//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6: Dine and Dash 
// Story: My Little Lovestruck: Love is Magic 
// by Harmony Charmer 
//------------------------------//

	Mornings were never easy for Lovestruck. With her head pounding in her ears and her mouth tasting like a dirty sock, she found her awakenings being in likeness to being punched in the gut. Blame it on her for going to bed late, but no matter the amount of rest she got, the rising sun only brought extreme disdain to Lovestruck's mood.

This morning, however, was different than others. For example, she was not awaken by the screaming of her alarm clock or the annoying song of a bird, but rather, to a loud shatter from the bathroom.

"Whoops!" exclaimed Lovestruck's unfortunate roommate, "I hope we don't have to pay for that!"

Lovestruck pinned her ears flat against her head and let out a long breath between clenched teeth. The wedding had gone off without so much as a hitch for the remainder of the night, much to Lovestruck's very minuscule appreciation. The guests danced, the brides ate cake, and Lovestruck was consequently fired from her "job". Apparently, her coworkers had made some choice comments to the head of the kitchen, consequently stripping her of her duties as a server. At the very least, she didn't have to worry about Frederick or Parish for the rest of the night; Minuette said she'd take care of that.

At the thought of the pony who brought her the first (and hopefully last) roommate she ever had, Lovestruck buried her head into her pillow. 'I hope Minuette has the worst hangover this morning... Wherever she is...'

The door to the bathroom came swinging open and slammed hard enough against the wall that Lovestruck prayed the hotel had invested in some good door stoppers. She heard water dripping on the linoleum floor in light echoes and felt a tugging need to take a shower. 

"Heh, hope that they don't charge us for the hot water," she heard her roommate muse out loud.

Lovestruck groaned lightly. 'Guess that's gonna have to wait...'

Regardless, she sat up in her tangled mess of blankets and sheets with only a set amount of annoyance. She rubbed her eyes tiredly and a loud yawn escaped past her dry, crackling lips. She could feel the stretched out elastic in her hair trying and failing to stay together in her mess of a mane. The thought of having to take it out made her head ache.

"Morning, sleeping beauty!" exclaimed Vinyl Scratch, plopping onto the bed next to her. Her mane was still dripping and Lovestruck did not go without noticing it as drops fell onto her bed. Bitterness stewed within her when she saw the last bit of steam dissipate from the bathroom and she clenched her jaw to avoid making a quip.

"It certainly is," Lovestruck responded curtly, rolling off the bed with nonexistent grace. 

Vinyl, unperturbed by Lovestruck's sourness, let out a light chuckle. "Yeah. Nothing like the morning after a wicked party, amiright?"

Lovestruck pursed her lips together as she stared at her reflection, pondering ways to extract the tie in her hair. "Sure."

This time, Vinyl took note of her tone. "Yo, you feeling alright?"

'You mean other than the fact that I have not done a single thing since the beginning of my journey as a student of the Princess of Love and have only managed to either screw up with everything I've done?' Lovestruck responded silently. She grunted as she pulled at the overly-stretched elastic and glared at it with total lack of appreciation. 

While thankful for the fact that the situation between Parish and Frederick hadn't escalated to a new level of disaster the night before, Lovestruck wasn't too ecstatic to find out who she would be sharing a space with. Although she didn't know Vinyl personally (or anyone from high school, really), she knew that Vinyl was loud and that she prided herself on it. All of her DJ equipment was proof of that fact, as they were all made from her design.

"I'm just tired," Lovestruck replied lazily. 

She saw Vinyl arch a brow in her reflection. "Really? Last night was pretty tame, to be honest."

'To you, maybe.' Lovestruck was no party animal herself, but she could hear Vinyl's parties from three blocks away on the weekends she spent at her mother's house. To actually have been in the same building the night before was a massacre on her eardrums.

Lovestruck cringed as her elastic snapped out of her hair. "Ow."

Vinyl loudly sucked in air through her teeth. "That looks like it hurts..."

'Not as much as my spirit,' Lovestruck thought sourly. With the tie out of her hair, she managed to tamp it down to look only a little frizzy. She thought about putting it back up, then decided against it as the aches in her head reminded her of her recent dilemma.

"Hey, I hear they got complimentary breakfast downstairs," Vinyl said, hopping off the bed. Still wet, she shook herself off a bit and grinned. "Want waffles?"

Lovestruck, after opening her now wet eyelids, pursed her lips. With a quick sweep across her face, she swallowed her mean comment bitterly. "I'm more of a pancake pony."

Vinyl, to Lovestruck's annoyance, shrugged carelessly. "To each their own." She gave her another goofy grin. "As long as they got syrup, amiright?"

"Right..." Lovestruck muttered. 

It was going to be a long morning.


*	*	*


'At least the food is good,' Lovestruck conceded, taking a fat bite of her pancakes. The corners of her lips tugged upwards when she felt an explosion of strawberries fall on her sleep-ridden tongue. It felt like it had been years since she last had a stack of strawberry flapjacks.

"Syrup?" Vinyl offered, holding up a small pitcher of maple syrup.

Lovestruck held up her pitcher of strawberry syrup wordlessly before putting it down. Meanwhile, Vinyl happily munched away at her waffles, going on about a story regarding Octavia and Minuette. How none of her food slipped out of her mouth in the midst of her yammering was a total mystery to Lovestruck.

"And then Octavia totally clocked this dude!" Vinyl proclaimed. She smacked one hoof into the other."Like, this dude had a head over her and then he was flat against the floor. All 'cause he told her that her playing was 'shallow and pedantic'!" She laughed loudly. "I doubt the dude even knew what he was saying!"

Lovestruck blinked a bit. "Wait, what?"

Vinyl arched a brow and her fork lowered. "Were you even listening?"

'Ah, buck.' With her cheeks heating up, Lovestruck cleared her throat. "I mean, uh, I just have a hard time imagining Octavia, um... clocking someone in the face."

It wasn't totally a lie, Lovestruck admitted. Everything she knew about Octavia was either from the mouths of her fellow Canterlot dwellers or just sheer speculation of her own volition. No one had an idea of who the mare behind the cello was, and due to the exclusiveness of the wedding last night, Lovestruck imagined that she would like to keep it that way.

Vinyl, satisfied with her response, nodded. "Yeah, she's usually super level-headed, but when it comes to music—" She let out a long whistle. "—she doesn't mess around." 

'Well, I'll be sure to share that with the zero friends I have back home,' Lovestruck thought. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

Vinyl took a large bite of her waffle and swallowed it. "So, how do you know Minuette?"

Lovestruck, had she been drinking something, might not have been able to hide her shock so well. While her jaw locked mid-bite into her forkful of strawberry-drenched pancakes, she managed to play it off quite well.

Vinyl stared at her peculiarly. "Everything alright over there?"

Lovestruck wished that she could judge her own behavior better. She swallowed slowly and deliberately. "Um... We went to the same school..."

Too late, Lovestruck realized the implications of her answer as Vinyl's confusion only seemed to increase. "Really? I don't remember seeing you there..."

"Aha," Lovestruck coughed out, "well, I usually saw her more outside of school..."

Another half-truth to add to the pile; while not friends, Lovestruck could vividly recall Minuette and her friends occupying Canterlot Castle's dining room on random evenings. She never joined them, as she usually ate dinner with her mother at the house beforehand. Still, she would sometimes have the grace of getting to speak to Minuette or her friends, though very briefly. Not that any of them remembered...

"What classes did you have?" asked Vinyl, her eyes scrutinizing Lovestruck. 

'Buck.' What classes did she have? She was barely there for a year before she got kicked out. Magic Theory? Potion Making? Did she take anything advanced? No, anything too hard gave her a headache... Remedial classes? Yes, that sounded about right, math was never her strong suit... 

"Remedial algebra," Lovestruck answered, feeling her neck get sweatier. She hoped her nervous laughter passed as embarrassment. "I was never good with math..."

Vinyl nodded a bit. "Yeah, I feel you. I mean, I was pretty good at math, but English was never my best subject."

'Obviously.' Lovestruck almost shook her head. 'Get over yourself, Lovey. You still suck at math.'

"What was your major?" Vinyl continued. She grinned as she glanced down at Lovestruck's cutie mark. "Probably something to do with relationships, amiright?"

'Oh, come on.' Lovestruck held down a sigh and took a light sip of her coffee as she pondered an answer. She set her cup down as one came to her. "Interpersonal Relationship Skills."

"Ha, called it!" Vinyl clapped victoriously. "So, what? You a relationship counselor or something?"

"...Kinda." 

'Less is more.' 

"I mean, I don't really have a job for it, since I don't get paid or anything, but y'know, it's kinda like an internship or whatever. Well, it's actually more of an apprenticeship, since I have a mentor who is teaching me everything I need to know and now I'm just kinda doing my own thing, y'know?" 

'...Dammit.' 

Lovestruck laughed a bit roughly. "I mean, that's why I work as a waitress and stuff, y'know? Something has to pay the bills, haha." 

'Shut up, shut up, shut up...'

Vinyl's expression faded once more into something Lovestruck could not identify. However, as she prepared for another onslaught of questions, someone interrupted Vinyl's interrogation. "Hey, Vinyl!"

Lovestruck immediately placed the owner of the voice and froze on the spot. Frightened, she kept looking straight ahead,  started guzzling down her coffee to avoid making eye contact with Vinyl.

"Hey, Lyra!" greeted Vinyl, totally unaware of Lovestruck's internal struggle to stay calm.

Much to her horror, Lyra Heartstrings, Twinkleshine, and Lemon Hearts all took a seat at the table beside Lovestruck. She held the cup up to her face, even after she ran out of coffee. She prayed her body would forgive her and not punish her afterwards.

"We heard there were waffles and pancakes and we had to get down here!" Lyra exclaimed, setting her plate down. She took Lovestruck's pitcher of strawberry syrup and started pouring absentmindedly while talking. "That reception was the best! Music was awesome as always, Vinny!"

"Yeah!" concurred Lemon Hearts. Her smile weakened. "Shame that Neon Lights couldn't make it..."

Twinkleshine scoffed a bit. "You mean that guy who keeps trying to score Vinyl's secrets for DJ-ing? I'm pretty sure Minuette was better off without him there to cause a ruckus." 

Vinyl frowned. "Hey, he's pretty chill. I've been to a couple gigs of his and he's got some good beats." She took a hefty bite of her waffles. "There's always more to learn about music, y'know."

Lyra blanched after taking a bite of her pancakes. "Ugh, is this strawberry?" She pushed the plate away distastefully. "Who wants that on pancakes?"

Lovestruck tried not to come off as offended when Lyra got up to get a new plate. She knew that defending her love of strawberry syrup was not worth compromising her identity to the ghosts of her past.

"So, anypony ready to clock out and head back home?" asked Twinkleshine as Lyra returned to her seat with a fresh stack. 

Lemon Hearts shrugged. "We could always go see the falls before we go." Her eyes became starry. "I hear they're beautiful this time of year."

"Yeah, how come Octy and Minnie didn't have their wedding closer to them?" Lyra buzzed through her pancakes. She shoveled another forkful into her mouth. "I tell ya, it would have been amazing to see them tie the knot there!"

"Well, obviously they couldn't do it right in front of the falls," Twinkleshine commented rather snidely, "the humidity would wreak havoc on their hair!"

Vinyl laughed. "I tried to convince them to have the wedding on the falls. Like, in a boat or something suspended in air."

"Vinyl, that's crazy!" Twinkleshine gasped.

"Crazy awesome," Vinyl continued, "that's how I wanna get married."

Lovestruck slowly began to put her cup down as it dawned on her that they weren't paying her any mind. She wasn't sure whether to be offended by it, or to be thankful that she was being given an opportunity to leave. She lightly scooted her chair backwards, her eyes flicking between each of the conversing mares to make sure they went on ignoring her. She spared her flapjacks a longing glance one last time before setting her hooves on the floor and stepping away quietly.

"Hey, where are ya goin'?"

'BUCK.' Lovestruck turned back to the table, where all four mares were staring at her. Vinyl, while confused, did not look nearly as puzzled as her friends. 

"Hey, aren't you that mare from last night?" Lyra asked, squinting her eyes at Lovestruck. With her eyes still narrowed, she cut her eyes to Vinyl. "What're doing sitting with her?"

"Uh..." Lovestruck droned.

"Yeah, I think she is," Lemon Hearts pitched in, "I thought you were a server?"

"Uh..." Lovestruck's eyes darted left and right. 

As the four mares continued their inquiries directed at Lovestruck, she felt her heartbeat beginning to match the speed of a jackrabbit on a hot summer's day in the desert. Her eyes scoured the room for a way out of this situation as her mind failed to come up with anything on its own, but all she was savagely reminded of was that she was still hungry. 

So, as she failed to come up with a good plan on the spot, she immediately did what she always did when faced with an awkward social encounter:

"I have to go to the restroom!"

"Wha—" she heard Vinyl call out, but she didn't stick around to hear the rest. Lovestruck bolted down the hall and towards the lobby bathroom. She slammed the door and pressed her back to it, suddenly becoming painfully aware of how fast her heart was beating. 

'Well, that could have gone better,' Lovestruck thought with a heavy sigh. She put her face in her hooves and groaned aloud. Lying to Vinyl had been hard enough as it was; to add in her entourage would have made things far too difficult for her to handle. Still, in retrospective, screaming and galloping away wasn't all that better of an better alternative.

Was it really that bad of a thing after all, them knowing who she was? Minuette had been nice about it, for the most part. Then again, Minuette was one of Canterlot's kinder elites and never gossiped with ill-intentions. The same could not be said for the rest of Minuette's inner circle, especially when it came to social outcasts like Lovestruck. She spent so much time alone that if she were ever accused of a crime she could never have an alibi.

Lovestruck leaned her head against the door. 'At least I got away from them...'

Suddenly, the door fell open and Lovestruck found herself lying on her back. Her head crashed against the tiled floor outside the restroom and her eyes cringed shut. Disoriented from hitting her head, she struggled to open her eyes and held her head by the temples. 

"Oh, my gosh, are you OK?" asked an oddly familiar voice. Still, in her discombobulation, Lovestruck couldn't really place who she was speaking to.

Lovestruck sat up with a groan and cracked her eyes open. The room seemed to shake within her field of vision. "Not really, no..."

"Here, let me help," said the owner of the voice. She felt somepony grab her shoulders and right her stance. "Do you need an ice pack or maybe someplace to lie down?"

Lovestruck shook her head groggily and reopened her eyes. "No, I'll be fine..." 

The pony went silent for a moment. "Why were you in the stallion's room?"

Lovestruck sighed and closed her eyes while she tried to gather herself. "I was in a hurry and I guess I went in the wrong bathroom." She opened her eyes. "Listen, let me just get out of your way and I'll—" She blinked as her eyes came back into focus and saw the pony before her. "Frederick?"

Frederick's brows furrowed. "Aren't you that waitress from the wedding?"

'Geez, you were sober enough to remember that?' Lovestruck questioned, but she had the grace not to ask such a question aloud. She cleared her throat. "Uh, yeah... Nice of you to remember me." 

Frederick flashed her a genuine smile. "Oh, it's easy for me to remember a face." He chuckled. "The real trouble is names!"

Lovestruck laughed, albeit awkwardly. "I can attest to that." She recalled that she was blocking off the restroom and stepped out of the way. "Sorry. You must be in a hurry."

He shook his head, causing his freshly combed cream mane to look tussled. "No, no, don't fret. I'm just headed to a cafe a little ways from here." He smiled again. "I'm meeting someone for brunch."

Lovestruck's eyebrow arched upwards. "Oh, really?"

Frederick nodded. "Yes, though I imagine that they're waiting for me." He pat her shoulder as he stepped into the restroom. "Take care, miss."

Lovestruck hummed in thought, her brow raising even higher. Though she was burnt out on the idea of getting involved in a scheme after the morning she had, Lovestruck couldn't stop her imagination from running wild speculations about Frederick's brunch date. Was it romantic or platonic? 

'Perhaps Frederick is involved with somepony after all...' she mused. 

"What the hay was that all about?" 

Lovestruck felt like she jumped five feet in the air. She whipped around to face Bon Bon, who was staring at her peculiarly. She took a deep breath and faced Bon Bon peevishly. "Please stop sneaking up on me. My heart can't take another scare."

Bon Bon blew a small raspberry. "Not my fault you're an antisocial weirdo who doesn't even know how to actually talk to somepony." 

"What are you even doing here?" Lovestruck questioned. She nodded her head back towards the direction of the dining area. "I thought you'd be chatting it up with your friends."

Bon Bon held up a magazine that Lovestruck previously went without noticing. "Just clearing room for breakfast."

Lovestruck made a face. "Gross."

Bon Bon raised a brow. "Uh, weren't you about to do the same thing? I mean, that is why you came here, right?" When Lovestruck averted her gaze, Bon Bon sighed. "Old Canterlot friends?" She sighed again when Lovestruck nodded. "Y'know, running away from every social interaction with ponies from your past isn't going to fix... whatever happened between the lot of you."

"It's not that, it's just..." Lovestruck exhaled sharply. "Listen, I don't have time for this. I have something that I need to do and it doesn't involve chatting with a princess' entourage."

Bon Bon's other brow raised to match the other. "Does it have something to do with your little convo with Frederick?"

"How do you know about—"

"Taking that as a yes. Is it a matchmaking scheme?"

"Why should I tell you anyth—"

"Another yes." Bon Bon tapped her chin, a small hum of thought escaping her. She glanced at the watch on her ankle. "Will we have time to eat?"

Lovestruck blinked at her. "I never said that you cou—"

The door to the stallion's room opened and out came Frederick, his mane freshly combed and a grin on his face. He waved at Bon Bon on his way out of the hallway. "Morning, Bonnie."

Bon Bon waved back wordlessly. As soon as Frederick was gone from sight, she raised her brows. "Now, I believe there was talk of eating at a cafe..."

Lovestruck huffed. "Why should I bring you along? You'll just get in my way." She scoffed. "Besides, you can eat with your friends."

"Well, I was planning on going anyway, considering I'm just as interested as you are, so why not go together?" Bon Bon asked, shrugging her shoulders. "'Sides, Lyra'll be fine while we're gone. She may be odd, but she's capable of taking care of herself."

Lovestruck narrowed her eyes at Bon Bon wordlessly and shook her head.

Bon Bon waggled her magazine. "We could read this season's new trends while we wait for Freddy's date to show up."

"We don't even know if it's a date!"

"I don't hear a no..." sang Bon Bon, smiling a bit.

Lovestruck groaned as she dragged her hooves down her face. "Fiiine. Just... don't be too much of a distraction."

Bon Bon grinned at her. "Relax. This isn't my first stakeout, y'know."

Before Lovestruck could decipher what Bon Bon meant by that, she felt herself being tugged out of the hallway by her foreleg. With her free one, she hit her face as a sigh escaped her. It was going to be a long day.