The music blared from the sub-woofers, the bass created a low vibration that everypony in the crowd could feel in their hearts, and the lights flickered and flashed across the room. Two o'clock in the morning, and everypony was having a great time at the most famous partying ground in all of Equestria: Club Canterlot.
They partied there almost every single night, as long as they caught up with their work and had no other plans. It was normal for them both to show up every night, and if something were to actually come up, they would call each other to cancel.
It was Saturday night, the best partying night of the entire week. The best music was being played, the best disk jockeys showed up, and after an hour of partying you'd get to look forward to a fresh mug of hard cider, or a cold beer.
"Put your hooves up!" Yelled the DJ in charge of the night's music.
Vinyl and Neon both raised their hooves and awaited for the new beats to begin.
They never partied without each other. If one were to cancel, neither of them would show up that night.
The whole room was filled with fresh beats, consuming reality, and replacing stress with adrenaline and excitement. The entire audience cheered, and soon enough the room went back to musical chaos and everypony let go and forgot all their problems.
~~~
"Tonight was awesome!" Vinyl exclaimed. She poured herself a shot glass of vodka and immediately gulped it down.
"You say that every night, Vinyl." Neon chucked as he drank his own strong alcohol. Vinyl giggles, and Neon looked back at her.
The white fluffy fur on her checks were covered in a red palette from both her intoxication, and her exhaustion. Her electric blue mane was matted down, unlike her usual spiky hairdo. Even though her hair was a big wild mess, the blue color gave her a sense of beauty. Her eyes were alluring, a unique ruby red color.
"Well that's because every night is awesome." Vinyl poured herself another, her blue magical aura was unsteady.
"Ya' know you're not supposed to use your magic when you're drinking. You might spill the vodka everywhere, and then you'll have to pay for it." Neon was a bit more rational than Vinyl. He turned from a timid young colt into a tall handsome stallion who loved to make friends.
Even though Neon had a generous amount of friends, he would always cancel plans from any of them if they interfered with his plans with Vinyl. He would never give up the opportunity to see her, and she did the same for him.
"Meh, whatever. Ya 'know I'm way too lazy to lift up a bottle with my hooves like some earth pony. I thought you knew me better than that, Neon." Vinyl took another shot, and her cheeks burned crimson red.
"Vinyl, I know you better than anypony in Equestria. Heck, I bet I know you better than your parents do." Neon chuckles at that, mostly because it was probably true.
"Everypony knows me better than my parents do. My parents don't know jack shit about me."
"Yeah..that's true." Neon took his last shot for the night. Even though he loved to party, he never really drank much. It was mostly so he would be sober enough to walk Vinyl home after the party and not fall over on the way there.
"Neon?"
"Yeah?"
"You okay, dude?"
"Yeah...why?
"I dunno, it's just that you just seem a bit quiet is all. Did one of the stallions in the audience turn you down after you confessed your undying love for him?"
"Yeah right, stallion or mare, nopony can resist this." Neon joked. Vinyl always took him for being a colt-cuddler because he never had a fillyfriend. Neon never argued about it since her always did what he could to avoid any confrontation. He learned to laugh at Vinyl's silly colt-cuddler jokes, and he truly began to find them funny, so he just went along with it.
~~~
"3:00 AM", Neon read on the clock. The party was going to end soon, yet the crowed never died down, reason: because Club Canterlot's motto is "The party doesn't stop until it stops," meaning it would go on until they closed. Normally, Vinyl and Neon would stay until they were either kicked out, or until Vinyl started to puke which was usually the case.
"I'm back." Vinyl said as her wobbly legs carried her back to her seat and her head thudded against the counter top.
"You've been in there throwing up haven't you?" Neon looked in her direction, rotating the bar stool.
"Have not." She denied.
"Sure." Neon hopped off of the stool and began to walk to the exit.
"C'mon, lets get you home now."
"Hell nah."
"Now." Neon made his way back to Vinyl and took her hoof.
"We should really get you home. I can tell, you don't feel good." He slightly tugged on her hoof.
"But I don't want to." Vinyl looked at him and conjured up her best puppy dog face. It was extremely hard to say no to that and she knew it, it working on him multiple times in the past.
"Sorry Vinyl, but it's not gonna work this time."
"Uuugghhh!" Vinyl groaned.
"C'mon now, lets get going." Neon grabbed her hoof and tugged.
"I never said I was giving up." She turned away.
"Why are you being difficult?"
"I'm not."
"Yeah you are, Vinyl."
"Am not. I'm staying here, dude."
"No, You're going home. Party's over."
"The party isn't over until it's over.
"Lets go, Vinyl!"
"Is this guy giving you a hard time, babe?" An unfamiliar voice asked. A bulky brown stallion trotted over and put his arm around Vinyl's neck. She sat there with a confused expression on her face.
"Uhhh...do I know you?" Vinyl asked in her drunken confusion. She certainly didn't recognize him.
"No," the large stallion began, "but I wanna know you, sexy." His hoof traveled down her back, and Neon immediately noticed.
"What the hell do you think you're doing? Neon jolted out of his seat.
Vinyl sat there feeling a bit uncomfortable. She's never had this happen, she mostly thought it was because most stallions took it that her and Neon were together.
"Leave her alone!" Neon demanded.
"Why should I listen to you? I saw you two, you were picking on her. Why don't you leave her alone?" The bulky stallion wrapped his arms around Vinyl and began to lift her off of the stool.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing? Put her down!" Neon launched himself at him, trying to get a hold of Vinyl.
"Let me go you douche bag!" Vinyl struggled to break free from the stranger's grasp.
"Hey hey hey babe, calm down. I'm just trying to get this guy to leave you alone. You okay? He didn't hurt you did he?"
"What are you talking about? He would never-"
"Don't worry, babe. I'll make sure this loser gets what he deserves." The stallion sets Vinyl down on the floor and faces Neon. Neon braces himself for what's to come, what that is, he's not to sure. He's never been in a fight before, not ever. Suddenly he confident, he wouldn't ever let anything happen to his friend, not ever.
The brown bulky stallion threw the first hoof, and it landed forcefully into Neon's eye. He immediately was knocked down to the floor.
"Take that you little pussy. Now you leave this beautiful mare alone." The stallion turned around and made his way back to Vinyl.
"There, he won't bother you anymore." He put his hooves around the unicorn and stroked the middle of her back, causing Vinyl to shudder.
"Hold on! You don't understand! He was just-"
"Get your hooves off her." A weak voice croaked behind them.
"Neon!" Vinyl tried to push the stallion away, but he wouldn't loosen his grip on her.
"Nuh-uh, you're not going anywhere little lady. You're not going anywhere but my bedroom." The stallion pushed the mare down onto the floor.
Vinyl struggled to push him away, but he just wouldn't budge. She was scared. She had never felt so helpless. She felt tears beginning to build up in her eyes.
"P-Please stop! Please! I beg you! I'll do anything! Just please don't-"
A light greenish blue hoof made impact into the stallion's face. The brown stallion fell to the ground and Vinyl quickly escaped him and galloped over to her savior and wrapped her arms tightly around him.
"Th-Thank you, Neon." Her voice cracked and her body shook,
The stallion rose back onto his hooves and spat out a tooth.
"You'll pay for that." The stallion trooped over to them, landing another critical punch towards Neon's face. Neon ducked swiftly, but Vinyl wasn't so quick.
She was hit, and a horribly sharp pain engulfed her head. She placed a hoof to where it stung and winced when she pulled her hoof back into her sight to see a small little patch of blood staining her fur. She whimpered quietly in pain, and slowly laid herself down and closed her eyes.
"Vinyl...are you okay? Vinyl? Vinyl!?" Neon peered at the stallion, and there was a fire in his eyes. A burning passion to save his best friend. He would defend her. He would defend her with his life.
Neon lifted her up gently and slowly stroked her mane and eyed the large patch of blood forming in her mane, then embraced her. Holding her to make her feel safe, and now he would have to prove to her that she could trust him to be there for her.
"I'm here for you." Neon buried his muzzle into her mane.
"If you would have stepped down and just let me have my way with her nopony would have gotten hurt. I hope you're not her coltfriend, because if you were I'd feel so bad for her. You can't even protect her." The brown bulky pony made his way over to them and put his hoof onto Vinyl's head.
"You should just give her up and give her to me. I can make her feel like a fucking goddess. She deserves it, after all, she looks like a goddess. She definitely doesn't deserve a weak loser like you. Now hand her over, punk."
"She's not just some item to be handed over. And no, we are just friends, but that doesn't mean I can't keep her away from dirt bags like you." He spat.
"Just friends? Where you at, the friend zone? I bet you are aren't you? It's not a surprise, a gorgeous young unicorn doesn't belong with a scrawny little baby like you. A mare like her deserves somepony like me."
"No, she doesn't deserve sompony like you. Nopony deserves to be with a psychopath like you. What mare would want to be with a stallion like you? You nearly raped my best friend. I don't think any mare would want to be with some rapist. Now, everypony here is trying to have a good time, so I suggest you go home right now."
"Exactly, and I'm just trying to have a good time as well, and if you're gonna keep me from it, I suggest you think about how much medical insurance you got. Because after this, you're gonna need a lot of it." The stallion hit his hooves together and mercilessly began to strike Neon in the chest.
"It aches, but I just don't know what to do next. I guess...as long as Vinyl isn't the one getting hurt...it's okay."
~~~
Neon walked through the cold night, using the little strength he had left to hold Vinyl on his back. He was physically exhausted and couldn't wait to collapse on his bed. Vinyl was still unconscious, and the bleeding from her scalp stopped. He planed to take her home and lay her down on her bed and bandage her wound, then he would take her to the hospital in the morning to get her injury checked out, along with all of his injuries.
His eyelid was purple and swollen from the stallion's first hit, and he had many bruises along his neck and chest from taking in so many blows. It hurt, but he would rather be beaten than to watch Vinyl be beaten.
~~~
"You know, you didn't have to do that." Vinyl poured herself a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats.
"Yes I did."
"Yeah well, look where that got you. You look terrible."
"Thank you. It's nice to know that that's how you feel about my physical appearance." Neon joshed and chuckled.
"You're lucky that guy didn't kill you." She took a bite of her cereal and rolled her eyes at him.
"Thanks for the 'thank you for saving my life Neon Lights'. Neon rolled his eyes at Vinyl mockingly.
She sighed. Vinyl just didn't know what to think about last night. She nearly got raped, and her best friend saved her by being her shield and taking every punch that the stallion threw at him and barely even fought back.
"You didn't have to go and be my shield. I would've kicked that douche's ass."
"I don't think a mare screaming 'Help help! Please stop!' sounds like a mare that would've taken care of herself in that situation."
"Shut the hell up! I would've sent that guy home crying to his mom if I don't pass out when I did! You know I'm strong! You know I would've! Don't you believe me Neon!?" She slammed her hoof against the table and her spoon flew off of the table and onto the floor.
"Vinyl, there are time's in everypony's lives where they're gonna need help...just like when you helped me when we first met, remember?"
The room fell silent. Vinyl thoroughly thought about it. She just didn't want to sound like she couldn't do something on her own. She wanted to be able to take care of herself. But now she's decided to swallow her pride and thank her best friend.
"I-I guess you're right. There was no way that I would've handled that if you weren't there to save me. Just like you'd probably still be all shy and friendless if I hadn't helped you...thank you Neon."
"It was no problem. You know what you would've done? You would've done the same for me. I know you would have, because you're my best friend, Vinyl." Neon beamed at her, slightly blushing after realizing how sappy that sounded. Vinyl only giggled, then she slipped off of her seat and tackled him giving him a noogie.
"Ow! Ow! Stop! That hurts!" Yet he found himself laughing at the pain. Vinyl got off of him and giggled scratching the back of her head.
"Hehehe, sorry."
"N-No prob." Neon gently rubbed the bruise that hurt in particular.
Even though he was in a whole lot of pain, he couldn't have been any happier. He felt a soft object rub up against under his neck. Vinyl was nuzzling him, causing Neon's face to take on a bright shade of red.
"Thank you for being there for me." She said quietly in a sincere and sweet tone, much different from her usual masculine raspy voice.
"Celestia her mane smells nice."