"Oh Celestia, Fluttershy, tonight's gonna be so totally awesome! Oh man, I'm sooo stoked!" Rainbow Dash threw a wild hoof into the air. "PARTY!"

   "Dash, could you just quiet down just a little bit, maybe? I mean, it's already eight..." Fluttershy suggested softly.

   "Well, I'm pretty sure the party's gonna spread some noise pollution." She grinned. "I'm just getting them ready. But, then again, this is the first time Pinkie's thrown her birthday party in the middle of a huge field... I'm pretty sure that half of Ponyville's already gonna be there by the time we get there."

   "Well, didn't you say you had an errand to run before we got there?" Fluttershy reminded her.

   Dash paused where she was, her jaw dropping in horrified realization. "I... totally forgot..." She muttered to herself, before taking off quickly down the dirt path leading to town. "You go to the party, Fluttershy! I'll meet you when I get there!!"

   Fluttershy tried calling back, to no avail. Dash was long gone. She looked down at the road beneath her hooves.

   "... But I don't know where the field is."

~<>~

   Dash proceeded to gallop to the best of her ability to the large, emptied-out cornfield where the party was already set up. She wished she could fly, but there were too many bottles weighing down her saddlebags: she couldn't lift her wings.

   She snorted in frustration and continued her galloping pace until she began to see the bright glow caused by all the equipment Pinkie had rented. Then she slowed her step to a canter and trotted further up to the party area for a closer look.

   By the time she came within ten feet of the square, she stood back, stared up, and gasped. There were industrial-strength lights set to go off in strobe patterns and colored lights; there were massive stand-alone amps that were definitely taller than her; and there were... oh wow. The snack tables, she thought wondrously.

   Such a buffet of junk food! There were more than enough chips and dip for all of the already-large 'early' crowd standing around and laughing on the dance floor. There were Pinkie's trademarked pastries, too... cupcakes and pies and Celestia knows what else.

   She'd caught a scent from those ten feet, and without realizing it had already stepped forward, her mouth watering.

   "Woah, hold up there, Dashie!" a familiar peppy voice called out form behind her, breaking her lustful concentration. "Those snacks are for when the music starts."

   "Pinkie," Dash began, whipping her head around, "how did... what..."

   "Like it?" she giggled. "It actually didn't take too long to put it all together. It's gonna be so awesome!"

   "That depends on the music," Dash said. "What have you got set up this year?"

   "It's a surprise," Pinkie said teasingly.

   Dash looked around once more at the wires and complicated equipment. It had to have taken hours to set up."How on Celestia's green Earth can you afford all this?"

   "Afford?" the pink mare replied, unfeignedly confused.

   Dash looked at her in shock and bemusement, and shook her head, chuckling. She wouldn't even bother this time. "Anyways,"  she continued, "I got something for you." She reached into the saddlebag at her left and pulled out a good-sized bottle containing a dark tan fluid.

   Pinkie accepted the bottle, and examined it in the light. "Applejack Daniels," she read aloud.

   "Yeah," Dash said, "apparently the brand has nothing to do with our Applejack."

   Pinkie smiled. "Thanks, Dashie, but, you know, you didn't have to."

   Dash snorted. "Yeah, I did," she replied dryly. "What kinda party doesn't have alcohol?"

   Pinkie's smile grew broader as she snatched Dash's saddlebag from her playfully. "Who said I wouldn't have alcohol?" she asked mischievously as she turned to walk away, muttering, "I wonder if it'll mix well..."

   Dash remained in place, mildly shocked. What on earth could that filly have hidden away now?

   Her thoughts were interrupted by another, less rambunctious voice. "Hey, Rainbow Dash?"

   She turned again, squinting to adapt to the change in light. "What's up, Fluttershy?"

   Fluttershy smiled at her gently. "You never did tell me where the party was. I had to follow the glow."

   "Wow, it's really that visib-- oh, I mean, I'm so sorry, Fluttershy! I didn't mean to leave you behind!" she said, and laughed nervously. "Well, at least we're both here now, right?"

   Fluttershy hadn't stopped smiling politely. "Yeah."

   "Well, um, I think Pinkie's gonna start it up soon. We should get on the dance floor." She grinned and walked to the center of the floor, skipping periodically.

   This is gonna be so, so awesome.

~<>~

   The hum of the amps had to have been audible from thousands of feet away as the first artist flipped the main power switch. There was a squeak of electricity as the guitar cord was snapped into place. Those were the only two sounds playing at the moment; the suspense was palpable.

   Dash floated slightly to glance over the heads of the other four-hundred-some partygoers to see whether she recognized the group... she did, and gasped loudly. It was Racket, the band she had been insane about as a teenager. Did Pinkie know that? Was it just a coincidence?

   There was DJ on vocals, and Mellow Yellow was still on bass. She didn't recognize the drummer, though; he must have quit already. Lastly, her little fangirl moment came when she spotted the lead guitarist: Eagle's Wings. She sill ha a poster of him in her room.

   She fell to the around, squealing and giggling. Fluttershy looked up to the bandstand, then back to Rainbow Dash. "Who're they? Do you know them?"

   "Do I know them? I-"

   Everypony around then got quiet as DJ began to talk into the microphone in his rich bass voice. "Before we start, I'd like to thank our sponsor Pinkie Pie for getting us this gig. The band was dying, and she got us back on our hooves. Happy 23rd, Pinkie!" He paused as the crowd stomped in approval. "Also, Pinkie asked us to give a shout out to our number-one fan, Rainbow Dash."

   Dash grinned widely, and opened her mouth as though to speak, but all that escaped her throat was an ecstatic little scream. Fluttershy giggled. "I guess that's why you were so excited."

   "There she is!" DJ said, and Dash looked up, still smiling like she'd just won the lottery. DJ winked. "This next one's for you, honey."

   "Eek!"

   First on deck was Eagle's Wings, with his legendary smooth cord. He'd invented it himself. The guitar shrieked and played a beautiful, harmonic blend of notes. It sounded almost like an organ.

   Mellow Yellow filled in the background with bass as the drummer started up the beat. By the time DJ started singing, it'd already gotten hardcore. All of the ponies around them were now screaming and laughing, crowding around the bandstand and reaching their hooves up to the band above. Some were even singing along.

   Dash really began to get into the music, jumping wildly of the ground, often propelling herself further into the air with her wings. However, when she looked down, she noticed Fluttershy didn't really seem to be getting into it as much as her. She touched down next to her, and shouted over the music. "What's up, Fluttershy?"

   Fluttershy leaned over and spoke into Dash's ear to avoid yelling. "It's just not my kind of music."

   "What the - I've seen you party before, Fluttershy. You can be a beast when you want to." She wasn't kidding; she could still remember Pinkie's twenty-first. It was fantastic, and she could still remember the stupid neon they were covered with by the time they left.

   Fluttershy looked at the ground. "Well, I've never really liked rock. Not too much. I mean, it's nice, but..."

   Dash put her hooves submissively in the air. "Alright. Got it. I'll just, um, enjoy myself alone."

   Fluttershy looked embarrassed, and crossed her forelegs. She didn't mean to make Dash feel alone, but this just wasn't the kind of music she usually got into.

~<>~

   When Racket finally retired for the night, Dash was flushed red and panting. She looked around for anypony familiar, and saw a spot of neon pink disappear behind the stage. Dash would have to remember to thank her before the night was out.

   What also caught her eye was a streak of lavender, quickly moving to the snack tables. Dash squinted. Was that really Twi? Did she have the... well, ability to party? Dash hadn't had that idea before; she walked over to get a closer look.

   It was indeed Twilight Sparkle, and she was indeed exhausted. Dash called out, "Hey, Twi! Work up a sweat yet?"

   Twilight looked around and set her glass of punch down. "Hey, Dash!" she replied. "I heard you got a shout-out. Don't tell me you planned that."

   Dash grinned, and approached her friend more. "Nah. I don't even know how Pinkie knew I liked Racket so much. It'd scary how much she knows about all of us."

   Twilight laughed to herself. "When do you think she'd gonna have her personal number?" she asked.

   "What, you mean like last year? Were you even here for that?"

   "Yeah, Pinkie's 22nd was my first party. Like, ever."

   Dash laughed. "Seriously? I don't-" she stopped when she heard an alarming bass-ish sound. It tickled her ribcage. She spun around to see a masked pony on the bandstand, surrounded by tables of blinking lights and at least three laptops. His mane was dyed a dark red, and hung down around his shoulders, but his face was totally invisible.

   Secondly, she saw Fluttershy smiling broadly, staring up at the electronica equipment. Dash turned away from Twilight and walked over to the yellow pegasus. "Hey, Fluttershy..."

   "Hi Dash," she replied quickly, still gazing expectantly at the bandstand and the unknown individual on it. "It's Megapony, the most well-known stepper in Equestria."

   "Stepper?"

   "Oh." Fluttershy paused. "Well, um... you'll see."

   The masked pony moved his hooves slowly to the soundboards around him, flipping three switches simultaneously and using his horn to turn a dial to his left and place a record on a spinner.

   A low bass began to slowly vibrate the ground, giving Dash the tickly sensation she'd felt before. Then, a piano roll began, in a low, harmonic FAC. It was quite pretty. Dash whispered to Fluttershy in the relative silence. "Is this your music? Well, I can see why you don't like rock. It's too hardc-"

   A huge growling rough sound filled the air, leaving Dash's ears tingling in the split second of silence afterwards. All of a sudden, the dance floor was hit with a monstrous kick pattern and a strange sound Dash just couldn't place. But she liked it. It sounded almost like a pony's voice, but... different. The strobe lights and colors kicked in as the massive makeshift mosh pit in front of the pair of pegusi started jumping and dancing to the beat.

   Fluttershy smiled an uncharacteristically mischievous smile. "What were you about to say, Dash?" she asked as she walked into the crowd, her mane flowing behind her almost... sexily...

   Dash, we're not gonna go through that again. It didn't work with her, it won't work with Fluttershy. Just stick to stallions, Dash thought to herself, her mind dragging up painful memories.

   "This is great, Fluttershy," she said softly, not really expecting the other mare to hear her. She didn't notice that Twilight had brushed up beside her.

   "I've never heard this before," Twilght said loudly, trying to speak over the music. "What's this called?"

   "I dunno. Fluttershy didn't tell me."

   "Fluttershy?!" Twilight asked incredulously. "Does she actually like this?"

   "Yeah, I know, I wouldn't expect her, of all ponies, to like whatever this is."

   Twilight smiled. "That's Fluttershy for you, I guess... you'd never guess it, but Fluttershy really can be a totally different pony."

   "I know. You should've been here two years ago; it was insane," she chuckled. "I still have vivid memories of what parties can do to Fluttershy."

   "What do you think of the actual music?"

   "It's all bassy and wobbly, and I like it." They remained standing in an awkward silence. "Well, you know, I'm just gonna... go and..." She trailed off. With this, Dash entered the stormy torrent of fellow partygoers, scanning the ponies around her for yellow or pink.

~<>~

   Fluttershy reveled in her music; dubstep was one of the best genres she'd heard yet. Don't get her wrong, she still loved soundscapes and acoustic guitar and vocal-heavy ballads, etcetera, but there was something in a heavy bassline that gave her a lightheaded feeling and gave her an indescribable joy. It just let her be herself.

   She wasn't much of a dancer, but she went along with the other ponies in their movements, bouncing along to the beat and letting the synth tickle her heart. She knew all of Megapony's tracks by memory, but these were some she hadn't heard before. They must have been totally original... it was exciting to her. Overall, she just loved being near a lot of other ponies that seemed to love the same music she did.

   A voice came to her over the music, shouting her name. "FLUTTERSHY!"

   She turned her head to meet Rainbow Dash, making her way towards her through the condensed mass of ponies. "Fluttershy! Haah. I - hoo. Gimme a second," she panted. She just struggled through tons of ponies to make her way over to Fluttershy. She closed her eyes momentarily, realization dawning. She had wings. Why didn't she use them? Idiot.

   "Twilight wanted to know what this type of music is called," she finished.

   "It's called dubstep," Fluttershy replied, and, as If on cue, the third wobble period dropped out, giving leeway to an 'intermission' of softer music.

   "Dubstep? That's a weird name for this."

   "I... I guess..."

   Dash had noticed Fluttershy being withdrawn when she was near her since Megapony went onstage. She may have just figured out why. "Fluttershy, are you embarrassed for liking this?"

   Fluttershy laughed nervously, giving Dash all the information she needed.

   "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I like it too." She smiled at her friend, who smiled back.

   "I KNOW WHAT'LL HELP THE MOOD!"

   Dash gasped, and snapped her view to Pinkie Pie, who had rolled twelve barrels singlehandedly up to the right of the dance floor. "COME GET IT, GUYS!" she shouted again, bucking open one of the spigots to release a cold brown liquid with a beautiful wheat smell.

   Just then, the bass dropped once more and both pegusi were hit with a fresh wave of confidence. "I know who I'm doin' tonight!" Dash yelled over the general commotion around them.

   Fluttershy giggled. "What... did you mean 'what' you're doing tonight?"

   "Yes, Fluttershy, that us exactly what I meant to say but I did not because there's BEER!" she shouted, hoping she played off her little Freudian slip well.

   Fluttershy giggled again, and followed Dash over to the crowd forming around the barrels.

~<>~

   "Ready to go?"

   "I don't know, Dash, I mean..."

   Fluttershy was sitting across from Dash at a small wooden table. In the middle was one double-spigoted barrel, and around them was a circle of a few dozen ponies, including Twilight.

   Fluttershy looked up around her, and back at Dash. Twilight shook her head in disbelief, smiling.

   "O-okay..."

   Dash grinned, eyes glinting competitively. "Then let's go. YOUR COUNT, GUYS?!" she shouted to the ponies around them.

   "3!..."

   Fluttershy grasped her mug, flushed red and glancing around at the onlookers.

   "2!..."

   Dash placed her mug under the spigot nearest to her, her hoof poised on the handle.

   "1!..."

   I can do this.

   "GO!"

   Dash had a lead already, and had the mug full by a full four seconds before Flutttershy. Dash brought the mug to her lips and gulped down the liquid furiously, as quickly as she could muster. On the other side of the table, Fluttershy drank slowly, but she, too, was building up quite a velocity.

    Second mug. Dash already had it to her lips before Fluttershy began, but stumbled and a few drops spilled across the table. Fluttershy's movements were smooth and graceful, and her drinking, although it didn't appear it, was slightly quicker than Dash's.

   Third mug. The effects were beginning to show, and both pegusi slowed their pace. Dash quickly maintained her speed, checking her movements with facility. She was mug more experienced at this than she let off.

   And on it went, for a good fifteen minutes, until Fluttershy took a break from her eleventh to speak. "Can't you die by doing this?"

   "Does that mean you... mmm... you f-forfeit?" Dash asked, coughing and bringing the mug to her lips again.

   "Of course not," Fluttershy replied and took a drink from her own mug.

   "Well, guess what?" Dash grinned, and reached under the table, pulling up a small glass bottle with a black and gold label.

   "What's that?" Fluttershy asked, her voice raising slightly.

   "Just something a little more... powerful," Dash chuckled, placing one in front of her and one in front of her opponent.

   "I'm not sure whether-," Fluttershy began.

   Fluttershy didn't get to finish her protest; Dash shook her head, her eyes crossed slightly, and her head dropped, hitting the table below her. Fluttershy gasped as the audible crack reached her ears, and she flew to her hooves, moving as coordinatedly as she could to Dash's side of the table.

   She held Dash's head between her hooves, and shook her until her eyes opened slightly. "You win," she said softly.

   Fluttershy smiled nervously. "Can somepony get her a glass of water or something? I know that's supposed to help."

   Dash pulled away from Fluttershy and giggled, blushing deeply. "You know, you are so... jeez, Fl-" She erupted into a momentary bout of coughing. "...You are awesome, you know that? You can out-drink me... and th-that's hard." She giggled again. "Hard. Heh."

   "Dash, are you sure you're alright?"

   "What, are you kidding? Ha! No."

   "I figured," Fluttershy muttered as she accepted the plastic cup of water from one of the audience members, and put it against her friend's lips.

   Dash pulled away from Fluttershy and continued giggling. "Like, you like whatever the HELL that music was, and that's pretty hardcore, and then you go and outdrink me, and that's hard. Hard. Heh." She leaned in closer to the yellow mare. "You are one tricky... tricky, tricky pony."

   Fluttershy smiled again. "Im glad. Is there any way you can, like, wear off the effects of alcohol? I don't want you to be drunk all night."

   "Exercise. I wanna dance!" Dash shouted, still flushed a deep maroon, made purple by her cyan coat. "I hafta work off all this... this alcohol." She sighed, and burst into laughter. "OH, THE BEER!"

~<>~

   "Um, Dashie?"

   Dash opened her own eyes quickly, and they meet a pair of bright blue eyes. She stood quickly. "Oh, um, hi, Pinkie," Dash said, struggling for words. Her head hurt like she'd been assaulted.

   "Are you still drunk?"

   Dash pressed her hoof against her forehead. "No, I think I'm post-drunk. Hurts like hell."

   "Oh. Good. 'Cause... 'cause it's only one."

   "AM?"

   Pinkie giggled. "Noooo, Dashie, it's one PM, you s-sleppppt all day," she responded sarcastically.

   "More believable," she muttered. "And you're sure it's only one?"

   "Look behind me," Pinkie replied.

   The party was still raging on behind her; nopony had taken notice of her short, 45-minute nap. In fact, Megapony was still onstage, not having stopped the wubbily bassy dubstep since he got on. The sounds differed constantly, but he hadn't actually stopped playing. That had to take skill. "Got it," Dash said, her lips still dry.

   Pinkie sat down next to her friend on the grass. "Well, you're not drunk, but I am." She giggled loudly and fell back on the grass beneath her. "How'd I party for thirteen years without that stuff?"

   "I dunno. Hey, do you know where Fluttershy went?"

   "That was random... I mean, like I didn't even bring her up..." Pinkie gasped. "Hey, woah, wait. You've been around Fluttershy the entire night. In fact, you've - mmf - you've been around Fluttershy for the past, like, week. What's up, Dashie?" She flipped onto her stomach and stared at Dash expectantly.

   "Hey, wait, it's not what you think -"

   "Oh my gawd, Dash, you fillyfooler*!"

   Dash laughed for a second along with Pinkie. "No, seriously, I just-"

   "Daaash, come onnnnn! Don't play around! I - I - I got it."

   "What?"

   "Ha! You... you fillyfooler." She smiled woozily and winked.

   Dash shifted her eyes left and right. "Pinkie, I told you that in secrecy, like, years ago." Her voice had dropped to badly audible above the music. "Why are you being so weird about it now?"

   Pinkie looked at Dash bemused, her eyes having a difficulty focusing and her neck struggling to support her head. "...Dash, I am really, really drunk."

   "I can see that."

   "Why aren't you?"

   Dash cocked her head in response and stalked off into the mob on the dance floor. Pinkie rose to her two back legs, before falling down to all fours and galloping into the crowd following Dash and yelling, "PARTY!!!"

~<>~

   Fluttershy's ears were tingling... it was either because of the alcohol, because of the dubstep, or because somepony was talking about her. She could still feel the effects of the alcohol; it had begun playing little tricks on her mind. But she knew how to handle it, and planned on slowly rehydrating herself throughout the night, and stood by the punch bowl, filling her cup every few minutes and indulging herself in the low-bass experience.

   "Yo, Fluttershy!"

   She turned her head to see Dash floating rather exhaustedly over to her. "Hi, Dash," she said, not bothering to smile a greeting like she usually did. Beer was tough.

   "Congrats, by the way!" Dash commented, sidling up next to Fluttershy and accidentally knocking into her. "I have to admit you beat me to death with that drinking game. I had no idea you couldhold your liquor that well."

   "I can't," she replied quietly. "I just don't feel it until later."

   "Yeah, well, you have time to avoid being drunk. I just... you know... get drunk." She laughed, and filled a plastic cup with punch. "This isn't spiked, right?"

   "I hope to Celestia not."

   "Bottoms up."

   Fluttershy shook her head again, desperately trying to drive all of... those thoughts put of her head. "Why did you challenge me to that in the first place?"

   Dash grinned, and took another drink of punch. "Well, it was mainly because I thought I could win."

   "But?"

   "But what?"

   "You used a qualifier, 'mainly'. That indicates another, less prominent reasoning."

   "...One more time, slower."

   Fluttershy sighed. "But?"

   Dash closed her eyes. "You want the truth, Fluttershy? I just wanted to have some fun with you. I like to see you happy. It... makes me happy, too."

   Fluttershy stared at Dash. There was a truth behind that statement; Dash wasn't kidding. It was such a profound thought, not to mention the very definition of...

   Was it possible? Did Dash think about her the same way she thought about Dash?

   Without her realizing it fully, her neck leaned forwards towards Dash and Fluttershy caught Dash's lips on the edge of hers. Fluttershy's heart began to race, but her body wouldn't allow her to pull away. Dash didn't seem like she was about to, either. Her eyes closed slowly as the music around her drowned out. She could feel Dash's lips pressed intimately against hers, and she turned her head slightly, following the motions set by her instinct. Her wings slowly began to rise, and she could feel her cheeks begin to flush even more.

   The magical moment was interrupted by a shout from a few metres away from the snack tables. "HA HA HA!" Pinkie shouted, rushing over to the now-ruined scene. Dash was blushing furiously as she broke off quickly. "Pinkie, what the hell?!"

   "I totally knew it! I totally knew it!" she sang, bouncing ecstatically (if not slightly tipsily) around the two. "I totally called it! CALLED IT!" she shouted.

   Dash blushed even harder. "Pinkie, you're embarrassing me!"

   "I know, silly! I should stop, but I'm probably not going to!" She continued bouncing. "Knew it!"

   Dash looked rather worried. "Pinkie, calm down! I don't want anypony to hear about this! I - I don't..." She glanced over at Fluttershy, and back to Pinkie, who had collapsed unceremoniously to the floor. "We have to talk about this. After the party. I'm still trying to understand what just happened."

   "Don't worry, Dashie!" Pinkie grinned up at her. "I probably won't rememem-memem-member anything tomorrow anyways!"

   "Why would you think that? Why would that happen?" Her voice was beginning to raise in pitch.

   "Convenience of writing."

   "...Pinkie, you're drunk."

   "You don't say?"

~<>~

   Fluttershy decided to make herself scarce after the incident. She didn't want anything to be awkward between them... she wouldn't know what to say. Instead, she merely lost herself again in her music. That is, until Megapony played the final beat and walked offstage silently, leaving in his wake only the laughing and talking of the other partygoers.

   Fluttershy gasped, and stomped her hoof on the ground in frustration. She could try to enjoy the other music they would have, but it would be difficult. She just wanted to enjoy her dubstep the whole night long.

   Well, if Megapony had to leave, she could at least get his autograph. She ran to grab a napkin from one of the snack tables and took off in search of the retreating artist. She hoped he wasn't too far away by then.

   She landed when he was in sight, and stopped momentarily, realizing she hadn't really thought any of this out. What would she say to him? How would she approach him? He was famous, so she expected vans full of equipment or bodyguards, but he left all the equipment behind and stalked off into the night.

   What a mysterious pony.

   She decided to steel herself and play on the last bit of alcohol she had left in her system. She walked up behind the still-masked stallion. "Mr. Megapony, sir?"

   He stopped where he was, and turned slowly. The mask was rather intimidating... late at night... in an empty field. Should I have done this?

   "C-can I have your autograph, um, please?" She held out the napkin and a small pencil she was able to pick up (she didn't remember where).

   Cautiously, Megapony grasped the pencil in his mouth and wrote out his name in a bold cursive font. Fluttershy was surprised; it confused her to think that a hugely popular hardcore musical artist had such a dainty... fancy... familiar autograph.

   Fluttershy gasped as Megapony dropped the pencil and began walking away. She knew she'd seen the writing style before. But... what if she was wrong? She's make herself look like an idiot.

   But, as it tended to do after a night of heavy drinking, her thought jus slipped out. Stupid alcohol.

   "...Rarity?"

   Megapony paused again, turned back to Fluttershy, and turned back to gallop away. That settled things for Fluttershy; she leapt into the air and sped after the masked pony with all the speed she could muster. She gained on him/her until she was finally directly above him/her. Then, as her heavily influenced mind tried to think up a way to stop her, she fell out of the air and onto the masked pony, who let out a little shriek.

   When the dust settled, Fluttershy could see the brilliant white coat shimmy from the part of the mask that had been moved off her face. It is Rarity!

   Fluttershy tore off the mask to reveal her friend, her horn painted red and her mane dyed the same color and made to hang around her shoulders. Fluttershy quickly removed herself from the top of the unicorn, apologizing profusely as her friend sat up.

   "Oh my, I'm so, so, so sorry I did that, Rarity, are you okay?" she asked, lifting her friend up out of the dirt.

   Rarity coughed twice and sat on the ground, her head down. She lifted her head up to Fluttershy, her eyes glinting intimidatingly.

   "Not. A. Word." With this chilling statement, she replaced her mask and galloped off into the moonlight.

   Fluttershy wanted so badly to smile, but she couldn't, now that there were suddenly tons of unanswered questions impeding her thoughts. She simply squeaked and put the whole ordeal out of her mind.

~<>~

   By five in the morning, most of the of the ponies had gone and the star of the party was dead asleep. Dahs prepared to pack up and move out, when she saw a familiar yellow mare crossing the field to the main road. Should I? Is it too soon? Would it be awkward? Tons of thoughts burst into her head.

   Contrary to her logical thoughts, she began to trot quickly to Fluttershy, leaving the mess of a dance floor behind her.

   She was able to catch up to her before she hit the road, and began to walk alongside her silently. Her mind was working drastically to think of something to say.

   She decided to come outright with it. "Fluttershy, that kiss you gave me last night... was that you, or was it just the alcohol?"

   Fluttershy flushed red, and shook her head. "I don't know. I just felt something, and I acted on it. I don't even know whether I meant to."

   Dash and Fluttershy then stepped simultaneously onto the broad dirt path, hundreds of metres away from any other pony. Dash stopped Fluttershy from walking any further. She turned to the yellow mare. "Fluttershy, look me in the eyes." They were exactly at eye level, and Fluttershy looked straight into Dash's maroon eyes worriedly. "Was that you?"

   Fluttershy blushed harder. There as still just a bit of confidence left in her, which became quickly propelled by the strange, comforting look in Dash's eyes. "...Yes. But I-"

   "Shhh." Dash placed her hoof on Fluttershy's mouth, spreading her wing over her. "Don't ruin the moment."

   Dash leaned in then for a kiss, long and passionate, that set Fluttershy's heart ablaze. Both the pegasi's wings rose in sync, and, as the sun rose quietly in the distance, Fluttershy blushed a deep crimson before her eyes closed, and she reveled in the joy and peace that came with requited love.

~<>~

   Almost six hundred yards away, Pinkie was lying asleep on the top of a huge amplifier. Her ear twitched lazily as she muttered in her sleep.

   "Totally called it."