The Pie of my Eye

by Azure_Shadow

First published 12th of February, 2014

Will Swift Justice be able to overcome his shyness and get the girl of his dreams without making a fool of himself? Probably not! Enter the Pie of my Eye!

Swift Justice has a good life in Canterlot High, he has decent friends, good grades, and a crush on a certain pink haired president of the party planning committee. He wants to ask her out, but things get complicated when a new student enrolls and Pinkie tries to set Swift up with her! Will Swift be able to get the girl without completely embarrassing himself? Probably not.

*A series that's set in Canterlot High after the events of Equestria Girls.
*Thanks to CogWing for the title, cover art, editing, and basically being the co-author at this point! You rock Cog!
*Swift Justice is my OC, pls ask if you wanna use him for something.
*Don't let the character tags fool you, there's no Flashlight.

The 1st Attempt!

It was Monday in the middle of the fall season, after the "incident" at Canterlot High school during the Fall Formal. It was early morning, about 7 am when the sun was just starting to rise out of the sky. A young man was running down the street in a full on sprint. He had very dark blue/black hair, which was well kept. He had cyan skin, and wore a lime green hoodie, a shirt with a tower shield and scales of justice on it, dark blue jeans, and a simple pair of sneakers. He didn't stop running until the school was within vision, at which point he slowed to a walk and took a look at his wrist watch.

7:00 am

"Seven O' clock! How!? My alarm clock said it was 8!" the young man yelled in confusion. He tried to gather his thoughts until he figured out what happened, at the realization of which he gritted his teeth. He quickly took out his cell phone and dialed a number. The phone rung for a few seconds until a young female voice picked up on the other end.

"Hiya Big Bro! What's up!?" said an extreamley perky female voice at the other end of the line.

"Don't you What's up? me Scootaloo! I know it was you who changed the settings on my alarm!"

"What? Me? That's crazy bro." said the voice, obviously trying to conceal laughter.

"I know it was you Scoots!"

"Alright, alright, I was just trying to help my favorite big bro out!"

"How is waking me up an hour and a half early helping me out!?"

"Well, you've been really sick the past couple of days, and Rainbow Dash the best way to feel better is to get lots of exercise!"

"I think if Rainbow Dash told you that you could fly, you'd believe her."

"I would! Rainbow Dash is awesome! Anyways, have fun at school big bro! Mom's taking me, Applebloom, and Sweetie Bell out for doughnuts now, Bye!" said Scootaloo as she hung up her end of the phone. The young man sighed as he put his phone back in his pocket.

"I wanted a doughnut." said the young man as he walked onto school grounds. He walked up to the front of the school, and was shocked to see that the entire entryway into the school was blown apart, with piles of bricks, bags of cement, and construction tools lining the sides of the building. He paid so much attention to the demolished entryway that he almost walked right into the large crater in front of it. "What the hell?" the young man harshly whispered as he backed away from the crater.

"I swear, these Fall Formals get crazier every year." The young man turned around to see a teenager about his age behind him. This young man had tan skin and spiky blue hair. He was wearing a black jacket, a white t shirt that was torn on the collar that had the image of a lightning bolt on a blue shield , and slightly worn blue jeans.

"Flash, what the hell happened here? Did a bomb hit the school?" the young man asked in an awestruck tone.

"Nah Swift , It was....you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"With a hole this big put into the school, I think I'll believe anything."

"Alright then." said Flash as he then took in a large breath. "Sunset Shimmer tried to win the crown for Princess of the Fall Formal, but a transfer student named Twilight Sparkle beat her in the votes. At the night of the dance, Sunset took the crown and used it to become a fire demon, turned those lackeys of hers into demons, blasted a hole through the wall, and turned everyone who went to the dance into mindless zombies, and we were only saved by Twilight and five other girls who did a magical girl transformation,fired a rainbow at Sunset Demon, which caused the crater in the ground." said Flash as he took a deep breath.

Swift stared at Flash with an utterly dumbfounded look on his face until he gave a swift head shake. "Fine don't tell me, I'll just ask Thunderlane later." Flash and Swift then walked into the school to their lockers. It was now about 7:30 and students were starting to trickle into the school. The two didn't talk until they reached Flash's locker where he spoke up.

"So why are you here so early? You're usually not here until at least ten minutes before the first bell."

"My little sister sped up my alarm clock, so I had to make a mad dash to school in hopes of getting here in time! The little twerp, and just after I got over having the flu!"

"Aww, lighten up Swift! She's just having her fun, learn to take a joke!" Flash said as he gave Swift a playful punch to the arm. Flash and Swift got their supplies for the next class and made way to the stairway to the second floor of the school.

The two continued their conversation up the stairs of the school to get to first period, while walking up a small group of girls saw the two and all giggled.

"Hi Brad!" said the girls in unison, giggling as they quickly walked down the stairs.

"It's Flash! Flash Sentry!" Flash shouted down the stairs of the corridor to the girls, he then turned his head to Swift, who was holding his hand up to his mouth, doing a very poor job concealing his laughter. "It's not funny!" said Flash as he delivered a punch to Swift's arm.

"Aww, lighten up Brad! They're just having fun, learn to take a joke!" Swift teased as he gave the young man a big cheeky grin.

"It's your fault! You're the one who started calling me Brad in middle school, and now everyone thinks my name is Brad!"

"C'mon man, It's not that bad."

"Some of the teachers even think my name's Brad! I was considering wearing a name tag the first week of school!"

Swift laughed at this, which earned another punch from Flash. "I'm sorry! It's not my fault you look like a Brad!"

Flash rolled his eyes as they walked through the double doors that led to the hallway of their 1st period Chemistry class. They walked in to see a group of five girls that were sitting on a bench by the entrance to the guy's first class. They were far enough away that Flash and Swift couldn't hear what they were talking about. One girl was wearing a white blouse with a dark purple skirt that matched her admittibly luxurious curled hair. Another girl had very long light pink hair, and was wearing a sleeveless white top with a dark green skirt with butterflies on it. Next to here were two girls that were arguing about something, one was a rainbow haired girl wearing a dark blue short sleeved jacket that was zipped up, along with a pink and white stripped skirt. The girl she was arguing with was wearing cowgirl attire; complete with Stetson, flannel shirt, a jean skirt, and cowboy boots. Flash looked back at Swift, who's gaze was focused on a sole member of the group, a peppy girl with big poofy magenta hair. She was wearing a knee length pink skirt with three balloons on them, a blue cardigan, and a white t-shirt with a large purple heart on it. Flash then turned his gaze towards the group of girls, than back to Swift who had a dumb grin on his face. Flash smiled as he saw his opportunity to counter his embarrassment towards the Brad incident. He slowly leaned closer to Swift, and bumped his arm with his elbow.

"So Swift, I've been meaning to ask ya, when are you gonna ask Pinkie Pie out?"

Swift's dumb grin was immediately replaced with a look of flustered shock; "Wh-What!? Ask out Pinkie? Why are you bringing that up?, I thought we were still on the whole "Brad" issue!?"

"Oh, I think we can put that on the back burner for now." Flash assured Swift. "So c'mon man! Get some guts and ask Pinkie out!"

"No way! And why are you giving me the "go out with a girl" nudge? You haven't gone out with a girl since your breakup with Sunset Shimmer."

"Well, I did kinda have this thing for that transfer student that was here while you were gone." Flash admitted.

"Oh, you mean the one that doesn't exist?" Swift deadpanned.

"She was really here! Just ask anyone!" Flash retorted.

"Yeah, I don't believe this girl was here for a number of reasons, reason number 1- You told me she seemed like the bookish type, you only go for edgy, dangerous girls like Sunset Shimmer or Rainbow Dash over there. Reason #2- You said she had a talking dog with her. Reason #3, You said she was a "princess" and grew wings and used magic to stop a demonic Sunset Shimmer from taking over the school, You can see why I don't believe you right?"

"Well it really did happen." said Flash defensively.

"Mmhm." hummed Swift as he crossed his arms.

"Anyways, my point still stands, I'm starting to think you can't ask Pinkie out."

Swift looked away from Flash and the group of girls, who still hadn't noticed their presence, and blushed slightly. "I can ask Pinkie out whenever I want."

"Alright then, she's right there, ask her now." Flash said as he motioned his arms towards the group of girls.

Swift turned his head to face the group of girls, and then turned back to Flash. "Well....I can't now, She's with her friends."

"Chicken!" said Flash as he started to move his body like a chicken would, and making chicken noises.

"Alright fine! I'll ask Pinkie out, LATER!"

"Sounds good, tell me how it goes lover boy." said Flash as he walked ahead of Swift towards their next class.

--------Later that day

Flash was putting his books back into his bag, as he was about to leave school to head to band practice. He shut his locker door, and jumped when he saw Swift leaning against the other side, with a smug grin on his face.

"The deed is done." said Swift with a bit of suave in his voice.

Flash looked at Swift with a confused expression before realizing what his friend was talking about. "Really? You were actually able to ask Pinkie out on a date? What did she say?"

"I don't know yet." Swift replied in a confident tone with a cheeky grin.

"Wait, what?"

"I couldn't talk to her through the day, so I slid a letter into her locker asking her to go on a date with me sometime."

"Wow, really?"

"Yeah! Slipped it into Pinkie's locker, locker #1136!" Swift said proudly as he crossed his arms.

"Um Swift, I hate to burst your bubble, but that's not Pinkie's locker number."

Swift's eyes widened as his smug grin lowered. "What!? But you told me it was!"

"No, I told you Pinkie's locker was #11 sixty three, you got the numbers mixed up dude!" said Flash with a grin on his face.

Swift's former cockiness was destroyed, replaced with a frightened look on his face as he cringed back. "Well if it wasn't Pinkie's locker than who's was it!?"

As if those were the magic words, a deep voice spoke up from behind Swift and Flash. "Hey Justice, over here!" Swift felt a rock sink in his gut as he slowly pivoted to face the owner of the voice, It was a big guy, a reeeaarlllyyy big guy. He was white skinned, had a buzz cut, and was wearing a workout shirt and shorts that didn't help hide his bulging muscles. This guy was holding a white piece of paper with one hand, and motioned for Swift to come closer with his other hand. Swift was hesitant, but he slowly walked up to the large student.

Flash was far enough that he didn't hear the conversation the two were having, only noting that Swift wasn't getting his ass kicked, or wasn't begging on his knees for his life. It went on for a few minutes before the huge student nodded his head and walked away. Swift turned around and had a look that could only be described as a combo of shock, confusion, and disbelief. He walked at a zombie's pace as he followed Flash out the front door of the school.

"So what did Bulk Biceps want to talk about?" Flash asked with a smirk.

"That locker was his." said Swift who's stare never left the ground.

"Is he mad? Is he gonna pound your face in?" asked Flash with slightly more concern in his voice.

"No, actually we..... made plans to see a movie on Friday." Swift stated in a somber tone.

"Well at least you have a date with Bulk Biceps! That has to count for something right?" asked Flash as he snickered.

Swift shifted his head to meet Flash's eyes with a cold glance and uttered three words; "Shut up Brad."

Author's Notes:

Alright, this is my first attempt at a comedy. I'm doing this solely for me, but if you guys like it, I'll do more! As I was writing this though, I felt like I wasn't writing a fanfic, but rather the script to a comic book or manga. What do you guys think? Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this one off, expect more soon until then, please tell me what you thought about this part, what you liked, what could've been improved, ect. Thanks for reading!

Rejection stinks...

Author's Notes:

So here's a little goofy one off chapter for those of you who are as depressed as I was today. I had fun writing it, and I wanna know if you like the story getting this goofy, or liked it better like in the first chapter. Remember If you just dislike it, then I won't have anything to go on to improve it!!

It was the Monday of the next week, a few minutes before school started. As with their usual daily routine, Swift Justice and Brad..Whoops! Sorry, Flash Sentry were walking up the winding stairway to their first period Chemistry class as they were talking about their weekends.

"So Swift, how was your date with Bulk Biceps last Friday?" asked Flash with a sly grin on his face.

Swift returned Flash's smile with a small frown and glare. "Well actually, we had a nice time. we went to see that new spy movie starring Fancy Pants and Fleur de Lis.. wait, IT WASN'T A DATE!"

"Really, because I thought that letter that you put in Bulk's locker clearly asked for a date." Swift was about to speak up, before Flash cut him off; "And don't think about blaming me for it! You're the idiot who put the note in the wrong locker, and accepted the date with Bulk in the first place!" Brad finished his sentence as Swift quickly closed his mouth and looked down to the floor.

"At least I got a date last week, unlike someone I know." Swift said in a soft grumble.

"Hey, I'm single by choice! I'm just waiting for that one special girl, ya know?"

"Oh yeah, that one winged imaginary princess girl." said Swift in a mocking tone.

"She was real! Didn't you see that video of those girls dancing around the cafeteria!?"

"Yeah, Thunderlane sent me a link to that! I can't believe six girls were prancing all around and dancing on cafeteria tables, and I wasn't there to see it!"

"She was that girl with the pink streak through her hair."

"A few girls prancing around a cafeteria isn't really hard evidence Flash."

Flash sighed; "Remind me why I'm friends with you."

"Because you love me." Swift said as he let out a chuckle.

The two continued to their Chemistry class as the bell was just about to ring. They waited for a few minutes at their desks, until the teacher called for the classes attention.

"Hello everyone, may I have your attention for a moment please?" asked the teacher as the students turned their heads towards him. "Before we start class today, We need to welcome a new transfer student into our class." The teacher made a "come here" motion with his hand towards the door. The door slowly opened, and in came a slim girl with strait hair with a pink streak running through it. She was wearing a button down blouse with a pink bow near the neck, and a dark purple skirt with a pink star on it. She looked at the class, and it was clear to see that she was nervous. "Class, I'd like you to meet our new student Twilight Sparkle, she just transferred here from Crystal Academy, so I want you all to do your best to make her feel welcome." All of the student in the class stared at Twilight in slight shock, Flash especially. The awkward silence continued for a few seconds until Twilight spoke up.

"Can..I sit down please?"

"Oh, yes I believe there's a spot next to Swift over there." said the teacher as he pointed to an empty desk by where Swift was sitting. Twilight quickly walked to the empty seat and quietly sat down. "Now, let's just dive right into Combined Gas Laws shall we? Now, If you'll look up at the board," Swift sighed at the thought of more chemistry work as he felt his phone in his pants pocket vibrate. Making sure the teacher was still focusing on the lesson, Swift took out his phone and hid it behind his chemistry textbook so he could still type on it.

1 New text from: Flash

Flash: OMG That's her!!!

Swift: Who?

Flash: The girl sitting next to you genius!

Swift: You can't be serious dude.

Flash:I am! Just look at her!

Swift turned his head to the right to look at the new student. She was staring intently at the board, absorbing everything the teacher was saying about combined gas whatever. Then the girl glanced to the side to make eye contact with Swift.

"Oh, uhh....hi" whispered Swift sheepishly.

"Um hello." said the girl who's name was apparently Twilight.

"So....welcome to Canterlot."

"Thank you, I kinda wanna pay attention to the lesson now."

"Oh sure, sorry." said Swift as he immediately turned back to his phone.

Swift: That's really her?

Flash: It's the girl from the video isn't it!?"

Swift:Yeah it is. What are you gonna do dude?

Flash: idk, ask her out probably.

After school had ended for the day, Swift and Flash met outside of the chemistry room.

"So that was your magical princess girl right?" asked Swift.

"Yeah! That's her, or at least the her of our world."

"Our world? What do you mean by that?"

"Oh well, the Twilight from the Fall Formal was really a princess from another dimension who came here through some sort of portal on our school's statue."

"May I say that you're doing a great job at convincing me that you're not currently insane."

Flash looked over his shoulder to see Twilight exit the chemistry room. He quickly took a comb out of his pocket and ran it through his hair. After that, he quickly checked is breath, which he thought didn't smell bad, but used a mint just to be safe.

"Swift, how do I look?"

"As white trash as ever my friend."

"Awesome!" said Flash as he took a deep breath and started walking towards Twilight. "Time to try out some of that patented Sentry charm." Swift rolled his eyes as Flash strode confidently over to Twilight who was looking at her new class schedule. Flash cleared his throat; "Hi there, Twilight right?" asked Flash.

Twilight looked up from her schedule to meet Flash's eyes. "Um yes, and you are?"

"The name's Sentry, Flash Sentry." said Flash with a smirk on his face.

"Hello Flash" said Twilight in a slightly off-put tone.

"Hey, so I know that you're new here, but would you like to hang out sometime?" asked Flash who now had a soft smile on his face.

Twilight stared at him for a few seconds before giving her answer; "No thank you, I'm really busy the next couple of days."

Flash was taken aback by this answer, but quickly regained his composure; "You sure? We could just ya know, see a movie, maybe just go to a fast food place or something."

"I'm sorry, I just moved here and I'm too busy to do anything at the moment." Twilight said rather bluntly.

"Oh..., um that's ok. Well I guess I'll see you later than." said a defeated Flash.

Twilight gave a small nod as she slowly walked away. Swift who was only a few feet away from this incident walked up to Flash.

"Swift, what just happened?" asked Flash who was still recovering from the shock of being rejected.

"I believe the correct term is that you got-" said Swift as he made a motion with his hands as if he was loading and firing a rifle. "shot down."

"Shot...down....Me?" said Flash as his face slowly turned from shock to a look of despair."B-But, I'm Flash Sentry, no girl has ever rejected me before."

Swift walked up to Flash and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "I'm sorry man, I guess there's a first time for everything."

"But...but....how?" asked Flash as he slowly walked to a bench near where the two were standing and sat on it in a fetal position.

Swift stood in confusion as he watched his friend's confidence being shattered as Flash was muttering incoherent sentences.

"Um..Flash, are you ok? asked Swift out of concern. Flash was not answering as he was still apparently lost in his own thoughts.

"Hey Swift, what's wrong with Flashy boy?" asked a familiar voice. Swift looked behind him to see a student walk up to him and Flash. He had a wild light cyan grey hair with lighter streaks, and was wearing black jeans with a black denim jacket and a grey t-shirt with a picture of a thunderbolt protruding from a cloud on it.

"Hey Thunderlane, I think Flash is broken." said Swift as he poked Flash's forehead with no response.

"Here, let me try." said Thunderlane as he walked up to Flash. He bent down to eye level with him, gently raised Flash's head up, and then delivered a hard SMACK!! to Flash's cheek. "Snap out of it Flashy boy!" said Thunderlane as he grabbed Flash by the collar of his shirt and started to shake him. After three minutes of shacking, he lowered Flash back down to the bench, and he was still as distant and incoherent as he was before. Thunderlane scratched his head; "Ok, I give up, what happened to him?"

"He got shot down by the new girl, never even stood a chance." said Swift as he slowly shook his head from side to side.

"Owch! I think that's the first time that's ever happened."

"Yeah, he's taking it really bad, It's sad really." said Swift as he shrugged his shoulders.

As if he briefly regained his sanity, Flash managed to choke out; "It's really sad that you can't talk to Pinkie Pie to save your life." before returning to his previous state of self loathing and mumbling.

"Hey! That was uncalled for!" Swift said defensively.

"He's got a point dude, whenever Pinkie's close, you can barley speak one word, and I don't think you've ever so much as asked a girl out before." said Thunderlane.

Swift scratched the back of his head as he looked down at the floor; "Well....asking out girls is hard."

"Ya, that's because you haven't tried asking a girl out since what happened with.." Thunderlane immediately stopped himself but it was too late, Swift was now beginning to make the same face Flash made.

"Oh god, Swift I'm sorry, I forgot!"

Swift now had the same depressed look that Flash had. " It's ok Thunderlane, I think I'm gonna join Flash on the Bench of Depression for a bit." said Swift as he began to sit on the bench, only to have Thunderlane quickly grab him and shake him as he had with Flash.

"No Swift! Get a grip man! We gotta get you outta here!" yelled Thunderlane as he picked up Swift and carried him towards the hallway connected to the one they were currently in.

"No wait! We need to go back for Flash!" shouted Swift into Thunderlane's ear.

"We can't! He's too far gone into the realms of despair! We must go before you follow suit!" Thunderlane yelled back.

Thunderlane ran until they were out of the school, Thunderlane dropped Swift to the grass in front of the building. Swift stared at the school, standing tall like a mighty fortress.

"Thunderlane, what happened in there?"

"Forget it Swift, what matters now is that it's over." said Thunderlane who was now staring at the school as well.

"Will Flash be ok?"

"I think he'll just have a bruised ego, and he'll probably be on that bench until a janitor finds him."

"Oh, ok, wanna go to SugarCube Corner for a bite?"

"Meh, I can eat." said Thunderlane as the two friends started walking towards town to talk about the interesting moment that the the two of them and Flash experienced

"One last question Swift."

"Yeah Thunderlane?"

"About Flash getting rejected........did you videotape it?"

"I'll show it to you at S.C.Corner, The look on Flash's face in the beginning is hilarious!"

A little advice can go a long way

It was the week after the arrival of the transfer student Twilight Sparkle. Things in Canterlot High were as calm as ever. It was the middle of the school day, and Swift Justice, Flash Sentry and Thunderlane were eating lunch.

"Jeez, was it just me, or was that Trig. test super hard?" asked Thunderlane who was eating his burger while he was talking.

"Yeah, I just barley finished before time was up, I didn't even get a chance to check my work. Although, It probably wouldn't have done any good. Trigonometry is my worst subject. " Swift replied with a sigh. Both of them looked towards Flash, who was lost in thought as her stared at the rice on his tray while poking at it with his fork.

"You ok Flashy boy?" asked Thunderlane. Flash didn't respond. "HEY FLASHY BOY, YOU OK?" asked Thunderlane in a louder voice as he hit his hand on the part of the table in front of Flash. Flash snapped out of his trance and looked up at his friends.

"Huh? What's up?" asked Flash in a slightly confused way.

"We wanted to know why you were zoning out." replied Swift.

"Sorry guys, I guess I'm still a little hung up on this Twilight thing." answered Flash.

Thunderlane groaned; "Dear god man, you're still hung up on that? I thought you were over that girl rejecting you once you left the Bench of Depression last week."

"It's not just about the rejection. I really liked this girl back during the days leading to the Fall Formal. She seemed really nice, and I thought she was into me too. But this Twilight is completely different from the one that was at the formal. I think I still like her, and I want to make things work between us, but I can't figure out how. Do you guys know how hard it is to have a girl you like, but you also have no idea what she thinks of you or how to approach her?" All Flash got in response from this question was a cold look from Swift who raised his eyebrow. "Oh right...sorry Swift."

After a few seconds of silence, Thunderlane quickly changed the subject; "Hey guys, did you remember the assignment the ELA teacher gave us for homework?"

"Yeah, I copied it onto my phone." said Swift who reached into his pant's pocket, only to find it wasn't in there. Swift quickly checked his other pockets on his pants and hoodie; no dice. "Which is now missing, great." said Swift.

"Swift, didn't you borrow my charger to charge your phone in Trig. class before the test?" asked Thunderlane.

Swift let out a short grunt as he face palmed. "Damn , I must've forgotten it. I need to get it back." said Swift as he got out of his chair and began to walk out of the room before Flash spoke up.

"Dude, just wait until lunch is over and then get it."

"It's a new phone, and Tunderlane's charger, I don't want to take any chances." replied Swift as he walked out of the cafeteria. Swift quickly walked down the hall to the Trigonometry room that was a short walk from the cafeteria. Swift remembered from previous occasions that the Trigonometry teacher never bothered to lock his door when he went to the Teacher's Lounge. Swift slipped into the room and quickly walked to where he plugged his phone in to charge. He unplugged the charger and his phone and stuffed both into the pockets of his hoodie. Swift turned around to leave the room, until something caught his eye, there was another student in the room. Swift recognized the student as the new girl Twilight Sparkle. She was sitting at the far end of the room by a window reading what looked like a text book. Swift wondered why the new girl was sitting alone in what he believed to be the dullest room in the school and slowly approached her.

"Hey, Twilight was it?"

Twilight looked up from the book to see Swift looking at her. "Yes, who are you?"

"I'm Swift Justice, we have chemistry together."

"Oh, right."

"What are you doing here in the Trig room?" curiously asked Swift.

Twilight sighed, clearly annoyed by Swift's presence. "I came here to get some peace and quiet so I can read If you don't mind." said Twilight who tried nothing to hide the harsh tone in her voice.

"Hey, what's your problem?"

"I don't have a problem! It's everyone else in this school has a problem!" replied Twilight in a very angry voice. Swift was taken aback from the sudden outburst from the normally quiet transfer student. Swift was about to leave the room, he turned before Twilight spoke again."Wait!"

Swift turned back to Twilight, who closed the textbook she was reading. "Yeah?"

"Look, sorry I sounded a bit harsh. I didn't mean it towards you, I'm just having a bit of a rough time lately."

"A rough time? Why?" asked Swift.

"It's a long story, you wouldn't want to hear it." answered Twilight.

"Sure I would!" said Swift as he sat on the desk chair next to Twilight. "What's up?"

Twilight looked out the window to her left as she answered. "Well, It's just that.... I've been having a rough time these last couple of weeks. My parents went overseas for business, so I had to transfer schools so I could stay with family. I have a brother, but he didn't live near my old school so when I moved in with him and his new wife. I wasn't upset when I left. Honestly I didn't have many friends back at Crystal Academy, so I wasn't too devastated when I had to transfer. What upset me happened after I started going to school here."

"What upset you?" piqued in Swift.

"Well apparently, there was a girl who went to this school who looked a lot like me. There was a video taken of her acting like a complete and utter moron in the library. She was picking up books with her mouth, hitting a keyboard with her fists, getting blinded by a copier, and acting like a buffoon! And now for some reason, everyone here keeps asking me "Hey, are you that girl from the video a few weeks ago?". Or I hear stuff like "Hey, it's that spaz from the video." or stuff like "What's the Princess doing back?" That one doesn't even make sense! It didn't bother me at first, but being asked about it all week is slowly gnawing on my last nerve!" Twilight looked angry again for a moment before looking sad again. "I thought that maybe going to this new school would be a good thing. A fresh start, ya know? Maybe try to make a few friends here. Although that's kind of hard when the students here won't shut up about a stupid viral video."

Swift took a while before speaking up. "While I can't relate with the video thing, I get where you're coming from with being the new student."

Twilight turned her head to look at Swift. "You do?" Twilight asked in a surprised tone.

Swift nodded. "Yeah, you see, my family and I moved here my first year of middle school. I didn't know anybody here, and I transferred almost halfway through the year. I didn't make much of an attempt of trying to make friends. I was a really shy little kid back then, only ever speaking when spoken to, and I felt I didn't fit in with the kids that went there. That was until one day when I got bullied by one of the bigger kids. I took the tongue lashing he gave me, and I was pretty sure he was gonna try to beat me up. I was really scared, until someone else spoke up. It was another kid about my age, he told off the bully, and the two got into a fist fight. I was really scared, and didn't move from the wall the the bully pushed me up against. It kept going until the kid punched the bully really hard in the mouth. I think he punched out a loose tooth or something, because the bully ran away crying. The kid walked up to me, and asked me if I was ok, even though it should've been me asking him that question after the fight. He helped me up and I asked him why he helped me. He said he didn't like seeing other kids get bullied because he was bullied when he was in grade school. After that, he got in trouble for hurting the bully who acted like a victim. In a rare show of bravery for me at the time, I spoke up and said the bully was bullying me until the kid told him off, and the bully threw the first punch. The adults realized I was telling the truth and the bully got suspended. After that the kid asked me "Why did you speak up? I thought you were mute or something." and I told him "Well, you helped me, so I helped you. Isn't that the kind of thing friends do for each other?" The rest is history, I went through middle school, and overcame my shyness."

"What happened with the kid?" curiously asked Twilight.

"That kid's name was Thunderlane, and now he's my best friend." said Swift. " My point is, there can be some jerks out there, but there are also some really great people out there, and those people will definitely be you friend, but you gotta take the first step and give them a chance."

"Well.." said Twilight sheepishly; "There was a few girls who invited me to have lunch with them later."

"That's great! You should do it!" encouraged Swift.

"You think so?"

"Like I said, sometimes good friends only need one chance." replied Swift.

"I think you're right." said Twilight

Twilight grabbed her book, and made way towards the door, stopping when she was about to leave. "Oh, and Swift."

"Yeah?"

Twilight gave Swift a warm smile. "Thanks, It was nice having someone to talk to about this."

"No problem Twilight!" said Swift who gave Twilight a big ear to ear grin. Twilight giggled as she left the room. Swift slowly followed suit, feeling a bit of pride puff up in his chest. I think I just made a difference in someone's life today. thought Swift as he returned to the cafeteria for the last five minutes of the period.

"What took you so long?" asked Thunderlane.

"Oh, just stopped and chatted with someone." said Swift as he gave Thunderlane his charger and the ela assignment.
----------

As school was ending that day, Swift and Thunderlane were about to leave when a voice called out.

"Hey Swift!" Swift turned around to see Twilight running towards him and stopping close to him.

"What's up Twilight?" asked Swift.

"You were right, I had lunch with those girls, and they're really nice! We're going to some place called Sugar Cube Corner now. Oh! That's them over there!" Swift turned his head towards the main foyer of the school to see five girls waving at Twilight. Swift recognized Pinkie Pie of course, he also recognized Applejack and Rarity, his sister was friends with their sisters, and he's seen them enough times to know who they were. He saw Rainbow Dash, he knew it was her instantly because Scootaloo went into great detail about how awesome she was on a regular basis. He also saw one girl he didn't recognize, a pink haired girl who was standing behind RD who was giving a small wave. Swift turned back to Twilight.

"That's awesome Twilight!"

"Yeah, and I just wanted to thank you again for before." said Twilight who slightly blushed ( Swift didn't notice, but Thunderlane did) before running up to meet the group of girls.

Thunderlane had a shocked look on his face. "What happened there?" he asked Swift.

"I gave the new girl a bit of encouragement. And it worked out great!" replied Swift with a grin.

Thunderlane took a look at the departing group of girls who were all talking about something. He saw Twilight turn her head around and give Swift a little wave with her fingers, which Swift returned with a small wave. "So you encouraged her huh?" asked Thunderlane.

"That's what friends do right?" said Swift.

Thunderlane took one last look at the group of girls before giving a smug grin. Yeah, friends, I wonder what the new girl thinks about it as.

Author's Notes:

So this is was a bit of a more serious chapter. Swift has a little heart to heart with Twilight and helps her. Don't worry, there's more hilarity to come! As always, please comment on how you felt about the chapter. Thanks!

A Pinkie Pie Plan!

Twilight was sitting in the cafeteria during midday . She was sitting with five other girls. Their names were Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity. They had only met about two weeks prior, thanks to Swift encouraging Twilight to meet them for lunch that one day in the Trigonometry room. She was glad she took Swift's advice. Even though she was nervous that first time eating lunch with them, the six hit it off and they all became fast friends. They were all for a brief moment quietly eating their lunches until Rarity spoke up.

"So Twilight darling, how are you settling in?"

"Oh I think I'm settling in ok." answered Twilight. "I've memorized my schedule, gotten up to date with all my homework, I've finally unpacked all of my stuff from home with a little help from my sister in law, and I've joined the writer's club!"

"That's great Twi!" said Applejack.

"Um...If you don't mind me asking, How's your dog doing?" quietly asked Fluttershy.

"Spike? He was really on edge the first two weeks since the move, but I think he's mellowed out by now. He doesn't whine for my mom or dad anymore, so that's good."

"Oh, well that's good. I'd be really sad too if I didn't see my mom and dad for two weeks and didn't know what happened to them." said Fluttershy.

"So Twilight, how do ya like it in Canterlot so far?" asked Applejack.

"I really like it here! Given I had a problem when I first got here, but now I think the whole video thing has simmered down. Everyone here seems really nice, and I like the change of scenery from my old school. Crystal Academy was in a huge city, and my family lived in one of those fancy apartment complexes, so I really like how Canterlot is more of a suburban area. I can't really explain it, but I'm getting a really homy feeling from this place."

As she was finishing her lunch, a sly grin began creeping across Rainbow Dash's voice. "So, you like the people here Twilight?" asked RD.

"Huh? Yeah Rainbow, they're all really nice as far as I can tell."

The smile grew wider and more sinister with each second. "So quick question Twilight." said RD

"What is it Rainbow Dash?" asked Twilight.

"Are there any...guys....you like?"

The question stunned most of the girls who were sitting at the table.Even making Pinkie, who was devouring a cupcake she packed in her lunch, swallow her dessert in shock.

"R-Rainbow! that's quite a question to just drop on someone!" said Rarity with a shocked expression on her face.

"That's our little Dashie for ya, no matter what it is with her, you never see it coming." said Applejack who didn't even seem phased by the question.

"Well...I certainly never expected Rainbow Dash to ask that kind of question." said Fluttershy, who seemed rather uncomfortable about the question's topic.

All eyes at the table turned to Twilight, who was trying to think of something to say as her cheeks started to blush. "Um..well...I..uhh.... I'm not really sure.... I mean-"

Twilight's stammering was cut short by a loud GASP!!! that came from Pinkie Pie. "Oh. My. Gosh! There IS a guy you like! Whoisitwhoisitwhoisit!?!?" Pinkie asked excitedly as she started bouncing up and down in her chair at an almost vibrating speed.

Twilight's blush turned a full shade redder. "I...the-there's no guy I like!"

"Sugarcube I'm sorry, but you're a terrible liar." said Applejack as she slowly gained the same grin as Rainbow Dash.

"C'mon Twilight! tell us!" said an excited Rainbow Dash.

"Darling, they won't keep quiet until you give them an answer, and neither will I!" exclaimed Rarity as she too adopted the same grin as Applejack and RD.

Twilight, who's face was now as red as a rose, looked over to Fluttershy, who was also blushing, as she looked down at her salad, poking it with her fork quietly. After a few more seconds of pestering from her friends, she finally gave up. "Fine!" Twilight almost yelled in defeat. "I....kinda like this guy named Swift Justice." After the words left her mouth, RD's grin changed to a questioning look.

"Swift Who?"

"Rainbow, Swift Justice is Scootaloo's older brother." said Applejack.

"oh THAT Swift Justice! I help his little sister and her team practice for junior soccer!" explained RD. "He sometimes picks up Scoots from practice and the games, although I don't really know much about him, how about you girls?"

"Well, my little sister Sweetie Bell, and Applejack's little sister Applebloom are good friends with his younger sister. The three of them often have sleep overs at each of our houses. I've met him a few times, and from what I can tell, he's nothing short of a gentleman!" answered Rarity.

Applejack nodded."I agree with Rarity, I've met him a few times picking up Applebloom from his and Scootaloo's house and he seems like an ok fella to me. What do you think Fluttershy?"

"Oh, I don't know, I've never really talked to him. I remember a while ago he adopted a cat from the Canterlot Animal Shelter, and he and the cat looked really happy, so I think he might be a good person."

All eyes now turned to Pinkie Pie, who was biting her lower lip while tapping her chin with a pink rubber pencil. "Hmmmm, Swift Justice huh? I.... don't know anything about him!" Pinkie said, looking as if she was surprised by her own statement.

"Wow! Pinkie Pie, friend to everyone doesn't know anything about someone! This is a shock to me." said Rainbow Dash.

"I know! I surprised me too! I don't really know anything about Swift Justice because he never talks. Anytime I see him, he's always got his head down, or is talking to one if his friends in the distance. I tried talking to him about something once, but he only ever mumbled his words."

"So, what do you girls think I should do? Should I ask him if he likes me? Or would that be too forward? Should I wait if he asks me? Or would that take too long? Oh man, I hope there's a book about this." said Twilight as she put her head down on the table. Rarity reached out to give her new friend a re assuring pat on the back.

"It's alright darling! If this boy likes you, then he's sure to ask you out eventually. There was this boy I admired from afar a while back and I wasn't sure how to approach him. But that didn't matter because eventually he approached me! He said he thought I was cute, and asked me on a date to the little cafe by the school. We've been going out ever since."

"That reminds me Rarity, when will we get to meet this mystery boyfriend of yours?" asked Applejack.

"Oh, when I feel the time is right." Rarity said as she gave a little wink to Applejack.

"Girls please, I really need your help here, I'm lost." said Twilight.

Pinkie's eyes suddenly shot wide open; "I GOT IT!" shouted Pinkie as she jumped up from her chair. "Twilight, you can't wait for Swift to ask you out because he's super shy! Call it my Pinkie sense, but I have a hunch that this boy reeeeaaalllyyyy likes you, but he's too shy to do anything about it!"

"You think so Pinkie? He hasn't seemed very shy in the last few days." said Twilight as she remembered back to past instances of small talk with Swift either before Chemistry class or in the halls.

"Well of course If he likes you silly-billy! He's obviously trying to play it cool, but he can't work up the courage to ask you out! And I think all he needs, is a little push." said Pinkie as an idea had started to formulate in her head.

-------------
End of the school day
3:00

Swift Justice had just gotten his binders and folders packed as he zipped up his backpack. He slung his bag over his shoulder (like a boss as he'd say) and walked down the hallway. His locker was in to the main foyer of the school. He was alone today because most of his friends were either doing extracurriculars, detention, or in Flash's case, was too sick to go to school that day. Swift was about to enter the foyer, before a pink blur suddenly appeared before him. Swift focused his eye on the blur and eventually made it out to be none other than Pinkie Pie. She immediately stopped running a few inches in front of Swift.

"Hiya! You're Swift Justice right?"

It took a moment for Swift to realize what was happening, and once he realized Pinkie had just started talking to him, he froze up. Swift chocked out"Uh....I-uhh..umm.y--y-yeah th-that's..m-me..i think."

Pinkie giggled "Awesome! I'm Pinkie Pie!"

"Uhh, I..think I've seen you before." Swift said as he tried moving any part of his body, which he couldn't.

"Really? Wow! You must have really good eyesight! Wait...what did I want to talk to you about again? Oh yeah! I have something I want to talk to you about, Swift!"

"T-talk...with..me?" asked Swift as he thought to himself. Good god man, get a grip! The girl you've had a massive crush on since freshman year is now talking to you! C'mon what would Flash say If he saw you like this? Remember what Thunderlane told you, play it cool! But how can I get cooler than frozen in place!?

While this stream of thoughts was running through Swift's head, Pinkie continued talking. "Well anyways, I wanted to know if you wanted to go on a double date with me and my friend Twilight Sparkle this Saturday! It'll be tons of fun! What do you think?"

Oh crap, hey idiot! Pinkie's talking, shut up and listen! All Swift heard from Pinkie was the words you, double date, me, Saturday. Needless to say, Swift was stunned by this sudden invitation. "Wait....a d-double date with you!?"

"Yeah, and my friend Twilight Sparkle! She's still new here, and I think a double date would be the perfect thing to show her how much fun Canterlot is! Whaddaya say Swift? Wanna have some fun?"

Without even thinking, Swift quickly blurted out "Y-YES! I'd love to go on a double date with you and Twilight! That'd be...."

"Epic?"

"Y-yeah! What you said!'

"Okey Dokey Lokey! I'll go tell Twilight the good news! Illgiveyouthedetailslaterbye!!" Pinkie shouted quickly and excitedly as she ran super fast out of the foyer door to the outside. Swift was left at the end of the hallway, still frozen in place.

"I...have a date with Pinkie Pie....I have a date with Pinkie Pie.... I HAVE A DATE WITH PINKIE PIE!!" Swift repeated as he broke out of his frozen state and happily jumped up and clicked his heels together. This brief moment of happiness was brought to a stop when Swift realized one thing. 'Wait, did she say double date?"

The Double Date

Outside Hoofington Plaza Mall
Saturday, 12:15

Swift Justice was walking towards the entrance to the Hoofington Plaza Mall. He was having a staring contest with the large beast made of concrete and glass. Swift was giving the building an intimidating stare, but in reality, Swift was quivering in his shoes, with each step towards the building, he felt his heart was one step closer to bursting out of his chest and thought that butterflies would come out of his stomach at any moment. He stopped just outside of the entrance to the mall. Swift glanced at his wrist watch. It was 12:15, a few minutes before Swift was supposed to meet with Pinkie and Twilight. Just the thought of this date was enough to make Swift almost freeze up again. Swift kept the staring contest going until he felt a hard slap on the back.

"WHAT THE!?" shouted Swift as he nearly jumped out of his skin and turned around to see Thunderlane chuckling to himself."Dude not funny! I almost had a heart attack!"

"Did you see yourself just now? It was pretty funny." said Thunderlane.

Swift was angry, yet also relieved at the arrival of his friend. He let out a sigh as some of the butterflies in his chest seemed to have calmed down after that jump scare. "Well anyways, thanks for coming to help me out Thunderlane."

Thunderland walked up to Swift and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "No problem Swift, I'm glad to help! I still can't believe you got a double date with Pinkie! Who's the other girl again?"

"Her friend Twilight Sparkle."

"Oh the new girl?"

"Yeah, You ok with that?" asked Swift.

"I don't really care. I just want to know one thing."

"What's that?"

"How you got the guts to ask Pinkie out this time, every time you've tried to talk to her before has ended with with you becoming mute for the duration of the conversation. My question here is; When did you grow a pair?"

Swift ignored the last part of that question and scratched the back of his head while grinning. "Well...I didn't ask her per-se."

"Pinkie Pie asked you out didn't she?" asked Thunderlane, cutting Swift's explanation short.

"That's about right." Swift said with an awkward chuckle.

"Well you got a date with Pinkie Pie...kinda so you reached your goal, but in a different way."

"Right!"

"Well good for you dude." said Thunderlane as he took his phone out of his black denim jacket and checked the time. "Well Swift, the moment of truth is almost here! It's time to go meet the girls." Swift took another look at the building and gulped.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

Thunderlane gave Swift a reassuring smile. "Don't worry Swift! You've been waiting for this day for almost three years, not to mention you have the greatest wingman in all of Canterlot!"

Swift took a deep breath. "Y-Yeah, let's do this."

------------
Inside Hoofington Plaza Mall
About the same time

Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle were sitting on a wooden bench by a large fountain in the center of the mall, the agreed meeting place for the double date. Twilight was looking down at her feet and slowly kicking them back and forth. Pinkie, in a rare moment wasn't talking. She was looking up at the large stylized glass ceiling which displayed a cloudless blue sky. Pinkie then turned to Twilight, who was still staring at her feet and decided to speak up.

"Twilight! Are you as nervouscited as I am right now!?"

Twilight turned her head towards Pinkie; "What?"

"Nervouscited! It's like when you wanna jump up and down and yell YAY ME!! But you also wanna curl up in a teeny tiny ball and hide at the same time!"

Twilight squirmed nervously in her seat. "Well..y-yeah, i guess. I've never been on a date before."

"If it makes you feel any better Twilight, I can't remember the last time I had a date."

"Sorry Pinkie, but that doesn't really help right now." said Twilight who went back to looking at her shoes.

"It's gonna be ok Twilight! A double date is a date, but it's also not really a date at the same time! Plus, what's the worst that could happen? You completely embarrass yourself during the date, and neither of the boys never want to have anything to do with you ever again?"

Twilight glanced back at Pinkie with a horrified look on her face. "That is a worst case scenario right?"

Pinkie put her finger to her lip and hummed quietly to herself. "Well yeah, it is a worst-case scenario, but it's still a scenario right?"

"Thanks Pinkie, I feel a lot better now." said Twilight, who took no effort to hide the sarcasm in her voice.

"No problem Twilight, happy to he-GASSSSPPPP!!!" said Pinkie who shot up from her seat. "They're here! HEY YOU GUYYYYSSSSSS!!!!!" Pinkie shouted as she waved to the two boys who came into the central room in the mall and came towards the bench where Pinkie and Twilight were sitting.

"Hiya Swift and Swift's friend! How are you guys today!?" asked an extremely nervoucited Pinkie.

Swift, with a bit of courage due to the pep talk Thunderlane gave him earlier, was actually able to speak. "H-Hi Pinkie, Hey Twilight. W-We're good thanks for asking. This is my friend Thunderlane, Thunderlane these are Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle."

"Hello Thunderlane" said Twilight.

"Sup" said Thunderlane, who was trying to play it cool.

After a moment of awkward silence, Pinkie was the first to speak up again. "Well, how about we get this double date started huh? Should we go right to the restaurant, or head to a few stores first?"

"Um.. If you guys didn't mind, the new A.K. Yearling book just came out. Do you guys know if there's a book store in this mall?"

Swift spoke up; "Yeah! There's a book store not far from here. I wouldn't mind going, how about you guys?" asked Swift as he looked at Thunderlane and Pinkie.

"I don't care." Thunderlane answered with a shrug.

"Let's get this double date started!" Pinkie exclaimed as she started running excitedly away from the other three.

"Um Pinkie, the book store is this way!" said Swift as he pointed in the opposite direction. Pinkie performed a 180 before darting past them again.

"I KNEW THAT!"

The three caught up with Pinkie at the large entrance to the store. The sign read The Noteworthy Novel. The group took a moment to laugh at the stupid name of the store before entering. It was a very big store, with dark green carpeting, and white walls with green trim. It was all one large room with what looked like hundreds of bookshelves in it. If one didn't know any better, they'd say they were in an actual library. Twilight quickly found herself in the adventure section, skimming through the stacks in search of her book. Thunderlane and Pinkie Pie were bored, so they looked through the magazine section near the exit. Swift took this opportunity to sneak over to the manga section of the store. He skimmed through the shelves, reading through the titles of the different books while looking for the one he needed.

"Let's see....Assault on Colossus, Channler Queen, Kabuto, King's Sword, Maids vs. Gentlemen, ViVi's odd adventure." The names went on until Swift was able to locate the book he was looking for."A ha! Idiots and Exams volume eight! And it's the last one!" Swift greatly enjoyed the series, ever since he read the first volume on a whim. He found that he related to the main character ,Yuri a lot. He was a guy who tried to be cool, but in his group of "cool guy friends" he was the one who did nothing but smile and nod, being cool by association. The main character also had a crush on one of the female side characters, which he too had great difficulty expressing. His attempts usually ended in a number of awkward, comedic, and sometimes painful ways for him, but he always got back on his feet and tried again, and Swift admired that about him. Swift quickly went over to the suspense section as well, and grabbed two books from there. Ace Investigator Keen Eye and Staring down the Jaws of Justice; Two books which were of the "Legal Thriller" genre which Swift also greatly enjoyed. Swift took his books and quickly bought them at the counter, making sure to stuff the manga book in between the two legal thrillers. Swift then went to the front of the store, where the other three were waiting.

"Hey guys! Sorry I kept you waiting."

"Don't worry Swift, I just got done buying books myself." said Twilight who had a rather large messenger bag that looked filled to bursting with books.

"Wow that's a lot of books." said Swift who was staring at the filled up bag.

"Yeah, there was a sale in the classics section, buy one get another half off. Plus I got three A.K. Yearling books, including the new Daring Do." Twilight said as she gave a nervous chuckle.

"I'd hate to interrupt, but can we get to the restaurant? I'm starving." said Thunderlane, who's stomach growled in agreement.

"C'mon slow pokes! Let's go and get some grub!"Pinkie said cheerfully as she ran out the door. The others followed suit. They all went through the mall at a faster pace in an attempt to catch up with Pinkie Pie. The restaurant was on the second floor. Instead of waiting for an elevator, the group ran up a spiral staircase. Swift quickly ran up the stairs, only to her a loud thud coming from behind. He turned around to see that Twilight on the floor by the staircase. Twilight, who was trying her best to keep up with Pinkie Pie tripped on the last step, which caused the contents of her bag to spill out onto the floor. Swift glided over to Twilight and helped her up.

"Woah, that sounded like it hurt, are you ok Twilight?" asked Swift in a concerned voice as he helped Twilight to her feet.

"Yeah aside from a little bruise, I'm fine." said Twilight as she rubber her elbow. Swift then quickly knelt down next to her and put all of the fallen books back into the messenger bag. He picked it up to realize it was very heavy.

"Wow, these books are heavy." said Swift.

"Yeah, I think I may have gone a bit overboard." said a slightly embarrassed Twilight who extended her arm to grab the bag.

Before Twilight could get it, Swift quickly slung the bag over his shoulder and flashed her a grin. "Don't worry Twilight, I'll carry these books for ya."

"Um..a-are you sure? they're really heavy." said a now blushing Twilight.

"Of course! They're not that heavy." said Swift, who was trying to sound tough. "Plus the restaurant is right over there, it's no problem."

"Thanks Swift."

"Don't mention it!"

Thunderlane saw Swift helping up Twilight, and walked over to them. "Hey, everything alright over here?"

"Yeah, Twilight tripped and dropped her books, so I helped her up." replied Swift.

"You ok?" asked Thunderlane who turned his attention to Twilight.

"Yes, I'm fine now." said Twilight who was still blushing. "Well, I better catch up with Pinkie Pie so she doesn't run away!" said Twilight who gave an awkward grin and ran past the two boys.

Thunderlane glanced at Swift as the two continued to walk. "Looks like your date with Pinkie Pie isn't doing so well."

"You think?"

"I'll be honest with you Swift, this thing with Pinkie is going nowhere fast. And as your wingman, it looks like I'm gonna need to get things moving between you two."

"How are you gonna do that?"

Thunderlane looked at the restaurant up in front of them and spent a few seconds thinking before answering Swift. "I'll think of something, just wait."

The group finally reached the restaurant known as The Race Horse after chasing down Pinkie. The Race Horse was one of those sports/bar type restaurants with sports memorabilia and photos of sports teams lining the walls. There were flat screen tvs bolted to the walls showing different games of soccer, football, and basketball. There were a few people there, but it wasn't busy yet. The four were quickly seated in a booth by the entrance, with Swift and Thunderlane on one side and Pinkie and Twilight on the other.

"This seems like a cool place." said Thunderlane, who was admiring the sports memorabilia on the walls by their booth.

"Thanks Thunderlane! My friends Rainbow Dash and Applejack come here all the time! Rainbow gave it her approval of awesomeness, so I thought it'd be perfect!" said Pinkie.

"I hear their chicken wing bites are amazing, we're gonna have to order some." Swift said as he skimmed through the menu.

"Applejack told me they were really good. I'd love to try some." said Twilight.

The four ordered a platter of the chicken wing bites, and kept talking about school, clubs, their friends, and everything else that was going on in town at the time, which wasn't much. When the chicken wing bites showed up, everyone took a short break to eat a few before going back to talking. The whole time, Thunderlane looked like he was thinking hard about something as he was quiet for most of the idle chatter, looking at the other three, out the window, at the wall of memorabilia. Eventually, his eyes came upon something that took up a small area of the restaurant, an air hockey table. Suddenly, Thunderlane got an idea in his head and decided to capitalize on it. "Hey Twilight, have you ever played air hockey before?"

"Can't say I have."

"Well how about a quick game? It's really fun!"

"I don't know, I'm not really good at that kind of game."

"C'mon It's easy, I'll show you how to play."

Pinkie spoke up; :Yeah Twilight! Air Hockey is really super fun! "

"Well..I guess a game or two wouldn't hurt." said Twilight.

"Great! Hey Swift and Pinkie, you two mind waiting here for when the food comes?"

"Nope! You two have fun!" said Pinkie.

"Wait wha-" Swift was about to speak up before Thunderlane quickly whispered in his ear.

"Swift, just agree! I got you your alone time with Pinkie, so don't screw it up!" Thunderlane then turned back to Twilight. "Alright, let's go play some Air Hockey!" said Thunderlane as he and Twilight walked to the other end of the restaurant where the air hockey table was located.

After Thunderlane and Twilight left the table, the butterflies in Swift's stomach took flight once more. The peaceful feeling all through his body a moment ago was replaced with anxiety and worry. He thought that he was going to turn into a statue right there, like he did in Pinkie's presence the time before. Swift tried to avoid making eye contact with Pinkie by replicating the actions that Thunderlane was doing before, looking out the window by their booth, looking at the TV above their booth, and looking out towards the air hockey table where Thunderlane was explaining to Twilight how to play. Swift thought that this strategy was working pretty well, but he forgot that Pinkie Pie was far from the quiet type herself.

"So Swift, how do you think the double date is going?" asked Pinkie.

"Uh...I think it's...going...ok." Swift replied as best he could.

"That's good! I think this date is going reallyreallyreally well! Twilight was super nervouscited about it, but she looks like she's having lots of fun!" Pinkie said as she pointed to Twilight who was smiling while playing with Thunderlane.

"Y-Yeah, she looks like she's having a good time." said Swift.

"How about you Swift? Are you having fun!?" Pinkie asked as she gave Swift a big smile.

"Me!? Um..yes...I'm having a good time." Swift replied with a nervous smile.

"That's awesome too! I'm having a superdupermega amount of fun!" said Pinkie.

"That..that's nice Pinkie." said Swift as he felt blood slowly rush to his cheeks. In order to take his mind off of how red his face must've been getting, he popped another chicken wing bite into his mouth and chewed as Pinkie continued to talk.

"I think this was a great idea! Lots of good things are happening today! Twilight is having a super huge amount of fun and making new friends in the process, you guys got some books, I found a bit on the sidewalk, and I'm getting to talk to you!"

Swift nearly chocked on his food at the last part of what Pinkie said. "Cough cough (gulp) T-Talk...to me!?"

"Yeah silly billy! I never get to talk to you. I've seen you around school a bunch, but you're super duper quiet all the time!"

"I'm not much of a social butterfly." said Swift as his face got redder and redder.

"That's ok! I just want to talk you!'

"Um..ok..what did you want to talk about?"

Pinkie put her finger to her lip as she looked briefly lost in thought in search of a question, until it appeared she found one. "Ok, sooooooo you do anything after school?:

"Not currently, I'm on the table tennis team, but that doesn't start until spring." said Swift.

"The table tennis team? That's awesome! Are you guys good?"

"We're decent. We've won a few regional trophies, but we're hoping to make nationals this year."

"I'm the head of the school's party planning committee! Any party, festival, dance, or other all around good time in the school is planned by us!" Pinkie said as she pointed both of her thumbs to herself.

"That..'s nice."

"Yeah! You should join! But you had better be willing to get your hands dirty for the cause." said Pinkie who's disposition changed to a drop dead serious one.

"What?" asked a surprised Swift.

The serious look Pinkie had was immediately dropped for a laugh. "Hahahahaha! Don't worry Swift! We all have lots of fun planning parties, and It's super nice seeing everyone's happy smiles when the party comes around!"

"Sounds fun...I'll think about it." Swift said before putting another chicken wing bite in his mouth. He looked over to Twilight and Thunderlane, the latter of whom appearing to be asking for a rematch from Twilight, who nodded. Swift then looked back to where Pinkie was sitting, but oddly found the seat empty. Where could she have gone? He looked back towards Thunderlane and Twilight, no Pinkie there. She didn't appear to be anywhere else in the restaurant. He then looked to his right, and was shocked to see Pinkie had soundlessly moved to where Thunderlane was sitting originally. She was kneeling on the seat, and her face was only a few inches from his.

Pinkie had a questioning look on her face. "Swift, are you ok?"

"Um..uh..why? Is ..something wrong?" asked Swift, who was frozen in place.

"Your face is getting kinda red, and you're getting quieter, are you sick or something?"

Swift was now blushing a new shade of red. "N-No, I don't think so." he replied.

Then, faster than Swift could react; Pinkie put her hands on his cheeks. If Swift's body was frozen before, It was now in full on lock down. Swift couldn't move, all he could do now was feel Pinkie's soft, warm hands caressing his cheeks . They stayed there for a moment before her right hand moved to Swift's forehead. "Wow, I think you're getting a fever or something. You're burning up!" said a concerned Pinkie. Swift was in shock! He couldn't believe the sudden turn of events that had just taken place! Here was one of the cutest girls in all of Canterlot High, being worried about him, and even touching his cheeks to see if he was alright. If was a magical feeling for Swift, he felt all of the butterflies in his stomach go wild, but at the same time, felt as though his heart had stopped beating. Swift thought that was nervoucited put into actual feelings.

Man, I've never felt like this before. It's almost like I can't breath! Swift thought to himself. But after a few seconds, another thought came into Swift's head. Wait...I'm not breathing....that's not right. Swift's hand immediately went to his throat. He got out of the booth and tried to breath, only succeeding in coughing and gagging.

"Swift, what's wrong?" asked a confused Pinkie. Swift couldn't talk, as he kept pointing at his throat and making any noise he could. "There's a frog in your throat? Something's wrong with your throat? You're choking?" At the last guess, Swift nodded his head furiously. "Oh! You're choking! So you don't have a fever because you're sick, you just can't breath! But wait, I thought people turned blue when they couldn't breath. Wait...OMG YOU CAN'T BREATH!!" shouted Pinkie. She too immediately stood up. "HEY EVERYONE! WE NEED HELP! MY FRIEND CAN'T BREATH!" she yelled as she pointed towards Swift.

Swift immediately felt someone run up behind him and put their arms around him. "Hold on buddy!" Swift recognized the voice as Thunderlane's as he felt his friend's hands tense up and immediately pulling them into his stomach. This repeated a few times until the foriegn obstruction flew out of Swift's mouth, a half chewed up chicken wing bite. Swift immediately dropped to the floor, gasping for air as the color slowly, but surly came back to his face. He alternated between gasping for air and coughing, until he felt someone next to him drape their arm over his shoulder. Swift turned his head to see Twilight kneeling down next to him with a look of worry on her face.

"Are you ok Swift?" asked Twilight.

"Yeah, I think I am." replied Swift. Twilight handed Swift a small glass of water, which he quickly gulped down.

"Thank goodness, you really scared me." said Twilight.

"I'm ok, thanks for your concern Twilight."

"He's ok everyone, you can all relax." said Thunderlane to a small group of customers and employees who formed a circle around the four teens. After they disbanded, he helped Swift to his feet. "Out of all the wingmen in the world, I think I'm one of the best right now, what do you think."

"You're pretty good. Thanks for saving me dude, I owe you one." said Swift.

"It's not a big deal."

"Not a big deal? NOT A BIG DEAL!? You're a hero Thunderlane! That was amazing!" said Pinkie as she quickly pulled Thunderlane into a bear hug. "I'm gonna need to throw a "Thunderlane is a hero party!" I wonder what kind of food I'd need to server there, guess I'll figure it out!"

"You don't need to do that, It was nothing big." said Thunderlane.

"Nope, I need to throw you a party, that's the end of that!" said Pinkie with a smile. The four then finished the food that eventually arrived at their table. After they payed, they went to a few more stores in the mall and bought a few different things here and there. Swift was very quiet during the end of the date, and all of them stopped at the exit to the mall.

"Well I think that was a super fun double date!" said Pinkie.

"It's definitely one I won't forget anytime soon." said Thunderlane.

"It was very....eventful." said Twilight.

"You took the words right out of my mouth guys." said Swift.

The four exchanged goodbyes and went their seperate ways. Twilight and Pinkie took a bus to get to their houses, while Swift and Thunderlane lived close enough to the mall to walk home. Both of them were silent for most of the walk home until the last few blocks to Swift's house, where Thunderlane broke the silence. "Well.....that could've gone a bit better for you couldn't it?"

"Yeah, It could've." Swift replied while looking down at the pavement.

"Don't worry dude, It was just one double date! It was a freak thing."

"Yeah, I made a fool of myself in front of Pinkie."

"If it makes you feel better, I think Pinkie is too blinded by planning a party for me to remember what a fool you were."

"Gee thanks Thunder, you always know just what to say."

"I'm serious man! I'm sure by Monday, Pinkie will forget all about what happened."

"You think so?"

"Probably, It's Pinkie Pie dude, I'm sure she'll act as normal as Pinkie can at school."

"I hope so." The two finally arrived at Swift's house in the suburbs, where they both stopped. "Well, thanks again for coming dude, I don't know what would've happened without you."

"I'm sure things would've gone just as well dude. But seriously, If you want my advice, I highly recommend getting some confidence around Pinkie, maybe try meeting her in more casual ways, ya know?"

"Well, she did offer to let me join the party planning committee." sheepishly replied Swift.

"There you go! Do that, and get used to being around Pinkie Pie. If you do that, you won't be as nervous around her, and you'll be able to ask her out on a real date!"

Swift quickly gained a look of confidence and determination in his face. "You're right! I can't let one awkward moment in a date get me down!" Swift then triumphantly pointed his finger up at the sky. "Mark my words Thunderlane, someday soon, Swift Justice will get a date with Pinkamena Diane Pie!"

Author's Notes:

I hope you all have enjoyed reading the story so far! Special shoutout to CogWing, who played a HUGE role in creating the story, and hope he keeps helping me make it even better! Don't forget to comment your opinions, and like!

A Pretty Premonition and a Perfect Plan!

Where, where am I?

Swift Justice opened his eyes to see that he was in a room unfamiliar to him. He was in a classroom, but not one he's ever seen before. All that was in the room with him were a few rows of empty wooden desks, an oaken teachers desk; devoid of any papers, pens, or the like, two bookshelves in the back, and a white board in the front of the room with nothing written on it. The only light that was in the room was coming from the large windows in the side of the room. Swift looked out the window to see the sun setting over a long field of green grass. The sky was a beautiful array of reds and oranges blending seamlessly together.

It's almost nighttime, but why am I still in school? wondered Swift as he turned around. That is when he first noticed the exit to the room was next to the teacher's desk. Well, I better leave before I get in trouble. Swift thought as he made way to the door on the opposite side of the room. When he was halfway to the door, he heard what sounded like a female voice coming from within the room.

"So you came." said the female voice. Swift turned around to see that a girl was looking out the window that he was just looking out of a moment ago, but heSwift couldn't see her face.

"Y-Yeah, I guess. But where are we?" asked a confused Swift.

"You read the note right?"

"What note?" asked Swift. He looked down to his left hand to see that a small scrap of paper was folded up in his hand. He opened it up to read what it said.

Meet me in the English room after school. I want to talk to you about something important. was scrawled on the scrap in pink ink. It was after looking at the piece of paper he was holding that Swift noticed what he was currently wearing. He wearing brown loafers, blue dress pants, a black blazer with the emblem to some school he was unfamiliar with stitched onto the upper right hand side of the blazer, and a blue neck tie. "What the- How did I get this?" Swift asked to no one in particular. After making up his mind that he'd find out later, he looked back up at the girl who was still staring out the window. "Um, excuse me, do you know where we are? Or how I got here?" he asked politely. After a few seconds, the girl turned around in what seemed like slow-motion. Swift watched as the slow motion hair slowly flew out from in front of the girl's face, revealing it to be none other than Twilight Sparkle; the new exchange student. She was wearing what Swift assumed to be the uniform for female students who went to whatever school they were currently in. She was wearing brown slip ons, knee high socks, a red and black plaid mini skirt, a black blazer with the school emblem, and a crimson red bow tied around the collar of the blouse she was wearing under the blazer. Twilight herself had a look of worry on her face as she tried her best to meet Swift's eyes.

"Twilight, is something wrong?" asked Swift out of concern. Twilight looked down to the floor.

"Well, I asked you to come here because....because I need to tell you something." Twilight quietly replied.

"What is it?"

Twilight looked as if she was struggling to think of something to say. "Swift, I....I..."said Twilight as she held her hand up to her chest and looked at Swift with a serious look on her face. "Swift. I can't hold back my feelings for you anymore!" she shouted.

"WHA-WAIT, WHAT!?" was all Swift could get out before Twilight immediately tackled him to the floor of the classroom. It was quick. It was as if one second Swift was wondering where he was, and the next, he was being pinned down by Twilight, who had her legs on Swift's lower body, and was holding his arms down. Swift could've done something, If this apparent bookworm didn't somehow have greater upper body strength than him.

"Please, don't hold this against me." Twilight whispered as she took a hand off of Swift's left arm in order to untie the bow on her collar and unbutton the top two buttons on her blouse.

T-Twilight! What are you doing!? thought Swift, that was it; thought. Swift had just noticed that for some reason, he couldn't move any part of his body. He tried to move his arms; nothing. He tried getting out from under Twilight; nope. He tried to yell or tell Twilight to stop; nothing. Swift was completely at the mercy of the girl sitting on top of him. After trying everything, he saw that Twilight was starting to bend down closer and closer to his face. It too was in slow motion, as Swift could slowly feel the warmth of Twilight's body come close to his own. With each passing second, he could also feel her warm breath come closer to his face. The restrained young man could do nothing but watch as Twilight closed her eyes and slightly puckered her lips as she came within mere centimeters of Swift's face. He was shocked! He didn't know what would happen, until he felt Twilight's face brush against his own. Swift cringed in fear for a moment as her face came into contact with his, but it didn't feel like he would've expected. Instead of what Swift thought would be smooth skin, he felt something scratch at his face, like...fur? or whiskers? And instead of feeling the soft, supple lips of the female student, he felt something small and wet move up and down his lips. Swift then realized he had control of his eyes again, as they shot open to reveal two golden yellow eyes staring back at him. It took Swift some time to adjust his eyes, but when they focused, he realized he was staring at a black cat with a scar down his left eye. The cat was staring at him with a perfect poker face.

"What the? Beowulf?" Swift was surprised to see his pet cat sitting on top of him while licking his face. "I thought I closed the door last ni-" said Swift as he turned his head towards his door to see that a young girl with cerise hair wearing a black hoodie and green cargo shorts was slightly laughing at him. "Oh, It's you Scoots." mumbled Swift, still half asleep. "What are you doing in my room?"

"Beowulf wanted to kiss you good morning!" said Scootaloo with a smile.

"Oh did he?" Swift asked questioningly as he raised an eyebrow to his sister.

"Yeah! He wanted to be the one to wake you up today!"

"Well thank you Beowulf. Now Scoots, if you don't mind, can you leave so I can get ready?"

"Sure, but I have one question."

"Shoot"

"Who's Twilight?"

Swift was slightly surprised by this question. "Why?"

"You kept saying that name in your sleep"

"I did? That's weird." said Swift, who felt embarrassed that his little sister heard him talk in his sleep, tried to play it off as some sort of weird coincidence, but Scootaloo saw through his ruse and started grinning even wider.

"Who's Twilight Swift?"

"Someone from school I think." said Swift , still trying to feign ignorance.

"Is she a girl you llllliiikkkeeee??

"Ok get out now." said Swift as he pointed to the doorway behind Scootaloo.

"Oh c'mon Swift! At least give me a hint!"

"I mean it Scoots."

"Please?" Scoots pleaded with puppy dog eyes.

"Ok, that's it!" said Swift as he whipped the pillow his head was previously resting on at Scootaloo, hitting her on the head. Swift then jumped out of bed and grabbed the second pillow he used to lay on, and ran up to Scootaloo, who had just taken the pillow off of her face. "Alright squirt, I warned you! Prepare to face the consequences!" proclaimed Swift as he started hitting his sister with the large pillow.

"Swift, giggle stop!" Scootaloo said as she tried protecting herself from the rain of fluffy blows with the first pillow.

"You know how to make me stop squirt!" Swift said as he continued his relentless assault with the pillow. "Leave this place and never return!" he ordered in an extremely dramatic evil voice. Scootaloo then jumped back and gained a firm grip on her pillow.

"Never!" yelled Scootaloo as she charged towards Swift, pillows blazing. The two then entered into fierce pillow to pillow combat, using them as swords as much as pillows could as they dodged, blocked, and returned each others pillow strikes.

"Kneel down before me, and I may spare your life!!" said Swift in his evil villain voice while trading blows with his sister.

"Scootaloo kneels to no one!" Scootaloo shouted as she did her best to keep up with her older brother. They kept up their "fight" until Swift used a strategic strike to hit Scootaloo's side, knocking her to the white carpeted floor. Scootaloo started to get up again, before Swift held the pillow to her neck and gave an evil grin.

"Then I'm afraid that you've sealed your fate!" said Swift as he slowly lifted his pillow above his head, ready to land the finishing blow; when a voice called out from the floor below the two.

'Swift! Scoots! Breakfast is ready!"

"Aw Yeah! Breakfast!" said Scootaloo as she quickly got up and bolted out of Swift's room.

"Hey, get back here so I can finish you!" shouted Swift as he shook his fist at the door. The voice from downstairs then called back up to him.

"Swift, I made chocolate chip pancakes! Hurry up before me and Scoots eat them all!"

Swift's eyes widened as he heard the words chocolate chip pancakes. He quickly ran over to his dresser and threw on a white t-shirt with a shield and scale on it, a navy blue hoodie, and jeans. He then grabbed his backpack that was next to his bed, and ran out of his room and practically flew down the stairs to the kitchen. He ran in to see his sister sitting at the table; devouring three pancakes covered in syrup. Swift's mom was wearing a simple grey sweatsuit. She had her back turned away from the two, as she was in front of the stove making more pancakes for them. Swift grabbed a plate and put two pancakes on it. He then proceeded to drown them in maple syrup before grabbing a fork and sitting at the table across from Scootaloo. While slowly starting his own pile, he watched as his younger sister was already on her second stack of pancakes. She was destroying the stack, only ever stopping to swallow a forkful of pancake, or to take a gulp of orange juice.

"Don't forget to breath Scoots." teased Swift.

"Shwat awp." said Scootaloo, who still had a forkful of pancakes in her mouth.

Their mom quickly piqued into the conversation. "What was all that racket about upstairs?"

"Shwift ashaulted mwe-" Sootaloo was saying before her mother interrupted her.

"Can you tell me without a mouthful of pancakes honey?"

"Showwe" said Scootaloo before swallowing her food. " Swift assaulted me with his pillows when I went to wake him up."

"Why did you assault your sister with pillows Swift?"

"I warned her what would happen If she stayed in my room when I needed to get ready." Swift defended.

"I would've left if Swift would just tell me who Twilight is!"

"Who?" asked their mother as she turned her head to look at Swift.

"A new girl at our school, I told her that but she still wouldn't leave." said Swift as he shifted his gaze back to his sister. "So I had to use reasonable force to get her out."

"Why did you want to know about who the new student was?" asked Swift and Scoot's mother. At this question, a sly grin crept across Scootaloo's face.

"Because Swift kept saying her name in his sleep."

"Oh really?" asked Swift's mother as a surprised look on her face turned quickly to a smile. Swift's mother noticed that Swift was staring at the floor of the kitchen as he was tapping his foot, a sign from him she had come to realize after a few years meant he was embarrassed about something. The smile on her face almost doubled in size "Is she cute?" Swift quickly blushed at this question.

"Mom!"

Swift's mom giggled, "Sorry sweetie, I'm just curious." she said as she started to put the frying pan into the dish washer.

"Are you gonna ask her out Swift?" asked Scootaloo as she put her syrup covered plate and fork in the dishwasher.

"Don't you have a carpool to catch?" retorted Swift, who was now crossing his arms and staring at the floor, and despritialy wanting to change the subject..

"Sweetie Bell sent me a text saying that her and Rarity were running late." countered Scootaloo, who's grin crept from ear to ear. "And don't try changing the subject! Do you really like her Swift? C'mon tell us!" said Scoots as both her and her mother were now staring at him.

"Well she's nice and all, but I think that it'd be good for us to just stay friends." quickly replied Swift. Scootaloo didn't seem convinced. She opened her mouth to ask another question, but just before she did, a loud honking could be heard from outside the house. Scootaloo looked confused and took out her phone to check her messages.

"That's weird, Sweetie didn't send me a message." said Scootaloo. As she said that, Swift's phone buzzed in his hoodie's pocket. He took it out of the pocket and read the new message he had gotten.

1 New message from: Flash Sentry

Flash: Dude I'm by your house, let's go!

Oh thank god! thought Swift as he quickly flung his backpack over his shoulder as he ran out of the kitchen "Sorry, that's my ride I gotta go BYE!!" shouted Swift as he left the doorway.

"Hey, get back here so I can finish asking you questions!" shouted Scootaloo in reply, repeating what Swift said earlier. Swift ran quickly through the main entrance of his home. Beowulf was halfway up the staircase to the house; high enough so Swift as he was running by, could pat the black cat on the head twice.

"Bye Beowulf, be a good kitty, guard the house while I'm gone!" Swift said to the cat, who replied with a slow meow. Swift them burst through the front door, and saw Flash's impressive looking car sitting in front of his dive way. He then dashed over to it and quickly opened the passenger side door, revealing the black leather interior. He threw his bag to the back seat before sitting in the passanger side seat.

"Hey dude, what's the rush?" asked Flash.

"It's nothing, let's just get to school!" quickly replied Swift as he made motions with his hands to go. Flash shrugged as he put his foot on the gas pedal. They were then off to the school. Swift and Scoot's house was within walking distance, but due to the face that their friends ofter drove to school and their house was on the way, their friends offered to drive them as well. The two friends sat in silence, both staring out the front window as Flash drove them to school. After a few minutes Flash started up a conversation.

"So Swift, kind of an important day huh?"

"It is?" asked Swift in confusion.

"Isn't the meeting for joining the Party Planning Committee today?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot that was today!" sighed Swift. He was so troubled by the dream he had last night, and the pestering by his Mother and Scootaloo that he failed to remember that it was today.

"So let me ask, do you have a plan?" Swift turned his head to Flash and raised his eyebrow to him. Flash re-phrased the question. "Do you have a plan for the whole Pinkie thing?"

Swift now understood Flash's question and began explaining how it played out in his mind before. Swift said that by joining the PPC, he would be able to work with Pinkie Pie during his time there. By helping out there and being around Pinkie more often, he believed that it would cause him to grow more used to being around her, and as such, would be able to talk to her more often and not freeze up if she just happened to pop out of anyplace as she was known to do. And also by being there, he theorized he's learn more about Pinkie. What she liked, what she didn't like,and maybe if she liked him. Swift thought the plan was genius! He would eliminate his shyness and be able to learn more about Pinkie, two birds with one stone! It was so simple, yet it was also genius, it was simply genius!

"Sounds good to me." replied Flash, not taking his eyes off of the road. "So what was up with you bolting out of your house back there? We're not late for school." Swift froze at this question, he didn't want to tell Flash about the dream with Twilight. If he told him, who knows what Flash would've reacted, so he chose to play it safe.

"Scoots was being super annoying this morning. She wouldn't stop playing that one song her and her friends wrote a few weeks ago. It was so loud and annoying that I thought I was gonna go mad if I stayed there any longer."

Flash nodded "Oh yeah, the Internet Fame Crusaders right? Did you see that video for the new song they posted the other day?"

"Yeah, I've never seen so many dislikes on one video." answered Swift.

"Or the comments." added Flash

" Scoots asked me what I thought of their music, and just as I was about to answer, that's when you texted me. Good timing, I didn't want to hurt Scootaloo by telling her I think their band stinks."

Flash laughed at this, "Dude, have you met your sister? She doesn't give a crap what you think. She'd give a crap if Rainbow Dash told her that her band sucked."

"I think that would destroy her."

"It probably would." snickered Flash as he drove up to the school parking lot. When he parked the car, the two got out and looked at the school ahead of them. "You ready for this Swift?" Flash asked.

"You bet Flash, I can do this, I CAN DO THIS!!!"

---------------
Canterlot High: In front of music room #3 the meeting place of the PPC
3:00 after school

"I can't do this, I can't do this!" said Swift as he was standing outside of the music room in which the Party Planning Committee was meeting in. Swift stared at the double doors for a few minutes, trying to think, trying to move, trying to do something. Swift stared at the door until he suddenly got a hard slap to the back. Swift yelped and did a 180 degree jump to see that both Thunderlane and Flash Sentry were standing behind him. " Stop doing that! I'm nervous enough!" angrily said Swift.

"C'mon dude, go in there and party plan it up!" Flash said encouragingly.

"Yeah Swift, the only one out of the three of us who says you can't do it is you." added Thunderlane.

"Guys, I really can't do this, I'm freaking out!" said Swift.

"But what about the plan Swift?" asked Flash.

"Screw the plan, I think I'm gonna bolt. Sorry guys, I can't do this." Swift said as he tried walking past his two friends, before Thunderlane grabbed his shoulders and turned him to look Swift in the eyes.

"Swift, you've been wanting to ask Pinkie Pie out for at least two years now, right?" asked Thunderlane.

"Y-Yeah"

'And out of all the attempts you've gone through to try and talk to her, this seems like the way to go right?"

'I..I guess."

"Well what's stopping you? By joining the PPC, you can get over your shyness and ask Pinkie out. This is the greatest chance you have with this girl, and you shouldn't let it slide."

"You think so Thunderlane?"

"I know so! You know it, I know it, and Flash knows it! Swift let me give you some advice. Sometimes you need to toss away your worries and fears, and just go for it!

"Toss away your worries and fears huh?' asked Swift to no one in particular. He closed his eyes and thought about it for a few seconds before opening them again. "You're right Thunderlane, I need to just go for this! I can't let this opportunity slide!" said Swift with newfound determination.

"Thatta boy Justice! But just to let you know, we weren't giving you a choice about going in there." Flash said from behind Swift.

"Huh? I thought you guys just came here to encourage me," said Swift in confusion.

Thunderlane answered, "Well yeah, we came to do that, and also well....THIS!!" In that moment, Thunderland quickly spun Swift around to face the music room door again. Flash quickly opened one of the double doors of the music room, and Thunderlane gave Swift a hard shove, effectively pushing him into the room. Swift turned around only to see Flash slam the door shut.

Party Cannon Mishaps

Swift looked back at the double doors to the room. He tried opening them, but it quickly became apparent that Flash and Thunderlane were holding the doors closed. After trying to open it a few more times, he failed due to the fact that both Thunderlane and Flash were much stronger than he was. After stopping, he angrily banged his fist against the door.

"I hate you both!" angrily said Swift.

"You'll do great dude, now get going!" said Thunderlane from behind the door.

'Yeah man, party plan it up!" encouraged Flash from behind the door.

Swift sighed and turned around to view the music room. It was a large room, maybe 100 people could fit in it setting up. On the walls, there were posters of scale charts, inspirational posters, and posters for musicals and concerts from previous years at the school. There were instrument cases of all sizes lining the white walls of the room, as well as many different percussion instruments like a bass drum, big chimes, xylophones, and regular drums against a corner at the end of the room. The room aside from that and a large counter with smaller pieces of equipment was barren. Swift walked to the center of the room, there was no one else in the room with him. Swift checked his wrist watch, 3:07 seven minutes after the committee meeting was supposed to start. Swift thought he had possibly gotten the room number wrong and turned around to see something completely unexpected! In the room behind him was a large cylinder like object with a gaping black hole at the end pointed right at him! Upon further examination, Swift saw that the object was connected to two pink wheels with flower designs on each side. Swift inspected it from all angles before asking an obvious question.

"What the hell is a cannon doing here!?" Swift questioned as he stared at the object in question. Swift was flustered he wasn't sure what to do! Weapons weren't allowed in school, and last he checked, a cannon was kind of a dangerous weapon. Although remembering its non threatening appearance, Swift wondered if it was some sort of prop for an upcoming play or musical by the drama club. Swift crouched down in front of the piece of heavy weaponry in order to look into the hole at the end of it to see if it was loaded. After focusing his gaze on the center of the hole, a sudden pile of what only could be described as pink fluff exploded out from the cannon, stopping just short of Swift's nose. Swift let out a sharp GAH! before tumbling backwards. Swift looked at the pile of fluff emanating from the mouth of the cannon to see that it wasn't moving. After a few seconds, Swift got back up in a crouching position and crept up to the fluff. After some consideration, Swift reached out to touch the pile of fluff, before the fluff quickly moved up to reveal a human face. The owner of the face's identity escaped Swift for a moment as he let out another GAH! before falling on his rear and backing up slowly. It took him only a few seconds to realize the face staring back at him belonged to none other than Pinkie Pie. She looked at Swift with a grin.

"Oh Hiya Swift! Are you here to join the party planning committee?"

"P-Pinkie!? Wha-why are you in a cannon!?" asked Swift, too shocked to become frozen in the presence of Pinkie.

"Oh, well you see, I just got this really cool party cannon! It's supposed to fire out party supplies with each fire! I went inside to clean it and make sure it works, but I guess it was fine, and before I knew it I got stuck." explained Pinkie as she let out a giggle.

Swift was trying to wrap his head around the idea of the existence of something like a party cannon. "Where do you get one of those?"

"I got it off the back of a comic book!" said Pinkie.

What kind of comic book sells heavy artillery? wondered Swift. He looked around the room once more before looking back to Pinkie. "Pinkie, where's the rest of the committee?"

"Oh, didn't you get the announcement? Our adviser had a family emergency, so we're rescheduling the meeting to next week. "

"Oh, ok.W-well anyways, y-your stuck right? Do you...need help?"

Pinkie tried wiggling out of the cannon, but to no avail. "Hmm....I think I might need some help. Can you try pulling me out Swift? asked Pinkie with puppy dog eyes.

"Um..y-yeah, sure. Hold on." said Swift as he looked around the cannon once again, not finding any sort of way to open it up before returning to Pinkie.

"Pinkie did you climb in through the hole?"

"Yeppers! I climbed in head first!"

"Wait, If you climbed in head first, then how are you-" Swift was about to finish until a voice coming from the right of him spoke up.

"Darling, I'm afraid trying to associate logic with our dear Pinkie is a lost cause."

Swift looked to his right to see a girl wearing a white blouse and a dark purple skirt, along with dress shoes and a diamond hair clip. Her hair was a moderate magenta, and was stylized into luxurious curls Swift recognized this girl as Rarity Bell, the older sister to Scootaloo's friend Sweetie Bell.

'Oh hey Rarity." said Swift.

"Hiya Rares!" cheerfully added Pinkie.

"Hello Swift and Pinkie.What seems to be going on here?" asked Rarity as she walked towards the two others and the party cannon.

"Pinkie ordered a party cannon from a comic book and tried to clean it, but she got stuck inside." explained Swift.

"Just another Wednesday for our dear Pinkie." said Rarity with a shrug. "Anyways, let's try getting Pinkie out of this cannon shall we? Swift, I'm gonna hold onto the cannon to make sure it doesn't move, you grab a hold of Pinkie and pull her out!" said Rarity as she knelt down to the cannon and put her arms around it.

'What do I grab?" asked Swift as he looked at Pinkie.

"Oh! Here you go Swift!" said Pinkie as she struggled to bring her arm out of the cannon.

"Wait, if you can pull out your arm-"

"Pinkie dear!" said Rarity.

"Right,Right," said Swift as he grabbed Pinkie's hand. "Alright, ready? on three! One....Two....THREE!!" Just then, Swift pulled Pinkie's arm as hard as he could, as Rarity held onto the cannon as hard as she could. They pulled for a few minutes, until Pinkie spoke up.

"Umm guys, can we stop? I think If you keep pulling me, I'll turn into taffy. OOHH! If I was taffy, I wonder what flavor I would be. Would I be grape, cherry, strawberry?"

"You'd defenitally be pink lemonade." thought Swift out loud.

"Yeah! Great thinking Swift! Aww, now I want taffy I wonder if I'll be able to get to Sugarcube Corner soon."

"Darling, I think we have a more pressing issue to resolve." said Rarity.

"Rarity's right, let's try again." said Swift as they tried to pull Pinkie out of the cannon again. They tried the same way as before, they had Rarity help Swift pull Pinkie's arm, they tried to lift the cannon, but it wouldn't budge. After a few more minutes, they took a break from trying to pull Pinkie out.

"Pant...Pinkie Darling....Sigh You're quite stuck there." said Rarity , trying to catch her breath.

"I know Rares, I guess trying to fit in the party cannon was a not so supertastic idea huh?" said Pinkie as she gave a weak smile.

"Pant probably....pant...not." added Swift, who was also out of breath and sitting in front of Pinkie and the cannon.

'Wow! You two are out of breath already!? You guys must be really out of shape."

"I've been busy!" said both Rarity and Swift in unison. Swift was in front of Pinkie and the cannon, looking for any new way to get her out as Rarity walked to the back of the cannon and looked at the string on the back.

"This cannon is just a prop of some sort correct?" asked Rarity as she grabbed the string.

"Wait, Rarity! Don't pull the-yoink" but it was too late, Rarity gave the string a light tug, and almost immediately, an earth shattering BOOM!! filled the room as Pinkie was launched out of the cannon. Swift was unfortunate enough to be standing in front of the cannon when Rarity pulled the string . In a flash of a second, Swift saw Pinkie jet out of the cannon, alongside a large amount of confetti, streamers, balloons, and other party supplies following suit. Swift acted quickly, and grabbed Pinkie and pulled her in close. Pinkie's momentum was enough to sent her and Swift flying to the back of the large room, when suddenly Swift hit a wooden cabinet in the back of the room which shook as they made contact. They stayed there for a few moments, enough for Rarity to gasp in horror.

"OH MY GOD! PINKIE! SWIFT! ARE YOU OK!?" she yelled frantically as she ran up to the two students lying up against the cabinet. Swift shifted a little as he opened his eyes to Rarity.

'Oww, aside from my spine possibly being broken, I'm ok." said Swift rubbed his head with his right hand.

"Oh dear, I'm so terribly sorry! I thought that cannon was a cheap prop! Neither of you are seriously injured are you!?" asked an extreamley concerned Rarity.

"I think I'm ok. Wait...Is Pinkie ok?" Swift asked as he looked down. He saw that he was embracing Pinkie Pie! His arms around her gently, holding her close to his chest, but not too tight. He could feel the warmth of her body close to his own. This only lasted for a moment though, as Pinkie's head shot up apon hearing her name.

"Oh I'm fine, but that was super duper fun!" said Pinkie with a huge grin on her face. "I'm even more fine because Swift saved me from crashing head first into that cabinet! Are you ok Swift?"

'Uh...umm y-yeah, I think I'm good." said Swift as he started blushing and ignoring the stinging in his back. He slowly stood up and helped Pinkie to her feet as well. She smiled at him and giggled. She then quickly draped her arms around Swift's shoulders and brought him in for a tight hug, much to Swift's surprise.

"Thanks for saving me from that cabinet Swift! You're my hero!" Pinkie giggled as she brought him in tighter than before

Swift was stunned, all he could focus on was the fact that Pinkie just called him her hero, and that she was hugging him tightly. He was as motionless as a statue in reality, but in his mind, he was flipping out. OhmygodOhmygodOhmygod!!!Pinkie Pie is hugging me really tight! I'd focus more on the fact that she was probably unintentionally further damaging my spinal column, but I'm too damn happy right now! Pinkie Pie holding me in a close, warm embrace! And she does smell like cotton candy! Flash owes me five bit-bucks! God, I wish this moment could last forever. But sadly it could not last forever, as nearly a split second later, all three of them could hear the door to the room quickly open, followed by the sound of heels pounding against the floor.

"WHAT HAPPENED HERE!?" shouted a female voice. The three students all felt a shiver go down their spines as they turned around to see a woman wearing a purple pants look around the room in shock until her eyes rested on them and her brief look of shock was quickly replaced with a scowl, accompanied by sharp, piercing eyes. It was also at this point the students saw the aftermath of the party cannon's blast. There was confetti, streamers, and glitter all over the floor in front of the party cannon. The students looked at the woman in shock, fear, and silence.

"WELL?" asked the woman in an extreamley assertive voice.

"V-Vice Principal Luna! We...I can explain!" said Rarity, trying to find her words in the presence of one of the scariest members of Canterlot High's faculty.

"Alright then Ms.Rarity, explain what all this is!" exclaimed a very angry Luna. Rarity recounted everything that had happened in the past fifteen minutes to the vice principal. How Swift found Pinkie stuck in the party cannon, how the party cannon got there, how they had tried to get her out of the cannon, and how she had pulled the sting to the cannon. Luna just stood still and stared at her the whole time, only ever nodding occasionally. When Rarity's explanation ended Luna took a few seconds before speaking again.

"Ms. Pie, may I ask why you brought a CANNON TO SCHOOL!?" asked Luna, with no attempt to hide the anger and annoyance in her voice. Pinkie Pie looked at Luna with a frightened look on her face.

"Well, when I ordered the cannon first, I thought it'd be like a fun little toy! Like maybe a slightly bigger party popper or something. But when It came in the mail, It was an actual cannon! I didn't know what to do with it since the ad said no returns, so I thought we could use it in the Party Planning Committee and I brought it here for the meeting!" explained Pinkie.

"Ms Pie, you should know better than to bring any sort of weapon to school, even if that weapon's ammunition is party supplies! You weren't careful, and one of your fellow students got hurt because of it!" said Luna as she pointed toward Swift, who was slightly hunched over and rubbing his back. Pinkie took a quick look at Swift as her hair seemed to deflate a bit as she looked down to the ground. Rarity looked at Pinkie and then to Luna as she entered the conversation.

"Vice Principal Luna, It was my fault Swift got hurt. We were trying to get Pinkie out of the party cannon wen I pulled the firing string of the cannon, I didn't think it would fire!"

"Ms. Bell, I applaud you for standing up for your fellow student, that doesn't excuse Ms. Pie for bringing the cannon to school in the first place!"

Rarity pleaded "I realize that Ms. Luna, but please! Don't just punish Pinkie. For harming Swift and causing this ungodly mess, I'm just as at fault here! If you're going to punish Pinkie, than please punish me too!"

"Very well, you both can spend the next few days cleaning up this room, and then going to detention. Does that sound fair?" asked VP Luna.

"Yes ma'am." said Pinkie and Rarity in unison.

"Alright, now on to more pressing matters." said Luna as she turned her attention towards Swift as her former angry demeanor changed to a softer, more concerned one. "Mr. Justice, are you alright? You look like you took quite the blow."

"I think I'm fine, but I did hit that cabinet really har-WOAH!" said Swift as he shifted his gaze towards the cabinet he crashed into to see that one of the doors on the bottom part had a very large crack in it stretching from top to bottom. "That cabinet aside, I think I'm fieeeeeyyyyen!!" said Swift as he tried to stand up strait, only to go back into his former half-hunch and rubbing his back. "Ok....Ok....that hurt! That really hurt!" The two students gasped while Luna kept a cool head.

"Ms. Bell, can you please escort Mr.Justice to Nurse Redheart's office?"

"Oh, of course! Let's go Swift." said Rarity as she gently put her arm on his back and led him out of the room. When Swift and Rarity left the room, Luna turned her attention back to Pinkie.

"Ms.Pie, please follow me to my office, we need to further discuss the consequences of this incident."

"Yes Vice Principal Luna."
---------------
Justice Residence
Friday 4:15pm

Swift was lying down in his bed while reading the newest book of the 'Idiots and Exams' manga series. After that incident with the party cannon, Swift was sent to the nurse's office, and then the doctor's office. Swift was lucky that nothing was broken, but his back was seriously strained, and was told to rest for a while before he went back to school. It was getting later in the year, and the sun started setting earlier than it did in previous weeks. Swift was reading his book while it was being illuminated by the soft rays of light coming from the window to the right of his bed. He was so absorbed in his book, he didn't even hear someone knock on the front door to his house, or the muffled talking coming from below, or the sound of two pairs of feet climbing up the stairs, he finally became aware of his surroundings when he heard a knock at his door. He looked over to the door as it creaked open slowly to show his mother peeking in.

"Swift, you have a visitor." said his mother, who had a smile on her face.

"A visitor, who is it?"

Swift's mother turned her attention to whoever was with her. "He's in there. Don't worry, he's ok!" said his mother as she made way for whoever was next to her. Expecting to see Thunderlane, Flash, or one of his friends from the table tennis team, Swift was surprised to see the person entering the room was Pinkie Pie! She was wearing pink jeans with a white long sleeved shirt with pink sleeves, and three balloons on the chest area. Her hair was still somewhat fluffy, but it had the appearance of a half deflated pink balloon. She was carrying a white box in her hands.

"I'll leave you two alone for now." said Swift's mom as she quickly closed the door in front of her, leaving Swift and Pinkie to be the only two occupants of the room.

"Hiya Swift." said Pinkie as she offered a weak smile.

"H-Hi P-Pinkie" said Swift as he dropped the book he was reading to his lap.

"Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah a little. The doctor said nothing was broken, and that I just needed to lie in bed for a few days until my back healed up."

"Oh, that's good." said Pinkie as she set the white box on Swift's nightstand. She stood for a few seconds in awkward silence until she spoke up. "Um..Do you mind if I sit down?"

"O-Oh No! N-Not at all!" said Swift as he felt his cheeks warm up a bit. He moved his legs that were under a cyan blanket so that Pinkie could sit on the side of the bed. The two of them sat in awkward silence for a few a few seconds, with Swift looking down at his lap and Pinkie staring at her feet. After about a minute in silence, Swift attempted something he thought was impossible; start a conversation with Pinkie Pie. He tried thinking of conversation starters, but decided to go with the first coherent phrase that came to mind. "S-So....uh....what brings you down to this neck of the woods?"

"Uh..well..I wanted to say sorry for what happened Wednesday with the party cannon." said Pinkie without looking at Swift.

" Oh that's ok Pinkie, it was an accident."

"Yeah, but you still got hurt."

"Yeah, but it got me out of a Trigonometry test, so it's all good." said Swift as he offered a smile. The comment seemed to work as Pinkie started to smile as well. "So..um, If you don't mind me asking, what happened with you and Rarity? VP Luna looked pretty mad."

"She was really super mad. She said it was against school policy to bring cannons to school, even if they're of the party variety. She yelled at me for a few minutes and at the end of it made me clean up all the party supplies from the music room, but it wasn't super bad because Rarity helped me with the clean up. Since it was an accident Rarity didn't have to help, but she decided to anyways! Isn't she super generous?"

"I thought she HAD to help because she pulled the string."

Did she? I don't remember. Anyways, after we cleaned up, some guys removed the party cannon from the room and Luna gave me detention, and then I felt super bad for you for getting hurt, so I got you a present and came here, talked to you, and now we're talking about me after the party cannon incident!" Pinkie continued to ramble on as Swift interrupted her.

"Wait, a present? For me?"

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot!" said Pinkie as she reached over to the white box on the night stand and set it on the bed in front of Swift."I hope you like it! I made it myself!" She motioned for Swift to open the box. Swift lifted the top flap on the box and looked in to see a small, circular cake! It had light purple frosting, and had a message written on it in red gel. The message read.

I'm sorry for flying out of a cannon and headbutting you across the music room, making you fly into a cabinet filled with music stuff that broke.

Looking at the message while wondering how long it took for Pinkie to write it, he didn't even notice her moving closer to him on the bed until she once again wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in for a gentle hug. It lasted for a few seconds until Pinkie broke it off and looked into Swift's eyes.

"Do you...like it?" Pinkie asked with a smile laced with worry.

"Y-yeah, it's awesome! I love cake!" Swift said as he gave Pinkie a beaming smile. Seeing this is apparently just what Pinkie needed, as she immediately had a large grin on her face, and her hair was now back to maximum fluffitude.

"I know right? I was thinking about what to get you to say I'm sorry, so I thought nothing said that better than an 'I'm sorry I headbutted you out of a cannon cake!' " At this sentence, both Swift and Pinkie heard what sounded like a soft giggle coming from the outside of the room. "Did you hear that Swift?"

"Yeah, unfortunately I did." Swift said with a sigh. He looked around the room for a brief moment before he saw the book he was previously reading. He picked it up and flung it at the door as hard as he could. The book made a loud noise as it hit the wooden door, and a louder yelp could be heard from beyond it.

"MOM! STOP EAVESDROPPING!" shouted Swift in anger.

"Sorry dear!" said Swift's mom from behind the door. Swift then heard his mother quickly running down the stairs and into the kitchen. He turned back to Pinkie, who was laughing. "Sorry about that." said Swift

"That's ok!" said Pinkie as she went into a rare serious mode. "So, um.. are you still gonna join the PPC after what happened? The meeting has been re-scheduled for next week Tuesday if you want to come, but I don't blame you if you don't want to."

"N-No! I still want to join the PPC! I really do!" said Swift in a desperate sounding manner.

'Really, you do!? YAY! You're gonna love the PPC, I have lots of friends who do it! There's Bon Bon, and Lyra, and Featherweight, Big Mac,Vinyl Scratch, and Flitter! You've already met Rarity and she just joined. Ooh! And just wait until you meet our club adviser, he's a hoot and a half!" cheerily said Pinkie.

"I can't wait." said Swift. "So...uhm do you wanna help me eat this cake? I couldn't finish this if I tried. As if on que, Pinkie reached behind her and pulled out two small paper plates and two plastic forks from who knows where and handed one of each to Swift. The two dug into the small cake, demolishing half in almost fifteen minutes. It was chocolate with strawberry filling, Swift's favorite. As the two continued eating, Swift stared at Pinkie as a thought occurred to him. Hold on, I'm having a conversation with Pinkie Pie and I'm not freaking out. This is great! Thunderlane was right. After just two days of talking to her, I already got two hugs, a delicious cake, and a free pass from a test! This is happening faster than I thought, I can't wait to tell Flash and Thunderlane about this!, but for now, Swift was focusing his attention on having cake with his high school crush of two years, savoring each moment as if it were a bite of the moist, succulent cake that was on his plate, spending this time wondering if this plan would go as smoothly as they were going now.

Author's Notes:

* Spoilers, It won't! It was hard to write this chapter because my PC kept freaking out on me. As always, I hope you all enjoyed this latest chapter, and expect the next one sooner than later! As always, feel free to comment on how you think the chapter went!

Joining the Party Planning Committee: For real this time!

It was now the Tuesday after the party cannon incident. Swift Justice's back was now healed up enough so he could go to school the following week; although he's admit that even if his back still hurt, he would've go through the pain with a smile on his face today of all days, because today was the day that Swift was going to join the school's party planning committee. Joining the committee was essential to his plan to getting closer to Pinkie Pie, and with no party cannon this time, there was nothing stopping him from doing just that!

It was a few minutes before first period was going to start, and Swift was trekking his normal route to his first period chemistry class. The whole time, he looked so happy it appeared that he would eventually break into song if any sort of happy music started to play. Swift entered the dreadfully bland chemistry room as he noticed that as always, Twilight Sparkle was already there before even the teacher, sitting at her desk and reading a book. As Swift walked up to his seat, Twilight looked up from her book to meet Swift's eyes.

'Oh! H-hey Swift! How's it going?" said Twilight; trying her best to sound nonchalant.

"Hey Twilight, things are going good. How about you?" Swift asked as he slouched down in the seat next to Twilight.

"Oh ya know, same old same old. I just got the new A.K. Yearling book, I just started reading it yesterday." said Twilight as he lifted up the book so Swift could see the title.

"Daring Do and the Dragon's Claw. Is it good?"

"It's....ok. I've read it up to about the halfway point, but so far it isn't as good as the older books, and I should know 'cause I kinda own all twelve." said Twilight as she gave an awkward grin. Believing this was lame considering Daring Do was more of a young teen book series, she quickly tried to save the conversation by changing the subject.

"S-so Swift, my friend Rarity told me about what happened last week with Pinkie, are you ok?"

Swift gave a slight chuckle. "Yeah, I'm fine it was an accident."

"Rarity said she accidentally blasted Pinkie Pie out of a cannon, with you in firing range."

"Yeah, that kinda did happen. But I wasn't seriously injured and Pinkie apologized so it's all good."

"Oh that's good! Why were you there in the first place?"

"I was going to join the school's party planning committee!"

"We have a committee for parties?"

"Yeah, I went there to join but it got cancelled and was rescheduled for this afternoon. It sounded like it could be a lot of fun so I thought about trying it out."

"That's really cool, it sounds like fun!" said Twilight.

After that conversation topic seemingly dropped, Twilight glanced around the room quickly before speaking again.

"So, Swift there's kinda something I...want to ask you."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Well, um...you see, um..I thought.....well, I was wondering If you could, or well...if you'd want to.." Twilight started to sound a bit skittish as she looked away from Swift and started to twirl her bangs with her index finger.

"Twilight, is something wrong?"

"What? phfftt, No! It's just that I..." Twilight started to trail off as she gazed down to a textbook on her desk. She suddenly picked the book up and quickly got out of her seat. " I....just remembered that I needed to return this history textbook to Rarity! She really needs it for first period." she said; followed by a bit of nervous laughter. Before Swift could respond though, Twilight quickly fled the room; leaving him all alone.

"What was that all about?"

-------------
Later that day in room 301

It was a study hall period in Ms. Cherilee's classroom. The room was abuzz with the voices of students spread out in the room in their own little cliques. Among the students were three girls sitting in the back of the room in a triangle position with their desks. The girls included Twilight Sparkle herself, and her friends Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash was currently in the middle of talking about the school soccer team wining the latest game.

"So anyways, we only have like fifteen seconds on the clock, and the game is tied right? the ball is on our side, the girl with it is a total slowpoke, Cloud Kicker gets the ball from her and runs over to the other side of the field, before she can get surrounded by the other team's defenses, she kicks the ball to me. The ball comes at me with the speed of a bullet and what do I do? Without a second thought I run with the ball over to the goal and kick it harder than any member of the soccer team has before! I kicked it so hard that it goes over the goalie's head before she can react and goes right through the net! I scored the team the winning goal and the crowd went wild! Another victory for the soccer team, and It all thanks to me" proudly proclaimed Rainbow Dash as she pointed to herself with both of her thumbs.

"Gee Rainbow, that story gets better every time ya tell it." Applejack said with no attempt to hide the sarcasm in her voice.

"I know right? It's like it gets twenty percent cooler each time I tell it!" said Rainbow Dash who apparently didn't catch her country friend's displeasure of hearing that story for the sixth time.

Twenty percent cooler mah ass Applejack thought to herself as she turned to Twilight; who had her head down on her desk for the twenty minutes they were in the classroom.

"You alright sugar cube? Ya haven't said a word since we got to class." Twilight remained soundless as Applejack tried speaking to her again. "Is somethin' the matter Twi?"

Twilight gave a muffled response. "I messed up."

"What was that sugarcube? Ah couldn't quite catch that."

"I messed up with Swift."

'Come again?"

Twilight slowly lifted her head up to face her friends with a disheartened look on her face. "I tried talking to Swift Justice today before first period, but I royally messed up."

"Messed up trying to talk to someone? How do you do that?" questioned Rainbow Dash.

"That's what I wanna know." said Applejack. Both friends watched as Twilight began explaining what had happened.

"Well, for the past few weeks I've been here, I've had first period with this guy named Swift Justice. He seems like a really nice guy, and it's because of some advice he gave me when I first arrived here that I met you two and the others." Applejack and Rainbow Dash nodded as Twilight continued. "Anyways, I want to get to know him better, so I thought I'd ask him if he wanted to go to Sugar Cube Corner with me after school to just talk or something. So today when he came into the classroom, we talked for a bit before I tried asking him, but when I tried to ask him, I......"

"Got cold feet?" asked Applejack.

"Crashed and Burned?" added Rainbow Dash

"Yes" answered Twilight. " I was so nervous I could barley form a coherent sentence. I felt so nervous babbling like an idiot that I made up an excuse to get out of the room. It couldn't have been any worse." she sighed as she held her head up with her hands. Applejack gave her a reassuring pat on the back.

"Don't worry sugarcube, ah'm sure it wasn't that bad."

"You weren't there AJ, I sounded like a brainless idiot!"

Rainbow interjected "I don't get it. He's just one guy, what's the big deal about asking him out?"

"The 'deal' is Rainbow; that...I've never asked anyone out on a date before, so I was really nervous as to do it for my first time. I got so nervous about messing it up that I choked." after that explanation, Rainbow Dash still had a questioning look on her face while Applejack gave an understanding nod before speaking again.

"Well Twi, If ah could make a suggestion, If you wanna see where things can go with this boy then maybe ya should start small. Instead of psyching yourself out by thinking about asking him on a date, think of it as just spendin' time with a friend. If you get comfortable about spendin' time with him, then asking him out will get a bit easier. And if things don't really work out, you still got a new friend. It's a win win situation!"

After hearing this piece of advice from Applejack, Rainbow Dash shot her a skeptical glance.

" Uuuuuh.....AJ? not to sound rude or anything, but what exactly do you know about starting a relationship? You haven't exactly....well.....been in one." Rainbow Dash reminded her. This statement was met with a cold glare from the cowgirl.

"Well, ah'm not sayin' ah'm an expert on relationships, but I've seen enough relationships on tv an' in real life to understand how it happens!"

Rainbow Dash groaned as she face palmed. "AJ, I love ya, but that stuff is all fake! That's no way to start a relationship!" she stated as she turned her attention back to Twilight. "Look Twi, take it from someone who's actually been in a relationship. You can't just act all nonchalant about this! You need to act!"

"What did you have in mind Rainbow?" asked Twilight out of genuine curiosity.

"I'll tell you like it is Twi, asking a guy out is like playing a game of soccer. When you see a chance to get the ball in your opponent's net you need to go for it! Otherwise, some other girl can steal the ball from you and kick the ball into your goal! The same goes for when you like a guy, if you want to go out with him, you gotta act fast! Or else some other chick will come along and take him! You understand?"

"I...guess I get where you're coming from." Twilight sheepishly admitted.

Applejack intervened. "I get where you're comin' from too Rainbow, but ah don't think actin' fast is the way to go for someone like Twilight, ah think it's best for her to take it nice and slow, and see where it goes." This comment was not met well by Rainbow Dash.

"How do you know that'll work!? Or some other girl won't do what I said and go for him while it happens? Acting fast is the best way to go. That's how I got my boyfriend last year." Rainbow retorted.

"Yeah, and remember how well that turned out?" Applejack said under her breath, but apparently Rainbow Dash heard her and shot daggers towards her.

"Is there something you want to add Applejack?" Rainbow asked as she started to lean closer to her friend.

"Yeah, there is somethin' I wanna add Rainbow, you tried that tactic last year with Soarin' and sure it worked, but if I remember correctly, your relationship took a divebomb about a month later and you two haven't spoken since!" Applejack said as she started to lean closer to RD.

" That wasn't my fault! I mean sure he was cute and good at sports, but he thought the Cloudsdale Crusaders could beat the Canterlot Wonderbolts! What an idiot right? The Wonderbolts could thrash the Crusaders any day!"

"That's his opinion! What kinda numb skull lets something like a soccer team determine how well their relationship will go!?!" AJ deadpanned.

Rainbow Dash jerked back as if struck with the weight of Applejack's insult. She took a few seconds before speaking again with a brash tone. "Well....Well... at least we went out! That's still one more relationship than you miss wise old sage!"

"It's not mah fault ah don't have a boyfriend! Ah'm too busy with school and working on the farm for a relationship!" Applejack said in an angrily defensive tone.

"That's a load of bull shit and you know it! I know for a fact that there are times where Granny Smith forces you to get off the farm and do something. And what do you do then? You come over to my house and we play video games and watch wrestling.You've never even tried to get a date!"

"That ain't none of your business Rainbow! And ah can get a date whenever ah want!" Applejack nearly yelled. At this point, both girls were butting heads with each other. Twilight was a bit frightened by how quickly fights seemed to escalate between these two. Not wanting this to possibly go into fisticuffs, Twilight attempted to try something to get them to stop.

"Um..hey girls, people are starting to stare." said Twilight as she sank down in her chair.

The other two girls took a moment to look away from each other to see all eyes in the room were staring at them. Even Ms. Cherilee was looking up from the romance novel she was reading to give them a cold glance. Both of them looked around the room before they gave each other one last cold glare before turning away from each other. Rainbow Dash got a binder out from under her chair and immediately started reading it.

"I gotta study." said Rainbow Dash with a grunt. Applejack followed suit by taking a textbook from her bag and opening it up.

"Me too." quietly replied Applejack. Both girls did nothing but read over studying material while Twilight stared at them.

"Thanks....for the advice girls." Twilight said as she laid her head back down on her desk. Thinking over what both girls said, each had a valid point. But after thinking over the pros and cons of each, she couldn't decide which method to use. She thought back to her conversation with Swift before to try and figure out which peice of advice would work best. She played each sentencs in her mind to see if she could come to any conclusion. She was at a loss for ideas for the most part, until she remembered one detail in which he spoke of joining the party planning committee that day. After going over this tidbit of information, Twilight believed that she had an idea on what to do next.

----------------
Outside Music room 3
After school

Swift Justice was having yet another stare down with the double doors to the music room. The memories of what had occurred the Wednesday before were still fresh in his mind; from the 'support' Flash and Thunderlane gave him to the loud BOOM!! of the party cannon that shot him across the room. Just thinking about it sent a slight chill down his spine. But there was no time for lying on the odd moments of the past Swift thought to himself; nope, there were parties to plan and a girl to sweep off her feet. Swift steeled himself as he took a deep breath and after one more look at the door he grabbed the handle and yanked it open. Swift took two steps into the room to see about thirty students in the room. After glancing around to make sure there were no party cannons anywhere in the vicinity, Swift continued further into the room as he heard the door close behind him. The room was abuzz with conversation, with student talking about what went on in their day, and what kinds of parties they'd be planning, and while Swift recognized a few students from around the halls and classes like Vinyl Scratch, Bon Bon, and Caramel, he couldn't help but feel like a fish out of water due to not really knowing any of them. He tried asking Flash and Thunderlane to come with him, but Flash had band practice, and Thunderlane said he needed to fix his motorcycle (his attempt at an excuse Swift believed.). While waiting for something to happen, Swift walked around the music room in an attempt to seem less awkward to anyone who may have been looking at him. While walking around the room, Swift was looking around for any form of direction of what he should do, and the club adviser. (definitely not Pinkie Pie) he looked everywhere except where he was going, and knocked right into someone.

"W-woah, sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going!" Swift said as he looked at whomever he walked into.

"Oh, that's ok! I wasn't paying much attention to my surroundings either." said the girl he had walked into. The girl turned around to reveal herself as none other than Twilight Sparkle. "O-oh hey Swift!"

" Hey Twilight! I didn't expect to see you here."

"Well, one of my new years resolutions was to be more active in school. I stink at sports, and after I spoke to you earlier today I thought hey, party planning committee sounds fun! So here I am!"

"That's cool. I heard it was a lot of fun, so that's why I joined too." Swift admitted, although it wasn't the MAIN reason he wanted to join. Having Twilight there with him felt like a weight off his shoulders. She was actually someone here he knew, and was already friends with. "So Twilight, do you know if we're supposed to do something, or where the club adviser is?"

"Not really, I heard he was running a bit late, I think...we're....supposed to..." As Twilight continued, Swift noticed a look of shock and confusion spread across her face.

"Twilight? Is something wrong...again?" he asked out of concern. The only response he got was Twilight pointing at something behind him. Swift turned around to see a white pair of eyes staring back at him. He made a slight gasp as he instinctively jumped back, once again knocking into Twilight. Now being able to see whatever this oddity was in its full form, the look Twilight had spread across Swift's face as well.What was staring at him was someone wearing a blue and red skin tight suit with black lines going down and across the red parts. The weirdest part was that this individual was upside down, hanging from the ceiling by means of a long streamer! Both students were speechless for a few moments until Swift slowly walked back up to the costumed person. He looked up and down trying to grasp the physics defying logic that was going on in front of him before speaking again.

"S-Spi-" was all Swift could get out before the individual put their finger on his lips and spoke.

"Sssshhhhh!!! You can't say that name here! It's copyrighted!!" the person whispered in a very feminine voice before doing an impressive flip and landing on their feet.

"W-wait, wha...who are you?" asked a confused Swift. The costumed figure gave a slight giggle before speaking again.

"Just your friendly neighborhood party planning president!" said the figure as she reached behind her neck and pulled a zipper. As she pulled, it appeared a huge mound of cotton candy was coming out of the back of her neck. Swift only needed to see the hair for it to make sense to him what was occurring as the girl took her mask off completely to reveal that she was none other than Pinkie Pie.

"Hiya Swift! I'm glad you showed up! Welcome to the committee!" she happily exclaimed as she pulled Swift in for a back breaking hug.

"T-thanks..Pinkie....glad..to." Swift chocked out. Pinkie kept it up until she finally noticed that Twilight was still staring at them dumbfounded. Pinkie let out a loud gasp as she dropped Swift like a sack of potatoes and pulled Twilight into another back breaking hug.

"Omygosh Twilight!? Why didn't you tell me you were joining PPC? OmygoshOmygoshOmygoshOmygosh! This is so super exciting! We're gonna have tons of fun planning parties and hanging decorations, and holding fundraisers, and baking cupcakes, and It's gonna be the greatest time ever!!!!" You're gonna love it!!"

Twilight didn't respond as she was let go. She gave Pinkie another dumbfounded look before turning her attention to the streamer Pinkie was hanging onto. She gave it a small tug, which caused it to fall to the floor. She stared at it for a moment before turning to Swift, who could only shrug to express his confusion on the feat Pinkie had just performed.

"P..Pinkie how?...how is this possible!?..how did you-" Twilight's questions were cut short by a female voice coming from behind Pinkie.

"Darling, I'm afraid if you try to make sense of our dear Pinkie pie, you'll just end up with a headache." Twilight tilted to her left slightly to see Rarity coming up to them from behind them.

"Its because I have super powers!!" excitedly exclaimed Pinkie.

"You have super something alright Pinkie." said Rarity before turning her attention to the other two students. "I apologize for the scare Pinkie gave you two, she was helping me out in the drama department when she came across our costume room and kept trying everything on."

"It was amazing! There was a soldier's uniform, a bridal gown, a ghost costume, a bear suit, a cat suit, old people clothes, monster costumes, togas, and dresses and everything! The costume room was amazing!" Pinkie squealed.

"Why thank you for saying so Pinkie, many of the costumes in there were expertly tailored by yours truly." proudly stated Rarity as she put her hand on her chest.

"They were all great Rarity! But this one feels a little tight."

"Well that's no surprise Pinkie, it was made to fit a smaller sophomore. It's probably a size or so smaller than your size. That being said, could you please take it off? We need it for an upcoming performance and we really don't need it to be stretched out."

"Sure Rarity, I probably should too. This thing is really tight in the rump." Pinkie admitted as she patted her backside with her hand, (something that didn't go unnoticed by Swift.). Swift then felt the blood rush to his face as he saw that Pinkie was quickly unzipping the whole costume right in front of him.

"P-Pinkie! Do that someplace more priv-" is all Rarity could let out before the costume in question was thrown in her face.

"It's ok Rarity! It's not like I'm naked or anything!" said Pinkie. And that was true she definitely wasn't naked, for it appears she was wearing a french maid outfit underneath the original super hero costume; complete with heels , hat and feather duster.

"Pinkie, how did...sigh" Rarity gave up trying to question her friend and instead rubbed her forehead to ease her newly born headache. The conversation ended when everyone in the room heard the doors slam open. The loud room fell dead silent as everyone looked at a man who had entered the room. He was tall, and wearing a large black raincoat with the hood up. This man had a very imposing presence as he slowly walked into the room. When he reached the middle of the room he surveyed the area until his eyes rested upon Swift and the girls. He then gave a small grunt and strode towards them, they could hear his footsteps hitting the hardwood floor as he stopped just in front of Swift. Swift looked up to see that he was staring at him with piercing green eyes. Swift stood in silence as the man began to speak in what sounded like a gruff voice straight out of a country western film.

"Haven't seen you around these parts stranger." the man said, apparently waiting for Swift to respond.

"Uh..yeah, I wanted to join the party planning committee sir." Swift said in a sheepish manner. The man squinted to get a better look at the young man.

"Hmmm....What's yer name boy?"

"S-Swift Justice sir." Swift replied. After hearing this, the man's eyes shot wide open as he turned his head to the left. Swift turned to see what he was looking at. It was the large wooden music cabinet that he had crashed into the week before, and it still had a large crack in it. He turned his head back to look at the man staring at him.

"Swift Justice? So you're the kid who broke my cabinet!" he shouted as he scrunched his face.

"Y-Yeah, I'm really sorry about that." Swift replied in a docile manner. The man lend closer to Swift as he continued to speak.

"And you have the guts to waltz back in here, look me in the eye, and think that just by sayin' sorry that you can get into MAH party planning committee?" The man asked as he raised his eyebrow at Swift.

"W-well I-"

"Well ah have a question for ya kid." the man stated as he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a party popper and put it in front of Swift's face. "When you're at your last party, and you're staring down the barrel of the last party popper in the room ya gotta ask yerself, do ya feel lucky punk? Well? Do ya!?" The man asked as he poked Swift in the chest with the popper. Swift braced himself before giving the man an answer.

"Y-yes?"

POP!!

The party popper the man had let out its contents of confetti and small streamers with a small burst. Swift looked back up at the man who was now grinning ear to ear.

"Well......If that's the case." he said with a now comical tone, completely different from the threatening deep country accent he had. He threw off his raincoat, which landed on a nearby chair perfectly. Swift could now see that the man was very lean. He had poofy brown hair and light orange skin. He was wearing a yellow polo shirt, and dark brown pants with accordion suspenders attached to it.

"Then welcome to the party planning committee kid!" the man exclaimed as he grabbed Swift's hand and gave it a wild handshake. He shook it so hard and fast that when he let go Swift's arm was still flailing wildly. When he realized his arm was free, Swift stopped shaking it. He gave the man a questioning look.

"W-wait, so you're not mad?"

"What? No! Vice Principal Luna explained everything to me! Accidents happen right? Plus if anything you did us a favor! That cabinet's a piece of junk! And by getting knocked into it, we can now get a new one!" he happily exclaimed.

"W-Well glad I could be of help." Swift said as the man now bounced back to the center of the room.

"Alright everyone, thanks for coming here to join the party planning committee! As many of you already know, I'm Mr.Sandwich, and in addition to being a music teacher here in Canterlot High, I'm also the club adviser here! I see a bunch of old members of the committee here, as well as a bunch of fresh faces! I hope you all have a blast during our time here and have fun making parties be the best parties they can be! Anyways, there should be a clipboard being passed around here, so make sure to sign your name on it! So without further ado, I now give the floor to your one and only club president, Pinkie Pie!" he said enthusiastically as Pinkie hopped up to where he was standing in high heels.

"Hehe, Hi everyone! Let me start by saying how super awesome it is to see everyone here come together to throw parties! All year, we'll be working our tails off to throw all kinds of parties, shindigs, hoe downs, and all sorts of stuff to make this the best year ever!! People don't want to be bored all year long, so It's our job to put a smile on all of their faces and make this the best freshmen, sophomore, junior, and senior year they've ever had! It's really super simple, we come up with an event, and we have lots of fun making it happen! That's the gist of what we do here! Any questions?"

A freshman rose her hand in the small crowd of students and began asking a question when Pinkie called on her.

"What's gonna be the first party we plan?" This question was met with everyone in the room talking to one another about the subject. It took Pinkie blowing an air horn that she pulled out of her hair to quiet them all down.

'I love doing that! But back to your question....I don't know what our first party plan is! Mr. Sandwich?"

All eyes turned to Mr. Sandwich who had a small shoebox in his hands with a small opening at the top. "That's what we're going to find out right now! In this box contains a bunch of different parties and events that we can plan! And whatever one gets pulled out will be our first one! So now, drum roll please!" he said as he dug his hand into the opening. Pinkie ran over to the nearest snare drum and started wailing on it with some drumsticks that were besides it. She continued as Mr. Sandwich pulled out a folded piece of paper. Pinkie stopped playing as Mr. Sandwich opened up the paper and began to speak.

"The first thing we're planning is..........A GIRL'S CHOICE DANCE!!" this was met with a chorus of yays and clapping from the crowd. Mr. Sandwich waited for them to calm down before speaking again. "Alright everyone, we now know what kind of party we're gonna be planning, we need to talk about the slightly less fun setting up for a super fun dance! So now let's get to it!" Mr. Sandwich began explaining what the club entailed and what was required to start the event. He passed out all the necessary information to the students as he spent the rest of the club time talking about everything they needed to do before the dance.

After the meeting concluded, Swift left the school to start the ten minute trek back to his house. Now being an official member of the committee felt like a real accomplishment to him, as a major stepping stone on the road to successfully ask out Pinkie Pie was just passed. With this swell of pride in his chest, he felt that he could definitely see his plan working. His thoughts did briefly turn to the upcoming girl's choice dance and wondered if Pinkie would possibly ask him to that. The thought of that occurring greatly excited him as he continued down the path to his home.

"One part down, a bunch of parties to go!"

Author's Notes:

OMG, I'm sorry it took so long for me to release this new chapter, It's been mad as hell where I live with schoolwork and life commitments and the like. I'm gonna try to publish more quicker and I'm happy a bunch of you stuck around to read this! Anyways, I had tons of trouble writing this chapter and it went through a ton of rough drafts before being finished. That being said, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, I know I did writing it! As for Mr. Sandwich, It made sense to me to make him the club adviser as he is the super duper party pony in Equestria! Plus let's admit it: We've all had a teacher like Mr. Sandwich at some point in our lives.

My Little Pick Up Artists: Part 1

Canterlot High Cafeteria
Monday, 12:17pm

Flash Sentry, Swift Justice, and Thunderlane were sitting at a small table in the cafeteria.where they were all eating what was actually food, and not normal cafeteria garbage. Swift was utterly demolishing a turkey sub while the other two gave him questioning looks.

"Dude slow down, you'll eat your hand if you keep going that fast." Thunderlane said as he took a sip of his iced tea. Swift gave him a nod with a muffled mhmmf before swallowing the mass of food he was eating.

"Mmf, gulp Sorry Thunderlane, I'm just freaking out a bit." Swift replied as he stuffed the other half of his sandwich down his throat.

"You've been really quiet today, what's up Swift?" asked Flash; who seemed as if he knew what was troubling his friend.

"I have a big oral report in history class next period, and I'm super worried about it!"

The smirk that Flash had quickly turned to a look of confusion, but before he could speak Thunderlane spoke up again.

"What teacher?"

"Harshwhinny"

Thunderlane's face turned sour at the mention of quite possibly his least favorite teacher. "Oooh, that sucks man, she's tough."

" I know right? It's bad enough I have to speak in front of the whole class, but trying to not look at her with that medusa stare of hers is hard. That look can turn anyone to stone."

"Yeah man, the only teacher worse than Ms. Harshwhinny is Coach Iron Will." Thunderlane said with a chuckle.

"Oh god yes, doesn't he hunt down students who try to cut gym?" asked Swift, to which Thunderlane replied with a nod.

"Wait, Wait, Wait." said Flash as he held his hand up in front of them. " That's why you're nervous? I thought It was because of the dance coming up."

"The dance? I think I'm more excited than worried about that. With all the stuff we've been doing in the committee, I'm really looking forward to the dance."

"I've been meaning to ask about that, how has being in the party planning committee been?" asked Flash

"It's been really cool. Granted it was a bit boring near the beginning of the planning with just deciding where everything was going to be set up and how, but as it went on it got more exciting. We''re gonna set up a photo booth, Mr. Cheese broke out a huge disco ball that he had from before, and Vinyl Scratch is going to be the DJ for the whole night! I actually think we blew most of our budget for the sound system Vinyl brought in. In addition to the regular sound stuff, Vinyl got her hands on these massive speakers that she's gonna put up on the stage with her. I swear those things are twice as big as me!"

"Wait, you mean like the ones they use in concerts? How did she get her hands on those?" inquired Flash.

"I dunno, She said she knows a guy." Swift replied with a shrug. Both friends exchanged nervous glances as Swift continued. "So speaking of the dance, either of you guys know if you'll be going yet?"

Thunderlane gave Swift a shrug as he slouched back in his chair. "Nah not yet, but I have nothing better to do Friday, so if a girl asks me I'll go. How about you Flashy boy?"

"I really wish you'd stop calling me that." said Flash with a sigh. "But actually, two girls already asked me; Cloudkicker and Roseluck."

"That's awesome man! So who are you gonna go with?" asked Swift.

"Well......I don't know yet." said Flash as he gave a nervous chuckle. " I'm actually waiting to see if someone else would...ask..me." he continued as his eyes started opening a bit wider. Swift looked over his shoulder to the rest of the Cafeteria where Flash was staring at. Swift saw that Twilight Sparkle had just entered the cafeteria. She walked over to the area where the food was being served. After she had payed for her food, she glanced over to where the three young men were sitting. Flash and Swift both waved to her while Thunderlane just gave her a simple head nod. She smiled at them and gave a small wave in reply as she started to walk towards them. She only took about three steps before stopping dead in her tracks a few feet away from the table. She shifted her gaze from the guys and her lunch tray a few times before she said something under her breath and did a heel turn to walk to the other side of the cafeteria where her friends were sitting sans Pinkie.

"Hm, I wonder what that was about?" Swift said as he watched Twilight walk over to her friends.

"Yeah, I wonder." Thunderlane said sarcastically as he glanced at his friend.

**********

Twilight walked over to where her friends were sitting in the cafeteria and sat in between Rarity and Fluttershy. She had a frustrated look on her face as she stared down at her food. Rarity and Fluttershy looked at her in concern while Rainbow Dash and Applejack didn't lift their respective gazes from the table. Both girls were still clearly on ends about what each one said to the other a week prior, only ever giving the other the occasional quick glance.

"Twilight darling, what was that about?" asked Rarity.

"It...sigh...It was nothing Rarity." Twilight said in a very indifferent manner.

"It certainly doesn't sound like nothing to me." Rarity said as she looked over to the direction in which Twilight was initially going towards to see the three young men sitting by a table talking about who knows what. She turned to give Twilight a knowing grin. "Oh...this "nothing" wouldn't have to do with any of the boys sitting over there, would it darling?"

Twilight didn't respond herself, but the appearance of a slight blush on her cheeks was all the fashionista needed to see, she chuckled to herself as she began to speak again. "Oh come now Twilight, there's no need to by shy. We're all friends here! You were about to ask one of those boys to the dance! Weren't you!?" Twilight gave a small nod to Rarity as she continued. " All three of them are fine looking young men, which one tickles your fancy darling?"

"W-Well, I kinda-"

" I seem to recall you saying you've been enjoying Swift Justice's company in first period since you've arrived here. Like I've said before, our sisters are close friends so I know him a bit more than the other two. He seems to be a bit of a bookworm himself as I've seen him in the school library reading some book or another on more than one occasion. He's a bit reserved as far as I can tell, but I also know for a fact that he's very kind. Smart, bookish and kind, I'd say he'd be a good match for you Twilight."

"Yeah, he seems....nice." replied Twilight with a small smile as Rarity continued with her rundown of the boys.

" Sitting next to him is Thunderlane, I also remember Pinkie talking about how you, her, Swift, and Thunderlane went on a double date a while back. I've never associated myself with him, but from what I've heard around school and my eyes and ears around Canterlot he seems to me like a male Rainbow Dash of sorts, being that he is incredibly athletic, but rarely puts any effort into anything he does."

"Hey! I'm right here!" Rainbow Dash nearly shouted as she scowled at her friend.

"You didn't let me finish Rainbow!" Rarity retaliated as she scooted her chair away from the table slightly. "I was about to say, with that being said, he does show great enthusiasm working with motorcycles and going racing them. And from what I've heard puts his heart and soul into any one he works on; the same with you and sports!"

"Oh, well I guess that makes sense." Rainbow sheepishly admitted as she slouched back in her chair while crossing her arms.

"I've also heard that he's very loyal to his friends, and is always willing to help them out. Has a motorcycle, loyal, and quite the looker if I may be so bold to say. Overall a bit rough around the edges, but still prime dating material."

"I'll give you that, he is really cute. We did have fun on that double date like you said. We played a couple rounds of air hockey, but I think he let me win." Twilight admitted with a chuckle, her spirits being raised as the conversation continued.

"And that leads us too.." Rarity said as she shifted her gaze to the last boy, who she looked at with a sly grin. "Flash Sentry! Now what isn't there to say about him? He's the lead guitarist of his own band called Flash Drive, which I've heard, they're quite good, but I can never seem to remember the name to any of their songs. Flash is what many girls would describe as the complete package with looks, smarts, a car, and from what I hear from a trusted source, a good kisser."

"Really, what sources have you heard this from?" asked Twilight.

"Like I said before darling, my sources. Any who, I've personally spoken to him on numerous occasions, and I believe he may have a soft spot for a certain bookworm we all know?" Rarity said as she waggled her eyebrows at Twilight.

"Me? R-really?" Twilight asked with disbelief.

"Yes darling, I know from.....past eexperiences that Flash Sentry admires you somewhat! Isn't that wonderful?"

"Y-yeah I guess so." Twilight replied in a somber tone.

"Is something the matter Twilight? You don't seem very happy about that."

"Oh I am! It' just that....they're all such great guys, It's gonna be hard to pick."

"I can see that it will be, but you better act quickly Twilight! The dance is at the Friday of the next week, and every guy in the school is sure to be asked within the coming days."

"Yeah, thanks Rarity, I'll remember that" Twilight said somberly. Rarity nodded at her friend before turning her attention to her other friends.

"While we're on the topic of the dance, does anyone else has plans for the dance save for moi? Fluttershy?"

The pink haired girl let out a slight eep as she looked down at her lunch tray. " Um.....no, I don't have a date for the dance Rarity, I'm not even
sure I'll be going this year." Rarity let out a slight gasp as Applejack chimed in.

"Ah'm with Fluttershy on this un'. There's too much farm work that needs to be done before winter comes around."

Rarity stared at both of her friends in utter astonishment. "B-But girls! This is our junior year of high school! We only have so many souoraes left before our graduation next year! Are you saying you don't want to make the most of your high school experiences!?"

Applejack was the first to respond. "Ah never said anythin'bout not makin' the most of it. It's just that ah need to get as much farm work done as ah can before winter! I'll still go to other shindigs like prom and the like, but now mah priorities are all on the farm at this point."

"And how about you Fluttershy? Is work for the animal shelter going to keep you from this dance?" asked Rarity.

" Um....It's not that Rarity, it's just that.....that I don't know who to ask to the dance, or how. I'm not sure if you've noticed for the past oh, ten years but I can be a bit......ya know,.......shy?" Stated Fluttershy in a rare showing of sarcasm from her. Rarity either didn't notice her friend's attempt at sarcasm or chose to ignore it as she smiled at her friend.

"Why Fluttershy, is that all? If you just need to ask someone else out, that's easy! If you need assistance in finding a boy to ask out, then I humbly offer my aid!"

" Oh I don't know Rarity, would that really be ok? I mean you have your store to run right? I couldn't possibly take you away from your work."

"It's no trouble Fluttershy, business has been slow as of late , and I would feel absolutley dreadful at the dance knowing one of my friends wasn't able to go when I could've helped them." Rarity assured.

"Well.......alright, if it's no trouble.....I'd like having your help."

" It's no trouble at all darling! Just come down to the boutique later today so we can begin discussing who you want to ask for the dance." And with that, Fluttershy nodded her head in agreement as Rarity shifted her attention to Rainbow Dash, who was devouring a burrito. "Rainbow Dash, I didn't get an answer from you, are you going to the dance with anyone?"

"Mmrf....dat....gulp! that's a good question Rares." said Rainbow Dash as she turned her head to face the near multitude of students sitting in different places around the cafeteria. Her gaze shifted from table to table, looking at where all of the different cliques were were sitting; the jocks, the preps, the dramas, the techies, all until her eyes landed on Thunderlane, who was walking in the direction of the group's table to put his lunch tray away. "Hey Thunderlane!"

"What's up?"

"You, me, the dance, how 'bout it?" Rainbow asked.

Thunderlane shrugged " Sure, I'll pick you up at seven."

Rainbow nodded "ok cool" she replied as she turned her head back to face Rarity. "I'm going with Thunderlane."

"Rainbow Dash! That was rather rude, I'm sure Twilight was just deciding if she was going to ask him to the dance!"

Rainbow Dash mimicked the shrug Thunderlane did a moment ago. " Hey, ya snooze, ya lose."

Rarity was about to offer a retort when Twilight spoke up " It's alright Rarity, I wasn't really thinking of asking him out. He doesn't really seem like the kind of guy I'd really click with."

"Well alright If you say so Twilight, but be sure to take this as an example on how a boy can be snapped up just like that!" Rarity said as she snapped her fingers for emphasis.

"I'll be sure to remember that Rarity." Said Twilight as she started to eat her lunch, which allowed for Rarity to turn her attention back to Applejack.

"Now darling, are you sure you don't wish to partake in the festivities with us? Pinkie was telling me earlier that this is quite possibly one of the best parties the committee has ever planned."

" Like ah said before Rarity, it.........it doesn't really seem like the kinda dance I'd really be into." Applejack replied in a noticeably somber tone. Rarity took notice of this as her questioning look changed to a look of concern.

"Applejack, is everything alright?"" asked Rarity.

"Yeah, everythin's fine Rarity, ah.....ah gotta go." Applejack said as she grabbed her tray and walked away from the table, leaving all but Rainbow to exchange worried glances.

"I hope Applejack re considers, I'd hate for her to be the only one of us to not go to the dance." said Rarity.

"Oh I would too, it'd be sad to leave one of our friends behind." Added Fluttershy.

"I wonder what's wrong with Applejack?" asked Twilight. All eyes then turned to Rainbow Dash who let out a long sigh.

"Oh AJ, she's probably over working herself on the farm again." Rainbow said as she glanced at her Stetson hat wearing friend leaving the cafeteria. " When winter starts coming around she always freaks out about not getting enough work done on the farm and ends up working herself up about it and gets all depressed. It happens every year."

" I can see why she gets worked up. Winter isn't exactly a good time for growing apples." said Rarity.

" Yeah, but they don't need to worry about that! Just the other day, Granny Smith was telling me about how the farm has made the most money it's ever made in sixty years this year! They're set until the freaking summer! And even then, they'd still have some pocket change." Rainbow Dash explained. " Like I said, Applejack gets like this about this time of year for no reason! And I think she needs to just loosen up and have some fun!" She said as she gained a sly gleam in her eye. " And I think I know just how to help her out." Rainbow said as she took her phone out of her pants pocket and started texting rapidly.

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the overly long wait! It's just I've had so many problems with my technical stuff that it's been an absolute nightmare to try and work on this. But here it is! I'll still try to get the other chapters out sooner so thank you for bearing with me!

My Little Pick Up Artists: Part 2 The Boutique

Rarity was concentrating intensely as she fixed the hem of a dress carefully. When she finished, she let out a long sigh as she admired her handiwork. Several dresses were placed on mannequins around the room, each one she had worked on and finished herself. Dances were often a big source if business for the boutique, girls from the school practically dumping their dresses on Rarity's lap as she tried to perfect a stunning dress of her own. But this time it wasn't so bad. With the Fall Formal only a few months ago, most girls either opted to save their money and go with the dresses they used then, or have Rarity make minor adjustments with them. As Rarity finished with the last dress, she heard a sound coming from the front room of the store.

Ringalingaling

The sound of the doorbell was followed by a quiet voice. "Umm...Rarity?"

"I'm in the back darling, I'll be right with you!" Rarity called out to her friend. Fluttershy always had a knack for impeccable timing, as she would always come to Rarity whenever she needed help, or right when she was done with something. But now, it was time for Rarity to help her friend with something challenging for the pink haired animal lover; talking to boys. Rarity let out a sigh, Fluttershy was shy enough just having a boy speak to her, let alone holding a conversation with one. If a boy ever came up to their group of friends, she'd either keep quiet the whole time or hide behind one of them. And now she had that same girl trying to go to a dance by doing the exact opposite of what she's been doing for her whole life.

Rarity, you have your work cut out for you. she thought to herself as she picked up a notepad, a pen, and her copy of last year's yearbook on a nearby table before entering the front room of the boutique. Fluttershy had her back to where Rarity was, and it appeared that she was eyeing up a row of dresses varying in design that were all created by Rarity.

"See anything you like darling?" Rarity asked as she approached her friend. Fluttershy quickly turned around to face her.

"Umm....no....I-I mean I was just looking...your dresses are wonderful Rarity, but I already have a nice dress you made for me." Fluttershy stammered. This caused Rarity to chuckle.

"It's alright Fluttershy darling, I know what you mean. And don't be so shy about looking at dresses, especially ones created by moi, they were created to draw the eye." Rarity assured her. "But you're not here to gawk at dresses are you dear? I believe we have some business to attend to?"

"Oh yes! So um..what did you have in mind?" Fluttershy asked. Even though she was speaking in her usual quiet manner, one could sense a slight giddiness in her voice as she spoke. Rarity motioned for Fluttershy to follow her to a circular white table in the window of the store where she set her materials down. The two then took their seats at opposite ends of the small table.

"Alright darling, what I have planned for you is quite simple really. Using my impeccable knowledge of the student body and my resources with online networking, We're going to find your ideal date to the dance!" Rarity explained.

"Ok, how are we going to do that?" Fluttershy questioned.

" Well first, your going to tell me what you're looking for in a young man. Then I'll cross reference your requirements with what I know of the boys in school and from what I get about them on the web. Sound good Darling?"

"That sounds great Rarity! Can you really do that?" Fluttershy asked with slight disbelief.

"Why of course I can! Now I don't mean to blow my own horn Fluttershy, but I like to think of myself as quite the tech-save." Rarity said proudly. " As a matter of fact, the boutique has made most of its money as of late from the online store I designed. not only that, but I also have accounts on five different social networking sites that I update regularly, and my own fashion blog! With all that being said, there's no doubt in my mind I can find you a date my dear!" she said as she picked up a pen she kept attached to the rings of the notepad. "Now darling, answer me this question; Who is Fluttershy's dream guy!?"

Fluttershy put her finger to her lip as she mulled over the requirements for her date. "Um.....well, I guess I don't really need much. He needs to be nice, that's a given of course. Oh! And he needs to LOVE animals, that's important too. Hmm.......being sensitive, that's a big one. Umm....what else is there? Needs to be kind.......love animals......sensitive."

"OOH OOH OOH! He needs to have a super sense of humor!" said a voice suddenly jutting into Fluttershy's right ear.

" Oh, a sense of humor would be nice, that's a great ideyeEEP!!" Fluttershy yelled out as she turned to her right to see her friend Pinkie Pie's face was close enough to her own so that their noses touched. She was so shocked by her friend's sudden appearance that she fell out of the chair she was sitting on.

"Oops, sorry Flutters! I forgot you don't really like surprises, are you ok?" Pinkie asked as she picked her friend up off of the floor.

" Um..I think so. W-Wait Pinkie, what are you doing here? And how did you get in here without us hearing you?" Asked a bewildered Fluttershy.

" I travel in a space between spaces" Pinkie said as she turned to face Rarity. " Anyways, There's.........kinda something I need to talk to you about Rarity."

" Alright Pinkie, but can it wait? I was helping Fluttershy plan who she was going to ask to the dance before you so rudely interrupted us." said Rarity without so much as batting an eye.

"Rarity, how are you always so calm when Pinkie just....appears, or does something out of the ordinary?" questioned Fluttershy.

" Fluttershy darling, when you've been friends with our dear Pinkamena for as long as I have, you start to build up an immunity to certain things that Pinkie does. I believe I'm at the point that nothing that Pinkie could ever do would surprise me." Rarity said as she nodded confidently.

"I doubt it.

" Did you say something Pinkie?"

" No No No! I didn't say anything! Nothing at all." Pinkie said as she gave Rarity the most sheepishly cheeky grin in all of existence.

Rarity stared at Pinkie for a few moments before turning back to Fluttershy. "Alrighty then.....so Fluttershy, is there anything else you're looking for in a guy? We have kind, loves animals, sensitive, and a sense of humor. Anything you'd care to add to the list? Any physical requirements? Tall, short, skinny, cute butt, dark skinned, light skinned, long hair, short hair, anything?"

" Umm..... Not really, it's not really important what they look like. I believe it's what's on the inside that counts, not what's on the outside."

"Aww, that's a wonderful thought Fluttershy! Well if this is all, I'll just take the requirements you gave me and work my magic!" Rarity said as she got out of her chair and walked towards her laptop which was laying on top of a counter a few feet away.

" R-Rarity wait! P-please?" Rarity stopped walking as she turned her head to face Fluttershy. "Um,...well, the thing is...... If you need something to maybe help make the list a bit easier to create, I wouldn't mind meeting a guy who has.....a bit of muscle. Oh my, listen to me! On second thought, don't add that to the list. It's fine as it is, I don't need a guy who has a tough.....manly physique." Fluttershy stammered as her light yellow cheeks started to turn bright pink. Rarity couldn't help but giggle at the sight of this.

" Nonsense darling, muscles are also on the inside. And that will very likely help with thinning out the number of boys for you. Although, I didn't take you for the one who likes big tough guys." Rarity stated as Fluttershy's blush went a shade darker.

" Well, I've always.....appreciated the idea of having someone strong who'd be there to protect me.....and hold me with their big strong arms." Fluttershy explained as she gave her friends an uneasy grin.

" Darling, haven't we all?" Rarity asked as she continued over to her laptop and opened and booted it up. "Well I believe I'll be able to create a list of perfect matches to you Fluttershy, all it will take is a bit of time, is it alright if I get back to you with it as soon as I can?"

" Oh of course! you're being such a big help to me Rarity, please take all the time you need." Fluttershy assured her.

"Excellent, I shall get this to you as soon as possible Fluttershy, you can count on me! I'll start on it later tonight, but as for now, Pinkie, what was it that you needed to talk to me about?"

Pinkie was occupying herself by playing on a pink handheld devise with two screens, completely enveloped in the game she was playing. "C'mon, C'mon you little pile of fluff! Just stay in the little red and white ball so I can keep you!" she angrily shouted at the screen. "Yes, yes, one.....two......DANG IT! It broke free!"

"Pinkie?"

" Alright, I put it to sleep, now I just gotta throw the ball and......one......DARN IT!" Pinkie shouted as she stomped her foot in frustration. "How can it break free when it's asleep!? That makes as much sense as bacon flavored ice cream!"

"Pinkie" Rarity said again, this time with annoyance.

" Okay, I'm almost out of balls, why didn't I stock up!? GGGRRRRHHH One.....two.....three!"

"PINKIE!" said Rarity sternly as she pushed the top part of the handheld closed, putting the game in sleep mode. This caused Pinkie to look up at her in great annoyance.

" Heeeeyyyy! I was trying to catch a shiny!" She said in a whiny tone.

" Pinkie, what was it that you needed to talk to me about?" Rarity repeated.

" Huh? Oh yeah, right!" Pinkie said as she put her device in the confines of her poofy pink hair for storage. "Well.....the thing is Rares, I.....kinda need a new dress for the dance." She said with a sheepish grin.

" A dress for the dance? Why of course I can help you get a new dress for the dance Pinkie, but I thought you said you were going to use the one you chose for the Fall Formal?"

" That's just it...I can't really use that dress for the dance anymore." Pinkie stated with a nervous chuckle

" Why ever not? Is there something wrong with it?" Rarity inquired.

" Yeah, there.....kinda is." said Pinkie as she reached into her hair and dug around it for a few seconds before pulling out the dress in question and holding it up in front of Rarity. The dress as far as Rarity could tell, was the same as it was during the Fall Formal. The yellow bow looked fine, the dark pink and purple skirt didn't appear to be ripped or torn, Rarity didn't see anything wrong with it.

"Darling, it looks fine to me. I don't understand why you seem so nervous about it."

" Well, it's more because of the other side." Pinkie said as she turned the dress so that Rarity could see the back. After taking one look at the back, Rarity's look of confusion was immediately replaced with a look of sheer horror. The back of the dress was severely burned, with the entirety of it being varying shades of black, charcoal, and grey with burn holes in several places all over it. Rarity stared at it in silent disbelief as her mouth started to open wider and wider as her hands reached up to clutch her face. Fluttershy saw this and grimaced as she quickly opened her book bag that she set on the floor besides her chair and pulled out two bunnies that were inside of it, which she used to cover her ears.

" Pinkie! Cover your ears quickly!" Fluttershy tried yelling as loud as she could.

" Wh?" Pinkie asked as she looked over at the pink haired animal lover who was covering her ears with bunnies. She then looked back at Rarity, who took a deep breath.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" Rarity shrieked at a volume that would make a banshee hold her head in shame. Fluttershy and the bunnies all closed their eyes as they cringed at the sound of the fashion designer's ear piercing agony. Unfortionatily for Pinkie, she took the blunt of Rarity' sonic screech and grimaced in pain as she feutily covered her ears to save her ear drums. Rarity continued to shriek for a few minutes until she slowly ran out of breath. After a few seconds of silence, Fluttershy gingerly opened one of her eyes to see Rarity was taking deep breaths, and that Pinkie was kneeling on the floor; still clutching her ears.

"P-Pinkie! Are you alright!?" asked Fluttershy as she put the bunnies on the floor and ran over to Pinkie, who was speechless. "Pinkie! Does something hurt? Can you hear me?" She asked in an extremely worried voice as she put her hand on Pinkie's shoulder. It seemed she took notice of this as she looked up at Fluttershy.

" HUH? DID YOU SAY SOMETHING FLUTTERS?" Pinkie shouted in Fluttershy's face.

" I said, are you alright?" Fluttershy said in a voice that was barley louder than before.

" AM I A KNIGHT? THAT'S A REALLY WEIRD QUESTION! OF COURSE IM NOT A KNIGHT SILLY!" Pinkie replied in confusion.

" Oh my, Rarity, I think you blew out Pinkie's eardrums." Fluttershy assessed.

"Huff...r-really? I did? Hah...Oh dear, I'm dreadfully sorry Pinkie, I honestly wasn't expecting to see such a travesty today. Huff May I ask what happened to the dress darling?"

"WHAT?" Pinkie asked in confusion. Rarity responded to this by grabbing the dress and pointing to the charred back. " OH, THE DRESS? YEAH, FUNNY STORY! I WANTED TO MAKE SURE IT WAS SQUEAKY CLEAN FOR THE DANCE, SO I PUT IT IN THE WASHER, THEN I PUT IT IN THE DRYER WHICH WAS APPARENTLY A REALLY BIG MISTAKE, BECAUSE MRS.CAKE TOLD ME THAT THEY NEEDED TO HAVE THE DRYER FIXED BECAUSE IT WAS BUSTED. I RUSHED BACK TO THE DRYER, WHICH WAS MAKING A BUNCH OF BOOM BOOM CLANK CLANK BANG BANG SOUNDS, AND WHEN I OPENED IT UP, A BUNCH OF SMOKE CAME OUT OF IT AND THE DRESS WAS BURNED SUPER BAD! I'M REALLY SORRY RARES!" Pinkie yelled out as she gave her friend the puppy dog eyes.

Rarity mulled over Pinkie's explanation for a few seconds before speaking again. " sigh...Well at least you came to me for help instead of wearing a half baked dress to the dance, no pun intended. And while it pains me to see such a wonderful dress of my own design cut down in its prime, I'm glad you decided to tell me about what happened." she said as she helped Pinkie to her feet while giving her a warm smile.

" WAIT, SO YOU FORGIVE ME?" Pinkie asked to which Rarity nodded. "AWW, THANKS RARES! YOU'RE A GREAT FRIEND!" Pinkie said as she pulled Rarity into a back breaking hug.

" OH! HACK! T-thank you for saying s-so Pinkie. cough" said Rarity as she wiggled herself out of Pinkie's embrace. "N-Now you need a new dress correct? Well I have a multitude of wonderful looking ones in the back that you can take a look at if you'll just follow me."

" UMM RARITY?"

" Yes Pinkie?"

" WOULD NOW BE A BAD TIME TO MENTION THAT I ALSO PUT THE DRESS YOU LENT ME FOR MY COUSIN'S QUINCEAÑERA IN THE DRYER TOO?" Pinkie asked as she put her free hand in her hair to pull out another dress. this dress suffered a much crueler fate at the metaphorical hands of the Cake's dryer, as any actual color or resemblance of being a dress was now destroyed, as it was completely burned all over, as it was nothing but a pile of blackish grey cloth barley being held together at the seams. The pupils of Rarity's eyes seemed to shrink rapidly, almost completely being swollowed up by the whites of her eyes as she stared at the burnt cloth.

" W-Was that....the one strap dress.......with the b-blue sequence?" Rarity chocked out as she examined the charred remains of one of her favorite dresses. Rarity got the same look on her face as before with the previous dress. Seeing this, Fluttershy gasped as she dove under the table she was sitting at earlier with Rarity as she quickly located the bunnies she used before to plug her ears once more. Pinkie; now knowing of the danger, quickly stuffed both dresses in her ears in order to protect what little sense of hearing she had left as she backed away from her distraught friend.

Rarity took a deep breath.

Author's Notes:

I think this is the first chapter of the fic without Swift in it. Also, can anyone else see Pinkie playing Pokémon? I don't know why, it just seems so fitting.

My Little Pick Up Artists Part 3: The Homefront

Applejack was walking down a long dirt road that cut through the luscious green fields that were on the outskirts of Canterlot. She was trecking her normal route back to her house after a long day of school. She ignored the green fields and cloudless blue sky today, as she was in no mood for anything today. The cowgirl huffed as she attempted to push the memories of the school day to the back of her mind. She had just spent the last hour and a half in review for her chemistry class, as per her teacher Mr. Beaker's recommendation due to her grades in that class being "Less than satisfactory" as he put it.

"Less than satisfactory mah ass." Applejack grumbled as she spat into the dirt. "Chemistry's a load of horse-pucky. When am ah ever gonna need to find the- " she said as she continued down the road to her home. She didn't have to walk long, as the farm she lived on with her siblings and their grandmother slowly came into view. It was a relatively large farm with a few acres of land filled with apple trees, a two story butterscotch yellow painted farmhouse with a dark green roof and shudders, which was right besides a large rustic looking barn, all corralled by a wooden fence that stretched around the perimeter of the Apple family's property. Applejack came up to the main gate of the farm when suddenly, She heard what sounded like thunder approaching, followed immediately by a small tremor of the Earth.

"What the hay!?" Applejack shouted as she quickly grabbed ahold of the nearest fence post and firmly planted her feet on the ground. The ground continued to shake for a few more seconds before it slowly subsided. Applejack clung to the post for a few more moments in case of an aftershock, but after five minutes of silence, she decided to continue on her way home. She walked up onto the wood patio of the house and entered the house through the front door. From the entryway, Applejack glanced to her right to look into the living room. The sole occupant of the room was her grandmother Granny Smith, a short older woman who looked after her grand kids at the farm. She was sitting in a swivel chair with her back facing Applejack as she was typing away on the desktop that was in the room. Applejack was still astounded by how quickly Granny Smith had adapted to using a computer. In the two years since they got that desktop, Granny Smith took to it like a horse to water, easily becoming the most computer savy Apple in the house aside from possibly Applebloom. Applejack thought Granny must've been on a social network site with some of the other Apples planning the next Apple Family Reunion as they did around this time of year. She decided to leave Granny Smith be as she continued forward through the entryway to the staircase that led to the second floor. The old wooden floor creaked with each step she took, and as she climbed up the first step of the stairway, she heard the swivel chair Granny was sitting in.....well.....swivel.

"Now hold it right there young lady!" a stern old voice called out to her. Applejack turned her head back to Granny Smith, who was now facing her with a "none too pleased" look on her face.

"U-Uhh...H-Howdy Granny! What can ah do ya fer?" asked Applejack as she gave her grandmother a sheepish grin.

Granny Smith raised her right hand and wagged her finger for Applejack to come closer to her. Applejack sighed as she came down the stairway and entered the living room. She set her book bag on an dusty, unoccupied leather armchair and then sat on the dustier green couch right next to Granny. She slouched back into the couch cushions as she tried focusing her gaze on anything other than her grandmother, who's stare she could feel beating down on her. Eventually, she slowly raised her eyes up to meet Granny's eyes, she felt like a child who got caught breaking a pricy vase owned by her parents as Granny Smith continued to remain mute. The silence was killing AJ, and was silently hoping that Granny Smith would either remain mute and forget about what she wanted to talk to her about, or that Granny would just talk to her to get it over with. She just wanted to go up to her room, and forget about her day. After about another minute of deadly silence, Granny Smith cleared her throat before speaking.

"So Applejack, today ah got a message on the interweb that said some stuff about ya that ah found mighty interestin'."

"gulp!.....umm.....really? What kinda things Granny?" Applejack asked in a nervous tone.

"Well, someone told me that fer some reason, you've been gettin' yer panties in a bunch about not wanting to go to some girl's choice shindig, is that true Applejack?" Granny asked as she raised her eyebrow at her granddaughter.

"Well.....ah.....y-yeah Granny. Ah guess that's true." Applejack weakly responded.

"Hmm......alrighty, why were ya so upset about it? Is somethin' going on at school? Do ah need Big Mac to hurt some feller?"

"N-No Granny!"

"Do ah need to hurt some feller?" Granny asked as she punched the palm of her hand.

"No ma'am! Ya'll don't need to hurt anyone! Nothin's going on at school, nothin' at all!" Applejack replied in a frightened tone, not wanting to bring about the wrath of Granny Smith.

"Then what's all the fuss about goin' to this dance?" Granny inquired.

Applejack didn't answer as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. At this point Applejack was as easy for Granny Smith to read as the family recipe for Apple pie. "Would this have somethin' to do with askin' out a boy?" she asked plainly.

"W-Well.....Granny, ah......uhh....umm...w-well." Applejack fumbled with her words as she went on trying to explain herself to Granny.

"Would this have somethin' to do with askin' a giiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrl?" Granny Smith joked as she raised an eyebrow at her granddaughter and gave her a sly grin. This made the uncomfortable Applejack morph into the flustered Applejack, as her emerald green eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as she faced her grandmother.

"G-G-Granny! I don't....I.....MAH BARN DOOR DON'T SWING THAT WAY!!" The young cowgirl suddenly blurted out. Granny Smith gave a slight chuckle as she nodded her head.

"Well AJ, this dance is girl's choice right? Y'all get yer pick of anyone you want! And high school is the prime time to discover yerself, right behind college of course. Believe me, ah did mah fair share of experimentin' when ah was yer age." Granny Smith explained as Applejack just stayed motionless in shock at what she was hearing from her grandmother. "Ah think ya should go to this shindig either way, the way Rainbow Dash out it in her message, it sounds like it'll be a hoot and a half!" Granny exclaimed.

Rainbow Dash....send in' that message is definitially somethin' she'd pull. Applejack thought to herself.

"I'll think about it Granny." Applejack promised, hoping it would be enough to allow her to escape back to the safety of her room.

"Well ah wish people back then weren't as high strung as they were. Back then a girl likin' a girl like that or takin' them to a dance would land ya in some real hot water with yer peers."

Applejack's eyes grew even wider as she realized what was going to come. She thought to herself Oh pluck no as Granny Smith continued with her story.

"Ah still remember it like it was yesterday. Back before ah met yer grand pappy, ah was seein' a tight little thang named Sweet Delight, and oh what a delight she was!" Granny told Applejack with great enthusiasm. Applejack grabbed onto her Stetson as she tried to pull it down to cover her entire head in feutility as Granny continued. "We couldn't go to the school dace cause of obvious reasons, so we decided to have our own fun! Ah remember takin' her and her sweet rear back to the barn and throwin' her onto a pile o' hay, she was a bit nervous at first, but ah assured her ah knew what ah was doin' and we wrestled around in the hay a bit, kiss in' and squealin' an-" Granny was cut off by Applejack standing up abruptly.

"Alright, Alright! Ah'll go to the dance! Ah'll go! Anythin' else Granny?" she asked in desperation, to which Granny smiled.

"Yeah, go an study yer chemistry, your last grade was horsepuck!"

Applejack nodded and gave Granny a quick thanks as she bolted across the room, grabbing her bookbag and running up the stairs to her room, almost knocking down her little red haired sister Applebloom down in the process as she too was using the stairs. She looked at her fleeing sister and turned to her grandmother.

"Uhh...Granny Smith, what's up with AJ?"

"Aww she's just freakin' out cause ah was telling her about the time ah took mah girl friend back in the barn and-"

"Oh ah just remembered! Ah gotta.....gotta...do the dishes! Yeah that's it! Gotta get em' done!" Applebloom said as she ran over to the doorway that connected to the kitchen that was across from the room Granny was sitting in, almost bowling into a muscular young man wearing work jeans and a red plaid shirt. She looked up at the young man before running past him. "Big Mac! Granny Smith is talkin' about her sexcapades again!" She shouted as the sound of rushing water was soon heard coming from the kitchen.

The young man named Big Mac's eyes widened as he maintained eye contact with the old woman sitting across from him for several seconds before letting out a cry of "NNNNNNNNNNOPE!" before bursting through the screen door that led outside the house. With the room she was in barren of people save for her, Granny Smith chuckled to herself.

"Works every time!

Author's Notes:

This is just a smaller filler chapter that leads up to the next, bigger chapter. (That and I just really wanted to add this scene in, no matter how pointless it is to the story.) So expect part four "The Pick Up" coming out in the......near future!

Also if you feel compelled, or if you faved this story and haven't done so already, please like and comment!

My Little Pick Up Artists Part 4: Morning in the Corner

Monday: 4 days before the dance

All was quiet in the decently sized bedroom. The floor, walls, TV, wooden dresser, bedside table, and single bed with a teenage sized lump in it were all barley visible with what little morning light trickled through the closed shudders. The only other light in the room came from the dim white numbers on the alarm clock sitting next to the bed that read six twenty nine. After a few seconds of dead silence in the room, the white number twenty nine changed to a thirty, a split millisecond of radio came on before the power button was pressed by a single finger. The lump in the bed shot up from under the large comforter it was wrapped in and pointed at the silent clock.

"Haha! Beat you again Mr. Ringaling! You gotta be quicker than that!" a perky female voice shouted at the inanimate object. The lump then jumped out of bed and in front of the shuttered window right next to it. A hand grasped the strings hanging next to the shudders as the lump yanked them downwards, allowing for the morning's first lights to flood the complete and utter disaster area that was the bedroom. It appeared as though a hurricane went through it as clothes, plush toys, gaming devices, books, magazines, and all other forms of miscellaneous objects crowded the floor around the bed, so much so that one wouldn't even know that there was pine green carpeting covering the floor. The lump opened up the window as she poked her head out of it and took a deep breath.

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNINGCANTERLOTANDTHEWORLDANDALLTHESUPERDUPERNICEPEOPLEWHOLIVEHERE!!" She shouted excitedly into the nearly dead urban area she lived in.

"ITS NOT EVEN SEVEN!! SHUT THE HELL UP YOU DAMN BITCH!!" a highly irritated male voice shouted from across the street.

" GOOD MORNING TO YOU TOO DUMBELL!!" The lump replied in a gleeful tone as she closed the window and turned to face her room. "I can just tell this is going to be a supertastic day!!" she chirped as she hopped across her minefield of a room, stepping on a few pairs of jeans and skirts and papers while somehow avoiding breakables like DVDs and sunglasses as she hoped over to the door that led to her bathroom. As she opened the door and stepped in barefoot, she felt her foot be overtaken by something with a wet and slimy texture. The lump raised her foot up to see that a small green alligator with purple eyes had put her whole foot in its maw. After looking at this for a moment, the lump giggled. "Good morning to you too Gummy!" She said as she reached out to the dresser next to the doorway to get her phone. Once she grabbed it, she snapped a picture of the animal before taking it off and setting it on the sink and opening a social networking site on her phone.

"Starting off the day by putting my best foot forward!" She exclaimed as she tagged the photo before posting it on her wall. She turned her phone off and tossed it onto her messed up bed as she faced the rectangular mirror that was above the sink as she gazed at the girl staring back at her. The girl in the mirror had straight, waist length magenta hair that obscured one of her sky blue eyes, and light pink skin. She grabbed a bright pink hair dryer laying on the sink and she plugged it into the wall socket as she turned the dial to max. It only took a few seconds of the hot air blowing machine flailing around the girl's head to make her strait hair reach max levels of frizzynes, making her hair look like a massive pile of magenta cotton candy. She took another look in the mirror as she made several faces, she was grinning ear to ear, gaped her mouth open and made a vampire-esqu pose, and finally, a sultry look, complete with hand on her hips, duck lips, and a shift in her eyebrows.

"Dayum guuuuuuuuurl, you lookin' fiiiiiiiine!" The lump's reflection stated as she gave her a smug grin.

"Aww....thanks other Pinkie! I didn't do anything special, you really mean it!?"

The other Pinkie nodded. "Ah do, Ah do! That shirt you're wearing looks reeeeeeeel nice!" the other Pinkie explained as she pointed at the white t-shirt Pinkie was wearing that had the image of what appeared to be two blond chibi twin characters on the front of it.

"You think so!? I got it at an anime convention last year! I think it looks really good on me!"

"It sure does." Pinkie's reflection agreed. "But you wanna know where ah think it'd look better?"

"Where?" Pinkie asked as she brought her ear up to the mirror as if whatever her reflection was going to tell her was a big secret. She pressed her ear against the glass as other Pinkie moved closer to her.

"Mah bedroom floor!!" the reflection whispered as she planted a kiss on Pinkie's ear. Pinkie was about to recoil, but the reflection reached through the mirror and grabbed the bottom of Pinkie's shirt, and was somehow able to pull it over her head and arms in one swift motion, leaving the party planning president wearing only her butterscotch yellow bra and panties. Pinkie cringed and took a step away from the mirror as her reflection waggled her eyebrows and twirled the shirt with her index finger.

"HEY!!" Pinkie yelled out as she balled her fists. She quickly took a step forward as her fist went through the mirror, which connected with the other Pinkie's cheek, causing her to let go of the shirt and fall to the ground unconscious. "That was a really mean thing to do other Pinkie!" the real Pinkie said as she grabbed Gummy off the sink and the shirt out of the air. Then holding Gummy in one arm and the shirt in another, Pinkie stomped back to the door to her bedroom before turning around to look into the bathroom once more and dropping the shirt into her dirty clothes hamper. "You know I don't swing that way in this fic!" Pinkie shouted as she slammed the door shut. She then carried Gummy over to the closet door across from her bed as she set the baby alligator down by the closet's entryway. "Let's see what I'll wear today!" she said as she threw open the door to the closet and running in, only to come out a split second later wearing a yellow polo shirt with dark brown kaki pants and suspenders. She looked herself over in the full length mirror that was attached to the closet door. "Hmm....a bit too cheesy for my tastes." Pinkie decided as she ran back into the closet, only to come out just as quickly, this time wearing a short-sleeve white shirt with a blue neckerchief, a blue mini skirt, knee high blue socks, and a brunette bowl cut wig.

" Gummy, what do you think of this?" Pinkie asked her pet as she turned to see he was wearing a light grey hoodie. The only form of movement Gummy gave was slowly blinking one eye. " I agree! this does look nice, but there's a time and place for cosplay, and now is not one of them." she stated plainly as she went back inside the closet, which was quickly followed by loud crashes, bangs, several zippers zipping and unzipping, (and for some reason a cat screeching.) until Pinkie once again emerged from the closet, wearing a large black fedora, an oversized blue hoodie with a heavy looking gold clock attached to a gold chain around her neck, extremely baggy black pants, and grey sneakers with red lines across the sides. "This outfit is tight dawg!!" she said with a giggle as she eyed herself in the mirror.

"You know, for someone who claims to 'not swing that way', you've been coming out of the closet a lot." her reflection joked as she grinned once more, only now she was missing a tooth.

" You better peace out other Pinkie! Or do you want a bloody nose to go with that missing tooth?" Pinkie threatened as she raised her fist to her double. The other Pinkie grimaced as she put her hands in front of her face.

"'Aight, Aight, I'll go!....Damn girl." the reflection muttered as she walked away from the mirror. Just as that was over, Pinkie heard a buzzing noise as she turned her attention to the phone on her bed.

1 msg from: Rainbow Dash

Hey Pinkie! We're all waiting for you downstairs, hurry up!!

"Oh jeez!" Pinkie ran back into the closet one more time, followed by even more crashing, banging, and cat shrieking as she hopped out wearing her normal heart t-shirt, blue cardigan, purple skirt, and sky blue boots. She grabbed her phone off the bed, and her book bag that was lying by her bedside as she was trying to get her one of her boots on. When she finally hopped to the door to the hallway, she turned her head back to face Gummy. "Bye Gummy! I'll see you after school! Don't eat my stuff while I'm gone!" she said as she closed the door to her room, leaving Gummy standing by her closet, only blinking every couple of seconds.

Pinkie dashed down the stairwell that connected the apartment that she lived in with the Cakes to their shop known as Sugar Cube Corner below. The stairway led to the back of the kitchen where the smell of freshly baked goods met Pinkie's nose as she hurried over to the door that connected the kitchen to the actual shop, running by a short blue skinned woman with pink hair not unlike her own. "Good morning Pinkie dear!" The woman called out to the teen as she started preparing the morning's batch of muffins.

"Morning Auntie Cake!!" Pinkie replied as she ran through the door to the shop. All the members of Pinkie's clique (she called them the humane 6 for some reason, Fluttershy seemed to like it.) were sitting on a couch at the far end of the room, all drinking coffee from to-go cups. The only other person that was in the shop was a lean yellow skinned man with orange hair wearing cream colored pants, a white dress shirt, a candy cane stripped tie to match his red and white hat, and a cream colored apron with a slice of cake on the front, and that was Pinkie's Uncle Cake, the co-owner of Sugar Cube Corner. Mr. Cake often allowed Pinkie's friends to come into the store early if they were meeting at her place, he even made them morning coffee to start the day. (provided they paid of course.) Pinkie ran over to her friends before plopping down next to Twilight, almost making her spill her coffee. "Hiya girls!!" Pinkie chirped as she hugged Twilight tightly, almost making her spill her coffee once more.

"H-ack H-hi Pinkie." Twilight chocked out.

"Morning Pinkie!" the rest of her friends save for Rarity said in unison.

"How've we all been doing?" Pinkie asked. "I haven't seen any of you since last week!"

Rainbow Dash was the first to answer. "I've been really busy, the members of the soccer team has been spending any free time they can practicing for the big competition against the Cloudsdale Crushers!"

Applejack shifted her eyebrow at her cyan skinned friend. "That annual soccer match thing? Isn't that like......a few months away?"

Rainbow Dash nodded. "Well yeah, but still! The Cloudsdale Crushers are one of the best teams in the state! You should've seen the way they played at states last year, they could've made nationals! I've been watching their games as of late on the internet, and trust me when I say we Wondercolts will need all the practice we can get if we hope to stand up to them this year. Not only that, but me and Fleetfoot will need to think up some killer strategies while we watch more of their games."

"Wow Rainbow, they sound pretty tough if ya and Fleetfoot are gunna join' forces to think up a way to beat em'. Ah thought y'all were one of those people who was all 'who needs strategy, just gun it!!'" Applejack explained.

" Honestly, that's how I usually am with other soccer teams." Rainbow Dash admitted. "But this is Cloudsdale! Their soccer team is killer! We need to show them what Canterlot's got, and why our soccer team is better then theirs!"

"Makes sense." Applejack stated plainly. "Mah weekend was borin' as all heck. All ah did was do work around the farm and study chemistry. Which for the life of me ah don't know when I'm ever gonna use it on the farm!" Applejack complained as she angrily took a slurp of her coffee. "And besides, it's not like Ah'm doin' that bad."

"AJ, what did you get in that last test?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"It's not important." Applejack deadpanned as she brought her Stetson down to her face.

"Just tell us Applejack! I'm sure it isn't that bad." Twilight assured the farm girl.

Applejack took a moment before speaking. "Ah....Ah got a fifty six."

Twilight nearly spit out her coffee as she looked at the cowgirl in shock. "WHAT!? Applejack, that's your second bad test grade in a row isn't it!?"

"Yeah it is." Applejack admitted as she slouched back on the couch. "But at least ah passed that one!"

"Yes, with a sixty eight!" Twilight said in a scolding tone.

"Ah know....ah know, Ah'm just not good with them molecular theories, joules and the like. It makes mah head spin. I wanna do well, but chemistry is tough ya know?"

" You know AJ, if you need help with chemistry, I'm at the top of my first period class. I'd be more than willing to tutor you!" Twilight offered.

"Really? You'd help me out with this Twi?"

"Of course! What are friends for?" Twilight replied.

"Well, if yer offerin', ah'd really appreciate any help ah can get."

"Alright then, we can start at study hall today, and then maybe after school I could come over to your place or vice versa, and we can study some more. Sound good to you?"

"Eeyup! That'll work just fine Twi! Thanks again!" Applejack said in a chipper tone, Twilight's help seeming to be a pick me up for her. "So aside from that, what else have ya girls been up to? Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy swollowed the sip of coffee she was drinking. "Oh, I didn't do much this weekend, I just volunteered at the animal shelter like I do most weekends, nothing special. How about you Rarity?" she asked as she looked at her purple haired fashionista friend. Rarity just glanced at Fluttershy as she took her cell phone out of her pocket and began typing rapidly, not saying a word.

"Hey Rares, Flutters asked you a question." Rainbow Dash stated as she narrowed her eyes at Rarity. She however, just kept typing on her phone. "What's up with you!?" The only reply Rainbow Dash got from her was her holding her finger up in a "wait a moment" position as she continued typing with her other hand. "You haven't said a word since we got here, what's the deal!?" Rainbow asked in a very agitated tone. Just as she finished her sentence, every girl's phone vibrated as they all checked their texts.

I'm afraid I had a dreadfully awful weekend girls, I couldn't speak a word since last week due to the incident at the Boutique!

Rarity had sent the girls a group text, Rainbow Dash looked at Rarity in confusion after reading it. "Incident? Why can't you speak Rares? Opal got your tounge?" Rarity shook her head as she started typing on her phone again.

Why don't you ask Pinkie?

As Pinkie finished reading the text, she looked up from her phone to see that Rarity was giving her a cold stare, and that the rest of her group had their eyes on her. Pinkie grinned sheepishly. "Weeeeeeeeeeelllllllll I may have kinda sorta by accident accidentally murdered two of Rarity's dresses with the Cake's dryer when I was going to return them but when I tried to apologize to her, she screamed so loud that it broke every window in her Boutique, set off the alarms of every car on the street, and caused a small treamor, but did I mention that I was sorry!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?"

Each of Pinkie's friends save for Rarity looked at her in awe in her loud spout of an explanation. Rainbow then turned her attention back to an unamused Rarity. "So.....that really happened Rares? You somehow performed a sonic screech? I thought breaking glass with your voice was only in cartoons and shit."

"Well if that's true, ah guess it'd explain the earth shakin' something fierce a few days ago." added Applejack.

Rarity nodded as she began typing again. Yes, and ever since I performed my.....admittedly earth shattering yell, my weekend was absolutely dreadful! I had to close my boutique so that the windows could be repaired, I needed to go to the clinic to get my throat checked, only to be told I couldn't speak until further notice! As if that wasn't terrible enough, I had a date with my dear boyfriend Clyde, to whom I couldn't utter a single word during our lunch. I had to text him everything I wanted to say, and I couldn't help but feel terribly rude! I'm lucky he's such an understanding boyfriend.

Pinkie looked at the text in bewilderment before looking back at Rarity. "Wait......RARITY, YOU HAVE A BOYFRIEND!?!?" she blurted out, to which Rarity nodded. "SINCE WHEN!?"

A few months ago darling. We met at the café by the mall one day and we really hit it off. I've spoken of him multiple times before, you should really pay attention Pinkie. He's very busy with the basketball team and his school work this week, but he will be escorting me to the dance on Friday, so you should be able to meet him then!

" I'm gonna meet your boyfriend and get a super awesome dress even after your freak out? This is going to be the greatest dance EEEEEVAAA!! Are you girls as nervouscited for this as I am!?!?" Pinkie asked, to which most of the girls. (Save for AJ) agreed.

OOH! That reminds me! Fluttershy, it's ready!!! Rarity texted as she zipped open her royal purple messenger bag next to her. She took out a rather thin packet of papers, couldn't have been more than five or so pages long, and handed it to the light pink haired girl next to her; her eyes practically lighting up as she gazed down at the packet.

"Oh goodness! This is the list Rarity? Oh my, I wasn't expecting a packet, a page or two maybe, but wow! Thank you!" Fluttershy said in awe as she flipped through the packet, reading off some of the names of the boys on the list.

It was nothing Fluttershy, I was more than happy to construct this list of potential suitors for you. In all actuality, making this list was a snap. All I did was cross reference some of these boy's online social web pages and what they did in and out of school to find which ones would be good for you. That being said, it would've been much harder if I didn't have my sources.

"Umm...If you don't mind me asking, who are your sources again Rariry?" Fluttershy asked without taking her eyes off the list.

Everyone. Rarity put plainly. I know most every lady in the grade, and many of them are either friends or former partners of many of the boys on the list. I only put down the boys who had the highest recommendation from the girls overall, plus factoring in things like your personal preferences so to not put the....unsavory or....playboy-ish ones. I've also taken the liberty of making the list of boys who haven't been asked, but that's a given.

"Wow, thank you Rarity! I didn't expect you to go through so much trouble doing this for me. Ooh! All these boys seem really nice, I wonder who I should ask!"

Actually Fluttershy if you don't mind, I have the perfect idea of who you could try asking! I'll show you whom it is once we get to school. Sound alright to you? I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise.

"Oh sure Rarity. Ooh, now I'm really excited! I wonder who it could be." Fluttershy stated as she squeed a bit.

So girls, other than Fluttershy, how are your dance preparations coming along? Anyone need dress help from moi? Anyone decided who they're gonna be asking? Rarity typed with a look of excitement on her face.

"I've got everything ready!" declared Rainbow Dash. "I already have my dress, and what's going to be super awesome is that Thunderlane is going to be taking me to the dance on his motorcycle! Have you girls seen that thing!? Him and I are gonna look so badass pulling up to the dance in that, it's going to be the shit!!" she explained with great emphasis.

"Ah gotta go now thanks to Rainbow's message to Granny Smith. Ah guess I'll start thinking about who I'll go with." Applejack said with a sigh.

"I....think I may have an idea of who I want to ask." Twilight admitted sheepishly as Rainbow Dash shot her a grin; prompting her to blush a bit.

"I have absolutely no idea who I'm gonna ask!" Pinkie Pie proudly proclaimed. "But I do know this dance is gonna be WICKED!!!"

Hmm....no one besides me or Rainbow know who they're going to be attending the dance with. A tad disappointing, but this does certainly make things more interesting! Rarity typed as she got up and slung her bag over her shoulder. I believe we should leave for school now, it's almost 7:30,

The other girls all agreed as they picked up their bags and cups of coffee as they exited out the front door, Pinkie was about to leave the building, but quickly turned her head back to look at her uncle who had just picked up a pot of coffee.

"Oh, wait! Uncle Cake, can I have a cup of coffee before I-"

"NO!!" Mr. Cake and Pinkie's friends all exclaimed in unison before Mr. Cake spoke again.

"Umm I mean, you can't Pinkie, because....because...." Mr. Cake stalled as his eyes darted around the store before dropping the half full coffee pot he was holding, letting it hit the ground with a loud CRASH!!! and causing glass and hot coffee to spread across the floor. "Because I don't have a coffee pot! Whoops! Now you better get moving before you're late for school!" he explained as he gave Pinkie quite possibly the most nervous grin in human existence.

Pinkie blinked. "Ok Uncle Cake! I'll see you after school!" she said as she exited through the front door. When he was sure he was alone, Mr. Cake let out a loud sigh as went into the back of the store to get a mop, meeting his wife along the way. She looked down at his shoes and pants, which were stained brown before looking up to meet his eyes.

"Pinkie wanted a cup of coffee?" Mrs. Cake deadpanned.

"Yes dear." Mr. Cake replied plainly.

"I'll go get another pot from the closet." Mrs. Cake stated as she followed her husband to the back of the store.

Author's Notes:

Who's Clyde you may ask? Well if you wanna know, check out my friend BRyeMC's fic "Amor Fati" to find out! He's a super awesome writer who was inspired by Pie of my Eye to write his own Mane 6 X OC Equestria Girls fanfic which also has Swift Justice as a cameo character every now and again! How awesome is that!? Also, thanks to him for letting me use his character Clyde in this fic! I couldn't think of anyone for Rarity to go with for the life of me.

My Little Pick Up Artists Part 5: Blushing Intensifies

After the girls arrived at school, Twilight quickly hurried to her first period class on the upper floor. When she finally reached the room, she peered in to see that no one was there yet; she was the first one to class as usual. The lavender skinned girl then walked to the back of the room and took a seat at her desk. She took a quick sip of her coffee that she brought from Sugar Cube Corner as she looked over at the windows to the right of the room and took in the sights. It was an extreamly cloudy day; the sky being a mishmash of light and dark greys. The trees across from the empty soccer field shook violently due to the semi-harsh winds that were starting to pick up, prompting a chorus of rustling leaves and winds blowing to slowly seep into the room. It appeared as though it was going to rain, so Twilight was lucky that Rarity had offered her a ride to and from school today. That was all well and good, but neither Rarity's generous offer, nor the dreary weather outside were the focus of Twilight's intellect at the moment. No, as the egg headed student stared with an uninterested look outside, a matter that was much more pressing was on her mind.

Okay....the dance is this Friday. she thought nervously to herself as she took another sip of her now just warm coffee. To say that Twilight was a tad nervous about the whole thing would have been an understatement. Just thinking about going, and with a date made a feeling of uneasiness emerge from the pit of her stomach. Twilight was nervous not only for the reason that dances weren't exactly "her thing" but also due to the fact that this was most likely going to be her first dance amongst other reasons.

I've never been to a dance before. Then again, no one really asked me, and I didn't really have friends to go with. But now the tables have turned. I'm going to be the one doing the asking, and I do have a couple of great friends that I want to see there..........and I do have a guy that I want to ask.

Twilight's head; much like her thoughts, turned to her left, to the empty desk next to her own. She smiled as she immediately turned back to the window on the right. And I do want to ask Swift to the dance. I mean he's a really nice guy, and he's the first friend I made here in Canterlot. Heck, if it wasn't for him I probably wouldn't have accepted the girls' invitation to lunch that one day. Plus, I really enjoyed going on that date with him, Pinkie, and Thunderlane a while back. It was a lot if fun, well.....at least before Swift nearly choked to death. He seems smart, and we do have similar tastes in literature if I remember correctly from the book store. From what I can tell at least, I think we'd be a match. Twilight though as a slight blush appeared on her cheeks. I don't think he has a date yet, I mean if he did I'm sure he would've spoken of it before class, or Rarity would've known. She knows about everyone in the school. Maybe I should ask her of she knows or not. But then again, I'll see him soon enough.....maybe I should just ask him casually and if he doesn't, I'll just ask him. Yes! That's perfect!

As Twilight was finished thinking of her plan, she stopped when the silence of the room was broken by a sound to her left. It was the sound of footsteps slowly coming towards the room. The sound of the footsteps got closer and closer until Twilight could hear them stop just short of the doorway. She didn't look to the doorway, instead she kept staring out the window, trying to keep casual.

Oh boy, is this gonna be it?

The footsteps continued over towards her as whomever it was plopped down in Swift's seat. Twilight kept her gaze on the window as she started to nervously drum her fingers on her desk.

Alright, here goes nothing. Twilight thought to herself as she took a deep breath. She steeled her resolve as she turned to face her neighbor and potential date to the dance.

"H-Hey...Swi-"

Twilight stopped as she looked at her neighbor in confusion. The person next to her was definitely not Swift: instead, it was one of his buddies. It was the one with light orange skin and spiked multi-blue shades of hair; the one that had flirted with her on her first day in Canterlot. He was lounging back in his seat as he looked over at the front of the room before turning to Twilight and giving her a warm smile.

"Umm....hey Twilight." said the young man in a calm and somewhat nervous tone.

"Oh, um....hello.....Flash, wasn't it?" Twilight asked. The young man grinned.

"Yeah, that's me!" Flash replied in a chipper tone. "Heh, thanks for calling me by my name."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "You're......welcome? I guess?"

"Sorry if that sounded weird, it's just that some people in this school think my name is Brad. Hell, some people know my name and still call me that."

"Why would they do that?" Twilight asked.

"It's a running gag of sorts between my friends. My friend Swift came up with it in middle school after deciding that I look like a Brad and ever since then the name has unfortunately stuck." Flash sheepishly admitted. What he didn't know was that Twilight breathed a quick sigh of relief.

Phew...I wasn't sure what to call him. Good thing I remember Rarity mentioning him. she thought. "So...Umm....speaking of Swift, where is he? He's usually in here not long after I am."

Flash nodded. "Oh, I think he went to the doctor's this morning. Nothing serious, a routine checkup from what he told me. He should be back later in the day though." he assured Twilight.

"Oh, alright."

Flash shift uncomfortably in his seat before speaking again. " So hey, I....wanted to talk to you about something, if that's alright."

"Sure, what is it?"

Flash scratched the back of his head. "Well.....I kinda wanted to apologize for when I....ahem flirted with you about a month or so back. I realize that I was a bit too forward, and didn't even think about how you probably needed time to settle in still, so I hope you can forgive me."

"Oh that? Water under the bridge at this point." Twilight assured Flash, which brought a smile to his slightly worry-warden face. He didn't seem like a bad guy, maybe a bit of a ladies man, but not too bad. "I admit I wasn't really much of a social butterfly when I first arrived to this school." Twilight continued. " And while you were a bit....forward....with your invitation, I definitely could've been less.....blunt with my tone and choice of words, so I think I'm at fault here too." Twilight admitted. "So, what I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry too."

Flash cocked a wider grin. "Don't be! I'd probably be like that too if some guy just walked up to me and asked me out point blank, day one. It's just that....well.....I honestly wasn't really thinking about what I was doing. A spur of the moment thing, you know? It's not every day a cute girl transfers to your school." he said with a nervous chuckle before his awkward smirk shifted into a look of surprise at what he just said. "Oh, did I really just say that? Sorry, didn't really mean to, just....stupid brain you know?"

"No, that's alright...." Twilight said as her lavender cheeks blushed a slight shade of pink. It wasn't every day that she was called cute by a rather handsome young man like the one sitting next to her.

Flash continued. "Well anyways, I wanted to tell you that I was sorry, and well, I'm just throwing it out there that if you ever say, need help with something, or if you want to ask me something, anything, I'm usually not doing anything besides chilling with my friends or jamming with my band, so just if you want, give me a holler sometime. I'd be all for anything."

Twilight thought about Flash's statement and a few of the "choice words" he used in those sentences before answering. "Why thank you for your.....offer Flash, I'll be sure to keep it in mind." she said very plainly. Flash seemed like a nice enough guy, just not the kind she'd really be into, and at the very least she wanted to be polite to him. But after thinking about his offer once more, she decided to take him up on part of it. "Umm...actually Flash, there kind of is something I'd like to ask you if that's alright."

"Yeah sure, ask away!"

"Well you see, I was kinda wondering, if you would...."

"Yes?" Flash said with a hint of anticipation in his voice.

"If you would lend me the notes we took in class last week Friday? I was absent then, and I hear we took quite a few that day, so would you mind if I use your to catch up?"

Flash's smile faulted at Twilight's question before it just as quickly returned to it's original state. "H-Huh? I mean uh....of yeah, the notes. Sure, I can lend you mine just....let me go get them. I forgot them at my locker." He answered as he slowly got up from the seat he was in.

"Thank you Flash."

"Hey, don't mention it." he replied as he left the room. He walked a few feet down the hall before gritting his teeth and stamping his foot on the ground. "Damn it!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"sigh......Alright class, that was it for today's riveting lesson on fractional exponents." huffed an older man with a black toupee. "Your assignment is numbers twenty through thirty three on page two hundred and seventy four in your textbooks. Any more questions?" he asked in the blandest way possible with the most uninterested look in all of mankind, of which it seemed that most of the students in the class were trying to copy by either just staring at the front of the room, out the window, or just sleeping at their desk. The older man took one more look around the room before speaking again. "Nothing? Ok then, you all have....ten minutes until the bell rings. Just make sure it's not too loud in here." And with that, the man walked back to his seat and started on grading a pile of papers on his desk after which most of the students that were still awake began conversing amongst themselves.

Swift Justice breathed a sigh of relief as he closed the notebook he used for his teacher Mr. Doodle's class. He then laid his arms down on his desk before gently resting his head on them.

"Gah, my brain is too fried to do anymore math today." he complained to nobody in particular. Swift was a very good student in school, mostly getting A's and B's throught the year, but math was the subject that was the bane of his existence since elementary school. Then again, wasn't that most kids in school?

"Ugh, ah hear ya." a female voice with a country accent replied to Swift muttering to himself. He turned his head to the desk immediately to his right. Sitting there was the blonde cowgirl Applejack, she was still staring at the front board with the same look of boredom that the entire class, including the teacher held a moment ago, with her head resting on her arms in a similar manner to Swift. To him, she looked like she was either dead tired, or bored out of her skull. Swift immediately believed it to be the latter after Mr.Doodle's lesson.

"So uh....quite a lesson today huh? For a second there, I though Mr.Doodle was going to put himself to sleep." Swift joked, which gained a Hmpf of amusement from his neighbor.

"Yeah, ol'Cranky doesn't seem to be all too thrilled about teachin' Intro to Trig' each an' every day." the cowgirl said as she nodded her head slightly in agreement.

"Poor guy, I'd be cranky too if I had to deal with this class every day for who knows how many years." Swift stated with a note of sympathy in his voice. "I know Pinkie Pie tried to cheer him up last week, but I don't think setting off confetti cannons are the way to go."

"Pinkie told me she was gonna try settin' him up with some lady that works at the fabric store next door to where she lives with the Cakes. Matilda, ah think her name was."

Swift blinked in surprise. "Really? Huh.....I guess if anything, having a relationship will put him in a good mood. Let's just hope that Pinkie is a better matchmaker than our sisters."

Applejack grimaced at the end of Swift's sentence. "Ah sure hope so! That whole incident with Big Mac and Ms. Cherilee last year was a HUGE mess. The two of em' weren't able to so much as look at each other for a month!"

"Yeah, that could've gone a lot better for everyone." Swift said as he looked back towards Applejack. The cowgirl was now silent, still staring ahead at the board as uninterested as ever. Swift knew that Intro to Trig. could drain anyone of their pep in mere moments, but for some reason Swift thought that she looked not just bored, but somewhat unhappy with something. After a few more seconds of silence between the two, he decided to take a shot in the dark. "Hey, um.....Applejack, is everything alright?"

The cowgirl shifted her uninterested gaze to him. "Yeah, everything is as ok as it usually is. Why do ya ask?"

"I don't know, it just seems that you're......unhappy about something."

"Uhh....y'all remember we're in math class right?" she pointed out.

"Well yeah, but still, usually most people have just a look of brain dead boredom on their face after this class. I can't really put my finger on it, but you just seem a bit bummed about something else. So I ask again, is everything alright?" Swift asked in a concerned tone. Applejack stared at the boy for a moment more before turning her attention back to the board.

"Well...ah.....well." Applejack stuttered as she kept staring ahead. She remained silent for a few moments, occasionally mumbling something unintelligible to Swift. After a while, she spoke again in a soft tone. "Swift....can.....can ya keep a secret?"

"Sure, what is it?"

" The thing is Swift....most of mah friends think I just don't wanna go to the dance 'cause I want to work more on the farm the next day, or it's cause Ah'm not interested. But the thing is.....neither of these things are true, or at least....they weren't." Applejack explained in a somber manner.

"So, you do or at least did want to go to the dance?"

"Eeyup."

"Well why don't you want to go now?" Swift inquired.

"Ya see.....there is this guy that ah've liked for a while now, and I was thinkin' about askin' him, but he already has a date apparently." Applejack lamented.

"Alright then, why didn't you just tell your friends that? I'm sure they'd understand if you just told them."

Applejack shook her head. "It ai'nt that simple Ah'm afraid. It's just that....well.....even if he didn't have a date to the dance, Ah'm not sure it'd be a good idea to ask him for reasons ah don't really wanna share."

Swift nodded. "Ok, can I at least ask who it is?" Swift asked to which Applejack replied with a shake of the head. "Mm....not that either huh? Can I at least guess?....."

"Ah'd prefer if ya didn't."

"Because I guess Thunderlane!" Swift stated as he grinned. Applejack stared at Swift for a few seconds as her eyebrow shifted.

"Uhh......Thunderlane? Why'd ya think of him?" Applejack asked in a voice mixed with curiosity and confusion.

Swift shrugged. "I'm not really sure myself. I just though you two would be a good match."

"Thunderlane.......the guy who wears all black almost every day and just breezes by his classes? Ah don't see it." Applejack deadpanned.

"So it's not him?" Swift asked sounding slightly disappointed.

"Nope. It ain't him." The cowgirl answered matter-of-factly.

Damn it! I owe Flash five bucks! Swift thought to himself briefly. " Well, if anything I'm sorry about this whole guy thing. You seem pretty down because of it. If you need to talk about it again, I'd be happy to listen. I may not look it, but I've been where you are....sorta." he admitted in a somewhat sheepish way.

"Well thanks Swift, ah'll be sure to remember that." Applejack said as she tipped her hat to Swift in appreciation, the conversation seemingly lifted her spirits at least for a bit. "But....sigh Ah'm still gonna need to find a date to the dance considering my granny is forcing me to go now."

"I'd love to help you in that department too Applejack, but I don't want to give our sisters any more ideas, and I'm kinda still holding out hope for a girl to ask me to that." Swift admitted.

Applejack chuckled in reply. "Oh ah wouldn't worry about you Swift, ah think one of my friends already has ya covered."

"Oh, alright. That's cool." Swift said as he turned his attention back down to his desk on,y for his eyes to shoot open as he looked back at Applejack. "Wait, what was that!?

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING

At that time, the school bell let out its shrill cry, letting the students know it was time to move onto wherever their next class was. All of the students in the room were more than eager to leave the room as they filed out the door. Applejack gathered her supplies and followed the trail of students out the door, with Swift not far behind her.

"Ah'll see ya later Swift." Applejack said with a smirk as she exited the room.

"Wait! What one of your friends!?"

"Ah don't wanna spoil the surprise !" Applejack replied in a slightly trollish tone.

"Can you at least give me a hint!?"

"EEEEE-Nope! Bye!" Applejack answered even more trollishly. And with that, the young cowgirl walked off and disappeared into the large crowd of teens in the halls, leaving Swift outside Mr.Doodle's classroom with what she had just told him. He stood there for a few more seconds, allowing AJ's slightly trollish words sink into his mind. He knew that she was a stickler for honesty, and that what she said was most likely true. Most likely someone in her immediate group of friends, I.e. The girls she was always hanging out with. Applejack already told him what she was doing, Thunderlane said Rainbow Dash asked him to the dance while he was putting his lunch tray away, Swift knew that Rarity already had a boyfriend, the guy she was alwayswith whenever she wasn't with her usual posse, so that left half of her immediate group out of the equation. That shy girl with the pink hair didn't seem to be a very likely candidate either, she didn't share any classes at all with Swift and from what he did see of her, he assumed that she wasn't the kind of girl to walk up to a guy and strait up ask him.

And then there were two..... Swift thought silently to himself as he started to move down the hall. Of course his thoughts immediately shifted to Pinkie Pie, the pink haired piece of pep was an enigma to be sure, but Swift knew that she'd never miss something like a dance. He didn't have any classes with her either, but he's been spending enough time in the party planning committee to have hopefully gotten closer to her. With her......Pinkieness though, Swift figured that he had as much a chance as anyone did with her to be sure. Who really knew with Pinkie? All he knew was that one of Applejack's friends had their eye on him as a potential date for the dance. At worst, Swift had a 1/3 chance of it being Pinkie, although he figured it was safe to leave the shy girl out of the equation, bumping his chances with Pinkie up to a whopping 1/2 chance! Needless to say, Swift liked those odds.

But that then made him remember the other half of those odds; the bookish, not so new anymore new girl Twilight Sparkle. If anything, she was also likely, if not moreso than Pinkie to ask him. He not only sat next to her in chemistry class, but also had history class with her as well. She was incredibly intelligent, and was a fan of many of the books that Swift was, except possibly manga, but then again he never asked her if she enjoyed that kind of thing. Honestly, Swift was surprised he didn't consider that she'd ask him at some point. They have been friends for a while, and it was because of him she met her current clique. It would make sense that she'd want to ask him. However, Swift also remembered earlier that morning before he went to the doctor, Flash stated that he was going to attempt to get closer to her somewhat in hopes that she'd ask him. Swift was unsure how likely that'd work out, given that the "patented Sentry charm" had failed when they first met Twilight, but if it succeeded this time, then there was only one girl left for Swift. And boy, was he ever hopeful about that.

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"R-Rarity! W-where are we going?!" asked a bewildered Fluttershy. A minute before, she was just exiting her last class to head down to her locker and leave when the currently mute fashionista grabbed her wrist and quite literally dragged her down the hall. They sprinted down the halls as Fluttershy struggled to keep up with Rarity; who was running so fast you'd think she was chasing a designer handbag that was on sale. They ran down the hall, up two flights of stairs, down another hallway, and then another hallway, down one more flight of stairs, and down another hallway after that. They just about ran through most of the school before Rarity came to a screeching halt without any warning. With too slow of a reaction time, Fluttershy slammed into her friend before falling on her behind. The moderate indigo haired girl looked back at her pink haired friend with a look of surprise as she took out her phone in one hand and helped Fluttershy up with her free one. As she helped Fluttershy up, she showed the animal lover the screen of her phone.

Good heavens Fluttershy! I am so deeply sorry for that, are you alright?!

"I'm ok Rarity." Fluttershy assured her friend as she dusted off her skirt. "But why did you drag me halfway around the school like that?"

Rarity grinned as she began typing rapidly on her phone again. Look into the hallway, and you'll see why, darling! read the text. Rarity herself was motioning for Fluttershy to take a peek. The pink haired girl poked her head out from behind the wall they ran behind just enough to see what was in the hall. Her eyes widened to see that a few feet away from where she and Rarity were, was Applejack's older brother Big Mac sitting on a bench and reading a book. It seemed as though he didn't hear the girls run into the hall or that he was so absorbed in reading that he didn't notice them. Fluttershy quickly retreated behind the wall and turned to Rarity to see that she had a cheeky grin.

Well Fluttershy? What do you think of bachelor #1?

Fluttershy read the text before immediately looking back at Big Mac, who was still motionless on the bench. "B-Big Mac?!" she said in a surprised whisper. "Umm....are you sure Rarity? I mean, he's very handsome, but he's....well....Big Mac! I'm sure someone like him is already taken." Fluttershy somberly assessed. This was met with a smile from Rarity as she shook her head and began typing on her phone.

Actually, quite the opposite! You see Fluttershy, before we all met at Pinkie's before heading to school I spoke...well....communicated with Applejack about the availability of her brother and she said that he hadn't been asked to the dance yet!"

"A-And you think Big Mac is the ideal date for me?"

Rarity nodded as she texted again. Without a shadow of a doubt darling! After reading through what you like in a gentleman, I realized that all signs pointed to Big Mac! He is a very kind fellow, he cares deeply for the animals on his family's farm, he's loyal to his family and friends, quite intelligent, and I don't think I need to remind you of that one day we visited the farm while he was working?

Fluttershy looked up from Rarity's phone to see that the fashionista was biting her bottom lip and waggling her eyebrows. "U-Umm......n-no, I remember that day quite clearly." Fluttershy nervously stated as her yellow cheeks turned the slightest shade of pink. She remembered that day very clearly. She and her friends were sitting in the Apple's living room. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were completely absorbed in some football game that was on tv whilst the others just talked amongst themselves. She remembered hearing the sound of the front door of the house opening and looking over to see who it was. Hers, Pinkie's, and Rarity's jaws all collectively dropped as they saw Big Mac enter the house shirtless, his muscles exposed to all. It must've either been a very hot day, because his entire upper body was drenched in sweat. She remembered him breathing a heavy sigh as he wiped some sweat from his brow before walking into the kitchen. At that point, Fluttershy's face was as red as a....well.....apple, Pinkie's mouth was still agape due to the massive amount of eye candy she just got, Rarity had quite the blush herself as she was fanning herself with her hand while AJ and RD had no idea what was going on around them, too focused on the game to notice. Just thinking back on that day made Fluttershy's blush intensify. She was so focused on that memory that she didn't notice that Rarity was waving her phone right in front of her face.

Well darling, best of luck! I'll be right here. read the text.

"Oh, I still don't know Rarity, don't you think I should at leeeEP!" Fluttershy squealed as her fashionista friend shoved her into the hallway. Big Mac apparently heard Fluttershy's squeal, as he looked up at the pink haired animal lover.

"Hm?... Oh howdy Ms.Fluttershy." Big Mac said as he gave Fluttershy a warm smile. Under normal circumstances, Big Mac didn't speak much save for the occasional Eeyup or Nope, but he was a bit more comfortable speaking around some of the girls like Fluttershy due to the fact that they were Applejack's friends and they came over a lot.

"Um....h-hi Big Mac." Fluttershy replied as she glanced back at Rarity; who was giving her two thumbs up. "So....what are you doing here? School already let out."

"Well Ah'm just sittin' here cause Applebloom is stayin' after for detention down the hall." he said with a sigh. "Her and her friends tried mixed a whole buncha chemicals to get extra credit in science class or somethin' and it caused a huge explosion in Mr. Neigh's room, so he's havin' them clean it up. Ah just though ah was already in school, so why not get a head start on mah English assignment while waiting to give them all a lift home." he said, glancing at his arm to check what time his wrist watch read. "Oh! Whaddya know, girls should almost be done!"

And with that, the farm boy closed his book and got up from his bench. "Well ah'll see ya later Fluttershy." he stated as he started walking away from the pink haired animal lover. Fluttershy watched him start to walk away as she felt something hit the back of her head. She turned around to see a crumpled ball of paper was on the floor behind her, and looked up to see Rarity was mouthing the words You're losing him!! You can do this!!" as she pointed at the young man. Fluttershy looked back at the young man as he was walking. For some reason, the words didn't seem to want to come out of Fluttershy's mouth. Finding a boy to ask out was the easy part for Flutters, actually asking him out was a different story entirely.

Come on Fluttershy darling, say something! Anything! Rarity mentally yelled at her friend as she watched Fluttershy basically acting like a motionless tree. Fluttershy stood motionless for a few seconds as she tried to form the words under her breath. She took a couple of quick breaths.

"I can do this, I can do this" Fluttershy recited to herself a couple times. After assuring herself she could, she forced her anxiety into her gut as she took a breath. "B-Big Mac.." she said in a barley audible whisper, barley enough so the boy in question didn't hear it.

Rarity face palmed. You can't call him like that! Darling, say it louder!

"Big Mac." Fluttershy said in a semi-louder tone, still apparently inaudible to the senior student.

Louder!

"Big Mac!"

One more time Fluttershy! Just say it a bit louder!

As if she had heard her friend's thoughts, Fluttershy took another deep breath as she tried again. "Big Mac!" she called out to him. This time, the eldest Apple sibling looked over his shoulder back at the young girl before turning around. She felt victorious in that she got Big Mac's attention, but that feeling was quickly dashed as she realized she had his attention.

"Yes Ms.Fluttershy? What is it?" Big Mac asked as he started coming towards her. As he came closer, Fluttershy started to panic. She looked back towards where Rarity was for support, but it appeared as though the fashionista had hidden behind the wall once more. She turned back to face Big Mac to see that he was standing in front of her. Fluttershy's blush grew redder as she struggled once more to find her voice.

"U.....Um....w-whell...um...." was all that came out as Fluttershy stared down at her feet, trying to find some sort of assurance anywhere. "B-Big Mac.......I-I was um...well....Mmhhmm...."

"Ms. Fluttershy, are you alright? You don't seem so good." said a concerned Big Mac as he bended down slightly to meet her eye level and see her bright red cheeks.

"Oh, I'm....ok, I'm just fine...yup! Yay, everything's ok." She replied quickly as she looked up at Big Mac, only to retreat her gaze back to the safety of her shoes.

"Nope, ah don't think it is. It looks like yer comin' down with somethin." Big Mac determined as he shook his head. Before Fluttershy could say anything, he gingerly put his hand on her chin and lifted it up to meet her eyes. It seemed as though her cheeks grew even redder than before. "Now Fluttershy, does anythin' hurt or feel weird? Are ya hot or cold or anythin'?" He asked in a soft, concerned tone.

"Ha~......." Is the only noise that came out of Fluttershy's mouth as she stared into the deep green of Big Mac's eyes.

C-C-Come on Fluttershy! Y-You have him r-right where you want him! Fluttershy tried convincing herself mentally. But ooh....I-I-I can't ask him! I'm too nervous to even form a word! she though as she tried taking a couple of deep breaths. "N-no......I've come this far, and I c-can't that this chance pass! Rarity said I can do it....and I can! But.....the question is how?"

"Ya feel like you have a bit of a fever." Big Mac said as he put one hand on Fluttershy's shoulder, and one against her forehead to feel slight warmth. "Ah think we should take ya to see Nurse Redheart right quick."

O-Oh! I know! I'll just use that trick that makes people less nervous when they're on stage! I'll just imagine Big Mac is in his underwear! It's worth a shot!"

..............

.........oh no.......

"Umm.....Fluttershy? Can ya answer me?" Big Mac asked as he stared at the girl in front of him. It was as if in one millisecond, the young girl went from madly blushing to having her entire face be a bright crimson color.

.......He's......too......hot....

"Say somethin' Fluttershy!" Big Mac said as he brought the junior slightly closer to him and shook her gently.

"Oh.............goodness........" Were the last words that came out of Fluttershy's mouth before her knees buckled, and she started her descent to the ground. Luckily, Big Mac caught her just in time before she hit the floor. Her eyes were closed, it seems as though she passed out. Without a word, Big Mac picked up the unconscious Fluttershy and carried her in his arms. He started making his way down towards the wall Fluttershy came out behind to see Rarity poke her head out from the other side. Her eyes shot open as she ran up to the two other students, her worry-laced gaze going between him and Fluttershy every few seconds.

"Rarity, can ya do me a favor and give the girls a lift home? Ah wanna take Fluttershy to Nurse Redheart's and make sure she's alright."

Without a second thought, Rarity nodded and started to text with her phone again before she brought it up to Big Mac's face.

Thank you very much Big Mac. You're a true gentleman, you know that?

Big Mac chuckled as he finished reading the text. He answered with a "Eeyup." before walking past Rarity and carrying Fluttershy down the stairs to the nurse's office.

My Little Pick Up Artists Part 6: Why I Party

Author's Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Lord knows enough tears and time went into it.

Tuesday: 3 days before the dance

Well Fluttershy? Are you ready to have another go at this? read the bold letters on the screes of Fluttershy's phone. The young animal lover read the message on her phone as she glanced at Rarity, who was walking at an even pace besides her and smiling. Fluttershy looked back down to her phone before answering.

"Oh umm...I guess so..." she answered in a timidly dejected tone. Rarity slightly frowned at hearing her friend's answer. Fluttershy's last attempts at getting a date to the dance didn't exactly inspire confidence, as all asking Big Mac did was help Fluttershy go unconscious and wind up in the nurse's office. Rarity felt bad for the girl, she didn't do many school activities like Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash did, and it seemed like she had a blast at the Fall Formal. She knew Fluttershy would no doubt have another great time if she went to this upcoming dance, and getting to it would be so simple! Just a one word answer from a guy was all it took, and she was determined to help Fluttershy find that guy. Rarity began typing on her phone again.

"Alright darling, perhaps it was wrong of me to suggest going straight to one such as Big Mac. Just...take it as a learning experience for asking someone out?" Fluttershy read the text from Rarity as she, much to the latter's surprise, gave a slight chuckle.

"Well...I guess I learned not to imagine a boy in their underwear as I'm asking them out." she replied as she cracked a smile. Rarity gave a very slight chuckle as she sent Fluttershy a reply.

"Yes Fluttershy, I can see how doing that would be a tad distracting during your attempt. XD Nether the less, that moment is over and done with, what's done is done. There are plenty of other guys at Canterlot that you can ask out, and we still have about three days to find one of the many who I'm sure would ask you out!" Rarity texted as she gave Fluttershy a reassuring smile. Fluttershy read the text over once or twice before nodding.

"Rarity, y-you're right, you really are. If you think I can do this, than I'm sure I can do it." Fluttershy said with a tad more confidence in her voice. Rarity nodded in agreement as she sent another text.

"That's the spirit Fluttershy! Just don't imagine boys in their underwear anymore and I'm sure you'll do fine."

"Alright Rarity, I'll try not to. So, when exactly do you think we should try again?" No sooner did Fluttershy ask that question did Rarity send her another text.

"Well, is now a good time for you darling?" read the latest text. It was at this point that Fluttershy realized that she was paying more attention to both her phone and Rarity than where she was going. It seemed that the two girls wound up exiting the school from one of the back doors, leading to an open pavilion behind the school. The area was spotted with benches and tables, as well as had doors connecting two different wings of the school as well as the cafeteria, so that students may have lunch outside if the weather was warm enough.

"N-Now!? Umm...well sure I guess now would be a good a time as any..." Fluttershy continued as she surveyed the area in front of her. "But then why are we heeeeere." She stopped as her eyes landed on a small group of students a ways away from her and Rarity. The group consisted of five teens, all focused on playing a game of hacky sac and were unaware of the presence of the other two. Fluttershy easily recognized them as the "Eco kids"; one of the many cliques of Canterlot High.

"Well Fluttershy? See anything you like?" read Rarity's latest text. After reading it, Fluttershy immediately refocused her attention on the group, but most specifically a young man in the group with long green dreads. He was wearing simple jeans, a red t-shirt with a cowboy vest that had a pin with a recycling logo on it, wristbands, and a beanie with two different shades of grey. Fluttershy stared at him for a few seconds before turning back to Rarity.

"Oh goodness! Rarity, do you mean Green Cycle?" Fluttershy asked with a note of excitement in her voice. Rarity nodded as her friend continued. "He's in most of my classes this year. We've also had science class together for the past two years. He helped me out in Biology class last year when...we needed to dissect a frog..." she stated in a somber tone before perking back up slightly. "Do you think I have a chance with him!?"

"I wouldn't have brought you here if I didn't think so." Rarity replied. "Your chances with him are about as good as with anyone else I picked, darling! I'm confident that he'll say yes if you ask him! Just don't think about him in his underwear and I'm sure you'll be gold. Ooh! Perfect timing! It seems his friends are leaving! Now's the perfect time to ask him!" Rarity explained as she pointed back towards the group. Each of the students were conversing with one another as they started to gather their things and leave the area. The young man named Green Cycle was still kicking the hackey sac around for a few more seconds before kicking it up high enough that he caught it with his hand and and put it in a pocket on his vest. Green Cycle then proceeded to pick up his bag and sling it over his shoulder. Fluttershy visibly started to panic when she saw him walking in her general direction. She quickly looked back at Rarity who was quickly making shooing/go on motions with her hands towards the young man. Without thinking, Fluttershy quickly trotted up to Green Cycle, stopping a few inches short of him. She quickly made eye contact with him before averting her gaze to the ground.

"Uh..umm...H-hi Green Cycle..." Fluttershy said in a near audible mumble before taking a deep sigh.

"Hey Fluttershy, what's happenin'?" Green Cycle asked in a cheerfully lax manner.

"W-Well umm...n-nothing really. Same school, same homework, same cafeteria food, same everything." Fluttershy answered quickly.

"Heh, I hear that." Green Cycle replied. Both of the teens just looked at each other in awkward silence as they both tried nonchalantly looking this way and that. Fluttershy glanced back at Rarity; who circled her two pointer fingers around one another, signaling for the young animal lover to keep the conversation rolling.

“So umm...what have you been up to as of late? I don’t really remember the last time we talked.”

“Hey, me neither, I’ve just been chillin’ with my bros and brahs, kickin’ some hacky sack, playing’ some sick beats out on the bongo drums, working’ as one of Mother Earth’s awesome protectors. You know how it is," the young man explained. Green C ycle was part of a group known by many around Canterlot High as the “Eco kids”, not only because many of them looked the part, but it was also widely known that the members of his group took on several different environmental projects, ranging from helping to plant trees in the park and helping clean up litter in some of the seedier places in the city.

“Oh, I see. So how’s school been for you so far this year?” Fluttershy inquired curiously.

The young man casually shrugged. “Eh, school is going about as smooth as possibly. I’m just trying to breeze on through. Don’t really care much about it.”

“Alright...well umm, do you think I can ask you something else kinda important? It’s kinda the reason I’m here.”

“Shoot.” Green Cycle answered with a smirk.

“Ok, well umm….as you probably already know, the umm....the...uhh..” Fluttershy grew more nervous as she reached her topic, she glanced once more at her fashionista friend who smiled and gave her a thumbs up. Fluttershy nodded and took a deep breath before continuing. “Well, It’s just that the Girl’s Choice dance is this week, and I was wondering if...maybe you’d-”

“Hold that thought for a sec.” Green Cycle cut her off as he looked around. “You brahs hear something?”

The two girls listened intently to the seemingly quiet area around them, but after a few seconds, they started to hear something that sounded like thumping or stomping. Whatever the sound was, it was growing louder with each passing second, turning to a thunderous stampeding sound. It was surprising that the ground didn't shake as it came close....okay, there it goes.

"What on earth is that noise?" Fluttershy asked in a dumbfounded manner. "It sounds like a buffalo stampede!"

"No...it's much worse...." Green Cycle said in an incredibly fearful tone, his eyes glued to the doorway where the sound was coming from in terror. He stood stiff as a board as whatever it was came much closer now. Then suddenly, like a bat out of hell, the double doors practically exploded open. From the door appeared an extremely large and well built man with a dark blue goatee and a bright orange track suit with a matching baseball cap. The man was so large that he had to hunch down to get through the double doors, and when he stood up he absolutely towered over the three students. He looked down at all three of them, but he focused his stare at the young man.

"YOOOOOOOOOOOOU!!" the large man suddenly shouted as he pointed an accusing finger at Green Cycle. The beanie wearing teen said nothing in response. "YOU THOUGHT IRON WILL WOULD NOT REALIZE YOU'VE BEEN CUTTING GYM CLASS, HUH? WELL GUESS WHAT! NOW IRON WILL HAS FOUND YA!"

“Oh...no….” Green Cycle shuddered as he stared wide eyed at Iron Will. Then suddenly, the young man’s fight or flight instinct kicked in, he made an attempt to sprint away from Iron Will. He got a couple feet away as Iron Will just stared at him; cocking a smirk as he looked on.

“Hehe, Iron Will loves it when they run,” the large gym teacher said as he started stretching for a few seconds. Once he was finished, he too started on his own mad sprint, the only difference was that when he took off, it felt as though a Powerful gale went right by Fluttershy and Rarity, causing their hair to blow in the wind. It only took a matter of a few seconds for Iron Will to start gaining on Green Cycle. The aforementioned teen glanced over his shoulder to see that his gym teacher was in hot pursuit, with the creepiest grin he’s ever seen on a teacher he’d add if he weren’t already yelping and attempting to run faster. He got a few feet away from Iron Will as he started nearing a doorway into the school.

“Thank Mother Earth! I’m safe!!” the young man shouted out as he continued his sprint towards the door. But just as the words left his mouth, he noticed that a shadow was forming above him and growing larger by the second. He looked up to see something absolutely terrifying.

Iron Will was a good thirty feet in the air....and was free falling towards where Green Cycle was running.

“Holy Hell! How strong is this guy!?” Green Cycle asked no one in particular as he dashed towards the door. He kept paying attention to both the door, as well as the ever growing shadow of Iron Will about to land. As he kept running towards the door and checking Iron Will’s speedily encroaching shadow, a grim realization occurred to him.

I’m not gonna make it!

And with that realization, Green Cycle surrendered himself to his fate, he dove down to the ground and covering his head with his arms whilst praying to every god he could think of. He awaited the inevitable as he could hear, and feel his pursuer landing behind him. Slowly, he raised his head and looked coach Iron Will in the eye.

“Is….is this the end?” Green Cycle asked in a fear ridden voice, to which Iron Will shook his head.

“You wish, you still have a LOT of gym class to make up," the gym teacher answered matter of factly.

“No…..” the young man responded weakly as he put his head back down on the ground.

“YES! We better get started right away! You have a lot of laps to run.” Iron Will explained; and with that, he picked the young student up off of the ground and threw him over his shoulder. He began to walk away with Green Cycle in tow, as he suddenly turned around and pointed at Fluttershy and Rarity. “YOU TWO!”

“U-u-umm...y-yes Mr. Iron Will?” Fluttershy answered in a shaky voice. The aforementioned teacher gave both of the girls a hard stare for a few more second before giving a genuine smile.

“I’ll be seeing both of you in gym class tomorrow right?” he asked, to which Fluttershy and Rarity quickly nodded in reply. Iron Will then gave them a thumbs up. “Alright, I’ll see you there! We’re going to start basketball tomorrow, YEAH!!” he finished as he pumped his fist into the air and began walking away for real this time. After he was gone with Green Cycle, Fluttershy looked back at Rarity with a look of disbelief.

“Umm….so Rarity, who’s next on the list?”

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Swift walked into the gymnasium after school to start with the current day's party planning committee meeting. There were only three days until the day of the dance on Friday, and the committee was in high gear getting everything together before the dance to make it a good one. The last few dances in CHS were good as well, though during the last one apparently something caused part of the school to be blown up, and at the dance before that, the Spring Fling, well.....that event was just wasn't great when the princess of the dance was announced. Those two dances aside, Swift was confident that this dance was going to go off without a hitch.

They already had a majority of the preparations taken care of, Swift and some of the other members had been advertizing the hell out of the dance by hanging up posters, making announcements, and just writing about it on social networks like My Stable. Other students who were mainly techies and more experienced with that kind of stuff were hard at work making sure everything on stage would be ready for the dance, mainly the lights and Vinyl Scratch's huge turntables and basses. Some students who were members of the art club were also helping by designing eyecatching posters about the dance as well as preparing a photo booth for use during the dance.

As the young man entered the room, he glanced around to find any sign of the head of the committee Mr. Sandwich. He looked around to find that he was at one of the farther ends of the room talking to some students about whatever preparations were being made so far. As soon as those students disbanded, Swift walked up to Mr. Sandwich, to which the latter glanced at him and smiled.

"Well hey there Swift! How's it hangin'?" the teacher asked in a jovial tone.

"I'm doing alright Mr. Sandwich, thanks for asking." Swift said as he nodded. " So umm, what do you need me to do today sir?"

"Hmm...well let's see what we need done...." Mr. Sandwich said as he checked the clipboard in his hand. He flipped through a couple of pages as he skimmed through each one until he immediately pressed his finger against a spot on a random page. "Ah! Here we go Swift, Pinkie Pie is currently working on a banner that's going to be hung in the gym during the dance, so how about you go help her out?" He asked as he pointed over to the far end of the room.

Pinkie had her back to the guys as she was painting the binder and dousing it with glitter at the same time. Swift's heart lept a tad when he heard he'd be working with Pinkie alone. The dance itself was only a few days away, and to his knowledge, Pinkie hadn't asked anyone yet. This could very well be his chance. He quickly made his way over to where Pinkie was, she was kneeling down in front of the banner and was paining one side of it incredibly quickly with a paintbrush in each hand.

"Umm...Pinkie?" Swift said. Pinkie stopped what she was doing as she glanced up at Swift, who she gave a toothy grin to.

“Hiya Swift!” Pinkie replied with a toothy grin. “What’s the haps brochacho?”

“Well, Mr. Sandwich said that you probably needed some help with this banner so I’m here to help...if you need it.” Swift explained sheepishly.

“Oh, okie dokie loki!” Pinkie said as she handed Swift one of the brushes she was using, only to pull an identical one out of her hair before dunking it into the blue paint she was using. Swift quickly followed suit and began painting the inside of the letters to the banner. As he was painting, he didn’t so much as glance over at Pinkie who was still painting with increased fervor. He was trying to think of something to say to Pinkie. Should he talk to her about the dance? It’d seem appropriate given what they were doing, it might even help to see if Pinkie was going with anyone, or even better if it’d prompt her to ask him to the dance. But would that make him seem desperate to go? He didn’t want that at all. Then again it may be the best course of action in the situation. As Swift was thinking of what to do, he felt something splash against his face. He moved his fingers against his cheek to find that there were spots of paint against his cheek. He looked back over at Pinkie to see that she was painting with ever increasing fervor, and with increasing fervor, came an increase of the amount of paint splashed onto Swift’s face.

“U-Umm….Pinkie?”

“Yeah Swi-OH!” Pinkie said as she accidentally whipped the brush into the air, causing a large splat of yellow paint to hit the front of Swift’s face. “Whoopsie! Sorry Swift!” she said as she began searching around for something to get the paint off Swift’s face.

“It’s fine Pink-MPF!!” Swift was interrupted by Pinkie grabbing two handfuls worth of napkins seemingly out of nowhere and pressing them all against his face as the young party planner tried wiping the paint off.

“I’m still really super sorry, this dance coming up has me more hyped up than three shots of espresso!” Pinkie claimed as she removed the napkins from Swift’s face to see that she got all the paint off.

“Really? You’ve had three shots of espresso before?” Swift asked in disbelief, unable to wrap his head around the idea of Pinkie ingesting and sort of concentrated caffeine.

“Nope! For some reason my Auntie and Uncle Cake won’t let me drink coffee.” Pinkie explained.

That’s probably for the best. Swift thought to himself briefly. “I see….so you’re really hyped for this dance huh?”

“Yup! This dance is going to be off the walls! And luckily for us, there won’t be an evil she-demon to turn everyone in the school into mindless zombies!” Pinkie happily proclaimed as she got back to painting, this time at a much slower rate.

“Yeah...luckily…” Swift agreed in minor confusion before chalking the random statement to Pinkie being Pinkie and shaking it off. “So umm...the dance huh? It’s really closing in fast. You and your friends all ready for it?”

“Eh, it’s kinda kooky; out of all of us, Rainbow Dash is the only one who seems ready for the dance! Fluttershy is still trying to find a date, same with AJ only because her granny threatened her with sexcapade stories, Rarity has a date but she lost her voice because she screamed loud enough to break glass, and Twilight I think knows who she wants to ask but she’s super shy about it.”

“Oh, that stinks for most of them, good for Rainbow though.” Swift said with a nod. “And how about you?”

“Me? I still need to get a dress to go to the dance since my dryer kind of burned my old one to cinders.” Pinkie explained with a sheepish smile. “But as for a date, I don’t really have one yet. Picking a boy is like picking a flavor of ice cream, they’re all so good but you can only choose one because you only have enough for a single scoop on a really hot day where everyone wants ice cream, so it’s really hard.”

“I can imagine.” Swift said as he continued to paint his side of the banner.

“Plus we got super lots to do before the dance can even start! We need to make sure we got all the food and drink stuff ready for the dance, we gotta set up the lighting and make sure it all works, we need to set up Vinyl’s ginormous bassesesesess...bassi? Anyways, we still got lots and lots and lots and lots and LOTS to do before this can be a certified Pinkie Pie dance party!” Pinkie stated as she kept painting the banner.

“Wow, you really take parties seriously, don’t you Pinkie?” Swift asked as he raised an eyebrow to the young party planning girl. She looked back at him with a grin on her face.

“Of course I do silly billy! Parties are like, some of the most important parts of people’s entire lives!” Pinkie exclaimed as she threw her arms into the air. “Parties celebrate birthdays, marriage, anniversaries, milestones in one’s life and all that good stuff! They help make the memorable moments in life all the more memorable! Parties, dances, shindigs, hootenannys, hoe downs, raves, celebrations! All of them are great because they can all bring lots and lots of different kinds of people together. No matter how different some might be, with a good party, everyone can join in and have a blast all the same!”

Swift was rather surprised by Pinkie’s explanation on why parties were important to her, honestly he wasn’t expecting a more elaborate response like that from Pinkie of all people. If it was him being asked, he’d probably say that parties were just fun and games and food. Nothing at all to be serious about. Just goes to show how some people can think differently.

“Ah, well I guess I never really thought of it like that. So that’s why you think parties are so important?”

“Yuppers!” Pinkie replied back. “Well that’’s one of the reasons anyways, it’s like one of the most important ones.”

“Oh, so what’s the other reason parties are so important? If you don’t mind me asking that is.” Swift asked in a curious tone of voice.

“Oh the other reason? Well, the other reason is something I learned when I was still living at home. I live here in Canterlot County with my Auntie and Uncle Cake now, but when I was in elementary and middle school, I still lived with my actual family in Arkansas. We didn’t really have things easy peasy lemon squeezy back then. We lived on a farm...but my dad wasn’t the best farmer in the world. Barley anything grew there, and you’d have sworn it was a rock farm or something, and when your farm doesn’t grow stuff, you can imagine what that means.” Pinkie stated in an increasingly somber tone.

“Y-Yeah....I can….” Swift agreed in an awkward tone. “So umm…what does that have to do with why parties are important?”

“Hm? Oh! Right! Well when I still lived there, my sisters and I would throw parties whenever we could, and they were really fun. My whole family would have a blast whenever we threw a party, no matter how big or small it was. Dad would smile and dance all around the room all loosey goosey, Mom would join him, and all my sisters would just laugh at how silly they were acting.” Pinkie explained with a grin laced with nostalgia. “What made those parties great was that even though my family was struggling super hard, we could forget about our problems and be happy for a little bit. And that’s why parties are so great. They can make you forget about your troubles for a while so you can make happy memories with the people you care about. That’s why I think parties are the best things ever!”

“Is that so?.....Wow Pinkie, I honestly would’ve never guessed that’s why you liked parties so much.” Swift said in a surprised tone. “I would’ve guessed that you just liked parties because they were fun.”

“Well, I guess other people don’t really expect any other reason from me. But then again, no one has really asked my why I love parties so much. I don’t even think some of my close friends know that story!” Pinkie quickly realized. “But that’s ok, as long as I can help make other people happy, then I’m happy too!”

“Heh, well I’m glad that I know why you like parties so much, I think that’s a really great reason to love them.” Swift shared with a grin.

“Aww, thanks Swift! And thanks for listening to my story, I liked actually sharing that with someone.” Pinkie thanked as the two once again got started painting the banner. Both students painted silently for a few minutes as Swift was focusing on painting in some stars onto the banner, and Pinkie was smiling to herself as she painted the inside of the gigantic letters of the poster. This continued for several minutes, until the two of them were nearing completion of the poster, at which point Pinkie looked back at the young man kneeling down next to her. “Hey umm….Swift?”

“Yeah Pinkie? What’s up?” Swift asked without taking his eyes off of his work.

“I was just wondering if you really wanted to...”

Wait? What’s Pinkie talking about?

“We could go to...”

Oh god, is Pinkie going to ask Swift to the dance? As soon as he heard the words ‘we’ and ‘go’ together, he felt his heart do a backflip…

“...to Sugarcube Corner after this Committee meeting! Whaddya think?”

...and then fall flat on its face. Swift sighed a bit internally, his hope for going to the dance with Pinkie skyrocketed and crashed down in the time it took him to blink. But wait, didn’t Pinkie just ask him to go someplace with her? The cyan skinned young man glanced back at the magenta haired girl to see that she appeared to be eagerly awaiting an answer. Swift gulped.

“Sugarcube Corner? Umm….sure, yeah, sure, We can do that, sounds awesome!” Swift said in an awkwardly excited way,

“Awesomesauce!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “Let’s get going as soon as the meeting is over! But let’s finish up the banner first.”

“Right! Of course!” Swift agreed as the two then quickly got back to work.

My Little Pick Up Artists Part 7: One down, Three to go

Wednesday; two days before the dance

It was nearing the end of the day in Canterlot High School with only about a period left in school before the students were allowed to leave the building in droves. During this final period of the day, Twilight and Rainbow Dash were sitting at a table in the study hall they shared doing their own things. Twilight was skimming through a book she was reading, and Rainbow Dash was trying her best to catch some z’s with her eyes closed and her mouth agape. Neither made too much noise until Twilight heard someone enter the room. She looked behind herself to see that it was none other than her cowgirl friend Applejack with a look of sheer tiredness on her face. She walked over to an empty seat between where Twilight and Rainbow were sitting and dropped the books she was carrying onto the table, which made a thud capable of rousing Rainbow Dash for her slumber.

“Nn..geh...guuuh?” the aforementioned athlete mumbled as her eyes lazily opened up. “Huh? yaaaawn Oh hey AJ, ‘sup?”

“Howdy Dash. Eh nothin’ much, Just got done finishin’ a chem test,” Applejack said with a sigh.

“Oh really?” Twilight spoke up; her curiosity piqued. “How did it go Applejack?” the young bookworm asked, which was met by a shrug from her friend.

“Eh, it went alright ah suppose, them lessons you’ve been givin’ me helped me out a lot Twi, Ah wasn’t as hopeless as ah was before in this subject.”

Twilight nodded. “Well that’s good, if our study sessions are helping you, then we should definitely continue them. Next time I’ll bring the flash cards!” Twilight stated with a noticeable hint of excitement in her voice.

“cougheggheadcough” Rainbow Dash piqued in, which was met with a hard glare by Twilight. The athlete simply smirked as she reclined back in her seat. “Aw, I’m just messing with you Twilight. If it helps AJ to not totally bomb at chemistry, it’s cool.”

“Well I’m glad you think that way Rainbow.” Twilight stated in a plainly sarcastic tone as she went back to writing in her notebook. This action made Rainbow Dash raise an eyebrow.

“Whatcha doin’ there Twi? Finishing up homework or something?”

Twilight shook her head as she concentrated on what she was writing. “No, I already finished my homework in lunch today. It’s umm….something extra curricular….”

“Oh really?” Rainbow Dash questioned as a sly grin crept across her face. “Lemmie see dat!” the young athlete said as she grabbed Twilight’s notebook and read through it. “Oooh….what do we got here?” she questioned as she skimmed through some of the pages.

“H-Hey! Rainbow! Give that back!!” Twilight demanded as she tried reaching to grab the book from her nosey friend’s grasp. Dash simply put her foot against Twilight’s side, effectively keeping the young bookworm at bay as she continued reading.

“Oooooh, well she isn’t doodling Mrs. Twilight Justice, but it looks like she’s planning to start making it a reality.” Dash chuckled as she continued flipping through the book. She was so absorbed in glossing over it’s contents that she didn’t notice the beige hand come close to it and yank it out of her grasp. “Hey! I was reading that!”

‘Yeah, Yeah, ah know.” Applejack replied as she flipped back a couple pages to the front of the book.

“Is privacy dead in this day and age?” Twilight huffed as she leaned towards the cowgirl reading her notebook. “Applejack, can I please have my notebook back?” she asked in a shaky voice, clearly embarrassed by whatever her friend was reading.

“Now hold on a minute.” Applejack said as she leaned away from her lavender skinned friend and continued reading. She read a few more pages in before looking back towards Twilight. “Twi, this is a pretty big research type thing ‘bout askin’ Swift out.”

“Applejaaaaack” Twilight whined as she started to blush and glance around the room due to the aforementioned cowgirl saying that for the entire study hall to hear.

“Eeyup, it’s the whole shebang. A list of conversation topics to get him talkin’, a pro and con list about him that’s mighty sparse on the con side, even a fully detailed twelve step plan ta ask him to the dance, and what’s this ah see? Awww, ya even dotted the I in his name with a little heart, that’s really cute Twi.” Applejack said; both cooing and teasing the young lavender skinned girl about her crush. Twilight’s face was now a bright crimson. She looked back towards Rainbow Dash to see that the athlete was making a kissy face at her while waggling her eyebrows. Twilight groaned as she put her head down on the table and wrapped her arms over it.

“Ooohh….just end it now….” Twilight moaned as she so desperately wished for this horrid period to be done with. In her moment of loathing both her friends as well as herself, she heard Applejack begin to speak up again.

“Oh relax Twi, Rainbow and I are just yankin’ yer chain is all.” Applejack explained as she passed Twilight’s notebook back to her. “Why ah think it’s kinda cute how you’ve takin’ a fancy to him. Ah think you two’d have good chemistry.”

“Yeah, totally!” Rainbow Dash piqued in. “I’ve known him for a while, and he seems like he’d be an awesome match for you! He’s smart, a nice enough guy, and he’s the older brother of the coolest freshman at the school, so he’s got that going for him too. Combine his slight awkwardness with your major awkwardness, and I think Canterlot High will have another top notch couple.”

“Thanks Rainbow...I think….” Twilight stated with mild unease in her voice. “But a couple? I-I don’t know...”

“What’s the issue?” Rainbow asked. “You clearly like him.”

“Yeah, I do.” Twilight confirmed. “But….I don’t know if he likes me, well...as anything more than a friend. I’d really like it if he saw me as more, but...I don’t think I can make that happen.” she said with a sigh as she rested her head on her hands. Applejack was about to reach over to her friend, but was beaten to the punch by Rainbow Dash, who put her arm around Twilight and pulled her close.

“Not with that attitude you’re not.” Rainbow Dash deadpanned as she pointed at Twilight. “Listen Twi, you remember that conversation we had after your first attempt to ask Swift out crashed and burned right?”

“Yeah?”

“Well I still think the advice that I gave you is the best thing to do. Trust me on this Twilight, there is absolutely nothing and no reason why you shouldn’t ask Swift to girl’s choice. In fact, there are only two things you need to remember in order to ask him.” Rainbow Dash explained as she once again took a hold of Twilight’s journal and flipped to the page with the steps to asking Swift out on them, on which she wrote down to more steps for her friend to follow. When she was finished writing them down, she slid the notebook over to Twilight so she could see it.

Step 13: Ignore every step above.

Step 14: YOLO

“Yolo?” asked a confused Twilight. Rainbow Dash proudly nodded while Applejack groaned and rolled her eyes at the last step as Twilight looked back at it. “What does yolo mean? I hear everyone around the school use that word, but I don’t actually know what it means. Is it an acronym or something?”

“It’s stupid is what it is.” Applejack deadpanned.

“Yolo...is a code Twilight, it’s a life motto to many, and a life lesson to all.” Rainbow explained proudly as she put her fist to her chest. “You only live once; YOLO.”

“Alright Rainbow, but how is ‘YOLO’ going to help me ask out Swift?” Twilight inquired.

“It’s just as I said before Twi. You’re probably worried about asking Swift cause you’re scared of how he’ll react, if he’ll say no, yadayadayada that stuff. That’s your problem! You’re worrying too much about the what ifs, and not living in the here and now. You just need to go for it! If he says yes, great, that’s freaking awesome, that’s probably what he’ll say. If he says no, well then screw him, plenty of fish in the sea, ya know? Point is, you gotta act. You gotta live in the now. You only live once.”

“Yolo?” Twilight asked.

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Yolo.”

“Ugh, yer really buyin’ this whole yolo thing Twi?” Applejack asked as she raised an eyebrow.

“Well Applejack, what if Rainbow Dash is right about this? I mean...I haven’t straight up asked Swift yet. Perhaps the best approach is the direct one.” Twilight assumed. “So when the time comes...I’m gonna try Rainbow’s yolo strategy.”

“Huh…alrighty then.” Applejack said as she looked away from her friends. “Well Twilight, ah think that time may be closer than ya think.” she said as she pointed behind the two sitting across from her. Both Twilight and Rainbow turned their heads to see that Swift Justice had just entered the room. He apparently didn’t notice the three girls as he walked towards Ms. Cheerilee’s desk and began talking to her.

“What’s Justice doing here?” Rainbow wondered out loud as she watched the young man have a conversation with their study hall teacher. She kept watching them for a few seconds before smirking. “Heh, who cares? For whatever reason, he’s here. This is your big chance Twilight!...Twilight?” Dashie said as she looked back at her lavender skinned friend who currently had her nose deep in her notebook, feverishly flipping through the pages.

‘Ohgodohgodohgod I’m not ready! I’m unprepared! I don’t know what to say, what to do, geez..what can I do?” the young girl panicked as she continued going through the pages of her notebook. As she was flipping through, a cyan hand came down on the page she was on. Twilight looked at Rainbow, who tapped her finger on the notebook; pointing to the word ‘yolo’. “Oh right...yolo.” Twilight stated nervously.

“Twi, just remember YOLO, and you’re sure to succeed.” Rainbow assured Twilight as they both glanced back at Swift to see that he was starting to walk back towards the exit to the room. Twilight glanced back and forth between her friends one more time before taking a deep breath and jumping out of her chair.

“H-Hey Swift!” Twilight suddenly greeted while standing as stiff as a board.

“Hey Twilight, what’s up?” Swift asked with a smile.

“Oh you know, it’s study hall so I’m studying….in this room. Heh, isn’t it weird that it’s called study hall and not study room? Ehehehe…..” Twilight ended with a nervous chuckle.

“Hmm...well I guess so. Though study room doesn’t really have the same ring to it as study hall does.” Swift thought out loud.

“Heh, yeah, it doesn’t.” the lavender skinned girl agreed. “So umm….what brings you to Ms. Cheerilee’s room?”

“Ah, well Scootaloo had a doctor’s appointment today, so I was just getting her homework for her. Ms. Cheerilee said it was stuff she already knew, so I decided to be a bit evil by being a caring brother who got her sister’s homework for her on her day off.” Swift explained with a grin made of malicious delight.

“Well that’s very….thoughtful of you Swift.” Twilight noted as she glanced back at her friends. Applejack made a hand motion for the bookworm to keep going, and Rainbow silently mouthed the word yolo before Twilight shifted her gaze back to Swift. “So Swift...um...since you’re here, there’s something I’d like to ask you..if that’s alright.”

“Sure Twilight, what is it?” Swift asked with a smile. The young girl in front of him instantly began to blush slightly as she started to fidget a bit.

“Well...the thing is...the thing I wanted to ask you being well s umm…” Twilight continued as Swift looked at her curiously. “It’s not really a big or important thing, well it kinda is I think to some people, not really me, or you really...I just wanted to know if you…..”

“Yes?” Swift asked with a straight face. Twilight kept looking at Swift without speaking for a few moments as she struggled to find the words to reply to the young man in front of her. Before long she gulped and tried speaking again.

“I-I just wanted to know…..”

“MMhh?”

“If...you……...knew that japanese hornets spit acid?” Twilight asked with a sheepish smile on her face. Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened and opened their mouths in disbelief at what Twilight had just asked Swift. The cyan skinned young man gave Twilight an odd look.

“Wait….japanese hornets can seriously do that?” Swift asked in genuine disbelief.

“Y-Yeah, crazy right? There’s a video online of how about a thousand of them were able to decimate about 5,000 bees in an hour.” Twilight added.

“Seriously? Wow...Japan has some messed up creatures. Well anyways, the period is about to end in a few minutes, so I should probably start heading on out. I’ll look up that video later Twilight, sounds like some real freaky shiz.” Swift stated as he walked past Twilight and her friends.

“Yeah, you do that Swift! And I’ll see you later I guess.” Twilight said as she waved to Swift as he was walking away. The instant the young man walked out the door, the sheepish smile that Twilight had melted into a look of defeat before she sat back down and laid her head back on the table. She stayed quiet as she felt her two friends staring at her.

“So Twilight….quick question, what the hell was that?” Rainbow Dash asked in quiet disbelief.

“I don’t know, I messed up...again?” Twilight answered in a muffled voice.

“I agree, you know what happened? You didn’t yolo hard enough.” Rainbow was quick to point out.

“Well there is that load of malarkey.-” Applejack spoke up as she wrote something down in Twilight’s notebook. “And there’s this.” she said as she pushed the notebook in front of her friends so they could both see Swift’s con’s list had its first con.

Cons-

Is denser than a block of wood

__________________________________________________________________________

“Sigh...drat drat drat.” Fluttershy mournfully repeated as she flipped through the pages of the list of boys that Rarity had given her. She looked disappointed as she skimmed through all the names of the boys on the list, many of which were crossed out with a red marker, each page of red names made her feel more and more hopeless as she went through. The saddened pink haired girl sighed once more as she hung her head in disappointment. She stayed this was for a few seconds until she felt the hand of her friend Rarity touch her shoulder.

“Don’t...cough….don’t be sad Fluttershy, It’s not over yet.” Rarity assured the girl in a quietly raspy voice.

“Rarity, you shouldn’t try speaking. Can’t it damage your throat if you try while it’s still healing?”

“Please darling, it’s nothing really, I’m sure if I just keep drinking my herbal tea, I’ll be as good as new come time for the dance.” Rarity replied nonchalantly. “Besides, we have more important things to worry about than my voice; namely, getting you a date for the dance!”

“You think that’s still a realistic possibility after everything that’s happened?” Fluttershy deadpanned as she flipped through the list once more. “Big Mac, I made a complete fool of myself by falling unconscious, Green Cycle; Coach Iron Will kidnapped him, I tried asking Captain Planet out, he gets nailed in head by a dodgeball so hard that he lost consciousness.”

“Yes, perhaps asking him out during a game of dodgeball wasn’t one of my finer ideas.” Rarity agreed sheepishly.

“And we’re not even talking about the ones that went horribly wrong!” Fluttershy exclaimed as loudly as she could, which wasn’t very loud. “I don’t think this is going to work Rarity, I think I should just recycle this list and call it a day.”

Rarity gasped. “Don’t say that Fluttershy! We all said we’d go to girl’s choice together, every one of us! So what a few boys weren’t able to go to the dance with you, that’s no reason to lose hope! We still have boys you can try asking!”

“You mean we still have a boy I can try asking.” Fluttershy corrected as she flipped through the pages of the list one more time, this time stopping to put her finger under the only name that wasn’t red. “I can still try asking out Bulk Biceps, but I’m not so sure anymore Rarity. After all that’s happened, I’m not exactly feeling confident about this whole thing anymore.”

“Well who knows darling? Perhaps the twenty eighth time will be the charm!” Rarity chirped as she grabbed Fluttershy’s arm.

“Well...I guess, sigh...We’ve already tried twenty seven times, what’s one more?” Fluttershy asked as she mustered a weak smile for her friend.

“That’s the spirit darling! Now let’s go quickly! I know exactly where Bulk should be about this time!” Rarity exclaimed confidently as the two teens started moving down the hallway.

“Really? How do you know that?” Fluttershy inquired, which Rarity gave her a knowing grin.

“Fluttershy, we’re staying after school right now. It doesn’t take a genius to know where Bulk Biceps may be.” she explained quickly. And she was right. No sooner did Rarity answer Fluttershy’s question then they made their way down towards the physical education section of the school. The two went by the weight room as they ducked down by a window looking into it. Both girls took a quick peek inside and low and behold, there was Bulk Biceps; bench pressing what looked to be about two hundred and fifty pounds.

“There he is darling! My, if you wanted a young man with muscles, I’m surprised we didn’t go for Bulk right after Big Mac!”

Fluttershy glanced down to her feet. “Well...umm….I...well it’s just that find Bulk can be a bit…”

“YEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAH! THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY REPS!” Bulk Biceps exclaimed from the weight room, taking a brief respite to admire his pecs before returning to his workout.

“...Intimidating.” Fluttershy finished as she glanced over at Bulk.

“It’s true that Bulk can be a tad...over enthusiastic about things…” Rarity stated. “But, from what I’ve heard about him, he’s quite the kindred spirit! He’s in the Canterlot High poetry club, he’s worked on a few of those projects that build homes for the poor, and he’s even in Canterlot’s Big Brother/Big Sister program as an older brother to a kid named Featherweight.”

“R-really? I didn’t know any of that.” Fluttershy said in a pleasantly surprised tone. She looked back up at Bulk to see that he was still working out. “Well...he is a bit loud, but I can overlook that. He is cute, and sweet by the sound of it.”

“Indeed he is Fluttershy, indeed he is.” Rarity agreed. “So, are you ready to give it another go Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy looked back at Rarity, and after a few moments of thought she smiled. “Yes Rarity, I think I’m ready to try again.”

And with that, Fluttershy stood up and took a deep breath before marching into the weight room. Rarity watched from the window as Fluttershy slowly walked up to Bulk and nervously brushed her hair to the side. She stopped walking towards him about halfway through the room before glancing back at Rarity nervously. Rarity gave her a wide smile and a thumbs up, which the pink haired girl met with a nervous smile and a thumbs up of her own before continuing her walk, eventually reaching her destination.

“U-umm....B-Bulk?” Fluttershy asked quietly.

“YEEEEEEEEEEAH?” Bulk replied as he hoisted the weight he was using up and onto it’s rightful place before getting up. “WHAT’S U-oh umm…*ahem* What’s up Fluttershy?” he asked in a quieter tone.

“Oh umm….well nothing of importance recently, how about you Bulk?”

“Oh you know, hittin’ the gym, lifting, being MAD AWESOME! YEAH!” Bulk proudly proclaimed as he flexed his biceps.

“Well that’s nice, you definitely have the umm...body to show for it.” Fluttershy started with a blush on her face.

“Heh, thanks Fluttershy. It ain’t easy keeping up a rockin’ bod like this, but I do it!” Bulk said with another flex. “So what brings you into the Bulkster’s domain today? Do you lift?”

“Umm….no.”

“Do you want to lift?” Bulk asked with a smile.

“Uhh..not at the moment, I umm...actually came in here to ask you something….if that’s alright with you?”

“Sure thing! You can ask me anything! I’m ready!” Bulk said with a confident grin. Fluttershy glanced back towards where Rarity was, only to see that she wasn’t in the window. With another deep breath, she looked back at the white skinned beefcake in front of her.

“Well...umm….Bulk I was wondering if…..umm.” Fluttershy gulped. “Y-You would be willing to go to the girl’s choice dance with me?” she finally managed to choke out. For a brief moment, Fluttershy felt relieved to finally be able to ask a boy that question before something bad happened, but that feeling was quickly dashed when she saw that Bulk’s former smile turned to a frown.

“Oh….Girl’s Choice? Umm…” Bulk scratched his head nervously. “Well...the thing is Fluttershy, I….kind of already have a date for the dance.”

Fluttershy’s heart sunk, her last chance seemingly gone in a second. “O-Oh, alright. So...who asked you out? If you don’t mind me asking that is.”

“It was Cloudchaser. She already asked a guy earlier this week, but he took too long, so she asked me instead. We’re actually going for a run in a little bit so I’ll have to leave in a bit. I’m really sorry Fluttershy, I really am.” Bulk said in a clearly sorrowful tone.

“Oh no, It’s alright Bulk. Cloudchaser is a great girl, I’m sure you two will have a great time at the dance.” Fluttershy said with a faux smile on her face. “Well….I’m sorry I interrupted your workout. I’ll…see you later Bulk.” she stated as she started moving back towards the door to the hallway. When she exited the room, Rarity was quick to rush to her side.

“Fluttershy darling, that...didn’t look as though it went well, did it?” Rarity asked as she grimaced slightly. Fluttershy was frowning, and her hair was positioned in such a way that Rarity was unable to see her eyes when she looked at her.

“It didn’t.” Fluttershy replied in a cold and simple tone.

“It’s alright Fluttershy, the important thing is that you tried your best in there and umm…..” Rarity struggled to find words to comfort her saddened friend. As she was thinking of what to say, said sad friend took the list out of her packet and crumpled it up before tossing it in a nearby wastebasket.

“Thank you for trying to help me Rarity, I appreciate it.” Fluttershy said in a monotone.

“I’m dreadfully sorry that it turned out this way Fluttershy.” Rarity lamented. “ I wish there was something else I could’ve done to help. I didn’t think that it’d be this difficult. I’m sorry for failing you darling, I hope you’re not mad at me.”

Fluttershy shook her head.”No, it’s not your fault Rarity. If anything I’m mad at myself for getting my hopes up. I should’ve known that this was how it was going to turn out in the end. Just the kind of thing to be expected from ol’Flutters.”

“Fluttershy…” Rarity said as she reached out to her friend, only for Fluttershy to back away from her hand.

“I’ll...see you and the other girls tomorrow Rarity, I should be heading home now.” Fluttershy stated as she began walking away.

“Would you at least like for me to drive you home?”

“No, that’s alright...I just want to be alone for a little bit.” Fluttershy said as she walked into the direction of the school’s main foyer.
___________________________________________

Fluttershy was walking down the sidewalk by Canterlot High in the direction of her home. As it was getting close to winter, the sun was already beginning it’s decent as the evening was already fast approaching. The pink haired animal lover looked down to the ground as she continued her trek to her house. It wasn’t that far away, only about ten to fifteen minutes away walking distance. On her way down to her home, she wiped what appeared to me moisture from her eyes as she continued onwards.

“Don't be sad Fluttershy, you can’t let your pets see you like this when you get home. Can’t worry them too much.” Fluttershy said to herself as her voice cracked. Her heart at the moment sadly hung as low as her head as she walked. The girl was feeling far from her best, her chest was tight with emotions of sadness, and her brain was cluttered with the thoughts of not being able to go to the dance with her friends, or any boy she tried asking out that ended up going horribly wrong. It stung thinking of the possibility that she would be the only one of her group not going to Girl's Choice, but with the dance two days away, that seemed to be the sad reality the teen now faced.

“*sniff*.....Why do I have to be so shy? Is that why I mucked everything up?” she asked no one in particular as she felt a small tear move down her face before promptly wiping it away. “Dangit, dangit, dangit.” she repeated to herself as she wiped a two more tears from her cheeks. Fluttershy could feel her chest tighten as she felt herself failing to keep her tears away as she batted away three more.

“No...no, I won’t cry, I won’t cry, I won’t cry, I won’t cry.” she repeated to herself as she shook her head back and forth. As she was doing so, she felt a cold wind blow from behind her. As it came, Fluttershy zipped up her coat and tried basking in its warmth as she started walking slightly faster.

Ka-boom….boom

Fluttershy picked her head up quickly as she looked towards the sky. The sky was a very plain grey as further cracking could be heard from above.

“Oh no….” Fluttershy cursed as she hurried herself along. She needed to get home quickly now as the cackling sounds of lightning occurred right over her. It was clear that rain was coming, and unfortunately for the young girl, her coat didn’t have a hood. The was she was going down didn’t have any sort of coverage from rain, there were no trees or any public buildings or structures she could wait it out under, so she had to keep moving and hope to stay as dry as possible. She hurried along as she felt droplets fall upon her. She looked down to the ground to see small droplets of water falling on it. Fluttershy cursed her luck as she broke into a run. As she was running, the rain fell with greater frequency. Fluttershy could feel herself getting soaked as she continued onwards, running in a sprint at this point. She needed to get home, or find a way out of that rain soon.

HONK-HONK!!

"EEP!” Fluttershy squeaked as she almost tripped over her own two feet. She glanced over to the street to see that there was an old red pickup truck right next to her; a red pickup that she had seen before. the truck window pulled down, and Fluttershy got a good look at the driver.

“Howdy Fluttershy, need a lift?”

It was Big Mac. The orange haired farm boy gave Fluttershy a concerned look as he unlocked the side door, which Fluttershy was quick to open and sit down.

“Oh yes! Thank you Big Mac! Thank you!” Fluttershy cried out in relief as she plopped down on the passenger’s seat. She took one look at Big Mac before turning her site back to the side window. “Umm...I mean, if it’s not too much trouble that is.”

Big Mac chuckled. “Ah, it ain’t no trouble. Ah wasn’t gonna let ya be out in this downpour until ya got home, that wouldn’t sit right with me.” he said as he put the truck back in drive and began driving on the road again. The two sat in silence for a few moments as they continued down the road, with both looking ahead.

“Uum here, let me turn on the heat for ya.” Big Mac said as he flipped a switch on his car.

“Thank you Big Mac, that’s very kind of you.” Fluttershy stated as she smiled at the young man.

“It ain’t nothing Fluttershy.” Big Mac assured her. “So if ya don’t mind me askin’, why were ya runnin’ through the rain like that? Doesn’t one of yer friends usually drive ya if ya stay after?”

“Oh umm….yes, usually one does. But I didn’t want to bother any of them today, most weren’t staying after today.”

“Ah, I see.” Big Mac said with a nod. “So ya in a club or somethin’? Or did ya just stay after fer a class?”

“I did neither. I...well, it’s not really important. I wouldn’t want to trouble you with it.” Fluttershy stated in an offput tone.

“Wouldn’t be any trouble at all Fluttershy, looks like it’s bothering you a bit. Maybe talkin’ bout it would make ya feel better.” Big Mac assumed as he kept his eyes on the road ahead. Fluttershy squirmed uncomfortably in her seat as she sighed.

“Well….I stayed after so I could try asking Bulk Biceps to girl’s choice on Friday, but he already had a date, so that opportunity is gone.” Fluttershy lamented as she slouched back in her seat.

“Oh yeah, Girl’s Choice is this Friday right? Yeah, a few girls tried askin’ me to that this week. Had to turn ‘em down though.” Big Mac said matter of factly.

“I see….wait, you turned all of them down?” asked a confused Fluttershy. “Excuse me for being a bit forward, but why would you turn down six different girls? Was there something wrong with them?”

Big Mac shrugged. “Nope, there ain’t nothin’ wrong with any of em, in fact they were all real nice girls. Ah just said no to ‘em because well….I got a feelin’ in mah gut that someone else tried askin’ me before they did, but they weren’t quite able ta do so. Call me crazy, but ah guess ah was still holdin' out hope that she'd try askin' me again.”

“Oh, I see. Well I hope whoever she is tries again soon.” Fluttershy replied calmly as she stared out the window of the truck. She continued to look out of it for a few moments before her eyes shot open and she glanced back at Big Mac to see that he had a smile on her face. Needless to say, Flutters was already blushing. “O-Oh! Umm….oh goodness, oh dear….” she mumbled as she glanced down to her feet. She took a few deep breaths before brushing her hair out of her face. She started twiddling her thumbs as she began to speak again. “U-U-Umm….B-Big Mac?”

“Eeyup?”

“W-Would you...go to Girl’s Choice with me?” Fluttershy managed to choke out as she slowly turned her gaze to the boy next to her.

“Eeyup.” the young farmer said with a smile on his face. He took a glance at Fluttershy to see that the young girl was frozen in her seat. He chuckled to himself as he turned his truck to go up a driveway before pushing the breaks. “Well Fluttershy, we’re here.”

Fluttershy was still frozen.

“Ah’ll pick ya up Friday night then? Six thirty sound good to ya?”

“A-A-A-Ok….” Fluttershy replied as she turned to open the truck door. “T-Thank you Big Mac.”

“Anytime Fluttershy. Ah’m lookin’ forward to our date.” the young man replied as Fluttershy shut the door. He gave her a smile and a wave before backing out of the driveway and going back down the road. Fluttershy stood in the rain as she watched Big Mac’s truck disappear down the road. She stood there until she found the only coherent word that could leave her lips.

“Y-Yay….”

My Little Pick Up Artists Part 8: The Final Preperations

Thursday; one day until the dance

The force of the Party Planning Committee was in full swing. It was the day before the dance and the committee was working their tails off to get everything ready for the big event. Students were moving and setting up party supplies all through the gymnasium, and luckily for them, Coach Iron Will’s gym class moved their class to their fitness center. Luckily for the members of the committee, it took a while to set up everything for the dance, so they all got permission to skip the last period of the day in order to finish setting up. At the moment, Swift was helping to set up some tables in the gym.

“Alright, that’s one table down. However many we have left to go!” Swift said to himself triumphantly. The excitement of the dance’s approach certainly wasn’t lost on the young man, as he’d been gleefully doing tasks all around the gym in order to prepare for everything. The dance was only a single day away, and in that one day Swift would either experience a pleasant surprise of getting asked out, or the usual disappointment of sitting home and spending his night marathoning anime on his computer.

“I know my odds aren’t high to begin with.” Swift thought as glanced behind him to catch a glimpse of Pinkie Pie hopping around the room with a clip board. “But….I hope I have at least some chance with Pinkie.” he thought with a smile as he went back to going to get another table. It was fair to say that Swift’s hopes were bumped up ever since his little “date” with Pinkie Pie the day before, even though they did nothing more than discuss school, their friends, and the long and proud history of the doughnut courtesy of Pinkie. That small amount of time with Pinkie was like a blessing for Swift, as if fate is finally going to give him his chance with her. As far as he knew, she still didn’t have a date for the dance. This could very well be his time.

Continuing onwards, Swift came upon the storage room connected to the gym that contained the tables. He grabbed a rather large table as he began dragging it across the floor. He managed to drag the large table into the gym until he bumped into somebody behind him.

“Whoops, sorry the-” Swift continued as he looked behind himself to see that he had bumped into Twilight, who before being bumped into looked as though she was helping to hang streamers. “Oh hey Twi! Heh, I gotta stop bumping into you.”

“Hey Swift...heh, yeah you kind of do that a lot.” Twilight chuckled. “Do you need help with that? It seems kind of tough dragging that big thing along.”

“Eh, I can handle it.” Swift said with a shrug. “But if you want to help, I wouldn’t have any problems with it.” he said to Twilight, and with that she gave a simple reply of ‘sure’ before grabbing the opposite end of the table and hoisting it up with a grunt.

“Oh yeah, I saw that video you were talking about the other day Twilight.” Swift said as the two students walked to the other side of the gym.

“Uum...what video?” Twilight asked.

“That thing with the Japanese hornets. That stuff is insane! It only takes thirty japanese hornets to kill up to 3,000 bees! I mean jeezus, those hornets are bad mofos, I wouldn’t want to run into them in a back alley.” Swift said in a joking tone.

“O-Oh, right. That video. Yeah it is really crazy isn’t it? Really bad stuff.” Twilight agreed as she remembered what Swift was talking about.

“Mmhmm, nature’s messed up.” Swift said as they reached the opposite end of the gym and set the table down. “Well thanks Twi, that little bit of work is done.” he said as he surveyed the entire gym area. “Man, this is all coming together really well, don’t you think? We’ll so be able to finish setting this up by tomorrow.”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah, it shouldn’t take too much longer for us to set this up. All the big work is done now that Vinyl got her systems all setup and Atomic Adam got the lighting ready.”

“Mmhmm.” Swift nodded. “So, are you going to the dance with anybody?”

Twilight nervously looked away from Swift. “Umm...no, not yet...I’m kind of waiting for the right time to ask him.”

“Oh, well I’d probably do it soon if I were you. It’s the day before the dance! It’d definitely be best if you asked him today at some point.” Swift said matter-of-factly.

“I know...I guess I’m just nervous about asking him. He’s closer to me then nearly every other guy in the school, but yet when it comes to stuff like asking him about the dance, I feel like he’s still far away.” Twilight explained.

“Well that’s understandable, I mean you haven’t really asked anyone out before right?” Swift asked to which Twilight replied with a nod of the head. “Well don’t worry about it too much Twilight. The worst thing he can say is no, and if he doesn’t have a date yet I don’t see any reason why he’d refuse a great girl like you.”

“Yeah, hopefully I can work up the nerve to ask him...he’s a great guy you know? Smart, friendly, optimistic, maybe just a tiny bit of a doof, just a really nice guy.” Twilight said in a manner as if she wanted Swift to catch onto something.

“Sounds like it! I’d love to meet him sometime.” Swift chirped. “Well anyways Twilight, I’m going to go see if Mr. Sandwich needs me to do anything else.”

Twilight’s face briefly reflected a look of ‘seriously?’ before she spoke again. “Well alright Swift, I’ll talk to you later I guess.”

“Wow, Applejack was right.” Twilight thought to herself. “He really is as dense as a block of wood! Why exactly do I like him again?” she silently wondered to herself as Swift began to walk away.

“Oh, Twilight?” Swift said as he turned back to face her. “Don’t worry about asking your guy too much. The worst thing he can say is no, and if he doesn’t have a date yet I don’t see any reason why he’d refuse a great girl like you," he said with a warm smile on his face before turning back to go towards Mr.Sandwich. As he walked away Twilight cracked a smile as she began twirling her hair with her finger.

“Oh yeah...that’s why.”

__________________________________________________________________________

‘Alrighty, where is Mr. Sandwich?’ Swift thought to himself as he scanned the gym for the club supervisor. He looked around a few times with no luck at all, he asked a few of the students and they didn’t seem to know where Mr. Sandwich was either.

“Where the heck could he be?” Swift wondered as he walked past a ladder at the side of the gymnasium, seemingly unaware of the sound of someone sliding down said ladder.

“Heya Swifty!” a perky voice said to him from behind. Swift glanced behind himself to see that Pinkie Pie was a few steps up the ladder behind him, holding the banner the two painted a few days ago. “What’cha dooooooin’?”

“Oh hey Pinkie. Nothing much, I’m just looking for Mr. Sandwich to see if there's anything else that needs to be done for the dance. You wouldn’t happen to know where he is, would you?” Swift asked.

Pinkie nodded. “Yuppers! Mr. Sandwich just left because he needed to get his leighderhosen back from one of the german teachers! Those are like, one of his best pairs of party pants and he needs them for a polka party he’s going to this weekend! I mean, you can’t go to a polka party without your polka party pants! That’d just be weird.”

“O…..kay then…” Swift said while trying to actively push the image of Cheese Sandwich in leighderhosen out of his head forever. “Hey umm...would you happen to know of anything else that needs to be done? I mean, considering you’re the president of the committee and everything.” Swift questioned to which Pinkie put her hand to her chin.

“Hmmm…...what to do, what to do…..” Pinkie muttered to herself as she scratched her chin with her fingers. After a few seconds, Pinkie’s eyes lit up as she snapped her fingers. “Ooh! I know! I think they’re still bringing sound system stuff down from the AV department upstairs. Maybe see if they still need help bringing stuff in?” she suggested to Swift.

“AV stuff. Alright, I’ll go do that. Thanks Pinkie!” Swift said as he walked off towards some students that were leaving to get the equipment. He and a few other students from the committee went into the department and grabbed large boxes of equipment and the like and started to bring them back into the gymnasium quickly. As Swift was carrying a large box through the gym and up to the stage where the equipment was being set up, he glanced back towards Pinkie, who was currently standing up on the top of the incredibly tall ladder trying to attach the banner for the dance to the rafters. It appeared as though she was struggling somewhat with the task, as she was standing on the very top step of the ladder on the tips of her toes. Swift bit his lip nervously.

“Uhh...that doesn’t look safe at all. Even for someone like Pinkie Pie.” Swift thought to himself “Maybe I should go ask her if she needs help.”

But at the end of that thought, Swift noticed something that made his heart jump in surprise. As Pinkie managed to tie the banner to a beam up by the ceiling, her foot was incredibly close to the edge of the ladder. Swift put the box of AV gear down as he started to nervously walk forward. As he was slowly walking, Pinkie spoke up.

“Haha! There! I got it-up….ooh….” Pinkie said nervously as she herself noticed that she was on the edge of the ladder too and began to sway. Swift’s heart lept up in fear as he saw this happening.

“PINKIE!” Swift called out as he jumped off the stage and started running towards the party planning president. Other students looked at Swift and then up at Pinie to see that she was swaying rapidly, flailing her arms to try stabilizing herself.

“Oh-Oh-oh...oh no….oo-ope-ah-ah-AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!” Pinkie cried out as her body leaned forward off of the ladder as she began to fall. Many of the students were frozen in surprise as they couldn’t do anything but watch the young girl fall towards the ground, flailing her arms all the way down. Swift however ran towards Pinkie with full speed as he got close to the ladder.

“Come on come on come on, faster Swift! Faster!” he internally screamed at himself as he moved towards Pinkie. The young man started to outstretch his arms as he neared the ladder, ready to catch Pinkie. Unfortunately for him however, he made a mistake in only keeping his eyes focused at Pinkie; and not where he happened to be running. As he was ready to catch her, Swift suddenly felt his feet stop as his upper body lurched forward.

“What the!?” Swift said as he himself started to fall. The young man tried catching himself, but wasn’t quick enough as he fell face first onto the gym floor. He looked back by his feet to see that he had tripped on a stray cord used for the lights the students were putting up. In an instant, Swift looked back up in horror at Pinkie, who was still falling and nearing the floor. “OH NO!” he yelled out in horror as he tried picking himself up off of the ground as fast as he could.

“W-woah! Got ya!” a male voice suddenly said from right in front of Swift. He looked forward to see that someone had managed to catch Pinkie. It was a young, average looking man. He had nut brown hair, darkish yellow skin. He was wearing a plain orange t-shirt and jeans. The new young man was currently cradling Pinkie as the young woman had her arms wrapped around his neck. Pinkie had her eyes closed, but after a few seconds gingerly opened one after the other and looked up at her rescuer, who looked at her with a smile. “Hey Pinkie...are you ok?” he asked in a concerned tone.

“Umm...yeah, I think so.” Pinkie answered as she looked back down to the ground to see her feet were dangling a few inches above it. She looked back up at the young man and gasped. “Caramel! You saved me!”

“Heh, oh it was nothing, I just did what anyone else would do-oh!” Caramel was cut off as Pinkie wrapped him in a tight embrace, the sight of which made Swift’s chest tinge with a moment of envy.

“Yeah, but you saved me! That was awesome! I need to think of a way to really thank you!” Pinkie explained excitedly. “Hm….gasp! I know! Caramel! Do you want to go to girl’s choice with me!?” she asked excitedly.

“What!?” Swift mentally yelled as he couldn't help but watch what was occurring in front of him.

“Girl’s choice? With you?” Caramel asked nervously as he blushed a tad. “Yeah, yeah, I’d love to go to the dance with you Pinkie!” he answered happily.

NO!!

“Yippie!!” Pinkie exclaimed as she hugged Caramel tightly once more, sending another knife of strife into Swift’s chest. The young man mentally facepalmed as let a quiet grunt slip through his teeth. His hopes had been dashed right in front of him; Pinkie was going to the dance...but not with him.

_____________________________________________________________________

It was currently right after school, all preparation for the dance was now complete, and all that was needed to be done was to wait for the dance. At the moment in a hallway in Canterlot High, the six friends who called themselves the Humane six were huddled amongst one another, eagerly chatting with one another.

“I still can’t believe it! I have a date with BIG MACINTOSH! This is incredible!!” Fluttershy said excitedly, barely able to contain herself as she was nearly bouncing up and down off of the ground.

“Heh, ah still can’t believe i asked him out. Good job Fluttershy! Ah’m sure you’ll have a great time with mah brother!” Applejack assured her with a pat on the back.

“I got a date with Caramel!” Pinkie chimed in. “He saved me from going splat on the ground! Plus he’s a super nice guy, he’s in like all my classes! We’re going to have uber lots of fun!!”

“Wonderful, simply wonderful! I’m glad you girls found dates to the dance! I can’t wait to see you all there.” Rarity added with a nod.

“Yeah, it’s going to be awesome!” Rainbow Dash said confidently. “Hey wait a minute...I don’t think I heard if all of us had a date. AJ, did you ask somebody?” she asked to which Applejack looked at her and rolled her eyes.

“Eeyup, ah got a date to the dance.” Applejack said in a dull tone. “But ah ain’t too happy ‘bout it.”

“Who is it?” Rainbow asked.

“You’ll see at the dance. Ah don’t feel like talkin’ ‘bout him now.” the cowgirl said with a sigh.

“I guess we will.” Rainbow said with a smirk as she glanced at Twilight, the one girl who was staying out of the conversation. “So Twi! How’d it work out with Swift? Did it go well?”

Twilight shifted around nervously. “Umm….well….I uhh…..it didn’t go….poorly.” she answered in a Fluttershy-esque manner.

Rainbow furrowed her brow. “That means you didn’t ask him...did you?”

Twilight sighed. “No...I didn’t ask him…..”

Rainbow groaned. “Twilight, didn’t I teach you anything about asking a guy out? You just gotta straight up gun it. Did you at least try asking him out?”

“Yeah, I did...well….sort of.” Twilight admitted sheepishly. “I made some clear hints as to whom I was nervous about going to the dance with, but sadly he didn’t seem to catch on….” she continued to explain, which caused Applejack to facepalm.

“Ugh….Twilight. Swift ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to hints.” Applejack deadpanned.

“I know...I know….” Twilight sighed. “I guess it’s just I was too nervous to try asking him out directly. I’ve never really done anything like that, you know? Maybe I’m just not cut out for this whole ‘asking a guy out’ thing.”

“Don’t speak like that darling! You’ll get it! You just need to try, try again!” Rarity said in an attempt to brighten her friend’s spirits.

“Oh yes! I’m sure you can ask him out Twilight! I mean, I thought I’d never go to this dance, but I’m going with Big Mac! I never thought that would actually happen!” Fluttershy chimed in. “I mean, if I can do it, I’m more than sure you can too!”

Twilight shook her head. “I-I don’t know girls….school has already let out….he’s probably gone home….I’d hate to spring that up on him……”

“Come on Twi!” Pinkie exclaimed suddenly. “You got this girl! Go on! Do it! Do it! Do it!” she repeated a few times by herself before each of Twilight’s friends were joining in. The lavender skinned girl rolled her eyes as she looked away.

“Girls…” Twilight whined half embarrassed, half nervous.

“You’re just nervous Twi, it’s time for plan B!” Rainbow said as she moved over to Twilight’s side.

“Eeyup, let’s do it!” Applejack agreed as she went to Twilight’s other side.

“Applejack, Rainbow, what are you? H-Hey! What are you doing!?” Twilight asked as both the cowgirl and athlete grabbed her by the arms and held her up so her feet dangled over the floor.

“Do ya know where Swift’s locker is Rainbow?” Applejack asked the athlete.

“Yeah, totally! It’s right by the main foyer! Let’s go!” Rainbow exclaimed as both her and Applejack ran down the hallway with Twilight in tow.

_____________________________________________________________________

Swift let out a sigh as he stuffed whatever school supplies he needed into his backpack for the next day. Expectedly, the young man was seemingly devoid of any sort of pep or positive emotion after what happened just about half an hour beforehand. He cursed his own bad luck.

“Dangit...that stupid freaking power cord, I could’ve gotten to Pinkie first if it weren’t for that thing.” Swift bitterly recalled out loud. If he hadn’t been so unlucky (or if he had been a tad more aware of his surroundings) he could’ve definitely saved Pinkie from falling instead of Caramel. He could’ve been her hero, and date to the dance probably.

But unfortunately for him, he wouldn’t know, as things didn’t go down that way. Swift thought that it was still good that Pinkie wasn’t injured by the fall, but that didn’t stop it from stinging when she asked Caramel out right in front of him. He knew he only had a sliver of hope to begin with, but any amount of hope being dashed still felt bad. Now with the dance happening tomorrow, he realized that he probably wouldn’t be able to go now. And after all that hard work he took to help set it up.

“Oh well.” Swift thought to himself. “I guess it’ll just be my usual Friday night ritual of playing video games and binge watching anime.”

And with that, Swift closed the door to his locker and slung his backpack over his shoulder. As he started to walk away from it, he heard the sound of people running at him from behind, stopping a few steps away.

“Hey! Justice!” a familiar snarky voice called out to him. Swift sighed.

“Yeah? What is it Rainbow Da-woah!” Swift blurted out as he turned around quickly enough to see Twilight being pushed into him. He reacted quickly, as he caught her before she could fall. “Umm...Twilight, are you ok?

“Yeah Swift….” Twilight said as she glared daggers back at her two friends. “I’m fine.”

Swift looked behind Twilight to see Rainbow and Applejack standing a few feet away. Rainbow Dash waggled her eyebrows at him as she was smirking while Applejack was just giving him a grin. Momentarily confused, Swift noticed that Twilight spoke up again.

“U-Umm...hey Swift?”

“What’s up Twilight?” Swift asked curiously.

“Well...uh…..y-you see...I umm…...I was thinking...well I know it’s the day before and all...but...I’ve really wanted to ask you……”

“Yeah?”

Twilight looked down at the floor before taking a deep breath before looking up into Swift’s eyes. “Swift….will you….will you go to Girl’s Choice with me?” Twilight asked in an extremely sheepish manor. Just as fast as she looked into Swift’s eyes she looked back down to the ground, averting her gaze from the young man staring at her wide eyed in surprise. Swift didn’t speak for a few seconds as he was trying to figure out what just happened. HE was the guy she was worried about asking? Who would’ve thought? He continued to look at the lavender skinned girl in shock as Rainbow spoke up.

“Well Swift? You gonna YOLO and say yes or what?” she asked, which earned an elbow to her side courtesy of Applejack. “OW!”

“Don’t pay her no mind.” Applejack told Swift as she glared back at Rainbow. Swift looked back down at Twilight to see that she was still awaiting his answer.

“Uhh Y-Yeah, sure, why not?” Swift answered. Twilight’s head jerked up as she looked into his eyes again.

“R-Really?” she asked in shock, to which Swift replied with a nod. At that moment, Twilight gained a wide grin across her face as she quickly hugged Swift. “Oh thank you Swift! Thank you, thank you thank you!” she repeated with excitement. The excitement lasted for a few seconds before Twilight detached herself from Swift.

“Yeah, no problem Twilight, I’m sure we’ll have a great time.” Swift said as he took out his cell phone. Twilight took out hers as well as the two exchanged numbers as well as decided on a time for when Swift would pick Twilight up for the dance. Once all that was settled, Twilight thanked Swift once again before running back to Applejack and Rainbow Dash as giddy as a schoolgirl, leaving Swift to stand in the middle of the hallway surprised.

“Well that happened quickly….” Swift said to himself as he started to walk out of the school. “Well...I guess I’m going to the dance anyways. Just wait until I tell Thunderlane and-”

Swift stopped dead in his tracks.

“Uh Oh…..”

The Road to the Dance!

“Okay Swift...okay, this is really, really bad, but it isn’t super bad. I’m sure Flash will understand,” Swift nervously whispered to himself as he scratched the back of his head. The young man was seated at a table right next to a window showing a street of the city of Canterlot. He shifted uncomfortably around as only two thoughts occupied his mind: how Twilight had asked him to the dance, and how Flash was going to react when he told him.

“Maybe it won’t be so bad…” Swift said. “Perhaps Flash broke down from waiting for too long and said yes to one of the two girls who already asked him. Yeah, I’m sure that’s probably what happened, nothing to worry about! Nothing at all!”

“You talking to yourself again Swift?” a voice asked. Swift turned his head to see Flash Sentry walking towards him with a milkshake in each hand. He sat down across from Swift as he set the brown colored shake in front of him and pushed a pink colored one towards Swift.

“Y-Yeah, a little. Just going over homework assignments in my head, you know,” Swift lied sheepishly.

“Heh, you got a lot of homework dude? I didn’t get much in any of my classes. Looks like it’s going to be a pretty chill night,” Flash stated as he took a sip of his milkshake.

“I have a little bit, though it shouldn't be too much trouble,” Swift explained as he was quick to take a sip of his strawberry flavored shake.

Flash raised an eyebrow at his friend. “Hey Swift, is everything alright dude? You seem kind of out of it today, like something’s troubling you.”

Swift choked a little on his shake. “U-Umm...no, nothing’s really troubling me. Just feeling a bit weird regarding recent events. A bit winded too because of us finishing the preparations for the dance,” he assured Flash, which wasn’t quite far from the truth. He’d been dealing with emotions feeling like a churning sensation in his gut. Fear, stress, surprise, and the usual anxiety were all present within him. Though a new one was currently at work as well: guilt for saying yes to Twilight, the girl his friend had set his sights on. In the heat of the moment of focusing solely on Twilight and her question, Swift had completely forgotten about Flash’s pursuit of the girl. It was a honest mistake, Swift repeated to himself multiple times when coming to the cafe they were currently in.

“Ah, I see. That must have been a lot of work,” Flash thought out loud. “So I’ve been meaning to ask. With you being in the Party Planning Committee with Pinkie, has anything….come up between you two?”

Swift shook his head. “Nothing much has happened. I learned a bit about what her life was like before she came to Canterlot...and the history of the doughnut. Aside from that, we’ve just talked here and there, not a lot. She asked a different guy to the dance tomorrow too, so there’s that,” he said with a sigh.

“Ooh….I’m sorry about that, man,” Flash said sympathetically. “That really sucks. If it makes you feel any better, I won’t be going to Girl’s Choice either though.”

That doesn’t help at all! Swift thought to himself as a stronger sense of unease went through his chest. “R-really? You’re not going?” he asked, to which Flash shook his head. “But what about Cloudchaser and Roseluck? They both asked you out! Did you turn both of them down?”

“Nah dude, I waited too long. Both of them got tired of waiting for my answer and asked Bulk Biceps and Captain Planet to go with them instead. I was hoping that Twilight would ask me, but sadly, no dice,” Flash explained in a nonchalant tone.

“Yeah...kind of already knew that,” Swift muttered quietly.

“What was that Swift?”

“Err...yeah, that sucks dude, really blows,” Swift said quickly.

“Eh, what’re ya gonna do, you know?” Flash said with a shrug. “It’s just one dance. Kind of stinks that we won’t be going, considering how much hype it’s been getting from some of the people at school, but there’ll be others I’m sure.”

“Yeah,” Swift agreed.

“Still, that’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to have a fun time on Friday, you know? So how about after school you come over to my place? We could watch some horror movies, play some Brutal Bash Bros., Ooh! I almost forgot, I just got this sweet vintage guitar from my uncle! Dude, you need to hear it, it plays like a beauty!” Flash said excitedly. “So whaddya say Swift? Wanna just hang out tomorrow?”

Swift gulped down some more of his milkshake. Well….I guess It’s time to come clean… he thought to himself.

“Actually Flash…I’m going to need to take a raincheck on that. I’ll be kind of occupied on Friday….” Swift admitted sheepishly.

“Oh? Why’s that Swift?” Flash questioned, seeming slightly disappointed. Swift looked away as he scratched the back of his head.

“Umm...well, you see Flash, just because Pinkie didn’t ask me to the dance doesn’t mean I’m not going…..” Swift explained in a nervous tone. He glanced back towards Flash to see that he had a mildly surprised look on his face.

“So wait, you got yourself a date for the dance?” He asked, to which Swift nodded yes. “Dude, that’s awesome! Good for you man, I’m happy for you!” Flash said with a genuine smile on his face.

“Heh...thanks man….” Swift said while returning an awkwardly nervous grin.

“So who’s the lucky lady, eh? Don’t take this the wrong way, but it doesn’t seem to me like many girls would notice or even ask out a guy like you.”

Swift yanked on his shirt collar a little as he looked away. “Uhh...well, it’s someone you know actually, someone I didn’t expect to ask me in the first place.”

“Yes, yes, go on!” Flash said excitedly.

“It was really sudden, I didn’t really expect it myself...kind of still shocked about it right now.”

“Come on, out with it, man! Tell me who it is already!” Flash said even more curiously.

“Well Flash…” Swift gulped. “You see…it’s kind of sort of weird, you see I was *ahem*kindofaskedbyTwilightSparkle*ahem*” he said extremely quickly.

Flash looked at Swift with a confused expression on his face. “Umm… could you say that again Swift? Couldn’t quite catch that.”

“S-Sure, what I was saying is that *ahem*IwasaskedbyTwilight*ahem*” Swift said more slowly. Flash looked at him with a blank expression before chuckling.

“Heh, try a little slower dude, for a second there it sounded like you said Twilight asked you to the the dance.”

“Ehehehe….” Swift laughed awkwardly as he looked out the window to his right and took a long sip from his milkshake. For a few seconds, the two sat in silence as Swift fought the urge to see Flash’s expression. He couldn’t see Flash, though that didn’t mean he couldn’t feel Flash’s gaze pierce his soul.

“Wait…” Flash said in a monotone as he stared at his friend. “Swift?” Swift look longer and more drawn out sips of his shake. “Swift….” Flash repeated in a more serious tone.

“*gulp* M-Mmhmm?” Swift mumbled as he continued sipping on his straw. He gained the courage to look at Flash, but immediately regretted it as he saw that Flash had a glare that could turn Medusa to stone.

“Swift...did Twilight ask you to the dance?” Flash asked sternly.

“Well… the thing is-”

“Swift!”

“Okay, yes, she asked me.” Swift admitted. Flash’s former stern look changed to a look of shock.

“Wha-what!? Are you kidding me!?” Flash more yelled at Swift than asked him. “When did she ask you!?”

“About five minutes before you sent me the text saying to meet you here…” Swift said nervously.

“And you said yes!? Why!? You know I like Twilight dude! What the hell man!?”

Swift shifted around nervously. “I-I don’t know Flash! It all happened really fast. She was looking super nervous… her friends were watching… I-I didn’t know what to say! I panicked, and I said the first thing that came into my head,” he answered, clearly feeling guilty for what he did.

“God, way to stab me in the back Swift.” Flash spat out as he crossed his arms.

“I’m sorry dude! Really, I am! In the moment, I just forgot about you liking her for a sec. My mind was trying hard enough to process everything that happened! I didn’t mean to hurt you, man! Honest!” Swift explained desperately.

“Still, you need to find a way to fix this, man!”

“What do you mean ‘fix this’?” Swift asked, puzzled.

“Call off your date with Twilight!” Flash told Swift angrily.

Swift blinked. “What!? Dude, I can’t do that! You can’t just call off your date the day before the dance! That’s super rude!”

“Just tell her you can’t go. Give her an excuse as to why you can’t go, and then, oh, I don’t know… maybe send her in my direction perhaps?” Flash suggested earnestly. Now it was Swift’s turn to give Flash a shocked look.

“You mean lie to Twilight? Flash, I can’t do that! Calling off the date would be bad enough, but lying to call the date off would be even worse! Also, why are you so pissed!? You were nonchalant about not going to the dance before!”

“That was before I realized you stole Twilight out from under my nose!” Flash retorted.

“I didn’t ‘steal her’ from you, she asked me out remember? Besides, it’s just one dance, dude! You’ll survive!”

“Yeah, it is just one dance! So why can’t you just call it off?” Flash asked.

“Because I don’t want to look like a huge asshole!” Swift answered.

Flash grinned. “Ugh, seriously dude?” he said as he started to get up. “I thought we were bros.”

“Flash…” Swift said as his friend walked past him. “Dude, come on….” he said somberly. Flash ignored Swift and walked out of the cafe they were in, leaving Swift alone to sigh. “Well….that went as expected.”

__________________________________________________________________________

Friday; the night of the dance

Swift was checking himself in the mirror on his dresser to make sure that everything looked right with his outfit. He was wearing greyish black dress pants with a matching vest, a white dress shirt, and a black tie. Admittedly, he was surprised that he was asked to the dance on such short notice, the day before of all days, but he was sure to always have something nice hanging up in his closet for such short notice occasions. Though more admittedly, Swift was more surprised about who asked him out to the dance. As he adjusted his tie, Swift thought about how the dark haired girl asked him out to the dance with the aid of her friends Applejack and Rainbow Dash. It still was a rather big shock to him at this point. He honestly didn’t expect her to be so happy about him saying yes, though that was a very awkward situation for the girl to be in, and he bet she was also glad that she got out of it with a good result. Hell, she even hugged him she was so happy. Swift was unaware he could make a girl so happy by just saying one word. The young man continued to ponder the reason behind Twilight’s excitement until his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his phone vibrating on his dresser, which he answered.

“Hey Thunderlane, what’s up?”

“Hey, not much dude. I’m just about ready for the dance. Yourself?” Thunderlane asked. Swift looked into the mirror one more time to check himself out in full.

“Yup, I look fiiiiiine.” Swift joked, which prompted a chuckle from the other end of the line.

“Heh, well good for you buddy. This is gonna be quite the night for you, eh? You’re gonna have a bomb-ass night with Twilight?”

“Yeah, I guess…” Swift answered in a lackluster manner. It was clear Thunderlane had picked up on Swift’s tone due to him sighing.

“Hey man, listen, Pinkie Pie didn’t ask you to the dance yesterday. I know that majorly sucks for you right now, but you still got a pretty good night ahead of you. From what you told me, Twilight sounds like she was really happy that you said yes to her yesterday. Sure, this night isn’t going the way you initially wanted it to go, but look on the bright side! You’re still going to the dance with a really cute girl who not only asked YOU to the dance, but I repeat was VERY happy that you said yes to her. Pinkie might not have asked you, but don’t let that ruin your life.” Thunderlane explained matter-of-factly. Swift nodded as he listened to his friend’s explanation. As usual, the other young man was right. It was just one dance, there’d be plenty more after that. He believed this to be Twilight’s first dance, and if not, it was sure to be the first one where she had a date. Either way it was Swift’s job to show her a good time, regardless of what happened. But still, something else was plaguing Swift’s mind.

“Yeah, I know man. It’s just the whole thing with...well...you know…” Swift continued.

“You still worried about the whole thing with Flash?” Thunderlane asked, to which Swift gave an ‘mmhmm’. Swift hadn’t spoken to Flash since the incident in Sugarcube Corner the day beforehand. Flash seemed shocked and hurt when Swift explained that Twilight asked him to the dance. He’d never seen Flash look so pissed before at him. Needless to say, Swift felt guilty as all hell.

“Well dude, I wouldn’t worry about it a helluva lot. You know Flashy boy, when he gets upset about something, he usually pouts about it for a few days and then writes a half assed song he guilts someone into listening to afterwards.”

“I know, I know,” Swift continued. “I remember the album’s worth of songs he wrote after he broke up with Sunset Shimmer a couple months back,” he said as he shuddered at the memory of such classic Flash Sentry songs as ‘Bacon-haired Beauty’ and ‘Girl who smashed my heart...and the hood of my car.’ “But still, I feel really bad about the whole thing. He’s a friend of mine, and I just up and stole a girl he liked away from him.”

“Dude, relax! It’s only one night. Flash will survive it, and next week everything will go back to how it usually is...maybe.”

“Wait, what do you mean ‘maybe?’” Swift inquired.

“Who knows? I guess we’ll just see when the time comes. Anyways dude, I gotta go. Rainbow’s place is on the other side of town and I need to put some gas in my bike before I head over there. I’ll see you at the dance Swift.”

“Alright man, see you later, be safe,” Swift said before hanging up his phone and looking at himself in the mirror once more to confirm everything looked good. He checked the clock on his phone; it was about 5:47. The dance didn’t start until 7, though since Swift didn’t know exactly where Twilight lived, he decided he was going to leave early just in case. As he was stuffing his phone in his pocket, he heard the sound of someone running up to his room and stopping in the doorway. He turned to see his little sister Scootaloo wearing the same dress she wore to the Fall Formal. She was holding the home phone as she talked into it excitedly.

“Uuh huh! Yup! Yeah, he’s still here, you wanna talk to him?....Ok! Talk to you later!” she finished as she ran up to Swift and practically threw the house phone into his hand before running off.

“H-Hey Scoots! Wh-wha-” But as soon as Scootaloo gave Swift the phone, she ran back out, leaving Swift mildly confused as to who’d be calling on the house phone they almost never use. He shrugged as he put the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

“Heya champ!” the male voice on the other end of the line said.

“Dad! Hi!” Swift exclaimed in great joy. “How’re you? How’s the business trip going?” He could hear the sound of his father clearing his throat.

“Heh, it’s dragging on, I won’t lie. Some of the other guys here are being too fickle for their own good about negotiations. Hopefully we can get this deal signed within the next month or so. I hate being away from home for too long, I start missing you guys!” Swift’s father explained from the other end of the line. Swift’s father, Capital Gain (Cap for short), was a tried and true business man who worked for the Stinkin’ Rich conglomerate owned by its CEO and his father’s boss, Mr. Filthy Rich. He was currently away in Baltimore in order to entice the owner of some smaller company the chance to merge with Mr.Rich’s, and with this being an important matter for this smaller company, it was taking a while to make sure everything was right with the terms of agreement. This sadly meant that Swift and Scoots didn't get to see their father very much for the past few months.

“So how’ve you been Swift? It feels like forever since I’ve talked to ya.”

“I’ve been good Dad, school’s been going fine, my friends have been fine, everything’s been all good as of late.”

“Well that’s good. So how’ve you been faring as the only man in the house for the past few months? Considering it’s Scootaloo and your mother, it must not be easy,” Cap said as he chuckled.

“Heh, well it’s been as good as it could be. Scootaloo is only being mildly irritating at times, so that’s great.”

“I HEARD THAT!” Scootaloo shouted from her room on the opposite end of the hall.

“YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO!” Swift answered back as spoke into the phone again. “Anyways, yeah, everything around the house has been normal. Still as quiet as usual here.”

“Alright, alright, say, while we’re on the topic of girls, I heard somebody was asked to a dance, eh?” Cap asked with a jovial tone in his voice.

“Yes, yes I was, dad,” Swift answered.

“Haha! That’s my boy! I bet the ladies are just beating down your door at this point.”

“Yeah, if only,” Swift replied as he nodded his head.

“Soooo, who is the lucky lady? Is it that Rainbow Dash girl who comes around to teach Scoots about soccer? Or is it that Rarity girl who you seemed to get along with pretty well, last time I remember?” Cap wondered out loud.

“No, it’s neither of those girls dad,” Swift answered. “It’s actually this new girl who transferred to our school a few months ago. Her name is Twilight Sparkle.”

“Oooh, nice! Is she cute?”

Swift rolled his eyes. “Yes dad, she’s cute.”

“Alright, good for you buddy! So you’re finally getting back on the horse, so to speak. That’s my little ladykiller!”

“Not really dad,” Swift deadpanned. “She’s just a friend right now.”

“Perhaps,” Cap agreed. “But who knows? Maybe after this dance you may… see her in a different light?”

“Maybe,” Swift said as he felt very unconvinced. Twilight was an awesome girl to be sure. Smart, kind, adorkable. Swift could definitely see how she would be able to woo some guy out there, but he believed that his heart belonged to Pinkie, even though she didn’t know it. As he thought about the two girls, Swift took another glance at his phone to see that it was nearing 6 o’clock. “Oh hey dad, I’m sorry to cut this short, but I should get going soon. The dance starts at seven, and I don’t want to be late. Would you like me to give the phone to mom before I go?”

“No thanks Swift, I already spoke with mom just a few minutes ago. Well anyways, good luck with this Twilight girl, and make sure to show her a good time.”

Swift nodded. “Thanks dad, I will. I’ll talk to you later,” he said as he moved his thumb close to the end call button on the house phone.

“SWIFT! WAIT!” his father suddenly blurted out over the telephone.

“Yeah dad?”

“What car are you taking Twilight to the dance with?” his father inquired in a oddly serious manner.

“What car?” Swift asked confused. “I’m taking mom’s blue van, what else?”

Swift then heard his father muttering something to himself for a few seconds before clearing his throat and speaking up. “No… that won’t do it. Son, do me a favor and go into my study.”

__________________________________________________________________________

Swift’s father had him go into his study and go to his desk, where he further instructed him to open a false bottom in one of the drawers, which contained a set of car keys. After obtaining the keys, Swift ran down to the garage he was currently in, staring at the black beast in front of him with awe.

“Dad….are you sure?” Swift asked sounding completely awed.

“Mmhmm. Son, this car is one of my prides and joys, along with you and Scootaloo. It's a beautifully powerful piece of machinery, and I think you’re ready for it,” he explained confidently.

“Seriously? But you don’t even let mom drive it!”

“Well, take a look at your mother’s car real quick,” Swift’s father ordered. Swift quickly glanced at the aqua blue van next to his dad’s car to see that it had dings, bumps, and dents all across the side, back, and part of the front from what he could see.

“Oohh… yeah…” Swift grimaced.

“Yeah, despite how much I wholeheartedly love your mother, I don’t trust her with the safety of my sports car. I do trust you with it, however. Use it to really wow that Twilight girl. Nothing impresses a girl quite like a sports car.”

“Wow, thanks dad, I’ll make good use of it,” Swift promised.

“My only condition as you might guess is that you NEVER under ANY circumstances let your mother drive it. That car’s like my third child, you got it?”

“Got it, mom will never step behind the wheel of your car, dad,” Swift assured his father.

“Good boy. Well I’ll let you head off to the dance now. I have an early day tomorrow, sadly. God, I hate waking up at six thirty,” Swift’s father said with a sigh.

“Alright dad, talk to you later. Goodnight,” Swift said as he pressed the end call button on the house phone to hang it up. He then walked over to the door connecting to the house to put the phone away to see his mother open it.

“You heading out sweetie?” she asked as she brushed a black lock of hair out of her view.

“Yeah, I just got done talking with Dad. Would you mind putting this back on the reciever for me?” Swift asked as he handed his mother the house phone.

“Sure thing,” his mom replied as she took the phone from Swift, after which, she quickly pulled him into a hug. “Ooooh, my little boy’s going to the dance! It’s been forever since the last time!”

“Mooooooom,” Swift groaned. “It’s fine, it’s just a dance!”

“Yes, but it shows me that you’re growing up! Stop reminding me that I’m getting old!” she nearly whined.

“I will as soon as you let go of me!” Swift said as he struggled against the hold his mother had on him until she finally relented and broke the hug.

“Aww, well have fun Swift!”

“Thanks mom, I will.” Swift said as he opened the garage door. He quickly got into the black Lamborghini and started it up. As he was about to pull out, he noticed his mom came up to the window with a shocked look on her face. Swift smiled and waved at his mother before backing out of the garage, leaving his mother alone in the garage with her mouth agape.

“SERIOUSLY!? Swift’s only been driving for a few months!” Swift’s mother shouted as if her husband could hear her from Baltimore.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It didn’t take very long for Swift to find Twilight’s house, as he was able to pull into the driveway about ten minutes after he left his house. Looking at it, it was a two story tan house with a large front porch. As Swift walked up to the house, he heard the faint sound of a dog barking. He looked up at the second story of the house to see that a light was on in one of the rooms. He continued up the steps of the porch and up to the front door.

“Whew….alright, here we go.” Swift sighed with anticipation as he rang the doorbell. He waited for a few second before hearing footsteps come towards the door. It quickly opened to show that a man had answered the door. This man in particular had a rather muscular build and was a head or two taller than Swift. He had pale ivory skin and longish hair in two different streaks of blue. He was wearing black dress pants with a white dress shirt and a black tie. His eyes were obscured by a dark pair of aviator shades. He stared at Swift for what seemed like forever until he finally spoke up.

“Yes?” the man with the aviators asked in a rather cold manner.

“U-umm… hello sir, I-I’m-” Swift said shakily before he was cut off.

“So you’re Swift Justice, hm?” the officer interrupted, to which Swift replied with a nod. “Yeah, I’ve been expecting you. Come in,” he continued as he motioned for Swift to enter the house, which Swift did. He walked by a stairway and walked into what was clearly the living room. The officer followed him in as he quietly sat down in a recliner.

“Please, have a seat,” he said in a continuously stoic tone as he motioned towards a couch on the other end of the room. Swift quickly obeyed as he plopped down on the couch, sitting straight up. He sat stiff as a board as he glanced around the room, only taking one or two seconds at any time to look at the man in front of him. From what he could tell, the man was hunched over and resting his chin on his hands while never taking his eyes off of the young man before him. Swift felt as though he was being observed from a microscope for a few moments before gulping nervously.

“S-So, umm… is… Twilight here?” he asked in an attempt to break the silence. The officer kept staring at him as he spoke.

“Twilight is upstairs getting ready, yes. But for now, how about we talk about you, Mr. Justice? I have to wonder, what exactly are your intentions tonight?” he questioned.

“Umm...to take Twilight to the dance…...and to have fun…..?” Swift answered back in more of a question than an answer.

“Hmm….I see….” the officer said without taking his shade-covered eyes off Swift. “Exactly what kind of fun do you want to have with her?”

“What kind? Well… just normal teenage fun, I guess.”

“Oooh boy,” the older adult said with a sigh as he reclined back into his chair and put one leg over the other. “Swift, I’m going to level with you here. You see, I am an officer of the law, and I’m always concerned with the safety and well being of those in my community. My little sister is no exception by far. She’s my only sister you know, and as such, I’m very close to her. I talk with her about her school work, her friends, and her interests amongst other things, so I’ve picked up on a guy or two that she mentions every now and again.”

“A umm….a guy sir?” Swift asked nervously.

“Yes Swift, a guy. To be more specific, that guy is you,” Twilight’s apparent older brother answered plainly, to which Swift’s eyes widened in surprise a bit. “You’ve come up in conversation quite a bit since Twilight came here to Canterlot County. It sounds like you’ve become a good friend of hers, welcoming her into your school with open arms and even guiding her into finding even more friends.”

“Well, ‘guiding’ is kind of a stretch, really. I just recommended that she take some girls’ invitation to have lunch with them, and it just went from there,” Swift explained sheepishly.

“Even so, you’ve spent a bit of time with my little sister, and it’s clear to me at least that she thinks of you very fondly,” Twilight’s brother stated matter-of-factly.

“R-really?” Swift stammered out of curiosity. It was true that Swift assumed Twilight at least thought of him as a friend, but the word very in that sentence made him wonder.

“Mmhmm, and just yesterday she seemed incredibly happy when she told me that you’d go to Girl’s Choice with her. In fact, I’d say she was damn near ecstatic about it. Which brings me to the reason I wanted to talk to you.” Twilight’s brother said as he removed his aviators so that Swift could see the seriousness in his eyes. “The reason I wanted to talk to you was so that I could give you a warning, Mr.Justice.”

Swift nervously gulped again. “A warning sir?”

“That’s right, a warning. You see Swift, my little sister is like a snowflake. She’s beautiful, unique, and special in every way. But also like a snowflake, she’s fragile, and capable of melting away in an instant. Being her friend is all well and good, but I warn against doing anything that’ll make her feel you have any romantic intent if you don’t. Basically, if you do anything that’ll end up hurting or upsetting my little snowflake of a sister, you’ll have to deal with the avalanche that is Shining Armor. Do you understand?”

“Y-yes sir,” Swift squeaked out.

“I’m sorry?”

“Sir yes sir!” Swift said a bit louder. Shining Armor nodded.

“Alright good, and before I let you go, there’s something else I need to talk with you about, I need you to-” Shining continued until both persons in the room heard what sounded like little feet or paws running above them. They paused as they looked towards the hallway they entered from. Barking very quickly followed the sounds of running as both Swift and Shining saw a small lavender dog with green tufts of fur coming out from the other end of the hallway. The small dog tripped up on all fours before picking himself back up as it continued its dash towards the room. Once it entered, it quickly ran over to Swift and started sniffing his dress shoes, alternating between that and looking up and barking at him. Swift stared at the dog until he heard a female voice coming from the hall the dog had entered from.

“Aaawww, Spike, is someone here?”

Swift looked up to see a young woman, likely in her early to mid twenties, enter the room. She had a light cerise skin tone with light purple eyes and hair with streaks of moderate violet, rose, and pale gold streaks. She was wearing a black sweater with cream khakis, and her midriff was accessorized with a black belt with a golden buckle in the shape of a heart. The dog apparently named Spike turned to look at the woman before running over to her, where she picked the dog up mid run and touched her index finger to his nose. She baby talked the dog for a little bit before turning her attention to Swift.

“Oh hello there! You must be Swift,” the young woman stated with a smile.

Swift nodded. “Umm… yes, that’s me. It’s nice to meet you Miss…”

“Cadance, Cadence Armor. Nice to meet you too, Swift. Twilight is very nearly done getting ready, she should be here any second,” Cadence assumed. “So, how are things going down here?”

“O-oh, things are going great down here sweetie!” Shining answered in a now sheepish tone. “I was just chatting with Swift here about how much of a great time that dance is going to be! Isn’t that right Swift?”

“U-umm...y-yessir,” Swift answered in a still quietly nervous tone. He glanced back over at Cadance to see that she had a slightly judgemental look on her face.

“Hmm...alright then,” Cadance said as she raised an eyebrow towards Shining, who just continued to smile at her very nervously. The three of them stood together in awkward silence until the sound of footsteps could once again be heard coming towards the room. Cadance glanced back and quickly stepped out of the doorway with Spike in tow. Twilight quickly stepped into the room.

“Hi Swift,” Twilight greeted with a soft smile on her face.

“H-Hey Twilight…” Swift said as he quickly looked over the lavender skinned girl’s attire. “Wow… you look amazing.”

Twilight blushed. “Thanks Swift, you too. I’m ready to go to the dance now if you are. It should be starting soon.” Swift checked his wrist watch; Twilight was right, the dance would start in about eight minutes. They should get going soon.

“Oh! Yeah yeah, I’m all ready if you are,” Swift said, to which Twilight replied with a nod. “Alright then, I think we should get a move on now.”

“Ooh! Wait!” Cadance said quickly as she dropped Spike down to the floor and began looking around the room for something. She glanced towards a side table and went to pick up a camera that was resting on it. “Twilight, can you stand close to Swift for a second? Mom wants a picture of you two!” The two quickly obliged as Swift put his arm around Twilight and brought her into a slight one armed hug as the two young teens smiled. In a few seconds, Cadance took the picture and smiled. “That was perfect! Alright, be safe you two, and have fun!”

“But not too much fun,” Shining added as he gave Swift one more hard look.

“Shiny….” Twilight groaned as she rolled her eyes. “Come on Swift, we should go before we’re late.”

“R-Right,” Swift agreed as he broke his fearful stare away from Shining. “Well… it was nice meeting you both! I’ll umm… see you later!” he said as he hastily followed Twilight out the front door. As the door shut, Shining and Cadance stared at it for a moment.

“Ow!” Shining yelped as he looked to see that his wife had elbowed him in the side. “What was that for!?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” Cadance replied while pouting. “I heard you talking to Swift before I walked into the living room. Why the act?”

“Because our dad isn’t here to do it! It’s because the responsibility of spooking any guys possibly into Twi falls to me!” Shining explained, to which Cadance face palmed. “And besides, it was kind of fun to not be on the receiving end of that conversation.”

Cadance chuckled. “Heh… reminds me of the time you picked me up for our first dance and you were scared to so much as look at me for an hour after talking to my dad,” she recalled, prompting Shining to scratch his head in embarrassment. “Say, you know what I just realized?”

“What?”

“It’s not even seven, and that dance is supposed to last until eleven,” Cadance said in a sultry tone as she moved closer to her husband. “This will be the longest time Twilight’s been out of the house since she’s moved in with us.”

“Oh yeah… you’re right,” Shining agreed as his wife put her hands on her hips and her chest on his own.

“You know where I want to go tonight?” Cadance asked seductively, to which Shining grinned.

“Downtown?” he asked as he waggled his eyebrows at Cadance.

“You know me too well.”

__________________________________________________________________________

Swift focused his eyes down the dimly lit road ahead of his car. The dance was about to start soon, and Swift was nearly there with the source of his confliction. He quickly glanced over at Twilight, who was sitting in the passenger’s seat across from him, staring straight ahead. While the car itself was quiet, Swift’s mind was a different story as Shining Armor’s words were still echoing in his mind.

You’ve spent a bit of time with my little sister, and it’s clear to me at least that she thinks of you very fondly.

Just yesterday she seemed incredibly happy when she told me that you’d go to Girl’s Choice with her. In fact, I’d say she was damn near ecstatic about it.

Those words burrowed their way into Swift’s mind ever since he left Twilight’s house. Could what Shining have said been possible? Could it really be true that Twilight liked him liked him? It was possible, all things considered. Swift was the first guy she made an effort to talk to in the school, and they did speak with one another near every weekday. They’d even had a double date with Thunderlane and Pinkie. Those thoughts brought a certain memory to the surface: the dream he had a few months ago. It was an incredibly vivid dream, as he could remember near every part of it, mainly when Twilight sat on top of him and was going to kiss him. The thought admittedly brought a blush to his face as he glanced back over at Twilight. If she really did like him, then that would seriously complicate Swift’s nonexistent advances towards Pinkie. The young man was so conflicted by these thoughts, he barely even noticed when Twilight broke the silence.

“Hey, umm...I’m really sorry about my big brother,” she apologized quietly.

“H-Huh? Oh, no problem,” Swift assured her with an awkward chuckle. “I would probably be the same way with a guy I’ve never met taking my sister out for a dance at night. Basic big brother instinct.”

“Heh, yeah, Shining can get a bit protective of me at times, but that’s just because he cares. He might be my brother, but he’s also one of my best friends,” Twilight admitted happily.

“That’s nice. My sister Scootaloo and I have a love/hate relationship of sorts. We love pushing each other’s buttons, but we still care about each other,” Swift explained with a genuine laugh.

“Heh, siblings are the best, huh?”

“Sometimes, other times they’re the spawn of the underworld,” Swift said, which got Twilight to laugh a tad. “So if I’m not mistaken, this is your first dance, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Twilight answered.

“You excited?”

“Yes, I’m definitely excited for this, but I’m also super nervous. Pinkie calls it being nervouscited. I’m not really sure what to expect tonight.”

“Trust me Twilight, you’re going to have a great time at the dance. I’ve been to quite a few, and they’re always fun. Some pretty kooky stuff happens at every CHS dance, and I’m sure this one won’t be any different,” Swift assured Twilight. He had a good feeling about tonight. True, he may not be going with Pinkie, but he was still going with another great girl. This was Twilight’s first dance, and Swift felt that he needed to show her the best time possible, which he was sure wouldn’t be tough at all. He felt that it was going to be a good night, he sure hoped so. Either way, after a few more moments in the car, Swift noticed the school coming up close to them. Lights were on in the gymnasium, and students were piling into the parking lot as well. It wasn’t to long before Swift pulled into the lot himself and got out of the car. He and Twilight approached the school as Swift looked up at it.

“Whelp, it’s finally time!”

Author's Notes:

Hey everybody! Surprised this chapter came out so quickly!? Me too! XD I've been on a writing kick, so that's awesome , it's the reason I've been able to do this so fast! Thanks a ton to my good friend KillerRobotQuote for editing this chapter, and a humongous thanks to my ladyfriend Scootafail for drawing this image for it! You rock lady!

Next chapter.....it'll finally be here.....

The Dance

After what felt like months of preparation, planning, progress, and waiting, it was finally here; Canterlot High’s Girl’s Choice Dance was finally underway after seemingly forever. From outside the school, one could already hear the beats of Vinyl Scratch, or her stage name DJ PON-3 blaring from the inside of the gymnasium. Just outside of the building were a line of students waiting to enter, including Swift and Twilight, who were waiting at the end.

“Wow, I didn’t expect there to be a line to get into the dance,” Twilight said as she looked ahead at the two lines of about twenty students each.

“Oh yeah, we got here just as it was getting started. They have booths at the start of each dance to try and make sure no one who isn’t a student gets in.” Swift explained. “A bit of a bummer but it’s school policy, what are you gonna do right?”

“I suppose,” Twilight agreed. “I wonder if the others are inside yet? I know Pinkie Pie would probably be the first one in line, but I’m not sure about the others.”

“I don’t know, how about you try texting them and see?” Swift suggested.

“Oh yeah, good idea.” Twilight said as she dug her phone out of her purse and began texting. “So are you excited for this dance? Like I said before, I’m not really too sure what to expect.”

Swift smiled. “Oh yeah, I’m definitely excited! Not only are these dances fun, but usually something crazy always happens at some point. I remember one year the captain of the boy’s basketball team, Lightning Streak stole the school mascot costume and started breakdancing in the middle of the gym, and when they crowned the princess of the Spring Fling he grabbed her and ran out of the school.” he said with a chuckle.

“Wow, that is crazy.” Twilight said in a surprised manner.

“Yeah, though it stinks that Lightning Streak graduated, that guy was just plain amazing. Throwing hallway parties randomly through the year, putting sticky notes all over a teacher’s room as well as their car, disco lunch dance offs, I’d say his spirit animal was probably a frat boy.” Swift laughed.

“Heh, he sounds great.” Twilight agreed as she glanced at her phone. “Oh, it seems that Pinkie and Rarity are already in the gym, AJ is in line with her date, Fluttershy is going to show up with her date, and umm...Rainbow’s text reads….incoming?” she read out loud. As if on cue, Swift and Twilight suddenly heard what sounded like the raging motor of a motorcycle a ways away. The two teens turned around to see someone on a black Harley driving towards them at max speed. As the person got closer and closer, they skid their bike across the parking lot; revealing that another person wearing a dress and biker helmet was holding onto the one driving. The two eventually skid to a stop right by Swift and Twilight and dismounted the bike. The driver took off his helmet to reveal that he was none other than Thunderlane, wearing a suit with a long block tie. The girl riding with him was Rainbow Dash, wearing a strapless navy blue dress that went down to her knees. The two quickly approached Swift and Twilight at the end of the line.

“Man, that was so awesome Thunderlane! way to park a bike!” Rainbow exclaimed.

“Heh, thanks Dash, I aim to impress.” Thunderlane said with a chuckle.

“Dude, you have to teach me how to ride one of these things! Knowing how to drive a motorcycle would automatically make me like, twenty percent cooler!”

“Yeah, and you need all the cool you can get Dashie.” Thunderlane joked, which prompted Rainbow Dash to punch him in the arm.

“Hey! Only Pinkie is allowed to call me that! And I’m already as cool as anyone can get.” Rainbow proclaimed as she tapped her thumb to her chest, after doing so her eyes turned away from her date, and towards Twilight and Swift. “Oh hey guys! You both hyped for the dance?”

“Heh, as hyped for a dance as we can be I guess.” Twilight answered sheepishly.

“Well you guys should be hyped! It’s not every day someone gets to see my bomb ass dance moves.” Rainbow stated proudly. “I’m gonna own the dance floor tonight.”

“Wait, you have dance moves?” Thunderlane asked in surprise, to which Rainbow Dash nodded.

“Hell yeah I do! I’ve been taking dance classes ever since I was a kid! Not only did it improve my strength, flexibility, and balance, It’s how I actually met Pinkie Pie. We both had the same instructor, so we became friends and started hanging out.” Rainbow explained.

“Oh wow, I didn’t know that. That’s actually pretty cool Rainbow.” Swift said in a genuine manner. “I never really took you for a dancer.”

“Eh, I’m a lot of things besides just plain awesome. Just wait until you see it, it’s going to be the highlight of the dance.” Rainbow promised. “So you guys gonna get out on the dance floor too?” she asked, to which Swift and Twilight both smiled sheepishly.

“Well umm...I don’t think I’m much of a dancer, but I’ll try getting out on the floor tonight.” Swift answered.

“I might dance...I don’t know, I guess I’m just a bi-”

“Upup Upupup!” Rainbow interrupted. “Might? Sorry Twi, but with Pinkie at this dance, I doubt any of us are going to have the luxury of being wallflowers, that girl is a whirlpool of party, if you’re even semi close to her, she’ll get you moving whether you like it or not.” she stated matter of factly.

“Hey guys, how about we save the dance talk until we get into the dance in like, five minutes?” Thunderlane suggested as he pointed behind Swift and Twilight, the two and Rainbow glanced over to the entrance to see that the line decreased severely, with the doorway now being clear for them to walk through. With that, the other three nodded in agreement and hurried inside. After a few minutes of waiting in line, the two pairs were finally able to step into the mini-foyer that was just outside the gymnasium. The party seemed to be starting to get into full swing, with guys and girls all chatting with one another as they either sat at tables in the room or entered the gym, where the actual dancing took place.

“So what should we do? Try and find your friends, just go in and dance?” Swift asked Twilight, to which she shrugged.

“Umm..I’m good with anything really, though I am a bit thirsty.” Twilight stated. Swift then scanned the room until his eyes rested on a side table with concessions on it.

“Oh, then let me get you some punch, I’ll be right back!” Swift promised as he walked over to the nearby punch bowl. He stepped up to the bowl and quickly poured two cups. “Man, I hope somebody didn’t spike this...again.” he muttered to himself before taking a sip from one cup. “Mmh..this is pretty good.”

“Oh? Does fruit punch go well with betrayal!?” a pissed off male voice asked from behind Swift. The young man’s eyes shot open as he turned around to face the owner of the voice; a young man with spiky blue hair wearing a black suit with a blue vest, none other than his friend Flash Sentry. Flash looked less than amused as he was giving Swift a condescending look while crossing his arms.

“F-Flash!” Swift exclaimed in surprise. “W-What are you doing here man!?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m here to get my dance on, check out the scene, see what my friends are going to be up to.” Flash explained as he raised an eyebrow at Swift.

“Dude…” Swift groaned. “I swear, nothing has or will go on between Twilight and I. It’s just one dance dude, just one night.”

“I hope so.” Flash stated plainly.

“So did a girl ask you to go to the dance with you today? I assume that’s how you got in.”

“Well...not really.” a female voice answered from behind Flash, The blue haired young man moved aside to reveal a young woman with red and yellow hair with light green eyed wearing a form fitting black cocktail dress. Swift’s eyes widened as they rested on the girl.

“S-Sunset Shimmer…” Swift said in a harsh whisper. He knew Sunset from her previous few month dating history with Flash Sentry, which ended due to Flash breaking up with her shortly before the fall formal. Good thing Swift believed, whenever Swift, Thunderlane, and Flash decided to do something, Sunset always tagged along as well as brought her two freshman lackies Snips and Snails wherever they went. After a while the three amigos didn’t appreciate Sunset complaining about every aspect of whatever they were doing, or making it all about her, sans the breakup. Flash really came here with her of all people?

“Hey Swift.” Sunset said in an slightly bored manner. “Anyways yeah, Flash paid me fifty bucks to ask him here so he could do whatever.”

“Huh, I thought you wouldn’t really come to one of these things considering how I heard things went really shitty for you at the Fall Formal, and your breakup with Flash beforehand.” Swift assumed.

Sunset shrugged. “Eh, people are just giving the cold shoulder now, so they wouldn’t pay me any attention, not that I blame them.” she said with remorse. “But it’s still fifty bucks, I don’t have much better to do these days.”

“We’re here so I can make sure nothing funny goes on.” Flash said as he leaned in towards Swift and squinted his eyes at him. “Alrighty Sunny, for now let’s go mingle.” he said while putting his arm around Sunset’s waist. The two then walked into the gym, and as they were doing so Flash looked back at Swift and made an ‘I’m watching you’ motion with his free hand before disappearing into the room. Swift sighed, Flash was still pissed at him from saying yes to Twilight. It was Flash Swift told himself, Flash was always one to get things blown out of proportions, and this time was certainly no exception. Now Swift would have to worry about Flash watching him the entire time, which would make him nervous. Oh well, Swift would just have to deal with it. For now, Swift walked back to the table that Twilight was sitting at. As he saw her, he noticed that she had a concerned look on her face.

“Umm...Is everything alright Swift?” Twilight asked as Swift handed her some punch.

“Y-Yeah, yeah, stuff is fine. Why wouldn’t it be?” Swift asked with false curiosity.

“Well for starters, your friend Flash looked really angry for some reason, is something going on between the two of you?” Twilight asked looking slightly worried. Swift scratched the back of his head nervously.

“Uh...well the thing is Twilight, Flash may be a tiny bit angry with me about coming to the dance.” Swift admitted.

“Really? Why would he be angry about that?” Twilight inquired.

“Well you see, Flash thought that I wasn’t going to go to the dance, so he thought up stuff we could do today during it. You asked me to the dance yesterday, so that put a wrench in his plans, he was also extra angry because he was the only one of him, me, and Thunderlane to not have a date. Him being the only one who was actively searching for a date was just more salt in the wound.” Swift explained. He didn’t want Twilight to know that she was the reason for Flash’s and his spat the day before, he didn’t want her to feel guilty or anything.

It now appeared to be Twilight’s turn to look awkward. “Oh...is that so?” she asked with a sigh. “Actually Swift...I think I may be partly at fault for Flash being mad…”

Oh shit, well leaving her name out of that explanation worked. Swift thought to himself. “R-Really? What gave you that idea?”

“Well a few days ago before first period started, he came into the room and we talked for a few minutes. He made it clear, and I mean very clear that he wanted me to ask him to the dance, but I kind of...shot him down…” Twilight explained rather guiltily.

“Oh...I see…” Swift stated. “So if you don’t mind me asking, why didn’t you ask Flash to the dance? I mean, I know he can be a bit...forward and can overreact to the slightest things, but he’s still an alright guy in my book.” he said as he sipped his punch.

Twilight shrugged. “Well...I still don’t know Flash really well, and the way he looked, added with the way he acted towards me and the just...the general feeling I got from him kind of made me think he was a player.” the lavender skinned girl admitted sheepishly.

“P-pfffft…” Swift nearly choked on the punch he was drinking as he attempted to swallow. “Hold on, Flash Sentry? A player? Pffft...I’m sorry Twilight, but that idea just makes me laugh. You see, Flash is the furthest thing from a player there is in Canterlot High. When he was with his ex girlfriend, she had him wrapped around her thumb so bad that if she asked him to crawl on the floor for a whole day he probably would. Trust me, Flash is anything but a player.” Swift assured his date with a chuckle.

“Ah, well that’s good to know I suppose.” Twilight said before she took a quick sip from her cup, making things quiet between the two for a few seconds before Twilight spoke up again. “But umm...that wasn’t really the only reason I didn’t ask Flash out…”

“Oh? It wasn’t?” Swift asked curiously. Twilight seemed to look a bit nervous as he asked.

“No...It wasn’t. I actually...wanted to come to the dance with someone else.” Twilight stated matter of factly as she looked Swift in the eyes.

“Oh.” Swift replied plainly as he looked back at Twilight. It took a few seconds for Shining Armor’s words to re echo in his brain. “O-Oh...m-me?” he asked as he pointed at himself, to which Twilight nodded. “Heh...well thank you Twilight, I’m honored, though I’m still kind of surprised. I mean there are lots of other great guys that go to this school that would’ve made great dates, I’m nothing special.”

“I’d beg to differ.” Twilight stated. “You’re an incredible guy! You’re nice, funny, and easy to talk to, you’re really great Swift.”

Swift shrugged. “Ah, that doesn’t make me any different from any other guys out there.”

“I don’t care about any other guys out there. I really like you Swift, and I’m glad you came to the dance with me.”

“R-really Twilight?” Swift asked in genuine surprise. Being told that a girl liked you by one of her friends or a sibling was one thing, but hearing it right from the proverbial horse’s mouth was something else entirely.

“Yes, really Swift. I’ve actually been wanting to ask you out ever since the dance was first announced, but I was kind of scared that you would say no. So umm… yeah, that’s… what was up… sorry if it’s a bit to take in.” Twilight said awkwardly as she gave a slight shrug.

“Oh no, don’t be, it’s fine.” Swift assured Twilight. “Hehe… I’m sorry you were so nervous about asking me out, I didn’t really notice at all.” He explained with an awkward chuckle, to which Twilight raised an eyebrow.

“Really? I must have done a better job hiding it than I thought.” Twilight stated, trying her best to sound surprised at the bone-headedness of her date. After that was said, neither Swift nor Twilight seemed to know what to say to the other until Rainbow sat at their table with Thunderlane.

“Heya eggheads, what’re you two talking about?” Rainbow asked in a jovial tone.

“Hey Rainbow, Twilight was just telling me how she didn’t want to go to the dance with Flash because she thought he was a player.” Swift explained.

“Pffft…hahahaha!” Rainbow Dash bursted into laughter at what Swift said while Thunderlane held his hand to his mouth to stifle his own chuckling. The two laughed a fair bit before Rainbow spoke again. “Seriously Twi? Flash Sentry, a player!? That’s rich.”

“What!? He just had that appearance to him! He has typical high school looker pretty boy written all over him!”

“Hehe, yeah, that’s definitely true.” Rainbow agreed. “Anyways, bet it feels awesome to be asked to another dance eh Swift? It’s been awhile since that happened.”

As Rainbow said that, Twilight looked towards Swift with curiosity as he looked away from the group and scratched the back of his head. “U-Umm…yeah…it’s been awhile since umm..”

“Ever since yo-“ Rainbow was stopped as Thunderlane put his hand on her’s as well as gave her a stern look.

“Rainbow, no. Just… don’t, okay?” Thunderlane asked her in a calm voice.

“What? Why not?” Rainbow asked in an annoyed tone of voice.

“Just no, It’s still kind of a touchy subject.” Thunderlane said as he shifted his eyes from her to Swift multiple times.

“Seriously? It’s been like, three years but okay, I guess I’ll keep my mouth shut.” Rainbow said, mildly sarcastic. Twilight raised her eyebrow at her friend’s odd behavior just then. She glanced over at Swift to ask what it was about, but just as she was about to, an elegant voice spoke to them.

“Oh hello there darlings!” an elegant female voice came from behind Swift and Twilight. Out from behind them came Rarity, wearing a sparkling silver party dress, and a grey skinned young man with dark black hair wearing a silverish grey suit that matched Rarity’s dress for the most part. The two took a seat next to Swift and Twilight, and sat very close together. “Lovely evening for a dance is it not?”

“Hey Rares.” Rainbow greeted nonchalantly before turning her attention to the young man next to her. “Hey Clyde! What’s up?” she asked as she held her fist up to the young man.

“Hey Rainbow Dash, nothing much really, same as usual.” The young man apparently named Clyde said as he met her fist with his own. Once he gave Rainbow a fist bump, he moved his fist over in Thunderlane’s direction. “Hey man.”

“Duuuuude.” Thunderlane greeted as he too gave Clyde a fist bump. “Still wrapped around Rarity’s finger I see.”

“Hey, there’s no other place I’d rather be.” Clyde stated matter of factly as Rarity and Thunderlane nodded. The three of them and Rainbow chatted for a little bit before realizing there was another couple sitting at the table with them, and as such all eyes turned to them.

“Oh umm…hello there, I don’t believe we’ve met before.” Twilight said awkwardly as she glanced at Swift. “Umm…do you know who this guy is?” she asked him in a whisper.

“No idea.” Swift whispered back before turning his attention to the black haired young man sitting besides him. “Hi there.”

Rarity’s eyes lit up. “Ooh! Of course! Clyde, this is one of my dearest friends Twilight Sparkle, and her date Swift Justice. Twilight and Swift, this is my wondrously heavenly boyfriend Clyde!” she said happily as she hugged Clyde’s arm.

“Oh, well hey Clyde.” Swift greeted as he turned to Thunderlane and Rainbow Dash. “So, how do you guys know each other? I mean, I know Rainbow knows Thunderlane, but how do you guys know Clyde?”

Rainbow was the first to answer. “We’re all on the same basketball team! He plays point guard, he’s pretty good. Heck, we’re all pretty good.”

“Swift, didn’t you say that you were going to try out for the basketball team this year?” Thunderlane asked, to which Swift grinned sheepishly.

“Well…I was…but unfortunately I was sick the week of tryouts, so that was a no go.” Swift admitted.

“You’re sick for everything dude. Fall Formal, tryouts, trig tests, I think you’re going to be sick for graduation if you don’t find a way to fight a cold.” Thunderlane said with a laugh.

“Heh, yeah I was sick for that last one…” Swift muttered under his breath. “So Clyde, Rarity, how did you two get together?”

“Oh, that’s a long story Swift, let’s just say that love finds a way.” Rarity said as she stole a kiss from Clyde.

“Fair enough…hey, isn’t that Applejack back there?” Swift asked as he pointed behind Rainbow and Thunderlane. The rest of the group looked in the direction Swift was pointing in to see the blonde haired farm girl approach them wearing a slim red cocktail dress. She approached the table looking nervous without her trademark Stetson atop her head.

“Umm…howdy y’all…” Applejack said quietly.

“My goodness darling, you look magnificent!” Rarity applauded as she looked her friend over a few times.

“Heh…thanks Rarity, ah wasn’t too sure ‘bout it at first, but our sisters did a good job pickin’ this one out for me at the store.”

“Well it was the least they could’ve done considering what they did with your old dress.” Rarity said as she rolled her eyes.

“Hey, they meant well, they were just trying to iron mah dress so it was ready fer tonight.” Applejack explained sheepishly.

“Yes, the only problem being that they left the iron alone on top of it for twenty five minutes, effectively burning a hole right through it!” Rarity explained somewhat angrily. “Yet another one of my beautiful dresses, slain before its time at the hands of reckless abandonment of household appliances, how horrible!” she continued to lament. “Why I can’t even imagine what I would do if another of the dresses I designed got destroy-“

“Yeah yeah yeah, blah blah, dresses.” Rainbow states as she made talking motions with her hands. “My dad’s two dogs got to my dress and they tore that shit up, but you don’t see me crying.” She continued as Rarity silently gasped in horror. “Anyways, I’m tired of waiting!” Rainbow went on as she pointed at Applejack. “You won’t tell us who you came to the dance with! But now they’re here with you! So come on! Who is it!?”

Applejack furrowed her brow. “It ain’t that important Rainbow, but if ya need to know, ah asked….sigh….ah asked…”

“OH APPLEJACK!!” a posh voice came from the crowd of students just entering the dance.

“Eegh….him….” Applejack groaned as she made a face that looked like she had smelled something rancid. A few seconds later, a tall and tan young man with blonde hair came up from behind her wearing a red suit with a periwinkle tie, as well as having white rimmed glasses.

“There you are! Sorry that it took so long, it was hard trying to find an adequate place to park tonight. Oh hello Applejack’s friends..oh hello Swift! Fancy seeing you here!” the tan young man greeted Swift cheerfully.

“Hey Trenderhoof, fancy seeing you here too.” Swift replied with a smile.

“Trenderhoof’s your date to the dance? Heh, good job AJ, you got a real catch right there.” Rainbow said with a wide grin on her face.

“It sure is..hey Treander, ah’m feelin’ might parched. Would ya mind getting’ me a drink?” Applejack asked as she gave her date puppydog eyes.

“Why certainly, I’ll be right back my apple-dumpling!” Trenderhoof replied as he walked over to the concessions table Swift was at a while ago. As he walked further away Applejack sighed.

“Geez…that guy, ah don’t know ‘bout him.” Applejack said as she slumped down into a chair.

“Oh Trenderhoof isn’t a bad guy.” Swift assured Applejack. “I have classes with him, and he’s on the school’s table tennis team with me, I’ve talked with him and he’s a really cool dude.”

“Except fer the fact that he’s had a crush on me ever since he moved here in the fifth grade, and has done a piss poor job at hiding it.” Applejack said with a sigh. “Ah think the only reason he was available fer the dance was ‘cause he was holdin’ out hope that ah’d ask him.”

“Aww…that’s still kind of cute AJ.” Twilight pointed out.

“Eh, ah guess…speakin’ of holdin’ out hope fer a dance, where’s mah brother and Fluttershy? Big Mac wouldn’t shut up about Flutters askin’ him out at all in the last few days.” Applejack explained as she looked back towards the students entering the room.

“A-Ahem…” a low male voice cleared his throat. Everyone at the table jumped slightly as they saw Big Mac standing by Twilight. “Uum…sorry fer startlin’ y’all, but Fluttershy was tryin’ to get y’all’s attention.”

“O-Oh really? Apologies, we weren’t able to hear her. Where is Fluttershy?” Rarity asked as she looked around the room for her animal loving friend.

“H-here I am…” a voice squeaked out from behind Big Mac. The tall farmer stepped away from where he was to reveal Fluttershy; who was sporting a long green dress with her hair in a high ponytail, giving her a sort of ‘queen of the forest’ type look.

“Woah…”

“Boy howdy…”

“Damn girl…”

“Oh wow!”

“Cool.”

“Oh that’s her name!”

“My stars, Fluttershy darling, you look gorgeous!” Rarity exclaimed, which caused Fluttershy’s butterscotch cheeks to go rosy.

“Um...th-thank you. Umm..like I was trying to say everyone, I came to warn you.”

“Warn us? About what darling?”

“Pinkie. She just ate about five pixie sticks at once a few minutes ago, and now I think that she’s looking for you guys.” Fluttershy explained.

“Oh, I see. Well thanks for the warning darling, but I think Pinkie would have a semi-tough time finding us among all these stud-”

“Hiya party people!!!” a voice chirped from behind Swift and Twilight, the two students jumped as a pink arm came around each of them. They looked behind themselves to see that Pinkie was behind them; wearing a darker pink party dress. She looked between Swift and Twilight excitedly. “Hail hail the gang’s all here!!” she chirped happily.

“Pinkie darling, I have to say, this dance looks simply marvelous, the decor is simply amazing!” Rarity applauded as she looked around the room they were in,which was filled with lights and streamers and tinsel of gold, silver, and black colors. “Sometimes I can’t believe you’re able to do things like this!”

“Well, it isn’t just me silly billy, It’s always a team effort!” Pinkie exclaimed as she pulled both Swift and Twilight into a hug, smushing their cheeks against her own as she gave a toothy grin. Swift blushed as the overpowering aroma of cotton candy coming from his crush as she held him against her cheek for a few moments.

“Hey Pinkie, where’s your date?” Applejack inquired her pink haired friend.

“Oh, Caramel? He’s still in the gym! I told him I was looking for you guys so that you could join us out on the dance floor!” Pinkie explained excitedly as she looked between all of her friends.

“Umm….” Swift murmured nervously.

“Well...I don’t know…” Twilight stated awkwardly.

“JOIN US!!!” Pinkie yelled out as she lifted Swift and Twilight out of their chairs. “This is no time to be sitting around, this is a time to start getting down!!” she chirped. And with that, Pinkie led Swift and Twilight to the gym (while still pressing her cheeks against theirs) as they crab walked inside the room as their friends and their dates looked on.

“Whelp, I guess that’s our cue to head on in.” Applejack assumed to which the others nodded and followed inside slowly. They were about to enter the gym, until something caught AJ’’s eye. She looked back to see that some of the chaperones for the dance had just brought in two large sheet pizzas and set them on some tables. “On second thought...how ‘bout we get a bite to eat first?

______________________

The school’s gymnasium was wrought with the sound of Vinyl’s music booming from the incredibly loud speakers by her setup. All of the normal lights in the gym were off, the only source of illumination being the strobe lights set up by where Vinyl was. There were many students in the gym close to the stage, a majority of them were crowded together in a massive mosh pit with some students scattered around the edges of the gym, dancing with their dates, dancing with friends, talking, or doing...other things. Pinkie dragged Swift and Twilight across the room and let go of them once they reached the end of the mosh pit.

“Hmm...Caramel was here a second ago. Where could he have gone?” Pinkie wondered out loud as she glanced around the perimeter of the room.

“I uhh...I don’t see him anywhere.” Swift said in a near whisper as he scratched the still blushing cheek that had contact with Pinkie’s.

“Umm...maybe he went to the bathroom?” Twilight suggested.

“Maybe...but if he did I think we would’ve seen him, cause the only bathroom available is in the other room.” Swift pointed out.

“Well if he isn’t there, then there’s only one place he could’ve gone.” Pinkie continued as she pointed towards the large group of students in front of the three. “He was sucked into the mosh pit!” she suddenly realized. “You guys stay here! I’m going in!!” Pinkie told Swift and Twilight. With that, she took a deep breath before jumping up and doing a swan dive into the mosh pit, leaving Swift and Twilight alone. The two of them stood in quiet awkwardness for a few moments.

“So that was...well, what I expected from Pinkie.” Swift said plainly.

“Yeah, it’s super weird, but I honestly feel like I’ve known Pinkie for long enough and seen enough of what she does that something like that doesn’t even make me blink.” Twilight said with a chuckle, after which she glanced around the dance floor for a bit. “Huh, I wonder where the others are.”

“Probably hanging around the edges of the gym or something considering that Pinkie dragged the two of us up here.” Swift assumed. “I’m sure they’ll turn up somewhere...In the meantime, how about we cut a rug whilst we wait for Pinkie?”

“Uuuh...what?”

“You know, cut a rug! Bust a move! Boogie! Get our groove on!” Swift explained as he pumped his fists into the air while shaking his waist from side to side.

“Pffft...what on earth are you doing?” Twilight asked as she put her hand to her mouth; trying to stifle a giggle.

“I’m dancing! You know, that thing that you’re supposed to do at a dance?” Swift stated as he continued to ‘dance’.

“Heh, I know what dancing is, I’m just not sure that’s it.” Twilight said with a chuckle, to which Swift jokingly furrowed his brow.

“Oh yeah? Well check this out smarty pants!!” Swift ordered as he began doing different motions with his body, ones that could hardly count as dance in any way shape or form.

“Pffft...you’re such a dork.” Twilight laughed.

“Says you! Check this shit out gurl!!” Swift said as he grabbed his leg and began yanking it back repeatedly while grabbing the back of his head. He grinned as he noticed that Twilight was giggling at his silliness. “UUGH! YEAH! The dance can’t even handle me right now!!”

“Tch, neither can I.” Twilight said as she rolled her eyes.

“Oh? Any you think you can do better?” Swift asked as he stopped dancing, awaiting his date’s response.

“Hmmm….think is a bit of a weak word, I believe the word ‘know’ is a better fit.” Twilight stated with a cocky grin on her face.

“I see...well then I guess there’s only one thing to do eh?” Swift said as he gave Twilight a cocky grin of his own.

“I suppose there is.” Twilight agreed.

“Alright then Twilight Sparkle, let’s dance!” Swift declared, and with that, the two suddenly began dancing their hearts out.

______________

“Holy crap, that pizza was delicious!!” Rainbow Dash moaned as she licked her fingers clean while entering the gymnasium with Thunderlane and the rest of her friends.

“Heh, ah think Bic Mac here would agree with ya.” Applejack stated while she was looking at her older brother, who had two slices of sheet pizza in his hand and was biting both at the same time.

“Mmhmm, gulp yup!” Big Mac chirped after swallowing a big bite.

“It was quite delectable, who knew the quaint little shop just out in the suburbs had such wonderful pizza! I’ll have to blog about it!” said Trenderhoof.

“It was pretty good. Anyways, should we try finding the others? Or...what?” Thunderlane asked as he glanced around the room for his friends.

“Eh, knowing Pinkie Pie she probably dragged Swift and Twilight into the center of that huge crowd.” Rainbow pointed out. “I guess if anything, we should wait...until...we see….”

“Hm? What is it darling?” Rarity asked as she looked in the direction Rainbow Dash was looking in. A few meters away from the rest of them, there was a small bunch of students on the outside of the crowd had stopped dancing, all of them currently having their attention of two dancers close to them, two very familiar faces to Rainbow’s group.

“...What in god’s name do they think they’re doin’?” Applejack asked as her eyes widened in shock at her lavender friend.

“I...think they’re dancing….or they’re both having a stroke of some sort.” said Thunderlane.

“Well...it certainly is...movement.” Rarity stated with a face that made it look like she was going to lose her lunch.

“Umm...well….they look like they’re having a good time.” Fluttershy said sheepishly.

“Should we uhh...do something?” Clyde asked as Rarity shook her head and covered his eyes with her hand.

“N-No no, it seems like those two are doing fine on their own.” Rarity assured her boyfriend, she then cringed as she witnessed Twilight accidentally kicked a guy in the back, making him topple over his date. “For the most part anyways.”

“Well as long as they’re dancing, I believe we should dance as well, don’t you think so Applejack?” Trenderhoof asked.

“Eh...well...ah suppose.” Applejack said rather off putting.

“Come on AJ! Let’s shake our tail feathers!” Pinkie Pie suddenly exclaimed from behind Applejack.

“AH! Pinkie! Where’d you come from!?” Applejack asked out of shock.

“I was looking in the middle of that mosh pit of students for Caramel! It took me a while, but I was finally able to find him somewhere in there! see!?” Pinkie exclaimed as she held up Caramel like a prized fish she caught.

“U-Umm...hello everyone.” Caramel said as he gave a sheepish wave to the group.

“Well now that everyone’s here, let’s go dance with Swift and Twilight!” Pinkie said excitedly.

“Uuuhhh...:” was the reply she got from most of the group, but she just kept smiling.

“Come on slowpokes! Let’s get our groove on!!” Pinkie said as she got behind them and somehow started pushing them as a group towards Swift and Twilight.
____________________

While the group of girls and their dates were beginning to dance together, unbeknownst to them, somebody was watching them. On the edge of the gym was Flash Sentry and Sunset Shimmer, both leaning against a wall whilst watching the group. Flash had a look of disdain on his face while watching the other students while Sunset on the other hand held a look of disinterest.

“So, you look like you’re having a good time.” Sunset pointed out as she nonchalantly took a sip from the cup of punch she was holding. Flash remained quiet as he continued to look miffed. “Have you thought about maybe going up to them and cutting in? Or asking Swift to let you dance with Twilight?”

“No, can’t say I have.” Flash answered quickly.

“You know, just standing around looking butthurt isn’t going to solve anything, you should go talk to her, or do something.” Sunset deadpanned.

“Mmhh...I know that, I just don’t think I can put on a happy face at the moment.” Flash stated. “I’m fine with just being here for now.”

Sunset shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

“It’s just...UUGH! I can’t believe Swift did that! Going to the dance with Twilight when he messed up with Pinkie!” Flash grunted in frustration.

“I know right? Going to a dance with a girl who was struggling to ask him all week? What an asshole.” Sunset said sarcastically.

“Yeah! He completely disregarded the bro-....what?” Flash asked in confusion, turning his attention to Sunset.

“Yeah, I sit behind Rainbow Dash and Rarity in history class. For the past week or so, a recurring topic in their conversations are about how Twilight has been wanting to ask Swift to the dance since it began. Apparently, she wasn’t able to do so until the day before, where she finally worked up the courage to do it.” Sunset explained. Flash listened intently to what she said as he looked back at Twilight. She was still dancing with Swift and her friends...terribly, but still, she was smiling from ear to ear as she danced her heart out.

“She’s been...wanting to ask him out for a while?” Flash asked slowly.

“Mmhmm...apparently she really likes him, as far as I can tell. I mean, she certainly seems happy.” Sunset acknowledged. “You still going to try winning her over?”

Flash took a few minutes before answering. “Of course I am, I really like her, and I want to make ‘us’ happen. This doesn’t change the fact that I’ll try making her mine. I’m just going to have to show her how much I care, and how much I want her..and maybe if I can do a good job...maybe she’ll feel the same way.”

Sunset looked at Flash with surprise. “You really feel that way Flash?”

Flash nodded. “I do, and I’ll face off against Swift for her feelings if I need to. But for now...I’ll let her have this dance, if it makes her happy.”

“Wow...that’s really...admirable of you Flash, I never thought I’d see something like this from you.” Sunset stated.

“Well, I’d like to think I’m as one dimensional as some people say I am.” Flash stated.

“Well...I certainly don’t think you’re one dimensional.”

“Thanks Sunset, I appreciate it.” Flash said with a smile on his face. After saying that, Sunset chugged the rest of her cup before tossing it into a nearby trash can.

“Well if you’re gonna let Twilight enjoy this dance, then how about we do the same?”

“You want to dance with me?” Flash asked in mild surprise.

Sunset shrugged. “Hey, you already paid me fifty bucks, you may as well get your money’s worth.” she said as she held her arm out to Flash.

“Heh...It’s tough arguing with that logic. Alright, let’s go.” Flash said as he took Sunset’s arm, and took her out onto the dance floor.
____________

“Aah...whooo...I’m bushed.” Swift sighed as he quickly drank some punch from a nearby punch bowl.

“Yeah, me too.” Twilight replied in an exhausted huff. “I didn’t realize how long we’ve been dancing for.”

“Mmhmm, I guess time flies when you’re having fun.” Swift said as he looked onto the gym floor with multiple people still dancing. He found it amazing how long he had been dancing. The last time he checked his phone to see what time it was was when Pinkie dragged him and Twilight over to the dance floor near the beginning of it. That was about seven thirty, he checked his phone briefly to see that it was about ten forty-five! Between dancing with Twilight, talking with other friends, and dancing with other friends, Swift had spent most of the time on the dance floor, he and Twilight only sat down for less than ten minutes near the beginning! “Holy shit, the dance is nearly over!”

“Hm? What time is it?” Twilight asked.

“It’s ten forty-five!” Swift said as he showed Twilight the screen of his phone.

“Oh wow, I guess time really did fly.” Twilight said with a note of sorrow in her voice. “It stinks that it’s almost over. I was having such a good time...”

“Heh, well don’t be too glum, we still have fifteen minutes left before it’s over. How about we try finding the others and see about dancing with them again?” Swift suggested.

“Sure, sounds like a plan.” Twilight agreed. And with that, the two teens started walking out towards the dance floor again with many of the students around them giving frightful looks as the backed away from the two. Swift and Twilight got to about the halfway point on the gym floor before the song that was currently playing slowly drew to a close. The two glanced up at Vinyl, who changed the records on her turntables in a flash. What came on was a slow ballad, to which many of the student in the gym got with whomever they came to the dance with.

“O-Oh…” was the only thing that came out of Twilight’s mouth once she realized what was going on. Swift looked at her to see that his date had a rather awkward appearance to her. Twilight was looking down to the ground while blushing, her arms behind her back, barely moving a muscle. Her gaze never left the floor as she continued to be mute.

“Oh yeah, a slow dance. I was wondering when they were going to do one of these.” Swift thought out loud, attempting to get some form of response from his date.

“Y-yeah...I was thinking the same thing…” Twilight agreed. There were a few more seconds of awkward silence between the two before Swift thought of what to do. Their friends were nowhere in sight, and this was most likely the last slow dance of the night. Being aware of this, how little time they had left before the end of the dance, and Twilight’s look of disappointment from the dance almost being over, Swift decided to do right by her.

“Hey Twilight…?”

“Yes Swift?” Twilight said as she looked up to her date.

“May I have this dance?” Swift asked, which caused Twilight’s eyes to shoot open in surprise.

“R-Really? This is a bit of a slow song, isn't it? And besides...I don’t really know how to dance with a partner.” Twilight said nervously.

“Heh, don’t worry Twilight. It’s really easy! Here, let me show you.” Swift said as he held out his hands for Twilight. When she put her hands onto Swift’s, he gently took her arms and wrapped them around his neck, after which point, he put his own hand around Twilight’s waist and started swaying from side to side. “Heh, see? Easy.” Swift said with a toothy grin on his face.

“I suppose so, I apologize in advance if I step on your feet.” Twilight replied with an awkward chuckle. The two swayed side to side together for a few minutes in silence, having no idea what to say to one another until Twilight broke the silence. “I mean, I’ve never really danced with a guy before like this, so I probably stink..”

“Twilight don’t worry about it, you’re fine. It isn’t about being good or bad at dancing, it’s just about having fun!” Swift explained as he gave Twilight a reassuring grin. While the two of them continued to dance together, Swift took notice of something behind Twilight. “Hehe Aww, look at that.”

“Hm? What is it?” Twilight asked. She looked over her shoulder to see that Fluttershy and Big Mac were slow dancing a short ways away from them. Big Mac had a content smile on his face as his gaze never left Fluttershy’s eyes. Fluttershy herself looked as though she was in heaven at that moment, her smile hanging on her face softly, and her eyes looking at Big Mac with what looked like the happiest gaze in existence.

“Those two are really cute together.” said Swift. “Are they a thing?”

“Fluttershy and Big Mac? Not that I know of, no. I’m pretty sure Fluttershy just asked him a few days ago to come to the dance.” Twilight explained.

“Eh, could’ve fooled me, those two are looking at each other like they’re the only two people in the entire gym! They totally look like a couple.” Swift said matter of factly.

“Yeah...I guess they do.” Twilight said as she turned away from the other two students and back to Swift. “Hey umm Swift? What are your thoughts about romance?”

“M-My thoughts?” Swift asked, slightly taken aback by Twilight’s question.

“Yes, I-If you don’t don’t mind me asking. Like, do you enjoy romance?”

Swift took a moment to think before speaking. “Yeah, I do enjoy romance every now and again. I like romance in books, tv shows, and games and the like. I think it’s nice to see two people that I like come together as a couple. How about you?”

“I really enjoy romance too. My sister in law Cadance is actually a romance novelist, and I’ve read a lot of her books, in addition to having nights with her where we just watch soap operas and eat ice cream.” Twilight said with a chuckle. “I do love the concept of love, having a significant other with whom you confide all your secrets, your fears, dreams, and desires with...someone who will always be by your side, whom you love with all your heart, and they love you back, it just sounds like such a wonderful thing.”

“Yeah, when you put it like that romance sounds like the greatest thing in the world.” Swift agreed.

“Heh, well there are a lot of people who think it is.” Twilight stated matter-of-factly. “I’m not really sure though, but that’s probably because I’ve never really experienced it….”

“I wouldn't worry about that too much Twilight, romance is just something that kind of comes to you after a while. You’re a great girl Twilight.”

“Well I don’t know about great, I’m okay.” Twilight said sheepishly.

“You’re awesome Twilight! You’re smart, friendly, pretty…”

‘Y-You think I’m pretty?” Twilight asked in a stunned manner as her lavender skin quickly turned to a bright pink.

“Yes, you’re really cute Twilight.” Swift promised his date. As he said that, his gaze met Twilight’s, and the two stared at each other for a few moments. Swift knew that he told Twilight she was pretty mainly to up her confidence, but looking at her now, he remembered that she really was a nice looking girl. The way her hairstyle complimented her dress, the soft smile she wore whenever she looked at him, her smooth facial features, and her eyes, her eyes in particular were incredibly nice. The moderate violet of her eyes, the way they sparkled in the dim light of the gym reminded Swift of the late night dusk, how beautiful the sky and stars could be then. He hadn’t realized due to mulling over the fact that Pinkie wasn’t going with him, but he was still going with a wonderful girl.

“O-oh...thanks Swift…” Twilight said as she blushed. “I think you’re pretty handsome yourself.”

“Thanks Twilight.” Swift said as he continued to gaze into Twilight’s eyes. the two continued to dance for a few moments at the edge of the crowd. As they continued, a young man and woman ran through the dance floor, one of the accidentally knocking into Twilight, causing her to go forward and stop against Swift.

“O-Oh! S-sorry..” Twilight quickly stated.

“Heh, it’s not a problem Twilight..” Swift assured Twilight, even though having her this close to him made him feel a tad nervous. “It’s funny, we’re in another dance position now.”

“R-Really?” Twilight asked, to which she noticed that was right, they were close to a position that resembled some of the other students, being face to face with one another whilst hugging them, the only difference being that the other girls had their arms wrapped around their date’s, and were resting their heads on their date’s shoulders. “Oh yeah...I see.” she said before letting out a quick yawn.

“You're tired?” Swift asked, to which Twilight replied with another yawn.

‘We’ve been dancing for almost four hours, of course I’m tired!” Twilight jokingly said as she rested her head on Swift’s shoulder. “Sooooooo tired…”

Swift’s eyes widened as Twilight leaned into him, blushing slightly at the feeling of her chest against his own. “H-Heh...well I suppose that it’s a good thing we’ll be driving back to your place.”

“Yes...I suppose.” Twilight murmured as she held onto Swift.

“So, how would you say your first school dance went?” Swift questioned.

“The dance I’d say...was perfect, I’m glad I came.” Twilight said softly as she tightened her hold of Swift, pushing her own body closer to his.

“I’m glad you came too..” Swift agreed as his blush deepened, due to him noticing that Twilight’s warm body was even closer to him. It was weird, having her so close to him gave him an odd feeling he couldn’t describe. Was it bliss? Excitement? Whatever it was, it was like warm butterflies in his stomach had just woken up.

Umm...what’s going on? Swift asked himself as he continued to stare at Twilight. Though he couldn’t see it, Twilight’s soft smile changed briefly into a look of surprise.

I-Is Swift’s heart beating faster? she wondered as she looked at her date’s body. As if the butterflies within her own stomach weren’t already aflutter, feeling Swift’s heartbeat quite possibly made her own heart skip a beat. She thought that Swift was still dense about her advances, but could he slowly be getting it? Twilight didn’t bother to think about it, instead opting to close her eyes once more and simply listen to the rhythm Swift’s heart gave off, to allow the moment to be absorbed into her memory; the memory of a perfect dance. The two continued their slow dance for a few minutes longer until the slow song eventually ended, once in doing so, Swift and Twilight looked at each other once more.

“Thanks for that dance Swift. I had a lot of fun.” Twilight said happily, with her cheeks still a bit rosey..

“No problem Twilight, I had fun too.” Swift said, his normally cyan cheeks also looking a tad pink. “So, looks like the dance is just about over, wanna go find the others and say goodbye?”

“Sure, sounds like a plan.” Twilight said as she followed Swift out of the gymnasium. As they walked out, they noticed that many of the students were also taking their leaves, many of them grabbing their jackets and exiting out. Twilight spotted Rarity, Fluttershy and the rest of their friends and their dates and walked up to them.

“Hey you two! All danced out?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Yeah, I’m exhausted, I never danced that much in my entire life.” Twilight said with a tired huff. “So are you all leaving now?”

“Not yet, Pinkie wants to get a picture with all of us together, we were just about to look for you two actually.” Rainbow explained.

“Ooh!! Twilight! Swift! There you guys are!!” Pinkie exclaimed happily. “Alright everybody, gather ‘round!” she ordered. With that, each of the girls and their dates got together into a small group, Pinkie reached into her hair and pulled out not only her phone, but also a stick like device with a clamp at the end. She placed her phone onto the clamp and extended the device so that it was longer. Pinkie lifted it over her and the others, making sure everyone was in the shot. “Okie doki everybody! Say cheese!”

“CHEESE!!” the group of twelve teens all said with smiles on their faces, and with a click of the camera, Pinkie had her picture.

“That was awesome everyone! Ooh! You know what we should all do? We should go to Sugarcube Corner for a late night treat!” Pinkie suggested.

“Uh Pinkie, Sugarcube Corner closes at like, nine.” Rainbow deadpanned.

‘Yeah, and Mac and ah gotta get up early tomorrow to work the farm.” Applejack pointed out.

“Eeyup.”

“Oh, okay. But we should still totally do something this weekend girls!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Anyways, I’ll catch y'all later!!”

And with that, Pinkie Pie ran off with Caramel in tow, leaving the others to say their goodbyes until the next time they’d see one another.

“Well, I’ll catch you later Thunderlane.” Swift said as he gave his best friend a fist bump.

“Yeah, same to you dude.” Thunderlane said as he returned the fist bump. “So, did Flash bother you and Twilight at all during the dance?”

“No, not really. He talked to me in the beginning, but I haven’t really seen him since.” Swift said as he took a quick look around the room they were in. Nope, no matter where Swift look, there wasn’t a trace of Flash to be seen.

“Hmm..I see, well don’t worry too much about it, I’m sure that Flash will have his jets cooled by the time we go back to school, that’s how it usually goes.” Thunderlane reminded Swift.

“Yeah, I know.” Swift said, all too familiar with how long it takes Flash to cool off after he gets mad.

“Anyways, I’ll see you later bro, have a good night.” Thunderlane said as he grabbed his helmet and soon exited the building with Rainbow Dash.

After that point, Swift and Twilight finished saying their goodbyes to their friends and headed on back to Twilight’s house. The ride was mostly silent on account of how tired the two of them were. The two were finally able to reach Twilight’s house after about ten minutes. Both Swift and Twilight got out of the car and walked up to the doorstep.

“Well, here we are.” Swift said with a note of satisfaction in his voice.

“Mmhmm, though you didn’t need to walk me to the door, you could’ve just driven off as soon as I got out of the car.” Twilight pointed out.

“Yeah, I could’ve, but I dunno, I thought that this was the more gentlemanly thing to do.” Swift admitted sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head.

“I agree, I certainly appreciate it.” Twilight said with a soft smile on her face.

“Heh...well, you’re welcome.” Swift said with a goofy smile on his. “So umm...I guess this is goodbye for now.”

“Yeah, I suppose it is.” Twilight agreed.

‘Well, then I guess I’ll see you Monday. Goodnight Twilight.” Swift said as he began to walk off of the front porch of the house.

“U-Umm...Swift?” Twilight said quietly.

“Hm? What is it Twilight?” Swift asked as he turned back to look at Twilight. He looked back quickly enough to see the lavender skinned girl come up to him and wrap her arms around him, pulling him into a tight embrace. Swift fell speechless as he only looked at Twilight as she embraced him.

“I just wanted to let you know...that the dance we shared...it...it...I can’t describe it...it was just...it gave me a special feeling inside.” Twilight explained as she held onto Swift.

“A special feeling? Y-You got that from the dance?” Swift asked, somewhat stunned by Twilight’s confession.

“I don’t think it was so much the dance...as it was being close to you.” Twilight admitted, earning herself Swift’s stunned silence once again as she continued. “You know Swift...I never really told you how thankful I am for meeting you. Before, most guys...most people didn’t pay me much interest, I was content to just being by myself...but then I met you...and you helped me meet the girls. I know it’s only been a couple of months, but now...I find it amazing that I was able to live without having friends, I don’t think I could ever go back to that, and I don’t want to. I guess what I’m trying to say is...thank you Swift, thank you so much for being you.”

It took Swift a few seconds to find something to say. “N-No problem...you’re welcome Twi.”

Twilight loosened her hold on Swift as she looked him in the eyes. “Swift, I umm...I...I’ll...see you Monday, okay?”

Swift nodded. “Y-yeah, of course.” he answered back quietly.Twilight smiled as she walked back to the front door of her house. She opened the door and quickly entered her home before shutting the door for the night, leaving Swift alone on her porch. With little left to do, Swift walked back to his car, started the engine, and started the drive back to his own home, giving him time to think about what happened that night, what happened at the dance…

...and what he felt between himself and Twilight.

The Sleepover

It was a dark and quiet Saturday evening within the small city of Canterlot. Within a house in Canterlot, there was a mostly dark room, the only source of light coming from a television screen facing a bed, from which the Humane 6 were watching a movie.

“I’m super duper glad you were all able to come by for a sleepover! I think this is the first one we’ve had since Twilight showed up!” Pinkie said from the foot of her bed. The other girls were all sitting in front of her bed watching the movie, all of them with a similar look of fear on their faces.

“N-No problem Pinkie...t-this is really f-fun….” Fluttershy said shakily from under the blanket her and Twilight were sharing, the two were sitting on the floor cross legged as they held one another.

“Y-Yeah...I-It’s not every day you get to see a horror movie on payperview the day it comes out.” Twilight agreed as both her and Fluttershy kept their eyes on the screen. As the scene was going on, a female character was going down into the basement of an old mansion, walking around various shelves until coming across a doll. She stopped to look at it, only for the doll’s eyes to suddenly shoot open with a sinister child’s laugh playing in the background.

“EEP!!” both Fluttershy and Twilight cried out as they both jumped and wrapped the blanket around themselves a little more.

“Heh...it’s just a doll darlings, a tad cliché for scary movies at this point, don’t you think?” Rarity asked as she watched the movie with a smile laced with fright. “I mean, come now girls, it wasn’t the least bit frightening.” she said as she reached into the bowl of pretzels that she had in her lap. After taking a generous handful, she quickly popped them into her mouth. She munched on them as she continued to watch the rest of the movie. Within the movie, the main character was walking past the doll, still looking a bit shocked by what she had just witnessed but was still moving forward. She looked around the disheveled basement more as she began to walk past a mannequin wearing an extremely old style dress. As the main character walked past, the mannequin suddenly lunged out at her, with its arms outstretched.

“AAAH!!’ Rarity squealed as she hopped slightly, causing the bowl of pretzels to jump out of the bowl and spill out on the floor. After her fright, Rainbow Dash and Applejack, who were both sitting to her right gave her raised eyebrows.

“Really Rarity? That scared you?” Rainbow Dash asked in a surprised manner.

“YES! I mean, did you not see that dress on the mannequin? That dress was so old and horridly designed! UUGH!! I think I’m going to have nightmares.” Rarity whined as she slocked back to the bed.

“Y’all are over reacting. This movie ain’t that scary at all.” Applejack said as she continued watching the movie with a stone cold face.

“Yeah, this movie is child’s play!” Rainbow piqued in.

“Oh I wish this was Child’s Play, at least that movie doesn’t have the most abhorred dress in all of cinema in it!” Rarity said aloud as she looked away from the screen, scared of seeing the horrible dress again.

“Please, that there wasn’t scary in the slightest.” Applejack deadpanned as she glanced at Rarity with an uninterested look.

“Yeah Rares, that was like something out of a B-tier horror movie.” Rainbow said as she looked at Rarity. As her and Applejack looked back at the TV screen, a horribly disfigured face popped up in the front of the scream with a murderous yell.

“EEEEEEEEKKKK!!!” every girl in the room sans Pinkie screamed at the top of their lungs. Twilight and Fluttershy hugged each other in fear, Rarity threw the bowl of pretzels up in the air, spilling them everywhere. Rainbow and Applejack both jumped slightly, with clear looks of fright on their faces. Pinkie kept watching the movie intently as she grabbed a fistful of pretzels out of the air from when Rarity threw them and stuffed them into her mouth.

“Hehehe, watching you guys react to the movie is funner than watching the actual movie!” Pinkie chirped as she chewed on pretzels.

“Jesus..” Rainbow Dash groaned, trying to catch her breath. “Freaking jumpscares…”

“Uugh..screw the jump scare, y’all screamin’ bloody murder was what scared the bejeezus outta me.” Applejack said, shortly after giving a slight chuckle. “Heh, how you girls holdin’ up?”

“I-I’m fine darlings…” Rarity said while calming her nerves. “How are you two do-pfft..” Rarity chuckled a little as she looked over to Fluttershy and Twilight. Both were wrapped up in the large blanket they had, and Fluttershy was holding Twilight in a death hug of fear with her cheeks pushing against Twilight’s, like holding onto her meant the difference between life and death.

“I-I’m okay…” Twilight said as best she could due to how closely Fluttershy was holding her. “F-Fluttershy, would you like to let go?”

“N-No, I’m good Twilight.” Fluttershy said in a fearful manner as she kept hugging Twilight tightly.

“Umm, maybe we should watch somethin’ else, ya know, before Fluttershy accidentally crushes Twilight.” Applejack suggested.

“N..no, it’s fine Applejack...I can survi-AACK!!” Twilight choked out as another scary scene occurred in the movie, which caused Fluttershy to strengthen her grip on the lavender bookworm. “O...Okay...I’m up to watching something different...anyone else?”

Twilight’s question was met with a range of “uh-huh’s” from the other girls before they quickly swapped in another movie; the sequel movie to the the smash hit Power League movie a few years ago. It was a superhero movie that starred characters such as Mistress Marvelous, Zap, and the Masked Matter Horn among other heroes. The movie was mainly about them fighting off an evil cyborg robot who was trying to do what you may ask? Take over the world.

“OF COURSE!!” Pinkie Pie shouted as the movie played, earning her questioning looks from her friends. “Sorry, it needed to be said.” she explained as her and the rest of the girls turned their attention back to the film. The girls sat in silence for the duration of the film, watching the struggle of the heroes teaming up with new heroes for the first time as well as fighting the cyborg robot as well as its army of other robots. After some impressive story and action sequences, the heroes were able to defeat the cyborg robot and make its body explode. The movie ended with the usual ending scenes of everything being alright in the world, and a dark shadow appearing in the distance at the very last part, teasing the next movie in the series before the credits rolled.

“Well...I liked that movie a lot better than the last one.” Fluttershy said with an awkward chuckle.

“Yeah, I think I’m inclined to agree with you there Fluttershy.” Twilight said with her own small laugh.

“Some of those bits in the movie were insane! How cool was the scene where Zap created a giant thunderstorm just to fight the first robot!?” Rainbow Dash asked excitedly as she started punching the air. “She sucked it up into a tornado, just to kick it back down to the ground! That was so fucking awesome!!!”

“Yes, that was quite an impressive action sequence Rainbow, though I’d say that Lady Radiance was the best hero in my eyes.” said Rarity. “I mean, being a hero and running a multi-million dollar fashion label? That’s no easy feat, she's amazing! That, and all the outfits she wore in the movie were superbly chic!!”

“Ah agree with Rainbow, seeing all of the action was really somethin’, ‘specially with all of Marvelous’ nifty lasso moves and brawlin’, she’s the kind of hero ah’d wanna be!” Applejack stated confidently as she pointed to herself with her thumb.

“I thought the movie was super groovy!! My favorite part was seeing Double Diamond without his shirt on!!” Pinkie piqued in happily.

“He umm...he is really cute..and buff.” Fluttershy acknowledged happily as she blushed at the memory of the young adult actor and his six pack.

“Yeah…” all of the other girls agreed, all of them happily accepting the image that Fluttershy put in her head.

“So umm...what should we do now? I mean, I’m sort of new to the whole sleep over thing.” Twilight said sheepishly.

“Hmm..well...it’s mighty close to midnight, ah can’t really think of anything else to do.” Applejack stated. “Maybe we should just turn in for the night?”

“WHAT!?” Pinkie blurted out as she jumped out of her bed and landed right in front of Applejack. “Are you loco in the coco Jackie!?”

“Jackie?” Applejack asked in minor confusion at the new nickname.

“It’s the middle of the night! And we’re six teenage girls in a room alone together after a long and eventful week of school! You want us to just turn in!?” Pinkie asked. Applejack opened her mouth to say something else, but Pinkie quickly put her hand over the farm girl’s pie hole. “NO! We need to do something wild! Something crazy! Something fun!”

“Alright Pinkie, I’ll bite, what do you have in mind?” Rainbow asked her pink haired friend.

“I have no idea!!” Pinkie cheerfully exclaimed, to which Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

“Ooooookay, anyone else have any ideas?” Rainbow asked as she looked to Rarity, Fluttershy, and Twilight, the last of whom was looking through something on her phone. “Any thoughts Twilight?”

Twilight raised her head to Rainbow. “Hm? Oh, right. For a sleepover? I don’t think we should do anything too wild and crazy, I mean, Pinkie’s aunt and uncle are just downstairs with the twins, so I imagine we couldn’t be too loud.” Twilight started murmuring to herself until her eyes shot open. “Oh! I know! How about a game of truth or dare? I’ve always wanted to try that game.”

“I think it’s a marvelous idea darling.” Rarity said with a nod.

“Eh, a good of an idea as any.” Applejack shrugged.

“Sure, sounds like it could be fun.” Rainbow also said with a shrug,

“Alrighty!! Let’s go through it!!” Pinkie proclaimed as the girls got into a circle. After explaining the simple concept to Twilight, the girls began.

“Alright, I'll start us off.” Rainbow said. “Applejack! Truth or dare!?”

“Truth ah suppose.”

“Okay...well then, if you had to choose between wrestling a hog in the mud, or be on a fashion runway, what would it be?” Rainbow questioned.

“Wrestle the hog, anytime.” Applejack said with no hesitation whatsoever. Rarity gave her a surprised look.

“Really Applejack? You’d rather become all filthy than be seen by a large room full of people acknowledging your beauty?” Rarity asked.

“Yup, ah’m not one fer lookin’ pretty in a dress, and besides, have y’all ever wrestled a hog? It’s a hoot and a half! Always a popular game at the family reunion!” Applejack said with a laugh.

“I’ll take your word for it darling.” Rarity muttered.

“Anyways, mah turn. Hmm….ah...Pinkie!”

“Applejack!!” Pinkie chirped in reply. “Truth!!”

“Okay then,” Applejack said as she got a devilish grin. “Have y’all ever looked at another girl and thought to yerself ‘Wow, ah’d tap dat?'” she asked, to which the other girls looked towards Pinkie expectantly. Pinkie stayed quiet for a few second before answering.

“Yup! Sure have!” Pinkie chirped with a quick nod of the head, which led to a majority of the girls’ eyes to widen in surprise.

“Woah, seriously Pinkie? Who?” Rainbow asked in surprise.

“I ain’t telling!” Pinkie answered, to which her rainbow haired friend flattened her brow.

“Was it Sunset Shimmer?” Fluttershy asked suddenly, causing everyone to turn their attention to her, which prevented them from seeing Pinkie’s smug grin quickly shift into a look of surprise. Fluttershy glanced around at the girls before hiding her face behind her hair. “W-What? If it had to be any girl based on appearance… I’d guess her....”

“Who’s Sunset Shimmer?” Twilight asked.

“Former 'Alpha Bitch' of Canterlot High, during the Fall Formal, which was actually the week before you moved here, we had the entire school band together to toss her off of her high horse, and now she’s just another student here, nothing more, nothing less.” Rainbow explained. “I’ve seen her around the school since then, but whenever we see each other, she just walks off, or goes quiet.”

“I’ve tried talking to her...but I’ve never really...worked up the courage to do so.” Fluttershy muttered quietly.

“Sunset Shimmer….” Twilight repeated the name. “Is she the girl with red and yellow hair, always wears a leather jacket?”

“Eeyup, that’s her.” Applejack answered.

“I’ve never spoken to her, but almost every time we see each other, she always gives me the stink eye..” Twilight explained, which caused the other girls to exchange nervous glances.

“Eh, who knows with that girl, it’s probably her just being bitter about not being the queen bee anymore, you’re fine.” Rainbow tried assuring Twilight.

“Yeah...but still, I think it’s sad that none of us have really been able to reach out to her, I know what it’s like to be lonely...it isn’t great…” Fluttershy said in a sorrowful tone.

“Well it’s not like she doesn’t have any friends.” Pinkie pointed out. “I’ve seen her hanging out with Trixie Lulamoon and Gilda Griffins a lot! They seem to get along well.”

“Well...ah suppose so, anyways, we’re gettin’ off track, Pinkie it’s yer turn.”

“Oh! Right! Hmmm….Ah...hmmm...Oh! I know! Dashie!” Pinkie exclaimed as she pointed to Rainbow.

“Gimmie a dare Pinkie!” Rainbow Dash ordered.

“I know! You know how my sister Maud is visiting us ‘cause she’s on college break right?” Pinkie asked, to which Rainbow nodded. “Weeeell...she’s in the room at the far end of the hall sleeping, so, for your dare, you need to sneak into her room, find her pet rock Boulder, and kiss it for ten seconds!!”

“Her pet rock? Umm….okay, where does she keep it?” Rainbow asked.

“She always keeps Boulder really really close to her! So look on her bed or something!!” Pinkie suggested. With that, Rainbow Dash krept out of Pinkie’s room and into the dark hallway, with the other girls shadowing her. She crawled along the floor quietly until she reached the absolute end of the hallway where the guest room was.Rainbow slowly opened the door and looked in to see that Pinkie’s sister was sleeping in a bed at the corner of the room, it was easy to see due to light entering the room through a window. Rainbow looked back to see the other girls were behind here, with Pinkie, AJ, and Rarity all making ‘go on.’ motions to her. Rainbow nodded as she crept into the room silently, crawling on her belly until she made her way to the bedside. She stood on her knees to look at Pinkie’s older sister; a woman with light grey skin and shoulder length straight purple hair that was wearing a purple tank top.

“Alright, that’s Maud, now where’s Boulder?” Rainbow quietly murmured to herself as she looked on the nightstand next to the bed and the area surrounding the bed. “Where the hell is that stupid thi-...oh..” Dash said as she looked glanced at Maud’s chest, where a small rock was nestled within the elder Pie sibling’s cleavage.

Woah...looks like Maud doesn’t just have one boulder. Rainbow thought to herself. She looked back to see that the other girls were watching her from the doorway, eager to see if Dash would actually do the deed. Rainbow turned her head back as she slowly reached for the small rock, gently grabbing it with the tips of her fingers before yanking it out quickly, like a band-aid. With Boulder now in her fingers, Rainbow turned back to the girls and blushed. She glanced down to the rock and without further adu, pressed it to her lips, her blushing growing stronger as the rock was still warm from before. Rainbow kept kissing it, mentally counting down how much time was left until she had to stop. She reached two before seeing that the other’s faces all had a look of shock on their faces, Rainbow wondered what it could be until she felt someone tap on her shoulder from behind. Rainbow looked over her shoulder to see that Maud was awake, and giving her a neutral expression. Dash completely turned around to face Maud before she stopped kissing Boulder.

“I think you have something that belongs to me.” Maud said in a dull tone as she pointed to Boulder.

“Hehehe...that I do…” Rainbow said sheepishly as she looked from side to side of the room. She gave an awkward chuckle before returning Boulder to his previous resting place. “T-There you go...goodnight…” Rainbow said, and with that, she ran out of the room, leaving only Maud and Boulder.

“Goodnight.” Maud said back to Dash before glancing down at the rock in her cleavage. “You’re right Boulder, Pinkie has weird friends.” she said before shifting to face the other side of the room and going back to sleep. As she fell asleep once more, the girls retreated back into Pinkie’s room and quickly shut the door.

“Hehehe...well ah’d say that this is gonna be a sleepover to remember.” Applejack said with a chuckle as she glanced at a still blushing Rainbow Dash.

”Yeah, whatever, dammit that was the weirdest thing I’ve ever done.” Rainbow groaned.

“Heh, don’t worry darling, it’s over now.” Rarity told Rainbow. “Now, shall we continue our game? I believe we should each be asked something at least once.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Rainbow agreed. “Hey Flutters! Truth or dare?”

“Oh u-umm..truth please, I don’t do very well with dares.” Fluttershy said, slightly worried about whatever her cyan skinned friends was about to ask her.

“Okay...if you had to date any one of us, who’d it be?” Rainbow asked with a devilish grin of delight. Fluttershy’s eyes widened as she gulped.

“O-Oh my...that’s quite a question Rainbow...w-well...I-I don’t know...you know you’re all my very best friends...I’m just...not sure if I could choose.” Fluttershy stuttered, clearly uncomfortable with the question she was asked.

“It’s alright darling, you don’t have to answer the question if you don’t want to, and if you do choose to answer it, none of us will be offended.” Rarity promised her pink haired friend.

“Come on Rares! Answering the question is like, the whole point of the game!” Rainbow pointed out with a groan, which earned her a sharp glare from Rarity.

“N-No, Rainbow is right.” Fluttershy said with a nod. “W-Well...I guess if I had to choose one of you...it’d probably be Applejack.” she answered, to which the aforementioned cowgirl blinked in surprise.

“R-Really?” Applejack asked, to which Fluttershy nodded.

“Well..I mean, you do have the qualities of a guy I’d like; you’re strong, honest, down to earth, kind, and you like animals, any person with at least half of those qualities would be okay for me, but someone with all of those qualities would be a real catch in my book. If I was...or if you were a guy, I’d date you.” Fluttershy admitted quietly, still slightly embarrassed about her answer.

“Heh, well shucks Fluttershy, ah’m touched! That’s nice ta know, ah’d date ya too if we weren’t already close friends, and if one of us were guys.” Applejack said with a smile, putting some of Fluttershy’s weariness at ease. “Now it’s yer turn Flutters.”

“Oh umm...alright, who hasn’t gone yet…” Fluttershy asked herself as she looked through all of her friends, with her eyes eventually resting on Rarity.

“Hehe, is it finally my turn darling?” Rarity asked as her eyes met Fluttershy’s.

“Umm..yes, if you’d like to go that is.”

“Of course darling! I’m feeling a tad adventurous today, so how about a dare?” Rarity suggested.

“Okay..let me think for a moment.” Fluttershy said as she put her hand to her chin, pondering what sort of dare she’d have her friend go through. Eventually, her eyes lit up as she came up with an idea. “Oh, I know! Rarity...I dare you to let Applejack apply makeup to you!!” she exclaimed, to which some of the girls went ‘Ooooh’

Rarity’s smile faltered for a moment before returning. “Oh? Is that all? I’m sure that won’t be so ba-”

“While she’s wearing a blindfold!” Fluttershy added in, which caused Rarity’s smile to go away once more. The fashionista looked around to see that all of her friends were looking at her with varying levels of amusement, namely Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

“I-Is that all darling?” Rarity asked, attempting to re-establish her composure. “Why, if that’s all there is to it, then I don’t see any problems with it.”

“Well that’s good Rarity, cause I just pulled out the makeup kit!!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she dropped a large cube with a handle right next to Applejack and began setting up. She put a bunch of different make up supplies in front of Rarity before tying a bandanna around Applejack’s eyes.

“Well Rares, are ya ready ta look all pretty?” Applejack asked Rarity as she picked up some lipstick and brought it close to her face.

Rarity gulped. “Y-Yes...I suppose so…” she said as she watched in horror while her friend was bringing the lipstick up to her face.

N-No! Stop!! That’s not my shaaaaaaaaaaade!!!!

___________________________________________

“Just a little more of these here...ah think it’s eyeshadow.” Applejack said as she applied something on Rarity's face.

“Yup! It’s eyeshadow!” Pinkie informed her.

“Alright, that should just about do it then!” Applejack said as she took the blindfold off to gaze at her handiwork., her lips quickly puckering as she put her hand to her mouth, trying to stifle a laugh.

“Yes, yes, I’m sure I look quite hilarious right now. Let me just get it over with and see what I look ki-” Rarity stopped as she looked into her pocket mirror. She was horrified the moment she looked at her reflection; a very light pink lipstick smeared all over her mouth, blush all over her cheeks that made her look like she had a fever, complete with such an over-abundance of eyeshadow that it made her look like she had two black eyes. “Well...this is....about what I expected, maybe a bit better.”

“Heh, really?” Applejack asked with a chuckle.

“To be honest, I expected to look more like an expressionist painting than this, but for what it’s worth, it’s not as bad as I expected.” Rarity said as she closed her mirror. “Well, I suppose I should go wash this off.”

“Not yet Rarity!!” Pinkie Pie said from behind the fashionista.

“Why ever not Pi-” Rarity said as she was turning around.

CLICK

“First of all, I wanted a picture!” Pinkie Pie said as she stuffed the camera she was holding back into her hair. “Second of all, you need to ask someone a question, or give them a dare!”

“Oh, that’s right. Hmm...who hasn’t gone yet..” Rarity asked as she looked at each of her friends, eventually looking at Twilight, who was sitting right across from her. “Ah! Twilight! Truth or dare darling?”

“Umm...I think I’ll just go for truth right now.” Twilight answered sheepishly.

“Very well darling...hmm...what do you think it the most attractive part of your body?” Rarity asked, to which Twilight blushed a bit.

“W-What?”

“You heard me darling! What part of your body do you think you could use to make the boys go crazy?” Rarity asked as she winked at Twilight.

“W-Well...I’m not really sure, I’ve never counted myself as being able to ‘make the boys go crazy.’.” Twilight explained.

“Well every girl has something like that darling! For instance, I’ve got beautifully sculpted face, pristine hair, not to mention my voluptuous figure, Applejack has her muscular physique that many young men appreciates, and Pinkie..well...Pinkie is particularly gifted in her..*ahem* bosom.”

“I sure am!” Pinkie agreed as she proudly puffed her chest out.

“Well, all those sweets have to go somewhere, don’t they darling?” Rarity jokingly asked as she prodded Pinkie’s slightly doughy side.

“Hey! Rarity! That tickles!” Pinkie giggled as she covered the part of her body that Rarity poked.

“So Twilight, darling, what do you think is your most attractive feature?” Rarity asked again. Twilight took a moment to think about Rarity’s question, putting a finger to her chin.

“Well...Cadance and I talked about this sort of thing once...she said that I have a nice rear.” Twilight answered sheepishly.

“Oh? Is that so?” Rarity asked.

“Well..I’m not really sure, I haven’t really judged my own ass, i mean, come on, it’s an ass.” Twilight explained as she turned around and stood up, showing off her black shorts-clad butt.

“Hm, ah agree with yer sis-in-law.” Applejack said. “It looks good ta me.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty good.” Rainbow agreed.

“I think it’s nice.” Fluttershy said quietly, feeling slightly awkward for judging her friend’s rear end.

“Super groovy!”

“Quite a nice tushy.”

“Umm...thanks girls.” Twilight said awkwardly as she sat back down. “So umm...should I ask someone something now? or are we done? or what?”

“I suppose we could keep playing this game for a while, I’m not tired yet.” Fluttershy said, to which their other friends agreed and nodded, deciding to spend some more time playing truth or dare.

_____________________

After about an hour or so of playing truth or dare, the girls finally decided to turn in for the night. It was now dark inside Pinkie’s bedroom, all of the girls were asleep in sleeping bags except Pinkie, who was sleeping in her own bed. The room was dark, the only noises audible were the sounds of the girls tossing and turning in their sleeping bags. As all was mostly quiet, one of the girls was tossing and turning restlessly. after tossing and turning for a while, Twilight quietly groaned.

“Ugh...I can't sleep.” Twilight muttered under her breath, internally cursing Pinkie for giving her so many sugary snacks during the night, now she still felt wide awake even at three in the morning. Seeing little to do in her current situation, Twilight removed her arm out from under her pillow and reached for her phone that was plugged into the wall. After entering the passcode, she did nothing save for glancing through her near empty MyStable account page that Pinkie made her get, and read through the feed uninterested in many of their topics. After that, she glanced through some random internet pages, nothing really of interest there either. Sighing, Twilight glanced around to see the otherwise quiet room, completely bored out of her socket.

“I hate it when I can’t sleep.” Twilight whispered to herself as she looked at her phone again. She stared at the home screen for a few moments before glancing at one of the apps on it, the photo album app. Quickly, Twilight opened the app and went through the album to a familiar picture, to which she quickly enlarged to fit her entire phone’s screen. The picture was taken by Rarity back at the dance the day before, it was of Twilight and Swift during their slow dance near the end. Swift had his arms wrapped around Twilight’s waist, and she had her arms around his neck. The two were looking at one another eye to eye, Swift had a soft smile on his face along with a slight blush on his cheeks. Twilight too was smiling, only her blush was much easier to see as her cheeks were much pinker than Swift’s. Twilight sighed a little as she stared at the picture. Rarity sent it to her shortly after the dance as a little memento of the night her and Swift shared together, and she loved it, she loved it enough to take glances at it every now and again through the day, even just looking at it made her feel warm inside. While Twilight was looking at the picture, she heard the sound of a sleeping bag moving slowly in her direction, she glanced over her shoulder to see that Fluttershy was close to her.

“Oh umm..hi Twilight.” Fluttershy whispered quietly as she came closer to Twilight.

“Hey Fluttershy, couldn’t sleep either huh?” Twilight asked as Fluttershy inched up next to her.

“No, not really, I think I had too much grape soda.” Fluttershy said with a slight giggle.

“Heh, that makes two of us.” Twilight whispered with a smile.

“So umm..what are you looking at? I mean...if you’re alright with me asking.”

“Oh umm...it’s nothing, I was just...looking at a picture Rarity sent me from the dance.” Twilight said sheepishly as she showed the picture to Fluttershy.

“Oh, how did you get that?”

“Rarity sent it to me after the dance, needless to say I was pretty happy getting it.” Twilight answered.

“Is that the reason why you checked your phone every now and again during the sleepover?” Fluttershy asked, to which Twilight sheepishly scratched the back of her head.

“Hehehe...yeah...it kind of is.” Twilight said somewhat guiltily. “Umm...Fluttershy, do you think this is weird? I feel like I’ve been talking about Swift a bit too much, more than I should anyways.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “I don’t think it’s weird at all Twilight, it’s only natural. I mean, you like Swift, and you just had a wonderful night with him at the dance, it’s completely normal for you to talk about him since it went so well. Rarity does the same thing, before she got together with Clyde, all she talked about were her dresses, fashion, the occasional bit of school gossip, and of course, all of the cute boys in Canterlot.” she said with a chuckle.

“Heh, really?”

“Oh yes, she would go on and on about all the boys in school, how cute Trenderhoof looked wearing fall fashion, how she really liked Thunderbass’s bad boy attitude, Normal Norman and his simple charm, and Big Mac of course, who doesn’t need any explanation as far as I’m concerned.” Fluttershy said to which Twilight nodded. “Anyways, that went on until she began going out with Clyde, and even then, whenever it’s just us, or with the rest of the girls, she talks about him a lot. ‘He’s so considerate! Such a gentleman! I care for him so dearly!’, sound familiar?”

“Yeah, come to think of it, Rarity does talk about her boyfriend a lot.” Twilight agreed.

“Mmhmm, and that’s perfectly fine, it shows how much she cares about him, I for one think it’s cute. It’s the same with you and Swift, Twilight.” Fluttershy said with a smile.

“Y-You think Swift and I are cute?” Twilight asked.

“Mmhmm, I think you two would go well together, I mean, you’re really nice, and he seems really nice. I saw you two at the dance when you were slow dancing, If I didn’t know you, I would’ve guessed that you were a couple.” Fluttershy explained, to which Twilight blushed a little.

“Really? That’s nice to know.” Twilight said, not being able to hide the grin on her face.

“I really do hope the two of you get together. It’d be really cute.” Fluttershy said matter of factly.

“Yeah, I hope it would be. Hey Fluttershy, do you have any ideas as to what I should do regarding getting Swift to notice me? I’ve listened to what the other girls have to say, but not you.”

“Oh..well if you want my honest opinion, I think you should do what Rainbow said and just try asking him out on a date! I mean, that worked when you asked him to the dance, didn’t it?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yeah, it did.” Twilight acknowledged. “So maybe if I just actually ask him out, on an actual date, maybe that would work.”

“I don’t see why it shouldn’t, I mean, If I can ask a boy on a date, you definitely could.”

“Yeah, that was great that you were able to ask Big Mac to the date Fluttershy.”

“Umm...it wasn’t just the date to the dance…” Fluttershy said with a sheepish smile on her face. Twilight blinked in confusion as Fluttershy continued. “After the dance, I kind of asked him if he wanted to maybe go see a movie with me sometime, and he said yes!!” Fluttershy explained excitedly, to which Twilight gasped.

“Fluttershy, that’s amazing!!” Twilight said as she brought the pink haired animal lover into a one armed hug.

‘It’s thanks to you Twilight, I wasn’t sure about asking a boy out to the dance until I saw how determined you were to go with Swift, now that I asked Big Mac once before and spent the night with him, asking him again just felt easier.” Fluttershy said excitedly. “So umm..if you want my advice, I’d say go for it, I know you can do it.” she said as she gave Twilight a supportive smile.

“Thanks Fluttershy that means a lot.” Twilight said with a smile. “Let’s both try our hardest with our guys.” she said, feeling slightly awkward yet giddy for calling Swift ‘her guy’.

“Oh yes, maybe one day we could even have a double date!” Fluttershy suggested excitedly.

“That sounds wonderful Fluttershy, I’m sure we could do that.” Twilight agreed.

“Well...I don’t know about you, but I’m going to try heading back to bed. Goodnight Twilight, see you in the morning.” Fluttershy said as she started inching away from Twilight to give her some sleeping space.

“You too Fluttershy, goodnight.” Twilight said as she turned off her cell phone and put it down. Twilight rested her head back onto her pillow as she closed her eyes, trying to lull herself off to dreamland with the conversation she had with Fluttershy still fresh in her mind.

I will try, I’ll try as hard as I can.

Just another Monday Pt.1

It was a quiet fall morning in the suburban parts of Canterlot. The streets were mostly quiet, save for some cars driving down the streets, mainly people on their way to work, or dropping their kids off at school. On this ordinary Monday morning, Swift Justice was walking along the sidewalk on his way to school. Usually he’d get a ride from Flash, Thunderlane, or just ride his bike, but this time, Swift decided to take the fifteen minute walk from his house to Canterlot High, mainly because the autumn season was near its end, and winter would be setting in very quickly. Swift decided if he wanted to take a nice quiet walk to school, he’d better do it while his legs weren’t knee deep in unshoveled snow. He enjoyed the quiet tranquility of the suburb while it was still early in the morning. To him, sometimes it was nice to be taking a walk all by himself with only his thoughts accompanying him, and boy, were his thoughts talkative today. As he went along his normal route to school, a memory from after the dance kept replaying in his head; back when Twilight hugged him tightly.

Swift touched his hand to the area on his chest around his heart where Twilight’s head was when she hugged him. Even now, a few days later just remembering the event made Swift feel warm inside, it made him feel confused to say the least. As if that wasn’t enough, Swift also had something that Twilight said running through his head as well.

I just wanted to let you know...that the dance we shared...it...it...I can’t describe it...it was just...it gave me a special feeling inside.

Those were the words that Twilight said as she hugged him, the moment where he could feel his heart go faster and his cheeks glow brighter. Swift tried remembering the exact feeling as he held his heavy fall jacket close to his body. Swift may have had difficulties understanding girls and their unknown to him ways, but not even the densest of guys...okay, maybe most of the densest of guys wouldn’t ignore a move like the one Twilight made. Swift was in the latter of the two groups of guys for the most part.

“Does...does Twilight like me?” Swift muttered to himself as he continued down his path, feeling stupid for asking the question when he already knew the answer. Until the day of the dance, Swift never really thought that Twilight liked him as much more than a friend, but the things that she said were making him think otherwise. The dance made him reconsider how Twilight acted around him on an average day. Usually she was just fine talking to him, just like any other person, though she did tend to stutter at times when talking. At first he just thought it was because she’s a shy girl, but if what he was thinking was true, it’d certainly explain Twilight’s behavior. It wasn’t one hundred percent out of the question, and that’s what made Swift uneasy for a number of reasons.

First off, Swift still held feelings for Pinkie Pie; ever since he first met her in his freshman year of high school, he’s been enamored by Pinkie’s personality, and overall demeanor for years now. He’s had feelings for her for a while, he thought he was getting somewhere with her before the dance, but then Caramel had to show up. “No, no.” Swift said as he shook his head. “I tripped, Caramel saved her.” he reminded himself, he was still kicking himself about that a little over what had happened back then, but he knew it was pointless thinking back on it now. Either way, he still really liked her, and still wanted to figure out how he could try getting close to her. Second, Flash still had a thing for Twilight, and even though he was being a prick about the whole dance thing, Swift still wanted him to succeed in his endeavors, even if it was to just make him stop complaining about not being able to get Twilight’s attention. Maybe later he’d try helping him once they got things sorted between each other, but first, Swift wanted to make absolutely sure that Twilight did have a thing for him. He’d find out today, probably soon as the school came into view. All Swift had to do was go up to his first period class and wait for Twilight to get there, it was simple, just go to class and talk to her, what could mess that up?

*********************************

‘Where’s Twilight?’ Swift wondered to himself as students started to come into the chemistry room. The clock read eleven fifty four; one minute until class began, and Twilight’s desk remained empty. Swift looked to see some final students pour into the room before the teacher took one last look into the hallway before closing the door to the classroom and walking back over to his desk. Swift then glanced over to Flash, who was facing the board, he glanced back at Swift and raised an eyebrow.

“Is Twilight absent today?” he asked.

“I think she is, or she’s just late.” Swift answered, to which Flash nodded and turned his attention to the front board, where the teacher was trying to get everyone’s attention on the day’s lesson. About ten or fifteen minutes passed and Twilight still didn’t show up. Swift simply thought she was late to class, but he wasn’t sure. For now, he was just listening to his teacher’s long ramblings on...something regarding chemicals, Swift didn’t know, he wasn’t really paying attention. After a few more minutes of pretending to listen to the teacher, Swift glanced once more over to Twilight’s empty seat. He didn’t have a lot of options at the moment, he was still bored, and the teacher wouldn't stop talking about something or another.

‘Blegh...I wish there was something mildly entertaining I could do.’ Swift thought to himself as he glanced down at his chest. It was at that moment, Swift was struck with an idea. Making sure the teacher wasn’t looking at him as per usual, Swift reached into his hoodie’s pocket and pulled out his cell phone and started looking through different websites regarding video game and anime news, checking up on anything new, in addition to going through some comedy websites to find some funny pictures. It wasn’t very often he did this anymore, usually if Twilight were sitting next to him, she’d whisper at him harshly to get off of his phone, or just give him a glare. ‘Wait a sec...Oh! I know what I can do!’ Swift thought as he went through his phone’s contact list until he eventually made it down to Twilight’s contact, which she gave him before the dance. ‘I’ll just text Twilight to see what she’s up to!’ It beats doing nothing. Swift told himself as he started typing down on his phone.

Hey, Twilight! You there? Swift texted before sending it, he waited for a few minutes, looking back at the other students who either were or weren’t paying attention. He watched Flash for a few seconds until he felt a slight rumble; he looked back to his phone to see that Twilight had texted him back.

Umm...Hello Swift, yes I am. The text replied. Swift smiled as he began typing a reply.

Ah, cool. I was just wondering wondering what was going on with you. Swift texted to Twilight, after which he only had to wait a few moments before her reply.

I’m sick unfortunately. I believe I might have caught a 24 hour bug, so my sister-in-law forced me to stay home. Twilight texted back.

I see, that really sucks. Swift texted. So...what’re you up to?

I’m currently lying in bed while texting you when you should be paying attention in class. Twilight replied. Swift could feel her deadpanning from all the way across town.

I know, I know, I was just worried about you. Swift typed back. It took a few seconds before Twilight texted him back.

I appreciate the concern Swift, but you really should pay attention. You always tell me about how you think this class is difficult, you should listen to what the teacher says so you can have a better understanding of the new unit. the text read.

Yeah, you’re right, I’ll try paying more attention now, sorry for bothering you Twilight.

Good, it’ll help you understand the subject more. And it’s fine Swift, I’m just lying here in my bed destroying my tissue box while I’d much rather be learning. Twilight said in reply.

‘Poor Twilight. Swift thought to himself It must not be easy to be sick on a Monday, usually that’s the day we get swamped with the most amount of homework, I can only imagine how bad that must be for her considering how smart she is she probably takes advanced courses. I hear those classes really tack on the homework. He continued thinking. Plus, it also stinks because if I want to see if she likes me, I’d much rather it be in person, I’m not quite sure about just texting her “Hey Twilight! Ya got the hots for me or somethin’!?”’. Swift thought until his eyes quickly shot open as he began texting Twilight again.

Wait, Twilight, are you still there?

Yes Swift, I am. Why aren’t you paying attention to class?

I just wanted to ask if you wanted me to grab the work you’re going to miss today. Just wondering, You don’t really seem to me like the kind of person who’d want to get too far behind in her work. Swift texted, staring at the phone and watching for Twilight’s next text.

Oh, you don’t need to go through the trouble of doing that, I’ll just catch up with my work later, though it’ll kind of stink that if I’m better I won’t be able to spend as much time with my friends..

It wouldn’t be any trouble, I’d be more than happy to help you out, if you’d want me to, if you don’t, I understand, I just wanted to know cause I’m not busy after school. Swift said back. At this point he expected a thanks for offering and a ‘pay attention to class!!’ text from Twilight, but then he saw her newest text.

Umm...are you sure? I wouldn’t want you to get sick or anything..

Swift smiled. It’d be fine, I heard a bug was going around school for the past few weeks, if this is the same bug everyone’s been getting, then I already had it when I was absent two weeks ago, and if it’s a different bug, I won’t hold it against you if I get sick, lol!

Heh..Well...I suppose it wouldn’t hurt for you to just come to drop off my assignments. Are you sure about this Swift?

Absolutely! I’m happy to help! Swift answered with a smile on his face. He didn’t need to wait long to get a reply.

Well...sure, if it wouldn’t trouble you to help me. Thanks Swift, I really appreciate it. Now, PAY ATTENTION TO CLASS!!! read Twilight’s text, which caused Swift to chuckle.

Heh, alright Twilight, I will, hope you feel better, I’ll see you after class! Swift promised, and with that, he sent the final text to Twilight and went back to paying attention to class.

********************************

After class, Swift got the work that Twilight needed for Chemistry and began going to a few of the different classes she had. At first, he thought it’d be difficult to get Twilight’s schoolwork from teachers he’s personally never met before, but once he told them why he was there, they quickly gave him Twilight’s missed work and told him that she’d sent them all an email explaining Swift’s appearance, which Swift thought was very helpful. Once after a few classes, he was able to get everything that Twilight needed and stored all of it into his locker for safekeeping. As he shut the door to his locker, he saw Flash was slowly walking towards him, which made him feel a bit worried. Flash currently had his hands in his pockets as he came towards Swift with a guilt-ridden expression on his face, stopping a few steps away from him.

“Umm...Hey...Swift.” Flash mumbled, looking away from his cyan skinned friend as he awkwardly scratched the back on his head.

“Hi...Flash…” Swift replied. “So umm...how’re you doing?”

“I’ve been fine, same as usual.” Flash said with a brief nod.

“Ah, that’s good...that’s good.” Swift said, not sure of what else to say.

“Hey Swift...listen, about what went down at the dance...I’m…*sigh*...I’m sorry about how I acted...I’ll admit it...I overreacted...bad.” Flash said with a note of sorrow in his voice.

“It's alright man..”

Flash shook his head. “No, it’s not alright Swift, I was salty as all hell when you told me that Twilight asked you to the dance and not me, I just sort of...blew up, and that wasn’t cool of me.”

“Yeah...you do have a tendency to get...overly emotional when stuff doesn’t go your way.” Swift reminded Flash, thinking back to both before the dance and when Flash was first rejected by Twilight.

“I know...I know...it wasn’t cool of me to go off on you like that just because Twilight was your date for one dance. I mean...thinking about it, there was no reason she wouldn’t ask you instead of me, you talk to her way more, and I’m barely able to talk to her at all.” Flash explained. “But still, I didn’t realize that, and I yelled at you, and I know you! I mean, you’ve been crazy for Pinkie Pie for the past three years! Just because you had one dance with Twilight doesn’t change that fact, right?”

“Yeah, of course, I think Pinkie is amazing!” Swift confirmed as he nodded his head, to which Flash grinned.

“Right! You still really like Pinkie Pie! And you want to date her!”

“That’s right! Dating Pinkie would be flipping amazing, though I don’t really know how to go about doing it.” Swift explained.

“I know how you can do it dude, just walk up to her and say ‘Hey Pinkie! What’s say we go on a date sometime?’.” Flash said as he tried mimicking Swift’s voice.

Swift grimaced. “I...I don’t know dude...a girl like Pinkie Pie...you can’t just...approach her.”

“Sure you can!” Flash said as he put an arm around Swift. “Dude, Pinkie Pie is like, one of the most approachable girls I’ve ever met!”

“Says you!” Swift said with a look of surprise on his face. “Pinkie is one of our school’s best cheerleaders, she’s the president of the school’s party planning committee, and she’s one of the most well known and well liked girls in school! A guy like me has no chance!!”

“That right there is quitter talk Swift, and I’ll tell you right now, that none of that stuff you said about her matters. Pinkie is single! And you say she’s hard to approach, you couldn’t be more wrong dude! Pinkie loves it when people approach, hell, she’ll approach them just to talk to them! She’s quite possibly the most people person I’ve ever met, you go up to her and she’ll meet you with a smile and a ‘Hiya!!’.” Flash explained, imitating Pinkie now. “In fact, I think Pinkie probably wants to date somebody, but no one has had the stones to ask her out yet!”

“Well...that does sound possible.” Swift agreed, thinking of how hard it was for him to not just admire Pinkie from afar.

“Think about it man, Pinkie Pie is probably just waiting for some brave guy to walk up to her, look her straight in the eye, and ask her ‘Would you like to go on a date with me?’. Simple as that!” Flash exclaimed to a still nervous Swift.

“Well...it does sound easy when you put it that way…”

“It IS easy buddy! Just think about it, you see Pinkie alone sometime, looking all pretty as usual, she’s humming some cheery tune, but then sees you walking up to her. You say hi, and chat her up for a little bit, talking about this and that, and then, you look into those beautiful, clear aqua blue eyes of hers and ask her if she wants to go out! You know what’ll happen? My guess is that she’ll gasp loudly, her eyes will go wide, she’ll ask ‘Really!?”, and then, when you say yes, she’ll get a huge smile and she’ll say yes too, she might even hug you after that!” Flash continued, with Swift listening intently on his each and every word.

“That...does sound really, really nice…” Swift said. “But...I don’t know man…”

Flash turned so he was in front of Swift, and put each of his hands on his shoulders. “Swift, listen. You are an awesome guy, you’re kind, sincere, a gentleman, and, no homo, but you’re also pretty good looking, again, no homo.”

“Umm...thanks man.” Swift said, still feeling a little awkward from that comment. “You...think I have a chance?”

“You have a pretty damn good chance Swift, I know you, which means I know that you’re the kind of guy Pinkie would really like going out with.” Flash said as he gave Swift a reassuring smile.

“Thanks man...it’s nice to know you think that way.” Swift said as he returned Flash’s smile.

“Next time you see Pinkie alone somewhere, try just talking to her, and if you’re feeling confident, ask her out, I think that’ll be all it takes with her.” Flash instructed. Swift took a few moments to consider what Flash was saying as he looked down to the floor, after a few moments he nodded and looked Flash in the eyes once more.

“You know Flash...I think I’m going to try that the next chance I get.” Swift said, still sounding a bit nervous, but with a look of conviction on his face. “Maybe you’re right, I’ll never know unless I go for it, right?”

“Right! You can do this buddy, I believe in you , and Thunderlane believes in you, now, all that’s left..” Flash continued as he poked Swift in the chest. “Is for you to believe in yourself.”

“You’re right...I can do this!” Swift declared.

“Yeah!”

“I’m gonna try Flash, I’m...I’m going to give it my best shot!” Swift said with a note of determination in his voice.

“Thatta boy Swift, you can do this!” Flash assured his friend. Swift noded once more before fist bumping Flash.

**************************************************

The school day went on rather uneventfully after Swift’s talk with Flash. Thunderlane was right, Flash did seem to calm down during the weekend about the whole Twilight thing, which Swift was thankful for.

‘Oh shit! That’s right! Twilight!’ Swift thought to himself. It was the end of the day, and Swift almost forgot to get the last of the work Twilight needed, and it was the very end of the day! Swift hoped that the last teacher he needed to see didn’t leave already. He looked at the last classroom number Twilight gave him and ran through the school to find it. Eventually, he came upon the classroom and met the teacher as she was about to come out; Mrs. Harshwhinny seemed a tad annoyed as she was about to lock up, but the went back into her room and got what Twilight needed. Happy he got the last of the assignments, Swift put the last of Twilight’s assignments into his backpack and slung it over his shoulder he walked out of the classroom and made his way towards the nearest exit to the school. He almost made it to the door, until he caught something in the corner of his eye; something...pink. Swift stopped walking and looked to his right. Standing by a locker, putting in her combination was none other than Pinkie Pie, humming a happy tune as she moved around her locker dial. Swift smiled as he looked at her, he could honestly look at her all day if he was allowed to, Pinkie had to be one of, if not the most beautiful and unique girls he’s ever seen. He loved everything about her, her giggle, her adorable peppy disposition, and who could forget her large, beautiful, bountiful, eye catching, voluptuous, hair! All parts of Pinkie Swift thought were lovely, especially those beautiful sky blue eyes that she was currently looking at him with!

“Hiya Swift!!” Pinkie greeted with that wonderful high pitched voice as she excitedly waved her hand at Swift. Poor sucker, he was entranced by Pinkie’s beauty, he didn’t realize for a few seconds she was talking to him.

“H-Huh? O-Oh, hi Pinkie!” Swift greeted back, slightly embarrassed that she saw him like that. “What’s up?”

“Oh nothin’! School is over! So it’s time I get my stuff and go home!!” Pinkie cheered as she opened up her locker, as she opened it, it was almost as if the locker barfed out Pinkie’s belongings, papers, books, binders, and other miscellaneous items spilled out onto the floor of the hall. “Oopsie..heh..” Pinkie said with a sheepish smile as she bent down to pick up her stuff.

“Umm...h-here Pinkie, let me help you with that.” Swift said as he crouched down and started to help put things in Pinkie's locker.

“Hehe..thanks Swift, I’m a teeny tiny bit unorganized.” Pinkie said with an awkward chuckle.

“Heh, I can see that.” Swift said as he grabbed some crumpled up papers and threw them into Pinkie’s locker. “Your locker is really crowded.”

“Yeah, I know, usually I’m able to get my stuff before everything crashes down but sometimes it..” Pinkie was going to continue, but then more of her personal belongings came out of her locker and nearly buried her and Swift. Swift looked at the pile wide eyed and then glanced back at Pinkie, who was buried and only her hair was sticking out of the pile. Her head quickly sprang up as she exhaled, spitting out a large amount of gummy fish as if she was submerged in a candy sea. “...comes down anyways..”

“Well...don’t you think at some point you should bring a trash bag or something and clean your locker out? Finding things usually must be really difficult.” Swift assumed.

“I know I should..but this is all super important school stuff Swift! What if I need all of it some day!?” Pinkie asked in what sounded like a slightly upset tone.

“I don’t mean to make you upset or anything Pinkie..I’m just asking, do you think you need some of this stuff? For school I mean?” Swift asked as he brought out a half eaten box of cookies.

“I might need that for when I’m hungry!” Pinkie explained as she grabbed the box and threw it back into her locker. Swift fished around in the pile more before bringing out some water wings and some deflated arm floaties. He gave her a confused look, Pinkie looked away, ashamed. “I’m...taking a swimming class after school…” she said, which caused Swift to replace his confused look for a saddened one.

“R-Really?” Swift asked, to which Pinkie nodded.

“I’m not the world’s best swimmer...back home we didn’t have any places we could swim. We were land locked. I’ve been trying to get better at it..I don’t really want to sit out during the swimming unit in gym class again.” Pinkie told Swift as her hair seemingly deflated with sadness, seeing which made feel like a nail of guilt was being hammered into his heart.

‘Way to go dumbass!’ Swift thought, mentally kicking himself.

“S-Sorry Pinkie...I didn’t mean to bring that up.” Swift apologized as he put the water wings and the arm floaties back into the locker.

“It’s okay Swift, but...could you keep it a secret? I have a small gym class, and people said they wouldn’t tell there...I’m a tiny bit embarrassed.” Pinkie said as she looked at Swift with pleading eyes.

Swift nodded. “Of course Pinkie, your secret is safe with me! And don’t worry, I know you can become a great swimmer!” he encouraged as he gave her a great big smile.

“Really Swift?...you think I can be?” Pinkie asked as she stared at him.

“I’m sure you can! Heck, I can swim like a flipping torpedo!” Swift boasted as he put a thumb to his chest.

“Really Swift!?” Pinkie asked.

“Mmhmm! I’ve been swimming since I was four! I do it all the time when I’m able! If a guy like me can swim, than I’m more than confident that an amazing girl like you can swim just as well, if not better!” Swift assured her as he kept grinning at her. This show of support appeared to be enough for Pinkie, as her hair seemingly re-inflated as she too grinned.

“Amazing girl...thanks Swift! If you’re so confident in me, than I’m sure I can learn!” Pinkie cheered. “Maybe one day when I’m done with the classes, I can show you how good I’ve gotten!”

“Heh, that’d be great Pinkie, I’d really like that.” Swift said as he nodded happily. “Now, how about we try picking up the rest of this stuff and getting it back into your locker?”

“Sounds like a plan Stan!” Pinkie chirped, and with that, the two of them began sorting through Pinkie’s pile more as they put stuff back into the locker as well as putting stuff Pinkie needed from her classes in her cartoon cat shaped backpack. While doing so, Swift managed to help Pinkie throw away some minor things she didn’t need, like old bags, wrappers, and boxes of candy and treats that she’d kept in there for who knows how long, making everything a little bit more manageable. As they were going, they kept talking about this and that, and things happening in their lives and in school.

“And that’s why we can’t have a dog in the house.” Swift said, finishing up a story which was met with a howl of laughter from Pinkie.

“Hahahaha! So wait...a group of three really really big dogs growled and barked at your cat, and your cat scratches all of their noses, and they run away!? Hehehe, you’re kitty is cool Swift!” Pinkie laughed as she threw more junk into her locker,

“Hehe yeah, Beowulf is an awesome cat, I just wish I had a video of him chasing the three dogs down the sidewalk, that was priceless!” Swift said with a chuckle as he was rummaging through the pile.

“That sounds like it would’ve been one heck of a viral video.” Pinkie giggled as she too was rummaging through the pile. “So I guess your family doesn’t need a guard dog huh?”

“Heh, heck no! That’s what Beowulf’s for! He’s a million times more ferocious than any guard dog, plus he doesn’t eat as much or poop on your carpet!” Swift explained. “It’s awesome.”

“Sounds like it!” Pinkie agreed as the two of them kept putting stuff away. They filled the locker with more of Pinkie’s things as they continued talking. More and more things were put away as the pile got smaller and smaller. Swift kept nonchalantly grabbing things and tossing them in, occasionally if he found something odd or interesting he’d ask Pinkie about it and she’d explain what it was for. As he dug his hand through more of the pile, his hand eventually came upon something odd. Swift retracted his hand from the pile to see he was holding some sort of weird piece of red fabric.

“Hm? What’s this? Swift thought out loud as he began playing around with it with his hand for a few seconds, grasping it as well as tossing it around the air a little.

“U-Umm….S-Swift?” Pinkie asked in a surprisingly quiet tone. Swift glanced over to her to see that her eyes were as wide as dinner plates, and that her usual bright pink face was flushed with a darker hue. “C-Could you put that down?...Pretty please with sugar on top?”

“Why? What is it?” Swift asked as he brought the fabric closer to his face while tilting his head a little.

“W-Well...t-that’s...my...thong.” Pinkie admitted. Swift’s eyes widened as his own cyan cheeks turned a bright red color. Freaking out, he let out a shrill cry before extending his hand towards Pinkie quickly, launching the undergarment right at her. It only flew for a second before landing on the large curl part of her hair. Neither Swift nor Pinkie said a thing as they stared at each other awkwardly for a few moments while Pinkie still had the undergarments on her hair. Both stared, and both blushed for a few moments until Pinkie decided to speak up again. “Umm...I’m just gonna put these here for now…” she said as she grabbed the underwear and stuffed it into her hair, putting it in by poking at it with her finger until Swift could no longer see it.

“Alright...good.” Swift muttered, still in shock about what happened. “Let’s umm...just get back to cleaning this stuff up.” he said as he reached into the pile again, this time reaching in and pulling out a small yellow tube like thing with a string attached.

“That’s my tampon...can I have it?” Pinkie asked before Swift immediately tossed it at her, she grabbed it out of the air before putting it in her hair as well. Swift looked at Pinkie as he cautiously put his hand into the pile once more, his hand eventually touching a box that- “I’m pretty sure that’s my box of pads.”

“O-Okay, maybe I’ve helped enough today.” Swift said as he stood up quickly, feeling slightly ashamed of not helping Pinkie when there was still a small pile of stuff left, but not wanting to discover any more of Pinkie’s private lady items. Pinkie looked up at him and gave him a small smile.

“That’s okay, thanks for all your help Swift, I can handle the rest!” Pinkie claimed as she moved her body so she was in front of the remaining pile. She spread her arms out and moved closer to the locker, effectively corralling the remaining items into her arms and bringing them all together right in front of the locker. She wrapped her arms around the pile and picked it up before stuffing it into her locker and closing the door. Once that was done, Pinkie put her back against her locker and wiped some imaginary sweat from her brow as she sighed. “Well that’s over and done with! Thanks again for helping Swift, it really made the time go by faster!”

“Y-You’re welcome I guess, though, knowing you, I’d think it would have gone a lot faster without my help.” Swift said while scratching his face with his left hand, he kept scratching until he remembered that was the hand that came into contact with Pinkie’s unmentionables, at which point the hand quickly went to his side as he blushed.

Pinkie giggled. “Heh, it might have, but I definitely wouldn’t have had as much fun as I did talking to you while doing it.” she said with a big smile on her face.

“Oh...really? Well...that’s nice I suppose, I don’t really think I’m a good conversationalist.” Swift said as she scratched the back of his head.

“Well I think otherwise!” Pinkie declared as she stood up straight and looked at Swift right in the eye. “I think you’re a lot of fun Swift! I really liked hearing those stories about your family and your friends, your life sounds really fun! But...also...I just think talking to you is nice.”

“You...think so?” Swift asked, feeling the butterflies start up in his stomach.

Pinkie nodded. “Yeah! You’re super duper nice, and you’re easy to talk to, not just about the super fun stuff I usually talk about with other people, but also the things I don’t really talk to other people about, like my old home that I miss a lot...or how I can’t really swim all that well...which you’re not going to tell anyone about! Right!?” Pinkie asked as she pointed an accusatory finger at Swift.

“O-Of course, I promise!” Swift said as he held both of his hands up. Pinkie continued pointing at Swift until she retracted her pointer finger.

“Hmm...just to make sure,” Pinkie muttered as she extended her pinkie finger to Swift. “Make me a Pinkie Promise Swift!”

“O-Okay..I don’t really see what the big deal i-”

“JUST DO IT!!” Pinkie shouted.

“Eep! Alright! I Pinkie Promise!” Swift said as he wrapped his own pinkie finger around Pinkie’s, Pinkie tightened her finger around Swift’s as she pulled their hands up and down.

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” Pinkie said as she released Swift’s pinkie.

“Umm..right.” Swift said as he nodded in confusion, but deciding to go along with things.

“Perfect! Got that out of the way!” Pinkie chirped happily. “But...back to what I was saying before, I do really really talking to you Swift, not just about fun things, but the other things I want to talk about...but I don’t really feel right talking about with some people...it’s nice to have someone to talk about it with, it really is.” she explained with a soft smile on her face.

“That’s good Pinkie, you know...if you ever want to talk about stuff like that with someone, I’d always be willing to listen if you’d just find me.” Swift assured her with a soft smile of his own.

“R-Really?” Pinkie asked as she gazed into Swift’s eyes.

“Really truly.” Swift answered as he nodded happily. Shortly after answering that, Pinkie walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly; prompting the butterflies in his stomach to take flight. Swift physically froze as Pinkie didn’t end the hug.

“Thanks a bunch Swift...it means a lot to me.” Pinkie said into Swift’s ear. This feeling that Swift felt right now...the feeling of butterflies in his stomach, the feeling of his heart thrashing against his chest, the feeling of warmth he felt emanating from Pinkie, it was truly something he couldn’t get enough of. It was the same feeling he felt when Pinkie visited him after the party cannon incident and gave him a hug as apology for what happened; pure bliss. Swift wished he could feel this way all of the time, and he knew how to make that a reality; after all, Pinkie was right here with him, he knew what he could do, right here, right now. Taking a deep breath and clenching his fists, he struggled before finding the words.

“U-Um..h-hey..Pinkie?” Swift choked out.

“Hm?” Pinkie mumbled while still hugging her cyan skinned friend.

“A-Are you..doing anything later? Like..I don’t know...anything you’re going to be busy with later?” Swift asked, nervously awaiting her response. Pinkie was silent for a few moments before breaking the hug and looking into Swift’s eyes with a shocked expression.

“Oh. My. Gosh. Swift...I-I….”

‘Y-yeah?” Swift asked while staring back at Pinkie.

“I-I NEARLY FORGOT!!” Pinkie shouted urgently as she ran back and grabbed her now fat kitty cat backpack. “I forgot I’m supposed to meet Caramel for our date today!!”

“W-What?..” Swift asked, the butterflies in his stomach dropping dead in an instant as he heard Caramel’s name.

“I’m supposed to meet Caramel at the movies for the date I asked him on!! I nearly forgot about it with what happened with my locker!!” she said as she slung her backpack over her shoulder. Swift remained motionless as he stared at Pinkie.

“O-Oh…” was the only noise Swift could make in response to Pinkie’s explanation.

“Yeah! I still need to finish my homework before I go out on the date!! Thanks for reminding me about it Swift! I’ll see you later! Bye!!” Pinkie said as she quickly ran past Swift with super human-esque speed. It only took her a fraction of a millisecond to run out the door....and by extension leaving Swift in the dust. The young man stayed where he was for who knows how long, feeling defeated in what he thought was the perfect moment to go out with Pinkie. He stood there, and only said one thing.

“Yeah...see you later Pinkie.”

Author's Notes:

It's getting a lot easier for me to write these! This chapter only took me like, a week or two to finish once I finally opened the DOC page, I think this is going really well now.

Anyways, poor Swift, he got cock blocked super hard huh? Poor guy, well...maybe something will happen? Hopefully for his sake. Either way, thanks for reading!

Also, special thanks to BlueSun and Scootafail for pre-reading and BRyeMC for editing!

Just another Monday Pt.2

Swift was trudging his way through the suburbs of Canterlot after leaving school; the whole instance of his encounter with Pinkie Pie leaving him drained of any sort of enthusiasm he previously had. He kept moving along the sidewalk at a snail’s pace, moving along slowly as he checked his phone. His lock screen said it was about half past four, Swift sighed as he pocketed the phone and increased his walking speed. As far as he was concerned, this day sucked, and he just wanted to get home so he could end it as fast as possible. But before he could end this crummy excuse for a day, he still had one more job to do; and that job was right in sight. Walking forward he could see Twilight’s house in the distance, good thing too, because she had a LOT of homework, and it was weighing him down a bit. He went up to the house and climbed up to the porch before taking a deep breath. Twilight wasn’t feeling well, and he thought it wouldn’t do her any better if she saw him feeling down in the dumps. Standing in front of the front door for a few minutes, he took a deep breath and attempted to muster a smile for his friend before ringing the doorbell. He waited around for a few moments until he heard footsteps come by the door and open it.

“Hello? Oh! Hello Swift!” said the pink skinned woman known as Cadance with a smile. As she greeted him, a familiar puppy dog came into view and stood by Cadence as it looked at Swift.

“Hello again Mrs. Armor, Hello again Spike.” Swift said as he bent down and scratched behind the purple pup’s ear, which was met by a tail wagging excitedly and a stamp of a foot.

“Heh, oh please, just call me Cadance.” Cadance said. “Twilight told me you might be coming with her schoolwork, that’s very nice of you to do for her Swift.”

“Oh, of course, no problem. I’m always willing to help a friend.” Swift assured her as he stood up from petting Spike.

“That’s great to hear, want to go upstairs to see her? She sounded excited when you told her you’d bring her the work she needed.” Cadance explained with a smug grin on her face.

“O-Oh...really?” Swift asked, to which Cadance nodded. “Well...if seeing me will help brighten her day, than I guess I could pop in for a little bit.” he said out loud.

Cadance giggled. “Twilight’s room is upstairs, second door to your left.” she explained as she got out of the way. Swift nodded before entering the Armor household and going up the stairs. As he walked through the upstairs hallway, he quickly learned that he didn’t need Cadance’s instruction’s to find Twilight’s room, as he could hear the sounds of her sneezing coming up the stairs. He walked over to the second door to the left, which was cracked open. Gently, Swift knocked on the door a few times.

“C-*cough*-Come in. *sniff*” Twilight’s voice answered from the other side of the door. Swift slowly pushed the door open to peek inside Twilight’s room, the contents of which both surprised him, and at the same time didn’t surprise him in the slightest. Twilight’s room was a larger bedroom than his with white carpeting and lavender walls similar to their occupant’s skin color. Every wall Swift could see were crammed with bookshelves, all literally crammed to bursting with books, the only things that weren’t bookshelves in the room were a small desk with a lamp and papers, and writing utensils on it, a closet, a small bedside table, and of course, a bed with a single occupant; Twilight Sparkle herself. Twilight was sitting up in her bed while wearing a butterscotch yellow t-shirt, her lower body being covered by blankets. Her hair was frizzy and unkempt, her normally lavender nose was a little red, no doubt due to the cold she had, but something that quickly caught Swift’s eye was that Twilight had a pair of what appeared to be thick black rimmed glasses on her face. As he peeked his head further inside, Twilight looked over to him, her eyes quickly widening. “S-Swift?”

“Hey there Twilight.” Swift greeted softly. “Mind if I come in?”

“U-Umm...s-sure, come in, come in.” she said as Swift made his way into her bedroom, slowly removing his backpack as he set it down close to Twilight’s bed. He stood a few steps away from Twilight as the two stood in awkward silence for a few moments until Swift finally decided to speak up.

“So umm...how’ve you been today? Doing alright?” He asked quickly.

“Yes, I’ve been doing as well as anyone with a cold would be doing. I’ve been doing nothing but sitting in bed, blowing my nose, reading books, drinking fluids, and eating chicken noodle soup, the usual things one needs to do to get better quicker.” Twilight explained, to which Swift nodded.

“Oh cool, so you’ll be able to come to school tomorrow?” Swift asked, to which Twilight nodded.

“Mmhmm! Definitely, a silly little twenty four hour bug isn’t enough to keep Twilight Sparkle away from learning two days in a row.” Twilight proclaimed before sneezing into her arm. Swift grabbed a tissue from one of the few boxes on Twilight’s nightstand and handed it to her. “Thank you.” She said before blowing her nose hard.

“No problem.” Swift said as he bent down to unzip his bookbag and pull out all of the work Twilight needed. “Oh, and here’s the homework you wanted, got it from all of your classes.” he said as he brought up some books and packets of papers from his backpack, the sight of which made Twilight’s eyes widen.

“Ooooooh...Thank you thank you thank you!” Twilight said as she took the pile from Swift and set it on her lap. With a smile on her face he excitedly skimmed through her assignments one by one. “AP History, Calculus, this, that, hmhmhm..” she mumbled as she continued reading through all of the papers. “Yup! It’s all here! Thank you so much Swift! I’d hug you if I wasn’t sick!” she said with a smile on her face.

“You’re welcome Twilight, I’m happy to help!” Swift said as he looked around the room. “So, must’ve been pretty boring staying in here all day, eh?”

“Eh, it was alright. Once I stopped laying around in bed I was able to finish reading one of the books I started last week, it had a pretty somber ending. Other than that, I’ve just been resting. Oh, and I also was bored later in the day, so I decided to watch one of the Daring Do movies.” Twilight recounted to Swift.

“Ah, I see. Not as good as the book I assume?” Swift inquired.

“Of course! The movie version of anything is never the superior version.” Twilight said matter of factly. “The movie completely snubbed one of the sub-plots of the book, and some of the subplots that were in there had unsatisfying payoffs. but, that’s what happens when you try making a movie version of an A.K. Yearling masterpiece and cramming it into two hours.”

“Mmhmm, You must really like AK Yearling.” Swift said as he glanced at the bookshelf closest to Twilight’s bed, on which three of the shelves were lined with books written by A.K.Yearling.

“Well she’s only my favorite author of all time! *sniff* Her stories are so captivating, especially her Daring Do books, it’s my favorite book series!” Twilight explained excitedly. “They’re so action packed! They’re filled with such great characters, and wonderful morals! They’re some of the greatest books I’ve ever read!”

“Heh, well I wouldn’t know, I’ve never read any of her books before.” Swift said with a shrug as he continued looking at all of the Daring Do books. He stared at them for a few seconds before realizing that Twilight wasn’t saying anything anymore. He turned to the left to see that she was now out of her bed, standing a few steps away from him as she stared at him through her thick glasses.

“You’ve...never...read an A.K.Yearling book before?” Twilight asked in a disbelieving tone.

“N-No, can’t say that I have.” Swift admitted sheepishly. Twilight continued to look at him for a moment before reaching up with her hand and moving his jet black bangs aside before touching his forehead with her palm, and then the back of her hand. “Ummm….whatcha doing?”

“Just making sure I’m the only one who’s sick.” Twilight replied as she removed her hand from Swift’s head. “I can’t believe you’ve never read a single A.K. Yearling book! You poor deprived creature.”

Swift chuckled. “Heh, is it really that big a-”

“Yes, it’s that big a deal! You’re my friend, who enjoys books, who may I repeat has never read a Daring Do book before!” Twilight answered before he could even finish his question. She quickly turned her attention away from him to look back at her bookshelf. With a brief moment of hesitation, she grabbed the first book on the top shelf before turning back to Swift. “Here, this is the first book in the series, I literally believe that it is one of the greatest adventure stories of our generation, I cannot stress how highly I think of this book, and how much I want you to read it.” she said as she handed the book to Swift. Seeing no reason not to take it, he graciously accepted her book and put it in his backpack.

“Alright, I’ll read it when I can.” Swift promised.

“Good, I know you’re going to love it.” Twilight said with a smile on her face, which didn’t stay long as she began coughing up a storm again. “*cough* *cough* *cough* Egh...stupid cold.” she muttered as she sat down on her bed rather quickly, doing which caused her glasses to fall off her face, which she caught quickly. “Dangit.” she said as she began cleaning one of the lenses with a small cloth from her night stand.

“So...are those new?” Swift asked. Twilight looked back at him to see that he was looking at her glasses.

“What, *sniff* these? Oh no, I’ve had these for a while now.” Twilight answered as she put the glasses back on her face and readjusted them.

“Oh really? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with them on before.” Swift said as he tilted his head slightly, trying to get a better view of how she looked with them on.

“Y-Yeah, that’s because I always wear contacts to school, mainly just so I can look better than usual.” Twilight claimed, to which Swift raised an eyebrow.

“Really? I think you look cuter with glasses on.” Swift said before widening his eyes at his statement.

W-Wait, did I just say that? he thought to himself without taking her eyes off of Twilight.

“O-Oh...thank you Swift, I really appreciate it.” Twilight said as there appeared to be more red on her cheeks, though whether it be by flattery or her being sick it was hard to tell.

“Y-Yeah...no problem.” Swift replied, trying his best to sound nonchalant about it, and doing a pretty alright job at it. After that, both teens looked in opposite directions silently, not quite sure of what to say next in the current situation. The two of them remained quiet, save for Twilight sniffling and Swift coughing every now and again before Twilight eventually broke the silence.

“S-So Swift, how was school today?” she asked as she glanced back at the young man standing across from her.

“Oh, school was same as usual, typical Monday. Had history, gym, trig, blegh, trig.” Swift said with disgust, prompting a small chuckle from Twilight.

“And how was Chemistry class today?” Twilight asked with a smirk.

“You know, I talked with you through a lot of it, it was fine.” Swift said rather quickly.

“And what about after I told you to pay attention to class?” Twilight asked as she raised an eyebrow to Swift.

“Oh, umm....well, that went well too, it was...a lecture.” Swift answered with a nervous chuckle.

“I see, what was the lecture about?”

“Well...it was...sort of a umm...continuation...err...I mean, it was talking about that whole thing with...gasses, and the like?” Swift attempted to recount as Twilight continued looking at him.

“You didn’t pay attention to the lecture at all, did you Swift?” Twilight deadpanned.

“I paid attention! I just...can’t really remember what a bunch of it was off the top of my head is all.” Swift said in an attempt to defend himself. “I paid attention! I even have the notes to prove it!”

“Oh? Let’s see them then.” Twilight said as she crossed her arms.

“Well...the thing is…” Swift said with a sheepish smile.

“Hm?”

“Since we don’t have a test or a quiz coming up...I just left my Chemistry class stuff in my locker.” Swift admitted with a nervous chuckle, prompting a disapproving shake of the head from Twilight.

“You should still study your material even when you don’t have a test or quiz coming up, it can really make a difference in your grade Swift.” Twilight said as she readjusted her glasses.

“Easy for you to say, you’re awesome in chemistry! All of your grades are in the high nineties!” Swift reminded her.

‘Which is because I study! You could get high nineties too if you’d study more often.” Twilight said matter of factly.

“Eh, I don’t know about that Twilight, chemistry is hard as all hell, even with studying, I get really nervous and start second guessing myself on certain aspects of it.” Swift admitted.

“Swift, I know you’re a smart guy! You can definitely improve if you try hard enough. All it takes to succeed is some studying, some practice, and some faith, just remember that and you can do pretty much anything in life.” Twilight said confidently.

“Wow Twilight, that’s...actually a pretty good motivational quote, you read that in a book?” Swift asked curiously.

“Nope! I came up with that when I was in elementary school. It’s my personal motto, and I’ve been living by it ever since.” Twilight said as she puffed her chest out.

“Ah, I really like that motto Twilight. My family has a motto too, “Live to be happy, live to be free, live to be alive.”

“Oooh, that’s a really good one too! It sounds like something that should be embroidered on a throw pillow.” Twilight said, to which Swift chuckled and put his hand in his pocket.

“Heh, it’s funny that you say that..” Swift said as he took his phone out of his pocket and began scrolling through it before holding it up for Twilight to see. Looking at the photo, it was of an embroidered pillow that said the exact some thing on it. “My grandma just finished this a few days ago.”

“Hahaha, see? I knew it!” Twilight giggled as Swift looked at the time on his phone.

“Oh snap! It’s almost five thirty! I gotta head back home!” Swift said as he grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. “Mom starts to get overbearing if I’m not home in time for dinner.”

“Heh..okay. Umm...hey Swift?” Twilight asked as Swift made sure he had everything he needed.

“Yeah Twilight?”

“I just wanted to say thanks again for bringing me me schoolwork, and...for visiting me today, I know we’ve only been friends for a few months but...umm...I just wanted to say, even with that...I think of you as one of my closest friends.” Twilight confessed with a smile on her face. Hearing said confession made Swift’s eyes widen in surprise a bit before he smiled back at her.

“Thanks Twilight, you’re one of my close friends too. Anyways, I’d better head out, got a bit of a ways to walk. I’ll see you tomorrow at school, right?”

‘Yes, absolutely.” Twilight promised. “Goodbye Swift, see you in class tomorrow.” she said with a wave, and with that, Swift bade farewell to his lavender skinned friend before leaving the room and exiting the house with a warm feeling of happiness inside of him. Heading on his way home, Swift thought that maybe the day wasn’t as supremely awful as he thought, finding out that Caramel was going on a date with Pinkie struck him hard, but...when he went to go see Twilight, spending time with her and seeing her smile, sort of put his mind at ease for some reason. Sure Pinkie was still going on a date with a different guy, but, now, Swift wasn’t as bothered by that as he was before. Unsure as to why he’d feel that way, he just chalked it up to time, or having a good friend like Twilight to get his mind off of it. For whatever reason, he was happy.

Why so Glum?

It was now the day after Monday in Canterlot. The weather in the morning was the same as it was the previous day, mostly cloudy with some bits of the sky peeking out. Much like the previous day, Swift was walking to school on foot again, the only difference being that he left for school a little later due to eating breakfast. As he was coming up to the school, he saw a plethora of students exiting school busses and entering the school. While walking into the oncoming crowd, he spotted a familiar pink poof of hair coming into his vision. Knowing full well of who it was, Swift slowed his walking pace so the person could catch up. After walking slower for a few seconds, he glanced over to see that Pinkie was walking besides him.

“Oh, hi Pinkie!” Swift said in an attempt to act like he had only just noticed her. He looked to her with a smile on his face, but quickly spotted something off with the pink haired junior. She was looking down to the ground while walking, which by itself didn’t seem all that strange, but something else seemed weird. Swift couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but something seemed off about her smile. To him it seemed more...somber than usual. Wondering if anything was up, Swift decided to speak up again. “Umm...Pinkie?”

“Huh?” Pinkie blinked as she noticed that Swift was walking besides her. “Oh! Morning Swift! How’s you?” she asked in her usual peppy tone.

“I’m doing well. How about you?” Swift asked.

“Oh you know, feeling Pinkie-keen as always!” Pinkie exclaimed as she gave him a wide grin and two thumbs up. “You ready for another super-riffic day at school!?”

“Heh, I guess I am.” Swift said as he and Pinkie walked into the school. “So, do we still have party planning committee today? Or no, because it’s the week after the dance?” he asked as he looked away from Pinkie to wave to some friends he passed by before looking back to Pinkie; who was now standing upright and clutching the straps on her backpack as she looked around the halls at each of the group of students.

“U-Umm...yeah! I’m pretty sure we’re still having the meeting today, same as always.” she answered rather quickly as she stood up on her tippy toes in order to get a better look at some of the students.

“You okay Pinkie? You seem...off.” Swift said with a note of concern in his voice.

“Yeah, I’m fine, what makes you think I wouldn’t be fine? Huh? Does something about me seem off?” Pinkie asked as she dug a pair of binoculars out of her hair and quickly moved between several different hiding places, including behind the lockers, behind a water fountain, and even inside of a trash can, each time peeking out with her binoculars to look around.

“.....Well...umm...n-not completely.” Swift admitted, as what she was currently doing could be counted by some people as Pinkie being Pinkie.

“What do you mean then?” Pinkie asked, poking her head out of the trash can with a confused look on her face.

“I just mean that...you seem a bit more...jittery than usual, is something up?” Swift asked. Pinkie stared at him for a few moments before grinning a very wide grin.

“Heh, nope! Nopers! Still doing a-ok! Well, I gotta go find somebody Swift, it was nice talking to you, i’ll see you later, BYE!!!” Pinkie exclaimed, and before Swift could react, she jumped out of the trash can and sped down the hallway, leaving a trail of dust in her wake. Swift just stood motionless as he stared at the hallway Pinkie ran down.

“Something...still doesn’t seem right.” he said to himself.

*********************************

At the end of the school day, Swift was walking through the near empty halls of his school. Party planning committee had just ended for the day, it was nothing really special. just Mr. Sandwich saying how well the dance turned out, and how the school got a lot of money for it due to the ticket prices, money the committee would use for future parties. That was the main topic at the meeting, along with some talk of what the next event would be, though nothing was decided on yet. It was a normal meeting for most, save for Swift, for he knew, a key piece of the committee was absent; it’s club president Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie wasn’t at the committee meeting today. Swift thought to himself as he walked down the halls. I knew something was probably up with her with what happened earlier this morning, acting all weird. Whatever it is, it must’ve been pretty bad to make her skip out on the meeting. he continued to think as he went forward in the direction of his locker. As he kept walking though, he began to hear something. The further he walked, the louder and louder the noise became. To Swift, it was somebody playing an instrument very poorly. He kept walking as the “music” became louder, looking into any classrooms he passed to see if he could find the origin of the song, however as he kept walking, he found that the song became harder to hear. Perplexed, he walked back, where the sound became louder once again.

“Where on Earth is that coming from?” Swift muttered to himself as he kept pacing around the hall, looking for the source of the music. He must’ve walked around at least five times! He didn’t get it! All that was in the hall besides empty classrooms were the rows of lockers lining the walls. Swift took another look around before realizing something. He stopped walking before looking over at one of the lockers in particular. He slowly walked up to it and put his ear to it. After listening for a moment, he realized that this locker was the source.

Wait...this is… Swift thought to himself before knocking on the locker’s door a few times and stepping back. A few seconds after doing so, the locker door creaked open, revealing its sole occupant.

“Heya Swift…” Pinkie Pie greeted from inside her locker. She gave him a rather somber look before looking back down at the clear pink recorder she had in her hands. “What brings you here?”

“Umm...Party Planning Committee just let out a little bit ago.” Swift pointed out.

“Oh yeah, that was today, huh?” Pinkie asked in a sad tone.

“Yeah...I was surprised you didn’t come.”

“I didn’t feel like it I guess…” Pinkie said as she continued to stare at her recorder.

“So...you’ve just been spending the last forty minutes in your locker playing the recorder?”

“That sums it up…” Pinkie said with a nod.

“Okay...why?” Swift asked. Pinkie being Pinkie was one thing, but her sticking herself in her own locker and playing sad music seemed weird for someone of Pinkie’s usual demeanor. Pinkie herself took a few moments to answer the question.

“Because...if I went to the Party Planning Committee meeting today...I’d be nothing but a big party pooper.” she explained as her hair seemingly deflated again, a clear sign to Swift that she was upset.

“Mmhh...I see…” Swift said with a nod. “Would you...like to tell me why?” he asked gently. Pinkie continued to not look at him.

“Well...mmhh...today hasn’t really been the bestest Tuesday ever...and...last night wasn’t any better.” she muttered quietly. Swift took in what she said and thought about it for a few moments before speaking again.

“Today and last night...today and last night…” Swift repeated to himself before his eyes widened. “Last night?...Pinkie?”

“Hmm?” Pinkie hummed in a less than enthusiastic tone.

“This is a shot in the dark, but...would this...have anything to do with your date with Caramel last night?”

“M-Mmhmm…” Pinkie nodded before sighing. “I messed up Swift...I messed up super duper bad…”

“O-Oh Pinkie...I-I’m so sorry to hear that.” Swift half lied. “How did you mess up?”

“Well...Caramel and I went to the movies yesterday...and I...may have done some teeny weeny things that may have made him upset…” Pinkie said sheepishly.

“What counts as ‘teeny weeny’?” Swift asked as he raised an eyebrow.

“Well...there were some times during the movie where I’d get a bit too over excited and shout at what was happening…”

“Oh.”

“And some of those times when I shouted I had a mouthful of popcorn...and sprayed it on some of the other movie goers…”

“..Oh.”

“Eventually after I pointed out some really weird plot holes in the movie, everyone in the theatre got really really mad at me...and Caramel and I needed to be escorted from the premises…” Pinkie explained as she hung her head low.

“........Oh.”

Pinkie sniffled a little before some of Pinkie’s possessions began spilling out from under her feet. As the items began spilling onto the floor, Pinkie too began sliding down with the pile, eventually sitting down on the floor with her arms wrapped around her legs. “I’m a loser Swift…”

Swift’s eyes widened. “W-What? Pinkie, no, you’re not a loser! Not at all! So you had one crummy date, that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world!”

“I didn’t just have one crummy date...I had a lot of them.” Pinkie claimed. “And each and every one I’ve messed up somewhere along the line…”

“Come on Pinkie, I’m sure that’s not true!”

“I mess up a lot of my dates Swift...and not just with Caramel, with lots of guys. From talking in a movie theatre to accidentally taking a boy’s eye out in a really unlucky mini golf accident, I’ve gotten dumped for lots of stuff…” Pinkie explained with a note of sorrow in her voice. “Some guys break up with me because I accidentally hurt them...or made them embarrassed, that I understand...but other guys don’t say why, and just leave me to figure it out on my own, and...that makes me really sad.”

Swift cringed in surprise, and hurt for Pinkie. “Did...you accidentally hurt Caramel?”

“No...but when I talked to him about maybe going on another date today...he said that he thought it’d be best if we tried elsewhere…” she said with a sigh. “Which really stinks...at the dance, I thought Caramel and I were having a great time together...I mean, I talked with him a lot...and when we danced together, I didn’t step on his feet during every song…I thought he would’ve been a keeper…”

“Well that’s okay Pinkie! All you need to do is get right back on the saddle! Right!?” Swift asked, desperate to find words of sympathy for the girl.

“I keep trying to get on the saddle, but the horse keeps pushing me off…” Pinkie said sadly. “I’ve never even really gotten past the third date with a guy when they want to call it off...so I don’t really know what to do past the first few dates.”

“I see...yeah...I feel your pain Pinkie, dating isn’t really a thing you can practice with as easy as your swimming.”

“Yeah, if only it was that easy…” Pinkie said with a nod. Swift felt bad for her after hearing her plight and seeing her when she’s not being her normal plucky self. He would’ve never guessed that Pinkie was having dating issues, and why would he? He thought Pinkie was a perfect girl, and any guy would have an amazing time with her! But, apparently with what she told him, this wasn’t the case, and it clearly made her upset. Swift continued to stare at the defeated girl with neither of them speaking for a few moments.

Poor Pinkie...I wish there was something I could do… Swift thought to himself as he continued to look at Pinkie. He wanted to give her some words of encouragement, but he was worried anything he could tell her would just make her feel more down in the dumps. He thought about possibly telling her how he felt, but decided against that, thinking if he did, Pinkie would reject him because of her aforementioned history with guys, some he assumed asked her out. He was at a loss, if only there were some way he could help Pinkie with dates.

“Well...I guess I’ll see you later Swift, I’m going back into my locker now…” Pinkie told him as she put the items that fell out of her locker back in before stepping inside herself and shutting the door.

Wait… Swift thought to himself for a brief moment. Pinkie...doesn’t know much about dating...or...what to do on a date...she’s inexperienced...hmmm………………..GASP!!!

“Pinkie! Hey Pinkie! Open up! I think I know how I can help you with your problem!”Swift claimed as he pounded on the locker door. The door opened as Pinkie looked through with one eye.

“I don’t think I’m ready to get back in the saddle again Swift...I might want to wait before trying to date somebody again.” Pinkie explained as she began to slowly close the locker door again.

“But that’s the thing Pinkie! I think I know how you can prepare for dating!” Swift said excitedly. At that moment, Pinkie stopped closing the door and looked at Swift again.

“R-Really? How?” Pinkie asked as she opened the locker door more. Swift looked at her for a few seconds before breathing deeply and clenching his fists to ready himself.

“By...by going on a practice date with me! That’s how!” Swift exclaimed as he pointed at himself with his thumb. He felt nervous after saying that, as Pinkie opened the door completely and stared at him.

“Practice date? What’s that?” Pinkie asked while tilting her head slightly.

“W-Well, it’s in the name. A practice date, you and I will go on a fake date, where we can work on what you do during dates, so you can do better on real ones?” Swift suggested sheepishly, thinking the idea sounded better in his head. Pinkie blinked.

“So...even if I do bad on this practice date...we can find out what didn’t go so great...and I can try being better in those areas?” Pinkie asked, to which Swift smiled and nodded.

“Y-Yeah! Exactly! It may take some practice dates to get it right, but I bet if you keep trying, you’ll definitely get better at it!” Swift assured her.

“And...you’ll help me through it all? Even if stuff goes wrong sometimes?” Pinkie asked with a note of worry in her voice.

“Of course! You know me, I’m always willing to lend a helping hand!”

“Even if you may get some bodily harm on the practice dates?” Pinkie asked.

“Hey, if I can take a headbutt from you getting blasted out of a cannon, I think I can take anything a date can throw at me!” Swift said with a confident grin on his face, prompting a small smile to form on Pinkie’s face. “So...umm...what do you think of that idea?”

Pinkie looked down to her hands and fiddled around with her recorder for a few moments before looking back at Swift with that usual cheery gleam in her eyes. “W-Well...if you’ll be there to help me...I guess I can give it a shot!” she answered with a grin. Her grin caused Swift’s own to widen.

“Awesome! Tha-ay mean, alright! This is going to be great! Pinkie, I promise you, once we get through this, you’ll be able to go on an awesome date with any guy you want!” Swift assured her.

“Heh...well if you have so much faith in me already, then maybe I really can get better at dating!” Pinkie stated, sounding more excited.

“Pinkie, I know this will work out great. How about this Saturday, we meet up and go out for our first “date”? Say...noon-ish?” Swift asked as he made air quotes with his fingers.

“Hehe, okay Swift, Saturday sounds awesome! We can meet up at the entrance to the mall! See you on our ‘date’!” Pinkie giggled as she made air quotes with her fingers too. With that, Pinkie stepped back into her locker and grabbed her backpack before stepping out and closing it. “Thanks Swift! I’m feeling super nervouscited now! I’m gonna go back home and pick out what I’m going to wear for out ‘date’! Umm...is that weird considering it’s Tuesday?”

“I...don’t think so.” Swift said with a shrug.

“Okay, cool! Sayonara Swift!” Pinkie said as she skipped through the hallway and out the exit door, seeing which brought a smile to Swift’s face. He stared at the door for a few minutes while thinking to himself.

I kind of have a date with Pinkie...haha, YEAH!! I kind of have a date with Pinkie!! he thought to himself as he pumped his fist. With a newfound spring in his step, Swift strutted towards the exit himself, excited at the idea of going out once more with Pinkie, this time all alone. Sure, it was only a practice date, but perhaps maybe, just maybe, it could be the start of something more for him and Pinkie. He could only hope.

Author's Notes:

If you're wondering what song Pinkie was playing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIYvkGJHr08

Practice Date One

When the day finally came for the first practice date, Swift made his way over to the spot out in front of the mall he and Pinkie agreed to meet. As he reached the spot, he double checked everything.

Hair looks nice? Check, casual clothes? Check, smell nice? Swift smelled his pits. Double check! On time? Yup! Checkaroo! Now all that’s left is for Pinkie to show up. Swift thought as he looked around the mall entrance for any sign of the pink haired girl. He waited for another minute or so before checking his watch. It’s twelve o’ six. Maybe she missed the bus or something? he considered while still looking at his watch, unaware of the fact that someone was leaning into him from behind.

“HIYA SWIFT!” a voice cheerfully screamed right into his ear.

“GAAAH!!” Swift yelped as he scrambled away from his spot and glanced back at it. Pinkie was standing where he was before with a huge grin plastered over her face. “P-Pinkie!”

“Hey Swift! Sorry I’m late, I had to watch my aunt and uncle’s twins for a little longer than I thought.”

“T-That’s fine Pinkie, but why did you sneak up on me?...And yell in my ear for that matter?” Swift asked as he rubbed his still ringing ear.

“To surprise you of course!” Pinkie replied as she walked up to him.

“O-Okay, but if you’re going to do that, please don’t yell as loud. Most guys don’t enjoy getting surprised like that, or getting possible heart attacks.”

“Oh...okay! Thanks for the tip!” Pinkie chirped happily. “So! First ‘date’ time! I’m super pumped to do this!”

Swift smiled. “I’m pumped too! Are you ready to get started?”

“You bet your baby blue booty I am!” Pinkie said as she gave Swift a determined look.

“Heh, alright then, the practice date starts now,” Swift declared with a smile on his face. “For the first practice date, I’m glad you said we should come to the mall, it’s a perfect location.”

“You think so? After we agreed on it, I thought about it more and considered that maybe it wasn’t the best idea considering this was where the restaurant was where you choked on hot meat!” Pinkie explained.

“Yeeeeah….I remember that. Nonetheless, I think the mall is a perfect place for our first practice date. You see Pinkie, the thing about the first date isn’t about being together as an item so much, as it is being friends. The first date is all about having fun with a friend! And that’s what we’re going to be doing today!”

“Woohoo! I love fun!” Pinkie chirped.

“Heh, I know you do, so let’s get on with it!” Swift said as he walked into the mall with Pinkie following closely behind. As they went inside, Swift took a quick breath.

Alright Swift, this is fine. This is a good start, this is a great start. You got this. You can show Pinkie a good time. Swift thought to himself, trying to pump himself up before looking back at Pinkie.

“So Pinkie!”

“So Swift!” Pinkie replied as she looked to him with a smile on her face.

“What I think we should do to start this first date off is just to go to some stores and just, you know, have a good time.” Swift suggested.

“Sounds good to me! There were a few stores I was planning on going to after our “date” but I guess we can just go during it,” Pinkie said as she looked around at the different stores available. “Oooohh!! Blazing Point! That store is great!”

“Sure, we can go theeeee–I!!!” Swift was cut off as Pinkie forcibly grabbed his hand and dragged into the store with her. Blazing Point was one of those stores that catered to the hipster crowd, the anime fan crowd, the 3edgy5me crowd, and so on and so forth. Swift, being a member of the second crowd, often frequented Blazing Point himself for anime merchandise. He stood with Pinkie as she browsed the walls of the store for its different t-shirts. She looked at several shirts sporting peace symbols, anarchy symbols, and different characters from popular culture. As she was browsing, Swift’s own eyes wandered to some of the anime items that were on a nearby stand. It too had t-shirts, but it also had lanyards, figurines, mugs and other little trinkets on it. Swift stared at the stand, and even thought of over to look at the prices of some of the cooler items, but ultimately decided against it.

Eeeh...I better not...Pinkie probably isn’t really into anime or anything like that..I shouldn’t go over there, don’t want to look like a loser or anything. Swift thought to himself, ignoring anything else that was going on around him.

“Hey Swift! What top to you like be-” Pinkie said as she turned to look at Swift to see that his attention was turned elsewhere. Pinkie looked over to where Swift was looking and noticed the stand. “Huh?.....Ooooh!! Look at all that cool stuff!” Pinkie said as she walked over to the stand and started looking through the merchandise.

“What?” Swift said as he watched Pinkie play around with some of the figures, one being a burly man with blueish purple skin wearing shoulder pads and a scarf, and the other being a golden yellow man with a triangle-ish head.

“ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA! MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA! ORA ORA ORA ORA! MUDA MUDA MUDA! IT'S A RODA ROLLADA!!” Pinkie dramatically exclaimed as she made the figures’ fists clash multiple times. Swift watched her do this wide eyed.

“Oh….my….” were the only words that could leave Swift’s mouth as he watched Pinkie. “She...she has seen anime.” he whispered as he watched Pinkie set the two figures down. She looked to a different object on the stand, a white object that she put on the side of her face that put a green lense over her eye.

“Swift! Ask me how much those clothes cost!” Pinkie said as she grinned.

“.....Pinkie, how much do those clothes cost?” Swift asked.

Pinkie took off the object and held it in her hand. “It’s over niiiiiiiine ninety nine!!!” she screamed out before crushing the object in her hand, making Swift jump in surprise.

“Hey! You’re paying for that now!” the shopkeeper said as she looked to Pinkie in annoyance, who gave her a sheepish grin.

“Hehe...oops...went a bit too far with that reference...sorry.” Pinkie said before putting the money on the counter for the broken object. She threw the broken object in the nearby trash can before walking by Swift and looking through more clothes.

“S-So Pinkie….this is just out of nowhere, but...do you...watch anime?” Swift asked as Pinkie looked at a black tank top.

“Yup! I sure do! I’ve been watching anime since I was little! My sisters and I used to watch some shows on TV every Saturday morning!” Pinkie happily replied.

“Heh...boy, I remember those days,” Swift said as he looked at the shirt Pinkie picked up. “So...you have sisters, I think you talked about them a bit when we spoke before the dance..what are they like?”

“Oh! My sisters are all really super great! I have three named Maud, Limestone, and Marble! Marble is really super shy, kind of like Fluttershy! Actually a lot like Fluttershy since they both hide behind their hair when they get nervous. Limestone is super intense and passionate about a lot of things, especially our family farm. It’s her dream to make it the best farm in the state!”

“Heh, that sounds like a very noble goal. I hope she’s able to do that.”

“Me too! Oh! And then there’s my big sister Maud! She’s two years older than me, she’s in college now studying to be a geologist! She’s really really into rocks and the earth and that kind of stuff. She’s just about the coolest girl I know!” Pinkie said as she smiled brightly talking about Maud.

“I’d love to meet her sometime, she sounds nice.” Swift said as he smiled.

“You should! My family comes to stay with me and my aunt and uncle every year or so.” Pinkie said as she picked up a skirt. “Oooh! This stuff looks cool!” and just as she said that, Pinkie grabbed some random clothing items before running into the changing room. Swift could hear the sounds of clothes coming off, and zippers being fastened, belts being buckled, and clothes being tightened from the inside. “Check me out!” Pinkie said as she opened the door to the changing room. She had changed from the outfit she was wearing before into a black top with a crescent moon on it, tight leather pants, and arm warmers. In addition to god knows how much spiky jewelry. In addition to all of this, Pinkie’s hair also somehow changed from being big and puffy to being completely straight and limp. Pinkie leaned against the wall as she crossed her arms. “How do I look Swift?”

“...Like you’re ready to head to a grunge band concert?” Swift said as he looked over Pinkie’s outfit.

“Heh, you think? I think this would be awesome to wear to spice up my look! I could wear this to a rave and totally look awesome!” Pinkie said as she looked at herself in a mirror.

“You go to raves Pinkie?” Swift asked.

“Yuppers! I love to get down and boogie,” Pinkie exclaimed as she started to dance around before lifting her leg high and turning around quickly “How about you Swift?”

“Me? Oh, heh...I’m not really much of a dancer myself..two left feet, you know.” Swift chuckled awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his head.

“Hehe, I could kind of see that at girl’s choice.” Pinkie said before she giggled a bit.

“Heeeeeey.” Swift said as he squinted at Pinkie.

“I’m just kidding Swift! You looked like you were having a lot of fun at the dance! I know I did! I loved showing off my moves!” Pinkie said as she started dancing around once more happily. The more she danced, the more she got into it until she dropped down to the floor to do the splits.

“Pinkie, wait, I don’t think that’s a good idea in those-”

RRIIIIIIIP

Swift’s face turned red before he looked away from Pinkie. The shopkeeper looked up from the magazine she was reading and glanced at Pinkie, who turned her head to look at Swift and the shopkeeper.

“....Maaaaaaybe we should try looking in a different store.” Pinkie suggested.

“...Yes, I think that’s a great idea.” said the shopkeeper as she narrowed her eyes at Pinkie.

______________

“Well that was a teeny weeny bit embarrassing! Let’s try this store now!” Pinkie said as she pulled Swift into a different clothing store, one with more average looking shirts, hoodies, and the like. There were a few people in the store already, and it seemed mildly busy compared to the previous store. “Maybe now I can find some cool clothes!”

“Heh...just maybe don’t do the splits in them this time.” Swift said with a chuckle.

“Yeah….I guess those tight pants couldn’t handle the power of my booty, huh?” Pinkie asked as she she patted her butt, prompting a smirk from Swift. “Pie butt too strong.”

Swift scratched the side of his head as he chuckled, a bit unsure of how to continue due to the topic of their laughter being Pinkie’s behind. “Heh..yeah. Ssssoooo…...you still looking for some cool clothes?”

“Yup! I’ve got a bunch of money from my job as a waitress at Sugarcube Corner burning a great big hole in my pocket!” Pinkie said as she looked around the store. For a few minutes, Pinkie looked around at different shirts, skirts, shorts, and pants as she kept swapping clothing in the changing room to find the ones she really liked. Eventually, she came out of the changing room with her arms filled with a large pile of clothing that went up past her head in height as she carried it.

“N-Need a hand Pinkie?” Swift asked as he looked at the large pile of clothing.

“Nope! But thanks for the offer, I got this.” Pinkie assured Swift as she put all of the clothes she was holding in front of a cashier, who began scanning the price tags. “You know Swift, since we’re here, you should totally buy something too! You haven’t bought anything yet!”

“Eh...I’m not sure Pinkie, I don’t know if anything here would really look good on me.” Swift said as he looked around the store.

“Sure something would! There’s lots of different clothes here! I can even find you something myself! Hang on a sec!” Pinkie said before darting around the store in a flash. “Hmm….too stripey….too nerdy….too preppy….ooh! This is nice! Oh! So is this! Yup, yup, yup! Here Swift.” Pinkie said as she grabbed Swift and pushed him into a changing room before tossing some clothing over the door. “Try this!”

“O-Okay….” Swift muttered as he looked at the clothing Pinkie picked for him. He grimaced slightly at what it was.

“When you’re all ready, come out and show me!” Pinkie said as she hopped with excitement.

Swift nodded and slowly got changed into the outfit Pinkie chose for him. He had to hold his mouth shut so he wouldn’t make any sounds of disgust or unhappiness, lest Pinkie hear it. He unlocked the changing room door and stepped out.

“O….M…..G…..Swift….”

“Uhh….”

“That looks….amazing on you!!” Pinkie cheered as she looked Swift over. The outfit she chose for Swift was a big fluffy pink hoodie with a white dove on the front and bright red pastel pants that hugged Swift’s legs. He shifted around uncomfortably.

“I...don’t know about this Pi-”

“You look awesome Swift!! You totally rock that outfit I picked for you!” Pinkie said giddily as she looked at Swift with big, bright eyes and a toothy grin.

“Oh, I see...well I think…”

‘Yeah!?” Pinkie asked as she kept looking at Swift with the same excited expression. Swift looked to her and then to the outfit he was wearing before a sheepish grin crept across his face.

“I…...think it looks good on me too! Heh...you have a great eye for fashion Pinkie.” Swift said in the most convincing happy voice he could muster.

“Thanks Swift! You should totally buy that! It looks super duper groovy on you!” Pinkie said as she walked around Swift to get a look at his outfit from all angles.

This stuff makes it look like Valentine’s Day threw up on me...I look like a dork. Swift thought as he glanced back at Pinkie. But….Pinkie looks so proud of herself that she picked these clothes for me. He shook his head. N-No...I need to do something...I don’t want this stuff...oh! I got it! I can just tell Pinkie I don’t have enough money to buy it! That’s it! I just need to lie to Pinkie! Easy!

“Well Swift!? Is it a keeper?” Pinkie asked excitedly. Swift stared into her eyes for a few moments before opening his mouth.

____________________

“Thank you for your purchase! Have a nice day” the cashier said as he handed Swift the bag with Swift’s new clothes in it.

“I will...you too.” Swift said as he took the bag and turned to look at Pinkie. “Ready to go?”

“Yuppers!!” Pinkie said as she held up what looked like five big bags of clothes in each hand.

“....No, no, no, here, give me.” Swift sighed as he grabbed some of the heavier looking bags from Pinkie and held them. “That’s too many bags to hold on your own, my inner gentleman forbids me from letting you carry all those while I only have one.”

“Aaawe, tell your inner gentleman I said thanks!” Pinkie chirped as she picked up her other bags and started walking out of the store with Swift. As they walked, two other teens watched them leave, one a boy who had dark purple skin and short magenta hair wearing a simple red T-shirt with grey jeans, and the other a girl with light blue skin and two toned dark azure and silverish grey hair wearing a baggy blue hoodie and black compression shorts.

“Pff...that poor guy.” the boy said as he shook his head. “I feel sorry for him, that stuff looked awful on him, and he still bought it bought it cause a girl egged him on to get it.”

“Aww, don’t be like that. I think it was sweet of him. He spared Pinkie’s feelings, no harm in doing that,” the girl said as she watched the two leave.

The boy shrugged as he turned his attention back to some shirts on a shelf. “Eh, whatever. It’s none of my concern anyways. That guy’s biz isn’t mine.”

“Yeah, that guy’s biz is that he’s on a date with a cute girl, unlike some guys I know.” the girl said as she playfully bumped her hip into the guy’s hip.

“That’s true, I’m here stuck with you.” the boy joked as he gave a smarmy grin to the girl, who then proceeded to smack his shoulder.

“Jerk.” she said with a smile. “But still, I’ve seen that guy around, and I’ve never heard a peep from him, and yet it looks to me like he’s on a date with one of the girls who saved the school with magic, if he can do it, I’m sure as hell you can do it too.”

“Eh, I suppose. Though I don’t think many of the girls in school would be into a guy like me,” the boy said as he took a shirt off the shelf and examined it.

“You’d be surprised Night, I’m sure a lot of girls would like you if they got to know you. Maybe some girl already does, and you just don’t know yet,” the girl said as she winked at the boy.

“Maybe, but I doubt it,” the boy said as he continued to look at the shirt. “I think I’m gonna try this on.” he said as he walked over to the changing rooms. The girl watched him leave and shook her head.

“Men.”

________________

After a few more stores, and a brief stop for lunch in the mall food court, Swift and Pinkie continued their walk through the mall to see what other stores they could visit.

“Man, you really got a lot of stuff today Pinkie,” Swift commented as he looked at the bags he was carrying for her as well as the bags she was carrying as well.

“Hehe, I sure did! I got to spend a lot of money!” Pinkie chirped as she looked through her bags.

“We certainly did do a lot of shopping today.” Swift said with a small chuckle. “So...are their any other stores that you wanted to visit? Because I think we’ve almost went through the entire mall at this point.”

Pinkie put her finger to her chin as she thought for a moment. “Hmmmmmmm…..actually, I think there was one more store I wanted to go to before we end the date, if that’s ok with you Swift.”

“Sure! That’s alright with me Pinkie.” Swift assured Pinkie. “Let’s head over there now!”

“Alright! Well come on!” Pinkie said as she took Swift’s hand and ran off to a different part of the mall. Swift blushed as she continued to drag him on, happy to be spending more time with his crush. After a few more minutes, Pinkie brought him to the end of the mall and stopped in front of a store. “Alrighty! We’re here!”

“Aweso-......Oh...my.” Swift said as he looked up at the sign above the entryway to the store. The name of the store was Sassy Saddles’ Secret, and Swift gulped as he looked at the sign. “Isn’t….this the lingerie place?...”

“Sure is!! Come on! Let’s go!” Pinkie said before dragging Swift into the store with her. The inside of the store had ebony black walls and black flooring, and it was filled to the brim with sexually appealing clothing, swimsuits, and lingerie. Swift’s face changed immediately from cyan blue to a fierce shade of crimson as Pinkie brought him around the store to pick out stuff for her to wear. “Oooh! What do you think of the white lacey lingerie Swift? I think it looks awesome!”

Swift looked around nervously as he scratched the back of his head. “Umm….Pinkie….I know I said I wouldn’t really give you much advice until the end of the date….but umm….”

“Yeah?”

“ This...isn’t really alright for a first date, not at all actually.” Swift deadpanned. “Guys could get the wrong idea from going to a place like this with you on a first date, you know?...or at the very least make them uncomfortable.”

Pinkie’s smile quickly disappeared as her hair drooped down a bit. “O-Oh...really?...” She put down the lingerie she was holding dejectedly. “I-I didn’t really think it’d do that...I’m sorry Swift. We can leave then...I’ll just take all of my other clothes and go.”

Swift sighed. “I can wait outside the store if you want to still shop here.”

“No, I think we should just go…” Pinkie said as she took her bags and left the store. Swift felt guilt twang in his chest as he followed her out quickly.

“P-Pinkie...I’m sorry, I was just trying to help.”

Pinkie didn’t look at him. “No...it’s my fault. I’m sorry Swift...I messed up again, didn’t I?” she asked as she sighed. Seeing Pinkie in this state was disheartening to say the least, even worse is that he felt like he was the reason why he caused her sadness. “And I thought I was doing really well for a first date too…”

“Pinkie, hold on.” Swift said as he walked next to her. “Look, aside from that one moment,” And a few others… “I’ve been having a great time on the date with you! Honest!”

Pinkie glanced at Swift. “R-Really?...I felt like I may have screwed up a few times already...like the ripped pants thing.”

“That one was just an accident Pinkie, aside from that, you’ve been doing a good job so far, in fact, I think this first practice date was a huge success! Though...I have to ask something, if that’s alright with you.”

“S-Sure, what’s up?”

“Well...as we’ve been going through this date, I’ve kind of noticed that you’ve been buying clothes...lots of clothes, only clothes. Not that there’s anything wrong with that or anything, not at all, I was just curious as to why we have four arms full of bags.” Swift explained as he held up his arms. Pinkie looked at her own bags after he asked.

“Oh, umm...well the thing is, I figured that if I really wanted to get a guy to like me, I should try spicing up my wardrobe a bit, make myself a bit more appealing, you know?...I hear that the best way to get a guy’s attention is through sex appeal, so I thought it’d try that.”

Swift nodded. “I see what you mean Pinkie, but I don’t think sex appeal is the best way to get a guy’s attention. Yeah, sexual appeal is the easiest way to get a guy interested in a girl, but if you ask me, it's not the best. Some guys only like girls for their bodies, and after they've spent enough time with a certain body they may move onto another they like. You want a guy who likes you for who you are as a person and friend first, and likes your body second.” he said matter of factly.

“That does sound nice. I’d like being able to be with a guy who likes me for who I am, I like who I am! I think I’m fun!” Pinkie said as it sounded like some enthusiasm came back to her voice.

“Heh, well I know for a fact that you’ll be able to find someone who likes you for your personality Pinkie. You’re funny, perky, and can find cheer in almost anything. You’re the complete package for a lot of guys I’m sure.” Swift said with a smile.

‘Y-You think so Swift?”

“Absolutely! You’re amazing as you are Pinkie, you have a wonderful personality, and as for the sex appeal thing, I’d say you already have a ton.” Swift said, again not thinking about what he said except that it was complimenting Pinkie. His eyes widened as the realization struck him. “U-Uhh….what I mean is uh..y-you’re very pretty Pinkie!”

Pinkie chuckled. “Awwe, thanks Swift. I’m glad you said all that stuff, I can feel my confidence being boosted already!”

“Heh, no problem Pinkie, I’m really happy to help you out. Now, to close this first practice date out, how about we go out to get some ice cream? My treat.” Swift offered, to which Pinkie gasped.

“Ice cream!? Heck to the yeah!! Thanks Swift!” Pinkie said excitedly as she followed Swift to the mall’s exit. After they left, they grabbed some ice cream before walking back to Pinkie’s home in the city. They chatted about things they liked and their friends, and when they got close to Pinkie’s place, Pinkie spoke up again. “So Swift! What sort of feedback do you have on our first practice date!? Aside from the...you know.”

Swift lapped up some of his ice cream. “Aside from that, I think the practice date went pretty well! You talked about a lot of fun and interesting stuff, nothing really bad happened, I just really went along with where you were going for the date, but I think it’d be good if on this kind of date you also be sure to ask if the guy wants to do anything or go anywhere he wants to go in the mall, just to be polite, I’m sure they’d appreciate it. Overall, I think you did a great job Pinkie. Just remember what parts of the date went good and what parts went bad, and you’ll definitely improve your….dating prowess I suppose?”

‘Uh-huh, uh huh, uh huh, no….lingerie...on the first date…..ask what guy wants to do sometimes…..got it all!” Pinkie exclaimed as she finished writing down on a notepad before she stuck it into her hair and gave a toothy grin. “I really need to say this again, thank you so super duper much for helping me out on this practice date Swift! I already felt like it’ll make me improve my dating game a lot!”

“Heh, good! I’d say this practice date was a success then!” Swift nodded as he beamed at Pinkie.

“Totally! I had a blast!” Pinkie said as she jumped. “So what about the next practice date!? When do you think we’ll do that!? I’m really eager to learn more! Super eager!!” she proclaimed as she kept jumping until Swift grabbed her arms to make her stop.

“Heh, I really like the enthusiasm Pinkie, but for now, I still need to plan the second practice date. I’ll let you know when I’ve thought up what we can do, alright?”

“Alrighty! That sounds awesome! I can’t wait!” Pinkie said as she quickly huggd Swift, prompting a blush from him. She soon released him and smiled. “Spending more time with you will be really fun!”

‘Heh, yeah, it will be. Anyways, I’d better head off then, I’ve got….well, nothing really to do, but I think I should be getting back home. I’ll see you around, okay Pinkie?”

“Definitely! I’ll talk to you later Swift! Thanks again for the practice date!” Pinkie said as she took all of her bags and went down the sidewalk to stop in front of the door to her house. She opened the door before looking back at him and grinning. “You really know how to show a girl a good time!” she said before going inside and closing the door behind her.

Swift blushed harder as he couldn’t even try to hide his smile. He grabbed the one bag of stuff he bought for himself and began on his trek home with a skip in his step knowing that the date ended pretty well, and that Pinkie seemingly had a great time.

All that was left to do now was plan the next practice date and see where it took him and Pinkie, and to be honest, he couldn’t wait.

Whatever the future held, he was excited to see it.