Thursday, November 12, 2015

Today's Horoscope (Virgo): Your fidelity may be put to the test today. Cheap thrills aren't worth the risk of losing something meaningful.

Early Morning

At breakfast, Cadance and Luna both ask Twilight, Pinkie, and me if we're really up for going to school today.

"I've got a test I can't miss," Twilight says.

"I'm okay, really," Pinkie says.

"I gotta go. I've missed enough tennis practices lately. Not to mention the last match..." Since yesterday was a school holiday and tomorrow is the Fall Formal, tennis practice was rescheduled for today this week.

"Very well then," Luna says. "But do take it easy, alright? You all want to be well enough to attend the Fall Formal tomorrow night." She looks around, then gives us a secretive smile. "After all...someone in this dorm might just be the Fall Formal Princess."

Twilight and Rarity both gasp, looking at one another with wide eyes.

After School

I arrive at tennis practice to find most of the team gathered around what appears to be a shouting match. As I draw nearer, I'm not surprised to learn that one of the girls shouting is Suri.

What does surprise me is that the other one is Coco.

"—a liability!" Suri was shouting. "He blows off practice all the time, he skips matches—"

"He had the flu, you, you...stuck-up, bullying witch!" Coco retorts, trembling.

Suri glares at her. "You...will pay for that."

"For what? Telling the truth? Everybody hates you, Suri! They hate you because you're mean and rude and bossy!"

Suri lets out a screech and rushes Coco. Several members of the team step in to restrain her.

"HEY! HEY! WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?" The coach jogs up, blowing her whistle repeatedly.

The crowd starts to part, leaving Suri, still being held back by a girl and a guy, glaring daggers at Coco, who's staring her down.

I walk up to one of my teammates and whisper, "What brought this on?"

"You weren't here for it, but Coco grew a spine last week," he says. "Suri's been badmouthing you left and right, and Coco just snapped and went off on her. We all thought it sort of cooled down after the matches, but as soon as they saw each other, they went right at it again."

Coco...actually getting in a fight with Suri? Whoa.

Coach blows her whistle again. "Alright, what the hell is wrong with you all?" she demands.

Suri points at me with a trembling hand. "I want him off the team!" she declares. "He's constantly missing practices and matches!"

"He can't help that he had the flu!" Coco declares.

"And I want this little joke of a girl off the team too!" Suri shouts. "She's rude and insubordinate and too full of herself!"

The coach sighs. "Polomare...how many times do I have to tell you? You don't get to ask me to kick people off the team. In fact, I'm getting sick of you. Now, I want you two to stop going at each other like this..."

"I challenge you!" Coco suddenly shouts, pointing at Suri.

Everything goes still.

"...excuse me?" Suri asks coldly.

"A singles match!" Coco says. "If you win, I'll quit the team and try to talk Flash into quitting too! But if I win, you quit the team and never bother me or Flash or anyone else ever again!"

Excited murmurs ripple through the rest of the team.

The coach pinches the bridge of her nose. "What the hell do you two think this is, Princess of Tennis? This is ridi—"

"FINE!" Suri shouts. "I accept your challenge! It'll be worth it to destroy you in front of everyone AND be rid of you once and for all!"

The coach sighs. "Are you even listening to yourselves? Or me?"

"Coach!" Coco says suddenly. "I need to do this. Please. I'm sick of Suri bullying me and everybody else and getting away with it. I need to put her in her place!"

The coach stares at her. She shakes her head. "You know what? Fine. I'll see the two of you here Sunday morning. If this is the only way to stop all this distracting garbage without kicking both of you off the team..." She scratches something on her tablet with her stylus. "But just so you know, you both have detention tomorrow." She frowns. "Also, no matter which one of you wins, leave Sentry out of it. He's got nothing to do with this."

After that, practice tries to begin as usual, but there's a nervous tension in the air that's keeping any of us from getting anything done.

When practice is over, I head over to Coco, who has her head between her knees. "Oh god, what did I do?" she moans. "I can't believe I did that!"

I rub her back. "I'm proud of you for standing up to Suri like that," I say. "Kick her ass on Sunday."

Coco laughs nervously. "I...I don't know if I—"

"You know you can beat her, or you never would've challenged her like that," I say.

Coco sighs. "Well...yeah..."

"Just...do what you know you have to do," I say.

Coco smiles. "Thanks," she says. She rubs the back of her head. "I...I guess I got a little carried away though, huh?"

"A little bit, but...I think it's good to get a little carried away sometimes. Look at it this way...you're coming out of your shell."

"Yeah...I guess I am..."

Rank UP! Hermit Rank 8

The Tennis Team Social Link of the Hermit Arcana has reached rank 8!

Your power to create Personas of the Hermit Arcana has grown!

I chat with Coco for a little while, then head back to the dorm.

Evening

When I return to the dorm, I'm greeted by a truly bizarre sight.

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Luna are using the lounge TV to play some kind of gruesome FPS. They're all furiously hammering away at wireless gamepads and wearing wireless headsets. Applejack is still dressed like she was this morning, but Rainbow Dash and Luna are both wearing tiny shorts and loose tank tops, and both are barefoot. Luna isn't wearing a bra, and she's showing a lot of boob...

Nope. Too sexy for me. I hurry upstairs, hoping some guitar practice will take my mind off it, but I end up jacking off thinking about Luna instead.

Unfortunately, both Rainbow Dash and Luna are still scantily dressed when dinnertime comes around. My boner returns in full force.

"I do enjoy my weeks here at the dorm," Luna says. "I feel almost as though I'm in college again!"

"Just...don't get drunk," Twilight says. "Please."

Luna lets out a derisive snort. "Please, give me some credit. I know better than to bring liquor onto the premises of a school dorm! After all, I'm the one who made that rule." She lets out an impressively loud belch, then scratches her bare stomach. "Besides, I enjoy behaving like a slob, not like a drunken slob."

Pinkie laughs. "You know, you're super funneriffic, Lunie!"

After dinner, I head upstairs to start on my homework. Twilight comes in almost as soon as I have my laptop open. "Enjoy the view at dinner?" she asks archly.

"Huh?"

"I saw you staring at Vice-Principal Luna, you perv."

"It's not like I could help it. She was making a spectacle of herself."

"Uh-huh." Twilight shakes her head and sits down next to me. "You know, you're perverted with just about everyone at this dorm except me."

"I've never been perverted with Applejack or Fluttershy," I retort. "And I have too been perverted with you."

"When?" she asks. Her eyes widen. "You're not...coming into my room at night and..."

"No! I just mean...any time you walk around barefoot in shorts it gets me hard." I grin. "Sometimes I do wanna cop a feel, though."

Twilight blushes furiously. "Jerk," she says, slapping me lightly on the shoulder.

I pull her into a hug and kiss her lightly. "I won't cop a feel until I have permission, I promise," I say.

"Yeah, well...I don't think I'm ready to be felt up just yet," Twilight says, ducking her eyes. "Especially not after I caught you staring at the vice-principal's chest!"

"I can wait," I say. I poke Twilight in the forehead. "I've got homework to do still. We're still on for the Fall Formal, right?"

"Of course," Twilight says. She stretches and yawns. "Guess I'd better—"

"I see you're not wearing a bra," I say.

Twilight slaps me upside the head. "Perv!" She gets up and heads for the door. "Goodnight, Flash."

Chuckling, I finish my homework, then go to bed. I have a feeling I'm in for some very interesting dreams...