//------------------------------// // A family show // Story: Wub-Hate // by PurpleFire18 //------------------------------// In the garden just outside the back of the mansion were a pair of adult earth ponies, walking peacefully next to each other through the flower-covered patches. The blue-coated mare wore red-tinted shades and a black and white dress, while the grey-coated stallion wore purple-tinted shades and what could be considered a very elegant suit. "I believe we need to water these roses more often, they are losing their delightful shade of red," Hoity Toity said as he glanced over at a small group of red roses at his side. "I think they look just fine, dear," Photo Finish replied with her distinctive accent, glancing at the same roses. "Maybe you need to take off and clean your glasses?" she asked with a mischievous smile. "Well, that is why I said they looked just fine." Hoity Toity continued to walk, his wife closely following. "Say, have you heard the latest rumors about us?" "Oh my, do we need to publicly address that we are not vampires again?" Photo Finish asked, rolling her eyes. Hoity Toity laughed heartily, he hadn't heard that one in months. "Oh, no, but that was fun." He stopped laughing, though his tone still indicated amusement. "No. Since our little girl's rivalry with that Neon Lights fellow ended rather abruptly, there are rumors that we actually paid Neon to give up." "Oh, now that is low!" Photo Finish said, feeling insulted. "We would never stoop down to that level!" "I know, but rumors spread faster than facts, my dear," Hoity Toity said, looking at his watch afterwards. "...Long Play should have been back by now." "Yes, what is taking that boy so long?" "Mommy, Daddy!" Vinyl's voice was heard from the mansion's back door. Before both adult ponies had the chance to turn around, Vinyl was already galloping towards them, tackling them with a hug that would have brought them to the ground if it wasn't for the fact Earth Ponies have a certain resistance to crushing displays of affection. "Vinyl!" Photo Finish said in surprise before returning the hug. "How is our favorite DJ doing?" Hoity Toity asked. "Awesome! And look who I brought with me!" Vinyl pointed behind her. "Hello, Mr. Hoity Toity and Mrs. Photo Finish." Octavia bowed down respectfully. "Ah, our favorite cellist, Octavia Melody!" Hoity Toity said with a nod. "Always a pleasure." "And, I brought my other bestie!" Vinyl said, pointing at Neon Lights, who just walked out of the door, followed very closely by the ever watching Long Play. Both adults looked at Neon, their expressions difficult to make out thanks to their shades. Neon gulped nervously and walked to meet the parents of his best friend, and, as he had done so since he walked in, Long Play followed from behind. "Um, hello, Mr. Hoity Toity and Mrs. Photo Finish!" Neon said, his tone being equally nervous as his overall appearance. "Hello, Neon..." Hoity Toity said with absolute neutrality. "What brings you here?" "Uh...I wanted to come to accompany my best friend!" Neon replied. "And who is your best friend, exactly?" Long Play asked, narrowing his eyes. "V-Vinyl! Of course! Vinyl Scratch is a good friend of mine! I got all her albums and they are great!" "Oh really?" Long Play asked, almost breathing into Neon's face. "And why would you have all her albums?" Vinyl once again broke the tension between the two stallions with a well timed clear of her throat. "Well! We are all friends here, so maybe we should, like, show Neon around? He's never come here before!" Photo Finish nodded. "Indeed, perhaps we should." Hoity Toity nodded in agreement, then looked at Long Play and Neon. "And I believe we should act civilly from now on, wouldn't you agree, Long Play?" Long Play was somewhat surprised Hoity Toity noticed his hostility towards Neon, but also realized he didn't make enough of an effort to hide it. "...Yes, uncle." Neon sighed in relief as he and everypony walked into the mansion, Hoity Toity and Photo Finish leading the group through the mansion's many rooms. It was in the middle of the tour that Neon thought of a question that had been bugging him ever since he walked into the mansion. "So, since you are like, super rich and fancy and stuff, why did Vinyl choose such a, no offense, ordinary life?" The question did take the ponies by surprise, but Photo Finish was the one to answer. "Oh, that is because of her cousin", she said. "We did not really have a plan for Vinyl's future, after all you can't force a cutie mark on a pony. We waited patiently until her talent appeared, then we were going to support her in pursuing that path. One day Long Play came to take her to a certain event, and when she returned, there was a cutie mark on her flank!" Vinyl visibly blushed. "Come on, mom, no need to be telling the story from THAT point!" "Sorry, dear. After that, she started enjoying the performances of musicians, but mostly enjoyed the kind of music that Long Play liked, so he played a very important role in her preferences," Photo Finish continued. "And then after graduating from school, she decided to pursue the career of a DJ and live a wild life. While it was sad to see her go, we supported her and still do today. And in the long run, it was indeed an advantage, her music quite often finds its way into our fashion shows," Hoity Toity added. "Who would say?" Octavia looked at Long Play with a fake angry expression. "I have you to blame for this walking disaster ruining my peaceful life!" "Oh, my most sincere apologies, Octavia!" Long Play said, holding her hoof again. "I promise I wouldn't have done so if I knew it would have had such an impact in your life." Octavia giggled and both Neon and Vinyl could have sworn they saw a slight shade of red on her cheeks. "OOOOOHHH!" Both younger unicorns said as they tauntingly pointed at Octavia and Long Play. "Oh, shut up!" Octavia said as she shot a deadly look at her two friends. *** Hours later, after a fancy lunch, Neon found himself in the garden looking at a rather interesting tree...an Orange Tree. "...I will forever remember the awful taste..." he muttered, not noticing that a certain red maned unicorn was approaching him. "Your little peel tasting like a piece of Tartarus..." "...You're not actually hating on a tree, right?" Long Play asked. "Woah!" Neon jumped back and assumed a fighting stance, before quickly going back to his normal standing stance. "...Just the fruit," he said. "What did oranges ever do to you?" "Alright, just the peel," Neon clarified. Long Play almost burst into laughter. "Why did you eat an orange peel?" "I was trying to prove I was tough!" Neon said quickly. "And did you prove your point?" "...Shut up..." Neon looked away in shame. Long Play laughed and grabbed Neon by his neck, rubbing his hoof on his hair. "You know what, maybe I was wrong about you, you're a funny guy and Vinyl clearly doesn't have anything against you!" "Really now?" Neon managed to say. "Yeah, really!" Long Play let him go. "So, no more bad blood between us, kay?" He put his hoof in front of him. "We're cool?" Neon was surprised to say the least, but still accepted the gesture and shook Long Play's hoof. "Yeah, we're cool. I was worried for a second that you would kill me before the day ended." Long Play chuckled. "So was I..." he said ominously. Neon gulped, but was quickly lightly punched in the shoulder. "I'm joking, Neon!" Long Play said, laughing again. "...Say, my uncle and I are going to practice some archery, wanna join us?" "Archery? With bows and arrows?" Neon asked, raising a brow. "Yep! We do this every time I come visit. We have a target at the end of the garden and everything!" "...I don't know, dude, I've never held a bow before," Neon said, not trying to sound modest. "Come on man, you have a horn! It can't be that hard!" Long Play said, then began walking away. "Come on, the girls will be watching!" "Gee, no pressure..." Neon said sarcastically before following him. They did indeed have a target at he end of the garden, a safe distance from where Neon was being taken. He also saw Hoity Toity holding a bow and the mares sitting on conveniently placed chairs. When he arrived, Octavia and Vinyl were surprised to see that he was actually going to partake in this and not sit and watch. Neon however, was more nervous than anything, and almost felt he was there just to be made fun of. "So, Neon, I trust you know how this game is supposed to be played better than you know how to pick the color of your tie?" Hoity Toity asked. Neon took off his shades to look at his tie, not noticing anything that would be off, then looked at Hoity Toity. "Well, I suppose?" He levitated an arrow over to himself. "Pointy end faces away from you, right?" "...Of course!" Hoity Toity said, giving him a bow. "Two arrows each?" "Sounds good to me. Neon?" Long Play said. "Uh, sure, sure!" Neon said nervously. "Go Neon!" Vinyl cheered. Hoity Toity was the one to shoot first, after taking off his shades, he placed himself in position, holding the bow with a hoof and the arrow and string with his teeth, aiming at the target. He let go of the arrow, shooting it after releasing the string. It was an almost perfect shot, hitting just outside the center. "Nice shot!" Photo Finish said, clapping her hooves along with the young mares. "Thank you, my dear!" Hoity Toity nodded at Long Play and Neon, waiting for one of them to go first. "...You go first, Long Play, I've only done this in Minecraft..." Neon said, looking down in shame. "Whatever you said, Lights!" Long Play positioned himself and levitated the bow and arrow with his magic, aiming carefully...then released. This one was a perfect shot, hitting the center circle. "YES!" Long Play jumped in triumph as the mares clapped their hooves and cheered. He turned around and looked at them. "Did you see that, Octavia?" "Yes, it was a perfect shot!" Octavia nodded. "Did that make you fall completely in love with me again?" Long Play asked flirtatiously. Octavia giggled and visibly blushed, looking away and waving her hoof. "Oh, stop!" "Octy's got a coltfriend, Octy's got a coltfriend!" Vinyl chanted childishly before laughing. Long Play nodded at Neon and moved out of the way, urging him to position himself and hold the bow and arrow like he did. "...Alright, here I go. Just imagine that is a huge record and you don't wanna break it..." he muttered to himself before finally releasing. The shot was even more perfect than Long Play's, hitting the exact center of the target, by pure luck. Everypony was amazed, including Neon himself. "Now THAT was a perfect shot!" Hoity Toity said, clapping himself. "Woo hoo!" Neon jumped triumphantly. "Did you see that, Vinyl?!" he asked as he turned around to look at his friend. "Yeah, dude, you're awesome!" Vinyl replied. "Did that make you fall completely in love with him again?" Long Play asked jokingly, trying to emulate his earlier question. "Yeah!" Vinyl said without thinking much about it. Suddenly the entire garden went silent as the ponies' faces froze in jaw-dropping shock, so much that anypony could have heard an ant bickering with another ant about why ponies were into archery. Just what did they all hear? "...W-What?!" Long Play asked in disbelief. Vinyl's face was no longer white, it was red...Except they needed to invent a new shade of red to describe how she looked. "I...I...Well..." she began, no words coming out afterwards. Neon was red like an apple himself, trying to process what he heard. "...S-She said...That..." Vinyl looked around for a way to escape, resorting to the oldest trick in the history of ever. "...I think I hear my laundry calling! Sorry, gotta go!" she said quickly, before just as quickly getting up and running into the mansion like if she was running for her life. Not that anypony was chasing her to begin with. The awkward silence only continued afterwards, the only thing breaking it was Octavia's inaudible mutter. "How could I be so blind? It all makes sense now!" Indeed, now all the things she saw in their relationship made sense, from the posters to the toys to the texts to the hatred to the quick making up. It was all pieced together now...Except for the fact her two friends were clearly not ready to go to the next level, at least not without help...