Final Preparations For the Galla! The Wild Ones And The Arcade Party!
Fluttershy: Um, hey everybody, Flutttershy here. Sorry It's taken so long, but the authors said that they had a lot of ideas for other stories and had to take a break from this one for a while. But...
Pinkie: WE'RE BACK!
Fluttershy: Pinkie!?
Pinkie: Sorry Fluttershy, but you're taking too long. Anyway, this is the last chapter before the galla. We've got a GREAT story in this chapter, a new opening, and some epic action coming up soon. So for noooowwwwwwww...THEME MUSIC!
*Asterisk*
[Music starts playing as images of Ranma, Flash, Master Asia and the girls scroll by.]
miageta yozora no hoshi tachi no hikari
miageta yozora no hoshi tachi no hikari
[Music keeps playing as Ranma stands in the center of the screen as all his friends appear around him. As the drum beat hits, his friends fade out as he stands alone and smiles at the screen. As the guitar plays, the screen switches a red and blue split screen with white silhouettes of Ranma and Master Asia facing away from each other. As the music keeps playing, the screen becomes white with a red line on top and a blue line on the bottom with a red silhouette and blue silhouette of Ranma and Master Asia respectively. As they looked away from each other, a flim strip of all the people in their lives scrolled behind them.]
hitotsu futatsu kane no ne wa hibiku
[As the lyrics kick in, Ranma and the girls are seen in a parking lot, at night, under some street lamps. As the lyrics are sung, the camera zooms in on each of their faces.]
kokoro no naka he to hiroku fukaku
monogatari no you na hoshi no shizuku
sono naka ni hosoi senro wo kizuku
jikan to tomo ni jidai wa ugoku
nagareru hoshi wa shizuka ni ugoku
me wo tojite mimi wo sumaseba
G.O.O.D. BYE
[Scene changes to day as Sunset is seen looking across a street. Scene switches again to Luna and Celestia looking across some rails at something unseen. The scene changes to a top and bottom split screen of Celestia and Master Asia, Celestia looking sad and Master Asia looking serious before the screen changes to show a shadowy figure with glowing red eyes rimmed with fire looking behind him before a tilte card for the show pops up.]
hanate hikari makezu ni shikkari
ima tokihanate dareka ni todoku made
eikou no hikari wa kono mukou ni
KIMItachi to tsukutteku SUTORI
[A red screen with Ranma and Celestia's silhouettes is shown with the two of them arguing before turning their heads away from each other. They walk away and then a panda is shown triping and falling before it is trampled by the cast. The scene changes again to show the gang all standing of tree stumps in a park with Twilight struggling to keep balanced.]
miageta yozora no hoshi tachi no hikari
[Ranma is seen running through a fog and battling against shadowy ninjas. The fog clears enough to show Ranma knocking them away with punches and kicks before he does a spin kick to clear them away and jumping at the rest of them.]
inishie no omoi negai ga jidai
koe iroaseru
KOTO naku todoku
[The scene then switches to the rest of the gang spray painting the title of the show on a wall. Sunset and Twilight jump in front of the cameras and spray red and purple paint on the screen before running off.]
KIRARI hitomi ni utsuru dareka no sakebi
kaze ni omoi wo tsuki ni negai wo
chikara aru kagiri ikitekunda kyou mo
[Scene switches to show only the feet of the cast as they run across the screen in different directions.]
miageta yozora no hoshi tachi no hikari
inishie no omoi negai ga jidai
koe iroaseru
[Ranma is then shown at night, watching as the world spins around him before switching to show him and on one side of the screen and The Mane Seven on the other.]
KOTO naku todoku
bokura no omoi mo itsuka
dareka no mune ni
hikari tsuzukeyou ano hoshi no you ni
[Final scene change shows various pictures of Ranma and all his friends as the song comes to an end.]
Another day has come to an end for Ranma and his friends and somehow, Ranma was walking alone with Fluttershy. What made him nervous though, was that this was the first time they had ever been alone with each other since the whole Neko Ken thing and their kiss. The two teens were trying very hard not to look at each other. Ranma knew he needed to break the awkward silence, but the question was how?
"Sooooooooo, how've ya been?" He asked, not really knowing what else to say.
"Huh?" Fluttershy said, snapping out of her won musings. "Oh, um, I've been ok. Um, just working at the animal shelter and helping Rarity with my dress for the galla."
"Oh really." He said back. "So, how did that go?"
"Ok. But she had to readjust...um...certain parts of the dress." She replied, turnign away blushing.
"Oh, what parts?" Ranma asked. Fluttershy blushed harder, not knowing how to tell him.
"Um...the...(mumbles)." She said. Ranma leaned in, getting too close to her already bright red face.
"The...chest." She said. Ranma had to strain to hear, but when he did, he backed away blushing. The thought of Fluttershy's impressive breasts being shown making him very flustered.
"Oh." Was all he said.
'Back to awkward silence I guess.' Ranma thought to himself. But to his surprise, Fluttershy tried to break the ice.
"So, how's your class going?" She asked. Ranma smiled, thinking this was a great way to get over the awkwardness.
"Pretty good, actually. Rainbow and Applejack have been a big help with getting the new guys broken in. Flash too, surprisingly. I'm honestly impressed. Although to be honest, it is kind of taking away from my personal training with Master Asia. But he did say that over the summer break he has some ideas for how to spice up our training. He said I should ask Applejack and Rainbow Dash if they want to come with. You think they might?" He asked. Fluttershy thought for a moment.
"Hmmm. Well, Rainbow Dash, definitely. Applejack may have to stay and help at the farm." She said.
"Ok. I'll ask them then." He answered, causing them both to laugh a little.
Fluttershy was happy. Ever since that day when they kissed, things had been so wired between them. But now things were starting to go back to normal. But before they could go any further, Fluttershy's magic kicked in and she heard the sound of an animal whimpering.
"Huh?" She said as she moved her hair away from her ear and strained to listen. Ranma stopped and looked at his pink haired friend.
"What's up?" He asked.
"I thought I heard something." She said as she started walking towards the location of the sounds. Ranma put a hand to his ear and tried to listen to what she was hearing.
"I don't hear anything." He said.
Fluttershy kept walking towards the sounds of whimpering and pulled aside some bushes and found what she was looking for. She gasped, and started cueing.
"Awwwww! Where did you come from little guy!?" She said as she bent down to pick whatever it was up. Ranma looked confused as he walked over to her.
"What? What is it?" He asked. Fluttershy giggled and turned around and showed him a little white wolf pup.
"Look." She said, showing him the pup. Ranma's eyes went wide and as he looked at the little fury bundle in her arms.
"Is that...a baby wolf!?" He said in shock as he lent in closer to the little wolf. Fluttershy smiled and nodded, a big smile on her face.
"Mmhmm! Look at this little baby." She said in a cute mommy kind of voice. "Aw, where did you come from little guy?" She asked. The wolf stated yipping and she nodded her head in understanding. Ranma, who could only speak human, scratched his head as he looked at her expectingly.
"Well, what did he say? Wait, is it a he or is it a she?" He asked. Fluttershy held up the wolf pup to examine him.
"It's a boy." She said. The pup then started whimmpering. Fluttersy listend and nodded her head.
"Oh, poor baby. This little guy was the runt of his litter. He couldn't keep up with the others and they left him behind." She said sadly as she cuddled the pup. Ranma walked up to them and rubbed the pups head.
"Poor little guy." He said. "So, what'll we do with him? I don't want to leave him out here."
"Me neither." She said as she kissed the pup's head. "Let's get him to the shelter so he can get looked at."
Another few minutes later, the two teens were at the animal shelter and waiting for the resident vet to give the baby wolf a full checkup. After a while, the nurse came out and Fluttershy rushed over to him.
"Docotr! Is the little baby alright?" She asked.
"Well," The vet started to say. "He's a little malnourished, has a sprained paw, but other than that, all he really needs is a little TLC and he'll be as good as new in now time.
"Oh! Thank you doctor! Can we go see him?" Fluttershy begged. The vet laughed and patted the girl's sholder.
"Sure thing. Just be gentle with him, ok" He says as Fluttershy dashes in. Ranma shakes his head as he smiles at the pink haired girl.
"She REALLY loves animals." He said. The vet nodded.
"Yeah, that's quite the girlfriend you have there son." He said as he walked off.
"Yeah." But then Ranma realized what the man had just said. "What!? She's she's not my...!"
He tried to say only for the vet to be gone. Ranma shrugged his shoulders and sighed as he went after Fluttershy. When he found her, he found her cradling the little wolf pup while feeding him with a bottle. Ranma smiled, this girl was going to make such a good mother someday.
"So, mommy, how's the baby doing?" He said jokingly as he sat across form Fluttershy. She smiled as she looked up to him.
"He's doing just fine. Poor thing was starving. But mommy Fluttershy wont let that happen to you anymore." She said in a soothing voice like she was actually talking to a human baby.
"Well, what now? I mean, do we call a zoo or what?" He asked. Fluttershy put the bottle down and cradled the wolf more as she thought for a moment.
"Well, first we'll need to treat him hear for a while, then we can see about calling a zoo." She said. Ranma noticed that she looked a little sad.
"What's up?" He asked. Fluttershy sighed.
"It's nothing. It's just, I can't stand seeing a little baby like this being left behind like he was. It's just not fair." She said as she hugged the wolf closer and kissed his head. To Ranma's surprise, the wolf actually nuzzled into Fluttershy's cheek in response.
"He really seems to like you." He said. Fluttershy smiled.
"Most animals do. It's my special gift." She looked up to Ranma and had a thought. "Would you like to hold him Ranma?" She asked. Ranma was taken aback.
"ME!?" He said in shock. "No way! I mean, not that I don't want to, it's just...I don't know anything about handling animals."
Fluttershy giggled as she handed the wolf to Ranma and showed him how to hold him.
"There. Just like that, and give him a gentle rocking." She said.
Ranma did as he was told and was surprised how soft the little guy's fur felt.
"Wow. He's so soft." He said, and then the wolf started to lick his hands as he snuggled into Ranma's embrace. Fluttershy giggled again at the sight.
"He seems to like you too." She said. She then heard the wolf whimper again and flushed at what she heard him say.
"What?" Ranma asked. "What is it?" He said. Fluttershy did her best to stop her giggling.
"He said, 'moma, dada'. Hmhmhmhm. Isn't that cute? He thinks we're his parents." She said, making Ranma jump so much he nearly dropped the wolf pup.
"PARENTS!?" He said as he unknowingly held the pup closer. "Uh, um, can you please tell him we're NOT his parents?" Ranma said. Fluttershy giggled at Ranma's embarrassment.
"Oh Ranma, it wouldn't matter if I did. He's already imprinted on us. He likes us for saving him so much that he thinks we're his parents. Isn't that cute?" She said as she nuzzled her nose against the pups. Ranma gulped and looked at the pup in his arms.
"Terrific. I get away from an arranged marriage and yet somehow, I STILL end up a daddy. But to a wolf pup of all things."
Later that night, Ranma was chilling at home when Master Asia came up to him.
"So, how did it go today? You went straight out to practice when you got home and you still haven't talked to me about anything." He asked. Ranma sighed.
"Me and Fluttershy somehow ended up parents to a baby wolf." He said in a huff. Master Asia feigned shock at hearing his student's words.
"And you didn't even tell me you were expecting? Or that you were married? Ha ha ha!" He laughed at his own joke. Ranma glared at his master.
"Ha ha! Ha ha! Oh, lay off, old man!" Ranma said as he went back to reading a manga.
"Oh, come on Ranma. I'm just having some fun. And besides, you did say you wondered what it was like to have a pet." He said. Ranma put his manga down and sighed.
"Yeah, but, it's just a puppy that thinks I'm it's dad. I mean, yeah when I was younger I wanted to have a pet, but...I'm so busy now, I don't know if I have the time to take care of one, ya know?"
Master Asia walked over to his student and sat down next to him, putting an arm around his soulder.
"Son, I know it may seem a big responsibility, but sometimes it's a rewarding one. And besides, I'll be around to help you out, plus all your little girlfriends will probably help too." He said. Ranma blushed at hearing what his master called his seven female friends.
"They are NOT my girlfriends!" He shouted at his master. Master Asia laughed at his young student.
"Sure they aren't." He said smirking. "But still, you should at least give this thing a try at least."
Ranma sighed. Once again, his master was right. He almost always was. The next day, Ranma and the others were leaving school when Pinkie jumped up form behind him and Fluttershy.
"You guys! Guess what!? Guess what!? Guess what!? Guess what!? Guess what!? Guess HUMFFM!" Pinkie was saying until Ranma clamped his hand over her mouth.
"What, Pinkie?" He asked as he removed his hand from her mouth. Pinkie smiled with barely controlled excitement.
"Since the Galla is next week, I thought it would be a great idea if we celebrated with a Before The Galla PARTY!" She exclaimed as confetti sprang up from out of nowhere. Ranma was not sure how he felt about getting used to Pinkie's weirdness.
"Another party? You really will look for ANY reason to have a party, won't you?" He asked. Pinkie just smiled and nodded.
"Yes." Was all she said. "And it'll also count as one of your 16 parties! So it's a win-win! And get this, we're having it this Saturday at the arcade! So be sure to bring your quarters!" She said as she started skipping away. But then she zipped back and laied her arms around both him and Fluttershy.
"So, what's this I hear about you two having a little bundle of joy, huh?" She said with a sly smile. Ranma and Fluttershy blushed at what she was implying.
"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" Ranma shouted out loud. "We just found some wolf pup in some bushes and it took a liking to us! That's all!"
"Uh huh." Pinkie said, still smirking.
"And he's the cutest thing. He's imprinted on us and called us mama and dada." Fluttershy said.
"Aw, isn't that sweet, daddy?" She said as she sided up to Ranma. He just glared at the crazy girl.
"Don't call me that. Ever." He said in a dead serious voice that made Pinkie slide back.
"Anyway..." She said. "This Saturday, the arcade in town. Don't be late! La lala lala lala, wheeeee!" She said as she started skipping away. Ranma shrugged and Fluttershy grabbed his hand and gave him her starry-eyed look.
"Ranma, be sure to swing by the shelter after your class is done, ok?" She said. Ranma blushed and tried to look away.
"Um, ok." He said.
Later, after Ranma had ended his martial arts class, he was heading for the animal shelter bu with Rainbow Dash and Applejack in tow. The two girls couldn't help but grin at Ranma's blushing face as they tried teasing him.
"SSSSSOOOOOOOOO, are we going to see your new baby?" Rainbow said in a teasing tone. Ranma blushed hard at that.
"I-It's just a wolf pup! Not my freaking kid!" He said defensively. Applejack chuckled at her friend's expression.
"Aw come on sensei, no need to be so sensitive about it. And Rainbow, stop teasing him. You know how new parents are about their little babies." She burst out laughing at her own joke. Ranma grit his teeth at the jokes of his friends.
"Keep that up and you two can just go home!" He said. Later, after entering the animal shelter, they heard a yipping and howling that could only come from a baby wolf. And sure enough, out came a little white wolf pup with one of its legs in a clutch, hobbling over to the pigtailed young man.
"Baby! Come back here!" Came the voice of Fluttershy as she followed after the young wolf. Then she saw the wolf making his way over to Ranma and smiled.
The wolf made its way to Ranma and he couldn't help but bend down to pick him up and scratch his head.
"Hey little guy." He said as the wolf licked his face.
"AAAAAAAAAAW!" Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash said as they got a look at the little wolf.
"Look at him! Ain't he a cutie?" Applejack said as she came around to look at the wolf in Ranma's arms.
"And he's a feisty one too!" Said Rainbow Dash as she tickled the pups' head. "Just like daddy, huh?"
"If you call me daddy one more time I swear I'll lay you out flat." Ranma said to his rainbow haired student. She laughed as she backed away, not wanting to push her luck.
"Now now Ranma, not in front of the baby." Fluttershy said as she took the wolf pup from Ranma's arms.
"So, how's the little guy doing today?" Ranma asked. Fluttershy smiled.
"He's doing very well, yes he is! He even started playing with some of the other animals at the shelter today." She said as she nuzzled the wolfs nose. Ranma smiled.
"That's good to hear." He said. "So, any idea how long he'll have to walk around with his leg in a cast?" He asked.
"A week, maybe." She answered. "By the way Ranma, I've been meaning to ask you, what should we call this little one?
"Call him?" Ranma asked.
"Well, he needs a name. We can't just keep calling him baby or little one forever." Fluttershy answered.
"Oh OH! I know! I know!" Rainbow said, raising her hand. "This guy needs a cool name, so let's call him Fang!"
They all looked at her but it was the baby wolf who voiced what they were all thinking by growling somewhat angrily at the rainbow haired tomboy.
"I don't think he likes that name Rainbow Dash." Fluttershy said. Rainbow did a mock glare at the little wolf pup.
"Sheesh. Excuse me for trying to give you a cool name." She said. Applejack laughed at her friend.
"Let me take a crack at it." She said as she walked up to the little wolf. "How about...Snow Flake? Because your fur is white like snow."
The little pup growled and shook his head. Rainbow snickered at the reversal of fortune at her farmer friend.
"Too bad, so sad," she said as Applejack glared at the tomboy.
"Shut up Dashy." She said. Fluttershy and Ranma giggled at the two.
"Ok," Fluttershy said as she decided to take her own turn. "How about, Fluffy?"
Another growl and shake of the head.
"Snowy?" Again, the same reaction.
"How is that better than Snow Flake!?" Applejack exclaimed.
"Fluffy?" Fluttershy tried again. Only to get the same reaction. She was starting to get annoyed.
"I'm running out of ideas." She said with a sigh. Rainbow snapped her fingers as an idea came to her.
"Hey! Here's an idea, why not let Ranma come up with an idea?" She said, making Ranma jump in surprise.
"Wha!? Me!?" He said.
"Hey! That's a good idea Dashy," Applejack said as she turned to Ranma. "Come on Sugar Cube, give the little fella a name."
Ranam blushed as he was put on the spot once again. He gulped.
"Uh, I'm not sure guys." He said as he tried to get out of the spot he was in. But all three girls gave him the puppy dog eyes, and surprisingly, so did the wolf pup.
"Please Ranma!" All three of them asked with the wolf whimpering. Ranma tried not to fall for it, but sadly, he was just not that strong.
"Oh, ok." He said in defeat. They all smiled as the wolf tried to wiggle out of Fluttershy's hands to try and go for Ranma.
"Hold on their baby. You're not strong enough to go jumping around yet." She said as she walked over and placed the little pup into Ranma's hands.
"Now, give the little one a name." She said with a smile. Ranma pouted at the buxom pretty girl and then looked at the pup.
"Try giving it a Japanese name." Rainbow said.
"Ok." Ranma agreed as he started to think. "Let's see...Shiro?"
Another shake of the head.
"Hikaru?" Another negative.
"Okami?" Negative.
"Tsukuyomi?" The pup thought for a second, but shook his head again.
"Darn." Ranma said.
"But I think you're getting closer. He didn't reject it immediately that time." Fluttershy said. That made Ranma think. He chose Tsukiyumi because it was the name of the Shinto moon god. So, maybe he should try other names that have moon in it.
"Tsukishiro?" Another pause, but negative.
"Fuyusuki?" Negative again.
"Hmm...I've got it!" He said in triumph! "How about Tsukirou!?"
The wolf's eyes went up and so did the others.
"Tsukirou?" Fluttershy asked. Ranma smiled at his three friends.
"Yeah! It combines the Japanese characters 'tsuki' which means moon, and 'rou' which can translate to 'son'. So, it basically means 'Son of the moon'." He explained. The girls looked at each other and smiled.
"Hey, that actually sounds really cool!" Rainbow Dash said. Applejack nodded.
"Yeah, I'll say. What do you think little guy?" She asked the little wolf.
The wolf looked like he was thinking. He then looked up at Ranma and his tongue hung out. He howled as he started licking Ranma's face, causing him to laugh.
"Hey, I think he likes it!" Ranma said. Fluttershy giggled as she and the others went up to Ranma and the baby wolf.
"So you like your new name little guy?" Applejack said as she scratched the top of his head. The wolf howled again.
"That settles it then!" Ranma said as he held the wolf pup up Lion King style.
"From this day forth, your name shall be Tsukirou!" He said with pride. The now named Tsukirou howled in happiness as he accepted his new name. A little few days later, as Saturday was drawing ever closer, Fluttershy had left Ranma and Tsukirou alone while she went to talk to the head of the shelter to see what the plan for the little guy was after he healed up.
As he waited for his friend, Ranma played with the now named Tsukirou. He hated to admit it, but he was starting to take a liking to the little guy. He smiled as he saw the little pup try to chase after a toy Ranma pretended to throw but was hiding behind his back.
"Where is it boy? Where is it?" He said. Tsukiro stopped in his tracks and sniffed the air. He turned around and went at Ranma.
"HEY!" He said as the little white wolf ran behind him and yanked the toy out of his hands. Ranma laughed as Tsukirou ran in front of him and dropped the toy at his feet, tongue out and tail wagging. Ranma laughed as he ruffled Tsukirou's head.
"Smart little guy, aren't you?" He said. Tsukirou licked Ranma's hand as he ran up to be in his arms. Ranma chuckled as he scratched the little guy's head.
"You know, I'm actually going to miss you when they take you to the zoo." He said, a hint of sadness in his voice. Tsukirou looked up at Ranma in confusion. Ranma looked at him sadly.
"Yeah. They'll take you there and take care of you. But, I'll miss you, little buddy." He said as he raised him up to eye level and smiled.
"But I'll tell you what, I'll come and visit you whenever I get the chance, ok?" He said to the little wolf. Tsukirou looked at Ranma sadly and actually seemed to struggle, like he didn't like what he was hearing. He howled in sadness and Ranma pulled him into a hug.
"Yeah, I know. It sucks." He said. As he petted the young wolf.
"Would you like to take him home instead?" Came Fluttershy's voice. Ranma and Tsukirou both looked at the door and saw the pink haired girl in question. Tsukirou howled and leapt from Ranma's arms and went over to the woman he imprinted as his mama. Fluttershy picked him up and cuddled him.
"What did you say?" Ranma asked. Fluttershy smiled at him.
"I said, would you rather that you take him home with you instead? Would you like to adopt him as your pet?" She asked with a smile. Ranma was shocked. Him? Take Tsukirou as a pet?
"Um...I'm not sure. I mean...I'd like to sure, but..." He paused. He looked as if he was struggling with his emotions.
"I'm not sure I can handle that kind of responsibility. I mean, with school and my training and the classes I'm starting to teach, I'm not sure I'll even have time to take care of him."
He closed his eyes and started to think. As he did, he felt a licking on his face. He opened his eyes and saw Fluttershy holding Tsukirou up to him, both giving him the puppy dog eyes. Ranma smiled at the two of them, then took Tsukirou in his arms.
"What do you think bud? Would you like to come home with me? I'm pretty sure Master Asia wouldn't mind. He basically gave me his blessings when I told him we found you in the first place."
Tsukirou's eyes lit up and he started licking Ranma's face in happiness! Ranma laughed as he hugged the wolf.
"Ok then. Fluttershy, I'd like to adopt this little guy, please." He said. Fluttershy smiled and nodded.
"I knew you wouldn't abandon your baby!" Said Pinkie as she jumped out form behind the two teens. Ranma, Fluttershy and even Tsukirou all jumped in surprise.
"PINKIE!" Ranma and Fluttershy said in shock.
"What the heck are you doing here?" Ranma said. Pinkie just giggled.
"Oh, just fanservice." She said as she started fondeling Fluttershy's breasts. Ranma jumped back, red faced and bleeding from his nose at the sight.
"PINKIE!" Fluttershy cried.
"Sorry Fluttershy, but I didn't get a chance to fondel these babies in so long I can't stand...YOWCH!"
She cried as Tsukirou unceremoniously bit her on the butt. She jumped back and rubbed her behind as she glared at the white wolf.
"Why you little!" She growled. Tsukirou growled back and Fluttershy giggled at what she heard him say.
"What? What did he say?" Ranma asked.
"He said, 'stay away from mommy and daddy'. Hm hm hm. Isn't he cute?" She said with a flush. Ranma also blushed at once again being called daddy.
"Yeah...adorable..." Pinkie said, not really meaning it, as she and Tsukirou continued to glare at each other. And form that day forth, Ranma had added another member to his growing entourage.
Saturday came around and Ranma found himself being awakened by a tongue licking his face. He struggled to get away, but relented and opened his eyes to see his new house mate, Tsukirou.
"Ok! Ok! I'm up, I'm up! Cut it out Tsuki!" He said with a laugh. He sat up and cuddled the wolf pup as it yipped at his new master.
"I hope Master Asia and I can get you house broken before we have any accidents." He said as he got out of bed. After he did his mourning ritual of stretching and cracking his bones to loosen them up, brushing his teeth and grabbing some breakfast, he went out and saw his master waiting for him on the posts in their little pond. Ranma smiled and turned to the little wolf.
"Stay here for me buddy, and look out for the others if they show up. I'm going to spar with Master Asia for a bit." He said to his little friend. Tsukirou yipped in response as Ranma jumped up to meet his master for their mourning spar.
"Ready for your Saturday bath, Ranma?" The old maser asked. Ranma chuckled at his teacher as he took u up a fighting stance.
"You'll be the one taking a bath today, old man." Ranma said as he jumped at his master.
As the two martial artists clashed, Tsukirou watched, transfixed as he hoped his master would be ok. As Ranma went for a flying roundhouse kick that Asia blocked, Tsukirou's ears perked up as he heard a new voice closing in on them. He turned and ran at the voice and saw a human girl with yellow streaked red hair walking around calling out Ranma's name.
"Ranma!?" Sunset said as she looked around for her pigtailed friend. "Ranma!? Where are you? It's time to head out!" She called, but still no answer.
Suddenly, she jumped back when a white blur jumped out in front of her and little Tsukirou stood there growling at her. Sunset was taken aback, but then calmed down as she remembered Fluttershy telling her about the wolf pup that she and Ranma had found and whom Ranma had adopted.
"Oh, you must be Tsukirou." She said, as she bent down and extended her hand to the little white pup.
"It's ok, I'm not a bad guy. Well, not anymore. But I'm friends with Ranma and Fluttershy. Come here, come here." She said in a calm and soothing voice.
Tsukirou continued to growl at the girl as she came closer. But when she was close enough, he started sniffing her hand. He hesitated for a second, but then gave her hand a lick. After a while, he licked the red head's hand and started yipping happily at her before running into her arms.
Sunset picked him up and rubbed his head and scratched his ears. She couldn't help but smile and laugh at the cuteness of the little guy.
"Aw, who's a good boy? Who's a good boy? You are, yes you are." She said as she saw the wolf smile at her and try to lick her hands. Sunset chuckled as she set the wolf down in front of her.
"So, have you seen Ranma anywhere? Could you take me to him?" She asked. Tsukirou howled and ran off. Sunset followed him and was not surprised to see Ranma and Master Asia jumping and striking at each other.
"Typical." She said as she crossed her arms and watched the show.
Ranma landed on another post and looked up as Master Asia came at him with a more powerful version of the Tatsumaki kick but Ranma managed to jump over it and rained down a barrage of rapid-fire punches at his master. Master Asia dodged the punches by slipping between the posts and swinging around them like a monkey. Ranma landed and followed after his master, but froze as he had to block a surprise back kick from his master.
Ranma flipped back to the top of the posts as Master Asia came at him with a Shoryuken. But Ranma back flipped away and fired a Hadouken at the older martial artist. Then, Master Asia surprised both teens and the wolf by doing a spin in mid-air and fired a Hadouken...FORM HIS FOOT!
"What the!?" Ranma cried out as the two attacks cancelled each other out.
"HUH!?" Sunset cried out as Tsukirou's eyes went wide.
"HAHAHA! I haven't taught you EVERYTHING I know Ranma! This old man still has a few tricks left up his sleeves!" Master Asia said as he charged at Ranma with rapid strikes.
Ranma shook off his shock and jumped back as he parried and blocked his master's attacks. Ranma managed to turn one of his parries into a grab and pulled his master into a shoulder stike that he followed up with by using his free arm to clear his master's arm aside and jumped into the air behind his master and wrapped his legs around his master's waist and did a twist to throw the old man aside.
Master Asia managed to save himself by grabbing and swinging around another post and flipping back on top of it. Ranma jumped and flipped in the air again did an axe kick that Master Asia dodged and did a palm strike to blast Ranma back. But the young man wasn't down yet!
He spun and flipped so that he landed on the side of one of the posts and kicked off of it so could fly back at his master. He grinned as he channeled ki into his legs and they actually caught fire!
"WHOA!" Sunset cried as she saw her friends legs catch flames and he did a flaming Tatsumaki variant that he had never shown her or any of their friends before!
Master Asia saw it coming and managed to dodge it, hoping to attack Ranma once he lands. But to his surprise, as Ranma landed he turned on his master and fired another one of his elemental attacks.
"Kaze Kiri!" He cried as he flung one arm after the other and fired wind blades that pushed his poor master back once again. Master Asia grinned and fired off his own Kaze Kiri and was just in time to block a Shoryuken from Ranma.
Ranma turned and struck with a reverse elbow as he landed in front of his master, but it too was countered. A series of punches and parries in the style of Wing Chun were exchanged between the two. But just as Ranma saw an opening, Master Asia had one last trick to play. He did a hard block that knocked Ranma's arms away just long enough for him to throw out his free hand as a aura of blue light came forth and struck Ranma with an electrical blast.
"Hashogeki!" He called out as Ranma was blasted backwards from the attack and splashed into the water. Tsukirou howled in concern as he jumped to the edge of the pond as Ranma burst forth and spat out the water that had gotten into his mouth.
"Hahahaha! Too bad Ranma. You came close, but no wins for you today! Ha ha ha ha!" Master Asia said as he jumped back to solid ground. Ranma growled a little at his master as he swam to shore and pulled himself out of the water.
As he got out, Tsukirou jumped up to his master, licking him in joy at seeing that he was alright. Ranma laughed a little at the show of affection as he tried to calm down his little friend.
"It's ok boy. I'm ok." He said as he shook his head. Sunset shook off her shock at the show of new skills and powers that these two martial arts masters have just shown and walked over to her soaking wet friend.
"No luck taking down the grandmaster this time, eh little grasshopper?" She asked teasingly. Ranma glared playfully at his red headed friend.
"No." He then splashed water at her, making her shriek. "But I did take out a fire that was on your head." He said with a laugh. Tsukirou also seemed to be laughing, making the now wet red head glare at the pair of them.
"Ha ha. You're sssooooo FUNNY!" She said sarcastically. Master Asia chuckled at the two teens as he cleared his throat.
"Well, I suggest you too dry off before you go anywhere." He said. "By the way Ranma, why don't you take your new friend for a walk before you head off to that arcade."
Ranma nodded as he used his ki to dry off and then sent a blast of hot air at Sunset that dried her off quickly.
"Do we have enough time for that Sunset?" Ranma asked the now dry, but slightly frizzy haired girl. Sunset took out a switchblade comb and brushed her hair as she thought about it.
"Well, I think we can squeeze in a few minutes. But just remember, if we're late, Pinkie will both of us a tongue lashing." She said, half-jokingly.
With that, the two friends went out for a walk with the young wolf. Ranma felt a little queasy, he honestly couldn't remembe the last time he and Sunset were alone together. He decided he had to start things off or he might be stuck with this uncomfortable silence all the way to the Pinkie's party.
"So, how have ya been?" He asked, kicking himself mentally for choosing such a corny way to start a conversation. Sunset giggled.
"Pretty good. But honestly, I can't wait for summer vacation to start! I've got so many new games I want to stream on my channel! Not to mention some art projects that I want to get back to." She said with enthusiasm. Ranma couldn't help but smile at his red headed friend, she was just as passionate about games and art as he was about martial arts.
"Wow, sounds like you've got a lot going on this summer. Me, I just planned to train and teach all summer." He said, thinking that his own plans sounded a little lame compared to hers. Sunset shook her head at the pigtailed martial artist.
"Ranma, no offense, but we've definitely got to get you to enjoy your life more and not just doing training all the time. I mean, you're not a monk you know." She said, but then a thought crossed her mind and her eyes went wide.
"Oh my gosh. Ranma, you're not trying to become a monk are you?" She said as she got in front of Ranma to look him in the eye. Ranma looked at her like she was crazy.
"What? No! I'm not looking to become a monk. I want to meet a nice girl, date her, and someday get married. I can't do that if I'm a monk," he said as he walked past her. Sunset shook her head.
"Sorry, sorry." She said as she walked back up to Ranma's side. "But seriously, we've got to get you to enjoy being a modern era kid." She then snapped her fingers as an idea popped into her head.
"I've got it! Ranma, this summer, you should stop by my house and I'll teach you how to play some good games that aren't fighting games." She said. Ranma chuckled at her.
"Ok, that sounds fun. Hey, maybe you could teach me how to play guitar too," Ranma said. Sunset looked at him in shock.
"You want to learn how play guitar?" She asked. Ranma looked a little bashful.
"Yeah. Truth is, while I love martial arts, I've always wanted to learn how to play an instrument, and I see how much fun Flash, you and Rainbow have playing your guitars and I thought maybe I should give it a try."
Sunset smiled, Ranma was always surprising her with every new side of himself that he showed to her and the others.
"Tell you what, Jackie Chan, I'll talk to Flash and see if I can convince him to give you some lessons. But on ONE condition." She said, Ranma tilted his head.
"What's that?" He asked. Sunset smirked at him.
"When you learn your first song, I've get to be the first one to hear you play." She said. Ranma smiled at her.
"Deal." He said, holding out his hand. Sunset took it and they shook. Tsukirou howled at the two of them and Ranma chuckled as he bent down to pick him up and held him between himself and Sunset.
"I think he wants in on the deal too." He said as Tsukirou panted. Sunset giggled and laughed as she took Tsukirou's paw in her hand with Ranma's.
"So now you'll play for both of us." She said with a smile. Ranma smiled back at her.
"Actually, I'll play for you, my little buddy here, and all the others too. But I want to hear you guys first. I always hear about your band and I have yet to hear you guys play." He said. Sunset blushed as she took her hand back.
"Ok, I'll talk to the girls later and we'll set up a private concert for you. Or maybe Principle Celestia will let us do a concert on the last day of school."
They both laughed and headed off. After dropping Tsukirou back at the house, they headed to the arcade. Ranma hand his hands behind his head as he and Sunset strolled downtown. To break the silence of their walk, Sunset decided to ask a question this time.
"So Ranma, have you EVER been to an arcade before?" She asked. Ranma took a deep breath.
"Well, actually yes I have." He said, now Sunset was really shocked.
"Really?" She said. "Color me impressed." Ranma looked away and blushed.
"Well, Master Asia all but forced me to go to them when we were on the road. Like you and the others, he wanted me to have fun doing stuff that didn't involve training all the time. And truth be told, I enjoyed it. But I've got to be honest, I was not very good at most games." He said as he rubbed one of his arms.
"Oh really?" Sunset said with a smirk as they came to the entrance to the arcade. "Oh look, here we are!" She said as she pushed Ranma through the door.
"What the...?" He said as he was pushed through the door.
"SURPRISE!" A whole crowd of people shouted as they fired streamers at Ranma. He blinked as he saw Pinkie holding up a sign that says party number 9.
"Another one of my parties, Pinkie?" He asked with a smile while crossing his arms. Pinkie smiled and nodded.
"Yep! I figured this was a good time. But don't worry, I've got something bigger and BETTER planned later on down the road in later chapters. But for now...IT'S PARTY TIME!" She shouted out as she fired her party cannon.
Ranma's smile got bigger as he looked back at Sunset, who was smiling back at him. A little while later, the party was in full swing! People were hitting their favorite games, chowing down on food, and just dancing the afternoon away. Ranma, who was not really used to big parties like this, walked around talking to his friends. As he was talking to Rainbow and Applejack about his plans for training them over the summer, Pinkie jumped up from behind him.
"RANMA! No talking about training while at a party! Go out there and mingle! Make some new friends! Play some games. But, NO MARTIAL ARTS TALK!" She screamed at him, making the boy flinch back.
"Alright, alright already, yeesh! Chill Pinks," said Ranma. Thankfully Sunset swooped in to save him from any further Party Pinkie lashing.
"Come on Ranma." She said as she dragged him over to some of the games.
"Today, I'm going to introduce you to some good ol' classic arcade games! Starting with some of these!" She said as she showed him to a few star fighter style games.
"Ok." He said as he plopped in some quarters and Sunset did the same with the one next to him, grinning.
"What do you say we make this a little interesting?"
"How so, Gaming Queen?" Ranma asked her, raising an eyebrow. Sunset only smirked more.
"How about a friendly wager?" She replied. Ranma started grinning.
"Go on." He said.
"If I win, you owe me a burger. If I win, I owe you one, deal?" She said, holding out her hand. Ranma nodded and shook her hand.
"Deal."
And with that, the two of them started playing. Ranma wasn't bad at the game, but Sunset was a freaking pro! She looked like she wasn't even breaking a sweat while Ranma was using all of his concentration not to lose all of his lives. Sadly, he blew it and Sunset kept going for for a few more minutes.
"Booya!" She said, pumping her fist in the air. She turned to Ranma who was just sitting there crossing his arms.
"Show off." He said. She leaned on the counsel and smirked.
"Look who's talking Mr. Walks on my hands and shows off all kinds of Kung Fu stuff just for kicks," said Sunset. Ranma returned her grin as he shook his head in defeat.
"Ok, ya got me. How about another game, a different game! Double or nothing?" He said in a challenging voice. She cracked her knuckles in response.
"Your on pretty boy." She said as they went around the arcade and played some different games. Each new game they played they added to their bet. But truth be told, as they played, they started worrying less and less about their bet and more about just having fun.
Eventually though, Sunset spotted one of her FAVORITE games and decided that it was time for her's and Ranma's FINAL showdown.
"Ok Ranma, here's the deal, we play this game for ALL the marbles! Winner takes all!" She said. Ranma cracked his neck from side to side.
"Ok, what game Shimmer?" He said as he cracked his knuckles. She smirked and revealed the game behind her...Street Brawler 3.
"Street Brawler? You actually like this game?" He asked, genuinely surprised. She grinned and nodded her head.
"It was one of my first favorite games. I played it a lot when I first got to this world. So, what do you say, you may be good out here in the real world, but how do you feel about taking on the record holding champ in the virtual world of Street Fighting?" She said as she put in her quarters. Ranma smirked and put in his own quarters.
"Let's go, little miss hot shot!" He said as the game started. They had a lot of fun playing, but only one could emerge the winner. And after about two minutes, that winner was decided...
"NOOOOOOOO!" Sunset screamed in shock as the game declared Ranma the winner. The red clad boy just turned around to lean on the game and smirked like a boss at his distraut friend.
"Since you said this was for ALL the marbles, I guess that means that now YOU owe me: One hamburger, a large fry, a large drink and a large milkshake. WITH refills." He said, grinning like the Chesire Cat.
Sunset glared at him as the screen replaced her initials for the top score with the first three letters of Ranma's name.
"Ok, I thought you said that you weren't very good at the games in an arcade?" She said with a hint of suspicion in her voice. Ranma got off the game and just kept smirking at her.
"I did. And I meant it. But truth is, this is MY favorite game too. I played it all the time at every arcade in every town that me and Master Asia stopped at. And after a while, I got really good at it. Even came in second at a tournament once." He said. Sunset glared at him.
"You...You PLAYED me..." She said in anger. Ranma's grin turned into a massive smile.
"Maybe..." He said. Sunset got up and hit restart.
"One more round! And I want to double our bet!" She said. Ranma stretched out and as he got ready to play again.
"Are you sure?" He asked coyly. She nodded.
"The Queen of the Arcade NEVER let's an upstart take her thrown!" She said with pride. But after another few minutes, that pride was smashed as Ranma beat her again.
"NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOO!" Sunset screamed as Ranma just smirked at his overreacting friend.
"Soooooo, I guess that's now two hamburgers, two large fries, two drinks and two shakes, huh?" He said with a smile. Sunset turned her head slowly and glared at the martial artist.
"You think you're so cool don't you?" She said in mock annoyance. Ranma just shrugged his shoulders.
"Yeah, kind of." He said. Sunset growled.
"Ok, one more game, triple or nothing! And this'll be the last one!" She said. Ranma just gave her a side long smirk.
"Ok. Thankfully I have a big appetite." He said. "But I've got to use the restroom, take your time and pick your final humiliation, Princess." He finished with a sarcastic tone before walking away. Sunset flipped him off as he walked away. She wasn't really mad at him, it was all good fun, but she still had her pride as a pro gamer that made her not want to admit defeat at the hands of Ranma. Suddenly, she was starting to wonder if THIS was how that Ryoga guy felt.
"Challenging a martial artist to a fighting game, what was I thinking!? Come on Sunset, use your head, use your head!" Sunset said, smacking herself in the head with her open palm.
She started looking around, trying to find a game she KNEW she could beat Ranma in. She spotted something out of the corner of her eye and smiled evilly. This was too perfect. As Ranma came back over, he couldn't help but notice the evil smirk on the red head's face.
"I take it from the look on your face that you've picked a game out?" He asked, already knowing the answer.
"Oh yeah." She said smugly. "We're playing...THAT!"
She said and pointed dramatically to a game that made Ranma's eyes go wide and gulp. It was a dancing game. Ranma started sweating as he rubbed his arm nervously.
"Um...o-ok." He said as Sunset dragged him over to the game.
She couldn't help but smirk, after hearing that Ranma wasn't much of a dancer from the others, she figured that he might not have had any experience playing a game like this. She slid in her quarters and smirked at the nervous Asian boy as she picked a song.
"Hope you're ready, pretty boy." She said as the music started playing.
The game seemed simple enough at first glance: step on the colored squares as they come up on the screen and don't miss the beat. Of course, you have to be quick and able to keep up with the song, not to mention that there are score bonuses to look out for. Ranma gulped as the game started, it started off simple enough, but then the song kicked up a notch and the symbols started moving a LOT faster!
Ranma was fast, but the problem here was, he was TOO FAST! He hit the marks either too quickly or too slow whereas Sunset was almost always on point. Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy and Twilight all winced as they saw Ranma fall way behind Sunset. They all knew far too well what her competitive streak was like. She didn't let anything stop her from winning, and while she was a good sport, there were some times when she could have an epic rage out and turned into a little bit of a sore loser.
"Oh, I don't think I can watch this." Rarity said as she covered her eyes.
"Me neither." Chimed in Fluttershy as she did the same thing. Rainbow Dash winced as she saw Ranma screw up again.
"He's a goner." She said. Twilight nodded.
"Statistically speaking, Ranma's speed is actually a weakness this time. The speed of the game doesn't always match up with his reaction time. Sunset picked the perfect song for that."
"Well, might as well dig him a grave then." Applejack said.
"Oh come on guys, I'm sure Ranma will figure it out." Pinkie said, before she too started to look worried. "I hope."
Ranma was starting to panic. He didn't really think Sunset's competitive streak could match his, but boy was he realizing that now. As the game went on, he started to figure out the timing, but it was proving to be a little too late for him now. It would take a freaking miracle for him to win now. And he spotted his chance, and beat Sunset to the power up bonus.
Ranma went into laser focus mode and adjusted his speed to the rhythm of the song and started hitting ALL of the arrows on point. Sunset saw this and didn't think too much of it, untill she saw the gap in hers and Ranma's scores starting to shrink. She narrowed her eyes and tried to pick up her pace. But Ranma was gaining up on her too quickly now.
He smirked as he managed to beat Sunset by only 10 points. It was a close victory, but still, it was a victory. And one that Sunset took...
"NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOO!"
...Surprisingly well. Ranma wiped the sweat off of his brow as he turned to the greaving red head.
"Whew! THAT was a challenge. Good game Sunset." He said. Sunset sighed and smiled at Ranma and shook his outstretched hand.
"Yeah, good game Ranma. But man! I thought for sure I had you that time." She said. Ranma chuckled good naturedly.
"If I hadn't had gotten that power up you would have." He admitted. Pinkie jumped up to the two of them and hugged them both.
"That was AMAZING! You two were tearing up that game! OOOOHHHHH! People actually started calling you guys the king and queen of this game!"
That comment made Ranma and Sunset blush.
"Uh, yeah. Heh heh." Ranma laughed, blushing like a tomato. Sunset was almost as red as her hair.
"Now come on! We still have one more thing to do before this party is over." Pinkie said, dragging the two and the rest of their friend group to a huge dance floor with their classmate Vinal Scratch acting as the DJ.
"DANCE PARTY!" Pinkie screamed as Vinal put on some dance music. Soon, the whole floor was full of people dancing to the beat. Except for Ranma and Fluttershy, who were inching away from the floor.
"Oh no you don't!" Pinkie said as she grabbed Ranma and pulled him over to the center of the dance floor.
"Come on Ranma! Dance with me!" She said as she started to bust a move. Ranma on the other hand, was not as enthusiastic as his crazy pink friend.
"Uh, I don't know Pinkie. Maybe I better sit this one out." He said as he tried to sneak off. But Pinkie was not having any of that.
"Oh come on! It's fun! Just cut loose and be yourself!" She said as she kept dancing like the loon she was.
"Be myself?" Ranma asked. "Are you sure you want that?" Pinkie nodded her head.
"Yes. I do. I really, REALLY do." She said. Ranma just shrugged his shoulders.
"Ok, you asked for it." He said before turning to the DJ and enhancing his voice with his ki so it could be heard over the music.
"YO DJ!" He screamed, causing Vynal to stop the music.
"Play something fast." He said. Vinal gave him a thumbs up and switched to something more suited to breakdancing. Ranma grinned and to everyone's shock, did a flip, punch and two spinning kicks that turned into a handstand.
Pinkie was shocked as Ranma transitioned into a low sweep and started spinning on the ground in a whirlwind style kick before flipping back to his feet and started moving his body like Micheal Jackson. He then kicked and started whirling his hands in a wushu style manner before throwing in some crane and mantis style kung fu moves to add some flair.
As the pigtailed boy kept improvising dance moves by adding in Capoeira style low ground moves, his friends all dropped their jaws at sight before them. Flash was the first to snap out of the stupor.
"Wow." He said. "You sure did teach him a lot, huh Rarity."
"I didn't teach him ANY of that." Rarity said, her eyes almost popping out of her head.
"I thought you said he didn't know how to dance?" Rainbow said.
"That's what he said." Rairty told her. Applejack just shook her head.
"I'm starting to think he might have been holding out on ya about that Rars." She said.
"Wow." Sunset said. "Good thing I didn't challenge him to an actual dance battle. I would have been slaughtered."
Pinkie was shocked. But then, she smiled big as she jumped in and danced alongside Ranma. She did her own crazy breakdancing but made sure to give Ranma plenty of room to bus this own moves. As the song was reaching it's end, Ranma decided to do something flashy and did a butterfly twist that went right into another spinning ground wheel move and then did a jump flip and landed in a perfect split right as the song ended.
Pinkie and everyone else started applauding as Ranma slid back to his feet and smirked at the stunned faces of his friends. Pinkie, overcome with shock at how awesome her Kung Fu friend was on the dance floor, ran up to him, hugged him and kissed his cheeks, making him blush once again.
"That. Was..." She was joined by Rainbow Dash.
"AWESOME!" They both shouted.
"Ranma! I thought you said you couldn't dance!" Rarity said as she ran up to them. Ranma smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.
"Well, I said I couldn't slow dance. But while Master Asia and I were passing through Los Angeles, I met a Taekwondo martial artist who was also an actor who once mixed his martial arts with breakdancing. I think he called it 'Hip-Hop-Kido'." Ranma said. Pinkie's eyes went wide as he said the name of the style.
"Wait, Hip-Hop-Kido?" She asked as Ranma nodded.
"Ranma, was this actor black, had a charming smile, and went by the name Walter Emanule Jones?" Pinkie asked. Ranma smiled and nodded again.
"Yeah! That's the guy! You know him? He was a pretty nice dude." He said. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash both went slack jawed.
"Wait." Rainbow said. "Ranma, are you telling me, that you actually learned how to dance form THE Walter Emanuel Jones who played Zack the Black Ranger from the first Power Rangers?" She said, her eyes sparkling.
"Uh...yeah that's him. Why?" Ranma asked as both Pinkie and Rainbow Dash both fainted on the spot. Ranma and the others all looked at their fallen friends.
"Was it something I said?" Ranma asked.
It took some time, but our group of heroes managed to bring their two friends back to consciousness. But as Ranma tried to answer all their questions about when he met Walter Jones, and mentioning that he also got his autograph, which nearly made the two faint again, Ranma heard something that made him go stiff.
"Oh...NO..." He said as Micheal Jackson's song Beat It playing and he started dancing all over again. But this time, he actually started singing as well. But what really got the others to stop and notice him, was that he was moving like Micheal himself.
"Boy, he really likes Micheal Jackson, huh?" Susnet said.
"I'll say." Flash said as Ranma unbuttoned his shirt and flung it back like Micheal usually did with his jackets. At the end of the song, Ranma was panting and trying to run to the DJ with a mad look on his face. Pinkie, noticing this, ran after him and managed to hear what he said to Vinal.
"Don't EVER play Micheal Jackson music again!" He said.
"Why? You really seemed to like it." Pinkie said. Ranma looked at her and then at the DJ.
"*Sigh* Ok. Look, the truth is, I have a weird medical condition called, 'Micheal Jackson Dancitis'." He said. Pinkie tilted her head in confusion.
"What?" She asked. Ranma sighed again.
"It basically means that every time I hear Micheal Jackson music, I have this uncontrollable urge to dance." He admitted. Pinkie...was fighting back a grin.
"Oh really?" She said as she hit play on Micheal Jackson's Rock With You. Ranma started dancing, moving like he was possessed by MJ himself but the Pinkie stopped the music and Ranma glared at her.
"DON'T DO THAT!" He said. But Pinkie hit start again and watched as Ranma danced again. She hit stop again and he stopped to glare at her. She did this a few more times and was shocked at how Ranma's seemingly made up medical condition was actually real!
"Will you STOP THAT!?" Ranma shouted at his grinning friend.
"Ok. I will." She said.
"Good." Ranma said with a nod.
"After one more song!" Pinkie said as she started up Smooth Criminal.
"PINKIE!" Ranma shouted as the music took control of him again.
He at least managed to drag Pinkie onto the dance floor and toss her around as he moved to the music like Micheal did in the music video of the song. But Pinkie was just having too much fun. And, despite himself, Ranma was having a good time dancing to this song with his friend. All the others decided to jump in and dance with them as the last chorus of the song was starting up.
After the end, Ranma somehow ended up with Pinkie in his arms, dipping her like they were doing the Tango. They both starred into each other's eyes, lost in some private moment. Ranma managed to snap out of it and put Pinkie back on her feet.
"Um, well, uh, that was fun." He said. Pinkie turned away, blushing as she tried to come down from the dance high.
"Uh...yeah! Lots of fun!" She said nervously. "You know, you should dance more often. You're actually really good."
"Yeah, well, that's what watching too many Micheal Jackson music videos will do to ya after a while." He said. It was only then that he noticed that his arm was still wrapped around Pinkie's waist. Panicking, he quickly pulled his arm away and turned his face to hide his own blush.
"Um...uh...I...need some fresh air! See you guys in a bit." He said as he rushed out of the arcade.
"Uh, I...Need some cake! And some punch! Um, see you guys later!" She said as she rushed to get away from her friends. What was wrong with her? She felt weird, like she did the first time she ever saw or threw a party.
It only happened when she was around Ranma. He was cute, he was awesome, he was like the coolest guy around. Like a female version of Rainbow Dash. And why did he have to be so freaking cute! And handsome, and such a good dancer. And...and...
"No..." She said. "No no no no no no no...I'm not falling for him am I? I mean, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy like him! I can't like him too! I don't want to be a man stealer!" She said.
Meanwhile, Ranma was sitting outside, sitting down and looking at the sunset. What happened when he was locking eyes with Pinkie? He felt that same thing with the other girls, what the heck was it? He looked up and smiled. Whatever it was, it made him happy. Suddenly, he felt a presence behind him and turned to see Sunset Shimmer.
"Hey Micheal Jackson Jr." She said as she sat down next to him.
"Hey sore loser." He said with a smile. She playfully punched him in the shoulder.
"Watch it." She said. "You know, you just became an even bigger superstar after what you did in there," she said with a smirk. Ranma smiled at her.
"Oh yeah?" He asked. Sunset nodded.
"Oh yeah. They're saying, 'Ranma, the mystery man from Japan! He can fight, he can sing, he can dance, is there anything he can't do?'" Sunset said, being overly dramatic about it causing Ranma to laugh at her exaggerated gestures.
"Alright, alright, I get it. Yeah, I guess I am a Man's Man, aren't I?" He said, puffing out his chest. Now it was Sunset's turn to laugh at Ranma.
"Astounding humility." She said sarcastically. They both shared another laugh before returning their gaze to the setting sun. Ranma took a deep breath as he eased himself into colleting his thoughts.
"So next week is the big Galla, huh?" He said. Sunset nodded.
"Mmhm. Yep, honestly, I can't wait. Rarity's got all of our dresses ready, you clearly know how to dance, everything is going great." She said, and Ranma could swear he saw hearts in his friends' eyes. He blew some hair out of his eyes.
"Maybe. I still don't know if things are going to go as smooth or as great as all of you are hoping, but who knows? Maybe we'll have fun regardless." He said. Sunset took in a breath of air and exhaled as she unknowingly started leaning on Ranma's shoulder.
"Yeah. Maybe..." She said as she closed her eyes, resting her head lightly on Ranma's shoulder. Ranma unconsciously tilted his head to rest on top of hers. But as he was taking in the yellow streaked red heads sent and she was cozying up to him, they both shot open their eyes as they realized what they were doing and scooted away from each other, looking away so as not to let the other see that they were blushing.
"Uh, sooo...what day is it again? The Gala I mean." Ranma asked, trying to find some way to break the awkward silence.
"Huh?" Sunset said. "Oh! Uh...Saturday night! Yeah, uh, it's on Saturday night. So...uh, make sure you get plenty of sleep Friday, okay?"
She said, trying to use her hair to hide the blush she gained from earlier.
"Uh, no sweat! I'll make sure to sleep after school and...and...uh, what time should I meet you guys and where?" Ranma asked, turning slightly to her before turning away, still blushing.
"Oh, uh...7:30. Meet us at 7:30 Saturday." She said. Ranma nodded.
"Yeah, you bet." He said. As they talked, neither one of them noticed that their hands were on top of each other's. But when they did notice, they both shot back to their feet, doing anything they could to make it look like they were using their hands for anything else.
"So, uh...should we get back in there and have some more fun before we have to leave and head home?" Ranma asked. Sunset dusted herself off and nodded her head.
"Uh, yeah! Come on, let's go!" She said as she and Ranma headed back into the arcade.
Ranma: Hey guys! Ranma here! Well, it's finally here, the big night! I go to pick up the girls and Rarity gets us a freaking limo to go to the Gala. Everyone has their hearts set on having the best night ever, but to be fair, I'm not so sure about that. I mean, some of these high class snobs look and act like they all ought to be given a reality check. I hope this night doesn't turn out to be a disaster. Oh well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Tune in for the long awaited episode of Equestria Wild Horse: Best Night Ever? The Canterlot Gala! We'll see ya there!
Ending: Life Is Like A Boat (Sung By Celestia)
Nobody knows who I really am
I never felt this empty before
And if I ever need someone to come along
Who's gonna comfort me, and keep me strong
[Celestia is seen in a white kimono, holding a red cloth to her chest. She seems sad and a single tear is rolling down her eye. She closes her eye as she starts to cry. But that's when Ranma and Master Asia put a hand on each of her shoulders and she turns to see them smiling at her.]
We are all rowing the boat of fate
The waves keep on comin' and we can't escape
But if we ever get lost on your way
The waves would guide you thru another day
[She crys again as she gets up and hugs the both of them. The camera zooms in on her face as she drops the cloth as an image of a man, shrouded in shadows, the only thing of him that can be seen are his red hair and eyes, appears at her feet.]
Far away, I'm breathing, as if I were transparent
It would seem I was in the dark, but I was only blindfolded
I give a prayer as I wait for the new day
Shining vividly up to the edge of that sea
[The two martial artists lead the crying woman out of the dark room she was in and into a bright light. Outside they see Luna and all of Ranma's friends waiting for them.]
Nobody knows who I really am
Maybe they just don't give a damn
But if I ever need someone to come along
I know you would follow me, and keep me strong
[Luna runs up to her sister and hugs her as Celestia falls into her arms. Ranma and Master Asia lead the two off into a beautiful sunset.]
People's hearts change and sneak away from them
The moon in its new cycle leads the boats again
[Ranma looks back at the two sisters and then to his master. He looks forward as a serious look crosses his face. The girls and Flash crowd around him as they look into the horizon.]
And every time I see your face,
the oceans heave up to my heart
You make me wanna strain at the oars,
and soon I can see the shore
[They all smile as they run into a field. Ranma jumps and lands in a crouch as he looks up at Canterlot from a distance. Everyone crowds around him and they all share a smile.]
I want you to know who I really am
I never though I'd feel this way towards you
And if you ever need someone to come along
I will follow you, and keep you strong
[Celestia smiles sadly and looks towards Ranma. Ranma smiles at her and gives her a thumbs up. Celestia blushes and and nods her head at him.]
And still the journey continues on quiet days as well
The moon in its new cycle shines on the boats again
I give a prayer as I wait for the new day
Shining vividly up to the edge of that sea
[The scene changes to Ranma walking the streets and images of his friends flash by. Celestia is then seen walking and images of her sister, her parents and Master Asia flash by and so does the mysterious man with red hair.]
And every time I see your face,
the oceans heave up to my heart
You make me wanna strain at the oars,
and soon I can see the shore
[Close up to Celestia as she wipes away her tears and adopts a serious face.]
We are rowing the boat of fate, but the waves keep attacking us
But isn't that still a wonderful journey? Aren't any of them a wonderful journey?
[Ranma and Celestia stand in front of each other. Images of their faces appear above them as they smile at each other.]
