Rumble slowly opened his eyes, feeling well rested. He glanced over at the clock and was greeted by the neon red numbers reading 6:00 am. Most people, his brother included, always wondered how he could stand waking up so early all the time but he was simply an early riser. He just functioned better in the morning. This, however, did not make him immune to the allure of a comfy bed. It’s not like he could get out of bed anyway, if the soft breathing against the back of his neck was any indication.

Apparently at some point during the night Twilight had snuggled up against him while they were asleep.

Moving quietly so as not to wake the sleeping young woman, he adjusted himself to where he was now facing Twilight's sleeping form. Her navy blue hair was messily splayed out in every which way, a few silky strands hanging in her face. He had only ever seen her with her hair tied up so he was taken by surprise by just how long it was and just how well it framed her cute little face. As she continued to snore softly he came to what can only be called the most scientific of conclusions.

The woman he was sharing a bed with was adorable.

Even though he didn't really see her all that often before now, the young athlete had always found her cute in a nerdy kind of way. But the way she was now; hair a mess, little bit of drool at the corner of the mouth and wearing a shirt that was roughly three sizes too big. It was just so naturally adorable and he couldn't help but admire her in this state. It was almost enough to stop him from waking her up.

But the day must go on.

"Twilight." he called out softly, trying to get her attention.

All he got in response was a grumble and an adorable little squeak. He couldn't help but smile at the sight. At least that was the case until he felt one of her small hands sleepily slap against his lips.

"Mm, less wake. More sleep." she said, still clearly asleep, while continuing to lightly tap his face with her hand.

After her sleepy assault subsided he decided to try again, though this time there was a bit more humor in his voice, "I know you want to sleep, but it's time to wake up."

"No." she said childishly before completely taking Rumble off guard by latching onto him and snuggling her head in the crook of his neck. This alone would have been enough to make the young man blush but it was the two mounds of soft flesh squishing against his chest that caused his face to burn with the fury of a thousand suns.

He was surprised by just how large they felt! As far as he had known, Twilight was relatively small chested yet going by the large objects he felt against his body she was actually on the larger size.

Where was she hiding these things?!

As his mind continued to go into overload, he was unaware of Twilight slowly fluttering her eyes awake. She slowly lifted her head, still half asleep, to look up at Rumble with squinted eyes. Without her glasses all she could really make out was his general form. In her sleepy state she didn't quite recognize him at first, but when she did her eyes snapped open and a blush colored her face. A blush that only grew in intensity when she realized she had her sizeable breasts pressed against him. They spent a moment of silence staring at each other wide-eyed, their faces colored a deep red hue.

…

…

"Eeeeeee!" Twilight screamed before shoving Rumble away, causing him to tumble inelegantly out of the bed and onto the floor as she jumped to her feet on the other side of the bed, quickly grabbing her glasses in the meantime.

"Ow…" Rumble groaned out.

Realizing what she just did, Twilight gasped and ran over to Rumble.

"Oh my goodness, Rumble! I am so sorry." she said as she reached her hand out to help him up. He got up with a groan but was quick to wave off her worries.

"I'm fine, I've taken worst tumbles while running." He then stretched out, causing a few audible pops to come from his back. This had the added benefit, at least in Twilight's mind, of showing off his chiseled, shirtless body. She started chewing on her bottom lip, wondering why her body was tingling.

Oblivious to her current state, Rumble looked awkwardly toward Twilight. He didn't consider himself a pervert but he would be lying if he didn't admit that the soft feeling of her surprisingly voluptuous breasts wasn't still on his mind. He also felt a little shame with just how much difficulty he was having in keeping his eyes off her chest at the moment. Luckily, he was saved when the lavender woman cleared her throat.

"So, we should probably get dressed and ready for the day." she said, having her own troubles with keeping her eyes off the athlete's body.

More than happy for a topic change, Rumble perked up immediately, "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

That's when a thought suddenly came to his mind.

"Uh, there may be a slight problem."

"What is it?" Twilight asked with a tilt of her head.

"Unless you somehow magically poofed them here without me knowing, you don't have any extra clothes here."

Twilight's face fell at the statement. He was right, the only clothes she had with her were the ones she wore yesterday. Even the "pajamas" she had on right now were some of Rumble's extra clothes. She would have to go back to her room, but that ran the risk of running into her friends and then explaining where she went yesterday. While nothing happened, she just knew how they would react to the fact she spent the night with a boy.

She could just see it now. Sunset and Rarity would grill her for any juicy details (there were none), Applejack would probably lecture her about moving too fast or something of the sort, Fluttershy would probably just faint from the apparent scandal, Pinkie would ironically be the easiest to deal with as she would probably just congratulate her and maybe try to throw a party. Then there was Rainbow Dash…

Twilight's eyes shot wide open, "Oh shoot, if Rainbow finds me like this she's going to kill me!"

The sudden volume in her voice shocked Rumble but then he saw that the girl had started switching between mumbling incoherently and hyperventilating. He may not have been used to witnessing one of Twilight's overreaction episodes, but it didn't take a genius to know that he couldn't let her continue as she was. He walked over to her and gently grabbed her by the shoulders and made it so that she was now facing him.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's ok. Let's just take some deep breaths, calm down, then figure out a plan."

After receiving a nod from the distressed woman he backed up and watched as she began doing the breathing exercise Cadence taught her. After a minute or two of doing this she seemed to calm down significantly and Rumble once again approached her.

"Feeling better."

She simply nodded.

"Good." he smiled before continuing, "So now that we have cooler heads, what's the issue exactly right now?"

"Like you said, I don't have any extra clothes with me and in order to get more I would have to go back to my room. The problem is that by doing that I run the risk of running into my friends, especially Rainbow Dash. I know if she finds me she would be furious that I was avoiding her."

"I mean, no offense, but you probably should talk to her at some point. I know she's stubborn but avoiding her probably isn't the best way to handle it."

Twilight rubbed her shoulder before letting out a sigh, "I know it's not. I'll try talking to her again before our band plays. Until then, if it's ok with you, I'd like to just spend some more time here."

While she didn't mean to do it, she gave Rumble a pair of puppy eyes that he was completely no match for. He didn't really want Twilight to put off confronting Rainbow Dash but at the end of the day it was her choice and he would respect that. The idea of spending more alone time with the attractive young woman was also certainly an enticing one.

He glanced back at her to see she had started to pout her lip a little and he knew he had lost this battle.

Ok, now she's definitely doing this on purpose!

"I don't mind us hanging here again, but that still leaves us with the issue of your clothes." he said with a defeated sigh.

After giving Rumble a thankful smile, Twilight began contemplating a solution. It didn't take too long for an idea to come to mind, though she was a bit reluctant to go with it. She looked over at Rumble with a bit of nervousness.

"I might have an idea." he raised a brow and motioned for her to continue. "I can give you my room key and tell you what clothes to grab while I take a shower. Rainbow wouldn't think twice about seeing you."

Rumble was a bit confused as to why Twilight seemed so nervous. It seemed like a good solution, not to mention simple. He would just go to her room and grab what she needed. Probably some shirts, shorts, maybe a dress for later and…

Oh.

The realization hit him like a runaway freight train and he stiffened up, "I can do that except what about your *ahem* unmentionables?"

"They're in a small blue bag with a star on it. Just don't look inside, please." she said a bit nervously.

Rumble relaxed a little, "Don't worry, I'm not that kind of guy. Just let me know what to grab and I'll head over there while you shower."

Twilight was still a bit nervous. Rumble hadn't given her any reason to believe he'd go rummaging through her underwear but it was still a strange situation. Despite that, she thanked him and told him what she needed while also giving him her room key.

With that out of the way and Rumble making sure she had a towel for the shower they went their separate ways.

As Rumble made his way to Twilight’s room he was even more thankful that he was an early riser since it seemed no one else was awake at this point. It meant he was able to make the short trip with no incident. Thinking he was in the clear, he began to unlock the door.

“And what, exactly, do you think you’re doin’?”

Rumble felt every muscle in his body tense up as he immediately recognized the accent of the accusatory voice. He slowly turned around to find his suspicions confirmed as staring at him with crossed arms and a narrowed glare was Applejack.

“Oh, hey Applejack, fancy meeting you here.” he said nervously.

“I’m sure, now answer my question. What do you think you’re doin’ trying to get into Twilight’s room?”

“Wait, this is Twilight’s room? I could have sworn it was mine. My mistake, I’ll just be going now.” he then tried to walk away but was stopped by the farm girl’s strong grip. He turned to see that she was clearly nonplussed.

I am so screwed.

“I don’t much care for liars, but you caught me in a good mood so I’ll give you one more chance to tell me why you’re here. The truth this time if you don’t mind.”

Her glare pierced through the young man like a laser beam and he knew right then and there that there was absolutely no way he was getting out of this unless he told her the truth. He took a deep breath to calm himself before looking back at the glaring farm girl.

“Ok, fine. Twilight’s in my room right now and she asked me to grab some of her clothes. She stayed over last night because she was afraid of running into Rainbow Dash and before you ask, nothing funny happened. We just watched some movies and went to sleep.”

After he explained the situation the athlete waited to see what Applejack’s reaction would be. For what felt like forever she just continued to glare at him without uttering a word. Eventually, however, her face softened and her body relaxed as she let out a sigh.

“I believe you. In most cases I’d probably be upset with Twi for this but RD has been a bit much lately, so I get it.” she then sent another glare his direction, “That being said, I don’t feel comfortable with a boy goin’ through Twi’s unmentionables so how about you tell me what she needs and I’ll grab them for you.”

“That sounds reasonable, this is what she told me to get.”

After explaining what Twilight needed, Applejack went into her friend’s room while Rumble remained outside. It didn’t take too long for the blonde to exit with a bag full of clothes. However, as he grabbed the bag she gripped it and looked into his eyes with a severe look.

“Listen, I’m trusting you right now but if I find out you’ve done anything to hurt Twi there ain’t gonna be a doctor that can fix what I’m gonna do to you. Am I clear?”

Rumble felt himself tremble slightly, “Crystal.”

Applejack immediately brightened up, “Great, and don’t you worry none, I’ll keep my lips sealed about this little encounter until Twi is ready to talk about it.”

“Thanks Applejack, I appreciate that and I’m sure Twilight will too.” he said, finally relaxing himself.

“No problem, now get on out of here before someone else catches you.”

Nodding his head and thanking her once more he took the bag of clothes and made his way back to his own room.

Applejack watched him walk away with a small smirk, until she felt the sway of the ship. Her cheeks turning a sickly green, she ran as fast she could to the side of the ship and emptied the contents of her stomach.

“Damn seasickness.” she said as she raised her head back up.

As she looked up to the sky she noticed some dark clouds forming in the distance.

That’s strange. Could’ve sworn they said the skies were supposed to be clear today.

Before she continued her thought process, she felt her insides churn and got back to the purging of her poor stomach.

As Twilight entered the bathroom she was aware of how uncomfortably hot and tingly she felt, especially in one specific area that she had never gotten that feeling before. She tore off her shirt, causing her hefty breasts to bounce slightly, before dropping her shorts and panties. Now completely nude, she looked down to her nether regions only to find that they were glistening slightly. She slowly brought a hand down to her wet folds and as soon as she made contact she felt a jolt of electricity shoot up her spine, causing her to quickly tear her hand away in surprise.

Whoa, what was that?

She brought her hand up and could see some of her own juices on it. Looking closer, she brought her index and thumb together and as they separated a thin, glistening strand continued to connect them. It was almost like a thin lubricant.

How interesting.

It was all new to Twilight and her intrigue in this new feeling almost made her forget what she was supposed to be doing in the first place. Shaking her head, she walked into the shower and began washing herself. The tingly feeling never left as she lathered her hair and it was starting to get on her nerves. In an effort to get rid of the tingle, and also remembering the reaction she got last time, she once again brought a hand down to her lower lips.

The pleasure she felt was immediate as she began to methodically rub her wet folds. Eventually she started to get into a rhythm and the feeling running through her body was incredible, but she could also tell that it was barely making a dent in the sensation consuming her body. It was in that moment that Twilight remembered something Cadence told her once when she asked her sister-in-law about more carnal desires and how to relieve said desires.

With that memory she slowly, and with a bit of trepidation, inserted a finger into her wet hole. As she got down to the knuckle she let out a surprised gasp. She stood there in shock as the hot water continued to wash over her. She couldn't believe how much more pleasurable this was than simply rubbing, and then she started moving her finger in and out in a quick rhythm.

The feeling was immaculate, unlike anything Twilight had ever felt in her entire life. It was like an intense bolt of electricity going through her entire body, but instead of pain it brought only pleasure. It was enough to make her legs quiver and quake and it wasn't long until she found her back against the wall.

Her mind began to go wild with the possibilities of how to take this pleasure even further. She began by inserting a second finger into her pussy while also bringing her free hand up to her breast and softly messaged the large mound of flesh while caressing her very hard nipple. The increase in pleasure was immediate and Twilight had to wonder how much further she could take this and began to imagine other things pleasuring her instead of her own fingers.

This went on for several minutes with Twilight only increasing the speed of her fingers until the build up she had been feeling finally hit its climax. Her mind went blank with euphoria and she let out a high pitched squeal as she squirt her juices all over the shower. She stood there panting for breath as she began to regain her mental faculties. With her mind back in order she came to an unfortunate realization.

Oh my goodness, I just fingered myself in Rumble's shower.

She would have felt awkward enough just from the fact this was the first time she had ever masturbated, even if it did feel incredible, but she just had to go and do it in someone else's bathroom. Not just anybody either, but a cute boy she had pretty much just met. She started smacking her hand against her forehead, which made humorous plap sounds due to still being under the running water.

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

How could she let herself be controlled so easily by her own bodily desires like that? She was a woman of science for Pete's sake, not a slave to her own body. But she had done the deed and if Rumble found out what she'd done he'd probably think she was some kind of pervert and never want to speak to her again.

Of course it would be at that moment that the young man himself would return.

"Hey Twilight, I got your clothes. Are you still in the shower?"

"Y-yes, I'm just finishing up." she answered, trying her best to mask the immediate panic she felt. Luckily it seemed Rumble didn't notice.

"Alright, I'll just leave the bag outside the door and head in my room to give you some privacy."

"Ok, thank you." she called out much more relieved when she heard the sounds of a bag dropping and his door closing.

Twilight quickly finished her shower and stepped out and dried herself off before going towards the door. Once there, she cracked it open just enough to grab the bag of clothes before closing and locking the door once more. She quickly put on a pair of dark purple panties before pulling out a roll of a white tape-like substance. She started wrapping them around her breasts, squishing them down and greatly reducing their size, before putting on a bra that matched her panties. She then brought out a pretty dress that was two different shades of purple and had a slight sparkle effect to it. Tying her hair into a ponytail and putting on her glasses, she was now fully dressed and clean.

At least her body was clean.

Her mind was a completely different matter altogether. She was still panicking about what she did and, more specifically, how Rumble would react if he found out. She looked into the mirror and could see what the panic was starting to do to her. A couple thin strands of hair were already starting to stick out and there was something of a crazed look in her eyes.

"Come on Twilight, get a hold of yourself. Remember Cadence's breathing exercises."

Doing those very exercises, Twilight began to calm down and think more logically.

Rumble hadn't gotten back to the room until after she was done so there was no way he heard any of the lust filled cries she let loose and all the… physical evidence washed down the drain with the rest of the water. In truth, unless she said something, there was absolutely no reason to believe he would suspect anything.

Confident in her reasoning and now much calmer she finally left the bathroom. She knocked on Rumble’s bedroom door before entering and finding the young man on his bed looking through his phone. He looked up when she walked in and his eyes widened slightly at the sight of Twilight in her dress.

“Wow, you look great.” he said in a bit of wonder as he began to rise from the bed.

His compliment brought a luminous blush to the young woman's face as she looked away and played with her ponytail.

“T-thank you.” she said meekly, though there was a small but unmistakable smile on her face. The sight threatened to overload Rumble with pure cuteness.

“Uhm, did you want to get a shower too?” he heard her ask, bringing him out of his small trance.

“Yeah, I probably should. I won’t be too long.”

As Rumble went to take his turn in the shower there was a brief moment of panic that returned to Twilight’s mind but she quickly dispelled it by reminding herself that there was nothing for him to find and thus nothing to worry about. She brought her phone out to kill some time and within about ten minutes, true to his word, Rumble was out and all washed up.

As soon as Twilight saw him she couldn’t help but let a few giggles escape. The outfit he had on would be described affectionately by Rarity as “positively atrocious”. He had on a gaudy bright yellow Hawaiian shirt with red flowers sprinkled all over it, a pair of khaki shorts and what she could only describe as the ugliest pair of sandals she had ever seen. The more she looked at the whole ensemble the louder her giggles got until she was full on laughing out loud.

Rumble raised an amused brow, “What’s so funny?”

It took a moment for Twilight to regain her bearings and even then her speech was broken up by giggles, “Sorry, i-it’s just *giggle* with that shirt, shorts and shoes you look exactly like one of those stereotypical vacation dads.”

She started giggling again and Rumble put on a look of mock offense. He probably would have been offended by her comments in any other situation but truthfully he didn’t mind all that much. It helped that he found her laugh absolutely adorable and wanted to keep it going for as long as possible.

“Ms. Sparkle, you wound me. These are the best clothes one can buy for $20 dollars at the shop on the ship. And these sandals have been passed down generations of dads who shepherded freshly cut lawns, spent hours slaving away at hot grills bringing the pinnacle of burgers to long forgotten family members and lovingly yelled at their sons to hold the flashlight steady as they worked on the car.”

He then looked up in what looked like reverence and even managed to shed a tear.

“I can only hope that I too can one day reach those upper echelons and gain the right to wear socks with these sandals.”

The entire time he had gone on his “rant” Twilight was doing her best to hold in her laughter with how over the top he was being. The amount he was hamming it up was making the task nearly impossible but that last comment in addition to the actual tear he shed was just too much for poor Twilight and she burst out in loud, uncontrollable laughter. She fell to her back on the bed as her laughter turned into snorting guffaws and it didn’t take long for Rumble to join her in her jubilance. Their lungs could only take so much and slowly but surely their laughter died down and they just sat there trying to catch their breath.

“I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in a long time.” Twilight said, finally finding her voice.

“Yeah, I can’t remember the last time I did something like that.” Rumble said while standing up and looking at the lavender skinned woman, “So, what do you want to do now?”

Twilight sat up and put a finger to her chin in contemplation, “I don’t have to meet the girls for another couple hours and I’m pretty sure we went through the majority of your movies last night, and sorry but I’m not really all that into video games.”

“Really, have you ever tried them?” Rumble asked, earning him a nod from Twilight.

“Yeah, my older brother tried to get me into them when we were younger but they just weren't for me.” she said with a shrug.

Rumble nodded in understanding before also trying to think of something. They both sat there thinking until an idea came to Twilight’s mind.

“Well, maybe we could play a game that lets us get to know each other a bit better?”

“Like an ice breaker?”

“Sort of. When I first started hanging around the girls, Pinkie introduced me to this app that’s basically Truth or Dare except you can only choose Truth and it’ll actually give you things to ask the other person. We had a fun time with it and it allowed me to get to know them better in a relatively short amount of time.”

“Sounds as good as anything, it would be nice to get to know more about you.”

They made their way to the living room and as they sat down Twilight brought out her phone and looked for the app that Pinkie used. After a few moments she had it downloaded, their names entered and pressed start. It randomly chose Rumble first.

“Ok, so the first question is ‘Have you ever been in a fight? If so, did you win?’”

Rumble didn’t have to think too long about his answer, “I’ve gotten into a couple of play fights with my brother. When we were younger he would usually win but I’ve won more the older we’ve gotten.”

“So no real fights?” Twilight asked with a bit of interest.

Rumble shook his head, “No, while I have the ability to fight I’ve never had the need or desire to be in a real fight.”

Twilight nodded and handed Rumble the phone so he could go next. When he saw the question on the screen he chuckled slightly.

“So a huge snake enters the room, what do you do first?”

“How big is ‘huge’?” Twilight asked with a shudder.

“Like a giant fifteen-twenty foot python.”

Twilight immediately went pale, “Oh, I would definitely scream and probably hide while frantically trying to call Fluttershy or animal control.”

“Don’t like snakes much, huh?” Rumble said with an amused smirk.

“It’s not necessarily that. I’m fine with the smaller ones, Fluttershy even has this little hognose snake that is actually kind of cute, but the big ones and highly venomous ones definitely scare me.”

Rumble nodded his head in understanding, “Ok, that’s fair. I guess they don’t bother me as much since one of my friends has a big python that’s pretty chill. Though he does always make it clear that it can be dangerous and should be treated with respect so I understand why most people are scared of them.”

“Yeah, I would never go out of my way to hunt them down and destroy them but that doesn’t mean I want them near me.”

Rumble handed Twilight the phone after giving her another nod of agreement.

“Oh this is a good one. What is your biggest fear?”

As Twilight asked the question she looked at Rumble with much intrigue. He seemed almost embarrassed.

“Promise not to laugh?”

“You have my word.”

“...grasshoppers.”

Twilight’s eyes widened in surprise, she would have never expected that answer, “Really?”

“Yeah, bugs in general kind of freak me out but grasshoppers are the only ones that actually scare me.”

“Do you mind if I ask why?”

“When I was a baby we lived out in the country and it was a year when there was a big locust problem. My older cousin was staying with us at the time and, in all their five year old wisdom, thought it would be hilarious to fill my crib with the bugs. He didn’t think it was quite so funny when I started screaming and crying and especially when my mom tore him a new ass.”

Twilight brought her hands up to her face in horror, “Oh my goodness, that’s horrible!”

“Yeah, I forgave my cousin since, I mean, he was still basically a toddler, he couldn’t have known how bad of a reaction I would’ve had. But now anytime I see a grasshopper and especially a locust I just freeze up as the only thing that goes through my head is the hundreds of beady, compound eyes, the prickly legs and the weird creepy mouths.” a chilling shudder went down Rumble’s at just the memory of the traumatic experience.

“I’m so sorry that happened to you Rumble.” Twilight said with a look of concern on her face.

“Thanks for the concern. It’s been getting better lately but they still terrify me.”

Twilight went to hand Rumble the phone, but he put a hand up to stop her, “Actually, would you mind if I took my turn to ask you the same question? I’ll admit that I’m kind of curious.”

“I don’t mind, though my biggest fear doesn’t have quite the same kind of story behind it.” she still took a deep breath before answering. “My biggest fear is failure. Going to Crystal Prep kind of drilled into me that there is nothing worse than failing at something. It wasn’t until I met my friends that I started to learn that failure didn’t have to be a bad thing. That it could be used as a learning experience instead. Even then, though, the habits drilled into me are hard to break and the concept still scares me.”

“Wow, well that’s definitely a lot deeper than mine.” Rumble said, causing Twilight to blush slightly.

They then went back to using the app and once again began going back and forth. They learned all sorts of new things about each other. Some of it made them laugh, others were deeper topics and a few even managed to bring a few tears, but overall it was a great time and they deeply enjoyed learning more about each other. In what felt like no time at all, the hours passed and it was time to go meet up with the girls for the concert and for Twilight to confront Rainbow Dash and come clean with her.

After getting ready, Twilight took a deep breath and Rumble put a comforting hand on her shoulder and they left the room, hopefully ready for what the world threw at them.

Sunset, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity and Rainbow Dash were standing around the stage. Rarity was busy doing some touch ups on her make-up. Applejack was standing around patiently and, thanks to some seasickness pills she got at the store, she was looking significantly less green in the face. Pinkie and Fluttershy were looking through some pictures Pinkie took on her phone. Sunset was just kind of chilling while Rainbow was tapping her foot in a mix of impatience and annoyance.

“Where is Twilight?” the prismatic young woman said irritably.

“Calm down Rainbow, it’s still early. I’m sure she’s on her way.” Sunset said.

Rainbow looked back at the fiery haired woman with a narrowed glare, “Well I need her to get here faster. I’ve got some choice words for her.”

This seemed to grab the other girl’s attention as they stopped what they were doing and made their way closer to their two friends.

“Whatever do you mean, darling?” Rarity spoke up.

Rainbow shot her gaze over to the fashionista, “What I mean is that I’m going to rip Twi a new one for disappearing and not telling us.”

“Uhm, don’t you think that’s a bit harsh?” Fluttershy said timidly before Pinkie cut in.

“Yeah Dashie, we all did our own things yesterday. Why would you be upset at Twilight for doing the same?”

“Because if some magical disaster happens we need everyone on deck to fight it and I at least knew where you all were.”

“We’re aware you did.” Fluttershy said under her breath.

As the others were having their conversation/argument, Applejack was standing off to the side, shifting in place on her feet and trying not to be noticed. Unfortunately, Rainbow noticed and immediately marched over to the taller woman with a suspicious look.

“Got something to say, AJ?” she said in an accusing tone.

“Ah, w-well-”

“Hey girls!”

Applejack was saved by the voice of Twilight. They all looked over to see their lavender friend running over. All of them, with the exception of Applejack, were surprised to see a young man with gray skin accompanying her. Well, one of them was actually taken aback for a different reason.

“Good heavens, what are you wearing?!”

Rarity screamed before promptly fainting at the sight of Rumble’s attire. The two new arrivals stopped and stared at the alabaster women on the ground before Rumble looked over at Twilight with a raised brow.

“Huh, she actually fainted.”

They then felt a tingle go up their spines, as if their bodies were trying to tell them they were in incredible danger. They slowly turned back to the rest of the group and were greeted with a severe look coming from Rainbow Dash. The cyan woman marched up to Twilight and got right in her face.

“Where. Were. You.” she said through gritted teeth.

Twilight trembled under her friend's intense glare, “W-well, I kind of ran into Rumble and we hung out and lost track of time.”

“Ok, and why weren’t you in your room last night?” Rainbow said, her glare unwavering.

“It got late and I kind of… stayed the night with Rumble.” Twilight said timidly.

This was apparently the worst answer she could have given.

Before Rainbow had simply seemed annoyed but now she was legitimately angry. She looked between Rumble and Twilight with a seething glare.

“You’re telling me you ditched us to get dicked down?!” she screamed and everyone was immediately taken aback. They all stared at her with wide eyes, even Rarity who had come back to consciousness.

“Excuse me?!” Twilight said incredulously, before getting right back into Rainbow’s face. Any timidness she had previously was completely gone and replaced by indignant rage.

“How dare you imply either me or Rumble would be so lewd. You want to know the reason why I spent the day and night with Rumble? Because it wasn’t to get ‘dicked down’ as you so elegantly put it. I did it to get away from you.” she said, accentuating her point by jabbing her finger into her friend’s chest.

“W-what?” Rainbow stuttered out, caught completely off guard by Twilight’s tone. It wasn’t helping that the wind was starting to pick up, causing Twilight’s hair to come undone and flow every which way. It gave her a much more intimidating look.

“Do you understand how hard it was for me to get this trip planned? How expensive it is to get seven all access tickets to a high-end cruise ship.”

“N-no-”

“I had to get three jobs to pay for this and I still needed help from my parents to pay it completely! I worked so hard to give my friends the best vacation ever and you come in and spit in my face by obsessing over fighting a magical threat that doesn't even exist and ruining it for everyone else.”

“I didn-” Rainbow tried to say but Twilight was boiling and completely deaf and blind to the world around her, not even noticing the lightning shooting through the sky.

“You’ve been a shit friend, Rainbow Dash!”

It was like the entire world froze as everyone was shocked by Twilight’s words. Even Twilight herself was taken aback, she wasn’t one to use language like that. However, none of them were more taken aback than Rainbow Dash.

She stood there frozen, the only movement being her prismatic hair being blown in the wind as the sky began to darken. She slowly turned to the rest of their friends.

“D-did I really mess up all of you guy's time that much?” she asked in an uncharacteristically small voice.

For a moment they tried to avoid eye contact as they shifted in place, a few of them rubbing their arms nervously, until one by one they began to nod in confirmation. Rainbow looked back at Twilight and the lavender woman's heart sank at the absolutely devastated look on her cyan friend’s face. She went to say something but was stopped by Rainbow raising a hand. The cyan woman closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry Twilight. I’m sorry everyone. I wanted an adventure so bad that I completely ignored what the rest ofyou wanted. I should have appreciated how hard you worked for this Twilight and I went way too far by accusing you of sleeping around. I know both you and Rumble well enough to know that neither of you would do something like that.” she then looked down in shame, “You’re right, I am a shit friend.”

She was then surprised when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her. She looked up to see that Twilight had wrapped her in an embrace.

“Oh, Rainbow Dash, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean what I said. You’re a good friend, just a bit thick-headed sometimes. I should’ve tried talking to you about this earlier instead of avoiding you.”

“Nah, I probably would have avoided me too if I was in your shoes. I’ll back off and actually try to enjoy the vacation you worked so hard to give us.” Rainbow said while pulling away from Twilight, who was giving her an appreciative smile.

“Thank you.”

Rainbow then turned around to the rest of the group, her vigor having returned, “Ok girls, who’s ready to ro-”

BOOM

She was interrupted by a blinding flash of lightning and the ear bursting thunder that immediately followed. It was then that the group finally noticed the massive storm the ship had just sailed into. They could see lightning streaking through the dark, imposing clouds and within moments they were being blasted by sheets of heavy rain. The entire cruise liner was being tossed around by the massive waves being churned up by the storm.

“Where did this come from?!” Sunset yelled out, struggling to stand on the shifting deck.

“I don’t know but we need to get inside!” Applejack yelled.

Before any of them could move, a wave taller than the ship itself crashed into them and washed over the deck. As the water washed them off their feet, they made a mad attempt to grab onto anything so they weren't washed away. Once the rushing water passed they looked around to see if everyone was ok. At first it seemed like everyone was able to grab onto something but then they realized two people were missing.

“Where’s Twilight and Rumble?!” Rainbow screamed in panic.

“We’re over here!”

They all heard Rumble yell out and they scrambled to the edge of the boat. They went pale when they saw that hanging there was Rumble with Twilight holding on to his leg for dear life. It was clear that Rumble was just barely able to hold on with both of their weights pulling at him. He looked up at the girls with clear panic.

“I don’t know how much longer I can hold on!” he yelled.

Broken out of their stupor, the girls scrambled to find a way to help them. Eventually they found a rope and within moments had it tied around Rainbow’s waste. Slowly, with the other girls holding her up, Rainbow walked down the side of the ship.

“Just hold on a bit longer.” she yelled out.

It felt like ages but Rainbow got close enough to reach a hand down. Rumble began reaching his free hand up to meet her and it looked like they were about to get out of this.

BOOM

Another bolt of lightning struck the side of the ship near them and caused Rumble to lose his grip. Rainbow tried desperately to reach out and grab his hand but she missed it by mere centimeters.

“NO!”

Time seemed to slow down as she could only watch as her two friends fell into the churning ocean and disappeared in the dark waters. She hung there with a completely blank look as the others pulled her up. They crowded around her asking what happened and where the other two were. It was too much and Rainbow broke down in tears.

“They slipped out of my hand, I couldn’t grab them.”

The others looked at her in shock and it was Fluttershy who spoke up.

“What do you mean?”

Rainbow looked at them with puffy eyes and a look of pure anguish.

“They’re gone.”

Author's Note

And now the real story begins.

Also fun fact, that story with Rumble and the grasshoppers is actually based on my own experiences as a baby.