Shortly after breakfast had finished, a number of Arondel ponies had set up on one side of the town square with a wide variety of instruments and got to playing a fun tune for the rest of the town. There were mostly fiddles and banjos but Rainbow Dash also spotted at least one harmonica and a stallion blowing into a jug. The music they were making was very upbeat and fast and a lot of ponies around them were stomping their hooves along, or whistling and hollering for them to really cut loose. Rainbow Dash found herself tapping a hoof on the ground and her three mare friends were also nodding along and whistling occasionally. Even Wish was lightly tapping a hoof on the table, though she didn’t really seem to be paying attention to the music too much.
“You’ll let me have that first dance, won’t ya?” Jolene asked as she stepped away from the table and walked over to Rainbow Dash.
“Sure!” Rainbow Dash grinned.
“Aw, no fair!” Angie exaggeratedly pouted.
Jolene scoffed. “Just get one of your stallion friends, girl.”
“I will!”
Jolene then pulled Rainbow Dash out of her seat and towards the crowd by the musicians. “Come on, let’s have some fun!”
“S-Sure, just one second!” Rainbow said and looked at Wish, who was watching the whole affair with bemusement. “Are you sure you don’t want to dance or anything either? You’re going to be fine on your own?”
Wish nodded to her. “I can’t dance anyways, I just want to sit here for now… maybe we can do something later. Don’t worry about me, okay? The food is really good, I just don’t want to dance. I’m still having a good time.”
“Go have fun dancing for now, Rainbow Dash, I’ll stay here and keep Wish company,” Rosalie said, moving over to sit right by Wish and smiling at the filly. “A good time aint good enough, you gotta have the best time!”
“Mmrmm...” Wish muttered but didn’t reject the other mare.
“If you like any food in particular I can get it for you, and we’ll have lunch in just a couple of hours,” Rosalie said.
“Thank you,” Wish said to her as Rainbow was finally pulled away by Jolene and Angie.
Rosalie watched the three mares head off before she looked down at Wish and gave her a questioning little tilt of the head. “Do you really not want to do anything, sweetheart? I feel terrible that you’re not enjoying the festival as much as I wanted you to.”
Wish frowned, previously thinking that Rosalie had been oblivious to how she was feeling. “I-It’s not your fault. And it’s fine anyways. I’m just… dealing with stuff. About Hoofica.” It was a half truth but still a decent enough explanation.
“I understand. I just hope you can relax and enjoy the festival some more to take your mind off things,” Rosalie patted her back. “Do you want to get a flower crown? Just like me?”
“I-” Wish looked up at the older mare, saw how honestly she was smiling and how genuine her feelings were. The warmth from her eyes. “I think I’d like one… that sounds alright.”
Rosalie smiled. “Great! I’ll help you with that and we’ll be back here right when lunch is getting served.” She got off her seat and waited for Wish to jump down and join her. Together the two of them started walking towards the other side of the square, away from the music and dancing.
“Um… I wanted to ask you something too if it’s okay?” Wish said to her.
“Of course, what is it?” Rosalie welcomingly said.
“What’s it like not living with your family?”
Rainbow Dash and Jolene swung each other around in a fast circle as they engaged in something Jolene called “Square-Dancing”. Rainbow didn’t get what was so square about it but it was still pretty fun. Other pairs were dancing around them too—mostly stallions and mares together, so Rainbow stood out even more than just for the fact she was an outsider. Angie at the moment also swung between several other stallions who were all trading off dancing with her. Jolene hooked her leg through Rainbow Dash’s and the two hopped around in a circle, tapping their hooves to the raucous music.
“Having fun?” Jolene asked her.
“You bet!” Rainbow grinned and disentangled her leg before turning around and grabbing Jolene’s again, now twirling the two of them around together while they looked face to face. “You move pretty good, you know?”
“Got a lot of practice after all. We do this every month, remember?”
“Oh yeah...” Rainbow Dash muttered before she felt herself pulled away and was swung around to join Angie in a dance.
“My turn now!” The pegasus said and started her own round of square-dancing with Rainbow Dash.
Jolene huffed. “You interrupted!”
Angie stuck out her tongue at her. “Snooze you lose!”
“Meanie!” Jolene shouted and rushed in to try and push Angie away and resume her dance with Rainbow Dash.
“I get the feeling that this dancing isn’t going to be ending anytime soon,” Rainbow laughed awkwardly as the two mares fought over getting to dance with her.
She was right, as it wasn’t until several hours later that the group of three returned to the table just before noon. The sun was directly overhead and according to Jolene and Angie that meant it was almost time for lunch. Rainbow Dash noticed when she got back to their table that at some point it had been cleaned and then covered in more and different food than what had been served for breakfast. Now it was mostly plates and bowls of vegetables and fruits, one massive bowl of corncobs was placed in front of her, while stuffed bell peppers sat just an inch away, there were cooked carrots, cucumbers, tomato soup, watermelon, and most impressive of all—on each table sat one pumpkin.
But a gigantic pumpkin, big enough for Rainbow Dash to jump in and use as a boat if it was hollow.
Not that she would ever have reason to do that, but she could if she wanted to.
The tops of the pumpkins were cut off and inside was a thick pumpkin soup. It swam with other vegetables, spices, and ingredients, the heavenly scent from it wafting towards Rainbow Dash.
“I’m definitely having a bowl of that,” she said.
“My favorite thing to eat all day,” Angie said.
Rainbow Dash absentmindedly nodded—and then blinked. “Hold on, where are Wish and Rosalie?”
“We’re right here!”
Rainbow Dash turned around and had to almost immediately bite her lip to keep from laughing.
A blushing and highly embarrassed Wish wore a crown of flowers on her head above her straightened mane. Roses, lilies, tulips, and carnations were woven in with twigs and her own mane hair. It looked nice, but it was hilarious to Rainbow Dash to see Wish wearing something like that. Almost as hilarious as it would’ve been to Wish if Rainbow Dash was wearing the same thing. The sarcastic little filly’s personality and recent attitude were clashing greatly with the accessory.
“You—you like nice,” Rainbow said, snickering slightly. “That’s what you were doing while we were dancing?”
“Mrph...” Wish mumbled and looked away.
“I got that done for her and then we spent some time talking and watching the festival together,” Rosalie smiled. “Wanted us to come back and get together for lunch though. Maybe between lunch and dinner we can find a game to play.” She glanced down at Wish.
“Sure...” Wish nodded.
Rainbow Dash smiled, she didn’t know everything that happened while she was having fun with Angie and Jolene, but it looked like Wish had had a good time with Rosalie and her mood had improved a bit. Maybe the festival really was what she needed.