"Of Females and Feathers"
Chapter 9
When Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash entered the building, everything was already perfectly set up for the party. Considering the old store had once been barren and dusty from lack of use over the years, it was quite a surprise to Fluttershy to see it all cleaned up and decorated with the party supplies Pinkie Pie had gotten for the occasion. Rainbow Dash, though, who had never seen it before now, only witnessed the nice decoration for what it was, not nearly as surprised as the shy one was at the difference.
Countless colorful balloons, streamers, and other things now littered the ground, walls, and even the ceiling of the place. The lights were still on, as the party hadn't started yet, and a large disco ball hung from the center of the ceiling, riddling the entire empty building with shining flecks of light. A few tables had been set up with punch and snacks; there seemed to be more than enough to go around, even without all the guests being at the party yet. So far, only a handful of ponies had arrived, who all either stood outside waiting, or stood inside in small groups of two or three, talking quietly amongst themselves. Rainbow only continued to relax herself, which was going fairly well so far. But then again, not everypony was here just yet, not even Applejack or Rarity, and the realization quickly had Rainbow hoping they'd arrive soon.
"Wow…she really outdid herself with all this," the shy one spoke after a moment as they walked through to the other side of the big room. "I can barely even tell this is the same place."
"Yeah," Rainbow answered her, still looking around in curiosity, as she didn't have the first idea what the store originally had looked like.
The sky blue mare had just begun to wonder when she would meet the pony responsible for all this, given that both Fluttershy and Applejack had mentioned her earlier, and well, she was the host of the party. But almost as soon as the question passed through her mind again, her glance was caught by the huge speaker system at the very back of the room, and the two ponies who stood beside it, obviously working on getting it set up. As if on cue, Fluttershy spoke again, leading her to the area.
She said, "C'mon, Rainbow, I'll introduce you to Pinkie. I'm actually pretty surprised you don't already know her. But since you stayed inside so much until lately, I guess it makes sense. I know she'll be glad to meet you, though!"
Rainbow didn't answer Fluttershy this time, but gave a nod and continued alongside her. It'd been a while since she'd personally met another pony in attempts to make friends, so she was again feeling like meeting another was something she didn't necessarily need to do, despite Pinkie Pie being the host. She was curious, but at the same time, she still hadn't completely gotten over herself. At this point, it was just annoying, though, that the worry still hung over her from time to time.
As they neared the two setting up the speaker system and what looked to be a DJ stand, it quickly became clear that the two were an earth pony and a unicorn. Rainbow Dash assumed that the earth pony was Pinkie Pie, due to the pink coat that matched the name, but she had no clue at all what to think of the white unicorn next to her. Her mane looked a bit unkempt, though, and consisted of two hues of blue; she wore a pair of big, purple shades, despite the fact that she surely didn't need them inside.
"Pinkie Pie!" Fluttershy called as they made it to the area, and sure enough, the bubblegum-pink earth pony turned to face them, first with a look of surprise, before quickly bouncing around to give a joyful smile. The unicorn only grinned a hello.
"Fluttershy! I'm so glad you could make it! You really need to start coming to more of my parties, ya know!" Pinkie paused after the words as her blue eyes finally rested on Rainbow Dash, and for a short moment, she looked to be in complete amazement. Suddenly, though, she leapt closer with a gasp, obviously much more excited. " YOU! …I've never seen you before! You must be a new Pegasus! Or, omigosh! Are you related to Fluttershy? Did she invite her whole family! How great! You don't really look like her, though…hm. Step sister? Cousin? Oh I know! Second step cousin!"
Rainbow instantly jumped back at the spastic greeting, as this pony was even louder and talked even faster that Rarity had when they'd first met. Why did ponies have to do that? Why couldn't they all just be like Applejack? She really didn't even know how to answer her. She wasn't related to Fluttershy, that was for sure; was Pinkie seriously even asking that? A bit fearfully, the blue one looked around a moment, her cheeks reddening a little as she scraped her mind for something to say, but luckily, Fluttershy took a small step forward and spoke for her.
She said, "U-Um…actually, we aren't related. Pinkie, this is Rainbow Dash. She's a friend of mine from when I was in flight camp a long time ago."
The curly-headed pony was rocking forward with a smile, lessening the space between herself and Rainbow, but stopped shortly at Fluttershy's answer, looking back to her with a surprised blink. She let herself spring back into place before beginning a small chain of giggles.
"Oh!" she continued the giggling for another few seconds, and came to an abrupt stop. She then looked back to Rainbow, who was now a weird mixture of scared and annoyed. "Well that's just as super special awesome! It's great to meet you, Rainbow Dash! I really hope you have a wonderful time at the party tonight! There's gonna be so many fun things, too! Including some wicked original party music mixed by Scratchie over here!"
"You sure you want me playing original stuff, Pinkie?"
All three of the other ponies now looked to the blue-maned unicorn who'd asked the question. While she'd been grinning earlier, she looked a little more nervous now, though it was hard to tell exactly due to the shades she had on. Pinkie, however, seemed to completely understand the question, as well as the nervousness behind it; she hopped up to rest her forelegs on the turntable stand, giving the other female a bright smile.
She answered, "Course I do, babe! I told you, any party I throw, I want your music there!"
Of course, that was if she was free to provide it. Vinyl Scratch's nervous look again turned into the grin she'd had moments before at the words, a silent thank you to the pony who'd now been her best friend for a few years. Until Scratch was able to start a club of her own in Ponyville, something she'd dreamt of since she'd first moved to the town, Pinkie had been allowing her to DJ at her parties, and even started hosting them at bigger places sometimes to draw a larger crowd for the unicorn. It was more than enough to help her, and Scratch couldn't be more grateful for such an amazing best friend.
Once Pinkie Pie finished her assuring response, she let herself fall back down from the stand Scratch would soon be DJing with, and turned back to face the others with a giddy smile.
"Anyway, guys, more guests will be arriving really soon! Help yourselves to anything you want! When the lights go out, it's time to PARTY!" the pony gave her new Pegasus acquaintance a friendly wink before excusing herself from the conversation and getting back to helping Scratch with the last minute music and lights touches.
Rainbow Dash made a bit of a face, not really as annoyed with Pinkie as with the simple fact of how loud and excited some ponies were with meeting new ponies. Applejack really had been the only one of them who'd helped her feel safer about the new friendship rather than even more trapped into it than she already felt. At least she wasn't immediately tempted to run away into hiding whenever she met somepony new anymore. Of course, even before all this lesbian stuff had happened, she'd always preferred other ponies to shut up, sit back, and let her be the loud one. The thought alone almost made her want to try it again.
As Pinkie left the scene, Fluttershy quietly broke the silence again, along with Rainbow's thoughts. "That was a little weird... Well, I'm glad she didn't jump you like she did to me...you might not have liked that very much…"
The blue one looked back to the other with a weird face; there was even more craziness than that? Why Fluttershy always wanted to introduce her to ponies that would go spastic over her, Rainbow had no idea.
"Oh, she's just busy with getting the place set up, I'm sure."
The two Pegasi quickly turned around in surprise at the voice to see Rarity standing only a few feet behind them. Brow raised with a smile, the lovely unicorn gave a small "hm" in greeting. Fluttershy hesitated, but quickly her look of surprise became a joyful beam at seeing the other pony closest to her, and she leapt closer to exchange a friendly nuzzle.
"Rarity!" she giggled happily. "You're here!"
Rarity stifled a small laugh of her own. "Well, of course, darling! I had to see what Pinkie Pie would do with this old place, and I must say, the décor is lovely! Besides, the more friends to celebrate with, the better!"
Rainbow Dash couldn't help but smile at seeing another familiar face, finally, as well as feel a lot more relieved by it. She still wondered where Applejack was, but she knew the orange earth pony would arrive soon enough, so she didn't worry about it too much. It was also nice seeing how close Fluttershy and Rarity were yet again; it'd been a while since Rainbow had had another friend like that. She was more than happy that Fluttershy was just as close to her as well, though (so she liked to believe). Nevertheless, her brows furrowed in slight confusion at the unicorn's words.
"What are we celebrating?" she asked.
Rarity blinked. "You didn't know? Well, you are still new, my apologies, dear. Tomorrow is finally when we'll start to bring winter in again! I've been so excited! My favorite scarf has been waiting so long to be worn again!"
With the happy thought running through her mind, the white one closed her eyes and gracefully did an odd little three-second slow-dance to herself. Simply due to the fashion and hot chocolate, winter was one of her favorites.
"It is?" Fluttershy chimed in happily. "Oh wow, I completely forgot! You're right!"
"Mm-hmmmmmm. Wait. That is why Pinkie is hosting the party tonight…isn't it?"
Rarity had just assumed as much due to the first day of winter finally being tomorrow, but she had never found out if her assumption was really correct or not. She stopped her happy motion, looking to the other two ponies for an answer. Fluttershy and Rainbow only looked back at her blankly, as they didn't know the reason behind Pinkie's party either. Rainbow was the first of them to smile again after the few seconds of silence; she didn't care what the party was for, but she was excited to know the season she'd been waiting for was finally coming tomorrow. Which meant she could get back to Cloudsdale sooner than she thought.
She said, "Well, I dunno, but that's still great!"
"Yes, it is." Fluttershy gave a happy nod.
Rarity only frowned, a little more annoyed that neither of them knew anything. She gave a sigh, letting her head lower slightly, but quickly lifted it up with a smile. She'd just have to find out herself.
While Rainbow Dash was glad to know she'd be seeing a Ponyville winter sooner than she'd assumed, and therefore, would be able to get home sooner as well, at the same time, she didn't really like the thought of leaving. Cloudsdale was great, but she enjoyed being on the earth and witnessing all of its changes. She also enjoyed the new friends she'd made, and being able to live on her own (well, almost on her own). Rainbow could do pretty much anything she wanted here in Ponyville, and while it'd been hard at first, she was loving it even more with the passing time. Still, she did miss her parents. And she knew they missed her. She'd just have to start visiting Ponyville a lot more in the future.
It wasn't long before the party was filled with all kinds of ponies, ready to enjoy what Pinkie Pie did best. Applejack also showed up along with the crowd. Once the three of her new closest friends had arrived, even Rainbow was feeling more excited, despite the large crowd that now filled every inch of the shiny tiled floor. The four ponies just stayed together talking for a little while, which was good for all of them: Fluttershy and Rarity had actually never been too close to Applejack. They knew who she was, of course, and they'd spoken to her here and there given that she provided the apples for the town, but as far as "hanging out" went, it simply wasn't something they'd done a lot of with Applejack. They were even closer to Pinkie Pie than her. Of course, pretty much everypony was close to Pinkie in some way or the other.
When the big lights went out, making room for the multi-colored party lights Pinkie had provided, as well as the disco ball, a wave of excitement could be heard from the sheer number of ponies who were ready to party. Vinyl Scratch started up her music which consisted of a mixture of songs she'd done on her own, and songs from other artists that a lot of guests would be more familiar with. It was officially time for the party to begin.
The huge room was like a whole different place in the dark, flashing lights and specks from the disco ball coating it from ceiling to floor. The first track played wasn't one that was familiar to most of the ponies, but still had a good club beat to it, so none of them really cared what it was anyway, as long as they could dance to it. Rainbow Dash was mesmerized by the visual effects that had been provided, simply because she'd never been to a party like this before. But quickly, she broke out her trance, and made sure her friends were still around, which they were. She was surprised to see that Fluttershy was no longer standing, though, and instead was sitting down in one of the nearby corners, almost looking a bit uncomfortable. Rarity stood beside her.
"I wonder what's eatin' her," Applejack commented after a moment. She glanced back to Rainbow, and smiled a little, beginning to take a short walk to the corner. "C'mon, let's see."
Rainbow Dash nodded and followed the orange one to where Fluttershy and Rarity were. It was a small bit of an effort to maneuver through the party crowd, but the corner wasn't too far away, so it didn't take them too long.
Applejack asked, "Somethin' wrong, sugar cube?"
"Yeah, what is it?" the polychromatic one added concernedly.
Fluttershy looked to Rarity for a moment, who also shared the slight concern, and then brought her gaze back to the other two. She forced a small, nervous smile before she tried to say what was on her mind, but her tiny voice was no match for the loud store-turned-nightclub.
"I-I just didn't expect it to be so loud," she told them.
"WHAT?" asked Applejack, having not heard the shy one's voice well at all.
Rarity tried for her this time, louder. "She says it's too loud!"
"OH!" Quickly, Applejack's expression softened, though she didn't know what to tell Fluttershy. She hesitantly spoke again. "Aw…well, it is a mite different from Pinkie Pie's usual parties. Here, why don't I go get y'all some punch, and we'll just stay 'round here for now. We don't gotta go out there with all them other ponies if y'all don't wanna."
At the nice suggestion, Fluttershy only smiled again with a small nod of the head. She'd been to a few other Pinkie Pie parties in the past, but none of them had been this loud and dark. Then again, the others had all been held in the daytime, and Vinyl Scratch hadn't been helping out. Rainbow Dash didn't really notice the difference as she'd never been to a daytime Pinkie party, or a nightclub. Still, she wasn't expecting Fluttershy to be the one who was cowering in the corner. Perhaps she was underestimating how far she'd come since first arriving in Ponyville.
Applejack told the others she'd be back soon, and took her leave for the drink stand to get some punch. Of course, who knew how long it'd take having to maneuver through the huge party crowd. Rainbow Dash looked back as the orange one was leaving, and then again to Fluttershy and Rarity. She didn't like seeing Fluttershy unhappy at the party she'd been excited over earlier, but at the same time, she didn't know what to say to either of them. Finally, she looked over her shoulder again for a quick moment, and spoke.
"Um…I'm gonna go with AJ and help with the drinks. I'll be back," she said loudly.
Rarity nodded once, and with that, Rainbow turned to the crowd and went after Applejack. She tried her best to maneuver through the ponies, but felt her nervousness creeping up on her again whenever she ended up bumping into one. Even though she'd only waited a few seconds to go after her, Applejack was nowhere in sight. It was then that Rainbow realized going after her was probably a bad idea. A really bad idea. But it wasn't like she could do anything about it now. Whimpering, the Pegasus hurriedly ran through all the small spaces she could find; it didn't even cross her mind that she could simply use her wings and fly above everyone.
As she was making her way through, the song that was playing stopped, and a new one started, causing even more of an uproar. Rainbow Dash growled, and attempted to up her speed.
Everytime you look at me
My heart is jumpin', it's easy to see
You drive me crazy
I just can't sleep
I'm so excited, I'm in too deep
Oh-oh-oh, crazy
But it feels alright
Baby thinkin' of you keeps me up all night
Obviously, many of the ponies knew the song, as a lot of them were singing it, or simply overly happy to dance to it. Hell, it even sounded familiar to Rainbow, but she didn't know any of the words. Probably just because she'd never listened to pop or dance music all that much. She stopped a moment just to take a short breath, but immediately after, somepony again bumped into her, causing her to jump with a small squeak, and hurriedly get to her hooves again. She went faster after that, and eventually the ponies she maneuvered through became a little less crowded, which was fine with her. And finally, she made it back to the sidelines of the room again, and dropped into a sitting position, exhausted.
When she looked around her to see where she was, she hadn't the slightest idea. Fluttershy and Rarity were nowhere to be seen, and she didn't see a drink stand anywhere nearby either. The song was still playing. She really didn't want to go back into the crowd again, and gave a small groan at the thought. Maybe she could just walk around the sidelines, near the walls of the room, and eventually meet back up with the two she should've just stayed with in the beginning. With the new idea, Rainbow got to her hooves again, and looked around. It was only one big room, so it had to lead her back somehow. She was about to start, but suddenly, an excited voice caught her attention.
"Heya Dashie!"
Dashie? What? She flinched a little, but quickly turned to the voice, only to see Pinkie Pie. Her immediate thoughts were why she was giving her nicknames when they barely knew one another, but the question left her at seeing the pink pony's expression. Brow raised, suggestive smile, Pinkie's look was much unexpected, and Rainbow had no idea how to respond. So Pinkie continued, in her best sexy voice.
"You wanna dance?"
WHAT. Rainbow Dash's eyes widened at the question; she immediately started backing away, folding her ears back as she felt her cheeks growing warmer. Was she…hitting on her? She looked around for an escape, her heartbeat speeding up and her ability to speak locking itself. Nopony had ever seriously tried hitting on her before. She was almost ready to run back into the crowd rather than deal with this, and she thought about it, but suddenly, Pinkie broke out into laughter, nearly falling down with them as a giggly snort escaped her.
She said, "Aw, I'm just kidding! We don't really have to dance, silly! I just saw you over here all alone, and I couldn't help but come over to see if everything was okay! Why aren't you with cousin Fluttershy?"
Frozen with shock at the response, Rainbow finally released a heavy sigh of relief once she'd processed the information completely, and almost felt a little dizzy. She fell back down into sitting, and kept her head lowered in exhaustion. For a moment, she couldn't even think. But hesitantly, she lifted her head to send an annoyed glare to the other. She'd thought she'd already witnessed the most frightening moment of her life, but nope! Who the hell did Pinkie even think she was joking around like that? The Pegasus finally shut her eyes, trying to calm herself again, but remained annoyed as she answered the question, and made sure her voiced reflected it.
"She's not my cousin," she told her bluntly.
"…Oh yeah!" Pinkie giggled again, and happily continued, seeming completely unfazed by Rainbow's clear annoyance. "Well, still, shouldn't you be with her? You do know she's waaaaay over there, right?"
Pinkie pointed a hoof in the direction which would supposedly lead back to Fluttershy and Rarity as she gave an accomplished smile. Rainbow only stared back at her as if she were insane. How the hell could she know exactly where they were? She couldn't know exactly where they were, as far as Rainbow Dash was willing to believe. The blue one only sighed again, rolling her magenta eyes and standing up. Maybe she couldn't find her way back to those two just yet, but it was Pinkie's party, so she had to know the way around to the things she'd set up herself. Setting aside her anger, Rainbow decided to give the pony another chance.
Rainbow answered, "Actually, I'm kinda looking for the drink stand. Do you know where that is?"
Blinking once in surprise, Pinkie's expression instantly changed into a grin, which Rainbow interpreted as a yes. She was correct.
"Sure I know! C'mon, I'll show ya the way!"
Being dragged across the party by the crazy, pink host wasn't exactly what Rainbow Dash had in mind for being shown where the drink stand was, but it was better than not being shown where the drink stand was, so she decided to deal with it for now. She was actually starting to worry that perhaps Pinkie didn't even know herself, but when the drink stand and Applejack came into view, she was overjoyed that she'd let Pinkie do this.
"And here we are!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Ooh! And look, there's Applejack!"
Why or how the orange one was still there even after it'd taken her so long to arrive, Rainbow hadn't the slightest idea. She felt as if she'd been lost and pushing through crowds of ponies for hours rather than minutes. It didn't matter, though: she'd finally caught up with her again, and officially wasn't lost anymore. Happy and relieved, the Pegasus gave a sigh and rushed over to her friend.
She greeted, "AJ!"
Applejack turned to see her and gave a surprised smile.
"Well hey Rainbow Dash," she answered. "I coulda sworn you stayed behind with Fluttershy and Rarity. Guess my mind's goin' crazy from all a' this racket."
Rainbow grinned, but hesitantly looked back behind her as her grin became a grateful smile. Even if the Pinkie had annoyed her earlier, she wouldn't have found Applejack again without the help. Hell, she might've been stuck alone for the whole rest of the night. Looking back, she gave a small, nervous chuckle.
"I went after you, but I kinda got lost. Pinkie helped," she told her.
Applejack gave a laugh, "I see. Well that's mighty kindly of her. Anyway, c'mon, then, help me get these drinks back to our spot."
The earth pony took two of the small cups between her teeth and turned to head back from whence she'd come, though she stopped and waited for Rainbow before she took off. With a happy flick of her tail, Rainbow took the other two cups; she was more than happy to finally have found her way again, and turned to thank Pinkie before she went along with Applejack, but…Pinkie was nowhere in sight. Eyes blinking wide in surprise, Rainbow looked around, but she really couldn't see the pony anywhere. When Applejack finally called her to come on, she hesitated in confusion for a second longer, but finally turned back to hurry along with the drinks.
When Applejack and Rainbow made it back to Fluttershy and Rarity with the drinks, the four of them decided to go stand outside for a while to clear their heads. When they made it out there, they found that a good bit of the other ponies had gotten the same idea. There were still multitudes of them inside the club, but not everyone was enjoying this party style Pinkie and Vinyl Scratch had used for tonight. Rainbow didn't really care either way, but she definitely preferred the coolness of being out in the last autumn night they'd see for a while, rather than the smothering heat of all the ponies going crazy on the dance floor.
"This is a lot better," Fluttershy giggled a little as she took a sip of her punch. "Though I hope Pinkie won't be too upset that we're out here now."
"I'm sure she won't mind, sugar cube," Applejack answered with a smile.
Pinkie Pie knew Fluttershy well enough to understand her preference of more quiet places, they all assumed. And also knew that they couldn't just ditch Fluttershy. The four of them had been glad for the chance to spend some more time together, as all of them shared the common wish to help their newest friend feel welcome among them (save Rainbow, as she was the newest friend). So more than anything, they'd just wanted to have a fun night out, regardless of what exactly they did.
Despite getting lost and again falling into a situation that brought back her fears, Rainbow Dash was having a good time. She loved spending time with the three she'd befriended, and well, Pinkie Pie wasn't so bad, she supposed. She had helped her out, and Rainbow didn't even want to think of how the night might've gone if she hadn't shown up and taken her to the drink stand. Still, she remained confused as to how or why the pink pony had randomly disappeared without even saying goodbye. She thought about asking somepony else about it, but decided to just forget it: it couldn't really be that important.
As the night continued on, and more guests left, the ponies decided to go back to the party for a little while again; they didn't want to just be rude, after all. It was getting pretty late already, though, so they didn't stay too much longer before leaving for the night. The place was still pretty crowded by even that time, so they didn't even attempt to find Pinkie again. She was busy with other things anyway, and while they did know her pretty well, it wasn't as if they hung out with her on a regular basis. They'd just thank her for inviting them another time.
Rainbow contemplated starting another letter for her parents once she and Fluttershy had gotten home, but decided if tomorrow really would be the first day of Ponyville's winter, maybe she didn't need to after all. She'd be heading home soon after the season's start anyway.
SURPRISE. I found time to write after all! Haha. :D Though I'm sorry this chapter is only one big scene. That's the only thing I don't like about it. But it ended up being 5,000 words in itself, and I decided to just go ahead and end it with the end of the party.
LYRICS: "(You Drive Me) Crazy" by Britney Spears. Don't...assume I had hidden meanings with using those, though; I used them simply because I was listening to the song while creating this chapter, AND because Britney is one of my personal heroes. I love her, she's amazing, Ponies are amazing, why not put em together, ya know?
And yeah, it's great to have Scratch in the story, too, and to finally be doing stuff with her weird relationship with Pinkie, which I also touched on in "I Like It When You Scare Me." For those of you who've read that, I hope you liked this too. And I hope you liked my portrayals of Scratch, as well as Pinkie. At this point, the story is really nearing its end, and I'm sure a lot of you have figured out what's going to happen in the next couple chapters (I know it's incredibly predictable, but don't...say anything about it in reviews until it happens, please, just in case some people haven't guessed it yet. which is doubtful, but whatever).
I have no idea how many of you guys have Twitter, or even like me enough to follow me there, but... I made one. Username: ambertreelights. And the link is on my profile, as my homepage. I'll just be doing random announcements for different stories, as well as tweeting lots of random shit...whenever. lol. SO...if you want, you can follow me. I'll definitely follow back if you do so, and tell me you're a reader. (: Just so ya know.
As usual, all the stuff I've put on my profile is still up. And thanks so much to every one of you, even if you don't review (though I won't lie, you guys who DO review, y'all are the best! hehe).
Reviews & favs are appreciated! Thanks for reading & stay tuned!