"And why is Hector here?"

Rainbow sighed. "Because he's a student and he's been on good behavior for just long enough. Really wish he was in detention right now."

Silver looked at their destination. A dance club they had reservations for. "Well, as long as someone keeps him in sight, he won't be able to cause too much trouble."

"Why are you guys acting like I'm a criminal?"

Gallus prodded Hector's beak. "Because you are! And you advertise it very loudly!"

"I'm not a criminal! I'm a pirate!"

Ocellus rolled her eyes. "The titles are not mutually exclusive."

"Um... What's it like in there?"

Yona leaned over to Bramble. "Remember the thing Silver did that gave you a headache?"

Bramble's face went pale. "Uh, is it too late to turn back now?"

Smolder slapped the deer on the back. "Don't worry! You're gonna like it!"

Rain scratched her head. "Is it bad that I don't know what Yona was talking about?"

"Try not to think about it."

Strongheart turned to Cozy Glow. "That makes me even more worried."

"Could you all be quiet?" Anita had a huge smile on her face. "I'm trying not to let my excitement disappear."

Rainbow looked at Anita. "Have you been in a club before?"

"Yeah! And it's so exciting!"

Anita rested her chin on the table. "This is so boring."

Rain looked at the flashing lights on the dance floor. "Well, it's certainly more tolerable than I thought it would be."

Smolder chuckled and placed her arm around Rain's shoulders. "At least someone thinks so. How long did Bramble last?"

The blushing kirin put her hoof to her cheek. "Eight minutes."

"And how far did he get?"

Anita looked at the janitors by the door. "Not far enough."

Hector stretched his arms over his head. "It's a shame Yona and Strongheart had to take him back to the school."

Anita eyed DJ Pon-3. "To be fair, I don't think either of them really wanted to be here either."

Across the room, Silver was scratching her head. "What's with all the ballads?"

Gallus sighed. "I think it was Twilight's request. She didn't want us going too wild."

Sandbar took a bite out of the sandwich sitting in front of him. "Actually, I think it was so Bramble wouldn't get overwhelmed."

Ocellus looked at the janitors by the door. "Not that it actually helped."

Cozy looked at the DJ. "Should I tell her?"

"Uh..." Gallus rubbed the back of his head while looking at the dance floor. "There seem to be ponies that are fine with it."

Silver looked at some of the other booths. "Yeah, but there are also ponies that clearly aren't."

"Oh my goodness!"

The others looked at Cozy.

"S-Smolder just..." Cozy started laughing. "She..."

Silver followed Cozy's gaze to the opposite booth. Rain had her hooves over her face while Smolder scratched Rain's head.

"Silver? Do you see what she's laughing at?"

Silver looked at Ocellus. "Not really." She turned back to the booth. "Wait, where's-"

A record scratch drew everyone's attention to the DJ booth, where Anita was standing with a record in her hand. "Sorry. I know some of you where having fun." She held the record in her left hand. "But me? I was getting rather bored." With a flick of her wrist, the record appeared in her right hand. "Time for a change of pace."

The cat placed the record on the turntable, and a different song started playing. Anita stepped onto the floor to the beat of the song, pulling out a pair of glowing batons. As she got close to the center of the floor, she started spinning them around.

"What is she doing?"

Once the first verse started, she started twirling her own body while the lights above her dimmed, making her batons stand out more. The aura she was giving off was of both dominance and elegance, making some of the onlookers think of their own princesses. While Anita did pose from time to time, she never stayed still for long, often moving between poses before anyone could piece together how she was positioned.

When the chorus came, she suddenly tossed her batons in the air, twirled for a few feet, then caught them. All in time with the music.

"Is she a juggler or a dancer?"

Ocellus' friends were to entranced to respond.

Hector moved to the edge of the booth he was in.

The third time Anita tossed her batons, she pulled two more out of nowhere, throwing them as well. She then posed four times, catching each baton with each pose, before the second verse kicked in. During the second verse, she continued tossing her batons and twirling her body. Several ponies joined in, though none dared get close to Anita herself as she continued to juggle her batons.

Smolder nudged Rain, then nodded towards Hector. Rain smirked, then slid up behind Hector before igniting her horn and knocking him onto the floor.

And into Anita. Her response was swift and certain.

She forced two of her batons into his claws before resuming her dance in time for the chorus to come back. Hector took a moment before starting to move rather stiffly.

Smolder and Rain both giggled. But their amusement turned to amazement as Hector started getting more into the beat, no doubt with some silent help from Anita. By the time they got to the bridge, both of the creatures were moving in sync with the music and each other. It was as if their dance was planned out, in spite of its impromptu nature.

"Is he really..."

Rain started fanning herself. "Who knew our trouble maker was a good dancer?"

The duo posed four times before the final chorus. They both tossed their batons in the air, danced a few feet, then caught each other's batons, then repeated. They both tossed the batons a third time, but this time Anita caught all four as Hector backed out. Anita moved to the remainder of the song on her own, with Hector watching while just as entranced as the ponies that weren't dancing.

Once the song finished, Anita held one last pose before her observers let out a loud applause. Anita herself smiled at Hector, who returned the smile.

"Well done, kitty! Well done!" DJ Pon-3 pulled out a few more records. "Well, now that we're out of the ballad section, how about we really get this party going!"

"DID SOMEONE SAY PARTY?" In true Pinkie Pie fasion, she popped out of the dance floor.

The nine creatures were laughing as they left the club.

"Thanks for that, Anita." Cozy took a moment to catch her breath. "It was getting pretty boring until you did that."

Smolder pat the cat on the back. "Yeah. That was amazing. Not sure I could have lasted if you hadn't done that."

"Hadn't done what?"

The students looked up. It was Twilight. A few of them struggled to find any words at the moment.

Gallus lifted a claw. "If this is about Bramble, he couldn't handle the lights by themselves. Made a mess of the entrance and had to be dragged of by Yona and Strongheart. By the time things really got kicking, he was long gone."

Twilight stared at them, her expression stern. Her students were starting to sweat.

Except for Cozy Glow. "So, how long are you gonna keep this up?"

Twilight sighed. "Bramble told me that already. I was more worried about how Rain would react to the louder music of a dance club."

Rain chuckled. "Thank you for thinking of me, but I can appreciate all kinds of music. Seeing Anita dancing also let me appreciate the music they played."

Twilight smiled. "That's good. I was worried you were going to be bothered by how loud it can get."

"I don't want my preferences ruining other's experiences. And to be honest, the dull music almost ruined mine. I'm fine with different cultures rubbing off on me."

Cozy floated up to Rain and whispered something into her ear. Something that made Rain's face go completely red.

Smolder cleared her throat. "So, how is Bramble?"

"He's fine now." Twilight looked towards some hills in the distance. "Yona and Strongheart took him somewhere quiet and peaceful so he could wind down. The three of them are back at the school now."

Hector looked back at the club. "So, how about we do this again sometime?"

"You're free to return to that club any time." Twilight turned around. "Just don't expect it to be on the school's funds."

Anita giggled. "Good thing I have my own."

The group of creatures started laughing again.

Silver leaned over to Gallus. "Hey, does Hector seem different somehow?"

"He probably just likes dancing."

Silver looked at the parrot. "I don't think that's it. Maybe he just wanted someone to treat him like a friend."

Cozy floated over. "If what I read is right, you won't want to know what I know."

The two half-birds raised their eyebrows. "What is that?"

"You don't want to know."

Author's Note

And with that, we'll be going back to the original story of puzzles, death, and confusing plot points. Yay!