The rest of the day passed by fast after they finished unpacking and had dinner together around the camp fire. They talked long into the night, swapping stories of what happened to them in the past year or so. Everyone was on point for their studies and Applejack was working extra fast to get her associate business degree so that she could focus all of her time on the farm. Aside from the Crusaders being a bit quiet and withdrawn, it was a great first night and they all turned in for a good night sleep.
In the ruby tent, Jackie and Sunset had seen fit to push their beds together for more room and to better snuggle. Sunset was perfectly content sleeping in Jackie's arms, when she felt her girlfriend shift and slip away. Probably had to go to the bathroom. The red head instead snuggled up to one of the pillows and settled down, drifting off again after a few minutes. All was well up until she felt something tickling at her face. Sunset tried to clumsily swat at it, eventually rolling over as it persisted... this side of the bed felt a little bit colder for some reason... a little rougher. It was kind of odd but Sunset was determined to sleep in for as long as she pleased. At least until her girlfriend came back or someone brewed a cup of coffee, which ever came first. After a couple more minutes she was drifting off again, feeling weightless, almost like she was in a hammock... up until there was a change and she felt weightless in a different way...
"Babe!"
It was almost like she was floating, it was kind of familiar in a strange way...
"Babe!!!"
It sounded like Jackie had come back, but why did it sound like she was far away?
"SUNSHINE WAKE UP!"
Waking with a start, Sunset bolted to sit up before giving a startled shout upon finding herself in a blow up raft. She looked to the shore and instantly spotted all of them watching her drifting on the lake, some like Jackie, Tino, Sonata, Pinkie, and Dash were laughing out loud while others like Adagio were at least polite enough to only snickers, and the rest like say Fluttershy were just going along with the joke but still concerned for her safety. Once the laughter died down, they all smiled to her and let out a cheer at once.
"Good morning Sunset!!!"
Despite her best efforts, the scowl gave way to a grin as she waved back to them, unable to be too angry over a harmless joke. Plus they were nice enough to give her a paddle so that she wouldn't be stranded. Jackie ran up to meet Sunset at the dock when she got there, holding out a hand to help Sunset out of the inflatable raft after it was tied to the dock with a rope. Looking at her girlfriend and raising a brow, Jackie smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of her head.
"Eh-heh, thought we'd flip the script since usually I'm the one getting goofed on in the mornings. No hard feelings Sunshine?"
"No hard feelings..."
Then Sunset smirked and leaned in close to whisper into Jackie's ear.
"But just so you know, I will be getting you back..."
"Wait, what?! Why me? Other people helped too!"
"Oh I know. But you're my girlfriend, and I can take certain liberties when it comes to pranks."
".... liberties?"
Then she was pulled into a kiss, long, sensual, passionate... it was so good she didn't even hear the wolf whistles from those still on the shore watching them. Just as it was really starting to get good though, Sunset pulled away, eliciting a small whine from the guitarist as her girlfriend gave a wink and a teasing grin.
"I think that'll do for today. We'll pick it back up tomorrow. Maybe."
"Oh you are shitting me! Sunshiiiiiine!"
But Sunset simply walked past her, walking off the dock with Jackie trailing after her as Adagio walked up to the guitarist with a grin on her face.
"That looked painful Jackson. I could help with that if-"
"NO."
After the prank, Applejack and Tino were quick to get to work in the mess hall, cooking up flapjacks, bacon, fruit salad and coffee for the hungry campers. Just like last night, the Crusaders kept a bit of distance from them and the main group, talking among themselves as they had their breakfast. Of course, this did not go unnoticed by others but nothing was said up until Sunset noticed the glances Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash sent the girls' way every now and then, they looked a little sad but said nothing. The red head gave a soft sigh, tapping her fork against her plate as she mulled the situation over. Then she took her plate and stood, heading over to the table where the three girls sat, this move catching the attention of all others in the room as the conversation died down some.
"Hey, mind if I sit with you three?"
It was probably bad but it was sort of a guilty pleasure in seeing that the Crusaders looked to be a bit intimidated by her. It was Applebloom who was brave enough to give a smile and a nod.
"Sure thing Sunset. Go ahead."
"Thanks."
With that she took her seat and a tense silence fell between them. While the trio of girls picked at their food, Sunset took the opportunity to get a better look at them for the first time. They'd all grown but Applebloom looked to be the shortest of the three, her style of dress not having really changed from jeans and a t-shirt, but the bow was lower and kept her hair back in a low ponytail. Sweetie Belle looked to be the tallest but was more or less the same, her hair kept at the same length with the headband keeping it back, but for the summer it was a cute t-shirt and shorts. Then Scootaloo had shaggier, shoulder length hair, also going light for the summer with a tank top and shorts.
"... so I guess you're all still nervous about being around me."
The three girls were still a little jumpy but this time it was Scootaloo that spoke up.
"Well, yeah? I mean, after what we did..."
The girl just let it die off from there, not wanting to really talk about the Anon-A-Miss incident but Sweetie Belle stepped in.
"And we know the letter you sent said you forgave us... but... I mean, you're still probably angry at us."
"Yup."
It was hard for Sunset to not chuckle at the looks on their faces right now.
"But I'm not as angry as I used to be and I'm trying to let go of the rest of it. Look, it's been over a year, and I can appreciate that you three still feel bad about what you did. But it's going to be pretty miserable for you if you just keep your distance like this. You can go ahead and have fun with the others too."
At this, Scootaloo couldn't help but scoff before she could catch herself.
"Come on, it's not like Dash or any of the others wanted us along. We just kinda got dumped on you guys..."
"Well... yeah, kinda. But that doesn't mean your older siblings don't care about how you're doing. Yeah this is a chance for us all to catch up, but you can go ahead and have fun or bond with your siblings or whatever so long as you keep out of trouble."
Seeing that the three were still hesitant, Sunset smiled and stood, motioning for them to follow her.
"Come on, come sit with the rest of us. It's fine."
After another moment's hesitation, the Crusaders stood and followed her over, taking a seat at the end as Sunset retook her spot by Jackie. Soon the conversation picked up again, this time the three girls slowly starting to join in while Sunset picked up her cup of coffee. As she took a swig, she caught the small grin on her girlfriend's face.
"What?"
"That's nice of you making peace and all that. Even though I'm sure you're still kinda pissed at them."
"Well... yeah. But I guess I just kinda felt bad for them. Besides, I remember someone saying that someone has to be the bigger person and let it go."
".... who said that?"
Giving a soft sigh and shaking her head, Sunset fixed a deadpan stare on the blue haired woman until the light bulb finally went off in Jackie's head.
"Oh!"
"Yeah."
"Sorry..."
"Don't worry about it."
With a smile, Sunset kissed Jackie on the cheek before they both went back to enjoying breakfast.
Time passed since breakfast, mostly it was the group going around the campsite, either partaking in the rock wall, or watching people climb the rock wall or just relaxing in general. At least up until Rainbow Dash brought out a foot ball and gave the call for a game of tackle football. Jackie, Tino and Poppy were immediately in and made up their team, followed by Applejack and Aria who joined Rainbow Dash's team. Everyone else would be on the sidelines to watch while Pinkie Pie and Sonata became the official cheerleaders. After the teams of three came up with their strategy, Jackie and Rainbow Dash met in the middle of the "field" and squared off.
"Ready to lose Jacks?"
"You wish! Maybe I ain't a jock but I know how to run! You ain't ever gonna catch me if I get the ball!"
"Pfft! You can't outrun The Dash!"
"Oh my god, that's like the worst thing I've ever heard!"
"No the worst thing you'll ever hear is me gloating when I whoop you're sorry butt!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Hell yeah!"
This went on for a little longer but no one was really worried by the banter, the two were smiling all the way as they talked big and lightly pushed each other by the shoulder. Even though they'd been at each other's throats and things had gotten strained during the Spring Break drama, Jackie had gotten over it, extended her hand in friendship and the rest was history, aside from a clash of egos when it came to musical ability of course.
The six faced off at the start line with Jackie's team kicking off. Poppy was assigned to Applejack, Jackie would take Rainbow Dash and that left Tino to deal with Aria (an assignment he wasn't eager to take since the muscular siren was pretty damn intimidating!). It was about this time that Gloriosa had jogged over, helmets and padding in hand.
"Wait! Wait! Wait! We've got safety gear-!"
"TOO LATE!"
With that cheer from Pinkie Pie, she pulled a whistle out of her hair and blew it. After Tino punted the ball, it was Rainbow Dash who caught it and it was about this time that all hell broke loose. While they generally knew the rules of football, that was not to be taken as meaning any of the six knew the rules well. Or that they'd even follow them if they did.
Jackie was quick to sprint after Dash, the athlete was initially too quick but the guitarist took a leap of faith and caught her by the legs, causing her to fall over as Tino and Poppy pounced onto the athlete to get the ball away. By then Applejack and Aria had caught up, Aria yanking Jackie off Rainbow Dash by the ankles while Applejack tackled Poppy. Tino managed to wrench away the ball and managed to toss it away to Jackie before Rainbow Dash and Aria took him down.
Things basically degenerated from there and nary a point was even scored as they just kept tackling and wrestling with each other. All boundaries to the field were dropped as the game spilled out to the rest of the courtyard, Jackie sprinting frantically and jumping on top of a picnic table as Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Aria were hot on her heels. She managed to jump up into the air and toss the ball to Poppy just as Aria tackled her and they fell into a heap on the ground. Poppy took the chance to run for the goal but Dash was faster and cut her off with Applejack right on her tail, so she took off for the dock. Both women thought they had her as they gave chase, confident that she had nowhere to go unless she wanted to be taking a swim!
However, just as Poppy reached the edge of the dock, she turned and faced Rainbow Dash head on, charging forward as if to plow right through her... only to side step at the last second. Rainbow Dash had been prepared for impact and when it didn't come, she could only barely stop her momentum as she balanced precariously on the edge of the dock. At the last second Poppy chucked the ball before Applejack tackled her, the blonde sending the both of them colliding with Rainbow Dash before all three fell into the lake. The ball managed to make it back to land and into Tino's hands.
"Awesome! I got-OH SHIT!"
The blonde turned and ran for his life as Aria ran after him, managing to get past her and deeper into the courtyard, rounding around the gazebo and ran near the camp entrance as he tried to go a long round about way back to the field and the goal. Aria was still hot on his tail as she started to pass by the entrance, almost not catching Adagio's shout.
"ARIA! GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!"
She turned and froze upon seeing the hood of a car, but then reflex kicked in and she dodged to the side, going into a roll as the car just barely stopped before hitting the spot where she had been standing. After getting her bearings, she pushed herself up onto her feet and scowled at the dark black Honda Civic that had nearly hit her. Soon the driver's side opened and out stepped a pretty tall guy. Like, over six foot easy, dressed in a black suit with red toned skin, yellow eyes, black hair that was graying at the sides and a grey beard.
"What the fuck man!? Watch where you're driving!"
The man eyed her for a moment, in a way that kept Aria on edge as she stared back at him. She thought he seemed to recognize her but that look in his eye was gone in an instant as he simply smirked to her. However, before he could say anything, the rest of the group had come up, Adagio especially looking furious as she walked right up to the taller man to confront him.
"Is there any specific reason you're here? Other than to nearly run over my sister?"
"Ah, my apologies. I took the road a bit too quick and before I knew it, your sister was in front of my car. Is there a Miss Gloriosa Daisy here?"
Having come over with the rest of the group, Gloriosa put on her best smile as she addressed the man.
"Um, yes. That would be me Mister...?"
"It's Tirek, Miss Daisy."