> A Day in 1986
>  by FourShadow
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> June 14th, 1986
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun was pulling itself over the horizon for another glorious day; Saturday. The weekend off from work (for some people), and kids now had the weekend to do whatever they wanted! But this Saturday was more glorious than ever. Why? Because it was the official start of summer. School was over, and the students of school now had three months of detoxing relaxation. Some had plans to go have fun, others had plans to go find themselves summer jobs to earn a bit of extra cash.

In the suburbs, there was a nice little house. Two stories high, with plenty of space and interior, up to code on everything. The sound of an alarm beeped over on a small nightstand within one of the bedrooms. Reaching over a purple hand hit the button to stop it, and she slowly slumped and stirred around until she slammed her hand on the snooze. Pulling herself out of bed, her hair poofed up in the air, standing up on itself. Stumbling to the bathroom, she splashed some water in her face, finally waking herself up. Rubbing her eyes, her pupils shrunk when she saw her hair completely sticking up on end.

Grabbing some hairspray, her hairbrush, and every other hair product nearby, she started going at her hair like a madwoman. Steam filled the air, cans were sprayed and her hair was adjusted back to its fluffy state again. Going back to her room, she looked around for clothes; what was she going to wear today? Had to be something light, it was going to be a beautiful day outside. 

Without wasting much time, she just grabbed a light blue tank top and a gray/green pair of shorts. And to finish the ensemble, a strong pair of high top sneakers. After she was dressed for the day, she walked downstairs where the aroma of breakfast hit her nose. Down on the main floor, she was greeted with the smell of fresh toast having gone through the toaster, and bacon sizzling on a pan. In the kitchen was an older gentleman with light blue skin and dark black hair. He was busy cooking breakfast in the kitchen with soft orange and white floor tiling, smooth wooden cabinets and drawers. A small TV with adjustable knobs rested on the side of the counter, currently playing some commercials for new products and whatnot.

"Morning Dad," she called.

"Hey, morning kiddo," said the man, named Bronze Weld. "How are you?"

Amethyst stretched. "I'm okay."

"First day of summer vacation kiddo," he smiled.

She walked over to the cupboard and pulled out a plastic container holding chocolate powder. Nothing particularly special about the outside, it was made from a company that mostly focused on chocolate. Though the big thing that stood out was the sticker advertising her favorite show; a cartoon about robots who could turn into vehicles and were fighting in a war. Though it was a different cartoon compared to the other transforming robot cartoon (with a very eerily similar plot) that was more popular, but it still had it's audience.

Adding in the mixture of milk and stirring it up, she set the spoon in the sink and parked herself on a stool at the kitchen counter, all the while her dad as cooking breakfast. Flipping through the ads on the television. 

"Where's the beef?"

Flip.

"No matter how well you dress up a burger--"

Flip.

"Introducing the brand new, Ponya Wagon!"

Another flip. 

"Crossfire!"

And flip again.

"Gobots!"

She was almost excited, except it was one that she had already seen before, months back. But regardless, she just let it play. She reached for another cabinet and pulled out a plate, waiting for her dad to finish cooking. And she just took a sip of her drink, watching the commercials play.

"--And for all of you teenagers and kids out there, summer's finally here so that means there's plenty more excitement and hot hot hot to come! More on this, after the break."

"So, now that you are officially on summer break, you have any big fun plans to do over the break?" Bronze asked, setting some toast down on a plate for himself and another for his daughter.

"Well.. I dunno. But shouldn't I be looking for a summer job?" Amethyst asked. "I mean, if I'm going to go to college next year, shouldn't I have a job by then?

"Well, yeah, but you got plenty of time. Summer's a long three months, you deserve to relax during that time," he said. "Bacon, toast?"

"I'll take a few strips," she shrugged, taking a few pieces of bacon.

"Oh before I forget, we're having a barbecue at your Aunt Silver's, just letting you know ahead of time, we gotta be there by five," he warned.

"Okay. I think I'll probably be ready by then," she said, nibbling on some bacon. 

"Good. Oh going back to summer vacation, was there any movies you wanted to see?"

"I don't know," Amethyst shrugged, looking through the newspaper. "Lemme see... how about that Aliens movie? That looks like fun," she grinned.

"I'd like to see that too. Maybe we can go see it in theaters, or if you'd rather, you can go out with your friends to see it," Bronze said, acknowledging his daughter's fondness for hanging out with her friends.

"Okie dokie."

Some silence was in the kitchen, now that the breakfast was over. The father and daughter got their food and sat at the circular table, just quietly eating. It was pretty normal for the two of them around mealtimes to be quiet, not that it meant they didn't have anything to talk about. Although compared to the screaming matches they heard a lot from the dysfunctional family that lived next door, the whole neighborhood saw this single father and daughter as tame sheep compared to the wild animals their neighbors were. 

"Oh have you heard from the Wheelers across the street about our neighbors next door?"

"Sadly, yeah. Apparently they caught them in another one of their shenanigans again, this time trying to get the 16-year-old son out of the tree," Bronze shook his head.

"Oh, him. ... I've ran into him a few times in school. He's weird," Amethyst said with a curled lip before taking a sip of her milk. "Also he tried to hit on me once, and he was just really creepy. A simple 'hi' would have been fine." 

"And why does he run with his arms flailing behind his back? Who even runs like that?" 

Amethyst shrugged. "I don't know. Give him this, at least he wears pants." 

"Oh. You caught sight of him, didn't you?"

"Yep. Is it too much to have pants on when you answer the door?" She shuddered at the thought. 

"For him, it seems like it is," Bronze agreed. 

Amethyst pushed the disturbing mental image out of her head, and finished the rest of her breakfast. She picked up her dishes and set them in the dishwasher to be cleaned for later, wasn't full yet. But when she turned around, her mind went blank. She had breakfast, what was she going to do now? What to do to start the day? 

"So... what now?"

"Well kiddo, it's summer. You can do whatever you want, you have no homework to do," Bronze said with a smile.

"Hmm..." Amethyst sat for a moment. "I think I'm gonna go get my keys and probably go look around in the Starcourt for a bit."

"Okay kiddo. Have fun, but don't go blowing all your money, okay? You wanna save some for the future after all," Bronze reminded her. "Be home by 1:00, okay?"

Amethyst chuckled. "Yes, Dad. See you when I get back."

"Alright, see you."

Locking the door behind her, she walked over to the driveway, approaching her car. She had worked her behind off to purchase it, having saved up just enough to purchase this one for under three grand. A red 1972 muscle car, or more specifically for all the car experts, a Plymouth Road Runner. Personally she didn't care; the car functioned fine, it was still in good condition, she was content with it. Although she did get a little jealous seeing all the new hot pimped out rides that were being pumped out these days, especially when some teenagers came to school with spankin' new rods to show off. 

But it didn't end in the long run. She had a car, she had a ride, she could use it, everything was fine. Amethyst locked in her seatbelt, and turned on the ignition. Now that she was ready to go, she rolled out of the driveway and on her way to the mall.

"Starcourt Mall, here we come."





After a smooth drive through town, she finally made the turn to one of the biggest hotspots in Canterlot; Starcourt. Starcourt Mall was the place to go to if you just wanted to hang out with friends or fine good places to shop. Yes, the shops downtown in the city had a lot of variety, but if you didn't want to go that far, Starcourt was the place to go. 

Amethyst parked the car in a spot close to the entrance (well as close as she could, given the amount of cars in the lot), and got out. That burst of summer air hit her face when she got out, having turned any air conditioning off. 

Inside, she could see the place was packed. Men, women, children, and teenagers alike were all wandering about, eating at the food court, shopping and stopping at the various stores and ATMs, some of them even going to stand in line at the recently installed movie theater. But that didn't stop her from wanting to look around. She could handle crowds just fine, heck, if high school taught her anything, it meant you had to be careful to survive in massive crowds of people. Casually and without panic, she just strolled on through, walkin' past the people without hesitation. As she looked around, her eyes lingered to various people in the mall. Maybe was she going to see some of her friends from school come here? 

She checked in some of the lines leading for people to get late breakfast and early lunch. No one she recognized, outside of a few teachers who were on the break as well. 

Amethyst's eyes sparkled every time she went into this place; not just because it was her favorite hangout, but somehow, even with how packed it was, the mall still looked sparkling and shiny. Marble white and green tiling for the floors, big massive circular arches that held the ceiling up high so you could see the giant glass triangular shaped roof just in the middle of the mall. A beautiful fountain was still having running water in the middle, and kids could still toss coins into it to make wishes. 

Walking up a small set of steps, she looked to the corridor on her left. Several stores with neon signs beckoning her to come to them and shop, as if they were begging for her attention. She paced down, looking to her left and right. One store immediately caught her attention, showing various record discs and albums mounted in the window display.

"Sample Gold's, sweet!"

When she walked inside, she was greeted with the welcoming music of bubblegum pop. The latest hits by a group who called themselves the Go-Go-Pones, singing about a Vacation that was all they ever wanted. And sitting behind the front desk of the cashier was an old friend from school; Vinyl Scratch. Wacky neon blue hair, purple shades, always seen with headsets around her shoulders, hooked up to a Walkman cassette player. 

"Vinyl, hey!"

Vinyl looked up, smirking as she saw that familiar face. She rested the headset around her shoulders, giving a finger gun point at her, which was her friendly way of saying 'yo'. Vinyl wasn't really known for words, but that didn't mean she never said a thing. But she usually let her actions speak louder than words. 

"How's it going?"

The aspiring DJ gave a soft shrug with a smirk mixed in there, following that up with a finger pointed at her.

"Me? Oh I'm doing fine, thanks. Oh did any new hits arrive today?"

She shook her head. 

"Oh, rats. I was hoping that new tape was released today."

The DJ tilted her head.

"The Transformers one?"

"Actually that's not releasing until sometime close to the fall," Vinyl finally said.

"Dah!" Yelped a woman standing near some records. "So you do talk, jeez, I thought you were mute."

Vinyl playfully rolled her eyes. "That's what they all thought, and then I speak. But yeah, sorry Ams. Not ready for release just yet." 

Amethyst pouted. "Dang it, I thought it was going to release early." 

"Sorry. Buuuut I did save that one cassette you were waiting for last month," Vinyl grinned, pulling out the tape.

Amethyst's eyes sparkled in delight. "The Greatest Mike Jack Tracks, eeeeee! Yes, thank you! How much I owe you?" 

"Only 11.99."

Amethyst reached for her wall, and passed twelve dollars over to Vinyl who accepted it. And in return, Amethyst got the cassette tape that she had been hoping to get.

"Thanks again Vinyl. See you around, okay?"

"See you Amy," Vinyl grinned, waving to her as she left the music store. 

The purple haired girl gracefully skipped her way further into the mall, looking for more places to go to. Maybe something new could be found in the video store, or heck, maybe a new bag, or something new to carry with her for vacation, like maybe a new swimsuit or dress, or something. 

Wait a minute. Who was that over there in one of the small stores, checking out the purses? Another familiar face; a girl with gray skin and charcoal black hair, silky and smooth. Wearing white tight-fitting jeans and a black-tshirt with a purple treble-clef on her shirt, and cute little musical note earring. 

"Oh, Amethyst, it's so good to see you," she said with an optimistic expression.

"Hey Octavia," Amethyst greeted with a hug. "How are you?"

"Not too bad, can't complain. How are you doing?" 

"Okay I guess. I thought I'd pay a visit, see if there's anything new today," Amethyst shrugged. "Anything from Lyra and Bon Bon?"

"Nothing, I'm afraid. Lyra is off to a doctor, and Bon Bon is helping her mum in her bakery today," Octavia said. "Me, I have nothing to do today, so I thought I'd come to get a replacement purse. The one I have is falling apart."

"Mind if I join you?" 

"Be my guest," Octavia smiled cutely. 

The two friends wandered through the store, looking through several of the various handbags and purses available. Octavia soon settled on a simple brown one with a strong leather strap; simple, but elegant. Amethyst however had her eyes set on some clothes; particularly the dresses. Something to fit with the warm summer breeze is what she was looking for.

"I see your eyes are set on the summer dresses," Octavia inquired. "You know, Rarity does have a brand new summer line down at her boutique."

"I know, but I always stop there. I can't go to the same exact place if I want to look fancy, you know?" 

"Fair enough," Octavia nodded. "Ooh, how about this one?" The cellist pulled out a dress with a very bright neon green color with blue stripes.

"Ehh, too gaudy," Amethyst shuddered. "Also that's really hard on the eyes. But hey, at least cars on the road won't hit you."

And so the two of them looked through several outfits that were available in the store. 

"Nope."

"Nada."

"Zilch."

"Nein."

"Nyet."

"My dad will kill me if I come home in that."

"Okay!" Octavia stopped. "I think I might have found one that might be more of your style, try this one on."

"Well... okay," Amethyst nodded. 

She stepped into the changing room, while Octavia stood on the outside, waiting for her to step out. It didn't take long for that dress to be slipped in, because in two minutes, Amethyst came back out of the dressing room, showing off the dress she was trying on. A beautiful turquoise dress with a few white spotted patterns surrounding the dress. 

"Amethyst, darling, you look marvelous," Octavia smiled in awe.

"You think so?" Amethyst said, looking at herself in the mirror. 

"Absolutely, that dress is gorgeous. I think you might be the one to pull that off."

Amy's cheeks went red, making Octavia giggle. But after a quick judgement for herself, she soon settled for it, paying for the dress and keeping it on as she walked out with Octavia, having paid for their items. 

"So, what do you wish to do now?"

"Actually, I gotta get going. I promised I'd be home by one. Say hi to Lyra and Bon Bon for me," Amethyst waved.

"See you later, Amy," Octavia waved. 

Waving her goodbye, Amethyst pushed through the crowds of people through the food court to go back to the parking lot. Through the sweet air-conditioned breeze and back outside to the blistering sun, a wave of heat hit Amethyst's skin. Immediately she put her sunglasses back on to protect her eyes from the glare of the sun as she walked back to her car. 

Once she was inside, she set her purse down in the seat next to her and put her keys back in the ignition. Her seat belt was buckled, her rear-view mirrors were adjusted, she was ready to go. 

Take my breath away--

Flip.

Shot through the heart, and you're to blame
You give love a bad name!

Maybe later. 

Think about it, there must be higher love
Down in the heart or hidden in the stars above

Amethyst smiled, hearing one of her favorite tunes come through on the radio. Now that she was set, she got ready to go, heading for home, and hopefully looking for some time. 





Most of the day admittedly was rather sluggish. Amethyst didn't feel like doing much after that trip, and at most, it just felt like an excuse to get out of the house. So she spent the rest of the day watching some cartoons she recorded on her VCR, reading a book, calling up an old friend, or helping her father with building a new car. Her dad had been building a brand new car for them out of parts from the junk yard, especially from parts that he had been making; he was experienced with automotive repair and construction. 

So the two of them, looking for something to do, started getting back to work on the car. Amethyst rolled from underneath the car, working on the undercarriage in overalls and short-sleeved shirt. A little bit of grease on her arm, but nothing she couldn't handle.

"Okay, I think I'm gonna need a wrench," Amethyst asked.

"Coming right up, just need to tighten this last bolt," Bronze called from the hood. "Just a little bit more, and... done!" He passed the wrench down to Amy, who rolled out on the little board, grabbing it and sliding back under. 

"Hey Dad, quick question. What time is it? Aren't we supposed to be at Aunt Silver's at 5:00?"

"I think so. Let me check the time," Bronze said, stepping out of the garage to look for a nearby clock. 

Amethyst kept tightening more of the bolts, waiting for her dad to come back.

"Holy, it's almost 4:30. Come on, we better get ourselves cleaned up, don't want to show up at your aunt's like a greasy, sweaty mess," Bronze warned.

"Oh, coming!"

Amethyst slid from under the car, getting back on her knees, and rushing upstairs to get cleaned up. She had to get going soon, she had to get dressed, now! 

--

It didn't take long to get cleaned up and freshened up, and soon enough the two of the mere sitting inside the family station wagon, driving on their way to Aunt Silver's. She wasn't too far, thank goodness, but she lived in town that was roughly half an hour away, and they didn't want to be late.

Bring me a higher love
Bring me a higher love (oh oh)

In the nick of time, the two had finally arrived. The station wagon pulled up on the curb, into the space for them to park. Plenty of room, and hopefully no chance of them getting wedged in by other cars so they couldn't leave. The two walked up to the front of another suburban looking house; perfectly spacious with plenty space for the occupant living inside of it. 

The smell of grilling food caught their noses, luring them to go around to the fenced area, to go to the gated entrance instead of the front door. Already, there was a handful of guests at the party, most of them family, having been invited to hang out for this occasion. As a tradition of Amethyst's family, whenever the first day of summer officially began, the family would be invited somewhere to host a barbeque to kick off some summer fun; with mouth-watering food on a grill, and closest family members nearby.

"Aunt Silver!"

"Amy, hey kiddo," her aunt smiled, giving her a hug. "How does it feel to have one year left?"

"Um... I don't feel any different," Amethyst shrugged.

Her aunt just chuckled. "Trust me kid, I've been there before. Just wait until you hit your 20s, then the reality finally hits you like a truck. But you have a long way before that," she said, patting her shoulder. "Oh, is that a new dress?"

"Yeah, I picked it up today," Amethyst smiled back, doing a small twirl. 

"Oh it looks gorgeous kiddo. I bet you could attract a lot of boys with that," she winked, making her niece giggle.

"Now hold on--"

"--Oh I'm only teasing, Bronze. You know me," Aunt Silver chuckled, giving her brother a hug. "Can you give me a hand with the steaks?"

"Sure."

The smell of burgers, steaks, wings, hot dogs, oh it was too delicious and hard to resist. She wanted one right now, her stomach was grumbling for that delicious grilled food. But alas, like the rest of the guests, she had to wait. Well, at the very least, she had the sounds of tunes playing on a radio that one of the relatives had set up, playing some tunes that helped time move faster. 

On the patio, there were some cousins all gathered, watching a sitcom on television, something that they liked to watch every now again, always made them smile. Although she had to admit, she liked it as well, if not only to see her favorite actor from her favorite science-fiction movie. A big hit from last summer, about a time-traveling DeLorean and a boy who got sent to the past, trying to return back to his present time. 

The sun in the sky was being hidden by a few clouds which thankfully did help the glare a little bit, didn't make any of the people gathered at this family barbecue go blind or anything. And it was almost time to get some food! Everyone got themselves up, picking up some paper plates and utensils, getting ready for some food. Drinks like juice, water, milk, and other refreshments were available to quench everyone's thirst. And little snacks like chips, salads, carrots, crackers, whatever they liked was there as well. 

Amethyst picked up a few tortilla chips, and a cup of milk, and soon moved onto the main courses; grabbing a single steak and hot dog, with a small dose of ketchup to cover the top. With her meal set, she sat down with the rest of her family, now ready to chow down with everyone else. 

"Oh this is delicious," one of the family members commented.

"Thanks, I appreciate it. And for once, I didn't burn it," Aunt Silver joked. 

"Helps if you know what you're working with,' Bronze playfully jabbed.

"Easy there, Bronze. I might kick your butt again," Silver laughed. 

"You wish," Bronze playfully taunted back. 

"Either way, thanks again Auntie," Amethyst waved at her, trying to make her words clear among the jabfest.

"Well thank you, Amethyst. That's kind of you," Silver said, graciously. "And actually, I'd like to propose a toast. To the start of summer, and to the advancement of a new year," Aunt Silver hollered, raising her cup. 

"Here, here," everyone clamored. 

Everyone took a sip of their drinks (and even the kids, who simply drank their juice or milk) and continued to eat, chat, catch each other up on the events going on each other's lives, the activities that were coming up, planning for omre future meetups, the usual things.

During the meal, Amethyst turned around and watched the sun starting to set for the evening. She didn't know what she was gonna do for the rest of the summer, or what laid down for her on the road ahead. But one thing she did know for sure, she was going to simply cool down, relax, and go with the flow. Because she could tell this was going to be the best summer ever.

Don't you forget about me
Don't, don't, don't, don't
Don't you forget about me