Chapter 16: What Are Friends For?

The next day definitely was an interesting one to say the least. Luna woke up relatively later than what she was used to, due to her being in a rather content sleep from the events that transpired the night before. Her eyes fluttered open and a smile instantly etched itself on her face as she stretched her arms and legs out, ready to tackle and start the new day. She flung the sheets and covers off of her and put on more presentable attire… a tank top and some pajama shorts would do nicely. She then brushed all the knots out of her hair to also make it look presentable and instill its natural movement. Satisfied with the result, she checked the time: eleven o’clock… wow… she really did sleep pretty late. She then opened her door and exited out. Upon closing her door behind her she was met with the six faces of her closest friends, all bearing the same gleaming smile and twinkle in their eyes… just staring right at her. It was really creepy to her.

“Ummm… can I help you girls?” Luna asked in an uneasy manner, prepared to dart back into her room if necessary. Twilight was the first to speak:

“So… how did it go?” she asked in a very high voice with apparent excitement and enthusiasm, their grins never faltering once.

“Ummm… it went pretty well… actually,” Luna responded in a slower manner, still very much weirded out.

“So, did you do the naughty hug?” Pinkie asked at a hundred miles an hour, starting to bounce lightly.

“Did I what?” Luna asked, completely confused and still not used to modern slang and euphemisms.

“Pinkie, that’s enough,” Rarity instructed, attempting to diffuse the situation immediately. But Pinkie ignored her.

“You know! Did he take the skin boat to tuna town?”

“PINKIE!” Twilight yelled, completely flushed red and facepalming. Fluttershy turned away, the rest became horrified, and Luna was still completely oblivious.

“Pinkie, what are you…”

“Luna don’t be silly! Dip the corndog? Hanky Panky? Dippity Doo Da? Meat Inject—”

“PINKIE SHUT IT!” Rainbow Dash yelled, forcing a hand on her mouth.

“I don’t even…” Luna was beginning to say. Then she immediately picked up on a voice in her head that told her something, Twilight picked up on this. Two seconds later Luna flushed red and her eyes widened.

“NO!.... NO! HELL NO!” Luna shouted out to her friends. Pinkie died laughing on the spot.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Pinkie!? It was the first date!” Luna exclaimed, still hitting herself for not understanding sooner.

“I’m sorry Luna… I just couldn’t resist. The look on your face was priceless!” Pinkie replied, still giggling. The rest of the girls rolled their eyes at her antics. Luna rubbed her temples and sighed audibly.

“But yes, last night went very well. It was easily one of the better nights in my life, hands down,” Luna continued. The six beckoned her over to take a seat in the middle of the common room. Luna then began to go over the night’s events and what took place, over some breakfast.

“And then we began dancing to a slow tempo song… It was so much fun,” Luna said in a somewhat dreamy manner. The girls each expressed their own form of silent approval.

“So… did ya kiss?” Applejack asked. This was a much more chaste inquiry, but even so, Luna couldn’t help but withdraw a bit. Part of her hair covered her eye and she nodded with a smirk on her face.

“Awwww…” said all the girls in unison.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Dash spoke up in her usual manner. Luna giggled lightly.

“Yes, indeed we did. And then a second time after he walked me back here,” Luna added.

“Wow! You two are doing pretty well so far, if I may add,” Fluttershy spoke. Luna sighed in content as idle chatter continued for a little while amongst the girls. Then a realization hit.

“Luna, you’ve got less than a week left with us…” Rainbow Dash spoke.

“Yes… there is less than a week left of my forced pardoning, isn’t there?” Luna mused.  

“Well, is there anything you wanted to do today?” Twilight asked. Luna began thinking for a moment. She had not been given a choice, really, this entire time that she was ‘serving her sentence.’

“Ugh I don’t know to be completely honest… I mean… would you all like to just go to lunch or something?” Luna asked. She didn’t feel like doing anything extravagant today, and it seemed like the rest of the girls agreed as well. With that, Luna excused herself to get ready, coming back out redressed in a shirt and shorts.

“Let’s go, I’m absolutely starving,” Luna said, beckoning everyone out the door. As they were strolling along, making conversation about anything and everything, Luna realized that they were passing by a familiar part of Ponyville.

“Hey girls, this is actually where Seafire lives. Since we’re here, is it okay if I ask him if he wants to tag along?” Luna asked. The girls’ faces lit up at his mention.

“Yeah! Bring him along!” Dash yelled out. The other girls agreed vehemently. Luna merely rolled her eyes at their reactions.

“Good thing I snagged him… sheesh,” she thought to herself.

Luna walked up to Seafire’s house and knocked on the door a few times in quick succession.

“Come on in!” shouted a familiar voice from the inside, seemingly occupied at the moment. Luna obliged and opened the door just enough to peek her head in.

“Seafire?”

Seafire poked his own head out from a doorway at the mention of his name. His blank demeanor instantly became a happy one at the sight of her.

“Well, hey there!” Seafire exclaimed with a smile on his face.

“The girls and I were going out to lunch and we happened pass the area. We wondered if you wanted to join us?” Luna asked. Granted, they had only just seen each other the night before, but… who cares?

“That actually sounds quite lovely! I need to take care of a few things at the current moment, so could I possibly meet you there in about twenty minutes?” Seafire asked. Luna smiled at him being able to come along.

“Yes of course! We’re going to the Garden Café,” Luna responded, letting him know where to actually meet them.

“Awesome! I’ll meet you there when I can, love!” Seafire responded with a smirk and a wink. Luna giggled a bit before she slipped out the door.

“He’ll meet us there in about twenty minutes. Come on, let’s go!” Luna said, leading the group. She definitely had become more giddy/naturally elated recently, that’s for sure. Soon the group arrived at the Garden Café, a fairly expansive, outdoor seating venue which offered a variety of foods guaranteed to satiate any pallet and craving. The girls found appropriate seating accommodations, and at that moment, Rainbow Dash spotted a couple familiar looking girls.

“Hey guys, I’m gonna say hi to some friends, I’ll be right back,” Dash said before excusing herself to the next table over.

“Well, look who it is! Rainbow Dash!” said a red-haired, green eyed girl.

“Rose!” Dash replied as she embraced her high school friend.

“Oh, you don’t say hi to me?!” a black-haired, blue eyed girl, a little younger looking, interjected in mock anger. Both girls stood slightly shorter than Rainbow Dash and were easy on the eyes.

“Oh I couldn’t forget you, Tessa!” Rainbow Dash said with a giggle as the two of them embraced. The three girls made some idle chatter before a fateful question made itself known.

“So, girls, have there been any new boys in your lives lately?” Dash asked with a mischievous giggle.

“Eh, not really. There was this one guy that we’ve all been clamoring after for a while. Last time I heard he was snagged up by some girl at the club last week. His name’s Seafire,” Rose stated, clearly somewhat irritated. Rainbow Dash couldn’t stifle her chuckling.

“Oh Seafire? This lucky girl over here snagged him up,” Dash said mid chuckle, pointing towards Luna, gaining her attention. Oh… poor Dashie. She did not know the sequence of events she inadvertently just set off.

“Wah…?” Luna asked confusedly, witnessing herself being pointed at. Rose immediately hardened her glare at the Lunar Princess. It is truly a wonder where people had been gaining the massive courage to physically challenge the Princess of the Night.

“You… he’s hooking up… with you?” Rose said very aggressively. Luna was a bit stunned at the moment. Luna was not intimidated, but was actually quite confused as to what was going on. She was able to piece enough together though… some girls apparently take things too personally.

“I beg your pardon?” Luna asked, raising her eyebrow. The other girls were watching the situation very carefully, knowing Luna’s personality.

“Oh, no worries. I just simply can’t believe that Seafire would actually go after someone like you,” Rose replied very nonchalantly. Luna wasn’t in the mood for this right now. She had a wonderful date with Seafire last night and she would be damned if she let some other girls bring her down from that ‘high.’

“And just what is that supposed to mean?” Luna asked with more aggression in her tone of voice, standing up. The tension could literally be tasted around the area. Background conversations became a bit quieter to witness the unfolding event. Twilight and Applejack were ready to intervene, Rainbow Dash backed off in fear of collateral damage and realizing what she had said triggered this whole mess; shutting her mouth, while Rarity and Pinkie withdrew slightly. What no one saw was Fluttershy moving one of her hands under the table, starting to crack her individual knuckles, not averting her rare stoic gaze from the offending girls. Rainbow Dash was very tempted to tell the other girls off, but knowing Luna, once she was brought into a conflict, she would resolve it herself and not appreciate any other help unless needed.

“What she means is that despite what many may show, no one likes you! Celestia is our Princess, not you!” Tessa backed her friend up. Now it went from a quarrel over a guy, to an outright personal attack.

“Exactly, why don’t you just go back into hiding and not showing your face to Equestria, Nightmare Moon!” Rose finished, spitting venomously. Despite her own inner intuition and logic, Luna took that very personally. What everyone also failed to notice was Fluttershy’s patience wearing thin.

“Excuse me?!” a voice called out in surprised anger, interrupting the girls before Luna or even Fluttershy could reply. Everyone turned to meet the source of the voice, only to be confronted by the image of Seafire, dressed in a casual shirt and pants. No one responded, and apparently, he had heard plenty. Seafire walked forward towards the offending girls and began to speak again:

“What did you just say?” he asked with a scarily stoic demeanor.

“Oh, it’s not what I said that matters. What I’m implying is that you can do so much better than Nightmare Moon over here. Maybe I thought too highly of you…” Rose replied in a tone of voice so annoyingly arrogant that it made anyone within earshot want to gouge their eardrums out. Luna was too stunned at his entrance to intervene or say anything, same with Fluttershy. Seafire’s gaze never left the two girls, and his right eye twitched slightly. He took one deep breath, attempting to release some of his undoubtedly pent up anger, and then exhaled audibly.

“You know, I don’t quarrel with women. It’s against my nature to do so. But, when anyone attacks her,” he pointed to a stunned Luna, “my girlfriend, that is a personal attack on me…” Seafire said in an eerily low volume as he advanced closer.

“How dare you… how fucking dare you… refer to her by that name and with such malicious words,” Seafire began, gritting his teeth and pointing at the two girls to accentuate his point. Luna had never heard him curse before, telling her that he was very angry.

“YOU… are the type of women I do well to avoid every day of my existence. YOU are the type of moral scum that make our generation the laughing stock of our predecessors. There is a reason I’m not into harlots like yourselves, so in the future I suggest you stow your tongues. I mean… quarreling over a guy? Blatantly insulting another man’s girlfriend as a result of your miscreant temper-tantrums? You. Have. NO. CLASS! You two would be wise to piss off right now, and not say another word or you will be very, very sorry,” Seafire finished in a harshly reprimanding tone. It was very clear that he had dealt with similar people in the past and his patience was nearly nonexistent as a result.

“Yeah? Or what? The big high and mighty gentleman is going to hit us?” Tessa antagonized, testing the limits of his gentry. Seafire only smirked.

“I don’t strike girls. I… however, don’t think I can say the same thing for this lovely young lady right here,” Seafire said, motioning with his head to reveal Fluttershy standing up with her arms folded and a piercing gaze. The girls didn’t even notice her change in demeanor due to the situation. To put it very bluntly, Fluttershy was furious. She pushed her chair back and walked up to the belligerent groups, stopping right next to Seafire and staring the two girls down. Luna had helped her once at the club, fending off a guy who was harassing her. Fluttershy was not going to stand for the same treatment from a couple of twats towards Luna.

“This is your only warning. Leave. Now,” Fluttershy spat out coldly. She only offered the warning as a formality, knowing very well that they would not heed it.

“Awww, defending Nightmare Moon, are we? How about you make us leave the—” Rose began to say but was rudely interrupted when Fluttershy’s balled up fist collided squarely with her face in a very unexpected show of aggression. Before Tessa could even think about retaliating, Fluttershy used the momentum from her first punch to bring her left heel to her temple. The quarrel lasted a grand total of three and a half seconds, with four total hits: the two direct ones, and the two girls hitting the ground. There were a bunch of gasps from the surrounding tables, not to mention from their own friends! Seafire’s jaw dropped in both a sense of surprise and humor, while Luna was still trying to comprehend everything going on around her. The two offenders were on the ground writhing in pain and clutching their faces. Fluttershy knelt over both of them.

“THIS is what you GET for harassing my friends! Your twatery is not welcome here! Go be bitter whores somewhere else!” Fluttershy yelled in their faces very bluntly, not having the desire to formulate more artistic insults. She then stood back on her feet and looked at Seafire, who gave her a curt nod of approval and a smile. Fluttershy retreated slightly into her hair and blushed a bit, giving a signature look of appreciation back to him, looking just as innocent as she always would, adding to the situational irony. The two then went next to Luna to make sure she was emotionally intact. We, as people, may be considered very constitutionally strong and may not take offense to really anything. However, we can probably agree that there are a few things that would still make us tick the wrong way and could potentially build into something bad… the same went for Luna. One could tell that she was somewhat (even if it was miniscule) hurt at the comments.

“I’m fine girls, thank you for caring though,” she said with appreciation, latching onto Seafire who let her sit on his lap.

“I know those comments hurt you a bit, Luna. I could sense it, which is why I got so… angry,” Fluttershy began to say.

“I’ll say. We were all pretty furious about the situation and ready to intervene at a moments notice, but I must admit, Fluttershy took the cake,” Twilight added.

“Yeah… Luna, I’m sorry that I kinda pointed you out…” Rainbow Dash admitted shyly. Luna waved a dismissive hand.

“Think nothing of it Rainbow Dash; you couldn’t have known that they would have taken it so personally. Some people are so petty,” Luna mused. The entire group embraced her lightly. Even though she was one of the most powerful people (physically, magically, and status-wise) in all of Equestria, she liked to feel safe, just like she did now.

“Fluttershy?”

“Luna?”

“Thanks for sticking up for me,” Luna said with a smile and twinkle in her eye. Fluttershy returned it with a smirk.

“Consider it ‘returning the favor;’ and besides, what are friends for, Luna?” Fluttershy replied with a chuckle. Luna then turned to Seafire. Even though he was her boyfriend now, she still felt so shy around him.

“T-thank you for also sticking up for me…” Luna began to speak, her hair covering her eye again.

“Of course, babe. No one harms my Luna. No one,” he said in a very protective tone. ‘Babe’… she really liked the sound of that word coming from his mouth. She only smiled in return before pecking him on the cheek. At that moment, management of the restaurant came out to see what the ruckus was about.

“What the hell is going on out here?!” the manager shouted. Seafire raised his hand and pointed to the girls still struggling to sit up.

“The issue has been diplomatically resolved, good sir. We just have a situation of needing the trash taken out,” he explained with a smirk, winking to the other girls who laughed heartily. Management promptly ‘escorted’ the two downed girls out of the dining area, earning scattered applause from surrounding tables. The group was finally able to eat their lunch in peace and promptly spend the rest of the day together as one big happy group of best friends.

Just another day at the office.