Vinyl looked at the clock hanging on the restaurant wall for what had to be the fifteenth time.
It’s been thirty minutes! Where is he? She asked, dropping her face into her hooves, her mane tumbling over her eyes. We’re not even gonna make the train back home if he doesn’t show up soon.’Whatever he was doing had better of been freakin’ important to take this long. She let out a long sigh, slouching back in her seat.
Slumping her head to the table, she could hear the chime of the doorbell. She looked up to see two ponies, a young stallion and mare, walking in, laughing their heads off.
“Ha! Best. Party. Ever!” the stallion said, rearing his head back in laughter.
“Oh my gosh, totally!” the mare replied.
Vinyl rested her head back on the table. Geez, I wouldn’t mind having a house party again sometime. It’s been way too long.
“And how about that dragon? Who knew someone so small could drink like that?!”
“Yeah! How did he not explode? Don’t dragons have like, fire in them?”
Vinyl stood at attention. Spike? At a city party? Oh, crap...
She dashed over to the table where the two ponies were sitting. “Look, I need to know where this party is!” Her eyes darted back and forth frantically between the two, eliciting frightened expressions from both.
“Umm… why?” the stallion asked, sinking down into the seat.
“My friend is there, and he’s in trouble! Or at least he’s going to be when I find him...”
“Look, just chill, ‘kay?” the mare said. “It’s over at Modem’s place, right across the street from the club. We cool now?”
“Modem?” This was a stallion she knew all too well. And she also knew the kind of things that went on at his parties. “Oh, crap!” Without a second glance Vinyl bolted out of the eatery as fast as her legs could carry her.
*****
In no time at all, she found herself at the club she had just performed at. It didn’t take her long to see the party site across the street. Drunk ponies passed out on the porch, lights and music emanating from inside––definitely the scene of a wild hangout.
Sweat dripped from her face as her lack of energy was finally catching up to her. This was going to be a long night indeed.
She raced up the steps and into the house, unsure of what to expect. Like getting punched in the face, she was hit with the smell of alcohol, smoke, and the musky scent resulting from too many horny teens in one place.
Taking a few more steps, her senses were drowned out by the music and the smell. She desperately looked around for her dragon, but instead was greeted by the sight of ponies either making out or being knocked out cold on the floor.
Tripping over drunk ponies as she walked through the house, she found her way to the kitchen. However, the sight she stumbled upon nearly buckled her legs.
“Spike?!” Her mouth fell agape as she saw him sitting on a table surrounded by empty cups and random mares.
Spike’s eyes hazily made their way to his friend, and a smile crept onto his face.“Oh, hey! Vinyl! ‘Sup?”
Vinyl’s surprise was ignored for the moment due to the stench of alcohol and weed reeking from his breath. “Spike, we’re getting outta here.”
Spike pouted and turned his gaze to two mares passed out on the table by him. “Aww, but I was having fun.”
“Sorry to crash your party Spike, but we’ve gotta get home to Ponyville.”
“No way!” Spike said, his speech heavily slurred. “I, like, wanna stay forever and ever! Manehatten is so much fun!”
Vinyl just rolled her eyes. She’s had to deal with enough drunk ponies in her life, she knew there was no point in debating it with common sense. “Spike, let’s go. You can come back and have fun another time.”
“But﹘﹘” His argument fell silent beneath Vinyl’s glare. “Fine…” Spike attempted to leap off the table, but landed face first on the kitchen floor instead.
Vinyl scraped the plastered dragon off the ground and levitated him onto her back. “Alright, let’s get out of here.” Vinyl quickly dashed out of the apartment and walked down the sidewalk.
“Vinyl, you’re so awesome!” Spike buried his face into her blue mane, and took an exaggerated sniff. “And you smell awesome, too! Have I ever told you awesome you smell? It’s like blueberries and sweat. Sweaty blueberries!”
Vinyl winced at his loud compliment. He was beyond drunk. All common sense and rational thought was gone. I cannot believe I let this happen! I can’t take him home like this. The Princess will have my head!
“Vinyl, I have to tell you something! It’s super important, too!” Spike prodded her neck with his claw. “You’re like, so, so… Ugh!” His thought was cut off as he threw up all over the ground, barely missing Vinyl herself.
Oh God. I cannot take him home like this. She looked back at Spike, who was now collapsed and splayed across her back, clutching his stomach. We’re gonna have to spend the night here.
Lugging Spike with her, Vinyl went to the nearest motel she could find to check out a room for them. It was a cheap one, but it was the only option at the moment.
As the two walked into the lobby, they recived a warm smile from the receptionist. “Hello! What can I help you with tonight?”
“Yeah, we need a room,” Vinyl replied.
“Yeah, and we need it now… if you know what I mean,” Spike said, winking at the receptionist.
Vinyl simply rolled her eyes and gave the receptionist the needed amount of bits, and recieved a key card in return.
After finding their room, she levitated Spike to the bed and began racing through her thoughts.
Alright. I'm in a motel room with my friend who just so happens to be completely drunk and stoned... and he happens to be the assistant to an overprotective Princess.
Vinyl began pacing back and forth across the room, sweat forming on her face. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! I am so dead!"
Spike looked at her from his place on the bed, distant gaze and goofy grin on his face. "Heh, yeah... what?"
She brought her hoof to her face, and collapsed onto the bed. "I can't believe I let this happen! I let the the Princess’ assistant, and my own friend, get drunk, stoned, and Celestia knows what else! Twilight is going to kill me! I'm just a big, fat, stupid, irresponsible idiot!"
Spike pouted for a moment and threw his arms around Vinyl in a sloppy hug. "Don't feel bad, Vinyl! You're not fat."
Vinyl broke her panic to look at the dragon who had tangle his arms around her. Even drunk, he still managed to be a sweetheart. "Spike, I swear... When you wake up tomorrow with a massive hangover, I'm just gonna laugh at you."
Spike snorted with laughter, and looked up at the unicorn he was still tangled around. "Hehe, that's okey-dokey!" He suddenly flung his body up and gasped loudly. "Ohmigosh! Vinyl! I like, have to like... tell you something! Its important!" He punctuated the last statement with a wide-eyed stare inches from her face.
Having been around many drunk ponies herself, Vinyl had grown used to this kind of thing. "Alrighty, what's that?" she asked.
"You're really, really pretty!" Spike said, his gaze locked on hers.
Vinyl chuckled softly. "Thanks, Spike. That's really nice." That was a statement Vinyl had heard a lot before from friends under the influence. It wasn't very often that any of them ever remembered saying it though.
"I mean it!" Spike said, dropping his head onto the bed next to her. "At the place thingy, you were like, lit up, and your glasses were cool, and you were sweaty, but in a good way! You were so awesomely gorgeous! I couldn't breathe, ‘cause you like... took my breath away!"
Vinyl blinked slowly, mind reeling from what she had just heard him say. Gorgeous?
She glanced down at Spike who seemed to be fading in and out of sleep. It had been nice having someone to hang out, talk about music, and perform with. Especially someone who seemed genuinely interested in being her friend, considering all the ponies she had known who were more interested in getting some action.
"Thanks, Spike. You're pretty awesome yourself," Vinyl said with a soft smile.
Spike lifted his head to meet Vinyl's eyes. "No prob. I’m just, you know, telling the truth.” He attempted to say something else, but was cut off by his own snoring. His head promptly dropped onto Vinyl's shoulder.
The unicorn tried to nudge him back onto his side of the bed, but he responded by wrapping his claws around her tightly.
Letting out a small sigh and chuckle, Vinyl simply resigned herself to being his pillow for the night. "Hehe, goodnight, Spike." As her eyes closed and she drifted to sleep, she instinctively wrapped her hooves around Spike and snuggled into his warmth.
*****
Spike slowly cracked open his eyes, only to immediately shut them again upon seeing the sunlight. He tried moving his limbs, but he may as well have been trying to lift a three hundred pound barbell. He tried to move his tongue around, but was met with dryness that rivaled the desert and a taste of vomit and alcohol. Worst of all, however, was the extreme headache that pounded his entire brain cavity every time he tried to move.
Spike tried recovering his memories of the events that had transpired the previous night, but came up with nothing but an increased headache. Oh, god. What happened last night? Ugh... maybe I should just lay here for the rest of the day. Wait a second… Spike softly nudged the surface he was laying on. Since when did my pillow get so fuzzy?
Spike forced his eyes open to check his surroundings. He knew he wasn’t in his room, but that part of the confusion could wait until later. The shocking part was the white fur and electric blue mane he was wrapped around. What happened last night?
He tried to move himself, but was trapped underneath her hooves. Great. I’m stuck here until she wakes up.
Spike gently nudged Vinyl, hoping to wake her up. “...Vinyl?”
The sleeping unicorn turned her head toward the sound. “Meh, five more minutes, mom.” She then squeezed the dragon even tighter into herself, nuzzling him like a stuffed animal.
“Erk! Can’t breathe!” Spike tried to shout, but the constriction of his lungs didn’t allow it. In desperation, Spike stuck out one of his claws, and swiftly poked her in the side.
Her eyes immediately shot open, and the two found themselves staring right into each others' eyes, mere centimetres apart.
"..."
"Umm, hi.”
“H-Hey.”
“Any way you could, umm, let go of me?”
“Oh! Sorry…”
Vinyl bolted off the bed and tumbled to the floor, her face a flaming red.
Spike sat himself up, and rubbed his claws over his temples. "Ouch, why does my head hurt?"
Recovering her posture, Vinyl was able to respond. "Sorry, Spike. A hangover will do that to you."
"Hangover?" Spike asked, eyebrows raised in confusion. "Wait a second... What happened last night?"
"You don't remember?"
"I guess not," Spike said with a sheepish grin.
"Well, what's the last thing you do remember?" Vinyl asked.
Spike rubbed his chin and attempted to think of any relevant information. "Let me think... We were at the club playing music, I talked to some dude named Modem, you mentioned something about waffles, and then I woke up with you in a motel this morning." Spike shifted a curious glance at Vinyl. "Umm, did we, like, you know...?"
"No!" Vinyl shouted, causing Spike to cringe. "No, we didn’t. I mean, I wouldn’t… Look, just let me explain what happened. You agreed to meet me at a waffle restaurant last night for dinner, but you never showed up. I got clued in that you were at a house party instead, and you were getting completely drunk. So, guess who had to come and save your sorry tail from getting in trouble? Go ahead, guess!" Vinyl's cheeks were flushed as her frustration rose.
"Uh... you?"
"That's right, me! Of course I couldn't take you back home, or else Twilight would probably see to it I get sent to the moon for letting you get screwed up like that!"
Spike opened his mouth, but he couldn't argue with that statement.
"So that's why I brought you here for the night, where you fell asleep on top of me," Vinyl finished with a firm glare.
"So, you saved me from getting hurt at the party..."
"Yep."
"Then, you saved us both from the wrath of Twilight..."
"Uh-huh."
"Because I was being stupid, stood you up at the restaurant, and got super drunk and high..."
"That's correct."
Spike's eyes grew wide as saucers, and his head drooped. "Oops."
"Oops? You could've seriously gotten hurt and you could've gotten me in serious trouble, and that's all you can say?! Oops?" Vinyl said, her patience facing each passing second.
"Umm... oopsy daisy?" Spike replied sheepishly.
Vinyl let out a long sigh and locked eyes with the dragon. "Dude, this is serious. What do you think would've happened if the police had shown up at the party last night? Do you realize how much trouble that would cause for both of us?"
Spike had to turn his head away. He couldn’t bear to look into her eyes.
"I'm not your babysitter, Spike, so I'm not gonna keep tabs on everything you do. But I am your friend and I don't want to see you make the same mistakes a lot of my friends make. You’re a sweet guy. Don't screw things up for yourself just because you were careless. It can take years to build a good life, but it only takes a few minutes for it all to go down the toilet. You feel me?"
Spike ventured a look up at the unicorn, shame written all over his face. “Yeah, I understand’.”
“I mean, I don’t even know how things are gonna be when we get back. Like, if you were worried about Twilight overreacting last night, how is she gonna react when you come home this morning?”
“Something tells me she isn’t going to be very happy,” Spike said.
“Heh, you think?” Vinyl replied.
Spike forced himself up from the bed and stumbled his way over to Vinyl. “I’m sorry. I just... I don’t know. It seemed like it would be cool to hang out at a party with those guys from the city.”
“There’s nothing cool about those guys, Spike. Trust me, I would know.” Vinyl cast her gaze to the floor. “The pony you were with, Modem, I used to know him really well. And, well, let’s just say he’s hurt a lot of ponies before.”
Having been in a bad relationship himself, Spike knew all too well what she might have gone through. He wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug, “I’m sorry. I know what you mean.”
Vinyl happily returned the hug. “It’s alright, Spike. It’s just the way things go sometimes.”
Slowly breaking the hug, Spike took a seat on the edge of the bed. “Yeah, I’ve been there. Sometimes things just don’t work out the way we want them to. What seemed like it was supposed to be perfect just falls to pieces.”
Vinyl looked over at Spike, eyes wide. “That was pretty deep. I take it you’ve had a bad relationship experience, too?”
Spike let out a small laugh. “Yeah, you could say that. It was kind of my fault that it went south, though.”
“What happened?” Vinyl asked.
Spike’s head sunk down. “Well, it’s kind of a long story. Maybe I’ll tell you about it next time we hang out. It’s kind of, well, awkward to say the least.”
“I hear you loud and clear,” Vinyl said with a chuckle.
Spike was about to laugh, until something he hadn’t thought of yet came to mind. “Hey, Vinyl?”
“Yeah?” she responded.
“I didn’t say anything, like, awkward or embarrassing last night, did I?” Spike said, a blush creeping onto his face.
“No…” Vinyl said with a samll smile. “Unless, of course, you count the part where you confessed your undying love for me and demanded we get married.”
“What?!”
“Nah, I’m just kidding. But you did make some random confessions to how hot you thought I was,” she said with a smirk.
Spike could feel his face heating up. “Oh, well… my bad.”
“It’s cool. Pretty much everypony says weird stuff they don’t mean when they’re drunk,” Vinyl said, grinning. “I’ll give you one chance to take it back, though.”
“Nah, I meant it. I’m not taking it back,” Spike said with a sheepish smile.
Vinyl blinked a few times before responding. “Oh, wow. Thanks. That’s really sweet.”
“Yeah, no problem.” Spike nervously laughed to himself, dreading the awkward silence that had now taken over the room.
“But you did say I smelled like sweaty blueberries,” Vinyl said, mock glaring at him. “Do you want to take that one back?”
“Yeah, let’s go ahead and pretend that never happened.”
The two broke out in a brief fit of laughter, before being interrupted by the sound of a beep coming from the table clock.
“Oh, crap! It’s already ten!” Vinyl said after checking the time. “We’ve gotta get back to Ponyville. I had no idea I slept in that late.”
Spike tried to think of how Twilight might react when he returned home, but every scenario he came up with involved an extreme amount of lecturing or discomfort. He’d put those thoughts away for now, though.
“Yeah, let’s get back before I end up in even more trouble than I already am.”
Grabbing their things, the two darted out of the room and headed for the train station. Things were definitely going to get interesting when they got back to Ponyville.