Chapter 3 – Getting Settled
*****
Rainbow Dash had finally made her way to the hotel after an hour of searching. She was slowly ascending the large spiral stairway in the main lobby.
Weird I can’t just fly up there…must have been too many accidents or something. There are so many ponies here. She eyed a number on the nearby wall. Seven…I can’t believe Vinyl just offered her place to stay…well, she was kinda odd anyway. I should probably find my own place to stay, but tonight I guess this will do.
Eventually, she managed to climb to the top. Upon glancing down at the feat she just accomplished, she realized how massive this place really was. She could see the lobby from where she was and it stretched upward all the way into the evening sky. The building was like a giant stretched donut with the lobby in the center and the rooms segmented along the ring. The staircase swirled around the inner rim.
This place must cost a fortune to sleep in.
Dash looked at the first door she came to which was labeled “1”, and then to her left a door labeled “32”.
“She said it was sixteen…which means it’s all the way on the other side…ugh.” She let out a small sigh as she solemnly walked around the giant, round walkway. The walk gave her time to think about something that happened earlier.
That strange pony I ran into…I hope she’s all right. I saw her head was banged up, but…those wings. I’ve never seen anypony with wings like that. I can’t even recall what they looked like…just…weird. I have a feeling that won’t be the last strange thing I’ll see here.
Her wings fidgeted as she was about halfway.
I don’t know if I can stand this no flying thing any longer. I don’t belong on this hard flooring. This pegasus needs to fly!
Almost unwillingly, she leapt into the air and zipped over to the door she was looking for. She landed and slyly looked around to see if anypony saw her. “Huh…okay.” She turned her attention to the door. A golden “16” was printed on it and it was left slightly ajar. “Just like she said…this must be it.” She carefully lifted a hoof and gently pushed the door open. It quietly turned on its hinges until Rainbow had a full view of what was inside.
Immediately, her eyes fell on the couple suitcases near a giant sofa. One of them she recognized was hers. A wave of relief hit her as she thought back to what happened at the train station.
*****
“Wait! Don’t go!” Dash yelled as she woke from her slumber. Cold sweat was dripping from her forehead and her heart was beating like a bass drum in her chest. “S-Stupid nightmare…” She looked around the train car she was riding in. “Oh no…” She said as she realized that Vinyl had already left and…her suitcase was gone. “That…no she couldn’t have…” Dash briskly looked under her seat as well as the overhead bins. In one of them she found the flier for the hotel they talked about. She flipped it open and found a scribbling the inside of the front cover:
“Hey. Didn’t want to wake you and I had to head out. There’s a party I have to be at and I couldn’t wait. Don’t worry about your stuff. It’s with me. You’ll find it at the hotel. I’ll be there later tonight. Just make yourself at home. –VS”
After she finished reading it, Dash flipped through the rest of the flier and found nothing else. “You’re not gonna even give me directions?”
“Hey, Miss!” A voice from the doorway startled her. “Are you getting off here?” It was the train conductor. He must be checking on the passengers.
“Oh!” She looked out the window. “Are we in Los Pegasus?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Then yeah.”
“Okay, then you’d better get going. This train leaves in five minutes.” The stallion left her just as he finished. Rainbow turned her head back to ask him a question, but choked as he watched him leave. A sigh escaped her as she resumed looking through the window.
“Wow…” She got a good look at what the city looked like. Tall, large buildings dominated most of the sky and ponies were everywhere. The noise alone was enough to indicate how bustling it was. She could see it was late afternoon. Vinyl was probably already at her party…so Dash was left alone to navigate to the hotel with only the flier in her hoof. “Shouldn’t be too hard…”
*****
Rainbow snapped back to reality as she examined the rest of the room. It doesn’t look like it has been used at all…yet. She could see there were at least two drink bars visible from where she was…a well-sized square of flooring that she was sure was a dance floor. Along with the massive sofa, there was several other furniture scattered around the room to accommodate a large amount of guests. The room was easily larger than her house which was slightly embarrassing.
“I’m gonna make some renovations when I get back…” She mumbled to herself as she meandered around the room. She tossed the flier onto a random chair and peeked into one of the few doorways. One she could easily identify as a bedroom…with a large, blue, king-sized bed that took up a majority of the room. There wasn’t much else of interest inside except it looked as if Vinyl stayed here often…as there were several pieces of memorabilia lining the walls: Records, various instruments and knick-knacks. The other rooms she found were just a massive bathroom and another, smaller bedroom.
She must have just dropped her stuff here and ran. Maybe I should take a look around town…see if I can’t find something to eat around here.
It was then her eyes caught a small pamphlet on a small stand near the front door. She walked up to it and took a small glance at its contents. “Oh! A menu…that solves that. Hmm…” She browsed the selection which comprised of many complex, expensive looking dishes. “Looks like this place is all about money…I don’t think Rarity’s dresses even cost this much.” Her eyes wandered off the menu and onto a bell that dangled in front of her. “Ring…for…service…” She found was molded around the outside of the bell. “Hey, I’m liking this place already!”
*****
I awoke very early in the morning…so early the sun hadn’t risen. My head was throbbing and my senses were dulled. I got something to eat and drink, hoping it would help. That afternoon was a blur. All I could remember was that lousy manecut I saw on the pony who bumped me. If I find that pegasus, I swear I’ll put it to her. …was she a mare? I can’t even remember. It all happened too fast.
Jinxy was writing in her journal. It was her only friend when she felt alone. She found it always listened to her and accepted her for who she was. She remembered the five bits she spent for it and there wasn’t a speck of regret. When she looked back at her older entries, she saw how much her writing had improved since then. The old memories made her smile…some made her sad. Her life was bumpy road at best with many peaks and dips. It seemed whenever something great would happen to her…something equally horrible would knock her right back down. Jinxy put a hoof to her head and winced.
Jinxy was young…a couple years younger than your average mare. She wasn’t a filly, but a nice in-between. In her earlier years, she lived alone with her mother. She could still remember her face…though she didn’t have to. When she bought her journal, she spent a couple days drawing her mother’s face on the very first page. Since then, she was alone. She lived off her mother’s money for a good year or two, but now…
She set her pencil down and glanced over to a small bag on her desk. Her time was running out. Where she lived, it wasn’t fancy…probably one of the cheapest places in Los Pegasus.
“Oww…” Her wound snapped at her. “I swear if I meet her again she’ll get a good smack of her own!” She gritted her teeth and slammed a hoof on the desk. In a few moments, the pain subsided back into its throbbing state. She sighed and lifted her hoof. Her eyes cracked wide open. “Oh no!” She leaned closer to the broken remains of her pencil. “Great…that was my last one…”
I won’t be able to get another until after work tomorrow. I’ll probably be too busy to write in it anyways.
She gathered the broken pieces and dumped them into small bin beside her desk. A small gasp escaped her as she found a book inside the bin. She quickly removed it and wiped the dust off of it. “Must have fallen in…” After cleaning it, she placed it back on her desk beside the journal. Her lips curled into a small grin as she looked at the two. “Maybe one day…I’ll have my own story to write…that’ll be awesome.”
She looked up. Above her desk was a small mirror. She could see a bit of blood trickling down her face. She groaned, “Awesome…”
*****
“Oh, Rainbow Dash!” A familiar voice called to the cyan pegasus. Her ears perked up as she smiled.
“P-Pinkie Pie?! Omigosh, I can’t believe it!” Dash scrambled to her hooves and rushed over to the front door. “I knew they would follow me!” She swung the door open. “Hey! You’re…”
On the other side, she found a pony covering its muzzle with a large, brown hat. “Why…why d’y’all go? Y’all lied to me…”
Dash’s smile quickly faded. “Applejack?! …I…”
“Don’t speak to me! Y’all never cared for anypony but yerself. That’s all you cared about! Loyal my right flank…”
“Don’t be mad…” Dash’s voice cracked. “I…I…” Before she say anything else, Applejack took off. “Wait! Don’t go!”
*****
A few hours after eating, Dash was taking a small nap at Vinyl’s penthouse. Sleeping on that train wasn’t exactly the greatest rest she had. She was plopped on the sofa with a small pillow gripped around her forelegs. An audible snore echoed throughout the room.
The front door silently opened and a magenta eye peered into the room. It was Vinyl covered in various particles of confetti, glitter, a glow stick or two, a pair of violet shades resting on her horn, and other things scattered on her body. She could hear Dash snoring two floors below and knew to be quiet. She quietly entered and closed the door behind her. She found the pegasus stretched out on the sofa. She also noticed a couple dishes on the large coffee table nearby with half-eaten food still on them.
With a coy grin, she approached the mare and looked her over. She wasn’t able to get a good look earlier, but she could now see that Dash was incredibly fit. Every muscle was toned and visible through her sleek, cyan coat. Not even a single blemish tainted the pegasus’s skin…her face was adorable…even with the obnoxious wide-mouthed snoring. Though her mane was a bit messy, it suited Vinyl’s tastes just fine. She lifted a hoof and nearly placed it on Rainbow’s cheek, but she stopped herself.
“Hmm…” She turned her gaze to the front door which was still wide open. With a silent flare of her magic she shut it along with several windows on the back wall, pulling the curtains. She set the needle on a nearby record player which began playing a quiet tune. She brought over two glasses and a bottle and set them on the table.
Apparently, the music wasn’t enough to wake the sleeping pegasus so Vinyl held her breath and nudged her shoulder with a hoof. Dash snorted, but was still locked in her slumber. The unicorn narrowed her eyes and gave her another good push. Still nothing. Dash’s relentless siesta was a little amusing to her. She giggled softly before placing her hoof onto Rainbow’s cheek. It was surprisingly soft compared to her built shoulder. Vinyl’s chest beat like a filly’s. She waited a moment to see if the pegasus would react, but she continued to snore away.
Eventually, she summoned the courage to trail her hoof up to Dash’s mane, and she gently brushed it out of her face. There was quick stroke of realization to what she doing as tiny droplets of sweat formulated on Vinyl’s forehead. She was slightly perplexed with herself…she was never this timid when it came to stuff like this. This was nothing like her. With a growing feeling of regret, she pulled her hoof away from the mare and sighed.
Her tail flicked about and accidently bumped one of the glasses she set down behind her. A very audible clang echoed throughout the room as it hit the table. Vinyl’s heart leapt as she quickly righted the glass with her magic. She froze as she watched to see if that mistake would wake Dash. Surprisingly…it didn’t.
“You gotta be joking…” She whispered to herself. “I bet she could sleep through a concert.” She no longer felt safe doing anything else so Vinyl quietly made her way to her bedroom to remove the junk off of her, and then to the bathroom to take a shower. She checked on Dash and found she was still asleep. She rolled her eyes and closed the bathroom door.
*****
A half hour later, Vinyl emerged from the bathroom to find Rainbow wide-awake and stretching her legs. The unicorn was still a bit soggy from her shower as she planned to dry off in her bedroom. She had a towel wrapped around her body and her mane was slicked down with water. She caught the attention of the pegasus and she smiled.
“Oh! It is you. I was wondering who was in there. I must have slept hard. Didn’t even hear you come in.” She stretched her forelegs forward, raising her flank in the air. Her wings were outstretched and each feather was individually flexing themselves.
“I uhh…was careful not to wake you. I hope you…”
“Hey, just to let you know. It was completely uncool to ditch me on that train. You know how long it took me to find this place? Los Pegasus is a monster compared to Ponyville. I got lost for over an hour!” She was only slightly irritated. She knew Vinyl was kind enough to let her stay so she wasn’t really angry with her.
“M-My bad. I guess I forgot to leave directions.” Vinyl was a little agitated with herself. Why was she acting so nervous? Rainbow approached the unicorn with a smile.
“Ahh, don’t sweat it. It’s pretty awesome that you let sleep here. I didn’t think that far ahead when I left Ponyville. I’d probably be on the street if it weren’t for you!” She chuckled and rubbed the back of her head.
“Nothing to it. Always there to help a fellow pony in need.” She spat out that horribly cliché line with a giggle. Her eyes turned to the food on the table. “I see you ordered something for yourself.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. I haven’t eaten too much since I left Ponyville. I’ll pay you back for it!”
“Don’t worry about it. I said make yourself at home.” Vinyl smiled. “You can stay as long as you like too. I usually don’t use this room too much while I’m here anyway. Just to sleep or whatever.”
“Really?” Dash looked around. “Seems like a waste doesn’t it?”
“Oh, not at all. I’m always given a room when I come to Los Pegasus. It’s all paid for already. Once I’m done with what I came for though it’s all on me.”
“Wow…” Rainbow was slightly awestruck…she didn’t realize how important this unicorn was. “That’s pretty cool.”
“Yeah, well...” Vinyl felt her cheeks redden slightly. “Actually, I’m surprised Starlight didn’t give you a place to stay. I figured they would be more considerate for a new member.”
“Huh…maybe they would have if I had visited them today. It’s probably what I would have done if not for you.”
“If not for me, huh? You’re making me blush, you know. Don’t do that.” Vinyl rolled her eyes and headed to her bedroom. Dash got a chuckle out of that as she continued her stretching. “I’ll uh…be out in a minute.”
“You will? I thought you were heading to bed. It is really early in the morning, you know.”
“Fortunately for me, my work usually requires me during night hours so I don’t sleep until noonish.”
Rainbow titled her head and furrowed her brow. “Really? What do you do anyway?”
Vinyl was a little skeptical of her question. “Wait, I didn’t tell you?”
“No…no you didn’t.”
Vinyl turned to face her. “I’m a DJ. You know…for parties, events, or whatnot.”
“Oh! A disc jockey, huh? Not exactly what I expected.”
“I-I’m also a musician of sorts. I only play my stuff. I spend a lot of time at recording studios. Being a DJ is really what most ponies know me for though.”
Dash looked around. “It must be a high-paying job.”
“I’m really good at what I do.”
“Hey…so am I.”
“A racer for Starlight?”
“Being completely awesome at everything I do.” This got a burst of laughter from the unicorn. Rainbow faked an offended look. “What? It’s all true.” She smirked.
“I’m sure it is.” Vinyl chuckled as she disappeared into her room.
Dash’s happy expression dropped as soon as she left. Her eyes fell on the bottle and two glasses on the table next to her. She gave another look towards Vinyl’s room. “Weird…”
*****
Next morning, I felt so much better. After falling back asleep, the pain in my head had almost completely gone and I wasn’t feeling any nausea. Today was Friday. I had the weekends off so I’d better not let this ruin my weekend. Comet Tail seemed impressed yesterday so I’m sure I can do it again. Hopefully, it involves more than cleaning a stinky locker room.
Jinxy sighed and took a gander at her calendar she hung on the wall. She smiled and began gathering stuff together on her desk.
It’s almost racing season. I wonder if I get free tickets for working for them? I’d have to make sure not to screw it up. I’ve only ever been to three of their races…when I was younger…when mother was still around.
She paused and sighed again…her eyes were caught by the clock on her desk. “Better get ready. Don’t wanna be late again.”
*****
Jinxy got there a few minutes early this time around. She didn’t see Gilda anywhere and was slightly relieved. She entered a long hallway that led into the stadium grounds. Since there was a lack of ponies here, she sped up her brisk walk into a light trot. Her hooves echoed off the walls and her heart began to race. She was excited to go see Comet again. Every day would be ultimately worth it if she could see him over and over. She even remembered this time to bring her Starlight poster for a quick autograph. Jinxy wondered if he would even spare the time to do so.
As she again entered daylight, she stepped onto the soft turf of the field. Her eyes quickly adjusted as she saw something she didn’t expect. Every Starlight member was lined up on the field and all of them were facing one pony. She furrowed her brow and slowed to a stop. The pony was too far off to identify, but she could hear Comet speaking.
“…you will need to complete a series of tests. We hope to enter you into the next sequence of races in the coming months. If you were unaware, one of our oldest members, Highwind, was killed during the final race last season. It was a sad day sure…but it then posed a problem for us. Each team is required to have at least seven racers in order to compete. This is where you come in. We have been watching the skies for some of the quickest pegasi in Equestria. It seems…all hooves point to one pony…you, Rainbow Dash.”
Rainbow Dash? I’ve never heard of a Rainbow Dash…
Jinxy inched around the edge of the stadium, watching from afar as she made her way to the locker room.
“You will train hard every day. Your body will burn and you will be tired. These races are not for silly foals. As I said, ponies can die in this competition. We, the Starlight Flight Team, have been ranked the highest for a decade. We’re not planning to fall from it anytime soon, understand? Now, today…you won’t be doing any flying. Regardless of how much you know, you will be learning everything there is to know about this competition. The rules, the teams, the racers, the training you’ll go through, and every trick of the trade when it comes to flying. I’ve assigned each team member with teaching you something you need to know. So get with them and do your best. You will know when you are done when they finally send you to me. I will be in my office.” He stomped his hoof. “Dismissed!”
A new member, huh? I guess it would have never been me, but…wait a minute. That’s the mare!
Jinxy finally got a good look at the pony.
She was the one who bumped into me yesterday! I…I can’t believe it! No way! She’s the new Starlight member?
She groaned and entered the locker room with a huff. “Go figure…if she’s as clumsy in the air as she is on the ground…I would be surprised if she lasted more than a week here.” She chuckled angrily as she threw her stuff into a corner. “I’m definitely going to make her apologize for hurting me…she at least owes me that. I still can’t…”
“Hey!” She heard a voice call to her from behind. She swung around to see Comet approaching her. “Sorry about all that outside. Our newest member just arrived. I had to give her the lowdown.”
“Y-Yeah, I saw. Are you sure you’re making the right decision with her? I-I mean…she looks kinda…you know.”
Comet laughed. “What do you mean? Don’t tell me…you’ve met her before.”
“Well, kinda...I bumped into her yesterday.”
“You did, huh? Did you…” He paused for a moment when she saw him gaze upward slightly. “Did you hurt yourself?”
“Oh!” She put a hoof over her head and blushed. “I-It’s nothing. My hoof got caught in a hole in the street and whoop! Banged my head…Unlucky, huh?”
The stallion inched closer to her. “You can take the day off if you need to. I don’t want to force you to work if you’ve been injured.”
“Oh, nonono! I’m fine! Really…it stings a little, but it won’t hold me back. A pony’s gotta be tough, you know?”
This got another laugh out of him. “I know that all too well, little one. Now, I’m sure you’re wondering what to do today. I would have you continue where you left off yesterday, but…” He trailed off and looked back towards the grounds. “I want you to accompany our new member around the stadium. I’m sure she doesn’t know her way around so just be her little guide for the day.”
“Be with…her?!”
“I’m not asking too much, am I?”
“No! I mean…yeah, I’ll uhh…go to her. That’s a great idea! Aheh…”
“Excellent! I knew I could count on you. She may be smaller than the other members, but Rainbow Dash…I can see something greater in her than I’ve ever seen in any other pony. I’m hoping it pans out.”
“Grrreat…” Jinxy gritted her teeth.
“Well, young one…I have to do some paperwork for Rainbow Dash. There’s a lot of hoops a team captain’s got to jump through for new applicants.” He turned to leave and looked back as he walked away. “Be nice to her! We don’t want her to leave!”
“Oh, I will! You can…count on me…” She fell into a whisper as he left earshot, “…to ruin any chance she’s got.” She chuckled with a cheesy, devilish grin.