How I Became an Alicorn…
Chapter 9: Settling In.
Dash was the first to move, she jumped off and bolted to the bed grabbing the blanket that was on it and covering herself with it while Fluttershy shut the door and scrambled to find a towel. In the opposite room Rarity quickly lashed out and slapped Applejack across the face and used her legs to effectively catapult her out of the bathroom slamming the door behind her and then collapsing down to her knees after she wrapped a towel around herself. Applejack hadn’t moved since she’d been slammed into the bed frame by Rarity. She didn’t even feel the pain. She was still trying to get that image of Rarity out of her head so she could concentrate long enough to get dressed. The same thought echoed through all four of their minds at once:
‘What the hell just happened…?’
Dash threw her clothes on quickly and sat on the bed breathing to try and clear her mind. She noticed Shy’s clothes on the bed for the first time and bit her lip. She carefully walked over and picked them up and walked over to the bathroom door and after hesitating for almost a minute she quietly knocked. It was enough to startle Fluttershy and she heard a small scream from the other side of the door. Rainbow’s voice cracked when she spoke but she didn’t care.
“Flutters… I’m leaving your clothes by the door and going outside to see if I can stick my head out the window or something…” she announced. There was a scramble from inside as Rainbow sat the clothes down and turned towards the door to leave. A large thud was followed by a small ‘Ow’ and the door creaked open to reveal a panicked sea green eye mostly covered by wet darker pink hair with her face a similar shade.
“D-D-D-Don’t…!” she squeaked. Fluttershy saw that Dash stood in place and waited for her to continue with a look of guilt on her face that would have made a demon cry. She scooped up the clothes on the floor and glanced back up at her friend. “Wait for a second… if you don’t mind that is.” She added when she thought it sounded too assertive. She retreated into the room and dressed quickly and then emerged from the steamy room still blushing furiously but at least they were both dressed now. Fluttershy walked over to her friend slowly and managed a faint smile when she saw the guilt ridden magenta eyes look up into her own.
Dash broke as her body began to shake and she looked away from her friend her face as red as a tomato as the images came back to the forefront of her mind. “I’m sorry…!!! I didn’t hear the water going and I just thought the room was empty so I-!!! Ughhhh!!!” she groaned as she started pacing and then banged her head into the nearest wall to get the images out. Fluttershy reached out quickly her eyes firm as she grabbed Dash by the head before she could put a dent in the wall.
“Stop that Dashie. Hurting yourself isn’t going to solve a thing.” She chastised. Rainbow sighed and looked to the ground gritting her teeth and running her hand through her hair.
“I’m sorry, that wasn’t cool… any of it. And try as I might those god damn images are NOT leaving me alone right now…” she explained without looking at her, this only seemed to make it worse. Fluttershy would never, even in the very distant future, admit that she was having the same problem. The image of Dash hovering over her like that was permanently engraved in her mind and was making her insides play war with one another. She fought the blush that was intensifying on her face and addressed her friend.
“I-it’s okay Dash… we used to take baths together all the time remember…?” Fluttershy reasoned. Dash gave her a look that just SCREAMED ‘Seriously…?’
“That was 7 YEARS ago ‘Shy, we’re a liiiiiiittle more grown up now.” Rainbow responded flatly. ‘Especially with that ch- NOOOOO!!!!!’ She screamed mentally stopping herself from finished that thought so she wouldn’t be forever haunted by it.
Fluttershy looked down at her feet having officially run out of counter arguments with that. “W-well then… should we just… pretend this didn’t happen…?” she asked quietly. Dash rubbed her temples to alleviate the growing headache.
“Sounds like a plan to me. To you think Pink’s has any of those aspirin…? I’m going to need a few.” They both heard something crash outside in the hall. “Maybe a few dozen…”
Earlier with Applejack and Rarity:
Applejack recovered from the initial shock and stood up to put her clothes back on. She noticed the white blouse and the black business skirt laid out on the bed neatly. With something folded underneath them. She groaned and slapped a hand to her face dragging it down until it slipped off.
“Well ain’t that just a friggin’ slap in the face…?” she muttered rubbing the red spot on her cheek. She sighed and collected the garments making sure to keep them un wrinkled or Rarity would probably throw a fit. She knocked on the door lightly. “Rare… Ah’m sorry, Ah’ll explain and apologize when you come out but fer now Ah’m leaving yer clothes by the door so ya can dress yerself.” She announced setting the clothes on the ground before she walked away and jumped up on the bed back turned to the door and stared at the wall. She heard the door open and then shut. A minute or so later it opened up again and she heard the pad of bare feet against the soft carpeted floor. Applejack turned her eyes still shut tightly. “Ya decent now…?” she asked.
“Yes…” Rarity replied simply still un able to look her in the eyes for fear of suffering through a relapse of the steam coated memories that would haunt her for weeks. Applejack opened her eyes to find the girl fully dressed and standing there rubbing her arm and avoiding her gaze.
“Would ya like the apology or the explanation first…?” AJ asked trying to meet her eyes. Applejack was a master at clearing her head by now and it was easy enough to look at the girl before her without seeing her as naked as a jay bird.
“I don’t particularly care so long as I get both.” Rarity replied crossing her arms and managing to meet AJ’s eyes. Those were safe. As long as she kept her eyes on hers then her mind wouldn’t try and embarrass her with crass images.
“Well in that case Ah’m explainin’ first, ya see Ah just finished a pretty good work out with RD in the little gym down the hall. And while we were in there we got inta some pretty deep territory conversation wise and when Ah came inta here to shower off the grime mah mind was already occupied so Ah wasn’t payin’ attention to whether or not it was already occupied. Ah am really sorry Rare, Ah honestly didn’t mean to barge in or nothin’… It was just an accident.” AJ finished her eyes never leaving Rarity’s. Rarity stayed silent for a few more seconds before sighing and bringing a hand to crest on her forehead. Her hand was quickly covered in a deep blue aura the same color as her eyes and she brought it up to meet Applejacks cheek. The farmer flinched shutting her eyes tightly thinking the girl was going to slap her on the very same cheek again, but this time with magic channeled into it to make it hurt even worse. She was surprised when she felt a gentle touch on her cheek instead and then a numbing sensation went through it.
“It isn’t much because I’m not all that good with healing magic, but this should take the pain away for a bit.” Rarity explained when Applejack opened her eyes again. She took her hand away and the redness in the tanned freckled cheek had faded. “Did I hurt you at all when I kicked you…?” she asked. It took Applejack a few seconds to process her question and formulate a response.
“Huh…?” Okay, so maybe it wasn’t much of a response. Rarity pointed to her stomach.
“When I kicked you, I’ve been enrolled in martial arts for a few years now, I know my kicks can hurt, so did I injure you when I kicked you out of the bathroom…?” She asked after she explained her sapphire eyes concerned now.
“Oh, nah. Mac’s kicked me around a lot worse than that before. And inta a lot sturdier stuff than that bed frame too. No offense to the princess’ choice in bed frames.” She added quickly like they could hear her. Rarity sighed in relief.
“Well that’s one good thing then…” her face quickly heated up as a memory involuntarily resurfaced when she noticed how tightly the orange tank top fit the farmer. “And there it goes again… I wonder if Twilight knows any spells for erasing memories…” ‘Although I wouldn’t necessarily mind keeping them if only to see that toned-‘ she physically slapped herself to stop the thoughts from continuing any further. Applejack looked taken back by the action. “Sorry darling, but it’s going to take a bit for me to fully compose myself again after that… why don’t you go take your own shower…? I’ll just head back out into the main cabin.” She said walking over to pick up her white calf length boots that leaned against the bed.
“Hehe, sure thing sugar cube, care ta’ join me…?” she asked before she slapped a hand over her mouth when she realized she’d said that out loud. Her green eyes widened as she saw Rarity slowly stand back up and turn towards her slowly her blue eyes the scariest ice blue Applejack had ever seen.
“Oh horseapples…” she muttered before Rarity round house kicked her through the hall door.
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy opened the door to find the dazed looking Apple covered in wood splinters and to see a very pissed looking Rarity through the gaping hole that had been made in the door by the Apple’s body. Rainbow whistled as she looked over the farmer at her feet.
“What the hell did you do to set HER off…?” she asked offering out her hand to the blonde to help her up.
“Ah opened mah big mouth when Ah shouldn’t have an’ now she’s probably gonna attempt ta murder me.” Applejack replied like she was accepting her fate. Fluttershy peeked in through the hole in the door.
“Oh my… Rarity… calm down please.” She soothed after she stepped through it and into the bedroom. Twilight, Pinkie, Spike, and Luna all came rushing into the hall to see what the commotion was about.
“Oh my dear sweet Celestia what happened in here?!” she asked in shock when she saw the destroyed door and the splinter covered farmer.
“Ah just signed mah death petition, would ya like to stay and watch…?” AJ asked with haunted hallow eyes. Luna stepped forward.
“No one’s dying on this trip unless I order it…” She muttered as she used her magic to open the door and float all the pieces of it that had been scattered to repair it while she looked over at Rarity who had frozen when she came into the room. Her teal eyes glowed and both the fashionista and the farmer’s eyes closed and they fell over, Rarity onto the bed and Applejack backwards into Rainbow who caught her. Twilight looked up at the alicorn questioningly. “I’ve put them into a sleep that will transport them into a dual dream platform. There they can sort out whatever issues they seem to have. They’ll wake up when they’ve made up.” She explained walking back out the now fully repaired door. “Put them both in the bed until then.” She ordered over her shoulder like it was an afterthought. Twilight groaned and levitated the pair into the bed. Spike was the first to notice the error in this.
“Isn’t putting them in the same bed a bad idea if they were just fighting like that…?” he asked not wanting either of them, particularly Rarity, to be injured. Twilight shrugged.
“Luna said they’ll only wake up if they’ve made up… So they should be fine… in theory.” She added quietly. Spike seemed to accept the answer and they all walked out into the hall shutting the door behind them. Luna popped her head out of the media room.
“Hey, who wants to start up a multiplayer battle on Melee…?” she asked. Pinkie, Dash, and Spike bolted for the room and Twilight and Fluttershy followed at a slower pace wanting to watch the group battle of the century unfold.
Rarity opened her eyes to find herself in some kind of field. She sat and stood up looking around at her surroundings. The field was beautiful, she had to admit that. The starry night sky stretched endlessly and the field itself seemed like a reflection of it due to the thousands of glowing lunar flowers that bloomed through it. The moon however was oddly huge, it sat high in the sky and it looked far closer than it should have been. Obviously this was a dream as she had been in a jet only a minute ago and now she was in some place she’d never seen before. She wagered it had been Luna who put her here. Like a time out box. But… if it was a time out box then where was Applejack?
She felt a wind blow past her carrying her long purple curls with it and she turned around to see the taller girl standing beside a tree that skirted the edge of the field. Rarity was still mad at her and made it known with a sharp glare. But Applejack didn’t flinch. She just walked towards her until she stood just a few feet in front of her and stopped. Emerald met sapphire and Rarity felt herself freeze when she saw the hollowed out look in her eyes.
“Aren’t you going to finish what you started…?” AJ asked after a while.
Rarity blinked and shook her head. “No… You already regret it well enough. I’m not so out of control that I’ll kick someone when they’re down. Its un lady like anyways.” She replied simply. “So wipe that glum of your face darling, it’s starting to scare me.” She sighed. Applejack blinked her eyes brightening a bit but still retaining their guilty look.
“Ah still shouldn’t have said that… Ah knew how sensitive you’ve been lately. Normally Ah have a big barrier separating mah thoughts from what Ah’m sayin… but Ah didn’t even think about that one. It just flew out after bein’ with Dash and getting’ used ta swappin’ sarcasm…” AJ grumbled to herself as she crossed her arms and unknowingly pouted her lip slightly. Rarity couldn’t help but chortle a bit at that and it caught the attention of Applejack pretty quickly as she tried to hide it.
“I’m sorry darling it’s just… you sound so much like a child right now. It was a rather funny image of seeing you pouting like that only much smaller and a tad pudgier.” She giggled. Applejack blushed furiously.
“AH WAS NOT PUDGY!!! Granny fed me pies until Ah burst when Ah was little but Ah was never pudgy…!!!” she shouted defending herself quicker than Rarity had expected. She smirked a little and walked up to the farmer.
“Oh really now…? So are you saying that if when we get back I go over to your house and ask Granny Smith to see your old photo album you’ll have no objections whatsoever…?” she asked with a devious look in her eyes. Applejack didn’t like that look.
“Th-That’s completely off topic! You’ve no right to subject me to those weighted questions…!” Applejack fumed her southern drawl vanishing and being replaced by a perfect Canterlot accent instead. Rarity was taken back and Applejack didn’t seem realize she had switched accents.
“So… that’s a no then…?” she prompted.
“Of course it’s a no! Do you have any idea what my grandmother keeps in those albums…? She has pictures of me and Macintosh in the BATH for Faust’s sake! I can only imagine the kind of blackmail you’d use against me if you saw them and… you’re… you’re staring at me oddly…” Applejack commented when she noticed the distant dreamy look in Rarity’s eyes. Rarity quickly caught herself and snapped out of it.
“Oh, terribly sorry, I was a bit lost in thought there, I’m going over the possible reason’s one would suddenly switch accents when they go into a distressed emotional state.” Rarity announced with a slight sideways glance at the blonde.
“Why on earth would you-?” she stopped and seemed to hear herself talk for the first time. “Shit…” she muttered in her southern accent. “Okay, what’s it gonna take fer you ta keep quiet on this…?” she asked the magic user with a sigh.
“Hmmm… nothing.” Rarity stated flatly after tapping her chin in thought.
“What?! Come on Rare, there has to be SOMETHING you want me to do…!” AJ cried in alarm.
“No darling, you misunderstand. I mean you don’t HAVE to do anything. I’m perfectly capable of keeping this between us with just the sanctity of our friendship holding it afloat. Despite the appearance dear I’m NOT a shallow broad.” She sighed with a roll of her eyes. “I also already forgave you for the incident that landed us here by the way.” Rarity added as she walked towards a group of lunar flowers that grew together. Applejack was slack jawed as she stared at the girl’s back.
“Ah-Ah… but you…-!!! Oh forget it… Thank you Rarity.” Applejack said with a smile. She wasn’t going to fight this. She could see the truth in her eyes when she said it so she knew it wasn’t a lie. She smiled and walked over beside where Rarity was and the shorter girl looked over at her as she bent down and picked one of the flowers off by its stem. She examined it for a few seconds before she looked over at Rarity for a second. She reached over and gently slipped the flower behind her ear so the petals seemed to bloom from her hair. She smiled when Rarity looked at her confused. “Consider it a present, a flower for the one who reflects its beauty best.”
Rarity’s face heated up a bit and she averted her eyes from the farmer to hide her reaction. “If you keep teasing me like this I’ll have to knock you through another door Abigail…” she muttered. Applejack chuckled and smiled down at her gently.
“Who ever said anythin’ about teasing you…?” she asked. Before Rarity could ask what she meant however the world around the two of them shifted and blurred. In a jolt Rarity had opened her eyes again and she found herself sitting up in the bed of the cabin she’d fought with Applejack in. She felt something stir beside her and Applejack sat up and looked around confused for a moment before she saw Rarity sitting next to her.
“Damn… guess that wasn’t just a dream after all…” she sighed as she stretched her limbs and stood from the bed. Rarity stood up as well and glanced at the alarm clock beside the bed to see how much time had passed.
“EHHHHHH?!?!?!” She exclaimed in disbelief effectively startling Applejack who turned to her quickly.
“What…?! Did you chip a nail or somethin’…?” she asked in confusion.
“Heavens no, that would be horrendous, but look at the time…! We must have slept through the entire flight! It’s almost the arrival time!” she said pointing at the clock which read just a little past seven PM.
“Whoa… that Luna sure does know how to make a potent sleep spell.” She said scratching her head. She quickly noticed the lack of a certain important accessory and felt rather naked. “Uhhh, Rare, where’d ya put mah hat when Ah asked you to watch it fer me…?” she questioned. Rarity walked over and opened up the small closet that adorned the entrance of the bathroom. She pulled the hat off a shelf it had been sitting on as well as her large purse. She tossed the hat at Applejack who caught it and put it on. “Whew, that feels much better… we should get back to the others now.” She announced as she walked towards the door. Rarity wanted to stop her to ask what she meant in the dream but AJ was already in the hall. Rarity followed and nearly bumped into her when she stopped suddenly in front of the door that lead into the media room. They both heard arguing from inside.
“That isn’t fair…! Stop cheating already!” Dash’s voice groaned from inside.
“She’s using her freaky powers to over whelm us! We should team up to take her down!” Spike insisted.
“The princess of the night does NOT lose to newbs…!” Luna hissed. Rarity and Applejack exchanged a look of confusion before they opened the door to see what exactly was going on. They found three of the gamers standing up and shouting at the screen as they unleashed furies of attacks on the remaining member, who just happened to be Pinkie Pie who was grinning from ear to ear as her character on the screen (Kirby) Sparkled and shimmered the effects having absolutely no effect on her.
“Oh god she’s got a star!!! Run!!! Run for your pathetic virtual lives…!!!” Spike shouted as Pinkie charged up some kind of beam and the screen went completely blank with whiteness. The title screen came up announcing that she had won and she had a winning streak of over two hundred games.
“Wow, that was fun guys! I thought this game was gonna be boring but it was totally fun! What time is it anyways…?” she asked looking around. Twilight sat up from the couch her hair a mess and her breezy lavender blouse askew from what looked like many hours of watching them all play. Fluttershy was sitting on the other side looking rather sleepy as well.
“Just past seven… you guys have been playing for eight hours straight.” Twilight groaned.
“Huh, that’s weird… I could have sworn it was only like an hour or two… oh well, hey doesn’t that mean we’ll be landing soon?” Rainbow asked Luna.
She opened her mouth to respond but Captain Skyline came on over the intercom before she could. “Alright girls and boy, we’ll be landing here shortly so I’ll ask you to secure your belongings and take your seats in the main cabin yet again before we begin out decent.” He announced.
“Well, guess that answers that. Oh, hey you two! You slept through all the fun!” Pinkie laughed bouncing up to the pair that still stood in the door way. Applejack laughed and scratched the back of her head as they all walked back to the cabin to take their seats.
“Hehe… Ah guess we did, are you gonna sit near the window this time so you can watch the landing…?” Applejack asked her fellow earth-bound.
“Duh…! I only got glimpses of the take off! There’s no WAY I’m letting Twilight hog the window seat this time…!” Pinkie responded as she bounced over to their section and promptly claimed the seat Twilight had once occupied. Twilight rolled her eyes and took the aisle seat. Fluttershy walked beside Rarity and noticed something tucked behind her ear.
“Oh my… Rarity where ever did you get such a pretty flower…?” She breathed as she saw the glowing white flower against the deep purple curls.
“Flower…?” she questioned bringing her hand to where Fluttershy was staring. She felt the soft petals of the very flower Applejack had given her tucked tightly behind her ear. Her eyes widened and Luna passed by her giving her a soft smile and a wink before she sat down across from Twilight. Rarity stuttered terribly as her face reddened in embarrassment and she quickly responded to her Shy friend. “It was a present from the princess…” she muttered. Fluttershy accepted this answer with a smile and hovered over to her seat beside Dash. Rarity took her seat beside Applejack and spoke through gritted teeth so Spike wouldn’t hear them. “Why didn’t you tell me the flower was there…?” she whispered.
“‘Cause it looked too pretty ta’ have you rip it out in embarrassment." Applejack responded quietly as she gazed out the window at the dark sea that churned far below the jet. Rarity’s face flushed more and she resorted to just staring at her feet in silence as the plane descended. Behind her Pinkie spoke up after a few seconds of observation.
“Uhhh, Princess, aren’t we supposed to be landing on some big run way…? Why are we nose diving into the ocean…?” Pinkie asked a slight hint of worry in her tone.
“WE’RE WHAT?!?!?!” Fluttershy screamed before she started hyperventilating and Dash effectively glared at Pinkie for doing so. Luna sighed and shook her head.
“Be calm my little ones, this plane is the combination of the greatest technology in the world, it has adaptations that can make it land anywhere, land, sea, forest, desert. Our run way strip is anywhere we choose. We’re NOT crash landing in the ocean.” She explained with a reassuring smile given towards Fluttershy who was still hyperventilating as Dash was grumbling to herself and pulling something out of her jacket pocket. She produced an inhaler and handed it to Fluttershy who took it quickly and took a good lungful of the restoring medicine.
“Pinkie, I swear to Celestia if you ever pull something like that again I’m throwing you out of the plane myself. You could have killed Fluttershy!” Rainbow growled at the pink haired girl.
“Sorry Dashie!! How was I supposed to know she-?!” Her apology was cut off as they all felt the plane jerk as it met the sparkling waters of the ocean. Her attention quickly went back to the window. “Aw man! I missed the landing…!” she whined. Dash growled even more but was stopped by a soft hand on her arm. She turned to see Fluttershy now mostly recovered from her little panic attack.
“It’s alright Dashie… I’ll be fine and she didn’t mean to- meep!” she squealed when she felt the plane jerk to a halt her wings almost slapping Dash across the face as they reacted to her panic. Dash groaned as Skyline’s voice came on over the intercom again.
“Good morning everyone, I’d like to be the first to welcome you to the beautiful city of Marseille, it’s about 2 AM here, the weather forecast predicts sunny skies and mild temperatures of about 80 degrees for the day, and I just received word that your private boat is about three docks away from the one we’re currently stationed at waiting to take you to the island when you’re ready. Your bags are already being transferred as we speak.” The captain reported. “Please remember to collect all your belongings before exiting and try not to crowd the exit. That means you Miss Dashington.” He finished just as Dash was standing up from her seat. She had taken a small break from her gaming session a few hours ago to acquaintance herself with the pilots. Her apparent enthusiasm with flying and natural brash personality had made quite the impression on both them and the flight attendants.
While she grumbled under her breath and grabbed her back pack out of the storage compartment above her and slid it over her shoulder while handing a creamy yellow knitted bag embroidered with three pink butterflies to Fluttershy. The others collected their belongings and started to make their way out of the plane and into the salty air of the sea side city. Rarity of course was one of the first to express her fondness for the city.
“Oh my Celestia this place is even more gorgeous at night~! Just look at the way the water reflects the city lights like the night sky! And the white beaches remain just as pristine as the post cards! It’s wondrous, it’s breath taking it’s-!”
“Awesome, yeah we get it, look! I think I can see the boat from here!” Rainbow called flying up a bit and looking down the docks. Twilight produced a luminous orb so she could see better.
“How far Rainbow…?” she called levitating the orb up to the flyer.
“Uhhh, just like Sky said! It’s three docks in that direction!” she pointed towards the opposite end where Twilight had been looking. “Except it doesn’t really look like a boat to me…” she added.
“Of course it’s a boat Dashie! What ELSE would be in a dock except a boat…? Or a plane.” Pinkie asked with a roll of her eyes.
“A yacht.” Luna replied throwing her midnight blue bag over her shoulder and taking to the skies. Rarity was gone like lightning, Pinkie close behind, and Applejack had to hold her hat on her head by the wind force the two had created by speeding off like that.
“Oh boy… this is gonna be an interestin’ trip alright… We’d best hurry on over there too before they get too caught up in that fancy schmancy stuff again…” Applejack sighed as she walked down the pier towards where the two girls had run off to. Fluttershy, Twilight, Spike, and Dash shrugged and followed.
They arrived at the dock to find that Luna wasn’t kidding about the yacht thing. It was like a mini cruise liner actually, about 1000 feet in length, and over 10,000,000 square feet in deck space and cabins to explore around in the thing could have easily housed the entire royal guard and their princesses if it needed to. The princesses were obviously used to traveling in style.
Luna was speaking with the captain, a well built man in his twilight years with teal hair that had white and grey streaks through it and faded green eyes, and his crew on the deck while Rarity stood fanning herself with her hand and Pinkie was zipping all over the ship in a way only she could. One second she’d be on the lookout point at the very top of the ship, the next she’d be on the tallest diving board of the main deck’s large swimming pool. She waved to her friends and grinned as she dived in clothes and bags in hand, landed in the water of the pool and then leapt out of the sea water and landed neatly on the deck dry as can be.
“Look guys! That ship has EVERYTHING! Even I’ve only gotten half way through it already!” she sang happily while Twilight’s mind was still trying to process just what kind of black magic Pinkie used. AJ laughed as she walked past her fellow earth bound and up the stairs to the deck.
“That sounds pretty big Pinkie, why don’t you give us the grand tour…? Come on Rare, the ship’s gonna set sail without ya if ya just stand there with your mouth open like a bass!” the farmer called over her shoulder as she ascended.
Rarity snapped out of it as everyone walked past her and onto the ship as well. Well, Rainbow flew but still. She boarded and with everyone on board the stairs was raised and the captain smiled as he addressed the girls and Spike in his thick French accent.
“Ah, good evening my fair ladies and young gentleman, I welcome you aboard the S.S. Equestria, the oldest but most advanced yacht to ever sail the seas, my name is Vents Voile, or Sailing Winds in your language, you may call me Captain Vents if you wish, this is my first mate Brise de Mer and my deck hands Riptide, Sea Song, and Wave Crasher.” He said pointing to a woman of average looks with sky blue hair and matching eyes and wings, a male magic user with hair as dark as the night sky and silver eyes, an earth bound woman with sea green hair and warm pink eyes, and another winged male whose white hair got in the way of his dark blue eyes. “The princess has already told you of our destination no? It is none other than the royal isle of Déesse Paradis. An island that the royal sisters themselves have used for many a century to escape the everyday burdens that come with being royalty. The estimated time of travel is just over one hour. We leave in five minutes. Please make yourself at home.” He finished with a deep bow. The crew did the same and smiled at them all. Luna smiled and introduced the group to them as well.
“Crew, this is Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and the one you’ve been staring at oddly for the last five minutes while she scoped out your ship is Pinkie Pie.” She announced. Pinkie beamed and bounced a little at the sound of her name. The crew gave her a few funny looks and none of her friends could really blame them. Twilight had been around her for months now and she still questioned the intentions of someone who had such a blatant disregard for the laws of physics. She did however step forward to shake the captain’s hand.
“Thank you once again for having us aboard captain, I’ll be sure to remind my friends to behave themselves as much as possible.” Twilight said tilting her head to indicate the six behind her who for their part could have halos floating above their heads. Well… Fluttershy could have. But Pinkie quickly disappeared into the unknown, Dash was giving each of the crew members a once over, Applejack moseyed off to watch the churning dark waters, Rarity was gushing about the elegant nature of the ship, and Spike was breathing small flames and watching the amusing shocked faces of the crew as he did so.
Captain Vents chuckled a bit at their antics. “I’m sure you shall Madame Sparkle, although I can see that my crew and I are in for quite the show if you do not succeed.” He laughed as Pinkie popped out of a hatch on the deck.
“Twilight! It’s so awesome! There’s this huge glass room at the way bottom where you can see everything under water!” she called. Fluttershy perked at that and flew over quickly to where Pinkie was.
“Can I see please…?” she asked timidly but with clear excitement in her eyes.
“Sure! Just follow me down the rabbit hole!” the poofy haired girl replied with a huge grin. Brise leaned towards her captain to whisper.
“Captain… isn’t that the hatch that leads to the boiler room…? The one to the underwater observation level is over there… right…?” she asked her soft voice also heavily hinted with the native tongue.
“But of course it is dear, but Madame Pinkie is famous for her natural ability to make the impossible possible. It is best not to question her too much.” He replied with a heart chuckle at the young woman’s concerned face.
Rainbow was now nose to nose with the tall form of Wave Crasher as she flew about a foot off the ground to meet his eyes. “So big guy, you ever race with those wings or do you just use ‘em to get around this ship…?” she asked the white haired man. He glanced at her and spoke with a thick accent, but one from a lot further south than France.
“Well ain’t you just a feisty little sheila…? I’ll have you know I was the best flier in my little bungalow of a town back down under.” He replied with a confident smirk on his face his white wings in the fight or flight position. Rainbow smirked back.
“In that case you ready for a race against the fastest flier in all of Equestria…?” she retorted with a flare of her own wings.
“Is a Roo the fiercest critter you’ll ever have the misfortune of boxing…?” he asked in return. Rainbow tilted her head to the side in confusion. “That’s a yes Seppo.” He sighed with a roll of his eyes as he took off. But a fast hand grabbed him by the ankle and slammed him back into the deck.
“Not today ya damn Aussie, today you’re staying dis here deck and cleanin’ up dat mess ya made last night with yer poker game ya held with them French gal’s from the city.” Sea Song snarled her Boston accent thick when she did so. “Sorry ta be displeasin’ ya Miss Dash.” She said addressing the rainbow haired Pegasus while she dragged the male in her hold off to the depths of the hold.
“Whoa… who pissed in her cheerios…?” Applejack asked as Dash landed beside her, having heard the whole exchange. A hearty laugh came behind them and the voice addressed them with the familiar tone of a fellow Equestrian.
“Ignore those two, they’re always fighting over one thing or another. Probably because Crasher is a born idiot, and Sea has the temperament of a rhino. But she’s got a beautiful voice when you get her to calm down enough to sing.” Riptide laughed as he levitated a good length of rope to his hands. Rainbow and AJ shared a look of confusion.
“So, what’s your story, how’d you end up on a ship filled with so many oddballs…?” Rainbow asked the only seemingly normal crew member. He shrugged.
“I’m pretty weird too, just not in temperament.” He replied as he lassoed the rope and threw it behind him without a single glance back and it came around Pinkie’s waist just as she sprung out of the hatch she had disappeared into. He tightened it and dragged her to where they stood and held her up to eye level. “I’d appreciate it Miss Pie if you kept your antics out of our ship’s inner workings. We don’t need whoopee cushions in our gears, confetti blasting out of our propulsion jets, or any of the other various ‘surprises’ you’ve already installed in here.” He lectured the pink haired energy demon. Her friends all had their mouths hung open in shock and Pinkie seemed to deflate a bit at that and pouted her lip as she crossed her arms.
“Fine party pooper…” she huffed before disappearing in a burst of confetti. He calmly wound the rope back up and tilted the sailor’s cap he wore at the remaining girls before he walked away whistling a merry tune.
They all stared in shock at the falling remaining confetti for a few remaining seconds before Applejack spoke up. “Anyone else feel like they need a drink of something mighty strong to forget whatever the hell that just was…?” she asked. They all nodded and quickly dispersed to find the closest drink station.
The group all settled into the boat nicely and the trip seemed to pass by in a flash. Fluttershy never left the underwater observation room and listed each species of underwater life she saw with a professional air about her that even Rainbow was stunned about when she had come down to join her shortly after drinking a tall glass of red bull. Pinkie spent her time trying to lay out more pranks through the ship only to have Riptide casually walk by and stop her whenever she did. It was clear a war was erupting between the two and Pinkie for the first time in her life was actually met even. Twilight and Luna spent their time in the library discussing the selection they had on board. Rarity was dancing around the ship in awe at it all, from the grand ball room it had to the elegant art displays it housed Rarity was entranced with it all. Applejack however took her sweet time just walking along the deck and watching the ocean go by as she kept a firm hand on her hat so it wouldn’t fly off. It was also no surprise then that she was the first to spot the island in the distance. She pulled out her phone and notified the others of the sight. In less than a minute all were on deck and watching the fast approaching island.
Spike appeared from wherever he had been hiding out, most likely the kitchen due to the frosting at the corners of his mouth, and he gasped in wonder at the sight of it. “Whoa… Luna that place is HUGE!!!” he exclaimed. The princess of the night laughed and nodded.
“Indeed it is. The island itself is about 500 square miles, sports a large natural tropical rainforest and long sandy white beaches, and the house you see there that’s built into the Cliffside is where we’ll be staying. I’ll tell you all more about it when we get inside.” She explained with a small giggle. Fluttershy’s eyes widened at the mentioning of a rainforest. That meant animals, lots and lots of new animals to befriend. To Twilight it meant thousands of new plant species to study, for Rainbow and Applejack it meant tons of time spent surfing or exploring the island in hikes, Pinkie was already planning a house warming party, and Rarity was trying to stay conscious through the luxurious nature of it all.
The boat docked and they found a group awaiting their arrival. Rainbow groaned and leaned towards Twilight. “Just how many people did Celestia recruit to pamper us this week?!” she asked. Twilight did a little mental check list.
“Including the crews of the plane and ship… 50 servants in total. Four on the plane, five on the ship, and 41 here on the island, including personal servants for each of us, maids, cooks, a small medic team, and workers for the facilities like the spa.” Twilight explained. Rarity officially over loaded and fainted with Applejack promptly catching her before she could fall back.
“Ah think ya might’ve over loaded her a bit Twi.” The blonde chuckled as she carried the smaller girl bridal style towards the docking stairs. Servants were taking their bags into the house already and a tall older man with slicked back grey hair and a formal suit that just SCREAMED butler waited for them. Twilight smiled recognizing him straight away as did Spike.
“Oliver! Did the princess put you out here or did you choose to come when you heard who was coming…?” she giggled walking up to him and hugging him tightly. The older man chuckled and returned the hug.
“I might have requested it after you being gone from the palace for so long my dear, look how you’ve grown! Are these the friends Celestia talks about so much now a days…?” he laughed as he nodded to the others behind her. And returned the bro fist Spike offered him.
“Yes~! Everyone, I’d like you all to meet Oliver Codsworth, he was mine and Spike’s personal caretaker when we stayed at the palace, though he’s a lot more like a grandfather to us than anything. Oliver this is Rainbow, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and the one who’s passed out in Applejack’s arms is Rarity. She’s the one I told you about that has a thing for our life style.” She explained with a light giggle. Her friends all greeted the butler in their own ways and he bowed in response.
“It’s a pleasure to meet the fine young ladies who have been taking care of my crazy grandchildren for these last couple of months. I know they can be… odd at times so I thank you for putting up with them. Twilight and Spike were nodding in agreement until they heard him say that last part.
“Hey!” they exclaimed in unison.
“So! With introductions out of the way, let us show you to the house. It’s quite beautiful out here as you can see. Luna and Celestia actually made this island themselves using their combined magics, time did all the rest though, like the native animals that migrated here, or the exotic plants that have grown up here. But the house has been the pride and joy of the island for over three hundred years. It has of course recently undergone extensive remodeling as you can see by the modern structure, and it is now over 500,000 square feet and- oh my, will she be alright…?” he asked noticing that Rarity had started to wake up only to hear him say that and nearly faint again. Applejack glanced down at her and nodded as the fashionista tried to keep her head.
“Yeah, Ah reckon’ she’s just a might tired from all the traveling.” AJ responded with a curt nod at the butler.
“Ah, then perhaps I should escort you all to your rooms so that you can get your rest. We can go over the finer details over everything once you’ve all had a decent amount of sleep. I can already see Spike is very weary.” He chuckled as he noticed the young boy’s eye lids drooping and a wide yawn spreading over his face.
Twilight nodded feeling the travels catching up to her as well. “I think that would be best actually… I’m sorry we couldn’t be more awake for your grand tour Oliver.” She said before she had to stifle a yawn of her own. Oliver shook his head in dismissal and guided them to a set of stairs that led up into the house, they all climbed them until they came to the patio and then walked through the open glass doors that led into the living room that was surrounded by large glass panes that looked over the entire beach an ocean. It truly was a beautiful sight, too bad they were all much too tired to really notice. They were lead into the extensive house and into a hall that had doors all along it. He pointed to the third door on the left side of the hall.
“That one there is Miss Belle’s; her bags have already been deposited inside so you can set her in there Miss Apple.” He reported. Applejack nodded and took the semi-conscious girl inside, ignoring the fact that the room was elegant enough to be a close contender with the palace’s private suite’s, and laying her down on the plush white sheets of the bed before she exited the room and shut the door tightly behind her. He gave them all the rest of their rooms and the group dispersed accordingly. Even Pinkie looked exhausted at this point.
With all the girls, and Spike, retired for the night Luna decided to take the ample opportunity to take a long shower and then call up her sister on Skype to tell her they’d made it to the island safely. She sat cross legged on her bed with her laptop balanced on her knee as she brushed through her long teal hair and waited for her sister to pick up the call. It clicked and Celestia’s face appeared too close to the screen.
“Oh come on, connect already you-!!! Oh, hello Luna. The computer refused to let me accept the call for a bit.” She explained backing up to reveal she was in a similar position as her sister, having just retired to her quarters for the night. Luna rolled her eyes as she continued to brush through her hair.
“I see you still have issues with modern technology, ironic considering you’ve been here the whole time wouldn’t you say…?” Luna laughed. Celestia made a face and crossed her arms.
“It isn’t my fault the thing’s hate me. I have an affinity for LIVING being’s in case you forgot sister. Luna dramatically gasped setting down her brush and reaching to cover the sides of her computer like it had ears.
“Don’t call my babies dead Tia! They’re just as alive as you are!” she protested in a half joking manner. Celestia rolled her eyes before switching the conversation over.
“So how’d the flight go…? Anything interesting happen…?”
Luna got a broad smirk on her face and a gleam in her eyes. “Oh you have no idea… let’s start with the most oblivious couple of the group, Fluttershy and Dashie…”
It wasn’t until almost noon that the group began to awaken from their dreams, the sunlight that filtered in through their windows was probably a key factor for that. Five girls and one boy stumbled our of their rooms one by one and found their way to the dining room where breakfast was already laid out for all of them. The food helped them all wake up properly and it wasn’t until Luna came down already eating an apple that they noticed someone was missing.
“Uhhh, guys, where’s Pinkie? I’d have thought she’d be bouncing all over here by now.” Rainbow asked pausing mid bite of her bacon. The others all exchanged looks of confusion as they realized for the first time that the pink haired ball of energy was in fact missing from the table. Twilight looked over at Oliver who was standing by the door.
“Has she come out of her room yet…?” she asked. Oliver shook his head.
“No, Pinkamena has yet to even awaken yet from what I can gather.” He replied. “Would you like us to send her a wake up call…?” he offered to the purple haired student.
“Nah, no need. I’ll just go up there and wake her myself.” Rainbow responded standing up in her cyan pajama shorts and matching tank top before walking out the door and heading back towards the rooms. The others resumed eating until they heard Rainbow scream loudly in which case they all dropped their silverware and food and ran for where they heard the screams. They found Dash curled up in a ball rocking back and forth at the end of the hall mumbling to herself. Fluttershy was at her side instantly.
“Dash, Dashie what’s the matter?!” she asked gently shaking the girl in her petrified state. Rainbow slowly raised a shaky finger to point at the door her magenta eyes wide with terror.
“TH-T-THAT ISN’T PINKIE!!!!!!” She shrieked. The others looked confused now but their attention was averted when Pinkie’s door swung open and she emerged from it. They watched in stunned horror as a girl of Pinkie’s height and build, but with long straight pink hair instead of its normal poof, took two steps into the hall, looked around her eyes glazed over like she was still asleep, and then walked towards the kitchen. The group exchanged looks before cautiously following her. She walked straight into the kitchen, ignoring all the cooks who stared at her funny, and walked right over to the pots of coffee that were set up on burners. She took one of the full pots and then picked up the milk and sugar and poured them all in until the coffee was creamy and sweet enough to kill a normal person. She then chugged the entire pot with disregard to its temperature and repeated the process to another pot her hair getting slightly wavy after downing the first one. After the third pot of the coffee concoction she smacked her lips a few times staring at the wall before her eyes sparked to life and her hair inflated like a balloon. She looked around the room confused before she spotted her friends staring at her slack jawed and mortified.
“What…? It takes A LOT to get me back to normal in the morning!” she defended herself as she picked up another pot and repeated the process yet again, but this time sipped from it instead of just chugging it.
“Twi…” Applejack asked through the corner of her mouth.
“Y-yes…?” the magic user whispered back.
“She IS human… right?” AJ asked eyeing the girl suspiciously.
“Yes… yes she is…” Twilight responded with only slight hesitation.
“That only makes it all the more terrifying.” Applejack responded before walking back towards the dining room to finish her breakfast.
The others all nodded in agreement and followed her example. When breakfast was completed and Pinkie had explained about her morning issues they all discussed what they’d be doing the first day.
“Well I propose, in the true fashion of Spring Break, we all spend our day down on the beach!” Rarity put out having finished her meal. The others all nodded in agreement.
“Totally, it looks like it’ll be an awesome day for surfing! Hey, butler dude, what’s the swell like today?” Rainbow asked turning to Oliver.
“Prime conditioning for surfing young madam.” He responded as he was pouring another glass of apple juice for AJ.
“Perfect, I’m gonna go change then!” the speedster beamed before she took off for her room. The others laughed at her natural energy for the day and eventually they all got up to get ready as well.
Of course Dash ended up waiting impatiently by the door in her swim trunks and bikini top, she also had a pair of swim goggles around her neck. Applejack came out in orange swim shorts that stopped mid-thigh, and a matching top piece similar to Dash’s but had the same three red apples the adorned her arm were outlined on the right side.
“Ughhhh, you’re all too slow! How long does it take to put on swim suits?!” the pegasus groaned tapping her bare foot impatiently.
Rarity’s voice came from the house as she emerged in her full white bikini with a matching towel that her mark embroidered in the corner of it draped around her neck. “Sorry Rainbow dear, but some of us also had to apply tanning oil to make sure we don’t burn like lobsters out in this sun.” she scoffed. While AJ was trying to regain her motor reflexes after seeing her crush in such an outfit Fluttershy emerged in a very similar one but it was the same soft yellow she usually wore. Rainbow was the equally as stunned but had the mind to avert her eyes and try to watch the waves while Fluttershy nervously shuffled her feet. “Oh Fluttershy darling, you look marvelous in that one! I told you it would work on you! And- OH MY DEAR SWEET CELESTIA NO!!!!!!!!!” She screamed in horror when she saw Twilight emerge from the house in a full suit that looked like something a diver would wear but was striped like a candy cane with bright green and yellow that clashed terribly with her naturally tanned skin.
Twilight looked down at herself and frowned putting a hand on her hip. “Oh come on, this is the best suit I own…!” she whined.
“NO!!! NOT IN A MILLION TRILLION YEARS ARE YOU WALKING OUT OF THIS HOUSE DRESSED LIKE THAT!!! GET BACK INSIDE!” Rarity ordered pushing her back inside the house and towards her bedroom. Spike and Pinkie came out seconds later, Pinkie in a bubblegum pink one piece that had bright candies painted all over it, a bright yellow inner tube around her waist, and matching dark blue snorkel, goggles, and flippers. Spike just had on a pair of purple and green swim trunks and his hoodie which was unzipped.
“Oh come on! You’ll let Pinkie go out like THAT but not me in just this?!” Twilight cried in protest.
“That’s very well expected for her and it works with her natural insanity!” Rarity huffed in return. She dragged the girl into her room, grabbed a lavender tankini off the bed and shoved it in Twilights arms before pushing into the adorning bathroom. “Change into this and then give me that ghastly thing to burn!” she ordered. Twilight grumbled but changed anyways. She emerged and handed the suit to Rarity knowing if she didn’t she’d just track it down and burn it anyways. They walked back out and Rarity tossed the suit to Spike. “Burn that and then throw the ashes out to sea so that Twilight can’t bring it back with a spell.” She ordered. Spike saluted her and jumped off the railing of the deck and ran towards the sea with the suit now engulfed in flames.
“Oh come on! isn’t that just a bit over the top?!” Twilight asked crossing her arms.
“Would you have tried…?” Rarity countered.
“. . . Maybe.” Came the response after a bit of grumbling.
“Then no, no it wasn’t. Okay, now has everyone put on their sunblock…?” Rarity asked looking around at the girls. Pinkie nodded but the others all looked at her like she was crazy.
“I’m too cool to burn.” Rainbow announced with a flip of her hair and a confident smirk.
“Ah’ve already got a protective tan from years of workin’ out in the sun.” AJ added.
“I-I’ve never burned before either…” Fluttershy mumbled.
“Same.” Twilight added.
Rarity looked displeased with the almost universal answer. “Well then let’s just- Wait, wasn’t the princess joining us…?” she asked looking around curiously.
“WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!” came a large cheer from the crashing waves. They looked over to see Luna already on a long board riding a tall wave to shore and flipping off it in a spiral before it crashed.
“. . . BEST. PRINCESS. EVER!!!” Dash cheered before she spread her wings and took off to where there were surf boards hanging from a platform on the beach. She chose one that matched her wings and suit and ran out into the surf. Applejack chuckled a bit and walked down the stairs to pick out her own board. Fluttershy giggled and smiled at Rarity who was already rubbing her head.
“Come on Rarity, I think I see the perfect tanning spot right over there…” she mused pointing to particular dune. Rarity followed her guidance and Twilight and Pinkie decided to play in the shallows for a bit. Eventually Dash, Luna, and AJ dragged themselves and the boards back to shore and Applejack was laughing as she wrung her hair out.
“That was awesome RD, who taught you how to surf like that…?” she asked the girl who was currently trying to get some water out of her ear.
“Oh, my dad did back when I was waaaaaay little. For an old rich guy he isn’t half bad you know?” Dash responded laughing a bit herself. “What about you Luna, in what day and age did you pick up surfing…?” she asked the moon princess.
“Oh I invented it.” she replied simply as she cast a smell to rid her hair of the water and tossed the stream back into the sea.
“Whaaaaaat?! No way, how’d you do that?!” RD asked in shock.
“Well, being the Lunar Princess has it’s perked, and since the moon controls the ocean and its swells I created a sport about a thousand years ago that revolved around riding them. It’s one of the many reasons we made this island actually, so I could have somewhere to go when I wanted to practice.” She explained sticking the personalized long board into the sand so it wouldn’t get washed away.
“That’s so cool! So wait then… all those killer waves…?” Rainbow asked her jaw dropping in realization. Luna nodded as she smirked and tapped the crest on her forehead.
“All made by me, yes. Some might call it cheating, but I call it using my natural abilities to make things a bit more interesting." Applejack stared in disbelief but Rainbow was grinning from ear to ear as her eyes slid sideways at the others. An evil idea came to mind and she motioned for Luna to lean down to whisper it to her. Luna got the same smirk on her face and turned back to face the ocean. Beside Twilight who had been staring at a tide pool for a little bit Pinkie’s hair stood on end and her right hand twitched.
“Uh-oh…” she muttered. She sank down in her tube and hung on tightly.
“Uh-oh…? Pinkie what’s… oh.” Twilight stopped when she saw the approaching tidal wave. On the beach Fluttershy was just taking a drink from the bus boy she had ordered it from and Rarity sat up a bit her sharp hearing catching something in the distance. She lowered her sunglasses and frowned.
“Oh damn it all.” She cursed startling Fluttershy who looked around curiously before a large shadow blocked out the sun and she couldn’t even get out a scream before the wave washed over all of them and carried them out a bit. They broke the surface about twenty feet out into the sea and Rarity rose slowly from the depths like a pissed off shark with long wet purple hair. She saw Rainbow laughing her ass off on her surfboard which she had got on before the wave came so she could ride it out with them. Beside her Fluttershy looked at her uneasily and Pinkie floated by in her inner tube happy as can be. Rarity’s hand glowed with a dark blue aura and Dash’s surfboard flipped over just as another wave came by effectively trapping her under. A smirk crossed her face before she started to swim back to shore satisfied with her revenge.
Fluttershy was close behind her but got distracted when she saw a particular school of fish swim by and she dived under the sea to get a proper look at them. The water was crystal clear and she was well used to holding her breath for long periods of time from lots of family trips to the beach so it was easy enough to find the school of colorful fish. She then noticed the familiar sight of rainbow hued hair. At the bottom of the sea floor. With her eyes closed. If there was ever a time that Fluttershy moved faster than Rainbow Dash it was right then and there. She swam like a fish and grabbed the girl towing her to the surface and breaking it taking flight with her in arms still unconscious. She flew like a bullet to the shore where the others watched in stunned silence. Fluttershy set her down on the sand away from the pull of the ocean and moved her wet hair out of the way pressing an ear to her chest to listen for a heartbeat. She could hear it and sighed in relief as she moved her head away and Rainbow stirred coughing out water as she did so.
She groaned as she sat up and the others approached quickly concerned for her wellbeing. Rarity wore the look with the most concern, next to Fluttershy of course, since she had caused the girl to go under. Magenta eyes opened and looked around at the friends that surrounded her but locked with Fluttershy’s who were filled with relief from the moment their eyes met. Rainbow frowned slightly deciding to make a joke out of bad situation.
“Please tell me none of you kissed me.” There was a round of groans and one squeak. Rainbow laughed as she sat up and got her bearings again. “Kidding, kidding, but seriously though, which one of you saved me, I didn’t think any of you were close enough.” She asked looking around. The gazes went to Fluttershy who was still blushing. Dash stared at her in disbelief. “YOU, Flutters?! You towed my sorry ass all the way back to shore?!” she asked in shock.
“A-actually I flew you back to shore but-…”
“YOU FLEW?!” she asked in even great shock. Fluttershy squeaked slightly but nodded.
“W-well yes… I don’t really know what came over me… I just kind of… acted. I didn’t really think but… but you’re safe! So it’s alright!” she reasoned with a soft smile on her face. Rainbow had seriously never wanted to kiss her more. Not just for saving her, but for doing what everyone had thought impossible for her to do so. Instead Dash resigned herself to a hug.
“Thank you… Fluttershy.” She choked out through the emotion that had built up in the back of her throat. Fluttershy was shocked, to say the least but got a soft smile on her face as she returned the embrace. Behind their backs Rarity and Applejack gave the pair a thumbs up and a wink, which caused Dash to wink back and Fluttershy to blush heavily. Pinkie and Twilight noticed the exchange between the four and quickly fist bumped before anyone could notice. Spike however was the first to break it up.
“Hey, I’m all for sappy emotional moments especially since Dash hardly ever has them, but can we please get back to beach time? I wanna try my hand at surfing too!” he grinned holding a surf board that fit his short size. Dash quickly released Fluttershy like her skin was acid and averted her gaze back to the boy in an attempt to distract herself.
“Y-yeah, totally. Uh… Luna, go ahead and let the waves go back to normal, I’ll need the little ones to start him off on.” She said addressing the princess who had taken to tanning rather nicely. She waved her hand with her blue aura and the waves seemed to calm a bit as the pair waded out.
“So… why do you wear guy’s trunks instead of swim shorts like Applejack…?” he asked Rainbow as they paddled out.
“I wear those too but I like the style of these better.” She replied with a casual shrug. Okay, now the first thing you gotta do is get your balance… wait, you can swim right?” she asked quickly. Spike frowned at her.
“Seriously…? You think because I pretty much live in a library with Twilight that I don’t know something as easy as swimming…?” he questioned crossing his arms in disapproval.
“Hey, I’ve met grown men that can’t swim, it’s a fair question to ask.” Dash countered. Spike rolled his eyes all the same.
“Yes, I can swim. Basic elemental control remember…?” he said pulling a small ball of water from the ocean and swirling it like a vortex in his hands. “It makes me swim like a fish, and when I get wing’s I’ll be able to soar through the air like an eagle too.” He explained before letting the water go.
“You grow wings?! Dragon’s aren’t just born with them, they can grow them?!” she asked in disbelief.
“Well, some ARE born with them yeah, but Twilight says hybrids don’t get them until we’re teenagers. Which for me won’t be for another ten years or so.” Spike replied his reptilian green eyes staring down at his surf board. “So, are we gonna do this or what?” he asked trying to change the subject.
“Oh, yeah. Okay, first thing’s first. Let’s see… looks like everything’s pretty calm now so this’ll be really easy on you. Stand up on your board and balance yourself. Once you’ve got that down we can move on. if you fall over don’t worry about it just get back on and try again. She said moving her legs to either side of her board so she could watch him while he practiced.
“Got it… so I just- whoa!” he tried standing up only for him to slip off and plummet under the crystal waters. He came back up and took in the air again his spikey hair seeming to repel the water. “That’s really slippery. Okay, let me try that again.” He said getting back on it making sure to account for the slippery surface. He managed to get up on two feet before he wobbled when he tried to stand and fell over again. Rainbow watched in amusement as he tried this at least a dozen more times. She had to give him one thing, the kid was persistent. He finally got to stand up and hold his balance for over a minute. “Hey! I’m doing it Dash! Look at me I’m-!” but in his enthusiasm he lost it and fell back again. Rainbow burst out laughing as he resurfaced.
“Okay, that was gold. Get back on and if you can keep it again we’ll move on.” she ordered. He did so and seemed to grasp the concept well so he stayed on it. “Good, next you need to work on keeping your balance on small waves. Nothing big, just enough to get you moving a bit. We’ll increase the wave size the better you get at it. Go ahead and use your freaky dragon magic to whip up a wave.” She ordered gesturing to the ocean. Spike nodded and stuck out his tongue a bit in concentration, his arms became covered in purple sca
Es as he moved his hand ever so slightly like the waves. A small one formed about ten feet behind him and he crouched a bit like he’d seen Rainbow do before. Rainbow opened her mouth to warm him but the wave already caught his board and he flipped forward and face planted into the water.
“Yeaaaaah, probably should warm you. Don’t try to mimic me. My stance is different from yours because of several reasons, A. I’m bigger than you, B. I have a bigger board than you, and C. the waves I was riding when you saw me do that are bigger than that. Try again but let your stance come naturally. Feel the board under you and feel for your balance. Like riding a bike… assuming you can do that too.” She added quickly. Again Spike frowned at her but took her advice. He produced another wave and tried again. And again. And again. Actually he failed often enough that Rainbow was getting impatient. This wasn’t surprising considering she had little patience to begin with and usually even less with kids. “Okay kid, I think that’s enough for-“
“No! I’m not done yet!” he snapped back before she could finish. A small flicker of a memory popped in her head of a much younger Rainbow Dash face planting repeatedly into the clouds and her father trying to call her in only for her to scream back those exact words. She let a ghost of a smile cross her lips.
“Go on then, wipe out as many times as you want. I’m sure you’ll sleep well tonight because of it.” she sighed waving a hand in dismissal. He did, but surprisingly he got it the next time he tried. He rode the wave all the way back to the shore and beamed when he did so.
“DASH! Did you see that?!” he called as he paddled back over to her. The prismatic haired girl laughed and crossed her arms as she grinned.
“Yeah, I did. Now do it again.” She challenged. He did. Three times in a row. After that she let him slowly increase the size of the waves. Nothing too big, he was still just a kid after all and Twilight would personally send her to the moon if she let her brother do anything to dangerous. She could see the purple haired magic user watching them closely as she and Fluttershy were examining tide pools that collected in between the sand dunes. “Okay hot shot, I think that’s enough for today, we’ve got all week for you to try some more. Why don’t you go play with sea urchins like your sister…?” Rainbow said when he rode the last wave to shore and she paddled up beside him and waded back to the shore.
“Aww… that’s no fun… hey! You think Twilight would let me play under the water for a bit?” he asked.
Rainbow tilted her head in confusion. “Play… UNDER the water…? Kid, I don’t know if you missed what happened about an hour ago where I nearly drowned but generally playing under the water results in loss of life.” Dash responded as she shook the water out of her hair like a dog. Spike laughed at her and shook his head.
“No way, I use my magic so create an air bubble under the water and walk along the bottom of it. It’s like putting myself in a reverse goldfish bowl.” He explained.
“Whoa, that’s handy. But don’t you run out of air eventually…?” she asked.
“Nope, the water’s full of oxygen, I just take it out and put it in the air instead of the water. Don’t tell Twilight that though, she’d freak out if she knew I was doing something as complicated as elemental transfers.” Spike stated quickly. Again Rainbow was confused.
“What’s an elemental transfer…? And Why would Twilight freak out about you doing it…? is it like dark magic or something?” she asked sitting down on the sand. He sat next to her and shook his head.
“No it’s like… well what I just said, taking something out of one element, like oxygen, and butting it into another, like air. And she’d freak out because that’s supposed to be something I’m not able to do until I’m well into my teens.” He explained as he cast his gaze back out into the ocean.
“Whoa… that’s weird. Any idea why you can do it…?”
“Well, I asked Celestia about it once… she said that it’s because of me and Twilight’s connection. See, when magic user’s hatch hybrid eggs the magic they use to hatch us gets absorbed by us and it bonds us with them and gives us a base for our own natural magic. Twilight is… well, it’s pretty obvious she’s freaky good with magic. It’s her special talent for crying out loud! Because she’s got only highly potent magic, but also a vast amount of it built up inside her, my own magic is very advanced for my development… or at least that’s how Celestia explained it to me. Though it does explain a lot right?” he asked turning back to face her. Rainbow nodded deep in thought as her gaze had turned to the purple haired egg head in question. Just how much did she and the others not know about her…? A movement caught her eye and she saw Applejack and Pinkie dragging a large net spread between two metal poles in their arms. Pinkie balanced a volley ball on her head as they walked. Rainbow grinned as she stood and walked towards the two.
“Please tell me this is for what I think it is.” She asked the two earthbound.
“A one of a kind,”
“Super duper totally awesome,”
“Beach Volleyball tournament!!!” they finished at the same time. Their shout caught the attention of the remaining girls and a wicked grin appeared on Luna’s face as she slowly removed her sunglasses and sat up from her towel.
“It would appear I’m about to witness a guy’s fantasy come true… six cute girls in swimsuits playing volleyball on a private island in the middle of nowhere…” She mused. She called over a waiter with her hand. “Bring out an ice chest of sports drinks and water, and a tall mojito for me please.” She ordered. He nodded and quickly darted off for the house while the net was set up and the six girls all gathered around.
“Okay, we all know the rules right…?” RD asked looking around the group. They all nodded having played the sport frequently in gym classes past. “Good, then Applejack and I will be team captains since we’re the athletic one’s around here and probably know what we’re doing best. Now the issue is going to be picking teams… anyone have any ideas…?” she asked looking mostly to Twilight, the epicenter of most good ideas.
“We could draw straws, paint half the bottoms blue and the others orange.” She offered.
“Deal, Spike, go get us straws from the house.” Rainbow ordered. The drake was off in a flash and returned with them moments later along with two small vials of paint, one blue and one orange. The straws were made and drawn and the teams were as follows: Blue team, Rainbow, Pinkie, Twilight. Orange team, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy. It seemed even, each team had a strong, a weak, and a moderate player in them. Or at least, that’s the way it seemed.
Dash got the worst look of dread on her face when she saw the results drawn. “We’re screwed… we’re totally and utterly screwed…” she muttered. Twilight frowned and crossed her arms.
“Hey! I know I’m not the best at sports but I’m not THAT bad…! Am I?” she asked turning to Pinkie who just shrugged.
“No… it’s not you Sparkle…” Rainbow groaned as they all got to their side of the net and Spike climbed up into the score keep’s chair Pinkie had crafted out of sand for him.
“Is it Rarity…? I saw her plow Applejack through that door pretty easy so she’d gotta have a wicked spike on her!” Pinkie asked bouncing up and down a bit still thoroughly excited about the match.
“No… even worse… it’s…” She watched in slow motion as the girl walked over to the back to serve the ball her long pink hair dancing playfully in the wind. She removed a band from around her wrist and tied it back in a ponytail before her sea green eyes looked across the net and met the magenta of her childhood friend with slight dark amusement in them. Rainbow swallowed hard. “Fluttershy…” she squeaked out. Fluttershy bounced the ball a few times to test it and then tossed it in the air and jumped after it as graceful as a swan, but she stuck it with the force of a bear and it literally burst into flames and turned to ash before it even hit the ground. Jaws dropped and so did the mojito which Luna had just been handed.
“On second thought… why don’t you go ahead and cart out a couple racks of volleyballs while you’re at it…? It looks like this match just got a little more interesting.” Luna ordered with a small snicker as the stunned servant ran off to get the racks and the group of friends remained standing stunned, except for Fluttershy who was patiently waiting for a new ball and Rainbow who was trying her best to keep her head on straight and figure out some conceivable way they could win against the daughter of a six time Olympian Volleyball champion. She was coming up with nothing, just as she always had.
Applejack got a smirk across her face as she glanced over at RD who was running a hand through her damp prismatic hair. “Ya can forfeit now and save yourself the embarrassment of having your ass handed to you on a silver platter RD…!” She chuckled. That made something in the speedster’s mind snap and her magenta eyes were kindled with a bright flame.
“Rainbow E.F. Dashington does NOT forfeit any match no matter how the odds are stacked against her! YOU! Ball boy, stop gawking at the girl and hand her a ball. I have a long list of lost matches to make up for today and your stupid face isn’t helping.” She snapped at the servant who had returned with the balls but was distracted with the stunning appearance of the tall peagasus. She smiled at him gently and took the ball bouncing it a few times to test it but she found it too weak and threw it over her shoulder motioning for another. Dash took this opportunity to whisper to Pinkie. “Pinks, do you still have that experimental energy drink you and I made last night when we were on the ship…?” she asked. Pinkie was eyeing Fluttershy wearily as she went through the balls testing them one after another.
“Yes… but I thought you said it wasn’t supposed to be used by mortals because of the unholy concentration of raw energy it was made with…!” she replied back quickly.
“I take it back. Drink it. For the love of Celestia and Luna drink it, it’s the only chance we’re going to have against HER!” she said shaking the girl by her shoulders as she saw Fluttershy testing a particularly bouncy ball and knew it’d be perfect for her. Pinkie quickly pulled out a vial of glowing white liquid from her hair and uncorked it chugging it back and smacking her lips a bit as she did so.
“Do you… feel any different…?” Twilight asked having heard the entire conversation.
“I don’t really know I kind of-“ her eyes dilated quickly and the world seemed to be moving frame by frame for her. She saw Fluttershy leap up and spike the ball down in slow motion. She moved after it fast as lightning even though she knew it was coming in fast and hit it towards Dash pointing for her to hit it straight up. Dash looked hesitant but did so if not with a bit too much force. Pinkie propelled herself off the ground leaving a crater in her wake and met the ball with a force that made Fluttershy’s look like she was a kitten. The ball created an explosion that blew them all back and threw sand everywhere.
Luna, having put up a magical barrier watched this with a small smile on her face. “We’re going to need a bigger beach.” She commented as she sipped her new drink.
Dash sat up letting the sand that had covered her slide off and the others did the same. She caught Fluttershy’s eyes and smirked devilishly. ‘Let’s see how you fare against Pinkie Pie on the highest level.’ She thought wickedly. Pinkie took her spot on the serving line as everyone else fell into position and she felt the universe bending around her. she motioned for the ball keeper to hand her a ball. The poor sap reluctantly through her another doomsday weapon and she tested it finding it to be perfect. She decided to reserve her full strength for later, she didn’t know how long the effects of the drink would last but if they were going to have a chance at this game she’d need to draw it out. Applejack and Dash were both already formulating plans in their heads on how to deal with the situation in front of them.
But Dash had the upper hand. She not only now had Pinkie at her maximum crazy levels, but she also knew everyone of Fluttershy’s moves like the back of her hand from years of having her ass served to her whenever they played this game. Dash smirked. “You can forfeit NOW if you want guys… I won’t hold it against you… much.” Applejack’s eye twitched and Fluttershy and Rarity both had the same look in their eyes.
“Bring it on Dashie.” The three challenged at once.
Luna was right, the game was interesting. And to any mortal that would have watched it really would have looked like the gods had declared war on each other. At the end of it all there were craters the size of full sized vehicles dotted all along the beach and the net that had be burned, tattered, and ripped into tiny shreds by many a flaming projectile being scored through it blew weakly in the tropical breeze of the beach. The ball boy and Spike had taken shelter behind a line of craggy rocks near the overhanging cliff the scoreboard next to them tied at 298 a piece, and six exhausted looking girls stood panting and glaring at each other from across the burnt shredded net. Twilight slowly raised her hand while she caught her breath.
“A-all up for… declaring this… a tie…?” she panted. Five ‘Aye’s’ came in reply before they all collapsed to the ground in their own states of exhaustion. Spike and the ball boy carefully peeked out from their shelter and saw that the match was over. Spike quickly went over to the ice chest next to Luna and dragged it over to the destroyed remains of the net. He distributed the water bottles to all of them and they all drained them quickly reaching for more. When they were all recovered enough to speak normally Fluttershy became the focus of everyone’s attention.
“Okay, time for an explanation darling, when in Celestia’s name did you learn how to play like that…?” Rarity asked her friend. Fluttershy giggled a bit as she sipped at her red sports drink.
“My mother was a member of the Olympic volleyball team for five years… she won gold three out of those five years. She taught me and my sister everything she knew about it. It’s the only thing I’ve ever been able to beat Dash at. Well, other than the quiet game.” She responded softly. Dash rolled her eyes.
“And it still pisses me off to this day mind you. Even with Pinkie at full power we still only tied you.” Rainbow groaned before she was reminded of the pink haired girl and turned to look at her. She saw her downing her thirty-first iced coffee and decided to ask about it. “Uhhhh, Pinks, you gonna be alright…?” she asked. She didn’t stop she just gave Dash a thumbs up to indicate she would and Dash shrugged knowing the girl had her methods.
“Okay… after that work out anyone else feel like they could use a good swim to cool down…?” Applejack asked looking around. Everyone nodded and moved their tired limbs towards the shallows of the waves that lapped at the white sands. Twilight glanced over her shoulder at her brother.
“Spike! Could you fix the beach so it doesn’t look like a fleet of bombers went through here…?” she asked knowing he could move the sand just like any other earth. Spike looked back from the burn job he was doing on the net to put it out of its misery.
“Yeah sure, I’ll see what I can do.” He responded looking around at it all. “Though it might take a bit…” he added with a slightly bitter tone. The girls all sat around in the shallows letting the cool water comfort them and watching little fish swim around them occasionally. But Dash was never one to enjoy sitting around too long. She flared out her wings as she took flight. Hey, I’m gonna scope out the area a bit, the water’s clear enough that you can see straight down for miles, you wanna come Flutters? You might to get to see some of those reef sharks you’ve been talking about so much.
Fluttershy’s ears perked at that and her wings took her into the air quickly. She wouldn’t fly too high and even if she did fall there was water below her and Rainbow to help her out. It was a win-win for her. “That sounds nice…” she replied getting beside Dash in the air the pair took off chatting about the other possible creatures they’d encounter. Pinkie sat down next to Twilight smiling brightly.
“I give it two more days tops before they’re stealing kisses when we’re not looking.” She giggled. Twilight giggled a bit as well but her eyes darted to the remaining pair that sat a few feet away making peaceful conversation with each other.
“What about those two…? They don’t seem to be avoiding each other anymore so phase two is already over with, but how are we going to execute stage three when they’re like this…?” Twi asked curiously. But Pinkie was a master of more than just sugary treats and parties.
“Oh I have a plan for that… don’t you worry your pretty little head Twiley, Auntie Pinkie’s got it allllllll covered.” She snickered rubbing her hands together evilly.
“Still older than you Pinkie… everyone here is. Except Spike.” She muttered.
Meanwhile in the conversation a few feet away:
“Applejack darling… do you think Pinkie and Twilight are an item…? They seem to be whispering to each other a lot lately.” Rarity questioned glance back at the two. Applejack tapped her chin in thought for a moment before she shook her head.
“Mmmm, Nah.” She responded with a shrug.