"You’re the judges?!"

Applejack's shock was as evident for her as it was for everyone else, as all of the girls stared at Sunset and Flash with gaping mouths. Naturally, the couple themselves just let out simultaneous sighs of exasperation as they nodded in conformation. Currently, the two, along with the other six girls, were sitting together in one of their usual booths at Sugar Cube Corner, with a variety of drinks and milkshakes laid out before them. Sunset and Flash, as one would expect, weren't looking too comfortable right now, being subject to the looks of astonishment and disbelief from their friends. But, after a time, it was Flash who eventually broke this long and uncomfortable silence.

"It was Adagio's idea. Apparently, she thinks we'd be good choices."

Sunset frowned.

"Either that, or she just loves messing with us, since she’ll be judging too."

Flash considered that.

"Yeah, that works too."

The other girls all looked to one another, not quite sure how to react to all of this, before eventually turning to face them yet again.

"So...when's this contest going on?" Rainbow asked.

Sunset looked to her.

"About a week from now. It'll take a while for arrangements to be made to the gym to make it suitable for the show."

Twilight, adjusting her glasses a little bit, was the next to speak.

"How exactly is this contest supposed to work?"

Sunset, upon hearing that, looked over to Flash, who himself glanced to Twilight before leaning forward and starting to explain things.

"We talked it over with Celestia and Adagio. Basically, anyone who wants to take part will submit their name on a list outside Celestia's office. Then, any student who wants to see that person on stage being...well..."

"Displayed?" Rarity suggested.

Flash gave her an appreciative nod.

"Yeah, that. If you want to see that person on-stage, you donate some money. If that person get's a minimum of a hundred dollars to their name, they go through to actually take part."

It was Sunset who carried on afterwards.

"Celestia's not happy about this whole thing, so her involvement in this isn’t like it was for other events we’ve had. She’ll be there, just to make sure everything’s on the up and up, but that’s about it."

There was another round of nods among the girls, who thought long and hard on that.

"Um...how much money is needed for the orphanage to be helped?" Fluttershy asked.

Sunset and Flash looked to one another, then back to Fluttershy.

"Including everything we’ve got from all the bake sale and other stuff? About fifty thousand dollars," Flash answered.

The girls' eyes widened at that.

"Geez! Well, here's hoping the contest goes ahead then," Pinkie exclaimed.

Of course, all eyes were on her after she'd said that, prompting her to shrug her shoulders.

"What? It's all for saving an orphanage, right? Besides, it's not like we haven't all been in swimsuits in public before, right?"

Rarity looked to her, aghast.

"That was quite different, Pinkie! We were all at the beach that day! This? This is...this is..."

"Like a bunch o’ girls wearin’ pretty dresses an' marchin' down a catwalk?" Applejack added with a smirk.

Rarity smiled to her.

"Yes, exac..."

Then, her expression turned to one of irritation.

"No! It's nothing like that!"

Applejack chuckled, and she and Rainbow shared a private fist-bump at the joke, all while Rarity fumed in silence. Meanwhile, Sunset looked over to Flash, putting a hand over his.

"If we raise enough money, it'll be worth it to go through all of this, Flash."

Though still somewhat put off, the boy nevertheless nodded.

"Yeah...guess I'll just have to keep telling myself that."

He turned to his lover, offering her a small smile.

"Still...I guess I should be grateful Adagio was willing to accept the rules we set down."

Sunset nodded, but didn't say anything, as it was instead Rainbow who spoke next.

"What rules?"

Both Flash and Sunset turned to the others, seeing the curiosity on their faces. Sunset, in silence, gestured to her boyfriend, quietly urging him to explain matters, to which he simply cleared his throat before speaking.

"Well...first of all, only the older students get to participate."

He frowned a little.

"The absolute last thing I want in this is to see Scootaloo parading herself out there at her age."

He then looked to Rarity and Applejack.

"And I figure you two don't want your sisters there either."

The two girls, upon realising that, looked to each other.

"Oh my! I hadn't even thought of that!"

Applejack frowned, adjusting her hat before replying.

"Eyup! Ain't no way ah'd let little Bloom be part o' that!"

Nodding in agreement, Flash then continued.

"Secondly, only decent swimsuits allowed. So no putting a couple of pieces of string across your chest and calling it a bikini or whatever."

Rainbow turned to him, raising an eyebrow.

"Come on, bro. You really think some girl is seriously gonna...?"

But, in answer to her unfinished question, Flash gave his half-sister a pair of narrowed eyes, and in the silence that followed, Rainbow considered her own question, before coming to a stark realisation, scratching the back of her head and letting out a nervous chuckle.

"Oh...hehe...right. Never mind."

Shaking his head, Flash let out a long sigh, only to find Rarity speaking towards him with an enamoured tone.

"Ah, how sweet. Gallant Flash Sentry, valiantly defending the virtue of the young maidens of Canterlot High."

The boy let out a dry laugh.

"Apparently not defending you enough, since this thing is still going on."

To that, Sunset placed her hand on his shoulder.

"It was out of our hands before we even knew it was happening. Don't worry about it."

Her boyfriend smiled to her, then, after realising that he wasn't finished yet, concluded his explanation.

"Finally...the guys can compete too."

As expected, a rule like that earned him the undivided attention of all the girls.

"Er...what?" Pinkie asked.

Flash sighed.

"Yeah...we figured that it'd be better if all of the older students were allowed to enter, and not just the girls. The last thing Celestia needs right now is to have this be even more controversial by having just the female students put out there."

Pinkie, after letting that information sink in, started to develop a sly smirk.

"...Nice."

Applejack looked to her with a frown.

"Careful, Pinkie. Yer Adagio is showin'."

But Pinkie just rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, right, like you girls aren't interested in this?"

The other girls, of course, blushed slightly at the suggestion, particularly Twilight, who suddenly found her glasses fogging up a bit. As she took them off to wipe them down, she mused on the situation.

"Well...I suppose there are plenty of girls who'd be happy with this. Getting the chance to see some of the boys up there. Sandalwood, Wiz, Big Mac..."

Hearing that final name, Applejack shot her a frown.

"Pardon?!"

Before Twilight could defend her statement, Rainbow did so in her stead.

"Come on, AJ. If it gets known that this thing is gonna save an orphanage, do you really think your brother won’t volunteer for it?"

Applejack opened her mouth to reply, only to have the realisation of her friend's statement hit her hard.

"Oh...shoot."

Flash and Sunset, after glancing to one another, let the awkwardness of this whole matter sink in, as they leaned back into their side of the booth all while their friends continued to think on this situation in silence. However, the period of quiet did not last, as Pinkie, before anyone could really stop her, looked to all her friends and asked the one question that had probably been burning on everyone's mind during this whole thing.

"So...which of you girls is going to be in this?"