If a Pony Catch a Pony

After I started thinking about having some drinks with Mrs. Orange, I couldn't get booze off my mind. I remembered that there was this hotel called the Brandenburger near the train station, that was kind of run down but would work well enough as a place to sleep for a couple of days before I absolutely had to go home and confront my parents. Since I didn't want to haul my cello and record player all over town with me while I looked for a bar, I decided to get a room there first.

With it being Friday night, there were still quite a few ponies out--a lot of them drunk--and I was getting all kinds of funny looks because of what I was carrying. So to kind of distract myself, I let myself start thinking again about relationships and sex and all. Really, it had been on my mind all night, after everything with Vinyl and Amethyst and even Mrs. Orange. Don't get the wrong idea--under normal circumstances, sex isn't something I spend a lot of time thinking about. To be perfectly honest, I've only had one thing you'd really call a relationship, and it had been with a stallion named Star Gazer. That was odd in itself. I mean, I don't ever really get emotionally attached to stallions like I do with mares, but I'm a complete mess when I actually try to date mares. Like Vinyl Scratch, for example--there was a reason we hadn't spoken in so long. I'm sure there's some big psychological reason for it all; I've never seen myself ending up with a stallion in the long term, so it takes all the pressure off of interacting with them, and we can actually kind of enjoy ourselves. But even with mares I'm not romantically interested in, like Minuette for example, I'm always very conscious of everything I say and do, and what kind of signal it's sending, which still ends up making things awkward. That's why Symphony is my best friend--she's the only mare I've ever felt completely comfortable around. We're more like sisters than anything, and we always have been. That's why trying to have a romantic relationship with her never even entered my mind.

Star Gazer, though, he had always just been fun to be around. Of course like most of the really wealthy ponies I knew, he had a pompous streak, but it usually came out as really biting sarcasm about things he thought were stupid. And since he was legitimately intelligent, the stuff he thought was stupid usually WAS stupid. And anyway, if you got to know him, he wasn't really mean-spirited. In fact, he was generally pretty polite. We had dated for a while, not really seriously or anything, before he met some other mare he thought he could have a serious relationship with, and broke things off. That didn't make me all that sad, because we never really stopped talking. But I did stay attracted to him, and almost all of my experience with anything sexual was with him. Almost. By the time I made it to the Brandenburger, I decided that I was going to look him up before the weekend was over. Like Symphony, he had stayed in Manehatten for college, so I knew he wouldn't be too hard to find.

Speaking of the Brandenburger, as soon as I walked into the lobby, I realized that I didn't really know anything about it. In fact, it was kind of run down. The decorations were about twenty years out of date, and the couple of ponies I saw hanging around didn't look like the type you'd want to get involved with. I was already regretting my decision to stay there by the time I got to the front desk, but I really couldn't stand the thought of dragging my luggage any further. While I was waiting on the bellhop, I made sure the hotel at least had a baby dragon around to send out messages for guests. They did, so I had him send one to Star Gazer asking if he wanted to meet up the next afternoon, and then one to Symphony. I wasn't sure exactly what to say to her, so I decided to tell her I was busy on Saturday, but try and arrange a meeting for Sunday. I hadn't even told her about how badly I was doing at school, so I needed a little time to figure out how to broach the subject with her. It's not that she would be judgmental—she wouldn't, at all. But I hated the thought of her feeling sorry for me. I didn't want to put her through that.

The bellhop finally arrived and took my stuff up to the room they had given me on the second floor. As soon as he was gone, I gave myself a quick look in the mirror. The train ride had made me feel a little grimy, but I looked all right, and so I decided to head right back out and get a drink. I thought about just going to the bar there in the Brandenburger, but I figured I was about as likely to find decent company there as just wandering down a random dark alley. So instead I decided to go to a club where Star Gazer and I had hung out a few times while we were dating, Club Merveilleux. Yeah, it was a dumb name, but there was this singer there, Sapphire Shores, who was really great despite being well aware of how great she was.

Even late on a Friday night, Club Merveilleux was completely packed. I managed to grab a waiter and order a glass of brandy before trying to find an open table. I managed to find one near the back of the room, with a terrible view of the stage. Still, I wasn't really there to watch Sapphire Shores as much as I was to get a little drunk and try to stop thinking too much about everything for a little while.

As soon as I sat down, I noticed the three mares sitting at the table next to mine. They were all Earth ponies, and from the way they were talking excitedly and looking around the room a lot, I immediately assumed they were tourists. Just for fun, I started toying with the idea of trying to strike up a conversation with them. Usually I'm too self-conscious to just walk up and start talking to somepony without good reason, but after a couple of drinks I stop caring so much. I drained my first scotch and soda pretty fast and ordered another. None of the mares at the next table were bad looking, but one, who had a purplish coat and a two-tone pink mane, had really caught my eye. I thought she looked like the smartest of the bunch, and I had already decided that I'd talk to her first. While I was kind of looking her over, though, her friend, who had about a hundred empty glasses in front of her already, caught me and started trying to whisper to her. But between her drunkeness and the noise of the band that was playing, I could practically hear every word she was saying.

At that point, I decided I might as well go talk to them. I got up and kind of slid around between our tables. That put me on the opposite side from the raging drunk, between the cute one and the third, a gold-colored mare with an orange mane who was no slouch herself. I started to talk but the drunk one immediately cut me off.

"Hey! Ihm Berry Punch! Nish to meetcha!"

"Hi," I said, trying to be casual as hell despite her practically falling out of her chair trying to introduce herself. "I'm Octavia. Mind if I join you?"

"Sure, we have another chair," said the red-head. She got up and moved around to the empty chair, which put me sitting between her and the one I had originally been eying.

"I'm Golden Harvest," said the redhead when we were all situated. "This is Cheerilee, and I think you already met Berry Punch."

Cheerilee smiled and leaned toward me just a bit. "Sorry about our friend," she said. "This is her first time in a big city, and...well, let's just say she may be celebrating a bit too much."

I laughed, really trying to turn on the charm, even though dealing with drunks has never been my specialty. "So you're from out of town? How far away?"

"Ponyville," said Golden Harvest, even though I had asked Cheerilee.

"What a coincidence," I said. "I was just talking to somepony on the train earlier who said her niece from Ponyville was visiting this week. So what do you do there?"

"Oh, nothing too interesting," said Cheerilee. "I'm an elementary school teacher, Golden Harvest runs a produce stand in the local market, and Berry Punch here--"

"Hey!" Berry Punch cut in, obviously not listening to anything Cheerilee was saying. "You wanna dance?"

She had been talking to me. Golden Harvest giggled, and Cheerilee gave me an apologetic look. But just when I was about to try and refuse the offer gracefully, it occurred to me that it might not be a bad idea to take her up on it. Sure, there was a chance she was too far gone to even be able to stand up, let alone dance to a relatively up-beat song. But something told me this wasn't her first time being this drunk, and I kind of had a feeling she'd be able to hold up her end of the deal. Either way, I thought dancing with her would be an ice breaker that might end with me getting Cheerilee on the floor next.

"Sure, Berry," I said. "Let's go."

Cheerilee looked at me like I was crazy, but I tried to give her a reassuring smile. Judging by the smile I got back in response, my plan was working.

Berry and I fought our way through the packed house to the dance floor, and it immediately became clear that she was steadier on her feet than her behavior would have suggested. I have to admit, that made me a little more interested in her. She had obviously had a lot to drink, but it almost seemed like she was only pretending to be as far gone as she appeared to be.

She didn't give me too much time to think about it. When we got to the dance floor I took the lead, since I still wasn't completely sure how well she'd be able to move around. She followed, and I was completely shocked not just that she COULD dance, but that she was hands down the best partner I've ever had. Of course that's probably not saying much—I haven't danced with that many different ponies. But I had danced with both Vinyl Scratch and Star Gazer, and both of them were pretty great, though in completely different ways. Berry Punch was in a different league, though. It wasn't just that she knew exactly what move to make at any given time. There was something else there, a complete freedom that always looked like it was about to cause her to go completely out of control, even though it never did. In fact, I think she was always in complete control, just without having to think about it at all. By the time the song ended, I was almost wondering if I shouldn't have been flirting with her instead of Cheerilee.

“Thanks for the dance,” she said, leaning against me as we stopped moving. I noticed she was slurring her words much less than she had been before. “Now get back over there and talk to Cheerilee. I think she likes you, and Celestia knows she could use some company.”

Without another word, Berry headed toward the bar, and I made my way back to the table. Cheerilee and Golden Harvest were talking about something, but went quiet as soon as I got within earshot. I didn't much care—it wasn't like we had known each other more than about five minutes. Golden Harvest seemed to be pretty happy about something, though.

“You must be some dancer,” she said as I sat back down and had another sip of my drink. “I didn't think Berry'd even be able to stand up!”

“Me either,” I said, “but she's kind of amazing. As a dancer, I mean.”

“I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit,” Cheerilee said. “I've known Berry for years, and I've never seen her dance like that before. I noticed you had a music cutie mark—maybe you're just a natural at it?”

I laughed a little. “Well, I mostly play classical music, so I'm not sure that helps me dance to jazz. But I guess it could.”

“Well, there's only one way to find out,” Golden Harvest said. “You should dance with me next!” There was something cute about her enthusiasm, and she wasn't bad looking or anything, but I really just wanted to spend a little time talking to Cheerilee. Still, I wasn't about to let myself look snobbish.

“Ok,” I said, trying not to sound indifferent. “Want to wait until they play another fast one?” They had started a slow song after my dance with Berry Punch.

“We'll just dance to whatever they play after this one,” she said, taking a drink of her beer. “It'll be a surprise!”

Berry Punch made it back to the table with another pint. Judging by the glasses on the table, she had been drinking harder stuff before.

“This mare's one hay of a dancer,” Berry said to Cheerilee as she sat back down. “You should see for yourself.”

I shot a look at Cheerilee to see how she reacted. She looked a little embarrassed, but in the way that usually meant she wasn't against the idea.

“Might as well,” I said. “It'd be a shame if I didn't dance with all of you before the night's over.”

Before Cheerilee got a chance to respond, the band went into their next song. It was a mid-tempo number, and Golden Harvest instantly grabbed my hoof.

“Well, it's my turn now,” she said. She was a little tipsy, but I got the impression this wasn't too far off from her normal behavior. Since the song was slower, I danced closer with Golden Harvest than I had with Berry Punch. Of course she let me lead, and she was good enough, but nowhere near Berry's league. But it was pretty clear that she really wanted to talk, anyway.

“Ok, Octavia, you have to get Cheerilee to dance after this.”

I laughed. “Well, thatwas kind of my plan,”

“No, really!” she said, like I was arguing with her. “Part of why Berry and I wanted Cheerilee to come with us on this trip is that she's too wrapped up in her job to ever date anypony.”

“Well, you all live in Ponyville,” I said. “That may be a little far away for a steady relationship.”

“I know that,” Golden Harvest said, with a bit of a pout. “But while you were dancing with Berry Punch, Cheerilee was talking like she was interested in you, and that's more than I've heard her say about anypony in ages.”

To be honest, the whole situation was starting to get a little less appealing to me. I wasn't too excited about the prospect of being anypony's therapy, especially not when that was basically what I was looking for at the moment myself. But I had been having fun up to that point, and, well, Mrs. Orange had got me thinking about what it might be like to be with an older pony. Cheerilee wasn't that much older than me, but I got the impression she was a lot more mature than the ponies I had been around for the past year in Canterlot--even most of the professors. Knowing what happened later, I should have walked away right then, but instead I decided to stick around.

The song ended, and this time I stopped off at the bar for another scotch and soda on the way back to my seat. I knew Sapphire Shores would be coming out to do her set soon, and once she did, it would be nearly impossible to get any more drinks. While I was there, I grabbed another pint for Cheerilee, too. I had only had two drinks, but I had been drinking so little in Canterlot that it was hitting me pretty hard. That's probably another reason that I didn't have the good sense to leave when the idea first occurred to me.

Cheerilee looked a little embarrassed when I brought her a drink, but she did start opening up more after that. She started grilling me a little, and I told her, more or less truthfully, about who I was and what I did. Of course I skipped the part about being on the verge of dropping out of Canterlot, but I had a pretty good idea I'd never see her again after that night anyway. There was no reason to be completely honest.

Finally, Sapphire Shores came out to do her thing, and Golden Harvest got all excited, and was taking it out on Berry Punch, who by that time looked legitimately too far gone not to get pretty worked up herself. Apparently in the time I had been away from Manehatten, Sapphire had gotten quite a bit more famous, and was starting to do more shows in other cities. Cheerliee told me that, but the way she said it, I got the impression Golden Harvest was the only one who really cared, and had passed the information on to her. Still, the topic gave me an opening.

“Well, don't you want to be able to say you danced at a Sapphire Shores concert before she was the biggest star in Equestria?” I asked, putting my hoof on Cheerilee's. I can never do that kind of thing if I'm not at least a little drunk. Really, that's why I don't drink more often. I couldn't stand myself acting that smarmy all the time.

“Just don't laugh at how bad I am, ok?”

“Don't worry,” I said, still being terribly smooth. “With this many ponies out there, we'll basically have to slow dance anyway.” It wasn't just an excuse to be closer to her while we danced, either. I had only been to Club Merveilleux a few times, and this was at least twice as full as I had ever seen it. It wasn't a huge place to begin with.

Cheerilee started off pretty timid, and for the first few seconds, I thought the whole situation was going to turn into a disaster. She was so stiff and unresponsive when I tried to lead that I was longing to have even Golden Harvest back to dance with. But pretty soon, I could tell she was starting to relax and get into it. With all the body heat in the room and the alcohol in our systems, all of a sudden it didn't matter whether she could dance or not. All you could do was just let go and enjoy the moment.

When the first song ended, Cheerilee brushed up against me a little and laughed. “It's been so long since I've done anything like this,” she said. “I'm always too busy with work to really have any fun!”

“I know the feeling,” I said. “It's the same way for me at college.” I didn't bother telling her that most of the time my idea of fun when I wasn't working on music for school was either to listen to more music or play whatever I wanted for a change.

Sapphire had been talking between songs, but I hadn't noticed anything she said. From what I could remember from the times I had seen her before, it was the typical stuff pop singers say to try and connect with the audience, which of course is just a bunch of meaningless yammering. Just about the time I noticed she had been talking, the band started another fast one.

“Want to keep going?” Cheerilee asked.

“Sure,” I said.

All of the reluctance she had shown when we started dancing was long gone for the second song. Even after she got over her shyness, Cheerilee wasn't much of a dancer. She was really just kind of throwing herself around to the music, and when she bumped into me it was hard to tell if she was doing it to show she was open to physical contact, or if she just wasn't watching where she was going. But by the time Sapphire's band segued into a slow number, I took a chance on pulling her in close to me and just going with the flow.

“It's been a really long time since I've danced with anypony like this,” Cheerilee said, not making eye contact.

“If you'd rather not--”

“No,” she said, “I want to.”

When the slow song ended, she laughed nervously. “I guess we should probably go see what Berry and Golden are up to.”

We actually found the two of them near the back of the dance floor. Golden Harvest was still completely enraptured by Sapphire Shores, and Berry was happily dancing with a stallion who looked like he had no idea how he had ended up in that predicament. Cheerilee said something to Golden Harvest, who nodded at her knowingly, then came back to my side.

“You know, we could go somewhere quieter if you wanted to,” she said.

“Will your friends be all right by themselves?”

“Golden Harvest isn't going to leave until the show's over, and Berry can handle herself even when she's had this much to drink. We're all staying in the same hotel, so we have a place to meet up later.”

We grabbed our things from the table and headed back out to the street. It was freezing cold by that time, and Cheerilee walked close to me to keep warm.

“So do you live near here?” she asked.

“No, my parents live farther uptown, but I haven't told them I'm back in town yet. I just wanted to come home a couple of days early and see some friends before I have to get involved in any family stuff. I'm staying in a hotel, actually.”

Cheerilee kind of smiled at me when I said that, and I decided to take the hint.

“So, if you want, we could just go back there.”

“That sounds lovely,” she said, and rubbed up against me again. If you had been there, you'd understand why I let things get that far that fast.