The Manehatten Chronicles: Book 1 of 3: The Manehatten Typewriter

by Shadow rift

Chapter 5 1/3: Sleep Deprivation

Two days have passed since my original meeting with the mare in the black dress, and ever since, I've felt the happiest I've been ever since I was fired. Gaining Octavia's trust not only made me available to spend more time with her, but it also allowed me to become acquainted with her own friend Vinyl, who I've come to accept as a friend and vice versa. The two of them aren't so bad, not as intimidating, as soon as you truly get to meet them...

For the past two days, after work hours, we always spend a little time in the empty bar, with a disc machine playing a type of cello music in the background, and split a bottle between the three of us, laughing and reminiscing about the day that had occurred and all the idiotic actions of the bumbling drunkards who had appeared at the bar, both before and while my time of employment here. Apparently there was an incident before I had started working here in which a stallion became so intoxicated, he got into a fight with a bush across the street. The part that really made Octavia and I laugh was how apparently the stallion actually lost.

"How do you do that? How the hell do you lose to a damn plant?!" She said after a quick laugh and a swig of her drink, a glass of champagne. She proceeds on with various stories from her past working at this establishment, but for the most part, I chose to ignore it and sit and smile with her, and I can tell for the most part that Octavia is doing the same. More often than not, I catch her gazing at me before looking away and continue to sip her drink out of a thin straw. What is she thinking?

"And that's how I found out what happens when you drink a mix of Bloody Mare-y and Sake." Vinyl concludes, a smile on her proud face as she loosens up her tie and sits back down in her chair. Quickly, I deduce the end result of the drinks she mixed and come up with a conclusion very fast. "You're a braver soul than I am to do something like that, Vinyl." I say, cringing at the thought of grasping the toilet and praying to the porcelain gods to either make it end or bring you to your end. "More along the lines of stupidity rather than bravery, Astra. What Vinyl did was completely and utterly ridiculous to begin with, and drinking the mixture was just as stupid." Octavia says, her voice now drawing my attention back fully into the discussion at hoof. "Awww... Come on Tavi, it was all in the name of little fun. Besides, I was only puking for like, two days on end!"

"Only the more reason as to why you shouldn't have done something as idiotic as that..." Octavia said, flattening out her dress bottom and refusing to look at Vinyl, instead having an annoyed expression on her voice. "Yeah, whatever... Bottom line it was all in the name of fun. And I wound up with a pretty cool stallion that night."

"A stallion...?" I ask, taking a small sip of my drink. "Yup. Ol' Vinyl here wound up with a stallion that night. His name was somewhere along the line of Neon or something like that..."

"Was? I'm sorry, did it not work out between you two?"

"No, not really anyways. I had to stay here in Manehatten and he left to go tour all of Equestria. Bottom line, he offered it to me and I had to say no..." Vinyl said, her expression falling ever so slightly as both Octavia and I notice her return to her memories. "I'm sorry, Vinyl." I say, watching her lift her expression back to a smile of reassurance. "Hey... I'm over it. 'Sides, I'll meet another stallion, sometime soon maybe..." She says, taking the bottle in her aura and pouring us all whatever was left in the bottle, albeit not very much as I notice that the content in our glasses was no more than a shot glass worth. "To better days?" Vinyl asks, raising her glass in the air in her aura. "To better days..." Octavia and I say simultaneously, clinking our glasses together before downing our drinks. To better days... I think to myself.

***************************************

When I arrive home, I'm surprised to see Minuette waiting for me on the couch, smiling at me and waving for me to come over and sit with her, which I abide by as I float over to her, my wings feeling for the most part stiff as I fly. "Hey..." She says as I flop onto the couch. "Hello..." I respond, removing my jacket and revealing that I didn't have my weapon on me at the time. "Oh... You didn't have your pistol with you today...?" Damn... "No... Not today anyways. I figured I wouldn't need it today seeing as how most crime is dying down." I say, hoping that she would accept my answer and drop the subject.

She does.

"Still, I need you to keep it on you. It's not safe being here and not being armed..."

"Alright, I promise I'll keep it on me. First thing I'll do in the morning actually. Not brush my mane or teeth or get dressed for that matter, just grab my gun first..." I say with a smile, to which Minuette simply rolls her eyes at and giggles. "You better." I chuckle, "So, how are things going at the labs? Any improvements or achievements?" I ask. It takes Minuette a little while to respond as she looks up at the ceiling and ponders for a bit, pouting her lips and squinting her eyes in the most adorable way possible before her response comes in the form of a shake of her head. "Nope, nada actually. Other than the center getting another research grant, I can't really say anything has been going on recently." Another research grant? I think to myself, from who?

"A research grant Minuette? From who and for what?" I ask, genuinely curious as to who may be funding the center. "You know... They never really told us who or what was funding our research this time around. All they really told us was to open up the same thing you and I were working on, Biomechanics and A.I. Systems."

"Why would they do that? We already concluded that the Cyborg we were working on wasn't going to work, and it was completely blown to pieces. As a matter of fact, I thought that the police department took it." I say, now becoming concerned about all of this. "They did, but after you left they just went up and gave us back the OMEGA, or at least whatever was left of it..." She said, getting off the couch and making her way to the fridge, opening it to find my near pitiful amount of foodstuff and a single bottle of non alcoholic Apple Cider. "So are you going to work on repairing then?" I ask, hearing Minuette open the bottle and envelope two glasses in her blue aura. "I guess so..." She says as I hear the liquid being poured into the glasses, and soon see her make her way back to the couch, "Either that or we create a completely new skeletal structure that was similar to the last one." She responds as she takes one of the glass in her aura and passes it to me, taking a seat at the couch next to me while setting down her own glass and allowing the aura surrounding the glass to dissipate.

"I highly doubt Professor Gear Turner will be willing to create another one considering how long it took him the last time. The damage on it wasn't too terrible was it?" I ask, taking a sip of the sweetly carbonated drink and feeling the carbonation burn in my throat. "You seem to forget that the damn head came flying off and right towards us..." Minuette says as she copies my motion, taking the drink in her aura once more before gingerly taking a sip from the glass while I chuckle. "I'm sorry... My memories about that day are a little hazy right now..." Hazy... Oh no please... Not now...! "It's okay... I understand with you being tired and all. Being a toilet cleaner must take a lot outta you." Toilet... Cleaner...? Yes... That's right. I told her that didn't I? I... Lied... To keep her from worrying about... Me. Oh Celestia am I tired...

"Astra...? You okay?" So very... Very... Tired...

***************************************

When I wake up next, I am blinded by the sunlight barely shining through the crack of the curtains and flooding my sight with an ever so annoying brightens. I really need to get it fixed if I'm to stay here any-

"Good morning..." I hear a soft yet regal voiced mare say, shocking me out of my half awake half asleep feeling as I discover that Octavia was standing in the corner of my room, her black dress standing out against the faded white wall, "I was beginning to wonder how long it would take you to wake up. It would appear as though you can't keep down your liquor." She said, a smile on her face and her eyes half lidded as she chuckled slightly at that notion.

"I can assure you that I can in fact keep down my liquor, however with the hours I've been putting in and the amount of life each shift takes out of me, I have a tendency to just come here and sleep after hours." I say, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes as I begin to make my way out of bed. "Oh yes... It must be tiring to work all day as a simple janitor..." She says in a very mocking tone. "How did you-?"

"The mare by the name of Minuette explained it all to me. And may I just say I understand what you see in her..." Octavia says as she begins to make her way to my bed. "I'm not interested in her like that. Not anymore anyways..." I say as I stretch out my wings and make my way to the washroom, whispering the last statement to myself. "There's no need to be embarrassed. She's a kind mare and very intelligent. I'm just surprised she wasn't intelligent enough to see through your lie."

"You didn't tell her? Did you?" I ask as I begin to run a comb through my mane, now a mess from my deep sleep. "No, I didn't." I hear Octavia say before seeing her in the mirror just underneath the doorframe, "I told her that I was working in the same building as you and simply came over to deliver something to you." She says, placing both her hooves on my shoulder before looking into the mirror, an almost dull expression on her face as she does study us both in the mirror. "Do you really have something to bring...?" I ask, studying the image as well while thinking how incredible it would be to actually have a meaningful relationship with her, but reaffirming myself that Minuette may still be the better option.

While looking in the mirror, one thought crosses my mind. What is Octavia thinking when she looks at the mirror? She clearly is a very thoughtful mare, at least from what I could gather from her, but I can't even begin to think what may be going on in her head. Is it that perhaps I am worth any trouble of helping? Or is it that I'm far beyond her help or the help of others? I wouldn't blame her if it was for the latter. "Yes I did..." She said, her head darting to the corner of the room and her hooves working their way towards it. "Okay..." I say, now interested in whatever she may have for me in the corner of my bedroom, "What is it?" I ask again, her only response being a box about the size of a shirt box. "Open it." Octavia says, extending her arms with the box in them, to which I respond by taking the box from her grasp and opening it slowly. "A suit...?" I say as I take the clothing out of the box to reveal a simple black sports coat and tie accompanying a white shirt, "Why are you giving this to me...?"

"For one, I can easily tell that the simple vest and long coat were all you had in terms fancy wear." She says blankly, to which I nod in agreement. "And for another, I saw it at a clothing department in the upper class portion of Manehatten where I live and thought it would suit you." She says, stepping up closer to me and running her hoof down the cool, silky fabric. "Thank you... I'll be sure to wear it tonight." I say with a smile as I look up Octavia's face, the sunlight dancing off her face and make it seem as though it were sparkling. The thought of kissing her, once again, creeps into my mind, yet I know that it is just that.

A simple thought...

Author's Note:

Yeah... It's been a while. With my job taking up lots of time and my new puppy (who is really becoming a pain in the ass...) I haven't had much time to write. That changes today. I'm making this a three part chapter, and hopefully, down the line, it'll be much more understandable as to why.

Comments

[Shadow rift]

7887612
I'm thinking on it...

[EverfreePony]

Well, decided to finish this in one go. I left the recording on a loop, having it accompany me thorough the rest of the chapters. Beautiful instrumental!
Story-wise, I'm hooked and really looking forward to see how you continue with this. The descriptions are well-done, illustrating the sorry state of prohibition. Each of the character has some defined traits, promising an interesting interactions and issues.

Style-wise, I'd point out a few things.
Check your tenses, especially in the last two chapters. You have there past and present mixed together in almost every paragraph. Choose just one for the whole story.
Second, when you have a normal (i.e. no question, no exclamation) direct speech followed by speaking action - said, sighed, concluded, responded... you can't have a full stop at the end. There should be comma instead.
"Write it like this," I say.

[Shadow rift]

7888232
Alright, got ya.