//------------------------------//
// A Tale of Two Parties 
// Story: Life’s a Beach 
// by Auto-Buscus 
//------------------------------//

Flash and Singer in the Morning: BEACHFRONT 

“Good morning from, you guessed it. Flash and Singer in the Morning!” Greeted Flash Sentry, seated beside his friend, Singer Case both sitting in cheap fold up chairs with the latter’s phone sitting on a tripod which was sat steadily on a rock. Both of them dressed in their beach attire, Flash going shirtless as he usually did while sporting his trunks, Singer choosing to keep his shirt on while also sporting his own trunks. Both were doing their live show that they always did, channeling a bit from a comedy show they both liked. “Today, we’re coming at you from the beach. Sandy shores, gnarly waves and…” Flash turned his camera towards Sunset Shimmer who was standing off to the side watching… “gorgeous babes…” 

Sunset blushed, smiled and waved at the camera. “Sup!”

Flash turned the camera back over to himself and Singer.

“While this is a joyous time of fun in the sun, it would be unprofessional of me to go without warning you about the precautions you must take during the day out in said sunlight.” Singer continued, pulling out a random flashlight from behind his back and tossing it behind him. “Our  lovely specialist in preparedness, Twilight Sparkle, has the weather and some safety tips. Take it away, sweetie.”

On signal, Flash turned the camera around over to the left to where Twilight was standing, as she was prepared to give her piece.

“Thank you, my love.” She winked and blew a kiss to Singer before quickly getting to it. “Right, so temperatures today are in the high nineties with minimal cloud coverage, so you’re going to need that good Ol’ SPF and I’d also recommend some sunglasses or a brimmed hat of some kind to protect your eyes. Speaking of eye protection, if you’re anything like myself, you’ll probably want to make sure you have some swimming goggles, ear plugs to keep the water out of your ears, and for those accident prone ones out there, I might recommend nose plugs… just in case. Just make sure you don’t stay under her water too long and come back up for breaths periodically… Psh, duh. And if you’re going to be out in deep water, life jackets are a must!” 

Twilight’s presentation was top notch and she appeared to be in her element. She’d even gone as far as to pull just about everything she’d listed out of a strapped pouch she carried on her, that contained everything she needed. “And I always recommend a first aid kit, no matter if you’re at the beach or at the pool. Scrapes, scratches and cuts happen, and you just never know when they will catch you by surprise.” Twilight’s presentation went on for at least another half minute before she clamped her fingers together and motioned to them that she was done. With a smile, she looked over to them and said: “Back to you guys…”

Flash turned the camera back over to him and Singer, the latter who appeared to be entranced by his girlfriend’s performance as he rested his chin on his hand being supported on his elbow on his knee, smiling as he was still looking over at her. Twi kept giggling at his apparent trancelike form, as she found it funny and kind of sweet that he enjoyed her show that much. Flash spoke up to try and keep the show going.  “Thank you for that, Twilight… uh… Sing…” he nudged Singer a bit on the shoulder, snapping him out of it.

Singer, having come to, shook his head and mildly blushed a bit. “S-Sorry. Right. Well you heard it here first, folks! Take all the necessary precautions. But now…” he said as he pulled out a portable speaker as he readied his phone to play some music. “It’s Summer time!”

Choosing not to play any copyrighted music, he just played some random beach music he’d found on YouTube. The two guys then randomly pushed their chairs to the side after which they picked up a large surfboard and ran around the camera to the left, Sunset had moved closer to the tripod so she could move the camera for them as they lay the surfboard flat in the sand to where they’d be in clear sight of the ocean and the activity behind them, including some people, most notably, Applejack and Rainbow Dash,  actually surfing behind them.

“So get out there and enjoy the sun…” Flash said, standing on the front of the board pretending to balance himself on it.

“…the waves…” Singer said, doing the same on the back part of the surfboard.

“…the sand and the babes!” They both said in unison.

“I’m Flash Sentry.” said the former.

“And I’m Singer Case.” threw in the latter.

“And this has been…”

“Flash and Singer in the Morning!”

Sunset tossed Flash’s electric guitar over to him and he strummed on it a bit before Twilight killed the feed.

“Not bad for one take.” Sunset said as she took Flash’s phone off the tripod and handed it back to him.

“We’re professionals.” Remarked Flash with a wink. He was then met with a kiss from Sunset on the lips. “I don’t think I’m going to be getting tired of that any time soon.”

“Me neither.” Sunset giggled as she hugged him.

Twi, who had Singer’s right arm wrapped around her, smiled at the display and looked over at Singer, who shared a knowing smile with her. “I still haven’t, that’s for sure.” Twi kissed Singer on his cheek, and he in turn hugged her tightly for a brief moment before she turned to address her friend. “Congratulations to you both! I’m so happy for you. I told you, you didn’t have anything to worry about, Sunset.”

“Yes, yes you did. Thanks Twilight.” Sunset said. “I can’t believe that I was so hesitant to embrace this.”

“We’re together now.” Flash threw in as he placed his hand on her shoulder. “That’s what matters.”

“You really think I’m gorgeous?” Sunset asked with a smirk and a cocked eyebrow.

“Of course I do.” Flash said with a grin.

“Flattery won’t get you anywhere, Flash.” She said with a sideways grin that kept growing as they continued to play around.

“Are you sure about that?” Flash remarked, and was met with a light punch to his left arm by Sunset. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding…”

“You’d better be…”

Twilight placed her left hand on the right side of Singer’s face and moved her face closer to his. “I noticed you checking me out earlier.” She said with half lidded eyes.

“I was?” Singer shifted his eyes back and forth. “Well, I…”

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of.” She said quickly, noticing him getting a bit flustered. “I’d rather catch you checking me out than seeing you ogle other girls.” She giggled at him reassuringly while lightly elbowing him.

“You’re the only one these eyes want to set on, Twilight.” Singer responded, having quickly regained his mojo. It worked, as Twilight was caught off guard. She started to blush and giggle nervously. It was crazy to think that just weeks ago, they(mostly Singer) had struggled with flirting, or at least flirting without being cringey, and here they were. They’d both made themselves aware of the shifting tone in their relationship, and though initially a bit shell shocked by it, they were now embracing it.

“Good to know…” she smiled at him while she tried to stop her giggling. Singer planted a quick surprise kiss on her lips, and she calmed down. “Thank you.”

“Ugh… barf! Gag!” Zephyr exclaimed as he suddenly walked on by. “If you people get any more mushy, I’m going to be able to whip out a bowl and spoon and have my morning breakfast.”

“You eat mush?” Flash retorted. “That doesn’t sound remotely appealing.”

“Oh my… shut up!” Zephyr said, crossing his arms with a pouty face. “You guys are total snoozers. Nothing better to do but sit around and make googly eyes at each other.”

“Jealous much?” Sunset said, snarkily. “At least we have love lives.”

“OOOOOOOOOOOH!” Singer shouted as he high fived Sunset, Flash and Twilight couldn’t help but snigger at Zephyr’s expense. And before you go feeling too bad for Zephyr, remember all the crap he’s put the others through so far, and he’s not likely to be done with his shenanigans.

Realizing his defeat, he turned away and went off in the direction of the actively busy Rainbow Dash and Applejack. He did so more for the former than the latter, who were currently ripping the waves. “I don’t have time for this. I have a certain rainbow haired goddess to woo. Smell ya later chumps…” he said as he breathed on his palm and smelled of it. He shrugged indifferently and moved on.

Down a ways, and a bit closer to the shore, sat three beach chairs occupied by Dusk Noir in the center, Ray Strike who sat to Dusk’s left, and Rarity, who sat off to Dusk’s right. They had a clear view of Pinkie Pie making sandcastles with Spike and Belle, and Fluttershy, who’d earlier changed out of her scuba suit and back into her normal swimwear after coming back from exploring underwater. She waved at the trio sitting beside each other, getting waves back, before she decided to aid Pinkie and company in building sand castles.

Dusk sat and enjoyed the sound of the crashing waves while taking it in. He’d just finished drawing in his sketch pad, his view of the beach. He’d done so using his pastel pencils, capturing the beauty of the view of the sun hanging over the beach. He’d exchange a warm smile with Rarity every so often, when she wasn’t dozing off anyway. Rarity had her headphones in listening to some Sapphire Shores songs, but she didn’t need to hear to be able to make a request to Dusk.

“Oh Duuuusk!” She said, pulling a bottle of suntan lotion from her beach bag. “Would you be a dear and help me apply more sunscreen on my back?” She said as she sat up and used a scrunchie to hold up her hair. She then lied on her stomach with her legs now leaning against the part of the chair where her back once was leaning and beckoned Dusk over to her. Her bathing suit had an exposed back to it, so naturally she would need help applying sunscreen there. Dusk of course, graciously obliged. Why wouldn’t he? 

Dusk took the bottle of suntan lotion and graciously obliged his girlfriend’s request. “Anything for you, my dear.” He said with a smile, not even trying to pretend he didn’t enjoy it, though initially he’d been a bit hesitant the first time she asked, he got over the hang up relatively quickly. Anything he could do to help her out, he did his best to do it for her. 

Ray sat there in silence, choosing to ignore what was going on to his left and was focusing on other things. In particular, he was thinking about what had happened last night when the two of them had bumped into Celestia and Luna, after which the former had made the assumption that he and Applejack were a couple. His mind went back to a heart to heart he’d had with her on their front porch just a few weeks ago, in which they each had shared about their own experiences with parent-related trauma. He still wasn’t sure how he felt even after the conversation, but to some degree, he didn't regret the exchange. He’d never even talked to Dusk, his oldest and best friend, about all of that in the same way he did with Applejack. There was definitely a level of trust there.

Back to Celestia’s assumption from the night before. Could it really be that far-fetched to think… nah. There was no way. Right?

While he’d been dealing with these thoughts over the last several hours, he hadn’t changed much in his approach when talking to or just being around Applejack. In fact, at breakfast he’d sat near her like he always did. And she’d managed to maintain her cool around him as well. His question was, whether or not she was actually thinking about what he was thinking about. It had been evident that something was happening between them every so often. He tried to put these thoughts away for now. He was supposed to be enjoying himself on his vacation, not getting lost in trivial thoughts. 

Ray remained alone with his thoughts for a few more minutes before Dusk would return to his seat beside him. Hopefully providing a much needed distraction.

“Sorry Ray, I forgot to ask you earlier. How was it last night at the carnival? Did anything interesting happen?”

“Oh? Uh… absolutely nothing noteworthy. It was a nice night. And nothing else.” Ray said with his eyes widened as his body seemingly froze with the question.

“Are you alright, Ray? You look as if something has you frozen in terror.”

“I’m fine, fine.  Nothing to see here.” He’d said more calmly, and seemingly convincingly to Dusk who simply nodded as he continued to answer his question. “Just another routine match up with the Flim Flam brothers and some shenanigans ensued. Nothing at all out of the ordinary. I’m just a little tired from last night.”

“Flim and Flam are here? That’s wonderful to think about.” Dusk said sarcastically, garnering a chuckle from Ray.

Dusk wasn’t sure if he was one hundred percent convinced, but he didn’t press the issue. He figured if it was something Ray wanted to talk about, he would. He put away for now, but the matter wasn’t completely closed in his mind yet.

“Alright, but if you ever want to talk about anything, you know that I…”

“I know. I’d just rather not right now is all.”

“Very well…” Dusk planned to change the subject, but paused as his phone dinged and vibrated in his pocket. The same happened to Ray’s and Rarity’s respective phones as well, indicating that someone was posting in their group chat. Curious, all three pulled out their phones to see what the news was. As it turned out, the message was from Sunset.

>Sunset: Hey btw guys, does anyone have any major plans tonight?

Three pairs of eyebrows quirked in rough unison at the sudden question. The trio shot questioning looks at one another, before all three began typing a response.

>Dusk: Not that I’m aware of, no.

>Rarity: Nothing comes to mind aside from my usual nightly routine.

>Ray: ^^^

>Ray: I was just gonna chill. Y?

A few moments’ pause, and then Sunset began typing again.

>Sunset: Flash and I might have something for us to do, if everyone’s on board. You three know where the rest of the group is?

>Ray: Well AJ and Dash are both shredding waves atm.

>Ray: Or attempting to, in AJ’s case.

>Dusk: Pinkie and Fluttershy are currently making sand castles with Spike and Mrs. Belle. They might not have their phones on them.

>Pinkie: ヾ( ＾▽＾)  I’m here!

>Dusk: We can get their attention if need- nevermind, I stand corrected.

Dusk glanced up to see Pinkie still with Fluttershy, Spike and Belle a ways away. From the looks of it, she had her phone out and was somehow managing to rapidly type one-handed while simultaneously using a small shovel to pad down the ramparts of their increasingly-large sand castle.

>Pinkie: (˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧

>Pinkie: Fluttershy left her phone in her bag, but I’ll keep her in the loop. What’s the scoop?

>Pinkie: Oooh, that rhymed! ⌒ (o＾▽＾o) ノ

>Sunset: Alright, sounds like we’ve got most of the group then. We can catch up Applejack and Rainbow once they’re done in the water.

>Rarity: Hold on, what about Twilight and Singer?

>Singer: We’re here too!

>Twilight: We’re with Flash and Sunset, don’t worry. They’ve already filled us in.

>Ray: And not the rest of us? Sunny, I’m hurt.

>Sunset: I’m telling you now, aren’t I?

>Sunset: Anyways, update time. We’ve been invited to a house party later tonight. It’s a summer bash being held by a frat house at Waytona U.

Dusk’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, as did Ray’s to his left, while Rarity merely hummed in thought. He could hear Pinkie’s loud gasp of shock and delight all the way from here, however, even as he could see the bubbly girl rapidly typing in chat.

>Pinkie: (⚆ᗝ⚆)

>Pinkie: (⚆ᗝ⚆) (⚆ᗝ⚆) (⚆ᗝ⚆)

>Ray: Uh oh

>Pinkie: A big house party?! A big SUMMER house party?! Woooooo! ٩( ᗒᗨᗕ )۶

That was about the reaction they all would have expected from Pinkie. Dusk’s reaction was far more reserved in comparison, though. His brow furrowed in concern at the mere prospect of attending a frat party of all things, while Ray and Rarity both typed responses of their own.

>Rarity: Interesting. How did this come about?

>Ray: Are there guys just walking around the beach passing out invites?

>Flash: Nah, this happened last night, while we were at the pier. Sunset forgot to mention it to the rest of you until just now.

>Sunset: I did not! I thought I posted it in chat this morning. I was wondering why no one responded.

>Sunset: Apparently I never hit send.

>Ray: Ah. Been there. Understandable.

>Sunset: So yeah, Flash and I bumped into the head of one of the local fraternities last night. He invited us to their big house party tonight.

>Rarity: Really? Just like that?

>Sunset: Not exactly. Some of his juniors tried to pick a fight with Flash over something stupid. He stepped in and apologized for them, then told us about the party and invited us.

>Ray: Ah, so he’s trying to smooth things over so you don’t file a complaint.

>Ray: Or he was flirting with Sunset specifically and Flash just happened to also be there.

>Flash: Hey!

>Sunset: Eh, probably. He seemed alright though.

>Rarity: Was it just the two of you who were invited, or does the invitation extend to all of us?

>Sunset: He said we could bring along whoever we wanted, so all of us. And who knows, a house party could be pretty fun, assuming things don’t get too crazy.

>Ray: A FRAT house party, don’t forget. Those tend to be drunk and chaotic, in my experience.

>Flash: Right? That’s what I said.

>Rarity: And what experience would that be, Ray? Have you ever even been to a college house party before?

>Ray: Have you?

>Rarity: I asked first. Don’t avoid the question, darling.

Dusk looked up to see his best friend leveling a light glare at his girlfriend, while the latter merely lowered her sunglasses and raised a questioning eyebrow in response. Grumbling under his breath, but without any real discernible malice, Ray started typing again.

>Ray: Fine, if you MUST know, then no, technically I haven’t. I’ve looked in on plenty of them from the outside though.

Rarity tittered to his right, to which Ray only grumbled further.

>Rarity: I suspected as much. Don’t feel bad, Ray, I imagine this would be a first-time occurrence for most of us.

>Ray: Rarity, can you not patronize me over text when you’re sitting five feet away from me?

>Rarity: Of course. Would you rather I patronize you verbally?

>Ray: I hate you.

>Sunset: lol are you two done?

>Rarity: I believe so, yes. Continue, Sunset.

In spite of himself, Dusk couldn’t help but crack a small exasperated smile at the continued heated rivalry between his two closest friends. He was gratified to see them both shoot dry smirks at each other over their phones, indicating no hard feelings. Just another day in the life, really.

>Sunset: Right, as I was going to say. I’ve been to a few house parties at C.U., and trust me, they aren’t as rowdy as movies and TV make them out to be… usually. Things could be different here, of course, but the point still stands. I doubt there’ll be any problems like what you’re thinking of, Ray.

>Ray: So I’m guessing you and Flash wanna go to this party then?

>Flash: Well I’m actually kind of on the fence, but if Sunset goes, then I’ll go too.

>Sunset: It’s not like that. I’m just proposing it to the group. I think it’d be fun for us all to go together, but only if most of us want to go. The whole point of this trip is for us all to spend time together after all.

>Sunset: And I know that frat parties are a bit iffy as a general rule, so if most of you would rather stay at the hotel then we just won’t bother.

After reading that last message, Ray sighed and leaned forward, sitting upright on his reclined chair. He hummed thoughtfully. “What do you two think about this?” he asked aloud, turning toward Dusk and Rarity. “I’m honestly not sure one way or the other.”

“Really now?” Rarity shot him a curious look. “I’d have thought someone like you would leap at the chance to attend a party full of rambunctious college boys.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I like a party as much as the next guy. Especially one I’m actually invited to.” He sniffed innocently. “Still though, there are some scenes that are too crazy even for me. A bunch of guys taking shots out of bongs or whatever is pretty close to the top of that list.”

“Come now, Sunset said it’s unlikely to be that sort of party,” Rarity argued. “And even if it is, we’d be able to tell long before stepping through the front door. If so, we can just turn around and leave, no harm done.”

“I guess. It might be a fun time, and if it doesn’t pan out then at worst we’d lose a bit of bus fare and an hour or two of our time…” he shrugged. “I’m kinda surprised you’re in favor of going though. You know, what with it being full of ‘rambunctious college boys’ like me,” he added with dramatic air quotes.

“I confess, it’d be less for the party itself and more for the chance at some social networking,” Rarity explained. “Waytona does have a positive reputation as a rather high-end university, after all, and I’ve no doubt that there will be some other girls our age at this soirée. If I’m to get my own business off the ground anytime in the near future, I must take any chance I can at making connections.”

“Yeesh, you talk like there are gonna be rich people at this thing. I mean, I guess there might be, if it’s a rich college. Ugh, I’m not sure if that makes it better or worse…” Ray frowned and shook his head as if to clear the thought away. “What about you, Dusk? You’ve been quiet.”

Dusk, who had been keeping his thoughts to himself up to this point, started at being addressed directly. “W-what?”

“The party,” Ray repeated. “You thinkin’ of going with, or no?”

“Oh… Well, I… erm…” he spoke haltingly. For a moment, he considered lying, or coming up with some kind of excuse to avoid having to answer honestly. But that urge only lasted for a moment. These were his friends. Ray and Rarity especially, one his best friend of many years, the other his romantic other. Not for the first time, he forcefully reminded himself that he didn’t have to make excuses around them. Taking a breath, he collected his thoughts and answered.

“To be entirely honest… I’m not sure I want to,” he finally said. “You both know that I’m not really much of a… ‘people person’. Or a party person, for that matter. Small parties with our friends are one thing, but going to a crowded party with a bunch of complete strangers? It… doesn’t appeal to me as much. S-sorry…”

He spoke while casting his gaze downward, unsure of how the other two would respond. Much to his relief, however, when he glanced up, he saw Ray nodding along as though he’d expected that answer, and Rarity giving him a caring smile.

“Dusk, dear, you don’t have to explain or apologize,” she said, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. “We all have our own preferences, after all. Some are more cut out for louder social settings than others, there’s no shame in that.”

“...Thanks, Rarity.” He returned her affectionate smile with one of his own. “What about you? Are you going to go with Sunset and the others, then?”

“Ah…hm…” she bit her lip awkwardly and frowned somewhat. “Well, I admit, I was… rather hoping to go with you, if I went at all. If you intend on staying behind, then I’m likely to do the same.”

“What?” Dusk asked, confused. “B-but, you just said you wanted to try networking.”

“I do, but the point of the excursion is to have fun first and foremost, is it not? I doubt I’d have as much of an enjoyable time if you weren’t there, Dusk,” she returned smartly. She then suddenly gave him a sly smirk and batted her eyelashes. “Besides, at the end of the day, it is a fraternity party. Even if the others were to go as well, I’d feel much more comfortable attending if I knew my own boyfriend was close at hand.”

Despite having just applied lotion to her bare back less than five minutes prior, somehow this was what triggered an embarrassed response from Dusk. A blush quickly formed on his face while he mumbled incoherently, eliciting another giggle from Rarity.

“I-I see…” he finally managed to cough out, whilst trying to will his cheeks to stop burning. He cast his gaze around to find Ray, watching the couple’s exchange with a strange mix of amusement and faux-revulsion. “Wh-what about you, Ray?”

“Eh,” he shrugged nonchalantly, leaning back into his seat. “Surprisingly, I’m with the snob on this one. I don’t really care either way. I mean, a house party sounds like it might be a fun time, but no way I’m going if my favorite people aren’t gonna be there.”

“Aww, did I hear that right, ruffian?” Rarity teased from across Dusk. “I’m one of your favorite people?”

“You’re one of the people I dislike the least,” Ray clarified, shooting another lighthearted glare at her. “But seriously Dusk, do what you wanna do. If you don’t wanna hit up the big college party, then we can play games, or you and Rarity can watch soap operas, or whatever. It’s up to you.” He waved a hand dismissively, looking back at his phone.

Dusk found himself unsure of how to proceed. While he was immensely grateful to his friends for accepting his reluctance to attend an event like this, he also didn’t like feeling as though he was holding them back from enjoying themselves. Rarity had made her intentions and stance on attending clear, and Ray… well, despite whatever Ray expressed verbally, Dusk knew his old friend well enough to know that he enjoyed being a part of loud, bombastic affairs far more than Dusk did. The way he’d answered so quickly and flippantly made Dusk wonder if he was just acting nonchalant to be considerate.

Suddenly, their phones began collectively vibrating again. Relieved at the distraction, Dusk opened the group chat back up to see that the discussion seemed to have completely halted after the last message Sunset had posted several minutes ago, with the most recent alert having come from her again.

>Sunset: Girls? Guys? What are we thinking? Attend or don’t?

“Let’s see which side of the fence the others are sitting on,” Ray quickly suggested, quickly beginning to type on his own phone, saving Dusk from having to think of what to say.

>Ray: We’re still deciding over here.

>Ray: How about everyone else? Twilight, what’re you and Singer doing?

In expected fashion, once her name was mentioned it only took a few seconds for the quick-typing Twilight to post a response, despite the relative length of her message.

>Twilight: Honestly, we’re waiting to see what the rest of the group does. Singer’s not opposed to going. I’m admittedly a bit unsure myself, but then again I’ve also never attended a large fraternity party like this before, so that might just be nerves talking. But regardless, Sunset’s right: the core point of this trip is for us all to do things together as a group, not to go off to random parties on our own.

“Greeeeaaat. That’s less-than-helpful,” Ray groused. “So right now everyone’s stuck in ‘I’ll go if everyone else goes’ limbo. At this point I’m considering going along with it just to be the first one to commit.”

Dusk was starting to feel uncomfortably pressured. His uncertainty must have shown on his face, because Rarity spoke up again.

“How about this, darling,” she began, grabbing ahold of his hand and squeezing it softly. “We can go with the others, and we’ll play it by ear. We’ll focus on enjoying ourselves, but if it ends up being too rowdy and you feel uncomfortable, we can leave. How’s that?”

It was an obvious suggestion and a simplistically elegant compromise, Dusk had to admit. One that appeased his fears about committing to something he wouldn’t enjoy while also quelling his worries about keeping Rarity away from something she’d enjoy. After a few more moments of thought, he resolved to simply bite the bullet. Really, it was just a party, and his friends would be there. How bad could it be?

“You know what? Alright,” he finally said, tilting his head in Rarity’s direction. “S-sure. Why not? Let’s go.”

“Really? Are you sure?” Rarity asked. Dusk nodded once, hesitantly, then a second time more firmly. Rarity smiled proudly. “Alright, if you’re certain Dusk. Just remember not to push yourself.”

“Well, I have to start reaching out of my comfort zone eventually, I suppose,” he said lightly, offering a nervous chuckle. “Especially if I want to spend more time with you, I need to get used to being around and talking to people. Might as well start now.”

“You’ve already made great strides since we first met,” Rarity assured. “Like I said, if you’re feeling uncomfortable, we can leave.”

“I know. Thank you, dear.”

“So… that’s settled then? Are we putting our names forward?” Ray asked, having been watching the exchange again from the side. At both of their nods, he began typing again.

>Ray: Alrighty. After years of reflection and soul-searching, me, Dusk, and the snob are all on board. Bring on the beer pong, I guess.

>Sunset: Really? Awesome!

>Sunset: Wait, Dusk, you sure you wanna come? Big parties like this aren’t really your scene, right?

>Dusk: You’re right, they’re not. But I’ll be fine, I think. So long as most of us are there and it’s not too unruly, like you said, it should be manageable.

>Rarity: And if not, then we shall simply take our leave. No harm, no foul, as they say.

>Sunset: Sounds good. That’s 5 of us going then. 7 if we count Twilight and Singer. Pinkie, how about you?

…

>Sunset: Pinkie? You there?

Normally Pinkie was quick to reply if her name was mentioned in the group chat, but several dozen seconds ticked by without a response. It occurred to Dusk at that moment that Pinkie hadn’t posted a message since declaring her excitement at the prospect of a house party. Curious, the three of them looked back over to where she was working on the sand castle, and sure enough she was still over there with Fluttershy. 

Interestingly, the two of them seemed to be engaged in a lively back-and-forth. Although they couldn’t hear what was being said from this distance, it was easy to see the way Pinkie was flailing her arms about and talking excitedly, while Fluttershy in stark contrast appeared to be pacing back-and-forth with an expression of fear and uncertainty. Spike and Mrs. Belle were still working on the sand castle in the meantime, watching the two from the sidelines.

Suddenly, Pinkie ceased her wild gestures and reached into her pocket, seemingly pulling out her phone. After looking at it for several moments, she looked up and darted her eyes in the direction the three of them were seated, meeting with Dusk’s gaze. Then, she grinned, and began speaking enthusiastically with Fluttershy again. Whatever was said between the two pink-haired girls seemed to have an effect on the latter, who likewise looked in their direction and seemed to calm down somewhat. The two spoke with each other for a minute longer, after which Pinkie abruptly cheered loud enough for them to hear and began jumping up and down excitedly.

Ray, Dusk, and Rarity all glanced at each other in abject confusion, all of them unsure of what was happening. That was until their phones started going off again, this time with back-to-back pings, a sound they’d all come to associate with Pinkie’s excited rapid-fire messages.

>Pinkie: \ ( >w< ) /

>Pinkie: Yeah!

>Pinkie: I’m still here!

>Pinkie: Sorry about that! I forgot to look at chat! ～( ＞_＜ )～

>Sunset: No worries. Doubt I need to ask, but are you coming to the party?

>Pinkie: Absotively posilutely!

>Pinkie: I’ve never been to a college house party at Waytona U before!

>Pinkie: This’ll be so much fun! o( >  ᗜ  < )o ₊˚⊹♡

>Sunset: Good news, then. That makes 8 of us.

>Pinkie: 9, actually! Fluttershy’s gonna come too! ⸜(｡0 ᵕ 0 )⸝⸜(｡0 ᵕ 0 )⸝

Dusk blinked. He had to read that most recent text twice, as he was sure he’d misread the first time. His, Ray’s, and Rarity’s eyes all widened in surprise.

>Ray: wait wut

>Flash: Huh?

>Sunset: Really?

>Pinkie: Yeah! ( ˶^ᗜ^˵ )

>Pinkie: That’s why I forgot to look at chat, I was busy trying to convince her!

>Pinkie: She was super-duper-luper nervous, but when she saw so many of us were gonna be there she decided to come along too! 

>Pinkie: Thanks Rarity, Ray, Dusky! Everyone else too! Couldn't’ve done it withoutcha!
♡⸜(˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶)⸝♡

Unsure glances were quickly exchanged between the three of them at the mental image of Fluttershy of all people standing in the middle of a massive exuberant house party surrounded by strangers. She was even worse with such scenes than Dusk, that was no secret to anyone.

>Twilight: Pinkie, wait. As much as we appreciate your enthusiasm, Fluttershy really doesn’t have to come if she doesn’t want to.

>Rarity: Quite. The dear shouldn’t feel pressured.

>Pinkie: She does wanna come though!

>Pinkie: She said she

The message cut off, and several seconds of silence passed without any indication that Pinkie was typing. Peering into the distance again, Dusk thought he saw her and Fluttershy speaking to each other. Then another ping in chat.

>Pinkie: Sorry about that! Again!

>Pinkie: Shy wants to talk now, so I’m gonna let her borrow my phone. I have to get back to helping Spike build a functioning drawbridge! Later gators! (^ _ ^) /~~

There were a few moments of stillness on the screen then, as Pinkie presumably passed off the phone to Fluttershy and went back to playing in the sand. Even still, it took several more seconds before they saw Pinkie - or rather, Fluttershy - typing a message. It was easy to tell that it was her on account of how long it was taking - Fluttershy was the slowest typer out of all of them, save perhaps Applejack, and had a habit of repeatedly erasing and re-typing her own messages before posting them.

>Pinkie: Hello. It’s Fluttershy speaking.

>Pinkie: Yes, I’ve decided to come with all of you to the party. Only if that’s alright with you all, of course. I don’t want to be a burden, so if you’d rather I stay behind, I don’t mind.

>Rarity: Fluttershy, darling, of course we’re alright with you coming with us. It’s you that we’re concerned about. You’re usually so antsy about attending things like this. We practically had to drag you to prom night, remember?

…

>Pinkie: Yes, I remember. But I think I’ve been getting better at being around other people since then. And if most of you are going and I stayed behind, then I’d feel like I’m missing out. We’re here to have fun with each other. I don’t want to miss out on that because I’m too nervous to go out with all of you. Is that okay?

>Sunset: I honestly wasn’t expecting you to even be remotely interested in coming, Fluttershy, that’s the only reason I didn’t ask about you. But if you wanna join us then I don’t think any of us have a problem with it. Right, everyone?

>Twilight: Of course.

>Dusk: Certainly not.

>Flash: No problem here.

>Singer: Ditto, wouldn’t be the same without you.

>Rarity: The more the merrier.

>Ray: What they said, yeah.

…


>Pinkie: OK. Thank you everyone. I’ll try not to get in the way while we’re there.

>Pinkie: I’m going to give Pinkie her phone back now.

>Ray: Have fun making sand forts.

>Sunset: Alright, neat, so that’s nine of us. I think it’s safe to say that we are officially going to the party.

>Flash: Probably also safe to assume that Applejack and Rainbow will be on board once they hear about what we’re doing.

>Sunset: Applejack is 50/50 I think, but Rainbow? Definitely. This seems like it’s right up her alley.

>AJ: I’m 50/50 on what exactly?

>Flash: Oh hey, look at that!

>Rarity: What impeccable timing.

>Ray: Speak of the devil and she shall appear.

>Rainbow: Yeesh, 109 missed messages? The heck have you guys been talking about?

>Sunset: Scroll up, Rainbow.

>AJ: Ray, who’re you calling a devil now?

>Ray: Rainbow, obviously. You know. Daredevil.

>AJ: Uh huh. Sure.

>Pinkie: I’m back again! (๑>ᴗ<๑) Hi AJ, hi Dashie, how were the waves?

>Rainbow: Oh dope, we’re going to a frat party? Sounds awesome, count me in!

>Rainbow: Waves started off great but now they’re getting kinda eh, so we’re taking a break.

>Sunset: Then that just leaves Applejack.

>AJ: Well if everyone else is already going then I guess I might as well tag along.

>AJ: As good a way as any to spend the night.

>Sunset: Great! That’s all of us.

>Pinkie: What about Zephyr?

>Ray: What ABOUT Zephyr?

>Rainbow: What ABOUT Zephyr?

>Rainbow: JINX

>Ray: jinx

>Ray: dammit

>Rainbow: XD

>Rainbow: Where is that creep anyways

>Rainbow: Actually nvm, don’t care

>Flash: Last we saw he was heading off to find you.

>Rainbow: Well I don’t see him. Probably got lost in the surf. Either way I ain’t sticking around for him to show up.

>Twilight: I don’t really like suggesting this, but considering most of our feelings on his presence, maybe it’d be best if we just don’t tell him about the party.

>Sunset: Yeah, I kinda agree. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.

>Ray: Works for me.

>Sunset: Okay, well, I guess we’ll head back to the hotel in a few hours and get ready to leave once evening rolls around.

>Flash: Sounds like a plan.

>Rainbow: Got it.

>Rarity: We’ll be ready.

>Pinkie: Okie-dokie-lokie! (✿◠ᴗ◠)

As Dusk and everyone else posted their various affirmations to the plan, he leaned back and sighed. “Guess we’re not weaseling out of this one…” he muttered.

“Hey, we had plenty of chances,” Ray pointed out, moving to put his phone back in his pocket. Just before he did though, the group chat curiously started pinging again. He huffed and looked at the new messages, only to blanch at what he saw.

>AJ: Ray, I just scrolled to the top of the chat. What was that comment about me ‘attempting’ to surf?

…

>AJ: Ray

>Ray: Uh

>Ray: Oh, would you look at the clock, it’s time for me to be somewhere else.

>AJ: Ray, don’t make me come over there.

>Ray: Gonna grab something to eat everyone be back later maybe probably have fun KBAI

Without so much as another word to either him or Rarity, Ray rapidly stood up, gathered his bag, and began speed-walking away from their spot.

>AJ: Ray, I can see you down the way!

>AJ: Don’t you start running now!

>AJ: Ray!

Dusk and Rarity glanced back and forth between the texts on their screens and their friend’s rapidly-retreating backside. In the end, both could only share an amused, bewildered look with each other, before breaking down into laughter at Ray’s expense.






Southbound, a ways away from the swimming beach area the Canterloters were at, sat the beach house that acted as the fraternity house for the Mu Pi’s. Decorations had been set up along the stage that was there. Tables were being setup, and various other things were coming into place for the party later that night. Watching over it all on the back porch area of the house was Jake Featherstone. He vainly combed his hair as he alternated between focusing on himself and watching to make sure the guys were doing their jobs right.

“Blackjack, if I have to tell you again not to put the drinks near where the Karaoke Machine is supposed to go, I’m going to put you back on probation!” Jake hissed at one of his fellow Mu Pi’s. The guy in question huffed as he yet again moved the table to where he hoped the drinks were supposed to go. “My gosh, good help is hard to find these days.” His eyes darted around to oversee what the rest of the guys were up to.

“Moose, my main man!” Jake said as he looked down to his left over to a large guy, built like a tank. He made Bulk Biceps back at Canterlot look a bit less impressive by comparison. He was sort of a stereotypical strong silent man with a bowl cut hair cut with bangs that covered his eyes and made them not visible. He wore his own Four-X sized Mu Pi T-Shirt that matched the rest of the guys wearing theirs. His skin color was yellow and his hair color was light brown. He’d garnered praise from Jake as he was one of Jake’s most trustworthy members. He’d also just carried a large supply of various drinks that he’d gone to buy at the store. “Moose, do yourself a favor and go grab yourself a drink. You’ve earned it.”

Moose didn’t say anything but he smiled slightly and nodded and stomped off into the lower back door under the back balcony of the house to go to the kitchen.

Jake noted that Muscles was hard at work loading the speakers onto the stage that was set up outside. But his attention was diverted when he heard a voice come up from behind him. It had been Jock, who held in his hand some paper that he’d printed off from their printer inside.

“Hello Jock…” Jake said coldly.

“Hey Jake.”

“I take it you’ve been doing that research I asked you for?”

“Yeah, right here. I also went to the house next door like you asked me to do and gave them a heads up so they won’t be bothering us tonight.”

“Good… I can’t stand those old fishermen… So, you managed to find some info on these Canterlot guys?”

“Yes.” Jock replied. “Well, at least I was able to find info on the two that we know about. All we know about the others is that they are a decent sized group of around ten to twelve-ish people. Apparently, while doing my extensive research, it appears  Sunset Shimmer has quite a history, both for her academic skills and as an athlete. A bit of a bad girl past as well. And Flash Sentry? Well, he’s just a flashy dressed geek who plays in a band with a bunch of other geeks.”

“Hmmm…” Jake said as he looked at the papers presented by Jock. “Yes, this is something. Sunset Shimmer is quite the catch isn’t she?”

“Jake?” Jock said unsurely with an unsure tone to his voice. “What are you say-“

“Nevermind that!” Jake said. “Just keep finding information and see what else you can find on her friends.”

“You sure that’s necessary?”

“I’m willing to bet some of her peers are going to be quite impressive as well… We’ll need to up our game lest we be bested on our own turf. Such a shame that we have to do this old song and dance every year.”

“Don’t worry, Jake. We’re working on something that will take these Canterlot “Blundercolts” down a peg.”

“I’m listening…”

“We invite them on stage as our welcome guests, really work to butter them up and lull them into a false sense of security and then… we hose them!” Jock said with a sinister grin.”

“Hose them?” Jake asked, raising his left eyebrow.

“Hose them…” Jock reiterated. “We get them on stage and we blast them with a water hose.” Jock wasn’t the brightest light when it came to ideas, and this latest pitch was no different. His facial expression went from hopeful to forlorn when he noticed that Jake was shaking his head disapprovingly at the midsection of his sentence.

“It’s not big enough!” Jake shouted, but he immediately calmed himself down, and held up a hand in an apologetic manner. “Keep workshopping it and come up with something substantial by tonight.”

“We could…” Jock said with a slight pause as if he was going to suggest something but a shiver was sent down his spine and he stopped himself. “No, nevermind. That’s a stupid idea.”

“What?” Jake said as he rubbed his temples stressfully.

“We could wake up Kyle…”

A look of hesitation came over him as he contemplated the idea. He went around in circles in his mind wondering if this was worth bringing their wildcard into this. However, he ultimately gave his nod of approval after some consideration and agreed. “Fine… I hate to put our reputation on the line by utilizing Kyle’s over the top ideas, but he is our wildcard for a reason. Do what you must, but make sure everyone knows to make these Canterlot people feel welcome at first. We wouldn’t want them to leave early before the real fun begins, now would we?”

“Understood, Jake.” Said Jock as he turned around to enter the house again, leaving Jake to his planning.

“Oh, and Jock?” Jake said, causing him to pause. “Be on your best behavior, and see to it that you keep our mutual friend in check as well.”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever you say, Jake…”

Jock walked on into the house where some of the other guys had been taking a break from setting up the party and were currently playing video games and drinking beer. There was another couple of guys that had company on the neighboring couch, making out with presumably girls they’d found on the beach while chilling. He nodded to the guys playing the games as he walked on by, and did his best not to look at the kissing couples. Each step he took that brought him closer to the room that Kyle resided in made him tense up a bit more. 

This guy could be intense at times, and had a reputation among the fraternity as someone you didn’t want to be on the wrong side of. The smell of energy drinks and pizza grew stronger as he reached the door, which was left open. Jock swallowed a bit before stepping into the room in which the lights were off but a tv was going off. He knocked on the door, hoping to get a response. Nothing.

“K-Kyle?” Jock said nervously. “It’s Jock, here. Are you awake?”

His eyes diverted to a slight movement coming from a chair sitting facing the TV on the wall across from the door. A silhouette of an arm could be seen reaching over and grabbing a can, presumedly an energy drink. A black can with a stylized green ‘M’ that looked like claw marks. The arm lifted the can and moved it closer to the body sitting in the chair, no doubt the arm of Kyle. A few gulps and a large belch could be heard before the arm slammed the can back down on the side table, making the now empty can crush as it was forcibly hammered down.

“Yep…” the voice of the arm replied. “What… do-ya want-ta-ta-ta?!?” His choice in vernacular was very colorful to say the least. He’d heard from some of the others that he was obsessed with an actor by the name of Jim Carrey and styled much of his lifestyle after some of the characters he played. The main one of them being a character by the name of ‘Ace Ventura’.

“We have something we could use your help with, if you can spare the time…”

The chair made a creaking noise as the body behind the arm suddenly ascended from sitting down and now a silhouette of a skinny guy with a funny looking hair style stood up and Jock could have swore he saw the figure turn and look at him.

“Re-he-he-heally…” Kyle said with a laugh, and talking in a goofy fashion.

“Yeah. Some out-of-towners could use some hazing and we could use some of your ideas.”

Slowly Kyle made his way forward and trudged his way into the light casting into the dark room from the hallway. A large goofy grimace could be seen from Kyle, who had a tall cowlick hairstyle to his dark brown hair, green eyes and white skin. His attire was that of an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt that was red with yellow flower patterns on it, purple basketball shorts with a signature purple Mu Pi T-Shirt underneath his Hawaiian shirt.

“Ssssssssmokin!!!” He said with a big cartoonish grin. “Well then… let’s get cooking!” With a few deep chuckles, he swiftly removed the pair of sunglasses he wore, and then he rubbed his hands together menacingly and darted past Jock as if he was a kid excited to go play outside.

“Man this guy really creeps me out…” Jock murmured to himself, reluctantly following Kyle outside.





“Dagnabbit, Zephyr!” Scolded Applejack as she helped a lifeguard bring Zephyr back to shore after he wiped out while attempting to surf and struggling to make it back to shore. “What in tarnation were ya thinkin’?”

As he coughed the water out of his lungs, Rainbow Dash begrudgingly patted his back, maybe a bit harder than she really needed to, to the point where she left a red hand mark on his back.

“That was incredibly stupid, Zephyr! You could have gotten yourself killed!” Dash took her turn in scolding him.

“Gee, Rainbows. I guess you really do care.” Zephyr looked up at her with a smirk shortly afterwards he fell to his knees and coughed up some more water.

“UGH!!!!” Dash screamed, gripping some of her technicolored hair in her frustration, and once she saw that he was alright after coughing up the water, she let him have it again. “Why are you so annoying?”

“Yeah, myself and the other lifeguards are going to be watching you. You won’t be trying that again.” Said a third voice, that for a split second the two girls had forgotten about.

AJ and Dash were caught off guard by the sudden reminder of the presence of the lifeguard that had reached Zephyr and helped pull him back to shore. This one in particular was a guy with light red skin, beach blonde hair, wearing a pair of red swimming trunks, and obviously going shirtless like many of the other guys who were out on the beach. Both girls had been briefly mesmerized by the guy, and they looked disappointed when he started off back to his post. However he didn’t leave without waving at the two girls as he did so. Rainbow waved at him as he left and Applejack just rolled her eyes after the moment had passed.

“I saw him first…” Dash said abruptly with a smirk.

Applejack rolled her eyes and slightly groaned. “Ya know there’s more ta guys than just looks, right Rainbow?”

“Sure, sure. But with a bod like that, it doesn’t hurt.”

Zephyr’s demeanor changed as well. The girl’s backs were turned from his direction, but he could be seen spitting on the sand in front of him. “Lifeguard…” his eyes narrowed and his eyebrows pointed to indicate anger. Nevermind the fact that the guy saved his life, but he caught the eye of Rainbow Dash, and Zephyr wasn’t happy about it.

“Ah well, I didn’t come here to pick up guys anyway.” Dash said after she and AJ had a brief back and forth that happened while Zephyr wasn’t paying attention. “Shouldn’t we be getting back to the hotel?” Dash said, looking at her waterproof watch noting the time. 

“Right…” replied Applejack. “Ah’m gettin mighty tired after surfin all day.” AJ shifted her eyes back and forth and scrunched her nose and mouth, trying not to make eye contact with Zephyr. Fortunately her back was turned to him and Dash was the one standing facing him. AJ was a terrible liar so this was for the best.

“Yep…” Zephyr said with a slight grunt to his voice. “I’m getting quite tired after exercising my strapping beach bod today. Time for this guy to hit the bed.”

“Hi Rainbow Dash, Applejack.” Said Fluttershy as she walked up to her friends, all the while glaring at her brother. “And hello Zephyr…” Fluttershy had said more coldly to her brother.  “I can’t believe what you did. That was incredibly dangerous!”

“Yeah, yeah I know. It was dangerous, stupid, and I’m a mutton head.” He said as he scratched the back of his head nervously.

“I know you’re trying to impress Rainbow Dash but you don’t have to put yourself in danger to do it.”

Rainbow Dash facepalmed at Zephyr’s patheticness. She couldn’t believe what she was about to say, but she said it anyway. “Look, Zephyr. I can give you some pointers on surfing if you really want to learn.”

“Really?” Zephyr said, raising an eyebrow. 

“Yes. But you have to listen to everything I tell you to do and you’d better not be weird about it.”

“You really mean it, Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy said hopefully. It wasn’t that she wanted Zephyr to have prolonged contact with Rainbow or anything, but the fact that in spite of everything he’d done, Rainbow was at least trying to show him a little bit of tolerance and it made her smile. And Fluttershy was fine with it as long as he was willing to earn and not waste her time.

“Yeah, if he’s going to try it, he might as well have someone show him how. As annoying as he is, I don’t really want to see him kill himself trying to do it.”

“Rainbows, you won’t regret this! I’m going to be the best-…”

“NOW, listen to me. This is in no way a date or my way of flirting with you. Any attempt at any romantic tomfoolery and I’ll personally stuff you in your suitcase and send you back to Canterlot. Capiche?”

Zephyr nodded his head quickly with widened eyes in a slight display of fear.

“Now that that’s settled, who’s ready for that party tonight?” Fluttershy said, not realizing that the others didn’t want Zephyr to know.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack both collectively facepalmed, much to Fluttershy’s dismay. “Oh… we weren’t going to tell him, were we?”

“No… but it’s fine. We should have made sure you knew.”

“Well, I guess I’m no longer tired now.” Zephyr remarked with a smirk, making AJ and Dash sigh out of annoyance.

“Of course yer not…” remarked Applejack.

“Sorry…” Fluttershy said with finality as she knew the damage had been done.

“It’s a’ight, Fluttershy” said Applejack. “It was kind of inevitable he’d find out anyways.”

“You do realize that I’m standing right here, right?” Zephyr said, pointedly.

“Yeah, Ah know.” Remarked AJ with a smirk, garnering a grumbly growl from the annoying one.

“Psh… whatevs…”

Another hour later, and most everyone had gathered in the hotel lobby, changed into recreational clothes, and ready to go to the party that they were both excited and in part dreading to go to. They’d be on their own to ride the public transport bus again as Belle had taken herself, tired from the day, as well as Spike on back to where they were staying. No big deal, though. Many of them were used to it from often using the bus back home. The gang appeared to be ready to go, however one of them was notably absent. 

Twilight was texting on her phone with Singer as he was the only one who was currently not among them. He’d gotten a last minute phone call from someone and he’d been stuck in his room for the last twenty minutes. Who knew how much longer he’d be in there? Fortunately, he had the ability to text his girlfriend while he was in conversation.

>Singer: Sorry Twi… I am going to need more time. This is a very important phone call. You guys should go on ahead, I’ll catch up.

>Twilight: Are you sure?

>Singer: Yes, this conversation could go on for a bit longer. I don’t want to hold you all up. I promise, I’ll be there as soon as I can.

>Twilight: Okay. I’ll tell the others. You better be careful. I’m sending you a pin to the location of the party. Try not to get lost… I love you. 

>Singer:  Don’t worry, I won’t. I love you too, Adorkable Sparkle ;) 

>Twilight: See you soon… Eugene… ;)

>Singer: ha ha, real cute. I mean you really are cute, but… you know what I mean. You’re the only one allowed to call me by my middle name. I hope you appreciate just how exclusive that is. :3 

>Twilight: Oh believe me, I do. :D See you soon!

>Singer: Bye, sweetie :3

After the conversation, Twilight sighed a bit and disappointment was evident in her features.

“Are you alright, Twilight?” Asked Dusk with concern, noting his friend’s sudden change in demeanor.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Singer’s in the middle of an important call, so he said we should all go ahead and go.”

“Are you going to be okay with that, Darling?” Rarity asked.

“I think so. I’m just a little bit worried about him coming on by himself after he’s done.”

“Well if it’s okay with you, we should probably get going then…” Sunset said. She let out a subtle annoyed sigh when she saw Zephyr among them while looking around to make sure everyone else was there. In the back of her mind, she kinda knew that going to this frat party without Zephyr knowing about it was probably a fool’s errand due to his annoying tendencies to find out about everything. Still, she wasn’t going to sweat it as she knew she’d be accompanied by Flash the whole time, so she smiled to herself while thinking about it. She’d reached over and held him by the hand, garnering a warm smile from him.

As they all filed away to leave, Twilight had an idea. She turned to Dusk and Ray, who were lagging a bit behind the rest of the group, and both appeared to be cutting up over an inside joke of theirs. She clapped her hands together and approached them with a smile. 

“Oh snap, Twilight’s coming…” whispered Ray as both he and Dusk smiled sheepishly at her. “Hi Twilight!”

“Hello Dusk, Ray. I was wondering.” Twilight began, all the while nervously twirling her fingers in the strands of hair on the side of her head. “I know that going to this party isn’t something you’re overly fond of…”

“Well Dusk is the one with the hang up about it. I’m fine with the idea, but continue.” Ray said with a slight grin while Dusk rolled his eyes.

“Right.” Twilight continued. “Well, I was wondering if you’d mind hanging back for a bit and wait for Singer to finish his call, and come on with him when he’s done.”

“I don’t know, Rarity might not like that.” Dusk said unsurely. “She was insistent on the two of us going together.”

“I’ll talk to her for you, don’t worry.” Twilight insisted. “I just… I worry about the idea of him coming after us all by himself.”

“Why? Does Singer have trouble with directions or something ?” Asked Ray.

“Yeah… there’s no sugarcoating it. He can also be easily distracted, and he’s kind of prone to getting overwhelmed in stressful situations.” 

“Hmmm… remind you of anyone?” remarked Ray, in regards to the bit about Singer getting overwhelmed, noting how she had her own tendencies to stress out at times.

“Hey, watch it.”

“I kid, I kid…”

Dusk thought for a minute, and considered what Twilight had proposed. He did like the idea of his time at the frat party being cut off a bit by waiting on Singer, plus he could still fulfill his commitment he’d made with Rarity. And Twilight seemed to be legitimately worried for Singer’s wellbeing in this instance, so he considered it. He then looked over to Ray who nodded in a silent agreement. 

“For you Twilight, we will be happy to wait for Singer. Consider him safe with us.” Dusk said with a reassuring smile.

“Yeah, we’ll make sure he stays the course.” Added Ray.

“Thanks, you guys. You’re the best!” Twilight said as she quickly and gratefully hugged both of them before darting off to catch up with the others. “I guess we will see you there then.”

“See you there.” Said Dusk as he waved to his departing friend as she soon disappeared around a bunch of parked vehicles.

“Welp.” Ray said, taking a seat on one of the chairs outside, while Dusk did the same. “Now we wait. The things we do for these girls.”

“Indeed.” Chuckled Dusk. “They all seem to have us wrapped around their fingers. But I honestly don’t mind.”

“Ya know, a thought just occurred to me. I’ve known of this guy for months now, and I don’t think I’ve ever had a conversation with him that lasted more than thirty seconds.”

“He’s actually quite pleasant to talk to. And the way things look, I don’t see him going anywhere any time soon. I’d recommend getting to know him at least to some extent. I think that would make Twilight happy.”

“Hmm, yeah you’re right. We’ve  got  a whole bus ride to converse. I just hope we’re not waiting too much longer. Party food is kinda calling my name.” Ray could practically hear his stomach growling of hunger.

Dusk could feel the empty void in his stomach rumbling as well. “I’m in agreement there.”





The ride over to the party was a relatively short one. Around fifteen minutes or so, while they waited through a few stops. Some of the girls were excited, while the rest of them were a bit nervous about what they might experience here. 

Twilight and Fluttershy were definitely the two who had the most reservations about the party. The former was already dealing with some anxieties from memories she had of parties in the past. When she was a high school student at Crystal Prep, she’d usually only ever get invited to parties so that she could be the butt of whatever joke or prank the other students wanted to inflict upon her. However, she was comforted in knowing that her friends wouldn’t do that to her and that she had them to help her through this. 

“Don’t worry Twilight, you can stick with me and everything will be Okie Dokie Lokie!” Pinkie said, patting Twilight on the back.

“Thanks Pinkie.” Twilight said with a genuine smile.

Rarity had been a tiny bit annoyed by what Twilight had done, but after thinking on it for a minute, and looking at it from Twilight’s perspective, she quickly came to understand where Twilight was coming from. She wouldn’t want Dusk to try to do something like that by himself. And Rarity was, on the regular, a very understanding person. So until Dusk, Ray and Singer could join them, she decided to partner up with Applejack.

“Now Rarity, yer prolly gonna wanna help me out here. The biggest ‘barn burner’ party Ah’ve ever been apart of was mah family reunion parties. Rowdy as they can be sometimes, Ah have a feelin’ Ah ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

“Not to worry, Applejack.” Rarity began. “We’re going to have so much fun, you won’t even have time to focus on how crazy the scene will be.” Rarity took this moment to pull her phone out and get a selfie of the two of them sitting beside each other.

“Ya reckon they’ll have any a’ that hard apple ale there?”

“I reckon- um…” Rarity cleared her throat when she caught herself almost using AJ’s lingo. “I’m sure they’ll have whatever your heart desires. Surely we will find something we like at least that we can drink responsibly.”

“Naaah, we ain’t drivin’ home, might as well live a little.” Applejack said with a wink.

“Oh bother…” Rarity sighed, but it quickly turned into a slight smile. “I suppose we are in for an eventful evening, then.”

Rainbow decided to buddy up with Fluttershy. She knew she’d be able to help Fluttershy with her hang ups as well, as Dash would often be the one Fluttershy would lean on for dealing with social functions. Though she found that this decision had one tiny consequence. Zephyr was there and he typically hung around with Fluttershy.

“Alright! We’ve got Rainbows tagging along with us, Sis!” Zephyr said, sitting behind the seat that Fluttershy and Rainbow were sitting in. “Yo, Rainbows, you up for a little spin the bottle later?”

“Hey!” Dash shouted. “I thought I told you to stop being weird!”

“While we’re doing the surfing lessons. I didn’t think that applied to all of the time.” He said, giving her a flirtatious wink, to which Rainbow began to clench her fists and growl in anger. This made her even more mad, but fortunately Fluttershy was there to diffuse the situation.

“Rainbow Dash, Zephyr, please! Can we all just get along tonight? I mean, I’m really trying here, but if you two are going to be going after each other all night, then I might as well ride the bus back to the hotel.”

“Fine… I’ll cool it on my declarations of love for one night.” Zephyr said, halfheartedly conceding.

“Declarations of cringe is more like it…” Dash muttered to herself before taking a deep breath and nodding her head in response to Fluttersy’s request. “For you Fluttershy, I can at least pretend to tolerate your clown of a brother.”

“Thank you!” Fluttershy beamed, followed by a swift hug. 

“Alright, alright…” Dash laughed, patting Fluttershy on the head.

Sunset knew Flash had his own reservations about going to this frat house party as he didn’t view them in a very positive light, not to mention his encounter with Jock and Muscles the night before. But Sunset placed her hand on his shoulder and smiled reassuringly at him. 

“Thanks for going along with this, Flash. I know you had your reservations about coming tonight, but I really think we’re going to have fun.”

“I think you’re right. I guess I was just nervous about seeing that one guy again. But if Jake Featherstone wants to invite us to a party to make up for all of that, then I guess I’m good with it. Besides, I’m sure there will be a place where we can just sit and hang out together. I don’t really care about getting wild.”

“Uuuuuh… I don’t know. I heard they have a karaoke machine there. I might want to slam a few drinks down and get up on that platform and sing my heart out.” Sunset said with a playful nudge to his side as the bus finally came to a stop for where they were to get off. “I’m actually being serious though, I kinda want to do that.”

“Well if that’s what you want to do, we will do it.” He said as he gave her a kiss before following everyone else off. 

Once they exited the bus, they went down the street to the house in question, and made their way down a slight inclined sidewalk that led to the beach house. The house itself was fairly large, and it had to be for it being a frat house. It appeared to be a two story house, painted yellow with dark brown shingles, and white trim around the windows. The higher floor of the house seemed to be where the entry way would be as the lower floor would be closer to where you’d exit to go to the back yard. Complete with an upper balcony porch for the outside of the upper level of the house in the back. 

The scene outside had a few guys already drinking out in the front, and some of them were already doing weird dances due to earlier beverage consumption. 

Once they reached said house, they came up to a tall man dressed in a black suit and sunglasses standing at the door. The guy asked who they were, to which Sunset responded.

“We are the Canterlot U party. We might be last on the list as we were just invited last night.”

“Hmmm… yep. There you are. Go on in.” The man said, opening the door, gesturing for them to go in.

“Oh, and we have three stragglers from our group, three guys that will be here later.”

“Noted.” He said as he continued to hold the door for them. “Go on in and enjoy the party.”

Once inside they quickly made their way through the house and out onto the back patio that led outside where the life of the party was. There were all sorts of games, a hot tub, a stage, plenty of snack tables, drinks of all kinds, especially alcoholic, and lots of people who were already partying down. In fact, it was telling of what kind of night they were in for when a drunk dude in his underwear ran by and jumped into some nearby bushes, causing all the girls to blush at the sight.

“I want to go home now…” Fluttershy said quietly.

“And now, you know what these frat parties are about.” Said Rainbow, being one of the few to feel somewhat at home with the tone of the party. “Look at that guy go!”

“My, my… that was certainly something…” said Rarity, who appeared to be almost as perturbed at that initial display as Fluttershy was.

“Wow, these guys really know how to party!!!” Pinkie Pie said excitedly. “OM Goodness!!! Is that a fondue fountain?!? It is!!! Twilight! Twilight!” Pinkie lost herself in her excitement and didn’t realize how hard she’d started to pull on Twilight’s arm, giving her little time to process her surroundings.

“Okay, okay, let’s go…” Twilight said, giggling at Pinkie’s excitement and trying to ignore the slight discomfort of having Pinkie nearly pulling her arm off all the while trying to not lose her balance while at the same time trying to keep up with Pinkie.

Zephyr took it upon himself to make kissy faces at some of the girls in bikinis congregating nearby and in the hot tub, though none of them were giving him the time of day to his dismay.

“Alright Captain Man Bun, since we are stuck dealing with you, what would you like to do?” Dash said, rolling her eyes.

“Huh? Oh, I dunno. Never been to a frat party before. Don’t mind me, I’m just going to be mingling into the crowd. Time to see if any ladies want to ride the “Breezy Train” tonight…”

“Zephyr… ew!” Fluttershy exclaimed out of embarrassment, facepalming while her cheeks flushed red.

“Fine, do your own thing. I don’t need to be weighed down by your shenanigans anyway…” Dash said.

“You do know where to find me, Rainbows…” Zephyr said with a wink and a two finger peace sign salute as he walked off.

“Ignoring you! Ignoring you! Ignoring you!” Dash growled with her teeth gritted.

At least she’d still have Fluttershy- wait, where’d Fluttershy go? Rainbow thought to herself as neither of the siblings could be seen from her vantage point.

“Great… I’m going to be spending all night watching out for both of them… lovely…”

Some fireworks were shot from behind the stage, catching everyone’s attention. Everyone in attendance stopped and stared as some of the lights were dimmed and a spotlight was shone at the center of the stage. There were some colorful laser lights shining in the air before being pointed downward onto the stage.

Jock and Muscles walked out onto the stage with a large rectangular piece of drywall, with both of them holding it up vertically. The Frat guys, girls and other invited or otherwise uninvited guests alike began to chant the words: “Mu Pi! Mu Pi! Mu Pi! Mu Pi!”

“MU PI! MU PI! MU PI!”

“Ayayaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!” Screamed Kyle as he burst through the drywall, fist first, somersaulting before standing up on his feet proceeding to then slinging his open energy drink can back and forth, making the contents fly onto unsuspecting people in the audience. Those who were used to this opening display cheered while a few groans from others could be heard as they wiped the sugary drink off of their faces or wherever it landed. 

He then followed it up by chunking some unopened cans of the stuff in the crowd for people to catch it. One poor fool couldn’t quite catch it, and it hit him square in the forehead. But rather than writhe in agony on the ground, he popped right back up and let out a victory screech.

Jake Featherstone as well as several key members of the Mu Pi fraternity gathered onto the stage, standing next to Kyle once his distribution of free energy drinks had concluded.

“Something tells me that guy drinks a lot of those things…” Applejack muttered to Rarity, who nodded while slightly giggling. Most likely because of how corny that display was.

Rainbow halted her search for Fluttershy for a minute when she saw the display, and stood near Rarity and Applejack. Rainbow clapped her hands and whistled with a sense of fanfare. The aforementioned pair standing next to her both looked at her with bewildered expressions, wondering how she could possibly think that was cool. To each their own, Rarity thought to herself.

“Welcome friends and Mu Pi family to our annual Mu Pi Fraternity Back to Summer Bash!” Jake said, having been tossed the mic for the karaoke machine. “Here on Waytona Beach, we here at the Mu Pi Frat house have always prided ourselves in kicking off Summer Vacation with a bang, and this year is no exception. For me this is also a family affair, because the last two years each of my older brothers have taken their place as head Senior of the Mu Pi fraternity. From Drake, to Blake, and finally to me, Jake Featherstone.” He said as he slightly pushed his sunglasses down his face and flashed his white teeth, making some of the girls swoon out in the crowd. “And I wasn’t about to let my big brothers out do me. So this year we pulled out all of the stops! Since the inception of this fraternity in the year 1956, we MuPi’s have held our traditional Summer Bash as well as our Big Kahuna Volleyball competition. The latter of which, may I remind you, comes in five days!”

Cheers erupted from the crowd of people gathered all around. Flash and the girls dutifully applauded as well, so as not to seem rude.

“We have some guests of honor this year, all the way from Canterlot University. We will call you  up on stage for our peaceful welcoming ritual, later on. So while you're here, please accept our utmost humble hospitality, and have a good time!”

Hands were clapping for the honored guests, and most of the girls there blushed from the honor they received from the leader. However, one member of the Canterlot gang started to grow suspicious. Flash Sentry. He wasn’t sure why, but there was something that didn’t sit right with him about this whole thing.

“Before we commence with our partying, let’s give our guests the Mu Pi greeting: Bah weep Graaaaghnah weep nini bong!”

The rest of the Mu Pi’s and some of their guests all joined in while the Canterlot gang, sans Pinkie who thought the chant sounded fun and wanted to join in, stopped and looked around at everyone saying the greeting.

“Well that was just weird…” Rainbow said before shaking her head and going back to searching for Fluttershy. 

All the while, the party ramped back up again once the music on the boombox was turned back on and the next song started to play. Lights shone on the stage, people continued dancing, and many of the frat guys and their guests resumed their games.

“Party Rock is in the house tonight 
Everybody just have a good time…
And we gonna make you lose your mind 
Everybody just have a good time”





Meanwhile, back at the hotel, Dusk and Ray had probably waited fifteen to twenty minutes before Singer finally came down to the lobby inside the building where they were lounging around waiting for him. Ray appeared to be dozing off and Dusk was reading a magazine he found on the table in the lobby.

“Oh…” he said as Dusk and Ray caught his eye. “I didn’t expect any of you guys to be around.” This caught their attention and they both quickly rose to their feet upon hearing Singer talk to them.

“Twilight didn’t like the idea of you trying to find the rest of us by yourself, so she hoodwinked us into staying behind and waiting on you.” Ray said playfully, garnering a slight elbow to the arm from Dusk. “What? I was just kidding!”

Singer smiled at the mention of Twilight. He was also moved that Dusk and Ray had agreed to wait and go with him to the party, when they easily could have gone with the girls.

“Thanks, you guys. That means a lot.” Singer said with a smile.

“It’s no trouble, really.” Dusk chimed in. “She really was insistent on it.” Dusk said with a slight wink.

“That’s my Twi, always looking out for me. She’s just a sweetheart like that. Though, I think I could’ve been alright going on my own, I definitely appreciate you guys waiting up.”

“You compliment each other well. She’s lucky to have you.” 

“I’m lucky to have her with me for sure.” Singer smiled. “And you guys… You guys are just so cool, man. I knew I liked you guys for a reason.”

“Let’s not get too mushy, here.” chuckled Ray.

“Right. Right.” Singer said, taking a deep breath. “I just got done with a very interesting phone call, and I guess I’m still a little emotionally worked up.”

“Is everything alright?” Dusk asked, concerned that something might be wrong.

“Oh, yeah. Yeah. It was a good kind of conversation, don’t worry. Just some personal real life stuff that may or may not come into play later. But enough about that, what do you say we get going, eh?”

Dusk nodded in agreement. “Yes, I suppose you’re right. We don’t want to keep our friends waiting on us too long.” 

“Finally! Time to party!” Ray said. “I think Twi said she sent you the location.”

“Yeah, she did.” Singer said, pulling out his phone, and looking at the public transport app. “I think… yeah, there’s a bus that will be at the bus stop outside in five minutes that has a stop there.”

“Well I suppose it’s as good a time as any to take our leave. Let’s get this night over with. Once more into the breach!” Dusk said as he led the charge out to the bus stop.

“Yeah! Let’s do it, to it!” Singer said with a hint of excitement. He hadn’t really gotten to know Dusk, and to an even lesser extent Ray, very well outside of the holiday parties, Twilight’s birthday party several months ago, and as far as Dusk went, the double date he went on with himself, Twilight, Dusk and Rarity a couple of nights before. Now was his chance to do so. 

The three of them made their way out to the bus stop and patiently waited for their ride to arrive. Not wanting to spend the wait in awkward silence, Singer spoke up.

“So, uh. You guys doing alright today?” Singer mentally slapped himself. What a generic way to start a conversation. He quickly gathered himself, however and had zero time to fall back into it due to Dusk quickly answering his question.

“I think I can speak for both of us that we are doing quite well today, and you sir?” Dusk said, clearly not thinking anything about the bland question.

“I’m great. I mean, you can probably tell, but being able to come out here and hang out with everyone is something I’ve looked forward to for quite a while.”

“Ya know, on that subject, I feel like we don’t really know much about you, Sing. I can call you that, right?” Ray stepped in.

“Yeah, of course. And what do you want to know?”

“Well, I mean. You’re a musician, right? What kind of music do you like? And what do you generally go for when you perform?”

“That is an excellent question, actually. I really listen to most genres of music, so I have songs in almost every one that I like, some in all genres that I can’t stand, but when it comes to actually performing, well, I tend to go more towards the hits from the eighties for the most part. I’m a big classical music fan, (rock, country, etc.) and not even just that era. I’ll do pretty much whatever sounds cool when I perform. Some modern music is cool… some of it… and I like the nineties, two thousands music, and I’d even go back further than the eighties. In fact, Elvis is one of my favorite vocalists of all time.”

“You definitely put off Elvis fan vibes.” Dusk said. ”How do you feel about Elvis Impersonators?”

“Can’t stand them. Like come on, guys! Nobody can or ever will again be Elvis! Unless you’re playing as him in a movie that features him, just don’t. Save yourself the embarrassment. Some of those so-called impersonators can’t even get his mannerisms right. Disgraceful!”

“You’re definitely passionate about that, I see.” Ray said.

“Yeah, sorry. I didn’t mean to come off that strong.”

“Don’t worry about it, dude. It happens.”

“What about you guys? I mean, I’ve heard from Sunset that you guys are mad-skilled on Mario Kart, but like, what else do you like to do? Are you musically inclined like the girls?”

“Not very much.” Dusk responded. “I can halfway carry a tune in a bucket, but even that isn’t much to write home about.”

“Well let’s just say that I won’t be winning any awards or get any calls for my drumming skills any time soon. I looked into picking it up as a stress reliever of sorts, but at the time I literally had no room for a set and I’m pretty sure I couldn’t keep a beat very well.” Ray said. “Though that hasn’t stopped Pinkie from offering to teach me.”

“Hey, you’re probably better than me. I tried to learn to play actual instruments back in my younger years and I couldn’t keep up. So I decided to stick with doing the vocals.” Singer admitted. “Stick to what you know, am I right?

“Right! And speaking of, I’m striving to be a writer. I’m currently working on a book of my own, and hoping that my classes help me in perfecting my craft. You might be able to deduce that Creative Writing is my favorite class.”

“That definitely makes sense to me, from what Twilight’s told me about you. And speaking of classes, are your thoughts on the art class out of curiosity? You’re in Twilight’s class there, correct?”

“Correct. So is Dusk. I actually joined for kicks and giggles. Art is alright but the teacher is why I’m really there. It’s kinda funny having an actual madman for an art teacher. Art is more of Dusk’s field.”

“Mr Discord is a madman alright…” Singer said, rubbing his head as he remembered one time in the past that the madman in question dropped the ball end of his cane on his head, knocking him out for a while.

“I’m sorry, did you call him Mr Discord?” Asked Dusk. “His name is D Iscorde, to my knowledge.”

“That’s his real name, sure. But Discord is what he wants people to call him. I guess ‘fifty’ years ago, when he was in college, that’s what all his friends called him.” said Singer, shrugging.

“I mean, I’ve heard that people called him that, but I didn’t actually think he wanted to be called Discord.” Dusk said, scratching his head. “Perhaps that one instance when Miss Luna reprimanded me for doing so is because she wants us to address him professionally as we would any other professor.”

“Bo-ring!” Chimed Ray. “Sorry Dusk, but being professional is for the birds.”

“Totally!” Laughed Singer. “So… art is your thing, eh Dusky?”

“Correct. I like to paint, sketch, use pastels, among other things. But one of my personal favorite classes is History with Professor Sombra. He and I talk quite a bit outside of class, and he is a good listener. Very knowledgeable as well.”

“Yeah he is, as far as I’ve noticed. He can be hard to read at times though, at least for me.”

“So what exactly are you taking courses for exactly?” Ray asked out of curiosity.

“Well, I’m obviously in class for art, film study, and history, but the most interesting one I take is Graphic design. Would be nice to learn how to design whatever I might need to in terms of shirts, websites and other things I’ll need in my future.”

“Do you have any classes with Twilight?” Asked Dusk.

“That’s the sad part, no I don’t. But that’s okay, I still see her between almost every class and it’s not like we can’t hang out afterwards. I’d love to have at least one with her, but we’ve managed so far. I often times am more able to get both of us snacks and lunches due to me being closer to the food court almost all day.”

“I’m sure she definitely appreciates that.”

“She does. She’s one of the few people that’s  made me feel like I mattered to them for more than just a few minutes of the day.”

“How long have you two known each other?”

“Oh, gosh. It was Junior Year in High School. We transferred to the same High School about a month apart. We actually got assigned as science partners in class, and as it turned out we had a lot in common in terms of things that we enjoyed. She could have written me off like everyone else at school that day, but she didn’t. We’ve been close ever since.”

“I think we went to the same school.” Dusk said. 

“No way?”

“It’s true. Unfortunately, I didn’t talk to anyone and kept to myself for the remainder of my tenure there. For obvious reasons.”

“Dude…” Singer said with a hint of guilt, remembering Twilight had told him once before that Dusk too, had gone to Crystal Prep, but he didn’t know Dusk went to his high school. “I wish I’d known…”

“It’s alright, really.” Said Dusk. “It’s all in the past and I’m happier now than I’ve ever been, so it’s not a problem.”

“And he gets to put up with me again!” Threw in Ray in his tongue-in-cheek way.

Dusk only chuckled reminiscently in response to this and patted his best friend on the shoulder. Singer couldn’t help but smile at this as well.

“So, you didn’t have friends before you met Twilight?” Asked Ray.

“Not at school. I was homeschooled for a few years before I transferred back into public schools that year. So I made friends here and there, but coming back onto the public school scene, I had no idea how regular school culture worked, and I ended up making a fool of myself, thinking I was cooler than I actually was and I became something of an outcast for the first few weeks.”

“That’s awful, man. Sorry you went through that.”

“It definitely wasn’t fun, but I think if I hadn’t gone through it, I would have been an arrogant showboater, and I wouldn’t have been humbled like I was when I met Twilight and we might not have been friends. It sucked back then, but I’m glad that I had that reality check. In a way it helped me mature a lot.”

“Well that’s one way of looking at it, I suppose.” Dusk said.

“What about you guys? You seem like you’re pretty close. How long have you been friends?”

Dusk went to answer but Ray held his arm out, basically calling dibs on being the one to tell the story. Dusk relented and allowed Ray to proceed.

“Funny story, actually. I remember walking along through school one day, hating every second that I had to spend there. And one day I see this small group of thugs…”

“Ray, they weren’t thugs.” Dusk stepped in.

“Hey, who’s telling this story?” Ray cleared his throat when Dusk backed up once again. “This group of hoodlums… happy? No? Oh well. They were picking on poor Dusk, so I stepped in and made them stop.”

“Then we both proceeded to get on campus suspension for a week.”

“Stupid ‘Zero Tolerance’ policy. Crystal Prep was the worst. Didn’t matter if you were the bully or the one being bullied, all parties involved in a scuffle get punished.” Ray said, clenching his fists at the memory of it.

“That is messed up…” agreed Singer.

“Fortunately, the one enforcing that awful rule, Principal Cinch, has since been relieved of duty, and now Dean Cadence is in charge.” Noted Dusk.

“Oh, hey! That’s Twilight’s sister-in-law. She’s definitely nicer than that Principal Cinch. Twilight told me all about her. Glad to hear that she’s no longer around.” Singer said, noticing that the bus was getting closer and was about to make the turn towards the bus stop they were waiting at.

“Well, I suppose we’ve been delayed to the party long enough. Maybe it won’t be so bad.” Dusk said as he watched the bus move closer and closer to them.

It finally made a complete stop and the doors swung open by the driver. Dusk, Ray and Singer,  as well as a couple of elderly ladies carrying their little dogs who’d walked up while the guys were talking, all boarded the bus and prepared to make the short ride over to the frat party.

On the way there, the three guys continued to converse among themselves. The conversation had diverted from real life talk to geek culture talk when one of them briefly mentioned Star Wars. Their conversation touched on the prequel trilogy, “Rebels”, “The Bad Batch”, but most of all they mainly talked about “The Clone Wars”. Ray wasn’t as deep into the fandom as Dusk and Singer were, but he mentioned that “The Bad Batch” was a favorite of his. Right before the bus had made the stop that they were looking for, they’d moved into talking about their Mario Kart experiences, and which characters they liked to play, and some of their struggles with the higher skill set modes.

“I tell you, every time I take the lead and have that loud speaker item, I end up having to use it on a challenger for the lead and then I get blue shelled! Like every time!” Singer said as he led the trio out of the bus.

“Yeah, those higher CC classes make you have to really strategize your every move. And almost every time you’re wrong. Especially in the One Fifty and Two Hundred CCs.” Added Ray.

“I still haven’t finished the One Fifty CCs” Dusk added. “I dread to think what the Two Hundred is like.” 

“It will consume your soul, Dusk. It will consume your soul…” Ray said with playful ominousness.

The bus suddenly pulled away and the trio stood there at the bus stop and had gotten quiet. Unfortunately neither  Ray nor Dusk had thought to grab their phones before they left, so they were reliant on Singer’s phone. The screen showed that they were in the right place, but there was a problem. There were two large beach houses nearby and they both had massive parties going on.

“Oh…cheese…” Singer said as he looked back and forth to a big pink beach house on the left and a big yellow beach house on the right.

“It’s not that big of a conundrum, just look at the address again so we can deduce which house has the address we are looking for.” Dusk advised.

“Great idea I’ll just-…” as he scrolled back up to look for the specific address, the phone screen went black. “Come on! No!” His battery had died.

“Bummer…” remarked Ray. “What now?”

Singer looked helplessly at his dead phone, his face had gone from visibly flustered to morose within seconds.

“I don’t want to haphazardly go to a house and have it be the wrong one.” Dusk said. He too was lost for what to do in this situation. 

“Well we can’t just stay out here either.” Countered Ray.

“Yes, I know but-…” Dusk said before being cut off by his bemusement at what Singer began to do. “Uh, what are you doing?”

Singer placed his left hand over his eyes and held out his right arm and began to point at each house. “Eenie meenie miney moe…” Singer said as his right hand landed on the pink house. “Let’s try this one.”

“That’s what we are going off of?” Asked Ray.

“Got any better ideas?” Singer retorted.

“Pink house it is…”

Dusk sighed concedingly. He wasn’t a fan of this unorthodox way of doing things, however Singer had a point. They’d need to take a shot in the dark since they were this close and were unsure as to which of these neighboring beach houses was where they needed to be. It was a risk but a calculated one. It wasn’t like it was a life or death situation. His thoughts went to Rarity and how he hoped she wouldn’t be too mad at him for not going to this event with her. He was hopeful that she would understand and that she, as well as the others, were alright in their absence..





Standing next to Pinkie Pie while she helped herself at the fondue table wasn’t exactly what Twilight thought she’d be doing tonight, but to be fair, she wasn’t really sure what would be happening outside of goofy party shenanigans. However, doing what she was doing right that minute sounded way better than what some of the Mu Pi guys were doing. Some were upside down drinking who-knows-what out of tubes, there were a few guys off to the side who had bongs and the resulting smell emanating from said things was starting to make her stomach turn. Twi had never been around this type of environment before, and it was beginning to make her uncomfortable. She tensed up when she caught the eye of some guys playing beer pong, who caught her gaze and began cat-calling her.

This didn’t go unnoticed by Pinkie, who immediately took action to help. She hopped over to Twilight, took her by her hand, blew raspberries at the flirty drunk guys, and had her get up and follow her to one of the picnic tables set up a ways away from the commotion.

“Are you okay, Twilight?” Pinkie asked with concern once they had made it to their target spot, which at the moment was secluded enough.

“I’m… I’m fine. I just… I’m sorry, I don’t want to be a big baby about it, but this kind of partying is just making me feel a bit uncomfortable. I mean… the smells, the drinking, the guys in their undergarments, even more drinking. I’m not sure what exactly I expected, but this isn’t it. Don’t these people know what kind of effect that much alcohol will have on their bodies?!?”

Pinkie just stood there for a second, blinking and staring at her friend quizzically. 

“I mean… what else did you expect? It’s a college party. People our age usually get crazy at events like this.”

“I don’t know. I kinda figured these parties were fun for a reason, but I had no idea this was the entire definition of fun.”

“You really should get out more.”

“You do realize you’re talking to a girl who reads encyclopedias for fun, right?” Twilight said with a bit of sass.

“Touché…”

Twilight sighed and sat down at the picnic table. “I’m sorry Pinkie.”

“It’s okay Twilight. We can sit out here together. It’s more peaceful over here anyway.” She said, patting Twilight on her head.

“But… Pinkie, you’re missing out on everything.” Twi could feel a slight twinge of guilt building up inside of her, but Pinkie only smiled and shook her head.

“Oh Twilight. You’re so silly. I don’t care about all of that junk. I came to have a good time with my friends, and that means you.”Pinkie wrapped Twilight in a tight hug, which made her smile. “Since Singer’s not here yet, would you want to do a little dancing with me? I mean, the action might be yucky, but the music is hop hop hoppin!” Pinkie said as she bounced around, and to her relief, it was making Twilight laugh and loosen up a bit and a big smile adorned her face. 

“Come on, Twilight!” She said as she started to bust some moves.

“Alright, alright…” Twilight giggled as she got up to join in. 

“Wooo! Get up and move your feet to the beat!”

They continued on for a brief moment before Twilight began to eye some of the stuff Pinkie had grabbed from the dessert table for them.

“Great idea, Twilight!” Pinkie said, noticing her looking in that direction. “Can’t dance on an empty stomach!”

Twilight noticed that Pinkie had picked up some of her favorites, like strawberries, graham crackers (both dipped in chocolate), and even a few chocolate bar squares. “Wow, Pinkie. You’re amazing!”

“Aaaaw, thanks! I know my friends and what they like. Oh, I also snatched this from the punch table. Figured you might be thirsty.” Pinkie picked up a small cup from the refreshments table that had been pre-poured and ready to go. It looked innocent enough so she’d grabbed one for each of them.

“Oh, thank you.” Twilight said as she took a drink, downing the entire small glass in a couple of gulps. Her eyes immediately widened as the drink had a taste she’d never tasted before. “Wow… that’s a bit tart. Not the best punch I’ve ever had.”

It was Pinkie’s turn for her eyes to widen as she began to suspect as to why hers and Twilight’s drinks had that extra kick to it. Once she took a drink of hers, her suspicions were confirmed. She chuckled nervously, debating to herself whether or not to break the news to Twilight. Twilight’s track record of taking alarming news well wasn’t particularly great.

“You ready, Pinkie?” Twi said as she stood up and began stretching her arms to loosen up.

“Uh huh…” Pinkie said nervously, trying to think of what she should do.

The two girls started to resume dancing randomly together to the tune they could hear on the loudspeakers, a song called ‘Funky Town’. Twilight was busy doing the robot while Pinkie did a series of other impressive dance moves before she spun around a few times and started to moonwalk. 

While dancing, Pinkie couldn’t stop thinking about how she was going to break it to Twilight that she’d drank a spiked cup of punch. Pinkie could handle it, but Twilight was a bit of an unknown, and it worried her. She looked for something to give her a legitimate reason to go find some of the others. She couldn’t think of anything, so just just decided to wing it.

“Uh, Twilight. I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere!” Pinkie said as she sped off. 

“Uh, alright then.” Twilight said with a shrug. Seeing no reason to keep dancing without Pinkie, she pulled out her phone and sat down at the picnic table for a minute while she waited.

Nothing appeared to be off about her. She wasn’t even aware of what she’d just taken a drink of, but she could admit that her brain was starting to get a little bit foggy. “Huh…” she said to herself, as she placed her hand on her forehead. “I must not have gotten a good enough nap this afternoon…”

“Twilight?” She heard a voice say behind her, which spooked her at first, so she quickly turned around to see a face that was familiar to her but not to anyone else that was with her. And it was someone she’d rather not talk to. “Twilight Sparkle? That can’t be you, can it?”

“T-Timber Spruce?” She said, visibly flustered and surprised. “W-What are you doing here?”

Timber had tan skin, and a full head of curly green hair as well as green eyes, and his chin was a bit pointed. He wore a lifeguard t-shirt, beach themed shorts as well as sandals on his feet and on his head, he still wore that dark gray stocking cap on his head that he’d worn the last time she saw him.

“I thought that was you. Fancy meeting you here, huh?” He said sheepishly.

Twilight crossed her arms and stood up, a deadpan stare on her face when looking at him. “Fancy isn’t a word I’d use…” she said coldly. Memories of betrayal, hurt and embarrassment came rushing back to her forethought. This reunion was anything but pleasant. “How… how are you even here?”

“I uh… I kind of live here now.” informed Timber. 

“I thought you said you were moving across the country before you left…”

“I did, but I moved here about a year ago. I go to college here.”

“So you’re a part of the fraternity here?”

“Oh, no. The Mu Pis typically invite the lifeguards to their parties. Sometimes they like to haze rival college groups at their parties; masquerading it as a welcome party until they’ve gotten them. It’s a bit mean spirited but it’s all in good fun.”

“Mmm…” Twilight said, nodding her head. That little detail would have normally sent a lightbulb off in her mind that maybe she should warn her friends, however the awkwardness of seeing Timber again hindered any chance of that happening. Not to mention how foggy her mind was becoming due to the bad punch she’d drank.

A brief awkward silence filled the air. Twilight and Timber took turns alternating between looking at one another and shifting their gaze back towards the ground.

“So uh… how have you been?” Timber asked, holding out his hand as if to possibly exchange a handshake.

Twilight wasn’t having it, though. She crossed her arms again and shot a glare towards him. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Oh come on, Twilight. I said I was sorry about what I did. I didn’t realize you were still holding on to all of that.”

“Well, I wasn’t. Not until you showed back up.”

“Look, I know what I did was wrong, and you have every right to be angry with me. But I was just wondering if maybe we could smooth things over and mend fences.”

Twilight looked down at the ground and appeared to be considering what Timber said. But the hurt was still there. It didn’t matter that they’d both moved on or that Twilight was in a better relationship now, Twilight just wasn’t in the mood for this.

“I’m sorry Timber, but no. Every time I think about what you did, I just… You lied to me, and made me look like a fool. I just can’t forget about that.”

“That was quite a while ago, though.”

“It doesn’t matter. It still hurts.”

“I know…” he said, as he tried to reach out, but Twilight just batted his hand away.

“I can’t deal with this right now.”

“Oh…” Timber said, looking disappointed. “I can’t say that I blame you. Will you at least think about it?”

“I don’t know. I just want to forget about what happened. I’ve moved on from it, and maybe you should too.”

“Have you really moved on, though?” 

Twilight stood there in silence, not really remembering anything about what had happened recently, just remembering when she was betrayed by him. She’d tried to move on, but seeing him here and now just brought it all back up the surface again. She crossed her arms again and turned around in a huff.

“Well… if you change your mind, I’ll be around, here at the beach. If you ever want to let me make this right, you know where to find me.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” She said with a hint of irritation in her voice. “I’m really not in a good mood right now. So if you don’t mind...”

“Got it…” Timber said dejectedly. “For what it’s worth, it was great to see you again.”

Timber placed his hands in his pockets and walked away, leaving Twilight alone yet again. She sat back down on the table, gritted her teeth in frustration, placed her elbows on the table, and pulled on the crown of her head with her hands while letting out an irritated groan. This was definitely not what she’d needed right now. She was here on a nice getaway with her friends and… oh no! She thought, as her eyes widened as something important came to the forefront of her mind. 

Not only did she fail to mention that she had a boyfriend just now, but she also realized a much bigger error. She’d never told Singer about Timber before. Not for any other reason than for the simple matter that she didn’t feel like he needed to know about Timber since the two had never met. An oversight on her part, but her past experience with Timber wasn’t something she liked remembering. She laid her forearms down on the table and buried her face into her arms and she sat there alone, wishing that Singer would just appear in the knick of time like he usually seemed to be able to, and tell her everything was going to be alright, and try to make her laugh and everything would be better. But that didn’t appear to be happening for a bit, now. Great. Just great. What else could go wrong?

After a few minutes of looking, Rainbow had finally found Fluttershy at the refreshment table, trying out some of the cookies that they had. 

“Hey Fluttershy, what’s the big idea? I thought we were sticking together.”

“Sorry Rainbow Dash…” Fluttershy began. “I didn't realize you weren’t following me. I was getting a little bit hungry.”

“Eh, it’s fine.” Dash said as her stomach began to growl. “A snack does sound good.” She grabbed a paper plate from the table and began to sample some of the food items, such as carrot sticks, broccoli, cauliflower, celery and the various dipping sauces they had for them. She also grabbed a few pinwheel rolls and slider sandwiches.

Fluttershy giggled as Rainbow began to take down her food. “Goodness, Rainbow. You really were hungry.”

Rainbow chuckled a bit, slightly embarrassed by her own display. “Sorry about that, my lunch didn’t stick with me.” She graciously took a few napkins that Fluttershy offered her before turning to an approaching sound heading their way. It was Pinkie Pie. 

“Hey Dashie, Fluttershy.” Pinkie said, rubbing her right arm with her left hand nervously.

“Oh, hi Pinkie.” Said Fluttershy. “Um, where’s Twilight?”

“About that…” Pinkie said.

“Wait, what happened?” Rainbow inquired.

Pinkie took a deep breath and began to explain everything in her own rapidly excited mode. “TwilightDrankACupOfSpikedPunchOnlySheDoesn’tRealizeItYetBut…”

“Pinkie, can we get that at a slower pace please? That’s too much, even for me to understand all at once.”

Pinkie stopped to take a breath and then proceeded to tell Rainbow and Fluttershy what had happened, and that Twilight had unintentionally drank a spiked punch. Rainbow appeared to be annoyed by this while Fluttershy expressed concern.

“Oh my, we’d probably better go make sure she’s okay.” Suggested Fluttershy.

“Yeah for sure. I’d be willing to bet that Twi’s probably a bit of a lightweight, so she might not be right in the head the rest of the night.” Rainbow said.

“She’s over here, come on!” Pinkie said, leading Rainbow and Fluttershy back over to the picnic table where she’d left Twilight.

Meanwhile, Rarity and Applejack were standing near the stage, watching in laughter as Sunset and Flash were already cutting loose and having fun. Both of them had plastic cups with beer in them, and wasted no time getting onto the karaoke machine.

“War!”  Shouted Sunset as she held the microphone as the music played while they were looking at the screen.

“Hughh! Yeah!”  Flash shouted.

“What is it good for?”

“Absolutely nothing!”

“WAAAAR!”

“HUGHH!”

“What is it good for?”

“Absolutely nothing! AAAAAAAAAARGH!”


“Well they look like they’re enjoying themselves.” said Rarity as she giggled with Applejack. 

“All that caterwaulin’s gonna have every stray cat in town declarin’ war, though.” Applejack said with a chuckle. “Well while they’re doin’ that, why don’t we try somma that networkin’ buisness you were wantin’ ta do?”

“You’d want to help me?”

“Sure, ain’t nothin’ better ta do, and Ah found somma that apple ale Ah was lookin’ fer, so Ah’m happy fer now. B’sides, Ah know you’d be more comfortable had Dusk been here. But while Ah’m no Dusk, Ah think Ah got what it takes to help. And Ah’d darn tootin be happy ta help in anyway that Ah can.” AJ said, smiling to her friend while tipping her hat.

“Why thank you, Applejack.” Rarity said embracing Applejack with a hug of gratitude. “Well, I suppose we could start with that group of girls over there.”

Applejack looked at the group Rarity had been talking about, and noticed that Zephyr had been standing near them. “And perhaps rescue them from “The Breeze Master”.” AJ said, making air quotations, before she cracked a smile holding back laughter after which she and Rarity burst into laughter at how ridiculous that nickname sounded.

“Better hop aboard the ‘Breezy Train’!” Laughed Rarity.

“Hello ladies…” said a voice from behind them. They both turned to see that Jock had caught sight of them and decided to approach them.

“Howdy there.” Applejack said politely, but warily.

“Oh wow, you’re actually a hick. I thought that cowboy hat was a party costume.”

“No way. This here hat is a family heirloom.” AJ said, proudly tipping her hat.”

“And sweat a classy lady, the one standing next to you…” said Muscles as he chimed in, coming in behind Jock.

“Oh, well I do pride myself in my demeanor and my taste in fashion.” Rarity said, blushing at the compliment, but quickly remembering herself. “However, if it’s flirting that you’re interested in engaging in, I’m afraid I must inform you that I have a boyfriend.”

“That is unfortunate. How about you ladies ditch your lame-o boyfriends and come hook up with us.” Jock said, very forwardly flirtatious. 

“Aaaaaah… I must decline. I’m very much fond of my boyfriend, and my mind will not be changed on the matter.”

“Ah may not have me a boyfriend, but Ah don’t think Ah want someone who has ta build on his physique ta compensate fer somethin’ if ya know what Ah mean.”

“Dude, you gonna take that, Jock?” Asked Muscles.

Jock wasn’t perturbed by Applejack’s comments, but rather it made him double down on his arrogant behavior. “Come on, Cowgirl. You’re in the presence of Mu Pi Greatness.” 

“Moo Pie?” Laughed Applejack in a slightly less sober manner than she would normally. “Sounds like somethin’ I find out in mah pastures back home.”

“It’s a sacred name that will not be besmirched!” Jock said, this time with a defensive stance. “It goes back all the way to…“

“Yada yada yada ‘1956’, Ah know, yer leader already gave us that lecture…”

“Applejack, I don’t really think this is the time to…”

“Hey…” Muscles said, suddenly stopping Rarity in what she was saying. She turned and looked in his direction as he spoke in a suave and what was intended to be a seductive manner, attempting to ‘steal’ Rarity away from Jock. He repeatedly moved his eyebrows up and down as he smiled at her, and blew kissy faces at her, and flexed his muscles in front of her. As if she was supposed to be impressed by that.

“Oh please, I’ve met chihuahuas with more charm than that. Absolutely pathetic.”

These burns that Applejack and Rarity were inflicting on these scummy Mu Pi’s didn’t go unnoticed by Zephyr who, deciding that this was more interesting than uninterested college girls shooting glares at him, took this as an opportunity to chime in. 

“Oh yeah, you’re both stupid and ugly and your breath stinks! No wonder why these girls aren’t being moved by your charm. Or lack of, in your case.” Zephyr said, snapping his fingers.

“What did you say to me, man bun?!?” Jock said, focusing his wrath on Zephyr, now. “I’ll tear you apart, you overzealous Starbucks barista!”

Zephyr was unfazed, which further angered Jock. He took it even further and pulled out his phone and added that suggestion to his list of future jobs he could try. “Can’t believe I didn’t think of that one. I already suck at spelling peoples’ names.”

“You son of a-…” Jock said as it looked like he was going to lay into Zephyr, a very large hand cut Jock off as he was about to start shouting at Zephyr and the girls, by grabbing his mouth to keep him from speaking any further. The hand was that of Moose, Jake’s right hand man, who’d moved in on the commotion surprisingly unnoticed to this point. 

“That’s a big fella…” AJ said, almost sounding frightened at the sight of him.

“Jock, Jake says he needs you back in the weight room.” Moose said with a thundering voice. “And stop picking on the pretty ladies…”

“Fine…” Jock said, pushing Moose’s hand away from his face.

Moose just had to shift his gaze in Muscles’s direction to get him to skedaddle on out of there. Once Muscles had left, Moose nodded to Rarity and Applejack and smiled at Zephyr, patting him on the head as he walked off. The aftermath left Zephyr’s hair an even bigger mess than what it was.

“Aaaaaw come on! Do you know how hard it is to get this hair to stay like this?!? Ugh!”

“I don’t know about you, Applejack, but this whole situation is starting to worry me.”

“Naaaaaaah…” dismissed a slightly tipsy Applejack, who’d still been holding on to her apple ale bottle since she picked it up earlier. “C’mon. Les’ go find the others.”

“A surprisingly sensible suggestion, given your… eeeeh… condition.” Rarity said, smiling sheepishly before she started off to find her friends.

“Dern tootin!” AJ said, walking slowly after Rarity.”Ah sure hope everyone else is havin as much fun as we is…”

“….as we are.” Corrected Rarity.

“Potato, tomato Rarity.”

Rarity took a deep breath and kept at it, trying to ignore AJ’s attempts to get a rise out of her. “You’re not getting to me, Applejack…”

When Rainbow, Pinkie and Fluttershy reached Twilight, they found her still sitting at the picnic table face down on the surface of the table. 

“Uh, Twi?” Asked Rainbow, tapping Twilight on her shoulder. “You okay?”

“Fantastic!” Twilight said, suddenly shooting up and looking at her friends, her hair slightly frazzled, her eyes widened and screwy, even her glasses sat crookedly and a big goofy but fake smile adorned her face. Pinkie wasn’t sure if it was the bad punch or something else that was making her suddenly lose her mind, but she as well as Dash and Fluttershy instantly began to grow more concerned. “I’m just doomed. Doomed I tell you!” She reached up and fixed her crooked glasses, and let out a stressful laugh.

“You’re not doomed…” Pinkie said. “You just drank some bad punch. I’m uh… sorry about that, Twilight. That was my bad.”

“Well…” Twi said with a slight pause before starting to shout again. “Let’s all partake in some bad punch! Because we’re all doooooooooooooooooooooomed!!!”

“Aaaaaaw crap!” Rainbow said. “Somehow I knew that Twilight would be a lightweight.”

“My life is over!!! I’m doooooooomed! Haahahahahahaaahhahahaaaaa….” Twilight said, with a disturbing hysterical laugh before laying her head back down on the table.

“Oh my…” Fluttershy said. “I’d better stay with her until Singer comes.”

“Speaking of which, where are those slackers anyway?!?” Rainbow asked as she began to look hopefully towards anywhere the trio of guys could potentially make their entrance from. Nothing. “They sure are taking their sweet time.”





“Hey Sing…” Ray said, as they inched closer to the pink house. “Have you ever been to a frat party before?”

“Me? Nooooo! I normally avoid these types of soirées. Not really my style.” He said. “I basically came along because everyone else did.”

“Sound familiar?” Deadpanned Dusk to Ray, who coughed awkwardly. Dusk was getting less enthusiastic about this by the minute.

“Oh relax, Dusk. I’m sure we’re going to be fine.” Ray said, attempting to sound reassuring. “Once we find the girls, everything will be fine and dandy and we can all go laugh about it around the campfire.”

“Yeah, Dusk. Just do like me…” Singer said as he pulled out his shades and smoothly slid them onto his face. “And play it cool…”

The trio walked up to the front door pink house, where like the yellow house, there was a door attendant, but he didn’t have a list. He just let anyone in. “‘The Dude’ welcomes all guests!” He said as he waved them upon their entry. This definitely didn’t sound right. And if the plastic pink flamingos littering the front yard wasn’t an indication, then what they were about to walk into would very soon be.

“Thank you…” Dusk said unsurely, in spite of the attendant’s friendly demeanor. Something about this just didn’t look or feel right.

Singer and Ray looked less uneasy, just a bit bewildered by sight of the highly decorated house. Bowling trophies, model ships and boats (some in bottles),  taxidermy fish, and various works of art decorated the house.

“Guys…” Singer said, now beginning to get nervous, after taking in the scenery of the place. “I think we’re at the wrong house party…”

Dusk and Ray didn’t have to look around much more to see that Singer’s statement  was accurate. The people at this party were all at least a decade or two older than they were.

“Definitely not the right place.” Ray concurred.

“Aaaaaw that’s alright, maaaaaaan!” Said a low pitched and slow voice from off to the side. A taller man with long curly brown locks and a full beard, large black sunglasses that dwarfed Singer’s in size, wearing a tank top, a green Hawaiian style shirt, and orange swimming trunks as well as sandals, which were quite popular around this area. “‘The Dude’ is a friend to all. And all are welcome to party with him.” They assumed he was referring to himself in the third person.

“This dude is giving off some major Lewbowski vibes right now…” Singer said in a whisper to Ray, who only had a vague understanding as to what Singer had just referred to.

“Why not stick around for a bit, enjoy the party food, some entertainment, and some scotch before you go.”

“That’s very kind of you, but-“ Dusk said before getting cut off by Singer.

“Well it’d be rude not to.” Singer said without giving it a second thought. ‘The Dude’ led the guys outside to where his party was. “Just hold the scotch, I’m not really a drinker.”

“Right on, man!” The Dude said, patting Singer on the back. “I can respect that, bro.”

“Anyone called ‘The Dude’ must be on the level.” Singer said, briefly turning his head around and giving a reassuring wink to Ray and Dusk. Neither of whom would be helped by it.

“No…” Dusk said in a strained and exasperated  whisper before he facepalmed.

Ray had remembered what Twilight had said about Singer getting easily distracted, and he silently nodded to himself upon seeing it for himself. Normally, small detours like this wouldn’t bother him. But right now really wasn’t a good time for this. Fortunately for them ‘The Dude’ left the trio fairly quickly to go greet some of his other “friends” just arriving on the scene, leaving Singer, Ray and Dusk alone at the refreshments table.

“Singer, my dude…” Ray said, moving closer to him in order to speak more discreetly to him. “Remember, we have a very pressing matter to attend to elsewhere. Does a frat house party at a yellow beach house ring a bell?”

Singer had already began sampling some of the food that ‘The Dude’ was so kind to offer. “Right, right.” Singer said as he tried a few more of the horderves that was in front of him. “No sense leaving on an empty stomach, am I right?”

Both Ray and Dusk had to admit that the food did look inviting, and with their stomachs also rumbling from hunger, the invitation having been extended to them, and the food becoming more and more enticing, they both conceded.

“Fine…” Dusk said. “But we can’t stay for too much longer.”

“Right. Of course.” Singer said. “We just eat enough to satisfy our hunger and then we go…” he trailed off as he noticed a seemingly refreshing large bowl of Ice Cream Punch. A bit odd, as those were usually reserved for baby showers, but it didn’t bother or confound Singer in the slightest. He instantly took the plunge with the ladle and began to drink a cup full. 

Meanwhile, Dusk and Ray had found their own desirable snacks and put a few on their plates. Pinwheel rolls, carrot sticks, celery sticks, broccoli, cauliflower, and some small morsels of various meats with toothpicks sticking in them found their way on to each of the guys’ plates. They had to admit, it was all delicious.

Having had their hunger satisfied for now, Dusk had been the first to finish his drink and food and was thus the most eager to leave. Ray being not far behind him.

“Okay, as enjoyable as that was, we have overstayed our time here, and we really should go find Flash and the girls now.” Dusk said in an almost commanding tone.

“Hear that Singer?” Ray said, getting Singer’s attention.

“Yeah, I agree. Poor Twi’s not huge on loud parties, so we’d probably better step on it so I can go save her.” Singer said as he looked at his watch. “Crap! It’s starting to get late. They’re gonna kill us!”

“My point exactly.” Dusk said.

“Okay, yeah. Sorry, we will leave right… now…” Singer said as he began to get a little dizzy.

“Sing, you good?” Ray said. His answer quickly came as Singer began to take a tumble to the ground but Dusk and Ray’s quick action in grabbing him prevented that. 

“Singer…” Dusk said frantically. “Singer, are you alright?”

“I… uh… I think so. What happened?”

“Oh no…” The Dude said, returning to check on them. “Tell me he didn’t drink the punch…”

“He did.” Confirmed Dusk. “Why? What’s going on?”

“Oh man, that’s our ‘psychedelic trippy punch’…”

“I’m sorry, your what?” Asked Ray raising an eyebrow.

“One cup of that will take you far out, maaaaan.” The Dude said almost entranced at the idea of drinking it, but he quickly snapped out of it. “Yeah, I’m sorry. But your friend is in for a wild night. Especially if he drank more than one.”

“Singer…” Ray said with a hint of dread in his voice. “Exactly how many cups of that did you drink?”

“Uuuuuuuh… three?” He said. “Pretty sure it was three.”

“Aw dude. You’re totally drunk bro…” The Dude said as he shook his head.

Those words rang through Singer’s ears and fear and dread began to flood his mind. Meanwhile, Dusk saw Ray playfully reach over for a cup, presumably to get a drink for himself, but Dusk batted his hand away.

“Nuh uh uh!” Dusk said. “One tipsy friend is enough. I haven’t the strength nor energy to keep up with two.”

“I was just kidding…” Ray said. “Sort of…”

Suddenly Ray felt the panicking Singer grab him by the shoulders as he began to shake him. 

“Dude! I’ve never drank alcohol before! This is bad! I’m going to go… to go…” he paused for dramatic effect. “…feral! I can’t have this! I swore off alcoholic beverages! This can’t be happening to me!”

Ray’s face emoted the same level of freak out that Singer’s did, but because Singer was freaking out. Panic mode went into Ray and he had a knee jerk reaction to it that made him slap Singer across the face in full panic. Instant regret and shock adorned both of their faces.

“Dude, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…” Ray said with remorse in his features.

Singer showed no signs of hurt feelings, only shaking his head and screwing his eyes. “No… no… I think you should hit me again. I think it’s bringing me back!”

Ray shrugged and said “alright” as he lifted his hand. 

Dusk, being the only sensible mind at the moment held Ray’s hand up, preventing him from striking Singer again. “Ray, you’re not hitting Singer in the face again. Singer, you’re not going to go “feral”, but the sad reality of the situation is that you are intoxicated and will likely experience some weird things tonight. The best thing we can do right now is to approach this calmly. Alright?”

“Dusk is right, Singer.” Ray said. “Let’s just go find the others and go back to the hotel. I don’t see this ending well.”

Singer sniffed as if he was about to cry, but shook his head in agreement. He allowed Dusk and Ray to help him walk out of the area so they could regroup.

The long walk out of The Dude’s house commenced. Dusk and Ray had to periodically help hold Singer up as the spiked punch was quickly starting to take a toll on him.

They started out the door and they could swear they heard some of the other people at that party begin to boo them for leaving so early. But they didn’t care.

“Let’s just keep going, Singer. We’re almost there.” Ray said, coaching Singer at last, out the door of the house.

“Okay…” Singer said, moping along as he followed them. “Sorry guys, this is all my fault.”

“Don’t beat yourself up too bad.” Ray said. “The important thing is that we now know for sure where to find the others.”

“Shouldn’t we find somewhere for him to sit? I can’t imagine that this ordeal is going to allow him to walk straight.” Dusk said, considering this important detail as they had finally made their way out of the house. They tried not to look back, but behind the departing trio stood ‘The Dude’ waving to see them off.

“Hmmm…” Ray pondered as he helped Singer walk straight. Ray saw an opportunity to take a quick break and sat Singer down on a vacant lawn chair at the edge of ‘The Dude’s’ lawn. “This would be much easier if we had a working phone. We could just call Singer’s mom and have her pick him up.”

“That might be a blessing in disguise. I’d hate to have to answer potential questions that Belle would have in regards to her son’s drunken state.”

“Right… yeah that’s definitely a problem. We could just find him a spot to sleep it off on the frat guys’ couch. I’m sure it wouldn’t be too much trouble until we’re able to find the girls.”

As Dusk and Ray continued to talk amongst themselves, Singer’s mind continued to become foggier and foggier. It wasn’t long before his attention span had gone away completely. What his friends had been talking about was beginning to get tuned out by the sudden loudness of the music coming from the Mu Pi’s party. The party of which had a trail of bubbles coming from it. While their backs were turned, Singer quietly stood up to follow the bubbles, leaving Dusk and Ray behind.

“I don’t know what the solution is, but we have to keep an eye on…” Dusk said as he and Ray both turned to Singer, only to find that Singer was no longer sitting there. Somehow, in their discussion, he’d given them the slip and they hadn’t a clue where he went off to.

“We literally just turned our backs for one minute… HOW?!?” Ray shouted in disbelief.

“This night just keeps getting better and better…” deadpanned Dusk.

To be continued…