> triple dog
>  by Ezrienel
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Game
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


triple dog



1. The Game


The dulcet tones of rock music blared out her open window, pouring little by little over the sill and out into the open streets. She laid on her bed with her feet up by her pillow, fully dressed in torn folds of clothing from feet to fingers. Spinning one wheel on her old, scratched skateboard with her absent fingers, Rainbow Dash stared up at the ceiling blankly.

Tonight was her best friend's birthday, and yet the only thing on her mind was the dark, roaring turns and teeth of a familiar river, strangled by the night and tainted by a memory so clear. A girl stood high above it on the bridge, someone whose face had begun to fade already, the way her body did as it fell into the unforgiving, tumultuous river beneath.

Rainbow Dash moved the skateboard from its place resting on her midsection and pulled herself up, realizing she could be later than she usually was if she sulked for too long. She snatched her black, fingerless gloves and pulled them on over her hands, prying her window further open to permit her escape. She grabbed her skateboard by the truck and pushed it slightly out the window until it balanced on the sill, following close after.

She swung her leg out first and ducked under the small gap, dropping her foot down to catch a ledge of siding that encircled her house. Scaling the side of the second story, Rainbow Dash kicked off the wall and managed to land on the roof of the garage, reaching back up only to grab her faithful skateboard. This was clearly not her first time performing such a feat, as she continued along the sloping roof until she made her way down to street level.

Across town, a simple farm girl looked at herself with a contorted expression in the old, wooden framed mirror in her room. Now, she was never very interested in looking all dolled up, but for a moment she wished she was. Some of her friends cared a lot about stuff like that, but all she ever did in the mirror was make sure her hair was all tied back and her shirt collar was folded right, and she even sometimes forgot to do that. Even from her bedroom at the top of the stairs, she heard a knocking at her old worn front door, it always snivelled pathetically when someone hit it.

"Applejack, yer friend's 're here." Her Grandmother called up from the den, where she often took her evening naps or knitted in solitude. Applejack decided at the last moment to pull open one more button from her shirt and stood up straight.

"I'm comin'," She called down to the elderly woman, knocking some tried-on plaid shirts off her bed and kicking some debris into the closet. As she left her room she nabbed the Stetson that hung on her coat rack, adorning it over her long, blonde hair in the same fashion as ever.

She rounded the stairwell and let her hand trail down the railing the whole way, her boots clicking against the hardwood steps loudly. The living room was not far, but she managed to run into her brother on the way and gave him a wave as he went up to his own room, knowing it would be best to stay out of the way tonight.

Three of her friends had arrived and been let in, and were sitting around on the living room couches. Rarity, the most vain and dainty of them all, had borrowed her parents sport utility vehicle to provide a ride for her friends. Applejack's farm was a little ways out of town, so they were glad for the lift. Pinkie Pie had brought her own party kit and set to work decorating the whole room while Applejack and Twilight Sparkle brought out the snacks. Twilight was always a very helpful and responsible friend, so she didn't mind helping out with organizing the party.

"My, this sure is a quaint and charming little home, isn't it?" Rarity commented, though Applejack wasn't quite sure if it was a compliment. Rarity had never been inside her farm house before, that became quite apparent.

"This is going to be so much fun! I have so many games in mind, I'm just spilling with them!" Pinkie Pie bounced around as she finished up, throwing confetti around like she didn't care who had to clean up.

"Pinkie, I already made a list of acceptable party games, you can read it over but the final revisions have already been made." Twilight tried to reason with her, pushing the confetti to the side as she placed down a bowl or two of snacks.

"You really need to read a book on how to party, Twilight." Pinkie Pie told her as she blew up a balloon and tied it, knocking it into the air and chasing it.

It was not long until that pathetic old front door sneezed and snivelled again as it bore three quiet knocks. Excusing herself, the host went to greet another guest. Applejack pulled open the door easily, that usual crooked smile on her expectant face. Though her guest was not who she was anticipating, she warmly greeted her just the same.

"Well howdy there, sugar." Applejack spoke with a tip of her hat, leaning a bit on the door as it opened further, "You showed up."

"M-My mother, she made me," The timid girl squeaked a bit at the attention, hiding behind her long, flowing bangs. Applejack just leaned down a bit to catch her fallen eye line and tried to put her at ease.

"Listen sugar cube, no one is makin' you stay." She reminded her, but still the tall, meek girl just shuffled in the doorway, "Fluttershy, do y'wanna be here?"

"Um, do you want me here?" The girl responded with uncertainty, with her lack of self esteem she always assumed that she was unwelcome or unwanted, even among her closest friends.

"Do you always answer questions with questions?" Applejack chuckled with amusement, watching her friend blush a bit with embarrassment.

"Do... do you?" Fluttershy replied in a quiet tone, not really knowing what else to say.

"Fluttershy! Oh my gosh, I didn't know that you were going to be here tonight!" Pinkie Pie's voice made Applejack wince, as it chirped from right behind her ear. The pink-haired loud-mouth grabbed at Fluttershy's hand and yanked her along into the house. "This is going to be so fun! Come on!"

Pinkie Pie dragged the poor squeaking girl in tow, who was clasping at her bag and moving her feet in quick little steps. Applejack leaned out the door and looked around, but still there was no sign of who she was waiting for. Closing the door, Applejack knew she should have expected as much. As she re-entered the living room, she found the whole bunch of them sitting down and in the middle of some conversation.

"But darling, he is so robust and refined," Rarity went on, and Applejack rolled her eyes just knowing how this was going to go, "He's the student body president, chairman of the young investor's club, and the Principal's nephew. And he's dashing to boot!"

"Yes, but he's not exactly the most selfless of people." Twilight tried to tell her as Applejack came around and sat on her favourite recliner. "You're always saying how you love to be pampered, Blueblood doesn't seem like the type for that."

"Are you calling me high-maintenance?" Rarity gasped and pressed her fingers against her chest in shock. The whole room knew that was true, but Rarity never liked to hear it.

"Well you ain't exactly easy-goin'," Applejack shrugged as she got comfortable in her seat, and Rarity glared at her. Applejack was known for calling it as she saw it, but she was never rude or obnoxious about it, "All I know is that Blueblood fella' ain't nothin' but a spoiled brat lookin' to buff up his resume. You're too good for that kinda trash."

"If that was supposed to be a compliment, I'm not certain it came through," Rarity flipped her hair as Applejack grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry Rare, I just mean that money and looks ain't everythin'." Applejack chewed at her lip as she leaned back a bit, crossing her ankles on the living room rug.

"How silly to say, of course it is." Rarity laughed lightly, though even she was not so conceited, she was just looking for a reaction, "All I will say is truly I hate physical excursion, but I wouldn't mind straddling a real man like him."

"Oh, eww, don't put that image into my head," Twilight tried to blink it away and shook her hands out in a disgusted gesture, "Eidetic memory, remember?"

It was true, Twilight had an amazing memory for recollecting facts, images and sounds. Her eidetic memory served well to keep her at the top of every one of her classes. Applejack just chuckled at her friends, their clashing personalities always led to some interesting conversation. Fluttershy leaned forward and took one of the carrots from a vegetable platter Applejack had spread out, and brought it close. While no one was looking, she sneaked it into her bag and felt as the creature hiding inside, a small white bunny, sniffed at it and gratefully took a bite.

Birthday parties were never dull when Pinkie Pie was around, but still, Applejack felt unusually bored or disinterested. They did the usual few things: exchanging presents, eating cake and pizza, and talking about school, but it was nothing particularly memorable or special. That is, until the door was hit with two loud, obnoxious knocks that sounded like someone was trying to kick it down. Applejack hurriedly ducked out of the living room and hustled over the the door, knowing exactly who stood on the other side. She pried it open and was met by the familiar apathetic and slick expression of her best friend.

"S'up?" Rainbow Dash let loose this smug little one-sided smirk and raised her hand between them, her expression cool and aloof.

"I knew you'd be here, better late than never I s'pose." Applejack clasped her hand in their familiar greeting and stepped close, smiling at her best friend's appearance as their free hands went around each other in a quick embrace.

"You know me." Rainbow shrugged lazily and released her hold on Applejack, slipping around her and heading into the living room.

"As usual, you're the last to arrive." Applejack remarked as she nudged Rainbow Dash in the side roughly, bringing forth a defiant pout from said rainbow-noggined rebel.

"So, the gang's all here then," Rainbow swaggered into the room, commanding the attention of all the other girls. Her confidence sure was hard to miss, and her arrogant, smug expression hung between her ears as always. Her voice came out sarcastically and stuffed with attitude, "Have we sung happy birthday yet?"

"Of course, but we'll sing it again if you want to join in!" Pinkie Pie bounced up and down as she spoke, only pausing to pull in this great big breath that filled her slightly chubby stomach, "Happ—"

"That's cool, I'll catch it in another year." Rainbow Dash cut her off with a leisurely wave, shoving her hands back into her pockets. Her mouth moved oddly with each word, over pronouncing and giving volume despite her laid-back stance, "So, I'm here. Let's do something."

"I'll take y'all up to my room, c'mon," Applejack tugged on Rainbow's arm, gesturing for the rest of the girls to follow them up the stairs.

"I heard Principal Celestia called you into her office the other day, Rainbow," Twilight caught up to her friend and asked the question on her lips. Rainbow Dash sort of scoffed a bit and shrugged, "What happened?"

"She called my parents and shit, lame old same old," Rainbow rolled her eyes as she followed Applejack up the stairs, noticing the swaying of her athletic body as she did. Rainbow herself was an athlete, so she admired Applejack's strong nature. "No big deal."


Four days ago...


Rainbow Dash shoved her skateboard into her locker, moving around the gym clothes, tattered text books and empty notebooks to make enough room. She never really cared enough to clean it out, she just made it work. Slamming the locker closed, she held it there with one hand as she slid the lock through the metal loops, clicking it into place.

"Guess what?" Applejack spun around Rainbow Dash, speaking real close to her ear as to get her attention. Rainbow barely turned around to know who it was, and smirked as she replied.

"Tell me." Rainbow responded easily as her eyes settled on her best friend, who leaned against the locker beside her casually and caught her gaze.

"My birthday's on Friday, an' if Big Mac and I finish up the chores early, Granny said it's okay if I have a party." She told her with a hopeful smile, tilting her head as she watched her friend's reaction.

"Hm." Rainbow Dash nodded in an interested manner, but noticed as a couple familiar faces rounded the corner behind Applejack.

"So maybe—" Applejack was about to go on, but someone stepped beside the two of them, his backpack hanging off his broad shoulder and two of his friends at his back.

"Hey," He butted in nonchalantly, nodding to Rainbow Dash but subtly looking Applejack up and down, "How's it going?" It seemed like he was asking Applejack, but Rainbow Dash stepped in.

"A.J. and I were just chatting, Soarin." Rainbow Dash told him, trying to hint that he should bugger off. "Need something?"

"Nah, was just saying hey," Soarin shrugged his bag a bit, glancing over at Applejack again, "Hey." Applejack huffed a laugh and forced herself to keep from rolling her eyes, leaning closer on the locker to Rainbow Dash so he might realize they were still talking. He cocked his head at the farm girl and spoke again, "Did I hear something about Friday night?"

"Only about how lonely you'll be fappin' to your country-girl pin-ups." Rainbow Dash smirked nudging him a step away with a daring gaze. Soarin laughed a bit, but he knew that Rainbow was trying to embarrass him in front of Applejack.

"All right, I guess I'll see you later then." Soarin nodded in defeat, waving lazily as he started started walking down the hall, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Later," Rainbow Dash nodded him off, snickering a bit. Applejack tried to be polite as she cleared her throat to get back into the conversation, but Rainbow Dash had something else in mind, "Wow, is he obvious or what?"

"Beg pardon?" Applejack asked as she chewed on her cheek. She had noticed that Soarin was a bit forward, but she didn't really peg that up to anything but that he was a guy.

"He was all over you A.J., what, you couldn't tell?" Rainbow prodded at her friend, leaning in as they spoke of such matters and over-pronouncing every word, "He was practically slobbering on your tits."

"Eww, Rainbow," Applejack rolled her eyes and turned so that her back was against the locker instead of her shoulder. Applejack glanced at her best friend again, and they shared a humorous smile. Over the bright-headed athlete, Applejack caught sight of three other girls, "Oh, howdy y'all!" She called as she raised her hand so they could see her from the distance.

Rainbow Dash looked over her shoulder and noticed them, then turned back to Applejack, "Are you inviting them too?"

"O'course, they're our friends if y'forgot." Applejack roughly shoved Rainbow's shoulder, who responded by stepping just a little nearer.

"And here I thought we'd have the place all to ourselves." Rainbow Dash touched her friend on her belt, slowly moving her finger up her stomach in a teasingly sensual movement. Rainbow's smile spread into a devilish grin as she noticed her friend blushing a bit under the attention, "Just me and you."

It was quite clear to everyone that Rainbow Dash had no interest in men whatsoever, but it was still quite a secret that she was actually interested in women. She never spoke the words out loud, but people thought as much from her. Applejack always just took her advances as aggressive teasing, Rainbow Dash was known for being a prankster, so she rarely took her seriously.

"Quit foolin' around," Applejack chuckled as she pushed Rainbow's hand away, though she didn't mind the feeling as much as she thought she might have, "You're gonna give people the wrong idea."

"Wrong is the way I like it." Rainbow licked her lips and raised her eyebrow, but Applejack knew she must have been playing around with her. And as if on cue, the other girls arrived at their location on the lockers.

"Hey Applejack, how's it going?" Twilight Sparkle asked with a pleasant smile, as Rarity and Pinkie Pie came to either side of her and offered similar smiles to the pair at the lockers.

"Oh right, I forgot." Rainbow Dash spoke up as she raised her arms and made an overacted troubled face, "I'm invisible today."

"Oh my gosh, really?!" Pinkie Pie squealed as she looked around her friend, hoping that she might actually become invisible or something. "Do it! Do it!"

"I'm not—" Rainbow started but then took a deep breath, trying not to scream at the poor oblivious girl. She let it out slowly and continued while Applejack stifled a laugh beside her, knowing how difficult it was for Rainbow to control her outbursts sometimes, "I'm not actually invisible, Pinkie, it was a joke."

"Any who," Applejack stepped in and paused to wait for the attention patiently, "I was just tellin' Rainbow here that my Granny said I could have a birthday party on Friday, if y'all are free."

"Party. Party?" It almost seemed like Pinkie Pie's hair inflated, and everyone took a simultaneous step back, "Party!? I am so, so totally there it's not even funny!"

"Yeah, I figured." Applejack forced out a smile and a laugh as the other girls nodded and seemed to agree to the terms.

"Oh, so Applejack, you did the geometry homework last night, right?" Twilight immediately began talking about school work, and Applejack just sort of smiled nervously, "What did you get for question twenty-one?"

"Uh, I dunno if I'm the girl to ask, 'sides, I ain't got that fancy picture-memory, question twenty-one don't mean nothin' to me, Twi." Applejack fell into step beside the purple-haired girl, who continued to babble about school as Rainbow Dash drifted behind them, annoyed that her conversation partner had been stolen.

As the rest of the girls rounded the nearby corner, Rainbow Dash slowed down a bit when she realized who was walking past her. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms at the sight of an unfortunately familiar face. The girl who passed her, whose hair was cut unusually short despite her former attention to keeping it perfect, scoffed at the sight of the rainbow-haired girl. Of course, all that did was incite her anger to flare up.

"What, Sunset Shimmer?" Rainbow Dash spat as she glared at the unfriendly girl.

"Whatever you want." Sunset Shimmer shrugged and shook her head with a scowl, walking past her as if she didn't matter at all. All Rainbow did was stick her tongue out and flip her middle finger up at the girl rudely.

"Dash!" A commanding voice called, and she recognized it as vice principal Luna's. Rainbow quickly turned her hand around and displayed a peace sign and an innocent smile. "Get to class or I'll have you in after school for detention."

Rainbow Dash's smile dropped and she closed the gap between her index finger and her middle finger, turning it instead into a two-fingered salute as she walked past the vice principal. Rainbow hurried after her friends and pretended not to have been doing a thing wrong. But still, that was not the reason that Dash had been called into the Principal's office later that week.


Present...


"My pores feel really tingly, is that good?" Twilight Sparkle said as Rarity finished applying the facial mask to her.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes from her place sitting on Applejack's window sill, hating all this girly stuff. Applejack herself was no fan either, so she sat near to her multi-coloured-headed friend and shook her head just the same.

"Yes darling, it means all the impurities in your skin are dissolving." Rarity told her as she flipped her gorgeous hair and looked her work over proudly.

"Lame." Rainbow Dash yawned in boredom as she stretched out, folding her arms behind her head as she finished.

"Next we do pedicures, I bet you would look so darling in purple, Twilight." Rarity kept going, touching Twilight's hair with a brush of her hand and beaming at the possibilities.

"Lamer." Rainbow said somewhat quieter, frowning deep enough for everyone to realize how bored she was. "Are we really just going to sit around all night and do nothing?"

"Of course not," Rarity sounded appalled and she reached into her bag, pulling out this smaller little pouch stuffed to the zipper with hair care products, "I am going to teach you all how to keep your hair in perfect condition, you could really benefit from this, Rainbow dear."

"Screw your hair, Rarity," Rainbow huffed, though everyone knew she was just rough by nature and Rarity didn't take the remark seriously, "What are we doing? Seriously guys, we're sitting around here on a Friday night talking about hair care."

"Sorry darling if some of us care about proper maintenance of one's appearance." Rarity defended herself readily as the others looked at each other carefully.

"It's Applejack's birthday," Rainbow reminded everyone, sitting up from her seat and putting her hands on her knees as she addressed the rest of the room, "We should do whatever she wants to do."

"Well," Applejack was never really comfortable when the attention was solely on her, so she chewed a bit on her lip as she tried to come up with something. Clearly there was someone around who was better with that stuff than she was, so she looked over at her best friend, "Tell us Rainbow, what else did you have in mind?"

Rainbow Dash smirked widely, this had been exactly what she had been waiting for, "What about," She stood up and strolled around the room, gauging reactions and stopping but a foot in front of Applejack as the next two words left her mouth, "Triple dog?"

The group looked around at each other nervously, unfamiliar with whatever it was Rainbow Dash was promoting. Rainbow looked back at Applejack with a one-sided smirk, hoping for her support. Twilight was the first to speak up, "Triple dog? What's that?"


Still four days ago...


Under the low hanging overcast skies that darkened the route, Applejack and Rainbow Dash jogged along with the rest of the track team on their usual route. Sunset Shimmer was on the team with them, but she and Rainbow tried to stay as far away from each other as possible. Along the route was a familiar old bridge, one that Rainbow Dash never liked jogging over. While the rest of the team kissed their hands and pressed their fingers against a spot marked with a cross, Rainbow did nothing but look over at it blankly, wishing someone would steal the damn thing so she didn't have to see it all the time.

"It's been almost a year now, hasn't it?" Rainbow Dash heard someone behind her say, and she tensed up a to hear them speak about it.

"You mean since the accident?" Someone responded, and that too was in a bit of a hush.

"It wasn't an accident, Gilda jumped." Rainbow heard someone else comment, but they were quickly silenced by the sound of their coach telling them off.

"You'll move faster if your lips stop flapping!" The couch called from her place riding a bicycle beside them, an easy way to keep up with the group without exhausting herself.

The group of joggers cleared the river, and the farther away they got, the quieter the sounds of the waves became. In Rainbow Dash's head, though, those sounds were clear as day.

After jogging, the girls were still quite out of breath by the time they returned to the school. Still though, to Rainbow Dash's dismay, the topic of Gilda had not been entirely dropped. They were in the change rooms, and as usual Rainbow Dash got changed by herself and kept her face staring into her locker. The girls were never quite comfortable when she changed around them, considering everyone thought she was a lesbian and thought she might peek at them or something. That was very unlike Rainbow Dash, though. To her left came Applejack, who had no issue standing between her best friend and the rest of the team. Rainbow listened in silence to the conversation a mere few lockers away.

"No one really knows what happened, not for sure." Came the voice of one of her team mates, who spoke as she pulled her shirt over her head.

"Are you kidding? She jumped. End of story." Someone else chimed in, putting it bluntly in an attempt to make the other girls drop it.

"I heard they found her miles downstream, and her eyes were gone!" Someone added in a whisper, and Rainbow Dash stared into the mess of her gym locker.

"Seriously?" There was a few gasps, but the ambient background noise of changing and closing lockers drowned most of it out.

"Yeah, go ask Sunset Shimmer, she knew her." The first girl said, and Rainbow realized from that comment that Sunset Shimmer must have already left the change room.

"Why did she jump?" The question was posed.

"Wanna know what I heard?" Someone knew spoke up as they emerged from the showers, and Rainbow Dash pulled her shirt over her face so that she might not hear it. Applejack noticed this behaviour, but said nothing.

"What you heard, or what was in the papers?" A scoff was heard, but the story continued on.

"This is what I heard," She stopped getting changed to tell the story, and everyone went a little quieter to hear it, "There was this crazy party, right? You know, end of the semester crazy fling thing. And there was this one guy who was there, who no one's ever seen before, all dressed in leather with a green mohawk—"

"I heard it was a blue mohawk." Was added, and the story changed.

"Okay, so there was this guy with a blue mohawk, right?" The girl went on, and Rainbow Dash changed her shorts, shoving the clothing into the locker, "He was handing out acid hits to everyone, for free. That's a fact, it was free, and Gilda got some. But this isn't like regular acid, this stuff is hardcore shit, insane, like people are gone out of their right minds and seeing things, right? And Gilda thought she saw butterflies on her fingers."

"Butterflies?" Inquired some voice, and Rainbow Dash shook her head to hear such a ridiculous story.

"Yeah, butterflies. Anyway, one of her butterflies starts to fly away, and she freaks right out and starts chasing it, leaves the party to do it. She follows these acid-induced figments down the trail, see, and she almost has the butterfly back, but by then, she's on the bridge." The other girls have quieted down by now, listening to the telling, "She reaches out to try and grab it, and she loses her footing. Next thing you know, she hits the water. Just like that, she drowns."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." Someone says with a chuckle, and the rest of the girls look around anxiously. "I heard she just got stoned and jumped."

"Look, shh. Butterflies, I'm telling you." The story ended, and Rainbow Dash slammed her locker a little too hard, grabbing her bag and leaving the change room at once. It sounded entirely ridiculous, such a story.


	Present...


"Triple dog is a game, like truth or dare," Rainbow Dash explained to her friends, who listened closely, "Except without the truth."

Applejack nodded and a smirk graced her face, that same old crooked smile that Rainbow Dash knew so well. Before anyone opposed the idea, the birthday girl spoke up, "Okay, I'm in."

"Um, I-I'm not sure..." Fluttershy stuttered nervously, clutching her bag closer to her and letting her hair fall over her eyes. Rainbow Dash had expected some resistance, but the appeal of dares could not be resisted for long.

"Come on Fluttershy, it'll be fun." Twilight seemed to agree as she wiped the mud mask off her face with a damp cloth, smiling at her shy friend, "It may not have been on my approved party game list, but truth or dare was. When do we ever do exciting stuff like this? This is what slumber parties are all about, I read about it, trust me."

Fluttershy squeaked a bit but seemed to ease up, nodding faintly, "A-All right, okay... If you want."

"Sweet, this is going to be awesome." Rainbow Dash pumped her fist into the air before directing her attention to her best friend once more, "Applejack, we're going to need a video camera and an electric shaver, think you can handle that?"

"Big Mac's got both, I'll go get 'em from his room." Applejack nodded unsurely, but followed the instructions and went to get the required items.

"What do we need those for?" Pinkie Pie tilted her head curiously, wonder getting the best of her.

"Oh, you'll see." Rainbow Dash grinned sneakily as she walked over to the door and peeked out, waiting for Applejack to return before she went on. Finally, the blonde girl came back with both items in her hands, easily borrowing them from her trusting brother. "Okay everyone, empty your wallets and bags. Everything valuable, cough it up. It's part of the game." Rainbow Dash said as she waved the girls around her, pulling out her own wallet, "Don't worry, you'll get it back. Maybe. Whoever does the most awesome dare at the end of the night gets to keep the whole pot."

The rest of the girls pulled up seats around Rainbow Dash, doing as she said and placing their valuables on the floor in the middle. Applejack came over and sat beside Rainbow Dash on the bed, watching the scene unfold. Once all that was done, Rainbow Dash leaned down and had a look at the pot, counting the money and gauging the value of the objects. Applejack watched her friend lean forward, trying not to take notice of the thong that peeked out from her pants.

"All right, so we have," Rainbow Dash began, going over the loot once more as she narrated it, "Eighty three dollars, a pile of confetti and balloons, two gold earrings, some old worn book, two tickets to the Wonderbolts, an animal charm bracelet, and a hand-made bronze apple belt buckle."

"So, how exactly does this work?" Rarity said with an annoyed expression. Clearly this was not what she had intended to come from a slumber party with her friends.

"Rule number one: everyone gives one dare, everyone gets one dare." Rainbow Dash explained simply as she leaned back up and addressed the crowd. Once she was certain that was understood, she went on, "Rule number two: you get to pick who dares you. Rule number three: you have to perform the dare you are given, and if you don't?" She picked up the razor from beside her and turned it on, letting the roaring sound of the electric device tell what she then spoke aloud, "You get your head shaved."

"Shaved?! Like, bald, shaved?" Rarity gasped out loud and grabbed at her hair, digging her fingers into it like she would protect it with her life. "I suddenly don't want to play any more."

"Yes, shaved." Rainbow Dash nodded as she turned the device off, placing it back behind Applejack, "Now, if you find that you don't want to perform the dare, you can challenge the person who dared you to perform it instead. However, if they do it, you get your head shaved for chickening out." Rainbow looked around the room, checking their expressions to be certain it was understood, "So don't dare someone to do something you can't do yourself, or it might backfire."

"What kind of dares?" Pinkie Pie asked, her excitement bubbling up and she bounced in her seat.

"Anything goes, except daring someone to shave their head. Am I understood?" Rainbow Dash tilted her head and waited for any more questions.

"Yeah, I think we got it." Twilight nodded as she leaned forward in her seat, rather intrigued by her first adult slumber party game.

Rainbow Dash's one sided smirk told of her confidence, and she leaned over and peered at her best friend, "All right, the birthday girl decides the order. Go for it, Applejack."

"Me?" Applejack blinked, uncertain of what to do. Rainbow Dash nodded and nudged her, gesturing for her to hurry and pick someone, "Well, if y'say so. Lemme see here," Applejack looked around the room, noticing only one girl who seemed to utterly protest the game for unknown or selfish reasons, "Rarity first."

"Me? Why would you pick me?" Rarity gasped, very unhappy with the situation.

"'Cause you don't wanna play, Rare." Applejack smiled at her friend's distress, but tried to calm her down, "Come on, just get it over with and you can watch the rest'a the time. Right? Go 'head, pick someone to dare you."

"I will not forget this, Applejack." Rarity turned up her nose at the thoughtlessness, but did as she was told and looked around the room to find someone to dare her. "Fluttershy, you dare me."

"Me? I don't know, I'm not sure if I, well if I can think up something exciting enough," Fluttershy's face fell as she tried to think up someone worthy of her friends' attention. "Um, I guess I can try. Promise not to laugh though, I-I dare you..."

"You triple dog dare her, to?" Rainbow Dash corrected her friend loudly, and Fluttershy squeaked once before starting again.

Fluttershy tucked her hair behind her ear and nodded, looking over at Rarity, "Oh, right, I triple dog dare you to..."
> Of Horses and Hollers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


2. Of Horses and Hollers


"I hate you all." Rarity said flatly as she got out of her parents' sport utility vehicle and slammed the door closed, crossing her arms defiantly and turning her nose up.

"Come on Rare, you have to do it, that's the game." Rainbow Dash said as she jumped out of the back of the vehicle, leaving the door open so the others could get out. She glanced back down the dirt road they had just driven down, waiting for Applejack to arrive.

"If I didn't have the threat of baldness looming, I would not even consider this." Rarity concluded, looking around at the blooming suburban area they had found. Even though it was late at night by now, certainly there would be people awake.

"That's the point! Pushing your limits and shit. And trust me, it will be fun." Rainbow Dash tried to calm her nerves, but turned abruptly around when she heard trotting in the distance. She hurried out to greet her friend, and grinned as she came into view.

Applejack rode up to the group in full gallop, riding one of her family's most trustworthy horses. Of course, if they were going to make Rarity do something so uncouth, Applejack had to make sure it was at least safe. She trotted to a stop in front of them, adjusting her hat as she looked down at the reluctant woman below. Swinging her boot over the side of the horse, Applejack dismounted and made certain the saddle was still on securely.

"This is ridiculous." Rarity muttered as she winced, looking at the tall animal before her, while certainly she thought they were some of the most gorgeous of creatures, being so near or even considering riding one was unheard of.

"Well, if you don't think you can do it, you can always challenge Fluttershy to do it instead," Rainbow Dash reminded her, but a smile ran across her face, "Of course, Fluttershy loves animals, so she would have no problem with this. And if she does do it, I'm shaving your head."

"You're too cruel." Rarity whined loudly, cringing as Applejack directed her beside the horse. Applejack's hands were rather dirty from gathering the horse and riding up, and Rarity frowned as she gestured for her to climb up.

"It'll be all right, just get on up slow like, anythin' goes wrong I'm right here to help." Applejack said comfortingly, and Rainbow Dash yawned obnoxiously as she waited for things to get started. "Just make sure you ain't tuggin' too tight on the reins or kickin' about, might make him a bit antsy, y'hear?"

"Oh, he's the one going to be antsy, is he?" Rarity scoffed as she nervously stood in front of the animal, which flicked his tail about absently.

"Just get up there already." Rainbow Dash barked, rolling her eyes.

"All right, one foot right here, that's good." Applejack directed Rarity and helped her onto the horse's back, though her contorted expression made her seem utterly appalled.

"You left the keys in the ignition, right?" Rainbow asked as she peered over her shoulder and stood on her toes, trying to see into the vehicle.

"Yes, just as you asked." Rarity concurred as Applejack handed her the reins, rubbing the horse on the neck as if soothing it or warning it.

"Sweet, A.J., you're riding shotgun and manning the camera." Rainbow nodded to her friend, who heard her though she was otherwise occupied.

"Now it's important y'know how to stop, just try to make yourself seem a mite heavier and gently pull back on the reins, 'kay?" Applejack tried to show her with her hands, but Rarity didn't seem too keen on the idea.

"Darling, a woman never tries to seem heavier." Rarity flipped her hair and adjusted herself on the hard saddle, dissatisfied with the circumstances to say the least. She played with the reins and seemed to get a better grip on them, and Applejack just hoped she didn't do anything too dangerous.

"Ygot it?" Applejack asked as she stepped back, making certain her feet were securely in the stirrups. Rarity nodded and turned her nose up, looking out at the streets before her.

"Awesome, you'd better hold on tight," Rainbow Dash grinned as she slipped around a curious Applejack, who watched Rainbow's devious smirk appear anew. "Giddy up!" Rainbow Dash slapped the horse on the rear, spooking it and sending it into a near full sprint.

"Rainbow!" Rarity screamed as the horse carried her off, and Applejack just gaped and watched the diva cry out to the wind.

"Game on." Rainbow Dash clapped and laughed loudly, jumping into a jog and climbing into the vehicle, "Move it, cowgirl!"

Applejack ran around the vehicle and climbed into the passenger's seat, grabbing the camera off the dashboard. Rainbow Dash hurriedly started up the car and put it into gear, chasing after the still shouting girl down the seemingly empty streets. The other three girls squealed with excitement in the back, rolling down the windows to get a better look as they drove up right behind her. Her expression was sheer terror as the horse bolted down the streets, and she could barely keep upright with all the shaking and galloping. Rainbow Dash rolled down her own window and began to shout.

"Come one, come all! Witness the fashion diva turned rodeo star blaze a trail through your neighbourhood!" Rainbow yelled into the darkness, "That's right, one night, and one night only! You can't get this sort of entertainment on triple-x pay on demand cable, people!"

"I can't believe she's doing it!" Twilight Sparkle blinked in shock as she watched her friend race below the street lights, her hair blowing about behind her and messing up.

"Never again will you see anything quite like this, folks, get it while it's fresh!" Rainbow Dash laughed and hollered as Applejack filmed it all, her own expression surprisingly impressed.

"Oh my gosh," Pinkie Pie gasped as they passed an elderly man watering his plants, who gawked and stared as they rode and drove past him, "Ride, Rarity, ride!"

The girls caught up right beside her on the horse and made out something of words through her shrill screaming, "I can't stop it, Applejack!"

"Just ease up Rare, quit screamin' already," Applejack leaned over Rainbow Dash and called out her window, while Rainbow Dash just continued to laugh and cheer.

"Look!" Twilight pointed as their attention returned to the road, where a new model red sports car turned down the street, honking twice as they saw Rarity rushing towards them.

"Nice riding, Rarity!" A male voice called from the car as a cell phone emerged from the window, snapping a photo or two as they passed.

The girls in the car noticed right away that the red convertible belonged to Blueblood himself, who was driving as his friend snapped the pictures. They all exchanged shocked and amused glances as Rarity began to slow down around the next turn, and Rainbow Dash drove right up behind her still howling. Finally the horse seemed to calm down and slowed to a trot, stopping entirely as Rarity tugged on the reins once more and sat there in shock. They pulled up right next to her and Applejack immediately jumped out, going over to make sure everything was okay.

"That was so much better than I expected!" Rainbow Dash guffawed as she leaned back in the seat, shaking her head as she watched Applejack help the stunned girl off of the horse and over to the vehicle. Applejack went back to the horse and climbed on easily, turning it around with precision and gesturing for Rainbow to drive after her back to the farm. "First successful triple dog of the evening." Rainbow Dash leaned out the window as she called and extended her hand towards Applejack, who high-fived it on her way by.

Rarity still held her breath with wide eyes as she sat in the passenger's seat, until a few simple words escaped her mouth. "That was the worst—possible—thing."

"I can't believe you did that." Twilight told her as she leaned forward and put a hand on her pale friend's shoulder.

"I have new respect for you, Rare." Rainbow Dash snickered as she followed Applejack back to the farm, watching the way she would look over her shoulder and make sure they were there.

"I cannot say the same, you could have gotten me killed." Rarity complained as she fixed her hair in the mirror above her head that came down over the wind shield, "It's this sort of absurd and dangerous behaviour that got you suspended."

"Suspended? I thought Princess Celestia just called you in to her office?" Twilight gasped as the truth was revealed, and Rainbow Dash refused to meet her gaze in the rear view mirror, instead intent on watching Applejack sway back and forth on the horse.

"At first, yeah." She merely muttered like it was no big deal, leaning her arm on the still open window sill.


Three days ago...


Rainbow Dash obnoxiously blew a bubble in her gum and chewed it back into her mouth, reading over a book of mad-libs for fun. She flipped the page to start a new one and bit the cap off her pen, flipping it around in her hand. She sat with Rarity on one side and Fluttershy on the other, with Soarin and Spitfire across from them. Usually the groups did not mingle, but they were all together in study hall and there were few tables to choose from. 

Rainbow Dash didn't even bother looking up as Spitfire turned around and whipped a gummy candy at the back of a chair across the room. Rainbow Dash already knew who she was throwing them at, the same girl she herself had a grudge against, one Sunset Shimmer. She was the kind of girl who made a habit of making enemies.

"Adjective." Rainbow Dash said blankly, moving the gum from one side of her mouth to another.

"Adjective? What's an adjective?" Soarin asked, and the rest of them scoffed a bit at his ignorance.

"And this is why you should quit skipping school to go to that pie shop across town," Rainbow Dash grumbled, though that story had no real fact behind it and was merely a joke, "Adjectives are like, describing words. Like fat, ugly, stupid."

"I like that one, use stupid." Spitfire remarked as she nudged Soarin, who took offence to it but said nothing to defend himself. Rainbow huffed a laugh and jotted it down, leaning the book against her foot which was up on the table.

"Noun." Rainbow Dash stated quietly, the library where study hall was held remaining quite quiet otherwise.

"Apples." Soarin grinned as he doodled on his notebook, while Spitfire chucked another gummy bear at Sunset Shimmer only a few yards away, hitting her on the back of the head.

"Dude, you're in deep." Rainbow murmured with a smirk as she shook her head and wrote it in anyway. He made it so obvious sometimes that he had a liking for Rainbow's best friend, sometimes it even bothered her, "Verb."

"Screwing." Spitfire sneered, as she played with a gummy in her fingers, glancing over at her target again.

"If you're just going to throw those, can I have one?" Rainbow Dash asked, and Spitfire shrugged. She grabbed a handful of ammo and pushed the rest across the desk. "Thanks." Rainbow offered some to Fluttershy, who nervously shook her head and put her nose into her book. Rainbow Dash spat out her gum on a piece of trash and grabbed a few of the candies, shoving them in her mouth.

Spitfire turned around and chucked another gummy, hitting Sunset Shimmer once more. The girl at the other table paused before turning around to look at her aggressor, who was playing innocent and looking away. She eyed the bag of familiar treats in Rainbow's hand as she put it back down on the table and chewed, picking up the book again. Rainbow glanced up, noticing the attention she was getting from the short-haired girl.

"What are you looking at?" Rainbow Dash asked loudly, shaking her head and displaying her palms like she wasn't hiding anything. "Getting kind of sour sitting there all by yourself?"

Sunset Shimmer frowned and turned around slowly in her chair, looking at her foe with a deep set glare, "Why don't you tell your friends just how great of a person you are to be around? You know, about Gilda?"

Rainbow Dash glowered and kicked her foot down off the table, leaning forward and returning the glare as she spoke, "What was that?" The others at her table exchanged glances but tried to keep their heads down.

"Quiet down," The librarian told them as she looked up from her work, noticing the commotion that was stirring, "Get back to work."

"Come on Dash, relax." Soarin told her as he ducked his head, glancing back to see Sunset Shimmer turning around and scoffing at the whole lot of them.

Rainbow Dash was not someone to be messed with. She had a bad temper, and everyone knew it. She hardly waited a couple of second before she scooted her chair back across the carpet and stood up, going over to the source of the confrontation. She put her hands on her hips and chewed on her cheek a bit, waiting for Sunset Shimmer to turn around or go on, but she didn't. By now most of the library was looking over, and they knew what would come next.

"What'd you just say to me, Shimmer?" Rainbow asked, though it didn't sound much like a question, more like a challenge. Sunset Shimmer just shook her head and stifled a laugh, ignoring her.

"Sit down." The librarian told her, but it was as if she was silent and went completely unheard.

"What the fuck, did you just say to me?!" Her temper flared and Sunset Shimmer finally realized just how angry she had made her. Not that she cared, she liked to stir up trouble.

Before anyone knew what happened, Rainbow Dash grabbed Sunset Shimmer and yanked her out of her chair, throwing her to her feet. With a wild swing she punched her antagonist across the jaw, sending her stumbling backwards in shock. Rainbow did not stop though, she went forward again and hit her the same, getting everyone to their feet. The librarian raced across the room to try and stop it, but once again Rainbow Dash smashed her fist against the still dumbfounded expression of her foe.

"That's enough!" The librarian called as she grabbed Sunset Shimmer and pulled her away, but Rainbow Dash went after her again.

"Rainbow!" Fluttershy's voice rang out, and it nearly sounded like she was in tears.

Rainbow Dash looked over at the poor girl, who had her eyes closed up tight and was clutching her bag in fear. Rainbow Dash's eyes softened at the familiar face, the meek and timid girl shouting was something of a wake up call. Fluttershy was one of her oldest friends, and she wouldn't risk that for someone like Sunset Shimmer. Rainbow scoffed a bit and shoved her hands in her pockets, looking away.

Of course, she would have to explain her actions, and face consequences.

Rainbow Dash read the name tag that adorned the desk in her principal's office, barely listening to what the woman was saying to her. She growled and leaned back in the chair, looking right up at the face of discipline in the school. Now, usually vice principal Luna might deal with misbehaviour, but Celestia herself took a special interest in this case.

"Yeah, I busted her up," Rainbow Dash told principal Celestia, shrugging about it, "She deserved it."

"What did she say to you?" Celestia asked, but Rainbow was silent again, drumming her fingers on the armrest of her chair like it didn't actually bother her. " Is there anything you want to talk about?"

"Hmm," Rainbow Dash pretended to be thinking about it, tapping her chin with a finger, "God?"

"What about God?" The principal inquired, tilting her head as if something profound might actually come out of the violent young lady's words.

"Do you think that God ever gets bored?" Rainbow wondered, but it sounded more like she was trying to push buttons rather than discuss something real.

Principal Celestia sighed audibly and chose her words carefully, "You know, I thought you were settling in better now. It's been a long time since I've seen you in my office, this is a big step backwards."

"Blah, blah blah, blah blah. Listen, I'm sure you've got plenty to do around here: organize dances or fund-raisers or turn blind eyes to verbal assaults on other students. So, can I just get my detention slip now?" Rainbow Dash asked, raising her eyebrows with a dull expression.

"Rainbow Dash, you should know that we have a no-tolerance policy about fighting. I'm afraid that I have to call your parents, and give you a three day suspension." Celestia picked up the phone with one hand and gestured the severity of the words to Rainbow Dash, whose eyes widened. "Who should I call to pick you up?"
	
> Filling up the Closet
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


3. Filling up the Closet


"I want to go home." Rarity said as she put her head into her hands. The rest of them had gathered around Applejack's bed, where the drama queen played her performance out. Applejack herself had just walked in from putting the horse back into the stable, and Rainbow Dash's fingers eagerly fondled the camera as if she wanted to replay it over again. "Those boys saw me, doing something so entirely uncivilized. What if they send those pictures to everyone at school? My steadily rising social status will plummet into nothing!"

"Oh relax, quit whining about it already." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes from her place standing by the door.

"I am not whining, I am complaining!" Rarity defended herself, giving Rainbow Dash an aggravated stare before putting her hands over her eyes again.

"Whatever." Rainbow Dash licked her lips as she looked over to Applejack and she approached her steadily, walking around her and speaking her name, "Now, Applejack. Who is next?"

Applejack looked up to the group, and found one name that seemed suitable, "Fluttershy."

"Hmm." Rainbow Dash smirked and nodded, looking around at the rest of the room, "All right, you heard the lady. Pick someone to dare you."

"Oh, um," Fluttershy nervously stuttered out, her eyes shifting from girl to girl until she found someone whose good nature was sure to lead to something more fun than embarrassing, "Pinkie Pie, I guess, I mean if that's okay."

"Drum roll please," Rainbow Dash began to rapidly move her balled up fists, rolling her tongue to imitate the sound of fast drumming.

"Okay, okay! Give me a minute here," Pinkie Pie chirped, bouncing around as she tried to think of something that could top what Rarity had just done. A devilish smile graced her normally beaming face, and she turned back around to face Fluttershy. "Okay, I got it."

"Be nice, please." Fluttershy squeaked as she bit her lip and hid behind her hair.

Pinkie Pie breathed in slowly to build anticipation, then suddenly let it out, "I triple dog dare you to stay in Applejack's brother's closet until midnight!" But she was not finished, she turned around to her bag and began to riffle through it, "Wearing," She pulled the article out of her bag, a familiar blue and yellow number that was standard uniform for all the Canterlot high cheer leaders, of which Pinkie Pie was the captain, "This."

Fluttershy's eyes grew wide and blush appeared all across her face. Without warning, she ran out into the hallway and slammed the door behind her, "Fluttershy! Where are you going?" Came from the other side of the door.

"Bathroom!" Fluttershy squealed as she pressed her back against the door and held it shut with her hand. She breathed out quick little huffs and whispered under her breath, "Oh no, oh no, oh no!"


Knock, knock, knock.


Applejack and Rainbow Dash waited outside the room somewhat impatiently until the door opened. With a friendly and innocent grin, Applejack greeted her brother just as warmly as ever.

"Heya Mac, we got some snacks down stairs if y'wanna grab a couple, coast's clear while the girls are doin' their nails and whatnot in my room." Applejack told him convincingly, her honest nature betrayed by a sinister plot.

"Well that's mighty fine'a you to offer, I invited Spike over just so y'know, mind if I let him have some'a that grub?" He asked politely, and Applejack and Rainbow Dash exchanged pleased glances.

"Not at all, feel more than free to it." Applejack nodded pleasantly and turned around, waving to the large boy over her shoulder as she tugged Rainbow back to her bedroom.

"Think he bought it?" Rainbow murmured to Applejack as they reached her bedroom door, waiting as he left his room and started down the stairs to turn their attention over to the bathroom where Fluttershy still hid.

"I don't see why not." Applejack assured her as their eyes met, and they simultaneously turned and approached the bathroom door.

"Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash pounded incessantly on the door as Applejack gestured for the other girls to keep quiet and come out. "Fluttershy, come on, if you want to do it, you have to do it now!"

"I don't want to do it!" Her quiet voice breached the door, and though the others felt sorry for her, that was the game.

"Come on Fluttershy, it won't be that bad, not nearly as bad as shaving your head." Rainbow Dash tried to convince her, but groaned loudly when no response came.

"Oh sugar, you know he ain't gonna bite you or nothin' if he finds you. But I'm sure if you keep real quiet, you can hide there all night before he knows you're there." Applejack told her sweetly as Rainbow Dash peeked down the stairs to be sure her brother was not there. "I'mma pass the uniform through, okay? At least put it on, will you?"

"O-Okay," She simply agreed as her hand came out of the door, grasping at the cheerleading uniform as it was passed to her. The door closed again and Rainbow Dash sighed.

"You know you're getting off easy with this dare, Fluttershy." The rainbow-haired girl told her with a matter-of-factly tone, adjusting the black gloves over her fingers, "It could have been a lot worse."

"I-I know." Fluttershy nervously replied as sounds of shuffling were heard past the door.

"Move it, will you? He could be back any minute here, you're either a glutton for punishment or a dare devil, cutting things to the last minute like this." Rainbow Dash warned her, grinning as she knew that would get the meek girl moving.

"Um, right." Fluttershy turned the door knob suddenly and peeked her head out, hiding her body from her friends. They were never much to judge, but it was clear the uniform was a little big around her, seeing as how it belonged to the pudgy Pinkie Pie. The rest of the girls led her out of the room and hurried into Big Mac's, following Applejack to his closet and letting her pry it open, kicking some dirtied clothes around. "I'm scared."

"Don't be, everythin's gonna be just fine." Applejack consoled her as she let her step over the mess, looking so very foreign in a small closet meant for a farmer's clothing.

"Okay Fluttershy, listen close," Rainbow Dash told her as she leaned on the closet door, which had spaces between wooden blinds to air it out. "You have to send us a photo every fifteen minutes to prove that you're still in there, you have my number still, right?"

"Y-Yes," The timid girl moved her foot around a half folded shirt, letting her bangs fall over her eyes as she ducked into the shadows.

"I think I hear him coming," Twilight whispered from outside his room, standing guard.

"All right, we'll be back for you in just over an hour. Play nice." Rainbow Dash grinned and winked, implying something that Fluttershy did not want to imagine. The closet doors closed in front of her, and she peeped a squeak as she held her bag against her exposed midsection, feeling insecure even in the darkness.

Fluttershy sunk down to the bottom of the closet as she heard the rest of the girls leave, feeling so utterly alone and terrified. Voices drifted up the stairs that were vaguely familiar, and finally they came into eavesdropping distance.

"I can't believe the girls didn't even touch all those snacks!" It sounded like Spike's voice, and Fluttershy peered through the slots of the blinds to see him, hoping the slivers of light could not illuminate her.

"Eeyup," Big Mac's voice came next, and he closed the door behind them with his foot.

"I thought with Pinkie around anything sugary would be gone from the entire house," Spike went on as he went over to Big Mac's television, turning it on as he sorted through all kinds of video games and movies that were piled up around it. "What do you want to play?"

"Dunno, anythin' I s'pose." Big Mac said as he sat down on his bed, placing a bowl of chips on his bedside table and a plate of pizza beside him. He pulled a two litre of pop out from under his arm and placed it beside the chips, not even bothering to open it before taking a bit of the pizza.

"Oh cool! I love zombie games, and you have like every one ever made!" Spike mused as he grabbed an armful of games, as though he could shove them all into the console at once.

"I reckon I ain't got every one." Big Mac bashfully replied as he finished chewing, reaching over to grab the pop to wash it down.

"Where are your controllers?" Spike asked as he looked around the television on Big Mac's dresser, but the larger man stood up suddenly.

"In my closet, here, I'll go grab 'em." He told the younger boy as he approached the closet, terrifying Fluttershy into the farthest corner. She hurriedly grabbed one of his jackets and held it up over her face, camouflaging herself with the piles of clothes back there. The door creaked open as Big Mac rifled through his belongings, finally finding what he was after, "Ah, here w'go."

Fluttershy waited several seconds after the door was closed before letting the jacket fall off of her, her eyes wide as saucers behind it. She nervously fumbled around in her bag for her phone, finding it in a little pocket beside the curious bunny that hid within. She pulled it out and pointed it away from herself so that the camera was facing her, and took a picture. She brought it close to her face and let the light illuminate her as her fingers found the button she needed. Send.

The phone vibrated in rainbow Dash's pocket, and she leaned over on the bed close to Applejack so that she could extend her leg far enough that her tight pants would allow her to reach into her pocket. She pulled out the thing and held it in front of her, a smile creeping across her face as she recognized the face of her good friend even in the poor lighting.

"Hah, sweet, she's actually doing it." Rainbow Dash snickered obnoxiously as she turned her phone around and showed the picture to everyone around.

"Of course she did Rainbow, you would have shaved her head if she didn't." Rarity huffed a bit and rolled her eyes, crossing her arms defiantly. Rainbow Dash just frowned.

"That's the game, Rare." Rainbow explained as she kicked her feet back and forth, "Quit being such a sour puss about it, Jeez."

"You have no boundaries." Rarity murmured as she shook her head, letting the subject fall.

"Now, on to the good stuff." Rainbow Dash's eyes flickered back up to the farmer girl who sat beside her, "Applejack, who, may I ask, is next?"

This time, Applejack was prepared. She had thought a little bit about the order by now, and her gaze shifted to the girl in question, "Pinkie Pie."

"Oh, yay! It's finally my turn!" She cheered happily as she clapped and jumped, grinning as she looked around at her options, "Okay, I want... I want... Twilight! You dare me, and dare me good!"

"Me?" Twilight blinked, unprepared for once. She furrowed her brow and thought a bit about it, trying to match her friends on the level that their dares were. Finally, something of an idea dawned on her, and she looked over at her pink-haired friend, moving a little closer. "All right. There's a light show that goes on in the middle of Canterlot gardens every Friday night just before midnight. I went there with my brother a few times when I was younger." She began explaining, and the girls exchanged glances just thinking where this was going. Twilight cleared her throat and put her hand to her lips, beginning in a regular voice but dropping to a whisper as she spoke into Pinkie Pie's ear, "I triple dog dare you, to..."

Pinkie Pie's usual beaming smile persisted for a while as Twilight spoke, but the longer she spoke in a hush the more devastated Pinkie's expression became. Her eyes widened with every word and she brought her hands to her lips to hold in a gasp. She swallowed nervously, something no one was sure the outrageous and dynamic Pinkie Pie was capable of.

"I have to do what?!" She screamed out loud as her voice broke at the top of her vocal range, causing the rest of the girls to cringe and cover their ears. Even Fluttershy heard something from her place in the closet, but said nothing as she waited for another several moments to pass before she could send another picture.

"I think you heard me correctly." Twilight Sparkle smiled a bit as she got the reaction she had hoped for, and the rest of the girls looked around in wonder.

Fluttershy heard the car start moments later, but being silenced by her confines she said nothing. Instead, she texted Rainbow Dash and asked where they were going. The only reply she got was:


Dash: Canterlot gardens. It's gonna be awesome. Watch it on tape later.

> Stage Psychopathy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


4. Stage Psychopathy


The girls pulled up to centennial park, where Canterlot gardens was located, and one by one they climbed out of Rarity's SUV. Rainbow booted the door open and emerged, followed by Applejack who held the door open for the last girl who sat in the back. Rainbow Dash turned around with a confident smirk, the camera clutched in her hand.

"You sure you're ready for this?" Rainbow Dash asked with a hint of condescension, raising an eyebrow as the pink haired girl jumped out of the vehicle with a determined look on her face.

"Abso-fucking-lutely!" She squealed with anticipation, surprising the girls with the curse. Applejack closed the door behind them as they approached the scene.

Canterlot gardens was lit up from railing to rooftop around them, lights that adorned the buildings all year hanging around them and the usual concrete stage just past the fountain and slowly sloping stairs. The girls crept along around the gathered crowd and approached the stage, which read "Amateur Night" along the banner, coming up to the back of a girl with a clipboard. Her loose, brown jumpsuit said "staff" on the back, so they thought it must have been their best bet. Hearing their numerous footsteps as they came up behind her, the girl in front of them turned and looked at the group. Her expression shifted from shock to fear to anger, and Rainbow Dash was just thrilled.

"Hey there, Shimmer. My, my, you're looking hot tonight." Rainbow said sarcastically as she smirked triumphantly, holding up her phone and snapping a picture of the girl in her less than flattering outfit. Sunset Shimmer rolled her eyes and bit back her initial venom for something more work appropriate. Barely.

"Dash, what the hell are you doing here?" She whispered as she held the clipboard to her chest, some kind of list as it was.

"I'm sorry, did you want to make a scene?" Rainbow Dash looked around at the crowds of people and raised an eyebrow, silencing Sunset Shimmer's protests. Rainbow Dash turned her phone around and displayed the image to the embarrassed girl, "Now, put Pinkie's name next on the list, or this goes on the net."

Sunset Shimmer looked rather surprised by the negotiation, and suddenly she realized why they asked such a thing of her, "Wait, wait, is this one of—"

"Just do it already." Rainbow Dash cut her off effectively, her fingers hovering over the send button menacingly.

Sunset Shimmer was resistant, but with a long, drawn-out sigh and a shake of her head, she began scribbling the name, "Fine." She turned the pen around in her hand and clicked it closed against the clipboard, glaring up at the group and she backed up and approached the stage.

The previous act finished up quickly, and the host went up to the microphone to announce the next performance, "Now, who's our next performer of the evening?" Sunset Shimmer reluctantly held the clipboard up so that he could see, and he nodded as he read the name, "Ah, ladies and gentleman, please give a round of applause for Pinkie Pie!"

Said girl hurried up the few steps onto the stage, waving and cheering and bouncing around until she got the the microphone. She cleared her throat a few times and plucked the corded thing off the stand, getting accustomed to the weight in her hands. Canterlot gardens often held amateur nights, for singers, comedians, dances, any talent one might have to share.

"All right, all right, pleasure to be with you all on this fine Canterlot evening!" Pinkie Pie began as she strolled down the stage, looking into the faces of the audience and fiddling with the object she had hidden beneath her sweater. "So, me, being the most super-ific and unconventional gal around, I have this little buddy of mine, he's a toothless alligator, right?" The crowd began to chuckle and while it looked like Pinkie might go on, she stopped and looked out at the smiling faces, her own expression darkening, "What's so funny? That's not the joke."

"Come on, get a good shot," Rainbow Dash ushered Twilight Sparkle into the crowd closer to Pinkie Pie, to get a better angle on her performance.

"That's not funny, what are you laughing at?" She questioned, but the rest of the crowd began to laugh more and more as she grew upset, falling into giggles and snickers and the like. Pinkie Pie cocked her head suddenly and bore her teeth, licking her lip with a sarcastic or aggravated grin, "What is so damn funny? Is it, is me?" The laughter picked up as she pointed to herself and her eye twitched a bit, "Oh, I'm so funny, right? Ha, ha, this crazy chick is great, right? Hi-fucking-larious! Well, you want to know what I think is funny?"

Pinkie Pie strolled along the stage speaking in this odd and aggressive manner, her eyes bulging and her body language tensing up and getting all defensive. The crowd's laughter was dashed as Pinkie pulled out the knife she had concealed and flicked it open, the wide and curved blade glistening under the spotlight. Rainbow Dash and Applejack exchanged dumbfounded glances, and Twilight Sparkle's jaw dropped. Pinkie flipped the knife around and waved it wildly in front of her, causing the nearest row of onlookers to back up and cower.

"Can I get a volunteer to come on stage and help me with this next act?" Pinkie's voice cracked around as her eyes darted from face to face, "I may not be a magician, but maybe I can made a few body parts disappear!"

"She must have forgotten to take her meds this morning!" Rainbow Dash called loudly towards the stage, and noticed the stage manager rush on stage to try and contain the situation.

"Get back! Get back I say, I'll eviscerate the damn bile out of this bitch!" Pinkie Pie screamed as she raced towards the man, knife in hand. The man backed away and shouted for help to the nearest stage hand he could see.

"Sunset Shimmer, call the police, right now!" The stage manager called, keeping his eyes on the now guffawing girl in front of him, knife trembling and waving about.

"Hell no!" Sunset Shimmer scoffed and shook her head angrily, crossing her arms over the clipboard and narrowing her eyes at the girl on stage, "There is no way, no freaking way!"

"Sunset, what are you thinking?" The manager shouted in disbelief as he hurried off of the stage and grabbed his cell phone dialling the number and pressing it to his ear.

"She's faking it! It's just a game, a stupid, stupid game!" Sunset Shimmer tried to tell him, chasing after him as he tried to get to a quiet enough area to speak. The crowd gasped out loud as Pinkie ripped open her shirt, revealing her chubby stomach and bright pink bra. Sunset Shimmer groaned loudly and flailed her arms a bit, feeling utterly invisible.

"Hello, police! I have a girl here, she's, she's having some kind of mental break!" The manager tried to tell them, but the screaming in the audience and Pinkie's own laughter mostly drowned him out.

"Fuck, fuck—tits, ass, cunt mother of—" Pinkie Pie began swearing profusely in her half-naked state, twitching and slinging the knife in every direction she could think of.

"She also has Tourette's!" Rainbow Dash could hardly scream through her brimming laughter, and the manager returned to the scene clutching the cell phone in his hand as if whoever was on the other end could hear a word.

"The police are on their way, everyone, please stay back!" He called in a shaking voice, but the frantic crowd has already begun fleeing the scene and shrieking all kinds of horrors.

Pinkie Pie's maniacal laughter began to lighten up, and he stopped slicing the knife through the air to instead clap her hands and jump up and down. She folded the knife back up and returned it to the spot she had pulled it from, giggling and squealing instead with excitement rather than malice, "Hehehe, you should have seen the looks on your faces!"

The crowd watched in shock as she returned to the lovable and light-hearted Pinkie Pie she was more suited for, and the manager himself gawked before speaking up, "Are, are you okay?"

"Of course silly," Pinkie Pie waved her hand as though anything else would be just ridiculous. She pulled her shirt together over herself again and fixed together the one or two buttons that still remained. She leaned forwards and took a bow, and another, extending her arms and flipping her hair like she anticipated some praise, "Thank you, thank you, you have been a lovely audience!"

The few remaining audience members were either too shocked to move, or tried to ease the situation with scarce and spaced claps. It was rather quiet now as Pinkie took what little praise she could get. Horrified and confused faces began to emerge and Pinkie Pie hurriedly skipped off stage towards her regrouping friends.

"Okay, I think it's time to get gone." Rainbow Dash shook her head in amusement as the rest of them began to race away from the scene. Rainbow took off into a sprint as she passed Sunset Shimmer, who she shoved rudely and waved to, "See you, Shimmer."

Sunset Shimmer shook her head and scowled, utterly infuriated by her actions. As Applejack passed her, Sunset Shimmer stopped her and spoke, "Hey, Applejack?" She called her name, and the freckled farmer paused to listen to what she had to say, though her expression was angry and contorted and her words were toxic and furious, "You ask your friend about what happened to Gilda yet? You should, you know. You really should."

Applejack stared at the short-haired girl, her eyes narrowing as she tried to figure out just what she could possibly have to ask. Applejack bit her cheek a bit but followed after her friends, leaving Sunset Shimmer there to pick up the pieces of their endeavour. The stage manager ran up to her as he watched the group run off, digging his fingers into his hair in mortification. Sunset Shimmer frowned as she looked over at him and shook her head.

"I told you they were faking it." She said in an obnoxious voice, walking past him and hitting him with her shoulder as she crossed Pinkie's name off the list.

The group of five girls ran back to the vehicle, gathering together a mere few yards away as their laughter began to fade. Pinkie Pie was laughing the hardest, her good spirit overcoming any potential embarrassment. Rarity was the only one who was not in the mood, and shook her head in disappointment as she unlocked the doors to her parent's vehicle and stood beside it.

"That was so much fun!" Pinkie squealed as the rest of them gathered around.

"No it was not, this is a horrible game, that was a horrible idea." Rarity protested as she let her fingers flow through her hair, annoyed at how such a relaxing night had become something so rambunctious, "Why are we even out here?"

"You kidding? That was great!" Rainbow Dash argued with laughter, leaning against Rarity's car as she got another new picture of Fluttershy's condition, "And did you see Sunset Shimmer's face? Hilarious!"

Applejack hesitated for a moment, but took the chance to ask something a little more personal about her best friend, "What's with the two'a you, any who?"

Rainbow Dash bit her lip a bit at the uncomfortable subject, but shook it off and acted just as confident and proud as ever, "She... she just envies my natural charming charisma. Who can blame her?" Applejack chuckled a bit, finding the statement somewhat true.

"Whose pocket knife was that, anyway?" Twilight Sparkle asked, and Pinkie Pie remembered to remove it from her person, handing it back to its owner.

"Mine, actually." Applejack said as she gratefully accepted the knife, affixing it to her belt until they got back to her house, "I take it when I go out side'a the fences on the farm, never know what'cha might run into."

"You guys, it's just about midnight." Twilight said as she checked her watch, gesturing to the vehicle, "We should go back and pick up Fluttershy."

"I have a better idea." Rainbow Dash spoke as she raised an eyebrow and clicked a few buttons on her phone, bringing it up to her ear as it began to ring.

"What are you doing?" Rarity asked as her expression became serious, knowing just how limitless Rainbow's pranks could get.

Fluttershy stroked her creature companion on the head and between the long, white ears, despite the closet seeming utterly dark. The little rabbit peeked his head out and sniffed at her fingers, twitching it's little triangle nose all about. Fluttershy squeaked out loud and jumped as her ringtone went off, and she shoved the rabbit back into her bag as she searched for the source of the now blaring tune. Her breath was quick and nervous as her fingers trembled through the fabric, seeing small glimmers of light beneath the objects contained within.

"Spike, that yer phone?" Big Mac's voice came through the cracks in the closet, and Fluttershy hurried to find the object, finally feeling her fingers slide over the smooth metal.

"No, is it yours?" Spike replied as Big Mac stood up and looked around, wondering where it might have been coming from. "You think the girls left their phones here?"

"Ennope, sounds like it's in this here room," Big Mac heard it get clearer as Fluttershy retrieved it and hurriedly answered.

"Rainbow! W-What are you—" Fluttershy began to squeal, but the closet door was pulled open right in front of her. She blinked her wide eyes as her eyes adjusted to the light and she saw Big Mac's large body blocking her exit.

"Hey Mac, there's a girl in your closet!" Spike said obviously as he hurried up behind the older, taller man, still holding the game controller in his hand.

"What... What're you doin' in here?" Big Mac simply asked, though his expression was clearly surprise and confusion.

"Fluttershy, is that you? Why are you in Big Mac's closet?" Spike wondered as he pulled open the closet door a bit more to get a better look. Fluttershy just dropped the phone and it flipped closed on the ground, ending the call.

Big Mac didn't really know what to make of the whole scenario, but he bent down and reached in to take her hand as kindly and carefully as he could, "C'mon now little lady, let's getchu outta there."

"N-No, I can't, I—" Fulttershy squirmed away, but Big Mac persisted. Instead of using her words, Fluttershy grabbed his hand and bit it—hard. He shouted as he pulled away and nearly fell over backwards.

"Youch! Y'bit me!" Big Mac looked back at her in surprise and then down at his hand, where her little teeth prints became visible on his tanned skin.

"Okay Fluttershy, relax, we're just trying to—" Spike tried to reason with her as he held his hands up defensively and approached her.

"D-Don't come near me, I-I'll bite you too!" Fluttershy pointed at Spike menacingly, getting to her feet and holding her bag against her chest. She stared intently at the two shocked boys, but did not go on to explain right away.

"Al'right. What exactly is goin' on?" Big Mac decided to be direct about it, standing up straight as he towered over the younger, meek girl, "Y'hide in my closet, and now y'wanna bite everyone?"

"Well, I, I," Fluttershy's eyes shifted around the room, hoping to avoid the confrontation. Her face fell a bit as she revealed herself to the boys, "It's a dare, okay? I can't leave, they'll s-shave my head if I do."

"That sounds kind of extreme." Spike scratched his head as he tried to figure out what would compel a group of girls to engage in something like that.

"Look, I'm not leaving, okay? Not until midnight." Fluttershy told them defiantly as she shuffled uneasily in the doorway. Big Mac perked up as he heard that though.

"Midnight?" He asked curiously, looking over to his bed to see his alarm clock, "Well then yer just 'bout in the clear, y'want some snacks or somethin?"

"Oh, um, that's nice of you to offer, Big Mac," Fluttershy kicked at the floor and avoided his gaze, but he just chuckled a bit as he went over to his bed and grabbed a bowl of chips.

"Well I figured I ought'a offer, seein' as how yer my guest an' all." Big Mac smiled as he brought the bowl over to her and let her take it from his hands. She blushed shyly and sat down onto the ground to eat.

Fluttershy noticed the position of her phone all closed up on the ground, and remembered what it had been that gave her away. She picked up the phone and opened it, seeing the recent call list with Dash's name right at the top. Fluttershy frowned as she held her phone out in front of her and slowly raised her middle finger in front of it, clicking the picture and pressing send before she gave it a second thought. Of course, immediately afterwards she felt nervous and anxious, thinking she might have been a little too mean to Rainbow Dash.


Dash: Haha, you managed to stay in his closet? You're awesome, 'shy!


Rarity pulled up to by the curb of wherever it was that Rainbow Dash had asked them to stop by on the way to Applejack's house. It wasn't much out of the way, and it fit what Rainbow Dash had been thinking of planning for later, though she uttered not a word of it. The group got out of the vehicle and started up towards the house, where several familiar faces hung around an open garage. Rainbow Dash had remembered the address from the one time she had ever been there before, when Spitfire had given Soarin a ride home before dropping Rainbow Dash off after a soccer game. The three of them weren't exactly friends, but they played a few sports together over the years.

Spitfire and Soarin were always together, so it was no surprise that she was at his house now. Spitfire and Lightning Dust were too preoccupied playing a game of foosball to even notice that the other girls had arrived, and Soarin was rolled on a car mechanic gurney underneath his old beater. Rainbow Dash kicked at his foot as the rest of the girls stood around him, and he peeked to the side to see their feet from under the car.

"What's going on, Soarin?" Rainbow Dash asked nonchalantly, waiting for him to roll out.

"Oh, hi guys." He pushed off the underside of the car and rolled out, sitting upright as he came into view. His eyes immediately went to Applejack, and a wide smile appeared, "Uh, Applejack, hey, how are you?"

"Dandy." She replied simply, more interested in the car than the boy under it, it seemed.

"Ahem—obvious." Rainbow Dash muttered under a fake cough, causing Soarin to reluctantly look away to hide his embarrassment, "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" Soarin asked as he gestured to the car behind him.

"I meant later tonight, you dipshit." Rainbow Dash snickered as she shook her head. Her eyes crept over to her best friend as she spoke of her, "It's Applejack's birthday you know."

"Is it?" Soarin perked up to hear it and found a reason to address Applejack again, "Well happy birthday, Applejack. You guys going to Octavia's party?"

"We weren't invited." Rainbow scoffed as she shoved her hands in her pockets, shrugging like it didn't bother her in the least.

"I was." Rarity interceded, but no one said anything about that.

"Us either. We're going to crash it anyway." Soarin told them as he licked his lips and let his eyes quickly fondle Applejack while she subtly peered under the hood, "We were thinking a bit after midnight, you should come, it'll be a good time."

"Well, we have to finish up our game before we think about that." Rainbow Dash spoke teasingly vaguely, but Soarin laid back down on the gurney before replying, rolling back under the car a bit.

"Mind handing me that wrench?" He asked to no one in particular, but Rainbow just glared down at him as if she was expecting a different question. Applejack bent down to the toolbox though.

"Open-ended or socket?" She asked simply, and everyone looked at her weirdly, most of them having no idea what she said. Soarin grinned as he heard those words and responded promptly.

"Open." He told her as he reached out and gratefully accepted the tool, touching her fingers a bit as he took it from her. Rainbow Dash twitched as she saw it, some form of jealousy flaring up as Applejack's attention was elsewhere, "Thanks. So, a game? What game?"

Rainbow Dash was glad he got back on topic, and flipped her hair a bit as she informed him, "Triple dog."

"Triple dog, huh?" He paused in his maintenance and chewed over his words, "Well, you girls should be careful."

"I'm sorry, what?" Rainbow Dash leaned back to full height as Applejack stood up beside her. She made an amused face and told him off, "Did you tell me to be careful? Come on Soarin, don't be such a pussy."

"My bad." Was his only reply, as he got back to working.

Rainbow sneered and made an irritable noise, turning around over-zealously and obnoxiously before calling back a goodbye, "Later, maybe."

"Why, exactly, did we stop here again?" Rarity asked in an annoyed tone, glancing over at the rainbow-haired rebel.

"You didn't hear that? A party. Sounds like fun to me," Rainbow grinned as she yanked the door of Rarity's SUV open and hopped inside, climbing into the back seat. Twilight tried to climb in after her, but Rainbow gestured for her to get into the second row of back seats instead. "I say we crash it after the game."

"That sounds great!" Pinkie Pie squealed as she got into the front seat, nearly bouncing up and down and shaking the vehicle.

Applejack climbed in beside Rainbow Dash and the two left a space between them, sitting at the windows. Rainbow Dash peered over at her best friend, a subject just brimming on the tip of her tongue. She said nothing though, noticing the somewhat concerned or worried expression that settled onto her face. Rarity started the car and pulled out, heading back towards the farm house.

Rainbow Dash rolled down her window and looked outside, feeling the wind whipping through her hair and blowing it around. Unlike Rarity, she loved the feeling of her hair getting messed up. Applejack still sat there in silence, and it bothered Rainbow. She was about to speak up and ask what was wrong, when Applejack herself decided to talk.

"Think Mac'll be mad at me about hidin' Fluttershy in his closet like that?" She asked no one or everyone, but the only person to reply was Rainbow Dash.

"He's a big boy, I'm sure he can handle a little joke." She told her best friend, who nodded a few times but still had that gloomy look on her face. Rainbow smirked as she got an idea and unbuckled her seat belt, crawling over the seats towards the freckled girl. Applejack leaned back in surprise but watched as Rainbow pressed down on the automatic window button, rolling it down in front of her, "Hey, Applejack? You smell that?"

Their eyes met in the dim lighting, their faces so near that a bump on the road or sudden stop could have forced them together. Finally Rainbow pulled back and put her hands on her own window sill, ducking under the roof as she climbed out a ways and let her torso emerge into the evening air. Applejack just stared at her for a moment, but unbuckled her own seat belt and followed her lead, leaning out her own window. She breathed in the cool air and closed her eyes for a moment, letting the familiar scent fill her to the core. Applejack smiled and described it to the wind, though Rainbow could hear her well anyway.

"Yeah, fresh cut grass, if I ain't mistaken." Applejack said loudly over the sound of the roaring winds, and Rainbow Dash grinned widely to hear it. They both took one last breath before climbing back inside.

"Exactly. Smells good, right?" Rainbow Dash asked, but didn't wait for a response. She scooted a little closer to Applejack and tilted her head towards her, "One day when you're like a hundred years old, still living on that old farm I bet, your grand kids will be out there mowing the lawn and you'll smell that sweet, sweet scent. And you'll think of me."

A smile melted across Applejack's features as her eyes gazed admiringly at her best friend, "I s'pose so." The two remained quiet for a moment as the topic settled, and Rainbow decided it would be best to get back on to the game.

"So, who's next, Applejack?" She asked pryingly, her teeth showing in her devious grin.

Applejack's eyes never wavered from the face of her best friend, and she decided upon the next in line at that moment, "How about you, Rainbow?"

"Read my mind, baby." Rainbow nudged her teasingly and called her something rather informal and intimate, which like anything else came off her lips sarcastically.

"Oh come off it, you always act just so tough and fearless." Rarity spat as she peered at them in the rear-view mirror, shaking her head, "I bet dares scare you just like anyone else."

"You think so?" Rainbow Dash leaned forwards antagonistically and glared at the diva driving, "All right, well then, how about you dare me, Rarity?"

"I'm so glad you asked." Rarity tipped her nose up in pride and knew exactly what would throw Rainbow Dash off that high-horse.

"Hey girls, it's midnight!" Twilight called from the back, "You think we should call Fluttershy and tell her where we are?"

"Yes. Tell her to ask Big Mac for a ride." Rarity told her as she began to turn the steering wheel all the way around, pulling an illegal U-turn in the middle of the empty street. The rest of the girls held on tightly as she did, and Rarity's eyes hit the rear-view mirror once again, locking her glare onto Rainbow Dash. "Tell her to meet us at the liquor store off thirty-sixth."
> Deviant and Drunk
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


5. Deviant and Drunk


Rainbow Dash groaned loudly as she leaned her head back and looked up at the street lights above. Her elbows were bent behind her and resting on the hood of Rarity's SUV, which had become cool as time drifted on since last they drove. Applejack chuckled lightly at her friend's impatience, moving a step or two closer and crossing her heels in those charming old cowboy boots. She looked at Rainbow up and down while the girl's attention was elsewhere, but was surprised to hear her speak up and address her directly.

"So talk to me about something, Applejack." Rainbow asked, still looking right above her instead of into the face of the curious girl beside her, "Soarin."

"What about Soarin?" Applejack's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and she wondered what Rainbow Dash was implying by bringing him up.

"You into him?" The multi-coloured-headed girl asked, rolling her neck absently as she found the honest eyes of her freckled friend.

"What kinda question is that?" Applejack inquired with an incredulous expression. She found the notion rather ridiculous in fact, but tried to put it politely, "I mean I hardly know the fella."

"Not yet." Rainbow smiled a bit as her eyes ran up and down Applejack's body, insinuating something sexual probably.

"I dunno, Rainbow. I ain't never thought about it." Applejack replied honestly, not bothered by her best friend's usual teasing. Rainbow Dash was not finished pushing the subject though, and she moved a few inches across the hood closer.

"You thinking about it now?" Rainbow asked quietly, her hushed voice brushing against Applejack's ear temptingly. No, she was most definitely not thinking about any man right then. Applejack chewed at her lip to avoid speaking what was really on her mind, what really had her undivided attention, and instead responded with a question.

"You want me thinkin' about it?" Applejack teased back, tilting her head and raising one eyebrow.

"No, no, it's just," Rainbow groaned a bit and pushed her elbows off the hood of the vehicle, crossing them in front of her instead. She didn't really want Applejack thinking about it, but she knew it was probably what was best, and the fastest way to make her unavailable for anyone else who may have been interested. She tried to phrase it as best she could, "I like you, A.J., you're my best friend. I just think it's maybe time you got a boyfriend or something."

"Or somethin'?" Applejack caught the last couple of words and noticed something inconsistent about them.

"Yeah, what's it to you?" Rainbow Dash's temper flared up a bit, though it never bothered Applejack too much. Rainbow turned her head away and pouted, "Jeez, here I am just trying to be all helpful and shit, be all supportive or whatever, and you're totally not being cool about it."

Applejack waited a good few seconds before she said anything, and when she did, it was with a playful smile and a nudge, "Did I hurt your feelin's? Y'mad at me?"

"Maybe." Rainbow Dash replied simply, without moving.

"Aww," Applejack mused with a fake puppy-dog look, nestling in close and gently pinching Rainbow's side with more than curious fingers, "You want I should kiss it better?"

Rainbow Dash huffed a laugh at her best friend and shook her head, finally meeting her gaze again, "Shut up, A.J."

The rumbling old muffler was heard before that old work truck was seen, but Applejack knew the roar all too well. She pushed off the vehicle, leaving her best friend still against the hood though Rainbow Dash's eyes followed her closely, and waved around the corner as her brother drove around. The truck pulled up right beside the SUV, just a little ways away from the entrance to the liquor store. Big Mac didn't bother turning the truck off as he let Fluttershy climb out of the passenger's side. Spike was shoved in the back with some of Big Mac's tools, where there was hardly enough room for him.

"Uh, heya, Mac." Applejack greeted him shyly, uncertain if he was angry with her or not. His expression was never very telling, but as he looked over at her she felt somewhat relieved.

"Howdy." He said simply, wrapping his arm around the back of the passenger's seat to get close enough to speak out the still open door over the sounds of the chuffing muffler. "Do I even wanna ask what y'all are doin' out here?" Big Mac was old enough to have bought them booze if that was what they were after, he was a few years their senior after all, but that was not their intention.

"Prolly not, Mac. I'll see y'later." Applejack shook her head with a small, crooked smile.

"Eeyup," He nodded slowly as he went to put the truck into reverse, but paused to look back out at Fluttershy, "Now, y'have a good night, Miss Fluttershy."

"T-Thank you, Mac." Fluttershy extended him a timid and gentle wave, and he returned it with a trademark Apple family smirk.

Spike leaned against the window and saw Rarity standing by the SUV with a rather bored expression on her face, and a blush crept up onto his face as he wondered what anyone might have dared her to do. Big Mac put the truck into gear and began backing up, causing Spike to move around in the back to watch his object of affection draw farther and farther away.

Pinkie Pie looked back at the truck then at Fluttershy, not once but twice, before she shrieked out loud, "Did you hook up with him?!"

"Beg pardon?" Applejack twitched as she heard such a thing, and whipped around to glare at Fluttershy like she could dig the truth out with her eyes.

"N-no, no, I-I just, well, he," Fluttershy stammered nervously as she held up her hands and trembled under the attention.

"Hah! Slut-up, Flutter!" Rainbow Dash guffawed and high-fived the girl, who flinched at the touch and couldn't even comprehend a response.

"Enough chit-chat," Rarity spoke up as she turned to look at the liquor store. She knew it well enough to know exactly where her golden fleece was located in the store, "Rainbow Dash, you're up."

"Yeah, yeah, so all I have to do is get in and steal a micky of, uh, Jerry's was it? Yeah, Jerry's, and that's it?" Rainbow Dash smirked in pride, she already had an idea of how to do it. However, as she went to grab her skateboard from leaning against the car, she stopped, noticing someone patrolling the store in a blue uniform, "Woah, woah, woah, you never said that there'd be cops!?"

"I thought you weren't afraid?" Rarity grinned as she raised her eyebrow victoriously at Rainbow's dumbfounded expression.

"Are you trying to get me arrested!?" Rainbow Dash whispered at the top of her voice, squeaking a bit with the force of her hush.

"Well, you could challenge me, I have no problem with it. I mean if you're too scared to do it just say the words, and I will." Rarity told her quickly, gesturing at the store and herself with ease.

"Rarity's dad owns the store, Dash." Twilight Sparkle remembered and revealed, though Rarity shoved her a bit to tell her to hush up. Rainbow Dash just gawked at her obstacle, her expression blank and uncertain.

"Oh, and by the way?" Rarity pointed towards the clerk and exposed a little detail that Rainbow Dash might need to know, "The Sailor Jerry's is right behind the counter, third shelf. Good luck."

Rarity patted the stunned girl on the shoulder while the others looked around at each other nervously. Applejack played with the camera she found in her hands and didn't really know what to say. She didn't want Rainbow to have to shave her head, but neither did she want her to get arrested or something. Suddenly, the girl with the multi-coloured hair turned to face the freckle-faced farmer, and took both of her hands in her own. She brought the camera up between them and pulled open the screen on the side that displayed the recorded image.

"Keep your eyes on me, as if you'll have trouble with that." Rainbow Dash winked with a grin as she let Applejack's hands go, and looked back at her target. "All right, you know what? Fine. Let's do it." She stopped again though, and suddenly grabbed a shoulder bag off of Rarity's front seat, leaving the door open for the rest of the girls to hide behind, "Give me that bag of yours though."

"It's Chanel!" Rarity complained as Rainbow adorned the ugly, pink travesty with a frown.

"Do you think I know what that means? It's pink and it's ugly, that's all I know." Rainbow Dash sighed as she adjusted the bag and grabbed her skateboard, "I will try not to puke in it, sound fair?"

"You're really going to do this?" Twilight's uneasy voice peeped out, but Rainbow Dash was not deterred.

"Watch and be amazed." She said with a smirk, letting her skateboard smack the ground before she put one foot on it and pushed off, gliding easily towards the store. Applejack zoomed in with the camera until she got a good crop of the scene, following as Rainbow Dash neared the entrance.

"If she gets arrested, my father's a lawyer. A good one." Twilight whispered as they stacked behind the open door, peering through the open window. Applejack elbowed Twilight a lot lighter than she would have if it was anyone else, knowing how weak the egghead was.

"Shut your yap Twi, she'll be fine. Just fine." Applejack nodded to try and assure herself, looking up from the little screen on the camera to the real Rainbow Dash who went inside the store, still on her skateboard.

"Hey," Everyone froze as the officer looked over to Rainbow, who slouched on her rolling skateboard and gave him something of an apathetic look, "You can't ride that thing in here."

"Oh, my apologies, sir." Rainbow Dash smiled innocently and stepped off, kicking the bottom so it jumped up high enough for her to snatch it in her hand. She walked back to the doorway and leaned it against the glass with ease, flashing a daring gaze out into the parking lot at her friends.

She turned on a dime and went back towards the aisles, moseying through them with false interest. The security officer watched her carefully as he strolled around himself, but the aisles were taller than she was so she easily slipped around his attention. She did not move too slowly in case that drew suspicions, but glanced up as someone else entered the store. It was a taller, slim man who approached the clerk and asked for some brand of cigarettes. That gave Rainbow Dash an idea.

As the sounds of ringing something in and the distance between Rainbow and the other muffled the noise, she plucked a bottle of very high-percentage alcohol off the counter and cracked open the seal by twisting it with the bottom of her shirt. She knew it had to be at least 100 proof for this to work. Successfully stifling the sound, Rainbow Dash poured a bit slowly down the shelf, creating a long trail and leaving the half-empty bottle at one end tipped right over. The security cameras around her were unmonitored for the moment as the clerk was distracted, and Rainbow Dash took full advantage of it.

"What is she doing back there?" Twilight asked as she tried to see what is was she was cooking up, but Rarity just laughed a bit.

"She's about to get busted." Rarity smirked and Applejack frowned at her insensitivity. Surely Rarity would not let Rainbow Dash get in too deep of trouble about this, would she?

Rainbow Dash made sure that some of the spill led down to the ground below, dripping over cardboard and down. She grabbed a second high-proof bottle and tipped it just so delicately over the side of the shelf, knowing the slightest bump or motion would tip it over.

There were a few objects that peaked Rainbow's interest, but she knew she would have to keep on target to get the job done right. She continued around the store and doubled back once or twice as though she was checking the prices, slipping her hand into her pocket and revealing a little metal instrument. Flicking it open and running her finger along the flint wheel, she held it deep into the shelf to hide the light as she sparked the little silver zippo on. She began to walk back towards the counter, though neither the clerk nor the security guard could see where her hand was from behind the inventory. She placed the lighter down and hustled her step a bit to reach the man.

"Excuse me, sir," She spoke up as she came up to him with a pleasant smile on her face, drowning out the slow burning sound with her own voice as the fire spread quickly towards the bottle. She leaned ever so slightly against the aisle she required and felt it shift a bit with her weight, and something was knocked loose, "I was wondering if you carried the—"

The back of the store caught everyone's attention with the loud crack as the bottle went up, and fire spread across the counter towards similarly flammable liquids. There was another loud smash as the second bottle landed on the floor, lighting up immediately after the first. Even the group at the SUV all flinched and suppressed shouts of panic or surprise.

"Holy shit!" The clerk reacted quickly, grabbing the fire extinguisher as Rainbow Dash covered her face in mock shock, staring at the quickly spreading fire. The security guard was entirely flabbergasted as he too turned towards the commotion, touching his radio instinctively.

Rainbow Dash took her chance and leapt clean over the counter, falling into a crouch on the other side. Her hands worked fast while the extinguisher hissed against the fire, dousing most of it as the white powder fogged up the back of the store. The girls outside gaped in horror as they watched it, Rarity bringing her hands to her mouth and gasping loudly.

"She set my father's store on fire!" She cried out is terror while Applejack smiled and shook her head in amazement, watching Rainbow Dash stuff something or another into the Chanel bag and hop back onto the counter, running along the length until she reached the entrance again.

"Hey, you!" The security guard called as he turned around from facing the now nearly diminished fire, taking special interest in the bolting girl who had cleared the counter. He made chase as Rainbow Dash got to her skateboard and raced out of the store.

"Go, go! Get in the car!" Applejack directed as the girls all scrambled to do as she said, Rarity managing to turn it on even in her angry and dumbfounded state. She drove forward and headed around the other side of the store, hoping to run into Rainbow on the way.

"Peace out!" Rainbow Dash called as she threw her skateboard to the ground, running beside it and hopping on as it gained speed down the street.

She kicked and pushed her foot against the ground to increase speed as she came upon the far corner of the store, knowing better than to run towards her friend's vehicle. The security guard, though not in his best physical shape, took off after her and yelled at her to stop. Rainbow Dash crouched down to gain momentum before launching herself over a drop at the end of the lot, skidding into a turn around the corner as she found the street below.

"Where the hell is she?!" Applejack cursed as she looked out the windows in the back seat, pointing the camera in all directions as they drove around the block. The other girls shook their heads as they looked out for her, but she was no where to be seen.

Rainbow Dash raced down the street with the security guard close behind, clipping corners and avoiding obstacles as she jumped from the raised side-walk to the pavement. She recognized Rarity's sport utility vehicle as it pulled up in front of her, and Pinkie Pie cried out from the passenger's seat.

"Look out! Don't hit her!" She squealed as everyone noticed her quickly approaching them.

Applejack hurriedly moved across the vacant seats to Rainbow's side of the car and yanked on the door handle, kicking it all the way open as the deviant rebel neared. Fluttershy and Twilight watched on from the far back seat as Rainbow stepped on the back of her skateboard, knocking it up into her hands while she made the last few feet on foot. She jumped into the open door and yanked it closed behind her as Rarity stepped on the gas, and out the window the rainbow-haired girl flipped up her middle finger at the guard.

Rarity took off with a screech as the vehicle obeyed her, leaving the guard but foot away from the door. He bent down as he caught his breath, hands on his knees as he watched them speed away, too exhausted to get a read on the license plate. He kicked at the dirt before turning back around to return to his post.

The streets were empty now, and the music from Rarity's radio blared out into the vacancy beyond while the rest of the girls laughed to recount the tale. Rarity shook her head in the driver's seat as her hands gripped the wheel, still fuming about the whole thing.

"That was the most badass thing I have ever seen!" Pinkie Pie shouted as she turned back to look at Rainbow Dash, who smiled and pulled the strap of the bag over her head.

"And lookie, lookie what Rainbow snagged for the party," Rainbow Dash narrated as she pulled out the micky of Sailor Jerry's from within the bulging bag, presenting it to Rarity in the rear view mirror.

"Oh, what kind of friend are you anyway? You could have burned down my father's store!" She snarled with a huff, but nothing could put a damper on the mood right then.

"Where did you even learn to do that?" Twilight said as she leaned forward in the far back seat, surprised at Rainbow's knowledge of fire starters.

"The net, of course," Rainbow Dash beamed as her fingers ran over the bag, "Oh, but I couldn't just get something for Rarity and not get something for the rest of you, right?"

"What?" Rarity's voice nearly cracked as she watched Rainbow reach back into the bag.

"For Pinkie, our party specialist, some tequila to keep the fun going." She handed the bottle up front and Pinkie Pie gawked at it in awe, "For Fluttershy, a little Sauvignon blanc should do the trick, you strike me as a white wine girl." She handed the bottle back, and Fluttershy blushed a bit, "For Twilight, a Bacardi breezer. Baby steps, Twi." She snickered as she gripped the thing by the neck and tossed it back.

"You can't be serious." Rarity shook her head in shock as these things emerged from her bag.

"And, for the birthday girl," Rainbow reached in deep to the bag and brought forth some tall, wide bottle with golden wrapping on the top, "A little celebratory champagne; though I'm sure you're more one for the harder stuff. If you ask nice maybe Rarity will share?"

"Wow," Applejack took it from her hands and held the cool bottle in her own, her eyes following the looping lettering between her thumbs before letting it rest on her lap, "You're amazin', Rainbow."

"I know. Come on girls, give me some love." Rainbow Dash gestured to herself with open palms and smirked with pride.

"Yes, until they catch you on the security camera." Rarity reminded her with a snotty tone, smiling.

"Oh, yeah, right," Rainbow Dash didn't seem all that distraught, and reached back into the seemingly endless bag, "I know it's selfish, but I picked up a little something for myself." She brought her hand back out and revealed a VHS tape to her friends, whose jaws all dropped.

"You are insane!" Pinkie Pie cheered as she watched Applejack take the tape and flip it over in her hands, realizing it was the real deal.

"All right, all right, time to celebrate." Rainbow reached between Applejack's legs and took hold of the champagne bottle she had positioned there to hold while she looked over the tape, and the freckled girl even yelped a bit at the touch, "Now Rarity may be a bit of a buzz kill, but I think we should all commend her for being our designated driver on this fine evening."

"Seriously?" Twilight blinked in shock as Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash began to work at opening their bottles in the car.

"All right girls," Rainbow finished removing the golden wrapping on the top of the bottle of champagne and held it into the air, "To a fantastic evening filled with nudity, theft, and under-aged drinking. And much more to come! Woohoo!"

"You'd better not open that in—" Rarity tried to stop her, but shifted on the wheel a bit as the cork went flying, ricocheting through the vehicle and nearly hitting her in the back of the head. Rarity gasped as bubbles began to pour from the bottle, and Rainbow Dash brought it to her lips, "Rainbow! I'm driving here, and you're going to ruin those leather seats!"

"Come here, birthday girl!" Rainbow wrapped her arm around Applejack and pressed the bottle to her lips, watching as she took a few thirsty sips before needing a breath.

Applejack broke away and laughed as Rainbow took another sip of the still bubbling liquid. Overwhelmed by the fizzing of the substance, Rainbow Dash pulled Applejack in closer again, allowing them to both press their lips against the bottle and drink it at the same time. The champagne poured over their lips and dripped onto their laps as they struggled to get most of it down, and their lips brushed against each other in the mix.

Rainbow Dash noticed immediately the way her body reacted to the touch, but watching as Applejack licked and gulped at the substance did nothing to make that go away. The champagne stopped spurting at last and Applejack put her hand over Rainbow's on the bottle, lowering it and breathing in deeply, smiling and chuckling as she met her best friend's eyes. That solidified Rainbow's need to get her dare in motion, her need to have something take away her temptation and assure her of its impossibility. Rainbow's expression was abnormally calm, so Applejack nudged her hard with an elbow to bring back her confident and aggressive smirk.

"S'wrong, R.D.?" Applejack asked in a low voice, her hot, sweet smelling breath rolling over Rainbow's cheek as she leaned in and spoke, "Bit of a lightweight?"

"You wish, so you wouldn't have to try so hard to get me drunk," Rainbow playfully ran her fingers along Applejack's thigh and took another sip of the champagne, finding a better excuse for her temporary silence, "Nah, I was just wondering who was next in the order. It's just you and Twilight, and I kind of hope it's Twilight, the girl's been pretty quiet the whole time."

"Hey!" Twilight peeped up and the two girls look back at her, noticing she was actually paying attention.

"Well al'right then, Twi, your go." Applejack moved a bit away from Rainbow so they could turn around more comfortably and look back at the book worm.

"I knew my time would come," She sighed in defeat and looked ahead at the only two girls who had yet to dare someone, "Okay, Applejack, you dare me. I think it's probably safer to ask you than Rainbow Dash."

"I dunno, sugar cube," Applejack grinned as she leaned forwards and took the champagne, drumming her fingers over the bottle as she chewed on her lip to hold back the devious, crooked smirk long enough to speak, "I think you might need to get started on that breezer for what I got up m'sleeve."
> A Stoop and a Party
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


6. A Stoop and a Party


Twilight held the bottle up high, tilting it all the way back and squeezing her eyes shut as she finished the last few sips. She threw the bottle onto the ground in the vehicle as she put her hand to her head, wincing as the alcohol slipped into her stomach. Rainbow Dash and Applejack smiled at each other in the silence before Rainbow looked over at Twilight and broke it.

"So, how do you feel?" She asked, though there was clearly another motive behind the question than just asking about intoxication.

"Don't rush me." Twilight replied in a huff, leaning forward a bit as Fluttershy nervously sat beside her. Twilight sighed audibly as she tried to relax, but her nerves were getting the better of her.

"Well, what better reason than to open up that bottle of wine, eh Fluttershy?" Rainbow said with a nod, and Fluttershy nervously played with the lid, uncertain if she should.

"Oh, um, I don't," She stammered and stuttered a bit as her shaking fingers touched the cool glass, but Twilight reached over and snatched it from her uncharacteristically.

"Let me." Twilight hurriedly twisted the cheap metal cap off and began to down the liquid, though she winced from the sour taste she had not gotten from the breezer. She pulled it away from herself and wiped her lips, staring at the ground and frowning, "Still nothing."

"Here," Applejack sat up and moved to the front of the vehicle between the driver and passenger's seats, reaching up by the steering wheel, "Lemme help." She flicked on the wind shield wash, which sprayed up on the glass before the wipers began to push it to either side.

"That's not funny." Twilight groaned as she pinched her knees together, somewhat relieved that she had decided to wear a skirt on that particular evening. She took another long few sips of the white wine before handing it back to Fluttershy, who fumbled it a bit before accepting it. "I can't believe you're making me do this. I am class Valedictorian, student council secretary and treasurer. I could get suspended or expelled or—"

"Just do it!" Rainbow Dash nearly shouted, looking back without mercy at the girl who clasped her hands over her lap and began hyperventilating. "You'll feel better afterwards, you know you will."

"Shut up, Rainbow Dash." Twilight growled as she grabbed the wine again, downing another few sips while Fluttershy retained hold on it, before kicking the seat ahead of her until Rainbow scampered over to Applejack's side. "Let me out, already."

"I think she might actually have a break-down!" Pinkie Pie said as the rest of them opened up their doors and began getting out.

"You're one to talk." Rarity murmured, in reference to Pinkie's own dare.

Twilight shoved the door closed behind her as the others finished getting out, and she turned around to storm up the the house they were parked in front of. Applejack opened up the screen on the camera once more while the others giggled and shushed each other as they went to find a good vantage point. Twilight crept up to the house, a tall, white structure with the lights all off on the inside. She checked the windows beside the front door and looked around anxiously.

"Over here!" Pinkie Pie whispered as they all stacked behind a parked car, watching as Twilight Sparkle turned her back to the front door of the house.

"Oh my God." Rarity gasped as she watched her friend shift a bit as she pulled down her underwear from beneath her skirt, purple coloured no surprise, and squat down in front of the door.

"Is she doing it?" Pinkie Pie asked as she tried to get a better look, her excitement brimming as Applejack held the camera steady.

"She's totally splitting the whisker!" Rainbow Dash hissed with a surprised voice, holding back laughter at how ridiculous the scene was. They all gaped as they watched a nearly invisible stream of liquid begin to pool on the door mat below her. Rainbow Dash looked over at Applejack, "You think she'll get kicked out of student council if Celestia catches her?"

"Yeah." Applejack nodded up and down certainly as the screen captured it all.

"Good, let's test that." Rainbow Dash put her hands on the hood of the parked car and jumped, turning around and sitting down right on the hood in front of Applejack. Everyone else gasped as the car alarm began to blare through the neighbourhood.

Rainbow Dash climbed back down and looked over at the house, seeing Twilight still in the middle of her dare and freaking out. Lights came on inside and shone out through the window, and the rest of the girls just stared in awe. Twilight didn't have much time to move as she tried to finish up, incapable of making herself stop while something so scary was happening.

"Oh no!" Fluttershy squeaked a bit as she brought her hands to her face.

"She is so busted!" Pinkie Pie chirped as the girls stood up from behind the car and watched more lights come on inside the house.

Twilight looked back over her shoulder as she heard the door unlock and hurriedly reached down to try and grab her underwear, which was caught around her socks. The door fully opened and a drowsy Principal Celesia emerged in a night gown, staring in confusion at the spectacle before her. Twilight began to run but tripped over her underwear, falling into the grass as she attempted to scamper away. Her skirt flipped up over her bare ass as she fell, and she hurriedly got to her feet again and pulled her underwear back up all the way.

"Twilight Sparkle?" Principal Celestia's voice called out, though it was too dark to see for certain, "Is that you?"

Twilight sprinted across the lawn towards the vehicle, parked just behind a tree so it might not be spotted. The rest of the girls had made it there by then and left the door open for her, Rarity turning it on immediately after entering. Celestia squinted to try and see clearly, then looked down at the welcome mat below her feet. She noticed the small puddle right away, and frowned in disgust, shaking her head irritably as gesturing with open palms a silent question.

"Twilight, smile for the camera!" Rainbow Dash said as Applejack continued to point it at their target as she climbed into the passenger's seat this time.

"That was so mean!" She cried out as they took off, and most everyone else howled in laughter. Celestia just watched them drive off and ran a hand through her hair, turning back around apathetically and slamming the door shut behind her.

"It'll be okay, Twilight," Fluttershy tried to calm her, but Twilight would have none of it.

"I just mooned Principal Celestia. I just mooned Principal Celestia. She saw my bare rear, after I peed on her doormat." Twilight placed her head in her hands and shook a bit, mortified.

"Yeah I think that's the gist of it." Rainbow Dash nodded with a smirk, finishing the last few sips of Applejack's champagne before picking up Fluttershy's wine and frowning at it.

"Give me some of that." Twilight barked as she reached back to grab it, but Rainbow Dash moved it away quickly.

"Haven't you learned your lesson?" She inquired aggressively, but Twilight did not look amused. "Seems to me you might need something a little stronger. Rarity, you still got that Jerry's?"

"I didn't throw it out the window or anything, so yes." Rarity replied as she passed the item back to her rainbow-headed friend, who cracked it open and went to take the first swig.

"Oh, sorry, ladies first." Rainbow handed it to Applejack, who chuckled a bit at the implication but drank some nonetheless. Rainbow then passed it up to Twilight, who nearly choked on the thick and toxic taste.

"Ugh! How can you drink this?" She coughed loudly and covered her mouth as she tried to keep it down.

"Trust me Twi, if you want that dare burned out of that photographic memory, just drink." Rainbow Dash snorted as she watched her try again, only to be corrected by her coughing voice.

"E-Eidetic," Twilight told her through choking, and she passed it back to Rainbow Dash while she managed to get a hold of herself.

"Whatever Twilight, you just peed on Celestia's doormat, eidetic or not we are all going to remember that." Rainbow Dash laughed as she brought the beverage to her lips and took a big, mouth-cleansing swig.

"So, are you going to tell me where I'm driving now or should I just keep going around in circles?" Rarity asked as she peered back at the slowly swaying Rainbow Dash.

"Oh, you know where we're going," She told Rarity as she pulled on the back of her seat to sit more upright, "Octavia's party, remember?"

"But Applejack still hasn't done a dare yet." Twilight said as she looked back at the blonde girl, who sheepishly grinned a bit while Rainbow handed her the liquor to sip.

"I know, I've got a perfect dare for my girl already." Rainbow Dash said, and the rest of them realized that Rainbow was the only one who had not given a dare, so the decision went to her without question.

"Y'do?" Applejack asked as she looked into the bright pink eyes of her best friend, whose devilish smirk betrayed their usual playful interaction.

"Oh yes," Rainbow Dash leaned in closer to her friend, forcing her against the seat shyly as her best friend's lips came dangerously close to her own, and her words were laces with poison and trouble. Applejack blinked nervously as she kept her mouth shut, watching Rainbow's smile grow wide and her eyes narrow, "I triple dog dare you," Her mouth moved with the words, slow and tantalizing as they were, "To let someone go to third base with you tonight."

"What was that?!" Applejack blushed brightly as her whole body went numb, feeling the weight of Rainbow Dash as she pressed on her knee and hovered merely and inch from her nose, "You're not serious!"

"I am, I am very serious." Rainbow put on a fake serious face but cracked a smile as she noticed Applejack's utter reluctance.

"But I—that ain't like me!" She argued defiantly, moving against the aggression of her best friend and squirming over to the window for some air.

"Exactly. Now, the only matter left for you to decide, is with whom you shall take the dirty plunge." Rainbow Dash sat back down and deviously chewed on the idea, letting the others in the car look around uncertainly. "I suggest a certain grease monkey named Soarin."

"Soarin?" The name sounded foreign and bitter on her lips, like she didn't like the taste of it one bit. Applejack stared at her best friend with wide and attentive eyes, then shifted them to meet those looking at her in the rear-view mirror. "But I dunno him, or like him much for that matter."

"Well, the choice is yours, I suppose," Rainbow Dash fiddled around in the pocket of the seat in front of her, pulling out the electric shaver that she had brought along just in case, "But I hear guys don't really go for bald girls. So either you go to third tonight, or you might not get the chance again until you're out of college."

"Rainbow," Applejack murmured her name pleadingly, but the rebel's mind was made up and the dare had been cast. She sighed and chewed on her cheek like she was keeping some secret, but instead of spitting it out she drowned it back like swallowing a pill, chugging more distasteful mouthfuls of Jerry's.

The roof span around a bit as the burning liquid went down, and Applejack's chest got tight as she finished her drink, handing it off to somebody, she couldn't really tell who. Her body tingled as it sank in, and she breathed out a hot and bothered breath. She closed her eyes for a second, regretting what could come of this already.

The group pulled up outside an average suburban house, littered with pedestrians and party-goers scattered across the lawn and moving inside and out of the open front door. Rarity parked just across the street and the doors opened consecutively, passengers hopping and wobbling out as the rest of the alcohol was slipped between seats or back into bags. Applejack's fingers trembled as she approached the house, looking down at herself and hearing the way her boots clicked over the dark pavement. Her eyes jumped up to Rainbow Dash, who was watching her carefully with this smart-ass smirk on her face.

"H-How do I look?" Applejack asked anxiously, looking over at her best friend imploringly.

"Sexy as hell, like usual." Rainbow came over to her friend and placed her hands on the farmer's defined hips, leering at her through the light haze of liquor that had begun to creep up on her. She reached up and undid the highest done-up button, revealing a little more of her modest friend's cleavage despite protests, "Listen, just be cool, A.J., he already likes you."

"Yeah." Applejack nodded but her word came out less than believable. She watched as her best friend turned back around and strode towards the house, her swinging legs an obnoxious trait she often employed to stand out. Applejack's mouth moved before consent came, "Heya, Dash? Can I ask you somethin'?"

"Yeah, of course, anything." Rainbow Dash responded promptly, looking back at the blonde girl as she caught up and fell into step beside her.

"Do you know anything about," Applejack was uncertain how her friend might react, for she knew best how temperamental the rainbow-haired girl could be. Still, she could not avoid the topic any longer, "Gilda?"

Rainbow Dash stopped walking, silenced by the question for a moment. She contorted her face a bit as she repressed the instinctual bark for something a little more level headed, though not by much, "Why, uh, why would you ask me something like that? Why do you even care?"

"Relax, I was just askin'—" Applejack began again but Rainbow Dash shouted her quiet.

"No, you relax!" Her voice echoed a bit across the street, and the other four girls noticed right away the tension. They stopped and watched as the two bickered, "And nothing, I don't know anything about her, she was older than me."

"Sunset Shimmer just said—" Applejack could hardly get a word in as Rainbow went off, the haze of liquor dropping over them rather suddenly.

"Who cares what Shimmer said?" Rainbow Dash yelled as she extended her arms to either side, letting out a harsh and loud sigh, "Look, she was not even there, so she doesn't know anything. In fact, I wasn't even there. Okay? I didn't even know the girl, all I know, is that there was a party. Gilda was depressed or some shit, maybe her dog died or she got a bad grade or her parents were getting divorced, who cares?" Rainbow shook her head in apathy, narrowing her eyes at her best friend, who just stood there taking the brunt of her outburst, "She just ran off and found her way to the bridge. Look, people who are depressed do crazy things. Maybe she was just some junkie who lost her will to live. I didn't ask her, all I know is that she jumped. Okay?"

"You lyin' t'me?" Applejack asked readily, watching Rainbow Dash force the eye contact.

The two of them puffed out their bottom lips at each other in deep frowns, their eyebrows low as they were locked in an intimidatory glare. The two of them were the most stubborn and abrasive of the group, and they would often get into tense disagreements that turned into physical confrontation or staring contests. They stepped closer and bore their eyes into each other, their bodies so near it seemed more like a dance than any feud. Before anything more violent came of it, they were broken up.

"Rainbow Dash, is that you?" A proper sounding voice chimed in simply as the dark haired girl stepped out of the doorway to find the group on her lawn, "I thought I heard an obnoxious voice. What are you doing at my party?"

"Not now, Octavia, can't you see I'm talking to Applejack?!" Rainbow Dash snapped at the girl, who had directed their negative glares to herself.

"My my, someone's having an episode." Octavia let out a light and posh laugh as she watched the two rough girls step away from each other and let their differences rest, "You know that you weren't invited, so can you just leave already?"

"Listen here you prissy, stuck up little—" Rainbow started off but the girl before her just checked her nails before speaking up to cut her off.

"You want to know why I didn't invite you, Dash?" That question halted Rainbow's explosive aggression, and she impatiently waited for an answer, "See, a few months ago, I heard a rumour. Anticipating it might hold some fact, I avoided you. That rumour told that a certain rainbow-headed girl had become quite furious with a friend of hers, and that rainbow-headed girl had pushed her friend off a certain bridge." Applejack's eyes narrowed as the suspicions rose, but she did not believe a word of it. Rainbow Dash bit at her lip and shook her head, clenching her fists so hard her short nails dug into her skin, "The more of that temper I see, the more accurate it sounds."

"Oh, I can show you temper." Rainbow Dash murmured as she went to step forward and display just how savage and uncouth she could be, but something stopped her.

"Easy, easy." Applejack gently wrapped her hand around Rainbow's balled up fist, quelling the bubbling anger with a simple action. Rainbow looked down at their hands together, and felt something warm and calming about the little embrace. Applejack continued to relax the situation, "Look, we're here already, so how's about you just let us hang around, we ain't gonna cause any trouble, promise."

Octavia looked at her carefully, knowing that Applejack was never one to make a scene or cause trouble if she could help it. She may not have liked the girl, but she knew that she was respectable anyway. Besides, Rarity was with them, so she could surely direct them to behave. The better-off girl sighed lightly and pitied the group before her, thinking that their silly parties must have paled in comparison to her own.

"Well I suppose I could be so generous. But do behave, I'd hate to have to throw you out." Octavia waved her hand dismissively.

"No you wouldn't." Rainbow Dash murmured to herself, and Applejack since she was so near. She continued to frown as Octavia walked away, going back inside to mingle. Rainbow Dash snorted a bit as she took off in a quickly paced walk, gesturing with a nod of her head for the girls to follow, "Come on guys, it's a party, remember?" Her shoulders rose up a bit as she shoved her hands deep into her pockets and she glowered, the last few words seeping out with a terribly mischievous ring, "And we have a game to finish."
> Beds and Bridges
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


7. Beds and Bridges


"Come on, just trust me for, like, a second, okay?" Rainbow Dash said to the guy at the end of her arm as she pulled him through the crowd towards her destination. His expression was rather concerned and worried, as he knew better than to take Rainbow Dash at face value.

"Um, you show up late to the party after making a scene, find me, grab me, drag me through a crowd into this isolated part of the house, and I'm supposed to just follow silently?" Soarin asked while he raised an eyebrow, rather uncomfortable with the situation, "I don't mean to be rude, Dash, but if you're trying to get me alone I have to say that I—"

"What? No, ew," She scoffed obnoxiously as she let his arm go, disgusted by the thought of what he might have been about to say, "Trust me, you're not my type. Just, you'll thank me later, okay?"

"Okay, but where are we—" Rainbow Dash tripped him a bit and shoved him back, abandoning him in the middle of the vacant hall as she went to get into position. "Dash?! Where'd you go?"

"Wait there!" Her voice called back from somewhere he could not locate, and she slipped into the entrance of a dimly lit room. The lighting was poor but perfect, and the music from the rest of the party drifted softly into the space. Rainbow Dash ran into Applejack sitting alone on the bed, looking into her clasped hands as they rested on her lap, "Hey you. You ready?"

"I," Applejack chewed at her cheek as she thought about it, but managed to look up at her best friend despite her uneasiness, "Yeah, I guess so."

"Great, he's waiting down the hall." Rainbow Dash grabbed her hands and pulled her best friend to her feet, adjusting the hat on her head and the collar of her shirt, playing with the buttons like she thought about undoing more, "You'll be fine. Relax, okay?"

"I'll try," Applejack murmured as she watched her friend's hand move over her clothing, silently begging her to do more instead of forcing her into something like this. But still, she knew that there was little else she could do but follow the instructions and leave the room, pushing the hanging beads out of the doorway like they were stuck several decades in the past.

"Good luck!" Rainbow called after her friend as she began to look around, checking under the bed and behind an object or two, "Hey, where are you guys?"

"Over here! Hurry up!" Twilight's voice whispered quietly as she emerged from the closet and gestured for Rainbow Dash to get over to her.

Rainbow Dash cleared the room in a matter of seconds and closed the closet door behind her, peeking out through the few cracks that allowed light to come in. She could see Rarity and Pinkie Pie signal at them from the door to an ensuite bathroom, and flashed them a thumbs up between the doors as she made room for the camera. Taking it from the wobbly hands of Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash pushed the lens of the video camera through the crack in the closet doors and tested the view range, smiling as it pleased her.

"We're going to record it?!" Twilight Sparkle whispered in shock from behind Rainbow Dash in the closet.

"Duh, we have to, that's the game." Rainbow Dash said in an obvious tone, looking at the lighting in the screen and biting at her lips, "Besides, it might be hot."

"You're disgusting." Twilight murmured dully as she crossed her arms, "You'll watch your best friend giving a guy a good time?"

"Not exactly, I said she had to let someone get to it with her, so I'm hoping she's the one to receive." Rainbow Dash could not stop grinning as she said that, and Twilight made a very dissatisfied noise.

"How is that better?!" She called loudly in an attempt at a whisper, "Well, I am not going to watch."

"Suit yourself." Rainbow shrugged as she leaned out to look by the door, where Applejack and Soarin had not entered from yet.

"Um, I feel like I've been spending a lot of time in closets tonight." Fluttershy pointed out, but no one had time to reply as they heard footsteps approaching. Rainbow Dash shushed them loudly and leaned closer against the closet door, her eyes gleaming in the darkness eagerly.

"I don't really understand." Soarin's voice breached the room as Applejack led him in, though she kept her hands entirely to herself and her eyes low all the while.

"Um, Rainbow, Rainbow told me that you kinda, that you liked me a bit." Applejack fumbled for words, not really caring if it embarrassed him or anything. He tried to get a good look at her expression, but she avoided him and went to sit on the end of the bed instead.

He smirked a bit as he followed, rubbing the back of his head though he was careful not to mess up his perfectly styled hair, "Was I so obvious?"

"I dunno." Applejack distantly responded, playing with her hands in her lap and digging her boots into the carpet. She really had no idea what to say, and so she chewed on her cheek instead, something that Rainbow Dash found just charming, so she zoomed in on it.

"I do." Apparently Rainbow was not the only one who thought it was adorable, because Soarin came right over and sat real close to her, putting his hand over both of hers. "I like you more than just a bit, Applejack."

"Oh." She did not sound particularly pleased, but she tried not to be rude either. She was rather uneasy and confused, honestly.

"Now," Soarin pulled her a little closer and touched her chin, pointing her eyes up to meet his as he spoke, "Something tells me you didn't get Rainbow Dash to drag me down here for nothing."

"I uh," She swallowed as she looked into his eyes. He certainly was attractive, she could not deny it, and he smelled of musk and masculinity, something that charmed her so. "No, I reckon I didn't."

"Listen, I know you're not the kind of girl who hooks up with a lot of guys," He said as his hand trailed down her body, feeling her waist as he went down, and giving her an odd sensation of attention she wasn't sure she disliked, "I like that about you."

"Y'do?" Applejack's voice was small and meek as he mesmerized her with sensual touches she had not felt before, trailing down her thigh and resting on her leg.

"I really do. In fact, I like a lot of things about you." Soarin smiled as their eyes met, and he noticed the flushing in her freckled cheeks. He leaned in a bit as if to kiss her, but she pulled away and kept the conversation, though it was difficult not to give in to the sensations.

"Like what?" Applejack halted him a mere inch away, her smile sheepish and nervous, "I don't mean to pry or nothin', but, indulge me."

"Of course." He was pleased by her resistance, always finding himself aroused by the chase and the challenge. He moved his hands in her lap and took her hand in his own. "I like your fingers," He brought them to his lips and kissed them, the moisture of his lips remaining on each knuckle as he moved up, "They're strong, they're hard-working. They know how to hold tools."

Rainbow Dash bit back a snicker as she realized the double meaning of the words, though she knew Applejack would not notice. Besides, she seemed too hypnotized to do much more than stare blankly at the man who pursued her anyway, though Rainbow Dash knew that was for the best. Even Twilight could not keep herself from watching the spectacle, and leaned a bit to the left to get a better view. Soarin released Applejack's hand and touched her hips, slipping almost a fraction too far back as he perused them.

"I like your hips," His eyes leered at her hungrily, though his words were smooth, "Perfectly shaped, and the way they sway about when you walk, it's very sexy."

"I-It is?" Applejack found herself leaning into the embrace as her body began to heat up, but something was still holding her back, something was very uncomfortable about all of it.

"I like your shoulders," His hands slid up her body teasingly slowly, and some of the girls hiding were just as attentive even without the remarkably enticing touch, "Broad, defined, and firm." His eyes, however, were elsewhere on her chest, and it was somewhat flattering for Applejack for someone to look at her that way and have it not be a prank.

"Holy shit," Twilight muttered as she watched on in the screen in Rainbow's shaking hands, finding it easier to see, though she noticed the way Rainbow lingered on her friend's body even more than Soarin did.

"I like your cheeks," His hands made their way to her face as a grin emerged, and he rubbed his thumbs over the flushed area, "Tanned and freckled, and right now, adorably tinted with natural blush."

"I—I," Applejack's lips quivered under the attention, and rational thought escaped her.

"And though we have not been formally introduced," Applejack's eyes slammed into his in the dull lighting, and she gawked at his half-lidded gaze as he inched nearer, his fingers slipping behind her head. He licked his mouth before the words came out, and they emerged in a deep and sonorous tone as he went to close the distance, "I'm certain I will love your lips."

His eyes closed up as he made to kiss her, pressing himself against her body as he did. Taking in a sharp and anxious breath, Applejack turned her head at the last second, and Soarin's lips pressed against her cheek instead. Her eyes darted around nervously, as he chuckled against her skin, the sensation oddly pleasurable. He took it as a challenge and continued kissing her cheek, trailing down to her chin as his hands manoeuvred over her body.

Applejack hummed lightly as his lips touched her neck, but her face contorted worriedly, nervous about what these actions intended. He sucked at the skin a bit but continued down to her collar bone, her pulled open shirt permitting the access. His hands ran behind her back and pressed her chest against his, feeling the heat of her skin radiating to his every intrusion. Applejack's hands were still though, uncertain or unwilling to touch him as he pleased.

Rainbow Dash watched on with wide eyes, the camera in her grip trembling as she squeezed it. Her lips hurt from the way she had been biting at them and rubbing them together, but still she let it go on, let this man touch her best friend and turn her on. Rainbow Dash found herself constantly criticizing Soarin's moves. She knew Applejack better than he did, it wasn't fair that he was just fumbling around with her like that. He should have touched her better, kissed her longer, stroked her and embraced her like she deserved.

"Rainbow, are you okay?" Fluttershy's voice would go unheard and forgotten.

Rainbow's eyes moved from the screen to the reality of the situation, leaving the camera to drift a bit. In the dim pixels of the screen in her hands, Applejack closed her eyes as the feelings became more intense and she wanted to just fall into them, to ignore the protests of her mind and heart for the sake of a dare and a possibly enjoyable experience. Her fingers and palms touched his shoulder, but she did not like the way he felt, so big and intimidating.

"I'm glad you came tonight." His voice rolled over her skin as his knee slipped between hers, causing her to jump a bit. All the affections were tantalizing though, and she physically loved the way the touches felt on her body, "You were beginning to worry me."

She frowned to hear him speak, preferring the silence so that for an instant she could forget who he really was, "Y'should stop talking s'much."

He silently agreed as his leg dug deeper between hers, nearing a vicinity so private it made her shiver to think of. On her leg, she could feel a rising, hardening something press against her, something she could name but not imagine. She would have to see it, of course, to perform the act she needed to. His kissing became more aggressive as he squeezed at her, and she moaned a pleasurable sigh as someone else's face replaced his, someone whose lips were softer and who was much more attentive to her particular needs. His hands moved up to her face and he grabbed her forcefully, holding her still.

"Kiss me." Soarin commanded, and her eyes shot open.

The reality befell her again as she saw him, and he was not who she wanted. He forced himself against her to try for a kiss again but she struggled, her own strength a match for his. Before their lips had a chance to meet, in a fit of terror and anger Applejack shoved Soarin off of her. She got to her feet, backing away and staring as him as he fell onto the floor. He tried to regain his composure, but his shock had dashed most of his arousal. The fight intrigued him, but her furious and dissatisfied expression deterred him.

"What's wrong?" He asked as he grabbed the corner of the bed, pulling himself back up and standing those few feet away.

"I can't do this, Soarin." Applejack told him surely, her voice cold and distant, "I'm sorry for leadin' y'on like that, it ain't right."

"Applejack," Soarin frowned as he cocked his head at her, examining her utter lack of attraction to him and her reluctance to carry on, "What was your dare tonight?" Her eyes fell as she chewed at her cheek to keep the truth in, knowing the silence was enough. He nodded faintly as he understood, and he stepped backwards, "I thought so."

"I'm sorry." Applejack repeated as she shook her head, "It ain't you, you're a nice guy and all."

"I don't need the speech." He smiled with disappointment as he raised his hand between them, turning around to take his leave, "Don't get me wrong, I would have done it anyway. But you can't force people, you can't change them," He peered back over his shoulder as his eyes trailed her, "Or what they want."

Soarin pushed the hanging bead door open and brushed past it, leaving Applejack in the false solitude. Instantly, Rainbow Dash shoved open the closet door and forced the camera into Fluttershy's hands, though she fumbled it and nearly dropped it. Rainbow Dash reached into her pocket and felt for the object she would have hated to use, striding the distance between herself and her best friend.

"Come on, what are you doing?" Rainbow Dash pulled out the electric shaver and held it between them, her hands still trembling and her expression still hurt and yet relieved, "Go down there and get him back, I shouldn't have to remind you what's at stake here if you don't do it!"

"I know, Rainbow." Applejack paced away from Rainbow Dash, running her hands through her hair desperately, like something was really troubling her. Her hips rocked back and forth sensually as she strode, and she stopped only to turn around. Her eyes were almost pleading, so tortured and repressed, while her eyebrows furrowed and her teeth bit at her moist lips.

"Look Applejack, all you have to do is just let him kiss you a bit, give him a chance!" Rainbow Dash approached her again, and roughly touched her friend the way a man had, trying to remind her of it, "Let him kiss you, and touch you, and fondle you, and, and be happy already! Don't you want to be happy?"

Applejack smiled sadly as her body responded so completely to such little touches, and her eyes met her friend's calmly, "Don't you?"

"Well yeah but, but what do I have to do with this?!" Rainbow Dash scoffed and argued irritably, an obnoxious scowl running down her lips.

Applejack's smile got a bit wider as she stepped just one foot closer, "I reckon just about everythin'."

"I have no idea what that means, but I am going to give you five seconds to go and grab somebody and finish that dare, or I am shaving your head." Rainbow Dash held the electric shaver between them as she spoke, her voice harsh and unfeeling as she stomached it all, "One—!"

Applejack's lips met her own and silenced her, trapping the remaining four seconds, along with any rational thought or gasp for air, in her mouth. The rainbow-haired girl's eyes grew immensely wide as she felt those firm, tempting lips on her own, moving of their own entranced volition. The electric shaver hit the ground barely an inch from Rainbow Dash's foot, but she would not have flinched even if it did hit her. She threw her arms around her best friend's body and returned the kiss earnestly, the initial passion doubled.

The girls in the closet and bathroom gaped in shock as they watched two of their friends entwine in a sudden and daring act. Fluttershy's hands shook around as she debated closing up the camera and turning it off, but Twilight's hand landed on top of it to stop her. Fluttershy silently looked back and inquired why she had done so, but Twilight's fascinated and intent gaze answered the unspoken question.

"Keep it running." Twilight whispered as the girls before her fought each other in the most telling and violent of their collisions yet, "That's the game, right?"

Their connection was forceful and rough, competitive and violent. Applejack pulled Rainbow Dash with her, sitting down onto the bed and laying back, forcing the rebellious athlete to climb over her. But before the rainbow-haired girl could get any sense of an upper hand, Applejack tossed her to the side, shoving her against the plush mattress with her commanding strength.

Their kisses were harsh and abrasive, but the two of them seemed to love it that way. Their bodies pressed against each other hard as they began to explore, finding buttons and zippers and folds of clothing in the way. Applejack lifted Rainbow Dash up off the mattress high enough to yank her loose over-shirt off of her shoulders and down her arms, leaving it in a wrinkled mess beside them. Her shirt beneath that had all kinds of holes and slits near the bottom that affected the style, and Applejack was pleased to run her fingers over and into them, tugging and playing with them teasingly.

Rainbow Dash did not like to be outdone by anyone, so with a quick show of will she reached up and undid Applejack's belt buckle, button and fly, ripping out the shirt that was tucked respectfully into her pants. Applejack responded by dipping both hands under Rainbow's holey shirt, sliding them up her hot body until they found the risen rounds on her chest. An excited groan escaped Rainbow's throat as Applejack rubbed against her, grinning as the kiss broke and fell apart for more pleasured sounds.

"Well that escalated quickly." Pinkie Pie muttered, but she was immediately shushed by Rarity, who waved her hands around the bright-headed eccentric and gestured for her to quiet down.

"Shh! I'm trying to watch!" Rarity snapped at her in a harsh whisper as she continued to gaze at her friends, "I officially love this game!"

"You do?" Pinkie Pie questioned, but cringed as she was shushed more vigorously.

Hands ran under clothes, clothes ran over bodies and over arms, over heads; touches ran over skin, skin over sheets and between fingers. The room was hot and intimate, all the spectators locked into the moment whether they enjoyed it or not.

The two on the bed huffed loud breaths and repressed their pleasured moans as fingers slipped places they often did not belong. Those fingers were followed shortly after by lips, by kisses and invasions. Clothes mostly remained on, the struggle against them too challenging to turn down. Besides, somewhere in the backs of their minds, they remembered just how many eyes were on them.

"Um, what exactly is third base?" Fluttershy whispered in the closet, though her regular tone of voice would have been drowned out by the acts a few yards away.

"They reached it about two minutes ago." Twilight responded as she watched on, intrigued by her own fascination and the arousal she got from watching.

As the act began to finish, their bodies moved slower and more sensually, their kisses were more loving and delicate, and their once fierce fingers became controlled and comforting. They laid together on the bed in each other's company, enjoying the vicinity and closeness they were never before allowed to permit. Enticed by the taste of each other's lips, their kissing persisted long past the exhaustion.

Applejack released her dominance over Rainbow Dash at last, easing her hold and laying beside her instead of on top. Their communion of body eased as their heavy breaths floated above them wordlessly. They smiled at each other from the nearness of a few inches away, grinning and huffing laughs as they replayed the events in their heads. Applejack leaned in and kissed her lover on the nose, loving the way she made a face about it and squirmed.

The pair found it in their best interests to pull their clothes back up and fully on, careful to do buttons up correctly despite their ecstatic state. They sat up in unison as they released a sigh of satisfaction, finishing pulling their shirts up over their shoulders. With eyes still dangerously devious flashing between them, they shared grins and leaned against each other. As the reality of the not-so empty room came back to them, Rainbow Dash cleared her throat to speak.

"All right guys, it's safe to come out." She said while over-pronouncing her words intentionally and cocking a sly smirk. There was some hesitant shuffling before the other girls came out, and they were all avoiding each other's gazed for the first few seconds, "Did you enjoy the show?"

"I guess that's one way to say happy birthday." Pinkie Pie cracked a smile, and Applejack dropped her face into her hands with an embarrassed groan.

"Well look at that, we got all the way through the game without shaving any heads. That's a first." Rainbow Dash leaned her hands against the bed and kicked her feet out as Applejack bent over the side and picked up the fallen shaver.

"Does that really count as her dare?" Rarity thought aloud, and the other girls hesitated to say one way or another, "I thought the rule was that it had to do that with Soarin?"

"Well, her exact words were:" Twilight Sparkle went through her fabulous eidetic memory and repeated the words she had heard, "I triple dog dare you to let someone go to third base with you tonight. She never actually specified who in the initial dare, that came later."

"Awesome," Rainbow Dash pumped her fist into the air, "I love that egghead of yours sometimes."

"Um," Fluttershy's fingers played along the sides of the camera as she held it out, "D-Do you want this back?"

"Duh! That's like, momentous as shit!" Rainbow Dash grabbed the camera and looked at it adoringly, "We can re-watch the whole thing when we get back to Applejack's place. But for now, who's to say we can't stay and enjoy the party?"

"Yay!" Pinkie Pie squealed as she threw both of her hands up in the air and bounced in place, "Come on girls!"

Pinkie Pie grabbed Fluttershy, Twilight and Rarity and gestured for Rainbow Dash and Applejack to get up and come with them, which they did. The group went through the doorway of hanging beads and approached the steady rhythmic base that thumped through the house. The rest of the party was just up a small set of stairs, which Pinkie eagerly ran to. As she reached the main floor, she nearly bumped right into Sunset Shimmer, whose irritation had not subsided from when they had shown up at her work for Pinkie's dare.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were right behind the rest of them as they came upstairs, and Sunset Shimmer immediately set to ruining their moods.

"So, you guys finished with your stupid game yet?" Sunset Shimmer asked in a disinterested, condescending tone.

"As a matter o'fact, we are." Applejack responded as she reached the top of the stairs before Rainbow Dash, and the other girls in front of her paused to listen to the conversation.

"Not that it's any of your business." Rainbow Dash snorted as she came up next to Applejack, glaring at the antagonistic, short-haired girl.

"Hey, Applejack," Shimmer ignored Rainbow Dash's aggression and smirked as the topic came back to her lips, "Have you asked Rainbow Dash about Gilda yet?"

"Yeah, I did." Applejack nodded surely, and Rainbow Dash glared at Shimmer to tell her to shut her big mouth, "She told me she jumped, an' I believe her."

"She did, did she? Maybe that's true. Maybe she jumped, maybe she fell, maybe she was pushed," Sunset Shimmer said passively as she shrugged, but her last few words crept out in a lower tone as her eyes shifted to the rainbow-haired girl, "Or, maybe someone dared her to."

"What is your problem, Shimmer?" Rainbow Dash stomped in front of her, balling up her fist like she was going to fight her again. The other girls came closer to hear what was going on.

"So tell us all, Dash, what really happened to Gilda?" Shimmer asked with a smile, pushing the focus back onto the rebel whose anger was brimming.

"She jumped." Rainbow Dash responded certainly, her glare sharp and warning.

"Yeah, she did." Sunset Shimmer could not deny it, and she nodded a few times as the truth continued to come out, "Because someone dared her to."


Almost one year ago...


A group of girls strolled along in the woods towards a familiar bridge. In the lead, a girl with bright white hair flipped her bangs out of her face and smirked back at the group behind her. As they stepped onto the bridge, she turned around to face them and cracked a cocky smile. She looked right at a girl who covered her freshly shaved head with the hood of a hoodie, who pouted and frowned angrily as she returned the gaze.

"Don't be mad, Shimmer. I think it brings out your eyes." The white-haired girl snickered as Sunset Shimmer held out her middle finger and shook her head, her lack of hair feeling cold in the night breeze. Gilda let her be for the moment, and looked over at a certain rainbow-haired girl, "So, who's next, RD?"

Rainbow Dash took a sip from a small flask she contained within a paper bag, before raising it between them, "You, Gilda. Pick someone to dare you."

"All right smart ass, then how about you dare me?" Gilda scoffed, crossing her arms at the girl who had chosen her, "Make it good."

Rainbow Dash thought for a moment as she chewed at her lip, when finally something came to mind, "Jump."

"From?" Gilda readily asked, her daring and proud attitude not letting her back down.

"The bridge." Rainbow Dash gestured towards the bridge behind Gilda, and she turned to have a look at her challenge, "I triple dog dare you to jump off the bridge."

The two girls glared at each other for a moment, the dare hanging in the air between them. Rainbow Dash had once been close friends with Gilda, but she had grown into someone completely different as of late. She was angry and aggressive and conceited, Rainbow Dash had already decided this would be the last time they would hang out, and she was hoping her dare would piss her off enough she would never speak to her again. Rainbow Dash grinned as Gilda seemed initially hesitant, hoping to humiliate her.

"That's stupid." Sunset Shimmer intervened loudly, but neither of the competitive girls paid her any heed.

"So is your head, baldy." Gilda snapped at her, and the bald-headed girl frowned. Gilda looked back and thought it over, smirking all the while as if it did not faze her. Finally, she glanced back at Rainbow Dash and asked, "How much is in the pot?"

"Two hundred and forty bucks," Rainbow Dash responded as she tilted her head and narrowed her eyes.

"Well, I'd say you could put it in my pocket right now, but I don't want it getting wet." The white-haired girl grinned as she started towards the bridge, and Rainbow Dash took another swig before following.


Present...


"Rainbow," Applejack said slowly in disbelief, turning to her best friend with a serious expression, "Is that true?"

"Applejack, I swear, nothing bad was supposed to happen!" Rainbow Dash tried to defend herself, and Applejack covered her mouth with her hand as her eyes went wide, "It was supposed to be—"

"—Fun? Are you guys having fun?" Sunset Shimmer finished the word and asked the whole group such a question. They glanced around at each other as most recalled somewhat unpleasant experiences, but said nothing about it.

"People jump off that bridge all the time and nothing happens." Rainbow Dash argued defiantly as her voice shook.

"There's a current, you idiot, but clearly you weren't thinking about that." Sunset Shimmer tapped herself on the temple as she glared at the rebel, "You're not much for thinking at all, are you?"

"Watch your mouth." Applejack stepped in and warned Sunset Shimmer, who completely ignored her.

"You needed to be the centre of attention, as usual," Shimmer spoke to Rainbow Dash obnoxiously loudly as a few others overheard, "So you triple dog dared Gilda to do something you knew you couldn't."

"Oh, fuck you, Shimmer. I could have!" Rainbow Dash argued loudly, clenching up her fist and shaking it between them.

"I really don't think so." The girl before her looked dully down at the threat.

"Are you daring me, Shimmer?" Rainbow Dash asked aggressively, her glare settling into the eyes of the girl in front of her.

"No," Shimmer said simply, but did not leave it at that, "I would never do something so freaking stupid."

Rainbow Dash let out a long and frustrated sigh, nodding over and over as she chewed on the hard words. She felt the camera still in her hand, and raised it between them, opening the screen and letting the light illuminate her face. She shoved it into Sunset Shimmer's less than expectant hands. Suddenly, she turned around and shoved through her friends, storming towards the door.

"Rainbow!" Applejack called to her friend, but she did not stop or turn around. Applejack ground her teeth and pointed an angry finger at the short-haired girl, furious with her, "You bitch."

She turned around without another word and began to chase her friend, racing out the front door after her with the rest of the girls in tow. Sunset Shimmer tried to act disinterested, but took off running after them anyway, shaking her head as she pressed the record button, knowing the game well enough to do so. Besides, it might provide good blackmail. Rainbow Dash reached into the open window of Rarity's car and retrieved her skateboard tossing it onto the concrete and jumping on top of it.

"Rainbow! Rainbow Dash!" Applejack called out as they sprinted after her, but Rainbow Dash didn't so much as look back at them, "Get your ass back here, right now!"

Still no response came from the rainbow-haired girl, who rode around the corner towards the woods on her skateboard. The others followed several yards behind, trying their best to keep up. Sunset Shimmer let the camera record the ground as she tried to catch up, her athletics permitting her to make up some of the distance with relative ease. The bridge was just ahead now, and Rainbow Dash bit back her rage as she remembered what happened the last time she was there in the middle of the night.


Almost one year ago...


The white haired girl put her hands on the ledge of the bridge, pulling herself up. Her feet stepped between the planks of wood as she got onto it, and she rose to her full height. The other girls stood around beside her, watching on as she peered into the raging river below. A smile slowly graced Gilda's confident lips as she looked back at the girls she had dragged along for the silly, dangerous game. She brought her hand to her lips, kissing her fingers before extending it out from her chin, blowing it to the group.

The waters below were colourless, black and deep with swift and angular white waves, which crashed about as the water ate through the rock. Gilda stepped closer to the edge, feeling the fronts of her feet hanging off the ledge teasingly. She never backed down from a challenge, she followed through fearlessly. The drop was not short, but the fall seemed fast, and her whole body disappeared into the darkness of those tar-like waves.


Present...


"Rainbow Dash!" Applejack's voice brought Rainbow Dash back to the moment as she pushed off the ground, the wheels of the skateboard thudding constantly as they rolled over the planks of wood that made up the bridge. "Don't y'even think about it!"

Rainbow Dash skidded to a stop next to the makeshift cross that hung from where Gilda had jumped. She grabbed the farthest part of the ledge and roughly yanked herself up, teetering from side to side as her breath unsteadily escaped her and she stood up. She heard the many running feet of her friends chasing her, but did not look over to know they stopped a few feet away, not about to risk grabbing at her and accidentally knocking her off.

"Get down from there right now! Don't you dare jump, Dash!" Applejack shouted at her, her voice trembling uneasily as she could see the hungry waves from between the planks of wood, "Rainbow, Rainbow please, don't do this."

Rainbow Dash slowly expelled her breath, and glanced back at them. Sunset Shimmer stood behind the rest of them, the camera in her hands. Rainbow's gaze settled on Applejack, whose worried expression was almost enough to pull her out of this stupid dare. Her own guilt was strong though, as she remembered the same dare that she herself had forced on a girl who could never have completed it.





Meeting the eyes of Applejack, Rainbow Dash brought her hand to her lips and kissed her own fingers, extending her hand towards the girl she loved as she blew the sentiment through the air. Applejack shook her head and opened her mouth to speak, but Rainbow's movements were quicker. Her pink eyes looked out over the dark abyss that swallowed up the silence in rough waters, and she jumped into it.

"No! Rainbow!" Applejack screamed as she raced after her, climbing onto the edge to follow her until her friends got a hold of her.

"Applejack, don't!" Twilight called as she and Pinkie Pie got their arms around her, though she was so strong she pulled the three of them onto the ledge far enough to peer over it.

"You're crazy!" Rarity and Fluttershy joined the fight as they took hold of their friends, finally managing to stop Applejack from going over.

"Rainbow Dash," Applejack repeated, though it was terribly quiet and weak. Her eyes searched the dark waters, but her head shook with dread, "I don't see anythin', I don't see her!"

The current was so strong that no matter how hard Gilda had tried, she could not bring herself back to the surface. Rainbow Dash fought those same unforgiving swells, holding her thinning breath as her hands reached out and scraped against the pull of the darkness.
> Daring Endeavours
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


8. Daring Endeavours


"Get down to the river bed!" Twilight Sparkle shouted as the rest of them pulled Applejack back over the ledge. As soon as her boots hit the bridge she took off in a sprint, staring at the water as she raced towards the trail.

Fluttershy grabbed Rainbow Dash's skateboard as they ran past it, hurrying down to the water. The girls clammed over rocks and down the hill until they reached the river, which was loud from the waves but echoed no tells of life. In silence, the group stared out into the water uncertainly, waiting for some shout or cry or break of water. As the moments dragged on, no such things happened.

"I don't see anything!" Applejack nearly shouted with distress as she picked up her hat and ran her trembling hands through her bangs.

"Me neither." Pinkie Pie replied as she looked around under the bridge, finding nothing.

"Rainbow!" Applejack called out into the darkness, but there were no replies.

"Maybe she swam to the other side?" Sunset Shimmer suggested, her own guilt catching up to her. Applejack's terrifyingly furious gaze hit her and almost knocked her off her feet.

"You," Applejack's word seethed out, and she was visibly livid.

"I didn't make her do it!" Sunset Shimmer defended herself as she stepped back from Applejack, "What dumb-ass jumps from a bridge in the middle of the night?! She was there last year, she knew exactly what would happen!"

Applejack groaned as she knew it was true, and she kicked a large rock out of her way as she stormed up to the riverside, staring out into the water. Her eyes were moist and her chest was burning, but her eyes just kept searching.

"What's that?" Fluttershy squeaked out, clutching the skateboard to her chest as the attention of the group shifted to something floating in the water.

Without hesitation Applejack ran out into the water, not caring about her boots as they sunk under the surface. She reached down into the icy water and felt the object in her hand, pulling it dripping out of the river's waves. She turned it over in her hand and recognized it immediately as Rainbow Dash's left shoe. She turned around and revealed it to her friends, who gasped and gaped.

"Shit," Pinkie Pie cursed as she covered her mouth in shock.

"I'm calling the police," Twilight Sparkle said as she pulled out her cell phone, checking for reception as she backed away from the scene to get some privacy.

"She probably swam to the other side," Rarity reasoned as she started back to the bridge, gesturing for the rest of them to follow her, "Come on."

"Rainbow!" Applejack called out again in the cold water, trying to calm her erratic and hysterical breathing as she looked around, "Rainbow Dash!"

Fluttershy remained still at the shore with the skateboard in her trembling hands, closing up her watering eyes. Pinkie Pie and Rarity went to check the other side as Twilight spoke to the police over the phone several yards away. Applejack stepped through the thick water as she called out again, hearing the fear in her own voice as it cracked. She followed further downstream into the darkness, and Fluttershy followed carefully after her.

"M-Maybe we should find the others?" Fluttershy looked back towards the bridge over her shoulder, and Applejack looked back at her but could not reply.

"I thought the fun was just starting." A cold and raspy voice said as the sopping wet girl came around a large rock on the riverbed.

Applejack whirled around and saw here there, her hair sticking to the sides of her face and her clothes hanging down low around her body as she dripped onto the rocks. "Rainbow?"

"What? You two look like you've just seen a ghost or something." Rainbow Dash's voice faded as she forced a smile, but it faded as no one else laughed.

Applejack stared at her for a moment as her eyebrows sunk down over her glare and her voice broke out in a shout, "Y'think that was funny?!" Applejack stormed up to her and grabbed her roughly by the shoulders, though Fluttershy hurried to pull her off of the rebellious girl, "I thought you were dead!"

"Stop, Applejack!" Fluttershy managed to push the two apart, but neither of them listened to what the meek girl said.

"I thought you were dead, Rainbow Dash!" Applejack repeated as pathetic tears formed around her reddening eyes.

"AJ," Rainbow Dash started with a concerned expression, but Applejack shouted at her again.

"Shut your damn mouth!" She screamed as she shoved the rainbow-haired girl, "Y'freakin' moron!"

"Look Applejack, if we're not cool any more, I can just walk myself home okay? You don't have to hang around with me any more." Rainbow Dash growled back and shook her head.

"Fine! Then walk yourself home, y'damn idiot!" Applejack yelled and gestured for Rainbow Dash to just leave.

"Fine, I will." Rainbow Dash stared at her incredulously as Applejack put her hand to her face, trying to sort it out into words.

"How could you," Applejack bit back a snivel, "How could y'be s'damn selfish, Rainbow?!"

"Selfish?" Rainbow Dash laughed and shook her head as tears began to form in her own eyes, but words erupted from her mouth as she shouted back, "I just needed to do something, to see what happened 'cause it was my fault! So fuck you, for not understanding that!" She stormed past her best friend, but did not get far. She stopped and brought her hands to her face before looking up at the sky and fighting off her own cries, "I shouldn't have done it, I shouldn't have dared her. I should have just kept, kept my big, stupid, smart-ass mouth shut!"

"Rainbow," Applejack's anger began to subside as she approached the now balling girl.

"The current, it was really, really rough," She cried out through sharp intakes of breath, "I didn't, I didn't know! I shouldn't have dared her, Applejack, it's all my fault."

"Hey," Applejack closed the distance between them and pulled Rainbow Dash into a warm embrace, holding her head against her as she cried, "It ain't your fault, Rainbow."

"Yes it was!" Rainbow Dash cried into her friend's shoulder as she gripped at her shirt, pressing her wet body against it.

"No it wasn't, y'didn't know, Rainbow. Y'didn't know." Applejack soothed her as she ran her hand along her back, rubbing her shaking form gently, "Y'didn't push her or nothin', she didn't hafta jump."

"It was an accident," Fluttershy agreed with a timid voice, standing beside the pair.

Rainbow Dash nuzzled closer to Applejack, but her cries turned into forced chuckles as she pulled away and tried to blink the tears away, "I totally suck."

"Yeah, y'kinda do." Applejack smiled as she brushed her hair out of her face, letting her warm hand touch Rainbow's cool face. Rainbow Dash smiled and huffed a laugh at the honesty, letting Applejack brush her hair back again and look into her eyes, "Y'okay, honey?"

"I think I'll be all right." Rainbow Dash slowly nodded as her hands slipped down lower, resting on the prominence of Applejack's hips.

Fluttershy came up beside them and looked from one to the other, noticing the affection and focus in their eyes. She cleared her throat a bit and spoke up, "We, we should go find the others."

"You're right." Applejack nodded as she slipped her arm around Rainbow Dash's cold shoulder, holding her close as they started back towards the bridge. Applejack leaned closer and kissed her on her head, taking in the smell of river water that soaked into her clothes.

The other girls had regrouped and were looking over the bridge by now, into the rushing water, as if something would suddenly show up. Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had come around the river bend by now and stepped onto the bridge behind them. Pinkie Pie was the first to notice them approaching, and gave a loud gasp to gain everyone else's attention.

"Oh my gosh, you're alive!" Pinkie squealed as she watched the three approach her, and the others peered over with relief.

"You are like the dumbest person I've ever met in my life, seriously." Rarity scolded her with a glare, but Applejack stepped in.

"Shut up, Rare, she's gone through enough." Applejack defended the girl on her arm, pulling her close so some of the heat between their bodies could be shared in the cool evening. Distant sirens rang over the sound of the river, and everyone exchanged knowing glances.

"Oh no, there are the police!" Twilight Sparkle confirmed as she looked around to try and spot any flashing lights through the trees.

"Let's get out of here." Applejack insisted as she pulled Rainbow Dash after her, and the rest of the girls hurried off the bridge.

Minus Sunset Shimmer, the girls sat in Rarity's car outside of the party, all of them crammed into the back two seats as they held the camera up in front of them. They laughed loudly as they replayed the events of evening before their very eyes, right up until Twilight Sparkle peed on Celestia's stoop. Passing around the last remains of the alcohol they had brought with them, the girls deliberated the final score.

"I think it goes without saying," Pinkie Pie said as she leaned over the back of the forward-most seat, where Applejack and Rainbow Dash held the camera between them, "Rainbow Dash, for sure."

"Hey, I had to pee on Celestia's stoop!" Twilight Sparkle argued, and the girls looked at each other with smiles, "She saw my bare butt!"

"I say Rainbow." Rarity admitted sourly, knowing her own dare was not quite so glamorous as her friend's.

"What about Pinkie, taking off her shirt in front of a huge crowd?" Twilight brought up, and a few of the girls nodded passively, "Or Applejack, losing her—"

"My vote goes t'Rainbow," Applejack interrupted as she hurriedly paused the camera, noticing her own dare beginning to play on the little screen.

"Mine too," Fluttershy agreed shyly, causing Twilight to sigh with defeat.

"Yeah, all right. You win, Rainbow Dash. The pot is yours." Twilight Sparkle finally gave up trying, and leaned back against the seat.

"And I know just what to do with it," Rainbow Dash grinned as she struggled to get the camera away from the blushing Applejack, "I say we head on back into that party and enjoy ourselves. Then, we can stop off and get shittons of pizza!"

"Sounds good to me!" Pinkie Pie cheered and shook the SUV with her dancing in her seat.

"And maybe," Rainbow Dash grinned as she leaned closer to the already flustered Applejack, "After the others fall asleep, you and I can re-visit our little dare, alone." She winked, tapping the video camera with her eager fingers, and the others chuckled as they heard her plan.

Just as planned, the group went back and joined the rest of the party, making the most of the almost fateful evening. Pinkie Pie, being the most prone to partying, recalled the most of what happened that night as she made her way through the crowds almost aimlessly. Visiting her multitudes of friends as she passed, she remembered stopping by and finding Rarity and Spike on the couch.

"I thought it was brave of you, Rarity," The younger boy murmured as he helped her lay out some swatches she had brought along in her bag along their knees.

"How many people, do you think, saw the pictures?" Rarity nervously asked, pursing her lips as her eyes went over the swatches.

"Blueblood has almost the whole school in his contacts, probably everyone," Spike told her certainly, but noticing the disappointed expression on her face, he went to console her, "Don't worry about it though, I think it will be good for your reputation. Riding a horse down a street in the middle of the night, it kind of makes you a badass, don't you think?"

"Well," Rarity chewed the term over, not entirely pleased with it but not entirely deterred by it either, "I suppose it does, doesn't it?"

"I thought you looked pretty good doing it, too," Spike added shyly, running his hands over the fabrics.

"My, you are a sweet boy, aren't you?" Rarity smiled at him, and he returned the expression.

Excusing herself with a sneaky knowing grin, Pinkie Pie continued through the crowd until she found a simple, suspicious looking closet. Too curious not to suddenly rip it open and catch whoever it was red handed, Pinkie Pie placed her hand on the nob. With an apprehensive and excited grin, Pinkie tore the door open and peered inside.

"Eek—Pinkie?!" A voice squealed as Pinkie's eyes adjusted to the darkness, catching a glimpse of the girl's pale pink hair.

"Ohmygosh, Fluttershy?!" Pinkie gasped loudly, only to be pulled into the closet and have the door closed behind her.

Inside, a light flicked on and she was astounded to see the messed-hair of not only her most timid friend, but of another friend's older brother. She gasped again and pointed her shocked finger between the two. It landed at last on Big Mac, whose embarrassed face grew redder every moment.

"You and Big Mac? It's a thing?!" She called, but Fluttershy covered her mouth nervously.

"Please, please don't tell Applejack! Promise me, Pinkie!" Fluttershy squeaked out with pleading eyes, and Pinkie was on board immediately.

"Not a word!" Pinkie sword with a firm nod, though she was clearly giddy to have such a secret known, "Besides, it's not like Applejack's innocent either, right?" She slapped her hands over her mouth as the words came tumbling out.

"Pardon?" Big Mac's voice was low and compelling, but Pinkie hurriedly brushed it off.

"Uh, nothing! Just go back to doing, um," She didn't really know how to put it, but after already fumbling for the doornob and cranking it open, she had to leave them with something, "Fluttershy!"

Pinkie slammed the door on them and pressed her back up against it, glancing around to see if anyone had seen. Wiping the imaginary sweat from her brow and sighing in relief, she left the two in the closet to do... whatever they were doing.

With another quick lap of the house, Pinkie came to realize that after a few drinks, Twilight Sparkle had become the life of the party. She amazed the crowd with retelling some of the more interesting events of the evening, and had somehow grown out of her social anxiety. And as she passed by one of the windows, she could clearly make out Rarity's SUV, which was gently rocking as one of Applejack's trademark boots was knocked up onto the wind shield. She could have sworn Rarity had left the keys with Rainbow Dash.

Pinkie sure knew her parties, but this would be one to remember; no matter how much tequila she had consumed by then. And even if she did forget, they always had the video tape, and surely she would make certain they all got their own personal copies. Though some of them had been initially reluctant, in the end, everyone ended up having one hell of an experience. Maybe all it took to have a great and memorable night was taking the risk to do something a little... daring.