Twilight stands in the living room tapping her foot on the floor while Starlight lays on the sofa sighing, flicking through her phone.

"Edward is taking his time changing..." Twilight mumbles before looking back down the hallway, "have you managed to get 'him' out of his room yet?"

Starlight passes Twilight a deadpan expression which speaks volumes.

"He has been... Difficult. Seems he and his sister really love that stuff... Like, obsessively, love that stuff... I don't blame him but at the same time... I want my fresh pancakes." Starlight sighs before stretching.

"Doing a little research, it's not actually very alcoholic compared to other recipes out there. It's not particularly weak by any means, using a fine blend of Cinder's Cider in combination with a neatly blended then strained strawberry fruit punch. They recommend it's served chilled, I honestly cannot argue with their results of Cinder's Fruit Punch." Twilight explains as she folds her arms.

"I'll go talk to him in a minute... Don't you find it strange that the clothes Jerry picked for us in the mine were identical to the clothes we wore from Equestria?" Starlight asks while sitting up.

Twilight strokes her chin and ponders this for a few minutes, running through some theories before shaking her head.

"I have a few theories in mind but... I'd either not want to think about them or dismiss them entirely. Other theories have me cringing and praying an insane amount they aren't true." Twilight rubs her arms as she shivers upon thinking about some.

Starlight stands up before shrugging a little.

"Whatever the reason, we'll just have to ask. I'm now going to kick Alexander's ass out of bed." Starlight states before leaving down the hallway as Edward exits the bathroom.

"Good luck with that." Twilight shakes her head slightly as Edward enters the living room.

The man himself had opted for a cosplay of an anime character he'd previously mentioned to Twilight.

"Is he still in the room?" Edward asks, glancing back to their bedroom door where Starlight had vanished to.

"Seems so, he is still bummed about the fruit punch." Twilight states sighing deeply.

"Not too surprised, they didn't run out last year as far as I can remember. We'll be meeting Adam and Robert outside the club before going in for the party, it's spread between both the Illuminare Consortium and Fantasia to cover enough space. That said we'll just stick to the consortium for simplicity, Fantasia tends to be more flashy and such." Edward explains as the pair can hear a commotion from the bedroom.

"I'm not doing it." Alexander states in defiance.

"If you don't I'll start stripping." Starlight replies.

"How is that a countermeasure exactly?" Alexander questions sounding confused.

"You have a point, I won't then." Starlight counters trying to sound clever.

"Now you're just being cruel." Alexander comments before sighing.

After several more minutes, the two leave the bedroom, Starlight still clothed and Alexander also wearing a cosplay of another anime character while carrying their hat.

"There, job done." Starlight passes Twilight wearing a smile, her mentor shaking her head again.

"So it would seem... We should think about leaving soon if we wish to make the best time." Twilight points out as the time approaches the evening.

"You going to be okay?" Edward asks looking at an unamused Alexander.

The man in question simply sighs before putting on his hat and moving to leave the dorm room.

"Let's get this over with." Alexander states before leaving.

Edward sigh deeply before he and the girls follow Alexander, locking the door behind them.

Inside the Illuminare Consortium Alexander has his head on the table with his hat beside him. Sitting either side of the booth table is Edward and Twilight opposite Adam, who was wearing a third anime character outfit and Robert who had opted for a very gothic trench coat styled attire which matched his familiar.

"It didn't work... It did not work..." Alexander groans deeply against the table.

Starlight sighs from the other side of Alexander.

"Must be following your example..." She rubs the bridge of her muzzle.

"It was a decent entrance," Robert states making Alexander glare up at him before laying his head back down. "Okay, it was pretty terrible..."

Leaning back in his seat Alexander sighs before teleporting out of the booth and begins heading towards the bar.

"Make sure he doesn't kill anyone." Edward states as he throws Starlight a bag of strawberry liquorice.

"Why does it always have to be-" Starlight is cut off by a chocolate chip cookie which is levitated into her mouth.

"Because." Twilight states with a slight smile as Starlight swallows her cookie.

The mare sighs before teleporting out of the booth and follows Alexander. The two in question high five before taking a swig of their individual drinks.

"That escalated quickly... Speaking of which, what is the deal between those two?" Adam asks drinking his drink through a straw fed under his mask.

Twilight looks in the direction of the recently departed pair and ponders it a little.

"A very good question on the best of days. Even as her mentor, I'm not entirely sure what either of them intends with the other. I think they have the potential, but neither seems to be willing to make the final move..." Twilight strokes her chin as her eyes begin to hatch a plan.

"Hmm it certainly seems that way, it might take something chaotic to push either one past the gap they seem to have put between them." Robert comments taking a sip of his bottle.

Alexander sits down at the bar before attempting to look over their selection when a low noise grabs his attention from the left.

"If you're going to try and sell me another sundial..." Alexander looks towards the noise to see Jerry sitting beside him.

"Alex, my friend/best customer, of course not," Alexander gives him a deadpan expression. "But! I might have something else you'd be interested in."

Alexander shakes his head and fully turns to Jerry before being presented a bottle of Cinder's Fruit Punch.

"I thought you were out?" Alexander asks taking the bottle, confused.

"We were, the actual emergency stash comes into port within a couple of hours. This is from... a Personal collection I have in case of 'rainy days'." Jerry smiles as he tips his hat slightly.

"Thanks, I imagine you already gave one to my sister? She gets more grouchy than I do." Alexander asks as he removes the cap to take a very satisfying swig of the delicious beverage.

"Naturally, she was very thankful as you can imagine. Hey, have you noticed it getting colder lately and I don't mean because of winter?" Jerry asks sipping his whisky gently.

Alexander raises an eyebrow before thinking about it.

"Not really, but I don't mind the cold so I wouldn't notice if I'm honest." Alexander answers before taking a few more mouthfuls.

"Hmm, okay. Might just be my imagination, least I hope it is." Jerry finishes his whiskey.

Alexander stands up to stretch before picking his fruit punch up again.

"Well, I shall be getting back to the others now, thanks for the bottle, Jerry." Alexander pats Jerry's shoulder.

"Of course. Oh, congratulations by the way." Jerry also stands up and moves slightly.

Alexander looks confused before he turns around to spot Starlight walking towards him before a nearby Shana yawns and extends a well-placed foot to trip her up into Alexander making him stumble backwards. Jerry's new placement allows him to trip Alexander as he stumbles, putting the pair on the floor while grabbing the bottle to put on the bar. At this current moment, Vivienne throws a random song onto the turntables as the pair, who have been tripped over to land onto the floor, muzzle to mouth as they were forced into a kiss neither seemed eager to move from nor end anytime soon. Shana strolls over to take a seat beside her brother as he pours them both a glass of whisky before they toast to a job well done.

"It's all in the wrist, you see." Jerry smiles as they drink.

Author's Notes:

Okay, another slightly short late chapter, I had some complications and stuff come up which delayed it a bit. This shouldn't become a thing and hopefully, the next arc will be more on time. Speaking of which this chapter marks the end of the 'Halloween Town' arc and makes way for the next arc which will be introduced in the following chapter. I can give you all a little tibbit which might pique your interest, we plan to play around with the Nightmare Force and some negative stuff which should be fun. It'll be a decently long arc and we hope to see you next time.