Chapter 1: Relaxation Gone Wrong
Over the dark skies of Cloudsdale the atmosphere was cold, nothing but the sound of the distant wind rushing over the cloud city. This left the lower part of Cloudsdale relatively quiet, helping a certain pegasus out when she was stressed.
“Why is this so bucking hard?” Spitfire cursed to herself in an angry tone, as she sat behind her desk in the Wonderbolts’ headquarters. The captain was looking over mountains of stacked up papers, filled with application forms that she had to evaluate, mark, and report on. The mare groaned in annoyance as she turned to look out the office windows. Seeing the vast open sky made her wings ache for flight, but Spitfire had to resist the temptation to do so.
Snapping her head back to the desk in front of her, Spitfire continued with her current job. After she had completed a few of the forms, a knock sounded at her door.
Spitfire sighed. “Come in,” she said in a slightly exhausted tone.
The door opened to reveal a pale blue stallion, his emerald green eyes searching the room until they came to rest on the stack of papers. “Spitfire, um... are you alright?” he asked.
“Couldn’t be better, Soarin,” Spitfire replied as she continued to write something down on her desk.
Soarin made his way around the stack of papers as he saw his captain filling out a form looking identical to the stacks around him. “Are you filling out—”
“All of these?” Spitfire finished, pointing an accusing hoof to the stacks. “Yes, I am, and know what's really funny? Fillies and colts dream of my job every day, just wait until they get to this,” she said, finishing another form before moving it to the side and picking up another.
Soarin gave an uneasy look between the stacks and his captain. “Don’t you think you should take a break, Spitfire? I haven’t seen you come out all day.”
“What? And leave all this?” Spitfire said in a slightly stunned tone. Soarin looked away while rubbing the back of his neck with a forehoof.
“I dunno, Spitfire, I’ll cover for you for this nightshift... Hearts and Hooves Day isn’t too far away, maybe you should go spend time with your special somepony.”
Spitfire stopped writing and slowly turned to face her lieutenant. “I don’t have a special somepony, Soarin; I work all day, what makes you think I have time to be seeing anypony?”
Soarin smiled warmly at this. “Well then, maybe it’s time you found one.”
“What are you playing at, Soarin?” Spitfire asked, raising an eyebrow.
Soarin threw his hooves up in the air. “Nothing, Spits, all I’m saying is you’ve worked all day long every day for the past few weeks. You should just take a break and see where the day takes you, I’ll handle everything here. I’m just helping out a friend,” Soarin finished as he put a forehoof on the mare’s shoulder.
Spitfire thought about the proposition for a moment. She knew the lieutenant stallion was right, but where would she go?
“What would I do, Soarin?” she asked quizzically.
Soarin rubbed his chin with a forehoof as he pondered. “Hmm, maybe just take a flight. I’ve seen you staring out those office windows,” he said as Spitfire grinned sheepishly.
“Okay, Soar... you win, I’ll see you later,” Spitfire said, getting up and out of the chair she was currently sitting on. Soarin smiled as he watched the mare leave. When he heard the sound of the door closing he turned back to the large pile of papers.
Soarin’s wings drooped to his sides. “This is gonna be a long night at the office,” he mumbled as he sat down and got to work.
Just outside the Wonderbolts’ headquarters, Spitfire trotted out onto the main city streets of Cloudsdale, the white, puffy landscape bringing a smile to her face. She happily breathed in a lung full of thick, fresh air. Loving the rejuvenating feeling it gave her, she spread her wings before taking off into the open night sky, happy to be taking the rest of the dwindling day off.
Spitfire quickly got to a good altitude in the sky. She looked down from her position in the air, a large smile started to form over her muzzle as she felt the wind in her mane, passing through her wings, giving her the feeling of complete and utter bliss. Spitfire slowly started to turn into a barrel roll as she lazily darted about the sky, performing a few tricks. However, the tricks she performed began to become a little more daring with the increasing joy she began to feel inside.
Spitfire began to dive into a Wonderbolts routine she had been practicing with the other members of her team; it involved some moves that she came up with herself. Turning her wings ever so slightly, Spitfire went into a helix. Gravity began to pull her down fast, sending her into an even faster spin, all the while her golden-fiery streak setting the sky ablaze as it danced into the circular wind pattern she was creating in her move.
Spitfire felt her mind start to get dizzy, so she quickly switched her wings back to level herself out into a more steady flight. She landed squarely onto the dirt street of a village, not to far out from where Cloudsdale was at the present time. She looked back to see the fading remains of her trick. “I’ll definitely be putting that in the routine,” she said to herself.
“You're telling me, that was awesome!”
Spitfire snapped her head around to see a white colored unicorn with an electric blue mane. She raised a curious eyebrow. “How long have you been here for?” she asked.
The unicorn grinned. “Ever since I saw this crazy yet slightly good looking pegasus performing tricks in the sky as I was making my way to the club.”
Spitfire rolled her eyes before drawing a slightly confused look. “Club?”
The blue maned mare pointed her hoof to a neon lit club in the distance, beyond it was a large earth pony town hall. Spitfire smirked. “Well it’s nice to see you again, Vinyl Scratch.”
“You too, Spitfire,” Vinyl replied as she bumped hooves with her friend. “So what are you doing here?” she asked.
Spitfire let out a sigh. “Soarin says I’ve been working too hard lately, so I went on a flight. What about you?”
Vinyl pondered the question for a few moments. “Besides being awesome, nothing else. Everypony’s getting ready for all that mushy Hearts and Hooves Day stuff tomorrow,” she said, pulling a disgusted look. Spitfire nodded in agreement.
The unicorn smirked. “So, have you got a special somepony?” she asked as she began trotting towards the club, Spitfire following suit.
Spitfire shook her head. “Nope, I’ve spent too much time in that office, I’m pretty sure my only friend is the pen I’ve been using to write with lately.”
Vinyl muffled a giggle and then proceeded to smile a little sheepishly as she spoke. “Well... do you wanna, I dunno... hang out? I mean I’m meant to be at this club all night, so...”
“Hang out?” Spitfire repeated. Vinyl nodded casually.
“Yeah, it’d be fun, right?”
Spitfire thought about the option. She didn’t want to upset the mare. “I... sure, it’ll be fun I guess.”
Vinyl smirked happily. “Great, to think I'd be just be swaggering in here a lone celeb, now I got another with me," she replied, giving the pegasus a nudge. Spitfire felt a flush of embarrassment spread to her cheeks, but they never showed through her fur.
The two ponies quickly made their way down the street, guided by the light from their destination. Standing at the door to the club was a large stallion around the same height as Big Macintosh, he turned to look at the mares, quickly recognizing the DJ and then the Wonderbolt. He grinned before swinging open the large wooden door, inviting them to enter. Vinyl led the way, making sure Spitfire stayed close so they didn't lose one another through the crowds. They weaved throughout the many ponies in the dim light of the club. The music reverberated off the concrete walls of the nightclub, the smell of alcohol fresh in the air and the loud noises of the bass drowning out most of the ponies’ wild conversations. Soon however, Vinyl and Spitfire both managed to reach the stage, which was located towards the back of the large building.
As the pair reached the decks they spotted the current DJ, who was a brown stallion with a white and red mane. The noise of the music playing seemed to distract him from the mares coming up onto the stage and Vinyl had to tap the pony on the shoulder to get his attention. The stallion turned and ginned when he saw the fellow DJ.
“Well there you are, Vinyl, it’s coming close to the end of my shift, thought you’d never turn up.”
Vinyl rolled her eyes. “You think I’d miss making this night the best it can be, besides I'm pretty sure they stopped playing this crap in the 90s,” the mare shot back in a boastful tone, grabbing the headphones from the dumbstruck stallion’s forehoof, while Spitfire contained a giggle. The pony shook his head playfully before trotting off the stage, Spitfire watched the stallion leave before looking back over to her friend who invited her with a hoof to join her at the decks. Spitfire cantered up to the large piece of equipment, lined with a various assortment of buttons and sliders which controlled the music played. Vinyl started flipping a few of these switches before levitating a record onto the deck and began playing an entirely new song. This one sent more vibrations through the club and had a much stronger beat than before. Spitfire felt her heart rate rising as she watched the dancing crowds below, one thing was definitely clear in her mind ‘this is so much better than paperwork’.
“So, Spitfire, how have you and your little Wonderbolt gang been since we last met?” Vinyl asked, letting out a satisfied exhalation before setting her drink down at the bar. The pair had been on the stage talking for a few hours, both had decided to take a break, but the night was still young. Both had just sat down and ordered drinks at the club’s bar, having a relaxing moment to themselves while others danced wildly behind them.
Spitfire felt her heart rate start to relax after taking a glass of her hoof-tonic, she’d spent a lot of the time laughing and dancing and hadn’t realised how tired she’d actually become. Vinyl however was even more worn out, Spitfire could surely say that the job of a DJ was a lot easier said than done. “Well, we haven’t been on tour recently, besides training for the Games and marking paperwork it’s been pretty much nothing,” Spitfire replied in a dejected tone, taking a sip of her drink before leaving it in the grasp of her hooves.
“Yeah I can see you're really enthusiastic about that paperwork,” Vinyl started in a sarcastic fashion. “Still, now that you got me back we can party hard all night, hey maybe you'll even get a bit of stallion too!”
Spitfire eyes widened in embarrasement. “Vinyl! What are you talking about, I mean really, me with a stallion on a one night stand, could you see the headlines!"
The unicorn began laughing as she shot back a reply, "Well I guess I would agree, besides I've always expected you to come out and say you like mares, wouldn't blame you either."
Spitfire was about to mark a response, before she silenced herself and just shook her head in amusement at her slightly drunken friends words, she quickly brought the conversation back on topic despite how tipsy both of them were getting. "Vinyl, you're acting like you and me haven’t hung out in a long time, I saw you last week for the Gala and besides we’re best friends aren't we?”
Vinyl smirked in response, she mockingly changed her expression to that of shock. “Spitfire, I’m flattered you consider me a friend,” she said, putting a forehoof on her chest before letting out a snicker, Spitfire following suit.
The DJ pony guzzled the last of her drink before signalling the bartender for another. “So, life’s shit, I’m glad I can be of assistance.”
Spitfire muffled another fit of laughter before speaking, “No, it’s just you’ve always been a close friend, so I’m obviously gonna say yes when you ask me to hang out.”
“You just can’t say no to my awesomeness.”
Spitfire raised an eyebrow. “Really, Vinyl?”
The pony in question turned to look at the mare. "Okay, so maybe we've been best friends since middle school, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m just the most awesome pony ever.”
Spitfire facehooved, wondering why her parents had sent her to Canterlot’s school for mares. “I dunno why I chose you to be my friend.”
Both ponies burst out in laughter a few moments later, grabbing their drinks before downing them. They spoke for a length of time, catching up with one another. Spitfire felt happy she could take a load off, she’d been working hard and Vinyl always seemed to get
Spitfire off her mind about life in general. The fiery pegasus was never a lazy pony, even back in school the mare was always a non-stop filly, luckily Vinyl was always about to keep her company and always provide a short escape of relaxation.
After a while Spitfire’s body started to tingle as she felt the bass picking up once again. She turned to look up over the crowds expecting that Vinyl might have gone back to the decks while she was daydreaming, but she didn’t see Vinyl on the stage. Before she could turn back, a hoof tapped her shoulder. Spitfire looked to see her friend, she still had the same look she had when they met before coming into the club, Spitfire wasn’t sure what she looked like now, she was very drunk, she could tell, but she didn’t really care.
“Come on, Spitfire, this song brings out the best wubs, let’s dance, then we can go back on the decks!”
Spitfire felt her heart freeze slightly. “Dance…” she repeated. “I dunno...I’m not a great dancer.”
Vinyl rolled her eyes, dragging her friend closer to the dance floor. “Come on, Spitty, it’ll be fun and besides who doesn’t like to dance?”
On normal occasions Spitfire would have rather watched from the sidelines, however the alcohol she’d drunk on top of all the ponies around doing a lot worse than she was at this mental stage in the night, she let out a sigh and nodded her head before following Vinyl into the crowds. They both weaved in and out of the many ponies which crowded the multicolored floor. It didn’t take Spitfire long to get separated from her friend, the pegasus looked around for the iconic electric blue mane, but she couldn’t see it anywhere. She turned around to look in a different direction as a hoof grabbed hers, she turned back around and smiled along with Vinyl. The unicorn waited patiently as Spitfire stood in the crowd feeling slightly awkward, after a few moments Vinyl started to laugh. “Y-You know how to dance right?”
Spitfire felt her cheeks turn slightly red, “Well... I haven’t ever really danced before that much.”
Vinyl stared at the mare slightly shocked, she then shook her head and held out a hoof. “Well then we’re just gonna have to do something about that, can’t have you ruining my style.”
Spitfire giggled and took the ponies hoof as they both started to dance slowly to the music, the bass was slower at this stage making it easy to keep pace with, even though the drunken world Spitfire was becoming accustomed to wasn’t making it easy on her or Vinyl. When the beat gradually started to rise the more Spitfire and Vinyl began enjoying themselves. It was as if something amazing was building up inside them, the faster the beat got the more intensity filled the room. When the song hit its climax everyone including Spitfire let all inhibitions go, their minds slowly drifting off with it. At this moment everything slowed down, the only sound Spitfire could feel was her heart and the only thing she could see was the face of her friend, the purple tinted shades bringing a blinding light to her eyes from the floor.
Then everything went dark…
A large sigh escaped the lips of the Wonderbolt, she could feel the pain coursing out through her sore limbs with every pulse and the headache which was slowly destroying her sense of thought. Spitfire groaned as she strained to open her heavy eyelids, she tried to move upright but her body insisted she stayed in her laying position. She could feel the soft, huggable duvet of the bed hugging her lower hooves and flanks all the way up to her chest, but there was a separate warmth too. When Spitfire managed to open her eyes fully the world around her was slightly hazy, but she could quickly spot out the earth pony bed and a few other things in the room. It was white painted and had records of different songs on the walls. Her eyes then started to adjust more and it was then that her eyes caught the electric blue mane, which was laying on the pillow next to her, Spitfire also realised quickly that its owner was snuggled up to her side and breathing soundly.
Spitfire put a forehoof to her head, racking her brain for at least one bit of information on how she got here, but nothing came to her scrambled mind. Her eyes darted across the room hoping to find an image that would hopefully jog her memory, but it was a fruitless effort. After a few more moments the mare gave up completely, she sighed, moving her head slightly so she was facing her friend. She laid there for awhile, feeling the warm breath from the unicorn's muzzle wash off on hers. Then, suddenly an idea popped up in her head, maybe Vinyl knew how they'd both ended up here.
Spitfire gently moved her hoof through the velvety covers of the bed and over to her friend’s shoulder, she shook the unicorn slightly hoping to awaken her. “Hey, hey Vine, are you okay?” she asked hesitantly. The white mare just gave a grunt in response before moving her face into the pillow to try and block out the sound. Spitfire started to get a little frustrated with the lack of progress and shook the pony a little harder. Finally Vinyl started to awaken in the same slow and grueling process that Spitfire had only moments before. Vinyl put her forehooves on her head, Spitfire automatically knowing that both of them were gonna be suffering from a really long hangover all day. It took the unicorn a few minutes before her eyes opened, not having her trademark glasses on revealed her ruby eyes to Spitfire. The pegasus had always liked that color, it showed mischief, but Vinyl was always good at heart, in a way it made Spitfire think a bit about herself. Suddenly though her train of thought was cut off when the mare spoke up.
“Aurgh... I hate Mondays.”
Spitfire resisted the urge to laugh. “It’s Saturday, I think,” she replied casually. Vinyl just swatted a hoof at the mare, Spitfire letting out a small giggle, but she calmed down quickly to ask her question.
“So... do you remember what happened last night?”
Vinyl looked over at the mare with an annoyed expression. “Keep it down, will ya? My head feels like it’s about to explode.”
Spitfire nodded, feeling the same way, she watched Vinyl lay there, pondering for a moment before she finally replied with an answer, “I think I might do," she started, her forehoof brushing through her mane. "But you're not gonna like it.” she finished giving her friend a nervous look.
Spitfire felt the nerves in her body rise as she spoke quietly. “What are you talking about?” she asked.
Vinyl was silent again for a moment, but then she slowly slipped a hoof under the covers of the warm bed, Spitfire could see the mare searching for something under the covers. The unicorn then found what she was looking for and slowly started to pull it out revealing an certian item which made both mares’ eyes widen in shock.
Spitfire looked at the item with curious, yet slightly nervous eyes. “W-What do you think we did last night?” she asked.
Vinyl sighed. “I-I...” she started. “I... think we... bucked.”
To be Continued
