I found myself inside the club once again. And again, it was eerily quiet. At least the lighting was decent. Vinyl took me here and instructed me to familiarize myself with the bar and that she’d help me practice making mixed drinks. But after reviewing the book and taking in the huge wall of colorful liquors, I found that Vinyl had wandered over to her DJ booth. She played with the equipment there, though with her headphones on, I couldn’t hear a thing.
The whole situation left me feeling a bit jaded. Here I thought she was going to work with me on this, and it turns out she just wanted to give me the opportunity to work on the drinks myself while she did her music thing. Part of me felt like I should still be grateful. I’d get more experience learning here than studying the book at home. But that other part still felt… I couldn’t even put it into words. It was almost like loneliness. Even though Vinyl was right there, I somehow felt lonely over by myself, surrounded by liquor and empty glasses.
Lamenting my lot wouldn’t get me anywhere. I should have just gone over and told Vinyl how I felt, but that might seem ungrateful. That only left me with the obvious option of working on practicing making drinks. I looked again to the shelves loaded with liquor. I could practice making actual drinks, but wouldn’t that be a huge waste?
“Hey! We’re here!”
The shout accompanied a deafening crash as the doors burst open. I spun around… or at least tried to. I turned too quick and lost balance. Thankfully I didn’t break any of the expensive bottles on the shelf, though I did conk my head pretty good on the bar.
A bit dazed, I pulled my head above the bar to see a group of mares walking in, led by Ponyville’s premier party pony: Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie Pie?” I asked, rubbing my head.
“Hiya, Derpy!” Pinkie instantly replied, waving at me.
I waved back, and I recognized another familiar face, and another. “What are all of you doing here?” I blathered out before I gave my mind enough time to think.
Pinkie pointed over at Vinyl. “Vinyl bumped into me yesterday and said that you needed help learning to mix drinks, so she offered to let me and a few friends come help ‘taste-test’ for you,” she explained, the friendly smile never leaving her face.
I blinked a couple of times, then I looked over at Vinyl. She gave a me a reassuring nod. “You’ll really help?” I asked as I turned back to the gathering of mares.
“Of course,” Princess Twilight replied as she stepped up to the bar with the other six mares. “I’m excited to see how much you remember from our little study session yesterday.”
“Yeah, besides, who’s gonna pass up free drinks?” Rainbow Dash said as she took a seat next to a Pegasus I didn’t know and Applejack from Sweet Apple Acres on the end.
“I never miss a free drink.” I turned to the new voice to find an Earth Pony sitting between Twilight and a familiar Unicorn whose name eluded me.
Princess Twilight scratched her head. “I’m still a little lost on that. How exactly did you hear about this? Pinkie mentioned it to us in the castle.”
“I never miss a free drink,” the mare repeated.
“Um, I guess I should be thanking you for coming to help me.” Pressing a hoof to my chest, I introduced myself. “I’m Derpy. I know a lot of you, but some of you…” I trailed off, looking between some of the less familiar faces.
“I’m Applejack.” Applejack tipped her hat at me. “Mighty kind of yah to let us come here and drink for free.”
I idly pawed at the floor. “Well, actually I had no idea about any of this.” Raising a hoof, I pointed at Vinyl. “This was all Vinyl’s idea.”
Vinyl rose her head at the sudden burst of attention and waved back at us.
I heard a knock, and turned my attention back to Applejack. She grinned at me. “Let’s see what you can do. I’ll have a Rough Rider.”
All at once, my mind went blank. I couldn’t remember even a single ingredient, let alone how to mix it. After what must’ve been several seconds, it finally occurred to me that I needed to do something. “J-just a minute,” I muttered, going over to the book. I flipped through it to find the drink.
Thankfully, it only had two liquors to mix with cider. Muttering them under my breath to keep the names fresh in my mind, I turned to the staggering shelf of drinks. I really should’ve figured out how these were organized before now. It took a lot longer than it should have, but I found both of them on one of the lower shelves. I grabbed them up in my forelegs and turned to head back to the bar.
I didn’t make it.
My hooves tripped over themselves, the liquors went flying in the air, and I went crashing to the ground. Instinctively, I covered my head with my hooves. The falling bottles never crashed down on me, though. Peeking up, I found them floating in a purple aura. A glance over revealed Princess Twilight, her forehooves on the bar as she leaned over, holding the bottles with her magic.
“Maybe you should try grabbing only one bottle at a time,” Princess Twilight said as she floated the bottles safely to the bar.
Rubbing my head, I laughed. “Yeah, that might be a better idea.”
As I poured the first liquor into a glass, I smiled at Rainbow Dash. “What would you like, Rainbow Dash?”
“Cider!” she eagerly replied.
I heard a groan and turned back to see that white Unicorn facehoofing. “Dashie, we already talked about this. You need to order a cocktail so that Derpy here can practice her trade.
“Dashie?” I repeated, giggling. “That’s really cute.”
Rainbow Dash pressed her forehooves to her face as she groaned. Her hooves slid down her face pulling down her eyelids. “I already told you that I don’t like them.”
“Just pick something,” the yellow Pegasus next to Rainbow Dash said as she nudged her. “I’m sure it’ll be just fine.”
Throwing her hooves in the air, Rainbow shouted, “Fine!” Leaning over the bar, she muttered something, but I couldn’t really make it out.
After I finished pouring the second ingredient of Applejack’s drink, I grabbed the tap for cider. “What did you say, Rainbow Dash? I didn’t hear you.” A little squeeze, and the frothy cider filled the glass to full. Making sure that it kind of looked like the picture in the book, I hoofed it over to Applejack.
“I said I’ll have a fahmeh…” she said, her voice trailing off at the end.
“A what?” I asked, my ears perking to try to hear her.
“I said a Fairy Dewdrop, okay?” Rainbow Dash practically shouted.
The sound of a few snickers in my ear barely registered. That was an easy drink! I even knew how to make it without the book. “Coming right up!” I said.
I grabbed the bottle from the shelf, making sure to hold it with both hooves as I returned to the bar. Adding a bit of the alcohol to the glass, I chased it with a generous helping of fruit juices. The fact that I actually knew that one filled me with confidence.
I hoofed the drink to Rainbow Dash before turning to the Pegasus next to her. “Um, I don’t think we’ve really met before.”
She gave me what had to be one of the warmest smiles I’d ever seen. “My name is Fluttershy,” she spoke quietly, pressing a hoof to her chest. “I think we’ve bumped into each other a few times.”
I tilted my head, giving it a scratch. “We have?”
“Um, maybe you remember the time I helped you out of my chicken coop?”
“Oh yeah!” I smiled back at her. “Thanks again, I thought I would be stuck in there forever.”
Fluttershy nodded. “Could you make me a Blushing Pony?”
Applejack leaned forward, looking over at Fluttershy. “That shouldn’t be too hard. I’m pretty sure I know a limerick or two you ain’t heard yet.”
Sure enough, a red band swept across Fluttershy’s cheeks. “Th-that’s not what I meant!”
Applejack just chuckled as she leaned back while I turned to the big book. A few pages, and I found the recipe for a Blushing Pony. This time, I found it easier to locate the bottles I needed. Though pouring it all together right was still pretty hard.
As I mixed the drink, Twilight spoke up, “Oooh, that looks delicious. I think I’ll have one, too.”
“No!” A pink blur accompanied the sudden shout. Pinkie pressed her face right up against Twilight’s. “You have to pick something different so Derpy can practice.”
Twilight pushed Pinkie back with a hoof. “Oh-kay, I guess that makes sense.” She sent me a warm smile. “I suppose I'll have a Morning Star, then.”
“Sugar Rush!” Pinkie shouted the second Twilight finished speaking.
Both orders had to be looked up in the book. I guess it was a good thing, practicing with all these complex orders before I actually started working. Still, it was really hard to keep up.
As I started mixing the drinks, the Earth Pony knocked on the bar. “I'll have a Bloody Mare.”
“That’s the really hard one, isn’t it?” I blurted out without thinking.
“It can be,” she said, pointing a hoof at me. “But it's simple if you use the premixed stuff.” Her hoof moved to gesture at a huge jar filled with a red liquid. “Just mix it with vodka.”
“S-sure,” I muttered. “Um, I don’t think we’ve met, miss…”
“Berry Punch,” she said with a cocky grin. “And let me tell you, if you can impress me, then you’ll make an outstanding booze slinger.”
“If you say so,” I replied, only having heard a few of her words. All of my attention was focused on the drinks and getting them not mixed up. Well, they needed to be mixed up, but they need to be made… not wrong.
Sure enough, just as I finished up the Bloody Mare, I heard the words I’d been dreading. “Hey, this isn’t a Sugar Rush!” I halfheartedly hoofed the drink to Berry Punch as I turned to see Pinkie Pie licking her lips. She smacked her lips before smiling, her eyes closing as her tongue traced along her lips. “Mmmh, still pretty good though!”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “Did you want me to try again?”
“Heh, this is why I’m here,” Berry Punch said as she reached over and swiped Pinkie’s drink. She swirled it beneath her snout. Looking me right in the eye, she gave me a wink. “I can tell you exactly where you went wrong.” She brought the glass to her lips, taking a long sip. Her tongue ran over her lips as she pulled the drink away. “That’s—!” Without another word, she brought the glass back to her lips, this time taking an entire gulp. And another. And another.
“Hey! That’s mine!” PInkie swiped the drink away from Berry Punch. Before Berry could so much as protest, Pinkie downed all that remained. With a satisfied smile, she gave an enthusiastic exhale before drawing a foreleg across her dripping lips.
Berry Punch stared at Pinkie, slackjawed. “Why? Why did you drink it all?”
“Well, it was mine,” Pinkie replied.
“But, I-I never tasted a drink like that. That doesn’t happen! I’ve tasted every palatable mixture of alcohol ever concocted.”
Twilight interjected, holding her drink toward me. “Well, for what it’s worth, my drink is right. And it tastes pretty good, too.”
“Forget that!” Berry Punch said, leaning over the bar toward me. “How did you make that?” She motioned at the collection of bottles on the bar. “Which ones did you get mixed up?”
“I, um…” I looked at all the bottles, then back to the book for the recipe. “I-I’m not sure.”
“I’m sure you’ll get the next one right,” the Unicorn at the end said as she leaned over. “This is about practice, is it not?”
I mulled it over a second before smiling and giving a nod. “Y-yeah. Sure. I don’t think I caught your name.”
“It’s Rarity, darling. And I’ll have a Manehattan, dry,” she said to me.
“Ugh,” Berry Punch muttered as she sipped at her drink. “You’re not gonna be able to make that drink again, are you?”
“Oh, right!” I turned back to Pinkie. “I’ll get you another Sugar Rush just as soon as I finish Rarity’s drink, okay?” Hearing a thud, I glanced over to see Berry Punch’s face planted firmly in the bar. A flitting glance at her drink told me it was still almost full. “Did I… do something wrong?”
With a groan, Berry Punch lifted herself up, taking the Bloody Mare in hoof. “No, I’m just mourning serendipity’s death.”
I gasped, nearly knocking over a few bottles. “Somepony died?”
Her face hit the bar again.
Rarity leaned over. “Don’t you pay her any mind, Derpy. She’s just being melodramatic.”
I looked between Berry and Rarity. “So… everypony’s okay?”
“Yes. Just,”—Rarity pinched her nose as she sighed—”get my drink ready.”
A small whine left my throat as I turned back to the wall of colorful bottles. All I did was make one, silly mistake and suddenly everypony got upset with me. I should have been used to it by now; it has happened often enough. Still, I always felt terrible knowing that I somehow made somepony’s day worse.
As I reached up to grab a bottle for Rarity’s drink, Berry Punch’s voice stopped me. “Derpy, that’s the wrong one.”
I turned back to see Berry nursing her drink. “I’m… sorry?”
Only after finishing every last drop and slamming the drink to the counter did she reply, “Rarity asked for a dry Manehattan. Use that one.”
Following Berry’s hoof, I grabbed a different bottle. “This one?” I didn’t get a reply, but when I checked the book, she was right. I’d already forgotten how many small changes a pony can make to so many drinks.
Just as I started to mix Rarity’s drink, her voice pricked my ear. “So, how is it that you know Vinyl?”
Just the mention of Vinyl’s name distracted me so much that I nearly spilled the drink. “I, uh, w-we just met a few days ago. Here, actually.” I hoofed the drink over to Rarity, a small smile on my face. “I got stood up, so she offered to be my date instead.”
Rarity had just raised her glass to her lips when I said that, and she nearly choked. Raising a hoof to her mouth, she dropped the glass on the counter as she composed herself. “Don’t tell me that you’re the new mare that has Vinyl so enamored.”
I barely heard Applejack shout her next order at me. Instead, all of my attention fixated on Rarity. “I don’t think Vinyl’s mad at me. She’s not mad at me, is she?”
Clearing her throat, Twilight leaned in. “What I think Rarity meant to ask was if you and Vinyl were together. Romantically.”
My face heated up and I nearly dropped the bottle I was using to make Applejack’s next drink. “O-oh! Um, yes. Has word about that really gotten out already?”
Sending a sideways glance toward Rarity, Twilight replied, “I don’t think it’s going to stay a secret much longer.”
A whine escaped my lips, but before I could lament the possibility of Dinky hearing about Vinyl and me from somepony, Rarity slammed her hooves on the counter. “Derpy, you simply cannot get involved with a mare like Vinyl,” she hissed, casting a glance or two in Vinyl’s direction. “She is—she has a reputation, you know.”
I frowned. Although I didn’t know this Rarity very well, it still seemed judgmental on her part to stereotype Vinyl like that. “Vinyl already told me about the whole drinking thing. We’re fine with it,” I said in my best “shame on you” voice.
Sighing, Rarity leaned back. “That’s not what I’m talking about.”
After walking over to give AJ her second drink, I trotted back over to Rarity, still rather cross with her. “What, then?”
“Listen, darling, I know that, while Vinyl is a very nice pony, she is… she’s just so very impulsive.” She pointed at me with her drink in hoof. “Let me ask you this: what are you looking for in a relationship? Stability? A lifelong partner? Somepony who always be there for you?”
Those questions were too easy to be anything but leading, but still, the answer easily fell from my lips. “Well, yeah. Who doesn’t?”
“Vinyl Scratch,” Rarity replied. She took a long sip and set her glass down before continuing, “Vinyl doesn’t do relationships. She does flings, trysts, and on-again-off-again hookups. You need to understand that Vinyl is just that kind of pony, Derpy, or you’ll get your heart broken.”
My eyes flitted to Vinyl over in her DJ booth as doubt clawed at my heart. I didn’t know anything about Vinyl’s past relationships. It never came up. Should it have? Shaking the toxic thoughts from my head, I turned back to Rarity. “S-so what if she’s had a fling or two in the past? Vinyl’s been nothing but wonderful to me.”
Rarity breathed a deep breath in before letting it out slowly through her nose. “Derpy, you are a very sweet, very trusting pony—more so than a mare in your position should be. I’m not saying Vinyl would do something on purpose to hurt you, but thinking about the ramifications of her actions is simply something Vinyl has never done.”
My cheeks puffed out, barely able to contain my frustration. “I trust her.”
Rarity’s voice was unforgiving and cold. “You shouldn’t.”