//------------------------------// // Epilogue // Story: Friends in High Places // by Wheller //------------------------------// Epilogue Surprise’s eyes opened slowly, she blinked several times as she struggled to filter in the light that was pouring in. She was in the zebra’s hut; she must have fallen asleep on accident. She hated it when that happened, she would have to punish herself for it later. She perked her head up and scanned the room. The zebra was asleep on the floor a few metres from her. Surprise looked around and discovered the open window at the far end of the room. She spread her wings and quietly glided out it, not making so much as a sound. She had decided against killing the zebra. The master might need her, besides; she had lost her chain knife. She knew that master wanted her to wait for him... but Surprise decided that she needed to find the chain knife. Master had given it to her as a gift. He would be mad if he knew she had lost it. Surprise made her way back to where she had been waiting for master. She needed to retrace her steps if she was going to find the chain knife, lest master force her to find it and order her to turn it on herself for losing it. Master was a harsh master, but a fair master, after all. She loved him dearly, and she could not disappoint him. ... A curious thing, the Doppler Effect, the residents of Ponyville began to hear something that sounded oddly like screaming, whatever it was it was coming closer. Lily, Daisy, and Rose, the so called “flower girls” sat under a tree, gossiping about nothing that was particularly interesting, Ponyville was a small town, so there wasn’t really any big events coming up for them to talk about. Instead they relegated their day to talking about how drunk Berry Punch could get, or how long it would take Colgate, the receptionist at the clinic, to become violent if you were to refer to her as “toothpaste,” or about how Derpy Hooves was late with the post for the third time this week, or how Carrot Top had dyed her mane lime green again. It was the sort of uninteresting droll that most ponies would find as a waste of their time. Lily, Daisy, and Rose, however couldn’t seem to get enough of it. “...I don’t know, Carrot Top isn’t quite the same anymore,” Rose said with a shrug. “I think it’s cute!” Daisy said, “I’m thinking of dying my mane...” Lily had stopped paying attention at this point, noting the curious sound that she heard approaching them. “Lily?” Daisy asked her. “What’s wrong?” “Something... Something’s coming this way! What if it’s a monster!?” Lily said, gasping and scaring herself slightly. “Oh the horror!” “Lily, relax, nothing is coming!” Rose said, patting her friend on the shoulder. And then it got louder, and louder, and louder until it was right on top of them. “IT IS A MONSTER!” Lily screamed. That was when it vaulted over them, a large, metal monstrosity screamed, literally, right over their heads. Lily lost it and started running the other direction. “The horror! The Horror!” Of course, anyone who had actually bothered to take a look at it would see that it was not a monster at all; rather, it was a car. More specifically, it was a kangaroo scout car. A smaller version of the armoured cars that roamed the South Island Outback in this day and age. The screaming came from Princess Luna, who was sitting in the passenger’s seat, screaming her head off in terror, because, sitting to her right, in the driver’s seat was Vinyl Scratch. “How did I let you talk me into this?!” Luna screamed at her driver. “I don’t know! But I think this says a lot more about you than it does me, I mean, this is reckless and irresponsible!” Vinyl Scratch said with a grin. “Now, we expect reckless and irresponsible from me! But you’re a princess! You should know better!” Princess Luna did not reply, instead she covered her eyes and continued to scream at the top of her lungs as the scout car raced its way through the streets of Ponyville, Vinyl Scratch stamped on the breaks, causing the scout car to skid to a halt in front of the Ponyville public library. “You can stop screaming now, your highness,” Vinyl said with a grin. Luna uncovered her eyes, they had stopped. Thank the heavens for that! She unbuckled herself from the side seat and leapt out, kissing the ground in delight, realising instantly that she wasn’t acting very royal in her actions and immediately composed herself. “Uhm... Yes, now...” Luna said. She didn’t finish, as Vinyl too had exited the car and was already knocking on the Library door, how Twilight Sparkle had not heard them coming was beyond her. Twilight opened the door, causing Vinyl to grin. “Hi! I’m here to have sex with you... for money!” Vinyl proclaimed. Twilight said nothing, presumably giving the mare before her a dirty look. Vinyl’s grin did not fade. “I know you’re there. I can hear you breathing. Always knew you had a good pair of lungs!” “Do you have to do this every time?” Twilight asked with annoyance in her voice. “Yes! Problem?” Vinyl said, grinning widely. Twilight just smirked and gave Vinyl Scratch a tight hug, followed up by a smack across the face. “Ow! Hey!” Vinyl said, rubbing her muzzle in shock. “That was for leaving without telling me!” Twilight said. “I wake up one day and discover you’re gone, and casually learn from Derpy Hooves that you’ve left town while she’s delivering my mail!” “Okay... okay, I suppose I deserved that,” Vinyl said with a shrug. Twilight smirked again at her. “It’s good to have you home Vinyl... and where did you get that?” “She stole it,” Princess Luna said, poking her head out from around the scout car. “I borrowed it! I intend to bring it back... eventually,” Vinyl said with a grin. “And it’s good to be home!”