Discovery
Ponyville is known for being quite the lively town. During the day, ponies could be seen going to and fro, crowding the streets, their hearts and passing conversations filled with a warmth reminiscent of the sun shining down upon them. The paved roads were usually filled with ponies from all walks of life. There could be no telling of who would be traveling along the roads. The same roads that once were leading a mare home with a coat of lilac and a hangover of such intensity that Dionysus himself would be jealous of the jovial celebration that must have led up to the revelry of Olympic proportions that was surely the cause also could lead to the brand new adventures of three young fillies seeking to find adventure in the everyday life that appears so mundane to those not willing to search further. Today had been different. The streets were still filled with the same warmth that they had been filled with before, but the clear blue skies had been replaced by the dark silvery clouds as they rained upon the streets, ponies here and there now holing umbrellas or darting to and from cover to avoid their fur becoming too sopping wet from the light showering that blessed the flowers and rivers in the town. Despite the gloomy appearance of the graying skies, the jovial attitudes of the townsfolk continued to shine, the falling rain not dragging any spirits down.
The day, however, can only last for so long before the night comes and takes its place. As the sky shifts in tone, so does the town, once filled with bustling ponies and warm smiles spreading around through the streets now vacant, lonely, and cold with the emptiness that came with the entropy announced by the twilight hours. Very few places displayed so perfectly this feeling as the alley behind a local music house and dance club, where many performers had spent their time providing excitement to the citizens and travelers passing through.
The alley was dark and damp. It had rained earlier that day and the moisture still filled the air, despite the downpour ended several hours prior, the walls dripping with the leftover rain. The rooftops continued to drip water with a constant rhythm, filling the puddles on the floor that seemed to never go away. If one listened closely they could hear the scurrying of bugs going to and fro. Looking closer, one might be able to see them in the dark veil of the night.
A lone unicorn walked into the alley, her mane a wild mess. There was a door, behind which the loud yet muffled rumblings of club music could be heard. She approached the door and reached into her saddlebags, pulling out several keys. Her horn lit up with a soft glow that faintly illuminated her surroundings. The keys began to hover in the air, each lit up by the warm magic that had enveloped them. After finding the key she was looking for, she levitated the others back into her saddlebag. She used the remaining key to unlock the door before promptly ensuring that the key joined the others safely before closing her saddlebag. As the door opened the alleyway was in full illumination, blooming with the pastel yellow walls that previously went unseen. The mare hurried inside and closed the door behind herself, returning the alleyway to the soft and quiet darkness.
The unicorn started to make her way to the backstage dressing room as the music, now clearly audible started to die down. As the music died down, slowly being replaced with a few moments of applause, the mare couldn't help thinking that the song sounded familiar before entering another door to the backstage area, the two security ponies on duty recognizing her and letting her pass. The now quiet corridor was lit up with the neon lights on the ceiling, showing off the numerous band posters cluttering up the walls. She hurriedly entered the first door to her left, entering the backstage dressing room.
The room was expansive and brightly lit, one wall covered in a large mirror and a counter dotted with the occasional sink that traveled along the entire length of the wall. The walls themselves were a bland off-white drywall with several scribbles of the names of artists who had used the room prior. The unicorn checked a specific spot on the wall to make sure her name was still there. It had remained there in bright blue colors. The surrounding wall appeared bleached, suggesting that clean-up crews had struggled to remove the name from the wall, but to no avail, causing a smug smirk to appear on the unicorn's face. Walking back towards the side of the room with the mirrors, the mare then set her saddlebag onto the counter in front of the mirror and pulled out some hair dye. She settled down before one of the many available sinks. and was about to uncap the bottled of dye when the door opened.
The mare froze in place. She had never been seen without her hair dyed and her contacts in before, at least not to any pony other than the security at the club. The door creaking slowly open as a pegasus stallion walked in. His white coat reminded her of her own, as did his soft pink eyes and flowing white mane. She recognized him. His name was Harmon Everest, a musician from Trottingham who became a bit of a local celebrity here. He was not a household name by any means, but he was still popular enough that sometimes a few ponies would come from neighboring cities just to see him. He closed the door quickly behind himself before looking at the mare in the room.
Their eyes had locked, and they could not seem to break away from staring at one another. The air in the room grew heavy with dread and embarrassment. There was a dead silence that hung in the air, as neither could muster up any words for several moments. Every second of the silence felt like an eternity. Eventually, the stallion mustered up the courage to speak, stuttering nervously as he his voice very nearly failed him for the first time that night. "I-is. I-I-I mean... A-are you really Vinyl Scratch?"