Night Crew

by NFire

Chapter 5 - Let's have a drink!

The nights passed quickly, winter moving in, scheduled fronts that had to be put into place at night, it was thrilling, hard work. At breaks, the team would huddle in the line shacks to warm up before heading out to make sure the clouds hadn’t decided to wander. Hangfire quickly found out, the manager was not on the teams list for Hearth’s Warming Day either..

Walking in with Chryse, she waved to Cornflower who was huddled by the fire, shaking off the flurry she’d accidently run into out there. Hazy and Blue were toasting their hooves as well, having bore the brunt of line right now, since it was heavy clouds, pregnant with more snow for tonight and the morning.

Hangfire stuck her backside right up to the fire, sighing in happiness, not really caring if her amber tail caught fire or not, she couldn’t feel either cheek right now.

Hazy chuckled, he had a really deep voice, very nice to listen to, but he tended to talk very slow, so you had to pay a lot of attention, “Careful Hang..you’ll...burn your..cutie...mark...off..” Blue added his voice to the chuckling.

She gave them a look, sticking her tongue out, flipping her tail around and shaking her backside in their faces, “It’s cold, my back end is cold, you’ll see! You’ll be the same way after the next run!”

She had become friends with the four other ponies quickly, they were nice, polite, nothing wrong with them at all. Fast Lane and his wife didn’t hang with them, it was like they didn’t even belong, they did their jobs, but didn’t want to pass any time with the rest of the night crew.

Chryse looked around, “Say, where IS Lane and his wife?”

Cornflower tapped her sister, leaning in and whispering in her ear, “They WHAT?”

The rest of the group looked to Chryse expectantly.

Her face twisted in only what can be called controlled anger, “They left early, we’re stuck with the front for tonight.” The other three groaned, it meant more work for them, keeping everything in place, it was going to be less breaks for them to warm up.

“Look guys, “Chryse said softly, “Let’s do this tonight, I’ll buy the first round since we get the next night off. That fair enough?”

Blue smiled a bit, leaning against the warm hearth, “Doncha worry Chryse, you know we’ll get it done.”

“I know, I know, but still, first ones on me.”

“Chryse...you..can’t...afford that..”

“Bah, it’s one time, don’t expect it again you mooches!”

The rest held their hooves up in surrender, it was fine with them. After warming up a bit more, they headed back out into the bitter night, finishing their tasks as quickly as they could, making sure the day shift got briefed and they were off to their homes.

---------------------------------------------------------

Hangfire slept the day away, waking in the evening with a grunt, but then realizing she was meeting the rest of her new friends at the bar. Thank Celestia not Pokey’s, she figured she had a warrant out for her there, or the bartender would snitch her out. He hadn’t so far, cause she was a regular, but she resolved to stop calling him gumby.

So she dressed her best, even went so far as to style her mane, brush her tail gleaming gold, and put on a bit of makeup, showing her best face. She grinned in the mirror, “Look Bons, making friends!”

She zipped out of the house, wanting to be the first one there, it was a new place called Doubles, supposed to be really nice. Hangfire was impressed just at the front door, big and solid, a really nice doorpony let her in. Squinting her eyes, she looked through the lights from the DJ...funny..was that the same..

“HANG! Over here!”

She whipped her head around, seeing Chryse waving from a private table, Cornflower right beside her, Hazy and Blue already partaking of the first round promised. She trotted over and pulled up a cushion, these were even better than Pokey’s she thought. Settling right in, she shoulder bumped Cornflower “Hiya ‘Flower!”

Cornflowers yellow eyes smiled at her. She never talked, only whispered to Chryse, and one day, Hangfire resolved, she was going to get her to say something.

A big mug of Apple Farms Best Hard Cider was plunked down in front of her, Chryse raising hers in salute, “Here’s to the Night Crew, best bunch of misfits around!”

The rest pushed their mugs against hers and took long draughts. Sighing at the fresh, crisp taste, the alcoholic bite, and laughing at the various foamy moustaches everyone ended up with.

Blue Winds posed for a second, miming stroking his and leering, “I say Mister Weather Manager, draw me like one of your Prance mares eh?”

Cornflower spit out her drink and started coughing with laughter, they actually heard her voice this time, high and sweet, like a bell. She quickly covered her mouth and blushed down to her tail.

Hangfire pointed a hoof, “AH HA! You CAN talk! You shyster!”

Cornflower just nodded but was interrupted, “Oh no, you got a voice, use it, I’m not talking to you ‘till ya do!” She turned her nose up, looking away with an overly dramatic flair.

Cornflower looked at the table, still blushing under her deep blue coat, and leaned over to whisper in Hangfire’s ear, “I..i..is th...th...th...this O...o...o...okay?”

‘Fire turned and hugged the little mare hard, “It’s enough ‘Flower.”

Chryse smiled, seeing her sister actually connect with someone other than herself. Hazy and Blue cheered, ordered another round, toasting her voice a few times, causing Cornflower to almost duck under the table and hide.

Chryse pulled Hazy out on the dance floor, where surprisingly he was pretty light on his hooves, dancing with the snowy mare, who complemented him quite well. They ended up dancing in a cleared circle because the other patrons enjoyed watching as well, returning to the table hot and sweaty, begging for another round.

Hangfire was enjoying herself immensely, noticing out of the corner of her eye Chryse was looking at her with raised eyebrows, “Well?”

“What? What? I haven’t done anything wrong!”

Chryse gave her that, ‘don’t be dumb look,’ “Go on, dance! Take Blue with you!”

She actually blushed, though hard to tell under her umber coat, they could tell. Cornflower bumped her backside with hers and pushed them out on the dance floor. Blue was a great dancer, but Hangfire whispered in his ear she had two left hooves. He nodded and took the lead, dancing the songs away till she asked to stop, hot and tired.

They both sat down to fresh cold mugs, slurping noisily and chattering about the dancing, Hangfire had never had real friends before, she had some, but these, these were different. They didn’t know her, and just accepted her, and somehow, it made that all the more special.

She leaned over to Chryse, “Hey Chryse, why aren’t you seeing some special pony? I mean Hazy’s good looking, he’s bright, and he’s really a good stallion?”

Chryse leaned over and whispered very quietly in her ear, “Didn’t you notice?” And pointed at him and Blues’ hooves just barely above the table, clasped together, “Him and Blue are a couple.”

Hangfire facehoofed, she was definitely not observant, not one bit, “I’m sorry Chryse, I wasn’t paying attention.”

She laughed in return, “They keep it quiet, some folks don’t like it, but they’re happy, me and Cornflower think it’s great.”

“Well they seem happy.”

“They are, people make fun of Hazy cause he talks slow, but he’ll kick your plot right into the ground. He’s got the bulk, plus he’s a whiz at mathematics. Blue, he’s just an everyday stallion, just got a bit of a problem with his wing, but we all look out for him. It works, and it works well.”

Hangfire turned and looked into Chryse’s eyes, “What about you?” Referring to the managers comment she was a fillyfooler.

She got a slow smile in return, a gentle blink of the eyes as Chryse laid her cheek along hers for just a brief moment of warm contact. “I’m just me, nothing special.”

Their attention was drawn back to reality by Cornflower making squeaking noises, tapping on her sisters’ shoulder, pointing out to the dance floor. They turned to see what the commotion was about.

It was Blue and Hazy, whipping along the dance floor in some kind of complicated step that went a lot faster than Hangfire could follow, doing turns and flips along each other like some acrobatic team, their wings helping them dive and duck, it was an awesome display of Pegasi abilities. The DJ was whooping it up, and it WAS the same one from Pokey’s, making Hangfire hide a bit behind Chryse, she’d explain later. The lights flashing, the music turned up into a fast beat, and still, sweating and smiling, there was Hazy and Blue having the time of their lives.

Hangfire leaned on Chryse’s shoulder, watching the dance, seeing more pegasi join in, turning it into an acrobatic show that rarely gets seen on the ground, it was awesome. She drank her cider and saw the whole floor joining in now, it was turning into a regular carnival atmosphere out there, Earth Ponies showing their strength off by flipping others into the air, pegasi grabbing and dancing with them, it was incredible. Unicorns were using their magic to levitate more ponies, couples in the air, drinks to thirsty dancers. It was honestly amazing. Chryse grabbed her and Cornflower and promptly got them involved as well.

She was laughing and flapping her wings, diving and dashing around, smiling at her new friends, she wanted the night to last forever. Turning and twisting, dancing along the floor, up along the ceiling, the past weeks forgotten. Her mane and tail flying in the breeze created by so much movement. She was laughing out loud for the first time in a long time, grabbing Chryse and doing an aerial dance to the beat.

‘Fire felt the heat in the club, a haze forming from the bodies all around. It was a clean, fresh smell from the earth ponies, a sort of spicy one from the unicorns, and the pegasi topped it off with a softer scent, adding together in a frenzy of celebration for everyone. It was rare that it happened, but when it did, it was marvelous to behold, joy, and laughter, not a party type, but a deeper enjoyment of just being a pony, who you were and are.

The ponies of Equestria have a deep understanding of the land and themselves most times. Magic permeates everything, and when joy is felt, it’s released, through song, or in this case, celebration. And the celebration was just starting, the DJ was having a hard time keeping up with requests, as the drinks flowed like water. It wasn’t a celebration for anything in particular, it just was. One of those things that happens when you get enough in a crowd that say “Buck it, we’re having fun tonight.” And this time, it appeared the whole club was in on it.

The air was thick with a perfume that hit every nostril, turned every head, made bodies lean and rub against one another in joy. Hangfire spun with happiness in the air, brushing up against others as well, enjoying the camaraderie. She felt fore legs slip around her from behind, turning her head to see who it was, and fell into Cornflowers’ hug.

After that, she was sure she spent most of her budgeted amount, buying drinks, dancing with the team, or anyone that came by. It was just fun, the purest form, and yes, even Pinky showed up, she had to add balloons and lots of sugary goodies for everyone, she said she’d felt her “Pinkie Sense” go off like a rocket and couldn’t miss the party. This following the unveiling of a few thousand sugary sweet goodies that were immediately consumed, with cries for “More more!” According to later reports, Sugar Cube Corner closed down for the next two days recovering from the shock of all the baked goods gone, plus the income from the purchases.

Blue and Hazy were oblivious to what they started, until they finally looked around and saw basically a festival break out around them. They snuck back to the table and grabbed some snacks, watching the whole thing till Chryse spotted them, dragging them back into the melee they started. Pushing a couple of cold drinks in their hooves and sending them back onto the dance floor. No one was a wallflower that night, people who avoided dancing or just sat around, either left or they got dragged in, no exceptions. The bartender did a wonderful jig on the bar.

Ponies do know a lot of things, and one of them is how to enjoy themselves. Hyped up on enough sugar and alcohol to kill several thousand large land animals, it went on to the hours of the morning, and beyond. The local guard had to post outside to keep the line orderly as word got around, half the town showed up. It was peaceable, but there was a flying squad of forty more just in case hanging around the corner. Fortunately, no riots, malfeasance, nor vandalism had occurred. But, most of the businesses had to shut down for the next day, as their employees had gone to the club and refused to go to work. Actually, they refused to come out of the club at all. The DJ was still playing, alcohol was being brought by cart into the back, and folks who went in never came out.

The Guard Captain had a hard time explaining to the mayor, why the club was thumping at 8am in the morning, the businesses were shut down, and that front door was like a black hole where things disappeared. Including one unfortunate Guard Lieutenant who made the mistake of stepping inside for a moment. He was recovered sans armor in the river the next day, unharmed and with a few addresses tucked into his money bag.

Foals were warned that day not to go near the street, the Princesses declared an impromptu holiday, seeing as no one was coming out. The Guard, received combat pay for that day and the next. The Mayor and the city advisers just shook their heads when they walked by, the beats from the music still resounding through the streets. They had tried cutting the electricity, but when the thumping from a few thousand hooves started up, it was immediately turned back on.

It was referred to as the “One Time Holiday.”

According to Pinkie Pie, who, strangely enough was the only one able to get in and out of the club, she reported everything was good, no one was hurt, lots of fun inside. The Princesses themselves dropped by to see what the commotion was about, and upon returning outside, minus Princess Luna who stayed, they retreated with looks of shock and refused to comment.

Princess Luna was seen wearing a smug look for a few weeks afterwards, slyly winking to certain folks, and receiving in return the same knowing smile.

The weather suffered a bit, but the town had gone through worse.

Eventually on the second day, the music started dying out in the evening. A few, well no one got an accurate count, thousand ponies were singing at the top of their lungs as they headed for home. The clubs’ managers were still trying to figure out what happened, as crowds of happy ponies went their separate ways. It truly didn’t stop there, as most floated around in a happy daze for weeks afterwards. Ponies were reunited with loved ones, though a few were still MIA until the guard sent a special commando squad led by Pinkie to go in and get the rest.

When asked, Pinkie had told local news reporters that, “It sure was fun in there.” No one ever got more of an answer.

The local breweries and distilleries were shutting down for the week as they realized they were totally out of any kind of product whatsoever. They had to order more materials and ingredients from Manehatten and Fillydelphia to start producing again.

No one ever figured how they fit that many ponies in one building, theorists came up with explanations, but they were thrown aside in disgust. They turned to throwing their hooves in the air and muttering to themselves quite a bit.

The Guard Captain and his ponies were decorated for bravery above and beyond the call, the Lieutenant also once he recovered. They did try to debrief him, but all they said was he kept a stupid grin on his face and sang to himself for a week.

Strangely enough, not a single picture, written account, nor any type of recording was ever found or made of this event, which still puzzles ponies to this day.

And it was said, so many years in the future after the club was gone. That on certain nights, you could hear the ghostly sounds of wubs on the wind....

Author's Note:

Yeah, the club scene got nuts, but hey, comedy right?

Comments

[LostArchivist]

The hell happened in there?!