//------------------------------//
// 41.  A Conclusion? 
// Story: Good Things Come 
// by Sweet Tale 
//------------------------------//

After yesterday's talk with my bride-to-be, she gave me her honest opinion and I did consider it.  She made some very valid points and she was hinting towards me taking a certain decision.  But she mentioned something else that could help - which brings me to Twilight's Library where said unicorn was waiting for me.

"Hello Owen.  Come on in."  After greeting Twilight and Spike, I took a seat on one of her many seats and got myself comfortable.  "Can I get you anything to drink?"

"Some water would be nice."  She eagerly fetched the requested drink an handed it to me.  "Thanks.  I appreciate you making time to talk with me." I said, taking a swig of the refreshing liquid.

"Oh please, I've always got time for my friends."  She took a seat opposite me.  "So what did you want to talk about?"

"I need some advice from a level headed individual and I think you fit that bill quite well."  She sighed happily at that.  "It's about my job.  See, yesterday I..."  I told Twilight what happened with Cheerilee yesterday and what she said to me after I left.  I also told her that I spoke to Luna about it.  "..so I don't really know what to do.  I don't want to upset a friend but I also don't want to let this opportunity disappear.  What do you think I should do?"

Twilight hummed to herself for a moment before levitating a quill over along with some parchment.  I rubbed my head at the oncoming migraine that was forming.  "How do you feel about it?  Do you want this position at the school?"

"Well...I don't know.  I mean, what can I teach?  There's only so much I know.  And if I want to teach lessons about Equestria, it's gonna take a hell of a long time to learn everything." I explained.

"You won't be able to learn everything.  I'm sure that you know enough to teach children about.  But let's try something.  Here are two pieces of parchment - one for each job.  We are going to write down the pros and cons about each position and see if it makes your decision any easier."

"Alright.  Let's start with the teaching job." I said.

"Very well.  Start with the pros - what's good about it or what good can come out of it?"

For the next half hour or so, we talked about the good and bad of each job position.  Both pieces of parchment were full of bullet points and were very explainative.  Twilight chipped in from time to time with her own reasons.

"Right...I think that's everything..." I said, sitting back in the seat, sighing.

"Are you sure?"  I nodded.  "OK then.  Let's have a read through."  She noticed my pained expression.  "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, yeah.  It's just this situation is giving me a massive headache." I said slowly.

"Well, alright.  Will you be alright to continue?"  I nodded.  "OK, so, let's start with the teaching position - the good things first.  You will be working to educate fillies and colts with information they will need in the future.  You will be working in the day time.  The pay will be higher.  You will be better respected as a teacher.  Your knowledge of Equestria would increase.  You will become a vital member of the community."

"Sounds about right." I responded.

"The bad.  More hours so there is more risk to stress.  Work may include tasks at home, i.e. grading papers, organising tests and so on.  May have incidents with troublesome children."

I nodded.  "Not much but I bet it's a handful."

"Yes, it will be."  She levitated the other scroll.  "For the club job.  The good reasons.  Working in a very sociable place.  More chance to talk to and meet new ponies.  Working skills are always increasing due to constant usage.  Working with famous DJ and have chances to use your own music in the club.  Pay is daily, not monthly like the school."

"That's right."

"So, the bad.  Loud music can be damaging to your hearing.  Long hours into the night affecting your sleeping pattern.  Working at night reduces your time to spend with Princess Luna.  Not always treated with respect.  Certain aggression can be forced upon you by unruly patrons.  Leaving this job at such short notice can lose you your friendship with the staff."

I looked at the two pieces of parchment and looked them over two or three times.  "It's kind of equal.  There's the good and the bad about both jobs but..."  I sighed and held my hands over my face.  "This has just made it more hard to choose...damn it..."

"I understand this must be hard for you but it is completely up to you what to do.  I think you know what I would do if I were in your position." she replies, smiling at the end.

"Yeah..."  I shook my head and got to my feet.  "Look, thanks for this Twilight.  I'll be able to figure it out soon."

"You're welcome.  If you ever need to talk again, feel free to drop by."

I made my way towards the door.  I started to think about everything that Twilight said and everything that Luna said.  Yes the school position would benefit me but...do I really want it?  With the amount of work that I'd need to do, everything that I'D need to learn to actually do this job...but it would be an amazing job.  But then there's Vinyl.  I love my job at the club and everyone I work with.  Yes the hours are long, yes it can be a tense job but...do I really want to leave everyone behind?

Making a quick decision in my mind, I turned back to Twilight.  "Right, here's what I'm gonna do."  I reached into my pocket and pulled out a coin.  "I'll flip for it."

"Owen!  You can't do that!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Yes I can.  And I'm going to.  I can see myself getting more and more stressed trying to decide what to do.  This will decide for me.  Besides, I'll be happy wherever I am."  Twilight looked as if she was going to say something else but she closed her mouth and nodded.  "Thanks.  So...heads, I keep the job at the club.  Tails, a position of education awaits me."

I placed the coin on my thumb and flipped it.  The world seemed to slow down as I watched the coin turn again and again in the air.  It dropped to the ground with a metallic thud and bounced around before falling flat on it's side.  Both me and Twilight looked at the coin and then at each other.

"That's that then.  See you around Twilight."  With that, I walked out of the library and shut the door behind me.





Walking into the town, my headache subsided.  I never get headaches, which confused me, but this was awful.  Shaking it off, I saw my destination in the distance.  Walking up to the building, I stopped and looked around me.

On one side of the street was Vinyl's club.  Literally opposite the club, lay Cheerilee's home.  I started to make my way towards my chosen location but soon stopped.  Was this really what I wanted?  My legs refused to move as I started arguing with myself in my mind.

'Do you think I made the right decision?'

'Of course you did!  You saw the coin!'

'Yeah but...'  I looked at the club.  'Is it this?'  I then looked at Cheerilee's house.  'Or this?'

'Go that way!  THAT WAY!'

'That way?....You're right.  That coin was wrong.  This is the right decison.'

I listened to my mind for the once and walked towards my chosen workplace.  I approached the door and knocked loudly, three times.  It wasn't long before I was greeted by a pony.

"Hey Owen.  We're not even open yet and aren't you off today?" asked the familiar spiked-mane pony.

"Yeah I'm off but I thought you could use a hand setting up for tonight."

"You serious?"  I nodded.  "Come on in then."  I entered the club and shut the door behind me.  Vinyl led me over to her DJ'ing table and pointed to all of the disconnected wires.  "I seriously need some help untangling these."

"Again?" I said with a laugh.

She sighed heavily.  "YES...again."  We both set to untangling the jungle of wires that lay strewn at the base of her desk.  "So what's the real reason?"

"Hmm?  Real reason?"

She lifted her shades and stared at me.  "Come on...nopony would willingly come in early to help out on their day off.  Do you think I'm that stupid?" she retorted, smirking at me.

"Course not!  And I seriously wanted to..."  I could see her stare wasn't going to end - she knew something was up.  "Alright.  If you really want to know, I was conflicted and thought I'd work to get my mind off it."  I rubbed my head again as the bloody headache returned.

Vinyl was still attempting to untangle the wires with her levitaton.  "Conflicted?  About what?"

"It actually considers you."  She stopped what she was doing and stared at me again.  "You know Cheerilee who teaches at the school?"  Vinyl nodded.  "Well yesterday, she asked me...well, kind of forced me to look after her class for a few hours."

Vinyl laughed and put her shades back down.  "And how did that go?"

"Not bad actually.  I showed the kids some TV shows from my world and they loved it.  Anyway, when I left, Cheerilee called me back and asked me a serious question.  She said that the children loved me teaching them, if you can call that teaching that is, and that they want me to come back.  And because I know stuff that no-one else does, she asked me if I wanted to become a teaching assistant at her school."

Vinyl dropped her wires and turned away.  "She offered you a job?"

"Yeah she did.  And it's a good job.  Five days a week, working with children and I could learn new things."  I noticed Vinyl was looking a bit miffed about this.  "But after thinking about it long and hard, I...I don't want to do it."  Vinyl still looked a bit pissed.  "I love this job and I've met so many new friends and learnt so many skills, I don't want to change all that."

Vinyl snorted and turned to me again.  "You chose this job over hers?"

"Yeah."  I set down the wires I was holding.  "This job keeps me awake until late at night so I can talk to Luna then.  The other job would restrict me from doing so.  Have to admit though, the job offer was tempting...really tempting."  

"So this is your confliction?  Choosing between staying with me or working at the school?"  I nodded.  "And what do you really want?"

"Vinyl, I want to stay here."  She glared at me.  "I..."  I held my hands to my face.  "I don't know.  Just...there's too many reasons for me to make a definite choice.  Both jobs have their good and bad reasons." 

"Did she badmouth the club at all?" she asked coldly.

"What, no!  She never said anything about you at all!" I exclaimed.  Vinyl got to her hooves and walked towards the door.  "Where are you going?"

She opened the door and then turned back to me.  "I'm going to see her. To see if you told the truth."

I got to my feet and followed her.   "Vinyl, wait!  Don't do anything--"  I saw her knock on Cheerilee's house.  "...stupid."  Cheerilee opened her door and Vinyl pointed a hoof at her.  "Oh boy."

"YOU!" Vinyl shouted.  "Trying to steal my employee are you?!"

"What?!" Cheerilee replied in shock.  "I would never do such a thing!  I merely offered him a better job opportunity."

"That's all she did Vinyl!  Seriously, calm down." I said to the raging unicorn.

"A better job?  What do you mean by that?" retorted Vinyl.

Cheerilee walked forwards slightly, making Vinyl move back.  "I.  Did.  Not.  Mean.  That." she said, getting louder on each word.  "I offered him a position in my school which could benefit his own knowledge and the future of the children I teach."

"Well he made his decision!" Vinyl shouted.  "He declined!"

"You did?!" Cheerilee said, looking up at me.

"Erm...yeah...kind of."  She almost looked angry.  "I just thought it'd be easier to stay here.  But don't think I don't appreciate your offer because I really do."

Vinyl looked up at me with her ears flattened against her head.  "Come on.  Let's go back to the club." she said, sounding guilty.  I nodded at Cheerilee and began to walk back to the club with the DJ.

"Why?!  Why go back to that awful place?"

Vinyl stopped dead in her tracks. I winced at the words and was now expecting something horrible to happen.  "Look Cheerilee, you can't just say--"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" Vinyl screamed, turning back around and seething with rage.  She began walking back towards Cheerilee who was standing firm.

"You heard me.  I hear that music every two nights and it keeps me awake!  I can't sleep, I lose concentration in my job, I get drunken ponies urinating near my home, I HATE IT!" Cheerilee retorted, looking back at me.  "And it's not good for your health Owen!  Think of the damage you're doing to your ears!"

"Owen has worked for me for months now and not once has he complained.  Right?" Vinyl replied, looking up at me

I rub the back of my head.  "Well...no, not really.  But sometimes my hearing does go...a little."  Vinyl shook her head.  "I didn't want to mention it because--"

"Save it!"  She turned back to the teacher.  "Why don't you just find somepony else?!"

"Because Owen is the best for the job!"

"YOU'RE NOT TAKING HIM!"

The two mares continued screaming at each other.  The confrontation attracted a sizeable crowd as they watched the two mares argue.  It wasn't long before they both looked at me.

"It's your decision Owen.  It's either me or her." said a livid Vinyl.

I was in the shit now.  Not only did I have to resolve this issue right now, I'd probably lose a friend over it.  I thought it over again and again before realising the right thing to do.  I raised my hand and extending a finger.  "I will work with...with..."  I lowered my hand and pointed to one of them.

"HA!  I knew it!  What do you think now?!" the chosen pony shouted, gloating.

Unfortunately, the other pony didn't take that too well and launched herself at the gloater sending them into a tussle.  Hooves were thrown in all directions as they vented their anger out on each other.  I ran over to them and tried to break them up.

"STOP IT!  THERE'S NO NEED FOR--"  A stray hoof landed straight on my cheek and knocked me to the ground.  A pony ran over to me and helped me up, asking if I was alright.  I hurt but it didn't cause any damage.  "LADIES, PLEASE!  JUST STOP IT!" I shouted to them.

The fight suddenly stopped as they were both encased in a purple glow.  I turned to see that Twilight was the caster.  "What's going on here?!"

The pain in my head started to swell again - that hoof didn't exactly help my headache.  "Twilight...thanks for stopping it."  I grasped my head and groaned at the pain.  "I chose my job and they went beserk!"

"But...that's no reason to fight!  Why would your decision cause so much--"

"AARGH!"  The pain in my head reached critical and I fell to the ground in immense agony.  "MY HEAD!"  I clenched my eyes shut and gripped my head hard.

"Owen!  What's.....ron.....pain?"

The pain was excrutiating.  I couldn't bear this much longer.  I could hear Twilight's voice become distorted as I began to lose myself.  Opening my eyes, it started going dark and my vision started to go fuzzy.

"O.....stay aw......ital..."

Then everything went dark...