The Party

Chapter 4

-----

Sticking close and staying smart, the two of you leave the room and begin to search. It’s a fairly casual affair, knowing you have a safe place to retreat to makes you feel a lot better about your predicament.

Other ponies are beginning to rise from their slumber and over the next hour the halls gradually become more crowded as the dishevelled masses migrate from room to room. Many are hungry and the next couple of store rooms you pass are completely cleaned out. You silently praise your early rising habits.

As you trot down a purple themed corridor that reminds you of a certain unicorn, a voice calls out from behind.

“Hey Shock! Wait up!” Together, you turn to see a green-furred mare galloping your way. You glance at Shock, who is wearing a very forced smile.

“Oh, hey Lavender! It’s… good to see you,” she says with gritted teeth. The pony called Lavender stops in front of you and beams at Shock.

“I was wondering where you went off to while I was chatting to Tulip.”

Shock’s expression breaks into one of rage. “Chatting? There are many words to describe what you were doing with Tulip, and none of them are chatting!”

“Actually,” you chime in without thinking, “My parents used ‘chatting’ as a euphemism for their... alone... time...” your voice trails off under the fiery gaze of your blue-maned friend.

Lavender quickly loses her cheerful expression. “Really, Shock? You’re one to talk. Have you ever met a mare and not fucked her?” She glances at you, finding more ammunition. “And who is this? Did you ‘forget’ you’re a lesbian again?”

You can tell Shock is struggling to reply, so you step in. “Take it easy, Lavender. This isn’t gonna solve anything. Clearly you two are done with each other, so why not just walk away and let it rest?”

Blowing a strand of brown hair from her face, she looks at you, then at the still-speechless Shock, then back to you. “Yeah. Yeah, fine. Just remember when you’re fucking her that she’s already thinking of her next target.”

Lavender spins and marches away, pushing through the small crowd that gathered in the corridor to watch. You step in front of Shock, shielding her from their eyes. “Clear off, you lot! Nothing to see here.” With the drama dissipating, the ponies disperse, muttering and laughing to each other. Some even look back at you with amused smirks.

Sighing, you turn around to face Shock, only to gasp in surprise at her watering eyes. You rush forward to hug her but she steps back. “Don’t,” she says quietly, scrubbing at her eyes. “Just... let’s move on.”

She continues walking the way you were originally going and you follow her silently. It takes a few minutes before she looks your way again, and when she does her eyes have cleared. “Sorry about that,” she says with a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” you reply.

“Thanks. I suppose we should keep looking for the control room, yeah?”

You give her what you hope is a reassuring grin. “Hell yeah. Let’s tear this place apart.”

Shock returns the grin and seems to regain some of her energy.

“Um,” you add awkwardly, “Any idea where it is? Or are we just gonna wander aimlessly?”

“I figured we’d know it when we saw it,” she replies casually.

“Did it occur to you that the room is probably hidden really well?”

“Duh. So I’m looking for a really good hiding place.”

You open your mouth to point out all the things that are wrong with her plan when you accidentally bump into another pony. Mumbling an apology, you step around them and try to continue, but are stopped by a hoof on your chest. Turning, you look properly at the pony you bumped into and meet the eyes of Twilight Sparkle.

Your brain shuts down. Time seems to stop completely, sounds fading into the background. There, standing in front of you with her hoof on your chest, is the unicorn you tried to proposition the previous day. The very same unicorn as Princess Celestia’s student. The same unicorn as the one who is widely acknowledged as the most powerful non-alicorn magic user.

And she’s looking straight at you.

“Hey...” she says softly.

“Hi,” you squeak.

Shock noticed you weren’t following her and came trotting up. “What’s the hold up?”

Twilight looks from you to Shock and back. You see something flicker across her face but in a split second it’s gone. “So... why did you run off yesterday?”

You avert your eyes. “Because I acted like an idiot. You’ve caught me now, alright? I won’t put up a fight.”

She looks confused. “What are you talking about?”

“Yesterday, when I led you into that room without thinking... I figure that’s probably grounds for an execution, or banishment at least.”

Surprisingly, Shock steps between you and Twilight. “Hey, don’t you dare try to steal my new best friend!” she growls in a show of loyalty you find oddly endearing.

“Best friend? I’m sorry; I thought you two were...” Twilight trails off as you grin at Shock.

“Somehow,” you say slyly, “I don’t see that happening.”

“Well that’s a rude thing to say, especially straight to her face,” says Twilight disapprovingly.

“No, um, we’re both fans of the fairer sex is what I mean,” you explain.

“Huh?”

Shock interrupts your half-formed response. “He’s trying to tell you that I’m gay.”

“Oh.” Twilight reddens considerably.

For some reason, the way Shock spoke sticks in your mind. There was something strange about it, like a tone of annoyance... or disappointment?

“Well,” the purple unicorn continues, pushing past her embarrassment, “Why do you think I want to get you executed or banished?”

You lose your patience with her oblivious manner. “Well shit, I don’t know, maybe because I led you into a bedroom with the intention of fucking your brains out?”

A very sudden pause follows your words. Twilight is bright red and wide-eyed at your confession, and Shock is speechless. It doesn’t last long. “Dude. You have balls of steel.” She smacks you on the shoulder. “Well not literal steel. At least I think not.” She ducks her head for a moment. “Nope, definitely not. Still, you have guts.”

You move your back legs closer together, slightly abashed at the sudden attention your genitals received. “Ahem. I, uh, shouldn’t have been so blunt. I’ll understand if you decide to execute me where I stand.”

Shock rolls her eyes and stands beside you. “Stop being so defeatist. Come on, let’s go down fighting.”

“Let’s?” you ask.

“What better reason to die than defending a friend?” she whispers, looking you straight in the eyes. You see something in those green eyes you never noticed before. Resolve. Unshakeable loyalty with a side of badass. But most of all, you see the greatest drunken decision you’ve ever made.

“Will you two calm down?” an exasperated Twilight says, snapping your attention back. “I’m not going to execute either of you.”

“You’re not?” you and Shock reply in unison.

“No! Though I was a little surprised by how... forward you were, I’ve since learned that sort of thing is rather common at this event.” Twilight looks a bit embarrassed. “I... I don’t go to many parties like this, you see.”

“No kidding,” mutters Shock.

“So what are you gonna do then?” you ask.

Twilight shrugs. “I wanted to spend time with my friends, but they’ve all wandered off.”

Shock looks at you. You look at Shock. You feel the knowledge of a thousand parent-taught lessons in manners come flooding back. You pout and Shock gives in. “Fine, but I’m not carrying her if she passes out.”

With a grin, you address Twilight. “You can hang out with us if you want.”

She perks up. “Really? You two don’t mind?”

Shock snorts with a burst of laughter. “You’re asking us if we mind? The stallion who openly admitted not thirty seconds ago that he wants to bang you and a mare you’ve never met before who probably shares the same desire?”

You wonder how Twilight remains standing as large quantities of blood rush to her cheeks. Her eyes flit around quickly, looking at everything except you. Being the merciful, benevolent pony that you are you take the spotlight off her.

“Stop torturing her, Shock. Let’s keep moving. We have to find... that... control ...hmm. There’s no point now, is there?”

Twilight smiles gratefully at your intervention, and Shock looks into your eyes. “I gotta level with you, dude. Escaping the long purple arm of the law was just gonna be a bonus.”

“What do you mean?”

“I want to see this place burn. I want to rip it apart brick by brick, pony by pony,” she replies, eyes blazing with deadly intent. But somewhere in those eyes you see a trickle of sadness, like raindrops upon a forest canopy.

“What’s wrong?” you say quietly. Twilight can probably still hear, but you make the effort anyway to show you know something is up.

Her eyes dim and she lowers them. “Lavender hasn’t left me in the best of moods,” she mumbles. You put a hoof around her neck and she leans against you, vision still downcast.

Twilight, oblivious as ever, abruptly interrupts your comforting session. “Oh, you’re looking for the control room? I know where that is.”

You instantly forgive her interruption, and apparently so does Shock. “You do? Where?!” she says excitedly.

“Behind one of the mirrors in this place. I didn’t have much time to go over the blueprints,” Twilight states matter-of-factly.

“You saw the blueprints? But they’re locked up somewhere in Canterlot!”

“Well, being the Princess’s student gives me many opportunities to peruse information stored in Canterlot... or in this case, Princess Luna’s bedroom,” the unicorn admits with a sheepish smile.

Shock greets it with a genuine grin. “You’re slyer than I thought you were. We’ll make a badass out of you yet.”

Twilight beams at the praise and you roll your eyes.

“Alright,” you say, “What do you mean it’s behind a mirror?”

Shock bops you on the nose. “Gee, I dunno. Maybe she means it’s behind a mirror?”

“Shut up.” You shove her away playfully. “I mean, which mirror is it? Do we just have to go around breaking them until we find it?”

“I don’t know.” The unicorn says simply. “Although if we did do that we would rack up a lot of bad luck.” She gasps in sudden realization. “What if bad luck compounds? We would end up with more bad luck than we could ever live through!”

You exchange a worrisome glance with Shock before responding. “You don’t strike me as the superstitious type.”

“Oh. Yeah... my friend made me think about things in a whole new way. It’s a long story-“

“-That we don’t need to hear right now,” Shock pertly asserts. You wince at the rudeness even though you aren’t exactly eager to sit through what would probably be a long, dull tale. “Look, we know it’s behind a mirror. That’s a better starting point than we could’ve hoped for, dude.”

You concede. “Alright. Let’s get going then.”

As the alpha male, you take charge and proudly march down the hallway. Shock snickers but follows, Twilight not far behind. Moving through a pink themed hallway with streamers everywhere, you can’t help but feel proud of how you’re handling yourself. Your very first time at this event and you’ve got a room, food, two lovely female companions with whom you may stand a chance, and you don’t even have a hangover.

There are still issues that need to be dealt with, of course. Twilight probably doesn’t trust you as far as she can throw you, and Shock clearly has some things to work out with herself, but all in all you believe it has gotten off to a relatively good start. Your cheerful mood abates when you pass an open door, through which two stallions are very vocally enjoying each other’s company. Swallowing the bile at the back of your throat, you pick up the pace.

“Hey, wait up dude!” Shock calls out. You turn back to see both she and Twilight are very slowly moving past the open door.

“Seriously?” you shout back. Shock just gives you a shameless grin and trots to catch up. Twilight does the same, only her grin is more of a blushing smile. She makes no excuses, falling into line on your right, with Shock on your left. “You two catch a good eyeful?” you say, slightly angry for reasons you can’t quite pinpoint.

“Damn right we did. And don’t you dare act like that’s a bad thing,” Shock slugs you in the shoulder. Twilight just giggles to herself.

“Whatever. Come on; let’s see what’s in there.” You point at a random dark blue door, the same shade as Shock’s hair.

Twilight opens it with a pulse of her horn as you all approach. Stepping inside the room, the first thing you notice is that it’s very dark. The only light is from the open door. The second thing you notice is how empty it is. Not a single pony is in the room, and the room itself is a featureless box with the only irregularity being a shadowed lump in the corner.

Shock, being arguably the bravest of your trio, approaches it carefully. She bends over it for a moment, and then stiffens considerably, backing up to the doorway where you and Twilight stand waiting. Her eyes are wide and she speaks quickly and quietly. “We’ve gotta go. Come on, back out.”

Twilight looks over Shock’s shoulder. “Why, what is it?”

“Nothing, let’s go.”

The unicorn floats Shock out of her way and walks curiously towards the lump. You feel sick to your stomach, imagination providing examples of all the possibilities. Pushing past Shock, you trot the short distance to Twilight, who is inspecting it. She goes rigid and recoils with a gasp. You lean over the lump and get a closer look.

There, lying before you crumpled and broken, a little filly sleeps. Only, you know she’s not sleeping. Broken glass has torn into her right foreleg and the blood no longer drips. Her little blue eyes are glazed and staring. Dried vomit crusts the edge of her mouth. Twilight gallops out the doorway and you hear her retch. The same compulsion enters your mind, but you hold it back, swallowing constantly.

Your body feels very hot all of a sudden, and voices take on a twisted sound like listening through a bad radio. Somewhere, a pony is leading you by the hoof into a bright corridor. Those little blue eyes. Those little eyes. She was so small. She was cute, too. She would have been beautiful. You’re moving quickly through multicoloured places now. A purple shape and a light red shape seem to be the only parts that stay the same

She had such pretty eyes. What did those eyes see before they stopped seeing?

Walls close in around you again, familiar but not comforting. You feel too sick to even vomit.

Your legs are weak and somepony pushes you onto a cool, soft place. The purple shape is beside you, and you can feel it shaking and heaving with sobs. Your ears slowly begin to function again, and words make themselves apparent.

“It’s alright, it’s alright, calm down, please calm down,” Shock whispers, whether to you or to Twilight or to herself you’re not sure.

“She had beautiful eyes,” your voice says, sounding high pitched. Twilight shakes even harder.

Climbing onto the bed, Shock pulls you both into a hug that you return quickly. Tears slide down your face and into Shock’s mane. She just squeezes you both harder and harder.

Those little blue eyes.