//------------------------------//
// Chapter XV: The Meet-Up 
// Story: A New Life 
// by DaBeejees 
//------------------------------//

"What the fuck happened?"

Vinyl had just woken up, and sat up rubbing her forehead with a hoof. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to move her anywhere -- nor did I yet have a place to move her to anyway -- but I was still sitting next to her, in the exact spot where she had fainted earlier, which I must say, caught me off guard, to state the obvious.

"You fainted after I pointed out that Fluttershy was watching you trying to round first base."

"Well, shit."

"Don't worry, she's fine." I laugh. "She did seem to have some trouble keeping her wings down, though."

Vinyl smirked at me. "So you're saying she was enjoying it?"

"It looked that way."

"In that case, perhaps at that party we're helping Pinkie plan we can show her some more...maybe let her join..."

I turn and look at her with an unamused expression. "It's not going to be an orgy! It's a toga party!"

As Vinyl started to laugh, I continued. "Anyway...I think I'm gonna head to the market. We might as well get some food for here while the market isn't too crowded yet."

Vinyl lifted her glasses and wiped away a tear she got from laughing so hard, before repositioning her glasses. "Good idea. I'll go with you."

Before I could say another word, Vinyl had already made her way to the door, using her magic to put on her saddlebags as she did. She motioned to me, then turned and went out. I followed suit, locking the door behind me.

As we made our way toward the marketplace, I found that there was even less activity than I had expected, which I felt was for the better, as it added to the already-astounding tranquility of the early morning. As Vinyl and I walked side-by-side, I silently decided to take in the sights and sounds -- I wasn't too much of a morning talker, at all, which fortunately Vinyl already knew. Looking at the trees along the side of the path we trotted along, I noticed the peaceful dew drops resting upon the leaves, the osmosis of the water making them into perfectly round spheres. I ever so slightly frowned at my next thought, which was the remembrance that those dew drops would cease to be by the time that Celestia would raise her sun to it's apex, but that frown didn't last long, as I knew that they would be back come this time the next day. I don't truly know why, but I think that since much of my life has incorporated chaos and dodging beer-bottle-projectiles, I have developed a greater understanding and appreciation of the serenity provided by many of the little things in life, such as the dew drops on an early morning.


As a result of getting lost in my thoughts again, we arrived at the marketplace before I knew it, only getting jolted back into reality by a bump from Vinyl's flank.


"We're here, babe; you can leave La-La-Land now..."


I shook my head vigorously to regain my clutch of reality. "Meh...you're right. 'Tis a silly place."


With a quick laugh, Vinyl started walking towards one of the stalls. "C'mon, babe, let's get you your own saddlebags while we're here."

I simply smiled as I followed behind her. As it turned out, our timing was impeccable, as we had arrived after all of the stalls had opened for the day, but before they had received much -- if any -- business yet. As a result, we were this stall-keeper's first customers of the day.

"Hello! Would you like to purchase some of the highest-quality and finest-made saddlebags in all of Ponyvi--"

The stall-keeper cut himself off, and in the second of his hesitation that followed, Vinyl gave me a glance through her glasses that told me that she knew what he was going to say next, and that she knew how to handle it accordingly. I immediately gave her a very slight nod in response, again, all in the lone second of the stall-keeper's hesitation.

"DJ P0N-3?! I-It's such a pleas--"

Vinyl cut him off this time. "Please; call me Vinyl. And as a matter of fact, I would like to purchase some saddlebags for my friend here." Vinyl put a very slight emphasis on the word 'friend'; not enough for the stall-keeper to think anything of it, but enough for me to know what she meant: that even though we were dating at this point, she didn't want it to be completely public quite yet. I was actually thankful of that, not just for Vinyl's sake, but for my own as well; I've had a history of getting...sheepish when placed in a large-scale spotlight.

At this point the stall-keeper turned and took a good look at me for the first time, and I greeted him with a silent nod. About fifteen minutes later, after being fitted for my first saddlebags, Vinyl paid for them and we left the stall...well, after Vinyl signed an autograph for the stall-keeper that is. 

As we turned around, we saw the first other ponies we had seen all day so far, with the exception of the stall-keepers and the like. They were standing about fifteen yards in front of us, talking. One was a pegasus mare, though I could clearly see -- even at that distance -- that she was approximately 3-5 inches taller than the average mare. She had a white coat, with several black stripes on her face, a couple on her back, and many on her legs. She also had a mane and tail of royal blue, which, yet messy, seemed to suit her well. I'm still not sure why, but some ponies just seem to look better with unkempt-looking manes and/or tails...though I have a feeling that Rarity would hastily beg to differ. The pony she was talking to was a unicorn stallion, who was wearing a medium-green vest and rectangularly-framed glasses. His coat was a dark teal to a sort-of dark turquoise, and his mane and tail looked almost brown, but were too close to a burgundy to be able to be called brown. Hell, I'll just call it browngundy. Again, regardless of the distance, I was able to distinguished that he was well kept and neat, though I doubt that he would be one to obsess over his looks. *Cough*Rarity!*Cough* Oddly enough, the most striking thing about him, to me at least, was his eyes; it wasn't that they were unusual or anything, it was mainly just because they were such a vibrant shade of blue. I fucking hate blue. He seemed to have π as a cutie mark. Looking at the two of them together, I could see that it was a case of opposites attracting, even if they seemed to be polar opposites. Why is it always that opposites attract? I mean, ponies aren't magnets, so why is always opposites that attract? But more importantly, why am I dwelling so much on this? If being forced to read Pride & Prejudice for my Junior year English class taught me anything it was that first impressions are rarely, if ever accurate. Hell, Jane Austen has even originally planned for the title to be "First Impressions"*...I really need to get out more...

A/N: I can't believe I just made a Pride & Prejudice reference...

Why can't you believe it if you just did it?

…

...wow, you didn't get scared this time.

...yeah, I've learned to expect you during my author's notes, now.

...oh.

Yep. And to answer your question, lemme put it this way: if you look through the references I've made, to things such as Monty Python, Animal House, a bunch of classic rock and awesome '80s music, Ghostbusters, the DOOM song, the "Take On Me" music video...

...and then after all those 'guy' things, you suddenly drop the "Pride & Prejudice-bomb"?

Yep. Pretty much.

Okie dokie lokie! I'll let you get back to your story then! Yay crossovers!

Semi.

Huh?

It's a semi-crossover.

So? What's the difference?

Quite a bit, actually.

Oh. Like what?

We already went over all that in the Official Semi-Crossover Announcement/Proclamation Thingie.

Oh yeah. Forgot. Okie dokie lokie then! Back to the story, author!

*Poof!*

"Babe, you've been looking at those two ponies for exactly twenty seconds now; I'm guessing you've learned enough about them to write a paragraph or two?"

I look over to Vinyl, who was brandishing a sarcastic smile, and responded without thinking, ironically.

"I already did."

"Huh?"

"...don't worry about it."

"Done. How about we be neighborly and introduce ourselves?"

I sarcastically fake a whine. "But I'm anti-social!"

Vinyl gives me a "srsly" look, prompting me to immediately drop my sarcasm. "I seriously am, though."

Vinyl's pokerface told me all I needed to know about her seriousness. "I know, and it's pathetic. Come on."

The next thing I knew, Vinyl was carrying me with her magic, as she did so for about five yards, before releasing me to let me walk the remaining ten.



*All of that English-class part is a true story, by the way.