-Honey I Love You-
Today, the entire drama class was playing Honey I Love You. The teacher had explained the rules, the person in the middle has to go up to someone and say "Honey, I love you, won't you give me a smile?" Or something to that affect, and the person approached must respond with "Honey, I love you, but I just can't smile" If they smile, laugh, giggle, or break in any way, that person becomes the one in the middle. If the person in the middle can't break someone, they move on to somebody else. If three people in a row don't break, the person in the center is eliminated from the game.
Nobody had volunteered for the spot, except, of course, the drama queen herself, Rarity. It was her idea that they all take this drama course together, she and Flutter Shy had been interested in it, but weren't comfortable doing it alone. Needless to say Twilight joined them for the pursuit of a new skill, Pinkie Pie followed after a promise that it would be fun. Which left Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash griping as they were dragged into the class.
And now Rarity was in the center of a group of blank-faced students, all staring straight ahead, trying to avoid her analytical gaze as she tried to choose her target. Pinkie Pie was too easy. Hopefully she could stay in until the later rounds for an easier victory. Maybe… yes.
Rarity smirked as she made her way across the circle, hooded eyes and swinging her hips as she walked a little more than usual. She stopped in front of Snails who stared off into space somewhere over her left shoulder. Rarity leaned in close and whisper huskily, "Honey, I love you. Won't you give me a smile?"
To which she promptly got the reply of, "Honey, I love you, but I just can't smile." Rarity was taken aback. Snails didn't seem that difficult to break from afar, given the fact that he was so, well… dim witted. Rarity figured that any kind of stimulus of this kind would send him reeling, but to no avail.
Rainbow Dash snickered at Rarity's surprise. Seeing her act so confident and then get shut down so quickly and effortlessly was hilarious! But when Rarity stomped over to her, Rainbow tried desperately to compose herself in time for the assault.
Hands on hips, leaning forward until their noses almost touched, Rarity glared into Rainbow's eyes as she tried to contain her amusement from the show. "Honey." Rarity said through clenched teeth, "I love you." The gag on the L-word really made Rainbow stagger, "Won't you PLEASE give me a smile?" Rarity asked rather aggressively, not moving back after delivering the line, adding pointless stress on the words to make them sound more threatening than they were.
Rainbow tried, she couldn't complete the "Honey" without cracking up, clutching her gut at Rarity's performance. Rarity seemed content with herself as she swapped places in the circle, it would have been embarrassing to say the least if she was the first eliminated after volunteering to go first.
After a few deep breaths, Rainbow had composed herself and was ready to do her rounds. She glanced around the circle quickly, trying to see if anyone was smiling or already close to breaking like she had been. With no apparent targets, Rainbow went with what she knew. Snails had been tough for Rarity to get a reaction out of, so she shouldn't attempt anything on him. Trixie was there, but she didn't want to confess anything, even fake love, to Trixie. She could always play it safe and try and crack one of her friends. The problem was, that wouldn't be a challenge, and Rainbow Dash always loved a challenge.
Rainbow Dash shrugged and walked towards a random boy in the circle and wiggled her eyebrows seductively, "Honey," she said, punching the guy's arm lightly, "I love ya, won't you please give me a smile?" However, the boy remained steadfast and replied without a hint of emotion.
Rainbow Dash harrumphed and turned back towards the others, trying to find someone to target. She would do it to Rarity, but she was just in the circle, best to let somebody else inside for a change. Better not Flutter Shy, she would get too freaked out, and Rainbow Dash wasn't even sure if she could break Flutter Shy.
Rainbow Dash took one last look around the circle and chose to target the boy between the two she had chosen before. Snips was standing there, nervously fidgeting in place. But what approach would make him laugh?
She slid up to him and whispered something quietly into his ear. It took a moment to register on his face, but when he tried to open his mouth, he got caught and tried to stop himself. It was too late however, Snips was laughing and was sent to take Rainbow's spot in the center.
Round and around it went, the game stopping every so often as somebody was eliminated and a new center was decided. Soarin was out next, than Berry, Vinyl, and Lyra. Bon Bon got out, then Trixie, obviously, she wasn't very happy about it. Soon enough there were very few people left in the circle.
Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Flutter Shy, Pinkie Pie, Apple Jack, Flash Sentry, and Snails were the only ones left. This was where things got serious.
Flash Sentry was in the middle now and had just failed romancing Apple Jack to take his place. So he turned to Twilight with a small smile and a twinkle in his eye. Following his routine that got him out of several jams, Flash got on one knee and pretended to open a ring box, as if he were proposing. "Honey?" He said quietly, slowly tilting his head up towards the girl, "I love you. Won't you please give me a smile?" He begged. It was very sweet.
Twilight wasn't impressed. Sure, she always thought that Flash was attractive and rather charming, but this wasn't real, he wasn't actually in love with her. So she thought. And anyways, even if he was, this was just him hoping that she would break in some way so that she would be stuck in the middle instead of him. She couldn't break. "Honey, I love you," she said, despite having said it so many times earlier, the words felt weird in her mouth for the first time, "But I just can't smile."
Flash groaned and stood up dejectedly. Needless to say, Flash followed the pattern that many had taken to, and turned to Pinkie Pie. She was very easy to get into the center but she would almost always be bumped out just as quickly because she could make anyone laugh almost instantly.
And it worked. Pinkie took Flash's spot in the center of the circle and skipped around, humming for a bit as she chose her target, eventually stopping directly in front of Twilight Sparkle. Almost as if in a way to prove she could out do Flash's pitiful attempt at wooing anybody.
"Honey?" Pinkie said, standing perfectly still and looking right into Twilight's eyes. What is going on? Twilight thought to herself, This certainly isn't like Pinkie, she's acting so… serious. "I love you." There it was again, that shockingly honest tone of voice that didn't quite fit Pinkie Pie. It sent shivers up Twilight's spine, almost as if Pinkie's Pinkie Sense had been transmitted to her for a brief second. "Won't you please give me a smile?" Pinkie asked so sweetly, her eyes pleading with Twilight for just the smallest smile. Twilight's throat suddenly felt tight and her mouth was dry. Twilight could almost feel the heat rushing to her cheeks and hear the pounding of her heart. There was no way she had feelings for Pinkie, surely, so why was she feeling like this? It felt so different from when Flash said it.
"H-honey…" Twilight began, stammering over the first word. Pinkie bristled with excitement, her eyes gleaming with happiness that was contagious in Twilight's flustered state, "I l-love you…" her voice trembled as she continued, trying not to notice Pinkie smiling broadly and giggling to herself at the last statement, "But…" Twilight couldn't do it, she hung her head in her hands and groaned as Pinkie bounced up and down victoriously.
Twilight took her spot in the middle, the blush still evident on her face. Both Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash seemed to take notice of this and couldn't help but giggle a bit at how flustered Twilight had become over such a simple game. Twilight took this as a personal offense and advanced on the two girls as her first targets.
She started with Rainbow Dash, obviously the easier of the two to make laugh. Twilight furrowed her brow and looked her friend up and down, trying to come up with a way to break her quickly.
Twilight got an idea, apparently joking was losing it's effect on the group and instead trying to embarrass the target was a safer bet. So Twilight saddled up close to Rainbow Dash, not seeing Pinkie Pie fold her arms and pout behind Twilight's back.
Twilight batted her eyelashes and leaned uncomfortably close to Rainbow Dash, less than an inch from her ear. A hushed tone slipped past Twilight's lips as a hand slowly traced up Rainbow's side.
Rainbow Dash was visibly shaken but she tried her best to keep a stony face and look straight ahead as she sped through the constructed phrase: "HoneyIloveyoubutIjustcantsmile" Twilight pouted and pulled back away from Rainbow Dash. She was turning towards Apple Jack for her second try, but before she could try, Rainbow Dash broke down laughing.
Twilight smirked and took Rainbow's spot in the circle, forcing her into the center. After an attempt on Snails, she found her out in Flash Sentry. After three fake proposals with three different girls, he was shut out of the game.
Apple Jack was chosen as the next person in the circle, now very much smaller than the start. Everyone could feel the weight of the game on their shoulders, even the timid Flutter Shy seemed rather determined to beat out the competition.
Apple Jack waited for everyone to settle to their neutral faces, instead of taking the chance to have an advantage and catch someone off guard. Apple Jack took her time, not turning and examining the people in the circle to pick a target. She was just waiting.
Slowly, Apple Jack stepped towards Rarity, without looking up at her, Apple Jack took off her hat and sighed as if she was finally coming clean about something she had hidden from her friends. "Honey," she said solemnly, slowly raising her head to stare Rarity right in the eyes, unlike the rest of the game where she was unable to tell the lie (even though it was a recited line, Apple Jack would never say something she didn't mean so easily), "I love you." Apple Jack spoke with such sincerity in her tone, Rarity actually thought for a moment that she was getting a real confession of love. The room seemed to dim around Apple Jack, making her the only visible thing. Rarity could feel her jaw slowly dropping as the blood rushed to her cheeks. "Won't you please give me a smile?" Apple Jack ended the line with a gentle, shy yet somehow hopeful smile.
Rarity couldn't help it. She could feel tears well up in the corner of her eyes as she lunged forwards and wrapped her arms around Apple Jack. It was a fabulous performance and Rarity wished to convey that, but she had broken form and was now forced into the middle where she quickly sobered up and shot an icy glare at the girl who sent her there. Apple Jack only responded with a sheepish smile and apologetic shrug.
A fail on Twilight, but a pass on Flutter Shy, mimicking a squirrel to make her giggle lightheartedly. Flutter Shy suddenly stood in the center of the circle. She had been working on her stage fright and timidness for a long time now, and her friends had helped her get very far. Thankfully, nobody outside the game was paying the game any attention now, and the people inside the circle were determined not to look at Flutter Shy, whether for the game's sake or hers, she couldn't tell.
Flutter Shy blushes deeply, getting an idea that Apple Jack and Pinkie Pie had given her. Flutter Shy knew that there was something else about those "confessions" that the confessors weren't telling the person they were confessing to. And now it was Flutter Shy's turn to make a move.
This was very embarrassing, to be sure, and Flutter Shy had hoped that by the time she would steel the courage necessary, there would be less witnesses, but a few more rounds, and her target would probably be eliminated. This could very well be her last chance at this. Oh well, the only others in the circle were her friends and Snails. Not as bad as it could be.
Flutter Shy's face was beet red as she approached the ring of students, she stopped in front of Rainbow Dash and bit her lip nervously. She squeaked out a small "H-honey…" before she had to take a deep breath and steady herself again. Flutter Shy stepped closer to Rainbow Dash and could feel her pulse thumping in her ears.
Rainbow tried to stay calm but, this was the second time that somebody had invaded her personal space. It's not that she had anything wrong with Flutter Shy, it's just that… she smelled really nice today, and Rainbow Dash didn't want to smell all… fresh and fruity. Flutter Shy was right up against her, maybe even closer than Twilight had been. And then something unexpected happened.
Rainbow Dash could feel the light brush of something smooth and soft lightly pressing against her cheek and then pulling away as soon as it came. Flutter Shy leaned back, blushing deeply and not looking at Rainbow. "HoneyIloveyouwontyoupleasegivemeasmile?" She asked rapidly before taking several steps back and attempting to look small.
Rainbow Dash couldn't even form words, she just sat there, gawking at empty space for a minute, trying to process what just happened. Eventually she was put into the middle. Without being able to think properly, Dash was soon removed from the game. Pinkie Pie was chosen for the middle, where she switched out with Apple Jack.
AJ managed to swap to Twilight who went for Rarity. Rarity was busy after Flutter Shy didn't find her squirrel impression funny the second time around. Twilight was centered and she managed to get out after overestimating the funniness of speaking like a robot to Pinkie Pie. Apple Jack went in and was eliminated by Snails' ability to keep a straight face. Flutter Shy was put in the middle and didn't stand a chance between the two remaining people. Much to Pinkie Pie's distraught, she couldn't make Smails lose that expression as he simply replied three times in a row: "Honey, I love you, but I just can't smile."
And finally the game came to a close with the last man standing being Snails. The group of girls walked out of the drama room, arm in arm as they reminisced about the game. Some of them feeling a little closer than before.
It was several minutes after the room had emptied that Snails finally blinked his eyes and glanced around the bare room. He rubbed his eyes, yawned, and walked out through the door, not quite sure what was going on, as usual.