Flash and his group were the last ones to arrive. Twilight, the rest of the former Rainbooms, Flash’s former bandmates, the Crusaders, Derpy Muffins, Lyra Heartstrings, Sweetie Drops, Sandalwood, and Bulk Biceps were already waiting for them in the restaurant’s waiting area.
“Well, you guys took long enough,” Lyra pointed out huffily.
“Sorry, we, uh,” Micro explained as Coin Bank entered the waiting area last, “ran into a bit of a complication.”
“Everybody,” Flash introduced, “this is my stepbrother from New York, Coin Bank. He just came into town this evening and will be hanging out with us for the night.”
Everybody looked from Coin Bank to the obviously forced smile Flash was wearing on his face. They could tell from Coin Bank’s body language that he didn’t want to be there anymore than Flash wanted him to be there. Nevertheless, everybody gave him a friendly greeting and introduced themselves except for Twilight who pretty much already knew who he was.
While everyone else was exchanging pleasantries with Coin, Twilight pulled Flash aside and asked him, “What is he doing here?”
“It’s a long, uncomfortable story that I’d rather talk to you about later,” Flash whispered in reply, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.
Twilight nodded in understanding, and the two of them returned to the rest of their group.
“So,” Coin nonchalantly offered, “now that we all know each other, who’s buying the first round of drinks?”
The whole group became uncomfortably quiet VERY quickly.
Then, Micro turned to Flash and asked, “Did you remember to tell him that this place doesn’t serve alcohol?”
Coin’s face suddenly dropped at Micro’s question.
“I didn’t think I needed to,” Flash replied. “I kinda assumed that he wasn’t old enough to drink.”
“I’m not,” Coin interrupted. “That’s why a carry a fake ID. Don’t tell me none of you guys have fake IDs on you.”
“Why in Sam Hill would we want to be carrying around fake IDs fer?” Applejack retorted incredulously. “‘Sides, even if we did, Apple Bloom, her friends, and the youn’er boys wouldn’t be foolin’ nobody. They barely even pass fer 18, let alone 21.”
“Besides, we don’t need alcohol to PAAAAR-TAY!” Pinkie hollered excitedly. “This place has got karaoke, an arcade, and an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet. ALL. YOU. CAN. EAT!”
Coin Bank turned to Flash, his face morphing from disinterest to disgust.
“What the [censored] is wrong with you and your friends?!” he cried.
“Hey! Watch your mouth,” Twilight scolded. “This place happens to be a family-friendly establishment, and the owners will kick us out if we disturb the other patrons, never mind that my brother knows one of them.”
“Besides, YOU were the one who threatened to crash the party if I didn’t let you come along,” Flash pointed out. “So, you can either behave yourself and hang out with us, or you can take the bus back to my neighborhood, get in your car, and drive yourself back to New York.”
Coin grimaced the moment Flash mentioned the bus. Then, he growled under his breath and reluctantly followed the group to the cashier’s table.
“Well, if it isn’t Shining Armor’s baby sister,” greeted the man from behind the counter. He had long, shaggy, red hair and wore a pair of dark, rectangular sunglasses, a pin with a vinyl record, and name badge that said “Owner/Manager.”
“Hi, Long Play,” Twilight greeted. “Can you please take us to the table that we reserved for our party?”
“Sure thing, little lady. By the way, my sister’s working the sign-up table for the karaoke machine if you want to say hi to her.”
Pinkie Pie gasped dramatically, “You mean Vinyl is here? Ooooooh! I haven’t seen her since this morning when she came in for her morning cupcake and the Cakes had me working the counter. I’ve got to say hi right now.”
With that, Pinkie zoomed off from the rest of the group towards the karaoke machine. Everyone who knew her exchanged quizzical looks.
“She knows where our table is, right?” First Base asked no one in particular.
“Of course, she does,” Rainbow Dash replied matter-of-factly. “She’s Pinkie Pie.”
“Besides, I’m willing to bet my hat that she came here earlier than the rest of us to set things up,” AJ added.
Long Play lead their group to a party-sized table decorated with blue and purple balloons and confetti, confirming AJ’s assertion.
“You kids have fun tonight,” Long Play signed off as he began to return to the cashier’s table. “Let me or any of the staff know if you need anything.”
“A stiff drink would be nice,” Coin muttered to himself.
“I’m baaaack,” Pinkie announced as she popped in on the group from who knows where, causing Coin to cry out in surprise. “So, guys, what d’you think of the decorations? Doesn’t it just scream, ‘Flash and Twilight are getting married soon, and we’re spending one of their last nights as singles with them’?!”
“That it does, Pinkie,” Sunset replied with an amused giggle.
Everyone except Coin Bank shared a laugh over that. However, as Micro Chips was looking around, he saw something or rather someone, actually multiple someones, walk in the room and flinched.
“Oh, shoot,” he gasped.
“What is it?” asked Sweetie Drops, noticing his reaction.
“Uh, okay, try not to make eye contact, but…” he trailed off as he tilted his head towards the direction that he was looking at earlier.
Everyone turned, and who should they see strut into the room but Adagio Dazzle and her two sisters. Everyone except Coin Bank, Button Mash, and First Base stiffened in fear at the sight of them. Twilight only knew them by reputation, but even that was enough to make her wary of them.
“Well, looks like tonight just might be my lucky night after all,” Coin noted, ogling the Dazzlings with an appreciative smile. “I hope at least one of them is single.”
Flash grabbed Coin’s shoulder and pulled him back, warning him, “No, no, no, no, no. You do NOT want a piece of that. Trust us.”
Adagio turned towards the small party as she was scanning the room, locking eyes with them, particularly Sunset Shimmer. She smirked maliciously and motioned for her sisters to follow her.
“Aw, great, they saw us,” Rainbow Dash groaned, “and they’re coming our way.”
“What in tarnation are they even doing here?” Applejack agreed.
“I don’t know, girls,” Fluttershy countered, “I mean, I know they brainwashed the school and turned everyone against each other the last time we saw them, but that was so long ago. Maybe they’ve changed.”
“I wouldn’t count on it, dear,” Rarity sighed. “That smirk and that strut she’s wearing have bad intentions written all over them.”
“Well, well, well,” Adagio greeted the group condescendingly, “look who cat dragged in. We haven’t seen any of you in a while. I have to say though, last I checked, your merry little band of misfits was a lot smaller.”
“Oh, all these other people aren’t our band, silly,” Pinkie obliviously pointed out. “We sort of broke up our band after we graduated. We’re actually all here for a party.”
“Oh, of course you are,” Aria scoffed.
“So, how’s life been treating you?” Sunset asked, stepping protectively between Adagio and the rest of her friends.
“Well enough, actually,” Adagio replied. “We have a bit of a music career going. We even played at the last Starswirled Music Festival.”
“Uh, how?” AJ noted in confusion, “Y’all lost your voices after we took you down at the Battle of the Bands.”
“That’s for us to know, and you to never find out,” Aria snapped.
“Hey, Dagi, who are these three?” Sonata asked, taking note of First Base, Button Mash, and Coin. “I don’t remember seeing them before.”
Coin smirked flirtatiously and replied, “The name’s Coin Bank, dollface. You needn’t concern yourself with the other two. They’re no one important.”
Base and Button glared at Coin in offense to that last sentence.
“Forgive me if I seem distracted, miss,” Coin continued, pouring on the charm like way too much maple syrup on a short stack and not even the real kind, “You see, I’m from out of town, and I wasn’t expecting the locals to be so fiiiine.”
“Fine like the tacos at the gas station or fine like those $7 chocolate bars you get from the store?” Sonata asked for clarification. Meanwhile, her sisters were watching the whole exchange, wicked smiles slowly growing on their faces. This did not go unnoticed by Flash, Sunset, Rarity, and a few other people.
“Fine like imported champagne in crystal glass with a side of caviar,” Coin Bank replied before taking Sonata by the hand and kissing it.
“Ooooh!” Sonata squealed.
“Oh, stop, sir,” Adagio cut in, flipping her luxurious, orange curls in false modesty. “I know my sisters and I are pretty, but I’m sure you say that to all the girls you meet.”
“Only the gorgeous ones,” Coin answered, taking Adagio’s hand to kiss as well. Coin was about to do the same with Aria’s when Flash grabbed his shoulders and pulled him away.
“Look, it’s been nice to see you again, but we were just about to have a party,” Flash attempted to diffuse the situation. “We would invite you to join us, but our table doesn’t have room for three more people, so maybe now would be a good time for us to go our separate ways.”
Adagio studied Flash’s face carefully, frowning intently. Then, she smiled, this one more maleficent than the last.
“I know you,” she said to him in a smooth, silky voice. “Weren’t you the boy who made that little purple princess cry?”
Flash’s eyes dropped in shame. It was only for a moment, but that moment was enough to give Adagio the pleasure of knowing she had struck Flash somewhere painful. She was so pleased with herself that she needed all her self-control to keep from laughing in Flash’s face.
Flash lifted his eyes, glaring straight into Adagio’s, and said, “Leave. Now.”
Adagio shrugged, and she and her sisters strutted away as confidently as they came. Once they were out of earshot, they began to snicker to themselves.
“Oh, man, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but great job shutting down Hero Boy over there,” Aria said to Adagio as she laughed.
“You know, both he and the tourist were really, really CUTE,” Sonata observed. “Can I have whichever one of them we don’t use as our meat shield?”
“By the way, which one of them ARE we going to use to do our dirty work?”
“Hmm, judging by his eyes, that blue-haired hero wannabe seemed to be carrying a lot of pain and shame inside of him,” Adagio mused. “A part of me wants to see just what kind of damage all that emotional baggage will do when combined with dark magic.”
“You mean assuming that there is dark magic down there instead of something a little more user-friendly that we’re going to want to take for ourselves.”
“Either way, as much as I want to see that Colt Scout’s dark side unleashed, he’s too familiar with us and way too guarded,” Adagio reasoned before smirking at Aria. “The tourist on the other hand…”
Aria returned the sentiment with a smirk of her own.
Meanwhile, back at Flash and Twilight’s singles party, Flash and his stepbrother were having a bit of a “discussion.”
“What the heck was all that about?” Flash shouted at Coin Bank. “I told you those girls were bad news.”
“Hey, I’m stuck at a party with my lame, goody-two-shoes stepbrothers and their lame, goody-two-shoes friends with NO BOOZE,” Coin retorted. “I NEEDED something to look forward to. Besides,” he scoffed, “it’s the bad ones who are the most fun, not that you would know anything about that, Mr. ‘I want spend the rest of my life tied down to one girl even though I’m barely old enough to qualify as an adult because we’re just SO in love.’”
Something about that whole rant made everyone present thoroughly uncomfortable, Sunset Shimmer especially. She knew using her magic on other people without their permission is a gross invasion of privacy, and she didn’t like having to do it unless she was backed into a corner or something. However, Coin’s outburst rang enough warning bells in her head that she had few qualms about reaching out her hand and grabbing his wrist. Her eyes glowed white as Coin’s memories and emotions flowed from his mind into hers.
About a split-second later, Coin jerked his hand away in surprise, but that split-second revealed enough.
“What was that for?” Coin snapped at Sunset, rubbing his hand on his slacks as if trying wipe off her touch.
“Uh,” Sunset stuttered, unsure how to explain what she did and how to ask about what she had learned about him. “Look, I mean this in the nicest way possible, but have you ever considered seeing a therapist or something?”
Coin Bank’s facial expression faltered long enough for Sunset to know that her question had completely taken him off guard, but he quickly rebuilt his poised, devil-may-care façade and feigned ignorance.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he scoffed, turning around to walk away.
“Hey, where are you going?” First Base asked.
“NOYB!”
Flash, Twilight, and the rest of Sunset Shimmer’s closest friends turned and gave her questioning looks.
Sunset groaned and put a hand on her face, “I know. That was a gross violation of privacy, and I probably shouldn’t have done it, but I am keeping what I saw to myself, I swear.”
“He’s got some major problems, doesn’t he?” Flash deadpanned.
“Oh, yeah.”
“Look, I know we just met him, and none of us really like him, but maybe someone should follow him and keep him out of trouble,” Flash suggested.
“Right,” Sunset agreed as she started to walk away from the party.
“Hey, where are you going?”
“To keep Coin Bank out of trouble like you said.”
“Well, yeah, but are you sure you want to do it? He is MY stepbrother,” Flash pointed out.
“Hey, you and Twilight just stay here and enjoy the party,” Sunset countered. “I’ll be fine babysitting your stepbrother for you, really.”
After Sunset went to follow Coin Bank, First Base turned to his older brother and asked, “So, what did that girl mean when she said that you made someone cry?”
Flash bit his lower lip uncomfortably and replied, “I’ll tell you when we get home.”
As Sunset made her way through the restaurant, she kept her eyes peeled for any sign of Coin Bank or trouble or Coin Bank getting in trouble. She finally found him by the dessert table piling his plate high with brownies, whipped cream, and hot fudge. She was about to make her way towards him when Adagio glided in and began talking to him. Sunset was still too far away to hear what they were saying, but the glint in Adagio’s eyes and the smirk on her face made Sunset feel incredibly uneasy.
The two of them began to walk away from the dessert table together, leaving Coin’s plate behind. Sunset followed them from a distance. Adagio and Coin ended up walking towards the exit where Aria and Sonata were waiting for them. The pit in Sunset’s stomach grew when the four of them walked out the door.