I can't believe I'm doing this. I was perfectly fine with not trying to find a girlfriend while I'm still in high school. Now here I am, walking toward the front porch of Pinkie Pie's house after she practically tortured me to go to her darn party. At least getting hypnotized by Sunset Shimmer and The Dazzlings was quick and painless.

There's no point in turning back now, so I may as well get this over with. I make it to the front door, already hearing people chattering inside, but before I could ring the doorbell, the door flies open and reveals an excited Pinkie Pie.

"Rough Draft! You made it!!!"

Evidently, Pinkie Pie has been waiting for me.

Before I know it, Pinkie pulls me inside her house and leads me to the middle of the living room. It appears practically half of the school has already come and started hanging out, eating snacks, playing games and so on.

"Soooo, see any girls that might suit your interest?" I hear Pinkie Pie say with a not-so-subtle hint of anticipation in her voice. I hesitate before I respond.

"Actually, Pinkie, maybe I should grab a snack or something before I go that far," I answer. "I mean the night is still young, and there's no reason to hurry, right?"

"Oooo! That's a great idea!" says Pinkie Pie. "Get settled before looking around and finding someone to make a move on. How strategically sneaky. Well, don't let me stop you from melting some hearts. Go get 'em, tiger!"

She elbows me and gives me a wink before she walks away, leaving me to do whatever she said I'm going to do, I guess.

I walk over to the food table and grab some chips and punch before I make my way toward an empty wall to lean on. As I start eating, I decide to look around and see if there actually are some girls that could be worth humoring Caramel, Soarin, and Pinkie Pie. Unsurprisingly, there aren't any. Most of the girls that are at the party are with their boyfriends or in a big group. I sigh as I begin to contemplate how pointless this whole thing is. On the bright side, it can't get any worse than this.

"Hi, Rough Draft."

...It got worse.

With full control over my emotions, I slowly turn to find Sunset Shimmer standing right next to me. She gives this innocent, nervous chuckle that makes my blood boil. She already has nearly the whole school convinced about her 'reformation,' and now she's trying to make me believe that she has genuinely changed too so that she's even closer to her goal to use everyone again. I look away from her, staying focused on eating my food, hoping that will give her the message. But I can tell she's still there.

"Um...h-how are you?" she asks awkwardly. I keep a disinterested face, ignoring what she is saying. "Um, what's new with your stories? Destroyed any more Sith empires since facing Darth Jafierum lately?"

Seriously?! Trying to strike a conversation by pretending to be genuinely interested in my stories this time? That's kind of pathetic. Nice touch with mentioning the Sith Lord I was fighting in my stories at the time though. I reluctantly have to give her that.

"H-how about this party, huh? Pinkie Pie is outdoing herself this time. I hear Vinyl Scratch is going to bring her DJ booth mobile to play some tunes on the front yard later on."

Again, I ignore what she is saying.

"Um...would you like to dance with my friends and me when she comes here?"

I finally stop eating.

Really? Is she serious? Does she think that asking me to dance is going to make everything go away? Talk about nerve! I quietly take a deep breath before I slowly shake my head no.

"Oh. Okay. Well, I'll see you around then," he says in a seemingly sad tone before she walks away.

Wow. I am amazed that she tried that. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised seeing as how I'm one of the few people who still doesn't like her, but seriously. Giving this cute and innocent demeanor to try to get back on my good side is practically insulting to me. Even if for the sake of argument she really wants to make things better between us, I can't oblige her. It doesn't matter if she's good, she can't just try to patch things up by trying to start up a conversation or ask for a dance like that. It's just not going to work that way. I don't know. I don't want to dwell on this right now. I need to focus on the task at hand with trying to find someone else just to satisfy Caramel and So-

"Hey, Rough Draft!"

Speaking of the two.

Caramel and Soarin walk up, excited to see me.

"Thank heaven that you came, dude," Caramel says. "I was afraid you weren't going to come."

"Uh, yeah. Pinkie Pie convinced me to go." I reply.

"Oh yeah? How did she manage to do that?" Soarin asks.

I take a moment to think about that question before I answer with a shiver, "You don't want me to answer that."

Both of them stare at me, confused. They look at each other for a moment before they shrug.

"Well, alright then," Soarin starts, "Ready to go and find yourself a girl, Drafty, my man?"

I make an unamused look at what he just called me, but eventually, roll my eyes and say, "Well, I'm here now. Might as well give it a try, I guess."

"Yeah! That's close enough to the spirit!" Soarin exclaims "Come on. Vinyl Scratch arrived early and is about to start performing. There's already a crowd forming around her car, so let's go and look around over there."

He grabs me by the shirt and yanks me to the front door, making me drop my plate and cup.

Well, I was pretty much done with the punch and chips anyway.

****************************************************************************************************************

In the middle of the road right in front of Pinkie's house, the famous DJ in our school, Vinyl Scratch (also known by her stage name, Dj-Pon-3), parks her car in front of the house. Students crowd around it, anticipating what is going to happen. She takes out a remote, presses a button, and suddenly the car transforms. Different parts of the vehicle are moving around until it took the form of a DJ booth. The crowd roars with excitement as Pinkie Pie stands in from of the DJ booth with a microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready to rock!?!?!"

The crowd goes wild in response.

"Well...we're not going to rock."

The cheers die down as everybody stares in confusion.

"I mean it. We're not going to rock at all."

People start to look at each other, wondering what in the world she's saying. But she makes a short giggle before shouting, "We're going to really rock!!!!"

It takes a moment before the crowd begins to process what she said, and they eventually start to cheer louder than before.

"And without further ado, I give you the one, the only, the super, duper awesome DJ-Pon 3!!!!!"

The crowd goes even wilder as Vinyl Scratch starts placing vinyl discs into her DJ table and plays some music. Everyone dances as the loud beats blast from the speakers. How Pinkie Pie fails to receive noise complaints from her neighbors while Vinyl Scratch plays loud and proud is a question for which I may never have an answer to.

At the far back of the crowd, stood me, Soarin and Carmel. Soarin is tapping his foot while Carmel and I are staring at the crowd. I look at both of them before I finally ask, "Alright Cupids, so how do we go from standing at the very back of a huge crowd to finding a girl?"

Both Caramel and Soarin stop what they are doing and turn to me before Carmel puts a hand on my shoulder and starts to push me deeper into the crowd.

"Well...I think the first step is to get you into that crowd and start dancing," he admits while pushing me.

I take a moment to process what I heard mentally praying I didn't hear something so stupid before I stop him from pushing me further.

"What?"

"Yeah, man," Soarin adds. "Just dive right into that crowd, dance your way around, and do some awesome dance moves. You'll get the attention of the ladies in no time."

"Dude, I barely can dance," I say. "I don't know any moves that would be considered 'awesome.' Besides, there's little to no space to do anything."

"Aw come on dude," Soarin replies. "It can't be that hard to do. Plus even if you suck, the girls might like you anyway for your...uh...enthusiasm. Just take your best shot and don't turn back."

"Oh yeah right," I say, rolling my eyes. "Real good thinking guys. You two and Pinkie Pie convince me to come over here to dance into a crowd of people and hope for the best to find a girl to date. Pure genius."

"Come on Rough Draft," says Caramel. "You made it this far, so take whatever chance you have. The night is young, and there are countless girls out there. You're not going to find out unless you give it a try."

I rub my temples, unable to believe what I'm hearing. There has to be something better than this to make this whole thing worthwhile. But suddenly I get an idea that might do the trick.

"Well if you're so certain of that, then why don't you go over there and ask Rainbow Dash and Applejack to dance with you?" I say with a mischievous grin, pointing far into the right of the edge of the crowd where Rainbow Dash and Applejack are dancing with Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Sunset Shimmer.

Soarin and Caramel freeze. It takes a couple of seconds before they start to talk.

"Are you crazy?" Caramel exclaims. "I can't talk to Applejack period, let alone have the guts to ask her to dance with me!"

Soarin hesitates before he adds with a nervous chuckle, "And I don't think Rainbow Dash is interested in ...um... dancing with one of her teammates."

"Well tough luck on both counts fellas," I reply. "You just said that I'm not going to find out about finding a girl out there unless I give it a try. So if you're so certain about that, then why don't you prove it? I will carry out your questionable plan if you two ask Applejack and Rainbow Dash to dance with you."

Both of them stammer in response, trying to think of a way to counter my challenge. But in the end, they hang their heads in defeat, knowing I have them cornered.

"Well, what are you two waiting for? Hop to it," I say.

They look nervously at each other before they turn and walk toward their respective crushes.

"Good luck you guys!" I shout out to them, sincerely. I may have done this to get back at them, but I do hope this will lead to my friends getting together with their respective crushes.

Well, now that's taken care of, I guess I now have to fulfill my end of the bargain. The thing is, however, I wasn't kidding when I said I barely know how to dance. I get the idea that you are moving your body...and that's kind of it. I awkwardly walk toward the crowd telling myself that this whole thing is ridiculous. I stop walking for a moment and decide to take one look to see how Soarin and Caramel are doing. By the looks of things, Soarin has already asked Rainbow Dash, and she seems to have said yes and is coming into the crowd to dance. Caramel, however, wasn't having that much luck. He appears to be scratching the back of his head while trying to talk to Applejack. Thankfully, Applejack seems to be flattered at what he's trying to do while Rarity and Fluttershy are giggling and Sunset Shimmer is smirking. I begin to think about coming over there and helping hi -

Hang on. That's five of the Rainbooms. Where is-

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

I nearly jump out of my skin, screaming before I turn to see that Pinkie Pie is standing right behind me.

"You're not going to get a girl doing nothing, silly. Get out there and dance!"

"How do you know that's what I'm trying to do?" I ask

"Soarin told me your deal before he and Dashie went dancing. And I think that's an even sneakier idea to find yourself a lady friend then your last plan. You sly devil you!" she replies while giving me a noogie. Then she grabs me by the hand, dragging me closer to the crowd. "Now you get out there and amaze some ladies!"

"But Pinkie, I don't even really know how to dance!" I shout.

Pinkie stops pulling me for a moment and looks at me with an amused look on her face.

"Oh, that is super easy!" she says with a giggle. "Just move your body to the beat of the music. Bob your head, move your feet, wave your hands in the air, and shake your groove thing, easy peasy!"

I stare at her for at the moment, trying to process this information.

"Uh...okay, bob head, feet, hands...what was that last part?"

But before I get an answer, Pinkie Pie turns around and hears Vinyl Scratch beginning to play a new song. She squeals in excitement before she grabs my hand again, shouting, "Okay new song! Time to knock them dead! Go! Go! Go! Go!"

And the next thing I knew, I am yanked right into the sea of students in complete fear of what happens inside.

****************************************************************************************************************

I barely have an idea what in the world is going on. I'm in a cramped amount of space as near blurs of people are dancing all around me. I try to move away from everyone, but every step I take, I bump into someone. How do people enjoy this!?! Everyone is going crazy with these random movements in these very tight spaces, and I'm stuck in the middle of them just trying not to get smacked in the face with an arm or accidentally stepping on someone's foot. Screw finding a girlfriend, I just want to get out of here alive! How in heaven's name is this a good idea to find someone to date?

"Woohoo! Look at you go Rough Draft!"

I turn to see Pinkie Pie right next to me, doing some hopping dance.

"See? I told you dancing is super easy!"

"Pinkie I'm not dancing, I'm dodging!" I shout, trying to get her to hear despite the loud music.

"Ooh, your own dance move! The Dodger! Atta boy!" She shouts back in excitement.

I groan, unable to believe what she just said.

"Pinkie you are crazy! How is dancing in this short amount of space supposed to get someone to like me!?"

Pinkie Pie giggles before she exclaims back, "Oh you don't impress girls here you silly, you impress them by competing in dance-offs!"

"What!? What are you talking about!?"

"Every crowd of dancers always have some spots where people form a circle, and some of them go inside it and compete for who has the best moves! All we have to do is find one and prove that you're the best! And when you do, ladies will be so impressed that they'll want your phone number by the end of the night!"

"But I don't have any moves!"

"Yes, you do! You have the Dodger! Just keep on rocking it, and you'll be impressing ladies in no time!"

"Pinkie, I told you I am intentionally dodgi -"

"There must be a dance-off forming nearby! Stay here and keep shaking that groove thing while I find a good spot to show your moves!"

"What!? Pinkie, don't leave me! Pinkie! Pinkie! Pinkie Pie, you get back here right now!"

It was no use. That pink, maniacal girl disappeared as quick as she appeared, leaving me to fend for myself while bumping into people and accidentally stepping on their feet.

I hope Soarin and Caramel have a wonderful, lovely time with Rainbow Dash and Applejack because they are dead meat the next time I see them! ...if I even live to see them.

Thankfully, after what felt like an eternity, Pinkie Pie pops back right in front of me.

"I found just the right dance-off spot to get you started! It's currently a dance-off between Trixie and Flash Sentry! Those two don't stand a chance against The Dodger!"

"Pinkie will you please stop saying that?! It's not a dance mooOOOOOOAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!" I shout as she grabs my arm and pulls me through a bunch of people at a surprisingly fast pace.

I keep my eyes shut as we keep bumping into people left and right. I don't know how long we've been doing this, but before I know it, Pinkie Pie throws me into a somewhat spacey circle of people where Trixie and Flash Sentry are dancing. Trixie is doing what I think is called The Robot while Flash Sentry is doing some butt boogy.

I keep staring at them before Pinkie shouts from behind, "Go on, and kick their butts!"

"Pinkie, I don't even know what I'm supposed to do!" I protest.

"Just do The Dodger, and you'll show them who the boss is!"

I begin to point out to her again that, that's not an actual move, but instead I sigh knowing it'll be falling on deaf ears.

I look around to see people staring at me, waiting for me to do something. I let out a groan wanting all of this to stop. But then I start to consider what Pinkie Pie said and try to imagine that I'm still trying to dodge people from getting hit. If that's supposed to be what Pinkie Pie thinks is the key, then I might as well go with it. What do I have to lose anyway?

I awkwardly start to move my body, thinking of how I was trying to avoid colliding with people. Oddly enough, I hear people begin to cheer.

Really? People like this? I'm just moving around like a weirdo!

I keep on going and notice that Trixie and Flash Sentry start to become uneasy and try to dance harder. But I keep on doing...The Dodger (ugh, can't believe I'm saying that), still confused at what is happening. Finally, the song ends, and some guy walks into the circle, raises my hand and shouts, "THE WINNER!" Everyone goes wild and starts patting me on the back or giving me high fives or fist bumps. Eventually, the circle is dissolving with people going back to dancing, leaving me and Pinkie Pie standing in front of each other in another crowded space.

"I knew it! I knew you could do it! You rocked!" Pinkie Pie exclaims.

"I just moved around all over the place like a dork!" I shout back.

"Exactly! You showed a lot of energy and wicked cool movement that proved that you are the best dancer! I mean come on, doing The Robot and shaking your butt? Been there seen that! And there you were showing moves that are much wilder that put them to shame!"

"So that's all it takes?" I say out of confusion.

"Oh yeah, just keep on grooving, and you'll impress some girls before you know it!"

I take a moment to think about what she said. This whole idea sounded ridiculous from the start, but on the other hand, I did win the dance-off so...

"I guess we could try a couple more of these dance-offs."

"Now, you're talking!" Pinkie Pie screams in excitement. "Come on; I found another one while you were serving Trixie and Flash!"

Without further warning, she grabs my arm again and pulls me through the crowd, bumping into people left and right just as before.

*****************************************************************************************************************

For the most part, Pinkie Pie was right. A lot of people were somewhat hyped with me doing...The Dodger. (Why am I still calling it that?) I kept using this so-called move, and I would be declared the winner at every dance-off. Well...almost every dance-off. I lost on the third to last dance-off to a guy who had this crazy tinker toy move that wowed everyone, even Pinkie Pie. Two dance-offs after that, we go back to the house and sit down so I can catch my breath.

"See? What did I tell you? They all loved you!" Pinkie Pie shouts excitedly.

"I gotta hand it to you Pinkie," I say panting as I drink a cup of water. "That was actually pretty fun. I think I'm beginning to get the hang of this."

"That's great! Now all that's left is for a girl to make a move on you."

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie makes a very loud and long gasp.

"Oh my gosh, I almost forgot!" She says.

"What is it?" I ask.

"I promised Sunset Shimmer that I would meet her at the front porch for something right around now! Okay, please wait right here, stay cute, and I will be back in just a second."

And before I can say anything else, she disappears.

Well, that wasn't weird at all.

"Hey, Rough Draft!"

I turn around to see Soarin making his way over to me.

"I saw you out there. Glad you fulfilled your end of the bargain."

"And I can see you did the same," I reply as I see Rainbow Dash coming right behind him.

Soarin turns around to face her before he makes a realization.

"Oh yeah, I don't think you two have formally been introduced," he says. "Rough Draft, Rainbow Dash, Rainbow Dash, this is my buddy Rough Draft."

"'Sup?" Rainbow Dash says as she puts her hand up for a fist bump.

I bumped fist before I say, "So are you guys enjoying the music?"

"Yeah, it's pretty cool," says Rainbow Dash with a shrug. "But I'm more impressed with this guy having the guts to dance with me." She elbows Soarin, who responds with a nervous chuckle. "I understand you're the one that gave him the nudge to ask."

"Guilty as charged," I reply with a smirk.

"Nice job," she stats before leaning closer to me. "Just between us, I was wondering if he was ever going to make a move."

I was taken aback by this information. I'm surprised that she likes him back. Then again, Soarin has been hard on himself a lot whenever he talks about how he feels about her, so after being his friend for so long, I guess it would be hard to believe.

"Well I'm glad I could help both of you out," I reply before she moves back to Soarin. "So you two going to dance some more?"

"Nah, we're kinda wiped out." he says, "We're just going to hang here for the rest of the night. Heck, maybe we'll see you talking to a girl or two after those dance moves."

Rainbow Dash gives Soarin a confused stare.

"Um...what are you talking about?" She asks.

"Well, part of why we came to the party was to help Rough Draft find a girlfriend. So Caramel and I suggested that he starts by heading over here and showing some dance moves out there. And then I told Pinkie Pie about it, and she came up with the idea of having him compete in some dance-offs. She said that should get girls to really like him." Soarin explains.

Rainbow Dash looks at the both of us, unable to process what she just heard.

"So you, Caramel and Pinkie Pie thought that the ticket to get this guy a girl was to compete in some dance-offs?"

"Yeah, that was the master plan apparently," I answer.

For a moment, Rainbow Dash doesn't do anything. Then suddenly she bursts out laughing, trying to hold on to her gut.

"You dorks thought that was going to work!?!" She exclaims in mid laughter.

I quickly put my hands up in the air and answer defensively, "Don't look at me. I pretty much went with whatever ideas have been given to me. Heck, if Pinkie Pie said it was a good idea, then why should I question the party planner?"

"Well either she's misinformed, or she pulled a prank on you dude," Rainbow Dash replies. "You should've tried just tried asking a girl to dance with you. At least there you would have something close to a chance."

"But they don't know me, and I wouldn't know them, so there's no point," I refute.

Rainbow Dash snorts before she places her hand on my shoulder, points at me with her finger and says, "Buddy, the real key to actually having a real chance with a girl is to ask. It might not always work, but you're never going to get anywhere from just waiting and hoping. You may have tricked Soarin and Caramel to ask me and AJ to dance, but they still did it. I'm having a good time with Soarin thanks to that and based on what I saw before we left, I hope Caramel will get on with asking Applejack to do the same sometime this year."

"Easy for you to say, you two at least have known each other for a while, and at least Caramel has known -"

Before I finish my sentence, I freeze as I looked at the front door. Vinyl Scratch is coming in to take a break from performing, and coming in behind her is the beautiful girl that has caught my eye. She has grey skin, violet eyes, and long, dark grey hair. She's wearing a white shirt with a purple vest, a pink bow tie and a long pink skirt with a purple treble clef on it. She walks across the room with a young yet high-class look on her face. I have no idea what it is about this girl that has caught my interest, but there is something about her that implies there is more to her that what she leads on.

"So what are you waiting for?"

I break away from my trance to see Rainbow Dash with a smirk on her face.

"I saw the way you were looking at her, dude. You obviously are interested in that girl. Get over there and talk to her."

"Oh nononononononononono," I quickly respond. "I'm not actually going to try to talk to a pretty girl like her. She obviously is way out of my league to be interested in a guy like me. She probably already has a boyfriend anyway. And besides, Pinkie Pie told me to stay right here while she's doing...uh...something with Sunset Shimmer."

Rainbow Dash gives an unamused expression as she makes a facepalm.

"Rough Draft, what I just say before?" she asks.

I was irritated at her question, but I rapidly answer, "The real key to actually having a real chance with a girl is to ask. I get what you're saying, but at least you guys know each other and Caramel knows Applejack. I just saw that girl 20 seconds ago, and I don't even know her name. She doesn't even know that I exist, so the -"

"Oh enough with the excuses, dude." Rainbow Dash retorts. "None of them are a good reason for you not to try. You don't know her name, so ask and try to strike a conversation from there. Besides, we just established that Pinkie might not be the most reliable person to help you at the moment. Now quit being a girly, middle school wuss and walk right up to her."

I try to think of something else to say, but I stop myself knowing Rainbow Dash is not going to have any of it. I turn to Soarin, telling him to wish me luck before I stand up and slowly and awkwardly walk up to the girl. She just finished a conversation with Vinyl Scratch before the latter leaves to grab some food. The girl is leaning on a wall, drinking punch before she turns around and looks right at me. I take a moment to look at my surroundings and realize that I'm already standing next to her.

Well, here goes nothing.

I take a big, long sigh before I nervously say, "H-h-hi."

She gives me a confused look before she eventually says in a fancy, British accent, "Greetings."

Okay, so that's a start. I try to think about what Rainbow Dash said. I think she mentioned that I should introduce myself.

"Um...my name is Rough Draft."

She raises an eyebrow before she awkwardly responds, "Indeed."

Okay, I didn't get her name, so I'm one for two. Alright, think, Rough Draft. What else did Rainbow Dash say? Strike a conversation. Okay, what kind of topics can I talk about? What grade is she in? Favorite subject? Now that I think about it, I don't think I've seen her around before. Maybe she's new to the school? It's worth a try to ask, I guess.

"Are you new to the school? I don't think I've seen you around before." I ask.

She hesitates before she answers, "Yes, actually. My family and I just moved from Manehattan; I just started going here in early September."

"Oh, nice," I say back.

Oh, nice? Is that the best I can do for a response? I gotta do better than that.

"So does that make this your first time at a Pinkie Pie party?"

"No, actually, I've gone to a couple over the past couple of weeks," she says.

"Oh yeah? Do you like her parties?"

She shrugs before responding, "I suppose so. This is a unique party. Though the food is pretty good, and she does hire my friend Vinyl to perform at her parties a lot, so she gets to play her music. I admit I'm not particularly fond of dubstep, but Vinyl has some catchy songs here and there."

Wow. I did not expect her not to be so thrilled with Vinyl Scratch's music. That's a first.

"Actually, speaking of which," she says suddenly. "I think I saw you in the crowd earlier tonight."

"Oh yeah?" I say in a hopeful tone.

"Yes, I believe you were competing in those...dance-offs or whatever they are called. No offense, but you acted remarkably ridiculous out there. That was a very...unusual way to dance."

D'oh!

Of all the times she would have seen me before, it had to be when I was out there doing "The Dodger." Rainbow Dash was right, that is a stupid way to try to get a girl to like me. I swear if Pinkie Pie set me up to pull a prank...I don't think I could do anything to get back at her because it's Pinkie Pie. But I definitely would never forgive her.

"Uh, well in all fairness, it was kind of my first try to dance," I say with s nervous chuckle. "Pinkie Pie was trying to help me, but I kept trying to not bump into people once I joined the crowd. She took it as an actual dance and - I swear I'm not making this up, called this made up 'dance move' The Dodger."

She makes a surprised look, not knowing how to respond to that.

"A-are you serious? The- the Dodger?" she says before quietly chuckling the moment the name left her mouth. I start to become more comfortable with this conversation before I continue.

"Yup. She looks at me moving for my life, and the next thing I know: The Dodger."

She snorts as she tries to say, "Y-y-you've got to be joking! Who comes up with something like that?"

"Pinkie does, and now I am declared the dodging master," I say jokingly.

At that, she snickers, trying not to spill her drink.

"Y-You're so silly," She manages to say after a while.

I triter before I say, "Well, I practice every day with Pinkie."

She snorts in response.

After a small chuckle from both of us, we both let out a big sigh before we look away, trying to think of something else to say. But suddenly, she makes a small gasp as if she just realized something. She grabs her phone from her skirt pocket and panics.

"Oh, my goodness! I gotta go!" She exclaims. "Uh listen, if you could just tell Vinyl that I need to head home already, I would greatly appreciate it."

I stutter for a moment before I quickly nod in response. She begins to run out of the house, but stops for a moment and turns to me.

"Octavia."

I give her a confused look before she clarifies, "My name is Octavia Melody."

"Oh, that makes sense," I say before I offer my hand and say, "Nice to meet you, Ms. Melody."

"Yes, good to meet you too, Mr. Draft." She says while quickly shaking my hand. "Now I gotta go. Have a good night!"

"You too!" I quickly call out even though she is already gone by the time I respond.

Well, I admit that went better than I thought. I have the name of this girl at the very least. Octavia Melody. What a nice name. She recently moved, so she likely hasn't heard about the Spring Fling. I don't have her in any of my classes, but maybe I'll see her around school, and I can get to know her more.

I suddenly feel a tap on my shoulder and turn to find Vinyl Scratch right behind me. She makes a hand movement, probably to ask where Octavia is.

"Oh, she said that she needed to head home," I say.

She gives a thumbs up and a smile before she walks out without a word. It is common knowledge that Vinyl Scratch is mute. Well, it's more of a rumor that she is. No one has ever heard her say anything. She communicates with hand gestures on pretty much anything. Ordering a milkshake at Sugercube Corner, performing at her gigs, participation in her classes, you name it. Not even Pinkie Pie - even though she brings Vinyl Scratch to perform at her parties close to all the time, knows for sure if she is a mute. Personally, I think she's a mute, and she's just going with it like it's not a big deal or something. Props to her if that is the case.

"Hey Rough Draft," I hear Soarin call out as he and Rainbow Dash walk up to me. "We saw you talking to her. It looks like you can talk to a girl after all. Way to go."

"Yeah, that was alright for a newb." Rainbow Dash adds with a smirk. "So you get a name from her?"

"Yeah, Octavia Melody," I reply. "She just recently moved here and is friends with Vinyl Scratch. Oh and she confirmed that the whole dance-off thing was- as she so politely puts it, 'remarkably ridiculous.'"

"Yeah, well someone besides me had to break it to you sooner or later," Rainbow Dash remarks. "But seriously, nice job."

"Thanks. So what do I do now?" I ask.

"Hey, you're on your own, dude," She replies. "I have helped you plenty, so now you need to man up and take it from here."

Darn it. I was hoping to get a little more help than that.

Well, it was nice having some real help while it lasted. All in all, though, I think it's safe to say that going to this party wasn't as pointless as I thought. Who knows? Maybe I'll see Octavia at school, and I could ask her out. Shouldn't be that hard after having at least one conversation with her, I hope.

Speaking of which...

"Hey, do you guys know how Caramel is doing?"

"Oh yeah. I think I saw him and Applejack go somewhere. Hopefully, that means he finally got to ask her," Soarin replies.

"Heh, about time," Rainbow Dash comments. "Truth be told, I didn't think he was going to say anything. I mean no offense since he's your friend and all, but it didn't look good when we left to dance. "

"Well, he seems to have overcome his nervousness," Soarin says "So I think he's going to be fine. What's the worst that could happen?"