//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: The Sun of My Heart // by BlueSun52 //------------------------------// Thus The Battle of Fall Formal Dates has Begun! Part 1 Almost three months have passed since Soul had gone out on the triple date. Sunset wanted to stay friends for a while longer and it was three weeks until the Fall Formal would begin. He was starting to think that she was going to keep him the horrid ‘Friend Zone,’ something every boy, guy, and man have feared since the old days of the caveman and a big block of ice. He would have ask her himself but when he went to one of the Party Planning Committee meetings he joined, they announced that this year’s theme for the Fall Formal was that only the girls would ask out the guys. So at this point, he was absolutely convinced he was screwed. Soul let out a sigh as he was sitting with his pals at their usual table in the cafeteria. Swift noticed that Soul hadn't touched his chocolate pudding. “Hey Soul, are you going to eat that?” Swift asked. Soul didn’t replied and instead gave Swift the pudding cup. “Sweet,” Swift said before removing the foil on it and started scooping his spoon into it. Rivet rolled his eyes and looked over to Soul. “Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked. “You seem kinda out of it today.” “Sorry guys, I’ve just a couple of things in my mind,” Soul replied. “I’m guessing one of those things involve Sunset?” Rivet guessed. Soul nodded. “I’m sure that she’s going to ask you out eventually,” Clyde said. “I’ve noticed a lot of the girls haven’t asked out any guys yet.” “Wait, so Rarity haven't asked you yet?” Soul asked. “Asked me? We planned this months ago,” Clyde said. “Longest six months of my life.” “Okay, so why are the other girls taking their time?” Soul asked. “You think some of them would have asked us out to the dance or something by now.” “I would be dreaming if Rainbow Dash asked me out,” Rivet said. “We’re friends but I’m beginning to think that she’s just not that interested in me.” “Seriously? Doesn't she like to hear you play on your guitar?” Clyde pointed out. Rivet blushed lightly. “Sometimes,” he said. Swift let out a sigh. “At least there is a chance Dash would ask you out,” he said. “Pinkie would more than likely go to the dance by herself as always. I was finally confident enough to tell her my feelings only to get them crushed by Rarity.” “To be fair, you did walk in while she was trying out dresses in the ladies dressing room,” Clyde pointed out. “Okay I’ll give you that,” Swift said. “But it looking like that this could be another year where all of us are going to be at the dance alone.” “Ahem.” “Except you Clyde.” “Dag nabbit!” Soul cursed. “I can’t stand this anymore! Guys, we need to find a way so our dream girls would more than likely ask us out.” “How do we that?” Rivet asked. “The rules say that we can’t ask out the girls.” “Just because we can’t ask them out, doesn't mean we can’t persuade them to take us out,” Soul countered. “And that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to show that we’re great boyfriend material.” “Oh no, this sounds like something Swift would come up with,” Rivet said. “Hey!” “So, I’m guessing you have a plan?” Clyde asked. Soul smiled wickedly. “Oh, I may have a plan,” he said. “You really don’t, do you?” “Pretty much, yeah.” Over by the girls table, they were all having conversations with one another including the newest member at the table, Sonata. Sunset was deep in thought while something was bugging her since she got up this morning. ‘Why do people think Lost is so confusing?’ She thought to herself. ‘Oh, and should I ask Soul out to the dance?’ “Hey Sunset, are ya okay?” Applejack asked. “I’m fine, just something that’s been bugging me,” Sunset replied. “It’s nothing to worry about.” Applejack looked over to the others for a moment before leaning towards Sunset and whispered,” Does it have anything to do with my cousin?” Sunset looked away for a moment before she nodded. “Look, ya don’t have to feel pressure about that, it’s just a dance and there’ll be other chances to do that,” Applejack said. “But what if it’s too late?” Sunset asked. “What if by the time I realize that I do want to go out with him, he’ll end up with some else?” Applejack waved her hand. “Would ya rather end up with someone that you didn’t want to go out with or end up with someone that was patient enough to wait on you?” she asked. “And trust me, Soul is a very patient guy. He’ll understand why you didn’t go with him at the dance because you weren’t ready for that.” “I hope you’re right,” Sunset said. “So girls, I’ve been wondering, have any of you asked out anyone out to the dance?” Rarity asked curiously. “I don’t know,” Pinkie replied. “I thought about going there by myself again this year and help out with the party planning, but I feel like I want to actually try and ask a boy out.” “Do you have any good candidates?” Rarity asked. “I don’t have any, so I was planning on asking Swift for some ideas.” Rarity opened her mouth to point out to Pinkie that Swift would have been a candidate but seeing that this was her silly friend here, she thought it was best to let this playout itself. She turned and looked over to Rainbow Dash. “So Dash, who are you planning on taking?” she asked. Rainbow Dash was leaning on her chair while she was spinning a soccer ball on her finger.“I don’t know, been busy with keeping track with all the teams I’m on,” she replied. “I think I’ll ask out the next guy that comes close to here.” Rarity rolled her eyes and looked over to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy dear, are you planning on going with someone this year?” she asked. Rainbow Dash laughed. “Yeah right, I doubt Fluttershy is even brave enough to get near a guy,” she commented. “Actually I am going out with someone,” Fluttershy said. “See, just as I-” *Dramatic Tire Screeching Sound* “...Wait, what?” Fluttershy blushed a little. “O-Oh, it’s nothing like that,” she said. “He’s just a friend that I’ve gotten along with and I thought it would be nice to go with him at the dance.” “Well, would ya look at that,” Applejack said. “Our shy friend here got herself a boyfriend.” Fluttershy’s blush intensives. “N-No, he’s just a friend and-” “Way the go, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash said. “I’m beyond proud of you for getting yourself a guy you can make out with.” Fluttershy’s irises shrunk and her face was redding. “N-N-No! He’s just a friend! He’s not-” “Rainbow Dash, honestly,” Rarity said. “It’s too early for a relationship for her to be making out with her boyfriend. They’ve just started going out. Clyde and I didn’t start kissing until we knew we were ready for it, these kinds of things take time.” "Wait a minute, didn't ya say ya kissed Clyde before you two became a couple?" Applejack pointed out. "....That's beside the point." “Girls, please! I’m trying to tell you he’s not my-” Pinkie let out a gasp. “We should do another triple date!,” she said. “You, me, Rarity, Clyde, Swift and this mysterious new boyfriend you have! Oh, it’ll be funtastic!” Fluttershy let out a sigh. “Oh, I give up.” “I know who I’m going to ask to the dance,” Sonata beamed. “Really, now this I have to hear,” Rarity said. “I’m so glad that we’ve become such great friends. I just wish your sisters would be more friendly about coming over here and chat with a bit.” “It’s okay, I’m making progress on getting them to come,” Sonata said. She turned her head around and looked over to where her sisters were sitting. “HEY, ARE YOU GUYS SURE YOU DON’T WANT TO COME OVER!?” she yelled. “YES, QUIT ASKING!” Aria yelled. Sonata turned back to the others. “Yep, making progress,” she said. Rarity blinked a couple of times before focusing back to their previous discussion. “So, who is it that you're planning on asking?” she asked. Sonata beamed. “Soul,” she replied. Everyone froze in place. Rainbow Dash was so shocked by Sonata’s response, she accidently threw her soccer ball through the air and it landed on the back of Swift’s head; causing him to slam against the table and splattering his pudding cup on his face. Swift lifted his head back up with an angry glare. “WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME!?” he yelled out. Sunset stared at Sonata for a moment before saying something. “D-Did you say Soul?” she asked. Sonata nodded. “Why?” “Why not?” Sonata countered. “He was the only person that wasn’t bothered by me being a siren and is the reason why I get to hang out with you girls. He’s sweet, kind and not to mention has a really smoking looking body…..Girls are still into that, right?” Everyone nodded. “Okay good, glad to see that hasn’t change in the last thousand years.” “Wow, that is such a twist,” Pinkie said. “Sunset was also planning on asking Soul out to the dance.” Sonata’s eyes widen and looked over to Sunset. “For realzies?” she asked. Sunset rubbed the back of her head. “Well, I’m not sure if I do want to go out with him,” she replied. “He’s sweet and everything but I’m not sure if I’m ready to start going out with someone again.” “What!? How could you not?” Sonata asked. “If he’s sweet, why don’t you try going out with him?” “Isn’t she supposed to convince Sunset not to go out with Soul?” Rainbow Dash asked while leaned towards Rarity. “Truth be told, I’m not sure if she aware of what she’s doing,” Rarity replied. “But I think it’s sweet.” “Look, when I went out with Flash, I just used him to get popular,” Sunset said. “I don’t want to do that to Soul and hurt him.” “But you're super nice now,” Sonata said. “And I think you and him would make a really good couple.” “Okay, Ah’m getting confused by this,” Applejack commented. “Me too,” Fluttershy said. “Not me,” Pinkie said. “This is making total sense right now.” “You really think so?” Sunset asked with disbelief. “I know so!” Sunset thought it over for a moment. A part of her really wanted to go with Soul at the dance and wanted to be with him even after the dance. She looked at Sonata with a smile. “Alright, I’ll ask him out,” Sunset said. Sonata beamed. “Woo hoo! Now we can both go to the dance with our own…...Wait.” “There we go,” Rainbow Dash. “She get’s it now.” Sunset and Sonata both looked at each other in a long awkward silence. “So….What do friends do when they want to go out with the same guy?” Sonata asked. “I’m still new to the whole sharing with friendship thing.” “I’m in the same boat as you,” Sunset said. “But we’re not on a boat, we’re sitting on a table,” Sonata retorted. Rainbow Dash smacked herself in the face while everyone else let out a sigh except for Pinkie who just giggled to herself. Rarity pondered on the situation and after a moment, an idea popped into her mind. Rarity snapped her fingers. “I have an idea,” she said. “You two are going to start wooing Soul.” Sunset and Sonata looked at Rarity with puzzled expressions. “Why would we try to woo Soul?” Sunset asked. “Isn’t he already interested in me?” “Yeah, she does have an advantage over me,” Sonata added. “True, but let me explain,” Rarity said. “This will be a friendly challenge between two friends that want to go out with the same boy. The point of it is to gain the most attention and reaction from him. Pinkie and I will keep track of everything you two do and give you points depending on what you used to gain Soul’s attention and how he reacts to them. By the end of the day, we’ll tally up the points and who ever has the most points, wins the honor of asking out the boy of their dreams.” “Oh, I think I understand,” Sonata said. “This is similar how we sirens do, except that we sing songs to lure in our victims and mate continually until their die of pure, pleasurable exhaustion. But this sounds more fun.” Everyone eyes went were wide and their faces turned red as they thought of highly mature thoughts. “D-Did you ever-” Rarity was about to say but couldn’t finish what she was saying. “Oh, heck no,” Sonata replied. “We thought it was icky and just stuck with singing to gain power.” Everyone let out a sigh of relieve. “Except for Adagio, she did it one time and never told us what happened.” Everyone’s face were red again and looked over to Adagio who winked at a guy who was walking by her and blushed. They then focused their attention back to Sonata and tried really hard to forget what they just heard. “So, that’s the rules for the game,” Rarity said. “Gain the most points and win the boy, do you two accept this?” Both Sunset and Sonata nodded. “Then tomorrow we’ll start this competition. Remember, the objective of the game is to gain the most attention from Soul. Any questions that need to be answered?” “No, I think I understand,” Sunset said. “Me too,” Sonata said. The school bell rang, indicating that it was the end of lunch break. Everyone started throwing away their trash and made their way towards their respective classes. In the back of the minds of both Sonata and Sunset, only one thing occupied their minds. They believed they were going to win, no matter what.