//------------------------------// // 14. Ready For Launch (Part 1) // Story: Good Things Come // by Sweet Tale //------------------------------// "It's beautiful here." "Isn't it just?" "I'm so glad we chose to do this." "So am I, Luna...I love you so much. "I love you too Owen." "....hng...just a little closer..." "Almost...there..." OWEN! WAKE UP! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I DIDN'T BREAK ANYTHING!...huh?" Being abruptly pulled from my dream, I sat straight up in the bed and rubbed my eyes to remove the intruding sleep in them. Looking ahead, I saw Celestia standing at the foot of the bed. "Oh hey. Morning Celestia." I said with a groan. "Morning yourself." A shuffling next to me made me aware that Luna had been awakened by her sister's bellowing voice. "And I thought I was loud." she mumbled before raising her head to meet mine, then to Celestia. "Morning to the both of you. Sister, what is the meaning of the rude awakening?" A warm smile spread itself across Celestia's face. "It was more for Owen's sake than yours. Do you know what day it is today?" "It's Friday." I replied, shrugging my shoulders. "And do you have plans for today? Any appointments you made?" I tilted my head in confusion. "Appointments? No...there's nothing I can think of." Celestia summoned a scroll and deposited it in my lap. I opened it up and began to read it. "Dear Princess Celestia. Can you please remind Owen that he is expected at Vinyl's club today..." I quickly got to my feet and held my hands on my head. "THE CLUB! I'm supposed to be starting work at the club at noon! I completely forgot!" "You never told me you got a job." Luna stated. I started pacing up and down the room. "Oh no. No no no no no! I'm gonna be late, Vinyl's gonna get angry, I'll get a bad reputation..." "Owen." "...I won't earn any money and I'll disappoint a great friend..." "Owen!" "...The Ipod! I even leant her my Ipod. I'll never get that back n--" "OWEN!" That stopped me. I turned to Celestia who just expelled all the voice she could. "Err...yeah?" Celestia draped a wing over my shoulder to keep me calm. "There's no need to panic. You have plenty of time. I have arranged a chariot to take you back to Ponyville at 9AM. Everything has been taken care of." I let out a sharp breath as my panic subsided. "Thanks. Thanks very much." Celestia nodded and walked out of the bedroom, leaving me and Luna alone. I fell backwards onto the bed and sighed a sigh of relief. "At least I'm not gonna be late." Luna's face came into view above mine. "How could you forget about something so important?" she scolded me. "I got so caught up with you yesterday, I forgot all about it." I placed a hand on her cheek. "Spending time with you is wonderful. Takes priority over everything else." Luna swatted my hand away in a playful gesture and leant down, giving me a kiss on the lips. "Go on. Go and get washed up and I'll meet you in the dining hall. I hear they're serving pancakes today." she said with a wink. That brought a smile to my face. I immediately sprang up and made my way to the bathroom, situated near the rear of the room. Whilst inside, I had a quick wash with one of Luna's frilly purple wash clothes. Hey, it may be frilly but it gets the job done. I quickly made my way to the dining room, remembering where it was after mine and Luna's day exploring yesterday. I sat myself down where a waiter pony came by with a large stack of pancakes, laden with fresh fruit. Thanking him, I began to tuck in, as did the royal sisters. "So...what was funny between you two last night?" Celestia asked. "Oh err...you heard us laughing?" Luna said, making Celestia nod in confirmation. "Well, I managed to find Owen's sensitive spot" she said with a laugh. "And I found hers. Now I know how to get back at her..." I said with a evil smirk, putting another mouthful of fruit in. We continued to idly chat about the previous days events. Everything, from the flight to the castle and conquering my fears somewhat, to the discovery of Blueblood's deceit. I was asked whether I would like to attend his trial...I didn't give them a direct answer. Once breakfast had been dealt with, it was time to return to Ponyville. Celestia gave me a warm farewell while Luna and I walked out towards a waiting chariot. I looked at the chariot and huffed. "At least this won't be as bad as last time." I mumbled. I turned to Luna and gave her a hug. "I'll see you soon, yeah?" "Of course. I'll let you know when I'm next avaliable." I climbed into the chariot and sat on the seat, looking out of the window to a smiling Luna. "Hey. Will you come to the club sometime? See how I'm getting on?" "Sorry but clubs are not my scene. I'm not one for loud, noise-polluting music." she stated. I gave her a despondent stare and quivered my bottom lip. Luna strolled up to the chariot and leant her head close to mine. "Buuuut...I could find time for you." she said, giving me a quick peck. "I'll look forward to it. Take care...love." "You too...dear." With that said, the chariot pulled off and launched into the sky. I never broke my gaze with Luna until she was completely out of sight. I sat back in the seat and watched the world go by. The world looked beautiful from above, even thought my fear of heights was still there. Not as bad but it was there nonetheless. "Hey buddy! You banging the Princess?" one of the pegasus guards shouted back. 'How can they ask something like that?! It's so rude!' I leant out of the door to shout back a remark about their question but I said the first thing that came to my mind. "Not yet!" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The flight back to Ponyville took about two hours and I was moderately OK with the flying. A couple of dips and turns made me feel queasy but not as bad as my first encounter with this flying contraption. Touching down outside of the library, I exited the chariot and thanked the guards. They then took off into the skies. I opened up the library door and saw Twilight at her desk with her nose in a book. Spike was busy sweeping up what looked like the remains of a vase. "Hey guys." "Hey Owen." Spike glumly said. "What's up with you?" Twilight turned her head around to look at Spike with a stern face. "He broke one of my favourite vases, so I grounded him for a week." "Ah I see." Twilight turned her head back to her book. I walked up behind her and tapped her head which caused her to turn around. I put my arms around her and hugged her tight. "What, Owen? What are you doing?" Twilight quizically asked. "Thanking you for sending that letter to Celestia. If you didn't, I would have completely forgot about work at the club today." I gently kissed her forehead. "You're a diamond, you are." Twilight blushed and produced a nervous smile. "Oh I er...you're welcome." "Anyway, I thought I'd just pop back and see you both before I head off. I'll be back sometime this evening. See you later." I said, exiting out of the library. I started to make my way to the club, walking through the town. Along the way, I was greeted by a few familiar faces who greeted me with their always-cheery attitudes. Seriously, this town is waaaay too happy. About 30 minutes later, I came across Vinyl's club which had some sort of scaffolding around it. Not a pony in sight though. I approached the front door and entered the club. As I walked in, music was being played at background volume. I saw 2 other ponies who were seated at the bar, staring at me as I walked in. I approached the two ponies who didn't break their gaze. "Uhh...hey. Do you know if Vinyl's here?" I asked tentatively. "Over here!" I heard a voice call. Looking towards the mixing deck, I saw the electric-blue mane of said pony DJ. I walked over to her and saw she was untangling the mother of all knots of wires. "Having fun there?" I joked "Oh yeah. Absolutely loving this" she said through gritted teeth. She huffed and threw the wires down on the floor. "Forget this, it can be done later." She looked at the clock, which was a neon light displayed on the wall. "Half hour early, good start." she said with a smile. "Let me introduce you to the two I've brought in today for your training." She led me over to the two ponies at the bar. The one sitting on the stool was a dark red unicorn with a yellow mane. The one behind the bar was a brown earth pony with a white mane that hung over his forehead. Vinyl introduced me to them both, starting with the earth pony. "This is Minute Hand, the chief bouncer in the club." "Hey, I'm Owen." I said, extending my hand to him. "Nice to meet ya." Minute responded. "This here is Cherry Spice. She's the best bartender I've ever met." Cherry chuckled and swung her hoof at Vinyl in a playful manner. "Oh stop it." She looked towards me. "Nice to meet you. Vinyl's said you're a great guy." "Oh she did, did she?" I glanced at Vinyl and laughed. "Well, I'll prove if that's right or not soon enough" I joked. Vinyl sat herself down on one of the stools. "Right, well it's up to you Owen. What do you want to learn first? Bar work with Cherry or bouncing with Minute?" "Let's go for the bouncing first." "Follow me big guy." Minute instructed. We walked into a room that was next to Vinyl's office. Inside were a few chairs and a table. Minute sat down at the table and opened up a folder which was on the table. "This here is the health and safety procedures you must follow whilst working on the door or even in the club at all. I want you to spend as much time as you need to get yourself fully versed with the contents of the file. Once you've finished, we'll move onto some practical work." "Alright then. I'll get to reading then." "Good. I'll come back in half an hour." Minute said, walking out of the room. I started on the file. As Minute had said, it listed the health and safety procedures of the club such as what to do in a fire, moving and handling, rules on behaviour and whatnot. The default phrases to use in conversation were in there as well. Slowly making my way through the folder, it brought back memories of being in school. The constant drone of silence and the arduous task of reading a 400 page book word for word. Half an hour later, just like he said, Minute re-entered the room with a neutral look on his face. "Have you finished reading the file?" I nodded. "OK then. I'll just ask you a few questions to see if you were really paying attention. First, where are the fire exits?" "One is located through the bathrooms, one is located at the rear of the club, next to the seating area and the front door can also be used." "Correct. Next question. If a patron is being unruly and is causing distress in the club, what is the first course of action?" "Talk to him calmly and ask him to stop causing trouble." "Very good. Last question. If a patron is to be escorted out of the club by means of force, what is the best way to hold them?" "You need two ponies to help carry him or her out. To carry them, hold the front hooves towards their chest and half bear hug from behind, walking towards the door. Also make sure that you will not cause harm to the offending pony on any unsafe objects." A smile crept onto Minute's face and his attitude changed. "Excellent! You really do pay attention. Now that we've got all that boring stuff out of the way, how about we try some practical exercises?" "Sounds good to me!" I chimed. He led me to the outside of the club, to where the customers would queue. Another pony was waiting there; a familiar cyan pegasus. "Rainbow Dash here has volunteered to help out for this exercise. Vinyl asked her to help as you two were on good terms." I walked up to Rainbow and greeted her. "Hey Rainbow, nice to see ya." "You too. This is gonna be fun." she chuckled. "Well then, let's get started. Owen, you stand here, as if you were on duty." I moved into place, between two posts. "Now, Rainbow. I want you to be an ordinary patron who wishes to enter the club. Owen, you have to tell her that the club is full and she'll have to wait, which she will not be happy about. Just play along and I'll add some scenarios as you go along." "Right." both me and Rainbow said. Ranbow walked about 20 feet away from me and walked between the queuing posts as if she was a patron. She approached me and I held my hand out to stop her. "I'm sorry Miss but the club is full at the moment. You'll have to wait until someone leaves." I said bluntly. "What? But I've been waiting in this queue for ages! You have to let me in!" Rainbow said with a hint of anger. "Sorry. The club can only hold a maximum of 200. Please wait in line until there is some room." "Ugh! Not cool!" Rainbow stood firm and stomped her hoof. "Good. Now Rainbow, start to get a bit agitated and confront Owen. Really get in his face, threatening almost." Minute instructed. "You sure?" Rainbow asked. Minute nodded. "OK then." Rainbow walked up close to me and cleared her throat loudly. "HEY! You gonna let me in or what?!" she shouted at me. Seeing Rainbow angry like this was quite frightening; something I wouldn't like to see in real life. I persevered onwards. "Please lower your voice Miss. You will be let in when there is room." Rainbow took to the air and got nose to nose with me. Pressing one of her hooves on my chest, she snarled at me. "Listen here. You let me in or you are gonna wish you never worked here." Wow. She was deathly scary. "This is your last warning Miss. Please calm down or I will have to restrain you." I said with annoyance. I was impressed with myself that I managed to keep this going. "You, restrain me?! HA! No way!" She lightly punched me in the chest, as if it was a real punch. "Now get out of my way!" This was it, moment of truth. I quickly grabbed Rainbow's torso, turned her around and held her front hooves against her chest, pushing her wings against my chest so she couldn't fly away. I could almost swear she tried to nuzzle against my chest with her head. "Brilliant! That was very good!" Minute happily said. I let Rainbow go and she landed on the ground, laughing at the whole scenario. "That was awesome! You're really good at that!" Rainbow chimed. "Oh, thanks. I was actually quite nervous about doing that." "You shouldn't have been." Minute responded. "That was a very good exercise and you pulled it off very well. You'll make a good bouncer here." he said with genuine praise. "Nice." I turned to face Rainbow. "Thanks for helping out. Looks like you enjoyed it as well." I said, noticing her blushing cheeks. She quickly tried to get rid of the blush by wiping her face with her hoof but to no avail. She chuckled nervously before taking to the air and flying off and a great speed. "You're a lucky guy." Minute said. "I'm sorry?" "How she acts around you. How she looks at you and her blushing. She's got a thing for you, you know?" "Wha...seriously?" Come to think about it, he could be right. The party at AJ's, the VERY long kiss. The time when I was attacked, she comforted me so much, she never left my side. She let me hold her hoof when Fluttershy applied that iodine. That hoof-wrestle we had; the looks she gave me...and she did nuzzle me then! "I'm such an idiot..." "How come?" "All the signs she's been giving me. I was too stupid to realise them at the time. It took someone else telling me to realise......damn it." "What's the problem? I'd be ecstatic if I had a marefriend like her!" "Well that's the problem. I've already got a girlfriend...marefriend." I said, rolling my eyes. "Ah, right. Who's the lucky mare?" "Princess Luna." I said bluntly. "Oh right, that's--WHAT?!" I nodded to confirm it. "Wow. You really are lucky. Even so, it's not a problem." "Why not?" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Minute made his way back into the club and sat at a bar stool, motioning me to do the same. The speakers in the club were playing some LMFAO, which I started nodding at. "I'm sure you've noticed the gender ratio here isn't exactly balanced." Minute stated. "Yeah, I did notice that. Way more females here than males." "Right. About 1 male in every 6-7 females. Due to this, sometimes, males have more than one partner. Just so it shortens the amount of single females." "You serious? Polygamy is practiced here?" "Absolutely. Has been for years. Why, is it not where you come from?" "No way. It's illegal where I come from. Most of my world is entirely monogamist." "That's a strange world you come from. Anyway, you don't have a problem. I'm sure you can date two mares at once." "I don't know. It just seems so weird." "Eh...it is at first. Give it some thought, I'm sure you'll come to a decision. Right, I'll be off then. Cherry should be around somewhere. See if you can get some bar training from her. See you around." "See ya." Minute walked off and out of the club. Not soon after, Cherry walked behind the bar and handed me a small book, about 10 pages long. "NIce to see you did well with Minute. I saw your display and I gotta say, you were pretty good." "Thanks Cherry." "This booklet in front of you explains all of the cocktails that we serve. On a busy night, we mostly serve beer and spirits but somepony will want a cocktail from time to time. I want you to take that home and try to memorise the lists. Can you do that?" It didn't seem too complex. Some of them I actually knew how to make. Ones like Vodka Sunrise and Cuba Libre I knew how to make. "Sure, no problem." "Great. Now come round the bar here and I'll show you where all of the drinks are." I made my way around the bar and looked at the wide array of beers and spirits that were stored there. Vodka, rum, ciders, beers, alcopops and many more. "Through here--" Cherry pointed to a door behind the bar, only accessible by the bar workers. "--is where the storeroom is. If you ever need anymore alcohol, it's all in there. Now, let's say someone ordered say...a Vodka Sunrise. This is what you do. First you--" "Actually. I know how to make this one. Want me to show you?" Cherry nodded and stood back. I poured Vodka and orange juice into a mixing glass and shook well. I poured it into a glass and added a shot of grenadine syrup. I passed it to Cherry who sipped it and tasted it. "Hmm...very good. Very nice. I can see you know how to measure out the right liquids as well. OK, let's try something else. Somepony just ordered 6 bottles of beer. How quick can you get them served.?" I quickly pulled out 6 bottles of beer, 3 in each hand. I used a bottle opener and opened them all quickly, setting them in a neat line on the bar. Cherry nodded in approval. "Very good. You'll do just fine here. That's all there is that I can show you. Just try and memorise the cocktail list and you'll be perfect." "Thanks very much." I made my way out of the bar area and made my way to Vinyl, who was once again trying to untangle the ungodly mess of wires. "Any luck Vinyl?" "TO TARTARUS WITH THIS!" she shouted, throwing the wires down again. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt." I apologised. "No, don't worry, it's not your fault. How did your training go?" "Pretty good. Both Minute and Cherry were impressed with my training." Vinyl stood up on her hind legs and pulled me into a hug, which I returned. "Nice going dude! I knew you'd be good here!" We released the hug and she stood on all fours. "Now, I have a favour to ask" she asked with a sly smile. "Uh-oh." "Oh, don't fret. Here, take this." She levitated my Ipod into my hand. "Ah, thanks very much!" "No problem. Now, to that favour. Since you leant me your Ipod, I've got a whole, brand new playlist, ready for a club night! I've been advertising this night and ponies from all over are interested. I sold out all my tickets yesterday!" "Nice one." "Indeed. I advertised it as 'An Outer World Experience'. Anyway, it's tomorrow night. Can you work for it?" "Tomorrow night?" I was surprised she wanted me to work so soon but I reckon I could handle it. "Sure, why not." "Great! If you can get here for tomorrow at about 6. Club opens at 9 and closes at 2." "No problem. See ya tomorrow." I began to walk away and made it to the door. I opened it but a blue aura closed it. "Here, take these." Vinyl levitated 2 slips into my hand. "These are two queue jump tickets for tomorrow night. Bring some of your friends. Sorry I can't give you more, that's all I had." "Oh wow, thanks. I'm pretty sure I know who to invite." I exited the club and started to make my way back to the library, walking through the town. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My first ticket was going to a pony that knew how to party. It only seemed right. I made my way towards Sugarcube Corner and entered the bakery. It was empty, save for a blue earth pony behind the counter. "Good afternoon dear! You're Pinkie's friend, right?" "That's right. I'm Owen, nice to meet you." "My name is Cup Cake. Me and my husband, Carrot Cake, run this bakery along with Pinkie. Did you want to buy anything?" "Uh, no, sorry. I was actually here to see if Pinkie was here." "Of course, she's upstairs in her room...I think. I never know with that mare. Go ahead and make your way up there, third room on the left." I walked up the stairs and entered the room as instructed. Nobody was there. I walked in further to notice...yes...there was no-one there! "Pinkie?" "BOO!" I jumped out of my skin as Pinkie somehow appeared from nowhere to scare the living shit out of me. Pinkie thought my mini heart attack was hysterical and began gasping for air from laughing too much. Getting my own breath back, I helped her up. "Yeah alright, you got me." "I sure did!" "Yeah you did." I pulled out one of the slips out of my pocket. "Pinkie, what are you doing tomorrow night?" "Tomorrow night? Nothing! Why? Is there a party? NO WAY! I always make the parties! How could somepon--" I covered her mouth with my hand to stop her hyperactive vocal tyrade. "Yes, there is a party, at Vinyl's club. I have a ticket for it. Do you want to go?" Pinkie gasped heavily and snatched the slip out of my hand at breakneck speed. "YES YES YES!" She embraced me in a bone-crushing hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I managed to break her off. "You're welcome. Now, I've got to go, so I'll see you tomorrow night?" "Sure!" I walked out of the bakery, bidding farewell to Cup as I exited. "Now, for the next one...where are you Rainbow?" I walked around Ponyville for what seems hours, although it was only about half an hour. I spent ages looking in shops, looking at the sky for any rainbow streaks...but nothing. I gave up and began my trek back to the library. Just coming into the library's view, I spotted a rainbow tail sticking out of a cloud. Knowing it could only be her, I shouted up to her. "HEY! RAINBOW!" The cloud shifted and Rainbow became visible. She flew down to greet me. "Hey...don't you ever nap?" "Uhh...no. Sorry." "It's cool." she said, rubbing her eyes. "So, what's up?" "I'm working at the club tomorrow and I have a ticket for you, if you want to go. It's gonna be a big night?" Rainbow's mouth hung open. "You want...me to go?" "Sure! I think you'll enjoy it!" She gingerly took the ticket and looked up at me with a beautiful smile. She looked left and right to see if anyone was looking. When she saw there was none, she flapped her wings and hovered near my head. She quickly pecked me on the cheek and flew away with much speed. "Damn...maybe Minute's really right. She is kinda cute anyway..." I mumbled. I walked up to the library and entered it. Noticing no-one inside, I sat down on one of the cushions and leant back to relax. That's when I noticed a scroll on the table. I looked up at it. It had a note with my name on it. I picked up the scroll and unrolled it. Dear Owen, Myself and Spike have had to take a trip to Canterlot on urgent business. We should be back by Sunday evening. There are plenty of supplies in library for you to keep yourself going. Take care. Twilight Sparkle "Huh, fair enough." The rest of the afternoon went by quietly. I read a few of Twilight's books. Some were completely alien to me (yeah, alien) but some were understable. I decided to go to sleep early tonight. I needed a good sleep to prepare for tomorrow. I entered my bedroom and lay down on my bed. Minute's conversation replayed in my mind. 'I'm sure you can date two mares at once. Was it right though? Is it good to even out the gender ratio? "Maybe I should discuss this with one of the girls...or Luna. I just hope that they don't jump to conclusions straight away. I undressed and got under the covers, aiming to sleep quickly with anticipation for the night tomorrow. "Tomorrow night...damn, it's gonna be great." *A/N* Hey guys. Got some unexpected time off so, you guessed it, another chapter. I was determined to finish it tonight but it's too much for one chapter. Part 2 will be up sometime over the next 2 days. Enjoy!