//------------------------------// // Striking Out [Valentine's Day] // Story: Amor Vincit Omnia // by BRyeMC //------------------------------// As Clyde opened his eyes, the plain, yet, very clean, white ceiling loomed above him. He gave a yawn and closed his eyes again, trying his hardest to fall back to sleep . After a few moments, he opened his eyes again and blinked. He soon realized he was laying on the carpet of Rarity’s bedroom. Confused, Clyde looked at his phone that laid a few inches from his head and checked the date. It was Valentine’s Day and almost three in the afternoon. He put his phone down and yawned again. As he yawned, he heard and saw the massive bed that towered to his left move and soon, Rarity’s face poked from the side looking down at him. “Clyde? Whatever are you doing down there?” she asked with a slight giggle. Clyde smiled and shrugged and quickly sat up. Even while sitting down, her bed was still taller than him, but she leaned down to hug him anyway. “Did you sleep alright?” he asked her. “Of course! My bed is a comfy heaven!” “I slept surprisingly well on the floor without a pillow and a blanket,” laughed Clyde. “Why were you down there anyway?” she asked him. “You’re always welcomed to sleep with me. There’s plenty of room.” Her usual wink caused him to smile again. After seeing her wink, he began remembering the events of why he woke up on the floor. “I guess when I carried you up the stairs and tucked you into your bed, my mind must have shut down after it knew you were safe in your bed. I either passed out while I stood up or maybe I rolled off your bed and was too tired to wake up.” Clyde laughed. That was the best explanation he could think of. Due to the past week, Clyde never felt as tired as he felt now. Manehattan was a huge city and because they explored as much as they could in the week they were there, Clyde never rested peacefully. Time was of essence in their week-long travel so they had to do as much as possible. In general, Clyde and Rarity both enjoyed Manehattan together with the little amount of time they were there. Not only did they get to see many of the famous locations the city contained, Rarity was able to witness many famous fashion designer show off their new collections. Plus, Manehattan was home to a plethora of stores so she always had something to do. As for Clyde, he finally was able to see a Manehattan Kneighs game. Even though they lost, like they always had this season, the two of them had a ton of fun and even got featured on the ‘Kiss Cam’. Clyde never spent so much money in a week before, but he didn’t have a single regret. Manehattan was truly a gem of a city and it was only fitting that he made sure his own gem was happy in it. The bus to return them back to Canterlot left Manehattan at six in the evening the prior day. Since the bus ride was roughly five-to-six hours, the passengers had small TVs implanted into the headrest of the seat in front of them. Clyde decided to listen to music while Rarity either watched the movie, texted her friends, or uploaded the thousands of pictures she took during the week. When the bus finally arrived at Canterlot a little past midnight, Clyde drove Rarity back to her home. Rarity fell asleep before Clyde pulled up to her home, so he gently carried her inside and instead of driving home, he quickly fell asleep, too. Rarity leaned forward and kissed his forehead. “I thank the wonderful mind of my darling, Clyde, for making sure I was home safe before shutting down.” “Same,” he agreed. “I honestly can’t remember if I was even tired while driving last night. Good thing my priorities kicked in. I left our belongings in the car last night so I'll help you carry your bags and suitcases of clothes that are still in the backseat. ” Rarity smiled at him again. Clyde stood up from the ground and stretched. “It’s good to be home, though. The playoffs begin in two days and I can’t wait.” “And I can’t wait to watch you! You guys will certainly win this year. You’re much more skilled than from what I saw last year. It’s probably because of me!” Clyde smirked. “Most likely. I have to make sure I don’t let you down.” Rarity lowered her eyes and crawled to the end of the bed and pulled him onto it. She kissed him for a minute and suddenly stopped. Her voice was close to a whisper, but it was clear enough for him to hear it perfectly. “Happy Valentine’s Day, my love.” Clyde grinned. With the sudden change of topics, Clyde knew it was going to be hard for him to let her down while playing basketball. She always kissed him after every game for just doing a good job, even if he didn’t score. “So, what would you like to do tonight?” asked Clyde. “Tonight?” “Yeah. You know, for Valentine’s Day.” “Oh!” Rarity frowned and shook her head. “We don’t have to do anything fancy or superb for tonight. Manehattan was a Christmas and Valentine’s gift from you. You spent so much on me as of late.” She smiled. “You got that right...” said Clyde with a slight chuckle. “Anyway! Instead of doing something alone, why don’t we hang out with the others? We haven’t seen any of them in over a week!” Clyde nodded at the idea. “What did you have in mind?” “Well, not me, Pinkie.” “Huh?” Rarity reached behind him and picked up her phone off the bed. She opened up the group chat she was in with her friends and scrolled upwards through the messages. After finding the text, she showed Clyde the message. “She wanted to know if everyone wanted to go bowling tonight! She can reserve the whole place for a group of us for laser bowling.” “Bowling?” questioned Clyde. “I haven’t bowled since I was a small boy, so I would be rather rusty.” “That’s alright, darling! I bet a lot of us wouldn’t be aces. We just want to have fun!” “I guess that’s true. Who would all go?” “Well, you and me of course, and all of my best friends. Pinkie asked me to tell you that you were in charge of bringing the boys.” She gave him a wink. “After all, it is Valentine’s Day and it’s much more fun when you have a date. Luckily for me, my date is right beside me.” Clyde smirked and let her kiss him and snuggle his neck, listening to her adorable squee of joy. “Any particular boys?” he asked her as he quickly tried to figure out who would want to go bowling later that evening. It was already three in the afternoon so it was quite short notice. “It doesn’t matter to me in the slightest. You’re picking for the girls.” Clyde rubbed his chin. “I’ll see what I can do.” ~ ~ ~ It was roughly 10 at night when Clyde pulled into the parking lot of the bowling establishment Pinkie wanted everyone to go to. He found a spot to pull into and quickly turned the car off. After helping Rarity out if the car, the two of them entered the building. As Clyde and Rarity walked into the main lobby, a sudden shout yelled out. “It’s Rarity!” shouted Pinkie who dove over the counter and nearly tackled Rarity to the floor. She continued her hug until Rarity gently pushed her off. “Hello, Pinkie. I’m glad to see I was extremely missed.” “Of course you were! We missed your rants about people's clothing choices at lunch!” Pinkie’s big smile lit up the room. Rarity crossed her arms and laughed. “It’s not my fault people don’t understand basic chic.” Pinkie snorted and giggled. “Tell me about it!” She looked past Rarity and smiled at Clyde. “Hiya, Clyde! Glad to see you, too! Did you tell some people to come on out and bowl with us?” Clyde nodded. “I sure did. They should be here any minute or so. I’ll just wait out here until they get here.” “Awesome! Tell them everything is on the house tonight!” “It is?” asked Clyde surprised. “Duh! I planned this, so I paid for everyone’s fee!” said Pinkie happily. “I thought it was a good way to welcome you two back to Canterlot after living the luxurious life in Manehattan for a week!” “I appreciate that, Pinkie, thanks,” said Clyde sweetly. While he never turned down free gifts, or at least tried to give them something in return, his mind was jumping in joy as he didn’t have to buy anything else. Of course, he gave Rarity roses when he picked her up, but roses were a necessity on Valentine’s Day. Especially for Rarity. “Indeed, Pinkie. That was very generous of you,” stated Rarity. “I’m sure all of us here could’ve chipped in and helped rent this building tonight.” Pinkie grinned again and hugged both Clyde and Rarity tightly. “Nah! I love you guys so it’s my pleasure!” After Pinkie’s bear hug was over, she left to go and talk to the rest of the girls who were sitting down on the chairs and seats waiting. They gave Clyde a wave as he turned to lean on the counter. “You can go talk to your friends if you want,” said Clyde. “I’ll be fine waiting here.” “Are you sure?” asked Rarity concernly. “Yep. I know how much you are dying to tell them all about the city.” Clyde gave her a smile as she hugged him and quickly ran to reunite with her best friends. Clyde looked over his shoulder at them and saw them all laugh and hug Rarity when she arrived. He turned to look back outside the front doors and wondered why girls were much different than boys when friends see each other again after a certain duration of time. Girls would hug each other and laugh while boys would nod at each other, do a handshake, or not even care. “Look who it is!” exclaimed a voice as the front door opened. Tyrone walked through the doors of the building and lowered his shades. “My dawg, C, is back from the city that never sleeps!” He walked up to Clyde and the two of them exchanged a “bro shake”. “How’ve you been, T? Ready for the game on Monday?” Tyrone laughed. “Damn straight, dawg. Tomorrow I’m going to ball at the indoor courts if you want to ball with me.” “Yeah, I’ll go. Haven’t dribbled a ball in over a week.” Clyde looked at the doors again to see First Light and her brother, Rivet, walk inside. Rivet quickly went to use the restroom while his sister ran up to Tyrone. “Are you ready to bowl, bae?” asked First Light to Tyrone while giggling. “I’m a pretty good bowler.” “You know it, girl. Let’s go get ready I’ll help you find a nice ball.” First Light hopped happily towards the shoe counter with Tyrone close behind. He quickly stopped a few feet away from Clyde and looked at him. “Yo dawg, I wanted to let you know that when I was watching the Kneighs game, I saw you on TV.” “Really? We really didn’t have good seats either. For them being so bad this season, the prices should be way lower.” Clyde gave a laugh. The Manehatten Kneighs weren’t his favorite team in the professional league, but since Rarity and him were a few blocks away from the Garden, the team’s official name of the arena, he just had to see a live professional game of basketball. The team was Tyrone’s favorite, however. “Tell me about,” replied Tyrone with disappointment. “Anyway, the only reason I saw you was because Rarity and you were shown on the Kiss Cam.” Clyde blushed and rubbed his head. “T-They showed that on TV?” “Damn straight, dawg. You and her were really going at it.” Tyrone laughed and slapped his best friend on the back. “I didn’t know your lips were that amazing.” Clyde felt his cheeks begin to burn, but he tried his best to joke around with the topic. “It’s probably more her than me. She likes to instigate me to kiss her all the time.” “Not that I could tell. Both of you were really into it and you were the one to not pull away first. I didn’t know you had it in you, C. I never would have guessed my main dawg was the greatest kisser in Canterlot.” Tyrone burst into laughs again, making Clyde feel embarrassed. “Don’t you have to go help First Light?” asked Clyde angrily. “You right! I’ll talk to you later, dawg. Peace!” Tyrone quickly ran towards the shoe counter. He picked up the first pair he saw, threw them to the floor, hopped into them, and quickly ran towards the section where Clyde and the other boys would sit near. It was right beside Rarity and her friend’s section so all of them could easily talk to each other. Soon, Rivet walked into the lobby of the building from his trip to the restroom and stopped to chat with Clyde. “Hey, how was Manehattan?” Rivet was one of Clyde’s newest friends, but he was a good friend alongside Swift. Clyde realized both of them were in his English class last year and after a few weeks, he began talking to them more and more. “You know, chaotic,” stated Clyde. “I’ve never seen so many people in one place before.” “That’s a huge city for you.” Rivet looked out to the bowling lanes and saw First Light picking up multiple bowling balls trying to find that special one. “I saw you on TV the other day.” Clyde instantly blushed again. “I thought you didn’t watch basketball games on TV?” “Eh,” said Rivet with a shrug, “nothing else was on.” Clyde shook his head and turned his attention to the clock on the wall. “Are you dudes ready to bowl?” “YEAH!!!” Clyde instantly looked towards the door and saw Thunderlane and Bulk Biceps walk into the building, sporting shades and leather jackets. The air around all of them was filled with a sudden “coolness”. Thunderlane looked behind him and scratched his head. “I swear Swift was right behind me.” “He probably forgot his pair of shades to match your entrance,” joked Rivet. “Probably. But he won’t ever be as “cool” as me,” said Thunderlane with a smile. Clyde swore he saw a sparkle in his shiny teeth. Thunderlane looked at Clyde and smirked. “Are you done being on the Kiss Cam now?” “Did everyone just happen to watch that game?” asked Clyde angered and embarrassed. “They aren’t even good, but everyone decided to just randomly watch the game the day I so happen to be in Manehattan to see them?” “Hey man,” laughed Thunderlane, “we are just messing with you. Ease up.” Clyde sighed and shook his head. “I swear if someone mentions it again..” The door to the outside world quickly opened up and the last of the guys Clyde invited entered the room. Upon seeing Clyde, Swift Justice pointed at him as if he hadn’t seen him in a long time and wanted to tell him something. “Clyde! Hey man, I saw you on TV the other day!” The group around him began laughing uncontrollably as Clyde turned around without a word and sat down on the farthest side of the room. He leaned back in the chair and stared at the ceiling, giving a long sigh. “This was totally not what I wanted to be known for on my first time on TV.” ~ ~ ~ When everyone was suited up and had a ball, the owner of the bowling alley turned off the lights, and soon, the lanes, pins, and even the balls, glowed brightly amongst the dark. The radio kicked on over the speakers above them and the place instantly filled with a calm mood. The group split the two lanes they had to set up two games going on at the same time. One lane was for Clyde and his squad of brothers, while the other was for Rarity, her friends, and First Light. Sunset Shimmer sat at the terminal between the lanes to make sure scores and names were showing correctly, as she didn’t want to play. To make it interesting, they decided to have which ever team scored the most points after three rounds combined won. Sunset had a coin toss to see which team would go first. The girls won the toss, but deferred to the boys for first turn. “Who wants to go first for you guys?” asked Sunset. Clyde looked around and noticed no one raised their hand. As he was about to raise his own, Tyrone jumped up. “Shit. I’ll lead us off.” He strolled to the ball rack and practiced a few releases as Thunderlane and Swift stomped on the ground to amp him up. Clyde chuckled to himself and shook his head. “Come one, bae! I believe in you!” yelled First Light. “Hey! He’s the enemy!” retorted Rainbow Dash, “you can’t root for him!” “Oh yeah!” First Light coughed and tried to look fierce by making her face look angry. “Don’t score, bae!” Tyrone laughed. “Sorry, girl. I gotta send a message.” He looked over at the girls and smirked. Quickly, Tyrone began walking forward and with a quick movement, released the ball and turned to face his team. He had his arms raised in the air and when he finally heard the ball crash into the pins, the boys cheered and he nodded at them. “Boom.” “Ooh. A strike to lead off the game,” stated Sunset as she watched the screen overhead flash the large ‘X’. “I’m guessing you are up first, Rainbow?” “Of course I am! I have to counter!” Rainbow Dash smirked and ran up to the rack. She didn’t take as long as Tyrone, but with her quick toss, the glowing green ball sailed down the dark lane and obliterated the bright pins in its way. She raised her hand in similar fashion to Tyrone’s gesture and high-fived Applejack on the way to sit down. “Tie game!” cheered Sunset alongside the girls. Tyrone shook his head and motioned for the team to huddle in. “Alright, dawgs. We gotta get our heads in this game. RD can probably carry them back if she gets another strike.” “What’s the plan, T?” asked Thunderlane. “Simple. Get strikes. One of them is bound to miss.” Thunderlane nodded. “Sounds good.” He got up from the bench and walked towards the ball rack. Thunderlane looked back at his team and pointed to them. He took a deep breath and walked down the lane, releasing the ball at the pivotal point. The ball rolled down the lane for a few feet before spinning straight into the gutter. The girls began cheering again at the miss. “Damn it, Thunderlane!” yelled Tyrone, “what did I just say!” “Yeah...” snorted Bulk. “I’m sorry, guys...” replied Thunderlane with his head lowered. He grabbed another ball and rolled it down the lane, hoping it would make his team forgive him. The ball rolled near the gutter and grazed the far right pin, barely knocking it down. He walked over to his seat and sighed. “Is that good enough.” “For that lousy job, I guess,” said Tyrone without looking at him. “Way to go, Thunderlane,” said Swift shaking his head, “even I can’t mess up that badly.” Thunderlane covered his face in his hands while Fluttershy nervously stepped up to the lane. “Oh man,” whispered Tyrone, “maybe they feel bad for us so they sent her out there early. We still might have a chance even after Thunderlane’s bad possession.” Fluttershy nervously picked up the ball and looked back at her friends. “I-I don’t think I can do this...” she said weakly. “Of course you can, Fluttershy!” encouraged Rarity with a wave. “Just roll it nice and slowly. We won’t be mad at you if you can’t get a single pin.” Rainbow Dash moved her body to object, but decided to keep her mouth shut. “Okay!” nodded Fluttershy. She walked up to the line and placed the heavy bowling on the floor. With a gentle push, she quickly hopped up and covered her eyes. Everybody in the room watched the ball slowly roll down the lane in anticipation while Fluttershy kept her hands over her face. After two minutes passed, the bowling ball bounced off the first pin and in a strange domino-effect, all the pins fell down. Upon the sound of the pins falling, Fluttershy uncovered her face and smiled. “Did I win?” “That was awesome!” yelled Rainbow Dash. “I didn’t know Fluttershy would be our ace!” Rainbow Dash quickly led Fluttershy back to the cheering team and smirked towards the boys. None of them paid attention to her as all of their faces were in complete shock. “I think we are doomed,” said Tyrone with a sigh. “Bulk, my dawg, do you think you can get us back into the game?” Bulk nodded at him. “Yeah.” He stood up and the seats shook as his massive frame walked towards the bowling rack. He picked up his ball and with a grunt, he launched the ball down the lane as if he was throwing a baseball. The ball crashed into the pins so loudly, it sounded like a bomb dropped. “Way to go, dawg!” exclaimed Tyrone as he clapped. “How was that even possible?” asked Rivet amazed. Clyde looked at him and shrugged. Bulk kept his head up as he walked back to his seat proudly. Tyrone gave him a high-five and smirked. He leaned in closer to the boys to whisper to them. “There’s no way they can keep up their strikes.They will run out of firepower soon.” Tyrone looked at who they had left. “My guess is that Clyde’s girl is the one who fails.” “Hey!” yelled Clyde. “I hope she gets a strike now just because you said that.” Tyrone frowned. “Come on, C. You know I’m messing around, dawg.” “Whatever.” Clyde huffed and looked over to the girls’ lane. He watched Applejack rise from her seat, grab a ball, and roll it down the lane for an easy strike. She patted her hands and took her seat. As the Clyde’s team grew even more nervous and silent, Clyde quickly glanced up at the scoreboard. Three strikes to their two and a pin was something he would have never guessed. At the rate the game was going, Rainbow Dash could easily put the game away with her second roll. He looked back to his team to see Rivet stand up and accept the challenge. He grabbed the nearest ball on the rack and looked out to the end of the lane. With a nod towards the pins, Rivet began his attack. The ball hit eight of the ten pins and left two standing. Unfortunately, the two pins that remained standing were the infamous seventh and tenth. “Good luck with that one,” called over Rainbow Dash with a laugh. Rivet ignored her and rubbed his chin. The 7-10 split was one of the hardest shots to hit in bowling, but Clyde could tell he knew he could do it. Rivet shifted slightly to the left and began his second roll. The ball rolled along the gutter line before hitting the very right of the far right pin, causing it to spin and clip the far left pin. Tyrone and Swift cheered as Rivet looked over at Rainbow Dash with a grin. “Easy.” Clyde watched Rainbow Dash shake her head with a small smile. “That spare was good, dawg,” complimented Tyrone, “but we still are down because of Thunderlane. We need good rolls from Swift and C if we are to get back in this game.” Clyde and Swift nodded. Swift was more into the pep-talk than Clyde as Clyde saw Rarity finally walk up to the bowling rack. She looked over at him with a smile before frowning at the balls on the rack. “Just pick one, Rares,” ordered Rainbow Dash. “Let’s go. I want to bowl again.” “Yeah,” agreed Applejack with a single nod. “You don’t need to have a fancy-lookin’ ball for bowling.” “If you want to bowl so badly, why don’t you just go again?” asked Rarity. “Because I’m waiting for the other members of my team to bowl!” Rarity stuck her head in the air at the sudden tone of voice from Rainbow. She picked up a bowling ball, or at least attempted to, as she struggled to carry it over to the line. Without putting her fingers into the designated holes, she dropped the ball and it instantly rolled into the gutter. “I told you!” cheered Tyrone. Clyde shot him a look, but he and the others were celebrating their chance to make a comeback. “Rarity, what was that!” yelled Rainbow Dash in confusion. “Fluttershy even rolled the ball better than that, and she barely pushed it!” Rarity frowned and looked at the rack. “It’s not my fault these balls are too heavy for me to lift and roll properly. I need help since I don’t want my fingers to get stuck in the ball.” She lifted her hand and smiled. “My fingers are delicate as I just painted my nails a few hours ago.” Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth and sighed. “Fine. Applejack, get–” “No, no. I want Clyde to help me.” Rarity looked over at him and smiled again at him. “Oh, Clyde, darling? Can you help me roll this ball down the lane so I can sit back down?” “That’s not even legal! He’s on the other team!” “Rainbow, this is a simple game. I hardly see the foul.” Rarity shook her head. “What do you say, Sunset?” Sunset shrugged. “We are doing this for fun after all. I have no problem with it, but his team might.” “Damn right we have a problem,” began Tyrone standing up, “you can’t just take our dawg like that!” Tyrone looked straight at Clyde and pointed at him. “You better not help them, C! You can’t abandon the team!” Clyde frowned, mostly because he was stuck in the middle of something, but also because everyone around him were getting so into this game of bowling. He sighed and stood up, walking towards Rarity. She replied with a happy grin. “You’re a traitor, C!” yelled Tyrone. “A traitor!” Clyde looked back at him. “It’s just one roll...” Tyrone ignored him. As he reached Rarity, she gave him a smile. “I knew you would pick me, darling.” Clyde quietly laughed and kept his voice down. “I’d rather have him mad at me than you. I would have gotten flooded with sad emoticons all night.” “You are correct,” she giggled softly. She handed him the bowling ball and lowered her eyes. “I hope you don’t let me down and actually try to score.” Clyde grinned with a nod and let her walk away. As he stared at the pins, the thought of sabotage came into his mind. He could easily just throw the ball into the gutter and walk away, but he knew Rarity would be upset with him if he did. Seeing how Tyrone’s personality made it easy for him to forgive someone, Clyde ultimately agreed to roll for points for the girls’ team. He tried to line up the roll, like Tyrone and Rainbow did, to improve the chances of getting the most pins. He released the ball after a few steps and watched it take down nine of the ten pins. “Yeah! Thanks, Clyde!” cheered Rainbow. “I’ll take the nine pins any day.” “Thank you, darling!” called Rarity. Clyde smiled at them and nodded before heading back to his team. As he approached, Tyrone stood up and stared straight at Sunset. “Judge. After a slight majority vote, we are issuing a request for a mid-game trade.” “Are you joking me? You’re trading me away?” Clyde looked at each of his teammates. Tyrone, Thunderlane, and Bulk were ignoring his eye contact, while Rivet and Swift both shook their heads and shrugged at the vote. Sunset looked at Rainbow Dash. “Do you agree to trade for Clyde?” Rainbow Dash huddled in her team to discuss a possible trade. Clyde could tell Rarity certainly wanted him on her team as he saw her nod to every one of Rainbow’s comments. Clyde looked back at Tyrone and the boys to see they were also in deep conversation. While this whole situation was pointless to him, Clyde did find some thrill of being the cause of excitement in the game. Since Sunset was on the computer terminal, she exchanged a laugh with him as they waited for the final announcement. “Who would you want in return?” asked Rainbow Dash to Tyrone. Tyrone looked at the guys and crossed his arms. “First Light.” First Light perked up as she heard her name. “Me?!” “Yeah, bae. Clyde for First Light.” “Take the deal, Rainbow!” stated Rarity excitedly. “Ah agree.” Applejack gave a single nod. Rainbow Dash smirked. “Deal.” First Light jumped up in joy as she quickly raced over to Tyrone. She sat down in the seat beside Rivet and rapidly moved about waiting for her turn to impress her bae. Clyde walked by his new teammates, giving Rainbow and Applejack high-fives, before being pulled onto the bench to sit beside Rarity. “Welcome to the winning side, darling,” cooed Rarity. Rainbow Dash looked over at Tyrone’s team and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, forget those losers. We are glad you could join us.” Clyde chuckled. ”Don’t worry, RD. I’ll show them what they’re missing and why it was a mistake to trade me.” “That’s the perfect attitude for this team.” Rainbow Dash looked over at Sunset and nodded. “We’re ready to resume the game.” Sunset adjusted the screen overhead to display the new teams. The scores didn’t change as First Light and Clyde both didn’t roll yet anyway. She looked over at Clyde’s old team and took a sip of water. “Time for you guys to send your next person up.” Tyrone looked between Swift and First Light, the last two bowlers left for the first round. Swift was waving his hand frantically to go, but Tyrone ignored him and let First Light go instead. “You’re the clutch guy, dawg,” said Tyrone to Swift. “You have enough faith in me to clutch?” asked Swift in disbelief. “Uh...” Tyrone gulped and rubbed his head. Instead of directly answering Swift, Tyrone patted him on the back and laughed. “You’ll do fine.” The attention soon turned to First Light as she skipped up to the rack of balls and picked the bright neon pink one. “This is going to look so cool!” she exclaimed in joy as she rolled the ball towards the pins. The bright pink sphere seemed to teleport down the lane at a breakneck pace before knocking down the whole right side of the pins, leaving six of them still standing. She frowned and stomped her foot. “Darn it!” “Don’t give up, bae! You still have another roll to get the rest of them!” spoke Tyrone, trying to cheer her up. First Light seemed to instantly cheer up at the sound of his voice as her next roll was able to knock down a few more pins. Her final score for the round was eight. “That will help us,” whispered Rainbow to Applejack before leaning back in her chair. “Pinkie. You’re up.” After a few moments, she looked around and blinked. “Where’s Pinkie?” “Right here!” shouted Pinkie Pie as she hopped over the low wall behind the computer screen and ran up to the lane. “Where were you? Did you ever know we received Clyde in a trade?” “Cool! I was just drinking some coffee behind that wall to get myself amped up!” Her large smile brightened the room a little. “Even more amped?” asked Applejack, “Ah’m not sure if we could handle that...” “Nonsense!” snorted Pinkie with a slight giggle, “you can never be “too amped”! Being amped and excited is super fun!” Clyde wondered if Pinkie was able to launch into space with seeing the amount of times she was moving up and down. “That’s great, now can you please just go already?” Rainbow Dash crossed her arms. “Sure thing!” Pinkie grabbed a ball from the rack and tossed it down the lane. Like herself, the ball bounced multiple times and landed right in the middle of the pins, causing them all to fall down. Clyde wasn’t surprised how that even happened seeing how Pinkie was the one who just rolled. “Only Pinkie would be able to get a bowling ball to bounce down a lane...” said Thunderlane with a sigh. Tyrone punched him in the shoulder to get him to shut up. “She’s so amazing...” said Swift in a daze. “Get in there, dawg. It’s your turn.” “Right!” Swift hopped off his seat and marched confidently to the ball rack. Pinkie was still in her lane waiting for her ball to return to her. Swift became nervous as she almost touched him as she went for her ball. “H-Hey, Pinkie.” “Hiya, Swift! You can use this ball if you want!” She carefully reached out her arms to let him take the bowling ball she just used. “R-Really?” “Yep! It worked for me so maybe it’ll work for you, too!” Swift accepted the ball and smiled sheepishly. “Thanks! I owe you one!” Pinkie giggled. “You can take me on a date to repay me!” Swift twitched his eye and gasped. “A date!? Really!?!” He nearly dropped the ball on his feet in excitement. Pinkie frowned and put a finger to her mouth. “Hmm, maybe not a date date, but good luck anyway!” She laughed and walked back to an empty seat near Fluttershy. “Oh...” said Swift sadly. He sighed and lowered his head to sulk and looked at the pins. With a nonchalant and apathetic toss, he released the ball and slowly sulked back to his chair. As he sat down, the ball hit the pins, knocking all of them down, and a cheer emitted from Tyrone and the others. “Damn, dawg! Way to go! I told you that you had potential to be the clutch bowler on the team.” “I guess...” responded Swift, still bummed about the false hope Pinkie gave him, even though he knew she gave many false hopes all the time. He gave a long sigh. Clyde felt bad for Swift, but he tried helping him many times in the past year. Swift was just unlucky and he couldn’t do anything about it to help him become lucky. Clyde looked at the score and saw his new team was winning still and was slowly pulling away. He got up and walked up to the ball rack to bowl finally for himself. “Good luck, my love!” called Rarity with a smile on her face. She quickly blew him a kiss. Clyde returned her smile and looked at the pins down the lane. Since he knocked down nine of them with only one ball the first time, he knew he could get all ten. With one last mental nod, he rolled the ball. When he saw all the pins fall down on the first try, he smirked and looked directly at Tyrone, eventually taunting him with the chest pound and stomp Tyrone does whenever he makes a clutch shot in a basketball game. Tyrone laughed and shook his head. “Aight, C. I see you.” Clyde high-fived Rainbow and Applejack on his way to his seat and earned a kiss from Rarity on his strike. His team was at least two strikes ahead after the first round, so if they managed to closely replicate what they did, they would win no problem. ~ ~ ~ Eventually, the game ended after Swift’s turn during the third round. He needed a strike to keep his team alive and Clyde had to get zero pins on his turn, but with Pinkie asking Swift to help her eat nachos, he didn’t care about bowling anymore. It was close to midnight now and everyone was either sitting with someone or talking to a group. Pinkie had the building until two in the morning, so they decided to take a break from bowling after that intense game. Clyde and Rarity were sitting in the small food area sharing a milkshake. “While it wasn’t the most romantic Valentine’s Day, I still enjoyed it tremendously.” Rarity set the milkshake down on the small table and gently pushed it towards Clyde. “I did too.” He picked up the glass and sipped. Vanilla was always his favorite and because he felt slightly tired still from Manehattan, it tasted excellent. “I guess I was better than I thought at bowling.” Rarity giggled. “Because I helped you.” “Maybe. Maybe I was just gifted at bowling.” Clyde chuckled and soon stopped when he saw Rarity look at him seriously. “Yeah... maybe I did just get good rolls only because you were cheering me on.” “As your number one fan, it is my duty to support you in all activities and help you get better!” Rarity lovingly smiled at him and grabbed his hand. “Even though you might not think, I’ll always be there for you, Clyde.” “I know you will, and the same goes for me. I have no clue about fashion-related topics, but I know you’ll design awesome clothing and accessories anyway. Just because you’re perfect to me.” Clyde smiled when he saw Rarity notice what he called her. She grabbed his hand tighter. “The time we spent at Manehattan made me realize how wonderful that city is for fashion designers like me. Don’t get me wrong, I love Canterlot, but I really would love to live there and fulfill my dream of becoming a famous designer, but I don’t know....” Clyde saw concern growing in her eyes. He rubbed his thumb over her hand. “Don’t worry about me, Rarity. I would hate to be the cause for you to not follow your dream. I’m not even sure what mine is yet. You would be much better in Manehattan with someone who could support you financially.” He looked away from her. “Don’t say that! Please...” said Rarity with tears forming in her eyes. “I want you to be there with me, not someone else! We’ll find you something to do there, but please, Clyde, I don’t care how we get there. All I know is I would be distraught if I didn’t have you with me and I know I can say the same for you.” She wiped her eyes and tried to bring a smile to her face. “I just want there to be an ‘us’ in the future.” Clyde stared at her bright blue eyes. They would always be in his mind the most beautiful sight in the world. He found it hard to smile at the situation, but he managed to do it because of her eyes. He stood up and looked down at her. “Instead of talking about the future, let’s just focus on the present.” Rarity nodded and got up from the chair. She quickly hugged him tightly as if she never wanted to let go of him. Clyde placed his head on top of hers and looked out across the floor to the others. Most of them were laughing about or eating. Clyde never wanted this depressing conversation to happen on Valentine’s Day, but he knew it would come eventually. High School was almost over for everyone and everyone had to think about the next step. Rarity began sniffiling and Clyde hugged her tighter, wishing in his mind everything would fall into place.