I was exhausted as I partly stumbled back to my room from the elevator. I'd given my legs a massive workout today, and I was sure I'd burned more calories than I took in.
When I was almost at my room, I was headed off by Greta, who gave me a disapproving look.
"Are you drunk?" Greta asked as she gave me a scowl. She then reached out a talon and gave me a small push. "You'd better not be drunk—or stoned. I'm required to do a room inspection if you are, and I am NOT in the mood for it right now."
I didn't budge. "No, just tired. I am the Dance Dance Revolution queen! I think my legs are going to fall off."
"Well, your majesty, you're just in time for me to set up your signature for your door," Greta informed me. "You'll be the last one for tonight, and I'll just continue to track the rest of you freshmen down over the weekend. Let's get this over with."
She pushed some sort of small metallic device against the handle of the door, and the bottom half of the door started to glow.
"Put your flank up to the door and touch your mark to it," the griffon instructed.
I did as instructed and felt a weird tingle that made my wings fluff involuntarily. It was like there was electricity flowing through it. The door stopped glowing, and Greta reapplied the metal object to the handle. "If that took, you should be able to lock and unlock the door with your mark by pressing it against the door. Can you check to see if it worked?"
I pressed my flank up against the door and was greeted by a clicking noise. "That's cool. How does it work?"
"I have no idea. I just do what I'm told, and it does," Greta replied in a snippy tone. "Have a good night. I am turning in for the evening."
She walked off down the hall, and I opened up the door and went into my room.
"Look who it is, the committed single for life pony," Nightscape said from her desk as I walked in.
Julie was on her bed and gave me a curious look. "I haven't seen you all day. Did you really go on a date, or are those three in the other room just pulling our tails?"
I grinned. "I did indeed go on a date, and it was great."
Julie moved like lightning, and I was suddenly in one of her bear hugs. "That's wonderful! I'm so happy for you!"
"Ow! Julie, I'm sore," I said as pain flashed through me.
Julie released me instantly. "Sorry! Just wanted to congratulate you. Why are you sore?"
"Did you get laid?" Nightscape asked before I could answer Julie.
My ears flattened. "What?! No! It was a first date!"
”So?” Nightscape asked. "Did he tell you he loved you?"
"No."
"Did you tell him you love him?" Nightscape asked as soon as I answered the last question.
"No!"
"Did you guys at least kiss?" Nightscape asked with a sigh.
"No! It was our first date!" I said with a flap of my wings, then blinked. "Am I supposed to do any of that on the first date?"
"Nighty is just trying to fluff your feathers," Julie said. "Be nice, Nighty!"
"I am being nice," Nightscape replied as she went back to working with her legos.
Julie stuck her tongue out at the night pony then turned back towards me. "But why are you sore?"
I blushed. "We went to a place called Dave and Buster's. The place had a huge arcade. I've been playing games all night long—dance games, racing games, every type of game you can think of. I lost most of them, except the dancing games and karaoke. Russell couldn't top me on those two, but the dancing games wore me out."
"Aww! He went with a fun first date over a romantic first date. Probably a good choice on his part," Nightscape said approvingly.
"Just to let you know, we're listening to all of this," Meadow called out from the other room.
"Then just come over here rather than eavesdrop!" Julie yelled back.
"Why is it a good choice?" I asked.
Nightscape turned in her seat and looked at me. "Because he is making sure you don't get bored right away and that you get to develop a comfort level with him early on. If he started you out with a romantic date, the two of you would just sit wherever, staring at one another, not talking, and convinced it won't work because you're trying to be emotionally intimate when you haven't fully developed the trust and comfort to commit to a full date of being emotional. Fun dates let you ease yourself into it, with little bits of conversation to learn about one another and get comfortable together, and plenty of distractions in-between where there would be awkward silence otherwise."
The other three had made their way into the room, and Meadow raised an eyebrow at the night pony. "Since when are you the expert on romance?"
Nightscape spread her wings wide. "Hello? Which of the six of us is engaged and is currently in a relationship that has lasted more than twenty-four hours? Anyone else but me? No? Okay then."
"I thought night pony courting rituals involved all the mares fighting and the stallion just picking the winner," Ashley said with a smirk.
"That's tribalist!" Nightscape shouted in an offended tone. "We still court just like any other person does. It's just that sometimes we have to beat down a mare that thinks she can muscle in. I'm sure other tribes would do the same thing if they had some hussy trying to pull their coltfriend away. It just comes up more often for night ponies."
"Fair point," Ashley replied with a snort.
"We had a good time," I said with a smile.
"So when's the second date?" Meadow asked, seeming unable to contain her excitement.
"Uh, we haven't set one yet," I replied. "We said we would do something again soon, maybe next week."
Nightscape smirked. "Well, if you're dating a human, I guess you won't need those birth control pills."
My eyes went wide, and I rushed into the bathroom. "I need to take those now before I forget again!"
Everyone watched me in confusion, and Meadow followed after me. "You know you can't get pregnant by a human, right?"
I flew up on the bathroom counter and rushed in my bag. "Yeah, but I am about to call my parents, and my mom is going to ask me if I took them. It's the one thing she is fussing over. I don't want her upset about that before I tell her I have a fine I need her to pay."
"Fine?" Julie asked in shock. "How wild was your date??"
I scarfed down my pills, turned the faucet on, and stuck my head under the sink faucet to get a sip of water. After I was done and turned the sink back off, I looked back towards Julie. "I wasn't fined for anything on my date. I was fined for something with the OMMR. Can't talk about it."
"You got fined by the OMMR?" Ashley asked in disbelief.
I flapped back down to the ground. "Yes. Kinda sore about it."
I saw Ashley and Sunflower share a glance. Maybe they were wondering if that would help Sunflower's ranking. Honestly, I didn't know, but I didn't think so. Dreamwardens couldn't break a rule or even try to; their nature stopped them from doing so. To me, that meant it didn't matter if I accidentally slipped up now on that kind of thing because I wouldn't be capable of slipping up as a Dreamwarden. Maybe it would matter to my ranking If I was doing it on purpose, but it was an accident in this case.
Sunflower stretched her wings and yawned. "I need to get going to bed. I have a long day tomorrow. Congratulations on the date, Rebecca. Goodnight, everypony."
"Don't forget, we have an initiation trip to do tomorrow night," Julie called out to Sunflower before Sunflower could fully leave.
Sunflower nodded. "I'll be here. I'm eager to try new things, but wait for me if I'm running late. I'm not sure how long I'll be out tomorrow. I'll try to call and let you know when I get a better idea."
"Initiation trip?" I asked in confusion as Sunflower left the room.
Meadow snorted in disgust. "Going to one of those dirty hookah bars. I’ve never understood this town's fascination with them. They're horrible. Still, it matters a lot to Julie that we do it, so we're doing it."
I felt kind of the same way about hookah bars, but I remembered what Julie had said about why they were important to her.
"I'll be sure to be there too," I replied. "I have to do some foalsitting tomorrow, so I might be arriving later. I'm not sure if I am getting paid right away. Is someone else paying for those of us without money?"
Julie nodded. "I'm covering everything, don't worry."
"Not paying for me; I've got a member pass," Nightscape corrected.
Meadow looked at Nightscape in disbelief. "You regularly go to those places? Why?"
Nightscape shrugged. "They're some of the few places that stay open twenty-four hours in town that serve food. They're popular with night ponies because of that. Being nocturnal dramatically reduces our options, and there aren't enough of us for most businesses to cater to. You day ponies are so lucky. If a night pony wants to have a nice romantic evening out or place to chill with their fellow night ponies out on the town, it is the hookah bars, Waffle House, or Walmart."
"Waffle House isn't so bad," Meadow replied.
"It is if it is your only option all the time," Ashley said in Nightscape's defense. "I haven't had to deal with many night ponies, aside from the Dreamwardens, in my life, but I'm starting to appreciate they have a lot of unique challenges the rest of us don't think about and make unfair judgments about."
"Thanks," Nightscape replied with a grin. "You aren't so bad, for a piglet."
"You two are impossible together," Meadow said with a frustrated fluff of her wings. She then turned to go back to her room. "I'm going to check Sunflower's bandages before she falls asleep. Can you help me, Ash? Your magic makes it go quicker."
"I suppose," Ashley replied. "Have a goodnight, everyone."
"I suppose I should turn in as well," Julie said with a yawn. "Have to get up early to work out, and I have official team warm-ups tomorrow afternoon. The flight team has its first exhibition match Sunday, and it is on the road this year. It doesn't count, but I still want to put on a good preseason performance."
I checked my phone and noticed that Lántiān had texted me times like she promised. She said only two or three hours, but she was asking for me to work from noon till five. That was two plus three hours, not two or three. I didn't mind since I had nothing else to do, but if she regularly asked for longer periods of time than we originally agreed, that might be why she found herself without foalsitters so often.
"And I need to call my parents before I go to bed," I said as I went over to my bed. "Sleep tight, everyone—everyone but Nightscape."
"Hey, you still have to tell us about you going to Equestria next month!" Nightscape complained.
Julie had already gotten in bed, but she stuck her head out of it to look at me. "You're going to Equestria next month?"
"Yeah, apparently I won a contest," I answered. "I don't have any further details yet. Maybe my parents do. I'll tell you when I know more."
"Huh, Sunflower said she won a contest too. Both of you won the same thing; that's pretty lucky. I wish I had that kind of luck," Julie said wistfully as she curled into her bed.
I got into my bed and closed the curtain. Luck didn't have much to do with the contest since we were just made winners as an excuse. It felt a little unfair to the people who actually entered. Sure, it was only a few prizes that were withheld for candidates, with the rest being real winners, but that was still families had entered that got skipped over.
After dialing my parents, it only took a single ring to get answered.
"Rebecca?" Mom answered with a puzzled tone. "You are calling later than I would expect. Everything okay?"
I smiled tightly. "I'm good. How are you?"
"I'm still wide awake. Your father and I slept in today. Now, what is wrong?"
"Why would anything be wrong?" I asked as innocently as possible.
"Rebecca, you can't hide things from your mother. I can tell by your wording and voice. Tell me what's wrong."
I hung my head. "I got a little fine and need you to cover it for me."
"A fine?" Mom said in confusion. "A fine for what?"
"I said some things to you last night that qualified as other people's private information. I got fined five hundred dollars by the OMMR."
"Five hundred?! That's not a little fine!"
I gave a tight toothy grin. "But you'll pay it for me… right?"
"Of course I'm going to pay it; you don't have that much money," Mom muttered. "Just don't get any more fines. We're well off, but I'm not made of money."
"Thanks, Mom," I said with relief. "By the way… I went on a date earlier tonight."
"Do you hear that, David? She does have time to get pregnant after all! It's pink pajamas for you!" Mom yelled to my stepdad.
I heard Nightscape and Julie both snicker.
"Mom! I'm not going to get pregnant!"
"Maybe not, if you remember your birth control," Mom countered.
"It was a date with a human," I hurriedly explained. "Humans can't get ponies pregnant. We haven't even kissed. I'm not even sure how to have sex with a human."
"I can share some videos with you to help you figure it out," Nightscape called out.
"Please don't," I yelled back at her.
"Hey, can you send them to me?" Julie asked.
"Is that your kink, Jules? Are you a fleshy?" Nightscape said through a bout of laughter.
"What? I'm just curious, and you're the one who has videos ready to go!" Julie protested.
"What's all that noise in the background?" Mom asked.
I instinctually covered my face with a wing to hide my blush. "It's nothing. My roommates are being perverted dweebs."
"Dweebs?!" Nightscape exclaimed. "Well, golly-gee-willikers, have we time-traveled back to the twentieth century? We must have if we're using that language."
"She's not pregnant yet, so you haven't won the bet. I'm not wearing pink pajamas!" I heard my stepdad yell in the background.
"But you look adorable in pink!" Mom countered.
"As a pony!" Stepdad yelled.
"I wonder how many humans rehumanized because they didn't like their fur color," Julie said curiously. "Do you think it is a lot?"
"I'd have rehumanized if I were pink," Nightscape said. "A pink night pony? I'd be laughed at constantly."
"Girls, I'm on the phone with my parents!" I shouted.
"We noticed," Julie replied.
"So when do I get to meet this guy? What's his name? How did you meet? What did you do on your date?" Mom asked as she went into full interrogation mode.
I took a deep breath. "His name is Russell. We met a few days ago when I crashed into the dorm building."
"That's one way to get a guy's attention," Nightscape said with another snicker.
I chose to ignore her. "We've run into each other a few times since then."
"Rebecca is very good at running into people," Julie commented.
I was going to ignore her too. "He has been very nice to me each time. I kinda pressured him into asking me out. He took me out to Dave and Buster's. We had pizza, played some arcade games, and talked some more."
"And when do I meet him?" Mom asked again.
"Mom! It has been one date! We aren't at the meet the parents stage."
"Well, if things progress, will you at least bring him by the house before you decide to sleep with him?"
"Mom!"
Nightscape started laughing again. "I love your mom. She gets such great reactions out of you."
"The average age a pony loses their virginity is sixteen and a half years, a full year earlier than the human average," Mom informed me. "You're eighteen and out of the nest. I'm just being realistic about what is going to happen."
"Sixteen and a half? Man, everyone in here is lagging behind the curve," Julie observed.
"I gotta admit, I was eighteen when I lost mine," Nightscape said wistfully. "I guess I'm slow too."
"I'm not a statistic!" I protested as my face burned.
"Lay off her, honey," Stepdad said in my defense from somewhere closer to my mom than he had been. "Remember when you pressured her about prom?"
"Ooohhh, this sounds like it could be a fun story," Nightscape said in a lecherous voice.
"Okay, I'll ease up," Mom said reluctantly. "I mean it, though. I want him over for dinner if things look like they'll progress that way."
That was going to be a long time from now if it ever happened. I was now starting to dread falling asleep. Miss Seapony was going to be awful tonight.
"Anyway, did you hear anything yet about the details of the contest?" I asked. "The one we entered and won… to go to Equestria."
"Yes, they gave dates and some of the pre-trip details," Mom replied. "You leave from New York, September twentieth, that's a Sunday, and return on the twenty-seventh. Doctors'll thoroughly check you out before you leave and before you travel back—so don't catch a cold. They won't let you cross the portal if you're sick."
"I don't think anyone ever plans on getting sick, Mom," I replied.
"Just be extra careful," she said quickly. "You'll take a plane from Atlanta on the nineteenth and return the same way. Either your father, me, or both will drive you to the airport and pick you upon your return."
"I'll avoid anyone who is sick," I assured my parents. I yawned. "I need to get to sleep. I start my foalsitting job tomorrow. The foal is a little seven-year-old pegasus filly named Drizzle, and she seems like she has a lot of energy that I'll need to keep up with."
"Good luck, it will be a good experience for you," Mom replied.
I remembered an important detail at the last minute. "Oh! I forgot. Maggie and I had a little talk. She needs some time to think about some things, but she believes me. You don't need to talk to her."
"Well, that's good to hear. I hope you two can mend things up," Mom said. "I'll let you go. Love you, sunshine."
"Love you, and tell Dad I love him too."
"I will sleep tight. Talk to you again sometime over the weekend." The call disconnected.
"Hey, Rebecca, you know we are happy for you getting to go on dates and everything, right?" Julie called down to me. "We don't mean to upset you. It is fun to needle you, but if it ever crosses the line, just say something."
"I know what you said earlier, but since it was now true, I figured it was open game," Nightscape said in agreement. "Don't be afraid to tell me I'm going too far."
"Yeah, we can be crude—Nighty in particular—" Julie said in agreement
"Hey!" Nightscape protested.
"—but no one wants to hurt anyone's feelings," Julie concluded.
l felt a pleasant warmth inside as I listened to them. "You're right, Nightscape; it is open game now. I'll let you know if any of you take things too far, but thank you both for saying that."
"Feel free to poke back at us too," Julie continued. "I know I have heard every single jock joke and barb you can think of, and Nighty has a tough hide."
"She couldn't come up with any jokes about me. I'm perfectly perfect in every way," Nightscape said proudly.
Julie snorted and started laughing.
"You are the big bad night pony that gets beaten up by a trio of thirteen-year-olds," I said slyly.
"Those three aren't normal thirteen-year-olds!" Nightscape protested. Julie started snorting and laughing some more, and I heard her trying to muffle it with her pillow. "I'm serious! It's always fun watching when some new recruit arrives and thinks they are all that, then Tempest puts them in a practice bout with one of the twins. Usually lasts about ten seconds before the new meat is crying out for their momma."
"Are you speaking from experience, Nighty?" Julie asked through suppressed laughter.
"I plead the fifth," Nightscape replied, and I heard her getting up. "Anyway, good night to both of you. I'm going to go visit Robby—and yes, I remembered my birth control."
"Have a good night," I called out with a snicker. "I'd say, have fun, but you seem to have that in mind already."
"Yeah, yeah," Nightscape said as I heard the balcony door open. "Sleep well, you two." I then heard the door close.
"Goodnight, Rebecca," Julie said.
"Good night, Julie."
I rolled over and pulled my blankets up over me. It had been a long few days, and I was ready for the weekend.