The four of you are greeted with a cheerful voice as you follow the crowd away from the UFABÉ building. As the massive group of ponies slowly disperses, a familiar mare approaches you with a smile stretched wide across her face. Compared to the company of Rarity and Diamond, this mare is wonderfully welcome to join you.

Daisy cheers, “Seeing your expressions, can I assume I was right?”

You look at her with a confused expression and ask, “Right about what? UFABÉ?”

“Yep! So was I?” She grins and stops right in front of your group, waiting for a response.

Rainbow scoffs, “They’re all a bunch of stuck up snobs!” She still has indignant anger at what Diamond said to her earlier fresh on her mind.

Ditzy sighs, “Yeah, I don’t really like them. Especially their president, she’s really disrespectful…” She shrugs her shoulders and thinks back to how Rarity greeted them at the start of the party.

“Not saying I expected better company, but I was surprised by just how big of a snob the president really was.” You walk around the still-stopped Daisy in an attempt to continue moving forward.

She quickly darts around you and stops you in your tracks again. She giggles, “I told you they were bad! So the party didn’t go too well, I take it? I totally should’ve gone, just to see your reactions.” She adopts a scheming look on her face after saying that.

Twilight scoffs, “You’re lucky you decided not to. Even I thought she was stuck up, and look at me. But she was the kind of stuck up that you can’t possibly like…” She blushes as she realizes she just insulted herself.

“I always thought somepony should put them in their place. But what can you do except ignore them?” Daisy shrugs her shoulders and turns away from the group. She takes a long look at the sun in the sky before cheering, “You fellas feel like going for a little walk? I know a great place to watch the sunset, but it’s a decent ways away.”

You cock your head to the side and ponder watching the sunset after such a hectic party. You chuckle, “I’m game.” You turn toward the other three mares and ask, “How about you guys?”

Ditzy leaps into the air with a cheer, “Sounds like fun!” You can’t help but envy her constant optimistic demeanor.

Rainbow shrugs her shoulders and says, “It can’t hurt. I needa blow off some steam after that party, anyway.” She taps her hoof on the ground impatiently as she continues to think about Diamond’s comment.

Twilight simply nods her head in agreement without saying a word. You turn back to Daisy and nod, and before you know it, you’re following her down a small dirt path leading away from the residential buildings of the school. Before long, the five of you come up on a large lake on the eastern side of the campus. Right on the bank of the lake, a small outdoor café is set up for ponies to sit and enjoy themselves in.

Daisy cheers, “Welcome to Lake Damarescus, fresh meat! This is the one-stop-shop for all things summery! The lake is large enough that it’s split up into different sections for whatever you need. You can go swimming, fishing, boat-riding, and just so many other wonderful things!” She plops a hoof onto your shoulder and directs you to a small table right by the water’s edge.

She calls one of the café servers over to your table as you all sit and get comfortable. The server quickly gets to your table to take your orders. He cheers, “Welcome, ladies and gentlecolt. How can I help you this fine evening?” He pulls a notepad and pencil from the pouch at his side.

The sophomore of the group giggles, “Give us all some of the famous sundaes.”

You quickly interject, “I don’t think I can stomach anything else, after that party…”

She responds happily, “Don’t be so silly, fresh meat! You haven’t lived until you’ve had a Lake Damarescus Double Chocolate Banana Nut Sundae!” The other three mares in your company let out oohs of joy as the thought of an amazing sundae fills their heads.

The server says, “I take it that’s a ‘yes’ for the four mares. How about you sir?”

You sigh and, against your stomach’s wishes, say, “Might as well. It’s just a sundae, it can’t hurt.” Your stomach immediately responds with what you would assume is an annoyed growl.

The server jots down the order and cheers, “Alrighty then, should be out in about five minutes!” He quickly trots away to deliver the order to the small building a few yards away.

The five of you all sit and exchange small talk for a few minutes in anticipation of the sundaes that you’ve ordered. As a group of mares passes by your table, they stop to examine the ponies sitting at it. After a few seconds of being stared at, you start to say something.

But one of the mares interrupts you with a gasp, “You’re that new admin, right? The one that tried to crash the UFABÉ party?” She points an excited hoof right at you.

You’re caught off guard by the title of ‘party-crasher’, but managed to stutter, “Uh…y-yeah, I guess. What’s it matter?” You sit back in your seat and return to the calm state you were in before.

Another of the group laughs, “You sure didn’t take any crap from Lady Rarity! It’s about time somepony stood up to that snob!” She then turns her attention to the cyan Pegasus of the table. She cheers, “And you’re the pony that’s supposed to do that awesome trick at the show, right?”

Rainbow groans, “Yeah…that’s me…” She still isn’t too certain about doing the Sonic Rainboom in front of all the students in the school.

Daisy claps her hooves and laughs, “I guess word spreads pretty fast in this school! I’ve never really noticed before.” She manages to calm down before addressing the group of mares. She sighs, “So what are you fellas doing here? I thought you had some Council meeting to attend.”

The third mare in the group moans, “It was just so boring! We couldn’t stick around the whole time…” She plops a hoof down on the table beside Ditzy.

The first mare scoffs, “Speak for yourself Cloud. I happened to enjoy listening to a bunch of nerds going on about stuff nopony cares about.” She pulls a chair from a neighboring table and sits beside the sophomore admin.

The admin rolls her eyes and sighs, “Those nerds are the ones keeping UFABÉ and POCA from running this place into the ground.” She perks her head up as she sees the server exiting the small building with a tray of sundaes in his hoof.

The second mare chuckles, “Of course you’d be down here for a sunset sundae. The show’s about to start.” The four of you freshmen share uncertain looks at the word ‘show’.

It’s at this time you suddenly realize that there are voices flooding your ears aside from the seven ponies gathered at your table. You look around to see the lakeside covered in crowds of ponies, all sitting in a way that allows them to seek the lake clearly. You raise an eyebrow and ask, “Why’s everypony crowding around the lake?”

The four non-freshmen glare at you with disbelieving expressions. Just as the server reaches your table, Daisy exclaims, “You gotta be kidding! You don’t know about the Lake Damarescus Luminescent Ladybugs?” You simply stare back at her with a blank expression.

Twilight raises a hoof and asks, “The Lake Damarescus what? I haven’t read anything about that before…” The two Pegasi of the table nod in agreement.

Daisy scoffs, “The Lake Damarescus Luminescent Ladybugs! They’re only the most beautiful and popular insects this side of Canterlot!” She takes her sundae from the server, and the rest of you follow suit. The three new mares order their own sundaes and the server sets off to place the order immediately.

The mare that had been addressed as Cloud giggles, “The LDLLs have a reputation for being the most hypnotizing thing ever, even more so than the Sweet Apple Acres Super Sizzling Spicy Cider! If you’ve never seen them before, prepare to have your mind blown!” She places an excited hoof on Ditzy’s head and lets out a deep breath.

Suddenly, a loud voice echoes over the ponies on the lakeside. A mature stallion’s voice cheers, “Welcome ladies and gentlecolts, to the spectacular show that is the Lake Damarescus Luminescent Ladybugs! I would ask that you all turn your attentions toward the center of the lake, and remain silent during the show. Please no flash photography or sudden movements! Thank you, and enjoy!” All the Pegasi lift up in the air instantly so as to get a better view of the show.

The three of you sitting at the table decide to do the same. You hold Twilight in your hooves as you gently lift up in the air, not wanting her to miss the show.

Out on the center of the lake, small specks of light start sparking to life. Each speck is a different shade of all the colors of the rainbow, each with a unique beauty to them. The few lights plastered here and there across the lakeside turn off in respect of the bugs’ beauty. Before long, each little insect—thousands of tiny lights—are flying around all over the lake, landing gently on ponies before continuing their dance.

The bugs even take time to create pictures during their dance. The sun, the moon, the Elements of Harmony from the storybooks…the bugs form all these wonderful pictures. After a few minutes of the dancing, the insects gather together at the center of the lake in one giant ball. They lift up in the air and, mimicking an explosion, scatter hastily from the pack and spread all across the sky above the lake.

The bugs slowly flicker out one by one as they fly through the sky away from the crowd of awestruck ponies. All of the Pegasi land on the ground and resume any business they were handling before the show. You place Twilight in her seat and sit in your own. You lift the spoon from your sundae and put it to your mouth.

Just as you do, your sense of hearing dies. Your vision gets blurry, as if looking at something through the bottom of the lake. Suddenly, you find yourself paralyzed and unable to speak. You vision goes, and soon, you lose consciousness…