//------------------------------// // Chapter 19 - Memories, part II // Story: Married to Her Job, Single in Her Heart // by Revenant Wings //------------------------------// 19. It was a grey and rainy day six weeks later. Fall was finally in the air, the cold wind biting at the residents of Trotsworth as they went about their business. The Academy was not in session over the weekend, and it was a holiday anyway, so the students were often seen mingling in the main portion of town, a downtown area suited to both the older, year-round residents who lived and worked there and the younger Academy crowd looking for something to do. One of these places was a coffee shop. It was a rather dingy-looking place on the outside with peeling paint that had lost its color long ago and a sign that had been worn away by wind and rain and the proprietor had never gotten around to fixing it. The inside, however, was warm and homey, featuring shiny new wooden floorboards, countertops, and polished hardwood walls. A fire was made in the stone fireplace at one end of the shop and a small area was filled with large plush couches and chairs close to a section of the wall lined with bookshelves filled with books. Redheart and Caramel were at one of the couches, one of them farthest away from the fire and in a lonely little corner. Both of them had a sweater on their backs and a cup of steaming liquid in their hooves; Caramel had a hot cocoa, but Redheart had a caramel-flavored hot coffee. “You never told me you drank coffee,” Caramel said. “Helps with the later shifts I have to work,” Redheart explained. “Is the internship paid, at least?” Caramel asked. “Mercifully so,” answered Redheart, “but not very much. It wouldn’t pay for the school but I have something in savings and a little spending money when I need it.” “And here I was going to act chivalrous and keep paying for our lunches,” Caramel said with a playful grin. “Not always,” Redheart replied, an equally playful grin of her own starting to form. “But a lady does like to be treated every once in a while.” The rain outside continued to fall as they took a sip, the warm liquids rushing down their throats and heating them up. “It’s too bad we can’t do much outside,” Redheart said. “Trotsworth Academy is rather lovely this time of year when the leaves start changing. I often like to take walks around the campus when the weather’s nicer.” “Funny how a simple half a day’s train from Ponyville can change the weather so much,” Caramel said. “Of course, nothing is really grown out here; Trotsworth gets a lot of money from the Academy students and forwards from Canterlot with the academy in place. Besides, there’s plenty to do that’s inside around here.” Redheart set her coffee down on a nearby table and fixed Caramel with a suspicious glare. “And what exactly do you mean?” “Well, there are the bars and the dance clubs. The bars tend to be frequented by the old folks but have more powerful drinks and better food. The clubs are filled with other Academy age ponies like us, but have weaker drinks. I hear some of the combinations are amazing, though.” “Well, is there one around here we could go to? I don’t want to spend all of my free day cooped up in here.” “There’s one club just across the square. ‘The Trotting Mare’, I believe. It’s more subdued than most and has decent food. We could pick up a few items and be able to dance until evening.” “Only until evening…?” “You don’t want to be stuck there when the main crowds hit. Prices skyrocket and it almost becomes impossible to navigate.” The two finished their coffees before heading off to “The Trotting Mare”. The outside was colored in faded yet recently applied blue and gold paint, the gold emblem of a rather shapely-looking mare adorning the wall just beside the door. A large pony in a black jacket and wearing a pair of shades looked at them suspiciously until they showed their licenses, at which point they were allowed to enter without fuss. The inside was lit up by lights of all colors; blue, gold, and red seemed to be the dominant colors, though Redheart swore she saw some red and green as well. One end of the place was dominated by a bar and two other walls held tables, some of them built into smaller holds. At the far edge of the place, a tan earth pony mare with her long brown mane tied up in a ponytail was up at the music controls, blaring out just enough trance music to send the twelve or so dancers on the floor into a euphoric state filled with rhythmic motions and bass beats thumping until their own hearts matched with it. It was something Redheart had never seen before and she was amazed at the sight, almost equally so at the sight of the mare gaining something of a euphoric pleasure from the dancers herself. Caramel soon pulled Redheart away from the dancers and into one of the niches where a table was; the mare’s ears thanked her as the bass beat lessened until it was merely background noise. “Have you ever been to a club before?” Caramel asked. Redheart shook her head. “Mother considered them distractions. She doesn’t mind the music, but never liked the sorts it attracted.” Caramel shrugged. “You’ve seen me in class. I do well enough. Besides,” he continued as he pulled two menus off the wall and gave one to Redheart, “I don’t spend all my time down here. I just come to unwind every once in a while. Like on weekends after a big test or a really tough assignment.” “You’re sweating the business math test, weren’t you?” “You didn’t happen to get a decimal number for the answer to number twelve, did you?” Redheart laughed at him and didn’t answer, instead perusing over the menu. The drinks section was filled with colorful sounding names and almost equally-colorful sounding alcohol types. The food had a moderate selection with simple ingredients. A rather suggestively dressed unicorn mare arrived at the table a few minutes later. “Hello,” she said rather politely, “and welcome to ‘The Trotting Mare’. We have a few specials going on this evening. All of our drink prices are half off after five but you can still get a ten percent discount before then. Also, any of the appetizers are half off all day. Can I get you something to drink? Caramel searched the menu. “I think I’ll go with the Red Apple Cider. Alcoholic, please.” The mare nodded without even taking note of the drink. “And what about for the mare?” Redheart found a drink that caught her eye. “I’ll have the Blue Fireball.” The mare taking the order smirked. “One Red Apple Cider and one Blue Fireball coming up. I’ll leave you to look at the menu some more and bring a couple waters out as well." She left. Redheart stared after the mare then looked back to Caramel, who was trying hard as he possibly could not to laugh. “What did I say?” “That’s the third strongest drink on the entire menu,” Caramel said. “And that’s the one you’ve chosen to have for your first night at a club. Certainly breaking into the scene with a bang, aren’t you?” “How strong is it?” “By most clubs’ standards, relatively tame from what I’ve heard. There’s another drink in another place called ‘The Knockout’. Guaranteed to put you deep asleep in two hours and leave you with a violent hangover next morning. I’ve seen quite a few Academy students being carried back to the dorms after they’ve had one of those. Yours? Might be bad if you had two or three, but one won’t hurt too badly.” Redheart nodded. “Guess we’ll definitely need the food and water then, won’t we?” “A little dancing won’t hurt, either. Sweat out some of the alcohol so you’re not dizzy walking back.” The unicorn mare returned with a rather golden-looking cider and a violently blue drink served in a slightly large martini glass along with two water glasses. After they had ordered the food, Redheart took a sip of the drink. It was cool and sweet and went smoothly down her mouth, but just when she thought the sensation was over she suddenly felt like her whole mouth and throat were on fire. Frantically, she reached for the water glass nearest to her and downed half of it before the feeling vanished. Caramel was busting up laughing. “You think that’s funny,” Redheart said, “then you take a sip of it.” Caramel smirked victoriously and took a sip of the drink. He set the glass down on the table and for a long moment it seemed like nothing happened. “I haven’t had one of those before, but that’s not too bad. I don’t see what’s the pro—AIEEE!” Caramel’s face turned bright red and he began panting hard, possibly harder than Redheart. For a while, Redheart laughed as Caramel flailed around from the heat of the drink until the mare felt sorry for him and pushed the other glass of water towards Caramel, which he promptly drank from until it was nearly gone. “You were saying you didn’t see what the problem was?” Redheart grinned. Caramel wasn’t angry at all. “Well, it’s certainly better than the cold and rain outside,” he joked. Redheart took another sip of the drink. The burning sensation returned, but it vanished quicker and she didn’t even need to go to her water. The food came and the drink became much more tolerable, with Redheart going between sipping the Blue Fireball, sipping her glass of water, then taking a bite of the vegetable trays and sandwiches garnished with a sweet and tangy sauce. A little while later, their drinks and food were finished. Caramel paid the bill and they left the cozy niche where their table was and went out to the dance floor, where the pounding bass once again filled Redheart’s whole being. Caramel was leading her out onto the floor, though she was beginning to feel somewhat dizzy and wasn’t sure if she was walking straight. “I might need to sit down a little while,” Redheart shouted over the thump of the bass. “I don’t feel so good.” “It’s the alcohol,” Caramel replied. “Come on; we’ll dance a little to sweat it out then have some water before we leave.” Redheart nodded and followed Caramel’s lead. Soon, she was shaking her whole body to the rhythm of the music, feeling and watching Caramel as he danced alongside her. Sure, neither of them were the most graceful ones out there, but Redheart still felt proud of herself, letting the rhythm take over her as they pranced and danced across the floor. As the song hit a soaring climax, Redheart suddenly felt a pull from somewhere. She spun around only to find herself coming face to face with Caramel. Redheart flinched, but soon she felt something soft pressing against her lips and opened her eyes to see Caramel, cheeks flushed, kissing her with his own. Redheart simultaneously went cold and felt like she was getting hot. Sweat poured down her forehead, more from the kiss than from the dancing, but she didn’t resist. Rather, she felt her eyes close and just accepted it. As she closed her eyes, the music and the thudding of the bass faded away into the background and the only thing she cared about was Caramel and how his lips had the sweet taste of caramel apples. Redheart wasn’t sure what happened between then and the next morning. When she went to talk to Caramel, she heard he had eventually brought her back to the dorms, where she vomited for a while in the toilet before eventually letting Caramel put her to bed. He had walked out and locked the door behind him afterwards, deciding it was best to let her rest until she felt better. What Redheart did know was this: she still felt sick from the previous night, and her whole body felt numb except for her lips, which she found out when she went and pulled Caramel in for another kiss. The poor stallion became the one whose body went numb.