The word "token" has many meanings.
Here are two important ones:
First, the word "token" can refer to any item of significance representing a larger theme or idea. Take, for instance, a photo carried in a wallet. This is a token representing the pony or event captured in the photo, a heartwarming reminder of something close to you.
Interestingly, the second meaning could be defined in the same words: something small that represents a larger whole. I will, however, present you with a different example: a unicorn politician poses for a photo with an earth pony. The earth pony is referred to, in cases like these, as the "token earth pony", an obligatory inclusion for the sake of appearing progressive.
Same dictionary definition, different meaning.
Aren’t words fascinating?
"Did you read your interview?" Vinyl asked. She sipped her coffee, arching her eyebrows at me.
I lowered my book about an inch to glance at Vinyl.
Her look was inscrutable, and her motive behind the question was likewise impossible to guess.
I raised my book again and scoffed. "Why would I read my own interview? I was the one talking. I know what it says."
Vinyl nodded. "You would think so, wouldn't you?"
I closed my book and set it on the wooden bar before me. "What happened?"
Vinyl shrugged. "I'm guessing they didn't tell you it was gonna be one of those 'impressions' pieces."
"Impressions?" I repeated.
"Yeah. Some new series they're doing," Vinyl explained. "It's like, instead of just printing what you said, they invented an entire story that makes it more interesting."
I cocked my head. "I'm sure they wouldn't just make things up for the paper."
Vinyl's eyebrows climbed higher. She looked down into her coffee cup.
"Would they?" I asked.
Vinyl slurped her coffee loudly.
"Vinyl, would they?" I asked, grabbing her foreleg and giving it a small shake.
She set the coffee cup back down on the bar. "Alright, nothing’s, like, totally made up. But there's a lot of… what do you call it when you make a guess, but scientifically?"
"I'm sorry, guessing?" I repeated.
"No, not guessing…" Vinyl shook her head. "Something like inter-- interfere…"
"Inferencing?" I suggested.
Vinyl smacked her hoof down on the bar. "Yeah, that's it!"
The bartender gave her a dirty look.
"Er-- I mean, good show, Twilight!" Vinyl announced, clapping me on the shoulder.
The bartender rolled his eyes and returned to his work cleaning glasses.
I leaned in close to Vinyl. "Inferencing isn’t the same as-- nevermind. What kind of things did they say?" I asked in a harsh whisper. "I mean… nothing bad, right? I haven't been eating well lately, do you think she saw my kitchen cabinets?"
"You mean the apocalypse-ready tea hoard?" Vinyl asked. "No, I'm sure your secret addiction is safe."
"Hey," I said. "I like tea."
"But what about food, Twi?" Vinyl asked. “What do you even eat?”
I shrugged. "I like fast food. Can't keep that in a cabinet."
Vinyl laughed to herself, shaking her head. "Y'know, I get it. You were in school for so long, and then immediately became friends with Pinkie Pie, and you just never had to learn how to cook. But not all food is cooking, Twi. Couldn't you just keep some peanut butter? Or bread?"
"Doesn't that stuff go bad?" I asked timidly.
Vinyl's face fell into a comical grimace. "I can't seriously be the best cook in this relationship."
"Well, I think I could probably handle--" shook my head to clear it. "Hey, quit distracting me!"
Vinyl chuckled. "I can't help it. I’m great at distracting you. Must be because I’m so irresistibly charming…”
"What did they write about me?" I asked, using my best no-nonsense voice.
She sighed and rolled her eyes, her grin disappearing. "Well, they said they think you may not technically be a pony by scientific definitions," Vinyl explained. "They're worried what it might mean for your ability to rule. Y'know, legally."
"What?!" I exclaimed.
"Yeah. Most ponies are seventy percent water, but they're betting you're at least seventy-five percent tea."
"Vinyl!" I scolded.
“Seriously, they’re looking for legal precedent amongst coffee addicts,” Vinyl said, fighting a smile like her life depended on it.
I growled at her, trying not to smile myself.
Vinyl snorted. "Twi, it's no big deal. I thought it was pretty funny, honestly."
"Funny?"
"Wow, you're pretty mono-- shit, what's the word? Monosyllabic, but for words?"
"Holophrastic," I said.
Vinyl looked at me. "That can’t be right.”
“It is.”
She sighed. “I'm not gonna try to pronounce that. But that's totally what you are today."
"Vinyl…" I whined, kicking my back hooves. "Just tell me what they said, okay?"
"Nothing, really!" Vinyl relented, laughing a bit. "Just weird crap. Just very typical celebrity weirdness, trying to make you accessible and just coming out sounding stupid."
"Stupid?"
"Yeah. Like, funny-stupid."
"I’m funny-stupid?"
“The article is funny-stpuid,” Vinyl clarified. “You’re funny-quirky. There’s a distinction.”
“But can everypony see that distinction?” I asked, leaning closer to Vinyl. “Or just you?”
"Twi, if you're that worried, why don't you give it a read?" Vinyl suggested. "I'm sure it's on your porch right now."
I leaned away from Vinyl, rolling my head back to look at the ceiling and releasing a long, tortured sound.
"What?" Vinyl asked, almost teasing.
"I can't read something that long about me," I said. "It's like hearing yourself on a recording. It just makes you cringe."
Vinyl looked at me, searching my face for any hint of insincerity. Finding none, she heaved a great sigh. "The main thing is that they think I'm a… I'm a 'token marefriend' that you've decided to get. Like, for publicity."
Coffee shot out my nose. "They said what?"
"It was super vague and weird," Vinyl said, waving her hooves in a universal 'chill out' gesture. "Like one sentence in a really boring part. All speculation. Nopony will even see it!"
"How could they think that?" I asked. I was getting the urge to put my face down on the bar, perhaps just lay there for a while.
""Uh…" Vinyl searched her memory. "I dunno. They seemed to think it had something to do with us not being… physically affectionate in public. And 'cause you're a princess and stuff. Like it's a statement."
"I thought you said it was just a sentence."
Vinyl smiled insincerely. "It was a long sentence?"
I smacked my forehead down on the bar.
Vinyl put a hoof on my shoulder and started to rub it gently. "Look, Twi-- it's no biggie. Let 'em say what they want. We know we're really together, right?"
I moaned into the bar.
"Oof. I know that sound."
"Is that what other ponies think of us?" I asked, my cheeks constricted by my position. I lifted my face to look at Vinyl. "Do they think we're a made-up couple? Is that how bad we are at being couple-y?"
Vinyl narrowed her eyes. "I feel like being couple-y isn't necessary to being a couple, exactly."
"But--" I sighed. "I want everypony to know how much I like you."
Vinyl smiled. "That's super sweet, Twi. Really. But I don't care! I’m happy! You don’t need to go shouting it from the rooftops or anything. I promise."
"I've called press conferences for less," I said.
"You've called press conferences?!" Vinyl repeated. "That's such a rad thing to do."
I laughed. A snort snuck out.
"If I could call press conferences, I'd literally do it all day," Vinyl said. "Just keep everypony updated on, like, the food I ate and the animals I saw out my window and stuff. Songs I really like."
"Now that sounds like a great press conference," I said.
Vinyl sat up straight and furrowed her brows, clearly channeling 'politician'. "Hello, Ponyville. Just wanted to inform you all that I had a banana at breakfast. It was a little overripe for my tastes. Not the worst I've had, but the question remains: can Ponyville produce better bananas? More on this at eight."
I laughed.
Vinyl looked down at me and smiled. She always made this face like she was proud to have made me laugh, but sort of shocked that it had worked at all. A smile with really wide, almost innocent eyes. Even after the raunchiest of jokes.
She relaxed. “You’re not seriously gonna call a press conference, are you?”
I moaned once again, softly.
“Twilight…”
“I won’t call a press conference,” I said. “But I really want to.”
Vinyl grinned. “I have a compromise: I could just kiss you more,” she said. She leaned over and wrapped her forelegs around my barrel, nuzzling the underside of my jaw.
I leaned away, blushing fiercely. “Vinyl, we’re in public!”
“That’s the point, princess!” she argued, planting a kiss on my cheek.
I giggled and tucked my snout down against my chest.
Vinyl sat back on her stool. “There. Now everypony in this speakeasy knows, at least.”
I looked around the room. Nopony was looking at us, but it still felt like we’d done something really big and daring.
That warm, buzzing feeling in my stomach swelled. It didn’t happen as often now, but there was something kind of wonderful about that. It was like a surprise, now, waiting to pop out from a corner and make my mind explode with happiness, even if only for a moment or two.
But, when the feeling dissipated, I was left with something cold and slimy.
“Vinyl?”
“Mm?”
“We’re… we’re dating,” I said.
Vinyl squinted at me. “I thought so. Are we not?”
“We are!” I agreed. “But… it’s serious, right?”
Vinyl made a strange face, as if this was a conversation she had had before and was not eager to relive. “Meaning?”
“Meaning… not… casual?” I said carefully.
Vinyl scoffed. “I’m not planning on breaking up with you anytime soon, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“I know, I know,” I said. I looked down at my coffee and used my magic to gentle swirl the last few remaining sips around. “But… are we in it for the long haul?”
“I’m in it as long as you’re in it, Twi,” Vinyl said. Her tone was even and low.
I smiled to myself. “Well… good.”
Vinyl grinned at me, then sucked down the rest of her coffee. She slammed the mug down on the bar like a pirate. The whole concept of the speakeasy seemed to confuse her, sometimes; or perhaps she just wasn’t clear on what periods of history were happening concurrently.
I could hardly correct her. It always made me laugh, after all.
“Y’know, I kept that first note you wrote me,” Vinyl said.
I looked at her. “What note?”
Vinyl smiled. “You don’t remember it? You used a whole piece of parchment just to write ‘yes’, with, like, a hundred exclamation points. I had asked you to come here with me.”
I blushed. “I… might remember that.”
“I use it as a bookmark. Have it all folded up with your name on the front. That way I see it every time I read, and I think of you,” Vinyl said. “Not that I’m not thinking of you every time I read, anyway.”
I giggled. “That’s… really cute.”
Vinyl made the motion to flip her mane, but it was totally slicked back and motionless. “I know, right?”
I snorted. “Why-- I mean, what made you think to tell me?”
“Just ‘cause… well, if I wasn’t serious about this, why would I have kept that?” Vinyl said. “It was right after I met you. I had no reason to hold onto it.”
“Just wanted me that bad, huh?” I murmured, reaching one hoof over to kick her playfully under the bar.
Vinyl gave me a look of mock surprise, laying a dainty hoof over her chest. “Why, princess! How crude!”
I laughed. Vinyl tried to hold it together, but seemed to break after just a moment of looking at me. It wasn’t funny laughter so much as… happy laughter.
“I kept those ear plugs,” I said.
“Oh, don’t--” Vinyl waved her hoof. “That’s ‘cause you thought they were cool. Not ‘cause you liked me.”
“I did like you!” I insisted.
“But you didn’t know it!” Vinyl argued back.
“It was a subconscious thing!” I told her. “I subconsciously decided to keep the ear plugs because I liked you. Subconsciously.”
Vinyl gave me a look of comical disbelief. “Oh, yeah. Very convincing, Twi.”
“It’s true!” I said, giggling and poking Vinyl’s side.
Vinyl gave me a sidelong glance, smirking to herself.
I bit my lip, then leaned over to peck Vinyl on the cheek. “I promise. I liked you plenty.”
Vinyl laid her hoof over her forehead dramatically. “Oh, my stars! The princess liked me! However shall I recover?”