//------------------------------// // Chapter Nineteen // Story: Two's Company, Three's a Crowd // by Lithe Kamitatsy //------------------------------// "Hmm...what do you think of this dress, Octavia?" Twilight asked, laying out a dress on her bed. "Is that one of Rarity's works? I can easily tell by the stitch-work. As pretty as it is, I do not know if this party is casual or not." Octavia responded. "Knowing Pinkie, this party is gonna be WILD!" Vinyl said eagerly. "It's gonna be great! She's a party-monster, and she's AMAZING at what she does. I remember the last time I went to one of her parties, I woke up in a ditch with a lampshade on my head and a tattoo on my flank next to my cutie mark. You can't see it 'cause the fur grew back...but I bet you're interested now, aren't ya, Octy?" Vinyl laughed. "I-I have no interest in such things." Octavia blushed, looking away. "Nice try, but I can read your face better than Twi over here can read a book." she chuckled, giving Octavia a wink. "If you say so...now that I think about it, I don't have anything to wear..." Octavia said. "You and I seem to be of similar physique, Twilight. Would it be alright if I borrowed one of your dresses?" Suddenly, they all heard a knock at the door. "Trixie, would you please answer the door?" Twilight asked. "Ugh...if Trixie must." She trotted downstairs and to the door, opening it. "What do you want from Trixie?" Twilight face-hoofed. "Trixie!" "Oh, right. Um, how can Trixie help you?" she said through gritted teeth, feigning politeness. If only Trixie did not care so much about not having Twilight mad at her... she thought. "Good afternoon, Trixie. Do you know if Octavia is still here? I have something for her." The voice said. Twilight immediately recognized it as Rarity's. "Rarity?" Twilight called out. "Come upstairs! We're all getting ready for Pinkie's party!" she said. "Ah, excellent! I'll be there in just a moment!" Rarity responded, carefully pulling a dress case up the stairs into Twilight's bedroom. She entered the room and set the case down on the bed next to Twilight's dress. "I just wanted to sincerely apologize for fainting earlier, Octavia. It's not everyday that one of Canterlot's elite tells me that she is a fan of my work, much less when I am a fan of her own work," she said bashfully. "Sweetie Belle told me. What an adorable little thing she is, as well as her friends. The only thing is their energy. How are you able to handle it?" she asked, looking for pointers. "I have no clue as to how I will be able to deal with it when my foal is born," Octavia said, "and believe me, I am no elite. Just because I have played for the Princess does not make me an elite by any standard. Vinyl taught me that." "Huh? What about me?" Vinyl looked up from the book she was reading, having picked it up off of one of Twilight's many shelves out of boredom. When no one responded, she went back to her book. "Wow this is good...never woulda guessed a book on friendship would be so interesting..." "Well, in terms of dealing with children, all you need is love, and a boatload of patience," she laughed. "But I digress! I have a gift for you, Octavia. Seeing as you the mare of honor at this evening's bash, I took it upon myself to craft a dress that is both fashionable, and functional for the foaling mare." Rarity opened the locks on the case, and swung the lid open. The design itself was simple but very elegant. It was a sleek black dress that had frills around the neck and near the hooves, but had had a beautiful pink bowtie right at the collar- just as Octavia was known to wear. "It has elastic around the waist, that way it will stretch once the foal starts to grow, and it won't stretch the dress. This is my way of saying: Congratulations, Octavia. The dress is yours." Rarity winked. Octavia was absolutely taken with the dress. She examined it every detail of it, and could not find one thing she did not like about it. "Rarity...I...I have no words to express how grateful I am. I will gladly pay for whatever it took to make this-" Octavia started, but was silenced when Rarity raised a hoof. "Absolutely not, dear. You will do no such thing, as this is a gift. I wanted you to look beautiful for your bash tonight, but I also wanted to make sure that you do not feel uncomfortable or have to worry about a tight dress hindering the baby's growth. The Element of Generosity does not expect anything in return- she simply gives because it is her wont." she said with a soft smile. Octavia wiped her eyes, touched by Rarity's kind gesture. "I...I can not begin to tell you how grateful I am for all of you being so kind to me. It is only getting more and more painful when I think back to us leaving tomorrow." "Well then we'll just have to make this bash one for the history books, won't we?" Rarity smiled. "One thing's for sure, Octavia." Twilight spoke up. "You and Vinyl are always welcome here." "I see that...thank you." Octavia smiled. ~Later~ The group had left for the Ponyville Auditorium for the party, Octavia walking up front with Vinyl, being followed by Twilight, Rarity, Spike and Trixie. "You look good, Octy. Sexy, even." Vinyl grinned. "I am unsure whether to take that as a compliment, or take it as you trying to sweet-talk me." she responded. "Rarity sure knows how to work a needle, I'll give her that much. You two are pretty alike, you know, with all the fancy-schmancy, snooty stuff you two talk about." Vinyl commented. "It is not fancy-schmancy and snooty, it is civilized and high-brow conversation- something you would do well to learn." Octavia stated. "Hey! My eyebrows are high enough, thank you very much." Vinyl retorted, to which Octavia face-hoofed. Spike ran his claws through the spines on his head, pushing them back as he placed his top-hat back on his head. "I look good. Maybe Rarity'll finally notice me. What do you think Trixie?" Trixie raised an eyebrow, looking him over. "While Trixie believes chivalry is dead and that you are still quite young, Trixie still feels you should give it a shot. Trixie never gave up on Twilight, therefore you have no right to give up. If Rarity is the object of your affections, pursue her." "Wow Trixie...that was actually a really nice thing to say." "Do not get used to it." Trixie warned. Twilight and Rarity were talking about different things, when Twilight brought up Spike. "The suit you made looks great on him. He's convinced he's Casanova." "Well he looks like a dashing young gentlecolt in that suit, and of course Octavia looks absolutely magnificent in the dress I made her. I may consider making a maternity line..." she pondered. "Celestia knows that that will definitely be a hit in cities like Fillydelphia and Manehattan." They met up with Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Applejack at the door. "Hey, y'all! Ah'm glad y'all remembered to make it on time." Applejack said. She took one look at Octavia, and whistled. "Hoowee, Octavia. Ya look downright spectacular in that dress." Octavia blushed. "Thank you, Applejack." Fluttershy walked up to her, giving her a soft smile. "This is absolutely lovely...um...may I ask where you got it?" "Rarity made it for me, Fluttershy. She gave it to me as a gift for my party." Octavia said. "How nice. I'm sorry I don't have a gift for you myself, but I'll think of something for next time I see you." Fluttershy said softly. Rainbow Dash made her way over to Vinyl. "I am SOOO excited! Are you doing the music tonight!?" "Nope, no idea who's doing the music, and heck YES this party's gonna be awesome! Let's do this thing!" Vinyl yelled. The group entered the auditorium and looked on in awe at the scenery. The entire auditorium had been decorated with pink and blue streamers, balloons, the works. Tables were scattered everywhere with seats for everyone, as well as large tables lined with pastries and party favors the likes of which had only been seen at a party that was at the level of the Grand Galloping Gala. A giant square area sat empty in front of the stage, set to be the dance floor. Giant red curtains blocked the stage from view, but hoofsteps could be heard coming from behind the curtains amongst the bustling crowd. "This is incredible...Pinkie really IS good at throwing parties." Octavia said. A moment later, a giant spotlight blinked on, immediately placing itself over Octavia. "FILLIES AND GENTLECOLTS! WELCOME TO THE FIRST EVER PINKIE PIE BABY BASH! I NOW PRESENT TO YOU THE MOM OF HONOR, OCTAVIAAAAA!" Pinkie's voice blasted through the massive speakers set up around the ceiling. The audience gave Octavia a standing ovation, cheering her on and wishing her well. Octavia blushed and tried to hide behind Vinyl, who refused to let her leave the spotlight. "NOW, ARE YOU ALL READY TO ROOOOOCK!?" Pinkie yelled, having suddenly appeared on stage with a red bandanna over her head. The curtains opened, and the entire crowd gasped as they revealed who was on stage. A stallion with a long, jet black mane and facial fur stood on stage, a heavy scowl on his face. A unicorn with a long blond mane sat behind the drumkit, another with an even longer black mane on lead guitar, another with a shaved mane working the bass, and another sitting at a piano. Within seconds, the dance floor had been completely flooded, the band's fans clamoring and yelling in excitement. Vinyl's eyes were wider than Octavia had ever seen, Rainbow Dash practically screaming in excitement. "IS-IS-IS THAT ANDREW W NEIGH!?" "YES, OH MY CELESTIA!" They squealed in unison. "I grew up rocking out to his music! He's one of my FAVORITE rock artists!" Vinyl yelled. "ME TOO! THIS IS SO AWESOME!" Rainbow Dash yelled in return. WHEN IT'S TIME TO PARTY WE WILL PARTY HARD Suddenly, the sounds of an energetic guitar riff backed by a simple drum-beat exploded through the speakers, the crowd going absolutely WILD as the song began to play. Vinyl lost all control and began to sway her head back and forth as they played. She grabbed Octavia by the hoof and dragged her to the dance floor, pushing past a white unicorn and his blue companion. YOU! You work all night! (All night!) And when you work you don't feel all right! And when! When things stop feeling all right! (All right!) And everything is all right! 'Cos we will never listen to your rules! (NO!) We will never do as others do! (NO!) Know what we want and we get it from you! Do what we like and we like what we DO! Octavia found something strange. Even though this was DEFINITELY not her style of music, she found herself tapping her hoof in rhythm with the drums, bobbing her head slightly. So LET'S GET A PARTY GOING! (let's get a party going!) Now it's time to party and we'll PARTY HARD! (PARTY HARD!) Let's get a party going! (let's get a party going!) When it's time to party we will always PARTY HARD! PARTY HARD! (PARTY HARD! PARTY HARD! PARTY HARD! PARTY HARD! PARTY HARD! PARTY HARD!) Octavia finally made the decision to cut loose. She let herself go, and began dancing with Vinyl, hopping back and forth as the music blared, Andrew W Neigh singing his life away as Pinkie danced on the piano, much to the pianist's enjoyment. Pinkie then joined Andrew on the mic, singing along with him. All right! YOU! You fight that fight! And when you're fightin' you feel all right! But when! When things stop feeling all right! (All right!) And everything is all right! 'Cos we will never listen to your rules! (NO!) We will never do as others do! (NO!) Know what we want and we get it from you! Do what we like and we like what we DO! The crowd watched Pinkie take a ladder all the way up to the top of the stage, hanging over the rafters. "Uh, what is Pinkie doing?!" Vinyl yelled over the music. "I have no idea! I just hope she's being careful!" Octavia yelled back. Right as the chorus kicked in, Pinkie jumped into the waiting hooves of the crowd, crowd-surfing as Andrew continued to sing. So LET'S GET A PARTY GOING! (let's get a party going!) Now it's time to party and we'll PARTY HARD! (PARTY HARD!) Let's get a party going! (let's get a party going!) When it's time to party we will always PARTY HARD! PARTY HARD! (PARTY HARD! PARTY HARD! PARTY HARD! PARTY HARD! PARTY HARD! PARTY HARD!) The crowd exploded into a roar of cheers, Octavia and Vinyl doing the same. The entire town of Ponyville partied long into Luna's night, and early into Celestia's morning.