The Other Earth

by hunterz263


Chapter 8: Party - Part Two

Your perception of the world was frozen still in time. You could not hear ponies around you lightly trotting towards the center of the party. All you could do was see Zach, Twilight and Silver turn to you in worry. Your face burned with the brilliance of a thousand suns and your heart skipped beat multiple times; you swear they could see your heart beating through your clothes.

Your thoughts struggled as you began to question why Rainbow Dash asked that question and turned towards you at the same time. Did she already know? How could she already sense your attraction to her? Were you that obvious? What did she think? Was she just being a cruel tease?

After what felt like years of silence, you finally stutter out the word yes. Rainbow Dash smiles and giggled – that oh so wonderful giggle – at your stuttering.

“Gosh, your face is more red than Applejack’s freshest apples! Relax, it’s a party!” Rainbow Dash gave you a nudge, nearly causing you to lose your balance and fall flat on your rear. Thankfully, you were so stiff, you barely moved and inch. Finally, you swallowed and said yes with more confidence.

Rainbow Dash smiled and patted your shoulder. “You really need to work on your confidence, but sure, I’ll dance with ya.” Score! You were feeling so anxious and hearing Rainbow Dash agree to a dance did not help, but at least you were not holding in your breath anymore.

Silver Java, Twilight and Zach all chuckle at your embarrassment, with Zach taking the most pleasure from it. However, you notice Silver Java has scooted a little closer to you. Why did she do that you wonder? Thankfully, Rainbow Dash did not notice, so you were spared that round of embarrassment.

“Well, I think it’s time to head into the party!” Twilight said.

“I concur.” Zach said, smiling towards Twilight who looked impressed.

“What’s with that fancy egghead word?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking confused by the simple word concur. Maybe this was your chance to prove to Rainbow Dash you were intelligent!

“It-“ You were about to reply when Silver replied.

“It means he agrees with her, Rainbow Dash. Even a simple foal knows what concur means.” Silver Java says, shaking her head towards Rainbow Dash.

“Only egghead foals know that word.” Rainbow Dash says, feeling a little abashed by the way her voice trailed off.

The five of you walk towards the center of the party, where a considerable number of ponies and humans are standing, talking about random topics. You look at all the ponies and notice almost every single one is relaxed, not nervous at all about an alien species being on their planet. You slightly smile at that and feel just a tiny bit better about being at a party.

You look around and see massive truss rods holding up massive lights that still remained off. Some had four in one, while others were strange looking lights. You could clearly see the DJ booth that was set up, and you saw a certain white unicorn preparing her records. Massive speakers were to the sides, giving you a small sense of dread. Hopefully you would not be deaf after this party.

One thing you clearly did not miss was the massive food table that was filled with all sorts of interesting and new foods. There was also a gargantuan cake – biggest you have ever seen – in the center of the table, with the words “welcome humans” written on it with pink frosting. You licked your lips at how delicious the cake looked. There was also a massive fountain pouring what you assumed was punch. You wonder how the human and Pinkie Pie managed to set up this gargantuan party this fast. It did not last long as you remember it is Pinkie Pie. Her powers will forever be a mystery.

“I must say, this is rather impressive. I wasn’t expecting the party to be this big…” Zach said, trailing off as he gazed around the party, probably feeling a bit shy like you. A perfect chance to get revenge, but nothing comes to mind.

“This is a monumental event for both our species. There is no way Pinkie Pie would hold back on this.” Twilight pauses, looking up and Zach. “Then again, it is Pinkie Pie, so she probably would have thrown a party this big anyway; probably to celebrate ‘Happy-Massive-Ultra-Deluxe Party Day’.” You and everyone get a little chuckle at that.

“Now that would be one heck of a party!” Rainbow Dash says, expanding her wings to give them a stretch. You could not help yourself. Your eyes gaze to the wings, taking in every little detail as she moans ever so slightly. Those gorgeous, angelic wings looked incredibly soft, but before you can take in more, she furls them into her side again.

“Hello everyone!

Everything froze instantly. You no longer heard the small chat going on between humans and ponies. Instead, you hear a ring in your ear that lingers. You see everyone in your group mid-air, frozen in place, all of them displaying a face of fear. Time accelerates as you all land on the ground, turn to the noise, and give them a death glare.

What you see is Pinkie Pie and the eccentric human standing there, giant smiles on their faces and both of them waving at you. Well, at least you know what happened to him. Their lips moved, but you still only hear a ringing in your ears. After a moment, it dissipates and you can hear them again. You wish you couldn’t since their voices were excessively loud.

“Oops! Sorry, did we startle you?” Pinkie Pie says, still grinning.

“Yeah, sorry about that! We’re just so excited for this party! Aren’t you guys? Aren’t’cha?! Aren’t’cha?!” The male counterpart says, also grinning widely.

The five of you are perplexed, startled, and probably a bit angry, but Silver recovers first.

“Y-yes. Indeed, we are.” You shiver with how much bitterness her voice carried. Neither Pinkie nor the human seemed to care about it as they continued to smile.

“That’s great! I’m so excited, I feel like I could explode! Me and Jim here are so excited! I can’t believe I found someone like me! It’s so exciting! Another party planner!” Pinkie Pie says, jumping up and down with Jim.

“Yeah! I can’t believe it! So many parties to thro- Oh! It’s star-“

Whatever Jim was about to say was lost in a sonic assault that clearly was meant for crowd control. Your body shakes, and you feel a thump in your chest as bass heavy music begins. You and everyone else cover their ears from its onslaught. In that moment, you feel hooves wrap around you and tighten their grip. You look to see Silver Java hanging onto you for dear life, quivering in fear. You stand there confused, still covering your ears.

The bass heavy music quickly fades as you look to see Vinyl Scratch levitating a microphone to her lips. Spotlights shine brightly on her, almost making her glow from their brightness. Silver let go of you, also turning her attention to the DJ booth.

“Hello everypony! I mean, everyone! Welcome to the greatest party of your liiiives!” A ravenous roar of cheers explodes around you as ponies and humans clap and stomp their hands and hooves respectively – you swear it would start an earthquake. “Now that’s the spirit! I personally want to welcome the humans to Equestria. It’s a pleasure to have you here. Now let’s party! Get to dancing and partying everyone! I don’t want you to stop until every last one of you passes out from exhaustion!” With that, Vinyl’s music begins to play, this time at a lower volume that does not want to make your internal organs melt and liquify.

You turn back to look at Jim and Pinkie, but they are nowhere to be seen. Looking towards the group, you see everyone gaining their composure again, with Twilight giggling.

“Okay, that was loud! Let’s eat!” Twilight exclaims as she takes Zach’s hand and pulls him towards where the candy is.

“Twilight w-“ You see Zach being dragged away, and you smile as his face reddens. Even Silver seems to chuckle. Rainbow, Silver and you decide to follow and get food on your own. Arriving at the gargantuan candy table, you take a look at the many, many, many candies sitting there. Varieties of chocolate catch your eye, along with many colorful hard candies. Cotton candy on sticks also were everywhere, and there was some candy you swore looked like painted rocks. After picking up a few bars of chocolate, everyone sits at the furthest table away from the dance floor and the DJ booth.

Looking back, you see pretty much everyone went to the dance floor, already starting to dance to the up-tempo bass music. It sounded like fun, but dancing to something that fast would be impossible. You can’t even dance! How were you going to impress Rainbow Dash when you could not even dance?

While everyone snacked on their sweets, silence lingered. Silver Java kept glancing at you as she snacked on some taffy. Rainbow Dash kept looking back to the dance floor, eager to go in you assumed. It was Twilight that thankfully broke the silence.

“Alright Zach, I know we have talked about this quite a bit already, but I need to know more about Earth. Perhaps you can help explain more as well?” Twilight smiles towards you, and you fear this will become an interrogation.

“Not much else to mention. It’s just like Equestria. Atmosphere is the same, color is the same, it’s just Earth was a lot dirtier due to pollution and has a lot more cities.” Zach replies, not enthusiastic anymore.

“So it’s just like Equestria huh…anything else? Perhaps the climate has a different composition due to increased carbon dioxide levels? Maybe your polar cap-“

“We’re high school students, Twilight. Not scientists.” Zach replies firmly. This stops the line of questioning from Twilight, who reluctantly gives up trying to find exact scientific details of Earth.

“Oh! So since you humans can’t fly, how do you control the weather? Maybe you have super awesome machines that do it!” Rainbow Dash asked, expanding her wings and floating in the air as she looks at you. “I bet they’re awesome!”

“U-uh…well no…we don’t control the weather…it just happens naturally.” You reply, a little taken aback by Rainbow’s sudden question. Not that it was a hard one to answer, it just surprised you.

“What? Seriously? You guys build cool machines, like those self-propelled carts, and you can’t control the weather? That’s just wrong.”

“Now Rainbow Dash, perhaps they simply like it that way.” Silver replies, causing Rainbow to face her.

“Uh, not controlling the weather is so not cool. I wouldn’t want it to be cloudy one day, then sunny, and suddenly there’s a violent storm the next day! That would totally suck.” Rainbow Dash replies, sitting back down into her seat.

“I-it’s not that bad…” You reply sheepishly.

“Yeah, it certainly makes it interesting. Besides, where we’re from it was mostly sunny all the time.” Zach says, looking towards Rainbow Dash, and then Twilight. “The climate is more chaotic…we have hurricanes and tornadoes quite often. That is something I think is different.” Twilight beams at that.

“I don’t know about you three, but I’m ready to dance! Come on Zach! I need to study how you humans dance and analyze!” Twilight grins.

“D-dance? Twilight I c- Y-yah!” A purple layer encases Zach’s body and he is lifted off his seat, startled yet blushing a very dark red. Twilight hums as she pulls him away. Once again, you hear Silver giggle and Rainbow Dash laughs as well.

“Taking notes on dancing? Haha! That’s too rich! Am I right, Silver?” Rainbow chuckles, lightly hitting Silver on the shoulder, who is still giggling.

“Yes, yes. That is Twilight Sparkle to a T.” She says, throwing a smile in your direction. “Are you having a good time?” Looking into her eyes, you can tell her mood certainly improved. You nod your head, and lightly smile at her. A weird sensation courses through your body as you gaze into Silver’s eyes. Those mag-

“So tell me something…” You turn your eyes away from Silver’s and looking into Rainbow Dash’s eyes, a little startled. Were you…no…you wouldn’t lose yourself into Silver’s eyes…they were pretty…but nothing compared to Rainbow’s magnificent eyes. “Do you happen to know who the Wonderbolts are…?”

“Oh good grief…” Silver nickers. You were about to say yes, then quickly did a double take. Would it be wise to answer yes? Would she question you about it? Would you have to confess their lives were televised on Earth for thousands to see? Would this ruin-

“No. I-I don’t.” You reply, shaking your head a little to knock away those thoughts. Just play ignorant and it will be fine.

“Wow, really? You don’t know who the Wonderbolts are? Well…I guess you’re new, but they are the most awesome fliers in Equestria! I know I am pretty awesome myself, but it’s my dream to fly with them! Spitfire and Soarin’ are so awesome! I’ll have to take you to see a show of theirs!” She replies, grinning and making an adorable squeal as she thinks about her idols.

“Rainbow Dash here is practically a fanatic for the Wonderbolts.” Silver replies, unamused by Rainbow’s energetic outburst. “She talks about them all the time.”

“Only because they deserve it! You’re just jealous because you can’t be one of the Wonderbolts.”

“Ah, as if. They may be incredible flyers, but I prefer to keep my hooves on the ground. Not to mention the shows are always the same tricks.” Silver replies, turning to Rainbow Dash. You swore they were about to fight over this.

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash flies up and presses her nuzzle straight against Silver’s. Oh Celestia, they are about to fight! “You take that back! They perform new tricks at every show! And once I’m there, I’ll be showing off dozens, no hundreds, of new tricks to the masses!” Rainbow’s voice dripped with so much fire, you swear part of the table was burning from it. For a few moments, the mares glare relentlessly, making you cower a little. Then they both smile and have a little laugh.

Wait, what?

“H…” Is all you say as you stare in bafflement. Silver notices your silence and smiles.

“Oh, don’t be surprised. Rainbow Dash and I get along, but we certainly like to butt heads from time to time.” Silver replies.

“Uhm…w-well the Wonderbolts do sound pretty awesome.” You say, smiling just slightly, still nervous there was going to be a fight.

“Ha, even he thinks they’re awesome. Just wait till you see them live. You’re going to love it!” Rainbow Dash says, taking a seat once again.

“Yeah…” You say, starting to blush a little. This is your chance to get to know Rainbow Dash better. Ask her something! “So how... long until you can be a Wonderbolt, Rainbow Dash?” You ask, your heart starting to pound.

“Well…thing is, I have to audition, and I can only do that when there’s a spot open. So far none of the Wonderbolts have retired, but I’m still holding onto hope!” Rainbow Dash says, putting a hoof on the table. “I know there will be one soon!”

“I hope y-you make it.” You reply, blushing a little more.

“Hope? Ha. I know I’ll make it, it’s just a matter of when.” Rainbow Dash replies, stars sparkling in her eyes for just a brief moment.

“A-alright.” Ask another question…there has to be one! Don’t be silent. Say something! This is your chance to talk and impress! Do it!

…Nothing comes to mind, which only makes your heart beat faster and your face turn more red.

“Are you alright?” Silver asks.

“Y-yeah, just fine.” You say, your face burning brightly. Rainbow Dash was busy looking at the dance floor and she finally looks at you. She stares for a moment then she smiles. No words, no motions, but she smiles. A smile so gorgeous and beautiful, you struggle to remain sitting. Your heart burns, you feel butterflies multiplying in your stomach, and you smile back goofily.

Why was this happening?! Now Rainbow Dash for sure knew your secret! That smile said it all! She knows you have a crush on her! Your body refused to stay silent and it instead broadcasted your deepest crush for all the see! This was a nightmare! Now it would never happen. Your dream was crushed in a mo-

“So who is ready to dance?” Silver asks. Finally! Something to distract you!

“Me!” You reply, almost shouting the answer out, causing you to cover your mouth. This only makes Rainbow smile more, this time showing off her teeth.

“Eager huh? I like that! Come on!” Rainbow Dash says, taking off towards the dance floor. You just now realize the moment has arrived. You were going to dance…in front of Rainbow Dash. In front of everyone! You can’t dance! How were you going to do this?

You stand up, walking slowly towards the dance floor, struggling to remember anything about dancing. They shake their hips and jump sometimes…right? You take a look towards the crowd and find it impossible to find certain moves to replicate. Some were just shaking their heads up and down, shaking their chest lightly, while others were going crazy and jumping all over the place. You also saw two particular humans doing a strange dance where they lightly punched each other. You grew even more anxious.

The music playing was up-tempo still. Heavy synthesizers played and a basic kick drum and snare pattern played throughout. It was a typical song you imagine played at a club all the time. As you approached, the music also got louder, making it hard to think. Thankfully it was still quieter than when it initially started.

Chaos was around you as enter the dance floor, following close behind Rainbow Dash. You try to find Zach and Twilight, but they were well hidden in the crowd. The chromatic lights flashed on the floor, nearly blinding you as you looked towards them. Turning back to Rainbow Dash, you see her on her hindlegs, kicking her forehooves in something that resembled dancing to you. She turns to you, shaking the back of her body to the rhythm and eagerly smiles at you. “Let’s see what you got, human!” She yells out to you, barely audible over the cacophony of noise around you.

You try to relax, taking in a deep breath and closing your eyes. You try to imagine the music running through your bones and letting your body dance automatically. Your focus was broken when you felt someone bump in to you. Opening your eyes, you see Rainbow Dash dancing a little more wildly. She was now hovering in the air, kicking all her hooves and “dancing” around you, shoving you on occasion. She shoves you again and smiles eagerly again. “Come on! Dance! It’s a party!” She hollers at you again, giving you another shove.

Closing your eyes and relaxing your mind, you feel the upper half of your body bob to the music, then your arms raise up, lighting punching the air. You feel your hips start to shake left to right, and your feet rotate you in place. You smile just a little. You were doing it. You were dancing! Actually dancing and feeling the music course through your body! It was exhilarating! You open your eyes to look at Rainbow Dash, smiling brightly. You stop dancing once you see what she is doing.

Instead of dancing, her and Silver Java were together, laughing. At you. Rainbow Dash was actually on the ground, laughing her lungs out at your dancing! You blush immediately, and turn away from them.

How pathetic was your dancing? You thought it was good considering this was your first time dancing! But instead it was comedic to your boss and the mare you liked. You feel your cheeks burn more red the more you thought about it.

You feel a hoof tap your shoulder and turn around to see Rainbow Dash smiling and laughing. Laughing at your pathetic nature. She stops, wiping her eye lid of a tear. “I got to say, that was really bad dancing, but I’ve seen far worse. So not bad at all, human.” She says, patting your shoulder again. You smile, just a little, and look into her eyes again.

It was only then you realize the music was a lot softer, and slower. Taking a quick gaze around, you notice everyone getting into pairs and starting to dance slowly. You catch Zach already surprising Twilight by taking her hoof and dancing slowly with her, his hand wrapped around her waist. A slow dance.

You suddenly feel your hand grabbed by a soft, velvety hoof, catching you off guard. You turn, expecting Rainbow Dash to be holding your hand, but your heart skips a beat when you see it’s Silver Java holding your hand. She’s on her hindlegs, and looking straight into your eyes. “Let me teach you how to dance elegantly.” She says softly, cheeks slightly red. Oh no! This is bad! But…was it? This could be a good chance to learn slow dancing to use on Rainbow Dash later on! But Rainbow was watching…no doubt she would tease…

An acceptable risk. You will dance with Silver tonight. For your future with Rainbow Dash!

“A-alright Silver.” You nervously say, wrapping your free hand around Silver’s waist. In return Silver wraps a hoof around your neck.

“Excellent. A good firm grasp on your partner is always necessary.” Silver comments, slowly starting to sway left to right ever so gently. “Now slow dancing is quite easy…just feel your partner’s rhythm and match it…” You look her in the eye, blushing furiously as you try to match it. It failed miserably, and you just lock up and sweat.

“I c-can’t do it, Silver…” You say, ashamed you can’t even perform a simple, slow dance.

“You can do this. Just relax…take a deep breath, close your eyes, and just focus on me and my movements…” Silver says softly. “Feel my sways, my light steps, and let your body guide you naturally…” You close your eyes, take a deep breath, and simply try to evaporate away the world around you. You concentrate and feel yourself relax. Your body moves slowly, matching Silver’s pace. Your feet take small, light steps, matching the timing Silver takes a step, your bodies now synchronized perfectly to the tempo of the music. You open your eyes, smiling more brightly. Silver’s eyes look back and she smiles proudly. You also notice she is blushing quite a bit, almost giving your blush a run for its money.

“You’re doing great.” Is all Silver says. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, relaxing herself even more and taking a tiny step closer to you. You don’t fight it. Your grip around her waist tightens and you pull her closer, also closing your eyes to enjoy the peaceful dance you two were sharing. The dance continued, its peaceful serenity seeming to go on for eternity. You felt at peace, a warm sensation coursing through your body that tingled all your nerves. Eventually you open your eyes and gaze into Silver Java’s eyes. It was hard to tell, but you swear her blush was getting darker. You also felt your face getting hotter. You both look away awkwardly, but both smile.

Silver Java decided to break the awkwardness. “See Rainbow Dash, this is how you dance. Like a proper mare.” Silver Dance, still continuing to dance with you. You turn your attention to Rainbow Dash, who is grinning, almost as if she were holding back another fit of laughter. Even she cannot hold it in and bursts into that adorable laughter again. She eventually finishes and hovers in the air.

“Yeah, you can certainly dance, Silver. Got me beat there.” Rainbow says, grinning. Maybe she was not going to tease? You were almost certain she would have. “And I got to say, you two look adorable together!” And there it was. You feel yourself redden at the comment.

“We do not. We are simply dancing.” Silver says, a little embarrassed, but equally full of defensive energy.

“Yeah, the way you two dance, I swear you should just kiss right now! The way you stepped closer to him and how you two gazed into each other’s eyes. Total romantics, you two are.” Rainbow Dash says, chuckling to herself and approaching Silver.

“Kiss?! Him?! He is another species! I would never!” Silver yells, immediately stopping the dance, but still holding on to you.

“Your face and eyes say otherwise, Silver. You two are dressed to get married, and now you dance like that? Might as well declare you two wife and husband right now.” Silver’s face was red, but her eyes showed a lot of anger and frustration. You suddenly feel yourself propelled and caught by Rainbow Dash!

“Let’s see you dance!” Silver yells, getting on all fours and huffing madly.

“Fine! I will! I’ll show you I can dance like a princess too!” Rainbow Dash hollers. You feel yourself spun around, Rainbow’s hoof sliding around your neck. You grab her by the waist, and take her hoof, and she starts to dance. This dance was slow, but definitely not connected. Rainbow’s rhythm was all over the place, and she held you forcefully, making it impossible for you to relax. You try your best anyway and savor this moment. You were dancing with Rainbow Dash! The love of your life was dancing with you slowly, albeit forcefully and with little passion. It was still a dream come true!

Despite living a dream, you were beyond embarrassed. Rainbow Dash was so close to you, and smelling her mane caused your face to turn into a molten surface, and you felt your heart melt into a slippery goo. The sensation courses through your body and you put on a goofy smile, your teeth showing as well. Rainbow Dash, however, did not notice. You look at her and notice she is staring directly into Silver’s eyes, challenging your boss.

Turning briefly to glance at Silver, you see her giving the same competitive look to Rainbow Dash. “Give him here!” Silver yells aloud. Rainbow obliges easily and you feel yourself propelled back into Silver’s hooves, her soft hoof wrapping around your neck. You instinctively wrap your hand around her waist again. Silver took the opportunity to get even closer than Rainbow Dash did. Her mane was right up against your nose. Every breath you took, you smelled the sweet aroma, and it made your face erupt into an inferno.

Compared to earlier, it was certainly not as synchronized, but Silver was much gentler. She dances, slowing it down as the music transitions into an even slower song. Silver looks into your eyes and smile brightly. Being those close to her, face to face, almost made you lose your balance. Despite Rainbow Dash being the most beautiful mare even, Silver Java looked absolutely stunning this close.

“You call that slow dancing? I’ll show you!” Rainbow Dash yells, standing on her hind legs.

“Prove it then, punk!” Silver exclaims, once again pushing you towards Rainbow Dash, breaking the trance you were falling under. Rainbow must have mind reading abilities, because she practically hugged and held you like a snake. Her chest was pressed up against yours, and your nose was buried into her mane. You took another whiff and melted into goo again. The sweet, wild scent of her polychromatic mane made your body loosen up. Being this close, you wrapped both of her arms around Rainbow’s waist. You swear you felt her gasp when you did.

The pegasus smiled and slowed down her dancing to match the music playing, her sways and steps much slower and more passionate. She even gave you time to synchronize yourself to her flow. Now that you two were in time, you closed your eyes and simply take in the moment. Dancing, with Rainbow Dash, so close and so passionately. It was perfect. You felt euphoria pass through your nerves as you took in another breath, enjoying her delectable scent.

If only it would have lasted.

Silver Java growls and marches towards Rainbow Dash. Rainbow lets go of you and you dread what will happen next.

“You think you can simply master the art of slow dancing with that technique?” Silver yells, her face fuming with red.

“Uh, yeah because slow dancing is so easy!” Rainbow Dash counters, equally angry and eager to argue.

“As if! It may be easy on paper, but mastering the technique and dancing as one with your partner takes practice! You were so sloppy out there!” Silver says.

“Yeah right! I got it down the second time! We were totally connected and dancing as a pair!” As a pair? Hearing those words caused your heart to leap with joy! But this was getting too aggressive. You took a deep breath and walked towards them.

“Uh y-you two…maybe w-we shoud…” You meekly say, attempting to stop the argument, but your words fell on deaf ears.

“That was just luck! You just copied what you saw! You couldn’t learn to slow dance even if the Wonderbolts taught it!” Silver Java aggressively says.

“What did you say?!” Rainbow Dash yells, flying towards Silver.

“S-silver, R-rainbow stop…” You say, but it was not heard.

“You take those words back right now! I could so totally master slow dancing if the Wonderbolts taught it! I’d be even better than you at it! I’d be so good they’d have to rename slow dancing after me!” Rainbow Dash yells

“Please stop…” You say, your heart racing. Were you going to have to break up a fight? Over who could dance better?!

“You and that inflated ego of yours will never change, Rainbow Dash.” Silver comments, this time returning to her normal voice, if slightly irritated.

“And that’s why I’ll always be awesome, Silver.” Rainbow Dash replies. They both turn to look at you at the same time. Despite almost witnessing a fight, your body was still feeling energetic bliss, shining through on your cheeks and subtle smile. When their eyes meet yours, the blush darkens on your face.

They both seem to notice at the same time and both burst out laughing.

“Wow, your face is super red there. You thinking about someone special?” Rainbow Dash teased with another short burst of giggling. Silver Java just simply smiled at you.

“I think we simply scared him, is all. Don’t worry. Like I said earlier, Rainbow Dash and I get into…discussions all the time.” Silver Java coolly says. “Nothing to worry about.”

“Y-you two did look scary…” You reply timidly, barely audible over the music to them. They simply giggle, with Silver Java stretching and groaning. Rainbow Dash looks at the dancing crowd, who were now back to dancing wildly and quickly.

“Don’t know about you, but I’m done dancing for right now.” Rainbow Dash says, already making her way back to the table. You notice Zach and Twilight were already sitting there, panting and grinning wildly. Looking at Zach, you could not help but feel a pang of jealously. How come he could talk so casually around Twilight?

“I agree. That dance competition wore me out. It’s not easy being a winner.” Silver Java teases, eliciting a light stare from Rainbow Dash. You realize you zoned out and follow them back to the table.

. . . . .

An hour has passed since you rejoined Zach and Twilight at the table. Luna’s brilliant moonlight shone down around the area. The lights from DJ-Pon3’s setup beamed brightly through the night air, lighting up everyone that still had energy. Much to your surprise, most everyone was dancing aside from your group and a few others. Everyone talked for a bit about random topics, with Twilight mainly talking about Zach’s dancing style. She called it eccentric, random, and chaotic, but Zach held his smile. When he mentioned his slow dancing, Twilight paused and you swear you could almost see her blush.

After the small talk, Rainbow Dash and Zach went back into the dance floor to keep partying. You wanted to join them, but something inside you stopped you from getting out of your chair. Instead, you decided to work on your social skills and engage in small talk with Twilight and Silver.

“I’ve noticed that Zach is constantly in an energetic state. He seems to be adjusting well to our world.” Twilight comments to Silver, staring at the dance floor and Rainbow and Zach start to really get into dancing. She turns her attention back to you, grinning. “What about you? I hope you’re enjoying Equestria.”

“O-oh it’s nice here…” You say shyly, “it feels good to be here…”

“That’s great! I know during the initial talks, we were worried your kind would regret coming to Equestria. Princess Celestia wanted a way for you to go home if you regretted it, so her and I invented a spell to send you back home…” Twilight’s ears fall flat, and Silver equally grows uncomfortable. “I wasn’t there when the fight broke out, but I hear it w-“

“Ahem.” Silver clears her throat, stopping Twilight before she could continue on. “How about we focus on our guest instead of the past?” Silver asks gently

“Yes, that would be better.” Twilight says, her ears going back up. “Hmm…that reminds me…” She puts a hoof to her chin, scratching it lightly in thought. “I’ve been thinking, and I have a question. When we…showed up next to your planet, I noticed you had metallic objects orbiting your planet. ‘Satellites’ I think they were called? Did they serve a purpose in your world!”

Satellites? You were no expert, but you could explain them easily and blow Twilight’s and Silver’s minds with their purpose!

“Y-yeah, satellites did a bunch of stuff for my world.” You notice Twilight teleported in a notepad and a quill and ink bottle. Seeing those pop out of nowhere made you stop for a second and marvel at it. You saw Celestia’s magic at work, but seeing objects pop out of nowhere was breathtaking.

Twilight notices and smiles, giggling to herself. “Zach told me your world has no arcano-science or magic.” Another small giggle. “Anyway, you were saying? What did the satellites do?”

“Well…they’re used for a lot of things…a lot of them are for monitoring the weather on Earth since we can’t control weather…they also send out messages and signals to different parts of the world instantly.” You say, Twilight jotting down every word that left your mouth. “They also transmit TV.”

Twilight stops at that and looks up at you. “TV? What’s that?”

“Well…TV is…uhm…it’s like…moving pictures inside a box. With sound and color. TV on Earth is used to show the news, and also entertain everyone with a bunch of shows.” You say. Glancing over at Silver, you notice she is equally blown away by what you say.

“So these ‘TV shows’ are like books, but visualized?” Twilight asks, glancing up at you again.

“In a way….yeah, I guess…” You reply.

“This is huge! Objects that orbit the planet, moving pictures, weather monitoring! Your species might not have magic, but you certainly have ingenuity and creativity!” Twilight beams.

“Yes, it seems they do.” Silver Java replies, giving a small yawn. The yawn spread quickly, with you and Twilight yawning at the same time. “I do believe it’s time for bed.”

“I agree.” Twilight says, smiling brightly suddenly. “Hey Silver, how about we all have a sleep over at my place? It’ll be fun!”

“That actually does sound nice. What do you say?” Silver asks, gazing into your eyes.

A sleepover with Twilight, Silver and presumably Zach and Rainbow Dash? Your friends plus the love of your life?

“Yes, that does sound n-nice.” You reply, smiling goofily at the thought you would be sleeping under the same roof as your love.

“Great! I’ll go fetch Zach and Rainbow Dash! Wait here!” Twilight Sparkle smiles towards you and glances at the dance floor. You look at her and notice her lips quivering, as if she is trying to hold in her giggles. You turn your gaze to see what she is looking at and about break out laughing yourself. You could see Zach clearly dancing, but his motions were extremely disorganized, off-beat, wild and random. He was waving his arms in the air for a few seconds, before trying to do, what you presume was an extremely fast version of the macarena. Then he just started jumping out of nowhere. Rainbow Dash seemed to notice and was laughing, but still danced her own, perfect style. It was memorizing to see her dance.

“Okay, your friend is officially the craziest dancer I know.” Twilight giggles after commenting, getting up and walking over towards the two. You simply nod your head in agreement.

After Twilight fetches the two, Rainbow Dash is smiling and still laughing at Zach’s crazy dancing.

“Zach, you are so random when it comes to dancing, haha. I can’t even contain myself!” You look at Zach and simply see he is smiling. It was obvious the remarks were not affecting him, and he just seemed so confident. How did he do it? You would be dying of embarrassment if you danced like that.

“Yeah, but it was fun. You got to admit, I had everyone looking at me.” Zach commented and kept smiling.

“I’ll admit that, pfft hahaha. But still! It’s just too random and bad.” Rainbow replied, still laughing as she floated in the air. After a few seconds she yawned, covering her mouth with a hoof. “I think I’m ready for that sleepover. You coming human?”

“I a-am.” Being next to the cerulean Pegasus just caused your heart to jump again. It showed in your softening voice. You felt a light blush spread across your cheeks too.

“Heck yeah!” Rainbow Dash tried to stifle another yawn, but her attempt failed and she spread her mouth wide as it came through. Silver Java also got the yawn, before it spread to you.

“Okay, it’s not too far to my treehouse. Follow me everypony. I mean everyone!” Twilight said, taking the lead with Zach eagerly right beside her. Rainbow Dash, Silver Java, and you follow.

The noises of the party start to fade into the background as you walk through the empty streets of Ponyville. Despite it being the dead of night, the moon’s light was so bright, you could easily see everything around you. Everything seemed to glisten in its light, giving off a little white shine that made you feel a little at peace. This was a beautiful place, one that spoke to your inner soul and made you feel at home.

A few minutes pass and the group is mostly silent, with Zach making the occasional comment every now and then. Twilight would reply, but it was obvious everyone wanted to get a good night’s sleep. It was only then you realized just how close Silver Java was walking next to you. Her head was hanging down and she looked lost in thought. Was she upset? Why would she be upset this night? You two just had fun at a party.

An unhappy boss is never a pleasant boss to work for, so you slow down your pace and see she matches your pace. This puts you a little bit away from the group so you two can talk privately.

“Hey, Silver, what’s wrong?” You ask in a deadly quiet whisper.

She seems to realize she zoned out and looks up into your eyes as the two of you continue trotting. “Oh, my apologies.” She replies in a whisper as well. “I was thinking back…I have not been to a sleep over in ages.” She looks down towards the ground again. “I’m a little scared. The last one I was at did not go so well. They didn’t have fun when I was there.”

You look into her eyes and feel a little spike in your heart as you truly gaze past them and see the inner Silver. She was not your boss this moment, she was your friend, and you knew you had to comfort her about this sleepover. But how? You were not sleepover expert. You barely knew anything about friendship! But you had to try somehow.

“It won’t be too bad, Silver. It seems Twilight and Rainbow are good friends with you, and you got me.” You smile and you see her grin a little. “Plus, we survived the greatest party of all time together. We can survive this sleepover.” You reply, with a big confident smile on your face. Silver smiles brightly at your comment and walks over and give you a very gentle hug, followed by a nuzzle. You were not taken aback by this and actually welcomed it, taking a small whiff of her mane and smiling at its wonderful scent.

“Thank you.” Silver replies in a soft whisper before dropping the hug and continuing on with the group. You look ahead and see a tree in the distance. The size was grand, bigger than you were expecting it to be, and you noticed yellow lights illuminating through the window.

“We’re here everypo- Everyone! It is going to take some time to get use to that!” Twilight giggles to herself, before pulling out a key and unlocking the door. Before she enters, she turns around and looks at you and Zach. “Now be quiet when you enter. I have a baby dragon named Spike and he enjoys his sleep more than anything, so please be respectful.” She smiles and welcomes you and the rest of the group inside.

It was bigger on the inside, and it was a very nice place now that you saw it for yourself. The interior was mostly an empty hardwood floor with a large rug stretching almost the whole room, with a checkout desk near the entrance. The bark inside was carved out to make shelves, and each shelf contain dozens of colorful books, each containing timeless literature. You could not make out any particular labels for where books went, but knowing Twilight, she probably rearranges it all every week anyway. On the far end, you could see a stairwell that led up to what you presumed was Twilight’s study and bedroom.

“Let me get the blankets and pillows.” Twilight said, going to the upstairs and leaving the four of you alone. You four stood in silence, with you surveying the room for anything note-worthy, but not seeing anything. Twilight returned with pillows and blankets, one for each of you to use. The designs were plain. White pillows and a white blanket, but the blanket looked surprisingly soft, and when you grabbed it, it felt softer and warmer than you imagined.

You let out a yawn and it spread to everyone else, with Rainbow letting out a cute noise as she exaggerated her yawn. With not much to stay, you put your pillow on the ground and lie down, noticing that Silver was on your left side and Rainbow was on your right side. You blush and grow more nervous knowing Rainbow was sleeping literally right next to you, but you took a few deep breaths to remain calm. You pull the blanket over you and get comfy on the rug.

“Goodnight everyone.” Zach says, with the rest of the group wishing each other goodnight. You lie down on your back for a few seconds when you hear a soft snore coming to your right. You look towards Rainbow and see her snoring away, already instantly asleep. You were impressed, but a little annoyed. It would be harder for everyone else to fall asleep now with that noise going on in the background.

You close your eyes for a few minutes, trying to fall asleep, but Rainbow light snoring, followed by Twilight’s snoring kept you awake. You sigh and roll onto your back, staring towards the ceiling, trying to count how old the tree was in the dark.

“I had a good time tonight.” You heard Silver say in a soft whisper. You roll to your side and look into her eyes and smile. “I don’t think I would have gone or had as much fun if you weren’t there.”

“W-well thank you, but Rainbow probably made it fun…not me.” You reply, sulking a little.

“Nonsense. It was both of you, but mainly you. You kept me from leaving. Thank you.” Silver replies, shifting in her spot so she got comfier. “You really are a good friend.”

You smile. Being called a good friend felt nice, especially since you were rarely called it back where you were from. “You’re a good friend too, Silver.” You reply in a whisper, softly gazing into her eyes as her smile brightens in the darkness.

“How about we team up to tease Rainbow Dash next time?” Silver says, her smiling growing and a very soft giggle coming out of her mouth. You remember Rainbow teasing you, and how she said you two were made for each other. Rainbow was a jokester, surely, she would not mind if you fought back a little. She’d probably like you more because of that! Showed you were tough like her. Your smile grows at the idea before you nod.

“Deal. We’ll get her back for making us embarrassed.” Another adorable giggle escapes Silver’s lips and she scoots closer to you, closing her eyes and quivering in joy.

“Yes, we will.” She goes silent for a few moments and closes her eyes, taking in a deep, relaxing breath and exhaling softly. “Sweet dreams.”

For some reason, hearing those words made you blush just a little. You knew it was common to say, but for you to actually get wished sweet dreams, especially after your dream made your heart skip a beat. Regardless, you smile at it and close your eyes.

“Sweet dreams, Silver.” You reply softly, finally starting to feel your eyes grow heavy and your body relax, finally able to tune out Twilight and Rainbow’s snoring and focus on pure silence. You imagine Rainbow Dash slow dancing with you, her hooves around you and your foreheads pressed together as she whispers, I love you. You feel yourself sink and finally fall asleep, a gentle smile on your lips.