Chapter 5: Something Memorable

Chapter 5

Later that night, after Starlight finally went to bed, after lots of chasing and tickling, Morning looked at the rent again, she ran her hoof over her mane again as she looked at the bill, with a sigh she signed a check placed it in an envelope and walked outside to put it in the mailbox, she couldn’t help but notice how bright the moon was tonight, as she looked to the ground she could see her shadow on the ground, she looked back up into the sky and stood still for a moment, taking in just how beautiful the night sky looked, the stars seemed to shine a little more than usual. After a few minutes Morning started getting cold, she quickly put the envelope in the mail box and lifted the small re flag on the side. As she walked back inside she took one last look Princess Luna sure knew how to bring out the best in a night.

After reading a little, Morning decided to go bed, going to bed was no problem, sleeping though seemed near impossible. She tossed and turned in her bed but she couldn’t get that image out of her head. She thought of Sketch and how he looked buried under the rubble, she felt sick to the stomach. She didn’t know why she just couldn’t get him out of her head. She was feeling so many emotions at once; Morning just couldn’t take it finally after an hour she gave up on sleep. Since sleep wasn’t an option she’d just go on a little walk to pass the hour. As she wandered the silent midnight streets of her neighborhood, she came to the turn where Sketch house formerly stood, now nothing remained but ash and ruin. Just as she was about to continue on she saw something shine in the ash. Curiosity got the better of Morning as she slowly trotted over to see what it was. In the ash she same a small metal triangular shape protruding out, she carefully brushed some of the ashes of to see what it was, as she continued to push away the ashes more and more of the object became revealed to her, she cautiously lifted it from the dirt, it was a picture, on it were two large stallion in full equestrian military regalia, and she noticed the shorter pony next to them, it was Sketch as she took a closer look at the frame she noticed something inscribed in the brass.

“Caesar, Caius, and Manaeus. Proud Sons of Cirrus”

Morning’s eyes widened as she realized what she found. She remembered how sketch murmured something about a picture in his breakdown; Morning quickly took the picture under her wing and began to head home. When she got back she placed the picture on the table as she trotted over to the supply closet to look for metal polish, luckily she found some buried deep into the back of closet, she grabbed a small cloth and started to polish the frame, after an hour or two it finally looked go as new. Then she used a feather duster to remove any remaining ash and dirt. She smiled with pride as she looked at the good job she had done, now all she had to do was bring it to Sketch, but for now it was probably best if she try to get some sleep. That idea left her head as she noticed the sun was rising again. She looked at the clock, time to wake up Starlight again. Morning took a moment as she appreciated one last moment of peace before she woke up Star.

Sketch groaned a little as he looked down at the hospital meal that sat in front of him. He couldn’t stand it, the food looked so fake it almost seemed unbelievable that this sludge could contain all the nutrients he’d need, still it’s better than nothing Sketch closed his eyes, and shuddered a little as he reluctantly swallowed his food. After a few bites though Sketch could feel energy practically rush into his body as he felt it surge through his body, the feeling almost made Sketch forget how bad the food tasted. He lifted the glass and drank from it, his thirst quenched by the fruit juice. As he finished his meal, Sketch noticed that he had been moved to a new room, his heart sank even though the pony next to him in the last room was unable to speak or do much of anything for that matter, having him as company was better than none. He slowly sank back into the blankets as he looked out the window, just then he heard a knock on the door, his ears perked up quicker than a flash as he heard the sound.

“Come in” he said. His eyes widened as he saw who had come to visit. She slowly rounded the corner and spotted him, Sketch couldn’t believe she came back, he honestly thought she had stayed with him the first time just out of pity, still he didn’t mind he enjoyed being able to see her, to him there was no more beautiful sight anyway. He smiled as she walked up to him.

“Hey, what brings you back here?” He asked unable to break stare he fell into, as she entered the room.

“Well, I was out for a walk last night and I just so happened to wander past your house, or what’s left of it and just as I was about to leave again I noticed something in the ashes.” She paused to see if he was actually listening, noticing he looked distracted.

Sketch was hanging on to every single word. “Go on” he said, still having a dreamy expression on his face.

“Well, when I found it, I remembered you mentioning something about a picture, and I found this” She opened her bag, and pulled out the small picture, and handed to Sketch, he almost couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It was the picture of him, and his brothers. He quickly grabbed and ran his hoof over it, making sure he wasn’t just imagining this.

“By Celestia’s mane, b-but how, how did it survive the fire” Sketch was amazed, he was absolutely speechless. He looked to Morning.

“Thank you, so much you have no idea how much this means to me” He looked to her with a thankful smile on his face.

“I don’t know how to thank you, gosh I thought I’d never see it again”

Morning sat down next to the bed, looking at the picture.

“So what’s so special about this picture?” She asked. Sketch looked back with a grin then back at the picture pointing to the heavily built stallion on the left “That my oldest brother, Caesar he’s a Luietenant in the Equestrian Special Forces, and the other guy to my right, is my brother, Manaeus, he’s a major in the Air Force. This picture was taken the night before w-,Sketch paused. ” I mean “they” got sent to basic training in the west. We went to party at this really great club in Ponyville, heh. We had one hell of a night.” Sketch looked up thinking back to that night of sheer fun, and celebration.

8 Years ago

Pfft ahahahah! Oh dear goddess. Hey Caius use one voice again that voice again.

Sketch made a very snooty facial expression, and then in an equally pretentious voice he said.

“Please sir, you mustn’t walk that way it’s so impolite to not bow before this stuck up, crusty old, deranged unicorn, you must bow, you must or else he might actually wave his hoof at you, and order his imaginary guards on you, watch out his beard might get caught in a knot, oh dear heavens I believe I have been breathing better spend the next few years decontaminating myself”

The three brothers burst out in laughter as they walked out of The Gourmand, a very exclusive restaurant run by a family of unicorns who have been rivals with the Cirrus family for generations. They had just gone in only to spite the unicorns who were known to be extremely pretentious, and proud.

“Ahh what fun, well brothers we still have about ten hours before we leave, where should we go next."

Caesar, the largest of the three put a hoof to his chin trying to think of what to do next. Well I don’t know. Suddenly Caius looked up and spoke out, You know I’ve heard of this club that’s supposed to be quite the party house but it’s all the way in…..Ponyville. Caius drooped a little as he remembered where it was, Just then he felt a hoof slap against his shoulder.

“Well then, we're just gonna have to go to Ponyville then wont we” Manaeus said, giving his brother an encouraging look.

But how? Caius asked raising his brow, questioning his brother's idea.

Oh please, brother did you really think I wouldn’t find out about you practicing your magic. You truly do go against everything this family stands for" Manaeus said chuckling to himself.

"I just thought, well I'm stuck with this horn, I might as well use it." Caius said trying to defend himself,

"Oh relax brother, if anything I support that idea, magic can be rather useful cant it, and besides who cares what the crusty old family elders say, nothing is constant, there will always be a fork in the road, or a turn." Manaeus patting his brother on the head, in a way that was comical but patronizing at the same time.

" I also couldnt help but notice that you were working on a teleportation spell, I must say I'm impressed, but I want to see you push it to the limit."

"Yes well that’s still a pretty advanced spell, and besides, I can hardly even do a short distance teleportation spell without it nearly knocking me out, and how do you expect to just fly there like that before sunrise." Caius said worryingly.

"Well, brother had you watched the flight trainings we did with father when we were younger, you would have known just how we intend to get to Ponyville in a matter of minutes." Manaeus said.

Caius sensed some challenge in that last sentence.

“Think you can beat me there?” Caius asked, a grin beginning to form.

“Isnt the answer to that obvious?” Manaeus, said eyes narrowing.

“Caesar, what do you think, a race. Our Wing Speed technique versus our brother who is still only experimenting with his magical abilities”

Caesar looked to Caius who sat there with a smirk.

“Alright it’s on” just tell us where it is and we’ll get there first!

Caius pulled out a flyer, it was dark blue, and covered in a assortment of various colored light beams, at the top in bright bold letters read: CLUB PON-3 on the cover was a drawn image of a white mare with a blue mane. Caius flipped it over, and showed them the address. The three nodded at got ready.

Alright let’s do this on three.

One.

Two.

Three!!!!

In a flash both of Caius’s older brothers were gone, Caius on the other hand sat down, and began to try to clear his mind, he pictured the club in his mind, not just picture it though but feel it, trying to imagine what it would be like to actually be there, as he thought of this his horn began to give of a bright golden glow, as he concentrated harder on his destination, the glow on his horn grew brighter and brighter, just then it seemed his whole body was beginning to glow, he imagined it, the heat in the air, the pounding of the bass, the cheering of all the ponies who came to party, and then like nothing, Caius vanished only leaving a small cloud of smoke behind him as he. For a few seconds he felt weightless, he could hear no sound, and everything went blank, but just a quickly as this came, it went, and Caius found himself in front of the famous CLUB PON-3, he suddenly fell to his knee’s as he felt a surge of pain run through his head, he looked around as he heard a strangely loud whistle sound, and just then before him something impacted the ground as the dust cleared he realized it was his brothers. Caius let out a laugh as he saw the shocked faces of his two brothers who could only stare in shock and disbelief.

After recovering from astonishment the three went inside, as they entered Caius, felt something strong it felt as if everything around him, the ground, the walls, the air, even the bones in his body seemed to shake to the pounding of the base, Caius could fill his chest rattle as he continued on into the club. The environment he was in was just over whelming, he felt crowded, and was nearly deafened by the volume of the music playing. Caius looked to his brothers who smiled, and nodded in approval as they observed their surroundings. The club was a large spacious structure in the center was a large dance floor to the left and right was a small set of stairs which led to some tables and booths further and on each side in the center was a circular bar, where the bartenders were looking extremely busy. And then past the dance floor, a platform seemed to loom over the front of the crowd on that platform were the turn tables and a two large speakers, behind the tables, stood a white mare, with a blue, and teal bi-colored mane, sporting a pair of large purple shades. Caius could help but be impressed with what he saw, while it all seemed so chaotic, at the same time everything appeared organized and clean. Caius hadn’t expected the Interior to contrast the exterior that much. The outside made it look like a decent sized home, rather large but it didn’t really look much like a club except for the bouncers, and the neon signs. Caius began to wander off towards one the more vacant bars, he took a seat, just as he did a brown coated pony with a moustache and combed back mane, trotted over to him

“What’ll it be?”

“One Applejack Daniels” he said. No sooner he uttered the name a shot glass and bottle appeared before him the bartender quickly poured it in the shot glass and gave it to Caius. Caius just looked at the glass then the bottle, he had an idea.

“Hey think I could by the bottle off of you?”

“That’s illegal sir “ The bartender now looking at Caius with concern.

“Only if you get caught” Caius gave him a smirk that had “I got cash” written all over it. The bartender bit his lip; he looked around and then got closer.

“30 bits a bottle” The bartender gave off vibes that just screamed “My only offer take it or leave it”

Caius laughed, as he pulled out a small bag he tossed it onto the bar.

“Should be sixty in there” I’ll take two. With that the bartender pulled out a second bottle and exchanged it for the bag of bits. After that the bartender retreated to a private to the kitchens for a while. Caius in the meantime, would toss back the first shot, and enjoy the view. He looked at his surroundings, brightly colored lights flashed on and off almost epileptically, to the beat of the music. Across the room he could see his brothers, offering bit’s to the exotic dancers in front of them, Caius couldn’t help but laugh when Manaeus got slapped across the face for getting too close for comfort.

Caius chuckled little as he downed a third shot. As he brought the glass down on the bar he heard a voice behind him, he looked back to find a mare standing there she had a snow white coat, and a soft pink mane with was tied up in a bun.

“I said Hi” she replied now a little louder in tone.

“Hey” Caius replied, trying act like he didn’t care.

“Mind if I join you” she said

Caius used a hoof motioning her over, she smiled a trotted over and took up the seat next to him.

“I’m Redheart,” the white are said smiling as she took a seat.

Caius just looked over at her, and nodded. Redheart felt a little put off by this. Still she didn’t want drink alone; doing that is never a good idea.

“So do you have one, come on everypony has a name”

The only reason Caius didn’t want to answer, was because his name wasn’t your average everyday name, his family traditionally had ancient pegasi names from when the pegasi weren’t united with other tribes. He honestly thought the mare next to him would make fun of his name, Caius Legarius Cirrus, what kind of name is that? He could hear the ridicule in his head already. He held his breath.

“Caius” he opened his eyes, no ridicule, no laughing,

“Caius, huh I like it , its different.”

Oh dear lord, Caius thought, something’s going to go wrong hear I just know it. He took a drink from the bottle.

“I didn’t know they sold the whole bottle”

“They don’t” he replied, I did a little bargaining."

“Ah”

Caius levitated a shot glass over to her and offered her some whiskey, which she gladly accepted.

“So why’d you come here?” she asked

Caius almost didn’t know how to respond, he wondered how exactly he should answer that question, he then started wondering what kind of question that was.

“I don’t follow” he said before sipping from his glass

“What do you mean you don’t follow? Everyone comes here for a reason, some come to celebrate, and some come to get hyped up, some to just get away.

“And you?” Caius had to ask.

“To forget”

“Forget what, if I am allowed ask”

Redhearts head sank down “ Well , with the war and all, Ponyville has the closest medical center to Stalliongrad’s southern border, we get all the wounded coming back from battle. Everyday ponies full of holes, all mangled, bleeding, broken, some missing limbs” Caius felt awful as he noticed she was on the verge of tears.
“It’s just not right, ponies killing each other, I just come here at nights let those images slip from my mind, I can’t stand it“

“It’s just not fair for soldiers either, they go, and fight for their country, some don’t even make it back, they scar themselves out there, and when they come back what do they get, nothing not thanks, no cheers, nothing to honor their deeds, sometimes the ponies of this country just make me sick.”

Caius nodded in agreement, although he really had no idea, he’d never seen war, never been deployed, he just passed basic a few days, still he simply played along and agreed to what she said. He decided to say something.

“ Well” he said “ I wouldn’t know about that, I’ve never actually seen action, heck me and my brothers just passed basic a few days ago, were supposed to ship out tomorrow, were just trying to have fun while were still here”

Redheart, looked at him almost instantly as if by instinct Caius could tell she had another question probably a hard on for him, still what could go wrong.

“How do you think they do, stay calm I mean out there” She asked while taking another drink.

“They go out there watch ponies die all around them, the see death, pain and misery where do they find the strength to move on” She had a sign of concern on her face.

“I don’t know, I mean it’s only an idea, but its seems logical to me”

“Like what”

“well I guess they think of home, think of all their friends and loved one they left behind, they think of all the ponies who will be glad to see him safe and sound if he comes home” Caius tried to say it in a way that would make sense.
Now Redheart nodded in agreement, she turned again and with a slightly raised and happier tone asked

“So done anything memorable on your last night here?” she asked

Caius shrugged,

“WHAT!?!” Redheart exclaimed

“You’re telling me that you are going to war tomorrow, and your trying to have as much fun as possible and all you’ve done is sit here and drink, what kind of memory would that be, you should go dance, spend time with family, do something with your girlfriend-“

“Don’t have one” Caius said interrupting Redheart

“Well. . . .Then. . . ” Redheart tried to find a response to that “well do something, tell me you’ve done something significant other than drinking bottle of alcohol”

“I met you” Caius suddenly shrunk back blushing furiously as he realized what he just said. Redheart’s eyes widened, Caius tried to hide himself a little out of sheer embarrassment from what he said he braced himself thinking she’d be offended or that she’d reject him, but he was surprised by her silent reaction. Redheart came back to reality after a moment; she leaned in closer to Caius.

“So, no partying, no girlfriend, and no plan. Pretty sad that, that’s how you want it all to nd what might be your last night at home, I think we should change that” she suddenly gave him a quick kiss.

At that moment Caius, felt a shock run through his body, almost unsure if what just happened was relly he looked at Redheart who just smiled at him as she got down from the chair, her eyes becoming seductive as his eyes couldn’t help but follow her.

Come on, how about we make this night a little more “Memorable” she said seductively as she walked towards the exit, swinging her tail left and right provocatively show off her flank for a brief moment.

Caius got up following her as she continued to flirt with him. As he walked out the door with Redheart, Caius completely forgot he just left behind his two brothers, unaware that they were still there and still far too drunk to fly straight. Caius seemed to be completely lost in thought, except that he knew.

This was a night he would never forget.