The students, of varying ages, stood in awe as the wind rustled through their hair, fur, and feathers while they watched the endless waters flow by. The soft lapping against the ship's hull was a gentle background sound to go with the squawks of birds that seemed to regard the boat as a fine landing point on their ocean voyages.
Mercifully for the students, the boat was massive enough that the rocking was mild, leaving them all free of any motion sickness. Diamond bumped lightly against Comforting. "This isn't the first boat I've been on."
Comforting gently mussed the mane of her wealthy friend. "That makes sense. Where'd you go before?"
"Daddums had a business trip abroad, and he brought me." She smiled the smile of pride. "He did well, of course, and I got to see things. It wasn't minotaurs though, different creatures." She waved that off as if it should be obvious. "This'll be fun."
Silver nodded from the other side of Diamond. "I'm already having fun. They have games on this boat." She fell to all fours, leaving the rail. "Want to play some?"
Comforting brightened at the idea. "Sounds fun. Which one do you have in mind?"
Silver considered with a frown. "Well! They have video games and dancing and shuffle board and swimming and..."
"I never understood that." The two fillies looked to Comforting. "What? We're surrounded by water, and you're going to jump into a little water on the boat? It always seemed so silly to me!"
Diamond prodded Comforting in the belly. "You're joking, right? We're not gonna jump in there." She pointed down at the larger waters. "Cold, full of fish, salty, and... pretty sure, not so safe."
"Pass!" sang out Silver Spoon. "I'm in the mood for, like, a little dancing. The music's bouncing, and soon I will be too. C'mon!" She waved for them to follow her towards the distant thumps of the music hall.
Comforting went instead to get her other friends. "Wanna dance?" she asked, coming up along Yona.
Yona quirked an ear. "Sure want Yak dance on boat?"
Comforting took a moment to process that, envisioning a traditional Yak Smashing good time. "Uh, hm... Can you dance without breaking things?"
"I'll show you how." Sandbar offered a hoof. "It'll be fun."
"Oh." Yona considered Sandbar for a moment. "Okay." And off they went to try some not-smashing dancing.
"Excuse me, sir." Smolder bowed at Gallus with far too much formality and a smirk too wide. "Can I have this dance?"
Gallus snorted at the display. "Do you even know how?"
"That's just mean." She folded her arms. "Come on and I'll show you."
Another two, down. Comforting pumped a fist and looked to Ocellus, there by the pool's edge. "We're going dancing," she called, jogging over. "Wanna come?"
Ocellus looked up, wings fluttering, though they were hidden under her elytra. "Huh? Oh. Um... Is that alright? I thought those were for creatures taking a vacation."
Comforting shook her head with a smile. "We have all the rights to enjoy the boat while we're on it. Wanna go?"
"Oh..." Ocellus rubbed at her cheek, looking nervous. "I'm not sure how good I'll be."
Comforting adopted a flat look. "Yona is learning how to not smash while she dances. You can't be the most awkward thing in the room."
Ocellus giggled at the mental image that conjured. "Okay... Okay." She stood up with a little smile. "I won't be that bad. Um, no offense to her."
"I wasn't trying to badmouth her, either. Yona is great." The two shared a nod of agreement in the yak's greatness. "The best, she'd argue."
Ocellus' giggles raised in volume. "She would say that. See you there." She set off at a lively trot towards the dance hall.
A solitary creature remained. "Silver!" Comforting found her at the very front of of the ship, enjoying the rushing wind through her fur and feathers. "There you are. We're going dancing, and you're invited."
Silverstream blinked, coming out of whatever thoughts had been occupying her. "Huh? Dancing? They dance on boats?!"
Comforting bobbed her head. "They sure do. This boat's made for vacations, so it has all kinds of fun things on it, like a place to dance. Wanna come?" She offered a hand to Silverstream.
Silverstream accepted it with a smile. "Sure! Sounds fun. Who else is going?"
Comforting got to naming the others. "And maybe some other foals? Not sure if they invited each other like I did."
They hurried off to the dance hall to shake their bodies to the music.
"Here you are." Cheerilee had found them, several foals mixed in with the dancing teens and adults. She folded her ears back against the loud music that everycreature else was enjoying. "Must it be so loud...?"
Comforting twirled around the earth pony teacher. "You used to dance to music like this all the time."
"Well, yes..." Cheerilee nervously stepped in place. "But then I grew up."
Comforting zipped in to almost touch noses with the teacher. "If you can stand, you can dance. It isn't a contest." She waggled her brows. "But, I bet you could show them how to really cut a rug."
"You're just flattering..." Cheerilee paced in place a moment longer. "Very well... I can... at least try." She advanced towards the center of the room.
A message arrived. Comforting reached up to open it.
Having fun?
Amity
Short and to the point. Comforting replied with a 👍💖 quickly. "I'll have to visit her when I get back..."
Though, that hit her... She could visit her right then. What was stopping her? Well, she promised to keep an eye on all of them, to start. And she'd hardly be taking in the trip if she was hopping back and forth to Amity while doing it...
"Boundaries." She was away. Responding to work emails was a bad habit! Even if she did like Amity. She wiped her hands together. "No more of that. Be in the moment." She went to enjoy some dancing with Ocellus and Silverstream instead.
"I get the next one." Diamond grabbed Comforting and twirled her into a sudden new dance. "Having fun?"
"Lots." Comforting shook and flexed with Diamond to the tune of the music. Having a little body that could, and seemed to want to move energetically was a thing to be treasured. "You?"
"Better." Diamond swept Comforting into a diving spin, leaving her hanging precariously for a pause in the song. "Bet you didn't know I could dance."
"I really didn't." She twirled with Diamond's toss, moving around her with a little giggle. "You're good at it."
"I don't get to do it often..."
"But she's good." Silver Spoon joined them with a big smile. "She knocks my horseshoes off!"
Diamond snorted at that. "You are easily impressed."
"Don't be like that." She swatted at Diamond lightly. "You're good, really. Comfs agrees."
"I do," Comforting sang out, pressing the two fillies closer. "Why don't you two have a turn?"
But Diamond rebuffed Silver, pushing her away. "Love ya, Silver, but this is Comforting time. We can dance whenever." She closed with Comforting to resume the dance she'd started.
Silver stuck out her tongue, but withdrew, rather than press the battle.
Comforting was Diamond's, at least for the moment. Though having a filly make such a call was a bit new. "Not that I mind dancing... But why the urgency?"
Diamond hiked a brow at Comforting. "Do I have to spell it out in red?" But she offered nothing beyond continuing the dance with Comforting, moving to the music.
"Um... maybe?" Comforting hiked a brow. "Because I'm not getting it, sorry. I want to!"
"You are something else." Diamond swatted at Comforting. "Look, fine! Silver Spoon, she's great, but she's like a sister. Like a sister in basically every way." She leaned in, glaring at Comforting. "You aren't. You don't think of me that way, and I don't about you."
"Is that good or bad?" Comforting wobbled a hand. "I'm really not sure which way this is going."
Diamond chomped the wobbling hand. "It's both, dummy. Look! Ugh..." She slowed her dancing. "Let's get a drink." There were many drinks there, some powerful, but she grabbed a soft drink, as was proper for a filly. "You really didn't notice?"
"Notice... what?" Comforting rolled a hand instead that time, one over the other. "Explain it like I'm five years old."
"When I first saw you, I thought you might be five years old..." Diamond chuckled at that memory. "But then you talked, and you shattered that illusion. You've been breaking my preconceptions ever since. Comforting, even before you became this--" She waved over Comforting's chimeric form. "It was pretty obvious to me I was dealing with a very special, and mature, pony."
Comforting colored as she reached for a drink for herself, opting for a soft option herself with a lime sour twist. "Alright... What's that have to do with dancing?"
"Nothing!" Diamond blurted out. "And everything..." She folded an arm over her face a moment. "Look... Comfy. I like you." She raised a brow. "I like like you. I've been sending signals for moons and you never notice and now you asked so I'm just saying it! I like you, Comforting Shade." She stomped a hoof with a scowl. "Do you like me?" she demanded in a stern tone, as if challenging her.
Comforting reached back through her memories. "You did? What... did I miss?"
Diamond groaned out with the suffering she felt. "Seriously? Let's start with breakfast." She prodded Comforting firmly in the chest. "The only other pony I share breakfast with is Silver, and my butler, and only because he's serving it half the time. I let you in." She swallowed nervously. "Fine... Fine! I'll... admit... at first, I thought you might be kinda useful... But it grew past that pretty fast..."
Comforting stood still, pondering Diamond, and their relationship. "I... Shoot." She crossed her arms. "Uhm... To start, I'm still a little kid, clever or not. I'm feeling pretty turned off when it comes to romance." But that wasn't entirely true. Her brain helpfully reminded her of her recent date with Amity and she colored darkly for it. "Mostly... Um..."
"Do." Diamond took a step. "You." She advanced on Comforting another step. "Like." She raised a hoof to Comforting's side. "Me?"
Comforting swallowed nervously. There was so little room for skirting around the topic. "We're both fillies!" Ah ha, a technicality. "Are you alright with that?"
Diamond wrinkled her nose. "Now you're just playing with me. I don't care. Also." She raised a hoof up. "You, last I checked, are a literal manifestation of chaos. You can be a colt, filly, stallion, mare, dragon, or whatever else you feel like being at any moment. You could make me into a throw rug and take a nap on me. What does you being a filly right now matter, at all?"
Comforting buried her snout in her glass, as if drinking could smother her embarrassment, but it was doing a poor job. "Uhm..."
"So, out with it." She gave Comforting a poke, hoof rubbing at the end of it in an obvious affection. "Out with it."
Comforting grunted. Hiding was just not an option. "Alright! Alright... Cards on the table." There was a table. They were seated at it. Comforting threw her hand of cards out dramatically. The first card had filly Comforting on it. Amity. "First thing, I have a special somecreature. She's a spirit, like me. I love her a lot. We had our first date recently..."
Diamond peered at the card. "That... looks like your old self?"
"Yeah... She likes me enough she decided to be me." Comforting laughed nervously. "Just in looks. She's not me any other way, promise."
Diamond rolled a hoof. "Alright... Recently? How recently? You two going steady or what?"
Were they?! No such agreements had been discussed. "Uh..."