I had my seat at the side of the nightclub, laid back with a glass of cider on the table. Vinyl was up on the turntables right now, doing her thing. She should be getting off soon. Octavia sat next to me, politely seated, sipping from a wine glass instead of chugging from a mug like myself. I'm not a fan of techno music, so I wasn't here for just song and dance. Octavia looked at her best friend, her head ever so slightly bobbing to the beat. Me? Hell, I couldn't care less to move anything but my hoof to get my cider.
Vinyl steps off the platform holding the DJ table and snuck over to the two of us to avoid any raging fans. She slammed her hooves on our table and leaned in close to us to ask
"So what'd ya guys think of it! I spent a good bit of time working on it, I thought it sounded great!"
Vinyl's pumped up as usual.
Octavia spoke up. Her voice as elegant as a mistress.
"Well, personally I am not a fan of such music, but by judging by everypony else's reactions, I assume it was wonderful."
It still boggled my mind how close these two were.
"What'd you think, Shackle?"
I spoke in my usual monotone voice.
"It was fine, Vinyl. The crowed enjoyed it, so bravo to you."
Vinyl wasn't impressed. She DEFINITELY, wasn't impressed.
"Awww comeon guys! I wanna impress you two as much as the crowd!"
"Color me impressed." I said, downing my cider.
A few moments of silence passed before Vinyl spoke up.
"Hey, Shackle, DJ Magix is up."
"And that means...?"
"Why don't you come up and dance with me?!" She said through a big smile.
That caught me off guard, I admit. Even Octavia gave her a look. Her look had a bit of nastiness in it, I might add.
"Vinyl, no offense, but you pay me to sit around in your nightclub with a holstered gun making sure no idiots decide this was a good spot to start off their glorious crime scheme. I don't dance and you know it."
Vinyl wasn't exactly "thrilled" with my response.
"Geez, lighten up why don't ya? Before I hire a bodyguard with a little more fun in him."
"And watch him get shot to pieces? Be my guest." I chuckle.
Octavia once again spoke up.
"Would you two care to play some...billards?"
I can go as far as saying her voice was almost adorable.
"Now THAT, I can manage. You down from some pool, Vinyl?"
"Sure thing!"
Only a few minutes into our game when things went sour. The main doors fly open and three masked ponies walk in franticly waving their pistols. Genius'. Judging by their gear, they were just some low end rent-an-idiot thugs.
"Get under the table!" I yelled, pulling my clients down under the pool tables curtains.
"Stay close to me." I whispered.
Vinyl nudged close to me, but I couldn't tell if Octavia was giving me a big hug or was just scared for her life. Sure enough, the pool table was the tallest table in the club. The three goons hopped up and began shouting.
"Alright everypony calm down before I pop a bullet to yer brain. Listen up! I'm gonna need everpony to get down and..."
I looked at Vinyl and whispered
"Use your magic to flip up those two legs of the table. I'll help. Octavia, just hang on."
Octavia was slightly shivering. Poor girl.
"They won't know what hit em!
"One...two...three!"
The two front legs levitated up a bit. I jumped up and slammed into the table as hard as I can, knocking the three dirtbags down. They all tumbled over except for one, whose legs slipped foward causing him to fall on the tipped over pool table's side. Kid could have broken his back.
I grabbed the nearest wooden chair and slammed it on one pony, knocking him back down a few steps with a thud. The chair splintered apart. One thug was lying there trying to put pressure on his aching back, while the other was already standing, pistol in hoof. No chairs were near so I did what was necessary.
"Sorry, Vinyl!"
"Wait wait WHAT."
I lifted Vinyl and slammed her into the masked pony, causing him to barrel backwards.
"You alright?"
"Asf...Iz...fien..."
"Just a little disoriented. You'll be fine."
So all three rent-an-idiots were lying there, either K.O'ed or squirming in pain. Octavia ran up and hugged me, holding me close.
This was odd. I've seen how she acts when I'm not around, and this doesn't fit the description. Assuming she's just grateful, I returned the hug. Her eyes grew like I just made her world, but she quickly broke the hug and looked down with a blush. Everyone else was cheering, except Vinyl. She patted my back and said "Do I look like a blunt weapon to you?"
"Hey, the fools got knocked out one way or another. Plus, your face was priceless."
She lets out a "Tsk" and looked at Octavia. Her shy little friend was staring off into nowhere.
"You alright, Octavia?" I put a reassuring hoof on her.
"I assure you I'm... I'm quite alright." She said, gulping between her sentence.
"Really now? You don't look the part."
"I'm fine, I appreciate the concern but... I'm fine."
The party ended, and the three of us stood outside the nightclub. Octavia walked to to me.
"Shackle, may I have a word with you?"
"Sure thing."
She lead me away from Vinyl, who was too caught up with talking to DJ Magix.
"Listen...Shackle... I need you to come to my home at eleven. No later. Understood?"
I nod my head. I'm used to not asking questions.
***
It was eleven, I stood outside of Octavia's quiet rural home, away from the bustling Ponyville. I was greeted with a smile.
"Ahh, yes. Shackle, do come in."
Octavia wore her pajamas. She looked rather cute, I have to say.
"What's with the PJ's, we havin' a slumber party?" I asked.
"Well... something like that I suppose..."
Octavia sat next to me. What she said next caught me off guard.
"Listen, Shackle, that was the first time in my life I was truley scared for life... it really makes me uncomfortable now, I've become so paranoid... I wan't you to sleep over with me, Shackle, until I feel better."
I blinked, but chuckled back. I gave Octavia a warm hug and responded "Don't worry about a thing. I'm here to make sure you feel top notch and protected. You can count on me."
"Thank you, Shackle."
So it came time for bed, and oh boy was Octavia's bed huge. Definatly large enough for the two of us.
We got under the covers, she turned off the light, we said goodnight and dozed off.
***
When I woke up, I didn't expect this.
I woke up, legs wrapped around Octavia, her head nuzzled into my coat. She was so... warm. I didn't know what to say. I'm not a softy in any way, and I never really fell in love before, especially not with a client. It was... strange. But I decided to go with it.
Then, I saw it. A glimpse of her eyelids fluttering. The quick open-close of her eyes meant she was awake and aware of her surroundings. Yet she pretended to sleep, nuzzled into me. She wanted this. I let her have it. I brought her closer and rested my cheek on her head. I could hear her whisper "Thank you...Shackle..."
She finally stopped pretending and opened her eyes. We looked into each others eyes for a moment. We didn't notice, but we were slowly moving into each other...
"GOOOOD MORNIN' LOVEBIRDS!"
I flipped right out of bed, and so did Octavia.
"DAMMIT Vinyl!" I shouted.
"Ooohhh Shackle and Octavia got the HOTS for one another!"
I turned to Octavia, who just looked down, blushing.
"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." She winked and left the room.
***
We spent the next day at Vinyl's club again. This time, Octavia didn't say a word to me.
Once more, Vinyl hops off the DJ stand and runs over to me.
"Dj Magix is up, let's dance!"
"Like I said, I don't dance."
"I'm not giving you an option!"
She pulled me to the dance floor.
"How do you dance to techno?!" I yelled over the music.
"Like this!" She yelled back.
Vinyl began making all of these random movements on the dance floor, shaking around and moving slick. I began to immitate it, and before I knew it, Vinyl and I were breaking it down on the dance floor.
Octavia apperently had enough, because she just tackled Vinyl yelling "HANDS OFF MY STALLION!"
That was very... strange of her.
She steps up to me.
"This... is how a true dancer dances."
Dear.
Sweet.
Celestia.
Octavia broke it down on the dance floor like no other. Twirling, flipping, you name it. A crowd formed around us, as she took my hoof and lead me around in a series of twists, turns, jumps and more around the dance floor.
"GIVE IT UP FOR THE TWO LOVEBIRDS SHACKLE AND OCTAVIA!" Vinyl was up on the DJ Table, with messy hair and broken glasses from the incident.
"How does a classy girl like you know how to dance to techno?" I asked.
"Honestly... I had no idea as to what I was doing." She giggled.
This mare.
Ohh boy...
The crowd applauded our dance and began chanting.
"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"
We look to each other. She straightened her bow tie.
"It's time, Shackle."
"Time for wha-"
Octavia kissed me and the crowd went wild. I returned the kiss and brought her closer to me. I could feel her heartbeat through her dark coat. She broke the kiss, looked me in my eyes and said
"This certainly will not be the last time."
"Agreed."
Vinyl popped up between us.
"Glad this is turning out nicely!"
"Yea! One last thing Vinyl... you too, Octavia."
They both looked at each other, back to me, and went "Hmmm...?"
Next thing we knew, I was chasing Vinyl around the club, swinging Octavia at her yelling "THIS IS FOR SCARING THE HAY OUTTA ME AND OCTAVIA!" Even Octavia was yelling "Get over here right this instant!"
Oh, who knew being a bodyguard even had THESE kinds of benefits.
