Chapter 1: A Day Out and A Foreboding Letter
Chapter 1:
Morning
"Ugh, I have a horrible headache."
"Maybe you should get a new hobby. I mean, other than getting drunk and headbanging all night, Vinyl."
"Oh, really? I didn't hear you complaining when you drank five more shots than I did last night, Tavi. In fact, you seemed to be enjoying yourself."
"Hmph."
This was how my mornings had been going for the last few weeks. Waking up and arguing with Octavia, my house-mate and my best friend -though I never tell her that too often.
Anyhooves, the reason why I had such a bad headache -a migraine, maybe- was because of a party me and Octavia -sorry, Octavia and I, had attended the night before.
The party was put together and hosted by a certain pink mare called Pinkie Pie, as parties in the small-ish town of Ponyville usually were.
I suppose Octavia was right, at least a little. It was kinda my fault... alright, it was all my fault. I was, after all, on the turntables at the aforementioned party, and, I'll agree once again with Tavi -my nickname for Octavia, obviously-, I had been head-banging the whole time... when I hadn't been drinking, of course.
Now, I wasn't about to take her advice, though. Partying was my life, and it had been for most of my teenage-to-adult life. But, I guess, if partying was my life, it was Pinkie's soul... and if not that, then the reason for her very existence. Excluding making baked goods, of course.
This may seem like going off on a tangent, but Pinkie Pie's history with parties was a long one, and, if her self-proclaimed past living on a rock farm was to be believed, she had been throwing parties for a very, very long time.
Over the years of knowing her, I'd been invited to over 200 of her parties and I had went to over 100 of the ones I had been invited to. On a side note, I think Pinkie doesn't care much if ponies come even if they weren't personally invited.
On the other hoof, Tavi had only been to about ten to fifteen of Pinkie's parties. It had taken a whole year to get her to go to a single party with me. Now I still have to practically beg her to go to one. Even when she did go, she didn't do much except stand near the bar stand, or talk to ponies we live right next door from!
Back to the bar stand for a moment... I had, and still have, no idea why someone like Pinkie Pie would put up a bar stand for at her type of party. Anyhoof, I was glad she did. It made things more... tolerable at times. The pony that worked at the bar stand -for a lowly three bits an hour- was a stallion named Micks. O. Logist, or just Mick. He was a medium-sized stallion with a dark blue pelt, a green-and-red two-tone mane and tail, and a pair of chocolate brown eyes to complete the... handsome ensamble of a stallion, if I may say so myself. Apart from his nice-to-look-at body, he was a nice pony to talk to when you were bored.
Anyways, for the amount of time Tavi spent at the bar, and the number of shots and beers she had drank, she almost never got drunk, and I'd never ever saw her having a hangover. I really wished I knew how she did it. (My personal guess would be vodka before I wake up, but I'm still not sure how that one works.)
Anyhoof, this morning's argument didn't last as long as the others we'd been having -small victory for me, yay-. But I was still a bit curious why she hadn't said anything else. As curious as I still was, I was actually pretty glad. I really did have a killer headache.
So, to try and calm my headache, I decided to get a cup of coffee.
And so, ten minutes later, I was levitating a cup of black coffee -I didn't take sugar and cream unlike somepony- over to the kitchen table where I set it down to let it cool before I drank any of it.
As I stared down into the swirling depths -excuse the poetic language- of my coffee, I heard the sound of a slamming door from the house next door on the right.
The sound startled me out of my trance-like staring -I hate swirly things at times- and made me jump about a foot in the air. After getting myself calmed I took off at a trot to the front door.
Once I got there, I opened the door outward -it went both ways- and looked out towards the house next door to see what was going down in the town. -Hee, that rhymed.-
One look at the house next door and the turqoise/minty-green unicorn mare walking away from the door with a frustrated look on her face.
I stepped the rest of the way out of my house and began trotting over to the mare.
"Hey, Lyra, you okay?" I asked, "I heard the door slam."
Just as I finished saying this, Tavi finally got outside.
Lyra, the aforementioned mare, looked over and her face immediately went from frustrated to a little happy.
"Oh, hey there, Vinyl, Octavia." She replied, giving us a small smile. "I'm fine... just a little frustrated with Bonbon at the moment. I just need some time away."
"Yeah? Mind if I walk with you?" I asked, "I need to get some medicine for a headache."
"I... guess. Do you want to join us, Octavia?"
"I'd rather not. I need to spend some time away from Vinyl, myself." Ovtavia replied to Lyra's question.
"Alrighty then."
And we were off.
Noon
"Bad horse, bad horse, he rides across the nation, the thoroughbred of sin..."
"What are you singing?"
Oops. I was whisper-singing again for the third time that day. "Sorry, sorry! I just get bored sometimes."
We had been walking together for about three hours now. First we had stopped off at a stall in the marketplace for some medicine for my headache and then we went off to a coffee shop for breakfast. -I didn't get to finish my cup this morning.-
"No, it's okay, I was actually wondering what you were singing. It sounded familiar." Lyra said truthfully. She really did want to know.
"Oh. Well, it's just a song I picked up in Canterlot the last time I was dragged to one of Ta- Octavia's concerto thingies. It's called 'Bad Horse', and I explained as best I could, but it probably raised more questions than it answered...
"Hmm... I wonder... No. Anyways, that sounds pretty cool. It was nice walking and talking with you, Vinyl, but I guess I should get back to Bonbon now." Lyra said, easily excusing herself.
"Alright, I hope everything is alright between you two." I replied as she trotted away.
After Lyra had left, I decided to go around Ponyville one last time to see if anypony else I knew was out. It was around one o'clock about then so I was sure I could find at least one of my friends.
It had not taken long before I found somepony... well, for somepony to find me, actually. Or rather two someponies.
Anyhoof!
I had no idea that anypony was looking for me at the same as I was looking for somepony, until it hit me. Literally, hit me. I was walking one second and the next, I was on the ground.
Dazed, I lifted my head and looked around. I looked to the left. Nothing. I looked to the right and--
"DJ! DJ!"
It was Pinkie Pie. I should have guessed. Who else would call me 'DJ' when I wasn't working.
As I worked on picking myself up off the ground I started to talk to Pinkie.
"Pinkie Pie, how many times do I have to tell you? You don't have to call me DJ. Just Vinyl is fine." I told her.
"Oh, of course, DJ. I mean Vinyl! Anyways, I've been looking all over for you!" Pinkie explained, bouncing up and down next to... Rainbow Dash. Weird. What was Ponyville's fastest flyer doing wi--- oh yeah, they were friends.
"What exactly did you want me for?" I asked, looking from Rainbow Dash to Pinkie.
"An invitation to my next party!" Was Pinkie's response. At that, Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes slightly.
"Another party? So soon after the last? Don't you remember what happened last time you did that?"
"Of course I do, silly! That's why it's scheduled for next week! I just need everypony to RSVP even though I know they will all show up. They always show up for my parties, even if they don't know there will be one." Pinkie exclaimed, going off into a short rant that made Rainbow Dash seem even more bored than she already was... if that was possible.
"Okay, Okay, Pinkie! I'll go to your party next week." I said, interrupting her. "Is that all?"
"Uhh... Yeah! That's about it! Why? What are you doing?" Pinkie replied, an inquisitive look immediately coming over her face.
"N-Not really." I replied shakily, not ready for her sudden change in demeanor. "I was actually just looking for somepony to hang out with before I went back home."
"Yeah? What were you doing out, anyways?"
Her questions were beginning to be a bit weird, but I answered anyways. "I was just out with Lyra for a few hours." I replied, the feeling of being interrogated ever present.
"Hmm... Okay! You can join me and Dashie with giving out invitations!" Pinkie said, suddenly changing back to her regular self... if you could call her regular any time.
"Yeah... Okay. I'll join you for a little bit then." I said, once again getting used to yet another change of behavior. What was with this mare?
And so, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, and I began tracking down a number of different unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies to invite to her party. Of course, all being perfectly good, well-adjusted citizens of Ponyville, they all accepted the invitation to come and continued on with their busy lives.
Before long we had visited most every pony in town. Then, we stopped by the Library to see Twilight Sparkle. A unicorn I... wasn't too fond of. She was kind of -to put it in words Rainbow Dash would use- an egghead. I was very close to calling it a day and going home, but I decided to stay a while.
As we got to the door, Pinkie ran up to the door and knocked for a good thirty seconds, before the door swung open and she fell forward... right into Spike the Dragon, Twilight's Assistant.
An awkward situation if there ever was one.
As Pinkie was trying to stand, Spike was trying to wiggle out from underneath her. Rainbow Dash flew in to help get Pinkie up, and I, being smart enough to help out, used my magic to pull Spike out from underneath Pinkie.
After a few seconds of struggling, Pinkie was being held up in the air by Rainbow Dash and Spike was floating in the blue-ish aura of my magic.
Twilight, after hearing the noise, had ran down the stairs and out the door. As she came out, I put down Spike and Rainbow Dash put down Pinkie.
Once Pinkie was on the ground she went off into the routine of inviting Twilight to the party.
"Hey, Twilight! I'm here to invite you to my next party! It's next week on Tuesday, so that's three days away, so it should be enough time, right? Anyways, I hope you can make it!" She explained to the slightly confused Twilight.
"Uh, sure Pinkie, I think I should be able to make it." Was the reply.
"Alright, great! I'll see you then!"
Right after that, Pinkie began leaving. I shrugged and followed, Rainbow Dash coming right after.
I looked behind my shoulder as we walked away, to see a slightly amused Twilight close the door behind Spike.
After that fiasco, we left Ponyville and made our way out to Sweet Apple Acres, the apple farm owned by the Apple Family.
Night
It had been three hours before I finally made it home, and the sun was already beginning to set.
As I opened the door I heard clinking off glass against glass in the kitchen, so I headed there first, assuming Tavi was home and in there.
As I got to the dining room, I saw a bottle of vodka on the table next to a shot glass on the table. Oh, this is going to be good. I thought to myself.
From inside the kitchen I could hear the sound of cabinets being opened and closed, so I headed inside to see...
Tavi was rifling through a cupboard, oblivious to me being there. Hmm... looks like a good time for a scare... I thought, smiling.
So, I slowly walked up behind Tavi, trying not to make a sound and then...
"BOO!" I yelled.
Tavi's whole body jumped, and there was a bang as her head hit the top of the cupboard, and then she fell.
I was rolling on the ground, laughing my head off when she turned on me and started yelling.
"Vinyl! Why would you do such a thing?!" She yelled.
I stopped laughing for a second and looked at her face. Her hair was all messed up and her face was contorted in surprise and anger. And like that, I was laughing again. I couldn't help myself. It was too funny.
In between laughs I was able to choke out; "You... should have... seen your... Face!"
She looked at more once more, anger in her eyes, and then she looked away. I was able to stop myself from laughing enough to get up from the ground.
"Tavi? What's wrong?" I asked, tilting my head to the side slightly, to try and see her eyes.
"Nothing, Vinyl, nothing." She replied, not looking at me as she walked over the the table and sat down.
"Oh come on, Tavi, it was just a joke." I said, thinking it was my fault.
"It's not your fault, Vinyl." She said, finally looking me in the eyes. They looked worried.
"Then what's wrong?" I asked again.
Then, from underneath the bottle of Vodka, she procured a folded up piece of paper that I hadn't noticed before. I took it from underneath her hoof and brought it over to myself.
I opened it and read;
Dear Octavia;
Hello! This is your mother! How have you been? Anyways, I'm writing to tell you that I'm going to be in your 'Ponyville' for a few days, so I decided to stop by. That won't be a problem, will it? Of course not! I'm your mother. Anyways, See you in a day or two!
Sincerely;
Agatha Octave
After reading the letter, I levitated in down onto the table again.
I had a small smile on my face.
"Is the really why you're so down right now? Come on, Tavi! It's your mom! I always wanted to me--- What?" I stopped mid-sentence at the way she Tavi was looking at me.
"Me and my... mother, Don't get along well, Vinyl." She said, a small glare in her eyes. "Her coming here isn't a good thing. I really don't think you would like her."
"Oh, come off it, Tavi! She can't be too bad! Sure, me and my mother don't get along too well, but at least we should give her a chance." I said, returning her stare, not about to back down.
She looked at me for a moment more and then looked away. "Alright, fine, Vinyl, but you're helping clean up." She finally said.
"Alright, I will." I said, "Now... let's get another glass for me!" I finished, looking at the half-full bottle of Vodka.
Two hours and half a bottle of Vodka later, Tavi and I left for our rooms, drunk, and not even close to ready for what was to come in two days time...
End of Day
