I gently combed my still wet hair, making sure I look as presentable as possible. Today is the day I have been nervous about, the fancy party Pinkie invited me to. After putting my comb down, I took a good look in the mirror. My black hair was neatly combed back and the fancy suit I was wearing was put on as best as I could. I suppose I am as physically ready as possible, but I am not quite ready mentally. I am nervous at how things might end up. This isn't just a normal party and I'm worried I might end up screwing things up. I took a relaxing breath, as I left the bathroom. Just have to stay calm and hopefully things end up going ok.

I nervously walked up to Pinkie's door and after a moment of hesitance, finally knocked on it. Pinkie and I agreed to meet up at her house so we could go together. I wonder what kind of dress she has. My thoughts were answered when the door opened. She was wearing a dress in various shades of blue that matched her eyes very well. There were a few pink heart symbols in the middle and a few different colored balloons on the bottom. She also had a matching pair of blue heels with a symbol of three balloons, two blue and one yellow and her hair was in a long poofy ponytail. I found myself blushing at how beautiful she looked.

"Hello Mark..." She began before stopping when she looked at me.

I noticed her cheeks redden, as she just stared blankly at me for a few moments. I shook my head and managed to shake off my blush.

"Pinkie."

"Y-yes I will," She quickly and nervously blurted out.

"You'll what?"

"Oh!" She shouted nervously while her blush darkened, "Nothing. It wasn't like I imagined you asking me out or anything."

"Ok," I responded awkwardly

After regaining her composure, Pinkie walked right up to me and grabbed my right hand, "Come on Marky. Rarity wants us to be on time," She then began leading, well, more like dragging me with her in complete excitement.

Glad to see one of us is excited about this. Ok calm down Marcus. You are going to a fancy party with a beautiful girl as your date. I should try to be excited and enjoy this as much as I can.

Pinkie led me to a large fancy building that had a lengthy line leading to the entrance. Everyone was wearing fancy outfits and waiting patiently for entrance. I could see two security guards, with an attractive young woman in the middle, with a clipboard in her hands.

"Oh, Marky, isn't this so exciting?" Pinkie asked me excitedly.

"Yes, I suppose it is."

"I bet Rarity is excited too! She had been working hard preparing dresses to impress potential clients. It will be great to see her hard work pay off."

So that's the whole point of this party. Hopefully it goes well for Rarity, and she manages to get plenty of clients to help her aspiring business.

"That's nice."

"Yep, and I can't wait to introduce you to her."

Finally, we made it to the front of the line, and I began to feel a little nervous. I took a quick breath to calm my nerves. For some reason a part of me is a little fearful that I won't be allowed in. No, I can't think like that. Surely, Pinkie has an invitation and has the right to bring a plus one. She wouldn't lie to me, and I doubt she would be mistaken about such a thing.

"Invitations?" The lady asked us.

Pinkie pulled out a golden piece of paper from her hair and handed it to the lady. She blinked in either recognition or surprise from where Pinkie got the invitation from. Most likely both, as she simply nodded.

"Ah you're one of the special invites and this must be your plus one," She turned to look at me, making me a little nervous, before turning back to Pinkie, "Aren't you a lucky one. Plenty of girls are going to be envious."

I found myself blushing at her words for a brief moment. What did she mean by that? It couldn't have been about my appearance, could it?

"Oh yes I am," Pinkie agreed with a giggle as I felt her tighten her hold on my hand.

"Well, come on in you two."

I took another relaxing breath as Pinkie led me inside. I just have to stay calm and try to enjoy myself. I can do this.

We entered a fancy looking room, with plenty of fancy looking people socializing. There were plenty of tables with fancy looking food in the corners and a couple of expensive glass statues as scenery. I looked around to find Pinkie's friends and sure enough I quickly spotted a certain Rainbow haired girl, who was wearing a simple Rainbow-colored dress with matching fancy shoes.

"Come on Marky, let's meet with the girls," Pinkie suggested before leading me.

"Yes, let's."

As we got closer to the girls, I began to hear Rainbow complaining.

"The things I do for friends."

"Oh, pipe down Rainbow. Wearing a fancy dress ain't going to kill you," Applejack scolded the girl.

"I figured you would be on my side," Rainbow countered with her arms crossed.

Applejack shook her head, "I don't like it any more than you do, but we are supporting Rarity. You know, being loyal."

"You had to go there?" Rainbow asked in frustration.

"Yep."

"Hey girls," Pinkie shouted, getting their attention.

The girls quickly turned, and I noticed only Rainbow, Applejack, Sunset, and Fluttershy were here.

"Hey Pinkie," Applejack greeted before she noticed me and her cheeks redden a bit, "O-oh Howdy Marcus. You're looking great."

"Thanks. You look great yourself," I responded awkwardly.

She was wearing a simple green dress that matched her eyes, with three symbols of apples on the bottom, with matching fancy boots. It really suited her actually and she even had a green scrunchy instead of her usual red. I looked at the others and their cheeks were slightly red as well. Rainbow was the first one to regain her composure and walked right up to me.

"Sup, dude. You really clean up well."

"Yeah, so do you Dashie."

"Please. I always look awesome. Now I am just twenty percent more," She bragged in mocked offense.

"Says the girl I overheard complaining about this," I quipped, causing everyone except Rainbow to laugh

"Yeah," Rainbow began awkwardly with an embarrassed blush, "Well, I realized it isn't so bad," She continued before whispering, "well... that... you're..."

"What was that?" I asked.

"Nothing. Just with my friends it won't be so bad." She answered quickly and nervously.

"Whatever you say Dashie."

"Well, what do you know Rainbow? You found someone who can match you," Applejack commented with a chuckle.

"Please. He just got lucky," Rainbow defended.

"Anyway, while it's nice to know you can keep a certain someone in check," Sunset told me before walking right up to me.

Sunset's dress was the most interesting one I have seen yet. It had the appearance of red and yellow flames, and she was wearing black fancy boots with a symbol of a red and yellow flaming sun. Her long hair was in a flame styled ponytail.

"Hey!" Rainbow shouted in frustration.

"Nice to see you again. You know Pinkie is lucky she is with you. Like they said you do look great," Sunset told me.

"Yep, I really am!" Pinkie cheered as she embraced me.

I turned to the last girl of the group who nervously walked right up. She was wearing a light-blue dress with symbols of butterflies and pink strap on open-toed shoes. There was even a butterfly accessory in her hair.

"Oh. Hi. Is the dog you adopted doing well?" She asked me.

"Yeah, he's still an excited little pup."

"Oh goody. I hope you two will be happy together," She responded, sounding calmer and happier.

"Hey. I just realized. Where's Rarity?" Pinkie asked.

"She's preparing for her dress showcase. She said she will meet us here before it's showtime," Rainbow answered before rolling her eyes, "I will never understand her interests."

"I don't either, Rainbow, but you should be more supportive. Again loyalty," Applejack told her.

"I am loyal. Doesn't mean I have to kiss up to her and her interests."

"I'm not telling you to!" Applejack responded before shaking her head.

"Hello girls. Sorry for the wait, but I had to make sure everything was perfect," A voice called out.

The girls and I turned around and were greeted by the sight of a white skinned girl, with expertly curled purple hair, with a hair clip in the shape of three blue diamonds, wearing a fancy blue dress, with matching diamonds in the center and matching high-heel shoes. Despite being around my age she was walking in those shoes like an expert.

"About time you showed up, Rarity," Rainbow complained with a scowl.

"You can't rush perfection Rainbow."

"You can when it's me," Rainbow scoffed with a cocky grin.

"Rainbow, darling we all can't be you," Rarity simply responded before turning to the others, "Anyway, everything is perfect and ready to go. I hope it goes well."

"Don't be silly, Rarity. I may not understand this, but I know you are the best at what you do."

"Thank you, Applejack. You know it's hard for me to get inspiration and come up with new designs," Rarity responded with a sigh, "I am hoping to find someone creative who could help me come up with ideas."

"Don't worry Rarity. You'll figure something out," Sunset assured her.

"I hope so," She replied before she noticed me.

She paused and her eyes widened a bit. Her cheeks turned a light shade of Pink, which was very noticeable on her white face. After a moment of awkwardness, I decided to be the one to talk first.

"Hello."

She shook her head and regained her composure, "Oh. Hello Darling. You must be Marcus, Pinkie's plus one. I have heard about you from the others and it's nice to finally meet you face to face," She responded before holding out her hand.

It wasn't held out in position for a handshake, which confused me for a brief moment, before remembering I was at a fancy party and meeting a girl that's into this kind of thing. Well, here's hoping I don't find a way to screw something simple like this up. I gently took her hand in mine and gently kissed it. I realized too late that I may have misread that. Here's hoping I didn't.

"Oh my. You are the first boy to actually do what I wanted," She began with a smile, "You sure know how to pick them Pinkie."

"Aw. Thank you, Rarity."

"Look dude you better never do that to me," Rainbow told me before cringing in disgust.

Rarity rolled her eyes, "Oh Rainbow. One of these days when you meet the right boy you will think differently."

Rainbow looked at me for a second before turning back to Rarity, "Yeah, well, we'll see,"

Rarity took out her phone, "The showcase will start in a few minutes. I better go," She then began to go on her way.

"Come on we better get going if we want a good view," Sunset told us before leading us.

We were all standing in front of a stage, waiting patiently for the start of the showcase. A moment later Rarity appeared from behind the curtain and gracefully walked to the podium.

"Good evening, everyone. Thank you all for coming. It has always been my dream to own my chain of Boutiques and I am honored to have the opportunity to share some of my own passion projects in hopes you all are interested in helping me achieve my dreams. Now I have worked long and hard on the examples I am about to show you. Please enjoy." Rarity announced before the curtain was raised, revealing a few models, wearing different dresses.

I found myself amazed and began to look at the dresses as much as I could. I found myself getting many ideas of different designs just from those few. I really wished I brought my notebook with me so I can sketch them out while they are fresh in my mind. Sadly, even if I did bring it, I would be too embarrassed to start drawing in public. Looks like I am going to have to wait and hope I can keep these ideas in my mind.

"Well, that's the show. Thank you everyone for coming and please continue to enjoy yourselves. The evening is still young, so feel free to stay a while." Rarity announced snapping me from my thoughts.

"That wasn't that bad I guess," Rainbow commented.

"Well, it was fairly quick. Rarity didn't exactly have that many examples," Sunset pointed out.

"It's probably for the best. I have always been one for quality over quantity," Applejack defended.

"Well, I am just happy Rarity is one step closer to her dream and she managed to make such awesome dresses," Pinkie stated in excitement.

"That went well, didn't it?" Rarity asked, approaching us.

"Of course, it did Rarity. I am sure you are going to get tons of clients," Sunset assured her.

"Now I just have to hope I can keep on coming up with new wonderful ideas. Now why don't we all relax and chat a bit."

The girls and I were standing near a snack table and upon closer look the food seemed so fancy I couldn't recognize most of them. Oh well I wasn't hungry anyway and I can wait until I get home. I noticed Pinkie pull out a cupcake from her hair and took a bite.

"Thank you, girls, again for coming here and supporting me," Rarity began before looking at me, "Oh and you too Marcus darling. Don't want to forget about you."

I simply nodded.

"That's what friends are for Rarity. They always support each other no matter what." Applejack stated before looking at Rainbow.

"What? Despite my complaints, I showed up and stayed, so I am loyal," Rainbow stated somewhat bitterly while crossing her arms.

"Yeah, I'll give you that one." Applejack conceded.

Rainbow only huffed in response.

"So, Marcus, did you happen to enjoy the show?" Rarity asked me.

"Oh. Yeah, the dresses looked great," I answered nervously, remembering how I spaced out during the whole show.

"Oh really. Since you like dresses so much, you must enjoy wearing them," Rainbow teased with a chuckle.

I blushed in embarrassment for a brief moment while the girls chuckled, before I managed to regain my composure.

"Oh, and what if I do Dashie?" I asked, faking annoyance, "You don't have a problem with cross dressers, do you?"

"Well... I," She tried to say as I walked right up to her.

Gathering all of my courage, I gently placed a hand on her left cheek, "Especially, those that could likely do the look better than you ever could. Aren't you envious?"

"No, I'm not," Rainbow stuttered completely red in the face, "I have no problems with cross dressers and... You were joking, weren't you?"

"Yep, like you." I responded before removing my hand from her face and giving her a grin.

"No, fair. I had you," She complained with another cute pout.

I and the rest of the girls laughed.

"Like I said Rainbow, you met your match." Applejack told the fuming girl.

"Yeah, yeah. This isn't over."

I simply gave her a challenging grin which she returned. The girls and I spent the rest of the party making small talk with one another.

It was night by the time Pinkie, and I left the building. I pulled my phone out and was happy to find it was only eight. There was plenty of time for dinner.

"Thank you for coming with me, Marky," Pinkie told me.

"No problem."

"Did you have fun?"

"Yes, I actually did," I answered honestly.

Talking with the girls and messing with Rainbow a little bit was all kinds of fun. It certainly seems like I could have fun with these girls. Maybe I should try to get to know them and spend more time with them. I will try to keep that in mind in the future.

"I'm glad," She began before nervously looking back at me and her shoes a few times, "T-there's something I want to give you."

"What?"

"Well," She began before moving her face closer to mine.

Wait, is she going to do what I think she is going to do? When her face was about an inch away from mine, she stopped. I felt my face heat up, as I stared at her lips. I think I am about to be kissed by an adorable girl and I don't quite know how to react.

"I... Well, thank you," she told me before she pressed her lips onto mine.

It only lasted a couple seconds at the most, but it felt much longer than that. Not that it was a bad thing. In fact, it was quite pleasant. When she released, I wanted nothing more than to feel those soft lips again.

"Well, I'll see you later," she told me nervously with blushing cheeks before she left.

I was still stunned, so I didn't even respond. I barely noticed she left, and I found myself still wondering what just happened. Great, I just got official confirmation that she does have a crush on me. Now I have to figure out what to do about it.

The first event chapter I set up to and it in turn will set Marcus on to form more relationships in the future.

Next chapter: The friendship games is approaching and what part will Marcus play in them.