Beach Filler Episode (OPEN)

[Dust]

Volk lifted his head as the fired was introduced to a small burst of wind and sound, his ears slightly ringing from being so close. But she had his attention now. As did she have everyone else’s. He watched on as she held the whole group, except maybe Takezo as he didn’t know what a music file was, or a car. Given his comments, however, Dust was sure he would know what an explosion is and how destructive they were.

He glanced around at the rest of his party, apparently, the sparks had disturbed the rest of them as well. He looked over at the demonic looking girl as she finished her story. It left him a little weirded out but distracted.

Then like a badly written teen novel, they heard a rattling to their side. Dust was already on alert, having turned to face potential danger in a heroic fashion, only to find Jak covered head to toe in melted marshmallow goo, melted chocolate, and some remains of the graham crackers. Between drinking his lemonade he must have been eating the s'mores that were stacking up due to the only people liking them being Ash and the kids. Only Omni would know how in the verse that Jak managed to get it everywhere.

He relaxed his shoulders while still keeping his perfect posture, while Jak was attempting to stand up in his drunken state. It must not have been his first attempt as his body was stuck to the chair, only for him to manage his foot on something solid enough. Dust’s eyes turned over to the closest person beside the eco-warrior, only to see Hoseki covered in the stuff, too. He felt the grief roll down the back of his neck.

That was when Desman grabbed him, in front of everyone in their little group, and pulled him into the best kiss a faceless robot could manage. Dust’s first reaction was to lift his hands up in the air like a cop had just pulled a gun on him and told him to stand down. As to why he did, this was lost on everyone, even himself. His eyes, full of shock, turn to the rest of the group as if asking for help or at least confirmation of what was happening.

Then before the kisser was done with his stolen kiss, Dust felt something warm, wet, and sticky on his bare back as the just as little dressed Jak tripped into the two; apparently having found his feet but the chair still stuck to him. All three males crash to the ground just outside the circle around the fire, Desman under Dust who was under Jak, who was now under the terrible crumpled up chair. Ookami felt the air escape him as he is sandwiched between the robot and elf, letting out a groan of pain. Only to hear Jak’s drunk comment...

The 200 plus pounds of werewolf didn’t budge for a moment before he drags himself onto all four limbs and off of Desman, the shoulder length locks framing his face. Lycan looked more in pain than upset, one eye was closed and his lips frowned down but not in Deman’s direction. Meanwhile, Jak was lifted up like he weighs nothing, again. His only response to this was mumbling something about Ash and nuzzling the man between his shoulder blades. Wolf’s face went slack before he turned to Gildarts, then to Takezo who was closer. “A little help here?”

Takezo, while distracted for most of this telling of stories, had been just as much ready to battle as Dust and stood in position to send his first strike attack at anyone who was stupid enough to attack this group. He relaxed when he saw it was just Jak, only to stand by and watch this all go down. His shoulders slumped in disbelief as the dog pile happened. His sense of humor cracked a smile across his face when Dust pleaded for help. “And ruin your fun?” He teased, only for Dust’s slack jaw to make him laugh before he sat the sword back down to help.

However Jak managed it, he managed it good. After Desman scrambled out from under Dust, it took a majority of the group to tug-o-war the two apart. The chair had been friend almost right away, but the two half naked men were stuck like glue to one another. In a bad way though. If it weren’t for the sand Dust might have been able to do it himself, but as it was Gildarts hand a firm grip on his arms and pulled, while almost everyone else conga-lined behind and tugged on Jak.

Eventually, Jak was pulled free so hard that he was flung high into the air and backward. He landed in the ocean a few moments later. Dust, covered in the stuff still, volunteered to go fish the guy out. He could use another cleansing swim anyway.

Jak had landed safely but responded again with throwing up. Dust scooped him out of the water when he found him. “M-Maybe it's time we cut you off, buddy.” He said, gently, but his face was scrunched up with concern. The wastelander just nodded slowly and Dust took him back to shore. At the edge stood his friends, the robot, and the girl.

Desman immediately was there, sweating as much as a robot could and freaking out over his friend. Ash, as cool as ever was waiting on stand by, her tail whipping in the still air. Jak immediately brought his arms around and collapsed on top of both of them when he was released by Dust, and hugged them tightly. “You can’t leave me, I’ll be alone!!” He called out then rubbed his dark skinned cheek into Desman and next kissing Ash on the cheek. She didn’t look excited about being clung to but didn’t push him off either.

Dust rubbed the back of his neck, finding a clump of marshmallow before flicking it back in the ocean. “We have some sandwiches still, maybe that will sober him up?” He offered.

From the ground, Ash looked up. “That might help.. But maybe we should go.” She said, being the surprisingly responsible one.

“Nuuuu.” Slurred Jak from on top of her.

Ash’s hand moved across his shorts, silencing him and bringing some heat to his face now. She grinned. This was done as sleight-of-hand so that no one was the wiser, but she had no idea how close attention Desman was paying. She decided to turn to him while still being on the ground. “How does getting a hotel room and some real food sound?” His opinion would have more power to it than the drunk off his ass man on top of them both.

[Oleander]

The stories had been interesting, if a little confusing. Hairy man? What sort of tale was that? And he was confused about the ghost sending messages. How could you read 'hands free?' What is a goth-boy?

The stories were broken up momentarily by what appeared to be drunken antics. He was not one to drink often, and this was just why. The lack of self was both shameful and amusing. Perhaps it was amusing because it was shameful. Takezo did not ponder it much. Instead, after Dust fishes Jack out of the water, the swordsman retakes his place by the fire. He thought for a moment... then sighed. "I suppose I should attempt a frightening tale."

He received more than a few looks. It was Gildarts who stopped him. "I think we've had enough scary stories for tonight." The Strongest Prime had no doubt that the grizzled swordsman had a few dark tales to spin, but he worried they would not be as innocent as Molly's, or as whimsical as Ash's. The dark look in the ronin's eyes was already the stuff of nightmares. Even as Takezo catches his eyes, Gildarts felt that invasive fear. It was not unlike the fear he instilled in many others, in fact. Takezo's was simply a bit more subtle. A lot more, in fact.

He did not say anything, but Takezo had a feeling Gildarts was being protective. Many a time children would be hidden from him if he ever revisited a village. Few ever bothered to look past the dark reputation. "If you say so." The subject was dropped. The scarred man pokes at the fire with his skewer, idly occupying himself with some menial task to brighten the fire by stoking its embers. He only occomplishes setting the wooden stick on fire in the process. "I was simply going to retell the story of how this man almost sold me something called a 'G-string' as clothing." That was not what he was going to say, but it elicited a much more positive response.

"Oh wow, Takezo in a banana hammock? I'd pay to see that!" Dust quips with laughter as he return. He had missed the end of story time whilst saving the vomiting Jak, so all he heard was Takezo talking about the poor excuse of beachwear. "Wait, on second thought, that might be a life-scarring event right there."

"Maybe. I'd take the gamble," Ash chimes, her gaze lingering over Takezo for a moment.

Gildarts just facepalms.

"He said I looked like a 'King of the Beach' type to him. At the time I was covered in more bloodied bandages than skin, so apparently he prefers his nobles dead or dying. Not that I don't agree," Takezo smirked. "I was just too busy worrying if I could keep everything tucked away in a scrap of cloth too small to use as thread."

"That's just... gross." Molly was shaking her head, holding her ears to try and block out the conversation. A glance her way and he decided it best to drop the topic, before ol' Gil decides this was not suitable either.

Takezo was not appropriate for children. He was awkward at civil conversations, especially with the sheltered living of today. His life had been focused on physical strengthening, not social understanding. He could cleave a bull in two, but trying to entertain a child was like asking him to move a mountain. It just could not happen. Dust watches as the man withdraws again. He could see this was not his element. Takezo was a warrior, and more of a lone wolf than the wolfish man himself. Takezo was not exactly a pack animal.

[Gildarts]

Before Shin’s tale

So far, there were some pretty good stories. From the Hairy Man, to the one about the emo ghostie and the enchanted song. Several people still had yet to have their turn.

Suddenly, people were making out. In front of Molly. Well, this wasn’t the first time today but Gildarts had pledged it would be the last. His eyes sharply knifed into Desman and Dust, more the faceless robot who had initiate the kiss. “I had one request,” Gildarts said, referencing their explicit behavior.

“You’re not gonna like how cold the sand is at night, but some people,” the crash mage sighed, “Just won’t listen.”

“Gildarts you don’t have to put them in timeout again, it’s fine, Dust just has irresistible lips, that’s all, though I was expecting the other lady to make a move, rather than… Him.” Molly said.

“You sure they didn’t disrupt your night, little princess?” he said in a fatherly tone.

“You can let this one slide, plus we don’t want to be rude to our guests and imprison them to be nibbled by sand fleas. I see this all the time in movies and on OmniTelevision. As long as they agree to act accordingly, there’s nothing wrong, nor surprising about a little lively zest to our campfire conversations and storytelling,” She said in a matter-of-fact tone. “Don’t disrupt anyone’s stories again though, or else I’ll sick Gildarts on you. Strongest Prime, you know, the whole deal.” The little girl folded her arms and people seemed to settle down.

“You see this on the little box in your room?!” Gildarts was frightfully astounded.

The drunk one was nibbling a sandwich to sober up and their ale bottles had been confiscated and replaced by water bottles by a nifty flying cat when they had been absent or otherwise distracted. While Gildarts agreed that they should go, for strictly parental purposes, it was already almost over anyway. There was no real point and Molly didn’t seem to mind the extremism but Gil also didn’t want Molly growing up thinking it was alright to be a drunkard… Then he thought about Cana, Heh. There were few left who had not told their story, Gildarts being one of them.

Shin told his story next while the others were drenched in water and cleaning themselves off… With the “banana boat "comment the swordsman continued to step on Gildarts’ toes, crossing a line right in front of his daughter. If he had had his way, they’d all spend the entire night thinking about their actions, from the chin down, they’d be in a sandy cement prison.

[Gildarts]

“Oookaaayyyy, that was all a little awkward and stuff, so can I go next?” Pinkie Pie said, smushing her hooves together and rubbing them like a maniacal genius.

Molly nodded and Piqui’s eyes eagerly awaited the thrilling tale the excitable pony would spin. She grinded the sand away from her magenta hooves and still was sporting a sugar belly the size of a pregnant mare’s. Pinkie loomed closer to the cackle from the fire, playing with the dark atmosphere around her and using it to contrast her face with dramatic, theatric, villainous shadows.

“Imagine, there was one pony, in charge of running the Royal Gala, a ball full of every kind of pony in Equestria. Dukes and princesses and queens! This one pony had to organize the whoooleee venue, assure that all sorts of pony cultures were accommodated and all diets too, someone doesn’t like apples and dessert is apple pie? This pony’s gotta have several back-up plans! It is really very stressful sometimes, for this uh, pony, but anyway, as a party planner, her job was to make sure everything was running swiftly.” Pinkie Pie cleared her throat.

“Well,” Her shimmering pony eyes narrowed, “It was the day of the party and the pony was checking off the list of her entire scroll of things to be completed when she found, waltzing through the venue, that the back-up cakes for people who don’t like apple pie hadn’t been delivered yet!” Pinkie Pie delivered this line with the execution of a horror-telling master… Only thing was, her audience was waiting for a different, more bloody consequence, like in Ash’s story with the dead people.

“Eh hem!” Pinkie cleared her throat, “The cakes had not arrived to the party and it was due to start in five minutes!”

Molly gasped, “But what is our pony party planner hero going to do!”

Piqui blinked. There was a look of bewilderment throughout the crowd. Gildarts wondered why the pony couldn’t just summon the cakes and others were wondering why this was considered scary. Well, stories were all about tone.

“I’m glad you asked! Well, while the horrific part of the story ends there, that pony saved the day by tracking down the cake people, whose wagon had actually gotten a broken wheel, so she helped them fix the wagon and then hitched herself in, tugging the cakes all the way to the party, and just in time for… Dessert!” Pinkie Pie smiled with glee and Molly and Piqui clapped. The rest followed suit politely, whether it was for Pinkie Pie’s sake, or to not be strangled by the Strongest Prime, it was hard to say. But the courtesy was shown, and that was that.

“Your turn next Piqui,” Molly volunteered her.

“Hmmmmmmmmm!” her whiskers quivered as she contemplated.

“Alright, I think I’ve got one,” the chocolate and cream cat sat higher on her perch. “This is a story about how someone tried to steal my fish. My fish.” The cat reaffirmed, “I was out in the forest of the Tangled Green, catching fish with the poles set up around the circumference of the lake. I’d had several nibbles and caught a basketful. I was looking forward to having a wonderful feast for dinner when someone real ninja-like came around behind me and swiped my basket!”

“Well, you all know how wrong it is to steal someone’s well-earned fish, I invested time in that!” Piqui stated pridefully.

“How dare they!” Gildarts agreed, he was a fisherman himself. It had helped calmed his mind in its raging storms of crash magic.

“Thank you for understanding Gildarts, so as you can imagine, I was super mad, but me? Chasing after a full fleet of ninjas unarmed through the forest, their own terrain? I needed back up. I needed: Bullfrogs. I spoke to them, told them of my crisis and they allied with me, they too, are enemies of the ninja, who frequently catch the frogs not only to eat, but to concoct some sort of medicinal remedy to help cure people of… Some sickness, I don’t know. Anyway, so the bullfrogs, you know, are big enough for me to ride, so I get on the back of one, and I lead my army straight into the enemy’s village. I didn’t know how many had rallied against me to thwart me and steal my fish so I charged and found the likely culprit, hanging off his arm was my basket with the cute little paw print designs along the side.”

Piqui took a breath, “So I confronted him, saying that that was MY basket, and that those were my fish he’d stolen. And you know what he said? DO YOU?!” there was rage in Piqui’s voice. So far, the moral of the story was never get on a cat’s bad side.

“The ninja had the nerve to tell me there was a baby inside the basket. Human baby. On top of my fish. Talk about gross! Imagine the mess and stink! I couldn’t eat those fish! Anyway I didn’t believe him, so he showed me. Mentioned that it had fallen out of his arms and that my basket had saved the child’s life. He apologized for stealing, and I refused to take my fish back. So me and my bullfrog army recruited the ninjas of the village to all fish with me. Long story short, the haul was massive, I got more than enough fish to last me weeks and… At the end of the day, I ended up going back to their camp and having a great big feast with them. We laughed about the prior misunderstanding.” Piqui said with a knowing smile, as she looked at the various faces of primes and secondaries surrounding her.

“As a matter of fact… It looked almost exactly like this. We’d cooked around a campfire and laughed until the moon rose and the stars were twinkling high above.”

[Desman Black]

takes place directly after Dusts previous post

"Does this man look like he's in a good enough condition to go to a hotel, let alone with us?!" the robot scolded Ash. It seemed out of character to her, but she rebutted anyway.

"If he has a home we should take him there. My point was that he needs to sleep it off and while the beach bum thing works for some people." She nodded in Dust's direction. "I doubt Jakky-poo here would do so well. Especially drunk."

"One, we don't know where his home is! Two, If something happens there are plenty of people here if we don't know what to do!" Des seemed adamant that the beach was the best thing for Jak.

"That's kind of my point. We don't have a safe place to nurse him. If it makes you feel better, buy and expensive room with two beds and free room-service. We can stay until story time's over so he can sober up enough to walk, but trust me will ya? I know its hard with my looks, but I have more experience with this than you." Ash was also quite adamant in their opinion, so Des just gave up.

"W-well, if your going, do you mind if we exchange emails so that I can check in on Jak?" Dust interrupted. As the beauty and the beast exchanged their contacts (who was which was anyone's guess), Des dragged the drunken warrior back to the fire, where said warrior dropped and buried his head into Des's non-existent chest, at least it wasn't Ash or Dust there.

[Gildarts]

Almost everyone around had taken their turn at spinning a tale. Gildarts had found all of the Ambrosian’s stories rather cute and… Also rather unscary, if that was a thing. Piqui’s was probably his favorite, bringing them all back to the campfire, as though this was where friends belonged. Laughing, jeering, making sexual innuendos. Yup, friends.

The Fairy Tail wizard tended to make those relatively quickly, the charisma he wielded was as powerful as any weapon or foe he could dare to face. His eyes revolved across the fire. So far, it wasn’t so bad. They’d tasted the devil’s fruit, s’mores, cooked well, fish and wieners in skewers on the flames of the fire, and so far, there’d only been a few dirty things said. All in all, Gildarts couldn’t really complain.

The auburn-haired prime found himself looking at Dust, his apprentice and protege. The young man had about a darkness in him, but yet, so had Gildarts at that age and heck, up until he was nearly fifty. But he had overcome it. Gildarts wished the same for his friend, simply, plainly, the wizard had hope for the boy’s future, even if it was condemned in the hell of the Omniverse. Good things always tended to unravel from more good things. Inspiration was a spreading wave, never ending in the ocean’s wrathful waves. The mage’s thoughts lingered in the distance still, until Dust’s voice brought him back to reality.

“Gil, I think you’re the last one, why don’t you go next?” Dust offered simply, kindness in his voice, in notes.

“Hm? Me? People don’t want to hear my story…” Gildarts thought, feeling a gentle wryness surge within him as he saw the eyes befall him with curiosities as vast as the seas.

“Sure we do, go on, don’t you wanna know what Molly’s prize is?” Dust ushered the Prime again.

“Well, I won’t hold back, if that’s the case,” Gildarts promised. He cleared his throat and began to spin his tale, the fire seemed to dim as Gildarts spoke, emphasizing the darkness over the light.

“Once, there was a man. He lived a happy life, despite his gruesome upbringing, constant shortcomings, and consistent defeats. He had a kind of supernatural resilience, power unquenchable by even blood. So often, he thought about isolating himself, going far away from the people and faces who had scorned him so long, until he found out this supernatural ability could be useful. When he was a child, was a raid one day in his hometown, creatures that mowed over soldiers like they were nothing. And this youthful boy took his turn to fight, wielding his hell-sent power, he unleashed his wrath. And the invading monsters fell, not one by one, but all at once.”

His tone remained steady and slow, “But, it was not just the monsters that fell, but the townspeople too. He’d not learned to control his power, for fear of the truth. And that fear became him, as a young boy, he’d watched them all die like broken toys. It was his father’s belief, that no man (and especially no child) should have had that kind of power. But now, his father was dead. Fallen like the rest of the only people the child had ever known. Guilt, shame, helplessness rose within him. He’d been allowed to live, but what made him so deserving when even his mother had been slain by the boy’s own hand?”

It held a slight philosophical edge as Gildarts described the boy’s survival guilt, “He thought about any way he could get rid of these powers, the power that had let him slay the enemy who had invaded his town. He searched many cities for the answers, asked their elders, who merely told him to pray to the Gods to learn how to master such unquenchable magic. There had been mages before, but none that wielded the magic that delivered death so quickly. It was a curse, not a gift. Of that, the youth was convinced. Soon enough, the boy had realized that there were others like him. Stronger. But far more evil than he who had merely chaos lit as an eternal fire in his soul.”

Gildarts spoke from experience, framing the details with the horrors of the life he’d spent, “Their morality was dead. Their perception of the gods was the same. They saw slaughter and war as their salvation and the teenager suddenly realized his purpose. He may have wielded the most infinite magic in all of the world, but the real magic he had, the one that was able to keep him going through the night was the magic of hope, so often, it resurrected him when he was sure he couldn’t go on. It kept him fighting and winning for his own cause. Every time he feared casting a spell of death in place of one that would simply allow defeat, he would remind himself the reason he fought. Noble, maybe. Simple, of course. Worth it? Always. The man fought to be a better version of himself. For that, he almost always won.”

The prime took a breath, he was far from over, “So, his skill and control continued to evolve, for he had lives to protect, morals to be courageous for, and now, he had a reason not to die, but to live. The mage continued on. Exploring the world, making friends and alliances who had similar goals, protect the innocent, weak, and helpless. For so often he identified with them. At that is how this man lived his life. But, these were not the only challenges he faced. No, the darkest part is coming next.”

The crowd had stilled, intrigued, perplexed by what was truth, and what was embellished. Most, didn’t know the prime, most did not guess or infer, but it certainly sounded like this story was personal to the prime. “Within him, throughout his every struggle, always rising up to meet and clash with the light of his hope, was the darkness in his mind. That of the bitter scorn of doubt, that which was drenched with fear, that which told him his every victory had been a fallacy. For it connivingly convinced him, that he had never evolved past being that little boy who had slaughtered his own village in the name of valiance. It spat on him, called his every truth a lie. One might have called this dark monster depression, others, the voice of reason.”

“That very darkness, the one which carried his every haunting fear and leapt at the chance to exploit it, was something that the man learned to live with. Tauntingly looming around every corner. Threatening to soil every happy moment, allowing him no achievement in his victory. The marrow of his life had been sapped, tasteless. That which he fought so long for, finally began to turn gray when the things he loved had been stolen away. That darkness, that blackness, it tempted the man to make the wrong choices. To walk until he found the ocean, and then, keep walking.”


“That darkness, is the darkness of man. And it is inside of us all.”

Suddenly, Gildarts’ skin turned to the color of coal, his eyes became a crimson color of red, and the story turned into reality, as the crash mage became the essence of the darkness in the story, turning that which was but a story, into reality. O’r the dimmed flickers of the fire that had whooshed to but tiny grass-blades peeking over the logs, Gildarts could see the sudden shock of his theatrics shimmer in their eyes.

‘Shadow Gildarts’ looked a lot like a demon, Ash’s eyes fixed on him for a moment, but no horns sprouted, still, there was an evil haunting about him that was unmistakably different than the man that had been sitting on that log a moment prior. It was almost like a ghost, undetectable unless you were looking straight at him. Most were transfixed, unable to tear their eyes away, for fear, of what the crimson-eyed crash mage would do next. There was… A thirst about this Gildarts, one that was tangible, almost carnivorous as a vampire.

The audience waited to see what Gildarts would do next, there was something about this one that seemed truly, to embody the same darkness similar to his story that sent a creepy chill down their spines. Meanwhile, the glowing scarlet eyes in the night added to the ominous, insidious, and spooky mood that had been turned by the mage with the slightest flicker of vanishing fire, and cast of shade as though from a voodoo spell.

While their gazes all passed from the shaded Prime, back to one another, Gildarts smiled in this new form, and it was… Creepy, for his ivory teeth appeared as fangs against the pure black backdrop. Gildarts flicked his hand and immediate color came to his olive-toned bronzed skin, the prime offered a thrilled smile, “That was great! You guys all looked pretty scared! Though let me tell you, the real scary story is coming home and your wife is angry, but you don’t know whyy.”

He paused. People were too shocked to laugh at his rather tasteful and insightful joke. Gil turned to his daughter, “Well? What do you think Mol-”

His eyes fell on her, she’d fallen asleep in her chair and a warm, fatherly smile wove its way onto Gildarts’ lips as he spoke quietly, “Guess we’ll never find out what the winner gets, eh?”

“Nonsense Gil,” Piqui matched his whisper, “I’ve got the prize box right here, we just have to anoint the winner.”

“Is it, democratic, or do you choose one?” Gildarts asked, his tone remaining quiet.

“I think Molly would be the one to decide, her prize and all, and she doesn’t strike me as someone who would give her prize away to just anyone because people told her to. In other words, she is the popular vote.” Piqui summarized.

“But she’s asleep now, we shouldn’t wake her,” Someone chirped up.

“Being her sidekick and second in command, I deem myself worthy to choose,” Piqui said nobly.

Some people blinked repeatedly, this was certainly some kind of development. The entire competition was a little bit fixed, and a little bit of a fluke.

“First, I’ll announce the runner up, who doesn’t get a prize, but in my opinion, the story was tantalizing. Demon lady, your story about the car and the ghost and the party was very unnerving. It was superb for my tastes, but it also lacked fish, which is my favorite food.” Piqui informed them unnecessarily, just like Natsu’s Happy did, back home.

“The winner, is the story about the desires of wealth, wishes gone wrong, and the mansion! Spoken by, Rosie was it? While it did not have fish in it, I felt it spoke to the desires of man and their darkness, and the creatures that go bump in the night. It certainly played on my fears and every deal has a price. Truths, darkness, and immortal creatures of mysticism, and it also had the relatability of wishes, I’d say a very well-rounded story, plus the sound effects were top notch,” The cat offered a wink to her feline friend and delivered the box to the cat’s paws.

“Well, open it! I’d like to see what’s inside!” Ash said, almost forgetting they had one sleeping child just across the now, freely brimming campfire.

“I would as well, considering I anointed the first prize,” Piqui stated nobly.

The group gathered around, not invasively, but curiously they inched a little closer. Isabelle and Rosie looked at the box curiously, “Well, go ahead!” the pup said to help motivate her friend.

“Who wants to guess it’ll be a s’more?” Ash or Piqui said at the same time, while the ribbon was unraveled by a single one of the cat’s claws.

“I can feel the suspense building!” Pinkie Pie spoke gleefully, not minding her volume in the slightest. She was met with a chorus of ‘Shhhh’ for the group wasn’t sure what was worse, the naggy ‘chef teacher’ little girl, or the big sugar daddy she had to back her up when she didn’t get her way. There was no way anyone wanted to see how her waking up would play out. Now that would be a real horror story.

Pinkie Pie was begging to drumroll on Gildarts’ abandoned log, he’d stood up wanting to get a closer look at whatever the prize was, because it meant a deeper understanding with Molly. He knew she’d hacked things, heck, she’d helped him before, but it sounded more dangerous than ever, to this protective papa bear.

Ash giggled as the prize was revealed, if Desman had gotten that, or Jak, that would’ve been funny to see, or maybe, it was just the extra buzz from the booze wearing off. Gildarts looked at the item and smiled, it was cute, soft, and seemed like an apt trophy.

“Well, put it on!” the golden puppy ushered her friend.

Rosie hesitated, “Do you, really think it’ll look okay?”

“You’ll stun anyone who looks at you!” Isabelle spoke kindly.

“O-okay!” Rosie said as she took her prize- a beautifully tied ribbon clip-slash-headband and placed it in her hair.

“Oh, side note!” Piqui stated, “I think it changes colors too, so you can match your outfits, or just what mood you’re in!”

“What?! Really? That’s so cool!” Isabelle said, happy for her friend as the fabulous bow was placed in the center of her feline ears.

“I think, since it’s night time and in honor of the ghost stories, I’ll go with purple!” Rosie decided and the group would’ve cheered, but instead, because of noise control, she got many pats on the back and some joyous smiles.

Meanwhile, Gildarts was asking Piqui and their chaperpony how they were getting back, “Car,” Piqui stated and her choice was intercepted.

“-Recall station is faster and it’ll deliver us there. Princess Guu didn’t want to risk them trying to drive again.” Pinkie Pie stated.

“Hmm, your choice, Pinkie Pie, sounds a lot safer, let’s pack you guys up and take you there first. I’ll be back shortly, guys!” Gildarts said quietly in the direction of Dust and Takezo.

Pinkie, Piqui, and Gil packed up the cooler, the chairs, the towels and the umbrella all into things they could carry -well, for the most part at least- Pinkie looked like she’d been fitted for saddlebags, Piqui was struggling with the peculiar shape of the umbrella, and Gildarts was toting an eleven year old girl over his shoulder and the cooler hung off the other one.

As they trudged through the sand and made their way to where Pinkie Pie (the most responsible party planning pony) had directed them. It was kind of like a futuristic teleporter machine. Gildarts had just been in one, but it looked far different. He whispered, “And this’ll take you directly home?”

“Yup, but it likely won’t even be nighttime when we get there,” Pinkie Pie squeaked.

Gildarts nodded, not really sure what exactly was meant by that, but he watched as the magenta pony calibrated the modules. “Right, it looks like it’s all set. Here, you can put here in this chair and just add wheels to it,” Pinkie Pie had unfolded the beach chair and Gildarts did as he was told. It looked almost like a stroller for a child. Piqui wanted to nap on Molly’s lap too, but the umbrella-bearer had responsibilities too.

“So this is goodbye for now?” Gildarts said to Pinkie Pie and Piqui.

“We had lots of fun and s’mores! It was good seeing you again!” Pinkie stated joyfully.

Piqui blinked, “You could come with us?”

“Teleportation… Isn’t my style, my magic could really break things if it got twisted on the way over, but I should be back in Ambrosia shortly. I’ll take the long way,” Gildarts stated with a promise, “Piqui will you tell Molly I had a fun time?”

“I’ll be sure to do that, so long as you show up more often,” the kitten said with ample sass. He expected no less, from Molly’s protege.

After kissing Molly’s bangs, he waved to the three as they vanished in thin air. Then Gildarts, the Strongest Mage went back down to the beach where Dust and Takezo were waiting.

He waved in greeting them too, again and pronounced in his most manly, gruff voice, “So, who wants to grab a beer?”

[Desman Black]

"Well, we should really be going too." The robot said to the remaining 5 people who weren't his companions, as if the trio had planned out what they were doing next. "Finish getting this guy sober and making sure the incident didn't hurt him too much." It was obvious by now the crimson midget was trying to avoid eye contact with Dust since then.

After convincing Ash to carry Jak on her own (let's be honest, she didn't need convincing), Desman looked around on the Interwebs and though his memories to see if there was any nearby hotels, and then he found one. 'Beachside Inn, perfect.'

[Isabelle]

"No thanks, I really shouldn't let this one around alchohol." Izzy said, gesturing Rosie.

"Hey! Eh, that's true." She said looking at her feet. But she looked up again when her friend placed a paw on her shoulder.

"We'll be heading off back to the hotel room. Thanks for having us!" Said Isabelle with a appreciative smile.

"Good night!" Responded Rosie, sporting her own smile.

The two got up. They took eachother's paw, like they did so many other times today, and made their way to the hotel. The feline was humming to herself, poking at her newly won ribbon. The canine couldn't help but smile at her companion's antics. She had a question on her mind, something she had been considering all day, but now it felt like the perfect time for it.

"Rosie." Isabelle began, catching the cat's attention. "I will be continuing my adventure after today, I still have to find my Mayor."

"You mean Tortimer?"

Isabelle flinched at the mention of his name. She forgotten Rosie's experiences were contrary.

"No, not exactly, I'll explain that later." She said, she took a moment to recompose herself. "What I mean to ask is, would you like to come with me? I mean, as a prime I can-"

Her words were interupted by an abrupt bear hug.

"Yes!" Cried out Rosie as she squeezed her friend. "I will go with you!"

The force of the hug caused Izzy to lose balance and topple to the sand. Despite this, she returned the hug, gleeful her lonely days were finally over.

After returning to the suite, they took turns taking showers. With the rush of the day finally draining away, the weariness quickly took hold as they washed the sand and whatever other gunk they picked with their fur. As soon as both of them were in night gowns, they crawled into the water bed.

"Good night, Rosie."

"Good night, Izzzy!"

They drifted asleep together, holding hands.

To be continue in Tale of a Pup: Part Time at Re-tail

This is the end of my involvement in this thread! Thank you everyone for making this an amazing experience!