Earlier, down at Bridlewood, where Izzy and Misty are promoting the festival, they enter the Crystal Tea Room in hoping of getting Alphabittle to sign up as a presenter with Haven.
"Whoa!" Misty said, looking around the place. "I never been here before, Izzy, what's it like?"
"The Crystal Tea Room? It's where ponies come to drink, hang out and talk all things magic."
"So you came here many times even before magic came back?"
"Absolutely! Although everypony wasn't happy back then because they were always moody and bored. Except me and Alphabittle, though!"
"Who's Alphabittle?"
"The owner of this place. Plus, he's really good at playing games."
Izzy points over to Alphabittle, who is watching a dragon trying to match all the colors on the Rubik's Cube until the time runs out.
"Alright, time's up! Hand it over, Flamber." Alphabittle demanded, as the dragon rolled his eyes. He receives the cube and immediately matches all the colors in the right spots. Misty felt surprised by this.
"What?! How'd you do that so fast!? That's not even fair!" Flamber said in shock.
"*scoff* Fair? I've spent years of practice. Maybe one day, you'll do the same." He takes Flamber's souvenir - an orange crystal - and places it on the shelf.
"Maybe I will, and next time, I'm coming back for that souvenir of mine!"
"Good luck with that." Alphabittle chuckled, as Flamber walked away in shame.
"Wow! He IS good!" Misty said.
"You see? He almost beat Sunny in a dancing game before."
Misty's eyes widen. "What, he challenged Sunny and lost?! How?"
"Ah, Sunny had a little help from Pipp, if you don't mind. That was just for one of the Unity Crystals." She and Misty walk up to Alphabittle. "And helloooo, Alphabittle!!"
"Well, look who showed up, the always creative Izzy Moonbow!"
"You bet'cha! So how ya doing today?"
"Oh you shoulda seen the look on Flamber's face. He got such a kick outta that challenge he failed!" He laughed.
Izzy felt uncomfortable. "Mmm, that's a little harsh, don't you think?"
"Yeah, maybe it was. Anyway, what can I get you? A little round of the finest tea in Bridlewood?"
"Actually, I demand you challenge a special friend of mine to a dance-off!" She shoved Misty in front of Alphabittle, who both start staring at each other.
Misty felt a little shy, whereas Alphabittle was a little stunned. He may have saw a little glimpse of Misty back at the Manesquerade Ball party, but he never expected to see her face-to-face.
Izzy didn't understand what he was doing. "Uh... Alphabittle? Hellooo?" She waved her hoof at his face, and then he and Misty snap out of their staring, chuckling.
"So, er... what's your name, blue girl?"
"Um, Misty Brightdawn. You must be Alphabittle, right?"
"Yeah, that's me. Do I even know you from somewhere?"
"Uh, no, I don't think we ever met before." She shakes hooves with him.
"Well, it sure seems like Izzy knows you really well. So she says you wanna challenge me to a dance-off, huh?"
"I... yeah, I guess so..." Misty said, although she wasn't sure about it.
"Well, that depends on the prize you pick. If it's special, then a dance-off is guaranteed."
But Izzy thought of something else. "Um, how about we do something a little different?"
"Ah, something different, you say? And what is that?"
"We like to offer you a top-tier position that you should really consider."
"And that is...?"
"Drum roll, please." She said to Misty, who does that on the table with her hooves. "A presenter role alongside Queen Haven for the upcoming GLASTONPONY FESTIVAL!!" She shouted, as she shows him the Glastonpony poster and sign-up paper.
Everyone around them, including Flamber, stopped talking as they were all surprised by the announcement, and they all look at Izzy and Misty.
"Where variety is always welcome!" Misty said shyly. "As they say..."
"Hmm. So you two are offering me a job as a presenter, alongside Queen Haven, for another music festival? That's what this is about?"
"Well, we know you two have some sorta loving relationship going on, so we thought it would be sweet if you two present it together!"
Alphabittle thought about it and was interested. "That does sound sweet, alright. Yeah, I could join... but under one condition."
"You want a dance-off!!" Izzy said with a wicked attitude.
"You got that right. So how about we make a deal? If Misty Brightdawn wins, I'll sign up." Misty smiles. "But if I win, she'll have to do the dishes with me."
Misty felt disgusted after looking at the dirty dishes far back, but she still remains hopeful. "But you'll still sign up, right?"
"Only one way to find out. BRING FORTH THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE 2.0!!!" He called out, as the lights shine on the improved dancing game, which has been upgraded into a more modern machine!
"Oooh, you've done quite the upgrade, Alphabittle!" Izzy said, admiring it.
"Thanks for the compliment." Alphabittle said, as he went to the machine.
"I don't know about this, Izzy..." Misty said in discomfort, as she took a few steps.
"Oh come on, Misty-Twisty, it'll just be like what did at the party that night in Zephyr Heights."
"Are you sure?"
"I would never tell anything that isn't true to my friends. Besides, you're a great dancer!"
Just as she was saying that, everyone else in the building wanted Misty to join in.
"You're not scared of a little dancing, are ya?"
"Come on, show him what ya got!"
Misty turned to Alphabittle for a couple seconds, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Alright, I can do this." She then went onto the machine with Alphabittle on the other side.
"Here's how this works: you need to stomp on the correct arrows at the right time, and whoever fills their bar up to the top first wins. Pretty straight up, huh?"
"Okay, here goes nothing..." Misty said, as she was starting to feel the pressure.
"Remember, Misty. Feel the rhythm." Izzy whispered.
"Feel the rhythm?"
"And focus. You got this!" She then stepped away.
Misty thinks back to the dance she had that night, and now she knows what to do as the music starts playing, and she regains confidence. "Yeah, feel the rhythm to the music!"
"One pony wins, one pony fails. Who will prevail?" Onyx spoke in the mic.
"Get ready to dance!" The machine said. "3... 2... 1... GO!!!"
Misty and Alphabittle begin dancing to the beat of the music. Misty has a little bit of a shaky start as Alphabittle takes an early lead. But she immediately regains her groove and starts catching up, leaving everyone really impressed by her performance!
"Wow, would you look at that!"
"Kid's got some moves, all right!"
"GO, MISTY, GO!!" Izzy shouted.
Giving it her overall best, Misty overtakes Alphabittle's score, who was put into a huge shock, and by the time her bar is completely full, she wins the dance-off! Everyone cheered as she froze for a couple seconds, feeling a tad speechless.
"I won... I WON!!"
"FREE CHEERS FOR MISTY BRIGHTDAWN!!!" Izzy yelled.
"Unbelievable!" Alphabittle said. "When did you learn to dance like that!?"
"Well, you could say it was with my friends. They taught me many things, right, Izzy?"
"Yes indeed, so... Alphabittle, does that mean we've got you signed up for Glastonpony? Does it?!"
"Alright, alright, alright. Since you beat me fair and square... I'm in." Izzy and Misty squeal as he signs his name on the list. "But one more question: who's gonna do the dishes?"
"Ah, just leave that to me. Unicycling time!" Izzy said, as she went to go and clean them.
Flamber steps forward with a few friends. "Hey. So you and your friend are planning this music festival thing, right?"
"That's what we're doing, yeah. Are you...?"
"The guy who lost his crystal. Name's Flamber, lead singer of Tongues of Fire. And these are my guys: Stoner, the guitarist, Reaper, the bass player, and Doomer, the drummer."
"'Sup?" Stoner said.
Misty felt surprised. "*gasp* The pop-punk band?! Hey, Sparky has been following you guys! He would love to have you perform."
Izzy came back, having heard this. "Oooh, please tell us you guys wanna sign up too!"
"Well, me and the boys do wanna put on a good show, so it sounds like something we shouldn't pass up." Reaper said.
"Yeah, just let us sign up and we'll be on our way!" Doomer said.
"On our way to do what exactly?" Stoner asked.
"WIN THIS THING!"
"Oh no-no-no, this isn't a competition between anypony or anydragon. It's just about giving all of Equestria a feel-good time, like the rest of the performers will be doing." Izzy stated, as Doomer sighed.
"Yeah, sorry, no prizes." Misty said. "And if you're gonna do this, please don't cause any mayhem."
"Are you serious? Causing mayhem isn't what we do around here. We're all about rocking on!" Flamber said, throwing a rock sign with his hand in the air, as his friends cheered a little. "Besides, it's in our DNA."
"Okay, then it's settled! Welcome aboard, Tongues of Fire!" Izzy said with a smile, as she gave them the paper.
"Man, you're NOT gonna regret this." Reaper said, as he and the others sign their names.
"We oughta have a good time, boys!" Stoner said.
"YEAH!!" Dommer shouted. "This is gonna rock!!"
"We'll catch you little ponies later." Flamber said. "And by the time we're done setting things up, everyone will be ROCKING THEIR SOCKS OFF!" He and the others leave the building.
"See ya, rock n' rollers!" Izzy said, as she turned to Misty. "Well, that wasn't so bad, was it?"
Misty's phone suddenly rang... "Oh, it's Pipp!" ...and she answers it, brining it on video call. "Hi, Pipp, how are you and Sunny doing?"
"MISTY! Big problem!" Pipp exclaimed, as she started to get into a panic. "Well, not really, but that depends on how you and Izzy are doing!"
"Is everything okay?"
"We just got Mom, her guards, Electric Blue and Ruby Jubilee to sign up, but I don't have any update on Alphabittle! We need our second presenter ASAP! Has he done the same?! PLEASE TELL ME HE'S DONE THE SAME!!"
"Pipp, calm down! I'm sure they're doing everything they can." Sunny said.
"Hi, Sunny!" Izzy said whilst waving.
"Hey, Izzy, so has Alphabittle joined the clan?"
"Oh yes, he did!" Izzy nodded, as Pipp sighed of relief. "But we had a little bit of a roadblock, so it wasn't that simple, really."
"I beat him in a dancing game!" Misty said.
Sunny raised her eyebrows. "You did what?! How many tries?"
"Just once! He said he'd join if I won, but also said I would do dirty work if I lost."
"Wow, I did not expect that. I took him on before, but it took me three tries to win last time."
"And not just that, but we also met Tongues of Fire, and they're gonna bring a performance that nopony has ever seen!"
"Oh, that's great! You gotta tell Sparky, he will not believe his ears."
"Any word on Hitch and Zipp?" Izzy asked.
"They got Posey Bloom, Dahlia, the Pippsqueaks, Jazz Hooves and Rocky Riff on board, so decorating, makeup and costume designing are a go!"
"But what about the Dreamlands?"
Hitch and Zipp then join in on the call, updating them on how they're getting on.
"Update, ponies - Dreamlands have officially signed up and are joining the roster!" Zipp said.
"And Sprout and Phyllis have agreed to work on the main festival stage." Hitch added. "With a few additional helpers, that is."
"Great job, everypony!" Sunny said. "Oh, and what should we be doing food and drink wise?"
"Uh, you can bring your smoothie cart, Sunny. I know that'll make everyone happy." Izzy suggested.
"Yeah, and I'll make sure to call Grandma Figgy so she can sort out the rest with us." Hitch added.
"Okay, so that just leaves us with where we should have the festival taking place... Any ideas?"
Sparky thought of something. "Oh! I know where we could have it!" He said, raising his hand.
The Mane 6 and Sparky all met up in the middle of a big open field, where there was nothing but green grass around them.
Zipp wasn't sure if it was a good spot. "Uh... I don't mind Sparky's decision, but don't you ponies think this place is kinda boring and lifeless?" She asked.
Pipp groaned, as she was happy with where they are. "Zipp, what makes you think it's boring and lifeless? This is PERFECT! And look, we even have some hills at the back where everypony can see the performers!"
"Ooooh! If you don't mind, I'm gonna go roll down them right now!" Izzy said, as she ran off with Misty behind her.
"*giggle* Wait for me, Izzy!"
"Yeah, I agree with Pipp here, this definitely feels like a good area to set up everything." Sunny said. "So you made the perfect choice, Sparky."
"Thank you, Sunny. It's the least I can do."
"Since when did you become so clever lately?" Hitch said, as he rubbed his head.
Pipp brought out some paper and started drawing up the layout of the festival. "Okay, so this is how I like it to be. The hills are at the back, so it's ideal to have the main stage out front." Izzy and Misty rolled down the hills laughing behind her. "And because there will be a massive crowd here, we'll need lots of speakers to have a good balance."
"Ooh, maybe not too much, Pipp. We don't want anypony getting their ears hurt." Zipp complained. "Not even ours."
"Then how about a select few around the place?" Hitch suggested. "And when they're all set, we'll do a sound check for safety."
"Exactly how I planned, Hitch!" Pipp said. "I never thought you cared about ponies' health and well-being, too."
"Well, you know I can't leave out my friends', either." He then turns to Sunny. "So, how are you feeling about this? Excited?"
Sunny smiled... "More than that, Hitch." ...and looks out over the field. "I'm starting to think this is the beginning of something great."
Later at night, Zack returns to his house after another long, hard day at work. As he pops into his bed, he looks at a portrait of him as a filly with his Mom. He picks it up and decides to have a moment.
"Hi, Mom. Just wanted to tell you something uh... surprising, if that's okay. But it's a really good surprise, I promise. So, I... I was working at the city today, you know, like I did yesterday and the day before that and so on, and then I... I met a girl. An earth pony, to be exact. Her name is Sunny, and she looks really nice. She was also promoting a huge music festival that sounds quite interesting, and it's called Glastonpony. I never heard of that name before. Hmm, what should I do? Take a day off? I think I should go to Maretime Bay tomorrow and have a visit, and maybe see her again? Yeah, I think I can do that. I know I'm not a coward. *chuckle* Doing my best to make you proud. I love you forever." He kisses the portrait and puts it back on the desk. "Goodnight." He then turns off the lamp and falls asleep.
Zack may have probably thought about Sunny ever since he met her earlier. He also may have never went to Maretime Bay before, so maybe tomorrow could very well be his chance!
Meanwhile, at the Brighthouse, where all the girls are asleep, Sunny is hearing some weird noises in her head, and her rainbow mane got more colorful in the process, with green and orange now appearing. She starts mumbling, constantly moving her head left and right and struggling to get it out. She suddenly wakes up in a fright, breathing heavily as the noises stop. Luckily for her, she didn't disturb any of her friends, as they were in a deep sleep. She puts her hoof on her head, thinking on how it happened, but she just couldn't do it any further and lays back down on her bed, letting out a big sigh.