Finally, the day had come. Twilight could barely contain her excitement as she rushed through the usual steps to get ready for the day. She was in the middle of brushing her teeth when her phone alerted her that she had a new message.
"Hey Twilight! I'm just making sure of the time we're meeting at your house." Pinkie's message read.
"Around noon." She replied.
"Okie dokie lokie, see you then! I'm so excited!"
"Me too!"
She finished getting ready sooner than she thought, so she decided to continue reading the fantasy novel she had recently started. It was the first in a series that Sunset had told her about. She had just reached the beginning of the main character's training when her phone started ringing. With a smile, she answered.
"Hey sugar lips."
"Sugar lips? Are you feeling ok?" Sunset asked, holding back laughter.
"Not doing it for ya?" She asked.
"Not especially. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that I'm on my way. I should be there in about ten minutes."
"Ok, see you when you get here. Drive safe."
"I will. See you in a few... sugar lips."
Twilight laughed and continued reading her book until Sunset arrived. Sure enough, ten minutes later there was a knock at the door. She opened the door to let Sunset in and was greeted by a colorful bouquet of flowers.
"For you, m'lady." Sunset said from behind the blooms.
"Thank you," Twilight accepted the flowers and inhaled. "They're beautiful."
"Not as beautiful as you." She kissed Twilight's cheek as she walked in. "So everyone's meeting us here at noon right?"
"Yep, I was thinking we could set out stuff for sandwiches for anyone who hasn't eaten yet." Twilight said. She filled a vase with water and put her flowers in.
"How long do you think that'll take?" Sunset asked while wrapping her arms around Twilight's waist.
She fell into the embrace. "About fifteen minutes. Why do you ask?" She asked, her tone playful.
Sunset planted a small kiss on Twilight's neck, which sent an excited shiver down her spine.
"No reason." She said softly.
Twilight turned to face the person she cared so deeply for. She looked into her gorgeous aquamarine eyes and her heart swooned. Their lips met, it was soft at first, but grew steadily in intensity. Twilight became lost in the moment, loving the feeling of being held so closely. Her lips parted slightly, allowing the tip of her tongue to timidly explore. Sunset's tongue met hers, the sensation new and exciting to Twilight. They pulled apart slowly, Sunset slowly coming into focus through Twilight's lenses. They both smiled and chuckled.
"So what should we do to kill time?" Sunset asked, biting her bottom lip.
"Well... my mom's gone for a little while..." she said flirtatiously.
"Dad's still here!" Nightlight called from upstairs causing them both to jump.
"Jesus!" Sunset said while laughing. "You scared the crap out of us!"
"Good, someone's gotta keep you two in check." He joked as he came down the stairs. "Good to see you Sunset."
"Hey Mr. Sparkle." She greeted him, cheeks still flush with color.
"So uh Dad, what are you doing home? I thought you had a class today." She asked, her cheeks redder than Sunset's hair.
"Nope, we did a review for the final in the previous class, so I gave my students the day off today to prepare how they saw fit." He told them. "So what are your plans for today?"
The two sat at the table with Twilight's dad as he sipped on a mug of coffee.
"After everyone gets here we're going to go to the Canterlot Fun Zone and play some games, mini golf, laser tag, then we'll come back here to do our hair and make up. By the way, thank you for offering to let everyone come here for that part."
"It's no problem, it'll be nice to get to know them." He said cheerfully.
"Then we'll put on our gowns and go to dinner before the dance." She finished.
"Sounds like a good day." Nightlight lifted the morning paper.
"Yeah! Now we just need to kill some time until noon." Twilight thought for a moment.
"Wanna go for a walk?" Sunset offered.
"Sure, let me just go grab a jacket." Twilight went to her room and came back wearing the jacket Sunset had given her.
"Looks good on you." Sunset hugged Twilight.
They made their way around the neighborhood, arms around each other. They talked easily about whatever came to mind. They discussed what they wanted to do over winter break and what classes they were excited for next semester. They stopped at the park near Twilight's house and took a seat on top of one of the tables.
"It's cold out already, I wonder if we'll get snow soon." Twilight thought out loud as she nuzzled into Sunset.
"I hope so, I want to go snowboarding!" She said.
"I've never been before." Twilight admitted.
"We'll have to go, and I can teach you!" Sunset said excitedly.
"I think I'd really like that." She closed her eyes, sliding closer to Sunset.
They sat that way a few minutes longer before deciding to hop on the swings. Twilight's alarm went off, alerting them that they needed to return to meet the others. So they headed back. As they rounded the corner to Twilight's block they saw Rainbow and Applejack climbing out of Big Mac's truck and head to the front door.
As quietly as they could the two girls snuck up on their friends.
"Hey Applejack!"
"Hey Rainbow Dash!" They said simultaneously.
Applejack jumped in surprise. Rainbow screamed and latched onto her girlfriend's arm.
"What the hell!" Rainbow yelled at her friends who were on the ground laughing.
"Sorry Rainbow, we couldn't help it. When we saw you two show up, we just had to scare you." Sunset said through her laughter.
"I wasn't scared!" She protested.
"The marks you're leavin' on mah arm would say otherwise." Applejack teased.
Rainbow released Applejack and cleared her throat. "Alright, you might have startled me, a bit."
AJ smiled at her stubbornness and kissed her cheek. "Awe don't worry, they got me pretty good too."
The others arrived shortly after. They ate a quick lunch and headed to the Canterlot Fun Zone. Everyone was in high spirits on the drive over despite the cramped travel conditions. When they arrived Applejack was the first out on her side of the car. Rainbow hopped out and moved the seat forward for those in the very back. Once everyone was out Rainbow gave a running leap onto Applejack's back, who caught her under the legs.
"Giddy up li'l dogie!" Rainbow cried from atop her lovely steed.
"Rainbow, what have ah told you about jumping on mah back without warnin'!" Applejack protested.
"To always do it." Rainbow said cheekily.
She scowled. "You're lucky ah love you."
"I love you too." She kissed Applejack's cheek and placed her cowboy hat on her own head. "Now onward my noble stallion!"
Applejack laughed and readjusted her passenger as the others caught up with them.
"Applejack I must say I love your outfit, it's very Southern Chic." Rarity said. Appraising her apparel.
Applejack was wearing cowboy boots that went over the bottom of her jeans, a light grey tank-top covered by a tied up flannel over shirt, which accentuated her ample chest.
"Thank you Rarity, I chose this for two reasons. One, it's comfortable and easy to move around in, so I'll be able to dominate y'all at laser tag. And two, this one really likes it when ah show off mah southern roots."
"What can I say, the cowgirl look does it for me." Rainbow said while hugging AJ from behind.
The group entered the fun zone and were immediately bombarded by the sounds of arcade games and laughing children. They loaded their fun zone cards with money for the attractions, and went straight for the mini golf course.
The theme was kind of a mixed bag of nuts without much of a throughline to connect each hole. The first two holes were prehistoric themed, but the third hole was a moonscape for some reason.
A few holes in, Applejack and Twilight were last in the order. Applejack made her shot, the ball traveled along the green and under a papier-mâché version of "The Thinker". Twilight lined up her shot.
"You and Sunset are a real cute couple." Applejack commented.
"Thanks!" Twilight said as she took the shot. "You and Rainbow are really adorable too."
They started walking to join the group.
"So have you said the "L-word" yet?" AJ asked.
Twilight blushed. "Not yet."
"Sorry, ah didn't mean to get too personal." She said, embarrassed.
"No, it's ok. I want to say it to her, but I don't know if she feels the same. I don't want to scare her away by coming on too strong."
"Ah understand," She said. "but if you ask me I think you're safe."
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.
"Ah'm just guessing, but going by the way she looks at you and acts around you, I think she feels the same way. Don't feel pressured though, do it when you feel comfortable Sugarcube."
Twilight smiled. "Thanks AJ."
"Applejack, your girlfriend's cheating!" Sunset called from the end of the current hole.
"I am not! I tripped and accidentally kicked your ball." Rainbow retorted.
"I don't know, that was quite a wind up for an accident." Fluttershy said with a smile.
Rainbow chuckled. "Hey, whose side are you on?"
"... Rarity's" she responded and took her hand.
Everyone laughed at her deadpan delivery. Cheese and Pinkie quickly pulled ahead of everyone, causing Rainbow and Sunset to become even more competitive. This was a side Twilight hadn't seen before, and she realized she kind of liked it. Whenever Sunset would get flustered when she fell behind and got even more focused, Twilight got little butterflies.
Around the middle of the course the hole themes took a weird turn. The hole they were on appeared to be themed after the ancient Aztecs, complete with a temple and figures at the top clearly simulating a sacrifice, but without the gore. The next hole appeared to be taken from a Halloween haunted house. There was a giant vampire archway that would deliver a scary laugh when you passed under it. The next hole had a werewolf statue.
"I've never liked this part of the course." Fluttershy said, shrinking a bit.
"Why's that?" Twilight asked.
"When I was little we came here for my birthday. When we got to that hole the laugh caught me by surprise and scared me so badly that the next few holes seemed scarier too." She looked down feeling embarrassed. "I just never really got over it."
Rarity hugged her from behind and kissed her on the cheek. "There's no need to look so glum darling. I'll keep you safe." She winked.
Fluttershy smiled. "Thanks Rarity."
They finished the rest of the course. Cheese ended up winning without realizing it since he and Pinkie were flirting the whole game. This caused Twilight and AJ to have to nearly restrain their dates from demanding a rematch.
"Who designed that golf course?" Twilight asked. "Nothing made sense!"
"Nobody knows, but it gives it a weird charm that keeps people coming back." Pinkie said
The group moved on to the go cart track next. This went a little better for Sunset, she kept a healthy lead on the others, with Rainbow close on her tail. Sunset ended up winning the race by a hair, she was a gracious winner and didn't rub it in too much.
After the race everyone signed up for a couple rounds of laser tag. There was a pretty long wait time for their turn, so while they waited for their first round to come up they bought a pizza to split. Twilight and Sunset waited for the pizza and beverages while the others went to find a table big enough to fit all of them. Once they found a suitable spot Applejack went to get a stack of napkins while Rainbow went to use the restroom. While the remaining couples were talking, Pinkie's hand tentatively found its way to Cheese's and laced their fingers together on the table.
"You two seem to be getting on well." Rarity remarked.
Both pairs of cheeks became rosy simultaneously as they looked sheepishly at each other. Fluttershy had never seen Pinkie embarrassed before which caused her to stifle a chuckle.
"Are we that obvious?" Pinkie asked.
"Well your hand holding helped me to come to that conclusion." Rarity said.
Cheese let out a laugh and gave Pinkie's hand a small squeeze.
"Yeah, we get along way better than I could have hoped." Cheese said.
"That makes me so happy to hear." Fluttershy said. "Is this your first date?"
They glanced at each either. "No, we kind of cheated. We went out last week too. I was getting nervous about the dance since it would be our first date and my first dance. Cheese offered to go on a mini date so we could get more comfortable with each other." A smile broke across her face as she remembered that night. "We ended up cuddling and talking until two in the morning."
Rarity let out a squeal. "Oh you two are just the cutest!"
Pinkie turned red again and buried her face in Cheese's arm with a smile.
"Stop it, you're embarrassing us." She said.
"Just you." Cheese said with a sly wink.
The others had rejoined them at that point.
"Well I think you two are really good together." Twilight said. "So tell us a bit more about yourself Cheese. I feel like I don't know you too well."
"What do you wanna know?" He said cheerfully.
Cheese told them about his interest in practicing comedy and music. He told them about how he was close with his family, but they moved a lot, due to his dad being a career military man. He never made close friends before moving to Canterlot last year, but he was hoping to change that now that his Dad was retired and had opened an auto body shop in town. When he got to when he met Pinkie there were smiles all around.
"I knew I wanted to ask her out, but I think I was just so used to not making connections. That's why I held off for so long, that is until Sunset encouraged me to go for it."
"You're welcome." she said while raising her glass.
Twilight tickled her side. "So I think we've grilled you enough. Do you have any questions for us?"
"Id just like to know a bit more about you all. How you all met and came to date each other. I'm sure there's some good stories there." Cheese said.
Twilight went first, she went through her previous years at Crystal Prep. Telling how she only had a few friends there because she put most of her focus into her studies. When she got to meeting the rest and especially Sunset she couldn't help but smile the whole time.
Sunset went next. She was quick, touching briefly on her less than ideal past as a bully and how grateful she was to the others for allowing her into the group. She and Twilight told the story of their romantic beginning. Twilight looked lovingly at Sunset the whole time, which caused her to get flustered at times.
The others, excluding Applejack had all grown up together, though it took some time for them all to come together as a group. Rainbow and Fluttershy were the only kids the same age on the block and had become friends by proximity. Rarity was always a girly girl, especially in elementary school, so she was constantly at odds with Rainbow's tomboy attitude. One fateful day the teacher had assigned groups for a project, pairing the four of them together. Pinkie eventually brought them together with her infectious friendliness.
"I knew pretty early on that I liked Rarity, but my shy disposition kept me from ever saying anything." Fluttershy said. "Also the fact that there was only a small window of opportunity before someone else would ask her out. She was very popular with the boys. And for the longest time I didn't know if she liked girls until she dated Blueberry Curls."
"It's true, i liked being in a couple and I'd had several boyfriends before Blueberry, but I've been attracted to boys and girls as long as I can remember." Rarity told them. "It never bothered me or my parents so I never made a big to do about it. After Blueberry I had one other girlfriend before I started dating Blueblood."
A scowl crossed her face. Fluttershy ran her fingers along her back comfortingly which returned Rarity's smile. She took Fluttershy's other hand before continuing.
"That was a toxic relationship that I couldn't see because I was too close to it. I didn't want to listen to my friends who could see it either. Fluttershy rescued me from that perilous situation and I've never been happier." She gave Fluttershy a kiss.
"Ah suppose ah'll go next. Ah'm a transplant too, my siblings and I came here to live with our Granny after our parents passed away. I must've been about eleven. Ah was angry for the longest time, 'til this'n came along."
"We didn't really cross paths the first couple years she lived here," Rainbow explained. "but the minute I saw her I knew I needed her in my life. I came on pretty strong."
"She really did. Even when ah told her ah didn't want ta make friends, she was relentless." She kissed Rainbows hand. "Ah'm glad she didn't give up."
Cheese took in each story and couldn't help but feel happy for all of them. He hoped to be around this group of close friends for a long time.
Their turn for laser tag came up. The first round they split up into teams of four. Twilight had a hard time focusing because Sunset was too much fun to watch. She was ducking and weaving around the course with a serious look on her face. It was hard fought, but team Appledash/ Cheesepie beat out team Sunlight/ Rarishy by just a few points. Though Sunset and Rainbow were the MVP's for each team. The next round they decided to play free for all.
Sunset took Twilight's hands in her own and locked eyes.
"Babe, you know I care about you right?" She said.
"Of course." Twilight said, trying to match her seriousness.
"Good, because for the next five minutes we are enemies on the field of battle. I can't promise I won't shoot you for points." Sunset said solemnly.
Resisting the urge to laugh, Twilight cleared her throat and replied. "I'm sure I can find it in my heart to forgive you."
The next round was even more intense. There was nowhere to hide for long, everywhere they went shortly after their vest would light up with a hit. Twilight got in a few good shots in a row before getting lit up from two sides. She felt a competitive spirit she had never felt before start to build in her chest. She made a valiant effort, but ultimately came in fifth place. Rainbow and Sunset rushed to the leaderboard to see how well they did. When they saw the final scores their jaws fell open.
"What? But how!" Rainbow cried.
"I have no idea." Sunset remarked scratching her head.
From behind them a soft voice said. "No one suspects the quiet ones."
They looked behind them to see Fluttershy with Rarity clinging to her arm, practically swooning. She made a finger gun and blew on the tip.
"Where were you? I don't think I saw you that entire round!" Rainbow asked with a smile.
"I found a good sniper vantage point and the fact that I'm pretty non threatening helped as well so no one thought to keep me in their sights."
"She really took charge of the game." Rarity said from her place on Fluttershy's arm. "It was very... exciting."
Fluttershy blushed, releasing some of her bravado. "Want to go play some games?"
They all split up to the arcade games they wanted to play with the remaining funds on their cards. Rainbow and Sunset played some competitive games to determine who was the official winner of the day activity. Twilight chose to win tickets to get Sunset a prize. Applejack was playing a big game hunting shooter while Pinkie and Cheese played Skee Ball.
Just as Twilight was tearing a line of tickets she felt arms wrap around her waist.
"So who won?" She asked.
"We ended in a tie. We decided to hangout with our girlfriends instead." Sunset told her.
They played several co-op games before their cards ran out of cash. Those who had tickets cashed out for prizes. Twilight still had a decent amount left over after she retrieved a colorful yarn bracelet for Sunset.
"What else are you gonna get babe?" Sunset asked as she tied the bracelet around her wrist.
"I'm not sure. There's not really anything else I want, I might just give them to one of the kids here." She started surveying the children running around.
"What are you doing?" Sunset laughed.
"I'm trying to decide who to give these to. I don't want to give them to someone who already has a lot."
"My girlfriends's a creep." She joked, but helped her regardless.
Twilight gave them to a young girl who didn't have very many tickets of her own. Afterwards everyone piled into Sunset's SUV and headed back to Twilight's house.