Chapter 22: Party Hard

Authors note: How long has it been? like forever apparently. I suck. I know this. This chapter was going to be up a while ago but stuff came up. Sorry peeps. :c

on a side note I got a cat and a dog. The cats just a gray one, her name is Juno. And my little puppy is like 5 months and his name is Radar. ;p nothing else worth mentioning except I graduated high school about a week ago! c;

"Fluttershy, darling, just pick something out. Nobody is going to pay that much attention to what you'll be wearing." Rarity sighed as she slumped up against the wall of Emma's bedroom. "But do make sure it's something that has some fashionable sense."

Scuffles came from within the closet. Small scurrying was the only noise that broke the silence as Fluttershy nervously paced through the enourmous amounts of clothes. "I'm really trying, but you know I'm not good at making decisions especially when strangers are going to be everywhere."

Letting the slight anger boiling inside her suppress once more she slowly walked towards her indecisive friend. Her fingers shook as she fidgeted from the stress that overtook her body. "I know, but we'll be with you the whole time. Just pick something out that you like, their opinions shouldn't matter to you. Besides, it's all just for fun. This whole party is to relax."

"I guess you're right…"

Rarity let out a small laugh as she gave Fluttershy a reassuring smile. "Of course I'm right."

Pinkie slammed open the door, nearly tripping over her own two feet in the process. "What's taking so long?! We don't wanna miss even a second of the party!"

"I'm so sorry. I'm going as fast as I can." Fluttershy apologized twirling her hair with one of her fingers.

"Don't take too long, we're all waiting on you two!" Pinkie flashed a smile before skipping out back into the hallway quickly out of sight from the two girls held up in the bedroom.

"Perhaps it'll go faster if I help you pick something out." Rarity suggested as she rummaged through the closet scanning through all the possible outfit choices.

/

Jaden took one last look in the mirror. He wanted to be sure he looked decent enough before they left. Not that he cared all that much about his appearance to begin with.

But he wanted to look at least presentable. Combing his fingers through his hair he shut off the lights. With one foot out of the door he nearly tumbled over from surprise.

His body was brushed up against Rainbow's, his right hand grazed against her body for only a second. Both looked at one another with pure faces of confusion, neither saying a word aside from tiny noises getting caught in their throats.

Dash took a couple steps back, grabbing the back of her neck. A feeling of nervousness overtook her, a lump stuck in her throat that was painful to swallow.

'Why am I so nervous? Come on, Rainbow Dash. This is stupid. Pull yourself together.' All she could manage to let out was a weak chuckle, much to her disappointment.

Jaden went along with her as well to help cut the tension. Both still seemed a bit uneasy though he deeply exhaled to calm his nerves despite the obvious tremble in his fingers.

"So are we leaving or what?" He asked managing to keep a level voice.

Rainbow regained her composure as if she seemingly fell back to the face of the Earth. "Oh, uh yeah. We were just waiting on you so I came and then...now we're here."

"Um. Can I ask you something? Or actually talk to you before we leave?"

"I guess?" She replied uneasily not sure where the conversation was taking a turn.

Jaden kept his voice down low in case anyone came around the corner. He tried to look at her in the eyes, but it was a lot harder than he thought it would be. His eyes wandered around trying to find some place to focus on. "Us. Things between us. They're okay, right?"

Rainbow took in a sharp breath of air, twiddling her fingers to occupy her mind. "Yeah. Yeah, totally."

"It's just, I don't want every time we see each other being awkward." He swallowed before continuing though it felt like he was choking on his own words. "It's just...kind of awkward."

She tried to say something in response, however her mouth couldn't form the right words. Her eyes flickered back and forth hoping to find a way to escape from the conversation.

Just then a voice echoed throughout the house. "Come on guys! We're waiting on you two!" Emma yelled out from somewhere in the home.

"You heard her, we should get going. Like right now." Rainbow sighed to herself as she quickly walked away from Jaden.

"Wait up!" He called out as he shut his eyes in frustration for a moment before slowly running after her.

Rainbow sprinted as fast as her legs could carry her. The pounding in her chest pushed her adrenaline to the limit. Even with one of her legs weaker than the other she was able to hold her own.

She flew across the front yard before coming to a halt at the passengers side of Emma's car. Dash yanked open the door before grabbing Rarity's shoulder.

"Rainbow Dash! What do you think you're doing?" Rarity snapped, her face quickly withdrew as Rainbow whispered into her ear too faint for the others to pick up. "Oh. I see. I...suppose."

"Thanks." Rainbow gave her friend an assuring smile showing her gratitude as she swapped places with Rarity.

Taking a heavy sigh Rarity shut the car door. Walking up to the passenger side of Jaden's truck her lips contorted into a frown. "She owes me big time for this."

Slightly repulsed she held her tongue as she slid into the seat. Slowly closing the door her attention turned toward her other two friends, Applejack and Twilight, in the back.

"Whatcha doin' ridin' in Jaden's truck?" Applejack questioned tilting her head slightly askew holding onto her hat. "Ah thought ya said it wasn't prim an proper enough for ya?"

"I thought I needed a change of scene." Rarity answered though the look Applejack gave her didn't believe a single word she had said. "Plus I hardly ever speak to Jaden. It gives us time to...talk. Yes, talk."

"Mhhmm. Whatever ya say."

/

Loads of cars could be seen for miles, making it nearly impossible to park anywhere close to the mansion. Tons of teens walked towards the glow that came from the home nearly appearing as a flood of humans.

Nearby chatting quickly escalated to shouting as the crowd grew larger and larger with all the arriving cars. Knowing that there would likely no spots near the house both cars pulled over to open spots a little bit down the road.

"Guess we're gonna have to walk." Jaden killed the ignition making sure to grab his wallet and stow it away in a safe place inside his truck. "It's not all that far...kind of."

"Not that far? It's practically miles away." Rarity pointed out her smile fading into a frown.

"We've fought off changelings, Nightmare Moon...even Discord and you're complaining about this?" Twilight rolled her eyes shaking her head as she stepped onto the pavement.

"Come on ya'll, let's just enjoy ourselves. This isn't the time or place to argue." Applejack cut in, shutting her door in the process.

The two groups combined making sure to stay within eyesight as they made their way to the prestigious home that lit up the night sky. Their footsteps seemed to echo with every passing second. With every step the path to their destination closed in making the walk a lot shorter than anticipated.

Rainbow Dash kept her distance from Jaden without making it seemingly obvious. Things didn't quite spin right in her head at the time, all she wanted was to avoid the problem that gave her such a headache. As immature as it was she didn't want to face him. She had enough to deal with, enough of herself to figure out before focusing on their relationship.

She would get to him eventually. Maybe. No, she was certain she would. But not now. Now just wasn't the right time. Was there even a right time?

"Are you okay?"

The sidewalk was all she could focus on as thoughts whirled around her head. Emotions swirling together that wanted to be let out, but she was unsure of exactly what they were.

"Hello?"

Her eyes wandered around, darting from crack to crack as she tried to wrap her head around these thoughts.

A light pressure on her shoulder snapped her back to reality.

"Huh? What?" Rainbow looked up shoving her hands into the pocket of her hoodie. It took her a minute to process that those voices were talking to her. She tried her best to remember what they had asked. "Uh yeah. I'm fine."

"You just kind of seem like your mind's somewhere else." Emma scratched the side of her cheek hoping not to upset Dash somehow. "Are you sure?"

Dash shook her head lightly, her multicolored locks carelessly bouncing as she did so. "I'm fine." She watched as all their eyes slyly turned towards her, a glance going between them consistently.

"Are yo-" Pinkie pried further in concern, her eyes appearing a little less full of life.

"I said I was fine." Dash interrupted, her voice coming off rather cold and detached. Rainbow picked up her pace to separate herself from the group.

Rarity started to increase her walking speed in hopes of catching up to Rainbow, but a tug on her arm kept her back.

"We can't just let her walk off like that." Rarity protested attempting to jerk her arm away.

"I know, but trying to pry into her business is only gonna drive her even further away." Emma answered, her eyes locked into the back of Rainbow's head. "Just give her a bit of space. We can keep an eye on her from a distance."

"As much as I hate the idea of letting her split off by herself...I think Emma's right." Twilight interjected, much to everyone else's dismay.

"Ya can't be serious, Twi." Applejack responded, clearly unable to comprehend their opinion on the matter. "Last thing she needs is to wander off on her own."

"Rebeka is old enough to take care of herself if she has to." Twilight stated as they made their way into the front door. "Besides, like Emma said, we can keep an eye on her."

"But what if we can't find her?" Fluttershy's shoulders shrunk at the thought.

"That's not gonna happen. As long as we stick together things'll go smoothly." Jaden cut in reassuring the timid girl.

"Um...where'd Phoebe go?" Rarity pointed out.

/

Pinkie hadn't felt joy on such a surreal level in what felt like forever. It had been far too long, in Ponyville it felt like a usual point in her day to be a part of a good old party.

"Woo! Now this is what I call a party!" She yelled bouncing up and down. Clearly not paying attention to her actions she bumped into an object, sending her falling to the ground.

That is until she felt herself stop mid air.

"You okay?"

Giggling, Pinkie nodded her head. "Yeperooni!" She collected herself standing straight all on her own. "I'm Phoebe, who are you?"

"Austin." He replied, a smile finding its way onto his face. "You come here alone?"

Pinkie blinked, taking a moment to recuperate. She waved her hand dismissively as she rocked back and forth carelessly. "Nope. I was with my friends, but I guess I couldn't wait any more."

"Wait for what?" He asked offering her a drink politely.

"To party, of course!" She yelled grabbing the cup and quickly downing it. She shivered at the taste, it was bitter, a taste that didn't quite sit right on her tongue.

"Whoa. You've got serious skills." He exclaimed wide eyed as he took a sip of his own. "You totally gotta team up with me for the game."

"What game?" Pinkie asked still trying to ignore her upset stomach that seemed to reject the beverage.

"Drinking game! You're a pro." He nudged her, giving her a wink.

"Like...drinking the stuff you just gave me kind of drinking game?" She asked wearily, the thought of drinking more of that nasty stuff made her want to vomit.

"Yeah! What else?" Austin grabbed her by the hand and dragged her to another part of the floor.

"This is gonna be...fun." Pinkie Pie forced a smile, she wanted to say no, but he seemed so excited and she didn't want to be a party pooper because nothing's worse than being a party pooper at a party. Or at least that's her thought and theory.

/

Rainbow weaved in and out of the crowds. She wanted to get away from everything. Or at least her friends.

It was a strange thought, knowing she was avoiding the people she cared for the most. A thought that kept creeping over her shoulder, eating her away from the inside out.

Finally finding a way out of the maze of people she found herself standing outside. It wasn't quite as crowded, but still just as loud as the inside.

Rainbow sighed heavily, as much as she wanted to have fun and let go of all her worries it seemed a lot harder than it sounded. Finding an empty area in the grass she took a seat on the ground.

Alone with her thoughts, it felt good.

"I need to do this more often." Rainbow mumbled as she closed her eyes. It was almost calming, that was until she felt a tap on her shoulder.

She looked up to find a boy hunched over her. "Huh?"

"You seemed like you needed company." He took a seat next to her making sure to leave some space between them.

Nobody seemed to notice the two, everyone off in their own world. Rainbow sat quietly not sure of how to respond or if she even should have to.

"Whatever." She replied distantly as she stared into the night sky.

"I see, you're one of those tough girls, huh?"

Rainbow flicked her eyes toward him for a moment before looking away. Her face stayed expressionless all the while.

"Come on. Don't ruin such a pretty face with that frown." He looked down at the drink in his hand, then looked back at her. The boy held out the drink near her hand. "Here, take it. I can get myself another one later."

"No thanks." Rainbow declined pushing it back towards him.

"If you don't want to accept my company at the very least accept this drink." He pushed it back towards her.

Dash rolled her eyes as she took the cup from him. "Fine." She chugged the drink throwing the cup into the yard. "There. It's gone. You can leave now."

"If you say so."

And with that she was left all by herself again. "What a weirdo."

A couple of minutes passed, her mind began to feel fuzzy. The feeling drained her energy, seemed to suck all the life right out of her. Rainbow stood up, her footing unstable, haphazardly began walking toward the the house.

"What...what was in that drink?..." She mumbled as her legs began to shake with each step. Blurs zoomed by her as she made her way into the house.

Pushing through the crowd of teens Dash made her way upstairs somehow not toppling over. Her vision was fading, and it was fading quicker than before.

Her body leaned towards the wall for support, making a beeline for somewhere safe and away from everyone. The walls started blending together as her eyes drooped further shut. Her hand fell onto a door knob which she in turn opened.

Nobody in sight, nobody in the room. She tried to make it to the bed, but her legs gave out causing her to tumble to the floor. "...so...tired..."

The door shut behind her, footsteps coming towards her. The sound of a lock clicking rattled into her head.

Her vision had completely faded to near blackness. The cold touch that hit her neck made her shudder.

The last thing she could feel was his hand wrapped around her neck. The last thing she could hear was his heavy breathing. The last thing she could smell was his cologne.

The same cologne she had smelled not too long ago.

And then she was gone.

/

"Have any of you found either of them yet?" Rarity asked, her frown growing bigger.

"No, not yet." Jaden responded. He had already started to lose his mind, neither one was anywhere to be found. It was surprising enough that they all managed to find a way back to each other to regroup.

"How is it this hard to find them. I mean they should stick out like a sore thumb." Emma tugged at a strand of hair as her eyes flickered back and forth between random teenagers.

"Maybe we should ask more people if they've seen either of them?" Fluttershy whispered, her words nearly being lost to the dozens of conversations ongoing around them.

"Yer probably right. Keepin' a level head and askin' around'll be more helpful than standin' around arguin' about this." Applejack whipped her head around taking note of anything that caught her eye.

"We should break off and search again. We're bound to find them eventually." Twilight scanned the crowd searching for any clue as she began to turn the gears in her head.

"Why don't Emma, Jaden and Flora go off into a group. Ally, Taylor. We can all go another way." Rarity suggested with fire behind her words. She knew that they should've caught up to Rainbow Dash. That would have at least saved them the trouble of losing more than one of their group.

Fluttershy meekly followed behind careful not to bump into anybody. She kept pace, close enough to not get lost, but far enough way not to step on the backs of their shoes.

Pressured situations did not sit well with her. Losing two friends in a loud and crowded place made her head spin with anxiety. What if they couldn't find them? What if they got hurt? What if something bad happened to them? It made her sick to her stomach just thinking about it.

A loud scream snapped her head up from fear. Her eyes darted around nervously trying to locate the source.

The three darted towards the area it came from. Both feelings of shock and relief overcame them.

A crowd circled around a partier gone off the deep end. Someone who clearly had no control over themselves anymore.

"Oh my god! What did you do?" Emma yelled yanking Pinkie off of a table.

"I'm just-just having some fu-fun." Pinkie nearly fell over unable to keep balanced at this point.

"She kept downing more and more." Austin chuckled leaning against the wall. "It was...awesome! I've never seen anyone hold that much beer down!"

Jaden bit his bottom lip, attempting to bottle up all his anger. His attempt to keep it down was in vain though. He slammed Austin against the wall pinning him in place. He grabbed the front of his shirt pulling their faces closer together.

"Are you kidding! That's just stupid! What's your problem, man?!"

"Back off, meathead." Austin spat back, growling at Jaden.

"I-I don't feel...so good." Pinkie moaned clutching onto her stomach.

He looked back at his friends, taking his attention away from Austin. "You're not even worth it." Jaden jerked his shirt before letting go to offer Pinkie a hand.

She shoved her hands over her mouth, her face visibly growing pale.

"Everyone move! Get her outside. Get her outside!" Jaden grabbed Pinkie, while Emma and Fluttershy cleared the way.

/

A pulsing in her head caused her whole body to jolt with pain. Her eyes slowly opened attempting to process the situation. Her memory was hazy, only bits and peices coming to her all at once.

Her body was covered in disheveled bed sheets, tender care to wrap her up was obviously not taken. The sheets were tossed around from the consistant rolling.

"How did I get here?"

Rainbow Dash took a sharp inhale, slowly hunching foward off of her back. Her legs stilll feeling weak shook as they touched the floor. The bottom of her feet felt slightly numb, much like the rest of her.

Stumbling into the bathroom that was connected to the room she flipped the light switch. Staring into the mirror she noticed a few scrapes on her face, the blood already dry. A slight cut in the corner of her lip was slightly more fresh though, blood just barely trickling from the wound. Her hair was an utter mess, her clothing just as untidy.

Dash couldn't look any longer at herself. Pushing through the slight pain she made her way out of the room nearly tripping with each step.

Every person she walked past stared at her, their eyes glued onto Dash as they whispered between themselves. She didn't care, she just wanted out of the house. A familar bed, a safe place to process what had happened to herself.

One foot at a time she managed to make her way down the stairs. As she turned a corner she bumped into someone else. Both stumbled backwards managing to recover their footing.

"Terribly sorry." The girl apolagized clutching her head for a moment. She looked up, her eyes watered slightly with relief. She pulled Rainbow's body towards her giving her a quick hug. "Rainbow, darling. Are you alright?"

Dash blinked a few times, her eyes glossed over from the tears she held back. "I just want to go home."

"As soon as we go and find the others we can leave and-"

"That's not what I meant." Rainbow gritted her teeth, continuing in a harsh whisper. "I want to go home, Rarity."