So here it was. I was counting the days ever since we entered this universe. We entered on the 7th of December, 2016. It has been exactly 24 days since then. So through simple maths, it means it must be the 31st of December. New Years Eve.

But it was so strange. Well, for me anyway.

Traditionally, September through to February are the Winter months in England. And December was always icy and bitterly cold. But here in Equestria, it was hot. Very hot and humid. Barrel said this felt normal to him as he lived in Australia and it was always Summer at this time of year. But not me.

I am not complaining in the slightest though. I love the heat, the summer breeze, the barbecues, the beers and late night camping...

Oh shit, I just got all nostalgic again.

I got up from my seat on the couch and walked over to the window. I could clearly see the clock tower from where I was stood and it read 12:35pm. Was it too late to organise some sort of gathering for us four?

No, I have plenty of time. I would just need to get hold of some food, a fair amount of cider and four deck chairs. A barbecue without the barbecue if you will.

I was determined to keep tradition with humanity. New Years Day was to be celebrated, whether the pony folk liked it or not.

I grabbed 100 Bits from the bank of 3,450 Bits we had saved so far for the CMQ and headed out the door. The CMQ was coming along swimmingly, just funds were a bit dry at the moment.

I took a calm and long walk down to Sweet Apple Acres, passing by many friendly ponies on the way. Many smiled, some waved and a select few even spoke to me for a few moments before I carried on my way. 10 minutes later, ended up at the gate. I stared into the vast fields that The Apple Family had accumulated over the years. Every single one of those apples needed bucking. And there must have been thousands. I looked into the closer fields, used for farming. I could see Smoking Barrel in one of the fields with one of the prototype ploughs that I constructed a few weeks ago. And he had picked up some major speed.

I continued to walk past, towards the huge red barn that stood before me. I could see Granny Smith on a small rocking chair and Applebloom doing some small chores in front of the barn. I decided that asking Applebloom where her sister was, would be the best bet. I had a little under 12 hours but I needed to get as much notice to Applejack as soon as possible.

"Hey Applebloom!" I shouted over to her from quite a few metres away.

"Circuit!" As shouted back, dropping her dusting broom and began running at me, bringing a tackle hug with her.

I braced myself for the impending impact, as well as the few rolls that comes from the momentum. As I predicted, she threw herself at me and hugged me tight, but the momentum she was carrying pulled me with her and she proceeded to hold on. We did three rolls before we came to a dusty stop.

"How is my fellow Crusader?" I asked her as I hugged her back, bopping her on the head a few times with my free hoof.

"Ah'm doin' swell! How 'bout ya'll?" She replied cheerily.

"I'm good, thank you. Say, sorry to bother you, but do you know whereabouts your sister is? I have something quite important to ask her." I quipped as I got up and dusted myself off from the tackle hug.

"Naw, ah don't. Perhaps she is buckin' apples in the North Farm?" She said as she scratched her head and looked around.

"Alright, I'll check there. Thanks Applebloom." I said as I ruffled her mane and walked in the direction of the North Farm.

Once I arrived at the large sign that indicated "North Farm", I scoured the nearby trees in sign of bucking trees or Applejack's colours. After 5 minutes of walking through the forest that became surprisingly thick, I heard a distant thunking. I decided to head in that direction, because if it was Big Mac, I could ask him for directions to her sister. And if it was Applejack herself, I can ask her the questions I need to.

Unfortunately, it was the former. Big Mac was bucking trees with immense strength and was clearing trees in a matter of seconds. I walked towards him as he finished a tree.

"Afternoon Big Mac, you doing alright?" I asked him as he turned his attention towards me.

"Eeyup." He replied. As usual.

"Good, I'm glad. I hope you don't mind me asking, but do you know where Applejack is? I have some work to discuss and I thought AJ would be best pony to hash out details with." I asked him in a light tone of voice, to show that I was not being arrogant and that I wanted to be friendly as I conducted business.

"Eeyup. In tha' field there." He pointed into another vast field, which I was assuming was the East Farm.

"Thanks, have a good rest of the day!" I shouted as I ran off in the direction that Big Mac pointed.

I probably had wasted a few minutes in walking around and asking about. I needed to hurry up if I wanted this to feel like a New Year's Eve party. When I ran out of breath, I slowed down and I ended up hearing another thunking sound in the distance. That must be AJ, as Big Mac was working in another farm and Applebloom was doing chores by the barn.

I walked closer and closer towards the thunking until it got louder and more clear. Then the general direction became more accurate and I walked a little quicker. After I pushed through a dense amount of trees, I saw what I had been hunting for the last half an hour.

Applejack.

She was bucking Apple trees, and with unbelievable efficiency. As she finished a bank of trees, I walked over to her as she gathered her baskets of apples.

"Afternoon Applejack." I greeted her politely.

"Well howdy Circuit! How are ya'll doin'?" She replied happily.

She was always one to give a pleasant greeting if you returned it.

"I'm doing well, thank you. I know this may be extremely short notice, but could I propose a business opportunity to you?" I asked her, unsure of what she would reply with.

"Sure ah guess. As long as it ain't buckin' all these trees in a day!" She joked, giving me a faux punch.

"No, nothing that demanding. Would it be troubling for you to buck enough apples for say... 20 glasses of apple cider? And of course, squeeze them, bottle them and get them to a spot I choose?" I explained to her.

She taps her hoof on her chin a few times,  thinking.

"All depends on when the deadline is, Sugarcube. When do you ya'll need this by?" She questioned.

"10pm tonight. So that gives you nine hours. Is that enough?" I asked her with a uneasy face. I had no idea if this could be done.

Her eyes became hung over with relief. I still held my breath until she said something though.

"Nine hours!? Ah could make 'nuff Cider for half of Ponyville with that amount of time!" She smiled.

Then I decided to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Phew, I'm glad. I will pay you guys 100 Bits for your troubles." I said to her, gleefully.

"Pleasure doin' business!" She winked as I handed her the 100 Bit note.

Right, that was the booze sorted. And I use the term "booze" lightly. Food and chairs were next on the list. I'm sure Rarity can scratch some fabric together so that they create chairs, and Pinkie could do some food for us, but not too much. There was booze involved after all.

It was probably best to head to Rarity's first, at least then she would have a decent amount of time to construct some plans for some chairs, and I could go to Sofas & Quills to get wooden bases made for the chairs.

I was determined to make New Years a half decent celebration. At least it kept us human in someway.

After I sorted the location and times with Applejack, I left the farm and started the walk back towards Ponyville. I was sure the Carousel Boutique wasn't that hard to find.

It only took 5 short minutes before I was back in the town centre and I looked around for Rarity's place. I suppose because it had carousel in the name, it surely had some resemblance to one? Nonetheless, I found it. Would have looked a lot better if it did actually spin and it had her designs on pony templates within the spinning carousel.

I curled my mane over with my hoof to make it neater, brushed any dust and dirt off my hooves and coat, took a deep breath and knocked on the door four times. I always believed that three knocks was unlucky for some reason.

I waited patiently until I heard clip-clopping of hoofs getting closer towards the door and I straightened my pose and smiled. Multiple locks were fumbled about until I heard 3 unlocks and the door opened slightly. Stood there, was Rarity.

"Good afternoon Rarity, my name is Circuit Boost. I know this is rather invading of your personal space, but I was wishing to discuss personal business with you. Is it okay if we privately discuss business?" I spoke in my cleanest accent I could muster, gathering the most sophisticated words I could think of.

"Pleasure to meet you Mr Boost. I haven't seen you around Ponyville before. Have you traveled far and wide to seek my fabulous expertise?" She gleamed, smugly.

At least she was smiling, I needed to keep her like this. First impressions were everything when it came to Ms Rarity.

"Yes, indeed I have. I recently moved into town and I would like to discuss serious business with you, if you are not too busy?" I asked her, treading very lightly and thinking about every single word I said.

"Why, yes, of course! Come and take a seat!" She said as she opened her door and stepped aside, inviting me in.

I walked inside and took a quick glance at my surroundings. It looked exactly like it did in the show. She really was a hard worker. And she was damn good at what she did. I walked over to a small pair of chairs and took a delicate seat on one of them, and waited for Rarity to sit opposite me.

"I would like to discuss the plans and the deadline. However, I must ask this first. Would you be able to fit in a emergency appointment for today?" I asked her, giving her my full attention.

She used her magic to pick up a pair of fancy reading glasses and a journal she kept on a table next to pony templates. She put the glasses and skimmed through her journal, humming as she did so. After 30 seconds of quiet reading to herself, she looked at me over her glasses.

"I am available for 4 hours today darling. What would you like me to accomplish by then?" She asked, still looking over her glasses, as if she was trying to do that "sexy secretary" pose.

"Here is the plan. I would like you to pick up four deck chair templates and use your most resistant, yet softest fabric you can find. But on these particular models, I would like hindleg rests, as if you were sitting on your flank?" I explained to her.

She was nodding her head and was scribbling in her scrapbook as I described what I wanted. After 5 minutes, she flipped the book over and I looked at what the result was. A modern looking deckchair, with woven fabric and integrated armrests. Perfect for pony size.

"This is simply fantastic. Is it possible to construct four of these in four hours?" I asked her, smiling at the drawing.

"But of course! That will be 100 Bits if you would like me to begin right away." She said, as she got up and trotted towards her cash register on one of the tables.

"Thank you ever so much for creating this on such short notice. I look very forward to seeing the end products! Shall I be back in four hours to collect them?" I said to her as I handed over the 100 Bit note that I grabbed on the way over here.

"Mhmm." She hummed as she immediately got to work, grabbing tape measures and various colourful fabrics.

I decided that letting myself out would be best. I walked to the door, and let myself out quietly. Applejack was hard at work with the cider and Rarity was constructing the bespoke deckchairs. All that remained was food, but I was pretty certain that we could pick something up just before we walk to Cosmo Hill, just on the outskirts of Ponyville. It was a large green rolling hill, that many ponies went up to at night to admire the stars and moon. It is even rumoured that even Princesses Celestia and Luna have been there before.

I walked home, as I needed to tell the lads that I had something planned for us. However, when I opened the door, I heard a rather angry Story Armstrong.

"Who is it!?" He shouted from the back room, in a very stern tone.

"It's me man, don't worry." I shouted back in a much politer tone of voice.

"Dude, we have lost over 200 Bits, do you know where the fuck it has gone?" He asked as he walked in from the kitchen area.

"It was me man, I spent 200 bits today." I said innocently, but it was clear that he didn't know my intentions of a quasi-New Year party because his orange face turned a shade of red.

"YOU DID WHAT!?" He shouted into my face.

"Woah, back the fuck down! I spent it on getting us a party, so chill out for fuck sake!" I retaliated.

"We don't need a fucking party, we need to get our Marks!" He shouted, as he was getting more frustrated with every sentence that I said.

"You do know what day it is today, right? We came here on the morning of the 7th, and it has been 24 days. So it is the 31st." I said to him.

"Oh yeah, 31st, big deal. We really need a fucking party for that." He muttered as he turned around and walked away.

"31st of December, numbnuts. Do I need to spell it out? I got some Apple Cider sorted and Rarity is building us some prototype deckchairs so we can say goodbye to 2016 in style." I replied back.

His face went from flustered and annoyed, to embarrassed and ashamed. He just realised that he had a full-blown go at me for organising a New Years celebration.

"It's one of the things that keeps us human on the inside until we get back home. Come on dude." I said to him calmly as I nudged into him playfully.

"Alright, sorry man." He said, hanging his head down.

"It's okay. I can understand that we desperately need our Marks, and that space exploration sounds fucking awesome, but there are some things that we shouldn't let go off. And our humanity isn't one of them. We are getting home, sooner or later. But for now,  let's have our own celebrations. Our home away from home, if that makes sense." Told him as I brung him into a man-hug.

"Come on, we have got to get ready and pick up those chairs in a few hours." I said as I walked off towards the bathroom.

For the next few hours, me and Armstrong tidied the cottage and got ready. When it came to 5:30pm, I told Armstrong to tell the other two lads to get ready once they were home, as I needed to grab the chairs and check on the cider.

I left our cottage, which still needs a name, and returned to Carousel Boutique to see if the deck chair prototypes were finished.

I knocked on the door and took a steady step back and waited for Rarity to answer the door. It was a good 30 seconds or so before she finally unlocked all those locks and open the door for me.

"Ah! Mr Boost! I see that you have come to see the final result of your fabulous.. Ahem... Chairs?"

I slightly cringed when she had to clear her throat to say the word chair. I hoped that it meant nothing.

"Evening Ms Rarity! I am indeed! Are they finished?" I asked her in a light, cheery tone.

"Yes, come and see!" She replied, just as cheery as I was.

I followed her inside and she led me towards her fancy stage, complete with magic spotlights and a stage curtain.

"Are you ready?" She asked me. She looked extremely confident, but the nervousness in her voice stuck out like a sore thumb.

"I am." I replied, neutrally.

"Behold...!" She spoke in a moderately loud voice before pausing to use her magic to pull the curtains back and reveal four deck chairs.

"Your new chairs, complete with forehoof-rests!"

I got to say, they looked fit for a king. They looked like thrones, and were surprisingly, colour coordinated to our four colours. There was a light grey, a dark orange, a deep brown and a sky blue chair for each of us. My mouth was pretty agape at this point, so I could tell that Rarity was relived that I liked them. Once I snapped out of it, I looked at her.

"May I?" I muttered to her, motioning my head towards the light grey chair.

She raised her hoof up and looked at me with soft eyes.

"By all means. Please." She said to me, with a calm tone of voice.

I slowly stepped up and stood in front of my chair. I admired the very professional handy work completed by Rarity. I then looked at the wooden base beneath the fabrics. I lightly dragged my hoof across the surface of the thickest wooden support. I could feel all of the grain of the wood. This was real, hand crafted wood. Whoever made this definitely had a Cutie Mark in carpentry. Even my father, who did carpentry for over 25 years, would admire this piece of art. And we had one each.

After I had admired the visual beauty of my chair, I slowly took a stable position above it and slowly lowered myself into the cushions, stapled into and woven around the wooden bases. There was no creaking from the wood, which means these bases were made today. Especially for these chairs. I slowly sank into the fabrics and cushions, which was an amazing feeling. I felt extremely relaxed.

"Wow... These are just perfect." I whispered under my breath as I closed my eyes and let my body fully relax.

"I'm extremely pleased that you appreciate my work of art." She whispered beside me, standing unusually close to me.

I opened my eyes and I caught her eyes glaze over my flank. This obviously meant that she has realised that I had no Mark. I decided to not say anything and proceeded to get up and start packing up the chairs.

I spend 10 minutes getting the chairs folded up carefully and placed into the back of a carriage that I had rented before I arrived.

"Thank you once again Ms Rarity. I hope I do business with you again soon." I said to her, as I strapped myself into the carriage holster.

"Please, call me Rarity. And you are very welcome." She said to me, sending me off.

I walked 8 paces before I stopped and turned around.

"Rarity." I said in a loud tone so that I could get her attention.

"You should come and visit my cottage sometime. I may need some help getting it renovated. And by the way, call me Circuit." I said to her with a cheeky smile at the end.

She didn't say anything. She just simply smiled and nodded at me. I smiled back and walked towards Cosmo Hill to get ready for this party.

I had arrived at Cosmo Hill and I proceeded to pick a spot that had great view of Ponyville, the town's great clock and a vast view of the stars, that were not yet visible. I waited until 7pm until Applejack arrived with a small carriage behind her, carrying 20 bottles of cider. I walked over to her and gave her a hoof getting the box unloaded.

"Well, there ya are. Ah hope ya'll enjoy that." She said to me, wiping the sweat off her brow.

"Thanks Applejack. Couldn't have done this without you." I smiled as I placed the box beside the four chairs.

"May ah ask, what's all this for? You could have asked Pinkie to help ya'll with this part of yours." She asked me politely.

"It's a personal celebration between me and my friends. It's a long story, and I'd love to tell you about it some time. I replied, smiling.

"Ah see. Well, enjoy your little shindig, and ah'll see you around!" She said as she turned around and walked off with her carriage.

After Applejack left, I quickly got some salads sorted for us in the market as it was closing up so I we didn't have to worry about them later and took them up to our spot.

It was 8pm when I saw three others walked towards the hill, with a certain orange pony in the lead. I smiled, got up off the soft spot that I was laying in and walked towards them.

"Good evening fellas." I said to them as I walked closer.

"Evening Circuit!" They all said in unison, as we all met up and hoofbumped each other.

"Come on, I got a surprise for you." I said to the three of them as I walked back up the hill.

Their faces dropped when they saw the immaculate chairs, the food all laid out and the booze, stacked up in a ice-chilled box.

"Yeah boy, we are celebrating New Years in style." I told them, smugly.

They all took seats in their obvious chairs and just remained silent for a few moments.

"Oh. My. Fucking. God. This chairs are unreal." Barrel quipped as he sank further into his chair.

"Tell me about it." I agreed as I grabbed four ciders and handed three of them to each one of the lads.

I took a seat in my chair and gazed at the dusk sun as we all sipped our first cider.

Life right then, was perfect. Considering we were in a completely different universe, in pony bodies, I didn't care. The four of us, drinking cider, watching the sun set. It was fantastic.

I suddenly felt the urge to start singing one of the most epic songs known, to honour humanity and it's artists.

Is this the real life?

Is this just fantasy?

Caught in a landslide,

No escape from reality.

After I had finished that verse, the other lads had caught onto what I was singing and decided to join in.

Open your eyes,

Look up to the skies and see,

I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy,

Because I'm easy come, easy go,

Little high, little low,

Anyway the wind blows doesn't really matter to me, to me

We tried to sing the whole of the song without any usage of music or an acapella background, but it was quite difficult. We were certain some ponies heard us, but we really didn't care at this point.

As we finished the last verse, the sun finally set and the moon was raised, signalling that midnight was soon approaching. As the moon reached the highest point in the sky, I raised my bottle to the sky.

"Happy New Year guys." I said softly, but loud enough that the guys could hear me.

They all raised their bottles as we stared towards the moon and took in the gorgeous moonlight. We then took a sip to seal the toast.

"I know it sounds selfish, but I hope we don't celebrate our next New Years here." Ollie said after a generous sip of his second cider.

"Yeah, it would be great to spend it at a pub, or with our families." Armstrong said, with tear in his eye.

"Yeah. I swear, that within 52 weeks, we will have found a way home. And we will go home and cherish what he take for granted in Earth." I announced, raising my bottle in the air once again.

"Here here." The three others cheers as we all took another drink of our ciders.

It was clear we were not getting drunk from these ciders, so we just decided to drink them like a casual drink. We continued to drink until we ran out.

It was approximately 1am before we decided it was time to head home. So we packed up our chairs, tidied up our mess, and got some rest.

Hopefully we didn't see 2018 in Ponyville.

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