After kicking their friends out of the house and giving themselves an intense scrub-down (in separate bathrooms, obviously), Rainbow Blitz left the Carousel Boutique without much hesitation or small talk. Elusive decided to call off practice for the day, telling Blitz that he shouldn’t strain his legs so soon after that split. Of course, both of them knew why the unicorn really didn’t want to be alone with his partner in the same room; but at the same time, neither of them wanted to object after Blitz literally fellated his best friend’s horn in his sleep. The two did agree to practice their next routine first thing the following morning, so they planned to spend their free day as far away from each other as they could.
While Elusive made an emergency visit to the Ponyville Spa for some much needed stress relief, Rainbow Blitz had his sights set on something much more pressing than an impulsive hooficure. Keeping himself just a few feet from the ground, the pegasus flew straight to Sugar Cube Corner with a look of brooding anger growing on his scowling face. By the time he went into the quaint bakery, Blitz looked downright livid when he caught sight of Applejack and Bubble Berry cracking up at one of the back tables.
With freshly-developed photographs in their hooves like oversized playing cards.
Rainbow Blitz’s teeth were gritted in rage as he stormed over to them with red growing across his face. Bubble Berry was the first to notice him, and cluelessly waved him over like it was a tea party. Applejack instantly put his photos down on the table and scooted back like he was expecting a kick to the teeth.“Heya, Blitzie!” piped Berry cheerfully. “How was the cleanup?”
“GIVE. ME. THOSE. PHOTOS.”
Bubble Berry just smiled back at him, both hooves still holding onto his stack. “What’s the secret wooorrrrrrrd?~”
“NOW.”
Applejack put up his hooves and tried to calm his friend down. “Now hold on there, Blitz. We ain’t plannin’ nuthin’ wit’ them pictures. It was just some harmless fun, that’s all.”
“Yeah!” added Bubble with a nod of his head. “I mean, who doesn’t take embarrassing photos of their friends to bring up later? It’s not like we’re sharing them around or anything!”
“THEN WHY DO YOU HAVE THEM OUT--” Blitz quickly cut his words short and looked around, hoping that his outburst didn’t cause any suspicion from other patrons. Fortunately, the only other pony here at this time of day (aside from Mister and Missus Cake who were still in the kitchen) was a dark blue mare who was at the other side of the bakery with headphones on.
“Don’t worry!” assured Berry with a wave of his hoof. “This place is usually suuuuuper slow around this time! I just got them developed in my room, and I wanted to show AJ because they’re really funny!”
Blitz banged the table with both hooves as he glared back at him. “Well, they’re ALSO really damaging if they were to get out!”
“Now wait just a plum-pickin’ minute!” interrupted Applejack with his eyes narrowed on the stunt-pony. “Do ya really think that either of us would spread these around? Especially on purpose? C’mon, man! You should give us a little more credit than that!”
Blitz exhaled through his nostrils and rubbed his temple with a hoof. “Listen… I’m not saying you guys would, alright?” He then put his hoof back down and looked at both of the Earth ponies as his tone turned more serious. “But Elusive and I are already in a pretty tight spot with this competition! Neither of us want our image to be too screwed up from dancing together, and those pictures could be a really big issue! We have enough rumors already, and a single leak of just ONE of those photos could make us a national laughing stock!”
Applejack’s ears began to sink down slowly, matching the look of contemplation that was growing on his face. Bubble Berry looked back at the photos on his hooves, and also at the ones AJ left on the table. “Listen, man,” admitted Applejack in a sincerely apologetic tone, “it was just a joke, okay? If it was switched around so Ah was the one caught doin’ that, then you’d probably be takin’ photos of me suckin’ that horn. Right?”
Rainbow Blitz opened his mouth, but nothing came out when he tried to answer that question. Instead, the pegasus blinked a couple times in thought, realizing that his friend wasn’t wrong. It took a couple seconds before he sighed and shrugged meagerly. “Touchè.”
“I’ll tell you what,” said Bubble Berry as he collected all the photos with a chipper smile still on his muzzle. “I’ll give you alllll these photos back, and you can do whatever you want with them. And I don’t have any other copies, I Bubble Berry Promise.”
Blitz breathed out in relief like he just avoided a positive STD result. “Oh, awesome! Thank you Ber-”
“Buuuuuuut,” interrupted the pink stallion. “You have to beat me at a game first!”
“WHAT?!”
Elusive looked absolutely downtrodden as he left the Ponyville Spa, which was already crowded enough to have a line going out the door. His head and ears were hung low as Butterscotch trotted alongside him. “I’m sorry, Elusive,” muttered the yellow pegasus meekly. “I wouldn’t have thought this place would be so crowded today either.”
“Oh, it’s alright,” Elusive lied. “I just wanted a simple relaxation treatment, but that line isn’t worth it.”
As they walked back through the Ponyville streets, Butterscotch thought about it for a couple seconds before suggesting, “Well, if you want, Day Tripper taught me a little about aromatherapy during our Breezy trip. And I still have some of his incense back at my place.”
Despite Butterscotch’s offer, Elusive looked apprehensive as soon as he heard Day Tripper’s name. He was sure that the stallion was a great friend of Butterscotch’s, but the unicorn also remembered how badly that hippie reeked of filth and what most likely wasn't medicinal herbs. Regardless of whether or not Day Tripper was on a shower strike when he met him, the last thing Elusive wanted was to do any scent-based therapy that came from him.
“W-Well, that’s a generous offer, Butterscotch,” said Elusive genuinely, “but I think a simple walk around town and a bath is all I really need at the moment.” In reality, the unicorn already had three showers that morning, but a proper bath sounded quite nice after desanitizing his horn like a quarantine victim.
“Oh, alright then,” replied the yellow pegasus with a nod back at him. As they walked side-by-side, the two ended up less than a block from Sugar Cube Corner. Butterscotch paused momentarily and bit his lip as he caught the tantalizing aroma of buttery sugar and cinnamon. Elusive looked piqued as well when his friend asked him, “Hey, do you want to get a cinnamon roll? It smells like they got a fresh batch.”
Even though he wanted to stick to his diet, that smell was just too good to ignore. Elusive felt like he had a love/hate relationship with that blasted bakery due to how often it skewed him from his ideal weight. Regardless, the unicorn sighed in defeat and nodded to Butterscotch. “You know what, that sounds really good right now…”
Unfortunately, something else caught Elusive and Butterscotch’s attention when they began to reach the entrance of Sugar Cube Corner. Even with the intoxicating smell, Elusive’s ears perked up with slight dread when he overheard loud chanting coming from inside the bakery. Given how this was usually a slow part of the day for the business, it only makes sense that Bubble Berry was doing something ridiculous to pass the time. However, hearing a bunch of ponies inside yelling “Chug! Chug! Chug!” wasn’t nearly as enticing as cinnamon rolls.
Of course, hearing Blitz’s name mentioned by some of those voices made the unicorn run into the shop faster than any fattening pastry.
Elusive bursted through the doors in a panic, and gasped when he saw what was happening in the middle of the shop. Over a dozen ponies were circled around a table while Rainbow Blitz and Bubble Berry were seated on opposite sides of it. As the crowd continued to chant the words “Chug!” repeatedly, both stallions had their muzzles raised to the ceiling while trying to drink giant bottles of maple syrup. Starshine was standing between the two and watching the levels of their drinks intensely. Berry looked like he was winning with half of his bottle already gone, while the stunt-pony was struggling with a third of the thick mixture down. Meanwhile, Mister and Missus Cake were tending to customers at the register like nothing absurd was going on.
“Oh my goodness!” gasped Butterscotch in a more reserved tone of surprise from behind the enraged unicorn.
“RAINBOW!” shouted Elusive in disappointment like a scolding mother. Blitz continued to try and stomach the mixture, seemingly deaf to his friend’s outburst. The white stallion then looked towards Starshine with a baffled glare on him. “Starshine, what are you doing?! Stop this right now!”
“Hmm?” Starshine caught his friend’s voice and looked to him briefly. By now, Bubble Berry only had a quarter of his syrup bottle left to down while Blitz had just over a third. “Uhhh, can this wait?” asked Starshine while looking between Elusive and the competitors. “They sorta made me the official judge for this.”
Elusive threw his head up with a disgusted huff. But before he could try to do something himself, he felt Applejack’s foreleg wrap around his back. “Oh, stop bein’ so uppity,” said the farm-pony with a nudge against Elusive’s shoulder. “Them two are just drinkin’ to see who gets those pictures back.”
“Wait, what pictures--WHAT?!” Elusive instantly turned to his friend with a furious look like a rabid banshee. “YOU BETTER NOT--”
“FINISHED!” Bubble Berry slammed his empty bottle on the table before Elusive could finish his threat. The crowd cheered as Bubble Berry smiled in victory towards Blitz. Meanwhile, the pegasus put his bottle down and coughed a couple times after drinking almost nine-tenths of its contents. “Sorry, Blitzie!” piped Berry while stuffing a large manilla envelope into his poofy mane. “I won fair and square!”
Rainbow Blitz jumped out of his chair and pushed past the crowd as his face turned an unhealthy shade of green. He ran straight to a nearby waste-basket that was next to Butterscotch, which made the timid pony jolt out of the way fretfully. As soon as Blitz began to hurl into the basket (which was thankfully lined with a plastic bag inside of it), most of the crowd began to groan and cringe at the sounds that were escaping his muzzle.
Even Applejack sucked some air through his teeth with a grossed-out look on his face. “Yeeesh… that much syrup’s gonna be mighty hard to throw up.”
Despite wanting to feel grateful that his friend inadvertently kept him from sabotaging his diet, Elusive was still rather peeved at Blitz as they walked away from the shop empty-hoofed. Rainbow still looked unwell, but his face was back at his normal color while shambling tiredly alongside his friend. The unicorn wanted to feel bad for how sick he looked, but his glare remained as he muttered bitterly, “I seriously can not believe you did that, Blitz.”
“Ugh, me neither,” groaned the pegasus with his muzzle pointed to the dirt road as he walked. “I don’t think I can eat waffles for a while.”
“Well, I certainly can't blame you for that,” replied Elusive in reluctant agreement. Another brief moment passed before he huffed through his nostrils angrily. “But really, what was going through your head when you agreed to do that?!”
“Oh, I dunno,” said Blitz as he raised his head and answered with a sarcastic, “maybe I was thinking ‘I really need to get those photos from Bubble Berry’!? Maybe I did it to save our asses from being on the front page of any more tabloids?!”
Elusive closed his eyes and sighed. “Yes, Rainbow. I am fully aware of why you did that.”
“Then what’s the point of asking me then?!” snapped Bliz with a sharp stare back at him.
Despite his friend’s point, Elusive pertly replied, “What I’m trying to fathom is why in Equestria you thought you could win in a bet like that against Bubble Berry! I mean, a maple syrup drinking contest?! Really?!? That’s like when you challenged Dusk Shine to that quiz bowl!”
“Hey, it was sports trivia! How was I supposed to know he knew all that stuff?!” Not wanting to be reminded of that embarrassing night (or the week he spent helping Barb clean the castle as payment of that bet), Blitz sighed disheartedly with his ears lowered. “But… yeah, I should’ve picked a more even playing field against Berry.”
After a few seconds of silence, Elusive decided to admit feebly. “Well… you did drink an impressive amount in the time given. I certainly couldn’t have done that.”
“Heh, it’d be funny as buck if you tried, though.” Even though he tried to give a smile to his friend, it was short-lived on Blitz’s face when he saw his comment didn't cheer the unicorn up. He looked away from him and added after a long exhale, “Look, I know that was a stupid plan, alright? You know I had a good reason for at least trying.”
“Yes, you certainly did,” said Elusive with a roll of his eyes, “but I really don’t think Bubble Berry is the kind of stallion to hold onto those photos for blackmail material. He might make a joke or two, but the last thing he’d ever do is try to sell them to PMZ or anything.”
“Yeah, that’s true.” He then added after looking back at Elusive, “And he’d probably get at least ten grand for just one of those pics of us.”
“You know, I’d rather not think about that right now.” With his muzzle wrinkled in distaste, the unicorn began rubbing his horn with a hoof as he contemplated taking a fourth shower. Blitz bit his lip and turned his head away with a blush. Before either of them could say anything else, the sound of Berry’s hopping rang through their ears with increasingly notable “Boing!” noises.
Bubble Berry made one final hop over the two stallions and landed in front of them with a big smile. “Hey guys!” he shouted giddily. “Now before I say anything else, I put those photos of you two in my party cave, so nopony will be able to see them but us!”
Despite trying to be comforting, that assurance only gave Bubble Berry a couple of flat stares from his friends. Alas, the pink pony paid no heed to their looks as he pulled a small notebook from his mane and handed it to Elusive. “And as for you,” he added with emphasis on the unicorn, “here’s a list of songs you guys can choose from for your next set! I’m really excited to see which one you guys will do in Baltimare!”
“Wait, what are you talking about?” asked Elusive with a confused look on Berry. Meanwhile Rainbow Blitz’s eyes widened briefly before he tried to slowly step away from his friend.
“Oh, he didn’t tell you?” Bubble Berry blinked a couple times in puzzlement. “Blitz agreed that if he lost the bet, that I would choose your guys’ next song!”
Elusive’s gaze immediately shot back at Blitz with a glare nasty enough to make milk curdle. Rainbow tried to laugh with a nervous smile on his face as his wings unfurled. “Uhhh… heh heh heh… I think I’m feeling a lot better now, soooo… I’m gonna go check on Armour okaySEEYA!!!”
And with that, the pegasus shot off into the skies like a rocket. After a seething breath that came out through his gritted teeth, Elusive snatched the notebook from Bubble Berry’s hoof like he was left with an expensive restaurant bill. “Don’t worry, I got a bunch of songs for you to choose from on that!” said Berry in a more optimistic voice. “Blitzie told me that you have to approve of them anyway..”
Elusive looked back at Bubble briefly with a twitching eye as he tried to “smile” with his gritted teeth showing. “Thank you, Berry…” He then began to flip through the notebook, seeing what song choices his friend picked for the two to perform at Baltimare with. With his mind still reeling in anger, the unicorn’s brows slowly raised when he saw what songs his friend picked out. They were all fairly energetic, with the majority being pop-based (which was to be expected). They were also songs that Rainbow Blitz would never agree to do outside of a lost bet. Elusive’s eyes began to widen, realizing that Berry's choices actually weren’t that bad. They might be a bit embarrassing for Blitz to perform with, but Elusive knew he wouldn’t back down from a bet against Bubble Berry of all ponies; plus, these choices weren’t nearly half as demeaning as being photographed violating a friend’s horn…
After a while, the unicorn began to smile to himself with a hint of mischief on his lips. He looked back at Bubble with a less cynical expression on his face as he said, “You know what? I think you might be onto something with this…”
“OOH!” Stars appeared in Berry’s eyes as he beamed with excitement. “Do you have a song picked already?!”
“Not yet,” clarified Elusive devilishly, “but rest assured, you’re going to see something fabulous in Baltimare!”