The Adventures of the Elementals

by AutoKnight01

A Night of Firsts (Part 3)

I only own my OC's and the plot. Enjoy!

Things in Ponyville weren't going exactly all that swimmingly. In Canterlot, however, it was the total opposite. The sun had just set over the western horizon and the stars were just beginning to show with the light dimming in the sky. Over in the Rose Petal cafe, Cryo and Octavia were having a ball. The small stage on the ground floor now had a small band of instruments playing together. One acoustic guitarist, a soft drummer, a saxophone playing unicorn, and a bass player. On the dance floor, a few couples were swaying to the melody the combined instruments created.

Cryo, being a natural meat eater like the rest of his Alamantian siblings, was a bit disappointed to find that they didn't serve anything meat related in the restaurant. But he figured it was probably for the best. He didn't want to scare this girl off by digging in to a pile of dead and cooked flesh. So he decided on a meal that seemed spectacular and tasted just the same. A spaghetti squash garnished with garlic. Octavia thought he made a good choice saying she had had it before and thought it was delicious. She ordered sweet potato and peanut soup. When their food came, Cryo was surprised to see Octavia could hold a spoon in her hoof with ease. When he asked about, she answered it was because of her cello playing ability. It took her years to master holding up her cello bow and thus doing so, she found holding other things a single hoof to be easy.

As they ate, the two conversed about various topics getting to know each other better. Cryo learned Octavia graduated at the top of her class at the Canterlot Musical Academy a year ago. She's a maestro behind her cello and hops to one day be a part of the royal symphony. Octavia was actually quite surprised to know the general background of Cryo's home life. Born in a small town in the Frost Tribe called Sunofureku. It translates to "snowflake" in the Equestrian language. A small village as the name would suggest. He grew up in poverty. The lowest class ever thought possible in Alamante. He and his father had to work overtime day and night to make sure he and his family stayed fed. Then his father went off to fight in the war and died a year later. So all the work went to him. He barely had time to just do the things he loved. It killed him to leave but his mother told him to.

Soon after Octavia said she was sorry for what happened to Cryo's father, the two began to smile and laugh again. Their meals were thoroughly enjoyed with each bite and every word said to each other either informative or something to laugh at as a first date should be.

"How's your food?" Octavia asked.

"Oh it's delicious." Cryo replied. "Here you wanna try?"

A bit of his squash was ripped off when it became enveloped in a cyan coat of light. It floated close to Octavia and shed grabbed it with her fork to put it in her mouth. Her eyes widened a bit taken back by the taste.

"Oh my." She smiled. "That is REALLY good."

"I know right? How is yours?"

"Simply delectable." She answered as she stirred the contents of her bowl with her spoon a bit. "But I don't care about the food really. I just love being here and sitting at this specific spot."

That confused the frosty pony as he looked down at the table. Almost as if by reflex, he questioned the nature of it.

"So let me ask you this then. Out of all the tables here, what makes this one so special?"

Octavia smiled a tad and told her date the story behind the table.

"The first time I came here was when I was a little filly. My father had taken me and my mother here for my birthday and we sat at this very table. Before our food came I was already entranced by the sheer beauty of this place. But then I noticed something else. The music. This spot right here is the acoustic sweetspot of the Rose Petal. If you stay silent, you'll be able to hear every single instrument being played from a distance and think it's right in front of you. Go ahead."

The bright white unicorn began to breathe a lot softer as he followed Octavia's guidance. His eyes were closed and his ears were open to the sound and it flowed into them. He could hear the mixing of every instrument being played give off perfect notes of pitch and sound. The melody was entrancing. He almost felt like getting up right there and dancing around. He controlled himself though and opened up his eyes again to see Octavia smiling at him.

"That's amazing."

"Yes. It really is. It's a marvel of architecture." Octavia commented on the building.

"Agreed with ya there. I feel like I could get up and start dancing right now."

That got Octavia interested.

"You dance?"

The stallion smirked at his date.

"In various styles. Some would say I'm kinda good."

"Well you'll have to show me sometime tonight. There's a perfectly good dance floor right down there."

The pair of cyan eyes glanced down at the floor where the few couples were dancing slowly with their partners. He chuckled.

"Promise."

The two chuckled then went back to eating. As he glanced over to his date every minute or so, he always saw her smiling at him. There was no way he thought he could screw this up. And he was doing a very good job. He was charming, smooth, said the right things, made her smile, and he was a perfect gentlecolt throughout the entire date.

Suddenly he felt something jab at his side. He didn't know what it was, only that it came from inside his tuxedo's inside pocket. Octavia was looking away at the time so he peeked inside his jacked and pulled out the mystery item. It was a small box wrapped in electric purple paper an had a small black ribbon. Seeing it made him gasp in horror. It was his birthday gift to Gem. He thought he left it on the table in his room at Sugarcube Corner. But apparently his mind was mistaken and he had it stashed in his pocket the whole time.

Seeing the box now in his pocket, Cryo sighed and rubbed his head, which his date saw.

"Is there something troubling you?" Octavia asked easily able to tell by the look on his face that there was.

"Well...yeah. Kind of." he answered.

"What is it?"

This was one subject that Cryo didn't want to come up in fear of dampening the mood.

"It's...it's nothing. Just forget about it."

"No no. It isn't healthy to keep things bottles up. Now go on. What's wrong?"

He sighed. It was unavoidable now that she was insisting. He took a deep breath and told her the honest truth.

"Okay here it is. Today is my little sister's birthday and I chose to come here instead of going to her party."

This was new information for Octavia. All throughout the date Cryo forgot to mention the ponies he considered to be his family members.

"You have a sister?"

NOW he remembered.

"Yeah. Her name is Gem. She's from the Eneoji Tribe."

"The tribe of plasma? But how can she be your sister then?"

"Well, she's not related to me by blood. None of my siblings are."

"None of? How many do you have?"

"Five. Two brothers, three sisters. We all come from one of the six different tribes of Alamante. Today is my youngest sibling, Gem's, birthday."

Octavia took a few moments to let all the information process into her mind.

"And what made you decided to come here?" she asked.

"Well....I don't know.....she said it was alright...."

He began to stutter just shooting out random syllables from his mouth. Then he looked back down in his pocket to view the shining purple box. The light that shone on it made it resemble the element his younger sister controlled. He knew just by the look on her face that she wanted him to be there at the party. He kept looking back and forth between it and Octavia trying so desperately to think of something to say. But he couldn't.

"Oh....I am so sorry."

While that was going on in Canterlot, the group over in Ponyville had their own problem to deal with. The problem being finding Gem, herself. After the walking on cloud spell was successfully cast on the other earth ponies and unicorns, they all walked into Rainbow Dash's home. Those who hadn't been in it before took a small glance around before Rainbow led them all down through the hall of the house and stopped in front of the room that Gem had taken up as her own.

"The ground's all cushy." Terra bounced up and down a few times to let her hooves feel the clouds mush beneath them. "It's.......weird."

"Not now, Terra. We're here for a reason." Twilight reminded the mare of earth.

Twilight decided to approach first. As she got nearer to the door, she began to hear a sound coming from the other side of it. When she pressed her ear up to said door, she was able to decipher what it was. The sound was a girl sobbing. And since there was nopony else around, it had to be her.

“Gem?”

There came no answer. After ten more seconds, Cadence gave it a shot.

"Gem....sweetie, are you in there?"

Finally, her cracked voice sounded.

“Go..*sniff*..go away, guys. Just leave me alone.”

“Gem, please come out.” Twilight asked almost as if she were begging. “We’re sorry, okay? We had no idea what we were putting you through.”

"You think saying sorry is enough?" Gem's voice began to raise. "Birthdays are something to be celebrated, something special, I saw none of what you told me to be true today. It was all just a lie wasn't it?"

"No! Gem, none of it was a lie!" Applejack shouted. "We were really set on making this a day you remember for the rest of yer life!"

"Oh I'll remember it alright. Like I remember it back home in my tribe!"

That was a big blow to them. They knew Gem had a rough past in Alamante. Hearing that they made her feel worse than she did back home just about killed them.

"Gem...we know about your past. Pyro and the others told us." Cadence spoke again. "It was awful what you had to go through growing up. But we would never do anything intentionally to make you remember any of it. We wanted today to be a happy day for you."

"Well guess what? You FAILED! MISERABLY!" she shouted. "Every single one of you failed! Twilight wouldn't stop thinking about her jackass brother, Cadence wouldn't stop bitching about him, Pyro was too busy comforting her, should I go on? Okay lets! Applejack got into a fight with a drunk mare and that went nowhere, Agua was too busy hitting on girls to care about anything else, but then again he's always an ass so he doesn't surprise me."

It was a rare occurrence, but Agua actually hung his head down in shame for being pointed out on his fault. Gem had a reason to rant on everypony outside that door. She went through all of them and their reasons then there were only two more.

"And then there was Rainbow Dash. She said she would listen but then a Wonderbolt walks through the door. She started drooling like a dog and following her around like one too. I wanted so badly to just blast her ass through the wall! Element of loyalty my flank!"

Rainbow Dash felt like she was being stabbed with a thousand knives at once as soon as she heard those words. The truth really was harsh this time. She had gone against her very element at a time when her friend very much needed her, and she did so for an effort that turned out to be in vain.

"And then there's Cryo...."

This was where all of their confusion reached a high level. She was the one who sanctioned the date so what did she have to complain about?

"But....you told him to go on the date. You said it was okay." Rarity spoke through the door.

"I lied, alright?! Of course I wanted him to be at the party! But I couldn't say that! I couldn't be selfish like that! It was his very first date! How could I be cruel and deny him that?!"

That only made her cry even harder.

"Gem....do you really think Cryo wouldn't listen to you if you said it bothered you?" Terra asked. "You know Cryo just as well as I do. He ALWAYS puts others thoughts before his own."

"Well....."

The purple unicorn didn't know how to respond to that. If anything it made her feel a tad worse for thinking so incorrectly about her brother.

"I don't know.....it was my own fault I guess." She muttered. "But whatever. I hope he has fun."

"Gem, ees zere anything else bothering you? Please just come out and talk to our faces." Typhoon begged.

"I can't. I can't come out." she sobbed in response. "This day is already too screwed up as it is. If I come out it will only get worse. Please just go."

"Stop thinking that way." Applejack said. "It was our fault. We shoulda spent time with you at that party."

"No....I shouldn't have thrown it in the first place." Pinkie let her own head hang down now. "She was right. I should have just listened to her."

"We told you. Your heart was in the right place and she DID like it. It just didn't go as planned." Terra assured Pinkie.

It was beginning to seem hopeless. Every argument they had to try and make her feel better only ended up making her feel worse and worse.

"Geez and I thought Rarity was a drama queen." Spike said a bit too loudly.

His volume ended up earning him a strike to the back of the head courtesy of Agua.

"Ow! What was that for?!" Spike shouted at the blue stallion.

"We're trying to make her feel better so she'll come out. Not insult her you idiot!" he shouted back at the dragon.

"Hey hey hey." Twilight stuck her hoof in Agua's face. "You do NOT hit the dragon or call the dragon an idiot! If anything I'M the only one here allowed to do that!"

"Yeah! Wait wha?" Spike looked at his mother figure with confusion.

"Enough of this." Pyro hardly had to raise his voice in order to make them stop. He then turned to the door. "What do we do now?" he asked anypony.

"Oh the poor thing. I feel just awful." Fluttershy let her head hang. "I guess I shouldn't have freaked out as much."

"I feel awful." That was the line of the day so far. Everypony felt like all of their efforts were to be in vain. Rainbow Dash wasn't about to walk out of there leaving her partner distraught. She walked up to the door and began to speak.

"Gem, you don't have to talk alright? Just listen. You of all ponies know that I've made TONS of mistakes. I've told you about every single one of them. Well today, I made the biggest mistake I've probably ever made in my entire life. I was disloyal. I betrayed the element that I'm supposed to represent. When I saw Spitfire come to the party, I bailed on you to try and hang out with her. Well it turns out that didn't go so well because she was too busy having a chat about stupid dresses with Rarity. Then I did something even stupider. I forgot about you until I saw you leave the party in tears. When I saw you...I just broke, Gem. I wanted to run after you screaming and begging you to forgive me. All I want, what I REALLY want more than to be a Wonderbolt right now, is to see you happy again. Especially today. You're probably the...no. You ARE the only pony who is cooler than me. And today everypony should know it. Please, Gem. I swear my loyalty to you will be the strongest ever known in Equestria. Just....please. Come out."

That was all she had to say. The multi colored pegasus stood still and silent waiting to hear of there would be a noise coming from the other side of the door. Seconds passed until two full minutes went by. Not a single sound was heard and all of them turned to leave.

"Well...we tried." Agua muttered. "What now?"

"Now.....we leave I guess." Spike replied. "I don't think there's much else we can do at this point."

He was right. They tried all they could to make her come out. One by one they all turned to leave Rainbow's house while she herself said one more thing to the door.

"I....I really wanted to make this place your home. I just want you to know that."

Still sad but not sure what else to do, Rainbow Dash turned to follow her friends out of the house to leave Gem alone.

"Home?"

As soon as her voice traveled into everyone's eardrums, they ceased movement forward immediately and turned around to see her peaking her head out the door.

"Like...a REAL home?"

Rainbow smiled sincerely.

"Of course. You live here now. I mean if it's cool with you, this could be your new home."

Home. Something Gem never really felt she had her entire life even back in Alamante. She never felt welcome anywhere so she never considered anyplace to be a real place to call it before. That to her was one of the greatest gifts she had ever gotten. A place to call a true home. It just took her a while to realize it.

"Well....I guess...I could give you guys another shot."

Smiles began to break out among the group as Gem finally let her entire body come out of the doorway. Once the door behind her was shut, she found herself in a tight hug courtesy of her partner.

She soon found herself surrounded once again by her friends and adoptive siblings as they all silently enjoyed the sight of seeing Gem hugging Rainbow Dash back. Right after Rainbow was finished hugging her, Gem was immediately hugged again by Terra who was sniffling and succeeding in keeping tears back.

"I'm sorry I called you a brat." She instantly apologized.

"It's okay, Terra. I forgive you"

Her conscience cleared, Terra backed off and allowed everypony else to get closer.

"So you ready to get back to yer party now?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah. I think I am."

Nodding, all of them headed for the door.

"But first, tell me this."

Once again, they all stopped in their tracks and turned around to hear Gem speak.

"Tell me why. Why do Equestrian's celebrate each other's birthdays? I just want to know why."

Twilight decided to answer that one as she looked the younger unicorn in the eye.

"In all honesty, Gem, I don't really know exactly why they are celebrated to begin with. But I formulated my own opinion as the years went by. I see birthday celebrations...as a sign of friendship. One of the biggest signs I've ever seen. It's when one day comes around every year, and everypony close to you makes sure they do everything they can to make you feel like the most special and important pony in the world, just for that day. We just...forgot about that."

"There were so many things happening at once and we let it all jus get in our way of doing what we should have done. Put aside our problems and just spent some time with you." Rarity added.

"Well let's just make sure to get take two right. Okay?" Gem asked.

Every single one of them nodded in response.

"We promise." Pinkie Pie smiled. "Now let's go PARTY!"

That was the intended action for all of them now. They just wanted to go back to the bakery, and have fun with the birthday girl and the other guests there. However when they got there, they found Sugarcube Corner to be void of ponies.

"They all LEFT?!" she cried. "Why?! Why would they leave?!"

"Well they saw the guest of honor leave and then a large group of other ponies leave not long after. My guess is they were just following our lead thinking the party was over." Spike explained.

The dragon's words had logic. But Pinkie wouldn't have it.

"I'm gonna go get everypony back here!"

"No."

That one word is what made Pinkie Pie stop advancing to the door. Usually it wouldn't have been enough to stop her, but seeing as how it was coming from Gem, it made her halt.

"But Gem..."

"Pinkie, it's okay. Really it is. You guys have gone so far out of your way to make this day so great for me. I don't need a big crowd so long as I have all of you."

All of their hearts began to warm up hearing that. Even with an empty party room Gem was happy. Now that she had her family and friends with her she didn't care who else was there.

"Well....what do we do now?" Agua wondered.

"Let's see, there's a birthday cake we have to start eating, tons of presents to open up, lots of music to play and dance to, games to play, what do you guys wanna do first?" Pinkie bounced around as she asked the question.

There were indeed a lot of options for Gem to choose from. But she didn't want to do any of those.

"Can...can I just talk for a second?"

"Of course, honey." Cadence replied.

Gem nodded then stood in front of them to speak.

"I'm sorry I ran out of the party. But I think I know why I did. Not because Terra yelled at me. Rather I guess I was just a little freaked out by all of this. I've never had something this good happen to me in my entire life. All this work put together and all those presents bought, just for me. But it scared me because.....we're in the middle of big fight you guys. With a psycho villain who wants to kill us. I just....I love you guys so much for doing this. You guys are the first real family I've ever had. This party made me realize just how important you are to me. All of you. So....I guess what I'm trying to say here is, what I SHOULD'VE said back when this party first got planned.....thank you."

She then looked over to the pink mare who came up with the idea of the party.

"Especially you, Pinkie."

Pinkie Pie bounced right over and gave her a bone crushing hug. Literally. Pinkie's hug was very tight and a few pops were heard coming from Gem's back and her face went into an expression that showed pain.

"Oh sweet Cybelle! Getheroffgetheroffgetheroff!"

Rarity went over and grabbed Gem while Typhoon got hold of Pinkie.

"Pinkie, hon, you are sort of crushing her from ze inside." Typhoon grabbed Pinkie's hooves and started to pry her loose while Rarity pulled on Gem.

Once she was free, Gem took in a deep breath and violently jerked her body up. That made a few bones in her back crack back into place.

"Oh no. I missed it already?"

That was a voice none of them were expecting to hear that night. But they were correct in guessing who it was. They turned and saw Cryo walking through the door still wearing the clothes from his date.

"Cryo? What are you doing here?" Twilight wondered. "We weren't expecting to see you back so soon."

"Yeah what happened to your date?" Terra added.

Cryo strangely smiled.

"I uh...I walked out. I told Octavia I was sorry but I had to be here tonight. So I left my share of the check and left."

None of them were expecting him to be there. But more than ever they never expected him to just walk out on a pony he was on a date with.

"Yeah so chances are there won't be a future with me and her." the stallion of ice added.

"But Cryo, it was your very first date." Gem told him.

That made him smile directly at Gem.

"And this is YOUR very first birthday party. And I wouldn't miss it for a date with the most beautiful mare in the world. You're my sister and today is about you. Not me or anypony else."

Gem was about to start crying again. Then Cryo's horn was covered in a cyan aura and a small wrapped box floated out of his pocket and in front of Gem's face. The glow surrounding the box changed from cyan to electric purple as Gem took hold of it and began to unwrap it. After she got through the paper, she opened the box and saw what was inside. It was a pair of light blue hoop earrings to which Gem gasped at.

"Cryo...these are just like the ones I used to wear...back home." The tears were starting to break the dams of her eyes.

A hearty laugh escaped his mouth and the earrings floated out of the box and up to the young unicorn's ears. The holes from her previous ones from years ago were still there. So it was easy for Cryo to gently insert them into her ears. Soon enough, the magical grip was released and the hoops dangled from her ears. Rarity walked up so she could get a closer look.

"Oh my stars, Gem. Those are beautiful!"

The newly christened fourteen year old gently tapped the right side earring with her hoof and giggled. She realized what Twilight said was true. Gem truly felt like she was the most special girl in the world.

"Just do me a small favor." Cryo started. "The next time I do something that bothers you or makes you upset, just come out and tell me. Okay? I'm your brother. I'll listen to you."

Gem bit her bottom lip as she began to feel guilty for ever thinking the tiniest bit less of her brother. Especially Cryo. Terra was right. He was always the most attentive of the three males of the group and the one who loves to make joy out of anything he does. Why wouldn't he be willing to listen to his sister talk about what's troubling her. She couldn't think of an answer to it. She was only able to get out one word.

"Okay." Then she turned around and looked at Rainbow. "I've never felt more special in my whole life."

The cyan pegasus chuckled.

“Happy birthday, Gem.”

That was it. She was so happy she couldn’t hold it in anymore. Gem threw herself on Rainbow Dash and hugged her tighter than anything the pegasus ever felt before. One second later, Gem was bawling again.

"Oh come on, Gem. Please don't start crying again." Rainbow pleaded not wanting to get her shoulder soaked.

Gem stopped sobbing long enough to speak clearly.

"Rainbow, these are happy tears. I couldn't stop them even if I wanted to. So just let them fall alright?"

Her weeping of euphoria continued as Rainbow smiled and gently returned the hug. Soon, she found Cryo and Pinkie wrapping their arms around the two pegasi. Then Typhoon and Fluttershy, followed by Applejack and Terra, then Twilight, Pyro, Spike, and Cadence. Rarity had to drag Agua over to be a part of it, but he was on the outer rim of the group hug. Grumbling and looking away, he put up his arms and let them rest on the other ponies making it look like he was at least trying to attempt it.

"Well I must say, this is quite a sight to walk into."

That voice was brand new to all of them except for three. Cryo gasped upon hearing it and swiftly turned around to the door. Just walking through it was the gray mare he was not too long ago sharing dinner with.

Quickly as they could, the group all did their best to get back on their hooves so the stallion of ice could speak. Gem wiped her eyes dry as soon as she was free from the bottom of the pile.

"Octavia? What are...wait. How did you get here so fast?" Cryo wondered.

"I have a friend studying teleportation in Celestia's school. After you left I went to him and asked him to send me here."

She approached him making herself no less than a body's length away from him.

"You see, I have had a lot of dates in my past. And nopony has ever run out on me before in the middle of dinner."

The frosty unicorn sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Look, I'm sorry I left like that. But this is where I needed to be tonight."

Octavia held a hoof up to his face to stop him from going on. Then she took her turn to speak.

"It's alright, Cryo. I understand. Really I do. I don't have any brothers or sisters myself but if I did I would have probably done the same thing."

The cellist moved past Cryo then walked to Gem.

"Your brother is a very caring stallion. Happy birthday, Miss Gem."

A wide smile from ear to ear came across the birthday girl's face.

"I like her." She said to Cryo.

Cryo chuckled as his date looked back at him.

"Besides. It was only the first date, right?" she said.

"Well yeah I suppose you...wait." It took a few seconds for the words to register into his brain but soon enough he got it. "FIRST date?"

Octavia then blushed as the next round of words came from her mouth.

"Well, we didn't really have a chance to talk that much. But from what I did learn of you tonight, Cryo, is that you are one of the most caring stallions I have ever met. And I would very much like to get to know you a lot better."

It felt like all the pieces of one big jigsaw puzzle were just walling into place in perfect sync for Cryo and Gem.

"And let's not forget. You owe me a dance, mister." the grey mare laughed.

Cryo didn't know it at the time, but he was at the moment smiling bigger than he had ever smiled before in his life. It made Octavia giggle seeing him in such glee.

"Am I smiling big right now?" Cryo asked through his teeth.

"Yes. Yes you are." Octavia answered still giggling.

"Does it look creepy?" He was being serious

"Actually yes it does. Dial it back a bit."

He followed her instructions exactly.

"There. That's good." Octavia then looked around. "Well...this isn't much of a party anymore is it?"

"Yeah. What are we supposed to do now?" Agua wondered.

Gem looked at Octavia and Cryo with a smirk.

"Well....you two can still have that dance."

The two of them looked at her not really getting her words.

"Gem, are you sure?" Cryo asked.

"Of course I'm sure. I told you to go on the date in the first place. It wouldn't be right if you don't finish it." The pony of plasma reasoned.

"But there's not even any music playing." Octavia observed.

"Oh I can fix that." Cryo looked over to his red brother. "Pyro....would you mind?"

Only Pyro knew what Cryo was talking about. The red stallion grumbled a bit, then smiled at his adoptive brother.

"For you, anything."

Pyro walked away from the rest of the group and over to a crate Pinkie had pulled out. It was Cryo's record stash. The red stallion browsed through each record until he found one that would seem to fit the mood Cryo and Octavia would want for a first dance.

"What's he doing?" Twilight had no idea what her partner was up to.

"Watch and listen to zis." Typhoon replied.

The music kicked on and blasted through the speaker of the record player. The speakers that Vinyl Scratch had left behind amplified the sound into a level of sound that swirled around them. Cryo immediately let it fill him as his body prepared to make its moves.

A mixture of jazz instruments were heard as Pyro was seen standing bipedal near a microphone on a stand. Cryo stood on his hind legs as well and offered Octavia a hoof. Slowly she took it and the white unicorn led her away and into the more open center of the room as Pyro began to sing.

*BGM: Sway; By Michael Buble*

When marimba rhythms start to play
Dance with me, make me sway
Like a lazy ocean hugs the shore
Hold me close, sway me more

Pyro's singing voice was a new experience for Twilight and the other elementals of harmony. The stallion of flames himself never thought that much of it. But to the others it was a shame he didn't. His singing was spectacular.

Right before the second verse started up, Octavia was pulled forward and upwards towards Cryo. His fee hoof wrapped around her waist and Octavia's did the same with his. Then their four hind legs began to move together.

Like a flower bending in the breeze
Bend with me, sway with ease
When we dance you have a way with me
Stay with me, sway with me

Octavia was surprised by Cryo's talent. She didn't know that many ponies that know how to dance in the bipedal fashion let alone let along in the expert style Cryo was utilizing.

Other dancers may be on the floor
Dear, but my eyes will see only you
Only you have that magic technique
When we sway I go weak

Pinkie Pie made her way over to the light switches. After a few flicks, the lights were dimmed and two spotlights somehow shone on the dancing couple and the singing stallion.

I can hear the sound of violins
Long before, it begins
Make me thrill as only you know how
Sway me smooth, sway me now

The lyrics took a brief pause and Cryo and Octavia began to speed up their pace a little bit doing more advanced moves. Octavia was astonished in a good way. She loved to dance like this and longed to meet somepony that could partake in the style with her. And here he was in all of his icy glory. Being a mare raised in Canterlot, she was taught in all classy styles of pretty much everything.

All the other ponies began to move their bodies a bit entranced by the music as well. Spike was looking at Pyro who was very much into his own vocal performance as Cryo and Octavia were into their physical one. His eyes were closed and he was moving his head around completely unaware that other ponies were watching him. When he opened his eyes, he locked onto to Cryo and Octavia and began to once again sing for them.

Other dancers may be on the floor
Dear, but my eyes will see only you
Only you have the magic technique
When we sway I go weak

I can hear the sound of violins
Long before it begins
Make me thrill as only you know how
Sway me smooth, sway me now

"Wow he's good." Rarity whispered to Applejack.

"Who? Cryo or Pyro?" the farmer whispered back.

"I was referring to both of them."

When marimba rhythms start to play
Dance with me, make me sway
Like a lazy ocean hugs the shore
Hold me close, sway me more

Another brief pause came for both the lyrics and the music this time. Cryo had Octavia frozen in a pose where she was bending back and her eyes were pointed to the ceiling. Once the music returned, Pyro's voice and the tune went up into a slightly higher pitch.

Like a flower bending in the breeze
Bend with me, sway with ease
When we dance you have a way with me
Stay with me, sway with me

Swaying was not all the two dancers were doing. It was like poetry in motion taking place in a bakery. Even Mr. and Mrs. Cake peeked out from the kitchen door to get a look.

"Atta boy, Cryo. Smooth." Mr. Cake whispered.

Cryo decided right there to add his own little touch to it. He froze a small portion of the ground as Octavia swung one of her back legs up and rested in his shoulder. Then the stallion lifted her up and they began to spin.

When marimbas start to plaaaaaaaaaaaaay
Hold me close, make me swaaaaaaaaaaay
Like an ocean hugs the shoooooooooore
Hold me close, sway me moooooooooore

The girls aside from his sibling all couldn't help but swoon a bit and feel a little jealous of Octavia when they saw Cryo perform that little technique. Her leg came back down and the two of them began to wrap it up as did Pyro with the words.

Like a flower bending in the breeze
Bend with me, sway with ease
When we dance you have a way with me
Stay with me, sway with me

In the final notes of the song, Octavia took both of her back legs off the ground and wrapped them around Cryo's waist. Then she held onto his shoulder with one hoof as Cryo dipped her to go along with the move. Then a few seconds passed before a roaring applause came.

That was when everypony realized that all the guests from the party had returned and were now stomping their hooves to the ground applauding Cryo's and Octavia's performance. Pinkie Pie hopped next to Cryo and used the microphone.

"Wait. What are you all doing here? I thought you ponies all left!" she said with an amplified voice.

"Well we DID." Bonbon replied. "But then we heard the music and wanted to find out what it was."

"And well....here we are." Lyra gestured her hoof out to all the ponies. "So are we gonna have a party or what?"

"I think that's up to her." Pyro pointed to Gem.

Now all eyes were directed to the young purple unicorn as she smiled genuinely to all of them.

"Heck yeah we're havin' a party! C'mon! Let's kick this up!"

Once again, the ponies all cheered in approval and the music immediately started up again when Cryo put on another record, this one labeled, "How We Do". The music started up and most of the ponies bobbed their heads to the beat of it. From there, the party resumed where it picked up. This time it really was a party. All of the gifts Gem received range from books, to trinkets, and even stuff she found entrancing. Her siblings and their partners really nailed it though. They all got her science related stuff to help her with her experiments. Twilight went even so far as to find an old Alamantian novel written in Equestrian language. It was written by one of the great scientific pioneers that hailed from the Eneoji tribe like she did.

Then there came another tradition the Alamantians all had to learn. Pinkie Pie and the Cakes wheeled out a cake decorated in purple icing with black lacing around it. On top of it was Gem's cutie mark. After Twilight explained what to do, Pyro waved his hoof and lit up the 14 candles sticking out of the top. Then the entire party sang a small song to her with only four lines.

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear Geeeeeeem
Happy birthday to you!

In her head, Gem thought of the thing she desired most in the world at that very moment.

"I wish my family will be together forever."

With that she blew out the candles in a single blow and Pinkie sliced into it beginning to serve out slices to the party. Good times, good food, good company, and a lot of good pictures. Gem's favorite was the final one of the night when the whole group all huddled together in front of a camera. Octavia prepped the settings on it.

"Alright everypony ready?" Octavia said to the group.

"Almost." Gem replied. "We need you to get in here with us."

Octavia, and the rest of the group was taken by surprise with that line from Gem's mouth.

"Gem..." Cryo started. "What are you doing? What if she and I don't end up going far?"

"Well what if you do?" was all Gem replied with.

None of them could figure out how to even respond to that. Smiling, Cryo waved a hoof to Octavia.

"Uh...yeah sure get in here!"

Octavia smiled and put the camera on timer so she could get in. She stood next to Cryo and thought of a little idea. Right as the camera flashed, she kissed his cheek to make sure that memory would never die. It was such a great night she didn't even care if she went further with Cryo. All she cared about was that because of him, she was treated to a memorable night that she will undoubtedly never forget.

A couple hours later, the party truly did end and everypony began to go home. Soon enough, it was only The Alamantians, the elements of harmony, Cadence, Spike, and Octavia who remained. She and Cryo stood at the door while everypony else cleaned the place up and pretended not to listen to them talk.

"Well this certainly was an....interesting night. Wouldn't you say?" Cryo chuckled.

"Interesting? My ensemble is never going to believe this." Octavia laughed as well with her response.

"You heading back to Canterlot tonight?" the stallion considerately asked.

"No. I'll catch a train in the morning. A friend of mine, Vinyl is going to let me stay with her."

Cryo nodded. He knew who she was talking about. Vinyl Scratch, the town DJ and music enthusiast just like he was.

"Well that's good to hear." He said.

Before he knew it, he found himself looking into her purple eyes and she was staring right into his icy cyan ones. It took them two more minutes to realize just what they were doing. Once they did both of them blushed and looked away from one another.

"So uh.....wanna do this again sometime?" Cryo finally managed to get out.

Still blushing furiously, Octavia waited for the right moment when Cryo's face was pointed right at her, then she leaned forward, closed her eyes, and connected her lips to his. As soon as Cryo felt something on his mouth and saw that it was her own, his eyes went wider then a set of dinner plates and his face turned even more red than Pyro's entire coat. The kiss lasted for barely even two seconds but it was enough to make his heart increase speed like crazy.

When Octavia looked at him and saw his facial expression, she couldn't help but giggle.

"You can consider that a definite "yes."

With those words, she turned and exited Sugarcube Corner while Cryo was left standing there still in complete shock over what happened.

"Uh dude? You alright?" Agua waved a hoof in front of his face.

The stallion of ice finally snapped back into reality. But his face was still intensely red.

"Y-yes. Yeah! I'm more than fine! I'm incredible!"

Agua chuckled.

"Well that's good to know. Right now, I gotta go. I have a couple things to take care of." He said.

Cryo looked at him confused.

"What business?"

His answer to that question came when two pegasus mares of similar coat and mane colors approached Agua from both sides. Both of them seemed to have grayish blue coats and cyan colored manes. The one with the cutie mark of three dragonflies was a bit lighter in tone and had a straighter mane and tail. There was also a pink bow on top of her head. The other one had a shooting start emblazoned on her flank and had a more spikier manestyle. Both of them looked at Agua with mischievous smirks.

"Ready to go?" they both asked in unison.

Agua couldn't help but flash a smile at Cryo who was rolling his eyes and sighing.

"Of course, ladies." He replied.

The three of them left leaving Cryo to watch him leave as the others all joined him to watch them walk towards Rarity's house. Rarity herself shuddered hoping that she wouldn't have to hear them while she attempted to sleep.

"Man, how is it Agua always takes home one if not two ladies?" Cryo wondered.

"Dude, why do you even care? You have a girlfriend now." Spike reminded the icy stallion.

He had shortly forgotten about that little detail. Remembering it made him smile once more.

"Yeah. Yeah! The dragon is right! I have a girlfriend!"

"Woo-hoo! Shout it to the world, Cryo!" Terra cried.

"I HAVE A GIRLFRIEND!!!!"

That was as loud as Cryo's voice could possibly get and hearing it made everyone near him jump startled by it. Terra was rubbing the inside of her ears the best she could with her hoof.

"Dude, I was just kidding."

"Well I wasn't! I'm so happy right now I don't care if Canterlot hears me!"

The yellow mare chuckled and wrapped her arm around Cryo's back and looked off in the direction Octavia walked.

"I will say this, bro. You and Octy sure looked cool on that dance floor."

The frosty uncorn chuckled himself and patted Terra's hoof.

"Cool and smooth." He muttered.

With that, they all went inside to help clean up the mess from the party. If they had looked up, they would have seen the all too familiar catlike eyes of their enemy leering down from above.

"How disgustingly sweet. It makes me want you hurl all over this wretched town."

Through the roof of the bakery, she witnessed the twelve ponies of her adversarial relationship working together to sweep the floors and do other tasks to clean the place up.

"They are becoming stronger. If they unlock the power of the gods, all I have worked to achieve will be for nothing. I must act swiftly if I am to ensure my victory. But how?"

Nightmare was called a lot of thing. Crazy, scary, demented, the list goes on. But the word stupid was never on that list. She was no fool. If she told herself she would find a way to make sure she won, she would stop at nothing to formulate the best possible plan to make it happen. She then looked back to Canterlot where in her mind she began to laugh wickedly. Then she looked up at a nearby mountain whose peak went higher than the rest.

"Let's see how they handle this."

She vanished into the night and left the elements to enjoy their fun while they could. She was driven to make sure it didn't last.