The infamous Glee Club fiasco was something that everyone was eager to forget about, and that’s what everyone aimed to do. A couple of nights after that crazy weekend, the girls had all decided to go out and eat at a popular restaurant in the area. They had all dressed in their best casual clothing for their outing and were just cutting loose for the evening.
Pinkie Pie had been cracking jokes at the table, making her other six friends laugh. Especially Rainbow Dash.
“Oh that’s so bad! But why is it so funny?” Rainbow laughed, trying very hard not to be boisterous, though only because she didn’t want to get everyone kicked out. She’d been wearing her red T-shirt that had her soccer uniform number on it, number twenty, as well as her usual sports pants and her sneakers emblazoned with her personal insignia.
“Oh, you gotta let me tell the next one!” Sunset said. Everyone nodded. “So a guy walks into a bar, rubs his head and says… ‘Ow! That smarts!’” Sunset had on her white t-shirt with red long sleeves while also sporting her favorite dark pair of jeans and some running shoes.
Twilight was the only one who laughed at that one. Though she stopped as everyone looked at her. “What? I thought it was funny.” Twilight wore a pink polo shirt, accompanied by a long navy blue skirt, and her comfortable sneakers.
“You would laugh at that. Sounds like a Singer joke.” Rainbow remarked.
“Thanks anyway, Twi.” Sunset said as they both blushed from embarrassment.
“Maybe enough with the jokes," Applejack said. “Anyone have anythin’ interestin’ happen lately? Surely one of us has.” She had on a white t-shirt with green sleeves and an apple graphic emblazoned upon it while wearing a jean skirt and her typical boots.
“Well, since you asked…” Rarity began, smiling brightly just thinking about what she was about to tell them. She had on a long sleeve light blue shirt with her purple skirt emblazoned with a graphic of three light blue diamonds. “My life has changed in a significant way. It happened two days ago.”
“You’re not messing with us and telling us that joining the Glee Club is it are you? Because No offense, that’s not what I’d call a significant change.” Rainbow said.
“Now why on Earth would I say that?” She inquired.
“Well what else happened two days ago?”
“Well maybe if ya’d shut yer yap, she might be able ta tell us.” Applejack snapped then nodded to Rarity. “Please continue.”
Dash had nothing else to add. She’d just sat back and mentally told herself to be quiet.
“Yes, thank you,” she said as she prepared herself yet again to say what she was waiting to tell them. “I have entered into a relationship with a very special person in my life. Someone who I’ve been fond of for quite some time, and come to find that the feeling was mutual.”
“Wow! Congrats Rarity!” Sunset said. “Who’s the lucky guy?”
“Is it someone we all know?” Fluttershy spoke up after being relatively quiet the whole evening. She was wearing a light yellow long sleeve shirt accompanied by a light green skirt while wearing her usual yellow butterfly hair barrettes on her hair.
“Yes, actually.” She said, smiling all the while. “He’s a sweet, thoughtful, sharp, intelligent and bright individual, and he’s very near and dear to us all.”
“Hold on…” Twilight spoke up, her face lighting up with a smile. “You’re not talking about…”
“Well come on! Spill it!” Rainbow shouted.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Pinkie said, gesturing to Rarity letting her be the one to say it, the latter could barely contain her excitement.
“Ladies, Dusk Noir and I have revealed our feelings for each other and have agreed to begin a relationship together!” Rarity said, beaming with pride and joy.
There wasn’t a sour expression at the table at that moment. Every one of her friends had been vocal about their shared excitement for her and Dusk. Fluttershy had migrated over to Rarity’s side of the table to give her a congratulatory hug.
“I knew it!” Sunset exclaimed.
“Congratulations Rarity!” Twilight beamed. “I'm so happy for both of you!”
“Ah knew he had it in him!” Applejack said. “Congrats, you two!”
“Yay! Another party!” Pinkie exclaimed. “I’m so excited I could explode!” She pulled out her pocket party cannon and fired it into the air, leaving tiny pieces of confetti on the table.
“Wedding bells in the future, anyone?” Sunset joked with a chuckle.
“Now, now, Dusk and I have only just begun our courtship.” Rarity giggled. “These things take time, you know that. Besides, I think we are closer to seeing Twilight in a wedding dress than myself.” She shot Twilight an apologetic grin as everyone’s eyes shifted towards her.
Twilight almost did a spit take as she was close to taking a drink out of her cup, when Rarity had caught her off guard with that comment. Her eyes widened behind her glasses. She knew it was all in good fun, however that subject hadn’t really been on her mind very much up until now. But it for sure had her attention now. This didn’t go unnoticed by the others. They giggled at this for a bit. Once Twi had calmed down, she saw the humor of the situation and played along. Still though, she knew it would be quite a while before that happened. Right? She silently dismissed the thought of it for now.
“My apologies, Twilight. I didn’t mean to catch you off guard.” Rarity said.
“Yeah, sorry. It was just a joke.” Sunset added.
“Oh no, it’s fine,” she laughed it off with only a halfway convincing smile. “All in good fun.”
“And speaking of fun,” Dash said. “Let’s pay for our food and get over to the mini golf course! I’m dying to smoke Applejack again!
“In yer dreams, Rainbow!” Applejack retorted, whipping out her bank card before Rainbow. “Ah’d say Ah’ve already got a head start on ya.” Rainbow growled a bit at this.
“So, let the games begin!”
After having spent the past couple of days keeping his new step in his relationship with Rarity to himself, as the two had mutually agreed after making it official, Dusk and Rarity checked with each other earlier that morning to make sure it would be okay if they told their friends. Rarity had the more seemingly daunting task of the two, telling six of her ‘girlfriends’ as opposed to Dusk only having to tell one person. Though part of him was a bit curious as to how Ray would react.
Ray and Rarity’s relationship hadn’t started off the best, both coming from two completely different worlds and upbringings and initially clashed as a result. However, over time the group had grown and everyone within was as tight knit as ever, including Ray and Rarity. Dusk was thankful for this. He was thankful that Rarity had shared his feelings, and was thankful for everyone in his life who’d helped him get to this point.
He had a feeling Ray already suspected something, but he still wanted to tell his friend. Why wouldn’t he? Ray would want to revel in something as amazing in his own life with Dusk if the roles were reversed.
As he made his way back to their apartment after fetching some Chinese takeout for the two of them, he opened the door. He’d tried to turn on the lights, but he’d momentarily forgotten that on the night that he and Rarity made it all official, Ray had turned off the power to their lights so he could pull off a schtick of a waiting parent who stayed up late to be there when their child had come home after curfew. Which, he wasn’t wrong, it had been quite a bit later than he’d normally come back home. He’d even gone to the trouble of buying a lamp just for such a gag. He’d sat in his recliner when Dusk finally did come home and said “Young man, where have you been?”
Though he was mildly annoyed at that, he couldn’t help but laugh at that not so distant memory, as he entered the room to see Ray at his desk, hard at work on a writing project of his with his newly purchased lamp turned on behind him.
“I see you still haven’t turned the power back on to the lights in here.” Dusk said, shaking his head as he placed the food on the table.
“Oh, right…” Ray said as he walked across the room and turned the breaker back on. “Now try it.”
Dusk flipped the switch and to his delight, the lights were once again working. “You’re such a goof.”
“I know! Thanks for grabbing the food. I’m nearly done with writing for the night.”
“Not a problem. But before we eat and play our games tonight, there’s a matter of which I would like to discuss with you.”
“Look, I’m sorry I left my laundry in the dryer this morning. My alarm didn’t go off and I was nearly late for class.”
“No, no. Not that. Though, I hope you’ve taken care of that since coming home.”
“After we eat, I promise.”
“Fair enough.” Dusk chuckled.
“So what’s up?” He said, grabbing a soda from their fridge.
“I have some news. Exciting news. I had to wait a couple of days to tell you.” Ray nodded. “I asked Rarity out a couple of days ago, and we both agreed to start dating. We both care deeply for each other, and we’re both excited about this next big step.”
Ray chuckled. “I knew something was up with you two. And I had wondered if there wasn’t something going on when you came home late that night. But I’m happy for you, man. Rarity’s something else, but in a good way.”
“Much appreciated, Ray. And I’m happy to have your support.”
“You’d do the same for me.”
“I definitely would.” Dusk smiled. “Perhaps one day we will celebrate the same thing for you.”
“Maybe, but I’m not worried about that right now. I’m hankering for some food and then I’m going to kick your butt at Mario Kart.”
“We will need to have a little chat about your competitiveness.” Dusk joked. “And I thought Rainbow Dash was bad.”
“Rainbow Dash has yet to learn just how serious I get when playing games. We need to schedule that some time. It’ll be a bigger deal than some YouTuber fighting an MMA fighter. Both she and Sunset Shimmer will soon fall to the might of my expert gaming prowess!”
“Now that, I am looking forward to seeing. I can only imagine the aftermath of such a duel.”
“But enough of that. That food smells good and I’m starving!”
Three weeks had come and gone. Summer Vacation had come over the horizon and was now underway. Just a few days into it, as a matter of fact. A plan had been set for a large group of friends to go away for a couple of weeks to Waytona Beach. A tourist town and public beach set just a few hours South East of Canterlot Town.
The day came where they were to all meet and get ready to arrive at a central location and wait for the transportation that would take them on their way. The south parking lot was the place, and about half of them had made it this far.
Six of the seven girls had made it, all but Rarity. Dusk and Ray had yet to arrive themselves. It only took a few more minutes before Flash arrived, leaving them with only four more members to wait for. They’d all worn their usual casual summer attire, not deviating far from their normal choices that they typically wore. All except for Twilight, who’d made a notable difference of choice in her hairstyle, reverting it back into a bun similar to how she styled it at Crystal Prep, from how she’d normally had it in ponytail form. Presumably due to the hot weather.
Twilight took the helm of organizing the hotel arrangements, transportation, and just about everything else. She stood there overlooking everything with a clipboard and checklist in hand.
“Is everything still going according to plan?” Sunset asked, as she walked up to Twilight.
“Oh, yes. Everything is going well so far. Singer might be the last one here, he went to get breakfast for everyone.”
“I thought I saw his luggage here already.” Sunset said as she noted his things sitting besides Twilight’s. She took a second look at Twilight’s things and she noticed Twilight had a duffel bag suitcase and two other cases of some kind. “Packing light?”
Twilight caught on to her jest and giggled. “I know it’s a bit much but I have some drones I’ve been working on that I’d like to try and calibrate while I’m there.”
“Assuming you’re not too busy with you-know-who.” Sunset smirked.
“Oh, he’s aware of my plans. Besides, I’m not the only one he has plans for on this trip. He’d really like to get to know everyone else better these next couple of weeks as well.”
“He really is a great boyfriend. You’re lucky to have him. I can tell he really cares a great deal for you.”
“I agree.” She smiled. “We compliment each other fairly well. I like how laid back he is… eh most of the time. He tries very hard to be self aware and has a deep regard for my feelings, as well as the feelings of others. He’s far from perfect, but he definitely tries his best. He pushes me to try and do the same. I like to believe that I’m getting better.”
“Aaaaw,” Sunset said. “And you are. Your relationship continues to be beneficial for you and your confidence, at least as far as I can tell.”
“Thank you, Sunset,” she said. “That really means a lot.”
“Not a problem. Well, I hope you two enjoy your moments of alone time these next couple of weeks. And I hope he gets along with the rest of our friends as well as he does with you and me.”
“I’m sure he will.” Twilight continued to check things off her list.
Not a minute later, a small purple hatchback car pulled into one of the parking spots in the lot. The car belonged to Rarity. Out of the front passenger seat and passenger rear seat came Dusk and Ray, who Rarity had recruited to help load her luggage. The driver's rear seat had been reserved for Dusk and Ray’s belongings in addition to one more of Rarity’s suitcases.
“You know, had I known I’d be recruited to help lift Rarity’s bags every time we’d all go somewhere, I would have found a new roommate when I found out about you and her.” Ray remarked, only halfway joking. He’d worn a white T-shirt and cargo pants while sporting his white running shoes.
“Your help is always appreciated, Ray.” Dusk said with a grin. Dusk wore a white T-shirt as well but chose to wear jeans along with his running shoes.
“Wipe that smile off your face and help me start pulling these cases out.” He remarked as he picked up a couple of them.
“Thank you for your help, Dusk. You as well, Ray.” Rarity said, grabbing her purse out of her car. She placed her oversized sunglasses on her face under her shady large brimmed hat, complimented by her summertime attire. “I will see to it that I get your lunches for today as a thank you.”
“Very welcome, my dear…” Dusk smiled as he’d said that. “And thank you. I’m sure we both appreciate it.” Dusk smiled graciously at Ray, who if he was annoyed, chose not to show it because he could tell that his help truly was appreciated here. Ray offered only a grin as he placed the luggage in his arms down on the ground next to the others’.
Rarity smiled back. She’d offered her help by grabbing one of the smaller cases. Not much of a help, but that would be one less thing for them to carry.
Rainbow stood to the side and made a whipping sound effect with her mouth, implying that Rarity had been cracking the whip.
“I’ll have you know that I volunteered my services to help.” Dusk said to Rainbow. “And Ray was asked very nicely for his help, and he obliged.”
“Of course you did. You’re Dusk. Mr Polite.” She nudged him with her elbow and winked. “Here, lemme help you with some of those.” She relieved each of them of one of the cases they carried, and helped them to stack them up by the parking lot. While they unloaded Rarity’s, Dusk’s and Ray’s luggage from Rarity’s car, Rainbow noticed the lack of a bus.
“Yo, Twi!” She called out. “Where’s the bus?”
“It’ll be here in a little bit. Our designated driver is currently filling it up right now.” Twilight informed.
Singer had finally made it back from the donut shop, and had parked on the other side of the parking lot where there would be more room for him to bust out his portable wagon. He was wearing his summer attire including sunglasses, an Avengers t-shirt with an open button up shirt over it as well as blue and yellow gym shorts and tennis shoes.
He grabbed two boxes of a dozen donuts, and two boxes of breakfast sandwiches as well as an ice chest full of various sodas and water and loaded them into his wagon. He’d begun his walk towards where Dusk, Ray, Flash and the girls were when he all of sudden came to an abrupt stop, and his wagon hit him from behind. He had been stopped by someone standing directly in front of him. His skin was a light green, and his hair was long and blonde and looked like it was all piled on top of his head in some sort of weird man-bun. His choice in clothing was a bit weird as well. He wore what looked like a vest but he wasn’t wearing a shirt underneath, as well as some tight fitting jeans and sandals.
“Can I help you?” Singer asked.
“Yeah, wattup dawg! I’m Zephyr Breeze, aka Fluttershy’s brother. And you must be Zinger.”
“Actually my name is Singer.”
“Right, right, close enough. I thought I’d surprise Fluttershy by making a surprise appearance on this trip to Waytona Beach. We don’t get to see each other very much nowadays, so I figured what better way to reconnect with her than by coming along.”
“Oh, well I don’t see why-…”
“But alas, I was not invited so I’m afraid I’m going to have to drive back home, unless…” he shifted his eyes toward Singer.
“Unless?” He repeated, somewhat unsurely.
“Unless someone were to bring me on as a plus one? Then my sister and I would be able to enjoy the quality time that we so desperately need.”
Singer stopped. He had little reason to doubt who this guy said he was. And he also had no reason to tell him he couldn’t come, and if he was lying, the others would call him out on it and Singer could just chalk it up to a mistake on his part.
“Oh, er… sure. I don’t see the harm in it, I guess.”
“See, Zinger? I knew you were a good one! I’ll grab my things and meet you over there! Thanks again!” Zephyr walked off over toward an older pickup and opened the door. Singer didn’t stay and watch the whole thing, he just pulled the wagon off once more to bring breakfast to everyone. However, things went from bad to worse as Zephyr had caught up with him and tossed his luggage into the wagon and onto the breakfast he’d gotten for everyone. The sound it made was telling that the pastries were now toast, kaput, done-zo, smashed!
“Dude! No! Come on, man!” Singer shouted and devastation came over him. Only now had it dawned on him that there may have been a reason this guy wasn’t invited. “That was everyone’s breakfast, you jerk!”
“Hey, not to worry, my Zing-a-ling. It’s still edible!”
“I had one job… ONE JOB and I freaking blew it.” Singer sighed. “Well, I had best go face the music. This should be a fun conversation…”
“That’s the spirit, Zinger!”
“Ugh….”
Meanwhile, the bus had finally arrived onto the scene. It was a nice looking medium sized passenger bus, colored dark blue. It had banners advertising for some lawyer by the name of ‘Brief Case’.
“Is this our bus?” Applejack asked.
The side doors opened and out came a woman in her mid forties. Her skin was light blue, her long hair was blonde and wavy, and she wore a yellow short sleeved summer dress and had her blue tinted sunglasses on.
“Hey kids!” She greeted them. “I’m Belle Case, but you can just call me Belle. I’m going to be your driver for this trip! Now don’t you worry about a thing. I know you’re all adults, and I wouldn’t dream of interfering with your vacation. So once we get there, I’m going to have a vacation of my own. Twilight has my number in case you need me for any reason. Any questions?”
“Darling, you absolutely must tell me who does your hair because it’s so wavy and vibrant.” Rarity said, gushing over her hair.
“Oh this? I do it myself. Old family secret… well it’s not much of a secret. I’d be happy to show you some time.”
“Twilight!” Spike shouted as he jumped out of the bus. The fourteen year old boy ran towards his sister. He was wearing a yellow t-shirt and green shorts along with his tennis shoes.
“Hey Spike!” Twilight hugged her little brother as he ran up to her. Though it wasn’t long before she started fussing with his hair because it was out of sorts in some areas. “Are you behaving well for Mrs Case?”
“Oh yeah, she’s awesome! Apparently Waytona Beach has some really fun tourist attractions there, and Belle’s going to take me to all of them!”
“Thanks for agreeing to watch Spike. You really are a lifesaver.” Twilight said gratefully.
“Not a problem. I always get kinda lonely around the house all by myself when Brief and Brawn are off at work all day. It’ll be like having a kid again! Though, Spike, just don’t call me mom. That’d make it weird.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t.” Spike said. “But I am looking forward to having my own little vacation.”
“Me too, little dude. Oh, speaking of which, where’s my baby boy?”
“Huh?” a few of them said in unison.
“For those who don’t know, this is Singer’s mom.” Flash informed those who hadn’t picked up on this yet.
“Oh, sorry. Yeah I probably should have led off with that.” Laughed Belle.
“He should have been here by now…” Twilight said nervously as she pulled out her phone.
“There he is,” Ray spoke up as he saw him round the front of the bus with his wagon in tow.
“Hey guys…” Singer said apprehensively as he approached them.
“Singer!” He was immediately swept up by the loving and crushing bear hug from his mother.
“Hey… mom… can’t… breathe…” Singer said with his eyes nearly bugging.
“Sorry sweetheart.” She said putting him down. Even though Singer had surpassed her in height and weight years ago, she was still able to pick him up. “Son, you’re getting thin. We need to put some more meat on those bones.”
The others chuckled and giggled at the display. Fluttershy even snapped a photo.
“There, first one for the Vacation album.” She beamed.
“It’s great to see you again, mom. Sorry it’s been a while.”
“It’s alright. Your phone calls have been enough. I’m just so happy to see you.” She lightly punched his arm before sweeping him into a less constricting hug, one which he gladly returned.
“Uh, I hate to break up the tender family moment…” Rainbow Dash said, “but there’s a suitcase smashing our breakfast.”
Singer’s eyes widened. “…crap. I almost forgot about that.”
“What happened here?” Rarity asked.
“Oh… well…”
“Bing! It’s me, everyone’s favorite! Zephyr Breeze. Zinger here was very accommodating in carrying my luggage for me.” He popped out from in front of the bus.
“Singer, what’s he doing here?” Rainbow asked pointedly.
“Funny story…”
“Zephyr Breeze!” Fluttershy said, walking up to him. “I told you that this was my trip with my friends.”
“But Zinger said that I could come.”
“You what?!?” Rainbow shouted. “Singer, what the heck?!?”
“I… I… didn’t know… you see what happened was…-”
“Oh this is going to be good.”
“Okay, guys calm down!” Sunset shouted.
“So that’s the game you're playing?” Fluttershy narrowed her eyes on her brother. “Taking advantage of the one person here who doesn’t know you to get your way? I should have known.”
“What? It worked didn’t it? No takesees backsees!”
“You’re unbelievable!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she grabbed her luggage and boarded the bus, looking pointedly at both Zephyr and Singer. “Don’t even think about trying to sit with me! Either of you!”
Pinkie stood there shaking her head in disapproval. Singer flinched at this. The guilt began to take over. He’d started looking around for any opportunity he could to try and make up for this.
Singer noticed Dusk, Ray, Flash and Applejack loading everyone else’s luggage on the back of the bus and walked over to help, hoping to be able to at least attempt to rectify his mistake.
“Hold on there, Buckaroo.” Applejack said. “We got this well taken care of, don’t ya worry. Besides, Ah think you’ve done enough.”
“Look, I’m sorry about Zephyr, okay? I didn’t mean…”
“Look, it’s fine dude. But we kinda need to get this show on the road and we can’t afford anymore hang ups.” Ray said. “Nothing personal.”
“Oh, right… well then. I guess I’ll just hop on the bus.” He said dejectedly, it didn’t take much for him to realize what a mistake he’d made. And it was one he feared he wouldn’t be able to fix easily.
“Don’t worry about it, bro! Just think of the fun…” Flash tried to cheer him up, but stopped when Singer had just kept walking. “Aw man…”
Dusk wanted to say something, but the moment had passed before he could get a word in.
It didn’t help matters when Zephyr walked past Singer with his jelly stained suitcase, it had been that way from the jelly within the donuts. He walked over to the others currently loading things and tossed the suitcase into Dusk’s hands, getting Dusk’s hands messy. “Thanks for grabbing my stuff, dudes! I can’t wait for the beach! Keep up the good work.”
“Aw come on…”
“Breeze is already testing my patience.” Ray said to Applejack.
“Mine too.”
“Go wash up, Dusk. We got the rest.” Flash said as he tried to clean off Zephyr’s suitcase so he could put it with the others.
“Right, thank you.” Dusk said before he took off to find the nearest restroom.
“We could just toss Zephyr’s suitcase off into the grass. He’d never know.” Ray said. “I’m kidding of course, but you know, we could…”
“Yeah and that would cause even more unnecessary drama…” Applejack replied. “We’ll just make the best of things and hopefully he’ll start actin’ better. Otherwise, Ah’d hate to see what Ah’ll be forced to do.”
“Three strikes and you’re out.” Ray added.
“Dern tootin’.”
Elsewhere, in the Dean’s offices, Luna had been hard at work looking over her files and sorting out her mail. All in a day’s tedious work as a Vice Dean. That was until her sister, Celestia made her entrance. She did so through a door that was in the wall that would otherwise separate their offices, something that Luna at times wished was filled in due to how frequently Celestia stopped by at times.
However, Luna was in a pleasant mood this particular morning, and it’d been a while since she’d seen Celestia pumped like this, so she didn’t argue.
“Lu Lu!” She started. “It’s summer vacation, what are you doing here?” The taller of the two sisters nudged her younger sister.
“I’m working on my reports, Tia. You should too.”
“Already finished.”
“I highly doubt that.” She smirked.
“Come on, Luna. When’s the last time we spent any meaningful time with each other? A vacation is just what we need.” She said as she took a seat in the chair in front of Luna’s desk. Her gaze lingering until she finally looked up. She was dealing with the playful side of her sister and Luna knew that she wouldn’t stop until she was addressed.
“Okay, I’ll bite.” Luna conceded, smiling. “Where are we heading to?”
“I overheard some of our students say they are going to Waytona Beach. It would be the perfect getaway and it’s a tourist town, so there are plenty of activities for us to partake in.”
“Would it not be off putting to those students if they find out that we are following them?” Luna raised an eyebrow.
“We aren’t following them. Just simply going to the same destination. I have no intentions of interfering with their vacation plans. I just really want to go to the beach. If we keep our distance and mind our own business, they will never know we are there.”
“Very well.” Luna said. “I admit, I have been in need of a retreat for quite some time. And this could be fun.” Luna smiled. “When do we leave?”
“This afternoon once we’ve packed. If that’s okay with you, Luna.” Celestia smiled.
“Seems manageable. I can’t wait to get started.”
“That’s the spirit! Oh Luna, you don’t know what this means to me. I’ve missed us hanging out and just being sisters.”
“As have I. I’ll try to finish as soon as I can and meet you this afternoon.”
Celestia smiled and nodded. “I’ll leave you to it then.”
Everyone had filed on to the bus and all of the luggage was stashed safely in the back. Some of the passengers were still stewing over having Zephyr with them, however once they’d stopped and grabbed a bite to eat at a convenience store, many of them had started to ease up.
Dusk had been sitting in a seat with Rarity on the right side of the bus. Twilight was sitting beside Singer near the back on the left. Flash sat alone in a seat behind Sunset who sat by Pinkie Pie on the right. Ray and Applejack sat beside each other, also on the right. Fluttershy had sat with Zephyr on the left side of the bus, keeping an eye on her brother and making sure he didn’t bother Rainbow Dash. Dash had been sitting on her own two seats in front of the siblings, trying to keep her music turned up as loud as she could so she wouldn’t hear Zephyr if he spoke.
Meanwhile, in the front seat, Belle and her “co-pilot” Spike were jamming out to a 90’s song.
“Stand out
Above the crowd
Even if I gotta shout out loud
Til mine is the only face you’ll see
I’m gonna staaaaaaaand out
Til you notice me!”
“Oh my goodness! That song never gets old. I remember when it first came out. What a time to be alive. Sadly, you weren’t yet born.” Belle said to Spike.
“I know! There were a lot of neat things that came out before I was born. Singer’s showed me all sorts of cool cartoons and songs from the past. Most of them are actually kind of fun.”
“I’m glad you’ve taken up with him. He was always a good kid growing up, though he was lonely more times than not. It’s nice to know he has some great people in his corner.” She smiled big as she kept her eyes on the road.
“Yeah, he’s pretty cool. Most of the time. I hope he’s okay.” Spike said as he looked back. “I don’t think he’s taking what happened this morning very well.”
“Ah, he’ll be fine. He’s got a solid support system. Your sister is really something.”
“Yeah she’s really great. She’s always had a big heart. And ever since she’s made friends, she’s a lot more fun.” Spike smiled as he recounted his recent adventures with Twilight. How much fun they’d had recently with all of their friends. “I feel like her friendships have been a new source of strength for her, and me too honestly.”
“See? Things might not be going great right now. But once they all get to the beach, unwind, and maybe even hash some things out, things will get better. I think it’s the stress from all the work they’ve had to do this year that’s getting to them.”
“That and Zephyr Breeze.” Spike remarked.
“I’m not too worried about him. That boy just wants attention is all. Besides, there’s some tough characters in this group from what I can tell. He won’t ruin their vacation without a fight.”
“I sure hope you’re right.”
“I’m a mom, I’m always right! Remember that.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“We can’t let him ruin our vacation.” Applejack said, sitting next to Ray. “And we won’t. He ain’t goin to get under my skin.”
“Oh believe me. I’m going to do the best I can to tune him out. But yeah, I’m in agreement. He will not ruin this for us. We’ve all been looking forward to this for weeks.”
“Ah kinda feel bad fer what Ah said to Singer earlier though. Ah reckon it weren’t his fault entirely. Ah don’t think he’s even met Zephyr until now.”
“Well, for the record, I wasn’t mad at him per say. I was more irritated at the fact that our breakfast got ruined, and how it got that way. But my mind is a bit clearer now that we’ve eaten... finally. Still, we definitely could have handled that situation better.”
“Yeah…” said Pinkie from behind them. “Oh, sorry. I hope it’s okay that I join the conversation.”
“Well it’s not exactly a private conversation.” Ray said, looking back to her. “Hi by the way.”
“Good! And hi! But yeah, I kinda feel bad too. We are all just tired from a looooooooooong semester of work. I guess Zeppy showing up was pretty detrimental for our morale.”
“You can say that again. But that's no excuse.” Ray said.
“Ugh! Will you three be quiet over there?” Rainbow snapped.
“Aw can it, Dash!” Applejack snapped back.
“Why don’t you come over here and make me?”
“Just say the word, Ah’d be happy to…”
“Girls!” Sunset shouted, finally breaking her silence. “Why don’t we all just take a nap or something? We’re all clearly still tired and we still have two hours left on the road. Get some shut eye and refresh. Please!”
“Fine.” Dash said, turning over on her side to where her back faced the others.
“Double fine.” Applejack placed her pillow behind her head and was out within five minutes.
“Good idea…” Pinkie said, sitting down leaning her head against the window and falling asleep.
“I’ll sleep when we get there.” Ray said as he pulled out his handheld game.
“This is quite an unfortunate turn of events.” Rarity lamented to Dusk.
“Indeed. However we can’t let it dampen our spirits. We are, after all, on a trip to get away from all of the noise of our daily lives. Even if this is for just a couple of weeks, I’m very excited about the time we can spend together. The two of us alone as well as with our friends.” Dusk said in response to his girlfriend, his heart continued to flutter whenever he’d remind himself of this.
“You’re absolutely right. I’m sure it will all blow over by the time we all get settled in for the night. Although that may be a bit difficult to wait for. It’ll only be an hour past noon when we arrive.”
“Just that much more time we get to spend in each other’s company.”
“You’re just a wonder as usual, Dusk.” Rarity smiled. “It’s very becoming of you.”
“Why thank you, milady.” He said. “It’s a shame you didn’t like my hat. I almost wish I still had it so I could tip it to you.” Dusk smirked.
“Oh hush… Well until we reach our destination, why not watch some more of that show you like? The Mandarin was it?”
“Oh, ‘The Mandalorian’? You were really getting into that?”
“I find the main character’s little green companion to be quite enchanting. Besides, I don’t mind trying to give some of the things you like a try. You’ve been doing so for me for the last few weeks, it’s only fair. And I’m actually enjoying it.”
Dusk was taken aback by her interest in the show. A western-like space opera wasn’t exactly something he’d anticipated on her liking, but if it was good with her, it was good for him too.
“Oh, uh alright then. I believe we were on Episode three.” He pulled out his earbuds and gave the left one to Rarity, and he put the right one in his own ear. Not before taking precautions and wiping both of them down with a sanitary wipe, and Rarity had been thankful for that. As the episode started, she reached over and held his hand, prompting a smile from him as they both watched.
Flash sat in the seat behind Sunset. He’d been relatively quiet about everything going on. It wasn’t lost on him what Zephyr Breeze practically inviting himself on the trip meant, but his focus was on someone else. Over the last several months, Singer and Twilight’s relationship had brought him and Sunset Shimmer back into each other’s lives. They were friends now. However, he harkened back to when he and Sunset used to date. How miserable he’d been with her.
But recently, he’d had these same thoughts and something had occurred to him. She wasn’t the same person she was a couple of years ago. She’d actually become the person he’d hoped she was when they first started dating. Regret had been with him for a while now. He was happy that he’d been invited. He only hoped he could get up the nerve to talk to her. He started to pull up her number and type a text on his phone. However, he chickened out before he could even type a message on his keyboard. He just sighed and leaned his head back against the headrest of his seat. Maybe later, he thought to himself.
Fluttershy sat there beside her brother. She didn’t say a word. She didn’t appear to be angry. But she wasn’t going to talk to him either.
“Oh, so are we really doing the silent treatment thing? Come on Fluttershy.” Zephyr said, nudging her shoulder. “You know you’re happy that I’m here.”
“Hmm…” Fluttershy just sat there scrolling on her phone.
“You’re really not going to talk to me?”
She slammed her phone down onto her lap. “I told you that this trip was for me and my friends. You were not invited. But you weasled your way into getting what you want as usual. And you used my friend to do it.”
“Oh please, you barely even know Zinger. Just like anyone else, he’s just a means to an end.”
“Wow.” Fluttershy said. “Just stop talking, Zephyr.” The nerve. She didn’t want to believe that her little brother could be this bad, but unfortunately the evidence was there. She didn’t know what else to do, but she knew that she didn’t want to talk to him right now. Especially not after that comment.
He folded his arms and scoffed. “Fine. Be that way. I didn’t want to hang out with you anyway.”
Once the bus had gotten about half an hour away from their destination, Twilight woke up from her nap. She looked over next to her and noticed that Singer was still asleep, resting his head on the window. She leaned over and laid her head on his shoulder. This woke him up somewhat. His eyes were still closed but he wrapped his arm around her and held her close.
“Are you waking up?” She asked.
“Yeah…” he said with his eyes still closed but he showed signs of livening back up. “Yeah I’m…waking up.
“Good. I would like to talk about what happened earlier.”
“I wouldn’t.”
“Singer, come on.”
“What do you want me to say?” he said sleepily. “That I messed up? That I ruined everything for everyone? I didn’t know…” he woke up more, his eyes actually opened now. “I… I’m sorry I messed up, Twilight. You gave me one job and I messed it up. And Zephyr is here making everyone miserable, and now everyone is mad at me.”
“I wouldn’t say everyone. I’m not mad at you.” she said as she sat back up and looked at him.
“Aw come on, you’re just saying that.” He shook his head.
“I’m not mad. But I might be if you don’t tell me what happened.”
Knowing he wasn’t going to get out of this, he sighed and began to talk.
“I got played. That’s what happened. Zephyr was able to see right through me and exploit my weakness. He just came out of nowhere, telling me he was Fluttershy’s brother and that he wanted to come on this trip. I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal. And then he smashed the breakfast with his suitcase. And now I keep getting angry face emojis from Rainbow Dash about once every fifteen minutes, but trust me, if I’d known…”
“Singer, it’s not your fault. You didn’t know about Zephyr and nobody even knew he was around. So Rainbow can get over herself.” Twi said. “Just give everyone some time to relax and get all the real life junk off their minds and this will all blow over. We’re almost there, so we can just focus on having a nice evening together. They’ll forget about it soon enough. So forget about Zephyr, forget about everything else. Your girlfriend demands it.” She winked at him.
He pulled her back in for another hug. “Well in that case, I will do my best. I am one lucky guy to have someone like you by my side.”
“Yes you are.” She giggled. “So cheer up. Otherwise, I’ll have to…” Twi was cut off by Singer kissing her. When he stopped, she was taken aback. It happened so suddenly that it threw her off a bit. “Uh… what was I saying?”
“I don't remember either.” He said, smiling at her. “Thank you, Twilight. And I am looking forward to spending the evening with you.”
“Any time.” She blushed and ran her fingers through her hair. “And I am too.”
That last half hour couldn’t have gone by fast enough for everyone on the bus. Once they had arrived at the beach parking lot, they were all let out to stretch their legs.
“Alright!” Belle began. “You kids have fun and explore, or whatever it is you’re going to do. I’m going to go check in to my cabin, and I’ll be back in a few hours. Your hotel is just down the street. You can check in anytime after Five. Any questions?”
Nobody answered. Everyone had seemed content, which was just fine for Belle. She reached over to grab the lever that would shut the doors.
“Alright! Have fun! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”
“Bye Twilight!” Spike yelled, and she waved goodbye back to him.
The doors on the bus closed, and it was off. All twelve of them had gotten out to walk around. They scoped out the landscape and looked out at the ocean. The beach was so inviting. The sun flew high in the sky and there were families, groups and various other gatherings of people out and about in their swimming suits, or with metal detectors and all the normal beach activities that would go on. There were even a couple of lifeguard stands near where they were standing. They could hardly wait to get into it.
Just being there made everyone begin to relax and their demeanors changed for the better. Almost everyone smiled at each other as they anticipated the fun they were about to have. Everyone, that is except Rainbow. Who looked like she was trying to, however, every time she’d glance over to where Zephyr was standing, she’d just get mad. And then there was Singer. She was still pretty mad at him too. He’d tried a friendly smile in her direction, but he was just met with a glare.
This wasn’t going to end easily.