//------------------------------// // Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Fallout // Story: Shut Up And Dance // by TheVClaw //------------------------------// Much like the previous two mornings, Manehattan was abuzz with energy and bustling ponies before the sun was even seen coming up from the sea. However, there were still many ponies who were either just getting up, or likely trying to sleep in their overpriced apartments. Two of those ponies, who had quite the eventful weekend together already, were still promptly passed-out as they laid in each other’s embrace. Even as the bright beam of sunlight started to shine in through the open window blinds, all it did was illuminate Elusive and Rainbow Blitz while they spooned in the unicorn’s bed soundlessly. Rainbow’s chin was resting atop his friend’s purple mane, and he snored rather faintly as a trickle of drool left a sizeable puddle on one of the plush suede pillows. As for Elusive, his forelegs were tightly wrapped around Blitz’s body while he slept with a blissful smile on his face. While his muzzle stayed contently buried within the pegasus’ thick tuft of chest fur, his head was resting at an angle so that his horn wouldn’t accidentally poke or impale Rainbow in his sleep. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like Blitz was discomforted in any way as he held onto Elusive just as soundly. If anyone were to walk in on the two in that moment, it would’ve been obvious just how close the two became the previous night. However, anyone with an acute sense of detail (or smell, probably) would’ve soon noticed that nothing too wild occurred after the two pounced onto each other in the bedroom. The couple may have acted impulsively passionate after that first kiss they shared in drunken embrace, but there were no clear signs that hinted to anything more than that among the unkempt bed. No condom wrappers could be seen on the floor, no bottles of lubricant were laying by the nightstand, and the only stain on Elusive’s bed was from Rainbow Blitz’s drool. Nevertheless, it was still fairly lucky that the two had the bedroom door locked, and the windows covered to avoid any prying eyes. Otherwise, things may have gotten pretty awkward when the main door of the apartment was unlocked. While the radio continued to play some Top 40 hit faintly from the living room, the sounds of a particular dragoness’ bare feet slapping against linoleum could be heard quite evidently. Fortunately for the stallions, it seemed that their unexpected guest was fine with staying in the kitchen for the time being. Barb, with granted permission by Dusk Shine, decided to give the dancing duo a surprise breakfast wake-up in celebration of their win the other day. Even though she knew better than to barge into someone else’s place without permission, she figured preparing the guys a homemade meal would make up for any awkwardness of her break-in. Not to mention, since she heard from Bubble Berry that Elusive’s kitchen was almost empty, the dragoness saw it as an obligation to come over and make them some proper omelettes. “Ooh!” Upon peeking into the unicorn’s fridge, Barb’s face lit up upon seeing what was inside one of the styrofoam take-out boxes left inside. “I don’t know who had teriyaki broccoli,” she said to herself with a shrug as she took the item out, and placed it next to her paper grocery bag of breakfast essentials, “but that’s going into the omelettes for sure!~” For a while, the sounds of Barb rifling through the kitchen could faintly be heard through the bedroom door nearby. Despite the occasional metallic clang or scrape, none of the noises from outside seemed to disturb Elusive’s slumber in the slightest. Instead, all the unicorn did was hum contently as he nestled in closer against his stallion’s slender chest. Meanwhile, Rainbow Blitz’s ears perked ever so slightly as his muzzle began to twitch. “Mmmnnnghhh…” As the stallion’s consciousness began to slowly return, his teeth soon gritted tightly as he groaned from the splitting headache that came alongside it. Due to how much both he and Elusive drank last night (not to mention over the weekend as a whole), it wasn’t surprising that the pegasus felt like complete shit as he began to wake up. However, despite how acute his senses became in all the wrong ways, it took a while for Rainbow Blitz to realize he wasn’t sleeping in a bed by himself. It also took the Wonderbolt a couple of minutes before he realized what he had latched against his chest wasn’t just a super-warm pillow. “Wha… What the…” Rainbow wasn’t able to open his eyes just yet, but he was able to overhear someone cooking in the kitchen. If he was in a less sickened state of mind, he would’ve just assumed that Elusive was cooking breakfast or something. Unfortunately, the pegasus’ hangover wasn’t enough to keep him from realizing that the very stallion was holding him tightly in his bed. Even if his eyes were tightly shut, Blitz would’ve recognized the unicorn’s cologne anywhere. By the time the smell of cooked egg and melted cheese began to permeate into the bedroom, Rainbow Blitz was finally able to slowly, and worriedly open his eyes. At first, his face carried a look of confusion as he glanced down at the stallion clinging to him, confirming the fact that he really was sharing a bed with Elusive. He blinked a couple times with a puzzled and groggy groan, clearly unable to think too hard while his head was throbbing in pain. Unfortunately, it didn’t take the stallion long to recall certain things. Things that caused his expression to slowly change from the baffled look he once had... He first recalled what happened at the club the previous night… Then, he remembered that conversation he had with Elusive out in the living room… Then that song came back into his head, ever so faintly alongside the other memories… By the time the heaviest recollection began to surface, Rainbow Blitz’s face started to carry a cold, unrelenting look of fear that turned his cyan face pale. His hooves began to shake in a panic while wrapped around Elusive’s back. As the events of last night fully began to resurface in his mind, Blitz began to hyperventilate while his body remained frozen in place. Despite how rapidly his heart was racing in his chest, it only barely overshadowed the nausea and headache that was keeping him from moving his body. Much like in one of those Dashing Dare novels, the pegasus felt like pulling himself from the bed would be next to impossible; that was, without the severe risk of throwing up on the floor or waking up the stallion spooning him. Of course, before he could contemplate any feasible course of action, Rainbow’s heart shot up to his chest as he heard Barb’s voice from the kitchen. “Hey, guys!” she shouted out happily, not seeming to realize the stallions were in the same bedroom. “I made you two some breakfast, so wake yourselves up!~” By that point, Elusive began to stir awake as well. While he let out a pleasantly calm sigh and nuzzled his partner’s chest, Rainbow’s reddened eyes shot wide-open while his pupils shrunk to the size of pin-pricks. “Oh shit,” he muttered in the faintest tone imaginable, which still projected how utterly scared he sounded in that moment. “Oh shit… ohshitohshitohshitohshit…” “Mmm?~” It was unclear how conscious Elusive was while his eyes were closed, but he was awake enough to make that faint response to his friend’s fretful mutterings. But alas, the unicorn still seemed rather peaceful as he continued hugging Blitz with a faint smile on his face. Meanwhile, Rainbow’s hangover wasn’t too debilitating to make him not notice how dreamily his friend seemed to act within his embrace. He wasn’t completely sure whether or not Elusive was into him, but his paranoia was sinking in quickly enough to make his eyes widen even more. Nausea or not, the stallion couldn’t deny how absolutely, royally screwed he felt as he realized what he got himself into. His throbbing head may have been burning up, and his stomach may have been doing cartwheels inside of him, but he was able to think everything over long enough before saying in a clear and definitive tone: “Oh… buck.” Meanwhile outside the room, Barb was just finishing up the garnish for two freshly-prepared plates of omelettes. “Hmm?” she asked as she glanced over to one of the closed doors with a raised brow. “Rainbow, is that you?” “AIEEE!!” THUMP!! Despite hearing what sounded to be Rainbow Bitz’s swear, she then heard a distinct shriek from Elusive before something fell to the floor. But before she could even process what was going on, the bedroom door burst open to reveal a sickly and freaked-out Rainbow. He was panting like the very act of getting out of bed was hard enough, and he had a hoof over his chest as he struggled to breathe properly. Meanwhile, his face was carrying a concerning shade of red as his eyes darted around the rest of the apartment. “W-Wait, Rainbow!” shouted Elusive from inside the bedroom, much to Barb’s surprise as her eyes widened a little. Upon hearing the unicorn’s panicked tone as well, Blitz tensed up for a second before he made a rushed beeline to the front door. Meanwhile, his partner could be heard struggling to get on his hooves while yelling in addition, “Rainbow, please! Just give me a moment to explain!” Barb had no idea what was going on, but her worried expression made it clear she was already making some bad assumptions. Rainbow Blitz didn’t say anything in response to his friend’s panicked words, and it seemed like he didn’t want to hear much else as he ran past Barb’s prepared setup. By the time Elusive was able to run out of the bedroom, his partner had already escaped the apartment like it was on fire. “RAINBOW!!” The unicorn wasn’t feeling much better than his friend, but he still tried to run to the open doorway and lean his head out. “RAINBOW, PLEASE COME BACK!!!” Unfortunately, it seemed that Elusive was too late to try and change Blitz’s mind. The front door of the building could be heard slamming open, indicating that the pegasus rushed out to run off to who-knows-where. After a long, arduously painful bout of silence, the white stallion backed from the doorway with a mortified expression on his face. He covered his muzzle with a hoof to try and muffle a sob, even though his beading eyes made it obvious how hurt he looked. His hind-legs buckled hard, almost as if the pain of rejection was leaving him barely able to even stand in place. By the time the unicorn was able to realize he wasn’t completely alone in the apartment, the front door had already closed on its own due to the weight. Meanwhile, Barb just stood awkwardly with a concerned, and slightly heartbroken look of her own. Despite wearing her nice apron and holding a spatula, she didn’t seem to want to advertise her cooking skills when she saw how upset Elusive looked. Instead, the dragoness just remained silent as a worried frown grew across her face, and she waited for the unicorn to finally take notice of her. Unfortunately, her expression grew more morose the instant she got a good look at the hungover stallion’s defeated, betrayed glance back at her. “... Ummmm…” Even though the last thing she wanted to do was speak up, let alone try to lighten the mood even the slightest bit, the drake weakly motioned her head over to the kitchen counter before asking with a wince, “You… You probably don’t want omelettes, do you…” Elusive may have already had a decent apartment in Manehattan, but Prince Dusk Shine wasn’t one to try and intrude on his friend’s resources when he had more than enough of his own. It may have cost a stupendous amount of bits overall, but the Alicorn spared no expense when he purchased hotel suites for himself, his friends, and the families of Apple Buck and Twinkle Toes for the weekend. Fortunately, it didn’t seem any regrets were to be had as the ponies took full advantage of their temporary housings in such a well-off city. By the time Apple Buck and his family were all awake, breakfast was in full-swing as Twinkle’s parents worked in the kitchen alongside Grampy Smith. While the couple cheerfully prepared some healthier options for the kids and Applejack, the elderly stallion was preoccupied with the deep-fryer he brought with him from Ponyville. Even though Curtain Call and Press Bar were fairly hesitant about Grampy Smith frying up apple fritters as a breakfast item, neither of them could really complain when he insisted it was solely for the winning dancers as a celebration treat. Of course, by the time breakfast was nearly complete, the old pony had obviously lied about his claims as judged by the massive pile of fritters he fried up behind their backs. Meanwhile, Applejack trotted out from the bathroom with a satisfied smile on his face, and a plush-looking bathrobe donned over his half-dried fur. “Whoo!” he exclaimed with a giddy shiver as he went and re-donned his Stetson. “Ah gotta say, that there steam shower is somethin’ else!” “I know, right?!” replied Scootaroll with a bewildered smirk of his own. He and the other kids were already seated around the kitchen table of the surprisingly spacious penthouse. Despite how tempting the food being prepared looked from the kitchen, over half of the complementary fruit-bowl’s contents were already being devoured by the kids while the pegasus replied, “Honestly though? I’m not sure what to think about that hose thingy on the toilet.” “You mean the bidèt?” chirped Silver Bell quite happily as he looked up at him and finished chewing his pear. After swallowing a mouthful, the little unicorn added with a shrug, “Elusive has one of those in his personal bathroom. I’ve used it before, and it’s great! I don’t even have to wipe afterward.” While Apple Buck tried to stifle a giggle with a hoof over his mouth, Twinkle Toes groaned a little as she put down her half-eaten banana. “Silver, c’mon now,” piped up Press Bar as he looked back at the table of kids. “We’re just about to eat.” “I’m just saying, it’s really convenient!” BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG!!! A massively loud and rapid barrage of bangs at the front door caused everypony to jolt in shock. Grampy Smith almost spilled the last of the basket of fritters, but Curtain Call was quick to catch him before he could slip on the floor. One of the bedroom doors opened as Macarena and Toffee bursted out, clearly disheveled and not expecting to be interrupted so early. While Applejack went towards the front door to see who it was, Scootatoll snickered a little as he peered back at Silver Bell to whisper, “Maybe it’s the potty police.” The unicorn colt huffed with a roll of his eyes while the others giggled to Scoot’s reply. Meanwhile, Applejack was just about to peer through the peephole when he heard Blitz’s voice call out frantically from the other side, “AJ! AJ, you in there!? Open up, I need some help!” Applejack’s eyes widened in worry, and he quickly went to unlock the door. While everypony else were focused on what was happening with the Elements, the two mares quickly brushed down their messy manes and fur so they wouldn’t appear so obvious. Fortunately, none of the other ponies paid much attention to them as the girls sat down silently alongside the kids. Of course, the instant Applejack opened the door to reveal the very hungover and unkempt pegasus, Macarena and her marefriend looked fairly decent by comparison. Blitz’s widened eyes were as red as Buck’s mane, and he looked like he ran through a carriage-wash with how matted and sweat-stained his coat looked. “What in tarnation!?” shouted AJ in shock when he saw how his friend looked. “Rainbow, what the heck did ya do?! Flush yourself down a toilet or someth--HEY!!” Before the farmpony could finish his insult, Rainbow Blitz noticed Twinkle’s parents and rushed into the penthouse uninvited. Despite how mangled he may have looked, the pegasus was nimble enough to not only slip past his friend towards the kitchen in record time, but also grab both of the stallions and pull them out of the hotel room. Since Applejack tried to catch Rainbow when he ran into the kitchen, the doorway was left wide-open as the Wonderbolt escaped the stallion’s grasp. “HEY!!” Applejack wasn’t sure how the heck Blitz was able to get past him so easily, especially with two other ponies who were pulled out with him by surprise. But by the time the three stallions were gone with the slamming of the door, AJ looked utterly puzzled as he stood before the door and blinked repeatedly. After a moment, he looked around the hotel room at all of the other baffled ponies, mostly to make sure he wasn’t the only one who saw what his friend managed to do. “Ummm… did Rainbow Blitz just kidnap my Dads?” asked Twinkle worriedly. Grampy seemed just as puzzled as everypony else, but he was the first to look past it as he shrugged and grabbed his plate full of fritters. “Welp, let’s hope he ain’t askin’ for a ransom for them health-nuts. Now, who wants some fritters while they ain’t here?” Twinkle just gawked at Grampy with an offended look, but everyone else at the table raised their hooves rather quickly. Meanwhile, Applejack reopened the door to look out into the now empty hallway. “Oh, great,” he muttered with a bitter scowl on his face. “Just what in Equestria did that dingleberry do now?” Back at Elusive’s apartment, Barb was fortunate enough to know the stallion would need to talk with someone other than her. She may have felt hurt at seeing her friend so upset (not to mention the fact that her breakfast was completely ignored), she used an emergency scroll and her fire breath to contact Dusk for some much-needed assistance. While the unicorn disappeared back into the bedroom to wallow in his hungover sorrows, only a few minutes passed between that scroll being sent, and the arrival of one of their friends. The drake should’ve been surprised that it was Butterscotch who arrived to the apartment instead of Dusk Shine, but she was feeling too down to really pay attention as she helped herself to Blitz’s untouched omelette. “I-I came as fast as I could!” blurted the yellow pony as he bursted in and tried to catch his breath. “I… I convinced Dusk to let me come by myself. Is… Is Elusive alright?” Instead of saying anything, Barb just pointed over to the closed bedroom door where muffled sobbing could be heard. Upon hearing how distressed the unicorn sounded, Butterscotch put a hoof to his muzzle as he winced in pity. “Oh dear,” he muttered before he took a breath, and slowly made his way towards the door. Before he could try to enter the room, the pegasus paused briefly and asked back towards Barb, “Ummm… did Elusive tell you anything?” The dragoness sighed and shook her head while keeping her sights on the half-eaten plate before her. “No,” she said in a flat and tired tone of voice. “But I won’t eavesdrop. Trust me, by this point, I’d rather not learn too much…” Butterscotch’s ears dropped down worriedly as he stared back at the drake, clearly concerned that she was depressed over what was happening with her friends. But alas, the continuing sounds of Elusive’s crying prompted him to huff and leave her be for now. “W-Well, I really do appreciate you asking for Elusive’s help, Barb. I’ll be sure to owe you one.” Despite how genuinely Butterscotch made that statement, Barb only nodded her head silently while eating her omelette. The stallion then exhaled warily before turning back to the door, and giving a faint knock. “Ummm… Elusive?” he whispered in a tone just audible enough for the unicorn inside to overhear. As soon as he heard a faint pause in the sniffling through the door, Butterscotch said cautiously, “It’s only me, I swear. Can… Can you please let me in? I really want us to talk about what happened…” For a long, arduous moment of time, Butterscotch didn’t hear anything from the other side of the door. Instead of any sobs or sniffles, all that the stallion could overhear was the sound of Barb eating behind him. Meanwhile, the drake was just looking more decomposed by the second as she tried to pretend she wasn’t paying attention to Elusive’s struggles. If Butterscotch wasn’t so focused on the stallion’s well-being, he may have been able to notice that Barb was at least slightly aware of what may have been going on between Elusive and his dancing partner. But nevertheless, the tone was just vacantly awkward by the time the pegasus sighed, and heard the faintest hoofsteps through the other side of that door. Elusive didn’t say anything, or even open the door himself to invite Butterscotch inside. However, he did unlock the knob with a distinct click, silently indicating that his friend was allowed in. After one last glance back at Barb, who just waved her claw without even looking back at him, the pegasus breathed out apprehensively as he opened the door and went inside. By the time he locked the door behind him upon entering, he saw that Elusive was back in his bed; like a moth within a cocoon, the unicorn was wrapped tightly in his comforter while the curtains were shut, and a notable puddle of his tears were soaked in the mattress beneath his hung head. “Oh, Elusive…” Butterscotch looked like he was about to cry, and carefully got himself into bed so he could hug the outside of Elusive’s cocoon. The white pony didn’t say anything, but he sniffed a little harder as he leaned in to nestle his head against Butterscotch’s tufted chest. Despite feeling his friend’s tears quickly soaking into his fur, the yellow stallion didn’t seem to mind in the slightest as he held him tight and began to pet his mane. “Elusive, I’m so sorry…” He closed his eyes for a moment as he tried to focus on his hug, not wanting to upset his friend any more by trying to ask what specifically occurred. However, after about a minute of silence, he heard Elusive’s voice come out in a faint, muffled creak through his blanket. “I… I love him… I love him so much, Scotch…” “Shhhhhh… I know…” Butterscotch held his friend even tighter as his chin rested atop the unicorn’s head. “I know that you love him, Elusive. I promise you, nopony would judge you for that…” “B… B-But…” Elusive may have known that his friend was trying his hardest to be there for him, but his face tightly scrunched in before he said with a heartbroken voice. “... but he did…” Upon saying that devastating statement out loud, the unicorn knew that the floodgates couldn’t stand any longer. As soon as Butterscotch tightened his grip around him, Elusive buried his face into his friend’s chest before bawling out uncontrollably. Even with how much that blanket and Butterscotch’s body muffled his cries, his heartfelt sobs could still be heard clear as day through the door. Barb, who was already too upset herself, ended up needing to leave the apartment so she wouldn’t start crying as well; unfortunately, the little dragoness couldn’t keep a couple tears from streaming down her face by the time she exited through the front door. “Elusive…” Butterscotch felt more than a little distressed as he held onto the sobbing stallion and tried to keep him in his grasp. However, he tried to keep his cracking voice as affirmative as possible as he asked, “I… I know this going to be a lot to ask, but… but do you think you can tell me what happened? I just… I feel like it’s important to know what he did.” A strong, shaky exhale escaped Elusive’s muzzle as he struggled to control his sobbing. Even though he knew how hard it was going to be to recount all the events from last night, both from the pain of the conclusion and how hazy his drunken recollection would likely be, the stallion was also aware how dangerous bottling up his emotions could be. Not to mention, after all that occurred over the past couple weeks, he trusted Butterscotch strongly enough to know he wouldn’t try to hurt him for admitting anything too truthful. So after taking his time to control his breathing, Elusive was abe to calm himself down enough to let out a smooth, albeit faint exhale. While his eyes remained closed, and the fur beneath his cheeks were heavily matted in tears, the stallion’s muzzle opened with a weak tremble as he spoke timidly. “Rai… Rainbow and I… W-We went to that club with the Hoofingtons last night…” Back at the hotel the rest of the group were staying at, Applejack ended up leaving the room after almost twenty minutes had passed. While he didn’t want to think Twinkle Toes’ parents were actually hurt or in danger, he really didn’t like the fact that Rainbow Blitz just swiped them before breakfast for no reason like some masked fox. He had originally figured that his friend just wanted to borrow the Dads for five or ten minutes at most; unfortunately, by the time most of the remaining group were finished with their breakfast, AJ figured it was best to investigate before their daughter got too worried. Luckily for the farmpony, he didn’t have to go past the ground floor lobby to notice that notorious prismatic mane. The instant Applejack got off the elevator, he was able to see Blitz seated at one of the breakfast bar tables with Twinkle’s Dads. Instead of just storming up to the table to see what was happening, the orange stallion decided to keep his distance as he stood just out of reach by the front desk. It wasn’t until he reached the coffee machine by the back wall that he was able to vaguely hear his friend whispering about something; he wasn’t able to catch that many specific words, but he could tell that whatever Blitz was talking about was leaving him mighty flustered. “Hmmm…” Applejack narrowed his eyes in suspicion as he tried to eavesdrop from behind a marble column a few tables away from the three. From his angle, he was able to see that Rainbow Blitz looked unbelievably stressed as he tried talking to the couple; the pegasus’ dilated eyes had heavy lines underneath them, and his face looked oddly pale as he tried to sit with his hind-legs twitching antsily. Meanwhile, Press Bar and Curtain Call seemed rather peeved as they sat in silence, listening to Blitz’s frantic words while carrying flat stares on their faces. Applejack wasn’t sure why Twinkle’s parents seemed so upset (aside from being pulled away from the breakfast they made), but it seemed that Rainbow Blitz’s reason for talking to them wasn’t helping their mood too much. After huffing softly through his nostrils, AJ’s muzzle shifted as he tried to ascertain why Blitz seemed so weirded-out. While his eyes were peered at those three, the stallion didn’t seem to notice the similarly orange-coated colt come up underneath him. Scootaroll’s head poked out from the column beneath Applejack’s, but he tried to be discrete as he whispered up at him, “What’s going on?” “GNNNGH!” Applejack quickly jolted back out of sight alongside Scootaroll, and were luckily unnoticed by the table they were spying on. As soon as he realized who followed him down to the lobby, the stallion shot an annoyed glare down at him. “Scoot, what the heck are ya doin?!” he hissed as he looked around frantically, hopeful that the other Cutie Mark Cavaliers weren’t around to do Solaris-Knows-What to this nice lobby. “You need to go back to your room!” “Hey, I wanted to see what was up with Blitz too!” Scootaroll whispered back towards AJ. After looking around himself to make sure they weren’t causing a scene, the little pegasus shrugged and added, “Plus, Twinkle asked me to come down to make sure her Dads were okay.” Even though he didn’t want to foalsit one of the CMC colts more than he already had to, Applejack sighed and rolled his eyes. “Well… Oh, alright,” he said in a hushed and sightly defeated tone. “Just keep yourself quiet, alright?” The colt nodded with a prideful smile, before pulling his hoof down his face to reveal a more determined look of focus. AJ didn’t take much notice to that, and just looked back around the column to try and overhear the table. Scootaroll did the same while his head was underneath the stallion’s. “Uuuughhhhhh…” Rainbow Blitz groaned as he slumped his head forward and rubbed his temple with a hoof. Due to his still-throbbing headache, the cold reception he was getting from Twinkle’s Dads wasn’t helping how terrible he felt in a physical sense. Nevertheless, he still sighed as he tried to maintain some sort of good-will with the stallions for the sake of his mental well-being. “Guys, I… I know you’re not happy with me, alright? And… And you have every right to be pissed-off. I’m not saying you don’t. I just… I really need your advice on this.” Curtain Call kept his forelegs crossed over his chest as he leaned his head back, and whinnied in tired frustration. Press Bar, who seemed to be in a slightly less upset mood, shrugged his head ever so slightly as he lit his horn and took a sip of his orange juice. “Alright,” began the yellow stallion as he sighed softly, and kept his eyes peered on Blitz’s dire expression. “Listen, Rainbow… I can tell just from looking at you that you needed to talk with somepony. And believe me, I do think it’s important that you’re doing that. However…” Upon hearing that last word’s inflection, Rainbow couldn’t help but wince as he leaned against one of his forelegs propped against the table. Meanwhile, the brown stallion beside his husband decided to add his input as he pulled his head back down with a sharp exhale. “Look,” began Curtain Call with a much blunter tone of voice, “if what you told us about what happened is true, then I don’t think we’re the ponies you should be talking with right now.” “Well, who the buck else am I supposed to talk to!?” Blitz blurted angrily, which caused both stallions to instantly grow pissed expressions on their faces. Fortunately, Rainbow was quick to cover his face with a cringe and groan regrettably. “Sorry, I’m sorry,” he muttered with a weak shake of his head, before sighing and putting his hoof back down to speak directly. “I know you two are still mad about my language, okay? I didn’t mean to do that, and I really am trying to stop. A lot of stuff happened back at that last show, but I really am sorry.” While Applejack tilted his head in confusion while listening in, Scootaroll’s brows rose as he spoke in a faint whisper. “Ohhhhhhh… I think they’re still mad about that Las Pegasus thing.” “Las Pegasus?” asked AJ confusedly as he glanced down at the colt. “What’s that gotta do with…” Fortunately, a brief pause was all the stallion needed before he realized just what Scootaroll meant. Given what Rainbow just said about language, the farmpony could easily guess that Curtain Call and Press Bar were upset about. Upon recalling the ungodly long tirade of swears Rainbow displayed towards the Shim Sham Sisters back at that stadium (along with all of the vividly immoral things he screamed about what should happen to them in prison), Applejack winced a little as he tried to refocus on their table. “Ooooohhh… Okay, yeah…” Press Bar was the first to respond to Blitz after exhaling sharply in annoyance. “Look, I can honestly say I do believe you when you say you’re sorry,” he said in a genuine, but still bitterly stern tone, “But you have to understand why we’re both mad at you after you said all those things for our daughter to overhear.” While Blitz covered his face with a hoof in remorse, he could only nod his head before hearing Curtain Call add, “Not to mention, we managed to keep her from learning a lot of cuss words ourselves. So heaving you scream out the C-word at the top of your lungs thirty-something times is pretty hard to explain on our end.” “Yes, I get it!” shouted Blitz as he threw his hooves down and stared back at the two insistently. Even though he didn’t necessarily regret verbally bashing those twins for all they were worth, Blitz was able to say with utmost honesty, “And I swear, I would’ve NEVER said those things if I knew the kids were still in earshot, okay?! I’ve already apologized twenty times to you two over it! I’m not asking you to instantly forgive me or anything! I just really, REALLY need your guys’ help on what I’m supposed to do right now!” Despite their justified feelings against the pegasus, the two stallions could see clear as day that Rainbow Blitz was desperate for their advice. Of course, since they heard the entirety of Blitz’s recount of the events before AJ and Scoots came down, the husbands were fairly certain that Rainbow only sought for their help because they were the only gay couple he was aware of. Nevertheless, Curtain Call was able to think it over quickly enough to try and respond after a brief huff. “Rainbow… don’t you think that you should be talking with Elusive about this?” Rainbow groaned and rolled his eyes, not needing to say out-loud that he wasn’t a fan of that option. However, Press Bar quickly added with an insistent point of his hoof towards the pegasus, “Don’t you roll your eyes like that towards us! We’re being serious right now!” “I know! Ughhh…” Blitz closed his eyes and huffed as he tried not to scoff like a stubborn child. “I just… I-I really don’t think that’s the best option right now.” “Well, why not?!” asked Press Bar with a genuine look of confusion. “This is about him, remember? At the end of the day, he’s the one you need to communicate with!” “Not to mention, it’s a better option than just running out on him,” added Curtain Call rather harshly. “I mean, do you really expect to ignore him forever? Because unless you quit the competition, you’re still his dancing partner.” “HRRNNGHHH!!” Rainbow Blitz’s frustration intensified greatly as he hung his head low, and tried to conceal his overwhelmed grimace by hiding behind his forelegs. While his elbows were propped against the table, his hooves were gripped tightly on his mane in an effort to keep himself in control. Unfortunately, all it did was make him look like an unstable lunatic as he sat across from the waiting couple. As the pegasus struggled to think among his hangover and unwavering conflictions, Applejack and Scootaroll just watched from behind the column while carrying worried expressions of their own. After a sudden and painful-sounding sigh, Rainbow dropped his hooves while trying to breathe normally. His face carried a strong look of fear beneath his paled fur, making him appear very different from the overconfident Wonderbolt he usually was. He couldn’t bear to look either of the ponies in the eyes, but they could tell that he seemed legitimately unsure what to do next. Press Bar and Curtain Call glanced back at each other for a second in contemplation, with both of them knowing they couldn’t just brush away the panicked worries of a stallion who looked so… scared. By the time the two turned their focus back onto Blitz, with each of them carrying softer looks of compassion on their silent expressions, Rainbow was fidgeting his hooves as he struggled to speak somewhat clearly. “I… I know that I should talk to him,” he confessed in an honest, albeit timid tone of voice. “A-And… And I know I can’t just hide from him after… after what we did…” Applejack and Scootaroll didn’t have any context to know what their friend was talking about, but they could see that whatever it was left the pegasus feeling unbelievably distressed. As he sat with his lip bitten tightly in affliction, Rainbow squirmed uncomfortably while trying not to look back at the couple listening to him. Fortunately for him, Press Bar and Curtain Call didn’t show any looks of judgement or impatience on their faces. Instead, the two just waited in understanding as they allowed the cyan stallion the chance to speak at his own pace. “I just… I don’t know what to do, alright? A-And… And it’s not like I know what I would say to him after all that. I mean… I feel like everything just… It happened way too fast…” Even though he knew better than to say anything too soon, Curtain Call huffed before he replied with a smirk, “Heh~ I bet that’s the first time you ever said that, Fly-Boy.” Blitz would’ve shot the Earth pony a heavy glare, but he looked up just as he saw Curtain’s husband nudge him sharply with his elbow. The brown stallion winced and rubbed his side with a small scowl, which was ignored by Press Bar as he looked back at Blitz and said, “It’s alright, Rainbow. You can keep going.” Even though he was still a little unnerved, Rainbow nodded weakly before taking another breath. He looked down at his hooves as he tried to speak in a clearer tone than before. “Well, I… I kinda feel like maybe… maybe he was wanting that to happen... And it just...” Blitz’s pause lasted even longer that time, and he lowered his head as he closed his eyes and took a heavy breath. Press Bar, whose muzzle was skewed with a more pitying expression, reached his hoof out to rest atop Rainbow’s. As soon as the pegasus glanced up at him, the yellow pony asked curiously, “And… it just what, Rainbow?” He didn’t try to pull Press Bar’s hoof off of his own, but he still sighed as he looked away from him and answered, “I don’t know. I just… I feel like everything happened without me really thinking about it, and I… I don’t think I’m the same level as he is, you know? I… I kinda feel like... he has his mind made up about things…” Press Bar’s lips pursed shut in slight worry, getting a fair idea on how confused the Wonderbolt may have felt about his actions the night before. Curtain Call seemed similarly understanding, and breathed out before trying to finish Blitz’s thoughts. “And… you’re not so sure how to process it all just yet, right?” “Y-Yeah,” admitted Rainbow as he leaned back in his chair, which gave Press Bar the subtle hint to let go of his hooves. As he rested against the back of his seat with his forelegs cradled to his chest, Blitz looked down at himself and shook his head in puzzlement. “I mean… I do care about Elusive. Like… I care about him a lot. He’s one of my best friends, for crying out loud! I just… I don’t know what the b… w-what the heck to do from here.” Curtain Call nodded silently as he grew a fairer expression in response to Rainbow’s choice of words. “Well… I can’t say that neither of us are able to understand your quandary, Rainbow. I mean… It definitely seems like you have a lot to think about.” “Yeah. I… I do…” Even though he was still rightfully frazzled by everything that transpired, the stunt-pony kept his eyes closed as he said firmly, “But… I really don’t know if I can face him right now. I just… I need to think things over some more…” The ponies across from him could tell that he was adamant about that detail, and were fairly certain he wouldn’t back down from it. However, they also knew better than to just leave the stallion be when he wasn’t the only one coping with the same issues. So despite their understanding of Blitz’s woes, Curtain Call leaned in and said with utmost insistence, “Rainbow, if you need time to think everything over, you have every reason to do so. But right now, Elusive needs to know you’re not going to leave him for good. Because the longer you ignore him, the harder it’ll be to get things settled out in the end.” “He’s right,” added Press Bar with a tentative nod to his husband’s point. “You can at least let him know you need some time alone or something. Don’t just ghost him after everything you two did last night. He needs to know you still care about him as a friend.” Applejack may have not been an egghead like Dusk, but he still understood enough of that conversation to realize what may have been going on with Blitz and Elusive. Meanwhile, Scootaroll just tilted his head in confusion. “Wait, what the hay actually happened?” he asked quietly before looking up to the farmpony’s wide-eyed expression. “Ummm… you should head back up to the room,” he whispered back to Scoot assuredly. “Ah’ll make sure they get back upstairs soon enough, okay?” Even though he was still unsure what was going on, the colt was able to see that AJ wasn’t likely to explain anything regarding their friend anytime soon. So despite his hesitancy, Scootaroll huffed with a pout before nodding silently. As the little pegasus began to make his leave, Applejack turned back to the table to hear the remainder of their discussion. “I know, but I… What am I supposed to say?!” blurted Rainbow with an exasperated tone of voice towards the couple. “You expect me to just go up to Elusive and be like ‘Hey, I know we just did a bunch of stuff best friends don’t usually do, and I’m pretty sure you have feelings for me, but can you leave me alone for a while and NOT get super upset?!’ I mean… I can’t just hurt him like that!” “Well,” responded Press Bar with a meager shrug, “leaving him the instant you woke up probably hurt him a lot too.” Of all the things that could’ve made Rainbow Blitz cringe, that statement probably did it the hardest. As the pegasus hissed and turned away from the two, Curtain Call added, “Not to mention, there’s a good chance that he’s just as worried about you as you are about him. He should at least know you’re alright.” After letting out a long and strained exhale, Rainbow Blitz hung his head before nodding meekly to the brown stallion’s advice. “Yeah, I… I suppose he does deserve that…” By that point, Applejack felt like he didn’t need to eavesdrop anymore. As he pulled away from the column with an uneasy expression, the stallion shook his head while processing everything he learned about his friend. “Jeese Louise,” he muttered as he began to walk away from the table. “And Ah thought my relationship was weird…”