“Remember, kids,” Mr. Pierce told the class in a monotonous sound that seemed to scrape at their eardrums. “Five tonight. Make sure to come with your partners. I don’t want to have planned this event all for nothing. Things like this… they’re technically not up my alley, but if I have to do it, then I’ll do it, as you can see.”
Home Run rubbed at his face, trying to keep himself from falling asleep. He never had trouble staying awake in all the other classes, but this one was especially challenging to do so. The only thing keeping him awake was the fear of what Mr. Pierce would do to him if he slept. He remembered what had happened to Jetstream and Lightning Rain, and he didn’t want that happening to himself.
“Psst!” he heard Applejack hiss beside his ear. “Home Run! Ya excited for the dance tonight? Even though Mr. Pierce is the one hosting?”
“Of course!” Home Run sleepily nodded. “Not missing a chance to dance with Dash! She’s awesome! Is she any good at dancing?”
“Pfffft,” Applejack tried to hold back a laugh. “Rainbow? Dancing? Not so much. You?”
“Err… not so good,” Home Run admitted. He hoped that Rainbow would be a little better than he was at least.
“Oh, well… uhhh…” Applejack was lost for words. “Good luck then.”
"Anyway, class, we'll get back to work," Pierce pointed at the screen with his baton. "Don't think this dance will make me forget about your homework. I never forget about anything like that. I always make sure to get my work done no matter what problems I encounter. You kids should learn to do the same. It'll help when you grow up."
Home Run sat with the Rainbooms during lunch, listening to their plans for the rest of the day.
"Mag says no matter what, we do not drop our guard," Rarity told the others at the table. "This Stalker is crafty. I think it's been waiting for the right moment to strike."
"But we haven't seen it in days!" Rainbow objected. "It must have scampered off after seeing how awesome I am!"
"Ah doubt that, Rainbow," Applejack lowered her eyelids. "Ah agree with Rarity, but you're gonna have to count Home Run and Ah out. We ain't gonna last ten seconds in this state."
"Oh speaking of all this," Sunset pulled out her journal. "Twilight mentioned she'll be coming over now. She wants some time to catch up with Flash before the dance."
"Sweet!" Pinkie shouted loudly. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
"You girls go on without me," Home Run told them. "I wanna see how the baseball team's doing."
"Alright," Rainbow nodded. "You might want to check on Lightning Rain for me. He's been acting weird today. See you later!"
Home Run finished his meal and headed over to the table where the Winds sat. First Base and Shortstop were sitting among them, listening to one of Jetstream's stories.
“...so there I was. Watching TV, when this big ugly face comes on the screen. So I was like ‘woah! That’s the scariest face I’ve ever seen!’ So after I calmed down I looked closer, and who should it be but the face of someone I’d seen before… someone with hair just. Like. That.”
He stood up dramatically and pointed his finger at Lightning Rain, a look of extreme horror on his face.
The other boy barely even moved, only cupped a hand around his ear. “Shh… did you guys hear that?” he said.
Cold Wind raised her eyebrows. “What?”
Lightning Rain pressed a finger to his lips. “No, listen. Did you hear that, Jetstream?”
“Uh, what?” Jetstream asked hesitantly.
“It’s the sound of me not giving a hoot about you and your dumb stories,” Lightning concluded with a smug grin.
“Oh, burn!” Heavy Wind howled, jumping up in his seat.
“Hey, you shut your face!”
"Everyone holding up alright here?" Home Run asked, laughter escaping after every few words as he sat down beside them.
"Home Run!" Jetstream gave him a pat. "Nah, I was just telling the kids about the time I saw a face on TV when Lightning made a terrible comment. He's just upset that his sister is going to the dance with me."
"Woah, you really asked her?" Home Run was surprised. He had thought Jetstream was joking."Is that why you're in such a bad mood, Lightning?"
The pale-skinned boy shook his head. "Just upset that I failed to stop him." He grappled his rival by the shirt collar. "You better make sure she enjoys herself."
"Come on, LR!" Jetstream pushed his hand off. "Who do you think I am? Your sister is going to have the best time of her life!"
"How about you two?" Home Run asked his younger teammates. "You two doing alright?"
"Yeah, I don't see why we wouldn't be," Shortstop replied. "Did something happen?"
Home Run forgot that their fight was a secret one. No one else knew the trouble they were facing. "Right... No, no. Everything's fine. Just wanted to know how you're both doing."
"Heeeey, Rain!" Home Run turned to see a red haired girl throw herself at Lightning, nuzzling her cheek against his. "Can't wait for tonight! It's going to be so exciting! You coming to get me before we head for school?"
"You bet, Rose," he gave her a smile. "I'll see you at four-thirty."
The cheerful girl gave him another squeeze before heading off.
“Someone’s happy,” Sundown smashed a palm to Lightning’s back. “Good for ya.”
“Well, technically, he’s not so happy,” Jetstream kicked back and put a leg on the table. “I’ll be going to the dance with his dear old sister, and there’s no stopping me.”
“Don’t you start again, Jetstream!” Lightning reached for the carefree baseball player, but Sundown grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back.
“You two!” Sundown grunted as he struggled to hold Lightning back. “Can’t you give me a day at least where Ah don’t have to keep you two from wreckin’ the place?”
Seeing the baseball team being the same as ever, Home Run concluded that there was nothing wrong, so he silently got up while they scuffled and made his way out of the cafeteria. There was still six minutes left before class, so he decided to head to the bathroom while he could, just in case he couldn’t hold it in during class.
After school was out, Home Run quickly made his way back home to get ready for the big night. He agreed to meet Rainbow Dash at her place after getting ready, while the Rainbooms headed over to Rarity's boutique to get their outfits, Twilight going along with them.
As he opened his door, he realized his parents were home early, already waiting for him inside.
"Hey, mom. Hey, dad," Home Run waved. "You're both back early."
"Hey, Home Run," his dad wished from the dining table. Homebound worked as a bus driver for some company here, having to move to Canterlot after getting the job. "It's a Friday, so the boss though he'd let us off earlier. Tonight's the night, eh? Got your suit ready?"
"I already got it ready for you, son," his mom told him. "I left it on your bed."
"Thanks, mom!" He gave both his parents a hug before heading to the bathroom to clean himself up.
Home Run took a nice hot shower before making sure his teeth were clean and his breath smelled okay.
Vauban detached from the boy and took a look as he put on the suit. "Not bad, but I don't see any *bzzt* tactical advantages from wearing this. What makes it different?"
"I don't know," Home Run admitted. A suit was used for formal events, but why that was, Home Run didn't quite know himself. "I guess people just like to be proper for these kinds of things."
"Actually, another question then," Vauban said as he helped Home Run into his jacket. "What is the point of this.. Dance? How does it help you with *bzzzzt* your combat? Does it upgrade your skills?"
Home Run gave it some thought. "You know, I'm not so sure. A dance is usually just for you to have fun. More like a time to hang out with your friends."
“Hang out with friends, huh… We never had this when we didn’t have you. Our form of hanging out was doing the work of the Lotus. *Bzzzzzt* I am glad you will be enjoying yourself, Home Run. Rest is good for you humans, time to time."
"Got that right, buddy," Home Run checked himself in the mirror. "How do I look?"
Home Run wore a black jacket over a light blue shirt and black pants. He also added a blue tie to the rest of his outfit.
Vauban folded his arms. "First, I'll tell you what you want to hear. Absolutely stunning. Rainbow Dash's gonna like it. Now, I'll tell you what I personally think. You look silly."
“Thanks, Vauban,” Home Run rolled his eyes. One of these days he was going to teach this Tenno some human customs. He checked his clock. It was already four; about time for him to leave. He gave himself more time, just in case he couldn’t find Rainbow’s place.
“Dashing, my boy!” Home Run’s dad said as he headed back to the main room. “You heading out now?”
“Yup!” Home Run grinned as he headed for the door. “Just in case I get lost getting to Rainbow’s place.”
“Well, have fun, son,” his father told him as both parents walked him to the door. “Don’t stay out too late.”
“Will do, dad,” Home Run waved as he headed to the garage to get his bike. “See you both later!”
Home Run cycled down the streets, hoping he was going the right way. Home Run activated Vauban’s helmet to talk to the Tenno, and also for head protection, just in case he fell or anything.
“Hey, buddy, can you track Zephyr’s location?” Home Run asked as he paced himself. “It might help me a little.”
“Sure, give me a second,” Vauban replied. After a second, a marker appeared on Home Run’s radar. “You’re welcome.”
“Thanks,” Home Run nodded. Having a Tenno sure made things a lot easier.
After twenty minutes, Home Run found himself outside Rainbow's place. He parked his bike by the door and lifted a hand to ring the doorbell. He suddenly remembered and quickly stowed the Warframe helmet, just in case.
Before he knew it, Rainbow had opened the door, giving him a big smile. “Hey, slugger! Nice suit. Ready to head out?” She wore a short, rainbow dress with detached purple sleeves and pink boots with a little wing design on both of them. “What do you think of my outfit? Pretty awesome, right? Rarity made it for us for the Fall Formal.”
“Yeah. It’s awesome alright! You look great,” Home Run agreed with her. “Well, let’s get going, then.”
Home Run cycled the both of them to school, both athletes talking about what they were going to do. The front lawn was brightly lighted, the words, 'Valentine's Day Dance - Come Enjoy the Love!' were written on a large banner, hanging over the main front of the school.
"Pinkie probably made that. This event sure has a lot of publicizing huh?" Rainbow asked as Home Run moved his bike to the racks.
"Yeah," Home Run nodded. "Didn't think all of Canterlot had to know about this. I thought this was a school-only event."
"Meh, who knows. Mr. Pierce planned all this anyway, so you can almost expect he's done some weird stuff," Rainbow shrugged. "Ready for the dance, slugger?"
"Is that my new nickname now? Most of the baseball team calls me that."
"Why not?" the rainbow haired girl guffawed as they walked in. "It's a baseball name after all. I think it suits you."
Lightning Rain and Jetstream had arrived early with their dates, both already in the gym, interacting amongst themselves. The silver-blonde haired boy had on a black suit, along with a yellow tie, while Jetstream had a camo green suit and red tie. Lightning’s childhood friend drew the stares of many passing students, her scarlet sequined gown catching any light that hit her and reflecting it all around.
Rose hung tightly to Lightning Rain since entering, refusing to let him go anywhere without her.
"Punch?" he offered to get.
"We can go together!" she smiled at him.
"Looks like you got yourself a good catch, Waterboy!" Jetstream swaggered to the pair, Lightning Dust following behind, resplendent in a green and orange off-the-shoulder dress.
"Jetstream..." Lightning warned.
"Hey, Rose!" Dust waved. "I haven't seen you two together since the old days. How's everything?"
"Everything's great, Dust!" she giggled. "I'm really happy Rain asked me to the dance! I don't dream about anyone but Rain."
"Good on you, little brother," Dust pat him on the back. "You two enjoy yourselves. Come on, Jets. Let's get some grub."
"See you for the dance, Lightning! I'll be sure to show you a few tricks later," Jetstream taunted before rejoining Lightning Dust. "Dance champion, boy!"
Lightning Rain and Rose headed over to the punch bowl to get some refreshments before the dance. Flash Sentry and the girl who came from the other world, if he remembered correctly, Twilight Sparkle, were already there, pouring two cups of punch for themselves.
"Oh, hey Rain," Flash looked up as the two walked over. He wore a simple black suit over a white shirt. "Hi Rose."
"Hey, Flash," Lightning greeted. "And... Twilight! So good to see you!"
"Thanks!" the lavender girl smiled. She wore a sparkly purple and pink dress with pink boots. "I must say. This event looks very promising."
After getting their cups, Flash and Twilight headed off, letting Lightning and Rose get their drinks.
As Lightning poured a cup for both of them, something pink and brown burst out in confetti across from them.
"Still not working!" Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich shouted at the same time as they popped up next to him, almost making Lightning flick the punch everywhere. The pink girl had a blue hat and top, along with a purple and pink skirt and purple boots. The other party planner had on a stunningly, bright yellow jacket and pants, over a white inside shirt.
"Careful..." Lightning muttered. "You'll make the floor all messy.”
"Sorry, Rain," Cheese apologized, giving a whack to a strange mechanism that sort of resembled a tank beside them. "The party cannon V2's still having its malfunctions. I thought I had it..."
"Seriously? You're making a bigger party cannon?"
"Why not?" Pinkie asked, as if party cannons were normal.
“Well, as long as you don’t blow the gym up…” Lightning Rain muttered.
“Silly Lightning Rain,” Cheese laughed and waved the boy off. “We didn’t bring nearly enough gunpowder to do that. Pinkie, pass me the blasting caps and the socket wrench.”
“Wait… what?” Lightning managed to say after almost spitting out all the punch in his mouth.
Rose tugged on his elbow, steering them both away from the two party planners. “I'm sure they’re just kidding around,” she said quickly, but made sure to keep Lightning Rain between her and the party cannon just in case.
Lightning kept looking back at the cannon, afraid that it would explode any minute, and almost walked into Fluttershy and Big Macintosh as they walked in.
“Woah, sorry about that, guys,” Lightning took a step back to avoid them. Fluttershy wore a light blue and yellow strapless dress with blue and pink shoes, while the broad-shouldered boy had a dark red western suit, with a brown bolo tie. “Woah, wait. Fluttershy? You got a partner?”
“Rain!” Rose scowled at him as the pink haired girl hid herself behind Big Mac. “You can’t say that!”
“I’m sorry, Fluttershy.” Lightning scratched the back of his head. “I just spoke off the top of my head. I’m just surprised.”
“I-It’s alright…” the shy girl timidly walked back out, still holding on to the burly boy.
“Big Mac, you asked her to the dance? All by yourself?” Rose asked the farmboy.
“Eeyup.”
“That’s so sweet!” she held in a squeal. “Well, hope you two enjoy the evening!”
“T-Thanks…” Fluttershy put her feet together.
“Well, we’ll let you two mingle,” Lightning nodded farewell to the two quiet students and headed back to a corner with Rose. “So, what do you want to do now, Rose? The dance doesn’t start for another seven minutes.”
“We can catch up,” Rose leaned against the baseball player. “We haven’t gotten a lot of chances to hang out this year. I guess we’ve been busy, huh?”
“Yeah, you could say that. The baseball championships are starting, and we might finally have a shot at getting to the championships again since they implemented that rule where you need a well-sized team. What about you? How’s your gardening going?”
“Oh, it’s going great, actually!” the red haired girl lit up. “Lily, Daisy, and I had taken all the flowers together and made a huge wreath for the event! It’s over there!” Rose pointed to the far wall, behind the stage. A huge laurel hung on it, all kinds of flowers joined together in a circular shape, making the stage a lot nicer to look at.
“Impressive.”
“Hey, Lightning,” Rose asked, turning him to face her. “Do you remember what day it is?”
“Well, it’s Valentine’s Day,” he gave her a strange look. “Did… did you forget?”
Rose puffed her cheeks at him. “No, did you forget? There was something else.”
"Something else?" Lightning tried to recall. Was there another event that took place on the same day? "Uhhh... St. Patrick's Day?"
Rose looked like she was ready to faint. "You really forgot? It was back in Middle School? Something special happened."
That triggered Lightning's memory as he remembered what had happened years ago, on this same day. "The day we met."
"Yes!" she hugged him. "You remember! That day, a strange man had walked into my mom's store and asked for a dozen red roses."
"Yup," Lightning smiled at the memory. "I happened to be walking back from a baseball game when I heard the commotion. He had a phone call from someone and started shouting, 'You're tearing me apart!' and started making a scene."
"Mom and I were so frightened! I had no idea what was going on. Then you came in with your baseball bat and told him to leave. He didn't want to leave, insisting that we ‘keep the change’ even though he hadn’t paid yet.”
"I guess he was too busy shouting at whoever was on the other end, that his mind was elsewhere," Lightning chuckled. "Then I told him to leave again, and readied my baseball bat. That caught his attention. Ha! I remember the look on his face when he thought I was going to bat him down. Then he left, saying he was fed up with the world."
"Then you picked up some of the roses he had dropped and gave them back to me and asked if we were alright," Rose continued to hold him. "That was the day I started having feelings for you."
"And then it turns out we both went to the same school," Lightning laughed at the coincidence.
"And we were in the same grade too. That was an amazing coincidence,” she stepped closer to him. “I’m glad you rescued us that day. Otherwise, I would have never met you.”
“Woah there! Someone’s gettin’ it close!” someone whistled to their left.
Lightning Rain and Roseluck turned to see Applejack, Caramel, Rarity, Thunderlane, and Sunset Shimmer standing there watching them.
“Oh, don’t let us interrupt you!” Rarity waved them to go ahead. “Please. Continue.”
“Ummm…” Lightning looked at them and then at Rose.
Rose’s cheeks were brightly lit, but she still managed a smile for him.
"Come on guys," Sunset pulled the group away. "Leave them alone. Let's go find the others."
“Well that was… awkward,” Lightning said after a few minutes of silence. “So…”
“It’s alright, Rain,” Rose leaned her head against his shoulder. “Let’s just wait here for the dance to start.”
Lightning Rain looked around to see what was going on, just in time to see Home Run enter with-
"Rainbow Dash?" he sputtered out.
"What?" Rose looked at him with a confused look before following his head direction. "Oh! Home Run asked Rainbow to the dance? And she said yes!"
"Yeah, that's... something," Rain nodded his head in agreement. He'd never thought Rainbow would agree to go with anyone. The captain always felt that someone would have to be better than her at something before they could ask her out.
Rose acted before him, walking to the two. "Rainbow! Home Run! You two are here together?"
"That's right, Rose!" Rainbow put her hands on her hips. "We're going to be awesome!"
Home Run looked at her, unsure of what to say before Rose stuck her hand out to him. "Oh, right! I'm Roseluck! I'm into gardening!"
"Oh yeah, I've heard." Home Run shook her hand. "You... Already know me I guess? You kinda said my name earlier."
"Yeah, why wouldn't she?" Rainbow put an arm on his shoulder. "She's come to watch all our baseball matches."
"Congrats, by the way!" she told Home Run.
"Umm... Why?" Home Run asked.
"Oh nothing much." Lightning Rain joined his date. "Just that you're here at the dance with Rainbow Dash. That's a great feat."
"How did you ask her?" Rose bounced excitedly. "I bet it must’ve been something epic!"
"Oh..." Home Run started to blush. "Well, you see..."
"I... I asked him..." Rainbow's cheeks grew red, matching Home Run's.
"Oh..." Was all Lightning and Rose could say.
"Yeah. It was an interesting sequence of events," Home Run smiled.
Before long, Mr. Pierce and Principal Celestia had gone up to the stage, the computer teacher pulling out a microphone from his pockets and putting it on a stand. “Excuse me. Is this working? Alright, good. Welcome, students. As you all know, tonight is the Valentine’s Day dance, and you’re all here today to enjoy yourselves and have fun. Consider yourselves lucky. Back in my day-”
Principal Celestia cleared her throat, taking Pierce's attention to stopping the man from rambling on.
“Right,” Mr. Pierce coughed before turning back to the mic. “Let the dancing begin then.”
Somewhere in the back, a massive boom sounded as confetti started floating down from the sky.
"Let's go, slugger," Rainbow dragged Home Run to the dance floor. "Let's see who's better at dancing!"
"Catch you two later!" Home Run waved goodbye.
Jetstream and Lightning Dust popped up next to Lightning Rain and Rose, a wide smile on the brown haired boy's face.
"Ready to lose, waterboy?" Jetstream taunted. “Dust and I are going to own the dance floor tonight!”
Lightning and Rose walked up to the two. “I guess I should thank you for not starting on your own and showing off to everyone, huh?”
Jetstream put a hand to his chin and raised an eyebrow. “Heh, well not if you say it like that…”
“For a big show off, you’re not very good at your job,” Lightning smirked.
“Well, your sister is the big payoff,” Jetstream countered with his own smile.
Lightning Dust shook her head and let out a little laugh as she crossed her arms. Rose clung to Lightning Rain’s sleeve, unsure of what was about to happen.
“Excuse me?” Lightning took a defensive step forward.
“Forget it,” Jetstream waved both his hands in front of him. “You’ve heard enough from my mouth already. Dancing will decide who’s better. End of story.”
Lightning Rain looked to Rose, his red haired partner nodding in agreement with him. Lightning turned back to Jetstream and pointed to the dance floor with his head before heading in that direction. Jetstream gave another huge smile and followed, Lightning Dust doing the same.
“I don’t care who’s better,” Lightning said over the music as the DJ started playing the beat. “And I’ve got cause enough for competing with you.”
“What?” Jetstream struggled to hear, but eventually got what Lightning had said. “Oh good. Ha ha. Why, that’s very good! Yes. I like that!”
The other Winds saw them walking to the center and joined them, Sundown wanting to make sure they weren’t going to start a fight in the middle of the dance.
“Woah, you two look serious!” Heavy smiled, pulling out his phone to take some pictures. “Looks like this is going to be some dance!”
“Must you two really dance like this?” Sundown asked, shaking his head at their competitive glares.
“Don’t interfere,” Lightning raised a hand to ask him to stop as he and Rose stopped in the center.
Jetstream and Lightning Dust walked a few meters ahead of Lightning Rain and Rose before turning back to face them. “This is between us!”
Both parties got into dancing positions, ready to duke it out. Roseluck was happy enough to be able to dance with Lightning Rain, while the two baseball players stared at each other for a good forty seconds.
“This ends here, Jets,” Lightning muttered under his breath.
Seeing both of them were ready, Jetstream pulled out a rose and stuck it in between his teeth for added effect. “Okay. Let’s dance!”
Before either of them could make the first move, the lights around them flickered momentarily before coming back on.
“What?” Jetstream looked up to the lights above. They looked fine now. “Meh, must have been a small power outage.”
Before anyone could continue, there was a second flicker as the gym was plunged into darkness for a second moment. Lightning Rain looked around. Everyone seemed perplexed at the power shorts, but he spied someone. Two in fact, who looked like they knew what was going to happen. Rainbow Dash and Home Run. The two athletes stood nearby, wearily looking around, their bodies poised like they were getting ready to sprint to first base.
“What’s going on?” Rose gripped Lightning’s arm tighter.
“Stay calm,” Lightning pulled Rose closer as he looked around. He noticed all the members of the Rainbooms were also watching the room like an eagle watching its prey. “I’m sure it’s just a temporary problem…”
What is going on? This doesn’t look good…
“What gives?” Jetstream moaned through his teeth. “I was just about to show Lightning who had the better ideals- I mean dancing!”
As the baseball team stood pondering, the lights flickered again, the darkness swallowing the gym up in an instant. This time, the darkness stayed for a good five seconds before coming back on.
“What’s that?” Dust pointed to the corner of the building.
Just under a basketball hoop, a cloud of smoke started to form, growing larger as time went on. Suddenly, Home Run and Rainbow had pushed past Lightning and the others, waving them to head back.
“Get back,” Home Run warned them. “It’s not going to be safe here. Find some cover.”
“Cover?” Rose started to panic. “What’s going on? What is that thing?”
Lightning looked at the seriousness in his eyes and backed off, bringing Rose with him. "Let's go. They know what they're doing."
The pale-skinned boy looked back one more time before getting behind a pile of gym mats. The darkness seemed to swirl and writhe like a living thing, as if something was about to show up. Whatever it was, he hoped he was right about Home Run and the others; that they knew what they were doing.