//------------------------------// // This Is Our Big Night (part 1) // Story: The Truth About Girls (Vol. 3) // by TheMareWhoSaysNi //------------------------------// Soon, the big day. The one all twelve graders had been waiting for months, if not from the very beginning of High School years. This day which was the blessing of years of hard work, marking the end of a period, and the beginning of a brand new life. The excitement was palpable in the whole school, and even students from nine grade could feel it. It wasn’t only the fact holidays were getting closer that made CHS so feverish, but this very day, or rather this very night. The whole school was vibrating at the even’ts rhythm. Each announcement from the Principal’s office were made in view of the night, and the school’s corridors were decorated in circumstance, while the inner gymnasium, where basketball finals happened only a week ago, was now forbidden to anyone who wasn’t a part of the Event Committee. As the head of said Committee, Pinkie Pie was requested from all sides. Her inhexaustible energy was redundant and allowed her to tackle everything at the same time without anything suffering from it. Since she also was in charge of the coveted title of Prom Queen’s election, the young woman had the bright idea to enroll each of her friends, and they all registered the news about all of them being taken on with surprise. It was impossible they would be chosen… Especially as others, more reserved and involved, like Octavia, Lyra or Sweetie Drops were part of the names. While waiting for D-Day, the moment had finally arrived to buy the tickets for the Prom Ball – the event in question, of course. The price was a bit more expensive than those of Winter Ball or Spring Ball, accessible to the students of any grade. It had to be said that this was another kind of party. It had to be a climax, a lifelong memory. Thus, the means which the Event Committee disposed of also were of another kind. Pinkie Pie had settled a table in front of the Committee’s room door – which also was forbidden to students so no one would have a glimpse of what they prepared. Helped by Muffin, in charge of noting everything in the account notebook, she was waiting here between each class, confronted to an almost unceasing flow of students queuing in front of her. As Head of the Event Committee, she was now the most powerful and respected person of the school. She took no advantage from it, what Rainbow Dash hadn’t helped but pinpointing to her, outraged she didn’t make the most of her position, even if just a little. The young woman, precisely, was the person who was now in front of her, right behind Trixie who was boasting about the fact that at least four boys from the Guiding Class were fighting to be her dance partner and how she hadn’t made up her mind yet. “Hello, Dashie! Finally decided?” “Yeah”, the latter answered, taking out her wallet. “Two tickets, please.” “So, does this mean Soarin said yes?” “I haven’t asked him yet, in fact… But there’s no reason for him to say no. Right?” she asked, suddenly a bit more serious. She had her reasons which made her postpone her request for such a long time. It wasn’t that she feared her boyfriend didn’t want to be with her. It came from something different, a fact which kept on nagging her but she hadn’t clarified yet. It was rare to see Rainbow Dash self-doubting, especially when it was about Soarin, that they all knew was head over heels for her. It surprised Muffin a lot, since she didn’t know the couple that well, but whom it seemed to be a very solid one. “Of course there’s no reason for him to refuse!” “Yeah, of course… No reason. Well, err… How much is it?” “Eighty dollars, please.” The teenage girl counted her banknotes, and paid her friend with bills of ten dollars. This money came from the envelop her father left each week on her bedside table along with a credit card, thinking a bit more money would make up for all the rest. She often gave parts of it as a donation to orphanages, and kept the rest for occasions such as these, or for times when the house employees asked for an advance payment, generally in order to purchase things their children needed. These persons were working hard at their service, so they deserved a few extras. No doubt, they would be disappointed when she would leave the house, and they would be left alone with Mr. Rainbow Blaze. Moments after Rainbow Dash’s departure, it was Fluttershy’s turn to come and buy her tickets. She took two of them as well, but didn’t tell Pinkie Pie who was coming with her. The same thing happened with Applejack. As far as the rodeo celebrity was concerned, it was even more mysterious than with the baby pink-haired teenage girl. Since her harassment and assault by a stalker last year, she turned very wary towards boys, and even those not intimidated by her small celebrity status or by her incredible strength didn’t dare approaching her too closely, scared to confront with a wall of stone. Some boys had nicknamed her “Iced apple princess” … Who could be that mysterious dance partner? Except Rainbow Dash and her Soarin, and yet – it wasn’t her favorite topic of discussion – none of them had really seemed to be preoccupied by boys. Even Sunset Shimmer, who in the beginning used to flirt a lot and often talked about her extracurricular activities with representatives of the male kind, had finally put a little water in the wine. Actually, she was the one person who appeared in front of Pinkie Pie and Muffin’s table shortly after, accompanied by Twilight. Usually, the others queued in line, and even the closest of friends, like Lyra and Sweetie Drops, took their tickets separately. Were they too scared? And if they were, of what? It seemed odd, but Pinkie Pie couldn’t find another explanation. “One ticket, please, Pinkie”, Sunset Shimmer said first. “For me as well”, Twilight went on. The young woman raised a puzzled eyebrow. “You haven’t found partners yet?” “The person who comes with me buys only one too”, they both said at the same time. They glanced at each other shily, and Pinkie Pie thought she saw Twilight’s cheeks slightly blushing. This was even more mysterious, the young woman thought while watching them getting away. She questioned Muffin about it, but the latter answered by a shrug. Nothing was weird in all that. They probably had talked together, and realized both their dance partners were too poor to buy two tickets, then decided to go together in order to avoid a feeling of humiliation. Unless it was a good example of progressivism in the very traditional and “old-fashioned” ways of Prom Balls. These were the conclusions Pinkie Pie drew. Nevertheless, despite those satisfying deductions, she kept on thinking it was strange that, except Rainbow Dash, none of their friends had wanted to tell her who they were coming to the ball with. And, she realized that she neither had told them about it… ------------------------------------ Rainbow Dash looked up from her cinema magazine and took a glimpse at Soarin, sitting a few inches away from her on his bed. He was plunged into the reading of a roman noir. Like often, talking was unnecessary between them, and they fed from the simple presence of each other. It had something comforting and mellow for the young woman, which was completely different from the sometimes electric, sometimes ice-cold mood in her own house. When she was with him, she felt safe and had the impression that nothing wrong could ever happen to her. It was soft and cozy, but never boring. Because despite it all, they worked with no predefined patterns and didn’t obey to a repetitive and monotonous routine. Conversely, improvision held a special place in their way of life. She closed her magazine, that she put by her side and slid closer to him, in order to read above his shoulder. The novel he was reading was a story of double and subterfuges, very “Vertigo” like, but which would have collided with “Psycho” as well, and Soarin already told her it was one of the most thrilling stories he ever read. Wrapped up in the story, he only moved when she took one of his arms and placed it around her shoulders, letting her head rest against his chest. It was something she often did, slipping herself between his arms, and embracing him from behind when he was busy doing something else. To be honest, he thought this to be pleasant, and even adorable, but kept from telling her, in order not to end up getting the opposite effect. He answered her with a smile, furtively stroke her cheek, before resuming his reading. It was short, yet, since Rainbow Dash expressed herself again by trying to tickle his sides. It meant she not only wanted to be closer to him, but that there was something she was expecting from him. He took time to read the end of his paragraph, before marking his page and ask her whether there was something she wanted to do. “In fact… I wanted to tell you about something.” “I’m listening.” Because he knew her, Soarin also knew what she had to say was nothing of a high importance. If it had been the case, he would have noticed some awkwardness just as soon as she would haven entered the room. She could try to hide her worries to the others, but it never escaped his notice. He knew her too well, and since too long to pass by a detail when she was nagged by an existential problem. But that wasn’t a reason for him to cut the matter short. If his attention was requested, his whole attention was given. His parents had educated him this way, telling him there was nothing that didn’t deserve him to involve a bit, especially when it came from persons he loved. “As you probably don’t know, my Prom Ball is this weekend. I was thinking that, maybe, you could come with me… Of course, nothing obliges you to.” “I’d be delighted to come with you.” “But?” “There’s no “but”, Dashie. What made you believe that?” “Well… You’re a college student. Which means you probably already went to a Prom Ball with Spitfire, your ex-girlfriend, and that maybe you don’t want to do this again. I mean… It’s not cheap, and everything, and it’s supposed to be an unforgettable memory and not two unforgettable memories.” She would probably not understand, but Soarin couldn’t help displaying a small forced laughter. Indeed, he already been through the “Prom Ball” thing, yet there were a few details about that that Rainbow Dash ignored. The story hadn’t quite happened the way he planned, to be honest. The young woman opened her eyes wide when she saw him laughing, and crossed her arms, almost upset by his reaction. It deserved a little explanation, that he was quick to give before it turned into a misunderstanding. “Do you remember when I told you I came upon Spitfire with my cousin Fleetfoot and that’s what marked the end of our story?” Rainbow Dash nodded, more relaxed thanks to this question. Many times, she had wondered how Soarin might have felt when he discovered he had been betrayed by two of the persons he trusted the most. How broken his heart probably had been, and how he probably had lost his faith in the world… In such a situation, she didn’t know how she would react. The sure thing was he had needed a lot of time before speaking to the two young women again, and he had held a severe grudge against them for more than a year. In fact, he even confessed he had done a few things he wasn’t particularly proud of, just to have his revenge. It was the darker side of him, which only appeared when he considered he had been dragged through the mud. “Well, it happened two days before Prom Ball. So, they went together there as a couple and I spent this night with a whisky bottle, on the high hill above Cloudsdale.” “Oh. I’m sorry for you”, Rainbow Dash replied. Now, she even felt guilty she had brought it up. She should have only asked her question, not trying to know more, it would have prevented her from bringing painful memories up to the surface. “It’s not a big deal, you know. Especially as now, I have a chance to make up for the injustice”, he said, intertwining their fingers. “Yes. It’s going to be awesome, you’ll see. And you’ll forget about the other one. But… I want to warn you I want all the cool stuff, like the limo and everything!” “Received loud and clear.” He pecked her lips, and she took back her magazine, while he resumed the reading of his novel, but not parting from their embrace. Although she seemed like reading, in reality Rainbow Dash now just couldn’t get her mind off of the Prom Ball. With the boy she loved and her dearest friends, she was sure to spend one of the most fantastic night of her life. Even if she felt a bit sad to bid High School goodbye, she knew the future was announced under the best auspices. It couldn’t be otherwise, since Dr. Horse had assured her the efforts she had made to be huge and that within a few additional months, one year at the max, she would be able to stop her therapy definitely.