//------------------------------// // 14. Trip // Story: Locksmith // by QuartzScale //------------------------------// I’m regretting deciding to leave for Canterlot because one particular pony was in tow with me. Octavia had made it a point to come along with me just to make sure that I wasn’t going to get in trouble. Raindrops needed to deal with more weather and Vinyl was working on her next set. She kept a stern eye on me the entire ride on the train which was… slow. When we descended from the train it was the afternoon and I managed to catch a long nap in the train. The two of us trotted off the platform and into the town proper. What I saw were the constant traipsing of unicorns with their noses high in the air. I felt a growl building in my chest and I merely looked around at the multitude of shops. Each are quite nice and overly fanciful. Octavia noted the music shops leading me within to check them out. She wasn’t looking at the equipment though as I noticed that her eyes always settled back on me. “I’m not going to leave anytime soon.” “I know. Let’s just keep on moving. There’s still more to see in Canterlot and I want to be the mare to show you around. Got it.” She got up in my face and pushed her muzzle into mine making sure I was paying attention. That made me nervous and I was internally panicking. Having a girl in my face was not doing well for my own emotions. I’m still not used to having feelings for ponies and I am still getting used to looking at mares that way. She stepped back and the red on her face betrayed her emotions but a quick cough caused her frown to return. “Sure. Lead on then.” The path through the upper echelons of high society were enlightening and truly made me appreciate the struggles of high society. I then proceeded to mentally puke from the load of bullshit that nearly escaped my mind. Octavia also seemed on edge especially when we met with two unicorns named Jet Set and Upper Crust. After all that I needed a drink or something to stop the horror I’ve had to hear. I’m pretty sure they are unicorn supremacists or at least the lite snack version. It was disgusting and the way they spoke to Octavia was… wrong. I nearly smacked that shithead upside his head just for speaking but she stopped me. We walked off and looked back around the city. She seemed contemplative about things but was broken out when Raindrops flew down to us. Octavia looked at a small watch she had in her pack and gasped. “I’m sorry you two I must get ready for practice. The Grand Galloping Gala is coming up and I want to prepare as much as possible. You got it from here Raindrops?” “Yeah. It’s time for us to fly. See ya later Octavia.” “All three of you planned this out didn’t ya?” “Kind of. We only managed to get the bare bones. I’m here for the afternoon boss colt. I’ll be handling the aerial tour. Now follow me and don’t slow down.” She took off flying far above the clouds and I already felt fatigue. Octavia walked around a lot and in doing so I was walking around a lot. I slept the same time as the other three unfortunately which meant my sleep schedule was messed up. Again. “Where we going?” “We’ll be heading over to the pegasi district. There are a few specialty stores there. We’ll see if there’s anything you might like for later.” I merely nodded. I doubted that I could hold on to any cloud furniture inside the gummi ship but I acquiesced to the act. They needed to see I wasn’t going to run off to die right away. Still don’t know why they all decided to switch off between each other. As we reached the area I noticed a lot of ponies in the area. All of them were pegasi of different colors and sizes. A lot of them were mares and a lot of them momentarily stared at me when I finally folded in my wings. Raindrops immediately stood next to me and snorted. I think I lost myself in a blinking loop. Gray.exe was not found at all at that point but I continued following alongside Raindrops. “Something wrong?” “Nothing. We just need to find a few things for later k?” That smile indicated something entirely different than what I usually understood. I’m pretty sure from that one book I read a while back, back in Baltimare that when mares want to protect their mate they act more protective. I quickly pushed the thought out of my head more due to the worry that I was going to be a piece of meat. I don’t know if it was the stallion’s part of my mind but I was slightly okay with the idea. I mentally slapped myself and ignored that voice from trying to sway me into doing something like that. “What are we getting?” “What?” “What are we getting here Raindrops?” “O-oh right. We’re gonna find you some enchanted things for a cloud house you may decide to get.” “Well I don’t mind but I kind of live in dark places. It’s a thestral thing.” I chuckled a little and Raindrops looked at me. I think she was lost in thought because she focused on me a lot. I tapped her shoulder and she instinctively flinched and blushed heavily. She looked back at me and returned back to checking over the furniture. There were several things made for the other thestrals including special gem based equipment that created shadow based lights to keep their eyes from getting hurt. I was really tired at that point and bought a pair of sunglasses for about two bits. 135 bits left to my name. I should think about getting a job in Equestria but if I leave the planet that would make things really hard to actually accomplish. I learned a bit more about Raindrops and her arguments with another pony by the name of Clear Skies and how often they tried to make his name into a comedy skit. I still can’t tell by name whether a pony is male or female. I’m assuming there is a way to tell but for the life of me I can’t figure it out. Every couple of minutes I’m pretty sure that she purposely brushed against my side. While it was disguised by us trying to weave through the hoof traffic, she would make sure to rub against me whenever she did. Everytime she did I would look her in the eye. She would turn red in response. I smiled and let her get as close as she wanted. It wasn’t bothering me but I still felt as though my own heart was muted. When the sun started setting we went back to the main road of the capital that connects the castle with the train station. When we got there I noticed Vinyl had trotted down and found the two of us. Raindrops quickly excused herself due to help with clearing some clouds early in the morning leaving me to the mercy of Vinyl. “Cool shades. Looks like you know what it means to be cool then, don’t ya?” She flipped her own shades over and pushed me into following her. I didn’t have the heart to say I just needed them for the mornings or maybe it was the spine to say it. I was tired but not to the point of wanting to pass out. She led the way to a small cafe where we sat down and drank some fancy coffee whose name escapes me at this point. I was back to awake time but I felt a little out of it. “See we have an goal tonight and it’s to see how well you party. I know a club we’re going to tonight and we’re gonna see how you do.” “Who’s ‘we’ and are you performing?” “Tonight’s my night off. And by ‘we’ I mean the two of us.” “So what are you saying?” I knew what she meant. She seemed like the one who didn’t beat around the bush and I knew she knew I knew that. That was confusing. Either way she removed her glasses and stared me down. “I think you know. Three mares in your life and each of them want your attention. What do you think it means.” “I’m guessing you’re the one who wants the all of the above option?” I think my bluntness made her fumble her drink but she caught it at the last second. She didn’t seem the type to actually blush but she did regardless. I looked her down as she calmed herself and drank her coffee in silence. We remained quiet for the most part but eventually the coffee was gone. I paid for us spending another six bits. 129 bits left to my name. That job is looking very enticing right now. “Thanks.” “No problem.” She got close to me just like Raindrops did. I’m also guessing she’s the one who doesn’t care much for societal compunctions or public displays of affection. I debated with myself on morality and society. I was raised in a four member family. A mom, dad, and sibling were my only idea of a family. No divorces or adoptions and the only problem of my 'family' was that we drifted apart and stopped talking to each other. I was in a new reality and I was kind of given a chance for to have something here in this world. It was their customs and how they lived in their world. “Quick question Vinyl.” “Shoot.” “Did you girls decide on the all of the above option?” She nearly tripped when I placed my wing under her. Crap feels tingly when somepony touches my wing. There’s shivers going down my spine. Is this a thing? Damn this is uncomfortable but not really bad. She quickly pushed herself back on her feet and placed her glasses on hiding her eyes. She’s really good at hiding her emotions. Her tone sounds a little dismissive but it’s quavering which means she wants it to happen. “What makes you think we want that? I mean you just worked hard for one of us for no reason and saved the other two of us from a horrible pony without asking for anything. The only problem is that somepony has such a dangerous lifestyle that we don’t even know whether or not it would work. What could possibly make you think we would want that?” “Nothing really. Just wondering if I say yes how would you react. I mean we really should actually get to know each other but it would have to wait until I get back from meeting with my master.” “You’re leaving?” “Yeah I’m going then coming back. There were some problems with my training apparently. He taught me something but never finished teaching me control. It was the reason that I was in the hospital.” “I see. So you’re of the all of the above option then?” “Yeah.” “Ok. Let’s just head for the club. We’ll talk about this later.” I don’t know why she was so curt about this but I didn’t want to disturb her from her thoughts just yet. Throughout the entire trek she never faced me and kept her glasses on the entire trip. The few times I managed to sneak a look at her face she had a smile on her face that seemed to be brimming with confidence. It was that kind of smile when somebody got their way and wanted to smugly gloat about it. The club was interesting and I did manage to not make a complete fool of myself. As it turns out even if you sucked at dancing on two feet having four legs doesn’t instantly make you better at dancing. Instead of having two left feet I now have four left feet. Vinyl didn’t seem to mind if only because I managed to keep up with her throughout the dance floor. I did catch a few more ponies staring at me and a few mares tried to pull me away from Vinyl. It got so bad I had to drag her away from the club before she broke another mare’s face. We were going to take a train but I knew that it was too late for that. I picked her up in my hooves and dipped into a shadow filled area. I think it startled her too much that she nearly choked the life out of me. We ended up back in Ponyville within a few minutes instead of a few hours. I let her down where we were forced to walk through Ponyville. She kept a bit of distance while walking through town. “Wanna keep this secret till we figure some things out.” I merely nodded. This was one of the complex rituals of this world and I didn’t want to intrude on the process. I was also worried that these three were gonna try to add more. I didn’t know much about herds in most species. The only idea I had were lions and their prides usually had eleven lioness to one lion. That was the breadth of my expertise on these matters. “I have to get ready some things to leave Vinyl. Think you three will be fine without me for a bit?” “Sh-yeah. We’re independent mares Gray. We have our own lives to live and all that. We’ll survive without ya around.” “Well here’s your home. While I don’t want to intrude I must get ready. Wish the other two goodbye for me. I’ll send a letter when I’m done with what I’m doing.” She came up to me but stopped in front of me. I didn’t know what to do about that but I shut my thoughts about leaving right away and gave her a wing hug. I think those were well received by pegasi based on what I saw in Canterlot. She went shock stiff but eventually managed a hug back. I wasn’t ready for anything more intimate but I knew it was on the table. I dipped into the shadows making my way towards the train station. I found the first save area and stepped on the light. I don’t think ponies noticed me anymore when I did which was confusing. Warping into the gummi ship I saw that it was pre-built with an engine already. Making my trip into space much easier at least. I turned on the ship with the giant button meant for on and I felt the entire ship warp into space. It was time to find the Mysterious Tower and meet with Yen Sid. God save me if I can’t fly this ship. Vinyl stepped into her house only to find a cavalcade of ponies all in her home alongside Octavia and Raindrops for a Pinkie style party. Pinkie Pie looked around confused and slightly miffed startling every pony present. “Where is he?” “Huh?” “Where is HE?” “He left to meet with his master… Said it was a long trip.” Pinkie Pie groaned in defeat and sulked a bit before moving the entire party outside for the night. That left three very confused mares wondering how she managed that before excusing their minds from sanity and forgetting it ever happened. “So Vinyl what happened? Where did he go?” “Well… he said he was heading out to handle some things with his master. Said something about his training not being right.” “Did he have to leave now? I mean we barely got to know him though admittedly he was really quiet during our little meetings.” “I heard Raindrops. You were curling up to him weren’t you?” “Right Octavia and you were the perfect picture of demure. I heard how in his face you got. Any closer and you would have stolen his lips.” The two were nearly face to face both a bit perturbed at each other’s antics. Ironically, it was Vinyl who stopped the eventual fight with her next choice of words. “He’s open to the idea of herd relationship. Managed to talk him into it, Tavi.” “What!? How did you do that?” “My charming personality of course. This flank of mine always catches the stallion’s eyes. I just showed off some dance moves and bam, he agreed on the spot.” “Let me guess. You decided to just blurt out what we were thinking and he decided to agree because of it.” “Tavi!” “Yup thought so. Well I’m not mad about it. What about you Raindrops?” “I’m fine with it. What if we aren’t the only ponies to get his attention?” “We’ll say we’ll accept maybe three more ponies and only three more ponies.” “Vinyl, why are you thinking we should add more.” “Come on Tavi. A herd should be a bit bigger. Remember safety in numbers. Besides if his lifestyle is what it is we’re gonna need some more support to get through this. The more of us around might make him decide to settle down. It’s not the best idea but it’s an idea we might be able to enforce so long as we work together.” “Are we gonna leave that decision to him?” “I’ll say we trust him with that. We trust him maybe he’ll trust us with more about himself. I noticed that he always kept quiet more about his own personal life than general topics. We do this we might get closer.” “Raindrops, I know we should but what if we don’t like what’s gonna come out of this? Do we really need to know everything?” “Octavia, we already chose reckless as our thing. I know it’s a big stretch but he’s been quite kind with us. He didn’t lie to us either and tried to tell us as much as was possible. That means, at least, that he feels something for the three of us. We’ll get closer to him on a more emotional level when he gets back from meeting with his master.” “I know. I’m just worried. He came back to Ponyville covered in blood and with four almost useless legs. What happens next time he come back. Will he be missing a wing? An eye? It’s the not knowing that gets to me.” “It’ll be fine. He knows what’s waiting for him now and I’m sure he’s looking forward to getting to know us better.” “That does mean he wants to date first right Vinyl? “Yeah Tavi. He seems to take thing slowly. While I find that boring I’m gonna make an exception this once.” The three mares nodded and each went to their respective beds. Raindrops, of course, left for her own home while the other ponies of Ponyville partied throughout the night courtesy of the peppy pink party pony placating plenty of ponies in powerful pounces. “Woo! Alliteration!” Pinkie screamed out to the heavens while a shooting star sailed across the night sky. A certain demon ship named Diablos flew off in search of a master.