After a few more hours of running around, and the walk back, our group of seven had been exhausted. Especially after expelling energy on the dance floor not once, but twice. They ended up back in there once more before they left. It had been Rainbow’s idea to get them stimulated so the walk back wouldn’t be as bad on them. She’d been partially right, up until the hotel they were staying at came into view. At the sight of it, their legs and backs began to ache a bit in anticipation of getting to lie down on a bed soon.
The feelings of tiredness and exasperation returned to them once they’d made it there. Though it was slightly canceled at the sight of the bus, so they knew that they would be able to get their luggage unloaded once they’d all checked in.
“Ya know, I just realized something. We could have just taken the public transport bus back.” Sunset said, facepalming in unison with a few others.
“Hindsight is twenty twenty…” Rainbow replied.
“Oh well, we’re here now, so everything is going to be okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie said enthusiastically, exerting what little remained of her energy. “Aaaaaw man, even I’m ready to hit the hay…”
Belle had been waiting in a parked vehicle, next to their bus. There was a vehicle rental place down the street, so while they were all out, she rented a vehicle for her to get around in with Spike, so they could leave the bus there.
Fortunately, this bus had a keypad on its back door so they had all been texted a code to get into it so Belle wouldn’t have to wait around long. Four of them still had yet to return. And yes, four of them.
Turns out, Zephyr had hitched a ride with Belle on her way back to the hotel so he climbed out of the rented car when he noticed that the others had made it.
“Hey-o, peeps! Took you guys long enough!”
A collective growl could be heard among the others when they heard his voice.
“Oh, great… I almost forgot.”
Rainbow remarked.
“Zephyr…” Fluttershy said, cocking an eyebrow at him.
“What? I was just saying.” He returned. “You guys should have been on the beach today. Lots of sights and sounds, and I’m not just talking about the waves.”
“Riveting…” Sunset muttered.
“Just try’in stay outta our way, alright? At least fer tonight. We ain’t in the mood fer yer shenanigans.” Applejack said, as she walked past him.
“Say no more, AJ!” Zephyr said mockingly, making a hand motion across his heart.
“I wouldn’t have been as nice about it…” Dash muttered to herself.
“Oh Rainbows… so quick to deny your feelings for me. I do have that effect on the ladies, you know.”
“Nice shiner. Did the ladies give that to you?” Dash said in response to his darkened eye where he’d been punched earlier.
Ray, Sunset, Applejack and Pinkie collectively chortled at Rainbow’s response. Zephyr’s expression went from smug to perturbed.
“Hey! I fell down the stairs, okay?!?” He started to get defensive. He sure wasn’t about to outright confirm what they already knew.
“And only landed on your eye?” Ray said with a cocked eyebrow. “I highly doubt that.”
“Shut up!”
The others kept laughing for about a minute or two, before he shrugged and made his way to the back door of the bus. He had seen his suitcase in the middle underneath and on top of everyone else’s luggage, and decided instead of just taking the others down to get to it, he’d just pull his luggage out. He did so, causing a few of the suitcases on top to fall out of the back of the bus into the parking lot.
The laughter ceased in an instant as they heard the clashing sounds from the back of the bus, and Zephyr had already made it around the back going towards the hotel before they were able to get back and see what happened.
“Wow… just wow.” Ray said, but at this point he wasn’t really surprised.
“That burns it, Ah’m gonna give that overgrown varmint a piece a’ my mind!” Applejack growled and wanted to actually make good on her word before her friends stopped her.
“Applejack, hey! Easy!” Sunset said, jumping in front of her. “Look, we’re all tired, and are in dire need of some rest. Let’s just sleep this off.”
“Oh, ‘aight… thanks Sunset. Ah almost went off the deep end there.”
“Don’t mention it.” She smiled.
“Let’s just pick up our stuff and go already. The sooner we get to our rooms the sooner we don’t have to worry about him for the rest of the night.” Rainbow said as she begrudgingly grabbed her luggage off the ground, and beelined it towards the hotel.
“I’d say she’s handling things well.” Flash said, garnering a few halfway bewildered gazes. “What?”
“Let’s go…” Ray sighed with exasperation as he and everyone else present grabbed their belongings and headed inside. Flash and Applejack would be the last two to make their way inside as they picked up the luggage of those not yet there to claim their belongings back into the bus.
They hadn’t the slightest idea how the rooms they’d reserved were meant to be divided, but they were all tired and ready to be done with the day. They couldn’t wait for Twilight, who had all this worked out, but who knew how long it would be before she and the other remaining few would be out?
Surely nothing would come of this, right?
Dusk had grown tired from the events of the evening. He leaned his head back in the bus seat he sat on beside Rarity. The two had just finished watching a play, of which they attended after breaking off from Singer and Twilight, who had their own plans for the remainder of the evening.
The sky was beginning to get dark out and it was evident that he and Rarity were both beginning to fade a bit. Rarity leaned over and lay her head on Dusk’s shoulder. Dusk welcomed it, and reached over and held her right hand with his left. Rarity snuggled his shoulder a bit when he did. He was careful not to let himself doze off too much, lest they miss their stop. Fortunately they were only about five minutes away.
“Rarity, I must say, this was a splendid evening. It was nice to spend time with Singer and Twilight, but being alone with you for the time we had was nice in itself.”
“I agree, Dusk.” She said as she sat up to share a gaze with him. “Going to see that movie was a nice way to cap off the evening. Have you ever heard of it before?”
“No, I hadn’t. But I read that it was a romantic comedy and I was intrigued. It was a risk, but I suppose it worked out.”
“It did, I had fun watching it. Though it probably wouldn’t have been the same without you.” She kissed him on the cheek.
“You’re too kind.” He blushed. “I’m never going to get tired of that.”
“Well that’s good. Because neither am I.” This time, she leaned in and kissed his lips for a brief moment. After they had parted, he smiled for about half a minute straight before they resumed snuggling.
Dusk had noticed a kid from across the aisle was trying to mock them by making kissy faces, but he paid him no mind. Kids will be kids, he thought to himself. He almost laughed, but restrained himself and decided not to give the kid anymore acknowledgement than he deserved. He had someone beside him who was far more worth his time.
“So…” she started again. “Now I understand why you and Singer got so silent at the restaurant when Twilight and I returned to the table. It was so sweet of you to help Singer the way you did. I’ve been waiting to see them take that next step for a while now. But with such busy schedules to keep up with during the school year, it definitely prolongs things. I’m just so happy that they both have realized their true feelings and are moving forward.”
“I only said what made sense in the moment. It was ultimately up to him to tell her what he was feeling. But I’m happy for them, truly.”
“You’ve come such a long way, Dusk. I can’t express enough how proud I am of you.”
“You know what? I think I can actually take a bit of pride in that. Knowing that you do, makes it easier. I’m indebted to you, Rarity. I feel like I’m much better because of you.”
“We’re better because of each other, Dusk. That’s what matters.”
They embraced in a hug for a brief moment before the bus came to a stop.
“Well I suppose this is where we exit.” Dusk said, as he and Rarity got up along with everyone else getting off. “I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to hide my face in a fluffy pillow right about now.”
“Likewise. I can barely keep my eyes open.” Rarity said with a yawn.
Once they had exited the bus, the parking lot of the hotel had become visible and they were that much more relieved. They weren’t too bothered to see the mess that had been left of the luggage that had been hastily returned to the back of their bus when they went to retrieve their belongings. They’d expected as much, as they figured the others had beat them to the hotel.
Once they made their way inside, they noticed the nicely decorated lobby area. It had beach decor and ocean themed walls. Fitting for the area. It even had a large aquarium on the back wall with various species of sea life swimming about within.
They had hoped to see at least one of their friends out and about, like maybe Pinkie Pie, but no such luck. They just went on ahead to the front desk to where a well dressed employee was on his computer playing solitaire until he’d noticed the couple coming his way.
“Ah, yes. How can I help you?”
“We are a part of the ‘Twilight Sparkle’ party,” Rarity began. “We’re just here to check into our rooms.”
“Ah yes. You have one room left.” Informed the clerk.
“One room?” Dusk said with a slight panic in his voice.
“Yes, a large portion of your party has already been checked in and have taken their rooms for this evening.”
“Not to worry, I’m sure we can figure this out.” She said as she was handed the key card for the room. “Thank you, good sir.”
“Enjoy your stay.” He replied, eagerly returning to his computer screen to resume his game.
When Dusk and Rarity made their way to the room they had on their key, they quickly were made acquainted with the hallway, which no doubt had the other rooms where their friends were.
“A thought just occurred to me.” Rarity said. “We have no idea which rooms our friends are in.”
“And they’re no doubt asleep as we speak.” Dusk said. “Maybe if we try a couple of them, we can find out.” Dusk tried AJ and Ray’s numbers. Nothing. He tried Pinkie’s number, same result. “This isn’t good.”
“Dusk, we may have to just share a room for tonight.” She noticed he was about to object, but she put her finger over his lips before he could say anything. “Listen, we are tired. Everyone is asleep. Let’s just tough it out for one night. It won’t kill us. Besides, it’s not like anything is going to happen. Do I make myself clear?”
“Crystal…” he sighed reluctantly. The latter part of her statement, he was grateful for. He wasn’t planning on anything crazy happening between them, and he knew she was on the same page. But still, the thought of sleeping in the same room… in the same bed… he suppressed those thoughts and followed her into the room when she used the key to open it.
Their thoughts had calmed down once they had made their way into the room, each of them took turns in the restroom to change into their pajamas and settled down for the night. Once they’d done that, they both stood and stared at the bed for a brief moment. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Just a normal nicely made queen sized bed with extra pillows and the bedding made properly by the staff.
Dusk’s bedtime attire consisted of a different t-shirt for bed and had changed into his green pajama pants. He immediately went to work at creating a barrier with the extra pillows on the bed, splitting it evenly.
Rarity giggled at the sight, but appreciated Dusk’s insistence on being a gentleman in this situation. Even if the barrier did seem to be a bit overkill, she knew he took this situation seriously, as if she needed confirmation of this. She actually found it rather cute.
She wore a red silk pajama top and bottoms for her bedtime attire. It looked incredibly comfy. Dusk noticed but tried not to linger his gaze on her too much. She noticed him checking her out but didn’t seem to mind.
“Dusk, you really must lighten up.” She tittered. “We’re going to sleep, not building a fort.”
“I’m sorry… I-I just…” Dusk said as he stepped away and joined her where she stood behind the foot of the bed.
“I know, and I adore you for it. But I really do think it’s time that we get some rest.” She inched closer to him and hugged him, and he returned it. “You’re a true gentleman, and a rather cute one at that.” Dusk blushed at this. “Good night, Dusk.”
“Good night, Rarity.” Dusk said, still blushing a bit but sleep was beginning to take hold on him.
They parted and made their way to their respective sides of the bed, ducked under the covers and pulled them over them. Dusk had control of the lamp standing beside his side of the bed, which he reached over and turned off before drifting off into his slumber. He turned over to his left side and even though it was dark he could somewhat make out the shadow that was Rarity sleeping beside him, already fast asleep. As he too was about to fall asleep, a smile tugged at his lips briefly before he faded.
“Yes mom, we’re on our way right now.” Singer said on the phone. “Sorry we’re so late. We lost track of time.” He paused once more as she continued to talk to him. “Yes, I know. Thank you again for doing this. You’re the best. Oh and Twilight said to tell Spike good night. Thank you. I love you, Mom… Okay, goodbye.”
“Your mom really is the best.” Twilight said, as she walked beside him. “I can’t thank her enough for keeping an eye on Spike. Wouldn’t have had to had we done a bit better at planning this, but I didn’t know my parents were planning a vacation at the same time we were.”
“Oh, she doesn’t mind one bit. She said Spike was fun to hang out with and he’s already asleep in his room at the cabin they’re staying at. My mom just likes to help. She’s always had a big heart, so I knew it wouldn’t be an issue for her.”
“Now I know where you get it from.” Twilight said, making Singer blush a bit. “I’m so glad that we’re here. And now, we’re alone out here at night. Just the two of us. No interruptions. No classes, no crazy college professors, Glee Club shenanigans…”
“And I am thankful for that. I really needed it tonight. Getting away and just spending the evening with you was just awesome. I really enjoyed that planetarium we went to.” She gave him a suspicious look. “No, I mean it. The stuff I understood anyway. I picked up quite a bit from the visual aspects of it. Though I admit, I almost fell asleep when the science guy was going on and on about whatever he was talking about.”
“Oh gosh. You’re such a dork.” She giggled as they stopped on the sidewalk path that ran along the beach. “That ‘science guy’ was just talking about the advancements they’ve made over the years of understanding what’s all out there. Had you actually been paying attention, you might have enjoyed it a bit more.”
“Probably. I just get lost in my mind when people start lecturing, unless it’s important like school work… or whenever you’re giving one of yours.” He smiled sheepishly.
“Nice save.” She remarked, punching him in the arm.
He rubbed his arm a bit. “Though when you started throwing random facts at the guy, I snapped back into the real world. Seeing you nerd out with him was kind of fun. You’re so cute when you’re in your element.”
“Oh stop!” she blushed. “Darn it, Singer. I hate it when you do that…” No she didn’t.
“Oh, I made you blush. That’s almost as fun as making you laugh.” He said as he reached over and tickled her sides, causing her to laugh. This only carried on for a brief moment before they both collected themselves, Twi ending up embraced in Singer’s arms.
“I love you, Singer.” She said as her cheeks flushed red.
“I love you too, Twilight.” He said, as he smiled uncontrollably as they continued to hug. They then pulled away a bit and looked into each other’s eyes before sharing a kiss under the stars, after which Singer looked up at them. “Hey, look! I think I see the Little Dipper! Right?”
Twilight squinted a bit but she saw it. “Actually, that’s the Big Dipper. Which is a part of Ursa Major, and the Little Dipper is a part of Ursa Minor, respectively. The Little Dipper contains the most famous star, the North Star aka Polaris. But it was a good try.”
“Right. Sorry, I thought I had it that time.”
“It’s okay. It was sweet of you to try.”
“Wait! I did pick up something from earlier that I thought was kind of trippy but cool. So like when stars die, their light continues to travel through space, even thousands of years after they die. So it’s possible that some of the stars we see reflected in the night sky could be dead. Oh, and the average night sky only contains about forty five hundred stars visible to us out of the billions of stars that exist in the universe.”
“Singer, I’ve got to tell you, I’m super attracted to you right now.” Twilight said, proceeding to boop his nose. “But in all seriousness, that was great! You really did learn something.”
“Told ya!” He grinned.
She began to yawn, putting her hand over her mouth. “Oh gosh, it's getting late. I’m starting to get tired.”
“Yeah it’s almost Ten. I’m never usually out this late. How fun.” He said, looking at his watch.
“We’re not too much further away from the hotel. What do you say we get going and off to bed?”
“That sounds like a swell idea to me.” He said as he wrapped his left arm around her and they continued on.
Once they reached their destination, and had gotten the luggage they would need, they carried their respective suitcases and walked over to the front desk of the lobby, where the same employee that had seen Dusk and Rarity was a couple hours earlier.
“How can I help you today?” He asked. At this point in the day, he seemed less enthralled in his computer game and appeared to be watching the clock. Must’ve been almost quitting time for him.
“Hi, I’m Twilight Sparkle. I had some rooms reserved for my friends and I.”
“Oh. I see…” he said awkwardly. “I don’t know how to tell you this but they’ve all been taken by members of your party.”
“All of them?” Singer asked.
“Yes. A nice couple just came in not two hours ago and took the remaining one.”
Singer began to feel terrible, he didn’t even ponder about the implications of what the ‘nice couple that had checked in already’ part meant. He could only think about how them staying out late messed everything up. “Twilight, I’m so sorry. If I hadn’t insisted on staying out longer, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“It’s not your fault, Singer. I think we can at least share the blame, but it’s not important.” She looked back at the clerk. “Are there any rooms available just for tonight?”
“I have one ‘one bed’ room on the fourth floor. That’s pretty much all we have left for tonight.”
“I’ll take it.” Singer said, pulling his card out. “Twi, you take the room, I’ll just sleep on the bus. It’ll be alright.”
“What? Singer, you're not going to sleep on the bus! That’s not safe.”
“I don’t know what other option we have, Twi.”
“Well, there is one other option…” she shifted her eyes back and forth, blushing.
“I don’t know…” Singer said apprehensively, as he knew what she was implying. “I don’t think that would be appropriate…”
“Singer, we’re grown adults. And it’s just for tonight. I promise, it’ll be alright.”
Singer was about to concede when suddenly, Rainbow Dash appeared in the lobby in her pajamas, looking for the vending machines.
“Oh…” she said sleepily, noticing them standing by the front desk. “Took you two long enough to get back.”
“Hi Rainbow…” Twilight said. “I think the room arrangements got messed up in the confusion. Is there any way I could maybe stay with you tonight? We only have one room at our disposal and it would really help us out if I could stay with you.”
“Huh…” she said with a hint of saltiness. “So what you’re saying is that you two are in a bit of a pickle. Well, I’m afraid that’s tough luck.”
“What?” Singer said with visible confusion. “Rainbow, what’s the-…”
“Hey, I’m still not talking to you!” She snapped. “You ruined my vacation by allowing Zephyr to weasel his way into coming on this trip. Every time he’s around, my stress level goes through the roof! You can sleep on the bus for all I care.”
“Rainbow I’ve tried, I don't know how many times, to apologize for that. I didn’t know what more-…”
“Hey! If I can’t have my vacation the way I wanted it, then you get to have a crummy time too.”
“Rainbow!” Twilight shouted. “Come on, this isn’t like you.”
“Well you don’t have to spend two weeks avoiding Zephyr Breeze, Twilight! You and Singer get to go off galavanting on your romantic escapades while the rest of us pay for his mistake!”
“Come on, that’s not fair…”
“You’re right! It’s not! Maybe for the duration of the trip, you can room with him, Singer. Then maybe we’ll be even. Smelly slob probably took one of the rooms to himself anyway.”
“Alright, Dash. You’ve said your piece. If you’re not going to help us, then kindly go back to your room.” Twilight snapped.
“Fine…” she got what she came out for and stomped off to her room. Leaving Twilight fuming by the desk. The guy standing there didn’t react much to what had transpired. He only mumbled something about not getting paid enough to keep having to hear drama every day and sat back down in his chair as he awaited his freedom.
“Come on, Singer. Let’s just go to the room and go to sleep. I promise, it’s okay.” Twilight smiled at him reassuringly, trying hard to calm down after Dash had made her mad.
“Alright.” Singer said as he smiled back cautiously. “But only because you say it’s okay.” With that he picked up his bags and followed her into the elevator.
The room wasn’t much different than the ones on the first floor. It had been laid out pretty much the same as the rooms that the others were in. There was a bathroom and a queen sized bed as well as a sink and a tv stand with a tv on it.
Singer sat on the right side of the bed, piddling on his phone. He’d gone ahead and changed into his pajama pants while Twilight was getting ready in the bathroom. He wanted to play it off like he wasn’t a bit nervous about this, but he couldn’t. This was a first for him, as it also was for her. He could only imagine what was going on in her mind.
One thing he knew was that nothing was going to happen. They were just going to sleep. Maybe cuddle at the most. He kept his head down for a moment when the bathroom door opened and out came Twilight wearing a light blue t-shirt and some purple colored pajama pants. She was in the process of removing her scrunchie out of her hair, and when she did, her long purple hair fell down past her shoulders.
Singer looked up, his head cocked to the side, and suddenly realized something. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with your hair down before.”
“Oh yeah? You’re probably right. I don’t let it down for much of anything other than sleeping or showering.” She placed her glasses on the table on the left side of the bed. With her glasses off and her hair down she looked different, but Singer could still tell it was her. “Why? Does it look bad?”
“No, actually if you decided to leave it down every so often, I wouldn’t complain. You look pretty cute, as usual.”
Twilight hugged him tightly after he said that. It was more than for what he just said, he could feel her trying to console him a bit by how soft her grip had suddenly gotten. He returned it, thankfully. “I’m sorry about Rainbow Dash. And Zephyr. I’m really upset about the grief you’ve been put through today.”
“Twi, I appreciate you and your concern, but it’s fine. I do kind of deserve it. I got careless at a bad moment and paid the price.”
“Maybe, but that still doesn’t justify their actions.”
“All I can do is hope that a good night's sleep will do us all some good. I’m with you, I’m tired of the drama and I just want us all to have fun. But in spite of that other stuff, I’ve had a great time so far because I get to be with you. And Twi? I love you.”
Twilight’s heart fluttered every time she heard him say that. “I love you, too.” She kissed him on the cheek and then climbed into bed and pulled the covers over her. “Good night.”
“Good night.”
Singer took a moment but eventually did the same. Making sure to turn off the lamp as he lay down. It was different, sleeping next to Twilight but it wasn’t at all unwelcome. In fact, it was actually really nice. The two inched closer together and snuggled a bit. Both of them were finally able to calm down and enjoyed being in each other's company. It wasn’t but just a couple of minutes later, and they were both fast asleep.
The night’s sleep hadn’t done much for Rainbow Dash. The first couple of hours she’d gotten before she had made her way down to the lobby was nice, but after her outburst towards Singer and Twilight, she found herself feeling crummy.
She stood there at the sink in the restroom of the room she’d isolated herself in. The way she’d acted yesterday just made her cringe to herself upon revisiting it in her mind. She felt justified in the moment when she’d said and done what she did, but now? Just regret.
She’d brushed her teeth and changed into her swimwear for the beach, which consisted of a multicolored top which had the bottoms to match as well as pink shorts with a black stripe going downward on the sides. This in addition to her pink and white baseball cap, and she was ready to go.
This was the start of their first official day out there. She’d hoped that she would feel better once she got out there, but first she needed to talk to someone. She looked at the clock and it said seven thirty A.M. She knew some of the others would be awake and up by now.
When she made it outside to the outside picnic tables, she saw a few of her friends were already there. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Sunset were in conversation when she sleepily walked up to them.
“Hey guys…” Rainbow said with a yawn. “What’s up?”
“Howdy Rainbow Dash!” Applejack greeted her.
“Sleep well?” AJ sported a matching blue long sleeve top with yellow pin stripes down the arms with matching bottoms, as well as her usual Stetson hat on her head with her yellow hair in a long ponytail.
“Not exactly…”
“Oh, are you still worried about Zeppy?” Pinkie asked. She had on a pink and white one piece and already had on some light blue flippers.
“Not at the moment.”
“Well, don’t worry. He went with Dusk, Flash and Ray to get breakfast for us.” Fluttershy said. She was wearing a black one piece suit that had yellow and light blue lines going up and down them, while also wearing a waist wrap skirt. “And I made him promise to be on his best behavior for today.”
“Oh, good…”
“Is something on your mind, Rainbow?” Sunset asked. “Something you want to talk about?” Sunset’s attire of choice was a black top with a fiery red and yellow skirt made for swimming.
“Yeah, actually there is. Last night, I did something terrible.”
“Like what?” Pinkie asked.
“Said something really terrible that I shouldn’t have said.”
“Well don’ keep us in suspense, Rainbow! Spit it out!” Applejack said with a light chuckle.
Rainbow took a deep breath and told them what she’d said to Twilight and Singer. Her guilt became more and more evident the deeper she went into it. But she made it through and finished the story.
“Okay, I get being angry about Zephyr, but that wasn’t exactly all Singer’s fault, Rainbow.” Sunset said. “I can’t believe you would say something like that.”
“I know! Okay?!? I know! I feel terrible about it. But it’s not like I can just take it back.”
“Why dint ya tell us ‘bout this yesterday?” Applejack inquired. “We might coulda helped ya git through it an’ maybe avoided this whole thing.”
“Because I made myself miserable, I didn’t want to talk to anyone and it made me a tired mess last night. But now I have a clearer head and I just want to make things right.”
“Maybe start by apologizing?” Fluttershy said. “I mean, you are sorry aren’t you?”
“Of course! But I don’t think they’re going to want to talk to me after what I said to them.”
“They’re your friends, Rainbow. They might be a bit irritated with you, but they’ll eventually get over it once you apologize.” Sunset said, putting her hand on Rainbow’s shoulder.
“Maybe.”
“Good morning, everybody!” Rarity said enthusiastically as she made her appearance. She wore a purple top with a light blue skirt as well as a purple large brimmed sun hat with a light blue ribbon around it. “How did everyone sleep last night?”
A collective groan came from the others.
“What did I say?”
“We’ll tell you later.” Sunset said as she noted the approaching guys bearing food.
Dusk had on a light blue t-shirt and dark blue swim trunks and had a few boxes in his hand. He led Ray, who had on a white sun hoodie and trunks with sharks on them, while carrying a few drinks in his hands. Flash Sentry wore a gray t-shirt and blue trunks with his personal shield and yellow flash insignia emblazoned on it. And Zephyr brought up the rear, not bothering to wear a shirt in town, just wearing his orange trunks with faint yellow leaves design.
“Sorry we ran a little behind.” Ray said. “A certain someone didn’t bother putting on a shirt so we had to figure out who’s carry what once we got out of the store.”
“Oh sure. It’s never anyone else’s fault, always Zephyr…” He said snarkily.
“You were literally the one who-…” Flash said, cutting himself off as to not start an argument. “Forget it…”
“Good morning, everyone!” Dusk said, trying to lighten the mood.
Sunset caught this, and threw in her support for Dusk’s efforts. “Good morning, Dusk. How are you? What a great morning away from everything back home, am I right?”
“Absolutely! I’m so excited to get out there and go for a swim!”
They were being genuine but putting on that fake style of voice where they talked almost robot like to get everyone’s attention, and hopefully out of their funk.
“Dusky’s right!” Pinkie said. “It’s time for a celebration! A… vacation celebration!”
“We’ll have a…” she cleared her throat.
We’ll have a vacation celebration
Where our jubilation can roam
So stop your constipations
And start your elations
And take in the oceanic foam”
Pinkie had just finished a beach version of “The Dalmatian Plantation” song from One Hundred and One Dalmatians, and the whole group laughed as most of them got it, and the couple who didn’t just laughed it off.
“Not my best work, but I’m here all week!” Pinkie said.
They all proceeded to eat their breakfast and for a good half hour or so, and they’d all managed to stay together without arguing. For they knew that once they truly hit the beach that lay behind them, they would be in a better place.
Rainbow would still be anticipating the arrival of their final two members, and facing whatever mood they might be in. Sunset on the other hand shared passing glances with Flash. They were still unsure of where the other stood, but they knew one thing, they were finding it hard to avoid eye contact with one another.
Twilight had been awakened by her alarm on her phone. She wasn’t fond of oversleeping, but given how late it was when they’d gone to sleep, she didn’t bat an eye at this particular occurrence. What she did notice though, when she woke up, Singer had left. She couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed. However, she perked up when the door knob to their room opened up and Singer returned, dressed in his Toothless T-Shirt and yellow swim trunks and bearing breakfast in his hands.
“Good morning, Twi.” He said with a smile. “I hope I didn’t wake you up.”
“You didn’t.” She smiled. “Sorry I slept in.”
“Don’t be. You just relax. I brought us some breakfast. There’s a place across the street that makes these amazing breakfast burritos. So I got us some.”
“Sounds delicious.” She said, as she looked him over with a playful grin. “Nice choice in T-shirt, honey.”
“Oh, yes. I couldn’t not rock the Toothless shirt! I don’t know, I'm feeling a bit extra today I guess.”
“It’s very becoming of you. I missed your old happy self. Keep him around, please.”
“You got it.” Singer said as he handed her one of the wrapped up burritos. “After that awesome night we had and such a wonderful night’s sleep, I feel much better now. Twi, I don’t want to seem forward here, but sleeping next to you was… comforting. I kinda wish we could…”
“Keep doing so?” She sighed. “I know. But it’s something to look forward to later, am I right? I mean we really should wait until we are married.” She blushed with her face even more red than Singer’s hair. “Uuuh… I mean…”
“You've been thinking about that?” Singer inquired, and he began to get excited just thinking about it himself. He’d be lying if he said it hadn’t crossed his mind a time or two.
“J-Just a little… just a passing thought every now and again. Someone a while back mentioned it as a joke, but it’s kind of stuck with me.”
“I have too. But… not yet, obviously, right? I mean, we don’t have any of the details worked out yet, and I still think we have some growing to do.”
“Of course…” she nodded in agreement. “Definitely not yet. But maybe sooner, rather than later?”
“Maybe. But we both need to be ready before we commit to it.” He said.
“Agreed.” She nodded. “For now, though?” She patted the empty space beside her. “Would you accompany me for breakfast?”
“I would like that very much, my sweet Adorkable Sparkle.” He said as he sat down on the bed beside her as they ate their breakfast burritos together. “I just thought about something. The others might wonder where we’ve been off to. And then, there’s dealing with Rainbow Dash. I’m not sure what to do about that.”
“There’s no point in lying about it, honestly. I don’t think anyone will make a big deal about it. As for Rainbow, I don’t know how to approach that one either. I’m still mad at her. But she is still our friend, and if she makes an effort to apologize, I can try to get past it.”
“There you go. Great mindset to have.” He said, looking down at his phone before he remembered something. “Oh, yeah… promise you won’t be mad?”
“What?”
“I kinda told my mom I’d help her make a grocery store run this morning. You’ll be alright until I get back, right?” He smirked.
“Of course!” She said as she finally reached over for her glasses and put them back on. “I need to get ready anyway. And thank you for breakfast.”
“Absolutely, anything for you.” He kissed her on the cheek as he got up to leave. He grabbed his suitcase and everything else that was his, as they only had the room for one night and would need to check out soon. “I’ll see you out there.”
“Okay. I’ll see you later.”
When he left, she got up out of bed and put her scrunchie back in her hair, choosing to go back to her ponytail. She walked over to the window and could see her friends down in the parking lot. She smiled at the sight of them and quickly turned around and started to get ready.
When Twilight finally made it down to them, she appeared to be in good spirits. She was greeted by the others as she made her way to where they were. She’d been dressed in her swimsuit and had already checked out of her room and stashed her luggage away on the bus for now until they could get the room situation figured out. Her swimwear consisted of clip-on sunglasses attachments for her regular glasses, a one piece bathing suit that, on the top part, was white with blue stripes horizontally, and the rest of it was a dark shade of purple.
“Hey Twilight!” Sunset said, hugging her. “Glad to have you back!”
“I’m glad to be back. So what’s going on today?”
“We’ve decided on playing girls vs boys volleyball this afternoon.” Ray said. “But, uh, is Singer coming? Us guys are kind of at a disadvantage as we stand currently. Not having him is going to kind of stink.”
“Don’t worry, he’ll be back in a little while. He went with his mom to the store.” Twilight informed.
“Great! Can we go now? That sand is calling my name! I’m so ready for sandcastles!” Pinkie said. “I’ve already drawn up the blueprints!” She tossed them to Twilight, who opened them up and looked at them. “This is impressive, Pinkie. But I don’t think these elaborate plans are going to work well with sand.”
“Never underestimate the power of architecture!”
“More like never underestimate the drive of Pinkie Pie.” Ray said. “I am with her, though. We should probably get out there. That's why we came.”
“Alright! Let’s go!” Sunset said as she led the charge towards the beach.
Everyone was eager to get out to the water and the sand, and soak up some rays. Pinkie and Applejack ran past Sunset and the others. Dusk, Ray and Flash were slightly less enthusiastic about it but their steps were still fast paced, even if they weren’t as fast as their aforementioned friends.
Zephyr and Fluttershy mainly just walked. The latter was doing just enough to keep pace with the former. Rarity wasn’t far behind them as she kept stopping to make sure she packed enough emergency supplies.
Bringing up the rear were Twilight and Rainbow Dash. Both looked like they wanted to say something but kept diverting their gaze from each other whenever they made eye contact.
“Okay, this is silly.” Dash said. “Look, Twilight. I’m sorry about what I said to you last night. It wasn’t fair of me, and I was projecting some things that I shouldn’t have towards you. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Okay? I appreciate your apology, but I don’t understand why you’re being so hard on Singer. You’re one of his closest friends in this group, but yet he makes one mistake and you want to treat him like garbage because of it.”
“Look I was angry, okay? This trip was supposed to be an escape from the day-to-day grind for all of us, and now we have to deal with Zephyr. And maybe I was a bit hard on him, but-…”
“A bit? You were willing to let him sleep on the bus and forced us to share a room last night.”
“Oh how terrible…” she said sarcastically in regard to the latter part of Twi’s statement, making an attempt to lighten the mood. Twi’s deadpanned expression was all the hint she needed to stop. “Sorry, not the right thing to say.”
“Look, I know where you’re coming from on your side of this, and I’m sorry that Zephyr ended up on it with us, but I will be more than willing to accept your apology only after you’ve talked things over with Singer. Zephyr sticking around is bad enough, but this drama isn’t helping. So until you do that, I don’t have much else to say to you at the moment.”
With that, Twilight walked off, leaving Rainbow standing behind momentarily until she too decided to continue on.
“Well, that’s a start I guess.”