//------------------------------//
// Cheers 
// Story: A Difficult Choice 
// by TheCrazyAsian 
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Note: I do not endorse nor condone drinking as a mean of dealing with your problems.


Play this video at the end of the chapter.



Chapter Two: Cheers



Amazingly the bartender is somehow able to hear your request over the loud music and hands you two more shots. You hand one to the stallion to your right. After he gets a hoof onto the glass you clink your with his and shout, "Cheers!". Then you order another round, then another round. 

This continues for a while, with both of you getting more inebriated per drink. Somewhere around the 7th round of shots, or maybe it was the 8th, you can't remember. So after a few rounds Soarin begins to talk to you. "Sooooo, what brings you here", he says. 

It takes you a few seconds but you manage to piece together a few words. "I don't think that you would really want to know about all the crap in my life", you reply putting extra emphasis on the crap part of the statement. Why the buck is he asking about your life anyway, he just met you. You now squint your eyes and put a look on your face that is a combination of angry and annoyed.

Now suspicious you shout, "Why the hay are you asking about my life, are you a bucking spy", in your stupor this makes perfect sense. "Don't, don't, ask about that kind of stuff", you tell him.

"Yeesh, I didn't mean to piss you off man, you just seemed depressed is all", he replies trying to sound as innocent as possible. This puts a dent into your anger but does nothing to de-rail your drinking train. And you order another round of shots. While you drink yours as soon as you get it he puts his to the side.

"Look man I'm sorry, it's just I had a terrible day. You know man?", you say. 

"Would you like to talk about it?", he says.

You realize that he actually cares. Then the floodgates open. "I.. I just had a terrible argument man. Now my coltfriend won't talk to me. It bucking sucks!", you stutter out. Tears are beginning to form in the corners of your eyes.

"It's alright, it's alright. It's going to be alright. You just need to give him some time.", he replies trying to comfort you. He puts one of his hooves around your neck and pulls you into a hug. Your tears are now rolling off of your face and down his back. You feel safe wrapped in his strong hooves, like when Braeburn used to hug you when you were sad.

"What is it that you did anyway?", he asks.

You now break out of the embrace and wipe the tears from your eyes. Your can see Soarin' staring intently at you waiting for you to speak. "Well it wasn't what I did to him, but what I did to somepony else", you speak in a rather meek voice. You can feel the tears starting to form again. "I don't get why he's so bucking upset it's not like I did it to him!", you exclaim. The tears are now flowing down your face.

Soarin' see this and tries to comfort you, "There, there it'll be alright.", at this point he pulls you back into a hug, "Continue with your story". You once again feel his hooves wrapped around you pulling you into a hug again. You calm down and begin with the sad tale again.

"Well, a few years back I used to go out with a a colt, his name was Caramel", you say, "I was really just using him for sex but he didn't know it until I stopped talking to him and took off". You begin to feel shame welling up inside of you, shame for stringing him along for so long. At this point Soarin' begins to run one of his hooves through your mane.

"So he somehow he found where my current coltfriend lives and told him the whole tale", you stutter out. With the last phrase the emotions break through your barrier and begin to cry again.

His hooves now wrap even more tightly around you. He says, "I see your problem, so I have one question. Do you actually love him, your coltfriend that is?"

Angered by what you take as an accusation you shove him back and shout, "What are you trying to say here!". You hold an expression on your face that is a combination of anger and hate.

"I was just wondering", he replies nonchalantly.

You realize that he was just curious and you instantly sink down, putting your face on the bar, and reply, "If I didn't love him why would I be here drinking like there was no tomorrow." Without Braeburn there might as well be no tomorrow, you think.

"I see", he nonchalantly replies, "So you need to prove to your coltfriend that you love him"

"Just about", you say dejectedly.

"Who says you need him anyway. Why do you need him, there's plenty of pegasi in the sky man.", he says. If you didn't know any better you'd say he was smiling at you, and he does make a good point. Why did you need Braeburn, why is it that Braeburn meant so much to you. You begin to cheer up now realizing that Soarin' is making perfect sense. But somewhere deep inside you you know that you still need Braeburn, but you can just repress that for now.

He can see the smile appearing on your face now, and he say, "See, you don't need him. Let's get out of here, I'll set you up in a great hotel, free of charge", he exclaims in a rather celebratory voice. The almost happy atmosphere that he seems to spread with the goofy smile he has actually cheered you up. Somehow he has managed to make you happy, he's like the pink filly that Braeburn introduced you to. The sudden reemergence of Braeburn takes you by surprise but you just push it back into your subconscious.  

You just nod assent and get off of your stool, but you immediately fall to the ground. You see Soarin' reach into his pocket and throws a few bits onto the bar. Once he gets up he hurries over to your side picking you up, he remarks, "Can't have you falling all over the place" He takes one of your hooves into his and pulls you off the ground which was surprisingly comfortable.

He then walks towards the long dark hallway out of the club and you follow as best you can trying to avoid falling over.  You continue down the dark hallway and out the large double doors. You are now in the darkness of Cloudsdale at night punctuated intermittently by street lights. 

You two then continue through the dark down the street towards the center of town, where the hotel district is. At this moment Soarin' decides to speak up, "Is it okay  if I share a room with you? It's going to have one queen sized bed so there's no use in wasting it."

You mull it over for a minute and reply, "As long as you don't try anything". Soarin' replies with a small chuckle.

After walking for another few minutes you bump into Soarin' after he's stopped walking. "What's wrong?", you ask. Right as the words leave your mouth he presses you against the side of a building. You struggle to move but his strong hooves press you against the fluffy building. "What the buu", your last word is cut off by his soft lips pressing against yours. 

End of Chapter