“Permanent Vacation”
Let It Snow
Waking up, I stretch and look out my window. Ah, a dusting of snow on the window. God, I love winter, even more now that I don’t have to drive in it. Going through my morning routine, I start making breakfast for my guest and me. I’m thinking pancakes and fried potatoes will suffice as a good breakfast. As I cook, I glance at the clock on the wall. Hmm, seven o’ clock. If this world is anything like back home, then school should start at around eight-forty. I chuckle as a thought crosses my mind.
I believe that Scootaloo has slept long enough for the time being. Knocking on the door, I slowly open it and peek inside. Scootaloo is curled up into a ball under the covers. She is facing towards the door. “Scootaloo, time to get up,” I say in a singsong voice.
She groans and rolls over. “But I don’t wanna,” She moans.
I laugh and shake my head. “Come on now. If you don’t get up, you’ll miss breakfast before you have to go to school.” She doesn’t respond. “Alright, suit yourself. If you’re not up and at the table in ten minutes, I’m coming back in with a bucket of cold water.” I shut the door and walk away, hearing groans from the room behind me.
I finish cooking and start setting the table for breakfast. Glancing at the clock, I see that Scootaloo is cutting it pretty close with only two minutes left. One minute later, she walks out and sits down at the table. “Alright, so you got me up. Now, can I have breakfast before I have to leave?”
I serve the food and sit down at the table. I glance at her clothes as we start eating. Swallowing the food in my mouth, I motion with my hand towards her. “Well, I hope you ain’t planning on going out in the snow wearing that.”
She pauses mid bite, her eyes going wide. She looks out the window and face palms. “Ah man! I forgot that was today! Can’t believe I forgot my winter gear!”
I motion for her to calm down. “Relax, I got you covered. I might still have a winter coat that may fit you.”
“Really?”
I nod my head. “Of course. You are a guest under my roof. As such, I take care of my guests.” We finish eating in silence. As we stand up from the table, I say, “Why don’t you put the dishes in the sink while I get you that coat, okay?” Scootaloo nods her head.
Going to my bedroom, I head to the closet and start searching through boxes, looking for the one that has most of my old clothes. Finding it, I reach inside and pull a black, fur-lined coat with a pair of large angelic wings cascading from the shoulder blades down. I believe this will be a perfect fit for Scoots.
I head back to the kitchen and hand the coat to Scootaloo, who is staring out the window. “One awesome looking coat from yours truly.”
She looks the coat over, her eyes lighting up at the sight of the wings on the back. “Woah! Awesome wings!” She hurriedly puts the coat on, which would fit perfectly if she didn’t have wings. She frowns and looks at me.
I tap my chin in thought before snapping my fingers. “Got it! I’ll just cut some holes in the back for your wings. Then, after school, go see Rarity and ask her to properly adjust the holes for your wings.” I grab a pair a scissors and a pencil, “Now, straighten your wings so I can see where they are.”
“But… How can I return it to you if it has holes in it?”
I rub her head and smile. “Consider it an early Hearth’s Warming Day present.”
“Really?!”
“Yes. Now straighten those wings,” She follows my order and stands rigid. I mark the locations where her wings are. “Now, if you’ll please take it off?” She tosses me the coat and I get to work on cutting two thin slits. Handing it back, she tries it on with great success, her tiny orange wings poking out through the slits.
She directs them through a range of motions before giving me a thumb up. “Perfect. Thanks a lot, Blake.”
“Anytime, Scoots, anytime.” I glance at the clock. “Better hurry up or you’re going to miss school.”
Her eyes go wide and she looks at the clock. “Oh shoot!” She bolts out the door and grabs her scooter. I chuckle as I watch her ride down the street.
Now that that is taken care of, what should I do for the rest of the day? I step outside. Hmm, it’s not too chilly, but with just enough of a bite to make you bundle up. Yeah, this could work. Spend a couple of hours putting up lights and getting a tree, then head over to Vinyl’s for that job offer. But first, getting the tree. Running back inside, I easily find my box of Christmas décor and drag that out. Reaching inside, I pull out a homemade handsaw that was my grandfathers before he passed away. I smile as memories of us playing around during my younger years flash through my mind.
“Tick tock goes the clock! Better get going if you plan to do everything today.”
Right, right. Throwing on my white and blue striped coat and black gloves, I head outside. Hmm, definitely not carrying a tree all the way back here. Maybe Applejack has a cart I can borrow for a bit? Well, looks like I need to make two stops before I get a tree.
Nearing the farmhouse at Sweet Apple Acres, I spot Fluttershy, bundled up in a green coat, yellow scarf, and green beanie, and Applejack, wearing a tan coat, talking on the front porch. Wow, looks like I can kill two birds with one stone. Applejack spots me and waves me over. “Howdy, Blake.”
Fluttershy pulls her hand out from her pocket and waves. “Hello, Blake.”
“Hey, Applejack, Fluttershy. So, what brings you around here, Fluttershy?”
“Oh, Applejack asked me to make sure all the animals are healthy for the winter months.”
“And I assume that everything is good?”
“Yep, the animals are all fit as a fiddle, according ta Shy here.” Applejack shivers slightly. “Say, why don’t ya’ll come in for ah cup of cocoa?”
I shake my head. “No can do, Applejack, but thanks for the offer.”
“Um, if you don’t mind me asking, what’s that?” Fluttershy points at the saw.
“Oh, this?” I hold up the saw. “Just an old handsaw from my grandfather.”
Applejack raises an eyebrow and puts her hands on her hips. “Ah hope you weren’t planning on cutting down any of mah trees now.”
I chuckle. Very protective of her trees, ain’t she? “No, it isn’t for your trees, Applejack. Actually, I need some help from both of you, if you wouldn’t mind?”
Applejack nods her head. “Shoot, I ain’t got nothing better to do.”
“Um, I’ll help you.”
“Great. Applejack, I’m gonna need a cart or wagon to haul this tree I’m cutting down.”
She heads to the barn and we follow her. “Sure thing. We got plenty of carts now that the growing season is over. Ya want some help loading this tree?”
“If you would be so kind.” Applejack goes into the barn while Fluttershy and I stay outside. “Fluttershy, since you know where animals live, I’m gonna need you to help me find a tree currently unoccupied so I don’t cause the destruction of some animal’s home.”
“Oh, we wouldn’t want that to happen! What kind of tree are you looking for?”
“A pine tree. Nothing too big, but not too small either. Also, it has to fit in my house.”
“I know the perfect tree. It’s been abandoned for a while now and none of my animal friends need it.”
I nod my head as Applejack comes out of the barn, her hands on the handles of the cart. “Great. You ready, Applejack?” She nods her head. “Then lead the way, Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy leads us a good distance from the farm to these trees, likely on the outskirts of the property line. As we near them, Fluttershy goes up to one and examines it. “This one would be perfect. That is, if it’s okay with you.”
I walk around the tree and study it, putting pressure on some of the branches. Hmm, not too tall but not a twig either, not too many empty sections, and strong branches. I nod my head. “Yeah, this’ll work. Applejack, push the tree in the direction I’m cutting.” I kneel down and start cutting into the trunk. Once the tree falls, Applejack and I hoist it up into the cart.
As we head back to my place, Fluttershy asks me, “If you don’t mind me asking, what do you need the tree for. If you don’t want to answer, that’s okay.”
I chuckle. “What’s Christmas without a Christmas tree? Just because you don’t celebrate Christmas, doesn’t mean I don’t have to.”
“Ya never did tell us when this Christmas is.”
“December twenty-fifth every year, with Christmas Eve being on the twenty-fourth.”
“That’s the same day as Hearth’s Warming,” Fluttershy says.
“Why don’t ya just celebrate Hearth’s Warming instead?”
I sigh and stop, turning to stare at the tree which causes everybody else to stop. “Everything I’ve ever known was ripped out from under me when I got stuck here. Customs, traditions, food, holidays, everything. Everything from my world is gone now and I may never be able to experience them again.” I close my eyes and hang my head. “It may not seem like much, but Christmas means so much to me right now. It’s one of the few stable rocks I have that reminds me of Earth. I can’t lose these holidays. Taking them away would be like taking a part of what makes me, me.” I shiver, not from the cold, but from what I knew from the start finally hitting home.
Two pairs of arms wrap around me. “Oh, Blake. We had no idea this meant so much to you. Do you want us to celebrate it with you?”
I shake my head. “No, it’s fine, Fluttershy, really. I don’t want you guys to not celebrate Hearth’s Warming just because of me.” And I don’t want them getting too close, I think to myself.
Applejack spins me around to face her, her hands on my shoulders. “Ya sure, sugercube?” I nod my head, causing her to remove her hands. “Well, if’n you’re sure.”
“Come on then, back to my place to set this thing up.”
I walk ahead of the girls as we resume our trip. Along the way, I hear the two of them whispering about something. Eh, probably doesn’t concern me. Once we reach my house, I turn to the two girls. “Alright, wait here.” I go inside and carry out a box of lights, setting it on the ground. “Fluttershy, if you would please help me again?”
“Um, what do you want me to do?”
I reach down and grab a strand of lights. “Mind hanging these lights off the edge of my roof?” Fluttershy nods her head and grabs the strand. “Now, those little clips on there? Clip them onto the gutter in a way that the lights hang down, like icicles.”
Fluttershy nods her head and flies up. She puts the first strand up and looks down at me. “Um, is this right?”
I nod my head. “Good work. Just do that for the entire length of the gutter. Just make sure the male end, the one with the prongs, connects to a female, the one without the prongs, when hanging the next strand. Now, Applejack, help me carry this thing in.”
Applejack and I heft the tree up and carry it inside. “Where we putting this thing?”
I jerk my head towards the tree stand. “Put the trunk in that green bowl thing over there and hold it steady.” We lower the tree into the stand and maneuver it so it looks decent. Once that’s done, I get down on the ground and tighten the screws to hold it in place. Crawling back out, I study the tree. Nodding my head, I pat Applejack on the back. “Thanks for your help, Applejack.”
She tips her hat to me. “Anytime, partner.”
“Come, let’s see if Fluttershy is finished.” As we step outside, Fluttershy lands by the box of lights.
“I hope it’s right, Blake. I’m sorry if it’s not.” Fluttershy kicks at the snow.
“Well, you did your best and that’s all I ask for. But there’s only one way to see if these work.” Bending down, I reach into the box and grab and extension cord. I hand the female end towards Fluttershy. “Plug this into strand above us.” She grabs the cord and flies up, plugging it in. “Now, let’s see if it works.” Bending down, I plug the cord into an exterior outlet.
Standing back up, I turn to look at the lights and smile. Just like always, brilliant blue and white lights dangle from the gutters. Applejack whistles. “Mighty fine decorations there.”
I chuckle. “You ain’t seen anything yet. By this time next week, this place will be covered in Christmas decorations.” I clap my hands. “Well then, thank you both for helping me with this. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go see Vinyl about a job.”
Running inside, I deposit the saw by the front door and grab my iPod from the kitchen table. Going back outside, I wave goodbye to the girls as I run towards Vinyl’s home on the other side of town.
Walking around The Bass Kick, I whistle as a pure white, three-story building with a neon blue roof comes into view. Damn, how could I miss a place like this? As I near the front door, I glance in the bay windows to see rows upon rows of records, CDs, and other music paraphilia around the store. Looking up, I spot a large neon sign that says Scratched Records.
Pushing open the door, my ears are assaulted with wubs coming from speakers mounted in the corners of the room, the little bell announcing my arrival just barely audible. I nod my head and smirk at the sight before me. It’s exactly like I pictured it, blue and white tiled flooring with dark forest green paint on the walls. Over in the back left corner of the room is the counter, with Vinyl standing behind it, one side of her headphones on her ear. She smirks and motions for me to come over.
I shake my head and laugh as images of a fellow college student pass through my mind. He always had a pair of headphones on with one ear uncovered so he could hear the world and his music at the same time. But enough about him, I gotta get that job from Vinyl. Walking over to the counter, I lean on it. “So, still offering that job?”
She nods her head and smirks. “I am, if you think you can handle a place like this.”
I smirk. “Of course I am. Shall we discuss pay and hours?”
“Yeah, yeah, I was getting to that. It’s twenty bits a day, Monday through Friday, from seven to twelve.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Really? Only in the mornings? What, you don’t get enough beauty sleep?” She lowers her glasses just enough to look over them, staring right at me. “Wait, that’s really the reason? Shit, I was just guessing! Of course I’ll do it!”
Vinyl holds her hand out. “Welcome to Scratched Records. Come on, I’ll show you how to operate the place."
Vinyl takes me around the store, showing me everything from how to control the music to the purchasing of digital songs. It’s simple really. Customer gives money for song, I select the song on a tablet screen designed for this purpose, song is magically loaded to a gem on the back side of the tablet, customer connects device to gem, song transfers, boom, transaction complete. Hell, we even went through a mock purchase just so I could get a feel on running an Equestrian register, which is just a giant calculator to them.
“So, think you can still handle it?” Vinyl says as I hand her a ‘receipt’ from our mock purchase.
“Uh, yeah. Lady, you have no idea what kind of things I’ve dealt with back home.”
Vinyl laughs. “Trust me, your home is nothing to what Ponyville gets on a daily basis.”
I shrug my shoulders. “Well, I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. On a different note, I heard that you have a recording studio upstairs?”
“Uh, yeah?! What kind of record producer would I be if I didn’t have a recording studio?”
I slap the counter. “Well then, would you mind going out and rounding up the band while I stay here and watch the store? We got an album to produce before the holiday rush!”
Vinyl smirks and nods her head. “Eager to get started, eh? Sure, I’ll grab them. Hey, hand me my coat from behind the counter, would ya?”
I bend down and grab a neon blue coat from a little shelf and toss it to her. “You do know where they live, right?”
She nods her head while throwing on the coat. She stops at the threshold of the door and looks back at me, a smirk on her face. “And remember, throw wild parties when I gone!”
I smirk. “Tell me where the booze is and I’ll be the party!”
Vinyl laughs as she steps out into the winter weather while I settle in for my impromptu shift. Hell, I just gotta look at the bright side of this. I got a decent job and we’re going to be making our very first album! Things are finally starting to look up for me.
Two Weeks Later
We, the band I should say, and Vinyl sit around a radio in her recording studio, listening to the songs playing from it. Vinyl glances up at the clock and smirks. “It’s time.”
We all lean forward in our seats as Vinyl turns up the radio. “Oh man, I can’t wait!” I say.
As the previous song dies down, the radio DJ comes back on. “Alright everypony, coming up next, we have a new song to broadcast. Coming from Scratched Records with their debut album, Eyes on Us, here is the All-Equestrian Rejects with Move Along!”
We let the song play for a little bit before Vinyl turns down the volume. “Congrats! You’ve all just officially become genuine rockstars!"
We cheer as I pop open a champagne bottle I bought just for this occasion. I quickly pour the bubbly liquid into glasses for everybody, even Spike. Yeah, I changed my opinion on letting him drink. After all, he is old enough, according to him at least. Setting the bottle down, I grab my glass and raise it up. “To making it in the world of music!”
“I’ll drink to that!” Lyra shouts as we all clink our glasses together and drink to our success.
“So,” Spike sets his glass down and leans forward in his seat, “How much money did our first album make, Vinyl?”
I smirk and rub my hands together. “Oh, I can’t wait to hear this. Come on, daddy needs a ton of bits!”
Vinyl smirks and leans back in her chair, “Well, even though our marketing campaign and distribution was on such short notice, we still managed to rack up a shit ton of sales!"
“But that still doesn’t answer our question. How much did we make?” Big Mac asks.
“I dunno, you tell me.” Vinyl’s horn lights up and four large sacks float out from behind a desk, stopping in front of each of us.
Wasting no time, I snatch my bag out of the air and eagerly open it. Peering inside, I gasp at the sea of gold bits inside. I look at everybody else and see similar reactions. “Oh my God, this is amazing!” I shake the bag and shudder at the jingling from within.
“These are heavy! Just how much did we make?! Lyra asks.
“After factoring in costs and my share,” Vinyl leans forward and tilts her shades down, “You each made twenty two hundred bits.”
Mac whistles. “Damn!”
I clap my hands. “And I know the first thing I’m buying! Spike, what kind of music does Twilight like?”
“Eh, she’s very open minded so a little bit of everything, but her favorites are classical and pop.”
“Perfect.” I reach into the sack and fish out enough bits to pay for a record. I toss the bits to Vinyl. “Here, I’m buying a CD for Twilight when we get downstairs.” And with that, my Christmas/Hearth’s Warming shopping is done.
Vinyl laughs and pockets the money. “Just remove the pop and everything part and we’ve got an exact copy of Octy!” She then snaps her fingers. “Oh, almost forgot!” Her horn glows and four CD’s float over to each of us. “It’s only fitting the band gets a copy of their own album.”
I grab the CD and look at the front cover. I smirk at the sight of the four of us standing in a line with smirks on our faces, our name and album name splayed out underneath us.
“Hey, do you think they got my good side?” Lyra asks.
Mac rolls his eyes. “Lyra, we all approved this photo during the shoot.”
Lyra playfully punches Mac in the shoulder. “I’m just messing with you. Every side is my good side, alright?”
I open up the case and look at the CD itself. On it, four eyes stare back at me, each one being from one of us. I close the case and down the rest of my champagne. Standing up, I throw on my jacket and pocket the CD and money. “Well, it’s been fun, but I gotta run. Got things to do, people to see, places to be.”
Vinyl nods her head. “Don’t forget to grab your CD on the way out.”
“Yeah, I was getting to that. Hey, Spike, mind coming with just so I don’t pick out something she already has?”
Spike nods his head and jumps off his seat. “Sure. There’s probably something here that she doesn’t already have.”
“Alright. Hey, you guys have fun now. Mac, send my regards to Applejack when you see her.”
“Eeyup.”
Spike and I head downstairs, where he heads right for the classical section. Still can’t believe Vinyl has a section devoted to classical music in her store, but then again, she has to cater to the whims and demands of the customer. He browses through the selection, occasionally picking up a CD and shaking his head. He pulls out a CD and looks at it, nodding his head. “Here, she doesn’t have this one and it’s from one of her favorite artists.”
I grab the CD and look at it. Heh, Neighzart. Still find it funny with the pony name puns around here. I nod my head and pocket the CD. “Thanks a lot, Spike. Hey, I’ll see you around. Have fun with the gang.” I head to the front door and push it open, walking out into the brisk winter chill. Better hurry home and finish wrapping these gifts for everybody.