Ponyville looked completely different from what I remembered. I'm not sure how they managed to set up in a two-day time frame, but there were games and other various attractions everywhere. Foals were enjoying themselves on some of the rides available. There were couples everywhere enjoying each other's company. Part of me hoped that others wouldn't see me with Thunder and assume we were just another couple, but another part felt it wouldn't be so bad.
Thunder stopped to examine one game in particular. There were cups spread around in a square. The center cup had a small bowl on top of it. I had seen something like it before. Land a ball in one of the cups, and you win a goldfish. I've never seen the bowl in the center before, though.
"Um... Hello," Fluttershy said, appearing from the side. She appeared to be the one in charge of the stand.
"Hi," Thunder returned.
"Would you like to play?" Fluttershy asked.
"I could go for a round," Thunder said.
"Two bits for a round, if that's okay with you," Fluttershy said. Thunder gave her two bits, and she gave him five ping pong balls.
"Would you like me to explain the game?" she asked.
"No, thanks," he replied. He tossed the first ball, and it bounced off of a cup and off the table. Two more followed along, hitting cups in different regions. The fourth ball hit the bottom of a cup and bounced right back out.
"That one was really close," Fluttershy commented. Thunder appeared deep in concentration. He tossed the final ball. It landed right in the center bowl.
"Looks like you won the grand prize," Fluttershy said. She went behind the stand, hidden from my view. She returned after a few seconds with a cute black bunny. Seeing what Thunder had won, I wanted to go a round now, just so I could get a bunny of my own. "Congratulations," she said, handing the bunny over to Thunder.
Before I could give my bits for a round, Thunder held the bunny out towards me. "For you, Pepper," he said. I reached out for it, allowing it to hop on my hooves. It rubbed it's cheek to mine as it passed before climbing onto my back. It curled up into a ball and fell fast asleep on my back. I gave Thunder a quick hug, careful not to wake my new bunny.
"Her name's Daisy," Fluttershy said. "And it looks like she likes you. Take good care of her."
"I will," I said. I couldn't hide my joy if I wanted to. Daisy was the cutest thing I have ever seen. I watched her as she slept on my back. I didn't notice that Thunder disappeared until he came back to get me.
"You know, there's much more to do tonight than just this," he said. He turned back and began walking towards another activity. I followed him closely, Daisy sitting on my back.
I noticed he was leading me to something I was unfamiliar with. The first thing I saw was four ponies split into teams of two tossing something at each other. Closer inspection revealed they were tossing bean bags, and they were aimed at a board propped up on one side. Each side had a board, and each board had a hole near the upper part.
On one side, Applejack and her older brother, whose name I didn't know. On the other side, Stella and Cherry. Stella and Cherry alternated throwing a bag onto the board between the Apple family until they each tossed two. The Apples did the same to the board between Stella and Cherry. Some bags stayed on the board. Some went into the hole. Some touched the ground, but they were removed immediately.
They repeated the pattern several times, each time a scoreboard in the back was updated. Stella and Cherry finally managed a score of 21, and the match was called.
"Up for a round?" Thunder asked unexpectedly, reminding me that he was next to me. I figured I had learned enough from watching Stella and Cherry versus the Apples. I nodded, and he led the way to the board the Apples occupied moments before. The scoreboard was reset.
"Pepper!" Stella called out. "Glad to see you're enjoying the night rather than questioning Ace."
"Thunder convinced me," I said. "I'm sure Cres can handle Ace."
Stella tossed over a bean bag, which landed on the board. "Even so, we would all probably be better off if we just forgot about it." Cherry tossed over one of her bags, which slid off just enough to touch the ground. Thunder took it off the board and placed it beside it. They each threw another, Stella's landing on the board and Cherry's landing in the hole.
"I'll go first," Thunder said. He tossed one, which landed in the hole. I tossed one, and it slid off the top. Thunder threw another, which hung halfway into the hole. I tossed again, and knocked Thunder's into the hole. The scoreboard was updated, showing that we led 7-5.
Daisy didn't want to be left out. At her request, I let her toss one. It landed right in between the two boards. After that, Daisy decided not to try anymore. The game lasted a few minutes, the final score being 17-22.
"Go again?" Cherry said. We both agreed for another round. Instead of one more, we ended up having many more. We won some, but lost the majority of them. At some point during the sixth match, Daisy managed to sneak under the opponent's board. Stella pulled her out with magic after she tried to drag a bean bag into the hole.
"I'm done," I said after countless rounds. I don't know how much time passed, but I could tell that what Luna said was true. The moon really does get smaller as the night goes on.
"I'm done, too," Stella said. "What should we do next?"
"I think I'm going to head home," I said. I was actually pretty tired, and I still had to get Daisy settled in. "I'm just going to pay Fluttershy a visit first."
"I'll come with you," Thunder said. We went back to the activity Fluttershy was running.
"Oh, hello again!" She said upon noticing us.
"Hi," I said. "I was just wondering. Do you have a bed or something for Daisy to sleep on?"
"Um, no, I don't," Fluttershy replied. "But my friend, Rarity, can make you one."
"Great, where is she now?" I asked.
"She's, um, out of town. She should be back tomorrow, though."
"Alright, thank you. Looks like you're sleeping with me tonight," I said to Daisy. She responded with a cute squeak and a smile.
I started on my way home, Thunder right beside me. "I didn't think I would, but I enjoyed spending the night with you," I said to him. "How's your wing?"
"It still hurts if I move it too fast," he said, stretching it out. "But other than that, it's like nothing even happened." He folded his wing back up. "And what did happen... may not have been entirely accidental."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Well," he stared, hesitating a little, "I saw you and Crescent walking. That distracted me a bit, and Firefly bumped into me. While I could've easily recovered, I decided not to, since I was heading right towards you."
"So you meant to hit me?"
"No, just catch your attention. And I may have exaggerated my pain a bit. Don't get me wrong, my wing actually did hurt. But I could've easily walked home on my own."
"Then why didn't you?" I asked, even though I had an idea of what he might say. He stopped and hesitated some before answering.
"Because I wanted you to hold me, Pepper," he said, "and I knew you would probably leave me alone if I could walk."
And it was true. I would have left him. After hearing this revelation, though, I'm glad he feigned his pain. I pushed against Thunder, and he put his wing around me. Daisy jumped onto his wing and curled up on his back. We continued onward to my house.
When we finally arrived, I saw Ace about to knock on my door. "Ace?" I called out.
"Pepper," he returned. "Can we talk?"
"Can it wait till morning?" I asked. "I'm pretty tired right now."
"I guess it can," he said. "Good night."
"You too," I said before Ace walked away.
"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then?" Thunder asked.
"Of course," I said. "Good night, Thunder." I slipped out from under his wing and opened my door. Daisy jumped from Thunder's back to mine.
"Good night, Pepper," he said before walking off. I shut the door behind me and went to my room. Daisy jumped right onto my bed and made herself comfortable. I climbed in and did the same. Daisy pushed herself under my hoof, to which I did not object. I slowly drifted off to sleep, the events of the night still fresh on my mind.
I was watching the race from Thunder's perspective. He looked down and saw me and Cres walking. Firefly knocked him off course. He started to stabilize, but instead dropped. He landed on his back. Instead of his wing hurting, it was his hoof. The pain didn't recede as I woke up.
I was so tired that I forgot to take my bracelets off. Gently pushing Daisy away, I took them off and set them on the nightstand. They left a mark on my hoof. I pulled Daisy back towards me, which caused her to stir. I really should remember to take my bracelets off next time, I thought to myself.