The four of you are corralled into the large brick building on the far western side of the campus as the evening rolls around. Hundreds of ponies are grouped with you as a battalion of unicorns with fancy suits guide you into the building and through a series of halls and stairs. Finally, you are all stuffed into the large dining hall of the UFABÉ house to sit and wait for the food to be served.

The four of you sit at the far end of the table, as close to the exit as you can possibly get just in case things go awry. You see that a majority of the ponies in the room are wearing red ribbons tied around their necks with the phrase ‘Sapere aude’ printed in golden fabric. Certain that these ribbons are the symbols of the UFABÉ members, you hold your tongue as you wonder what the phrase means. The last thing you want is to seem more curious than you really are.

The three mares that accompany you are completely overwhelmed by the beauty of the building. The décor in the dining hall alone rivals that of the Admin Building, a feat that amazes you to no end. The chandeliers appear to be made of solid gold and diamond, whereas the chairs and tables appear to be made from the finest mahogany. You consider for a moment how it’s possible for a house on campus to be so fancy, but realize that any member could come from a wealthy family.

After sitting around talking for nearly an hour, the chattering stops and everypony stands to attention as the large oak doors on the far end of the hall swing open. Advancing from the door are two tall stallions wearing solid white suits and sporting the red ribbons. Following behind them is a single, tall, well-groomed unicorn mare, clad in a large golden dress. Her purple mane shines in the light of the chandelier, which only brings out the pearly-white sheen of her coat.

She takes a seat at the very end of the table, in a large cushioned oak chair. With a wave of her hoof, everypony in the room immediately offers their bows of greeting and takes their seats. Everypony aside from you four, anyway.

Gently clearing her throat, the overly-dressed unicorn says, “Tonight I am glad to welcome two very special guests into our halls. You are all aware that the opening dinner is generally reserved for veteran members; however, this is a special occasion. Tonight we have with us not one, but two new Admins to scout out our fine house.” She stands from her seat and waves a hoof in your direction.

With a quick nod, both you and Twilight stand up to show who she is referring to. It’s at this time that you notice everypony in the room dressed in some sort of suit or dress, while the four of you aren’t dressed at all. You already expect the unicorn to mention this before introducing you by name.

The unicorn giggles, “I see you are minimalists, eh? You aren’t one for fancy outfits?”

You scoff, “Sorry lady, but we didn’t get the memo. I didn’t figure it would be formal, considering all this is just so you can kiss our plots, right?” Everypony in the room gasps at your disrespectful use of language, and Twilight quickly sits down to avoid being grouped in with you. Rainbow Dash bursts into laughter.

The unicorn slaps a hoof to the table and shouts, “How dare you say such rude things?! You are a guest in our company and should speak to us with respect!”

“We’re Admins, lady. And here’s the kicker, I know you need us.” You aren’t sure if you’re giving too much information away, but you know the dean has already informed the presidents of their ultimatums.

She sits down and crosses her arms over her chest. She sighs, “You…you are correct. We do need you, which is why I invited you to this party. You do not have to be here if you do not want.”

Twilight stands up and says, “You definitely aren’t being a very gracious host, Miss. You haven’t even introduced us by name…or yourself for that matter.”

The prim and proper pony stands back up and says, “How rude of me. My name is Rarity, and I am the president of the UFABÉ house. And these two are this year’s new Admins…” She points her hoof to you both as she says your names.

You and Twilight sit back down so as to drop the passing conflict. One of the tall stallions that had escorted Rarity speaks up, “We are here tonight to not only honor the 26th anniversary of UFABÉ house’s foundation, but to also extend an invitation to our campus’s two new Admins. Without Admin support, our house is just another residence hall with a fancy name.”

The other escort continues, “So tonight, we offer our invitation to you both, in the hopes that you might see it fit to join us in our plights. Now, to everypony in attendance, we would like to thank you for showing up, and we extend our hooves to the dinner table, where we may all eat.”

With a whistle, the doors at the side of the room fly open and a dozen ponies of all shapes and sizes waltz in with trays and platters of different kinds of gourmet food. Placing each tray strategically on the table so as to make them accessible to all in attendance, everypony was soon staring down at a massive array of food from all over Equestria. Every dish that anypony could ever want lay in front of them at the moment.

Nopony hesitates to reach over and gather the foods they want from the table. Knives and forks go to work cutting the heaps of food into pieces and gathering the pieces onto individual plates. The four of you wait patiently for the flurry of hooves to calm before gathering your own delicacies. Just as you are about to take a bite from the delicious sandwich in front of you, Rarity calls everypony’s attention to her.

She stands up and raises an average-sized wine glass filled with wine into the air. She cheers, “In honor of our house’s twenty-sixth anniversary, and to the special guests we have tonight. Cheers.” The other ponies raise their glasses and cheer before downing the beverages within.

The dinner is disturbingly quiet after the cheer. You all eat your food in peace and quiet as it slowly disappears bit by bit from the table. Before long, all of it is devoured and replaced with sweet desserts. Another flurry of hooves greets the delicacies as everypony takes what they want. Despite already being stuffed, you join in with the flurry, not wanting to seem ungrateful for the food. Minutes pass as everypony pigs out on what seems to be the richest pastries you’ve ever eaten.

Finally, the entire room settles down, stomachs full of food and drink. The sun has nearly set outside, letting you know that more time has passed than you anticipated. Sharing a nod with your three companions, you stand to leave the dining hall and head back to your rooms. Most of the ponies don’t even notice you heading for the door. You’re stopped by a pony standing in the small doorway.

The mare laughs, “I was hoping you’d show up tonight.” Diamond has a smug look on her face as she takes a few steps toward the table.

Rarity giggles, “You’re late, Ms. Charmer! Not exactly how a vice-president should behave is it?” The unicorn hastily walks over to greet the Admin with a smile and a hoof-bump.

Diamond sighs, “I was simply too busy taking care of senior Admin things. You know classified information. Oh, and Mr. Coronet was looking for you two earlier.” She places a hoof on Twilight’s head and smiles.

“While I’d love to stick around and shoot the shit, I think we ought to be going now.” You firmly shove Diamond’s hoof off of Twilight’s head. Taking your roommate by the hoof, you head back towards the door.

Diamond Charmer scoffs, “No need to leave, fresh meat. I mean, you haven’t even seen what this house has to offer other than food.”

Rainbow Dash butts in, “I’m not gonna lie, this place is a little lame. I mean, you all act like stuck-up rich ponies. What kind of politics is that?”

Everypony at the table sends her an angry and insulted glare. Rarity stamps her hoof and cries, “How dare you insult us like that! We are simply a house that cares about class and appearance, something you obviously have no knowledge of, you barbaric mare!”

You place a hoof firmly on Rarity’s shoulder and look her straight in the eye. You say, “Exactly. You’re all stuck up. I thought this house was supposed to be a political power, but you all seem to be living the high life.” You turn back toward the door one last time. You laugh, “Oh, and if you insult Rainbow again, you’re going to have a problem with me.”

Rarity’s jaw drops at what she assumes is a threat. Diamond giggles, “Well then, sounds to me like she can’t fight her own battles. Need to have your coltfriend stand up for you, fresh meat?”

Rainbow’s hoof hits the table as she screams, “You trying to start something, lady? Why don’t you come over here and say that?”

Ditzy places a hoof gently on Rainbow’s shoulder and whispers, “Calm down, Dash. She isn’t worth it.”

Rarity scoffs, “I would never imagine an Admin hanging around with such an uncivilized pony. How in Equestria did she manage to catch your eye?” She looks back and forth between you and Rainbow.

You retort, “I’d rather hang around with an uncivilized ‘barbarian’ than a bunch of stuck-up snobs. What exactly makes ponies want to be around you all? The money? The pull with the Admins thanks to Diamond?” You find yourself getting angrier as you speak.

Twilight sighs, “I have to agree with him, Ms. Rarity. If you didn’t have Ms. Charmer’s pull with the Admins and weren’t so rich, I don’t think most of the students here would be able to stand being around you.” You give her an impressed and approving nod.

Diamond laughs, “Oh well. She does have those things, so does it truly matter what would happen if she didn’t? If you don’t want to be here, leave. The rest of us are going to enjoy our opening ceremony.”

“I ain’t going anywhere until she takes back what she said!” Rainbow leaves her hoof planted firmly on the table.

The rest of the group of party guests sit back and listen to the petty argument that their president and vice president are allowing themselves to get involved in.

Rarity giggles, “If you are waiting for an apology then you are backing up, fresh meat. I have no obligation or reason to apologize to you. We’ve spoken nothing but the truth.”

Something in your head clicks. You laugh, “You have money and influence, sure. You have your fancy unicorn magic. But I bet there’s one thing none of you can do. In fact, only one pony has ever been able to do it.” You send a sly smirk right at Rainbow and wink.

She immediately realizes what you’re getting at and groans, “No, man! Don’t say it!”

“Have you ever seen a Sonic Rainboom?” You ignore Rainbow’s objections and continue on with the ace up your sleeve.

Rarity and Diamond share curious looks. The latter of the two asks, “A sonic what?”

Ditzy walks up beside you and cheers, “A Sonic Rainboom! It’s like an explosion of sound and color mixed together! It’s really awesome!”

Twilight cocks her head to the side and asks, “Is that even possible? A sonic boom is made by breaking the speed of sound, and a rainbow is made from different wavelengths of light side by side… Light travels faster than sound, so is it possible to make them both happen at the same time?”

You, Rainbow, and Ditzy send the unicorn very puzzled looks. Focusing on the question she had asked, you laugh, “It totally is possible. I watched it happen with my own two eyes. It was just a few years ago, back at Flight Camp. Rainbow was racing a bunch of jerks that were picking on another one of our friends. She left them in the dust and crossed the finish line at record speeds.”

Rarity asks, “Are you trying to tell us that that insufferable hoodlum created something as amazing as this ‘Sonic Rainboom’?” She waves a hoof dismissively at the cyan Pegasus.

With a look of uncertainty, Rainbow says, “I sure did! And I’ll do it again if you don’t believe me!”

Diamond claps her hooves and laughs, “I’d love to see that! In fact, UFABÉ house could host a show for the entire campus, just for your Sonic Rainboom, fresh meat!”

Rainbow swallows the lump in her throat and chuckles, “That’d be great! I’ll show all of you snobs just what I can do!”

“So it’s settled then? I will officially endorse this ‘Sonic Rainboom’ of yours and get the show hyped up. As a matter of fact, we can celebrate the last day of Summer Vacation with the show. We can all go to class the next day with the memory fresh in our minds.” Rarity cheers and claps her hooves. She’s already planning the show in full detail.

Ditzy cheers, “Yay, a whole show just for you, Dash!” She hugs her friend excitedly.

You notice the expression on Rainbow’s face and laugh, “It’ll be a fun show. You’ll do fine.”

Twilight smiles and giggles, “I’m interested to see just what this Sonic Rainboom really is.”

Rainbow fakes a laugh, “Yeah, I’m looking forward to it!”

Just as suddenly as you were all corralled into the room, the party is dismissed and everypony rushes from the building to spread the word about the show Rainbow Dash will be doing the day before classes start. Word spreads fast, and it’s suddenly the talk of every student in the school. Whereas every student is super excited for the amazing feat that is supposed to be the Sonic Rainboom, Rainbow is secretly filled with dread of the moment she would have to perform her stunt.

You can see in her eyes that she’s nervous about the stunt. In fact, you realize that you threw all this on her so suddenly that there’s no way she could possibly be prepared for the feat. At the same time, you think about how fast the last two days flew by, and decide that you may have just set her up for failure. You wonder just how the show might turn out.

What if she can’t build up enough speed? What if things break from the force of the sonic boom? What if Rainbow gets too tired or nervous and ends up hurting herself? You think about all these things before you sigh…

“What have I gotten her into this time?”

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