprehensive enough to sigh and hug his friend back. “Alright fine,” he muttered before pulling away from Butterscotch. “Thanks.”

Butterscotch made sure to smile back at him before making his leave. With his muzzle skewed, Blitz looked back at Dusk and said begrudgingly, “Well, I guess I’m gonna have to take you up on--”

CRASH!!!

“What in tarnation?!” shouted Applejack as he and everyone else heard the thunderous crash from outside the waiting room. Stable was the first to run out in breakneck speed, followed by Dusk Shine and the others to investigate what happened. It didn’t take long to find the culprit, as Elusive was leaned back against the wall opposite Toffee’s room. Even though the unicorn was still breathing heavily in an attempt to keep from sobbing, he still stared at the door he just broke in stunned, wide-eyed silence.

Somehow, the tailor’s magic when throwing the door open was powerful enough to not only break the hydraulic lever at the top, but also leave the entire door imbedded in the wall. Stable just stared at the damage with a dropped jaw, not even wanting to think how much this was going to cost to repair. Blitz and the others looked over at Elusive in shock, not expecting him to react that dramatically. Bubble Berry was the first to try asking, “Jeeze, did you need to get into the room that badly?”

“Actually,” came Toffee’s voice from inside the room before Elusive could explain himself, “he did that leaving the room. He just saw my leg and went nuts.”

While Stable rushed into the room to check on her sister, Elusive brought his hooves up to his face shakily while his back leaned against the wall. Dusk Shine went up to him carefully to make sure he was okay. “Elusive?” He slowly brought a hoof up towards the unicorn to place on his shoulder. “Why did you--”

To everyone’s shock, Elusive slapped the hoof away and began to run out of the hospital. “I really need to be alone right now,” he whimpered in a weak and shaky voice. Even Barb looked worried as she stepped out of the way first to let him pass through. However, Blitz wasn’t wanting him to leave that quickly.

“Hey, wait a minute!” shouted the pegasus while rushing over towards him. “Can you at least explai--”

As soon as he heard Blitz’s voice, Elusive turned around with his hoof pulled back and pointed right at him. Blitz stopped in an instant with a frozen look of shock on his face. However, instead of following through with his stance to punch his friend, Elusive just stayed in that position for a few seconds with a strong and teary glare aimed at the pegasus. The stallion eventually dropped his hoof weakly with a deep and shuddering exhale, and didn’t say anything before continuing his leave; except this time, Blitz didn’t try to stop him.

Bubble Berry and Applejack went to check on the stunned pegasus, while Dusk and Barb just stared in confoundment at how Elusive almost punched their friend. Before he could disappear through the front doors of the hospital, Elusive stopped and sighed so he could light up his horn. A blue aura of magic appeared in the form of a small orb right behind him, which then poofed to become a moderately large sack of bits. The item fell to the linoleum floor while Elusive left and said, “Let me know if that’s enough for the damages.”

After the doors closed behind the unicorn, Dusk looked down at the bag for a brief moment as a worried expression grew on his face. Meanwhile, Barb tried to rectify the situation by saying, “Well… at least he finally got that spell right.”

Even though Ponyville’s skies looked absolutely pristine and clear the next day, Rainbow Blitz decided to walk after leaving the hospital with a clear bill of health. Fortunately, the weather was fairly mild compared to some of the more sweltering temperatures earlier that summer, so the pegasus didn’t feel overly parched or overheated during his trot. Instead, Blitz just walked at a slower pace than usual until he reached the Ponyville town limits. By the time he saw the top of Elusive’s shop, the Carousel Boutique, the stallion tried not to cringe with his bottom lip bit shut.

Before he left the hospital, Blitz made sure to visit Toffee to give her a proper apology after his MRI scan. The mare was luckily forgiving of what occurred, but what made the pegasus feel so uneasy was her explanation for Elusive’s overemotional spiel the previous night. Even though he had a few theories as to why his friend acted that way, Blitz had no idea it was because of something that unbenounced to him. He was sure that the unicorn mentioned it a time or two, but it never came up as something significant enough to catch his interest.

Alas, it wasn’t long before the stunt-pony arrived at the front door of Elusive’s shop. There was a large sign that said ‘Closed’ behind the shop’s main window, but Blitz still decided to knock just in case. Given the state Elusive was in the previous night, it wouldn’t have been surprising if the stallion was still a sobbing wreck; heck, he was most likely huddled in his king-sized bed while wearing a stained kimono and scarfing down a gallon-sized tub of red velvet ice cream.

Unfortunately, after Blitz knocked on the door a third time, it didn’t seem like anypony was home. He couldn’t think of anywhere else the unicorn could be, so he sighed with a small slump at the realization that he probably wasn’t going to hear from him today. While that may have been for the best, he wanted to at least try to talk with him and clear up what happened back at the--

“Rainbow?!” shouted a posh voice from behind Blitz, prompting him to quickly turn around and see the very stallion he was looking for.

Elusive may have been fully primed and proper like usual, but even the stunt-pony was able to see the bags hanging underneath his blue eyes. Of course, even if he was able to to hide that feature, the veil of guilt that hung over his surprised glance couldn’t be disguised as anything else to Blitz. After looking around the outside of his shop with a quick dart of his head, Elusive readjusted the saddlebag hung over his back and went towards the door. “Toffee told me that you left the hospital,” he said in a relieved tone of voice, “so I’m glad I was able to find you, Blitz. I really do want us to talk about what happened.”

“Y-Yeah,” said Blitz meekly while rubbing the back of his head with a cyan hoof. “I was hoping you were alright to chat.”

After unlocking the door, Elusive opened it for Blitz to go inside. The pegasus accepted the gesture by entering the main space first. Even though the pink walls and feminine decor always made Blitz feel more than uncomfortable, he wasn’t going to let that get in the way of him talking with his friend. Although he could’ve sworn one of those creepy-ass mannequins at the corner by the fitting curtains moved a little. Nevertheless, Rainbow stood in place in the middle of the room while Elusive came in and closed the door behind them.

The white pony’s shameful expression only grew as soon as he was alone with his friend, and his lips were pursed shut for a brief moment before blurting out, “Blitz, I… I can’t even begin to describe how horrible I feel about what happened last night. I may have been in an overly emotional state, but I should’ve never even fathomed doing something like… that...”

Elusive didn’t even want to utter that last part in clarification, and he just lowered his head in guilt while looking away from Blitz. From the way the unicorn’s face was scrunching in, Blitz was starting to worry that his friend was gonna start crying at any second. “Hey, come on, Lucy,” he began in a more relaxed tone to try and ease the mood (even though he knew his friend really disliked that nickname). “I talked with Toffee before I left the hospital, so I get why you were acting like that. I had no idea that Toffee was the pony you were working with, and… I’m really sorry dude.”

“No, no,” sighed Elusive with a wave of his hoof towards Blitz. He finished his exhale before looking back up at him to say, “You have no reason to apologize for what occurred. It was merely an accident combined with a very unfortunate coincidence. It would be absurd for me to blame you for something that clearly wasn’t your fault.”

“Yeah, but still…” Blitz knew that Elusive was being truthful, but he still felt it was necessary to address what needed to be said. “After what she told me, it wouldn’t have surprised me if you did take a swing at me. I mean, you would’ve been a dick for doing that,” he admitted with a tiny shrug, “but it’d be one of those free-pass things, you know?”

Elusive huffed through his nostrils at that unneeded opinion of the pegasus’. “Well, nevertheless,” he replied before his tone turned more sincere, “I still wanted to apologize for almost doing something that brash. I’m grateful that you understand, and… I just hope you’re not upset at me.”

Elusive rubbed one of his forelegs after that last part, which just made the pegasus sigh with a roll of his eyes. “Dude, come on…” Not wanting the stallion to think this was anything too damaging to their friendship, Blitz went towards Elusive and pulled him in for a strong hug. “I already forgave you, alright? I’m not holding it against you, I swear.”

It took a couple seconds for the pegasus’ words to sink in, but Elusive was touched enough by that assurance to raise his forelegs and hug his friend back. “Th-Thank you,” he said in a faint and shaky voice before pulling away. “I… really needed to hear that…”

While the unicorn looked away to wipe his face with a hoof, Blitz just ignored how dramatic his friend was acting with a tiny smirk. Of course, Elusive quickly remembered what was in his saddlebag after his head turned towards one of the pouches. “Oh! I almost forgot!” His horn lit up, allowing his blue aura to open the flap of the pouch and float out a large paper bag. “I stopped by that food-cart you enjoyed so much, since I figured you’d be hungry after that checkup.”

“Oh shit, really?!” Blitz’s face lit up like a Hearth’s Warming tree as soon as he saw the familiar white bag. He quickly snatched the item from Elusive’s magic with his teeth, and went towards the kitchen while the heavy burrito hung from his grinning muzzle. “Thanth dude!”

Elusive sighed with a more natural sigh. “No problem, Blitz,” he said before following him. His magic pulled out a large smoothie from his saddlebag’s other pouch, which he enjoyed himself as he joined his friend at the kitchen table. Of course, Blitz already unwrapped and ate a third of his burrito before Elusive even got to sit down in the chair across from him.

The unicorn waited until Blitz wiped some excess cheese and hot sauce from his muzzle before asking, “So… I take it your checkup went well?”

“Mmmhmm.” After swallowing, Blitz nodded and answered, “I mean, have to talk with Flamethrower about being able to fly at the Canterlot show, but the doctor said I’m perfectly fine to fly normally.”

“Well, that’s good to know,” said Elusive with a grateful smile. However, it lessened with a brief exhale while he held his drink. “It’s just a shame that you weren’t the only pony who was injured.”

While he knew Elusive wasn’t trying to dampen the mood, Blitz’s ears still hung down in guilt before chewing and swallowing again. “Yeah, that really does suck,” he responded in meager agreement. “I had no idea you were even trying to do that competition this year. I know you mentioned it every now and then, but I thought you were just a fan of it.”

“Indeed I am,” said Elusive with a shrug of his head, “but this really was something I wanted to do for a while. It’s just with my busy work schedule combined with, well… saving Equestria every now and then, I wasn’t able to get much of a chance until now.”

A small, shameful pout began to grow on Blitz’s muzzle. “So… Toffee was going to be your dance partner for that?”

“Yes,” the unicorn admitted sadly. “She may have not been classically trained like I was, but she was still superbly talented on her hooves. And she seemed just as keen about participating in the competition as I was.”

Even though he was worried that asking more about the competition would just further sadden Elusive, Blitz was fairly curious as he opened his muzzle. “Alright, so... what’s the big prize in that Dance-Off thing? Like, a trophy or something?”

Elusive grunted at the simplicity and misinformation of Blitz’s assumption. “Okay, one: It is not a ‘Dance-Off’, as you so brashly call it. It’s the Equestrian National Dance Competition, and it’s not something to be compared to something so plebian! That’s like comparing it to a... square dance!”

Just saying that word was enough to make the posh unicorn shudder in distaste at the idea. Regardless, he still breathed out slowly before adding his second point. “And two: The grand prize isn’t just a trophy! The winning couple of the ENDC also receives a cash prize of one-hundred thousand bits. That money would not only give me a big enough deposit to open a shop in Las Pegasus, but it also would’ve helped pay off Toffee’s student loans in full.”

Blitz’s eyes were wide-open as soon as Elusive mentioned the money amount, and it took a couple seconds before he opened his mouth to clarify. “One… hundred thousand?”

“Yeah,” answered the unicorn, “but to be honest, I would’ve competed regardless of the amount given. It was one of those things that I always saw and admired, even when I was just a colt…”

As he spoke, Elusive’s voice turned more solemn as he looked down at the table between him and Blitz. “I mean, I knew that my passion was destined for fashion and design, but there was always a part of me that wanted to do that competition. Even if it was just one time. I don’t know why it pulled me in so much, but I just…”

Elusive sighed remorsefully, not wanting to look up at his friend while his head was slumped low. Blitz looked uneasy as well, but his lips were tightly shut as he thought about his friend’s words. He blinked a couple times before deciding to say something in response. “Hey, I totally get that, dude.”

Elusive raised his head to stare up at Blitz with a mocking smirk. “What, did you want to be a ballroom dancer when you were a colt?”

“What, no!” exclaimed the pegasus in slight offense before shaking his head. “I just mean, I get what it’s like to want to do something like a competition. Just look at me! That’s what I’ve been doing for most of my life!”

“Yes, yes you have,” said Elusive in reluctance with a lazy nod of his head, “I’m sorry if I’m acting too depressed over this. It’s just really disheartening to get that kind of opportunity, only to see it get taken away in an instant.”

Of all the things Elusive said, that statement was enough to make Blitz look legitimately sad. Even though he already felt bad for what happened, just the way that the unicorn worded that made him stop and think for a long while. He wasn’t sure how long he stayed in that stoic state, although it was realistically just a few seconds, but it was long enough to make Elusive look at him with a worried glance. “Ummm… Blitz?”

With one last, sharp exhale, Blitz grew a determined look on his face while staring back at his friend. “You know what?” he said tenaciously. “I’m not gonna let that happen.”

Elusive’s head tilted in confusion. “Ummm… you’re not gonna let what happen?”

“I mean, I’m not gonna let you miss this opportunity!” After getting up from his chair, and scarfing the rest of his burrito in a manner that reminded Elusive of Bubble Berry’s eating habits, the pegasus wiped his mouth with a foreleg before saying undautently, “If this is something you really wanted to do, then I’ll be damned if I’m gonna be the reason you miss it! Especially if you can’t get another chance later!”

“Wait, what are you going to do?” asked Elusive puzzledly as he got out of his seat as well. “It’s not like I can find another partner before the preliminary rounds next week!”

“Not with that attitude!” With a hoof pointed at his friend, Blitz took a breath and declared confidently, “But come next week, I promise you that I’m going to find you a dancing partner! And not only is it gonna be somepony who’ll kick ass, but it’s also gonna be the one to get you that trophy!”

“Oh, Blitz!” Elusive rolled his eyes in dismissal before saying assuredly, “You don’t have to do anything that brash! I’m already over--”

“Don’t even try to finish that!” stated Blitz in an almost threatening tone. “I already messed it up, so it’s only fair that I try to fix it! That’s what friends do, and I know you’d do the same for me if it was the other way around, right?”

Elusive opened his muzzle to answer, but paused when he realized Blitz’s point. After all, both of them were Elements of Harmony; this was the exact sort of thing a loyal friend would do for another. And considering his own element, the unicorn knew that his friend was ultimately right. If it was the other way around, Elusive certainly would’ve done the generous deed and offered a promise like the one Blitz just gave him.

So, after sighing in acceptance, Elusive slowly smiled back at him and said, “Well… I suppose so.”

Elusive then went in to give his friend a caring hug. With his hooves wrapped around the pegasus, his smile widened when he added graciously, “Th… Thank you, Blitz.”

“Hey, it’s no problem,” said Blitz quite easily before pulling back. “I mean, I am the Element of Loyalty. It’s kinda my thing, you know?”

Elusive could barely keep himself from giggling at that cheesy remark. “Yes, of course.”

“Now if you’ll excuse me,” said the pegasus as he began to make his way out of the kitchen, “I’m off to find you a dancer. See ya!”

“Alright, I’ll see you later!” However, after he lifted his hoof and waved Blitz goodbye, his eyes widened as he realized something. Just as Blitz left through the front door and flew off into the skies, he didn’t seem to notice the unicorn rush out to the front of his shop; nor did he hear Elusive shout out in clarification, “Don’t you DARE get an exotic dancer, you hear me?!”

Alas, Blitz was already gone, prompting Elusive to groan bitterly in hopes that Blitz wouldn’t do something that stupid. Unfortunately, his focus quickly went towards his side, when he saw his younger brother standing by the front door with a confused look on his face.

While Elusive stood frozen with a panicked look on his face, Silver Bell tilted his head and asked, “What’s an exotic dancer?”

Chapter Two: When Inspiration Strikes

Usually when he was in this office, Rainbow Blitz couldn’t help feeling at least a little worried. After all, most of the ponies who come into Captain Flamethrower’s office either do so to deliver important information, or to have their heads torn off by his well-known verbal assaults. But considering what he wanted to speak with him about, Blitz was hopeful that he was only in front of his superior for the first reason.

However, from the way the yellow pegasus leaned back in his large leather chair with Blitz’s doctor notes in his hooves, the stoic look on his face (along with his trademark aviators over his eyes) made his expression hard to read. He still had his commander’s cap on to cover his thick orange mane, and any movements on his muzzle or lips were easily covered by the thick goatee he was sporting. Even though most recruits had to shave regularly, the Captain was somehow exempt from that ruling; Blitz was sure that it was probably a power-based thing.

After exhaling hard through his nostrils like a bull, Flamethrower leaned forward and placed the papers back in front of Rainbow Blitz. “I’m sorry Ditz, but I can’t break protocol. Your mandatory medical leave stays.”

“Oh, come on!” griped Blitz in disheartenment. He picked his papers back up with a hoof, but kept them in front of the Captain while saying in a pleading tone, “They say I’m fine, Captain! This wasn’t anything serious! You know that I’m perfectly capable of--”

Flamethrower got up from his seat to lean his hooves against the desk and below out, “Ditz, my decision is FINAL!” As soon as he did so, Blitz cringed so hard that his neck almost disappeared into his torso. After letting his lingering stare last a few more seconds, Flamethrower sighed with his eyes closed before removing his sunglasses.

“Look,” began the Captain in a more sympathetic tone of voice, “I understand that you don’t want to miss the Canterlot show. Believe me, I don’t want you to miss it either. We’ve worked too damn hard to change our routine so close to the date. But the fact of the matter is that I can’t risk letting a recruit with a head injury come back on less than two weeks after the incident.”

Blitz opened his muzzle with his papers still out, but not before Flamethrower interrupted him prematurely. “And despite what that note says, protocol is very strict on matters like this one. Any recruits with head injuries, despite severity or medical intervention, HAVE to be on medical leave for two weeks minimum. No exceptions.”

Despite knowing that his Captain disliked that ruling just as much as he did, Blitz could tell that nothing was going to change his superior’s mind. With a disappointed whinny that escaped his muzzle, Rainbow Blitz lowered his papers while his stance slumped downward. “So… that’s it, then?”

Seeing how upset his recruit looked at hearing that, Flamethrower sighed with his ears slightly lowered. “I’m sorry about this, Blitz,” said Flamethrower in a stern but sincere tone, “but you know that the safety of my recruits is something I can’t cut corners with. If it was, I wouldn’t have kicked Lightning Snap from training for endangering your friends’ lives.”

Even though Blitz hated being reminded of that guy, he knew that his superior brought up a valid point. Although, he was pretty sure that almost killing five of the six Elements of Harmony with that stunt may have contributed to Lightning Snap’s expulsion as well. But regardless, Blitz stayed silent as he heard Flamethrower continue.

“And if you remember your training, Ditz, you would know very well why we take head injuries so seriously here in the Wonderbolts. Do I need to remind you of the Voltage Dawn disaster?”

“No, Sir,” said Rainbow Blitz as he shook his head without hesitation. Even with all the time he spent sleeping through most of his classes, he still knew of the incident involving that mare. She suffered a head injury a couple days before a big show, but was allowed to perform her routine anyway. The incident happened almost a century ago, but the epileptic fit she suffered that caused her to fall to her tragic death ws still talked about in the Academy like it happened yesterday.

“So you understand why I’m taking this so seriously, right?” Flamethrower waited until Blitz nodded his head before continuing. “Regardless of that doctor’s note, the last thing I need is to be responsible for one of my most talented flyers suffering the same fate she did. Voltage Dawn was somepony I looked up to when I was younger. She had an excellent reputation on her team, and she still has several records that haven’t been broken to this day. But despite that, all that most ponies know about her was the fact that she died during a show. Nothing else. And given your own record and history, Ditz, you should be thankful that I don’t want you to be remembered as only a fatality as well.”

Flamethrower may have been as blunt as a kick to the balls, but Blitz got the gist of what his superior was telling him. Regardless of how minimal his injury was, even the recruit knew that he’d rather miss one big show than to just be remembered as some grim statistic. Plus, given how often he and his friends saved this nation with their Elements, he knew that suffering some random aneurism during a show would most likely put all of Equestria at risk later on. So, after breathing out in reluctant acceptance, Blitz looked back up at his Captain and nodded his head. “I… understand, Sir.”

“Okay then.” Flamethrower walked around his desk towards his recruit while saying optimistically, “If I were you, I would just treat this as an extended vacation leave. Canterlot was going to be the last show of the season anyway, so at least you can say you have eight weeks of off-season training as opposed to the other recruits only having six. That’s a pretty big advantage in my book.”

Blitz sighed once more and shrugged his shoulders apathetically. “Yeah, I guess…”

Flamethrower placed a hoof on Blitz’s shoulder before saying, “Ditz, you’re one of the best flyers I have on this team. I’ve seen what you can do in the skies AND for Equestria as a whole, and I know you’ve dealt with worse than this. Don’t let a single missed show keep you down, alright? You're still a Wonderbolt.”

With his lips pursed shut briefly, Blitz nodded his head and looked towards his Captain. He then took a couple steps back from him before using his right hoof to give him a strong salute. “Yes Sir!”

Flamethrower smirked and returned the salute to him. “That’s better! Now go back to resume ground training at home. And you better not think I’ll go easy on you after your leave!”

“I know you won’t, Sir!” Blitz then left Flamethrower’s office with a prouder canter in his step. He may have still been upset, but he didn’t let that show on his face when he exited the room and closed the door behind him.

After a long, arduous day of “auditions,” Elusive was absolutely drained as he collapsed on a conveniently-placed fainting couch. “Oh, sweet Solaris!” moaned the unicorn with a foreleg over his eyes. “What a day!”

Barb, who was still behind the judging table in the emptied-out ballroom, looked rather tired as well. She was leaned back in her seat with her head pointed to the ceiling. “Tell me about it,” she said in a weak exhale. “So… many… mares…”

Elusive groaned bitterly, not wanting to even try counting how many ponies came to him to audition for the spot as his new dancing partner. While he knew that Rainbow Blitz wasn’t one to break a promise, he was still blown away after seeing how many mares were gathered outside his house that morning. The unicorn ended up needing Dusk Shine and Barb’s help to not only organize the auditions properly, but to use the ballroom in their castle for everypony who showed up. Of course, given the method Blitz used to acquire so many ponies so quickly, Elusive was seriously contemplating punching him for real next time he saw him.

Barb eventually slumped forward in her seat, and picked up one of the flyers that was left on the audition tables next to her and Elusive’s notes. The flyers were apparently spread all over Ponyville and Cloudsdale, as well as a lot of nearby towns, by Rainbow Blitz himself just a day after his promise to Elusive. While it certainly gained a lot of attention, Elusive absolutely loathed Blitz’s method of getting interested ponies.

The flyer said in huge letters at the top, ‘Hey ladies! Want to get FIFTY THOUSAND bits?!’ There was then a large arrow pointing down to a picture of Elusive (or more accurately, Elusive’s face pasted on top of a bodybuilder’s body) followed by the caption ‘Then go to the Carousel Boutique in Ponyville and dance with this guy!’

Needless to say, there were a lot of pissed off ponies who thought they would instantly get the money if they twerked outside of his house like hooligans. By the time everything was settled down and organized, the number of prospective mares who actually auditioned barely fit the bill by any means. But despite how arduous the audition process was, Barb couldn’t help looking at the absurd flyer with a tired giggle. “You gotta admit,” said the baby dragoness towards Elusive, “Blitz certainly put effort into this thing. He even got a stallion’s body that was the exact same size as your head! That’s really hard to do!”

Barb’s attempt to lighten Elusive’s mood just made the unicorn growl in frustration. “Why couldn’t he have just used one of my modeling headshots?” he muttered to himself bitterly. Before he could brood over his friend’s decision any longer, Elusive’s attention veered towards the door he heard reopen. Prince Dusk Shine, who seemed much less fatigued than the others, had his horn lit while floating a tray of drinks into the room. Of course, any chipper smile he may have had on his face was quickly extinguished when he saw Elusive’s exaggerated sprawl on the fainting couch.

Dusk sucked some air through his teeth before looking around the room and placing the tray on top of the audition table. “Soooo,” began the Prince as he saw that nopony else was present aside from himself and the other two, “I take it that the mare who just left was the last one?”

“Hopefully,” groaned Elusive tiredly, not even trying to get up from his position. Dusk took the hint and levitated a water bottle towards him silently. “Hmm? Oh, thank you,” said the unicorn gratefully before taking the bottle from Dusk’s aura. “It feels like I’ve been cooped in this room for fifty moons, and I have absolutely nothing to show for it.”

“Wait, really?” asked Dusk in genuine surprise. He picked up both Elusive and Barb’s notes and began to scan through them. “You mean there isn’t a single pony who auditioned and met your expectations? There are at least two hundred mares the last time I checked! It seems like a statistical anomaly that none of them would fit the bill.”

Barb shrugged her shoulders while remaining in her chair. “Well, it doesn’t help that most of those mares were more interested in the money than actually dancing. I can only think of like, five who actually did kinda decent.”

“And even those mares had more flaws than they did potential,” added Elusive after taking a sip from his water bottle. “Honestly, I think the time restraint is a bigger issue than anything else! If I had at least a month’s worth of time for training, then maybe one of them would have a chance. But as it is, I don’t think there’s a single mare on that list who I could actually get to Toffee’s level in less than a week.”

Hearing how defeated Elusive’s tone sounded near the end of that explanation, Dusk’s ears lowered with a sad look on his face. He sighed and placed both clipboards back on the audition table in front of Barb. “I’m really sorry, Elusive,” the Prince said in genuine disappointment. “I wish there was more we could do.”

“Yeah,” added Barb in an equally solemn voice, which was then followed by a more optimistic, “but still, at least you can’t say you didn’t try, right?”

With an upset whinny escaping his muzzle, Elusive lifted himself from the couch and slowly left the ballroom. “I think I need to take a walk,” he muttered in a voice just barely audible to Dusk and Barb.

After watching Elusive exit through the grand doors, the dragoness huffed sharply enough to make a tiny plume of smoke poof from her nostrils. Dusk, who didn’t want his assistant to wind up as blue as their friend, thought it over for a second before hatching an idea. His horn lit up once more before making a small bag of bits appear through his magic. He placed the pouch in front of Barb and said with a smirk, “You know what? I don’t think it would be a bad idea to treat him to some macaroons at Sugar Cube Corner. Maybe it’ll cheer him up a bit.”

Barb looked up at Dusk with a raised brow. “Seriously?” she asked in a less than convinced tone.

“Well…” Dusk looked away with a cheeky curl of his lips while slowly floating the bag away from Barb. “I was hesitant to suggest it since it might be seen as taking him out on a date, but if you don’t want to do that I’ll completely understa--”

As soon as Dusk said the word ‘Date,’ the drake’s eyes shot wide open. She didn’t even wait for the Prince to finish before snatching the bag from his magic and running out of the room while shouting, “ActuallyyouknowwhatIchangedmymindSEEYA!”

Dusk couldn’t help chuckling to himself as he watched Barb run out of the castle to chase down her crush. Even though a part of him felt bad for giving her that kind of hopeful mindset, he still shook his head with a smile before sighing. “Oh, young love…”

Blitz may have been a top-notch athlete, but he was still sweating like a workhorse as he carried bale after bale of hay around the empty field. With a heavy grunt, the pegasus strained deeply before lifting up the last stack as high as he could. He then groaned loudly and heaved the bale powerfully, making it land conveniently in place by the marker he made with a stick.

Before he could even wipe his sweating brow with a foreleg, Blitz overheard his friend shout out from the other side of the field, “Rainbow Blitz, just what in Solaris’ name are ya doin’ wit’ my hay stacks?!”

Blitz turned around to see the peeved-looking Applejack, who was leaned on top of the wooden fence while staring him down. The pegasus went over to the closest hay bale to lean against it and say, “Oh hey, AJ. I was just needing to borrow this field for some training exercises. Won’t take any more than a half hour. Full hour tops.”

Applejack just narrowed his eyes on him in confusion while trying to process Blitz’s logic. “Why would ya… There’s...” He then sighed and pointed up to the sky to retort, “Why ain’t ya just practicin’ up in the air?! That’s kinda what Wonderbolts do, right?”

“Yeah,” replied Blitz with a roll of his eyes, “but I’m on medical leave. I’m not allowed to perform, or do any extensive flight training two weeks after a head injury. It’s kind of a big deal to them.”

Applejack blinked a couple times, but was able to see that his friend wasn’t lying about that. “Wait, really?” asked the farmpony with a tilt of his head. “That seems pretty--Ohhhhh…” His eyes instantly widened in understanding. “Is that ‘cause of that Voltage Dawn thing?”

Blitz looked quite surprised by an Earth Pony knowing that detail. “Uhhh… actually, yeah. How’d you know that?”

“Grampy was at that show when it happened. He told me ‘bout it a couple times.” With a more relaxed look on his face, Applejack readjusted his Stetson and exhaled through his nostrils. “Well, Ah suppose it’d be alright for ya to practice for a while if ya need to. Ah’m just surprised yer actually listenin’ to them! I’d expect you to just find a private place and do flight training anyway.”

“Believe me, I would if I could.” Blitz then took a breath before starting one of his warmups. Using a hay bale as a plyometric stand, the pegasus started to hop over the stack back and forth with two of his legs always perched on top. As he did this, he continued to explain why he couldn’t fly to Applejack. “The problem with flight training is that the skies aren’t exactly private. Anypony could easily see me if I tried, and I could be in serious trouble if that info went back to the Wonderbolts. They take safety things like that really seriously, and it doesn’t help that I’m still on probation.”

“Wait, yer still on probation?!” asked Applejack in shock. “Ah thought that first show was months ago!”

“Hmm? Oh! Not that one!” After finishing fifty reps on the bale, Blitz stopped and quickly rolled onto his back. He grabbed the bale with his forelegs, and began to lift it over his body like a deadweight. His voice became more strained as he spoke between heavy grunts. “Apparently… Flamethrower isn’t a fan… of recruits placing a… blow-up doll in his office… as a birthday present.”

“Pbbbt!” Applejack had to cover his muzzle with a hoof to keep his laugh from being too audible. “Are ya serious, Blitz?! Why the hay did ya think that was a good idea?!”

“I thought it’d be funny!” replied Blitz while continuing his reps. “How was I supposed to know he would be showing his parents around the place?! I think he just overreacted!”

Applejack shook his head while chuckling under his breath, “Well, Ah won’t ask what he did to ya as punishment, but Ah’m hopin’ it taught ya a lesson.” While Blitz could be heard growling under his breath from that response, the farmpony tapped the fence with a hoof and pulled himself off of it. “But if ya excuse me, Ah’m gonna get back to work. Just be sure to put those hay stacks back when yer done.”

“Will do,” said Blitz between grunts while getting to the last of his reps. Just as he was finished, he heard Applejack come back to the fence to add a quick detail.

“Oh! Before Ah forget,” he began in a more cautious tone of voice. “Not that Ah think you would try anything stupid around her, but it might be a good idea to steer clear of Macarena for a while. She’s a bit sore about how ya hurt Toffee.”

“Oh, come on! It wasn’t like I tried to break her leg!”

“Ah know that, and she does too,” replied Applejack sincerely, “but don’t be surprised if she gives ya the stinkeye for a while.”

Rainbow Blitz sighed and nodded after putting the haybale aside. Even though he knew that Applejack’s older sister became gal-pals with Toffee a while back, he wouldn’t have expected the farm-mare to be that upset with him about the incident. “Alright, I’ll be sure to remember that.”

Just outside the property of Sweet Apple Acres, Elusive was feeling a tiny bit better while trotting down the quaint dirt road with Barb seated on his back. Even though he was surprised when he first met Dusk Shine and saw the drake riding him like a common mule, he eventually came to accept the practice as a form of convenience. Considering how short Barb’s legs were, it only made sense for her to ride on the backs of others if necessary (just as long she didn’t go ‘Hiya!’ while doing so). So, Elusive barely paid heed to the light dragoness as she quietly sat on his backside and munched on the last macaroon in the box.

“Mmm!” Barb licked the last of the powdered sugar from her claws before saying, “Man! I don’t know what Bubble Berry puts in those things, but I’m pretty sure it could be considered illegal.”

Elusive giggled at that observation with a nod of his head. “You know, I think I might have to agree with you on that one.” He turned his head around while walking to smile at her graciously. “And thank you for getting those, Barbara. It really was a kind gesture.”

Barb usually hated it when ponies referred to her by her full birth name, but Elusive was the only one she didn’t mind hearing it from. In fact, the dragoness’ cheeks blushed a little as she smiled back at him. “It-It’s not a problem, E-Elusive,” she said bashfully while looking away from him. “I just thought it’d be something to cheer you up.”

“Well, it certainly did,” said the unicorn confidently before turning back to see the road ahead of him. Unfortunately, a brief moment of silence passed, which was just enough to make Elusive’s smile lessen slowly. “I mean, it…” With his lips pursed shut, he quickly shook his head clear before repeating his answer, “Y-yes, it did help, Barbara…”

Barb may have still been a baby (at least in regard to dragon lifespans), but she was still able to tell that Elusive wasn’t being genuine with that last statement. The drake sighed with a disheartened look on her face before rubbing one of her arms with a claw. “I really wish I could’ve done more,” she muttered in a saddened tone.

“Now, don’t be like that,” stated Elusive bluntly. “You and Dusk have done a tremendous job helping me today, so don’t you dare sell yourself short! I couldn’t have asked more from you if I tried.”

Even though she could tell that the unicorn was being honest with his claim, Barb still looked upset while rested on his back. “Still, I…” A tiny blush began to grow on her cheeks, and she turned her head away despite the fact that Elusive wasn’t looking at her yet. “... n-nevermind,” she muttered timidly.

“Never mind what?” asked Elusive curiously.

“N-nothing! I just…” Taking a deep breath, the drake continued rubbing her arm awkwardly before getting the courage to admit, “I… may have checked the rulebook to see if dragons could compete with ponies, so…”

Elusive instantly realized what Barb was trying to say, and he stopped to look back at her with a touched smile. “Oh, Barbara,” he said in a grateful voice, “that’s really sweet.”

However, the drake still looked away from him with her disappointed expression remaining. “Yeah, but… the rules also said I was too young.”

Elusive’s ears dropped down quickly, hating how upset Barb’s voice sounded at that last part. He quickly lit his horn to pull the dragoness’ head towards him, and waited until she was looking at his face to say, “Barbara, if you were old enough, I promise that I would love to have you be my dancing partner.”

From the way the unicorn said that promise so sincerely, Barb almost started tearing up while smiling back at him widely. She quickly scooched forward to hug Elusive’s craned neck, and the stallion wrapped a foreleg around her back to return the favor. “Oh, it’s quite alright,” cooed Elusive in a caring voice. “I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t mean it.”

After a small moment, the unicorn returned to his trot, leaving Barb to sit on his back with a heavy blush and tiny hearts popping over her head. As he walked, Elusive decided to add with a huff, “Honestly, given how difficult it’s been to find a good dancer, I’m starting to seriously contemplate finding someone of a different species.”

Barb just scoffed at that exaggeration. “Oh, come on!” She leaned back on Elusive’s back so her claws were pressed against his backside without realizing it. “I’m sure there has to be at least one pony out there who can take Toffee’s place! You just need to keep an eye out, that’s all!”

“Well, that’s easier said than done,” retorted Elusive while turning his head back towards her. “By this rate, I don’t think there’s a single mare in a fifty mile radius who can be my partner!”

Barb raised her claws with a shrug and asked, “Well, what other options can there be?”

Just as Elusive was about to open his muzzle, the sounds of faint grunting caught the attention of both him and Barb. The two turned to see where the source of the sound was, and noticed Rainbow Blitz out in the field while in the middle of his ground runs. The pegasus galloped through the field as powerfully as he could, going between several closely-placed hay bales to test his agility.

“Oh, cool!” Barb turned so that both her legs were hanging from Elusive’s side as she watched Blitz training. “I haven’t actually been able to see Blitz train in a while. His ground exercises are actually pretty cool.”

“Really now?” Seeing that Barb was interested, Elusive sighed and decided to stay as well. “Well, if you say so…”

While Blitz thundered through the field like a true athlete, Elusive watched with about half the interest that Barb had. Honestly, he wasn’t sure why the drake was so interested when all he was doing was running between stacks of hay. Just as he was about to tune out completely, the unicorn’s ears perked up when he saw something he didn’t expect. Right before reaching the last two bales of hay, Rainbow tensed down on his last steps to jump over both of them at the same time.

Elusive could’ve sworn that Blitz’s leap was in slow motion, but it may have just been how it felt when he saw how distinct the pegasus’ movements really were. The stallion’s legs spread as wide apart as they could go through his jump, making him perform a perfect split. And just as quickly as he made his leap, Blitz’s legs came back into form to stick the landing with a graceful trot.

“Nice!” said Barb with a pump of her claw. Meanwhile, Elusive’s eyes just widened at the display. Even though he was sure that was common training in the Wonderbolts, the unicorn couldn’t help being reminded of something else from seeing such an example of power and balanced poise. Blitz didn’t use his wings in any way during that jump, but was still able to elongate it by pure physical prowess alone through an impressive ballon. In fact, for a split second Elusive could’ve sworn that it resembled a near-perfect ciseaux.

Without skipping a beat, Blitz then went towards a line of intricately-placed sticks that were planted in two tight rows in the ground, and lined with rope like a broken ladder. With sweat dripping from his forehead, the stallion quickly stepped along the open spaces of the rungs two hooves at a time like an intense game of hopscotch. Each hoof went in and out without ever touching a single rope or stick, all while keeping a steady pace that got him in and out of the obstacle like it was nothing.

Barb once again cheered, but Elusive stayed silent with his eyes growing wider. Not a single hoof was out of place. No amount of precision or discipline was left unheeded. And even though he and Barb were quite a distance away, the unicorn could tell that Blitz kept a perfect rhythm during that entire routine. In fact, it reminded Elusive distinctly of a bourree, pas de.

Blitz then ran to the next obstacle, which was several hay stacks arranged on top of each other long-ways like columns. The stallion ran between each one in a flash, darting between the stacks as close as possible while constantly turning and alternating direction with his hooves. When he reached the last column, Blitz went around the bale clockwise to move through the slalom the opposite way; however, at the midway point of the turn, he actually spun his body counterclockwise with a single hoof remaining on the ground, leaving Elusive’s jaw to drop.

Was… was that a Pirouette?! Thought the unicorn bafflingly.

Blitz then went back through the course the same as before, hitting all the obstacles with the same energy and precision he showed the first time. Not a single step went out of place. No movement was muddled or flat-fallen. And as he ran through the course, Elusive was now peering at his movements more closely than Barb was. With each step Blitz made, Elusive was able to catch more moves that the stunt-pony was absolutely nailing without any problems.

The pique...

The À la seconde...

The Battement...

Every term and display that Elusive learned from his years of dance training were being seen before his very eyes. Despite the fact that it was fromBlitz of all ponies, all the stallion could ponder was how he never noticed that level of grace and balance before today. For the grand finale, he watched as Rainbow Blitz returned to the two hay bales he jumped earlier. Only this time, Elusive was able to see the air, en l' the pegasus gave as he launched from the ground; he once again elongated his leap with a flawless ballon, and landed on all four hooves with barely even a skid in the grass.

It may have not been a proper reverence, but Elusive could still see the poise of it as Blitz sighed and kept his landing position for a brief moment.

Of course, the pegasus’ ears perked up when he overheard Barb clapping her claws in applause of Blitz’s training. He looked up at the road to see the drake cheering him on while on top of Elusive’s back. “Woooo!” she cheered triumphantly. “Nice one, Blitz!”

Blitz blushed a little as he smiled back at her, even though he wasn’t the bashful type by any means, he still gave a courteous bow back at her with the lowering of his legs.

Now THAT’S a reverence! Elusive nearly shouted in his mind. Of course, his muzzle was luckily closed before he heard his friend yell out, “Hey, Lucy! How are auditions going?”

It took a second for the unicorn to register what Blitz asked him, so Barb yelled back before Elusive could reply. “It’s probably best not to ask right now!” she shouted honestly.

Even from the distance, Elusive was able to see Blitz wince a little at that answer. “Oh! Ummm… Tell him I’ll make more flyers tomorrow!”

Barb face-clawed with a groan. “No, that isn’t what I--”

Before she could finish, a loud beeping could be heard from Blitz’s hoofwatch. He looked down at it before saying, “Oh, it’s time for my nap already! See ya!”

With only a quick wave, Blitz opened out his wings and shot up into the clear skies. Barb tried to call out to him to listen, but he was already long-gone. Meanwhile, Elusive just stared up at the stallion in silent awe, his eyes remaining wide-open as he watched Blitz disappear into the distance. He wasn’t sure how long he was staring, but it was long enough for Barb’s claw to dangle in front of him to catch his attention. “Uhhh… Equestria to Elusive? You there?”

Even though she had his attention now, Elusive was still standing like a statue while looking up at the skies. The gears in his mind were turning quickly, and a glimmer of inspiration flashed across his eyes like a brilliant garment idea. A couple seconds passed after Barb’s question before he said in a faint tone. “Barb… I have it.”

“Hm?” she asked with a puzzled look. “You have what?”

Elusive blinked a couple times as a grin began to spread across his face. “... I have my partner.”

“Wait, what?! Who?!”

The idea was beyond insane, and he knew it would take far more than a little convincing to get it to work. He may have needed to recheck the ENDC rulebook for clarification, but the stallion was certain that he wasn’t going to break any rules with his plan. It may have been a long-shot, but after seeing the same display that Barb did, his confident smile was unwavering when he answered her question with a hoof pointed to the skies.

“Him.”

Barb needed a good moment before realizing what he meant, but her reaction looked more like he just suggested the stupidest idea possible. “Uhhh… do I need to get your head checked!?”

Chapter Three: Elusive's Question

Elusive carried an apprehensive look on his face while sitting on the plush lavender couch in his main display room. Even though he usually had the furniture in his main space reserved for only customers and clients, the unicorn saw little reason to keep it vacant while the shop was empty. The closed sign was hanging over his door, but his hoof kept tapping on the armrest of the chair like he was expecting royalty to enter the Carousel Boutique. Although, considering the fact that Rainbow Blitz technically was a member of the royal family (along with Elusive and the other Elements after being groomsmen for the Royal Wedding), the tailor felt that his nervousness was pretty well justified.

Especially since he was planning to ask Blitz for one of the largest favors he could’ve ever fathomed.

Granted, Rainbow Blitz certainly was loyal, especially to his closest friends. But given what Elusive was needing from him, it seemed almost as incomprehensible as asking Butterscotch to sing in a stadium full of dragons. Regardless, he tried to keep his breathing steady as the clock inched closer to the time Blitz was to arrive at the shop to talk. It seemed that every single fiber of the unicorn’s logic was against him asking for something so insane, but he tried to stay diligent while sitting in wait.

It’s just a favor, Elusive thought to himself while his lips were bit tightly shut. That is all. If Blitz says no, then that’s completely understandable. He’s my friend, and he’ll still be one even if he declines. There’s absolutely no reason to feel hurt if he says no.

Unfortunately, a deeper part of Elusive’s mind felt much less confident about that last part. No matter how badly he wanted to shake that anxiety away, the idea of being hurt by rejection was still lingering deep down inside of him. As he took a breath, all that the stallion could do was hope that Blitz wouldn’t be too hasty if his answer was negat--

Knock Knock Knock Knock!

Elusive actually felt grateful that his thoughts were interrupted by the door knocking. “C-Come on in!” he blurted out almost instantly, not even thinking it could’ve just been somepony else. Fortunately, it was Rainbow Blitz who walked into the boutique exactly on time.

“Hey Luc-- Er, I mean Elusive” the pegasus quickly corrected before closing the door behind him with a kick of his hind leg. He noticed Elusive sitting on the couch, and looked towards him with one of his hooves raised. “Now before you say anything,” began Blitz insistently, “I totally get why you might be mad about those flyers I sent out the other day. Dusk talked with me about them, and I… probably should’ve had you look over them first.”

He then opened one of his wings to pull out a new piece of paper that was hidden underneath it. “But! I totally got a new flyer made, so if you still need a dancer I can--”

“Blitz, please,” Elusive interrupted with a clam tone and a raised hoof of his own. Blitz respectfully stopped, and put his flyer down with a cautious look on his face. Noticing how it appeared his friend was being more courteous about his assistance, Elusive sighed and gave him a grateful smile before saying, “Now, while I do appreciate you trying to help -- Albeit, in a manner I would have preferred be done differently -- that’s not the reason I asked you to come here today.”

Blitz’s eyes narrowed a little bit in confusion. “Uhhh… okay?”

“Please, sit down.” Elusive motioned to the empty space on the couch beside his with a hoof. Blitz still looked slightly puzzled, but he went to sit down nonetheless. The unicorn then lit his horn, levitating two cups of tea and a plate of cookies from the kitchen; regardless of whether or not the refreshments would really help, Elusive knew better than to give a proposal of this level without being prepared. Blitz quickly perked up at the sight of the treats, and snatched a cookie from the plate before it was even rested on the coffee table.

“Alright, peanut butter chips!” exclaimed the pegasus giddily, happy to see that his friend baked his favorite kind. “Thanks!”

“Not a problem,” said Elusive in a sincere tone which almost made his smile not appear so forced. Fortunately, the stunt-pony was more preoccupied with the snacks to notice any small fidgets from his friend. The tailor waited a brief moment before speaking once more. “Now, just to make this perfectly clear. These cookies are not a bribe, and you can say no to what I’m going to ask if you want. All that I request is that you actually think about what I’m asking from you, alright?”

Despite how good the cookies were, Blitz stopped chewing when he caught the uneasiness of Elusive’s tone of voice. He looked back towards him with one of his jagged brows arched slightly. “Hmm?”

“So…” Elusive closed his eyes and took a breath, wanting to get some clarifications out first and foremost. “From what I heard, you’re still on mandatory medical leave. So because of that, you have approximately eight weeks free from the Wonderbolts, right?”

Blitz exhaled through his nostrils with a deflated look on his face. He reluctantly nodded and swallowed before answering, “Y-Yeah. It’s not exactly something I wanna talk about.”

“I completely understand, and I apologize for asking,” returned Elusive just as quickly. “However… I just wanted to make sure that you... didn’t have any major plans for the next two months?”

Blitz was now starting to look suspicious, which wasn’t helped by the shakiness he saw from his friend’s muzzle. The pegasus’ eyes narrowed on him as he helped himself to another cookie. “What’s this about?”

Elusive’s lips pursed tightly shut, which just made Blitz look even more wary. The unicorn tried his hardest to make his smile look natural while his hooves tapped together worriedly. “W-Well… I was looking over the schedule for the Equestrian National Dance Competition, and… it s-seems that the duration of the competition l-lasts for just over two months…”

Blitz head pulled back a little, his eyes blinking repeatedly. Elusive wasn’t sure whether or not his friend was catching on, but he still felt nervous while finishing his explanation. “A-A-And… since I’ve had so much trouble finding a mare to be my dancing partner, I… wanted to ask you for a favor…”

Blitz instantly figured it out, and his eyes widened while half a cookie stuck out of his mouth.

Dusk Shine carried a wide, almost menacing-looking grin while floating two of his beakers towards the positioned flask on his lab table. Even though magic was clearly the Prince’s specialty, there was just something about science and technology that made the Alicorn so enthralled with it. And since his student Starshine was still up in the Crystal Empire, and Barb was waiting outside Elusive’s house as some sort of favor (at least, he hoped that was the reason), Dusk was quite happy to partake in a chemistry experiment he wanted to do for a while.

Barb tried to bring up how he usually looked like some sort of mad scientist while in the middle of his experiments, which wasn’t helped when his student said the exact same thing. Alas, that didn’t seem to keep Dusk Shine’s toothy grin from dissipating from underneath his thick goggles. He peered at the glowing blue liquid in his flask with fascination, and then at the two beakers with purple and green fluids inside of them.

“And now…” Keeping his magic as steady as possible, he slowly began to pour the dark purple mixture from one of the beakers into the flask’s neck first. The chemical compounds Dusk was experimenting with were very unstable, so he made sure to keep his voice as faint as possible while speaking to himself. “I just need to carefully… carefully… add the solution as slowly… as…”

Dusk Shine usually kept the door to his lab locked during experiments, but Barb threw it wide open to make a thunderous bang. “DUSK SHINE!” she screamed in a panic. “YOU NEED TO--”

BOOM!!!

The explosion from the beaker was violent to say the least, and Dusk’s entire lab erupted in a cloud of neon pink smoke. Barb had to cough a couple times while averting her face from the plume of dust that blew past her. When the vapors dissipated, the Prince seemed to be unharmed; however, he slowly turned around to reveal that the entire front half of his body (along with his usually clean labcoat) was coated in the pink dust. Barb was temporarily frozen silent, which gave Dusk just enough time to wipe the dust from his goggles and glare at her. “Barb…”

On any other day, Barb would’ve most likely cracked up at how silly the Alicorn looked. But at that moment, she was more worried about what was happening outside the castle. “Dusk! Elusive and Blitz are fighting!”

“WHAT?!” shouted Dusk in shock, instantly forgetting the explosion or how he looked.

“They’re at Elusive’s place right now, so you need to--”

POOMF!!!

The Prince didn’t even wait for Barb to finish before teleporting out of his lab in a flash. Barb may have been happy that Dusk responded so quickly, but she still groaned after a moment of silence. “Oh, it’s alright, Dusk,” said the drake to herself in exasperation, “go on without me. I don’t mind walking some more.”

As she left the dirtied lab, she added in a bitter mutter, “He better not expect me to clean that up.”

Meanwhile, Dusk already reappeared in the kitchen in the Carousel Boutique. As soon as he landed on the linoleum floor, the Alicorn looked around fretfully to make sure no knives or other weaponry was taken. His attention was quickly skewed as soon as he heard Blitz shouting repeatedly.

“NO!!! Nooooooooo, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO! There is NO bucking way dude!”

Dusk galloped towards the main room of the boutique, and caught sight of the two just as Elusive yelled back at the angry stunt-pony.

“Blitz, you could at least TRY to listen to my offer!”

“I’m not doing it!” said Blitz as diligently as possible, “I get that you need a pony, but I am NOT gonna be that pony! That is not happening!”

“Well, what do you expect me to do then?! There is no pony else I could get on such short notice! And if I recall, you PROMISED you would help me!”

“What the buck do you think I was doing the last couple days?! Scratching my ass?!”

Dusk had enough and stepped in to intervene. “Guys, GUYS!” shouted the Alicorn as he stepped in between his feuding friends. Both of them stopped bickering, but that was only because they were startled by the sight of the Prince who was still in his lab clothes and covered in pink dust. He put his hooves out between both of them and said authoritatively, “I don’t know WHAT you two are fighting about, but we should at least try to settle it like adults!”

He put his hooves down and looked towards the unmoving unicorn first. “Now,” he said after taking a calming breath, “What is this about, Elusive?”

Elusive had to blink a couple times while looking his friend up and down. “Ummm…” He finally pointed at Dusk’s appearance and asked, “May I ask what this is about?”

“Hmm? Oh!” Instantly realizing how he looked, Dusk Shine huffed impatiently and zapped himself with a burst of magic. The Alicorn was instantly cleaned with a poof of his purple aura, and also left him without his labcoat or goggles. “Alright, now that that’s out of the way, what is this fight about?!”

Rainbow Blitz spoke up before Elusive could. “Well, apparently he wants ME to be his dancing partner for that competition thing!”

Dusk whipped his head towards Blitz with a confused look on his face. After realizing his friend wasn’t joking from the pegasus’ firm stare back, he turned back to Elusive quizzically. “Wait, what?”

“I know how it might sound, Dusk Shine,” responded the tailor with a hoof raised in clarification, “but after seeing how well he performed his ground exercises the other day, I really do think he has the best potential as a replacement.”

“Ummm,” piped up Blitz annoyedly, “those ground exercises are for FLYING, genius! I’m not a bucking dancer!”

“Well, you have all the makings of one in my book,” retorted Elusive with his eyes narrowed on him. “I auditioned over two hundred mares yesterday, and none of them were able to do half the steps as eloquently as you did in that field!”

“Oh, for crying out loud…” Blitz groaned under his breath and turned away while shaking his head. Elusive’s muzzle clamped shut to keep himself from yelling at how his friend was treating this situation.

“Now, wait up,” said Dusk as he brought his attention towards the unicorn. “So you’re saying that Blitz should be your partner? Is… is that even allowed?”

Before Blitz could turn around and add an accompanying “Yeah!” to Dusk’s point, Elusive answered firmly, “As a matter of fact, it is!” He lit up his horn to bring out the ENDC rulebook, which he floated towards Dusk Shine. “I even triple checked the rules of the Equestrian National Dance Competition, and there isn’t even ONE notion that states competitors have to be of opposing genders! Two stallions are able to compete as a couple.”

“Oh, yeah right!” groaned Blitz with a roll of his eyes. While Dusk Shine looked through the rulebook studiously, the stunt-pony glared at Elusive and added, “Do you really think a rule like that HAS to be mentioned?! That’s like saying I could have Armour join the Wonderbolts because there’s no rules about tortoises not being eligible!”

“Actually there are rules like that,” stated Dusk while keeping his focus on the book. “If you remember, Wonderbolt rulings specifically state that only ponies could join. No outside species.”

“That’s not the point, dude!” snapped Blitz before turning back to Elusive. “What I’m trying to say is that you can’t just expect me to do something this stupid! I have a reputation to hold up, you know! How do you think I’d look to the public or my team if I started dancing around with another guy!?”

“Oh, and like my reputation wouldn’t be on the line as well?” asked Elusive with a bitter stare back at him. “You’re not the only one worried about appearances regarding this idea, Rainbow!”

“Oh, please!” Blitz openly scoffed strongly enough to make a vein appear on Elusive’s forehead. Meanwhile, the pegasus said mockingly, “I can just read the headlines now. ‘Male fashion designer caught doing something GAY!’ Oh, the horror!”

“OH, YOU WANT TO GO THERE?!” roared Elusive loudly enough to make Dusk flinch and drop the rulebook. He pushed past the Prince to get right up in Blitz’s face. “In that case, might I remind you that I’M the reason you weren’t banned from the Wonderbolts after Wind Glider tried to frame you?!”

Blitz’s muzzle wrinkled for a brief moment before retorting back, “Well, if it wasn’t for ME,” he said as he pushed his face against Elusive’s, “then YOU would’ve KILLED the Wonderbolts at that Flight Show!”

“THAT WAS YEARS AGO!!!”

“IT’S STILL WORTH BRINGING UP!”

“WHY YOU--”

“ALRIGHT, THAT IS ENOUGH!!!” With a look nearly twice as angry as Elusive and Blitz combined, Dusk Shine forced himself between the two and lit his magic brightly. Just as Barb ran into the front of the shop, she stopped when she saw both ponies screaming with their heads tilted to the sides. Two strong auras of Dusk’s magic were tightly gripped on Blitz and Elusive’s ears, which was more than enough to make them stop yelling at each other.

Barb had to cover her mouth with her claws to keep from giggling.

“Okay,” the Prince began firmly while glaring at both of his friends, “while I can understand why both of you are upset, I am NOT going to tolerate you two acting like this over a dance competition!”

Despite how hard Dusk was squeezing his ear, Blitz still gave a seething look towards Elusive and growled, “He started it!”

“Oh, like I was the one who broke Toffee’s leg--AHHHH!!!” Elusive’s response was left unfinished with one strong twist of his ear by Dusk’s magic.

Both of them cried out even louder, and were barely able to stay on their hooves. “I SAID THAT IS ENOUGH!” yelled Dusk sternly enough to make Barb stop laughing in an instant. “Now, unless you want me to take matters into my own hooves, I would suggest that both of you act civilly! Because if you two would rather act like a couple of diapered COLTS, then I can easily get the materials and spells necessary to make that a reality!”

Neither of the stallions knew what Dusk was implying with that kind of threat, but it was more than enough to make both of them freeze and avoid learning the hard way. Even Barb looked surprised by Dusk’s statement, but still stayed out of it. Eventually, Dusk let go of Elusive and Blitz’s ears with his magic. “Okay,” said the Alicorn with a sigh while the two winced as they rubbed their ears. “Now, from what I can see in the rulebook, Elusive is right. There doesn’t seem to be any clarification on gender when it comes to competitors.”

Elusive shot a quick stare towards his friend in silent victory.

“However,” added Dusk firmly while keeping his glare on both of them, “this is still something that needs to be talked about without fighting.” He looked to Blitz first while keeping his voice professional. “Rainbow, I think it’s very clear that Elusive doesn’t have any other options when it comes to this sort of favor. Do you really think that he would ask you to do this if he did?”

Despite being pissed at both Elusive and Dusk, the pegasus still took a couple seconds before sighing. “Well… no, probably not.”

“Good,” stated Dusk before returning his focus to the other stallion. “Now Elusive, despite how important this competition is to you, this is still a rather large favor to ask. Even to someone who’s the Element of Loyalty.”

Elusive exhaled while still rubbing his sore ear. “Yes, I am very aware of that,” muttered the unicorn under his breath.

“Okay then.” After taking a breath to look at both ponies, Dusk cleared his throat, and decided to try a compromise between the two as a means to settle things. “It seems that this is a really big favor that requires a lot of thought and planning, so I’m going to ask of something from both of you…”

Elusive and Blitz both looked back at their friend, and Dusk put his attention on the unicorn first. “Elusive, I think Blitz would need some time to think this over. So, if you promise to leave Blitz alone for the rest of the day, will you accept his answer regardless if he promises to give it some thought?”

Even though he looked apprehensive, Elusive still nodded his head faintly. “I… suppose so.”

“Thank you,” said Dusk happily before looking to Blitz. “And Rainbow, will you promise to think about Elusive’s proposal today, and give him an answer by sundown?”

Blitz just huffed with an unamused expression. “Why should I wait that long? I already know my answer, and it’s no!”

With that, Blitz began to walk away while Elusive’s jaw dropped with a pained look. Barb quickly went to console the unicorn while Dusk stormed after Blitz, “HEY! I just got Elusive to leave you alone, and you’re just going to disregard his feelings like THAT?! You could at least try to think things over!”

“Do you really expect me to do something like a dance competition?!” asked Blitz as he looked back at the Prince like he was high. “With another stallion?!”

“I’m not telling you to say yes, I’m simply wanting you to think it over!”

“I already thought it over!”

“I mean for MORE than five minutes!”

“Why the buck should it matter?!”

“It’s important because he’s your FRIEND, Blitz!”

“I’M NOT DOING IT!”

“BLITZ! I--” Dusk quickly stopped himself with an angered exhale, and then lit his horn so a beam of magic went over him and Blitz like a giant glowing dome. Once the two were completely encased in the globubble, nothing could be heard from either of them while Elusive and Barb were across the room.

Elusive was trying his hardest not to cry at Blitz’s attitude, but his attention was quickly focused on seeing how heated his friend’s argument was with Dusk. Both of them were completely muted in the Prince’s sound bubble, but it was clear both of them were trying to yell over each other. At one point, Blitz got right up into Dusk’s face, undoubtedly letting his stubbornness overtake anything else in the discussion. But surprisingly, Dusk didn’t yell back; instead, the Alicorn’s glare intensified before taking a breath. Blitz was just about to turn and leave the space before Dusk said something in what looked to be a normal tone.

Barb and Elusive had no idea what the Prince said, but it was enough to make Blitz instantly stop with a wide-eyed look of shock. The pegasus quickly turned around and put his hooves up to stop Dusk from saying anything else, and was clearly going “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa” from how his lips were moving. The argument got more intense, but now neither of them were yelling. Blitz was now looking legitimately worried while trying to talk Dusk down; meanwhile, the Alicorn kept a firm stare on him while saying whatever point he was trying to make.

After another moment, Blitz could be seen sighing with his head hung low in defeat. He kept one of his hooves up and could be seen mouthing the words, “Alright, alright.” However, instead of Dusk looking glad or cocky about his obvious win, he ended up looking just as bad as Blitz did. With a guilty bite of his bottom lip, Dusk Shine went in to hug the pegasus tightly while saying what looked to be an apology. Elusive couldn’t tell what his friend said, but it was enough for Blitz to hug him back in calm forgiveness.

For a while, the two just said some more things in the bubble without any intervention. After it seemed both of them were okay with whatever was discussed, Dusk dissipated the dome with a still slightly-worried look on his face. Blitz didn’t seem mad, but a look of defeat was still apparent when he sighed and looked back at Elusive and Barb.

He walked up to the unicorn and said softly, “Alright, I… I promise that I’ll… think over your favor, okay? I’ll be back here by sundown to give my answer.”

Elusive didn’t want to press anything, so he just nodded before going up to him. “A-Alright then.” He then hugged the pegasus gratefully and made sure to add, “That was all I wanted from you. And if you still say no, I’ll still be your friend, I promise.”

Blitz nodded while hugging Elusive. “Hey, no doubt, dude. Of course, we’ll still be friends.”

After a couple more goodbyes, Rainbow Blitz left the shop silently. Elusive was still wary, but he was also hopeful that Blitz would actually own up to his promise. Meanwhile, Dusk and Barb decided to make their leave as well. After giving their farewells, Dusk used his teleportation magic to send both him and his drake to the castle in an instant.

Barb waited until the two landed back in the castle’s throne room before asking, “So… would you mind asking what that sound-bubble thing was about?”

Dusk Shine sighed painfully and shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I can’t. I Bubble Berry Promised.”

“Ah.” Barb may have been a baby, but she still understood the importance of a Bubble Berry Promise. She quickly dismissed any further questions, and decided to leave the throne room to get lunch ready. After the dragoness disappeared, Dusk waited until she was out of earshot before sighing deeply in guilt.

“Oh, man,” groaned the Alicorn shamefully. “I really hope Blitz isn’t upset at me.”

“Upset about what?”

“GAHHH!” Dusk jolted like a startled housecat at the new voice. He looked to see that Starshine was not only back from his trip, but was lounging in Bubble Berry’s chair while trying not to giggle. “Starshine!” shouted Dusk with a blush alongside his annoyed scowl. “Did you really have to do that?!”

“Oh, come on!” said the unicorn with a dismissing wave of his hoof. “It’s not the first time I surprised you in this room, remember?”

That just made Dusk narrow his eyes on him with a peeved expression. “That is really not helping.”

Chapter Four: Blitz's Answer

Ponyville may have been a fairly small town in Equestria, but its local spa was still one of the most successful businesses in the community. Pelo and Narcissus started the clinic less than a year before Dusk Shine and his friends became Elements of Harmony, which turned out to be excellent timing on their part. Considering how often the town has been under attack from raging beasts, supernatural phenomena, or villains intent on world domination, it only made sense that the business specializing in stress relief would be popular. And on the day Elusive decided to ask Rainbow Blitz to be his dancing partner, the twin stallions were more than happy to fit the unicorn into their schedule that afternoon.

Despite how stressful his morning turned out to be, Elusive tried to ignore his nagging thoughts as he felt the bath salts dissolving and tingling his fur. With only his neck and head sticking out from the steaming bath, the tailor rested against the pillow at the edge of the tub and exhaled deeply. His face was covered with an exfoliating mud scrub, and his eyes were covered with cucumber slices that made him unable to see the yellow pegasus resting beside him.

“Mmmmm…” Elusive could feel his joints becoming less tense as the bath did its work. “Thank you so much for joining today, Butterscotch. I know this was a sudden request, but I really needed to get myself settled out after this morning.”

“It’s alright, Elusive,” said Butterscotch in almost a moan as he unwinded in the tub beside him. “I kinda needed some spa treatment as well. I was up until three in the morning last night because one of my ferrets was having, ummm… gastrointestinal distress…”

Elusive’s muzzle wrinkled at that unneeded detail. “Oh, come on! I didn’t need to hear that!”

“Oh, um, sorry…” Butterscotch’s face was covered in the same mud as Elusive’s, but the slight hint of an embarrassed blush could still be seen coming through it. “I’m just saying, I… I needed some pampering time too.”

“Yes…” Elusive sighed deeply, hoping that the calming ambient music playing from the speakers would help clear his head. But despite how badly he tried to turn off his brain, all the unicorn could focus on was how Blitz acted earlier that day. Not just because of how adamantly negative his first response to Elusive’s question was, but because of how quickly the pegasus changed after Dusk Shine talked with him privately. While he knew it was none of his business, all that Elusive could ponder was what in Equestria was said by the Prince to change Blitz’s mind.

Elusive had no idea how long he was thinking about it, but it was attentive enough to not notice Butterscotch move his head to point his muzzle at him. After a brief moment of silence, Butterscotch’s decided to ask meagerly, “So… you’re saying that Rainbow Blitz is your only option for this competition?”

The unicorn groaned disheartedly. “Sadly, he is. If I had any other option, I would’ve taken it in a heartbeat. But he really does have the best potential compared to every mare I’ve auditioned so far.”

“Yeah, I guess, but…” Butterscotch’s muzzle skewed a little as he tried to think of the right wording for his question. “Couldn’t you just find another stallion to dance with you? I mean, I’m sure your chances could be better if you opened up auditions for both genders.”

“Absolutely not,” answered Elusive sternly. “If I go through with this, this will be the first official time in ENDC history that two stallions competed as a couple. It’ll likely be covered extensively by the media, so I have to have a valid excuse to show my choice isn’t regarding orientation or any hidden relationship. My social status as a designer will already be on thin ice, even if I go out on stage with somepony who’s a close friend and fellow Element. I can’t even begin to imagine the rumors that would circulate if I were to just get some random stallion to dance with!”

Butterscotch took a moment to let that point sink in. While he wasn’t fully sure if Elusive’s reasoning was justified, he also knew just how crass some of the tailor’s clients could be. If they were even a fraction as vain or arrogant as the ponies Butterscotch experienced during his modeling career, then he probably couldn’t blame Elusive for not wanting to go too far with his plan. “Well… I guess I can see your point there.”

“Thank you,” stated the unicorn gratefully. “Even though I could open my selection process to include stallions as well, I’d rather it be one of you guys. And since I already know you would refuse to be in front of a crowd on stage…”

While Elusive made sure not to make his voice sound disappointed or upset with that detail, Butterscotch still turned away with a feeble and guilty expression. Meanwhile Elusive continued:

“... that means I only have three ponies who are eligible to compete. And of those three, Rainbow Blitz is the best choice.”

“Wait, three?” asked Butterscotch confusedly. He turned back to Elusive and asked, “Who isn’t eligible?”

“Well according to the ENDC rulings, Dusk Shine is ineligible due to his royal status as Prince.” Elusive then added for clarification, “Granted, members of the royal family can compete, but none who have governmental officiation. Which means that we’re eligible, but Dusk isn’t.”

“Oh…” Butterscotch laid back against his pillow with a saddened look on his face. “That’s unfortunate. I bet he’d do it, too.”

“Honestly, I couldn’t see him fitting the bill if he offered. Do you remember how bad his dancing was at that garden party?” Even though he felt bad for bringing that up, Elusive still giggled a little at remembering that event. Fortunately, he could hear Butterscotch giggling too.

“Hehehe, yeah,” admitted the pegasus guiltily. “I... guess that counts Applejack out too?”

“Exactly,” replied Elusive, happy that his friend remembered that cringe-worthy display that Applejack showed during Barb’s last birthday party. “Plus, I know that the Zap-Apple harvest is likely to start soon, so he’ll most likely be too busy with that to agree to anything; let alone a dancing competition.”

“Alright,” responded Butterscotch, but it didn’t take long for him to ask, “but what about Bubble Berry? He’d probably do it without any problem, plus he’s already a great ice-dancer.”

“Believe me, I’ve given Bubble Berry extensive thought,” answered the unicorn honestly. “And if this was just a single round with one or two dances to perform, I’d definitely pick him first. But this competition goes over multiple dance styles, both slow and fast-paced. I’m sure that Bubble Berry would hold his own for something like a jive or a quick-step, but do you really think he could carry the discipline and patience to perform an adequate tango? Or a waltz?”

“Well… no…” Despite Elusive’s point, Butterscotch still felt it was important to add, “but to be fair, I couldn’t see Rainbow Blitz doing those either.”

“Ugh, I know!” The unicorn sunk a little lower in his bath, almost washing the exfoliating mud off of his chin. After letting out a disappointed whinny, Elusive used his magic to pull the cucumber slices from his eyes and glance over at Butterscotch. “You don’t think this is a pointless endeavour, is it?”

“No, of course not!” Butterscotch lifted a hoof from the water to take out his own slices so he could look back at him and say, “Elusive, from what you just told me, it seems like this really is the best plan you have. Y-You know, given the circumstances.”

“I suppose…” Even with his friend’s kind words, Elusive still looked down at his reflection in the water to see how upset he appeared behind his facemask. “So, Butterscotch,” he asked with a low and fretful sigh, “you’ve known Rainbow Blitz far longer than I have, so I really need to ask…”

Butterscotch kept his utmost attention on the unicorn, and watched as his friend turned to look back at him with a worried glance. “Do you think he’ll change his mind?”

Butterscotch sighed meekly while trying not to bite his lips. “I’m not really sure, Elusive. It is a big thing to ask of him. But...”

Elusive waited a second or two after that pause before asking, “But?”

“But…” After looking away from Elusive momentarily to think it over, Butterscotch looked down at the water as he answered, “if there’s one thing I know about Blitz, it’s that he knows when to do the right thing. He’s not the kind of pony to ignore a friend in need.”

Butterscotch paused again as he thought that fact over. Recalling all the times that pegasus helped to save him back in flight camp from bullies, a warm smile began to grow on Butterscotch’s face. After a moment, he finally turned his head back to Elusive and added assuredly, “And I’m sure that if you give him some time, he’ll understand how much you need him for this.”

Even though he was a little surprised how sure Butterscotch looked with that assurance, Elusive could tell that he was being sincere. “Th… Thank you, Butterscotch,” said the unicorn with an appreciative smile. “I’m happy you told me that.”

“Oh, it’s fine,” said the pegasus kindly. “That’s what friends are supposed to do, right?”

After Elusive shrugged and nodded back at him, the two rested back against their pillows. They put their cucumber slices back on, and sighed in unison as more salts dissolved underneath them. Elusive waited a moment before saying, “Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Rainbow Blitz was doing the exact same thing we are. Just relaxing in one of the other rooms and thinking things over...”

“Yeah, maybe...”

Ugh… Why didn’t I just get a hoof massage!?

Despite thinking that question, Rainbow Blitz already knew why he chose not to go to the spa that day. If he knew Elusive as well as he did, then chances were good that the unicorn was already there for a full spa experience. And given how tense things got between them earlier that morning, the last thing Blitz needed was to accidentally bump into him there and cause some awkward moment.

But still, Rainbow would’ve killed for a super-pampering hooficure right about now.

Alas, the pegasus decided to just walk around Ponyville in an attempt to clear his head and think things over. Since the spa was on the west side of town, Blitz decided to stay along the east side. Fortunately, Ponyville’s streets were pretty sparse this time of day, which left the stunt-pony uninterrupted while trotting along the less-visited dirt roads. Even with how long he worked and lived in the township, the stallion was surprised at how unfamiliar it appeared from the ground as opposed to the skies.

Rainbow Blitz walked past several different shops and restaurants, none of which looked familiar to him in the slightest. In fact, if it wasn’t for the courthouse and clock-tower visible in the distance, the pegasus could’ve sworn he stumbled into a different town. He eventually reached a street corner that branched off into two separate streets, with one of them being immediately recognizable. But before he could start to trot down that path (and maybe get himself something from Sugar Cube Corner), Blitz stopped and looked to the structure between those two roads. It seemed like a simple building like all the others, but a large pink sign was hung at the front that displayed a mare in a tutu while standing on one hoof. The faint sound of piano music could be heard from inside the obvious dance studio.

Even though he didn’t want to go in, Blitz stared at the doors with a disgruntled pout and exhaled through his nostrils. If his friend was going to be all uppity about this thing, the least he could do was see what all the hubbub was about. After looking around cautiously, Blitz made sure that he wasn’t being watched before carefully opening the door and sneaking in.

The brightly lit interior was the first thing that caught Blitz’s attention when he entered the place; with the overhanging fluorescent lighting, combined with the huge windows by the ceiling and the heavily polished wooden floors, the entire dance hall seemed to have a persistent shine that bounced off the white walls. And with the giant mirror placed over the back wall, the rather large room looked even bigger to the pegasus. Near the corner was a grand piano with a mare repeating a small snippet of music. Several pairs of fillies and colts were practicing a couple’s routine to the music while by the mirror, while the other side of the room had a long bench with several ponies seated.

Just as Blitz went to take a seat as well, his eyes widened when he caught sight of one pegasus colt who was at the end of the bench. The orange colt with a short purple mane didn’t notice him yet, which caused Blitz to grin and swoop in to sit right beside him. The pony was focused on the couples practicing, so he didn’t notice the stallion’s blue hoof until it was fully wrapped around his shoulder. Blitz jabbed at him playfully and hissed, “Scootaroll!”

The colt jolted strongly with a gasp, but thankfully not loud enough to interrupt the ponies practicing. Scootaroll turned while wide-eyed to see who the perpetrator was, and sighed with relief when he saw it was his flight mentor. “Oh, it was you,” he said with a mix of comfort and slight annoyance as evidenced by his pout. “What are you doing here?”

Blitz shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. “I could ask you the same thing, Squirt.”

Scootaroll motioned his head towards the ponies dancing. “I’m waiting for Apple Buck to finish. We’re planning to try ice-sledding after this, but he’s still practicing with Twinkle Toes.”

Blitz looked towards the kids dancing in pairs, and caught sight of the friend Scootaroll was waiting for. At the end of the group closest to the piano, the pale yellow colt had his red bandana tied over his mane to keep it out of the way. His tongue was sticking out as he tried to focus while standing on two hooves. The orange filly he was propped against (who had a strangely similar color scheme to Scootaroll’s) was clearly having an easier time keeping balance, but had her forelegs tightly around Buck’s sides to make sure wouldn’t fall over. But despite how much it looked like the colt was struggling, he was actually keeping in rhythm with his steps alongside Twinkle Toes’.

“Huh,” whispered Blitz with his brows raised in surprise. From what he remembered overhearing from other ponies, Apple Buck was pretty awful at the one dance recital he participated in. “I’m kinda surprised he’s still doing this.

“Eh, it’s not that surprising,” said Scootaroll with a small shrug. “Apple Buck said that he liked doing it, and Twinkle's parents offered him free enrollment after he helped her get her cutie mark.”

Blitz looked back at the couple with an amused smirk. “Oh, wow. That’s pretty cool of them.” Since Scootaroll was already watching his friend practicing his steps with Twinkle Toes, the older pegasus didn’t say much else and watched alongside him. For a few minutes, the stallion took notice at how precise the ponies’ steps looked from an outside perspective, even though it was a bunch of kids. While he was sure it could be easy to learn, he had to admit that Apple Buck might be getting some good experience from those lessons.

After the lesson was concluded and the music stopped, a slim stallion with a light lavender coat and yellow man-bun walked up to the group. “Alvight, alvight,” he said with a thick accent while clapping his hooves and smiling. “I think ve’re gettink somevere vith zis! Excellent progress for all of you!”

Apple Buck didn’t say anything in response, but he seemed really happy to hear that compliment with the blush on both sides of his wide smile. Twinkle noticed how he looked and tried not to giggle too loudly.

“Now!” said the stallion with a loud smack of his hooves to get his students’ attention. “Ve’ll take a short break for stretches before beginnink ze advanced classes! Those of you in basic lessons can leave at any time.”

While over half the dancers began to shamble towards the main doors, Scootaroll sighed with his head rolled back while leaning back in his seat. “Finally!” he groaned before getting up. “I was wondering how long these classes took!”

Unfortunately, it seemed that Apple Buck looked worried when he took notice of his friend coming up to him. While Twinkle Toes went to do her stretches at the barre by the mirror, Apple Buck tried not to wince when Scootaroll came up and said, “Hey, that was actually pretty good! You didn’t even fall down this time!”

“Ehh, yeah…” Apple Buck seemed uncomfortable as he looked away from Scootaroll, and one of his hooves went to rub the back of his head awkward. “Listen Scoots, Ah was meanin’ ta tell ya earlier, but…”

By the time Blitz got out of his seat to see what was going on, Scooraroll seemed confused and and asked, “But… what?”

With a guilty look on his face, Apple Buck lowered his hoof and sighed. “Ah sorta… promised Twinkle Toes that Ah would try an advanced class wit’ her today.”

“What?!” asked Scootaroll with a tilted head. “Why are you doing advanced classes for?! You’re just now getting the hang of beginner stuff!”

“Ah know that!” retorted the yellow colt as he looked back at him and tried to explain, “But she was wantin’ ta do that dancin’ competition thing this week. She always did solo stuff, but she needed a partner for this, so…”

Apple Buck then looked away apprehensively, hating how his words may have sounded out loud. Scootaroll’s eyes widened as he blinked repeatedly. Rainbow Blitz asked in surprise, “Wait, seriously?! She's competing in that too?!”

Both Apple Buck and Scootaroll looked back at him with weird looks. “Ummm… too?” the younger pegasus asked with a raised brow.

“I-I’m talking about my friend Elusive!” Blitz quickly blurted. “HE was planning to do that competition thing too.”

“Ohhhhh!” Apple Buck’s eyes widened as he replied like he figured out a tough riddle. “Ah was wonderin what them goofy-lookin' flyers were about!”

“Yeah, exactly. But…” While his muzzle skewed a little, Blitz looked back at the yellow colt while thinking what to say. On any other day, he probably would’ve cracked a joke about Buck considering doing something this weird. But now, all that Blitz could do was pause briefly before asking, “So, Buck… are you only doing it because of her, or…”

Apple Buck looked down to his hooves and bit the inside of his cheek. “Ah dunno. Ah mean, she is a good friend, and Ah don’t wanna see her get sad about missin’ this…” He then added with a shrug as he looked back up at him. “Plus, the prize money ain’t bad neither. Sweet Apple Acres could really use some new farmin’ equipment.”

“Prize money?” asked Scootaroll with newfound interest. “How much?”

Apple Buck pointed to a flyer for the competition that was hanging on the wall by the door. The little pegasus trotted over to see the details, and a couple seconds passed before he shouted out, “HOLY CRAP!”

That outburst got everypony’s attention, and a lot of shocked looks with covered muzzles were pointed right at Scootaroll. The colt had his mouth covered as well, and his face became as red as a cherry tomato while frozen by the door. One of his hooves slowly came down before he tried to hobble out of the studio. “Uhhh… heh heh heh… I’m gonna go now…”

Avoiding the nasty look that the instructor was giving him, Scootaroll bolted out of the door and shouted out, “Good luck, Apple Buck! I hope you win!”

Blitz had his lips pursed tightly shut while trying not to laugh. Meanwhile, Apple Buck just sighed and took off his bandana to reveal his now dingy red mane. “I dunno,” he muttered while rubbing his matted-down mane. “Maybe Ah am doin’ this because of her, but what’s wrong wit’ that? Ah agreed to do an advanced class ta see if Ah can keep up wit’ her steps.”

Blitz looked down at the colt with an optimistic look before stating, “Hey, who knows? It looks like you were actually doing alright back there.”

“Yeah, but that was beginnin’ stuff.” said Buck as he looked up at him. “Advanced ain’t exactly a walk in the park.”

“Well, duh. That’s why it’s called advanced.” Blitz said in a cheeky tone. While Buck shot back a flat stare in response, the pegasus asked, “But still… let’s say that you do end up being able to handle advanced classes. Would there be anything to keep you from doing the competition then?”

Apple Buck shrugged his shoulders. “Well, Ah’m bettin’ AJ would keep me from doin’ it. He’d probably want me ta put all my focus on the farm, so Ah might hafta ask Grampy if this is alright.”

“Well, yeah,” said Blitz with a shrug of his own, “but do you really think he’d let you?” Despite how that question may have sounded, Blitz tried not to make it sound too pessimistic.

“Maybe. Ah mean, Grampy always told us that we should help a lady in need. Just like how Macarena is helpin' Toffee get used to her cast.” Apple Buck then smiled and added, “Plus, it ain’t like Ah don’t have free time ta practice between chores.”

“Wait, really?!” asked Blitz with a befuddled look. Asking as somepony who helped Applejack on the farm before, he knew that the Apple family did a LOT around the farm that would leave even the strongest stallion knocked out. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? You really shouldn’t do too much if you can’t handle it.”

“Ah know that,” replied Buck like Blitz’s point was obvious, “but that don’t mean Ah shouldn’t try. Twinkle Toes is a really nice gal, and Ah don’t wanna let her down when she needs me. Epsecially if Ah do have the chance ta help her out. If ah ended up sayin’ no if Ah could’ve said yes, Ah’d just be kickin’ myself every time Ah got free time for not spendin’ it wit’ her. When a moment like this comes up, it seems only right to try. You know what I mean?”

For a moment, Blitz just stood and blinked a couple times at what the colt just told him. Apple Buck had WAY less free time to focus on dancing than Blitz did, but the kid was still planning to try for the sake of his friend. Realizing how his own situation was comparing to Buck’s, Blitz was starting to understand why Elusive looked so upset when he said no; it wasn’t just because Blitz was his only choice, but because Blitz was the one pony who could do it. And if he spent his time just lounging around and napping every day during his leave, the pegasus knew that deep down, he probably would regret not helping Elusive out.

Blitz saw the determined look that Apple Buck had, and had no doubt that the tyke shared the same blood as his brother. Even though he was given a hard offer, the colt was still planning to try and help out his friend when she needed him most. Blitz wasn’t sure how Applejack would react to his brother’s plan, but he hoped the farm-pony would at least be proud of his brother’s reason for doing this.

Note to self, thought Blitz internally with a smirk. Get that kid a beer when he reaches drinking age.

“You know what?” said Blitz as he put his hoof out to ruffle Buck’s mane. “I think I do get it.” Carrying a proud smirk on his muzzle, Blitz said to the colt, “If you’re really gonna do this, then you’re one ballsy little guy. And if your brother tries to stop you, let me know so I can talk with him myself. Okay?”

Apple Buck’s eyes widened in shock. “Wait, really, you’d do that for me?”

“Hey, why not?” asked Blitz with a shrug. “It seems only fair. You helped me, so I’ll help you.”

Buck was happy, but still tilted his head in confusion. “Ummm… how’d Ah help you?”

Despite being a little surprised at himself for changing his mind on something so quickly, Blitz knew what he needed to do as he said, “Well… let’s just say I gotta talk with Elusive about something.”

After leaving the dance studio, Blitz spent the rest of the day lounging around town. With all the free time he had, the stunt-pony was able to really think about what he needed to do to make his decision work. As he sat on the roof of the clocktower, Blitz had a pen in his mouth as he wrote down some notes on a piece of paper. Considering what he was getting himself into, Blitz wanted to at least get some ground-rules before talking with Elusive.

By the time the sun set behind Ponyville’s lowest houses, Rainbow Blitz landed right at the doorstep of the Carousel Boutique. But before he could knock on the door, it opened just as his hooves touched the floor. Since he didn’t land very loudly, Blitz figured that his friend had to have been waiting by the door to have heard it. Regardless, the unicorn had his lips bit as he stared back at his friend.

“S-So... “ Keeping himself at the doorway, Elusive looked nervous as he tried to read Blitz’s neutral expression. He took a breath before asking, “Did… did you think it over?”

Rainbow sighed and nodded his head. “Y-Yeah. I did. And before I say anything else, I just want to say I’m sorry for how I acted this morning.”

“Oh, it’s alright, Blitz,” assured the unicorn honestly. “I understand. Although I am glad you apologized for it.”

“Yeah…” Blitz looked around while still on the porch, but decided that he didn’t have enough to say to warrant entering Elusive’s house. Instead, the stallion reached underneath his wing to pull out the sheet of paper and said, “Now, I’ve given this a lot of thought, and I get why you want me to be your partner, alright? I do have the free time, and I… would probably be a major dick-hole for not helping you out. Especially since I was the one that hurt Toffee.”

Despite Blitz’s use of language, Elusive nodded reluctantly and replied, “Well, I wouldn’t have used that word to describe it, but… yes, you would be.” After that honest admission, the white stallion carried a more optimistic look and asked, “So… does this mean that you’ll…”

Blitz exhaled deeply and answered before Elusive could try to finish. “Well, I… yeah.” He then closed his eyes and added in a more hesitant voice, “I’ll be your partner for this.”

Elusive’s face instantly lit up like a Hearth’s Warming tree. “Oh my goodness, THANK YOU!” He lunged forward to hug Blitz as tightly as he could. “Oh, Rainbow Blitz, you have NO idea how much this means to--

“Wait, wait, wait, wait!” interrupted Blitz before pushing Elusive away from his chest. “Let me finish, alright?” He held his sheet of paper in front of his friend and said, “If I’m gonna do this, I have a few conditions that I need from you.”

Seeing the list, Elusive’s happy demeanor dropped like a stone. “... oh…” The unicorn sighed with his ears drooped down. “Oh, alright then,” he grumbled annoyedly. “What are they?”

Blitz looked down at his list so he wouldn’t forget anything. “Well, for starters…” He then looked back at Elusive and said firmly, “If we’re going to dance in front of a bunch of ponies, then I want to be the lead, okay?”

Already, Elusive felt that his friend’s conditions were out of line. “Rainbow,” he said flatly, “you do remember that I’m the one with experience, right? I only know how to lead.”

“Exactly!” exclaimed Blitz like the unicorn just made his point. “YOU have experience, but not me! So if we go out with you as the lead, it’ll show pretty easily that I’m not as good!”

Elusive opened his mouth to retort, but paused as he tried to think about Blitz’s point. “I… wait, what?”

“Dude, I’ve seen it in a million flight shows! Whenever there’s a group routine, it’s pretty damn easy to tell when they have a newbie alongside them. Even if they didn’t do anything wrong technically, any little mistake could cost a LOT of points from the judges because they’re not on par with the others. And I might not be an expert on this, but I’m pretty sure that dancing has those same problems, right?”

Elusive blinked repeatedly, actually beginning to understand what Rainbow was trying to say. Despite his belief that internalized homophobic panic was a bigger reason for Blitz not wanting another stallion to lead, the unicorn knew that nothing his friend said was actually wrong. Even if they practiced non-stop until the preliminary rounds, it would be impossible to get the stunt-pony on the same level as himself. And while he wanted to pass the first round with good scores, Elusive knew that literally dancing circles around his partner wouldn’t do that for him.

After a few seconds of thought, Elusive sighed reluctantly. “Well, I… suppose I can see what you mean there.”

“Thank you!” said Blitz gladly. “I know it’ll be harder for both of us, but I do think we’d be more in sync by the time we actually do it, you know?”

“Oh, alright! Fine!” Elusive huffed in defeat. “If it’ll get you to agree, then I’ll let you lead.”

“Okay, good.” After giving him a thankful smile, Blitz looked back to his paper to say his next condition. “Now--”

“BUT,” interrupted the unicorn while pushing Blitz’s paper down, “If you’re going to make conditions on your end, I want to issue conditions of my own to make things even!”

Rainbow’s muzzle wrinkled as he looked back up at Elusive with narrowed eyes. “Like what?”

“Well, first of all,” stated the unicorn authoritatively while eyeing him down, “while in practice, you will follow the exact same regiment as I do! You’ll do the same exercises as I, follow the same diet as I, and I am not going to have you napping during practice! Do I make myself clear?”

Blitz only responded with a slight tilt of his head while his stare remained. After a couple seconds, Elusive sighed and added, “If it’ll help, I won’t interfere with your flight regiment, or your flight training with Scootaroll. I know those are both important to you.”

Rainbow hesitantly closed his eyes and breathed out through his nostrils. “Oh… fine! I’ll agree to that!”

“Thank you,” said the unicorn politely with a smile. “Now, what was your second condition?”

Blitz’s expression turned sterner than it looked with his first condition. “If I’m dancing, I’M picking the music!”

Elusive’s jaw dropped in disgust. “Oh, you most certainly are NOT!”

“Well, tough shit,” stated the stunt-pony with no hesitance in his voice, “because the only way you’re gonna have me dance with you is if I get that. No exceptions.”

Elusive glared at his friend with an extremely angered pout. “Rainbow Blitz,” he growled deeply, “this is a very prestigious and honored event. We’re already going to cause unnecessary waves by dancing together, and the LAST thing we need is for the judges to be subjected to YOUR… ‘rock and roll’ music.”

Not wanting to even think about it, the unicorn deeply shuddered in distaste. Meanwhile, Blitz tilted his head the other way with both brows raised. “Oh, REALLY? Because if I recall, I think you said that same thing before changing my music during that Young Flyer’s Show a few years back. Remember?”

As soon as he recalled that unfortunate event, Elusive looked away from his friend and winced.

“Yeah!” continued Rainbow in a peeved tone. “I was already on edge due to pressure that day! And having the music that I specifically picked for my routine be changed to your frilly fru-fru crap didn’t help at all, dude! When I fly, I need my music to keep myself in control and in rhythm. So if you want me to dance well, you better let me have this!”

With his head pointed away from the pegasus, Elusive let out a low, lingering groan that sounded like a rabid dog. Upon realizing he wasn’t going to win this, Elusive turned back around and said to Blitz, “Alright, you win! You can pick the music, BUT!” He added insistently, “Any songs you suggest HAVE to be approved by me!”

“Okay, that's fair.” said Blitz in agreement. “I’ll give you some of my mixtapes, and you can find the ones that can work for us.”

“Very well then.” After taking a breath, Elusive decided to add alongside his previous condition, “And I think it’s only fair that if you choose the music, then I have full reign on costumes and theme. You will have no say in what I have you wear, OR what style of dance we perform. Deal?”

“Alright, dea--WAIT.” After hearing how quickly Blitz stopped himself, Elusive looked a little worried when he saw the angered glare growing on the stallion’s face. With his eyes practically burning, Blitz slowly stepped forward so that he was within inches of the unicorn’s face. Elusive could only stand and reel back nervously as he heard his friend speak in the most threatening tone possible:

“Elusive… if you even THINK about putting me in a dress, I will end you.”

Despite how intense Blitz’s stare was, that detail was silly enough to make Elusive scoff and reply with a smirk, “Oh, Blitz! Don’t be so paranoid!” He then casually pulled away from the pegasus and said assuredly, “Do you really think I would put you in a dress? Come now, you should give me more credit than that!”

Hearing the sincerity in his tone, Blitz sighed and stopped his serious look. “Alright, good. I just wanted to make sure, you know?”

“Well, of course, of course…” After taking a refreshed breath, Elusive put his hoof out to his friend and said, “Well, if that’s the last condition you have, then I think we have everything settled. Are you good?”

Rainbow Blitz looked between the unicorn and his hoof, and sighed before reaching out to shake it. “Yeah. We’re good, dude.”

“Excellent!” Elusive made sure to give his friend a thankful hug, and let go before saying, “I really am happy you’re doing this Rainbow.”

“Yeah, I know,” grumbled the stunt-pony in a less enthusiastic tone. “Just let me know when to start practicing, alright?”

“Tomorrow at six,” stated Elusive insistently. “Meet me here and we’ll get to work.”

Blitz nodded in agreement, and then began to make his leave. After waving goodbye and closing his door, Elusive huffed as he walked back through his shop with a cheeky grin. “Ugh,” said the unicorn to himself, “I can’t believe he actually thought I was going to have him wear a dress!”

He laughed at the absurdity of that idea, but eventually looked back at the door and thought to himself, Although now that I think of it…

After a few more minutes in thought, Elusive groaned and walked to the kitchen with a disappointed look on his face. “Drat,” he muttered under his breath.

Chapter Five: Practice and Passive Aggression

Dusk Shine sipped on his cup of coffee contently while reading the Foal Free Press in the map room. Even though his official chair wasn’t exactly comfortable on its own due to the lack of cushioning, a simple pillow on top made it much better. His horn stayed lit to hold the cover of the newspaper as he put down his coffee, but he still kept his attention to the main article that was plastered on the front page. The picture alongside the article showed Rainbow Blitz and Elusive leaving Sugar Cube Corner, with Blitz holding a hoof up to cover his face from the camera; Bubble Berry could be seen popping his head out from the window to give the photographer a wave, but that was a minor distraction from the title of the article and its rather bold font:

Elusive and Rainbow Blitz join the Equestrian National Dance Competition… TOGETHER!

Underneath was a sub-title that read, Are they really just friends?

The Prince sighed with a disappointed pout as he read the contents of the “story,” which was nothing more than basic bit-bait with rumored speculations and obvious gay jokes. The newspaper itself may have been run by kids, but that shouldn’t have been an excuse for how immaturely the article was presenting itself. The competition hasn’t even happened yet, and the news of Blitz and Elusive joining was already being talked about like they were caught in a sex scandal. Even though Dusk was happy that Blitz hadn’t backed out of his promise due to this sort of reception, he was actually surprised that his friend hadn’t gone ballistic on any paparazzi yet.

That is to say, it was clear that Blitz was noticeably agitated since he started practice with Elusive a few days prior. Since Dusk Shine offered the castle ballroom as a practice space for the two (mostly to avoid any camera-ponies or “journalists” lurking around their homes), he had to intervene a couple times due to the bickering between them. Whether it was because of their disagreements about song choice, or just pent-up frustrations regarding their routine, Dusk was worried about their friendship for the first couple of days of practice. Most of the arguments have died down since then, but it was unclear if that was because they were finally getting along, or if Elusive just improved his sound-proofing spells so nopony would eavesdrop on them.

Regardless, the Alicorn bit his lip in slight worry at the thought of what was happening with those two at that moment. But after he put his newspaper down, Dusk heard the door open as two familiar unicorn stallions entered. Starshine was the first to enter the throne room, and was looking back at the powder blue stallion following him. Dusk Shine may have been happy to see that his student was developing a strong friendship with Trixter, but the fact that two former enemies of the Prince were now in the same room with such a powerful device made him involuntarily wary.

Starshine motioned to the grand map table while saying to his friend, “And this is where Dusk Shine and his friends get notified of various friendship problems around Equestria. I know this isn’t technically the first time you’ve seen it, but I think it might be easier to appreciate it now without any changelings swarming the place.”

Dusk Shine decided to give the magician something to really look at, so he used his magic to turn the map on and display the holographic landscape of Equestria and its surrounding regions. Trixter slowly walked towards the table with his eyes widening, clearly in awe of such a unique piece. While he stared at the various landmarks on the map with an open mouth, Starshine just watched his friend’s reaction with a cheeky grin. It wasn’t until he saw the intricate detailing of Canterlot that Trixter finally said something under his breath. “Oh… sweet Solaris…”

The stallion then took another second to quickly recompose himself, and readjusted his wizard hat to give a faux-unimpressed glance back to his friend. “Well, Trixter will admit that it isn’t a complete waste of my time. It certainly is better to appreciate this without changelings in this room.”

Dusk Shine just rolled his eyes and turned off the map. “Yeah, I suppose so,” he said with a sigh while glancing down at the grand table. “Honestly, I’m just glad none of them broke this map. Just the idea of those unreformed changelings in this castle alone is enough to make me uneasy.” The Prince shuddered uncomfortably, not wanting to even think about that.

“I’d be surprised if any of those changelings could break that thing,” piped Starshine back towards Dusk. “That map isn’t exactly the easiest to damage.”

Dusk looked back at him with a raised brow, but didn’t say anything before Trixter could. “Ummm… didn’t you tell me that you broke the map once?”

Starshine’s muzzle wrinkled as he stared back at Trixter, and Dusk Shine had to cover his hoof in an attempt to not giggle out loud. The pale pink stallion fumbled his words a little as he tried to answer, “I-I didn’t break it, Trixter! I-It was just… temporarily disabled, that’s all.”

“Oh, sure,” jeered the magician with a skeptical roll of his eyes. “Just like how we were both temporary Mayors of towns?”

“Pbbt!” Dusk Shine used both hooves to cover his mouth at that comeback. Despite his history with Trixter, that line was pretty darn funny.

“Hey!” snapped Starshine with a hoof pointed at Trixter. “I really was the official Mayor of Our Town! I was elected and everything.”

Both Trixter and Dusk Shine gave the stallion matching flat stares, which made Starshine pause momentarily before groaning. “Okay, it may have not been an official election, but I still did all the duties that a Mayor should! I mean… sorta.”

Before any awkward silence could fill the room (or another snarky comment by Trixter), the muffled sound of heavy bass came through the walls to catch the group’s attention. Dusk Shine sighed with a slightly annoyed whinny. “Well, it seems like Elusive forgot the sound-proofing spell again. I better let him know.”

As Dusk got out of his seat to leave the room, Trixter looked confused as his ears perked up at the music playing. “Wait, that’s Elusive? Trixter wouldn’t have thought that he listened to that sort of thing.”

“It’s not him,” answered Starshine as he followed his mentor out of the map room. Trixter walked in tow as he heard his friend explain, “When Rainbow Blitz agreed to be Elusive’s dancing partner, part of the deal was that he got to choose the music. It’s been a few days now, and I still have no idea if they agreed on a song yet.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” said Dusk Shine in a bitter voice. “I’ve had to stop a few fights between those two because of that. I’m just grateful the two are actually practicing more than they are bickering.”

While the group of stallions walked down the hallway towards the ballroom, Trixter asked curiously, “So, you guys are letting them practice here? Isn’t there a dance studio in town?”

“That’s for dance classes, not private use,” clarified Dusk as he was the first to reach the door. “Besides, it’s not like I use my ballroom that much. Kinda seems silly to leave it empty, especially in this kind of situation.”

Starshine looked back at Trixter and added, “Plus, Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes already called dibs on that dance studio. Apparently those two are competing as well.”

With his horn lit, Dusk Shine pulled the handle to open the door of the ballroom. As soon as the door creaked open, a blasting sound of hard guitar and drums barreled out to make the three stallions cover their ears. Inside of the ballroom, a large boombox was propped on top of a table by the door, which made the punk rock music reverberate through the domed room with an impressive acoustic effect. Aside from that, the rest of the space was left near-empty for the two stallions.

Elusive and Rainbow Blitz were unaware that the door was opened as they practiced what looked to be jive steps. The duo were dancing side-by-side on their hind legs, both of them donning sweatbands over their heads and hooves which were already drenched. Elusive also wore a thick pair of earmuffs to keep himself from listening to the music playing, but it seemed like he was still able to catch the vibrations of the song to keep in tempo. But regardless, his hooves stayed in rhythm to the beat as he yelled out the steps for Rainbow to hear. “And a one, two, three, four! One, two, three, four! One, and a two, and a one, two, three, four!”

The two stallions recited their steps in fairly tight unison, unaware of Starshine and Trixter staring at them in amusement. Even though it looked like Rainbow Blitz was actually keeping up with the rhythm alongside the unicorn, Dusk’s attention went to the boombox as tried to keep his hearing from being damaged. He went over to the player to turn the music off, not noticing that Elusive swooped in to be grabbed by Blitz for the next part of their dance. “Okay, and LIFT!”

CLICK!

As soon as Dusk Shine turned the music off, Rainbow Blitz was thrown off focus while holding Elusive in his hooves. “Hey, who turned off the--WHOA!” The unicorn’s additional weight threw him off balance, and the two fell onto the floor ungracefully. Meanwhile, Dusk looked down at the two with a guilty wince and said, “Oh! Ummmm… sorry guys. The music was just getting a little loud.”

“Urgh, what!?” groaned Blitz in frustration as he got himself up first. “Lucy’s supposed to put that sound spell thing up!”

Elusive got back up on his hooves was well, and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Dusk Shine,” he said sincerely to the Prince between pants. “I guess I forgot to reapply the spell during our water break.”

Starshine looked between the couple and the boombox before asking, “So, is that what you two are planning to dance to? Because it’s actually not bad.”

Elusive sighed tiredly with a disappointed look on his face. “It was one of the only songs from Blitz’s playlist that could actually be eligible for the judges. I was starting to worry that none of Rainbow’s cassettes had any songs that would work for our routine.”

Rainbow Blitz just scoffed with a roll of his eyes. “Dude, I could think of like, a dozen songs that could’ve worked! You just dismissed each one without even listening to them!”

“I DID listen to those songs, Blitz,” returned Elusive with a strong glare to the pegasus, “but I told you that we needed to find a song that wouldn’t be profane, sexist or homophobic! And that took up almost half of your song choices right there!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, WHOA!” Rainbow Blitz actually looked rather offended as he put his hooves up to stop Elusive and say, “I don’t know what songs you were listening to, but I do NOT have anything homophobic in my mix tapes!”

Elusive just stared at him flatly and replied, “Rainbow, have you ever paid attention to the lyrics of ‘Where the Hood At’?”

Rainbow was just about to say something before his open muzzle turned to a sudden cringe. “Ooooohhhh… right. Forgot about that one.”

“Ummm… guys? Trixter is confused.”

The stallions all turned to Trixter, who was looking up to the ceiling confusedly. “Why is that dragon girl hanging up there?”

All of them looked up to see that the magician was right, and gasped at the sight of Barb sitting on top of her makeshift bench harness. But instead of having it hung from the ceiling to wash windows, it was clear that the dragoness was using it as a vantage point to watch the two stallions practice in secret. A heavy blush grew across Barb’s wide-eyed face as she sat frozen in fear, soon making her face just as red as the large bucket of popcorn beside her.

Blitz quickly turned to Elusive and shouted, “See?! I TOLD you I smelled popcorn!”

The sun had already set by the time Rainbow Blitz and Elusive concluded their day of intense practicing. Even though it was clear that Blitz wasn’t happy about doing this much work for something so embarrassing, he wasn’t as cranky about his predicament today as he was when they first started. In fact, Elusive was starting to feel like he made a fairly good estimation about the pegasus’ potential on the dance floor. Having to listen to Blitz’s seemingly endless playlist of rock and rap music wasn’t exactly pleasant, but at least it was enough to get his friend to learn the necessary steps like a pro.

As the ballroom door opened, both stallions were completely exhausted with their fur matted in sweat. “Ugh…” Rainbow Blitz shambled down the hall like a zombie with his hooves dragging across the crystal floor. “Please tell me Dusk already got the showers set up for us.”

Elusive looked equally as drained while following his partner to the castle’s gym, which luckily had a massive shower and steam room in the back. “Barbara promised it would be ready, so it most likely is.” Despite how tired he felt, the unicorn still managed to look towards Blitz with a faint smile and said, “And just so you know, I really am glad you’re doing this, Rainbow.”

“Yeah, yeah,” muttered Blitz without looking back at him. “Let me take a shower before you say anything. Otherwise I’m probably just gonna forget it.”

Catching the bitter undertone beneath his groggy voice, Elusive sighed and nodded after dropping his smile. “Very well then.”

On their way towards the showers, both of them overheard another two sets of hooves coming towards them in the distance. They also heard Starshine’s voice as he talked with Trixter. “Are you sure you don’t want to join us for dinner? Barb is a really good cook, you know.”

Neither of them could see the two, but Trixter’s voice sounded vigilant about wanting to leave the castle. “Trixter is certain that the dragon is, but I also don’t want the takeout in my cart to spoil tomorrow morning. Besides, it seems that your friend Dusk would be uncomfortable with me being in the same room as him for that long.”

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous!” retorted Starshine. “You should give the guy more credit, you know. He did give you his personal thanks after we saved Equestria, remember?”

“Yes, but he also seemed hesitant about having us swap spells in your bedroom with the door closed.”

“Hey, at least he didn’t stop us! I consider that a--Oh hey, guys!”

As soon as he and Trixter were down the stairs to the main space of the castle, the two caught sight of Elusive and Blitz lumbering in from one of the hallways. Despite how they looked, Starshine kept a friendly smile on them and asked, “I take it you two are done with training for today?”

Blitz didn’t even turn his head to look at Starshine as he replied sarcastically, “Oh, noooo! We’re still rehearsing. Right now we’re doing the ‘Walking to the shower so we don’t smell like manticore ass’ step.”

Elusive cringed and gave an apologetic glance towards the pink unicorn, mouthing the words “Sorry.” Meanwhile, Trixter huffed with a bemused smirk before leaning in towards Starshine to whisper, “Are you sure Elusive didn’t bribe him to do this?”

“I heard that, dickhead,” stated Blitz as he was just about to enter the adjacent hallway towards the gym.

Meanwhile, Trixter decided to respond to that name by saying in clarification, “Well, excuse me for not understanding why you’re doing something like this! It’s not exactly a plan many ponies would consider to be a reasonable solution.”

Elusive and Blitz both stopped, and slowly turned their heads to give the magician matching half-lidded stares. Starshine already knew what they were going to say, so he just took a step away from Trixter with a wince. It took a couple seconds before Trixter finally responded to the stallions’ looks on him. “What?!”

“You held Ponyville hostage, you pointy-hatted prick,” said Rainbow Blitz in a flat tone. “I consider that a bit more retarded than dancing with another stallion.”

Elusive looked back at Blitz in surprise at the brashness of that statement, but still stayed silent while blinking a couple times. While Trixter stared at the two with a dropped jaw in offense, Starshine leaned towards his ear to whisper, “Just let it go. Neither of us are ones to talk about what they're doing.”

“But I! Th-They…” The magician was sputtering in an attempt to get a statement out, leaving Elusive and Blitz to leave the main room silently. It wasn’t until they were out of sight that Trixter yelled out angrily, “I SAVED BOTH OF YOUR LIVES, YOU INGRATES!”

As the two stallions reached their destination, they could still overhear Trixter shouting while Starshine tried to calm him down and apologize for them. Even though Elusive felt guilty for how Blitz reacted (especially since Trixter really did save them once), he was way too tired to deal with the statements both of them had made. Still, he had to take a mental note to remind himself to buy Trixter a fruit basket as an apology.

Fortunately, Barb already had towels and shampoo bottles laid out in front of the gym’s shower on a cart. Both of them took their bottles as they entered the shower room, and Blitz was the first to turn on the faucets for both shower heads after Elusive closed the door behind them. The water was blisteringly cold, but neither of them seemed to mind; Elusive was shivering, but still sighed in relief as he felt the cascading water splash against his coat and cool down his burning skin.

“Nnnnn…~” Rainbow Blitz was up on his hind legs while leaned against the shower wall, letting his stream of water run down his back to make him shudder. “Uh, man… I needed this…”

For a long while, neither of them spoke as they got themselves cleaned. By the time Elusive got the entirety of his coat and mane lathered in his designer shampoo, Blitz was already finished and just staying underneath the cold water. While getting his backside rinsed down, Elusive looked over to the pegasus to see if he was okay to talk. “So… how do you feel now, Blitz?”

“Waaaaaayyyyy better,” sighed Blitz with a smile while letting the water hit his matted technicolor mane. “Honestly, I never appreciated a good shower more than after I joined the Wonderbolts. They only give us a minute to scrub ourselves down! A bucking minute!”

“Yikes,” muttered the unicorn with a shake of his head. “I bet Barbara would consider that cruel and unusual punishment.”

Blitz laughed weakly as he remained under his shower. “Yeah, maybe…” After another long moment, the pegasus sighed and looked back at his friend. “But… yeah. I am feeling a lot better.”

“Well, that’s good to know…” As he began to rinse off the top region of his back, the stallion waited briefly before saying hesitantly, “So… I was meaning to ask you a question…”

Elusive then pulled his head back so that he could begin rinsing his mane underneath the shower’s stream. Even though he disliked beginning a statement like that just to pause so abruptly, the unicorn felt that he needed a valid excuse to have his eyes closed so he would see how Blitz was looking at him. As soon as his muzzle was away from the pouring water, Elusive took a breath and asked, “Are you… okay with doing this?”

“Oh, come on!” replied Blitz with a roll of his eyes and a smirk. “I already told you that we all share the same shower at the Wonderbolt barracks! This is nothing compared to tha--”

“N-No, I didn’t mean that!” After getting his face fully scrubbed, Elusive pulled his head away from the water to look to Blitz with a hint of worry. “What I meant is… Are you still okay with competing, Blitz?”

The stunt-pony looked at Elusive like he just asked his question in fluent Zebrican. “Uhhh… Well, I said I’d do it, didn’t I? It’s not like I’m quitting or anything.”

“I know that, and believe me, I appreciate it deeply,” said Elusive with insistent honesty. “But I’m starting to worry how all this practice and exposure is getting to you.”

“What do you mean ‘Getting to me’?!” asked Blitz in a puzzled tone. “I’ve been handling this the best I can!”

“Well, your attitude with everypony else says different, Blitz.” While he was worried how his friend would respond to how blunt his words were, Elusive was still hopeful he would at least listen to them. “Ever since we started practicing, you’ve been carrying a much shorter fuse than usual. And while I know this competition isn’t something you want to do, I really don’t want you to be this bitter all the time.”

“I am not being bitter, dude!” exclaimed Blitz with his eyes narrowed at the unicorn. “I’m just sick of being seen as a bucking laughing stock because I’m doing a solid for a friend!”

Elusive could understand the pegasus’ frustrations, but he still sighed and tried to say in dismissal, “Rainbow, you’re not a laughing stock. Most ponies in town know the reason you’re doing this, and the only ones who are being judgmental are immature journalists and ponies like Trixter.

“Well, that’s still a lot!” Bitz groaned in frustration and rubbed his temple with a wet hoof. “I mean… Yeah. I know I’ve been on edge recently, and I’m not proud of that. But when I keep hearing all those stupid rumors and jokes about us doing this it just gets on my nerves.”

“Believe me, Blitz,” assured Elusive truthfully, “I’m just as upset with those paparazzi ponies as you are. But that doesn’t mean you should be so sarcastic and crass towards everypony who questions our motives. Do I need to remind you how you blew up at Starshine the other day?”

Blitz sighed deeply, but still shook his head without saying anything else to the other stallion. While he couldn’t blame Blitz for being peeved at the sight of Starshine laughing when spying on them practicing, Elusive couldn’t tolerate how strongly the pegasus blew up at him. Even though both of them apologized shortly after, it was one of those things that was keeping the unicorn uneasy even now. After a long moment of silence, Elusive bit his lip before asking in the most cautious tone, “But… Blitz, you’re not being forced to do this, are you?”

Rainbow looked to Elusive with a confounded expression. “What?!”

“I swear, I won’t judge,” added the unicorn insistently, “but I just needed to ask after seeing how you and Dusk Shine were arguing back at my shop, and--”

“No, no, no!” snapped Blitz quickly enough to stop Elusive from finishing. With a stern look on his face, the stunt-pony took a breath and replied with an honest, “Elusive, what was said between us is NONE of your business, okay?!”

“Rainbow, I’m not saying it is! I just--”

“AND,” he interrupted while Elusive’s mouth was still open, “that had nothing to do with my decision! That talk was just about me taking the time to think about it! And when I did think it over, that was when I realized how important this was for you. I came to that decision on my own. Dusk Shine had nothing to do with me saying yes, okay?”

Even though Blitz sounded a bit ticked off during that answer, the unicorn could tell that every word he said was nothing but the truth. So while the sound bubble moment was still left unexplained, Elusive still got a good enough answer to his question. He nodded in acceptance before saying apologetically, “Blitz, I’m sorry for asking. I just… I needed to make sure, alright?”

It took a brief moment for Blitz to say anything, but he was able to see the sincerity in his friend’s expression before nodding back at him. “I… Yeah, okay. I get it. We’re cool.”

With a thankful smile on his face, Elusive took a few steps towards Blitz to give him a hug. “Alright, thank you Blitz. I jus--”

“Whoa, WHOA!” Rainbow put a hoof out to stop Elusive from going in for that hug. “Not in the shower, dude! What’s wrong with you?!”

Upon realizing how questionable that idea really was, Elusive blushed a little and returned to his own shower with a meager chuckle. “Uhhh… heh heh heh… Sorry.”

“Ugh, whatever.” While Elusive finished rinsing off any remaining soap from his fur and mane, Blitz finally turned off his shower head and went to get a towel. “But yeah, I’ll try to be less on edge before the show, alright? I don’t wanna look pissed off when actually dancing.”

“That makes two of us,” said Elusive in a more optimistic tone before looking back at him. “And if it helps, maybe we’ll get more respect if we do well in our first show.”

“Well,” Blitz asked after grabbing his towel from outside the shower room door, “isn’t that the only way to make sure that’s our first show? Because otherwise it’d be our only one.”

“You know what I mean,” stated the unicorn with a roll of his eyes. “We just need to keep ourselves positive, and hope we can be seen as actual competitors instead of some gimmick.”

“Yeah, I guess…” As Blitz left the shower room, Elusive went back to finishing his own shower so he could get ready for Barb’s dinner. But before he could turn off the faucet, he heard Blitz say as he popped his head back into the room, “And just so you know…”

Elusive turned his head to see Blitz carrying an honest look on his face. “I’m really not doing this out of obligation or anything. I’m doing it because you’re my friend. I swear.”

The unicorn smiled and said, “I know that, Rainbow. Thank you.”

With one last nod, Blitz left so that Elusive could shower in peace. Sighing to himself with a much more confident state of mind, Elusive thought it over before saying to himself. “I swear… if only his music tastes were as good as his character.”

“HEY!” shouted Blitz from outside. “I haven’t even left the gym yet, you dick!”

Chapter Six: The First Round - The Jive

On the day of the Ponyville Regional Preliminaries for the ENDC, quite a lot of the town was stirring with excitement. Since the news of Elusive and Rainbow Blitz’s participation was already becoming a nationally discussed topic, lots of ponies from all over Equestria ventured to the quaint community to watch the show. Patrons swamped every shop and restaurant in town from Sugar Cube Corner, all the way to the little sweet shop run by husbands Harpsy and Dan-Dan. Luckily, despite how much commotion was occurring within the town limits, the main stage in the middle of town square was being erected with little interruption or prying eyes.

Behind the main stage was a large curtained-off tent, which held over two dozen different ponies who were set to compete that day. Each of the couples had their own spot with a makeup table and refreshments, and were spending their time before the show either doing stretches or putting on their costumes. Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes were already in their outfits, which was just a simple dress shirt and tie for the colt and a matching yellow dress for his partner. But despite how large their tent was, the only privacy they actually had were the curtained walls that kept any journalists or camera ponies from peering in at them. Because of that, all the couples were able to look around and scan their competition while they got ready.

Of course, most of those eyes kept looking over at Elusive and Rainbow Blitz’s table at the back corner.

Blitz tried to ignore the looks he and his friend were getting, but he could still feel their gazes like he was in the middle of another changeling hive. Meanwhile, Elusive cheerfully hummed to himself while getting the last of the adjustments finished on their costumes. His portable sewing machine whirred softly while applying the neon purple stitching to the hemlines of his black suede jacket. “Oh, I cannot believe how lucky we are, Rainbow! I was meaning to finish these costumes earlier, but I seemed to have lost track of the time. If we weren’t allowed to have a sewing machine in here, I don’t know what we would have done!”

“Yeah, yeah. That’s… great…” With his mind focused elsewhere, Blitz turned his head to give a sharp stare back to the ponies looking over at them. Most of the ponies quickly turned away with a jolt, which made the stallion sigh contently for the time being. Of course, he was still aware that they were most likely going to get stares just as often throughout this entire damn competition. If this is how the competitors were going to act to two guys competing together, then just how would the audience see them? Or the judges?

Blitz turned away from the other tables with his eyes closed, and tried his hardest to control his breathing. He may have been in the biggest stunt-flying group in Equestria, but those bouts of anxiety still kicked in from time to time. Flying in front of thousands of ponies was no problem, but the idea of dancing with another guy was enough to make him feel like he was going to throw up at any moment. While he tried to calm himself down, Blitz didn’t seem to notice that his friend was finished sewing; nor did he see that Elusive noticed his look before feeling the unicorn’s hoof on his shoulder.

“Rainbow, are you alright?” he asked worriedly as he tried to catch the pegasus’ attention. He huffed with a bit lip before saying, “Oh, please tell me this isn’t another bout of nervousness like that Young Flyers competition.”

“No, no,” said Blitz quickly while shaking his head clear. After sighing deeply, he reopened his eyes and looked back at his friend to say, “I’m sorry, it’s just… this is a lot different from flying, you know?”

Elusive nodded back at him with an understanding look. “Yes Blitz, I know exactly what you mean. This isn’t a skill I could confess was in my repertoire either, so I think we can say we’re on an even playing field.”

Blitz huffed with a more deadpan stare at him. “Yeah, but it’s not like you don’t have any experience in this. You already had dance training for years before I did!”

“Yes, but my experience was with leading,” clarified the unicorn pertly. “And if you recall, Rainbow, your first condition to agreeing to be my partner took away that level of expertise on my behalf.”

Realizing his friend’s point, Blitz exhaled weakly and shrugged. “Well… alright, you have a point there.”

“And further more,” Elusive added with emphasis by his raised brows, “it’s perfectly alright to be nervous. We’re both in a rather… uncomfortable situation, but that doesn’t mean we can’t overcome it. If we can save Equestria multiple times with nothing but our bonds as friends, then who’s to say we can’t do the same here?”

Blitz paused momentarily, unable to come up with a good enough retort to counter that question. It took a couple seconds before the stallion responded with a small smile that came across his cyan muzzle. “Okay, yeah,” said Rainbow with a hoof out to his friend. “I guess we have dealt with a lot worse, haven’t we?”

Elusive smirked and hoof-bumped him in return. “Exactly.”

He then lit his horn to grab Rainbow’s jacket from the makeup table, which made Blitz’s smile instantly drop. The black garment, which was decorated in blue sequins and a matching purple outline along the hems, was floated towards the pouting stallion while Elusive said, “Now, won’t you be a dear and try that on? I need to make sure it fits properly before our performance.”

Even though his pout made him look like a colt who was just given a plate of broccoli, Rainbow Blitz breathed out slowly through his nostrils with a bitter growl and took the jacket. “Yeah, sure,” he muttered with a roll of his eyes before turning away from the unicorn.

While his friend went to try on his costume, Elusive went to pick up his own jacket before overhearing what sounded like a quiet “Psst!” from just a few feet away. The unicorn turned his head towards the curtain right next to their table, and quickly noticed the bottom pulled up slightly to let a red muzzle poke through underneath it. Before he could think it was a random paparazzi or something, Elusive heard the distinct tone of the mare’s voice to make him realize who it was. “Hey, ‘Lusive! Toffee wants ta see ya.”

After looking around briefly, the unicorn snuck away from his table and shuffled underneath the tent wall. When he reemerged outside on his hooves, Elusive was happy to see Toffee smiling wide while beside her friend Macarena. “I was wondering what happened to you! Come here!” She quickly went in to hug the unicorn, which made him unable to really notice how she looked until after he hugged her back.

“Oh, Toffee!” he said in a touched tone before pulling away with a smile. “I’m so happy to see you out of the hos--EGADS, is that a wheelchair?!”

Even though the stallion internally cringed at the insensitivity of that statement, the two-wheeled structure that kept both her hind-legs attached and upright was rather hard to ignore. Fortunately, Toffee only rolled her eyes and said in dismissal, “Oh, don’t worry about this thing. I only have it as a precautionary measure. I could easily hobble around with the cast and probably be fine, but I didn’t want to risk anything happening with so many ponies around.”

Upon closer inspection, Elusive could see that his former dancing partner was right. Only one leg that was in the device actually had a cast, which of itself looked rather thick. Toffee probably could walk around with it if necessary, so the addition of the wheelchair made Elusive much less worried than he was at first glance. Toffee then decided to add cheekily, “Plus, this thing is able to get me to the front of every vendor line around here! That was pretty handy when Mackie and me were getting some lunch.”

Surprised by that detail from the mare, Elusive raised a brow at her and chuckled guiltily. “My goodness, you devilish girl!”

Toffee and Macarena both giggled back at him, with the bigger mare nuzzling her friend with an accompanying, “Eeyup.”

Toffee’s face blushed a little from that nudge, but she quickly shook her head and exclaimed,“Oh! That reminds me…” Toffee then turned to her side, which made the wheels of her device creak a little from her movements, and brought back a pastry box with the Sugar Cube Corner logo on top. “Bubble Berry wanted you and Blitz to have these before the competition. You know, for good luck.”

“Oh, Toffee, you shouldn’t have! Thank you so much!” Elusive picked up the box with his magic and looked inside, revealing four cupcakes and two sports drink bottles for the both of them. Berry made the two’s favorites, as expected from him; two of the cupcakes were clearly Elusive’s chocolate mocha-flavored with a caramel espresso frosting, while the two for Blitz were flavored from his favorite energy drink (Red Manticore) with a rainbow frosting and sweet tart candy sprinkles. While the treats may have not been appropriate for their event, the unicorn could see the benefit of having that much sugar in their system before they needed to go on stage.

“Lucy?” the sound of Blitz’s voice became clear after he lifted up the tent wall to see where his friend went off to. When he appeared outside with the others, he was already donning his bedazzled jacket. “Oh, there you are!” he said as he looked around, “What are you doing--Oh shit, are those Red Manticore cupcakes?!”

The pegasus quickly snatched one up before even asking who they were for, and was just about to take a bite until a strong aura of magic froze his neck and hoof. “H-Hey!” shouted the stallion as he tried to struggle against it. “What gives?!”

Elusive horn stayed lit as he carried an unamused look on his face. He glared at his friend and the cupcake while responding, “Rainbow Blitz, you better take that jacket off before you eat! I’m not going to have you stain that garment before we even go on stage!”

“Oh, come on!” Blitz whined. “Just one bite?”

Elusive just narrowed his eyes on him coldly. “Jacket. Off. Now.”

Seeing the seriousness in his expression, Blitz stood momentarily silent while growing a pout on his muzzle. After seeing him drop his cupcake to fall back into the box, Elusive let go of his magic so that his friend could return back to the tent with a bitter grumble. Meanwhile, Toffee and Macarena were watching the display with muffled snickers. The red mare decided to say teasingly, “Lookin’ real good there, Blitzy.”

Blitz turned around to point at Macarena with a glare, but nothing came out of his open mouth. After a second, he huffed and let his statement go before disappearing under the tent. Elusive was just about to return his attention to the mares until Blitz’s head poked out again. “Also, the jacket fits fine. Just so you know.”

“Oh, thank you for checking!” Elusive seemed quite happy about that detail, as evidenced by the smile he had when he looked back at Toffee and Macarena. While the red mare tried to keep her muffled snickering down to a minimum, Toffee had a curious smirk on her muzzle while looking back at the unicorn.

“So… would you mind if I asked what kind of dance you two are doing for this?”

“Oh, it’s not a problem at all,” answered Elusive politely. “Granted, I was in a bit of a tight spot with Blitz’s music specifications, but I was able to get him to agree to a jive for this round. It’s able to fit his speedy hoofwork, plus it requires the least amount of joint contact.”

“Seems about right,” said Toffee with a shrug. “I take it you’re going to make the song reveal a surprise?”

“Well…” Elusive rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. “More out of embarrassment than anything else, but yes.”

Toffee tried to lighten the mood with a playful punch to the unicorn’s foreleg. “Oh, don’t be like that! I’m sure you two are gonna be just fine.”

“Well, let’s hope you’re not the only one with that mindset.” After picking up his box and giving the mare one more hug, the stallion went back to the tent to finish up. “Now if you two excuse me, I need to prepare. Ta-ta!”

The two mares waved back until seeing Elusive disappear into the tent. Toffee then sighed heavily before shooting a sharp stare at Macarena. “D-Did you really have to nuzzle me like that?” she hissed in a paranoid whisper.

Macarena seemed much less worried as she chuckled with a surly smirk back at her. “Hey, it didn’t look like he noticed anythin’.” She then went in to kiss the mare’s neck sweetly, making her friend’s tan fur blush hotly around her cheeks. Toffee’s whole body trembled a little, but her pout made it clear that she wasn’t going to let the larger mare win.

“Hey, is that your grandpa?” Toffee quickly blurted, causing Macarena to jolt in fear and wind up five feet from her. Upon realizing that Grampy Smith was nowhere to be seen, the red mare looked back at Toffee with a deep, brooding glare. Meanwhile, the smaller mare just raised a brow while grinning back at her girlfriend silently.

Macarena narrowed her eyes on her and said, “Not. Cool.”

By the time the preliminary competition began, it seemed like more than double the town’s population was gathered around the square. Even though the scheduling for the event was claimed to be random, Elusive and Rainbow Blitz’s performance was “coincidentally” placed to be the final dance after Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes’. The move was most likely done to keep ponies in attendance throughout the whole thing, but it certainly didn’t help with Blitz’s simmering nervousness to know he and his friend were the grand finale. Fortunately, Elusive was able to help ease the pegasus’ anxiety by switching their backstage spot with another couple. While the first couple went on stage to perform, Elusive and Blitz were happily seated with their table next to Twinkle Toes and Apple Buck’s.

Since the music playing from the stage’s speakers was rather loud, it didn’t seem like any chatter would interrupt the performers. So while some song played that sounded like something Grampy Smith would know about, the two couples conversed casually to lighten the mood. During their light conversation, Rainbow was sure to explain to the two why he chose to take the role as Elusive’s dancing partner. Apple Buck seemed especially impressed at the pegasus’ story near the end, but also looked slightly curious as he asked, “So… yer sayin’ that you agreed because of me?

“Eh, pretty much,” answered Blitz with a meager shrug of his shoulders. “I mean, I was already on the fence a bit, but you helped put things in perspective.”

“Wow!” exclaimed the colt in surprise before looking over at his partner. “Guess my special talent is really shinin’ through! Ah wasn’t even tryin’ ta help a pony that time!”

Twinkle Toes giggled at the smiling colt with a small blush on her orange fur. “Well, that doesn’t really surprise me. You really are great at helping others.”

“Oh, come on” retorted Buck with a small wave of his hoof while looking away bashfully. “Let’s just hope all that trainin’ actually paid off.”

“Hey, you said it,” said Blitz in agreement with a pat on the colt’s shoulder. He then relaxed in his own chair and asked, “So, how did that work out anyway? I mean, with your family and stuff.”

“Oh. That…” Apple Buck breathed out sharply with an uncomfortable look on his face, and avoided looking at Blitz while explaining. “Well… Applejack was pretty mad when Ah told him about agreein’ ta do this. Ah mean, Ah get why he was so upset and all since Zap Apple Harvest is comin’ up soon. But he kept interruptin’ me when Ah was tryin’ ta explain things. Ah probably would’ve gotten you if Grampy didn’t overhear us fightin’.”

“Oh dear,” said Elusive with a worried glance at the colt. “Are things alright now?”

Apple Buck rubbed the back of his head timidly for a moment. “Ehhh… Ah think so. Grampy ended up talkin’ wit’ him in private, and he stopped hasslin’ me after that. Ah also promised I’d help on the farm as much as I can between practice and bedtime, so hopefully he ain’t too sore wit’ me.”

Rainbow Blitz sighed with his lips pursed shut, letting the colt’s words process while thinking them over. “Well, just so you know,” he said insistently to Buck, “you can still get me if you need to, alright?”

Apple Buck nodded with a grateful smile back at him. “Yeah, Ah know. And thank ya.”

The music outside ended, and a loud round of applause from outside indicated the first dancers were finished. They could overhear the announcer giving off the scores from the judges, but it was too muffled by the tent to hear the specific numbers. Another moment passed before the couple, who were two earth ponies wearing matching bowler caps and stickers on their sides that read the number one, emerged from the stage and returned to their seats with smiles on their faces. A mare in a ballcap came into view and stood at the stage’s entrance while looking at a clipboard. “Alright!” she announced loudly into the tent. “Couple two, come on up!”

A couple of unicorns in blue jumpsuits excitedly ran past the others to get on stage, both wearing large stickers on their sides that read the number two. As soon as the two hopped on stage to a new round of applause, the mare went back to supervise outside the tent. Some cheesy disco song soon started to play, but just before the tent flaps closed completely, two colts snuck in through the opening. The off-white unicorn and orange pegasus saw their friend nearby, and rushed to him with large smiles while holding pieces of posterboard.

“Hey, Apple Buck!” shouted both of them at the same time, causing the colt to turn and smile at the sight of Silver Bell and Scootaroll.

“Hey, guys!” Buck shot out of his seat and went to hug the two. “Ah’m really glad you guys could make it!”

“Well, what did you expect?” asked Scootaroll after hugging his friend back. “We weren’t going to miss you doing something like this!”

“Besides,” added Silver Bell as he motioned to Blitz and Elusive, “our brother and mentor are in this too, so we kinda had to show up.”

“Hey!” said Blitz and Elusive with slight offense.

“We’re just kidding!” said Scootaroll with a roll of his eyes. “Of course we wanted to see you guys too! I’m just worried about which one of you actually wins this thing.”

Twinkle Toes, who was still in her seat, leaned forward to interject with, “Well, just so you guys know, the top three couples in the preliminary rounds get to move forward to regionals.”

“Exactly,” added Elusive optimistically, “so who knows? Maybe both of us will go to the regional tournament.”

Apple Buck was starting to look nervous as his face turned a fretful shade of pink. “W-Well… let’s not get too ahead of ourselves here…”

Twinkle Toes saw how the colt was fidgeting his hooves, and tried to snap him out of it with a sharp nudge against his side. “Hey, come on,” she said in cheerful support. “There’s no way you’ll be worse than back at that recital, right?”

Remembering that cringe-worthy performance, the colt chuckled to himself and shook his head. “Y-Yeah, Ah… Ah guess not.”

“And if it helps,” added Silver Bell as he lit up his horn, “Scootaroll and I made these signs to show our support!”

The unicorn colt’s green magic floated up the two pieces of posterboard with practiced ease, showing Apple Buck what the sign said when the two pieces were placed side-by-side. The sign had Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes’ faces painted at the top, while the bottom read in a thick black font: GO TEAM APPLETOES!

Buck and Twinkle both stared at the posterboard with narrowed eyes in confusion. Apple Buck was the first to ask with a raised brow, “Uhhh… Seriously? ‘Apple-Toes’?”

“What?” asked Scootaroll. “We didn’t have much room for both your names, so we combined them!”

While Twinkle Toes shrugged towards her partner, Rainbow Blitz stared at the two colts and asked, “Hey, why didn’t you make a sign for US?!”

“Don’t worry, we did!” With his tongue sticking out in concentration, Silver Bell then turned the two poster boards over at the same time. On the back side of the sign, Elusive and Rainbow Blitz’s faces were drawn on top in crayon, with the caption underneath reading: TEAM #BLITZLUSIVE!

“Now THAT’S what I’m talking about!” said Blitz in approval. Meanwhile, Elusive blinked a couple times while peering at the quality of the sign.

“Hmmm... “ the white stallion pointed a hoof at the mark between the two words and asked, “What’s that symbol supposed to mean?”

“Hmm? Oh!” Scootaroll noticed the mark as well, and giggled nervously as he tried to explain. “Well, I… may have messed up a little when drawing the letters out. We already painted the front sides and didn’t want to redo everything again, so I just made it into that.”

Silver Bell then added optimistically, “Who knows? Maybe it’ll catch on!”

Before either of them could say anything else, the disco song ended outside. The two colts noted the sounds of applause and decided to vamoose while the scores were being announced. “Oh, shoot, we need to get back to our seats!” After giving their friend one last hug, the two scampered off just as the second couple shambled back into the tent with winded pants. The stallion was walking with an obvious limp on one of his hind legs, indicating that something bad happened during their routine, but they still looked content.

While Elusive noted that injury, Blitz shrugged and said happily, “You know what? Team Blitz-Lusive sounds pretty damn good in my book!”

“Hmph,” grunted Apple Buck with his hooves crossed, “Sounds better than Apple-Toes.”

At the beginning of the competition, the crowd was quite positive when it came to some of the earlier performances. The first two dancers had the highest scores with twenty-three and twenty-two (despite that slip-up the second one had), and things were going fine by the fifth or sixth dancers. Unfortunately, it seemed that a few sub-par performances afterward soured the event’s overall mood by the time the last few routines came up. One of the dances was basically a mare doing the Paso Doble by herself alongside a much older stallion who could barely move more than one hoof at a time, which gave the couple a dismal twelve out of thirty. Another was a heavyset couple who stumbled three separate times during their cha-cha-cha, prompting them a sympathetic fourteen. And while the next few couples afterward were technically better, their mediocre dances barely broke more than twenty or so, and didn’t get much applause from the crowd.

Dusk Shine, who was sitting in the front row alongside his friends, started to look worried as he scanned the mood of the crowd. Even when the couple in matching suits finished a fairly impressive jazz routine on stage, it seemed like less than a third of the audience actually clapped in applause. As the two bowed respectfully and left the stage after receiving a respectable twenty-one out of thirty, the Prince bit his lip as he struggled not to overthink things. “Oh man,” he muttered as he looked over to the other three stallions seated next to him, “I really hope Elusive and Blitz get a better score than that.”

To the left of Dusk in an aisle seat was Barb, who was holding a cup of soda that was almost as large as her. “Eh, they probably will,” said the dragoness after taking a sip from her straw. “I mean, there’s no way they could do worse than that old guy.”

To the other side of the Prince was Bubble Berry, who was holding at least six different snacks in his hooves. He also had half a caramel apple in his mouth when he added in a muffled voice, “Doat worry, Duth! Dey’re pwobwy wai’en for those two to pewfowm!”

It took until after Bubble Berry swallowed his food before Butterscotch realized what he was trying to say. “Oh! Ummm…” He leaned past Berry to say towards Dusk, “I- think Berry might be right, Dusk Shine. I mean, those two were talked about a lot by ponies before the competition started.”

Even though he was still apprehensive, Dusk still sighed and nodded in reluctant agreement. “Yeah, possibly…” He looked past Bubble and Butterscotch to ask a grumpy-looking Applejack, “What do you think, AJ?”

The orange stallion groaned under his breath bitterly. “Ah dunno,” he said with his face propped against one of his hooves. “I’m just hopin’ Apple Buck ain’t makin’ a foal of himself doin’ this--OW!!!”

Applejack’s dry comment was cut short when Macarena, who was sitting right next to him, punched his shoulder. On the mare’s other side was Toffee, who looked over at Applejack while he was rubbing his foreleg with a wince. “Well, he’s lucky to have somepony like Twinkle Toes as a partner. If she can’t get him to dance, then I don’t think anypony can.”

The farm-pony grunted and looked away from her and Macarena. “That ain’t exactly helpin’, but thanks anyway.”

Macarena looked at her brother with a strong pout, but didn’t want to punch his shoulder a second time. Butterscotch tried to be more optimistic with, “Well, I really doubt the judges will be as unresponsive as the audience. They’ve still been handing out fair scores.”

“Yeah!” piped Bubble Berry after downing a piece of cotton candy at least twice the size of his head. “All they have to do is get higher than twenty-three to go to the next round in Baltimare!”

Dusk Shine knew that Berry was just looking at things with the glass half full, but the Alicorn was more than a little worried. Elusive and Rainbow would have to get a unanimous score of eight from all three judges. But before he could dwell on the chances of that any longer, Dusk felt a nudge from his other side by Barb. When he turned to look at her, the drake carried a smirk and said, “C’mon, Dusk. This is Rainbow Blitz we’re talking about! Do you really think he’s the kind of guy to go into any competition and not try his hardest?”

That was enough to make the alicorn smile with a more relaxed breath, but it wasn’t long before his attention went to the announcer on stage. “AaaaallllllllllllRIGHT everybodyyyy!!!” The tall, yellow stallion was able to get everyone’s attention with his surprisingly deep voice, although the gaudy pink jacket that matched his dyed mane may have helped a bit too. A few ponies cheered in the crowd before he said, “Now, we only have TWO competitors left in this competition, and both of them have to get a score of twenty-four or higher to move to the Baltimare regionals!”

A slightly louder round of applause came after that, and the announcer motioned a hoof towards the side of the stage where the tent was. “Now, let’s put our hooves together for our two YOUNGEST competitors, who reside right here in Ponyville…”

Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes were waiting by the open tent flap, but both of them looked jittery and nervous from that introduction. Elusive and Blitz, who were now wearing their costumes, gave the kids sympathetic nudges for support. “Kick some ass kiddo,” whispered Blitz before pushing Apple Buck forward alongside his partner.

“Performing the Quick-Step, let’s give a big round of applause to Apple Buck, and Twinkle Toes!”

The two ponies cautiously walked onto the stage, being greeted with a fairly decent amount of applause. Silver Bell and Scootaroll were clearly the loudest while holding up their signs, not realizing they were upside down until Dusk Shine quickly flipped them with his magic. Macarena and Applejack applauded as well, but neither of them were as loud as the elderly green stallion who was seated behind the two. “OOOHHHH-WEE!” Shouted Grampy Smith proudly, “Shake that apple-maker!”

Apple Buck face-hoofed when he heard that, along with the laughter that came around Grampy’s area of the audience. Fortunately, Twinkle Toes’ hoof touching his shoulder was enough to make him look back at her, and see the supportive smile she had on her face. Only a second or two may have passed, but it was enough to make the colt smile back at her with a deep breath. “Alright, whenever you’re ready!” shouted the announcer before he left the stage.

After a brief moment passed to allow the two to collect their bearings, Twinkle Toes and Apple Buck walked towards opposite back corners of the stage. Both of them looked over to the sound-pony at the far end of the stage, and gave him the nod in approval. The green pony nodded back and pressed the button to let their song play:

When the heavy drum beat started to play, both kids tapped their hooves in rhythm to get into the beat. And as soon as the beat repeated, the two ran in full force towards each other on the stage. The two met just as the guitars and vocals began playing, and their hooves interlocked as they moved their hindlegs in tandem. With the crowd watching with newfound interest, the kids gave several choreographed kicks opposite one another before moving around the stage like their hooves were as light as feathers. Each one of the steps that both of them made hit the ground in perfect synchronicity with the beat to the song, and they were soon moving all over the stage with their appropriately quick steps.

When the instrumentals changed to make way for the chorus, Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes hopped across the stage with perfect timing to the keyboard’s longer notes, and gave several pronounced kicks with their hind legs in tandem with the vocals. By the time the actual chorus began playing, most of the crowd was in full swing with rejuvenated excitement while seeing their lock-steps. Even Applejack had a smile on his muzzle, although he stayed in his seat as he watched his little brother with crossed hooves and a confounded look on his face. “Well Ah’ll be,” he muttered under his breath, which was almost unheard of while others in the crowd started clapping to the beat.

Even with the well-practiced quarter-turns and hops that he was able to match alongside Twinkle Toes, it was clear that Apple Buck was putting forth his utmost focus in an effort to keep up with the filly. But regardless of how strained his face looked with his tongue sticking out, the farm-colt would be damned if he was going to misstep halfway through the song. When the two made a unified chassès before the beginning of the second chorus, even Elusive and Blitz looked floored at the colt’s practice.

“Welp,” said Blitz towards his dancing partner, “now we know he had a lot of practice.”

“Yes, but so did we,” retorted Elusive while he kept his eyes on the couple. “If Apple Buck can do those moves, then you have nothing to worry about.”

Blitz nodded weakly, but he still looked unsure as he watched the kids as well. Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes were back in a face-to-face position as they performed their lock-step. The vocals repeated their lines as the song went into the building point for its final chorus. As the bass and drum beat intensified with each repetition, the colt and filly stayed in rhythm with their steps going between each other’s hooves in split-second precision. The two went into choreographed swing-kicks just as the guitar came back in, which was just enough to get the audience riled up; and just as the song went into the two-second pause before the climax, Apple Buck swept up Twinkle Toes from her hooves to flip her over his foreleg.

The audience was fully enthralled after that move, and were already cheering the two on during their last joyous quick-steps. Elusive and Blitz’s jaws were dropped, but neither of them looked as much worried as they were impressed. A lot of the other dancers were watching from behind the stallions, either carrying stunned silence from jealousy or cheering the kids on as well. It was clear that whatever Twinkle did to get Buck in shape for this competition, it paid off tremendously.

With a final joint spin on her rear hooves, Twinkle Toes fell right into Apple Buck’s hooves at the end of the song. While the filly laid against him, Buck panted heavily with a stunned smile as the two soaked in the thunderous applause from the crowd. Silver Bell and Scootaroll looked especially happy while jumping up and down in their seats. Applejack was one of the first to stand on his hindlegs to clap with a standing ovation, and could be heard shouting with a shake of his head, “Ah ain’t even mad!” Even Barb, who was primarily here to cheer on Elusive, couldn’t resist standing on her seat to give some added whistles with her claws in her mouth.

Both of the kids blushed deeply at the praise, and were slightly jolted when the announcer returned and patted them both on the shoulders. “Alright!” the stallion said enthusiastically, “Let’s see what the judges have to say for THAT dance!”

In the middle of the audience behind a raised table, two older mares and a feminine-looking stallion were comparing notes for a brief second. After nodding in agreement, the three carried smiles as they held up their score cards:

“Eight!” said the first mare, which the audience was happy to hear as evidenced by their cheers.

“Nine!” shouted the second mare, which gave an even louder round of applause; of course, it was also the first nine given that day.

And with a big smile on his face, the final judge held up his card and gave an enthusiastic, “Nine!”

Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes screamed and hugged each other excitedly, realizing that they officially had the highest score so far. The announcer spoke in his microphone over the thundering applause, “Alright, everypony! Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes have just received a score of twenty-six out of thirty! That means that they are automatically moving forward to compete in the Baltimare Regionals!”

The two kids may have just finished a physically exhausting routine, but that announcement was enough to make the two jump around on stage like they were given a quadruple shot of espresso. The two ran back to the tent area, and were hugged tightly by both Elusive and Rainbow Blitz. “Talk about a tough act to follow, kid!” said Blitz teasingly before giving Apple Buck one last squeeze. “You were awesome, dude!”

Even though he knew that he was about to go up next, Elusive whispered into Twinkle Toe’s ear, “Let me know how you did that sometime.”

Twinkle giggled with a smirk back at the unicorn, and she soon disappeared into the crowd of other dancers alongside Apple Buck when the announcer’s voice came in through the speakers. “Okay, okay, let’s get settled down!” he said in a cheerful tone. “We still have one more couple to perform today…”

Elusive looked back at Blitz with a nervous smile and a huff. “Well… this is it…”

Rainbow Blitz’s hooves were a little shaky, but he was able to overcome that with a deep breath before saying confidently, “Come on, dude! Do you really wanna be outdone by a couple of kids?”

Since he was expecting the stunt-pony to be more nervous than he was, Elusive was taken by surprise from that question. But after a quick second, the white stallion grinned back at him and shook his head as a newfound wave of tenacity swept through his nerves. “No, I certainly do not.”

The announcer put a hoof out towards Elusive and Blitz as he introduced them to the crowd. “Performing the jive, let’s hear it for the very first same-sex couple to compete in the Equestrian National Dance Competition… Rainbow Blitz, and his partner Elusive!”

Despite how blunt that introduction may have sounded, the two still walked into view on stage in their outfits while smiling nervously. The stallions heard quite a bit more applause, but that was probably because most of their cheerers were in the front row. Scootaroll and Silver Bell fumbled with their poster boards for a moment before bringing up the “Blitz-Lusive” sign; of course, what caught Elusive and Blitz’s attention more was the massive array of flashing lights from the back of the crowd, most likely from journalists’ cameras.

The two looked at each other in slight worry while the announcer left the stage, and Elusive sighed before saying quietly, “No going back now…”

“N-Nope…” After sighing himself, Rainbow Blitz gulped and regained a more serious look on his face. The two got into position at opposite ends of the front of the stage, and Rainbow was the one to point at the sound guy and shout out, “Hit it!”

Elusive wanted to roll his eyes at that, but didn’t have enough time before the pony played their chosen track:

The track started in full force like a brick to the head, but the stallions were still able to trot in sync to the beat from the split-second it began. With their pronounced steps moving twice a second and two at a time, Elusive and Blitz were on their hind legs and holding hooves just as the vocals began. Punk-rock may have been an odd choice for a jive routine, but their choreographed steps actually fit with the song’s tempo very well. After several pronounced kicks that they made just inches from each other’s legs, the two moved around the stage while holding one another side-by-side. Both held onto the other during their spins with one foreleg, while the other stuck out for added style and leverage.

By the time they finished their spins and projected their individual kicks side-by-side to the crowd, they were getting almost as much positive feedback as Apple and Twinkle did. Their synchronicity and hoof-work were quickly winning most of the audience over, and the cameras at the back continued to flash like the sequins on the stallions’ jackets. Rainbow Blitz bit his bottom lip as he tried to get his steps done correctly, while also making sure he was performing his foreleg movements, at the same time as Elusive without looking at him. But despite the immense difficulty of his routine, the sound of the cheering crowd was ringing through the pegasus’ ears like a flawless Wonderbolts show. By the time he went back into hold Elusive’s hooves, he didn’t even care that it was a stallion while the song’s guitar solo played.

For Elusive, he was just as surprised with himself as he was with Blitz’s competence on the dance floor. Despite all the training he and his partner had, the unicorn was certain that something was going to go wrong during their first dance. But surprisingly enough, he and Blitz were keeping up with each other’s steps in graceful unity. Heck, even the song was starting to grow on the pony, although it was most likely in the same way a hostage with Stockhoof Syndrome falls for its captor. Nevertheless, the punk song wasn’t any deterrent to Elusive, even when he was skipping backwards while alternating his hoof-holding with Blitz before the finale.

By the time the two separated and gave another round of unified kicks, the audience was in full swing for the two. Many were clapping to the beat of the song, and the energy was almost electric from the cheers being given from their friends in the front row. Just as the two minute song was coming to a close, the two held each other close for one last swinging spin. And with a flick of his foreleg, Blitz spun Elusive hard enough to make the unicorn twirl on the tip of his hoof like a professional.

This is really working! Thought Elusive to himself as he smiled wide enough to show most of his pearly white teeth. Blitz actually pulled it off! I just can’t believe this is--

During the landing of his spin, Elusive’s thoughts were quickly stopped as he felt his front hoof slip against the stage floor. It felt like slow motion as the unicorn’s front leg continued moving forward, undoubtedly going to result in a split. While he was certainly able to perform the task (and quite well at that), the stallion’s foreleg still went out involuntarily to pull at something for leverage. Unfortunately, due to Blitz being right by his side, Elusive’s hoof caught a grip of the pegasus’ shoulder firmly enough to pull him down with him. And due to Blitz’s positioning, which at that time was with his hindlegs spread further apart than usual, Elusive’s pull resulted in an accidental fall for both of them on the stage floor.

In splits.

Luckily, the timing of that drop couldn’t have been more perfect; the crotch-first landing was not only in perfect sync with the song’s ending, but both of them fell in perfect position on the middle of the stage in front of the audience. Even though a few of their friends crossed their legs a bit from seeing that impact up close, they still clapped just as excitedly as the rest of the audience. Elusive felt alright with his fall due to previous experience and lucky positioning, but he also heard a very distinct and high-pitched squeak come from his partner as soon as the splits happened. While the audience cheered wildly in front of them, Elusive slowly looked over to see how Blitz looked.

The cyan pegasus had a smile on his muzzle, but it was clearly frozen on his muzzle like a victim of a fatal dose of laughing gas. Blitz was completely bug-eyed, with both of his magenta pupils the size of pin-pricks among a sea of tearing, bloodshot white. His teeth gritted hard enough to risk breaking, and his right eye was twitching violently. But alas, the stallion still kept his smile and unfortunate position as he and Elusive soaked in the cheers from the crowd.

“Well, well, well!” shouted the announcer as he ran back out on stage, clearly having no idea that their ending was accidental. “Now that’s what I call a show-stopper!”

“Blitz!” whispered Elusive as faintly as he could as he tried to catch Rainbow’s attention. “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry!”

Slowly, Rainbow Blitz’s head ticked towards the direction of Elusive like some creepy toy in a horror movie. By now, despite his smile remaining, his blue fur was quickly turning red. Elusive looked legitimately worried, although he was unsure if it was more because of Blitz’s health or his own. The pegasus’ teeth stayed gritted, but he was still able to say something to Elusive in the weakest, highest-pitched tone Elusive ever heard from him.

“... YOU… LITTLE… SHIT…”

Elusive was obviously able to get up on his hooves first, and was barely even listening to the judges as he tried to pull Blitz up as well. By now, Rainbow was seeing little spots come up in his line of vision, despite how much he was blinking. Even with the indescribable pain he was feeling from having his cojones smashed, the last few words he was able to process came from the judges who were giving out their scores. None of them even realized there was an issue as they shouted out happily for the audience to hear.

“... Eight!”

“... EIGHT!”

“That’s a score of twenty four out of thirty!” shouted the announcer’s voice, but by now Blitz’s hearing and sight were starting to become really hazy. “That means that Rainbow Blitz and Elusive… in Baltimare… Let’s… big rou…”

It was around that moment that the pegasus blacked out.

Chapter Seven: Drinking and Thinking

Elusive wanted to be happy that he and Blitz won second place in the preliminary round. Heck, he wanted to jump up and down for joy at the prospect of actually moving forward in a competition he wanted to do for years. But despite how fortunate he was for their victory, the price that he ended up paying with that finale just made him feel absolutely horrible. The unicorn still didn’t know what Rainbow Blitz’s condition was, which left him to just stand in his kitchen with his head hung low in heavy guilt.

As soon as Blitz passed out (luckily after the scores were handed out), Elusive had help from Dusk Shine to take him back to Carousel Boutique to be looked over; they originally planned to go to the hospital, but they could only imagine the media frenzy that could cause. Dusk Shine, who was next to Elusive in the kitchen, put a hoof on his back and tried be optimistic. “It’s alright, Elusive,” he said while patting the unicorn’s back. “It was a complete accident. I’m sure Rainbow Blitz will understand when he gets better.”

“But I made him fall on his…” Elusive’s muzzle wrinkled after closing, not wanting to finish that statement if Barb could overhear them. Luckily, the dragoness was out of the house to get a bag of frozen peas from the store, since Elusive only had various pints of Träaten Dazs ice cream in his freezer. Doctor Stable made a house-call at the Carousel Boutique shortly after the competition ended, and was tending to Rainbow Blitz’s injury in the living room. As he overheard the pegasus’ pained groans, all that Elusive could do was breathe out in a shameful huff as his paranoia sunk in. “I mean, what if I damaged them permanently!? What if I made him disabled or something!? Or even--”

“Elusive, please!” Dusk put both hooves on the unicorn’s shoulders before he could become hysterical. “I seriously doubt you caused anything that severe. The number of cases regarding permanent damage from testicular injuries are very, VERY low! And the causes of most of those cases are much worse than just doing the splits at a bad angle. I know you feel bad about this, and I don’t blame you for a second. But take it from me, you really shouldn’t overthink these things before knowing for sure.”

Realizing that he was being told that last statement from Dusk Shine of all ponies, Elusive knew that he had to calm down. After closing his eyes and taking a few deep breaths, the stallion nodded softly to Dusk’s assurance. “Alright, I… I’ll wait to freak out after hearing Stable’s prognosis…”

The back door of the boutique opened and closed, and Barb ran into the kitchen while holding two very large bags of frozen peas in her pudgy arms. “Here you go, guys!” she grunted with a strain before Dusk floated both bags off of her with his magic. After Elusive took one of the bags from Dusk’s aura, Barb sighed in relief while the Prince went to give Doctor Stable the other bag. “They had a two-for-one sale at the place, so I got two bags in case Blitz needs to switch them or something.”

“That’s a very good idea, Barbara,” said Elusive with a smile while putting the second bag in the freezer for later. “Thank you so much for your help.”

Barb blushed and looked away from the stallion bashfully, “Oh, it was nothing, really. I would’ve don--”

“GAH!”

The sound of Dusk’s voice interrupted the drake as she and Elusive turned to the doorway between the kitchen and living room. Dusk Shine reemerged with a very uncomfortable look on his blushed face, trying his hardest not to shudder while closing the door behind him. “Ummm… sorry about that,” he said meekly

“Is it that bad?” asked Elusive worriedly.

“Well, they’re kinda…” Dusk Shine’s discomforted look only intensified as he cringed with a raised and shaky hoof. “Uhhh… swollen.”

“UGH!” Elusive covered his face and winced heavily from that unneeded detail. Meanwhile, Barb just stared blankly between the two stallions without saying anything. Even though she knew that Blitz was hurt, she wasn’t sure how serious that kind of injury was.

“Couldn’t he just walk it off?” she asked bluntly. Of course, as soon as she saw the befuddled stares that Dusk and Elusive gave her, she put her claws out and said, “Okay, okay… I’m guessing he can’t.”

Dusk sighed and ribbed his temple with a hoof. “Barb, this… this is a little difficult for girls to understand, okay?”

“Ugh, fine” groaned Barb as she began to make her leave, not wanting to press the issue any further and learn things she can’t unlearn. “I’m gonna go back to the castle to catch up on some comic books, and appreciate not having those things you guys have between your legs. See ya!”

“Yeah, yeah,” muttered both stallions as they let her leave without much protest. Shortly after Barb’s exit, Doctor Stable came through the doorway and took off her gloves with her magic. Elusive was the first to step forward and ask fretfully, “How is he, Doctor?”

Stable sighed and threw her gloves into the trash bin before answering, “Well, I don’t think there’s any cause for alarm for the time being. Aside from some swelling and discoloration, I don’t think Rainbow Blitz’s injury is severe enough for any permanent damage. I would suggest that he stay on the ground for tonight, though.”

Dusk and Elusive both sighed deeply in relief. “That’s really good to know,” said Dusk Shine with a more relaxed smile on his face. "Thank you, Doctor Stable.”

“It’s no problem,” replied the tan mare as she used her magic to write down some notes on a sheet of paper. “I placed a numbing spell on them, so he’ll be alright for the moment. Just let him rest for the night with those frozen peas, and come to me in the morning if he’s still in pain, alright?”

After both stallions nodded in agreement, Stable went to leave out the same door Barb did. “Now if you excuse me, I need to head back to the hospital.” But before exiting the kitchen, she looked back at Elusive and said cheerfully, “And by the way, you did a great job at that competition! I’m rooting for you at that Baltimare meet, so I hope Blitz’ll be alright.”

Elusive could barely look back at her while nodding. “As do I, Doctor,” he mumbled disheartedly while she left. “As do I...”

Dusk Shine put his hoof on the unicorn’s back and tried to get him in higher spirits. “Elusive, it’s going to be alright. Blitz is going to be fine, and you’re still in the competition.”

“Yes, I know,” said Elusive as his saddened look remained. He looked back at his friend and asked morosely, “but do you think he’s going to keep dancing with me after that?”

That made Dusk Shine stop with a new look of worry on his face. While the unicorn sighed and looked away with his muzzle pursed shut, Dusk had to take a moment to think of something he could say to break the silence. “Well… if it helps, I can get you guys some take-out. You definitely earned it.”

“... Perhaps…” Elusive’s glance went towards the doorway to the living room. Even though neither he or Dusk could hear Blitz’s groaning anymore, the stallion still breathed out apprehensively. “Do you think I should try to talk to him?”

Dusk seemed wary, but said after a thoughtful shrug, “I mean, at least he knows he’s going to be fine now. So…”

The Prince didn’t say much else after that, probably because he was just as unsure about the idea as Elusive was. Alas, Elusive still huffed in a last-minute effort to relieve his anxieties before stepping forward. “Well, here goes nothing…”

Before he could get any second thoughts, the unicorn went past the door and stepped into the living room to check on his friend. Rainbow Blitz was lying on the lavender couch with a pillow under his head, and the large bag of frozen peas put right between his outstretched legs. Unfortunately, the pegasus also had the nastiest, most bloodthirsty glare that Elusive had ever seen.

Elusive tried to give his friend a smile, despite how terrified he looked to be in the same room as him at that moment. “H-Heyyyyyy… Dusk was just about to get us some din--”

With a voice that sounded like a bitter toddler, Blitz just squeaked, “Shut up.”

Elusive’s ears dropped in heartache, although he was also secretly thankful that Barb left earlier. Not just because he didn’t want her to see how angry Blitz was, but also because she most likely would’ve laughed at the pegasus’ high-pitched voice.

Dusk got dinner for the two in a literal flash before leaving as well. Despite the strict diet regimen that Elusive wanted his partner to follow, he really didn’t feel like implementing it after physically emasculating him. Dusk Shine was fortunate enough to get both of their favorites, which included a broccoli and mushroom stir-fry for the unicorn, and a pad-thai with extra cashews and a platter of egg rolls for Rainbow Blitz. Elusive preferred wontons, so he didn’t even try to take any egg rolls from Blitz’s platter. Instead, he just ate his dish silently and hoped that his friend would be good to talk after their meals were done.

Blitz barely even looked at Elusive as he ate. Even though he managed to mutter a brief “Thanks” when he received his food, he didn’t say much else while devouring way more calories than the unicorn would’ve preferred. He also didn’t try to keep his eating habits clean while on the couch, but Elusive tried his best to ignore that since he had it magically stain-guarded. However, what did concern him was when he noticed a lot of droplets of precipitation appearing on the bag of peas on Blitz’s crotch. Despite his precautions, the last thing that Elusive wanted was for his suede couch to be damaged by excess moisture.

He waited until Blitz finished his last egg roll (which actually confounded the unicorn since that was a family-sized platter) before using his magic to lift up the bag. “HEY!” shouted Blitz (thankfully in a much less squeaky voice) as he tried to grab the bag with one hoof while the other remained over his jewels. “I need that!”

“It’s thawing,” stated Elusive as he floated the bag away. Concentrating the best as he could while speaking, he was able to use his magic to open both the kitchen and freezer door, and switch the bags in less than a few seconds. “Barbara got a second bag to switch them out.”

After the new frozen bag was levitated back to him, Blitz’s angered look decreased a little when he took it from Elusive’s aura. “Oh, ummm… thanks…” However, he did shiver painfully when he placed the peas back on his numbed region. “Hnnngggg!”

“Oh dear,” said Elusive fretfully before asking, “Is it still that bad, Rainbow?”

Blitz wanted to say yes, but he knew better than to make a flat-out lie when his friend was already guilty. He shuddered from the cold and shook his head weakly. “Ehhh… nah. they’re not the size of cantaloupes anymore, so I think they might be getting better.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” breathed out Elusive in almost a whisper. He had a hoof to his chest as he tried to keep his breathing from becoming too heavy. Hoping to clear the air, he turned his attention towards the pegasus and said insistently, “Rainbow, you know that I didn’t mean to pull you down, right? That was a complete accident on my behalf.”

Blitz took a few seconds before sighing and nodding his head. “Y-Yeah, I know,” he grunted while readjusting the bag between his legs. “It’s just a really shitty thing to happen, you know?”

“Yes, I do know,” replied Elusive uncomfortably while averting his eyes from him. “It was indeed… shitty.” While he usually never cursed out loud in front of others, he felt that Rainbow’s adjective was the most fitting given the scenario.

“Honestly,” continued Blitz as he got himself in a good seated position with his frozen bag, “I’m kinda pissed that you were able to do those splits without a single problem.”

Elusive shrugged as he saw Blitz’s point. “Well, it helps that I take regular yoga classes in town. Aras and Vytas are fantastic instructors when it comes to contortion and relaxation.”

“Yeah, I’ll believe it…” Blitz then noticed that there were still a couple uneaten cashews remaining at the bottom of his take-out container, so he grabbed a fork to try and fish them out. “I will say though, it’s good that the judges scored us before I blacked out. I have a feeling we wouldn’t have gotten all eights if they knew what happened.”

“Well,” said Elusive as he tried thinking realistically, “perhaps that stallion would’ve given us a sympathy eight.”

Blitz laughed for the first time that night while balancing the peanuts on his fork. “Yeah, maybe so!” Considering how much food the pegasus consumed already, Elusive looked a bit surprised to see him scarfing down the last of his meal so heartily. But instead of chastising him for his seemingly endless stomach, the unicorn got back onto his hooves and collected the empty take-out packages with his magic.

“So Blitz,” he began as he attempted to lighten the mood, “considering what happened today, I feel it’s only fair to offer you a drink to go along with your meal. Do you mind?”

“Hmm?” Blitz looked back up at his friend while chewing, and swallowed to give his answer with a shrug. “Ummm… alright, that seems fine.”

“Excellent!” After throwing all the containers away, the unicorn trotted over to a seemingly bare wall of his showroom. At first glance, the wall looked like it was just there to be load-bearing, and carried nothing but a couple of framed paintings and a candle holder. Blitz looked over at him from the couch with a raised brow, wondering what his friend was up to. Like something out of Elusive’s prized mystery novels, the unicorn smirked and pulled on the candlestick, making it come out at a right-degree angle with a distinct click. In an instant, a large section of the wall came out and spun to reveal a pristine, top-notch bar with attached stools and a full display of bottles shelved behind the table.

“HOLY SHIT!” shouted Blitz in shock, clearly never knowing that bar existed until just now. He wanted to hop off of his couch to check it out, but one move of his hind legs made him wince while still seated. His balls may have been completely numb, but the joints in his legs were still strained from that split.

After chuckling at Blitz’s reactionary statement, the unicorn lit his horn to pick his friend up. Even though picking up a whole pony wasn’t nearly as easy as Dusk Shine would make it out to be, the unicorn managed with a tongue sticking out while floating his friend to the stool and carefully lowering him on it. Luckily, the pegasus didn’t seem too uncomfortable at his new spot in front of the surprise bar. He gawked with a dropped jaw at the display of various spirits and liqueurs behind the unicorn, blinking repeatedly like he was in a dream. “Damn, dude…

“I know,” stated Elusive pertly with a smirk as he began to pour himself a drink. With his magic no longer holding Blitz up, Elusive was in free rein to collect the bottles of dry vermouth, benedictine and absinthe; he also levitated an iced strainer glass and a drinking glass before getting his concoction made behind the bar. “When I first bought this place, I got it at a very low price because it was completely gutted out to the frames. My father helped put down a loan for me to purchase it, and he and I spent a good few months renovating the place ourselves. We installed this bar as a fun little addition with some spare funds we had. Not many ponies know about it aside from my family and exclusive clients.”

“Wait, what?!” shouted Blitz with an offended look on his face. “You’re telling me that you had this bar the whole friggin’ time?! How come you never told me about it?!”

Elusive ignored how upset the pegasus looked while pouring his Chrysanthemum from the strainer, letting the amber mixture pour into his glass. “Just for the record,” stated Elusive firmly as he placed an orange peel in the glass and took a sip, “you’re not the only friend of mine who is unaware of this. Applejack and Bubble Berry don’t know either.”

That just made Blitz look even more pissed. “Oh, and Prince Dusk Shine gets access to your secret bar?! Butterscotch too?!”

“I technically never told those two either.” After tasting his creation, the unicorn smirked in satisfaction and put his drink down. “Dusk found me at this bar one day while it was out in the open, and Butterscotch apparently found out because my cat told him about it.”

“Oh…” even though he could tell his friend was telling the truth, he was still peeved enough to ask, “So how come you never told us about this?”

“Honestly?” Elusive looked back at his friend before answering him bluntly. “Because I was worried you guys would raid it.”

“Oh, come on!” exclaimed Blitz with a roll of his eyes. “You should give us more credit than tha--Whoa, you have Glass Skull Vodka?!” Even though he was genuinely surprised to see that particular brand at the end of Elusive’s shelf, it only seemed to confirm the unicorn’s reason to keep it a secret with a raised brow on Blitz.

The pegasus noticed his friend’s look, and took a second before sighing. “Okay, maybe a little, but I doubt any of us would take anything expensive!”

“I’m sure you wouldn’t,” said Elusive in a less than convinced tone of voice. After finishing his cocktail, he put his glass away and looked back at Blitz. “Nevertheless, it seems fair to let you know about this bar now. I’m actually a licensed bartender, so I could make you something specific if you want.”

“Wait, seriously?” Blitz stared at Elusive for a moment, not recalling ever learning that fact about him. But after glancing behind the white stallion to see a framed license under the shelf with Elusive’s name on it, Blitz was convinced with a tilt of his head. “... Huh…”

He then looked back up at the shelf and thought it over momentarily. “Well… I guess a Negroni would be alright.”

Elusive raised brows for a second, surprised that his stunt-pony friend knew of that drink. But considering it was something he knew how to make quite well, the unicorn nodded with a smirk and went to work. “Sounds good.”

While putting his previous bottles back in their places with his magic, Elusive also brought out the sweet vermouth, campari, and gin for Blitz’s cocktail. Blitz leaned into the table and watched with interest as his friend got the cocktail made like a true professional. “You know,” began the pegasus while seeing the spirits mix and combine with magic in his iced glass, “I’m about ninety percent sure that you never told me you were a mixologist.”

“Ugh!” grunted the unicorn in disgust before grabbing another orange peel. “Please don’t use that term. It’s so… gaudy!” Despite his shudder, Elusive twisted the peel for aromatics with practiced ease before placing it in the glass and floating it towards his friend. “And for the record, I… may have never mentioned it before. Not because I was trying to hide it or anything. It just never came into conversation.”

Blitz took a drink of his cocktail, his brows raising as he tasted a perfect blend of bitterness and sweetness with the first sip. “Mmm! Damn…” Even though he was impressed at Elusive’s skills, he still looked up at him and asked, “When the hay did you learn bartending anyway?”

“College,” said Elusive proudly as he decided to make a Negroni for himself. “I didn’t want to be swamped with student loans as soon as I got my degree in fashion design, so I took up bartending as a means to pay off my expenses. It was actually a great way to make money as a student, plus it helped to improve my social skills and give me invaluable experience with future clients.”

Blitz was still surprised, but he had to admit that Elusive’s explanation sounded pretty feasible. After he finished building his own Negroni, the two tapped classes and took a sip together. After finishing his drink slowly, Blitz looked back at his friend with narrowed eyes. “Just so you know, I really would’ve liked to have known this about you earlier.”

“Why?” asked Elusive coyly after another sip. “So you could use my skills to make you free drinks all the time?”

“No,” answered Blitz with another roll of his eyes. “Believe me, Wonderbolts get free drinks enough as it is.” He looked down at the empty glass in his hoof, tilting it back and forth to make the ice cubes clink against each other. “It’s just that… my Mom was a bartender, so… You know…”

Elusive’s eyes widened, and he slowly put down his now finished drink. “Oh…” Even though he’s been friends with his fellow Elements for years now, there were still a lot of things that the guys didn’t know about each other. Some of those things obviously didn’t need to be explained, like Applejack’s parents or Butterscotch’s anxiety issues. But others seemed to just be things that were never thought about or mentioned, like Elusive’s bartending skills or Barb’s comic book knowledge. And as for Rainbow Blitz, not much was ever mentioned of his family.

Hoping he wasn’t treading on thin ice, Elusive decided to make another Negroni for Blitz while speaking. “Really? I… honestly didn’t know that.”

“Yeah…” Blitz pushed his glass towards Elusive so that he could make the drink as he continued. “That was actually how my Dad met her. He just inherited the restaurant from my grandpa, so he had to hire some new staff to run it. My Mom signed up as a bartender, and they apparently became a couple by the end of that year. I ended up learning a lot of stuff about drinks because of her.”

“Well, that would explain the Negroni,” said Elusive as he made Blitz’s second glass. He huffed with a smile while floating the glass back to him. “I honestly would’ve piqued you as the type to just throw some vodka in an energy drink and call it a day.”

“Hey, nothing wrong with a quick buzz,” retorted Blitz with a smirk of his own before drinking a third of the glass. “But yeah, she taught me a few of her signature drinks back when I was a kid. Mostly virgin stuff in case I tried to take a sip. After she died, I…”

Blitz paused briefly, looking down at his drink. Elusive bit his lip, hoping that his friend didn’t say too much. After a few seconds of pregnant silence, the pegasus breathed out deeply and downed his glass like a shot. He put it back on the table and finished with, “But yeah, I… ended up getting her cocktail book after she passed. I don’t remember every drink, but I do know a lot of the best ones.”

Elusive looked at his friend for a moment, and then down to the backside of his bar setup. Underneath the table, he had a wide assortment of glasses, equipment, and three mini fridges that were filled with every ingredient and chaser he needed for exclusive clients. He may have not had an official setup, but the unicorn knew he had just as much stuff as any licensed bar in town. With a skewed muzzle, he looked back up at Blitz and asked, “Like what?”

“Hm?” Blitz’s eyes peered back up at him, despite leaning against his hoof on the bar.

“What are some of the 'best'?” Even though he was being casual, Elusive was wondering what his friend would do if he was given an offer. He looked away playfully as a devilish smirk crawled across his lips. “Granted, it would be hard to outdo a licensed bartender’s repertoire, so I’m doubtful that your experience can match my own creations…

Rainbow’s head popped up from the bar like a Whack-A-Mole game. “What?”

“I’m just saying,” continued the unicorn as he kept his coy grin pointed away from Blitz, “it takes a distinct skill to actually make a cocktail as well as someone with proper experience. Not every pony with a few cocktail recipes memorized can make something as good as somepony like myself~”

Elusive’s cheeky tone was only intensifying the nasty stare that Blitz had on him. “Dude, do you want to start this? Because if so I’ll finish it.”

Pleased that his friend took the bait, Elusive finally looked back at him with his smirk remaining. “Are you implying you can keep up if you were to try?”

“Okay, that’s it!” Blitz hopped off the stool, not even thinking about the consequences until his hooves touched the floor. “GAHHH!!!” Rainbow gritted his teeth at the immense pain his leg joints were giving him, and Elusive gasped in sudden realization.

“Oh no, Blitz!” he shouted before beginning to get out from behind the bar. “I’m so sorry, I forgot about your injury and I--”

Blitz was still cringing, but he put out a hoof to stop Elusive from running to his aid. He took a couple heavy breaths before attempting to take a step. “I-It’s alright… My balls are numb as buck… It’s just my legs, but…”

Elusive was frozen in shock, unsure whether he should stay behind the bar or go out to help him. Blitz hobbled towards the back of the bar slowly, despite the fact that he had to keep his hind legs wide apart to walk comfortably. Even with his ridiculous-looking waddle, the pegasus had a determined stare on Elusive before looking through the bar’s inventory. “You wanna see a good drink?” he said through a heavy groan while collecting a bottle of citrus soda to start things off. “I’ll give you a drink that’ll knock that uppity attitude out of your ass!”

Despite his worry, Elusive blinked a couple times as he realized his friend wasn’t going to let up. He challenged him in the first place, so the best he could do now was go with it and hope it ended civilly. “Well, I... “ After breathing out sharply, the unicorn floated out a blender and an aura full of ice. “Very well then! It’s on!”

A couple hours, and VERY many drinks later, both stallions were on their butts and leaned against the back of the bar. What started off as a friendly competition to see who can make the best cocktail, eventually devolved into the two consuming glass after glass of various things until both of them lost track of what they were doing. Completely plastered off their hooves, all that the ponies could do now was lie underneath the fluorescent light while their cheeks were flaring with a deep shade of red.

“O… Okhay…” Elusive rubbed his reddened eyes with a hoof and admitted with a slurred voice, “You… You know how to… m-make a good cocktail…”

Blitz, who now had a bag of frozen pineapple chunks over his crotch (mostly since the peas were thawed and Elusive couldn’t get the other bag), smirked in victory and said, “Buck yeah I do…”

Seeing a half-finished bottle of Peeved Acres hard cider on the floor, Blitz used a hoof to pick it up and take a swig. It’s wasn’t nearly as good as Applejack’s fermented stuff, but it was still okay for that night. Blitz passed the bottle towards Elusive, who reluctantly took it and had a sip of his own. He grimaced a little from the bitterness of the ale after pulling it away from his lips. “Eugh… th-this is definitely better as a chaser.”

“Mmhmm,” grunted Blitz before taking the bottle back to finish it. “Still alright on it’s own…”

As his friend downed the bottle, Elusive looked at him with a goofy smile that grew between his heavily blushed cheeks. “Blitzie, I… I’m… really glad that you ag… agreed to be my dancing partner…”

Blitz sighed after finishing the bottle of cider and tossing it aside. “It’s alright,” muttered the pegasus as he laid in a half-conscious state. “I would’ve… would’ve been a major dick if I said no.”

“Yeah, but…” Despite how drunk he felt, the unicorn was able to recall enough to make his smile diminish a little bit. “But you… you did say no at first...”

Blitz groaned with his eyes clenched shut. “Ugh, I know… And I’m sorry, okay?”

“No, no, I know…” With his head leaned forward slightly, Elusive blinked a few times as he tried to think about that day with a little more focus. His eyes were squinted in concentration as he tried to ask clearly, “B-But… you were so adama… adamama… adaminni… You were confident your answer to me was ‘No’ until… until Dusk talked with you…”

Rainbow Blitz sighed and rubbed his eyes with a hoof. “Dude, come on… not now…”

“I’m just…” Elusive leaned his head back as he tried to think about it with growing confusion on his face. “I can’t stop thinking about it! I… I know you said that you didn’t say yes because of him, and… and I believe you, I swear, but…”

With a worried and curious look, the unicorn glanced over at his friend and asked weakly, “But… why did you change your mind to think about it?”

Blitz looked back at him with a strong pout under his own deep blush. He huffed through his nostrils before looking away. “It’s none of your business, Lucy.”

“Blitz, come ooooonnnnn!” Elusive leaned to the side to flop against his friend clumsily and slur out, “I… I Bubble Berry Promise, I… I won’t tell a soul. I won’t even tell my cat, so Butterscotch won’t know either…”

Blitz tried to push the unicorn off of him. “Dude, come on. You are one annoying-ass drunk!”

“Pleeeeeease?~” Elusive waited until Blitz looked at him before trying to give a puppy-dog pout to make him talk. “Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a cupcake in my eye?”

It took a few seconds for Blitz to tell that his friend wasn’t going to let this go, which caused him to groan and push Elusive away from his side. “Alright, alright! I’ll tell you…”

Elusive was sitting upright again, but still looked over at Blitz with his ears raised. The drunken stunt-pony closed his eyes and took a long breath. “I… I owe Dusk Shine a favor, okay? And he… he said if I wasn’t going to think it over, then… he would cash in that favor to make me say yes right there.”

Elusive narrowed his eyes on him with a tilted head. “What kind of favor?”

Rainbow exhaled sharply with his head hung low. “Dude, don’t go there. Please…”

Elusive stopped for a moment, clearly hearing the desperation in Blitz’s voice. But despite his conscience telling him to stop, something in him wanted to press just a little bit further. “Rainbow, please…” He reached out to put a hoof on Blitz’s shoulder in support. “I swear, I’m not going to tell anyone. You… you know you can trust me on this.”

With his lips tightly shut, it seemed like Rainbow Blitz wasn’t going to budge from his statement. His eyes slowly peered back at Elusive, seeing the compassion he was carrying behind those deep blue eyes. After another long pause, Blitz closed his eyes and sighed with his muzzle pointed to the floor.

“I… I offered him the favor after the wedding.”

Elusive’s eyes quickly widened, not needing to be clarified which wedding his friend was referring to. “O-Oh…”

Rainbow nodded his head softly. “Y… Yeah. I went up to his room before his sister’s reception, and I… I just wanted to make sure things were cool between us...”

Elusive let go of Blitz’s shoulder and ended up in the same slumped position the pegasus was in. Neither of them said much for a while, both of them clearly thinking about that horrible day. Dealing with a surprise changeling invasion in Canterlot was one thing, but turning their backs on the one friend who knew something was wrong beforehoof was enough to make them feel sick. Elusive crossed his forelegs as he felt his guilt from that event flooding back like a clogged sink. “I’m… I’m sorry I asked.”

“It’s okay, I get it,” said Blitz truthfully, although his saddened tone made it sound less than so. “It’s just… I couldn’t go to that reception without at least trying to set things right, you know? And I just… I needed to do something to make up for how I treated him.”

“You weren’t the only one to leave that room, Blitz. All of us did…” Elusive clenched his eyes shut, not wanting to start tearing up at the memory of that deplorable day. Even with all the apologies he and the others gave Dusk, it honestly didn’t feel like enough was done to rectify their actions. He had to take a deep breath to ensure his voice wouldn’t come out too hoarse. “S-So… you went to see him and offered a favor?”

“Well… N-No,” he admitted meekly. “I went up there and offered him to punch me in the face.”

Elusive wasn’t expecting that clarification. He looked over at the pegasus with a befuddled glance to make sure he wasn’t joking. “Wait, seriously? So you… What? You just went up to his room, knocked on the door, and said 'Punch me in the face'?”

Blitz turned to look back at Elusive with a nod of his head. “Ummm… Actually yeah. That was exactly what I did.”

“Pbbt!” Elusive had to cover his mouth with a hoof to keep from laughing guiltily. He got himself settled down and said with a shrug, “Well… I suppose that’s one way to try and fix it.”

“Well, what was I supposed to do?! I thought he'd do it!” Blitz said with an exasperated huff as he slumped against the back of the bar. “I mean… I’m supposed to be the Element of Loyalty, for buck’s sake! I’m supposed to be there for my friends, and I just…”

Rainbow covered his face with both hooves, clearly trying his hardest not to get too emotional. Elusive quickly scooted in closer to Blitz and put a foreleg around his back. “Hey, hey, hey… It’s alright, Blitz.”

“I know,” Blitz said in a much hoarser voice than before while he kept his face covered, “but it just… it hurts to even think about that day.”

“I know, darling. I know…” Elusive’s head slowly rested against Blitz’s shoulder, but luckily wasn’t removed by the pegasus. Blitz didn’t say anything for a while (aside from a heavy, lingering sigh), so Elusive looked up at him and asked, “So… did he punch you?”

“No,” answered Blitz in an instant. “He refused. Although looking back, it kinda makes sense. I mean, the big reason we all left him was because he punched that fake Prince Bolero in the face. Kinda seems stupid to make up for that with another punch.”

“I suppose, yes,” agreed Elusive with a shrug of his head, “but I can see your reasoning for wanting to offer that. A lot of stallions probably wouldn’t have refused.”

“Yeah…” Blitz became quiet for a few seconds with his head lowered, before saying in a more morose tone, “but a lot of stallions probably wouldn’t have given us another chance either.”

Elusive’s ears dropped down in an instant, making him look just as dreary as his friend. While he knew that the pegasus was completely right, it still hurt to think about that possibility. Heck, given that their Elements are connected by the strength of their friendship, it was nothing short of a miracle that they still worked after that betrayal on Dusk. Elusive couldn’t think of anything to say in response to Blitz’s point, which gave the stunt-pony the time needed to keep going.

“I just… I wanted to make sure he wouldn’t hate us. After refusing to do it, Dusk… he ended up talking with me about everything before the reception started. I brought up how I should’ve stayed with him, and he… he said how he shouldn’t have bursted into that rehearsal without any good proof. He said he couldn’t be mad without feeling guilty about his own actions. After that, he… he actually told me how leaving him alone probably saved his life. Like… Maybe Metamorphosis wouldn’t have been so careful if someone else was in the room or something. I dunno…”

Elusive didn’t say anything, but he kept his focus on Blitz’s words and let them sink in. After the wedding, he remembered that Dusk Shine told the unicorn the exact same thing when they talked in private; in fact, Elusive was in the very same spot he was in now (and equally as wasted) when Dusk found him that day. And given how dreary that week after the wedding went, he wouldn’t have been surprised if Dusk had to say that to every friend who tried to apologize to him. While he thought it over, Elusive barely noticed when Blitz rested his head against his own.

“In the end, I knew he wasn’t going to hate me, but… I couldn’t just leave without offering something. I mean, I saw him get disowned by his sister, and I left him to wear a bucking suit! I mean…” Blitz kept his eyes tightly closed while he spoke. “... like, what kind of friend does that?!”

“... the same one who leaves that same room to make a dress,” answered Elusive in an equally depressed voice.

“Oh. Ummm… right.” Blitz took a breath before reopening his eyes and finishing his story. “Anyway, before I left Dusk’s room, I… I offered him one favor to make up for it, which he could use at any time. No limits. No questions asked. He tried to say no, but I wasn’t going to budge. He eventually agreed, and… he threatened to use it if I didn’t think your offer over.”

Elusive could only blink a couple times while staring up at his friend. Even though he knew that Blitz’s decision to say yes wasn’t inspired by that favor, the details of it made him ask in baffled curiosity. “So, when you say ‘no limits’…”

“Yeah, basically,” answered Blitz before Elusive could finish after that pause. “Like, if he wanted me to help hide a body for him, or smack Solaris' ass, or to give him a hoof-job. I’d do it. After almost killing him that day, it seemed like the least I could do as a friend.”

Elusive could feel Rainbow Blitz’s head resting harder against his pristine mane, but he couldn’t really mind with the inebriated state he was in. Instead, he just wrapped his hoof around his back a little tighter while snuggled against the pegasus’ shoulder. “Rainbow, you… you’re a really good friend. You don’t need some favor to prove that.”

“I know…” Blitz’s foreleg wrapped around the unicorn’s back as well, and he said in a more groggy tone of voice, “Th… thanks, dude…”

“N-No problem…” As his eyes slowly closed due to exhaustion, Elusive said one last thing while nuzzled against Blitz’s neck. “You’re a really good dancer too.”

“Heh heh… Buck yeah I am…”

Click!

“... hehehehehe… this is great!”

“Ooh! Ooh! He’s still doing it!”

Click!

“Oh, man… Elusive’s gonna kill ‘im!”

“Maybe he asked Blitz to do it.”

“Ah dunno. That don’t seem like his thing…”

Click!

“Mmmmurghhhh… Wh… What the…”

Elusive felt like his head was throbbing. When he tried to open his eyes, it seemed like his eyelids were being clamped with fifty pound weights to keep them locked shut. He rubbed his face with a hoof as he began to wake up, absolutely certain he looked like he went to Tartarus and back overnight. But when he rubbed his forehead, Elusive felt something wet and slimy just underneath his horn.

Along with something warm and fuzzy on it.

“Oh shit!” whispered what sounded to be Applejack’s voice, who couldn’t have been more than a couple feet away from the hungover unicorn. “‘Lusive’s wakin’ up!”

“One more picture!” hissed Bubble Berry excitedly. “This is great!”

Click!

A bright flash assaulted Elusive’s eyes as soon as he tried to creak them open, making him wince uncomfortably. “Bu… Bubble Berry… G-get out of my room…”

“We’re not in your room, Silly Filly! We’re in your hidden bar!”

“Yeah, when the hay were ya gonna tell us ‘bout this, by the way?” asked Applejack in a cynical voice.

Elusive tried to get up, but he felt a massive amount of weight on his head that kept him from moving much. “Guys, I have a… a valid expla… explanation…”

As soon as he opened his eyes enough to look around, Elusive was able to confirm that he was still behind his bar. Applejack and Bubble Berry were standing a couple feet away with bemused grins down at him, with Berry holding a large camera wrapped around his neck. Elusive was just about to ask why he had that thing before something else caught his attention. A thin haze of cyan was just hanging above the unicorn’s line of vision, which was moving up and down ever so slightly.

Elusive also began to hear suckling.

“OOH!” Bubble Berry held up his camera while Applejack covered his muzzle with a hoof and snickered. “One last shot before Blitzie wakes up!”

Click!

Another violent flash of slight assaulted Elusive’s line of vision, but his bloodshot eyes were now wide-open as he looked up in growing horror. It didn’t take long for the stallion to realize what was just over his head, or what that eerie noise was supposed to be. He was seeing Rainbow Blitz’s chin. And while he couldn’t feel his horn yet, the unicorn’s mouth began to gape in the horrific realization of what his passed-out friend was doing to it. Nothing but a mortified creak was able to come out of Elusive’s muzzle.

Blitz was slowly starting to wake up as well, his ears twitching to the sounds of giggling and some weird creaking thing. When his face scrunched in, he felt something hard and vaguely sweet inside of his mouth. It kinda felt like some porcelain figure against his tongue, but tasted like one of those weird candy things that Applejack’s grandpa gave him once. His head pulled back to get whatever that was out of his mouth, and he slowly tried to open his eyes. “Hnnnmmm… Where am…”

As soon as he was able to see, Rainbow Blitz was greeted to the sight of Elusive’s horrified face staring back at him. It was at that moment that the pegasus realized he was still spooned in against him, with a bag of melted pineapple chunks still over his crotch. His eyes slowly widened when he saw Elusive’s horn, which was glistened in a thick coat of saliva.

Saliva which had several lines connected between the horn and Blitz’s lips.

Blitz had the camera in position, just as the two hungover stallions opened their mouths at the same time.

“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!”

Click!

Chapter Eight: Bubble Berry's Bet

After kicking their friends out of the house and giving themselves an intense scrub-down (in separate bathrooms, obviously), Rainbow Blitz left the Carousel Boutique without much hesitation or small talk. Elusive decided to call off practice for the day, telling Blitz that he shouldn’t strain his legs so soon after that split. Of course, both of them knew why the unicorn really didn’t want to be alone with his partner in the same room; but at the same time, neither of them wanted to object after Blitz literally fellated his best friend’s horn in his sleep. The two did agree to practice their next routine first thing the following morning, so they planned to spend their free day as far away from each other as they could.

While Elusive made an emergency visit to the Ponyville Spa for some much needed stress relief, Rainbow Blitz had his sights set on something much more pressing than an impulsive hooficure. Keeping himself just a few feet from the ground, the pegasus flew straight to Sugar Cube Corner with a look of brooding anger growing on his scowling face. By the time he went into the quaint bakery, Blitz looked downright livid when he caught sight of Applejack and Bubble Berry cracking up at one of the back tables.

With freshly-developed photographs in their hooves like oversized playing cards.

Rainbow Blitz’s teeth were gritted in rage as he stormed over to them with red growing across his face. Bubble Berry was the first to notice him, and cluelessly waved him over like it was a tea party. Applejack instantly put his photos down on the table and scooted back like he was expecting a kick to the teeth.“Heya, Blitzie!” piped Berry cheerfully. “How was the cleanup?”

“GIVE. ME. THOSE. PHOTOS.”

Bubble Berry just smiled back at him, both hooves still holding onto his stack. “What’s the secret wooorrrrrrrd?~”

“NOW.”

Applejack put up his hooves and tried to calm his friend down. “Now hold on there, Blitz. We ain’t plannin’ nuthin’ wit’ them pictures. It was just some harmless fun, that’s all.”

“Yeah!” added Bubble with a nod of his head. “I mean, who doesn’t take embarrassing photos of their friends to bring up later? It’s not like we’re sharing them around or anything!”

“THEN WHY DO YOU HAVE THEM OUT--” Blitz quickly cut his words short and looked around, hoping that his outburst didn’t cause any suspicion from other patrons. Fortunately, the only other pony here at this time of day (aside from Mister and Missus Cake who were still in the kitchen) was a dark blue mare who was at the other side of the bakery with headphones on.

“Don’t worry!” assured Berry with a wave of his hoof. “This place is usually suuuuuper slow around this time! I just got them developed in my room, and I wanted to show AJ because they’re really funny!”

Blitz banged the table with both hooves as he glared back at him. “Well, they’re ALSO really damaging if they were to get out!”

“Now wait just a plum-pickin’ minute!” interrupted Applejack with his eyes narrowed on the stunt-pony. “Do ya really think that either of us would spread these around? Especially on purpose? C’mon, man! You should give us a little more credit than that!”

Blitz exhaled through his nostrils and rubbed his temple with a hoof. “Listen… I’m not saying you guys would, alright?” He then put his hoof back down and looked at both of the Earth ponies as his tone turned more serious. “But Elusive and I are already in a pretty tight spot with this competition! Neither of us want our image to be too screwed up from dancing together, and those pictures could be a really big issue! We have enough rumors already, and a single leak of just ONE of those photos could make us a national laughing stock!”

Applejack’s ears began to sink down slowly, matching the look of contemplation that was growing on his face. Bubble Berry looked back at the photos on his hooves, and also at the ones AJ left on the table. “Listen, man,” admitted Applejack in a sincerely apologetic tone, “it was just a joke, okay? If it was switched around so Ah was the one caught doin’ that, then you’d probably be takin’ photos of me suckin’ that horn. Right?”

Rainbow Blitz opened his mouth, but nothing came out when he tried to answer that question. Instead, the pegasus blinked a couple times in thought, realizing that his friend wasn’t wrong. It took a couple seconds before he sighed and shrugged meagerly. “Touchè.”

“I’ll tell you what,” said Bubble Berry as he collected all the photos with a chipper smile still on his muzzle. “I’ll give you alllll these photos back, and you can do whatever you want with them. And I don’t have any other copies, I Bubble Berry Promise.”

Blitz breathed out in relief like he just avoided a positive STD result. “Oh, awesome! Thank you Ber-”

“Buuuuuuut,” interrupted the pink stallion. “You have to beat me at a game first!”

“WHAT?!”

Elusive looked absolutely downtrodden as he left the Ponyville Spa, which was already crowded enough to have a line going out the door. His head and ears were hung low as Butterscotch trotted alongside him. “I’m sorry, Elusive,” muttered the yellow pegasus meekly. “I wouldn’t have thought this place would be so crowded today either.”

“Oh, it’s alright,” Elusive lied. “I just wanted a simple relaxation treatment, but that line isn’t worth it.”

As they walked back through the Ponyville streets, Butterscotch thought about it for a couple seconds before suggesting, “Well, if you want, Day Tripper taught me a little about aromatherapy during our Breezy trip. And I still have some of his incense back at my place.”

Despite Butterscotch’s offer, Elusive looked apprehensive as soon as he heard Day Tripper’s name. He was sure that the stallion was a great friend of Butterscotch’s, but the unicorn also remembered how badly that hippie reeked of filth and what most likely wasn't medicinal herbs. Regardless of whether or not Day Tripper was on a shower strike when he met him, the last thing Elusive wanted was to do any scent-based therapy that came from him.

“W-Well, that’s a generous offer, Butterscotch,” said Elusive genuinely, “but I think a simple walk around town and a bath is all I really need at the moment.” In reality, the unicorn already had three showers that morning, but a proper bath sounded quite nice after desanitizing his horn like a quarantine victim.

“Oh, alright then,” replied the yellow pegasus with a nod back at him. As they walked side-by-side, the two ended up less than a block from Sugar Cube Corner. Butterscotch paused momentarily and bit his lip as he caught the tantalizing aroma of buttery sugar and cinnamon. Elusive looked piqued as well when his friend asked him, “Hey, do you want to get a cinnamon roll? It smells like they got a fresh batch.”

Even though he wanted to stick to his diet, that smell was just too good to ignore. Elusive felt like he had a love/hate relationship with that blasted bakery due to how often it skewed him from his ideal weight. Regardless, the unicorn sighed in defeat and nodded to Butterscotch. “You know what, that sounds really good right now…”

Unfortunately, something else caught Elusive and Butterscotch’s attention when they began to reach the entrance of Sugar Cube Corner. Even with the intoxicating smell, Elusive’s ears perked up with slight dread when he overheard loud chanting coming from inside the bakery. Given how this was usually a slow part of the day for the business, it only makes sense that Bubble Berry was doing something ridiculous to pass the time. However, hearing a bunch of ponies inside yelling “Chug! Chug! Chug!” wasn’t nearly as enticing as cinnamon rolls.

Of course, hearing Blitz’s name mentioned by some of those voices made the unicorn run into the shop faster than any fattening pastry.

Elusive bursted through the doors in a panic, and gasped when he saw what was happening in the middle of the shop. Over a dozen ponies were circled around a table while Rainbow Blitz and Bubble Berry were seated on opposite sides of it. As the crowd continued to chant the words “Chug!” repeatedly, both stallions had their muzzles raised to the ceiling while trying to drink giant bottles of maple syrup. Starshine was standing between the two and watching the levels of their drinks intensely. Berry looked like he was winning with half of his bottle already gone, while the stunt-pony was struggling with a third of the thick mixture down. Meanwhile, Mister and Missus Cake were tending to customers at the register like nothing absurd was going on.

“Oh my goodness!” gasped Butterscotch in a more reserved tone of surprise from behind the enraged unicorn.

“RAINBOW!” shouted Elusive in disappointment like a scolding mother. Blitz continued to try and stomach the mixture, seemingly deaf to his friend’s outburst. The white stallion then looked towards Starshine with a baffled glare on him. “Starshine, what are you doing?! Stop this right now!”

“Hmm?” Starshine caught his friend’s voice and looked to him briefly. By now, Bubble Berry only had a quarter of his syrup bottle left to down while Blitz had just over a third. “Uhhh, can this wait?” asked Starshine while looking between Elusive and the competitors. “They sorta made me the official judge for this.”

Elusive threw his head up with a disgusted huff. But before he could try to do something himself, he felt Applejack’s foreleg wrap around his back. “Oh, stop bein’ so uppity,” said the farm-pony with a nudge against Elusive’s shoulder. “Them two are just drinkin’ to see who gets those pictures back.”

“Wait, what pictures--WHAT?!” Elusive instantly turned to his friend with a furious look like a rabid banshee. “YOU BETTER NOT--”

“FINISHED!” Bubble Berry slammed his empty bottle on the table before Elusive could finish his threat. The crowd cheered as Bubble Berry smiled in victory towards Blitz. Meanwhile, the pegasus put his bottle down and coughed a couple times after drinking almost nine-tenths of its contents. “Sorry, Blitzie!” piped Berry while stuffing a large manilla envelope into his poofy mane. “I won fair and square!”

Rainbow Blitz jumped out of his chair and pushed past the crowd as his face turned an unhealthy shade of green. He ran straight to a nearby waste-basket that was next to Butterscotch, which made the timid pony jolt out of the way fretfully. As soon as Blitz began to hurl into the basket (which was thankfully lined with a plastic bag inside of it), most of the crowd began to groan and cringe at the sounds that were escaping his muzzle.

Even Applejack sucked some air through his teeth with a grossed-out look on his face. “Yeeesh… that much syrup’s gonna be mighty hard to throw up.”

Despite wanting to feel grateful that his friend inadvertently kept him from sabotaging his diet, Elusive was still rather peeved at Blitz as they walked away from the shop empty-hoofed. Rainbow still looked unwell, but his face was back at his normal color while shambling tiredly alongside his friend. The unicorn wanted to feel bad for how sick he looked, but his glare remained as he muttered bitterly, “I seriously can not believe you did that, Blitz.”

“Ugh, me neither,” groaned the pegasus with his muzzle pointed to the dirt road as he walked. “I don’t think I can eat waffles for a while.”

“Well, I certainly can't blame you for that,” replied Elusive in reluctant agreement. Another brief moment passed before he huffed through his nostrils angrily. “But really, what was going through your head when you agreed to do that?!”

“Oh, I dunno,” said Blitz as he raised his head and answered with a sarcastic, “maybe I was thinking ‘I really need to get those photos from Bubble Berry’!? Maybe I did it to save our asses from being on the front page of any more tabloids?!”

Elusive closed his eyes and sighed. “Yes, Rainbow. I am fully aware of why you did that.”

“Then what’s the point of asking me then?!” snapped Bliz with a sharp stare back at him.

Despite his friend’s point, Elusive pertly replied, “What I’m trying to fathom is why in Equestria you thought you could win in a bet like that against Bubble Berry! I mean, a maple syrup drinking contest?! Really?!? That’s like when you challenged Dusk Shine to that quiz bowl!”

“Hey, it was sports trivia! How was I supposed to know he knew all that stuff?!” Not wanting to be reminded of that embarrassing night (or the week he spent helping Barb clean the castle as payment of that bet), Blitz sighed disheartedly with his ears lowered. “But… yeah, I should’ve picked a more even playing field against Berry.”

After a few seconds of silence, Elusive decided to admit feebly. “Well… you did drink an impressive amount in the time given. I certainly couldn’t have done that.”

“Heh, it’d be funny as buck if you tried, though.” Even though he tried to give a smile to his friend, it was short-lived on Blitz’s face when he saw his comment didn't cheer the unicorn up. He looked away from him and added after a long exhale, “Look, I know that was a stupid plan, alright? You know I had a good reason for at least trying.”

“Yes, you certainly did,” said Elusive with a roll of his eyes, “but I really don’t think Bubble Berry is the kind of stallion to hold onto those photos for blackmail material. He might make a joke or two, but the last thing he’d ever do is try to sell them to PMZ or anything.”

“Yeah, that’s true.” He then added after looking back at Elusive, “And he’d probably get at least ten grand for just one of those pics of us.”

“You know, I’d rather not think about that right now.” With his muzzle wrinkled in distaste, the unicorn began rubbing his horn with a hoof as he contemplated taking a fourth shower. Blitz bit his lip and turned his head away with a blush. Before either of them could say anything else, the sound of Berry’s hopping rang through their ears with increasingly notable “Boing!” noises.

Bubble Berry made one final hop over the two stallions and landed in front of them with a big smile. “Hey guys!” he shouted giddily. “Now before I say anything else, I put those photos of you two in my party cave, so nopony will be able to see them but us!”

Despite trying to be comforting, that assurance only gave Bubble Berry a couple of flat stares from his friends. Alas, the pink pony paid no heed to their looks as he pulled a small notebook from his mane and handed it to Elusive. “And as for you,” he added with emphasis on the unicorn, “here’s a list of songs you guys can choose from for your next set! I’m really excited to see which one you guys will do in Baltimare!”

“Wait, what are you talking about?” asked Elusive with a confused look on Berry. Meanwhile Rainbow Blitz’s eyes widened briefly before he tried to slowly step away from his friend.

“Oh, he didn’t tell you?” Bubble Berry blinked a couple times in puzzlement. “Blitz agreed that if he lost the bet, that I would choose your guys’ next song!”

Elusive’s gaze immediately shot back at Blitz with a glare nasty enough to make milk curdle. Rainbow tried to laugh with a nervous smile on his face as his wings unfurled. “Uhhh… heh heh heh… I think I’m feeling a lot better now, soooo… I’m gonna go check on Armour okaySEEYA!!!”

And with that, the pegasus shot off into the skies like a rocket. After a seething breath that came out through his gritted teeth, Elusive snatched the notebook from Bubble Berry’s hoof like he was left with an expensive restaurant bill. “Don’t worry, I got a bunch of songs for you to choose from on that!” said Berry in a more optimistic voice. “Blitzie told me that you have to approve of them anyway..”

Elusive looked back at Bubble briefly with a twitching eye as he tried to “smile” with his gritted teeth showing. “Thank you, Berry…” He then began to flip through the notebook, seeing what song choices his friend picked for the two to perform at Baltimare with. With his mind still reeling in anger, the unicorn’s brows slowly raised when he saw what songs his friend picked out. They were all fairly energetic, with the majority being pop-based (which was to be expected). They were also songs that Rainbow Blitz would never agree to do outside of a lost bet. Elusive’s eyes began to widen, realizing that Berry's choices actually weren’t that bad. They might be a bit embarrassing for Blitz to perform with, but Elusive knew he wouldn’t back down from a bet against Bubble Berry of all ponies; plus, these choices weren’t nearly half as demeaning as being photographed violating a friend’s horn…

After a while, the unicorn began to smile to himself with a hint of mischief on his lips. He looked back at Bubble with a less cynical expression on his face as he said, “You know what? I think you might be onto something with this…”

“OOH!” Stars appeared in Berry’s eyes as he beamed with excitement. “Do you have a song picked already?!”

“Not yet,” clarified Elusive devilishly, “but rest assured, you’re going to see something fabulous in Baltimare!”

Author's Note

Ooh, what song choice of Bubble Berry's is going to be used for #BlitzLusive? Make your choice in the comments from the list below:

Sexy And I Know It - LMFAO
Barbie Girl - Aqua
Die Young - Ke$ha
Party Hard - Andrew W.K.
Firework - Katy Perry
The Spectacle - Countess Coloratura
Wannabe - The Spice Girls
Froot - Marina and the Diamonds

Chapter Nine: A New Opponent

With the Baltimare Regional Round of the ENDC only a day away, the train from Ponyville was chugging along the tracks at a comfortable speed to make it to the city by nightfall. Elusive and Rainbow Blitz were comfortably seated in one of the higher class cars near the rear of the train, which had much wider bench seats and more amenities than the basic travel cars. Even though the two could've easily taken a deluxe train to their destination due to their royal status, it was one of those things that the Elements of Harmony rarely ever used, if at all. Fortunately though, the two stallions were seated near the back of the car while the few other passengers were up at the front.

Elusive had his horn lit while holding up a piece of neon pink fabric in his blue aura. With a thread and needle poking through the material with utmost precision, the unicorn had his tongue out in concentration as he made the last few stitches on the garment for their costumes. Meanwhile, Blitz had his forelegs crossed as he looked away from his friend with a bitter pout. Even though Elusive didn’t like his friend’s attitude, it’s been going on long enough for him to ignore it during their train ride. After getting the final stitches tied up, the white stallion smiled in satisfaction at his work. “Voila! It’s finally finished!”

While putting the final costume piece into his luggage case with the others, Elusive overheard his friend mumble sarcastically, “Oh, that’s just great…”

The unicorn huffed as he zipped up his case before looking back at him. “You know, you should be thankful that I decided not to add glitter to our garments at the last minute.”

Blitz’s glare intensified as he turned to look at Elusive wide-eyed. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Try me,” he replied with a coy smirk on his muzzle. Elusive then turned away to grab his portable mirror and mane-brush from his travel bag. “Honestly, I wish you would stop moping about it already. It’s only one song, Blitz! And it’s not even a bad one! I’m still giving you free reign on all the other songs for this competition -- which is not easy for me to agree with, I might add!”

While the unicorn began brushing his mane to make sure there weren’t any knots, Blitz rolled his eyes with an unenthusiastic groan. “Yeah, that is if we’re able to actually do any more songs after this one!”

“Oh, don’t be such a sour grape!” chastised the unicorn while keeping his sights on his mirror. “Despite your feelings about Bubble Berry’s musical tastes, I do think that the songs he picked are far more presentable than anything from your collection. Furthermore, the one I approved will go perfect with our routine, so we’ll be sure to dazzle the judges tomorrow!”

Even with Elusive’s optimistic smile back at him, all that Blitz could give the unicorn was a flat stare of unamusement. “Dude. I do NOT dazzle.”

“Well you’re going to dazzle tomorrow whether you like it or not,” threatened Elusive with his eyes narrowed on him, “and I would highly recommend smiling when doing so.”

That last detail just made Blitz’s pout sour up even more. Fortunately, any tension between the two was broken when three new ponies entered the train car. Twinkle Toes, who came in with two stallions behind her, ran up to Blitz and Elusive excitedly. “Hey guys!” she shouted with a big smile on her face. “There’s a big buffet happening in the snack car! They have a taco bar!”

“Taco bar?” Rainbow Blitz’s ears raised up with great interest, making him look like Elusive’s cat when catching the scent of catnip. Before he could rush out to see for himself, the pegasus was stopped by Elusive’s foreleg that came out across his chest.

“Ah, ah, ahhhh,” chimed the unicorn daintily enough to make Blitz’s bitter face reappear. “We’re sticking to our diet, remember? I already made us salad wraps to enjoy on the train.”

Rainbow growled with a sneer in response, but didn’t say anything audible while Elusive looked through one of his other travel cases for their lunch. Even though Elusive wasn’t a bad cook by any means, Blitz was really getting pissed at how strict his diet regiment was. Even trying to add some hot sauce to anything was enough to make the unicorn give him a raised brow like he was being judged. Twinkle seemed to notice how the pegasus looked, and rolled her eyes as she tried to change Elusive’s mind. “Oh, come on! I’m sure Blitz can burn off any calories those tacos have!”

“I’m sorry, Twinkle Toes,” began the unicorn as he pulled out a couple of tupperware bowls from his luggage, “but that was one of the conditions Rainbow Blitz agreed to when he agreed to be my dancing partner. I chose his diet and exercise, and he got to choose the music.”

Rainbow narrowed his eyes on him and retorted, “Yeah, but I didn’t choose the music this time, did I?”

“No,” answered Elusive dutifully before handing him his lunch, “but that was because you lost a bet with Bubble Berry. So to quote that ridiculous tank-top you still keep in your closet, ‘Deal With It.’”

Another growl came out from Blitz’s pursed lips. Before Twinkle Toes could start to sense the tension between them, she was nudged from behind by the yellow unicorn with a blue mane who came in with her. “It’s alright, sweetie,” he said with a casual smile on his thin muzzle. “If they don’t want to break their diet, they shouldn’t be forced to. Not everypony has a metabolism like yours.”

Elusive and Blitz both took notice of the tall stallion, figuring that he was Twinkle’s father. However, the other stallion with a shorter and stockier build (as well as a shaggy salt-and-pepper mane) came up to the filly’s other side. “Yeah, you should see how this kid eats!” he said towards the other couple. “I swear, Twinkle Toes has a bottomless pit in her stomach sometimes.”

“Pop, come on!” groaned Twinkle with an embarrassed blush away from the white earth pony. Even though she tried to look upset, there was a clear hint of a smile on her wrinkled muzzle.

“Oh, honey,” said the yellow stallion towards the other while motioning towards Elusive and Blitz, “we should probably introduce ourselves.” He then held out his hoof for the two to shake while carrying a cheerful smile. “We’re Twinkle Toes’ parents. I’m Press Bar, and he’s Curtain Call. It’s a pleasure to meet you guys.”

“Oh!” Elusive smiled right back at the two as he shook their hooves with no hesitation. “Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you both as well.”

Rainbow Blitz did the same, but he looked a little more surprised about the parents than his friend did. Nevertheless, he didn’t say anything about it when he heard Elusive ask, “So, you two are chaperoning for Twinkle Toes and Apple Buck this weekend?”

“Pretty much, yeah,” answered Curtain Call with a shrug. “We booked a double suite for us and Twinkle anyway, so it wasn’t any issue when the Apples asked us to watch him.”

“Oh, right…” Remembering that Zap Apple season just begun a couple days before, Elusive’s ears lowered sadly. “I hope he’s going to be alright performing without his family attending.”

“Yeah, I hope so too,” said Press Bar while rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. “After all that balance training I gave him, I’d hate to think of something like this affecting him.”

Even though Twinkle Toes looked upset as well, she added in a more optimistic voice, “Well, Silver Bell and Scootaroll promised to see him tomorrow at the show, so maybe that’ll help.”

Elusive smiled at that reminder, remembering that his own parents were going to be attending as well. Meanwhile, Blitz asked curiously, “Wait, where is he now?”

Curtain Call replied, “Back in the sleeper car. The little guy must’ve been doing as many chores as he could on that farm to help ease the load before he had to leave.”

Press Bar looked back at the front of the train car for a brief second before asking his daughter, “Hey Twinkle, how about you go check on him, huh? We’ll be back at the snack car in a few minutes.”

“Alright, Daddy.” After giving both of her Dads kisses on the cheek, the filly happily trotted off to check on the colt. Meanwhile, the two stallions sat down on the bench opposite of Elusive and Rainbow Blitz. Elusive blinked a couple times as he stared at the white stallion curiously.

“Correct me if I’m wrong,” began Elusive with a raised brow towards Curtain Call, “but I could’ve sworn I met you somewhere before.”

The earth pony huffed with a smirk back at him. “Well, I believe that was back in Manehattan when you offered to make all the costumes for a show I was managing, only to hand it off to somepony else at the last second.”

Elusive’s eyes widened as a look of worry immediately swept across his face. Meanwhile, Rainbow Blitz’s eyes widened when he asked, “Wait a minute! You were managing Hinny of the Hills?!”

“Mmhmm,” beamed the stallion with a look of pride. He also made sure to add for Elusive’s sake, “And just for the record, I’m not upset about your friend giving that job to Cocoa Cantle. He did a fantastic job!”

Elusive sighed out in a brief bout of relief, but that was short-lived before hearing Press Bar say, “Although you should’ve seen how he was acting before seeing Cocoa’s work. I mean, oooohhhhh! He was maaaad!”

“Honey!” snapped Curtain towards his husband.

“What? You were! I’m actually kinda surprised you didn’t take a swing at Elusive.”

“W-Well, the past is in the past,” interrupted Elusive in a hasty tone. “I-I don’t think we need t-to bring up past discrepancies about that weekend.”

“Yeah,” said Blitz in agreement while smirking at his friend. “Especially since that wasn’t the biggest dick-move he pulled during that trip.”

“HEY!”

Both stallions chuckled at that reaction, which left Elusive to sit with a pout pointed at his friend. Rainbow Blitz laughed a little as well while getting his salad wrap. “I swear,” he began while opening his tupperware bowl, “sometimes it’s really easy to press Elusive’s buttons.”

While Blitz ignored the nasty glare his dancing partner was giving him, Curtain Call responded with a roll of his eyes, “Oh, you think you know his buttons now? Just wait until you two get married!”

Curtain and Press Bar laughed at that observation, and Blitz almost dropped his bowl as he put out a hoof to stop the two. “W-Whoa, whoa, wait a minute!”

The two stopped giggling when they saw the frazzled look the pegasus had on them. Elusive leaned in to speak on Blit’z behalf. “Umm, gentlemen?” he said in a more polite tone of voice. “Rainbow Blitz and I are just friends. There isn’t anything more than that happening off the dance floor.”

“O-Oh!” Press Bar had a hoof up to his chest as he blushed guiltily. “I-I’m sorry, guys. We didn’t mean to assume anything.”

Curtain Call had his head tilted as he peered at the two with narrowed eyes. “Wait, really?” he asked rather bluntly. After seeing how quickly Rainbow Blitz’s expression soured towards him, the stallion huffed with a surprised smile. “Wow, I guess those Element things aren’t just for show!”

Elusive and Blitz both rolled their eyes while the pony chuckled to himself. Curtain’s husband nudged him warningly and said to the dancers, “I’m sorry, guys. He doesn’t exactly have a filter between his brain and his muzzle.”

“No, it’s alright,” assured Elusive. “Believe me, we’ve gotten more than our fair share of assumptions from ponies because of us competing together. And being Elements doesn’t exactly help either.”

Rainbow Blitz just growled under his breath and leaned his head back to brood up at the ceiling. Curtain Call took a breath to settle down and said sympathetically, “Well, if it means anything to you guys, we totally respect you two having the guts to do this kind of competition together! Most ponies wouldn’t have gone through with being the first for this sort of thing, you know?”

“Yes, we’re aware of that,” replied Elusive with a smile back at him, “but it does mean a lot to hear we’re being respected for it.”

“Oh, it’s not just that,” added Press Bar with a smile and his brows raised. “You guys are getting a lot of buzz in the gay communities for doing this! All of our friends are talking about it like crazy!”

“Yeah!” added Curtain Call, “Heck, a lot of my friends weren’t even fans of the EDNC before hearing you two were competing as a couple! I mean, they’re obviously rooting for our daughter more, but you two are still getting a lot of positive press outside of those papers.”

While Rainbow Blitz sighed without putting his head down, Elusive had a much more grateful smile on his muzzle as he nodded to the couple. “Well, I certainly appreciate hearing that. And if I wasn’t competing myself, I’d most definitely be rooting for Twinkle Toes as well.”

The door at the front of the train car opened again, and Twinkle Toes ran in with a portable radio on her back. “Guys, GUYS!” she shouted frantically. “They’re gonna talk about us on the radio!”

That got Blitz’s attention enough to make him pull his head back down. “Wait what?!”

Apple Buck groggily entered the train car as well, rubbing his eyes with a hoof as he shambled over to the others like a zombie. “Mrrrrgh… why’d ya take the radio for?”

Twinkle Toes was adjusting the antenna, and got the signal back up by the time her partner came up beside her to listen in. The static slowly went away as a stallion’s voice came in through the speaker. “... to Baltimare Talk Radio, everypony! I’m Watergate, and joining me as always are Static Fuzz and Coffee Break.”

The voices of another stallion and a mare came in to give a happy “Hello!” and “Hi there!” Twinkle Toes sat in between her Dads with the radio in her lap, while Apple Buck slumped in between Blitz and Elusive. Blitz started to eat his wrap as they listened in.

“Alright, as we all know, the Equestrian National Dance Competition is holding one of its Regional rounds right here in town tomorrow! What are your guys’ thoughts on this?”

“Honestly, I barely ever paid attention to the competition until this year.”

“I was always more off and on when it came to it. But I gotta say, it got my interest now!”

“Well, I think a lot of ponies would have to agree with you there! It seems like there’s been a lot of press about it ever since some of the competition was announced for regionals.”

“Well, I wouldn’t exactly say I’m too surprised.”

“Although to be fair, it’s not like there’s ONLY one couple to talk about nowadays.”

“Ooh, who should we talk about first?!”

“I just wanna say, those kids from the Ponyville round were sooooo adorable! Did you guys see them?”

While a round of “Dawws” came in from the speakers, both Twinkle Toes and Apple Buck blushed a little while looking at each other. Twinkle’s Dads both nuzzled her affectionately.

“I swear, those two are gonna be hard to beat! I saw a recording of their dance through my unicorn friend, and they did a great job!”

“Didn’t they actually win first in that round?”

“They did! And they totally deserved it in my opinion! Those kids are going places!”

“Honestly, with the chemistry those two had, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re a couple.”

Apple Buck’s tired eyes shot wide open after hearing that quip, along with the laughter from the DJs. Twinkle Toes averted her eyes from her partner as her face grew a very deep shade of red. Meanwhile, all the adults tried their hardest not to snicker at their reactions. Of course, Elusive and Blitz were the first to stop laughing when they heard the main DJ add cheekily:

“Speaking of dancers who might be couples…”

“Oh, come on, man!”

“Let me guess. You’re going to bring up the elephant in the room?”

“Well, the fact that two stallions are competing is a pretty big elephant!”

“Okay guys, come on! I think it’s really sweet that those two are competing together. They’re also Elements of Harmony, so maybe it’s just an example of their friendship. Plus, they actually got second in the Ponyville preliminaries.”

“I have to agree with her there. Those two were really good!”

“I’m just saying, this whole thing smells kinda fishy to me!”

“Fishy?”

“I mean, think about it! The ENDC hasn’t exactly been the most popular thing for ponies to attend since the Hoofingtons retired. But now that two guys are dancing together, who are ALSO big names in Equestria who have connections with Solaris, ticket vendors are selling out on seats in a matter of hours! If you ask me, I think it’s a big publicity stunt.”

“Oh, don’t go there, Watergate!”

“Do I need to get your tin-foil helmet again?”

“I’m just saying, it’s all very coincidental! I don’t think this is a big ‘gay rights’ thing more than it is a giant ploy to sell seats! If it was a guy and a girl who happened to be Elements that joined, there wouldn’t be nearly as much attention on this!”

“Well, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with two guys dancing. I don’t know if they’re gonna win, but that’s just because of the competition. NOT because of their genders!”

“And to add to that, I’d be worried for ANY couple who’s going up against the Hoofingtons this year.”

“Wait, what?!”

“What, you guys didn’t know? They actually came out of retirement this year!”

“WHAT?!” Elusive, Twinkle Toes, and her parents all shouted in shared shock. Meanwhile, Rainbow Blitz and Apple Buck just stared at the group in confusion.

“Ummm… who are--”

“SHHHH!!!” hissed all four of them before Blitz could finish his question. Meanwhile, the radio broadcast continued:

“No way, really?!”

“I swear to Solaris, it’s true! They actually won first in the Crystal Empire Preliminaries!”

“Well, isn’t THAT a big shock.”

“So wait, they’re actually going up against Blitz and Elusive? Because if so, those guys are gonna get slaughtered!”

“Hey, who knows? Technically speaking, they dealt with a LOT worse.”

“But still, I wouldn’t put my bets on those two. If Derek and Julianne Hoofington are really back in this, I won’t be surprised if it’s their sixth win!”

“Oh, I feel so bad for those kids now!”

That was when Press Bar turned off the radio. “Okay, I think that’s enough for now.”

Curtain Call put a hoof around his daughter, who now looked a lot sadder than she did before. Elusive looked worried as well with a fretful twitch of his muzzle. Meanwhile, Apple Buck looked around before asking, “Alright, can somepony please tell me what the big deal is?”

“Well,” began Curtain Call with an awkward roll of his eyes, “Derek and Julianne Hoofington are one of the biggest couples the ENDC ever had.”

Elusive sighed disheartedly and added, “One of the biggest?! They won five years in a ROW! There was actually a petition to make them stop because it seemed like nopony else had a chance.”

Rainbow Blitz whistled to himself. “Dang, that’s a lot of prize money.”

“Yeah, it is,” said Press Bar with a sigh. “They actually retired early and opened up a Crystal Berry winery a couple years ago. I can’t believe they’re actually coming back!”

“Well, I doubt that they’re doing it for the money.” Elusive slumped against the window of the train as his saddened look increased with each passing second. “Oh… I can’t believe this is happening…”

Rainbow Blitz took notice of how his friend was looking, but had no idea what he could do or say to cheer him up. While he may have known nothing about those Hoofington ponies, they had to have been pretty good to get Elusive this worked up. For the first time since they started, Blitz could actually see that the unicorn was looking worried.

Twinkle Toes looked distraught as well as she hung her lead low while between her parents. Apple Buck bit his lip before reaching forward to put a hoof on her shoulder. “Hey, come on, Twinkle,” he said while giving her a compassionate smile. “It ain’t the end of the world. Ah mean, if ponies really tried to get them to stop before, then maybe the judges won’t be too happy to see them again.”

Blitz decided to add to the colt’s comment with a smile of his own. “I think Buck has a point there. Plus, if they’ve been busy with a winery for the past few years, I doubt they’ve been keeping up with practice. Maybe they’ll be rusty.”

Twinkle huffed with a pout. “They JUST said they won first in the Crystal Empire!”

“So?” asked Apple Buck with his hooves raised. “Maybe everypony else stunk! Remember how bad some of the ponies we competed against were?”

Twinkle just exhaled with her forelegs crossed, averting her eyes from her partner. Blitz looked between her and Elusive, not liking how upset both of them looked at this news. He eventually rolled his eyes and bluntly proclaimed, “Oh, come on, guys! Are you two seriously gonna get so hung up on a couple of good dancers?! This is a competition, remember? There’s going to be good dancers besides us no matter what!”

Press Bar shrugged and nudged his daughter before saying, “He kinda has a point there, sweetie.”

“Besides,” continued Blitz as his tone became more confident with each passing word, “do you guys really think we should give up after one round?! We won first and second placein Ponyville, for bu--umm... for crying out loud! We were both underdog teams there, and we kicked major butt! If we can dance our way to Baltimare, then we can certainly make it to the end! If we don’t put in our best now, then when will we ever get another chance?!”

Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes, along with her parents, all seemed rather surprised and impressed by Blitz’s tangent. It may have been a bit clichèd, but he certainly wasn’t wrong either. The pegasus turned his attention towards Elusive, who still seemed apprehensive while looking out the window. “Dude, come on,” said Rainbow earnestly, “we’ve saved Equestria like, over half a dozen times. Those DJs were right about us dealing with way worse stuff. Do you really think that some fruity dance couple is too much for us to handle?”

It took a few seconds, but Elusive eventually breathed out slowly before looking back at his friend. There was still a clear sheen of worry in his eyes, but he still gave a slight smile as he replied back to Blitz, “Well… I suppose it would be silly to feel overwhelmed now, wouldn’t it?”

That made Blitz smile and punch the unicorn on the shoulder lightly. “That’s what I like to hear!”

However, as soon as he looked back ahead of him, Blitz’s smile dropped when he saw the flat stares Press Bar and Curtain Call were giving him. Curtain was the first to ask condescendingly, “Fruity?”

Blitz instantly regretted that choice of an adjective. While Elusive tried not to chuckle at his friend’s mistake, Rainbow grew a worried smile while tapping his hooves together. “Uhhh, heh heh heh… I... meant it in a different way?”

The stallions sighed with matching rolled eyes and got out of their seats. “Well, whatever you may have meant,” said Press Bar as he took Twinkle with him, “I think we’re gonna get us some lunch.” With that, Press Bar and Curtain call began to exit the train car.

“Ooh! Wait for me!” Even though Apple Buck was still obviously tired, it was clear that hunger was overtaking any fatigue he may have had. He quickly hopped off his seat and ran off after them, leaving Elusive and Blitz alone at their seats once more.

“Well, that was awkward,” Blitz muttered in embarrassment.

"Oh, don't worry about that." Elusive's smile was more relaxed as he finally went to eat his lunch. "At least you cheered me up."

Chapter Ten: Breaking Expectations

After an arduous night of practice, Rainbow Blitz was honestly surprised that he woke up so early the following morning. Wonderbolt Training might be more intense than Elusive’s dance lessons, but Flamethrower’s routines were something Blitz was used to doing. Plus, getting precise hoofwork nailed down is immensely harder for somepony who spends most of his time in the air as opposed to on the ground. But despite his difficulties with learning every step, Blitz was hopeful that he had his cha-cha-cha routine with Elusive nailed down.

Unlike the Ponyville competition, Elusive and Blitz actually had their own dressing room this time. Since the Baltimare Grand Theater was fairly old, the two could hear the low rumbling of hoofsteps through the walls as ponies went in and out of the main auditorium. Fortunately, most of that noise was drowned out by the ventilation fan that was humming at full blast from the ceiling. While Elusive used a comb and a can of hairspray to tend to his partner’s technicolor mane, Rainbow Blitz was growing antsier by the second while staying perched in his chair.

“Urgh, come ooooooonnnn!!!” groaned Blitz like an impatient colt as he struggled to keep still in his seat for his friend. “Just stop already! I’ve been sitting in this chair for like, over half an hour!”

“Well, it’s not my fault that your mane is such a pain to deal with!” Despite his calm demeanor, Elusive felt like he was reaching his breaking point in regards to Blitz’s mane. He always thought that the pegasus kept his rainbow mane in precise spikes through a copious amount of hair gel or sprays; however, it now seemed that Blitz’s mane was just naturally styled that way. It didn’t matter what Elusive did to try to brush or mat down Blitz’s hair, since it usually just came back up like nothing was done to it.

Even after using over half a can of hairspray to hold it down, Rainbow’s spikes just shot back up with a cartoonish “boing” that made the unicorn almost tear at his own mane. “Oh for crying out loud!” yelled Elusive in exasperation. “What in Equestria is in your hair?! I haven’t had this much trouble with styling since Bubble Berry!”

“That’s what I tried to tell you, dude!” chastised the pegasus with a roll of his eyes. “My mane is just always like this! Butterscotch says I have ‘Manga Protagonist’ hair, whatever that means.”

“Honestly, I think I might have to believe him on this one.” With a bitter huff, Elusive just gave up and tossed the can in the wastebin. “I’m sorry Blitz. I should’ve listened to you.”

“Eh, whatever,” mumbled Rainbow as he hopped off his chair and stretched out his legs. “At least you didn’t try to put makeup on me.”

“Oh, I almost forgot about doing tha--”

“NO!”

Elusive flinched for a brief second and glared at his friend. But before the unicorn could say anything, Blitz added while pointing at him, “It’s bad enough you’re making me dance to a pop song, AND wear a friggin' pink shirt! I’m not wearing makeup, dude!”

Elusive rolled his eyes and clarified, “Blitz, it’ll just be a small bit of foundation to bring out your coat. And as for the shirt, I know for a fact that you have more than one pink tank-top in your closet!”

“Okay, one: those shirts are for partying! Not for dancing! And two: how many times have you rooted around in my friggin closet?!”

“Only once, but there’s nothing wrong with being observant.” Despite his friend’s sour attitude, Elusive kept his tone more subdued after a quick exhale. “You know what? Maybe we need to stretch our legs a bit outside of this room. Even with the fan, I’d hate to be inhaling remnants of hairspray for too long.”

“Now that I can agree on,” sighed Blitz in relief as he headed for the door first. “Plus, I bet that refreshment table is refilled by now.”

“Rainbow Blitz, what have I told you about our diet?!”

“I was just gonna get a Red Manticore, jeez!” As he exited the dressing room, the pegasus grabbed a towel and his body wash, and kept himself from muttering anything under his breath at the risk of his friend overhearing it. Instead, he just trotted down the narrow hallway with a low and uncomfortable sigh. His muzzle wrinkled as the stench of hairspray permeated on his fur and mane like some shitty cologne he’d avoid at the mall. Not wanting that stench to wreck his sinuses, the pegasus made a beeline towards a nearby shower room to clean up.

Fortunately, he was the only pony inside when he went to the back stall. Due to his time in Wonderbolt training, he was able to get himself fully cleaned in less than a minute flat. Even with all the hairspray that Elusive doused into his mane to keep it matted down, there was literally no difference to its volume or shape after Blitz cleaned it thoroughly. After turning off his shower, he was just about to exit the stall when he overheard the door to the shower room open.

“Oh man!” groaned a stallion’s voice while trotting over to the row of sinks by the front wall. Even with the sound of water running, Blitz could overhear a second set of hoofsteps following the first stallion that added, “The stage manager is gonna flip when he sees how much the schedule has to be changed!”

“Well, could you blame him if he did?” asked the other stallion Blitz could overhear. “It’s really shitty for a team to just up and quit less than an hour before the show! Rescheduling all the acts is gonna be a nightmare for sure!”

“Eh, I’m sure he can manage it. We’ve dealt with worse.”

“Yeah, we have, but it’s still pretty bad.”

“Did they give a reason?”

“What, the couple? I don’t think so. They just said they didn’t want to compete.”

“Do you think it’s because of those Hoofington ponies?”

“Honestly, I don’t. I saw the two talking with them a while ago, and they looked really happy!”

“Then what else could it be? It seems stupid to give up at regionals.”

“Well, I… I think it might be because of those two stallions competing.”

Blitz reeled back from the wall of the shower he was listening through with a look of confusion and slight offense. But still, he could hear the stallions continue to chat.

“Wait, what?! Why would THAT be?”

“Hey, it’s just a theory, alright? It’s the only reason I could think of.”

“But why?”

“Well, when I was getting the light bulbs set up on the rafters this morning, I saw the two arguing with the stage director near the front door. I couldn’t hear them, but they seemed pissed about something. I also saw those two guys nearby, and the mare was pointing at them while yelling something.”

“So… what? They didn’t want to compete against two guys?”

“Who knows? They were the second-oldest couple competing, so it’d make sense if they were homophobic.”

“Hmmm… I guess that makes sense.”

“Again, it’s just a theory. I have no idea why they quit, but I do NOT want to be around when the manager flips his lid!”

“Hey, I don’t blame you. I just hope this doesn’t keep happening because of those two.”

“Or the Hoofingtons! Seriously, those two kinda feel like the black sheep of this competition right now.”

“Hey, come on! What did I tell you about using that term?! My cousin is a sheep, remember?”

“Only by marriage!”

After the other stallion groaned, the sink was turned off and the two left the room. Meanwhile, Blitz just stood half-soaked by himself, his muzzle skewed as he let that new info sink in. He didn’t want to overthink things too badly, but it was hard not to let a conversation like that pass by without a little thought involved. When that discussion is also combined with the banter Blitz heard on the radio, along with all the tabloids talking about him and Elusive since they started, everything just started to feel like a giant weight that was trying to push down on the stunt-pony’s back with no release.

“Ugh!” After grabbing his towel and drying himself off, Blitz tried his hardest to keep his mind off all that bullshit. When he left the shower room and walked back down the hallway, the pegasus muttered to himself bitterly on his way back to the dressing room. “I swear, I thought all this crap was going to be behind me AFTER high school! Stupid bucking papers...” After throwing his items back in the dressing room with no care where they landed, Blitz had his teeth gritted in simmering anger as he made his way towards the backstage area.

Much like the Ponyville round, most of the dancers were scattered around the open space that was away from the stage or audience. While crew ponies scuttled past them to make sure all the technical aspects of the show were adequate, the couples tried to focus on their stretches or step rehearsals while staying in their own spaces. Since the refreshment table was at the very back of the darkened room, Blitz had to walk past a lot of the ponies to get himself an energy drink. Unfortunately, that meant he also had to overhear more than a few mutters from other dancers, which he knew were about him and Elusive.

By the time he reached the table and grabbed a can of Red Manticore from the large bowl of ice at the end, Blitz’s expression went from tired and slightly annoyed to just plain upset. While he couldn’t blame some of the other dancers for talking about two stallions dancing, he wished they would be a little more subtle about it. Ignoring the murmurs and whispers he was overhearing, Blitz chugged down the entirety of his can in hopes of bringing his energy back to normal levels. But even after finishing and tossing the can in the trash, the pegasus could’ve sworn that their whispers were getting louder.

He was just about to snap when he felt a hoof poke at his shoulder. A stallion’s voice asked, “Umm, are you Rainbow Bl--”

“Yeah, I’M the guy, what of it!?” yelled Blitz as he whipped his head around to glare at whoever tried to talk to him. However, he was taken aback a little when he saw that the two ponies who came up to him jolted in surprise and worry. The mare and stallion were both unicorns with tall and thin builds, and looked nearly identical with matching tan coats and blonde manes. Blitz also noticed that the two looked fairly chipper in the split second before he snapped at them. Realizing his mistake, the pegasus sighed in guilt and put his hoof out apologetically. “Uhhh, sorry about that. I’m just a bit stressed. But yeah, I’m Rainbow Blitz.”

Both ponies seemed alright with that response, and the stallion shook Blitz’s hoof first with his pearly whites showing. “Hey, it’s no problem! My sis and I know all about stress before these things. My name’s Derek, and this is Julianne.”

“Oh, that’s right!” Blitz’s brows raised in surprise as he shook Julianne’s hoof as well. “Yeah, I just heard about you two on the radio yesterday! You guys are the Hoofingtons, right?”

“Yes we are!” answered Julianne with a smile identical to her brother’s. “Honestly, it’s nice to talk to somepony who didn’t instantly recognize us. I was starting to think we freaked out everypony competing today.”

“Eh, it kinda helps that I never paid attention to any of this competitive dancing stuff before signing up,” admitted Rainbow. “The biggest reason I’m doing this is because Elusive needed somepony to take his original partner’s place.”

“Wait, really?” asked Julianne with genuine surprise in her voice. “So like, you never had any dance training before this?”

“What, do I look like somepony who’d do this on his own?” With one of his brows raised while motioning to himself, Blitz hoped that the siblings would see that he wasn’t the most fitting pony in the room. However, Derek and Julianne just tilted their heads and shrugged in unison.

“Honestly, you would’ve fooled me!” said Derek with an impressed smile on his muzzle. “We actually watched a recording of you and Elusive’s routine, and it was really solid! I would’ve never guessed you were such a natural!”

“Yeah, it’s no surprise to either of us that you guys got such high scores!” added Julianne cheekily. “Especially with that ending split at the end!”

Blitz’s hind legs twitched uncomfortably at that unneeded reminder. The pegasus bit his lip and tried to conceal his shudder while he nodded uncomfortably. “Y-Yeah… That was a bit of a… surprise.”

While the pegasus looked away and tried to push that bitter reminder out of his mind, Julianne said with a sincere smile, “Well, it really is great talking with somepony who isn’t automatically intimidated by us. We tried talking to those two kids earlier, and I think we accidentally scared them.”

Derek scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “Yeah… I heard that one couple actually quit this morning. Julie here thinks it’s because of us, but I don’t want to think we can actually have that effect on other dancers.”

“Well,” replied Blitz with an honest shrug, “winning five years in a row can do that...”

Julianne nodded with a bit lip, looking a bit apprehensive while looking around the room. When Blitz shot a glance, he saw that a few of the other dancers quickly turned their heads away like they didn’t want to be caught staring. Even though he could understand why the rest of the competition would be worried, the pegasus didn’t want to be unhinged by a single couple.

That was when he decided to add optimistically, “But hey! I don’t think a bunch of wins should keep other ponies from at least trying! Some ponies can just easily be intimidated by ponies they heard of, that’s all. It’s not like Elusive and I don’t understand.”

“Oh, definitely,” said Derek with a wave of his hoof. “I guess you would know that, what with being an Element and all.”

“AND a Wonderbolt!” added Blitz insistently.

With that added detail, both unicorns widened their eyes and made a shared “Ohhhhhhhh,” like the two just got an elaborate joke. “So THAT’S why!” said Julianne when she looked back at her brother. “See, I told you they were here for a reason!”

“Wait, what?” asked Blitz as he blinked a couple times. “Who’s here?”

“Ummm, the Wonderbolts?” said Derek with a glance back at Blitz. “What, you didn’t know? Julie and I saw them in the audience a few minutes ago!”

“Sorry, we don’t really pay attention to the Wonderbolts that much,” admitted Julianne with a guilty smile, “but it really is nice that your team came out to see…”

The mare’s words began to trail off as she and her brother noticed how drastically Rainbow Blitz’s look changed. Instead of the friendly demeanor he had before, Blitz was now bug-eyed with his pupils shrunk in. His face was also starting to turn a ghastly shade of white, which matched how Twinkle Toes looked when the Hoofingtons went to greet her. While Julianne looked between the pegasus and the the nearby auditorium, Derek narrowed his eyes and waited a few seconds before asking, “So… I take it you didn’t know they were coming today?”

“No,” blurted Blitz in a timid voice that barely came out of his frozen muzzle. “No I didn’t. I need to go check on something.”

Without even giving a proper goodbye, Blitz shot out of the room fast enough to leave a rainbow trail glowing behind him. The Hoofingtons stood in surprise by his hasty exit, and Julianne was the first to make a response after a moment of shared silence. “Well… he seems nice.”

Since the actual competition wasn’t slated to start for at least another hour, most of the auditorium was fairly empty aside from a few ponies speckled around here and there. Unlike most theater setups, the Baltimare Grand Theater didn’t have a raised stage at the front of a large room and all the seats in the front. Instead, it was more of a stadium setup where all the seats were arranged around the lowered stage in the middle. Because of that, most of the ponies who were in the massive room were seated in one of the front rows at a corner space.

On one side of the corner was Dusk Shine, Barb, Starshine, Bubble Berry, and Butterscotch, who were conversing with the members of the Wonderbolt team who were seated on the other side. At the end of the Wonderbolts side was Elusive, who originally came to the stage to meet up with his friends; however, he ended up in conversation with the Wonderbolts group since they were already chatting with the others.

Despite the fact the the first time Elusive met these ponies was when he almost killed them during that Young Flyers Competition, none of the Wonderbolts tried to bring it up or make him feel uncomfortable. After all the time he spent dwelling on his routine and comparisons to other dancers, the unicorn was able to relax surprisingly well as he listened in on the group’s stories. While he wouldn’t personally call himself a fan of the aerial team, he could certainly see why Blitz idolized them so much; after conversing with them, Elusive could tell that they were all rather intelligent and interesting ponies. He had no idea how long he was seated beside them, but he was fully invested as he listened in on a story Flamethrower was going over with the rest of Blitz’s friends:

“So by the time I realized what was up, the cloud machine was running for over three hours! By then, the entire facility was just filled with bubbles! Like, they were EVERYwhere! In the barracks, in the mess hall, all over the field. I remember a few cadets told me it also got in their lockers! Even though it didn’t cause any real damage, it was one of those things that really got under my skin by the time we got everything cleaned up. So imagine my surprise when I finally looked inside the cloud machine, and saw that the bottle of body wash used was still inside! I instantly recognized that it was the kind Rainbow Ditz used, so I went to confront him about it. I wanted to think that maybe he was framed or something -- You know, like that Wind Glider incident -- But as soon as I showed him that friggin bottle, he just fell over and started laughing!”

Everyone else cracked up after that last bit, with none of them looking surprised in the slightest. Elusive looked especially happy while in his seat, clearly needing to hear something like that to ease his anxieties. Bubble Berry made sure to add after giggling, “Just so you know, that was actually MY idea! I didn’t expect him to actually do it though!”

“Well, he did!” said Flamethrower with a shake of his head. “I swear, it doesn’t matter how many times I make him clean the barracks with his own toothbrush, that guy still pulls pranks on the base all the time!”

“Wait, you make him use his own TOOTHBRUSH?!” yelled Elusive in shock with a hoof against his chest. “What’s wrong with you?!”

“Relax, kid,” replied Flamethrower with a glance back at the unicorn. “It’s not like we make him brush his teeth with it after cleaning the toilets! It was just something to get him to think about whether or not to pull stupid stunts like that again.”

Even though he sympathized with Flamethrower’s conundrum, Elusive made sure to respond with a huff, “Well, at least he’s doing more harmless pranks to you guys. You should be grateful he isn’t overstepping his bounds like he had with some of us.”

Dusk and the others all nodded in unison, not wanting to mention some of the “pranks” that their friend tried on any of them. Next to Flamethrower, the light blue mare Soaring added in Blitz’s defense, “To be fair, that was probably the biggest prank he tried at the base. I don’t think any of his other stunts leveled up to that.”

Breakneck, another Wonderbolt who had a coat similar to Blitz’s (but with a pure white mane) giggled and asked his fellow cadet, “Oh really? How about the blow-up doll incident?”

Flamethrower groaned and face-hoofed while the rest of the Wonderbolts laughed at that reminder. Elusive chuckled heartily too, having been told that story from Applejack a while back. Meanwhile, Barb tilted her head with her eyes narrowed in confusion. “What’s a blow-up doll?”

Breakneck and the others quickly stopped, immediately remembering that a kid was listening in on their stories as well. Fortunately, Dusk Shine took the reins by saying in an awkward-sounding voice. “Wellllll… I don’t think that’s appropriate to explain right now.”

The drake just shrugged her shoulders in response. “Fine, don’t tell me.” She then added sarcastically, “It’s not like I can just look it up in the giant library when we get home.”

While Dusk Shine’s expression soured at that response, Starshine leaned in towards him to whisper cheekily, “She got you there.”

Before the Prince could say anything to his student or his assistant, the sound of a metal door being thrown open in the distance echoed loudly throughout the auditorium. Everyone stopped and turned to see where that noise could’ve came from. That slam was then followed by the thundering noise of frantic hoofsteps down one of the aisles. Rainbow Blitz zoomed in to the very front rows of the stage, and stopped in a sudden jolt when he caught sight of his friends sitting alongside his fellow cadets. But even with the pegasus’ teeth clamped together and his eyes as wide as frisbees, nothing about Blitz’s shocked or terrified look seemed to phase Elusive when he saw him.

“Oh, there you are!” piped the unicorn cheerfully as he waved him over with a hoof. “Come on over! We were just having a lovely chat with your Wonderbolt friends!”

Flamethrower and the others motioned him to come over with friendly smiles, but Rainbow was temporarily frozen at the spot with a growing look of cringe on his face. When he tried to smile back at them with a meager wave, he ended up looking like somepony who shouldn’t be near a school with how wide it spread across his muzzle. “Hhhh… Heeyyyyyy guys….” His smile pursed shut as he walked over to the group, his eyes pinned to the Wonderbolts while blinking repeatedly. “I did not expect you guys to be here today.”

“Well, why not?” jeered Breakneck with a raised brow. “We finished our last show in Canterlot the other day, so our schedules opened up! We would’ve gone to the Ponyville show if we weren’t focused on our training.”

Blitz sighed painfully with a wince pointed away from them, temporarily forgetting his embarrassment at seeing them here. With all the dancing he did with Elusive, he barely had any time to think of his missed Wonderbolts show.

“Hey, come on,” said Soaring while nudging Breakneck with her hind leg. “I don’t think he needs to be reminded of missing that.” She then made sure to add back at Blitz with a sympathetic smile, “It was a really good show, but it would’ve been a lot better with you in it.”

Even though that statement was certainly nice to hear, it only lessened Blitz’s upset look by a tiny bit as he rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, thanks…”

Noticing Blitz’s downtrodden look, Elusive got out of his seat and went to wrap a hoof around the pegasus’ back. “If it means anything Rainbow, Starshine actually showed them a recording of our performance from the previous show, and they all thought you were fantastic!”

Blitz’s wide-eyed expression turned towards Starshine rather quickly, which left the stallion to raise his hooves and shrug. “What? They wanted to see it!”

“And I gotta say,” added Flamethrower with an impressed look on his face while looking at his recruit, “you did a really good job! Given how much more time you spend on your wing strength than your legs, I wouldn’t have expected you to pull off hoofwork like that. It was nicely done!”

Blitz stared back at his superior with genuine surprise. He expected Flamethrower’s expression to look coy or condescending, but the Captain’s smile looked completely genuine alongside his words. “Wait, you…” Blitz blinked a couple times before finishing his question. “You’re not making fun of me?”

Flamethrower just gave an expression like the pegasus asked if he was wearing a thong. “Oh, come on!” he responded with a roll of his eyes. “You really think we’re gonna judge you for helping your friend? After all the things we’ve seen you do as part of your Loyalty thing, I would’ve expected you to be the one to do something like this.”

“Yeah!” added Breakneck in agreement. “Besides, it’s not like you’re the only dancer, Ditz! Soaring used to do ballet as a kid.”

“HEY!” shouted Soaring angrily. “I told you that privately!”

Bubble Berry covered his mouth and tried not to snicker. While Soaring seethed in her seat and tried her hardest to ignore the pink stallion’s muffled noises, Flamethrower brought the focus back to himself and said, “He’s not wrong, Blitz. There’s nothing wrong with dancing. I mean, yeah, it is weird to know you’re dancing with your friend there. But if we were gonna make fun of you, it’d be if your dancing sucked.”

Before Blitz could say anything in surprise to that comment, Elusive strengthened his grip around him and proudly proclaimed to the team, “Well I can assure you that we are not going to suck, as you so brashly call it. With my expertise and his training, the only things we expect to hear from you guys are rounds of applause!”

“Well, we’ll see about that,” replied Flamethrower with a stern grin of his own back at the unicorn. “Regionals are gonna be tougher to get high scores on, so you two better give it your A Game!”

“I assure you that we will,” retorted the unicorn proudly. “If all of you are able to overcome obstacles to become Wonderbolts, then Blitz and I could surely do the same with our Cha-Cha-Cha!”

Blitz groaned heavily and covered his face with a hoof. “Dude, come on,” he muttered in embarrassment. “Can you not call it that?”

“Well, that’s what it’s called!” returned the unicorn firmly. “And speaking of which, we should really get back to get in our outfits and go over our routines.”

“Listen to him, Ditz,” said Flamethrower in a stern voice of his own, although his smirk remained. “Don’t half-ass your traini--OH!”

The stallion may have been tough as nails, but he still covered his muzzle with a blush before looking back at Dusk Shine and Barb. “S-Sorry,” Flamethrower said timidly. “Forgot about the kid.”

Dusk Shine seemed grateful for that apology, but Barb rolled her eyes and responded with, “Again, I live in a library. I probably know more bad words than you.”

Dusk looked rather pissed at the dragoness’ response, but everyone else (including Flamethrower) cracked up laughing. Meanwhile, Elusive and Blitz made sure to wave goodbye before taking their leave back to the backstage area. As they walked up the aisles, Blitz couldn’t help noticing how chipper his partner looked. Instead of the fretful and overstressed unicorn who was practicing like crazy the previous night, Blitz was able to see a much more relaxed and positive Elusive.

“Well,” said the pegasus with a smirk back at his friend, “you certainly look less freaked out. Did Butterscotch give you some of Day Tripper’s stash?”

“No,” answered Elusive with a smile alongside his raised brows back at Blitz. “I’m just glad I was able to talk with my friends, as well as yours. I have to say, your team is a lot nicer than I would’ve expected.”

“Wait, what?” Blitz seemed puzzled that the unicorn would say something like that. “What did you think they were gonna be? Dickheads?”

While he didn’t like the idea of bringing up past discrepancies, Elusive sighed and retorted with, “Well, they did make your official nickname the same one that tormented you as a colt. Plus, I wasn’t sure if they would be nice to me after that Young Flyers incident.”

“Oh, come on! That was years ago!” After a brief sigh, Blitz thought it over before nodding reluctantly. “But… yeah, I guess I can see your point. It’s nice that you have a better impression of them.”

“Indeed I do,” chirped Elusive with a smile towards him. “If I knew how friendly they could be, I probably would’ve seen more of their shows before you joined.”

“I’m gonna remember you said that.” Even though the aisle was getting darker from the lack of light when they reached the backstage door, Blitz was able to see how happy his friend looked. Despite his lingering thoughts and embarrassment about their situation, Blitz had to admit that it was nice to see Elusive so positive about how things could go. As long as he didn’t try to barrage him with more hair gel, the last thing Blitz wanted to do was be a damper to his friend’s mood.

However, when the two walked down the narrow hallway to their dressing room, Blitz remembered the reason why the unicorn was so glum beforehoof. Hoping it would help his partner even more, he decided to say optimistically, “Oh! Speaking of ponies you wouldn’t expect to be nice, I actually chatted with the Hoofingtons a while ago.”

“Wait, really?!” Elusive’s head head whipped back at him with a look of starstruck shock. “Oh my gosh! What were they like?”

“You know how in sports movies, the rival team is always a bunch of pompous jerks who are super snobby and treat the heroes like crap? Well, the Hoofingtons were the exact opposite of that!”

“Well then!” exclaimed Elusive with an even happier look on his face. “It’s nice to know we have some friendly competition! Anything else I should know?”

As they walked, Blitz bit his lip momentarily in thought. Despite not wanting to lie to his friend, he also didn’t want to bring up that conversation he heard earlier. Not only would it probably upset his partner, but it wasn’t really important to bring up anyway. Besides, it’s not like they knew for sure why that one couple quit, so nopony should make assumptions.

“Eh, not really,” admitted Blitz with a shrug of his shoulders. “I heard one couple quit, but I have no idea why. All I know is that we have less competition to deal with now.”

“Well, that’s certainly a relief!” Not thinking much about that news, Elusive walked into their dressing room first and grabbed their outfits with his magic. “So, Blitz,” he asked as he looked back at his partner with a randy grin, “are you ready to cha-cha-cha?”

Upon seeing the hot pink shirt that was made for his size, the stallion’s face dropped to a brooding glare back at his friend. “Dude. Please stop calling it that!”

Chapter Eleven: The Second Round - The Cha-Cha-Cha

The Baltimare Grand Theater was completely sold out and packed by the time the competition was set to begin. Every single seat in the auditorium was filled, leaving a loud and constant rumbling that came from ponies either talking or adjusting in their seats. With the way all the seats were circled around the stage in the middle of the room, it almost looked like a world-title boxing match but without any ropes along the borders of the ring. But instead of the middle having a raised stage, there was a stunningly smooth wooden floor with countless stage lights illuminating every inch with spotlights of various colors. There was also a judge’s table just off to the side, which gave the three ponies judging today’s events the best view of all the performances.

When the supporting lights that illuminated the outer walls for convenience began to die down, so did the majority of the audience. A bright spotlight focused on a stunning silver mare in a purple dress who came out to the middle of the dancefloor with a microphone in her hoof. “Goooooooooodddd Afternoon, Fillies and Gentlecolts! And welcome to the Baltimare Regionals of the Equestrian National Dance Competition!”

The theater’s attendees applauded with enthusiastic claps and stomps from their seats, all appearing rather excited for the competition. There were quite a few signs up from parts of the crowds rooting for certain competitors, including the signs Silver Bell and Scootaroll brought from the Ponyville rounds. The Wonderbolts, as well as Elusive and Blitz’s friends (except Applejack due to Zap Apple Season), were seated at the very front row and cheering just as loudly as the rest of the audience.

The announcer looked quite pleased as she continued in a chipper tone, “Now, before we get started, let me just go over the rules. We currently have eleven couples dancing today, who will each perform a dance of their choice for our row of esteemed judges…”

She brought a hoof out to the judge’s table, which was given a spotlight to show the three ponies who were present for the Ponyville competition. The two mares and one stallion were given a generous amount of applause while they waved.

“After the dancers finish,” continued the host while looking out at the packed crowd, “these judges will give a score of one to ten, with ten being the best. At the end of the day, the five couples who get the highest total scores will move forward in the competition, and compete next week at the Quarter-Finals in Las Pegasus!”

After another round of hearty applause, the mare waited momentarily before saying with a smile, “Now, let’s get this competition started!”

Meanwhile in the backstage area, the large space was given a little more illumination due to the thick curtain that covered the entry walkway to the stage. All the couples were already marked and numbered, with Rainbow Blitz and Elusive getting signs that read the number ten. Since they were the second-last couple to compete tonight, the stallions were seated in the back of the room next to the third-last act: Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes. Near the front of the room, a couple of stage directors motioned for the first three couples competing to wait out by the stage.

Despite the fact that he was grateful their matching dress shirts fitted comfortably, Elusive still breathed heavily like there was a colt-sized ascot tightly encased around his neck. While the unicorn leaned back in his seat to control his breathing, Rainbow Blitz just booked bored and irritated at the same time. He didn’t want to say anything about the garment his partner made for him, but he really wished he didn’t have to wear something so brightly pink to clash against his cyan coat. Elusive’s shirt was just as loud, but Blitz honestly wouldn’t have minded wearing the lime green top the unicorn had on.

Of course, compared to Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes’ outfits, Blitz sholud’ve been grateful that Elusive didn’t go all-out for their own costumes. Twinkle had on a sparkling silver and yellow evening gown with sequined fringes past the skirt, while Apple Buck sat with a full tuxedo with his red bandana folded to stick out of his shirt pocket, as well as an uncomfortable look on his face. Seeing the colt’s pout, Blitz almost wanted to snicker if he wasn’t constantly reminded of his own shirt.

The curtain keeping the off-stage room out of sight from the main theater was rather thick, but they could still hear the announcer’s voice clearly (albeit faintly) as she introduced the first couple. “Hailing from Apploosa, let’s hear it for our first samba performers for the night…”

Blitz was beginning to trail off, and directed his attention towards Apple Buck with a smirk. “So guys,” asked the pegasus in cautious whisper, “what dance are you two doing?”

“Hm?” Twinkle Toes was preoccupied with a faux-pearl necklace she had around her neck before realizing Blitz asked them something. “Oh! Buck and I are doing the foxtrot today.”

“Yeah…” It was clear Apple Buck wasn’t trying to sound unenthusiastic, but that sighed tone still came out while he was lurched in his seat. “Ah gotta say though, Ah never thought Ah’d wear somethin’ like this in my life.”

“Hey, join the club,” chimed Blitz cheekily. Of course, that remark gave the pegasus a sharp nudge to his ribs from the unicorn beside him. Elusive may have been trying to focus on himself, but he wasn’t going to let that comment slide. While Blitz winced and rubbed his side with a hoof, Elusive sat back upright in his seat while a muffled-sounding Mareibbean song began to play in the main theater.

“I really wish you wouldn’t be so overdramatic, Rainbow,” began Elusive with a sigh, ignoring the stare Blitz was giving him after using that adjective for something other than himself. “You and I both know this isn’t the most ostentatious outfit I’ve ever made for you.”

Blitz groaned, but didn’t say anything to dispute his friend’s claim. “Yeah, I know,” he grumbled honestly, “but I still look weird in something this pink with sleeves.”

“Oh, don’t try to tell me what makes you look weird.” Elusive’s tone of voice was just slightly louder than Blitz’s whispers, but his chastising look was still apparent as he stared back at him and added, “Do I need to remind you of the outfit you wanted me to make for you for the first Grand Galloping Gala?”

“Ugh!” Blitz clenched his eyes shut and pointed his face away from Elusive in regret. “I should’ve known you were gonna bring that up, dude!”

“I’m just saying that wearing a little more pink than usual isn’t nearly as ‘weird’ as your decision to wear shoulder pads, AND a speed helmet on what was supposed to be a suit!”

“I was going for a look I saw in a movie, cut me some slack!”

Elusive rolled his eyes and sighed before retorting, “Rainbow, the fact that I didn’t bedazzle that shirt you’re wearing is enough proof that I’m cutting you plenty of slack!”

While Blitz huffed with his forelegs crossed, Twinkle Toes had her muzzle covered with a hoof while suppressing the urge to giggle. Apple Buck seemed amused by the stallions’ bickering as well, but it was his partner’s reaction that got Rainbow’s attention first. “What?” he asked her with a raised brow.

Twinkle looked like she didn’t want to say, but she still put down her hoof and said towards him and Elusive, “Has anyone ever told you guys you argue like a married couple? Because you kinda sound like my Dads right now.”

“PBBT!!” Apple Buck instantly cupped his hooves over his mouth to keep from cracking up. Elusive and Blitz both looked surprised by Twinkle’s comment, but the unicorn looked far less offended than his bug-eyed partner did. It took Elusive a second before shaking his head with a subdued chuckle.

“Oh, whatever,” he said in dismissal with a roll of his eyes. Considering how young Twinkle Toes was, it wasn’t too outrageous for a filly to say something like that. But while Elusive disregarded Twinkle’s joke rather quickly, Blitz just looked away from the kids with a bitter scowl growing on his face. Fortunately, Elusive was able to notice before anypony else, so ne nudged him softly and whispered, “Relax, Rainbow. It was just a joke.”

Rainbow just groaned under his breath and muttered back, “Whatever.” The pegasus then looked up to the ceiling with a brooding look, leaving Elusive to sigh and leave him alone. Meanwhile, Twinkle Toes and Apple Buck went to the refreshment table when they noticed it was being restocked.

The sound of enthusiastic applause could be heard through the thick curtain, indicating that the first act was finished. Elusive tried his hardest not to overthink it again, and focused on the fact that they already did this very thing a week before in Ponyville. Even though the crowd is much larger, the stakes are higher, and the competition is more fierce, there was no reason to become overwhelmed about dancing in front of hundreds, if not thousands of ponies who will judge every step they make on that dancefloor. Especially considering they were already sticking out as the competition’s most controversial team.

Nope. Nothing to freak out about.

Blitz could overhear the judges giving their scores, and it sounded like the samba team did fairly well with a seven and two eights. Of course, he knew there wasn’t much to worry about. After all, he and Elusive got a score better than that last week, and they were only going to get better from there. However, when he glanced over at his partner, Blitz was able to see that Elusive’s legs were becoming jittery in his seat. And after countless flight routines and competitions, the stunt-pony knew that was a big sign his partner was getting fretful.

Since they had a while to wait before their own dance, Blitz thought it over momentarily before getting an idea. He scooted himself a little closer to his friend and whispered towards him, “Hey… Wanna play one to ten?”

“What?” Elusive knew the game his friend was suggesting, but he still stared back at him with a befuddled look and replied, “Why in Equestria’s name do you wanna play that now?”

“Because I’m bored,” answered Blitz honestly, “... aaaaaaand it looks like you could use something to get your mind off things.”

Elusive pursed his lips shut, unsure whether to be happy about his friend’s insightfulness or upset at his solution. A couple seconds passed before the unicorn exhaled through his nostrils pertly and complied. “Oh, fine,” he muttered as he looked around the room. “I suppose it’s better than just waiting around doing nothing.”

“Alright then!” With a newfound grin on his muzzle, Blitz started to scan the room while he and Elusive stayed seated. Elusive looked around as well, noting all the mares who were either standing in wait or doing some last-minute stretches. Blitz was the first to start by nudging Elusive and motioning towards a green mare by the refreshment table. “How about her?”

Elusive quickly saw the pegasus Blitz was referring to, who actually looked quite nice. Her dark green coat was accompanied by a complimentary shade of blue in her short mane, and her cutie mark of a Top-Hat seemed fitting of her appearance. Her figure may have been a bit pudgier than some of the others, but she still fitted the form quite gracefully. The unicorn’s analysis lasted only a second or two before he answered honestly, “Hmmm… probably a six... six and a half, maybe?”

Blitz shrugged his shoulders and gave a small nod in agreement. Elusive then pointed his muzzle over to a thin unicorn mare who was doing leg-stretches by the curtain. Her coat was a pale shade of pink, but her blonde mane looked almost white from how much it must’ve been bleached or altered. “How about her?” asked Elusive pertly back to his friend.

“Hmmm…” Blitz narrowed his eyes as he studied the mare, noting that she looked pretty damn skinny. Her mane was also really straight and thin, reminding him of some of those tacky Nightmare Night wigs they sale on discount. Even with her face and legs looking quite fine, Blitz shrugged uncomfortably and answered, “Uhhh… five, maybe?”

Elusive mouthed the word, “Wow,” to himself, not wanting Blitz to overhear his friend judging him. Blitz nudged him and motioned to one of the stage workers, who was an Earth Pony mare with an orange coat and her red mane tied in a ponytail underneath her ballcap. Elusive quickly noticed and skewed his muzzle a bit at the sight of her form. She appeared fairly muscular underneath that black shirt, but not in an unflattering way. Plus, her face was quite feminine to give a cute contrast. He smirked back at Blitz and said, “Seven.”

“Should’ve known you like them bigger,” muttered Blitz with a smirk on his face. Elusive rolled his eyes and kicked his leg playfully. He then decided to up the ante, and made his friend look over at the Hoofingtons. The twins were back at one of the far corners of the backstage area, and were each standing on one hoof side-to-side doing what looked to be yoga. Blitz stared back at his friend for a moment, making sure Elusive was motioning to the correct pony. After recieving a conforming nod, Blitz looked back at the tan and blonde mare to make his statement.

The mare was stunning, to say the least. Heck, it wouldn’t have surprised Blitz if she was a model or something. Her blonde mane had a lot of volume to it, which kinda reminded him of how Elusive’s mane looked sometimes.Her legs also looked quite muscular, which was a trait Blitz always preferred. His head tilted briefly before he answered, “Well… definitely an eight and a half, at least.”

“Hmmm…” Even though he knew better than to make a joke after Twinkle Toes’ little comment, Elusive couldn’t resist saying in a cheeky tone to Blitz, “You mean Julianne or Derek?”

“Oh, shut up!” Blitz lightly punched Elusive’s shoulder, but he still had a light smile on his face. “Obviously I mean the girl, okay?”

Elusive’s smirk grew a little wider. “Well, what if I wasn’t pointing at her?”

“Oh, hardy friggin’ har.” Blitz rolled his eyes before asking Elusive with a raised brow, “How would you feel if I asked you that kind of thing?”

Elusive just shrugged his shoulders and answered, “Honestly? I’d give you my answer without any problem.” To prove his point, the unicorn looked back at the Hoofington’s direction and said, “For example, I would definitely give Derek an eight and a half as well.”

When he looked back at his friend, Elusive huffed with a grin when he saw Blitz’s wide-eyed look on him. “What?” asked the unicorn coyly. “I’m not blind, Rainbow. There’s nothing gay about noting another stallion as being attractive.”

Rainbow Blitz blinked a couple times and replied, “Uhhh, I’m gonna have to disagree with you on that one, dude.”

“Oh, whatever,” chastised Elusive while keeping his tone playful towards his partner. “I’m just saying, I wouldn’t judge you for giving an honest answer like I did.”

“I bet you would if I said it as fast as you did.”

That made Elusive pause with his cheeks growing a light shade of red. “W-Well, I… I already knew what he looked like before today, so it’s not like I had to study him that long.” He then added with an insistent stare back at Blitz, “I bet if I were to ask your opinion of a stallion you knew about, you’d give an answer quickly too.”

“Dude, come on,” he responded while looking away from the unicorn. “I’m not getting into this.”

“I’m just trying to make a point, Blitz! In fact…” After a moment of quick thought, Elusive decided to say in a more confident voice, “How about this? Give me a number for somepony like… Dashing Dare!”

Blitz gave a strong, flat stare back at his friend. “Dude… you can not be serious.”

“What? You know how he looks quite well, so surely you have a number for him. Besides, it’s only fair you answer for him after I gave mine for Derek.”

“Ugh, okay fine!” After huffing in exasperation, the pegasus rolled his eyes and answered with his forelegs crossed tightly against his chest. “I guess I would say he’s…” His pause was accompanied by a blush that was quite noticeable on his cyan face before answering, “maybe a… seven? Seven and a half?”

Elusive giggled and nudged his friend playfully. “See? Was that so hard?”

Blitz sighed as his blush deepened. He looked away from him and muttered a quick, “Shut up.”

Elusive didn’t say anything else, but his smirk remained as he stared at his friend’s reaction. Combined with the pink shirt he had on, Blitz’s blushed pout made him look pretty darn adorable. “Oh, you…” Elusive flicked his hoof across Blitz’s mane and added innocently, “Right now, you’re looking like an eight with that blush!”

“DUDE!”

Due to the shortened setlist for the competition that day, the event itself didn’t last nearly as long as expected. But still, it was clear that every dancing duo was bringing their A-Game for the Baltimare Regionals. Unlike the Ponyville Preliminaries, almost all of the performances were drastically better this time around; of course, given that all the competitors were also preliminary winners, it shouldn’t have been surprising to see that nopony got any scores lower than sevens. Whether it was the Maribbean-themed samba, the jazz routine set to an old-fashioned Bridleway hit, or the country-themed jive performance, it was anypony’s guess who would end up in the final five.

A round of applause rolled through the audience after the eighth performance of the night, which was a well-performed waltz set to the theme of an older romance movie. After their total score of twenty-six was presented, it wasn’t long before the final three couples came out to wait at the main stage. Elusive and Blitz walked side-by-side between the other two couples in a line down the aisle, with Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes in the front and the Hoofingtons in the back. Rainbow Blitz gazed over at the scoreboard by the judge’s table, noting the consistent scores that were given already. It seemed that the two highest scores so far were tied for twenty-seven, which meant that the only guaranteed way to move forward would be to get at least a consistent score of nine to match them.

An uneasy exhale escaped the pegasus’ muzzle from that thought, but he knew that it wasn’t impossible. Luckily, he was barely able to think it over much as he, Elusive, and the Hoofingtons were directed to a row of folding chairs that were out of the spotlight. Meanwhile, Apple Buck gulped as he followed his partner out to the highly illuminated stage.

“Hailing from Ponyville,” began the announcer in a cheerful voice while motioning a hoof to the kids, “here’s our two youngest ponies competing today, who will be performing the foxtrot: Twinkle Toes and Apple Buck!”

There was a hearty amount of applause that followed their introduction, especially from the front rows where Elusive’s friends were. Apple Buck blushed with a bit lip from being put on the spot in such an alien-feeling place, and his tuxedo didn’t seem to help either. However, Twinkle nudged him from the side with a smile before pointing to one of the front-row seats. Sitting between Elusive’s and Twinkle Toes’ parents, Silver Bell and Scootaroll were standing on top of their seats with enthusiastic cheers and holding up their signs for the couple to see. Even though his blush remained, Apple Buck smiled wide at the sight of some familiar faces in the crowd.

When the crowd began to die down, Twinkle bent in to whisper into Buck’s ear, “C’mon! Let’s give them something to brag about back in Ponyville!”

Apple Buck smiled back at the orange filly and nodded confidently. After the announcer left the stage, the two kids got into position by standing at opposing corners with spotlights on them. Twinkle made sure that Apple Buck looked alright, and then gave a nod to let the music begin:

Spotlights of hot pink and yellow spun around the stage as the funky beat began, and the kids immediately moved to the tempo with slow, flowing steps towards each other. Unlike their previous performance, their steps were low and almost gliding against the floor instead of highly-pronounced trots. When the two finally made contact and held hooves, it was just as the brass of the song picked up energetically. Apple Buck took that opportunity to pull his partner to the side and let her drop to the floor in a precisely choreographed motion. Still holding her hoof, he colt then spun Twinkle Toes around the dancefloor like a living top, and gave her two fluid spins before pulling her back up with surprising ease. The crowd applauded wildly at that display, and it wasn’t even twenty seconds into their song

The two then went into their designated foxtrot positions while standing face-to-face on their hindlegs. Holding each other close in their forelegs, Buck and Twinkle kept their long walking steps in tandem to the beat of the song. Even though it did look fairly similar to a waltz (at least to untrained eyes like Rainbow Blitz’s), the couple kept their steps in fours instead of threes throughout the beginning of the song. The spotlights focused on the two as they alternated their slow and fast steps with precise timing, and the colored tints of the spotlights illuminated the two with vibrant warm hues to make them glow on the dancefloor.

By the time the first chorus came up, the majority of the audience was clapping along to the beat. However, that turned to another round of applause when Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes did a quick choreographed dance bit in the middle of the chorus. It was fairly small and simple with the two syncing their moves side-by-side, but the break from their basic steps definitely added enough variety to win the crowd over.

While the two continued their foxtrot for the remainder of the song, Blitz leaned in to whisper to his partner with a smirk, “Maaaannnn… Apple Buck could easily get himself a date with those moves.”

Despite the inappropriateness, Elusive chuckled and replied with a sly, “Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if he isn’t already with a certain filly.”

“What, you mean Twinkle Toes?” Rainbow actually looked a little surprised when he realized that was who his friend was referring to. “Oh, come on. They’re dancing partners. You don’t dip the pen in the dance… ink? Or, wait… I know there’s a good analogy in there…”

Due to their close proximity to the other couple, Elusive and Blitz both overheard the Hoofingtons giggle at their banter. Julianne leaned in towards them and added cheekily, “I don’t know, Blitz. We’ve seen a lot of dance partners end up as couples. It kinda happens when you’re around someone that close for so long.”

Despite her point, Rainbow rolled his eyes and shook his head. Meanwhile, Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes’ foxtrot became more lively as the song reached its climax. Their steps became wider apart while staying close in unison, and their smiles couldn’t have been wider from all the cheering they could hear from the crowds. But despite how tempting it was to look and see the ponies cheering them on, the two stayed diligent with their steps so they could finish on a high note. Just as the song began to end with a slow fade, Apple Buck spun his partner around on the tip of her hooves like a ballerina, and then held her close for their ending dip to the judges.

Needless to say, the applause they received was far greater than what they got back in Ponyville. Large amounts of clapping and stomping thundered throughout the auditorium, and the kids couldn’t do anything but stand and bask in the moment with smiles back at the crowds. At seeing her Dads cheering her on, Twinkle Toes had to wipe her eyes to keep any tears from stemming out. Apple Buck looked equally as happy at the sight of his friends whooping in their seats, but was able to keep himself from crying any tears of joy. In fact, the colt was daring enough to wrap a hoof around Twinkle’s side when they looked to see the judge’s scores.

At the sight of Buck’s hoof around her, Elusive leaned in to whisper to Blitz, “Told you.”

“Nine!” shouted the first female judge with her scorecard in her hooves.

“Nine!” The other mare looked equally as happy as she gave her score, as were the two kids who were hopping up and down giddily. The final judge paused briefly with his card unseen to anyone but himself, but his stoic face quickly turned to an enthusiastic smile as he held up his card proudly.

“TEN!!”

The crowd went wild, but not nearly as much as Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes. The filly grabbed her partner with surprising strength, and lifted him off his hooves to spin him around excitedly. Twinkle’s Dads and Buck’s friends were on their hooves and jumping as well, but waited for the couple to run towards them for some quick hugs.

“That’s a score of twenty-EIGHT!” shouted the announcer as she rushed back to the dancefloor with her microphone. “That means that Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes are automatically in the Las Pegasus Quarter Finals!”

As the crowd cheered immensely in celebration, the announcer went up to the two after they finished. “Guys, how does it feel to get the first score of TEN today?!”

Twinkle blushed deeply while next to her parents, suddenly looking shy while in front of the mare. Fortunately, Apple Buck stepped in to say humbly, “Well, as long as we’re havin’ fun, Ah don’t think numbers should matter too much.”

Happy to not say anything in front of so many ponies, Twinkle Toes smiled at him thankfully. “Well, you can’t go wrong with an answer like that!” said the announcer while the couple went to their seats. “Now, for our second last performers of the day, let’s give a round of applause for our very first same-sex team…”

Elusive and Blitz both groaned at being given that description a second time, but still got up from their seats to step onto the dancefloor.

“Performing the cha-cha-cha, here’s Rainbow Blitz, and his partner Elusive!”

The two got a fairly good amount of applause from the crowd, but it was clear that Buck and Twinkle got quite a bit more when they first came out. Even with the enthusiastic cheering from their friends and the Wonderbolts, Elusive could tell that Blitz was feeling just as cautious as he was. But instead of letting any doubt overtake his senses, the unicorn took a quick breath and raised his hoof in front of his partner. “Let’s do this.”

Blitz nodded with an exhale before bumping his hoof confidently. “Buck yeah.”

After the announcer hopped off the dance floor, the two stallions took position in the middle of it. Elusive and Blitz stood back-to-back on all four hooves, and waited a brief second before the unicorn motioned for the song to begin:

“OOH! I LOVE THIS SONG!” shouted Bubble Berry before being shushed by at least a dozen different ponies. Fortunately, that outburst didn’t seem to affect the two stallions on stage.

As soon as the vocals of the intro began, the two side-stepped in opposing directions to the underlying beat. The stallions then made unified spins to face one another, and took walking steps towards each other. Blitz and Elusive’s hooves then met as they got on their hindlegs, and they maneuvered themselves flawlessly to make a circling step in the middle of the stage. Each of them circled slowly with a foreleg behind the other one’s head, like a well-choreographed windmill look between the two. Just before the intro of the song could finish, Blitz decided to take a note from Apple Buck’s book; with the last lyric of the intro verse playing, the pegasus dipped his hoof down to Elusive’s side, and picked him up to spin his partner’s body over his foreleg.

Elusive’s hooves hit the ground just as the main beat began, although it was hard to hear over the excited cheers from that move. With the crowd on their side, the two stallions were in high spirits during their rehearsed crossover breaks. Their bodies moved in a constant flowing motion under the blue and yellow spotlights, showing nothing but precision and fluidity in front of the judges. Each time the two stepped outward for a crossover break, their poses were synchronized perfectly with the beat of the song, as well as with each other when they came back face-to-face. When the vocals came back up at the end of the beat, Blitz gave his partner an underarm turn to spin the unicorn around for added flair.

Even though ponies weren’t clapping to the beat of the song like with Buck and Twinkle’s routine, the crowd was still watching the stallions’ act with great interest during their cha-cha basics. Some ponies were even taking photographs or recording with their magic, giving the auditorium various bouts of sporadic lights and flashes which added to the dazzlement of the show. Elusive and Blitz stayed close throughout each of their steps, not moving a single hoof wrong when they transitioned between walking or side steps. Rainbow Blitz was even able to keep up with the rocking steps alongside Elusive, which was something he was having the most difficulty with during their training.

Before the second chorus, the two each gave underarm turns for each other, making sure to give smiles to the audience and judges when they weren’t in sight of one another. Despite not wanting to be distracted by anything, Blitz was really happy to see his Wonderbolt teammates cheering him on in the split-second he caught sight of them. Elusive was equally as pleased during his turn, when he caught a brief glimpse of his parents cheering excitedly next to Silver Bell.

While the two performed their second round of crossover breaks during the chorus, even the other competitors sat and watched with impressed looks on their faces. Twinkle Toes may have felt a little intimidated sitting next to the Hoofingtons, but she could barely notice them while staring at the two stallions tearing up the dancefloor. “Man,” she whispered with her eyes narrowed on them. “It’s hard to believe those two were just amateurs a couple weeks ago.”

“Ah know,” replied Apple Buck in agreement. “Ah would’ve bet money Blitz’d never do somethin’ like this.”

Twinkle just huffed and briefly glanced back at him with a grin. “Some ponies would’ve said that same thing about you.”

Despite how impressive Elusive and Blitz’s cha-cha-cha was, Buck still looked back at his partner with a silent smile of his own. For everypony else in attendance, the focus was straight on the stallions and their vibrant motions on stage. Dancing in synchronicity and passion, the genders of the dancers didn’t matter by the time the two made their final steps. All that mattered were the movements of the two ponies making them: the pegasus in pink who showed strength among his fluid steps, and the unicorn in green who moved alongside him with grace and precise agility.

When the pop song came to its end, Rainbow Blitz ended their performance with a flawless dip of his partner, catching him just mere inches from the floor as the song’s last note played. Not even the briefest moment of silence could pass before the thunderous sound of applause flooded the auditorium. Both of the stallions were panting heavily while keeping their position, with Blitz holding Elusive is his forelegs and savoring the moment. Looking up at his partner, Elusive smiled wide with a heavy blush on his face. Blitz smiled back at him gratefully, waiting a couple seconds before pulling him back up.

“Alright!” shouted the announcer who came back into view. “Let’s give a round of applause for Rainbow Blitz and Elusive!”

The crowd continued to cheer loudly, but the sound of Barb’s whistles could still somehow be heard over everything else. After the two stallions waved with smiles to the audience and their loved ones, they turned their attention to the judges’ table to see their scores:

“Nine!” the first judge shouted with a smile on her face.

“... Nine!” echoed the second judge, causing an excited round of applause in anticipation for the final verdict.

Come on, said Rainbow Blitz internally. Nine or a ten, nine or a ten, nine or a ten, nine or a ten…

Elusive was leaning back and forth with an antsy look as well, his bottom lip bit as he hoped desperately for a fair score. The male judge’s verdict felt like it lasted forever, but he finally lifted up his card and shouted with a smile:

“NINE!”

It may have not been the highest score of the night, but it was still good enough to make Blitz and Elusive exhale loudly in sweet relief. The two instantly hugged each other in shared joy, smiling wide while their eyes were shut to all the ponies cheering them on. As soon as they let go, Elusive pulled his partner with him as they ran towards their friends. Dusk Shine and Barb were the first to hug the two, but the rest of their friends and family were quick to follow in a massive group hug. The announcer didn’t even wait for them to finish as she shouted out, “That means that with a score of twenty-seven, Elusive and Rainbow Blitz will also be moving forward to the Las Pegasus Quarter Finals!”

Elusive was nearly in tears by the time he got hugged by his parents and Silver Bell, even with his eyes clenched shut. “Oh, you guys,” he whimpered with a shaky smile on his muzzle, “I… I’m so glad you were all here…”

Meanwhile, Blitz was standing with Scootaroll by his side as he watched his partner with a touched smile of his own. He didn’t say anything to spoil the moment, and just lowered his head to nuzzle the orange colt beside him. By the time the crowd began to die down, Elusive and Blitz finally began to head back to their seats. Derek and Julianne Hoofington walked past them on their way to the stage with large grins on their faces. “Awesome job, guys!” said Derek genuinely, with Julianne nodding in agreement at the two.

When the stallions sat down next to Buck and Twinkle, they were all in smiles as they turned their attention to the announcer introducing the final act of the day. “And finally… Performing the quickstep, here are the five-time champions of the ENDC, Derek and Julianne Hoofington!”

The two unicorns, who were wearing identical white jumpsuits, stood at opposite ends of the dancefloor facing each other with large smiles on their faces. After a shared nod, the two shouted out at the same time, “Hit it!” for their song to begin:

Needless to say, the Hoofingtons came out in full-force as soon as the peppy tune began. With their energetic trotting steps, combined with the bright white spotlights that bounced off their costumes, the twins moved around the stage with flawless precision like it was as natural as breathing. The two didn’t take long to hold each other’s hooves before hopping around the stage in cheerful spins, using every inch of the stage to their advantage. Their hoofwork looked as light as a feather with each hop and jump they made between steps, and it didn’t even look like either unicorn was breaking a sweat.

While the audience cheered and clapped along to the song, the other two couples could only stare in worried awe in their seats. Despite the fact that both teams already won spots for the next round, seeing how amazing their competition was made all four of them worried. Even Rainbow Blitz had to blink a couple times as he stared at their precision and poise, and muttered a low, “Holy crap,” under his breath.

Apple Buck’s head was tilted while looking down at their steps, not seeing a single movement out of place. “Dang,” he said with a wide-eyed huff on the Hoofingtons. “Ah’m glad we did our quickstep last week.”

Twinkle nodded her head, but didn’t say anything as she stared at the final couple. Along the second half of the song, Derek and Julianne made their spinning steps around the outer edges of the dancefloor, just to give the ponies in the front rows a closer look while cheering them on. The sequins on their suits bounced the spotlights off of them, making the two look like a double disco-ball of energy with a level of happiness only Bubble Berry could match. Their moves may have been precise and rehearsed immensely, but it was clear that neither of them had any difficulty with them. With the smiles they carried, there was no doubt that they loved what they were doing.

Derek gave his sister a sharp dip to finish just as the song ended, leaving the audience to roar in applause. The other two couples clapped softly as well, but their light smiles carried a huge amount of fear underneath their wide-eyes. If this round showed anything to the four ponies, it was that they needed to really step up by the time of the Las Pegasus Quarter-Finals. But for now, all that the stallions and kids could do was applaud the Hoofingtons’ work and pray they didn’t appear too jealous or intimidated.

“Oh my goodness!” The announcer hopped back to the dancefloor with an enthralled smile, making sure to stand between the twins while calling out to the audience, “I don’t know about you guys, but I think that qualifies as a Grand Finale!”

The immense cheers and stomping heard in response made it clear that the announcer was right. Keeping her pearly whites shown, the mare looked towards the judges’ table while wrapping a foreleg around each Hoofington. “Alright, judges! What’s the verdict?”

Even though it was clear Derek and Julianne were going to win, there was still an aura of anticipation in the air as each judge put out their card. The first judge had a shrug alongside her smile as she announced loudly, “Ten!”

Most of the ponies in the auditorium cheered, excepted for the competitors who sighed expectedly. The second mare pulled up her card and announced, “Nine!”

Aside from a few surprised gasps here and there, there was still a fair amount of applause for that verdict. Twinkle Toes and Apple Buck leaned forward in their chairs a bit, almost like they were expecting to tie with them. The Hoofingtons stood with antsy smiles pointed at the third judge, who waited with a sigh before pulling up his card and saying with a smile:

“TEN!”

Along with the happy applause, Derek and Julianne squealed in delight and hugged the announcer who was between them. Twinkle and Buck groaned in disappointment, but still smiled and clapped respectfully for the winning duo of the day. Elusive and Blitz applauded as well, still looking happy to have won a place in the next round anyway. Blitz turned to his partner with a smirk and asked, “So, I’m guessing we’ll need to practice extra this week?”

“Probably,” stated the unicorn with a shrug. However, Elusive then looked back at Blitz with a smile and added, “Although, I think getting perfect Nines warrants us a night off.”

Seeing his friend’s point, Blitz smiled and said, “I couldn’t agree more.”

“Now!” With the announcer’s interrupting addition, most of the crowd settled down to hear what she had to say. While the Hoofingtons stepped aside, the mare motioned a hoof towards the judges and said excitedly, “Before we end tonight’s competition, I think it’s time that we brought out a special little surprise for our competitors…”

The other two couples who made it to the final five came out from backstage, motioning for the kid and stallion duos to join them. The air was tingling with electric anticipation as the ten ponies stood on the dancefloor. The five couples were in a line with spotlights right on them, but they weren’t nearly as bright as the announcer’s smile as she continued, “For this year’s Equestrian National Dance Competition, we decided to bring back an old theme we haven’t done in a while. So prepare yourselves, ponies! Because you five now have to face…”

Offstage, a unicorn’s horn illuminated a bright shade of orange before floating out something to the announcer, As soon as the item was revealed, which was a large top-hat, half of the competitors gasped in surprise. Meanwhile, the mare holding the hat just grinned and finished her announcement with a mischievous tone, “... THE HAT!”

The crowd went wild at this addition, which just made Rainbow Blitz and Apple Buck look confused. “Uhhh…” While both their partners stared at the hat in shock, Buck looked up at Blitz and asked, “D’ya know what she’s talkin’ about?”

“I figured you’d know more than me,” replied Rainbow.

Fortunately, the announcer looked around the room while holding up the hat and explaining through the microphone. “For those of you who are unaware, the hat was something the ENDC used to do years ago to spice up competition. And this year, we decided to bring it back! In this hat are dozens of different dance styles. One at a time, the pony who leads for each couple will draw a random style from the hat, and THAT will be the dance they have to perform for Las Pegasus!”

NOW Rainbow Blitz and Apple Buck looked surprised. “Whoa!” shouted both of them at the same time. Blitz huffed and added, “Well, let’s hope it nothing too weird.”

That was when Elusive looked back at his partner and said with a worried breath, “Well… the hat usually contains a lot of the more… unused dances.”

“Unused?” asked Blitz with a befuddled look back at him. “Like what?”

“Derek Hoofington?” asked the announcer with a grin while holding the hat out to him. “You choose first!”

The stallion took an antsy breath and stepped forward, making sure to close his eyes before putting a hoof in the hat. With everypony watching in wait, Derek pulled out a note and reopened his eyes to read the style written down. “OOH!” His eyes widened excitedly like he scored a winning lottery ticket. “We got Hip-Hop!”

The crowd cheered while the other competitors clapped their hooves. “Ohhhh…” Blitz was starting to get it as he nodded with his brows raised. “That’s what you mean…”

Elusive was starting to get worried, hoping they wouldn’t end up with a dance style they couldn’t pull off with any of Blitz’s music. Meanwhile, Apple Buck nervously stepped forward to draw the next note. His eyes were clenched shut while drawing out of the hat, looking like he was expecting a mouse-trap to be inside. He pulled out a note and saw what he had, making his eyes narrow with a tilted head. “Uhhh… What’s a Charleston?”

“Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes have the Charleston!” announced the mare happily, resulting in another applause. Fortunately, Twinkle Toes seemed excited about the choice when Buck went back in line beside her.

One of the stallions from the other two couples stepped forward next, sporting a bright orange coat and a poofy blue mane. Even though he was a unicorn, he used his hoof to draw from the hat blindly like the others. But unlike the other two who drew, the stallion seemed a little disappointed when he saw his chosen note and sighed. “Ummm… We got Bhangra.”

“OOH! Bhangra-La!” said the announcer in a more peppy tone than the pony. While the audience cheered, the stallion went back to stand beside his partner, who was the same green mare Elusive mentioned was a six and a half earlier. Of course, Elusive was more focused on the fourth stallion who went up to the hat.

The stallion from the other winning team had a sleek silver coat and pitch-black mane, but he looked more than a little nervous with his bit lip. He took a breath and stuck his hoof in the hat, clearly not wanting to get anything too weird. Unfortunately, his eyes widened in dread when he pulled out a card and read the style written inside. “What the?! BALLET?!”

His outburst made quite a few ponies in the audience laugh during their applause. Although, Rainbow Blitz looked just as mortified as that stallion as he glanced back at Elusive. “Ballet?!” he hissed in a panic. “They have ballet in there?!”

“Rainbow, relax,” said the unicorn back at him to try and keep things stable. “He already drew it, so we won’t get that style.”

“But still! What if we get something close to that?! Or worse?!” By now, Blitz had to rub his head while looking around worriedly. “Dude, this is not fair at al--”

“Alright, fellas!” chirped the mare with a knowing glance to the two stallions. She held out the top-hat towards them and asked, “Which one of you wants to draw from the hat?”

Blitz gritted his teeth in dread, not wanting to move an inch towards that thing. However, his partner nudged him and whispered, “Rainbow, the pony who leads has to do it. I won’t judge you for what we end up with, I promise.”

Blitz turned to see the look in Elusive’s eyes, which showed nothing but the sincerest truth. Both of them knew they could be in trouble, so it was comforting for the pegasus to know that a random choice wouldn’t be held against him. After a second of silence, Blitz nodded with an exhale before stepping forward reluctantly.

“Alright, Wonderbolt!” said the announcer while dangling the hat in front of him. “Choose your next dance for Las Pegasus!”

Blitz gulped, feeling like he was already in Las Pegasus with the gamble he was putting on himself and his partner. He closed his eyes and stuck his hoof in the hat, feeling at least a dozen different cards inside. His muzzle clenched shut as he moved his hoof around to find something that felt right. Come on, dude, thought Blitz as he took a breath and grabbed one. Whatever it is, you can do this. You can do this…

Blitz pulled out a card, and hesitantly reopened his eyes to see the entry written inside. After catching the briefest glimpse of the style, the stunt-pony cringed and tried to shove it back in the hat. “O-OOPS!” he shouted with a petrified smile. “Uhhh, I get a do-over!”

Elusive sighed and face-hoofed while the audience laughed. Luckily, the announcer took a hold of Blitz’s hoof before he could let go of his card. “Ohhhhh, no you don’t!” she said cheekily. “Let’s see what you picked!”

“I-I didn’t pick it! It was a fluke!”

“Now don’t be like that, Blitz! Everypony’s was random!”

“PLEASE! I don’t wa--”

Unfortunately, the pegasus’ pleading fell on deaf ears as the mare lifted his hoof and snatched the card. Blitz’s teeth were clenched shut with a terrified wince on his face, making him look like he was caught with a fetish magazine instead of a card. After seeing his choice, the mare beamed with excitement and held up the card before saying, “Rainbow Blitz and Elusive’s choice is…”

“Please, come on!” whined Rainbow Blitz, looking like he was about to beg for her not to say it. “I don’t want to dance to--”

“DISCO!!!” As soon as she announced the dance, the audience cheered wildly with applause. Meanwhile, Elusive stood in embarrassment while his partner fell to his knees and shouted to the domed ceiling of the theater:

“NNNNOOOOOOOO!!!!

Chapter Twelve: Apprehensions

Boing! Boing! Boing! Boing! Boing!

Even though the hallways at Elusive and Rainbow Blitz’s hotel were uncomfortably narrow, Bubble Berry was still able to hop through them with disturbing ease while smiling extremely wide. On his back were several pastry boxes that he brought from the bakery across the street, including one that he got specifically for his friends for winning the Baltimare Regional rounds. Of course, the other four boxes were handed to the other finalists as he hopped past them; in fact, most of them didn’t even realize they were given a baked good until Berry was at the other end of the hall and shouted, “Congratulations!”

Berry whistled a merry little tune to himself while handing out the celebratory baked goods, and was down to Elusive and Blitz’s box of cookie cake by the time he reached their hotel room. Beaming wide in anticipation for his rehearsed ‘Super-Duper Happy You Guys Tied For Third Place’ song, the pink stallion used both hooves to bang at their door with the ‘Shave and a Haircut’ riff.

BANG, BANG-BANG-BANG, BANG! Knock, Knock!

Despite hearing a couple muffled groans from the other side of the door, Bubble stood outside their room with a patient smile in wait. From the other end of the hall, Dusk Shine and the rest of Berry’s friends appeared and trotted towards the room as well; since the hall was so thin, Dusk and Starshine were in the front while Butterscotch and Barb followed behind. “Oh, there you are!” shouted Dusk with a relieved smile. “We were wondering where you went off to after the show ended.”

“Well, somepony had to get the winners some celebratory cakes for making it to the Las Pegasus rounds!” Bubble Berry lifted up his flat pastry box with a hoof before adding with a confident smile, “and this cookie-cake has Blitz and Elusive’s names written all over it!”

He then lifted the lid of the box to show the massive treat inside, which literally had Elusive and Blitz’s names written in multiple places with blue and white frosting. “See?”

Starshine huffed with a bemused smile on the stallion. “Wow, you actually went to that bakery down the street, and back here before any of us got off the elevator? How are you not a runner in the Equestria Games or something?”

“Oh, please!” scoffed Berry with a roll of his eyes. “Since when have the Equestria Games ever had a ‘Run From The Bakery To A Hotel With A Bunch Of Baked Goods’ competition? I mean, could you even imagine that? It would be suuuuuuper-duper silly!”

Starshine blinked a few times repeatedly while hearing Dusk and the others snickering beside him. The unicorn eventually sighed and shrugged his shoulders in understanding. “You know what? You have a point there.”

Behind the beaming Bubble, the door opened a tiny bit to reveal Elusive’s face. At seeing who was outside, the unicorn stuck his head out through the crack with a soft look of apprehension behind his smile. “Oh, hello guys,” said the unicorn with a tired-sounding tone of voice. “Sorry for leaving so hastily after the show. I had to chase down Rainbow as he ran up here.”

Bubble Berry leaned in towards the door slowly, looking around before asking in a cautious whisper, “Did you hurt his peepee again?”

“No, I did NOT!” shouted Elusive with great offense.

A muffled, but still very audible groan came from inside the hotel room to make Elusive sigh with his smile dropping in an instant. The group also overheard Blitz’s voice in a pained mutter, “Uuuugghhhh… Why couldn’t we have gotten Hip-Hop?”

After breathing out deeply with his eyes closed, Elusive looked back at his friends in the hall with a defeated expression. “I’m sorry, guys. He’s just really upset about our dance choice.”

“What, you mean disco?” asked Dusk with a slightly puzzled look on his face. “What for? You guys could totally kill that in Las Pegasus!”

Elusive seemed less than enthusiastic with a worried bite of his bottom lip. “Well, Blitz considers it a death sentence because according to him, only dorks like disco.”

The unicorn hated using a term so juvenile, but Dusk didn’t seem to mind with a dismissive wave of his hoof. “Oh, come on! Disco isn’t for dorks! Heck, I enjoy disco from time to time!”

Blitz yelled out from inside the room, “SEE?!?”

Dusk’s smile instantly dropped to a bitter scowl, which wasn’t helped by hearing his student and assistant struggling not to giggle.

“Don’t worry, Duskie!” piped Bubble Berry with a chipper hop of his hooves. He put down his pastry box before pulling a boombox out from his poofy mane. “I know just the song to cheer Blitzie up and turn that frown upside-down!”

“Berry, PLEASE don--” Unfortunately, Elusive’s words were cut off when the pink stallion hopped over him and somehow slid in through the tiny crack of the door. The others could hear the boombox turn on to begin a jaunty tune inside the room.

“Heeeeeyyyy, Blitzie won’t you get on up an--AIEEEE!!!”

Bubble shot out from the crack like the room had a bomb inside of it. After landing on his butt in the hall with a squeak, Berry sat wide-eyed with his face slightly white. He blinked a couple times and said, “Wow… That was one super angry glare.”

Butterscotch winced painfully. “Oh dear…”

Elusive just sighed with a hoof over his eyes. “That’s what I was trying to warn you about! He’s really agitated, and I’m trying to calm him down.”

Even with his ears dropped in worry, Dusk Shine still kept an optimistic tone in his voice while looking back to his friends. “Well, I suppose we can understand the reason why.” He then turned back at Elusive and added with a smile, “But still, we just wanted to give you guys our congratulations for moving forward! I mean, you’re going to the Quarter Finals! In Las Pegasus even!”

Elusive smiled at that reminder after a quick sigh. “Yes, I know. And believe me, I do appreciate the sentiment.” The unicorn then pulled his head away from the door to say in an inflected tone inside the room, “I just wish certain other ponies would appreciate going to Las Pegasus too!”

“Not if it’s to bucking DISCO!”

“Disco can work, and watch your language! Barb is outside!”

Starshine looked like he was getting fed up, and walked up to the door before knocking to grab their attention. “Blitz, come on! That’s not the worst dance style you guys could’ve gotten, and you know it! That one couple got ballet, remember?”

“Yeah,” replied Blitz in a testy tone, “but at least Ballet has DIGNITY! If somepony said they were a world-class ballet dancer, they would be respected for that! But if somepony came up to me and said ‘Hey, I’m a world-class disco dancer,’ I’d probably just laugh at them!”

Starshine had to pause briefly, unsure how to respond to a point like that. A couple seconds passed before Barb shuffled past Dusk Shine and interjected with a raised claw. “Uhhh… he kinda has a point there, Starshine.”

“No he doesn’t!” said Dusk as he went up to the door as well. Not wanting his friend to stay this upset over something as menial as Disco, the Prince used his magic to undo the chain lock from the other side of the door and let it open up fully. He was the first one to walk into the hotel room, which was surprisingly roomy for a one-bed setup. While Elusive was staring at him in surprise for just barging in, Blitz was lying face-down on the middle of the king-sized bed like a teenage mare who hadn’t been invited to a high-school dance. Despite the muffled groan the pegasus gave off, which almost sounded like a warning growl, Dusk Shine still spoke to him bluntly:

“Rainbow, come on! I know you’re upset, but are you really going to let this undermine winning a trip to Las Pegasus!? This is a really big accomplishment, and you should be proud of yourself!”

“Yeah!” added Starshine as he followed Dusk into the room. “Besides, now you have a proper excuse to drink!” The stallion smiled proudly with that added comment, despite the disapproving stare his mentor gave him.

Barb was the next to go into the hotel room, and hopped up on the bed to say to Blitz, “Dude, you got in the top five out of eleven! And considering you’re the only team of two guys, that’s pretty awesome!”

After a deep and prolonged exhale, Blitz slowly rolled his face away from his pillow to glance up at the dragoness. His stare was as flat as a board, but at least he didn’t look angry. Butterscotch, who snuck into the room unnoticed, stood at the side of the bed and said with a positive shrug. “You know, you don’t have to dance to a disco song, right? Elusive would probably give you full reign on the song choice this week.”

“He’s absolutely right!” chimed Elusive with a thankful nod to the yellow pegasus. Of course, he also looked back at Blitz and added preemptively, “That is, as long as it isn’t profane or inappropriate or anything. But still!”

“Ooh!” Starshine’s brows raised like he just got a brilliant idea. “I know that a lot of rock artists made dance-oriented stuff back when Disco was huge. I’m sure you have some songs from back then you could use!”

Due to all the different statements being made from his friends, Blitz had to roll onto his back and lean up against the back of the bed to let everything sink in. It was also at that moment that Bubble Berry hopped up on the bed beside Barb and chirped excitedly, “Besides! You should see something like this as a challenge! Right now, you have the opportunity to make a silly dance style cool!”

Even though Bubble Berry’s grin was a bit too wide for Blitz’s taste, that point actually made his jagged brows raise slightly. Dusk Shine, who looked equally as happy with the pink stallion’s interjection, decided to add optimistically, “Bubble’s right, Rainbow Blitz. If anypony is able to make disco dancing cool, it would be you.”

Despite still feeling upset about his predicament, that assurance was enough to make Blitz smirk a little. “You really think so?” he asked with a small huff.

“Well, despite being a dork who doesn’t mind disco,” replied the Prince with wide-eyed emphasis on that term to make Blitz cringe, “I do think that you and Elusive can make it work.”

While avoiding looking at Dusk for his previous statement, Blitz saw that the rest of his friends all nodded in agreement. Blitz was still apprehensive, but it was hard to feel so negative when he saw the looks of encouragement around the room. With his smile growing slowly, it wasn’t long before the stunt-pony sighed in defeat. “Oh, alright,” he admitted with a roll of his eyes. “I mean, this still sucks, buuuut... I wouldn’t mind getting some drinks in.”

“That’s the spirit!” With a refreshed smile on his muzzle, Elusive helped his dancing partner off the bed and gave him a slap on the back. “Come on, I saw a lovely little pub down the block that we can go to to celebrate!”

Keeping a foreleg around Blitz’s back, Elusive lead him out of the hotel room while keeping smiles on both their faces. The others began to leave as well, but Barb paused as she looked around the room. Before going to leave, she blinked a couple times before asking herself, “Ummm… am I the only one who noticed they only have one bed in here?”

With her question falling on deaf ears, the drake shrugged and made her exit as well.

Due to the high volume of attendees for the show, the Baltimare pub Elusive was referring to (which was unfortunately named McCloppy’s) was absolutely packed by the time he and Blitz arrived. Fortunately, the presence of the two got more than enough positive attention to ensure they wouldn’t be left out in the cold. While their friends got a corner booth that just opened up, the two stallions were bombarded by excited ponies who wanted to either buy them drinks or ask for autographs.

For Elusive, being asked to sign napkins or random sheets of paper from dozens of ponies left him in a slightly frazzled situation at first. Even though his accomplishments as an Element of Harmony left him to occasionally sign autographs or take pictures, the unicorn never experienced such a massive volume of requests at once. For Rainbow Blitz however, he just kept a cheeky smirk from the beginning and signed whatever was given to him. Due to his time as both an Element and a Wonderbolt, the pegasus always made sure to keep a couple felt pens on him whenever he had something to carry them in.

Of course, it wasn’t long before both stallions noticed a recurring theme with each pony they shook hooves with or autographed something for. Almost all of the ponies who came up to Blitz and Elusive were stallions; and more than that, a large majority of them had a rather… feminine vibe. Despite being told of their fanbase by Twinkle Toes’ parents, actually meeting them face-to-face was a bit of a jarring moment for the two. Fortunately, due to Elusive’s background in fashion, being around so many gay guys actually helped him become more comfortable after being greeted by the third couple who wanted pictures with them.

Rainbow Blitz was starting to feel a little awkward as he shook the hooves of multiple stallions, mostly because most of them were able to note that the stunt-pony had a hooficure recently as well. Luckily, a couple complimentary shots offered by fans was enough to keep him from feeling too uneasy in the sea of femmy guys. When he glanced back at his partner, he was surprised to see how well Elusive was getting along with them. Not only was he chatting with couples like a pure socialite, but he was even answering questions some of them asked about techniques or dancing tips. Blitz may have been better with handling fans, but he had to admit that his friend could schmooze the buck out of ponies without batting an eye.

By the time their friends got all their drinks and food back to the booth, Elusive and Blitz were just about finished conversing with the last few ponies. After a few final hoof-shakes, as well as a couple more complimentary drinks, the two finally began to make their trek through the crowded bar to meet up with the others. As they walked, Elusive was the first to sigh in relief while shooting his friend a befuddled smile. “Blitz, I have to ask, how on Earth do you manage to handle giant crowds like that?”

Blitz stared back at his friend with a surprised look on his face. “Wait, me? You were chatting up those guys like you were gonna sell them a dozen suits each!” He then looked back ahead with a shake of his head and added, “And honestly, I bet you could’ve.”

“Well, yes,” admitted the unicorn with a shrug, “I eventually was able to warm up to the fans, but I was still taken aback at first. But you just handled it like a pro as soon as that crowd appeared!”

“Umm, because I’m a Wonderbolt?” asked Blitz sarcastically with a coy grin. “It’s sorta essential to know how to work crowds in an instant. Why did you think I kept those pens in my mane?”

“Honestly? Before today, I thought that was just how you kept your spikes upright.”

Blitz laughed at that remark, remembering how pissed his friend was getting about his mane’s stubbornness. “Okay, yeah! I can see your point there.” He looked back at Elusive with a smile and said, “But seriously though, you took that crowd just as easily as I did. Heck, you didn’t even look a bit freaked out by the end there.”

“Well, I suppose my conversational skills take some time to get warmed up, that’s all.” Thinking about what his friend said, Elusive raised a brow at the pegasus. “But what do you mean by ‘freaked out’?”

“U-Ummm… Well…” Realizing how that description may have sounded after Elusive repeated it, Blitz rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably and tried to think of the right words. “I mean, like, uhhh… I’ve just never been around that many guys at once who were, like… you know...”

Blitz didn’t want to say the word “gay” out-loud, even though he knew it wasn’t like trying to say a slur or anything. But despite his hesitance, he still paused and made a motion with his head back to the bar where a lot of the stallions were seated. It took Elusive a second before getting what his friend meant, but quickly sighed as he looked back at him with both brows raised. “Seriously, Blitz?”

“Y-You know what I mean!” blurted Rainbow as he continued scratching his neck with a small blush on his cheeks. “It’s just kinda… unexpected, that’s all.”

“Oh, come on!” Elusive rolled his eyes and went back to walking ahead of his friend. “They’re just ponies, Rainbow! Like you or me!”

Blitz took that comment with offense as he followed. “I’m not saying otherwise, dude! I’m not a homophobe or anything!”

“So why would it be something to ‘Freak Out’ over?”

“Ugh, I didn’t mean it like that! It was a poor choice of words!” The pegasus huffed and caught up with Elusive to clarify, “I just mean, like… I don’t know that many gay ponies, okay? It’s not something I’m as used to as you are.”

Elusive stopped and sighed before turning around to face Blitz. “Well, you handled yourself fairly well yesterday when we met Twinkle’s parents.”

“Yeah, but that was only two of them! It’s not exactly the same as a whole friggin crowd.” Rainbow stopped and groaned with a hoof over his face, knowing that his words were just digging him into a deeper hole. “Ughhh… I’m just… It wasn’t something I was prepared for alright?”

Before Elusive could shoot him any judgemental looks, Blitz put his hoof down and added while pointing at him, “Like, remember back when Dusk Shine moved to Ponyville, and all of us avoided Zicoro whenever he came into town?”

Despite not understanding the relation from that moment to this, Elusive still sucked some air through his teeth with a pained wince pointed away from his partner. While the unicorn always prided himself on his generous nature and attitude towards others, his behavior towards the zebra back then was far from acceptable in retrospect. But even with his ears folded down, Elusive still heard Blitz continue with, “See? Even after we got everything settled out, it took all of us a little while before things were cool, remember? Now, that doesn’t make us specist, does it?”

Elusive wanted to comply with the Pegasus’ point, but he still shrugged uncomfortably and answered honestly, “Well, maybe not voluntarily…”

Blitz sighed briefly and responded with, “Yeah, but still! It’s the same sorta thing here. Just because I’m not used to something doesn’t mean I’m against it! I’m just not as familiar with that as you are, that’s all.”

Even though he disliked being reminded of past mistakes, Elusive could see what Blitz was trying to say. Not wanting to press things any further, the unicorn sighed and nodded in understanding before saying, “Okay, fine. I can see your point, Blitz. I won’t chastise you or anything, just as long as you see this as a growing point.”

Blitz wanted to say something about how patronizing that last part sounded, but instead he sighed and nodded in agreement. “Y-Yeah. Thank you.”

By the time their conversation was over, the two were within sight of the corner booth their friends were at. However, Elusive’s eyes widened when he saw his parents (as well as Silver Bell and Scootaroll), who had pulled over a separate table to sit next to the group. The white mare with a frizzy brown mane, who Elusive’s friends knew as Magness, was leaning in towards the other group and saying something, but it was impossible to tell what from the noises from other ponies and music blaring in the crowded bar. When Blitz looked over at his partner, he saw that Elusive’s bottom lip was spread wide in utter fear before he bolted off. “Hey, wait!” shouted the pegasus before running after him.

When they got within hearing distance of the table, Elusive’s mother was just getting to the end of her story. “... but just as I was about to leave for the social, I saw little Elusive running down the stairs in one of my dresses, as well as in full makeup! I didn’t know what to say when he ran up to me and said, ‘Mommy, look! Now I can go to the party with you!’”

Elusive screamed with both hooves over his mouth, but it was completely unheard alongside the roar of laughter from his friends. Even Rainbow Blitz had to look away from him with a restrained snicker. Next to Magness was a pale pink unicorn stallion with a greying purple mane. While laughing alongside his wife, he took notice of Elusive’s appalled look and piped happily, “Hey, speak of the devil! Where’ve you been, Lucy?”

Staring at his parents wide-eyed, Elusive looked like he was going to strangle them both while speaking through gritted teeth. “Well… apparently I should’ve been here sooner…”

Noticing how upset the unicorn looked, Dusk Shine was able to stop giggling soon enough to reply towards him, “Hey, come on, Elusive! I know for a fact that my parents told embarrassing stories about me to you guys!”

“Yeah!” added Bubble Berry while wiping some tears from his eyes. “Besides, who hasn’t worn drag as a kid?”

Everyone else at the table paused momentarily to stare at Bubble without anything to say. Meanwhile, Elusive groaned and went to sit at the end of the bench. Even though he just picked the only available spot, the fact that it was next to Barb was enough to make the drake beam in her seat. Rainbow Blitz decided to sit in a vacant chair at the other table next to Scootaroll, and snagged a couple of fries from basket. “Hey, get your own fries!” griped the orange colt with a pout.

“What? I’m hungry!” Since he barely had much to eat since breakfast, all that hoof-full of fries did was make Rainbow Blitz’s stomach groan in dire need for more sustenance. The pegasus gripped at his stomach with an uncomfortable groan and winced. “Urghhh… Man, I could kill for a hayburger right now.”

“Our cheat day is tomorrow, Blitz,” stated his partner while pouring himself a glass from the pitcher of lager at the booth. He also lit his horn to pick up a menu to scan the healthier food options for himself and Blitz. “Liquids are fine for tonight, but we shouldn’t go overboard before we go back to Ponyville.”

“Oh, come on!” whined Rainbow while looking back at him. “I think I deserve a friggin’ sandwich!”

Fortunately, it seemed that Blitz wasn’t the only pony who shared that sentiment. Elusive’s dad, who Blitz knew as Cookie Crumble, decided to lean back in his chair and speak up for his son’s friend. “Oh, it’s just one sandwich! I think you guys burned more than enough calories on the dance floor today to make up for that.”

“Dad,” retorted Elusive, “you know how strict a diet regimen has to be! If it’s off by even a day, his body could poorly react to the changes and--MOM!”

While speaking towards Cookie Crumble, Elusive almost didn’t notice Magness passing Blitz her hoagie. While Rainbow scarfed the sandwich down in three seconds flat, the mare looked back at her son with her hooves raised. “What? They put mustard on it! I wasn’t gonna eat it!”

Elusive sighed bitterly and took a heavy swig of his glass to ignore the throbbing vein on his forehead. Meanwhile, his dad looked back at Blitz with a sudden revelation. “Hey! Since your cheat day is technically tomorrow, how’d you like to join us for dinner at our place? We do it every Sunday as a family thing, and I was itching to make some kebabs on the grill!”

Blitz stopped licking his hooves and paused momentarily. Elusive almost choked on his drink and put his glass down. “Wait, what?!”

“Ooh, that’s a great idea!” piped Magness with a smile as cheerful as her husband’s. “Silver Bell’s friends are coming anyway, so the more the merrier!”

Scootaroll grew a rather excited look on his face as well. “Yeah! And Apple Buck is bringing Twinkle Toes too!”

Elusive was growing more apprehensive by the second, not wanting any of his friends to come over to his house for dinner. He may have loved his family deeply, but he dreaded the thought of them telling countless embarrassing stories to Blitz of all ponies. Unfortunately, it seemed like Rainbow was warming to the idea quite quickly. “Hey, that’s not a bad idea!” said the pegasus with a smile back at Elusive’s parents. “Should I bring anything if I say yes?”

Cookie Crumble replied in a chipper voice, “Well, the only thing you really need to bring is a good appetite! But if you wanted to bring a side dish or some six-packs, I certainly won’t complain.”

“Just don’t try to bring whiskey,” added Magness warningly while raising a brow towards her husband. “Trust me, this guy ends up doing the silliest things after a shot or two.”

Cookie sighed and rolled his eyes away from her. “Oh, here we go again with the Mop Incident.”

Elusive groaned with a hoof over his face, not needing to be reminded of the mop incident. And judging from the muffled giggling he could overhear from his friends (aside from Starshine who looked around confusedly), he was sure none of them needed to be reminded either. Of course, when your father’s shenanigans ends up in the newspaper, it’s not hard to keep him from getting that drunk again. Dusk Shine leaned in towards his student and whispered, “I’ll explain on the train.”

“Hey, don’t worry,” responded Rainbow Blitz with a hoof raised in understanding. “Believe me, the last thing I want to do is tick-off one of my friend’s parents. I’ll just bring some beers.”

Silver Bell perked up and asked, “Hey, wait a minute! Didn’t you make some really good onion things for Scootaroll once? He keeps on saying that was one of the best things he ever ate!”

“OOH, YEAH!” Now looking as hyped-up as ever, Scootaroll was grinning ear-to-ear up to his mentor. He didn’t even notice how the pegasus’ ears were pulled down slightly when he said, “Blitz, you totally should! You still have that deep-fryer back at your place, right?”

In almost a complete one-eighty, Blitz instantly started to look hesitant with his smile turning shaky. “O-Oh, come on,” he muttered while looking away from the colts.

Elusive narrowed his eyes on him confusedly, not sure why his friend turned that way at the mention of a deep fryer. However, what made the unicorn really wary was when Butterscotch tried to speak up from the corner of the booth, “G-Guys,” he piped with a worried tone of voice, “he really doesn’t have to do--”

“Wait, are you talking about one of those ‘blooming onion’ things?” asked Magness with growing interest. “I’ve been trying to cook those for years, and I never got it right! If you know how to cook one, I’m willing to pay you for a recipe!”

“U-Uhhhh…” Blitz was looking even more fretful, and was even fidgeting his hooves under his table while peering his head away. “I-I… I don’t normally cook in front of others…”

“Wait, what?” asked Scootaroll with a puzzled look on him. “But you cooked for me, remember?”

“Everypony, please!” interrupted Butterscotch with a more pleading look. It was at this point that Elusive was starting to get concerned. “He really shouldn’t have to do it if he…”

Despite his attempts to help, the yellow pegasus stopped when he saw his friend raise a hoof silently. Blitz’s face was away from everyone, so nopony was able to see him trying to collect his thoughts with his eyes tightly shut. After a short breath out, he turned back to the table with a somewhat less fidgety expression. “W-Well… I…”

Elusive stared at his friend cautiously, noting how the pegasus was looking around at the others and their reactions. Scootaroll and Silver Belle, along with Elusive’s parents, all seemed pleasantly curious as to Blitz’s previously unknown skills. Even Dusk Shine and the others were paying attention, most of them never having seen him turn on an oven before. But after a brief sigh, Blitz shrugged in defeat and said in a very apprehensive tone, “I… I guess I could do it…”

“YES!” shouted Scootaroll as he hugged him from the side with a big smile. “Thanks, dude!”

Given how happy the colt looked, as well as Silver Bell and his parents, Blitz smiled with a sigh as he softly hugged him back. Meanwhile, Elusive was concerned with how strongly his partner was forcing that smile for them. Of course, the unicorn’s look wasn’t nearly as upsetting as Butterscotch’s as he sank back in his seat with a pained purse of his lips.

Unfortunately, it seemed like those two stallions were the only ones who knew something was up. While Rainbow went back to conversing with Elusive’s family, Bubble Berry looked between Elusive and Blitz with wide-open eyes and asked, “Wait a minute, Blitz knows how to cook?! Since when?”

“Yeah, really!” added Barb with a slightly offended expression. “He always turned down helping us in the kitchen in the castle because he ‘wasn’t good at it!’”

“Hey, let’s not make any judgements,” said Dusk Shine with a shrug of his head. “Maybe it’s just deep frying that’s his strong suit.”

Starshine nodded in agreement. “That sounds about right. I can’t bake very well without magic, but I can fry up some things kinda decently.” He then turned to Elusive and asked, “You think so?”

“Hm?” Since he was staring at Elusive with a bit lip, the unicorn almost didn’t notice Starshine asked him something. He quickly blurted without hearing what was asked, “O-Oh, yeah! I… I believe so…”

Elusive didn’t say much after that, and went back to stare at Rainbow in thought. Even though he knew it wasn’t proper to pry in on other ponies’ personal lives, there was something about Blitz’s reaction that set off multiple red flags in the unicorn’s conscience. He also saw that Butterscotch noticed it too, although it seemed like he had previous experience with whatever this was. Given that Butterscotch had the longest history with Rainbow, Eusive made a mental note to ask him about it back in Ponyville.

Meanwhile, Bubble Berry and Barb were both looking at Elusive with narrowed eyes, since all the stallion was doing was sitting and staring at Blitz with a half-finished beer in front of him. Bubble grew a naughty smirk before leaning in towards Barb and whispering, “I think Lucy has a crush on him~”

“HE DOES NOT!”

Chapter Thirteen: Battered and Worn

Since the sun was nearing the horizon in front of him, Rainbow Blitz was sporting his shades while leisurely soaring through the air. Despite the constant droning sound of wind whooshing past his ears, the pegasus could still hear the loud buzzing coming from beneath him on the ground. Scootaroll’s wings may have not been the best for flying, but the colt was able to put them to great use as propellers while on his scooter. Behind Scootaroll’s wheels was an old wagon he found in his attic, which was connected to his scooter by a small chain; the wheels wobbled with a constant creak from the rusty bearings, but it was still able to hold all the groceries and items needed on their trek towards Silver Bell’s house.

Given how lavish and high-class Elusive made his own home, it was almost jarring to see that his parents’ house was completely plain. From the white walls and grey shutters, to the pristinely well-kept lawn with a two-cart garage, Rainbow Blitz was sure he would’ve missed it among the identical houses on this street if it weren’t for the numbers by the off-white door. Of course, even if the address wasn’t easy to read, the distinct smell of charcoal burning from the backyard was enough to let them know they were at the right house.

With his wings buzzing like a small motor, Scootaroll was the first to arrive to the quaint suburban home with a loud screech from his scooter’s wheels. Blitz landed on the ground beside Scootaroll’s wagon with an impressed smirk pointed at the colt. “I gotta say, dude,” said the mentor with an approving shrug while the colt got off his scooter, “I’m pretty sure you could beat me in a race if we both had to ride those things.”

“Oh, come on,” replied Scootaroll in dismissal as he took off his helmet. Blitz did the same with his shades. “I was barely moving that fast while towing with that heavy wagon!”

“Hey, you were going at least twenty-five down that hill back there.” Keeping a carefree smile on his face, Blitz went to pull the deep-fryer off the wagon with booth hooves. “Hnnnnggg… Besides… You kept a steady pace with that load without even breaking a sweat! That’s not something to shake a stick at.”

“Yeah, I guess…” Scootaroll went to get a couple of the paper grocery bags full of supplies, but stopped momentarily to ask his mentor, “Uhhh… you need help with that?”

“Nope!” the pegasus lied with a strained grunt. Despite his extensive training, Blitz forgot just how cumbersome his old deep-fryer really was. Even when it was empty, the metal device wasn’t exactly as compact or light as modern cooking appliances. Plus, the fact that it was covered in decades worth of oil and grease residue made it fairly hard to grip with his hooves. But alas, Blitz was able to hold it with both forelegs while his face turned red from overwhelming strain. “I’m… I’mgood…”

Fortunately, Blitz only had to take three steps before an aura of blue magic wrapped around the fryer and pulled it off his hooves. The pegasus fell backwards onto the grass from that unexpected loss of weight, leaving him to stare up at the culprit in surprise. “Oh, heaven’s t’betsy!” shouted Magness, who lifted the fryer effortlessly with her magic and let it levitate towards the house. “You really had an old one, didn’t ‘cha? Don’t worry, Cookie and I will plug this up for you!”

Even Scootaroll looked surprised at how easily the mare grabbed Blitz’s fryer and took it into the house. Of course, he was distracted when another aura of pink floated past with the two jugs of vegetable oil Blitz brought as well. “Got the oil!” shouted Cookie Crumble with a smile while trotting past the two pegasi.

“Huh,” said Scootaroll to himself while Blitz got back on his hooves, “So that’s why they disable magic at the Equestria Games.”

“Ugh, yeah…” After brushing some grass clippings from his fur, Blitz went and got the remaining grocery bags from the wagon. He also pulled the cooler he brought by his teeth as he walked backwards towards the house. “C’mon, thwurt!”

After a bit of balance and strain from carrying so many things at once, Blitz stepped into the house while Scootaroll held the door open for him. In the living room, some pop song was playing on the radio while Scootaroll’s friends sat on the couch with a couple of JoyBoys. While Silver Bell sat on one end of the couch with his hoof-held game, a wire was connected from the console to the second one held in Twinkle Toes’ hooves. Apple Buck was seated next to her and watching her gameplay intensely.

“Put the ‘L’ shaped one at the corner!” he shouted while pointing at the pixelated icon slowly moving down Twinkle’s screen. The filly had her tongue stuck out in concentration while maneuvering the piece over to an empty spot along the wall of various colored blocks. Scootaroll put his bags down by the kitchen and ran over to see Silver Bell’s progress. While Blitz sighed and went over to the kitchen with his things, he heard Buck say, “Wait, why’re ya puttin’ the long piece there?! There was an empty spot in the middle fo-- Ohhhhh, Ah see now…”

When he stepped into the kitchen, Blitz saw that Magness was chopping up some heads of lettuce for the salads. “Oh, you can just put those on the table, dearie,” she said without looking back at the pegasus. “The fryer is heating up right now, so it might be a while before you can get things ready too.”

“Oh, okay…” Blitz put his groceries down and took a beer from the cooler before looking around the kitchen, noting how the majority of the tiles and appliances were obscenely yellow. Even though there was also a bit of white on the countertops and floor, Blitz felt like this sort of room would give him a headache if he stayed in it for too long. After taking a swig from his bottle, Blitz asked as he tossed the cap in the nearby trashcan, “So, where’s Lucy at?”

“He’s up in his old room,” she said while chopping up some cucumbers with delicate precision with the knife in her magic. She then turned around with a smile and pointed to the doorway where the stairs are. “Upstairs, second door on the right.”

“Alright, thanks!” Blitz left Elusive’s mom to finish her salad bowl, and trotted up the stairs that had a few distinct creaks on the wooden steps. When he reached the top, his ears twitched when he overheard the distinct sound of a certain genre of music that made him groan with gritted teeth. Even though he should’ve known he would have to hear it some time this week, the muffled sound of disco music coming through Elusive’s bedroom door was enough to turn Blitz’s stomach like an expired gallon of milk. Nevertheless, he downed half of his bottle before going towards the room.

He opened the door slowly and peered inside to see what his friend was doing. Most of the the unicorn’s old bedroom was darkened with the curtains closed and the light off, but an old movie projector that was reeling beside the bed gave enough illumination for Blitz to see Elusive sitting next to it. While on the bed, Elusive was jotting down some notes on a pen and paper while studying the footage displayed on a sheet hung across the back wall. Blitz entered the room to see the film, which looked to be a recording of an old disco routine between two absurdly-dressed ponies.

Despite how ludicrous the song and style of the routine looked, Blitz had to admit that the dancing itself was really solid. The quick-timed steps, combined with the fluid movement and symmetrical style, really made it look like a complicated and well-rehearsed routine. There was also quite a bit of contortion and gymnast-style lifts between the two dancers, which Blitz did not expect. For the finale of the performance, the stallion lifted up his partner so that her crotch was right up against his face as he stood on his hind-legs. Even though that move quickly turned to him spinning her around the stage by her hindlegs on his shoulders, Blitz looked back at his partner and said, “We are not doing that move.”

“AAAHHHH!” Elusive nearly fell off his bed when he heard his friend’s voice out of nowhere, but was able to catch himself before glaring back at him. “Rainbow! Just what do you think you’re doing barging into my room!”

“What? I wanted to see where you were!” Blitz pointed to the open doorway and added, “Also, for a guy who prides himself on noticing the tiniest things, I’m surprised you didn’t hear the door open.”

While the film reel continued to play, Elusive looked between Blitz and the door with a surprised look of his own. “Er, um… I was focused on my notes!” After holding up his notebook for his partner to see, Elusive used his magic to turn on the bedroom light and turn the projector off. With the added illumination, Blitz was able to see the posh, lavender accented room his friend used to stay in; or more accurately, what was left of the room which was now stuffed with dozens of boxes around most of the floor. “Besides,” continued the unicorn as he carefully went to tend to the projector and get the film out and back in place, “this was the only place I could use the projector without hearing anypony downstairs.”

“Yeah, I guess…” Blitz was listening to his friend, but his attention was geared towards the shelves high up on Elusive’s faded white walls. As he finished his beer, Blitz scanned the little wooden shelves that were delicately painted purple, with at least a dozen trophies stacked side-by-side and collecting dust. Upon closer inspection, Blitz’s brows raised when he read the titles of them. “Wow, you were a bit of a theater kid, huh?”

Elusive chuckled a little while putting the film reel back in the metal drum resting on the bed. “Oh, that was more of a hobby than anything else,” admitted the unicorn meekly. “I preferred working the costume department in most of the theater productions I participated in, but I was alright with being a replacement actor every now and again.”

“Are you sure it was just replacement?” asked Blitz with a raised brow back at him. “Because I see a few big-ass trophies for acting up here!”

“Well, it’s not my fault that I had to replace a lead actor two shows in a row!” Elusive then shrugged and added with a smirk, “Besides, it’s easy to be seen as a good actor in a musical when you have a splendid singing voice.”

“Okay, yeah. Good point there…” Blitz looked back up at the trophy shelf, noticing the ones near the end that were for glee club and choir meets. “I’m kinda surprised your parents didn’t make a trophy case for you or something! Most of these are pretty good.”

“Well, thank you,” said Elusive with a smile as he hopped off the bed, “but I take more pride in my works in fashion than I do in some trophies. If you want to see the accomplishments I’m really happy about, my Father can show you the fashion binder he and my Mom made for me.”

Blitz couldn’t help scoffing when his friend said ‘fashion binder’ so proudly. “Like, what? Pictures of old dresses you made?”

Elusive huffed with a disapproving scowl pointed at the pegasus. “Not just pictures of ‘old dresses’. I have pictures from some of the first shows I participated in, original sketches of some of my most successful works, as well as photos of some of the most famous celebrities who have worn my garments! Not to mention the countless magazine and catalogue pages where my work was featured.”

“Alright, alright, I get it!” With both hooves up apologetically, Blitz skewed away from his friend and looked back at the shelf. “I wasn’t being insulting or anything, I was just surprised, that’s all.”

“Why?” asked the unicorn condescendingly, “Because I don’t place all my pride in trophies?”

Ignoring how his friend inflected that last word, Blitz shrugged and said, “I just mean, like… trophies can be a big deal to a lot of ponies. Like… it’s straight-up proof that you did something that mattered, you know? Somepony saw that you did something really cool, so they gave you a cool award that showed you were worth something that day…”

Elusive paused briefly, and looked up at the old shelf as well. Meanwhile, Rainbow Blitz continued with a small sigh that escaped his growing smile. “I remember the very first trophy I ever got. It was back in the first grade, and I won a medal for Fastest Skater in the Cloudsdale Junior Hockey league. I mean, our team was very last in the league that year, but still...”

After a tiny huff, Blitz bit the inside of his cheek before continuing. “I remember when I came home that day, the very first thing my Dad did was help me build my own trophy case for it. That medal stood right in the middle, which just made the rest of the shelf look massive and empty. When I was looking up at it, he looked down at me and said, ‘One day, you’re gonna fill that sucker up so much that we’ll end up making a bigger one’...”

Blitz blinked a few times as he looked back down to his hooves. Elusive turned to see the strained smile on his friend’s face after Blitz let out a heavy exhale. “I remember we ended up building a new shelf by the time I started middle school. We made another right before my Junior year of high school…”

After that, Blitz stopped talking as he kept his face pointed away from his friend. Elusive waited for a brief moment with his muzzle skewed, not wanting to say anything to ruin Blitz’s train of thought. But after a small sigh, he looked back up at his shelf and shrugged meagerly. “Well… I suppose I can see your point there, Blitz…”

After another couple seconds of thought, the unicorn glanced back at Blitz and added, “And I’m happy you did that sort of thing with your father. He sounds like a good stallion.”

He wasn’t able to see Blitz’s face, but Elusive did notice how the pegasus’ ears pulled down a little after that remark. Elusive tried to lean over and catch a glimpse of what that motion meant, but was interrupted when a knock came at the door. “Elusive?” asked his dad from the hall. “Is Blitz in there? Magness is finished in the kitchen, so he can stark cooking now.”

“Alright, thanks Da--” Before Elusive could even finish that response, Blitz quickly went to the door and left the room. Cookie Crumble stepped back in surprise as the pegasus rushed past him and trotted down the stairs. He blinked a couple times before looking back his equally confused son.

Of course, the pink unicorn then huffed with a smirk and said, "Well! I guess someone was excited to start cooking, huh?”

Elusive leaned his head out of the room to see where his friend ran off to, and it took a short pause of silence before saying in an unsure voice, “Well… I guess so…”

Rainbow Blitz spent almost an hour in the kitchen getting everything ready, although it could have been a lot longer if he hadn’t agreed to let Scootaroll and Apple Buck help out. Silver Belle offered to assist as well, but was quickly escorted out by Magness and Cookie for his own good; Elusive wanted to feel bad, but he remembered his brother’s most recent attempts at “cooking” clearly enough to not blame his parents for keeping him away from a vat of boiling oil. Fortunately, the other two colts were more than helpful at getting everything from Blitz’s groceries battered and breaded. Meanwhile, the cyan stallion used an old washrag to tie over his forehead like a bandanna as he worked, getting everything prepped and cooked like a true professional; by the time everything was fully prepared, Scootaroll and Buck had been sitting at the table for at least fifteen minutes watching him do everything flawlessly.

After cleaning up the mess his brother and Twinkle Toes made outside when making the salad vinaigrettes, Elusive breathed out in exhaustion as he walked into the kitchen. He first noticed Rainbow Blitz (or at least Blitz’s sweaty back) as his hooves constantly moved from the fryer to the other ingredients which were either finished or still cooking. The unicorn then blinked before glancing back at the two colts and asked, “So, I take it you two needed a break?”

“Not really,” answered Apple Buck with a shrug. “Blitz just sorta took over, and we didn’t have nuthin’ to do.”

“Yeah,” added Scootaroll while nodding in agreement. “He even pushed me out of the way a couple times! I mean, I think it was because a lot of oil was splattering around, but it was still weird.”

Elusive turned to stare at Blitz again, blinking a couple times with his eyes narrowing on him. The pegasus seemed to be completely in his own world, not responding to anything happening behind him. Heck, if King Metamorphosis showed up right now with an ovipositor pointed at his butt, Blitz probably wouldn’t have even batted an eye. Elusive slowly walked up to see what was happening, and saw his partner dumping the last of something from the fryer basket into a large strainer lined with a bunch of paper towels. The unicorn had no idea what those clumps of fried batter had inside of them, but he only saw the bowl for a second before Blitz tossed it across the kitchen. “Order UP!!”

Elusive shrieked and ducked before the bowl could hit his head. Scootaroll flinched at the sudden bowl of fried food being thrown towards him and his friend, but Buck caught the handle of the strainer with his teeth like a pro. “God id!” The colt then trotted out of the kitchen to the backyard with a satisfied smile on his muzzle. After looking to make sure Elusive was alright, Scootaroll got out of his seat and went to get one of the other prepared bowls to take outside.

“Rainbow!” shouted Elusive when he got back on his hooves with a scowl. “You should really pay attention to your surroundings!”

“GAH!” The pegasus turned around in a jolt, clearly not having heard his friend a minute ago. Blitz seemed briefly surprised at seeing Elusive right next to him in the kitchen, but was able to retort back, “Hey, YOU were the one who snuck up on me while I’m frying stuff! That’s kinda your own fault!”

“Well, maybe you…” Before he could begin to berate Blitz for almost throwing a bunch of fried food at his face, Elusive’s words trailed off when he finally got a good look at his friend. After almost an hour straight by the deep fryer, Blitz looked absolutely drained by the heavy bags under his eyes. Despite the towel hung around his head, the fur on his face was completely matted in sweat. Even as he stood with a seemingly oblivious look on his face, the stallion was panting heavily like he just ran a marathon backwards. Elusive also saw that the pegasus’ hooves were wobbling a tiny bit, which was alarming enough for him to quickly stop his previous statement and say, “Okay, you really need to lie down a bit.”

Blitz didn’t catch the concern in friend’s voice and just scoffed with a wave of his shaking hoof. “Pbbt! Dude, come on! I just finished cooking!”

“Rainbow, you really look exhausted!” Elusive then pointed to the mirror on the wall by the dining table. “Do you even see how you look?! You should at least rehydrate yourself!”

Blitz sighed and walked past him. “Lucy, we both know I’ve dealt with worse. I do Wonderbolt practices, remember? Besides, it’s not like your training doesn’t make me sweat a…”

The pegasus’ words trailed off when he looked at the wall his partner was pointing towards. Elusive hoped that seeing how overworked he looked would be enough of a wake-up call for Rainbow. But surprisingly enough, it was the clock above the mirror that caught Blitz’s attention. “What the…” The stunt-pony had a confounded look on his face when he turned back to Elusive and asked, “Was I really cooking that long!?”

Elusive was surprised that that was the question he was asked, but he still nodded after a couple blinks. “Umm… I think so. Why?”

Blitz made a quick shake of his head like he was rattling something out of it. After pulling off the rag from his head and tossing it to the sink (which made a very nasty-sounding “plop”), the stallion wiped some remaining sweat from his brow and slowly walked towards the stairs. “Uhhh… I’m gonna take a shower, alright?”

“Ummm, alright then,” said his friend worriedly. He then made sure to add, “and drink some water too.”

“Alright…” Blitz took a beer out of his cooler before heading up the stairs.

“Rainbow, I said water!”

“Shower beer is better!”

Elusive groaned after his friend disappeared, but there was nothing much for him to do but rub his eyes in strained thought. Even though he knew that Blitz wasn’t a stranger to pushing his limits, the way he was acting recently seemed quite a bit out of character for him. And despite how fretful Butterscotch looked the previous night at seeing Blitz's behavior, he absolutely refused to tell Elusive the reason why when he was asked; all he did was state that he made a Bubble Berry Promise to never say anything about it without Blitz’s permission. And given how sensitive that pegasus was, Elusive was sure that any further interrogation could've easily put a strain on their friendship.

Elusive knew better than to risk asking any unneeded questions to Blitz, but he also knew that his friend’s behavior was getting way out of hoof. Butterscotch tried to warn him not to press the matter any more than he already had, but the unicorn was honestly worried about what might happen if this was left to fester any longer. Eventually, he lowered his hoof with a pained sigh, making a mental note to try and ask Blitz about it before their show in Las Pegasus. It might be risky, but it’s hard to turn away from a risky idea after the countless endeavors they did as Elements.

“Elusive?” shouted Magness from outside through the window. “Your Dad’s finished with the kebabs! Tell Blitz to come outside!”

“Alright, Mum!” After a brief exhale, Elusive lit his horn to get a couple of the covered bowls that Blitz finished frying up earlier. He was just about to lift up the last one too, but Blitz’s hoof came into his view and grabbed it by surprise. “What the?!” Elusive turned to see Blitz was not only out of the shower, but completely clean and dried up. Elusive peered up at the clock, noting that not even two minutes have passed. “How the… How did you do that?!”

“Told you, dude,” said Blitz before taking a swig of his beer and walking out to the backyard with his food. “Only one minute showers on Wonderbolt grounds.”

Elusive wanted to ask if Blitz took any showering lessons from Bubble Berry to be that quick, but decided to let that statement remain unsaid and followed him outside.

The backyard was just as meticulously trimmed as the front yard, and a large picnic table was set up that was crammed with everything for their meal. The four kids were already seated along one side of the table with their plates, and Elusive’s parents were on the other side, motioning the two stallions to come over. “C’mon, guys!” shouted Cookie Crumble with a jaunty smile. “Everything’s ready!”

Blitz smiled and trotted to the table first, seemingly looking like nothing odd happened over the past five minutes. Elusive wanted to pause his trot while staring at his friend in bewilderment, but was able to keep his appearance casual as he followed him and took a seat. While helping himself to some salad and one of the kebabs, he overheard his dad ask Blitz, “So, how did the frying go in there? I swear, the smells coming out could be good enough to make into cologne!”

“Oh, yeah. Sure,” jeered his wide with a roll of her eyes. “I can imagine it now: Ol’ De Fry Cook.”

“I’d wear it!” piped Silver Bell happily, which just made both his parents laugh. Of course, Cookie’s chuckling turned to a few impressed “Ooohs” as he saw the various items Rainbow Blitz made for the occasion. Even though Elusive had no idea how to discern one bowl of fried items from the other, his father used his magic to pull out individual pieces with a grin.

“Holy crow, look at all this! Fried mushrooms, zucchini, onion rings--HUUUHHH!” That gasp caught Elusive’s attention when he turned to see how wide his dad’s mouth was. “You made cheese sticks too?!”

“Eh, what can I say?” asked Blitz with a shrug and his hooves raised. “I was kinda in the zone back in the kitchen.”

Elusive wanted to point out that 'in the zone' isn't exactly the term he would use, but he kept himself silent and enjoyed some of his father's grilled peppers. “Yeah, I’ll say!” added Scootaroll as he helped himself to some pieces from one of the massive blooming onions Blitz prepared. “You were like a robot near the end there!”

Blitz looked away with an uncomfortable look while he and the other kids giggled. Elusive stopped chewing momentarily and stared at his fiend cautiously. Meanwhile, a cheerful Magness waved her hoof to settle the kids down, “Oh, don’t be like that! I’m sure that the time spent was more than worth i--”

“MMMMPH!!” With the way Cookie Crumble reacted with a hoof over his mouth while bug-eyed, it seemed like whatever he just took a bite of struck a major chord. After a couple chews, the stallion quickly swallowed and handed some of the cheese sticks from his plate to his wife. “Honey, try this!” he said in an excitedly insistent voice. Hearing how the unicorn sounded, Blitz glanced past Elusive to see what the commotion was about

As soon as Magness took a small bite from one of the sticks, her eyes opened just as wide as her husband’s. She blinked a couple times while the remainder of her cheese stick hovered in her magic. “Oh… my…”

Seeing the mare’s stunned face, Blitz couldn’t resist smiling a little. “Heh heh heh… I’ve seen that look before.”

While Elusive glanced back at the pegasus, all four of the kids got cheese sticks themselves to see what the hubbub was about. Of course, that first bite soon turned to many after a brief moment of silent awe. Even Twinkle Toes was chowing down alongside the colts as they all got huge helpings of Blitz’s fried goods. Meanwhile, Magness was still reeling about the food with her husband with a sense of nostalgia. “My gosh!” she shouted with a shocked smile at Cookie. “These taste just like the ones we had on our first date!”

Cookie Crumble chuckled and nodded heartily. “I know, right?! It’s uncanny to Wingman’s!” The mention of that name made the stallion groan with his head leaned back. “Oh, I thought I’d never get myself any of those again!”

Blitz may have been happy about the positive reception, but his smile dropped when he heard what Cookie said. Elusive asked his Dad, “Wait, what’s Wingman’s?”

“Oh, that place was the best!” raved the older unicorn with a grin back at him. “Seriously, I went there almost every day after classes back in college! It was also where I took your Mother on our first date.”

“Mmhmm,” piped Magness with a smiling nod. “And it was where we went on our anniversary six years in a row! The place has a special place in our hearts.”

Cookie chuckled and added while tapping his belly with a hoof, “and given how many of those cheese sticks I ate there, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of it is still in my heart!”

“Oh, you!” jeered his wife as she slapped him on the shoulder. Nevertheless, Magness laughed just as heartily as her husband from that joke. Meanwhile, Elusive smiled with a chuckle himself, but stopped when the two started nuzzling. All four of the kids made a unified “Ewwww!” in response, which did little to stop the nose-nuzzle. However, Cookie paused when he noticed how uneasy Rainbow was looking.

“Hey Blitz, you alright?” he asked with a raised brow. Elusive turned to see Blitz as well, instantly seeing the uncomfortable expression the pegasus had while fidgeting his hooves. But upon hearing that question, Blitz breathed out slowly while struggling to break a fake smile.

“Uhhh, y-yeah,” said Rainbow in a tone that made Elusive wary. The cyan stallion then sighed briefly and added, “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just… kinda surprised you know that place.”

“Wait, you know about it?” asked Magness with her eyes widened in interest. “That place hasn’t been around for years!”

Scootaroll, despite stuffing his face along with his friends, swallowed before piping out to Blitz, “Hey, was that the place you said your parents owned?”

Blitz whipped his head back to Scootaroll wide-eyed, but then cringed a little when he heard both of Elusive’s parents gasp in pleased surprise. “Well, what do you know!” shouted Cookie with an honored look on his face. “I knew there had to be something special in there!”

“Wait, really?” asked Elusive back towards his friend with a brow raised. “Blitz, I don’t think you ever mentioned that.”

Upon seeing how Rainbow’s head slumped down with a long sigh, Elusive quickly realized that there may have been a reason for Blitz never speaking about it. Unfortunately, the mood wasn’t helped when he heard his mother chime in with a groan in nostalgia. “Ugh! I remember how sad we were when we found out that place shut down. One day it was busy as a bee and the next day it was just… gone. I still don’t understand why that happened.”

Blitz squirmed a little in his seat while looking away from his friend’s parents. After noticing, Elusive looked back at his folks and tried to keep them from saying anything else. “You know, maybe we shouldn--”

“Actually yeah, I was wondering about that too,” interrupted Cookie as he looked over at Rainbow. He made sure to say in addition with a respectful raise of his hooves, “I mean, I’m not trying to kill the mood or anything. If I’m going too far you can say so. We were just curious what happened.”

Despite how well his father worded that last part, Elusive still looked apprehensive as he glanced back to his partner. Blitz, who was staring down at his hoof as it scratched the wooden surface of the table, hoped that his lips didn’t look as shaky as he thought they did. “W-Well, ummm…” The pegasus had to take a small breath before speaking in a less feeble voice. “The place was bought out by some real estate company before I went to college, and… and that company fell under before anything could be built.”

Magness’ ears dropped down with a disheartened look on her face. Cookie Crumble seemed upset as well, and sighed before asking, “Really? They sold that place? Man, if I owned a business like that, you’d bet your butt I wouldn’t let it--Oomph!”

Elusive hoped that he didn’t cross any lines with that hard kick to his dad’s shin, but it seemed like a better alternative than just letting him continue and upset Blitz any further. Fortunately, Cookie got the hint when he noticed how the pegasus’ head was lowered even further. “Ummm… you know what? I’ll go get some more beers from the kitchen. I have some artisan stuff from Vanhoover you might like.”

While the stallion quickly made his leave with a limp, Elusive placed a cautious hoof on Blitz’s back. “I’m sorry, Blitz,” he said quietly.

Even though the only response he thought he would get was a sharp inhale from his partner, Elusive was glad to hear him murmur back “Th-Thanks…”

Magness, who had a guiltful expression as well, lit up her horn to float over a large bowl of salad and some kebab pieces towards Blitz. “We really are glad you came here for dinner, Rainbow,” she said with a warm smile. “And you’re always welcome to come back if you want.”

Blitz glanced back at her with a tiny smile and nodded. “Thanks, Magness.” By the time Cookie Crumble came back out with a couple of fancy-looking bottles in his aura, Blitz was back upright in his seat when he took one. After taking the first swig, Blitz smiled a little and said towards both of them, “Well, just so you guys know, I wouldn’t mind giving you guys the recipe to those cheese sticks if you want it.”

“Wait, really?” asked Magness with a look of shock. She tried to put up her hooves and say, “Oh, Rainbow you don’t have to do something like that.”

“No, I insist,” returned the pegasus with a raised hoof of his own. “I mean, it’s not like I have to worry about it being stolen or anything. Besides, it wouldn’t hurt for you guys to know how to make it yourselves.”

Magness looked like she wanted to say something more in refusal, but eventually just sighed with a grateful smile on her face. Elusive seemed especially touched by that sentiment as he stared at his friend with a smile of his own. “Wow, that’s… that’s really nice of you.”

“Eh, what can I say?” said Blitz with a shrug. “Maybe your generosity is rubbing off on me.”

Cookie decided to say jokingly, “Hey Elusive, dance with him some more! Maybe he can give us the blooming onion recipe too!” Even though Blitz laughed at that, Magness elbowed her husband sharply. “Ow! Come on, it was a joke!”

While rubbing his side with a wince, Cookie helped himself to another cheese stick and said, “Seriously though, I would love to know what you guys did to make these. I swear, we have never found a place that made mozzarella sticks that good!”

Curious himself, Elusive helped himself to one of the few remaining cheese sticks in the basket. Even though the idea of fried cheese was beyond appalling, he had to admit that all the raving at this dinner made him more than a little curious. The unicorn took a meager bite, and was immediately rewarded with a savory creaminess that went shockingly well alongside that salty, crispy breading. His eyes shot wide-open as well, and he huffed with a bewildered smile while chewing. He hated to admit it, but that may have been one of the best uses of cheese he ever experienced outside of fondue. “Oh, wow…”

“Hey, what did I tell you?” said Blitz with a cocky grin pointed at him. “Fried cheese IS good!”

“Well, it’s nice to see him opening his culinary tastes a bit,” chimed Magness. “I remember Elusive used to be the pickiest eater in Equestria.”

“Oh, no I was not!” retorted Elusive sharply.

“Yeah you are!” said Silver Bell back at him. “Remember when you went with Mom and Dad on that vacation in Neighpon, and you wouldn’t stop complaining because you couldn’t get macaroni and cheese?”

Elusive’s face soured up in an instant. While Rainbow Blitz covered his mouth and snickered, the unicorn’s right eye twitched violently as he said in a peeved hiss, “I was very young when I went on that vacation, Silver Bell.”

That was when both of his parents said at the same time, “You were fifteen!”

Despite the furious glare Elusive had, everyone else at the table started cracking up. Blitz had to wipe his eyes while keeping himself from falling out of his seat. “Oh man! That reminds me of when me and the guys gave Lucy a wine-tasting experimen--”

“DO NOT BRING THAT UP.” Warned the unicorn with a stare that could’ve shot fire at his friend. However, it only took Elusive a pert breath before he was relaxed enough to bring his tone back to a civil level. “But as long as we’re talking about taste-testings, I think I know what the secret ingredient to your sticks are.”

Blitz immediately stopped laughing, as did the others. Even though he wanted to smirk at how quickly his friend’s smile dropped from that comment, Elusive instead took another bite of his stick for clarification. After swallowing with a knowing grin, he looked back at Blitz and said, “More specifically, I can tell that the cheese you made for these isn’t mozzarella.”

Blitz’s eyes widened dangerously wide, which seemed to be more than enough proof that his dancing partner’s claim was correct. Of course, the pegasus still looked away with a nervous laugh and said, “Y-Y-Yes it is…”

“Blitz, I have been to countless wine and cheese parties, and I know mozzarella when I taste it. And this, my friend,” he said while holding up the remainder of his piece, “is NOT mozzarella!”

He then turned back to his parents and stated with a smirk, “It’s brie.” He then tossed the remainder of the stick into his muzzle and added while chewing, “and quite well-made, I might add.”

With his mouth gaped open, Blitz had nothing to say in defense while his eyes twitched in befuddlement. Meanwhile, Twinkle nudged Apple Buck and whispered to him, “I think he’s right.” Apple Buck giggled back at her with a small blush on his face.

Due to his friend’s cocky smirk, Blitz ended up having a bitter pout with an accompanying growl. Since he knew his friend figured out the secret to his dad’s recipe, there was nothing else he could do but look away from Elusive with his forelegs crossed. “Whatever, dude. At least I’m not the picky one.”

With his own bottle of beer in his aura, Elusive just chuckled and said before taking a sip, “Says the guy who’s too insecure to dance to disco.”

Elusive didn’t look at Blitz while he drank, but he could sense that glare the pegasus had which somehow didn’t make his beer start to boil. Twinkle Toes looked away with a muffled giggle and muttered out, “Burn!”

Bt surprisingly enough, Blitz’s glare didn’t last long. In fact, the stunt-pony started to smirk while staring at the cocky Elusive. “Well, we’ll see who ends up looking insecure when I choose the song for our routine…”

Elusive immediately looked worried as he pulled the bottle away from his lips. “And just what do you mean by that?” asked the unicorn with an annoyed tone to hide his growing worry.

Unfortunately, it was clear that Blitz knew he got him. And with his grin growing by the second, the pegasus just sat jauntily with his eyes narrowing on his partner. “Oh, nothing major… just expect to dye your mane.”

Of all the things Blitz could’ve said, that was what made Elusive legitimately afraid.

Chapter Fourteen: Viva Las Pegasus

Unlike their trip to Baltimare, Rainbow Blitz and Elusive couldn’t necessarily take a train to Las Pegasus since it’s a city that’s on a literal cloud. So instead, they and the other competitors had to take a specialized airship to reach the venue location for the ENDC Quarter Finals. The ship itself was a marvel of Equestrian engineering, able to carry hundreds of ponies at a time through the skies with the aid of a gigantic balloon. But despite how amazing the view was from the windows of the aircraft, most of the ponies in the competition were too tired from their intense practicing that week (and just before their flight) to even think of appreciating the trip.

Elusive seemed especially pooped as he laid on a plush padded bench away from the window. After he and Blitz enjoyed their cheat day with that barbecue, the two were in full-blown practice mode for the rest of the week at Dusk Shine’s castle. Even though the unicorn was worried that most of that week would be spent bickering with Blitz about doing a disco routine, the pegasus was surprisingly cooperative with learning the sets of moves planned. He even had a song picked out before their first day of practice, which the unicorn wanted to be happy about; heck, it wasn’t even a bad song choice for their routine, despite it technically being a track from a rock band. However, the song choice also pretty much dominated what the costumes and theme would be, which aggravated Elusive to no end.

But alas, the two were able to get a full choreographed routine set to Blitz’s song without any major hiccups. By the time they finally got ready to fly out to Las Pegasus, the only major issues were their aching joints, as well as Elusive’s hesitance to wear such a gaudy costume at his partner’s insistence. While the white stallion laid groggily and sighed with a foreleg over his eyes, he could overhear Rainbow Blitz’s grunting as he performed multiple pull-ups on a metal bar hanging from the ceiling. Despite all the intense practicing the two went through, it was clear that Blitz’s Wonderbolt training made him more than capable to take Elusive’s lessons without getting too overwhelmed.

“Forty-eight… forty-nine…” Clenching his teeth with sweat beading over his brow, Blitz pulled himself up by his forelegs with all his might to do his last chin-up. “... Fffffffifty!”

Blitz then let go of the bar and landed back on the ground, sighing with a tired smirk as he plopped on the bench beside Elusive. The pegasus was panting deeply while wiping his head with an aching foreleg. After taking a moment to get himself relaxed, Blitz glanced over at his resting friend as he sat in a numb state. He grinned a little and asked cheekily, “Wanna try and beat that?”

“No,” the unicorn answered bluntly, even though he knew Blitz wasn’t really expecting him to say yes. He lowered his foreleg to look up at his partner with a befuddled expression. “Although I have to ask, how in Equestria are you able to keep working out after our practice session at the Airdock?!” Elusive rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, coming to the realization that maybe he shouldn’t have laid down on this bench without proper lumbar support.

Blitz just shrugged, not thinking that their little rundown of the routine was that exhausting. Of course, he could also see that most of the other passengers in their section of the airship were pretty worn-out as well; since it took so long for the airship to arrive at the port, a lot of the competitors decided to get some last-minute practice under their belts while waiting. Realizing he may have been the only dancer who wasn’t too tired, he responded to his friend’s question with, “Eh, I’ve done worse. You think our practicing was rough? Try doing a hundred laps around the Wonderbolt barracks before getting breakfast.”

“Good heavens!” shouted Elusive with an appalled drop of his jaw. “How could you do something like that?!”

“Uhhh, cause I’m a Wonderbolt?” Blitz answered in a tone like his friend just asked a stupid question; Elusive rolled his eyes and looked away from him. “Besides,” added the stunt-pony as he leaned back with his hooves behind his head, “it’s nothing I can’t handle. I could probably get a hundred-fifty laps done if I wanted to.”

Elusive didn’t want to contest his friend on that claim, but he still sighed with a shake of his head and retorted with, “Well, I’d rather start my day with a good cup of coffee and breakfast before doing anything that physical.”

“Eh, whatever,” said Blitz with a shrug. “It makes breakfast taste better. And believe me, their biscuits and gravy are worth flying a hundred laps for!”

Elusive felt his stomach growl a little at thinking about breakfast, leaving him with his muzzle skewed in discomfort. “Eurgh… I really wish they offered proper meals on these flights…” He sighed and looked over at Blitz to ask, “Do you want to get something when we land in Las Pegasus?”

Blitz just huffed and glanced back at Elusive with a look of excitement on his face. “Are you kidding?! This is Las Pegasus we’re talking about! Of course I do!”

Elusive couldn’t help chuckling with a smile at seeing how giddy his friend looked. Of course, he couldn’t exactly blame him either; even though Blitz technically visited Las Pegasus a while back for one of his Wonderbolt shows, he didn’t really get much time to experience the city between rehearsals and autograph signings. After a short moment of thought, Elusive decided to say with a positive tone of his own, “Well, considering how I wanted to check out the location for where I want my boutique, how about we take a day-cation? I think we earned it after all the practice we’ve done.”

Even though he looked surprised that his friend suggested doing this after being so militant about their routines, Blitz couldn’t have agreed more. “Hey, that sounds good to me! Besides, it helps we got a friend who came to Las Pegasus before.”

Elusive leaned his head to the aisle to see where the Apple family was; the group were all slumped near the front of the passenger section, leaning against each other and clearly trying to get some much-needed sleep. Since they finished Zap Apple Harvest in record time, as well as all of their major farm duties in advance, Apple Buck’s family were able to join him and Twinkle Toes to catch their next show. Even Toffee decided to join them, who was resting her head against Macarena’s shoulder innocently. Applejack was near comatose in his seat, but his ears twitched when he heard Blitz shout out, “Yo, AJ! Where’s a good buffet on the Pegasus strip?”

The orange stallion groaned and pulled his Stetson up so it wasn’t covering his eyes. Looking like he was rising from the dead, Applejack slowly turned his head back to where Blitz and Elusive were seated. “Murrrgh… Is that the start to a dirty joke or somethin’?”

Even with all the details Applejack and Butterscotch gave after their friendship mission to the city, Las Pegasus looked even more dazzling and vibrant than Elusive could’ve ever imagined. It may have not had the regal sophistication of Canterlot, nor did it have the grand scale and cultural synchronicity of Manehattan, but the floating mecca certainly outdid both of those cities when it came to its levels of entertainment and freedom. When he and Blitz walked down the world-famous Las Pegasus strip, the countless casinos and hotels boasted every recreational activity the two could even think of: arcades, gambling, live shows, ball-pits, extreme sporting, and quite a few risquè venues that were probably kept out of the sights of Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes.

“Oh, my goodness!” marveled the unicorn as he gawked up at the massive buildings that boasted every type of architecture there was. Since all their luggage was back in their hotel room, nothing was holding Elusive back as he trotted alongside Blitz down the strip with a gleam in his eyes. “Blitz, can you believe it?! I don’t know about you, but Applejack certainly undersold how this city looks!”

“Yeah, I know,” replied Blitz as he followed his friend down the crowded walkway. Even though all the different casinos looked pretty cool (as well as a lot of the advertisements for shows that he wanted to see), the pegasus was keeping his focus on how cheerful Elusive looked. Of course, it helped that it wasn’t night yet, so Elusive’s exaggerated reactions to things were a bit more entertaining than looking at Las Pegasus in the daytime. Blitz chuckled under his breath as he said, “Man, I can only imagine how you’re gonna look when the lights come on!”

“Oh, you,” jeered Elusive with a playful nudge against Blitz’s side, although a genuine smile remained on his muzzle. “It’s not like I can help it! This is the first time I actually visited this place.”

“Oh, really?” asked Blitz with a brow raised at him. “So, you don’t even know what this possible future shop of yours looks like?”

Elusive might’ve still looked chipper, but that question made his smile skew a little. “Er, um... I received the blueprints and size dimensions of the property, but… no. I have not.”

Blitz trotted up closer beside his friend, not wanting to accidentally kill the mood with the question he asked. “Hey, don’t sweat it! This is Las Pegasus we’re talking about! You could sell your clothes from a cart and you’d make a killing here!”

That assurance helped to unskew Elusive’s smile as he said in return, “Well, I wasn’t worried about that, Rainbow. I just wanted to make sure this property is at a good location.” With a light of his horn, the unicorn picked up his map to see where they were in relation to the place circled with red ink. “The realtor said it was right off the strip, but I want to make sure that detail isn’t exaggerated or purely technical.”

Blitz sighed and nodded while rubbing the back of his head. “Yeah, I know what you mean. Like when you ask for extra guac at a taco stand and they add like, a tiny little glob and still charge you for it.”

“Exactly.” While he wanted to poke fun at Rainbow’s comparison, Elusive knew it was relevant enough to keep silent about. It wasn’t clear how long the two were walking down Las Pegasus’ main strip, but the unicorn stopped just as the Gladmane’s resort could be seen a block away. “Oh, here it is!” he shouted while looking at the map. “It says the location right off the corner from Gladmane’s.”

The location may have been right off the strip as promised, but the mention of that casino made Rainbow Blitz wince in slight worry. “Uhhh… you think that’s a good idea, dude? Remember what AJ and Butters said about Gladmane’s?”

Elusive sighed and rolled his eyes. “Oh, don’t be so paranoid, Blitz! I highly doubt that the Shim Sham sisters will be that much of an issue. They have an entire resort and casino to run on their own, and I highly doubt they’ll have enough free time to focus on other things.”

“You sure about that?” asked the pegasus in a more blunt tone of voice. “The first time we met those girls was when they tried to expand their company over AJ’s farm. It wouldn’t surprise me if they tried to bulldoze your place to build a big-ass apple slicer or something.”

Despite the validity of Blitz’s worries, Elusive only thought about it for a few seconds before huffing briefly. “Well,” he began while closing his map with his magic, “it still wouldn’t hurt to inspect the place. Maybe it’ll be worth having a couple of unsavory neighbors.”

As the unicorn trotted ahead to find the potential spot for his next shop, Blitz just exhaled with apprehension before following him. The two ended up walking side-by-side as they passed the resort on their way to the shop, neither of them even looking up at the grand size of the casino building. They also didn’t notice the two huge windows that stood at the very top above the Gladmane’s sign, which gave a bird’s eye view of the entire city. Behind those windows was the main office of the resort, although it would’ve been hard to see due to the curtains that were slightly open at the sides. It wasn’t until the two stallions disappeared around the corner that the curtains closed fully, although an eerie green hue of magic could be vaguely seen through them.

With a glow of Elusive’s magic, the back door of the half-finished shop was unlocked with ease from the key the realtor lended him. When he walked inside, the unicorn coughed a couple times due to the thick clouds of drywall dust that could barely be seen through the rays of light shining in through the boarded-up windows. Elusive kept his horn lit as he walked inside, his eyes widening at the sheer size of the massive space. Even though the interior was far from finished, as evidenced by vacant workstations and piles of sheet-rock beside half-complete walls, the stallion could see so much potential past all the clutter strewn about. By the time Rainbow Blitz entered the building with a hoof over his muzzle, Elusive was already going up the spiral staircase that lead to the loft-like second floor.

“Oh, sweet Solaris!” shouted Elusive as he trotted around the construction zone like a colt in a candy store. His eyes had stars in them as he scanned each wall and angle of the place, his design-oriented mind already coming up with the perfect colors and decor to liven up the shop when it was completed. “Rainbow, can you believe this?! This has to be at least twice the size of my Canterlot shop!”

Instead of going up the stairs, Rainbow Blitz decided to use one of the long ramps that hugged along the curved walls of the building to meet Elusive on the second floor. “I have to admit,” said the stunt-pony while looking around through the limited light, “this could actually be a pretty good place for your franchise.”

Elusive was already excited, but hearing his friend say “franchise” was enough to make him stomp giddily with a huge smile on his face. “Ohhhhhhh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness! This place is perfect! I mean, if I were to borrow your vocabulary, I would dare call this place, ‘Slammin’! Hehehehehe!~”

If Blitz had seen how his friend was acting before this competition, he probably would’ve made fun of him for it for a while. But as he stared over him acting so hyped for a building that still had its framing exposed, the only thing running through the pegasus’ mind was how happy he was for Elusive. Granted, he saw the unicorn do this same thing before with his other two shops, but something about this one felt… different. He wasn’t sure what, but it was enough for him to smile back at his friend when he reached the second floor.

“Man…” With the aid of his friend’s magic, Blitz was able to see just how large the shop’s interior was without squinting his eyes. “It’s hard to believe this could actually be a feasible thing for you to get, you know?”

“And what do you mean by that?” asked Elusive in a tone that sounded like he was prepared to get offended. “Do you think I couldn’t?”

“Hey, I’m not saying that! It’s just…” After thinking it over briefly, Blitz sighed and stared back at his friend. “Could you ever imagine that a few years ago, either of us would be in the positions we’re in now?”

“How so?” Elusive asked with a tilt of his head.

“I mean, like…” Blitz rubbed the back of his name with a hoof as he tried to explain. “Before all that Element of Harmony stuff happened to us, I was just some weather-patrol pony who practiced his stunts and broke stuff, and you were just some tailor working in Ponyville…” Before Elusive could raise his brows and chastise him for his word choice, Blitz got on his hind-legs and motioned around the grand space they were in with his forelegs out for emphasis. “And now look at us! We’ve saved Equestria like, over half a dozen times! You own a friggin franchise, and make clothes for celebrities and royalty! And I’m a bucking Wonderbolt!”

Upon realizing his dance partner’s point, Elusive sighed with a warm smile in agreement. “Yes, I suppose it has been a crazy few years for us, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah!” Blitz dropped back down on all four hooves, taking a few breaths to calm himself down before glancing back at Elusive curiously. “Do you ever think what things would’ve been like if we never met Dusk?”

Elusive couldn’t help cringing a little as he replied, “Ummm, are you sure you want to open that can of worms after hearing Dusk Shine tell us about those alternate timelines?”

“N-No, not like that!” Even though Elusive’s point was something he should’ve considered, Blitz shook his head and clarified, “I mean, if neither of us became Elements, or… none of that crazy shit happened between then and now, do you… do you think either of us would’ve been friends?”

Elusive widened his eyes with a surprised glance at Blitz, not expecting him to ask a question that big. The unicorn paused and looked away with a bit lip, unsure how to answer him. After all, Dusk’s explanation of alternate timelines made that question rather open-ended when it came to an answer. “Well… I suppose there’s a chance, but…”

He sighed and looked back at Blitz to finish his response. “Probably not like what we have now.”

Blitz nodded with a tightly-shut muzzle, choosing to turn away and stare out from the edge of the second floor. Elusive wasn’t sure what he could say, mostly because it was hard to think about how things could’ve gone if it wasn’t for that Summer Sun Celebration that changed their lives and destinies so drastically.

Thinking back, the only one of his friends who the unicorn actually socialized with in Ponyville was Bubble Berry; and considering how he was social with everyone, that felt like a cheat to include. When it came to the other three, Butterscotch and Applejack were merely just some friendly stallions who provided services Elusive used from time to time. If anything, Rainbow Blitz may have been the one friend Elusive was least connected with before Dusk Shine flew in from Canterlot; before then, the longest conversation he ever recalled having with Blitz was a heated argument after the pegasus crashed through his shop window. Despite how cringe-worthy that moment felt now, it made Elusive walk up to stand beside Blitz at the edge of the second floor.

“You know,” began the white stallion as he looked outward with a smile on his face, “it’s not exactly easy to think about what could have been. But the fact of the matter is that we’re in this moment right now. And if I were to be frank, Rainbow Blitz…” When he turned to look over at his friend, Elusive waited until Blitz stared back before saying happily, “I don’t think our lives could’ve turned out any better than they are now. Especially with us as friends.”

Hearing the sincerity in Elusive’s voice, Blitz couldn’t help smiling back at him in solid agreement. “Yeah, totally…” As he looked back at out from the unfinished ledge of the space, Blitz didn’t seem to mind when he felt Elusive’s side press up against his. He also didn’t say anything when the unicorn’s foreleg went over the back of his neck. Instead, Blitz just did the same with his own hoof as they stood and looked outward.

“You know what?” said Blitz with a confident smirk on his face. “If anyone can open a shop here and be successful, even with the Shim Sham sisters as neighbors, it’d be you.”

While holding Blitz from the side, Elusive looked back at him with an honored smile. “Thanks, Rainbow…”

Blitz smiled back at his friend as the two stood so close with their hooves around each other’s shoulders. In those brief couple seconds the two stood in silence, neither of them seemed to realize how they may have looked from an outside perspective. Nor did they notice a brief flash of light that came in from a crack between the outside window and a loose board. If anything, the moment that broke the mood was the sound of Elusive’s stomach growling in hunger.

Elusive pulled his hoof off of Blitz to rub at his belly uncomfortably. Blitz shook his head and said with a smirk, “I told you you should’ve just gone to that carrot dog stand.”

Elusive groaned and retorted back at him, “What, and eat something from that vendor?! He was picking his nose!”

“Yeah, but then he used hoof sanitizer!”

“Only because he saw us!” Elusive began to make his leave, hoping to find a good restaurant before the sun went down. “I bet he would’ve just wiped it off on his apron if he thought he was alone!”

Blitz was pretty hungry too, so he followed while saying, “Oh, give that guy a break! We all pick our noses from time to time!”

“I don’t!”

“Yeah you do! I saw it myself!”

Elusive stopped and whipped his head back at Blitz with a furious look in his eyes. “For the last time, I WAS SCRATCHING MY NOSTRIL!”

After watching his friend storm away, Blitz chuckled to himself and said in a whisper, “I bet you were gonna eat it.”

“I HEARD THAT!!!”

Along with the countless forms of entertainment and relaxation Las Pegasus had to offer, the elevated city also boasted the highest number of restaurants per capita in all of Equestria. So when it came to finding a good place to eat, Elusive and Rainbow Blitz actually had some difficulty agreeing on one place. Eventually though, the two compromised and decided on the buffet connected to their hotel. The White Pearl, a resort which was one of the few places in the city that actually catered to more than just equine species, had an adjoining restaurant that had just as much variety as the guests who stayed there. Because of that, both stallions were able to get what they wanted without bickering like a married couple.

Fortunately for Elusive, the vegetarian options of the buffet were in a different section from the meats, which helped keep his appetite quite active as he got himself a sensible tray with fettuccine alfredo, a dandelion crostini, and a lovely arugula salad. When he arrived back to his table, Rainbow Blitz already had his tray loaded up with a large amount of potato-fries smothered in mushroom gravy and cheese curds. The unicorn wanted to say something about his partner’s inappropriate diet choice before their show, but it was the small rectangular plates beside Blitz’s food that made him go wide-eyed. Elusive knew exactly what those little discs of rice were, but he would’ve never guessed that Blitz of all ponies would actually get them (especially not alongside something so clashing as poutine).

“Ummm… Blitz?” asked Elusive with his head tilted in bafflement. “Did you actually get sushi?”

“Mmhmm,” murmured Blitz while his muzzle was stuffed with his deliciously unhealthy main course. He swallowed before wiping the gravy from his muzzle with a napkin. “Yeah, can you believe it? It’s hard to find good sushi anywhere in Equestria!”

Elusive only blinked as he grew more puzzled. Even though Equestria’s stances on seafood were a bit neutral in comparison to other meat products, dishes like sushi or shrimp were things that were usually eaten sparingly in high class functions. And given what Blitz’s diet usually consisted of, the fact that he would enjoy something so high-brow was quite surprising to the unicorn. Elusive sat down with his food and asked, “Wait a minute, since when did you enjoy sushi of all things?”

“Ummm, Flight Camp?” replied the pegasus as he he pulled one of the dishes towards himself. Instead of trying to fumble with the chopsticks, Blitz just picked up a piece of spicy tuna roll with a hoof and dipped it in his bowl of soy sauce. “You know my gryphon friend Guilder, right? Well, there were a few times back in camp where he would go into town and buy a big-ass fish to cook with. Since it technically wasn’t allowed on camp grounds, I always played lookout when he cooked since we were bros like that. And one day, he dared me to eat one of the sushi rolls he made.”

He then popped the piece of sushi into his mouth like it was nothing and shrugged with a smile. “As it turns out, sushi is pretty awesome! I even got Berry to try some when we went to Griffonstone for that friendship thing. He wasn’t a fan though.”

Elusive sighed in sudden realization. “Oh, so that was why he made those ‘dessert sushi treats’!” Granted, Bubble Berry’s “sushi” was basically just crispy rice cereal treats filled with marshmallows and rolled in a sheet of fruit candy, but Elusive remembered it was a huge hit at Sugar Cube Corner for a while. The unicorn chuckled with an impressed smirk at his friend. “Well I must say, Rainbow! I would’ve never expected you to have a palette for that sort of cuisine.”

With some sushi still in his mouth, Blitz tried to keep his mouth closed as he giggled. He had to swallow before saying coyly back at Elusive, “Well, you really shouldn’t be judging my food habits, Mister Mac and Cheese.”

Elusive groaned and rolled his eyes. “Oh, give it a rest! I eat more than just macaroni and cheese! My parents were just joking about that Neighpon thing!”

“Sure they were,” Blitz replied with a smirk, his eyes looking down at Elusive’s plate of fetuccine alfredo. “And should I ask what kind of dish that is? Noodles and cheese?”

Elusive looked like he just sucked a lemon with the scowl that grew on his face. Instead of causing a scene, the stallion just muttered a small “Shut up” before tending to his own meal. Unlike his friend, Elusive made sure to use the silverware offered with his magic to carefully eat each bite with as little mess as possible. Meanwhile, Blitz went back to his food with the use of his hooves and his muzzle, leaving his chopsticks understandably untouched.

After finishing half his plate of alfredo, Elusive picked up his glass of wine with his magic as he started to speak, “You know, it’s surprising how much we’ve learned about each other since we entered this competition.”

“Yeah?” said Blitz in a muffled voice before swallowing. “How so?”

“What do you mean, how so?!” Elusive seemed a bit confounded by his partner’s response as he responded dutifully. “Well for starters, I was able to learn about your cooking skills, and that you can make some impressive cocktails.”

Blitz paused while holding a piece of his salmon skin roll, shrugging in agreement to his friend’s claim. “Yeah, I guess so.” He then pointed his sushi at Elusive and added, “Just like I learned that you have a secret bar in your house like a friggin gigolo!”

“Oh, I am not a gigolo!” Elusive corrected as he said that term with as much distaste as he would with ‘Mixologist’ before he replied, “That bar was my Dad’s idea, by the way. He figured it would be a good way to dazzle my clients when they came in for consultations, which it is.”

That added detail made Blitz reply with, “And that’s another thing! Before that barbecue thing last week, I would’ve never thought you were so chill with your family like that! I mean, I’m not saying I assumed otherwise or anything. I just wouldn’t have expected someone as prim and proper as you to be comfortable with ponies that’re so… normal.”

Blitz tried not to wince at how that last adjective may have sounded out loud, but it didn’t seem like Elusive seemed to mind. In fact, the unicorn chuckled as he put his glass down. “Well, I guess I can understand your point. After all, I am a bit different from my parents. In fact, most of the things I learned and was inspired by were from my grandparents. But still, it’s not like I’m unable to appreciate a simple meal made by my Mum, or be happy at a stormball game with my Dad and Silver Bell. To me, what really matters is that I’m around ponies who I love, and who love me back just as deeply. As long as that connection’s there, it really doesn’t matter what it is we’re doing.”

Hearing the sincerity in his friend’s tone as he gave that answer, Blitz smiled with an impressed look on his face. “Wow, I… I guess I can’t really argue with that, can I?”

“Well, of course not! Who would?” Elusive then used his magic to pick up his crostini before he said, “I mean, it’s just common courtesy to be on good terms with your own family, isn’t it? Otherwise what else do you have?”

Elusive then took a bite from his bread, not noticing how quickly Rainbow Blitz’s smile and ears dropped. In the small few seconds the unicorn had his eyes closed while savoring his surprisingly good crostini, Blitz looked away from him with a saddened expression clear on his face. By the time Elusive swallowed, all he saw was the pegasus leaned in against his table with a foreleg covering his face. Blitz used his other hoof to pop another piece of sushi into his mouth. It took a couple seconds before Elusive's brows rose in concern. “Umm, Blitz?” he asked as he began to recognize that same look back in his old bedroom. “Did… I say something I shouldn’t ha--”

“No,” said the pegasus firmly. After a brief sigh, he pushed one of his sushi plates towards Elusive. “Uhhh, I think I might be getting a little full. You want some of these?”

Elusive’s eyes narrowed on his partner suspiciously; with the way Blitz was avoiding eye contact, the unicorn didn’t need to be an expert in detail to know his friend was avoiding something. But considering that fact that he acted that way shortly after Elusive made that poorly worded comment, Elusive figured it may have been best to let it pass for the time being. So after a small shrug, the stallion lit his horn to pick up Blitz’s chopsticks and help himself to a rather nice-looking piece of salmon skin roll. “Well, thank you very much, Rainbow. I appreciate that.”

After a quick dip in soy sauce, Elusive was fairly impressed by Blitz’s choice in sushi. The complex texture compositions of the rice and fish, combined with the salty and savory taste of the piece, danced across the unicorn’s tongue quite wonderfully. After taking a small piece of ginger as a palate cleanser, Elusive decided to say in an attempt to lighten his friend’s mood, “You know what I noticed on our way to this place? Apparently, the White Pearl boasts quite a deluxe spa around here, and a brochure I read claimed that they carried award-winning hooficures~...”

That made Rainbow Blitz perk up pretty quickly. “Wait, what?”

“Mmhmm,” nodded the unicorn as he floated out the brochure he kept by his seat. “I was going to surprise you with it later, but… I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to ask you about it first. I didn’t want to endanger your machismo by thrusting it at you after all.”

Blitz read through the brochure’s description of their hooficure package, which made his eyes widen as he saw how much detail was listed. Even though he didn’t want to openly admit to liking those things, he could tell that his friend was smirking at him knowingly. With a small blush on his cheeks, Blitz put down the brochure and tried his best to reply in a casual-sounding voice, “W-Well, I mean… If you wanna go do it, I wouldn’t mind joining you, but…”

Seeing the sheepish way the pegasus was averting his face from him, Elusive almost giggled openly at how quickly Blitz’s mood improved. “Well, then it’s settled!” He put his hoof down on the table and said in smiling confirmation, “We’ll both go visit the spa after our meal, and then I’ll rent us a carriage to see the city up close tonight. I wouldn’t want our hooves to get too worn out, after all.”

At any other time, Blitz would’ve showed a bit of apprehension to Elusive’s plan since it was only the two of them. But with the promise of a killer hooficure, along with getting out of practice a little longer, Blitz couldn’t help smiling back before putting his hoof over Elusive’s. “Alright then,” he said in agreement, not noticing a brief flash of light from somewhere. “I’m down with that.”

Chapter Fifteen: Twisted Sisters

Elusive had his horn brightly lit, with his blue aura going dashingly well with the turquoise suit he was wearing. Standing at the top of the balcony, he could see the sea of ponies smiling up at him while he held the giant pair of scissors in front of his red ribbon. “Fillies and Gentlecolts!” he shouted with glee. “I present to you… Elusive’s Delights!”

After cutting the ribbon to open his newest shop, Elusive was smiling wide while peering down at the ponies cheering below. While upbeat pop music began to play, Bubble Berry’s party cannons shot out countless puffs of confetti that rained down from the glass ceiling. Ponies from all over Las Pegasus arrived to see the unicorn’s newest boutique, and Elusive couldn’t have felt more proud of himself as he stood before them glamorously.

Mares and stallions alike were already looking around the ground floor, marveling at his newest garments which were hung on racks or draped on mannequins. Seeing the vibrant lines of red and orange that dashed across the pristine white walls, it was surprising to think that this place was merely a construction site the last time the unicorn stepped his hooves here. Elusive could hear the clamoring from down below, ponies giving high praise and compliments to his designs before they could even trot up to the second floor.

With tears building up in his eyes, Elusive sighed with an overwhelmed smile before wiping his face with a hoof. “My gosh, I… I can’t believe this is actually happening…”

Elusive then felt a foreleg wrap around his shoulder, causing him to put his hoof down and see the cyan pegasus standing beside him. Wearing a fetching white suit that contrasted wonderfully with his own coat, Rainbow Blitz smiled back at his friend and said, “Believe it, dude. You finally did it.”

The unicorn’s smile widened even more before pulling Blitz in for a strong hug. His heart raced as he felt his friend return the gesture, his chin nestled against Elusive’s shoulder while squeezing him with his masculine forelegs. He wasn’t sure how long the hug really lasted, but he didn’t want it to stop as he nuzzled the pegasus lovingly. “Oh, Blitz… I couldn’t have done this without you…”

Elusive could feel Blitz’s muzzle nestle against the side of his neck, giving a light nuzzle of his own. The pop music began to fade away in the background, not that either of them seemed to notice or care. After a long and loving sigh, Elusive finally pulled his head back to peer at the stallion holding him. Rainbow Blitz’s magenta eyes were shimmering under the chandelier lights, revealing nothing but the purest warmth and devotion while staring back at the blushed unicorn.

Of course, Elusive could see that Blitz was beginning to blush too. Even though their smiles didn’t fade away, that brief moment of hesitation seemed to have felt like an eternity as the two let their stares linger on each other. Elusive’s heart began to pound even faster in his chest, and his breath turned shaky as he saw Blitz’s face lean in closer towards his. The fur on his back began to raise up when he felt the stunt-pony’s hot breath against his snout, and Elusive felt helpless to his own desires as he moved his head forward slowly.

Both their eyes began to narrow, focusing solely on each other as their muzzles came in closer. With every inch of distance that was lost between their lips, Elusive’s face grew warmer while marveling at the stallion holding him so close. By the time their snouts touched, leaving their lips just barely out of reach, Elusive felt like his whole world was put on hold with time standing still.

“B… Blitz…”

Elusive closed his eyes before leaning in first, letting his lips grace against Rainbow Blitz’s tenderly. The pegasus might have been rather brash and masculine, but his lips felt as pillowy soft as they were warm while kissing him back. Elusive let out a muzzled and sensual moan before kissing Blitz even deeper, letting himself get lost in the moment as his heart fluttered. He felt Blitz’s hoof grasp the back of his head strongly to keep him in place, and the unicorn did the same with his own. The two were in full embrace by the time Elusive’s tongue began to pull out from his muzzle, pressing against the outside of Blitz’s lips teasingly in hope that--

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

“GYYAAAAAAHHH!!!” Elusive jolted up from the bed wide-eyed like he was hit with a cattle prod. While the alarm clock continued to blare out, the unicorn was panting with his face heavily blushed and matted with sweat. With the way his heart was thundering, Elusive was worried whether or not he was experiencing a heart attack. Meanwhile, a heavy groan came from the other side of the bed as Rainbow Blitz pulled himself from underneath the heavy covers.

“Mmmmnnnnnghhhh…” The groggy pegasus looked rather pissed when he looked towards the alarm clock with his eyes just barely open. He blinked a couple times before muttering in a confused and peeved groan, “Whathe… fi… five in the morning?!”

Rainbow leaned over to Elusive’s side of the bed and slammed the snooze button with his hoof hard enough to almost break it. He then collapsed back on his side of the bed and disappeared underneath his covers. “Not cool, dude…”

With the blaring alarm paused and the room silent once more, the only thing that could be heard was Elusive’s rapid panting as he struggled to calm himself down. The unicorn clenched his eyes shut and tried to take deep breaths, hoping to Artemis that this would be one of those dreams he’d completely forget in ten minutes or so. Unfortunately, the fact that he even thought that made him worried that it wasn’t going to happen any time soon. Even though he was grateful that Blitz was too tired to notice how flustered he looked, Elusive was still absolutely shell-shocked by what he just experienced.

Considering how much he and Rainbow drank last night while touring Las Pegasus, the unicorn was convinced that he wouldn’t have been able to dream at all. But as the seconds passed within the pitch-black hotel room, Elusive was feeling more dreadful by the second as he recalled how vivid that dream really was. He could recall every detail of what he saw, and not just how the finished boutique looked. He shuddered uneasily at the memory of Rainbow Blitz’s eyes, and that look he was giving him, and those soft… tender lips…

That was when Elusive gasped wide eyed and brought his hooves down to cover his crotch. His left eye twitched in growing panic, not wanting his friend to wake up and see him like… this. He originally wanted to have Rainbow Blitz take the bathroom first due to him getting ready disturbingly quick, but the unicorn couldn’t risk it as he jumped out of bed and bolted to the bathroom with a pillow over his waist. “Uhhhhh, We need to get ready for the show, Rainbow! You get yourself up while I take a quick strok--SHOWER! I take a quick shower, so you wake up andI’llletyouusethebathroomwhenI’mdoneokaybye!!!”

SLAM!!!

Rainbow wasn’t paying attention to his friend’s frazzled words, but the sound of the bathroom door slamming got him in a slightly more conscious state. While slowly raising his head up in the dark like a recently reanimated zombie, he heard the shower turn on through the bathroom door. He rubbed his eyes tiredly with his hooves for about a minute or so, and was luckily unable to hear any of his friend’s grunts while making a pronounced stretch.

“HnnnnnngggGGGHHHH!” With his hooves behind the back of his head, Rainbow Blitz pulled his chest forward with another heavy grunt. Due to fate’s impeccable timing, the stunt-pony’s groan was heavy enough for him to not overhear Elusive’s shuddered gasp through the bathroom door. After letting out a deep yawn, Blitz sighed while remaining seated on the bed. “Ugh… That buffet better be open for breakfast.”

While he and his dancing partner went down to the buffet to get some nourishment, Elusive looked quite frazzled as he trotted with a heavy blush and a bit lip. He wanted to keep himself from looking over at Rainbow Blitz, despite how suspicious that may have looked if his friend were to notice. Unfortunately, it seemed that the interior designer of the White Pearl had quite a fetish for incorporating mirrors at nearly every wall and ceiling. Whenever Elusive tried to look elsewhere, all he saw was himself standing next to the stallion he just dreamed about; and considering how he had to rid himself of the side effects of that dream, it took everything within the unicorn to not shudder in growing shame.

Much like their lunch and dinner options, the White Parl’s buffet had quite a massive array of food to satisfy any palate. Blitz wanted to get himself something from the breakfast burrito bar, but was lead elsewhere by the aid of Elusive’s magic. Despite pouting about it like a child, there wasn’t much Blitz could do while the unicorn focused on floating healthy food options on both of their plates. “Rainbow, I know you’re upset,” said Elusive sympathetically while also avoiding eye contact with him, “but we already strayed from our diet enough as it is! And considering our performance is today, the last thing I need is for you to be muddled down because you decided to overeat and flood your arteries with an unhealthy amount of cheese and starches!”

“Dude, it’s cardio!” argued Blitz in response. “We’re gonna need carbs to keep up with practice, right? Don’t you think that should be a good excuse for something a little more filling than a friggin’ fruit salad?!”

Even though he wanted to debate Rainbow on his knowledge of proper nutrition, the unicorn knew that he was also technically right. Since he was already in a fragile state by being next to Blitz at that moment, Elusive sighed in defeat and lit his horn. “Oh, alright. Fine.” Both of their trays were already arranged with fruit bowls and spinach omelettes, but there was plenty of extra room for Elusive to add a plate of vegetarian breakfast hash with Blitz’s meal.

Rainbow huffed a little at Elusive’s choice, but he’d be lying if he tried to say the potatoes didn’t look decent. So instead of arguing, Blitz gave his friend a quick thanks before they went to their table. However, it wasn’t until the two were seated that the pegasus started to notice Elusive’s sheepish behavior. Instead of trying to make small-talk with Blitz, the stallion was reserved to picking the grapes out of his fruit bowl while staring at the salt and pepper shakers on the table.

Blitz narrowed his eyes on him briefly before asking, “Uhhh… You okay there, Lucy?”

“Hm?!” Elusive jolted a little, and only glanced back at Blitz for a second with a small blush on his cheeks. He then looked away timidly and answered, “Y-Yeah, Blitz, I’m… I’m fine…”

Blitz started to look even more suspicious, not needing to be a detective to know his friend wasn’t being honest. He tilted his head and sighed bluntly. “Dude, don’t lie to me. What’s up?”

“N-Nothing!” blurted the unicorn as he glanced back at Blitz for a little longer this time. Despite feeling increasingly uncomfortable by the second, Elusive maintained his composure and said in a half-truth, “I was just… n-nervous about the competition, that’s all.”

“Pbbt!” Rainbow Blitz rolled his eyes and scoffed. “Oh, come on! Is this because of the face-paint thing? Because I’m telling you, it’ll work.”

“No, it’s not that!” Elusive may have still hated the theme for their routine, but he knew that wasn’t the biggest issue plaguing his mind. But he since he couldn’t mention the biggest one to Blitz, the stallion had to start by saying hesitantly, “I’ve just been thinking a lot about this, and I just…”

Elusive exhaled through his nostrils with his lips pursed shut, not sure how he wanted to say his words out loud. His sights went down to his hooves, which he tapped together nervously while reopening his mouth. “It’s just when I saw that building yesterday, I just… I didn’t want that to end up being a space I couldn’t get. And the more I think about it, the more I realize how important this competition really is and I…”

Rainbow Blitz sighed as a more relaxed smile emerged on his muzzle. “Hey, it’s alright, dude,” he assured Elusive with a confident tone of voice. “Believe me, I get it. Sometimes you don’t wanna lose sight of your dreams when they’re that close, but you also don’t wanna fail at the same time.”

Elusive nodded with a bit lip, hating that he was agreeing with Blitz’s words more frequently over the past few weeks. He wasn’t sure if it was just because of their prolonged close proximity, or if Blitz was just becoming wiser because of this competition. Hopefully it was just one of those options, and NOT something related to that dream he had. “W-Well… yeah, I think you have a point there…”

Elusive tapped his fork against his plate with the aid of his magic, unsure what he wanted to say next. In an attempt to change the discussion and hopefully get his mind off of recent events, the unicorn huffed and asked, “So… how much did we have to drink last night, exactly? Because it’s hard for me to recall much after that cart tour around the city.”

Blitz scoffed with a playful smirk. “You’re kidding me, right? You may have hit some of the harder stuff, but I know you didn’t drink more than me!”

“I’m just wanting to ask, that’s all!” The stallion looked away from Blitz embarrassingly and took a sip from his glass of orange juice. “I know I slept a couple times during that carriage ride, and my memory is still a bit hazy on where we went before going back to the hotel.”

Blitz shrugged his shoulders, not thinking his friend was lying with that remark. “Well, you did get a hold of some absinthe at that one bar we went to. After that you went kinda loopy.”

“How so?” asked Elusive with a more direct stare on the pegasus. Even though he barely recalled drinking any absinthe, it certainly sounded correct in retrospect. He distinctly remembered that his mouth tasted like licorice when he was brushing his teeth after showering.

“Wellllll…” Blitz’s smirk became more chipper as he spoke with a cheeky voice, “First, you tried to go to that hotel that offered bungee jumping from the top, but then you ran away crying when you remembered you weren’t a fan of heights. Then you dragged me to see that Prench circus show-thing, which was actually pretty awesome, so thanks for that. Although, you were passed out through most of it and pissed off a few ponies by snoring.”

Elusive’s hooves shot up to cover his dropped mouth, not recalling any of those events. Blitz just chuckled and continued, “When you finally woke up, you tried to climb one of the lamp-posts on the Pegasus strip. Luckily I got you down before any cops could, and you thanked me by letting me go to Five Ponies for some hayburgers.”

“Five ponies?” asked Elusive with a puzzled look. “What five ponies do you--Ohhhhhh!” Elusive’s eyes widened when he quickly realized what Blitz was referring to. He hazily recalled that they wounded up in some greasy hayburger place that smelled like a carnival. Even though Elusive didn’t remember ordering anything for himself, that didn’t explain why his wallet was so empty by the time they went back to the hotel. Either Blitz had the stomach of a manticore, or that place was supremely overpriced, despite how many fries they included in that paper bag.

“... Huh.” said Elusive after a brief moment of recollection. “So… nothing weird happened?”

Blitz shook his head and swallowed some potatoes he stuffed into his muzzle. “Nope. Unless you count that one contortionist routine those circus guys had. That was freaky!”

Elusive shook his head with a chuckle and sighed, not wanting any context to what Blitz may have seen. While his partner went back to his breakfast, Elusive did the same as he continued to think things over with a more rational mindset.

Okay, Elusive, thought the unicorn while he enjoyed his omelette with a little additional pepper, it seems like you got a bit drunk last night and did some… questionable things. But that’s fine. You didn’t do anything illegal, Blitz didn’t make fun of you, and it doesn’t mean anything big…

Like that dream, for example. Yes, that’s not something to think about for too long, but I think it’s clear that it was just a fluke. We all have crazy ideas when we’re drunk. It’s basically a side effect! Especially with something like absinthe! You’re fine!

Elusive breathed out with his tension lessening a little bit, helping him enjoy his breakfast a bit more. And I must say, this omelette is fantastic! But I digress. Elusive, that dream didn’t mean ANYthing. You were drunk, and you had a nice night out with Rainbow Blitz. If it was any other friend, you probably would’ve had a similar dream with one of them. And you also probably would’ve… settled that matter the same way after waking up. That doesn’t mean anything more pressing, right? So take a deep breath, calm yourself down, and just tell yourself that it was just a silly dream. Nothing more.

After finishing his omelette, Elusive sighed with a smile and said faintly, “A-Alright.”

“Hm?” asked Blitz as he looked up with his muzzle stuffed with egg.

“Oh! Ummm, sorry Blitz,” replied Elusive with a wave of his hoof. “I was just thinking out loud.”

“Oh, alright.” After a shrug, Blitz returned to his breakfast without much thought. Meanwhile, Elusive paused to briefly look at the pegasus in silence. Seeing how Blitz was just devouring his plate of food ravenously like some hyena, the unicorn exhaled with a more certain confirmation of his thoughts. Blitz is a great friend and loyal dancing partner, but that’s it. Nothing more.

Nothing.

Nothing at all.

But before he could go back to his meal, Elusive overheard the sound of a familiar-sounding cackle from the entrance of the buffet. The raspy and heavily-accented laughter became louder, alongside a couple of feminine giggles, before Elusive and Blitz caught a glance at Applejack’s grandpa trotting past them. The elderly green stallion was usually as frail as a paper doll back in Ponyville, but now he was wearing an expensive-looking white suit as he strutted flawlessly between two giddy showmares. Due to the thick sunglasses he had over his face, Grampy Smith didn’t seem to notice the gawked stares from either of the stallions as he walked past them and said, “Eeeeeee, hee hee hee!! Ah swear, you two make me feel like Ah’m seventy again!”

As the stallion made his way towards the beginning of the buffet, Elusive and Blitz leaned out of their seats to make sure it was really Grampy Smith dressed like a player. While Elusive narrowed his eyes and blinked repeatedly in befuddlement, Blitz huffed before saying, “Huh. I guess AJ wasn’t wrong about him being a good gambler.”

By the time they ended their breakfast, the two stallions ended up leaving the buffet quite hastily. As soon as Applejack and the others arrived and saw Grampy Smith, a pretty heated argument arose since the stallion never came back to their hotel room. While AJ and Macarena tried to chastise their grandpa for making them worried sick, Elusive and Blitz left shortly after hearing Grampy Smith defend himself by saying he “Just wanted to get his pecker wet.”

While the buffet erupted in the sounds of the Apple family arguing even louder, the two dancers made their way back to the elevator in the lobby. Since it was still morning, the only other ponies in the massive space were the front desk clerks behind the desk, and a few tired tourists who were checking out early and lining up by the complimentary coffee machine. Elusive groaned a little and pondered if he should get a cup as well, but decided against it in fear that the machine wasn’t refilled since last night. It seemed like Rainbow noticed his friend’s glance quickly enough to say with a smirk, “Hey, don’t worry dude. I have some cans of Red Manticore stashed in that minifridge.”

Elusive groaned while the two waited at the elevator. “Blitz, are you even aware how much sugar are in those cans? Even Bubble Berry doesn’t drink them as often as you do!”

“So what? I burn off the sugar by flying anyway!” Blitz then added just as the doors began to open. “Besides, they’re cheaper than those mocha crappuccino venti whatevers you constantly--GYAAAA!!”

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Blitz and Elusive both reeled back when they saw the two unicorns who were inside. At first glance, the tall and thin mares looked exactly the same with their matching tan fur, red and white manes, and blue-striped shirts they wore over their torsos. In fact, one of the only real differences between them were their mane-styles; the one on the right wore a bow to tie up her braided ponytail, while the left mare had her mane in low-hanging pigtails. There was also the fact that the left mare had a single apple slice on her flank as a cutie mark, while her sister had the remainder of the same apple as a mark on hers.

Elusive and Blitz’s faces both soured up at the sight of the twins, remembering them clearly from the antics they pulled the last two times they arrived in Ponyville and scammed Applejack and his family. But before either of them could say anything to the Shim Sham sisters, the left one smiled in surprise at seeing the stallions. “Oh, won’t you look at that, sister?” said Shim before glancing towards the right mare. “We weren’t too late to see them after all!”

“It seems like you’re right indeed,” concurred Sham while smiling wide at Elusive and Rainbow. She continued while both of them exited the elevator, “I will admit, it’s a nice little coincidence that we came across you two right after we tried to check your room. It’s almost like it was meant to be~”

Rainbow Blitz narrowed his eyes on the sisters with a strong pout. “What do you two want?” he asked coldly.

“And how exactly did you know what room we were in?” added Elusive with a suspicious raise of his brow. “Because I find it highly unlikely that this hotel would break Equestrian law by handing out that information to either of you.”

“Oh, you two are so paranoid!” dismissed Shim with a playful wave of her hoof, clearly not wanting to answer Elusive’s question. “Aren’t you guys even a little curious as to why we wanted to see you both privately?”

Elusive and Blitz both stated without a moment of hesitation, “No.”

Despite how blunt their answer was, it didn’t seem like Shim or Sham were too peeved by the stallions’ behavior. In fact, Sham just scoffed and retorted, “Well, I have a feeling that you two would be a little more welcoming if you heard us out.”

“Besides,” added Shim with a more optimistic smirk at the two, “You guys should give us a little credit. Despite our previous encounters, we’re not monsters or anything. We did help your friends when they came to Las Pegasus, did we not? I think that should count for something.”

Blitz shot a bitter glare back at her and replied, “Yeah, you did help AJ and Butters. But you also said that was last time you two were gonna do any good. Did you not?”

With the condescending way Blitz emphasized those last three words to shoot back at her, Shim’s muzzle skewed to reveal a brief look of frustration on her face. Meanwhile, Sham spoke up on her behalf, “Well, if it helps, I can assure you both that my sister and I aren’t planning anything to mess with your performance. We just wanted to come by and let you two know you have our support.”

Elusive and Blitz both narrowed their eyes on her, not wanting to believe the mare’s words by any stretch. Despite the fact that it didn’t sound insincere, they knew how deceptive Sham and her sister could be. Nevertheless, Shim was still smiling as wide as her sister when she lit her horn and pulled out a folder from underneath her shirt. “In fact!” she chimed as she floated out a small note-card from inside the folder for Elusive and Blitz to see. “My sister and I just began to incorporate sports gambling alongside our other casino venues. And as luck would have it, your little dancing competition is one of the entries we’ve received a lot of slips for so far! I just figured you two would like to see how you fare alongside the other competitors.”

Despite the mare’s cheeky grin, Elusive was more than wary as he picked up the note-card with a hoof. It turned out to be a betting slip from Gladmane’s Casino and Resort, which showed all the listings of the competitors and their odds of winning. Not surprisingly, the Hoofingtons had the lowest odds at four, with a twenty percent probability. Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes were listed as the second-lowest odds with five, but their probability was the highest with twenty-three percent. While Elusive scanned the numbers of each competitor one by one, noting each one’s chances with a keen eye, Blitz leaned in to find their names before the others; unfortunately, seeing that they were at the very bottom threw the pegasus into a heavy rage.

“WHAT?!?” shouted Blitz before glaring back at the Shim Sham sisters. “How the BUCK are we at zero percent?!?”

“Oh, don’t let that bother you too much,” assured Shim with another wave of her hoof. “It’s rounded up to the closest whole number, so it’s more like… zero point two or three, I think?”

“But two-hundred fifty-one odds?!” retorted Blitz as voice grew rawer from yelling so loud. “We got perfect NINES at our last show!”

“Well technically,” chimed Sham with a small shrug of her shoulders, “that was still a three-way tie for the last to qualify.”

Blitz looked like smoke was going to start bellowing out of his ears. Fortunately, Elusive used his magic to keep his dancing partner’s hooves firmly planted to the ground while he finished reading the slip. “Hmmmm…” He finally looked up from the card and stared at the twins with a suspicious look on his face. “You know, it’s awfully suspect that the odds against us are so high in comparison to the other competitors. And considering how this is coming from your property, I have a feeling that other bookies in this city have slightly different statistics.”

“What other bookies?” asked Shim with a smug-looking smirk at the stallion. “We’re actually the first casino to incorporate sports betting in Las Pegasus.”

Her sister then added with an equally confident expression and a tilt of her head, “Besides, it’s not too unusual to think that you two would have numbers like that. You guys are a bit of a wild-card in that competition, and a lot of ponies still assume that it’s more of a gimmick than anything else. And since that appeal is starting to die off, rumors are speculating that this show could easily be your last.”

“EXCUSE ME?!” roared Blitz as he tried to lunge forward, only to be caught by Elusive’s magic.

“Rainbow, please,” said the unicorn calmly to his partner before turning back to the Shim Sham sisters. He cleared his throat to mask the angered tone in his voice as he asked, “So if you don’t mind us asking, who exactly is trying to spread rumors like that about us?”

“We are,” stared Shim casually with a shrug. “Considering how many bits we’re betting on you two, we wanted to make sure we get as much of the winnings as we could when you guys prove them wrong.”

Blitz tried to yell out in fury, “YOU LITTLE BIT--MMMPH!!!”

Fortunately, Elusive shoved a hoof in Blitz’s mouth before he could finish that slur in the middle of the lobby. While the pegasus struggled in his bindings, Elusive narrowed his eyes on the two as a vein started to throb on his forehead. “So if I’m hearing this correctly… you two are purposely trying to besmirch our character and undo our reputations, just so you could try to rig a betting pool?!”

Even with how his voice raised near the end of that question, Elusive’s brooding tone just made the mares roll their eyes. “Oh, please!” said Sham in disapproval of the unicorn’s statement. “We’re not rigging anything! We just figured that you two had a good chance to get the highest scores today, and acting out this plan was the best way to raise the funds for our own personal office hot-tub.”

“It really is nothing personal, guys,” added Shim with a sickly sneering grin. “We just like to take the biggest risks. It is Las Pegasus after all.”

Blitz finally wrangled Elusive’s hoof out of his mouth, and his face was seething as he said venomously, “Oh, really? Well, what’s going to be your big plan if we end up losing?”

“You won’t,” answered Shim in a strangely confident tone. “Because unlike any of the competitors, you two have something they don’t: proper motivation.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” With the way Blitz’s angered eyes were widening on the twins, it was clear that he could recognize a threat when he heard one.

“Well, if you insist…” Shim floated her folder back up, and pulled out several photographs that made both stallions gasp in shock. They were freshly developed, highly detailed, and obviously candid shots of Elusive and Rainbow Blitz at various times the previous day. Of course, all of the shots were also taken at the exact times that the two stallions were in questionable positions. One was of the two with their forelegs over each other in the vacant shop, and another was of them holding hooves at the buffet. While Blitz and Elusive gawked at the blackmail material presented in front of them, Shim and Sham just grinned wide like they just checkmated them.

“You see,” began Sham condescendingly, “even if we lost that bet, we could easily make back our losses with interest by selling these photos of you two to PMZ. I’m sure they’d love to make an article about two of the Elements of Harmony being gay lovers~”

Now it was Elusive’s turn to look just as enraged as his friend was, but neither of them were able to speak while Shim added, “And boy, oh boy! You two look so adorable in these shots!” She began to shuffle the photos in front of the two with her magic, each one more assuming than the next. “Here are you two side-by-side, holding hooves, getting hooficures, riding in a carriage in the city. Oh, and here’s one of Elusive sleeping on your shoulder…”

Elusive didn’t even remember passing out in the carriage, but there was no denying that shot showing him resting against Blitz’s side when they were riding through Las Pegasus. And from the look on Rainbow’s face, it didn’t look like he minded the unicorn laying beside him at all.

“And look!” said Sham as she pointed to one of the last photos in Shim’s magic. The picture, which was taken through the window of Five Ponies last night, showed Elusive and Blitz drinking out of the same milkshake cup with two straws. “Isn’t that so romantic? I can’t remember the last time I did that on a date!”

If it wasn’t for Elusive’s magic keeping him restrained, Blitz would’ve completely waived his “Never hit a girl policy” in regards to the Shim Sham sisters. But with that option thankfully unavailable, his next option was to redirect his anger towards the blushed unicorn still staring at that photograph. “I told you to get your own damn milkshake!” growled the pegasus in a furious hiss.

Elusive quickly shot back in a heated whisper of his own, “Well, excuse me for not wanting that many extra calories that night!”

Sham couldn’t resist jeering, “Oh, how cute! They’re arguing like a married couple already!”

“YOU SHUT UP YOU CUN--MMMPPHHH!!!” Blitz popped Elusivve’s hoof out of his mouth again and shouted at him, “STOP DOING THAT!!!”

Meanwhile, Shim and Sham’s smiles both dropped before Sham stated firmly, “You know what? You should be really lucky I’m in a good mood, Rainbow Blitz. Because I could easily send these photographs out right now for what you tried to call me.”

“I should do it anyway,” added Shim in a much colder voice while glaring at the still pissed-off pegasus. “It is my sister after all. And that put me in a rather bad mood myself.”

“Yeah?” said Elusive to the sisters while wiping Blitz’s saliva off his hoof, “And then we could sue you two for slander and invasion of privacy.”

Sham quickly replied, “All of those photos were taken from public spaces and are perfectly legal. Plus, you can't call slander on photographs. It wouldn’t stick in court, and you know it.”

“You know what?” said Shim as she glanced back at her sister with a bitter tone still apparent in her voice. “I really think we should go get ourselves some mimosas to calm ourselves down. Meanwhile…”

Her glare became especially venomous when she looked back at Elusive and Blitz with narrowed eyes. “You two should really consider practicing your routine. Otherwise, there might be some more unfortunate rumors spreading out.”

Elusive’s hooves grinded against the marble floors while glaring back at her, looking like even he was considering throwing a punch at her smug face. Nevertheless, the mare then left without saying another word. Her sister began to follow, but not before saying with a condescending smirk to the dancers, “Just think about it like this. If you guys win, you’ll prove you aren’t just a couple of colt-cuddlers making a scene. As for us, we’ll win no matter what.”

After making her leave with a hoity strut and an accompanying “Ta-Ta~”, Elusive and Blitz were left by themselves by the still-open elevator door. And from the looks of burning anger in their expressions, it seemed like both of them were contemplating how many garbage bags would be needed to properly dispose of the Shim Sham sisters’ bodies.

But instead of resorting to that scenario, Elusive was the first to storm to the elevator after releasing Rainbow from his magic. “Come on, Blitz,” he growled nastily.

Rainbow Blitz paused briefly to look over at the exit doors, still thinking about going after those two. But after a low and seething breath through his gritted teeth, Blitz begrudgingly turned to follow Elusive into the elevator. Before the doors could close on them, Elusive breathed out shakily and said while his eyes were clenched, “Rainbow… how well do you perform under anger?”

Blitz was glaring down at the floor of the elevator, not answering until the doors closed. “It helps…” He then looked up at Elusive and said, “Although I never tried dancing with anger.”

“Well, you’re going to,” stated the unicorn while the elevator moved up to their floor. “Whatever physical actions you want to unleash on those… things,” he spat out with strong malice while keeping himself composed enough to not start shaking, “... I want you to convert that for our competition. I didn’t come this far to let a couple of half-rate charlatans sabotage everything we’re striving for, and I doubt you did either.”

Despite his badly his hooves were clenching in need to lash out, Blitz knew that his friend had the best plan. If he were to fly out and attack those twins right now , all it’d get him is a criminal record and a reputation as a mare-beater. So after a long and shuddered exhale, the pegasus nodded with a strong pout before responding, “... Okay…”

He then added with a nasty stare back at his friend, “But we ARE going to make those bitches pay!”

“After we win, yes,” stated the unicorn with an equally angered look back at him. “But right now, we need to get ourselves ready.”

After the elevator doors opened, Elusive stormed down the hall with a newfound look of determination on his scowling face. “This is war.”

“Buck yeah!” growled Blitz while following him. “And luckily for us, we already have war paint.”

Chapter Sixteen: Skilled Quips and Painted Lips

“Ugh!” With the way Elusive’s muzzle was wrinkling, it seemed like he was close to heaving when he blurted hoarsely, “I absolutely loathe how these colored sprays smell!”

Rainbow Blitz didn’t like the smell of those aerosols either, but he kept himself silent while sitting in his chair in the dressing room. His eyes clenched shut as soon as he heard the clacking of Elusive’s can again. Since his nostrils were plugged, he waited until the clacking stopped before holding his breath and closing his mouth. “Alright,” said Elusive with a tired sigh, “here we go…”

Rainbow Blitz felt the light mist of colored dye go over his face, slowly changing his natural cyan coat to a shade of white similar to Elusive’s. Thankfully the spray didn’t color Blitz anywhere else due to the smock covering his torso, as well as the thick hair band concealing his mane. The spraying lasted only a minute or so, but it was long enough for Blitz to struggle not to breathe while his partner got the last few spots evenly coated. After a small huff in satisfaction, Elusive put the can down and said, “Alright, you can breathe now.”

Rainbow gasped deeply while reopening his eyes, grateful that none of the spray residue was stinging them yet. Just as he was about to get the plugs out of his nostrils, Elusive interrupted him and said warningly, “Don’t touch your face just yet! I don’t want that to start smearing before our routine.”

Even though he hated having his nose plugged up, Blitz figured keeping them in a little longer was better than getting resprayed with those chemicals. So despite the bitter taste of that dye stinging his tongue, he stomached through it and got out of his seat. Meanwhile, Elusive was looking closely at the two thick, frizzy wigs that were recently sprayed with a can of black dye spray. “Hmmm… I think these may have dried enough.”

“Ugh, goo-duh,” grumbled Rainbow, whose stuffed sinuses made it hard to say certain words coherently. “I cat believe dat wig shop didn’t haf any blag ones.”

“Well, at least we’re able to manage with what we have.” The unicorn used his magic to carefully lift one of the wigs from the stand. He smiled in approval when he saw that no residue or discoloration could be seen on the formerly blue headpiece. “And I must say,” continued Elusive with a self-congratulatory tone as he smirked back at his friend, “I think I matched the mane-styles from that album cover quite well!”

Unlike the naturally white stallion, Rainbow Blitz just looked at the other wig for a second and sighed through his mouth. “Yeah a liddle…” As he walked away to look at himself in the mirror, Elusive followed when he saw how upset the pegasus still looked.

“Rainbow,” said Elusive in a more sympathetic voice, “Please don’t let those mares get to you.”

“I’m nod,” Blitz lied before sighing again. “It’s just… I couldn’t thing about it much during our pragtice, so now…”

Elusive exhaled with a faint nod, feeling the same way his partner did. After their encounter with the Shim Sham sisters, the stallions went overtime on getting their routine pitch-perfect in rehearsals. Even though their joints were aching near the end, they both felt fairly confident that they got the dance nailed down perfectly. But now that the adrenaline wore off, all that was left were two brooding stallions left in their dressing room with nothing but their makeup and unfocused minds.

“Blitz, it’s going to be alright.” The unicorn wasn’t sure how his statement could sound true when he couldn’t think of a solution himself, but he still meant it while placing a hoof on Blitz’s shoulder. “This isn’t the first time we dealt with ponies trying to demean our efforts or dismiss us as being gimmicks. But we moved past it! Heck, you saw how positive our reception was after Baltimare!”

Blitz nodded weakly, despite still feeling a heavy shroud of uneasiness hanging over his head. He wanted to scream at something, or find the nearest punching bag to destroy it with his bare hooves, but he knew that wouldn’t be helpful to him or his partner. If there was any outlet Rainbow needed to use, it had to be that dance-floor so it could mean something. Unfortunately though, that option was feeling a bit out of reach since they learned they were going to be the last act of the day.

While the pegasus sat in silence and thought all those things over, Elusive huffed before adding, “Plus, we’ve both been through a lot worse than some blackmail! I wouldn’t consider their plans as low as that Wind Glider mare who tried to sabotage your Wonderbolt eligibility. Or when Steve Polocolt stole my designs and still lost.”

Blitz’s head lowered a little more, a long and seething breath escaping his muzzle. “... yeah.”

Elusive’s frown became stronger, and he pulled his chair over so he could sit beside him. “Blitz, please,” said the unicorn in a more fretful tone, “I know you’re mad, but I can not let you act this way right now. Both of us have come so far in such a short amount of time, and if we were to give up now it’d be like…”

He had to pause for a moment, worried that his words may have sounded a tad selfish. Not wanting his friend to think he was only thinking about their routine, Elusive sighed before saying whole-heartedly, “I just… I don’t want to see you get this hung up over a threat, Rainbow. I’ve seen you overcome a lot of things over the years, and I know you’ve dealt with a lot more before we became Elements…”

Blitz turned around to glance at him, his brows raised like he expected Elusive to say something he shouldn’t know. Thankfully,Elusive used that moment to add, “I can’t say I know what you went through or anything, because I clearly don’t. Plus, that’d be a tad clichèd for my taste. But regardless, I can still say confidently that you’re one of the strongest stallions I’ve ever met. Even when we were at our lowest points, you were always the one who went down fighting. You absolutely refuse to give up, even when everyone else has. And right now, I can not have you give up on me. Especially over something like a cheap threat.”

Even though he still felt like shit, Blitz knew that his friend was right. He really didn’t want to end up being too distracted by those sisters to mess up their routine, despite how strongly their words were still reeling in his head. But when he saw that stern, but still hopeful look that Elusive was giving him, the pegasus found it a little easier to pause. He saw the glimmer of determination shining in the unicorn’s blue eyes, practically screaming at Blitz to get his head back in the game; it may have not had the same immediate effect as Captain Flamethrower’s trademark glares, it was still enough to help clear his head.

He closed his own eyes for a brief moment to sigh, hoping that his mood wouldn’t stay dreary for too much longer while nodding his head. “Y-Yeah,” said Blitz before taking a calming breath. “Yeah, you’re right. I just gotta… take a minute, alright?”

Elusive nodded and got out of his chair. “Of course. Take all the time you need.”

While the unicorn went to grab the black dye spray, as well as the pre-cut stencils he made for their face makeup, Blitz leaned towards the mirror to see how dry his white makeup looked. The door knocked while the pegasus carefully pulled out his nose plugs. “Hey, guys?” asked Applejack from the hallway. “Y’all in there?”

Elusive put his things down on the counter and went to the door. “Yes, we’re here,” he piped before opening it. Applejack looked fairly happy at seeing his friends, but the heavy bags under his eyes were what caused some concern from the unicorn. “Good heavens!" shouted the wide-eyed unicorn. "How much sleep did you get last night?!”

“Ughh…” AJ’s smile dropped pretty quickly while rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, ya can blame Grampy for that. The little horndog didn’t even send us a message ‘bout where he went or nuthin’! But everything’s fine now.”

“Oh dear,” replied Elusive with his ears lowered in worry. “I hope Apple Buck is okay.”

“Oh, he’s fine,” assured the orange stallion with a wave of his hoof. “He was too tuckered out from practice last night to know too much. He and Twinkle’r the first couple up, so Ah wanted to see if you two wanna watch ‘em.”

Elusive sighed and answered apologetically, “I’m sorry, but we can’t. We still need to get our costumes on, and we’ve been a little preoccupied with some other things.”

“Other things?” One of Applejack’s brows raised. “Like what?”

“Well, getting our makeup ready, for one.” Elusive lit his horn to show the dye cans and stencils they still need to use. Blitz leaned over to wave at AJ with his white face visible.

“EUGH!” Applejack reeled back from the sight of Rainbow’s new face. “What the heck’re ya’ll dancing to?! Mimes?”

Blitz groaned and rolled his eyes. “No, dude! It’s not mimes, it’s glam-rock!”

“Glam-rock?” Applejack looked inside of the dressing room for a few seconds, noting the costumes and wigs before realizing the theme of their disco act. Both his brows came up as he went, “Ohhhhh… Okay, ah see it now.”

“Yeah, thanks.” groaned Blitz while he looked back at the mirror. “When I tried to show Scootaroll some of the band’s album covers for reference, he thought it was those stupid-ass clown rappers.”

Elusive noted with a shrug, “Well, their makeup is fairly similar.”

Applejack chuckled and said light-heartedly, “Well, if it helps a bit, Apple Buck is doin’ that Charleston thing with a Hipster theme! Somethin’ Twinkle’s folks thought up to go with their song, Ah think.”

Blitz scoffed a little at hearing the colt’s dance theme and looked back at the mirror, but Elusive replied with a sensible tone, “That doesn’t sound too out of the ordinary. The Charleston is a more obscure dance style, after all.”

“Yeah, that’s what Buck was thinkin’ too.” When Applejack looked inside the room to where Blitz was seated, his smile lessened at noticing how silent he was acting while looking at his whitened face. He glanced back at Elusive and whispered discreetly, “Hey, what’s up wit’ him?”

The unicorn was a little hesitant about saying anything about their issue to others, but he figured that Applejack would be a safe source to get some advice from. Knowing that AJ dealt with the Shim Sham sisters repeatedly before, Elusive made sure the pegasus wasn’t too upset before leading the orange stallion out of the room. He closed the door behind him and said to Applejack in the hallway, “Well, Rainbow and I are in a bit of a situation with those Shim Sham sisters…”

Applejack’s eyes shot wide open, clearly not willing to ignore what Elusive was going to say. While the unicorn explained what occurred after breakfast, Rainbow Blitz decided to get his makeup ready without his friend’s assistance. After finding the right stencils on the counter, Blitz placed one of them over his closed left eye with one hoof. He used his other hoof to hold the aerosol can of black spray and apply a thick, even coat over his eye. After about half a minute, the pegasus pulled it away to reveal a decently-painted, intricately-designed piece that looked a little like black flames shooting from his eye. Blitz looked satisfied with his work, and was just about to paint the right eye before hearing Applejack shout from outside the room, “They did WHAT?!?”

In the hallway, Elusive tried to frantically shush his friend. “Applejack, please!” he hissed while looking around. “We can’t make a scene about this!”

“Oh, there’s gonna be a scene!” AJ began to storm down the hallway to leave the building. “Them girls went TOO far!”

Fortunately, a strong grip of Elusive’s magic kept the stallion from making another step. “PLEASE listen to me! They have major collateral on us, and resorting to violence isn’t going to help!”

“It’ll help them sisters a bit!” retorted Applejack back at him. “Them two obviously have too many teeth in their mouths!”

“AJ, believe me,” said Elusive in a stern tone while glaring at him, “there is nothing more satisfying I can think of than acting physical towards those two. BUT! Can you tell me a single positive thing that could come from any of us going and attacking two mares?!”

Applejack opened his mouth, but nothing came out when he really thought that question over. Realizing that any outcome was most likely going to be extremely bad, it took a moment before the stallion sighed and closed his muzzle.

“That’s what I thought,” said the unicorn pertly. “Now if you really want to help, then I suggest you find Dusk Shine and tell him the situation. He and the others are probably here by now, and I know he’d be the best bet when it comes to finding a suitable solution.”

Applejack’s lips were pursed in worry, but he knew that Elusive’s plan was a lot better than his own. So instead of going to rearrange those unicorns’ faces, AJ exhaled through his nostrils and nodded in agreement. “Alright then,” he said apprehensively. “Ah’ll go find Dusk and the others.”

After giving Applejack an appreciative hug and a “Thank you,” Elusive watched his friend rush out of the hall to find Dusk. The unicorn sighed to himself before turning around to reenter the room. By now, Rainbow Blitz applied the matching stencils to both of his eyes, and was getting the large downward point that went down his forehead. Even though he was surprised to see the pegasus trying it himself, Elusive had to admit that it wasn’t horribly done. “Well then,” he said with an impressed smirk, “I guess those stencils were a good investment after all!”

“Yeah…” Rainbow sprayed the last of the point on his face before putting the can and stencil down on the counter. He looked back at Elusive with his demonic/tribal getup nearly finished, but his worried stare on Elusive was still clear underneath all that dye. “So… I take it you told him what happened?”

Elusive exhaled painfully. “I had to, Blitz. I figured he would know how to handle those girls better than either of us. Plus, he’s going to get Dusk Shine for some added assistance.”

“Alright, that sounds good.” He handed Elusive the star-shaped stencil and said with a hesitant, but still honest-sounding, “But uh… thanks for telling him outside, at least. I didn’t want to blow up while retelling everything myself.”

“I wouldn’t blame you in the slightest if you did.” Elusive sat down in his seat with his horn lit, using it to hold the stencil over his closed right eye. Blitz picked up the can of dye and re-shook it to give a strong spray. While in wait, Elusive decided to ask with his left eye still open, “So, if you don’t mind me asking, Blitz…”

The clacking noises stopped as Blitz paused and looked back at him. Elusive took a breath and asked apprehensively. “Is there something else on your mind? You know… other than those sisters?”

Blitz was silent for a couple seconds, and breathed out sharply before nodding. “A little,” he admitted while going up to Elusive’s chair. “It’s nothing that matters too much anymore, but… I was just reminded of some of the bullshit I went through because of girls like that.”

“Like what?” asked Elusive curiously. At seeing Blitz ready to spray in the stencil, he closed both of his eyes to avoid any residual dye stinging either one. He heard the heavy spraying from the can when Blitz began, covering his pristine white fur with a heavy mist of that garish black spray. Meanwhile, Blitz focused on spraying inside the stencil while thinking over what to say.

“Well,” he began with a slightly more bitter tone in his voice, “back in Flight Academy, there were these three mares who constantly messed around with me. Like, they started bullying Butterscotch first, but then they focused solely on me after I defended him. I guess they just got a kick at seeing me get pissed off all the time, especially when they started spreading rumors about me…”

Blitz finished spraying and pulled away the stencil, revealing a perfect star painted over Elusive’s right eyes. When Blitz got back to his seat, the unicorn asked worriedly, “What kind of rumors?”

“The same ones I’m dealing with now.” With his forelegs crossed, Rainbow looked away with an angered scowl on his painted face. “And when you have a rainbow mane, it doesn’t exactly help with what certain ponies might assume about you.”

Elusive’s ears dropped as he looked at his friend with a saddened expression. He looked down at his own lap and breathed out through his nostrils before saying, “Believe me, Blitz. I know what that’s like.”

“Oh, you do?” asked Blitz in a skeptical tone that was less than subtle. His eyes narrowed on the unicorn while both brows were raised. “Were YOU given nicknames like Pritsy Blitzy or Rainbow Fagfor over three years straight?”

Elusive looked back up at Blitz with a soured stare. “No, but I WAS the only stallion in my university who was majoring in Fashion Design with a minor in Interior Design! Do you really think you were the only one to experience homophobic assumptions from classmates?”

Blitz quickly shut himself up as his bitter glare dissipated in an instant. Realizing he shouldn’t have been so condescending, he looked away with a wince while opening his mouth, “Uhhh… okay, yeah. You win.”

“It’s alright,” said Elusive after a long sigh. “I understand. I’m just saying that I’ve dealt with some… unpleasant ponies in my past as well.”

Rainbow shrugged uncomfortably, not wanting to argue Elusive’s point a second time in a row. “Yeah, I get it,” he replied while Elusive went to grab his red lipstick. “I’m sorry.”

“No, you don’t have to apologize, Rainbow,” assured the unicorn while uncapping his stick. “It’s just so upsetting how strongly ponies react to the sight of a stallion showing even the slightest hint of femininity.”

Elusive then began to apply the red lipstick on his lips, prompting Blitz’s muzzle to skew a little at the sight. “Uhhh… yeah. Really not that much to call feminine.”

“Hm?” Elusive paused after putting his lipstick on, needing a moment to realize how he may have looked. “Oh!” After letting out an annoyed huff, he put the lipstick down and handed Blitz his black lipstick. “Well, you know what I mean! It’s not easy to get any dates in college with assumptions like that.”

“You’re telling me!” Blitz nodded strongly as he uncapped his stick, seeing how black and glossy it really was. “Like, I could’ve easily gotten more mares than I did back during Flight Academy if those bitches actually left me alone! But their constant rumors and teasing just left me a giant, paranoid mess! And it wasn’t like I could really defend myself since they were girls.”

After Blitz groaned angrily and began putting on his lipstick, Elusive nodded with a pout of his own. “Yeah, that’s never pretty,” he admitted in agreement. “I was fortunate to have taken some theater classes before college, so I was fairly skilled in improv. If I ever got any snide remarks or jokes thrown my way, it was easy to avoid raising a hoof when I had a silver tongue.”

The pegasus finished applying his lipstick, and raised a brow at Elusive while placing the stick on the counter. “Really?” asked Blitz curiously. “Like what?”

Elusive huffed with a smirk and answered pertly, "Well one of my choice favorites to use was, ‘Darling, you really shouldn’t look so angry. It makes your face look fat.’”

“Pbbtt!” If it wasn’t for the finished makeup on his face, Rainbow would’ve covered his mouth with a hoof to better restrain that snicker. “Holy crap, that’s cold!”

“Oh, that’s nothing!” Elusive waved his hoof in dismissal. “A really good one I remember was when this particularly nasty classmate decided to criticize my fall gown project by saying I should use more pink to ‘Better represent my character.’ Well, I didn’t even skip a beat when I replied with, ‘Well, I can see by your outfit that the only addition you need to stay close to your true self is a leash connected to your pimp.’”

That made Blitz burst out laughing with a hoof over his chest. Seeing his friend’s reaction, Elusive couldn’t resist chuckling a little himself. “Oh, shit!” blurted the pegasus between a few surprised giggles. “That’s impressive, I’ll admit that!”

“Well, thank you,” replied Elusive with a grateful smile. However, a few seconds passed before the unicorn sighed and looked away with his pout re-growing on his face. “Although, I wish I said something like that to those sisters.”

“Hey, don’t sweat it. “Blitz put a hoof out and tried to grab his friend’s attention. “Those two had us in a friggin corner. Heck, if you did say something, chances are good they’d have just sent the photos out right then. You saw how they reacted when I almost pulled the C-word at them.”

Elusive sighed and nodded weakly. “Yeah, that’s true…” He looked back at Blitz with a small smirk and admitted guiltily, “Although in retrospect, part of me sort of regrets not letting you finish that word.”

Blitz snickered at Elusive’s statement and said with a smile, “Hey, I wouldn’t have stopped you from saying it!”

“I know, I know. You don’t have to convince me that!”

That reply got both of them to laugh a little harder. Elusive was the first to get himself settled, and he took a breath as a small blush appeared on his cheeks. “But seriously Blitz, I… I really do appreciate you standing up for me so strongly today. It may have been a bit brash, but still… That means a lot.”

Blitz got himself to stop giggling as he smiled warmly back at his friend. “Hey, it’s no problem, dude! What was I supposed to do, let them keep acting like we were a gay couple? I wasn’t gonna let that happen to my friend!”

Elusive’s smile thankfully remained, but his eyes widened a little while his blush deepened. Even though he knew that Rainbow’s statement was extremely sincere and well-intentioned, it was also enough to make the unicorn remind himself of that unfortunate dream that was still burnt into his brain. Despite how vivid it was, Elusive wanted to try his hardest to not be reminded of it. Not just because it was completely different from what he’d usually dream about, but mostly because involved the very stallion who was smiling back at him.

The stallion whose magenta eyes were shining just as brightly as they were in that dream.

The stallion whose makeup helped to show how smooth and flawless his fur was lain across his face.

The stallion whose curved, pillowy-looking lips were so adorably smirked while that black lipstick lai--

Elusive had to a double take when he noticed the lipstick was fuller on the left side of Blitz’s mouth. That detail helped to break Elusive from his clouded thoughts, making him shake his head quickly enough to avoid any awkward pauses. “Umm, Rainbow?” asked the unicorn as his eyes narrowed on his friend’s mouth. “I think your lipstick is a little uneven.”

“What?!” Rainbow got out of his chair and looked into the mirror. After a second, he groaned when he realized his friend was right. “Aw, shit. How do I fix this?”

“Here, let me help.” Elusive got out of his chair and lit his horn, floating up the black lipstick towards the pegasus. “Hold still for a second…”

With his eyes narrowed in concentration, Elusive carried the precision of a surgeon as he dragged the very tip of the black makeup along the outer edge of Blitz’s lips. Rainbow kept still, not wanting to mess it up by moving around too much. However, the close proximity to his friend made a blush start to appear across Rainbow’s cheeks. It also made him notice how flawlessly applied Elusive’s lipstick was in comparison to his own. After the unicorn huffed in satisfaction and pulled the lipstick away, Blitz stated with narrowed eyes, “You know, it’s kinda disturbing how good you are at putting on makeup.”

“Oh, shut up,” said Elusive playfully while putting the makeup on the counter. “Most of my clients are female, so it helps to make them look good in the dresses I select for them. Knowing the basics of cosmetic work helped me make sales just as often as my bartending skills.”

He then added back to his friend with a smirk, “Besides, it’s not that hard to make your lips even. Watch…” Keeping an innocent smile on his face, Elusive pursed his lips tightly together before bringing them out like a kiss. “Muah!~”

Blitz pulled his head away with a grossed-out look. “Dude, did you have to make that noise to go with it?!”

“No,” answered Elusive with a giggle, “but puckering them like a kiss does help make your lips even. Try it!”

Blitz’s face soured up a little, not liking that he was getting makeup advice from one of his guy friends. But after a couple seconds, the pegasus took a breath before shrugging his head. He made sure to look away from Elusive as his blush deepened, and his mouth slowly pulled inward to share the black gloss between his top and bottom lips. Blitz then exhaled through his nose and pursed his lips back out, making a very small and faint kissing motion.

“See?” asked Elusive with a raised brow. “Was that so hard? Try it again with me.”

After rolling his eyes, Blitz turned back to his friend and complied begrudgingly. He saw Elusive do the kissing motion with his lips, which the pegasus followed in unison. Unfortunately, just as both their lips were pursed, it wasn’t apparent how close their faces were to one another before their dressing room door was thrown open.

“Hey guys!” shouted Dusk Shine, who bursted into the room with his horn glowing while Barb was seated on his back. “Don’t worry, Applejack tol…”

As soon as he saw his two friends face-to-face, wearing full makeup, and with their kissy-faces frozen while looking wide-eyed back at him, Dusk’s words stopped pretty damn quickly. Barb was gawking at the two stallions with her mouth hung open, her left eye twitching a little. A giant blush exploded across Dusk Shine’s face, leaving him to giggle nervously and step backwards out of the room. “Ummm… oopsie. Heh heh heh… I’ll… I’ll give you two some time alone…”

With that, the Alicorn quickly made his leave and slammed the door. Meanwhile, it took a brief moment before Elusive and Rainbow could turn their heads back at each other in grave realization. If it wasn’t for their already white faces, it would’ve been clear how pale they became from how they must’ve looked to their friend. Rainbow Blitz’s eyes widened slowly, and it wasn’t long before his cheeks started to grow red in anger.

While the pegasus’ stare turned into a brooding glare toward his friend, Elusive let out a scared-sounding chuckle and said timidly, “Uhhhh… Y-Your lipstick looks good now…”

Chapter Seventeen: The Third Round - The Disco

Even with the countless activities and events that were happening all over the city, the Las Pegasus Grand Stadium was packed with ponies from all over Equestria who came to see their main event. It may have only been the Quarter-Finals of the Equestrian National Dance Competition, but the crowds were still abuzz with activity in anticipation for the event. Of course, the added spice of gambling thrown into the mix was probably the biggest reason why so many ponies were here. From the highest elite of the casino districts to the lowly ticket-scalpers in the cheapest seats, it was clear that Las Pegasus knew how to spice up a dancing competition to its highest caliber.

The lights began to dim over the packed stadium, and the loud murmuring from the audience died down as the remaining lights illuminated the dance-floor of the stage below. Off to the sides and away from the lights, the first four groups of dancers were seated in nervousness while hearing the announcement over the loud speakers: “Fillies and Gentlecolts! Welcome to the Quarter-Final round of the Equestrian National Dance Competition!”

While the excited roars of the audience echoed throughout the massive domed space, Apple Buck took a shaky breath while latched to his seat. Even though he didn’t want to be seen so openly worried, it was fairly hard not to be freaked out with the knowledge that he and Twinkle Toes were the first couple to perform. Plus, the fact that he was wearing suspenders over some weird “trendy” t-shirt, combined with super tight pants and a ridiculous old-man cap, just made him feel like a complete goofball. He looked over at his partner, who had a thick pair of empty eyeglass frames over her face, and a lacey pink sundress that looked like something straight out of Clawchella. But despite the odd clothing choices her Dads made for her, Apple Buck blushed a little at how cute the filly still looked.

Regardless, the colt coughed apprehensively while looking away from her, hoping the darkness would help conceal his red cheeks. Luckily, it seemed that the filly was looking downright giddy while bobbing up and down in her chair in anxious wait, completely unaware of her partner’s bashfulness. Meanwhile, an older grey stallion with a nice tuxedo and an eyepatch appeared in the middle of the stage, holding a microphone in his magic while addressing the crowd. “Alright, everypony! Who’s ready to see our first dance?”

The crowd applauded loudly in response, clearly getting antsy due to their bets. After motioning for Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes to step forward, the announcer spoke back to the crowds while introducing the couple. “Okay, just as a recap, the highest scores our dancers can receive is a ten from each of our three judges. So to start things off, let’s see how our first couple will do with their Charleston. Here’s Apple Buck, with his partner Twinkle Toes!”

Apple Buck gulped while walking forward onto the lit stage with his dance partner. Since the lights were only on them, the colt had no idea where his friends or family were. But after looking back at Twinkle, who still had a smile as wide as ever, the colt was able to take a breath to help get himself settled. Since they already practiced their dance a dozen times over, Buck exhaled smoothly and got his lucky red bandana tied around his neck. And with the announcer quickly leaving the stage, the two kids got into position in wait for their song to start playing.

Meanwhile, Elusive was fidgeting uncomfortably as he shoved his hind legs into his faux-leather leggings. Even though the garment itself wasn’t constricting, it was still a massive pain due its immense tightness. Fortunately, the aid of the unicorn’s magic was just barely enough to slide the remainder of his legs through the tight fabric after a strained groan. Rainbow Blitz, who already had his black and metal-spiked vest over his torso, just sat and watched his friend with a flat stare. “Jeeze,” said the pegasus with a raised brow, “and you complain about me eating too much.”

“Blitz!” snapped Elusive with a warning growl, “leggings are meant to be tight! And if you try to insinuate that I gained weight, I will not hesitate to throw away all of your energy drinks!”

Rainbow scoffed and rolled his eyes. “I’m sponsored by Red Manticore,” the stallion pointed out. “I get cases of their drinks for free! That’s not much of a threat, dude.”

Elusive groaned strongly while his cheeks grew a hint of red. “Rainbow, I really do not need any more frustrations today! And while I can understand why you’re acting so bitter, I don’t appreciate it one bit! Especially after I apologized profusely!”

“Well, how do you expect me to act?!” Even though he accepted Elusive’s apology, the pegasus was still clearly upset when he replied, “If you remembered to lock the damn door, Dusk Shine wouldn’t have walked in on us in full makeup looking like we were about to kiss! That doesn’t really help all the assumptions we’re already getting from ponies!”

“Okay, did you just forget the first ten times I said I was sorry?! It’s not like I meant to make them see that!”

After a brief sigh, Blitz looked away with a brooding pout still on his face. While Elusive groaned and went to pick up his own vest, he heard his friend mutter to himself, “He probably thinks we’re into clown-sex or something.”

“Oh, I do not think he’s assuming that!” chided the unicorn strongly while shooting a disgusted look at Blitz. “In fact, why were you thinking that?! Is that really a thing?!?”

“Actually, yeah,” answered Rainbow with a weirded-out scoff. “Bubble Berry showed me a clown porn video he had. I swear, that guy has every weird-ass dirty movie you can think of in his party cave!”

Elusive’s jaw was agape while gawking at his friend, unsure whether or not to ask if he was joking. It took a couple seconds before he decided against pressing that subject as he looked away. “You know what? I’d rather not know.”

“That’s probably for the best.” Remembering some of the other film reels his pink friend owned, Rainbow shuddered as he tried not to be reminded of some of them. Berry might have found his friend’s reactions to be hilarious, but the pegasus never needed to have known that a mare could do something so vile with a trumpet. Luckily, the dressing room’s walls were thin enough that they could overhear the cheerful music that began to blast from the main stadium.

Realizing what indie song it was, Blitz’s ears raised in pleasant surprise. “Oh, hey. I know that song!”

“Me too…” Elusive grew an impressed smirk as he shrugged and put on his padded vest. “I have to admit, that song actually would work fairly well for a Charleston.”

“Yeah, maybe,” said Blitz in reluctant agreement. He could also overhear the faint clapping from the crowd alongside the beat of the song as he added, “It definitely fits that ‘Hipster’ thing Applejack was talking about too.”

After zipping his vest up, revealing the intricate jeweled design that was embroidered on his chest, Elusive noticed the uncomfortable look Blitz had on his face while listening through the wall. He put out a hoof to grab his attention as he asked, “Ummm, is everything alright, Rainbow?”

“Hm? Oh! Ummm…” Blitz shook his head clear and sighed shamefully. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just, uhhh… is it bad that I don’t know whether or not I should root for them?”

Elusive’s head reeled back in confusion. “Wait, what?!”

“You know what I mean!” despite the flustered tone he had in his voice, Blitz tried to explain while looking away with an uneasy skew of his muzzle. “Like, I really do want those two to kick ass and all, but… well, with that blackmail we have…”

Elusive sighed and walked up towards the makeuped pegasus. “Blitz, it’s okay,” he assured calmly. “This is a competition after all. I mean, I certainly don’t want them to fail either. But then again…”

After taking a moment to think it over, the unicorn meagerly shrugged and said in addition, “If we were to not get the top placement this round, I… honestly wouldn’t be too upset if it was by them. I mean, they are our friends, and they--”

Before he could finish his statement, Elusive was interrupted when he and Blitz overheard a low and collective groan from the crowd through the wall. The music was still playing cheerfully, but neither of them could hear clapping anymore. Elusive gasped with a hoof over his mouth as he realized what may have happened. “Oh no! Did… did they…”

Blitz didn’t want to say anything, but he heard enough crowd reactions to know when a routine messed up. And from the sound of that groan, it seemed like Apple Buck and his partner did something bad. The pegasus tried his hardest not to wince while looking back at the worried Elusive. “I’m not gonna lie, that didn’t sound good.”

“Ugh!” Elusive covered his face with both hooves, being careful not to mess up his makeup as he exhaled with a strong cringe. Blitz was still listening to the music through the walls, and could hear some of the clapping returning at a slightly lighter volume. Meanwhile, Elusive finally dropped his hooves and said insistently to his partner, “Rainbow, we can NOT tell Applejack what we were discussing just now!”

Blitz stared back at the unicorn like he was an idiot. “What, you think I actually would?! Besides, it not like we jinxed them or something!”

“Perhaps not, but I don’t want HIM to think that!”

“Don’t worry, I won’t say anything!” Blitz shook his head as he rolled his eyes. “Seriously, I’m not that stupid.”

“I’m not saying you are. I just don’t want him to think we don’t feel bad.” Noting the sounds of clapping through the walls as well, Elusive then added with a more optimistic shrug. “But then again, maybe they didn’t make that big of a mistake.”

“Who knows?” asked Blitz with a worried-sounding huff. “That reaction sounded really bad though.”

After the song concluded, Rainbow Blitz leaned his head in closely against the wall, but not touching it due to the makeup still drying on his face. The announcer’s voice was very muffled and hard to make out, but the pegasus was able to determine the scores announced as his eyes narrowed in concentration. After hearing the applause from the crowd, Blitz sucked some air through his teeth and backed away. Elusive wasn’t too keen on seeing his friend react that way, but he still asked hesitantly, “S-So… what’s their score?”

Blitz sighed and said worriedly, “Twenty two. Two sevens and an eight.”

Despite that score not being horrible by any means, Elusive still cringed. “Oh dear,” said the unicorn fretfully. “I really hope it wasn’t that bad.”

Unfortunately, the unmistakable sound of a filly wailing from the distance seemed to have proven the unicorn wrong. By the time the two opened their door to look out into the hallway, Twinkle Toes was already rushing back to her dressing room while bawling. Blitz and Elusive managed to catch a quick glimpse of the filly when she ran past them, tears running down her eyes and the bottom of her dress ripped quite noticeably. However, Elusive seemed to catch one more detail as he popped his head from the doorway and saw Twinkle run to her dressing room. “Was… was she bleeding?!”

“What?!” Rainbow looked out into the now empty hallway as well. “Where?!”

“I think it was her nose,” answered the unicorn, who had to hold a hoof to his chest while breathing out painfully. If that image of the crying filly wasn’t enough to break his heart, her audible sobs from her dressing room was certainly enough. “Oh! I hope she’s okay.”

Fortunately, Twinkle Toes was alone in the dressing room for only another moment before Apple Buck rushed down the hallway. He was still wearing his clothes, looking fairly untouched aside from the small scuff on the bottom of his chin. Both of Twinkle’s parents ran in as well, with Curtain Call carrying a pained scowl with tears building up in his eyes. By the time Elusive and Blitz exited their dressing room to see what was going on, Apple Buck was frantically trying to open the door while Curtain Call was cursing himself through sobs. “I should’ve shortened that dress, I KNEW I should’ve shortened that dress!”

Press Bar looked disheveled as well, but he still wrapped a hoof around his husband affectionately for support. “Honey, no! It wasn’t your fault, okay? It was an accident! Do not blame yourself for this!”

“Twinkle Toes, please open the door!” pleaded Apple Buck with a couple bangs of his hoof against it. Unfortunately, the only response he got from the other side was Twinkle’s voice wailing even louder.

Elusive tried his hardest not to start tearing up, not wanting to mess up his makeup so soon to their own performance. While the unicorn looked away and focused on his breathing, Blitz stepped in towards the group to ask, “Guys, what the hay happened?!”

Press Bar was holding Curtain Call close against his shoulder, but he still said with a breath before looking towards Rainbow, “Right before the chorus, Twinkle’s hoof caught onto the bottom of her--GAAAHHH!”

Upon seeing Rainbow Blitz’s garishly detailed costume and makeup, the yellow stallion reeled back like it was a horror movie monster. Apple Buck paused his banging as well upon noticing Blitz and Elusive’s costumes, although his reaction was nothing more than a couple seconds of keeping his lips shut to keep from laughing.

“Shut up, it’s glam rock!” chided the pegasus towards Apple Buck before he could say anything about their look. Rainbow then turned back to Press Bar and said after a breath, “So… did she fall or something?”

“On her face,” muttered Curtain Call with strong guilt while latched against his husband’s shoulder. “Apple Buck was pulled down too. H-Her nose was bleeding the whole time, and by the time it was over she just…” He had to sniff a couple times, but it was clear it’d be a losing battle to try and stop crying while hearing his daughter continue to bawl behind that dressing room door.

Blitz winced painfully at seeing how badly Twinkle’s parents were handling this, not to mention from knowing what occurred. He looked back at Apple Buck with a bit lip and asked him, “Are you okay, Buck?”

“Yeah,” he quickly said while trying to pull the door knob with all his might. “I just got my chin a little scuffed. Nuthin’ too bad.” He tried to shove all his body weight against the door with a couple of string pushes before yelling, “Twinkle, PLEASE! We’re gonna be fine!”

Twinkle Toes’ sobbing stopped for a brief second, but only for her to collect her breath before wailing out, “GO AWAYYYYY!!!”

Apple Buck cringed at hearing that, but stopped trying to break down the door as he stepped back and heard her continue to sob. In an effort to lighten the mood a little, Rainbow glanced back at his friend, who was currently looking away with his side leaned against the wall, before saying, “Honestly, getting a twenty-two out of thirty is pretty damn impressive after a fall like that!”

“That’s what I was saying!” said Press Bar in response, making sure to give the pegasus a thankful nod. The unicorn then went back to stroke his husband’s salt-and-pepper mane while saying, “They still have a chance! This is the hat-draw round, remember?”

“Th-That’s right!” shouted Apple Buck before rushing back to the door. He didn’t try to break it down, but he still spoke through for Twinkle Toes to hear, “Twinkle, we might not lose this round! You saw what some of the other dancers are doin’, right? Maybe some of ‘em will stink!”

Elusive managed to collect his breath enough to maintain composure before turning around. “I have to agree with Apple Buck,” he said optimistically towards Twinkle’s parents. “I mean, the Ballet alone would be a hard dance for any novice to learn in a week! Same with the Bhangra.”

“You heard that, right?” asked Buck through the door while motioning towards Elusive. “We still might win this! Heck, we got a twenty-two!”

Even though Twinkle wasn’t bawling at the top of her lungs anymore, her sobbing was still clearly audible between her shaky-sounding words. “P-Please… Just… Just leave me aloooooooone!!!”

That was when Twinkle Toes’ sobbing returned just as painfully as before. Apple Buck looked like he wanted to cry from how badly his muzzle wrinkled, but nothing was able to come out when he clenched his eyes shut momentarily. When he reopened them, the colt glanced back at her Dads for a brief moment, noting how worried both of them looked before saying back through the door, “Twinkle, it wasn’t yer fault what happened! Heck, it wasn’t nopony’s fault! Accidents like this happen! It was just a wardrobe… confusion?”

“Malfunction,” Elusive corrected.

“Yeah, that’s it! It was just a wardrobe malfunction! And honestly, it ain’t even that bad!”

“Buck, please just SHUT UP!!”

The colt winced from that outburst she gave, but he knew it was more emotional than anything else. Apple Buck breathed out deeply before restarting his assurance. “Twinkle, just… Just think about if it was me, alright? Like, imagine if it was me out there dancin’ in a big, frilly dress! How’d ya think I’d look doin that?”

Twinkle’s crying died down momentarily, and her Dads moved in a little closer to the door to try and overhear her. Eventually, her sniffles were faint enough that the sounds of the foreign-sounding song from the stadium could be heard softly from a distance. Of course, the group heard Twinkle Toes make a small giggle from inside the room, clearly having thought about Apple Buck’s suggested mental image.

“Yeah, see?” said Apple Buck with a more optimistic smile on his face. “Ah’d look mighty silly if Ah did that, right? And Ah’d probably fall on my butt a dozen times too! But you only fell once.”

Rainbow Blitz stepped in to add, “And you know what? You still got an applause after that dance! Elusive and I both heard it! I’ve seen guys in flight routines mess up one trick, and it completely threw them off for the rest of the round. I’ve even seen a couple flyers quit after one mistake, but you didn’t! You kept going, brought the crowd back, and even got an eight at the end. That’s pretty badass in my book!”

Even though Twinkle Toes’ parents usually disapproved of that kind of language around their daughter, the two still smiled at hearing those optimistic words. Apple Buck gave him a thankful nod as well. After taking a moment to collect his thoughts, the colt took a breath and knocked on the door softly. “Twinkle, can ya at least let me come in? Ah don’t want ya to be completely alone right now, and yer Dads wanna make sure yer okay.”

Press Bar went up to the door as well and added lovingly, “Honey, please. I know you’re upset, but we all love you. And we couldn’t be prouder of you if we tried. It’s not the end of the world, I promise.”

Twinkle could still be heard crying, but it was a lot softer than before. However, the filly didn’t say anything in response to her Dad’s statement. Several seconds passed, with nothing being heard but the announcer’s muffled voice during the judging of the second dance of the competition. By the time another round of applause could be heard, the door finally unlocked. Twinkle Toes slowly reopened the dressing room door, tears matted on her cheeks as she looked out to see Apple Buck’s warm smile. Even though there was a noticeably large amount of dried blood on her snout from that fall, the colt couldn’t have cared less as he lunged forward and gave her a strong hug. Twinkle was taken aback for a moment, but her reddened eyes soon began to tear up once more before hugging him back just as tightly.

Her Dads rushed in to join in on the hug as well, and Rainbow Blitz stepped back with a touched smile at seeing that kind of resolution. Elusive was happy as well, but his response was to rush back to their own dressing room while bawling, “Oh no, I need to reapply my makeuuuuupppp!”

If it wasn’t for the overflow of emotions that happened in the past few minutes, Rainbow Blitz probably wouldn’t have been the only one to laugh at the unicorn’s dramatic exit.

However, two more ponies came rushing down the hallway before Apple Buck or the other two stallions could let go of Twinkle Toes. “Twinkle Toes! Apple Buck!” shouted the Hoofingtons, who were already in their baggy “thuggish” attire as they ran up with optimistic smiles on their faces. After Twinkle rubbed her eyes with a foreleg to look up at them, Julianne spoke up first. “Guys, you’re not the only ones to fall! We just saw the Bhangra performance, and they got straight sixes!”

“WHAT?!” shouted all the others at the same time in shock. Rainbow Blitz scoffed with his jaw gaped before asking, “How did that happen?!”

Derek made an uneasy shrug with a raise of his foreleg. “Weeellllll… It seemed like they didn’t exactly get their timing nailed down. Plus, the girl kept hitting her partner by accident during their flailing movements. It was pretty awkward to watch.”

“But still,” added Julianne as she kept her focus on the kids, “they ended up with a score lower than you guys! I know it isn’t exactly great news to hear, but we figured it’d be something for you two to know.”

While Twinkle Toes nodded her head faintly and smiled with a sniffle, Apple Buck wrapped a hoof around her shoulder as he said up to the Hoofingtons, “Well, we really appreciate hearin’ that. Thanks.”

While Twinkle was hugged by her parents and her partner again, the Hoofingtons soon had their eyes pinned on the lone pegasus in the hallway, who was still dressed up in his full-glam metal attire with his makeup unblemished. It seemed like the unicorns both wanted to say something in question to Rainbow Blitz’s outfit choice, but neither of them opened their muzzles. Of course, given the fact that the two were wearing matching green hoodies with purposely baggy pants and ridiculous-looking beanies (along with a couple checkered bandanas hanging from their necks), perhaps they knew neither of them could really talk about fashion choices. Alas, Derek was the first to make a reply as he narrowed his eyes on Blitz and asked, “So… glam rock disco?”

“YES!” shouted Blitz in sweet relief. “THANK YOU!”

By the time the competition came to the last three dancers, there was faint but still noticeable aura of unrest emanating among the crowds and competitors. Like the signs to an oncoming apocalypse, it seemed that Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes’ blunder was only the tip of the iceburg when it came to dancing mishaps. After the disastrous Bhangra that got a score of eighteen, quite a few ponies in the crowds were starting to wonder if a curse was going on. And with each flawed dance that occurred afterward, that rumor just seemed to grow more and more feasible.

However, it was fairly clear that string of poor routines during the Las Pegasus round was more a result of bad luck than anything else. The couple who had a Lindy Hop routine ended up getting the highest score of twenty-four, even though the stallion faltered a little with his steps near the end of their dance. Another couple managed to get a twenty-three for a burlesque routine, but the fact that the stallion was performing the more sensual moves was probably a big reason for their scores not being higher. The team who had Bridleway tried to have backup dancers in their rendition of a song from Hair Gel, but their constant bumping into each other resulted in the duo getting a dismal nineteen. And as for the Jitterbug couple, the two decided to wear shoes that were apparently a size too large for both of them; even though their poor timing could be blamed for getting a twenty, it was more likely that the judge who got hit in the head with a shoe had a different vendetta when he gave them a five. While watching from their seats at the side, Elusive and Blitz had to look around occasionally to make sure the Shim Sham Sisters weren’t sabotaging things.

By the time the end of the competition came looming in, the two stallions were seated next to the Hoofingtons in wait. But due to their equally silly-looking costumes, the fact that they had to be the final two acts of such a dismal night made their stoic positions in wait look that much more awkward. Both couples watched as the Ballet routine was happening on stage, with a beautiful orchestral melody playing over the speakers. The dancers actually seemed to be doing alright, at least in comparison to some of the earlier acts, but their choice of wearing skin-tight grey leotards made any of their synchronized moves a bit difficult to focus on.

Rainbow Blitz was carrying an uneasy skew on his muzzle when he leaned in towards Elusive and whispered, “Dude… please tell me I’m not the only one wondering if he stuffed his crotch with an eggplant.”

Elusive, who took notice to the stallion’s massive bulge as well, winced with a strong blush while watching the two twirl around the stage in unison. “I was going to guess a butternut squash.”

Blitz stifled a snicker from escaping his closed lips, but his head was still convulsing while staring at the couple. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until the stallion picked up his partner with her legs wrapped around his head that laughter began to erupt, and not just from Blitz either. Due to the mare’s close proximity of her groin to her partner’s face while being spun around the stage, it wasn’t hard to guess why the stallion’s crotch began to… become more noticeable. By the time the mare was dropped back down with her hind legs clinging around his waist, there were more than a few notes of laughter from the audience when it became clear the stallion had an erection.

Of course, it seemed that the mare herself found out the worst way possible while around his waist. Upon realizing the pony spinning her had his package prodding her rump, the mare threw herself off in disgust and shouted, “EWWWW!!!” Even though the two had a solid chance throughout most of their routine, it was obvious they weren’t moving forward as the mare ran off the stage from her… excited partner. Before the song was even finished, the stallion ran away as well with a hoof covering his crotch. But despite that ending, their routine created the loudest round of applause by a landslide.

Even Elusive and Blitz were clapping alongside the Hoofingtons, all of whom laughing guiltily at what they just witnessed. Since the dancers were long gone from embarrassment, the announcer was left alone as he trotted back on the stage and tried to calm down the audience’s hysterics. “Okay, okay guys. Let’s not go too hard on those two.”

That just made the crowd laugh even harder, and the stallion had to huff with a blush at the realization of how poorly-worded that statement sounded. After sighing with a hoof over his face, the announcer pointed towards the judge’s table and said, “You know what, let’s just hear the scores from the judges.”

Elusive and Blitz were the first to get themselves to stop laughing, and sat in wait to hear their scores. If the couple managed to get a score lower than twenty-two, then Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes would technically have the third-highest score of the round so far, and automatically move forward despite their fall. Most of the audience died down as well as the judges individually brought up their scorecards.

“... Seven!”

Despite it being a dancing competition, Rainbow Blitz was actually at the edge of his seat with his bottom lip bit tightly. In fact, the stallion’s tension was so high that he didn’t even realize he was holding his partner’s hoof in anticipation. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like Elusive noticed as he repeatedly muttered under his breath, “Seven or lower, seven or lower, seven or lower…”

With the crowd now dead silent in wait, the stallion took a second before pulling up his scorecard to give his score. “... SIX!”

There was a mix of applause and groans from the audience, but very few of them were as loud or obvious as Blitz and Elusive cheering happily. Since the dancers who just lost were nowhere to be seen, neither of them felt too bad for applauding in celebration of their friends staying in the competition. Across the stage, some especially strong whoops and hollers could be heard from the Apple family, who were cheering and hugging Twinkle Toes’ parents in relief. Meanwhile, Buck and Twinkle themselves were hugging strongly in the backstage area while struggling not to cry in joy.

After almost a minute of applause and reaction from the audience, the announcer cleared his throat and continued with the show. “Alright, guys! We have two more acts to go, so who knows what’ll happen! Will either of them make it to the Semi Finals in Manehattan as well? Or will our top three couples be joined by somepony else?”

Carrying an excited smile on his muzzle to keep the audience pumped, the grey stallion pointed a hoof towards the remaining two couples and introduced the second-last act. “Performing a Hip-Hop routine for this round, here are the Five-Time ENDC champions, Derek and Julianne Hoofington!”

The twins hopped out of their seats excitedly, looking quite hyped as the audience cheered them on. Elusive and Rainbow sat in their chairs with slight worry, both of them already knowing that a lot of ponies were rooting for them because of that gambling ring. But instead of trying to dwell on that unfortunate source of motivation, the two could only watch as Derek placed a fake boombox on the judge’s table while under a single spotlight. After clicking the Play button, the stage lit up as the loudspeakers above the couple blasted out an old-school rap track:

Unsurprisingly, the enthusiastic first steps of the dancers at the opposite ends of the stage, combined with the nostalgically catchy beat, got most of the audience clapping along before the Hoofingtons even began to move towards each other. Much like their outfits, the couple’s steps were near-identical as they worked in synchronicity with their Hip-Hop inspired moves on the dance floor. Even if it was just one of the unicorns performing out there, the sweeps of their legs and their flowing movements looked just as experienced as most professionals in the genre. When the siblings were finally in position side-by-side, their steps became full-body with some synchronized breakdance moves that drove the crowd wild.

Elusive looked especially surprised when he saw Derek rush out to the middle of the stage and perform a flawless breakdancing spin; meanwhile, Julianne was hopping around with a hoof out to the crowds to get them even more hyped up. But before Elusive could wince and worry about how well their act could go in comparison, Rainbow Blitz nudged him and whispered confidently, “We could’ve totally done that if we got Hip-Hop.”

Despite how intimidating Derek and Julianne’s moves looked as they continued their amazing routine, Elusive had to shrug in slight agreement to his friend’s claim. He may have been very impressed with the Hoofington’s skills, but their act definitely looked like something the unicorn would’ve planned out for himself and Blitz if they got that dance choice. Of course, Elusive shot a smirk back at Rainbow and replied, “Well, I wouldn’t have had us wear clothes like that.”

The pegasus scoffed with a smile back at him, but still nodded his head in response. Meanwhile, the Hoofingtons quickly pulled their bandannas off their necks and threw them up in air as a bongo beat played. While Julianne spun around to grab Derek’s bandanna, the stallion had to step out a little further than his sister to grab her’s. However, the two were still in perfect timing with the music while using their cloths as part of their act. Elusive thought he noticed something during their bandanna throws, but he couldn’t place his hoof on it while the ponies continued.

After a brief part where the Hoofingtons had their beanies over their eyes, performing several spinning moves in unison while blind, they pulled them off to do some more couple-based steps as their finale. From Derek pulling his sister’s body over his foreleg for a quick flip, to Julianne doing the spinning move with her hind legs wrapped around her partner’s waist (fortunately without the same issue the previous couple had), the unicorns ended their dance on a high-note by having the mare flip over his body flawlessly. Julianne then sat on top of the stallion’s shoulders for their final pose, both of them showing off their trademark pearly-whites when their song ended.

Needless to say, the audience was roaring in applause after that refreshingly impressive display. Even Blitz and Elusive clapped respectfully, happy to see at least one act before them not make any big mistakes. While Derek pulled his sister off his back and gave her a strong hug, the announcer came back out on stage as the crowd continued to cheer for them. “Alrighty then! That definitely looked like one of the finer-tuned dances tonight! But let’s see how our judges rated the two of you!”

Unsurprisingly, it seemed like the judges already had their scores ready without much thought. Even though Blitz wasn’t holding his partner’s hoof this time, the two still appeared rather apprehensive while seated together in wait. If the Hoofingtons were to get perfect tens, then it wouldn’t have mattered how well their own scores would be. With the looming threat of the Sim Sham Sisters’ blackmail running through their minds, they could only watch in dread as they saw the scores being presented.

“... Ten!”

Elusive sucked some air through his teeth, and Rainbow Blitz’s ears lowered when he saw the last stallion pull up his card.

“... TEN!”

The audience cheered loudly in support of the twins, who seemed quite happy while hugging each other and hopping in glee. Meanwhile, Rainbow groaned painfully with his hooves over his face, hating that they pretty much lost before even getting the chance to perform. However, Elusive was quick to give him a hard nudge from the side so that he could grab the pegasus’ attention. But before he could open his muzzle to give some sort of inspiring or optimistic speech, the unicorn was interrupted when the announcer shouted, “Wait, wait! Wait a minute, everypony…”

Elusive and Blitz, along with everyone else, turned their attention to the announcer when a mare in thick glasses came out to the stage and whispered something into his ear. Nopony could hear what she said, but it was enough to make his brows raise in an instant. He then looked back at the judges for a moment before addressing the crowd, “Ummm… just a moment, we just need to second-check something…”

As the announcer and mare rushed over to the judge’s table, with the unicorns lighting up their horns in a huddle, murmurs from the audience began to rise in suspicion. Julianne Hoofington seemed a bit confused while looking over at what the judges were talking about. Unfortunately, she didn’t notice how badly her brother was sweating with his pupils shrinking in worry. Meanwhile, Rainbow Blitz tilted his head as he and his partner tried to fathom what was going on. The pegasus looked over at Elusive and asked, “What do you think it is?”

“Hmmm…” After a few seconds of thought, the stallion shrugged with a skewed muzzle and replied honestly, “I haven’t the slightest idea…” His attention then focused on Derek with his eyes narrowing on him. “... but I have a slight suspicion that he knows more than I do.”

Before Derek Hoofington’s face could grow any redder, the announcer came back out on stage and spoke into the microphone. “Okay, everypony!” he shouted as his tone became more serious. “It seems as if we have a slight issue in regards to Derek and Julianne’s performance.”

“What?!” shouted Julianne in surprise, but it only then that she began to notice how freaked-out her brother looked. While her gaze shot over at him with narrowed eyes, the mare from earlier came out with her horn lit and displayed a large projection recording of the Hoofington’s Hip-Hop routine in slow motion.

“Upon review,” continued the stallion as he pointed up to the routine, which was recorded at an angle that Elusive wasn’t able to see previously. The projection went in super-slow motion to show the two during their bandana-tossing moment. “We have found that Derek Hoofington performed an illegal usage of magic during their routine.”

Due to the perspective it was recorded from, the entire audience got a first-hoof look at Derek as he went to grab his sister’s bandana, and lit his horn for a split-second to pull it towards his hoof. The entire audience gasped in shock, and Julianne was staring major daggers at her brother while her muzzle was clenched shut. Elusive looked absolutely shocked, but Blitz just looked like he was about to burst out laughing.

“And according to the official ENDC rules,” said the announcer while pointing to the furious-looking Julianne and her brother, whose head was lowered with a deep blush, “the illegal use of magic by unicorn competitors during a dance means that the couple will receive an eight point penalty on their routine.”

Even though a score of twenty-two was still eligible for the next round, the couple winced from that detraction while hearing the audience react in shock and disappointment. Blitz’s ears perked up with a light gasp while gripping his partner with both hooves. And with the way Elusive’s eyes were wide-open as well, it looked like the two were stuck by divine intervention. The two stared at each other with a mix of surprise and awe, realizing that they still had a shot. Rainbow was the first to grin especially wide as he said between heavy breaths, “Dude… if we can get a twenty-five…”

Elusive beamed right back at him, no longer caring that the two were dressed like demonic party-clowns when he replied giddily, “Oh, I know we can!”

Before the Hoofingtons could even return to the seats with deflated expressions, Elusive and Blitz hopped out of theirs with confident and energetic smiles as they heard the announcer. “Okay, everypony. Now is the time for our final act of the Las Pegasus Quarter Final rounds…”

Dusk Shine and the others were already cheering loudly from their front-row seats, eager to see their friends kick some major butt. Scootaroll and Silver Bell were right beside them with their signs up in the air. Before the two could go out to the middle of the stage, Rainbow Blitz and Elusive noticed an eerie green glow from one of the sky-boxes above the crowd. Upon seeing the Shim Sham sisters in their luxurious seats, grinning down at the two with sarcastic waves of their hooves, the stallions’ hyped-up grins quickly turned to firm, brooding glares. Even though they felt like two gladiators having to perform for the entertainment for a couple of tyrants, Rainbow huffed before looking back at his partner. “You ready, dude?”

With a look as determined and bloodthirsty as his friend’s, Elusive had a burning intensity in his eyes as he nodded back at him. “I was born ready.”

After the two hoof-bumped with both hooves like a couple of athletes before a big game, the two rushed out to the middle of the stage and heard the announcer finish his intro. “... Performing a Disco routine, here are Rainbow Blitz, and his partner Elusive!”

Even though the applause wasn’t nearly as loud as the Hoofingtons, the two dancers were just glad they weren’t introduced as 'the first same-sex couple competing' again, After both of them took a deep breath, Rainbow motioned towards the sound-engineer to play their track:

Two spotlights of a light blue illuminated the dancers, who were standing back to back and pumping their hooves to the thundering bassline that rumbled throughout the stadium. But as soon as the guitar licks kicked in, the whole stage was lit up with a fiery yellow while the stallions spun around, with Blitz holding his partner for a flawless dip during the first chord. As soon as Elusive was pulled back up and spun around by the pegasus, the two were back on their hooves before the vocals picked up. And despite how out-of-place the artist or genre may have appeared for a Disco routine, the stallions’ first gyrating steps in unison looked perfectly natural to the song, even while spinning their hooves over their chest.

Blitz and Elusive had to stay close during the first section of lyrics of the song, mostly since it was too slow to try anything solo-based. Fortunately, the unicorn’s research paid off immensely as the two spun and held each other in tandem in something that almost looked like a tango. But with the kicks of Elusive and Blitz’s legs, combined with the flare they were able to exude during their joint spins, their disco-based steps were still clear as day despite the booming rock that guided their steps.

As soon as the energetic chorus picked up, most of the audience was in full swing while watching the stallions moving in tandem with their vibrantly fluid and well-rehearsed steps. Even when the two were holding each other during their spins or twists, neither of them felt the slightest bit uncomfortable while moving to the addictively catchy beat. In fact, Rainbow felt downright happy at actually moving so well to one of his favorite songs, even if his partner was a stallion. Of course, dressing up as two of the band members probably did a lot in making their routine look a lot less conspicuous to the crowd who were currently cheering and clapping along to their steps.

When Rainbow Blitz picked the unicorn up and raised him high for a spin in the middle of the stage, Elusive was more grateful about his wig not falling off than anything else. Even with all the gaudy additions to their forms with tacky clothing and makeup, the stallion was beyond pleased that it all came together without any major hiccups or malfunctions. Not a single step went out of line due to their garments, and their makeup wasn’t muddled or dripping in the slightest despite the sweat beading from their faces. To the audience watching, the dancers looked absolutely amazing while moving to the unexpectedly fitting beat; although if he were to ask Blitz how they may have looked, Elusive was sure that he would answer with a crass-sounding term like ‘badass’ or ‘totally lit.’

But to be fair, Elusive probably wouldn’t have argued with either of those terms as he danced alongside his partner with a wide smile on his face.

The very real danger of failure may have been looming over both of their heads, but neither of the glammed-out stallions could even think of anything remotely negative as they kept in tune to their energetically funky steps. Each of their steps aligned perfectly with how they rehearsed them, hitting the wooden floor of the stage in time with the beat of the music. Their eyes may have carried a burning glow of determination and tenacity fueled by vendetta against their foes, but the audience was more moved their flowing movements and confident smiles. With each step they finished, and each move they performed either together or alongside one another, their hearts thundered harder in their chests from the building tension of reaching that finale.

Like the elusive mountain-tops that a climber would see as they crawled up to the peak, Elusive and Rainbow Blitz had their minds in utmost focus as the end of their song came in. The vocals and guitar began to repeat itself between claps, and the stallions certainly didn't want to end the last dance of this round on a low note. After Blitz gave his partner a confident nod, Elusive saw it as the permission to end their routine the way the pegasus would’ve normally refused. But with the goal of winning flashing in both of their minds, the unicorn didn’t hesitate to climb up his partner and flip his own body upward hind legs first. While Rainbow spun around the middle of the stage, albeit with a slightly discomforted skew of his muzzle, Elusive’s hind legs wrapped around the back of the stallion’s neck while he leaned back and rode the centrifugal forces his friend was giving. Very fortunately, the awkward-looking positioning of the two stallions didn’t seem to turn that many of the crowd’s heads as they cheered loudly at their impressive-looking display.

After swinging one of his legs off of the pegasus’ neck, Elusive managed to flip himself around with one well-rehearsed spin and land in his partner’s forelegs, just as the song ended with one last booming chord. As the two stood with heavy breaths, both of them smiling huge at the realization of how well their routine went, there was nothing left to do but stand triumphantly while hearing the audience roar in applause.

The two saw their friends cheering especially loud in response to their act, legitimately blown-away by their interpretation of such a dated dance choice. Many ponies in the crowd were whistling, but none of them seemed to be as loud as Barb with her claws in her mouth. At hearing the uproar of celebration, it was hard for Elusive and Blitz to not start blushing profusely. Of course, Elusive also took the opportunity to give his partner a strong hug, which was returned almost instantly by the smiling pegasus.

The announcer came back out as the applause began to die down, and said cheerfully, “Well I gotta say, that was definitely a great way to end this round! How about you guys?!”

The crowd cheered once again in unanimous agreement. However, Blitz turned his attention back to Elusive while carrying a cheeky smirk. “So, ummm… can I let you go now?”

“Oh!” Upon realizing he was still wrapped in Blitz’s hooves, the unicorn was quick to pull himself off of him with a heavy blush. Meanwhile, the announcer looked towards the judges as they pulled out their score cards.

Elusive and Blitz had their hooves over each other’s shoulders while hearing the results:

“Nine!”

The crowd cheered, and the couple smiled wide as they held each other a little tighter.

“... Nine!”

Elusive hugged his partner again, his smile practically welded on his muzzle. While Blitz held him tightly with his bottom lip bit in anticipation, the two were on the tips of their hooves when the stallion judge pulled out his card:

“... TEN!”

The audience went wild, but not nearly as much as Blitz and Elusive. The pegasus clamped his forelegs around Elusive’s back before picking him up and spinning him around the room. And as soon as he let the unicorn go, Blitz was pumping his hooves in victory like he scored a touchdown. “YES!!! YES!!! YES, WE GOT A TEN!!!”

Upon seeing his friend’s equally excited smile, Blitz put his hoof out high in front of him. “Come on, man!” he screamed enthusiastically, “Don’t leave me hanging!! DON’T LEAVE ME HANGING!!!”

The unicorn usually would’ve been against giving something as ‘low-tier’ as a hoof bump in front of a crowd; but at that moment, Elusive was just as hyped as his partner, and only needed a second of contemplation before giving in. The stallion’s smile was just as wide as Blitz’s as he slapped his cyan hoof hard while screaming alongside him. Upon later reflection, Elusive would admit that it was one of the most “Bro-ish” things he ever did in his life; but at the same time, he could also say without hesitation that was one of the most lively moments he spent with his Wonderbolt friend.

Chapter Eighteen: Victory and Vendetta

At the end of the competition, it didn’t seem like too many ponies were upset with who made it to the Semi Finals, despite the clear tone of gambling woes lingering in the air. Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes were absolutely relieved to have gotten through to the next round despite their fumble. The couples who got third and second place were ecstatic to not only have made it as well, but to have technically scored higher than the Hoofingtons. Of course, from the way Julianne was glaring at her brother Derek after the show, it was clear that the two were going to have some heated discussions after getting such an embarrassing penalty.

After the scorings were finalized, and the five winning couples were awarded with rounds of applause, most of the crowds and competitors started to disperse back into the streets of Las Pegasus for more debauchery and impulsive fun. While Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes went to get some much-deserved hugs from their families, Rainbow Blitz and Elusive couldn’t even get off the dancefloor before being bombarded by most of their friends; Dusk Shine was nowhere to be seen as soon as the couple’s disco routine finished, and Applejack was busy with his own brother. Barb was the first of the remaining friends to rush up and hug Elusive tightly in celebration, while Bubble Berry picked Blitz up and squeezed him like a stress toy.

“Ohhhhh my GOODNESS!!!” squealed the pink stallion in glee while the pegasus’ eyes were bulging out of his head. “You guys were so fantastic!!!” After Blitz was put back down, Butterscotch and Starshine went to make sure Berry didn’t break any of his ribs.

“I know!” shouted Barb in agreement after giving Elusive one last caring squeeze around his neck. Of course, the dreamy smile on the dragon’s face turned to a coy smirk after glancing down at his outfit. “Honestly, I never would’ve expected you guys could move so well in those things.”

“UGH!” As soon as he remembered the atrocious costumes he and Blitz were still wearing, Elusive used a quick wave of his magic to pull the garment off of him like a cape. The white stallion couldn’t even bear to look at the clothing while carefully hanging them on a rack with his magic. “I swear, I never want to look at that vest as long as I live!”

“Hey, you were the one who made it,” noted Blitz as he pulled off his own outfit and wig. Even though his makeup was still painted on his face, he still sighed with a smile as he felt the cool air against his sweaty fur. “I gotta say though, those guys are friggin champs for wearing those costumes in concert for decades.”

“You know what?” said Elusive with a meager shrug. “I will agree with you on that.”

Starshine made a quick glance over at Applejack and his family hugging Apple Buck, and sighed uneasily before adding towards Blitz and Elusive, “Well, I’m just glad you two didn’t have any major hiccups or wardrobe malfunctions. I was a little worried when I saw that spin you guys pulled off in the end.”

Upon remembering that added detail they put in at the last minute, Rainbow Blitz blushed with an uneasy smile and giggled while rubbing the back of his mane. “Ugh, w-well… heh heh heh… Th-That was for added flair, ya know?”

“That’s right,” piped Elusive rather quickly in addition. “And I just wanted to reiterate that it was my suggestion. If it wasn’t for that… unpleasantness this morning, Blitz and I probably wouldn’t have considered adding it to our routine.”

“Wait, that was added today?” asked Butterscotch with genuine surprise in his widened eyes. After seeing the two stallions nod apprehensively, he let out an impressed huff and said, “W-Wow! I would’ve never guessed from how well you two did it.”

“Yeah!” chirped Berry with a big grin pointed at the two. “You guys must’ve done that over and over in practicing to get it right!”

Blitz and Elusive looked away from each other with heavy blushes on their faces, neither of them able to say much while laughing meagerly from embarrassment. “Y-Yeah,” muttered Rainbow with an uncomfortable look on his painted face. “That was, ummm… yeah…”

Seeing how weirded out the stallions were looking, Barb narrowed her eyes on the two hesitantly while her mouth skewed to the side. After seeing that spin during their dance, as well as that “lipstick” thing in their dressing room, the dragoness was more than a little apprehensive to ask up at them, “So… is something wrong?”

“NO!” blurted both of them at the same time nervously, which caused the two to get some suspicious glances from their friends. Rainbow Blitz’s blush was thankfully concealed by his thick face paint, but the red hue on Elusive’s muzzle was clear as day. Of course, the unicorn was also the first to shake his head and say in an insistent tone, “No, nothing is wrong. We’re just a little overwhelmed from everything that happened today.”

Even though there was lot more than that flooding Elusive’s mind while Blitz was right beside him, his answer seemed to make the others relax a little more. Butterscotch asked hesitantly, “Like… that blackmail from the Shim Sham Sisters?”

Elusive and Blitz, along with everyone else, looked disheartened by that uncomfortable reminder. The unicorn exhaled slowly through his nostrils while his mouth was pursed shut. “Yeah. That’s certainly a big reason.”

“Well, hey,” replied Starshine optimistically, “at least you guys won, right? I mean, wasn’t that the deal? Now they won’t use those photos since you finished first.”

Despite trying to make the guys feel better, Starshine’s statement was met with Blitz grumbling under his breath, “Yeah, unless they try to keep it over our heads.”

Bubble Berry scoffed with a wave of his hoof. “Oh, don’t be such a Grumpy-Gus! You guys got first place! You shouldn’t let a little blackmail keep you from being happy about that!”

Despite being just as upset as his partner in regards to those mares, Elusive was able to hide his displeasure and say towards Blitz, “You know, Bubble has a fair point. I mean, we did beat the Hoofingtons.” As a small smile appeared on his face, he added with a meager shrug, “At least by technicality, but that’s still quite a victory nonetheless.”

Rainbow’s muzzle may have been skewed a little like he had a bitter taste in his mouth, but he was able to exhale through his nostrils slowly and respond with a relaxed shrug. “Well… yeah, that is kinda awesome.”

Butterscotch smiled and placed a foreleg around Blitz’s back supportively. Barb hopped on top of Elusive’s back and piped cheerfully, “That’s the spirit! Oh!” Her eyes widened like she just remembered something, and said to both of the stallions, “And just so you guys know, Dusk Shine is talking wi--”

Even though there were still enough ponies scattered around the stadium to keep the giant space from being silent, the distinct sound of hooves slowly clapping nearby made Barb stop her words. The group all turned to see the two mares walking from the audience seats towards them on the dance floor. While Shim walked on her hindlegs with surprising ease while clapping, Sham had a smile as equally wide and innocently-sweet as her sister’s. Even when the two saw the strong round of glares from the group, neither of the girls’ expressions seemed to have faltered as Sham said, “Well congratulations, guys! Didn’t we tell you that you could do it?”

“Yeah,” added Shim after getting back on all four hooves to walk alongside Sham. “If anything, you two should be thanking us for giving you the boost you needed!”

Butterscotch tightened his grip around Rainbow to ensure he couldn’t lunge after them. But before Blitz could snap and verbally tear the twins a new one, Starshine stepped forward and said with a condescending tilt of his head, “A boost? Is that what you call it? Because I’m pretty sure most ponies would consider you two’s contribution to be closer to the category of manipulation and forceful intimidation.”

“That’s right!” chirped Bubble Berry in a contrastingly happy tone while wrapping a foreleg around the pink unicorn. “And if anypony knows about those things, it’s this guy!”

Even though he knew that Berry was just trying to help, albeit in his own deluded way, Starshine still breathed out sharply through his teeth and growled bitterly, “Th-Thanks, Berry…”

While Blitz stood with a brooding glare on the Shim Sham Sisters that was intense enough to risk setting their manes on fire, Elusive pulled Barb off of his back before stepping forward to speak to them with a firmly upset, but still professional tone of voice. “Ladies, despite my feelings towards both of you for your tactics, I… will reluctantly admit that it was a fairly strong motivating tool.”

That made the twins smile proudly, obviously ignoring the bile they heard in his tone during that “compliment.” Meanwhile, Rainbow just gawked at the unicorn in absolute shock.

“DUDE!” shouted Blitz like his partner stabbed him in the back, “Don’t encourage that sh--MMPH!”

Butterscotch was quick to cover Rainbow’s mouth with a hoof before he could tell anypony off. Meanwhile, Elusive continued with a more noticeable hint of disdain, “But… it still doesn’t excuse either of your actions by any means! But instead of letting my own personal feelings on the matter stem into some form of pointless vendetta, I’d rather just let bygones be bygones for the time being. So with that being said, since Rainbow Blitz and I won that round and got you two your earnings, I think it’s only fair to receive all of those photographs back.”

Elusive may have had a particularly nasty-looking sneer on his face by the end of that tangent, but his composure was much more mature and withheld than anything his partner could’ve mustered. Unfortunately, the unicorn’s determined stare on the two didn’t seem to have gotten him the response he had hoped for. Instead of complying with Elusive’s request, Shim and Sham just tilted their heads as their brows raised. “Photographs?” asked Shim pertly. “Whatever do you mean?~”

The dancers’ friends all froze with looks as shocked as the two stallions themselves. Elusive’s eyes widened to make his glare intensify even more. But before anything could escape his tightly pursed lips, Rainbow pushed Butterscotch away from him to storm up to the two. “WHAT THE BUCK YOU YOU MEAN ‘WHAT PHOTOGRAPHS’?!?”

Due to his friend's volume, Applejack was able to notice what was going on and quickly shot from his seat to assist the group. Meanwhile, Sham replied to the pegasus with a mockingly peppy tone, “Blitz, Blitz… You should really watch your language in such a public place.”

“Besides,” added Shim with a smirk of her own, “It’s not like this is the only round you guys have. You still have a few more until the finals, right? Wouldn’t it be a good motivator to keep this going for a little longer?”

Despite how much the mare was trying to explain her “suggestion” as if it wasn’t blatant blackmail, she would’ve been absolutely slaughtered if Elusive and Blitz’s look could kill. However, Sham ignored their furiously silent reactions and added, “Plus, we have a looooooot of ponies lining up to place their bets for the Semi-Finals. To not cash in on that would almost be like throwing away bits. Everypony wins, including you guys if you play your cards right.”

Rainbow’s face was practically glowing a deep shade of red while fuming at them. But while the pegasus stood his ground in frozen rage, Elusive stepped forward with his own fury growing across his sneer. “Give… Them… Back.”

Shim’s smile finally started to turn more openly sadistic, with her teeth showing as she asked, “Or else what?”

“YOU LITTLE--” Barb jumped up at them with her claws out like she was going to rip them apart, but Starshine’s quick reflexes kept the dragoness from touching them as his magic caught her in midair. Everypony was taken aback by Barb’s lunge, including Blitz and Elusive who were temporarily distracted by her. Even the Shim Sham Sisters flinched a little from that response, but quickly scoffed when they saw how the dragoness was thrashing within Starshine’s aura with a murderous look in her eyes.

“Hmph, wow,” blurted Sham with a brow raised. “I haven’t seen a lizard move that fast outside of the desert.”

Before any of the ponies could bow their stacks at that insult, the twins were violently thrown back at the same time by a strong aura of magic around their necks. As soon as Shim and Sham were yanked to the ground hard, Applejack’s keen lassoing skills were put to proper use to tie their legs together in less than three seconds. Meanwhile, Dusk Shine stepped towards the two on the stage with several police officers following him.

“H-Hey!” shouted Sham as she writhed and struggled in her bindings alongside her sister. “What the buck is this?! We’re not doing anything!”

“Yeah!” added Shim with a venomous glare up at Applejack. “This is assault!”

“Hey, Ah never touched ya,” stated Applejack confidently, “My rope did.”

“And the use of my magic isn’t assault either,” added Dusk Shine while looking down at the two with a flat stare. After hearing that stement about his assistant, the Prince's glare was straight-up brooding as he said, “This is an official arrest.”

While two officers stepped forward and pulled the sisters up on their hooves, Elusive and Blitz were staring at their friend in surprise as he spoke with a firm, authoritative tone. “Shim and Sham, as an appointed Prince of Equestria, I am holding both of you under arrest for fraud and racketeering with intent to commit treason against members of the Royal Family.”

He motioned towards Blitz and Elusive with a hoof at that last part, hoping the mares would catch the hint of how bad their plan really was. Sham tried to pull away from one of the cops, but Dusk and AJ’s restraints made that a fairly fruitless effort. Shim yelled out in shock, “Wait, what do you mean fraud?! On what charges?!”

Dusk seemed quite happy to hear that question as evidenced by his smirk, and he let go of his magic from the Shim Sham Sisters as their horns were being cuffed with magic inhibitors by the police. He then re-lit his horn before floating out an official document. “Well for starters, you two are aware that you’re holding an illegal gambling operation in your casino in regards to your sports betting, right?”

“Hey, wait a minute!” retorted Sham strongly. “That is NOT illegal! The law to un-ban sports betting was approved in Las Pegasus this year! We’re the first casino to implement it!”

“Yes, you were the first,” stated Dusk as he floated the document closer to them, hoping they would see the detail he highlighted in bright yellow. “However, you two didn’t seem to take into account how laws sometimes don’t take effect immediately. That law was supposed to come into effect on the first of July. And since you started it in June, well…”

Shim and Sham’s eyes widened as they stared at the document, seeing that the date was indeed showing a seven in the month slot instead of a six. After a brief pause in shocked silence between the two, Shim shot a heated stare back at her sister and hissed, “You said it was for this month!”

“I thought it was!” whispered Sham back at her. “It’s hard to remember which numbers are which for those months sometimes!”

“And furthermore,” continued Dusk as he pulled out several more documents and perused through them, “due to your illegal betting, a warrant was placed on your property less than an hour ago.”

The girls whipped their heads back at Dusk wide-eyed. And from the frozen looks of terror growing on their faces, it seemed like their pit was being dug deeper with each passing second. Noting their faces when he made a quick glance up from his paperwork, it took everything in his composure not to smirk wider at them. “And in that that time, it seems that a lot of evidence for other offenses have already been uncovered as well, including money laundering and possible tax evasion. Due to the severity of this situation, officers are seizing all your earnings from the property as we speak.”

“WHAT!?!” From the floored expressions on Shim and Sham’s faces, they looked like Dusk just admitted to murdering their children. Their breathing quickly became more rapid, and neither of them seemed to react much when the officers’ magic lifted the mares up to escort them away. Meanwhile, Blitz had to cover his muzzle with a hoof to hide a surprised look of elation growing on his face. Elusive wrapped a hoof around his shoulder to keep his legs from buckling over in response to the schadenfreude occurring in front of them.

“Y-Y-YOU CAN’T DO THAT!” screamed Shim with an angered stare on the Prince as she was floated past him, despite her face growing a very obvious pale. “W-We know our rights!”

“Oh, you do?” asked Dusk with a raised brow. He then huffed as he said cheekily, “Then you should already know your right to remain silent.”

Right on cue, one of the cops began to recite the Miranda Rights to the Shim Sham sisters while escorting them from the stage. Meanwhile, Elusive and Blitz were floored in silence as they stared at Dusk with extremely thankful looks on their faces. The rest of the group all went up to the Prince and Applejack while giving congratulatory hugs.

“Holy cow!” shouted Starshine after giving the Alicorn a quick squeeze from the side. “How the heck did you get all that organized so quickly?!”

“Well, it is Dusk Shine,” said Bubble Berry with a roll of his eyes. “You should know by now that he’s a wizard when it comes to that stuff!”

“Yeah!” added Barb before giving an impressed smile back to him. “Although I gotta admit, I thought you just went up to go to the bathroom during intermission! I wouldn’t have expected you to get the police involved that easily.”

“I’m Royalty, remember?” said Dusk with a shrug. “That kinda helps when wanting to take the law to your advantage. Plus, I made arrangements with the police as soon as Applejack informed me of what was going on before the show.”

Applejack kicked one of his hooves bashfully while looking away from Dusk with a smile. “Hey, Ah’m just glad ta actually help wit’ getting some justice towards those two. Seems mighty overdue in my book, but Ah’ll take it.”

“I agree,” added Butterscotch while rubbing one of his forelegs and smiling. “Although I’m more grateful that nopony got physical with them.”

Barb winced and scratched the back of her head while looking away from Elusive. “Uhhhh, yeah… Sorry about that. I was just really upset with them planning to keep blackmailing.”

“Oh!” Dusk Shine’s face lit up after being reminded of something. “Speaking of which…”

Among the paperwork still in his aura, Dusk Shine made sure to float out the folder of photographs the twins had. He handed it to Elusive and Blitz as he said, “The cops found this in their office, and it doesn’t seem like they made any copies yet. I figured it might be better in your guys’ hooves.”

“Oh my GOSH, Dusk Shine!” shouted Elusive as he snatched the folder like a chubby colt grabbing a candy bar. “I can’t believe you went this far for us!”

Dusk sighed and waved his hoof in dismissal. “Well, what was I supposed to do? Leave it there? I don’t think so!” The Prince then puffed his chest out proudly with a smile of accomplishment on his face.

After checking to see that every single photo was in the folder, Blitz shook his head as he looked back at Dusk with an extremely grateful smile. “That might be true, but still…” Without warning, the pegasus ran up to give Dusk Shine a very strong hug. “Dude, you are bucking awesome!”

“ACK!” Dusk was barely able to speak while being thoroughly squeezed by his friend. “L-Language!!!”

“Oh! Sorry…” After letting go of the Prince, Rainbow looked away from him and chuckled meagerly. Of course, that turn of his head made him glance over at the Shim Sham sisters, who were being held at the doorway exit and being questioned by police. While the pegasus narrowed his eyes on them with a grin forming across his muzzle, Elusive went to hug Dusk as well.

“Both of you are absolutely fantastic!” He also made sure to give Applejack a thankful hug while saying, “And you guys can be sure to get a dinner on me for all the trouble.”

Dusk Shine rolled his eyes, but didn’t say anything against Elusive’s trademark generosity. “Well, shoot,” said AJ as he tipped his Stetson back after that hug. “Ah guess Ah shouldn’t refuse that.”

Meanwhile, Blitz began to trot off towards the exit where the Shim Sham Sisters were at. Butterscotch was the first one to notice him and ask, “Blitz, where are you going?”

“It’ll only be a second…” Ignoring anything else that could’ve been said from his friends, Rainbow sauntered over to where the sisters were while a giant, shit-eating grin widened across his face. By the time the twins noticed while leaned against a wall and surrounded by cops, Blitz couldn’t resist chuckling before he asked in a gloaty tone, “Say, what was it that you told Lucy and I this morning? That no matter what, you two were… going to win?”

Elusive rushed towards Blitz to try and pull him away, but the mares were already narrowing their eyes on Rainbow with their glares intensifying. The pegasus just huffed and added condescendingly, “Yeah. You two sure are winners.”

“Okay, okay!” Elusive lit his horn to yank Blitz back by his tail. “You got your last words, Rainbow! You don’t need to say anything more.”

Even though he wouldn’t have minded saying a few choice words towards the two while out of Barb’s earshot, Rainbow breathed out and shrugged in acceptance. Just as he began to turn away to follow his partner back to their group, he and Elusive overheard Shim say sarcastically, “Yeah, we’re really the bad ones, aren’t we Rainbow Blitz?”

Blitz paused briefly and retorted, “Hey, you’re the ones in cuffs, you scam artists. Not me.”

“Blitz!” chided Elusive with a strong stare on his friend, not wanting him to feed the parasprites. Unfortunately, Sham decided to speak up in a clear enough voice for the pegasus to hear her:

“Well, I don’t consider a few little cons to be as bad as what you’ve done, Mister Patricide.”

Rainbow Blitz turned around in an instant, his eyes as wide as frisbees. Of all the things he could’ve heard those mares say to rile him up, that one word was enough to make his blood run cold. His heartbeat began to increase, with more blood pumping towards his face to make it redden underneath his makeup. His muzzle started to sneer, his teeth gritting tightly in response to that knowing grin Sham and her sister had.

Elusive tried to pull him away, but his magic grip was noticeably weaker due to the surprise of hearing what she just said. He was sure it was a blatant lie, but that wouldn’t explain how frozen Rainbow looked while staring intensely at the Shim Sham sisters. Meanwhile, Shim just tilted her head and asked pertly, “What’s the matter, Blitz? Are you thinking of murdering us too?~”

“YOU MOTHERBUCKER!!!”

Even with Elusive’s magic, as well as several police officers between Blitz and the Shim Sham Sisters, the pegasus’ blinding rage seemed to be enough to lunge forward enough to almost swipe at the mares with his hoof. Due to the commotion, it wasn’t long before Dusk and the others could come in to try and restrain Rainbow. The stunt-pony thrashed against his friends. He screamed at the top of his lungs. He yelled every word he could think of towards the sisters, even when Dusk tried to physically close his muzzle with his hooves. But all the while, Shim and Sham just stood with silent smiles in victory while watching Rainbow struggling as much as possible.

By the time Rainbow Blitz was finally able to come down, the Shim Sham Sisters were long gone and on their way to the Las Pegasus jailhouse with a full police escort. Meanwhile, the pegasus was bound down by Dusk Shine’s and Starshine’s magic while seated on a bench. As Blitz sat with his head lowered, and what looked to be a transparent purple and pink strait jacket around his torso and legs, the two magic-users kept their distance while Butterscotch tried talking softly up close to him. Bubble Berry, Elusive, Barb, and Applejack were all standing nearby with looks of worry and confusion on their faces.

“Geez, what was that about?” asked Bubble Berry while looking towards Applejack. “The last time I saw him that mad was during that hibernation stuff for Armour.”

“Ah wish Ah knew,” replied Applejack with a sigh, “but it wouldn’t surprise me if them two knew how to rile a stallion up. Just hope it wasn’t too much.”

Elusive stood silently as he stared over at Rainbow with a concerned look and a bite of his bottom lip. Even though he knew better than to try to ask Blitz personally what that comment from the mares was about, his mind couldn’t stop reeling in response to what was said; but more than that, he kept pondering whether or not any part of it was actually true. He wanted to doubt it without question, but Blitz’s rampage didn’t seem like something a completely innocent stallion would do. But whatever actually occurred in Rainbow’s past, Elusive could see that from the way Butterscotch was trying to console the cyan pegasus, that he knew what really happened. Of course, the unicorn also knew that he couldn’t get any answers from Butterscotch about it due to his Bubble Berry Promise.

“Hey, Elusive?” asked Barb as she poked at his side to catch his attention.

Elusive jolted a little before glancing down at the dragoness. “Oh! Ummm… Y-Yeah, what is it, darling?”

“Uhhh, are you alright?” she asked worriedly. “You haven’t said much since that whole… whatever that was.” She motioned towards Blitz to emphasize what she meant for clarity.

“Oh, I’m fine, Barbara. Really.” After that assurance, the unicorn glanced back to see Butterscotch pressing his forehead against Blitz’s. Rainbow looked to be muttering something, but it was impossible to know what. Meanwhile, Butterscotch’s face looked surprisingly angry as he looked him in the eyes and said something back. But still, Elusive could notice the slightest hint of tears coming down the yellow stallion’s face. The unicorn’s ears dropped in dread, not knowing what to think of how bad this was all looking.

Despite seeing how thick the tension was, Barb still gulped and asked Elusive, “Sooo… what did those girls say to him?”

Instead of answering honestly, Elusive just shook his head and sighed with a fretful look on his face. “I… I can’t say I know for sure…”

Author's Note

Okay, just as a note, this story was thought out long before season 7 was announced. So obviously, Rainbow Blitz's family is not the same as Rainbow Dash's by any means. The next couple chapters will go into more detail about what happened, so stay tuned!

Chapter Nineteen: Searching For A Rainbow

Cloud homes may have been naturally bright due to how well they absorbed sunlight, but the inside of Rainbow Blitz’s house was pitch black ever since he came back from Las Pegasus. The heavily closed blinds over all the windows made it hard to see anything besides the shapes of larger furniture pieces, which made his pet tortoise Armour keep bumping into things to find her way around. Regardless of whether or not he felt bad about that, the pegasus refused to pull himself from his bedding to turn on a light or open a window. Instead, Rainbow just laid in his bed, nestled in his covers like a cocoon while the sun was shining brightly outside.

He didn’t say anything after his breakdown at that stadium. Even on the flight back home, Blitz just laid out of sight and refrained from making any more trouble for his friends. He knew Elusive tried to see him a couple times, but Butterscotch was quick to ensure he wouldn’t be disturbed in any way. It hurt a little to know his friends were just trying to help, but Rainbow was eternally grateful that Butterscotch made sure he was left alone.

Even now, the yellow pegasus was the only friend to try and visit Blitz in his house, mostly to check on Armour and give her some food. It’s only been a couple days since he got back, but the stallion felt like he was confined to his bed for over a month straight. As the darkness enveloped him, he kept his eyes closed and tried to keep from thinking back to what was said or done; but despite his best attempts, the stallion's clenched eyes were beading with tears as those statements flooded his conscience so painfully:

“I don’t consider a few little cons to be as bad as what you’ve done, Mister Patricide.”

“What’s the matter, Blitz? Are you thinking of murdering us too?~”

“Blitz, look at me! It was not your fault, okay?! You had nothing to do with it!”

Mister Patricide.

“Rainbow, PLEASE! I never meant to hurt you!”

Mister Patricide

“Rainbow Blitz? We needed to ask you some questions about what happened on the night of--”

“URGHHH!!!” Blitz sunk his head into his pillow as his chest grew tighter in growing anxiety. Even as his breathing grew fainter, making him feel like he was being constrained by a lasso around his lungs, the pegasus still gritted his teeth strongly while struggling not to sob. His heart was thumping painfully enough to almost feel like he was having a heart attack, but his fatigue left his body as inactive as any of his strongest hangovers from grain alcohol. He didn’t want to move an inch, but he also wanted to run around and break everything in sight at the same time.

Armour, who had seen these episodes only a few times since becoming his companion, kept her distance and stayed in one of the brighter parts of the house. The tortoise was obviously worried for Blitz’s well being, but she remembered what Butterscotch told her before: “I know it hurts to see him like this, but please leave him be. He just wants to be by himself.”

So with that in mind, Armour laid down on a pillow on the couch, hopeful to at least get a nap in despite overhearing Blitz’s faint groans from the bedroom. However, the tortoise’s eyes soon peered over at the picture frame Blitz left on the coffee table the night he came home. It was really old and cracked, and something he didn’t hang on any of the walls. She could recognize her owner (albeit a much younger version of him) in the middle of the picture inside the frame, but she couldn’t recognize the two ponies beside him. As she slowly tried to get herself some rest, Armour’s thoughts drifted off to who that mare and stallion were, and why Rainbow was so upset each time he looked at them.

“Sooo… do you have any idea what the next routine is going to be?”

Despite Barb’s attempts to get Elusive in a brighter mood with the change of topic, the unicorn was still slumped atop the Friendship Map with a saddened pout. Of course, given how Butterscotch came by earlier to tell them that Rainbow Blitz most likely wouldn’t make it to practice that day, the dragoness couldn’t blame Elusive in the slightest. It was bad enough that they were really behind on their practice before the Manehattan Semi-Finals, but the fact that none of them knew why Blitz was out of commission just made it even worse. Barb had a feeling that Elusive knew a little more about it than the others (besides Butterscotch), but he was keeping his muzzle shut about what it might be.

Regardless, Elusive waited a moment after Barb’s question to sigh and reply tiredly. “Actually, we did discuss it back in Las Pegasus before the competition. If we made it through, we agreed to try a contemporary routine. It’s a lot slower and provides more full-body synchronicity, but it could also show how well-versed we could be before the finals.”

“Hmmm…” Barb picked up a couple of Rainbow Blitz’s albums that he’d lent to Elusive for song choices. Noting that most of them were either classic rock or metal (including quite a few from some gryphon-based band called Talon Ripper), the dragoness raised a brow as she asked worriedly, “But isn’t contemporary like, ballet or something?”

“Well, it’s more like ballet mixed with jazz and free-form,” noted Elusive with a shrug of his head, “But… yeah, it was hard to convince him to try it. The most important aspect about the dance style isn’t specific choreographic moves or costumes, but about the emotion that comes from performing it. It’s definitely further out of Blitz’s comfort zone than some of the previous rounds, but I think he could pull it off with the right training.”

Barb seemed apprehensive, but shrugged her shoulders instead of saying anything too blunt. She picked up one of the more theatrical-looking albums, which showed some long-haired stallion breaking through the ground of a graveyard while riding some sort of demonic-looking motorcycle. Her expression became skewed as she stared at the cover quizzically. “Aaaaannnd… You think any of Blitz’s song choices can work for that kind of thing?”

“I actually found a few that might be good, including a couple from that album you’re holding.” After lifting his head back up, Elusive lit his horn and picked up the copy of ‘Bat Out of Tartarus’ Barb had in her claws. “Wheat Loaf’s ‘Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad’ could legitimately work for a contemporary dance, or even something like a rhumba. But personally, I was considering the band Perturbed’s cover of ‘The Sound of Silence’ from one of their newer albums. The vocals are surprisingly impressive.”

Despite his efforts to try and sound optimistic for his plan, the unicorn’s saddened expression soon reappeared as he slumped back in his seat and sighed. “However… Until I’m able to actually TALK with Rainbow, there’s nothing much I can do aside from sitting around and doing nothing!”

Barb bit her lip as she looked back at Elusive with a saddened expression. She felt bad for the unicorn, but she tried to play devil’s advocate as she replied with a shrug, “Well… Blitz did seem pretty out of it after that freakout. It’d probably be bad if he tried to practice dancing when he’s still in that state, right?”

Elusive knew that Barb was right, even though he didn’t want to say it out loud. Even if he were to go up there by hot air balloon and yank Blitz out of his house with his magic, there’s most likely no way he would be in any condition to try dancing. This competition may have meant a lot to Elusive, but he learned from past mistakes that the well-being of his friends was much more important than his own personal endeavours. Eventually, the stallion sighed and nodded his head in response to Barb’s point. “Yes, I… I want him to feel better too…”

Elusive breathed out painfully while holding Blitz’s Wheat Loaf album close to his chest. While he looked away from the dragoness, he didn’t notice that she was staring at him worriedly. Ever since she saw him and Blitz in their dressing room the way they were, she was starting to become a little unsure what might be happening between the two. She was sure that they weren’t anything closer than friends, but the way Elusive was acting made him look like a schoolfilly missing her colftriend.

But before she could say anything stupid, or have her worried look be noticed, the door to the Map Room opened as Butterscotch trotted in hesitantly. Seeing how distraught Elusive looked when he turned and noticed him, the yellow pegasus tried not to wince as his muzzle closed shut briefly. “Ummm… H-Hi, Elusive.”

“Hello,” replied Elusive as he breathed out, making his reply sound like he just woke up from a deep sleep. He gave Butterscotch a hesitantly hopeful look as he asked, “So… is he feeling any better?”

Butterscotch frowned and shook his head faintly. “No, he… He’s really not in any condition to come to practice, Elusive.”

Barb groaned and threw her head back in frustration. “Oh, come on!” she blurted with a roll of her eyes. “What’s his problem?! He wasn’t even this bad when Armour had to go into hibernation!”

Butterscotch gasped at that first outburst, and quickly got peeved as he stared back at her. “Barb, this is a lot bigger than that! And I really wish you would respect his wishes and not belittle him for it!”

“Well, it’s a little hard to do that when we don’t even know what’s up with him!” Barb huffed after that retort, needing a second before she added in a more sympathetic tone. “Like… I’m sorry if I’m being insensitive, alright? I really am sorry. But this isn’t something I want to just... let happen without any of us doing anything! He needs our help!”

“Barb,” said Butterscotch as his voice turned noticeably firmer, “depression does not work like that. I’m already helping him as much as I can, and I already Bubble Berry Promised him that I wouldn’t talk about it to anypony! And I’m not going to endanger that trust!”

Barb paused briefly, looking a little surprised as she heard how stern the usually-timid stallion was sounding. Elusive spoke up as he tried to speak from a more neutral standpoint. “Butterscotch, believe me when I say that we ALL appreciate what you’re doing. It really means a lot.”

The unicorn’s expression then turned more worried after putting down the album and getting up from his seat. He walked up to Butterscotch and said, “But all of us are Blitz’s friends. And we’ve all done so much for each other. Not just one pony helping another, but all of us helping together! I know that Blitz went through something really personal, and I’m not going to ask you about it, but… Is there anything we could do to help? Aside from keeping our space?!”

Butterscotch sighed and rubbed his temple with a hoof. “Elusive, I know how important this competition is for you, but I’m not--”

“THIS ISN’T ABOUT THAT, BUTTERSCOTCH!!”

The pegasus’ meek nature came back as he jolted from Elusive’s emotional screech. Even Barb reeled back in her seat in surprise at the unicorn’s reaction. While Butterscotch stood with a stunned and wide-eyed glance on him, Elusive lit his horn and shot out the same sound-proofing spell he learned from Dusk Shine. Even though the magic dome was a bit smaller, with the wall of magic being uneven at certain spots, it still ensured that Barb couldn’t hear a peep from them. Inside the sound bubble, Elusive tried to keep his tone civil as he said angrily, “Listen, I am not wanting to help Blitz because of this competition, alright?! I’m not! I’d give it up without hesitation if it meant I could help him get better, so don’t you DARE make that accusation!”

“Okay, okay!” blurted Butterscotch as he put his hooves up in sincerity. “I believe you, I’m sorry!”

Seeing how frazzled the pegasus was getting, Elusive briefly stopped to take a breath and say in a calmer voice, “Okay, thank you… I’m sorry for yelling, Butterscotch. I know you don’t deserve that.”

Butterscotch nodded sheepishly with a bit lip. “Th... Thank you.”

“It’s just…” Elusive bit his lip and paused for a moment, taking the time to look around to make sure the sound bubble was secure. He also glanced over to make sure Barb wasn’t listening in; fortunately, the dragoness saw enough of Dusk’s sound bubbles to know she couldn’t eavesdrop if she tried, so she was trying to ignore her worries by looking through the booklets in Blitz’s albums. Even though he was happy for that, Elusive still looked fretful when he turned back to Butterscotch.

“Butterscotch, I… I heard what the Shim Sham Sisters said to him. Like… what made him snap.”

Butterscotch’s eyes widened as he gasped involuntarily in worry. Elusive tried not to wince too hard before adding, “But! I’m not saying I believe them, okay? I really, REALLY doubt that Blitz would resort to something like… like that....”

He then cringed a little before asking meagerly, “Ummm… r-right?”

Elusive winced when he saw how strongly Buttercotch scowled at that question, making it look like he was going to slap the unicorn in the face. “NO, he did NOT!” he shouted firmly enough to make the unicorn flinch.

“Okay, I’m sorry!” blurted Elusive before looking away awkwardly. “I’m really sorry! I just wanted to make sure, alright?!” He may have been grateful that he knew that accusation was false, but he still hated that he had to ask something like that for clarification. Meanwhile, Butterscotch huffed and looked away to keep himself from shouting again.

After closing his eyes to take a breath, he looked back at Butterscotch and said, “But I have talked with him a lot, and… I know a few things…”

Butterscotch’s ears dropped downward like a scared animal, and he gulped apprehensively as he turned back to Elusive and asked, “L… Like what?”

“Well…” After one last look around, Elusive sighed fretfully and admitted in a hushed tone, “I know that his mother died, and… a-and that their restaurant was bought out by a realty company. If anything, those sisters probably learned of what happened from them.”

“M-Most likely,” said Butterscotch in agreement as he shrugged a little. “But… do you know anything else?”

Elusive shook his head as he sighed painfully. “Not really. But he has opened up to me, Butterscotch! I was able to learn so much about him in the past couple of weeks. Things I never thought I’d know about him! And he’s learned a lot about me as well, and I…”

His eyes clenched shut as he pointed muzzle down to the floor, trying not to tear up as he sniffed weakly. “I just… I don’t want to be left out after getting so close…”

Elusive hated that he was getting this worked up about his friend (especially when it was clear that Blitz needed more support than he did), but he was caught by surprise when he felt Butterscotch’s hooves wrap around his back for a hug. “It’s okay, Elusive,” he whispered in a warm and comforting coo. “I know how that feels, and… I’m really glad you two are connecting so much.”

After lifting his head up and opening his wettened eyes, Elusive smiled and hugged him back strongly. However, that moment was slightly dampened after Butterscotch let go and said insistently, “But… I really can’t tell you anything about what happened, alright? Blitz would never forgive me if I did.”

“And I’m not asking you to tell me!” replied Elusive insistently. “I swear I’m not! But I do want to be able to talk with him myself! S-So… if you’re able to...”

Butterscotch waited a few seconds after hearing his friend’s desperate plea trail off, and he had to take a breath to think things over. After exhaling, he gave Elusive a very hesitant stare before saying, “W-Well… if I ask him myself and he says it’s fine, then… Okay.”

Elusive’s brows rose a little in a mix of surprise and hope. “R-Really?”

“Y… Yeah…” Butterscotch looked apprehensive at best, but he was still able to nod his head in confirmation. “If… If he wants to tell you, then that’s fine. But if he doesn’t, you can not ask me about it again.”

“Understood,” noted Elusive after catching his friend’s insistently firm tone. “I promise I won’t.”

While Barb remained outside the sound-bubble and read through the album booklets, and paused when she saw Elusive and Butterscotch hug once more. After the force-field finally dropped, Elusive wiped his eyes with a hoof while the other stallion began to make his leave. “Just don’t get your hopes too high, okay?” admitted the pegasus meekly when he paused and looked back at Elusive. “I really don’t know if he’ll agree to it.”

“Just as long as you try,” replied the unicorn with a heavy breath. “And… thank you.”

Seeing the sincerely warm smile the stallion had on his face, Butterscotch sighed before smiling back. “It’s alright, Elusive. It’s just what friends do.”

After the yellow stallion made his leave, Barb had to take a moment before huffing with an impressed smirk on her face. “Wow!” she said as she glanced back at Elusive. “You actually got him to do something? I guess all those years selling suits really paid off with your persuasion skills!”

Despite appreciating the compliment, Elusive rolled his eyes and groaned in frustration. “I didn’t get him to agree like that, Barbara! I just wanted to make sure Rainbow Blitz was alright!”

“Okay, okay!” replied Barb with her claws raised in insistence. “I get it! I’m not trying to say you conned him or anything. I’m just saying you’re good with talking to ponies.”

Elusive meagerly shrugged in agreement with that statement. “Well… maybe so,” he admitted before smiling faintly back at the drake. “Although I am glad you’re not putting me in the same category as those mares.”

“Hey, I would never do that!” After that statement the dragoness paused briefly as she was reminded of the Shim Sham Sisters. Her mouth skewed a little before she asked, “Although… are those two still in jail for what they did? I remember Dusk saying something about them committing a bunch of tax fraud through their casino.”

“Indeed they did,” answered Elusive in a more positive tone, happy that Barb changed the subject. “They also altered the automated poker games and slot machines to barely ever win, so if the IRS doesn’t get them, the Las Pegasus Gaming Board will.”

Upon remembering one other detail about those doomed twins, Elusive giggled evilly before adding, “Also… I got word from Bubble Berry that he sent those two a little gift in their cell for how they treated me and Rainbow.”

It took Barb a few seconds to think it over, but her eyes soon shot wide-open in realization of what their friend did. “Oh, noooooooo… You don’t mean…”

After a devilish chuckle, Elusive made a “shush” motion with his hoof over his lips and whispered, “Don’t tell Dusk Shine~”

Back at the Las Pegasus jailhouse, Shim and Sham were fortunate enough to have their own cell to themselves. Even though the space was still cramped and uncomfortable with its concrete walls, wooden planks for beds, and a toilet in the middle of the room, the two mares seemed to be getting used to their confines slowly. While Shim was trying to rest on one of the planks, Sham huffed while leaned against the bars. “I swear I thought that July was the sixth month,” she muttered meagerly.

“Shut. Up.” From the way that Shim was glaring at her sister, it was clear that any other attempt of an apology from Sham would only result in a punch in the mouth. However, before the twin could at least try to reprimand things, the sound of hoofsteps approaching their cell made both mares look up up when an officer came to their door.

“Shim? Sham?” asked the cop while holding a nicely-wrapped box in his aura. It was no larger than a shoebox, but was wrapped in a delightfully pink wrapping paper with a matching bow. “This came in for you two by a member of the Royal Family.”

After sliding open the serving window meant for lunch trays, the officer was able to slide in the box that just barely fit through the slot. The two mares seemed slightly confused about who could’ve sent them a present, or what was even in the box, but Sham still took it and nodded to the cop with a smile. “Ummm, thank you, officer.”

The cop then left with a wave of his hoof, not saying anything more to the two criminals. While Shim got off from her bench, Sham held the present with one hoof while reading the tag with the other. “Who is it from?” asked Shim with a raised brow.

“Doesn’t say,” replied Sham while narrowing her eyes on the tastefully-written tag. “It just says, ‘To the Shim Sham Sisters, because you deserve it.’”

Due to the cutely-drawn hearts and smiley faces sketched on the card, neither of them seemed to think that statement was ominous at all. Unfortunately, any chipper moods they may have had after shrugging were instantly tarnished the instant they pulled the bow.

The explosion was large enough to make the entire station shake violently, and half of the Las Pegasus police force rushed towards the cell thinking an escape was occurring. However, as soon as they reached the holding cell of Shim and Sham, their eyes widened when they saw a thick coating of silver glitter sprayed out from the bars of the cell. Inside, every single inch of the room was covered in the shimmery dust, including the two stunned mares who stood in the middle of it.

While the Shim Sham Sisters screamed and cried with their fur and manes coated in near-permanent glitter, neither them or the officers seemed to notice the picture of Bubble Berry’s butt that was attached at the bottom of his package.

Chapter Twenty: Learning The Truth

By the time the skies became pitch black among Prince Artemis’ night, Elusive was carrying a fretful bite of his lip while treading along a long-forgotten path. He and Butterscotch were several miles from the nearest township, so the only illumination they had came from the moon and stars above. Even though Elusive had his horn lit in order to carry a lantern, that bulb of yellow light only lit up the few feet straight ahead of them. Fortunately for the unicorn, it seemed that the yellow pegasus knew exactly where he was going as they followed the faint tread in the grass that used to be a road.

After how hard he fought with Butterscotch to reach this point, Elusive knew better than to question his sense of direction. But considering how faint and overgrown the “road” they were on looked beneath their hooves, the unicorn couldn’t help sighing in unease before he asked, “So, Butterscotch… How well do you know this road?”

“Well, I used to work there part-time over the summer months,” answered Butterscotch as he kept a steady trot through the unkempt grass. Despite how dark and desolate the place was, the pegasus didn’t seem to show much fear with Elusive by his side. Of course, considering how often he traveled into the Everfree Forest for supplies or to find wounded animals, it probably shouldn’t be a surprise that his sheepishness wasn’t apparent now. But alas, Butterscotch still grew a somewhat nervous expression as he caught sight of some off-center structures shadowed against the moonlight ahead of them. “B-But, ummm… It has been a couple years since I last came by this region. I think Blitz was the only one to ever visit here.”

“And you’re sure he’s here?” asked Elusive worriedly. Despite not wanting to second-guess Butterscotch’s guess as to where their friend flew off to, it seemed like a gamble when the two were so far away from civilization. Plus, it didn’t help that when Butterscotch went to visit Rainbow Blitz, he found that the stunt-pony was nowhere in his home. “I mean,” added the unicorn hesitantly, “there are a lot of places he could’ve went off to. How do you know he’ll come out here?”

Butterscotch stopped and pointed his muzzle down to the ground as he sighed. “Elusive,” stated the meek stallion in a firm and unwavering tone, “whenever he’s like this, he always comes out here. Even if he went somewhere else first, he’d still come around here eventually.”

Noting that Butterscotch sounded sure of his claim, Elusive nodded before the two continued their trek towards their destination. “Well… alright then,” replied Elusive timidly, not wanting to push his friend’s insistence any further than he already had.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Elusive and Butterscotch walked through the last of a thick patch of grass before their hooves stepped on a slab of cracked concrete. Butterscotch didn’t seem to mind the change in footing, but Elusive paused for a moment and caught sight of what was in front of them. The unicorn could see that in the middle of this desolate field, a large portion of the grass was dug away and replaced with what looked to be an abandoned construction site. Among the vast stretches of decayed asphalt and exposed earth, several large slabs of concrete were laid down long ago to make way for foundations. In the distance, Elusive could see that several steel beams and wooden frames were built near the end of the region, seemingly left to rot and be reclaimed by nature over time.

It may have been immensely dark, but Elusive was still able to make out how large and detailed this place was. He could also see the apprehensive frown on Butterscotch’s face as he trotted around slowly, clearly unhappy with what this space had become. Elusive could tell that this place used to be a populated region, and that the road that lead here used to be used actively; but now, all that remained of this desolate area lost in time were the skeletal remains of the projects that were abandoned and left for nopony.

Nopony, except for the blue stallion that Elusive could just barely get the slightest glimpse of.

If it wasn’t for the light of the lantern in the distance, Elusive was sure he would’ve missed it quite easily. He and Butterscotch both stopped when they were less than a quarter-mile away from Blitz, whose back was turned away from them while seated on the ground. He was between two large structures that only had their metal framing finished, with dirtied tarps hanging from some of the beams and blowing with the wind like flags under Artemis’ moonlight. Neither of the two could hear him, or even see what he was doing, but it seemed like he was completely stoic beside his lantern.

Elusive looked over at Butterscotch silently, and heard him let out a soft sigh before saying, “Well… I guess this is it.”

When the pegasus glanced back at his friend, he saw that Elusive looked fairly worried when he asked, “But… are you sure it’s okay?”

Butterscotch paused for a long moment before his head slowly lowered. “Ummm… I don’t know…” Before Elusive could grow even more hesitant, Butterscotch huffed and added towards him, “But… I do think this is something you can do.”

After an apprehensive exhale, Elusive nodded feebly and handed Butterscotch his lantern. While the pegasus flew up and kept a keen eye, Elusive carefully walked across the desert of cracked concrete towards his friend. Even though he was able to see a little from the moonlight, the unicorn had to try his hardest not to accidentally step on any broken glass or rusty nails. Regardless of whether or not he wanted to help his friend, Elusive did not want to contract some atrocious disease or infection by coming out to such a dirtied place. However, the stallion was also able to make out more of Rainbow Blitz with each step he made, which helped to ease his anxiety a little.

Blitz was right on top of a raised concrete structure itself, which looked to be a much smaller foundation piece than the others around here. Rainbow may have been sitting on the ground, but he was cautious enough to bring a towel to put underneath himself. Elusive could also see a small cooler parked beside the blue pegasus, undoubtedly filled with drinks that would make him unfit to safely fly back home. By the time the unicorn was twenty feet away from Blitz, he saw him down the last of a glass bottle he was able to recognize as a really cheap brand of beer. After a gasped grunt, Rainbow chucked the bottle as far as he could with a hoof without getting up from his seated position; Blitz may have been tipsy, but it still took Elusive a few more steps before he heard the glass shatter faintly in the distance.

“Ughhh…” Rainbow reached into the cooler and took out another bottle, with Elusive noticing the bitter scowl he carried on his face. While holding the beer in one hoof, the pegasus tried to use the edge of his other hoof to pop off the cap without a bottle opener. Even though it seemed like he did that sort of thing quite easily before, even the easiest tasks could be tricky after getting down to the last beer. After failing to kick off the cap on his third attempt, Rainbow groaned and looked like he was about to try using his teeth; fortunately, a quick flick of Elusive’s magic popped the cap off before Blitz’s dental hygiene could be in any danger.

“What the…” Upon seeing that brief aura of blue magic uncap his bottle, Blitz looked around confusedly before noticing the unicorn behind him. His eyes widened at the sight of Elusive, who was standing with a bit lip and a nervous expression. Even with the limited light from the lantern, the stallion could see that Blitz already had a few drinks from the bags under his eyes and the blush on his cheeks. It took Rainbow a couple blinks of his eyes before realizing Elusive was really there, but he quickly tilted his head while narrowing his sights on him. “Wha… What the buck are you doing here?!”

Elusive winced to himself fretfully, worried that Blitz was going to dismiss him before he even got a chance to talk. Instead of saying anything in response, the unicorn lit his horn before opening one of the flaps of his saddlebags. Since he knew that just talking wasn’t Blitz’s strongest suit, Elusive came prepared as he pulled out a six-pack of Vanhoover Craft Ale for him to see. The stallion also forced a meager smile while holding his offering up for Rainbow, hoping it would keep him from making him leave.

Fortunately, that gamble seemed to have worked when Blitz saw what his friend had. After a brief sigh, Rainbow looked away from Elusive and saw that his cooler was now empty. “Uhhh… if that’s for me, put it in there…”

Elusive nodded silently and floated the pack into the cooler full of half-melted ice. After Blitz nodded in faint thankfulness, Elusive came towards him and pulled out a plush pillow from the other side of his saddlebags. Before he could place the pillow on the ground beside Blitz, the stallion made sure to say before anything else, “Just so you know, this isn’t about the dance practice, alright? I didn’t come out here because of that.”

Blitz nodded his head again, but he didn’t look towards his friend as he carefully sat down beside him. Elusive then used his magic to float out one of the already chilled bottles he brought, not wanting Blitz to be the only one drinking. After uncapping the bottle and taking a swig of the rich, hoppy taste, Elusive heard Blitz say in a bitter grumble, “You know, you could at least answer my question, dude. How did you know I was here?”

Elusive’s ears pulled down as he started to look worried. Meanwhile, Blitz took several chugs from his own bottle while his friend stayed silent. After pulling his lips away from the glass lip, the pegasus breathed out sharply and turned to give Elusive a firm glare. “Did Butterscotch tell you?”

“O-Only about where you could be!” blurted Elusive in an instant, not wanting Butterscotch to get in any trouble with their friend. “I Bubble Berry Promise, he didn’t tell me anything else, I swear.”

Rainbow stared at the nervous unicorn for a few more seconds with his eyes narrowing on him. He then huffed through his nostrils, seeming like he believed his friend before looking away again. Meanwhile, Elusive held his own mostly-full bottle as he sat in awkward silence. By the time Blitz was finished with most of his last bottle, Elusive was just about to speak when he heard him say, “So, uhhh… Why are you here? You know, if it isn’t for the dance thing.”

Elusive didn’t want to make things difficult, but he still huffed before replying bluntly, “Why do you think, Rainbow? Did you really expect me to just sit idly by while you acted like this? I mean, you are my friend.”

After seeing how Blitz’s magenta (and slightly reddened) eyes were brooding back at him, the fur on Elusive’s back raised up instinctively in worry. Fortunately, the pegasus’ stare only lasted for a brief moment before he sighed and looked away again. “You know… whenever you get all sad about something, I usually leave you alone.”

Elusive could think of a few instances where that wasn’t the case at all, but he still shrugged indifferently and decided to stay silent about it. Instead, the unicorn took a breath before saying in response, “Well, I… I can’t say I’ve ever felt the way you have…”

A long bout of silence lingered between the two after that comment, which was only broken when Blitz tossed out his empty bottle haphazardly. It wasn’t nearly as hard as the first toss, so the sound of smashing glass was a lot louder among the blanket of darkness past the lamp light. Rainbow then reached over and grabbed one of the craft brews his friend brought. Elusive kept his muzzle shut to keep from saying too much, but he still removed the cap from that bottle with his magic to stay on Blitz’s good side. Meanwhile, Rainbow paused while holding the bottle, thinking over his friend’s statement. He finally breathed out and said before taking a swig, “Well, yeah. You haven’t...”

Blitz didn’t try to sound bitter with that last inflection, but it was hard to help it as he took a drink with a strong look of disdain on his face. When he finished his first generous sip, the stallion shrugged before adding in a kinder tone towards Elusive, “Eh… not bad, I guess. Good choice.”

“Th-Thanks…” Elusive wasn’t exactly focused on what kind of beer to bring him, but he was grateful he brought one that was worth swallowing. Alas, the unicorn had to take a moment to think things over while sitting beside his friend. From the growing silence that was brewing between them, it seemed that Blitz was aware that Elusive wanted to say something big. His brow was furrowing more with each passing second, not wanting to hear whatever bullcrap Elusive was going to spew out. However, by the time he heard the white stallion take a breath, Blitz just sighed annoyedly before hearing him say, “Rainbow, I… I know I’m going out of bounds just being here right now. And believe me, there is nothing I respect more than your privacy.”

Then why the buck are you breaking it right now? Thought Blitz in a split-second bout of anger. Even though he was extremely tempted to just say that outright, the stallion chose to keep his muzzle shut at the last second. If there was anything he learned from his friends (especially Applejack), it was that there’s a fine line between being honest and being a dick. And considering how Elusive came all this way to find him, as well as give him some beers, Rainbow just bit his tongue while listening to his friend continue nervously. “B-But… I’ve seen how you’ve been acting, and I… I just wanted to try and help.”

Blitz then responded with a groan while raising his bottle. “Well, this helps a bit, so thanks.” He then took another swig, hoping that would end the discussion despite Elusive’s frustrated pout.

“That’s not what I meant!” chided the unicorn with his eyes narrowing on Blitz. “I know you’re probably going to say no, but I really do want us to talk about what happened!”

Oh, yeah bucking right, thought Blitz before finishing half of his bottle. After putting his bottle back down, Rainbow let out a small belch before he replied, “There’s nothing to talk about, Lucy. I pressed my luck and gloated at them when you told me not to, they got under my skin, and I overreacted. You were right! You win! Case closed.”

Elusive’s stare on Blitz became much sterner, not even needing to say anything to let his friend know that wasn’t the response he wanted. Although, the unicorn still said in addition to his glare, “Rainbow, we both know that’s not what I want to talk to you about.”

“Well, that’s all you’re gonna get,” stated Rainbow brashly before looking away from him. Of course, less than a second passed before his eyes widened a little at the realization of that not being an unspoken thought. While Elusive sat with his expression growing more peeved at him, Blitz closed his eyes and groaned silently as he tried to hide his cringe. Regardless, the pegasus took a second or two before huffing and turning back to add, “Okay, why the buck does it bother you so damn much?! Do you actually believe what those bitches said?!”

“No, I do not,” answered Elusive sternly, not giving any attention to Blitz’s language one bit. “But the fact that it made you react that strongly isn’t something I’m just willing to ignore! And despite what you might try to tell me, I highly doubt it’s very effective to try drinking your problems away like a common BUM!”

“Okay, what the buck are you trying to ask for, huh?! Do you just expect me to vent everything out here like I’m in a therapist’s office or something?!”

“I just want to try to understand, Rainbow! I really don’t think that’s too much to ask!”

“There’s nothing for you TO understand! This isn’t any of your bucking business!”

“And why NOT?! Don’t you think this is something to talk with your friends about?!”

“I don’t NEED to talk about anything! I’m fine!”

“FINE?!? Rainbow Blitz, you’ve been bedridden since Las Pegasus, you refused to talk to any of us since your breakdown, and now you’re drinking out in the middle of an abandoned construction site after dark! How is ANY of this even remotely fine?!”

Blitz didn’t say anything, and had his muzzle pointed to the concrete beneath them while brooding and holding his half-empty bottle. Elusive just sat on his pillow and waited for a reply, even though he knew that his friend pretty much had nothing that could be constituted as a decent answer. However, after a pregnant bout of silence between them, the unicorn closed his eyes and sighed before speaking in a less brash voice. “Look, I’m … I’m not asking for you to vent or anything, alright? I just wanted to do something to help you out. Because right now, I don’t think you’re going to find much solace with something like this.”

Elusive didn’t want to sound blunt at the end, but the fact that Rainbow’s head sunk down even lower made him worry he went too far. Blitz didn’t say anything for a long moment, letting his friend’s words sink in before he could make any sort of reply. But when he finally spoke, the pegasus didn’t lift his head from its slumped position while keeping his tone stoic and cold. “You know… I didn’t only come out here because of what those twins said.”

“I know,” said Elusive understandably, “but what they said did make you think about things enough to come back out here, didn’t they?”

Blitz didn’t make an immediate response, but that time spent silent gave the pegasus enough time to think over Elusive’s choice of words. Upon realizing what he actually said, Rainbow slowly glanced back at the cautious expression the unicorn had on his face. He narrowed his eyes on Elusive before saying, “You… you don’t know why I’m here.”

“Don’t I?” asked Elusive with a tilt of his head. “Honestly Rainbow, you should know by now that I have a very good notion when it comes to attention to detail.”

Blitz turned away from his friend’s stern response with a groan and roll of his eyes. Alas, Elusive still continued while staring at him knowingly. “I remember what you mentioned at my parents’ house,” he said while keeping his tone softer than before. “I remembered what you said about your Father’s business, and how it was overtaken by a real estate company that went under. And right now, you’re in a long-abandoned construction site. Now I might not be a detective, but I’m sure even Barb would make the connection if she was here.”

Elusive saw Blitz’s muzzle wrinkle a little, but the stallion refrained from looking up at him. The unicorn saw that as the chance to continue. “Blitz, I’m not judging you... and I’m not trying to make any unbiased assumptions about what happened. But I do want you to know that no matter what, I’ll always be there for you as a friend. And you also know that I’ll never look at you in a lesser light, right?”

Blitz’s lips tightened up for a second, like he was contemplating saying something to contradict Elusive’s claim. Seeing that involuntary response, Elusive tried to reach his hoof around the pegasus’ back to hold him in. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get past Blitz’s wings before his hoof was smacked away ungraciously. “Dude, NO!” barked Rainbow as he glared up at him. “Don’t do that!”

“Okay, I’m sorry!” Elusive put both his hooves up in sincerity, not wanting to press Blitz’s buttons too harshly right now. However, the unicorn then took a breath before he said in addition, “I’m just… I want you to know that I care about you, Rainbow. You’re one of my best friends! And the last thing I want is to see you get hurt. Or… to see you hurt yourself by doing things like this on your own…”

After staring at Elusive for a brief moment with his lips pursed shut, Blitz exhaled through his nostrils and looked back down at the ground between them. Elusive waited a few seconds to see if his friend would make a response, but nothing came out of that cyan muzzle. That was when the stallion sighed and said in a more sympathetic tone to Blitz, “Please, Rainbow. I… I don’t want to be shut out. After all we’ve done together, not just this month, I… I don’t want you to think I won’t be there for you.”

When Rainbow finally sighed and looked back at his friend, his expression had softened immensely from the scowl he had earlier. His mouth was still closed, but the look in his eyes made it seem like he wasn’t angry at Elusive anymore. Frustrated? Maybe. Worried? A little, yes. But angry, or upset? Not really apparent on the silent pegasus’ face.

Nevertheless, that look didn’t mean much when Blitz kept himself as silent as Applejack’s older sister at a social event. So after a few seconds, Elusive breathed out and added, “So, how about this? You don’t have to tell me anything upfront if you don’t want to, alright? How about for now, I just… ask questions? You can answer what you want to answer, and I won’t press you for anything deeper if it makes you uncomfortable. Is that okay?”

Rainbow closed his eyes and took a breath, finally reopening his mouth as he exhaled and gave an apprehensive nod. “F… Fine,” said Blitz softly. “I’ll agree to that.”

“Thank you.” Elusive wanted to reach in and hug Blitz for complying, but he remembered the hoof move to know it’d probably get him a punch in the gut. So instead, the unicorn looked around before asking cautiously, “So… this is the real estate place, right? The… the one that bought out Wingman’s?”

Even though Elusive wasn’t looking back at him, Blitz nodded silently before turning away himself. “Yeah,” he muttered while biting the inside of his cheek. “After construction stopped, this whole place just kinda… died out.”

Elusive nodded as he took note of how barren this region really was. In fact, he’d safely bet a few bits that Blitz was the only pony to actually come by this area in the past few years. He waited a second before looking back at Blitz and asking, “And… where was your parents’ restaurant?”

That question seemed to faintly hit a sore spot, but Blitz took a breath before motioning his head downward. “We’re on top of it.”

Elusive widened his eyes as he glanced down at the foundation structure he and Rainbow were seated on. Even though he originally thought it was part of the construction, the unicorn could now see that the concrete was much older and more dilapidated than the rest of this place. Of course, given how small the slab of concrete really looked, Elusive wouldn’t have been shocked if the place was more of a small diner than anything else. Alas, he tried to keep that opinion to himself as he looked at the size dimensions, unsure of where everything could actually go in the rectangle the two were on.

“That…” Upon hearing Blitz’s voice, Elusive turned back to see him pointing a hoof at the edge of the foundation about ten feet in front of them. The pegasus didn’t look back at him, and had his eyes focused on the region he was pointing to as he spoke from memory. “That used to be where the fryers were, and…” He slowly moved his hoof a little to the left. “... that was where the deep-freezer was…”

As his friend continued pointing around the empty space, seemingly able to list off every large detail about the restaurant’s layout by pure memory alone, Elusive just sat in slight astonishment that the pegasus was able to retain so much. He knew that Blitz wasn’t dumb by any means (except maybe when it comes to fashion), but he was still clearly impressed as he listened to Rainbow jotting off what every inch of this slab of concrete used to hold above it. By the time Blitz started listing where all the booth tables used to be, Elusive looked behind them and asked, “And… where exactly would we have been?”

Blitz paused momentarily and looked down, taking a second to note their position before shrugging. “Ummm… M-maybe the front entrance?”

“Wow.” Elusive huffed with a smirk as he looked around, trying to discern what this place may have looked like when it was still around. Even though Blitz’s descriptions didn’t give the unicorn much design-wise, Elusive was still able to get a good idea of what kind of place Wingman’s used to be. It may have not been his kind of location for a lavish meal, but it would definitely be somewhere for him and his friends to crash at in the middle of the night after drinking heavily. With that thought ringing in his mind, the stallion smirked a little and said faintly, “Well… it’s nice to know this place has some good memories for you.”

Despite his friend’s optimistic tone, Rainbow breathed out painfully as his expression turned more morose. By the time Elusive took notice of that response, Blitz was downing the rest of his beer before he chucked it angrily. He waited a few seconds while breathing heavily, not moving until he heard the bottle break in the distance before grabbing another. “Y-Yeah,” grunted Blitz as he popped the cap off with his hoof in one hard kick. “It used to...”

Upon hearing that inflection, Elusive’s ears dropped worriedly while watching the pegasus take a couple hearty chugs from the third bottle in the pack. He wanted to ask Blitz what was wrong, but decided to pause for a moment to avoid being too clingy. So, he took a couple meager sips of his own before Blitz finished half of his new bottle. When he pulled his lips away from the top, Rainbow breathed out in a grunt while his muzzle grew a bitter scowl. Fortunately for Elusive, that frown wasn’t pointed at him as Rainbow looked out at the construction site itself.

“You know…” Blitz paused to take another sip, not looking back at the worried face Elusive was giving him as he sat silently on his pillow. “... that road that came out here, it… it was as big as the one that goes to Canterlot when this place was still open. But… but now you can’t even see it when you’re on the ground…”

The unicorn hung his head lower as he grew a disheartened look back at his friend. “Blitz, I’m sorry,” he said with a sigh while shaking his head. “I can’t ima--”

“Dude,” snapped Rainbow before Elusive could even finish his reply. The unicorn barely had time to flinch before Blitz said with his muzzle pointed away from him, “Do not try to apologize for something you didn’t do. You’re not the reason the place is gone, and you have no idea why it is.”

Elusive sat nervously, not wanting to say the wrong thing and end up getting yelled at again or worse. However, the stallion still breathed out apprehensively and responded in a somewhat-firm voice, “W-Well, I… I wouldn’t mind hearing why…”

Blitz turned back to stare at Elusive intensely, his reddened eyes seemingly peering into the unicorn’s very soul from how wide and brooding they looked. But despite how strong that glare got, even after Blitz narrowed his eyes on him, Elusive kept his ground after swallowing timidly. “I… I won’t judge,” he said assuredly with a soft tone. “... I promise I won’t. I just… I want to know as a friend…”

Blitz’s stare was unmoved for almost a full minute, like he was waiting for Elusive to crack or give up. However, the unicorn was just as unwavering as he sat and looked back at him with a pleading bite of his lips. Maybe it was the frustration of making this go on any further, or maybe he knew that Elusive wasn’t going to give up without a fight. But regardless, the pegasus eventually sighed and turned his head away with a strong grimace on his face. “... you’re a determined son of a bitch, you know that?”

Elusive’s lips tightened briefly before he replied with a huff, “Well, I didn’t become one of Equestria’s most successful fashion icons by staying stoic.”

After a brief shrug of his head, Rainbow exhaled softly as he looked outward at the dead structures before them. Elusive didn’t say anything more, and just waited patiently for his friend to open his muzzle once more. Even after a minute of silence swept past them, the unicorn kept his eyes on Blitz in wait. Eventually, it seemed that pegasus could feel his friend’s eyes crawling on him before he groaned angrily, “Urrrrghhhh… Okay, fine.”

Without looking back at Elusive, whose expression was unchanged despite being happy for getting to him, Rainbow leaned back on his forelegs as they braced him up against the hard ground. His gaze looked up to the stars above them, which were still able to shine brightly despite the thick aura of darkness past their faint lights. As he breathed out softly, the cyan stallion studied the night’s sky as his muzzle opened on its own to speak.

“Back when I was a colt, I… I was here almost every day to help out around the place. Sweeping the floors, wiping down tables, cleaning the windows… Heh. Honestly, I think it took me way too long to realize Dad just wanted some free help around the place. But, you know… when you’re somewhere that often with your parents, it doesn’t really feel like a job as much as it does, like… home.”

Elusive nodded faintly, but didn’t open his muzzle as he sat and listened to his friend. While he sat on the plush pillow and looked over at the pegasus, his bottom lip was bit while hearing Rainbow’s tone grow sadder.

“But then… Mom started going to the hospital a lot. I didn’t think much about it first. I mean… why would I? I was still a kid. But… I remember things were going bad when her coat was growing... whiter. I mean, she had the same color mane as me growing up, but her coat was always a little darker than mine. But… by the time it was starting to turn grey, I had to learn what was going on…”

Blitz’s muzzle slowly pointed down from the stars to look back down at his bottom hooves with a saddened face. “I was ten when leukemia took her. And… I remember it took me a while to process what was going on. Like… like maybe I was expecting her to come back after a week or so. But… Dad knew. And for the longest time, he was just… broken.”

Elusive wanted to reach in and give his friend a hug, but he kept himself still for the time being. He knew this wasn’t the full story, and he didn’t want to do anything until he absolutely needed to. Meanwhile, Blitz closed his eyes as he kept going. “Before she left, he was… he was perfect. I mean, he was… funny, and kind, and smart, and… he never wanted me to give up on my dreams…”

That was when Rainbow’s muzzle began to wrinkle a little, and his tone of voice deepened.

“But with her gone and only me around, he just… he changed. He was spending more and more time here, like some form of therapy or something. The more meals he made and the more seats he filled, the better he felt. Like… he was still a zombie as soon as the doors were locked, but… when he was here he seemed happy. Like some sort of drug or whatever…”

Now Elusive was starting to look unsure where this story was going. The last time Blitz mentioned his Dad he seemed to view him in a positive light. But now with each word that passed the stunt-pony’s lips, his tone seemed to darken to something more malicious and upsetting. Regardless, Blitz never looked back at his friend as he kept speaking about his Father.

“After a while, it was clear it was getting to him. Every time I went out and did a new sport or extracurricular activity, he treated it like it was… rebelling or something! ‘I need your help here, Blitz!’ ‘I can’t get a new hire as good as you!’ ‘This is the family business!’ And… and after a while it was just too much! Like… he used to encourage me to get as many trophies as I could, but then it ended up being the only thing keeping him off my back! Like, if I got a bronze in something, ‘Oh, maybe you should just come back here!’ And even if I got a silver, he’d try to pull me back to THIS bucking place like it was the only option I have! By the time I was in high school, I was just trying to get gold after gold to shut him the buck up!”

Blitz leaned forward and paused briefly to sink his head in against his hooves, taking a couple deep breaths. Elusive was leaned away from Rainbow halfway through that heated rant, not expecting to hear that kind of malice from a pony about their own parent. Even though he knew there were bad examples of parenting, seeing it from somepony so close to him felt more than a little jarring.

Nevertheless, Blitz then sighed sharply before continuing. “Of course… those medals and trophies didn’t mean shit by the time I reached Senior year. He kept on trying to talk to me about my ‘future,’ even though he didn’t care one bit about what I was planning to do. I was talking with coaches and talent scouts about scholarships, and he… he never came with me once. He used to be the first pony to want me to succeed and be a Wonderbolt, but as soon as I was the only one in his life he just kept going on about me ‘Keeping the business alive,’ and ‘Doing what would be best for us.’ Not me. Us…”

By the time Blitz’s tone was becoming more sour, he had to grit his teeth while stopping to breathe deeply. Even in the darkness around them, Elusive was able to see how angry Blitz was getting under the moonlight. Regardless, the unicorn stayed silent while his friend continued to vent in an increasingly enraged growl of a tone.

“He… he started bringing up Mom. And… and asking me what I thought she would say… Because yeah! I’m sure SHE wouldn’t want me to go to bucking college on a scholarship, right?! And… and that was when the fights would start a lot more. He’d keep telling me to stay and help with the business, and I kept telling him to find someone else. And… and I just started ignoring him when I was looking into colleges. I figured that if I got accepted somewhere, he might… I don’t know… realize I’m able to do better than this bucking place…”

With the way Blitz was gripping the towel tightly underneath him, Elusive could see why this was such a hard subject for him to talk about. The stallion could tell there was more to this story, but he was getting worried how Rainbow might act by the time he was finished. But instead of trying to tell him to stop, Elusive stuck to his guns and sat patiently while his friend downed the rest of his bottle, But instead of tossing it out like the others, Blitz’s grip on the bottle tightened immensely within his hoof.

“After a while… I never heard back from anypony. No colleges… No scholarships… Just, nothing. And I just… I felt so bucking useless for months after graduation. All that effort and all that work, and it… it added up to jack shit for me…”

Elusive wanted to say something apologetic, but he remembered what Bitz said the last time he tried to say he was sorry. Of course, the unicorn couldn’t speak when he took notice of Rainbow’s hoof still tightening around that bottle. By the time the edges began to turn white, the pegasus was practically shaking with his muzzle sneering under the moonlight.

“He… he waited for me to come back. And… and I didn’t think anything of it. I thought that I just failed, and he… he bucking let me…”

Elusive’s eyes began to widen, realizing what his friend was trying to tell him. His mouth opened a little on its own, but the stallion covered it with a hoof to keep from gasping too audibly at the realization of what happened. Meanwhile, Rainbow’s muzzle was snarled in drunken rage as his hoof gripped the bottle tightly enough to make it shake.

“I was working here for seven bucking months before finding the acceptance letters in his room… All of them… saying that I was accepted FULL BUCKING RIDE!!!”

That was when Rainbow shot up from the ground and lunged out with the bottle, throwing it as hard as he could with a roar of pure fury. Elusive cowered a little as he stayed on the pillow, grateful that the bottle wasn’t aimed at his head (or Butterscotch’s, wherever he was). Blitz was standing at the edge of the foundation and panting through his nostrils like a bull while glaring out into the darkness, seemingly waiting to hear that bottle smash against the concrete. However, over a minute of silence passed before the stallion huffed bitterly, apparently having thrown the bottle past the construction regions completely. Of course, Blitz still stayed on his hooves while keeping his back turned from his silent friend.

“I… I seriously wanted to kill him,” admitted the pegasus in a low and shaky growl. “Like… as soon as I found those letters addressed to me and read them, it… it took everything in me to not grab a knife and slit his bucking throat…”

Elusive’s eyes widened even more, feeling even more nervous about where this story was heading. Despite what Butterscotch said, the unicorn was starting to worry if that Patricide comment had some level of validity to it. However, he could also hear Blitz’s breathing start to settle when he paused and caught his breath. By the time Elusive got up from his pillow to check on him, he only took a couple steps forward before catching a glimpse of the strained expression his friend was carrying from the light of the lamp.

“… I didn’t do it. I mean, I was mad, but I wasn’t that stupid. I was smart enough to go to college after all… But… I still wanted to hurt him… I wanted to make him feel as miserable as I did when he hurt me…”

Hearing the malice coming out of his friend’s mouth with each venomous word, Elusive could feel his own fur raising on end from feeling the ice-cold bitterness that was undoubtedly running through Rainbow Blitz’s veins. As the pegasus took a moment to look down at the slab of long-forgotten foundation still underneath his hooves, he huffed as a faint smirk began to grow across his still angry-looking expression. Seeing that look, Elusive took a step back while hearing him keep going.

“I waited. I mean, shit. He already screwed up my future, so what else was I supposed to do? So I waited… I kept working there, being as dedicated to the place as he was, just to get him to think I was on his side. But I wasn’t… That bastard was dead to me as soon as I learned what he did, but I kept it going as long as I could until...”

Elusive blinked a couple times with a bit lip, swallowing out of nervousness before asking meagerly, “Until… what, exactly?”

Rainbow tried to widen his smile, but his lips tightly pursed together after letting out a brief and pained huff. He shook his head a little while his muzzle wrinkled up, like he was trying his hardest to keep himself in check while telling what occurred. After breathing out shakily through his nostrils, his forced smirk was growing harder to upkeep with each word that came out of his mouth. “Until… he gave me the bucking keys. After almost a year of working at that place, he wanted me to take over as the new owner. And I… I can still remember how proud he looked when he said that. Like… like he was sure I would keep it up like he did for his Dad… He had no idea how much I hated him, and… and as soon as the deed was signed to me…”

That was when Rainbow glanced back out at the abandoned construction sight he and Elusive were standing in the middle of. He took a moment to look around the desolate and forgotten region in silence, leaving his friend to grow a wide-eyed expression as he began to put the pieces together himself. It wasn’t long before the unicorn looked back at Rainbow, his ears pulled down as he tried to ask, “You… mean that you…”

Blitz didn’t look back at his friend when he nodded his head, and just kept his sights on the dilapidated structures around them. “Yep. These guys, the ones who bought this place, they… they tried for years to buy the land from Dad. And he always refused, saying how he’d rather die than give them a bucking inch of it. And he expected me to do the same, even after crushing my dreams behind my bucking back…”

After taking a breath, Blitz looked away from the unfinished structures and finished his confession. “As soon as I got the place in my name, I went up and sold it underneath his bucking snout. For a price way higher than what my scholarship would’ve been, but a lot lower than what they offered Dad. But in the end, that didn’t matter to me… All that mattered was that I won…”

After hearing the uneasy tone Blitz made with that last statement, Elusive had a feeling that the pegasus may have not believed that line himself. Regardless, the unicorn stayed silent as he let all that information sink in, prompting him to look around at the abandoned mess that his friend created out of anger and vendetta. He could only imagine how bad the fallout must’ve been between Blitz and his Father, especially after learning how much animosity occurred between them. Elusive was afraid to ask for specifics, but he still meagerly looked back at his friend before opening his muzzle. “A-And… When did he find out?”

Blitz lowered his head and closed his eyes, tightening his lips as he thought back to what he did. He looked hurt, but he also huffed as a weak smile crept at the corners of his muzzle. “Well, I was definitely prepared when I did it,” said the cyan stallion with an involuntary jerk of his head. “As soon as that check cleared and the place was signed off, I took that bastard to the nicest restaurant in Cloudsdale to celebrate. And he had no idea why I was doing it. Like… I think he just thought it was a thank-you present or something…

“I… I can still remember how that place smelled while we were sitting in one of the booths, with me just watching that son of a bitch eating a plate that was worth more than what he paid me in a month. And I… I remember I waited until the desserts came out to give him a little ‘gift,’ just to get the ball rolling. I was all cheerful and smiley when I gave him that wrapped frame, but as soon as he unwrapped the paper… that smile never came back for him…”

Elusive just stood beside his friend while listening, his expression growing more stunned and speechless by the second. He could tell that Rainbow wasn’t lying about what he did for a second, and the unicorn stayed completely silent as he took in each strained word coming from Blitz’s mouth.

“In that frame… I put in the acceptance letter I got from Cloudsdale U’s scholarship program, and I remember his face just turned white. Like… the instant he saw I had that, and that I knew what he did, it made him bucking terrified. I just started talking as soon as he unwrapped it. He tried to speak up to defend himself, but I shut him up each time he tried. And… I could just remember him sitting there, completely freaked out while I told him what I knew, and… I never raised my voice when I began telling him off. I said how much I hated him, and how many times I thought of killing him for taking my future away from me. Even when I started saying every nasty thing a kid could say to their Dad, I didn’t yell at him once in that bucking restaurant…

“Honestly, I’m pretty sure I would’ve looked like a psycho if anypony overheard us, but I didn’t care. After all that he did to me, all I wanted to do was keep talking and hurt him as badly as I could. At first he tried to speak up, but… but the more things I said, the less he was able to say before he just sat in silence. I think after a while, he… he realized how much he bucked up. He saw how much I had to say, and… how much I meant every word that came out of my mouth. Even when he started to cry, I didn’t let up. I just kept going, venting everything I could and telling him off in the most professional tone possible.

“After I finished, I… I grabbed my second framed present for him to open. In that one was a copy of the contract I signed with the realty company, including how much I sold it for. And I swear… I swear I could’ve heard his heart break when he realized what I did to him…”

Of all the things Elusive expected to hear Rainbow Blitz tell him that night, learning of his machiavellian efforts to destroy his family legacy was not on that list at all. Even though Blitz was fairly creative when it came to pranking ponies, that level of payback for having a scholarship hidden seemed like the kind of revenge that’d get written for an opera. But instead of saying anything in response to what he was hearing, Elusive just stood in shock and heard Rainbow’s voice grow more strained.

“I… I saw how much that hurt him. Like… by the time I told him exactly what I did in detail, he just started sobbing. Like, that was when ponies at other tables started to notice, but I couldn’t have given any less of a shit if I tried. By that point I had no remorse, you know? After what he did, I couldn’t feel bad for what I did to him. I… I knew he tried to say sorry while crying, but I didn’t want to hear it. I just tossed some bits on the table before leaving, and said that he was completely dead to me…”

Rainbow took as deep of a breath as he could while his throat grew shakier by the second. As his eyes stayed tightly shut, the pegasus couldn’t look back at his friend as he finished in a hoarse and remorseful voice. “And… and by the time I actually went to college in the fall, I… I f-found out a week later that he really was…”

By the time Blitz finished, keeping his gaze to the cold ground to avoid looking back at his friend, Elusive just stood in utter awe as he realized how bad things had gotten between the pegasus and his Father. He wanted to question how Rainbow could go through with such a thing, but he also couldn’t blame him in the slightest for doing so much in such a vengeful rage. As he thought everything over, one of the first things that sprang into the unicorn’s mind was what he said on that morning after Blitz’s hospital visit; after he apologized to his friend for almost punching him, Elusive could recall what he said when he thought he couldn’t compete due to Toffee’s injury:

It’s just really disheartening to get that kind of opportunity, only to see it get taken away in an instant.

As that response rang through his head, Elusive realized why Blitz sprang into action so quickly after it was said in his home. Blitz really knew how much it hurt to lose a chance that big, since he dealt with that same kind of pain in such a profound way. He couldn’t approve of how Blitz handled that kind of betrayal, but he also couldn’t say it was something he couldn’t understand his friend doing.

Elusive breathed out deeply as he raised a hoof towards Blitz, carefully placing it on his shoulder as a sign of solace. The pegasus flinched a little, but his friend’s hoof didn’t part from his cyan fur. Of course, it was still hard for Elusive to catch Blitz’s reaction due to the stallion’s face being pointed away from him. Not seeing how strained and painful Rainbow’s expression was becoming with his eyes tightly shut, Elusive leaned in even more and gave him a comforting hug from the side.

“Blitz…” Hoping his friend wouldn’t refuse his hug, Elusive rested his head against his other shoulder as he whispered in as comforting of a tone as he could, “Blitz, I’m not judging you… It wasn’t your fault.”

The unicorn closed his eyes as he leaned in even closer against Blitz, and closed his eyes tightly as he let the silence speak for itself. However, Elusive’s ears twitched when he heard the slightest sniffle among the night winds rishing past them. He also felt Rainbow’s body shake a little against his own, prompting him to reopen his eyes to see how low Blitz’s head had dropped. The stallion’s muzzle was pointed right to the ground, with his eyes tightly clenched shut to keep the beads of tears at the corners from dropping out. His breathing turned faint and more rapid with each sniffled pant, and his muzzle began to wrinkle before uttering in the faintest creak Elusive could’ve heard:

“Y… yes it was…”

The unicorn’s heart dropped as soon as he heard that reply, and he quickly went around to hug Blitz directly. “No! No it wasn’t!” He could feel how hard Blitz was struggling not to cry, which prompted him to pull the pegasus’ head in tightly against his chest. While his hooves were wrapped around Rainbow’s back, Elusive rested his chin on top of his friend’s technicolor mane and added with the utmost sincerity, “Rainbow, I’m telling you that it was NOT your fault! Your Father hurt you! You can’t blame yourself for him dying!”

“HE DID IT BECAUSE OF ME!”

Elusive froze after hearing that outburst, but his hooves still stayed tightly locked around Blitz to keep him close to his chest. The cyan pegasus was clinging to Elusive just as tightly, and less than a second after his yell he could feel the floodgates opening up. His face pressed in hard against his friend’s chest as his own body convulsed from his hiccuping lungs, causing him to finally start crying hard within Elusive’s pristine fur. His hooves hugged around the unicorn for dear life while he bawled out painfully, forcing his muzzle in tightly against Elusive’s chest fur to muffle the deafening cries escaping his mouth.

“He… he tried to write to me!” sobbed Blitz between the brief breaths he was able to take away from Elusive’s fur. “A-After I moved out and lived in a motel, he kept trying to write me letters! H-H-He kept trying to apologize, and I… I never read a single one! A-After a while it stopped, b-but… but after I moved to a dorm, he… he put a note on my door… Not in the mailbox, but… but r-right on my door…”

The weight of the pegasus’ body leaning in against his own caused Elusive to fall over, landing straight on his rump against the concrete and pulling Blitz down with him. But despite the slight pain of that fall, neither of the stallions let go as Blitz sobbed painfully into his friend’s chest. While Elusive just clinged to his friend and listened to his devastating cries, he was starting to tear up himself as he heard how hurt Blitz’s voice was sounding.

“A-As soon as I saw it, it just… it brought back every nasty feeling I had about him, and I… I just t-tore it up and threw it away. I… I didn’t even read it…”

Somewhere during Blitz’s breakdown, Butterscotch seemed to have noticed what was happening while hovering far away in the skies. As soon as the two fell over, the yellow stallion tried to fly down as quickly as he could. By the time Butterscotch landed and ran up to them, Elusive was crying alongside Blitz while cradling him in his chest. With his chin resting firmly atop the cyan pegasus’ head, Elusive was whimpering by the time his friend came close to the end of his story.

“The… the next morning, the police were at my door… They… Th-They told me that they found him… H-H-He… H-He took a bunch of pills, and…”

Rainbow felt Butterscotch hugging him tightly from behind as well, but he barely registered it while tears were practically pouring down his face and matting his fur. He could also feel several hot tears from above getting into his mane.

“... and that letter… th-that letter was for me… It… It was supposed to be his last words…”

That was the last statement to come out of Rainbow Blitz’s mouth that night. For the rest of the time spent in that abandoned construction site, the stunt-pony just cried helplessly while being held by two of his closest friends. For Butterscotch, he already knew about how much Blitz had to go through, and how much time he spent helping to console him through the years. But despite that, the yellow stallion was still crying just as much as their friend who just learned the truth that night.

Elusive held onto Rainbow as tightly as he could as he cried alongside him and Butterscotch, feeling absolutely mortified at how much pain and remorse was running through Blitz because of his past. The unicorn’s mind was reeling as he hugged Blitz and tried to console him, each passing thought giving him conflicting feelings and urges that made him tear up even more. He wanted to help Rainbow gain true solace for what occurred, and be there just as much as Butterscotch had been for him. He wanted to find Shim and Sham and beat them to a pulp in their jail cell, just for reopening that wound so painfully to leave his best friend in such a hurt state. He wanted to hold Blitz for as long as he could in his forelegs, just to let him know that he wasn’t ever going to be alone.

Elusive wasn’t sure how long he kept Rainbow Blitz tightly in his embrace, or how long he and Butterscotch waited until pulling him away from the wretched place. All that the unicorn could remember was by the time he and his friend got Blitz in a cart, the stallion was passed out cold from the alcohol and emotions that swept across his body like a sucker-punch. Elusive also remembered how long he and Butterscotch talked about things afterward, and how he swore to try and help as much as the pegasus had. He could remember having a few of the remaining beers he brought on their way back, just to help ease the heartache he was feeling for his friend. But after that, the stallion couldn’t recall much by the time they got back to his boutique and put Blitz to bed.

All that Elusive knew was the instant he fell asleep on the couch, his dreams were plagued with the same warmth he felt when he was holding Blitz so tightly that night.

Author's Note

I just want to note that when I was writing out this chapter, I finished it before the news about Chester Bennington's suicide came out. This scene was in no way related to his death, and was something I intended to write for a long time as part of this story and Rainbow Blitz's past.
But with that bring said, Linkin Park really was a revolutionary band that helped inspire a generation in a way very few bands/artists could. I wouldn't call myself a huge fan of the group, but I can still recognize how significant and talented they really were. Chester was a hell of a rock icon, and he'll be missed by many.

Chapter Twenty-One: The Morning After

“Nnnnnnghhhhhh… Buck…”

Despite Elusive’s efforts to make sure Blitz’s hangover wouldn’t be too overbearing, the pegasus was still huddled within his friend’s plush bedding like a cocoon of sickness. The curtains may have been closed to conceal the morning light, and Elusive may have left some bottles of water on the nightstand with a few ginger supplements, but Rainbow couldn’t even think without feeling like the room was going to spin out of control. He felt like he was going to throw up a few times, but luckily hadn’t in the hour he spent shivering in the unicorn’s bed. By the time Brunch was more appropriate than Breakfast, Blitz was able to comprehend that he wasn’t in his own bed.

Fortunately, the stallion’s pet tortoise was nestled in soundlessly against the pillow beside his own. Armour’s propeller was unstrapped, allowing the reptile to rest against the bedding more comfortably than she would’ve up at Blitz’s place. When Rainbow’s sickness was able to pass enough to let him focus on her with a faint and grateful smile. His mouth was dry and tasted like bile, and his nausea was still questionable at best, but none of his qualms kept the pegasus from reaching out to pull Armour in against his chest.

The tortoise was startled for a second before realizing it was her owner who grabbed her. At feeling his soft and fuzzy chin caressing her shell, Armour smiled and re-closed her eyes as she nuzzled Blitz in response. In the ten minutes or so spent in Rainbow’s embrace, she didn’t hear him say a single word while hugging her so tightly. She also didn’t notice that Blitz’s eyes were closed as well, even though it did nothing to keep several tears from pouring down his face to soak into the pillow.

Downstairs at the main floor of the Carousel Boutique, Elusive was trying his hardest not to let his worries consume him as he sat in the kitchen. He already ate a light breakfast himself, and he didn’t want to start cooking for his friend until he was sure he’d be good enough to try eating. It was usually at times like this that the tailor would try to alleviate his woes with stress-sewing, but he couldn’t risk distracting himself if Blitz needed him. Plus, if the two were to talk like he planned, Elusive did not want to do so while wearing his stress in the form of a technicolor nightmare-coat.

Granted, the idea of trying to get Rainbow to talk about the previous night was just as stress-inducing as anything else. Elusive knew that it was an uncomfortable choice to make, especially after witnessing how traumatizing Blitz’s past really was, but he also didn’t want his friend to bottle it up until the next time he got angry or intoxicated. He completely understood why the pony never told any of them about what happened, and why he was so hesitant to even bring it up in private. But at the same time, Elusive wanted to at least try to clear the air and avoid any awkwardness later on down the road.

Eventually, the unicorn paused while sipping his coffee when he overheard a faint whirring from upstairs. Realizing that Blitz was not only up, but stable enough to re-strap Armour’s propeller, Elusive was in slightly-higher spirits when he saw the tortoise zoom downstairs with expert precision. The reptile almost bumped into a couple walls on her way down the stairs, but was showing a lot more improvement than she did before. Holding a piece of paper in her mouth, the tortoise smiled as she landed on the kitchen counter and handed the note to Elusive.

“Well, thank you Armour,” said the tailor with a smile as he picked up the note with his magic. Despite how scraggly and uneven Rainbow Blitz’s hoofwriting was, Elusive was able to make out the sloppy words that were scrawled across the paper. The unicorn expected his friend to say something poignant, like “Thank you, Elusive,” or “You’re a good friend.” But instead, Elusive huffed through his nostrils with a flat expression after reading Blitz’s message:

Can you make me a Bloody Mary please? Extra hot sauce. Thanks :)

“Ughhhh…” The unicorn wasn’t exactly thrilled with that first response from Rainbow after the previous night, but he still decided to comply as he walked towards the hidden bar. “Well, at least he asked politely,” he muttered to himself, not noticing that Armour was helping herself to the remainder of Elusive’s leftover fruit salad.

By the time Rainbow Blitz finished his cocktail, as well as one of the water bottles, Elusive was finishing up his friend’s breakfast when he heard him come down the stairs. The pegasus was able to walk, but he still wore his sunglasses to help adjust to the brightness of the rest of the boutique and conceal his beat-red eyes. Fortunately, Blitz’s nausea was almost completely vacant, and he was able to actually look forward to whatever he smelled his friend cooking. Of course, it’d be hard to read the stallion’s enthusiasm as he parked himself at the kitchen table with a vacant expression and a sickly groan that escaped his muzzle.

Taking a useful bit of advice he learned from Blitz himself, Elusive had a chilled bottle of some citrus-flavored sports drink to go along with his friend’s breakfast. The meal itself was a basic plate of breakfast hash with scrambled eggs and toast, but Rainbow was quick to begin scarfing it down as soon as it was floated in front of him. In an effort to keep from appearing too intrusive, Elusive took the time Blitz inhaled his breakfast to wash some of the dirty dishes in the kitchen; it was a petty gesture since there were only a few items that needed washing, but the unicorn figured it was a better choice than sitting across from Rainbow with nothing but a silent look.

Elusive was able to wash exactly two spoons in the sink before hearing Blitz say, “Hey, what kind of potatoes are these? They taste kinda weird.”

The unicorn sighed worriedly, unsure of how to feel about Rainbow’s casual tone. The pegasus was bawling his eyes out about his dead Father less than twelve hours prior, but was now just acting like he woke up from a light nap. Alas, the white stallion merely breathed out before replying, “Well, it’s actually daikon radishes,” he said while rinsing off the cleaned silverware, ignoring the sound of Blitz’s grossed-out groan in response. “It has a lot less carbohydrates than the standard potato.”

“Dude!” shouted Blitz with an almost betrayed-sounding tone. “Who eats friggin radishes for breakfast?!”

“Well, technically you just did,” noted Elusive with a flat glance back at him. His eyes looked down at Blitz’s plate before adding, “And judging by how much of that plate you devoured, I’m surprised you even noticed any difference between the two starches. Most ponies don’t.”

“Whatever,” replied Blitz after pushing his near-empty plate aside. Slowly, the stunt-pony pursed his lips shut as he took off his glasses and sat in silence. Since he already ate, and his hangover had plateaued to a point where he was actually able to think coherently, the moment was starting to feel unbearable due to the thoughts rushing through his head. And despite how decent that breakfast really was, he really didn’t want to think about what must’ve been running through Elusive’s head right now. While his muzzle was pointed away from the unicorn, Blitz took a moment to huff before saying in a more withheld voice, “But ummm… I’m really glad you’re doing all this for me…”

Elusive’s brows rose when he looked back at the pegasus, noting how somber Blitz’s tone sounded. In fact, the way Rainbow’s ears were lowered made it look like he felt guilty about receiving any gesture. But before Elusive could say anything in response, his friend glanced back at him with a small nod while his lips were pouted shut. “So, ummm… thanks,” said the stunt-pony in a less than enthusiastic tone.

“I-It really wasn’t that big of a deal, Rainbow…” After quickly placing the cleaned dishes onto the drying rack, Elusive went over to sit across from Blitz at the kitchen table. Despite his concerns, the unicorn managed to keep his expression and tone pleasant as he said with a huff, “I mean, you’re easier to cook breakfast for than my cat, believe it or not.”

He hoped that little joke would be enough to lighten Blitz’s mood, but all it did was make the pegasus smirk for a split-second. After that, Rainbow sighed softly and looked back down at his food. Elusive wasn’t sure what to say, but he could certainly see why his friend seemed so hesitant to look back at him. The signs on Blitz’s expression were as clear as the descriptions the unicorn read about in his mystery novels: the lowered ears, the hunched-over pose, the way his eyes were looking anywhere except to the pony directly in front of him…

Rainbow Blitz may have been silent, but he might as well have been wearing a sign reading “Guilt” around his neck.

Elusive bit his lip momentarily as he took a breath, and exhaled pertly before reaching a hoof out. “Rainbow,” he said softly with a hoof perched on the pegasus’ shoulder. “I know that a lot was said. And believe me, the last thing I want to do is upset you or bring anything up. All I’m going to say is that you’re still my friend, Blitz. Nothing at all has changed between us.”

Rainbow let out a bitter huff with his muzzle pointed away from the white stallion. Instead of making any snarky reply to Elusive’s assurance, he instead tried to yank his shoulder away from his friend’s hoof. Seeing the hesitant scowl Blitz had on his face, Elusive tried not to wince in worry. “Blitz, please,” he pleaded as he strengthened his grip on his friend’s shoulder. “I swear, I’m not judging you for what happened! And I’m certainly not going to treat you any diff--”

With a loud smack of his hoof, Rainbow swiped Elusive’s foreleg away from him with a bitter scowl. The unicorn reeled back for a second, almost expecting Blitz to hit him in the face if he said the wrong thing. But when Rainbow finally did turn back towards him, his teeth were gritted as he pointed a hoof at Elusive and sputtered angrily. “D-Dude, just… Just stop. Alright, just… just shut up.”

Elusive hated hearing such a strained and painful-sounding tone from his friend, but he promptly shut his muzzle in response. After all he heard Blitz say the night before, the last thing he wanted to do was upset him any further. He knew how thin the ice he was treading on really was, so if shutting up would keep him from breaking into unwanted territory, then to shut up he shall. After several seconds of uncomfortable silence, with Elusive perched in his chair with a bit lip and a fretful look towards his friend, Blitz’s glare back at him settled to a wary-looking scowl after a deep and lingering sigh.

“I-I’m sorry,” muttered Blitz faintly as he looked away from him. “I know you’re trying to help, but I just… I really don’t want to hear any bullshit right now.”

Elusive breathed out pertly and replied, “Rainbow, I Bubble Berry Promise that I’m not… b-bullshitting you…” After taking another moment to sigh and shake his head at saying such a vulgarity, the unicorn added insistently, “But if you don’t want to talk, I understand. I’m just saying that I would never lie to you. Especially now.”

Despite that stern tone clearly heard in the unicorn’s tone, Blitz still appeared apprehensive at best. Another pregnant bout of silence passed between the two at the table, with Elusive looking cautiously stoic while Rainbow carried an evident pout away from his direction. After closing his eyes for a moment, Blitz took a breath before stating meagerly, “I… I know you don’t want me to feel like shit for what happened, okay? Butterscotch has been trying that for years, but… But I’m really getting sick of hearing the same crap over and over! And… and it’s not like hearing those things are gonna change how I acted back then...”

Blitz’s head hung a little lower during that last sentence, and his muzzle tensed up like he was trying to keep his voice from sounding choked-up. Elusive felt like his heart was going to break as he replied sincerely, “I… I know it won’t change the past, but that doesn’t mean you have to carry the blame on your shoulders! It wasn’t your fault what happene--”

“DUDE!” After that outburst which caused Elusive to jolt back again, Blitz looked back at him with an even sterner pout for a couple of lingering seconds. His cyan hoof underneath the table was clenched hard enough to start shaking a little, not that Elusive was able to notice with how fretful he was looking at Blitz’s pissed-off expression. The stunt-pony only waited a couple seconds after Elusive stopped to say angrily, “Do not try to say it wasn’t my fault, okay?! I know I didn’t kill him myself, but I was still…” Even with how upset he looked and sounded, Rainbow couldn’t get through that last statement before pausing with his expression becoming more strained. He ended up closing his eyes before finishing meekly, “... I-I… I was still the reason he…”

When he saw how close Blitz was getting to crying again, Elusive had to try his hardest not to pull him in with his magic and hug him in the middle of the kitchen. Instead, the unicorn took a quick breath to keep from getting teary-eyed before saying, “Rainbow, you had no idea he would do something like that. There was no way you would’ve known. You had nothing to do with it!”

Blitz reopened his eyes to glare back at Elusive, not realizing he was already tearing up.“Oh, so he didn’t kill himself because of me?! So the fact that I ruined him and cut him out of my life had NOTHING to do with him thinking he had nothing left to live for?!”

Elusive sighed painfully and rubbed his eyes with a hoof. “Blitz, you can’t just--”

“YES I BUCKING CAN!” roared Blitz in retaliation, not even waiting to hear what Elusive had to say. Instead, the pegasus just looked even more pained as he yelled and tried his hardest not to start sobbing. “And I’m bucking SICK of having ponies like you or Butterscotch sugar-coating what I did! ‘Oh, it’s not your fault!’ ‘Oh, you weren’t the one who did it!’ ‘Oh, you couldn’t have known he’d do it!’ It doesn’t change the fact that he bucking DID! And if I hadn’t left him, he wouldn’t have done it!”

After that painful tirade, the stallion slumped back in his chair with his head hung low. His expression carried a mix of unfiltered anger mixed with obvious despair and guilt, leaving him to only scowl and sniff with his muzzle pointed away from Elusive. Meanwhile, the unicorn was left in stunned silence after hearing what Blitz had to say. He didn’t want Blitz to be so down on himself, but it was clear that none of his supportive statements would alleviate the stunt-pony’s mood right now.

Elusive waited briefly before exhaling with a firm pout on his lips. Not wanting his friend to shoulder so much of the blame for what his father did, the unicorn barely thought about his words as he asked bluntly, “So what would you want me to say, Rainbow? Because I don’t think any friend would try to intentionally say things to make somepony they care about feel worse! And despite what you may think, the reason I’m saying those things is because it’s the truth! That’s not ‘sugar-coating!’”

“Oh, don’t give me that!” returned Blitz with an especially nasty-looking sneer when he pulled his head back up. “Butterscotch might say that stuff because he means it, but I KNOW you’re not being honest with me! If you really wanted to be helpful, you wouldn’t be tip-toeing around what happened and giving me the same shit I hear from Butterscotch all the damn time! The LEAST you can do is be bucking sincere, and tell me something I HAVEN’T heard a million times before!”

Elusive wasn’t sure if it was because of Blitz’s brash tone, or his own compulsive need to prove ponies wrong when put under frustration, but something in him snapped after hearing that rant. The tailor may have been a lot of things, but he did not want one of his best friends to label him as being dishonest. As his irritated scowl intensified, Elusive huffed through his nostrils before spouting angrily back at him, “Okay, so you want me to say something new!? You don’t want me to ‘sugar-coat’ what I think about what happened!? Then fine!”

The unicorn strengthened his posture as he took a breath, only needing a second to get himself in the right composure. Meanwhile, Blitz tilted his head with narrowed eyes while hearing his friend state warningly, “I just want you to know that this is purely a personal opinion, and I deeply apologize if it upsets you! But if you want to know how I feel, then here it is…”

The last thing Elusive wanted to do was say what was about to come out of his mouth, but he felt like it was something Blitz needed to hear from somepony else. After his lips pursed shut for a split-second in hesitance, the tailor breathed out before stating in a stern and very honest tone, “Rainbow… Please pardon my Prench, but...

“Your father was a complete asshole.”

Elusive cringed the tiniest bit after saying such a thing, and felt horrible at seeing Blitz’s eyes shoot wide-open in shock. The stunt-pony’s jaw hung low for that pregnant bout of silence, temporarily unable to come up with any feasible response to his friend’s words. By the time he was able to get his mind out of that stunned stupor, Rainbow blinked a couple times while gawking at Elusive. “... Dude…”

Elusive was briefly frozen as well, but only needed to breathe out sharply before adding, “W-What!? What do you expect me to say, Rainbow?! I mean, I’m unbelievably sorry for what happened to him, and I can’t even begin to imagine how hard it was for you, but… But do you seriously expect me to have THAT high of an impression of him after hearing how he tried to sabotage your future!?! He hid your scholarship, for buck sake!”

Before Rainbow could say anything while carrying a wide-eyed stare on his friend, Elusive huffed with a shake of his head and kept ranting. “I just… I can’t believe somepony would even think of doing something that low! Especially to their own child! I mean… I’ll admit your reaction was a little over-the-top, but I also can’t blame you in the slightest for how angry you were! If it was my scholarship that was hidden to keep me from going to college, I would’ve been just as furious!”

Rainbow blinked a couple of times as he glanced away from his increasingly pissed-off friend. Even though this kind of reaction was something he can safely say he’d never seen from Butterscotch, it was clear it wasn’t something the pegasus was expecting. Nor was it something he could process too easily while Elusive kept going.

“I mean…” After stopping for a moment to take a breath and purse his lips, the unicorn breathed out timidly and looked away from Blitz before saying timidly, “I… I remember my father wasn’t exactly thrilled about the idea of me being a fashion designer, but… but he never tried to keep me from my dreams. He knew how important it was to me, and he never once tried to stand in my way. He let me attend advanced design classes as early as middle school, and he and Mom helped me find a good liberal arts school. But I…”

Elusive’s face scrunched in for a second, and he closed his eyes as he confessed, “If either of my parents actually did something as low as what your father did, then I… I’d probably cut them out of my life in an instant too…”

Blitz stared back at Elusive in complete shock, and needed to blink a couple times as he realized his friend wasn’t exaggerating in the slightest. And considering how close the unicorn’s bond was with his own family, the fact that he would say something so raw left Rainbow utterly speechless. Meanwhile, Elusive breathed in before looking back at his friend with pure honesty in his blue eyes.

“I… I wouldn’t wish for what happened to you on my worst enemy,” he said in a strained and sincere tone. “And you know you have my deepest condolences for what happened to your father. But even with that being said, I just… I can’t look past what he did to you! I mean, being a Wonderbolt was your dream, Rainbow! That was what you were striving for your whole life! Even before the two of us became friends, I still knew that about you clear as day! You were Rainbow Blitz, the weather-pony who constantly did stunts and wanted to be a Wonderbolt!”

Elusive slumped back in his chair with a sharp huff as he kept going in an exasperated rant, his eyes looking down at the table instead of Blitz’s stunned silent expression. “And even back when we weren’t friends, I would’ve never thought of sabotaging you the way he did. Like… he was your father... You were his son, Blitz! And he… he just decided to try and dash your dreams away for his own selfish wants…”

The unicorn slowly shook his head, his lips briefly shut as a small bout of anger swept past him. He then sighed after a moment before saying back up to Blitz, “And just to think… if you had never found that letter… if you had no idea what he did to you… You’d probably stay at that place your whole life with your dreams forgotten. And he… he’d probably take that secret to his grave. And all the while, you never would’ve met any of us, and… we probably wouldn’t be here right now…”

After that last statement, Elusive crossed his forelegs and pointed his muzzle down at them while sitting silently. Meanwhile, Blitz had to wait a moment to register everything he just heard his friend say. The fact that such a dainty and upclass stallion like Elusive would actually carry so much malice and anger towards a pony never met (let alone a dead one) was shocking enough to Rainbow. But the fact that he said it with so much emotion, and so much sympathy towards Blitz’s struggles instead of anypony else’s, just left the stunt-pony unable to make a response for almost a full minute. By the time he finally was able to speak, the only thing that could come out of Rainbow’s mouth was a soft and stunned voice while shaking his head. “J… Jeez, dude…”

Elusive winced a little when he heard such a meager response from his friend, which prompted him to add insistently, “I’m sorry, Blitz. I know that’s a lot to hear, but I didn’t want to… bull-shit you, as you call it. I just wanted you to know how I feel about what happened between you and him…”

He then sighed again and kept going more honestly. “I mean, I… I completely understand why you feel so much guilt over what happened. He… probably was thrown into a depression due to your reaction. And… the lack of contact afterward most likely intensified it. But even with that being said, none of that would’ve ever happened if it wasn’t for his OWN selfishness!

“YOU weren’t the one who wanted to stay there! HE wanted that! YOU didn’t hide that scholarship letter! That was HIM! HE was the one who who decided his own aspirations were more important than his own CHILD’S! And in my opinion, the fact that he did that was much, MUCH worse than anything you did afterward! It was his own choice to endanger your future, and it was his own choice to endanger your trust in him by going behind your back…”

The unicorn closed his eyes briefly, not wanting to look back at Blitz as he added timidly, “Just… just like it was his own choice to end things the way he did… That was completely his own choice, and you had nothing to do with it. You made your decisions, and… he made his.”

Even though he may have heard reassurances from Butterscotch countless times about what happened (as well as from a trauma specialist shortly after Dusk’s sister’s wedding), Rainbow never heard anypony tell him their opinion about it as bluntly as Elusive had. It was certainly a rattling thing to hear, but at the same time, Blitz wasn’t sure if he was actually offended or upset by it. Granted, the pegasus knew that he definitely should be mad at his friend for calling his late father an asshole. But instead, Rainbow just sat with a bit lip while processing Elusive’s words, unable to think of anything said that was actually dishonest or wrong…

However, before Elusive could pick up Blitz’s plate and take it to the kitchen, Rainbow sighed painfully and lowered his head as he said, “I just…”

With his lips bit shut, it took Blitz a moment to take a breath before he said, “I… know I shouldn’t blame myself, okay? He bucked up first, and… there are probably a lot of sons who’d have done the same thing I did. I know that, but…”

While Elusive sat patiently with a concerned look on him, Blitz kept his sights pointed elsewhere as he tried to keep himself in control. “I just… I wish I read that bucking letter he left. I… I just can’t stop thinking about that. Like… I wish I knew what he wanted to tell me…”

Hearing how distressed Blitz’s tone got at the end of that statement, Elusive finally got out of his chair to go around the table. As soon as the pegasus felt his friend’s hooves wrap around his back to pull him in for a hug, it took everything in him to not start tearing up involuntarily. Meanwhile, Elusive held him tightly and said in a comforting voice, “Rainbow… you had no idea what that letter was about… Nopony can judge you for throwing it away.”

“But I!” After that blurt, Blitz sunk his face in tightly against Elusive’s shoulder. The unicorn felt how strongly Rainbow’s body hiccuped in his grasp, and started to feel the fur on his shoulder begin to grow warm as his friend began to cry again. Blitz slowly hugged him back, his sobs coming out very muffled through the unicorn’s white fur. Alas, he was still able to pull his muzzle back enough to say while holding him, “I… wish I knew…I… I know it wouldn’t change anything, but… I just wish I knew his l-last words…”

Elusive clenched his eyes shut and held Blitz even tighter, barely registering the tears rolling down his own cheeks. “Oh, Blitz… You had no way of knowing… It wasn’t your fault, I swear.”

Nothing much else was said for the next ten minutes or so, as Elusive hugged his friend tightly and let him cry into his shoulder softly. It wasn’t nearly as long or painful as Blitz’s breakdown the previous night, but his friend didn’t respond to it with any less care than he did now. Armour was standing at the nearby kitchen counter with a worried look on her face, but didn’t try to intervene when she saw her owner being consoled by his friend. So instead, the tortoise flew out of the room so that the two could finish up in peace.

By the time Blitz was able to breathe without it turning to a sudden sob, he slowly pulled away and wiped his eyes with his foreleg. Of course, Elusive already had a box of tissues floated in for both of them as he took a couple for himself. “L-Listen,” said Elusive with his voice still a little hoarse, “I know we have a lot to do this week, but… I really think you should take today off to tend to yourself, alright? Just do whatever you need to do, and we can talk about things tomorrow.”

Even though he nodded faintly, Blitz seemed a bit worried when he looked back at his friend with reddened eyes. “Ummm… are you sure? I mean, we have to leave for Manehattan in a couple days, and I--”

“Blitz, that is not a suggestion,” stated the unicorn firmly. Elusive stayed adamant about his decision while staring back at Blitz with insistence. “When you agreed to this competition, one of the measures you agreed to was that you would follow my scheduling and regimen. And right now, I’m telling you to take today off, alright? If you’re good to keep competing, then we can start tomorrow and work overtime before the Semi-Finals. But for now, just get some rest to help get your mind off of things.”

With that, Elusive lit his horn to pick up Blitz’s unfinished plate to take back to the kitchen. While left alone at the table, Blitz took a moment to process everything before deciding to comply. He felt a little crappy for putting off their next routine, but he already felt like complete shit since that Las Pegasus encounter with the Shim Sham Sisters. Plus, he knew he was in no state to try and argue with Elusive about the measures he agreed to. So after downing the rest of his sports drink, Blitz tossed it in the trash can across the room before getting out of his chair.

“Ummm, Blitz?” said Elusive from the kitchen after cleaning Rainbow’s plate. The pegasus paused as he overheard his friend say, “I actually wanted to give you something before you go…”

When the unicorn came back into view, he was carrying a couple pieces of paper and a quill in his magic. He floated the items towards Blitz before saying, “I know how this is going to sound, but… I was given this advice from my therapist shortly after my grandmother passed away, and I think it might help if you choose to do it too.”

Blitz was slightly confused as he took the sheets of paper and quill with a hoof. Elusive took a breath before saying cautiously, “You were saying how you never knew what your father wanted to say, and I… I do understand that feeling. I was at a summer camp when my grandmother was in the hospital, and... I wasn’t able to make it back home in time.”

Rainbow’s ears lowered as he cringed with a bit lip. He shrugged apologetically, but didn’t say anything while the unicorn continued and motioned to those papers.

“During my sessions, I carried a lot of that same guilt you had. There were things I wanted to say to her, and I also wished I knew what she would’ve said to me. At one point, my therapist said that I should write out two letters to help vent out what I was feeling. In one letter, I wrote out everything I wanted to say to my grandmother. And in the other, I wrote out everything I would’ve wanted to hear her say to me…”

After a sigh, Elusive looked back up at Blitz with an insistent expression. “Now, you don’t have to do this, alright? This is merely a suggestion. I just remembered doing it myself, and… I figured it might be something to consider.”

Blitz seemed apprehensive at best, but he still nodded at Elusive’s attempt to help. While he held the papers and quill in his hoof, he looked between them and his friend before asking, “So… were you wanting me to write them now, or--”

“Oh! No, heavens no!” Elusive huffed with a wave of hoof and clarified, “I just mean, that could be something to consider trying when you have the free time. You don’t have to write anything, Blitz. And if you do, you can do whatever you want with them. You can keep them, or throw them away, or even burn them if you wish. What matters is that you actually write it down, and you get out all of your feelings onto paper. But only if you think it’ll help. Okay?”

After a moment of silence, Blitz nodded as he glanced back down at the papers. “Well, ummm… I can think it over, I guess. So, uhhh… thanks.”

“No problem.” Elusive went in to give Blitz a hug, which he returned just as tightly as his friend. As he held onto the unicorn, Rainbow took a breath and added:

“I… I’m not just saying thanks for that suggestion, you know… Just… Thanks for everything, dude…”

While clinging to him with his eyes closed, Elusive smiled warmly and tightened his grip around the pegasus’ back. “I know, Rainbow. I’m just glad you let me in to help…”

Neither of them were crying, but their hug lasted much longer than either of them would’ve predicted. Blitz bit his lip while holding Elusive, hiding the slightest smile that was growing underneath his blushed cheeks. Meanwhile, Elusive’s cheeks were much noticeably redder. By the time the two finally pulled back, the white stallion slowly bent his muzzle in to press his lips against his friend’s cheek. It was the smallest, faintest kiss Elusive’s could’ve made, but it still made a notable noise as soon as he pulled away and smiled at Blitz. “Now go on,” said the unicorn with his head motioning towards the door. “I have a feeling Armour could use some sunshine.”

Blitz smiled back softly, nodding before he made his leave with the items his friend gave him. It wasn’t until he actually left the boutique with his tortoise that he paused with his eyes slightly widened. As he stood on the front lawn, the pegasus’ cheeks burned redder as he brought up a hoof to press against his cheek, just now registering that it was a legit kiss. After a brief bout of confusion, Blitz quickly shook his head clear and flew up into the skies while still blushed.

Meanwhile, Elusive was leaned against the kitchen counter with his face as red as a tomato, and both hooves covering his mouth. Much like Blitz, it wasn’t until hearing the door close that he realized what he just did. His eyes were as wide as dinner plates, and it was clear from his expression that he wasn’t going to shake off what happened nearly as quickly as Rainbow had.

However, while the unicorn spent the rest of the day (as well as a good portion of the night) understandably freaked-out over that kiss, his dancing partner was in much better spirits after spending the day with Armour. In fact, by the time night came and he was back in his home, Blitz was able to do a little writing after tucking his tortoise in for bed…

Early the next morning, Elusive was a little frazzled while waiting at the ballroom in Dusk Shine’s castle. The Prince and his drake thought he was just excited to get some practicing in, and didn’t seem to notice how fidgety the unicorn was acting while downing his second cup of coffee. Even though he was fortunate to get a few hours of sleep the previous night, the white stallion felt like he was wired enough to have been awake for three days straight. And while he paced around the room rapidly, Elusive barely paid any notion to his trotting steps as he tried to avoid any intrusive thoughts from entering his head.

When the ballroom door finally opened, the unicorn yelped in surprise with the fur on his back sticking upward. Fortunately for him, his on-edge state was fairly unnoticed by his dancing partner. Rainbow Blitz was carrying a small saddlebag on his back to hold his things, as well as a wrinkled muzzle as he avoided looking over at Elusive. After a small exhale, Blitz tried to give a casual-looking smile when he finally turned to face his friend. “H-Hey, Lucy. Ummm… you alright?”

It was clear from Elusive’s blush and nervous expression that he wasn’t, but he still lied and nodded his head quickly. “A-Absolutely, Rainbow! I… w-was just getting things set up.”

He then thought things over for a second before adding with a hesitant shrug of his shoulders, “That is… if you think you’re still up for it. Because I completely understand if you’re not.”

“N-No, it’s not that!” blurted the pegasus quickly. “I’m fine…” Rainbow rubbed the back of his mane with a hoof while looking elsewhere, not wanting to say much to his friend at that moment. He may have taken Elusive’s advice the previous night, but his mind still felt a bit overwhelmed after writing down so much on those sheets of paper. He felt like a noticeable amount of tension was removed from his psyche, but the pegasus knew that there was probably still a lot of problems remaining under the surface.

Alas, Blitz still sighed before stating, “But, ummm… I was wanting to talk to you about the routine…”

Elusive paused for a second while looking back at his friend, noticing his more timid-sounding tone. The unicorn may have been a bit fidgety due to his coffee and still-lingering worries about that… moment, but he was able to stand still as he asked, “Alright, so… is there a problem with it?”

“Well, I…” Rainbow’s lips pouted for a second, and he huffed through his nostrils before using a wing to open a flap in his saddlebag. “I was doing a lot of thinking, and I… ended up looking through some of my old boxes…”

Elusive’s brows rose, not needing to be a detective to know what Blitz may have been doing the night before. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like the pegasus was too emotionally-drained, so his friend was sure whatever he was doing wasn’t too taxing. The unicorn didn’t say anything when Rainbow used his wing to pull out two small things within his feathers. After dropping them into his hoof, he handed them to Elusive and said, “When Butterscotch first found out what happened, he made me a mixtape to try and help. I barely ever listened to it, but…”

Elusive held the old cassette tape and walkman in his hoof, blinking a couple times in surprise of Blitz having something like this. There was no writing on the tape, and it looked like it was about halfway through as judged by the rings of black tape seen on both of the spools. Meanwhile, Blitz had his face unseen by Elusive while rubbing one of his own forelegs with a hoof. “I know you probably have a few song ideas already, but… I was thinking of using the one on that…”

Elusive didn’t ask what the song was, and just inserted the cassette into the player for Side A. After putting on the old earphones, the unicorn made sure the device was working before pressing play. At first he only heard silence from the tape, with a few audible crackles due to the age of the medium. Just as he was about to eject the tape and check the other side, his ears perked up when the song began to play softly.

Rainbow couldn’t hear what his friend was hearing on that tape, but he could see Elusive’s reaction to it as the music played through those earbuds. The unicorn stood in silence for almost a full minute, his lip bitten while listening to the tape. Eventually, his eyes started to widen in understanding as he heard more of it play out. Before the first chorus could even finish, Elusive took off one of his earbuds while glancing back at his friend.

“Blitz, are…” Despite the music being heard at the faintest volume through that tiny speaker hanging from the wire, Blitz had his lip bitten in reaction from it. However, his attention was still focused on his friend when he heard him ask cautiously, “... are you sure you want to do this? I mean, I know that I said contemporary was supposed to be about emotion, but--”

“I know,” interrupted Blitz while his head was pointed away from Elusive. He took a breath to keep his voice from sounding too strained. “I know what this means, but… that’s my decision, okay? I just… I think that song can work.”

Elusive took a moment before sighing with a nod. After putting the earbud back in, and listening to the song in full a couple more times, the unicorn could already envision a good layout for how the routine could go. It would take a lot of effort and time, but he knew it could work before their train for Manehattan in a couple days. Of course, given what the song was about, Elusive knew that any amount of work he needed to do himself would be nothing compared to what his friend would have to go through in preparation.

Nevertheless, the unicorn breathed out before looking over at Blitz with determination. Even with all the monsters they faced, and all the obstacles his friend went through to be a Wonderbolt, Elusive knew that this would probably be the hardest thing Rainbow has ever done. But at the same time, he’d seen how strong the stallion can be, even at his weakest point. And if that cyan stunt-pony can still be standing after dealing with so much in the past few days, there was no doubt that he can do this.

As soon as Blitz heard the tape-player stop, he looked back at Elusive and heard him say, “Alright then, Rainbow. If you want to do this, I’m certainly not going to stop you.”

Seeing the firm nod of approval his partner gave him, Blitz smirked softly and nodded back. “Good.” He then took off his saddlebag and placed it aside before going out to the ballroom. “Let’s get this started.”

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Foxtrot

Unlike their trips to Baltimare and Las Pegasus, the two dancing couples from Ponyville weren’t alone on their train ride to Manehattan. While Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes enjoyed their ride to the city with their families in a passenger car, Elusive and Rainbow Blitz were in their own personal cabin with the other Elements of Harmony. Despite not usually taking the Royal Car for transport, mostly due to how isolating and attention-seeking it felt, Dusk Shine was insistent to make the arrangements for his friends. So while most of the other passengers sat in standard seating in the upper cars, the Elements were in lavish comfort in the back due to their royal statuses.

“I gotta say,” admitted Starshine as he helped himself to a cocktail at the train’s personal open bar, “if I knew being a national hero would give me benefits like this, I would have been a bit more hesitant about my whole… Cutie Mark Obliteration plans.”

Dusk Shine rolled his eyes to his student’s comment as he sat on a velvet-lined bench, but said nothing before going back to his book on Crystal Empire mythologies. Applejack, who was happy with a bottle of root beer from the minifridge, spoke up with a blunt tone while eyeing the pink unicorn. “Just so ya know, Starshine, we’ve had to risk our lives and limbs several times before bein’ seen as Official Royalty. An’ even then, Ah don’t think gettin’ a bunch of benefits is what a pony should aspire to as a means of doin’ good.”

“I couldn’t agree with you more,” noted Elusive as he went up to the bar as well. Even though he could’ve given Starshine some pointers on how to make a proper mint julep, the white stallion decided to just make one of his own while adding, “Even if we didn’t get any royal benefits for our duties, I wouldn’t have had any regrets for the risks I’ve taken. Just knowing that our efforts kept our friends and families from being under the rule of some being like Queen Umbra or King Metamorphosis should be enough.”

While Starshine paused his cocktail-making and shrugged apprehensively, Blitz leaned over the bar to grab a bottle of cinnamon whiskey from one of the higher shelves against the wall. “I might agree with Lucy here,” he said while also grabbing a shotglass and a bottle of hot sauce, “but Solaris’ benefits are a pretty good addition. I don’t know about you, but I think getting a few free drinks is fair for our work.”

“That’s true,” agreed Elusive with a shrug, “but I’m just saying that the satisfaction of doing good itself should be…” The unicorn’s words trailed off when he saw his dancing partner shaking the hot sauce repeatedly into the shot glass, spurting out enough to fill a third of it. His jaw began to drop in horror as he realized what Blitz was doing, and could only speak after the cinnamon whiskey was uncapped. “Rainbow, please tell me you’re not serious.”

“What?” asked the stuntpony as he filled the rest of the glass with the syrupy booze, causing the mixture to turn a cloudy red that smelled like the world’s worst Bloody Mary. After giving the shot a quick sniff, causing him to shudder with the fur on his back standing up for a second, Blitz exhaled in anticipation before downing the shot in one go. Both Elusive and Starshine gawked at the sight their mouths hung open, while Rainbow just banged the bartop with a hoof and yelped with his eyes shut. “WHOO! That’ll put lead in your pencil!”

“OOH!” shouted Bubble Berry as he hopped off his bench and landed behind the bar. “I want one too!”

As Blitz got another glass and helped Bubble with his own 'Fireball' shot, Applejack sat himself between Butterscotch and Barb while they watched the spectacle. While Butterscotch seemed worried at what might happen if the two kept going with those shots (which knowing Blitz and Bubble, was almost certainly a guarantee), Barb just crossed her arms and grumbled bitterly, “Oh, if they wanna drink hot sauce, nopony bats an eye. But when I do it, all I hear is stuff like, ‘Barb, be careful!’ or ‘That’s an extract, not a sauce!’”

Butterscotch squirmed a little before replying with a shrug, “Well, it can be dangerous, Barb. I mean, who knows what might happen if you drink too much.”

Barb just looked back at the yellow pegasus with the flattest, and most unamused stare imaginable. “Dude… I’m a dragon. I can swim in lava.”

Immediately realizing the dragoness’ point, Butterscotch promptly shut himself up after a quick nod. “Ummm… never mind.”

“Eh,” added Applejack with a shrug of his own while seeing Blitz and Bubble continue their shots and ignoring Elusive’s pleads for them to stop, “Ah dunno ‘bout you guys, but Ah’m just glad Blitz is actin’ like himself again.”

That made both Barb and Butterscotch pause and look back at the pegasus, realizing that he wasn’t wrong. Compared to how distraught Rainbow was acting a week ago, the fact that he was in his usual carefree spirit now was fairly refreshing. Barb leaned back against her seat while staring at him for a moment, shrugging in agreement before saying, “Yeah… to be honest, this is the first time I’ve seen him like this since that Las Pegasus thing.”

Butterscotch writhed a bit in his seat, his muzzle becoming uncomfortably wrinkled. But before he could try and veer the subject away from that triggering moment, Applejack asked the drake, “Wait, really? Like, didn’t ya see any changes back at the castle? Ah mean, he and Elusive were training’ there, right?”

“They were,” answered Barb as she looked back at the orange stallion, “but they closed themselves off in that room every day and soundproofed it. Plus, they're usually exhausted by the time they end training. Heck, I barely even saw them since they were finishing up so late! And when I did, it’s hard to see much on their faces when they’re all drained and sweaty…”

Upon remembering that detail, Barb’s cheeks blushed a little as she shuddered with a goofy grin. She started to get lost in her thoughts as the mental image of a particular unicorn giving her a private dance swept into her head. “Hmhmhmhm… Sweaty~”

Applejack and Butterscotch both reeled back from the dragoness after that unneeded detail. “Uhhh… alright then,” blurted the farm-pony before looking away from the giggling Barb. “Ah ain’t gonna ask.”

Meanwhile, Elusive had to use his magic to pull the whiskey and shot glasses away from Blitz and Bubble. “Okay, that’s quite enough!” he scolded to both of the stallions with an annoyed scowl. “You both had three shots of… that! You don’t need any more! Especially not you, Rainbow!”

Despite his throat burning and his breath tasting bitter enough to make his spine shudder, Bubble Berry giggled at the stunt-pony with a blushed and cocky grin. “Hehehehe… You got in trouble~”

“Dude, come on!” retorted Blitz, who ignored Berry’s teasing as he kept his sights on Elusive. “I think I earned a few shots after all the practice we did!”

“We shouldn’t get overzealous! You remember how bad our hangovers were in Las Pegasus?”

“Yeah, but we still won that round, didn’t we?!”

“That was only because the Hoofingtons made that error that earned them a point deduction!”

Starshine didn’t want to intervene between the dancing partners’ bickering, but he felt it was fair to point out, “Plus, ummm… I’m pretty sure that blackmail from the Shim Sham Sisters contributed a little to you two--”

“Don’t bring them up,” said Elusive and Blitz at the same time warningly. The pink unicorn reeled back from the two at seeing their threatening glares, which was enough to close his muzzle tightly in response.

Despite being muzzle-deep in his book, Dusk Shine seemed to have overheard enough to say out loud, “I’d listen to Elusive, Rainbow. You guys haven’t had a lot of days to practice this week, so it wouldn’t be wise to get too drunk until after the round is over.”

Blitz groaned with a strong pout, but he didn’t try to say anything in return to Dusk’s point. Instead, the pegasus’ muzzle skewed for a moment as he thought everything over. Elusive wasn’t sure if it was because of the Prince’s words, or possibly the fact that Blitz had to already be a little tipsy, but his partner eventually sighed and closed his eyes in defeat. “Alright, fine,” he groaned before grabbing an energy drink from the minifridge and walking off to an empty seat. “I’ll hold off on the shots for now…”

While Elusive’s ears dropped a little at hearing Blitz’s brooding tone, Bubble Berry was leaning against the bar with his blush deeping by the second. “You know, I… hehehehehe… I should… s-see how hot sauce works with that cake vodka~”

“No, Bubble! Put down that bottle!”

By the time the train arrived at Manehattan, it was safe to say that Rainbow Blitz and Bubble Berry were a little tipsy. While Dusk Shine, Barb, Starshine, and Butterscotch went to chase after Bubble the instant he jumped off the train to wreak havoc upon the city, Elusive was fortunate that Blitz wasn’t nearly as energetic in his inebriated state. Since the pegasus was alright on his hooves, Applejack wasn’t needed to make sure Blitz needed to be leashed to the ground. So while the workhorse went off with his family to appreciate the cityscape, Elusive took his friend towards their temporary living quarters before their big show.

Dusk Shine reserved a few hotel rooms for himself and his friends (as well as Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes’ families), but Elusive didn’t need a room for himself or Rainbow. At his Manehattan shop, Elusive 4 U, there was actually a small apartment complex above the store which the unicorn had furnished and made livable months ago. He barely ever used it since opening his shop, but he was glad to have it for Blitz’s sake. Not only was it soundproof enough for some extra routine practice, but its isolated setup seemed necessary for the unicorn to talk with his partner privately.

As soon as Elusive unlocked the door to his living space, both he and Rainbow were slightly taken aback by the blast of hot, stuffy air that escaped the open doorway. Even though the apartment itself looked rather nice filled with the unicorn’s second-hoof furnishings and decor, it was clear how little it was used with how thick the air felt. While Blitz let out a huffed “Whew!” and fanned a hoof over his face, Elusive was quick to turn on the central air conditioning to get the apartment back to a livable climate. “I’m sorry about that,” he said as he floated both of their luggage bags towards the dark purple couch in the living room. “I haven’t been here in over a month, so I haven’t had much of a chance to check up on it.”

“Eh, it’s fine,” replied Blitz with a slightly slurred voice. He wasn’t wobbly or clumsy, but it was clear the cyan pegasus’ drinks were taking effect from how he spoke. While Elusive checked on the rest of the apartment, he heard Rainbow groan from the kitchen the instant he opened the refrigerator door. “Oh, come on, dude! You don’t have anything to eat?!”

“Like I said, I don’t come by here too often. I don’t usually keep anything in the fridge since it’d most likely spoil.” As the A/C ran at full-blast, helping to make each breath less strenuous, Elusive trotted back to the kitchen while his partner sulked at the empty fridge. “If anything, you should be grateful I don’t have anything left in there. I’d rather not see you get sick for trying to eat a moldy box of takeout again.”

Blitz grimaced with a strong pout back at him. “Dude, f-for the last time, I... thought that black stuff was pep-per.”

Elusive just rolled his eyes, mostly from Rainbow’s overenounciation of that last word. “Well nevertheless, I’d rather not have you do that again. Especially with our performance tomorrow.”

As soon as he heard Elusive say that last part, Blitz’s ears dropped down a little before he looked away from him. The white stallion’s annoyed scowl softened for a second, quickly realizing that his friend’s reaction was off. He was sure that if one of their friends were here, they would’ve assumed Blitz’s change in expression was something related to guilt or regret. But to Elusive, he knew that Blitz looked upset for a different reason; it most likely wasn’t guilt for getting drunk before their performance, but related to the performance itself.

After a couple seconds of silence, Elusive sighed and tried to ask cautiously, “Blitz? Are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah,” he blurted in a clearly disingenuous tone. Of course, he couldn’t keep himself from sighing through his nostrils while his lips were pursed tightly shut. Elusive started to look worried, unsure of what to say in response. The unicorn thought that the worst of Blitz’s anxiety had passed, but it didn’t seem like the stunt-pony was completely out of the storm. After a moment of awkward silence, Blitz scratched the back of his mane with a hoof and added meagerly, “I’m fine, okay? It’s nothing to freak out about.”

The unicorn knew it might be a bad idea to respond crassly, but he couldn’t resist pointing out, “Well, the fact that you downed three shots in a matter of minutes on that train says otherwise, Rainbow.”

“What, I can’t have a drink?!” Blitz immediately winced after asking that question so bluntly, with his last word being inflected strongly enough to cause Elusive to flinch a little. “I-I’m sorry,” he muttered as he covered his eyes for a moment in remorse. After taking a second to collect his thoughts and put his hoof back down, the pegasus kept his muzzle pointed away from Elusive before saying, “It’s just… kinda weird, you know?”

Elusive wanted to nod his head, but he couldn’t when the statement his partner gave was so vague. His muzzle skewed before he asked in clarification, “What’s weird, exactly?”

“Just…” Blitz brought his hoof up to rub his temple in slight frustration, clearly having trouble thinking clearly after those shots on the train. “Just like… all of this, you know? Like… m-making the routine, and all the nights we spent practicing it, and… and that song…”

Elusive was beginning to understand what was troubling Rainbow, and sighed in silent confirmation. Considering how hard the two were working to get their rehearsals and choreography on point, along with listening to that song repeatedly to make sure their timing synced up with key points, the stallion didn’t have to be a mind reader to realize what may have been up. But instead of just assuming what the issue was, Elusive knew it was better to just listen as his friend finished his statement.

“Like… this is the first time in days I was able to, you know… stop and think about it, you know? Like, when we were practicing, I was able to… not think about as much since we were so focused and everything. But without all of that I’m just... left without any barriers between me and my thoughts, and it just…”

Blitz was sure that his excuse sounded stupid, but it was all he could think to say in that moment without flat-out lying. After a long and faint sigh, the cyan stallion glanced down at the floor in tipsy contemplation, unable to say anything else to finish his statement. Fortunately, Elusive didn’t need to hear much else as he leaned in. “Oh, Blitz… It’s alright…”

Elusive didn’t want to make himself overly sympathetic and risk weirding out his dancing partner, but he couldn’t refrain from wrapping his hooves around Rainbow’s back to hug him dearly. Blitz didn’t exactly hug back, but he did exhale with his expression softening a little before resting his head atop the stallion’s shoulder. “I get it,” said Elusive in a soft and honest tone while holding him, “I guess this is the first time either of us are able to let this sink in, but I’m glad it happened now and not right before the show…”

Blitz nodded faintly in agreement, but didn’t say anything in response. However, Elusive took a sharp breath before pulling away from him to add sternly, “But that doesn’t change the fact that you shouldn’t use alcohol as an escape, Rainbow! I know it’s a lot to process, but I think you should know by now that it doesn’t help!”

Blitz pouted with his eyes narrowing back at Elusive, looking like a colt being scolded by his Mother for a bad report card. Nevertheless, the pegasus still rolled his eyes and sighed before saying, “I know that, alright? I just… I figured it could help ease me into it, you know? Like an asprin or something.”

Even though he could understand Rainbow’s reasoning, and was even a little impressed that Blitz admitted why he did it truthfully, Elusive still maintained his unamused stare and replied, “Well, there are other ways to counteract those things, Rainbow. Maybe next time you could ask me or Butterscotch for help.”

Blitz whinnied with a flat expression his face, obviously not too happy with that option. But instead of trying to argue with his partner some more, the cyan pony just exhaled and replied solemnly, “Well, uhhh… I’ll try to remember that…”

It was clear that Elusive wasn’t happy with that answer, but he didn’t want to upset Blitz any more than he already had. So instead, the unicorn wanted to try a different means to cheer up his partner. After a couple seconds of thought, an idea popped into Elusive’s head that gave him a newfound feeling of inspiration. Since Blitz was able to do so well to keep his head clear with practice, the white stallion grew an intrigued smirk as he trotted toward a nearby radio. “So, Blitz…”

He lit his horn to turn the device on, and kept the volume low while searching through the various stations. While Blitz looked over at his friend with a raised brow in suspicion, the unicorn waded through the static while asking, “Since we’ve been so focused on our routine with that one song, would you be alright with me trying a little something with a different one?~”

“Ummm… what?” Blitz asked confusedly, not sure what Elusive was getting at. “Uhhh, aren’t we already cutting it a little with our routine and stuff? Like, I know we got most of it nailed, but--”

“I know,” interrupted Elusive as he set the dial to a specific station he remembered usually had a good setlist. While a cheesy commercial for horn damage compensation played faintly through the speakers, the unicorn looked back at Blitz and added, “but it wouldn’t hurt to practice something a little different to clear our heads a bit. Like, remember when you tried to do that ice-cream challenge, and you got a small plate of hay-fries to counteract all that sweetness?”

Blitz’s brows raised in surprise, not expecting Elusive to use an analogy like that. Even though he remembered he still lost that challenge, the pegasus knew what his friend was getting at. After all the melodrama and bitter memories that resurfaced over the past few days, Blitz would be lying if he said he wouldn’t want to try dancing to something more upbeat. Fortunately, just as he was coming around to the suggestion, Elusive turned up the volume as a familiar crooner track began to play.

“Come on,” said the unicorn with a warm smile as he put his hoof out in the middle of the living room, which had a decent amount of space for proper hoofwork. “I know you had a bit to drink, but I think you can handle a couple foxtrot steps.”

A month prior to that moment, Blitz most likely would’ve given his friend the strongest stink-eye for suggesting something like that. But as he looked back at that unicorn and his coy little smirk, and heard the classic orchestrals coming from the speakers, Blitz couldn’t resist cracking a small smile in return. Maybe it was the added inebriation, or maybe it was the unintentionally fitting song playing on the radio, but the pegasus felt very little resistance as he stepped forward and took Elusive’s hoof in return. “Alright, fine,” he said with a meager shrug, not minding a small distraction that didn’t involve a shotglass. “I guess a couple moves wouldn’t hurt. But I lead!”

“Of course, Blitz,” Elusive replied with a strong roll of his eyes. “As long as you pay attention.”

For the next couple hours, Elusive took his partner in his hooves as he gave him an extracurricular lesson in the proper foxtrot. Since it was one of the first dance-styles he ever learned growing up, Elusive felt fairly confident in the techniques he was teaching Blitz. Plus, the station playing on the radio happened to have quite a nice setlist of classics for the two to dance along with, giving the pegasus plenty of time to get used to the hoofwork at a natural pace. Plus, since it wasn’t nearly as intense or exhausting as their contemporary routine, neither of the stallions seemed to be too overwhelmed by the time the sun outside began to set.

“And a step, step, sliiiiide, step…” Keeping his posture at the correct positioning Elusive directed, Blitz was looking fairly comfortable while holding the stallion with a hoof on his back, and the other holding Elusive’s hoof. “And step, step, sliiiiiide… step!”

“Alright!” exclaimed Elusive with a prideful tone as he smiled and followed with Blitz’s steps. “You’re really getting into this, Rainbow! Are you sure you never did this before?~”

“Oh yeah,” Blitz replied as he shot him a teasing fake pout. “I’m secretly a Bridleway legend. In my Wonderbolt offseasons, I put on drag and play the lead for Hinny of the Hills.”

“I knew it,” jeered Elusive back at him, the two continuing their steps with no interruption or faltering. It may have been a few basic moves, but the fact they were able to get them nailed so well within a couple hours was impressive to say the least. Nevertheless, neither of the two seemed to think too much about their joined steps as Elusive said, “Well, given your sarcasm, I think you’d be better suited as her comic relief friend.”

“Hey, come on! She’s really annoying!”

“And you’re not?~”

“Hey, watch it, dude. I can spin you to the bathroom like a top, and lock you in there for the rest of the night.” Despite that coy little threat, it was clear Blitz was just joking from that charming smirk he carried on his muzzle. Elusive, who held the stallion a little closer with his steps, just smiled back warmly. After everything that happened recently, seeing Blitz look legitimately happy during their practice meant the world to the unicorn. Plus, the fact that Rainbow was able to joke around with him, instead of looking offended or getting overly defensive, showed a lot of growth in him.

Just as the white stallion was about to stop so they can get some much-needed nourishment, his ears perked up when he heard a certain song play on the radio:

“Hey, I know this song,” said Blitz as he heard it as well. Despite being very vocal about his music preferences, the pegasus smiled a little wider as the oldie tune began to play throughout the apartment. He huffed with a shake of his head and said, “Man, this one takes me back… It was one of the most played-songs on the jukebox when…”

That was when his smile faltered significantly, clearly starting to remember a little too much. Fortunately, Elusive didn’t need to hear much else to guess what jukebox Blitz was referring to. So instead, the unicorn took the reins as he tightened his grip on Rainbow’s hoof and back. “Come on,” he said coaxingly as he gave him an optimistic look. “Let’s see what we can improvise during this.”

Blitz’s brows raised a bit, not expecting his partner to try and do a dance out of the blue without planning or even a routine in mind. But instead of objecting, the stallion just shrugged as he let the nostalgic track direct his steps. “Okay, ummm… how about… a step… step…”

Slowly, Rainbow began to follow the steps he remembered Elusive showing him, having his hooves step on the hardwood floor in tandem to the beat of the song. Without faltering, Elusive followed alongside his partner’s steps as he studied his hooves, timing each movement with the pegasus’ to work in complete synchronicity. By the time the first chorus passed, it was clear that Blitz was getting more comfortable by the fluidity of his improvised steps.

Even without any planning for the hoofwork for this song, the two were unknowingly moving in unison as they stepped in tandem to the beat. Their movements started to expand past the basic steps, moving around the free space of the living room while holding each other in proper form. It may have not been dance-floor quality, but it was clear that the two were working just as well with each other as they would’ve on stage. The song guided their movements more fluently with each passing note, guiding their bodies along the tempo like invisible strings on a couple of marionettes. By the time the song started to reach its climax, with the instrumentals and vocals building up to their fullest, Rainbow Blitz was moving with just as much tenacity and poise as the unicorn holding him.

At the height of the song, Rainbow pulled Elusive in as the two spun around the room, causing the unicorn to actually gasp in surprise at his partner’s spontaneity. But despite how drastic the change may have felt, the unicorn’s hooves never missed a step as he flawlessly followed Blitz’s movements beat by beat. As they waltzed around the apartment, moving with true unison in each other’s hooves, Elusive’s eyes moved up from his hoof placement on the floor to gaze up at the pegasus holding him so well. Blitz looked up during his movements as well, catching the faint blush on Elusive’s cheeks during their last few steps.

Just as the song was about to reach its end, Elusive noticed the small smirk on Blitz’s face, making him tense up in anticipation for whatever he had planned. Without warning, the stunt-pony let go of his partner’s back, and gave him an enthusiastic spin to make his left hoof slide across the hardwood floor. Elusive felt like he was going to fall for a second, and his heart shot up to his throat as he felt his weight give out from underneath him. But instead of falling back-first onto the floor, the white stallion was caught by Rainbow as he clutched him with the perfect dip. As the song finally faded away, the pegasus was breathing heavily after such a strenuous climax, keeping his footing strong while holding Elusive just a few feet from the ground.

The two paused as the song ended, neither of them hearing the announcer going over the day’s Manehattan news. Instead, Rainbow Blitz and Elusive just stayed in their ending position for a moment, unable to say a word as they gazed into each other’s eyes. Elusive’s cheeks were growing redder by the second, and he felt his heart race in that familiar tempo he felt before with Blitz. Of course, his eyes widened when he took notice of the pink hue emanating from the pegasus’ cheeks as well.

Blitz’s mind was drawing a complete blank, feeling like radio static was muffling any other thoughts from being audible in his head. Instead, his eyes just focused on the stallion he held in his hooves, gazing down at him as he laid in such a graceful state. Not realizing how hot his face was feeling, the stunt-pony could only stand in a frozen state as he noticed the vibrant shade of blue in Elusive’s eyes…

And the small twitch of the unicorn’s snout…

And then the faint, almost insignificant bite of Elusive’s bottom lip…

Those full… wet... Waiting lips…

Elusive’s eyes widened when he saw the focus in Rainbow Blitz’s eyes, gleaming down at him to make his heart pound even harder in his chest. But as he felt the pegasus’ breath brush against his lips, his body shuddered briefly before feeling himself sink into his hooves. His eyes began to close, feeling like he was giving in to whatever the pegasus might do at that moment. And just before they closed, he could’ve sworn he saw that stallion’s face start to move in towards his own--

WHUMP!!!

“GAHHH!!!” the two stallions jolted from that heavy thud that came from the window, and Elusive was dropped from Blitz’s hooves to fall clumsily on the floor. While the unicorn groaned and winced in slight pain, Blitz rushed to the window with a heavy blush still burning across his muzzle. He cautiously opened the curtain, causing them to be greeted with the sight of their friend Bubble Berry smushed against the window. Considering how the apartment was on the third floor and had no balcony, the fact that the stallion was able to drunkenly stick against it like a gak toy was fairly surprising.

“Hhhhhhhheyyyyyyy, guys!~” slurred Bubble with a deeply blushed face and dopey smile. He giggled absentmindedly, clearly having found a new source of alcohol somewhere between the train station and now. “C-Can you two lemme in, please? I’m kinda hiding from some ponies…”

A couple red and blue lights started to flash from the distance, bouncing off the building across the street to answer who may have been looking for the pink stallion. Bubble’s eyes widened when he saw the lights, and he turned back to the blushing stallions as sirens started to blare. “Like, NOW?!”

While Elusive sighed sharply and got himself off the floor, his face still as red as a cherry tomato, Rainbow Blitz made a beeline to the door to get out of the increasingly awkward situation. “Uhhhhh, I’mgonnafindatakeoutplaceI’llberightback!”

SLAM!!!

Elusive bit his lip with a painful wince at hearing Blitz’s hasty exit, but tried his hardest to keep his flustered expression hidden as he went to open the window. As soon as the unicorn did, Bubble Berry swung into the apartment like a Spider-Pony and landed flawlessly on the floor. “YAY!” he cheered while Elusive closed the window, muffling the sirens that were drawing closer. “I did it! I actually got away with--”

THUMP!

Without warning, Bubble Berry fell face-first to the floor, immediately passed out. While the stallion snored loudly in the middle of the living room, Elusive could only groan in utter embarrassment as he sat down on the couch and covered his face with a hoof. “Oh my gosh,” he muttered in disdain, unable to ignore what just happened with his partner; or specifically, what may have been about to happen. “That… that was not…”

“... supposed to happen,” said Blitz from outside Elusive’s shop, his back leaned against the closed glass door. As the pegasus grimaced with a wrinkled muzzle, not wanting to think about what the buck he was doing, he completely ignored the countless cops running through the streets as his head reeled in confusion and regret.

Author's Note

Before you guys say anything, yes, I'm aware I'm a Son of a Bitch for ending the chapter like this. But what can I say? I like the tension~

Chapter Twenty-Three: Complications of the Mind

Even though it might be needless to say, the rest of that first night spent in Manehattan was unbelievably awkward for Elusive and Rainbow Blitz. Fortunately, despite having ran out of the apartment to overcome his own weirded-out feelings regarding their… moment… Rainbow actually did get some take-out to bring back for himself and his dance partner. However, the pegasus basically threw Elusive’s food at him before hunkering inside of the guest room by himself to eat in silence. And for the rest of that night, the apartment was fairly silent for the unicorn as he sat in the living room with nothing but his lingering thoughts, and Bubble Berry’s unconscious body sprawled out on the floor.

Elusive couldn’t sleep for a good portion of the night, especially after he began hearing Rainbow Blitz’s animalistic snoring around midnight. Long after he finished his meal, the white stallion remained on the couch with a bit lip and an uncomfortable fidgeting of his hooves. He may have been extremely grateful to not have any disgusting habits like smoking or hoof-biting, but he really wished he had something to help distract him from his intrusive thoughts. It was at times like these that he wished he remembered what that stupid spinning toy his brother had was called, since he could see himself using one of those right about now.

Oh Elusive, get a hold of yourself! He clenched his eyes shut as leaned back on the couch with his teeth gritted in frustration. That moment was awkward, yes. We certainly can’t say otherwise. However… This can not get in the way of our competition tomorrow! After all that practice we endured for Blitz’s sake, it would be downright insulting to just back out now! Especially because of something like… that…

His inner monologue may have been helping a little, but that added reminder made him wince in slight discomfort. However, the unicorn took a breath while keeping himself in that mindset, knowing he had to think it over logically in order to fix things.

Alright, well… First off, that foxtrot really was flawless, wasn’t it? I mean, we moved so wonderfully, and Blitz was… he was a natural! If anything, that really showed how good of a choice it was to pick him as a partner. Nopony else could really… compare to him…

Elusive wanted to curse himself for going off-track so quickly, despite the fact that it was clear he was avoiding the big issue which was keeping him and Blitz in separate rooms in the first place. Alas, the unicorn breathed in once more while thinking more critically.

Okay, this… this can’t be ignored, Elusive. You saw it just as clearly as he did. He… he was staring right at you! And… and it’s not completely out of place to think he would… you know…

Elusive’s eyes clenched shut even tighter during his momentary pause, not wanting to come to terms with what was running through his head. Of course, that lingering mental image of Blitz holding him so tightly, and the look of his magenta eyes staring at him so intensely, left the unicorn completely unable to deny what he was thinking about. The idea terrified him to a large degree, just because he didn’t want to admit what was happening between them. Not only was Rainbow Blitz his dancing partner, but one of his closest friends; the very idea that something intimate was going to occur made the stallion feel sick in despair.

Unfortunately, the unicorn could only wince silently while laid out across the couch, feeling like he was having an internal monologue with an imaginary therapist now. I… I can’t deny it, can I? Elusive thought with a tone of unease apparent in his internal voice. Maybe it was just his mind’s way of helping to coax him to the right response, but his breathing still came out shakily as he thought to himself in worry. He… he and I were about to… perhaps…

Out of nowhere, Bubble Berry rose up from the floor like a classic horror-movie mummy and yelled out, “N-NO MOM, I WAS VACUUMING LINT OFF MY LEGS!!”

Elusive yelped in surprise and jolted over the back of the couch, falling back-first on the floor and out of Bubble Berry’s sight. The pink stallion sat upright and looked around the dark living room with a confused expression, blinking a couple times while processing what he did earlier. “Uhhhh… where did the ostrich go?”

The height of his drunkedness had clearly passed, but Bubble was still tipsy enough to not think too much about it. After shrugging absent-mindedly, he fell back down to the floor after saying to himself, “Oh well. Night Night!”

Whump!

Elusive slowly peeked his head up from the back of the couch with a frazzled look on his face, seeing that Bubble Berry was back asleep like nothing happened. His heart was still racing, but he wasn’t sure if it was from that interruption or the thoughts coming before it. Either way, the unicorn closed his eyes and sighed tiredly before getting back on his hooves. “Oh, screw it,” he uncouthly muttered to himself as he went to his bedroom. “I need to sleep.”

The next morning, Bubble Berry had disappeared from the apartment sometime while the two stallions were asleep. The pony’s unseen exit may have been a bit of a jarring surprise when Elusive woke up first, but it wasn’t that different from how he arrived in the first place. By the time he and Blitz were both awake, it seemed that Bubble was nice enough to leave a plate of apology muffins for the two in the kitchen. Elusive had absolutely no idea how the baker did that when there were virtually no baking ingredients of any sort in his kitchen, but the muffins were delicious nonetheless.

Of course, by the time the two finished their breakfast in awkward silence and went out to the venue for their competition, it became clear what happened as soon as they got out onto the crowded Manehattan streets. Every newspaper stand, as well as at least a third of the ponies they walked past who were reading them, had headlines which displayed Bubble Berry in his full drunken glory on the front page. The image, which may have gotten some photojournalist a lot of money for taking it at the perfect angle, showed the Element of Laughter riding a screeching ostrich down a crowded street. While the bird looked to be cawing in a mix of fear and primal impulse, Berry seemed to be shrieking in delight while holding a bottle of cucumber vodka in one hoof, and a real cucumber in the other. The headline above that timeless photo read in bolded letters: ‘Element of Harmony Causes Havoc At Middle Park Zoo!’

“Hmph.” Even though that scoff was fairly small, Elusive turned his head towards Blitz rather quickly after hearing him make it. Considering how it was the first thing he heard the pegasus say since the previous night, his ears were raised slightly in hopes that wouldn’t be it. Fortunately, even though Blitz kept his face pointed away from his partner’s, he still sighed and said with a shrug. “You know what? Knowing Bubble, he’s probably gonna want a copy of that headline to frame in his bedroom.”

Elusive couldn’t help giggling a little to that comment, and shrugged his shoulders in agreement. “Yes, I could see that happening. I just hope he doesn’t go to jail because of it.”

“Eh, I doubt it,” replied Rainbow with a shrug of his own. “I really don’t think Dusk would want him to miss our show. Especially since he helped with that decoration thing. He’ll probably just get a lecture and a fine or something.”

Even though he was sure Blitz was right, the unicorn still sighed apprehensively. “I certainly hope so. He also made something for Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes’ routine as well.”

Rainbow closed his eyes and breathed out strongly as the two continued walking. He didn’t look back at Elusive, but he was sure the unicorn could see he was looking stressed. But in an effort to keep himself from thinking too hard, he bit his lip briefly before he asked, “So, ummm… do you know what they’re doing for this round?”

“The jive, I believe,” Elusive answered as he leaned his head forward, hoping to get the slightest glimpse of Blitz’s expression so that they could talk more honestly. “But, I… don’t know what song they’re doing…”

Unfortunately, when the pegasus caught the slightest glimpse of his friend trying to lean in towards him, he instantly blushed like mad and rushed off. “W-Well, they don’t know ours either, so that sounds fine I’mgonnacheckourdressingroom!”

Before Elusive could even reply to that panicked blurt, he was left alone once more as Blitz ran off towards the stadium they were set to compete at. While he couldn’t blame Rainbow for still feeling so flustered, the continued rejection from him was leaving the unicorn more distraught than anything else. Given how limited their practicing really was, the last thing they needed was to postpone it any further. But as his ears lowered while trotting slowly, the only reaction the stallion could make was a saddened sigh as he walked alone among the crowds.

Contrary to popular belief, the highly-acclaimed venue of Faust Square Garden wasn’t that hard to sell out in such a crowded city like Manehattan. However, considering how abuzz the arena was getting with lines already growing at the front doors, it was doubtful that many ponies would try to deny how large the Equestrian National Dance Competition was getting. Due to Elusive and Rainbow Blitz being part of the competition this year, it was surprisingly easy to fill the stadium with eager ponies wanting to see them in action against the competition. Although, from the look of determination all the other dancers inside the building were showing on their faces, it didn’t seem like any of them wanted to be overshadowed during the Semi-Finals.

The two couples who seemed the most tenacious for a spot in the finals were the Hoofingtons, and Twinkle Toes with Apple Buck. Since both of them faced similar fallbacks in the Las Pegasus rounds, Twinkle and Julianne pretty much took the reins to ensure their dances would go perfectly this time around. While Derek tried to keep himself from getting on his sister’s bad side again, and Apple Buck tried to keep his partner from getting too exhausted during their near-constant practicing, neither of the couples seemed to notice Elusive looking around the stadium for his partner.

“Blitz!” he yelled out while trying his hardest not to start running around frantically. The competition wasn’t set to begin until a few hours, but he was still growing more fretful by the second while shuffling past dancers and crew members down the hallways. Since Rainbow wasn’t in the dressing room when he finally arrived, the unicorn was starting to worry where he may have ran off to. He was sure the pegasus didn’t just run away, but Elusive would be damned if he was going to let his friend turn what’s supposed to be their practice time into a game of homophobic hide and seek. “Ugh!” Elusive stopped for a second and stomped the tiled ground under his hoof in frustration. “RAINBOW!!!”

Of course, the instant he bellowed out his partner’s name, the stallion quickly gasped and covered his mouth with both hooves. His face blushed embarrassedly when he looked around the crowded hallway, and all the ponies who briefly stopped to stare back at him. After a couple seconds of awkward silence, Elusive put his hooves down and sheepishly walked backwards out of the hall. “Uhhh… heh heh heh… s-sorry…”

As soon as he was out of the hallway with his face glowing red, Elusive was fortunate enough to come across a familiar face. It may have not been Blitz, but the stallion was still fortunate to see Barb running up to him with a worried look. “Elusive?” shouted the dragoness as she emerged from the main practice room and went up towards him. “What’s going on? I thought I heard you yelling something.”

Elusive cringed a little and rubbed the back of his neck while avoiding eye contact with her. “Uhhhh… y-yeah,” he admitted with a wince. “Sorry about that. I was just…” After making a small exhale, Elusive looked back at the drake and asked, “You… didn’t happen to see Blitz anywhere, have you?”

“Ummm, no?” replied Barb with an unsure expression and a shrug of her shoulders. “I kinda figured he’d be with you.”

“Oh, great.” Elusive didn’t want to sound too upset, but his snarling tone was apparent while he rubbed his temple in frustration. He tried to calm himself down with a lingering sigh as he said, “Hopefully he’s at least trying to practice somewhere.”

Barb pursed her lips shut for a moment as she stood with a look of unease on her face. She had no idea what was going on between Elusive and Blitz, but she didn’t want them to be facing any quarrels so close to their dance routine. Of course, if it turns out any of the other guys’ cutie marks start flashing for a friendship mission, the drake would know where to lead them. But instead of hoping that wasn’t the case, Barb breathed out and asked hesitantly, “So, ummm… did something happen with you and Blitz?”

“N-No!” Elusive blurted way too quickly, causing Barb to tilt her head with a suspicious look. The unicorn groaned and turned his muzzle away from her before adding, “I-I mean, I… I don’t think it’s anything we can’t talk about. I just need to find him, that’s all…”

While Elusive kept his line of vision pointed away from the dragoness, he didn’t see how her emerald eyes were narrowing on him in growing concern. Barb only waited another moment before huffing and crossing her arms sternly. “Dude,” she stated in a firmer tone than expected, “what happened?”

The unicorn closed his eyes and sighed pertly before turning his back towards her. “Nothing happened, Barbara! Seriously, nothing!” However, the instant he saw that unrelenting stare the drake had on him, Elusive bit his lip and avoided eye contact with her. He then breathed out and admitted in a more sheepish tone, “Things just got a little… awkward, okay? It’s nothing to be concerned about.”

Despite the stallion’s insistent tone with that last sentence, Barb just tilted her head puzzledly. “So… how awkward are we talking about?”

“It’s none of your concern!” he stated with a strong stare back at her. “I’m pretty sure I said too much as it is, and I don’t need to say any more.”

“Oh, come on!” griped the dragoness with a roll of her eyes. “You can’t just say things got ‘awkward’ and not give specifics! What kind of awkward do you mean? Was it like, ‘making an inappropriate joke’ awkward? Or ‘getting caught with a cucumber in your bed’ awkward?”

“I’d rather not explain the specifics of what happened, Bar--” Upon catching what she said, Elusive’s head reeled back briefly while raising his brows at the drake. “... uhhhhh… what was that second example?”

Barb quickly realized the mistake she made, and tensed up for a second with a blush spreading across her cheeks. “N-Nothing!” she blurted after using such an oddly specific detail. “I’m j-just… I’m just saying that awkward can m-mean a lot of things, Elusive! I can’t exactly help if I don’t know who it was awkward for!”

“Barbara, I don’t think I need any outside help with this.” After covering his eyes with a hoof and sighing, Elusive made sure to add in a kinder tone, “Listen, I really do appreciate you wanting to help, but this isn’t something I want everypony getting involved with, alright? It was an awkward moment for both Blitz and myself, and I don’t think he’d appreciate me telling anyone else about it. I just need to find him, and straighten things out between us in private.”

Even though she was a little upset that Elusive was dismissing her assistance, she could tell that he wasn’t lying about his explanation as to why. So instead of dwelling over the stallion not wanting her help, Barb exhaled with a pout and shrugged her shoulders in acceptance. “Well… okay then,” she said while trying not to sound disappointed. “I can try to see where Blitz is, at least. Two pairs of eyes is better than one, right?”

Elusive smiled kindly to the suggestion, and nodded as he said, “I couldn’t agree more, Barbara. Just let me know if you find him before me.”

The drake nodded with a smile on her own and began to walk off. However, Elusive raised a hoof and quickly added, “Oh! And if you do find him, please don’t ask him what happened!”

Barb just sighed and looked back at him with a raised brow. “I’m not stupid, Elusive. I’m not gonna try and press his buttons or anything.”

“Alright, I’m just making sure.” Elusive put his hoof back down, only to whinny worriedly while looking away from the drake. “I swear,” he muttered with a shake of his head, “with the way he’s acting, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was looking for a memory-erasing spell or something.”

Barb may have not known what Elusive and Blitz did, but still scoffed and rolled her eyes at the unicorn’s statement. “Oh, please!” she said in a more carefree tone. “I think you’re exaggerating, Elusive. I don’t think Blitz would try something THAT stupid!”

Unbenounced to Elusive or Barb, who laughed a little after she said that, Rainbow Blitz was at the other end of the stadium nearby the exit doors. He wasn’t able to find Dusk Shine or the other Elements, but he did come across Starshine by lucky chance. Unfortunately, the unicorn just stared at Blitz flatly after hearing what he was wanting him to do.

“Rainbow,” he said in a very unamused tone, “there is no way I’m going to try to wipe a specific memory from your head. Especially when you won’t tell me what it is.”

“URGH!” Rainbow clenched his eyes shut and groaned like a colt who was told by his Mom he couldn’t get a toy at the store. “Dude, come on!” he whined while staring at Starshine pleadingly. “It’s only one spell, isn’t it?! Besides, it’s not like you haven’t done worse.”

That just made Starshine look angrier. “You know, I don’t try to win arguments by bringing up any past mistakes you made.”

Blitz paused for a second and sighed with his eyes closed, not wanting to escalate things with him any further. Despite being very tempted to point out how he never did anything as bad as Starshine, the pegasus withheld that urge and replied with a shrug, “Alright, alright. I’m sorry. I just wanted to talk with someone who’s good with spells, and you’re one of the best guys I know for that aside from Dusk.”

Starshine waited a second with a skewed muzzle, and breathed out through his nostrils before saying, “Well… I’m fairly sure that if Dusk Shine were here, he would tell you the same thing I did. You can’t just remove a specific memory out of somepony else’s subconscious! Even Prince Artemis would have trouble trying that with his dream powers.”

“UGH! Dammit!” Blitz stomped his hoof like a bratty child and turned away from Starshine to hide how upset he looked. But despite his brooding sneer and the way he emanated a lingering growl in response to the unicorn’s statement, Rainbow kinda figured that his request was too stupid anyway. However, the pegasus still found it easier to look mad about the answer given to him, than to contemplate the stupidity of the question he asked beforehoof.

Of course, Starshine just saw Blitz as acting all pissy for nothing, which caused him to sigh and say in response to his tantrum, “Blitz, come on! I don’t know what’s putting you in this kind of bind, but I really doubt that acting like a foal is gonna fix it! And I’m also fairly sure that attempting literal brain surgery on you right before a competition won’t do much either!”

Rainbow wanted to turn back to Starshine and chastise him for his blunt words, but he knew that the unicorn was right. So instead, the stunt-pony just groaned and dragged his hoof down his face. Unfortunately, his mood wasn’t improved when he heard a familiar voice say in response to Starshine’s statement, “Uhhh… what’s that ‘bout you sayin’ something about brain surgery?”

While Blitz pouted and kept his face away from them, Starshine sighed and looked towards Applejack to explain. “It’s not anything important, okay? Blitz was just asking about memory-erasing for some reason, and I was explaining it’s not something worth trying.”

“Yeah, Ah hope so,” noted the orange stallion with a small huff while looking between Starshine and Blitz. “Ah remember the last time you messed with Rainbow’s brain, he threatened to make you pick your teeth off the floor if you tried it again.”

Now it was Starshine’s turn to groan while rubbing his temple with a hoof. “Well, it’s not like I was gonna try it against his will again! HE asked ME about it!”

“Alright, alright,” said AJ as he put his hooves up to settle him down. “Ah ain’t assumin’ nuthin’ on you. Ah know you’re not that dumb.”

Before Starshine could sigh or give the stallion his thanks, Applejack turned to Blitz and added bluntly, “BUT! Ah am gonna question what the heck you’re tryin’ ta do! Are you seriously wantin’ Starshine to wipe a memory out of yer head!?”

“Ugh! I dunno!” groaned Blitz with a pissed-off glare back at AJ. “I just figured it was worth a shot! Get off my back about it!”

Applejack sighed with a roll of his eyes and looked back at Starshine to ask, “Okay, what exactly is he tryin’ to make you magic away? ‘Cause Ah think Ah a good idea what it is.”

“No you don’t!” shouted Blitz with a vein throbbing on his forehead. Of course, neither of the other two stallions took notice to his pissed off look while Starshine answered AJ’s question.

“I have no idea,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders. “He refuses to tell me, so I’m kinda in a standstill here.”

After a brief exhale through his nostrils, Applejack glanced back at the stunt-pony with a flat stare. “Dude… whad’ja do with Elusive?”

“NOTHING!” bellowed Rainbow in an obvious lie, not caring that his booming response caused a few ponies nearby to stop and stare at the three momentarily. But to the pegasus, the only thing he was focused on was Applejack with narrowed eyes. “Nothing happened between me and Elusive! And don’t you DARE try to say differently, dude!”

Blitz may have looked more furious than a cat that was thrown in a lake, but that didn’t stop AJ from huffing with a small smile on his muzzle. “Well, if nuthin’ happened, then there ain’t nuthin worth erasin’, is there? Besides, Ah really doubt it’s any worse than that thing that happened after your first dance.”

“Dude!” Rainbow leaned in with the strongest glare imaginable on AJ, and made a silent “cut-it” motion with a hoof across his neck to make the stallion shut up. Even though Applejack did just that, his knowing smirk made it clear that he was aware why his friend wanted a memory wipe.

“Ummm…” Starshine leaned in from the side as he looked at both of them puzzledly. “What’s Applejack talking abou--”

“Nothing!” said both of them at the same time, although AJ’s tone when he answered was much cheekier than Blitz’s brash growl at him. Starshine blinked a couple times, and then scoffed while rolling his eyes.

“Whatever,” said the unicorn with a shake of his head and a smirk. “I won’t ask for details, but I seriously doubt it’s anything that’ll surprise me. Heck, I held weekly orgies back in my old town! So whatever happened between you and Elusive, it prob…”

Starshine’s words trailed off when he saw the wide-eyed stares Applejack and Rainbow both had on him. After a couple seconds of silence, the unicorn briefly pursed his lips shut before saying with a nervous smile, “Uhhh… heh heh heh… I never mentioned that before, did I?”

“Nnnnope,” replied AJ with a strong shake of his head as he unknowingly mimicked his older sister. But unlike the orange stallion, Blitz was able to relax after a moment and shrug casually.

“Hey, it’d explain how you got everypony to follow you~” he said with an almost impressed-sounding tone.

“Well, the sex was about as good as the food, so that should give you a good idea how mediocre it was. B-But that’s not the point!” Starshine shook his head to clear his thoughts, and brought things back to topic after taking a breath and saying to Rainbow. “Listen, all I’m saying is that unless his horn went up your butt or something, I really don’t see any reason to be this freaked out right now! I mean, you two have a huge routine to do, right? Is this really worth all the trouble you’re making for yourself?”

Rainbow had to pause momentarily while letting Starshine’s statement sink in, and hopefully ignore that “horn in the butt” remark. While the dancer stood with a skewed muzzle and look of contemplation growing across his face, Applejack decided to intervene and add on Starshine’s behalf, “Honestly, Ah think he has a point there, Blitz. Ah mean, Ah don’t know what happened. But if you compare it to that, uhhh… ‘You know what’ moment… Can you really say it’s as bad as that?”

The pegasus looked away from both of the stallions, growing a more uncomfortable expression as he thought things over. Even though he hated to think back to what happened the previous night, and especially that horn-sucking moment a few weeks ago, Rainbow knew that his friend brought up a damn good point. Compared to fellating a stallion’s horn like a popsicle, almost… well, technically not doing anything at all, shouldn’t be seen as being worse by any means. It was still awkward, no doubt, but definitely not something he couldn’t overcome.

So after a pregnant bout of silence, Rainbow Blitz closed his eyes and took a breath before turning back to Applejack and Starshine. He sighed as he reopened his eyes and admitted in a hesitant tone of voice, “Well, I… I guess it… isn’t as bad...”

Despite how uneasy Blitz looked as he said that, even going as far as to avoid eye contact with either of the ponies while saying it, AJ was quick to pull him in from the side with a smile and an optimistic tone. “There ya go! Was that so hard to say? Now you don’t have any excuse to keep yourself from talkin’ with Lucy ‘bout it.”

“Dude, come on!” griped Blitz while trying to pull himself away from Applejack’s side-hug. He may have known that his friend was right, but that didn’t make the stunt-pony feel any less uncomfortable about confronting Elusive about last night. Alas, Rainbow could only let out a faint whinny while pouting away from AJ’s smile.

“Oh, don’t be like that now!” said the orange stallion as he gave a friendly punch to Blitz’s shoulder. “You two have already done a lot together, both in this competition and before it. Do ya really think he deserves a cold shoulder now?”

Blitz groaned with his eyes closed in guilt, knowing he couldn’t try to debate with AJ about this. After sighing painfully, the cyan pony swallowed his pride and pulled Applejack’s hoof off of his back. “Okay, I get it dude! I’ll talk to him.”

“Alright then,” stated AJ with a firm nod as he watched Rainbow make his leave. “Ah think Ah saw him near the practice rooms, so look ‘round there.”

Blitz just nodded silently and walked away, leaving Starshine to stare at Applejack with a worried expression before asking, “Ummm… don’t you think you were being a little forceful there? I mean, he seemed a bit uncomfortable about talking with Elusive again.”

“Okay, one,” said Applejack as he looked back at him with a raised brow, “no offense, but you might not be one to talk when it comes to judgin' ponies for doin' forceful stuff, alright?”

While the unicorn gave him an especially sour scowl, Applejack added with a shrug, “And second, Ah know Blitz a lot longer than you have. Sometimes he needs a good kick in the butt to do somethin’ he should.”

“Oh really?” asked Starshine coyly with both brows raised, not looking worried about mentioning, “like when you and your friends dressed up as a superhero to make him feel worthless?”

Seeing why Starshine mentioned that, AJ could only reply with an annoyed scowl, “Alright, fine. Tit for tat.”

By the time Elusive checked their empty dressing room for the third time, he was starting to get legitimately worried. Given how determined the rest of the competition was getting with practicing their routines, the fact that Blitz was still missing made him begin to assume the worst. He was sure that the pegasus wouldn’t just betray his Element for something as silly as an unexpected close moment with a friend, but Elusive was sure he’d try something tremendously stupid if he felt he had no options. Of course, if he had known what Rainbow was trying to do earlier, he would’ve been fairly right on that assumption.

Nevertheless, the unicorn moaned painfully as he dragged his hoof down his face for what felt like the dozenth time that morning. Given how frustrated he felt, he was determined to smack his friend over the head if all this added stress lead to a grey hair in his mane; or worse, a wrinkle on his face. The very thought of either of those consequences occurring made Elusive shudder fiercely with his teeth gritted. Fortunately though, the white stallion didn’t have to think about that mortifying mental image for too long before hearing Barb’s voice from the distance.

“Elusive! ELUSIVE!!” Rushing down the crowded hallway like she was late for a train departure, the dragoness darted through and between the legs of countless ponies with expert precision while the unicorn was in her sights. Behind her, a familiar cyan pegasus was quickly, albeit apprehensively, following Barb while scooting around crew members and other dancers. “Elusive, I found him!” shouted Barb with an excited and prideful smile as she got closer to him. “He was by the back of the stadium!”

“Oh, Barbara!” Elusive sighed in sweet relief and smiled the instant he saw the drake and his dancing partner. Despite how badly he wanted to chastise Blitz for putting him through such a fret, all that the stallion could think to do was give Barb a quick hug in gratitude. “Thank you so much for your help! I really appreciate it.”

The dragoness nearly melted in Elusive’s hooves as she blushed and shuddered from his embrace. “Uhhhh… i-i-it’s no problem…”

Meanwhile, Blitz rolled his eyes and shook his head with a smirk when he saw how Barb reacted to Elusive’s hug. Unfortunately for him, Elusive only held her for another couple seconds before locking eyes on him angrily. After putting the drake down, the unicorn stormed up to Rainbow with a livid scowl. “RAINBOW BLITZ! Exactly WHAT were you…”

Elusive paused when he realized they were still in the middle of a crowded hallway, and that most of the dressing room doors were wide-open. Not wanting every dancer to overhear their spat and assume the worst about them, he took a deep breath before lighting his horn and making a sound-bubble around the two. They might still be seen through the tinted blue dome that took up half the hallway, but they were completely silent to keep from disturbing anypony that walked past them. Nevertheless, Elusive still lowered his tone to an aggravated hiss while he and Rainbow were in the confined space. “Blitz, do you have ANY idea how long I tried to look for you!? We have less than three hours of practice, and you running off is completely unacceptable!”

Blitz was a little embarrassed being put on the spot in such an open space, but he knew he couldn’t blame Elusive for being so pissed off. Despite noticing a few puzzled glances from crew members who walked around the sound-bubble they were in, the pegasus still sighed and replied apologetically to his partner, “Dude, I… I know I messed up, alright? I mean, I’m pretty sure you can understand why I feel a little weirded out right now, but… yeah… y-you’re right. And I'm sorry.”

Blitz had a guilty frown on his muzzle, and his head was lowered while looking back at Elusive, but the unicorn only exhaled silently while maintaining his firm stare. After pausing briefly with his eyes closed, he replied in a more understandable tone, “Rainbow, I… I’m not saying I don’t get it, alright? We… were in a bit of an awkward position when Bubble Berry saw us…”

Elusive bit the inside of his cheek hard to conceal a wince that almost surfaced across his face. Even though he knew that he wasn’t being honest about why that moment was awkward for both of them, it seemed like a better way to address it than with the whole truth right now. Given how frazzled Rainbow got over what they almost did, things might end up getting worse between them before it gets better. And considering how little time they had left to nail down their contemporary routine, the last thing they needed was to let their moment get in the way of reaching the finals.

The unicorn closed his eyes and took a breath to keep from looking too upset, even though his thoughts were screaming at him to get things settled properly. Elusive, come on! Screamed his conscience in the brief couple of seconds he was silent. Don’t try to muddle the issue! You know exactly what was going to happen, and so does he! Just say it, you imbecile!

Elusive couldn’t even notice Blitz’s expression, or what his friend was doing as his own heart pounded from his conscience berating him internally. Please, just say it! Get it out of the way! You can’t ignore what happened, and you certainly can’t stay silent on it! You know what you wanted to happen last ni--WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN! N-Not--

Before he could try to change his intrusive thoughts, Elusive violently shook his head with his eyes clenched shut to keep from thinking anything else. The entire moment of mental frustration only lasted a couple seconds, but it was enough time for Blitz to start talking without his friend realizing it. By the time Elusive came back to his senses, he blinked repeatedly when he caught the second half of what his friend was trying to say.

“... and I know it’s dumb to freak out about being seen like that, alright? It’s just with all the attention we’ve been getting from ponies, and… and coming back to reality of what we’re doing, it all just sorta… bottled up a bit, you know? It’s just weird getting used to this and not thinking too much about it. And, uhhh… it just made me a little worried about getting back into that mindset I was in before. I mean, I know that I agreed to it, but it’s just--”

Before Blitz could continue with his ramblings, Elusive raised a hoof to press against his lips and make him stop. A second after the pegasus stopped talking and looked back at the fretful-looking unicorn, Elusive took a calming breath before trying to take the reigns (as well as silence his thoughts) once more. “Rainbow, I… I just need to ask you one thing, okay? Do you… think you’ll be good to practice again?”

Elusive pulled his hoof away so that his friend could speak. Blitz, despite having his lips pursed worriedly, sighed through his nostrils and waited a second before nodding faintly. “I… I think so, yeah…” Despite the faint blush that appeared on his cheeks after giving his answer, it didn’t seem like any dishonesty was apparent in his voice. Fortunately, Elusive didn’t feel like it was necessary to bring up his partner’s reddening cheeks, since he felt his own face growing warmer the longer that moment of silence lingered between them.

“Alright,” said Elusive in a flustered tone of his own as he breathed out weakly. “I… I know what I said yesterday about not wanting you to feel overwhelmed. Especially with you, ummm… doing this routine. But… I just want to make sure that you’ll be okay to do it. Because if you can’t, I’ll completely understand.”

Even though hearing his friend say that meant a lot to him, Blitz barely hesitated to huff and shake his head in dismissal. “Dude, no,” he blurted in a firm tone of voice. “I know what I said, and… and I knew what I was getting into when I suggested that song. I know it’s a big deal, and… it’s definitely out of my comfort zone…”

Despite not intending to word that last part the way he did, Rainbow still huffed uncomfortably at having it remind him of other things. His eyes veered away from Elusive, not wanting to look back at him and be reminded of even more that would leave him too frazzled to function. After exhaling strongly, Blitz looked down at his hooves and said in a somewhat-confident voice, “But… I made a promise I’d do this competition for you, and… the last thing I’d ever want to do is leave you hanging. You’re a really good friend, and I… I know I can trust you with this.”

Elusive wasn’t sure why, but those last eight words made his heart thump particularly hard in his chest. Maybe it was how sincere the words sounded coming out of Blitz’s muzzle. Maybe it was because the statement itself was something he didn’t expect him to say in a moment like this. Or maybe… after learning so much about the pegasus in the past few weeks, he was finally able to see how much closer they were getting…

Alas, despite how much his cheeks blushed, the unicorn was able to keep his mind blank long enough to sigh and nod with a shaky smile. “Blitz, I… I trust you too…”

Hearing how hoarse his voice got at that last part, Elusive sucked in a deep breath and covered his face with a hoof to ensure he wasn’t becoming too emotional out of nowhere. Luckily, he didn’t feel any tears coming down his cheeks in the split-second before Blitz looked back up at him. After huffing and putting his hoof back down, the stallion ignored his blush as he said with a forced smile and a disingenuously cocky tone, “An-And… And I trusted you when you suggested that song. I know it can get us to the finals, and… and I know you’re more than able to shine for it. We’ve been through a lot worse, and… we can’t let one little moment get in the way of that.”

Rainbow quickly nodded in agreement, and swallowed his worries before saying with a shrug, “Well, ummm… We can’t exactly prove that without getting back in gear, can we?”

Elusive’s smile turned more natural as he nodded in response, and he used another flash of his horn to undo the sound-bubble and bring them back in the crowded hallway. “Absolutely,” stated the unicorn as he used his confident demeanor as the perfect shield for Blitz to see. “Now come on! I think I saw an unoccupied practice room we can use on the east quarter.”

As he motioned Blitz to follow him, Elusive turned around so that his face was unseen by the pegasus. However, despite the fact that Rainbow couldn’t see his partner’s hesitant and confused expression behind a wall of blush, Barb certainly did when the stallions walked past her with barely a goodbye. The drake stood worriedly as she watched the two disappear, unsure whether or not dancing was the only qualm getting in the way of them.

Okay, this is getting weird! Barb thought to herself with her brows furrowed. I mean, it’s bad enough that I don’t know what’s going on, but those are acting so different lately! I swear, they’re starting to act like the guys in those weird manga things Butterscotch has at his place. Hmmm… maybe I should ask him about it. He seems like he’s the closest to those two recently....

“Uhhh… Barb?” The dragoness jolted a little from hearing the distinct voice of the colt who came up to her. Apple Buck, who was still only wearing his red bandana, seemed a little puzzled as he looked at the drake with a tilted head. “You okay there?” he said as he looked between her and the end of the hallway she was staring at. “You seemed a bit lost for a sec.”

“Oh! Ummm…” Barb wasn’t sure how long she was lost in her thoughts, but Elusive and Blitz were long gone by the time she was brought back to reality by Apple Buck. She quickly breathed out with an instinctual nod before saying to him, “Y-Yeah, I’m alright. Just, ummm… thinking about how the competition is gonna go today.”

“Yeah, Ah guess Ah can’t blame ya.” Buck huffed with a smirk as he scratched the back of his neck with a hoof. “With all the practicin’ me an’ Twinkle were doin’, Ah’m just glad Ah’m able to walk around for a sec.”

“Mmmhmm…” Barb tried not to look too lost in her thoughts, but it was clear something was on her mind from the way her mouth was skewed a little to the side. Before Buck could notice or ask what was up, the drake took a breath and decided to ask, “Hey, umm, Buck? If you don’t mind me asking, have you, ummm… like…”

Apple Buck looked back at her with a raised brow, unsure what she was trying to ask. It wasn’t until she sighed that the dragoness felt bold enough to say, “Have you started feeling weird since you started dancing with Twinkle Toes?”

Apple Buck had no idea what prompted Barb to suddenly ask that question, but it was definitely enough to make his face blush immensely. “W-What?! Uhhh…” After darting his eyes every which direction except the drake’s, he tried to redeem his flustered look with a shaky smile as he replied, “Ah… Ah don’t… d-don’t know what ya mean, Barb. Uhhhh… Nope! No weird feelins at all! Just normal… un-weird feelins! Heh heh…”

Barb tilted her head as her eyes narrowed on the colt, which caused him to bolt off to avoid what felt like an interrogation. “Uhhh! Ah gotta go and check on her outfit, BYE!!!”

In a flash, Apple Buck rushed off to leave the dragoness alone once more. After a long moment of silence, and her worried look growing in unease, Barb sighed as she slumped downward and looked at her feet. “Well,” she said in a disheartened tone, “that’s only making things more confusing…”

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Contemporary

Manehattan may have been a fairly small island in comparison to other regions of Equestria, but its dense population and diverse melting pot of cultures made it a constantly-bustling and exciting city no matter the time of day. Even in the middle of the day, it seemed that Faust Square Garden was abuzz with as much excitement as it did for a concert on a Saturday night. The venue may have not been hosting any huge pop stars or rock bands, but the stadium was completely packed with ponies from all over for the Semi-Finals of the Equestrian National Dance Competition. And since this round of competition was set to allow extra funding for design elements or live music, the crowd was excited to see what the couples will do to try and reach the finals in Canterlot.

Bubble Berry, who was forced to be under supervision of his friend Dusk Shine in order to keep him out of a jail cell, acted just as chipper as usual while checking on the props he helped build for event. He may have gotten a thorough chewing-out from Manehattan authorities (as well as from Dusk Shine) for his drunken antics, it didn’t seem like the stallion regretted his actions at all. However, he was a little annoyed that he had to wear a magically-infused tracker bracelet on one of his hind legs for the duration of his visit to the city. But even with that, the pony was more than happy to finish up his contribution to the competition.

Due to his surprisingly amazing skills when it came to inventing nifty modes of transport or tools for his party-trade, the pink stallion was generous enough to make items for both Elusive & Blitz, and Apple Buck & Twinkle Toes’ routines. Both of the couple’s items were covered in thick drapings of tarp, which Berry was keen on keeping hidden from the rumbling crowds out in the stadium. However, Dusk couldn’t resist sneaking a peek under one of the curtains and whistling in amazement.

“Wow, Bubble!” said the Prince with an impressed huff, even though he was supposed to stay stern and keep his friend on a tight leash for today. But despite his royal obligations to uphold the law around somepony on probation, he couldn’t hide his reaction to the oversized newspaper headline Berry made for Buck and Twinkle’s jive. “I gotta say, you really have a talent when it comes to prop work.”

“Oh, it’s just a hobby,” said Bubble with a humble shrug while blushing bashfully. “I was already working on the things for Blitz and Elusive’s routine, so I figured I could make something for Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes too.”

“Huh…” Seeing what the headline said, Dusk was honestly surprised the filly would want something like that. Alas, the Alicorn only shrugged before putting the tarp down and shrugging back at Berry. “Well, I guess it makes sense they’d go for that. I kinda overheard what song they were doing, and it makes sense they’d go for this kind of angle.”

“Oh, tell me about it!” gushed the bubbly stallion with a wave of his hoof and a carefree giggle. “The last time I saw somepony that focused on a project was when my brother Mark Berry was working on his thesis on stalagmite deposits!”

Bubble giggled with a hoof over his mouth at that reminder, while Dusk just shook his head with a smirk and a roll of his eyes. “Gee, I can’t imagine how he must’ve looked during that.”

“Trust me, you don’t wanna know.” After saying that, both Berry and Dusk giggled while alone in the backstage area. Due to how stressful and energetic ponies have been for the past few hours setting everything up, it was nice for the two ponies to have a moment without bumping into anyone or walking into restricted practice areas. It may have not been as ugly or stress-inducing as some of the fashion shows Elusive was part of, but it was clear that dancers aren’t the kind of ponies that should be crossed while focused on their work.

“So…” Dusk looked over at the other covered item Bubble Berry had, honestly having no idea what he made for Elusive and Blitz’s dance. “What was it the guys wanted you to build? I thought that contemporary was more of a minimalist dance, right?”

“Eh, I think so,” noted Bubble with an unknowing shrug, “but to be fair, their props are pretty minimalist too. They just asked me to make a bunch of colored glass panes for them.”

“Glass panes?” After glancing back at Bubble Berry for a second in confusion, Dusk lit his horn to carefully lift the bottom of the tarp. “Why would they ask for--”

“D-Don’t open it!” shouted Berry warningly as he pulled the drape back down with a hoof. While Dusk unlit his horn and glanced back at the stallion, Bubble sighed in relief and said, “Those panes are like, suuuuuuper fragile, okay? I made them out of a sugar compound, so they’re really easy to break. It’s the same kind of stuff they use in the movies when actors break through them, but they won’t get hurt and stuff.”

Even though the pony smiled proudly after his explanation, that added detail just made Dusk even more confused. “Ummm… really?” he asked before looking back at the covered item. “Wh… Why would they need that?”

“I dunno!” chirped the pink pony while rolling his eyes. “Honestly, I figured you’d know more about their dance than I do!”

“Believe me, I wish I did. But with all the sound-proofing spells and locked doors the two have been behind, even Barb hasn’t seen or heard what they’re doing!” Dusk exhaled in frustration and covered his eyes with a hoof, not wanting to worry about what happened between those two since that Las Pegasus blowout. “But… I’m just hopeful their routine isn’t too hard to do in front of others.”

“Oh, don’t be such a Nervous Nancy!” Bubble may have been on probation, but that didn’t stop him from hugging the Prince from the side and saying assuredly, “Elusive has done hundreds of big shows in front of giant crowds, both in fashion AND in the Pony Tones! And Rainbow Blitz is a Wonderbolt! If anypony is immune to stage-fright, it’d be THOSE guys!”

Even though that wasn’t exactly his point, Dusk Shine knew that Bubble’s reasoning was fair enough to not argue against. So after closing his eyes and sighing to clear his head, the Alicorn brushed his worries aside temporarily and smiled back at him. “Alright, fine. I’ll stay optimistic.”

“That’s the spirit!” After giving Dusk Shine a tight hug, Bubble Berry pulled away and began to hop off like a cartoonish bunny. “Come on! If we get to our sky-box early enough, we can swing by the refreshment stand and--ZZZZTTTTT!!!”

When Berry got more than twenty yards away from Dusk, the bracelet on his hoof beeped loudly with the red light flashing on the front. While in midair, a sudden jolt of electricity zapped the pony to freeze him in place. Dusk Shine quickly ran up to Bubble, who fell to the floor twitching while a little smoke came out of his frizzy mane. “Berry, you know the rules! You can’t just run that far away from me!”

Dusk held up the matching bracelet on his front hoof, which was meant to keep Berry in place during his probation. Unfortunately, Berry didn’t take much notice to that device when he coughed a couple times and looked up at him. Instead, the stallion giggled a little and shot him a cheeky smirk. “H-Honestly… that zap kinda turned me on~”

Dusk’s eyes shot wide-open, and he was worried what his friend might try with that new detail. Meanwhile, the pink pony got back on his hooves shakily, with his grin growing more antsy with a fun idea slipping into his mind. Dusk seemed to realize what he might try to do, which prompted him to point at him sternly and say, “Bubble Berry… you better not--”

In a flash, Bubble ran off to test the capabilities of that bracelet. “Bet’cha can’t catch me!~ ZZZZTTTT!!!”

“Gnng!! DAMMIT!” Dusk wanted to cringe from actually swearing out-loud, but he had no time to pause as he ran off after his rambunctious friend. As crewponies and dancers alike prepared themselves for the upcoming show, many of them were startled when a near-Demigod Prince chased after a constantly electrocuted (and lewdly smiling) stallion throughout the stadium. But despite how unprofessional that interruption was, it was definitely a welcome distraction as the crowd became rowdier outside.

Even when the lights inside Faust Square Garden dimmed, and the spotlights came on to illuminate the stage in the middle of the stadium, the excitement from the crowds didn’t die down in the slightest in preparation for the show. In fact, it only grew immensely as Manehattan’s announcer came out to speak in a booming voice:

“Fillies, aaaaaaannnnnnd Gentlecolts!!”

Roars and stomping commenced as ponies applauded excitedly. Of course, since the non-competing Elements of Harmony were seated in clear view in one of the sky-boxes, and the Wonderbolts were enjoying themselves in the other one, it was hard not to get hyped-up for something this big. Fortunately, the electricity in the air only seemed to hype up the husky brown stallion even more. “I am VERY pleased to begin the commencements for this year’s Semi Finals for… The Equestrian National Dance Competition!”

While the crowds applauded happily from the stands, most of the ponies backstage tried to ignore the cheering and muffled voices as they got ready. All of the dancers were already in their costumes and makeup, and various musicians were tuning their instruments for the live venues planned to perform later on. The Hoofingtons, who were set to be the first couple to perform, looked to be in higher spirits than they did back in Las Pegasus; of course, that may have been because Julianne was wearing a stunning sequined gown that accentuated her slender form amazingly, while her brother was wearing a basic tuxedo and white gloves that made him look like a butler. Due to the mishap they went through during their hip-hop routine, many of the other dancers figured Derek’s current outfit was chosen by his sister as a small act of karma.

Meanwhile, Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes were wearing more casual-looking outfits for their routine. Instead of any skirts or dresses, Twinkle chose a more comfortable getup of blue jeans and a yellow faux-leather jacket. Buck had a similar outfit, except his jacket was more orange to match Twinkle’s coat. Of course, despite the fact that they were one of the last couples to perform that day, Twinkle’s hooves were fidgeting like crazy as she sat on a bench beside per partner. Luckily, the colt was kind enough to wrap a foreleg around her to keep her still, while also keeping his face pointed away from her so she wouldn’t see his heavy blush.

As for Elusive and Rainbow Blitz, the two stayed relatively silent and away from the others while re-hydrating themselves. With all the practice the two endured over the past few hours, it was surprising that the two were able to stop and get themselves washed-up in time for the event to begin. Unlike a lot of the other dancers, the stallions’ outfits were surprisingly reserved and not exactly eye-catching. Much like Buck and Twinkle’s color-coordination, Elusive made sure that his and Blitz’s garments carried each other’s colors for solidarity and symmetry; however, unlike most of the glittery and tight outfits other ponies were wearing, Elusive and his partner were in very loose-fitting, and matte-colored shirts that hung from their bodies.

While taking a swig from his sports drink, Rainbow Blitz seemed fairly content with his drabbish smock while feeling the soft cotton. “I gotta say, this shirt is way more comfortable than your earlier outfits,” admitted the pegasus with a hesitant shrug. Nevertheless, he still peered back at him with a raised brow and asked, “But, uhhh… are you sure this is the kind of thing to wear for this?”

“Well, it’s a contemporary routine,” replied Elusive while recapping the bottle to his own half-finished drink. “The dance itself is more minimalistic, so lavish costumes don’t exactly fit with the theme.” Even though he looked fairly refreshed after a quick shower, it was clear that the unicorn was feeling a bit uneasy while avoiding his friend’s gaze. “And… given our routine, I felt this was a fair choice.”

Blitz paused for a second, and breathed out with a bit lip before nodding and looking away from Elusive. Meanwhile, both of them could hear applause from outside the backstage area, and the muffled voice of the announcer saying something important. The two then saw a couple of crew-ponies direct the Hoofingtons towards the stage, with the unicorn couple smiling at each other in anticipation during their trot. Seeing how happy the two looked, Rainbow sighed anxiously and asked, “So… how much are you gonna bet everyone else has really upbeat, chipper songs?”

Elusive was a little worried at Blitz’s tone with that question, but he couldn’t help shrugging in response before saying, “Well… shouldn’t it be a good thing that we’re standing out in that regard? I mean, it’s fairly easy to be forgotten or seen as mediocre when you’re within a sea of similar ponies.”

“Yeah,” said Rainbow with a faint exhale, before saying with a strong hint of of unease, “unless everyone hates what we’re doing. I don’t wanna think about whether or not we lose because we bummed out the judges or something.”

“Blitz, they’re professionals,” stated Elusive sharply while glancing back at him. “If they’re willing to penalize the Hoofingtons last week for a technicality, then I doubt they’ll be swayed by a slight change of tone in the middle of the round. They don’t just go with what the crowds want.”

Speaking of the crowds, the rumbling from the audience nearby could be felt reverberating through the walls and floors, and underneath the other dancers’ hooves. After a muffled introduction of the dancers by the announcer, the audience cheered in response before a brief pause. And after a moment of silence, a familiar rock tune began to play which caused Blitz’s ears to perk up in pleasant surprise.

“Oh, kick ass!” Despite feeling apprehensive about their own routine, the pegasus seemed happy with the temporary distraction of that track. “I wouldn’t have expected those guys to choose something like that! Especially for a tango.”

“Well, it certainly fits,” admitted Elusive with an impressed shrug of his own. Even though he pondered looking out and seeing their moves first-hoof, he knew it wouldn’t do much for himself and Blitz right now. Like the stunt-pony pointed out, their dance and theme was almost a complete opposite to the Hoofingtons, so getting too focused on that would only distract their own focus. Plus, given how rushed their practice and discussions had to be due to earlier obstructions, the unicorn really needed to make sure his friend was in the right mindset for this routine. Of course, Elusive was fortunate that the song playing through the walls was leaving Blitz in a more positive state so he could talk.

“So, umm… Blitz?” Elusive waited until he had his friend’s attention before taking a breath and asking, “Do you… feel better about doing this? You know… as opposed to earlier today?”

Blitz stared back at him blankly for a second, and then sighed before looking away. “Uhhh… I guess so? I mean… I’m not feeling pumped about it, but…”

The pegasus had to close his eyes for a moment and think everything over. After spending the past few days running his body through Tartarus and back to get the routine in check, as well as listening to that damn song enough times to lose count (which was honestly more taxing than anything else), Rainbow was starting to feel numb by the time he and Elusive were finishing up their practicing. Of course, after taking a quick shower and getting his energy back in check, there was nothing to really keep him from thinking about their routine. Compared to all the other things he and Elusive did together, both on and off the dance-floor, Blitz could safely say he never felt so emotionally wary about something he was about to do.

Nevertheless, instead of dwelling on his choices, the pegasus closed his eyes to take a breath before looking back at his friend to answer honestly. “But… I told you before that I wanted to do this, and… I’m certainly not gonna back out now.”

“I know you’re not,” replied Elusive in an understanding tone, not thinking his friend would get cold hooves so close to their time to compete. “I just wanted to make sure this is something you won’t regret doing afterward.”

“Well…” Blitz bit the inside of his cheek and thought about that detail for a second, unsure whether or not it was something that could feasibly happen. However, instead of dwelling too long on that hypothetical, the stunt-pony sighed sharply and said with a shrug, “... sometimes, you just gotta do something regardless, you know? It’s like that old saying: ‘Don’t think, just feel.’”

Elusive’s brows raised in surprise, not expecting Blitz to know that old mantra. “... Huh. I… suppose that’s a good way to look at it.”

“Yeah, no doubt.” Even though he could feel butterflies running rampant in his stomach, Rainbow was able to keep his expression somewhat-confident as he said, “And right now, what I’m feeling is overpowering what I’m thinking. And… I feel like it’s something I can trust you on. If you think it can work, then I know we can do this.”

Elusive wasn’t sure whether or not Blitz was being honest, but that look of confidence on his friend’s face made him feel a little less fretful about their plan. Granted, the unicorn still felt as worried as he did before a controversial fashion show (and with the drabbish outfits he and Rainbow had on, that feeling was even more evident), but it was hard to argue with what the Wonderbolt said. And when he saw that genuine (albeit faint) smile on Blitz’s face, combined with that tenacious gleam in his magenta eyes, Elusive could tell that the pegasus wasn’t just saying that to make him feel better. He really meant it.

Even with all the baggage this song and dance would carry on his back, Rainbow still wanted to dive into it headfirst like he would any foe they faced as Elements. Not just because he knew it was their best shot to winning this round of the competition. Not just because it could help give the pegasus some much-needed closure in a wound that never fully healed. And not just because they came so far, and practiced so hard to back down now. In the end, Elusive could tell that Blitz wasn’t just doing this for himself.

He was doing it for both of them.

And the unicorn’s heart was growing warmer with each second that passed after realizing that.

Regardless of how he was feeling, which caused his hind legs to shake a little in involuntary fidgeting, Elusive smiled warmly back at him and nodded in equal confidence. “Absolutely,” he said with a stronger conviction than before. “And if you say you’re alright, then… I’m going to trust you as well.”

Rainbow smiled a bit wider after hearing that reply, and wrapped a foreleg around the stallion’s back. “Thanks, dude.”

Then without warning, Elusive squeaked in surprise as his friend pulled him in for a one-hoofed, “bro-ish” type of hug that involved their foreheads touching, but not much else. The unicorn felt more than a little uncomfortable in the sudden stance (mostly since he was worried whether or not his horn was rubbing too hard against Blitz’s head), but the sentiment behind his friend’s gesture made him accept it begrudgingly. After sighing under his breath, Elusive smirked and held onto the back of Rainbow’s neck like he was. As soon as the pegasus felt that, he strengthened his own grip and said, “Alright, you ready for this?”

Elusive rolled his eyes and exhaled pertly, feeling like his friend was treating this like a pep-talk before a Wonderbolt show. Nevertheless, the white stallion knew that his friend needed to feel as comfortable as possible in preparation, so he didn’t try to object to such a masculine method before an un-masculine event. Instead, Elusive strengthened his own grip and pressed his head in before replying, “As ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose.”

“Good enough!” With that confirmation, Blitz moved his head to the side and pulled Elusive in for a genuine hug. The unicorn, happy for that slight change in position, hugged the stallion in return with one hoof like Blitz was doing for him. Whether it was just a case of expert timing, or perhaps an example of premonition, the voices of the judges could be heard through the walls as they gave their scores of perfect tens. By the time the two pulled away, the cheering from the stadium was quite apparent and helped to cover the couple’s blushed looks on each other.

However, before anything else could be said, the two stallions’ attentions were quickly brought towards the sound of excited screeching that emanated from the entrance of the backstage area. The Hoofingtons, who were smiling wider than creepy children in a horror movie, came rushing back from the stadium and clinging onto each other tightly. Derek had Julianne picked up and clutched against his chest like a newlywed husband would carry his wife into their new home. The elated squeals from the two made it clear how overly enthused they felt about their victory, obviously no longer upset about last week’s blunder.

Even though the other competitors politely clapped in congratulations of them, it was clear that most of the ponies were rightfully pissed that they now had such a massive act to follow. Elusive and Rainbow Blitz were no different, despite giving the Hoofingtons a couple of light smiles as the couple passed them to change out of their clothes. As soon as they were out of sight, Elusive groaned with a heavy grimace and muttered, “Rainbow, is it bad that I wished those two weren’t so nice towards us? I hate feeling like a complete jerk for hoping they wouldn’t do so well today.”

Blitz sighed and shrugged apprehensively. “Well, they already got tens, so there isn’t much we can do.” However, he only paused for a second before adding with a optimistic smirk, “Buuuutttt… that doesn’t mean we can’t kick ass alongside them and show everypony else what we got.”

Elusive could only sigh with a roll of his eyes and a smile of his own, happy that Blitz’s competitive spirit hasn’t changed a bit. “You know what? I couldn’t ask for it any other way.”

Since Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes were one of the final performances for the day’s competition, Elusive and Blitz didn’t pay too much attention to the other dances occurring before their own. However, with every high number the two heard from the judges as they waited backstage, their lingering worries began to manifest. Even though they knew that the Semi-Finals were going to be a lot tougher, hearing so many ponies receive nines and tens made their hearts start to race. When they looked over at Buck and Twinkle, the colt was trying his hardest to keep his partner optimistic so she wouldn’t get a panic attack.

Oh, great, thought Elusive to himself as he sighed and sat by stadium entrance alongside Blitz, those Hoofingtons got off easy.

If there was any silver lining the unicorn could think of to put himself in higher spirits, it’s that most of the competition before them have indeed chosen upbeat songs like Rainbow predicted. Whether it be a samba to Count Coloratura’s latest pop track, or a waltz to one of Cobalt Coast’s most memorable ballads, the dancers before them certainly knew how to put the audience and judges in high spirits. But despite the high scores most of them have received, with the lowest still being an impressive twenty-four out of thirty, Elusive had a feeling they might stand out quite a bit with their contemporary. Of course, they won’t know until the score cards come up whether or not that detail will be for better or worse.

Blitz was sitting relatively still on the bench beside Elusive, despite how catchy that pop song playing from the stadium was. He’d been paying attention to the judges’ scores as well, and could tell that competition was fierce this round. Granted, this wasn’t even close to the toughest competition he ever endured as a flier, but he still felt fairly worried when the highest score so far was a twenty-eight out of thirty. And since the Hoofingtons were automatically going to the next round with their perfect tens, that meant that only four more spots were open to be eligible for the finals in Canterlot.

But before either of the stallions could dwell any longer on their competition, the two overheard the judges giving their scores to the cha-cha-cha from the couple before them:

“... Nine!”
“... Nine!”
“... NINE!”

Despite how high the scores were, Elusive and Blitz both sighed in slight relief while the crowds cheered in response. As long as it wasn’t another round of perfect tens, they knew they had a chance. Because of that, the two were able to genuinely smile and nod to the two earth pones that came back from the stadium with huge grins on their faces, looking quite pleased with their score of twenty-seven for the time being. Without being asked, both of the Elements got up before the staff-ponies could prompt them to to out to the stage.

Meanwhile out in the stadium, it seemed that the rest of the Elements and the Wonderbolts accumulated themselves into Dusk Shine’s sky-box in preparation for the stallions’ show. Since both groups were cheering for the same ponies anyway, the Prince didn’t mind sharing the space with some top-notch athletes (especially since they brought their own refreshment cart with them). However, due to the crowding of so many ponies in the same space, it wasn’t until Elusive and Blitz came out to the stage that Dusk realized he hadn’t seen Barb in a while.

“What the... “ With the lights dimming outside the sky-box, the Alicorn looked around frantically for the drake. “Barb? Barb!? Oh jeeze, where did she--”

Fortunately, the door to the sky-box opened before the Prince could really start freaking out, and Barb walked into the room wearing a surprisingly small and tight-fitting black dress. She was also wearing quite a bit of makeup, which was probably meant to make her look more mature for her age. However, what it really did was make her look like a miniature doll not meant for children as she sat beside Dusk in one of the plush chairs. “Sorry for the wait,” she replied as she got comfy, not noticing Dusk’s confounded stare on her her new appearance. “I just wanted to look good when the competition is over~”

Before Dusk could throw a fit or order her to take that outfit off, the announcer’s voice overpowered any statement he could try to make. “And for our next couple, we have our first competitors from Ponyville: Elusive and his partner Rainbow Blitz!”

Down at the stage, the two stallions smiled and waved faintly as they walked towards the dance-floor. Even though the two wanted to be glad their status as the only same-sex duo wasn’t mentioned yet again, it was obvious that both of them were growing more nervous about their performance. However, it wasn’t clear which reason was more prominent in the pony’s minds as they stood together in the middle of the stage: the strong competition they had to deal with to win this round, or how deeply personal this performance was going to be for Rainbow Blitz.

As crew-members rolled out the various-colored panes of glass Bubble Berry made, and placed them at different parts of the stage for their performance, Elusive looked over to his partner while biting the inside of his cheek. He hoped that Rainbow wasn’t going to look too apprehensive, or go into a nervous fit reminiscent of his stage-fright back at the Young Fliers Competition. Fortunately, instead of appearing fidgety or uneasy about the dance they were going to perform, the pegasus had his eyes closed while breathing in deeply. He had a hoof over his chest as he got into a clear mindset, getting himself ready for the routine he was determined to do.

Seeing that strong and tranquil pose, Elusive breathed out with a smile as his own nervousness lessened just a tiny bit. His heart may have still been thundering in his chest, but that didn’t stop him from moving into position as the announcer went off the stage. “Performing the first contemporary routine of this round,” shouted the stallion excitedly, while Blitz remained in the middle of the stage with his head and hoof lowered, “here are Elusive and his partner, Rainbow Blitz!”

An enthusiastic round of applause swept across the crowds, especially from the crowded sky-box above the dance-floor. While the Wonderbolts cheered wildly and pumped their hooves in anticipation, Barb was standing up high and hopping up and down on her seat. However, while the other stallions looked cheerful and excited to see what happens, Butterscotch tilted his head curiously when he saw Blitz’s stance under a single spotlight. As the applause died down, the rest of the stadium was completely dimmed, leaving a seemingly-endless void of darkness which emphasized the pegasus’ lone position on his own.

Of course, as soon as the first strums of acoustic guitar began to strum through the darkness, Butterscotch gasped with his hooves other his mouth. It was doubtful that anypony else in the stadium knew how significant the song was, but the yellow stallion did as he watched his friend make those first couple steps under the spotlight.

Like a slow and sorrowful walk towards the abyss, Rainbow walked in a dreamlike-state with his eyes closed during those first few notes. As the spotlight followed him, everypony could see that he was heading straight towards the edge of the stage. Even though it was a relatively small drop of a few feet, ponies were already on edge as he stood on his hind legs and leaned forward. But just as the first bass note of the song emerged, so did Elusive through the darkness to catch Blitz from behind. His hooves came out in an instant and grabbed Rainbow by the wings, taking hold in a flawless motion to ensure he wouldn’t hurt the pegasus.

As soon as Blitz was pulled back from the edge, he leaned back into Elusive’s forelegs and was lifted a couple inches off the ground. His rear hooves glided just barely above the floor as the unicorn held him, spinning across the dance-floor while the spotlight shone on the two stallions. Meanwhile, the rest of the spectators remained silent as they watched the contemporary routine unfold before their eyes.

After a couple of flowing spins, Elusive brought his partner back down, but still had his hooves tightly wrapped around Blitz’s torso. Rainbow’s own hooves came up to cup over his, keeping the two in a tight embrace while on their hind legs. Like the most intimate waltz, the two ponies moved in tandem under the spotlight with the strums of the guitar, their hooves stepping slow and tediously to match the song’s heavy tone.

As soon as the vocals emerged in the song, the stallions’ hooves pulled apart while their bodies remaining close. With Elusive staying tightly bound behind Rainbow Blitz, their steps mirrored one another as they moved in a flowing, effortless motion within the spotlight. Even though Blitz was the stallion in the front as each step was taken, neither of the two ponies looked to be the one in more control; if anything, the two’s movements felt more like a single motion between two bodies. Each sweeping step of their hind legs, and each symmetrical motion of their forelegs in front of Rainbow's body, worked in perfect timing with each melody the song played before the audience. However, even with how flowing and beautiful their dance looked alongside the song’s instrumentals, it was the lyrics of the song itself that were reaching the hearts of the ponies watching.

Butterscotch, who knew Blitz’s full story more than anypony else there, was already tearing up with a hoof tightly cupped over his mouth. But by the time the main chorus came up, and Elusive hoisted up Blitz by his back with his own hooves, their movements combined with the song were getting to more of the crowd with each flawless motion.

Elusive may have not been nearly as athletic at his Wonderbolt partner, but he had plenty of upper-body strength to hold Blitz over his head in the brief couple of seconds the chorus played out. Much like the song, Blitz had his hooves splayed out while the unicorn held him in a slow spinning motion, making the cyan pegasus look like an angel itself under the blinding light above them. When Blitz was lowered back down, he brought his legs back in tightly as Elusive held him to his chest, and his spins became more pronounced on the dance-floor. As soon as the first chorus finished, Blitz was brought back to his hooves effortlessly to dance alongside his partner.

Unlike most of the earlier performers, no ponies tried to clap or cheer whenever Blitz and Elusive pulled off an impressive move. Instead, the stadium was left completely silent as the music continued on, and its macabre melody guided the stallions through each flowing motion in tandem with one another. Like the most sensual ballet, their steps seemed almost weightless as their bare hooves touched the floor without a sound.

The song almost worked as a puppeteer, guiding each sweeping and synchronised step the ponies made underneath the speakers with pinpoint precision. As they danced together, with Elusive holding onto Blitz and guiding him inside the island of light the two were within, the meaning of the song grew more clear with each poetic motion of their bodies. Rainbow kept his eyes closed for most of their routine, letting his body and Elusive’s direction guide him throughout each of the practiced movements the two shared so many times. But even though most of the crowd wasn’t able to get a good look at their faces, Elusive could see how much the pegasus was straining with his eyes clenched tightly shut.

But regardless, each movement he made with the aid of the unicorn was absolutely pristine. His hooves slid effortlessly across the wooden floor, and his poses mirrored Elusive’s identically throughout their synchronised steps. And despite his previous feelings in regards to being the “lead” in their arrangement, Rainbow Blitz didn’t show any signs of objection each time his partner lifted him up and carried him across the stage. He tried to keep his mind blank through his routine, but the song’s lyrics caused his heart to grow heavier and more painful by the time his hooves touched the ground once more.

Flashes of his past started to plague Blitz’s mind, causing him to reopen his eyes to keep from being distracted. But as the song kept playing, and his sights were temporarily blinded by the stage lights, the stunt-pony knew he couldn’t avoid the feelings trying to burst out from within him. Countless times during practice, the pegasus had to pause to keep from breaking down in result of the things running through his head; however, despite how many times it occurred, Blitz never accepted Elusive’s frantic suggestion to do another song, or choose another theme. He knew he had to do this for his sanity’s sake, which prompted his hooves to keep moving just as the guitar solo was about to play.

However, given the set pieces Elusive made for this dance, it seemed that the unicorn was prepared to put that raw emotion to good use. Just like in practice, Rainbow knew just where to go to find the item he needed, which was just at the edge of the stage where no ponies were able to catch it. Unbenounced to most of the staff or dance officials, Elusive made the risky decision to leave a baseball bat just out of sight for his partner to use. And with the guitars about to blare out powerfully, Rainbow took that weapon and ran at full-force towards the glass panes.

Time seemed to move in slow motion for Rainbow Blitz, with each step feeling heavier against the dance-floor with the bat in his hooves. As he ran underneath the spotlight on his own, everything began to boil over in his mind to make his teeth grit in overwhelmed stress. Every painful word, every uncomfortable memory, and every heart-breaking mental image built up tremendously from within, which all came bursting out the instant he swung that bat towards the first pane.

Now out of the spotlight and within the thick veil of darkness, Elusive could only watch tearfully with a hoof over his muzzle as Rainbow Blitz performed his “solo act” before the crowds. The first swing caused a heavy smash which decimated the glass in an instant, causing most of the ponies to jolt and gasp in surprise. Up in the sky-box, Blitz’s friends and fellow fliers watched in silence as he swung repeatedly, having each impact sync up with the guitar’s heavy riffs to accentuate the moment. With each pane that shattered from the bat, raining down shards that the pegasus was somehow able to avoid with his thundering steps, his heart pounded even harder in response. Every feeling of overwhelming pain, sorrow, betrayal and regret came flooding out through his movements, only dissipating by the time the solo ended, and Blitz was left alone with piles of shards all around him.

By then, the guitar went back to the somber acoustic melody that played at the beginning. But now, a second spotlight shone at the other side of the stage where Elusive was. As the faint voice of the vocals played above them from the speakers, Elusive bit his lip while standing in wait before Rainbow. The instant Blitz reopened his eyes, which were now obviously reddened and stemming with tears, he saw the silent and pleading look the unicorn gave him with a hoof extended out.

Come on, Blitz, thought Elusive silently to himself as he waited for his partner to make the final move. I know you can do this! I believe in you Rainbow! I trust you! I… I…

Elusive’s eyes started to widen when he saw how Blitz looked underneath that spotlight, his face heavy with emotion and his macho bravado completely stripped from him. In that split-second he stood alone among the shards of glass and the baseball bat, the unicorn was able to truly see the pony illuminated before him. The pegasus who showed more strength than anyone he ever had the pleasure to know. The stunt-pony who was able to take the heaviest risks for the sake of others. And in that instant Blitz began to run towards him, the spotlight following just as the song began to reach its climax, Elusive’s heart skipped a beat as he realized how he was really feeling; not just trust, or admiration, or even merely… friendship.

The unicorn felt everything move in slow-motion as well, as he saw Rainbow’s gallop end with a strong leap with his hooves directed at him. Despite how close Elusive felt to freezing at the spot, mostly from the revelation that hit him like a bag of bricks, his body instinctively went into the motions they practiced so many times he lost count. As soon as Rainbow came into range, Elusive threw his own hooves up, and pulled his body to the side just as he grabbed Blitz’s forelegs tightly.

As the song hit its finale, the stadium lit up brightly to extinguish the darkness. And in that instant, Elusive was seen swinging Rainbow by his forelegs around the stage. Even though the Wonderbolt spent most of his life fighting gravity with the aid of his wings, the stallion laid completely within Elusive’s grasp as his body swung freely under the vibrant stage-lights. Whether it was the change in lighting, or the fact that the two pulled off such a tricky maneuver after their emotional routine, the audience finally went wild and applauded loudly.

For the last few moments of their dance, Elusive and Blitz were finally smiling wide as they got back on their hooves. Their bodies lept and twirled in perfect unity, moving more energetically with the added illumination they had. As the two broke apart and moved on their own, the focus was on Rainbow Blitz as he moved with utter grace and relief before the stage. When Elusive glanced back at him during his own movements, the only word that could go through his mind in response was… clarity.

Of course, the stallion barely had much time to process that moment as the last couple notes of the song played. The two stallions spun towards one another, and clutched each other strongly as the lights came back down. By the time the song and the lights completely faded away, the two ponies were left completely alone while hugging within the darkness. However, the moment wasn’t completely silent for them, as Rainbow clutched Elusive’s back tightly and sobbed into his shoulder.

Fortunately, Elusive was able to wrap his hooves over Blitz’s head, helping to cover his face from any ponies as the lights came back on. In the instant the two were seen once more, the audience roared in emotional applause. Up in the sky-box, the ponies were going wild in support as they clapped and cheered the two on. Butterscotch, who was still crying in response to his friend’s bravery, kept a warm smile as he saw how strongly Elusive was holding him.

Much like the baseball bat, Elusive had another item stashed nearby which he grabbed with his magic. Before Rainbow could pull away from his shoulder, the unicorn floated over his friend’s trademark sunglasses to slip over his red and puffy eyes. Blitz seemed surprised for a second, stopping his sobs as he pulled away and realized what he had on. But as soon as he saw the warm and supportive smile Elusive was giving him, the pony smiled back and nodded gratefully.

He and Elusive then hugged once more, despite the tears stemming from both of them. However, it seemed that there were very few dry eyes in the house in response to such a deep and heartfelt performance. Even the announcer, who was quite boisterous and excited throughout the first half of this round, was now carrying a tissue to wipe his eyes before saying weakly, “Tha… That was really good, guys. Le… Let’s hear what… the judges have to--”

The judges couldn’t even keep their composure, and already had their scorecards up while using tissues themselves. None of them were able to say anything without choking up, but the thundering applause from the crowds said enough to reflect the scores Elusive and Rainbow Blitz received:

Perfect tens all around.

“YYYEEEAAHHHHH!!!” As soon as they saw the scores, Rainbow yelled out in victory and lifted up his partner to spin him around with glee. “BUCK YEAHHHHH!!!”

Elusive was just as relieved and elated as his friend, but he could only smule wide and hug him back while being spun in his embrace. He wanted to say something in response to Blitz’s euphoric reaction, but nothing could come to mind that he wanted to say out loud. Instead, the unicorn could only remain silent and savor the moment, while also trying to come to terms with how he was feeling. He didn’t want to admit it (especially not now of all times), but that moment he felt during their dance ignited a spark he tried to avoid for so long. It was the same thing he felt while comforting Blitz from his inner demons, and again when they were dancing just the previous night.

Hugging him tightly, Elusive tried his hardest not to cry while in Rainbow Blitz’s hooves. Despite the wide smile he carried across his muzzle, the stallion only had it up as a mask to conceal the looming fear that was manifesting from how he was feeling. After all the time he spent with his friend, and growing closer with each moment they shared, he couldn’t deny the reason for his heart pounding any longer. As tears continued to come out from his clenched eyes, Elusive could only think of one thing while so close to Rainbow Blitz:

I…

I’m…

I’m in love.

Author's Note

I just want to express my deepest thanks to everyone who's been reading and following this story so far. This story really means a lot to me, and this specific chapter was something I was wanting to write for a while. The scene of their contemporary routine, and especially the song they used, were one of the most important things I wanted to use in this fic, and it means a lot that I was able to finally do it.

Just as a little tidbit, I had two alternate song choices I could've gone for their contemporary. The first was Kesha's Praying (which I absolutely love and what my editor was rooting for), but I felt the song's message as kinda the opposite of Hear You Me, and I wasn't sure if it was appropriate for Rainbow's moment of closure. The other option I could've gone for was Lukas Graham's You're Not There, but I felt that song wasn't as subtle or slow enough to work for a contemporary dance.

Either way, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I did writing it. :heart:

Chapter Twenty-Five: During the Intermission

The thundering applause that roared through the crowds sounded like something from Rainbow Blitz’s most electrifying Wonderbolt shows, and it was far from diminishing long after those tens were given by the judges. Due to how emotional and satisfying their routine was, the two stallions wanted to feel absolutely ecstatic for the stellar scores that guaranteed them a spot in the Canterlot Finals. However, despite the praises and cheers they heard while walking to the backstage area, neither of the two were able to really bask in the moment of their first major victory. For Rainbow Blitz, the internal strain he experienced from performing something so personal left him feeling just as raw as the soreness under his hooves; and as for Elusive, he was still reeling over the chilling realization he had out on that dance floor with the pegasus.

However, while their performance was absolutely stellar, the mood of the crowds soon turned to disappointment when they realized what else those stallions left behind: the massive mess of broken glass on the dance-floor that temporarily halted the competition. Even though Bubble Berry’s sugar-made glass wasn’t nearly as dangerous to step on as the real thing, it would still take at least fifteen minutes to clean up completely before allowing the next dancers to use it. Most of the audience groaned after hearing the announcer explain the situation, but the acts that were supposed to follow were honestly a little relieved to get some extra time for practice. While custodial staff went to work, and the ENDC representatives tried to search the stadium for those dancers and chew them out for that unplanned safety hazard, the two silently went their separate ways without even looking at each other.

Elusive wanted to say something to Blitz the instant they got backstage, but the two were given a standing ovation from the competition before he could get the chance. Since most of the fellow dancers were able to see their contemporary routine through the aid of a magic feed, they were just as touched as the audience outside; in fact, Apple Buck had to leave and collect himself elsewhere due to the song choice they used. The unicorn decided to go the polite route and give his thanks to the ponies who came to congratulate them; however, Rainbow couldn’t even last a minute before excusing himself from the area. His sunglasses may have still been on, but Elusive could see the trails of tears streaming down the pegasus’ cheeks as he speed-walked out of the room to be alone.

The unicorn hated to admit it, especially after knowing so much about his friend, but he was slightly grateful that Rainbow left so soon. With each hoof he shook, and every nod of his head while thanking the other dancers for their kind words, Elusive’s mind became more clouded by that blunt truth which was plaguing his mind. He tried to keep appearances with his natural-looking smile, but the white stallion’s composure lasted only a little longer than his partner had before leaving as well. Elusive had no idea where Blitz went, but he hoped it was the opposite direction he went as he rushed towards the sky boxes.

Oh god, thought the unicorn with his bottom lip being bitten down hard between his teeth. Why in Tartatus did this have to happen to me?! Why NOW?! Ugh… I need to find Butterscotch. More than anything else, I need to talk to him...

Elusive reached the stairway that lead to the higher floors, but had to pause while leaning against one of the railings. He clenched his eyes shut as his hooves tensed up against the metal bars. Even though his muzzle was wrinkled in a strong grimace, the unicorn took multiple deep breaths through his nostrils to keep from sobbing in fear. While his body shook involuntarily in his frozen state, all that Elusive could focus on were the six words running through his head. He wanted more than anything to forget what he was thinking, or to merely pretend it wasn’t true, but tears were just barely being held back at the corners of his strained eyes as they rang clear as day in his troubled mind:

I’m… I’m in love… with Rainbow Blitz…

Elusive felt the slightest bit of gratitude for being alone as those first couple of sobs escaped his muzzle. Unfortunately, the way that they echoed so audibly within the stairwell just made him feel worse while trying to overcome his anguish. He wasn’t sure how long it took for him to finally come down from his panic-induced moment, but he could only hope that Rainbow wasn’t going through anything similarly traumatic after that dance. However, as soon as that blasted stallion reemerged in his frazzled mind, it took everything in Elusive not to groan in frustration before storming up the stairs.

Up in the crowded sky box, things were going in full-swing after seeing the stallions get perfect tens. While the Wonderbolts began to drink heavily in celebration, and Barb went elsewhere to try and re-apply her ruined makeup, Dusk and the others had a pre-emptive toast in celebration of their friends’ performance. However, despite enjoying his glass of champagne, Butterscotch was trying his hardest not to appear too overwhelmed after seeing such a sincere and moving performance from Blitz and Elusive. Regardless of how red his eyes became from his tears earlier, Butterscotch looked rather content after witnessing such a beautiful moment that transpired before everyone down on the dance-floor. After enjoying his glass, he went to sit down in one of the plush chairs to take a few breaths; even though he wanted to rush down to the backstage area and find those two for some much-needed congratulations, he wanted to wait until the fur on his face had dried up first.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen soon enough when he heard the door open, and a round of applause erupted in the sky box. Elusive, who wasn’t expecting to see his friends and the Wonderbolts in the same confined area, jolted quite a bit when he walked into the room. If any of the other Elements besides Butterscotch were to take notice of the unicorn’s reddened eyes or his lip-bitten expression, they might’ve been able to see how forcefully his smile spread across his muzzle. However, since both sky boxes had their minibars promptly raided (mostly to keep Bubble Berry from violating his probation and getting any more booze) the ivory stallion was greeted to a large group of overly excited, and blissfully unaware ponies who wanted to celebrate his win.

“Congratulations!” shouted Dusk Shine as he hugged the blushing unicorn first, making sure to give him an especially tight squeeze before pulling back to add, “I mean, that was an amazing routine! If you keep that up, you and Blitz are a sure bet to win!”

“Darn tootin!” piped Applejack while holding a bottle of hard ale in celebration. Most of his family (as well as Twinkle Toes’) were down in the audience, but the orange stallion was clearly taking advantage of the Sky Box’s amenities during the forced intermission. He tried to keep his smile warm and carefree for Elusive’s sake, but it wrinkled a little as he looked away and added shakily, “It was… really well-done.”

Elusive already knew of Applejack’s past, and how eerily similar certain elements were to Rainbow Blitz’s, so he didn’t need to say anything in clarification to how emotional the farmer looked in that moment. Starshine, who was standing beside AJ, gave him a couple warm pats on the back in assurance. “Well, thank you, Applejack,” said Elusive with a more natural smile on his face. “Although, I think Rainbow Blitz should be the one to give thanks to. He’s the one who chooses the music, remember?”

“Oh yeah…” AJ pursed his lips briefly while recalling that as part of Blitz and Elusive’s agreement. After exhaling with a small nod, he smiled back at his ivory friend and said, “Well, Ah guess Ah will then.”

After pulling his hoof away from Applejack’s back, Starshine noticed that only one dancer came through the door. One of his brows raised as he asked, “So, uhhh… where is Blitz? Shouldn’t he be up here too?”

“Did he get hurt from that broken glass?” asked Dusk Shine with a cautious look on his face. “I mean, there were a lot of shards out there, right?”

“Don’t worry!” chirped Bubble Berry while hopping up and down in one of the lush chairs like a caffeinated kid. “That glass is made of sugar, and suuuuuuper hard to cut yourself on!”

“Precisely,” stated Elusive as he tried to divert the discussion away from the dance itself. Although, achieving that goal successfully would probably be more difficult than getting a mucus stain out of freshly-pressed suede. Alas, the stallion still took a breath and answered the main question with, “Also, I think Rainbow just needed some time to cool down. It was a… very emotional performance for the both of us.”

All of the ponies nodded silently in understanding (especially Applejack, who took off his Stetson for a moment to hold against his chest and sigh), with none of them wanting to ask too much about the details of how that routine came to be. Fortunately, most of the ponies kept fairly positive attitudes and chipper smiles regardless. By that point, it was clear that the Wonderbolts wanted to chime in as the Captain handed Elusive a glass of champagne in celebration “Well,” said Flamethrower while holding a miniature bottle of schnapps in the air with his other hoof, “if you happen to see him before me, let him know that we’re all really proud of him.”

“Hear hear!” said Soaring in agreement while holding a miniature shot of her own. After the two tapped their drinks together, they shouted “To Ditz!” in unison before downing their shots. Elusive may have disliked how the Wonderbolts held on to that nickname for his dancing partner, but he still smiled warmly when he saw how much those fliers cared about him. The feeling of contentment began to make his heart swell a little, but the action also triggered the unicorn’s reminder of how he felt about Rainbow himself. His smile became much harder to keep shown on his muzzle, and he had to look down at the floor while breathing heavily through his flared nostrils. Elusive also turned away from his friends while he downed his glass rather quickly.

That look caught Butterscotch’s attention more than anything else, and he quickly wiped his cheeks dry and got out of his seat. Meanwhile, Bubble Berry jumped out of his chair as well while saying optimistically, “You know where I think Blitzy is? I bet he’s looking for a place to get a hoof massage as a reward for kicking so much contemporary butt!”

“Wait, does he REALLY do that?!” gawked Flamethrower in a surprised and slightly slurred tone. After downing one too many of those travel-sized bottles of liquor, the orange-maned pegasus looked rather tipsy while pointing at Berry and laughing. “I KNEW it! There’s no WAY a pony like him could have such soft little hooves~”

A couple members of the Wonderbolt team glanced over at their Captain with weirded out looks. Fortunately, it was Applejack who was the first to ask with narrowed eyes, “Uhhh… why were ya starin’ at his hooves long enough ta know that?”

“Uh… ummm… shut up!”

While the commotion in the sky box began to deviate away from Elusive temporarily, Butterscotch moved around all the ponies with silent ease to get close to the unicorn. He could tell that Elusive seemed flustered or upset about something, despite how convincing his faux-smile may have looked to ponies who would only pay attention for three seconds or less. But since Butterscotch saw that look for much longer, he was able to look around for a moment before whispering close to the unicorn’s ear, “Ummm… Elusive? Are you and Rainbow Blitz alright?”

Elusive whipped his head back from Butterscotch’s in surprise, with his fretful expression being enough of an answer for the meek pegasus. While conversations began to diverge towards other ponies in the background (mostly towards Flamethrower), Elusive blinked a couple times with a withheld wince before looking away from his friend. Meanwhile, Applejack seemed to be the only pony to catch notice of the two talking privately, and raised a brow in suspicion while overhearing them speak.

“Elusive… what happened?”

“Nothing! Nothing happened,” snapped the unicorn far too quickly in a discrete tone.

“You better not lie to me. You promised me you wouldn’t--”

“It’s not like that, Butterscotch! I just… I was…”

“... You were what?”

“I don’t know! I… I…” After rubbing his temple with a hoof and clenching his eyes shut briefly, Elusive huffed and pouted in frustrated apprehension. “Listen, I… I really needed to talk to you about something. Could we… go somewhere more private?”

Seeing how distraught Elusive looked in that brief moment, Butterscotch widened his eyes before looking around again. “Oh, ummm… a-absolutely,” he whispered back to his friend. “You still know your spell, right?”

“The soundproofing one? Yes.”

“Okay, ummm… let’s go to the corner of the hall.”

As the two quickly left the room with utmost discretion, Applejack was the only pony who seemed to have noticed them. Everypony else were either enjoying their amenities in the sky box, or questioning Flamethrower about his unfortunate choice of words. Even though the farmer wanted to follow them and see what was going on, he had a feeling it wasn’t any of his business. So instead, AJ sighed with a shrug, and hoped nothing too big occurred while turning his attention back to the Wonderbolt Captain. “Guys, I swear to Solaris!” shouted Flamethrower quite angrily, “I don’t have a bucking hoof fetish!”

Fortunately for the ponies inside the sky box, Barb had just finished powdering herself up in the restroom down the hall. As she stepped out of the ladies’ room with a freshly-painted face, she grunted for a second while pulling the tight skirt of her dress down her thighs fully. She wasn’t going to say a word about her discomfort to Dusk Shine, but she secretly wished she picked something less provocative to impress Elusive with. However, the instant she stepped out into the hallway to go back to the sky box, she paused when she saw her crush and Butterscotch at a nearby corner.

Neither of the stallions seemed to notice the curious drake, and Elusive sighed before making a sound-bubble over himself and Butterscotch. The yellow pegasus bit his lip in response to how hesitant his friend looked, but kept his composure in check for the unicorn’s sake. “So… Elusive?” he asked in a faint and cautious tone of voice. “Ummm… what were you wanting to tell me?”

Barb wasn’t able to read lips, nor was she able to get a good look at either of the ponies’ faces behind the shaded magic of that sound-bubble. However she was able to notice how low Elusive’s head sank before his friend, like he was looking guilty about something big. She also saw Butterscotch reach out with a hoof and place it on top of the stallion’s shoulder, before leaning his muzzle in to say something. And judging by the way Elusive nodded his head so timidly, it seemed like whatever his friend said was something that he needed to hear.

About a minute passed before Barb saw any other movement within that sound-bubble. She wasn’t sure what Elusive was so worried about saying, but he remained in that hunched-down position for way longer than expected. After seeing Butterscotch move his head a little while saying something else, the unicorn’s back arched up slightly like he was taking a breath. As soon as his back settled back down, he finally said something. The dragon had no idea what it was, but it was apparently enough to make Butterscotch gasp and jolt back against the sound-bubble rather strongly.

The last thing Rainbow Blitz wanted to do was break down again, especially after performing such a difficult act to literal perfection. Of course, considering how raw and personal that routine was, and the fact that he did it in front of thousands of ponies (as well as all his friends), he was mostly happy to keep himself in control in the backstage area. Unfortunately, by the time he finally broke free from everypony to get some personal space, he was struggling not to start sobbing uncontrollably when he was halfway to the men’s room.

Rainbow had no idea how long he locked himself in that bathroom, but he honestly couldn’t care after finishing his routine and getting everything out of his system. Instead of worrying about Elusive or anypony else, all the pegasus could do was cover his face while sitting in the corner of the porcelain-tiled room and bawling his head off. After all the time he spent ignoring how he felt about his loss, it felt like a miracle that he was able to actually pull off his performance, while also feeling some form of closure from everything that transpired. Instead of worrying about his past mistakes, or those venomous words that triggered him since Las Pegasus, he just let himself cry out all his frustration in what felt like a final purge of emotion. He wasn’t sure if anypony could hear him from outside, but the room’s tiny size certainly echoed every sob to make it louder than it probably was.

By the time he was finally finished, Blitz used the sink to thoroughly wash his face. His eyes were still red after drying his fur, but his sunglasses were dark enough to easily conceal that after putting them on. He took a few deep breaths while looking at himself, hoping that any natural-looking smile which stared back at him would be an adequate-enough mask for today. The Wonderbolt ran his hoof through his spiky mane a couple times, which honestly helped bring his heartrate down and feel more relaxed.

Unfortunately, his heart shot right back up after hearing several frantic knocks at the bathroom door. “Uhhhh, hello?! I… I really need to use the bathroom!”

“Oh! Shit…” Rainbow quickly went to make his leave, almost forgetting he was in a public restroom instead of a private one. As soon as he unlocked the door and opened it, Derek Hoofington rushed inside in an instant. Blitz could tell that he probably didn’t wanna stay for long, and left the restroom just before the tan unicorn slammed the door behind him. Of course, before he could ponder whether or not the dancer was waiting outside the bathroom for too long (or if he overheard anything), Rainbow was greeted to the sight of Julianne Hoofington leaned against the wall opposite the doorway.

“Oh hey, Blitz!” chirped the mare quite happily as she pulled herself from the wall. “We were wondering where you went off to! Derek and I were worried the competition representatives got a hold of you.”

“Huh?” He tilted his head in confusion, clearly not registering that he or Elusive could’ve gotten in trouble for the broken glass still being cleaned out in the stadium. However, before he could realize what she was referring to, Rainbow looked away from her and rubbed the back of his mane while saying, “N-No, ummm… I was just freshening up a bit…”

Julianne didn’t say anything for a moment, but it was clear from her skewed muzzle that she knew he wasn’t being totally honest. Of course, considering what she and her brother saw, she knew better than to pick at whatever open wound the pegasus was tending to. So instead, the mare shrugged and said assuredly, “Well, just so you know, we didn’t hear anything from out here. And this hallway isn’t used much anyway, so I doubt any other ponies could've either.”

“Wait, I never said any…” Before he could finish his defensive statement, Rainbow’s words trailed off when he realized he’d only be hinting that something was up. Plus, even if he did try to retort, he doubted that Julianne would be gullible enough to buy it. She seemed like a pretty chill competitor, and he doubted she would try to lie or mess around with him. So instead, the stallion sighed before glancing back at her to say “Well, ummm… thanks for letting me know that.”

“No problem,” she replied with a tender smile, which Blitz had to admit was pretty damn cute. Her pearly-whites then shone to their full potential when she smiled even wider and added, “Oh! And congratulations on your contemporary routine! Derek and I were watching backstage, and it was amazing! I know you said before that you had no dance training before all this, but you would’ve fooled me! I hope you treat Elusive to dinner or something.”

“Oh come on,” replied Rainbow while scratching the back of his neck with a small blush on his cheeks. With the way he looked away from the chipper mare in a bashful manner, it almost seemed like he was channeling his inner Butterscotch. After chuckling a little in embarrassment, Blitz replied with a shrug, “Well, I usually do anyway. But uhh… thanks, Julianne. I kinda wish I saw your dance.”

“Oh, it’s fine,” she said assuredly with a wave of her hoof. “Not many ponies backstage pay much attention to the first dance anyway. It’s way too stressful to really focus, you know? Plus, I’m sure you’ll find a recording somewhere after the show is over.”

“Oh, definitely,” replied Blitz with a nod. “I’m pretty sure Dusk or Starshine might have one. But still, I… I’m really happy you and your brother got tens too. Especially after last week.”

That reminder made Julianne sigh with her smile temporarily dropped. Fortunately, that only lasted a second before she shrugged and replied optimistically, “Well, sometimes unicorn magic kinda acts instinctually. I mean, I was mad, but it wasn’t like I was gonna stay mad at Derek forever.”

“Well that’s good to know,” said Blitz before motioning to the bathroom door, “although it kinda seemed different when you had him dress as a butler.”

“Hey, It could’ve gone a loooot worse!” Julianne giggled cheekily, clearly thinking about some of the mischievous ideas she originally wanted to try on her brother. But instead of listing any of those, she decided to say with a shrug, “But seriously though, that tango was definitely the best choice, regardless of costume. And honestly, I… kinda feel like I should thank you guys for that.”

“Really?” asked Blitz with a tilt of his head in confusion. “Uhhh… how’s that?”

“Well, you two did technically get the highest scores last week with that glam-rock routine,” she noted with a cheeky smile. “Plus, Derek and I aren’t squares or anything! We were considering adding a little rock to our routine, but we were always unsure how it would be received out on the dance-floor. But after you guys did it and got a ten, well… I kinda figured ‘Why not?’ and convinced him to try that track.”

“Wait, seriously?” he asked with an impressed smirk. “That’s… actually really awesome! Thanks!” He made sure to give her a hoof-bump for that, not expecting the mare to say something so unexpected.

“Hey, I should be thanking you,” said Julianne after reciprocating that bump proudly. “It’s not often that stallions like you agree to do these things, and I always respect ponies for breaking gender norms. You’re actually a lot like my brother in that way.”

“Well, hopefully not too much like him,” replied Blitz in a more playful tone, even though it didn’t seem like he realized how that could’ve came out from Julianne’s perspective. After a second or two, the mare giggled a little as a small blush grew on her cheeks.

“Wellllll, I suppose not, Mister Blitz. I just mean that you’re about as brave as Derek was when he started. He was actually the one who wanted to try dancing when we were kids, and I ended up joining him so he wouldn’t get bullied so hard. After a while, you tend to stick up for the little guys out there. Kinda like how you and Elusive are doing that here.”

Blitz smiled a lot more naturally, almost feeling confident enough to take off his sunglasses and talk with her normally. However, at knowing his eyes were still probably redder than Butterscotch’s after a “therapy session” with Day-Tripper, he instead just shrugged and replied, “Well, it’s not like Elusive and I don’t deal with crap for performing together. I mean, it is pretty cool we have so many fans who are inspired by us and stuff, but it’s not like the two of us are like, a couple or anything. It’s kinda frustrating when ponies don’t realize we’re more like…”

The stunt-pony wasn’t sure what to say, but his words froze for a while as he stood in slight puzzlement. Even with this charming and stunning mare smiling back at him, Rainbow wasn’t sure how to properly word how his relationship with Elusive could be defined. He could’ve easily just said they were friends and be done with it, but that felt a bit too cheap considering all they went through. He wasn’t sure how to define himself and Elusive at that moment, but just saying he was a ‘friend’ didn’t feel right; especially considering how hard his heart thumped in his chest at thinking about him.

Of course, that was probably just because of how much the unicorn helped him recently. All of his Element and Wonderbolt friends were irreplaceable, but Elusive was really going above and beyond since they began dancing together. And after all that occured since the previous night, and during the week before that, it wasn’t long before he bit his lip and glanced down at the floor. “Ummm… we’re like…”

After another moment of pregnant silence, Julianne raised a brow and tried to finish his statement with, “... like a team?”

“Yeah!” spouted Blitz with his brows raised. That word didn’t feel exactly right, but it felt better than just a 'friend'. Plus, given how they’ve been doing so much physical stuff, a teammate felt way more appropriate. He quickly looked back up at Julianne and nodded with a grateful smile. “Exactly, like a team! Thanks, J!”

She raised a brow while smirking at that nickname, but then giggled with a small wave of her hoof in dismissal. “Oh, it’s fine. I gotta say though, I never pegged you two as being a ‘couple’ anyway.”

“Yeah, thanks…” Blitz began to blush a little deeper as his head craned away from her briefly. “Honestly, I… I can’t say I regret being Elusive’s dancing partner, but… it’s kinda hard to have ponies believe we’re not gay or anything.”

“Well, I can believe it,” she noted with a growing smirk, her blue eyes peering quite obviously at Blitz’s glasses. Even though her friendly smile remained, her tone of voice started to border between friendliness and flirtation when she added, “I mean… I’m honestly surprised you don’t have mares lining up at every Wonderbolts show for a chance to ask you out.”

“Hey, I could say the same about you,” retorted Blitz with a smirk of his own, as well as a couple perks from his brows that popped-out above his shades.

“Well, I am in the dancing industry, remember? Not many guys who are fans of Derek and I consider me their type, if you catch my drift.”

“Ah, good point,” he said with a shrug, not wanting to contest that detail with her. Instead, their smiles became warmer while glancing at each other so kindly. After thinking it over for a second, Rainbow bit the bullet and decided to answer her earlier comment. “Well, as for me, I… I guess it’s just kinda hard to find someone worth the time, you know? After all the Wonderbolt performances, and also my Element work for the crown, I guess I… kinda don’t have a lot of free time.”

“I can see that,” answered the mare with an understanding nod. “If you don’t mind me asking though… do you and Elusive have anything planned tonight?”

“Ummm… I don’t know if we do right now, but… I’m sure either Elusive or Dusk will plan something to celebrate those tens we got.”

“And you should,” she replied with a smirk before poking his chest playfully. “Buuuuuttt, how about this? Derek and I were planning to go out to this new club in the upper-side called Electro. It’s supposed to be like, the biggest hot-spot in the city right now! There’s also a lot of great restaurants up there, and I’m sure either of us could get a table or two without needing a reservation. If you and Elusive are up for it, we’d be honored to have you two join us. You know, as a shared celebration of our 'awesomeness,' as you'd word it.”

“Wow, really?” he asked with a surprised, but still thankful smile on his face. Even though he and any of the Elements could easily get those things on their own due to their statuses, it still felt special to have someone like Julianne offer him and Elusive that chance anyway. Plus, with the way she was smiling at him while giving those half-lidded eyes, Blitz had a good feeling what she else was interested in. His blush deepened a little more, even though his heart wasn’t beating as hard as it did earlier. After a couple seconds of silence, the stunt-pony quickly put his hoof out in acceptance. “You know what? I'll gladly accept that! Thank you.”

“Hey, it’s not a problem.” She then shook his hoof in agreement, and shot him a wink as she added, “I’m just glad to get a chance to know you better.”

“As do I,” said Blitz in return, keeping a smile similar to hers. He may have felt the slightest twinge of something uncomfortable, but it was easy to ignore that after all that dancing. As soon as their hooves pulled away, the bathroom door finally opened with Derek walking out with a heavy breath.

“Don’t… Don’t go in there for a while,” he groaned tiredly as he walked away from them, clearly too tired to notice their possible chemistry. Of course, his interruption did make the two pause for a second with skewed muzzles.

“Well… that killed the moment,” said Blitz with a chuckle.

Julianne giggled as well, but shrugged as she went to check on her brother, “Well, we’ll just have to bring it back tonight, won’t we?~”

Rainbow laughed and shot a smile back at her with a nod. “Absolutely. I’ll see you tonight!”

As he waved her goodbye, that twinge came back a little stronger at seeing her return the gesture. Of course, despite the notable discomfort he felt, Blitz still felt pretty alright by the time she disappeared, and he went to find his own dancing partner. After taking off his shades and hanging them from the collar of his shirt, the pegasus hopped into a nearby elevator to head up to the sky boxes.

“Ooooh baby~” he purred with an antsy shudder while alone in the elevator. “Looks like Ditz got himself a date tonight~”

Chapter Twenty-Six: Shake It Off

“Are you serious?!” asked Butterscotch while staring at Elusive wide-eyed. Even though the last thing he wanted to do was fluster the unicorn any more than he already was, hearing him say such an unexpected confession made it difficult to keep his jaw from hitting the floor. Regardless, Butterscotch was able to take a calming breath before clarifying in a more withheld tone of voice, “I mean… Do you really think that you’re… you know…”

Elusive may have been able to keep his sound-bubble active while he and his friend were inside of it, but he wasn’t sure how when he could barely keep himself or his magic together. His head was hung low while sitting on the ground, and it took everything in him to keep from tearing up at what he admitted. Alas, despite how badly his muscles tensed up to avoid breaking down, Elusive managed to breathe out in a deep (albeit shaky) exhale as he said, “I… I really think I am…”

After that, the white stallion sniffed as he clenched his eyes shut, knowing he couldn’t keep himself from crying for much longer. Butterscotch’s eyes widened when he realized that as well, but he didn’t hesitate to lean in and give his friend a much deserved-hug. A couple hiccuped breaths came out through his nostrils, but Elusive soon started to sob while his muzzle was pressed in tightly against the pegasus’ shoulder. In all the books and movies he watched growing up, a confession of love was usually a joyous occasion meant for celebration or relief; of course, none of those examples tried to dabble into the possibility of falling for a best friend of the same gender, or during a crucially athletic team-based tournament.

“Ssshhhhhh… It’s okay, Elusive,” assured Butterscotch in a sweet and sincere whisper while hugging him securely. Even as he felt the unicorn’s back arch repeatedly against his hooves, the yellow stallion kept a tight grip as he said, “It’s alright… I promise you, there’s nothing wrong with feeling that way.”

“Tha…” Elusive tried to speak up through Butterscotch’s shoulder, but his voice came out in a strained creak. After a strong huff, he pulled himself away from the pegasus’ hug while wiping his cheeks with a hoof. “Th-that’s easy for you to say! But I… I can’t believe I’m actually feeling like that! And… and for HIM, nonetheless!”

“There’s nothing wrong with that!” Butterscotch repeated in a more insistent tone. He tried to grab the unicorn’s hooves as he added, “Elusive, you should know better than most ponies that you can’t choose who you grow feelings for! It just happens! Just like in your romance novels!”

“Oh, this isn’t a bucking novel, Butterscotch!” Elusive exhaled sharply as he threw his hooves aside looked away from him. He could barely even cringe at using that expletive so brashly, but he then said after taking another breath, “I… I just wanted to be a good friend for Rainbow Blitz! And I thought I was by helping him out with his issues! But… But now that we’re so close, it’s like… I just feel like I latched onto him like some colt who found a sick puppy or something!”

Even though he knew what Elusive was trying to say with that comparison, hearing him say something that insensitive was enough to make Butterscotch scowl strongly in response. Meanwhile, Elusive kept ranting while tearing up and looking down at the floor. “I mean… what’s wrong with me?! I wanted to help him, and instead I ended up like this! Like… I’m not upset because he’s a stallion or anything. I’ve always been open-minded about those sorts of things, but I… I can’t believe this happened now! During THIS!!”

“Elusive,” said Butterscotch as he tried to calm him down, “you’re not--”

“I mean, do I just have some affliction with falling for ponies I shouldn’t fall for?! Was I like this when I had feelings for Princess Bluebelle!? Or Trendy Hooves!? Rainbow is one of my best friends, I can’t just be placing him on the same pedestal as those two!”

“Elusive, you--”

“And of all the friends it had to have been, it just HAD to be Mister ‘No Homo’ Rainbow Blitz?! He won’t even share a drinking straw with any of us, and I had to fall in love with HIM?! What the buck am I thinking?!? I might as well try Prench-kissing a cactus!”

“Elusive!”

“Oh my gosh, what will this do to US?! What if this changes the Elements or something!? I mean, aren’t they bonded by our friendship? What if love affects it negatively?! What if this breaks my bond with Blitz?! Do they ALL cancel out because of that!?! Oh Sweet Solaris, I JUST DESTROYED THE ELEMENTS, DIDN’T I?!?”

SMACK!!!

Barb may have not been able to hear that slap Butterscotch delivered to his hysterical friend (or even see it too well through the clouded wall of Elusive’s magic), but the obvious motions she did see were more than enough to make her mouth gape open. Since nopony else were in the halls yet, the drake could only speak to herself while shaking her head with an angered look. “Oh… he better have not…”

Meanwhile inside the bubble, Butterscotch looked absolutely mortified with himself after doing something so unlike him. Granted, Elusive certainly needed something drastic to snap himself out of his rant (and it wasn’t like the pegasus had a glass of water to splash on his face or anything). Unfortunately, it didn’t feel worth it after seeing that pained and shocked reaction gawking back at him. Several seconds of deathly silence passed, with Butterscotch struggling to ponder whether to keep going assertively or to apologize profusely. Elusive was the one to finally break the silence while rubbing his right cheek.

“... OW!!!”

“I’m sorry!” blurted the yellow stallion with both hooves up in assurance, “I am SO sorry I did that! I really am!” Before he could apologize any further than needed, Butterscotched huffed and regrew his stern expression. “But you can NOT be acting like this! And you especially can’t be talking down about yourself or Blitz for how you feel! Rainbow is your friend, and you should be lucky you fell for someone as devoted and special as him!”

It took Elusive a moment to actually reply, still reeling over being smacked like the dame in some outdated black-and-white film. However, after actually processing what Butterscotch said, the unicorn clenched his eyes shut and winced in realization that his friend was right. He may have been undoubtedly unnerved by his emotions, but that was no excuse to be mad-mouthing himself or the stallion he cared so deeply about. After letting out a deep and calming exhale, Elusive finally reopened his eyes and nodded feebly up at the pegasus. “Y… You’re right, Butterscotch. I… I need to keep myself together, shouldn’t I?”

Butterscotch nodded softly while biting his lip, hopeful that Elusive wouldn’t chastise him for that slap. Fortunately, the unicorn kept his tongue in check as he took another breath and asked, “B-But… what am I supposed to do? I mean… I certainly can’t say anything, can I?”

Despite hating secrecy, especially among friends, the yellow stallion felt compelled to shake his head apprehensively to Elusive’s answer. “Well, maybe not right now…”

Before the unicorn could lower his head and sigh painfully, Butterscotch added while pointing at him, “But! I really don’t think you should be so hesitant about letting him know ever! I mean… he is single. And… it’s not like he hasn’t surprised us before.”

Elusive wanted to appreciate his friend’s optimism, but that answer made him openly scoff with a roll of his eyes. “Oh, come on!” he chided with a skeptical glare back at the pegasus. “You can’t seriously believe that he wouldn’t freak out if I were to tell him how I felt, do you?! It was hard enough just getting him to dance with me!”

“That may be so, but he did agree to it!”

“Only because he haaaa…” Elusive quickly paused his retort upon remembering the circumstances, and realizing how ugly things would go if he were to say anything more. Not wanting to break Blitz’s promise, the white stallion sighed and kept himself from mentioning Dusk’s involvement in their deal. “... Ummm… Let’s just say that… the reasons for him agreeing are strictly private. Like… Bubble Berry levels.”

“Ah.” Even though he was curious what his friend was going to say, Butterscotch knew enough about a Bubble Berry Promise to understand the ramifications of breaking it. Probation or not, Elusive would probably get in serious trouble with the pink stallion if he found out about a promise being broken. “Well… I’ll just assume he had a good reason.”

“He did,” assured Elusive with great insistence. “But… that doesn’t change the fact that I don’t think he’d take to something like… this…” The unicorn cringed after emphasizing that vague description without repeating the details. “... with any kind of positive reaction...”

As Elusive’s head hung low while sulking in thought, Butterscotch waited another moment before taking a breath to say, “Well… I’d like to stay optimistic on the matter. I mean… friends grow feelings all the time, don’t they? And…”

It was at that moment that the pegasus began to blush a little. He paused for a second before glancing away from Elusive with a more bashful expression. “And it’s not like… our Elements would become obsolete if two of the bearers got together...”

Not catching his friend’s feeble tone of voice, Elusive merely huffed as he looked back up at him. “Oh, really? And how would you know that?”

As soon as he asked that question, the unicorn’s brows raised as he saw how red Butterscotch’s face became. The yellow stallion bit his lips tightly as he kept his composure in check, and it took a long moment before he replied, “Be… Because if… if it did, then… th-then we would’ve known a while ago…”

Elusive’s muzzle gaped open in shock, not needing any clarification to realize what his friend was trying to confess. And judging by how heavy Butterscotch’s blush became, it seemed that he didn’t learn that from an outside perspective. “R… Really?! Y… You mean…”

Butterscotch closed his eyes with a shaky exhale and nodded hesitantly. “It’s… it’s not exactly love, but… yeah. I’ve done some things, and… it hasn’t affected our Elements yet…”

The unicorn gawked even more in astonishment, and he couldn’t resist asking in a stunned tone of voice, “Wait, who is it?!”

“I’m not telling you,” stated Butterscotch in a surprisingly firm tone the instant that question was asked. He immediately stared back at Elusive sternly and added, “All I’ll say is that we’re not coltfriends. We’re just…” His composure buckled a little as he blushed even deeper and glanced away from his friend with a meager shrug, “We’re kinda… friends with benefits…”

“... Huh…” Elusive had to blink a couple times, needing a moment to process that Butterscotch of all ponies (as well as an unnamed Element) indulged in something that casual. Even though he was rather impressed, as well as curious about who the mystery stallion may be, the unicorn decided to let any further prodding remain silent as he said, “Well… Okay then. I suppose that extinguishes my ‘Elements in danger’ worry quite nicely…”

That caused the two stallions to chuckle weakly within the sound bubble, happy that the awkwardness from earlier was fading rather quickly. After taking another breath, Butterscotch was the first to speak up as he said assuredly, “But, ummm… I really don’t think you should be so dismissive about Rainbow Blitz. I mean, I know he can be a bit headstrong about his masculinity, but… that doesn’t mean he would hate you if he knew you loved him.”

Elusive couldn’t help wincing uncomfortably when he heard how casually Butterscotch used the ‘L’ word out loud. Alas, he also took a calming breath as he realized his friend was probably right. Rainbow may have been the living definition of ‘Bro-Tier’ insecurity, but he also just performed one of the most sensual and beautiful contemporary performances the unicorn had ever seen. And after seeing how sensitive and loving that pony could really be, Elusive couldn’t deny how foolish it would be to let him slip away.

Of course, the fear of losing him from that kind of confession made the pony exhale with a soft groan and wince uncomfortably. “Urgh! I know you’re right, but… I really don’t want to get hurt.”

“I’m not saying to tell him during the competition, but…” Butterscotch was just as worried about the idea as Elusive, even if he was better at now showing his apprehensions. However, after learning from personal experience how important a simple confession could be, the pegasus exhaled in confirmation before saying, “Elusive… do you really think it won’t hurt if you never tell him?”

Of all the things Butterscotch could’ve said, Elusive knew that was the most damning of them all. Even if he hated to admit it, he knew that bottling up his emotions for too long would lead to nothing but self-loathing and regret in the long run. He may have not been willing to confess his feelings to Blitz until the competition ended, but he was willing to at least wait another couple weeks if it meant a less strenuous moment for the both of them. Besides, who knows? Maybe by the time the Canterlot finals were over, Blitz would grow close enough to reciprocate those feelings like in that dream in Las Pegasus…

As he grew a faint and dreamy smile across his muzzle, the unicorn closed his eyes and shook his head silently to his friend’s question. “N… No, Butterscotch. I… I don’t want to hold it in forever.”

The pegasus smiled lovingly and pulled him in for another deep hug. Outside of the bubble, Barb was still watching the two figures with a confused expression. She had absolutely no idea what the two were discussing for all that time, but she had a feeling it was much heavier than anything she’d be ready for. As soon as she saw the unicorn’s horn light back up to dispel the sound-bubble, the drake gasped and ran back into the bathroom so she wouldn’t be seen. Fortunately for her, neither of the stallions realized she was eavesdropping on them as they walked back to the Sky-Box together with nervous smiles.

“You… You won’t tell anypony, will you?” asked Elusive feebly, even though he highly doubted Butterscotch would ever tell a soul.

Without hesitation, the pegasus paused with a warm smile as he made the appropriate motions with his hoof and said, “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

During Elusive and Butterscotch’s private discussion, neither them nor Barb noticed Applejack coming out into the halls to find Rainbow Blitz. Even though he noticed the sound-bubble, he knew better than to intrude on somepony else’s business. So instead of trying to guess what was going on like the dragon was, the orange stallion made his way to the elevator in hopes of finding his friend. But as luck would have it, it was the exact same one that Rainbow was riding to meet up with the others.

As soon as the doors slid open, Rainbow jolted a little when he saw Applejack grin ear-to-ear at the sight of him. “Well, shoot!” exclaimed the orange stallion with an exceptionally pleased tone. “Ah was just gonna look for ya!”

Despite the surprise, Blitz quickly smiled back before AJ leaned in and hugged him tightly. “Congratulations, Blitz! That was dang-gone perfect!”

“Oh, come on,” said Rainbow in a dismissive tone while smiling and rolling his eyes. Even though he was happy to hear that kind of praise, he tried to redirect AJ’s attention after the two pulled away. “You know, Elusive was the one who did the choreography and stuff. You should be congratulating him.”

“Hey, don’cha sell yourself short,” said Applejack insistently while pointing to the pegasus’ chest. “He already told me you contributed just as much to that routine.”

Blitz sighed and looked away with a shake of his head, but it was clear he appreciated hearing that by the warm smirk on his muzzle. Nevertheless, it wasn’t long before he glanced back at AJ and asked, “So is he up here? I kinda needed to talk with him about tonight.”

“Actually,” noted the stallion as he motioned towards the hall while Blitz was still in the elevator, “Ah think he’s talkin’ with Scotch ‘bout somethin’ private. Maybe we should wait a bit.”

“Alright, that’s cool.” Rainbow shrugged with his answer, and looked around for a moment before he asked, “So… whad’ya wanna do? I think there’s still a few minutes before the intermission is done.”

“Hmmm…” AJ considered just leading him back to the Sky Box where the others were, but his own thoughts prompted him to make another suggestion. He glanced at his friend with an uneasy skew of his muzzle. “Well… ya mind if we talk a bit too? Like… we could ride the elevator a lil’ bit or somethin’.”

Rainbow’s positive demeanor diminished a bit as he sighed in response, already knowing what Applejack would want to talk about. But instead of saying no, the pegasus simply stepped to the side to let the farmer enter. “Alright, fine,” he said with an apprehensive tilt of his head.

“Thank ya,” replied AJ with a nod before quickly stepping inside. As soon as the elevator doors closed again, the the two stood in that steel box side-by-side, neither of them seemed to mind that the device itself wasn’t moving. Instead, the orange stallion breathed in hesitantly while looking back at the closed doors. After a moment, he finally breathed out and said sheepishly, “Listen, Ah… Ah heard that you, ummm… picked that song?”

Blitz closed his eyes and huffed before stating firmly, “Yeah, I did pick it. But I’d really not talk about that right now, okay? I know what you’re gonna try and say, but… I don’t think now is the right time.”

Applejack nodded and looked back at his friend with an understanding expression. “Alright, that’s fine. But just… just so ya know…”

Blitz’s muzzle wrinkled a little as he kept himself from finishing what he knew his friend was going to say. Even though he kept the skeletons in his closet unseen by the farmer for many reasons (the biggest being how his friend would judge him for how he acted), he also knew that AJ was just wanting to help. So instead of getting too aggravated, the pegasus let him say in a sincere tone of voice, “... If ya ever needed to talk. You know… about anything. You know Ah’ll listen, right? I mean… I know what that’s like…”

Despite knowing for a fact that AJ’s experience with trauma and loss was fairly different from his own, Rainbow still nodded silently in acceptance of his friend’s offer. “Yeah, I… I know, dude. And… thanks.”

“No prob.” Not wanting to be too emotional with his friend, especially when it was clear that Blitz looked a bit apprehensive as it was, Applejack only gave him a one-hoofed hug from the side to give emphasis to his genuine offer. Luckily, Rainbow didn’t seem to reject that gesture like expected. In fact, the pony breathed out shakily and returned the favor, resting his head against the farmer’s chest for a brief moment.

After the two pulled away, Applejack gave him a couple pats on the back before deciding to change the subject. “So, uhhh… what was it ya needed to ask Lucy about?”

“Oh, it’s nothing much,” said Rainbow in dismissal with a wave of his hoof. “I kinda ran into the Hoofingtons downstairs, and…” The pegasus slowly began to grow that same pleased smirk he had earlier on his way up the elevator. “Well… I’m pretty sure Julianne asked me out on a date~”

Applejack’s eyes widened in legit surprise as he gawked for a second. He then smiled wide and smacked his friend on the back. “No apple-buckin’ way! Seriously?! Julianne Hoofington asked ya out?”

“What, you think she wouldn’t?” asked Rainbow with a cocky-looking smirk back at him. “I mean, I am a Wonderbolt, after all. It’s not like I don’t usually fight off mares with a stick.”

Applejack openly scoffed while keeping a playful grin and rolling his eyes. “Oh yeah, sure. The last time Ah saw ya fightin’ off any ponies with a stick was when you thought you triggered the zombie apocalypse with that stupid cookie prank.”

“Oh shut up!” said Blitz as he gave AJ a light punch on the shoulder. He may have hated how far the entire town went to teach him a lesson about his pranks, but the stunt-pony was able to look past it with a smile now. Still, he couldn’t resist pointing out with a hoof pointed at his friend, “That joke could’ve ended way worse than it did, and you know it!”

“Why’d ya think I hid all the gardenin’ tools in my barn?” After taking a moment to shake his head and chuckle at how freaked-out the pegasus acted that night, AJ made sure to add with a sincere smile, “But, uhhh… Gettin’ back to topic, you’re really tellin’ me you’re gonna be datin’ Julianne? I mean, if you are, that’s awesome! I’m just a little surprised, that’s all.”

“Well…” Even though he wanted to keep gloating about his possible date with a top-class dancer and winery owner, the Wonderbolt knew he couldn’t omit any truths from his friend. Especially after having the farmer try and be real with him earlier. So while pausing briefly, Rainbow shrugged his shoulders a bit and added with a smirk, “Wellllll… she may have asked me and Lucy to come with her and Derek to a club. But come on! If you were there, you would’ve seen how much she wanted me! I mean, her tail was practically flagging up when we were flirting!”

AJ’s smile looked much more skeptical as he nodded with raised brows and narrowed eyes. “Uh-huh. Keep tellin’ yourself that, Big-Boy~”

“Shut up!” Blitz huffed and shook his head at Applejack’s obvious disbelief. He decided to lean in with an arrogant grin as he said gloatingly, “You’re just jealous because you haven’t gotten any action, Apple-Dick.”

That just made the farmer laugh and stare cockily at Blitz. He stood on his hind-legs and leaned his back against the elevator wall while peering back at his friend with boastful smirk. “Ah’ll have ya know that Ah do have available options, thank ya very much. Two of ‘em, in fact~”

“Pbbbt!” Rainbow scoffed before he said mockingly, “Your right and left hooves don’t count, dude.”

“Ah don’t care if ya don’t believe me,” replied AJ in a confident tone while giving a shit-eating grin. “Don’t change the fact that Ah get way more action than you, Fly Boy~”

“Oh, whatever!” Blitz wasn’t sure if his friend was bullshitting about his claims (although if he was, his lying abilities have greatly improved recently), but he felt a lot better about his own confidence as he hit the ‘Door Open’ button on the elevator. “You’ll see, dude! By the time the Canterlot Finals come around, I’ll be getting some dancer tail!”

“Wanna bet?~”

That made Rainbow turn right around before the doors could start opening. “Excuse me?”

“Yoy heard me, Mister ‘Mare-Slayer’ Blitz,” stated Applejack as his smirk grew more jaunty. As soon as the doors opened, the orange stallion dropped back down on his front hooves to follow Rainbow out of the elevator. “You’re actin’ so dang-gone confident about your skills, so how ‘bout you prove it? Ah’m willin ta bet fifty bits that you won’t get laid by the time the Canterlot Finals end.”

Blitz’s brows grew immensely, but so did his grin back at AJ. As the two left the elevator to head towards the Sky-Box, the Wonderbolt narrowed his eyes on his friend and retorted in a cocky voice, “Oh yeah? Well, when I do get some action by the finals, you owe me fifty bits, AND you have to tell me who you’re screwing!”

Despite how confident he felt about his bet, Applejack’s smile dropped rather quickly at that last detail. He didn’t want Blitz to think he was lying about his claim, but he really didn’t want to risk exposing his Friends with Benefits without consulting them first. Unfortunately, even though he was put on the spot, he couldn’t resist taking that bet on when he saw just how arrogant and punchable Rainbow’s smirk became. Plus, he was happy that Butterscotch and Elusive were no longer in the hallway while the two were alone in it.

“Nnnnnghhhh… Alright, FINE!” Without thinking too much about the ramifications, the stallion spat on his hoof while Blitz did the same with his own. “Deal!”

With that, the two stallions hoof-bumped in pact of their bet. After they pulled their spit-slathered hooves away from each other, Blitz wiped his hoof against his foreleg while grinning cheekily at his friend. “Ooooooh, you’re gonna regret making that bet~”

“Uh-huh.” Applejack wasn’t too happy about making that kind of bet, but he still jeered back at the pegasus with a smirk of his own, “Keep tellin’ yourself that, Blitzy~.”

After all of the faux-glass was cleaned from the stage, it wasn’t long before the competition was back on track for the Semi-Finals. Despite how lavish and roomy the Sky-Boxes were, Applejack decided to head back down to the main stadium to enjoy the rest of the show with his family, as well as Twinkle Toes’ parents. Meanwhile, Rainbow Blitz took full advantage of the amenities, as well as his fellow Wonderbolts’ congratulations, as he got rightfully plastered by the multiple shots given to him by his teammates and coach. Elusive wanted to chastise his partner for drinking so heavily again, but he figured he could let the stallion enjoy his moment for now. After all, Blitz seemed to be drinking out of happiness instead of masking his inner demons. Plus, given how red his own cheeks became from being in the same space as Rainbow, maybe a little inebriation would keep the stunt-pony from growing suspicious as to why.

So instead, the unicorn sat between Barb and Butterscotch in their luxurious seats while watching the remaining routines unfold on the dance-floor. Even though most of them got nines or eights, Elusive couldn’t deny how talented the dancers were becoming. With every near-flawless waltz or foxtrot that graced the stage and made the audience applaud in drones, the stallion became genuinely grateful that he and Blitz were able to secure their position in the finals. Of course, he could only imagine how nervous Apple Buck and his partner were becoming down in the stadium. Especially when the highest score to beat so far was an impressive twenty-seven.

Luckily, the yellow colt was much more well-composed than Twinkle Toes was while they waited backstage. The orange filly hadn’t even gotten out of her bench yet, but her legs were already trembling in immense worry. She tried to tell Apple Buck early on that it was just from practice (which he almost believed since they went over their routine a gajillion times). But as their spot came in closer, it wasn’t long before the colt stood before her with his hooves holding her shoulders. “Twinkle, come on,” he said in an almost pleading tone while trying to get her to look him in the eyes. “Please! You need to at least stand up or somethin’!”

She wanted to feel comforted by Buck, but Twinkle’s lips still trembled as she sat frozen in growing dread. Even the cheerful pop song playing out in the stadium wasn’t enough to quell her overwhelming anxieties. Although, given how that was supposed to be the last performance before their own, it was clear why the filly was growing so unnerved. She wanted to just close her eyes and try to breathe, but even the slightest blink made her think back to that embarrassing blunder back in Las Pegasus.

Buck wanted to shake her like crazy and snap her out of it, but he remembered what his Grampy warned him when it came being physical against a woman. So instead, the colt took a deep breath and closed his eyes, hoping to channel what he learned when he tried to get a yoga cutie mark. He might not be able to twist himself into a pretzel like that instructor lady, but he did manage to bring his heartbeat down enough to exhale less shakedly. Apple Buck then looked Twinkle sternly in the eyes and asked, “Twinkle, Ah need to ask you somethin’, okay?”

Even though her heart was pounding like a jackhammer, the filly nodded her head and looked up at him meekly. “O… Okay…”

“Good,” said the colt with a warmer smile growing across his muzzle. “Now, Ah don’t wanna freak ya out, but… Ah wanna ask you somethin’ hypothetical.”

Twinkle seemed a little worried, but still nodded again while listening patiently. Buck was a little unsure if he should go through with it, since it’d just remind her of what happened last week. However, given how determined she was to undo that mistake, and even had their jive routine set around it, the colt hoped it could get her out of this sudden bout of stagefright. So after a couple seconds of thought, he asked with an awkward tilt of his head. “Lemme just ask you this… What would be the best thing to happen to us when we do this performance?”

“Ummm…” Despite feeling like that idea was fairly far-fetched (especially after seeing so many stellar performances from backstage receive imperfect scores), Twinkle shrugged and answered honestly, “Well, I guess the best thing would be us getting tens like the Hoovingtons. Or Blitz and Elusive.”

“That’s right,” replied Buck with a nod and a smile. However, his muzzle skewed a little as he continued. “Now… what would be the worst thing to happen?”

That question caused the filly’s ears to drop almost instantly, and the color faded from her orange face as she looked down to the floor. “I… I’d fall down again. And… and we’d lose.”

Twinkle breathed out in a fretful shudder while her lips trembled away from Buck’s gaze. Bit before she could start tearing up, she heard him ask, “Well… you fell down last week, remember? And we still made it here.”

She knew what Buck was trying to do, and heard the same thing from both him and her Dads all week leading up to this. But at that moment, all of the worries that were building up inside of her. She was feeling just as nervous as she did before getting her cutie mark, and that worry felt to be boiling over when the song outside reached its end. But regardless of how she may have looked from Apple Buck’s perspective, the colt was determined as he continued in a kind tone. “Besides, even if you did fall, would that mean you’re a bad dancer all of a sudden?”

Twinkle Toes wanted to say yes instantly, but she bit her tongue to make her think it over. That nasty reminder of last week quickly popped up in her head, but so did the applause she and Buck received after their dance was complete. Her thoughts then went back to all the other times she and her partner performed on stage, all with resounding scores and praise from everyone. Before she could say anything else, her eyes peered down at her cutie mark, which she got from proving just how talented her skills really were.

“Well, I…” Twinkle had to close her eyes and sigh sharply as she shook her head, looking a little peeved Buck made that valid point. “No. I… I’ll still be seen as a good dancer.”

“That’s right. And would it make your Dads love ya any less?”

That was a pretty blunt question for him to ask, but it was also a fair one to justify his point. Again, Twinkle shook her head and answered, “No. Th… They’d still be proud of me.”

That was when Buck saw the small smile that came up across the filly’s face, which made him look rather pleased as well. But before he could seal the deal, his hooves rested atop hers to get her utmost focus. “Now lemme ask ya one more question, okay? Now... even if we did lose today, and we ended up goin’ home on that train empty-hoofed… Do ya think I’ll stop dancin’ with you?”

Her eyes widened quite a bit as she looked back up at her partner in stunned silence. Apple Buck may have not been a talent-laden dancer like she was, but his amber eyes showed nothing but the purest sincerity alongside his kind smile. Twinkle had to blink a couple times in realization, making sure that the Cutie Mark Cavalier was being serious. But as soon as she saw that he wasn’t fibbing, her smile trembled a bit as she took a moment to answer him. “You… you wouldn’t?”

“Of course not,” assured the colt as his hoof graced the side of her face. Neither of the two could even hear the announcer’s voice outside, or realize that the routine before theirs ended. But while the judges gave out their high scores, all that Twinkle focused on was Buck as he said truthfully, “Twinkle Toes, if ya think Ah’d just let all this be for nuthin,’ then you’re sillier than a cat jumpin’ in a lake! This… This has been the most fun Ah’ve had in a LONG time! And… And Ah can’t imagine a better friend to do this with than you.”

Twinkle’s eyes beaded a little, but it was clear it wasn’t from feeling upset or nervous anymore. Instead, her smile widened immensely before pulling Apple Buck in for a strong hug, feeling like an unexpected weight was pushed off of her shoulders. Was she still worried they would mess up again? Absolutely. However, as she realized how close of a friend she became with the colt who helped her get her cutie mark, she was able to see his point clear as day; even if they didn’t win, she’d still end up with a friend worth a million trophies.

“Apple Buck? Twinkle Toes?”

The two pulled away with strong crimson hues on their faces, realizing they may have hugged a little longer than expected. The crowds outside were still applauding the scores of the performance before theirs, but the stage-hoof was ready to lead them out to the stadium while holding a clipboard. “You guys are up! Come on…”

Twinkle Toes was still rightfully worried about how this performance would go. But with Buck already on his hooves and smiling back at her, the colt’s optimism was enough to make her nod and hold out her hoof. The CMC member took it without hesitation, and pulled her with relative ease before following the crew-pony in tandem.

“Aaaaaaaand for our FINAL performance of the night,” boomed the announcer through the speakers in the stadium. “We have our youngest competitors for the Semi-Finals, performing the Jive! Hailing all the way from Ponyville, here are Apple Buck, and his partner Twinkle Toes!”

As the two kids walked out side-by side onto the dance-floor, the applause was as rampant and energetic as ever. Although the two could definitely hear a few “Dawws” sprinkled all around, undoubtedly from ponies more focused on their appearance than potential talent. Of course, that seemed to ignite the fire in Twinkle even more with each step she took alongside her partner.

Out in the crowds, Applejack and the rest of the family were cheering wildly like hyenas the instant they saw Buck under the spotlight. Silver Bell and Scootaroll were doing the same while holding up their signs, which seemed to be noticed by their friend as he waved at them excitedly. Curtain Call and Press Bar looked just as antsy while seated beside the Apples, eager to see their little girl perform in a routine without the worry of a wardrobe malfunction.

As the two dancers got into their positions on the stage, it seemed that many eyes were peering curiously on the large covered object being floated out by magic to the center. Since it was covered in a thick tarp and spread wide-apart, there was no way of knowing what it was. Meanwhile up in the Sky Box, Bubble Berry bit his lip anxiously and squirmed in his seat. “Ooooohhhh…. I really hope I didn’t make it too thick,” he said out-loud to himself.

Apple Buck made one last glance back at Twinkle as they stood at opposite ends of the covered project. Since a large rope was tied to the top of the tarp and connected to the ceiling, it would only take one nod from the filly before it was raised to reveal their prop. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like she was nearly as frazzled as she was less than ten minutes ago. Especially when she looked back at her partner, and saw how comforting the colt's smile was while pointed at her.

After closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, the filly reopened them with a determined look on her face before nodding her head.

Just as the track began to play, a familiar drum beat echoed throughout the stadium which instantly made ponies think it was one of several possible songs. Meanwhile, the tarp was quickly pulled away to disappear from the spotlights, revealing what looked to be an oversized newspaper. The headline was clearly fake and shown on both sides of the prop, boasting a blown-up photograph of Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes in the middle of their fall in Las Pegasus. While Twinkle was shown tripping over her skirt, the headline above the picture read in bold letters: Disaster in Las Pegasus Dance-Off!

That prop caused quite a few brows to raise in surprise, including all the judges. However, right in the middle of the drum beat, Buck and Twinkle made sure that everyone got a good look before nodding to each other with confident smirks. As soon as the two grabbed hold of the sides of the newspaper, and pulled it hard enough to make the prop tear seamlessly down the middle, the audience cheered as their routine began:

The pop song may have been off the charts for a little while, but it was catchy enough to immediately make the crowd start clapping along with the beat. Fortunately, Buck and Twinkle’s synchronised steps moved just as well with the track as any of the hooves moving off the dance-floor. The two kids carried wide smiles on their faces as they faced each other and held hooves tightly, not even needing to look down at their legs to know that their timed kicks were being executed in perfect tandem with one another.

Twinkle Toes may have been a nervous wreck backstage, but none of her anxieties were able to seen as she danced with such a contagious-looking energy before the judges. It was like an aura of darkness was holding her back before, but was immediately extinguished the instant that spotlight shone down on her to reveal the fireball inside her soul. With each flawless kick and step she made against the hardwood surface, her smile grew stronger as she heard all the excited cheers from all around. She may have just been a filly, but the feeling of elation that flowed through her body made her think back to that fateful day Apple Buck first helped her out, and how wonderfully her flanks tingled to reveal her true destiny.

As for Apple Buck, his movements looked near-identical to Twinkle Toes’, which showcased just how much he improved as a dancer. Of course, despite all the months spent in training and practice, the colt knew that none of his precise kicks or spins would’ve came to be without that filly beside him. The longer he held onto her hooves throughout their dance, or around her waist as he spinned her around in tandem with their song, Buck’s heart pounded harder in realization of how amazing this all felt. Sure, it may have not been as gratifying as helping other ponies understand their cutie marks, but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t cherish every second spent in that timeless moment with Twinkle Toes.

Much like the song that was playing, it was clear that any past mistakes were being ‘Shaken Off’ with each swift kick and choreographed movement the two made in pure synchronicity. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Buck and Twinkle’s jive was nothing short of a resurrection of the near miss the two experienced the previous week in Las Pegasus. The filly’s resounding sense of control, combined with her partner’s natural strength and fluidity beside her, made any resemblance to their previous blunder be seen as nothing more than an afterthought. Instead of any scuffed chins or bloody snouts, all that the couple showed of themselves on the dance-floor was pure, concentrated perfection.

Even when Buck held onto Twinkle’s front hooves, allowing her to lean forward on her hind-legs as her partner spun her mere inches from the ground, not a single motion looked to be forced or blundered beneath the stage lights. The two may have been the youngest competitors, but it was clear they were a force to be reckoned with. And unlike a couple other dancers, whose utmost focus showed in their routines with their stern expressions, Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes jived to their track with looks of pure, childlike fun on their faces. And by the time their dance ended with Buck giving his partner a flawless spin and dip, they weren’t the only ponies smiling wide in that stadium.

Like the grand climax in an action-packed film, the audience thundered wildly in applause as the two remained in position for a moment longer. As Buck looked down at the filly in his hooves, his blush deepend just as much as Twinkle’s was. Her lips bit together to try and conceal her smile, but it was still easy to see while being held by her partner so securely. Their families may have not been able to see sparks flying (expect perhaps Macarena and Toffee), but the dancers got back on their own hooves rather quickly the instant they felt the same kind of electricity between them.

“Let’s give it up for Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes!” shouted the announcer as he came back out to the stage, barely giving the crowd the time to slow down their applause before getting right back into it. Applejack’s whistles chirped out clear as day from the stands, which caused Buck to blush in slight embarrassment while looking away from his hooting family. Meanwhile, Twinkle gave a tearful smile and wave up to her Fathers, who both looked just as relieved and prideful as she did. Up in the Sky Box, everyone was joining in on the celebration as well. Elusive and Blitz cheered right up to the window while holding each other side-by-side, hopeful that their competitors’ scores would be high enough to join them in Canterlot.

While the judges looked over their score cards, Twinkle Toes instinctively grabbed Buck’s hoof tightly and bit her lips.

“Now, according to the scores from the rest of the competition,” said the announcer in a more serious tone, “they would need to get a score of at least twenty-eight to advance to the Canterlot finals. You understand?”

Apple Buck tried to look optimistic as he nodded, but he still gulped nervously. After the applause finally died down, the dancers held their breaths as they saw the first score card come up:

“NINE!” shouted the first judge, which caused an uproar of applause. Buck and Twinkle hugged each other giddily, hoping the other scores would be just as good.

“... NINE!” shouted the second, which elicited an even louder round of applause. Even though it left both of the kids smiling wide, they kept themselves from getting too excited just yet. Especially when they saw the blank expression the final judge had, which could’ve easily been hiding underneath another score of nine on the other side of his card.

However, after a long bout of silence, the anticipation reached its boiling point as the card was shown, and the judge’s smile finally appeared. “TEN!”

Twinkle Toes screamed in absolute elation, and the stadium roared in applause for the two dancers. Apple Buck cried out as he hugged his partner tightly, both of them looking absolutely relieved they made it. After all of the practice and anxiety that they had to endure, Buck and Twinkle couldn’t have been happier that they would be joining their friends in Canterlot. Of course, by the time their heads pulled away from each other’s shoulders, their blushes came back a little as they smiled gleefully at each other

After Buck and Twinkle’s families cheered wildly, they rushed their way through the stands to get to the victorious kids. But before any of them could get to the front rows, Twinkle’s face grew tremendously deeper while looking her partner in the eyes. Without even thinking, her smile was accompanied by her eyes closing as she quickly bent in, and laid her lips on top of Apple Buck’s snout for a quick kiss.

Curtain Call and Press Bar stopped dead in their tracks, gawking at their daughter with their eyes almost as wide as Buck’s were. While the sounds of several “Woooos” echoed throughout the applause, Buck’s face became as red as his older sister’s coat. Just as Twinkle pulled away and froze in shock, instantly realizing what she did in the heat of the moment, her partner fell over and dropped like a sack of potatoes on the dance-floor.

That caused a huge uproar of laughter throughout the stadium, as well as a few gasps while Twinkle tried to check on the colt. Meanwhile, Grampy Smith cackled with a shit-eating grin while shuffling past Twinkle’s frozen Dads. “Welp,” he said cheekily, “Ah guess all that practicin’ paid off in more ways than one! Heh heh heh...”

Author's Note

I'm pretty sure that people familiar with my works will understand the Butterscotch and Applejack subplots. But in case not, I just wanted to point out that this story is connected with a Mature-rated oneshot set in the same R63 Universe: A Zebra's Persuasion.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Liquid Courage

“Awwwwwwww, yeah!!!” roared Rainbow Blitz in tipsy delight as he stuck his head out from the sunroof of the deluxe carriage. Since night had fallen in Manehattan, the cityscape of downtown was ablaze with countless neon signs and billboards to light up the streets. Even though it was the millions of ponies who occupied the island which made the city so jubilant and active, one could argue that the place itself felt alive as soon as the sun set. And judging by the way Blitz was shouting out in gleeful victory, it seemed that he felt that same way. “You better get ready for us, Manehattan! ‘Cause Elusive and I are gonna BUCK!! SHIT!! UP!!! WOOOOOO!!!”

“Rainbow, get down from there!” chided Elusive’s voice from inside the carriage, as he used a strong aura of his magic to grip Bitz by the ear and yank him back down. Rainbow may have not been the rowdiest pony in the city by any means (especially compared to Bubble Berry’s escapades the night prior), but the unicorn didn’t want him to make a scene so soon after their Semi-Final victory. Plus, given whom else was in the carriage with them, the Element was dreading how their impressions might change at seeing his friend this way.

Fortunately, Derek and Julianne Hoofington merely giggled as they sat across from the other duo. While Blitz scowled at his partner and rubbed his ear, the mare waved a hoof at Elusive and spoke up before he could. “Oh, don’t be so worried,” she said in a surprisingly carefree tone of assurance. “Believe me, ponies get away with a loooooot worse in cities like this!”

“Yeah, no kidding!” added Derek with a huffed shrug of his head. He then gasped and said towards his sister. “Ooh! Remember that one time in the Crystal Empire when those three gryphons put a pony in a firecracker suit?!”

“Ohmigosh, YES! I almost forgot about that! Those cops didn’t even bat an eye until the fuse was lit!”

The couple couldn’t help laughing in nostalgia after that remark, clearly having a few stories of their own to counteract the Elements’. Elusive may have been a little confused as to why Blitz was so keen on spending the night out with them (especially when Dusk Shine had plans for them to celebrate their win), but he would’ve been lying if he said he didn’t appreciate befriending some new faces. Even though they were competition, he and Rainbow were having surprisingly swimming chemistry with the Hoofingtons.

“Oh, you think that’s bad?” jeered Rainbow Blitz as he eyed Julianne with a coy-looking grin. “I could probably write a book of all the crazy stuff Bubble Berry pulled! And I wouldn’t even need to count last night’s Ostrich Incident.”

“Well, that’s not too surprising to hear,” retorted the mare as she narrowed her eyes back on him. “I mean, you’re also friends with that Draconequus of Chaos, right? I’d be shocked if you didn’t have a novel’s worth of stories involving her!”

While she and Derek laughed after that addition, Rainbow shrugged his shoulders playfully. Meanwhile, Elusive felt like it was important to point out, “Well, to be fair, Eris is a much closer friend to Butterscotch than either of us.”

“Yeah, that’s right,” said Blitz with a small nod in agreement, although he still kept his eyes on Julianne instead of his own partner. He and the mare seemed to have identically cheeky smirks as he added, “Although, making new friends is kinda how we roll. Whether it’s by our Elements, or my Wonderbolt status, it’s just sorta natural for ponies to gravitate towards us.”

After chuckling under her breath with a sidening grin, Julianne lit her horn to float out two champagne glasses. She gave one to the stunt-pony before floating her own out for a toast. “I couldn’t agree more, Mister Wonderbolt~”

Rainbow Blitz’s eyes narrowed on hers as the two clinked their glasses. Meanwhile, Elusive glanced over at the two in confusion, needing to blink a couple times to ascertain a possible connection between them. His muzzle wrinkled a bit as he looked away from the ponies, not wanting to make any assumptions too hastily. Even though it seemed like the two were beginning to bond, the unicorn knew he couldn’t grow jealous of such a thing; after all, he just realized earlier that day how he felt about Blitz, and being possessive so soon would only make those feelings grow worse.

Fortunately, the Element’s qualms were temporarily muted when Derek floated a champagne glass towards him. “You know,” he began as he decided to add alongside Blitz’s claim, “the fact that you guys are so generous is a pretty good reason you’re so approachable as well! I mean, most of the other competitors kinda saw us as bad-luck charms or something! But when it came to you two, you didn’t even hesitate to invite us out to your dinner with your friends. That really meant a lot.”

Elusive sighed with a smile as he accepted the glass, and nodded thankfully back at him. Shortly after the Semi-Finals were concluded, Dusk Shine was able to reserve an entire restaurant section on short notice to seat everyone in their group. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like the wait staff seemed to mind suddenly accompanying the Prince of Friendship and his Elements, and the Wonderbolts at the same time. And due to the open seating, the Hoofingtons were able to join the group alongside the Apple family and Twinkle’s parents, which prompted the Prince to leave a rather exemplary tip in advance.

“Well, you two certainly deserved an audience with Royalty after that dazzling display,” he replied with a genuine smile as he clinked Derek’s glass with his own. After taking a sip and raising a brow approvingly, he said with a shrug, “Plus, I guess it helps that we’re both rather… controversial competitors this year. I don’t think many other dancers were too keen on sharing the stage with either of us. But despite that, you two were nothing but kind towards everypony, including us. I will say though, I think you should thank Dusk Shine for welcoming you both to our little soirè.”

Derek smiled and nodded respectfully to Elusive. “Well if that’s the case, we’ll be sure to send him one of our prime bottles of Merlot as a thank-you.”

“Ooh, maybe a Shiraz would be more appropriate,” noted Elusive with a raise of his hoof. “I noticed he prefers the darker varieties when it comes to wine.”

“Pbbbt!” Rainbow Blitz couldn’t help scoffing the instant he heard his partner start talking about wines. “Oh, come on, Lucy! We both know your ‘expertise’ on wines is a bunch of hub-bub!”

Elusive wanted to spend a nice evening with Blitz and the other dancers, but his face instantly soured up as he shot his friend a deathly glare. “Rainbow…”

Even without context, the Hoofingtons could practically taste the venom that was seething from Elusive’s warning tone. But even with how notably pissed the unicorn looked, Blitz just huffed and rolled his eyes like his partner was some bratty toddler. “C’mon, don’t look at me like that! I’m just sayin--”

“Blitz!” snapped Elusive with an iron-clad scowl on him. “If you don’t stop talking right this instant, I will put you in the most embarrassing outfit imaginable for our Canterlot performance!”

Despite how over-emotional the unicorn could get at times, even Blitz could tell when he was being serious. Without another word, Rainbow's smirk was immediately erased as he looked away and bit his lip. Meanwhile, both Derek and Julianne stared at the two with a mix of confusion and slight concern. “Ummm… should we not ask?”

Elusive wanted to just say that they shouldn’t, but he managed to control his anger after a sharp whinny in response. While Blitz looked away from them and scratched the back of his mane, Elusive stated sternly, “Let’s just say that... Blitz and the others organized a very inappropriate prank to contradict all those wine-tasting courses I took in Canterlot.”

“Oh, for the last time,” blurted Blitz as he groaned and looked over at his partner with a flat stare, “it was not a prank! It was a Social Experiment!”

“Nevertheless, it was still mean!” After that final retort, Elusive crossed his hooves and turned his muzzle away from the pegasus while pouting. While he could say in retrospect that their “experiment” was a little eye-opening in regards to his eyes judging a wine more than his tongue, it still made him feel awful afterward. After spending thousands of bits to learn about the distinct differences between various wines and developing his taste-buds, Blitz was somehow able to trick him into believing a ten-bit box of zinfandel was a rare bottle of Crystal Empire merlot after a few drops of food-coloring were added to the glass. Of course, the fact that he and Applejack laughed at the unicorn so openly after that reveal was the bigger reason for his distaste on the matter.

“Dude, I already apologized like, fifty times since that!” groaned Blitz in exasperation. “You even admitted yourself that you were acting too uppity about us buying cheap wine before we did that!”

“That may be true, but you admitted that you acted too immaturely after that reveal!”

“I did, but come on! Your face when you saw that box was bucking priceless!” Even though he tried to say that addition coyly, Blitz only received an even nastier glare from Elusive for it. Fortunately, Rainbow was able to roll his eyes and say with a sigh, “Okay, that doesn’t help my point, BUT! If I can look past that Superhero stunt you guys did, AND that fake Zombie apocalypse prank, I think you can be a bit more forgiving about that damn wine thing. At least I didn’t bring the whole friggin town in on it!”

That point was more than enough to promptly shut the unicorn up. Despite still feeling a little peeved, Elusive understood Blitz’s perspective enough to shrug his shoulders apprehensively. “Well… alright, that’s fair. But I still don’t want you bragging about what you did to them!” he said while pointing a hoof at the Hoofingtons.

“Alright, fine. Deal.” With that, he and Elusive made a quick and surprisingly flawless hoof-bump in agreement. The action may have been fairly casual for the two due to their history, but both of the siblings raised their brows at seeing how quickly that matter was resolved.

“Wow,” stated Julianne with an impressed huff. “I gotta say, you two settle arguments way quicker than we usually do.”

“Well, what do you expect?” blurted Derek with a coy smirk on his sister. “I mean, they are Elements, Julie. You can’t exactly save Equestria dozens of times without getting along really well.”

Elusive sighed and waved his hoof in dismissal to their banter. “Oh, you two don’t have to be so over-gracious. We may be Elements, but we’re still just regular ponies overall.”

“Exactly!” added Blitz with a prideful smile as he leaned over and pulled Elusive in with his hoof. While the unicorn squeaked a little as he blushed, Rainbow didn’t seem to notice while keeping a foreleg wrapped around his shoulders. “I mean yeah, we did come together to save Prince Solaris and Artemis. And… okay Dusk and a few others may have theorized we came together by prophecy or something. Which, ummm…”

Even though he was trying to bring up a point, Blitz had to pause and tap his chin in thought with his free hoof. While he and the others tried not to think too hard about the significance of their bonds, it was clear that they were definitely way closer to each other than most regular ponies. Regardless, it didn’t take long before the pegasus shook his head clear and strengthened his grip on Elusive. “You know what, that doesn’t matter to us! All that’s important is that Elusive and I are friends, alright? Just like any other ponies who know each other for a long time. Some ponies might try to say there’s something deeper of whatever, but… honestly, I just see Elusive and the others like a bunch of buds. Right, Lucy?”

When Rainbow glanced back at his friend with an innocently warm smile, it was fortunate that any signs of a bush were quickly extinguished from Elusive’s blank expression. However, that was mostly because the stallion’s face paled-up the instant he heard those words coming from Blitz’s mouth. He blinked a couple times as his face twitched and contorted a little, like his brain was haywiring while struggling not to show how hurt he looked. As his heart convulsed painfully in his chest, it was almost a miracle that Elusive was able to contort his muzzle into a faux-innocent smile while nodding faintly.

“Y… yeah…Th-That’s true...”

Elusive knew that Rainbow wasn’t intending for his statement to come out as hurtful in any way. Unfortunately, hearing him say such a thing so casually stabbed into the unicorn’s heart like a red-hot dagger. The two have spent weeks together as dancers, learning so much from each other and growing ever so closer than Elusive could’ve ever realized. But according to his… his friend, it was almost like nothing really changed. He wanted to trick himself into believing it was just Rainbow building up his machismo bravado for the sake of being humble for the Hoofingtons, but even the love-stricken pony could tell that was beyond wishful thinking.

In the split-second after that momentary pause, Elusive breathed out quickly enough to hide how shaky it should’ve sounded. His lips were tightly pursed in an internal struggle, like the last barriers that were able to keep that dam of tears from breaking out into the open. The unicorn didn’t want to hide how he felt from such a statement, even though he knew how foolish it would be to open up so soon after realizing the truth himself. But while his muzzle stayed in a faint, albeit jaded-looking smile, Elusive was miraculously able to keep from welling up as the topic went back to the Hoofingtons.

“Well… I guess that makes sense,” admitted Derek with a light shrug. “We remember how you guys mentioned that fact when we first met.” Upon recalling that interaction, the stallion scratched the back of his blonde mane awkwardly. “Man… I still feel like a goof for that.”

While Elusive silently whinnied to himself at that now-dated reminder, he didn’t seem to notice how Julianne was smirking at Rainbow Blitz. “Honestly,” she said with a light giggle as she swirled her glass with her magic, “I’m a little relieved that you two are still single. Either one of you would be a great catch for somepony special~”

Rainbow Blitz grinned wide at hearing her unsubtle tone, and leaned away from Elusive so both hooves could be freed. Meanwhile, Elusive was too confounded by her display to even register his partner’s movements. He could see how her eyes were narrowing on the pegasus, giving off a very similar vibe to what he overheard Blitz describing to his Wonderbolt friends cockily. Elusive assumed that Rainbow was just exaggerating those claims, but now all he could do was stare at the mare blankly with a looming feeling of dread.

“Well,” replied Rainbow Blitz as he blatantly eyed her, “hopefully you can find somepony special very soon~”

Even Derek could feel the flirting energy those two ponies were giving off, leaving him too distracted with his own annoyed scowl to notice Elusive’s uneasy expression. Unfortunately, neither of the stallions’ looks seemed to be noticed by Blitz or Julianne. After the mare replied with a cheeky, “Likewise~,” the two leaned in and tapped their glasses again.

‘Cling!’

By that point, Elusive face had dropped more than a couple inches. Like the timer to some bomb in an action movie, the unicorn could’ve sworn that clink of their glasses triggered his own heart to crack like fine porcelain. Even when he tried to bite his lip, he knew he couldn’t keep his face from showing too much of the painful truth within. While Derek stared out the window to focus on the Manehattan cityscapes, and Julianne continued to openly flirt with the pony Elusive cared so much about, there was nothing much else for the stallion to do but stare up at the open sunroof.

The flashing lights of the lamp-posts and neon signs flashed by at quick and random intervals, eventually starting to blend together like some epileptics’ nightmare. He wanted to feel happy for a lot of things in that moment: their victory earlier that day, the opportunity to celebrate with a couple new friends, even… even the fact that his friend was acting so happy after all he went through the week before. However, as the lights continued to flash and his mind grew more weary, the pain from Elusive’s fragile heart prompted him to close his eyes with a silent wince, and hope to Solaris that nopony would see how much sorrow was within.

Manehattan may have been a fairly small island in comparison to other cities in Equestria (except for Canterlot, which was somehow erected on the side of a mountain), but that didn’t mean it had any limitations when it came to entertainment. Much like the eternally-active city of Las Pegasus, Manehattan really seemed to live up to its name as the ‘City That Never Sleeps.’ And much like any living being, it seemed to have its own heartbeat as judged by the thumping bass that vibrated the sidewalk of a particular city block.

The carriage pulled up in front of massively sleek and pitch-black building, which had its windows blacked out to further stand out as a modern spot. Fortunately, the venue had more than enough lighting for the massive line of ponies outside the entrance by the neon blue and white sign that hung above them. When Elusive, Rainbow Blitz, and the Hoofingtons stepped out of their ride, all of them were able to read the bold sign of ‘Electro’ clear as day.

Even with all the things both he and Elusive witnessed over the years, Rainbow still whistled with an impressed look in response to that building. “Damn… You don’t see many clubs like that in Cloudsdale!”

“No, you certainly don’t,” muttered Elusive flatly as he walked past his friend with his head hung low. Despite how high his spirits should’ve felt, that carriage ride left him feeling a bitter combination of nausea and heartache. Rainbow finally raised a brow in confusion, not having been able to notice his partner’s behavior until just then. He looked between Elusive and the carriage a couple times, seemingly wondering whether or not the pony just drank too much on the ride to the club.

Unfortunately, the pegasus’ focus was quickly deterred when the Hoofingtons walked past and motioned him to follow. “C’mon, Blitzie~” cooed the mare with a cheeky glance back at him. “Derek and I know the owner, so we’ll be good.”

True to her word, it seemed like the twins had absolutely no issues when they walked up to the head bouncer. Despite the fact that the brown stallion was nearly the size of the doorway he was standing in front of, his face lit up the instant the two unicorns walked up to him. “Hey, there you guys are! Congrats on the high scores tonight! V.C. sends his regards.”

“Oh, it was nothing,” jeered Julianne with a bashful smile as she looked away and waved her hoof. However, she still motioned her head towards Blitz and Elusive before adding, “We just wanted to give the other ‘Perfect Tens’ a proper night out.”

“Ooh, nice!” The bouncer raised a brow at seeing the two stallions, and quickly pulled the red velvet rope aside for the group. “It’s not every night we get Royalty in here! Have fun, guys!”

The combined groans from the entire line were loud enough to almost make the ground beneath their hooves vibrate. But unlike the Hoofingtons, who winced a bit and shuffled inside to avoid their glares, Blitz just shrugged with a smirk while following suit. Elusive, who was already looking rather downtrodden, just kept silent as he casually walked past the doorway with his head hunched down. But before he could enter the dark and bass-thumping space, the unicorn felt the bouncer’s hoof press against his chest sternly.

“Hey, you shouldn’t be looking so down! It’s Electro, not the sad house!” The bouncer kept a surprisingly warm smile as he reached into his security belt, and pulled out two drink tickets for the stallion. “Just try to have a nice night, alright?” he said with a kind expression and a small wink.

Elusive was taken a little aback by such an unexpected gesture, but was able to smile and nod while taking the tickets. He then walked back down the dark entryway, which only had the faintest white lights leading the way to a thick blue curtain. The unicorn had no idea what kind of sound-barrier magic was encasing this space, but he almost felt like the Dubstep music punched him in the mouth the instant he pulled that curtain aside.

Elusive thought the flashing lights he saw from that carriage’s sunroof was a bit much, but that would’ve been downright pleasant compared to the flashing strobe-lights that assaulted his senses as he walked into the massive space. Even though it took him a long moment to adjust to the erratic and bright lights, the unicorn was able to see just how massive the multi-leveled ballroom was as opposed to the outside. The black-lighted dance-floor was crowded with hundreds of ponies, who were constantly hopping and thumping along to the bass-laden dubstep beats rocking every square inch. And above all of the ponies stood a massive DJ booth along the back wall, which was lit up brightly to show the white stallion with an electric blue mane and his matching trademark goggles.

DJ COL7 didn’t say a word as he performed his set, using his utmost focus and precision to work his turntables and levels with the professionalism seen from any other talented musician. But despite how brightly his horn was lit, and how much sweat was beading down his fur, the pony was still pumping his hoof along with the beat to keep the ponies below riled-up. Elusive had no idea where Blitz or the siblings went off to, but he wouldn’t have been surprised if they were as amped as the ponies below the DJ booth; alas, the lone stallion tried to ignore the throbbing assault to his eardrums as he made a beeline to the pristine bar at the side of the ballroom.

“BUCK YEEEEAAAAHHHHH!!!” Bubble Berry may have been the official ‘Party Animal’ of the Elements of Harmony, but Rainbow Blitz was certainly a close second when it came to the club scene. As soon as he entered the club, he went out into the dance-floor like he owned the place. While Julianne went out to follow the Wonderbolt, Derek stayed back and tried to look for Elusive. Considering Blitz’s technicolor mane, it was doubtful that he’d be easy to lose in even the thickest crowds of multicolored partiers.

Meanwhile, Elusive had managed to find a vacant stool among the rows of tipsy ponies. However, despite the fact that he had two drink-tickets, the unicorn wasn’t too keen on following Rainbow’s borderline-alcoholic tendencies just yet. He may have been upset, but he knew that sort of mindset would be begging for some dire consequences if he went to such measures; plus, the fact that he already drank a bit back at the stadium (as well as on the carriage ride) prompted him to understand his limitations. So instead, the unicorn settled for a regular soda (accompanied by a raised brow from the bartender) while seated among the pounding music and rowdy crowds.

Elusive, you… you can’t be too upset about this, he thought to himself as he tried to focus on anything other than those overbearing wubs. Yes, it’s troubling, but… but you had to see something like this happening. I mean… this is Rainbow we’re talking about…

Elusive winced hard after thinking such a blunt reminder, despite how badly he wanted to ignore those things while in his own mind. However, he was able to think a little more optimistically after a brief sigh. Buuuut… it’s not like he and Julianne have done anything yet. And given Blitz’s history, there… there really hasn’t been many mares in his life before her, has there? I mean… I know a lot has happened over the years, but that doesn’t mean he had no reason to ignore seeking somepony before, right?

The unicorn then whinnied with a frustrated scowl before taking another sip of his drink. Oh, stop it with that wishful thinking! He hasn’t been seeing anypony, but that goes for ALL of us! Including you! Well… okay, Dusk Shine may have had that weird thing in the Mirror World, but that shouldn’t count! We’ve ALL been busy with our duties and careers! That shouldn’t be a reason to assume Rainbow's orientation, you dolt!

Elusive looked around briefly, not wanting to get any weirded-out stares from ponies if his expressions were coming through as he was thinking to himself. Of course, considering how rrowdy the place was, it was ludicrous to even assume he’d make such a scene while silent at the bar. He breathed in deeply before looking down at his half-finished drink.

Plus… it was obvious he liked her. I mean… you saw how he was smiling at her, right? It was so warm, and carefree, and… and just…

His thoughts paused briefly as he focused more on that glass, rubbing at the drops of condensation that were beading along the outside. His lips pursed in as he tried to think of how to finish his mental ramblings, not having the time to even blush as a sudden blurb entered his mind.

He was looking at her like he did with me.

Elusive’s eyes widened immensely, which seemed to go along well with the blush that grew across his cheeks. Even though he didn’t want to try and confirm such a brash thought that seemingly wandered into his head, his mind soon went back to all those moments they shared recently.

The way Rainbow was smiling at him in that construction site in Las Pegasus…

The way he hugged Elusive after his breakdown…

That look of intensity and apprehension in his eyes just the previous night during their foxtrot…

Can… Can I really ignore all of that? Especially when he’s so close?

He was temporarily frozen in his stool, not even able to flinch when a massive drop from DJ COL7’s bass shook the ground. Instead, Elusive could only blink a few times as he continued to think to himself.

It’s… It’s not foolish to think such a thing, is it? He… He’s done so much over the past week alone. And through it all, I… I can’t remember a time when he seemed so content with another pony before. Even with that Julianne pony tonight, this can’t…

After another brief pause, Elusive’s eyes began to widen as a more determined scowl grew on his face. His hoof gripped his glass a little tighter, and his heart started to race more steadily.

No… This WON’T be the end! Elusive, you can not let this end tonight! You love him, and… and it’s pretty damn obvious that he can feel the same way for you! But that WON’T happen if you keep yourself hunched at this bar while he’s out with that mare! After… After ALL the things you two have been through, are you going to let him slip away now?!

“Hmph!” Elusive huffed to expel the last of his trepidation, and downed the remainder of his virgin drink. However, even though he wanted to storm back out onto that dance floor before his partner could go too far, the unicorn knew that he needed more than his own confidence to keep him on track. As soon as he slid his empty glass towards the end of the bar for the bartender to pick up, he laid his two drink-tickets beside it.

“Hey there, Elusive!” chirped Derek cheerfully as he finally found the unicorn, and trotted up to sit in the stool beside him. Due to the pounding music in the club, he had to lean in close and shout, “How’s the bar treating you!?”

“Two tequila shots!” yelled the unicorn as soon as the bartender took notice of him, as well as his tickets. “The strongest you have!”

Derek, who clearly assumed Elusive got those shots for both of them, beamed rather excitedly with an impressed smile. “Alright, now we’re talking!”

Unfortunately, the tan unicorn couldn’t even get his horn lit up before Elusive floated both shots (as well as a saltshaker and a slice of lime) into his own aura. And with the technique Rainbow taught him fresh on his mind, the white stallion downed both shots back-to-back in perfect precision between chasers of the citrus and salt. Meanwhile, Derek’s eyes widened quite a bit at seeing such a display from the posh pony, and could only shrug as he watched Elusive leave the bar with a generous tip. “Ummm… okay then… Nice talking to you...”

Up in the DJ booth, COL7 was coming close to the end of his current track while his horn was lit. As his blue magic oversaw his equipment with experienced precision, he used a free hoof to down a can of Red Manticore thirstily. The thick goggles he wore over his eyes made it easy for him to look like he was entirely focused on his music, even though he was actually scanning the crowds like a hawk. When it came to clubs venues like this, it wasn’t just the music selection that was important. If the mood of the crowd didn’t feel right, the stallion had to be prepared to improvise and move things back into order (or more appropriately, disorder) for the sake of a successful and unforgettable night.

As he looked out at the seemingly indistinguishable blob of multicolored ponies beneath the vibrant lights, his brows rose when he caught sight of something a bit unexpected. Even though the crowd was thicker than his preference of ponies in the bedroom, he managed to notice an open space a bit larger than usual. Within that small circle of dancing ponies, a stallion and a mare could be seen in the middle moving to the beat; and judging by the amount of space they had, COL7 had an inkling that they were either very well-known, or possibly radioactive.

Fortunately, the DJ smiled the instant he recognized the stallion’s trademark rainbow mane. Even though he heard that the Elements of Harmony were in Manehattan for the weekend, he didn’t expect to see Rainbow Blitz himself at this place. But since he also knew about that dancing competition he and the other guy were doing, it didn’t take long for him to recognize Julianne Hoofington dancing up close with him. COL7 didn’t expect those two to be a couple, but from the way that their bodies were moving against one another alongside the beat of the music, it would’ve been surprising if he learned they weren’t.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Blitz was keeping a wide and carefree grin while dancing with somepony who was supposed to be his competition. Instead of any over-complicated moves or synchronizations, the stallion was just moving about at a more relaxed tempo as he was nestled in closely against Julianne. Both of them were on their hind-legs, and their forelegs were holding onto each other during their improvised steps. They bumped into each other a couple times, but the two were giggling with warm smiles while in each other’s hooves. Even when the pegasus accidentally stepped on her hoof, the mare didn’t look to have cared too much.

Blitz looked fairly content in that moment, feeling like he had everything he’d usually want on a wild weekend night. A ton of ponies all around him like an adoring crowd, a beautiful babe in his hooves who was practically melting in affection, and the thundering bass of a hot dubstep track ringing in his ears. All in all, the moment felt pretty much perfect for Rainbow. But at the same time, the stallion couldn’t help but feel the slightest twinge of hesitance at the back of his mind, which caused his steps to feel much less coordinated than usual.

When he danced with Elusive, Blitz’s movements were usually clean and precise. Heck, one time Dusk joked that his hoof-work was becoming as skilled as his wing-work when flying with the Wonderbolts. Even though he tried to stay humble about it, the pegasus couldn’t falter his friend for pointing out such a thing. But as he tried to dance with Julianne, most of his movements felt fairly careless and flustered. He wanted to think that it was merely nerves of dancing with a mare for a change, or even the vast amount of alcohol he ingested; but alas, neither of those things felt like excuses Rainbow could realistically use.

It was unclear what prompted DJ COL7 to change his set to something so different that night. Maybe he saw those two dancers on the floor, and decided they’d be up for a proper display of their talents. Maybe he noticed Blitz’s apprehensions from afar (although that theory would’ve been hard to prove due to how far away he was from them), and wanted to change the tempo. Or maybe, he somehow noticed the determined stride that Elusive made through the back of the crowd, pushing and shuffling past ponies in a beeline straight for his partner.

But whatever it was, the white unicorn grew an enticed grin while his horn was lit. As soon as his song ended with wild applause, it took less than a second for the DJ to float on a new record and flawlessly transition to his next track:

More than a couple ponies in the crowd looked confused as the orchestral hook began to play, not expecting the DJ to have such a mainstream pop track in his collection. However, the unicorn seemingly ignored the befuddled murmurs overheard during those opening strings, and instead used his magic to take hold of a spotlight above the dance-floor. The heavy lens was moved downward with ease, with the island of white light traveling across the crowd and landing directly around Blitz and Julianne.

The two ponies were a little taken aback at being put on the spot, but their grins soon became evident as they realized what was expected to happen between them. And judging by number of ponies who excitedly moved back from them, thus giving the couple much more space on the dance-floor, all they needed was a silent nod to one another before getting in position. Just as the opening vocals began to play, Blitz held onto Julianne with a determined smile and took the lead.

Despite having no experience with Julianne before, nor any pre-planning with her in regards to the song, the melody of the track was slow enough to give Blitz some necessary leeway. His hooves moved in a precise and controlled rhythm against the dance-floor, and were simple enough for the experienced mare to easily follow without faltering. Their first coordinated steps may have been fairly basic, but it was still impressively cohesive given their situation. Even without any practice, it seemed that the two were able to improvise an impressive-looking, albeit simple series of movements. Blitz had no idea if it was supposed to be a tango or a samba (or more likely some fusion of multiple styles melded into one), but his hoof-work certainly felt a lot more natural as the beat of the song picked up.

Meanwhile, Elusive became more insistent with his pushing as he navigated himself through the crowds, moving towards the spotlight like a moth towards a wild flame. It wasn’t clear how he knew it was Blitz and Julianne within that light, but the unicorn was compelled to follow it with the hope that things haven’t progressed too far. With the way his heart was racing in his chest, the stallion’s mind was clearly clouded by the tequila flowing through his system, and the dire need to get his love back. He was so focused on finding that blasted pony, that he wasn’t even able to realize Derek had left the bar and tried to follow him into the crowd.

“Elusive!” he tried to shout out to the drunken unicorn, even though the thumping music and crowds made his words fall on deaf ears. “Elusive, where are you going?!”

Back within the circle that formed around Blitz and Julianne, their flowing movements started to look more like an impromptu tango, with elements of samba and foxtrot sprinkled here and there. Even though the style was much less strict or disciplined as what either would do in competition, their strong postures and unified steps went along well with the rhythm of the music and the growing stomps from ponies around them. As the song progressed, Blitz was starting to feel more in his element while dancing with such an experienced mare. Julianne may have been the professional dancer, but it would’ve been hard to tell how little Blitz had trained from how identical their hoof-work appeared.

As the smile on Blitz’s face grew, his hoof held on to Julianne’s before lifting it up high to motion her into a spin. Even without any practice or verbal prompting, the mare understood Rainbow's movements enough to let go and to move into a full-body spin away from him. After all the practice he had with Elusive, Blitz felt fairly content with how well he was dancing on his own. And as he moved himself forward towards the mare, Julianne strided towards him with a confident grin as they planned to intertwine once more.

However, just as Rainbow was about to make those last couple steps, he felt something grab one of his forelegs unexpectedly from behind. Elusive, who was able to break into the circle without warning, swooped in to take his partner with unplanned and unbridled finesse. Julianne faltered for a second in confusion, but her reaction was practically stoic compared to Blitz’s as he was pulled into a spin with the stallion. The crowd went wild with surprised applause, which was enough to cover Rainbow’s voice as he blurted in a heated hiss, “Lucy?! What are you--WHOAAA!!”

Despite being rightfully confused at Elusive, Rainbow barely had any time to react accordingly as he struggled to stay on his hind-legs. Just as the main chorus of the track began to play on the dance-floor, Elusive had effortlessly taken Julianne’s position while keeping a confident glimmer in his eyes. As for Blitz, being put in a constant state of movement made it near-impossible to just stop his dance with the unicorn in that moment. Plus, with all the training and practice he had the unicorn up to that night (not to mention the thundering applause and clapping of encouragement around them), the pegasus’ hooves seemed to keep moving on their own alongside Elusive’s quickly-timed steps.

But even as he continued to dance instinctively with Elusive, Blitz’s expression kept a very evident scowl of frustration. “Dude, what the buck is this?!” he snarled through his gritted teeth. “Did you not see me dancing with her right now?!”

Elusive may have been more than a little tipsy, but he could still see how upset his friend was getting. Nevertheless, the stallion kept his coy smirk when he looked back at them during their steps. “I did see that, but she’s also our competition,” he noted as he tried to keep his tone of voice more professional than slurred. “Besides, don’t you think a head-to-head against them would be more intriguing?~”

The unicorn perked his brows a couple times with a wider grin on Rainbow, clearly trying to override his friend’s libido with his natural competitive instinct. Unfortunately, Blitz just narrowed his eyes on him with an even stronger glare. But just as he was about to pull away and stop his motions with Elusive, Rainbow’s eyes widened when he caught glance of Julianne from behind the stallion. In the brief moment that Elusive took the reins, it seemed that Derek swept in to do the same with his sister. And judging from how excited the crowd was getting around the four, it was doubtful that anyone was focusing on the disappointed looks Blitz and Julianne had when they looked at each other briefly.

Unlike Elusive, who was clearly trying to get back on Rainbow’s end for romantic reasons, Derek seemed to just slide in at the assumption that it was a competition between them. While Blitz’s leading steps remained fairly stoic and second-hoof alongside Elusive’s, the other stallion was already moving to the beat of the song like it was as natural as breathing. Much like Rainbow, Julianne couldn’t help moving instinctively to sync up with her brother’s motions. And due to the added encouragement from the crowd’s rowdy cheers and applause (as well as a few ponies who tried to be the first to yell out “Dance-Off!”), it seemed that the dance-floor became an impromptu battleground for the dueling couples.

Just as the second chorus played to really rile up the stage, Julianne worked flawlessly in tandem with Derek. Her movements with Blitz may have been surprisingly clean and precise, but her years of experience with her brother could clearly be seen from their tango-centric steps that stomped with the utmost discipline. Unfortunately, it was obvious that wasn’t enough to please the crowds, nor to outdo Blitz and Elusive in a head-to-head. Just as Juliane made a strong spin away from her brother, Derek’s hooves swept in just as her back was turned to him; his hooves wrapped around the mare’s torso, and he lifted her up with her back against his chest as they spun around with a stellar round of wild applause.

Rainbow may have been tempted to kick Elusive between the legs for cock-blocking him, but that added detail had just enough spark to set the tinders of his own competitive spirit aflame. Almost as if a switch had been flipped on without warning, Blitz sprang into action while holding onto the love-stricken Elusive tightly. Much like when he had a Wonderbolt routine to complete flawlessly before a crowd, the stunt-pony’s mind shut off so his body could work with utmost focus. Instead of a tango like the Hoofingtons, Blitz instinctively brought himself and Elusive in a more cha-cha-centric routine to compete with them. The unicorn was a little taken aback by his partner’s sudden impulsive move, but his own hooves quickly moved alongside him to work their magic.

Elusive couldn’t help but think back to their Baltimate routine as they danced with such dedication before the crowds, happy that they weren’t being seen as some publicity act after all they accomplished. However, even as they made their crossover breaks time perfectly alongside the tempo of the track, Elusive didn’t see that same look of elation on his partner’s face then they faced each-other between them. Instead, all he saw was the determined, but still very pissed-off expression that was practically welded on the pegasus’ focused face. With the way those magenta eyes tried to burn into his skull, Elusive could safely say that he didn’t feel that same racing of his heart like he did the last time they danced.

But alas, regardless of what or how Rainbow may have been feeling, it was clear that they couldn’t be outdone by the Hoofingtons. Even if it was for a crowd of rowdy and booze-soaked club-ponies, the Wonderbolt’s need to perform overrode his anger. With a quick, fell swoop of his foreleg, Blitz grabbed Elusive unexpectedly from between his legs to make the unicorn let out a surprised yelp. Fortunately, that auduble reaction couldn’t be heard over the music or the crowds; nor was the added shout Elusive made as he was lifted off his hooves, and laid out flat across the back of Rainbow’s back like a log in a weightlifting competition. And much like an inanimate object, the unicorn kept his body as still and flat as a board while Blitz spun around repeatedly, much to the audience’s excited approval.

Of course, as soon as the Hoofingtons saw that move, it was basically like receiving the first retaliation shot before an intense battle. The song was settling into its temporary break before the large finale, which both couples could feel coming up like the eye of the storm. The four ponies’ movements stayed lively and varied enough for the crowd’s sake, but it was clear that they were also mentally preparing for what to do next. Blitz’s muzzle was wrinkled in strained frustration, as if he was showing a bit of confliction about competing against the girl he was just dancing with, and with the aid of the “friend” who intervened. However, it seemed that Julianne looked a bit less discorded while dancing with her brother, which only made Rainbow more upset as the vocals picked up in the song.

As soon as the final chorus began to play, the Hoofingtons were the first to strike before the excited crowd. Since it was obvious they heard the song before, Derek used that vocal buildup as the setup to lift his sister with his hoof underneath her torso. With disturbingly impeccable timing, Julianne wrapped and flipped over her brother’s foreleg like it was nothing, and laid out flawlessly while her stomach was leveled against his shoulder. Meanwhile, Derek spun both of them around the circle while the audience cheered on, just before the stallion gave her body another flip-around across his chest and had her land on her hooves.

Elusive and Blitz would’ve been intimidated by such an impromptu move, but they were busy with their own to focus too much on the Hoofingtons. Since the stallions were holding both hooves during the buildup, Rainbow was quick to hold onto them tightly before pulling Elusive into a massive spinning motion. The circle widened up immensely as Rainbow twirled around the dance-floor, using his strength to lift the unicorn off the ground and spin him off the ground with centrifugal force. It may have been a move near identical to their contemporary performance earlier that day, but it was still flashy enough to get the crowd cheering even louder in response. Elusive almost felt like he was going to vomit by the time the spinning stopped, but he still felt content with the move he and his partner pulled off by the time it finished.

When the two couples finished with their more lavish displays, they went back onto their hooves to finish their dances alongside the remainder of the song. While the Hoofingtons concluded on a strong note with their tango-centric spins and unified steps, Elusive and Blitz made sure they weren’t too far behind with their own cha-cha-inspired movements. Since there weren’t any judges present, none of the four ponies were sure who actually won by the time the song concluded; but as soon as the track finished, and Derek and Blitz both gave their respective partners strong dips to end their routines, the club went absolutely wild in applause.

In that brief moment where he was laid back and held within Blitz’s hooves, Elusive tried to give a cheeky smirk to help extinguish the Wonderbolt’s ever-present glare. Without even thinking, the unicorn lifted his hoof up and booped Blitz’s snout for a split-second. Despite how strongly Rainbow's head reeled back from that move, his hooves kept his partner up long enough to have the unicorn say, “What’s the matter, Darling? Would you rather get a kiss?~”

That was when Blitz threw his hooves aside without warning, leaving Elusive to slip out of his grip and fall back on his hooves like a cat. With his face blushing hard over his frustrated and confused scowl, Rainbow pulled away just as Elusive shook his head absent-mindedly.

“Whooo!~” Elusive was the first to be pulled up onto his hooves, most likely since Blitz looked intent on not touching him after what he said. While the pegasus turned his head away from his partner with a pissed-off scowl, the Hoofingtons got back on their hooves while breathing heavily. “I must say!” exclaimed Elusive in a winded tone as he smiled at the couple. “You two certainly got into the spirit quickly!”

“Hey, I was just following you!” replied Derek with a a huffed chuckle while rubbing his forehead with a foreleg. He motioned over to his sister before adding cheekily, “Plus, what was I supposed to do? Leave Julie hanging like a wallflower?”

Elusive’s muzzle wrinkled up a bit, just now realizing how dickish his behavior may have came across. While he figured Rainbow would be mad, he almost completely forgot about how his actions may have been seen by the siblings. “O-Oh! Ummm… I…” He blinked a couple times as his eyes focused on Julianne, who was looking back at him with her muzzle and brows equally skewed. Elusive tried not to cringe as he scratched the back of his mane and said, “I… I didn’t mean to, ummm…”

After a pert sigh, Julianne just rolled her eyes with a forgiving-looking smirk as ponies began to move back into their space. “Hey, it’s alright,” she said assuredly as the club music began to pick back up around them. “I get it, Elusive. You had a bit to drink, and you got a little jealous of the competition. Happens more often than you think.”

Even though Elusive knew that at least half of her assumptions were correct, he still felt incredibly guilty for practically pushing her aside for his own drunken intrusion. However, before he could try to say anything more, he realized somepony was missing as he looked around. “W-Wait a minute, ummm… where did Rainbow Blitz go?”

Despite being near-impossible to miss due to his mane, it seemed that the pegasus stormed off very shortly after the dance-off concluded. Elusive’s ears dropped down worriedly, and he could barely overhear either of the Hoofingtons as they tried to say they didn’t know. It was also in that moment that his heart nearly shot up into his throat, quickly recalling his stupidly impulsive remark during that dip. His pupils shrank in shock as he looked down at his hoof, unable to fathom how he could actually have said such a thing instead of just thinking about it. His heart began to race in worry, but his body was already too wiped-out to contemplate running all over this club after him. But alas, his eyes widened in terror the instant he looked up, and saw one of the club windows near the ceiling being opened by Rainbow himself.

Like the end of a fight scene in some broody superhero film, Blitz managed to slip out of the club without being seen by anyone except his partner. Even though his hooves were burning as hotly as his lungs, Elusive bolted off before Derek or Julianne could say anything. “Rainbow?! RAINBOW!!”

The unicorn may have had no idea where Blitz was going (or why he decided leaving the club was the best plan after such a thing), but he was running on pure adrenaline and emotion as he bursted out of Electro. And as the streak of technicolor light began to disappear in the distance, Elusive galloped as quickly as he could down the cobblestone streets in pursuit of it.

Author's Note

To everyone who's been following this story, I want to apologize for such a long delay between chapters. To those of you who haven't been following my account, I should point out that since my previous chapter, I literally had to move to a new apartment due to a very unjust eviction notice. And to add to that, I also had to take a huge amount of commissions (as well as start a Patreon page) in an effort to make enough funds to keep my finances afloat. Because of that, a lot of personal projects like this one were put aside for a while. I hope my next chapter won't take as long to put out, but I just want to say I'm sorry for taking so long. Just note that in my next chapter, things are gonna get a lot... closer.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Over the Cliff

Ever since he was a colt, Rainbow Blitz had always been the type to stay in the air as often as possible. Whether it be by perching himself on top of high structures, or just hovering a few feet in the air by his wings, it was fairly rare to see the pegasus stay on the ground for longer than an hour or so. But after that… awkward moment back at that Electro club, it was hard for him to stay afloat after bolting away from everypony. He wasn’t sure what the buck prompted him to scurry off so quickly, but he knew he’d probably be safer on a grounded surface to think things over.

So instead of perching himself on the top of a building like some gargoyle, or flying aimlessly around the packed island of Manehattan while his mind was frazzled, Rainbow reluctantly headed back to Elusive’s apartment to let everything sink in. Of course, even after a couple hours had passed, the Wonderbolt’s nerves still felt frayed as he sat on the living room couch with his head in his hooves. Butterscotch’s calming breathing techniques may have helped him a couple times in the past, but no amount of yoga-based bullcrap was enough to keep his rear-hooves from fidgeting against the hardwood floor. As he sat in silent solitude, Blitz couldn’t stop thinking about what the heck his friend was trying to do earlier that night.

There was no doubt that Elusive was drunk back at the club; even if he hadn’t have acted that way around the pegasus, the fact that Blitz could almost taste the tequila on his breath would’ve been a clear enough hint. But even with that obvious inebriation, Rainbow couldn’t shake that something else was up with his friend on that dance-floor. Usually when he had a little too much to drink, the unicorn either just acted really sleepy or overly emotional; but as he swiped Blitz away from Julianne to bring the dancing back to them, Elusive was almost unrecognizable to his dancing partner. Of course, Rainbow knew that move wasn’t the only thing his friend did which made him feel so weird afterward; no matter how much he tried to focus his thoughts elsewhere, that cheekily flirtatious statement Elusive made was running through his head in continuum.

‘What’s the matter, Darling? Would you rather get a kiss?~’

“Urrrgh!!” Rainbow gripped his mane tightly with both hooves as he sat in a more perched position on the couch. Even if he were to dismiss everything else that happened at Electro as just a bout of drunken idiocy, the fact that Elusive said that was making everything else seem more suggestive than expected. He could remember how weird the unicorn looked when they took that carriage ride to the club, but he figured that was just post-competition stress. But combined with him trying to keep Blitz and Julianne apart, and that way he was staring at him at the end of their forced impromptu dance, it was hard to see that as just being coincidence.

Not to mention, the memory of what almost occurred the previous night soon came back into Blitz’s subconscious as well.

“Nnnnghhh…” As he leaned himself back against the couch, Blitz really wished he had something to drink to help avoid thinking that moment over. But alas, even if Elusive’s apartment had anything with alcohol in it, the pegasus knew better than to drink any more than he already had that night. His head was already ringing from the remnants of what he downed back at the stadium and that carriage ride, and that lightning-fast flight back here didn’t help his budding migraine by any means. But despite all that, his thoughts became as audible in his head as they did paranoid.

He… He didn’t mean that, right? He wasn’t… a-actually expecting me to kiss him, was he? Wh… What the buck would be the point of that anyway!? He’s my friend! I’m HIS friend!

This can’t… This can’t be it. No… No, there’s no WAY he was being serious… I mean, even with that one thing that happened last night, which doesn’t count at all, Lucy… Elusive wouldn’t wanna do that. I mean, LOOK at us! There’s no way that sort of thing would work…

He’s a prissy, overbearing prep who gets pissed-off when I preen myself in his Boutique! He actually used the term ‘Plebian’ to describe my music tastes! Like, non-ironically!Why the buck would he wanna kiss ME? He didn’t even lean in that much last night…

After a brief pause, Blitz caught that last statement in his mind to gasp and tense-up strongly on the couch. Shit, wait! I-I-I wasn’t leaning in at all! He… He was the one who did it, NOT me! I mean… Dammit Blitz, stop thinking about that! He wasn’t trying to kiss you last night, and he wasn’t wanting one now! That’s not happening, so stop getting your hopes up--WHAT THE BUCK, NO!!! NO HOPES! SHUT UP, YOU STUPID DRUNK BRAIN!!

“MRRRRGHHH!!!” The pegasus leaned back forward with his face in his hooves, almost resembling a fetal position as he let out a muffled groan in irritation. He wasn’t sure what the heck was going on, but he felt like all this deafening silence was getting him too lost in his slightly tipsy thoughts. He didn’t know what to believe or consider, and he was certain his own mind couldn’t be trusted in the state he was in. After an annoyed huff, the Wonderbolt got up from the couch to head towards the window. If silence wasn’t doing it for him, then there had to be something happening in Manehattan to keep him occupied until sobering up com--

SLAM!!!

“GAHHH!!” Blitz wasn’t usually the type to get startled by loud noises, but the sudden boom of the front door opening and slamming against the wall made him jolt embarrassingly high. When he glanced back to the source of the noise, his eyes widened when he caught sight of a sweat-matted, and very winded-out Elusive panting at the doorway. The unicorn’s breaths were heavy and strained, undoubtedly from running all the way from Electro back to this apartment to chase Rainbow down. But even with how messed-up his purple mane became, and how red his face looked while beading with sweat, the unicorn’s wide-eyed face showed nothing but relief at seeing his partner standing awkwardly in the living room.

“Oh… Ohthankgoodness…” Due to his lungs burning painfully with each forced gasp for air, Elusive could only speak in weak and rushed-sounding blurbs. Meanwhile, Blitz stood with his brows raised on his friend as he tried to fathom how far that run must’ve been for him. “I… Itriedtofol… Itried… tofollowyourtrail, and… andI… Ihopedyouwouldbehere…”

Rainbow bit his lip as he looked away from his friend, not wanting to think about how quickly the unicorn had to have galloped to follow his rainbow trail. Given how difficult it is for ponies to follow it by flying, it seemed almost impossible for Elusive to have done so on hoof. Of course, there was always a chance he lost sight of it halfway through, and just guessed he would be here instead of elsewhere. But as his thoughts became more jumbled and assuming, Blitz was wary about that being the case.

“So, you…” Even with how sympathetic the unicorn looked while so exhausted, Rainbow could barely look at him while pointing his muzzle away. He rubbed one of his forelegs with his hoof as he took a breath and asked, “So you just… ran out of that club and galloped full-speed to find me?”

Even with Rainbow Blitz’s slightly judgemental tone of voice, Elusive’s ears dropped down at hearing that response out-loud. With each second he spent collecting his breath and trying not to pass out, his thoughts became clear enough to realize how ludicrous his reaction was to Blitz leaving the club. Plus, considering the fact that he undoubtedly caused his friend’s exit due to his own impulsive behavior, his head lowered in a mixture of embarrassment and regret. But regardless, Elusive still felt the need to retort in a winded tone of voice, “W-Well, I… I didn’t want you to do anything reckless…”

“Oh, like what you were doing back there?” asked the pegasus in a surprisingly blunt tone. Even Rainbow paused for a moment with his brows raised, not expecting that response to come out so quickly. Meanwhile, Elusive could only bite his bottom lip with a pained wince on his face. After a brief moment of silence, Rainbow was able to add with a more irritated huff, “I mean, seriously dude! What the buck was up with you back at that club?!”

“I don’t know!” whined the unicorn in a pained and shameful-sounding groan. Even without being able to see his face, Blitz was able to tell that his friend felt like crap for how he acted earlier. Elusive could only exhale with a strong cringe while keeping his head hung low. “I… I don’t know what came over me, alright? I just… I had a couple of shots at the bar, and I…”

“... And you what?!” asked Blitz impatiently during Elusive’s pause. “You just felt like coming in and cock-blocking me from Julianne!? I mean, seriously?! That is NOT cool, dude! I would never do that to you!”

“I know you wouldn’t, okay?!” Elusive had to step away to further conceal how hurt he felt about Blitz’s words and his own selfish actions. Regardless of how impulsive or drunk his ‘cock-blocking’ may have been, that didn’t make him feel any less horrible for acting to foolishly and upsetting the pegasus. He couldn’t even bear to look up and see Rainbow’s expression, but he could tell from his irritated voice that he wasn’t going to let it slide that easily. The unicorn could feel his throat closing up, and he had to clench his eyes shut to keep from crying in a mix of over-emotional stress and guilt. “I… I just…”

Elusive tried his hardest not to feel too overwhelmed, but Blitz was still able to overhear the faint sobs his friend struggled to suppress. Even with how pissed he was, Rainbow’s bitter scowl couldn’t stay as strongly on his muzzle at hearing Elusive’s obvious distress on the matter. He didn’t want to just look past what happened, but he also couldn’t look at the unicorn as he averted his eyes and said with a sigh, “C… C’mon man, don’t go there.”

“I-I can’t help it,” muttered Elusive as he tried to keep his breaths from sounding so choked or strained. He quickly tried to wipe his eyes with a hoof while adding, “You… You know how I get when I drink too much…”

Rainbow didn’t say anything in response to that statement, but he still nodded with a wrinkled muzzle. Elusive might have proven to be a good friend to drink with since they started dancing together, but he could recall a few instances where his partner became an utter wreck while tipsy. One of the most notable examples Blitz could recall was after Dusk’s sister’s wedding, when Elusive couldn’t stop clinging to the unicorn before the reception and sobbing between his drunken apologies. But even with that recollection in mind, it didn’t really explain why he was acting so emotionally stressed now.

After taking a quick breath, Blitz looked back at his upset friend and said, “Yeah, I get what you mean, but… But I still wanna know what’s going on! What was with that whole interruption thing on the dance-floor back there?! Or how weird you were acting during it? That’s not like you, dude!”

“Yes, I know it’s not!” blurted Elusive in a more fed-up tone of voice as he threw his hoof back down. He breathed in sharply while pulling his head up, fortunately not tearing up anymore. However, his eyes were still visibly reddened while trying to speak up for himself. “Rainbow, I am so sorry for what I did, and I swear I wasn’t in the right state of mind back there! I… I don’t know what I was thinking!”

Blitz rolled his eyes and groaned from that answer. “Well, give me something, Lucy! Ever since we left that stadium, you’ve been acting totally weird!”

“I-I don’t know, okay!?” Elusive was feeling his anxiety creeping back up, but he tried to hold his own to keep Blitz from thinking anything too close to the truth. He had to close his eyes while trying to think his words over. “I just… it’s been a really eventful week, and I… I’m still trying to process everything that’s been happening…”

Rainbow sighed as he closed his eyes as well, not wanting to say too much and risk going into subjects he hoped had passed. Although in retrospect, it was easy for the pegasus to think that all the drama that ensued since Las Pegasus was still sore for both of them. But as Blitz stayed silent and looked down to the ground, Elusive bit his quivering lip while thinking to himself painfully.

What am I supposed to tell you, you over-machismoed brute?! That I want you in a way I never expected to want any friend, let alone a stallion? That I didn’t want you dancing with another mare, and risk seeing you fall for her? That I… That I want nothing more than to tell you how I feel, but know how easily you could tear my heart in two?! What do you expect me to say without ruining what we already have…

With those thoughts racing through his clouded mind, Elusive was feeling even worse from the weight of reality bearing down upon his back. The last thing he wanted to do was brush aside how he felt back at that club, or risk admitting defeat to himself after just discovering how he felt for the stallion before him. Unfortunately, as his hooves ached from the lack of adrenaline he used to have earlier, the depletion of alcohol in the unicorn’s system left him feeling that bitter taste of doubt and pessimism on his tongue. He wished that he could just overcome his anxieties and confess the truth to Rainbow while they were alone; but as the seconds passed in a growing void of pregnant reluctance, all that Elusive could do was close his eyes and sigh with pity.

“Elusive… Dude, come on…” The pegasus’ muzzle was skewed in uncertainty, and he took a single step towards his friend cautiously. “I… I really don’t know what’s going on, and I just… I want some kind of answer, alright? Can… Can you just tell me something!? Anything?”

“Ugh!” Elusive felt how hard his chin struck his chest when he lowered his head in frustration. The mental restraints he felt within his mind were trying to bear down on his ability to speak, but he knew better than to leave his friend hanging. Even without looking up to see his face, he could tell how badly Blitz wanted to know the reason for his behavior; not just out of anger or discontent, but with concern that something may have been wrong with a good friend. It felt near impossible to utter out anything in shame, but Elusive still opened his muzzle meagerly to keep the pony he loved from feeling hurt or unheard.

“I… I was... I was scared…”

Blitz’s brows rose briefly, and he blinked a couple times with a look of surprise on his face. Of all the answers he would’ve expected Elusive to give him, the idea that it was fear didn’t seem to cross his mind. But judging by the way the unicorn’s legs were shaking, and how badly he was trying to hide his face and keep from crying, it wasn’t hard to see that it wasn’t a dishonest response. But alas, Rainbow still took a second before asking in clarification, “You… You were scared? B… But why?”

The white stallion brought his head back up and thoughtlessly blurted, “Because I didn’t want to lose you, alright?!”

The instant those words escaped through his lips, Elusive’s eyes shot wide-open in overwhelming shock and dread. Meanwhile, Rainbow Blitz just stared at him with a look of growing confusion on his face. But despite how obviously petrified Elusive looked after that blurt, it didn’t seem like the Wonderbolt noticed how quickly his friend’s breaths became. Instead, all that the pegasus did was jolt his head briefly and ask, “Wh… What would make you think something like that?!”

“I… I don’t…” Despite how badly he wanted to rectify that statement he made, Elusive had to cover his face with a hoof while struggling to get his words out coherently. It may have hurt to think about how he really felt, but he knew it was better at that moment to overthink his words than to just let them come out blindly. After forcing out a couple huffed breaths, the unicorn was able to say in a clear, albeit slightly-strained tone of voice, “I don’t… kn-know how to adequately explain it, but… but I…”

Before Blitz could ask for more than just that as an answer, Elusive put his hoof down and spoke while his head was pointed away from his love.

“I… I honestly can’t explain how wonderful everything felt since we began dancing together. I mean… I know it didn’t exactly start within the greatest circumstances, but… I really do feel like it’s brought us closer than ever. Like… even with all the battles we fought together, and… and how often we helped each other out beforehoof… I’ve learned more about you in the past couple months than I did when we first reformed Prince Artemis…”

Rainbow Blitz wanted to be surprised, or even wary about where this speech was heading, but nothing came to his mind that made his friend’s words sound wrong or exaggerated in any way. While he kept himself silent, the pegasus knew that Elusive wasn’t the only one to have felt that way. In between all of their dance practices and petty squabbles, Blitz could safely say that he learned a lot about the unicorn as well. And through all that, the stunt-pony couldn’t deny that he saw him in a much brighter light than he had before.

“And… and when…” Elusive pursed his muzzle shut for a couple seconds, and tried to control his breaths so they couldn’t come out so shaky or hiccuped. “And when I saw you with her, I just… I wasn’t sure how to feel about it. And I… I just felt so scared. Like… Like despite all we’ve done together, that… that what we had from our practices and performances could just… be replaced with somepony else. And… And it just killed me to even think about that, because… because the last thing I want is to lose all that we had, and to feel like it wasn’t special for both of us…”

By the time Elusive was able to take a deeper breath following his answer, he tried his hardest to keep his eyes closed while he was tearing up. Meanwhile Rainbow’s ears were lowered as he carried a sympathetic expression of his own. He wanted to remain pissed over what happened at the club, but he couldn’t bear to even try and see it without his friend’s perspective in place. Was Elusive’s response to seeing him dance with somepony else a dumb move? Absolutely. But could Blitz blame him from feeling so distressed after all they went through as friends? Well… at that moment, the Wonderbolt honestly couldn’t say that he could…

“So… So what you’re saying is…” While Elusive remained silent and focused on getting his emotional state in check, Rainbow Blitz sighed and asked hesitantly, “Be… Because of all that we’ve been doing for the past month or so, you… You were worried that me dancing with her would undo it all?”

“I-I know how it sounds, okay?” Elusive replied in a weak and meager-sounding creak. “But… But that was how I felt when I saw you with her. I mean… I really do feel like we have something… pretty special going on, and it just… seeing you with Julianne made me scared that what we had was being jeopardized or something…”

Upon hearing those words being said out-loud, the unicorn groaned and shook his head. “Ughhh… Oh, Solaris that sounded petty...”

As Elusive sighed in exasperation and pinched his temple with a hoof, Rainbow looked away awkwardly while scratching the back of his technicolor mane. He no longer carried a pissed-off scowl on his muzzle, and instead had a small blush as he tried to think of a proper response. Despite not wanting to condone his friend’s cock-block, the pegasus couldn’t help exhaling pertly before he said in response, “Well… I mean, I… I don’t think it’s that petty…”

Elusive dropped his hoof in surprise, and glanced up at his friend with a more befuddled expression on his face. “You… You don’t mean that, do you?”

“Well, I… I don’t think it’s worth acting like that over,” said the Wonderbolt with a hoof raised in honesty. But alas, Blitz then sighed and added with a more blunt tone of voice, “I mean, that was a stupid thing to do back at that club, and I wanna be pissed at you for it! But, like…”

After another prolonged breath, Rainbow shrugged while avoiding looking back at his friend’s surprised face. “I… I honestly didn’t think you were taking this ‘dance competition’ stuff so seriously, but… I guess that’s more on my end than yours…”

Elusive wanted to be grateful that his friend was able to try and see things from his side. However, the unicorn felt compelled to say with a quick huff, “Honestly Blitz, it’s not exactly the competition that made me feel like that. I just--”

“Yeah, I mean, I get it,” replied Rainbow with that interruption. Before Elusive could clarify what he meant, his friend finally looked back at him and said apprehensively, “And… and I’m not gonna lie to you, dude. I… I really do like what we have going with this whole, ‘dancing’ thing. I just didn’t, like… expect you to be feeling that dedicated about it in regards to us. But… I mean, it’s not like I don’t understand that feeling.”

Elusive’s head pulled back for a second as he turned more confused. “You don’t?”

“Well, yeah! I mean, I am a Wonderbolt, after all!” Blitz shrugged after that reply, giving Elusive an expression like that answer should’ve been obvious. “You think I don’t feel that way with some of my other fliers? Like, there have been a few times where I had to work with a specific teammate, and it just… it felt so weird when I was with somepony else. Or when I saw that pony performing just well with another flier! And, like… those are just members of my team, so I can totally see how it’d freak you out since we’re such good friends and all.”

Elusive blinked a few times, unsure whether to feel thankful or disheartened by that kind of mature answer by his friend. On one hoof, he really appreciated that Rainbow wasn’t treating him so poorly over his earlier actions, and giving a fair response he could respect. But on the other hoof, hearing him mention their relationship as ‘friends’ so casually made the unicorn’s heart push harder against that imaginary knife Blitz was unknowingly holding. But regardless of how pained he felt from those unintentionally callous words, he was able to maintain an appreciate smile for the sake of the stallion he cared about so deeply.

“I… Y-Yeah, I… I was hoping you would understand…”

“Well, you don’t have to worry, dude,” assured Blitz with a warm smile growing across his muzzle, not seeming to notice Elusive’s lips quivering ever so faintly. “I know I might act like I don’t care about what we’re doing sometimes, but I totally do. I made a promise to you that we were gonna win, and I’m gonna be damned if I break that to someone as important as you! Plus, I… I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy what we were doing too…”

With that last sentence, Rainbow’s muzzle wrinkled in slight embarrassment while blushing sheepishly. Elusive still felt uneasy with his friend’s earlier statements, but his head still tilted curiously before asking, “You… You do?”

“Well… Yeah,” confessed the pegasus in a meager, but still sincere-sounding tone of voice. “Like, it’s still kinda weird sometimes, but… I’d be lying if I tried to say you aren’t a great dancing partner! And… And I think it’s pretty clear we work so well together.”

Elusive quickly nodded in agreement, and decided to add happily, “I… I feel the same way! And… Well, when it came to seeing you with her, it just felt so… I dunno…”

Rainbow honestly wasn’t sure what the unicorn was specifically referring to, but he still nodded his head faintly. While he wasn’t going to admit it out-loud, the Wonderbolt couldn’t help thinking back to the brief instances of awkwardness he felt while dancing with that mare. It was probably just ‘First-Dance’ sumbling or something (or whatever dancing ponies would call that sort of thing), but Blitz was still aware that his chemistry with Julianne wasn’t as evident as it was with Elusive. Regardless of that fact, the pegasus stayed silent for a brief moment while thinking everything over; while he wasn’t going to say anything to Elusive about it, he made a mental note to try and meet up with her again.

“Yeah, I… I think I get your point,” Blitz finally said in response to his friend’s half-finished statement. “We work really well together, and… it was weird seeing me with her, right?”

Despite knowing there was much, much more to his apprehensions than just that, Elusive still nodded to Blitz’s response. After all, nothing that the blue stallion said was particularly wrong. So instead of dwelling on what else would’ve been true about his worries, the unicorn kept his accepting smile on the friend he had to keep silent for. “I… I think that sums it up, really… But I will say more than anything that I’m really sorry for what happened back at that club.”

After all that was discussed, Rainbow merely sighed and nodded with a light smile of his own. “Well, ummm… thanks for telling me that,” he answered with an honest tone. “And… I do accept your apology.”

It may have not been an admission of love, but that response from Blitz was more than enough to make Elusive smile more naturally. He then leaned in towards his friend, and pulled him in for a much-needed hug. Fortunately for the unicorn, he could hear Rainbow sigh in acceptance and hug him back lovingly. “Th… Thank you, Rainbow,” he muttered as he kept his eyes closed and his voice in a caring mutter.

“Hey, it’s no problem,” replied Blitz contently. “We are bros, after all. And Bros come before Hoes, right?”

Even though the stallion openly cringed at such a sexist and clichèd line, a small huff of amusement still escaped his muzzle while smirking a little. “I… I suppose so…”

Before Rainbow could try to let go, Elusive kept his eyes closed while lighting up his horn. Part of him was worried that he shouldn’t press anything too far after such a tense confrontation, but his body seemed to ignore any hesitations his mind tried to give. While his hooves were still tightly wrapped around his partner’s back, the unicorn used his magic to turn on the nearby radio. The unpleasant sound of static began to flood the inside of the papartment, which made both stallions squirm and pull back. As soon as he got back on his four hooves, Elusive reopened his strained eyes and tried to adjust the knob to find a suitable station.

“Really, dude?” asked Blitz with a roll of his eyes. “I mean, I hate awkward silences too, but we just--”

“I know,” interrupted Elusive while trying to avoid seeing his friend’s unamused stare on him. “But… After that argument, I just… I really think I need this right now…”

Blitz pursed his lips together and exhaled sharply while looking elsewhere. He wanted to say something about what his friend was trying to do (especially since dancing together was what sparked their argument in the first place), but something in Elusive’s insistent tone prompted him to stay silent. Meanwhile, the knob continued to slowly turn as various noises and musical notes came in split-second blurbs through the wall of radio static. Before Rainbow could try and tell him to stop, his ears perked up when the unicorn’s magic stopped at a specific song; like some grand coincidence even Dusk Shine would’ve been befuddled by, a familiar track was just starting to play through the speakers:

The song may have only been a couple years old, but the retro-sounding instrumentals made it feel like some long-forgotten gem from much earlier. Despite his and Elusive’s vast differences when it came to music preferences, Blitz was happy that something was playing from an artist they both enjoyed. He didn’t want to give in to what he knew Elusive wanted, but he could already feel his hind-hooves tapping against the hardwood floor in tandem to the song’s addictively bass-leaden beat. Plus, it was near impossible for the Wonderbolt to resist the soft, pleading glance Elusive made back at him. “I… I know it’s a lot to ask, but… W-Would you mind if…”

Elusive could barely muster up the confidence to ask for his friend’s hoof for one last, impromptu dance for the night. However, he was able to bring up one of his hooves before Rainbow, and silently hoped that he wasn’t too tired or upset to accept it. But even with a brief pause, it didn’t take long for Blitz to breathe out and smile back at him. Before the vocals of the song could begin, Rainbow hook Elusive’s hoof as they both got on their rear legs.

The two held each other at hooves-length as they began to move to the tempo of the song, not needing any prompting from either side to get in proper sync. With each step Rainbow made with his right hoof, Elusive did the same with his left like it was as natural as breathing. Much like when they were first practicing the Cha-Cha-Cha, the two never pulled away from one another while working their hooves with poise and precision.

As the stallions’ moves became more synchronized and free-flowing, Elusive had to bite his lip to keep from smiling too wide in elation. Unlike back at the club, the unicorn didn’t feel any pressure or jealousy while dancing with Rainbow all to himself. Each movement the two made felt unbelievably right to the unicorn, almost as if the music was prompting him to continue with his heart as opposed to his brain. Of course, given the lyrics of the infamously romance-laden track, Elusive had a feeling the words being sung through those speakers were getting to him more than anticipated.

Elusive’s cheeks began to blush as he made his steps more pronounced alongside Rainbow’s, and he tried to let the music guide them closer while they were in seclusion. Fortunately for the stallion, he could sense Blitz’s steps becoming more defined to match with his partner’s. Hips began to move more notably from both ponies, and the grip of their hooves around each-other’s torsos tightened to make sure neither would slip away. Aside from a couple quick glances down to make sure their hoofwork was correct, Rainbow made sure to keep his eyes on Elusive during their increasingly profound steps. And before too long, the pegasus’ cheeks began to turn redder when their bodies moved ever so closer alongside the song.

Blitz wasn’t sure how to feel as they danced, but his heart was racing a little faster by the time the song’s robotic backing vocals chimed in. Even though he was rightfully upset for what his friend pulled back at Electro, none of those feelings seemed to manifest within his mind while dancing with Elusive in his apartment. Unlike his slightly clumsy moves with Julianne, the impromptu steps he made with the stallion before him came with near perfection in their timing. Even when the pegasus pulled his friend back to prompt a spin, Elusive did so with flawless precision; it may have been due to the countless hours they spent in practice over the past month, but he couldn’t deny how connected the two became with their moves.

As the song’s instrumentals and passionate tone picked up, so did the moves the stallions made within the small confines of their private space. They may have been in one of the most densely populated cities in Equestria, but the apartment began to feel like an oasis among a desert of silence and uncertainty outside. Hooves started to move with more flow and freedom between Blitz and Elusive, and their minds became more focused on each other than they did anything else.

By the time the song reached its highest points near the end, Rainbow and Elusive had fully succumbed to the beat and the mood of the track. The pegasus couldn’t do a lot of the moves he pulled back at that club, but he was able to move in close to pick up his partner. Within the confined space of the Manehattan apartment, Blitz was able to do a free-flowing spin while holding the unicorn close against his chest. Elusive, who was holding onto the Wonderbolt with all of his might, had a heavy blush on his face while so close to the stallion he adored so much.

With the way their hearts were thundering, and their blushed faces were beading with sweat, it wouldn’t have been surprising if their minds began to associate their dancing with a much more sensual physical act. Rainbow Blitz had to bite his lip while performing more daring moves with the stallion towards the climax of the song. His mind was growing blank with focus, and all that grew to matter was the spinning, passionate pony before him. Even as their positions remained increasingly close with each other, the pegasus’ expression didn’t seem to show any resistance or hesitation behind his blush.

Elusive, much like Rainbow, wasn’t able to think clearly while dancing with more intensity and carnal impulse. Each spin and step the two made felt more defined, as if they were inching ever so closer towards its eventual conclusion. The stallion’s breaths became shakily anxious as he heard the song reaching its end, which made his heart pound in his chest to keep moving forward. And with his proximity to Blitz already tremendously close, Elusive’s conscience was completely muted, and unable to restrain him from giving in.

But judging by the burning ferocity he could see glimmering in Rainbow’s magenta eyes, Elusive was certain that he wasn’t the only one moving on impulse.

Just as the song reached its abrupt end, Elusive gasped in surprise when he felt his back being pushed up against a wall. Meanwhile, Rainbow’s hooves were tightly pinned against the unicorn’s shoulders as he stood on his hind-legs before him. The pegasus stayed silent for a moment, panting heavily while peering at his friend with a look of blushed intensity. His face was burning hot from that improvised session, but his heart-rate remained thunderous even after the song had passed. His thoughts remained empty, as his focus remained solely on the blushing stallion he was holding. As he breathed deeply through his muzzle, he could feel his throat and tongue drying up while peering into those gleaming blue eyes.

Elusive remained silent as well, but he felt like he was going to have a heart attack from how riled-up he felt in that moment. At seeing how primal and dedicated Blitz’s stare on him looked, the unicorn felt utterly helpless within his iron-like grasp. His breaths were just as heavy and rapid as his friend’s, but his thoughts weren’t as blank as Rainbow’s. But instead of his conscience trying to plead for him to pull away, or the rational part of his mind trying to remind him of the ramifications, all that the pony heard were those impulsive orders urging him to go for it.

It almost felt like slow motion was put in place as Elusive’s eyes narrowed on the stallion he loved, even though it most likely occurred within a few seconds at most. His hooves were wrapped around Blitz’s back, but they moved upward on their own accord so he could get a good grip behind the pegasus’ shoulders. Rainbow may have been the more daring and impulsive pony of the Elements, but Elusive barely felt the slightest quandary as he made the first move. Before he could get the chance to stop or second-guess his actions, the unicorn’s hooves tightened around his friend to pull him inward.

Despite Rainbow’s tight grip on his shoulders, Elusive was still able to move his head in after pulling his friend in within reach. He closed his eyes tightly, and tried to ignore his dangerously racing heart when he brought Blitz’s muzzle up against his own. As he felt his lips press in hard against Rainbow’s, a shaky exhale briefly escaped Elusive’s nostrils in a mix of elation and unfathomable wariness. He had absolutely no idea how the Wonderbolt would react to such a sudden or unexpected kiss, but he felt absolutely no regrets seep into his mind at doing it in that moment. Instead, all he could do was hold his friend in place, and hope to Solaris that he wouldn’t push him away.

For about four seconds, Blitz remained frozen at the spot while Elusive kissed him so bluntly on the lips. His eyes remained wide-open, and he was able to see up-close how blushed and uninhibited his friend looked. It was unclear whether it was the alcohol running through his bloodstream, the heated dance the two just did on the fly, or the weeks spent together which kept him from pulling away. But whatever the reason was, Rainbow’s grip on the unicorn didn’t weaken in the slightest by the time he was able to freely move on his own accord.

Instead, his hooves wrapped around Elusive to hold him in even closer.

The Wonderbolt closed his eyes as he let out a soft, muffled sigh during that first kiss he shared with his friend and dance partner. As his mind remained blissfully absent of any hesitations or worries, his heart kept thumping rapidly as he finally kissed Elusive back. The unicorn’s eyes opened for a brief moment as he felt his friend respond in such a way, but they quickly rolled back in undefinable rapture before closing once more.

The radio continued to play another song, but neither of them seemed to give it the slightest notice. As their hearts pounded in synchronised magnitude, the stallions remained in each other’s tight embrace while kissing even deeper. Neither of them could adequately think over what they were really doing, or how significantly things would change by the time morning came to sober them up. But on that night, Rainbow Blitz and Elusive stayed in their bubble of mindless bliss for quite a while after that first kiss. Without any words spoken, or any doubt running through either of their minds, it wasn’t long before the two continued to make out deeply while making their way to Elusive’s bedroom...

Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Fallout

Much like the previous two mornings, Manehattan was abuzz with energy and bustling ponies before the sun was even seen coming up from the sea. However, there were still many ponies who were either just getting up, or likely trying to sleep in their overpriced apartments. Two of those ponies, who had quite the eventful weekend together already, were still promptly passed-out as they laid in each other’s embrace. Even as the bright beam of sunlight started to shine in through the open window blinds, all it did was illuminate Elusive and Rainbow Blitz while they spooned in the unicorn’s bed soundlessly.

Rainbow’s chin was resting atop his friend’s purple mane, and he snored rather faintly as a trickle of drool left a sizeable puddle on one of the plush suede pillows. As for Elusive, his forelegs were tightly wrapped around Blitz’s body while he slept with a blissful smile on his face. While his muzzle stayed contently buried within the pegasus’ thick tuft of chest fur, his head was resting at an angle so that his horn wouldn’t accidentally poke or impale Rainbow in his sleep. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like Blitz was discomforted in any way as he held onto Elusive just as soundly.

If anyone were to walk in on the two in that moment, it would’ve been obvious just how close the two became the previous night. However, anyone with an acute sense of detail (or smell, probably) would’ve soon noticed that nothing too wild occurred after the two pounced onto each other in the bedroom. The couple may have acted impulsively passionate after that first kiss they shared in drunken embrace, but there were no clear signs that hinted to anything more than that among the unkempt bed. No condom wrappers could be seen on the floor, no bottles of lubricant were laying by the nightstand, and the only stain on Elusive’s bed was from Rainbow Blitz’s drool.

Nevertheless, it was still fairly lucky that the two had the bedroom door locked, and the windows covered to avoid any prying eyes. Otherwise, things may have gotten pretty awkward when the main door of the apartment was unlocked. While the radio continued to play some Top 40 hit faintly from the living room, the sounds of a particular dragoness’ bare feet slapping against linoleum could be heard quite evidently. Fortunately for the stallions, it seemed that their unexpected guest was fine with staying in the kitchen for the time being.

Barb, with granted permission by Dusk Shine, decided to give the dancing duo a surprise breakfast wake-up in celebration of their win the other day. Even though she knew better than to barge into someone else’s place without permission, she figured preparing the guys a homemade meal would make up for any awkwardness of her break-in. Not to mention, since she heard from Bubble Berry that Elusive’s kitchen was almost empty, the dragoness saw it as an obligation to come over and make them some proper omelettes.

“Ooh!” Upon peeking into the unicorn’s fridge, Barb’s face lit up upon seeing what was inside one of the styrofoam take-out boxes left inside. “I don’t know who had teriyaki broccoli,” she said to herself with a shrug as she took the item out, and placed it next to her paper grocery bag of breakfast essentials, “but that’s going into the omelettes for sure!~”

For a while, the sounds of Barb rifling through the kitchen could faintly be heard through the bedroom door nearby. Despite the occasional metallic clang or scrape, none of the noises from outside seemed to disturb Elusive’s slumber in the slightest. Instead, all the unicorn did was hum contently as he nestled in closer against his stallion’s slender chest. Meanwhile, Rainbow Blitz’s ears perked ever so slightly as his muzzle began to twitch.

“Mmmnnnghhh…” As the stallion’s consciousness began to slowly return, his teeth soon gritted tightly as he groaned from the splitting headache that came alongside it. Due to how much both he and Elusive drank last night (not to mention over the weekend as a whole), it wasn’t surprising that the pegasus felt like complete shit as he began to wake up. However, despite how acute his senses became in all the wrong ways, it took a while for Rainbow Blitz to realize he wasn’t sleeping in a bed by himself. It also took the Wonderbolt a couple of minutes before he realized what he had latched against his chest wasn’t just a super-warm pillow.

“Wha… What the…” Rainbow wasn’t able to open his eyes just yet, but he was able to overhear someone cooking in the kitchen. If he was in a less sickened state of mind, he would’ve just assumed that Elusive was cooking breakfast or something. Unfortunately, the pegasus’ hangover wasn’t enough to keep him from realizing that the very stallion was holding him tightly in his bed. Even if his eyes were tightly shut, Blitz would’ve recognized the unicorn’s cologne anywhere.

By the time the smell of cooked egg and melted cheese began to permeate into the bedroom, Rainbow Blitz was finally able to slowly, and worriedly open his eyes. At first, his face carried a look of confusion as he glanced down at the stallion clinging to him, confirming the fact that he really was sharing a bed with Elusive. He blinked a couple times with a puzzled and groggy groan, clearly unable to think too hard while his head was throbbing in pain. Unfortunately, it didn’t take the stallion long to recall certain things. Things that caused his expression to slowly change from the baffled look he once had...

He first recalled what happened at the club the previous night…

Then, he remembered that conversation he had with Elusive out in the living room…

Then that song came back into his head, ever so faintly alongside the other memories…

By the time the heaviest recollection began to surface, Rainbow Blitz’s face started to carry a cold, unrelenting look of fear that turned his cyan face pale. His hooves began to shake in a panic while wrapped around Elusive’s back. As the events of last night fully began to resurface in his mind, Blitz began to hyperventilate while his body remained frozen in place. Despite how rapidly his heart was racing in his chest, it only barely overshadowed the nausea and headache that was keeping him from moving his body. Much like in one of those Dashing Dare novels, the pegasus felt like pulling himself from the bed would be next to impossible; that was, without the severe risk of throwing up on the floor or waking up the stallion spooning him.

Of course, before he could contemplate any feasible course of action, Rainbow’s heart shot up to his chest as he heard Barb’s voice from the kitchen. “Hey, guys!” she shouted out happily, not seeming to realize the stallions were in the same bedroom. “I made you two some breakfast, so wake yourselves up!~”

By that point, Elusive began to stir awake as well. While he let out a pleasantly calm sigh and nuzzled his partner’s chest, Rainbow’s reddened eyes shot wide-open while his pupils shrunk to the size of pin-pricks. “Oh shit,” he muttered in the faintest tone imaginable, which still projected how utterly scared he sounded in that moment. “Oh shit… ohshitohshitohshitohshit…”

“Mmm?~” It was unclear how conscious Elusive was while his eyes were closed, but he was awake enough to make that faint response to his friend’s fretful mutterings. But alas, the unicorn still seemed rather peaceful as he continued hugging Blitz with a faint smile on his face. Meanwhile, Rainbow’s hangover wasn’t too debilitating to make him not notice how dreamily his friend seemed to act within his embrace.

He wasn’t completely sure whether or not Elusive was into him, but his paranoia was sinking in quickly enough to make his eyes widen even more. Nausea or not, the stallion couldn’t deny how absolutely, royally screwed he felt as he realized what he got himself into. His throbbing head may have been burning up, and his stomach may have been doing cartwheels inside of him, but he was able to think everything over long enough before saying in a clear and definitive tone:

“Oh… buck.”

Meanwhile outside the room, Barb was just finishing up the garnish for two freshly-prepared plates of omelettes. “Hmm?” she asked as she glanced over to one of the closed doors with a raised brow. “Rainbow, is that you?”

“AIEEE!!”

THUMP!!

Despite hearing what sounded to be Rainbow Bitz’s swear, she then heard a distinct shriek from Elusive before something fell to the floor. But before she could even process what was going on, the bedroom door burst open to reveal a sickly and freaked-out Rainbow. He was panting like the very act of getting out of bed was hard enough, and he had a hoof over his chest as he struggled to breathe properly. Meanwhile, his face was carrying a concerning shade of red as his eyes darted around the rest of the apartment.

“W-Wait, Rainbow!” shouted Elusive from inside the bedroom, much to Barb’s surprise as her eyes widened a little. Upon hearing the unicorn’s panicked tone as well, Blitz tensed up for a second before he made a rushed beeline to the front door. Meanwhile, his partner could be heard struggling to get on his hooves while yelling in addition, “Rainbow, please! Just give me a moment to explain!”

Barb had no idea what was going on, but her worried expression made it clear she was already making some bad assumptions. Rainbow Blitz didn’t say anything in response to his friend’s panicked words, and it seemed like he didn’t want to hear much else as he ran past Barb’s prepared setup. By the time Elusive was able to run out of the bedroom, his partner had already escaped the apartment like it was on fire.

“RAINBOW!!” The unicorn wasn’t feeling much better than his friend, but he still tried to run to the open doorway and lean his head out. “RAINBOW, PLEASE COME BACK!!!”

Unfortunately, it seemed that Elusive was too late to try and change Blitz’s mind. The front door of the building could be heard slamming open, indicating that the pegasus rushed out to run off to who-knows-where. After a long, arduously painful bout of silence, the white stallion backed from the doorway with a mortified expression on his face. He covered his muzzle with a hoof to try and muffle a sob, even though his beading eyes made it obvious how hurt he looked. His hind-legs buckled hard, almost as if the pain of rejection was leaving him barely able to even stand in place. By the time the unicorn was able to realize he wasn’t completely alone in the apartment, the front door had already closed on its own due to the weight.

Meanwhile, Barb just stood awkwardly with a concerned, and slightly heartbroken look of her own. Despite wearing her nice apron and holding a spatula, she didn’t seem to want to advertise her cooking skills when she saw how upset Elusive looked. Instead, the dragoness just remained silent as a worried frown grew across her face, and she waited for the unicorn to finally take notice of her. Unfortunately, her expression grew more morose the instant she got a good look at the hungover stallion’s defeated, betrayed glance back at her.

“... Ummmm…” Even though the last thing she wanted to do was speak up, let alone try to lighten the mood even the slightest bit, the drake weakly motioned her head over to the kitchen counter before asking with a wince, “You… You probably don’t want omelettes, do you…”

Elusive may have already had a decent apartment in Manehattan, but Prince Dusk Shine wasn’t one to try and intrude on his friend’s resources when he had more than enough of his own. It may have cost a stupendous amount of bits overall, but the Alicorn spared no expense when he purchased hotel suites for himself, his friends, and the families of Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes for the weekend. Fortunately, it didn’t seem any regrets were to be had as the ponies took full advantage of their temporary housings in such a well-off city.

By the time Apple Buck and his family were all awake, breakfast was in full-swing as Twinkle’s parents worked in the kitchen alongside Grampy Smith. While the couple cheerfully prepared some healthier options for the kids and Applejack, the elderly stallion was preoccupied with the deep-fryer he brought with him from Ponyville. Even though Curtain Call and Press Bar were fairly hesitant about Grampy Smith frying up apple fritters as a breakfast item, neither of them could really complain when he insisted it was solely for the winning dancers as a celebration treat. Of course, by the time breakfast was nearly complete, the old pony had obviously lied about his claims as judged by the massive pile of fritters he fried up behind their backs.

Meanwhile, Applejack trotted out from the bathroom with a satisfied smile on his face, and a plush-looking bathrobe donned over his half-dried fur. “Whoo!” he exclaimed with a giddy shiver as he went and re-donned his Stetson. “Ah gotta say, that there steam shower is somethin’ else!”

“I know, right?!” replied Scootaroll with a bewildered smirk of his own. He and the other kids were already seated around the kitchen table of the surprisingly spacious penthouse. Despite how tempting the food being prepared looked from the kitchen, over half of the complementary fruit-bowl’s contents were already being devoured by the kids while the pegasus replied, “Honestly though? I’m not sure what to think about that hose thingy on the toilet.”

“You mean the bidèt?” chirped Silver Bell quite happily as he looked up at him and finished chewing his pear. After swallowing a mouthful, the little unicorn added with a shrug, “Elusive has one of those in his personal bathroom. I’ve used it before, and it’s great! I don’t even have to wipe afterward.”

While Apple Buck tried to stifle a giggle with a hoof over his mouth, Twinkle Toes groaned a little as she put down her half-eaten banana. “Silver, c’mon now,” piped up Press Bar as he looked back at the table of kids. “We’re just about to eat.”

“I’m just saying, it’s really convenient!”

BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG!!!

A massively loud and rapid barrage of bangs at the front door caused everypony to jolt in shock. Grampy Smith almost spilled the last of the basket of fritters, but Curtain Call was quick to catch him before he could slip on the floor. One of the bedroom doors opened as Macarena and Toffee bursted out, clearly disheveled and not expecting to be interrupted so early. While Applejack went towards the front door to see who it was, Scootatoll snickered a little as he peered back at Silver Bell to whisper, “Maybe it’s the potty police.”

The unicorn colt huffed with a roll of his eyes while the others giggled to Scoot’s reply. Meanwhile, Applejack was just about to peer through the peephole when he heard Blitz’s voice call out frantically from the other side, “AJ! AJ, you in there!? Open up, I need some help!”

Applejack’s eyes widened in worry, and he quickly went to unlock the door. While everypony else were focused on what was happening with the Elements, the two mares quickly brushed down their messy manes and fur so they wouldn’t appear so obvious. Fortunately, none of the other ponies paid much attention to them as the girls sat down silently alongside the kids. Of course, the instant Applejack opened the door to reveal the very hungover and unkempt pegasus, Macarena and her marefriend looked fairly decent by comparison. Blitz’s widened eyes were as red as Buck’s mane, and he looked like he ran through a carriage-wash with how matted and sweat-stained his coat looked.

“What in tarnation!?” shouted AJ in shock when he saw how his friend looked. “Rainbow, what the heck did ya do?! Flush yourself down a toilet or someth--HEY!!”

Before the farmpony could finish his insult, Rainbow Blitz noticed Twinkle’s parents and rushed into the penthouse uninvited. Despite how mangled he may have looked, the pegasus was nimble enough to not only slip past his friend towards the kitchen in record time, but also grab both of the stallions and pull them out of the hotel room. Since Applejack tried to catch Rainbow when he ran into the kitchen, the doorway was left wide-open as the Wonderbolt escaped the stallion’s grasp.

“HEY!!” Applejack wasn’t sure how the heck Blitz was able to get past him so easily, especially with two other ponies who were pulled out with him by surprise. But by the time the three stallions were gone with the slamming of the door, AJ looked utterly puzzled as he stood before the door and blinked repeatedly. After a moment, he looked around the hotel room at all of the other baffled ponies, mostly to make sure he wasn’t the only one who saw what his friend managed to do.

“Ummm… did Rainbow Blitz just kidnap my Dads?” asked Twinkle worriedly.

Grampy seemed just as puzzled as everypony else, but he was the first to look past it as he shrugged and grabbed his plate full of fritters. “Welp, let’s hope he ain’t askin’ for a ransom for them health-nuts. Now, who wants some fritters while they ain’t here?”

Twinkle just gawked at Grampy with an offended look, but everyone else at the table raised their hooves rather quickly. Meanwhile, Applejack reopened the door to look out into the now empty hallway. “Oh, great,” he muttered with a bitter scowl on his face. “Just what in Equestria did that dingleberry do now?”

Back at Elusive’s apartment, Barb was fortunate enough to know the stallion would need to talk with someone other than her. She may have felt hurt at seeing her friend so upset (not to mention the fact that her breakfast was completely ignored), she used an emergency scroll and her fire breath to contact Dusk for some much-needed assistance. While the unicorn disappeared back into the bedroom to wallow in his hungover sorrows, only a few minutes passed between that scroll being sent, and the arrival of one of their friends. The drake should’ve been surprised that it was Butterscotch who arrived to the apartment instead of Dusk Shine, but she was feeling too down to really pay attention as she helped herself to Blitz’s untouched omelette.

“I-I came as fast as I could!” blurted the yellow pony as he bursted in and tried to catch his breath. “I… I convinced Dusk to let me come by myself. Is… Is Elusive alright?”

Instead of saying anything, Barb just pointed over to the closed bedroom door where muffled sobbing could be heard. Upon hearing how distressed the unicorn sounded, Butterscotch put a hoof to his muzzle as he winced in pity. “Oh dear,” he muttered before he took a breath, and slowly made his way towards the door.

Before he could try to enter the room, the pegasus paused briefly and asked back towards Barb, “Ummm… did Elusive tell you anything?”

The dragoness sighed and shook her head while keeping her sights on the half-eaten plate before her. “No,” she said in a flat and tired tone of voice. “But I won’t eavesdrop. Trust me, by this point, I’d rather not learn too much…”

Butterscotch’s ears dropped down worriedly as he stared back at the drake, clearly concerned that she was depressed over what was happening with her friends. But alas, the continuing sounds of Elusive’s crying prompted him to huff and leave her be for now. “W-Well, I really do appreciate you asking for Elusive’s help, Barb. I’ll be sure to owe you one.”

Despite how genuinely Butterscotch made that statement, Barb only nodded her head silently while eating her omelette. The stallion then exhaled warily before turning back to the door, and giving a faint knock. “Ummm… Elusive?” he whispered in a tone just audible enough for the unicorn inside to overhear. As soon as he heard a faint pause in the sniffling through the door, Butterscotch said cautiously, “It’s only me, I swear. Can… Can you please let me in? I really want us to talk about what happened…”

For a long, arduous moment of time, Butterscotch didn’t hear anything from the other side of the door. Instead of any sobs or sniffles, all that the stallion could overhear was the sound of Barb eating behind him. Meanwhile, the drake was just looking more decomposed by the second as she tried to pretend she wasn’t paying attention to Elusive’s struggles. If Butterscotch wasn’t so focused on the stallion’s well-being, he may have been able to notice that Barb was at least slightly aware of what may have been going on between Elusive and his dancing partner. But nevertheless, the tone was just vacantly awkward by the time the pegasus sighed, and heard the faintest hoofsteps through the other side of that door.

Elusive didn’t say anything, or even open the door himself to invite Butterscotch inside. However, he did unlock the knob with a distinct click, silently indicating that his friend was allowed in. After one last glance back at Barb, who just waved her claw without even looking back at him, the pegasus breathed out apprehensively as he opened the door and went inside. By the time he locked the door behind him upon entering, he saw that Elusive was back in his bed; like a moth within a cocoon, the unicorn was wrapped tightly in his comforter while the curtains were shut, and a notable puddle of his tears were soaked in the mattress beneath his hung head.

“Oh, Elusive…” Butterscotch looked like he was about to cry, and carefully got himself into bed so he could hug the outside of Elusive’s cocoon. The white pony didn’t say anything, but he sniffed a little harder as he leaned in to nestle his head against Butterscotch’s tufted chest. Despite feeling his friend’s tears quickly soaking into his fur, the yellow stallion didn’t seem to mind in the slightest as he held him tight and began to pet his mane. “Elusive, I’m so sorry…”

He closed his eyes for a moment as he tried to focus on his hug, not wanting to upset his friend any more by trying to ask what specifically occurred. However, after about a minute of silence, he heard Elusive’s voice come out in a faint, muffled creak through his blanket. “I… I love him… I love him so much, Scotch…”

“Shhhhhh… I know…” Butterscotch held his friend even tighter as his chin rested atop the unicorn’s head. “I know that you love him, Elusive. I promise you, nopony would judge you for that…”

“B… B-But…” Elusive may have known that his friend was trying his hardest to be there for him, but his face tightly scrunched in before he said with a heartbroken voice. “... but he did…”

Upon saying that devastating statement out loud, the unicorn knew that the floodgates couldn’t stand any longer. As soon as Butterscotch tightened his grip around him, Elusive buried his face into his friend’s chest before bawling out uncontrollably. Even with how much that blanket and Butterscotch’s body muffled his cries, his heartfelt sobs could still be heard clear as day through the door. Barb, who was already too upset herself, ended up needing to leave the apartment so she wouldn’t start crying as well; unfortunately, the little dragoness couldn’t keep a couple tears from streaming down her face by the time she exited through the front door.

“Elusive…” Butterscotch felt more than a little distressed as he held onto the sobbing stallion and tried to keep him in his grasp. However, he tried to keep his cracking voice as affirmative as possible as he asked, “I… I know this going to be a lot to ask, but… but do you think you can tell me what happened? I just… I feel like it’s important to know what he did.”

A strong, shaky exhale escaped Elusive’s muzzle as he struggled to control his sobbing. Even though he knew how hard it was going to be to recount all the events from last night, both from the pain of the conclusion and how hazy his drunken recollection would likely be, the stallion was also aware how dangerous bottling up his emotions could be. Not to mention, after all that occurred over the past couple weeks, he trusted Butterscotch strongly enough to know he wouldn’t try to hurt him for admitting anything too truthful.

So after taking his time to control his breathing, Elusive was abe to calm himself down enough to let out a smooth, albeit faint exhale. While his eyes remained closed, and the fur beneath his cheeks were heavily matted in tears, the stallion’s muzzle opened with a weak tremble as he spoke timidly. “Rai… Rainbow and I… W-We went to that club with the Hoofingtons last night…”

Back at the hotel the rest of the group were staying at, Applejack ended up leaving the room after almost twenty minutes had passed. While he didn’t want to think Twinkle Toes’ parents were actually hurt or in danger, he really didn’t like the fact that Rainbow Blitz just swiped them before breakfast for no reason like some masked fox. He had originally figured that his friend just wanted to borrow the Dads for five or ten minutes at most; unfortunately, by the time most of the remaining group were finished with their breakfast, AJ figured it was best to investigate before their daughter got too worried.

Luckily for the farmpony, he didn’t have to go past the ground floor lobby to notice that notorious prismatic mane. The instant Applejack got off the elevator, he was able to see Blitz seated at one of the breakfast bar tables with Twinkle’s Dads. Instead of just storming up to the table to see what was happening, the orange stallion decided to keep his distance as he stood just out of reach by the front desk. It wasn’t until he reached the coffee machine by the back wall that he was able to vaguely hear his friend whispering about something; he wasn’t able to catch that many specific words, but he could tell that whatever Blitz was talking about was leaving him mighty flustered.

“Hmmm…” Applejack narrowed his eyes in suspicion as he tried to eavesdrop from behind a marble column a few tables away from the three. From his angle, he was able to see that Rainbow Blitz looked unbelievably stressed as he tried talking to the couple; the pegasus’ dilated eyes had heavy lines underneath them, and his face looked oddly pale as he tried to sit with his hind-legs twitching antsily. Meanwhile, Press Bar and Curtain Call seemed rather peeved as they sat in silence, listening to Blitz’s frantic words while carrying flat stares on their faces. Applejack wasn’t sure why Twinkle’s parents seemed so upset (aside from being pulled away from the breakfast they made), but it seemed that Rainbow Blitz’s reason for talking to them wasn’t helping their mood too much.

After huffing softly through his nostrils, AJ’s muzzle shifted as he tried to ascertain why Blitz seemed so weirded-out. While his eyes were peered at those three, the stallion didn’t seem to notice the similarly orange-coated colt come up underneath him. Scootaroll’s head poked out from the column beneath Applejack’s, but he tried to be discrete as he whispered up at him, “What’s going on?”

“GNNNGH!” Applejack quickly jolted back out of sight alongside Scootaroll, and were luckily unnoticed by the table they were spying on. As soon as he realized who followed him down to the lobby, the stallion shot an annoyed glare down at him. “Scoot, what the heck are ya doin?!” he hissed as he looked around frantically, hopeful that the other Cutie Mark Cavaliers weren’t around to do Solaris-Knows-What to this nice lobby. “You need to go back to your room!”

“Hey, I wanted to see what was up with Blitz too!” Scootaroll whispered back towards AJ. After looking around himself to make sure they weren’t causing a scene, the little pegasus shrugged and added, “Plus, Twinkle asked me to come down to make sure her Dads were okay.”

Even though he didn’t want to foalsit one of the CMC colts more than he already had to, Applejack sighed and rolled his eyes. “Well… Oh, alright,” he said in a hushed and sightly defeated tone. “Just keep yourself quiet, alright?”

The colt nodded with a prideful smile, before pulling his hoof down his face to reveal a more determined look of focus. AJ didn’t take much notice to that, and just looked back around the column to try and overhear the table. Scootaroll did the same while his head was underneath the stallion’s.

“Uuuughhhhhh…” Rainbow Blitz groaned as he slumped his head forward and rubbed his temple with a hoof. Due to his still-throbbing headache, the cold reception he was getting from Twinkle’s Dads wasn’t helping how terrible he felt in a physical sense. Nevertheless, he still sighed as he tried to maintain some sort of good-will with the stallions for the sake of his mental well-being. “Guys, I… I know you’re not happy with me, alright? And… And you have every right to be pissed-off. I’m not saying you don’t. I just… I really need your advice on this.”

Curtain Call kept his forelegs crossed over his chest as he leaned his head back, and whinnied in tired frustration. Press Bar, who seemed to be in a slightly less upset mood, shrugged his head ever so slightly as he lit his horn and took a sip of his orange juice. “Alright,” began the yellow stallion as he sighed softly, and kept his eyes peered on Blitz’s dire expression. “Listen, Rainbow… I can tell just from looking at you that you needed to talk with somepony. And believe me, I do think it’s important that you’re doing that. However…”

Upon hearing that last word’s inflection, Rainbow couldn’t help but wince as he leaned against one of his forelegs propped against the table. Meanwhile, the brown stallion beside his husband decided to add his input as he pulled his head back down with a sharp exhale. “Look,” began Curtain Call with a much blunter tone of voice, “if what you told us about what happened is true, then I don’t think we’re the ponies you should be talking with right now.”

“Well, who the buck else am I supposed to talk to!?” Blitz blurted angrily, which caused both stallions to instantly grow pissed expressions on their faces. Fortunately, Rainbow was quick to cover his face with a cringe and groan regrettably. “Sorry, I’m sorry,” he muttered with a weak shake of his head, before sighing and putting his hoof back down to speak directly. “I know you two are still mad about my language, okay? I didn’t mean to do that, and I really am trying to stop. A lot of stuff happened back at that last show, but I really am sorry.”

While Applejack tilted his head in confusion while listening in, Scootaroll’s brows rose as he spoke in a faint whisper. “Ohhhhhhh… I think they’re still mad about that Las Pegasus thing.”

“Las Pegasus?” asked AJ confusedly as he glanced down at the colt. “What’s that gotta do with…” Fortunately, a brief pause was all the stallion needed before he realized just what Scootaroll meant. Given what Rainbow just said about language, the farmpony could easily guess that Curtain Call and Press Bar were upset about. Upon recalling the ungodly long tirade of swears Rainbow displayed towards the Shim Sham Sisters back at that stadium (along with all of the vividly immoral things he screamed about what should happen to them in prison), Applejack winced a little as he tried to refocus on their table. “Ooooohhh… Okay, yeah…”

Press Bar was the first to respond to Blitz after exhaling sharply in annoyance. “Look, I can honestly say I do believe you when you say you’re sorry,” he said in a genuine, but still bitterly stern tone, “But you have to understand why we’re both mad at you after you said all those things for our daughter to overhear.”

While Blitz covered his face with a hoof in remorse, he could only nod his head before hearing Curtain Call add, “Not to mention, we managed to keep her from learning a lot of cuss words ourselves. So heaving you scream out the C-word at the top of your lungs thirty-something times is pretty hard to explain on our end.”

“Yes, I get it!” shouted Blitz as he threw his hooves down and stared back at the two insistently. Even though he didn’t necessarily regret verbally bashing those twins for all they were worth, Blitz was able to say with utmost honesty, “And I swear, I would’ve NEVER said those things if I knew the kids were still in earshot, okay?! I’ve already apologized twenty times to you two over it! I’m not asking you to instantly forgive me or anything! I just really, REALLY need your guys’ help on what I’m supposed to do right now!”

Despite their justified feelings against the pegasus, the two stallions could see clear as day that Rainbow Blitz was desperate for their advice. Of course, since they heard the entirety of Blitz’s recount of the events before AJ and Scoots came down, the husbands were fairly certain that Rainbow only sought for their help because they were the only gay couple he was aware of. Nevertheless, Curtain Call was able to think it over quickly enough to try and respond after a brief huff. “Rainbow… don’t you think that you should be talking with Elusive about this?”

Rainbow groaned and rolled his eyes, not needing to say out-loud that he wasn’t a fan of that option. However, Press Bar quickly added with an insistent point of his hoof towards the pegasus, “Don’t you roll your eyes like that towards us! We’re being serious right now!”

“I know! Ughhh…” Blitz closed his eyes and huffed as he tried not to scoff like a stubborn child. “I just… I-I really don’t think that’s the best option right now.”

“Well, why not?!” asked Press Bar with a genuine look of confusion. “This is about him, remember? At the end of the day, he’s the one you need to communicate with!”

“Not to mention, it’s a better option than just running out on him,” added Curtain Call rather harshly. “I mean, do you really expect to ignore him forever? Because unless you quit the competition, you’re still his dancing partner.”

“HRRNNGHHH!!” Rainbow Blitz’s frustration intensified greatly as he hung his head low, and tried to conceal his overwhelmed grimace by hiding behind his forelegs. While his elbows were propped against the table, his hooves were gripped tightly on his mane in an effort to keep himself in control. Unfortunately, all it did was make him look like an unstable lunatic as he sat across from the waiting couple. As the pegasus struggled to think among his hangover and unwavering conflictions, Applejack and Scootaroll just watched from behind the column while carrying worried expressions of their own.

After a sudden and painful-sounding sigh, Rainbow dropped his hooves while trying to breathe normally. His face carried a strong look of fear beneath his paled fur, making him appear very different from the overconfident Wonderbolt he usually was. He couldn’t bear to look either of the ponies in the eyes, but they could tell that he seemed legitimately unsure what to do next. Press Bar and Curtain Call glanced back at each other for a second in contemplation, with both of them knowing they couldn’t just brush away the panicked worries of a stallion who looked so… scared.

By the time the two turned their focus back onto Blitz, with each of them carrying softer looks of compassion on their silent expressions, Rainbow was fidgeting his hooves as he struggled to speak somewhat clearly. “I… I know that I should talk to him,” he confessed in an honest, albeit timid tone of voice. “A-And… And I know I can’t just hide from him after… after what we did…”

Applejack and Scootaroll didn’t have any context to know what their friend was talking about, but they could see that whatever it was left the pegasus feeling unbelievably distressed. As he sat with his lip bitten tightly in affliction, Rainbow squirmed uncomfortably while trying not to look back at the couple listening to him. Fortunately for him, Press Bar and Curtain Call didn’t show any looks of judgement or impatience on their faces. Instead, the two just waited in understanding as they allowed the cyan stallion the chance to speak at his own pace.

“I just… I don’t know what to do, alright? A-And… And it’s not like I know what I would say to him after all that. I mean… I feel like everything just… It happened way too fast…”

Even though he knew better than to say anything too soon, Curtain Call huffed before he replied with a smirk, “Heh~ I bet that’s the first time you ever said that, Fly-Boy.”

Blitz would’ve shot the Earth pony a heavy glare, but he looked up just as he saw Curtain’s husband nudge him sharply with his elbow. The brown stallion winced and rubbed his side with a small scowl, which was ignored by Press Bar as he looked back at Blitz and said, “It’s alright, Rainbow. You can keep going.”

Even though he was still a little unnerved, Rainbow nodded weakly before taking another breath. He looked down at his hooves as he tried to speak in a clearer tone than before. “Well, I… I kinda feel like maybe… maybe he was wanting that to happen... And it just...”

Blitz’s pause lasted even longer that time, and he lowered his head as he closed his eyes and took a heavy breath. Press Bar, whose muzzle was skewed with a more pitying expression, reached his hoof out to rest atop Rainbow’s. As soon as the pegasus glanced up at him, the yellow pony asked curiously, “And… it just what, Rainbow?”

He didn’t try to pull Press Bar’s hoof off of his own, but he still sighed as he looked away from him and answered, “I don’t know. I just… I feel like everything happened without me really thinking about it, and I… I don’t think I’m the same level as he is, you know? I… I kinda feel like... he has his mind made up about things…”

Press Bar’s lips pursed shut in slight worry, getting a fair idea on how confused the Wonderbolt may have felt about his actions the night before. Curtain Call seemed similarly understanding, and breathed out before trying to finish Blitz’s thoughts. “And… you’re not so sure how to process it all just yet, right?”

“Y-Yeah,” admitted Rainbow as he leaned back in his chair, which gave Press Bar the subtle hint to let go of his hooves. As he rested against the back of his seat with his forelegs cradled to his chest, Blitz looked down at himself and shook his head in puzzlement. “I mean… I do care about Elusive. Like… I care about him a lot. He’s one of my best friends, for crying out loud! I just… I don’t know what the b… w-what the heck to do from here.”

Curtain Call nodded silently as he grew a fairer expression in response to Rainbow’s choice of words. “Well… I can’t say that neither of us are able to understand your quandary, Rainbow. I mean… It definitely seems like you have a lot to think about.”

“Yeah. I… I do…” Even though he was still rightfully frazzled by everything that transpired, the stunt-pony kept his eyes closed as he said firmly, “But… I really don’t know if I can face him right now. I just… I need to think things over some more…”

The ponies across from him could tell that he was adamant about that detail, and were fairly certain he wouldn’t back down from it. However, they also knew better than to just leave the stallion be when he wasn’t the only one coping with the same issues. So despite their understanding of Blitz’s woes, Curtain Call leaned in and said with utmost insistence, “Rainbow, if you need time to think everything over, you have every reason to do so. But right now, Elusive needs to know you’re not going to leave him for good. Because the longer you ignore him, the harder it’ll be to get things settled out in the end.”

“He’s right,” added Press Bar with a tentative nod to his husband’s point. “You can at least let him know you need some time alone or something. Don’t just ghost him after everything you two did last night. He needs to know you still care about him as a friend.”

Applejack may have not been an egghead like Dusk, but he still understood enough of that conversation to realize what may have been going on with Blitz and Elusive. Meanwhile, Scootaroll just tilted his head in confusion. “Wait, what the hay actually happened?” he asked quietly before looking up to the farmpony’s wide-eyed expression.

“Ummm… you should head back up to the room,” he whispered back to Scoot assuredly. “Ah’ll make sure they get back upstairs soon enough, okay?”

Even though he was still unsure what was going on, the colt was able to see that AJ wasn’t likely to explain anything regarding their friend anytime soon. So despite his hesitancy, Scootaroll huffed with a pout before nodding silently. As the little pegasus began to make his leave, Applejack turned back to the table to hear the remainder of their discussion.

“I know, but I… What am I supposed to say?!” blurted Rainbow with an exasperated tone of voice towards the couple. “You expect me to just go up to Elusive and be like ‘Hey, I know we just did a bunch of stuff best friends don’t usually do, and I’m pretty sure you have feelings for me, but can you leave me alone for a while and NOT get super upset?!’ I mean… I can’t just hurt him like that!”

“Well,” responded Press Bar with a meager shrug, “leaving him the instant you woke up probably hurt him a lot too.”

Of all the things that could’ve made Rainbow Blitz cringe, that statement probably did it the hardest. As the pegasus hissed and turned away from the two, Curtain Call added, “Not to mention, there’s a good chance that he’s just as worried about you as you are about him. He should at least know you’re alright.”

After letting out a long and strained exhale, Rainbow Blitz hung his head before nodding meekly to the brown stallion’s advice. “Yeah, I… I suppose he does deserve that…”

By that point, Applejack felt like he didn’t need to eavesdrop anymore. As he pulled away from the column with an uneasy expression, the stallion shook his head while processing everything he learned about his friend. “Jeese Louise,” he muttered as he began to walk away from the table. “And Ah thought my relationship was weird…”

Chapter Thirty: Elusive's Admission

Author's Note

Okay, lemme just say that I'm really sorry for not updating this story sooner. With all the projects I've been handling on my Patreon, AND trying to maintain my financial struggles outside of writing, it was near-impossible to get much time devoted to this. But alas, I'm really happy I got this little blurb written out before 2019 began. I'm going off the rails from what I originally had planned, but I'm really happy with where I'm taking this story from here on~

Chapter Thirty: Elusive's Admission

Despite all of the drama and confusion that ensued following such a successful weekend, the group as a whole didn’t have many issues when it came to leaving their lodgings to reach the Manehattan train station on time . Unfortunately, not much was really said between any of them while lugging everything through the city. Due to the conversation Blitz had with Twinkle Toes’ Dads, Butterscotch’s knowledge of the previous night from Elusive’s perspective, as well as what Applejack and Scootaroll overheard in the lobby, it seemed that a large majority of the parties were at least partially aware that something was amiss between the two dancers. Even if the facts weren’t all known by everypony (or even accurately for the most part), it was obvious that the overall mood was unnecessarily awkward.

Fortunately, even with how uncomfortable things may have felt from everyone who heard of the duo’s issues, there was at least some semblance of respect when it came to Rainbow Blitz and Elusive themselves. Even though it would’ve been easy as Tartarus for the two stallions to just ignore each other until returning to Ponyville, the looming deadline of their Canterlot finals was significant enough for both of them to influence their decisions. For Elusive, his feelings for the pegasus (as well as Butterscotch’s support before they left his apartment) helped prompt his desire to at least try to talk to Rainbow before their train departed. And as for Blitz himself, the anxiety of facing Elusive again wasn’t nearly as severe as the feeling of guilt he had for leaving him earlier that morning.

Because of that, the two stallions managed to come into contact with each other inside the Manehattan train station.

Rainbow Blitz froze the instant he finally stepped into the main station with his thick duffle bag hoisted across his shoulder. Elusive, who had shown up a few minutes prior to the Wonderbolt, was already waiting by one of the benches alongside his mountain of luggage cases and carry-on bags. Barb, who obviously helped accompany the unicorn to the station, didn’t seem to notice Blitz at first while she sat on top of the pile and read the latest Power Ponies comic. But for Elusive himself, his ears perked up instantaneously the moment he looked back towards the lone pegasus standing near the open doorway.

Nopony else seemed to be nearby to interrupt the two, which was likely for the best considering the situation. Elusive pursed his lips as he looked up at the distracted dragon, and made sure she wasn’t going to make a big fuss about Blitz’s presence; given how depressed he acted after Rainbow bolted from the apartment, he didn’t want to even think about how Barb would react towards him now. So while the drake sat distracted atop the massive pile like it was her own personal hoard, the unicorn quietly slipped out of his seat to make his way towards Rainbow Blitz. The cyan stallion didn’t say anything in response, but he tried to muster up a faint and apologetic smile that bordered on cringey.

Regardless of the Wonderbolt’s questionable expression, Elusive didn’t hesitate as he gave a direct motioning of his head towards the side. Rainbow recognized what his friend was asking of him, and took a quick breath before following him away from Barb’s line of sight. The two ponies walked towards a nearby restroom, which seemed to be vacant due to a ‘Wet Floor’ sign that was placed before the two doors. Fortunately, Elusive’s magic and Blitz’s wings ensured that neither of them slipped before sneaking into the men’s room together.

Elusive walked in first, and scanned the surprisingly large space that was lined with a garishly dated-looking “natural color” design across its brown and tan linoleum tiles. Rainbow Blitz didn’t seem to care too much about the restroom’s design, and placed his duffle on top of an empty sink to help ease the tension on his back. The unicorn made a quick check of the bathroom, and made sure that every stall was empty so they wouldn’t be eavesdropped on. Meanwhile, Blitz made sure to stand by the door as an added precaution, and didn’t question his friend’s choice to envelop the inside of the bathroom in a faint blue aura of his sound-proofing magic.

The moment Elusive sighed in relief and began to walk back towards his partner, Rainbow closed his eyes while taking a breath of his own. “... Okay,” he began as he kept a hoof raised, and spoke in a soft and genuine tone of voice. “Elusive, before you say anything, let me just say that I’m really, really sorry abo--”

SMACK!!!

Rainbow fell to the bathroom floor like a sack of potatoes, clearly not expecting Elusive of all ponies to have the audacity to slap him in the face. He clutched the side of his face tightly, and let out a painful groan from the burning sting that left a noticeable red mark across his right cheek. “OWWW!!! Wh… What the BUCK, dude?!”

“THAT WAS FOR RUNNING OFF ON ME!” bellowed out the unicorn with a venomous snarl that would’ve made Prince Solaris flinch. Fortunately, the pegasus on the floor was too busy writhing from that surprisingly hard slap to see how pissed-off Elusive looked. The white stallion gritted his teeth as he breathed heavily through his nostrils like a bull, and glared down at Blitz with a look utter disdain on his face. But despite how furious he may have tried to look, Elusive couldn’t hold back the tears that were welling at the corners of his eyes.

“Do… Do you have ANY IDEA how much that hurt me, Rainbow?!?” he belted vehemently, even though Blitz could catch how hoarse his friend’s voice sounded near the end of that question. Unfortunately, Elusive’s rant only came out more shaken as he tried to berate Rainbow and ignore the tears streaming down his face. “I… I know that a lot happened last night, okay!? A-And… And I know there was a lot to process regarding what we did! But you… you have NO RIGHT to leave me without even saying a bucking word! I NEVER did anything that disrespectful towards you!”

“Dude, I know!” blurted Rainbow as he tried to get himself back up onto his hooves, even though one of them was still latched against the side of his face. He tried to speak up while his eyes were still clenched shut. “And I’m sorry, Elusive! I really am sorry! But I really don’t think you should blame me for freaking out when the two of us are sup…”

The instant Blitz reopened his eyes to glare back at his friend, his brows raised immensely when he saw the pained look on Elusive’s upset expression. If the heavy tears and reddened eyes weren’t enough for Rainbow to realize how much he screwed up, the strong pout of disdain beneath those furrowed brows would’ve given a strong hint nonetheless. He wasn’t sure if the unicorn was going to start bawling in agony, or to go into a violent frenzy against the frozen pegasus. But whichever outcome was looming to occur behind Elusive’s glare, it was doubtful Blitz would’ve been able to do much while he stood in uneasy silence.

“... When the two of us are what?” asked Elusive in a faint, choked-up voice that sounded mere seconds from devolving into a breakdown. Regardless, he still glared at Rainbow through his teary eyes as he spoke condescendingly. “When we’re supposed to be friends, Rainbow? Is that what you were going to say to excuse yourself?”

Rainbow Blitz may have known he screwed up big-time when he bolted from Elusive that morning, but he never would’ve fathomed that his exit would’ve hurt his friend so badly. His ears sunk downward in guilt, and his muzzle scrunched in like it was trying to retreat into his head. He wanted to speak up in an attempt to defend himself, but his lips couldn’t bear to part after hearing how hurt the unicorn’s words back to him sounded. So instead, the Wonderbolt stayed silent while his partner continued to speak through that heavy veil of betrayal.

“... Because if so, then you’d have to be completely daft if you didn’t think I was dwelling over those exact same issues myself… I know that we’re close friends, Rainbow Blitz. I know how poorly things can go between two friends when something like romance is involved. And I certainly know how confusing and… a-and utterly terrifying it is to feel such a way towards a friend of the same gender! Despite what you may think, I NEVER considered myself a homosexual before everything that happened last night! But unlike YOU, I’m not going to run away from what happened and risk breaking YOUR heart! So if you think you’re going to give me some ‘insightful perspective’ as to how you felt, you need to understand that I dealt with those EXACT SAME FEELINGS TOO!! AND THEY HAVEN’T GONE AWAY!!!”

Elusive panted heavily after giving that emotionally-fuelled rant, likely because he didn’t expect his feelings to come out in such a heavy torrent. But regardless of the unicorn’s surprisingly blunt and truthful words, they proved to be very effective in shutting Rainbow Blitz right up. A long moment of silence passed as the pegasus stood with a confounded look back at his friend, and his eyes remaining wide enough to almost see the gears turning in the back of his head. By the time he was finally able to make a response, Rainbow avoided giving any excuses or explanations towards Elusive; instead, a soft huff escaped his open muzzle before he shook his head faintly and replied, “I… Dude, I... I had no idea…”

Elusive didn’t say anything, and just turned his muzzle away while his mouth was clenched shut. Another moment of silence passed as Blitz looked down at his hooves, needing to blink repeatedly to process all that his friend just said. Part of him wanted to say something to help quell the unicorn’s state, but he doubted there were many legible responses he could give that wouldn’t hurt him any more than he already had. But like a double-edged sword, Rainbow also knew that staying silent was likely to give Elusive the same amount of heartache overall. So as the seconds passed between them, only one question seemed legible to ask as Blitz opened his muzzle apprehensively.

“Ummm… So, uhhhhh…” Rainbow Blitz tried not to wince as he thought about what he wanted to say, and that wasn’t helped when he saw Elusive give a bitter glimpse back at him. Nevertheless, the Wonderbolt sighed pertly before he asked with as much composure as he could give, “Do… Do you, like… Do you have feelings for me now? Or…”

Elusive winced as he pointed his muzzle away from Rainbow for a couple seconds. Even though he knew he couldn’t lie to one of his best friends, the thought of actually saying it felt unbelievably difficult. He had to close his eyes as his lips pursed tightly shut, and a strained exhale came out through his nostrils. By the time he felt like his throat wasn’t closing up tightly enough to keep him from speaking, Elusive could feel a familiar warmth beading at the corners of his eyes. But despite how pained he may have looked from Blitz’s perspective, the unicorn didn’t try to bring any attention to the stray tears trailing down his matted cheeks as he answered sheepishly. “I… I do…”

Rainbow Blitz didn’t say anything, and just stood with a conflicted expression without moving an inch from his position. Meanwhile, Elusive finally breathed out through his mouth as he let out a sharp sigh, and tried not to cry from the contrasting feelings sweeping across his system. Even though actually admitting he had feelings for Rainbow felt tremendously gratifying, the realization that Blitz now knew for sure caused his heart to thunder in his chest in intensifying worry. But alas, Elusive tried his hardest not to let any of that show when he finally looked back at his partner, even though his eyes were visibly reddened from the tears now reaching the sides of his chin.

He could see the subtle drop in Rainbow Blitz’s expression the instant he got a good look at his friend’s face, as well as how quickly his ears drooped downward in guilt. Even though Elusive couldn’t blame him in the slightest for feeling so bad, especially regarding all the drama that transpired from his hasty exit earlier, he tried to keep his expression firm while staring back at Blitz and taking a deep breath. The unicorn then exhaled hoarsely before he said in a tone of voice desperately trying not to quake, “I… I really wish I could tell you otherwise and be truthful, Rainbow. But I… I really can’t… Af… A-After all we’ve been through together, I… I can’t say that my feelings for you haven’t changed without lying through my teeth…”

Elusive wanted nothing more than to end his confession right then and there, since it was obvious from Rainbow’s wide-eyed look that he knew exactly what his friend was likely to say next. But as the two remained by themselves in that cramped and sterilized space, nothing could’ve been done to keep the unicorn silent. Despite how quickly he may have realized his feelings for Blitz himself, and how undoubtedly shocking it would have been for Rainbow to hear it directly, Elusive felt compelled to follow what his heart was yearning for him to say. Because of that, a few more tears streamed down the unicorn’s face as he closed his eyes, and opened his muzzle to take that unthinkable plunge.

“I… I really didn’t want to feel this way… I truly didn’t... B-But… I… But I think I’ve fallen in love with you, Rainbow Blitz…”

With the way Rainbow’s hind-legs quivered from hearing that confession, it was surprising that the pegasus didn’t buckle over and fall to the floor following that shocking reveal. Elusive’s teary eyes didn’t reopen to glance at his friend’s expression, which was likely for the best due to how stunned and blank it looked in response to him using the “L” word out loud. The Wonderbolt’s mouth hung slightly open, but nothing came out to give an audible response back towards Elusive. Fortunately, no answer was needed by the time the unicorn took a deep breath to keep from sobbing.

“Rainbow, I… I don’t want you to say anything right now,” he spoke in a choked-up, but still insistent tone of voice. “I… I’m sure there’s a lot on your mind, a-and... I’d rather not have you say anything too sudden or impulsive that you might regret later on. Just… Let’s just head back home, a-and… and p-please just try to think about what I said, alright? I promise I won’t try to rush you. I just… I want you to know how important you’ve become to me…”

Elusive reopened his eyes as he looked down at the tiled floor between them, and he took a choppy breath before he began to make his leave without looking up at his friend. However, just as he was about to walk past Rainbow Blitz, the unicorn stopped briefly enough to re-close his eyes and pull his muzzle back up. Since the pegasus was still frozen in stunned silence, there was thankfully no defensive response when Elusive bent in and kissed him on the cheek. The press of the stallion’s lips against his friend’s fur was nothing more than the faintest peck, but it was still taxing enough to make Elusive sniff strongly the instant he pulled back. As more tears trailed down his face, the pony used his magic to pull several paper towels from the nearby dispenser before walking once more.

“I… I’m so sorry for how overwhelming this all may sound to you,” Elusive said in as sincere of a tone as he could through his hoarse voice. “B-But I… I don’t think I can hide how I feel for you after last night. And I… I truly hope you can at least try to understand why I feel the way I do…”

With that, Elusive finally put down his sound-proofing spell, and exited the bathroom to leave Rainbow Blitz completely alone. Meanwhile, the Wonderbolt remained completely still for the longest time while he remained stoic at the spot. He wasn’t sure how long he stayed in that restroom by himself, with nothing but his duffle-bag laying nearby on the sink. However, even when he heard the door opening again, it was obvious that Blitz needed a lot more time to fully process what his best friend just told him.

“Uhhh… Blitz, you alright?” asked Applejack as he walked up towards his friend. Since all he could see was the pegasus’ back, the farmpony had to lean over to the side and wave his hoof to catch his attention. “Blitz? Uhhh… You know we got a train we need’ta catch, right? Ah mean, unless you plan on flyin’ all the way ba…”

Applejack stopped his statement the instant he glanced forward enough to finally catch sight of Rainbow Blitz’s face. Much like his body, the stallion’s blank and frozen expression hadn’t changed much since hearing Elusive’s confession. However, much like the unicorn that left the restroom with tears streaming down his cheeks, his dance partner’s eyes were as far as they could be from dry. While Rainbow’s eyes remained wide-open, they also carried a notable shade of pink around his irises. Meanwhile, the fur beneath them have turned heavily-matted from his unnoticed tears. Applejack may have not known what transpired earlier, but he could see clear as day that the end result left Blitz completely shell-shocked.

“Oh… Oh shit…” AJ didn’t try to say anything cheeky or judgemental about his macho friend’s emotional state, and quickly walked up to his front to face him directly. “H-Hey, Blitz. Blitz!” Since he had no idea what to really do about seeing Rainbow in tears, Applejack looked visibly uneasy as he waved his hoof a little faster in front of Blitz’s muzzle a couple times. “Uhhh… Blitz, are ya alright? Ah… Ah ain’t gonna make fun of ya, Ah promise,” he said honestly. “If… If somethin’s up, you… you know you can tell me ‘bout it. J-Just like what Ah told ya yesterday, remember?”

Even though it was unclear how much of AJ’s response he was able to process, Rainbow Blitz was able to exhale shakily before giving the faintest nod of his head. After another long and arduous moment of silence, the pegasus’ face finally began to contort under the pressure building up in his heart. As his muzzle scrunched inward, and his eyes began to strain between open and shut, Blitz could only find the ability to speak after a couple weak breaths came out rapidly. “I… I… I th…”

That was when Rainbow’s eyes clenched tightly shut, and he lowered his head while a new torrent of tears began to escape. “... I think I screwed up, dude…”

Applejack didn’t ask for any context, and just pulled his friend in to hug him as tightly as he possibly could. While the farmpony clung to him dearly and rested his head against Rainbow’s shoulder, the Wonderbolt did the same before he began to cry audibly within the empty restroom. Despite how unexpected it was for someone as confident as Blitz to end up bawling direly, Applejack didn’t say a word as he let his friend cry it out. Fortunately, despite Elusive’s sound-proofing spell being taken away, neither of the stallions were interrupted while Rainbow Blitz’s sobs echoed against the tiled walls for that heavy passage of time.

Chapter Thirty-One: Blitz and AJ's Discussion

In the years that passed since Rainbow Blitz was bound alongside his friends to be Elements of Harmony, he knew that his life had improved far beyond his wildest dreams. Heck, he even achieved the biggest dream he could’ve amassed, and became the Wonderbolt flier he knew he was destined to be. But even with all the different successes he and his friends made, both individually and as a group, Rainbow could recall several times where they screwed up horribly. One of the most notable times was the Royal Wedding fiasco, but he knew there were many others that could be mentioned if he had a clearer mind. Unfortunately, after what he just learned from his friend Elusive at the train station, it was hard to think of many other screwups that could compare to everything that transpired that weekend.

In retrospect, the blowout between Blitz and Elusive almost felt like the aftermath of an avalanche. He knew that the two of them were fairly drunk through a lot of it, but that didn’t change what ended up happening at the end. In fact, considering how close the two had come to that conclusion multiple times before that night, the fact that it actually happened seemed almost inevitable. But in the end, despite how long that moment may have been looming in the horizon over the past few days, it still struck the Wonderbolt hard enough to leave him reeling with a conflicted mind during the aftermath. And worst of all, even though he knew exactly what went wrong between himself and Elusive -- both before and after that kiss they shared the previous night -- Rainbow Blitz had absolutely no idea what he needed to do to rectify it.

Fortunately, by the time the group’s train to Ponyville was ready for departure, Blitz was able to board on by himself much conflict from anypony else. After Applejack found him in such a distressed state in the station’s restroom, the stallion was quick to help out Rainbow by keeping him out of sight from the others. Even though it was doubtful most of the group knew the gist of what happened between Blitz and Elusive, that didn’t mean AJ was willing to put the stuntpony through a billion unnecessary questions from them; especially when it was obvious just how badly Blitz needed some time to reflect on what he had just learned, as well as to wipe the tears from his eyes.

By the time the train for Ponyville was chugging along the tracks, the families of Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes were enjoying their personal passenger car, while most of the Elements lounged in their Royal traincar near the back. The moods may have been high for everypony due to both of the couples’ wins, but Elusive decided to keep to himself by sketching out some aimless costume ideas for the Canterlot Finals. Meanwhile, Rainbow Blitz kept himself completely away from everypony else, and sat at the rear deck of the train’s caboose. Fortunately for the cyan pony, Applejack was seated beside him as the two stared out at the tracks shooting from beneath their hooves.

Rainbow Blitz couldn’t look back at his friend while they sat side-by-side, and his face carried a skewed expression due to the awkwardness he felt beside him. Even though he was sure that Applejack wasn’t judging him for that breakdown he had in the bathroom, Blitz still hated that it happened nonetheless. Part of him wanted to at least thank AJ for his help, and for sticking by his side after the train left the station. But unfortunately, there was an obvious wall of apprehension braced up between the two stallions, most likely due to how masculine they usually acted alongside each other. They may have been close friends through and through, but it still took a long time before Applejack was prepared to deal with Blitz’s emotional side.

“So, uhhhh…” The orange stallion bit his lip uncomfortably after that pause, and looked away from Blitz to stare out at the Equestrian landscape. Rainbow Blitz was slightly tensed up, but he didn’t try to appear too hesitant to listen to whatever his friend had to say. After another moment, Applejack closed his eyes with a strong sigh, and decided to ask Rainbow bluntly, “Alright, should Ah ask what the buck happened between you and Elusive, or do Ah have to wait another hour for you to start talkin’?”

Rainbow huffed with a flatter expression, and leaned forward to rest the bottom of his chin against the caboose’s rear ledge. He looked like he wanted to respond to his friend’s remark, but his lips barely moved while he kept his muzzle tightly shut. Applejack waited another moment before he rolled his eyes, and leaned forward to get in the same position as Blitz. While his hind-legs remained standing against the wooden floor of the deck, Applejack rested against the back of the caboose alongside Rainbow before speaking again. “Listen, Ah… Ah ain’t gonna judge ya, alright? Ah mean… Ah didn’t say anything back in that bathroom, right? And, like… you know I already told ya back in that elevator--”

“Y-Yeah, I know,” blurted Blitz as he interrupted his friend’s words with a wave of his hoof. Even though he didn’t look too keen on starting that conversation, he wasn’t above turning down his friend’s generosity in that moment. Especially when it was clear that Blitz needed to talk with somepony about all the crap he and his partner had to endure from each other. “I get it, dude. Seriously. I just…”

Rainbow’s head sunk down a bit as he took a breath for himself, and he kept his eyes closed to focus on his thoughts. Applejack didn’t say anything, but he kept his eyes on the pegasus while waiting patiently. When Blitz finally pulled his head back up, he let out a shakier exhale before he started to speak again. “... I… I really do not want to tell all of this to anypony else. So… If I’m going to say anything, I need to know that you won--”

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Applejack gave that Bubble Berry promise like it was absolutely nothing, and did the motions of his hoof alongside the chant to quickly shut his friend up. “Ah promise you,whatever you say will stay between us,” he said with the utmost assurance towards the stuntpony, not showing a smidge of dishonesty in his expression.

Fortunately for the Element of Honesty, his promise seemed to be more than enough for Rainbow to nod back at him with a weak smile. The stallion then looked around the caboose for a moment, making sure that the two weren’t being eavesdropped on. “Okay, ummm… So, here’s the deal…” After bracing himself for the inevitable response, Rainbow Blitz looked back at Applejack to say with the firmest, and most genuine tone of voice, “I almost kissed Elusive a couple times this weekend. And… last night it happened for real.”

About thirty seconds passed between the two ponies while they hung against the rear of the train, with neither of them able to say much after that admission. Rainbow Blitz kept his sights away from his friend while blushing with a deeply embarrassed pout, not wanting to react too negatively to how he may have looked. Meanwhile, Applejack just blinked continuously while staring back at his prismatic friend, his green eyes as wide as frisbees. Blitz wasn’t sure how long it may have taken for his buddy to let that reveal sink in, or whether or not he was able to actually believe it was true. But after that pregnant bout of silence finally passed, Applejack opened his muzzle briefly before he was able to respond with, “Okay, uhhh… Ah’m gonna need a little more than that, dude.”

“Ugh…” Rainbow rolled his eyes in annoyance, but was quick to respond with another sigh, “You know what? I can’t blame you there…”

After that, Rainbow Blitz spent the next half hour or so to explain everything that happened as best as he could. Even though he left out some of the more personal details that happened between himself and Elusive (most notably the things involving his Father, which he still wasn’t ready to talk about with AJ), he tried to mention as much as he could for the sake of hearing the farmpony’s input. Fortunately for the Wonderbolt, Applejack kept himself silent throughout most of Blitz’s recollections, only interrupting a couple times to clarify certain details. Rainbow was blushing hard by the time he got to the events that transpired the previous night, but was grateful that AJ refrained from even smirking at him during that moment. However, even though Blitz decided not to mention Elusive’s confession of love that happened mere hours ago, Applejack was still fairly wide-eyed by the time everything else was summarized to him.

“... So, ummmm… Yeah…” Rainbow Blitz tried not to wince after making that closing remark, and looked away from AJ’s gaze while resting against the caboose’s wooden ledge. “I… I really screwed things up between Elusive and me. And I… I really need your help in getting things fixed between us.”

Applejack took a moment as he looked back out at the view the two had, taking notice of the late afternoon son reaching closer to the western horizon. He definitely needed to take a breath before saying anything, since it took a lot to process everything that Rainbow Blitz just told him. However, since it was clear how badly Rainbow needed his help, Applejack wasn’t one to go back on his earlier promise. So after taking a second to think everything over, AJ looked back at him and decided to say, “Okay, uhhhh… Well… Ah ain’t gonna lie, it sounds like you really need to talk with Elusive more than anypony else.”

“Dude!” Rainbow knew that AJ was right, but he still groaned in exasperation while pulling his head back. “I already told you, Elusive won’t talk to me right now! He wanted me to think things over first, but I… I really don’t know what to say to him! I mean… what the buck can I say?!”

Applejack’s muzzle tensed up as he skewed his head awkwardly, clearly unsure how to answer such a question to his friend. However, the farmpony tried his hardest to assist Blitz by asking him, “Well, uhhh… Listen, it’s pretty obvious that things have gotten a bit, errrr… close b‘tween you two, right?”

Rainbow closed his eyes with a sharper exhale, and he needed a second before giving an apprehensive nod away from AJ’s direction. “Mnnghhh… Y-Yeah,” he muttered under his breath, his muzzle tightly pursed in an attempt to hide how hard it was for him to say that.

Applejack nodded silently in understanding, and refrained from pressing Blitz any further for clarification. Instead, the stallion looked back outward before he decided to ask, “Okay then… So, ummm… Listen, you know what Ah’m gonna ask next, right?”

“UGH!” Blitz didn’t try to ask what the question was, and just threw his head back to shout in frustration, “Dude, I don’t know, okay!?! I don’t know how I feel about Elusive! I don’t know if this is something that can actually work, or if we can go back to how things were before! A-And even though I know I need to talk with him back in Ponyville, I… I don’t bucking know what I should say!! I mean, I… I don’t even know if I can feel that way about him! He’s one of my best friends!”

“Okay, okay!” Applejack reached out to place a hoof on his friend’s shoulder, and said reassuringly, “Listen, Ah ain’t givin’ ya any horse-apples for what you two did, alright? And believe me, I do not want y’all’s relationship to be screwed up because of this! Ah mean, kissin’ or not, we’re all gonna be Elements of Harmony no matter what!”

“And that’s another thing!” Rainbow quickly turned back to his friend with a more distressed look in his eyes, and said in a panicked tone, “Like… they say that sex screws up a friendship, right?! Like… how do we know that we didn’t accidentally break our bonds or something?! I mean, I’m freaking out over what happened, but I don’t want to lose him either!”

“What, and you think Ah do?!” Applejack stared back at his friend with a more peeved look on his face, and said, “Blitz, there ain’t no way any of us are gonna break apart from our Elements! After everything we’ve done for each other and for Equestria, Ah’m pretty sure a buckin’ orgy wouldn’t keep us all from bein’ friends afterward!”

Of all the off-color statements that Applejack could’ve made, that one definitely made Rainbow Blitz pause for a moment in surprise. However, given how many times the group had their bonds tested from various foes and each other, Blitz couldn’t say that AJ’s remark was particularly wrong either. So after a couple seconds of silence, the pegasus shrugged his shoulders before saying back to him, “Uhhhh… Kind of a weird mental image to give me there, but… touchè.”

Applejack tried not to cringe while nodding to that first part of Blitz’s response. “Yeah, uhhh… Ah’m just makin’ a point here,” he said with a slightly apologetic tone, even though he wasn’t sure if Rainbow was able to register it. AJ then decided to say after a sharp huff, “But seriously though, do you really think kissin’ Elusive like that’ll change things between you two that badly?”

“Uhhh, yeah?!” blurted the Wonderbolt as he gawked back at his friend with a befuddled look. “I mean, shit’s been changing pretty badly already! Elusive won’t even look at me right now, and I’m still trying to figure out things on my own end! And to top it all off, we have a huge bucking competition to finish up in Canterlot, and I don’t want us to lose after we came so far!”

Applejack narrowed his eyes on him while growing an immensely annoyed look. “Rainbow, are ya seriously still thinkin’ about the dancin’ competition during all this?!”

“Well, considering how Elusive and I got this close because of our dancing, I think that’s a fair bucking detail to address!” Rainbow groaned while slumping against the caboose’s railing again, and took a second to pinch the bridge of his snout in frustration. “Guh… I’m still trying not to cringe at how clichèd this all feels,” he muttered with a more morose look on his face. “Like… bucking look at me! I tried so hard not to make this whole ‘Dancing Partners’ thing get weird or anything, and I ended up doing exactly that…”

Applejack nodded as he leaned beside him on the ledge, and kept himself silent on that particular matter. Even though he knew he gave Rainbow some flack for agreeing to being Elusive’s dancing partner, he never meant to make the pegasus feel bad about it. But now, after learning of the massive fallout that occurred from the two hooking up impulsively, AJ tried not to look too shameful about adding any unnecessary tension on Rainbow’s end. Unfortunately, before the stallion could think to open his muzzle and apologize, he heard Blitz sigh to himself before he continued speaking.

“... And… And I have absolutely no idea what this says about me, okay? I mean… I know I can’t say what I did wasn’t gay or anything. I know that it was, but I… I’m really not wanting to say anything when I’m still unsure of it myself…”

Applejack nodded again silently, not needing any clarification as to what Blitz meant by that. However, considering how conflicted Rainbow was looking about his dilemma, AJ gave an honest shrug before saying, “Well, uhhhh… Ah know that kissin’ a guy one time doesn’t make ya gay, but… From what Ah’ve been hearin’ from ya, it definitely don’t sound straight neither.”

Rainbow gritted his teeth with an especially peeved-sounding groan, and pulled his head up from the wooden ledge before shouting, “Yeah I know! I bucking KNOW that, alright?! And I’m trying as hard as I can not to freak out about that, so I’d rather not deal with any stupid jokes from YOU about it!”

“Excuse me?!” shouted Applejack as he stared at him with a very offended look on his face.

“Oh, come on, dude!” griped Blitz as he rolled his eyes back at him. “Ever since I agreed to be his dancing partner, I’ve been hearing stupid-ass jokes about it from you, Bubble Berry, and everypony else all the bucking time! ‘Ooh, how will you two look in a slow dance?~’ ‘Will Elusive have a rose in his mouth?~’ ‘Are y’all going out to dinner first?~’ It’s hard enough dealing with that shit without all of the drama I’m dealing with right now! So yeah, forgive me if I’m not in the mood to hear any more names or accusations right now--”

“HOW THE BUCK DARE YOU!!!”

Applejack’s outburst caught Rainbow completely off-guard, and he jolted away from the stallion after he made that exclamation. While the pegasus stood at the edge of the caboose with a frazzled look on his face, Applejack looked downright hurt by that accusation while glaring back at him. After blinking a couple times, AJ gawked at his friend before he said, “You… you really think Ah’d give you shit for bein’ gay, Rainbow Blitz?! Is that really what ya think of me?!”

“Whoa, WHOA!” Rainbow had to take a step back from his friend, since it looked like AJ was upset enough to try and hit him. Luckily, the pegasus was able to keep Applejack at bay while retorting with, “Dude, do I have to remind you of that stupid photoshoot thing you and Bubble Berry did?! Or all the dumb little jokes you guys have been making since I started?!”

“That don’t mean I’m a buckin’ homophobe, you dick!” spat Applejack, whose furious glare only intensified back at Rainbow Blitz. Since the pegasus’ eyes were widened in shock from AJ’s rare usage of profanity, the stallion had enough time to add without interruption, “And for your information, Ah ain’t never called you any names! Yeah, Ah may have made a joke or two, but that ain’t the same as usin’ a buckin’ slur on somepony! Seriously, you… you’ve met Twinkle Toes’ Dads, haven’t ya!? Have you heard me sayin’ shit ‘bout either of them?! Or Scootaroll’s Uncles?!”

“Okay, NO! No, I haven’t!” Rainbow Blitz may have had some rightfully strong feelings about the homophobia he had to deal with over the past month, but he was quick to put up his hooves to try and make amends with Applejack. “Dude, I’m not saying you’re a homophobe! I’m just saying I didn’t want to deal with that kind of bullshit right now!”

“Well, it’s still mighty instultin’ to hear you accuse me of bein’ like that!” snapped AJ angrily, before he prodded Rainbow’s chest with a hoof for added emphasis. “‘Cause lemme tell ya somethin’, Ah would never, EVER do anything like that to anypony! And especially not one of my closest friends!”

With the way Applejack leaned in to emphasize his glare on Rainbow, it didn’t take long for Blitz’s head to lower sheepishly in guilt. Even though he couldn’t say Applejack treated his sessions with Elusive as maturely as some of the other guys in their group, Rainbow couldn’t recall him ever being openly against it either. Some of AJ’s antics with Bubble Berry certainly rubbed him the wrong way, but Blitz never felt like he or Elusive were being openly antagonized by them either. If anything, most of Applejack’s teasing remarks were fairly tame in comparison to the quips Rainbow would’ve conjured up if the tables were switched. And after only a moment of uncomfortable silence, the Wonderbolt’s eyes closed as he sighed softly in remorse. “... Dude, I… I’m sorry…”

Fortunately, Applejack could catch the honesty in Blitz’s voice almost instantly, and was quick to pull back while growing a guilty expression of his own. “Well, uhhhh… Ah’m sorry too,” he replied with a weak shrug of his shoulders while avoiding eye-contact with Rainbow. “Ah mean… Ah know you guys had a lot of jokes thrown at ya, but… Ah really don’t wanna be lumped-in with those jerks, alright? Ah might be a country stallion, but Ah ain’t a bigot. And the same goes for Bubble Berry.”

“Yeah, no doubt, no doubt…” Rainbow Blitz nodded while looking away from the stallion with a shameful skew of his muzzle. The pegasus needed a few seconds to recollect himself, but his voice sounded a lot less distressed by the time he finally breathed out calmly. “Ugh… I just… I don’t know how to process everything that’s been going on…”

Applejack’s muzzle pursed tightly closed while nodding to his friend’s statement. “Well, Ah… Ah can’t say Ah know how to fix that,” he admitted with an apologetic shrug, before he pointed a hoof at Blitz and added, “but Ah do think that what happened between you two ain’t just some… physical attraction thing, alright? It really seems like you and Elusive might be kinda, errrr…”

The farmpony looked a little conflicted for a second, since he could tell that Rainbow was still on edge about how to reflect on things. However, Applejack’s honesty shone though as he sighed reluctantly, and looked away from Rainbow while saying, “... you two might have a lot goin’ on, uhhh… emotionally too.”

Rainbow Blitz covered his face with a hoof to keep from seething from that opinion AJ gave him. Of course, considering how sharply he was sucking back his bottom lip, it could be argued that he was more upset about his friend’s accuracy on the matter. But regardless, the pegasus couldn’t help retorting defensively with, “Dude, for the last friggin’ time, we were drunk.”

Applejack wasn’t buying that answer, and raised a brow while staring back at him flatly. “Every time y’all almost kissed?”

Despite how vehemently Blitz glared back at him, AJ added with a raise of his other brow, “And yer tellin’ me that you were too drunk to think last night, but just before that you were flyin’ across Manehattan without any issue? ‘Cause that don’t sound like somethin’ a ‘drunk’ pegasus would be able to do. Not even a Wonderbolt.”

“Nnnngggg…” Rainbow Blitz turned himself around to keep from biting his friend’s head off. Unfortunately, since the rear deck of the caboose was barely big enough to hold three ponies, Blitz couldn’t really stand far enough away from Applejack to avoid his words.

“Dude, Ah’m just pointin’ out things as Ah see it,” said AJ with an honestly stern tone of voice. However, the stallion still carried a compassionate look on his face as he leaned towards his friend, and placed a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder. “Listen… Ah ain’t judgin’ one bit if things between you two are really that deep, okay? Ah’m just makin’ sure that you don’t react like a moron and hurt Elusive any more than you already did.”

That statement hurt Blitz. A lot. He wanted to pull Applejack’s hoof off of him, but Rainbow could only keep his face covered in an attempt to conceal his pained wince following that remark. He didn’t say anything to try and counteract what AJ was saying, but his silence was proving to be equally as unsettling for the farmpony to see. After a couple seconds with nothing being said, Applejack strengthened his grip on the pegasus’ shoulder before leaning in closer. “Rainbow… Rainbow please, Ah… Ah just wanna help, alright?”

Rainbow let out a heavy sigh while his head remained pointed away from the orange pony. “Y… Yeah, I know,” he muttered in a voice just barely more audible than a whisper. Fortunately, that answer was more than enough for Applejack to nod optimistically.

“Alright then,” he said more confidently back at Blitz. “So… how about this? If yer willin’ to be honest with me, Ah wanna ask ya some questions. That’s all Ah wanna do, and Ah’ll try my hardest not to offend ya. Is that good?”

Even though he was already less than enthusiastic, Rainbow Blitz exhaled through his nostrils before giving a faint nod of his head.

“Thank ya,” said Applejack while giving a brief smile out of respect. However, as soon as he took a breath to prepare for his first question, AJ’s face carried a mix of seriousness and trepidation when he opened his muzzle. “Alright, now… When you said that the two of ya kissed, was… was it only him doin’ it?”

Rainbow’s eyes clenched shut, and his muzzle wrinkled up like he just bit down on a lemon. He dragged his hoof down his face while sighing to himself, and kept his face pointed away from Applejack when he said meekly, “... n… n-no, it… it wasn’t just him…”

“... Yeah…” Applejack gave a faint nod while letting that answer from Blitz simmer for a moment. “You kissed him back. And… And you didn’t stop him neither, did ya?”

“Dude!” Rainbow Blitz turned his head around to shoot a peeved glare back at Applejack, but the farmpony just stood his ground with his expression unchanged. The tension between them was beyond uncomfortable, but it was also short-lived when Rainbow looked away from him again. Since AJ was continuing to stand in wait, Blitz eventually relented with another breath before giving his answer. “No. I… I didn’t…”

“... and that wasn’t because of the booze, was it?”

“Excuse me?!” Rainbow turned himself back around, and stood before Applejack with a gawked stare on him. But much like before, the other stallion remained firm in his resolve, and merely looked back at Rainbow with patience in his unemotional stare. It was obvious that Applejack wasn’t going to let up from that question, but Blitz still looked at him with his eyes wide-open and continuously blinking.

After a long, pregnant bout of silence between them, Applejack sighed while his hoof remained on his friend’s shoulder. “Seriously, Ah need you to think about that,” he clarified with a firmer voice than before. “If… If the two of you were in that exact situation as it was, but neither of you had a drop of alcohol that night, would you… would you have stopped it?”

Rainbow’s expression softened quite a bit, and he pulled away from Applejack’s grip as he looked out at the horizon shown from their vantage point. The cyan stallion didn’t say anything, but his hesitant-looking wince was enough for Applejack to see clear as day. The gears in Rainbow’s head could practically be seen spinning as he leaned against the caboose’s ledge again, and he slumped down with a conflicted look on his face. The pegasus stayed silent for over a minute while he processed that question, and his expression became more visibly distressed with each second that passed. By the time he was able to open his mouth again, all that came out was a hoarse-sounding breath while he covered his eyes with a hoof.

“Rainbow…” Applejack slowly leaned back against the ledge alongside Rainbow, and kept his eyes pinned on the Wonderbolt’s perturbed look. He didn’t try to reach out and touch Blitz again, but his voice became much more sympathetic as he tried to get through to him. “Seriously, Ah ain’t gonna tell a soul. Not even if Solaris himself ordered me to! Ah just wanna make sure that y’all didn’t--”

“N-No…”

Applejack’s head reeled back a little after hearing that faint, meager attempt at an interruption Blitz made. Meanwhile, the pegasus’ head sunk down even lower while he hung against the wooden ledge, and kept his face covered with a hoof. The only feature Applejack was able to see in his friend’s expression was how tightly Rainbow’s lips were shut; he was also able to see Blitz’s muzzle quiver a little bit, before he took a shaky breath through his nostrils and confirmed his statement.

“... N… No, I… I know I would’ve done it anyway…”

With that, Rainbow’s composure finally broke enough for a fresh tear to roll down his cheek. Applejack instantly pulled the pegasus in with both hooves, and hugged him tightly without saying a word. It took a couple seconds before Rainbow’s hooves raised up to hug AJ back, but his breaths were already hiccuping from the incoming strain he had just placed on his conscious. Since those words were said out-loud, Blitz didn’t have anything to fall back on anymore. He knew that the truth was already laid out, and he had nothing else to do but hold onto his friend while struggling not to cry. “Nnnnnghhhh… Mmmmfffff…”

“Sssshhhhhh…” Applejack kept a strong hold on his compromised friend, and closed his eyes while Blitz’s chin rested against his shoulder. “It’s alright, Blitz. It’s alright… Ah promise this is stayin’ between us…”

Rainbow’s lips trembled even more after hearing that comforting whisper, and his clenched eyes weren’t able to hold back the additional tears that stemmed from the corners. Luckily for the stallions, due to how quickly the train was chugging along the tracks, the rushing winds and thundering engines provided more than enough noise to cover up Rainbow Blitz’s choked sobs. And even when the floodgates finally broke for the distressed stuntpony, Applejack refused to let him go during that much-needed moment of release.

Much like when he first opened up to Elusive about his Dad, Rainbow Blitz couldn’t hold it in as he hugged Applejack with all of his might, and cried intensely from the avalanche of emotions rushing through his system. Even though he wasn’t a bawling wreck this time around, the usually confident pegasus certainly let his weakened state show while sobbing hard against his friend’s shoulder. The moment lasted for only a few minutes, but it still provided enough tears from Blitz’s end to leave the fur on AJ’s shoulder thoroughly matted. Nevertheless, the farmpony didn’t mind one bit while he clung tightly against his friend, and tried his hardest not to tear up himself.

By the time Rainbow Blitz was able to stop crying, his eyes were a deep shade of red above the matted fur smeared across his cheeks. His breaths remained faint and choppy for a while after the last of his tears stopped flowing, but he was able to appear slightly less overwhelmed after everything was said and done. Of course, due to how impactful that moment was for him to deal with, Rainbow had to sit down on the deck of the train to regain his strength. Fortunately, Applejack sat right beside him on the wooden floor without hesitation, and kept holding him tightly with a hoof around his back.

The two ended up looking out from the back of the caboose for a long while, admiring the serene landscapes passing before them without a word needing to be spoken. Rainbow looked absolutely drained after that moment he and AJ shared, and could only wipe his face with a hoof while thinking about everything he confessed. Meanwhile, Applejack kept himself close to the pegasus as he waited patiently, not wanting to agitate Blitz in the midst of such an emotional aftermath. Neither of them knew how long that bout of silence lasted between them, but the blue skies above their heads were beginning to darken along the horizon by the time Applejack finally spoke.

“Hey, uhhhhh… you gonna be alright?” he asked Blitz with a soft-spoken, but undoubtedly caring tone of voice. “Ah mean… Are ya gonna be alright by yourself?”

“Yeah, I… I think so…” Rainbow’s voice may have been raspier than usual due to his emotional state, but the nod he gave back to Applejack helped to emphasize the sincerity in his answer. When he looked back at him, the pegasus’ eyes were looking a lot clearer as he added, “but, uhhhh… thanks a lot for talking with me, dude.”

Upon seeing the small smile Blitz managed to give him, Applejack smiled back twice as wide before pulling him in for a brief hug. “Hey, it’s alright, man,” he said assuredly, not sounding the least bit inconvenienced by the time they spent by themselves at the back of the train. However, when AJ finally pulled back, he grew a more inquisitive look while eyeing Rainbow firmly. “Although, ummm… If you don’t mind me askin’ so soon, did you… did any of this help ya out? Like… You know, with how to think about all this?”

That question caused Rainbow to wince a little while turning his muzzle away from the stallion. Fortunately, before Applejack could get the chance to grow annoyed at that response, Blitz closed his eyes with a sigh and nodded his head. “I mean… I can’t say I’m completely over all of this, but ummmm… but I do have a better grasp on what I need to do.”

“You do?” asked AJ with his brows raised in surprise. He wanted to feel happy for the pony, but he couldn’t help asking in clarification, “Soooo… Does this mean yer gonna talk to Elusive now?”

“Mmhmm,” nodded the pegasus, before he clenched his eyes shut and gave a quick wave of his hoof. “Wait, wait, wait, uhhh… I might need to wait until we get back to Ponyville first?”

“How come?” asked Applejack with a befuddled stare on him. “Ah mean, it seems like he wants to hear from ya, don’t he? Why wait ‘till later?”

“Because I’d rather not get into that kind of discussion with him in the middle of a speeding metal box, okay?” After huffing to himself in frustration, Rainbow Blitz got back onto his hooves while continuing his answer to AJ. “Besides, I… I think I need to do this right…”

Before Applejack could ask what his friend meant by that, a familiar-looking billboard caught his attention as it zoomed past his line of sight. It was a cheesy-looking advertisement for some brand of cereal Apple Buck really liked, and was something AJ took notice of after the countless train rides he had taken to and from Ponyville. Due to its familiarity, his brows rose up in surprise before saying to himself, “Dang… Ah must’ve been out here for a while. Ponyville’s less than an hour away!”

“That’s what I needed to hear!” chirped Rainbow Blitz, who threw caution to the wind as he hopped over the ledge of the caboose. His wings furled out as he laid midair behind the train, using its backdraft to coast along the winds without needing to actually fly. When Applejack got himself back up to check on him, Blitz shouted out, “Hey, listen! I’m gonna get my duffle bag and fly the rest of the way home! When the train stops at the station, tell Elusive to meet me at Carousel Boutique!”

Rainbow then zoomed off into the skies, leaving Applejack to stand at the caboose by himself without the chance to say anything. He had no idea what Rainbow may have been planning, or even what the pegasus came to terms with following that discussion they shared. However, considering how quickly the Wonderbolt soared upward to leave a rainbow trail from the back of the train, Applejack didn’t seem too worried about what may happen next. Instead, the farmpony shook his head with a playful scoff, and readjusted his Stetson before making his way back inside the train.

“You know what?” as he exited the caboose’s rear deck to find his friends, Applejack carried a casually neutral tone as he said to himself, “As long as he don’t act like a nincompoop again, Ah think them two’ll be just fine…”

Chapter Thirty-Two: Rainbow's Big Moment

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Chapter Thirty-Three: The Couple's First Morning

The sun slowly rose over the eastern horizon, and helped to illuminate the town of Ponyville for another pristine day. Even though it was early in the morning, there were already ponies out and about to start their daily routines. Over in the market district, Macarena and Grampy Smith were setting up their display stand to sell apple products (including a bunch of freshly-fried apple fritters, which were huge sellers) to any hungry shoppers during the morning hours. Just a couple blocks away, Harpsy and Dan-Dan were getting their candy shop ready in anticipation for a large sale they had been promoting all week. And at Sugar Cube Corner, Bubble Berry was just about to head off and take advantage of the husbands’ candy sale for the bakery’s inventory, as well as his own personal stash of sugary goodness.

But even as Ponyville slowly arose from its slumber, there were many ponies who remained in their homes to savor the comfort of their beds. Two of those ponies just happened to be resting together inside of the Carousel Boutique, which had a sign over the front door to indicate the business was closed for the day. Because of that, the lavish space was peacefully silent with its kitchen freshly-cleaned, and Alexandrite dozing off on the back of a random fainting couch. Meanwhile upstairs, the shop’s owner was nestled deep within the comforts of his bedding, with his body lovingly intertwined with the stallion he was spooning.

This may have not been the first time Elusive and Rainbow Blitz were sleeping in the same bed, but it was certainly the first time they’ve done so without any confusion or denial about their feelings for one another. Instead, the two stallions were coddled together in sensual bliss with their forelegs wrapped around each other’s backs, and Elusive’s chin resting atop Blitz’s head. The pegasus’ nostrils kept flaring out as his breaths brushed against the tuft of Elusive’s chest fur, but the unicorn didn’t seem bothered in the slightest as judged by the weak smile he was maintaining in his sleep.

It hadn’t even been half a day since Elusive and Rainbow Blitz made amends, and their feelings were finally reciprocated both ways with affirming results. Even though the two may have tried their hardest to keep their relationship platonic for the sake of their friendship, neither of them could say they had any regrets about slipping off the precipice to form a deeper bond. Instead, the newly-confirmed couple took advantage of their feelings as they succumbed to their deepest desires, and made the most of their first night together as coltfriends. And as the two basked in the aftermath of their passionate evening, with the floor around Elusive’s bed littered with disrobed clothing and torn condom packets, neither of them were stirred too badly awake by the time the morning light began to peek through the thick curtains.

“Mmmmmmm…” Elusive was the first to groggily reopen his eyes, and his hooves grasped the nape of Rainbow’s back a little tighter in confirmation. Upon feeling the pegasus’ firm and slender muscles, a strong blush grew across Elusive’s cheeks as he sighed with a content smile. His half-lidded gaze peered down to admire Blitz’s sleeping form, which caused his heart to thump heavier within his chest. But instead of any feelings of nervousness or self-denial, all that Elusive felt was a wave of comforting relief to have somepony like Rainbow Blitz in his life. And while the pegasus snored softly against the unicorn’s chest, Elusive bent his head down to kiss his rainbow mane tenderly.

“Nnnnghhh…” Elusive may have not intended to stir his mate awake, but that peck seemed to do the trick when combined with the light coming into the bedroom. As he groaned to himself lazily, Rainbow’s hooves wrapped tighter around Elsusive’s back to hold him close. His eyes remained closed as he nuzzled the unicorn’s neck, which caused Elusive to giggle tiredly within his grasp. The sound of his voice caused Blitz’s eyes to slowly reopen, which was accompanied with a slightly confused expression on his face; fortunately for Elusive, that moment only lasted long enough for Rainbow to remember where he was, before he sighed with a smile and nestled in closer against his stallion.

Neither of them said anything for several minutes, and merely basked in each other’s warmth as they cuddled together in the plush bed. Rainbow may have not been the type to go for overly pampering bedding like Elusive’s, but he couldn’t deny how amazingly comfortable he felt while spooning his coltfriend. Heck, even when he heard that word in his thoughts, Blitz couldn’t feel much hesitancy or apprehension due to how contentedly he was able to rest with Elusive. And by the time he was finally able to lift his head back and gaze up at the unicorn, Rainbow’s tired smile showed just as much elation and solace as the one pointed right back at him.

The stallions’ blue and magenta eyes locked onto each other as they remained soundlessly rested on the bed, with neither of them feeling much discomfort following the events of last night. Instead, the two looked at each other for a long moment of silence to process their confirmed feelings, before Elusive spoke up first. “Well… Good morning, Rainbow~” he said with a sensual purr and a weak smirk of his muzzle.

“Heh~” Rainbow Blitz smiled right back at the stallion, and replied cheekily, “I take it you had a nice night?”

“Oh, I certainly did~” Elusive then leaned in towards his coltfriend’s waiting muzzle, and closed his eyes slowly as he added, “And I have you to thank for that…”

Rainbow huffed with a confident smirk of his own, and didn’t show any reluctance when he leaned his head in and closed his eyes. The stallions’ lips softly pressed together as they wrapped their hooves tighter around each other, and locked themselves in a loving embrace. The two hummed sweetly in unison by the time their muzzles opened up, and their kiss deepened with passion burning in their hearts. Unfortunately, due to how clouded both of their mindsets had gotten through rose-tinted lenses, their deep kiss only lasted for a split-second before they froze up at the same time. Both of their eyes shot wide-open, and their muzzles instantly wrinkled up in distaste before they pulled away from each other.

“GAHHH!!” “P’too! P’too!” “UGH!!”

Elusive and Rainbow Blitz may have went through a lot together as friends, but neither of them could handle the taste of their combined morning breath. Because of that, the stallions had to try their hardest not to gag as they coughed and winced away from one another. “Good heavens!” exclaimed Elusive with absolute disgust while gasping with his muzzle agape. “Rainbow, what in Equestria did you eat?!”

“Ugh, dude!” groaned Rainbow Blitz with an equally grossed-out sneer as his friend. After using his hoof to rub his tongue like a scrubber, he cringed from the taste of his unwashed mouth before reeling back at his friend. “You’re gonna say that about my breath?! You tasted like you just gave a skunk a friggin’ rimjob!”

“OH, EWW!!” Elusive may have had a long night, but he immediately threw his hooves up and grimaced the moment he heard Blitz’s comparison. The unicorn hopped off the bed to storm off to the bathroom, but his gait was noticeably wider-stanced as he shouted back at Rainbow, “How in Solaris’ name can you give me a mental image that vile! Ugh!”

Even though he couldn’t exactly refute Elusive’s irritation, Blitz could only roll his eyes while his coltfriend went to the restroom. He could hear the sink running the moment the door closed, which he hoped was from Elusive brushing his teeth. Of course, as he sat by himself at the edge of the lavish bed, it didn’t take long for Rainbow to wince when he caught how rancid his own breath tasted. But before he could pull himself out of the bed to join Elusive in the bathroom, his brows rose up when he felt the slightest press of a tiny paw against his leg.

Rainbow Blitz looked down at his side, and huffed with a bitter scowl the instant he saw Alexandrite sitting atop the bedding. The overly-pampered feline didn’t say anything, and just shot a flat glare up at Rainbow like he was expecting something. Blitz was sure that due to how long his and Elusive’s tryst lasted, there was probably some part of the cat’s routine that his owner may have missed this morning. But since Elusive was preoccupied in the washroom, Rainbow was the one to deal with the cat’s attitude as he let out an annoyed, “MROWWW!!”

“Ugh…” Since he didn’t want to deal with Alexandrite’s bitching, Rainbow turned towards the bathroom door and shouted, “LUCY! Alex is whining about something!”

“Oh! Right, right…” Elusive made sure to spit into the sink before he reopened the bathroom door, and poked his head out to address his cat. “Alexandrite?~” he said sweetly while his smile was spackled with toothpaste. “I know it’s a little late, but I’ll give you your cream when I’m finished in here, alright?”

“MROWRRR!!” Alex didn’t seem to like that compromise one bit, and shot his owner a bitter hiss due to his impatience.

“Oh, don’t be such a drama queen!” replied Elusive, who responded to his cat’s tantrum with only an eyeroll before slipping back into the bathroom. As soon as the door closed again, the cat’s irritated stare went back to Rainbow Blitz in wait. Unfortunately for Alex, Rainbow clearly didn’t give two shits as he crossed his forelegs over his chest.

“Forget it, dude,” said Blitz firmly, not seeming to care that he was trying to talk with a cat like Butterscotch would. “I’m not getting up to coddle your picky ass.”

It wasn’t clear whether or not the cat could actually understand what Rainbow said, but Alex still let out a menacing growl with his eyes narrowing on the pegasus. Alexandrite lifted himself up to turn around, and crawled over to the edge of the bed to hop off. But just before he could leap down, the feline made sure to give a snide stare back at Blitz as he bent himself over and flagged up his tail.

“Eww, come on!” Rainbow reeled away from the unwelcome view of his boyfriend’s cat, and shouted towards the bathroom, “Elusive, your cat’s showing me his butthole!!”

“He’s a cat, Rainbow!” shouted the unicorn through the door. “They always do that!”

“Yeah, but he did it on purpose!”

“Oh, no he did not!”

“What, you want me to record it on video or something?!”

“Just leave him be, Blitz! He’s just a little grumpy that his cream is late.”

Rainbow pouted in annoyance before glancing back at Alex, who was continuing to present himself while sporting a shit-eating grin. But before the pegasus could think to smack him off the bed, the cat hopped down on his own accord to exit the bedroom. Of course, that turned out to be the moment Elusive finally finished cleaning his teeth, and he opened the door to see nothing but a miffed-looking pegasus seated on the bed. “Oh, quit being such a sour grape,” chided Elusive as he shot Blitz a dismissive scoff. “The sink is all yours if you want to brush your teeth as well.”

Despite how upset Rainbow may have looked, Elusive still showed enough compassion to go up to him for another light kiss. After giving the stallion a loving peck on the cheek, the unicorn lit up his horn to pick up a length of floss from the bathroom. He then left the bedroom as well, and flossed his teeth while heading downstairs for Alex’s cream. Meanwhile, Blitz’s grumpy mood was lightened the slightest bit as he touched the spot on his cheek his boyfriend kissed, which caused him to sigh and smile to himself. “Heh~”

Of course, since his hoof was already up against his face, Rainbow brought it to the front of his muzzle before exhaling sharply. The moment he took a whiff of his morning breath, Blitz reeled back with a revolted sneer and groaned under his breath. “Ughhhh… Okay, yeah. I really need to brush my teeth…”

In less than fifteen minutes, both stallions were refreshed enough to prepare a quick breakfast for themselves downstairs. Both of their coats were matted in places from the remnants of sweat that exuded from last night’s activities, but neither of them seemed to mind the smell of their unwashed musk (at least, not in comparison to their morning breath). The two were enjoying a small arrangement of pancakes and diced fruit, which helped to occupy their attention and to keep any silence from feeling awkward. But alas, even with how content the two may have been with how things turned out, that didn’t keep their muzzles from skewing the tiniest bit by the time their plates were nearly cleaned.

Alexandrite was happily lapping up his cream from the tiny ornate bowl on the floor, so he wasn’t paying any attention to the stallions above his head. Meanwhile, Elusive was the first to look uncomfortable when he floated his dishes towards the sink. He did the same with Blitz’s plate, which caused the pegasus to give him a thankful nod of his head. But much like Elusive, it was hard to ignore the contemplative wince that Rainbow was struggling to conceal in his blank expression.

“So, ummmm…” From the way Elusive’s words paused so soon after he opened his mouth, his fretful expression made it look like he was going to announce a pregnancy. But fortunately, the unicorn was able to compose himself enough to take a quick breath, and meagerly say to Rainbow Blitz, “We… We should probably try to discuss what we need to do...”

Despite knowing that his friend was right, Rainbow couldn’t help clenching his muzzle a little while averting his eyes from him. The Wonderbolt squirmed uncomfortably in his chair, and took a moment before looking back at Elusive to clarify, “Do you mean, like… with the competition? Or, uhhh… O-Or with us?”

Even though the answer was fairly obvious, Elusive kept his muzzle pursed shut when he exhaled through his nostrils. He then raised his brows as he said with a shrug, “Well, obviously I was referring to us. I mean… Considering how close we are to the finals, I really don’t think we should change anything or hold back now, right?~”

Elusive may have still carried some internal conflict, but he didn’t hesitate to shoot Blitz a confident smirk alongside that statement. Luckily for the unicorn, Rainbow was able to huff before smiling right back at him. “Yeah, that’s definitely true,” he admitted with a shrug of his own. “Not to mention, we’re probably gonna have to bust our butts to nail down multiple dance routines.”

“Oh, absolutely,” replied Elusive, who had to reel his head back with a heavy exhale. “Ugh… It’s going to be a nightmare figuring out which songs to work with. Especially for the fusion round.”

“Okay, how does that work again?” asked the pegasus, whose eyes narrowed on Elusive confusedly. “I remember you saying it was some big deal for the finals or whatever.”

“Well, it’s something that they recently included in the ENDC competition,” said Elusive as he looked up to the ceiling in thought. “From what I read in the rulebooks, it’s basically where a duo’s top-scoring routines are combined as one fusion dance. Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes will likely have to do a dance involving the Jive and Foxtrot, while our own would combine Contemporary and Disco.”

“Oh, buuuuuuuck…” The moment he heard that dreadful ‘D’ word, Rainbow clenched his eyes with a strong cringe in his expression. “Seriously!? We have to do Disco again?!”

“Well, we did wonderfully the last time we performed the style,” noted Elusive as he tried to lighten his coltfriend’s mood. “Not to mention, it doesn’t have to be a disco song. We did it well enough with a glam-rock song last time, so I’m sure we can find something more modern this time around.”

“Yeah, hopefully…” Rainbow looked like he wanted to complain further, but he kept his muzzle shut as he leaned back with a foreleg perched over the back of his chair. Even though the stallions understood how important it was to be on the same page as dance partners, both of them were aware that the topic was merely a distraction from the elephant in the room. And while he would’ve loved to keep their discussion on the upcoming finals, Blitz learned enough from his exploits back in Manehattan to keep from repeating any past mistakes. So instead of bringing up anything dance-related, Rainbow sighed as he pointed his muzzle down to the table between them. “So, uhhhh… We’re not gonna, like… tell ponies right now, are we?”

“Oh, of course not!” assured Elusive with a wave of his hoof, not even needing to ask for context in reference to Blitz’s question. “Darling, we just got everything settled between us. If anything, we should focus on ourselves before thinking about what others may say. I’d prefer to keep things drama-free until after the competition has ended, thank you very much.”

If he wasn’t feeling so self-conscious about his own worries, Rainbow would’ve likely blushed a bit from being called “Darling” by his boyfriend. But instead, the pegasus could only sigh in relief to Elusive’s comment, and nodded his head without saying much else. However, Blitz then covered his face with a hoof as he leaned into his foreleg on the table, and he said with an exasperated groan, “Oh, man… The guys are gonna flip when they find out about this.”

Elusive grew an uncomfortable wince due to how direly Rainbow said that remark; but at the same time, the unicorn couldn’t exactly refute that claim either, which prompted him to shrug his head silently. “Well… I’m sure that none of them are going to judge us. I mean, after everything we’ve been though, do you really think any of them are gonna be bigoted about us being together?”

That question prompted Blitz’s jagged brows to rise up immensely. He thought back to his chat with Applejack the other day, which nearly earned Blitz a black eye due to assuming his friend would be homophobic. Sure, there may have been some teasing here and there, but Rainbow couldn’t imagine any of his friends harassing him or Elusive for being gay. So after a couple seconds of thought, the Wonderbolt was quick to reply, “Nah… Honestly, I couldn’t see that happening either. Although, I’m pretty sure Barb is gonna hate me for a while.”

“Oh, don’t say that!” Despite how understandable Blitz’s point may have been, Elusive promptly dismissed the notion as he said firmly, “Barbara might be young, and… Okay yeah, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t notice her feelings towards me… B-But that doesn’t mean she’s unable to accept me being in a relationship with somepony else.”

Even though that middle part carried a lot of apprehension on Elusive’s end, Rainbow caught enough of the unicorn’s sincerity to give an understanding nod. Not to mention, after Elusive’s brief chat with Barb back on the train, the unicorn was willing to trust her maturity when it came to his new relationship. But before he could get any second thoughts, Elusive took a breath to recompose himself before adding, “If anything, the biggest issue we might have is from the tabloids once the word is out about us. Of course, that’s just another reason to justify not saying anything until the finals are over.”

“Yeah, I totally agree with you there,” said Blitz with an equally insistent look as Elusive’s. But at the same time, the pegasus had to look away from his coltfriend while scratching the back of his unkempt mane. “Although, uhhhh… Hypothetically speaking…”

Elusive narrowed his eyes on Rainbow, since any sentence that started off with “Hypothetically speaking” was likely to end with something bad. Meanwhile, Blitz was trying his hardest not to cringe when he asked, “Ummm… Do you think any of the guys actually, like… know about us already?”

That question caused the unicorn’s eyes to widen immensely, but it was the accompanying blush across his cheeks that made Rainbow’s eyes bulge out as well. Neither of them said anything for several seconds, which was just enough time for the two to come to the same realization. When Alexandrite finally finished his morning treat, he licked his lips while peering up to see the ponies’ shocked stares on one another. The stallions brought up their hooves at the same time as they pointed at each other and shouted in unison, “Who did you talk to?!”

Neither of them said anything to respond to the other, which caused another bout of silence before they shouted, “No, YOU tell ME!!”

Elusive groaned with his hooves over his face, while Blitz slumped back in his seat with an equally distraught grimace of his own. “Nnnghhh… Well, that’s bucking awkward.”

“Well, in my defense,” Elusive said in an effort to point out his innocence, “I came to realize certain things a little sooner than you, Rainbow. Can you really blame me for confiding with a friend for help?”

Rainbow Blitz held up a hoof to make a retort, but nothing came out of his open muzzle. Instead, the pegasus paused for a couple seconds before closing his mouth, and then putting his hoof back down with an uncomfortable glance away from Elusive. “Well, uhhh… Alright yeah, you got a point there.”

“And I’m certain that you have your own reasons for confiding in sompony as well.” Elusive may have been miffed that he wasn’t the only pony between them to spill the beans, but he wasn’t one to chastise Blitz without understanding how absurdly hypocritical he would’ve been. So instead, the tailor closed his eyes with a soft sigh before he shrugged his head, and added meekly, “Plus, I… I can’t necessarily blame you after everything that happened back in Manehattan.”

Rainbow Blitz nodded with a bitten lip, and breathed out before looking back at Elusive with hesitance. “Yeah, I… I was kinda thrown-off after what you told me in the bathroom…”

Elusive may have been aware that his confession back at the train station would be enough to make Rainbow seek out some assistance; however, as soon as he heard that detail, Elusive’s eyes widened on him before asking, “Wait a minute. Did… Did you talk to one of them on the train back home yesterday?”

“Well, why do you think I came straight here to try and bake you that cake?” asked Blitz as he pointed back to the nearby stove, which had taken the pegasus almost an hour to scrub down to Elusive’s liking. “I mean, I wanted to do something to make up for yesterday.”

“Yeah, I can understand that,” replied Elusive with a roll of his eyes. “I’m just surprised that you talked with one of the guys so recently about us, that’s all.”

“Well, apparently you talked with somepony sooner than me.” With that point, Rainbow Blitz was only met with an uneasy wince from his coltfriend across the table. “And I’m not judging you for that,” he added in clarification, which was just enough to keep the unicorn from getting too upset, “but still, like… Can you at least tell me who you talked to?”

Elusive knew that Blitz had every right to know, but his muzzle skewed in trepidation when he said, “Well, ummm… he may have shared some details with me that are meant to be secret, so… it might be for the best that I stay silent on that matter. A-At least for now, I mean.”

That answer was dissatisfying for Rainbow to scoff with an eyeroll, but he paused briefly as he tried to process what Elusive actually said. Considering what he learned from his own private conversations with a particular friend, his brows slowly rose up upon realizing there may have been a connection. By the time Elusive finally took notice of his mate’s peculiar stare on him, he wasn’t able to ask what was up before Blitz asked, “Wait a minute. Did… Did he tell you about sleeping with one of the other guys or something?”

Elusive nearly shot out of his chair from how strongly he jolted back from Rainbow wide-eyed. “Wait, WHAT?!” he asked with a gawking stare back at the Wonderbolt. “J-Just who were you talking to?!”

“You first, dude!” belted Blitz with an insistent stare back at him. “And don’t try telling me you didn’t hear anything about that stuff, because that look you just gave me is all the proof I need that you did!”

“Ugh!” Elusive scoffed with a bitter scowl while looking away from the pegasus, and tightly crossed his forelegs over his chest to emphasize his response. “Rainbow, I do not feel comfortable about telling you personal details regarding our friends! I know you’re paranoid right now, but that doesn’t mean that we should expose others in an attempt to make ourselves feel safer.”

Rainbow may have understood Elusive’s point, but that didn’t stop him from huffing with a strong roll of his eyes. “Hey, I’m just making sure we were talking about the same guy, that’s all! Because he, uhhh…”

Upon realizing what he was about to say, Blitz ended up biting his bottom lip for a moment with a look of contemplation. But despite knowing how risky it’d be to discuss somepony else’s private matters, Rainbow also wanted to maintain a trustworthy bond with the stallion he was comfortable enough to call his coltfriend. So even with his apprehensions, the Wonderbolt tried to finish his response with as little risk of outing Applejack as he possibly could. “... He, uhh… He may have mentioned having a similar situation to the two of us…”

Elusive didn’t say anything following Blitz’s remark, but his skewed muzzle made it clear that he didn’t need any further context. Instead, the unicorn kept his eyes pointed away from Rainbow before sighing softly, and replying with, “I, err… I may have heard something similar…”

Several seconds passed between the two stallions, with neither of them saying much after that establishment was made. Both of them looked a little uncomfortable, and their cheeks were blushed from the realization of what they were now mutually aware of. Even though it didn’t need to be said verbally, Rainbow Blitz was the first to readjust himself in his chair and ask, “So, uhhhh… We’re not the only Elements who banged, huh?”

Elusive exhaled sharply with an unamused glare, but his muzzle remained tightly shut while skewing awkwardly. “Hmph… Well, I… I suppose not…”

Another uneasy bout of silence swept between the ponies, which was only broken from the faint scrape of Elusive’s hoof against his table. The stallions tried to collect their thoughts, but it was obvious from their silent stares that both of them were pondering the same thing. They may have been aware of how dickish it’d be to reveal anything to each other, and were likely expecting Bubble Berry to storm into the Boutique with a battering ram if they did. But at the same time, such a reveal about their friends made it nearly impossible to ignore the big question looming over their heads. Not to mention, it wasn’t like their friends wouldn’t have been just as curious if the sides were switched around…

By the time Elusive put his fork back down, his face was just as blushed as Rainbow’s when they finally looked back at one another. After the briefest moment of hesitation, the stallions blurted out at the same time: “I’ll tell if you tell.”

The fact that they said that in unison caused both of them to turn away with shameful scowls, most likely due to their shared guilt for buckling so easily. But at the same time, their responses proved to be surprisingly in-sync when they turned back to each other a second later.

“At the same time?” asked Elusive cautiously while carrying a stern stare.

Rainbow Blitz nodded his head, his expression looking equally as firm as the unicorn’s. “Yeah, we’ll just say the name on three.”

Elusive nodded affirmatively, and took a breath before saying, “Okay then… Three… Two… One!”

They pointed hooves at each other before shouting out at the same time:

“Applejack!” “Butterscotch!”

…

“WAIT, WHAT?!?”

Back on Sweet Apple Acres, the very two stallions being acknowledged by their friends were hanging out together by sheer coencidence. Applejack had just finished feeding all the livestock, and was sitting on top of the wooden fence while wiping some sweat from beneath his Stetson. Meanwhile, Butterscotch was perched against the post of the fence, and was looking away from the farmpony with a heavy blush on his face. The pegasus looked fairly guilty in comparison to his friend, but Applejack’s expression was rather neutral as he looked off into nothing. The orange stallion chewed on a bit of straw that was peeking out from his lips, but kept himself silent as he casually spat out into the grass.

“Ummm…” Butterscotch couldn’t bear to look back at AJ, and kept his shameful gaze down to his hooves while muttering meekly. “I… I’m really sorry, Applejack.”

Even though the stallion was a little upset, AJ refrained from letting that be seen by Butterscotch when he looked so guilty. Instead, he merely sighed before taking the straw out from his mouth, and said in response, “Ehhh… Well, you ain’t the only one who talked with ‘em,” he admitted with a small skew of his head, “so it ain’t like Ah have much room to talk.”

Butterscotch nodded his head silently, but he still looked remorseful despite Applejack’s assurance. But before the farmpony could say anything else, Scotch made sure to add insistently, “B-But just so you know, I didn’t tell Elusive who it was, so… M-Maybe Blitz doesn’t know yet?”

Even with Butterscotch’s optimism, it was only met by a strong sigh by AJ as he replied, “Sugar, if them two actually got together, and Ah’m pretty sure they did, then there’s no doubt that they’ve been talkin’. And Ah’m willin’ to bet good money that they figured out ‘bout us by now too.”

Applejack tried not to sound too snippy when he gave that answer, but the bluntness of his words was still notable enough to make Butterscotch lower his head. Fortunately for the pegasus, his shameful reaction wasn’t enough to keep AJ from resting a hoof on his shoulder. When he looked up at the farmpony, his brows rose up when he saw the reassuring smirk Applejack was carrying on his face. “Hey, c’mon now,” he said with a more cheerful tone to lift Butterscotch’s spirits, “if anything, Ah should be feelin’ bad for bringin’ up more than you. Ah mean, at least you only hinted at me with Elusive. That’s less than what I mentioned to Blitz back in Manehattan.”

That reminder caused Butterscotch’s cheeks to blush deeply, and was accompanied with a worrisome pout on his muzzle. Applejack’s ears lowered with guilt as well, but it was hard to tell while he was wearing his Stetson atop his head. Nevertheless, the orange pony felt compelled to add with a shrug, “A-Although, uhhhh… Ah’m probably not gonna mention anything more than that to Blitz. That is, unless he tried bringin’ up that stupid bet we had.”

The pegasus groaned with a flatter expression on his face, and looked back up at AJ to say, “Seriously, I cannot believe you actually did that.”

“What?” asked AJ with his hooves raised in innocence. “Ah meant for that bet to be between Blitz and that Hoofington mare! It ain’t my fault Ah didn’t think to specify it!”

Since that statement was self-contradictory, all that Applejack was met with was a firm and unamused stare by the yellow pegasus. Butterscotch may have been told about his friend’s stupid wager earlier on, and could even believe AJ’s insistence that he never meant for it to be taken seriously; but considering how Rainbow Blitz most likely did sleep with one of the dancers, that meant that the bet was technically fulfilled on the Wonderbolt’s end. And given how adamant Blitz could be about cashing in bets, Applejack tried his hardest to avoid the unwavering glare that Butterscotch was giving him in that moment.

“Well, you better hope that he doesn’t try asking who else is involved,” stated Butterscotch sternly towards the farmpony, “because I’m certainly not going to say anything. And unless you want to try lying, I doubt that Zicoro will appreciate being outed as well.”

Butterscotch then walked away from the fence, and trotted towards the pig-pen to check up on Applejack’s livestock. Meanwhile, the orange stallion closed his eyes with a shameful sigh while still seated on the fence, and waited until the pegasus was out of earshot to mutter under his breath. “Yeah, don’t remind me…”

Author's Note

Just in case there's any confusion, the relationship shown between Applejack and Butterscotch is based on a couple of Mature-rated stories I wrote called 'A Zebra's Persuasion'.

Chapter Thirty-Four: Return of the Shim Sham Sisters

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