Music was pumping. Lights were dimmed and colorful. Equines were dancing, but Josh didn't like any of it. It was hard enough to move with the little space available, and the lighting didn’t help at all, and because some of the bodies were the same colors as the lights, it was harder to distinguish open space and a furry wall of flesh.
After a little more gaming, Rarity, who was now dressed in a rather low cut, purple shirt with an opened, button down black jacket and the tightest jeans, had come knocking and told he and Fluttershy that Pinkie's party was going on in the lobby downstairs. They went down after Fluttershy changed back into her outfit from before. It wasn’t a very big lobby, but Pinkie managed to hook up a couple of the upper floors and the party dispersed.
The music was decent at first, though it didn't last long. He didn’t recognize some of it, probably Equestrian or just some songs that don't usually get repeated over the radio, but he actually liked those. Then she got to the mainstream pop artists. Great.
He tried to find the elevator to go back to the room, but now he was in the middle of the huge crowd. The stallions were at least a head taller than he was and twice as thick, not really something new to him, and the mares, while roughly the same size or smaller than Josh, drew the stallions' attention, and were pretty thick in their own right.
He still managed to get through, but he did not end up near the elevator. Instead, there were a bunch of seats, which were just as good after being bounced around in the crowd. Sitting down, he scanned the room for any of the mares he knew, but to no avail. As always, the second he arrives at a party everyone he knows disappears. Rainbow left with Fluttershy soon after the party started, a crowd of star struck stallions absorbed Rarity, and he hadn't seen Twilight, or Applejack, at all.
Waiting for someone to find him, he noticed he wasn’t as enigmatic as he thought. Many Equines gave him strange looks, talked amongst one another while periodically looking back at him, many of the looks ranging from curiosity to fearful or angry. Equines passing by stiffened and walked faster. Others turned their heads up in what seemed like disgust.
He leaned forward and hung his head. Everytime he looked up he expected it to change, but it didn't. He checked his pockets, but he forgot his game in the room. After a couple more minutes, he stood up, found the exit, and braved the crowd once more. He bobbed and weaved more aggressively and made it to the doors without any trouble.
The tension dropped almost immediately after getting outside. The heat of the day still lingered, but it was somehow cooler than inside that building. There was still some sunlight lingering on the buildings. It was a little early for a party, but he knew it would run well into the night.
Strolling along, he took in the many large buildings of the campus. He had read something about them online before coming here, but the name escaped him. It was just on the tip of his toungue, but as usual he forgets it just as he thinks of it. Giving up on it, he came across a directory and decided to check out the human dorms. It didn’t take long to find them, but they were clear on the other side of the school. He sighed and made his way down the path shown on the map.
As he walked, he could see that no one else was outside tonight, and after fifteen minutes of walking he knew why. Even from this distance he could hear the music, the same kind of music he heard in the other party. The dorm building itself looked the same size as the other dorm, and he saw they too had to use multiple floors for the party.
He moved closer to the doors and saw they had the same lock system for this dorm. Not really wanting to enter another party crowd, he walked off. Going down a new path, he started to wonder about what the next year would be like. He had been looking forward to it, but now he wasn’t so sure.
As he walked up a hill, sunlight shined in his face. It blinded him for a second, but soon the soft sunset became bearable and revealed he had come to a wide, grassy hill. At the bottom, a huge lake shimmered a bright red-orange. On either side of the lake rose large hills dotted with trees, which gave way to rocky mountains. The lake went on for a while before turning to the right and disappeared behind the banking hill. The sun sat just above the hills to the right and the sky burned a deep red around it before graduating to blue.
Turning away, he thought how it was such a shame he didn’t think to get his schedule so he could find out where his classes were. He'd have to get up early to find it in time, but he'd have to go to bed early to do that, and he couldn't go back to the dorm until the party ended. Parties were always so inconvenient.
"So you don't like parties either?"
The sudden noise made Josh jump. He spun around and saw a human girl standing there. She wore a simple dark blue t-shirt and jeans, neither of which hid her strong physique. Her dirty blonde hair shined in the sunlight and she was the same height as he was. She laughed as he took a deep breath. It sounded pleasant.
"Did I scare you?"
"Not really," Josh's hands shook a little as he slipped them in his pockets.
"Right. Anyway, I saw you checking out the dorm. I'm guessing you don't like parties? You didn’t go inside."
"No, not really. They tend to be more annoying than fun."
"Oh I hear ya. You know, you walk pretty fast. I saw you as you turned to leave and by the time I got out of that crowd you were already disappearing behind the hill.”
“Naw, other people are just slow.”
She laughed and turned towards the lake, "Parties are way too energetic, and that dorm is pretty small. It’s much more calm out here, and that sunset is so much more beautiful."
"I guess."
The girl laughed again, "You guess?
"Well, yeah, I mean, it's nice to look at."
“Yeah, it is.”
Silence fell between them. Josh found a rock on the ground and kicked it down the hill and a breeze swept by. The light brown grass waved down the slope. Halfway down the hill evened out to a large platform before taking another plunge to the lake, making the waves seem to crash upon it, ripple out, and begin again further down the hill.
"You seem to have something on your mind."
Josh turned to the lake and said nothing.
"You wanna talk about it?"
Josh grunted.
"You can tell me, I promise to help you the best I can."
"It's really no big deal."
"Obviously it is if you’re wandering around out here alone.”
“I’m just worrying too much.” There was a brief pause.
“Look, it’s fine if you don’t want to tell me, but if you don’t tell anyone then you’ll just continue to worry and it’ll never get better.” Silence fell once more, and after another moment she sighed heavily. “Alright. I guess I’ll see you around.” She started to walk away.
“I just don’t know if I’ll make any friends.”
She turned back with a puzzled look, “Why wouldn’t you make friends? There’s thousands of people here. One of them is bound to like you.”
“The people in my dorm seem to hate me, actually.”
“How can they hate you? Have you done anything when you got here?”
“Kind of. It was a misunderstanding, though. We cleared it up as soon as I got here, but their expressions ranged from fear to hatred back at the dorm.”
“It’s only been one day. They’ll get over it.”
“Maybe.” He dropped his gaze to the grassy hill.
She sat down on the hill, “But I bet you some of them would be willing to talk to you. Haven’t you met anyone yet?”
“W-well, there was this one girl…”
“Ooh, a girl huh?”
Josh felt his cheeks burn as he scoffed again, “It’s not like that. I mean, she’s cute and all, but I’m not attracted to people just for being cute.”
“Oh, sure. I understand,” she said with a smirk.
“Anyway,” he said with slow emphasis, “She was nice, and most of her friends were pleasant as well.”
“Then why are you out here instead of trying to find them?”
“Not all of her friends like me. She was dragged off at the party by the one who started the trouble. I would have gone to look for them, but the rest of the crowd seemed uninviting, so I came out here.”
“Why doesn’t her friend like you? What happened?”
“From what I could tell, they were mostly just surprised that I was in the room. Somehow I was given the same room as this girl.”
“Well, that’s not unheard of. Other universities have full co-ed dorms.”
“That still didn’t stop her from putting me in a full nelson.”
“She put you in a full nelson? How big is this girl?”
“Well, she’s a little shorter than me…”
“You were put into a full nelson by a girl smaller than you?”
“Hey, she was pretty strong for her size. I didn’t want to hurt her either, so I let her do it.”
“Right. Did she hurt you, princess?”
“No, she didn’t. Can we get back to the real problems now?”
She smirked, “Sorry, go on.”
“Anyway, whatever reason her friend has to dislike me, seems to be the reason many of the other people in the dorm don’t like me. I have to live in that dorm for the rest of the year, and I don’t feel very safe when half of them are twice as big as I am.”
“Why can’t you move into another dorm?”
“There were no spots available. We went to the student housing clerk and she said the campus was full.”
“You could switch places with someone. I know I wouldn’t have any trouble.”
“I don’t think that would solve the issue. Besides, I can’t just run away. I went through all that trouble just to stay in the room I was given, and I don’t really want to move out.”
“Well then, I guess you’re stuck.”
Josh sat down next to her, “I know.” Silence fell over them again for a few minutes. The sun now sat just above the mountains in the distance. Shadow slowly crept up the hill from the lake, and the sky was a bit darker than before.
She quickly stood up, “I guess all you can do is let me go talk to them.”
“What? No!” He quickly placed himself in front of her.
“Why not?”
“I don’t want them thinking I’m scared of them.”
“There are more important issues than pride here.”
“That’s...not really why.”
“Then why not? Wouldn’t it be better if they knew you felt uneasy about the other people in the dorm?”
“I don’t know, probably, but they don’t need to know. I don’t want them to treat me any differently just because I can’t protect myself. Those girls I met seem to be well liked and very capable and would help keep me out of trouble.”
“Sounds like pride to me, and isn’t it kind of worse that you’re using them, people you don’t even know, as shields?”
“Well, it’s not like I can’t help myself, but I’m not using them as shields. I just know I’d be less likely to be in danger if I hung out with them as much as I could.”
“That still sounds like you’re just using them to protect yourself.”
“Well I’m not. I do like them as friends and I would hang out with them anyway. Besides, I’m most likely just being paranoid anyway, but if they know I’m afraid it would make me a bigger target. I don’t like that it has to be this way, I just know that it does.”
She stood there in silence, glaring at him, “At least, until I can get through a semester here. Thanks to the mandatory gym class, and the martial arts club they have here, I won’t be helpless for long.” Her glare deepened as they stood there for another minute, their eyes connecting.
Then she looked down, sighed deeply, and punched his arm hard. Pain pulsated through his bicep, he raised his other arm, hesitated, took a deep breath, then started rubbing where she hit. Seeing this, the girl smirked and shook her head. “I don’t know, you did just get your ass handed to you by a girl smaller than you and you’re in pain after such a weak punch. You’ve got a lot to improve.”
Josh bowed his head and sighed, his arm still throbbing “Yeah. I know.”
“Fine, I promise I won’t tell anyone, but only if I don’t have to come and bail you out of a fight.”
“I’ll do my best not to piss people off, but you know how things can be.”
She laughed again, the sound surprisingly more relaxing than before, “Yeah, I do know.”
She walked off back towards the human dorms. He turned towards the sunset and he could just barely see a sliver of sun peaking over the mountain. The hill was almost covered in shade, and he could see small flashes of yellow every so often. He hadn’t seen fireflies in forever. Staring at them seemed to calm him, though he couldn't think of why.
“Hey!”
Josh jumped once again and turned towards the source of the noise. The girl had come back around, and was now chuckling to herself.
“By the way, my name’s Anna.”
Slightly irritated at himself, he paused to keep it out of his voice, “I'm--”
“Josh!”
For the third time that evening he jumped and cursed under his breath. Forcing a straight face, he turned around and saw Fluttershy, Twilight, and Rarity walking towards him.
"We've been looking all over for you," Twilight said. She still wore her outfit from earlier.
"Pinkie Pie is about to put on the most spectacular firework show! You must come back to the dorm with us," Rarity said.
"Okay," he looked back to see if Anna would like to join, but she was gone.
They started heading back. "What were you doing out here?"
"Just strolling around. Enjoying the view."
"Really? I did not assume you to be an aesthetic person," Rarity said.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"No offense, dear, but your outfit is fairly bland."
Josh examined his black jacket, black sweatpants, and black boots. "I like black, though."
"It's not the black, it looks far too loose and casual. Fluttershy had the same problem before I met her. Clothes aren't meant to mask beauty, they're meant to enhance it.”
“I think I look pretty cool in these clothes.”
“Perhaps, though to me it looks as if you’d be pretty hot during the day.”
“I don’t go outside much, but when I do the jacket actually serves to keep me cooler. The heat is trapped on the outside, while the inside stays cool. I only get hot when I’m in an enclosed space.”
“I suppose you’re right, though I’m sure you’d stay as cool, but look more stylish in other colors.”
“Yeah. I have some gray jeans I think I look pretty cool in, and some pants I still have from my job.”
“If you wouldn’t mind, I’d love to take a look at your wardrobe. Maybe tonight after the show?”
“Sure, I didn’t bring a whole lot though.”
“That’s fine. We’ll just have to make due. Oh look, the stars are already coming out! These fireworks are going to look splendid against this sky.”
They reached the dorm and saw many of the equines standing around outsides. Some of them were on the balconies of the upper floors, which looked out on the field Twilight talked about. Josh wondered for a second on how he could have missed such a large feature of the scenery, four times in a row, but he didn’t focus much on it as they were now inside.
“Where was Pinkie planning to set them up?” Twilight asked.
“I think she said she’d launch them off the roof of the dorm.”
“Is that really the safest option?” Fluttershy asked.
“There is a large field she can direct them at from the dorm.”
“Where did she even get these fireworks?” Josh asked.
“Some of us have special talents for making fireworks. I’d assume she asked them to make some,” Twilight said.
“Oh, that’s cool.” They went inside and entered the elevator. Twilight pushed the button for the highest floor and the doors closed. They rode in silence, except for the noise of the elevator. Twilight’s remark reminded him of something.
“So, Fluttershy’s a pegasus and you two are unicorns, right?”
“Yes. What about it?”
“Why haven’t I seen you fly, or use any magic?”
Twilight turned to him with a puzzled look, “We’ve been told that some humans find our abilities unnerving, so we try to act as normally as possible. Besides, even though our magic comes from each of us individually, it’s still a bit harder to perform in your world. Why? Would you like to see it?”
“Kind of. I mean, I think it’d be really cool, but if it’s too hard for you to do it right now, you don’t have to--Ack!” His jacket lurched forward and his face was suddenly inches from Rarity’s. A blue aura surrounded the cuff of his jacket, and he leaned backward as his jacket was pulled towards the white mare, whose horn glowed the same blue.
“Oh, Twilight said it was harder, but we’re still very good at it.” The aura faded and Josh fumbled a bit before regaining his balance.
“Pegasus flight is a bit harder as well. Rainbow is still a great flyer, but I’m still getting used to it. It takes even more wing power than usual, I prefer walking anyway.”
Slightly shaking, Josh grabbed the rail and grunted, “I’ve always liked the idea of magic. Every game I played with magic in it always shows it to be so powerful. I wish I could use it.”
“Right, you humans can’t use it, can you?” Twilight asked. The elevator door opened on their floor and she led them out. They went to the left of the elevator to a staircase that wrapped to the right.
“No, unfortunately not. The closest we can get to magic and flight is by manipulating physics and chemistry. That’s good and all, but if I have to use a machine to do something, then it kind of cheapens the effect, in my opinion.”
“But a machine doesn’t tire out. You can use it forever and it’ll never fail on you.”
“Only as long as the parts of the machine aren’t damaged, and they aren’t as versatile as a living being. They are incredibly useful, but they’re also incredibly dangerous. If one of those parts fails on you in a car, a plane, or an electric plant, then there can and will be serious consequences. You have to inspect every part almost constantly, and it costs so much to repair them.” They stopped at the door leading to the roof.
“Magic can have some serious consequences too. It’s probably more dangerous, especially when the caster doesn’t know what they’re doing. And if the caster is not physically or mentally able to perform the spell, it could misfire and hurt someone. And while a machine can be fixed and be fine for years to come, a person has to be maintained almost constantly.”
They paused for a minute. Embarrassed at his outburst, he conceded sheepishly, “That is true. I just wish that I could learn how to use it, but that seems unlikely to happen.”
“Probably. For us unicorns, it takes quite a bit of focus and energy to perform.” Twilight put her hand on the latch and turned back with an assuring smile. “I don’t know if it’s impossible for humans to learn to use it, but it seems like your species doesn’t even need it. I wouldn’t worry about it.”
“Yeah.”
Twilight turned down the latch and opened the door. The roof was barren except for a large box in the center that Josh took to be the ventilation system. On the far end Josh could see four equines. Pinkie was examining the pile of fireworks, Rainbow hovered above the pile as well, Applejack was mounting some rockets on the concrete wall, pointing out towards the field, and another equine was helping her. This one had a black coat with a dull red mane and tail, but they were shorter than the manes and tails of the others’ and looked much less groomed. It appeared this one was a stallion, though he seemed smaller than average. He wore dark brown pants, a dark purple shirt, and a dark red collar. They all turned towards the newcomers with slight interest, except for Pinkie who stood and waved excitedly.
“Yay! You made it!”
“Yeah, it didn’t take long to find him,” Twilight said.
“So, how was my party? Was it better than the others you’ve been to?”
“Yeah, it actually was. I was impressed you were able to hook up a few of the upper floors to the sound system, and you started off with some decent music.”
Pinkie let out a soft noise, like the one Fluttershy made earlier that day. Apparently it was a noise common with their species.
“There’s just only so much of a huge, dancing crowd I can take. I probably would have stayed if I liked the rest of the music, though.”
Pinkie seemed to deflate a little bit, “Oh, okay. Maybe next time we can look for songs you would enjoy then.”
“Yeah, sure. Next time.”“So, these are the fireworks we have to choose from?” Fluttershy asked. Pinkie seemed to cheer back up.
“Yup. We probably won’t use them all, I really just want to test them out tonight.”
“Twilight said one of you guys probably made them.” Josh said.
“That would be Dusk here,” Applejack gestured to the stallion.
“They look pretty cool.”
“Just wait until you see them go off. Dusk gets mighty creative with his combustibles.” Dusk just stood there with a small smile. Josh could see a small portion of a horn hidden by his hair. It was pointier than Twilight's or Rarity's horn. He also had a pair of purple eyes, a bit lighter than his shirt. He may have been smaller than the other stallions, only a little taller than Josh, but he still looked pretty strong.
"So when are we gonna start firing them off?" Rainbow examined a rocket. Josh glanced up at her, walked to the pile, picked up a firework, and glanced at her again. The tip of the rocket followed.
"It seems to be getting dark enough," Twilight said. Josh looked skyward and the sun had almost disappeared, while stars twinkled brightly.
"Just a few more need to be set up." Dusk said. He rummaged through the pile and selected some more. He and Applejack returned to the ledge and set them up. There were currently six of them set up, four in pairs of white and blue, and the last two completing the other two pairs.
There was one thing that confused Josh. "Why don't any of these have fuses?
"We won't need them," Dusk said. "Now there's just one more to set up."
Josh looked back to the pile, but Dusk did not go back to it. Instead he went behind the AC unit and returned wheeling a firework like none of the others. This one was a dark blue, almost violet, with a large splash of black on the bottom. Inside the black was a crescent moon, and when Dusk put it into place it stood a meter above the ledge, until they tipped it forward.
"What is that?" Josh said in amazement.
"Just something I've been working on." Dusk answered. He tried to sound uninterested, but the underlying excitement was too obvious to miss.
"Yeah, yeah, just hurry up and light them!" Rainbow said.
"Patience is a virtue, Dash," Dusk replied, causing the girls to giggle. Josh chuckled to himself, trying not to let it show. Rainbow just crossed her arms and grunted.
Dusk took a step back and examined the setup before nodding, apparently to himself. He looked out across the field, carrying Josh's attention, and saw the moon was peeking over the hills in the distance. Dusk nodded again.
Then, he took another step back and gestured for the others to do the same. Once everyone was a safe distance away, Josh saw Dusk's horn start to glow a deep red, his mane seeming to burn with it, and the glow enveloped his hands seconds later.
He snapped his fingers and two of the pairs shot into the distance, sparks trailing behind them. A second later, he snapped again, the next two pairs shot out. He repeated this once more, and the last pairs were launched. A second passed again and the first pairs erupted. On either side of the rising moon, dark blue and white sparks formed a blue banner with a white crescent moon at the tops. Another second and the next two pairs exploded, forming the same objects, and then the next pairs did the same.
Dusk snapped his fingers once more and the final firework shot out. The sparks of the others were still shining a few seconds later as the biggest rocket burst. A huge, human-like figure was formed by the many dark blue sparks. On the lower sides of the body were some white sparks, but Josh couldn’t see the shape they formed from here. A black crown sat upon it’s head behind a long, pointy horn. Blue hair shimmered around the horn and crown and flowed out to the left side. Then two large, purple wings unfurled, and a pair of white eyes opened up. The wings beat once causing a powerful gust of wind to blow in the direction of the campus and the figure rose higher. Josh and the others were almost blown on their backs, and then it leaned forward and beat once more and it charged at the bystanders on the roof.
Josh almost turned and ran back into the building, but noticed the others were not worried at all. Instead they seemed to be ready for a fight. Except for Fluttershy, who had gripped Twilight and let out a small yelp. As it grew closer, however, the figure started to shrink and the banners began to fade. The sparks around it faded, but instead of leaving nothing there, they unveiled something else that continued to fly towards them at an alarming speed. Right before it flew over the roof, the figure uprighted itself and beat it’s wings a few more times, and it stopped just out over the ledge.
Now Josh could tell that it was another equine, but this one was much different. For starters, she had both a horn and a pair of wings, both of which were bigger and sharper than a unicorn’s or a pegasi’s. Her mane and tail were blue, but they flowed around her in ghostly wisps. She was also much bigger than any other equine he had seen. Taller than a stallion, and fuller with a better figure than a mare. To top it all off, she wore a white gown that slung across one shoulder and around her back, and had a cut in the sides from her thigh down, and it did little to cover her black bra and panties. On her upper thigh was a black spot with a crescent moon that Josh took to be a cutie mark. After pulling his eyes from her body, he saw the others relax, yet she remained intimidating.
"Wow! That was amazing!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"Princess Luna! You made it," Twilight said.
The giant woman landed in front of Dusk and donned a small smile. "Yes, I had a long journey, but I have arrived. Not a moment too late either."
"So, that wasn't supposed to happen?" Josh asked, his voice weaker than before, and his eyes glued to her massive form.
"Well, everything except the wind and Princess Luna, " Dusk said with a shaky smile. "Though, I'm glad it happened this way, "
"I apologize if I have frightened anyone, but it has been a while since I had an opportunity for fun.”
"So wait. She’s supposed to be one of your princesses?" Josh straightened up and was suddenly embarrassed about his attire.
The Princess hesitated a moment, a frown returning to her elegant face. "Forgive me, but what is this human doing here? I did not think it likely I would see any of them so soon upon my arrival.”
“This is Josh, Princess. We invited him to watch us fire off some fireworks,” Twilight said.
“I see.”
“And Josh. This is Princess Luna. She raises and lowers the moon in our world, and is one of the few Alicorns left in our world.”
“An Alicorn?” He asked.
“Yes. A hybrid of the three races in our world. Strength of an Earth pony, wings of a Pegasus, and horn of a Unicorn.”
“O-oh, so you would be the most powerful of your kind.”
“That would be correct.”
Silence fell around the roof. The princess stared at him and he became even more uncomfortable. He tried to focus on her face, but every time he met her eyes he’d look down, only to pass over her chest and jerk back up.
After what seemed like a lifetime, she looked back at Twilight, “I did not expect them to be so friendly on the first day. Is it safe to assume there are more enjoying the combustibles from below?”
“Well, actually no. Josh is the only human we’ve met so far, besides some of the school staff.”
“What? How can there only be this one? Surely others must have joined him to come say ‘hello.’”
“You see, the human dorms were already full when he got here, so they put him in a room with Fluttershy.” Twilight gestured to the yellow pegasus.
The princess’ eyes widened for a second, then narrowed even further than before as she examined Josh again. The renewed silence made him feel even more awkward and he just wanted to run back inside. He glanced around and everyone had an anxious look on their face, except Rainbow who wore a haughty smirk. Fortunately it did not last long.
Her eyes softened and, in a merry tone, she said, “You all have made friends with him, correct?”
Twilight let out a sigh and replied just as merrily, “Yes Princess, we have.”
“I haven’t.” Rainbow murmured.
“Then this is fine. Was there more planned for tonight?”
“No,” Twilight said, regret laced her words, “The fireworks were supposed to end the party tonight.”
“I...see. I realize you must have to be up early tomorrow to get to your lessons on time.” Princess Luna began walking to the door.
“Aww, Twilight! Can’t we go on for a little longer?” Pinkie dropped to her knees in front of Twilight, grabbed her hand, and gave her a sad puppy dog face.
Twilight looked Pinkie in the eyes, the anguish on her face so profound even Josh could feel it, and he was normally immune to this sort of thing. Then she looked away and sighed, “Oh, alright.”
“Yay!” Pinkie bolted upright and reached the door in seconds, causing the princess’ dress to flourish.
“But only for a couple more hours!” Twilight ran after her.
“Awesome!” Rainbow exclaimed and flew down the building. “Party’s back on guys!” Cheering ensued.
“Whelp, might as well milk this cow fer all it’s worth.” Applejack disappeared inside as well.
“Yes, we should not let an opportunity such as this go to waste!” The princess strode inside as well, having to duck to get through the door.
Josh turned to the remaining equines, confusion flooding his brain, “The princess seems unexpectedly excited.”
“She’s still a person,” Dusk said. “She can have fun and be a princess.”
“Well, yeah, I guess.” They all stood there for a moment.
Fluttershy and Rarity strolled forward, and Rarity slipped her arm around Josh’s, “Shall we join the party?”
“Uh, sure.” As they opened the door, Josh turned back to the stallion who was looking out across the field. “You coming...Dusk?”
Without turning around, he said, “I think I’ll pass.”
Hesitantly, Josh turned back inside and let the door close.