Saturday, January 9, 2016

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Today's Horoscope (Virgo): Sometimes the small victories matter more than the large ones.

Early Morning

Today we have the boys' tennis regionals meet.

Even though I'm up before most of the rest of the dorm, Pinkie has a high-protein, high-energy breakfast ready for me as soon as I'm downstairs with my tennis gear.

"Good luck today," Pinkie says.

"Thanks."

I have to be at the school early, so I leave before everybody else is even up.

Daytime

Today's matches are grueling, and by the time I'm done for the day, I'm aching all over. I did better than I expected...

We won the regionals!

After the last match ends, Coach gathers us all together. "Good job, guys," she says. "But now the real work begins. Be ready for hard practice next week, because we've got the nationals qualifiers next."

It's almost dark by the time I get back to the dorm...

Evening

After a second hot shower to ease the soreness in my muscles, I put on my charcoal suit and head down to the lounge. Twilight shows up a bit later, wearing the same outfit she wore on our first date.

"Bit overdressed, aren't you?" Twilight asks. "I mean, Portobello is casual dining..."

"It's not the atmosphere, it's the company," I say.

Twilight rolls her eyes. We head over to Cadance's apartment. Cadance is dressed similarly to Twilight, except in dark red and dark pink; Shining Armor is wearing a navy suit and a black tie.

Cadance and Twilight start giggling. I share a perplexed look with Shining Armor, who shrugs.

Portobello is a twenty minute drive from the dorm. When we arrive, I hand the server our voucher. She smiles. "Okay! Come right this way." She grabs a basket of breadsticks and four menus and leads us to a corner booth. "Okay, your voucher covers two appetizers, one soup, salad, or pasta bowl each, one entree each, and one dessert each. And beverages, of course. Let me just get your drink orders, and would you like any dipping sauces for your breadsticks?"

We place our drink orders and ask her to bring marinara sauce and garlic sauce for the breadsticks, then look over the menus.

"What appetizers should we order?" Cadance asks.

"I've heard good things about the breaded meatballs," Shining Armor says.

"I want to try the fried mushrooms," Twilight says. "They're supposed to be the specialty here."

We decide on those for our appetizers, then spend some time deciding what to order. Everything on the menu looks good...

The server returns with our drinks and sauces, then takes our orders. She hasn't even taken two steps away from the table when Twilight attacks the breadsticks. We all quickly dive into the basket. The breadsticks are savory, well-seasoned, just crispy enough on the outside and perfectly tender on the inside. The marinara isn't as sweet as I'd like it to be, but doesn't taste bad.

While we're waiting on our appetizers, Cadance gives Twilight and me a teasing smirk. "I saw the video Pinkie posted to Canterbook of you two at the karaoke box," she says.

Twilight blushes furiously. "I can't believe she posted that," she says.

"Oh, come on, Twilight," Cadance says with a giggle. "You were pretty good."

Shining Armor tilts his head. "What video?"

"The three of us went to a karaoke box after tennis practice yesterday," I say. "You know, that Neighponese karaoke box a few blocks from the mall?" I break a breadstick in half. "Pinkie recorded me and Twilight doing a duet."

Twilight ducks her head. "I wish she hadn't posted that," she says. "I can't sing, it's so embarrassing..."

"Hey, you were pretty good," I say. "Except when you and Pinkie did that Neighponese song, but that's...well..." I shrug. "You don't speak Neighponese, so...yeah."

"You did a lot better on your Neighponese song," Twilight accuses.

I shrug. "It's phonetic," I say. "I don't speak it, but I know that much at least."

"That and you can actually sing," Twilight says as she swirls a breadstick around in the garlic sauce.

Our appetizers arrive; I sample one of the fried mushrooms. They're well-seasoned and have an earthiness to them.

"So anyway," Cadance says as she cuts a meatball in half with her fork, "how's Pinkie doing, really? I know she seems like she's gotten over all the mess with her family, but..."

"She's pretty much back to her old self," Twilight says. She sighs. "The reason Pinkie was acting all...crazier than usual for a while there..." She snatches a meatball, pops it into her mouth, and chews.

"She was lonely," I say. "There aren't a lot of people who are close enough to Pinkie to really know her."

Twilight nods. "Pinkie's really opened up to us. Especially on her birthday. I think the only person who really knows her as well as the two of us is Maud."

"I think Pinkie was desperate to find somebody she can love," I say. "That's why she was acting all...wild for a while. She...well..."

"She has a thing for Flash," Twilight says. "But since he's taken, she..."

"I think I understand," Cadance says.

Shining Armor frowns at me. "You know, sometimes...you seem to be about as interested in Pinkie as you are in Twilight..."

"Don't start that, Shining Armor," Twilight says. "Look, the thing with Pinkie...it's complicated." She blushes. "I...I've talked to her a lot lately. I'm not really sure what to make of it, but..."

"She seems to be happiest when she's with the two of you," Cadance says.

"Yeah, that's...pretty much how it is," Twilight says. "We're her best friends..."

"I think it's more than that," Cadance says. "Remember back during winter break, when you said Pinkie is crushing on both of you?"

Twilight grabs a fried mushroom and busies herself with it.

"The important thing is...we're her family now," I say. "That's all that really matters."

Cadance and Twilight both smile.

Our next course arrives. Cadance is the only one who ordered a salad; the rest of us ordered pasta bowls. Mine is sausage ravioli alfredo with sliced braised portobello mushrooms. Twilight ordered cheese tortellini with meat sauce. We talk about how the first week back to school has been.

"So, Flash," Shining Armor asks, "planning on joining any of the spring sports teams now that tennis is winding down?"

"Not really. I'm pretty much just in it for the exercise, and we'll still be practicing even when our season's over." I stir my ravioli around a bit. "Besides, tennis is already cutting pretty heavily into my guitar practice as it is."

Guitar practice...

That reminds me...

"Oh, crap! I completely forgot to tell everyone!"

"What is it, Flash?" Twilight asks.

"The concert next Saturday!"

"What concert?" Cadance asks.

"Trixie's concert!"

"Trixie? The magician?"

"Well, she plays guitar too," I say. "She put together her own band. She introduced me to her bandmates on Thursday. They're having a concert next Saturday. Crap, I can't believe I forgot to tell everybody..." I pull out my phone and start mass-texting all my friends to let them know about the concert. By the time I'm done, our entrees have arrived. Coach and I both ordered the same thing: a twelve-ounce strip steak brushed with herbs and olive oil, with a side of roasted potatoes with garlic and herbs. Cadance ordered baked tilapia with shrimp, and Twilight ordered the lasagna entree, which...is a truly massive slab of lasagna, dripping with meat sauce, tomatoes, mushrooms, cheese, and black olives.

"I'm stealing a bite of that," I tell her.

Twilight laughs and cuts off a slim chunk of her lasagna, laying it on my plate. In turn, I cut off a couple bites of my steak to put on her plate.

While we're eating, Shining Armor asks, "So, uhh...any progress on dealing with that whole...thing? You know, with the blackmail and whatever?"

Twilight frowns. "Shining Armor...we're not talking about that," she says. "Not tonight."

Shining Armor sighs. "Sorry." He cuts his steak into thin slices. "I just...I worry."

"I know you do," Twilight says.

"Just...one question." Shining Armor looks at Twilight. "Does this have anything to do with why you suddenly decided to take up fencing again?"

Twilight grimaces. "I didn't know you knew."

"Of course I know. I had to sign the permission form."

Twilight sighs. "I just...felt like I need to be able to protect myself, okay? And I'm not a good fit for martial arts classes, so..."

I cough. "It's just a precaution," I say. "After all, we've got some pretty aggressive stalkers to deal with. It never hurts to be prepared."

"Fair enough."

Cadance pats Shining Armor's arm. "Shiny...you just need to trust us. Twilight is stronger than you think, and Flash...he won't let anything happen to her." She smiles. "Don't you realize how much better all our lives are since Flash showed up?"

Shining Armor studies me. He sighs. "Yeah...I'll admit it. Flash has changed us all for the better. I just...have a hard time letting go and accepting that there's somebody else looking out for my little sister now."

The rest of dinner is fairly quiet. When we're finished with our entrees, the server brings out our dessert orders. I ordered the tiramisu, Cadance and Twilight both ordered the white chocolate raspberry cheesecake, and Shining Armor ordered gelato.

After we're done with the desserts, Shining Armor and I agree to split the tip, each leaving ten dollars for the server.

I've had such a long, exhausting day and am so full of rich food that I fall asleep on the ride home. When we get back to the dorm, I peel out of my suit and go straight to bed.