FRIDAY NIGHT PARTY - FRIENDSHIP IS... MESSY Written by Iron-K, 2016 and I'm sorry The chattering of the studio audience died down as the lights above them dimmed to signal the end of the commercial break. At the signal from the director, their noise turned back to cheers and applause, which the navy bird behind the polished wooden desk on stage acknowledged with a wave of his hand. "Welcome back to the party!" he called above them, and ran one hand through his puff of white fluffed hair as he waited for the noise to subside. "For those of you who have just joined us, we've got our most crowded interview couch ever tonight - the whole Mane Six are here and they've been talking about what's coming up in their new season, which I hope does great, once again..." He was drowned out by renewed applause from the studio audience, directed towards the group of six equines huddled on and behind the red curved couch opposite Rossi's desk. They gave some smiles and grins in acknowledgement, with the pink pony standing nearest to the audience putting both hands up and clapping her hands in the air enthusiastically along with them. The bird behind the desk joined in as well, slowly clapping as the noise died down, then returned his hands to the desk in front of him. "But before we say goodbye, we wanted to do something special for you - with as big a cast as your show has, is there ever any rivalry behind the scenes?" "Oh, loads," giggled the pink equine standing at the back. "But it's never serious..." "Yeah, I think we all get on really well," the purple alicorn in the middle of the couch joined in, the others nodding around her. "Especially as we're all so close... that's what's the show's about!" "Although Rainbow here's kinda brash sometimes..." the brown pony behind her said in a heavy Southern accent as the others nodded, putting her muscular arm around the blue pegasus standing beside her. "A.J....!" she started with a gasp, wriggling out of her hug. "Okay, okay..." Rossi waved his hands down as he began to rise from his chair. "So you resolve things amicably - what you're teaching people is really great. Unfortunately... it's not what our show is about!" He took a couple of steps over to the back wall of the set, where two polished levers jutted out of the wall next to a curtain draped over a gap. "Oh, noooo..." The white unicorn sitting daintily on the end of the couch whimpered, her hands going up to cover her mouth as she shuddered a little. Her pink friend behind her reached down and rubbed her shoulders, a huge grin plastered across her face. "Yes, she's guessed it - let's bring it out!" the bird announced as he tugged one of the switches down. As a snatch of the show's theme music played, the red curtain across the gap beside him drifted aside, revealing the show's most infamous fixture - a six foot tall booth that was made up to look like an ornate hotel phone box. As it slowly slid out on to the stage on its rail, the six guests glanced at each other, sharing shocked looks and exclamations that were inaudible under the audience's cheers. On the end of the row, the pink equine stared awestruck over at the booth, her mouth agape as it slid to a halt. "Okay!" Rossi smiled, dusting his hands off as he stepped around the booth, looking up at its roof. A clear cylindrical tank was visible on top of it, more than a foot wide and tall and filled to the brim with a cloudy mixture of opaque coloured slime. "Wow, I hope our make-up department didn't spend too long on you..." he continued, smiling at the girls' much more nervous laughs. "So I think all of you know how this thing works - unfortunately we've only got room for one, but in a few minutes, one of you is going to get a very quick and very dramatic makeover. We..." "Do we get to decide who it is?" the blue pegasus with rainbow-coloured hair interrupted, poking the brown pony beside her in the flank. "We'll make sure you get a say - but we thought we'd let the audience decide your fate," Rossi said, pointing out towards the stands as the watchers cheered. "Now, this is going to be the biggest vote we've ever done - so look on the bright side, that means... you know, mathematically, as a group you're going to get less than twenty percent messier..." As he said it, isolated cheers rose up from several members of the audience, blending into a laugh as Rossi glanced confusedly up at them. "We'll let them make their own entertainment for now..." he shook his head, then readjusted the lapels of his suit as he moved back to the desk, turning his chair around as he sat back down. "Who's got the microphone?" The girls glanced at each other as the colourful-haired pony in the middle of the back row held up the hand mic that had been passed around between the group during the interview, waggling it in the air. "Great," Rossi continued. "So before the audience votes, I just want you to pass that around and each say a few words as to why you shouldn't be the one who goes in the gunge tank. Ms. Rainbow, do you want to..." As he spoke, the white unicorn on the couch stretched up behind her and yanked the microphone out of her sky-blue friend's hand, pulling it towards her. "Okay, I guess Rarity's starting us off..." Rossi corrected himself as the prim white equine turned to address the audience, her hand going up to her hair. "Are you kidding me?!" she said in a refined accent, half-laughing at the audience's jeering reaction. She patted her blue hair, arranged into long scrolls around her head. "I got all done up for this tonight - how long's it going to take to get this back to normal again after that? After all I've done to make the world a prettier place..." "Heh, green could be your new look this season, Rarity..." the brown pony standing at the other end of the row behind the couch butted in. She tipped her wide Stetson hat at the laugh from the audience, grinning down at the unicorn as Rarity turned around to face her with a gasp. The purple alicorn in the centre of the group reached tentatively for the microphone, and the unicorn handed it to her distractedly as she sat back on the couch, folding her arms. "Um..." the purple equine started, glancing to her left and right at her friends watching her. "Well, I don't think I deserve to go in, and I don't think anyone wants me slimed! I was always a good student, I think my own students like me, and I've helped all of us through so many episodes..." She looked around at her friends, hoping for encouragement, but not getting a reaction. "And, um..." Faltering, she whimpered as she looked over at the booth, then glanced up behind her as inspiration struck. "Anyway, you should do it to A.J.!" she gasped, pointing up at the brown pony behind her with a smile. "She doesn't mind getting mucky on the farm..." "Wow, Twilight..." Rossi chuckled, shaking his head. "I thought you were meant to have learned about friendship - I never thought you'd be the one to drop someone else in it..." Twilight sagged, shoulders shaking in a silent laugh, and as Applejack reached down for the microphone she passed it up to her defeatedly, putting her hands under her long straight hair and running them through it. "I'd say the audience wants to put in someone who's gonna actually care about gettin' dirty..." the blonde-haired pony smirked. "Someone like a perfect goody-two-shoes student..." There was a mixture of boos and cheers from the stands as she put her hand on Twilight's shoulder, who closed her eyes and giggled as she shook her head. "Or our fashionista friend!" she continued, pointing down at the unicorn who had spoken before and drawing renewed cheers from the audience. "Okay, I think that's enough out of you..." Rossi smiled. "Let's give Fluttershy a chance to say something - can you drag the conversation back up again?" Applejack obligingly passed the microphone down to the yellow pegasus with pink hair who was sitting on the end of the couch in front of her, who had been the quietest during the interview. Timidly, she took it and cleared her throat as she held it up in front of her. "Okay, so..." she started in a soft, sweet voice. "Nobody has to go in - if nobody votes we can all stay clean..." "Oh, Fluttershy..." Rossi spoke up again as there was a swell of disapproving noises from the audience. "We love you but I think you're dreaming if this lot are going to let you get away with that..." "Nnnf..." the pegasus shuddered. "Well... you know I have to take care of the animals, and I don't think they'd recognize me after getting put in that thing..." "Yeah, that's fair enough," Rossi nodded. "Want to pass that back along to the others?" he pointed. "That's it..." The rainbow-haired pegasus was the next to get the microphone, drawing herself up to her full height as she stood behind the middle of the couch. "C'mon, are you serious?" she started boisterously, the polar opposite of the shy equine who she had taken the mic from. "I'm gonna give you one good reason - these," she said, turning around and reaching behind her to point down at her wings with her thumb. "How am I gonna keep the title of best flier in the kingdom if they get slathered in guck?" "Yeah, that goes for me and Fluttershy too!" Twilight spoke up again. "Hmm..." Rossi tilted his head to the side. "Yeah, I sympathize with you there - although I hope it's a point our audience is happy to ignore." He staightened up and cleared his throat. "One more! Pinkie, do you have anything to say for yourself?" The pink pony standing on the end of the row leaned toward the microphone as Rainbow Dash held it towards her, but she didn't take it, instead keeping her hands on the back of the couch, gripping it tightly. "Uh, I..." she stuttered into it with a huge smile, her eyes fixed on the gunge booth as she quivered. Eventually, she just giggled, standing up straight again and shaking her head as she bounced on her heels, making her puffy darker pink hair shake back and forth. "Okay, nothing from her!" Rossi laughed. "So that's all of you - personally I think you've all made very good cases and I wish you luck..." He paused as the girls huddled around the couch glanced around at each other again, a couple of whimpers and giggles going up from them. "But only our audience can decide, so let's have the moment of truth," the bird continued, swivelling to address the stands. "The fate of these ladies is in your hands - vote now!" The studio lights swung outward to the audience, pulsing in random patterns as the watchers looked down or stretched under their seats for their remotes. The girls who were clustered around the couch whispered to each other, the three at the back holding each others' hands as they waited. After a tense few seconds, the lights brightened and swung back in to illuminate the set once more. Rossi ducked a little to look at the screen under his desk, then smirked as he got up. "Well, what an interesting result...!" he started, smiling at the girls' mixed reactions of nervousness and anticipation - Fluttershy with her hands clasped on her lap, gently rocking back and forth, while Pinkie at the opposite end of the group trembled with excitement. "I've got to tell you, it was incredibly close - but one of you has just, just clinched it..." He moved over to the imposing ornate cubicle, and ran his finger along the top of the door. "Let's see, how can I drag this out..." There was a murmur of laughter from the audience as the rainbow-haired equine at the back of the group audibly groaned and raised a hand to her face. "If you don't have wings..." Rossi announced, "...you're safe!" The white pony seated on the end of the couch breathed a huge sigh of relief, as Rainbow Dash cringed again. Beside her, Applejack let her breath out as well and she walked in a small circle, shaking her limbs to rid them of the tension. The pink pony opposite her sagged for a moment, then looked up again, shifting her gaze excitedly between her three winged friends. Rossi tugged the door of the gunge tank open, trailing his hand behind him as he walked over to the group. "If you're sitting down..." he continued, his grin getting wider as Rainbow Dash stared back at him. "...you... might be going in..." He crouched down next to Fluttershy and Twilight, who now had their arms wrapped around each other, sharing nervous glances as the bird's grin got wider. "It was kind of amazing - you two and Rainbow Dash up there were only separated by two percent of the vote! But someone had to win out in the end..." He looked from one pony's face to the other, watching as Fluttershy blushed. "Fluttershy..." he announced gently, pausing for a moment as huge cheers went up from the audience. "How would you feel about stepping into that booth?" "Um..." she responded with a shudder. "Do I have to...?" "Heh..." Rossi stood up again, extending his hand. "No, because we're going to gunge Twilight!" The purple alicorn's mouth dropped open in shock as the cheers from the stands renewed, and she looked around dumbfounded as the relieved yellow pegasus gave her a squeeze before letting go. She wriggled, looking up and behind her as Applejack and Pinkie behind her clasped their hands on her shoulders, encouraging her forwards as Rossi smiled down at her. "I... I..." she stammered, breaking into a helpless giggle as she reluctantly raised her hand to join with Rossi's. He stepped to the side, helping her up as the rest of her friends joined in with the audience's applause, and put his arm gently around her shoulder as they took a couple of steps towards the booth. "Oh, no..." she said through her nervous laughter, burying her face in her hands then dragging them down her face as she blinked over at the gunge machine. "It's okay - think about it this way, if you go in here none of your friends have to get gunged," Rossi indicated the five equines remaining at the couch, a couple of whom whooped back at him. "That's what I'd call a real act of friendship..." "Agh..." The purple alicorn cringed, but resignedly stepped over the threshold of the gunge cubicle, turning around to sit down. She giggled helplessly as she caught the eye of the others sitting across from her, then eeped, glancing down at the door as Rossi clicked it closed in front of her. "Er, do I get to... save myself or something?" she asked, smoothing out her skirt and then clasping her hands on her lap as she glanced nervously upwards. "No, no, you just relax - we'll handle it from here," Rossi replied, continuing over the audience laughter. "Actually, we brought someone special along to set things in motion..." Screams of recognition from the audience interrupted his sentence, and he straightened up and smiled as a tall, brilliant white equine stepped out around the curtain behind the booth, her rainbow hair shimmering under the studio lights. She raised a hand with a smile to acknowledge their wild cheering, and glanced over at the pony seated in the cubicle. Twilight cringed, closing her eyes, and shook her head slowly, her cheeks visibly reddening. "Celestia..." Rossi left the side of the booth and strode over to the new arrival, giving her a gentle hug and kissing her on both cheeks. "It's a pleasure to have you here..." "Oh, for me too," she answered serenely. "I've been waiting to do this for a long time..." "Oh, what?!" Twilight protested from the booth, twisting around behind her to see Rossi leading her former mentor over to the levers jutting out of the wall next to the curtain. The purple alicorn stared at the lever that Rossi hadn't touched yet, shifting her weight from side to side as the princess gently wrapped her hand around it. "Twilight, you were always my faithful student..." Celestia said above the continued cheering filling the studio. "But you never learned how to loosen up!" She tugged the lever down and an alarm blared over the noise from the audience. The purple alicorn inside the gunge tank twitched down, a high-pitched squeak escaping her lips as she drummed her feet on the floor, then she jumped as bursts of blue and red foam erupted from the bottom corners of the tank, swirling together around her feet. "Oh my gosh," she yelped rapidly above the hissing noise, then squeaked as the foam rapidly began to fill the cubicle around her, meeting in a stripe at the front of the tank. She wriggled up and away from it, her hands balled into fists at her chest as it crept over her lap. After glancing anxiously back and forth between the rising foam and the chute above her head, she looked over at her friends opposite her, and the watchers' cheers climaxed as a wide column of smooth deep green slime poured from the top of the booth and crashed out over her head. The equines on the couch facing the tank gasped as Twilight was instantly engulfed in a twitching dome of slime rebounding from her head. Just the horn on her forehead was visible poking through the cascade of gunge, a splash of green dripping slowly around and down from it. A shriek came out from behind the slimy curtain and she ducked forward under its weight as the ooze splashed out on to the tank's walls, raising her hands up in front of her and twitching her fingers as the flying slime dripped through them. Slowly, she raised her head to face the other five girls, a stripe of the green stuff coating her head and slumping down over her muzzle as the downpour continued to rain down on her back. Wide-eyed, she twitched as she felt the ooze slither around her shoulders, splashing out from her back in a slow wave. A stripe of black joined the downpour, flitting through the green column pouring down on to the shocked pony and slithering amongst the green stuff coating her fur. As she stared out at her friends her shoulders twitched in silent laughter, her shocked mouth turning up at the edges to form a squeamish smile, and the girls on the couch giggled at each other as they watched the mixture of gunge slither down Twilight's light top in thick green fingers, mingling into an unpleasant dark shade. Twilight grinned through her cringe, biting her lip as the gungy downpour began to ease off, and twitched to one side, closing one eye as thick blobs of the slime slid out of the pipe above her and splatted on to the side of her head. She leaned further away from the dripping mess with one foamy hand out to lean gently on the side of the booth, twisting up and watching as the green and black slop sputtered down on to her shoulder. Glancing down, she took in the ooze-soaked mess of her top and the gunge pooled in her lap, and used the backs of her hands to brush a wave of slime off her skirt. Suddenly she gave another high pitched squeak as four criss-crossing jets of yellow slime turned on in the top corners of the tank, splattering out wetly as they slowly rotated over her. The drenched pony hunched in the tank shook with embarrassed laughter as the streams continued to play over her, rivulets of yellow slime painting stripes over her and then mingling through the thick green coating that dripped across her chest and lap. As she felt them subside at last, she slowly uncurled herself and brushed her hands over her head, her ears twitching at the thick pouring noises as the last of the gunk dribbled out of the sprayers and flopped through the foam to pour into the collected ooze on the tank's floor. Blinking her eyes open and holding them half-closed against the thick ooze slithering from her forehead, she sagged again with a helpless giggle at the audience's ecstatic reaction, hesitantly putting a foam and slime-drenched hand up to raise her hand in acknowledgement. With a shudder, she turned to face the avian host, who walked casually around the tank with his arm around Celestia. "So, your highness - impressed with the makeover?" he asked her. The princess laughed softly. "Yeah, she definitely looks a picture..." she answered, looking amusedly at the green drops still sputtering down on to her former student from the top of the booth. "It's kind of a quick way to get a Rainbow Dash hairstyle..." the bird continued, indicating the pattern of thick yellow and green drips slithering down Twilight's forehead as she pouted back at them. As a drip of gunge crept over her eyebrow she twitched her eye closed, bringing a hand up to brush it away. "Twilight, are you okay in there?" "Ugh. I've felt better...!" she responded, still running her hands over her head in a vain attempt to clean herself off, but the end of her sentence trailed off in a defeated giggle. "Well, thanks for going through that for us - and for your friends," Rossi added as he indicated the rest of the ponies. "We'll give you a chance to get cleaned up - in the meantime, everyone please give a hand to Twilight and to Celestia..." He turned to address the audience again, and the princess waved and smiled at the cheers and whistles from the audience. Behind her, Twilight flinched again at another barrage of thick drops slithering out of the tank above her. "They'll all be staying with us throughout the night - so don't go anywhere..." --- "Before we go tonight, I want to say thanks to the Mane Six and Celestia for spending the evening with us..." He threw his arm out to indicate the equine girls on and around the couch, who smiled at the audience's cheers. Twilight sat in the centre where she had been before, now dressed in loose clothing with a towel wrapped around her shoulders and a slimy sheen in her hair. "But we've got one guest missing... and that's because we've had a special request." Rossi got up and walked over to the pair of levers, once again wrapping his hand around the nearer one. "Let's bring her out!" As he tugged on the lever, the curtain across the opening drew aside for the second time that evening, revealing the gunge tank again. This time, the pink curly-haired equine was seated inside in just her underwear, biting her lip in an excited grin as she raised her eyes to the ceiling of the tank. The booth began moving out on to the set, its sides and back still painted in faded arcs of green and yellow slime. As it came into the stage lights, its occupant raised both her arms to the cheering audience, bouncing excitedly on the seat. Rossi stepped into place beside the cubicle as it came to a halt, smiling down at the equine inside, and she returned his gaze with wide eyes. "So..." he began, breaking into a small laugh as wolf-whistles punctuated the fading applause from the audience. "Welcome back to the show, Pinkie - after having seen Twilight in there, how are you feeling?" "Eeee..." the pink pony squeaked, drumming her hands on her knees and looking up at the chute above her with a nervous grin. "Okay, I think that answers that..." the avian said, stepping around so that he was between the booth and the rest of the girls. "So - we all know what's going to happen here. We had a bit of slime left over after Twilight went in the tank, and this time we had a willing volunteer to be gunged..." He smiled over at the booth as the equine eeped again at the sound of the word, virtually vibrating in the seat. "But because we like a bit of tension here, we're going to play a game that one of our producers saw on a game show once and has just hastily explained to me - it's going to involve the six of you!" Rossi turned to the couch as the princess and the other equines straightened up and looked at him. "We're going to get you to talk about your friend Pinkie for one minute - and if during that time you say a certain 'danger word' that the people backstage are listening for... Pinkie's going to get a lot less pink!" He paused as the others nodded, then joined then at the couch, turning around to face the tank himself. "So, I'll be starting the timer, or rather just using this..." Rossi paused as he looked down and raised his hand to look at the ornate watch around his wrist. "Fluttershy, why don't you start us off?" He gestured toward the pony nearest him. "Um.. okay!" Fluttershy raised a hand to her mouth to clear her throat, then began. "Pinkie's a great friend - she really loves parties..." The alarm blared through the studio and the yellow pegasus gasped, her eyes wide. Opposite her, Pinkie glanced upward and squeezed her eyes closed just as the tank above her opened, pouring down a cascade of slime that broke over her head. A screaming laugh came up from behind the messy downpour as the pink pony was engulfed in gunge, a thick dark shade of green goo splashing off her head and splattering heavily off her shoulders. The vague shape of a pair of hands flying up was visible for a moment behind the deluge, as Pinkie grasped bunches of her hair and held them to keep it out of her face. She squirmed and wriggled as great globs of the stuff rolled off her and splatted messily on the tank's floor, the thick slime clinging to her fur as it crept down over her bare tummy and dripped over her lap and down her legs. The others giggled and applauded as the ooze continued to rain down on their friend, with even Fluttershy's shocked expression gradually turning into a smile. Occasionally the gungy downpour would twitch aside for a moment, revealing the end of Pinkie's muzzle with her mouth open in an elated laugh before it glooped back over her entirely again. Finally, the tank began to run out, the steady downpour breaking into a stream of blobs that slithered down from the edges of the pipe above the giggling barely recognizable heap of slime. Sickly stripes of the mixed black and green gunge oozed and trickled over her, none of her pink fur still visible until she dragged one of her hands across her closed eyes, leaving furrows in the gunge. As she opened them again, blinking a couple of times and wiping at her eyebrows, she burst out laughing again, looking down at her soaked and slimy figure. Heavy drips of the stuff continued to rain down across her and she twitched back, shuddering as they splatted into her lap. Rossi came forward with a smile, watching the gunge-slathered pony giggle and squirm as the thick slime continued to drip in slow strings from all over her, bringing her hands up to her face and rubbing it through her fingers. Her normally fluffy hair had been weighed down by the layer of gunk clinging to it and was stuck to her head and shoulders, leaving her unrecognizable under the mess. As she noticed the bird approaching she grinned, her white teeth showing up against the dark gunge dripping across her mouth, and half-stood to reach out of the booth. "Aaah!" Rossi dodged back and spread his arms, his suit jacket billowing. He hurried around to the side of the tank out of Pinkie's grasp, and looked down at her through the slime-splattered plastic wall. "Well, Fluttershy, we were running out of time for the show anyway..." he started, making the others laugh, with Twilight putting a reassuring arm around the embarrassed pegasus. "But I think Pinkie got what she wanted..." "Yeah..." the gungy pony in the booth nodded, her shoulders still shaking with laughter as drops of gunk continued to splat heavily on her head. She looked down, dipping fingers into the pool of slime in her lap. "What's this made of?" "Don't tell her!" Twilight shrieked from the couch, pointing at him. "She's going to start doing this to everyone back home if she knows..." Rossi smiled as the dripping pony cackled, grabbing a handful of the stuff and raising it up, watching it drizzle fascinatedly off the tips of her fingers. "I'd tell you, but that really is all we have time for..." He laughed as the foam pumps turned on at Pinkie's feet next to him, creeping up the door of the tank with the foam already being stained a sickly green by the gunge collected at the bottom. "We hope you've enjoyed our party tonight as much as Pinkie has - thanks to all of our guests, especially the ones who went through the gunge tank..." The dark green-stained pony next to him yipped as the foam spilled into her lap, collapsing into another fit of giggles as it crept over the tank's door and began to spill out, dripping in long fingers down the front and forming a pile. Rossi looked down amusedly, stepping back from the spreading foam. "We'll see you at the same time next week, provided we've got all of this cleaned up..."