> Imagined Parallels
>  by Jet Howitzer
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> Chapter 0:  Past is Prologue (Tycho)
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You recline gently in the chair that had been thoughtfully provided for you.  You glance at a clock on the wall quickly, grumbling softly at the fact that your conversational partners were late.  Again.  And considering that you were in Icarus’ home, this was especially troubling.  Still, you are fairly certain that they have a good reason for it, at least.

After finally growing impatient enough to begin pacing the room you find yourself idly perusing the tomes that adorn the walls of Icarus’ study.  The sound of a door slamming in the distance draws your attention, and you look towards the entrance to the room.  Moments later and a trio of figures enter, each one laughing at some joke that you’d missed.

Upon seeing you Spike dons a sheepish smile as the other two avert their gazes.  “Sorry we’re late.  Icarus and Orion demanded that we swing by Sugar Cube Corner.  I told them we were already late enough, but...  Well, we’re here now.”

You quickly agree, and move back over to the seat you’d been in earlier.  Spike and the others both take their places in their seats, and soon you’re all just enjoying some companionable silence together.

Orion finally breaks the silence.  “So, I guess I’m next, then?”  You nod, as do Spike and Icarus.  “I don’t know if my story tops yours, Icarus, but I’ll leave that to you three to decide.  And, Spike, when I’m done that means that you’re next.”

“Yeah, yeah.  I know, Orion.  But first we need to hear your story, and how you managed to win the woman of your dreams.”

Orion laughs for a moment, and you raise an eyebrow.  “Oh, man, Spike.  I couldn’t have even dreamed of someone as great as Vinyl.  Anyway, like Icarus, I’ll start this where it all begins.  Save for a few more juicy details.  I’ll let the three of you figure it out as Vinyl did.”



“I pushed open the door to my one room apartment, the shouts of the other tenants fading into background noise as the latch closed behind me...

> Chapter I:  A Walk (Tycho)
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	I pushed open the door to my one room apartment, the shouts of the other tenants fading into background noise as the latch closed behind me.  Without a spare thought I latched all the other locks, each one giving a solid click to let me know they were doing their job.  A shuddering sigh escaped me as I rested my head against the door as the last lock clicked into place.  A sorrowful meow echoed through the room, and I felt the tiniest smile tug at the corners of my mouth.

“Yeah, I’m back, Umbra.  I managed to get you a can today.  I know that you usually like to share what I’ve got, but today is your day.  It is your birthday, after all.”  I pushed away from the door, quickly stooping down to get closer to my cat.  Her sightless milky white eyes stared out at me, seeming to gaze at me without seeing.  Her whiskers twitched slightly as I held out my hand to her, and after a quick sniff she began rubbing herself against my hand.  After a few quick scratches under her chin, I scooped her up into my arms, cradling her as gently as I could.

Her purring as I held her sent a spark of warmth into my chest, and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling a smile that she’d never see.  “I had the interview today.  I think things went pretty well, actually.”  Umbra curled up on the table as I put her down, her ears twitching to and fro as I spoke.  “The interviewer didn’t seem to really dislike me, but I’m thinking that I answered all the questions well.”  The can of cat food, the first one I’d been able to afford in weeks, was soon open and the food was in a shallow bowl.

I put the bowl on the table, sliding it just a bit so that Umbra could hear the slight scraping sound.  She silently padded over to the bowl, and soon she was eating.  I gently ran a hand along her back, smoothing her midnight black fur.  “Umbra, I saw Perseus again, today.  I know what you’re thinking, I shouldn’t keep going there...  But I can’t help it.”  Umbra stopped eating as I spoke, instead sitting there and cocking her head at me.  “No matter what he does, and what he says, he’ll always be my brother.”  Umbra let out a low meow her sadness apparent despite the fact that there were no words.  “I know.  I miss who he used to be.  Back before mom died and dad left, we were always laughing and having fun together.  But now...”  Umbra took a few steps closer, and then she laid down next to my arm, her weight gently resting against me as she purred softly.  “Now I’ve got you, and I’m slowly building up some bits.  Maybe soon I’ll be able to get us something real to eat on a regular basis.  Or, maybe, if I get really lucky, I’ll land this job and we’ll be able to afford a new apartment.”

After finishing my meal, a few scraps I had gotten together on the walk from the interview home, and making sure that Umbra was fully fed, I got the small bag of bits that I had been saving, and I counted out what I had saved up over the past year.  “Well, Umbra, if this one doesn’t work we’ll be back to where we started.  Four hundred and seven bits, and the shit hole around us.”  She let out another meow, and I frowned.  “We’ve made it this far.  We’ll make it another winter if we have to.”



	

I reclined on my mattress, my arm serving as a resting place for Umbra’s head as she slept beside me.  The events of the day ran through my mind over and over...

After finishing at the club, and with nothing left to do for the day, I decided that I’d see if I could buy a small can of cat food for Umbra.  It was an innocent enough thing to do, and it didn’t even take that long to accomplish.  After I finished with my purchasing, though, I found myself looking down the street towards the richest district in Canterlot.  I knew what would be waiting for me if I went down that way, but...  I hoped that things would go different this time.



	

A rapid burst of air escaped me as I felt the fist connect with my gut.  Chilling laughter seemed to come from all sides as my vision narrowed, and I fell to my knees.  Voices came from all sides as I tried to crawl away, but a violent force dragged me back to where I had fallen, a sharp pain flaring along my side as another blunt force collided with me.  A set of hands grasped at me for a moment, before finding purchase and hauling me to my feet.  The eyes I found myself staring into were nearly the same shade of green as my own, reflecting back my own ragged appearance.

“What have I told you, whelp?  Canterlot’s upper districts are for the elite, not some ragged beggar without a place to call home!”  His voice, despite the familiarity, was so chillingly different from how I remembered it.  Gone was the faint accent that had once colored his voice, and, in its place, was the forced accent of old Canterlot.  “I’ve told you a million times if I’ve told you once.  You.  Have.  No.  Place.  Here.”  With a grunt of exertion he tossed me back several feet, my body reeling backwards for a moment before my balance failed me, and I landed on my ass.

The jeering laughter resumed as I slowly made my way to my feet, the aching in my body forcing a slight limp into my movements.  A new voice cut in, this one with a far thicker accent.  “Perhaps, love, we might make an example of him?  Show him how we must really treat his manner of scum?”  She looked between myself and the man who had thrown me.

“No, Tam Tam.  There’s no need.  He’s learned his lesson.  And this time, he knows, I won’t welcome him back.  Not again.  Not after what he did.  And besides, the guardsmen might not be able to... look the other way if I went too far.  I don’t want anything to jeopardize our trip to Firefly Island next month.”

I felt proud that I didn’t cry, but I felt my insides crumble just a bit at his harsh tones, and it was with a heavily burdened heart that I did venture back into Canterlot proper, each step filled with echoes of the mocking laughter.  Minutes had turned to hours, and soon I was back in the poorer areas of Canterlot.  While no one could claim that the city was poor, there were areas that harkened back to when Equestria was not quite so civilized and decent.  Funnily enough, for those without the means, Equestria was still not quite so civilized and decent.

The change from the lower class neighborhood to the area where I lived was almost immediately apparent, as not only the architecture changed, but so did the manner of people wandering the streets.  Unicorns, despite their prevalence throughout the rest of Canterlot, were in amazingly short supply within the shabby rundown areas in the city.  Pegasi, too, were a rare sight.  I always felt an outsider because of that, my well maintained horn acting as the only sign of who I was within the community.

Even with the advantages of magic, I found myself to be in the bottom one percent of even the poorest community in the city.  I had, literally, everything I owned in a single shoebox inside of the hole-in-the-wall apartment I called home.  As I reveled in my own misery Umbra stood, without a sound, from her place at my side, and she silently moved a few steps from the mattress, her ears frantically twitching as she stood in place.  When her ears abruptly snapped back on her head, and she let out a hiss, I knew something was happening.  The only times she did that was when something was in the apartment, or someone new was in the building.

I sat up on the mattress, looking around the room to see if something was there.  Several moments passed in tense silence, and then a series of knocks sounded at my door.  I felt a tiny stab of panic as I tried to think of all the possible reasons someone might be coming to my apartment.  When no good reason presented itself I found myself at a loss.  There were any number of ways to react to the situation, but not one seemed palatable.  When the knocks sounded once again, I stood up, taking a few steps towards the door.

“Who is it?”

“Steel Bolt.”  The voice was gruff and had all the grace of a two legged manticore.  Combined with the thick Manehattan accent, and I had a bit of trouble making out all the words;  “You interviewed for my employer a few hours ago.  She wants to talk to you.”  After a moment of hesitation on my part, the voice continued.  “Something about hiring you, or something.”

I felt my heart skip a beat at that mention, and without a thought I went to the door, unlocking all the locks faster than I thought was possible.  Once the last one yielded to my flying fingers I threw open the door, my eyes wide.  For several long seconds I just looked at the wall of man before me.  His arms were as thick as tree trunks, and he looked like he ate nails for breakfast.  Without milk, of course.  Needless to say, I was speechless.  Not about his appearance, but the fact that I recognized him from the club I interviewed at.  “She...  She wants to what?”

The bouncer, for that’s what he was, rolled his eyes.  “She.  Wants.  To.  Talk.  To.  You.”  He spoke louder than before, hoping that his meaning would be clearer with increased volume.

“We...  We are talking about Vinyl Scratch, right?  Owner and head DJ at Canterlot’s own Club Exotica?”

After rolling his eyes once again Steel spoke.  “Yes.  She had free time after you left, so she reviewed your paperwork.  Now she wants to see you.”

“I need a few...  Um...  I’d invite you in, but...   Just, uh...   Just wait here, okay?  I’ll just...  Wait?”  The bouncer sighed and nodded.  I closed the door, whirling in place with the motion.  I looked at Umbra, my smile wider than it’s been in weeks.  Maybe even months.  I knelt down next to her, quickly calming her down as she still had her fur standing on end.  “I’m going out, again, princess.  You stay here, and watch things while I’m out, okay?  Make sure to maintain order over your domain.”  After she let out a soft meow and went over to my mattress she curled up on it, her ears pointing in my direction.  After changing into my best clothing, I gave Umbra one last scratch under her chin before heading back out into the hall.  “I’m ready, Steel.”

He just grunted, but there was a tiny smile on his face.  He led the way out of the building, and soon we were back on the streets of the city.  “She’s cute.  How old?”  I looked over at the bouncer for a moment, and he had a smile on his face.  Despite his hard gaze, there was only kindness present there.  “Your cat.  She’s beautiful.”  I raised an eyebrow as we continued walking, and he offered a small shrug.  “I’m a cat person.”

“Oh.  Yeah, Umbra is four.  She’s been blind her whole life.  I found her when I moved...  When I got my current living arrangement.”  As we transitioned from the poorest section to the second poorest I could already see the tension in Steel’s body begin to relax.  “She doesn’t let that stop her from hunting, though.  I’ve watched her sit in one place for hours just to pounce on a single rodent that happens to wander into the apartment.”

“Is she magic touched?”

“Yeah.  She understands me, and she can even offer up some basic communication back.  Just meows, but often very pointed and inflected meows.”

“More than I can say for my own.  I love my cat to death, but...  After having one that’s touched it’s just...  It’s not the same.”  I nodded, and the rest of the walk passed in silence as we slowly moved from one district of Canterlot to the next.  As we grew nearer to our destination I could already feel my gut tighten as nervousness gripped at me.  Vinyl Scratch was one of the most aloof and mysterious people within the city, her appearances outside of her club limited to just a few times a year.  Rumor had it that she would often venture out of Canterlot to do business, but I doubted the veracity of such claims.

When we reached the club we went around to the back, and the slight nervousness that gripped me before paled in comparison to what I was feeling at that moment.  Steel opened the back door without hesitation, and I followed just behind him as he walked through the backworks of the club, each step taking me further from the perceived safety of the outside world.  Each person we passed seemed to stare at me as I walked, and I could see the judgment in their eyes.  My slightly ragged clothes and appearance was clearly more noticeable than I had hoped, and I could feel my feet grow heavier as I walked.  Finally, after what felt like an eternity we stopped before a set of double doors.

“I’ll go see if Ms. Scratch is ready for you.”  He pointed at a chair.  “You can sit there.  Try and relax, though.  She’s not going to bite your head off.”  I looked at the chair for a moment before I looked at the vanishing figure of Steel Bolt.  The double doors closed silently, the well oiled hinges swinging without even the faintest sound.  I’d never thought myself claustrophobic, but, in that room, without another soul around, and my life hanging in the balance, I felt as if the walls were closing in around me.  My breathing quickened and I could feel my heart beating in my chest.  With a conscious and focused effort I started going through the meditation techniques I’d been working on.

By the time the door opened I was in almost complete control of my breathing and heartbeat, each one slowed to a reasonable level, and with it my nervousness began to fade.  “She’s ready to see you, Orion.”  He stepped to the side, gesturing with an arm towards the interior of the room.  “Best not to keep her waiting.”  I offered a shaky nod as I stood and went to the door.  The room was only dimly lit, and as I walked in the doors closed behind me, sealing me in with the DJ.

I looked around the room for a few moments, taking in the walls covered in magazine covers, each one from a different music periodical.  Scattered amongst the covers were some gold and silver records, even a few platinum ones.  At the end of the long room, though, was the main feature.  A bank of windows, going from wall to wall, sitting just behind the desk.  The chair was rotated to face away from me, but I suspected that the woman in question was seated in it.  I shuffled a bit closer, my previous calm vanishing as I approached.  I stopped walking when I was several steps away from the desk, and then I just waited.

It wasn’t long before the woman spoke.  “Afternoon, Orion.  I’m pretty sure that you’re wondering why you’re getting a second interview so shortly after the first.”  She didn’t wait for a response before she continued.  “Honestly, it was kind of a random thing.  I usually get at least five applications to work here a week.  Seems that I’ve got a good rep for running my club.  But what the applicants don’t understand is how and why I hire people.”  She stood from her chair and walked to the massive windows.  “Most people would call my hiring plan random.  I disagree.  I’ve got a ninety-eight percent retention rate.  Before you ask, the one that quit just couldn’t stand my music.  Great friend of mine, but she can’t stand my music.”

I remained silent as she spoke, my eyes following her movements as she paced before the window.  “But you...  You’re not the same as all the other applicants.  When I read over your long form application some things just seemed to stick out.  Your residence, for one.”

“I can’t afford anywhere else.”  I slapped a hand over my mouth, both amazed and outraged at my outburst.  “I mean, it’s a strict financially oriented solution to --”

“You’re poor.  I get it.  No need to be ashamed, Orion.”  She laughed softly as she gestured towards the walls.  “All you see here?  That’s the grand total of my wealth.  When I started, I was just like you.  I had a dream, a talent, and that’s about it.  I scrounged together every bit I could, and I made ends meet however I could.  Then, one day, I got my break.  Seven years ago, it was.  Best set I ever played.”  She finally turned to look at me, her eyes hidden behind a pair of deep purple sunglasses.  “Now, I think, is the time for your break.”

She strode over to her desk, and she shuffled around some papers.  “Now, you applied for some menial task, really, I can’t remember what it was.  You’re not getting that job.”  I felt my shoulders slump at her words.

Was she really getting my hopes up just to crush them?

“You’re getting a different job.  It says on here that you’ve got a knack for reading people.  Your special talent?”

At the mention of my talent I couldn’t help but avert my gaze.  “Yeah.  If I spend just a bit of time with someone I get the ability to know most of their basic reactions.  Angry, happy, sad, scared.  Even if they try and hide it, I can pick up on it.  After an hour of one on one contact and conversation the other party will be hard pressed to hide anything from me.”

“And that’s just what I need.”  I looked back at her, surprise written plainly on my face.  “I don’t exactly make it well known, but I’m not as popular as I once was.  My music is...  Stale.  The crowd still enjoys it, but the love, the beat, is gone.  The dancing is mechanical, now.”  She motions for me to come around the desk as she heads back to the window.  I walk beside her, keeping a bit of distance between us.  “I used to be able to play the crowd like I play my music.  They’d dance the dance I wanted, and they’d love every second of it.”

I looked through the window, marveling at the view offered up.  From up here she could look at almost every part of her club.  The stage where she performed was just below the windows, and the rest of the club was sprawled out around.  The bar had several people behind it, restocking the shelves, and some other people were walking around making sure that everything would be ready for the club to open in a few hours.  “I don’t know what changed, but I can’t seem to stop it.  Each week my revenue goes down, and I soon won’t be able to pay myself.  I’m already earning just a fifty bits a week for myself.”

“Why --”

“You’re my best candidate yet.  You’ve got the talent, the personality, everything.”  She seemed to hesitate for a moment before she continued.  “If you’re willing to start today, I’ll give you fifty bits a week pay.”

“Twenty five.  You need to eat too.”

Her laughter sounded like music, a gentle sound that soothed all the tension in the room.  “Man, Orion, that’s touching and all, but I don’t think you get it.  I’m still really rich.  I’ve got more money than I know what to do with.  I just like to know that I’m making a profit here because it’s insurance for when something does happen.”

I hung my head for a moment before I looked over at Vinyl, her expression almost seeming eager.  I could see the hope in her eyes as she looked at me, and I could almost feel the lie she was telling me.  What she was lying about, I couldn’t say, but there was one there.  “Alright, I’ll start today.  But I’m still insisting on twenty five per week.”

Her eyes widened, and then she let a smile come to her face as she turned away from me to head to her desk.  I saw the relief in her features as she turned, and I knew I had made the right decision.  “You’ve got a deal, Orion.  We’ll be opening in about two hours, so if you want to head home and then come back, that’s fine by me.  If you want to stay, and familiarize yourself with the place, that’s fine too.”  She opened up a few drawers in the desk before she pulled out a tag with a small cry of success.  “And this is yours.”  She turned towards me, and held out a fancy looking keyring with a few plastic cards on it.  “These cards give you access to all the rooms in the building, and will only work for you, so you don’t have to worry if you lose them.  Just, uh...  Don’t lose them.  They’re a pain to replace.”

I took the keyring from my new manager, and I let a smile come to my face.  Before I could say anything, though, she dropped another item in my hands, this time a bag of bits, the unmistakable sound of rattling currency music to my ears.  “Consider this your up front pay for the week.  Plus one hundred percent for a hiring bonus.”  The smile on her face was genuine, and even her eyes shared in the smile.  “Feed yourself and Umbra, Orion.”  She let out a laugh at my expression.  “Steel told me.  I like to learn about my workers, Orion.  Even the newest ones.”

I only smiled before I started walking back towards the double doors I had come in.  Before I reached the door I turned back to look towards Vinyl once again.  She was looking down into her club as I looked back at her.  “Thank you, Ms. Scratch.  You have no idea what this means for me.”

She looked over her shoulder for a moment, her smile growing wider.  “Vinyl, Orion.  Just call me Vinyl.”



	

The door closed behind me with the same silence as before, and when I looked into the room I had returned to I saw Steel Bolt sitting on the chair I had been in earlier, a smile on his face.  “She was right.  You weren’t a hard sell at all.”  I raised an eyebrow, and he chuckled.  “She knew that you’d take the job.  I thought you’d take a bit longer to agree, since it’s not quite an orthodox position.”  He shrugged before he stood.  “Guess I owe her a beer.  Now, you gonna head home, or do you want a quick tour?”

“I’ll have the tour.  I want to get to know the place where I’ll be working for the foreseeable future.”  Steel only nodded and then we were off.  Most of the back workings of the club were simple, and most of the doors were labeled with their purpose.  A few of the doors had names on them, rather than functions, and when I asked about them I was informed that Club Exotica also employed no small number of dancers to further entice the customers into paying even more.  I met a few of said female dancers, and they were all surprisingly pleasant, offering up congratulations on my new job, as well as trying to flirt with me some.  I knew it was their job to do so, so they weren’t that hard to brush off.

The main floor of the club was remarkably simple to understand, having already seen it from above, but when out on the floor itself it was a bit hard to keep track of everything.  With the overhead lights on, Steel told me that the club looked totally different from when it was in full swing.  Pun intended.  The tour of the floor led me to meeting the trio of bartenders, and they were all smiles to see me.  Steel was good friends with all three, and soon the five of us were talking as if we’d known each other for years.

After talking for the better part of an hour, Steel led me away from the bar, and towards the entrance hall.  There he quickly introduced me to all the bouncers, and they were just as friendly as the bartenders, despite their tough appearance.  Steel joked around with them for a few minutes before we finally went back into the club where he led me up to the stage.  The tour of the stage was the most boring part, right up until he led me to the slightly elevated section where all of the DJ equipment was.  From what I could see Vinyl had full control over just about every aspect of the club from this single point.  There were controls for the lights, the other various visual effects, not to mention all the musical controls.  There were tons of notes scattered around the station too, some with incomprehensible scrawl on them, and others with more technical writings on them.

Once we finished on the stage Steel led me into the back once again where he showed me a last few rooms before we ended where we began.  He walked into Vinyl’s office without knocking, and then he led me over to the window once again.  I noted with curiosity that Vinyl was absent, and Steel just shrugged it off, insisting that she came and went as she pleased.

“This, Orion, is where you’ll be working from.  You’ll have a direct radio link to both Vinyl and me and the other bouncers.  If you spot trouble, let me or any of us know, and we’ll sort it out.”

“What about the link with Vinyl?  What’s that one for?”

“That’s so you can help me with my tunes.”  I turned to see Vinyl walking towards me, her attire different from what she’d been wearing earlier.  While before she had on a pair of tight fitting jeans and a t shirt, she now had on a tight fitting cropped tank top, and a pair of low sitting, loose fitting white jeans.  I could make out the top part of her cutie mark on her leg, but I averted my eyes before she could spot me checking her out.  “You might not know much about the music I play, but I’m hoping that your ability to read people will let me better pick and mix music to please the crowd.  We’ll be opening in about half an hour, so if you want to just relax before we start, that’s fine by me.  I need to go finish prepping my magic station.  Steel, seven o’clock sharp, you know the drill.  And make damn sure you ID everyone.  I’m not having a repeat of last month.”

“Right, Vinyl.  I already talked with the boys about it, and I’ve taken extra precautions.”

“Good.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a DJ booth to take care of.”

I watched her walk out, and once the door closed behind her I heard Steel chuckle behind me.  I felt my cheeks grow warmer at his laughter, but I didn’t look at him, as I refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing that I’d been ogling my new manager.  He walked off, mentioning that he was going to get my supplies, and I just nodded, my gaze now looking out into the slowly dimming club.  The neon lights scattered about the room were already glowing in their various shades and hues, and the overhead lights were slowly fading to a much more subdued level.

In my mind I began breaking up the whole club into sections so that I could switch my view from one area to another in a methodical fashion in order to best keep track of the crowds.  I looked down onto the stage for a moment, and I noticed as Vinyl was chatting with a few of the scantily clad dancers.  Whatever they were talking about, it was clearly a topic they were enjoying as they kept laughing and smiling.  After only a few moments the conversation broke up, and Vinyl walked over to her booth, one hand running across the knobs, dials and sliders as if caressing a lover.

I averted my gaze away from her so that I could see about preparing myself for my job, but without any equipment, or a crowd to monitor, I found myself at a distinct disadvantage.  My gaze wandered once again to the DJ down at her booth, and I simply couldn’t look away from her.  She moved with a casual grace from one task to another, her eyes occasionally closing as she simply felt her booth, taking in the mood of the room.  I knew that I shouldn’t  look, since she’s my boss, but there was a part of me telling me that it was okay.

“So, Orion, you ready?”

Steel’s voice snapped my attention away from Vinyl, and I looked back at him, my cheeks warm.  “Oh, yeah.  Yeah, I’m good to go.”

Steel approached me before he looked out over the club.  “This club...  It’s her life, Orion.  She’s looking to you to help her out quite a bit.”  He held out a pair of walkie talkies, each one with a label on it.



	

I looked at the two radios in my hands, each one clearly labeled and marked.  The thumping of the bass echoed through the entire building, and the speakers up in the office let me have a direct link to just what Vinyl was playing.  The surging throngs of people seemed to undulate in time with the beats of the music, and so far Vinyl seemed to be doing a solid job of holding the crowd in her musical grasp.  Still, I could see some small pockets beginning to show just a small bit of hesitance with the music, and the number of people roaming off the dance floor was slowly growing.  I focused my attention on the rest of the crowd, and soon I had a vague idea of what might get some of those people more interested in the music, and, maybe, even draw some back.

I grabbed the radio that would allow me to talk to Vinyl, and I brought it to my mouth before I pressed the transmit button.  “Vinyl, some of the people are getting a bit bored with what you’ve got on right now.  Try something a bit slower in beat, but with a happy tune to it.”

“Thanks, Orion.  I’ll see what I can do.”  There was a measure of tension in her voice, and I glanced down at her from my perch to see her rummage through the cabinets for a moment before she pulled out a new record.  With practiced ease she swapped out one of the records for a new one, the music shifting smoothly from the previous beat to a new one.  The change in music prompted an immediate reaction from the crowd, and I felt proud of myself that the reaction was so overwhelmingly positive.

The crowd on the dance floor gradually thickened as the new style of music thumped out of the myriad speakers.  Much to my satisfaction I even observed some of the people who left the dance floor returning.  Content with how things were on the dance floor I shifted my gaze to the other parts of the club.  Nothing of great interest was happening elsewhere, so I just settled myself into a slow rhythm, my gaze flicking from one area to the next every so often.  In order to keep myself alert, though, I randomized where I would look next, and how often I would shift my gaze.

Eventually I spotted some signs that led me to believe something was going to happen at the bar, so I let out a call to the bouncers, identifying the man in question, as well as his drunken friends.  Within moments and there were two bouncers at the bar, and just a couple minutes later I saw the offending parties being forcibly removed from the club.  A small smile tugged at my mouth, and with that minor crisis averted, I fell back into my groove.  Minutes turned to hours, and soon the activity in the club was winding down.  The radio in my left hand crackled to life, and I heard some background noise coming from it for a moment before a voice finally sounded out.  “Orion, great job tonight.  Wait in my office, I’ll be up in a few.”

I let out a sigh as I put the two radios down on the desk Vinyl had in her office.  I stood from the chair I’d been in, and I let out a groan as my joints popped in a symphony of crackles and snaps.  I didn’t know quite how long it would be until Vinyl arrived up in her office, so I simply looked out onto the thinning crowd of party goers.  With the club officially closed the lights were slowly coming on, driving out the partiers and allowing the clean up crews to start their laborious task.  Just as I turned away from the window to look around Vinyl’s office, she burst through the doors, her attire even more ragged than when she had left it earlier.

I fought down the urge to ogle her once again, and she just walked around her desk before throwing herself into her chair.  It rolled back several feet before stopping, and I was forced to step out of the way of it.  “Man, Orion, that was great!  I talked to the bartenders, and the ticketers.  We’re up from the projected numbers!  For the first time in months we’re actually meeting projected profit margins.”  She leaned back in the chair for a moment, her hands coming up to her face.  When she pulled her hands away, there was a massive smile on her face.  “If you can do that every night you work, we might just be able to see about getting you a raise.  Hell, maybe I can start paying myself a salary again.”

“Glad I could help, Ms. Scra --”

“By the Creator, man, Vinyl!  I swear, you’re doing the same thing every new hire does.  This isn’t some stuffy law firm, or some shit.”  She turned in the chair to look at me, her glasses floating up above her horn.  Her eyes shined with mirth as she spoke, and it came out in her words.  “This is a club, and I’m not going to be your manager.  I’m going to be your occasionally hard assed friend.”

I shook my head slowly as I let a smile come to my face.  “Fine, Vinyl.  Have it your way.”

“I will.”

“Good.  Now, what days do I work?  We never really covered that.”

She stopped reclining for a moment as she moved over to her desk.  After rummaging through some papers she finally threw her hands up in the air, along with several papers she’d been holding.  “Fuck if I know...  I wrote it down somewhere, but I can’t find it now.  How about, um...  Every day we’re open?  We’re closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.  Every other day we open up at seven, and close at two the next morning.  Fridays we’re open till three, and Saturdays till four.  And, so you know, all drinks you might want are on the house.  No need for you to sit up here all serious like the whole time.”  A wide grin appeared on her face as she leaned forward in the chair.  “Maybe I’ll ask one of the dancers to come up and keep you company?”

I felt my cheeks grow warm, and I averted my gaze, much to Vinyl’s amusement.  I laughed a bit myself, but when I looked back at her she just started laughing even harder.  “No, ah, that’s not really necessary.  I like to keep work and pleasure apart.  At least, when I do work...”

“Aw, what fun is that?”  I only shrugged, and she smiled once again as she settled more comfortably into the chair.  “Still, I guess I can understand that.  I love what I do, and I can’t think of a single thing that I’d rather have than this club, and my tunes.”  After a moment of silence she stands from her chair, her arms flying up over her head as she stretched and let out a colossal yawn.  “Jeez, I’m beat.  Feel free to laugh at the pun.”

I shook my head as I started for the door.  “Not even a chuckle, Vinyl.”

“Where're you going?”  I looked at her, my confusion apparent.  “You don’t have to leave just yet.  I mean, come on.  It’s your first day.  At least share a drink with me, or something, to celebrate?”

I shook my head, but I let a smile dominate my features.  “Not tonight, Vinyl.  Is that a standing offer, though?”  She gave a quick nod, and I gave her a thumbs up.  “I’m going to hold you to that one, Vinyl.  Now, though, I have to get home.  Umbra’s probably worried about me by now.”  With a shouted good night from her door, I made my way through the halls of the club, the other workers giving me smiles and congratulations on the good job.  Seemed that word around here spreads fast, and everyone already knew about me, and what I was adding to Club Exotica.

When I finally emerged from the bowels of the club I glanced skywards, the bright light of Luna’s moon offering more than enough light to see and navigate by.  The pouch of bits soon found its way into my hand, and I weighed it delicately, almost like I was afraid that if I was too rough with it the money would somehow be devalued.  As I walked the streets of the city I marveled at how different it looked from the slums I called home.  Here everything was properly maintained, and the streetlights were not only illuminated, but they looked like the ornate pieces of art that they were.  As I headed for home, I found that I was looking at things in a vastly different light, metaphorically and literally, from when I was heading to the club.

I had a future, now.  I had an income, and that meant that I could finally start putting aside to get Umbra and I a new place to call home.  Somewhere that wasn’t the shittiest part of the city would be a good start, and then I’d take it from there.  I amused myself with random fantasies of getting a new house for most of the rest of the trip back to my home, and when I stood before it, finally home after leaving nearly half a day ago, I found myself truly disgusted with my living arrangements.  Rather than dwell on it, though, I simply lowered my gaze and started climbing the stairs to my apartment.

When I reached my room, and I opened the locks with my key, I was immediately greeted by Umbra’s hissing.  I closed the door as Umbra continued hissing, and once the door was closed behind me I lowered myself to one knee, and I held out a hand towards her.  “I’m home, princess.”  Her hissing cut off abruptly, and then she moved from atop my mattress, her slow approach towards me as much due to her blindness as honest surprise.  When she was just a few feet from my hand she plopped down, and then pointed at me with a paw, and then the clock just after.  “I haven’t had a curfew in years, Umbra.”  I moved a bit closer to her, and she nipped at my hand before pointing her head away from me.

“I know I left on your birthday, Umbra, but I have good news.”  I put the bag of bits on the floor between her and I, making sure to rattle it just enough so she’d know where it was.  “I've got a job.  And now we can finally start really saving for a new place to live.”  I pulled out a small item from my pant pocket, holding it out towards Umbra.  “And, as a small present for your birthday, I went by an over night market, and I got you something.”  Umbra moved to my hand and she gingerly sniffed the package before she pulled the wrapped fish from my hand.  I just moved over to my bed as she enjoyed her salmon, and within minutes I had changed, and she had eaten the whole filet.

As I reclined on the mattress Umbra assumed her usual position, lazily curled up right next to my hand.  I scratched her head softly, enjoying the warmth of her presence, and the sound of her purring.  “Happy birthday, Umbra.  I promise you that by this time next year we’ll be living somewhere new.  Somewhere pleasant.”
> Chapter II:  Someone Great (LCD Soundsystem)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Just a week and a half later and I was already an integral, and well liked, part of Vinyl’s club.  Whenever I walked into the club I’d be barraged with greetings of different flavors and accents, all positive and energetic.  It seems that my efforts in improving the club had further reaching implications than I had thought they would, and the effects made everyone happier.  After a long day, though, I was wearily putting all my work stuff in my locker, making sure that my most important possessions were still within the safe confines of the metal container.  As I slammed the door to the locker shut I heard a brief flash of static pass over the intercom system.

“Alright, everyone, time for the first ever weekly reports.”  Vinyl’s voice echoed through the club.  “We’re up from last week, no surprises there.  But, we’re also up from predicted profit, by more than sixty percent, so we’re probably going to start restocking up on some of the various pleasantries that we had been going without.”  There was the sound of ruffling papers for a moment, and then a pleased exclamation followed.  “Ha!  There it is.  Alright, Steel, Shaker, Shimmer, and Orion please come up to my office.”  There were a few others in the locker room with me, and they all looked over at me when my name came up.  I only shrugged before starting towards the door of the room.

The halls of the club were quickly emptying as the various workers went about their specific tasks.  Some were workers leaving for the night, while others were people just coming in to perform the overnight clean up.  

After just a few moments of navigating the halls I found myself sharing the hall with Shimmer, the head of the dancers for the club.  She was a pleasant enough woman, although she had a tendency to be a bit too forward with her flirting.  And it was only mildly disconcerting the way she used the telekinesis spells during her dancing and outside it.  “So, Orion, you know what Boss wants?  You spend enough time around her, after all.”

“I might spend some time chatting with her once we’ve closed, but it’s just about the music and stuff that she plays.  I couldn’t hope to tell her what does and doesn’t sound good, but I can help her to spot some of the signs that she needs to change what she’s playing.”

She let out a quick laugh, and she looked at me before laughing again.  “Really?  That’s all the two of you talk about?”

I raised an eyebrow.  “Um, yeah.  Aside from a few casual offers for drinks.  What else would there be to talk about?”  She didn’t give me an answer, instead choosing to giggle softly while increasing her pace just a bit, leaving me to follow her up to Vinyl’s office.  When I arrived there, just a few minutes later, I found that I was the last to arrive, all the others patiently waiting outside the door.  I glanced at Steel quickly, a curious expression on my face.  He just replied with a shrug and a shake of his head.

After waiting for just a few moments, Vinyl threw open the door to her office, a smile on her face.  “No need to be so grim, guys, it’s not like the news I’ve got is bad, or anything.”  She paused for a moment before looking over at Steel.  “Except for you, Steel.  You’re probably not going to like the news.”

“If this is anything like the last bad news you gave me, I think I’ll be able to handle it.”

Vinyl just shrugged before heading back into her office, leaving the door open for the rest of us.  Everyone walked in, and I was the last in, the door closing behind me with nary a sound.  When I looked away from the door, and back towards the room, I noted with a bit of curiosity the fact that there was a conference table in the room.  I took a seat at the table, just to the right of Vinyl, and she gave me a quick smile.  She levitated over several folders from her desk before placing one in front of each of us.

“Alright, everyone.  With profits going up we can afford to start bringing back some of the niceties that we had to ditch.  Shaker, in there is a list of all the different liquors that I’d be willing to bring back.  You can choose up to three.  I’m trusting that you can pick what will appeal to the widest audience.”  He nodded before opening his folder and leafing through the pages.  “No need to stay here to read through it, though.  Take it home, and think about it.  We’re closed tomorrow, so you’ve got some time to look things over and try out any of the brands that you’re unfamiliar with.”

Shaker’s smile grew as he looked through the pages, and then he turned to look at Vinyl.  “Sounds good to me, Boss.  I’ll get back to you as soon as I’ve made my choices.”

“Excellent.  You can go, now, if you like.”  Shaker nodded and stood, quickly departing with the folder held under one arm.  “Now, Shimmer.  I know all too well the kinds of things that you’d like to see brought to the club, but I’m just going to stop you right now and say that we are not some kind of sick bondage club.  Nor, for that matter, are we a brothel.  The options in that folder are all that I’m willing to give you, and so you’ll just have to make sacrifices and choose from what’s in there.”  Shimmer looked as if she was going to complain, but Vinyl cut her off.  “Deal with it.  We are not going to have a repeat of leather night.”

Shimmer flushed a bit before she grabbed her folder and stood.  “I still say that you looked amazing in that corset.  And I think you know it too.”  Vinyl flushed a deep shade of crimson as Shimmer walked out of the room.  Steel only chuckled softly as the dancer walked out of the room.

I spoke up at that point, just as Shimmer left the room.  “Um...  Leather night?  I didn’t think that this was that kind of club.”

Vinyl just flushed a brighter shade of crimson as she busied herself with the papers sitting in front of her.  “It’s not.”  Steel had no such problem, though.  “A few months ago Shimmer had an idea of a way to attract a bigger crowd.  Her suggestion seemed innocent enough, but, well...  Let’s just say she took it a bit further than we thought she would.  She did look quite fine in that --”

“Shut up, Steel.  No one asked you.”  Vinyl had regained her composure, and she was glaring at the bouncer without even an attempt at hiding her displeasure.  “Your folder is empty, that’s the bad news.  We can’t afford any of your old toys yet, so there.  Now, get out before I get really upset with you.”

Steel only laughed at the unicorn, his deep laugh echoing in the room.  “Vinyl, we’ve been friends for almost two decades.  You’re not going to intimidate me.”  Vinyl just stood, and made a rather interesting twisting gesture with her hands before pointing at the bouncer.  The normally unflappable bouncer paled for just a moment.  “You wouldn’t.”

“Test me, Steel.”  The bouncer’s confidence vanished, and he quickly stood and left the room.  As the door closed, the woman slumped back down in her chair, her hands coming up to her forehead.  “By the Creator, the shit I have to deal with...”  She remained in that pose for several long moments before she finally sat forward with a sigh.  “As for you, Orion, I don’t really have anything.  You don’t seem to need anything else to perform your job, so I just handed you an empty folder.  Didn’t want you to feel left out when all the others had one.”

“I see.  Well, I suppose that’s fair enough.”

“Is there anything you want or need?  Just because I couldn’t think of it doesn’t mean that there’s nothing.”

As I pondered for a moment, I found my gaze drawn once again to Vinyl.  While I wanted to say something to her, I knew that I’d probably wind up with a serious case of foot in mouth syndrome, so I simply answered in a professional context.  “Nah.  There’s not really anything I can think of.  I mean, nothing yet.”

She looked at me for a moment before smiling.  “Alright, Orion, sounds good to me.  I just need to finish some stuff up here, and then I’ll be closing shop.”  She just looked at me for a moment before I saw the tiniest change in her posture.  “See you Wednesday, then.”  I nodded, and stood.  Each step towards the door made me want to stop and say something to Vinyl, but I managed to suppress the urge, and soon I was standing outside the office, my eyes closed as I heaved a massive sigh.

“You really should just ask her, Orion.”  My eyes snapped open as I looked towards Shimmer as she sat in one of the chairs just outside Vinyl’s office.  “Anyone with even a modicum of sense can see that you’ve got a thing for her.  Hell, she probably knows it too.  In fact, I can almost guarantee it.”

“I don’t have a...  So?  It’s not like it’s any of your business.  Besides, she’s probably already got someone.  A woman like her has probably had dozens of offers for herds.”

“Well, yeah.  She did.  But she turned them all down.  I don’t know why, though.  We may have occasional ‘girl-talk’ sessions, but She’s not even half as close to me as she is her friend Octavia.”

“So she’s single.  That still doesn’t do anything for the fact that I don’t have the confidence to-- Hey!”  She pushed me towards the door to the office with her magic, and a knowing smile came to her face.

“Improvise.  Hell, offer to walk her home.  There are two things that chicks dig.  One is giant robots, and the other is being walked home.”  The door to the office opened just a crack, and Shimmer walked over to me.  “Trust me, Orion, she’ll appreciate the offer.  And I think you will too, once you get into it.”  With that, she opened the door the rest of the way, and then she shoved me into the room.

I took several staggering steps as I recovered my balance, and when I looked up I saw Vinyl looking at me from behind her desk, the table from before gone.  “Yeah, Orion?  Something up?”

I felt my cheeks grow hot, and I swallowed nervously as I looked down at my feet.  “I was wondering if...  If I could walk you home, or something.”  I looked up at her for a moment, and the heat in my cheeks increased.  “Just, as...  You know, friends.  Or, whatever.”

Damnit, Orion!  You stupid shit, why the fuck did you have to stutter?  As if you don’t have a small enough chance alrea--

Vinyl just looked at me for a moment before she smiled.  “Sure, that sounds fine.  I mean, to be fair, I was wondering how long it would take you.”  I muttered something under my breath about Shimmer, and Vinyl must have heard enough.  “Oh, yeah.  Shimmer’s really good at spotting stuff like that.  Hell, she pounced on Steel as soon as she noticed that he was interested in her.”  Vinyl rolled her eyes for a moment as she rummaged through a few pages on her desk.  “Honestly, if Steel wasn’t such a traditionalist I’d think that Shimmer would be able to convince him to be a monogamist.”

This bit of info was enough to shatter my amazement, and I glanced at the door before looking back at Vinyl.  “She’s into that?  I mean, it’s not really a huge thing, I don’t have a problem with it, but that’s a bit surprising.”

Vinyl just shrugged as she closed a drawer and stood.  “Yeah, when I found out I was shocked.  She never struck me as the type.  I mean, sure, she’s got some kinky stuff she’s into, but I didn’t think it went quite that far.  Anyway, let’s go.  It’s kind of a bit of a hike for me.  And I know that you have a long way to go as well.”  She quickly moved around the desk, and towards me.  I followed just behind her as she walked the halls of the club.  She checked some of the doors to make sure they were locked, and when we finally reached the back door she pulled out a fairly intricate key that she held as we both walked out the door.  She slipped it into the keyhole before giving it a quick twist, a satisfying clunk coming from the lock as the bolt slid into place.  “Now, shall we go?”

I only nodded as Vinyl started walking down the alley, her pace just right so I could keep step beside her.  “I’ve always liked the city at night.”  Vinyl glanced over at me as I spoke, but she kept silent.  “It’s just got this amazing sense of calmness over the whole thing.  During the day it’s always so busy and bustling.  But then, at night, everything slows down.  And people, the few you meet, don’t ask who you are.  Or where you’re from.  To them you’re just a person.”

As I finished speaking an uneasy silence fell between us, and I silently cursed myself for speaking.  As we turned a corner, and started down a new street I realized that we were heading towards the richer parts of the city.  I wasn’t really all that familiar with the area, and I felt a sense of foreboding as we walked deeper into the heart of Canterlot.  “Orion, you okay?”  I looked at her, and there was concern written plainly on her face.  “You’re really tense.”

“I...  I’ve got a bit of a bad reputation in the richer parts of Canterlot.”

“Why, what did you do?”  She chuckled a bit.  “Piss in some nobleman’s coffee, or something?”

“Or something.”

“Come on, Orion, it can’t be that bad.  I mean, the noblemen tend to fight amongst themselves plenty, so it’s not like you could do worse to them than they do themselves.”  She shook her head and laughed softly.  “I mean, just about a year ago some guy was supposed to marry some girl in order to unite two houses that had a falling out, or some shit.  The guy refused the marriage, and so things just fell apart.  The mother killed herself in shame, and the father fled the city, the embarrassment too much to bear.  I heard that the younger brother filled in the gap, though.  Earned himself a spot in upper Canterlot atop the burning wreckage of his once proud noble family.”

I had to fight to keep from telling her what really happened.  “Yeah.  I heard about that one.  Did you hear what happened to the older brother, though?”

Vinyl fell silent for a moment as we walked along the road, and when she finally responded she shrugged first.  “No.  From what I heard he just vanished.  No one really knows where he is.”  I just nodded and allowed silence to fall upon the two of us once again.  Finally, after several long minutes of tense silence we arrived in front of a fairly impressive looking townhouse.  Vinyl fished around in her pocket for a moment before she pulled out her keys, the faint jingling sound much louder than it should be in the night.  “Well, this is my place.”  She gestured at her door for a moment, before she looked down at her feet.

“So, I guess this is goodnight, then?”

“Yeah, I guess.”  She turned towards her door, and I back down the street.  “Wait.”  I looked over my shoulder at her, and she had a small smile on her face.  “If you want, maybe we could hang out, or something, tomorrow afternoon.  I figure that since you’re so new to the club, it’d be in my best interest to get to know you a bit better.”

“Yeah, that sounds good.  You, uh, you want me to come here?  Or do you want to meet up somewhere?”

“Here is good.  I was just thinking that we could hang out some, and then get something to eat.”  She gave a quick shrug.  “It’s not like this is some super serious thing.  Just us hanging out and getting some dinner.”

“Great.  So, how does three sound?”

“Sounds like a plan to me.  I’ll see you then, Orion.”  She gave me a small wave as she entered her home, and I returned it for a moment before letting my arm drop limply to my side.  The smile on my face refused to fade as I walked along the streets of the city, the sounds of distant thunder adding just a bit of haste to my steps as I walked along the road.  I could see, way off in the distance, the flashes of thunder in the clouds, and I vaguely remembered that it was going to rain overnight and into the morning.

Only a short while after I left Vinyl’s place I was back in the middle districts of the city, the changes in architecture pointing my way along the winding cobbled roads.  As the deep blue of the sky changed to the murky blackness of cloud cover I swore softly under my breath, since I knew that even if I were to start running I wouldn’t be able to escape the coming downpour.  As I was finally transitioning from the middle districts to the poor districts of Canterlot I saw the wall of rain rushing towards me, and I let out a low groan as I ran for some cover beneath an awning.

The serene silence of the night shattered as the wall of rain reached me, and I just looked out into the downpour for a few minutes before my reverie was interrupted.  A guardsman rushed towards me, the water streaming off the ornamental plate mail as the pegasus sought shelter beneath the same awning as me.  The pegasus was hunched over for a moment, during which time I openly gawked at the characteristic membranous wings of the Night Guard, before the guard suddenly straightened up with a groan.  “By the Creator, they told me it was scheduled for an hour from now...”

That voice...  I know that voice...

I looked away from the guard, and out into the rain.  “Yeah, even with magic the weather is unpredictable.  They make approximations, but...”  I gave a quick shrug.  “It’s really all guesswork.”  I looked over at the guard as they removed their helmet, and her voluminous silver hair spilled from the metal confines.  I stared at her for a moment, her face strikingly familiar.

She looked at me at the same time, and her eyes went wide.  “Orion?  Holy shit, Orion, is that you?”  She took a step closer to me, and her look of amazement was replaced, briefly, with anger before turning to happiness.  She pulled me into a tight hug, and I awkwardly returned it.  “Orion, jeez, man, where the fuck did you go?”  She released me from the hug, still holding my arms as she looked me over.  “I was really worried about you.  Not even with all the contacts I have in the guard could I find you.”

I looked away from her as she let go of me.  “That was kind of the point, Selene.  I mean, I didn’t want to be found.  That would’ve defeated the purpose.”  She looked like she wanted to say something, but a slight slump in her shoulders spoke more than her words ever could.  “I’m sorry, Selene, but I couldn’t do it.  She was a monster, and I wasn’t going to get married for political reasons.  Plus, it was the whole royalty ‘forced’ monogamy shit.”

“She’s not really a princess, though, is she?”

“No.  That’s what makes it so bad.  She’s just some upper crust noble from Prance with a line of lingerie.”  I looked back at her with a small smile.  “At least now I’ve got my own place.  No more mooching off my parents...”

“That’s not funny, Orion.”  I looked out into the rain for a few minutes before I looked back at Selene.  “You missed it, by the way.  I was one of seven to make it in my class.  Now I’m a full member of the Night Guard.”  I raised an eyebrow, and she flashed a smile that purposefully displayed her lengthened canines.  “It’s not that bad, though.  The perks easily outweigh the negatives.”

“Sorry I missed it.  At least now I know that I’ve got a friend in the Night Guard.”  I looked out into the rain before looking back at Selene.  “Anyway, I need to get home.  It’s been a long day at work, and I should probably get some rest.”

“You have a place?  I mean, like, a real place.  Not just some little lean-to shack?”

“Yeah.  Not the best around, but it’s better than nothing.”

She looked at me with a new look on her face for a moment before it vanished, and in its place was a look of hopefulness.  “Well, I do have some spare room in my place.  I’ve seen you walking around before, but I never recognized you.”  She gave a quick shrug.  “It’s not a charity, though.  I expect you to pay rent and help out around the place.”

I only hesitated for a moment before I pulled her into a tight hug, a few tears falling down my cheeks.  She reciprocated the hug after a moment, and I felt the weight in my chest slowly lifting.  Not disappearing, but at least lightening some.  “Thank you, Selene.  I promise that I’ll pay you back for this.”  I broke the hug abruptly, holding her shoulders.  “I owe you more than I can say.  You name it, and if I can do it I will.  Any time, and place.”

Her cheeks flushed for a moment, and then she just smiled.  “I’ll hold you to that, Orion, but for now how about we just get your stuff and move you into my place.  It’s not that far from here, really.”



	

We slowly walked through the halls of the apartment building.  It didn’t take us that long to get from where we met up to my place, and she used her wings to shelter us from most of the rain.  “That wasn’t really all that funny, Selene.”

“I dunno, it was pretty funny to see your reaction when I let the downpour in.  Besides, my wing was getting tired.”

“Whatever, it’s this next room, here.”

Selene looked around slowly, her guard instincts forcing her to keep aware of her surroundings.  “I know you said that you lived in a shithole, but I didn’t expect it to be quite this... bad.”

“This is better than my first place, I’ll tell you that.  I pay top coin for this one room, Selene.  Eighty bits a month, not including water and magical lighting.  Oh, watch for Umbra.  She doesn’t like guests all that much.”  I pushed open the door to my room as Selene raised an eyebrow.  “Seriously, she’s blind but a vicious huntress.”

“She’s bli-- Sweet Celestia, Orion, she’s ADORABLE!  By the Creator she looks just like my cat!  Except, well, my cat is a boy cat.”

“Sweet Celestia?”  I only rolled my eyes as I gathered what few belongings I wanted to take with me.  “Really, I’d have expected you to be a bit more traditionalist in your exclamations.”  Selene was busy baby talking Umbra as I secured my last few stashes of bits inside of my bag.  “Seriously, Umbra, this is embarrassing.  All it takes to turn you into a docile little kitty is some baby talk?”

“Wait, she’s magic touched?”  I looked over to see Selene playing with Umbra, and I gave a quick nod.  “If you didn’t live here I’d say that you’re really lucky.”

“Well, now that I’m moving out I am lucky.  No more leaky roof, or screaming neighbors.”  I looked over at Selene as I finished packing my bag.  “And, maybe, there’s some heating in the winter?”

“Yes, there’s heating in the winter.  And running water, too.”  She gently cradled Umbra as she stood up, and I could hear her purring from where I stood.  “I don’t know why you were warning me, Orion.  She’s not only adorable, but well mannered, too.”

I scoffed as I walked to the door, my apartment contract in one hand.  As I locked up my room for the last time, I felt my smile grow just a bit wider.  When we got to the ground floor, I tossed the contract and my keys at the landlord.  “Termination on either side of the contract at any time, Lardo.  I read the whole thing when I signed it.  Since I’m terminating on you, not the other way around, I get last month’s rent back.”

The fat man’s eyes bulged as he looked at the contract I tossed at him, and then he glared at me.  “This...  This is a fake.  I’d never agree to something like this.”

“I’ve got a member of the Night Guard here who has had the contract reviewed by the guard’s legal advisors.  It’s both genuine, and legal.  Skipping out on this is a very bad idea.”  His face turned an impressive shade of purple as he counted out my pile of bits, and once it was done I gladly accepted the pile.  “Oh, and since I’m no longer a tenant, I thought I’d let you know that, first, that name is bloody awful.  Seriously, change it.  Second, your apartments are total shit.  Invest just ten percent of what you make into this place, and it’ll improve drastically.  And, lastly, take a fuckin’ shower already.  You smell like you’re made of shit.”

“You get the fuck out of my building right now, punk!  Since you’re not a tenant, you’re trespassing!  Guard, arrest this man at once for trespassing!”

Selene let out a sigh of relief, and then she put her helmet back on her head.  “There aren’t many laws that I memorize, sir, but there happens to be one dated almost two centuries ago that protects recently departed tenants.  Orion, here, has forty-eight hours to enact a full withdrawal from the building before you can legally charge him with trespassing.  Now, I suggest you stop harassing this law-abiding citizen before I begin issuing arrests for the blatant violations in housing law.”  Through her little spiel Lardo sank back into his chair, his face turning impressive shades of red and purple as his rage waxed and waned with each drawn breath.  Without a further word to the useless landlord, Selene turned and picked up one of the bags that I had put down.  She motioned for me to follow, and I did so in silence.

It wasn’t until we were exiting the slums that I spoke again.  “Selene, what the hell was that?”

“He was acting like an asshole, so I was just waiting for him to make a mistake.  Really, I kind of needed that.  I didn’t want to have to spend another shift writing up a report for why I wasn’t on my routine patrol route.”

“Yeah, I was wondering why you were allowed to just do whatever you liked during working hours.”

“Well, I’m not going to tell them I was helping you.  I’m going to claim that I facilitated a dubious contractual settlement that entailed legally questionable ramifications.”

“Shady dealings?”

“Pretty much, yeah.  Technical jargon sucks ass.”  As we neared an intersection Selene gestured off to the side, and the two of us were soon walking along a pleasant looking road, the houses on either side offering a pleasant view, while not having the gaudy and ostentatious look of upper Canterlot.  “It’s just a few more houses down, on the left side.  It took a pretty penny to get my place, even though it’s down here in the middle district.”  I looked around the area, quickly, trying to see why that would be.  When no apparent reason popped out at me, I shot Selene a quick glance.  “Yeah, I wondered why at first, too.  It’s the view.  Wait until a bright and clear morning, and you’ll see what I mean.”

I only nodded as she led me up the few steps that led to her door.  After a brief moment of fumbling with her armor, she pulled out a set of keys.  She fit the right one into the lock, and then she entered, stepping aside to allow me to come in as well.  The main room of her house was relatively bare, offering up only a couple small couches and a coffee table.  Once she closed the door behind me she let Umbra go, and she merely sat in place on the floor, her ears twitching rapidly.  I crouched down, dropping my bags and taking Umbra in my arms.

“Alright, Orion, here it is.  It’s a bit plain, I don’t really spend too much time here, but it does its job well enough.  I’ll show you to your room, now.”  I followed behind her as she walked through the building, and as I went I spoke very quietly under my breath to Umbra, describing the general layout of the halls.  She could figure out the layout on her own, but I wanted to make things as easy for her as I could.  When we got to the guest room she opened the door with a big flourish, displaying to me the complete lack of impressiveness that was my room.  “It’s far from some posh five star hotel, but at least it’s got four walls, a roof, and running water.”

“It’s more than I could hope for.  Great company, great location.”  I paused as I looked over at Selene.  “And, I suppose, that you’re here, too.”

She only scowled for a moment before she chuckled softly.  “I always told you that comedy was your calling.”

“Nah, genius like mine is best in small helpings.  It’d get old if I did a routine.”

“It’s old in any serving size.  Anyway, make yourself at home.  We’ll discuss rent and responsibilities tomorrow.  I do, kinda, have to get back on my patrol.  I’m already running behind.”  She looked at me for a moment, before she started turning to leave.  “I’ll be back later, since I just work nights, and it’s...”  She glanced at the clock on the wall.  “Only four in the morning.  Just three hours to go till I’m done.  You just get some sleep, now.  I’m probably going to just sleep when I get back, so we can talk tomorrow.”  I only grunted as I let myself fall onto her bed.  The sound of her armor rattling softly as she walked out of the room was the last thing I heard as sleep finally claimed me.
	
	

> Chapter III:  Digital Love (Daft Punk)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I groaned as I slowly woke from my slumber, the immense comfort offered by the mattress nearly lulling me back to sleep.  Sadly, for me, it was that simple fact that kept me from falling back to sleep.  My mattress was never that comfortable.  Except for when I got home drunk.  But that doesn’t really count.  Regardless, as my awareness returned in full force I found myself looking at an unfamiliar room, with incredibly sparse decoration and furniture.  The room was quite large, though, and the window afforded the sunlight a convenient way into the room.  With a few pops of my joints I got myself into an upright position.  As I rubbed my eyes I heard the soft sound of Umbra’s purring, and I quickly scratched her under her chin, prompting even louder purrs.

I climbed out of bed slowly, making my way over to the window so I could throw open the curtains and greet the morning.  Just before I reached the window, though, the door to the room burst open, and an irritatingly chipper voice forced the rest of my grogginess out.  “Glad you’re finally up, Orion.  I was starting to wonder if you were going to sleep away the entire morning.”

“Ha.”  I stepped closer to the curtains, but didn’t open them.  “No, Selene.  I was just stupidly tired.  Anyway, how are you up already?  Didn’t you have to do more guard duty stuff after you left me here?”

She offered a shrug when I looked over at her.  “Yeah, and I took care of it.  After I left you here I only had a short bit left to do.  Turns out that some of the other guards that I patrol with at night knew what I was doing, and they approved.  Sucks that I owe them now.  Anyway, after a bout of paperwork, and a brief explanation of what I did with you, I got to leave and come back here.”

She motioned for me to follow her, and I did so, still rubbing the sleep from my eyes.  “What time is it?  I have an appointment to keep at three.”

“Half past eleven.  I would’ve woken you earlier, but you looked so content asleep.”

I raised an eyebrow, even though she couldn’t see it.  “You watched me sleep?  Isn’t that kind of --”

“Nope.”  I rolled my eyes as we entered the kitchen, and Selene quickly started rummaging through the fridge, gathering up some various ingredients.  “So, I was thinking, how does 35 bits a month sound?  That would, of course, include food and stuff.  Y’know, water, heating, pleasant conversation.  Oh, and you’d also help around the house some.  Cleaning, maintenance, moving furniture, all that stuff.”

I didn’t even have to think about it before I responded.  “Sounds fantastic to me.  Hell, I’m just glad to be out of that old shit hole I called a home.  Anywhere is better than my old place.”  Selene just chuckled as she started scrambling some eggs in a pan.  I stood in place for a moment as she worked, suddenly finding my lack of familiarity with the room, and the house, to be a greater inhibitor to my helping than I thought it would be.  “I was hoping I could do something to help with breakfast, but...  I don’t know where anything is.”

She just laughed as she started instructing me on where she kept everything, and as I got some plates and silverware we just started sharing some of the more enjoyable parts of our youth.  We had known each other since elementary school, having gone to the same school.  Despite my status as a nobleman of a rather influential house in Canterlot my parents insisted on both my brother and I getting a regular education with as little pampering as possible.  She didn’t want either of us to wind up as being stuck up assholes.  It worked for me, at least.  Our conversation continued well into the actual meal, and long after we finished with what we had on our plates.

“And then, man, Orion, if you had seen your face.  That look of utter shock, I swear, funniest thing you ever did.”

“I don’t think that it was really all that funny.  I mean, really, why would Keeper ever trust you, you, of all people, to take care of a manticore.”

Selene pouted a bit.  “He was tame.  Come on, Orion, give me some credit.  I’m not incompetent.”  She rolled her eyes at my look.  “Okay, not completely incompetent.”  Several moments passed.  “Geoffrey the Gerbil didn’t die!”

I just shook my head as I stood, quickly grabbing all the dishes in my magical aura.  “He didn’t die because he was the class pet, and we all secretly helped when you weren’t looking.”  As I moved them over towards the sink I felt a sharp pain in my forehead, radiating from my horn.  I repressed the gasp I was about to let escape, but Selene was paying enough attention to see me falter.  “Still, Orion?  I thought you had that taken care of?”

I remained silent as I moved the dishes into the sink.  Once I finally released the magic I felt more drained than I should have.  “There’s not much that can be done, Selene.  Short of regular therapy, and a channeling ring, I’m stuck with an inefficient horn.”

“Didn’t your parents get you one?  The ring, I mean.”

“Yeah, they did.  A few years ago.  Too bad they need to be replaced once a year in order to keep working.  After a year the crystalline form of the ring starts to degrade.  More than a year and a half and the ring starts to drain more than it helps.”

Selene looked away for a moment.  “Maybe I could get you one from the guard?  We have some that we use for making training with spells harder, or easier.  Maybe one of those would help?”

“Maybe.  But I don’t really want you to just go out of your way, like that, to get me something.  How are you going to explain it to your officers, or whatever?”  She just shrugged.  “Well, that inspires confidence.”

“Don’t worry about it, Orion.  I’ve got a good bit of pull with some of my coworkers, and I’ll see if I can’t get you a ring.”  She fell silent for a moment, and she stood and came to my side.  “Who did you even get it from?  Your mom wasn’t a unicorn, so that’s out.  And your dad came from a long line of pretty influential unicorns.”

“My dad was good at posturing, but never any magic.  His whole line’s had it, as far as I know.  My horn, just like dad’s never fully formed during pregnancy, and so it’s lined with several internal fractures that refuse to heal.”  I brought a hand up to my horn, grimacing at it’s roughness and poor condition.  “Still, I do need to take better care of it, since even surface conditions affect proper magical manipulation.”

“No way!”  I grimaced at Selene, but her smile only grew, undeterred.  “You got hornicures back in the day?”  Her smile grew, once more, and I just sighed before nodding.  “Man, Orion, that’s priceless!  And you always acted like such a tough guy when it came up, but I never even...  I can’t wait to tell Silent.”

“She’s still around?  I thought she moved out to that suddenly famous small town?  Ponyville, or something.”

“She did, for a while.  Came back just before the return.  Joined Celestia’s guard, er, Princess Celestia’s guard, and now she’s dying to beat me to Captaincy of her division before I get it in mine.”

I finished with the dishes before I responded, helping Selene to get everything back into it’s proper place, memorizing where everything goes.  “Well, I certainly hope you get it.  What would it entail for you, anyway?  I thought that there was next to no way to ascend once you’re in Luna’s personal guard.”

“Technically true.  The highest post in the personal detail is permanently filled, but I can take the captaincy, and be done with that.”  She hesitated for a moment, looking away from me as she busied herself with a few knick knacks that sat upon a cupboard.  “I’d have to travel more, though.  As the captain, I’d be directly responsible for overseeing her Royal Darkness’ safety.”  She looked over at me.  “I’d be going everywhere she goes.  Every time.”

“I thought you liked to travel.  You were always ranting about the great trips you took each summer.”

Her cheeks flushed for a moment, and she started striding from the room.  “Whatever, it’s not that big of a deal.  Not like I can’t get the position.  I just don’t know if I really want all that extra responsibility.”  She stopped just before she was out of sight.  “Now, get yourself washed up, and then we’re going out on the town some.  I’m in dire need of a shopping trip, and you’re the perfect pack mule.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but then I closed it, and shook my head.  “So long as I don’t have to get a hornicure, I’m happy.”



	

“Running water, Selene!”  She rolled her eyes as we walked through the streets, my ragged appearance having vastly improved with just a splash, or twelve, of shampoo and body wash.  “Running water is the greatest gift we could have ever created.  I mean, just a couple decades ago plumbing was the most basic thing ever, if a house even had it.  Then this Daedalus guy comes along, and bam!  We have all this fancy-ass heated water, and plumbing in every house.”  Selene rolled her eyes as I continued.  “Shame that he just disappeared a couple years ago.  He was freaking awesome.  Did I tell you I met him once?”

“Yes.  You’ve told me.”

“Jeez, what a stick in the mud you are.”

Abruptly, she turned and stuck her finger into my chest, her entire demeanor shifting from relaxed to surprisingly tense in a flash.  “You were gone from my life, from everyone’s lives, for a year, Orion.  I had no idea where you were, and I was worried about you.”  She pushed her finger into my chest a bit more forcefully.  “Your parents were worried.  You didn’t have to deal with the fallout.  I did.  I got to watch it all from the sidelines, powerless to stop any of it.”

“Look, Selene, I’m --”

“No.  No, don’t say it.  You’re not, and we both know it.”

Her finger fell from my chest, and for just a moment I could see an emotion in her eyes I’d never seen before.  “You’re not the same girl I knew, are you?”  She stopped for a moment, her mouth closing as I cut her off.  “What happened while I was, er, gone?”

“I came to a few realizations.”  Her gaze seemed to pass through me for a moment, but then it quickly focused back on me.  “But now’s not the time.  You need to pick up a few things, and then you’ve got a date.”

I attempted to protest as we started, once again, down the street, but Selene would not have any of it, ignoring me and simply insisting that I was taking out one of the finest unicorns in the city.  Despite her apparent enthusiasm, I couldn’t miss the mildly upset glances she occasionally cast towards me.  It didn’t take too long for Selene to bring us to the major shopping areas, and not long after that she was leading me through the various shops, often stopping to browse for her own interests.  I was happy to be along with her, and after just three stops I was already reaching my limit for carrying capacity.

“Um, Selene, I’m getting to the point where my knees are threatening to give out.  Maybe, just maybe, we could call it quits soon?  I mean, you’ve spent how much already?”

“Three hundred and sixty three bits.  Why?  It’s not your money, and I make a ton as a personal guard.”  She picked up another garment as she spoke, holding it up to her body.  “What do you think of this one?”

“Five minutes ago, you picked that up, and asked me.  My opinion hasn’t changed; it’s still ugly.”

“Oh, who asked you?”  She stuck out her tongue as she put it back down, and turned to leave the store, her purchases already made.

“I still want to know why we were in there after you payed.”

“Look, someone has to pick something out for you to wear, and I’m hoping to get some inspiration from something I see here as we walk...  Isn’t that Vinyl?”  I looked around the bags I was holding, and I realized that the pegasus was correct.

“Yeah, that’s her.”  I glanced at Selene for a heartbeat, and felt a lead weight plummet into my gut.  “No.  Please, Selene.  Not...  Don’t.”

“Not don’t?  Weren’t you always going on about double negatives?”  Her smile grew.  She turned to look towards Vinyl, and her hands rose about her mouth.  “Hey!  With the blue hair!  Yeah, over here!”  I felt the blood drain from my cheeks as the unicorn looked our way, and started coming over.  “Fifth grade, Orion.  I told you I’d never forget.”

I could only look at Selene with a mix of horror, and admiration.  “I thought you’d forgotten about that one...”

She flashed me a quick smile before she turned to the approaching unicorn.  “Hey, Miss Scratch?”

“I prefer Vinyl, but yeah.  What’s up?”

“My name’s Selene, and I have to say it’s a privilege to finally meet you.  My friend was just telling me all about you.”

She motioned towards me, and I gave my boss a very feeble wave.  “Hey, Vinyl.  We’re shopping, some.”  I paused for a moment.  “Oh, Vinyl, this is Selene.  She’s a friend of mine from back in the day.  Selene, this is Vinyl Scratch, my boss.”

Vinyl looked Selene over for several moments, several looks flashing across her face as she did so, and then she sheld out her hand.  “Any friend of Orion’s is a friend of mine.”  The two shook hands, and I let out a breath I had been unconsciously holding.  “So, Selene, what’re you shopping for?”

The two of them swiftly dove into a conversation about clothing, and I quickly tuned the two of them out, only following as they visited several stores, and purchased several hundred bits worth of attire.  I missed most of the conversation, but I did perk up a few times when I heard my name come up.  Little of substance was covered, though, and about ten minutes later Vinyl walked off after giving Selene and myself her goodbyes.  The pegasus looked after her for several moments before she turned and looked at me.  I couldn’t pick out any one emotion behind her eyes, but I knew, somehow, that I was to blame for them.

Before I could say anything about it, though, she turned and started heading back to her home, and I followed a few steps behind her, suddenly less interested in my upcoming date.



	

“A bit on the minimalist side, isn’t it, Selene?”

“It’s not overdone.  You’re not going for some fancy dinner, or something, it’s just a meeting between a couple friends.  Or, at least, that’s the initial premise.  It’s up to you if it turns into something more.”  She walked a quick lap around me, and when she stopped in front of me, she had only a smile for me.  “You clean up well, Orion.”

“Thanks.”  I paused for a moment.  “I’m sorry.”

“You’re not, Orion.  I know you.”

“I’ll make it up to you.”

“I know you will.”  I brought up a hand, but before I could do anything with it, Selene turned and headed for the door.  “Now, you make sure you get back safe.  I’ll detail some guards for the paths you’ll be walking along, but I doubt you’ll be out that late.  And I’ve already pulled some favors with Silent, so you shouldn’t have any issues with the upper class.”

She stopped next to it, and pulled it open.  I took a few steps towards it, and stopped just at the threshold.  “Tomorrow night, Selene.  You and me.  Dinner.  And this time I won’t skip out on it by running away from home.”

Selene gave me a sad smile.  “You always had a way with words.  Now, go and meet with Vinyl.  I’ll be here when you get back.”

“Promise?”

“I do.”  She started closing the door.  “Go, Orion.”

I stared at the door for several moments before I turned to start for Vinyl’s place.  I knew that I was wrong to leave, but I also knew that I would be coming back before too long.  And, this time, I wouldn’t let my own fears and selfish wants get in the way.

As I walked the streets of Canterlot, my mind floated in a haze as I tried to figure out a way to pull together the pieces before me in a way that didn’t end in heartache, or tears.  No practical solutions came to mind, and it felt like I’d only been walking for seconds when I found myself on the street where Vinyl lived.  With an immense sigh, I walked up the stairs, and stopped before the door.  I brought my hand to the door, and I made a fist to knock, but I didn’t hit the door with any force, simply resting my hand there for a moment.

“By Terra, why is this shit so hard?”  Without thought, I pulled my hand back, and knocked several times in rapid succession, before taking a half step back away from the door.  I only had to wait for a moment before a woman I didn’t recognize opened the door.  Her black hair ran down her back, and she had the poise of a Canterlot noble.  I felt my breath catch in my chest as I surreptitiously looked at the house number.

“Orion?”

“I am he...”  I forced a rather loud cough.  “Yeah, that’s me.”

She looked me up and down, quickly.  “Vinyl told me you were a bit taller.”

I felt my cheeks flush.  “Well, I’m not short, if that’s what you’re implying.”

She only nodded before looking over her shoulder.  “Hey, Vinyl, Orion’s here.”

“Stall him!  I’m not ready yet!”

The woman in front of me dropped her head into her open hand.  “She’s the smoothest woman I know.”  After a moment, she looked up at me.  “I am now stalling you.”

I glanced past the woman for a moment, and then gave her a half smile.  “And you’re doing an admirable job.”

“Give her a turntable, and she works miracles.  Ask her to display some tact, or social awareness, and she’s liable to punch you in the face, and then offer you a drink.”

“Well, at least she has the order right.”  The woman raised an eyebrow, and I let out a weak chuckle.  “As, like, a reconciliatory gesture?  Not funny, I know.  Um, who are you, by the way?”

“Octavia.  Vinyl’s never talked about me?”

“Oh, yeah, she has.  But she never said that she lived with you.  Or...  You with her, depending on the ownership of the property.  Also, I never got a physical description, only brief snippets about your taste in music.”  I glanced past Octavia, again, before leaning in.  “I like Beethoven more than some of the bands that Vinyl likes.  Not that what she likes is bad, I just happen to prefer more classical music, most of the time.”

“Beethoven?  Really?  Could your taste in classical pieces be more obvious?”

“Well, I like Tchaikovsky, too, as well as Grieg, and Vivaldi.  To name a few.”

The woman’s jaw dropped a bit, but before she could say a word Vinyl bounded down the stairs, and she inelegantly shoved aside Octavia.  “Hey, Orion.  Sorry about the short wait, I had to finish up a few things.”  She turned to look at Octavia, and she mouthed something I couldn’t make out before turning back to look at me.  “So, shall we?”

I hesitated for a moment, and then gave Vinyl a smile.  “Sure thing.  Oh, and Octavia, it was a pleasure meeting you.  I’m a bit of a fan, so, perhaps, we can catch up some at a later date?”  She just gave me a slow nod, and I gave her a thumbs up.  “Great.  Now, Vinyl, let’s go.”  The DJ rushed past me, and she took my hand in hers, leading me down the road, and away from her home.  I was all too happy to follow, though, and we quickly lost ourselves in the myriad distractions made available in the capital.

Not a moment of the day was dull, and words flew between us fast and funny, quick witted and full of biting, yet amusing, observations about each other and the events around us.  Our travels took us from one end of the city to the other, and back again.  We stopped at countless different stores, never purchasing anything, but enjoying the time no less.  A visit to the Canterlot Royal Museum was oddly amusing, the various posh noblemen scoffing loudly at the childish behavior that Vinyl and I tried not at all to hide.  As we made to leave, Vinyl dragged me into the small gift shop, and it was there that the first purchase of the day was made.

Vinyl and I shared bouts of laughter as she paraded about wearing her replica of Princess Celestia’s crown.  She’d tried to convince me to get a copy of Luna’s own regalia, but I’d talked her out of it, instead opting for a simple amulet of ancient nobility.

“I’ve never had that much fun at a museum.  And the looks those other people were shooting us?  Priceless!”  Vinyl concluded her statement with yet more laughter, nearly doubling over with the intensity of it all.  I joined her, and after a few minutes we were finally controlled enough to continue our walk.  Vinyl still chuckled softly every few minutes, and we just stood side by side outside the museum as we looked out across the square.  I was about to suggest where we head next when I felt Vinyl’s hand take my own.  I felt my cheeks blaze, but I managed to avoid looking at her.  “So, Orion, how about we go for some dinner?  It’s getting a bit late, now, and I could go for some noms.”

I let out a snort, and I turned to look at the DJ, unconcerned with the blush on my face.  “Noms?  What are you, five?”  Her own face was as red as mine, but I could tell it wasn’t just from the laughter.  “We are smart and phosisticated.  We don’t get noms, we get om noms.”  I kept up a straight face for several seconds before it crumbled, and we both started laughing once again.  As I calmed down, I fought back my persistent giggles.  “Know anywhere nearby that’s good to eat at?  I don’t know if it’s obvious, but I’m not quite up to speed on what there is to do around here.”

Vinyl  straightened up beside me, and gave me a warm smile.  “It’s fine, Orion.  I know a great place not too far from here.  Not the fanciest, but they’ve got decent food, and they know me there, so maybe we’ll get a table, even if it’s packed.”

“Preferential treatment at a restaurant?  No wonder you got famous.  With perks like that, who wouldn’t want it?”

Vinyl gave me a quick shove, her expression telling me what she thought of my humor.  Still, she took my hand, again, after a moment, and we started walking towards the restaurant, wherever it was.  We didn’t speak, for some time, after the museum, but there was no need for it, as we were both comfortable with the lack of words.  Eventually, though, we arrived at a small hole in the wall, where Vinyl took us.  I had only a moment to look at the entrance before Vinyl brought us inside.

We walked straight through the main room, filled as it was with several tables, all full.  When we reached the kitchen, Vinyl walked straight up to one of the chefs, and stared him in the face.  “Get a load of this breeding stud.”  I felt my jaw drop, but the chef only smiled and motioned for Vinyl and I to follow.  We walked into the fridge, and the chef reached to a shelf covered in raw fish, and what looked like spoiled cabbages.  There was a loud clunking sound, and then the back of the fridge opened up, revealing a totally new, and well furnished, dining area.  Vinyl pulled me along, and the chef gave me a wink before the door closed behind me.  Vinyl continued leading me, and after just a moment we stopped.

“Ah, Miss Scratch.  Table for... Two?  If you’ll come this way?”  I finally caught up, mentally, and gawked at the maître d' as he began leading Vinyl and I.  We walked past several tables filled with people whom I recognized, and some with people I never knew.  Finally, though, we stopped at a secluded booth, the maître d' putting down our menus, and stepping back.  Vinyl and I each took our seats, and then the man pointed to our menus.  “The special for today is a slow cooked filet mignon, with finely whipped potatoes.  The wine list has been updated with our current stock.  I will leave you to your meals, and bon appétit.”  Without a sound, he turned and left, quickly making his way across the room.

I dragged my gaze back from where the man stood, to Vinyl.  Her cheeks were brilliant crimson, and she buried her face in her menu.  “You know a place, do you?”

“I didn’t lie.”  She refused to come out from behind her menu, so I reached out and pushed it down to the table.  “What?  I said I know a place.  And I do!”

“You also said that it wasn’t fancy.”

“Page four, five, and seven of the menu.  They make the meanest burger outside of Manehattan.  And they get their baked goods on express delivery from Sugarcube Corner.”  I raised an eyebrow, and Vinyl sighed.  “I keep telling the Cakes they need to do a bit of advertising.  It’s a small town bakery in Ponyville.  The best bakery I’ve ever been to.  And, get this, the Element of Laughter works there.”

“The town sounded familiar.  Now I know why.”  I looked at the menu again, and frowned.  “There are no prices listed.”  I looked at a couple more pages.  “There aren’t prices for anything.”

Vinyl nodded as she raised her menu again.  “Yeah, the food is all free.  There’s a weekly fee to come here, though.  The fee buys the passcode into the place.  That way, if you decide, or know, that you won’t visit for a while, you just don’t pay the fee.  Or, at least, not the eating fee.  I always pay the member fee, so I get the option to pay the eating fee should I come by.  It’s a bit more expensive, but worth it for times like this.”

“What’s this place even called?”

“It has no name.  On purpose.”

I waved my hands in the air.  “Ooh, how mysterious.”

“Keeps the paparazzi away, and that’s worth it.  Now, quit talking, and find something to eat.  I’m famished.”

I was about to comment, but I let it drop, instead bringing my gaze back to the menu.  I browsed for several moments before I settled on something to have.  Vinyl was done before I was, and when I put down my menu she gave me a smile.  A waiter came by moments later, and after we placed our orders, I looked around for a moment, and then looked back at the DJ.  “So...  Totally stupid question time.  Why me?”

Vinyl raised an eyebrow, and took off her sunglasses, tossing them on the table.  “What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I asked.  Why did you want to go out with me?”

“Well, for one thing, it’s not that stupid of a question.  You’re just insecure.  Nothing new there.  But, for you, it was the way you carry yourself.  That, and the fact that you flipped the bird to the entire noble society, rather than play their games.  Shit like that takes balls of steel.”

“You know about that?”

“Not at first.  I did some digging after I hired you, and I came back with results.  I don’t know the whole story, though.  I didn’t want to find it out that way, either.  I’d rather hear it from the source.”

“Well, not tonight.  I’d rather not spoil the evening with that story.  It’s the kind best told with liquor, and nowhere important to go.”  I hesitated for a moment.  “And you’re not the only one who wants to know.  I have some explaining to do to several people.”

“Selene?”

“Among others, yeah.”  I trailed off.  “Really, though, I’d rather not talk about this.”

“That’s fine, there’s plenty of other stuff we could talk about.”

And so we did, but the fun never quite returned for the evening.  We talked about work, and the kinds of people who go to the club, and some of the less savory parts of both the nobility and Canterlot.  We swapped some jokes, and some amusing stories of days gone past, but none of it was quite enough to revitalize the fun.  The meal was amazing, one of the best I’ve ever eaten, and dessert was an event all of its own, beating out the dinner for tastiest food I’ve ever eaten.  After that, we each had a few more drinks, and then we left, in the same way we entered, and we started back for Vinyl’s place.  She, again, took my hand in hers, but it felt different than it had before.

When we, at last, turned onto Vinyl’s street, I broke the lingering silence that had been in place since we’d left the eatery.  “I’m sorry, Vinyl.  I’m just not ready to tell you about it, yet.  I mean, I’ve only known you for such a short time.”

“It’s okay, Orion.  I understand.  I just wish that I hadn’t brought it up, since it seems to have murdered the evening.”

I chuckled, and gave Vinyl’s hand a gentle squeeze.  “No.  It wasn’t murdered.  Just gagged, bound, and tossed in the back of a carriage.  It’ll bounce back, and come back with a vengeance soon.”

“Was that you asking me out for a second date.”

My cheeks flushed, but I didn’t let it show in my voice.  “Was it a clever way of doing it?”

“I suppose it was.”

“Great, because it was.”

We stopped in front of Vinyl’s home, and I turned to face her, suddenly feeling nervous.  “Sure, Orion.  I’d like that.”  She pushed herself up onto her toes, and she gave my cheek a quick kiss, before she started up the steps to her door.  “A few days, maybe?  Lunch, the day after work?”

“Yeah.  That’s good.  We’ll go with that.”  The DJ gave me another quick smile before she opened the door to her home, and slipped inside.  I turned in place after that, and brought a hand up to the cheek that she had kissed.  I didn’t say a word as I started back to Selene’s place, and I was barely aware of the passing time as I walked.  I finally returned to full awareness when I grabbed the handle to Selene’s door, and found it locked.  I rooted around in my pocket for several moments before I realized that I didn’t have keys.  

“I didn’t lose them, since she didn’t give me any...”

The door opened, and Selene was standing before me, a pleased expression on her face.  “So, given how late it is, I take it things went well?”

“Well, we’ve already agreed to set up another date, so, yeah, I’d say things went pretty well.”  I almost missed it, but there was a flash of sadness in Selene’s eyes.  And it was right at that moment that I realized why.