"Thanks for meeting me here Harpo." I said cheerfully as I greeted him at the doorway of an old styled looking restaurant, decorated with an aged looking wood and stone that covered nearly all of the outside. I was honestly surprised when Vinyl had brought up this place, it looked like a place where I would even choose to eat.
"Glad I could tag along, but..." He took a moment to look from side to side, and even behind him, before returning back to me.
"Is anyone else joining us?" He asked with a brow cocked.
"Oh, yes, but they're already inside. You know...saving a table?" I half lied, Vinyl was inside because if she were out here, she'd probably burst into flames. His expression visibly lightened, he even looked relieved at the mention of someone else, but I was sure that that would probably change once he got to the table.
"So who is it?" He asked with a cheery smile.
"Um..." I hesitated a little, struggling to come up with a way to break it to him. He looked at me with a strange look, confused why I was struggling to say just a simple name.
"It's...You'll just see when you get there." I said, giving up on a way to tell him it was Vinyl, the nemesis of his beloved mare.
His expression became even more confused for a second, but then went suddenly cheerful; something I didn't expect it to.
"Oh, joy! I love surprises!" He said joyfully, trotting past me playfully and into the waiting room of the restaurant, leaving me slightly taken aback.
'Well...maybe he will like this one...' I thought to myself before turning around and trotting behind him at my own pace.
*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*
The inside of the restaurant was lit with rather dull lighting, but that was only to set the atmosphere, and my goodness it did it wonderfully. The dull lighting accented the aged looking oak tables nicely, giving them an even more comfy aura when you sat at them. I could see why Vinyl liked this place, mainly for the lighting, but I could also see why I liked this place.
Harpo was stopped at the entrance to the main dining area, scanning over the heads to try and sight someone he might know. I trotted by him idly, giving him a small nudge.
"I don't think it's someone you would recognize Harpo." I said as I walked towards the blue streaked mane that bobbed about in the corner of the restaurant, sticking out like a sore thumb compared to most of the other casual or fancily dressed others that sat around her.
The booth she sat in was set in a C shape, she was sitting in the far left corner, idly staring all around the restaurant and its inhabitants. I arrived at the table, sliding into the booth and taking a seat next to Vinyl so that my body faced the rest of the restaurant. She smiled at my arrival, though, when her attention turned to Harpo, the smile faded and turned to more of a flat expression.
Harpo's eyes met with her purple barrier, staring into the endless violet while he put on his own expression. She must've found them lying around my house somewhere. He took a moment to analyze her, probably matching her up to the Vinyl that was undoubtedly described to him by his mare friend. Afterwards, he managed a forced looking small smile.
"Nice to meet you." He said, sliding into the booth so that he set next to me, but across from Vinyl.
The air began to grow thick and silent, so I decided to try and quickly clear it.
"Well," I began by looking at Harpo. "Harpo, this is Vinyl." He complied with a genuine nod and another, not so genuine, smile.
"Vinyl," I said, turning to Vinyl. "This is Harpo." I said pointing to Harpo and watching as she regarded him with only a nod. I sat there, watching and hoping that one of them would make a move to make friendly with the other, and finally, it came.
Not too long after I had introduced them, Harpo stuck his hoof out across the table.
"Nice to meet you Vinyl." He said, his best cheerful expression on his face.
Vinyl took a second, scanning him up and down before lifting her own hoof up and bringing it in for a small bump. Harpo, clearly not expecting this, was a bit taken aback, but not faltered.
"How ya doing?" She said, settling back down in her chair.
"Um," He hesitated, probably still from the informal way she had greeted him.
"Good." He finally decided on, settling back down himself.
The moments passed on in awkward silence, occasionally broken by small chatter that spiked up between us, usually started by me, but usually died down within a few minutes. Eventually the waitress came by, bringing menus and taking our orders for our drinks, and oh did that go well.
"So what will be having to drink this morning?" She asked happily with a smile as she placed the menus down in front of us, looking to Harpo. It was only about 11:30, so I guess it was still morning.
"I'll take a water." He said with a friendly smile.
"Okay..." She said, writing it down on a notepad. "And for you?" She said, her attention now directed at me.
"Water." I said curtly with my tone friendly and a smile.
"Alright..." She said, taking time to right down my drink as well before turning to Vinyl.
"And for you ma'am?" She said, turning to Vinyl.
"Do you guys have any beer?" She said, looking at the waitress while all I could do was stare in shack and awe.
'She wants more beer? Even after last night?' I thought to myself as I simply stared at her, mouth only slightly agape. I turned to see that Harpo had a similar look, but not nearly to the degree of mine.
"Well, uh, yes ma'am." The waitress said with an at first confused, but then with cheerful, and seemingly knowing, nod.
"I'll take some of that." Vinyl said with a childish grin on her face.
"Any specific type?" The waitress asked kindly, though sounding a bit irritated.
"Surprise me." Vinyl replied curtly with a shrug as she picked up the menu.
The waitress took time to jot it down before quickly trotting off with a mischievous grin which surprised me a bit, but I shrugged it off, picking up my own menu and browsing the few choices on the menu. Most of the choices consisted of different versions of salad, the occasional sand which, and a few variety's of fruits to pick from.
Eventually, the waitress came back, carrying a tray with two obvious waters, and three other bottles which kind of confused me. Maybe she was carrying another couples drinks too?
My question was answered when she placed the two waters down in front of me and Harpo, but put all of the three beer bottles down in front of Vinyl.
"We couldn't decide what was best for you, so we decided to get you, and your table, the three we found best." She said with an overly innocent looking smile. Vinyl looked at the drinks and then back up to the waitress.
"On the house, of course." She said sweetly, getting Vinyl to crack a funny looking grin at the waitress.
"Thank you kindly." She said, using manners in a way that I had never heard before. They sounded like she knew what she was accepting; as if there was something wrong with these three drinks, but she would drink them anyways.
Something was wrong here.
She smiled gleefully before taking our orders and trotting away with a bit too much pep in her step.
"What was up with her?" I asked silently as I watched her walk away.
"What?" Vinyl asked innocently.
"The way she was being a bit too nice, giving you three drinks on the house, that's not very bushiness smart." I said turning to Vinyl to see her chuckling a bit.
"I've kinda got a reputation here with the staff after the manager had a 'rough night' at Shakes's bar and now I get free drinks, that's all you really need to know." She said snickering as her statement brought me back to something she told me in the elevator.
"You're far from knowing everything about me" Was what she said in that elevator, and right about now, it was beginning to make a bit more sense.
She looked idly at the three different bottles, turning them so that she could read all of the labels before looking up and turning to Harpo.
"Want one?" She offered with a sly smile as she pushed one towards him.
He looked at it for a minute before looking back up with a sheepish smile.
"I really don't think I should..." He started before being interrupted by Vinyl.
"Can't handle it?" She said, giving an innocent smile. I saw Harpo's sheepish look turn into a look of determination before he picked up the bottle, lined it up with the table, and popped the cap off over the side of the table and raised it up for a toast.
Harpo was like that all of his life, the only motivation he needed to do something was someone else thinking he couldn't do it, I called it a flaw, he called it a blessing.
Vinyl gave a toothy smile before picking up an unopened bottle of her own, doing the same thing as Harpo did to open his own bottle, though hers was in one quick motion, showing off her large amounts of experience with drinking. She lifted the bottle up and pushed it together with Harpo's with a clanking sound.
"Cheers." They both said, both with a smile.
Time passed idly between the two of them, who now seemed to engage in more and more conversation the further along they went through their drinks. They even offered me the third bottle, which I refused after reading the label and alcohol percentage, before the mare came back with knowing smile with our food. They had finished both the bottles, neither of them seeming even slightly buzzed from the beers that they guzzled down, before they moved onto their food.
Vinyl decided, claiming to not be wasteful, to drink the second bottle that I had refused. I could tell she was getting the faintest bit tipsy, judging from her complements that were a bit too nice towards me. Harpo saw this too, but he could probably understand that it was because of the drinking judging by his amused smile.
It was a while later, after we had finished out food and drinks and as Vinyl's light buzz was lifted, when the waitress brought by the bill. We all chipped in, paying fairly for each of our meals. It seemed that the waitress was telling the truth when she said "on the house".
"You know Vinyl," Harpo began, sighing as he leaned back in the booth. "I figured you for someone a lot different than you are, and for that, I apologize."
"Ha, I get that a lot for some reason." Vinyl said with a smile. "I guess you could say I'm used to it by now."
"It was still wrong of me." Harpo insisted.
"I'll be sure to put in my two cents worth about you the next time Beauty gets on a rant." He said with a deep sigh.
"Easier said than done." I added in, getting a light chuckle from Harpo.
"True, true." He agreed, picking himself up from the booth with another deep sigh.
"Well, guess I should be getting back home to her. Thanks for the drink, maybe we can do this again some time," He paused.
"Maybe even with Beauty too." He added, giving his thanks once more before turning and exiting the restaurant, leaving me alone with Vinyl.
*~~~*~~~*...Bigs...*~~~*~~~*
"Shit...shit, shit, shit." Was all I could say as I paced back and forth at the exit of the forest.
"I fall asleep for some well deserved rest, and next thing you know when you wake up, she's gone." I muttered to myself as I could do little but stare at the exit that let sunlight pierce through as I paced in my newly formed rut.
Beauty can be deadly, and that was the motto of the sun for me and my kind. We often dreamed of living in the sun, but we all knew that it was an impossibility. We had tried artificial light, but we had never felt the "glorious rays of the sun" that we had heard of when we stalked the streets of Canterlot; All we had felt were burns and headaches.
"Oh boy..." I sighed, finally sitting down as my legs began to tire from the countless minutes or hours that I had spent pacing, I had honestly lost count of how long I had been doing it.
"He's not going to be happy." I thought to myself, realizing how absolutely enraged my master, if I should even call him that anymore, would be when he received the news.
"Well, he might be more understanding since this is Vinyl's first mission, but judging by how confident he was of her ability, I can't over do it." I estimated about another day or two before he would get suspicious enough to do something drastic, like send out others to find both me and Vinyl, and that wouldn't end well for anyone.
I knew that when they realized that she wasn't in the forest anymore, they would undoubtedly head for the city of Canterlot. It would mean innocents would most likely be harmed.
I saw only one option, I had to find Vinyl and bring her back before things got messy for all of us.
I turned my head towards the exit of the forest, and the radiant beams of the deadly sun pouring in, before turning my head back towards the cold, shaded ground with a sigh. I reached up and massaged the temples of my head, trying to relax myself as I thought of just how I would do this.
"I hate being on clean up duty..." I admitted to myself in the middle of thought.
*~~~*~~~*...Octavia...*~~~*~~~*
We were riding up the elevator, leaving the restaurant not but a few minutes ago; Vinyl using her teleport to get use here quick and untouched by the sun. I was honestly starting to see the incredible amount of use for such a skill, ranging from getting out of harms way in mere fractions of a second, all the way over to using as just a way of simple transportation.
Was I jealous? A little, though I still enjoyed a good stroll around the block from time to time, but I won't deny that there have been times I wish I could get somewhere instantly.
"Hey Tavi?" Vinyl said, shaking me out of my train of thought.
"Hm?"
"Have you heard anything from Shakes or Sweeps?" She asked, the faintest sound of worry on the edge of her voice.
My body seized up as my eyes went wide with realization.
'How could I forget about them?!' I scolded to myself before letting out a sigh and slumping.
"No..." I admitted, feeling ashamed about forgetting them, but remembering nearly every other thing about that night.
"Should probably be checking up on them then." She said casually, also sighing.
I wasn't sure what her sigh was about, whether it be facing them or having to go somewhere else, but I knew which category mine fell under. For all I knew, they could still be in the bar and unconscious while some muggers tip toed by as they robbed the place of everything.
"Yeah..." I admitted slowly, ears lowering.
I felt a light nudge at the side, looking up and turning to see Vinyl with a smile.
"Hey, don't get all depressed over something like this, it's not like you intentionally forgot about them or anything." She said in an attempt to cheer me up, and for the most part, it worked.
"On the plus side, I can ask Shakes about that drink..." She said, a deviously childish smile forming on her face.
I felt it, a faint smile forming on my lips as a giggle bubble up at her amusingly childish behavior. I knew that was her goal in her comment, I could tell by the quick glance she gave me after the comment along with the more genuine smile it gave her to see me not so upset.
"Thanks." Was all I could say.
"Any time." She said, leaning in and giving me a quick comforting nuzzle, making my cheeks practically glow just as the bell for our floor rang and the doors opened.
This relationship of ours, I wasn't sure where we stood in it. She seemed to get affectionate from time to time, but I wasn't sure if this counted as an actual relationship, or if it was just her being her.
"Well, I think I'll grab some things from my medicine cabinet before we go, just to be safe." I said, moving out of the elevator and into the hallway, heading towards my door.
Vinyl nodded and followed right behind me, until we got into the living room, that's where she stopped and took a seat on the couch while I went, got my saddlebags from their place in my room, and then to the bathroom to go fish some things from my medicine cabinet.
I grabbed all the basic things, some gauze and bandages, as well as a few painkillers just in case. You'd be honestly surprised at how prepared you were for an accident when all you did was play an instrument; pressing on strings until you bleed, staying in a single playing position so long that your body aches, and a variety of other things like that.
I eventually found a certain joy from those feelings as weird as it sounds, not the actual cuts or the aching, but the satisfaction you felt after a good day of playing.
I hurried up and grabbed the items, putting them in my saddlebags before throwing them across my back and returning to the living room.
"Ready?" Vinyl asked, lifting up from the couch.
"Yes." I replied just before she charged up her horn, giving me another feeling of happiness at the sight of its neon blue hue just before the flash caused my eyes to shut.
*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*
The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes, was not that surprising. The 'fight' between Vinyl wasn't that messy when it came to property damage, but there were a few things that I noticed. One being the smashed table, another being the broken pieces of the bar stool, along with shattered pieces of the glass bottle to name a few. Though, there were a few things missing, specifically, the reasons we came here.
Shakes and Sweeps were nowhere to be found.
"Strange...I don't see them." I said aloud, stating the obvious as I looked around.
"Yeah..." Vinyl agreed, taking a couple steps forwards, turning her head from side to side in search of the two sisters.
We searched the main bar rather thoroughly, the search turning up with no results. Checking behind the bar, under the bar, under booths and tables even, we practically searched everywhere but under the floor boards. Eventually, we ended up back at square one, standing in the center of the main bar area.
"Is there anywhere else they could be?" I said, even though I knew we hadn't looked anywhere close to all over the bar, but we had pretty much given every assumable location a good look.
"I guess I'll try her office." Vinyl said, turning to me. "The only thing left after that is the closet, which I kinda doubt she would fit in there, and the booth." She said, raising a lazy hoof over towards the booth that towered over the dead black dance floor.
"Alright." I said, figuring that the booth was the next likeliest place they would be hiding at, or resting at, or whatever it was that they were doing. I walked across the cold feeling tiles that were the dance floor, I knew that they would light up whenever the bar was having a good night, but now they were more like flooring.
I searched the booth, not quite thoroughly since most of it was covered in records and sound equipment, but I did look in all the places available to me. My search came up empty, though judging from the sound of rumbling and multiple sets of hooves on wood, Vinyl's search came up with more of a find than mine.
I returned back down to the bar area just in time to see Sweeps hobbling out of the hallway, half conscious in her movements as she nearly fell over nearly everything. She seemed weak, her eyes half lidded and riddled with fatigue, her ears drooped downwards as she was nudged along by Vinyl.
"Is she okay?" I asked, ready to pull out any of the supplies I brought.
"Well, her body's fine, she's just tired." She said, finally nudging Sweeps into a booth. I breathed a sigh of relief, but it was quickly filled with some more worry.
"Did you find Shakes?" I asked.
"Yeah, she found me." A familiar voice chimed in.
My head swiveled towards the sound of the voice, eyes landing on the figure.
She stood tall, head held high, even with the bandages wrapped around her chest. The scratches were clear on the surface of her body, dried blood sticking to her coat. Her eyes were riddled with fatigue as well, though she easily out played her sister with her eye lids drooping down. Even with her mane clearly disheveled and littered with dirt, she still stood. Even on shaking hooves, and weak legs, she still stood.
She stepped forwards, legs landing with louder sounds that usual, showing that she only put the bare minimum amount of effort into walking.
"Gotta hand it to you Vinyl," She began with a weak chuckle. "You sure can pack a punch with that horn of yours."
Vinyl became sheepish at just the beginning of the sentence, hooves scratching the back of her head as her matching smile graced her lips.
"Sorry..." It was sincere, clearly.
Shakes just laughed, coughing a bit as the laugh became too much for her to bear, and making Vinyl's expression become more of pained one
"Don't sweat it, I've been through worse." She began before chuckling once more, but clenching to her stomach half way through.
"Nope, that was a lie. This is pretty bad." She said, even getting a laugh out of me and Vinyl.
We sat there, talking to each other as if nothing had happened, after the initial questions of "Are you okay?" and "Do you need to get to the Hospital?".
It was kind of scary really. The fact that we had gotten over this so quickly and gave it not a second though. I was glad Vinyl was back, she was glad that me and Shakes and Sweeps were okay. So I guess all was fine, and that was fine by me.
The topics were rather spaced, jumping from one thing to another, from beer to medicine to even the forest. The talking went on for awhile, about an hour, and Sweeps eventually recovered enough to join in. She had apparently "taken one to many pills or something."
Eventually, they decided that they should be getting back home.
"Do you need help getting back home?" I asked, Vinyl also opting to just teleport them home, but no. They were too proud for that, insisting that they were just fine and that the trip was only a few blocks away. They said their goodbyes, much to both me and Vinyl's disapproval, and left us with one thing.
"Just be sure to lock up." Shakes said, just before the door closed.
"Jeez they're hard headed." Vinyl said in a huff as they left.
"At least they're okay." I said, trying to think on the bright side.
"Yeah...then again, I was the one who hurt them." She said, turning away and staring out the window, sounding ashamed of herself.
"You know that you wouldn't do that under normal circumstances." I said, giving her a glare.
"I still did it." She said sighing. I was about to tell her wrong again, but she beat me to it.
"But yeah, at least they weren't hurt too bad." I could see anger building in her, her jaw tightening as she began gritting her teeth behind her shut mouth.
I walked up and put a hoof on her shoulder, getting her attention as she turned to me. I gave her a soft smile, she seemed hesitant at first to return it, but eventually she caved and smiled back.
"Let's just enjoy this for now." I said, getting a nod out of her.
We stood there, just outside of the fading suns grip, staring out the window at the orange sky. She seemed deep in thought, staring at the horizon with a mix of what I could make out as sorrow, shame, but those paled in comparison that dominated her expression, anger. Her eyes were squinted, her eyebrows tilted inwards, and a fire burning in her eyes like a furnace. Her smile was gone, replaced with a frown that curled off at the ends.
While she silently seethed, I silently thought. About what could happen, about what had happen, and about what was sure to happen in the future. I compared them to what I wanted to happen, and I saw fairly different ideas, but I thought that it could happen, maybe I could get my vision of the future.
One thing floated up above the boiling pot of my thoughts, and I just couldn't resist asking it.
"Do you think they'll come for you?" I asked quietly.
At first, her answer was silence, but it was broken.
"Yeah." It was short and simple, but not enough, her answers were never enough.
"What will you do?"
Silence.
"Will you do what you did last time?" I asked, remembering her giving herself up for the safety of me and Shakes. Again, all I got was silence, but once again, it was broken, but not immediately.
The first thing I felt was the slight lean of her into me, her placing her head up against me neck in a soft embrace. I was unsure at first, but eventually I leaned in cautiously in my own awkward embrace The answer that followed reflected all those emotions I mentioned earlier.
"No."