//------------------------------// // Turn of Events - Invitation // Story: Path of Kindness and Blood // by CommanderX5 //------------------------------// Path of Kindness and Blood - Chapter 4 Turn of Events Part 3 - Invitation One could say that the weather team did a great job, clearing the sky as no cloud blocked the rays of the sun from shining upon Ponyville, allowing ponies to play around in this wonderful morning. Clear sky, clean air, pleasant breeze and the sound of singing birds. What more one could ask for when strolling through Ponyville while greeted by the warm smiles of other citizens? This one pony, however, would love to ask for nothing more than her hat or an umbrella as she was being drained of her stamina. Under normal circumstances, Rarity would enjoy a morning stroll while seeking for inspiration, would it be between lines of colorful homes, or among nature while outside of her fort of fashion. For the past few weeks, however, she was forced to wear her newly made outfit to protect herself, and even while wearing it, the time spent outside was anything but pleasant. To make matters worse, this time she wasn’t even given the privilege to put on her protective cloths as she was being pushed by the ever so energetic party mare, whose head was pressed against her back. Her sitting flank leaving a trail on the road leading from the door of her new home. “I can walk, thank you very much,” Rarity commented as her horn lit, only for the aura to flicker and vanish. She bit her lips and renewed her attempt to use magic as baby-white aura appeared on her horn, her magic then capturing Pinkie Pie and levitating her to the side. Fluttershy warned me about the sun, but I didn’t expect it to weaken my magic after less than a minute, she thought before standing up to her hooves and walking forward, Pinkie Pie joining by her side. “Now then, Pinkie Pie, would you be kind enough to explain where are you taking me?” “To the newly-opened nightclub in Ponyville of course!” Pinkie said enthusiastically. “Now, I know what you’re thinking. Why would I bring you to a nightclub in the morning? It’s a night club after all, so it should only be open for night parties, not day parties.” “What I am thinking actually is, ‘why are you forcing me to visit this so called nightclub in the first place?’” Rarity responded, now looking at Pinkie Pie impatiently. “Because I need your help, duuuh,” Pinkie said with roll of her eyes. “And what kind of help do you require?” “Well, to be precise, I am not the one who needs your help, but I know that you can help that specific new pony. It’s a kind of a funny short story, actually.” Rarity massaged her forehead while walking on her three legs. An annoyed frown left her mouth. “Do speak on.” Pinkie took a deep breath and spoke, “You see, just today I learned that a new pony was in Ponyville, and even better, she was moving to Ponyville, so here I thought, how about I make this pony a spectacular welcome party, but she told me that she already had it covered.” She finished to take another breath. “What do you mean?” “What I mean is that she asked me if we could organize a party together in her nightclub she was planning to open here in Ponyville, and that she will provide the music,” Pinkie said. “To be honest, I always organized welcome parties for new ponies, not the other way around, and I really want this nightclub to be a big success. The owner’s name is Vinyl Scratch by the way. Anyway, what I am trying to say is that I want to help to make this club a success, but while Vinyl said she’s great with music, and I am with parties and decorations, we aren’t all that good with fashion and stuff, and that club sure needs some renovation. And so I thought, Rarity is a ‘make everything look shiny and good’ pony, and here we are.” Pinkie stopped and gestured with her hoof over to a building in front of her, which was rather big for Ponyville's standards. Rarity examined it, quickly noticing dust and small cracks covering the walls, while the building itself reminded her of an old storage unit. Lack of windows… surely a problem that needs resolving, and I swear that this grey color was originally white. A major cleaning is in order... Before Rarity could finish her train of thought, she felt Pinkie’s head on her back once again as she was pushed inside through the double door. Now ending up in slightly darkened room with a few multicolored gems radiating over the area. Much to her surprise, the inside was far more impressive than she had expected. Tablecloths covered several rounded tables which were located next to the walls, each one had a magical lamp of different colour, from green to red, while a few tables had prism lamps. A true wonder one could make with illuminating gems. The longest table was covered with plates filled with snacks and located near the exit. In the middle was a large opened area, while at the end of it was a tall platform with a large collection of music-related equipment. “Are my eyes deceiving me, or is it the party animal herself?” a voice caught Rarity’s attention as she looked at the mare on the stage, a white unicorn with a mirror image of two bridged eight notes as her cutie mark. Two shades of blue decorated her mane and tail while purple-pink glasses were covering the unicorn’s eyes. “And in elegant company.” “T-thank you,” Rarity responded with a weak blush. “Hi again my dear old new pal, Vinyl ‘DJ Pon-3’ Scratch!” Pinkie said, waving her hoof energetically before pointing at the mare next to her. “Vinyl, this is Rarity, Rarity, this is DJ Scratch.” “Sup?” Vinyl said before shaking Rarity’s forehoof energetically. She lowered her glasses and examined her with magenta-colored eyes. “Hmm…” “Is something wrong with my face?” Rarity asked, raising her foreleg up to her chest while leaning her head back. Vinyl shook her head. “Nah, it’s just that I saw you two days ago when I was on a stroll around Ponyville before finding this place and deciding to acquire it.” She chuckled. “You looked kind of neat in that pink dress of yours, very posh.” “Why, thank you,” Rarity said with a warm smile. “I have a friend of mine who would love to wear something like that,” Vinyl said before levitating a small bag of bits from her saddlebag over to the fashionista. “Can you make a copy for me? I want to give it to Tavi as a present.” “You were here before and I missed on it?” Pinkie said with lowered ears and a pout on her face. Rarity shook and examined the pouch of bits and its weight before shaking her head. “I can’t accept it. I have specific prices for the making of my products.” “Oh,” Vinyl said before levitating over another two small bags of bits. “Will this be enough?” Rarity pushed the bits away and frowned. “No.” “You’re a hard bargain,” Vinyl said before levitating two more bags. ”But Tavi deserves a good dress, no matter the cost.” The fashion mare massaged her forehead before answering calmly, “Listen Vinyl. I didn’t mean that my cloths are expensive. What I meant was that we should discuss things in more detail to determine the price.” She pointed at the levitating bags. “I was afraid that you were paying me too much by giving me just one of those. Do you always throw your bits around carelessly like this?” “Pretty much,” Vinyl said and shrugged before levitating yet another bag of bits. “You’re a fair trading mare, I like it. Take all those with you as some extra, like keeping the change.” Rarity took a step back and stomped. “No, I am not going to take anything extra. You already paid me twelve times the normal price for my best works.” “I can pay fifteen times the price if you want.” A loud groan filled the room. *** Rarity crossed her forelegs and forcefully levitated five small bags of bits back into Vinyl’s saddlebag before picking up a specific amount of bits from the last one. I never expected I would willingly refuse so many bits for a single dress, but I suppose there is always the first time, she thought before returning the last bag, somewhat satisfied with her decision as she followed her own sets of rules where one should earn equal to hard work. “I will have it ready for tomorrow, however I will need to know the measurements of your friend, as well as the color of her fur and mane to make sure my creation won’t clash with her style.” Before Vinyl could respond, Pinkie got between them and grabbed them by their shoulders. “Sorry for interrupting your argument, but we should focus on what’s important.” She released both mares and stood on her hind legs while spreading forelegs, “A paaarty!” “Yeaaa!” Vinyl shouted as she jumped in excitement. “Oh, about that, you’re too late, Pinks. As you can see, this place is pretty much set,” she said while gesturing over the area before supporting herself against a table. “When it comes to running a nightclub, I know a thing or two,” she said while grinning and fixing her glasses. “Not necessarily,” Rarity said as she pointed at the exit, catching attention of other mares. “It may look outstanding from the inside, but not from the outside. This place is very uninviting and lacks windows.” “Oh yeah…” Vinyl said as she rubbed back of her neck with an awkward smile. “I knew I was forgetting something.” Pinkie appeared atop Vinyl’s back as she supported herself against unicorn’s head. “That’s why I brought backup.” She pointed at the fashionista. Rarity looked at Pinkie’s pleading face, wide eyes and pout on her mouth, only to notice similar one on the DJ. With a roll of her eyes, she gestured with her hoof for them to calm down and spoke, “Alright, I will see what I can do.” “Yaaay,” Both Vinyl and Pinkie shouted energetically. The party mare lost her balance and fell onto her back the moment Vinyl galloped over to Rarity, bags of bits now levitating by her side. “And once you’re done, can I pay you extra?” “What? No!” Rarity said in shock as she shook her forehoof. “Awww…” Vinyl whimpered with disappointment. Rarity sighed before walking towards the exit, only to stop in her tracks and look back. “Forgive me for asking, but do you have an umbrella or a large hat by any chance?” “Sure,” Vinyl responded as she levitated over an umbrella with musical notes as decoration, before placing a set of spare sunglasses on Rarity’s muzzle. “I’ll come with you.” She turned to Pinkie and pointed at the table. “Maybe you can help by bringing some more snacks onto the dining table, Pinks.” The party mare pulled a bag filled with sweets from her tail. “Already ahead of you. You’re dealing with a baker, after all, I have a trick or two in my tail.” “Now that's my mare,” Vinyl joked before joining Rarity as they both walked side by side. The moment both mares were outside and turned towards a wall, Vinyl whispered, “How does blood taste?” “Quite satisfying,” Rarity responded before dropping the umbrella she levitated as her mouth opened agape. She slowly turned her head towards the grinning unicorn. “Ha, I knew it!” “W-what…?” Rarity said as she turned towards her companion. “What are you talking about?” “No need to keep the act. A thestral can sense another thestral with ease even when they’re under a disguise,” Vinyl said before poking her in the nose. “Besides, asking for an umbrella in the middle of the day pretty much sealed it.” “Oh…” Rarity murmured before looking around, making sure there were no witnesses to their conversation. Much to her relief, the area around this building seemed clear of bypassers. Vinyl sat and levitated the umbrella above Rarity, who could notice bits of efforts from her face expression as rays of the sun affected her magical strength. “You seems surprised, I take it you’re a newbie.” “Newbie?” the fashion mare murmured before raising her head arrogantly, frowning. “While I must admit that I was turned around four weeks ago, I find being called a ‘newbie’ quite offensive.” Vinyl crossed her forelegs. “I can call you a rookie if you prefer.” Her words bringing even more annoyance upon Rarity’s face. “Anyway, I take it you were turned by Flutterbat. Has she made a clan yet?” “Her name is Fluttershy,” Rarity corrected while holding a lecturing hoof up, her expression no longer annoyed. “And no, she has not formed one yet. Speaking of clans, which one you belong to?” “To the best one, of course. I was part of the Canterlot clan, serving as entertainment for a noble pureblood family. You can say my job was to provide entertainment for their son and Canterlot snobs.” “Snobs?!” Rarity said with a stomp. “How can you call the nobility like that? That is very disrespectful.” She took a slow breath and continued in calm tone, “What are your masters’ names, if I may ask?” Vinyl wiped sweat from her forehead before shaking her foreleg. “What, and ruin the surprise? No way. You and Flutter will need to find out for yourself.” “Surprise?” “Yes, a surprise in the form of a secret meeting,” Vinyl said before opening her saddlebag and levitating a letter over to Rarity. “My boss asked me to deliver it to your boss, something about the date of a secret meeting in the ruins of an old castle in the dangerous forest near here, talks about territory, providing support and blah blah blah.” “Ruins? What are you talking about? I never heard of such a place near Ponyville.” “Neither did I,” Vinyl said, “at least until my former master told me about it. It's over a thousand years old.” “Former master?” Vinyl nodded before kicking a nearby pebble, which hit the wall while leaving a dent in it form the impact. “He kicked me out from his clan for…” She looked down at the ground while rubbing her chin. “Something about me acting before I think, having a big mouth and being a magnet for trouble. Can you believe it?” Rarity felt a sudden rush of pity towards the pony in front of her. “I think I can. Sorry to hear that.” “It’s okay. My former master got me this building so I can open a nightclub in Ponyville and stay here, lie low, and maybe return to his clan after things calm down a bit. Maybe I will join Flutterbat’s clan instead once she starts running one.” She smirked before showing her shining teeth. “I can provide a moral support. How does that sound?” “Lovely,” Rarity answered with a hint of sarcasm, “I am sure Fluttershy will be overjoyed.” She took over the letter with her magic and examined it, finding it to look rather ordinary considering the mysteriousness of the sender. I suppose the charm of secret messages is that they don't stand out. “Cool. Also, I’ve heard that Fluttershy’s family were one of my old master's friends.” Rarity took a step back as Vinyl placed a hoof on her shoulder. “I’m sure everything will turn out great.” Before the fashionista could say a word, she was grabbed by her shoulder. “How about you and I join the meeting and give her a moral support? I mean, meeting a nearly millennium old pureblood or two must be very overwhelming.” Rarity didn’t bother to struggle, already used to the lack of personal space whenever being around Pinkie, no longer bothered by it as much as in the past. Vinyl has a point. We can’t leave her alone. “I absolutly agree,” she said before her ears straightened upward and a wide smile grew across her lips. “Would you mind if I ask you a question?” “Shoot,” Vinyl said before placing Rarity in front of herself. The fashionista rubbed her foreleg and looked to the side. “I know it is a difficult topic… something Fluttershy has been avoiding to talk about with me, but… as a fellow vampony… can you tell me, how do you handle immortality?” Upon not hearing any answer, she slowly raised her head, only to see empty space in front of herself. The noise of a closing double door reached her improved hearing. She turned towards the building she promised to help decorate as she angrily huffed.