//------------------------------// // Movement No. 3 "Etude" // Story: Enharmonia // by Mactinto //------------------------------// Alright, so you probably already know that Octavia and Vinyl are going to go out on a date, go out to a club, bang, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But nopony ever said, "Hey, gee, wonder what happened to Berry Punch and Beauty Brass, oh well VINYL AND OCTAVIA FTW!" Yeah, well guess what? I'm gonna tell ya the stories of me, Berry Punch, and my new, good friend, Beauty Brass. Hey, whada you think you're doing, BB Gun? No, NO, NO, DON'T TAKE THE MICROPHONE BB PLEASE NO NO NOOooo...... "What do you mean you won't give me anythin'," the purple mare shouted in the din of the open room. Even with the daylight outside streaming in through the windows, a magical darkness shrouded the room, giving the ponies inside a sense of privacy and comfort. The stallion behind the bar kept his scowl on. "I mean you aren't going to get anymore drunk than you are now! I'm tired of losing shot glasses and steins every night you come in here!" He scoffed, smirking at the pony across the bar from him. "Hay, your tab is so high, not even the Royal Treasury could dig you out of the manure you're in!" Suddenly, the clash of stool against floor and glass against bar shattered the relative calm of mutual indifference between the arguing pair and the other establishment goers. The commotion drew their attention, as the fight that broke out at the bar was quite a spectacle. Hooves were flying as Berry put the Punch in her name, and the bartender did a good job at getting a few teeth loose. "Margle darmed cultists! 'Air yah keepin' me wee men!?" The horrific battle cry twisted some of the other ponies' faces into looks of confusion and wonder. Finally, I decided the stallion had enough, and stood up to go give her the what for. Trotting over to them, I cleared my throat. "Alright, get off him. One chance." "Ah, get outta here! I'm busy," one more punch makes a sick sound as hoof met snout. After taking a deep breath, letting out as I shook my head, I leaned forward and grabbed the mare's mane in my teeth and pulled back hard. She let out an indignant 'hey!' as she fell on her flank. "You're going to walk out the door and go home. You got that?" Before I could make it more than two hooves back to my seat, I felt a hoof tap my withers. "Look, just go ho-" A hoof connected with my snout, which sent my head into the bar and my body slumping to the ground. I coughed out a bit of blood from a cut lip. "Nice, ack, punch." I brought myself back up on my hooves. "That's what yah get for getting in the way of MY business!" She put her hoof up and wiggled it back towards her. "Gimme your best one." Well, with that invitation, I faked left and then right, finally deciding to take advantage of the fact this mare was completely off her rocker from whatever the hay she was drinking. I closed in beside her and slammed her side, sending her sprawling onto the ground in a heap. I nearly decided to let her have it, but decided against it. After dropping off a few bits as compensation for the ruckus, once again I chomped down on her mane and dragged her towards the door. "Okay, was it really necessary to drag me all the way down the street?" My, how she had sobered up when I let my hoof get a little personal with her facial features. Made her slightly easier to deal with. I sighed and let go of her mane. "Yes, because if I hadn't, you'd have just run right back to the pub and beat the snot out of that poor stallion." I turned to go to my favourite watering hole, neither know nor care of what the mare would do when I was gone. However, she wouldn't let me get away so easily. "Where d'ya think you're going, huh?" "Nowhere important. Certainly nowhere you'd be let in." "Let in? Sounds like you're going somewhere interesting..." "Yeah, and you're not coming with me." She gave me a pout. Too bad she didn't know what kind of pony she was messing with. "Come ooooooonnnnn, I won't make any trouble, I promise. "Now that is a big, fat lie, and we both know it. I'm going alone, and if you follow me I promise you won't get in." I turned to walk off as she sputtered out random gibberish. Suddenly, as I was about to turn the corner, she shouted out the killer line. "What if I gave you bits!" Hmm. Interesting. Bits in return for coming with me somewhere. "If that were the case, that'd make me a paid escort, right?" She smirked at me, and I smirked right back. "Har har, nice one. Come on, just bring me. I'll have something light, I promise." I mulled over it. On one hoof, I had something interesting besides 'go drink and then go home with or without someone and then repeat'. On the other hoof, bringing a drunk there would be just a shot in the foot for me. With a deep sigh, I said, "Sure. Fine. But you have to drink light, got it? Otherwise my hoof is going up your flank and it's not going to be pretty." "What, the hoof or the flank? Because I've gotten some compliments in that department..." "Har har har to you too. Now come on, I want to get something hard." Quickly I added, "You're not." And so we turned and trotted off towards... "The Hayzy Mare. What the hay kind of place is this?" I have to admit, the name is rather strange, and those looking for a deeper implication don't have to look too far. But the place is nice. "Just come on, I'll get us in. I'm a regular here, it's fine." As we went up to the front door, the bouncer, Kick Flank, nodded at me, and then looked at the other mare and gave her a scowl. Apparently, she has quite the reputation. "BB, who's this?" I quickly glanced at my companion and saw her giving a scowl back. "Oh, she's just my, er, 'friend'. We're going to have some light drinks, right..." Oh hayshakes, I forgot to get her name. Oh no oh no oh no oh- "Yeah, just some seltzer and mead or something, yeah. Light." She gave a weak smile to Kick Flank. He sized her up and then gave her another glare. "Well, I guess I can let her in. If she gets to be trouble, I'm sure I could get her lightweight frame outta here." I think he was trying to make that a casual threat of some kind, but it turned out as more of a compliment. "Yeah, get in here BB and... what was her name again?" "Berry Punch. Nice to meet you." "I would say likewise, but I don't make a habit of lying." Kick Flank, you stone cold mother bucker. "Come on in, girls." As he opened the door and let us pass by, I was greeted by the familiar stale scent of cigarettes. The jazz group performing was playing some smooth, quiet jazz in the corner, just loud enough to mask conversations beyond the next table. The dark of the first pub was nothing compared to this, where it was deliberately set up to give maximum privacy to the ponies inside, while keeping everypony's hooves safe from stubbing against a table or a chair. The bar was not lit up like the last one, and small candles lit up the 'public' parts of the establishment. It's a second home to me. It seemed Ms. Punch liked the place too, because she quickly sat down at a booth and waved me over. I rolled my eyes and took a seat across from her. Quickly, we had ordered a light mead each and a platter of hayfries. Neither of us had much to say, so I sat and ate, content with the calm atmosphere and delicious bread and drink we had. Well, I was content. Berry kept on complaining about how the mead "wasn't doing it for her". Tough luck, you decided to tag along. I could already tell it was going to be a long night.