More Than Just The Music

by Renegade3299

Getaway

After a performing a couple more concerts- one in Las Pegasus, and another in Canterlot- it was finally time for our band to take it easy for a while. No shows, no traveling- just doing whatever we felt like doing.

The first couple of weeks were busy, though, as we pulled long hours at the studio recording our new album, To The Limit. Sometimes we’d even stay up all night recording, making sure that our music sounded just right. Our friends would often show up at the studio, giving their support and helping out in any way they could, and I was glad to have them at our side. In fact, Striker and Pinkie Pie began dating not too long into our recording sessions. We were all satisfied and happy.

The album wasn’t going to be released until next year, however, and we wouldn’t begin touring until after the release. Needless to say, we had quite a bit of free time on our hooves. Rainbow Dash and I were still hanging out nearly every day, and she often helped out in promoting the band and any events we may have had planned.

Before I knew it, Rainbow’s birthday was approaching. Pinkie, in her usual ways, had a party organized for her. I myself had a surprise for everypony that I would be presenting at the party.

After a couple of weeks, her birthday finally arrived. To keep her distracted while the other five set up the party, I took her out for lunch and then brought her to a Wonderbolts performance, which was conveniently on the same day. We exited the stadium, where she thought we would be going back to my place so she could preview the new album before anypony else.

“Oh, by the way- Pinkie Pie said that there was something she wanted to talk to me about. Mind if we stopped there for a minute?”

Rainbow nodded her head in agreement. She had been having a blast the whole entire day, thinking that this was a perfect birthday celebration. Little did she know of what we all had planned as we made our way to Sugarcube Corner. Slowly, I opened the door…

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!”

The shout came from all of her friends who were there, along with Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. And of course, the rest of the Midnight Manes were there as well.

“How did I not see this coming?” she asked sarcastically with a chuckle.

Everypony joined in giving her a group hug before the party began. The treats Pinkie and Applejack had prepared were as tasty as ever, and Pinkie once again proved that she was the master of parties. Now it was time for Rainbow Dash to open her gifts. Twilight Sparkle gave her the wrapped package that she’d gotten for her. Unwrapping it, Rainbow saw the book Daring Do And The Island Of Eternal Youth- the next book in the Daring Do series. Rainbow expressed her gratitude, hugging her friend.

Rarity was next, giving Rainbow Dash a small, rectangular black box with a bow wrapped around it. Upon opening it, we saw that it wasn’t actually a box- but a case for two pairs of sunglasses. One could see that Rarity had added her own touch to them, decorating the frames with multi-colored stripes on one, and the words RAINBOW DASH etched into the side arms of the other.

“Thank Celestia!” Rainbow said, taking each pair out to examine them “I broke mine last week, and this is just what I needed!”

After everypony else had given her their gifts, it was my turn. I gave her one package, which was a new stereo, along with a copy of our new album. She was the first pony to receive it, as it had yet to be released.

“You’re giving me the album before it’s out?” she asked, astonished.

“Well, I did say that I was going to let you hear it before anypony else.” I said, trying to break the ice.

She got up and pulled me into a tight embrace. But I spoke up, “Wait, I’m not done yet.”

“Huh?” she asked.

“In fact, I need everypony to listen.” I said, giving Lightning Shredder the signal to go and get the other package. He then walked into the other room and quickly returned, carrying a large brown envelope. Everypony looked on in confusion, but that was to be expected.

“Rainbow and I have been hanging out quite a bit, as you may have noticed.” I paused as everypony laughed, “And she’s informed me that she’s wanted to get away, in a matter of speaking. A vacation with her friends, to be more specific.”

Lightning Shredder opened the envelope and laid the contents out on the table. They were papers containing information on tickets and reservations.

“So, we have personally arranged for everypony in this room, a week long vacation in the tropical paradise of Capriole Shores, first class!”

Everypony looked at us dumbfounded. Rarity was the first to speak after a few seconds of silence.

“Why, this is absolutely fabulous!” she cried in delight, “Capriole Shores is one of the greatest destinations in all of Equestria! I’ve always dreamed of going there one day!”

She let out a squee of joy before embracing me. The other ponies followed suit in thanking us, and Rainbow Dash embraced me so tightly I thought I was going to explode. What she did next stunned me- but in a very good way. She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Thanks so much, Shadow! Thank you- all four of you!” she said.

Luckily, Virtuoso was the one who told everypony not to mention it, because I was a bit speechless. Even though it was a quick, split-second peck, I still felt that same feeling I felt whenever I first saw her. After staring off into space for a few moments, I settled down at the table and motioned for the rest to do the same. I began to explain the details of the vacation, eager to let everypony know the awesome time that awaited them.

“So, we’ll be traveling on train, of course.” I began. “We’ve arranged for three first-class cabins. One for us, one for you six, and one for the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”

“You mean… you mean we’re comin’ too?” Apple Bloom asked, her eyes widening.

“Well, of course! All three of you!” Striker said. “We wouldn’t want anypony missing out on this!”

The three fillies nearly knocked us out of our chairs, tackling us with hugs. “All right, y’all,” Applejack told them after a few seconds, “Let ‘em tell us the rest.” Still excited, they got down and looked on eagerly.

“We’ve also reserved a penthouse at the Palomino Royale.” I continued, referring to a famous five-star resort. “Our penthouse has enough beds for everypony. We have free access to anything that anypony else might have to pay for- the spa, the nightclub, the bars, and just about everything else that the hotel has to offer.”

“We’ve also got a few events planned.” Striker informed, “There’s gonna be a couple of times where we’re gonna go snorkeling in the ocean. We’ve also got a ghost tour arranged on our second night there. That’s just a couple of the events we have planned. There’s a lot more for us to do on this vacation.”

As we continued to fill them in on the details of the vacation, everypony listened with fascination and anticipation. A couple of hours passed before we all decided to call it a night. Everypony once again wished Rainbow Dash a happy birthday, and thanked us again for providing the vacation.

“Shadow, would you mind helping me take these back to my place?” Rainbow asked me, tilting her head to her gifts and treats that had been given to her.

“No problem!” I answered, more than happy to spend extra time with her. I turned to my bandmates, saying “I’ll see you at the house, boys.” before I turned my attention to helping out Rainbow Dash. We gathered all of her gifts and treats, gave Pinkie a hug and thanked her for the party before we departed to Rainbow’s house.

As we took flight, Rainbow flew close beside me.

“I’ve never been to Capriole Shores before!” she exclaimed after some time flying.

“Me neither.” I said, which led to her doing a double-take.

“You? I figured you would have already gone there at some time!”

“Nope.” I replied. “This is our first time going there too. And I figured that with us on break, this would be a perfect time for all of us to go on a vacation together!”

We landed at Rainbow’s house by this time. Rainbow opened the door and turned the lights on before turning around to face me.

“Wanna come inside for a few minutes?”

“I normally would,” I told her “But me and the boys need to practice.”

“Whoa, you guys have a new tour already?” she asked, a bit shocked.

“No, it’s only one show.” I explained, “You see, we’re throwing one concert at Capriole Shores on our first night there. We’re still taking it easy for a while, but we’ve always wanted to play there, so this would be a good opportunity. It‘ll be our final concert for a while.”

“I gotcha.” she said.

“Tell you what, though. I’ll drop by tomorrow and we’ll hang out. That sound good?”

“Sounds like a plan.” Rainbow set her things inside the door and then turned around. She embraced me tightly, and then gave me another peck on the cheek.

“Thank you, Shadow Chord.” she whispered. “This has been the most awesome birthday ever!”

“Not… not a problem, Rainbow Dash.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight.” Rainbow then went into her house and smiled at me before closing the door. I turned around and took flight, heading back to my place. I could feel that familiar spark engulfing me.

‘Rainbow Dash…’ I thought. ‘I’m so glad I met you. I know it might sound a little crazy, but I honestly don’t know what my life would be like if you weren’t here. You’re the one true best friend I have. And that’s irreplaceable.’

I was in heavy thought as I flew through the cool, clear night air, but they were happy thoughts. I was truly living a good life now. I was making a living doing what I loved- playing in a band with four bandmates that were like family to me. We were living in Ponyville, the place we’d never trade anything for, and we now had a studio so we could record our music right here in our hometown. I had five ponies who couldn’t have been better friends. And, of course, I had Rainbow Dash, my one true best friend.

I pictured her pretty face, her voice, her warm smile. That alone was enough to bring a grin to my face. And to top it all of, in a few weeks, we were all going to be going on a vacation to one of the top vacation destinations in the land.

As I returned to my house and I practiced with my band long into the night, the mere thought of Rainbow Dash and the upcoming events kept my mind ablaze, yet content.

****ONE MONTH LATER****

“Everypony have everything packed?” Virtuoso called from downstairs.

“I am!” I called out, zipping my suitcase up.

“Me too!” Lightning Shredder shouted from his room.

“Me three!” yelled Striker.

We were all stoked, because today was the day we were heading out to Capriole Shores! The others would be meeting us at Twilight Sparkle’s place. We were then getting the three young fillies out of school early and then heading to the train station.

All four of us met downstairs, where we made one final check throughout the house and gathered all of our needs for the vacation before turning the lights off and shutting the door behind us.

“All right, let’s go!” Lightning Shredder piped in excitement. With that being said, we all headed to Golden Oaks, where we found our six friends all packed and ready, waiting on us in anticipation. Even though we’d all seen each other just two days before, we still greeted one another with the friendliest of hugs and words of friendship.

“So, does everypony have everything they need for this vacation?” I double checked. “Nothing forgotten?”

When each responded positively, I grinned with excitement.

“Then let’s rock n’ roll!” I shouted, which was followed by enthusiastic cheers from our friends. We all trotted happily as a group to the schoolhouse, where Cheerilee was giving the day’s lesson to all of the fillies. As Twilight slowly opened the door, she knocked, giving Cheerilee the signal that we had arrived.

“Ah, Twilight, so good to see you!” Cheerilee said before looking over to where Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were sitting. “Well, you three, it’s time for you guys to head out. Your luggage is over there in the closet. Have fun in Capriole Shores and don’t forget to tell us all about it when you get back!”

“Bye, Ms. Cheerilee!” the three chimed simultaneously. As Cheerilee continued teaching the rest of the class, we all watched as the young fillies went over to the closet and retrieved their luggage, which had been previously packed for them the day before by Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Their faces beamed with excitement as they made sure they had everything they needed. Something then caught my attention out of the corner of my eye.

Glancing to my left, I saw Diamond Tiara staring at the Crusaders, her arms folded. Her face wore an expression of anger, resentment and, above all, envy. No doubt, she was likely thinking that she should have been the one packing her things and going on vacation.

‘Well, Diamond,’ I thought, ‘Perhaps if you didn’t bully them all the time, this wouldn’t be a problem.’

Since meeting them, the three foals had told me several accounts of how Diamond Tiara treated them, and being a former victim of bullying myself, I wasn’t very pleased with the way she acted. But now, it was their turn to have fun, to know what it’s like to live somewhat of a lavish lifestyle.

My thoughts were interrupted when the fillies approached us, wide grins plastered on their faces.

“You three have everything?” Applejack asked, to which they nodded. With everything settled, all of us made our way to the train station, where Virtuoso picked up our ticket reservation. He handed each pony their ticket, letting Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash hold onto one extra ticket for each of their siblings.

As we waited for the train to arrive, everypony made small talk, discussing topics ranging from our plans for Capriole Shores, to us telling road stories and information about the new album.

After about half an hour, our train pulled into the station. Giving our tickets to the taker, we all made our way to the VIP Cabin, which was, in fact, four cabins that were reserved for us. It consisted of three bedrooms and a living area. We showed the Cutie Mark Crusaders their bedroom, and then the other six to theirs before setting our suitcases down in our room. The train sounded its whistle and began moving, marking the beginning of our vacation.

****TWO DAYS LATER****

The train whistled and came to a halt. I glanced out of our window, seeing that we had arrived at our destination. The four of us got our belongings and darted into the living area, finding everypony with their suitcases ready and smiles plastered on their faces. We all stared at each other for a few moments before I spoke up.

“Let’s rock n’ roll!”

We all cheered, got off the train and exited the station, pausing to look at our surroundings. The sky was crystal clear and the sun shone brightly, giving us a look at the tall buildings and busy streets that surrounded us. Ponies everywhere had looks of content, excitement and overall happiness on their faces. We were definitely in for the time of our lives here!

We found the trolley and boarded it, on route to the Palomino Royale. Some ponies may have taken the seats indoors, but we all stood near the windows, each grabbing a hoof rail. As the trolley moved along the streets, we continued to look all around us. Along with the ponies, all kinds of places lined the streets- nightclubs, hotels, casinos, museums, restaurants- you name it, it was there in Capriole Shores. My bandmates and I gave a cheer and raised our hooves in the air as we passed one building in particular- the Equestria Daily Arena, with the lighted sign out front reading ‘TONIGHT! CAPRIOLE SHORES WELCOMES THE MIDNIGHT MANES’

After a fifteen minute ride, we arrived at the luxurious Palomino Royale. Virtuoso quickly checked us in and we were given the keys to our suite. We quickly headed up to the twelfth floor and unlocked the door.

We paused at the entrance, looking around. Even though I knew it was a luxury hotel, I was still taken aback. A huge room sprawled out before us. The tile floor glistened from the soft light that illuminated the room, while the windows that reached from the floor to the ceiling gave us an incredible view of the ocean and the city. There was a kitchen and a dining area with a table large enough to seat all of us. The living area had four sofas, two futons and six comfort chairs and a large fireplace. A large television hung on one of the walls with an X-Bucks 360 set up below it on a stand. We discovered that one of the sofas in the living area had a pull-out bed, which Spike gladly claimed for himself. The balcony outside was spacious and had two outdoor tables.

On the second floor of the penthouse were six spacious bedrooms. Five of them were each furnished with two large beds, dividing privacy curtains, a television of its own, a desk and a large window, each with its own magnificent view of Capriole Shores. A large bathroom adjoined each room. The other bedroom was the one designed for young foals, with three bunk beds and a television complete with another X-Bucks 360. The young fillies were delighted, each of them claiming their own top bunk. Now it was time for all of us to select our bedrooms.

Pinkie Pie and Striker took the bedroom across from the room where the Cutie Mark Crusaders were, while Fluttershy and Rarity took the room at the end of the hall. Virtuoso and Lightning Shredder claimed the first room in front of the stairs. Twilight and Applejack took the room adjacent to the one Virtuoso and Lightning Shredder were in. That meant there was only one bedroom left. And the two ponies that were left were myself and Rainbow Dash.

“You… don’t mind sharing a room with me, do you, Rainbow?” I asked, feeling a bit awkward. But, as always, she was there to break the awkwardness.

“Of course not! You don’t snore, though, do you?” she asked with a grin.

“Nope!” I answered.

We entered the remaining bedroom and I threw my suitcase on the bed next to the window. Rainbow Dash set her things on the other bed, and along with the other ponies, we exited our penthouse to explore the rest of the hotel. We spent the next hour looking around at what the hotel offered. There were three pools outside along with hot tubs and tiki bars. We also saw that the hotel had a complete foal playground. Inside we came across a spa, two nightclubs and two restaurants, a fitness center, an arcade and a gift shop. And the best part was, we all had free access to any of these at any time of day or night.

Everypony was excited to take full advantage of what we had offered to us, but we all knew that it would have to wait until later tonight- right now, we all had to get ready to make our way over to the Equestria Daily Arena for the concert tonight. So, we returned to the penthouse, where we all readied ourselves. After ten minutes, I was all set, and so was Rainbow. I grabbed my guitar, and exited the room with Rainbow Dash, convening in the living area with the rest of the crowd. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were pretty excited- this was their first time they would be watching us from backstage.

Going down to the lobby, we spoke with the clerk and arranged for our own personal trolley to take us to the arena. We didn’t have to wait long, and soon we were on our way.

“Already this vacation is simply fabulous!” Rarity exclaimed, relishing in the fact that she was on a high-class, lavish getaway at top vacation destination. “I never dreamed that I would be here in Capriole Shores with all of my friends!”

“Thank you all again.” Twilight Sparkle spoke with gratitude. Everypony followed suit in giving us their thanks.

“No,” Virtuoso said, “Thank all of you. The six of you- and of course, you three little ones- all treat us as friends, not as gods. We may be rockstars, but we’re still ponies, and we couldn’t ask for better friends.”

Everypony was humbled by what Virtuoso said, but we meant every word of it. It was these six that we could talk with, hang out, and do things with, and they didn’t stare or babble at us like some ponies would

About this time, we pulled up to the gigantic stadium, circling around to the back entrance. Already, fans were making their way to the front, ready to see us perform. Everypony was excited for this concert, because this would be our final concert before our big break, and that was something that all four of us were heavily anticipating. We loved our career and we loved our fans, but we were ready to take it easy for a while, and we were definitely looking forward to this vacation.

The trolley came to a stop, and a group of arena staff came out and escorted us to our room backstage. We were informed that two local bands were playing as opening acts and that we would be each be playing for half an hour, giving us about an hour before we went on. Seating ourselves, we all relaxed and exchanged small talk, which helped to pass the time. My bandmates and I warmed up a bit on our instruments. We even went over to the stage entrance and watched the second opening band for a bit when they began playing. Thankfully, the crowd was giving them a good reception. After another twenty five minutes of waiting in the back room, and the crew began setting up the stage for our performance. We began getting ready for the show, and soon were told by a staff member that we were on.

We got our instruments and the others followed us out to the stage, where the crowd began with the classic “MID-NIGHT MANES!” chant, sending the adrenaline through us. Then, the arena went dark and the crowd went wild. Everypony soon heard our intro boom through the stadium.

“Good luck, you guys!” Twilight said, barely above a whisper as we prepared ourselves. Then, the intro gave our signal to walk on.

'Mares and gentlecolts,

I give you…
The Midnight Manes!'

We rushed out onto the stage, soaking in the enthusiastic greeting from the crowd. After pausing for a moment, we burst into song, playing ‘Feel This Power’. the crow began swaying their heads, some even jumping up and down. Our nine friends all watched on from behind the stage, nodding their heads in rhythm to our music. The entire crowd sang along as I belted out the lyrics, and gave an enormous roar of excitement when we finished the song.

“Good evening, Capriole Shores!” I addressed the crowd, who cheered in response.

“You can do better than that! I said, Good evening, Capriole Shores!”

A louder, more powerful cheer arose and nearly shook the foundations of the arena. From the corner of my eye, I saw that a few of our friends were covering their ears, but looked on proudly.

“We are so glad to be here! It looks like we’re gonna have a blast tonight, whaddya say!”

The packed arena cheered once again, and we began playing our next song.

After playing five of our classic songs, I decided to take it up a notch.

“Man, you ponies are so awesome!” I said once the roars had settled down a bit. “Tell you what, I think we’re gonna do something a little special right now. As you know, our new album, To The Limit is being released next year. Anypony looking forward to it?”

The ponies responded with great enthusiasm, which we were all grateful to hear. I continued speaking.

“Well, why don’t we give you all a preview of what’s to come? We just recently finished recording the album at our new studio, and we-”

I stopped speaking when I saw Virtuoso stumble back, nearly falling over. Wondering what had happened, I walked over to him. I was about to ask what was going on, when I saw a bottle, half full of liquid, on the stage floor next to him. I’d heard of this happening to several bands, but this was the first time that something like this had happened to us. However, I was prepared to deal with this problem, as I knew it would happen some time or another. Picking up the bottle, I went over to my microphone and spoke in a serious tone.

“Who did that?”

I didn’t get a clear response at first, so I held the bottle out for everypony to see, and repeated myself.

“Who threw the bottle?”

As all of us looked around, I saw Lightning Shredder point to a section over to my right. Looking to where he was indicating, I saw two ponies in the third row, pointing to another one, who was giving us a rather nasty look.

“He threw it!” one of the ponies told me.

“You threw this?” I asked the pony, who nodded his head with a mean grin.

“Listen, I hate to sound like a jerk,” I said. “But we’re not gonna stand up here and have things thrown at us, and I’m pretty sure nopony else wants you doing that- am I right?”

The arena cheered, indicating that they agreed with me. I then turned my attention back to the hater.

“Look here, buddy.” I continued, “I don’t know if you don’t like us, or if you’re just doing this because you've seen others do it, but we-”

I didn’t have time to finish before I saw another bottle flying in my direction. However, since I saw it coming my way, I was able to drop the other bottle and catch this one. I looked at the pony, who had a surprised expression.

“You missed.” I said, which the ponies in the audience applauded. I continued.

“All right, tough guy. Like I said, we didn’t sell tickets for jerks like you to throw stuff at us, and we’re not gonna put up with this. You can either leave on your own free will, or we can have you escorted out- it’s your choice.”

I thought that I would have to summon security to get him out of the arena, but the pony simply turned around and began walking toward the exit.

“If I catch you doing this in the future, I’m not gonna be so nice next time!” I warned him as he walked away. Once he came to the door, a pair of security ponies followed him out, probably for assurance.

“Now that the problem’s been taken care of, perhaps we can get back to rocking out?” I asked the audience. “As I said, we figured we’d play you something from our new album- this next one is the title song of the album, To The Limit!”

With excitement, we began playing the new song for the eager audience.

*******************************

“Thank you so much, Capriole Shores, you have been an incredible crowd!” I said to the crowd. “We’ll see you when we’re in town next time! Until then, good night!”

A final sound of the instruments and blast of pyro, and the concert was finally over. We threw some picks and drumsticks to our fans and then walked backstage after saluting them one final time. We were a bit worn out, but satisfied. Now, we had a good, long break ahead of us, and an awesome vacation to kick it off.

“How are you all feeling?” Fluttershy inquired with her warm smile.

“Famished.” Striker responded with a chuckle, giving Pinkie an embrace. “Let’s get back to the hotel and hit up one of those restaurants.”

We gathered our belongings that we’d brought with us. We went out to the trolley and signed a few things for some fans that approached us before boarding and returning to the hotel. Twilight Sparkle suggested trying Andalusia’s, one of the two restaurants in the hotel. We all agreed, and as soon as we got back to the hotel, we went to our penthouse, where everypony got cleaned up from the concert and then made our way to the restaurant. We approached the hostess, who led us to one of the larger tables. Some of the ponies seemed to recognize me and my bandmates, but did not get up from their table, which was a bit of a relief to us. As much as we loved our fans, we were ready to just take it easy for now.

The hostess handed out menus to everypony and informed us that our waiter would be along very shortly. We glances at our menus and began deciding what we would be having for the evening. The waiter now approached us. Welcoming us to the restaurant, he pulled out his notepad and said “Can I start everypony off with a beverage?”

“I know I want to get a bottle of sparkling water for all of us.” I said. I had considered wine, but I remembered that there were three young fillies and a dragon with us, so sparkling water would have to do, but I didn’t mind.

We all ordered our personal drinks, ranging from root beer, to lemonade, Dr. Pony and tea.

“And has everypony decided what they will be having?”

We all looked at one another, each giving a nod, a response, or some type of gesture that let us know we’d decided.

“Ah’ll have a daisy sandwich and hay fries.” Applejack stated, setting her menu down on the table.

“I will have the rose wellington .” Rarity ordered, placing her menu on top of Applejack’s.

“For me…” Virtuoso said, glancing over his menu quickly “The orchid jambalaya sounds good.”

“I’ll take the molten chocolate cake!” Pinkie said, which none of us were really surprised to hear.

“Give me an order of twenty nuclear oat wings.” Striker stated

“And I’ll have the same.” Lightning Shredder said. Both he and Striker were big fans of spicy cuisine.

“I think I’ll have the salad special of the day.” Twilight Sparkle spoke after Striker.

“I’ll just have the hay and apple dish.” Spike said.

“I’ll take the daffodil souffle.” Fluttershy informed.

“All three of us are gonna have a lilac pizza!” Apple Bloom told the waiter, referring to herself and her two friends.

“Well,” I said. “I think I’m gonna have the filet magnolia.”

“I’ll have the hibiscus burger.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Very good. Your meals will be out as soon as possible.” the waiter informed us before going to the back and then returning with a cart full of our drinks and sparkling water. After serving everypony their drinks, he went off to take care of other customers. Lightning Shredder got up, and filled everypony’s fancy glass with sparkling water. He then called for us all to raise our glass.

“Here’s to a long week of relaxing and enjoyment. Let’s all have the time of our lives!”

We all drank to his toast, and then Rarity stood, raising her glass. We all followed suit.

“And here’s to all four of you, for giving us such an elaborate vacation. Thank you.”

The other ponies repeated their thanks and we drank to her toast. All of us continued conversing about the show, and about our plans for the week. It wasn’t too long of a wait before the waiter brought our food out.

After eating our dinner, we all decided to get towels from our room and head out to the pool, as the young fillies said they wanted to swim for a bit. So, while they splashed about in the pool, we joined our friends in the hot tub, relaxing our muscles that ached from the show earlier that evening. As we all continued speaking of our plans, Rainbow moved a bit closer to me, leaning her head on my shoulder, the same as Pinkie was doing with Striker.

“I forgot to tell ya- mighty good show out there, y’all!” Applejack said.

“Yeah!” Pinkie Pie said with a grin “Except for that meanie who threw the bottle!”

“I wanted to knock him on his back!” Rainbow Dash said. “But I like how you got him to leave!”

“We’ve actually never had that happen to us before.” Virtuoso said, bringing his hoof up to his head, where the bottle had struck.

“Are you going to be all right, darling?” Rarity asked, checking the spot.

“It wasn’t really painful.” Virtuoso answered. “It was just irritating to go through that.”

After a while, the fillies decided that they were tired, so we all went back up to the penthouse to settle down for the evening. Everypony said their good-nights and headed into their bedrooms. I informed Rainbow that even though it was pretty late, I wasn’t tired yet, and I was going to head to the top floor to watch the city from there.

“Can I come with you?” she said.

“You didn’t even need to ask. Let’s go!”

We made our way up another eight stories, where we found the door to the top balcony. Opening the door, we went outside, where we could see the entire city below us. Being a city that never slept, the lights of the city were as bright as ever. To our right, we could see the ocean and beyond to the horizon.

“What a view!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“What a view, indeed.” I said, seating myself on the bench. Rainbow sat next to me, and once again leaned her head on my shoulder, making me feel extremely comfortable. We sat there in silence, gazing out at the city that lay before us.

I looked over to my left. I could almost imagine Ponyville as a mere speck beyond the horizon. I was so glad to call that place my home. A place where I was well-off, I could do as I pleased, and I had ponies that cared about me. I breathed a contented sigh.

“Something wrong?” Rainbow asked, looking up at me. Feeling a bit daring, I put my foreleg around her. Luckily, she didn’t back away.

“I’m just thinking on what a fantastic life I’m living. And it’s all thanks to everypony that’s here on vacation. Especially you, Rainbow Dash.” I told her.

“My life’s changed for the better since I met you as well.” Rainbow Dash said. “I mean, my friends are some of the best anypony could ask for, but you’re always coming to see me. You take me to do things, you hang out with me. And who would have thought that I’d be best friends with the leader of the Midnight Manes?”

“I myself never thought I’d come this far.” I said.

We sat on the bench for a few more silent minutes before Rainbow Dash let a yawn escape.

“I think I’m getting tired as well.” I told her. “Besides, we have a tour of the ancient tribal temple tomorrow anyway. We’d better get some shuteye.”

We returned to the penthouse and quietly moved to our room, being careful not to wake the others. I turned and hugged Rainbow Dash.

“Good night, Rainbow.” I said.

“’’Night, Shadow.” she answered.

I turned the light off and collapsed onto my bed. I turned and glanced over at Rainbow, who was already asleep. Dare I say, she looked very peaceful, and quite beautiful when she slept. But then again, she always looked beautiful to me, I won't lie. As I turned over and looked out the window of our room, at the bright city lights, Rainbow Dash continued to go through my mind. Her soft and slow breathing seemed to relax me even more. Her touch felt as if it were still there. That was when I made the ultimate realization. I began to understand what that feeling was that I received every time I saw her, whenever I hugged her, when she would rest her head on my shoulder. I didn’t say it aloud, but in my mind- right before I drifted off to sleep- I thought,

'Rainbow Dash… I think I just might be falling in love with you…'

Comments

[Renegade3299]

Sorry this one took a while, I had a small case of writer's block. Hope you all enjoy it, though! Next chapter is in the works!

[IsraBrine]

2637506 YES FINALLY THE NEWEST CHAPTER!!! I've waited so long for this I'm glad it came......when will the next chapter come out? and nice references X-Bucks 360, Dr. Pony, and others if i didn't see them. Awesome story man, Keep it up! I am SOOOOOOO in love with this story! Keep up the good work and chapters. I'll always be here!

[Rainbow Song]

god I hate to get writers block but I was oh so worth the wait I LOVED IT
and the ponyfied references love them
i can not wait for more

[Urversher]

im really enjoying this story but the ponyified references are maybe just a bit to much any way its a really nice peace of literature im really enjoying it keep it up
have a big mac

[The Flash]

Re-Reading this now, seriously love this story

[Jazzaman]

“We’ve actually never had that happen to us before.” Virtuoso said, bringing his hand up to his head

Oops bit of a slip there