The Music of Harmony

They ran together to the bar and made it to the entrance. Octavia stopped and turned to face her friend.

"Now Vinyl, we're here on business, so be professional."

"Of course," she said excitedly. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"That means no drinks. We need to be serious here."

Vinyl's heart sank. "Aw, c'mon. Why? We could very well die in the next few days. A couple of drinks won't hurt anypony. Please?"

She sighed loudly. "Fine, but try to stay at least somewhat sober, will you? Don't be stupid."

"Alright! Thanks a million, Octavia!"

She sprinted in as fast as she could before her roommate could change her mind. Octavia took a deep breath and followed. Vinyl was already at the bar, and she came by a few moments later with some drink that Octavia did not recognize. She took a sip, and grinned widely.

"Wow! This stuff is good. You sure you don't want some?"

Vinyl waved the glass in front of her face. Octavia pushed it away.

"Focus, Vinyl. This is important."

"Oh, well. More for me then."

She chugged the rest and set it on the counter. The bartender handed her a new one.

"OK, so who do we have to meet here anyway? Do I know them?"

"You might if you saw them. They have to be here somewhere."

Octavia looked around, trying to find Derpy and The Doctor.

"Oh, there they are! Let's go meet them. We don't have time to lose."

She stopped when she got a second look.

"Uh-oh. I think we're a bit late."

"What's going on?" Vinyl asked. "Did you find them yet?"

"Yeah. They're right over there."

She pointed with her hoof. When Vinyl saw them, she started to laugh.

"Does this mean I still have to stay sober?" she asked hopefully.

"No, go right ahead."

Octavia was feeling a bit upset. So much for having a professional meeting. It would be a miracle if they got anything done.

"Oh, and Vinyl?" she asked.

"Yes?"

"Get me a drink too."

Vinyl looked back and smiled. "This is becoming more fun than I thought."

She walked off back towards the bar. Octavia took a longer look at the state of her friends. They were sitting at a table, giggling uncontrollably with several empty bottles and glasses surrounding them. Across from them was Lyra Heartstrings and her friend Bon-Bon, two fillies that lived in town. They were chatting and laughing so much that you would think they were all related.

Octavia braced herself and walked over to their table. She tapped on Derpy's shoulder to make her turn around.

"Hi, Octavia. How have you been?" she asked. "I found The Doctor like you told me to."

"Derpy, we can't talk about the dream here. It's a serious matter, and we can't discuss it when both of you are completely drunk."

Derpy looked disappointed. "But we just met these cool ponies here," she gestured at Lyra and Bon-Bon. "They said they had the dream too. Luna also told them that they were the last members, whatever that means."

Octavia was surprised to hear that. She really didn't know Lyra and Bon-Bon very well, but apparently they were the last members Luna would recruit.

Vinyl Scratch then came by with the drinks.

"I didn't know what you wanted, so I just got what I thought you would like," Vinyl said as she handed Octavia a glass.

She took a small taste to be sure. It was delicious. Vinyl had been right.

"So, how about you introduce me to your friends here?" She asked.

"Well, this one is Derpy Hooves," Octavia said as she pointed at the cross-eyed pegasus.

Derpy waved happily. Vinyl gave her a nod in return.

"And this one is-"

Vinyl cut her off. "The Doctor. I remember him."

"Ah. So you two know each other."

"Yes. This is the jerk who disqualified me from the 'Equestria's Best Young DJ' competition."

The Doctor had heard this and now turned to join the conversation.

"I did, but for good reason," he said calmly. "The rules clearly stated that all solo tracks could be no longer than five minutes."

"Mine was literally five minutes and one second!" she argued.

"And by the rules, you should have been disqualified. That's why you were."

"That track was a total masterpiece! Couldn't you overlook one second?"

"No. Time is always important. If you overlook time, then what do you have left? Not much. Besides, the whole problem could have been avoided if you had just cut short the extended club buildup in the beginning."

Octavia knew this was a mistake. Insulting Vinyl Scratch's music was the best way to make her angry.

"You're lucky that you're drunk, or I'd tear you to pieces right now," she said aggressively.

She then turned and walked away. This surprised Octavia. Usually, Vinyl was not one to hold back her punches.

"I'm glad you didn't try to start a fight, Vinyl," she said softly.

"Well, I did want to, but I figured since we're going to have to save Equestria together soon, that would be a bad first impression."

"If I bought you a drink, would you feel better?"

"Yes, I think that would help."

They drank all through the night. Octavia was not normally one for this sort of thing, but the stress of saving the world was too much to handle soberly. She needed to forget about it for a while. Vinyl Scratch felt the same. She acted calm, but she was just as stressed out. After all, it was a pretty big deal; saving the Princess would be no easy task.

They finally stumbled home, and Octavia fell asleep as soon as she landed on her bed. Vinyl was not so lucky. In a drunken state, she passed out right on her bedroom floor. This was a night that would need some sleeping off. Unfortunately, Princess Luna would not let that happen. She had just recruited her final two allies, and she couldn't afford to waste another day. She cast her spell to appear in Octavia's dream one last time.

Octavia appeared in the cave. She looked horribly tired and hungover. Noticing Luna in front of her, she tried to stand up straighter, but failed badly.

"Luna! I didn't expect to see you. Is the plan ready?" she said awkwardly.

Luna was alarmed. Octavia looked in really bad shape.

"What happened to you?" she asked with concern. "Were you hurt?"

Octavia tried her best to look normal, gave up, and eventually just shook her head.

"No, I... I had a bit too much to drink last night," she said quietly.

Luna sighed. "You shouldn't drink, Octavia. It's really bad for your health."

"I know. I was just really stressed out. It's not something I make a habit of."

"Well, I'll try to keep it short then. The plan is put together, so we need to meet up tomorrow. I'll be just outside of the Everfree Forest, about a mile down from Fluttershy's house. Meet me there at 6:00. Don't be late."

"OK, thanks Luna. See you later."

"I'll leave you to recover now. Make sure you're alert and ready by six."

She stomped her hoof and the dream faded away.