//------------------------------// // Volleyball // Story: Life’s a Beach // by Auto-Buscus //------------------------------// With sunglasses on her face, and lying on her beach towel, Rainbow lay on the ground, having previously sun screened up and decided to take the relaxing atmosphere of the beach to her advantage. Having been sleep deprived, she was out cold. She’d been that way for a couple of hours ever since they had all made it to the sandy place of fun in the sun. The mischievous faces of her friends suddenly appeared from behind a mound of sand when they noticed just how deep into her sleep she was. Ray, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy all gathered around their sleeping friend with buckets and shovels in hand and went to work. It wouldn’t be half an hour later before their work had been realized. Rainbow woke up from her slumber, finally feeling a bit different as she ascended back to consciousness. When she fully came to, she noticed that she was buried in sand except for her head. The mound of sand that had covered her was shaped like the body of a mermaid. When she saw it, it immediately made her laugh. “Okay, who’s the artist or artists? This is pretty cool.” She asked as she stayed under the sand and continuing to study the build as best she could without destroying it. As soon as she’d asked that, Fluttershy walked up to her and took a picture. “Great photo opportunity! You look lovely Rainbow!” Ray, Pinkie and Applejack also appeared, having been waiting for Dash to wake up and see their handy work. “‘Bout time ya wake up, sleepin beauty.” AJ remarked. “Sorry Dash, but you should know that one of the rules of a beach vacation is that the first person that falls asleep becomes a mermaid.” Ray said with confidence, as if there really was a rule for that. It was unspoken if anything. “You look stunning Rainbow!” Pinkie said. “All you’re missing is a two big seashells as a-…” “Aaaaaaanyway…” Ray said, extending a hand to Rainbow, who struggled a bit but managed to wiggle her arm out and that allowed Ray to pull her out of the sand. “What do you say we get our teams together and start warming up for our game?” “That sounds great buuuuut…” Rainbow said, suddenly remembering that she and Twilight weren’t exactly simpatico at the moment. “Do we really have to do boys vs girls? Maybe we could mix it up.” “No way, I’m not losing the bet.” The bet… how could she have forgotten? Earlier in the week before they’d even begun packing for their vacation, Rainbow and Ray had made a bet on a boys vs girls volleyball game. Loser had to do something embarrassing and of the winner’s choice. “…and we’re not backing out. Yeah, yeah, I remember the conversation.” She said with a bit of forlorn in her voice. “What are you so worried about? You’ve got Sunset, Pinkie and Applejack on your team. My team has a lot of question marks, especially with two less people than you have.” “Nothing. Nothing.” Rainbow said, dismissing her previous hang up. “You’re on!” Her confidence was beginning to resurface. She was team captain. She had already had her strategy in mind. Surely a little beef with Twi wasn’t going to get in the way of that. “Got any ideas of what embarrassing thing you’re going to have us do if we lose?” Ray asked. “Don’t worry about it.” She said, tuning out the noise in her mind. “Just focus on trying not to lose and we will see what happens.” “Wait a minute, Ah don’t remember agreein’ ta any of this…” AJ said with concern. “It’s no biggie. We won’t be losing to the guys.” Rainbow said smugly. “If ya say so. But if we do, Ah hope things don’t get too crazy embarrassin…” “Well as long as it’s not something crazy like streaking, I’m sure we don’t have much to worry about.” Pinkie said while sniggering off to the side. “Pinkie! Calm down will you? It’ll be embarrassing, not illegal.” Rainbow quickly shut her down. “Yeah, come on. We’re not barbarians.” Ray said. “It’s only illegal if you get caught!” “No more espresso for you, Pinkie…” Rainbow Dash deadpanned. “Yeah, I second that motion.” Ray said. Rainbow and Ray turned to face each other again. Both of them extended their hands to each other. “May the best team win.” Rainbow said as she shook Ray’s hand. “Oh, we intend to.” Ray said with a bit of smugness. “Oh it’s totally on!” Rainbow Dash returned, with his hand still in hers, pulling him forward to try to intimidate him. “Ah have a bad feelin’ about this…” Applejack said, pushing her hat down over her eyes. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention…” Fluttershy said, scrolling through her digital camera files. “What did I miss?” Meanwhile, downwind a little bit, the others were enjoying some rest and relaxation of their own. Dusk and Rarity said on a large red checkered picnic cloth with two umbrellas overlooking them with a picnic basket behind them and their respective beach towels underneath them as they too took it all in. Rarity had been putting sunscreen on her arms and face and playfully put a dab of it on Dusk’s nose. Dusk chuckled as he used what Rarity put on him to cover his own face. “Rarity, I have to say you look stunning as usual.” He said, noticing her beach attire, blushing a bit as he noticed he’d lingered his gaze a bit long. “Why thank you, Darling. You certainly look nice as well.” Putting yet another dab of sunscreen on his nose, she then pulled him in close for a selfie. “Now this will make a nice post for social media. Now that we’ve gone public there.” “It’s rather strange actually posting things on there now. I mean aside from memes and shared posts.” “Yes, yes, being in a relationship will do that, at least in my experience anyway. I’m happy to see that you’re posting more now as well. Sometimes I learn things about you from the things you post that I didn’t know previously.” She giggled a bit, just thinking about it. “Like what?” He inquired, almost concerned. “Oh just the sort of things you’re into. I mean most of it I’m not surprised at but there are a few things I had no idea about. Also, I may have noticed a few posts about your parents. I’ve yet to meet them. Come to think of it, you’ve yet to meet mine.” “I’m sure that will happen in due course. Though, I’m not overjoyed at the thought of introducing my parents. They’re not exactly the most socially adept people. They can actually be pretty stern at times. My father in particular, my mother is a bit more supportive.” “Yes, well, I’ve never had a friend or… in a few cases, past boyfriends that we won’t mention, who’s parents weren’t won over by my etiquette and charm. Not to brag, of course.” “You’re right. Now that I think about it, being with you might be one of the few things they don’t actually end up being disappointed by. However, if they do, it does not reflect my stance on things. It’s just how difficult they can be. But regardless, I wouldn’t trade your for decades of their approval.” “So kind of you to say, Dusk.” She smiled. “Well I mean, it’s true. You do have the qualities of a well rounded girl that any guy would be lucky to have by their side. You’re generous, well mannered, proper in your ways, uh… b-beautiful… but at the end of the day, I just want to be by your side because of who you are as a person.” She giggled and planted a kiss on his cheek. “And you are the same way. If your parents can’t see that, then that’s their problem.” She’d been proud of him in that moment alone for building someone else up without tearing himself down. One thing she’d noticed a lot about him lately. She was overjoyed at this. “Well maybe one day, I suppose…” “Yes, I suppose we will cross that bridge when we get to it.” Rarity said as she noticed Twilight and Sunset approaching their general vicinity. She welcomely waved at them, inviting them over. Dusk made some room on his side for their approaching friends. He joined Rarity in waving at them. “I hope we’re not interrupting anything.” Sunset said with a slight grin. “Oh no, you’re alright Sunset, we were just discussing something, but the matter is closed for now. Have a seat, both of you.” She said, pouring each of them a cup of tea from her teapot, which they had both received gratefully. “So are you ready for the big game this afternoon?” Sunset asked. “I’ll admit, I’m not overly excited about it. But it should be interesting. I’m sure I’ll probably just get in everyone’s way, but… ow!” Dusk felt a small slap on his arm coming from Sunset. “Sorry, Ray told me not to let you talk like that before the game.” “I’m merely stating facts, here! I’m not very adept at sports. I’m not degrading myself, I’m telling the truth.” “Even so, Dusk,” Rarity said. “Try to have a little faith in yourself.” She winked at him as she said that last part, as sort of a reference to their little exchange during the Glee Club incident. “I suppose you’re right.” Dusk picked up on this and held back a laugh. It was kind of fun to have that be one of their inside jokes that only they could laugh at. That whole incident was just one huge joke to everyone involved at that point, and bringing it up was like bringing up a funny embarrassing memory from the past now. “Hey, at least you won’t be regulated to the sidelines.” Twi said. “Fluttershy and I are going to be backups since we have two more players on our team than you do.” “I’m sure you’ll get a chance to play.” Dusk said. “Eh, I can take it or leave it if I’m being completely honest. But I’m sure I will, too.” She said. “I’m just not that great at sports, so don’t expect much from me, either.” “You will have a front row seat to watch Singer play, in the mean time though.” Rarity threw in with a smirk. “Hmmm… yeah, on that note. Try not to need me.” Twilight said, beaming, garnering a collective laugh from the others. “So, Sunset. Did you all have fun last night on your outing?” Rarity asked her. “We didn’t see you all around after we split up yesterday afternoon. “Oh, uh… yeah tons of fun!” She said, trying not to blush when she remembered what had happened on the dance floor the night before. “Something totally happened.” Dusk said. “Nothing happened!” Sunset said quickly, her eyes darted back and forth, and she fidgeted with her fingers. “Nothing at all!” “Oh, she’s definitely hiding something.” Twilight said, noting Sunset’s suspicious body language. “Ugh! Fine! Flash Sentry asked me out last night, okay?!?” She said quickly, but it didn’t sound begrudged. It sounded more like relief in finally being able to talk about it. “Oh my, that’s wonderful, Sunset!” Rarity said. “And you said yes right?” Twilight asked with a hopeful smile. Sunset grew quiet, a slight frown now adorning her face. “You said yes, right?” Twi echoed, her smile faded and one eyebrow raised. “I didn’t say yes…” she admitted. “I’m kind of reluctant to jump into a relationship right now. Especially with the memories of how badly I botched the last one I had with him. I don’t want to hurt him again.” “But you’re not the same person you used to be.” Dusk said, echoing what Flash had said to her the night before. “You’ve changed into one of the most caring friends any of us could ever ask for.” Twilight and Rarity nodded in agreement. “Sunset, I know how you feel about giving this a chance. I really do.” Twilight said. “I wasn’t sure if romance was ever attainable for me, but someone came along and showed me that I was worth it. And I don’t think you’re any different. I agree with Dusk, you’ve earned a second chance at this. You’re not that person anymore. The fact that you’re showing restraint to try and make sure you do this right proves that. However, it’s a decision you’re going to need to make for yourself. Just like I did.” “But it’s not like you ever did a series of horrible things to a bunch of people. I was the literal textbook definition of “the worst” back then. And he was right when he broke up with me because I was terrible to him, too.” “But that was then, and this is now.” Rarity said. “Sooner or later, you’re going to have to move on and accept that that part of you is gone. And the you that we see is far more beautiful nowadays. The true you. And I’m sure that’s what Flash Sentry sees as well.” Sunset could feel her throat tightening and tears coming down her cheek. She looked up at her friends with the biggest smile on her face. “You guys… you’re going to make me turn into a blubbering mess.” She said as she wiped her face a bit. “What did I ever do to deserve such good friends like you?” “I think you know the answer to that.” Dusk said. Sunset wrapped her arms around the three of them, a group hug which they gladly returned. “I love you guys!” “We love you too, Sunset.” Rarity said. “And no matter what, we will be behind you.” “Flash is a nice guy. He’ll be lucky to have you. Whether it be remaining a friend, or as something more.” Dusk said. “Yeah, he really is great.” Sunset said. “I will think about what you all have said. Thank you.” They all sat in silence for a moment to let her collect herself. It wasn’t long though before someone had to speak up. “Well, Ray will be looking for us soon. We’d better go meet him.” Dusk said, looking at his watch. “He said that this game has high stakes. Whatever that means.” “It means losing is going to cost ya. So you guys better bring your A game.” Sunset said this while flexing her arm muscles. “Do you know something we don’t?” Rarity asked her. “Let’s just say I overheard Ray discussing it this morning with Flash.” “Oh boy. I wonder what Ray’s gotten us all into this time.” Twi said as they all got up and started towards the volleyball net. When Singer returned, he had Belle and Spike in tow, while pulling his wagon that had two ice chests full of water and other refreshments. He’d told them about the volleyball game and they wanted to come and watch. Spike had been excited about coming to the beach that day as well. He also had been excited to practice his commentary skills while he watched. However, Singer’s attention was shifted when he saw Flash off to himself. He’d felt bad about not getting to talk to him much since the trip started. He would fix that now. He handed the handle of the wagon to his mom and waved her and Spike off to go on ahead as he walked over to his friend. “Flash… you alright, buddy?” “Oh, Singer! Hey bro!” His face lit up. “Dude, I’m totally fine. Just uh, playing a mental guitar solo in my head.” Singer wasn’t buying it. “Dude… I know when you’re doing that. You’re never moping around kicking a poor defenseless empty soda can on the ground.” “What? I’m not kicking…” he looked down to see there was nothing there. “Gotcha!” “Very funny, Sing…” “Come on, you gotta admit it’s kinda funny.” Flash let out a fake chuckle and looked down to the ground. Singer’s playful demeanor shifted into concern. “Woah, dude. Talk to me bro. Something is really eating at you. What’s going on?” Singer said, as he walked up to him and put his hand on his shoulder. “If it’s about yesterday, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to leave you hanging all day, I just-…” “No dude, no. You’re totally fine. I know you and Twilight needed yesterday to hang out. It’s cool. That’s not what’s on my mind. It’s something that happened last night.” “What happened?” “I uh… I sort of asked Sunset out.” Flash said. “How is that bad?” He asked before it quickly dawned on him. “Oh… I think I get it. Did she let you down easily?” “Yeah, for the most part. She seems conflicted. Like there’s some part of her that feels like she doesn’t deserve a second chance with me or in general.” Singer stopped and pondered a second. He and Flash just stood there in silence for a minute as Singer began to pace back and forth. “Uh, what are you doing?” Flash asked. “Thinking. So, here’s my thoughts on this. You feel like the best course of action would be to give her some space, correct?” “Right.” “Wrong! This is a crucial time. What she needs is to know that you mean what you say. You need to be there as much as you can and show her that she really does deserve a second chance. But only do this if you mean it. You don’t want to manipulate her into wanting to be with you. It’s gotta be genuine.” “Look at you, giving relationship advice.” Flash said as he chuckled and shook his friend by the shoulder. “But I think you’re right. Thanks for the perspective, Singer.” “Hey, I try man. Others have done it for me. It feels great to finally be able to say something worthwhile for someone else for a change.” He said as he placed his sunglasses on. “But for real dude. Don’t give up. I’ve noticed how you two look at each other at times. It’s not over, trust me.” “Thanks bro. I won’t give up.” “So, are you ready to go get stomped by some girls in volleyball?” Singer said with a grin, trying to get his friend in a better mood. “You assume that we’re going to get beat? Come on dude! Where’s your competitive spirit?” “Tucked away in my common sense.” Singer shrugged. “Come on! You’ve got myself and Ray on the team. And you’re not a slouch either. Plus I’m willing to bet that Dusk has a hidden talent for sports.” “Flash, I’m all for optimism. But sometimes you gotta be a realist. There’s four guys against seven girls. And three of them are Applejack, Sunset Shimmer and the athletic queen herself, Rainbow Dash.” “Five guys actually…” a third voice joined their conversation. Zephyr had been listening and waited for an opening to pop in. “How much of that did you hear?” Singer asked. “Enough to know that you’re a couple of romantic saps…” Zephyr smirked. “Strike out so many times, that you’re getting salty?” Flash said as he and Singer fist bumped. “Oh, ouch!” Zephyr retorted sarcastically. “Being a single stud is a life choice, but I can score a girlfriend any time I want… also I’m only playing this stupid volleyball game because Fluttershy isn’t giving me a choice in the matter.” “Hey, a couple of hours in the sun, actually moving your body won’t kill you. You’ve caused enough problems for everyone that you kind of owe it to us anyway.” “Flash…” Singer said. “Dude, stop letting this guy push you around. Sooner or later, you’ve got to stand up for yourself.” “Yeah Zinger, stop being such a doormat.” Zephyr remarked. Singer took a deep breath through his nose with his jaw clenched shut, clearly trying to hold something in. “I’ll just see you guys on the volleyball court.” He said as he started off. Flash watched as Singer walked off slowly. He wasn’t sure why he was acting like this, but he knew something was going on. He diverted his gaze into a glare when he turned around towards where Zephyr had been standing, but he had since walked off as well. Flash stuck his hands into the pockets of his swim trunks and walked off into the direction of the volleyball setting as well. The time was nearing. The game that had been building up was finally upon them. Ray and Rainbow Dash had spent the last several minutes hyping themselves up for this game. Rainbow’s competitive spirit was infectious as Applejack, who earlier had been a bit apprehensive, had since been pulled in with little effort and Sunset had been as well. Rarity and Pinkie Pie were also fired up. They’d both dipped their fingers into face paint to paint a couple of war stripes on their cheeks as a way to hype themselves up. “Go girls!” Fluttershy said as she and Twilight sat on fold up chairs on the sidelines, looking over at the guys. “Oh, guys just do your best. I’m sure you’ll all play a great game.” “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Fluttershy.” Dusk said, actually without sarcasm, with a smile from the other side. “Hey!” Rainbow said. “Stop fraternizing with the enemy!” “Oh, sorry Rainbow Dash” Fluttershy said, giggling. “I forgot about the ‘bitter’ rivalry.” “You’re forgiven, this time.” She said doing the ‘I’m watching you’ motion with her fingers. She’d noticed Twilight had exchanged a few flirtatious gazes with Singer, but given where she stood with them currently, she decided against poking the proverbial bear. She hoped that she could find a way to smooth things over with them soon. She knew it was her own fault as to why they were mad at her, but she was still just ready for things to go back to normal. “Alright gang, bring it in!” She said as she called them all in for a group huddle. All the girls including Twi and Fluttershy joined in. “Listen, there’s a lot riding on this game in terms of pride. Not only do half of us have reputations to uphold, but we also have the stakes of a bet to consider too.” “Yeah, do we even know what embarrassin’ thing we gotta do if we lose?” AJ asked. “Yes, Ray and I, just a few moments ago, placed our terms on the table. If we lose, we all have to wear grass hula skirts and dance like a bunch of luau girls and post it on YouTube… if the guys lose, well… I’ll let that be a surprise.” “Sounds like we’d better win, then.” Sunset said. “We will win!” Rainbow Dash said confidently. A snap could be heard from behind them as a camera went off. Belle had Fluttershy’s camera and had taken a picture of them all in a huddle at Fluttershy’s request. “You girls are going to crush it!” She exclaimed. “You got that right, Miss Singer’s Mom!” Pinkie exclaimed before downing a sports drink. Suddenly, in a rhythmic fashion, Sunset started stomping her feet followed by a single clap, and repeated this a few times before the others caught on. They would all join in too as they all sang: “We will We will Rock you We will We will Rock you” “We’re gonna rock you all, son!” Sunset blurted gesturing her hands like a rapper, causing everyone to pause for a brief second before they all burst into laughter. “Eeew, I knew it was wrong the moment I said it…” Sunset blushed for a moment and then started to laugh, herself. On the other side of the net, Dusk, Flash, Singer and Zephyr had been standing in a line while Ray paced in front of them like a drill sergeant. “Alright maggots, listen up!” He began. “Maggots?” Singer said, with a bemused expression. “Got a problem, Case?” “Nope!” “Didn’t think so…” Ray said as he continued. “The enemy is tough. They’re merciless and their numbers far outweigh ours.” “They literally only have two more players than us.” Dusk said. “Come on guys, I’m building up the atmosphere for dramatic effect. Where’s your sense of charisma?” “Sorry if we don’t exactly share your optimism about our chances of winning.” Dusk said, noting the mounting ferocity building from the other side. “Speak for yourself, I believe in us!” Flash said. “Eh, it’s just a game.” Singer said. “It’s NOT just a game! Our dignity is on the line here!” Ray shouted. “What did you do?” Dusk inquired with a knowing sense of dread in what was about to be revealed. “If this is anything like the ballerina incident…” “We agreed to never bring that up again…” Ray deadpanned. “And no it’s nothing like… I mean it’s kind of… fine. If we lose, we have to wear chicken onesies out here in public, do the chicken dance and have the whole thing posted on YouTube…” “And you agreed to that?” Singer said, a little perplexed. “Hey, Rainbow and I are intensely competitive, and stakes add to the fun of it.” “Well, you guys have fun with that…” Zephyr said as he stuck his leg to the side as if he was about to take off. “Stay put!” The rest of the guys shouted in unison, stopping Zephyr in his tracks which made him pout. “Woooo! Go team!” Spike shouted from the sidelines. “Hey Spike.” Singer said, acknowledging him. “Hey Singer!” Spike said. “Good luck. You're all going to need it. Especially if you don’t want to be chickens.” He chuckled as he pulled out his phone. “Bwak! Bawk! Bawk!” He started laughing harder. “Yeah, thanks a lot.” Singer said, rolling his eyes, as he stopped and examined the volleyball in his hands. “Wilson…” he’d read the brand name of the ball as he looked it over before spinning it on his finger like a basketball. “Great! You can read.” Ray remarked as everyone else was getting into their positions. “Looks like you’re serving first.” “Oh, snap!” Singer said, snapping himself out of his distraction. “Let’s do it to it, then!” He said as the music to ‘eye of the tiger’ began to play in his mind, setting the mood for the game. “Alright!” Belle shouted. “First team to fifteen points wins the game! Good luck everybody!” She waved her hand downward and blew the whistle to start the game. Singer served the ball, and it went over the net right to Pinkie, who batted it back over the net into Dusk’s direction. Dusk hit it up, not quite making it over the net, but that’s when Flash came in with the save and sent it flying past Rarity’s head and onto the ground within bounds. “We scored a point!” Ray shouted. “Maybe this won’t be so bad.” He said as Rainbow served from their side in his direction, causing the ball to bounce off his head. Luckily, this didn’t phase him as he sent the ball back across the net in the direction of Applejack, who then proceeded to score on them by batting it into Singer’s direction. He’d missed it due to poor timing. “Okay, time-out!” Dash shouted. “Rarity, do you want to explain why your back was turned?” “Sorry, Rainbow Dash” she said. “I had a makeup emergency…” she’d realized as soon as she said that, that she messed up. “Um, oops?” She shrugged sheepishly. “Ugh… just stay focused and don’t let it happen again.” She then turned to Applejack. “Nice save there, AJ. Back to a tie for now. But what do you say we start building a lead on these guys?” “Dern tootin! Let’s go!” AJ said as she watched Flash serve it to their side. She batted it towards Rainbow who immediately sent it flying towards Dusk on the guy’s side. He’d seen it coming at him but the sun had gotten in his eye and he missed it. “Sorry…” Dusk said apologetically. He briefly caught a glance of Rarity blowing a kiss at him, and he “caught it” quickly, before turning back to Ray. “Nevermind that.” Ray said. “Still in it. Let’s stay focused, Lover Boy!” “Right, sorry…” Dusk replied with sweat starting to drip off his face, like everyone else was. “Dusk, you don’t have to keep apologizing.” “Sorry! I mean…” “Have some Gatorade, Dusk!” Singer said, throwing him a cold refreshing drink between the volleys, and simultaneously stopping his awkward rambling. “Score two to one, now!” Belle shouted. Twilight and Fluttershy sat on the sidelines, continuing to cheer for their team. However, they’d admittedly cheered for the guys a couple of times as well. Twi would exchange a smile with Singer whenever they were able to catch each other’s gaze. Fluttershy had her eyes locked on Zephyr. She noticed that he hadn’t done much since the game started. But at least he was where he could be kept track of and he appeared to be staying out of the other guys’ way for the time being. Applejack was next up to serve. She stood at the back right corner of the boundary line, marked by a sandbag and had her eye on Ray. She’d noticed that he was leaning more towards the right, and Zephyr and Singer were standing on the left side of their area. So methodically, she aimed her serve towards them. She hit it and watched as the ball flew over to the guys side. However, what she hadn’t counted on was Singer actually managed to hit it, keeping it from hitting the ground, and the ball flew up and to the right, towards Ray, who again took advantage of Rarity. Though to her credit, this time she was actually paying attention, she just hadn’t tracked the ball as fast as it was moving, and Ray was able to slam it right by her. Rarity hung her head in defeat. “Perhaps, I need a timeout.” She said to Rainbow. “Sure thing, Rare. Um, Twilight? Would you mind stepping in? I mean if you want to, that is…” Rainbow said apprehensively. “Of course.” She said as she stood up and allowed Rarity to take her seat. As she and Rarity traded off, she nodded to Rainbow and even smiled as a sign that she was willing to cooperate. Dash nodded back and suddenly felt better about working with her. At least Twi had a sense of professionalism about her, she thought. Applejack walked over to Twilight because it would have been Rarity’s turn to serve next, but since she stepped in it was on her. “Now Ah know sports ain’t yer thing, Twi. But if you want, Ah can give you a quick pointer on this serving part.” Twi smiled and nodded in response. “Thought so.” AJ chuckled. Applejack gave her a quick rundown on how to position her hands and even gave her the best demonstration she could. “Ya think ya got that?” “I do. Thank you, Applejack.” “My pleasure, Twi! Knock ‘em dead!” Twilight took a deep breath and focused. She’d done as AJ had told her and let the ball slide off her left palm onto her right fist and hit it as hard as she could, and made the ball go over the goal net. “Oh my gosh! I did it!” She wasn’t counting on the ball coming right back to her though. Luckily, Dash jumped in front of her and batted it towards Pinkie who got the drop on Flash and scored another point for the girls. “Thanks Rainbow” Twilight smiled at her gratefully. “You’re welcome, Twi.” That exchange made her feel better about the conversation she knew she needed to have with Singer, and now at least she knew that Twilight didn’t seem to be holding anger towards her as bad now. Dashy shook her head and got her mind back in the zone, though. Still a long way to go in the game. Other matters would have to wait. In terms of the guys' team however, they were falling apart bit by bit. Ray and Flash continued to be the driving force behind the team. They tried to keep Dusk and Singer motivated, but they were tiring of the game. However, something unexpected happened. The ball had been hit back over on their side of the net and Dusk and Singer had accidentally collided when trying to get it. It looked like they were about to give another point to the girls, but Zephyr came in with the save and sent it to Flash, who (though he didn’t want to) took advantage of Twi’s inexperience in the game and shot the ball towards where she was standing, and she missed when she tried to hit it. “Sorry Twilight…” Flash shouted. “It’s okay, Flash. Just play the game. I’ll catch on eventually.” Twi replied reassuringly. “Hopefully…” “Breeze, where’s that been this whole game?” Ray inquired. “That was an incredible save!” “Well it just dawned on me that if we lose, I’m going to have to wear the chicken suit, too.” Zephyr said, a facial expression of disgust adorned his face. “I’d rather not damage my street cred any more than it already is…” “Whatever you say, Breeze…” Ray said. “As long as you’re helping and not hindering, I don’t care at the moment.” Singer and Dusk had brushed themselves off, and resumed positions. Zephyr took his turn to serve and sent it off, Flash managed to hit the ball after it had been airborne and not quite over their net, catching Rainbow of all people, off her guard, and even managing to score a point on her. “What?!?” Rainbow shouted. “There’s no way!” “Way!” Flash retorted. “Oh, you’re going down!” The game was ramping up, big time. The cushion of a lead the girls once had had shrunk down to a one point lead and as each side continued to slowly score one point after another, the lead had actually switched hands as the guys now led by one. Dusk, who had little confidence in his athletic ability going into this, managed to score a point on the girls by hitting the ball towards Applejack’s position. AJ had just made an unfortunate accidental contact with Pinkie Pie, and she was accidentally knocked into one of the poles that held the net up. “Sorry Pinkie…” AJ said sincerely. “I’m seeing funny dancing cupcakes! Mr Discord, if I paint them, will I get an A?” She said with her eyes swirling, and cupcakes dancing around her head. It was in that moment, that Twilight was beginning to tire, Pinkie needed a minute to regain herself. So they traded places with Fluttershy, who’d yet to make her mark on the game, and Rarity, who was in need of a bit of redemption. “Whew…” Twilight sighed as she took her seat next to a recovering Pinkie. “That was fun… But it’s exhausting…” “You did great, sweetie!” Singer called from the other side. Twilight, still catching her breath, could only respond with a thumbs up, before she leaned back in the chair. “Yer mighty formidable, Strike…” Applejack said with a smirk, as she casually leaned against the net. “And here Ah thought this was gonna be easy…” “Never underestimate your opponent, AJ” Ray said with a wink. “Yer right about that. Don’ worry… ain’t happenin’ again…” “You’d think for as long as you’ve known me, you’d know that I don’t back down easily.” “Well Ah won’t be forgettin’ that any time soon.” She winked back as she moved back to stand between Rainbow and Rarity. She turned to the latter. “Ya ready for round two?” “Indeed. I’ve had a chance to collect myself and refresh, and now? It… is… on!” Rarity replied with a newfound determination. “Also, I refuse to wear a hula skirt. That trend died seventeen summers ago.” “If you say so.” Rainbow said, smiling. Spike, who’d spent the game making commentary to mostly himself and Belle (the latter who’d been nodding in and out of consciousness due to wanting to take a nap) continued to do so even though virtually nobody was listening. “Well the game has reached its climax, folks! The guys continue to boast a one point lead, but the girls have been relentless the entire game! And it’s getting hairy as one side only needs three points, and the other only needs two to win the game! This is exciting! Where’s ESPN?!?” “I don’t think it’s that exciting…” Flash said to him. “Nice commentary, though.” “Thanks Flash!” “You got this, Fluttershy!” Sunset said as she was about to serve. “Thank you, Sunset.” She said with a smile. “Now let’s win this game!” “That’s the spirit, Fluttershy! Come on girls!” Rainbow said with some newfound energy. Ray, in a slight panic, tried his best to rally his guys on his side. “Come on guys! We can do this! What are we?” “Uh, tired? Beaten?” Flash replied unsurely. “MEN! And what are we not?” Ray said. “A bunch of chickens!” Singer shouted. “No we are not!” Dusk said, rallying himself. “Eh… go team…” Zephyr said exasperatedly. “JUST DON’T LOSE!” “That’s the spirit!” Ray shouted. “All in one…” Dusk began. “And one for all!” The rest, sans Zephyr replied in unison. “Yeah what you said…” Zephyr replied finally. “Sorry I don’t read Shakespeare…” Twilight had heard his remark and cringed from her seat. “Shakespeare? Really?!?” She shouted with a passionate anger. “Just let it go, Twilight. Let it go…” Pinkie said, finally coming back to herself. “Fine…” Twilight crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, still clearly annoyed. “Here’s the serve!” Sunset said, as she hit the ball, sending it flying over the net yet again. Flash Sentry dove backward as it was going right for the back right corner of their side and hit it towards Ray, who batted it back to the girls side. However he made a big mistake in hitting it towards an open gap on the girls side that was unguarded, which would have been a great tactical move had Sunset not been eyeing it for the last minute. She made her move to spike it right back into another open spot on the guys’ side. “Point!” Belle said, as she’d woken up from a light nap. “And now, the score is tied. Both teams need two more points to win. This could be a grudge match to the end… I can’t watch! Yes I can!” Spike said. “Thanks for the update, kiddo.” Belle said. “I kinda nodded off for a bit there.” “That's why I’m here.” Spike said with a sense of pride. Dusk came to the serve, this time. He took a deep breath and… “Come on! Hit it!” Zephyr shouted. “I’ve got a DoorDash order coming and it will be here in twenty minutes. Chop! Chop!” Dusk looked over at him pointedly, but chose not to reply. He repeated what he was doing and hit the ball to get the game going once more. The ball had gone over the net, and Sunset was on it again, Ray was ready for it this time, however, and he batted it back over and Rainbow Dash hit it right back over in Flash’s direction. Flash quickly jumped up and hit it right back. It went right past Fluttershy but went out of bounds. “Out!” Belle shouted. Rainbow retrieved the ball, and tossed it to Rarity who would serve next. She did so, and the game pressed on. There was a lot of back and forth. Singer hit the ball, but was unable to make it back over the net, so the guys would have to serve it once again. Ray was up to serve this time, and he hit it upward, and his teammates would hit it amongst themselves a few times before finally sending it over to the girls’ side once again. Flash, Singer and Dusk were also more alert than they’d been the whole game. They were more motivated now, and like a well oiled machine, they kept the ball in the air when it came back over to their side and yet again, sent it back over. However, one hit from Rarity towards where Zephyr was standing would be the move that changed everything. Zephyr, who’d done a good job for the most part in the game, chose an inopportune time to check his DoorDash order and the hit from the fashionista that landed right by his feet gave the girls the point they needed. Now the girls were in prime position to take this home. The guys looked distraught as they all shot a glare at Zephyr, who’d finally looked up from his phone and caught their angry looks. “Oh… oh no. My bad…” He said as he realized what had just happened. “It’s fine… fine…” Ray said. It was not fine. “Bawk! Bawk! Bawk!” Rainbow taunted from the other side of the net, making the chicken wings with her arms and everything. “Not helping, Dash!” Flash protested. “Well duh, it’s called ‘getting in your head’!” She remarked with a boisterous chuckle. “I’ve been holding that one in for a while.” “We gave it our best effort, but… we can only do so much at this point.” Dusk said, sounding defeated. “We still have a chance.” Flash said. “Dude’s right.” Ray said. “We’ve gotta see this through. Even if we lose, we won’t lose by much and that’s the main thing. But we’re not quitting until the fifteenth point is scored.” They all nodded as they got back into formation. Flash would serve the ball, and the girls would be ready. And once again, both sides would be engaged in an all out grudge match. The guys, trying desperately to get another point on the girls, and the girls just wanting to close the book on this game. Rainbow Dash saw it coming to her, and she jumped up as she saw an opening. “Time to end this!” She shouted as she put her full force behind the hit she put on the ball, and it seemed to be screaming ablaze when she hit it across the net. What she didn’t count on was Singer making a daring attempt to block Dash’s ball and had made a desperate jump to catch it. However, instead of catching it with his hands, it got him right in the face. WHAM! Singer was sent careening backward. It was pretty violent, the way the ball hit him in the face, and he pushed up some sand as he fell backwards and his back hit the sand. Once he came to a stop, he was still moving and was okay, but he held his face in pain. Rainbow’s expression went from determined to concerned. That was not what she had wanted to do. Disregarding the events from the night before, and disregarding the game itself, she rushed over to her friend’s side to check on him. “Singer!” She shouted, nearly knocking Dusk off his feet to get to him. “Come on Sing! Are you okay, dude? Speak to me! I didn’t mean for that to happen!” “Ow…” he said, continuing to hold his face. “What happened?” Another rushed to his side. Twilight approached quickly with concern in her features. She was relieved to see that he was okay for the most part. His face was bleeding a bit, but his nose didn’t appear to be broken. And he had a black eye, but nothing too concerning. This didn’t stop Twilight from getting mad. “Rainbow Dash, what were you thinking? Did you plan this?” “What?!? No! How could you say that?” She defended. “You made your feelings perfectly clear last night.” Twi countered with a sense of bitterness in her voice. “And I’ve been trying to apologize for that.” “Really? Because as far as I know, Singer has yet to receive an apology of any kind.” “Twi, come on now…” Singer said, but was overshadowed by the bickering. “It’s not my fault he ran off this morning, or I would have by now! Nor is it my fault that he caught the ball with his face!” “Dash, let’s just-…” Singer said, but was unable to get either of their attention. “Of course not, nothing’s ever your fault.” Twilight replied harshly. “Get over yourself, Twilight!” “HEY! ENOUGH!” Singer shouted angrily. “Both of you knock it off!” He’d shouted at a volume that no one present, his mom included, had ever heard him shout. It even caught the gaze of a few random people nearby. He caught himself however, and cowered down. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to yell, but I couldn’t take hearing you two fight like that. You’re friends, and my friends on top of that. And you should start acting like it. I know I’m new here and have my own role in this dynamic, but still I don’t ever want to come between you and mess up your friendship. This fighting has to stop. Saying mean things to each other and carrying on a grudge is not what friends do.” After a few moments of thinking on what Singer had said, Twilight’s eyes began to tear up as she realized how nasty she’d been to Rainbow just now. Even if Rainbow had started it, it didn’t excuse what she’d said or the manner she’d said it in. “Rainbow Dash, I’m so sorry… I don’t know what came over me. But what I said… I didn’t mean it. Any of it. I was just angry, and I got caught up in my emotions, and… I’m sorry…” “No, I’m the one who’s sorry.” She said with tears of her own. “I’m sorry for how I treated you, Singer, and for what I said to you guys last night. And I’m sorry about hitting you in the face with the ball… even if that was an accident. I… I was wrong to start this in the first place. I took things out on you that weren’t your fault, and overreacted to much of it. I’ve been a terrible friend to you the last twenty four hours, and I’m really sorry…” “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry too. I wasn’t blameless either.” Singer said, holding his face in pain. “I want to make it up to you somehow, Dash.” “Don’t worry about it, Singer.” Dash said, as she and Twilight helped him to his feet. “It’s water under the bridge as far as I’m concerned, if it is to you.” “I’d be fine with that…” “I’m just glad we’re all friends again.” Twilight said as she and Rainbow Dash both wrapped their arms around Singer in a hug for a brief moment before they broke away. “As far as I’m concerned, we never stopped being friends.” He replied. With his good eye, he noted the others watching the scene unfold. “Uh, sorry about hijacking the game, everyone.” “Don’t worry about it,” Sunset said. “I have a feeling that all of that needed to be said. I’m just glad that the tension is over… well…” She’d briefly forgotten about Zephyr when she’d said that. “For the most part.” Applejack added. Singer would be alright, but would be unable to finish the game. He held a cold water bottle to his face as he sat by Twilight as they watched their friends hash it out. Rather than try to finish the game with four players, Zephyr was relieved of duty and Belle and Spike were recruited to join the guy’s team for the final stretch. It was bending the rules a bit, but they couldn’t count on Zephyr anymore, and Belle and Spike wanted a little bit of the action. Rainbow would also sit out the remainder of the game, but would be replaced by Pinkie. “Zephyr, just know that if we lose, you’re still wearing that chicken onesie with the rest of us.” Ray said as he looked over at him with a glare. “Eh whatevs…” he replied indifferently. Ray was next up to serve and the ball and he hit the ball and it soared over the net, and it was hit by Rarity, who couldn’t quite make it over the net, but Pinkie Pie, making her comeback, saved it from hitting the ground inside their own boundary. The ball made its way back over to Dusk, who’d hit it successfully over the net, over to Sunset. She hit it back over and it caught the hand of Ray, who batted it right back at Sunset. Sunset wasn’t expecting this, however. She still managed to hit it, but it rolled off her palm, and went spiraling upwards and came down almost clearing the net. That’s when Fluttershy made a knee jerk reaction move to lunge forward in the knick of time, and just so slightly tapped the ball upward, making it ever so slightly hop over the net and down onto the ground on the guys’ side, as they hadn’t expected the ball to be coming from such a close range. “Did I do it?” Fluttershy asked with her eyes closed, as everyone stood gobsmacked. “Yeah…” Sunset replied softly, before being the first to cheer. “You did it! We won!” All six of the remaining girls collectively came together and hugged Fluttershy. Yet another impressive feat she’d accomplished in the span of two days, as she briefly remembered her insanely quiet strike from bowling the night before. Zephyr watched on bitterly as he ate his DoorDash order that had arrived, while his sister was being hoisted in the air by her friends. He didn’t even try to make eye contact with his teammates. “Well…” Dusk said, soaking in the defeat. “I suppose we should see Rarity about our chicken costumes.” “Hey, chin up guys!” Ray said. “We could sulk about losing, or we could choose to be graceful losers and take our undignified defeat in stride. Besides, there’s always the next game.” “Only, you’re no longer allowed to discuss the terms of what happens with the losing side.” Dusk remarked. “That’s one hundred percent fair!” Ray laughed, scratching the back of his head. “Yeah that’s for the best.” Flash said, before turning his attention to his best friend. “Hey Sing, are you doing okay?” “I mean besides the burning sensation on my face, I’m actually feeling alright. Twilight and Rainbow are getting along again, and Rainbow no longer wants to pound my face in. Defeat and injury aside, I’m going to be just fine.” “Glad to hear it, bro.” Flash said as they fist bumped. “Are you ready for the chicken dance?” “Dude, I’m going to admit something… I actually love the chicken dance. This won’t be much of a punishment for me.” “You would say that.” Flash remarked with a smile, as he helped Singer back up on his feet. “Well, I guess we better go get this over with.” “Don’t worry, my friend. It won’t be so bad.” While waiting to see the fruits of their labor in the win they scored on the guys, all of the girls except for Rarity who was off with the guys to get them into their chicken onesie costumes, were taking a load off by relaxing on their beach towels that had their own personal insignias emblazoned on them. Twilight had been on one end beside Sunset, while Pinkie, Rainbow, Applejack and Fluttershy in that order, rounded out the lineup. Twilight was wearing a stylized lavender colored captain’s hat, and Singer’s sunglasses in place of her normal glasses, which were sitting beside her. She looked over and noticed a blurry white and purple blob that resembled Rarity being followed by not one, but five guys in yellow chicken onesies, though they also looked like blurry blobs to her until she switched back to her normal glasses. The sight was hilarious once she’d made the switch, and she couldn’t help but laugh uncontrollably, waking the others who’d slightly dozed off a bit. “Yeah, yeah. Yuck it up, Twilight…” Ray remarked, prompting the other girls to join her in laughter when they beheld the sight. “This is better than I expected!” Sunset chortled. “I’m definitely glad we didn’t lose because this is way funnier than what we would have had to do!” Rainbow said, as she erupted into her typical boisterous laughter. Dusk, Ray and Flash all looked like they’d rather be elsewhere at this point. They all stood with their backs to the waves, as they took in the laughter emitting from the girls. Zephyr on the other hand, looked virtually unbothered by this. Indifferent, really. Singer was the outlier because he was loving it. He was smiling and laughing along with the girls, even though he knew they were sorta laughing at him. “Hey, for all you taking pics, don’t forget to get my good side. Wings, legs and all! We’ll make a whole bucket!” Singer said as he struck a few poses, laughing along with the girls. “He must have hit his head harder than we thought…” Ray whispered to Dusk. “Well, I know one thing, standing out here in this getup isn’t doing us any favors.” Dusk said. “It’s ninety six degrees out here and I’m already sweating in this thing.” “Yeah, I’m sweating bullets, too.” Flash said. “Rarity, how could you let me do this?” Dusk said to Rarity. “Oh, hush. You know what participating in foolish bets over games entails.” She said with a laugh. “But sweetie, you really do look so adorable as a chicken.” Dusk couldn’t tell if the rise in temperature in the costume was due to his embarrassment, his irritation of the situation or if it was getting that much hotter outside. He just knew he wanted this over with, stat! “Okay, okay!” Rainbow said as she was doing what she could to stop laughing. She pulled out her phone and prepared the stream. “Dance you chickens!” She said as she had Pinkie play “The Chicken Dance” music over a small speaker she had. “One, two, three, Go!” Singer said as they all began. The five guys lined up and started to do the hand motions of a chicken head first, then they bent their elbows to make their arms into the chicken wings, and then to the most embarrassing part… when they’d shake their chicken tushes to shake their tail feathers, and then finally the clap. They’d do this on repeat until the song broke into the bridge music where they’d freestyle. Singer, as you can imagine, was still having the most fun with it as he literally kicked up sand like an actual chicken, and even bobbed his head as he did so. The others just waved their arms and kicked their legs begrudgingly until the main part of the music would go again for another half a minute and they had to do the chicken dance motions a few more times until Rainbow Dash mercifully cut off the stream and made a cut motion with her hand to let them know they could stop. “Freedom!” Dusk shouted happily as he shed his costume, nearly tripping over the legs of the suit as he climbed out of it, and ran off into the water behind him to cool off. Ray, Flash, Zephyr and Singer would immediately follow suit, ditching the chicken suits, and running towards the shallows with the girls in tow, into the water. They all spent the next several minutes splashing each other in the shallows and cutting up. Singer had Twilight sitting on his shoulders, before letting her fall backwards into the deeper water behind them, after which she’d respond by pulling him in with her. They faced each other, laughing and then proceeded to start splashing. Dusk and Rarity embraced one another, now that they were both soaked from the ocean before Rarity would proceed to give him a kiss as a sort of apology for the chicken costume. They were immediately interrupted by Pinkie and Rainbow dumping buckets of water over them, which led to Rarity furiously chasing them out of the water and along the beach. Dusk just watched, trying to hold back his laughter. Fluttershy was starting to feel accomplished, as she managed to get Zephyr to stop being sour for a minute when she began to splash him, possibly bringing some childhood memories back because he was cutting up and splashing her back, and was finally seemingly having a good time. It was about time he started to act like he was having fun, she’d thought to herself. If he had to be here, they might as well be getting along. Ray and Applejack had engaged in a splash fight of their own, until they’d noticed that they had veered off to themselves. Normally, this wouldn’t be a big deal, but lately things were starting to get a bit weird between them, but it wouldn’t last for more than a second. They’d catch each other in a gaze for a minute and then they’d go on. They couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was, but they pushed past it and moved closer to their friends. Flash swam over to Sunset, who was going into waist deep water and tried to talk to her. “Hey Sunset,” he said a bit nervously. “Hey Flash. How’s it going?” She replied. “Uh, great. Just great. Look, I uh… there’s a carnival over on the South Pier, and I was wondering if maybe you’d want to hang out and go tonight.” “That sounds like fun. I’d love to go.” “Really? Uh, cool. If you want, I can see if maybe Twilight, Rainbow, or someone would want to tag along. Just so, you know, it’s not like a date or something.” “Flash, it’s okay. I think you and I should totally go. It would be a nice way to catch up on some more hang out time.” “Yeah?” “Yeah.” She said with a smile. Flash’s heart was beating like a drum, but he played it as cool as he could and smiled. “Cool, I guess I’ll see you tonight, then.” Singer had moved over by where he was, with just his head sticking out of the water. “Was that what I think it just was?” “I hope so, Singer. I really hope so.” “Just remember what we talked about.” “Right. I will.” Everyone had migrated back over to the shallows, and the gang just sort of hung around in the waist deep water, relaxing. Belle and Spike, who’d gone for some ice cream during the chicken dance thing, had also since returned and joined them in the water as well. It was finally starting to feel like a vacation, and everyone was loving it. “Who’s up for a rematch game?” Ray asked. There was a long pause before everyone else immediately started splashing him mercilessly. “I’m kidding! I’m kidding!” Northbound on up a ways, was the party of Celestia and Luna, who had also taken the day to let loose and relax. There had been a volleyball net set-up along where they had been as well, and they had actually been invited to play with some other random adults. They had put on quite a show, as the sisters were scary good at volleyball, and the team that they’d been invited to play on crushed it. They had their fold out lounging chairs out and they were taking a celebratory rest several feet away from the shoreline, complete with large umbrellas for shade and the lemonades in their hands. The two had been in their bathing suits as well. Celestia had on a pink two piece bathing suit and was also wearing a four-colored skirt with light pink, light green, light blue and purple lines that matched her hair. She also had been rocking a white sun hat and white framed sunglasses. Luna kept it a bit more modest as she wore a light blue one piece complete with a dark blue skirt. She too, had on a sun hat, but it was light blue and her sunglasses had black frames. At the moment, they’d been taking a break and were on their phones. Luna was busy texting Professor Sombra, giggling as she did so. She’d also been texting Professor Cranky Doodle, and her facial expressions when he’d text were a night and day difference in contrast to Sombra’s. Celestia had been dozing off a bit, but was awake to see this. She didn’t interfere with Luna’s social life, but she had picked up on being able to tell who she was texting based on her subtle reactions to each message. Celestia was about to have a conversation of her own when her phone rang. A video call was being requested, and by a familiar face. She accepted it, albeit a bit begrudgingly. The face in question belonged to a light brown skinned man with red irises in his yellow eyes, big white bushy eyebrows, a full head of dark brown hair on the top with white hair on the sides of his head, and he appeared to be wearing his usual clothing choice, in a yellow dress shirt, minus the brown suit jacket he he’d normally be wearing, as well as a bright light blue tie. “Hello Professor Iscorde…” She greeted him, somewhat sourly. “Is there anything I can help you with?” “Do I sense a bit of saltiness in your tone?” He asked with a playful grin. “It’s not very becoming of you, Celestia. And please, call me Discord. It’s what all the cool kids called me in college.” “That was a long time ago, I was there. And my apologies. Luna and I are on vacation at Waytona Beach, enjoying some sisterly bonding time.” “Don’t worry, I’m not calling because I need anything. I was just calling to check in on one of my favorite friends. Also, I’m bored…” “Well, I suppose I can talk for a moment. We’re not exactly busy right now.” “Taking a bit of a social media break, I see. Though typically that entails a break from such things. I will never understand social media and the need for it. It takes away from the time you could be spending creating things and adding a bit of creativity to society.” Celestia giggled a bit at that. “You’re not wrong.” “Oh poo…” Discord said as he heard crashing in the background. “That had better not be my new tea set! If you break another one, you’re paying for it, Gerry!” “Everything alright?” “Oh, for the most part. Roommates are such a pain. Especially this one. Just will not clean up after himself. I’m sorry to cut this short, but duty calls! Do enjoy your vacation, and I hope you have a fun… uninterrupted time.” He said with a sinister grin. “Cheerio, bestie!” The call ended. “Perhaps telling him where we are was a mistake…” she said, but she put it away for now. “I see that I’m not the only popular one right now.” Joked Luna. “We leave for one day and we’re already bombarded with messages. Though, not all of them are unwelcome, I suppose.” She said as she got another emoji ridden message from Sombra, who she could swear had very little understanding as to what any of them meant. Celestia smirked. “No, I suppose not. So, I hear there’s a carnival on the pier south of here. I was thinking maybe we could go tonight.” “That sounds like a great idea! I do love a good carnival game. And the temperature out here is heavenly in the evening. Great call, Sister.” Celestia giggled. “Indeed! I can’t wait.”