Life’s a Beach

by AutoBrony41

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, Alternate Universe, Zephyr Breeze, Romance, Drama, Original Character, Equestria Girls, Flash Sentry, Main 7 (EqG)
Length: 83091

Twelve College students take a much needed vacation. Off to the beach where romance, drama, and shenanigans ensue.

It’s time for a vacation. A much needed one at that. A few weeks after the Glee Club incident they all do just that. Four guys, seven girls, and an unwanted last minute guest go on a long distance vacation to a large beach area in a tourist town to unwind.

Will Zephyr Breeze’s presence completely ruin it? That remains to be seen. Romance, shenanigans, drama and fun in the sun will ensue in this slice of life story about friendship, love and crazy fraternity guys.

[Set in an alternate universe]

Published 2023-01-22 11:40:00 UTC
Last updated 2024-07-19 22:55:03 UTC

Out on the Town

The admiration of the beach among the twelve had lasted only a few more minutes before their silence was broken. Many of them were still alternating between glancing at each other and just looking out and looking forward to the relaxing time they were sure they’d have the next couple of weeks.

“So… are we going to just stand here and gawk all day or what?” Pinkie said at last.

“Yes, I suppose we should probably figure out how we’re going to spend the next few hours.” Rarity said in agreement.

“Well,” Singer said as he turned around and faced the town on the other side of the road. “As the resident Waytona Beach expert, I do recommend we go check out what lies behind us. True, I haven’t been here since I was twelve, but it doesn’t really look much different from the last time I was here. There’s all sorts of neat places to check out.”

“Yeah. Singer’s right.” Sunset concurred. “Besides I don’t know about you guys, but I’m famished!”

“I could eat.” Rainbow said, trying not to make eye contact with Singer. “Maybe we should split up.”

“Now there’s a fantastic idea, Rainbows!” Zephyr said.

Rainbow growled when he spoke. Why did he have to be here again? Her demeanor soured more and more by the second.

“You guys can go hang out in the town. And I’ll sit here and take in the scenery.” The unwanted guest said as he noticed a bunch of girls playing volleyball downwind. “That is, if nobody has any objections?” He nudged Dash, who’s response was a quick jerk away from him, after which she hid behind Applejack and Ray.

“No offense, but I don’t think anyone is going to object to that, Zeppy.” Pinkie said.

“Didn’t think so. Thanks for the free ride to the beach, my friends. Now it’s time to partake of the perks. Look at all these fine looking ladies out there. Gonna see if any of them want to ride the Breezy Train tonight! Choo! Choo!”

“I swear…” Ray muttered. “I swear I’m gonna…”

“Ray, Ray, calm down.” Applejack said, patting him on the back. “He ain’t worth gettin worked up over.”

Ray sighed. “I was gonna say that I was about to barf. But, you’re right, you’re right. Sorry AJ.”

“Ain’t no thing. Jus’ remember that we’re here ta have fun. All the rest will take care a’ itself.”

“Please remember to mind your manners,” Fluttershy said to Zephyr. “And don’t do anything that will get you into trouble. Oh and don’t take that as me not being mad at you because I’m still mad.”

“Psh, yeah we all know how that always turns out.” Zephyr walked off, leaving them to whatever plans they would make for the evening. “If you have any more parting words of wisdom, please hurry. I have a schedule to keep.” Fluttershy scowled, she was not happy with how he’d acted so far, however it’s not like she expected anything less. But still, she couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

“Anyway, we should probably get going.” Sunset said, trying to ease the tension she could sense building.

“What would we even do?” asked Flash.

“Well according to what I’ve found online, there’s a social club just a couple of blocks over. It’s got a ton of five star reviews and it has great food.”

“How do we know it’s safe?” Applejack asked suspiciously.

“You can’t argue with ‘Five Star Reviews’.”

“Ah guess that’s true.”

“Why are we still talking about it? Let’s go before Zephyr changes his mind!” Rainbow urged.

“I agree with Rainbow Dash! Let’s a go!” Pinkie shouted, having pulled out a fake mustache.

On the side, while all of that was going on, Rarity and Dusk were having a conversation of their own.

“Dusk, I just had a wonderful idea.” Rarity said to him while the others had been talking among themselves. “I believe this would be the perfect opportunity for us to set up a double date with Singer and Twilight. Especially considering the… conflict between he and Rainbow Dash at the moment.”

“I suppose so, but we aren’t really dressed for such a thing and it’s not like we can change clothes right now.” He replied.

“Oh pish posh. I know this might sound a bit off coming from me, but we’re on vacation. In a tourist town no less. Besides, what I’m wearing is fine, and the same goes for you. Our outward appearance is inconsequential this time around and we can always schedule a proper one for later.”

“Well if this is what you want to do, then I’m in. However, we should probably ask them fairly quickly before they get swept off with everyone else.”

“Not to worry, I’m all over it.” Rarity said, as she started off towards where the couple in question had been standing off on their own themselves.

Twilight had been in conversation with Singer, the latter of whom had his back to Rarity’s approaching position. When the former looked up and noticed her coming, she greeted her with a smile.

“Oh, hello Rarity. Everything alright?”

“Just fine, darling.” She began. “How are you?”

“Honestly? We’re doing great! It’s such a relief to finally be here. And I see you and Dusk are doing alright for yourselves.”

“Quite well, actually. We were actually just discussing an idea that I just had.”

“Oh?”

“We were wondering, if you hadn’t already made plans, that is, if you and Singer would like to join us on a double date for lunch.”

Twilight looked surprised by this, but she didn’t appear to have any objections judging by her smile. “Wow, that could be fun. We’ve never done a double date before. Um, what do you think, Singer?”

“Hey sounds better than what I was about to suggest. Laser tag. Like, grow up dude. Am I right?” He said nervously. It was like the first few times of dating Twilight all over again. Only in this instance, he wasn’t near as nervous. Perhaps it was because he and Twilight had gotten so comfortable around each other. But now, adding another couple to the mix? He would have been lying if he said that wasn’t a bit nervous about it. Apparently he’d done a bad job at hiding it.

“Actually, I’m a keen shot at laser tag.” Rarity said. “Not to brag, but I boast the high score at ‘Laser Towne’ back home. That’s actually a really fun suggestion. But, I do have to ask, are you alright? You seem a bit flustered.”

“I… yeah I’m fine. I guess I’m just a tad bit nervous about the idea of a…” he stopped when that tidbit had sunk in about what she’d said about her high score back home. “Wait! The shot record belongs to… you? I’ve been trying to dethrone that record for years!” And just like that, he’d snapped out of his nervousness.

Rarity giggled at his sudden change of tone. “Yes, well that was a good day. And it was quite an effective stress reliever.”

“Laser tag does sound fun to me as well.” Dusk said. “However, I think we should probably eat first. I’m beginning to get a bit hungry.”

“I think we all are.” Twilight said. “What sounds good for lunch?”

“I know one thing we all should be able to agree on. Pizza.” Rarity said as she looked to the others for confirmation.

“‘Pizza Plaza’, if it’s still open and running, always has the best pizza in town.” Singer threw in. “I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t looking forward to that.”

“Good news! It’s still open!” Twilight said as she happily showed them her phone’s screen displaying the hours and other information about the place.

“Well then, I guess it’s unanimous then?” Dusk said with a smile.

“I guess so.” Singer replied. “You guys are going to love this place.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” Rarity said jokingly.

And with that, they started off that way. They didn’t mind walking a couple of blocks. And it made time for some good conversation along the way. Dusk had called Ray and informed him of their plans, to which he understood and relayed the information to everyone else. The first day in Waytona was looking promising now. Zephyr remained on the beach to where he couldn’t mess with any one’s plans. And the couples had gone off on a double date. That just left the remaining seven to hang out and have a good time.

The social club was a relatively new establishment. The building was new, and it had a lot of arcade games, a bowling alley, a dance floor for adults over eighteen, and a bar, however, none of them were twenty one yet, so that was off. There wasn’t really any one of them that really wanted to drink anyway.

Pinkie Pie immediately ran over to the ‘Dance Dance Revolution’ Game and began to play, racking up points instantly with her quick footing. It wasn’t long before she was joined by Rainbow Dash, who tried as desperately as she could to keep up, but Pinkie was in her element at that point in time.

Flash had challenged Ray to ski ball. It wasn’t really a game that they could directly challenge each other in, aside from seeing who could hit the higher score. Flash was blown away when Ray managed to hit the highest paying holes almost every time.

“Alright, dude. Why don’t we take this to the bowling alley?” Flash said.

“You’re on! I’ll go see if we can get any of the others on board.”

“I’ll go ask Sunset!” He blurted. “And a couple of the others…”

Flash looked to see if Ray had any reaction to what he’d just said, but he’d apparently missed it because he didn’t even acknowledge it. Good. He’d try to do better about saying things like that out loud in the future.

“Hey AJ, are you up for a game of bowling?” Ray asked Applejack who was walking by.

“Sure thing! Ah’ll go grab Rainbow Dash!”

As Flash looked around at the various games, it wasn’t long until he saw her. She was playing Whack-A-Mole and doing a decent job at it, he’d noticed. This was his chance. He’d hoped to get up the nerve to talk to her. As he approached, his heart fluttered. He’d never had this much trouble talking to her in the past. Even when they’d been in a not-so-healthy relationship a couple of years prior. Something was different this time though. She wasn’t the same person she was when he’d dated her previously. She was changed, and an all around better person. Flash recognized this and viewed her accordingly.

As he got closer, he admired her beautiful hair. Her long streaky red and yellow hair. He quickly met her face to face as she turned around when she noticed he was approaching. She looked at him with her cyan colored eyes and it just stopped him in his tracks. He froze.

“Dude, you okay?” She asked, as his gaze lingered. “Flash. Come on man, you’re kind of weirding me out here.”

He shook his head and screwed his eyes. “Oh, yeah… yeah. I, uh… was just distracted by something.”

“Oh, okay.” She said, obliviously. “Was there something that you needed?”

“Yes… I was wondering if you’d like to go bowling. Ray and I are getting everyone together.”

“You’re just asking to lose if you play against me, you know that right?” She said with a smirk, followed by a playful wink. “Yeah, I’ll go bowling with you.”

“With me? I mean. Yes! Bowling! Let’s go!”

“Are you sure you’re okay, Flash?”

“Of course! Why wouldn’t I be?” He said nervously. “Um… let’s not keep everyone waiting, shall we?”

Sunset narrowed her eyes and pondered for a second. He’d been acting very strange. She wondered if his behavior had anything to do with her specifically, or something else. A thought had come to her mind, but she quickly dismissed it. How could he want her back? After the way she treated him? No, there had to be something else bothering him. Her compassionate side was beginning to surface, however. Whatever was bothering him, she wanted to try and help him. She felt like she owed him that much, especially being that they were friends again.

She decided to stop thinking to herself and swiftly followed Flash to the bowling alley. When they both had drawn closer, they had noticed that Ray had gathered the remaining girls and were dividing into teams. There had been an uneven number of people playing, but it wasn’t an issue as bowling was more about the individual score of each player at the end of the day.

Flash’s mind had shifted over the past few minutes. His head wasn’t in the competitive zone anymore. All he could think about was Sunset.

But suddenly, a light flickered on in his head. He’d only just remembered that the whole reason for starting this game was a friendly challenge between him and Ray. He tried to snap himself back into it.

They had split off into two lanes beside each other. Everyone had rented their bowling shoes and were ready to go. They also fixed their hunger problem by ordering a giant bowl of nachos to which everyone would split the cost later. Flash had been teamed up with Rainbow and Pinkie while Fluttershy, Applejack and Sunset were on Ray’s lane.

He was first one up, while Ray started first for his respective lane. Flash hesitated, letting Ray display his bowling prowess first. Ray allowed the ball to roll off his hand from the right side of the lane and it gradually rolled towards the center, hitting the pins just right at the end, giving him a strike right away.

“Those pins just got Ray Stricken!” Pinkie shouted gleefully with a laugh. “Great job, Ray!”

“What can I say? It’s in the name.” Ray said as he got his bowling ball for his second bowl, and came back with another nine pins hit. “Aw! So close!”

“That’s wut happens when ya get cocky, Ray.” Applejack chuckled.

“Hey, I still only left one out there at the end.” Ray said, motioning to his score on the board.

Flash shook his head. He mentally prepared himself as he stepped up to the line. He took a deep breath and rolled his ball, guttering it immediately.

“Come on, Flash! Don’t tell me that you’re making us wait just to watch you gutter the ball!” Dash said.

“Hey! Lay off, Dash!” Sunset said. “He’s trying to concentrate.”

“I’ll lay off when he decides to actually show up.”

Flash shut out all the noise, picked up another bowling ball and got back at it for his second try. He did much better on his second ball. He knocked down five pins. Not great but not zero either. He felt a little better, but he knew he probably wouldn’t beat Ray at bowling in this game unless Ray just completely blew the next few turns.

As he went to sit down, he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Sunset, who looked at him sympathetically, and he returned her gaze. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but if you ever need to talk. Let me know, okay? I’m here for you.”

“Oh, thank you,” Flash replied to her, watching her walk by with a smile as she went to take her turn.

Rainbow Dash had already gotten a strike of her own, and backed it up with another one. “Eat your heart out, Ray!” She said blowing air off her fingers as if they were pistols after a duel.

“Aw man! I’ve gotta pick up my game here.” Ray said as Applejack took her turn.

She managed to get a five and five spare on her first bowl, while Pinkie Pie might as well have shot hers out of a cannon because she mirrored Rainbow Dash by getting two strikes right away as well.

Fluttershy was the last one up. She picked up the lightest ball she could fit her fingers in, walked to the line and took a deep breath and… she rolled it. Slowly but surely it rolled. Not leaning over to any side. Just staying dead in the center. Pinkie had been to and from the snack area with a bag of M&Ms before the ball finally made contact with the first pin in its path. She and everyone else watched patiently, Rainbow to a lesser extent, as they waited for something to happen. The slight touch to the pins, once the ball had reached the end, somehow caused a chain reaction, making all of the pins fall over. STRIKE!

The others cheered and they all picked up Fluttershy, who at first was shocked at this but realized quickly that this was a celebration.

“Nothing is going to top that for the rest of the day!” Rainbow proclaimed.

“Way to go, Flutters!” Ray shouted. “That has to be the most cartoonishly over the top thing I’ve ever seen playing a game of bowling.”

“Go Fluttershy!” Sunset screamed.

Pinkie did all of that plus fired off her mini party cannon.

Fluttershy was taken aback but was no less joyful than everyone around her. “I did it!” As they placed her down, she was briefly brought to sadness by one thought. One person who wasn’t there with them to celebrate what she’d done. Her brother. It quickly passed when she got a pat on her back from Rainbow Dash, and the game continued on.

The two couples had finally made their way to the restaurant after about two blocks of walking. None of them were tired per say, but it took a while to get there, especially since Singer had insisted on stopping by a clothing store to get a new pair of jeans so he wouldn’t be in just shorts on a date, and they were ready for whatever the establishment had to offer. The building wasn’t anything fancy but you could tell it had been there for a long time. But according to Singer, the Pizza place had been there since he was small at least, so this was very promising. He had been excited to see a sign plastered on the outside that had indicated that they’d opened a buffet since the last time he’d been there.

“Okay! You are going to flip! This pizza is the best in town and they have a buffet now!” He’d said ecstatically.

“Oh boy…” Twilight tittered. “I think we just lost him, everyone.”

Dusk and Rarity laughed at this themselves before the former added to it. “It’s fairly easy to get lost in a buffet, you know. So many choices.”

“You see? This guy gets it!” Singer exclaimed before being playfully pushed in the doorway by Twilight.

Once inside they paid the buffet fee, went through the line with their plates and found a good table to sit at.

“This was a great idea, thank you for inviting us to have this date with you.” Twilight said. “This is a first for both of us.”

“It’s quite alright, Twilight.” Rarity said. “I’ve been wanting to do this for quite some time. It’s just after the Glee Club fiasco and finals, everything just got so busy.”

“Not to mention you two getting together.” Singer said. “I don’t think I got to offer my congratulations, yet. So congrats you two! If I might say, you make a nice couple.”

“Thank you Singer. I have to say, this couldn’t have happened at a better time.” She said as she and Dusk looked at each other warmly. “And I have to offer the same compliment to the two of you. Don’t think I didn’t notice your little moment on the bus. It was quite sweet.”

“Thank you.” Twilight said while she blushed. “We generally try to keep our displays of affection private, but sometimes we get caught up in the moment.”

“It happens.” Dusk said.

“So, if you don’t mind me asking, when did it happen? You two, getting together, I mean?” Singer asked before he took a bite out of a slice of supreme pizza.

“It started at the Aftermath Party the morning following the Glee Incident.” Dusk said. “We talked for a few minutes and once we got a chance to break away, we left for a coffee shop in town and talked it over.”

“Which is where we made it official.” She said as she placed her hand on his.

“Dusk, I didn’t think you liked coffee.” Twilight said with a smirk.

“I must admit, I had hot chocolate.” He smiled sheepishly. “But the atmosphere of the establishment was very calming and relaxing. Very good call on your part, my dear.” He said as he lightly kissed Rarity on her cheek.

“Aaaaaaw!” Singer gushed. “Sorry. I don’t usually do that. It’s just you guys are so cute together. Kinda reminds me of another couple I know.” His eyes and smile shifted towards Twilight, who reached over and held his hand. “Us. I was talking about us, if that wasn’t clear.”

“It was.” Rarity replied. “And yes, I’m very much on board with you two. I must say you treat Twilight very well.”

“I try to, always.” Singer said reaching over and pulling her close to him for a moment. “I really appreciate you, Rarity. You’ve been a good friend in all of this. And I’m glad things worked out for you and Dusk. I really am.”

“Thank you, Singer and it was my pleasure. And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry about what happened this morning. I know you wouldn’t do something like that on purpose. It’s probably on the rest of us more than you for not communicating about Zephyr in the first place. This isn’t the first time he’s tried this.”

“Thanks Rarity. I just hope nothing bad happens because of it.”

“It won’t,” Dusk added. “Rainbow will eventually come around, and things will get back on track soon, I just know it.”

“I sure hope so.” Singer said as he looked down a bit. He was clearly still somewhat worried about possible consequences of his mistake.

“Oh, I remember what I was saying on the bus.” Twilight said, looking over to him. “Before you distracted me. I said if you don’t cheer up, I’ll be forced to…” she tickled his side, making him jump.

“Yah! Hey! Knock it off!” He grinned at her mischievously. “You’re lucky we’ve got company and are in public or it would totally be on.”

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist!” She beamed.

“My, my, you two have grown closer over the past few weeks, haven’t you?” Rarity said observingly.

“Maybe a little.” Twi blushed, focusing on what was left of her salad and pizza. “Got a little carried away there. Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Rarity had a grin of her own. “It is only natural. Just something to look forward to.” She glanced over at Dusk, who was blushing, trying to play it off by focusing more on his food. “Actually, Twilight. Would you care to join me in the ladies room?”

It took Twilight a second but it dawned on her. She’d seen in movies where this would happen on double dates, so she didn’t say much more after that. She nodded and followed Rarity away from the table. But not without glancing back at Singer with a smile as she did.

And there they were. Dusk and Singer alone at the table. They’d talked together well enough with their girlfriends present, but now it was just the two of them. It took them a minute, but a conversation was finally ignited between the two when Singer finally spoke up.

“That’s interesting. Hey, if we have to step aside and talk, we don’t have to go to the men’s room do we?” Singer asked, half joking and half because he literally had no idea. “Because that would be a little weird.”

“I think our version of that would be stepping outside for some fresh air.” Dusk laughed, and Singer nodded in response. “I must say, I’m having a good time so far. You and Twilight are really fun to be around.”

“Thanks. You and Rarity are cool too.” Singer replied, eating a carrot stick off his own plate.

“So you and Rarity go back, then?” Dusk asked, noting that he and Rarity seemed to be somewhat comfortable talking to each other.

“A little. When I first came on the scene at Canterlot U, it was her, Sunset and Rainbow Dash who first reached out to me after I reunited with Twilight after summer break following high school graduation. She and Sunset knew right away what was going on, me liking Twilight I mean, and they both helped me out.”

“They are pretty great. All of them are, really.” Dusk said. “I always appreciate Twilight’s insight, Pinkie’s energy, Sunset’s supportive nature, Fluttershy’s kindness, Rainbow’s drive, Applejack’s no nonsense approach, Ray’s… well we both know what makes Ray great, and then there’s Rarity. Every day with her is wonderful.”

“You’re right. They’re all really cool. Aside from my feelings for Twilight, I have to admit I was always kind of drawn in by the atmosphere that you and your friends set. You guys have such a bond that’s rare in other friendship groups. And as Twi’s boyfriend it makes me feel better to know she’s friends with you all because I know you’ll take care of her when I’m not around. In what short amount of time I’ve known you and the others, you’ve really made an impact on me too.”

“Well… I… you’re welcome. I-I didn’t realize we had that big of an impact on you.”

“Oh yeah. I’ve always thought you were cool, Dusk. All of you really.”

“I’ve been called many things in my life but cool is among the more rare of them. I think Ray and Rainbow Dash have referred to me as such on one occasion or another. But nonetheless, I appreciate the sentiment. And for what it’s worth, I think you’re pretty cool, too.”

“Thanks man. I’m definitely happy for the chance to get to know you all better. Twi’s important to me, and I want to maintain some harmony with her circle… well I guess it’s becoming our circle now.”

“You definitely come around a lot more than you used to.”

“Yeah, it’s not that I didn’t like you guys before. I guess I was kind of intimidated by the large group at first. But recent events have kind of made me more comfortable, I guess.”

“It’s alright, Singer. I can see where you’re coming from. Honestly you’re handling it better than I did when I first came along. Let’s just say I used to be rather pathetic. I actually used to be something of a loner who never saw any value in myself. Never being able to take a compliment, always berating myself over every mistake.”

“What? You? You’re kidding, right?” Singer said, before he stopped to ponder something. What Dusk used to be, sounded an awful lot like what Singer was afraid he was starting to become at times. If it wasn’t for Twilight being in his life, he wasn’t sure that he wouldn’t be right now. Events in high school had eaten away at his confidence, and though he was somewhat on the road to getting over that, he found himself struggling to let go of his own past.

Dusk would have normally taken a response like Singer’s as a sarcastic remark, but he knew that Singer probably had no idea what he used to be like. And that was one friend he was thankful to have that didn’t know him that way. True, he was still growing as a person, but he definitely felt way better about things than he used to. Especially now that he had Rarity by his side.

“I’m afraid not. But, that's okay. I’m not that person anymore. I mean, I still have my moments but it’s not as bad as it once was.” Dusk smiled at the thought.

“You know, somehow knowing that makes me feel a bit better about my own situation. I’m glad we’ve had our talk, Dusk. You’ve given me something to think about.”

“I’m glad and if you ever need to talk, I’m here and I will try to help where I can, though Rarity is far better inclined to give advice than I am. Honestly, from what I can tell, you’re a genuinely nice person. Especially looking back at what Twilight told us about how you two got together. What you did for her after she had that awful fall was very sweet.”

“I mean… At the time, I didn’t know what came over me. I just knew that I liked her and cared about her, and seeing her hurt set something off in me that went into full protection mode. She brings out the best in me. But after being with her for all these months, I know that it’s what happens when you love-…” He stopped and put his hand over his mouth but slowly removed it. “Huh…”

Dusk had caught it too, but was genuinely unsure of how to respond to that. It was clearly the first time that Singer had ever thought about it, and he wasn’t sure if he should say anything.

Fortunately, the girls would return almost on cue as it would seem. Both guys snapped out of it and their faces lit up when their girlfriends returned to the table.

“Sorry about that, boys…” Rarity said, taking her seat next to Dusk.

“Not a problem, my dear.” Dusk said. “We were able to manage without you for a minute. Just barely.” Dusk winked. “Actually we had quite the insightful conversation. But we are glad you’ve both returned to us.”

“Oh yeah. For sure.” Singer said as he took Twilight by the hand once she’d sat down beside him. She briefly snuggled up to him before she resumed to finish her salad.

“I hope you two didn’t have too much fun talking about us while we were away.” Rarity winked.

“Not to worry. We had a nice conversation.” Dusk said.

“Yep! I like Dusk even more now!” Singer smiled. “A real pal.”

“Well, I’d say that this date has been a success so far.” Twilight said. “I’m really looking forward to the next double date.”

“Would you excuse me for a second? I just want to get one more plate of pizza, and then I’ll be good to go.” Singer said. Twi nodded and he was off.

Dusk, feeling like he could go for a little bit more, did the same.

Dusk walked up next to Singer who was scoping out the bar for his favorite pizzas. He’d noticed that Dusk was there, and nodded before speaking again.

“So, uh. You won’t say anything to Twi or Rarity about what I said back there, will you?”

“Of course not. But… are you going to?” Dusk asked. “I-It doesn’t seem like something that you should keep from her.”

“Oh, yeah. I know. I just need the perfect timing. It’s just a bit nerve wracking because I don’t want to say it and freak her out.”

“The best course of action I can think of would be to be patient with her. If she doesn’t return the sentiment right away, don’t rush her. I have no doubts that she will eventually.”

“Yeah, that’s good advice. I like that. Thanks man.” He said, patting him on the shoulder.

“No problem. I wish you the best, my friend.”

The two returned to their seats with a few pieces of pizza on their plates. Reuniting with their respective dates once again where they would continue to have pleasant conversations, and finish their meals.

The game had ended. Out of all of them, Rainbow Dash had blown everyone out of the water. Especially with her maxing out on her last turn.

Pinkie had the second highest score with Sunset and Ray tying for the third highest. Applejack, Fluttershy and Flash didn’t fare too horribly, but they clearly didn’t have as good of a game as the others. Applejack, in particular, wasn't thrilled about Dash having the highest score because she knew she’d be hearing more from her as the night went on. But such is the price of not winning.

After they turned their bowling shoes back in, they went to the concession area and grabbed a more substantial meal that would keep them from being hungry until later that night. Applejack and Ray got burgers, Pinkie and Fluttershy settled for a couple of slices of pizza, Rainbow selected a deli meat sandwich, while Flash and Sunset ordered chicken tenders.

“Oh my gosh guys!” Pinkie said between sips of her soda. “That was so much fun! Imagine how much more fun we’re going to have at the beach tomorrow!”

“Oh yes, I’m really looking forward to exploring the tide pools, making sand castles, and scuba diving.” Fluttershy said.

“There are a ton of things we can do over the next couple of weeks. I even took the liberty of making a list of things people usually do at the beach. I’m getting giddy just thinking about it.” Ray said as he pulled out his phone and looked at the list he’d made. “Volleyball, we can iron out the details on that when the time comes, surfing for those brave enough, just a bunch of cool things to do.”

“We can get a grill for a barbecue party.” Flash threw in.

“Now we’re talking!” Rainbow threw in.

“Oooh, y’all better be cooking that barbecue right. Otherwise, Ah’ll have ta step in and show ya how it’s done.”

Ray liked the sound of that. And apparently so did the others. “Guys I know we literally just ate but I’m already looking forward to that in particular.”

Their conversations would go on for about fifteen minutes or so but came to a screeching halt when Pinkie and Sunset, who had walked off and been absent for a few minutes, came back to where the others were still sitting, beaming with excitement.

“Hey everybody!” Pinkie said as she led Sunset over to them. “The Dance Floor is about to open! We should do some dancing!”

“We literally just ate.” Flash said. “Shouldn’t we let our stomachs settle first?”

“Aw come on, Flash! We didn’t eat that heavy. What do you say?” Sunset said to him.

It didn’t take much convincing for him to change his mind, especially since Sunset had wanted to. Plus, maybe it could give them an opportunity to talk.

“On second thought, you’re right. I’m down!”

“Aw yeah! I’m down too!” Rainbow Dash said. “It’ll be great to get down on the dance floor to some funky music. And perhaps relieve some stress as well.”

“Ah reckon.” Said AJ a bit reluctantly.

“Hey don’t worry, AJ we can get out there and be awkward together. Deal?” Ray said, extending a hand to her.

“Well if yer doin it, Ah don’t see the harm. Aight, Ah’ll do it too.” She shook his hand before they followed the others.

Fluttershy brought up the rear but didn’t appear to have any objections. She just stuck with the group, still thinking about things.

There had been other people already out on the dance floor dancing to the end of a slower song. They stood to the side waiting, and hoping for a banger to be played next.

As the song ended, a disco ball deployed and hung from the ceiling. This looked promising. The lights shown, beaming across the room, onto the floor and off the disco ball, and a popular disco song from decades ago came on the speakers.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Dash exclaimed as she took to the dance floor.

She led them all in busting out some moves. She did a lot of hopping in her steps as the song was perfectly suited for it. Occasionally she’d clap her hands to the clapping that was heard in the beat of the music.

It wasn’t long before Pinkie and Fluttershy joined her. They rocked their arms from side to side and clapped their hands along with the music and shuffled their steps.

Ray and AJ both exchanged apprehensive smiles before they too jumped on the dance floor and decided to freestyle. AJ performing more line dancing influenced footwork while Ray jammed out like he didn’t care.

Sunset grabbed Flash’s hand as they swung around with both of their hands held before separating to freestyle themselves.

Pinkie all of a sudden appeared between them and began to bust out some breakdancing moves. She rocked her arms and then began to spin around at first on her knees, then on her back before spinning on her head. She then kicked her legs to where she could give herself enough air to land on her feet again.

This gained cheers not only from her friends, but the other strangers out there. There were two others who’d found their way there who were grateful that their students were preoccupied watching each other dance, as Celestia and Luna, dressed in their dancing attire, including but not limited to headbands and dancing suits, themed according to their colors, shuffled to the side to hide in the background of some random people also busting moves.

Rainbow took the spotlight once again as she zipped her pointed fingers from side to side while rocking her knees. She then moved into moonwalking before spinning around and pointing both fingers at Sunset and Flash.

Flash and Sunset then got in a waltz position and speed danced around while the others laughed. Not to make fun, but just cutting up and goofing off.

Then they got in a circle while each of them took a turn free styling for about thirty seconds a piece.

First it was Rainbow Dash dancing footloose style, then Pinkie Pie doing the Sprinkler, Fluttershy chose to dance the Macarena, Flash folded his arms and kicked his legs, Ray couldn’t think of anything else to do so he basically copied Flash, Sunset was doing the Gangnam Style dance and she immediately got shoved aside by Applejack who continued her line dancing.

They then devolved into just doing random freestyle dances for the remainder of the song.

By the time the song was over, they had all been danced out. Rainbow could be seen chugging a water bottle as she led Fluttershy, Ray, Applejack and Pinkie Pie out of the dance room.

Flash, however, had worked up the nerve after all of the dancing and lightly tapped Sunset on the shoulder as she looked like she was about to leave. Sunset turned around and smiled at him when she felt his hand touch her.

“Hey.” She said, “You alright?”

“Actually, yeah. I couldn’t be better. You think I could have one last dance for the evening?”

Sunset continued her gaze, still smiling at him. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

Fortunately for them, the next song they played was another slower song. Flash and Sunset got into position, with his hands on her hips and her arms over his shoulders around his neck.

“This brings back memories, huh?” Flash said.

“Yeah, probably not good ones for you to recount.” Sunset said, almost hanging her head down. “I was just awful to you when we dated, Flash. I don’t think I ever properly apologized for that. But I truly am sorry.”

“It wasn’t all bad. Like the memory I was just referring to. Our first dance at the Fall Formal in Junior Year. You seem to forget that we had some good times back then too. Besides, the other stuff from the past is where it should be. The past.”

“But…”

“No buts… remember what you told me earlier? If I needed help with anything, just ask?”

Sunset nodded.

“Well, I do. Sort of. I need you to understand that I don’t see you as that person anymore, Sunset. You’ve become a far better person than you had become a few years ago, and I feel like you’ve held onto that long enough.”

“So what are you saying?” She asked.

“I’m saying that, I regret breaking up with you, Sunset. I have feelings for you. Again.”

Sunset was taken aback. She’d never in a million years expect Flash to ever want to talk to her again, let alone ask her out again. She wasn’t sure exactly what it was that came over her in that moment, but she felt herself about to tear up.

“Sunset, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to…”

He was stopped mid sentence when she gave him a big hug. “Thank you.”

“Would you like to finish this outside?” He asked.

She nodded with tears still falling from her eyes, and her lip quivering a bit. They walked outside onto a back stairway and continued their conversation. The song could still be heard faintly playing in the background.

“Flash, I… don’t know what to say. But… Thank you. That really means a lot.”

“You’re welcome. I’m sorry it took me so long to say it.”

She wiped her eyes and hugged him once more. “Flash, you have every right to be bitter towards me, but the fact that you aren’t, just… you don’t know what that means to me. I don’t feel like I deserve it.”

“You do. You’ve done plenty to make up for your past. You’re better now than you ever were. And that’s the version of you that I thought I liked in High School. Now it’s reality. Besides, I’m not blameless and I made mistakes too. I’m just willing to give us another chance.”

“Flash, you’re very sweet. But I don’t know if I can just jump back into a relationship, especially after a long time of dealing with my regrets, especially regarding you. I still need to come to terms with everything. And then, maybe. But don’t think that I don’t want to give us another chance. I just need some time.”

Flash, though he was hopeful she’d be willing to try again, was realistic in his expectations. He’d halfway expected her to dismiss the idea all together. But at least he had that hope. It told him that she was thinking about it too. All he could do now is give her the time and space she needed.

“Whatever you need, Sunset. I’m here for you.”

“Would you like to finish the dance?” She said as she wiped the last of her tears from her face.

“Yeah. I would.” He smiled as they got in position and said nothing. Just focusing on the moment, enjoying what was left of the dance.

In the dark black light painted room, lasers were being shot in every direction. The sounds of laughter, screaming and lasers echoed through the course. Suddenly, out of the artificial smoke, ran Singer and Rarity, who’d teamed up to take out some unsuspecting teenagers, decked in the laser tag vests with sensors on the torso, back and shoulders and even the blasters for points when someone shot them there.

“Come on!” Shouted one of them as the three random teens fled that section of the maze-like laser tag course.

“This was a fantastic idea, Singer.” She said as they stood back to back. “I haven’t done this in quite a while! EAT LASER RUFFIAN!” She fired at a random bald guy who’d tried to get her earlier.

“No problem. However, you realize that once we get a certain amount of points, we have to turn on each other right? I can’t let you continue with that record.”

“I understand.” She giggled. “But for now this temporary criss cross shall continue. Especially with our respective book worms still lurking about.”

“That’s why I suggested we split up the way that we did. They’re smart and they’re going to make this more fun. I can’t speak for Dusk, but Twilight’s got a knack for strategy. I’m sure they are no doubt planning our demise as we speak.”

“So exhilarating! Oh, to your left!” They broke apart their back to back formation and fired at a couple of random women who were attempting to flank them from both sides. “They won’t stay down long. Let’s roll!”

Singer hooped and hollered as he and Rarity continued to traverse through the maze.

Up in one of the towers, Dusk and Twilight had to bail on their previous position when a sizable number of kids were moving in their direction. However, the high ground gave them an advantage over their charging foes.

“This is a little too easy, I almost feel bad for doing this.” Dusk said.

“All is fair in the heat of the battle, Dusk!” Twi said as she fired at the sensors of someone trying to get them in a neighboring tower. “Okay, they’re bailing. We have a chance to get out of this tower. We can’t let Singer and Rarity beat us.”

“Affirmative.” He said as he followed her down the slide, keeping sharp and firing at anyone they saw. “Oh, shoot! I’m hit!” She said as her shoulder sensors went off and her lights flickered for a moment. “Go on ahead, I’ll catch up.”

“Oh no you don’t, we’re in this together!” He said as he fired at yet another sneaking teenager.

“Well, well, well…” They heard a voice from behind them. Twilight’s sensors reactivated whenever they were met by Singer and Rarity. The former being the one who was talking.

“Drat! They found us!” Dusk said as they all pointed their laser blasters at each other.

“It would appear that the truces have expired.” Rarity said.

“So it would seem… Sorry Rarity.” Singer said as he shot her left shoulder sensor and dipped behind a wall.

“Double crossed! Ugh!”

Dusk and Twilight darted off in their own directions, taking cover behind the walls.

Singer embraced his role as the villain in this scenario, actively stalking them. His voice echoed from everywhere as Dusk and Twilight hid. “This doesn’t have to end in an ugly way, just surrender now. At the end of the day, we’re all going to get our just desserts. I suggest ice cream but whatever y’all want after this is fine by me. But the victory will be mine!”

“You’d like that wouldn’t you?” Twilight couldn’t hold back her laughter.

“Your adorable giggling might give you away, sweetheart…”

Twi could hear Singer drawing closer, but couldn’t tell which direction he was coming from. She looked to her left and to her right repeatedly. But wait… she looked up and there he was on a platform above her, waving at her before quickly reaching for his trigger.

She jumped out before he could fire upon her, however this would prove to be a mistake as Rarity was back in the game and had her blaster aimed at Twilight’s back sensor, Twilight was now out in the open.

“Good work Rarity!” Singer said. “I knew that we would-…” His torso sensor was hit suddenly. He melodramatically fell to his knees on the platform he was on and fell to his fake death.

Rarity had turned on him. This gave Twi a chance at getting away. Rarity was about to take the shot on her when Dusk fired on her from behind. “Really Dusk?”

“Sorry Rarity. But this battle will be won by a new victor on this day. Now that you seasoned veterans are out of the picture, it comes down to us “book worms”…”

“How delightful!” Rarity applauded his theatrics, taking no offense whatsoever in the ‘betrayal’.

Dusk inched closer to Twilight who’d been standing there waiting for him. “I’m sorry this has to end this way. You were a worthy ally, Twilight. But I’m afraid that our mutual agreement must end here.”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed through her glasses, and Dusk’s through his. Singer and Rarity watched from their respective positions.

“The quick and the dead…” she said, readying her blaster.

Suddenly, they both were hit by the random teenagers that Singer and Rarity faced before. Singer and Rarity collectively growled in annoyance and jumped back in to cover them.

“Looks like the only winners today are going to be decided between the four of us and those teenagers.” Singer said. “The double crossing ends now! Together!”

As Dusk and Twilight’s sensors activated again, the four of them ran headlong into the approaching teenagers with their laser blasters blazing.

The fun ended abruptly as they were reminded of the timer that was on the course. The lights came back on and the game was over.

Once the smoke had settled , the four of them laughed at the silliness that they’d just engaged in and pulled each other in for a four way hug.

Once they’d been relieved of their laser tag gear, and had left the building, the two couples were back to holding hands again.

“So I guess the scores weren’t that great. We all got hit more times than we’d like to admit.” Singer said as they all looked at their scores.

“We had a blast regardless.” Dusk said, smiling at Rarity. “No hard feelings?”

Rarity planted a kiss on his lips. “Of course not. I would have done the same to you, my dear. All in good fun.”

“Singer, your idea of going to get ice cream has me wanting some now. Do you know any good places?” asked Twilight.

“I agree. I’m all worked up from being in that arena. I could go for some ice cream myself.” Dusk added.

Singer whipped out his phone and searched for a place nearby. “There we go! ‘Hank’s Ice Cream’ is just down the street! Let’s go pay old Hank a visit.”

Dusk and Rarity walked on ahead while Singer and Twilight staggered behind a bit.

“Hey Twi?” He said as he put his arm around her.

“Yeah?” She smiled.

“I… I’m so happy to be here with you.”

“And I’m happy to be here with you.” She replied with a smile.

He stopped. “No… that’s not quite what I really mean to say. Um… look, I just want you to know that what I’m about to say is from the heart. If you don’t quite feel the same way yet, that’s okay. But I don’t want to hold it in anymore.”

“Yes?”

“Twilight. I… I love you.” He said finally. He looked at her as soon as he said it, unsure as to what to expect. At first, it caught her off guard but her surprised expression turned into a smile with her eyes appearing to glisten.

“Took you long enough to finally say it.” She smirked. “I love you too. And I mean it, too.” She pulled him in for a kiss. They did so a few times for about fifteen seconds or so before they remembered that they were standing out in the open on a busy sidewalk.

“Guess we’d better go catch up with Dusk and Rarity.” He said as he noticed how far ahead they’d gotten.

“Yep. Totally.” She said as they both took off after them.

Zephyr had an eventful day himself despite trying to lounge around on the beach. While he had been tanning and lying on his large pink beach towel, he noticed the girls that had been on the beach earlier were stopping their game of volleyball and appeared to be getting ready to do some relaxing themselves.

This gave him an idea.

He’d walked up to a few of the girls that had broken away from their peers and decided to put the charm on them.

“Excuse me, ladies…” he said to the trio. “I was wondering if any of you needed someone to put lotion on your back. After a long day of playing volleyball, I’m sure you’re ready for relaxation. And I’m here to be of assistance. So who’s the lucky lady who wants to get acquainted with The Breeze Master?”

The girls stared at each other at first. Then they all three started to laugh.

One of them spoke up. She had on a white two-piece bathing suit, and had light blue skin and had a faded blonde color in her hair with some dark blue highlights. “Excuse me, Mr… Breeze, was it? Could you and your negative energy like buzz off? You’re really killing my vibe…”

“Aw, come on ladies. Don’t be like that. It’s not like I’m asking for you to make me a sandwich or something. I’m just single and ready to mingle. Though if you wanted to make me a sandwich, I love me a good Tuna melt.”

A second girl shared a smirk with her friends and she stood up. She had white skin and long wavy brown hair, and was wearing a white polka dotted two-piece bathing suit. “You want a sandwich, huh?”

“Well, not in so many words but I could eat.”

“I’ll give you a sandwich! A knuckle sandwich!” She said as she punched Zephyr in the eye, knocking him to the ground.

“Now beat it!” The third member of their group said. She had pink skin and short darker pink hair, and wore a blue and white striped one piece bathing suit. She stayed lying down on her towel but her demeanor was even more abrasive than her friends’ was, and that’s what eventually scared him off. “And don’t come back!”

Zephyr collected himself and scampered off before more harm could come to him. His ego was shot down a peg. He would immediately find himself stewing in anger on his pink towel, muttering random angry words to himself.

Then he noticed an approaching herd of guys approaching the area where the volleyball girls had been camped out.

“Oh, you guys are in for a total beat down…” Zephyr mumbled to himself. “Oh well at least I get to watch someone else get-… WHAT?!?”

He became even more salty when he noticed that the girls let these guys put lotion on their backs and they also let them flirt with them.

“Well life is just a big big ball of unfair…” Zephyr muttered to himself. “What do those muscle bound airheads got that I don’t?”

As he watched it unfold, he noted the appearance of one guy in particular who the rest of them seemed to respect as they stepped out of his way. He had blonde hair with white streaks on the sides, tan skin, and was one of the few of their number wearing a shirt in addition to a seashell necklace, but it was evident that he was ripped like the others. His shirt was purple and emblazoned on it was their fraternity logo of a large Capital ‘M’ accompanied by a golden Pi symbol, and to add to his arrogant appearance, his swimming trunks were gold colored.

“Attention, Mu Pi Fraternity Brothers… and guests.” The leader said as he winked at the girls, causing a couple of them off to the side to swoon. “This year was a grueling one. Many of us had to make sacrifices of our chill time to make it through this semester, but now that we have made it, I declare this Mu Pi gathering of Summer Time fun, underway! And as we have every year since the beginning of time, we will rule this beach with our iron fists!”

The frat guys and volleyball girls in the area cheered as they began their celebratory toast with whatever beverages they held in their hands and with ceremonial lighting of tiki torches.

“Ugh frat guys are the absolute worst.” He sneered as he looked on bitterly. “But I’ll give them this, they sure know how to party. Still though. Who’d walk around proudly wearing Moo Pie on their shirts?”

Author's Note

Songs referenced in the chapter,

Let’s Groove by Earth Wind and Fire

Perfect by Ed Sheeran

Time to Recharge

After a few more hours of running around, and the walk back, our group of seven had been exhausted. Especially after expelling energy on the dance floor not once, but twice. They ended up back in there once more before they left. It had been Rainbow’s idea to get them stimulated so the walk back wouldn’t be as bad on them. She’d been partially right, up until the hotel they were staying at came into view. At the sight of it, their legs and backs began to ache a bit in anticipation of getting to lie down on a bed soon.

The feelings of tiredness and exasperation returned to them once they’d made it there. Though it was slightly canceled at the sight of the bus, so they knew that they would be able to get their luggage unloaded once they’d all checked in.

“Ya know, I just realized something. We could have just taken the public transport bus back.” Sunset said, facepalming in unison with a few others.

“Hindsight is twenty twenty…” Rainbow replied.

“Oh well, we’re here now, so everything is going to be okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie said enthusiastically, exerting what little remained of her energy. “Aaaaaw man, even I’m ready to hit the hay…”

Belle had been waiting in a parked vehicle, next to their bus. There was a vehicle rental place down the street, so while they were all out, she rented a vehicle for her to get around in with Spike, so they could leave the bus there.

Fortunately, this bus had a keypad on its back door so they had all been texted a code to get into it so Belle wouldn’t have to wait around long. Four of them still had yet to return. And yes, four of them.

Turns out, Zephyr had hitched a ride with Belle on her way back to the hotel so he climbed out of the rented car when he noticed that the others had made it.

“Hey-o, peeps! Took you guys long enough!”

A collective growl could be heard among the others when they heard his voice.

“Oh, great… I almost forgot.”
Rainbow remarked.

“Zephyr…” Fluttershy said, cocking an eyebrow at him.

“What? I was just saying.” He returned. “You guys should have been on the beach today. Lots of sights and sounds, and I’m not just talking about the waves.”

“Riveting…” Sunset muttered.

“Just try’in stay outta our way, alright? At least fer tonight. We ain’t in the mood fer yer shenanigans.” Applejack said, as she walked past him.

“Say no more, AJ!” Zephyr said mockingly, making a hand motion across his heart.

“I wouldn’t have been as nice about it…” Dash muttered to herself.

“Oh Rainbows… so quick to deny your feelings for me. I do have that effect on the ladies, you know.”

“Nice shiner. Did the ladies give that to you?” Dash said in response to his darkened eye where he’d been punched earlier.

Ray, Sunset, Applejack and Pinkie collectively chortled at Rainbow’s response. Zephyr’s expression went from smug to perturbed.

“Hey! I fell down the stairs, okay?!?” He started to get defensive. He sure wasn’t about to outright confirm what they already knew.

“And only landed on your eye?” Ray said with a cocked eyebrow. “I highly doubt that.”

“Shut up!”

The others kept laughing for about a minute or two, before he shrugged and made his way to the back door of the bus. He had seen his suitcase in the middle underneath and on top of everyone else’s luggage, and decided instead of just taking the others down to get to it, he’d just pull his luggage out. He did so, causing a few of the suitcases on top to fall out of the back of the bus into the parking lot.

The laughter ceased in an instant as they heard the clashing sounds from the back of the bus, and Zephyr had already made it around the back going towards the hotel before they were able to get back and see what happened.

“Wow… just wow.” Ray said, but at this point he wasn’t really surprised.

“That burns it, Ah’m gonna give that overgrown varmint a piece a’ my mind!” Applejack growled and wanted to actually make good on her word before her friends stopped her.

“Applejack, hey! Easy!” Sunset said, jumping in front of her. “Look, we’re all tired, and are in dire need of some rest. Let’s just sleep this off.”

“Oh, ‘aight… thanks Sunset. Ah almost went off the deep end there.”

“Don’t mention it.” She smiled.

“Let’s just pick up our stuff and go already. The sooner we get to our rooms the sooner we don’t have to worry about him for the rest of the night.” Rainbow said as she begrudgingly grabbed her luggage off the ground, and beelined it towards the hotel.

“I’d say she’s handling things well.” Flash said, garnering a few halfway bewildered gazes. “What?”

“Let’s go…” Ray sighed with exasperation as he and everyone else present grabbed their belongings and headed inside. Flash and Applejack would be the last two to make their way inside as they picked up the luggage of those not yet there to claim their belongings back into the bus.

They hadn’t the slightest idea how the rooms they’d reserved were meant to be divided, but they were all tired and ready to be done with the day. They couldn’t wait for Twilight, who had all this worked out, but who knew how long it would be before she and the other remaining few would be out?

Surely nothing would come of this, right?

Dusk had grown tired from the events of the evening. He leaned his head back in the bus seat he sat on beside Rarity. The two had just finished watching a play, of which they attended after breaking off from Singer and Twilight, who had their own plans for the remainder of the evening.

The sky was beginning to get dark out and it was evident that he and Rarity were both beginning to fade a bit. Rarity leaned over and lay her head on Dusk’s shoulder. Dusk welcomed it, and reached over and held her right hand with his left. Rarity snuggled his shoulder a bit when he did. He was careful not to let himself doze off too much, lest they miss their stop. Fortunately they were only about five minutes away.

“Rarity, I must say, this was a splendid evening. It was nice to spend time with Singer and Twilight, but being alone with you for the time we had was nice in itself.”

“I agree, Dusk.” She said as she sat up to share a gaze with him. “Going to see that movie was a nice way to cap off the evening. Have you ever heard of it before?”

“No, I hadn’t. But I read that it was a romantic comedy and I was intrigued. It was a risk, but I suppose it worked out.”

“It did, I had fun watching it. Though it probably wouldn’t have been the same without you.” She kissed him on the cheek.

“You’re too kind.” He blushed. “I’m never going to get tired of that.”

“Well that’s good. Because neither am I.” This time, she leaned in and kissed his lips for a brief moment. After they had parted, he smiled for about half a minute straight before they resumed snuggling.

Dusk had noticed a kid from across the aisle was trying to mock them by making kissy faces, but he paid him no mind. Kids will be kids, he thought to himself. He almost laughed, but restrained himself and decided not to give the kid anymore acknowledgement than he deserved. He had someone beside him who was far more worth his time.

“So…” she started again. “Now I understand why you and Singer got so silent at the restaurant when Twilight and I returned to the table. It was so sweet of you to help Singer the way you did. I’ve been waiting to see them take that next step for a while now. But with such busy schedules to keep up with during the school year, it definitely prolongs things. I’m just so happy that they both have realized their true feelings and are moving forward.”

“I only said what made sense in the moment. It was ultimately up to him to tell her what he was feeling. But I’m happy for them, truly.”

“You’ve come such a long way, Dusk. I can’t express enough how proud I am of you.”

“You know what? I think I can actually take a bit of pride in that. Knowing that you do, makes it easier. I’m indebted to you, Rarity. I feel like I’m much better because of you.”

“We’re better because of each other, Dusk. That’s what matters.”

They embraced in a hug for a brief moment before the bus came to a stop.

“Well I suppose this is where we exit.” Dusk said, as he and Rarity got up along with everyone else getting off. “I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to hide my face in a fluffy pillow right about now.”

“Likewise. I can barely keep my eyes open.” Rarity said with a yawn.

Once they had exited the bus, the parking lot of the hotel had become visible and they were that much more relieved. They weren’t too bothered to see the mess that had been left of the luggage that had been hastily returned to the back of their bus when they went to retrieve their belongings. They’d expected as much, as they figured the others had beat them to the hotel.

Once they made their way inside, they noticed the nicely decorated lobby area. It had beach decor and ocean themed walls. Fitting for the area. It even had a large aquarium on the back wall with various species of sea life swimming about within.

They had hoped to see at least one of their friends out and about, like maybe Pinkie Pie, but no such luck. They just went on ahead to the front desk to where a well dressed employee was on his computer playing solitaire until he’d noticed the couple coming his way.

“Ah, yes. How can I help you?”

“We are a part of the ‘Twilight Sparkle’ party,” Rarity began. “We’re just here to check into our rooms.”

“Ah yes. You have one room left.” Informed the clerk.

“One room?” Dusk said with a slight panic in his voice.

“Yes, a large portion of your party has already been checked in and have taken their rooms for this evening.”

“Not to worry, I’m sure we can figure this out.” She said as she was handed the key card for the room. “Thank you, good sir.”

“Enjoy your stay.” He replied, eagerly returning to his computer screen to resume his game.

When Dusk and Rarity made their way to the room they had on their key, they quickly were made acquainted with the hallway, which no doubt had the other rooms where their friends were.

“A thought just occurred to me.” Rarity said. “We have no idea which rooms our friends are in.”

“And they’re no doubt asleep as we speak.” Dusk said. “Maybe if we try a couple of them, we can find out.” Dusk tried AJ and Ray’s numbers. Nothing. He tried Pinkie’s number, same result. “This isn’t good.”

“Dusk, we may have to just share a room for tonight.” She noticed he was about to object, but she put her finger over his lips before he could say anything. “Listen, we are tired. Everyone is asleep. Let’s just tough it out for one night. It won’t kill us. Besides, it’s not like anything is going to happen. Do I make myself clear?”

“Crystal…” he sighed reluctantly. The latter part of her statement, he was grateful for. He wasn’t planning on anything crazy happening between them, and he knew she was on the same page. But still, the thought of sleeping in the same room… in the same bed… he suppressed those thoughts and followed her into the room when she used the key to open it.

Their thoughts had calmed down once they had made their way into the room, each of them took turns in the restroom to change into their pajamas and settled down for the night. Once they’d done that, they both stood and stared at the bed for a brief moment. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Just a normal nicely made queen sized bed with extra pillows and the bedding made properly by the staff.

Dusk’s bedtime attire consisted of a different t-shirt for bed and had changed into his green pajama pants. He immediately went to work at creating a barrier with the extra pillows on the bed, splitting it evenly.

Rarity giggled at the sight, but appreciated Dusk’s insistence on being a gentleman in this situation. Even if the barrier did seem to be a bit overkill, she knew he took this situation seriously, as if she needed confirmation of this. She actually found it rather cute.

She wore a red silk pajama top and bottoms for her bedtime attire. It looked incredibly comfy. Dusk noticed but tried not to linger his gaze on her too much. She noticed him checking her out but didn’t seem to mind.

“Dusk, you really must lighten up.” She tittered. “We’re going to sleep, not building a fort.”

“I’m sorry… I-I just…” Dusk said as he stepped away and joined her where she stood behind the foot of the bed.

“I know, and I adore you for it. But I really do think it’s time that we get some rest.” She inched closer to him and hugged him, and he returned it. “You’re a true gentleman, and a rather cute one at that.” Dusk blushed at this. “Good night, Dusk.”

“Good night, Rarity.” Dusk said, still blushing a bit but sleep was beginning to take hold on him.

They parted and made their way to their respective sides of the bed, ducked under the covers and pulled them over them. Dusk had control of the lamp standing beside his side of the bed, which he reached over and turned off before drifting off into his slumber. He turned over to his left side and even though it was dark he could somewhat make out the shadow that was Rarity sleeping beside him, already fast asleep. As he too was about to fall asleep, a smile tugged at his lips briefly before he faded.

“Yes mom, we’re on our way right now.” Singer said on the phone. “Sorry we’re so late. We lost track of time.” He paused once more as she continued to talk to him. “Yes, I know. Thank you again for doing this. You’re the best. Oh and Twilight said to tell Spike good night. Thank you. I love you, Mom… Okay, goodbye.”

“Your mom really is the best.” Twilight said, as she walked beside him. “I can’t thank her enough for keeping an eye on Spike. Wouldn’t have had to had we done a bit better at planning this, but I didn’t know my parents were planning a vacation at the same time we were.”

“Oh, she doesn’t mind one bit. She said Spike was fun to hang out with and he’s already asleep in his room at the cabin they’re staying at. My mom just likes to help. She’s always had a big heart, so I knew it wouldn’t be an issue for her.”

“Now I know where you get it from.” Twilight said, making Singer blush a bit. “I’m so glad that we’re here. And now, we’re alone out here at night. Just the two of us. No interruptions. No classes, no crazy college professors, Glee Club shenanigans…”

“And I am thankful for that. I really needed it tonight. Getting away and just spending the evening with you was just awesome. I really enjoyed that planetarium we went to.” She gave him a suspicious look. “No, I mean it. The stuff I understood anyway. I picked up quite a bit from the visual aspects of it. Though I admit, I almost fell asleep when the science guy was going on and on about whatever he was talking about.”

“Oh gosh. You’re such a dork.” She giggled as they stopped on the sidewalk path that ran along the beach. “That ‘science guy’ was just talking about the advancements they’ve made over the years of understanding what’s all out there. Had you actually been paying attention, you might have enjoyed it a bit more.”

“Probably. I just get lost in my mind when people start lecturing, unless it’s important like school work… or whenever you’re giving one of yours.” He smiled sheepishly.

“Nice save.” She remarked, punching him in the arm.

He rubbed his arm a bit. “Though when you started throwing random facts at the guy, I snapped back into the real world. Seeing you nerd out with him was kind of fun. You’re so cute when you’re in your element.”

“Oh stop!” she blushed. “Darn it, Singer. I hate it when you do that…” No she didn’t.

“Oh, I made you blush. That’s almost as fun as making you laugh.” He said as he reached over and tickled her sides, causing her to laugh. This only carried on for a brief moment before they both collected themselves, Twi ending up embraced in Singer’s arms.

“I love you, Singer.” She said as her cheeks flushed red.

“I love you too, Twilight.” He said, as he smiled uncontrollably as they continued to hug. They then pulled away a bit and looked into each other’s eyes before sharing a kiss under the stars, after which Singer looked up at them. “Hey, look! I think I see the Little Dipper! Right?”

Twilight squinted a bit but she saw it. “Actually, that’s the Big Dipper. Which is a part of Ursa Major, and the Little Dipper is a part of Ursa Minor, respectively. The Little Dipper contains the most famous star, the North Star aka Polaris. But it was a good try.”

“Right. Sorry, I thought I had it that time.”

“It’s okay. It was sweet of you to try.”

“Wait! I did pick up something from earlier that I thought was kind of trippy but cool. So like when stars die, their light continues to travel through space, even thousands of years after they die. So it’s possible that some of the stars we see reflected in the night sky could be dead. Oh, and the average night sky only contains about forty five hundred stars visible to us out of the billions of stars that exist in the universe.”

“Singer, I’ve got to tell you, I’m super attracted to you right now.” Twilight said, proceeding to boop his nose. “But in all seriousness, that was great! You really did learn something.”

“Told ya!” He grinned.

She began to yawn, putting her hand over her mouth. “Oh gosh, it's getting late. I’m starting to get tired.”

“Yeah it’s almost Ten. I’m never usually out this late. How fun.” He said, looking at his watch.

“We’re not too much further away from the hotel. What do you say we get going and off to bed?”

“That sounds like a swell idea to me.” He said as he wrapped his left arm around her and they continued on.

Once they reached their destination, and had gotten the luggage they would need, they carried their respective suitcases and walked over to the front desk of the lobby, where the same employee that had seen Dusk and Rarity was a couple hours earlier.

“How can I help you today?” He asked. At this point in the day, he seemed less enthralled in his computer game and appeared to be watching the clock. Must’ve been almost quitting time for him.

“Hi, I’m Twilight Sparkle. I had some rooms reserved for my friends and I.”

“Oh. I see…” he said awkwardly. “I don’t know how to tell you this but they’ve all been taken by members of your party.”

“All of them?” Singer asked.

“Yes. A nice couple just came in not two hours ago and took the remaining one.”

Singer began to feel terrible, he didn’t even ponder about the implications of what the ‘nice couple that had checked in already’ part meant. He could only think about how them staying out late messed everything up. “Twilight, I’m so sorry. If I hadn’t insisted on staying out longer, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“It’s not your fault, Singer. I think we can at least share the blame, but it’s not important.” She looked back at the clerk. “Are there any rooms available just for tonight?”

“I have one ‘one bed’ room on the fourth floor. That’s pretty much all we have left for tonight.”

“I’ll take it.” Singer said, pulling his card out. “Twi, you take the room, I’ll just sleep on the bus. It’ll be alright.”

“What? Singer, you're not going to sleep on the bus! That’s not safe.”

“I don’t know what other option we have, Twi.”

“Well, there is one other option…” she shifted her eyes back and forth, blushing.

“I don’t know…” Singer said apprehensively, as he knew what she was implying. “I don’t think that would be appropriate…”

“Singer, we’re grown adults. And it’s just for tonight. I promise, it’ll be alright.”

Singer was about to concede when suddenly, Rainbow Dash appeared in the lobby in her pajamas, looking for the vending machines.

“Oh…” she said sleepily, noticing them standing by the front desk. “Took you two long enough to get back.”

“Hi Rainbow…” Twilight said. “I think the room arrangements got messed up in the confusion. Is there any way I could maybe stay with you tonight? We only have one room at our disposal and it would really help us out if I could stay with you.”

“Huh…” she said with a hint of saltiness. “So what you’re saying is that you two are in a bit of a pickle. Well, I’m afraid that’s tough luck.”

“What?” Singer said with visible confusion. “Rainbow, what’s the-…”

“Hey, I’m still not talking to you!” She snapped. “You ruined my vacation by allowing Zephyr to weasel his way into coming on this trip. Every time he’s around, my stress level goes through the roof! You can sleep on the bus for all I care.”

“Rainbow I’ve tried, I don't know how many times, to apologize for that. I didn’t know what more-…”

“Hey! If I can’t have my vacation the way I wanted it, then you get to have a crummy time too.”

“Rainbow!” Twilight shouted. “Come on, this isn’t like you.”

“Well you don’t have to spend two weeks avoiding Zephyr Breeze, Twilight! You and Singer get to go off galavanting on your romantic escapades while the rest of us pay for his mistake!”

“Come on, that’s not fair…”

“You’re right! It’s not! Maybe for the duration of the trip, you can room with him, Singer. Then maybe we’ll be even. Smelly slob probably took one of the rooms to himself anyway.”

“Alright, Dash. You’ve said your piece. If you’re not going to help us, then kindly go back to your room.” Twilight snapped.

“Fine…” she got what she came out for and stomped off to her room. Leaving Twilight fuming by the desk. The guy standing there didn’t react much to what had transpired. He only mumbled something about not getting paid enough to keep having to hear drama every day and sat back down in his chair as he awaited his freedom.

“Come on, Singer. Let’s just go to the room and go to sleep. I promise, it’s okay.” Twilight smiled at him reassuringly, trying hard to calm down after Dash had made her mad.

“Alright.” Singer said as he smiled back cautiously. “But only because you say it’s okay.” With that he picked up his bags and followed her into the elevator.

The room wasn’t much different than the ones on the first floor. It had been laid out pretty much the same as the rooms that the others were in. There was a bathroom and a queen sized bed as well as a sink and a tv stand with a tv on it.

Singer sat on the right side of the bed, piddling on his phone. He’d gone ahead and changed into his pajama pants while Twilight was getting ready in the bathroom. He wanted to play it off like he wasn’t a bit nervous about this, but he couldn’t. This was a first for him, as it also was for her. He could only imagine what was going on in her mind.

One thing he knew was that nothing was going to happen. They were just going to sleep. Maybe cuddle at the most. He kept his head down for a moment when the bathroom door opened and out came Twilight wearing a light blue t-shirt and some purple colored pajama pants. She was in the process of removing her scrunchie out of her hair, and when she did, her long purple hair fell down past her shoulders.

Singer looked up, his head cocked to the side, and suddenly realized something. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with your hair down before.”

“Oh yeah? You’re probably right. I don’t let it down for much of anything other than sleeping or showering.” She placed her glasses on the table on the left side of the bed. With her glasses off and her hair down she looked different, but Singer could still tell it was her. “Why? Does it look bad?”

“No, actually if you decided to leave it down every so often, I wouldn’t complain. You look pretty cute, as usual.”

Twilight hugged him tightly after he said that. It was more than for what he just said, he could feel her trying to console him a bit by how soft her grip had suddenly gotten. He returned it, thankfully. “I’m sorry about Rainbow Dash. And Zephyr. I’m really upset about the grief you’ve been put through today.”

“Twi, I appreciate you and your concern, but it’s fine. I do kind of deserve it. I got careless at a bad moment and paid the price.”

“Maybe, but that still doesn’t justify their actions.”

“All I can do is hope that a good night's sleep will do us all some good. I’m with you, I’m tired of the drama and I just want us all to have fun. But in spite of that other stuff, I’ve had a great time so far because I get to be with you. And Twi? I love you.”

Twilight’s heart fluttered every time she heard him say that. “I love you, too.” She kissed him on the cheek and then climbed into bed and pulled the covers over her. “Good night.”

“Good night.”

Singer took a moment but eventually did the same. Making sure to turn off the lamp as he lay down. It was different, sleeping next to Twilight but it wasn’t at all unwelcome. In fact, it was actually really nice. The two inched closer together and snuggled a bit. Both of them were finally able to calm down and enjoyed being in each other's company. It wasn’t but just a couple of minutes later, and they were both fast asleep.

The night’s sleep hadn’t done much for Rainbow Dash. The first couple of hours she’d gotten before she had made her way down to the lobby was nice, but after her outburst towards Singer and Twilight, she found herself feeling crummy.

She stood there at the sink in the restroom of the room she’d isolated herself in. The way she’d acted yesterday just made her cringe to herself upon revisiting it in her mind. She felt justified in the moment when she’d said and done what she did, but now? Just regret.

She’d brushed her teeth and changed into her swimwear for the beach, which consisted of a multicolored top which had the bottoms to match as well as pink shorts with a black stripe going downward on the sides. This in addition to her pink and white baseball cap, and she was ready to go.

This was the start of their first official day out there. She’d hoped that she would feel better once she got out there, but first she needed to talk to someone. She looked at the clock and it said seven thirty A.M. She knew some of the others would be awake and up by now.

When she made it outside to the outside picnic tables, she saw a few of her friends were already there. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Sunset were in conversation when she sleepily walked up to them.

“Hey guys…” Rainbow said with a yawn. “What’s up?”

“Howdy Rainbow Dash!” Applejack greeted her.
“Sleep well?” AJ sported a matching blue long sleeve top with yellow pin stripes down the arms with matching bottoms, as well as her usual Stetson hat on her head with her yellow hair in a long ponytail.

“Not exactly…”

“Oh, are you still worried about Zeppy?” Pinkie asked. She had on a pink and white one piece and already had on some light blue flippers.

“Not at the moment.”

“Well, don’t worry. He went with Dusk, Flash and Ray to get breakfast for us.” Fluttershy said. She was wearing a black one piece suit that had yellow and light blue lines going up and down them, while also wearing a waist wrap skirt. “And I made him promise to be on his best behavior for today.”

“Oh, good…”

“Is something on your mind, Rainbow?” Sunset asked. “Something you want to talk about?” Sunset’s attire of choice was a black top with a fiery red and yellow skirt made for swimming.

“Yeah, actually there is. Last night, I did something terrible.”

“Like what?” Pinkie asked.

“Said something really terrible that I shouldn’t have said.”

“Well don’ keep us in suspense, Rainbow! Spit it out!” Applejack said with a light chuckle.

Rainbow took a deep breath and told them what she’d said to Twilight and Singer. Her guilt became more and more evident the deeper she went into it. But she made it through and finished the story.

“Okay, I get being angry about Zephyr, but that wasn’t exactly all Singer’s fault, Rainbow.” Sunset said. “I can’t believe you would say something like that.”

“I know! Okay?!? I know! I feel terrible about it. But it’s not like I can just take it back.”

“Why dint ya tell us ‘bout this yesterday?” Applejack inquired. “We might coulda helped ya git through it an’ maybe avoided this whole thing.”

“Because I made myself miserable, I didn’t want to talk to anyone and it made me a tired mess last night. But now I have a clearer head and I just want to make things right.”

“Maybe start by apologizing?” Fluttershy said. “I mean, you are sorry aren’t you?”

“Of course! But I don’t think they’re going to want to talk to me after what I said to them.”

“They’re your friends, Rainbow. They might be a bit irritated with you, but they’ll eventually get over it once you apologize.” Sunset said, putting her hand on Rainbow’s shoulder.

“Maybe.”

“Good morning, everybody!” Rarity said enthusiastically as she made her appearance. She wore a purple top with a light blue skirt as well as a purple large brimmed sun hat with a light blue ribbon around it. “How did everyone sleep last night?”

A collective groan came from the others.

“What did I say?”

“We’ll tell you later.” Sunset said as she noted the approaching guys bearing food.

Dusk had on a light blue t-shirt and dark blue swim trunks and had a few boxes in his hand. He led Ray, who had on a white sun hoodie and trunks with sharks on them, while carrying a few drinks in his hands. Flash Sentry wore a gray t-shirt and blue trunks with his personal shield and yellow flash insignia emblazoned on it. And Zephyr brought up the rear, not bothering to wear a shirt in town, just wearing his orange trunks with faint yellow leaves design.

“Sorry we ran a little behind.” Ray said. “A certain someone didn’t bother putting on a shirt so we had to figure out who’s carry what once we got out of the store.”

“Oh sure. It’s never anyone else’s fault, always Zephyr…” He said snarkily.

“You were literally the one who-…” Flash said, cutting himself off as to not start an argument. “Forget it…”

“Good morning, everyone!” Dusk said, trying to lighten the mood.

Sunset caught this, and threw in her support for Dusk’s efforts. “Good morning, Dusk. How are you? What a great morning away from everything back home, am I right?”

“Absolutely! I’m so excited to get out there and go for a swim!”

They were being genuine but putting on that fake style of voice where they talked almost robot like to get everyone’s attention, and hopefully out of their funk.

“Dusky’s right!” Pinkie said. “It’s time for a celebration! A… vacation celebration!”

“We’ll have a…” she cleared her throat.

We’ll have a vacation celebration
Where our jubilation can roam
So stop your constipations
And start your elations
And take in the oceanic foam”

Pinkie had just finished a beach version of “The Dalmatian Plantation” song from One Hundred and One Dalmatians, and the whole group laughed as most of them got it, and the couple who didn’t just laughed it off.

“Not my best work, but I’m here all week!” Pinkie said.

They all proceeded to eat their breakfast and for a good half hour or so, and they’d all managed to stay together without arguing. For they knew that once they truly hit the beach that lay behind them, they would be in a better place.

Rainbow would still be anticipating the arrival of their final two members, and facing whatever mood they might be in. Sunset on the other hand shared passing glances with Flash. They were still unsure of where the other stood, but they knew one thing, they were finding it hard to avoid eye contact with one another.

Twilight had been awakened by her alarm on her phone. She wasn’t fond of oversleeping, but given how late it was when they’d gone to sleep, she didn’t bat an eye at this particular occurrence. What she did notice though, when she woke up, Singer had left. She couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed. However, she perked up when the door knob to their room opened up and Singer returned, dressed in his Toothless T-Shirt and yellow swim trunks and bearing breakfast in his hands.

“Good morning, Twi.” He said with a smile. “I hope I didn’t wake you up.”

“You didn’t.” She smiled. “Sorry I slept in.”

“Don’t be. You just relax. I brought us some breakfast. There’s a place across the street that makes these amazing breakfast burritos. So I got us some.”

“Sounds delicious.” She said, as she looked him over with a playful grin. “Nice choice in T-shirt, honey.”

“Oh, yes. I couldn’t not rock the Toothless shirt! I don’t know, I'm feeling a bit extra today I guess.”

“It’s very becoming of you. I missed your old happy self. Keep him around, please.”

“You got it.” Singer said as he handed her one of the wrapped up burritos. “After that awesome night we had and such a wonderful night’s sleep, I feel much better now. Twi, I don’t want to seem forward here, but sleeping next to you was… comforting. I kinda wish we could…”

“Keep doing so?” She sighed. “I know. But it’s something to look forward to later, am I right? I mean we really should wait until we are married.” She blushed with her face even more red than Singer’s hair. “Uuuh… I mean…”

“You've been thinking about that?” Singer inquired, and he began to get excited just thinking about it himself. He’d be lying if he said it hadn’t crossed his mind a time or two.

“J-Just a little… just a passing thought every now and again. Someone a while back mentioned it as a joke, but it’s kind of stuck with me.”

“I have too. But… not yet, obviously, right? I mean, we don’t have any of the details worked out yet, and I still think we have some growing to do.”

“Of course…” she nodded in agreement. “Definitely not yet. But maybe sooner, rather than later?”

“Maybe. But we both need to be ready before we commit to it.” He said.

“Agreed.” She nodded. “For now, though?” She patted the empty space beside her. “Would you accompany me for breakfast?”

“I would like that very much, my sweet Adorkable Sparkle.” He said as he sat down on the bed beside her as they ate their breakfast burritos together. “I just thought about something. The others might wonder where we’ve been off to. And then, there’s dealing with Rainbow Dash. I’m not sure what to do about that.”

“There’s no point in lying about it, honestly. I don’t think anyone will make a big deal about it. As for Rainbow, I don’t know how to approach that one either. I’m still mad at her. But she is still our friend, and if she makes an effort to apologize, I can try to get past it.”

“There you go. Great mindset to have.” He said, looking down at his phone before he remembered something. “Oh, yeah… promise you won’t be mad?”

“What?”

“I kinda told my mom I’d help her make a grocery store run this morning. You’ll be alright until I get back, right?” He smirked.

“Of course!” She said as she finally reached over for her glasses and put them back on. “I need to get ready anyway. And thank you for breakfast.”

“Absolutely, anything for you.” He kissed her on the cheek as he got up to leave. He grabbed his suitcase and everything else that was his, as they only had the room for one night and would need to check out soon. “I’ll see you out there.”

“Okay. I’ll see you later.”

When he left, she got up out of bed and put her scrunchie back in her hair, choosing to go back to her ponytail. She walked over to the window and could see her friends down in the parking lot. She smiled at the sight of them and quickly turned around and started to get ready.

When Twilight finally made it down to them, she appeared to be in good spirits. She was greeted by the others as she made her way to where they were. She’d been dressed in her swimsuit and had already checked out of her room and stashed her luggage away on the bus for now until they could get the room situation figured out. Her swimwear consisted of clip-on sunglasses attachments for her regular glasses, a one piece bathing suit that, on the top part, was white with blue stripes horizontally, and the rest of it was a dark shade of purple.

“Hey Twilight!” Sunset said, hugging her. “Glad to have you back!”

“I’m glad to be back. So what’s going on today?”

“We’ve decided on playing girls vs boys volleyball this afternoon.” Ray said. “But, uh, is Singer coming? Us guys are kind of at a disadvantage as we stand currently. Not having him is going to kind of stink.”

“Don’t worry, he’ll be back in a little while. He went with his mom to the store.” Twilight informed.

“Great! Can we go now? That sand is calling my name! I’m so ready for sandcastles!” Pinkie said. “I’ve already drawn up the blueprints!” She tossed them to Twilight, who opened them up and looked at them. “This is impressive, Pinkie. But I don’t think these elaborate plans are going to work well with sand.”

“Never underestimate the power of architecture!”

“More like never underestimate the drive of Pinkie Pie.” Ray said. “I am with her, though. We should probably get out there. That's why we came.”

“Alright! Let’s go!” Sunset said as she led the charge towards the beach.

Everyone was eager to get out to the water and the sand, and soak up some rays. Pinkie and Applejack ran past Sunset and the others. Dusk, Ray and Flash were slightly less enthusiastic about it but their steps were still fast paced, even if they weren’t as fast as their aforementioned friends.

Zephyr and Fluttershy mainly just walked. The latter was doing just enough to keep pace with the former. Rarity wasn’t far behind them as she kept stopping to make sure she packed enough emergency supplies.

Bringing up the rear were Twilight and Rainbow Dash. Both looked like they wanted to say something but kept diverting their gaze from each other whenever they made eye contact.

“Okay, this is silly.” Dash said. “Look, Twilight. I’m sorry about what I said to you last night. It wasn’t fair of me, and I was projecting some things that I shouldn’t have towards you. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Okay? I appreciate your apology, but I don’t understand why you’re being so hard on Singer. You’re one of his closest friends in this group, but yet he makes one mistake and you want to treat him like garbage because of it.”

“Look I was angry, okay? This trip was supposed to be an escape from the day-to-day grind for all of us, and now we have to deal with Zephyr. And maybe I was a bit hard on him, but-…”

“A bit? You were willing to let him sleep on the bus and forced us to share a room last night.”

“Oh how terrible…” she said sarcastically in regard to the latter part of Twi’s statement, making an attempt to lighten the mood. Twi’s deadpanned expression was all the hint she needed to stop. “Sorry, not the right thing to say.”

“Look, I know where you’re coming from on your side of this, and I’m sorry that Zephyr ended up on it with us, but I will be more than willing to accept your apology only after you’ve talked things over with Singer. Zephyr sticking around is bad enough, but this drama isn’t helping. So until you do that, I don’t have much else to say to you at the moment.”

With that, Twilight walked off, leaving Rainbow standing behind momentarily until she too decided to continue on.

“Well, that’s a start I guess.”

Author's Note

There. The pages should look better now that I edited them correctly. 2-18-23

Volleyball

With sunglasses on her face, and lying on her beach towel, Rainbow lay on the ground, having previously sun screened up and decided to take the relaxing atmosphere of the beach to her advantage. Having been sleep deprived, she was out cold. She’d been that way for a couple of hours ever since they had all made it to the sandy place of fun in the sun.

The mischievous faces of her friends suddenly appeared from behind a mound of sand when they noticed just how deep into her sleep she was. Ray, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy all gathered around their sleeping friend with buckets and shovels in hand and went to work. It wouldn’t be half an hour later before their work had been realized.

Rainbow woke up from her slumber, finally feeling a bit different as she ascended back to consciousness. When she fully came to, she noticed that she was buried in sand except for her head. The mound of sand that had covered her was shaped like the body of a mermaid. When she saw it, it immediately made her laugh.

“Okay, who’s the artist or artists? This is pretty cool.” She asked as she stayed under the sand and continuing to study the build as best she could without destroying it.

As soon as she’d asked that, Fluttershy walked up to her and took a picture. “Great photo opportunity! You look lovely Rainbow!”

Ray, Pinkie and Applejack also appeared, having been waiting for Dash to wake up and see their handy work.

“‘Bout time ya wake up, sleepin beauty.” AJ remarked.

“Sorry Dash, but you should know that one of the rules of a beach vacation is that the first person that falls asleep becomes a mermaid.” Ray said with confidence, as if there really was a rule for that. It was unspoken if anything.

“You look stunning Rainbow!” Pinkie said. “All you’re missing is a two big seashells as a-…”

“Aaaaaaanyway…” Ray said, extending a hand to Rainbow, who struggled a bit but managed to wiggle her arm out and that allowed Ray to pull her out of the sand. “What do you say we get our teams together and start warming up for our game?”

“That sounds great buuuuut…” Rainbow said, suddenly remembering that she and Twilight weren’t exactly simpatico at the moment. “Do we really have to do boys vs girls? Maybe we could mix it up.”

“No way, I’m not losing the bet.”

The bet… how could she have forgotten? Earlier in the week before they’d even begun packing for their vacation, Rainbow and Ray had made a bet on a boys vs girls volleyball game. Loser had to do something embarrassing and of the winner’s choice.

“…and we’re not backing out. Yeah, yeah, I remember the conversation.” She said with a bit of forlorn in her voice.

“What are you so worried about? You’ve got Sunset, Pinkie and Applejack on your team. My team has a lot of question marks, especially with two less people than you have.”

“Nothing. Nothing.” Rainbow said, dismissing her previous hang up. “You’re on!” Her confidence was beginning to resurface. She was team captain. She had already had her strategy in mind. Surely a little beef with Twi wasn’t going to get in the way of that.

“Got any ideas of what embarrassing thing you’re going to have us do if we lose?” Ray asked.

“Don’t worry about it.” She said, tuning out the noise in her mind. “Just focus on trying not to lose and we will see what happens.”

“Wait a minute, Ah don’t remember agreein’ ta any of this…” AJ said with concern.

“It’s no biggie. We won’t be losing to the guys.” Rainbow said smugly.

“If ya say so. But if we do, Ah hope things don’t get too crazy embarrassin…”

“Well as long as it’s not something crazy like streaking, I’m sure we don’t have much to worry about.” Pinkie said while sniggering off to the side.

“Pinkie! Calm down will you? It’ll be embarrassing, not illegal.” Rainbow quickly shut her down.

“Yeah, come on. We’re not barbarians.” Ray said.

“It’s only illegal if you get caught!”

“No more espresso for you, Pinkie…” Rainbow Dash deadpanned.

“Yeah, I second that motion.” Ray said.

Rainbow and Ray turned to face each other again. Both of them extended their hands to each other.

“May the best team win.” Rainbow said as she shook Ray’s hand.

“Oh, we intend to.” Ray said with a bit of smugness.

“Oh it’s totally on!” Rainbow Dash returned, with his hand still in hers, pulling him forward to try to intimidate him.

“Ah have a bad feelin’ about this…” Applejack said, pushing her hat down over her eyes.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention…” Fluttershy said, scrolling through her digital camera files. “What did I miss?”

Meanwhile, downwind a little bit, the others were enjoying some rest and relaxation of their own. Dusk and Rarity said on a large red checkered picnic cloth with two umbrellas overlooking them with a picnic basket behind them and their respective beach towels underneath them as they too took it all in. Rarity had been putting sunscreen on her arms and face and playfully put a dab of it on Dusk’s nose.

Dusk chuckled as he used what Rarity put on him to cover his own face. “Rarity, I have to say you look stunning as usual.” He said, noticing her beach attire, blushing a bit as he noticed he’d lingered his gaze a bit long.

“Why thank you, Darling. You certainly look nice as well.” Putting yet another dab of sunscreen on his nose, she then pulled him in close for a selfie. “Now this will make a nice post for social media. Now that we’ve gone public there.”

“It’s rather strange actually posting things on there now. I mean aside from memes and shared posts.”

“Yes, yes, being in a relationship will do that, at least in my experience anyway. I’m happy to see that you’re posting more now as well. Sometimes I learn things about you from the things you post that I didn’t know previously.” She giggled a bit, just thinking about it.

“Like what?” He inquired, almost concerned.

“Oh just the sort of things you’re into. I mean most of it I’m not surprised at but there are a few things I had no idea about. Also, I may have noticed a few posts about your parents. I’ve yet to meet them. Come to think of it, you’ve yet to meet mine.”

“I’m sure that will happen in due course. Though, I’m not overjoyed at the thought of introducing my parents. They’re not exactly the most socially adept people. They can actually be pretty stern at times. My father in particular, my mother is a bit more supportive.”

“Yes, well, I’ve never had a friend or… in a few cases, past boyfriends that we won’t mention, who’s parents weren’t won over by my etiquette and charm. Not to brag, of course.”

“You’re right. Now that I think about it, being with you might be one of the few things they don’t actually end up being disappointed by. However, if they do, it does not reflect my stance on things. It’s just how difficult they can be. But regardless, I wouldn’t trade your for decades of their approval.”

“So kind of you to say, Dusk.” She smiled.

“Well I mean, it’s true. You do have the qualities of a well rounded girl that any guy would be lucky to have by their side. You’re generous, well mannered, proper in your ways, uh… b-beautiful… but at the end of the day, I just want to be by your side because of who you are as a person.”

She giggled and planted a kiss on his cheek. “And you are the same way. If your parents can’t see that, then that’s their problem.” She’d been proud of him in that moment alone for building someone else up without tearing himself down. One thing she’d noticed a lot about him lately. She was overjoyed at this.

“Well maybe one day, I suppose…”

“Yes, I suppose we will cross that bridge when we get to it.” Rarity said as she noticed Twilight and Sunset approaching their general vicinity. She welcomely waved at them, inviting them over.

Dusk made some room on his side for their approaching friends. He joined Rarity in waving at them.

“I hope we’re not interrupting anything.” Sunset said with a slight grin.

“Oh no, you’re alright Sunset, we were just discussing something, but the matter is closed for now. Have a seat, both of you.” She said, pouring each of them a cup of tea from her teapot, which they had both received gratefully.

“So are you ready for the big game this afternoon?” Sunset asked.

“I’ll admit, I’m not overly excited about it. But it should be interesting. I’m sure I’ll probably just get in everyone’s way, but… ow!” Dusk felt a small slap on his arm coming from Sunset.

“Sorry, Ray told me not to let you talk like that before the game.”

“I’m merely stating facts, here! I’m not very adept at sports. I’m not degrading myself, I’m telling the truth.”

“Even so, Dusk,” Rarity said. “Try to have a little faith in yourself.” She winked at him as she said that last part, as sort of a reference to their little exchange during the Glee Club incident.

“I suppose you’re right.” Dusk picked up on this and held back a laugh. It was kind of fun to have that be one of their inside jokes that only they could laugh at. That whole incident was just one huge joke to everyone involved at that point, and bringing it up was like bringing up a funny embarrassing memory from the past now.

“Hey, at least you won’t be regulated to the sidelines.” Twi said. “Fluttershy and I are going to be backups since we have two more players on our team than you do.”

“I’m sure you’ll get a chance to play.” Dusk said.

“Eh, I can take it or leave it if I’m being completely honest. But I’m sure I will, too.” She said. “I’m just not that great at sports, so don’t expect much from me, either.”

“You will have a front row seat to watch Singer play, in the mean time though.” Rarity threw in with a smirk.

“Hmmm… yeah, on that note. Try not to need me.” Twilight said, beaming, garnering a collective laugh from the others.

“So, Sunset. Did you all have fun last night on your outing?” Rarity asked her. “We didn’t see you all around after we split up yesterday afternoon.

“Oh, uh… yeah tons of fun!” She said, trying not to blush when she remembered what had happened on the dance floor the night before.

“Something totally happened.” Dusk said.

“Nothing happened!” Sunset said quickly, her eyes darted back and forth, and she fidgeted with her fingers. “Nothing at all!”

“Oh, she’s definitely hiding something.” Twilight said, noting Sunset’s suspicious body language.

“Ugh! Fine! Flash Sentry asked me out last night, okay?!?” She said quickly, but it didn’t sound begrudged. It sounded more like relief in finally being able to talk about it.

“Oh my, that’s wonderful, Sunset!” Rarity said.

“And you said yes right?” Twilight asked with a hopeful smile.

Sunset grew quiet, a slight frown now adorning her face.

“You said yes, right?” Twi echoed, her smile faded and one eyebrow raised.

“I didn’t say yes…” she admitted. “I’m kind of reluctant to jump into a relationship right now. Especially with the memories of how badly I botched the last one I had with him. I don’t want to hurt him again.”

“But you’re not the same person you used to be.” Dusk said, echoing what Flash had said to her the night before. “You’ve changed into one of the most caring friends any of us could ever ask for.”

Twilight and Rarity nodded in agreement.

“Sunset, I know how you feel about giving this a chance. I really do.” Twilight said. “I wasn’t sure if romance was ever attainable for me, but someone came along and showed me that I was worth it. And I don’t think you’re any different. I agree with Dusk, you’ve earned a second chance at this. You’re not that person anymore. The fact that you’re showing restraint to try and make sure you do this right proves that. However, it’s a decision you’re going to need to make for yourself. Just like I did.”

“But it’s not like you ever did a series of horrible things to a bunch of people. I was the literal textbook definition of “the worst” back then. And he was right when he broke up with me because I was terrible to him, too.”

“But that was then, and this is now.” Rarity said. “Sooner or later, you’re going to have to move on and accept that that part of you is gone. And the you that we see is far more beautiful nowadays. The true you. And I’m sure that’s what Flash Sentry sees as well.”

Sunset could feel her throat tightening and tears coming down her cheek. She looked up at her friends with the biggest smile on her face. “You guys… you’re going to make me turn into a blubbering mess.” She said as she wiped her face a bit. “What did I ever do to deserve such good friends like you?”

“I think you know the answer to that.” Dusk said.

Sunset wrapped her arms around the three of them, a group hug which they gladly returned. “I love you guys!”

“We love you too, Sunset.” Rarity said. “And no matter what, we will be behind you.”

“Flash is a nice guy. He’ll be lucky to have you. Whether it be remaining a friend, or as something more.” Dusk said.

“Yeah, he really is great.” Sunset said. “I will think about what you all have said. Thank you.” They all sat in silence for a moment to let her collect herself. It wasn’t long though before someone had to speak up.

“Well, Ray will be looking for us soon. We’d better go meet him.” Dusk said, looking at his watch. “He said that this game has high stakes. Whatever that means.”

“It means losing is going to cost ya. So you guys better bring your A game.” Sunset said this while flexing her arm muscles.

“Do you know something we don’t?” Rarity asked her.

“Let’s just say I overheard Ray discussing it this morning with Flash.”

“Oh boy. I wonder what Ray’s gotten us all into this time.” Twi said as they all got up and started towards the volleyball net.

When Singer returned, he had Belle and Spike in tow, while pulling his wagon that had two ice chests full of water and other refreshments. He’d told them about the volleyball game and they wanted to come and watch. Spike had been excited about coming to the beach that day as well. He also had been excited to practice his commentary skills while he watched.

However, Singer’s attention was shifted when he saw Flash off to himself. He’d felt bad about not getting to talk to him much since the trip started. He would fix that now. He handed the handle of the wagon to his mom and waved her and Spike off to go on ahead as he walked over to his friend.

“Flash… you alright, buddy?”

“Oh, Singer! Hey bro!” His face lit up. “Dude, I’m totally fine. Just uh, playing a mental guitar solo in my head.”

Singer wasn’t buying it. “Dude… I know when you’re doing that. You’re never moping around kicking a poor defenseless empty soda can on the ground.”

“What? I’m not kicking…” he looked down to see there was nothing there.

“Gotcha!”

“Very funny, Sing…”

“Come on, you gotta admit it’s kinda funny.”

Flash let out a fake chuckle and looked down to the ground. Singer’s playful demeanor shifted into concern.

“Woah, dude. Talk to me bro. Something is really eating at you. What’s going on?” Singer said, as he walked up to him and put his hand on his shoulder. “If it’s about yesterday, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to leave you hanging all day, I just-…”

“No dude, no. You’re totally fine. I know you and Twilight needed yesterday to hang out. It’s cool. That’s not what’s on my mind. It’s something that happened last night.”

“What happened?”

“I uh… I sort of asked Sunset out.” Flash said.

“How is that bad?” He asked before it quickly dawned on him. “Oh… I think I get it. Did she let you down easily?”

“Yeah, for the most part. She seems conflicted. Like there’s some part of her that feels like she doesn’t deserve a second chance with me or in general.”

Singer stopped and pondered a second. He and Flash just stood there in silence for a minute as Singer began to pace back and forth.

“Uh, what are you doing?” Flash asked.

“Thinking. So, here’s my thoughts on this. You feel like the best course of action would be to give her some space, correct?”

“Right.”

“Wrong! This is a crucial time. What she needs is to know that you mean what you say. You need to be there as much as you can and show her that she really does deserve a second chance. But only do this if you mean it. You don’t want to manipulate her into wanting to be with you. It’s gotta be genuine.”

“Look at you, giving relationship advice.” Flash said as he chuckled and shook his friend by the shoulder. “But I think you’re right. Thanks for the perspective, Singer.”

“Hey, I try man. Others have done it for me. It feels great to finally be able to say something worthwhile for someone else for a change.” He said as he placed his sunglasses on. “But for real dude. Don’t give up. I’ve noticed how you two look at each other at times. It’s not over, trust me.”

“Thanks bro. I won’t give up.”

“So, are you ready to go get stomped by some girls in volleyball?” Singer said with a grin, trying to get his friend in a better mood.

“You assume that we’re going to get beat? Come on dude! Where’s your competitive spirit?”

“Tucked away in my common sense.” Singer shrugged.

“Come on! You’ve got myself and Ray on the team. And you’re not a slouch either. Plus I’m willing to bet that Dusk has a hidden talent for sports.”

“Flash, I’m all for optimism. But sometimes you gotta be a realist. There’s four guys against seven girls. And three of them are Applejack, Sunset Shimmer and the athletic queen herself, Rainbow Dash.”

“Five guys actually…” a third voice joined their conversation. Zephyr had been listening and waited for an opening to pop in.

“How much of that did you hear?” Singer asked.

“Enough to know that you’re a couple of romantic saps…” Zephyr smirked.

“Strike out so many times, that you’re getting salty?” Flash said as he and Singer fist bumped.

“Oh, ouch!” Zephyr retorted sarcastically. “Being a single stud is a life choice, but I can score a girlfriend any time I want… also I’m only playing this stupid volleyball game because Fluttershy isn’t giving me a choice in the matter.”

“Hey, a couple of hours in the sun, actually moving your body won’t kill you. You’ve caused enough problems for everyone that you kind of owe it to us anyway.”

“Flash…” Singer said.

“Dude, stop letting this guy push you around. Sooner or later, you’ve got to stand up for yourself.”

“Yeah Zinger, stop being such a doormat.” Zephyr remarked.

Singer took a deep breath through his nose with his jaw clenched shut, clearly trying to hold something in. “I’ll just see you guys on the volleyball court.” He said as he started off.

Flash watched as Singer walked off slowly. He wasn’t sure why he was acting like this, but he knew something was going on. He diverted his gaze into a glare when he turned around towards where Zephyr had been standing, but he had since walked off as well. Flash stuck his hands into the pockets of his swim trunks and walked off into the direction of the volleyball setting as well.

The time was nearing. The game that had been building up was finally upon them. Ray and Rainbow Dash had spent the last several minutes hyping themselves up for this game. Rainbow’s competitive spirit was infectious as Applejack, who earlier had been a bit apprehensive, had since been pulled in with little effort and Sunset had been as well.

Rarity and Pinkie Pie were also fired up. They’d both dipped their fingers into face paint to paint a couple of war stripes on their cheeks as a way to hype themselves up.

“Go girls!” Fluttershy said as she and Twilight sat on fold up chairs on the sidelines, looking over at the guys. “Oh, guys just do your best. I’m sure you’ll all play a great game.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Fluttershy.” Dusk said, actually without sarcasm, with a smile from the other side.

“Hey!” Rainbow said. “Stop fraternizing with the enemy!”

“Oh, sorry Rainbow Dash” Fluttershy said, giggling. “I forgot about the ‘bitter’ rivalry.”

“You’re forgiven, this time.” She said doing the ‘I’m watching you’ motion with her fingers. She’d noticed Twilight had exchanged a few flirtatious gazes with Singer, but given where she stood with them currently, she decided against poking the proverbial bear. She hoped that she could find a way to smooth things over with them soon. She knew it was her own fault as to why they were mad at her, but she was still just ready for things to go back to normal.

“Alright gang, bring it in!” She said as she called them all in for a group huddle. All the girls including Twi and Fluttershy joined in. “Listen, there’s a lot riding on this game in terms of pride. Not only do half of us have reputations to uphold, but we also have the stakes of a bet to consider too.”

“Yeah, do we even know what embarrassin’ thing we gotta do if we lose?” AJ asked.

“Yes, Ray and I, just a few moments ago, placed our terms on the table. If we lose, we all have to wear grass hula skirts and dance like a bunch of luau girls and post it on YouTube… if the guys lose, well… I’ll let that be a surprise.”

“Sounds like we’d better win, then.” Sunset said.

“We will win!” Rainbow Dash said confidently.

A snap could be heard from behind them as a camera went off. Belle had Fluttershy’s camera and had taken a picture of them all in a huddle at Fluttershy’s request.

“You girls are going to crush it!” She exclaimed.

“You got that right, Miss Singer’s Mom!” Pinkie exclaimed before downing a sports drink.

Suddenly, in a rhythmic fashion, Sunset started stomping her feet followed by a single clap, and repeated this a few times before the others caught on. They would all join in too as they all sang:

“We will
We will
Rock you
We will
We will
Rock you”

“We’re gonna rock you all, son!” Sunset blurted gesturing her hands like a rapper, causing everyone to pause for a brief second before they all burst into laughter. “Eeew, I knew it was wrong the moment I said it…” Sunset blushed for a moment and then started to laugh, herself.

On the other side of the net, Dusk, Flash, Singer and Zephyr had been standing in a line while Ray paced in front of them like a drill sergeant.

“Alright maggots, listen up!” He began.

“Maggots?” Singer said, with a bemused expression.

“Got a problem, Case?”

“Nope!”

“Didn’t think so…” Ray said as he continued. “The enemy is tough. They’re merciless and their numbers far outweigh ours.”

“They literally only have two more players than us.” Dusk said.

“Come on guys, I’m building up the atmosphere for dramatic effect. Where’s your sense of charisma?”

“Sorry if we don’t exactly share your optimism about our chances of winning.” Dusk said, noting the mounting ferocity building from the other side.

“Speak for yourself, I believe in us!” Flash said.

“Eh, it’s just a game.” Singer said.

“It’s NOT just a game! Our dignity is on the line here!” Ray shouted.

“What did you do?” Dusk inquired with a knowing sense of dread in what was about to be revealed. “If this is anything like the ballerina incident…”

“We agreed to never bring that up again…” Ray deadpanned. “And no it’s nothing like… I mean it’s kind of… fine. If we lose, we have to wear chicken onesies out here in public, do the chicken dance and have the whole thing posted on YouTube…”

“And you agreed to that?” Singer said, a little perplexed.

“Hey, Rainbow and I are intensely competitive, and stakes add to the fun of it.”

“Well, you guys have fun with that…” Zephyr said as he stuck his leg to the side as if he was about to take off.

“Stay put!” The rest of the guys shouted in unison, stopping Zephyr in his tracks which made him pout.

“Woooo! Go team!” Spike shouted from the sidelines.

“Hey Spike.” Singer said, acknowledging him.

“Hey Singer!” Spike said. “Good luck. You're all going to need it. Especially if you don’t want to be chickens.” He chuckled as he pulled out his phone. “Bwak! Bawk! Bawk!” He started laughing harder.

“Yeah, thanks a lot.” Singer said, rolling his eyes, as he stopped and examined the volleyball in his hands. “Wilson…” he’d read the brand name of the ball as he looked it over before spinning it on his finger like a basketball.

“Great! You can read.” Ray remarked as everyone else was getting into their positions. “Looks like you’re serving first.”

“Oh, snap!” Singer said, snapping himself out of his distraction. “Let’s do it to it, then!” He said as the music to ‘eye of the tiger’ began to play in his mind, setting the mood for the game.

“Alright!” Belle shouted. “First team to fifteen points wins the game! Good luck everybody!” She waved her hand downward and blew the whistle to start the game.

Singer served the ball, and it went over the net right to Pinkie, who batted it back over the net into Dusk’s direction. Dusk hit it up, not quite making it over the net, but that’s when Flash came in with the save and sent it flying past Rarity’s head and onto the ground within bounds.

“We scored a point!” Ray shouted. “Maybe this won’t be so bad.” He said as Rainbow served from their side in his direction, causing the ball to bounce off his head. Luckily, this didn’t phase him as he sent the ball back across the net in the direction of Applejack, who then proceeded to score on them by batting it into Singer’s direction. He’d missed it due to poor timing.

“Okay, time-out!” Dash shouted. “Rarity, do you want to explain why your back was turned?”

“Sorry, Rainbow Dash” she said. “I had a makeup emergency…” she’d realized as soon as she said that, that she messed up. “Um, oops?” She shrugged sheepishly.

“Ugh… just stay focused and don’t let it happen again.” She then turned to Applejack. “Nice save there, AJ. Back to a tie for now. But what do you say we start building a lead on these guys?”

“Dern tootin! Let’s go!” AJ said as she watched Flash serve it to their side.

She batted it towards Rainbow who immediately sent it flying towards Dusk on the guy’s side. He’d seen it coming at him but the sun had gotten in his eye and he missed it.

“Sorry…” Dusk said apologetically. He briefly caught a glance of Rarity blowing a kiss at him, and he “caught it” quickly, before turning back to Ray.

“Nevermind that.” Ray said. “Still in it. Let’s stay focused, Lover Boy!”

“Right, sorry…” Dusk replied with sweat starting to drip off his face, like everyone else was.

“Dusk, you don’t have to keep apologizing.”

“Sorry! I mean…”

“Have some Gatorade, Dusk!” Singer said, throwing him a cold refreshing drink between the volleys, and simultaneously stopping his awkward rambling.

“Score two to one, now!” Belle shouted.

Twilight and Fluttershy sat on the sidelines, continuing to cheer for their team. However, they’d admittedly cheered for the guys a couple of times as well. Twi would exchange a smile with Singer whenever they were able to catch each other’s gaze.

Fluttershy had her eyes locked on Zephyr. She noticed that he hadn’t done much since the game started. But at least he was where he could be kept track of and he appeared to be staying out of the other guys’ way for the time being.

Applejack was next up to serve. She stood at the back right corner of the boundary line, marked by a sandbag and had her eye on Ray. She’d noticed that he was leaning more towards the right, and Zephyr and Singer were standing on the left side of their area. So methodically, she aimed her serve towards them. She hit it and watched as the ball flew over to the guys side.

However, what she hadn’t counted on was Singer actually managed to hit it, keeping it from hitting the ground, and the ball flew up and to the right, towards Ray, who again took advantage of Rarity. Though to her credit, this time she was actually paying attention, she just hadn’t tracked the ball as fast as it was moving, and Ray was able to slam it right by her.

Rarity hung her head in defeat. “Perhaps, I need a timeout.” She said to Rainbow.

“Sure thing, Rare. Um, Twilight? Would you mind stepping in? I mean if you want to, that is…” Rainbow said apprehensively.

“Of course.” She said as she stood up and allowed Rarity to take her seat. As she and Rarity traded off, she nodded to Rainbow and even smiled as a sign that she was willing to cooperate. Dash nodded back and suddenly felt better about working with her. At least Twi had a sense of professionalism about her, she thought.

Applejack walked over to Twilight because it would have been Rarity’s turn to serve next, but since she stepped in it was on her.

“Now Ah know sports ain’t yer thing, Twi. But if you want, Ah can give you a quick pointer on this serving part.”

Twi smiled and nodded in response.

“Thought so.” AJ chuckled. Applejack gave her a quick rundown on how to position her hands and even gave her the best demonstration she could. “Ya think ya got that?”

“I do. Thank you, Applejack.”

“My pleasure, Twi! Knock ‘em dead!”

Twilight took a deep breath and focused. She’d done as AJ had told her and let the ball slide off her left palm onto her right fist and hit it as hard as she could, and made the ball go over the goal net. “Oh my gosh! I did it!”

She wasn’t counting on the ball coming right back to her though. Luckily, Dash jumped in front of her and batted it towards Pinkie who got the drop on Flash and scored another point for the girls.

“Thanks Rainbow” Twilight smiled at her gratefully.

“You’re welcome, Twi.” That exchange made her feel better about the conversation she knew she needed to have with Singer, and now at least she knew that Twilight didn’t seem to be holding anger towards her as bad now. Dashy shook her head and got her mind back in the zone, though. Still a long way to go in the game. Other matters would have to wait.

In terms of the guys' team however, they were falling apart bit by bit. Ray and Flash continued to be the driving force behind the team. They tried to keep Dusk and Singer motivated, but they were tiring of the game.

However, something unexpected happened. The ball had been hit back over on their side of the net and Dusk and Singer had accidentally collided when trying to get it. It looked like they were about to give another point to the girls, but Zephyr came in with the save and sent it to Flash, who (though he didn’t want to) took advantage of Twi’s inexperience in the game and shot the ball towards where she was standing, and she missed when she tried to hit it.

“Sorry Twilight…” Flash shouted.

“It’s okay, Flash. Just play the game. I’ll catch on eventually.” Twi replied reassuringly. “Hopefully…”

“Breeze, where’s that been this whole game?” Ray inquired. “That was an incredible save!”

“Well it just dawned on me that if we lose, I’m going to have to wear the chicken suit, too.” Zephyr said, a facial expression of disgust adorned his face. “I’d rather not damage my street cred any more than it already is…”

“Whatever you say, Breeze…” Ray said. “As long as you’re helping and not hindering, I don’t care at the moment.”

Singer and Dusk had brushed themselves off, and resumed positions. Zephyr took his turn to serve and sent it off, Flash managed to hit the ball after it had been airborne and not quite over their net, catching Rainbow of all people, off her guard, and even managing to score a point on her.

“What?!?” Rainbow shouted. “There’s no way!”

“Way!” Flash retorted.

“Oh, you’re going down!”

The game was ramping up, big time. The cushion of a lead the girls once had had shrunk down to a one point lead and as each side continued to slowly score one point after another, the lead had actually switched hands as the guys now led by one.

Dusk, who had little confidence in his athletic ability going into this, managed to score a point on the girls by hitting the ball towards Applejack’s position. AJ had just made an unfortunate accidental contact with Pinkie Pie, and she was accidentally knocked into one of the poles that held the net up.

“Sorry Pinkie…” AJ said sincerely.

“I’m seeing funny dancing cupcakes! Mr Discord, if I paint them, will I get an A?” She said with her eyes swirling, and cupcakes dancing around her head.

It was in that moment, that Twilight was beginning to tire, Pinkie needed a minute to regain herself. So they traded places with Fluttershy, who’d yet to make her mark on the game, and Rarity, who was in need of a bit of redemption.

“Whew…” Twilight sighed as she took her seat next to a recovering Pinkie. “That was fun… But it’s exhausting…”

“You did great, sweetie!” Singer called from the other side. Twilight, still catching her breath, could only respond with a thumbs up, before she leaned back in the chair.

“Yer mighty formidable, Strike…” Applejack said with a smirk, as she casually leaned against the net. “And here Ah thought this was gonna be easy…”

“Never underestimate your opponent, AJ” Ray said with a wink.

“Yer right about that. Don’ worry… ain’t happenin’ again…”

“You’d think for as long as you’ve known me, you’d know that I don’t back down easily.”

“Well Ah won’t be forgettin’ that any time soon.” She winked back as she moved back to stand between Rainbow and Rarity. She turned to the latter. “Ya ready for round two?”

“Indeed. I’ve had a chance to collect myself and refresh, and now? It… is… on!” Rarity replied with a newfound determination. “Also, I refuse to wear a hula skirt. That trend died seventeen summers ago.”

“If you say so.” Rainbow said, smiling.

Spike, who’d spent the game making commentary to mostly himself and Belle (the latter who’d been nodding in and out of consciousness due to wanting to take a nap) continued to do so even though virtually nobody was listening.

“Well the game has reached its climax, folks! The guys continue to boast a one point lead, but the girls have been relentless the entire game! And it’s getting hairy as one side only needs three points, and the other only needs two to win the game! This is exciting! Where’s ESPN?!?”

“I don’t think it’s that exciting…” Flash said to him. “Nice commentary, though.”

“Thanks Flash!”

“You got this, Fluttershy!” Sunset said as she was about to serve.

“Thank you, Sunset.” She said with a smile. “Now let’s win this game!”

“That’s the spirit, Fluttershy! Come on girls!” Rainbow said with some newfound energy.

Ray, in a slight panic, tried his best to rally his guys on his side. “Come on guys! We can do this! What are we?”

“Uh, tired? Beaten?” Flash replied unsurely.

“MEN! And what are we not?” Ray said.

“A bunch of chickens!” Singer shouted.

“No we are not!” Dusk said, rallying himself.

“Eh… go team…” Zephyr said exasperatedly. “JUST DON’T LOSE!”

“That’s the spirit!” Ray shouted.

“All in one…” Dusk began.

“And one for all!” The rest, sans Zephyr replied in unison.

“Yeah what you said…” Zephyr replied finally. “Sorry I don’t read Shakespeare…”

Twilight had heard his remark and cringed from her seat. “Shakespeare? Really?!?” She shouted with a passionate anger.

“Just let it go, Twilight. Let it go…” Pinkie said, finally coming back to herself.

“Fine…” Twilight crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, still clearly annoyed.

“Here’s the serve!” Sunset said, as she hit the ball, sending it flying over the net yet again.

Flash Sentry dove backward as it was going right for the back right corner of their side and hit it towards Ray, who batted it back to the girls side. However he made a big mistake in hitting it towards an open gap on the girls side that was unguarded, which would have been a great tactical move had Sunset not been eyeing it for the last minute. She made her move to spike it right back into another open spot on the guys’ side.

“Point!” Belle said, as she’d woken up from a light nap.

“And now, the score is tied. Both teams need two more points to win. This could be a grudge match to the end… I can’t watch! Yes I can!” Spike said.

“Thanks for the update, kiddo.” Belle said. “I kinda nodded off for a bit there.”

“That's why I’m here.” Spike said with a sense of pride.

Dusk came to the serve, this time. He took a deep breath and…

“Come on! Hit it!” Zephyr shouted. “I’ve got a DoorDash order coming and it will be here in twenty minutes. Chop! Chop!”

Dusk looked over at him pointedly, but chose not to reply. He repeated what he was doing and hit the ball to get the game going once more.

The ball had gone over the net, and Sunset was on it again, Ray was ready for it this time, however, and he batted it back over and Rainbow Dash hit it right back over in Flash’s direction. Flash quickly jumped up and hit it right back. It went right past Fluttershy but went out of bounds.

“Out!” Belle shouted.

Rainbow retrieved the ball, and tossed it to Rarity who would serve next. She did so, and the game pressed on.

There was a lot of back and forth. Singer hit the ball, but was unable to make it back over the net, so the guys would have to serve it once again.

Ray was up to serve this time, and he hit it upward, and his teammates would hit it amongst themselves a few times before finally sending it over to the girls’ side once again. Flash, Singer and Dusk were also more alert than they’d been the whole game. They were more motivated now, and like a well oiled machine, they kept the ball in the air when it came back over to their side and yet again, sent it back over.

However, one hit from Rarity towards where Zephyr was standing would be the move that changed everything. Zephyr, who’d done a good job for the most part in the game, chose an inopportune time to check his DoorDash order and the hit from the fashionista that landed right by his feet gave the girls the point they needed. Now the girls were in prime position to take this home.

The guys looked distraught as they all shot a glare at Zephyr, who’d finally looked up from his phone and caught their angry looks. “Oh… oh no. My bad…” He said as he realized what had just happened.

“It’s fine… fine…” Ray said. It was not fine.

“Bawk! Bawk! Bawk!” Rainbow taunted from the other side of the net, making the chicken wings with her arms and everything.

“Not helping, Dash!” Flash protested.

“Well duh, it’s called ‘getting in your head’!” She remarked with a boisterous chuckle. “I’ve been holding that one in for a while.”

“We gave it our best effort, but… we can only do so much at this point.” Dusk said, sounding defeated.

“We still have a chance.” Flash said.

“Dude’s right.” Ray said. “We’ve gotta see this through. Even if we lose, we won’t lose by much and that’s the main thing. But we’re not quitting until the fifteenth point is scored.”

They all nodded as they got back into formation. Flash would serve the ball, and the girls would be ready. And once again, both sides would be engaged in an all out grudge match. The guys, trying desperately to get another point on the girls, and the girls just wanting to close the book on this game.

Rainbow Dash saw it coming to her, and she jumped up as she saw an opening. “Time to end this!” She shouted as she put her full force behind the hit she put on the ball, and it seemed to be screaming ablaze when she hit it across the net.

What she didn’t count on was Singer making a daring attempt to block Dash’s ball and had made a desperate jump to catch it. However, instead of catching it with his hands, it got him right in the face. WHAM!

Singer was sent careening backward. It was pretty violent, the way the ball hit him in the face, and he pushed up some sand as he fell backwards and his back hit the sand. Once he came to a stop, he was still moving and was okay, but he held his face in pain.

Rainbow’s expression went from determined to concerned. That was not what she had wanted to do. Disregarding the events from the night before, and disregarding the game itself, she rushed over to her friend’s side to check on him.

“Singer!” She shouted, nearly knocking Dusk off his feet to get to him. “Come on Sing! Are you okay, dude? Speak to me! I didn’t mean for that to happen!”

“Ow…” he said, continuing to hold his face. “What happened?”

Another rushed to his side. Twilight approached quickly with concern in her features. She was relieved to see that he was okay for the most part. His face was bleeding a bit, but his nose didn’t appear to be broken. And he had a black eye, but nothing too concerning. This didn’t stop Twilight from getting mad.

“Rainbow Dash, what were you thinking? Did you plan this?”

“What?!? No! How could you say that?” She defended.

“You made your feelings perfectly clear last night.” Twi countered with a sense of bitterness in her voice.

“And I’ve been trying to apologize for that.”

“Really? Because as far as I know, Singer has yet to receive an apology of any kind.”

“Twi, come on now…” Singer said, but was overshadowed by the bickering.

“It’s not my fault he ran off this morning, or I would have by now! Nor is it my fault that he caught the ball with his face!”

“Dash, let’s just-…” Singer said, but was unable to get either of their attention.

“Of course not, nothing’s ever your fault.” Twilight replied harshly.

“Get over yourself, Twilight!”

“HEY! ENOUGH!” Singer shouted angrily. “Both of you knock it off!” He’d shouted at a volume that no one present, his mom included, had ever heard him shout. It even caught the gaze of a few random people nearby. He caught himself however, and cowered down. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to yell, but I couldn’t take hearing you two fight like that. You’re friends, and my friends on top of that. And you should start acting like it. I know I’m new here and have my own role in this dynamic, but still I don’t ever want to come between you and mess up your friendship. This fighting has to stop. Saying mean things to each other and carrying on a grudge is not what friends do.”

After a few moments of thinking on what Singer had said, Twilight’s eyes began to tear up as she realized how nasty she’d been to Rainbow just now. Even if Rainbow had started it, it didn’t excuse what she’d said or the manner she’d said it in. “Rainbow Dash, I’m so sorry… I don’t know what came over me. But what I said… I didn’t mean it. Any of it. I was just angry, and I got caught up in my emotions, and… I’m sorry…”

“No, I’m the one who’s sorry.” She said with tears of her own. “I’m sorry for how I treated you, Singer, and for what I said to you guys last night. And I’m sorry about hitting you in the face with the ball… even if that was an accident. I… I was wrong to start this in the first place. I took things out on you that weren’t your fault, and overreacted to much of it. I’ve been a terrible friend to you the last twenty four hours, and I’m really sorry…”

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry too. I wasn’t blameless either.” Singer said, holding his face in pain. “I want to make it up to you somehow, Dash.”

“Don’t worry about it, Singer.” Dash said, as she and Twilight helped him to his feet. “It’s water under the bridge as far as I’m concerned, if it is to you.”

“I’d be fine with that…”

“I’m just glad we’re all friends again.” Twilight said as she and Rainbow Dash both wrapped their arms around Singer in a hug for a brief moment before they broke away.

“As far as I’m concerned, we never stopped being friends.” He replied. With his good eye, he noted the others watching the scene unfold. “Uh, sorry about hijacking the game, everyone.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Sunset said. “I have a feeling that all of that needed to be said. I’m just glad that the tension is over… well…” She’d briefly forgotten about Zephyr when she’d said that.

“For the most part.” Applejack added.

Singer would be alright, but would be unable to finish the game. He held a cold water bottle to his face as he sat by Twilight as they watched their friends hash it out. Rather than try to finish the game with four players, Zephyr was relieved of duty and Belle and Spike were recruited to join the guy’s team for the final stretch. It was bending the rules a bit, but they couldn’t count on Zephyr anymore, and Belle and Spike wanted a little bit of the action.

Rainbow would also sit out the remainder of the game, but would be replaced by Pinkie.

“Zephyr, just know that if we lose, you’re still wearing that chicken onesie with the rest of us.” Ray said as he looked over at him with a glare.

“Eh whatevs…” he replied indifferently.

Ray was next up to serve and the ball and he hit the ball and it soared over the net, and it was hit by Rarity, who couldn’t quite make it over the net, but Pinkie Pie, making her comeback, saved it from hitting the ground inside their own boundary.

The ball made its way back over to Dusk, who’d hit it successfully over the net, over to Sunset. She hit it back over and it caught the hand of Ray, who batted it right back at Sunset.

Sunset wasn’t expecting this, however. She still managed to hit it, but it rolled off her palm, and went spiraling upwards and came down almost clearing the net. That’s when Fluttershy made a knee jerk reaction move to lunge forward in the knick of time, and just so slightly tapped the ball upward, making it ever so slightly hop over the net and down onto the ground on the guys’ side, as they hadn’t expected the ball to be coming from such a close range.

“Did I do it?” Fluttershy asked with her eyes closed, as everyone stood gobsmacked.

“Yeah…” Sunset replied softly, before being the first to cheer. “You did it! We won!”

All six of the remaining girls collectively came together and hugged Fluttershy. Yet another impressive feat she’d accomplished in the span of two days, as she briefly remembered her insanely quiet strike from bowling the night before.

Zephyr watched on bitterly as he ate his DoorDash order that had arrived, while his sister was being hoisted in the air by her friends. He didn’t even try to make eye contact with his teammates.

“Well…” Dusk said, soaking in the defeat. “I suppose we should see Rarity about our chicken costumes.”

“Hey, chin up guys!” Ray said. “We could sulk about losing, or we could choose to be graceful losers and take our undignified defeat in stride. Besides, there’s always the next game.”

“Only, you’re no longer allowed to discuss the terms of what happens with the losing side.” Dusk remarked.

“That’s one hundred percent fair!” Ray laughed, scratching the back of his head.

“Yeah that’s for the best.” Flash said, before turning his attention to his best friend. “Hey Sing, are you doing okay?”

“I mean besides the burning sensation on my face, I’m actually feeling alright. Twilight and Rainbow are getting along again, and Rainbow no longer wants to pound my face in. Defeat and injury aside, I’m going to be just fine.”

“Glad to hear it, bro.” Flash said as they fist bumped. “Are you ready for the chicken dance?”

“Dude, I’m going to admit something… I actually love the chicken dance. This won’t be much of a punishment for me.”

“You would say that.” Flash remarked with a smile, as he helped Singer back up on his feet. “Well, I guess we better go get this over with.”

“Don’t worry, my friend. It won’t be so bad.”

While waiting to see the fruits of their labor in the win they scored on the guys, all of the girls except for Rarity who was off with the guys to get them into their chicken onesie costumes, were taking a load off by relaxing on their beach towels that had their own personal insignias emblazoned on them.

Twilight had been on one end beside Sunset, while Pinkie, Rainbow, Applejack and Fluttershy in that order, rounded out the lineup. Twilight was wearing a stylized lavender colored captain’s hat, and Singer’s sunglasses in place of her normal glasses, which were sitting beside her. She looked over and noticed a blurry white and purple blob that resembled Rarity being followed by not one, but five guys in yellow chicken onesies, though they also looked like blurry blobs to her until she switched back to her normal glasses. The sight was hilarious once she’d made the switch, and she couldn’t help but laugh uncontrollably, waking the others who’d slightly dozed off a bit.

“Yeah, yeah. Yuck it up, Twilight…” Ray remarked, prompting the other girls to join her in laughter when they beheld the sight.

“This is better than I expected!” Sunset chortled.

“I’m definitely glad we didn’t lose because this is way funnier than what we would have had to do!” Rainbow said, as she erupted into her typical boisterous laughter.

Dusk, Ray and Flash all looked like they’d rather be elsewhere at this point. They all stood with their backs to the waves, as they took in the laughter emitting from the girls. Zephyr on the other hand, looked virtually unbothered by this. Indifferent, really. Singer was the outlier because he was loving it. He was smiling and laughing along with the girls, even though he knew they were sorta laughing at him.

“Hey, for all you taking pics, don’t forget to get my good side. Wings, legs and all! We’ll make a whole bucket!” Singer said as he struck a few poses, laughing along with the girls.

“He must have hit his head harder than we thought…” Ray whispered to Dusk.

“Well, I know one thing, standing out here in this getup isn’t doing us any favors.” Dusk said. “It’s ninety six degrees out here and I’m already sweating in this thing.”

“Yeah, I’m sweating bullets, too.” Flash said.

“Rarity, how could you let me do this?” Dusk said to Rarity.

“Oh, hush. You know what participating in foolish bets over games entails.” She said with a laugh. “But sweetie, you really do look so adorable as a chicken.” Dusk couldn’t tell if the rise in temperature in the costume was due to his embarrassment, his irritation of the situation or if it was getting that much hotter outside. He just knew he wanted this over with, stat!

“Okay, okay!” Rainbow said as she was doing what she could to stop laughing. She pulled out her phone and prepared the stream. “Dance you chickens!” She said as she had Pinkie play “The Chicken Dance” music over a small speaker she had.

“One, two, three, Go!” Singer said as they all began.

The five guys lined up and started to do the hand motions of a chicken head first, then they bent their elbows to make their arms into the chicken wings, and then to the most embarrassing part… when they’d shake their chicken tushes to shake their tail feathers, and then finally the clap.

They’d do this on repeat until the song broke into the bridge music where they’d freestyle. Singer, as you can imagine, was still having the most fun with it as he literally kicked up sand like an actual chicken, and even bobbed his head as he did so.

The others just waved their arms and kicked their legs begrudgingly until the main part of the music would go again for another half a minute and they had to do the chicken dance motions a few more times until Rainbow Dash mercifully cut off the stream and made a cut motion with her hand to let them know they could stop.

“Freedom!” Dusk shouted happily as he shed his costume, nearly tripping over the legs of the suit as he climbed out of it, and ran off into the water behind him to cool off. Ray, Flash, Zephyr and Singer would immediately follow suit, ditching the chicken suits, and running towards the shallows with the girls in tow, into the water.

They all spent the next several minutes splashing each other in the shallows and cutting up. Singer had Twilight sitting on his shoulders, before letting her fall backwards into the deeper water behind them, after which she’d respond by pulling him in with her. They faced each other, laughing and then proceeded to start splashing.

Dusk and Rarity embraced one another, now that they were both soaked from the ocean before Rarity would proceed to give him a kiss as a sort of apology for the chicken costume. They were immediately interrupted by Pinkie and Rainbow dumping buckets of water over them, which led to Rarity furiously chasing them out of the water and along the beach. Dusk just watched, trying to hold back his laughter.

Fluttershy was starting to feel accomplished, as she managed to get Zephyr to stop being sour for a minute when she began to splash him, possibly bringing some childhood memories back because he was cutting up and splashing her back, and was finally seemingly having a good time. It was about time he started to act like he was having fun, she’d thought to herself. If he had to be here, they might as well be getting along.

Ray and Applejack had engaged in a splash fight of their own, until they’d noticed that they had veered off to themselves. Normally, this wouldn’t be a big deal, but lately things were starting to get a bit weird between them, but it wouldn’t last for more than a second. They’d catch each other in a gaze for a minute and then they’d go on. They couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was, but they pushed past it and moved closer to their friends.

Flash swam over to Sunset, who was going into waist deep water and tried to talk to her.

“Hey Sunset,” he said a bit nervously.

“Hey Flash. How’s it going?” She replied.

“Uh, great. Just great. Look, I uh… there’s a carnival over on the South Pier, and I was wondering if maybe you’d want to hang out and go tonight.”

“That sounds like fun. I’d love to go.”

“Really? Uh, cool. If you want, I can see if maybe Twilight, Rainbow, or someone would want to tag along. Just so, you know, it’s not like a date or something.”

“Flash, it’s okay. I think you and I should totally go. It would be a nice way to catch up on some more hang out time.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She said with a smile.

Flash’s heart was beating like a drum, but he played it as cool as he could and smiled. “Cool, I guess I’ll see you tonight, then.”

Singer had moved over by where he was, with just his head sticking out of the water. “Was that what I think it just was?”

“I hope so, Singer. I really hope so.”

“Just remember what we talked about.”

“Right. I will.”

Everyone had migrated back over to the shallows, and the gang just sort of hung around in the waist deep water, relaxing. Belle and Spike, who’d gone for some ice cream during the chicken dance thing, had also since returned and joined them in the water as well. It was finally starting to feel like a vacation, and everyone was loving it.

“Who’s up for a rematch game?” Ray asked. There was a long pause before everyone else immediately started splashing him mercilessly. “I’m kidding! I’m kidding!”

Northbound on up a ways, was the party of Celestia and Luna, who had also taken the day to let loose and relax. There had been a volleyball net set-up along where they had been as well, and they had actually been invited to play with some other random adults. They had put on quite a show, as the sisters were scary good at volleyball, and the team that they’d been invited to play on crushed it.

They had their fold out lounging chairs out and they were taking a celebratory rest several feet away from the shoreline, complete with large umbrellas for shade and the lemonades in their hands.

The two had been in their bathing suits as well. Celestia had on a pink two piece bathing suit and was also wearing a four-colored skirt with light pink, light green, light blue and purple lines that matched her hair. She also had been rocking a white sun hat and white framed sunglasses.

Luna kept it a bit more modest as she wore a light blue one piece complete with a dark blue skirt. She too, had on a sun hat, but it was light blue and her sunglasses had black frames.

At the moment, they’d been taking a break and were on their phones. Luna was busy texting Professor Sombra, giggling as she did so. She’d also been texting Professor Cranky Doodle, and her facial expressions when he’d text were a night and day difference in contrast to Sombra’s. Celestia had been dozing off a bit, but was awake to see this. She didn’t interfere with Luna’s social life, but she had picked up on being able to tell who she was texting based on her subtle reactions to each message.

Celestia was about to have a conversation of her own when her phone rang. A video call was being requested, and by a familiar face. She accepted it, albeit a bit begrudgingly. The face in question belonged to a light brown skinned man with red irises in his yellow eyes, big white bushy eyebrows, a full head of dark brown hair on the top with white hair on the sides of his head, and he appeared to be wearing his usual clothing choice, in a yellow dress shirt, minus the brown suit jacket he he’d normally be wearing, as well as a bright light blue tie.

“Hello Professor Iscorde…” She greeted him, somewhat sourly. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Do I sense a bit of saltiness in your tone?” He asked with a playful grin. “It’s not very becoming of you, Celestia. And please, call me Discord. It’s what all the cool kids called me in college.”

“That was a long time ago, I was there. And my apologies. Luna and I are on vacation at Waytona Beach, enjoying some sisterly bonding time.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not calling because I need anything. I was just calling to check in on one of my favorite friends. Also, I’m bored…”

“Well, I suppose I can talk for a moment. We’re not exactly busy right now.”

“Taking a bit of a social media break, I see. Though typically that entails a break from such things. I will never understand social media and the need for it. It takes away from the time you could be spending creating things and adding a bit of creativity to society.”

Celestia giggled a bit at that. “You’re not wrong.”

“Oh poo…” Discord said as he heard crashing in the background. “That had better not be my new tea set! If you break another one, you’re paying for it, Gerry!”

“Everything alright?”

“Oh, for the most part. Roommates are such a pain. Especially this one. Just will not clean up after himself. I’m sorry to cut this short, but duty calls! Do enjoy your vacation, and I hope you have a fun… uninterrupted time.” He said with a sinister grin. “Cheerio, bestie!” The call ended.

“Perhaps telling him where we are was a mistake…” she said, but she put it away for now.

“I see that I’m not the only popular one right now.” Joked Luna. “We leave for one day and we’re already bombarded with messages. Though, not all of them are unwelcome, I suppose.” She said as she got another emoji ridden message from Sombra, who she could swear had very little understanding as to what any of them meant.

Celestia smirked. “No, I suppose not. So, I hear there’s a carnival on the pier south of here. I was thinking maybe we could go tonight.”

“That sounds like a great idea! I do love a good carnival game. And the temperature out here is heavenly in the evening. Great call, Sister.”

Celestia giggled. “Indeed! I can’t wait.”

Author's Note

There has been slight edits to the previous chapters but mostly grammatically and cosmetically.

Carnival Night

Author's Note

I’m so very sorry that it took me months to update this. I don’t have any excuses to offer, aside from real life stuff and having rewritten this chapter a few times. I just dropped the ball on this but I’m looking to get it back on track.

I want to give some credit to a good buddy of mine, SCI-FiWizardMan who’s helped me along the way with this story and giving me advice.

Also special thanks to AlphaTheGriffin17 who’s work continues to be the inspiration behind this, and he’s given me some ideas and tips along the way as well as his support.

I hope to make your patience in waiting for this chapter worth it. And here’s to not near a long wait time for the next one.

Carnival Night

There were many things going through Flash’s mind as he stood outside of the door, waiting for Sunset to come out of the hotel room that she and Twilight were now sharing. She’d told him it would take her about fifteen minutes to get ready, but he’d been standing out in the hall now for about twenty. He figured it best to not take her literally in this case, especially since, even though this wasn’t technically a date, she was probably still trying to look good for the evening. Flash didn’t mind. He was just looking forward to what the night would bring.

After the kerfuffle that was the room arrangements from the previous night had been taken care of, everyone now had an appropriate roommate. Flash had been paired up with Singer, Dusk with Ray, Twilight obviously with Sunset, the siblings Fluttershy and Zephyr shared a room for obvious reasons, AJ and Rarity, and Rainbow with Pinkie. And everyone seemed to be happy with their placement. Everyone except Zephyr, but his opinion wasn’t taken in any regard due to the nature of his presence on the trip in the first place.

“Hey Flash” a voice said from behind. Flash turned around to see Ray standing there. Like him, Ray had also changed out of his swimwear and into regular clothes. He’d changed into a light gray t-shirt, accompanied by jeans and tennis shoes. Similar to what Flash himself had been wearing, apart from the color of his shirt being blue.

“Oh, what’s going on, Ray?”

“Nothing much,” he replied. “Just waiting on someone.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yep, fun stuff. So, I know you said that you and Sunset just wanted to hangout by yourselves tonight, and that’s totally cool, but you don’t mind if AJ and I tag along for the bus ride over there do you? She’s getting ready as we speak, and I got roped into going along. No pun intended, of course.”

“Not a problem, man.” Flash replied. “But, something tells me that you don’t mind too much.”

“I don’t mind at all, really. AJ likes carnivals, and I think they’re fun too. Though I get a sense that a fun night out isn’t the only reason why you wanted to go with Sunset tonight.”

“It’s that obvious, huh?” Flash said, nervously scratching the back of his head.

“Super obvious. Like, I’m pretty sure all of us know what’s going on, you know? But I don’t think there’s anyone rooting against you in this case. Though, I must give you an obligatory warning. Sunset is my friend, so if you hurt her, you’ll have to answer to me. Got it?” Ray said in a jesting fashion, but there was an undertone of seriousness there that Flash picked up on.

“Oh, I got it.” Flash said with a smile. “I’m not looking to repeat the mistakes I made in the past.”

“I wouldn’t know about that, but given what I do know, for at least as long as I’ve been around, I think you’ll be alright. You two seem to get along well enough.”

“Thanks Ray.”

“Don’t thank me yet, it’s up to you not to mess this up. But in all seriousness, I hope everything goes well for you two tonight.”

“That’s assuming that she ever wants to actually get back together. I still have to live with it if she doesn’t. And if not, she’ll always be my friend. And for what it’s worth, it’s enough.”

“You’re a good guy, Flash.” Ray said. “Hang in there.”

Flash nodded to him right before their attentions were diverted to an opening door. It was Applejack. She popped out and shut the door behind her and with a grin, addressing Ray as she came out of her room, dressed in her normal country style attire such as a bandana, her long sleeve t-shirt and some faded denim jeans.

“Howdy, y’all! What’r you two out here gossipin’ about?”

“Nothing much.” Flash replied.

“Absolutely nothing. No gossiping at all. Just chatting about guys stuff, you know.”

“If you say so…” AJ said. “Sure is a nice night out. Ah hope y’all don’t mind us going out to the Carnival at the same time, Flash.”

“Not at all.” Flash said. “Ray explained everything to me. No issues here.”

“Good. Ah already talked with Sunset about it so she knows too. Speaking a’ which. She should be comin’ outta there any minute now.”

No sooner did Applejack say that, the door handle on Sunset’s room began to jiggle and the door suddenly flew open.

“Sorry I’m late, guys.” Sunset said as she burst out of her hotel room with her hair brush in hand before throwing said hair brush back in the room before closing the door. Sunset had her long red and yellow streaked hair styled in a ponytail while wearing a long sleeved t-shirt featuring art of a Phoenix on it, as well as a dark blue pair of denim jeans and her white tennis shoes. “My hair took forever to finally dry.”

“No problem. Uh, you look nice, Sunset.” Flash smiled at her, grimacing nervously.

Sunset returned it. “Thanks for waiting for me, sorry it took me so long. You uh, you look nice too, by the way.” She said with a blush.

“Thanks, you too… gah!” Flash returned, whispering that last interjection, before mentally slapping himself for basically repeating what he’d already said.

Applejack and Ray looked on at this with a bit of concern, but once Flash and Sunset regained their composures, they too relaxed as it appeared a crisis or a meltdown had been averted. Like Ray, AJ had been privy to what was going on with Flash and Sunset and was hoping that everything would go smoothly for them, no matter what happened between them.

Flash and Sunset were still blushing a bit afterwards, but they quickly recovered and started out to the lobby where they’d exit through the front entrance. Once outside, they waited for the bus to come, which it did. And the four friends all boarded the bus and off they went.

The bus ride had been a brief five minute ride, giving them little time to chat, but they’d arrived and promptly exited the bus. There would be plenty of time for hanging out at least. Once off the bus, AJ and Ray waved at Flash and Sunset before they took off.

There were a lot of things going through Flash’s mind as he and Sunset stuck together while they walked. But he knew that he probably better keep his expectations in check. They would each take brief glances at each other before swiftly looking away and blushing. Both laughed almost every time it happened as if they were playing some silly game.

The setting sun had brought the outside temperature down to a nice less hot temperature, which, accompanied by the coolness of the sea, made the air very pleasant to be in. Sunset and Flash walked over to the edge and leaned on the railing and looked out at the ocean as the small waves would slide across the surface and land on the shallow surrounding beach.

“So, are you as excited as I am?” Flash asked her.

“I am. Thanks for asking me to come with you. It means a lot.” She replied with a smile.

“Hey, it was my pleasure. I was hoping you’d say yes when I asked you to come with me.” He stopped himself, realizing that he might have just started to sound desperate. “Uh… I mean… You know what I mean… oh man.” Luckily Sunset appeared to be in a very understanding mood tonight.

She put her hand on his shoulder, knowing how hard this had to be for him. “I know you were. Look Flash, I just want to say I appreciate you and your feelings towards me. But I also appreciate you taking my feelings into consideration after our conversation last night. You’re a good friend.”

“So are you. Which is why I don’t want it to seem like I’m trying to persuade you to go out with me, still. I just wanted to spend time with you tonight, even if I’m still holding out hope a little bit. Just thought I’d be honest about my intentions.”

“I’m going to be honest with you, too…” she said as she looked down at first but then she turned to face him. “I’ve had time to think about what you said last night, throughout today.”

Flash nodded and looked at her attentively and somewhat hopefully. He could see her fidgeting nervously with her fingers in her hair. She shuffled off to the side as Flash stood there with his hands in his pockets.

“I’ve also taken the time to talk to some really good friends about this, you might know them.” She was playfully referring to her conversation earlier with Dusk, Rarity and Twilight, and she tittered as she continued. “And they brought up some good points about how I’ve been treating myself lately. I’ve been hiding from my feelings because I didn’t feel like I deserved another chance, but I don’t want to just string you along just because of my fears.” She’d moved back closer to him and placed her hand on his shoulder.

“You’re not stringing me along, your feelings are just as important as anyone else’s.”

“Thank you. But the truth is, after you told me what you told me last night, I realized that I also wanted to give us another chance. It was just happening so suddenly that I internally freaked out and was trying to make sense of things. I’m sorry about that. But I really do still like you.”

“Wait, seriously?” His eyes widened a bit as his right hand came up out of his pocket and found itself resting on the crown of his head.

“Seriously. But I was afraid to act on it. But now, I’m not afraid anymore. I have always wondered what could have been had I not done the things I did.” Her demeanor turned somber for a brief moment, remembering what she’d done to her friends before and how she was awful to Flash when they were a couple the first time. But Flash was quick to chime in again.

“We were both immature, Sunset. I wish you would stop putting all the blame on yourself. I didn’t help matters much either with how hot headed I was… and at times can still be. Remember I wasn’t completely innocent either.”

“I guess, but you wouldn’t have if not for me.” She expressed a bit of forlorn in her features for a brief moment, before she looked up at him.

“Well, now we’re here, and I really don’t care about that anymore. You’re not the same as you used to be.” Flash said as he moved closer to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I’d even argue that you’ve never been a better person than you are now. And I really admire you.” Flash smiled at her reassuringly as he told her this.

Sunset threw her arms around him and wrapped him in a hug. Flash returned it. “You really are the best…”

“I’m sorry about the guilt you’ve had and the way you’ve been made to feel, Sunset. Even though you may feel like you deserve it, you don’t.” He said as he slightly tightened his arms around her. “But it’s time to let it all go. For good.”

With a sigh of relief, Sunset released Flash from her embrace, and Flash did the same and she held his hands. “Flash? Can this be a date? I think I’m ready to give this another shot.”

“Wait, for real? Oh… um. Yeah. But only if you’re absolutely sure you want to.” He said as he casually scratched the back of his head.

“I am. I’ve never been more sure. I’m tired of the awkwardness and trying to hide how I feel. I want to go out with you again. And I want to have fun tonight.”

“Well then, uh, I guess I’d better make it official then, um… Sunset Shimmer, will you go out with me… again?” Flash asked with a grin. He’d been in disbelief at first, but it was becoming more and more real the longer they talked about it, and now she’d confirmed it.

“Yeah. I will.” She nodded, and walked beside him, and wrapped her arm around his side and across his back and halfway embracing him. “Lead the way, Mr Sentry.”

Flash was elated, so much so that he pumped his fist out of excitement, in which Sunset responded with a laugh at his display. He couldn’t believe it! And all this time she’d felt the same way that he felt. He knew that he didn’t want to mess this up. She’d overcome her fears and put herself out there again. It was a bit of a risk, something that Flash didn’t take lightly. In his mind, he made it his personal mission to make this night fun.

Sunset’s thoughts were similar in nature to Flash’s. The idea of dating her ex again made her a bit nervous, but in her mind, his patience and persistence had earned him this second chance. It would be a second chance and a new and better beginning for the both of them. Besides, she knew that she wanted this too. It was time to stop denying it and give it a chance. So far, she could say that she made the right choice.

Once they had finally entered the fair, through the ticket purchase line, they wandered inside, unaware of what was following behind them.

A large group of muscle cars and some motorcycles had made their way to the designated parking area that lie just by the starting point of the pier, and off to the side. The rear bumpers and windows of each car and the backs of the motorcycles had one thing in common. Bumper stickers colored purple and emblazoned with the gold ‘Mu Pi’ logo. Unbeknownst to our rather large group of protagonists, this would be the start of what would make this trip to Waytona Beach a memorable one.

Ray and Applejack had made the most of their time out. Neither of them had felt like lounging around like everyone else had wanted to and for lack of any better ideas, they thought that Flash’s idea sounded fun. Well at least Applejack did. Ray warmed up to it once he’d gotten there, but seemed indifferent at first. Once he saw all of the food stands, games and rides, it didn’t take long for him to get into the mood.

He and Applejack had just exited out of the big roller coaster and took a minute to catch their breaths and chuckle at each other’s appearance, in particular their hair, as Ray’s messy light silver hair had all been pushed back to where you could actually see his forehead, and Applejack’s hair had come undone by virtue of her hair bands falling off during the ride, causing her yellow hair to flow freely. AJ, being in a playful mood, ruffled Ray’s hair back to its former messy glory while they were still cutting up.

“Not the most intense roller coaster I’ve ever been on, but it was still exhilarating.” He remarked as he tried to catch his breath.

“Yup. Though Ah’ve ridden broncos that packed more a’ a punch then that.” She said as she pulled out some extra rubber bands to fix her hair back.

“More than a roller coaster? Yeah, not likely.”

“Anyway…” AJ said, dismissing Ray’s comment. “How about we play some games?”

“Well, we’ve already established that I’m a ski-ball master, so there’s no point in challenging me at that.” Ray said with a smug look.

“In yer dreams, Strike…” AJ retorted as she looked around at all the games and food stands that was around. And there was a multitude of selections to be made. But it wouldn’t be long before one game booth in particular caught her eye. “Ah bet Ah can beat you at that there target shootin’ game.”

“I’m game. Let’s do it.” Ray said as he followed her. He matched her steps as she walked over to the Target Game booth. But his pace slowed almost as quick as Applejack’s did when he noticed her stop for a double take.

“What is it, AJ?” Ray asked as he stopped and looked over at her as she was squinting her eyes.

“Somethin’ seem familiar about that feller ta you?”

Ray looked ahead and noticed that the attendant at the game wore a familiar white and red striped shirt with a light brown brimmed hat, and he was currently turned with his back facing them. “Now that you mention it, that man has a terrible taste in fashion. And there are only two people I know who dress like Vaudeville rejects…”

“But… it can’t be, can it? Not all the way out here!” AJ exclaimed, before taking a few more steps closer. When the man turned around, AJ couldn’t believe her eyes.

“Well, well, well… if it isn’t Applejack and her comical sidekick.” The tall slender man with yellow skin, curly orange hair with thin yellow streaks through it, said as he’d turned around to see Applejack and Ray staring right at him. It was Flim of the Flim Flam brothers. The one without the bushy red mustache.

“Pfffft… sidekick. I’ll show you sidekick…” Muttered Ray as he rolled his eyes.

“Hey Flam, dear brother, you’ll never guess who just showed up!”

“Why I do declare!” Flam, the mustachioed one, said as he came around from behind the booth. “If they weren’t standing here looking at me, I wouldn’t believe it!”

“What’r you crooked sidewinders doin’ all the way out in these parts? Finally get bored with tryn’a steal our cider recipe?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Flim said with the most innocent looking face he could muster.

“So what con are ya tryn’a pull now?” She said with a snarl to her voice.

“No con, honest to goodness.” Flam said, making a cross motion across his heart. “We just decided to widen our horizons into new ventures. Waytona Beach is prime territory for making a quick buck.”

“Non discriminatory patronage opportunities, yes indeed!” Flim threw in.

“So you decided that running a carnie game would be an honest venture? Yeah I call bull on that.” Ray said as he crossed his arms.

“What? Are you saying don’t think you could beat the game?” Flim said with a smirk.

“Admitting defeat before you even give it a chance, eh? Where’s the sport in that?” Flam threw in.

“Now who said that?” Applejack said. “Ah can beat this game like it was nothin’, and Ah can do it fair and square!”

“I don’t know, Applejack.” Ray said. “A lot of these games are rigged. And given your…'' he stopped himself when she turned to him, shooting a glare his way. “er… our history of getting duped by these guys, I think we’re better off not even entertaining it.” No sooner did he say this, he noticed the two brothers mocking him by making chicken wings of their arms. How juvenile, he thought to himself.

And by now, Applejack had dismissed his concerns and began to get that look in her eye. The look of someone who disliked losing. And yet again, Applejack had gotten herself swept up in yet another competition. Like she’d done with Rainbow Dash and even Rarity multiple times, The Flim Flam Brothers were another of her fiercest rivals, and they weren’t friendly rivalries like with her friends. Applejack couldn’t stand these two, nor could they, her. And both parties knew the feeling was mutual.

“Strike, Ah ain’t backin down from this. Ah’m gonna show these two that ya can’t pull one over on Applejack!” This was no longer about a friendly game. This was war.

“Gosh…” Ray sighed exasperatedly. “You are one of the most stubborn people I’ve ever met.”

“Takes one to know one…” AJ retorted.

“Fine, go ahead.” Ray said. “But don’t expect sympathy when they rob you blind.”

“They ain’t gonna rob me blind, because Ah have the best aim of anyone within a hundred miles.” She said as she slid a dollar over towards the Flim Flam brothers. Flim handed her the dart gun, while Flam went behind the podium to access the control panel that made the game operate. “Ready when you are, ya charismatic charlatans.”

The two brothers smirked as Flim remained behind the podium and Flam manned the controls. AJ apparently didn’t notice this as she slid a dollar over to them, but Ray did. They were a little bit too jolly about this. He figured he’d humor Applejack and not argue any further, but also watch the twins. He wanted to know what was going on here.

Applejack, paying no mind to what they were doing, put all of her focus on hitting the targets. She got a total of seven shots per round. In her mind, she didn’t think she’d need all of them.

However, as accurate as her shot was, she had nothing on the machine as the darts she shot at the targets bounced right off and didn’t fall over like they were supposed to.

There were three rows. The top and bottom row were larger targets going from the left to the right, while the smaller targets, worth more points, went from right to left. They were all shaped like rabbits. The prize? A few different sizes of raccoon stuffed animals, the biggest ones were for the ones who scored the most points and so on. However in Applejack’s eyes, beating the Flim Flam brothers at their own game was her prize.

Shot after shot after shot after shot, Applejack just couldn’t seem to knock any of them down. Her mannerisms became slightly more strained the more this happened and the more irritated she got as a result.

“You gotta be dadgum kiddin me!” She blurted out in irritation. “Ah demand a do over!”

“Absolutely!” Flim said. “We just need a little bit more green, if you catch my drift.” He held out his hand and Applejack begrudgingly slapped a dollar bill onto the palm of his hand. Ray got a brief bit of enjoyment out of watching Flim shake his hand as a result of AJ’s hand force slapping the money into his, leaving his hand slightly stinging. The enjoyment of this sight would be short lived, however, as AJ’s game of pain continued and Ray would have to begrudgingly continue to watch on.

Flash and Sunset held hands as they continued on with their night of fun. They’d already rode on the roller coaster, raised some cain on the bumper cars in a two seater, challenged each other to a friendly game of ski ball which Sunset smoked him at, and now they’d just finished making goofy faces in a photo booth, before she would surprise Flash with a kiss on the cheek in the last photo.

“I’m definitely saving this one.” Sunset said as she held the strip of pics in her hand. “That is, if you don’t want it.”

“By all means, it’s yours.” Flash said with a smile. “I’m glad you’re having fun.”

“I am, I really am.” She beamed. “Flash, this night has been one of the coolest nights I’ve had in a long time.”

“Shucks, I didn’t bring my jacket or I’d offer it to you.” Flash said with a smirk, which earned him a light punch to the shoulder by a giggling Sunset.

“Smart Alec.” She said with a continuing giggle to her voice as she stopped and sat down on a nearby bench. She looked off to the side and ran her fingers through her hair.

“Good call, I could use a quick sit down.” Flash said as he sat down beside her. “We really couldn’t have picked a nicer night for this. It’s going way way better than our first date went, if you’ll remember.”

“Right?!?” She said with a loud laugh as she recalled. “At least Trixie isn’t around to ruin it this time.”

“Oh yeah, that’s no lie.” Flash held back a laugh as he remembered that on their very first date at a similar venue to where they were on this night, Trixie had been showboating to impress a guy she liked that was nearby and accidentally threw her nachos all over them as they innocently passed by. To counter this, they’d had to immediately go on a water ride to get good and soaked in order to get the cheese and chip crumbs off of them.

“Then again, it wasn’t all terrible.” Sunset giggled. She’d recollected how funny they both had looked drenched after that water ride, and how they’d practically laughed at themselves for ten whole minutes.

“What a fun time that was. We should do it again.”

“Maybe we should.” She winked at him.

“There will be plenty more opportunities for that now.” Flash said as he placed his arm around her.

Sunset leaned over and they touched shoulder to shoulder, she then rested her head against his before letting out a sigh of content. Flash did the same as they both sat in silence under the stars.

There were a few more moments of silence between them as they just sat and took a moment to take in the night. Flash’s eyes darted to his left side where Sunset was sitting and noticed that she appeared to be thinking. “You alright?”

“Um, yeah. I'm fine I just…” she sighed again, but this one was more of an irritated sigh. “I’ve had this thought that I just can’t get out of my mind. This, what we’re doing tonight, and setting up, does feel right, but at the same time, I’m still a little nervous about the future.”

“Of us?”

“In a way.”

“I don’t follow.”

“What if…” she sat up and looked at him with a seriousness in her tone. “What if something happens? Something that forces me to go back to Equestria? For good! Flash, I don’t even want to think about it, but it is a possibility. I’d rather not think about it, but also I don’t want to lose you again.”

Flash nodded and thought about it for a brief moment, and then looked at her, his eyes locked on hers. “You won’t and you won’t have to choose. Trust me, I’m not about to let that happen. I’ve waited too long for us to get back together. If that happens, I will go with you.”

“I couldn’t ask you…”

“You’re not asking, I’m saying… Sunset, I don’t want to live in a world without you. I’m willing to go wherever you go, no matter what life throws at us. Promise.”

“You do realize that we would both be ponies, right? And no cell phone service or phones of any kind exist in Equestria.”

“I can live with that. It’d take a little bit of time, obviously, but… I can adjust. Plus, it kinda sounds cool from what little you’ve told me about it. And I’ve been dying to go on one of your adventures for quite some time.”

Sunset’s eyes widened at this. She pulled him close, shutting her eyes as she hugged him tightly. “Flash… thank you.” His willingness to go to Equestria if need be definitely made her feel a bit better about the very thought of the possibility, but she’d hoped that she wouldn’t ever have to go back permanently. A visit here and there, but she’d grown to love this world, and was not keen on leaving it anytime soon.

“You’re welcome. I’m not losing you again.”

“Are you sure you’d be okay with being a pony?”

“Sure. I mean, from what you’ve told me about it, it sounds like walking on all fours could be fun. Who knows? Maybe we can visit there some day.”

“Eeeh, we’ll see. I’ll have to find another portal first before I can really think about it too much. But enough of that. Sorry to bring the mood down with it.”

“It’s alright, I’m sure we won’t ever have to worry about it. From the sound of things, your friends back home seem to have things well taken care of.”

“You’re right, you’re right… Look at us, getting all mushy again…” Sunset said, wiping a tear from her eye and taking a couple of minutes to recollect herself. “Let’s get back to having fun, shall we?”

After a minute of making intentional eye contact with her, giving her a reassuring smile, Flash stood up and extended a hand to Sunset, who took his hand and stood up with him. “First thing’s first, I’m hungry.”

Apparently this abrupt change of subject was just what they both needed because Sunset snapped out of it almost instantly.

“Come to think of it, I’m getting hungry myself. You’ve been paying for all the rides, dinner is on me.” She said before she noticed he was starting to say something. “Nope! Nope! Turn down the macho man for once, and let me do this.”

Flash smiled and threw his hands up in defeat and agreed. “Alright Sunset, you win.”

They both went through the line of a nearby food stand that sold burgers and fries and got their food. They were making their way to a table when Flash stepped on a banana peel that he didn’t see, which caused him to fall backwards into someone else sitting at the table behind him, causing them to face plant into their chili dog. Luckily, Sunset caught his food out of his hands before he fell, but couldn’t grab his hand in time to stop him from falling. She cringed as he made contact with the other guy behind him.

Flash was pushed off onto the ground by a taller guy, white skin, slightly long brown hair, clearly more muscle than Flash had, and wearing a purple ‘Mu Pi’ T-Shirt, which along with his purple gym shorts now had chili running down them. The guy in question picked Flash up by the collar of his shirt and glared at him. Flash closed his eyes as his foe lifted his fist.

“I’m going to pound you into next week, you klutz!” He screamed into Flash’s face, rendering Flash too afraid to say anything, his eyes widened and teeth slightly chattering.

“Oh, you really messed up this time.” The guy’s buddy said as he walked up behind him. His buddy was slightly taller than the first, with a sleeveless purple ‘Mu Pi’ shirt and shorter blonde hair.

“Get your hands off of him!” Sunset commanded as she stood in a defensive stance.

“Better teach your girlfriend to keep her yap shut.” He hadn’t got much more out before Sunset’s fist slammed his face. The once proud Mu Pi alumni was then seen slumped over and holding his face before looking back up angrily at Sunset Shimmer.

“I don’t need your permission to speak, and I’m for darn sure not going to let you beat up my boyfriend. I’m only telling you one more time to back off!” She hadn’t noticed that Flash, while lying on the ground at this moment, had a smile on his face when he heard Sunset refer to him as her boyfriend.

The guy stood back up and faced her, looking even more ticked off. But the conflict was quickly quenched by the clapping of hands from another source in the background.

“Jock and Muscles…” a voice said with authority. “Get back to your meals and leave these tourists alone. Remember, when you wear the ‘Mu Pi’ colors, you’re representing our fraternity. We don’t want everyone else to think that we’re a band of thugs do we?” Their leader, while not the most stoic of personalities, had an air of confidence and exercised his authority he apparently had over these two ruffians. His voice and demeanor was pretty much what you’d expect from a college student who lives on a beach. Minus the constant need for using the endearing term ‘bro’ or ‘bruh’, much to the relief of many who talked to him.

Jock, the initial addressee, begrudgingly scoffed at the two, shot them a glare, and went back to eating his meal, and his friend, Muscles followed suit. The source of the voice came out of the shadows and walked up to them. It had been the leader of the Mu Pi frat guys who Zephyr had seen the day before.

“Hey guys, I apologize for my friends’ behaviors…” he said, extending a hand to Flash. Flash shook his hand cautiously. “My name is Jake Featherstone, the head member of the Mu Pi Fraternity House of Waytona University. I hope my friends didn’t rough you up too bad..”

“Had you not stepped in when you did, things would have gotten ugly, so thanks.” Sunset said, Flash nodded in agreement.

“Not a problem. You see, the Mu Pi’s are a proud alumni and sometimes our pride can get away from us and cause us to do… regrettable things.” He shot a sharp glare at Jock and Muscles, causing them to cower a bit. “We are one of the most athletic Frats in our university and we take deep pride in our heritage as the top of the top. However, sometimes in our self expression, we often forget ourselves.”

“I see. Well, my name is Sunset Shimmer, and this is… my boyfriend, Flash Sentry. We, along with our friends, are from Canterlot University.”

“Hmmm, yes. I’m quite familiar with Canterlot U. Your College has a reputation as being somewhat tough in the athletic and academic field. I would know, my cousin Gilda goes there and she’s always complaining about all of the ‘dweebs’ that attend there.”

“Yep, that sounds like Gilda…”

“As for your boyfriend, a little on the scrawny side I see.” Jake said, almost smugly. He quickly looked them both over before he reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. Flash deadpanned at that remark. Sunset crossed her arms with a deadpan of her own. “Well, Miss Shimmer. I would like to personally invite you, Mr Sentry and any other members of your group that you might have brought with you to our house party tomorrow night. It's one of our biggest of the summer, in fact it’s our ‘Welcome Back, Summer’ bash that we at The Mu Pi Frat house throw every summer. It's sure to be a banger.”

While Flash’s expression didn’t change, Sunset began to lighten up as a result of the invitation, knowing that this development would make her friends, Pinkie and Rainbow in particular, excited. “Thank you, Jake. We will be there.”

“Excellent.” Jake said as he handed her the card he had in his hand. “Well I won’t keep you. Enjoy your evening, and we look forward to seeing you tomorrow night.” He winked at her as he turned to leave.

Sunset looked over at Flash with concern and looked him over to make sure he wasn’t hurt. “Are you alright, Flash?”

“Sure, the only thing that hurts is my pride. But I also don’t have a good feeling about these Mu Pi guys… this party doesn’t sound like a good idea to me.”

“How bad can it be? It’s no different than the frat parties at our university.”

“I… guess you’re right.” Flash said, releasing some tension in his shoulders. “But still, a frat house is a frat house and they tend to be a riot, and not always in a good way.

“I’ll make you a deal. We’ll run this by the others, and if the majority rules against going, we just won’t go. Deal?”

“Deal.” Agreed Flash. “Well, now that that’s over with, I’m ready to eat.” He said, eyeing his inviting looking meal. “Thank you again, Sunset. For all of it.”

“Of course.” Sunset said as she sat down to enjoy her food, looking up at him before she started and giggling at his face while he was chewing his fries. Flash smiled as much as he could while trying to finish chewing. Even though they were starving prior to their meal, they both felt full of a warm feeling as they spent time together in each other’s company.

Applejack was starting to sweat with anxiety as the last couple of turns she took saw minimal improvement. She managed to score at least a few points in her last two attempts, but still the game was managing to stump her. She’d already taken five turns and was about to place down a sixth dollar bill but Ray placed his hand on hers.

For a moment they looked at each other and blushed, but AJ quickly snapped out of it and jerked her hand back. “What are ya doin, Ray? Can’t ya see Ah’m tryna beat these hooligans?!?” She said as the Flim Flam brothers had gotten so used to beating her at this game that they resorted to taunting her by making faces at her.

Ray had also snapped out of it as well. “Look AJ, I can’t watch this anymore. This has gone on too long, and these guys are just going to keep this up. It’s time to stop.”

“No! Ah ain’t gonna let them win.” AJ stood her ground and was not keen on letting up.

“Fine…” he said. He placed a dollar of his own down, and asked for a dart gun, to which the brothers gleefully inclined. Ray had hoped that this compromise would suffice with Applejack. “But I’m not letting you waste any more of your money. Let me take a crack at it.” To his surprise, she backed down, and moved away from the booth for him to stand in her place.

“If ya think ya can do better, he mah guest…” she said as she moved over to the side and stood there watching with her arms crossed, and her scowl pointed to the taunting brothers, who’d since turned their attention to her friend.

“Watch me…” Ray said, ignoring the smirking faces of the Flim Flam Brothers.

Ray had been secretly planning this, however. He’d watched the brothers’ movements during Applejack’s agonizing attempts at mastering this game. Flam’s movements in particular caught his eye. He’d noticed that Flam could control which targets to hold into place by studying the movement of whatever unfortunate patron decided to take the challenge. And after a while of watching AJ struggle with it, he had an understanding of what he’d do when he was ready.

Yeah, keep laughing, Ray thought to himself. He gripped his dart gun as the twins readied the game, and he too went into full concentration mode. But his mental strategy was a bit different than Applejack’s. He awaited the start of the game with a hint of anxiousness.

Once given the start signal, Ray began deciding to halfway throw this first round. But part of it was him getting acclimated to how it worked as well. He wanted to build onto the twins’ hubris before he really let them have it. On his last shot, he scored one of only two points his entire round, fairing not much better than Applejack.

Applejack scoffed at this. “Ah thought ya said ya could do better, Ray.”

“Give me a second.” He returned as he reached into his pocket and pulled out another dollar. “Alright, another round please.”

“You kids really are a glutton for punishment…” Flim said as he took the next dollar that Ray handed him, and he gave Ray a fresh loaded shooter.

Ray waited yet again for the game to begin. He closed his eyes for a brief second and once again went into full concentration mode. This time, he thought. This time he knew he’d had them.

Ray would learn that the time between shots was irrelevant, and took more time between each shot than Applejack. He did so by aiming at one spot for a split second and then immediately and swiftly aiming at the complete opposite end. He did this a couple of times, scoring each time before Flam caught on. However, Ray was on top of this. One shot didn’t land, so Ray switched it up, knowing that now he’d need to start aiming and then firing. He’d change this strategy a total of three times, scoring big on each shot he actually did make, only missing two shots out of the total seven.

The defeat on the Flim Flam brothers’ faces with their eyes widened and their mouths hanging open in disbelief was a satisfying sight, he’d outsmarted them. It would take them a couple of minutes to get over the sudden shock of losing to AJ and Ray before they’d return to reality.

Applejack was both impressed and a little bit embarrassed in wake of this.

“Ray, how on Earth did you pull that off?”

“Pure skill.” It was not pure skill. But it was pure observation and a calculated strategy that won him the day, and the prize. He’d almost forgotten that winning came with a prize. Flim begrudgingly handed him one of the bigger sizes of the stuffed raccoons that they offered. The second largest. The biggest ones went to those with a perfect score.

After collecting his prize, Ray turned back over to Applejack who was smiling, but then blushed with embarrassment and she quickly approached him and cleared her throat.

“Ray, Ah’m sorry that Ah let them get in mah head like that. Ah got so caught up in trynna one up the Flim Flam brothers that Ah lost sight of us havin fun. It’s not often that we get to hang out one on one anymore, and Ah apologize if mah behavior ruined it.”

“Nah!” Ray said with a chuckle. “I just didn’t like seeing you get flustered because of these clowns.”

“Hey!” The brothers shouted at once, both being ignored.

“The truth is, it was fun to pull one over on them for once. And honestly, our night was Zephyr Breeze free, we can’t forget about that. But, with that said, I’m just happy to be there for you whenever you need me. You’re one of my best friends, AJ. And I’ll never leave you hanging.”

AJ chuckled herself at the thought of being free from Breeze for the night. “Now that, Ah can agree on. And thanks. Ah know Ah give ya a hard time at times but, yer fun ta hang out with. And Ah agree, you’re one a’ mah closest friends, too.”

“I just find it a little funny that I was the one to calm you down. Usually it’s the other way around.”

“Ah reckon ev’rythin’ comes around full circle in the end, sometimes.”

Ray and AJ smiled warmly at each other for a moment before they both started to blush yet again. Ray saved himself when he remembered what he held in his left hand. “Uh, for you.” He said, offering his prize to Applejack.

“No thanks.” AJ beamed, held up her hand and politely declined. “Seeing’ those varmints lose was a gift all its own. Besides, Ah think this thing fits you better.”

Ray shrugged and didn’t argue, tucking the stuffed animal under his left arm. “Well then, what’s next?”

“Hmmm…” AJ looked around. “Ya know, Ah’m still a little worked up. How about we go on a nice relaxin’ Ferris Wheel ride?”

“Hey, that sounds good to me-…!” Ray said as they both started off in that direction. He quickly paused for a moment when he noticed a kid crying in front of another game that he’d just lost, and from what the lady Ray presumed was his mother had said, he’d run out of tickets. Ray, feeling no real attachment to the prize he’d won, walked over and offered it to the young boy. He figured the kid would appreciate it more anyway.

“Thanks, Mister!” The boy said as his last tears melted away due to his sudden elation as he hugged the big stuffed toy tightly.

Ray caught a grateful smile from the kid’s mom as he turned back to join Applejack, who was chuckling to herself as she watched it play out.

“Gettin soft on me, Strike?” She said with a wink.

“Soft? No. Let’s just say I’m in a particularly good mood tonight.”

“Coulda fooled me.” She said as she playfully nudged him.

After a series of rides and a few games, Flash and Sunset were beginning to get worn down. As their own ride on the Ferris wheel came to a close, they waited for their door to open so they could exit the ride. Once it did, Flash had gone into full gentleman mode, and helped Sunset as she stepped down from the seat they’d been sitting in. Sunset in her tiring form nearly tripped and fell onto Flash, who caught her.

“Sorry Flash…” Sunset said sheepishly.

“I’m not complaining.” He said with a grin as he held her in front of his face with their eyes meeting each other, his blue eyes looking into her green eyes and suddenly got lost in them. “Wow, I never noticed how pretty your eyes are before.”

“Okay, stop!” Sunset giggled. “You’re trying to make me blush and I don’t like it.”

“No, I’m serious!” He said.

Sunset let out a light chuckle in response but didn’t say anything else on the matter, but she did start feel in her feet that she was getting tired. “Well right now, I’m serious about finding a bench. My feet are killing me.”

Fortunately, the search was a short one as a nice inviting vacant wooden bench was just a few steps away from them. Sunset readily sat down and removed her shoes. She tilted her head back as she leaned against the back of the bench, her eyes were closed when her head came back down and opened once more to see that the bench was facing the beach. It was dark out but the reflection off of the moon lit up the water just good enough that it made for relaxing scenery.

“This night went way better than I expected it to.” Flash said as he sat down beside her.

“Me too.” Agreed Sunset. “Minus the tussle with the Mu Pi’s.” She laughed.

“I’m lucky I was with you when that happened. It probably would have been a lot worse.” Flash said with a grin.

Sunset laughed. “Yeah, probably so…”

Flash Sentry reached over and held her left hand in his right hand. Sunset turned to him and smiled warmly at him yet again. He couldn’t help but blush and clear his throat. “I um… I was wondering if it would be okay if I uh…” he said with his eyes shifting to the left and the right.

“Yes?” She replied hopefully.

“…kissed you?”

“Took you long enough, I’ve been waiting for it all night.” She said as she leaned in and readied her lips.

Flash wasted no time as he too leaned in and for the first time in quite a while, Flash Sentry and Sunset Shimmer’s lips connected. And after a few brief moments, they separated. Both felt a warm sensation within themselves, and their hearts fluttered. They’d kissed before the first time they dated, but it had never felt like this before.

“My turn.” Sunset said as she planted one on him. This one was equally as wonderful as the first one was. The moment had taken them so much that they hadn’t noticed the sudden arrival of a familiar face.

“Oh… my… gosh!!!!” An enthusiastic voice from behind them shouted, surprised by what she’d just witnessed. It was Pinkie Pie.

“Pinkie?” Sunset said, a bit surprised by the sudden appearance of her party planning friend. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Not long, I got bored lying around the pool at the hotel, so I figured I’d come see what all the hullabaloo was about.” She beamed. “Oh my gosh! Flash and Sunset are together! You know what this means! We’ve got to throw a celebratory “Congratulations Party”!”

“Does she always…” asked Flash.

“Yes, yes she does. Well I guess the cat’s out of the bag.” Sunset sighed. “Thanks Pinkie, I’m sure it’ll be great. We’re pretty excited about this, too.”

“Oh, oh… you two need a picture for your first post on social media as a couple. You mind if I give you a hand?”

“Oh, yeah, sure!” Sunset said as she pulled out her phone and handed it to her.

“Say pepperoni!” She said as she readied the phone’s camera.

“Pepperoni!” Flash and Sunset said together as they tried to make themselves look as good as they could for the post. After the fact, Pinkie handed Sunset her phone back.

“Thanks, Pinkie.” Sunset said as she was given her phone back. The picture turned out good, which was great for Sunset as she usually hated how pictures of herself would turn out. “You think the world is ready for the return of ‘Flashset’?”

“Absotively possalutely!!!” Pinkie said. “You two make a cute couple! The cutest! Just don’t tell Singlight and Duskity!” She continued with a wink. “Just kidding, of course. All of you love birds are the cutest! I can’t choose. I’m just happy, because seeing you happy makes me happy too! HAPPINESS OVERLOAD!!!”

“Easy Pinkie!” Exclaimed Sunset, unable to keep a straight face.

“Sorry, my bad.” Replied Pinkie sheepishly.

Her energy was contagious emotionally, Sunset had only wished her physical energy had been as contagious as well.

“Any suggestions for one last activity, Pinkie? We’re both a little bit tired, but we think we have one more thing left in us before we call it a night.”

“I know just the thing… The Tunnel of Love…” Pinkie said gesturing to it, as it wasn’t far from where they were sitting. “And it’s just right over there!”

Sunset looked over at Flash in a way as indicating she was looking for his input.

“That sounds like a good way to cap off the night to me. That is, if it’s not to mushy for you.” He playfully nudged Sunset.

“When we get on the ride, you will see just how mushy I can be.” Grinning, she gently rubbed her forehead against his. This just made Pinkie let out the ‘daaaaaaaaaws’ and ‘aaaaws’ even more.

“I gotta get out of here before your mushiness fills me up so much that I don’t have enough room for funnel cake!” She laughed. “See you later!” And with that, the pink blur known as Pinkie Pie sped off.

They didn’t care about how mushy they were being. Flash took Sunset’s hand as she slipped her feet back into her shoes, and they walked on to the Tunnel of Love. As cheesy and cliche as it was, they didn’t mind. There wasn’t much that could bother them tonight. They were back together and on a dream vacation. They soaked it all in and would cap off this nearly perfect night on a romantic note.

Compared to the more fast paced things they’d done on their hangout, the Ferris Wheel was a nice change of pace for Ray and Applejack. Earlier in the night, they’d thought about how cool it would be if more of their friends had joined them, but strangely they didn’t seem to mind hanging out one on one. Applejack was the least inclined of the girls to take selfies, she did every so often but not as much as the others. But the view from the tip top of a Ferris Wheel was too good an opportunity to pass by. So she made sure that both she and Ray got into view without completely covering up the scenery.

Once she got it right, she tapped the camera button on her phone and snapped the shot. She wasn’t as good at photography as Fluttershy, but she definitely got lucky on this attempt. The picture looked better than she was hoping for.

“Not bad fer mah first try.” She said, showing the picture to Ray.

“My eyes weren’t even closed. Nice!” Ray commented.

“Ah know, right! That never happens for me when Ah try it.” Applejack said, admiring the photo more. “Too good not ta post.” With a few sipes and clicks, she posted it to her slightly underused social media profile. “Dog gone it! Ah ain’t posted anything since Christmas…”

Ray peered over her shoulder at her phone screen and snickered. "You're still using MyStable? You know people are switching over to Racebook nowadays, right?" he asked semi-seriously.

“They're basically the same thing aren't they?" she answered with an eye roll. "Ah don't see why Ah should make a whole 'nother profile for a whole 'nother website when this one works just fine."

"And you somehow wonder why you never hear about things until someone tells you about them..." Ray muttered whilst shaking his head.

"Oh hush, you." she giggled. "Ya don't even use social media so yer one ta talk."

"That's fair." he allowed, smirking.

Their basket had done a few more rotations on their ride before it finally came to an end and the next movements they would make would be slower as the current riders would basket by basket be let off the ride. Within a few minutes, it was their turn to get off, and they exited out of the round basket and on to what they were thinking of doing next. It wasn’t a minute or two later when they found themselves coming into eye contact with two familiar faces.

They’d almost halted completely when they saw them. Celestia and Luna were both walking in the opposite direction and were both right in front of Ray and Applejack.

“Well that didn’t last long…” Luna said.

“Howdy Miss Celestia, Miss Luna.” AJ greeted them.

“Hello Applejack, Ray.” Celestia greeted them cordially. “It’s a nice night for a night out, don’t you think?”

“Uh…yeah.” Ray said as he shook his head snapping himself out of his surprised state. “Fancy seeing you two here.”

“Now before you say anything, just now that we are only here for our own vacation. We had no intention on encroaching on your getaway.” Celestia said quickly.

“Ah get it.” AJ said. “Everybody deserves a vacation ev’ry now’n again. Ya chose a nice place fer it.”

“Told you that we were overthinking it.” Luna said softly over to her sister who shrugged it off.

“I mean as long as what you’re saying is true and you aren’t stalking us.” Ray said in a tone that he made sure was apparent that he was kidding around.

Celestia laughed at this, while Luna simply rolled her eyes. The former beamed as she noticed that Ray and AJ had slowly inched closer together without realizing it. “Oh, well we didn’t mean to interrupt your date night. I didn’t know you two were going out.”

Ray and Applejack blushed when they realized how close they were to each other and they each took a step off to the side away from each other.

“No, no, no… we’re not a couple.” Corrected Ray. “We’re just hanging out and having a little bit of fun.”

“I see.” Celestia continued to smile.

“Naw, what he means ta say is…” AJ spoke up, unable to come up with anything better to say.

“Celestia, don’t tease them, now.” Muttered Luna with a deadpan and crossed arms.

“You’re right, you’re right.” Celestia said still finding it hard to keep a straight face. “I’m sorry, my mistake. I’ve had my fair share of sweets tonight and I’m a little bit fired up.”

“I think we might need to go get some water.” Luna said with Celestia nodding in agreement. “It was nice bumping into you, but we must be going now. Enjoy the rest of your night.”

And with that, Luna and Celestia went on their way. Ray and Applejack stood there for a moment of awkward silence. Both shifting their eyes, Ray tugged on the collar of his shirt and Applejack wiped her brow with her bandana.

“Ah can’t believe they thought we were datin’.” Applejack chuckled nervously.

“Yeah, that’s funny.” Ray chuckled equally as nervously. “As if, am I right?”

“No kiddin…” AJ said. However, the idea didn’t seem terrible to her. However, she wasn’t keen on dwelling on it, and both were definitely in need of something to break this ice.

Fortunately for them, they’d both gotten the change of subject that they’d mutually hoped for. For up ahead, they could barely make out the pink form of Pinkie Pie and the cyan with multicolored hair of Rainbow Dash. They’d had their one on one time, and now they found themselves happily trailing after their friends in order to meet up with them and do something fun.

Once they caught up to Rainbow and Pinkie, they discussed a possible game plan for the rest of the night, and that’s when Pinkie nodded to the familiar game that AJ had run into the Flim Flam brothers earlier. When Pinkie gestured in that direction, Ray and AJ let out a desperate “NO!”, and then smiled sheepishly as Pinkie and Rainbow’s eyebrows were raised.

“Okay” said Rainbow Dash. “Well, what about bumper cars or…”

“Or Funnel Cake?” Pinkie shouted excitedly, hoping they would follow her lead on this one.

“Now you’re talking!” Ray said excitedly as he and the rest of them followed Pinkie Pie eagerly to the nearest food stand.

Elsewhere, in the carnival, the two sisters could be seen playing a basketball shooting game, like their students, they too had been cutting up and having fun with each other the entire evening. Celestia and Luna continued their friendly rivalry on the basketball hoop game they were playing. And while Celestia was doing decent at it, Luna proved to be the better shot. And the buzzer ran out with Luna having scored about fifteen more points than Celestia.

“Well…” Celestia said, panting a bit after that little bit of a workout. “You always were the athletic one.”

“Good game, Sister!” Luna said. “You made a valiant effort.” She reached her hand over to Celestia, who took her hand as Luna helped her upright after being hunched over for a couple of minutes.

Celestia’s phone had continued to go off a few times throughout the day, and it seemed to be coming from Professor Iscorde. As it had done before, it rang again. Celestia didn’t like ghosting him, but she knew him and knew that he was only looking to chat. However, she was quite busy at the moment, so she made a mental note to get back with him later.

“Iscorde again?” Luna asked, to which Celestia nodded in response. “If he calls again, you should let me answer it.”

“No, no… I’ll get back to him later.” She said as she turned her phone off completely. “Now, I’ve been hearing about this roller coaster. You ready to give it a go?”

“You’re asking me?” Luna tittered. “Of course I’m ready, it’s you I’m worried about.”

“Oh please, roller coasters don’t scare me.” She said as her eyes widened when she heard the screams of the people riding the thing. This didn’t escape Luna, who giggled and grabbed her sister by the hand. “Okay, maybe a little bit.” She smiled sheepishly with a faint tint of pink blush on her cheeks.

“Don’t worry, Tia. I’ll be right beside you the whole time.” She said comfortingly.

“Thanks, Lu Lu.” Celestia smiled, immediately feeling better. “Onward we go!”

Jock paced back and forth angrily, muttering to himself and gritting his teeth in frustration as the Mu Pi members congregated back to the parking lot, having had their fun for the night.

“Use your words, Jock…” said Jake Featherstone as he leaned against a nearby pole.

“What’s with you inviting those Canterlot people to our fraternity party?!?” He sneered. “And why did you stop me from pounding that pretty boy (‘Crash Gentry’ was it?) into the boardwalk?”

“Because…” said Jake with a roll of his eyes. “I want to know more about these Canterlot College people, and what better way to know who they are by having them come to our party where we can observe how they work as a unit. They’re on our turf, and they need to be shown who the kings of the beach are. Besides, if we go around punching every punk we find, we’re only inviting more trouble than what we bargained for. When we get back to the house, I want every bit of available information on these Canterlot students we can find. Then we can give them a proper welcome to Waytona Beach.”

“So it’s one of those ‘keep your friends close and your enemies closer’ kind of things?”

“No, it’s a ‘size up your opponent’ type of thing. They need to be shown their place and where they stand here.”

“Okay…” Jock said, reassured. “I was beginning to worry.”

“There’s nothing to worry about on Waytona’s sandy beaches as long as you are a Mu Pi.” Jake said as he stood on the table as he faced his Mu Pi brethren. “My brothers, tomorrow we party! Party hardy!”

“Party hardy!” They echoed.

“We will show these Canterlot invaders who rules this beach!”

“Mu Pi!” They shouted.

“Say it again!”

“Mu Pi!”

“One more time!”

“MU PI!”

“And no one stands in our way!”

A Tale of Two Parties

Flash and Singer in the Morning: BEACHFRONT

“Good morning from, you guessed it. Flash and Singer in the Morning!” Greeted Flash Sentry, seated beside his friend, Singer Case both sitting in cheap fold up chairs with the latter’s phone sitting on a tripod which was sat steadily on a rock. Both of them dressed in their beach attire, Flash going shirtless as he usually did while sporting his trunks, Singer choosing to keep his shirt on while also sporting his own trunks. Both were doing their live show that they always did, channeling a bit from a comedy show they both liked. “Today, we’re coming at you from the beach. Sandy shores, gnarly waves and…” Flash turned his camera towards Sunset Shimmer who was standing off to the side watching… “gorgeous babes…”

Sunset blushed, smiled and waved at the camera. “Sup!”

Flash turned the camera back over to himself and Singer.

“While this is a joyous time of fun in the sun, it would be unprofessional of me to go without warning you about the precautions you must take during the day out in said sunlight.” Singer continued, pulling out a random flashlight from behind his back and tossing it behind him. “Our lovely specialist in preparedness, Twilight Sparkle, has the weather and some safety tips. Take it away, sweetie.”

On signal, Flash turned the camera around over to the left to where Twilight was standing, as she was prepared to give her piece.

“Thank you, my love.” She winked and blew a kiss to Singer before quickly getting to it. “Right, so temperatures today are in the high nineties with minimal cloud coverage, so you’re going to need that good Ol’ SPF and I’d also recommend some sunglasses or a brimmed hat of some kind to protect your eyes. Speaking of eye protection, if you’re anything like myself, you’ll probably want to make sure you have some swimming goggles, ear plugs to keep the water out of your ears, and for those accident prone ones out there, I might recommend nose plugs… just in case. Just make sure you don’t stay under her water too long and come back up for breaths periodically… Psh, duh. And if you’re going to be out in deep water, life jackets are a must!”

Twilight’s presentation was top notch and she appeared to be in her element. She’d even gone as far as to pull just about everything she’d listed out of a strapped pouch she carried on her, that contained everything she needed. “And I always recommend a first aid kit, no matter if you’re at the beach or at the pool. Scrapes, scratches and cuts happen, and you just never know when they will catch you by surprise.” Twilight’s presentation went on for at least another half minute before she clamped her fingers together and motioned to them that she was done. With a smile, she looked over to them and said: “Back to you guys…”

Flash turned the camera back over to him and Singer, the latter who appeared to be entranced by his girlfriend’s performance as he rested his chin on his hand being supported on his elbow on his knee, smiling as he was still looking over at her. Twi kept giggling at his apparent trancelike form, as she found it funny and kind of sweet that he enjoyed her show that much. Flash spoke up to try and keep the show going. “Thank you for that, Twilight… uh… Sing…” he nudged Singer a bit on the shoulder, snapping him out of it.

Singer, having come to, shook his head and mildly blushed a bit. “S-Sorry. Right. Well you heard it here first, folks! Take all the necessary precautions. But now…” he said as he pulled out a portable speaker as he readied his phone to play some music. “It’s Summer time!”

Choosing not to play any copyrighted music, he just played some random beach music he’d found on YouTube. The two guys then randomly pushed their chairs to the side after which they picked up a large surfboard and ran around the camera to the left, Sunset had moved closer to the tripod so she could move the camera for them as they lay the surfboard flat in the sand to where they’d be in clear sight of the ocean and the activity behind them, including some people, most notably, Applejack and Rainbow Dash, actually surfing behind them.

“So get out there and enjoy the sun…” Flash said, standing on the front of the board pretending to balance himself on it.

“…the waves…” Singer said, doing the same on the back part of the surfboard.

“…the sand and the babes!” They both said in unison.

“I’m Flash Sentry.” said the former.

“And I’m Singer Case.” threw in the latter.

“And this has been…”

“Flash and Singer in the Morning!”

Sunset tossed Flash’s electric guitar over to him and he strummed on it a bit before Twilight killed the feed.

“Not bad for one take.” Sunset said as she took Flash’s phone off the tripod and handed it back to him.

“We’re professionals.” Remarked Flash with a wink. He was then met with a kiss from Sunset on the lips. “I don’t think I’m going to be getting tired of that any time soon.”

“Me neither.” Sunset giggled as she hugged him.

Twi, who had Singer’s right arm wrapped around her, smiled at the display and looked over at Singer, who shared a knowing smile with her. “I still haven’t, that’s for sure.” Twi kissed Singer on his cheek, and he in turn hugged her tightly for a brief moment before she turned to address her friend. “Congratulations to you both! I’m so happy for you. I told you, you didn’t have anything to worry about, Sunset.”

“Yes, yes you did. Thanks Twilight.” Sunset said. “I can’t believe that I was so hesitant to embrace this.”

“We’re together now.” Flash threw in as he placed his hand on her shoulder. “That’s what matters.”

“You really think I’m gorgeous?” Sunset asked with a smirk and a cocked eyebrow.

“Of course I do.” Flash said with a grin.

“Flattery won’t get you anywhere, Flash.” She said with a sideways grin that kept growing as they continued to play around.

“Are you sure about that?” Flash remarked, and was met with a light punch to his left arm by Sunset. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding…”

“You’d better be…”

Twilight placed her left hand on the right side of Singer’s face and moved her face closer to his. “I noticed you checking me out earlier.” She said with half lidded eyes.

“I was?” Singer shifted his eyes back and forth. “Well, I…”

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of.” She said quickly, noticing him getting a bit flustered. “I’d rather catch you checking me out than seeing you ogle other girls.” She giggled at him reassuringly while lightly elbowing him.

“You’re the only one these eyes want to set on, Twilight.” Singer responded, having quickly regained his mojo. It worked, as Twilight was caught off guard. She started to blush and giggle nervously. It was crazy to think that just weeks ago, they(mostly Singer) had struggled with flirting, or at least flirting without being cringey, and here they were. They’d both made themselves aware of the shifting tone in their relationship, and though initially a bit shell shocked by it, they were now embracing it.

“Good to know…” she smiled at him while she tried to stop her giggling. Singer planted a quick surprise kiss on her lips, and she calmed down. “Thank you.”

“Ugh… barf! Gag!” Zephyr exclaimed as he suddenly walked on by. “If you people get any more mushy, I’m going to be able to whip out a bowl and spoon and have my morning breakfast.”

“You eat mush?” Flash retorted. “That doesn’t sound remotely appealing.”

“Oh my… shut up!” Zephyr said, crossing his arms with a pouty face. “You guys are total snoozers. Nothing better to do but sit around and make googly eyes at each other.”

“Jealous much?” Sunset said, snarkily. “At least we have love lives.”

“OOOOOOOOOOOH!” Singer shouted as he high fived Sunset, Flash and Twilight couldn’t help but snigger at Zephyr’s expense. And before you go feeling too bad for Zephyr, remember all the crap he’s put the others through so far, and he’s not likely to be done with his shenanigans.

Realizing his defeat, he turned away and went off in the direction of the actively busy Rainbow Dash and Applejack. He did so more for the former than the latter, who were currently ripping the waves. “I don’t have time for this. I have a certain rainbow haired goddess to woo. Smell ya later chumps…” he said as he breathed on his palm and smelled of it. He shrugged indifferently and moved on.

Down a ways, and a bit closer to the shore, sat three beach chairs occupied by Dusk Noir in the center, Ray Strike who sat to Dusk’s left, and Rarity, who sat off to Dusk’s right. They had a clear view of Pinkie Pie making sandcastles with Spike and Belle, and Fluttershy, who’d earlier changed out of her scuba suit and back into her normal swimwear after coming back from exploring underwater. She waved at the trio sitting beside each other, getting waves back, before she decided to aid Pinkie and company in building sand castles.

Dusk sat and enjoyed the sound of the crashing waves while taking it in. He’d just finished drawing in his sketch pad, his view of the beach. He’d done so using his pastel pencils, capturing the beauty of the view of the sun hanging over the beach. He’d exchange a warm smile with Rarity every so often, when she wasn’t dozing off anyway. Rarity had her headphones in listening to some Sapphire Shores songs, but she didn’t need to hear to be able to make a request to Dusk.

“Oh Duuuusk!” She said, pulling a bottle of suntan lotion from her beach bag. “Would you be a dear and help me apply more sunscreen on my back?” She said as she sat up and used a scrunchie to hold up her hair. She then lied on her stomach with her legs now leaning against the part of the chair where her back once was leaning and beckoned Dusk over to her. Her bathing suit had an exposed back to it, so naturally she would need help applying sunscreen there. Dusk of course, graciously obliged. Why wouldn’t he?

Dusk took the bottle of suntan lotion and graciously obliged his girlfriend’s request. “Anything for you, my dear.” He said with a smile, not even trying to pretend he didn’t enjoy it, though initially he’d been a bit hesitant the first time she asked, he got over the hang up relatively quickly. Anything he could do to help her out, he did his best to do it for her.

Ray sat there in silence, choosing to ignore what was going on to his left and was focusing on other things. In particular, he was thinking about what had happened last night when the two of them had bumped into Celestia and Luna, after which the former had made the assumption that he and Applejack were a couple. His mind went back to a heart to heart he’d had with her on their front porch just a few weeks ago, in which they each had shared about their own experiences with parent-related trauma. He still wasn’t sure how he felt even after the conversation, but to some degree, he didn't regret the exchange. He’d never even talked to Dusk, his oldest and best friend, about all of that in the same way he did with Applejack. There was definitely a level of trust there.

Back to Celestia’s assumption from the night before. Could it really be that far-fetched to think… nah. There was no way. Right?

While he’d been dealing with these thoughts over the last several hours, he hadn’t changed much in his approach when talking to or just being around Applejack. In fact, at breakfast he’d sat near her like he always did. And she’d managed to maintain her cool around him as well. His question was, whether or not she was actually thinking about what he was thinking about. It had been evident that something was happening between them every so often. He tried to put these thoughts away for now. He was supposed to be enjoying himself on his vacation, not getting lost in trivial thoughts.

Ray remained alone with his thoughts for a few more minutes before Dusk would return to his seat beside him. Hopefully providing a much needed distraction.

“Sorry Ray, I forgot to ask you earlier. How was it last night at the carnival? Did anything interesting happen?”

“Oh? Uh… absolutely nothing noteworthy. It was a nice night. And nothing else.” Ray said with his eyes widened as his body seemingly froze with the question.

“Are you alright, Ray? You look as if something has you frozen in terror.”

“I’m fine, fine. Nothing to see here.” He’d said more calmly, and seemingly convincingly to Dusk who simply nodded as he continued to answer his question. “Just another routine match up with the Flim Flam brothers and some shenanigans ensued. Nothing at all out of the ordinary. I’m just a little tired from last night.”

“Flim and Flam are here? That’s wonderful to think about.” Dusk said sarcastically, garnering a chuckle from Ray.

Dusk wasn’t sure if he was one hundred percent convinced, but he didn’t press the issue. He figured if it was something Ray wanted to talk about, he would. He put away for now, but the matter wasn’t completely closed in his mind yet.

“Alright, but if you ever want to talk about anything, you know that I…”

“I know. I’d just rather not right now is all.”

“Very well…” Dusk planned to change the subject, but paused as his phone dinged and vibrated in his pocket. The same happened to Ray’s and Rarity’s respective phones as well, indicating that someone was posting in their group chat. Curious, all three pulled out their phones to see what the news was. As it turned out, the message was from Sunset.

>Sunset: Hey btw guys, does anyone have any major plans tonight?

Three pairs of eyebrows quirked in rough unison at the sudden question. The trio shot questioning looks at one another, before all three began typing a response.

>Dusk: Not that I’m aware of, no.

>Rarity: Nothing comes to mind aside from my usual nightly routine.

>Ray: ^^^

>Ray: I was just gonna chill. Y?

A few moments’ pause, and then Sunset began typing again.

>Sunset: Flash and I might have something for us to do, if everyone’s on board. You three know where the rest of the group is?

>Ray: Well AJ and Dash are both shredding waves atm.

>Ray: Or attempting to, in AJ’s case.

>Dusk: Pinkie and Fluttershy are currently making sand castles with Spike and Mrs. Belle. They might not have their phones on them.

>Pinkie: ヾ( ＾▽＾) I’m here!

>Dusk: We can get their attention if need- nevermind, I stand corrected.

Dusk glanced up to see Pinkie still with Fluttershy, Spike and Belle a ways away. From the looks of it, she had her phone out and was somehow managing to rapidly type one-handed while simultaneously using a small shovel to pad down the ramparts of their increasingly-large sand castle.

>Pinkie:(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧

>Pinkie: Fluttershy left her phone in her bag, but I’ll keep her in the loop. What’s the scoop?

>Pinkie: Oooh, that rhymed! ⌒ (o＾▽＾o) ノ

>Sunset: Alright, sounds like we’ve got most of the group then. We can catch up Applejack and Rainbow once they’re done in the water.

>Rarity: Hold on, what about Twilight and Singer?

>Singer: We’re here too!

>Twilight: We’re with Flash and Sunset, don’t worry. They’ve already filled us in.

>Ray: And not the rest of us? Sunny, I’m hurt.

>Sunset: I’m telling you now, aren’t I?

>Sunset: Anyways, update time. We’ve been invited to a house party later tonight. It’s a summer bash being held by a frat house at Waytona U.

Dusk’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, as did Ray’s to his left, while Rarity merely hummed in thought. He could hear Pinkie’s loud gasp of shock and delight all the way from here, however, even as he could see the bubbly girl rapidly typing in chat.

>Pinkie:(⚆ᗝ⚆)

>Pinkie:(⚆ᗝ⚆) (⚆ᗝ⚆) (⚆ᗝ⚆)

>Ray: Uh oh

>Pinkie: A big house party?! A big SUMMER house party?! Woooooo! ٩( ᗒᗨᗕ )۶

That was about the reaction they all would have expected from Pinkie. Dusk’s reaction was far more reserved in comparison, though. His brow furrowed in concern at the mere prospect of attending a frat party of all things, while Ray and Rarity both typed responses of their own.

>Rarity: Interesting. How did this come about?

>Ray: Are there guys just walking around the beach passing out invites?

>Flash: Nah, this happened last night, while we were at the pier. Sunset forgot to mention it to the rest of you until just now.

>Sunset: I did not! I thought I posted it in chat this morning. I was wondering why no one responded.

>Sunset: Apparently I never hit send.

>Ray: Ah. Been there. Understandable.

>Sunset: So yeah, Flash and I bumped into the head of one of the local fraternities last night. He invited us to their big house party tonight.

>Rarity: Really? Just like that?

>Sunset: Not exactly. Some of his juniors tried to pick a fight with Flash over something stupid. He stepped in and apologized for them, then told us about the party and invited us.

>Ray: Ah, so he’s trying to smooth things over so you don’t file a complaint.

>Ray: Or he was flirting with Sunset specifically and Flash just happened to also be there.

>Flash: Hey!

>Sunset: Eh, probably. He seemed alright though.

>Rarity: Was it just the two of you who were invited, or does the invitation extend to all of us?

>Sunset: He said we could bring along whoever we wanted, so all of us. And who knows, a house party could be pretty fun, assuming things don’t get too crazy.

>Ray: A FRAT house party, don’t forget. Those tend to be drunk and chaotic, in my experience.

>Flash: Right? That’s what I said.

>Rarity: And what experience would that be, Ray? Have you ever even been to a college house party before?

>Ray: Have you?

>Rarity: I asked first. Don’t avoid the question, darling.

Dusk looked up to see his best friend leveling a light glare at his girlfriend, while the latter merely lowered her sunglasses and raised a questioning eyebrow in response. Grumbling under his breath, but without any real discernible malice, Ray started typing again.

>Ray: Fine, if you MUST know, then no, technically I haven’t. I’ve looked in on plenty of them from the outside though.

Rarity tittered to his right, to which Ray only grumbled further.

>Rarity: I suspected as much. Don’t feel bad, Ray, I imagine this would be a first-time occurrence for most of us.

>Ray: Rarity, can you not patronize me over text when you’re sitting five feet away from me?

>Rarity: Of course. Would you rather I patronize you verbally?

>Ray: I hate you.

>Sunset: lol are you two done?

>Rarity: I believe so, yes. Continue, Sunset.

In spite of himself, Dusk couldn’t help but crack a small exasperated smile at the continued heated rivalry between his two closest friends. He was gratified to see them both shoot dry smirks at each other over their phones, indicating no hard feelings. Just another day in the life, really.

>Sunset: Right, as I was going to say. I’ve been to a few house parties at C.U., and trust me, they aren’t as rowdy as movies and TV make them out to be… usually. Things could be different here, of course, but the point still stands. I doubt there’ll be any problems like what you’re thinking of, Ray.

>Ray: So I’m guessing you and Flash wanna go to this party then?

>Flash: Well I’m actually kind of on the fence, but if Sunset goes, then I’ll go too.

>Sunset: It’s not like that. I’m just proposing it to the group. I think it’d be fun for us all to go together, but only if most of us want to go. The whole point of this trip is for us all to spend time together after all.

>Sunset: And I know that frat parties are a bit iffy as a general rule, so if most of you would rather stay at the hotel then we just won’t bother.

After reading that last message, Ray sighed and leaned forward, sitting upright on his reclined chair. He hummed thoughtfully. “What do you two think about this?” he asked aloud, turning toward Dusk and Rarity. “I’m honestly not sure one way or the other.”

“Really now?” Rarity shot him a curious look. “I’d have thought someone like you would leap at the chance to attend a party full of rambunctious college boys.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I like a party as much as the next guy. Especially one I’m actually invited to.” He sniffed innocently. “Still though, there are some scenes that are too crazy even for me. A bunch of guys taking shots out of bongs or whatever is pretty close to the top of that list.”

“Come now, Sunset said it’s unlikely to be that sort of party,” Rarity argued. “And even if it is, we’d be able to tell long before stepping through the front door. If so, we can just turn around and leave, no harm done.”

“I guess. It might be a fun time, and if it doesn’t pan out then at worst we’d lose a bit of bus fare and an hour or two of our time…” he shrugged. “I’m kinda surprised you’re in favor of going though. You know, what with it being full of ‘rambunctious college boys’ like me,” he added with dramatic air quotes.

“I confess, it’d be less for the party itself and more for the chance at some social networking,” Rarity explained. “Waytona does have a positive reputation as a rather high-end university, after all, and I’ve no doubt that there will be some other girls our age at this soirée. If I’m to get my own business off the ground anytime in the near future, I must take any chance I can at making connections.”

“Yeesh, you talk like there are gonna be rich people at this thing. I mean, I guess there might be, if it’s a rich college. Ugh, I’m not sure if that makes it better or worse…” Ray frowned and shook his head as if to clear the thought away. “What about you, Dusk? You’ve been quiet.”

Dusk, who had been keeping his thoughts to himself up to this point, started at being addressed directly. “W-what?”

“The party,” Ray repeated. “You thinkin’ of going with, or no?”

“Oh… Well, I… erm…” he spoke haltingly. For a moment, he considered lying, or coming up with some kind of excuse to avoid having to answer honestly. But that urge only lasted for a moment. These were his friends. Ray and Rarity especially, one his best friend of many years, the other his romantic other. Not for the first time, he forcefully reminded himself that he didn’t have to make excuses around them. Taking a breath, he collected his thoughts and answered.

“To be entirely honest… I’m not sure I want to,” he finally said. “You both know that I’m not really much of a… ‘people person’. Or a party person, for that matter. Small parties with our friends are one thing, but going to a crowded party with a bunch of complete strangers? It… doesn’t appeal to me as much. S-sorry…”

He spoke while casting his gaze downward, unsure of how the other two would respond. Much to his relief, however, when he glanced up, he saw Ray nodding along as though he’d expected that answer, and Rarity giving him a caring smile.

“Dusk, dear, you don’t have to explain or apologize,” she said, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. “We all have our own preferences, after all. Some are more cut out for louder social settings than others, there’s no shame in that.”

“...Thanks, Rarity.” He returned her affectionate smile with one of his own. “What about you? Are you going to go with Sunset and the others, then?”

“Ah…hm…” she bit her lip awkwardly and frowned somewhat. “Well, I admit, I was… rather hoping to go with you, if I went at all. If you intend on staying behind, then I’m likely to do the same.”

“What?” Dusk asked, confused. “B-but, you just said you wanted to try networking.”

“I do, but the point of the excursion is to have fun first and foremost, is it not? I doubt I’d have as much of an enjoyable time if you weren’t there, Dusk,” she returned smartly. She then suddenly gave him a sly smirk and batted her eyelashes. “Besides, at the end of the day, it is a fraternity party. Even if the others were to go as well, I’d feel much more comfortable attending if I knew my own boyfriend was close at hand.”

Despite having just applied lotion to her bare back less than five minutes prior, somehow this was what triggered an embarrassed response from Dusk. A blush quickly formed on his face while he mumbled incoherently, eliciting another giggle from Rarity.

“I-I see…” he finally managed to cough out, whilst trying to will his cheeks to stop burning. He cast his gaze around to find Ray, watching the couple’s exchange with a strange mix of amusement and faux-revulsion. “Wh-what about you, Ray?”

“Eh,” he shrugged nonchalantly, leaning back into his seat. “Surprisingly, I’m with the snob on this one. I don’t really care either way. I mean, a house party sounds like it might be a fun time, but no way I’m going if my favorite people aren’t gonna be there.”

“Aww, did I hear that right, ruffian?” Rarity teased from across Dusk. “I’m one of your favorite people?”

“You’re one of the people I dislike the least,” Ray clarified, shooting another lighthearted glare at her. “But seriously Dusk, do what you wanna do. If you don’t wanna hit up the big college party, then we can play games, or you and Rarity can watch soap operas, or whatever. It’s up to you.” He waved a hand dismissively, looking back at his phone.

Dusk found himself unsure of how to proceed. While he was immensely grateful to his friends for accepting his reluctance to attend an event like this, he also didn’t like feeling as though he was holding them back from enjoying themselves. Rarity had made her intentions and stance on attending clear, and Ray… well, despite whatever Ray expressed verbally, Dusk knew his old friend well enough to know that he enjoyed being a part of loud, bombastic affairs far more than Dusk did. The way he’d answered so quickly and flippantly made Dusk wonder if he was just acting nonchalant to be considerate.

Suddenly, their phones began collectively vibrating again. Relieved at the distraction, Dusk opened the group chat back up to see that the discussion seemed to have completely halted after the last message Sunset had posted several minutes ago, with the most recent alert having come from her again.

>Sunset: Girls? Guys? What are we thinking? Attend or don’t?

“Let’s see which side of the fence the others are sitting on,” Ray quickly suggested, quickly beginning to type on his own phone, saving Dusk from having to think of what to say.

>Ray: We’re still deciding over here.

>Ray: How about everyone else? Twilight, what’re you and Singer doing?

In expected fashion, once her name was mentioned it only took a few seconds for the quick-typing Twilight to post a response, despite the relative length of her message.

>Twilight: Honestly, we’re waiting to see what the rest of the group does. Singer’s not opposed to going. I’m admittedly a bit unsure myself, but then again I’ve also never attended a large fraternity party like this before, so that might just be nerves talking. But regardless, Sunset’s right: the core point of this trip is for us all to do things together as a group, not to go off to random parties on our own.

“Greeeeaaat. That’s less-than-helpful,” Ray groused. “So right now everyone’s stuck in ‘I’ll go if everyone else goes’ limbo. At this point I’m considering going along with it just to be the first one to commit.”

Dusk was starting to feel uncomfortably pressured. His uncertainty must have shown on his face, because Rarity spoke up again.

“How about this, darling,” she began, grabbing ahold of his hand and squeezing it softly. “We can go with the others, and we’ll play it by ear. We’ll focus on enjoying ourselves, but if it ends up being too rowdy and you feel uncomfortable, we can leave. How’s that?”

It was an obvious suggestion and a simplistically elegant compromise, Dusk had to admit. One that appeased his fears about committing to something he wouldn’t enjoy while also quelling his worries about keeping Rarity away from something she’d enjoy. After a few more moments of thought, he resolved to simply bite the bullet. Really, it was just a party, and his friends would be there. How bad could it be?

“You know what? Alright,” he finally said, tilting his head in Rarity’s direction. “S-sure. Why not? Let’s go.”

“Really? Are you sure?” Rarity asked. Dusk nodded once, hesitantly, then a second time more firmly. Rarity smiled proudly. “Alright, if you’re certain Dusk. Just remember not to push yourself.”

“Well, I have to start reaching out of my comfort zone eventually, I suppose,” he said lightly, offering a nervous chuckle. “Especially if I want to spend more time with you, I need to get used to being around and talking to people. Might as well start now.”

“You’ve already made great strides since we first met,” Rarity assured. “Like I said, if you’re feeling uncomfortable, we can leave.”

“I know. Thank you, dear.”

“So… that’s settled then? Are we putting our names forward?” Ray asked, having been watching the exchange again from the side. At both of their nods, he began typing again.

>Ray: Alrighty. After years of reflection and soul-searching, me, Dusk, and the snob are all on board. Bring on the beer pong, I guess.

>Sunset: Really? Awesome!

>Sunset: Wait, Dusk, you sure you wanna come? Big parties like this aren’t really your scene, right?

>Dusk: You’re right, they’re not. But I’ll be fine, I think. So long as most of us are there and it’s not too unruly, like you said, it should be manageable.

>Rarity: And if not, then we shall simply take our leave. No harm, no foul, as they say.

>Sunset: Sounds good. That’s 5 of us going then. 7 if we count Twilight and Singer. Pinkie, how about you?

…

>Sunset: Pinkie? You there?

Normally Pinkie was quick to reply if her name was mentioned in the group chat, but several dozen seconds ticked by without a response. It occurred to Dusk at that moment that Pinkie hadn’t posted a message since declaring her excitement at the prospect of a house party. Curious, the three of them looked back over to where she was working on the sand castle, and sure enough she was still over there with Fluttershy.

Interestingly, the two of them seemed to be engaged in a lively back-and-forth. Although they couldn’t hear what was being said from this distance, it was easy to see the way Pinkie was flailing her arms about and talking excitedly, while Fluttershy in stark contrast appeared to be pacing back-and-forth with an expression of fear and uncertainty. Spike and Mrs. Belle were still working on the sand castle in the meantime, watching the two from the sidelines.

Suddenly, Pinkie ceased her wild gestures and reached into her pocket, seemingly pulling out her phone. After looking at it for several moments, she looked up and darted her eyes in the direction the three of them were seated, meeting with Dusk’s gaze. Then, she grinned, and began speaking enthusiastically with Fluttershy again. Whatever was said between the two pink-haired girls seemed to have an effect on the latter, who likewise looked in their direction and seemed to calm down somewhat. The two spoke with each other for a minute longer, after which Pinkie abruptly cheered loud enough for them to hear and began jumping up and down excitedly.

Ray, Dusk, and Rarity all glanced at each other in abject confusion, all of them unsure of what was happening. That was until their phones started going off again, this time with back-to-back pings, a sound they’d all come to associate with Pinkie’s excited rapid-fire messages.

>Pinkie:\ ( >w< ) /

>Pinkie: Yeah!

>Pinkie: I’m still here!

>Pinkie: Sorry about that! I forgot to look at chat! ～( ＞_＜ )～

>Sunset: No worries. Doubt I need to ask, but are you coming to the party?

>Pinkie: Absotively posilutely!

>Pinkie: I’ve never been to a college house party at Waytona U before!

>Pinkie: This’ll be so much fun! o( > ᗜ < )o ₊˚⊹♡

>Sunset: Good news, then. That makes 8 of us.

>Pinkie: 9, actually! Fluttershy’s gonna come too! ⸜(｡0 ᵕ 0 )⸝⸜(｡0 ᵕ 0 )⸝

Dusk blinked. He had to read that most recent text twice, as he was sure he’d misread the first time. His, Ray’s, and Rarity’s eyes all widened in surprise.

>Ray: wait wut

>Flash: Huh?

>Sunset: Really?

>Pinkie: Yeah! ( ˶^ᗜ^˵ )

>Pinkie: That’s why I forgot to look at chat, I was busy trying to convince her!

>Pinkie: She was super-duper-luper nervous, but when she saw so many of us were gonna be there she decided to come along too!

>Pinkie: Thanks Rarity, Ray, Dusky! Everyone else too! Couldn't’ve done it withoutcha!
♡⸜(˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶)⸝♡

Unsure glances were quickly exchanged between the three of them at the mental image of Fluttershy of all people standing in the middle of a massive exuberant house party surrounded by strangers. She was even worse with such scenes than Dusk, that was no secret to anyone.

>Twilight: Pinkie, wait. As much as we appreciate your enthusiasm, Fluttershy really doesn’t have to come if she doesn’t want to.

>Rarity: Quite. The dear shouldn’t feel pressured.

>Pinkie: She does wanna come though!

>Pinkie: She said she

The message cut off, and several seconds of silence passed without any indication that Pinkie was typing. Peering into the distance again, Dusk thought he saw her and Fluttershy speaking to each other. Then another ping in chat.

>Pinkie: Sorry about that! Again!

>Pinkie: Shy wants to talk now, so I’m gonna let her borrow my phone. I have to get back to helping Spike build a functioning drawbridge! Later gators! (^ _ ^) /~~

There were a few moments of stillness on the screen then, as Pinkie presumably passed off the phone to Fluttershy and went back to playing in the sand. Even still, it took several more seconds before they saw Pinkie - or rather, Fluttershy - typing a message. It was easy to tell that it was her on account of how long it was taking - Fluttershy was the slowest typer out of all of them, save perhaps Applejack, and had a habit of repeatedly erasing and re-typing her own messages before posting them.

>Pinkie: Hello. It’s Fluttershy speaking.

>Pinkie: Yes, I’ve decided to come with all of you to the party. Only if that’s alright with you all, of course. I don’t want to be a burden, so if you’d rather I stay behind, I don’t mind.

>Rarity: Fluttershy, darling, of course we’re alright with you coming with us. It’s you that we’re concerned about. You’re usually so antsy about attending things like this. We practically had to drag you to prom night, remember?

…

>Pinkie: Yes, I remember. But I think I’ve been getting better at being around other people since then. And if most of you are going and I stayed behind, then I’d feel like I’m missing out. We’re here to have fun with each other. I don’t want to miss out on that because I’m too nervous to go out with all of you. Is that okay?

>Sunset: I honestly wasn’t expecting you to even be remotely interested in coming, Fluttershy, that’s the only reason I didn’t ask about you. But if you wanna join us then I don’t think any of us have a problem with it. Right, everyone?

>Twilight: Of course.

>Dusk: Certainly not.

>Flash: No problem here.

>Singer: Ditto, wouldn’t be the same without you.

>Rarity: The more the merrier.

>Ray: What they said, yeah.

…

>Pinkie: OK. Thank you everyone. I’ll try not to get in the way while we’re there.

>Pinkie: I’m going to give Pinkie her phone back now.

>Ray: Have fun making sand forts.

>Sunset: Alright, neat, so that’s nine of us. I think it’s safe to say that we are officially going to the party.

>Flash: Probably also safe to assume that Applejack and Rainbow will be on board once they hear about what we’re doing.

>Sunset: Applejack is 50/50 I think, but Rainbow? Definitely. This seems like it’s right up her alley.

>AJ: I’m 50/50 on what exactly?

>Flash: Oh hey, look at that!

>Rarity: What impeccable timing.

>Ray: Speak of the devil and she shall appear.

>Rainbow: Yeesh, 109 missed messages? The heck have you guys been talking about?

>Sunset: Scroll up, Rainbow.

>AJ: Ray, who’re you calling a devil now?

>Ray: Rainbow, obviously. You know. Daredevil.

>AJ: Uh huh. Sure.

>Pinkie: I’m back again! (๑>ᴗ<๑) Hi AJ, hi Dashie, how were the waves?

>Rainbow: Oh dope, we’re going to a frat party? Sounds awesome, count me in!

>Rainbow: Waves started off great but now they’re getting kinda eh, so we’re taking a break.

>Sunset: Then that just leaves Applejack.

>AJ: Well if everyone else is already going then I guess I might as well tag along.

>AJ: As good a way as any to spend the night.

>Sunset: Great! That’s all of us.

>Pinkie: What about Zephyr?

>Ray: What ABOUT Zephyr?

>Rainbow: What ABOUT Zephyr?

>Rainbow: JINX

>Ray: jinx

>Ray: dammit

>Rainbow: XD

Rainbow: Where is that creep anyways

>Rainbow: Actually nvm, don’t care

>Flash: Last we saw he was heading off to find you.

>Rainbow: Well I don’t see him. Probably got lost in the surf. Either way I ain’t sticking around for him to show up.

>Twilight: I don’t really like suggesting this, but considering most of our feelings on his presence, maybe it’d be best if we just don’t tell him about the party.

>Sunset: Yeah, I kinda agree. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.

>Ray: Works for me.

>Sunset: Okay, well, I guess we’ll head back to the hotel in a few hours and get ready to leave once evening rolls around.

>Flash: Sounds like a plan.

>Rainbow: Got it.

>Rarity: We’ll be ready.

>Pinkie: Okie-dokie-lokie! (✿◠ᴗ◠)

As Dusk and everyone else posted their various affirmations to the plan, he leaned back and sighed. “Guess we’re not weaseling out of this one…” he muttered.

“Hey, we had plenty of chances,” Ray pointed out, moving to put his phone back in his pocket. Just before he did though, the group chat curiously started pinging again. He huffed and looked at the new messages, only to blanch at what he saw.

>AJ: Ray, I just scrolled to the top of the chat. What was that comment about me ‘attempting’ to surf?

…

>AJ: Ray

>Ray: Uh

>Ray: Oh, would you look at the clock, it’s time for me to be somewhere else.

>AJ: Ray, don’t make me come over there.

>Ray: Gonna grab something to eat everyone be back later maybe probably have fun KBAI

Without so much as another word to either him or Rarity, Ray rapidly stood up, gathered his bag, and began speed-walking away from their spot.

AJ: Ray, I can see you down the way!

>AJ: Don’t you start running now!

>AJ: Ray!

Dusk and Rarity glanced back and forth between the texts on their screens and their friend’s rapidly-retreating backside. In the end, both could only share an amused, bewildered look with each other, before breaking down into laughter at Ray’s expense.

Southbound, a ways away from the swimming beach area the Canterloters were at, sat the beach house that acted as the fraternity house for the Mu Pi’s. Decorations had been set up along the stage that was there. Tables were being setup, and various other things were coming into place for the party later that night. Watching over it all on the back porch area of the house was Jake Featherstone. He vainly combed his hair as he alternated between focusing on himself and watching to make sure the guys were doing their jobs right.

“Blackjack, if I have to tell you again not to put the drinks near where the Karaoke Machine is supposed to go, I’m going to put you back on probation!” Jake hissed at one of his fellow Mu Pi’s. The guy in question huffed as he yet again moved the table to where he hoped the drinks were supposed to go. “My gosh, good help is hard to find these days.” His eyes darted around to oversee what the rest of the guys were up to.

“Moose, my main man!” Jake said as he looked down to his left over to a large guy, built like a tank. He made Bulk Biceps back at Canterlot look a bit less impressive by comparison. He was sort of a stereotypical strong silent man with a bowl cut hair cut with bangs that covered his eyes and made them not visible. He wore his own Four-X sized Mu Pi T-Shirt that matched the rest of the guys wearing theirs. His skin color was yellow and his hair color was light brown. He’d garnered praise from Jake as he was one of Jake’s most trustworthy members. He’d also just carried a large supply of various drinks that he’d gone to buy at the store. “Moose, do yourself a favor and go grab yourself a drink. You’ve earned it.”

Moose didn’t say anything but he smiled slightly and nodded and stomped off into the lower back door under the back balcony of the house to go to the kitchen.

Jake noted that Muscles was hard at work loading the speakers onto the stage that was set up outside. But his attention was diverted when he heard a voice come up from behind him. It had been Jock, who held in his hand some paper that he’d printed off from their printer inside.

“Hello Jock…” Jake said coldly.

“Hey Jake.”

“I take it you’ve been doing that research I asked you for?”

“Yeah, right here. I also went to the house next door like you asked me to do and gave them a heads up so they won’t be bothering us tonight.”

“Good… I can’t stand those old fishermen… So, you managed to find some info on these Canterlot guys?”

“Yes.” Jock replied. “Well, at least I was able to find info on the two that we know about. All we know about the others is that they are a decent sized group of around ten to twelve-ish people. Apparently, while doing my extensive research, it appears Sunset Shimmer has quite a history, both for her academic skills and as an athlete. A bit of a bad girl past as well. And Flash Sentry? Well, he’s just a flashy dressed geek who plays in a band with a bunch of other geeks.”

“Hmmm…” Jake said as he looked at the papers presented by Jock. “Yes, this is something. Sunset Shimmer is quite the catch isn’t she?”

“Jake?” Jock said unsurely with an unsure tone to his voice. “What are you say-“

“Nevermind that!” Jake said. “Just keep finding information and see what else you can find on her friends.”

“You sure that’s necessary?”

“I’m willing to bet some of her peers are going to be quite impressive as well… We’ll need to up our game lest we be bested on our own turf. Such a shame that we have to do this old song and dance every year.”

“Don’t worry, Jake. We’re working on something that will take these Canterlot “Blundercolts” down a peg.”

“I’m listening…”

“We invite them on stage as our welcome guests, really work to butter them up and lull them into a false sense of security and then… we hose them!” Jock said with a sinister grin.”

“Hose them?” Jake asked, raising his left eyebrow.

“Hose them…” Jock reiterated. “We get them on stage and we blast them with a water hose.” Jock wasn’t the brightest light when it came to ideas, and this latest pitch was no different. His facial expression went from hopeful to forlorn when he noticed that Jake was shaking his head disapprovingly at the midsection of his sentence.

“It’s not big enough!” Jake shouted, but he immediately calmed himself down, and held up a hand in an apologetic manner. “Keep workshopping it and come up with something substantial by tonight.”

“We could…” Jock said with a slight pause as if he was going to suggest something but a shiver was sent down his spine and he stopped himself. “No, nevermind. That’s a stupid idea.”

“What?” Jake said as he rubbed his temples stressfully.

“We could wake up Kyle…”

A look of hesitation came over him as he contemplated the idea. He went around in circles in his mind wondering if this was worth bringing their wildcard into this. However, he ultimately gave his nod of approval after some consideration and agreed. “Fine… I hate to put our reputation on the line by utilizing Kyle’s over the top ideas, but he is our wildcard for a reason. Do what you must, but make sure everyone knows to make these Canterlot people feel welcome at first. We wouldn’t want them to leave early before the real fun begins, now would we?”

“Understood, Jake.” Said Jock as he turned around to enter the house again, leaving Jake to his planning.

“Oh, and Jock?” Jake said, causing him to pause. “Be on your best behavior, and see to it that you keep our mutual friend in check as well.”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever you say, Jake…”

Jock walked on into the house where some of the other guys had been taking a break from setting up the party and were currently playing video games and drinking beer. There was another couple of guys that had company on the neighboring couch, making out with presumably girls they’d found on the beach while chilling. He nodded to the guys playing the games as he walked on by, and did his best not to look at the kissing couples. Each step he took that brought him closer to the room that Kyle resided in made him tense up a bit more.

This guy could be intense at times, and had a reputation among the fraternity as someone you didn’t want to be on the wrong side of. The smell of energy drinks and pizza grew stronger as he reached the door, which was left open. Jock swallowed a bit before stepping into the room in which the lights were off but a tv was going off. He knocked on the door, hoping to get a response. Nothing.

“K-Kyle?” Jock said nervously. “It’s Jock, here. Are you awake?”

His eyes diverted to a slight movement coming from a chair sitting facing the TV on the wall across from the door. A silhouette of an arm could be seen reaching over and grabbing a can, presumedly an energy drink. A black can with a stylized green ‘M’ that looked like claw marks. The arm lifted the can and moved it closer to the body sitting in the chair, no doubt the arm of Kyle. A few gulps and a large belch could be heard before the arm slammed the can back down on the side table, making the now empty can crush as it was forcibly hammered down.

“Yep…” the voice of the arm replied. “What… do-ya want-ta-ta-ta?!?” His choice in vernacular was very colorful to say the least. He’d heard from some of the others that he was obsessed with an actor by the name of Jim Carrey and styled much of his lifestyle after some of the characters he played. The main one of them being a character by the name of ‘Ace Ventura’.

“We have something we could use your help with, if you can spare the time…”

The chair made a creaking noise as the body behind the arm suddenly ascended from sitting down and now a silhouette of a skinny guy with a funny looking hair style stood up and Jock could have swore he saw the figure turn and look at him.

“Re-he-he-heally…” Kyle said with a laugh, and talking in a goofy fashion.

“Yeah. Some out-of-towners could use some hazing and we could use some of your ideas.”

Slowly Kyle made his way forward and trudged his way into the light casting into the dark room from the hallway. A large goofy grimace could be seen from Kyle, who had a tall cowlick hairstyle to his dark brown hair, green eyes and white skin. His attire was that of an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt that was red with yellow flower patterns on it, purple basketball shorts with a signature purple Mu Pi T-Shirt underneath his Hawaiian shirt.

“Ssssssssmokin!!!” He said with a big cartoonish grin. “Well then… let’s get cooking!” With a few deep chuckles, he swiftly removed the pair of sunglasses he wore, and then he rubbed his hands together menacingly and darted past Jock as if he was a kid excited to go play outside.

“Man this guy really creeps me out…” Jock murmured to himself, reluctantly following Kyle outside.

“Dagnabbit, Zephyr!” Scolded Applejack as she helped a lifeguard bring Zephyr back to shore after he wiped out while attempting to surf and struggling to make it back to shore. “What in tarnation were ya thinkin’?”

As he coughed the water out of his lungs, Rainbow Dash begrudgingly patted his back, maybe a bit harder than she really needed to, to the point where she left a red hand mark on his back.

“That was incredibly stupid, Zephyr! You could have gotten yourself killed!” Dash took her turn in scolding him.

“Gee, Rainbows. I guess you really do care.” Zephyr looked up at her with a smirk shortly afterwards he fell to his knees and coughed up some more water.

“UGH!!!!” Dash screamed, gripping some of her technicolored hair in her frustration, and once she saw that he was alright after coughing up the water, she let him have it again. “Why are you so annoying?”

“Yeah, myself and the other lifeguards are going to be watching you. You won’t be trying that again.” Said a third voice, that for a split second the two girls had forgotten about.

AJ and Dash were caught off guard by the sudden reminder of the presence of the lifeguard that had reached Zephyr and helped pull him back to shore. This one in particular was a guy with light red skin, beach blonde hair, wearing a pair of red swimming trunks, and obviously going shirtless like many of the other guys who were out on the beach. Both girls had been briefly mesmerized by the guy, and they looked disappointed when he started off back to his post. However he didn’t leave without waving at the two girls as he did so. Rainbow waved at him as he left and Applejack just rolled her eyes after the moment had passed.

“I saw him first…” Dash said abruptly with a smirk.

Applejack rolled her eyes and slightly groaned. “Ya know there’s more ta guys than just looks, right Rainbow?”

“Sure, sure. But with a bod like that, it doesn’t hurt.”

Zephyr’s demeanor changed as well. The girl’s backs were turned from his direction, but he could be seen spitting on the sand in front of him. “Lifeguard…” his eyes narrowed and his eyebrows pointed to indicate anger. Nevermind the fact that the guy saved his life, but he caught the eye of Rainbow Dash, and Zephyr wasn’t happy about it.

“Ah well, I didn’t come here to pick up guys anyway.” Dash said after she and AJ had a brief back and forth that happened while Zephyr wasn’t paying attention. “Shouldn’t we be getting back to the hotel?” Dash said, looking at her waterproof watch noting the time.

“Right…” replied Applejack. “Ah’m gettin mighty tired after surfin all day.” AJ shifted her eyes back and forth and scrunched her nose and mouth, trying not to make eye contact with Zephyr. Fortunately her back was turned to him and Dash was the one standing facing him. AJ was a terrible liar so this was for the best.

“Yep…” Zephyr said with a slight grunt to his voice. “I’m getting quite tired after exercising my strapping beach bod today. Time for this guy to hit the bed.”

“Hi Rainbow Dash, Applejack.” Said Fluttershy as she walked up to her friends, all the while glaring at her brother. “And hello Zephyr…” Fluttershy had said more coldly to her brother. “I can’t believe what you did. That was incredibly dangerous!”

“Yeah, yeah I know. It was dangerous, stupid, and I’m a mutton head.” He said as he scratched the back of his head nervously.

“I know you’re trying to impress Rainbow Dash but you don’t have to put yourself in danger to do it.”

Rainbow Dash facepalmed at Zephyr’s patheticness. She couldn’t believe what she was about to say, but she said it anyway. “Look, Zephyr. I can give you some pointers on surfing if you really want to learn.”

“Really?” Zephyr said, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes. But you have to listen to everything I tell you to do and you’d better not be weird about it.”

“You really mean it, Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy said hopefully. It wasn’t that she wanted Zephyr to have prolonged contact with Rainbow or anything, but the fact that in spite of everything he’d done, Rainbow was at least trying to show him a little bit of tolerance and it made her smile. And Fluttershy was fine with it as long as he was willing to earn and not waste her time.

“Yeah, if he’s going to try it, he might as well have someone show him how. As annoying as he is, I don’t really want to see him kill himself trying to do it.”

“Rainbows, you won’t regret this! I’m going to be the best-…”

“NOW, listen to me. This is in no way a date or my way of flirting with you. Any attempt at any romantic tomfoolery and I’ll personally stuff you in your suitcase and send you back to Canterlot. Capiche?”

Zephyr nodded his head quickly with widened eyes in a slight display of fear.

“Now that that’s settled, who’s ready for that party tonight?” Fluttershy said, not realizing that the others didn’t want Zephyr to know.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack both collectively facepalmed, much to Fluttershy’s dismay. “Oh… we weren’t going to tell him, were we?”

“No… but it’s fine. We should have made sure you knew.”

“Well, I guess I’m no longer tired now.” Zephyr remarked with a smirk, making AJ and Dash sigh out of annoyance.

“Of course yer not…” remarked Applejack.

“Sorry…” Fluttershy said with finality as she knew the damage had been done.

“It’s a’ight, Fluttershy” said Applejack. “It was kind of inevitable he’d find out anyways.”

“You do realize that I’m standing right here, right?” Zephyr said, pointedly.

“Yeah, Ah know.” Remarked AJ with a smirk, garnering a grumbly growl from the annoying one.

“Psh… whatevs…”

Another hour later, and most everyone had gathered in the hotel lobby, changed into recreational clothes, and ready to go to the party that they were both excited and in part dreading to go to. They’d be on their own to ride the public transport bus again as Belle had taken herself, tired from the day, as well as Spike on back to where they were staying. No big deal, though. Many of them were used to it from often using the bus back home. The gang appeared to be ready to go, however one of them was notably absent.

Twilight was texting on her phone with Singer as he was the only one who was currently not among them. He’d gotten a last minute phone call from someone and he’d been stuck in his room for the last twenty minutes. Who knew how much longer he’d be in there? Fortunately, he had the ability to text his girlfriend while he was in conversation.

Singer: Sorry Twi… I am going to need more time. This is a very important phone call. You guys should go on ahead, I’ll catch up.

Twilight: Are you sure?

Singer: Yes, this conversation could go on for a bit longer. I don’t want to hold you all up. I promise, I’ll be there as soon as I can.

Twilight: Okay. I’ll tell the others. You better be careful. I’m sending you a pin to the location of the party. Try not to get lost… I love you.

Singer: Don’t worry, I won’t. I love you too, Adorkable Sparkle ;)

Twilight: See you soon… Eugene… ;)

Singer: ha ha, real cute. I mean you really are cute, but… you know what I mean. You’re the only one allowed to call me by my middle name. I hope you appreciate just how exclusive that is. :3

Twilight: Oh believe me, I do. :D See you soon!

>Singer: Bye, sweetie :3

After the conversation, Twilight sighed a bit and disappointment was evident in her features.

“Are you alright, Twilight?” Asked Dusk with concern, noting his friend’s sudden change in demeanor.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Singer’s in the middle of an important call, so he said we should all go ahead and go.”

“Are you going to be okay with that, Darling?” Rarity asked.

“I think so. I’m just a little bit worried about him coming on by himself after he’s done.”

“Well if it’s okay with you, we should probably get going then…” Sunset said. She let out a subtle annoyed sigh when she saw Zephyr among them while looking around to make sure everyone else was there. In the back of her mind, she kinda knew that going to this frat party without Zephyr knowing about it was probably a fool’s errand due to his annoying tendencies to find out about everything. Still, she wasn’t going to sweat it as she knew she’d be accompanied by Flash the whole time, so she smiled to herself while thinking about it. She’d reached over and held him by the hand, garnering a warm smile from him.

As they all filed away to leave, Twilight had an idea. She turned to Dusk and Ray, who were lagging a bit behind the rest of the group, and both appeared to be cutting up over an inside joke of theirs. She clapped her hands together and approached them with a smile.

“Oh snap, Twilight’s coming…” whispered Ray as both he and Dusk smiled sheepishly at her. “Hi Twilight!”

“Hello Dusk, Ray. I was wondering.” Twilight began, all the while nervously twirling her fingers in the strands of hair on the side of her head. “I know that going to this party isn’t something you’re overly fond of…”

“Well Dusk is the one with the hang up about it. I’m fine with the idea, but continue.” Ray said with a slight grin while Dusk rolled his eyes.

“Right.” Twilight continued. “Well, I was wondering if you’d mind hanging back for a bit and wait for Singer to finish his call, and come on with him when he’s done.”

“I don’t know, Rarity might not like that.” Dusk said unsurely. “She was insistent on the two of us going together.”

“I’ll talk to her for you, don’t worry.” Twilight insisted. “I just… I worry about the idea of him coming after us all by himself.”

“Why? Does Singer have trouble with directions or something ?” Asked Ray.

“Yeah… there’s no sugarcoating it. He can also be easily distracted, and he’s kind of prone to getting overwhelmed in stressful situations.”

“Hmmm… remind you of anyone?” remarked Ray, in regards to the bit about Singer getting overwhelmed, noting how she had her own tendencies to stress out at times.

“Hey, watch it.”

“I kid, I kid…”

Dusk thought for a minute, and considered what Twilight had proposed. He did like the idea of his time at the frat party being cut off a bit by waiting on Singer, plus he could still fulfill his commitment he’d made with Rarity. And Twilight seemed to be legitimately worried for Singer’s wellbeing in this instance, so he considered it. He then looked over to Ray who nodded in a silent agreement.

“For you Twilight, we will be happy to wait for Singer. Consider him safe with us.” Dusk said with a reassuring smile.

“Yeah, we’ll make sure he stays the course.” Added Ray.

“Thanks, you guys. You’re the best!” Twilight said as she quickly and gratefully hugged both of them before darting off to catch up with the others. “I guess we will see you there then.”

“See you there.” Said Dusk as he waved to his departing friend as she soon disappeared around a bunch of parked vehicles.

“Welp.” Ray said, taking a seat on one of the chairs outside, while Dusk did the same. “Now we wait. The things we do for these girls.”

“Indeed.” Chuckled Dusk. “They all seem to have us wrapped around their fingers. But I honestly don’t mind.”

“Ya know, a thought just occurred to me. I’ve known of this guy for months now, and I don’t think I’ve ever had a conversation with him that lasted more than thirty seconds.”

“He’s actually quite pleasant to talk to. And the way things look, I don’t see him going anywhere any time soon. I’d recommend getting to know him at least to some extent. I think that would make Twilight happy.”

“Hmm, yeah you’re right. We’ve got a whole bus ride to converse. I just hope we’re not waiting too much longer. Party food is kinda calling my name.” Ray could practically hear his stomach growling of hunger.

Dusk could feel the empty void in his stomach rumbling as well. “I’m in agreement there.”

To be continued...

Author's Note

[7-13-24 Edit] I decided to cut this chapter in half, to hopefully make it all easier to read moving forward. The next chapter is close to being done, rest assured. The next chapter update should be legitimate.

Long time coming. Sorry about that again. I hope to make more frequent (and shorter) updates in the future. I know I’ve said that before, but I want to finish this story up.

I want to give another thanks to SCI-FIWizardman for his help with my writing of this story thus far. He’s helped me come up with ideas along the way, given me pointers on where to improve and he also wrote that whole text message session towards the beginning of the chapter using the text exchange format you saw. I’ve never thought of doing that before.

Here’s hoping the follow up chapter won’t take me long at all to write. And I hope you get some enjoyment out of this one.

Thanks to everyone who reads this story.

A Tale of Two Parties Part 2

The ride over to the party was a relatively short one. Around fifteen minutes or so, while they waited through a few stops. Some of the girls were excited, while the rest of them were a bit nervous about what they might experience here.

Twilight and Fluttershy were definitely the two who had the most reservations about the party. The former was already dealing with some anxieties from memories she had of parties in the past. When she was a high school student at Crystal Prep, she’d usually only ever get invited to parties so that she could be the butt of whatever joke or prank the other students wanted to inflict upon her. However, she was comforted in knowing that her friends wouldn’t do that to her and that she had them to help her through this.

“Don’t worry Twilight, you can stick with me and everything will be Okie Dokie Lokie!” Pinkie said, patting Twilight on the back.

“Thanks Pinkie.” Twilight said with a genuine smile.

Rarity had been a tiny bit annoyed by what Twilight had done, but after thinking on it for a minute, and looking at it from Twilight’s perspective, she quickly came to understand where Twilight was coming from. She wouldn’t want Dusk to try to do something like that by himself. And Rarity was, on the regular, a very understanding person. So until Dusk, Ray and Singer could join them, she decided to partner up with Applejack.

“Now Rarity, yer prolly gonna wanna help me out here. The biggest ‘barn burner’ party Ah’ve ever been apart of was mah family reunion parties. Rowdy as they can be sometimes, Ah have a feelin’ Ah ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

“Not to worry, Applejack.” Rarity began. “We’re going to have so much fun, you won’t even have time to focus on how crazy the scene will be.” Rarity took this moment to pull her phone out and get a selfie of the two of them sitting beside each other.

“Ya reckon they’ll have any a’ that hard apple ale there?”

“I reckon- um…” Rarity cleared her throat when she caught herself almost using AJ’s lingo. “I’m sure they’ll have whatever your heart desires. Surely we will find something we like at least that we can drink responsibly.”

“Naaah, we ain’t drivin’ home, might as well live a little.” Applejack said with a wink.

“Oh bother…” Rarity sighed, but it quickly turned into a slight smile. “I suppose we are in for an eventful evening, then.”

Rainbow decided to buddy up with Fluttershy. She knew she’d be able to help Fluttershy with her hang ups as well, as Dash would often be the one Fluttershy would lean on for dealing with social functions. Though she found that this decision had one tiny consequence. Zephyr was there and he typically hung around with Fluttershy.

“Alright! We’ve got Rainbows tagging along with us, Sis!” Zephyr said, sitting behind the seat that Fluttershy and Rainbow were sitting in. “Yo, Rainbows, you up for a little spin the bottle later?”

“Hey!” Dash shouted. “I thought I told you to stop being weird!”

“While we’re doing the surfing lessons. I didn’t think that applied to all of the time.” He said, giving her a flirtatious wink, to which Rainbow began to clench her fists and growl in anger. This made her even more mad, but fortunately Fluttershy was there to diffuse the situation.

“Rainbow Dash, Zephyr, please! Can we all just get along tonight? I mean, I’m really trying here, but if you two are going to be going after each other all night, then I might as well ride the bus back to the hotel.”

“Fine… I’ll cool it on my declarations of love for one night.” Zephyr said, halfheartedly conceding.

“Declarations of cringe is more like it…” Dash muttered to herself before taking a deep breath and nodding her head in response to Fluttersy’s request. “For you Fluttershy, I can at least pretend to tolerate your clown of a brother.”

“Thank you!” Fluttershy beamed, followed by a swift hug.

“Alright, alright…” Dash laughed, patting Fluttershy on the head.

Sunset knew Flash had his own reservations about going to this frat house party as he didn’t view them in a very positive light, not to mention his encounter with Jock and Muscles the night before. But Sunset placed her hand on his shoulder and smiled reassuringly at him.

“Thanks for going along with this, Flash. I know you had your reservations about coming tonight, but I really think we’re going to have fun.”

“I think you’re right. I guess I was just nervous about seeing that one guy again. But if Jake Featherstone wants to invite us to a party to make up for all of that, then I guess I’m good with it. Besides, I’m sure there will be a place where we can just sit and hang out together. I don’t really care about getting wild.”

“Uuuuuh… I don’t know. I heard they have a karaoke machine there. I might want to slam a few drinks down and get up on that platform and sing my heart out.” Sunset said with a playful nudge to his side as the bus finally came to a stop for where they were to get off. “I’m actually being serious though, I kinda want to do that.”

“Well if that’s what you want to do, we will do it.” He said as he gave her a kiss before following everyone else off.

Once they exited the bus, they went down the street to the house in question, and made their way down a slight inclined sidewalk that led to the beach house. The house itself was fairly large, and it had to be for it being a frat house. It appeared to be a two story house, painted yellow with dark brown shingles, and white trim around the windows. The higher floor of the house seemed to be where the entry way would be as the lower floor would be closer to where you’d exit to go to the back yard. Complete with an upper balcony porch for the outside of the upper level of the house in the back.

The scene outside had a few guys already drinking out in the front, and some of them were already doing weird dances due to earlier beverage consumption.

Once they reached said house, they came up to a tall man dressed in a black suit and sunglasses standing at the door. The guy asked who they were, to which Sunset responded.

“We are the Canterlot U party. We might be last on the list as we were just invited last night.”

“Hmmm… yep. There you are. Go on in.” The man said, opening the door, gesturing for them to go in.

“Oh, and we have three stragglers from our group, three guys that will be here later.”

“Noted.” He said as he continued to hold the door for them. “Go on in and enjoy the party.”

Once inside they quickly made their way through the house and out onto the back patio that led outside where the life of the party was. There were all sorts of games, a hot tub, a stage, plenty of snack tables, drinks of all kinds, especially alcoholic, and lots of people who were already partying down. In fact, it was telling of what kind of night they were in for when a drunk dude in his underwear ran by and jumped into some nearby bushes, causing all the girls to blush at the sight.

“I want to go home now…” Fluttershy said quietly.

“And now, you know what these frat parties are about.” Said Rainbow, being one of the few to feel somewhat at home with the tone of the party. “Look at that guy go!”

“My, my… that was certainly something…” said Rarity, who appeared to be almost as perturbed at that initial display as Fluttershy was.

“Wow, these guys really know how to party!!!” Pinkie Pie said excitedly. “OM Goodness!!! Is that a fondue fountain?!? It is!!! Twilight! Twilight!” Pinkie lost herself in her excitement and didn’t realize how hard she’d started to pull on Twilight’s arm, giving her little time to process her surroundings.

“Okay, okay, let’s go…” Twilight said, giggling at Pinkie’s excitement and trying to ignore the slight discomfort of having Pinkie nearly pulling her arm off all the while trying to not lose her balance while at the same time trying to keep up with Pinkie.

Zephyr took it upon himself to make kissy faces at some of the girls in bikinis congregating nearby and in the hot tub, though none of them were giving him the time of day to his dismay.

“Alright Captain Man Bun, since we are stuck dealing with you, what would you like to do?” Dash said, rolling her eyes.

“Huh? Oh, I dunno. Never been to a frat party before. Don’t mind me, I’m just going to be mingling into the crowd. Time to see if any ladies want to ride the “Breezy Train” tonight…”

“Zephyr… ew!” Fluttershy exclaimed out of embarrassment, facepalming while her cheeks flushed red.

“Fine, do your own thing. I don’t need to be weighed down by your shenanigans anyway…” Dash said.

“You do know where to find me, Rainbows…” Zephyr said with a wink and a two finger peace sign salute as he walked off.

“Ignoring you! Ignoring you! Ignoring you!” Dash growled with her teeth gritted.

At least she’d still have Fluttershy- wait, where’d Fluttershy go? Rainbow thought to herself as neither of the siblings could be seen from her vantage point.

“Great… I’m going to be spending all night watching out for both of them… lovely…”

Some fireworks were shot from behind the stage, catching everyone’s attention. Everyone in attendance stopped and stared as some of the lights were dimmed and a spotlight was shone at the center of the stage. There were some colorful laser lights shining in the air before being pointed downward onto the stage.

Jock and Muscles walked out onto the stage with a large rectangular piece of drywall, with both of them holding it up vertically. The Frat guys, girls and other invited or otherwise uninvited guests alike began to chant the words: “Mu Pi! Mu Pi! Mu Pi! Mu Pi!”

“MU PI! MU PI! MU PI!”

“Ayayaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!” Screamed Kyle as he burst through the drywall, fist first, somersaulting before standing up on his feet proceeding to then slinging his open energy drink can back and forth, making the contents fly onto unsuspecting people in the audience. Those who were used to this opening display cheered while a few groans from others could be heard as they wiped the sugary drink off of their faces or wherever it landed.

He then followed it up by chunking some unopened cans of the stuff in the crowd for people to catch it. One poor fool couldn’t quite catch it, and it hit him square in the forehead. But rather than writhe in agony on the ground, he popped right back up and let out a victory screech.

Jake Featherstone as well as several key members of the Mu Pi fraternity gathered onto the stage, standing next to Kyle once his distribution of free energy drinks had concluded.

“Something tells me that guy drinks a lot of those things…” Applejack muttered to Rarity, who nodded while slightly giggling. Most likely because of how corny that display was.

Rainbow halted her search for Fluttershy for a minute when she saw the display, and stood near Rarity and Applejack. Rainbow clapped her hands and whistled with a sense of fanfare. The aforementioned pair standing next to her both looked at her with bewildered expressions, wondering how she could possibly think that was cool. To each their own, Rarity thought to herself.

“Welcome friends and Mu Pi family to our annual Mu Pi Fraternity Back to Summer Bash!” Jake said, having been tossed the mic for the karaoke machine. “Here on Waytona Beach, we here at the Mu Pi Frat house have always prided ourselves in kicking off Summer Vacation with a bang, and this year is no exception. For me this is also a family affair, because the last two years each of my older brothers have taken their place as head Senior of the Mu Pi fraternity. From Drake, to Blake, and finally to me, Jake Featherstone.” He said as he slightly pushed his sunglasses down his face and flashed his white teeth, making some of the girls swoon out in the crowd. “And I wasn’t about to let my big brothers out do me. So this year we pulled out all of the stops! Since the inception of this fraternity in the year 1956, we MuPi’s have held our traditional Summer Bash as well as our Big Kahuna Volleyball competition. The latter of which, may I remind you, comes in five days!”

Cheers erupted from the crowd of people gathered all around. Flash and the girls dutifully applauded as well, so as not to seem rude.

“We have some guests of honor this year, all the way from Canterlot University. We will call you up on stage for our peaceful welcoming ritual, later on. So while you're here, please accept our utmost humble hospitality, and have a good time!”

Hands were clapping for the honored guests, and most of the girls there blushed from the honor they received from the leader. However, one member of the Canterlot gang started to grow suspicious. Flash Sentry. He wasn’t sure why, but there was something that didn’t sit right with him about this whole thing.

“Before we commence with our partying, let’s give our guests the Mu Pi greeting: Bah weep Graaaaghnah weep nini bong!”

The rest of the Mu Pi’s and some of their guests all joined in while the Canterlot gang, sans Pinkie who thought the chant sounded fun and wanted to join in, stopped and looked around at everyone saying the greeting.

“Well that was just weird…” Rainbow said before shaking her head and going back to searching for Fluttershy.

All the while, the party ramped back up again once the music on the boombox was turned back on and the next song started to play. Lights shone on the stage, people continued dancing, and many of the frat guys and their guests resumed their games.

“Party Rock is in the house tonight
Everybody just have a good time…
And we gonna make you lose your mind
Everybody just have a good time”

Meanwhile, back at the hotel, Dusk and Ray had probably waited fifteen to twenty minutes before Singer finally came down to the lobby inside the building where they were lounging around waiting for him. Ray appeared to be dozing off and Dusk was reading a magazine he found on the table in the lobby.

“Oh…” he said as Dusk and Ray caught his eye. “I didn’t expect any of you guys to be around.” This caught their attention and they both quickly rose to their feet upon hearing Singer talk to them.

“Twilight didn’t like the idea of you trying to find the rest of us by yourself, so she hoodwinked us into staying behind and waiting on you.” Ray said playfully, garnering a slight elbow to the arm from Dusk. “What? I was just kidding!”

Singer smiled at the mention of Twilight. He was also moved that Dusk and Ray had agreed to wait and go with him to the party, when they easily could have gone with the girls.

“Thanks, you guys. That means a lot.” Singer said with a smile.

“It’s no trouble, really.” Dusk chimed in. “She really was insistent on it.” Dusk said with a slight wink.

“That’s my Twi, always looking out for me. She’s just a sweetheart like that. Though, I think I could’ve been alright going on my own, I definitely appreciate you guys waiting up.”

“You compliment each other well. She’s lucky to have you.”

“I’m lucky to have her with me for sure.” Singer smiled. “And you guys… You guys are just so cool, man. I knew I liked you guys for a reason.”

“Let’s not get too mushy, here.” chuckled Ray.

“Right. Right.” Singer said, taking a deep breath. “I just got done with a very interesting phone call, and I guess I’m still a little emotionally worked up.”

“Is everything alright?” Dusk asked, concerned that something might be wrong.

“Oh, yeah. Yeah. It was a good kind of conversation, don’t worry. Just some personal real life stuff that may or may not come into play later. But enough about that, what do you say we get going, eh?”

Dusk nodded in agreement. “Yes, I suppose you’re right. We don’t want to keep our friends waiting on us too long.”

“Finally! Time to party!” Ray said. “I think Twi said she sent you the location.”

“Yeah, she did.” Singer said, pulling out his phone, and looking at the public transport app. “I think… yeah, there’s a bus that will be at the bus stop outside in five minutes that has a stop there.”

“Well I suppose it’s as good a time as any to take our leave. Let’s get this night over with. Once more into the breach!” Dusk said as he led the charge out to the bus stop.

“Yeah! Let’s do it, to it!” Singer said with a hint of excitement. He hadn’t really gotten to know Dusk, and to an even lesser extent Ray, very well outside of the holiday parties, Twilight’s birthday party several months ago, and as far as Dusk went, the double date he went on with himself, Twilight, Dusk and Rarity a couple of nights before. Now was his chance to do so.

The three of them made their way out to the bus stop and patiently waited for their ride to arrive. Not wanting to spend the wait in awkward silence, Singer spoke up.

“So, uh. You guys doing alright today?” Singer mentally slapped himself. What a generic way to start a conversation. He quickly gathered himself, however and had zero time to fall back into it due to Dusk quickly answering his question.

“I think I can speak for both of us that we are doing quite well today, and you sir?” Dusk said, clearly not thinking anything about the bland question.

“I’m great. I mean, you can probably tell, but being able to come out here and hang out with everyone is something I’ve looked forward to for quite a while.”

“Ya know, on that subject, I feel like we don’t really know much about you, Sing. I can call you that, right?” Ray stepped in.

“Yeah, of course. And what do you want to know?”

“Well, I mean. You’re a musician, right? What kind of music do you like? And what do you generally go for when you perform?”

“That is an excellent question, actually. I really listen to most genres of music, so I have songs in almost every one that I like, some in all genres that I can’t stand, but when it comes to actually performing, well, I tend to go more towards the hits from the eighties for the most part. I’m a big classical music fan, (rock, country, etc.) and not even just that era. I’ll do pretty much whatever sounds cool when I perform. Some modern music is cool… some of it… and I like the nineties, two thousands music, and I’d even go back further than the eighties. In fact, Elvis is one of my favorite vocalists of all time.”

“You definitely put off Elvis fan vibes.” Dusk said. ”How do you feel about Elvis Impersonators?”

“Can’t stand them. Like come on, guys! Nobody can or ever will again be Elvis! Unless you’re playing as him in a movie that features him, just don’t. Save yourself the embarrassment. Some of those so-called impersonators can’t even get his mannerisms right. Disgraceful!”

“You’re definitely passionate about that, I see.” Ray said.

“Yeah, sorry. I didn’t mean to come off that strong.”

“Don’t worry about it, dude. It happens.”

“What about you guys? I mean, I’ve heard from Sunset that you guys are mad-skilled on Mario Kart, but like, what else do you like to do? Are you musically inclined like the girls?”

“Not very much.” Dusk responded. “I can halfway carry a tune in a bucket, but even that isn’t much to write home about.”

“Well let’s just say that I won’t be winning any awards or get any calls for my drumming skills any time soon. I looked into picking it up as a stress reliever of sorts, but at the time I literally had no room for a set and I’m pretty sure I couldn’t keep a beat very well.” Ray said. “Though that hasn’t stopped Pinkie from offering to teach me.”

“Hey, you’re probably better than me. I tried to learn to play actual instruments back in my younger years and I couldn’t keep up. So I decided to stick with doing the vocals.” Singer admitted. “Stick to what you know, am I right?

“Right! And speaking of, I’m striving to be a writer. I’m currently working on a book of my own, and hoping that my classes help me in perfecting my craft. You might be able to deduce that Creative Writing is my favorite class.”

“That definitely makes sense to me, from what Twilight’s told me about you. And speaking of classes, are your thoughts on the art class out of curiosity? You’re in Twilight’s class there, correct?”

“Correct. So is Dusk. I actually joined for kicks and giggles. Art is alright but the teacher is why I’m really there. It’s kinda funny having an actual madman for an art teacher. Art is more of Dusk’s field.”

“Mr Discord is a madman alright…” Singer said, rubbing his head as he remembered one time in the past that the madman in question dropped the ball end of his cane on his head, knocking him out for a while.

“I’m sorry, did you call him Mr Discord?” Asked Dusk. “His name is D Iscorde, to my knowledge.”

“That’s his real name, sure. But Discord is what he wants people to call him. I guess ‘fifty’ years ago, when he was in college, that’s what all his friends called him.” said Singer, shrugging.

“I mean, I’ve heard that people called him that, but I didn’t actually think he wanted to be called Discord.” Dusk said, scratching his head. “Perhaps that one instance when Miss Luna reprimanded me for doing so is because she wants us to address him professionally as we would any other professor.”

“Bo-ring!” Chimed Ray. “Sorry Dusk, but being professional is for the birds.”

“Totally!” Laughed Singer. “So… art is your thing, eh Dusky?”

“Correct. I like to paint, sketch, use pastels, among other things. But one of my personal favorite classes is History with Professor Sombra. He and I talk quite a bit outside of class, and he is a good listener. Very knowledgeable as well.”

“Yeah he is, as far as I’ve noticed. He can be hard to read at times though, at least for me.”

“So what exactly are you taking courses for exactly?” Ray asked out of curiosity.

“Well, I’m obviously in class for art, film study, and history, but the most interesting one I take is Graphic design. Would be nice to learn how to design whatever I might need to in terms of shirts, websites and other things I’ll need in my future.”

“Do you have any classes with Twilight?” Asked Dusk.

“That’s the sad part, no I don’t. But that’s okay, I still see her between almost every class and it’s not like we can’t hang out afterwards. I’d love to have at least one with her, but we’ve managed so far. I often times am more able to get both of us snacks and lunches due to me being closer to the food court almost all day.”

“I’m sure she definitely appreciates that.”

“She does. She’s one of the few people that’s made me feel like I mattered to them for more than just a few minutes of the day.”

“How long have you two known each other?”

“Oh, gosh. It was Junior Year in High School. We transferred to the same High School about a month apart. We actually got assigned as science partners in class, and as it turned out we had a lot in common in terms of things that we enjoyed. She could have written me off like everyone else at school that day, but she didn’t. We’ve been close ever since.”

“I think we went to the same school.” Dusk said.

“No way?”

“It’s true. Unfortunately, I didn’t talk to anyone and kept to myself for the remainder of my tenure there. For obvious reasons.”

“Dude…” Singer said with a hint of guilt, remembering Twilight had told him once before that Dusk too, had gone to Crystal Prep, but he didn’t know Dusk went to his high school. “I wish I’d known…”

“It’s alright, really.” Said Dusk. “It’s all in the past and I’m happier now than I’ve ever been, so it’s not a problem.”

“And he gets to put up with me again!” Threw in Ray in his tongue-in-cheek way.

Dusk only chuckled reminiscently in response to this and patted his best friend on the shoulder. Singer couldn’t help but smile at this as well.

“So, you didn’t have friends before you met Twilight?” Asked Ray.

“Not at school. I was homeschooled for a few years before I transferred back into public schools that year. So I made friends here and there, but coming back onto the public school scene, I had no idea how regular school culture worked, and I ended up making a fool of myself, thinking I was cooler than I actually was and I became something of an outcast for the first few weeks.”

“That’s awful, man. Sorry you went through that.”

“It definitely wasn’t fun, but I think if I hadn’t gone through it, I would have been an arrogant showboater, and I wouldn’t have been humbled like I was when I met Twilight and we might not have been friends. It sucked back then, but I’m glad that I had that reality check. In a way it helped me mature a lot.”

“Well that’s one way of looking at it, I suppose.” Dusk said.

“What about you guys? You seem like you’re pretty close. How long have you been friends?”

Dusk went to answer but Ray held his arm out, basically calling dibs on being the one to tell the story. Dusk relented and allowed Ray to proceed.

“Funny story, actually. I remember walking along through school one day, hating every second that I had to spend there. And one day I see this small group of thugs…”

“Ray, they weren’t thugs.” Dusk stepped in.

“Hey, who’s telling this story?” Ray cleared his throat when Dusk backed up once again. “This group of hoodlums… happy? No? Oh well. They were picking on poor Dusk, so I stepped in and made them stop.”

“Then we both proceeded to get on campus suspension for a week.”

“Stupid ‘Zero Tolerance’ policy. Crystal Prep was the worst. Didn’t matter if you were the bully or the one being bullied, all parties involved in a scuffle get punished.” Ray said, clenching his fists at the memory of it.

“That is messed up…” agreed Singer.

“Fortunately, the one enforcing that awful rule, Principal Cinch, has since been relieved of duty, and now Dean Cadence is in charge.” Noted Dusk.

“Oh, hey! That’s Twilight’s sister-in-law. She’s definitely nicer than that Principal Cinch. Twilight told me all about her. Glad to hear that she’s no longer around.” Singer said, noticing that the bus was getting closer and was about to make the turn towards the bus stop they were waiting at.

“Well, I suppose we’ve been delayed to the party long enough. Maybe it won’t be so bad.” Dusk said as he watched the bus move closer and closer to them.

It finally made a complete stop and the doors swung open by the driver. Dusk, Ray and Singer, as well as a couple of elderly ladies carrying their little dogs who’d walked up while the guys were talking, all boarded the bus and prepared to make the short ride over to the frat party.

On the way there, the three guys continued to converse among themselves. The conversation had diverted from real life talk to geek culture talk when one of them briefly mentioned Star Wars. Their conversation touched on the prequel trilogy, “Rebels”, “The Bad Batch”, but most of all they mainly talked about “The Clone Wars”. Ray wasn’t as deep into the fandom as Dusk and Singer were, but he mentioned that “The Bad Batch” was a favorite of his. Right before the bus had made the stop that they were looking for, they’d moved into talking about their Mario Kart experiences, and which characters they liked to play, and some of their struggles with the higher skill set modes.

“I tell you, every time I take the lead and have that loud speaker item, I end up having to use it on a challenger for the lead and then I get blue shelled! Like every time!” Singer said as he led the trio out of the bus.

“Yeah, those higher CC classes make you have to really strategize your every move. And almost every time you’re wrong. Especially in the One Fifty and Two Hundred CCs.” Added Ray.

“I still haven’t finished the One Fifty CCs” Dusk added. “I dread to think what the Two Hundred is like.”

“It will consume your soul, Dusk. It will consume your soul…” Ray said with playful ominousness.

The bus suddenly pulled away and the trio stood there at the bus stop and had gotten quiet. Unfortunately neither Ray nor Dusk had thought to grab their phones before they left, so they were reliant on Singer’s phone. The screen showed that they were in the right place, but there was a problem. There were two large beach houses nearby and they both had massive parties going on.

“Oh…cheese…” Singer said as he looked back and forth to a big pink beach house on the left and a big yellow beach house on the right.

“It’s not that big of a conundrum, just look at the address again so we can deduce which house has the address we are looking for.” Dusk advised.

“Great idea I’ll just-…” as he scrolled back up to look for the specific address, the phone screen went black. “Come on! No!” His battery had died.

“Bummer…” remarked Ray. “What now?”

Singer looked helplessly at his dead phone, his face had gone from visibly flustered to morose within seconds.

“I don’t want to haphazardly go to a house and have it be the wrong one.” Dusk said. He too was lost for what to do in this situation.

“Well we can’t just stay out here either.” Countered Ray.

“Yes, I know but-…” Dusk said before being cut off by his bemusement at what Singer began to do. “Uh, what are you doing?”

Singer placed his left hand over his eyes and held out his right arm and began to point at each house. “Eenie meenie miney moe…” Singer said as his right hand landed on the pink house. “Let’s try this one.”

“That’s what we are going off of?” Asked Ray.

“Got any better ideas?” Singer retorted.

“Pink house it is…”

Dusk sighed concedingly. He wasn’t a fan of this unorthodox way of doing things, however Singer had a point. They’d need to take a shot in the dark since they were this close and were unsure as to which of these neighboring beach houses was where they needed to be. It was a risk but a calculated one. It wasn’t like it was a life or death situation. His thoughts went to Rarity and how he hoped she wouldn’t be too mad at him for not going to this event with her. He was hopeful that she would understand and that she, as well as the others, were alright in their absence..

Standing next to Pinkie Pie while she helped herself at the fondue table wasn’t exactly what Twilight thought she’d be doing tonight, but to be fair, she wasn’t really sure what would be happening outside of goofy party shenanigans. However, doing what she was doing right that minute sounded way better than what some of the Mu Pi guys were doing. Some were upside down drinking who-knows-what out of tubes, there were a few guys off to the side who had bongs and the resulting smell emanating from said things was starting to make her stomach turn. Twi had never been around this type of environment before, and it was beginning to make her uncomfortable. She tensed up when she caught the eye of some guys playing beer pong, who caught her gaze and began cat-calling her.

This didn’t go unnoticed by Pinkie, who immediately took action to help. She hopped over to Twilight, took her by her hand, blew raspberries at the flirty drunk guys, and had her get up and follow her to one of the picnic tables set up a ways away from the commotion.

“Are you okay, Twilight?” Pinkie asked with concern once they had made it to their target spot, which at the moment was secluded enough.

“I’m… I’m fine. I just… I’m sorry, I don’t want to be a big baby about it, but this kind of partying is just making me feel a bit uncomfortable. I mean… the smells, the drinking, the guys in their undergarments, even more drinking. I’m not sure what exactly I expected, but this isn’t it. Don’t these people know what kind of effect that much alcohol will have on their bodies?!?”

Pinkie just stood there for a second, blinking and staring at her friend quizzically.

“I mean… what else did you expect? It’s a college party. People our age usually get crazy at events like this.”

“I don’t know. I kinda figured these parties were fun for a reason, but I had no idea this was the entire definition of fun.”

“You really should get out more.”

“You do realize you’re talking to a girl who reads encyclopedias for fun, right?” Twilight said with a bit of sass.

“Touché…”

Twilight sighed and sat down at the picnic table. “I’m sorry Pinkie.”

“It’s okay Twilight. We can sit out here together. It’s more peaceful over here anyway.” She said, patting Twilight on her head.

“But… Pinkie, you’re missing out on everything.” Twi could feel a slight twinge of guilt building up inside of her, but Pinkie only smiled and shook her head.

“Oh Twilight. You’re so silly. I don’t care about all of that junk. I came to have a good time with my friends, and that means you.”Pinkie wrapped Twilight in a tight hug, which made her smile. “Since Singer’s not here yet, would you want to do a little dancing with me? I mean, the action might be yucky, but the music is hop hop hoppin!” Pinkie said as she bounced around, and to her relief, it was making Twilight laugh and loosen up a bit and a big smile adorned her face.

“Come on, Twilight!” She said as she started to bust some moves.

“Alright, alright…” Twilight giggled as she got up to join in.

“Wooo! Get up and move your feet to the beat!”

They continued on for a brief moment before Twilight began to eye some of the stuff Pinkie had grabbed from the dessert table for them.

“Great idea, Twilight!” Pinkie said, noticing her looking in that direction. “Can’t dance on an empty stomach!”

Twilight noticed that Pinkie had picked up some of her favorites, like strawberries, graham crackers (both dipped in chocolate), and even a few chocolate bar squares. “Wow, Pinkie. You’re amazing!”

“Aaaaw, thanks! I know my friends and what they like. Oh, I also snatched this from the punch table. Figured you might be thirsty.” Pinkie picked up a small cup from the refreshments table that had been pre-poured and ready to go. It looked innocent enough so she’d grabbed one for each of them.

“Oh, thank you.” Twilight said as she took a drink, downing the entire small glass in a couple of gulps. Her eyes immediately widened as the drink had a taste she’d never tasted before. “Wow… that’s a bit tart. Not the best punch I’ve ever had.”

It was Pinkie’s turn for her eyes to widen as she began to suspect as to why hers and Twilight’s drinks had that extra kick to it. Once she took a drink of hers, her suspicions were confirmed. She chuckled nervously, debating to herself whether or not to break the news to Twilight. Twilight’s track record of taking alarming news well wasn’t particularly great.

“You ready, Pinkie?” Twi said as she stood up and began stretching her arms to loosen up.

“Uh huh…” Pinkie said nervously, trying to think of what she should do.

The two girls started to resume dancing randomly together to the tune they could hear on the loudspeakers, a song called ‘Funky Town’. Twilight was busy doing the robot while Pinkie did a series of other impressive dance moves before she spun around a few times and started to moonwalk.

While dancing, Pinkie couldn’t stop thinking about how she was going to break it to Twilight that she’d drank a spiked cup of punch. Pinkie could handle it, but Twilight was a bit of an unknown, and it worried her. She looked for something to give her a legitimate reason to go find some of the others. She couldn’t think of anything, so just just decided to wing it.

“Uh, Twilight. I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere!” Pinkie said as she sped off.

“Uh, alright then.” Twilight said with a shrug. Seeing no reason to keep dancing without Pinkie, she pulled out her phone and sat down at the picnic table for a minute while she waited.

Nothing appeared to be off about her. She wasn’t even aware of what she’d just taken a drink of, but she could admit that her brain was starting to get a little bit foggy. “Huh…” she said to herself, as she placed her hand on her forehead. “I must not have gotten a good enough nap this afternoon…”

“Twilight?” She heard a voice say behind her, which spooked her at first, so she quickly turned around to see a face that was familiar to her but not to anyone else that was with her. And it was someone she’d rather not talk to. “Twilight Sparkle? That can’t be you, can it?”

“T-Timber Spruce?” She said, visibly flustered and surprised. “W-What are you doing here?”

Timber had tan skin, and a full head of curly green hair as well as green eyes, and his chin was a bit pointed. He wore a lifeguard t-shirt, beach themed shorts as well as sandals on his feet and on his head, he still wore that dark gray stocking cap on his head that he’d worn the last time she saw him.

“I thought that was you. Fancy meeting you here, huh?” He said sheepishly.

Twilight crossed her arms and stood up, a deadpan stare on her face when looking at him. “Fancy isn’t a word I’d use…” she said coldly. Memories of betrayal, hurt and embarrassment came rushing back to her forethought. This reunion was anything but pleasant. “How… how are you even here?”

“I uh… I kind of live here now.” informed Timber.

“I thought you said you were moving across the country before you left…”

“I did, but I moved here about a year ago. I go to college here.”

“So you’re a part of the fraternity here?”

“Oh, no. The Mu Pis typically invite the lifeguards to their parties. Sometimes they like to haze rival college groups at their parties; masquerading it as a welcome party until they’ve gotten them. It’s a bit mean spirited but it’s all in good fun.”

“Mmm…” Twilight said, nodding her head. That little detail would have normally sent a lightbulb off in her mind that maybe she should warn her friends, however the awkwardness of seeing Timber again hindered any chance of that happening. Not to mention how foggy her mind was becoming due to the bad punch she’d drank.

A brief awkward silence filled the air. Twilight and Timber took turns alternating between looking at one another and shifting their gaze back towards the ground.

“So uh… how have you been?” Timber asked, holding out his hand as if to possibly exchange a handshake.

Twilight wasn’t having it, though. She crossed her arms again and shot a glare towards him. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Oh come on, Twilight. I said I was sorry about what I did. I didn’t realize you were still holding on to all of that.”

“Well, I wasn’t. Not until you showed back up.”

“Look, I know what I did was wrong, and you have every right to be angry with me. But I was just wondering if maybe we could smooth things over and mend fences.”

Twilight looked down at the ground and appeared to be considering what Timber said. But the hurt was still there. It didn’t matter that they’d both moved on or that Twilight was in a better relationship now, Twilight just wasn’t in the mood for this.

“I’m sorry Timber, but no. Every time I think about what you did, I just… You lied to me, and made me look like a fool. I just can’t forget about that.”

“That was quite a while ago, though.”

“It doesn’t matter. It still hurts.”

“I know…” he said, as he tried to reach out, but Twilight just batted his hand away.

“I can’t deal with this right now.”

“Oh…” Timber said, looking disappointed. “I can’t say that I blame you. Will you at least think about it?”

“I don’t know. I just want to forget about what happened. I’ve moved on from it, and maybe you should too.”

“Have you really moved on, though?”

Twilight stood there in silence, not really remembering anything about what had happened recently, just remembering when she was betrayed by him. She’d tried to move on, but seeing him here and now just brought it all back up the surface again. She crossed her arms again and turned around in a huff.

“Well… if you change your mind, I’ll be around, here at the beach. If you ever want to let me make this right, you know where to find me.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” She said with a hint of irritation in her voice. “I’m really not in a good mood right now. So if you don’t mind...”

“Got it…” Timber said dejectedly. “For what it’s worth, it was great to see you again.”

Timber placed his hands in his pockets and walked away, leaving Twilight alone yet again. She sat back down on the table, gritted her teeth in frustration, placed her elbows on the table, and pulled on the crown of her head with her hands while letting out an irritated groan. This was definitely not what she’d needed right now. She was here on a nice getaway with her friends and… oh no! She thought, as her eyes widened as something important came to the forefront of her mind.

Not only did she fail to mention that she had a boyfriend just now, but she also realized a much bigger error. She’d never told Singer about Timber before. Not for any other reason than for the simple matter that she didn’t feel like he needed to know about Timber since the two had never met. An oversight on her part, but her past experience with Timber wasn’t something she liked remembering. She laid her forearms down on the table and buried her face into her arms and she sat there alone, wishing that Singer would just appear in the knick of time like he usually seemed to be able to, and tell her everything was going to be alright, and try to make her laugh and everything would be better. But that didn’t appear to be happening for a bit, now. Great. Just great. What else could go wrong?

After a few minutes of looking, Rainbow had finally found Fluttershy at the refreshment table, trying out some of the cookies that they had.

“Hey Fluttershy, what’s the big idea? I thought we were sticking together.”

“Sorry Rainbow Dash…” Fluttershy began. “I didn't realize you weren’t following me. I was getting a little bit hungry.”

“Eh, it’s fine.” Dash said as her stomach began to growl. “A snack does sound good.” She grabbed a paper plate from the table and began to sample some of the food items, such as carrot sticks, broccoli, cauliflower, celery and the various dipping sauces they had for them. She also grabbed a few pinwheel rolls and slider sandwiches.

Fluttershy giggled as Rainbow began to take down her food. “Goodness, Rainbow. You really were hungry.”

Rainbow chuckled a bit, slightly embarrassed by her own display. “Sorry about that, my lunch didn’t stick with me.” She graciously took a few napkins that Fluttershy offered her before turning to an approaching sound heading their way. It was Pinkie Pie.

“Hey Dashie, Fluttershy.” Pinkie said, rubbing her right arm with her left hand nervously.

“Oh, hi Pinkie.” Said Fluttershy. “Um, where’s Twilight?”

“About that…” Pinkie said.

“Wait, what happened?” Rainbow inquired.

Pinkie took a deep breath and began to explain everything in her own rapidly excited mode. “TwilightDrankACupOfSpikedPunchOnlySheDoesn’tRealizeItYetBut…”

“Pinkie, can we get that at a slower pace please? That’s too much, even for me to understand all at once.”

Pinkie stopped to take a breath and then proceeded to tell Rainbow and Fluttershy what had happened, and that Twilight had unintentionally drank a spiked punch. Rainbow appeared to be annoyed by this while Fluttershy expressed concern.

“Oh my, we’d probably better go make sure she’s okay.” Suggested Fluttershy.

“Yeah for sure. I’d be willing to bet that Twi’s probably a bit of a lightweight, so she might not be right in the head the rest of the night.” Rainbow said.

“She’s over here, come on!” Pinkie said, leading Rainbow and Fluttershy back over to the picnic table where she’d left Twilight.

Meanwhile, Rarity and Applejack were standing near the stage, watching in laughter as Sunset and Flash were already cutting loose and having fun. Both of them had plastic cups with beer in them, and wasted no time getting onto the karaoke machine.

“War!” Shouted Sunset as she held the microphone as the music played while they were looking at the screen.

“Hughh! Yeah!” Flash shouted.

“What is it good for?”

“Absolutely nothing!”

“WAAAAR!”

“HUGHH!”

“What is it good for?”

“Absolutely nothing! AAAAAAAAAARGH!”

“Well they look like they’re enjoying themselves.” said Rarity as she giggled with Applejack.

“All that caterwaulin’s gonna have every stray cat in town declarin’ war, though.” Applejack said with a chuckle. “Well while they’re doin’ that, why don’t we try somma that networkin’ buisness you were wantin’ ta do?”

“You’d want to help me?”

“Sure, ain’t nothin’ better ta do, and Ah found somma that apple ale Ah was lookin’ fer, so Ah’m happy fer now. B’sides, Ah know you’d be more comfortable had Dusk been here. But while Ah’m no Dusk, Ah think Ah got what it takes to help. And Ah’d darn tootin be happy ta help in anyway that Ah can.” AJ said, smiling to her friend while tipping her hat.

“Why thank you, Applejack.” Rarity said embracing Applejack with a hug of gratitude. “Well, I suppose we could start with that group of girls over there.”

Applejack looked at the group Rarity had been talking about, and noticed that Zephyr had been standing near them. “And perhaps rescue them from “The Breeze Master”.” AJ said, making air quotations, before she cracked a smile holding back laughter after which she and Rarity burst into laughter at how ridiculous that nickname sounded.

“Better hop aboard the ‘Breezy Train’!” Laughed Rarity.

“Hello ladies…” said a voice from behind them. They both turned to see that Jock had caught sight of them and decided to approach them.

“Howdy there.” Applejack said politely, but warily.

“Oh wow, you’re actually a hick. I thought that cowboy hat was a party costume.”

“No way. This here hat is a family heirloom.” AJ said, proudly tipping her hat.”

“And sweat a classy lady, the one standing next to you…” said Muscles as he chimed in, coming in behind Jock.

“Oh, well I do pride myself in my demeanor and my taste in fashion.” Rarity said, blushing at the compliment, but quickly remembering herself. “However, if it’s flirting that you’re interested in engaging in, I’m afraid I must inform you that I have a boyfriend.”

“That is unfortunate. How about you ladies ditch your lame-o boyfriends and come hook up with us.” Jock said, very forwardly flirtatious.

“Aaaaaah… I must decline. I’m very much fond of my boyfriend, and my mind will not be changed on the matter.”

“Ah may not have me a boyfriend, but Ah don’t think Ah want someone who has ta build on his physique ta compensate fer somethin’ if ya know what Ah mean.”

“Dude, you gonna take that, Jock?” Asked Muscles.

Jock wasn’t perturbed by Applejack’s comments, but rather it made him double down on his arrogant behavior. “Come on, Cowgirl. You’re in the presence of Mu Pi Greatness.”

“Moo Pie?” Laughed Applejack in a slightly less sober manner than she would normally. “Sounds like somethin’ I find out in mah pastures back home.”

“It’s a sacred name that will not be besmirched!” Jock said, this time with a defensive stance. “It goes back all the way to…“

“Yada yada yada ‘1956’, Ah know, yer leader already gave us that lecture…”

“Applejack, I don’t really think this is the time to…”

“Hey…” Muscles said, suddenly stopping Rarity in what she was saying. She turned and looked in his direction as he spoke in a suave and what was intended to be a seductive manner, attempting to ‘steal’ Rarity away from Jock. He repeatedly moved his eyebrows up and down as he smiled at her, and blew kissy faces at her, and flexed his muscles in front of her. As if she was supposed to be impressed by that.

“Oh please, I’ve met chihuahuas with more charm than that. Absolutely pathetic.”

These burns that Applejack and Rarity were inflicting on these scummy Mu Pi’s didn’t go unnoticed by Zephyr who, deciding that this was more interesting than uninterested college girls shooting glares at him, took this as an opportunity to chime in.

“Oh yeah, you’re both stupid and ugly and your breath stinks! No wonder why these girls aren’t being moved by your charm. Or lack of, in your case.” Zephyr said, snapping his fingers.

“What did you say to me, man bun?!?” Jock said, focusing his wrath on Zephyr, now. “I’ll tear you apart, you overzealous Starbucks barista!”

Zephyr was unfazed, which further angered Jock. He took it even further and pulled out his phone and added that suggestion to his list of future jobs he could try. “Can’t believe I didn’t think of that one. I already suck at spelling peoples’ names.”

“You son of a-…” Jock said as it looked like he was going to lay into Zephyr, a very large hand cut Jock off as he was about to start shouting at Zephyr and the girls, by grabbing his mouth to keep him from speaking any further. The hand was that of Moose, Jake’s right hand man, who’d moved in on the commotion surprisingly unnoticed to this point.

“That’s a big fella…” AJ said, almost sounding frightened at the sight of him.

“Jock, Jake says he needs you back in the weight room.” Moose said with a thundering voice. “And stop picking on the pretty ladies…”

“Fine…” Jock said, pushing Moose’s hand away from his face.

Moose just had to shift his gaze in Muscles’s direction to get him to skedaddle on out of there. Once Muscles had left, Moose nodded to Rarity and Applejack and smiled at Zephyr, patting him on the head as he walked off. The aftermath left Zephyr’s hair an even bigger mess than what it was.

“Aaaaaw come on! Do you know how hard it is to get this hair to stay like this?!? Ugh!”

“I don’t know about you, Applejack, but this whole situation is starting to worry me.”

“Naaaaaaah…” dismissed a slightly tipsy Applejack, who’d still been holding on to her apple ale bottle since she picked it up earlier. “C’mon. Les’ go find the others.”

“A surprisingly sensible suggestion, given your… eeeeh… condition.” Rarity said, smiling sheepishly before she started off to find her friends.

“Dern tootin!” AJ said, walking slowly after Rarity.”Ah sure hope everyone else is havin as much fun as we is…”

“….as we are.” Corrected Rarity.

“Potato, tomato Rarity.”

Rarity took a deep breath and kept at it, trying to ignore AJ’s attempts to get a rise out of her. “You’re not getting to me, Applejack…”

When Rainbow, Pinkie and Fluttershy reached Twilight, they found her still sitting at the picnic table face down on the surface of the table.

“Uh, Twi?” Asked Rainbow, tapping Twilight on her shoulder. “You okay?”

“Fantastic!” Twilight said, suddenly shooting up and looking at her friends, her hair slightly frazzled, her eyes widened and screwy, even her glasses sat crookedly and a big goofy but fake smile adorned her face. Pinkie wasn’t sure if it was the bad punch or something else that was making her suddenly lose her mind, but she as well as Dash and Fluttershy instantly began to grow more concerned. “I’m just doomed. Doomed I tell you!” She reached up and fixed her crooked glasses, and let out a stressful laugh.

“You’re not doomed…” Pinkie said. “You just drank some bad punch. I’m uh… sorry about that, Twilight. That was my bad.”

“Well…” Twi said with a slight pause before starting to shout again. “Let’s all partake in some bad punch! Because we’re all doooooooooooooooooooooomed!!!”

“Aaaaaaw crap!” Rainbow said. “Somehow I knew that Twilight would be a lightweight.”

“My life is over!!! I’m doooooooomed! Haahahahahahaaahhahahaaaaa….” Twilight said, with a disturbing hysterical laugh before laying her head back down on the table.

“Oh my…” Fluttershy said. “I’d better stay with her until Singer comes.”

“Speaking of which, where are those slackers anyway?!?” Rainbow asked as she began to look hopefully towards anywhere the trio of guys could potentially make their entrance from. Nothing. “They sure are taking their sweet time.”

“Hey Sing…” Ray said, as they inched closer to the pink house. “Have you ever been to a frat party before?”

“Me? Nooooo! I normally avoid these types of soirées. Not really my style.” He said. “I basically came along because everyone else did.”

“Sound familiar?” Deadpanned Dusk to Ray, who coughed awkwardly. Dusk was getting less enthusiastic about this by the minute.

“Oh relax, Dusk. I’m sure we’re going to be fine.” Ray said, attempting to sound reassuring. “Once we find the girls, everything will be fine and dandy and we can all go laugh about it around the campfire.”

“Yeah, Dusk. Just do like me…” Singer said as he pulled out his shades and smoothly slid them onto his face. “And play it cool…”

The trio walked up to the front door pink house, where like the yellow house, there was a door attendant, but he didn’t have a list. He just let anyone in. “‘The Dude’ welcomes all guests!” He said as he waved them upon their entry. This definitely didn’t sound right. And if the plastic pink flamingos littering the front yard wasn’t an indication, then what they were about to walk into would very soon be.

“Thank you…” Dusk said unsurely, in spite of the attendant’s friendly demeanor. Something about this just didn’t look or feel right.

Singer and Ray looked less uneasy, just a bit bewildered by sight of the highly decorated house. Bowling trophies, model ships and boats (some in bottles), taxidermy fish, and various works of art decorated the house.

“Guys…” Singer said, now beginning to get nervous, after taking in the scenery of the place. “I think we’re at the wrong house party…”

Dusk and Ray didn’t have to look around much more to see that Singer’s statement was accurate. The people at this party were all at least a decade or two older than they were.

“Definitely not the right place.” Ray concurred.

“Aaaaaw that’s alright, maaaaaaan!” Said a low pitched and slow voice from off to the side. A taller man with long curly brown locks and a full beard, large black sunglasses that dwarfed Singer’s in size, wearing a tank top, a green Hawaiian style shirt, and orange swimming trunks as well as sandals, which were quite popular around this area. “‘The Dude’ is a friend to all. And all are welcome to party with him.” They assumed he was referring to himself in the third person.

“This dude is giving off some major Lewbowski vibes right now…” Singer said in a whisper to Ray, who only had a vague understanding as to what Singer had just referred to.

“Why not stick around for a bit, enjoy the party food, some entertainment, and some scotch before you go.”

“That’s very kind of you, but-“ Dusk said before getting cut off by Singer.

“Well it’d be rude not to.” Singer said without giving it a second thought. ‘The Dude’ led the guys outside to where his party was. “Just hold the scotch, I’m not really a drinker.”

“Right on, man!” The Dude said, patting Singer on the back. “I can respect that, bro.”

“Anyone called ‘The Dude’ must be on the level.” Singer said, briefly turning his head around and giving a reassuring wink to Ray and Dusk. Neither of whom would be helped by it.

“No…” Dusk said in a strained and exasperated whisper before he facepalmed.

Ray had remembered what Twilight had said about Singer getting easily distracted, and he silently nodded to himself upon seeing it for himself. Normally, small detours like this wouldn’t bother him. But right now really wasn’t a good time for this. Fortunately for them ‘The Dude’ left the trio fairly quickly to go greet some of his other “friends” just arriving on the scene, leaving Singer, Ray and Dusk alone at the refreshments table.

“Singer, my dude…” Ray said, moving closer to him in order to speak more discreetly to him. “Remember, we have a very pressing matter to attend to elsewhere. Does a frat house party at a yellow beach house ring a bell?”

Singer had already began sampling some of the food that ‘The Dude’ was so kind to offer. “Right, right.” Singer said as he tried a few more of the horderves that was in front of him. “No sense leaving on an empty stomach, am I right?”

Both Ray and Dusk had to admit that the food did look inviting, and with their stomachs also rumbling from hunger, the invitation having been extended to them, and the food becoming more and more enticing, they both conceded.

“Fine…” Dusk said. “But we can’t stay for too much longer.”

“Right. Of course.” Singer said. “We just eat enough to satisfy our hunger and then we go…” he trailed off as he noticed a seemingly refreshing large bowl of Ice Cream Punch. A bit odd, as those were usually reserved for baby showers, but it didn’t bother or confound Singer in the slightest. He instantly took the plunge with the ladle and began to drink a cup full.

Meanwhile, Dusk and Ray had found their own desirable snacks and put a few on their plates. Pinwheel rolls, carrot sticks, celery sticks, broccoli, cauliflower, and some small morsels of various meats with toothpicks sticking in them found their way on to each of the guys’ plates. They had to admit, it was all delicious.

Having had their hunger satisfied for now, Dusk had been the first to finish his drink and food and was thus the most eager to leave. Ray being not far behind him.

“Okay, as enjoyable as that was, we have overstayed our time here, and we really should go find Flash and the girls now.” Dusk said in an almost commanding tone.

“Hear that Singer?” Ray said, getting Singer’s attention.

“Yeah, I agree. Poor Twi’s not huge on loud parties, so we’d probably better step on it so I can go save her.” Singer said as he looked at his watch. “Crap! It’s starting to get late. They’re gonna kill us!”

“My point exactly.” Dusk said.

“Okay, yeah. Sorry, we will leave right… now…” Singer said as he began to get a little dizzy.

“Sing, you good?” Ray said. His answer quickly came as Singer began to take a tumble to the ground but Dusk and Ray’s quick action in grabbing him prevented that.

“Singer…” Dusk said frantically. “Singer, are you alright?”

“I… uh… I think so. What happened?”

“Oh no…” The Dude said, returning to check on them. “Tell me he didn’t drink the punch…”

“He did.” Confirmed Dusk. “Why? What’s going on?”

“Oh man, that’s our ‘psychedelic trippy punch’…”

“I’m sorry, your what?” Asked Ray raising an eyebrow.

“One cup of that will take you far out, maaaaan.” The Dude said almost entranced at the idea of drinking it, but he quickly snapped out of it. “Yeah, I’m sorry. But your friend is in for a wild night. Especially if he drank more than one.”

“Singer…” Ray said with a hint of dread in his voice. “Exactly how many cups of that did you drink?”

“Uuuuuuuh… three?” He said. “Pretty sure it was three.”

“Aw dude. You’re totally drunk bro…” The Dude said as he shook his head.

Those words rang through Singer’s ears and fear and dread began to flood his mind. Meanwhile, Dusk saw Ray playfully reach over for a cup, presumably to get a drink for himself, but Dusk batted his hand away.

“Nuh uh uh!” Dusk said. “One tipsy friend is enough. I haven’t the strength nor energy to keep up with two.”

“I was just kidding…” Ray said. “Sort of…”

Suddenly Ray felt the panicking Singer grab him by the shoulders as he began to shake him.

“Dude! I’ve never drank alcohol before! This is bad! I’m going to go… to go…” he paused for dramatic effect. “…feral! I can’t have this! I swore off alcoholic beverages! This can’t be happening to me!”

Ray’s face emoted the same level of freak out that Singer’s did, but because Singer was freaking out. Panic mode went into Ray and he had a knee jerk reaction to it that made him slap Singer across the face in full panic. Instant regret and shock adorned both of their faces.

“Dude, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…” Ray said with remorse in his features.

Singer showed no signs of hurt feelings, only shaking his head and screwing his eyes. “No… no… I think you should hit me again. I think it’s bringing me back!”

Ray shrugged and said “alright” as he lifted his hand.

Dusk, being the only sensible mind at the moment held Ray’s hand up, preventing him from striking Singer again. “Ray, you’re not hitting Singer in the face again. Singer, you’re not going to go “feral”, but the sad reality of the situation is that you are intoxicated and will likely experience some weird things tonight. The best thing we can do right now is to approach this calmly. Alright?”

“Dusk is right, Singer.” Ray said. “Let’s just go find the others and go back to the hotel. I don’t see this ending well.”

Singer sniffed as if he was about to cry, but shook his head in agreement. He allowed Dusk and Ray to help him walk out of the area so they could regroup.

The long walk out of The Dude’s house commenced. Dusk and Ray had to periodically help hold Singer up as the spiked punch was quickly starting to take a toll on him.

They started out the door and they could swear they heard some of the other people at that party begin to boo them for leaving so early. But they didn’t care.

“Let’s just keep going, Singer. We’re almost there.” Ray said, coaching Singer at last, out the door of the house.

“Okay…” Singer said, moping along as he followed them. “Sorry guys, this is all my fault.”

“Don’t beat yourself up too bad.” Ray said. “The important thing is that we now know for sure where to find the others.”

“Shouldn’t we find somewhere for him to sit? I can’t imagine that this ordeal is going to allow him to walk straight.” Dusk said, considering this important detail as they had finally made their way out of the house. They tried not to look back, but behind the departing trio stood ‘The Dude’ waving to see them off.

“Hmmm…” Ray pondered as he helped Singer walk straight. Ray saw an opportunity to take a quick break and sat Singer down on a vacant lawn chair at the edge of ‘The Dude’s’ lawn. “This would be much easier if we had a working phone. We could just call Singer’s mom and have her pick him up.”

“That might be a blessing in disguise. I’d hate to have to answer potential questions that Belle would have in regards to her son’s drunken state.”

“Right… yeah that’s definitely a problem. We could just find him a spot to sleep it off on the frat guys’ couch. I’m sure it wouldn’t be too much trouble until we’re able to find the girls.”

As Dusk and Ray continued to talk amongst themselves, Singer’s mind continued to become foggier and foggier. It wasn’t long before his attention span had gone away completely. What his friends had been talking about was beginning to get tuned out by the sudden loudness of the music coming from the Mu Pi’s party. The party of which had a trail of bubbles coming from it. While their backs were turned, Singer quietly stood up to follow the bubbles, leaving Dusk and Ray behind.

“I don’t know what the solution is, but we have to keep an eye on…” Dusk said as he and Ray both turned to Singer, only to find that Singer was no longer sitting there. Somehow, in their discussion, he’d given them the slip and they hadn’t a clue where he went off to.

“We literally just turned our backs for one minute… HOW?!?” Ray shouted in disbelief.

“This night just keeps getting better and better…” deadpanned Dusk.

To be continued…

Author's Note

After thinking it over, I decided to split this chapter up into two, since it was so long. Hopefully it makes it easier to read.

Spring the Trap, Catch the Chicken

As the night progressed and the partying intensified, more and more people had begun to let loose and have fun, many at the expense of their dignities. The party had ramped up to an uncontrollable chaos that Professor Discord would have found exciting.

However, Sunset wasn't fazed by this in the slightest. While there was an uncomfortable vibe about the craziness of the people participating in the festivities, it wasn't anything that Sunset hadn't experienced before. In the parties that she'd attended with Rainbow Dash, this was just how things were.

She'd reassured Flash a few times that things would be fine as long as they paced themselves. Only partaking of the lightest of beverages the party had to offer, while jamming out to the Mu Pi’s DJ’s song selection, which consisted mostly of lively rock songs and hopping pop songs. In fact, they had been jamming out and singing along as a well known song came over the loudspeakers.

“Hey now you're an all-star
Get your game on
Go play
Hey now you're a rockstar
Get the show on
Get paid

All that glitters is gold
Only shooting stars break the mold”

Sunset and Flash had their arms around each other's shoulders as they were filled with laughter in their fun while taking in the bombastic atmosphere around them in which many were doing the same.

“See? I told you everything was going to be alright." Sunset said as she removed a balloon hat off her head and placed it on some girl passing by.

Flash nodded in concession with a slight chuckle, both at himself and at the fact that Sunset just placed a balloon on some stranger’s head. “Yeah, yeah. You were right. I was being a worry wart. Sorry for doubting."

“You're forgiven. So are you going to keep talking or are you going to kiss me already?" Sunset fluttered her eyes and grinned flirtatiously at Flash.

Flash, who normally would have been taken by surprise at Sunset’s advances, was not as repressed as he could be at times this time around, so he shrugged and smiled as they pulled each other close for a kiss.

For a moment, they paid no mind to anything going on around them, the music itself being drowned out. When their lips separated, Flash looked at her with a smile, causing Sunset to do the same. She laughed in her elation and rested her head on his chest for a minute. Flash wrapped his arms around her in a warm embrace.

“I'm so glad we came here tonight.” Sunset said as she lifted her face back up to make eye contact with him. “It's nice to have something that I can be excited for myself for a change.”

“I hear you loud and clear." Flash said, moving a stray strand of her hair back. “This whole thing… with us. It’s better than before."

“Totally." Sunset said. “We're not the same miserable people we were the first time. Not trying to be something that we’re not, not trying to be the center of attention… I've had more fun with you on this first day back together, than I think we did the entire first time we dated."

“Maybe we should stop bringing it up, then. And look to the future.” Flash said with a wink.

A warm sensation came upon her as she realized that he was right. “I couldn't agree more. Moving forward."

“I don't know about you, but all this moving has me working up an appetite.” Flash said with a wink.

“Way to kill the mood.” Sunset jested with a wink to make sure he knew she was kidding. "I'm feeling a little bit hungry myself. Let's go see the fondue that Pinkie was raving about earlier.”

“You read my mind!” Flash said, following her to the refreshment tables.

As they worked on gathering some of the various items of food selection. There was fondue, slider sandwiches, nacho chips with cheese dip, and even some risky items like some dried spicy peppers.

Flash, trying to show off, downed one of them without thinking twice. That had been a mistake as his eyes started to water and his mouth felt like it was on fire.

Sunset quickly grabbed him a cup of milk that had been one of the premade drinks sitting near the peppers for that reason. Flash quickly drank the milk and the burning sensation dissipated over the next few minutes.

“No more peppers, Flash.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice.” He coughed and took another swig of milk.

Over the next few minutes, they had finally gotten Flash feeling good enough to keep trying items from the snack table, making a mental note to bypass anything else that was spicy. But it was then that they were surprised by the sudden appearance of the one who'd invited them to the party.

“Sunset Shimmer.” Jake said, addressing her as he emerged from a crowd of people. “I see that you and Flash decided to accept my invitation. Glad you made it.”

“Glad to be here. I won't lie, we were a bit nervous at first, but it's been really fun so far. “

“As it should be.” Jake said with a crooked smile that had a slight edge that Flash just barely caught. “I do hope you’ve found our party to be enjoyable. And I do want to apologize for the behavior of my peers yesterday. It was quite inappropriate.”

“Water under the bridge, right Flash?” Sunset looked over a Flash with a smile, and noticed him looking at Jake with a hint of suspicion. She raised an eyebrow at him when she’d noticed it, and Flash quickly shook his head and nodded to her.

“Right. Under the bridge.” He said with a nervous chuckle.

Jake didn't respond any further to that, but instead changed the subject. “I’m heading back upstairs to partake of a celebratory wine with some of my friends to officially usher in the summer season. Care to join us as a display of goodwill and no hard feelings?”

“Sure!” Sunset said graciously, grabbing Flash by the arm. “We would love to.”

“Yeah, I guess that would be okay.” Flash said, trying to get rid of his suspicions. Perhaps he’d misjudged. Jake seemed to be genuinely repentant on behalf of Jock and Muscles. Aside from a few questionable glances he’d made towards him, Jake seemed to be genuine in his approach. Flash quickly decided to take it easy, and relax his tensed body as Jake motioned for them to follow him into the house.

Once inside, they walked through the living area and they were led by Jake to the staircase that led to the highest level rooms for the highest ranking of their house. Once upstairs, they were led into the ‘house leader’s’ room, where Jock, Muscles, and Moose had been waiting for them. Flash tensed up again at the sight of Jock and Muscles, not going unnoticed by Jake.

“Ah, yes. I forgot to mention that our friends joining us are two you’re familiar with. Not to worry, Flash. They’ve promised to be on their best behavior for now. Right boys?” He said as they walked into the room and Jock and Muscles were sitting on the couch, waiting for them.

Jock and Muscles didn’t say anything with words but they nodded. For some reason, Muscles was grinning as if he was anticipating or was excited about something. Almost like he’d heard an inside joke. A quick and stern glare from Jake curtailed this, however.

Odd, thought Flash. Though those thoughts were short lived as Jake pulled out an unlabeled glass bottle with a maroon colored substance within it and began pouring it into the glass cups he had set out. Moose passed them out to everyone. Once everyone had one, Jake held his out, and everyone mirrored him.

“A toast, to… friendship”

“….to friendship” they chorused.

Flash had been wary of this but noticed how there were no signs of foul play, and that the cups they all were drinking came out of the same bottle, so it was clearly safe. He quelled those thoughts quickly as everyone else had started to drink their glasses, so he quickly followed suit.

Perhaps, he thought as he looked over at Sunset, who was clearly having fun. Perhaps this was going to be okay after all.

“Okay, so what should we do?” asked Rainbow, noting that Twilight was showing signs of loopiness due to drinking the spiked punch.

Fluttershy looked over at Twilight, who she was sitting beside, and noticed that she’d perked up a bit. “I don’t-…”

“Hey, hey girls…” Twilight said as she shot up suddenly, cutting off Fluttershy. “Let’s just have a little bit of fun…” her eyes were slightly widened and she began to smile awkwardly, and her nervous demeanor appeared to have vanished. All while she awkwardly tried to straighten up her glasses but to no avail due to how out of it she was. “I mean that is why we’re here, right? To have some fuuuun?” Her straight playing, by the book demeanor quickly changed to a carefree, not thinking before you act demeanor. Catching the others, especially Rainbow way off guard.

“Yeah but, you drank that spiked punch, are you really sure it’s a good idea for you to-…” Pinkie started.

“Shhhhhhhhh.” Twilight said, suddenly putting her finger over Pinkie’s mouth, letting out a lazy laugh. “I’m fine. Let’s just forget about it and have some fuuuuuuun. Oh, look!” Twilight said, pointing at the ‘bucking bull’ ride that Pinkie was surprised that Applejack wasn’t in line for. “We should do that.”

“Yeah, no. Bad idea Twilight. That thing will throw you into the ocean blue if you try to ride it. No offense. ” Rainbow said, stopping her bookworm friend dead in her tracks as she started towards the ride. “Besides…” Rainbow said as she finally reached over and fixed Twilight’s glasses straight, as it was starting to bother her. Had Twilight been in her right mind, that would have really bothered her, and how strange it was that Rainbow suddenly found herself caring about it. “We wouldn’t want anything to happen to your glasses.”

“Fine…” Twilight said in a pouting stance, but she quickly perked up again when she noticed a conga line forming with some bouncy music playing in the background. “Let’s do that instead!”

Fluttershy would be the next to speak up. “I don’t see any harm in that. It actually looks like fun.” She giggled at the thought.

Rainbow nodded. If Fluttershy thinks it’s okay, then surely it would be fine. “Okay, yeah for sure! Conga lines are a blast!”

“Then what are we waiting for?!?” Shouted Pinkie, getting swept up in the moment. “Leeeeeet’s CONGA!”

Rainbow, Pinkie, Fluttershy and Twilight all jumped into the line at the same time and began to enjoy themselves once again.

For a second there, things appeared to be taking a bad turn, but thankfully the conga line saved their nights. For now.

Elsewhere, things appeared to be going alright for Rarity. Applejack had stuck around to support her, but Rarity noticed that AJ had just started her second bottle of Hard Apple Ale.

“Yes, I do hope you follow my page on social media. It’s called ‘Carousel Boutique’. I’ve got my Summer Line well underway with more to come. I have a small store in Canterlot Town that I hope to expand into a larger one soon. If you have any questions, my DMs are always open. Thank you so much for your interest.” Rarity said to a couple of girls who’d been at the party. They appeared to be genuinely interested in what Rarity had to offer, and were willing to follow her on social media.

“Oooh! This is so wonderful!” Rarity cheered gleefully. “Nothing like a calculated risk paying off. I can't wait to show Dusk when he arrives!”

Zephyr had been sitting nearby watching as Rarity and Applejack had been talking to them. Normally, he would have been eager to flirt, but he recognized these girls. Two of them had been in that trio of girls he’d struck out with on the first day they’d arrived at Waytona. He narrowed his eyes as he looked up and down at the one who’d punched him in the eye.

“Snooty little… grrrrrr…”

Zephyr sourly watched on, leaning against a wooden post sticking up out of the ground. He scoffed at how friendly those were being to Rarity, feeling a bit bitter that they treated him like dirt. Even though, in actuality he definitely deserved it. Having seen enough, he bitterly trudged off in search of someone else to woo.

“Oh, Applejack! This has been a simply wonderful experience! The girls here have been so nice. That’s been my fifth and sixth contact that I’ve made now.” she paused as she saw Applejack chugging a bottle. “Uh, Applejack? Are you alright darling?”

“Couldn’t be better!” AJ chuckled after downing the last bit of what was in her second bottle.

“Eh, I think maybe you’ve had enough.”

“Hey… y-y’all don’t tell me when Ah’ve had ‘nuff. Ya hear?” She said with an awkward grin on her face, her face as red as the apples she picked back home.

“Oh, Applejack…” Rarity shook her head.

“Calm down, Rarity.” AJ chuckled playfully. “Ah’m jist joshin’… sorta.” She said as she tossed the empty bottle in a nearby trash receptacle. Her aim was precise as ever, so clearly she was still somewhat in control.

“Right…” she said, rolling her eyes. As glad as she was that Applejack was there, her drinking antics were eventually going to become a problem, and she wasn’t looking forward to it. She only hoped that Dusk and Ray would make it before that happened.

Speaking of them, Rarity had been understanding after Twilight gave her reasoning as to why she had asked them to stay behind to make sure Singer made it alright, but her texts to them had gone unanswered, and there was no sign of them anywhere and she was beginning to grow concerned.

Had she been paying attention behind her, however, she would have seen Singer trodding by a few minutes ago, and she had literally just missed Ray and Dusk as they ran by, still desperately trying to track Singer down.

The dynamic duo of Ray and Dusk had finally made their way to the party. The former had been skimming through the crowds of people that were partying, trying to find Singer, while the latter was worried about his girlfriend, Rarity.

Ray noticed Dusk frantically trying to find her, and quickly picked up on this. It was his duty as his best friend to help him get back on the right track.

“Hey, bud. Real talk. Rarity’s gonna be fine. I’m sure once we explain everything, she’ll understand.”

“I… I know. It’s just that I should have been here with her.”

“I’ll give you credit for even agreeing to come here.” Ray said, patting Dusk on his shoulder. “It takes a good deal of effort to even come to busy places like this,especially if you’re not exactly a people person. But you roughed it out not only for Rarity, but for your friends, too. And you’re a good friend for that. But right now, one of our friends is out there and he needs us.”

“Thank you, Ray.” Dusk said, smiling genuinely at him. “You’re right. Though, there isn’t a part of me that wouldn’t like anything more than to go back to the hotel and hit the pillow.”

“You and me both dude.” Ray said as his gaze diverted off to the right. “Wait, is that a bouncy house? I freaking love bouncy houses!”

“Ray…”

“Right. Find Singer first... Then, bouncy house?”

“Then bouncy house.” Dusk echoed with a hint of a chuckle as he worked on loosening up, followed by a squee from Ray.

“Please forget I did that.”

“Forget you did what?” Smirked Dusk.

“Good man.” Ray said as they both moved along.

With that, they pressed on searching through the crowd. Just barely missing the conga line making its way through where they just were.

Sunset’s opinion on the drink they’d partaken in wasn’t favorable, but she tried, for the sake of politeness, to seem as thankful as she could. Though, she’d noticed that Jock and Muscles didn’t appear to like the drink either.

She stood with Flash by the door, making sure to smile whenever any of the others addressed her. Flash looked like he’d cut loose slightly and began to enjoy himself a bit. His guard was down and he’d even made conversation with Jock and Muscles, who admittedly were still acting a bit strange, but Sunset dismissed it as probably being part of their natural behavior.

The tone began to shift when Jake broke the conversations and demanded attention.

“As fun as this exchange has been, Jock, Muscles. I believe you two have matters to attend to.”

“Oh, yeah. Right.” Jock said as he motioned for Muscles to follow him. “Let’s go.” And with that, the two frat guys hopped up from their chairs and filed out.

Flash cleared his throat as he awkwardly shuffled one of his feet. “Hey uh, Jake? I hate to ask, but is there a restroom I could use?”

“Yes, downstairs near the entrance to the kitchen.” Informed Jake.

“Thanks.” Flash said as he kissed Sunset lightly on the cheek. “I’ll be back in a few.”

“Don't take too long." she said before blushing. “I mean, take as long as you need. Not that it's any of my business." She stopped herself as she noticed Flash was trying not to laugh." Okay, stop you!”

Neither of them noticed that Jake was standing off to the side, rolling his eyes. “Give me a break” he muttered to himself.

They exchanged an awkward moment of silence before Flash couldn't wait any longer and had to go.

A smile stayed on Sunset's face for a few moments more before she diverted her attention back to Jake." Sorry about that, I got caught up in the moment there.”

“It's fine.” Jake said, hiding his irritation well. He picked up his glass and walked over to the window that led out to the balcony. “I'm quite happy that you came tonight, Sunset. I hope you've enjoyed yourself."

“Yeah, this party was awesome." she said. “You frat guys know how to party.”

“It's not just our fraternity. Waytona is far more than a tourist town with a beach. We are the home of a proud and prestigious university. We aim to be the best and win."

“Admirable…" Sunset said, finally putting her wine glass down. “But uh, isn't that kind of the goal of every university? To ‘be the best’? Kinda redundant isn't it?"

“Hmmmm… I suppose it is…" he said softly, drumming his fingers on the table next to him. “But few can actually back up that claim.”

“I suppose so.” Sunset said, taking a seat on one of the chairs. “What are you getting at?"

“I'm only letting you know that we are one of those few."

“I'm sure you are.” Sunset said, joining him out on the balcony. “But everyone has their day. I'm sure even you guys have your slumps in one aspect or another."

“Not really. We pretty much do what it takes to win and we do it well. Sounds appealing, doesn’t it? Winning?"

“I'm failing to grasp where this is heading, Jake. Why are you telling me all of this?"

“At Waytona University, Waytona Downtown, and the Mu Pi Fraternity house, we strive for excellence, and results. No matter what. Something that I know you’re all too familiar with.”

“Uh…”

“I heard there was once a time where you yourself would do anything to get what you want, yes?” Jake looked at her with a side eye and a smirk.

That last part didn't sit well with Sunset. Especially from the tone he'd used when he'd said it. She nervously swished the glass of wine around while she thought of something else to say. She could tell that this conversation was about to get uncomfortable and starting to go downhill fast.

Outside, the partying continued on. Bobbing for apples, beer pong, ball pits, bouncy houses, even piñatas filled with who-knows-what. There were no shortages of things to do, or things to get lost in with all of the people hanging around the party.

As Singer stumbled along, somehow managing to miss making contact with anyone he knew, to many people he walked by, he was just another college guy dealing with the side effects of partying. His vision was starting to get a little wonkier by the moment, seeing pink elephants and everything looking distorted at times. His awareness of his surroundings dissipated more and more. He stumbled along, unwittingly collecting a few souvenirs as he went. Many came in the form of glow stick rings that were being placed on him by some crazy people that he'd passed by.

Even in this state, his thoughts still came back to Twilight. He wanted to find her so bad, mostly because he really wanted a hug. She gave him the best hugs. Don’t tell his mom, but it was true.

He kept looking but had no luck in finding her. He wasn't aware of where she was or what she was currently going through, he just knew that he wanted to be with her. Had he turned around, he would have seen her in the conga line passing behind him where several people including her, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie and Fluttershy were currently having fun, going by equally as oblivious to his presence as he was to theirs.

“Ugh… where are you, Twi?” he said as he pulled out his phone, only to be reminded that his phone was dead. “Dang it…”

Dusk and Ray, after several minutes of looking, had finally gotten close to their wandering friend and Dusk pointed him out as soon as he saw him just ahead of where they were standing.

“Singer!" Dusk called out, catching his attention.

Their red haired friend turned around upon hearing his name. However, his mind was playing tricks on him as the blinking lights mixed with the darkness of the night distorted their images, making them looking like goons sent to get him.

“Come on, Singer!" Ray called out. “We gotta find the others.”

Singer gasped in fear as the two figures he didn’t recognize as his friends drew closer to him. They looked more like flashing ghosts due to all of the flashing lights shining on and off of them, giving them a shadowy appearance. How in the world did they know his name?

“Get away!” he recoiled in a panic. “I'm warning you, I know karate!" He bowed up and took a fighting stance to try to intimidate them, but all he managed to do was confuse them.

“What?” Dusk inquired, a bit surprised by this reaction, as he momentarily stopped. “Singer, quit playing around, we’re just trying to help!”

“Liar!” Singer shouted in a slightly different voice he had in his mental catalog, sounding like a drunken Anakin Skywalker. “I knew the government was after me! You’ll never take me alive!”

“Crap!” exclaimed Ray. "He’s losing it. It's only a matter of time before he takes it out on some younglings. We need to get him fast.”

Dusk just stared at him blankly. “What?" A moment passed before he figured out what Ray was referring to.

“You know…”

“Oh, right. How silly of me.” Dusk said as he shook his head as it dawned on him.

“Really, dude. You’re the bigger Star Wars nut than I am… we’re getting off track. We need to go!”

Dusk needed no further instruction as he and Ray darted after Singer, causing him to retreat.

“You gotta be kidding me!" Ray said as he ran alongside Dusk.

Singer slipped between groups of people, running the best he could. One advantage that Dusk and Ray had was that they hadn't had any alcohol to drink and they weren't being inhibited by the stuff. But Singer was surprisingly spry and nimble in spite of his condition. This made it a little difficult as they gave chase.

He'd managed to momentarily give them the slip a few times, only for the people he'd hid behind to move out of the way, exposing his position again. In one instance, he’d hid behind a romantic couple making out on a bench, in another he hid behind a golf cart that moved almost as fast as he hid behind it. But every time they’d catch him in the act of hiding terribly, he’d still manage to give them the slip.

This endless cycle continued on. Which was bad news for Dusk and Ray as this would start to tire them even more than they already were if it perused too much longer.

Singer managed to duck under a limbo stick ahead of the person who was going next, who didn't seem to mind. Dusk and Ray just split and each ran one direction around the group, promptly apologizing for their friend's antics as they passed by the confused limbo-ers.

Soon, Singer had found himself trapped because they found a less dense area due to the lack of people at the moment, they were able to catch the slowing Singer, and cornered him at the entrance of the ball pit.

“Alright, Singer…” Dusk said, catching his breath. “Not… another… move…"

“You're… coming… with us…” Ray said in the same manner.

Singer nervously looked around as Dusk and Ray continued to close on him, before smirking as he turned his face back towards them.

“What's he doing?" Ray said.

“Singer… No…" Dusk barked.

“Don't do it, dude!"

Singer crouched down and lunged like a cat into the ball pit, garnering collective groans from Dusk and Ray.

“Well, you wanted to get in the ball pit, Ray." moaned Dusk.

“Bouncy house, Dusk. I wanted to get in the bouncy house…"

“Same difference…”

“No it's not!”

“Ray…”

“Fine! We both go!” Ray said as he jumped head first into the ball pit with Dusk following suit.

Both of them looked around for a moment after emerging from the multicolored plastic balls that resided in the pit. There was no second entrance or exit. There was no way he could have escaped.

“Where is he?" Ray huffed begrudgingly.

Dusk looked around and saw nothing. “Surely he didn't escape. There's no conceivable way he could have evaded us that fast.”

“Bazinga!” Singer said as he popped up from behind him.

Dusk and Ray for a split second looked at each other and then to him and abruptly started to rapidly push the plastic balls out of the way as they moved closer to him. But to their foil, he sunk back down. No longer there when they reached where he'd been standing, he popped up again at another corner of the pit. "Bazinga!”

“Come on!” Ray shrieked as he pounced and unfortunately missed his target. He was too fast.

“I'll go this way, and you go that way.” Dusk said. "He can't keep this up for long.”

Ray nodded and the two friends parted ways and waited at a different part of the ball pit, only for Singer to appear right at the center right in between where they were standing. “Bazinga!”

“Gotcha!” Ray said as he and Dusk both lunged forward.

This proved to be to their detriment as Singer ducked down again, right before they met causing them to crash into each other head to head.

“Ow!" they both said as they sunk down into the pit, stunned by the collision.

Singer popped up to see that they'd disappeared, so he took this moment to escape, going back out the entrance he came in through.

Dusk and Ray both rose up, both fuming with anger and feeling the agony of defeat, and their head on collision.

“He was right there…” Ray said. "Right there!”

“Come on…” sighed Dusk. "If I have to spend another moment in here, I'm going to lose it.”

“Right there with you, buddy.” Ray said. "Do you realize how many germs could be in this thing?”

“Well I wasn't imagining it until you said something…” Dusk said sourly.

“Sorry.”

Dusk sighed. "No, no, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be taking this out on you. This isn't your fault.”

“It's okay. I get it. This is a frustrating situation. But we will get through this.”

“You're right. Boy do we look ridiculous, though. ” laughed Dusk, who got a laugh in return from Ray. Though they still remembered their problem and their laughter was sadly short lived.

Dejected and slightly embarrassed, they exited the ball pit. Their fortunes were about to change as they happened across the paths of two ladies that they were more than happy to see.

“Dusk?” asked a familiar and soothing voice to Dusk’s ears as he and Ray removed any stray balls that might have hitched a ride on their way out of the pit.

“Rarity!" Dusk exclaimed happily as he rushed to embrace his girlfriend upon seeing her, with her returning the favor. Applejack brought up the rear behind her. “I'm so sorry about everything that's happened this evening. It's been a rough night.”

“I can see that." Rarity said as she started fixing Dusk’s hair and briefly looking past him for a second to acknowledge Ray. “You alright, darling?"

“I'll live. Thanks Rare…" Ray said, taking another minute to catch his breath.

“What? No snappy comeback?" Rarity asked, seemingly surprised.

“No friendly fire for now. I'm happy to see you too.”

“The feeling is mutual.” Rarity said, looking around, noting that the whole point of them lagging behind was to show up with Singer. “Where’s Singer? I thought he was with you.”

“About that…." Ray said.

“Oh, I assume he’s already found Twilight and they’re enjoying a nice romantic evening… er as romantic as a frat party can be.”

“Not exactly.” Dusk said shyly.

Rarity picked up on the guys’ forlorn demeanors and knew something was wrong. “Oh my goodness, what happened?”

“It's kind of a long story.” Dusk added.

“Okay, so what now?" Rainbow said after they'd finished their fun in the conga line, trying their luck with the piñata, and hitting the snack table again.

“Um, I don't know. Twilight isn't looking so good." Fluttershy said as she rushed to Twilight’s side when she'd noticed her starting to wobble, and feeling weak at the knees.

“Probably too many sweets, as well as being on her feets… hey that rhymed!” Pinkie said, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

“That felt a bit forced, Pinkie." deadpanned Rainbow.

“Well excuuuuse me, Dashy… “

“Girls…” Fluttershy said sharply, diverting their attention back to Twilight.

Twilight looked green in the face and was beginning to look weak on her feet, holding her hand over her mouth. Pinkie quickly helped Fluttershy hold her stable, while Rainbow guided them to a nearby bush.

“Let's take her behind here so she can keep some of her dignity." Rainbow said as they helped Twi down to her knees behind the bush and let her do what she needed to do.

As Twi heaved and dispelled what was making her stomach ache, Fluttershy could be seen behind the bush patting her on the back. “Poor Twilight…"

Pinkie quickly ran to fetch her a bottle of water, and then they helped her to a chair.

“Twi, are you okay?" Rainbow asked with concern.

“Oooooh…” she moaned with her hand draped over her forehead. “Never trust the butler. It's always the butler…"

“Still loopier than a rollercoaster…" Pinkie said forlornly. “This is my fault. I should have been more careful about party drinks. Some people just like to ruin everything! “

“Hey, it's not all your fault.” Rainbow said."If anything it's all of ourfaults for coming here with the whole group. Of course some of us weren't going to be cut out for this! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid Coming here was a stupid idea!”

“Well playing the blame game isn't going to help either.” remarked Pinkie.

“Rainbow, I really want to go back to the hotel." Fluttershy said shyly. “This is all a bit much for me.”

“Yes! Back home! All the way up to the mooooooooooon!” Twilight shouted, obviously still delirious.

“Great idea. I could honestly use a bit of rest now too.” Rainbow agreed. “I don't know about you, but this is starting to get me anxious, and not a lot of things do that. I just don't have a great feeling about this place the longer we stay here."

Unlike most parties she’d been to, she would have been more than happy to stick around and run with the wildest of the lot regardless of how tired she felt, but with her friends around, including the two that she was very protective of, it was different and it was hard for her to have fun knowing that they weren't having fun alongside her, so she felt obligated to stay around and make sure they were okay.

“Let's round everyone else up and…-” Rainbow was cut off by suddenly being grabbed and put in a burlap sack by a couple of random Mu Pi frat guys who sneak attacked her. Moose could be seen among them.

Subsequently, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were grabbed also, barely giving them time to make a squeak. Twilight was simply just picked up by Moose, noticing that she wasn’t looking too good, as he and some of the Mu Pi’s hauled the rest of them towards the decorated stage for the aforementioned ceremony hosted by Jake Featherstone.

“Where do you come off bringing up my past?” Sunset asked angrily, starting to back away from Jake. “What’s it to you, anyway?”

“Anyone who interests us, we look into them. Part of our recruiting tactics.”

“That’s a little creepy.”

“What can we say? We see something or someone we want, we do what we can to get whatever or whoever it may be.”

“Even cheating?”

“In order to get results, sometimes you have to take before you can give. Even if it means you bend a few rules here and there.”

“Then it's not really a win is it?"

“It's enough for us. We do whatever it takes to win, that’s how it should be! I’ve done some research on that college of yours, and I even know a bit about you. You're a rare commodity that any school would be lucky to have. Smart, athletic, talented, and you have a fire in your belly. You definitely have what it takes to be a Waytona student. You should consider transferring here. Work with us, and you will be the best.”

“Hard pass!" She crossed her arms in protest.

“Oh come on, what are you really giving up here? Your friends? Bunch of softies from what I can tell. And Flash? Please, you can do better."

“Better how? You mean with you?"

“To be frank, yeah. Look at me. I'm the complete package. I've got the abs, the hair, the money, as well as the grades and an athletic career path to back it up. And that’s without mentioning my sleek sports car and my yacht.”

“And an ego to match…" she sneered.

“Come on, Sunset. Every beach has a king and every king needs a queen." he said, trying to take her by the hand.

“Forget it!" she said, jerking her hand back. “Are you listening to yourself? I’ve got friends who only have some or none of those things and from what I can tell, they’re twice the people that you and your gang are. You can’t seriously think that you can just push your way into getting whatever you want."

Jake said nothing for a moment but then he started to speak again."You used to. You can't seriously be declining an offer to join our high end college. Just imagine the power couple we'd be.”

“Funny, there was a time when I might have taken you up on that, but now… That's not who I am anymore.”

Jake signed in disappointment. “Such a letdown. So you'd rather stay with your friends then? Remaining in your squalor surrounded by mediocrity?"

“Yeah, they're much better company than an egotistical beach jerk. And I’ll have you know that my friends are some of the smartest, most talented, some of them are highly athletic, and all of them are all great people to be around.” It wasn't that she really felt like she needed to defend her friends here, but her irritation with Jake and his hubris had reached its boiling point.

“That's nice, but is that really what you want? You could have so much more here!"

“You can't tell me that everyone here in your frat house lives up to your incredibly snooty standards.”

“No, but those who don't do so know their place.”

If Sunset wasn’t gobsmacked before, she was flabbergasted for sure now. She hadn’t heard this much egotism since, well ever. Not even the worst people she’d come across were as arrogant as this guy. “You're just an egotistical jerk! And I’ve got a newsflash for you, I’m no better than anyone else. I have flaws and I make mistakes all the time. And you're ignorant if you think that you and your little club don't have your own!”

“That's how you feel, then?"

“The answer is ‘no’. I would never consider coming here.” she said pointedly, crossing her arms for emphasis.

“If that's truly the way you feel, then you can join your friends. I’ll be sure you reunite with them at the ceremony."

“Wait, what?”

Jake snapped his fingers and Jock and Muscles quickly swooped in and put her in a burlap sack as well, taking her presumably where her friends were being corralled to. “Round them up! It's showtime, boys!”

After Dusk and Ray explained what had happened to Rarity, she nodded with understanding and gave Dusk a hug.

“Well you certainly did all you could. I suppose we should probably help you in finding him.”

“More eyes and ears would definitely make a significant difference. Thank you, Rarity.”

“It would be my pleasure. Though I must admit, I’m getting a little worried about Applejack.” Rarity nodded towards AJ, standing off to the side drinking down another small bottle of hard apple cider.

“That was good.” Applejack said with a slight belch. Her eyes were a bit distorted and she hobbled slightly when she made steps forward. “Howdy boys, wut brings ya?” She hiccuped.

“AJ, how many of those have you had?” Ray asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“Enough…” she smiled lazily. “Heeeey…” Applejack hobbled over to Ray. “Strike, have ya been workin out?” She squeezed his arm muscles slightly, making Ray’s face turn a shade of red.

“Uh, no?” Ray said apprehensively. “I mean, you do work me pretty hard on the farm… poor choice of words, you know what I mean… but no additional work outside of that." He hoped that making this remark would snap her back into her bickering mode so they could exchange jabs and be done with this. However, it didn't work this time.

“Coulda fooled me.” AJ leaned against him and placed her arm around him. “Ah dunno what it is about ya, Ray. But yer kinda… kinda cute.” Applejack smiled crookedly, fluttering her eyes at him.

“Um, Applejack. I think you are right. You have had enough.” Ray said nervously, as he gently removed her arm from around him and gently helped her stand up straight.

He didn’t want Applejack to do or say anything else that she’d regret. Though he also couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed somehow. She’d had more to drink tonight than she'd had that night that they had their heart to heart talk on her porch the night of her family reunion. His mind kept going back to their aforementioned heart to heart conversation a few weeks back. And then the night before on the Ferris wheel. He still wasn't completely sure of what to make of it. Taking himself out of his thoughts for the umpteenth time, he noticed a couple of empty chairs and helped her sit down in one and he took the one next to her.

“Thanks Ray… Ah know Ah give ya grief sometimes, but ya really are a good feller. One a’ the best." AJ said sleepy eyed and tipsy-like.

Dusk and Rarity had finished talking among themselves and the former spoke up. “Ray, I don’t think Applejack is well enough to aid in our search for Singer. I think it might be best if Rarity and I go search for him and you take a break with Applejack.”

“Yeah, I agree. You go on, you deserve a little one on one time with Rarity after tonight. I'll make sure AJ is okay. And if I see Singer,I'll grab him too. ” Ray said as Applejack suddenly leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder, causing him to blush a bit. He didn't try to move her though, he was content to sit there with her and support her.

“Very good, and thanks Ray.” Dusk said as he and Ray exchanged a silent nod to each other before Dusk turned off with Rarity.

Dusk knew that he and Applejack had a connection that went deeper than most of his other friendships, and he could see it on his face that he was concerned for her wellbeing. This also presented an opportunity for himself to spend some time talking to Rarity. For a second, Rarity fixated on Ray as if she was contemplating something, but smiled and moved along with Dusk.

“So…” he said as they walked together, grinning at her.

“So?” She said, giggling and brushing up against him.

“How has your night been? I’ve gone on enough about mine, I’d love to hear about yours.”

“Well, fancy you should ask. I had a great time leading up to meeting up with you and Ray, up to this point.”

“So you were having fun until we showed up?” Dusk said playfully.

“Ha, you know that’s not what I meant. I would have thought my public display of affection would have gotten the message across, but it wouldn’t be the first time you didn’t pick up on something the first time.” Rarity quipped.

“Ouch. You definitely had me there.” Dusk said with a quick bit of laughter. “Please continue, sorry.”

Rarity tittered and then continued. “Well, I was actually having some success making connections with people. Getting a few people to follow my social pages for ‘The Carrousel Boutique’, and one of them even sent the contacts to a few members of her family and her friends.”

“That’s great to hear! It can’t hurt to get the word out. Your work is too good not to be seen by as many people as possible.”

“Well, thank you Dusk.” She said as she grabbed his hand walking beside him. “Having the support of you and the rest of my friends definitely makes me feel like I can be a success.”

“Of course you’ll be a success. You already are in my eyes. Just look at what you’ve been able to do thus far.”

“You’re absolutely right, Dusk.” She said as she stopped talking for a second and began to look around. “I don’t see him anywhere.”

“Believe me, he’s around here somewhere.” Dusk said with a hint of annoyance in his tone.

“I do hope you don’t hold his antics against him. He really is a nice person. And he’s good to Twilight. He’s just not in his right mind at the moment.”

“Oh, I know.” Dusk said. “Trust me, I understand. I’m not so much frustrated at him as I am with this whole situation. I mean who puts alcohol in a punch? Let alone hard alcohol. Poor Singer, I hope we find him again soon.”

“It does sound even more repulsive when you say it out loud, doesn’t it?” Rarity shuddered. “Unfortunately with these crazy parties, people do outlandish things. I can’t say I would have blamed you had you ultimately decided not to come tonight.”

“I’m trying to branch out a bit. This time may have come back to bite me, but when it comes to spending time with you, as well as our friends, it’s worth the effort.”

Rarity smiled at this, and tugged Dusk closer for a side hug, to which he happily returned. Dusk then turned his attention outward again, remembering that they were still searching for their friend.

They continued their search as they wandered into a small crowd of people, but they stopped when they noticed that they had all turned around upon seeing them approaching, and they were staring at them.

Dusk and Rarity rightfully looked at the frat guys suddenly surrounding them and noted that their facial expressions weren't exactly the friendliest anymore. There was a mixture of stone faced glares and mischievous grins.

“Here's a couple more of them. Take them to the stage." Said Jock, who was among them. He walked out from among the group of people towards Dusk and Rarity and grinned menacingly at them. “Kyle’s got a little surprise for you, and he hates waiting."

“Wait, who?”

“Come on!” Muscles said, shoving Dusk by pushing against his chest.

“Come now, gentlemen. Perhaps we can talk this out like adults here…" pleaded Dusk with his hands in the air, but his words were met with mocking laughter.

“Nope! Grab them!" Jock said.

Dusk and Rarity both were promptly grabbed by their arms and held back so they wouldn't escape.

“Unhand me you… you… RUFFIAN!" Rarity protested.

“Leave her alone!" shouted Dusk.

“Oh my gosh, be quiet!" Jock shouted. “Put a bag over them or something."

Dusk and Rarity were both subsequently placed in large burlap sacks like the others had been, though trying as they might to fight back, they were powerless against that many frat guys. They couldn't see anything, they could both only shout, or in Rarity’s case, scream as they were hauled away.

Ray and Applejack, who weren't far away, could also be seen getting scooped up by the Mu Pi’s and hauled off to their center stage. Bearing witness to this was Zephyr Breeze, who stood there observing the barbaric way that Futtershy’s friends had been wrangled and hauled off. He sipped his drink in his hand nervously as he felt like he was being watched. He looked around and jumped at the sight of someone approaching him.

The rustling of feet behind him betrayed the tall and robust form of Moose, who was standing with the bouncer from the front door, who'd recognized Zephyr as one of the Canterlot members, and had just ratted him out.

“Wait! Wait! You don't want me, right? I'm just a brother. I don’t claim any of these jokers. Except my sister, I suppose. Why not let both of us walk and the rest of them can stay for whatever crackpot initiation this is. Maybe release Rainbow Dash too, if you don't mind. "

“You're with Canterlot…" said Moose. “You come with us…"

“Crap!" Zephyr said, making an attempt to run, but Moose was too quick for him and he grabbed Zephyr and tucked him under his arm as he carried him back with the others. “This isn't fair! I'm not even a college student!”

Zephyr’s protests were ignored by the MuPi’s apparent enforcer, and they had all been corralled and dragged away to the stage. All except one, who'd managed to fly and stay under the radar and was right under their noses. Little did they know, the watchful reddened (both angry and drunken) eyes of Singer Case continued to grow more intense as he witnessed his friends being carted off forcibly. His mental state at this point in time was still unstable but he was lucid enough to realize what was happening. He clenched his fists as he watched the crowd of people heading towards the stage.

“This…” he said with a pause. “This just got personal…"

One by one, the burlap sacks that covered most of the Canterlot friends, save for Twilight, Zephyr and Singer (the latter who was not among them), were taken off. Sunset first, then the rest quickly followed. She looked over to her left as she was the furthest one to the right as her friends were placed on the stage. She found that they had buried their feet in a few whipped cream filled cheap plastic wading pools, about four of them, each whipped cream filled pool holding three of them, save for one because Singer wasn't there, and didn't even seem to be a thought for these guys.

Sunset found herself standing in a pool with Applejack and Flash, Ray was standing in one with Zephyr and Pinkie, Rainbow was helping Fluttershy hold Twilight up in one(she was once again awake and alert but still very loopy), and then Rarity and Dusk were in a tight embrace in the last pool. Sunset gritted her teeth in anger and began shouting at Kyle, who was dressed in an orange suit with a like-colored top hat, like he was a game show host, but it was also a tribute to his favorite actor.

“Hey! What's the big idea? Why are you doing this to us?"

Kyle smirked as he danced behind them. “Isn't it obvious? You and your buddies have just walked into a hazing initiation! Our special ‘guests of honor’ are nothing more than a bunch of le-hoo-za-hers from a rival university!” He waved his hands in the air to garner forced laughter from the crowd.

“A bunch of what now?" Pinkie said.

“Yeah! What the heck did you just call us?" Rainbow Dash inquired gruffly.

“He called you a bunch of LOSERS!" taunted Muscles from the side with Jock and a few other members of their fraternity echoing it along with them.

“Yeah, you guys suck!" shouted Blackjack out in the crowd.

“Shut up, Blackjack! NOBODY ASKED YOU!" Kyle shouted in a tantrum before quickly calming down.

“You know what? Screw you guys! I'm outta here!" the voice of Blackjack shouted from the background. And apparently after a minute of awkward silence he could be heard slamming the door behind as he went into the frat house to retrieve his things.

“Sheesh! Someone has thin skin, am I right?" Kyle playfully elbowed Zephyr, who immediately jerked away from him. “Ooooh… touchy…"

“KYLE!" Shouted Jake Featherstone, slamming the arm of the chair he was sitting in with his fist. “Enough with your preening! I want to see justice bestowed upon these… these… inter loafers!"

“Inter loafers?" Ray shouted bemusedly. “We're not here to take part in some asinine turf war, we’re on vacation. One that we would love to get back to, so if you don't mind…"

“Save it, Ray…" Sunset said. “You can't reason with these guys. They have a one track mind…" She shot a glare directly toward Jake, who returned one to her in kind.

“You will regret the day you ever came to The Mu Pi’s Beach!" Screamed Jake.

“Already am regretting it!” complained Flash.

“Public beach, dude…" Rainbow Dash retorted. “You don't own jack squat, let alone a public beach."

“That's where you're wrong, my technicolor-haired friend.” Jake said with a smug grin on his face. “Mu Pi has been the King of the Beach since the fifties. You are on our turf, which means… You are at my mercy.”

“How merciful are you feeling, chief?” Kyle grinned smugly.

“I say we teach them a lesson they'll never forget!” Jock said holding up a water balloon.

“You're speaking out of turn again!” Jake hissed, making Jock recoil slightly. "However, I agree with you. They've offended us with their very presence here! Pelt them with balloons!”

The group of friends braced themselves. Sure, they could try to run, but they'd surely slip in attempts to get out of the whipped cream filled pools and they'd just get grabbed by the crowd of people surrounding them. It would take something clever or just as insane to get them out of this mess.

“Why are these gorillas laughing at us?" Twilight asked in a groggy voice.

“Be strong, Twilight!" Fluttershy said in a clammery voice, as she and Rainbow held themselves and Twilight tightly. “This is all just a nightmare that we will wake up from soon!”

“Gross…" Rainbow Dash complained, looking down at her shoes. “What is with frat guys and whipped cream? It's not even funny."

“And such a waste of it, too." added Rarity.

“You guys have defiled the sanctity of sweets!” Pinkie shouted angrily.

“Don't question my genius!” snapped Kyle.

“Or rather, insanity!" shouted Flash, earning an early hit with a water balloon to his arm.

“On my signal…" Jake said as the countdown began, and dozens of frat guys and guests alike held their water balloons, ready to throw them. All but one, Timber Spruce had been standing in the crowd but was not holding any balloons in his hand, just a scowl on his face.

“This isn't hazing, this is plain bullying. I’ll take care of this.” Timber said with resolve as he slithered on out of the crowd and off to behind the stage.

The friends were all shaking where they stood, holding each other as they braced for the impact of water balloons about to be hurled right at them.

“Ready… Aim…"

This was it. Soon it would start. Sunset held her friends close as they anticipated what they hoped would be a swift rain fire of water balloons. Sure, it could have been worse, but thinking about saying that would have proved to be jinxing it. However, it was worse.

“FIRE!"

The first wave of water balloons were hurled right at them, and it made every one of them flinch upon impact, but what they discovered was very unpleasant and highly annoying. These water balloons were filled with a sports drink. Which meant that they would all leave there all sticky and yucky-feeling once it dried on their skin and clothing.

“No! No! Why couldn't it be water?” Rarity whined. “My hair, my outfit! Ruined!!!”

Without thinking, Dusk did something he wouldn't normally do, but did it for Rarity. He removed his shirt and covered the top of Rarity’s head to avoid any further coverage of the sports drink to her hair. Fortunately he had on a tank top undershirt, but it didn't make it any easier.

Rarity paused for a moment when she realized what Dusk had done, looking at him. Dusk had realized it too, which led to both of them for a solid few seconds blushing, Rarity's face turning red as she briefly checked him out.

“Oh… my…” Rarity said with her cheeks flushed red.

Dusk could only just chuckle sheepishly in response, all the while shyly blushing.

Ray quickly jumped out of the pool he was in and grabbed Applejack, who wasn't exactly in her right mind at the moment, and tried his best to shield her from the balloons. Her reflexes were at an all time slow at the moment, so Ray did what he could to minimize the sticky drink from landing on her, taking the brunt of the hits.

Similar acts of sacrifice were being made by the rest of the group towards those who had less defense against the assault.

However, the balloon throwing came to a halt when Jake raised his fist, signaling them all to stop. He then walked over to Sunset, who'd been crouched down in embrace with Flash and chuckled at the sight of them.

“Now you understand who you're dealing with."

“Not cool, dude!" Flash said with furrowed eyebrows and gritted teeth.

“Oh yes. You throw water balloons filled with a sugary beverage at people, wasting a perfectly good food product. I'm really impressed." sassed Sunset, crossing her arms defiantly as she stood up to face him. “I bet you and your puffed up buddies are all very proud of yourselves.”

Jake’s eye twitched. “I see that further hazing is required." He raised his hand again to signal the resumption of the pelting. “Let's continue…"

“Mu Pi! MU PI! MU PI!" The frat guys all chanted as they waited for the signal.

“Do you guys seriously think that chanting ‘My Pi’ is cool?" Taunted Rainbow Dash, who in turn received a few more balloons to the face, causing her to wipe it off with her hand. “Is that all you’ve got? Mooooooo!!!!"

“Jake, this has to stop!” Sunset began to plead, but Jake wasn't done.

“Sorry, but you've forced my hand…” Jake said as he was about to give the signal.

Suddenly the crowd grew quiet as the sound of a crowing rooster could be heard, stopping Jake and everyone else in their tracks. They looked over at the DJ, who had been knocked out and removed from his booth.

“What the…" Kyle shouted furiously. “Who-...”

Suddenly a shadowy figure emerged at the top of the frat house on the roof. Beating his chest and crowing like a rooster again. “ROOKA ROOKA ROOOOO!"

The figure then jumped off the roof, slid down their flag pole, but not without removing their purple and gold Mu Pi flag and dragging it with him as he darted onto the stage. To everyone's surprise, the figure revealed himself to be Singer… who had managed to find and put on a Chicken Onesie similar to the ones the guys had worn from losing their bet with the girls. Where he'd gotten that, no one knew but they were all glad to see him as visible in their expressions.

“Found him." Ray remarked, garnering a slight chuckle from Dusk. “At least now we know he's…debatably okay.”

Singer turned their flag into a cape and slid to the front of the stage and grabbed the microphone from the karaoke machine. His eyes bloodshot red, tongue hanging out and hair all a mess, he howled to the crowd, causing them to howl along with him.

“Who is this guy?" growled Jake.

“Our wildcard!” proclaimed Rainbow Dash proudly. “Get them, Singer!”

“Call me!” shouted a still very loopy Twilight upon seeing Singer go by. Everyone turned and looked at her with various expressions, causing her to blush furiously. “Whaaaaaaaaaat?" she cowered down behind Fluttershy.

Singer apparently hadn't heard it as he was focused on stopping this horror show, albeit very unconventionally. Once he had a moment, he stood on stage facing the crowd, stood up tall and started to talk to them. “Everyone listen up!” Singer said into the microphone. “I… I…”

“I like to move it, move it
I like to move it, move it
You like to…”

“MOVE IT!!!” Shouted dozens of excited frat guys.

The music commenced and Singer danced around as Jock and Muscles tried to grab Singer, but his dodges were too fast. Singer cartoonishly kept duping them at every turn, much like he'd done to Dusk and Ray earlier.

They went high, he dipped low and darted off to the side. They tried to grab him by the legs, he jumped on their backs and made them fall over. Moose wasn't any more successful in his attempts to grab him either as he was just too slow to catch Singer.

“Gonna have to move faster than that, Jack!" Singer said as he continued to be chased around the stage, and quickly coming face to face with Jake Featherstone, who’s face had turned red with anger.

“It's Jake, you moron! Get out of here!" Jake’s anger grew because of the antics of Singer and he just doubled down on it.

“Gotta move those feet to the beat!" Singer said as he continued to stylishly and cartoonishly evade the Mu Pi guys. “Like a-this!” Singer said as he swung his arms and accidentally knocked over one of the purple shirt guys who were close to grabbing him.

Unbeknownst to them, a second volunteer had joined the fray in Timber Spruce, while not having spoken with Singer, he'd been lurking around and was able to witness what the Mu Pi's were doing to Twilight and her friends and rushed in to help.

He grabbed a water hose and began to gently soak the captured group of friends in water like a front yard sprinkler long enough for them to get cleaned enough of the drying sticky sports drink that covered them (as well as the whipped cream from their feet from the wading pools they were standing in) so they could make their move. Not that the cool refreshing water didn't feel good on them given the fact that it was hot outside, even at night at this time of the year.

Rarity didn't seem to mind as her outfit was already “ruined” anyway. Pinkie, being Pinkie, stood there as the water fell on them and pretended like she was taking a shower.

“Pinkie, what are you doing?” Sunset asked.

“Just having some fun." she tittered and grinned, making Sunset and a couple of the other girls laugh at this.

In the background Rarity could be seen giving Dusk his shirt back, and it didn't take him long to put it back on. Rarity couldn't help but giggle at Dusk’s display of shyness there, as Dusk continued to blush. But now it wasn't time for that. She wiped her smeared mascara off her face and she and Dusk bolted off to help their friends up. Most of whom were still collecting themselves off the ground.

“Get that freaking chicken!!!" Jake shouted angrily as he watched Jock, Muscles and Moose struggle to catch Singer. Kyle was busy trying to keep Timber from dousing his suit in water.

However Pinkie ran interference occupying Kyle by throwing his own ammo at him, making him try to dodge them. Everyone else was too busy dancing to the song that Singer had started up. “Blackjack, get off your lazy… oh right. He left…”

“Hey Featherhawk…” Singer said as he taunted Jake, who was fuming.

“It's Featherstone!” Jake growled.

“Whatever… I hope you're thirsty!” Singer sang and laughed maniacally as he ducked while Timber aimed the water hose on full blast right at Jake, knocking him back and sending him careening off the stage.

“Bullseye!” Dusk shouted excitedly along with everyone else in the Canterlot group cheering.

Pinkie nodded at Timber who blew onto the now turned off nozzle like he was just shooting a pistol in a western.

“Nice shot, stranger!" Pinkie complimented.

“Thanks pard’ner!”

“Is someone makin’ fun a’ mah accent again?" Applejack blurted, but no one had time to respond to her.

Kyle, now soaked and angry, took charge and grabbed the microphone off the ground and shouted at his fellow partying frat guys. “HEY! DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY!”

Suddenly, the entire group was now surrounded. Timber nervously placed his hand on the nozzle of the water hose to ready it again, as the frat guys’ attention diverted back to the people they were supposed to be hazing.

Singer had finally gotten caught and was subsequently punched in the face by Muscles, which sent him reeling back and rendered unconscious once he hit the floor. Muscles, feeling proud of himself, wiped his hands and moved back over by Jock, who took delight in seeing the chicken boy taken down.

Twilight, all soaking wet just like the others, crawled over by Applejack, who looked a mixture of angry and tired. Fluttershy grabbed both of them and hugged them tightly as they all sat on their knees towards the back part of the stage.

Dusk, Ray, Sunset, Rarity, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash stood in front of them, ready for anything. Zephyr Breeze was nowhere to be seen, and Singer lay unconscious on the stage.

“Mu Pi! Mu Pi! Mu Pi!" They all chanted as they continued their assault on the Canterlot students.

Rainbow Dash, however, turned the tables and started to catch the projectiles and threw them back into the crowd.

The rest of the gang quickly caught on and each of them tried their best to catch them and fire them right back at the frat guys. Ray, Sunset, Pinkie Pie, Dusk and Rarity all began to catch them, and gave them back what they dished out.

“What?!?" Kyle screamed in anger. “No! No mercy!"

“Oh Kyyyyyyyyyleeeeeeeee…” sang Pinkie as Timber again readied the water hose, grinning ear to ear as she made eye contact with Kyle, the latter who was now frozen in fear. “Drink some water, it's better for you!”

“No! N-N-NOOOOOOOO!” Kyle pleaded desperately right before Pinkie, who had since taken control, grinned menacingly and pulled the trigger on the cartoonishly strong water hose, blasting Kyle screaming off the stag.

She then aimed the water hose at Jock and Muscles, with the water balloons they had both been holding falling out of their grips and bursting as they hit the ground on stage as the two fraternity twits were blasted off the stage alongside their comrades.

Moose stood there staring blankly at everyone else as he noticed the pink party girl scowling at him. Moose, being sensible enough, surrendered and decided to just throw himself off the stage, deciding that it wasn't worth the hassle.

“Now!" shouted Rainbow Dash, looking out at the rest of the frat guys. “We're leaving! Anyone have a problem with that?"

None of the other frat guys had anything else to say and slowly left the stage area and split off back to enjoy their partying. However, there was someone who wasn't quite done.

The anger in Jake's grip as he climbed back onto the stage like an angry spider was evident as he slowly made his way back up, pulling with all the strength that his regular workout routine could muster in his dazed state. He stood up with wobbly legs and pointed his finger at them.

“Nobody leaves… until I say so!” he shouted, still staggering a bit, making them all gasp as they turned back around. “You Canterlot Cowards aren't getting away that easily! I am Jake Featherstone! And you will not make the Mu Pi Fraternity look like a bunch of-...”

BAM! Pinkie came in clutch once again, taking Jake out once again by knocking him off the stage with the water hose for the second time.

“I've heard enough out of you…" Pinkie said as she tossed the nozzle of the water hose off to the side and ran to help her friends.

The rest of the frat guys, seeing that the show was over, decided to resume their partying.

“I can't believe I liked being around these guys. " Timber muttered under his breath.

“Thanks for the assist.” Rainbow said graciously. "I'm Rainbow Dash, by the way.” She extended her hand to him for a handshake.

“Timber Spruce.” the green haired guy said, shaking her hand. "Yeah, when I found out that you were all being targeted by these guys, I knew that I needed to help. It's just what a cool guy like me does when he spots trouble, ya know.” he flexed his eyebrows, hoping to get some sort of reaction out of Rainbow, which he did, but it was a deadpan look.

“Sorry…You guys didn't deserve what those jerks were doing to you. These Mu Pi's are nasty people. Have been for years. It's about time someone gave those Neanderthals a taste of their own medicine.”

“Frat guys… Puh!" Rainbow Dash said pointedly. "Nothing but a bunch of chumps.”

“Unfortunately, this is just going to make them mad and they're probably not going to leave you alone." Timber’s tone had a serious gravity to it.

“We can handle them." Flash said in response, while he and Sunset also approached him to shake his hand.

“Thank you for your help, Timber.” Sunset said.

“Not a problem. How about I help you get your unconscious friends on a bus out of here." he gestured to Twilight, Applejack and Singer.

“I think that would be a grand idea." Dusk said. “We will need all the help we can get."

Ray made it a point to be the one to help Applejack who had come to herself just enough to walk somewhat on her own when Ray helped her up, but just barely. Ray graciously obliged his services. Rainbow agreed to carry Fluttershy on her back as she was just plain exhausted due to her anxiety building up from the entire night. Meanwhile, Pinkie offered to take over if Rainbow needed it.

“Thank you, Rainbow…" Flutters said shyly.

“Don't sweat it, Shy. I got this!"

While Dusk and Flash volunteered to help Singer, Timber was given the task of carrying Twilight. He was reluctant at first, fearing that she might wake up, but that didn't appear to be happening as her drunken state had made her pass out cold. It was clear to him that Twilight had never mentioned him to anyone, so he was thankful for that. One less awkward conversation to be had, at least for now. He was still determined to make peace with Twilight, but he knew he needed to be smart about it.

There was so much going on at the time that nobody noticed that Zephyr had hidden underneath the stage during the calamity and stayed there, thus missing out on the others leaving.

The bus ride home from the party was a tiring one. Everyone had had their fill of their first experiences with the Mu Pi’s. Timber helped them get everyone situated on the bus and then took off after his own car. Everyone there had looked worse for wear, dealing with wet clothes, bruised egos, and hair that was probably going to require a double dose of shampoo to make it feel clean again. Sunset felt the worst out of everyone, for she bore the guilt of falling into the trap that the fraternity had set.

“Guys, I'm… I'm sorry for getting us into this mess.” Sunset said forlornly. “If I would have known that this is what would happen, I wouldn't have suggested we come tonight."

“Sunset, you couldn't have predicted what happened tonight.” Dusk said in her defense. “It's not your fault that these guys turned out to be…"

“Ruffians." Rarity said, completing Dusk’s sentence.

“Exactly. Absolutely repulsive individuals."

“Hey, we all decided it would be a good idea to go to this party. It's not all on just any one of us. “ Rainbow Dash said.

“I suppose that’s true.” Sunset said as she started to feel a little bit better.

“Well after tonight's rather, eh… weird escapade, I think I am going to just unwind on the beach tomorrow and take a much needed break from excitement.” stated Rarity, a sentiment that pretty much everyone else agreed with. “But not before a nice hot shower and a couple rounds in the washing machine for my ensemble.” Rarity said as she looked at her once beautiful light blue top and purple skirt.

“Me too, “ agreed Fluttershy. "Tonight was very stressful, and I'm totally exhausted. ”

“Well, we are on vacation, after all.” Sunset said. "I’ll try to keep any future ideas to myself.”

Rainbow moved over to Sunset’s seat and lightly jabbed her in the side with her elbow. "Hey, if you ever want to go and get revenge on those guys, just say the word, and we’ll do it!” Rainbow whispered.

“Honestly, I never want to see those guys again. They can keep their stupid tribal behavior and their fancy stuff. I don't need them. And if I never see them again, it'll be too soon.” Sunset said bitterly.

Flash reached over and grabbed her hand and smiled at her.

“Yeah, alright. Go ahead and brag on how right you were."

“Nah…" Flash said. “I think you've beaten yourself up enough for one day.” He bestowed a gentle kiss on her cheek.

“Thanks Flash.” Sunset said gratefully as she leaned over on his shoulder and took his arm and wrapped it around her, snuggling up to him while they waited to reach their destination.

Dusk and Rarity sat beside each other, content and happy that nothing worse ended up happening to them during this time, and that they were able to escape. Rarity could tell that Dusk was tired and let his sleepy nodding head lean on her shoulder a bit, while she held his hand. “My sweet Dusk…" she whispered.

Ray had something similar going on with AJ still out if it and didn't protest when her sleepyhead rested on him as well. He sat back and endured the remainder of the ride, though he wasn't bothered in the slightest. After all she'd done for him, he was happy to.

Sunset looked at the seat behind her where they'd helped Singer and Twilight sit together, with both of them leaning on each other as they slept. Sunset smiled and turned back around in her seat and exchanged one more smile with Flash. In spite of the craziness, there was finally peace.

After the night they'd all had, a nice quiet ending was the right fit, and luckily the ride back to their hotel was a comfortable one. Though, they couldn't help but think that maybe they were forgetting something.

Fluttershy’s flushed red face was telling to those who were paying attention when she realized who was not with them. “Oh… no…"

The aftermath of the party shenanigans had left the Mu Pi’s back yard a mess. People started to file and Jake Featherstone and his friends looked over the damage, which could have been much worse. Though, Jake's anger was for more than his hurt pride or the fact that their fraternity flag had been taken down and left draped over a fold up chair on their stage.

He was mad because Sunset Shimmer dared to reject his advances and used her friends to humiliate him in front of his Mu Pi subordinates.

As the crowd of frat guys, who were the only ones left, stood around waiting for Jake to blow up on them, they were surprised when he let out a few soft chuckles.

“Don't worry… That wasn't the last we will see of those Canterlot Wondercolts.” He said with a smile as Kyle and Moose walked up closer to him.

“That's the spirit, Jake! We are totally going to…”

“Hey Jake!” The shouting voice of Jock could be heard as the crowd split to let him and Muscles through while they were dragging a helpless Zephyr Breeze by the arms. They pushed him to the ground in front of Jake when they finally got him there.

“Looks like the Canterlot guys forgot one of their own." Jock remarked.

“So much for friendship, eh?" Jake smirked as he stared down the shivering Zephyr Breeze.

“Come on, guys." Zephyr pleaded weakly. “I've had a really crappy night, can't you please just let me go?"

Muscles raised his fist to strike him, but Jake intervened and pushed up on his fist with his hand to stop him. “No… Help him up."

“What?” Jock said with a hint of surprise in his voice as he watched Muscles help Zephyr up to his feet.

“Get him a ride back to wherever he's staying."

Zephyr looked surprised by this, but wasn't going to question it. “Oh… Uh… Thank you."

“I don't understand… Why-”

“Don't question me, just do it!" snapped Jake.

Jock recoiled for a second but did as Jake asked. “Let's go, hippie.”

“I'm not a hippie."

“Shut up!"

None of them moved for a few minutes after Jock and Zephyr left the scene.

“What's the play here, Jake?” Moose asked through his own wondering.

“Simple. We take their garbage back to them, we find out where they're staying.”

“Clever strat, Jake.” Kyle said sincerely.

“Indeed." Jake smirked. “Now clean your mess up or you become the new Blackjack.” Jake said with a frown as he and Moose walked back toward the house.

Kyle, along with the help of Muscles and some of the other frat guys began their rigorous night of cleaning up the remnants of the chaotic rager of a party. Though he cleaned frantically while taking the occasional break to clean off his suit that had been drenched in sports drink and water.

“That Timber Spruce better hope I don't see him again…" muttered Muscles as he used his claw grabber to start picking up the trash.

“Good news…” Fluttershy said, appearing to calm down. "Zephyr texted me and told me he found a ride back, so none of us have to go get him.” She, Dusk and Ray had been sitting outside the back door of Dusk and Ray’s hotel room, on the outside furniture.

“Good.” Dusk said with a hint of guilt. "I feel bad for leaving him behind. He may have caused a great deal of trouble for us, but he didn't deserve that.”

“Yeah, I can't stand the guy, but I'm glad he's okay.” Ray said.

“I'm going to have a serious conversation with him about etiquette moving forward." Fluttershy said. “I'm really sorry for all of the trouble he's caused.”

“It's okay, little sister." Dusk said to Fluttershy, who had become like an honorary sister to him over the duration of their friendship. “I think we are all learning to coexist with him and when to tune him out. Honestly, he doesn't seem so bad in comparison to the frat guys we just met.”

“Not sure if it's the guilt talking, but I kind of agree.” Ray said while reading something on his phone. “I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of things some of us will wake up and regret tomorrow.”

“Indeed. Us included."

“So is everything okay with the others?” Fluttershy asked. “I haven't heard much from Rainbow Dash or Pinkie.”

“Rarity told me that she was able to get Applejack to go to sleep for the night, and that Sunset said that she and Flash made sure Singer and Twilight made it to their rooms as well.” informed Dusk.

“All’s well that ends well, I suppose." Ray said. “I'm still disappointed I didn't get anything good to drink tonight. Or get to jump in the bouncy house."

“We got to jump into a ball pit.” Dusk said, garnering a giggle from Fluttershy.

“Not the same and you know it…” pouted Ray.

“You'll get over it.”

A knock on the front door of their room happened suddenly, grabbing Dusk’s attention so he went to answer it. To his surprise, it was Rarity, who had since cleaned up and changed into her pajamas that were still decent enough for being out in public, holding something behind her back.

“Hello my dear Rarity.” Dusk said quietly, since they were out in the hall. “What can I do for you?"

“Actually, it's what I can do for you that I'm concerned about." Rarity said, pulling out a couple of bottles of the Apple ale from the party from behind her back.

“Should we leave?” Ray asked playfully, catching Fluttershy beginning to blush a bit at what Ray had just been implying. “Aw, I was kidding, Flutters."

“Oh, okay.”

“No Ray, it's nothing like that. I actually brought these over for you and Dusk. After everything you were out through tonight, I'd say you've earned them. I managed to confiscate these from Applejack. She thought she could smuggle these out of that frat party and get one by me. Not today, sister!"

“I take back every snob comment I've made… from today.” Ray said, graciously accepting the gift when Rarity handed it to him. "You're the best, Rarity!” He then muttered to himself. “I just hope AJ doesn't remember that she grabbed those when she comes out of it, later.”

“I'll take it.” tittered Rarity, who was then kissed on the lips by Dusk. "And I'll definitely take that.”

“Thank you, Rarity.”

“You're absolutely welcome, darling.” she winked and walked out with Fluttershy in tow, quietly waving goodbye as she closed the door behind her. “Have fun. I'll see you tomorrow."

“Bye, girls."

Dusk locked their door and then joined Ray, who'd gone outside and sat down in one of the chairs. He pulled one around facing the same way so Dusk could sit next to him. They both sat in silence for a moment and watched as they saw the night sky hanging over the ocean. They said nothing, as they were taking in the peacefulness of the silence. The only sound they made was when they tapped the necks of their bottles together and nodded ‘cheers’ before they went bottoms up with their drinks.

Elsewhere in the night, while the Mu Pi’s next door may have run into disaster with their party, ‘The Dude’ and his party of his old fishing buddies had been a smashing success. Including an unexpected visit from some old friends.

Celestia and Luna had arrived not long after Dusk, Ray and Singer departed, dressed in their own formal party attire and they were greeted by ‘The Dude’ himself. He had been an old friend of theirs from a vacation they'd had when they were all kids and they never lost touch after all those years.

“Hello, Rod” greeted Celestia as she walked in wearing her casual night out attire made up of a white t-shirt that was emblazoned with her signature sun symbol and pink shorts, accompanied by her pink sandals.

Luna had dressed similarly to her sister, only dark blue and purple were her colors of choices for her outfit.

It had been several years since the last time they'd hung out, but they did indeed know each other from way back when.

“Tia, Lu Lu, it's been ages!” He was greeted with a hug by both sisters.

“Still going by your ‘The Dude’ persona, I see." Luna chuckled slightly.

“Yeah. It still rings true to this day. I see you two haven't changed…at all. Ha ha.” Rod aka ‘The Dude’ stroked his beard and gestured to the refreshment table. “Welcome to my party! I got tons of food and drinks, man. The selection is immaculate. Though I will warn you, stay away from the punch bowl. It's not for the faint of heart. "A few young bucks looking for the frat party next door had the misfortune of coming across it. So we put yellow tape around it as a warning."

“I too once had the misfortune of trying your cursed cocktail. My back still acts up from all the limbo records I broke under its influence." Luna recounted that memory bitterly.

“I will never forget that night. The night that you first pulled yourself out of your ‘concrete shoes’ and lived a little.” Celestia recounted the memory more fondly.

She pulled her phone out due to hearing it ringing in her pocket, and checked to see who was calling. Professor Iscorde again… She declined the call, due to the fact that she was about to be busy. She knew she would have to answer the call eventually.

Luna had paced her way around the room looking at all of her old friend’s fishing trophies and model ships when she came across a board that had multiple pictures of parties that he had. She noticed a picture of a few young men that looked familiar, but she almost didn't believe it was them at first. For all she knew that picture could have been months or years old, but then she saw the camera sitting on the table below the board and her suspicion intensified as the camera was one of those old fashioned picture print cameras.

“Uh, Rod… These boys in this picture here. Is this recent?"

“Oh yeah. Just came in today. My fishing buddy, Ol’ Shutterbug, likes to take pictures of interesting party guests we get and tacs them to his little bulitin board. I don't know why he does it, but who am I to cramp his style, right?”

“...right.” echoed Luna, with a grin. "Finally got out and let loose, eh Dusk?” she said to herself. "Perhaps I should follow your lead.”

“Anyone ready for some grilled cod?" called ‘The Dude’ as several of his buddies quickly got in line.

“You coming, sister?” teased Celestia, noting Luna fixated on the pictures on the wall.

“Coming…"

Author's Note

It’s been a long time. And I apologize for that, but I am still committed to finishing this story.

I hope this chapter was at least somewhat enjoyable. This chapter was a bit more challenging than I anticipated it being. That, along with my schedule being so busy the first half of this year, a rough bout of writer’s block and having to completely start over on this chapter played a part in it taking so long.

This next chapter should be a short one and will hopefully not take long to do. Thank you to all who like this story.

Part of the Crew, Part of The Trip

With every step Dusk took, he felt his apprehension grow. He wasn't really sure why. The hard part was done. This meeting would be making it official. Perhaps it's because the last time he'd been through this dance, it hadn't ended well. But this would be different. It felt different.

Following the end of the Glee Club fiasco, he'd built up the courage to tell Rarity that he felt something more for her beyond her friendship and to his pleasant surprise, she'd reciprocated it and had done so gladly. They hadn't been able to talk in depth about it due to the sudden arrival of the rest of their friends moments after he got it off his chest. She had the idea to meet later at the very coffee shop he was walking to. Almost there.

They'd left at staggering times to keep any unnecessary attention from being drawn to them. Rarity had already been inside when he got there, having left fifteen minutes prior to when he did. He was confident nobody noticed, however he had a sneaky suspicion that Ray had an idea.

The place in question wasn't part of any major chain. Just a smaller independent location. He couldn't spot her from outside, but once he'd made his way inside, he saw her sitting towards the back, waiting for him. The spot she selected was a worn brown leather couch, and she sat smiling at him, and it was all Dusk could do to keep from blushing.

"Hello Rarity. I hope you haven't been waiting long."

"Not at all. Only a few minutes." She said to him. "Now wait here and I'll get you a drink. Ah buh buh! Don't even start, I insist."

Dusk chuckled nervously and asked for a hot chocolate. He wasn't keen on drinking coffee. He noticed Rarity glancing over at him, making his heart beat a little bit faster every time. Everything from her eyes to her smile, he couldn't look away.

She brought it over when it was ready and they settled back down next to each other on the couch. For a few moments they sat in silence. Dusk sat drumming his finger on his cup, trying to think of the best approach to start this conversation. Being this close to her wasn't helping him focus either.

"So... how long? Have you felt this way, I mean?"

"I'm really not sure." He murmured. "I mean I've always thought you were... I-I mean when I first met you, I thought you were well..."

"Yes, Dusk?"

"Uh... utterly gorgeous," he said quietly. "But it's not just that. It isn't. When we started to spend time together I realized how much I... I enjoyed it. Talking about your plans for the future, the newest fashion project you were working on, the latest romance novel you were reading or whatever was on our minds never failed to make my day. And you always made time, whatever it was you were doing. Even just a couple of minutes on the phone. Of everyone I've met, you really are a... a rarity with just how special you are.

He'd been looking at his hands the whole time he talked about this. When he dared to look up, Rarity had a hand cupped over her mouth. Her eyes shimmered in that moment, and for a second he thought he'd upset her. But then she removed her hand.

"D-Dusk..." Her voice was shaky but she kept it in check. "You mean that? Truly?"

"Every word." He answered. "Are you okay?"

"Fine, fine. Just a little... my goodness I never expected..." She took a few breaths and dabbed at her eyes with handkerchief. "You are such a wonder, Dusk. Truly you are. You always make my day, never failing to bring a smile to my face just from hearing your voice. I enjoy our time together too, very much and... and I never want it to stop. If you'd be willing, I'd very much like to take our relationship further, if you're happy to."

"I'd love to!" he said at once. "If you're truly on board, then I am happy to take this further. If you can look past my shortcomings, that is." He said with a slight smile on his face, as an attempt at a jest.

"Pish posh!" Rarity said, loosening up a bit and managed a smile as well. "Everyone has shortcomings. But with you, Dusk? I know you're real. Sure you're nervous and shy. Your self-esteem is a mess, you think too much about little things, get anxious easily and goodness me, that fedora you used to wear? I mean, really. I'm glad you dropped that."

"Sorry where's this going?"

"Yes, sorry..." she said, looking abashed. "My point is, Dusk, is that while you may not be perfect, I'm willing to admit that I'm not either. I can be selfish, petty, like gossip a little too much and I have a slight tendency to be over dramatic at times." She giggled at Dusk's expression. "Maybe more than slight. But do those things matter to you, Dusk?"

"No." he said at once. "They're what makes you, well, you and you still try to be your best anyway."

"Precisely how I feel about you, darling. It's your flaws and imperfections shine through. You can't get that from a fantasy. Only from what's real and what I feel for you, Dusk Noir?" She reached across to take his hand. "That is very very real."

Her hand was so warm. It sent a tingle through Dusk's arm when she gently squeezed it. He squeezed her's in return and in the same manner. As they looked at each other, their smiles mirrored one another. Now it was Dusk's turn for his eyes to well up.

"Rarity, I..." He wiped his eyes. "You have no idea how happy that makes me."

"I feel like I have a good idea." Rarity returned. "That smile of yours, dear. It lights up your whole face. I should very much like to see more of it."

"You're the one that brings it out." he said quietly.

"Oh, you!" she tittered. "Thank you for telling me how you feel, Dusk. I would have done so myself but after what you told us about what happened with you and Twilight, I... I felt like it wasn't my place to try."

"I appreciate that, Rarity." Dusk said thoughtfully. "I think that, if you'd said anything before she and I patched things up, I don't think I would have accepted it. It hurt, but even then, I think I was still pretty hung up on her."

"You don't need to tell me that, darling. It was fairly evident." She looked a little apprehensive for a moment. "And now?"

"Now? I realize I put her on a pedestal and it wasn't good for me or her. I mean, she's great and I'm glad we're proper friends, but that's all we should be. Besides, she seems to be very happy with Singer and I'd never want to ruin that for her.

Rarity beamed. "That's very good of you. I'm happy you've reached that point. You're a wonderful friend, truly."

"Well..." He glanced away. "I-I hope I can be just as... as good a boyfriend. If that's what you want, I mean."

A playful smirk danced on Rarity's lips. "I think proper confirmation is in order..."

She inched a little closer to her. Her sapphire eyes gazed into his emerald green. Dusk's breath caught in his throat. Novice as he was, he knew what was coming next. The distance closed between them and their lips met in a kiss. It was short and sweet, but it made Dusk's heart feel like it would fly away and leave him. When they parted a moment of silence passed between them.

"Did uh... did that help?" Dusk asked.

"Very much so," she replied. "I hope that was alright for you, darling. I didn't want to overwhelm you."

"Thanks. Honestly, that was..." he laughed and grinned. "That was amazing but I think I'm going to need a few minutes.

She nodded. "That's quite alright, dear. I know this was very new to you and I have no desire to frighten you or make you uncomfortable. If you're ever uncertain about anything, don't hesitate to let me know. Promise?"

"I promise, Rarity." he vowed. "So long as you'll do the same?"

"Oh trust me, you'll know if I don't like something you're doing. Not that I will have to worry about that too much." She patted his hand. "You're the perfect gentleman, Mr. Noir."

"Only for a lady as gallant as you, Miss Belle."

"Oh Dusk, you are the sweetest thing!" She pecked his cheek and giggled. "I feel lucky to have you for myself."

"I'm feeling pretty lucky right now, too." Dusk said with sincerity. "So do we tell everyone else?"

"Oh we will, but may I have a moment of selfishness?" Rarity looked down at his hand. "I'd like to keep this between us. Only for a day or two. You understand."

"No, I get it. That's a grand idea. Even now, being with you, it... feels like a dream." Dusk admitted shyly. "Like I still don't believe this is completely real."

"I assure you, Dusk. I am very, very real." She leaned in again. "Would you like me to remind you just how much?"

Dusk had only managed a nod before she caught him in another kiss. Their drinks happily forgotten on the table next to them.

The infamous Glee Club fiasco was something that everyone was eager to forget about, and that’s what everyone aimed to do. A couple of nights after that crazy weekend, the girls had all decided to go out and eat at a popular restaurant in the area. They had all dressed in their best casual clothing for their outing and were just cutting loose for the evening.

Pinkie Pie had been cracking jokes at the table, making her other six friends laugh. Especially Rainbow Dash.

“Oh that’s so bad! But why is it so funny?” Rainbow laughed, trying very hard not to be boisterous, though only because she didn’t want to get everyone kicked out. She’d been wearing her red T-shirt that had her soccer uniform number on it, number twenty, as well as her usual sports pants and her sneakers emblazoned with her personal insignia.

“Oh, you gotta let me tell the next one!” Sunset said. Everyone nodded. “So a guy walks into a bar, rubs his head and says… ‘Ow! That smarts!’” Sunset had on her white t-shirt with red long sleeves while also sporting her favorite dark pair of jeans and some running shoes.

Twilight was the only one who laughed at that one. Though she stopped as everyone looked at her. “What? I thought it was funny.” Twilight wore a pink polo shirt, accompanied by a long navy blue skirt, and her comfortable sneakers.

“You would laugh at that. Sounds like a Singer joke.” Rainbow remarked.

“Thanks anyway, Twi.” Sunset said as they both blushed from embarrassment.

“Maybe enough with the jokes," Applejack said. “Anyone have anythin’ interestin’ happen lately? Surely one of us has.” She had on a white t-shirt with green sleeves and an apple graphic emblazoned upon it while wearing a jean skirt and her typical boots.

“Well, since you asked…” Rarity began, smiling brightly just thinking about what she was about to tell them. She had on a long sleeve light blue shirt with her purple skirt emblazoned with a graphic of three light blue diamonds. “My life has changed in a significant way. It happened two days ago.”

“You’re not messing with us and telling us that joining the Glee Club is it are you? Because No offense, that’s not what I’d call a significant change.” Rainbow said.

“Now why on Earth would I say that?” She inquired.

“Well what else happened two days ago?”

“Well maybe if ya’d shut yer yap, she might be able ta tell us.” Applejack snapped then nodded to Rarity. “Please continue.”

Dash had nothing else to add. She’d just sat back and mentally told herself to be quiet.

“Yes, thank you,” she said as she prepared herself yet again to say what she was waiting to tell them. “I have entered into a relationship with a very special person in my life. Someone who I’ve been fond of for quite some time, and come to find that the feeling was mutual.”

“Wow! Congrats Rarity!” Sunset said. “Who’s the lucky guy?”

“Is it someone we all know?” Fluttershy spoke up after being relatively quiet the whole evening. She was wearing a light yellow long sleeve shirt accompanied by a light green skirt while wearing her usual yellow butterfly hair barrettes on her hair.

“Yes, actually.” She said, smiling all the while. “He’s a sweet, thoughtful, sharp, intelligent and bright individual, and he’s very near and dear to us all.”

“Hold on…” Twilight spoke up, her face lighting up with a smile. “You’re not talking about…”

“Well come on! Spill it!” Rainbow shouted.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Pinkie said, gesturing to Rarity letting her be the one to say it, the latter could barely contain her excitement.

“Ladies, Dusk Noir and I have revealed our feelings for each other and have agreed to begin a relationship together!” Rarity said, beaming with pride and joy.

There wasn’t a sour expression at the table at that moment. Every one of her friends had been vocal about their shared excitement for her and Dusk. Fluttershy had migrated over to Rarity’s side of the table to give her a congratulatory hug.

“I knew it!” Sunset exclaimed.

“Congratulations Rarity!” Twilight beamed. “I'm so happy for both of you!”

“Ah knew he had it in him!” Applejack said. “Congrats, you two!”

“Yay! Another party!” Pinkie exclaimed. “I’m so excited I could explode!” She pulled out her pocket party cannon and fired it into the air, leaving tiny pieces of confetti on the table.

“Wedding bells in the future, anyone?” Sunset joked with a chuckle.

“Now, now, Dusk and I have only just begun our courtship.” Rarity giggled. “These things take time, you know that. Besides, I think we are closer to seeing Twilight in a wedding dress than myself.” She shot Twilight an apologetic grin as everyone’s eyes shifted towards her.

Twilight almost did a spit take as she was close to taking a drink out of her cup, when Rarity had caught her off guard with that comment. Her eyes widened behind her glasses. She knew it was all in good fun, however that subject hadn’t really been on her mind very much up until now. But it for sure had her attention now. This didn’t go unnoticed by the others. They giggled at this for a bit. Once Twi had calmed down, she saw the humor of the situation and played along. Still though, she knew it would be quite a while before that happened. Right? She silently dismissed the thought of it for now.

“My apologies, Twilight. I didn’t mean to catch you off guard.” Rarity said.

“Yeah, sorry. It was just a joke.” Sunset added.

“Oh no, it’s fine,” she laughed it off with only a halfway convincing smile. “All in good fun.”

“And speaking of fun,” Dash said. “Let’s pay for our food and get over to the mini golf course! I’m dying to smoke Applejack again!

“In yer dreams, Rainbow!” Applejack retorted, whipping out her bank card before Rainbow. “Ah’d say Ah’ve already got a head start on ya.” Rainbow growled a bit at this.

“So, let the games begin!”

After having spent the past couple of days keeping his new step in his relationship with Rarity to himself, as the two had mutually agreed after making it official, Dusk and Rarity checked with each other earlier that morning to make sure it would be okay if they told their friends. Rarity had the more seemingly daunting task of the two, telling six of her ‘girlfriends’ as opposed to Dusk only having to tell one person. Though part of him was a bit curious as to how Ray would react.

Ray and Rarity’s relationship hadn’t started off the best, both coming from two completely different worlds and upbringings and initially clashed as a result. However, over time the group had grown and everyone within was as tight knit as ever, including Ray and Rarity. Dusk was thankful for this. He was thankful that Rarity had shared his feelings, and was thankful for everyone in his life who’d helped him get to this point.

He had a feeling Ray already suspected something, but he still wanted to tell his friend. Why wouldn’t he? Ray would want to revel in something as amazing in his own life with Dusk if the roles were reversed.

As he made his way back to their apartment after fetching some Chinese takeout for the two of them, he opened the door. He’d tried to turn on the lights, but he’d momentarily forgotten that on the night that he and Rarity made it all official, Ray had turned off the power to their lights so he could pull off a schtick of a waiting parent who stayed up late to be there when their child had come home after curfew. Which, he wasn’t wrong, it had been quite a bit later than he’d normally come back home. He’d even gone to the trouble of buying a lamp just for such a gag. He’d sat in his recliner when Dusk finally did come home and said “Young man, where have you been?”

Though he was mildly annoyed at that, he couldn’t help but laugh at that not so distant memory, as he entered the room to see Ray at his desk, hard at work on a writing project of his with his newly purchased lamp turned on behind him.

“I see you still haven’t turned the power back on to the lights in here.” Dusk said, shaking his head as he placed the food on the table.

“Oh, right…” Ray said as he walked across the room and turned the breaker back on. “Now try it.”

Dusk flipped the switch and to his delight, the lights were once again working. “You’re such a goof.”

“I know! Thanks for grabbing the food. I’m nearly done with writing for the night.”

“Not a problem. But before we eat and play our games tonight, there’s a matter of which I would like to discuss with you.”

“Look, I’m sorry I left my laundry in the dryer this morning. My alarm didn’t go off and I was nearly late for class.”

“No, no. Not that. Though, I hope you’ve taken care of that since coming home.”

“After we eat, I promise.”

“Fair enough.” Dusk chuckled.

“So what’s up?” He said, grabbing a soda from their fridge.

“I have some news. Exciting news. I had to wait a couple of days to tell you.” Ray nodded. “I asked Rarity out a couple of days ago, and we both agreed to start dating. We both care deeply for each other, and we’re both excited about this next big step.”

Ray chuckled. “I knew something was up with you two. And I had wondered if there wasn’t something going on when you came home late that night. But I’m happy for you, man. Rarity’s something else, but in a good way.”

“Much appreciated, Ray. And I’m happy to have your support.”

“You’d do the same for me.”

“I definitely would.” Dusk smiled. “Perhaps one day we will celebrate the same thing for you.”

“Maybe, but I’m not worried about that right now. I’m hankering for some food and then I’m going to kick your butt at Mario Kart.”

“We will need to have a little chat about your competitiveness.” Dusk joked. “And I thought Rainbow Dash was bad.”

“Rainbow Dash has yet to learn just how serious I get when playing games. We need to schedule that some time. It’ll be a bigger deal than some YouTuber fighting an MMA fighter. Both she and Sunset Shimmer will soon fall to the might of my expert gaming prowess!”

“Now that, I am looking forward to seeing. I can only imagine the aftermath of such a duel.”

“But enough of that. That food smells good and I’m starving!”

Three weeks had come and gone. Summer Vacation had come over the horizon and was now underway. Just a few days into it, as a matter of fact. A plan had been set for a large group of friends to go away for a couple of weeks to Waytona Beach. A tourist town and public beach set just a few hours South East of Canterlot Town.

The day came where they were to all meet and get ready to arrive at a central location and wait for the transportation that would take them on their way. The south parking lot was the place, and about half of them had made it this far.

Six of the seven girls had made it, all but Rarity. Dusk and Ray had yet to arrive themselves. It only took a few more minutes before Flash arrived, leaving them with only four more members to wait for. They’d all worn their usual casual summer attire, not deviating far from their normal choices that they typically wore. All except for Twilight, who’d made a notable difference of choice in her hairstyle, reverting it back into a bun similar to how she styled it at Crystal Prep, from how she’d normally had it in ponytail form. Presumably due to the hot weather.

Twilight took the helm of organizing the hotel arrangements, transportation, and just about everything else. She stood there overlooking everything with a clipboard and checklist in hand.

“Is everything still going according to plan?” Sunset asked, as she walked up to Twilight.

“Oh, yes. Everything is going well so far. Singer might be the last one here, he went to get breakfast for everyone.”

“I thought I saw his luggage here already.” Sunset said as she noted his things sitting besides Twilight’s. She took a second look at Twilight’s things and she noticed Twilight had a duffel bag suitcase and two other cases of some kind. “Packing light?”

Twilight caught on to her jest and giggled. “I know it’s a bit much but I have some drones I’ve been working on that I’d like to try and calibrate while I’m there.”

“Assuming you’re not too busy with you-know-who.” Sunset smirked.

“Oh, he’s aware of my plans. Besides, I’m not the only one he has plans for on this trip. He’d really like to get to know everyone else better these next couple of weeks as well.”

“He really is a great boyfriend. You’re lucky to have him. I can tell he really cares a great deal for you.”

“I agree.” She smiled. “We compliment each other fairly well. I like how laid back he is… eh most of the time. He tries very hard to be self aware and has a deep regard for my feelings, as well as the feelings of others. He’s far from perfect, but he definitely tries his best. He pushes me to try and do the same. I like to believe that I’m getting better.”

“Aaaaw,” Sunset said. “And you are. Your relationship continues to be beneficial for you and your confidence, at least as far as I can tell.”

“Thank you, Sunset,” she said. “That really means a lot.”

“Not a problem. Well, I hope you two enjoy your moments of alone time these next couple of weeks. And I hope he gets along with the rest of our friends as well as he does with you and me.”

“I’m sure he will.” Twilight continued to check things off her list.

Not a minute later, a small purple hatchback car pulled into one of the parking spots in the lot. The car belonged to Rarity. Out of the front passenger seat and passenger rear seat came Dusk and Ray, who Rarity had recruited to help load her luggage. The driver's rear seat had been reserved for Dusk and Ray’s belongings in addition to one more of Rarity’s suitcases.

“You know, had I known I’d be recruited to help lift Rarity’s bags every time we’d all go somewhere, I would have found a new roommate when I found out about you and her.” Ray remarked, only halfway joking. He’d worn a white T-shirt and cargo pants while sporting his white running shoes.

“Your help is always appreciated, Ray.” Dusk said with a grin. Dusk wore a white T-shirt as well but chose to wear jeans along with his running shoes.

“Wipe that smile off your face and help me start pulling these cases out.” He remarked as he picked up a couple of them.

“Thank you for your help, Dusk. You as well, Ray.” Rarity said, grabbing her purse out of her car. She placed her oversized sunglasses on her face under her shady large brimmed hat, complimented by her summertime attire. “I will see to it that I get your lunches for today as a thank you.”

“Very welcome, my dear…” Dusk smiled as he’d said that. “And thank you. I’m sure we both appreciate it.” Dusk smiled graciously at Ray, who if he was annoyed, chose not to show it because he could tell that his help truly was appreciated here. Ray offered only a grin as he placed the luggage in his arms down on the ground next to the others’.

Rarity smiled back. She’d offered her help by grabbing one of the smaller cases. Not much of a help, but that would be one less thing for them to carry.

Rainbow stood to the side and made a whipping sound effect with her mouth, implying that Rarity had been cracking the whip.

“I’ll have you know that I volunteered my services to help.” Dusk said to Rainbow. “And Ray was asked very nicely for his help, and he obliged.”

“Of course you did. You’re Dusk. Mr Polite.” She nudged him with her elbow and winked. “Here, lemme help you with some of those.” She relieved each of them of one of the cases they carried, and helped them to stack them up by the parking lot. While they unloaded Rarity’s, Dusk’s and Ray’s luggage from Rarity’s car, Rainbow noticed the lack of a bus.

“Yo, Twi!” She called out. “Where’s the bus?”

“It’ll be here in a little bit. Our designated driver is currently filling it up right now.” Twilight informed.

Singer had finally made it back from the donut shop, and had parked on the other side of the parking lot where there would be more room for him to bust out his portable wagon. He was wearing his summer attire including sunglasses, an Avengers t-shirt with an open button up shirt over it as well as blue and yellow gym shorts and tennis shoes.

He grabbed two boxes of a dozen donuts, and two boxes of breakfast sandwiches as well as an ice chest full of various sodas and water and loaded them into his wagon. He’d begun his walk towards where Dusk, Ray, Flash and the girls were when he all of sudden came to an abrupt stop, and his wagon hit him from behind. He had been stopped by someone standing directly in front of him. His skin was a light green, and his hair was long and blonde and looked like it was all piled on top of his head in some sort of weird man-bun. His choice in clothing was a bit weird as well. He wore what looked like a vest but he wasn’t wearing a shirt underneath, as well as some tight fitting jeans and sandals.

“Can I help you?” Singer asked.

“Yeah, wattup dawg! I’m Zephyr Breeze, aka Fluttershy’s brother. And you must be Zinger.”

“Actually my name is Singer.”

“Right, right, close enough. I thought I’d surprise Fluttershy by making a surprise appearance on this trip to Waytona Beach. We don’t get to see each other very much nowadays, so I figured what better way to reconnect with her than by coming along.”

“Oh, well I don’t see why-…”

“But alas, I was not invited so I’m afraid I’m going to have to drive back home, unless…” he shifted his eyes toward Singer.

“Unless?” He repeated, somewhat unsurely.

“Unless someone were to bring me on as a plus one? Then my sister and I would be able to enjoy the quality time that we so desperately need.”

Singer stopped. He had little reason to doubt who this guy said he was. And he also had no reason to tell him he couldn’t come, and if he was lying, the others would call him out on it and Singer could just chalk it up to a mistake on his part.

“Oh, er… sure. I don’t see the harm in it, I guess.”

“See, Zinger? I knew you were a good one! I’ll grab my things and meet you over there! Thanks again!” Zephyr walked off over toward an older pickup and opened the door. Singer didn’t stay and watch the whole thing, he just pulled the wagon off once more to bring breakfast to everyone. However, things went from bad to worse as Zephyr had caught up with him and tossed his luggage into the wagon and onto the breakfast he’d gotten for everyone. The sound it made was telling that the pastries were now toast, kaput, done-zo, smashed!

“Dude! No! Come on, man!” Singer shouted and devastation came over him. Only now had it dawned on him that there may have been a reason this guy wasn’t invited. “That was everyone’s breakfast, you jerk!”

“Hey, not to worry, my Zing-a-ling. It’s still edible!”

“I had one job… ONE JOB and I freaking blew it.” Singer sighed. “Well, I had best go face the music. This should be a fun conversation…”

“That’s the spirit, Zinger!”

“Ugh….”

Meanwhile, the bus had finally arrived onto the scene. It was a nice looking medium sized passenger bus, colored dark blue. It had banners advertising for some lawyer by the name of ‘Brief Case’.

“Is this our bus?” Applejack asked.

The side doors opened and out came a woman in her mid forties. Her skin was light blue, her long hair was blonde and wavy, and she wore a yellow short sleeved summer dress and had her blue tinted sunglasses on.

“Hey kids!” She greeted them. “I’m Belle Case, but you can just call me Belle. I’m going to be your driver for this trip! Now don’t you worry about a thing. I know you’re all adults, and I wouldn’t dream of interfering with your vacation. So once we get there, I’m going to have a vacation of my own. Twilight has my number in case you need me for any reason. Any questions?”

“Darling, you absolutely must tell me who does your hair because it’s so wavy and vibrant.” Rarity said, gushing over her hair.

“Oh this? I do it myself. Old family secret… well it’s not much of a secret. I’d be happy to show you some time.”

“Twilight!” Spike shouted as he jumped out of the bus. The fourteen year old boy ran towards his sister. He was wearing a yellow t-shirt and green shorts along with his tennis shoes.

“Hey Spike!” Twilight hugged her little brother as he ran up to her. Though it wasn’t long before she started fussing with his hair because it was out of sorts in some areas. “Are you behaving well for Mrs Case?”

“Oh yeah, she’s awesome! Apparently Waytona Beach has some really fun tourist attractions there, and Belle’s going to take me to all of them!”

“Thanks for agreeing to watch Spike. You really are a lifesaver.” Twilight said gratefully.

“Not a problem. I always get kinda lonely around the house all by myself when Brief and Brawn are off at work all day. It’ll be like having a kid again! Though, Spike, just don’t call me mom. That’d make it weird.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t.” Spike said. “But I am looking forward to having my own little vacation.”

“Me too, little dude. Oh, speaking of which, where’s my baby boy?”

“Huh?” a few of them said in unison.

“For those who don’t know, this is Singer’s mom.” Flash informed those who hadn’t picked up on this yet.

“Oh, sorry. Yeah I probably should have led off with that.” Laughed Belle.

“He should have been here by now…” Twilight said nervously as she pulled out her phone.

“There he is,” Ray spoke up as he saw him round the front of the bus with his wagon in tow.

“Hey guys…” Singer said apprehensively as he approached them.

“Singer!” He was immediately swept up by the loving and crushing bear hug from his mother.

“Hey… mom… can’t… breathe…” Singer said with his eyes nearly bugging.

“Sorry sweetheart.” She said putting him down. Even though Singer had surpassed her in height and weight years ago, she was still able to pick him up. “Son, you’re getting thin. We need to put some more meat on those bones.”

The others chuckled and giggled at the display. Fluttershy even snapped a photo.

“There, first one for the Vacation album.” She beamed.

“It’s great to see you again, mom. Sorry it’s been a while.”

“It’s alright. Your phone calls have been enough. I’m just so happy to see you.” She lightly punched his arm before sweeping him into a less constricting hug, one which he gladly returned.

“Uh, I hate to break up the tender family moment…” Rainbow Dash said, “but there’s a suitcase smashing our breakfast.”

Singer’s eyes widened. “…crap. I almost forgot about that.”

“What happened here?” Rarity asked.

“Oh… well…”

“Bing! It’s me, everyone’s favorite! Zephyr Breeze. Zinger here was very accommodating in carrying my luggage for me.” He popped out from in front of the bus.

“Singer, what’s he doing here?” Rainbow asked pointedly.

“Funny story…”

“Zephyr Breeze!” Fluttershy said, walking up to him. “I told you that this was my trip with my friends.”

“But Zinger said that I could come.”

“You what?!?” Rainbow shouted. “Singer, what the heck?!?”

“I… I… didn’t know… you see what happened was…-”

“Oh this is going to be good.”

“Okay, guys calm down!” Sunset shouted.

“So that’s the game you're playing?” Fluttershy narrowed her eyes on her brother. “Taking advantage of the one person here who doesn’t know you to get your way? I should have known.”

“What? It worked didn’t it? No takesees backsees!”

“You’re unbelievable!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she grabbed her luggage and boarded the bus, looking pointedly at both Zephyr and Singer. “Don’t even think about trying to sit with me! Either of you!”

Pinkie stood there shaking her head in disapproval. Singer flinched at this. The guilt began to take over. He’d started looking around for any opportunity he could to try and make up for this.

Singer noticed Dusk, Ray, Flash and Applejack loading everyone else’s luggage on the back of the bus and walked over to help, hoping to be able to at least attempt to rectify his mistake.

“Hold on there, Buckaroo.” Applejack said. “We got this well taken care of, don’t ya worry. Besides, Ah think you’ve done enough.”

“Look, I’m sorry about Zephyr, okay? I didn’t mean…”

“Look, it’s fine dude. But we kinda need to get this show on the road and we can’t afford anymore hang ups.” Ray said. “Nothing personal.”

“Oh, right… well then. I guess I’ll just hop on the bus.” He said dejectedly, it didn’t take much for him to realize what a mistake he’d made. And it was one he feared he wouldn’t be able to fix easily.

“Don’t worry about it, bro! Just think of the fun…” Flash tried to cheer him up, but stopped when Singer had just kept walking. “Aw man…”

Dusk wanted to say something, but the moment had passed before he could get a word in.

It didn’t help matters when Zephyr walked past Singer with his jelly stained suitcase, it had been that way from the jelly within the donuts. He walked over to the others currently loading things and tossed the suitcase into Dusk’s hands, getting Dusk’s hands messy. “Thanks for grabbing my stuff, dudes! I can’t wait for the beach! Keep up the good work.”

“Aw come on…”

“Breeze is already testing my patience.” Ray said to Applejack.

“Mine too.”

“Go wash up, Dusk. We got the rest.” Flash said as he tried to clean off Zephyr’s suitcase so he could put it with the others.

“Right, thank you.” Dusk said before he took off to find the nearest restroom.

“We could just toss Zephyr’s suitcase off into the grass. He’d never know.” Ray said. “I’m kidding of course, but you know, we could…”

“Yeah and that would cause even more unnecessary drama…” Applejack replied. “We’ll just make the best of things and hopefully he’ll start actin’ better. Otherwise, Ah’d hate to see what Ah’ll be forced to do.”

“Three strikes and you’re out.” Ray added.

“Dern tootin’.”

Elsewhere, in the Dean’s offices, Luna had been hard at work looking over her files and sorting out her mail. All in a day’s tedious work as a Vice Dean. That was until her sister, Celestia made her entrance. She did so through a door that was in the wall that would otherwise separate their offices, something that Luna at times wished was filled in due to how frequently Celestia stopped by at times.

However, Luna was in a pleasant mood this particular morning, and it’d been a while since she’d seen Celestia pumped like this, so she didn’t argue.

“Lu Lu!” She started. “It’s summer vacation, what are you doing here?” The taller of the two sisters nudged her younger sister.

“I’m working on my reports, Tia. You should too.”

“Already finished.”

“I highly doubt that.” She smirked.

“Come on, Luna. When’s the last time we spent any meaningful time with each other? A vacation is just what we need.” She said as she took a seat in the chair in front of Luna’s desk. Her gaze lingering until she finally looked up. She was dealing with the playful side of her sister and Luna knew that she wouldn’t stop until she was addressed.

“Okay, I’ll bite.” Luna conceded, smiling. “Where are we heading to?”

“I overheard some of our students say they are going to Waytona Beach. It would be the perfect getaway and it’s a tourist town, so there are plenty of activities for us to partake in.”

“Would it not be off putting to those students if they find out that we are following them?” Luna raised an eyebrow.

“We aren’t following them. Just simply going to the same destination. I have no intentions of interfering with their vacation plans. I just really want to go to the beach. If we keep our distance and mind our own business, they will never know we are there.”

“Very well.” Luna said. “I admit, I have been in need of a retreat for quite some time. And this could be fun.” Luna smiled. “When do we leave?”

“This afternoon once we’ve packed. If that’s okay with you, Luna.” Celestia smiled.

“Seems manageable. I can’t wait to get started.”

“That’s the spirit! Oh Luna, you don’t know what this means to me. I’ve missed us hanging out and just being sisters.”

“As have I. I’ll try to finish as soon as I can and meet you this afternoon.”

Celestia smiled and nodded. “I’ll leave you to it then.”

Everyone had filed on to the bus and all of the luggage was stashed safely in the back. Some of the passengers were still stewing over having Zephyr with them, however once they’d stopped and grabbed a bite to eat at a convenience store, many of them had started to ease up.

Dusk had been sitting in a seat with Rarity on the right side of the bus. Twilight was sitting beside Singer near the back on the left. Flash sat alone in a seat behind Sunset who sat by Pinkie Pie on the right. Ray and Applejack sat beside each other, also on the right. Fluttershy had sat with Zephyr on the left side of the bus, keeping an eye on her brother and making sure he didn’t bother Rainbow Dash. Dash had been sitting on her own two seats in front of the siblings, trying to keep her music turned up as loud as she could so she wouldn’t hear Zephyr if he spoke.

Meanwhile, in the front seat, Belle and her “co-pilot” Spike were jamming out to a 90’s song.

“Stand out
Above the crowd
Even if I gotta shout out loud
Til mine is the only face you’ll see
I’m gonna staaaaaaaand out
Til you notice me!”

“Oh my goodness! That song never gets old. I remember when it first came out. What a time to be alive. Sadly, you weren’t yet born.” Belle said to Spike.

“I know! There were a lot of neat things that came out before I was born. Singer’s showed me all sorts of cool cartoons and songs from the past. Most of them are actually kind of fun.”

“I’m glad you’ve taken up with him. He was always a good kid growing up, though he was lonely more times than not. It’s nice to know he has some great people in his corner.” She smiled big as she kept her eyes on the road.

“Yeah, he’s pretty cool. Most of the time. I hope he’s okay.” Spike said as he looked back. “I don’t think he’s taking what happened this morning very well.”

“Ah, he’ll be fine. He’s got a solid support system. Your sister is really something.”

“Yeah she’s really great. She’s always had a big heart. And ever since she’s made friends, she’s a lot more fun.” Spike smiled as he recounted his recent adventures with Twilight. How much fun they’d had recently with all of their friends. “I feel like her friendships have been a new source of strength for her, and me too honestly.”

“See? Things might not be going great right now. But once they all get to the beach, unwind, and maybe even hash some things out, things will get better. I think it’s the stress from all the work they’ve had to do this year that’s getting to them.”

“That and Zephyr Breeze.” Spike remarked.

“I’m not too worried about him. That boy just wants attention is all. Besides, there’s some tough characters in this group from what I can tell. He won’t ruin their vacation without a fight.”

“I sure hope you’re right.”

“I’m a mom, I’m always right! Remember that.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“We can’t let him ruin our vacation.” Applejack said, sitting next to Ray. “And we won’t. He ain’t goin to get under my skin.”

“Oh believe me. I’m going to do the best I can to tune him out. But yeah, I’m in agreement. He will not ruin this for us. We’ve all been looking forward to this for weeks.”

“Ah kinda feel bad fer what Ah said to Singer earlier though. Ah reckon it weren’t his fault entirely. Ah don’t think he’s even met Zephyr until now.”

“Well, for the record, I wasn’t mad at him per say. I was more irritated at the fact that our breakfast got ruined, and how it got that way. But my mind is a bit clearer now that we’ve eaten... finally. Still, we definitely could have handled that situation better.”

“Yeah…” said Pinkie from behind them. “Oh, sorry. I hope it’s okay that I join the conversation.”

“Well it’s not exactly a private conversation.” Ray said, looking back to her. “Hi by the way.”

“Good! And hi! But yeah, I kinda feel bad too. We are all just tired from a looooooooooong semester of work. I guess Zeppy showing up was pretty detrimental for our morale.”

“You can say that again. But that's no excuse.” Ray said.

“Ugh! Will you three be quiet over there?” Rainbow snapped.

“Aw can it, Dash!” Applejack snapped back.

“Why don’t you come over here and make me?”

“Just say the word, Ah’d be happy to…”

“Girls!” Sunset shouted, finally breaking her silence. “Why don’t we all just take a nap or something? We’re all clearly still tired and we still have two hours left on the road. Get some shut eye and refresh. Please!”

“Fine.” Dash said, turning over on her side to where her back faced the others.

“Double fine.” Applejack placed her pillow behind her head and was out within five minutes.

“Good idea…” Pinkie said, sitting down leaning her head against the window and falling asleep.

“I’ll sleep when we get there.” Ray said as he pulled out his handheld game.

“This is quite an unfortunate turn of events.” Rarity lamented to Dusk.

“Indeed. However we can’t let it dampen our spirits. We are, after all, on a trip to get away from all of the noise of our daily lives. Even if this is for just a couple of weeks, I’m very excited about the time we can spend together. The two of us alone as well as with our friends.” Dusk said in response to his girlfriend, his heart continued to flutter whenever he’d remind himself of this.

“You’re absolutely right. I’m sure it will all blow over by the time we all get settled in for the night. Although that may be a bit difficult to wait for. It’ll only be an hour past noon when we arrive.”

“Just that much more time we get to spend in each other’s company.”

“You’re just a wonder as usual, Dusk.” Rarity smiled. “It’s very becoming of you.”

“Why thank you, milady.” He said. “It’s a shame you didn’t like my hat. I almost wish I still had it so I could tip it to you.” Dusk smirked.

“Oh hush… Well until we reach our destination, why not watch some more of that show you like? The Mandarin was it?”

“Oh, ‘The Mandalorian’? You were really getting into that?”

“I find the main character’s little green companion to be quite enchanting. Besides, I don’t mind trying to give some of the things you like a try. You’ve been doing so for me for the last few weeks, it’s only fair. And I’m actually enjoying it.”

Dusk was taken aback by her interest in the show. A western-like space opera wasn’t exactly something he’d anticipated on her liking, but if it was good with her, it was good for him too.

“Oh, uh alright then. I believe we were on Episode three.” He pulled out his earbuds and gave the left one to Rarity, and he put the right one in his own ear. Not before taking precautions and wiping both of them down with a sanitary wipe, and Rarity had been thankful for that. As the episode started, she reached over and held his hand, prompting a smile from him as they both watched.

Flash sat in the seat behind Sunset. He’d been relatively quiet about everything going on. It wasn’t lost on him what Zephyr Breeze practically inviting himself on the trip meant, but his focus was on someone else. Over the last several months, Singer and Twilight’s relationship had brought him and Sunset Shimmer back into each other’s lives. They were friends now. However, he harkened back to when he and Sunset used to date. How miserable he’d been with her.

But recently, he’d had these same thoughts and something had occurred to him. She wasn’t the same person she was a couple of years ago. She’d actually become the person he’d hoped she was when they first started dating. Regret had been with him for a while now. He was happy that he’d been invited. He only hoped he could get up the nerve to talk to her. He started to pull up her number and type a text on his phone. However, he chickened out before he could even type a message on his keyboard. He just sighed and leaned his head back against the headrest of his seat. Maybe later, he thought to himself.

Fluttershy sat there beside her brother. She didn’t say a word. She didn’t appear to be angry. But she wasn’t going to talk to him either.

“Oh, so are we really doing the silent treatment thing? Come on Fluttershy.” Zephyr said, nudging her shoulder. “You know you’re happy that I’m here.”

“Hmm…” Fluttershy just sat there scrolling on her phone.

“You’re really not going to talk to me?”

She slammed her phone down onto her lap. “I told you that this trip was for me and my friends. You were not invited. But you weasled your way into getting what you want as usual. And you used my friend to do it.”

“Oh please, you barely even know Zinger. Just like anyone else, he’s just a means to an end.”

“Wow.” Fluttershy said. “Just stop talking, Zephyr.” The nerve. She didn’t want to believe that her little brother could be this bad, but unfortunately the evidence was there. She didn’t know what else to do, but she knew that she didn’t want to talk to him right now. Especially not after that comment.

He folded his arms and scoffed. “Fine. Be that way. I didn’t want to hang out with you anyway.”

Once the bus had gotten about half an hour away from their destination, Twilight woke up from her nap. She looked over next to her and noticed that Singer was still asleep, resting his head on the window. She leaned over and laid her head on his shoulder. This woke him up somewhat. His eyes were still closed but he wrapped his arm around her and held her close.

“Are you waking up?” She asked.

“Yeah…” he said with his eyes still closed but he showed signs of livening back up. “Yeah I’m…waking up.

“Good. I would like to talk about what happened earlier.”

“I wouldn’t.”

“Singer, come on.”

“What do you want me to say?” he said sleepily. “That I messed up? That I ruined everything for everyone? I didn’t know…” he woke up more, his eyes actually opened now. “I… I’m sorry I messed up, Twilight. You gave me one job and I messed it up. And Zephyr is here making everyone miserable, and now everyone is mad at me.”

“I wouldn’t say everyone. I’m not mad at you.” she said as she sat back up and looked at him.

“Aw come on, you’re just saying that.” He shook his head.

“I’m not mad. But I might be if you don’t tell me what happened.”

Knowing he wasn’t going to get out of this, he sighed and began to talk.

“I got played. That’s what happened. Zephyr was able to see right through me and exploit my weakness. He just came out of nowhere, telling me he was Fluttershy’s brother and that he wanted to come on this trip. I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal. And then he smashed the breakfast with his suitcase. And now I keep getting angry face emojis from Rainbow Dash about once every fifteen minutes, but trust me, if I’d known…”

“Singer, it’s not your fault. You didn’t know about Zephyr and nobody even knew he was around. So Rainbow can get over herself.” Twi said. “Just give everyone some time to relax and get all the real life junk off their minds and this will all blow over. We’re almost there, so we can just focus on having a nice evening together. They’ll forget about it soon enough. So forget about Zephyr, forget about everything else. Your girlfriend demands it.” She winked at him.

He pulled her back in for another hug. “Well in that case, I will do my best. I am one lucky guy to have someone like you by my side.”

“Yes you are.” She giggled. “So cheer up. Otherwise, I’ll have to…” Twi was cut off by Singer kissing her. When he stopped, she was taken aback. It happened so suddenly that it threw her off a bit. “Uh… what was I saying?”

“I don't remember either.” He said, smiling at her. “Thank you, Twilight. And I am looking forward to spending the evening with you.”

“Any time.” She blushed and ran her fingers through her hair. “And I am too.”

That last half hour couldn’t have gone by fast enough for everyone on the bus. Once they had arrived at the beach parking lot, they were all let out to stretch their legs.

“Alright!” Belle began. “You kids have fun and explore, or whatever it is you’re going to do. I’m going to go check in to my cabin, and I’ll be back in a few hours. Your hotel is just down the street. You can check in anytime after Five. Any questions?”

Nobody answered. Everyone had seemed content, which was just fine for Belle. She reached over to grab the lever that would shut the doors.

“Alright! Have fun! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”

“Bye Twilight!” Spike yelled, and she waved goodbye back to him.

The doors on the bus closed, and it was off. All twelve of them had gotten out to walk around. They scoped out the landscape and looked out at the ocean. The beach was so inviting. The sun flew high in the sky and there were families, groups and various other gatherings of people out and about in their swimming suits, or with metal detectors and all the normal beach activities that would go on. There were even a couple of lifeguard stands near where they were standing. They could hardly wait to get into it.

Just being there made everyone begin to relax and their demeanors changed for the better. Almost everyone smiled at each other as they anticipated the fun they were about to have. Everyone, that is except Rainbow. Who looked like she was trying to, however, every time she’d glance over to where Zephyr was standing, she’d just get mad. And then there was Singer. She was still pretty mad at him too. He’d tried a friendly smile in her direction, but he was just met with a glare.

This wasn’t going to end easily.

Author's Note

We’re back!

Song used in this chapter: Stand Out by Tevin Campbell from “A Goofy Movie”

Edit 12/26/2024: So not long after I had finished Gleeful Vengeance, AlphaTheGriffin17 the creator of Dusk Noir and his Dusk Series in our group made this very sweet bit that was inspired by what happened in the aftermath chapter of Gleeful Vengeance, and I eventually asked for his permission to include this in this first chapter because I felt like it belonged. I paraphrased the best I could, but a lot of the dialogue stayed the same because Alpha is so great with words. Go read his stories!