//------------------------------// // A Town Painted Red // Story: Carpe Diem // by Beta Code //------------------------------// ~Chapter 2~ The next morning I headed to the station. Ponyville was only a few hours away but I wanted to get their early so I hopped on the five o’clock train, so it would’ve been about eight when I arrived; just in time for breakfast. With it being so early I thought I would at least try get some shut eye on the way. Unfortunately I was my seat neighbor had the loudest bloody snore I ever heard. ‘Tia christ, I didn’t have a book or anything to keep me occupied. At least the bathroom stall was open so I could get some peace...wait a tick. “Oh for crap sake, I can hear it in here?!” I bangged my head against the wall in defeat. And again. And again. The next three hours were perhaps the longest I ever had.  But the train eventually pulled up to the Ponyville station. With a sigh I grabbed my things and began to walk off the train. “You look rather exhausted pal. You should get some more sleep.” I looked up to the stallion that had a logging mill for a nose. “Yeah, I’ll try.” I responded, while all I could think was  ‘I’ll  murder you in your sleep...’ Stepping onto the platform I took a long whiff of the fresh air.  I couldn’t put my hoof on it but the air in Ponyville also smelt so different. More...homely. Maybe it was just that I’ve spend too much time in Canterlot. But either way it felt good to be back. I looked around the station trying to find my parents. You wouldn’t think that it would be hard to find them, especially in a small crowd like this. “Maybe they’re still on their way?” And as if on cue the two came walking around the corner, arguing as usual. “I’m telling you Jitterbug, Silver just said that he’s coming over for a weeks visit.” “And I’m telling you Gear Greaser, that he must have a reason to send us a message out of the blue. Something’s wrong!” “Will you stop being so worried all the time! I’m sure he’s fine.” “He’s been a Canterlot guard, and we haven't heard from him since his initiation. Not to mention the Changeling invasion that happened a few months ago.” “Ahem...” “Not now Silver...” My parents instantly did a double take before realising that I was there. “Silver! Hey there kiddo, where’ve you been?” My parents everybody, a spaz and a nag. “Hi dad. Mum.” “Silver, will you please tell your father the reason why you decided to visit us?” “Well I’ve been on leave for a while, so I thought that I would come down and relieve a bit of stress. Now, can we get some breakfast? I’m starving.” -0-0-0-0- We went to a small restaurant that my parents insisted that we go to. Nothing real fancy, just an outside cafe. It didn’t take very long for a waitress to come up once we sat down. “Hello, can I get you guys anything?” My mother spoke up first. “I’ll just have a few slices of French Toast. And he’ll have an egg white omelet. And we’ll both have orange juice to drink.” Dad tried to interject something but she just stopped him before he could. “You need to watch your cholesterol dear.”  I rolled my eyes, sometimes I’m not sure what they saw in each other. “And what will you have sir?” “English breakfast please. Three eggs, poached. Coffee.” “Someone’s eating big.” “Hungry.” I laughed. “So how have to guys been?” “We’ve been good sweetie. Recently my research team found a species of ants that  originated from the Everfree Forest a few months ago called Camponotus leonardi. We even found out that they are more likely to be infected with Ophiocordyceps unilateralis-” “You and your Entomology mumbo jumbo. What’s wrong with just saying ‘A carpenter ant that gets infected with some kind of brain fungus’? Geese hun, you’re going to bore the poor kid to death before the day ends. ” For once I had to agree with dad. Mum had a tendency to ramble on about her insect studies for hours. “And you know what I’ve been up to, fixing carts. So how have you been Silver?” I gave a rather awkward smile and rubbed the back of my neck. “Well I had a bit of an accident a couple months ago. I broke my wing in the process.” “Dear Celestia, are you all right?” My mum gasped. “See Gear I told you something was wrong!” “I’m fine. But the doctors say that I’d be lucky to fly again.” “Sorry to hear that bud. Why didn’t you tell us?” “I’ve been busy. I’ve been going to see...a...” I started to trail off when I spotted something from the corner of my eye. A cornflower blue mare with a long brown mane. It was none other than Panda Doll, an old friend of mine that I haven't seen since my school years; but who was she talking to? “Excuse me.” I got up from the table and walked over to where Panda and her friend were sitting. “Panda Doll? Is that you?” The mare looked up, a smile instantly growing on her face. “Good ‘Tia, Silver Shield? I haven't seen you in forever! How have you been?” “I’ve been good.” I nodded. I looked across the table, noticing that she was talking to a night pegasus; or bat pony as they’re more commonly called. Rather odd to see one out so early in the morning considering that they’re nocturnal. “Who’s your friend?” “Name’s Moon Flower.” she said introducing herself. “My my Dolly, you’re friend is rather cute. I wouldn’t mind taking a bite out of his neck.” My silver fur only made my red face shine brighter. “Ignore her, she’s always like this. So what have you been up too?” “I got a job as a Canterlot guard.” “‘Grats. I’ve been a writer myself.” Their waiter came over and gave them the bill. Panda gave him the bits for their food before she stood up to leave. “Well I better get going, my editor is looking for my next chapter this afternoon.” “I should be going to, it’s rather late for me.” Moon Flower said. “It was nice meeting you Silver.”  She took off after Panda Doll. “Panda, I’m sorry...” I called out. I didn’t get a response, forced to just stare at them as they walked away. I cursed at myself under my breath. I let out another sigh and went to sit back down with my parents. -0-0-0-0- Mum dragged me around shopping for afternoon. I kept telling her that being, ahem “volunteered”, to be her shopping buddy was not how I wanted to spend my week. Lucky for me I managed to slip away to a pub that was open. I’m not much of a drinker but at the moment a bit of liquor is sounding rather nice right now. I just stared at my glass of whiskey, watching the condensation drip down the sides. “So much for a self promise of sobriety.” I mumbled before finally taking a drink. God I must look pathetic. Drinking alone at twelve thirty-six in the afternoon. “Funny, I didn’t think you of a drinker Sil.” A voice said from beside me. Looking up I saw an all too familiar red pegasus. “Mix?” “What you don’t remember your old friend Mixmatch numbnuts?” he laughed. “It’s pretty hard to forget someone who dunks their head in the punch bowl because they heard it was spiked.” “It wasn’t even good punch to begin with. Tasted like somepony pissed in it.” I playfully shook my head. Mixmatch was another of one of my good friends from my school years. The difference between him and Panda was that I didn’t completely screw it up. “So what have you been up to old buddy?” “I could ask you the same thing. Didn’t you say you weren't going stop drinking?” “Well I haven't exactly have had a good time recently.” I explained, taking another sip of my drink. “I got in an accident a few months ago. I got blinded by the sun and I guess I ran into one of my squadmates. I woke up in the infirmary some time later with fractured ribs, a broken leg, a rather nasty concussion, and with a wing that was barely even attached to me. “The doctors said I would be lucky to ever fly again, and I’ve been having nightmares. because of it. And on top of thing I recently had to break up with a mare that I’ve been seeing. Turns out she was cheating on me. That’s karma I guess.” “Harsh.” I nodded. “But I think I know what you need...And It’s not your friend Jack here.” “And what would that be?” “Easy, have a little fun. Ever hear of the saying Carpe Diem?” I thought for a moment. It sounded familiar, but I really knew nothing about it.“Not really.” “It means seize the day. Basically it’s YOLO for smart people.” “Is that so? And exactly how do you plan on me doing that?” “I’ll tell you want, you remember the seaside cliff where we used to hang out.” “The one about thirty minutes out?” “Yeah. Meet me there in about two hours, alright?” “I guess I can find something to occupy myself for a couple hours.” “Awesome, see ya then dude.” -0-0-0-0- Long story short, I did not. I was bored out of my mind for the next two hours. But when four came around I set out to meet my old friend. On my way to our old spot I couldn’t help but to think why we was asking me to head there. We used to go and fly around there, the sea breeze was great for practicing. So why would he want to meet there when I can’t fly? I eventually came upon the cliff, and Celestia behold there was Mix waiting for me. “Hey bro what took you so long?” “Bite me cardinal face. So why did you want me to meet you here?” Mix nodded towards the horizon. “Take a look.” Fixing my eyes upon the sea I looked for for whatever he was referring to. It was pretty yes, but nothing really spectacular. It was the same scene it was all those years ago. “I don’t see anything-” The next thing I knew I was pushed over the edge and was colliding with the water below. “Luna christ! What’s wrong with you!” “GERONIMO!” “OH CRAP!” I was barely able to swim out of the way of my friend cannonballing into water. “Dude, what the hell?!” “You should’ve seen the look on your face.” he teased with a hearty laugh. I just splashed water at his face. “Oh come on you have to admit, cliff diving is fun.” I said nothing at first. “Yeah, you’re right. Race you back up top.” We spent the next few hours of the day just jumping into the water. Celestia it felt like forever since I had fun like this. We lost track of time and before we knew it the sun was starting to set. Shaking the water off we started to head back to town shooting-the-shit as we trotted back. “Hey Sil, I got a gig tonight. Why don’t you head over later?” “Gig?” “Yeah, I work as a nightclub DJ.” I mulled it over for a bit. “Yeah I guess I’ll check it out. What time do you go on?” “Nine thirty.” “Ok, I’ll check it out.” “Sweet. I’ll be playing at the ‘Wub Club’. Trust me you can’t miss it.” And with that he was off. I, on the other hoof, was completely dumbfounded by that name. “The Wub Club?” -0-0-0-0- That night my parents took me out to dinner to my favorite restaurant back when I was a foal. Compared to how breakfast went, it was a much more enjoyable time. I told them that latter I planned on going to the ‘Wub Club’...Celestia, I still can’t get over that name.  Mum wasn’t exactly very happy, but dad just told me to have a good time. So here I am now looking at the nightclub. Mix definitely wasn’t joking about it being easy to find. “Hey Sil!” Mix said. “Oui. So this is the place huh?” “Yup. What do ya think?” “Silly.” “Trust me, it’s a lot better inside.” Before either of us could enter the building, a rather large black furred pony stood in our way. I’m not sure what was more intimidating, his large mohawk or the gratuitous amounts of jewelry around his neck. “Identification.” “Relax Tea, he’s with me.” The bouncer nodded and let us in. It was definitely better than on the inside. “Nice place.” “Yup. I’ll introduce you to the owner, he’s cool.” He waved over to the pony behind the bar. “Yo Strobe Light!” “Hey Mix, what’s up!” “Not much. This is my friend Silver Shield.” “Nice to meet you.” “So you’re Silver.” Strobe said shaking my hoof. “Mix said you’re a pretty cool dude. By the way, you’ll want to get up there now bro. Your show is starting in a few minutes.” “Right.” Mix headed up to the stage. “Alright everypony, get ready to make those plots clap ‘cause DJ Mixmatch is in the house!” I playfully shook my head as my friend started his show. I turned back to Strobe and ordered some Jack on the rocks. Mixs’ music played for several minutes, the ponies on the dance floor seemed to be having a good time. What I wasn’t expecting however was another DJ to come bursting through the doors to interrupt the show. “Hey Mix, I thought I told you that this was my territory! Or do I got to school you again?” “Vinyl Scratch...We meet again, for the first time, for the last time.” “Well my old rival, I sure do hope you know what this means.” “But of course...” “Oh boy...” Strobe mumbled, rolling his eyes. “DUBSTEP OFF!” the two DJs yelled at once. The amount of wubs that resulted  was far too much for the anyone, let alone the building itself, to handle. It didn’t take long to be thrown against the wall from the sound. “I take it that Mix and Vinyl are at it again?” A grey mare asked me. She looked rather upper class, like she’d be an orchestral musician. “Yeah.” Well this night was certainly going well...