Chapter 2
The white alicorn backpedaled rapidly, nearly falling into the paper-covered toilet. The DJ unicorn was now sitting up, looking around with interest. She looked back at the other pony.
“Celeste! Hey! Where are we? Like, what happened last night?” said the DJ, dropping her Applejack D. bottle onto the floor, shattering it.
Celestia would normally have been appalled at the informality of the name ‘Celeste’, but, under the circumstances, she let it slide. “Why... what.... Why are you here?”
Vinyl wrinkled her brow in confusion. “I... I don’t know! Hey, are we in a bathroom? Never woken up in one before! Awesome! I’ll have to check that off my list!”
“You have a li-”
The Princess was about to respond when she realized her hooves were wet. She looked down in alarm to see that she had never turned the faucet off, and the sink she had opened was now overflowing. Hurriedly, she shut it off with her magic. She went to clean the floor, then realized that it would make no difference, and bending over with a headache was a poor idea. She turned back to Vinyl.
The white mare was looking down into the tub. “Hey, wait, did I sleep in the bathtub? Wicked! Wait, why am I so comfortable? Is that-” She cut off, beginning to laugh hysterically.
Celestia stared at her “roommate” for a moment, then moved forward in curiosity. “What? What is it?”
In way of an answer, the electric-blue maned pony simply got to her hooves and moved to the far end of the tub. The Princess moved to the edge and peered over the edge to find a grey pony.
“Wait... Aren’t you one of the lead cellists for tonight’s Gala?”
There was, of course, no response. Vinyl laughed even harder at the still-sleeping pony on the floor of the tub. She moved back over to the grey mare, and lowered her head to her ear.
“HEY, TAVI! UP AND AT ‘EM!”
Celestia cringed at the loud noise, but Vinyl’s headache did not seem to be as severe.The effect of the shout was immediate. The earth pony started out of sleep, her hooves going up in surprise. One caught the DJ in the face, and she backed up. The cellist sat up.
“AHHH! What? What? Where are we? My head, oh Celest-”
She froze mid-sentence, seeing the alicorn herself next to the tub. The Princess was by now nursing a small belief that she was still asleep, dreaming, in her own bed.
The grey mare was still looking at Celestia with wide eyes. Without shifting her gaze, she said, “...Vinyl? Where are we? And what did we do?”
The DJ was still rubbing her face with a hoof. “Well, you kicked me. Meanie.”
Octavia broke her gaze long enough to look at the unicorn in confusion. After a moment, she shook her head. “Well, you probably deserved it.”
Celestia broke in. “Excuse me- no, buck it, my head hurts too much to be polite. What the hell are you two doing here?”
Vinyl spoke up immediately, putting on a mock serious face. “The real question, Princess, is: why are YOU here? I’m sure you two are wondering why I’ve gathered you here today, but-”
Octavia whacked her with a hoof, cutting her off.
“Ow, Tavi!”
“There, I told you you deserved it.”
The DJ stuck out her tongue. “Did not!”
“Did too!”
“Did not!”
Celestia sighed and rubbed her head with a hoof, trying to clear it. She left the couple to their bickering (and they were a couple; came out a few months ago, if she remembered Luna’s gossip correctly), and trotted outside, into the thankfully darker bedroom. Picking her way carefully across the trash and broken glass again, she crossed to the drawn shades.
Taking a deep breath, she used her magic to open a gap, just wide enough to peek through. Immediately, a ray of blinding light shot through into her eyes, and she yanked the shade close again.
Luna’s voice drifted into the room again, its owner still nowhere to be seen. “The sun is bright, isn’t it, Tia? A little too bright for this time of day, don’t you think?” The voice trailed off into a chuckle.
The Princess of the Sun gritted her teeth and stepped forward again. The first blast had hurt like hell, but the pain had actually had the benefit of clearing her head a slight bit, and this time when she pulled the shade open, she was able to squint her eyes and hold her ground.
After a moment, the world outside resolved itself from a mass of brightness into a recognizable scene. She was indeed in the music wing, as she could see her bedroom in a tower across the castle. Her bedroom blinds were closed. No, wait, they were open. Wait...
She squinted harder. She could just make out the shadow of a pony moving past the window, and the blinds opened again, staying open this time. No, she couldn’t recognize the pony, but there was definitely somepony in her bedroom. Who the buck?
“Hey, look, my stereo! Awesome!”
Celestia turned to see that Octavia and Vinyl had emerged from the bathroom, in a better state than they had woken up in. The cellist had appeared to have stolen the alicorn’s original plan, and her mane showed signs of having recently been wetted. Both ponies looked remarkably refreshed, and in better spirits. The DJ had just used her magic to pull a stained-looking stereo from a pile of what looked like... lamp shades.
The unicorn set the CD player in front of her, and poked one of the buttons with a hoof. She immediately made a face. “Eww. It’s sticky.”
The grey mare moved next to her and sniffed it. She didn’t look surprised. “Applejack Daniels. I’d bet my cello on it.”
Vinyl glanced at her, grinning. “What clued you in? The broken bottles saying ‘Applejack Daniels’ all around the room?”
Octavia made a face at the unicorn. “Nevermind. What’s inside it?”
The DJ pushed the button on the stereo again, this time with her magic. It popped open, and her expression changed from a grin to one of confused horror. The cellist, on the other hand, began to smile broadly.
“Oh, Vinyl?”
Gritted teeth. “...What. Tavi.”
“Could you read me what that CD says, dear?”
Vinyl gritted her teeth. “It says... ahem... ‘Beethooven’s Classical Symphonies’....”
“You understand you’re not living this down, correct?”
The mare with the electric-blue mane hung her head in shame. “Probably not. But in my defense, I was intoxicated when it was put in there.”
“Doesn’t matter.” Octavia grinned and pecked the DJ on the cheek.
Celestia disregarded them again and turned back to the window. Yes, there was definitely somepony in her room. She could see, because the sun was directly overhead, shining through the large skylight she had in her room. She could see a shadow on the blinds, closed again now.
“Now, who could that-”
Wait.
Wait.
Directly overhead?
The alicorn closed her eyes, hard, and rubbed them with her hooves. A trick of the light, nothing more. Some sunlight glinting off a tower somewhere in the castle.
The Princess opened her eyes. The sun remained where she had seen it, directly above the castle. She whirled, the sudden motion hurting her head again. She clenched her teeth against it, and glanced around the room frantically for a clock. Before she could find one, the voice of Luna drifted to her again.
“Oh, Tia. I’m afraid I woke you up early! I thought it fitting, what with the Gala this evening. It’s only 10:00, currently.”
10:00...!!!!! Celestia blanched. She had always had a protocol in place for the sun, a fairly complicated spell that, once she had perfected it, raised the sun for her if she was asleep or unable to do so herself. The spell had an override ability, of course, but...why would she have ever invoked that? And who was in charge of the sun now?
The other two ponies in the room were glancing around, Octavia with concern, Vinyl with mild interest.
The cellist: “Oh, my! Was that the Princess Luna?”
The DJ: “Hey, cool! Loony! Is that Loony? Come out and say hi!”
No response, but Celestia fancied she could hear her sister laughing quietly. Celeste? Loony? I don’t even know this pony!
She turned and approached the two mares, trying to re-assert her ‘Princess’ air. It didn’t work well.
“Ahem... Allow me to ask again. What are the two of you doing here?” As an afterthought, she added, “And who are you, again?”
Vinyl reacted first. “The ever-lovin’ Vinyl Scratch, at your service! What, you don’t remember last night?”
“No! Do you?”
“Well... no. But, I don’t have a headache like you obviously do.” She looked at both the Princess and the cellist. “You two are lightweights. I drank just as much as both of ya and look at me!”
She attempted a hoofstand, and promptly fell over onto her back. Octavia snorted in laughter. Celestia turned to her.
“And you? You are a musician for the Gala, correct?”
The earth pony nodded in acquiescence. “Yes, your majesty. I was allowed to bring a guest during my stay here, and...” She gestured at the DJ now giggling to herself on the floor.
The Princess of the Sun nodded. “Alright. Do you recall what in the hoof happened last night?”
Octavia shook her head gingerly. “No, I’m sorry. If anypony remembered, it would be Vinyl; she’s used to large quantities of alcohol.”
From the floor: “You know it, baby! Now help me up...”
The grey mare looked at her, grinning slightly. “No.”
“Aw, please, Tavi?”
Celestia broke back in, abandoning all pretense of royalty. “Well, this is one buckin’ hell of a problem. The Gala is tonight, and nopony knows what the buck happened last night. Buck. Buck!”
Vinyl laughed at the cursing. The cellist looked a little taken aback. The Princess ignored them both.
“I’m going to my personal bedroom. There’s somepony in there, and I want to know who it is.” She crossed to the door and opened it, then slammed it shut again when a large beam of light shot into the still-fairly dark room.
“Buck! Buck it all!” She closed her eyes and grunted, and her horn began to glow. A second later, she had conjured a pair of extremely dark sunglasses.
Behind her, the DJ had finally gotten to her hooves, and she and Octavia were looking at each other, unsure. Celestia turned back to them.
“What? Isn’t this your room?”
The cellist glanced around and shook her head. “No, Princess. My- er, our bedroom had a treble clef on the ceiling.” She pointed at the bass clef above their heads. “I’m not sure whose bedroom this is.” She paused, then looked inquisitively at Celestia. “Would you be able to tell us where that room is from here?”
The alicorn thought, but her mind was still too raw to conjure up the map of Canterlot Castle. She shook her head, frowning. “No, I can’t. You are in the music wing, however, so it shouldn’t be too far away. Here.”
She conjured two more pairs of sunglasses, one of which Octavia took thankfully. Vinyl, however, refused the other pair, her eyes focusing on one particular pile of junk in the corner.
“Ha! I knew I wouldn’t have lost ‘em!”
From the pile, she dug out a pair of purple, shimmering glasses with black rims. She put them on with her magic, and then grinned at the cellist.
“See?”
Octavia just shook her head. “It’s a miracle those things aren’t scratched from... whatever happened last night.”
“Nope! They’re my lucky shades.” She turned to Celestia. “Anyway, Celeste, where you off to again?”
The Princess opened her mouth to request she cease using that name, and then just shook her head in disbelief. “I’m heading to my bedroom, to find out what happened there.”
Octavia spoke. “Well, seeing as none of us knows exactly what happened last night, I think it would be best if we split up. Vinyl and I will try to find our room. We’ll meet you at yours after we do so. It’s the tallest tower on the west side, correct?”
Celestia’s head was spinning, but that sounded like a good idea... or something. Whatever would get her out of the room. “Sure. Yes.” She shook her head to clear it. “See if you can find anything else about what happened.” She turned, opened the door again, and braced her eyes against the light. Cursing under her breath, the Princess of the Sun pushed out into the hallway of the castle, and was gone.
Octavia turned to Vinyl. “Well, at least we’re both alright. Are you okay?”
The DJ smiled. “Yeah, I’m fine. Whatever happened last night wasn’t crazy enough, I guess.”
The cellist smiled back. “I’m glad. Do you have any idea of which way we should go?”
Vinyl shook her head, and grinned. “Let’s go on an adventure!” She grabbed the stereo in her magic, glanced at it, and then put it back down behind her. She trotted out of the room.
The grey mare took one last look around, and sighed before following her fillyfriend. “It’s never a good thing when you say that, you know.”
“Oh, come on! What could go wrong? What’s the worst that could happen?”
“Let me count the ways...”
Their voices trailed off down the hallway, leaving the room seemingly empty. A patch of air in the corner shimmered, then materialized into a tall, dark blue alicorn, her eyes bulging out of her sockets. She couldn’t hold it in any longer, and fell laughing to the ground, where she rolled back and forth for a few moments. Eventually, the merriment subsided.
“Oh, Tia, forgive me, but that was simply too entertaining. Oh, and you’re heading to your room now? Let’s just get there ahead of you.”
With that, her horn glowed, and the Princess of the Night was gone in a flash of magic.
*** *** ***
The Princess of the Sun was still resenting its brightness as she trotted through the halls of Canterlot Castle, the sunglasses doing little to help her (lessening, but) still-present headache. The halls were oddly deserted, whether because of preparations for the Gala or whatever mad thing happened last night, Celestia couldn’t tell. She took all the routes on the upper floors, avoiding any area that might still have ponies in it.
Luckily, she did not meet a single other pony on her trip to her bedroom. When she arrived outside her door, she found no guards. Curious, but not important at the moment. She pushed open the doors with her magic, and coughed as a fog of smoke rolled out.
She recoiled, her mind racing. What’s on fire? What’s happening? I swear, if it’s Luna, I will-
“WELCOME TO APPLELOOOOOOOOOSAAAAAA!!!!!”
Celestia stopped moving backwards, regarding the room and the cloud with confusion. Appleloosa was a town of settler ponies, miles from Canterlot.
What in my name...?
A light-yellow colored pony trotted forward out of the smoke, his eyes bloodshot and fairly wide. His face was an image of dreamy contentment, and he didn’t seem in the least surprised to see her.
“Ohhhh... hey, you! I-” He stopped, looking around suddenly. “Wait... This isn’t Appleloosa.” Celestia was about to reply when he looked up at her again. “Hey, you! Want to buy some apples? Welcome to Appleloosa!”
Celestia regarded him with confusion for another moment, then looked past him into the room. The mess she saw was not encouraging.
Oh, buck...
*** *** *** ***
Author’s Note:
Aryn here. (This chapter was my turn. You may have noticed that Chapter 2 didn't have a title- that means it was written by me. Cade has titles for his chapters, I don't. Just a way for you guys to differentiate between who wrote what.)
It’s great to see how much support the story has gotten so far; thanks to everyone who has read and enjoyed! Cade and I will try to keep delivering. We’re submitting to EQD soon, wish us luck.
As you have all seen, my favorite mares in Equestria have shown up again, so anyone who enjoyed them in Mixing Relationships (my other fic, for those newcomers) should enjoy them again here! For those of you who did read Mixing, you can assume that this story contains the same Tavi and Scratch; this would take place a few months after the events of Mixing. Just don’t expect any other characters to show up, sorry. I'm saving them for a possible Mixing sequel. ;)
As always, feel free to comment what you liked, didn’t like, what you want to see more of, what you want to see less of, etc. Whatever strikes your fancy! Message me or Cade if you want to; we’re nice people. :D
See you in two chapters,
Aryn