Night Mare

I awoke the next evening to a hammering on my door. Noticing that it was the ungodly hour of three, I was about to roll over and burrow back beneath my covers, hoping my uninvited visitor would get the hint and take a hike, when I realized that the hammering had a rhythm. That could only mean one pony or, more accurately, two.

I dragged myself from my bed and took a second to drag a brush through my mane and tail before trotting down the stairs. I stretched and reached for the door handle. The moment my hoof turned it, the door burst open and a pony leaped through, tackling me before lifting me in a powerful hug.

“Snow pony! 'Sup!”

I immediately curled up. The sun was still out and the golden rays of death arched around me, the shadow cast by Vinyl being my only source of refuge.

“Vinyl, honestly, could you be any ruder a house guest?” The soft, elegant, voice of Octavia floated across the threshold to my ears as she entered and pushed the door shut behind her. “We discussed this before we even made Ponyville. We're to wait at the door for Midnight to invite us in, not spring on her like an attacking Manticore.”

The moment the door closed, Vinyl released me and I fell to the carpet with a thud.

“So sorry, Midnight. Vinyl's been a little excitable ever since we left Canterlot. It's that new Stay Awake drink they've been selling. She gulps it by the gallon.” Octavia said as she placed her's and Vinyl's overnight bags by the door before slinging her Cello case from her back.

“Hey, I was just jazzed at seeing my favorite shut-in.”

“I am not a shut-in.” I retorted.

Octavia took a seat next to her lover and gave me an apologetic smile. “We would have sent a letter ahead, but Vinyl wanted it to be a surprise.”

“Yeah. You surprised, Snow pony?” Vinyl asked, jabbing me in a friendly manner.

“Surprised, Scratch? If I had woken up with my head sewn to the carpet, I wouldn't be more surprised than I am right now.” I scratched at my mane. “I thought you two were on tour.”

Recently, to consummate their relationship, Vinyl and Octavia went on a tour of Equestria, introducing a new style of music that Vinyl referred to as Dubstep Cello. Octavia just called it “noise”.

“We were, but we needed a bit of a holiday.” Octavia responded.

“So Tavi was like, 'where should we go'? And I said we should go see Snow 'cause we ain't seen ya in a minute. Then, she was like 'where we gonna crash?' And I was like, 'we'll crash at Snow's.' So, can we crash here for a couple of nights?”

I shook my head and crossed my forelegs. Even though I had plans tonight, I was not about to turn my two oldest friends away. Without replying, I went around Octavia, took their bags, and started for my guest bedroom.

“See? I told you we could always count on Snow.”

“Yes, Vinyl, but we still should have sent a letter ahead so she'd know to expect us.”

The two continued their disagreement as they followed me up the stairs. I rolled my eyes as Octavia tried to impress upon Vinyl the importance of consideration. Tavi was of a high-brow breed from Trottingham, her family being amongst the founders and one of the largest landowners. Etiquette had been drummed into her from an early age and I had seen the mare place a proper table setting while blindfolded, able to identify dinnerware by weight alone.

Vi, on the other hoof, had always been a feral filly, even back when we were foals. Her father, Quill Scratch, had been my father's accountant and, because he was a single parent, he brought Vinyl with him. There were photographs of us napping in my cradle together and playing with toys. I think there was even some old film of us having a “conversation”, chattering and responding in foal's tongue. Vi was my first and closest friend.

When she and Tavi first got together, I hadn't liked the mare. I thought she was so snobbish and anal-retentive that I had commented that she wouldn't sit down for fear of sucking up the furniture. She had to have everything just so and Celestia have mercy on any pony who moved even a single object out of place. Everything about Tavi rubbed me the wrong way and, fed up with her horseapples, I gave Vi an ultimatum.

Her or me.

“I love ya, Snow pony.” She told me, angrier than I had ever seen her, “I love ya, but I love Tavi and, if you can't be happy for us, then...then maybe we shouldn't see each other anymore.”

The thought that Vi was actually considering breaking off our friendship terrified me. Her words snapped me out of my crap immediately and I broke down, holding Vinyl as tightly as I could and begging her forgiveness as I wept into her mane. I couldn't bear losing my only friend, especially right after my parents had died.

Eventually, Tavi lightened up. Being near Vinyl can have that effect. Though she was still a bit of a pain in the plot, she also had a sarcastic and slightly sadistic sense of humor. I recall a time when Tavi and Vi were staying with me while their music career struggled. Tavi had gone with me to see an ill friend while Vi was going to stay and clean the house. We returned a few hours later to find the sink still piled with dishes, the floor still covered in grit, and Vinyl passed out on the sofa, an empty bottle of hard cider next to her hoof.

Tavi immediately took a pillow and began to pound Vinyl with it. The white unicorn squawked at her abrupt awakening and tumbled off of the sofa.

“Octabutt, what was that for?”

“Oh, I just wanted to compliment you on your excellent job cleaning the house while we were gone and thank you for putting such an effort into such an incredible task.” Tavi nudged the empty bottle with her hoof.

And that was only the beginning of Vi's punishment.

I set their saddlebags at the foot of the bed and a thud against the wall told me Octavia had brought her cello up. I turned to my friends as their discussion began to heat up, developing into a full-blown argument.

“Girls.”

“Are you so incredibly rude, Vinyl Scratch, that you can't take five minutes to put together a note to ask your friend if an extended visit would be convenient before you show up on her doorstep?”

“At least I'm not a stuck-up snob that makes nasty comments on other ponies taste in decorations.”

“I don't do that anymore.”

It was true. Octavia had gotten much better about keeping her comments and opinions to herself, especially when they were uncalled for. “Girls.”

“Oh, c'mon! You don't like to do anything fun. Remember the fuss you made over 'Tavilicious'? You said it was dreadful.”

“Because it was!”

I bucked the bed, causing it to knock loudly against the wall. “Girls!”

The two mares snapped towards me.

“Don't worry about it.” I assured them, “ I'm always happy to see my friends, but I have to leave for a while tonight. So, if you don't mind, you'll have the house to yourselves.”

“If you have plans, we don't want to impose.” Octavia replied, shooting Vinyl a nasty look, “We'll go stay at the inn.”

“No, no, no, no,” I replied. “I said that you could stay here and I intend to stand by that. I have a prior engagement but I still want to spend time with you. We still have some work to do for that album. I have a new song I've written for all of us.”

The couple followed me to my office. In my desk, next to a waste bin overflowing with crumpled sheets of paper, were a few sheets of very messy music. Granted, writing music wasn't my talent, but Vinyl and Tavi had learned how to decipher my pathetic attempts long ago.

I withdrew the sheet music and presented it to them. Vinyl took the paper in her magic and held it up while she and Tavi examined it. They were silent and I awaited their final say with baited breath. Vinyl's muzzle twitched, Octavia's ear flicked twice and, finally, the signal I had been waiting for appeared. The unicorn began to bob her head as the beat took form within her mind.

Octavia looked up and displayed a small smile. “It appears that we have a bit of a project to accomplish while we're here.”

I exhaled, “You like it.”

Without a word, Vinyl trotted past me and took a seat at my desk, gathering sheets of blank paper, a quill and a bottle of ink, and immediately began editing my work, making corrections and generally cleaning it up.

“Do you two need anything?” I offered.

“Privacy,” the unicorn muttered.

“Okay, so I'm just going to go.”

Vinyl flicked a hoof at me.

“Are you sure you don't need me for anything?”

Without looking back at me, Vinyl took a sheet of paper, balled it up, and launched it. It bounced off of my nose.

She could get a bit snippy when she was trying to concentrate.

Octavia spoke softly, “We'll be fine. I'm just going to make some coffee. She'll be up the whole night working on this. Go and see to your appointment. We'll have this ready for you in the morning.”

I nodded and returned to my room to dress. I hated being a terrible hostess and leaving my dear friends to their own devices, but I didn't want to break my promise to Luna so soon after convincing her that I cared about her. Still, they had given me their blessing so I was free to go.

Lifting my hood to cover my head, I slipped my glasses over my eyes and proceeded out the door, bound for the bluffs. During the daylight hours, the temperature had plummeted and we would see a frost before the night was done. I positively reveled in nights like these, when the frigid air would make your lungs prickle and bring an extra spring to your step.

I thought of how much I enjoyed talking with Luna and how achingly beautiful she was. My walk became a trot, which gradually grew into a gallop. I couldn't wait to see her again. Charging up the path with reckless abandon, I nearly stumbled a few times and, at one point, nearly ran right off the edge of the cliff.

I decided to slow my pace after that and arrived at the top of the bluffs without further event.

Luna, however, was nowhere to be seen.

I scanned the area, hoping that she was standing in plain sight and had merely taken off her cloak, but the clearing remained deserted. With a sigh, I trudged to the edge of the cliff and sat down, content to wait until she arrived.

Staring down at the town below, I could see why she liked it here. To many out-of-towners, Ponyville, with its dirt roads and thatched houses, seemed like the place where bumpkins came from. Below me, the lights glowing out of the windows. I had once seen this same scene on a snowy night and it looked like a Glowing Hue painting.

“I hope I haven't kept you waiting.”

I started at the soft voice and turned as Luna trotted up beside me and sat down.

“Not long at all,” I replied, relieved that she had shown.

“Good,” Luna said, looking more than a little relieved herself. “It was...difficult to get away this evening. It seemed that, just as I'm about to walk out of the door, some pony needed my attention.”

“You sound like you could use a vacation.” I pointed out, sidling closer to her until our flanks were touching.

“I suppose a vacation would be nice, but I cannot shirk my responsibilities for even a day. I would feel terrible about leaving my sister to do them. Besides, if I informed her, she would make a big fuss over me leaving. I fear she still thinks of me as the tiny foal she watched over for so many years.”

“So, sneak away.” I suggested.

She shook her head. “No. She does worry so sometimes.”

I shrugged. “She doesn't seem to care about you wandering off at night.”

“You're joking. Have you any idea of how long it took me to convince her that I could avoid being ponynapped or murdered?” She hung her head. “Sometimes, I feel she doesn't trust me to take care of myself.”

“It's not like that.” I assured her, “It took a hay of a song and dance to convince my parents to let me go out at night. Even then, they would take turns stalking me for over a year. They were terrible at it, but I pretended not to notice them. My point is that your sister does trust you. How else could you be here and not locked in a tower somewhere? She also cares a great deal for your well-being. She wants you to be happy, but she also wants you to be safe. It's a fine and difficult line to walk at times.”

Luna gave me a gentle smile. “How does one so young become so wise?”

I felt a blush at the compliment. “Age has little to do with experience and revelation. Besides, I can't be much younger than you.”

Luna's ears dropped and she looked away. “I'm much older than you think.”

That statement took me by surprise. “Really? You wear your age very well.”

She blushed. “Thank you.”

I stood up again. “I'm sorry, but I have to go. Two friends of mine showed up unexpectedly this evening and I'd hate to be a poor hostess and leave them for long.”

“You are fortunate to have so many friends.”

I reached up and rubbed a hoof along her back. “They could be your friends too.”

“Do you think?”

I scoffed, “Yeah. They would love you. Tell you what.” I reached out and pointed at a house, one of the larger ones, not far from the library. “That is my house.”

Luna leaned down to follow my leg. “The one with the pony weather vane?”

“No, the one next to it.”

“Ah, I see it.”

“Meet me there tomorrow.”

“Are you certain?”

I gave her a confident smile. “Of course. I want nothing more than for you to meet them and I'm sure they'll love you. You will come, won't you?”

She nodded. “Of course. I look forward to it.”

I turned and trotted away. “See you tomorrow, then.”

I returned home to find the house completely silent. I expected to hear Tavi and Vi talking quietly, or, perhaps arguing loudly, but I couldn't hear a single thing. Quietly, I crept around the house. I don't know why I crept around my house when I'm usually the only occupant. Perhaps it's a habit left over from when I sneaked out without my parents permission.

Carefully, I made my way up the steps and into the hallway that led to my office. “Vi? Octavia? Are you okay?”

I knew that the mess I had made of that sheet music would take most of the night to clear up, even with both of them lending their talents. I expected a hushed disagreement over some squiggle that was supposed to be a note. Instead, they were both stretched out on the floor, fast asleep in each others embrace.

I felt a pang of guilt for having asked them about the music. I knew Vinyl would want to work on it immediately, but I knew both of them would be exhausted after such a long trip. They would want to rest, not work on some horseapples project that I had doodled up while bored. Granted, I had never actually asked Vinyl to work on anything, but I knew, the minute I showed her that paper, she would want to work, despite how exhausted she must have been and Tavi would want to work with her, despite having put up with Vinyl's antics for hours beforehand.

I went to the hall closet and fetched a blanket. Carrying it back into the office, I draped it over them and, with a sigh, returned to my room.