Monday, June 13, 2016
Monday, June 13, 2016
Today's Horoscope (Virgo): Someone close to you will get a glimpse of a road not taken.
Morning
We're going back to the dorm tomorrow.
By unanimous agreement, we decide not to plan anything for today, instead opting to simply head down to the beach, soak up the sun, and let the day take us wherever it leads.
Daytime
The beach is way more crowded today than it's been all weekend.
Once we've staked out a spot on the beach and everyone is putting on their sunscreen, a loud, exuberant yell cuts through the general noise of the beach.
"Hoo-lee CRAP! Is that Rainbow Gash?"
Rainbow stiffens, her eyes shrinking to pinpricks. "Oh no."
A girl in a sporty one-piece with pale skin and striped blue hair jogs up to us, a big, obnoxious grin plastered on her face. Behind her, four other girls follow at a more sedate pace. A couple of them look familiar from somewhere, but I can't quite place them...
The blue-haired girl skids to a stop at the edge of our blanket and leans over low, grinning that crazed, shit-eating grin. "Hiya Rainbow GASH!"
Rainbow groans. "In-the-butt Zap," she says tiredly.
"You have the worst pet names for each other," says one of the other girls. She has blue skin, long frost-colored hair tied up in enormous pigtails, and glasses with salmon-colored frames, and is wearing a modest white bikini.
One of the girls who looks familiar—a girl with dark pink skin and long neon green hair—rushes over to Pinkie Pie and squats down excitedly, straining the skimpy purple bikini she's wearing. "HI PINKIE PIE!" she shouts. "HAVEN'T SEEN YOU SINCE OUR LAST MATCH!"
"Uhh, yeah, duh," Pinkie says, digging a finger in her ear and squinting one eye. "That's because I go to CHS and you go to Crystal Prep..."
"Aww, isn't it just SO NICE seeing our school's rivals here on the beach?" one of the remaining girls says in a syrupy-sweet voice. This one has pale gold skin and rose-colored hair with a greyish-green stripe, as well as a smattering of freckles. The sugary smile on her face immediately turns into a bitter scowl as she looks away and folds her arms. "About as nice as taking a bath in garbage," she mutters crossly.
"Girls, why don't you introduce us to your, uhh...friends?" Cadance suggests, giving the five girls crowded around us a curious, not entirely friendly look.
"I would simply love to introduce you all to my favorite students!" a new voice intrudes. A woman a little older than Cadance appears out of nowhere. She has pinkish-lavender skin and long, wavy purple hair with two narrow seafoam green stripes, and is wearing beige capri pants, plain white sandals, and a loose-fitting white blouse. I can't help but notice that the five girls all stiffen slightly as she approaches. She favors us all with a smile that I can't help but feel would be more at home on a shark. "Come on, girls, line up!"
The five girls exchange sullen glances and form a line at the edge of our blanket. The smiling woman walks down the line, putting her hands on each girl's shoulders as she introduces them. "This is Indigo Zap, Sugarcoat, Lemon Zest, Sour Sweet..." She reaches the end of the line; the short-haired girl with a haughty expression, the only one who hasn't spoken a word yet. "And lastly, Sunny Flare!" She steps to the side. "And my name is Starlight Glimmer. I'm the academic guidance counselor at Crystal Prep."
"And you go on summer vacation with your students?" Cadance asks, tilting her head.
"You go on summer vacation with yours," Sugarcoat points out, crossing her arms.
"That's because Twilight here is my sister-in-law," Cadance says.
"That's lovely," Starlight Glimmer says sweetly. "As for me, Principal Cinch asked me to keep a close eye on these girls over the summer to make sure they're in top shape for the Academic Decathlon coming up this fall." She smiles broadly. "Wouldn't want them to forget that the reputation of Crystal Prep is resting on their shoulders now, would we?" Her smile is strained and entirely too toothy at that last part as she turns a rather hostile stare on the five girls.
"No, Professor Glimmer," they all drone.
"Wonderful!" Starlight Glimmer says, clapping her hands together lightly with an obscenely broad, bright beam that makes her look...a little deranged. "Well, alright girls! Young minds need fresh air and exercise as much as they need study, so you have three hours of free time on the beach, then one hour for lunch! I expect to see all of you back at the bus at exactly two o'clock!" She jogs off down the beach.
The five Crystal Prep girls sag and let out a long, tired sigh.
"I really, really hate that woman," Sunny Flare says.
"Oh, but she's done SO MUCH for our school's reputation!" Sour Sweet says in a sing-song tone. Then, in almost a growl, she adds, "Too bad she's a psycho axe murderer."
An awkward silence descends.
"Umm..." Twilight says, shifting around. "Would you all like to maybe...hang out with us for a little while?"
Sunny Flare scoffs. "Why would we?"
"Yeah Twi, why would they?" Rainbow asks, smirking at Indigo Zap. "Being around me would just remind In-the-butt Zap of how much fail she is."
"Oh, you're so gonna eat those words, Rainbow Gash! Right after you eat my foot!"
"Alright, break it up," Shining Armor says tiredly. "You've all obviously got way too much energy and some kind of frustration to work out, so why don't you have a nice, long game of beach volleyball?" He smiles. "Wondercolts against Shadowbolts. Come on, what do you say?"
The Shadowbolts give him a hard stare, then look at each other and shrug.
"Sure," Indigo Zap says, cracking her knuckles. "Let's do this."
"Hold up," Lemon Zest says. "Has anybody seen Moondancer?"
Sour Sweet makes a disgusted scoffing noise. "Why would you even want to know where she is?" She clasps her hands together, presses them against her cheek, tilts her head, and bats her eyes. "Don't tell me you're in looooooove with that freakshow?"
"No, but she was with us like, ten minutes ago, and it's weird for Professor Glimmer to not even ask where—"
A girl with pasty cream-colored skin and huge, black horn-rimmed glasses trudges up, panting and sweating. She's wearing a wine-colored uniform blazer over a white blouse with a purple bowtie, a knee-length plaid skirt, tall navy socks with frills at the top, and severe black penny loafers. Her hair, which is pinkish-red with two stripes down the middle—one a light violet and the other a darker purple—is tied up in a messy bun, and she's scowling, her ridiculously shaggy eyebrows drawn together in the center of her forehead. She's clutching an armload of thick, heavy books. "There...you girls...are," she huffs out. "Professor...Glimmer...said..."
"Good grief, Moondancer," Indigo Zap says with a frown. "Sit down before you fall down."
Moondancer plops down on the sand, drawing her knees up to her chest.
"Fix your skirt," Sugarcoat says. "We can see your panties."
Moondancer hurriedly rearranges her skirt.
"So, what did Professor Glimmer say?" Lemon Zest asks.
"She said...I should join you girls...on the beach," Moondancer wheezes. "That she...doesn't want to see me...back on the bus until...two."
"Yeah, you need some sun, girl," Indigo Zap says, shaking her head. "You're a mess."
"You really shouldn't hole up studying all the time," Sugarcoat says. "It's not healthy."
"And we'd just hate to see anything bad happen to you," Sour Sweet coos in a sugary, coddling voice. "Because we'd be the ones Principal Cinch would punish if you dropped dead," she adds sourly.
"Why the heck would you wear your school uniform to the beach?" Rainbow Dash wonders, tilting her head.
"Yeah, it's way too hot and sandy out here for that," Pinkie Pie adds.
"Oh, Moondancer never wears anything but her school uniform," Sunny Flare says. "Like...neh-ver."
"It's practical and comfortable," Moondancer says with a frown. "I don't have to think about what to wear if I always wear my uniform."
"But this. IS. THE. BEACH," Indigo Zap says. With a groan, she shakes her head. "Forget it. We've got a volleyball game to play. Come on, girls!"
"What about Moondancer?" Lemon Zest asks.
"What about her?" Sunny Flare scoffs. "It's not like she'd want to play. Or even could." She looks over our group. "Come on, five on five. The rest of you can watch Moondancer while we play."
"I don't need watching," Moondancer protests.
Fluttershy, who's wearing a somewhat modest green bikini today, stands up suddenly and kicks off her sandals. "I'm game," she says. "Who else?"
"Absolutely me," Rainbow says, standing up and stretching.
"I'd love a good volleyball game," Sunset Shimmer says, standing up. The bikini she's wearing today is two-tone orange and red and strapless, and her breasts bobble alarmingly as she bounces on the balls of her feet.
"I believe I'll join the game," Rarity says. Today she's wearing a black one-piece. She slips off her sandals and slowly, languidly stands, her curls bouncing.
"Me! Me! I'm in!" Pinkie says, popping to her feet. She's wearing a blue bikini that's halfway between Fluttershy's and Sunset's on the modesty scale and clasped with a red heart-shaped rhinestone in the front.
"Great!" Indigo Zap exclaims. "Let's go!" The ten girls jog up the beach.
Moondancer looks awkwardly around at the rest of us. "Umm...hi," she says.
Twilight smiles at her. "Hello," she says pleasantly. "You're Moondancer, right? I'm Twilight Sparkle."
Moondancer's eyebrows draw together again. "I've heard of you," she says. "Principal Cinch says you're supposed to be my arch rival next year."
"Arch...rival?" Twilight asks, blinking.
"At the Academic Decathlon," Moondancer says. "She's obsessed with beating Canterlot High and she says you're in the way."
"I'm...in the way?" Twilight repeats in a confused tone.
"Principal Cinch is obsessed with our school's reputation," Moondancer says. "CHS has been winning too many awards and sports trophies lately. That's why she has Professor Glimmer dragging the six of us around all summer making sure we stay focused on the Decathlon."
"That's terrible," Twilight says. "I mean, I'm all for independent study and spending half the summer reading and all, but that's...going a little overboard."
"Yeah, that...that's not healthy," Shining Armor says. "I'm not even sure it's legal."
Moondancer shrugs. "It doesn't bother me," she says. "I usually spend the whole summer reading in my room anyway."
"You don't spend any time hangin' out with your friends?" Apple Bloom asks.
"I don't have any friends," Moondancer says with a frown.
"Because the other kids at your school treat you the way those girls treated you?" Cadance asks gently.
"Not really," Moondancer says. "I'm just not interested in anything but reading and studying. Sports and music and games and stuff...it's just a waste of time."
"No it isn't!" Apple Bloom insists. "Havin' friends an' doin' stuff together's an important part of life!"
Moondancer adjusts her glasses. "I just don't...really want to do the things other people want to do," she says. She opens a book and starts reading.
The rest of us look awkwardly around at each other. Cadance shrugs helplessly. Twilight has a sad, thoughtful look on her face.
Sonata reaches into the cooler and pulls out an orange soda, which she offers to Moondancer. "Here," she rasps. "You do at least like cold drinks, right?"
Moondancer blinks and accepts it. "Thank you," she says. She does a double-take at Sonata, frowning at her neck. "What in the...?"
"I was..." Sonata starts coughing, then rubs her throat with a grimace.
"She was in a terrible car accident several months ago," I supply helpfully. "Her throat was so badly trashed they thought she'd never be able to talk again. She's only just now getting her voice back a little, but it hurts her to talk."
"Oh," Moondancer says. "That explains the different aging and incision patterns on the scars. How many surgeries did you have?"
Sonata holds up four fingers. "Two in Seaddle, two here in Canterlot," she whispers hoarsely.
"Are you interested in medicine, Moondancer?" Cadance asks. "I'm a registered nurse, myself."
"I studied medicine all summer last year," Moondancer says. "I'm also studying law, philosophy, mythology, art history, economics, politics, ancient languages, archaeology, paleontology..."
Moondancer continues to rattle off a long list of subjects she's studied. The longer the list goes, the further I feel my jaw drop. Shining Armor and Applejack are zoning out. Cadance looks befuddled. Twilight's eyes are growing wider by the second.
"...and just yesterday I started studying forensics," Moondancer finishes.
"Holy crap," Shining Armor says. "You're like the evolved form of Twilight..."
"So this is what the ultimate nerd looks like," Sweetie Belle breathes.
"Sweetie Belle!" Cadance chides.
Twilight starts asking Moondancer questions about several different books. Moondancer seems to come to life, and the two of them get into what can only be described as the nerdiest conversation ever.
I shake my head to clear the fog that's settling over my brain. "Twi, I'm gonna go get us some lunch," I say. "What do you want?"
"Anything's fine," Twilight says.
"Moondancer, you want anything?"
Moondancer shakes her head. "I'm fine, thank you."
"What about the rest of us?" Cadance asks.
"Send Coach after yours," I say as I stand up and head up to the strip. I'm halfway there when Rainbow Dash comes running up to me with a panicked look on her face. "Flash! We, uhh...we've got a problem..."
"What's wrong?"
"It's Sunset—"
"I'm on my way. Call the others."
"N-no, it's not...it's not that kind of problem," Rainbow says hurriedly. "And it's not just her, it's Pinkie too."
I pause. "What happened?"
"They both ripped their tops playing down on the beach."
I boggle. "Seriously?"
"Yeah." Rainbow's face is red.
"So I guess you're on the way back to the hotel to fetch T-shirts for them so they can cover up?" In my mind's eye, I see Pinkie covering her chest with her arms and trying to keep from winding up all over the Internet...
"Uhh, actually...the problem is they're still playin'," Rainbow says. "It's like neither of 'em care the whole world can see their tits. Those Shadowbolts tried to stop the game, but Sunset pissed 'em off so bad nobody's backin' down." She frowns. "I don't care if Sunset Shithead gets arrested for public indecency, but...I kinda don't want Pinkie to get in trouble, y'know?"
I sigh. This is bad...
"And...and they're kinda drawin' a crowd," Rainbow adds.
Shit...!
I weigh my options. To run back to the hotel to get shirts for the girls and back would take at least fifteen minutes. I could just give Pinkie Pie my shirt and let Sunset twist in the wind...
I nod to Rainbow and follow her back down to where the girls are playing. We have to fight our way through a sizeable crowd. When we finally get there, a furious game is in progress. Sugarcoat is standing off to the side, watching dispassionately as the ball goes back and forth between the two groups of girls. Everyone still playing is giving it all they've got. Sunset's bare breasts bounce wildly as she jumps up to spike the ball. Below her, Pinkie is bobbling around with a cheerful smile.
On the Shadowbolts' side, Lemon Zest is completely naked. She doesn't seem to care at all. In fact, she's having entirely too much fun...
"Uhh...shouldn't you be getting your friend out of here before she gets arrested?" I ask Sugarcoat.
Sugarcoat stares at me as if I'm stupid. "This entire beach is clothing-optional," she says.
...what?!
I look around. I don't see anybody wandering around naked, but I see plenty of people ogling the topless (and nude) volleyball players right here. "Uhh..."
Sugarcoat jerks a thumb up the coast. "The nude beach is up on the northeast cape, but the entire coastline is clothing-optional, including the general beach," she says. "Besides," she adds, adjusting her glasses, "I don't really care."
Rainbow and I look at each other. "Umm..." Rainbow says. "Well...what now?"
"How about we get back in the game?" Sugarcoat suggests, moving over to her position. Rainbow shrugs, gives me a sheepish smile, and rejoins the game.
I really want to stick around and watch...
Then I remember that I'm supposed to be picking up lunch for Twilight.
Then I think about what Twilight would do to me if I left her hanging so I could ogle half the dorm and some girls from another school.
I head up to the stri—
To the beachfront road. Yeah.
...I wonder if they've got any strip steak...
Evening
Things got a little awkward when the Shadowbolts came back to collect Moondancer, mostly because Lemon Zest was still naked. After that, Shining Armor and I offered Sunset and Pinkie our shirts. Sunset spent most of the afternoon a little too close to Shining Armor.
Twilight and I spent most of the afternoon making a game out of covertly fondling Pinkie.
Once we get back to our room, we order pizza for dinner, then start packing for the trip back to Canterlot tomorrow. "That girl Moondancer," Twilight says as she's folding clothes. "Meeting her really got me thinking about how much I've changed since you got here." She looks up at me. "I could've ended up like her. I could've shut out everything. Friends, family...I could be holed up in a room reading and reading and reading, never going out to enjoy life. Never making friends...never falling in love..." She sighs. "I feel bad for her."
I shake my head. "There's nothing you can do about it," I say. "Maybe one day she'll come out of her shell and make some friends." I smile. "Of course, you need to worry about beating her in the Academic Decathlon."
"I didn't even know about any Academic Decathlon until today!"
"Well, now that you know, you'd better get ready," I say. "It sounds like Crystal Prep is taking this whole thing way too seriously."
"I guess," Twilight says. Suddenly, she smirks at me. "So, how tempted were you to stand around ogling Sunset Shimmer today?"
I snort. "Please," I say. "If I'd stayed at the game, it'd have been to ogle everyone."
Twilight sticks her tongue out at me and giggles.
I sober, then add, "Besides, if you need to worry about anyone ogling Sunset Shimmer—"
Twilight sighs. "Yeah," she says. She bows her head. "I don't get it. Why's he...?" She rubs at her eyes. "I know my brother. Cadance says she trusts him, and...and I do trust him, but...I know he's interested. I can see it." She looks up at me with tears in her eyes. "Flash...I'm really scared that my brother is going to sleep with Sunset Shimmer."
I frown. "Twilight..." I shake my head. "To be honest, that's what I'm afraid of too. Something's not right with Shining Armor."
The mood in our room is heavy for the rest of the night.
