The patrons of the HQ Lounge froze as the door slammed open with enough force to send cracks racing down the wooden surface. They watched as Vinyl Scratch strolled in as if nothing had happened and scanned the silent room. Octavia followed her, stepping gingerly over the splinters left in the wake of Vinyl's entrance.
"Could somepony, please, tell me where we are?"
Vinyl's authoritative demand instantly drained all tension from the room. Senior ponies that knew what was coming broke into smiles, nudging their comrades and winking at the puzzled looks of the new recruits. Those who were in on the joke raised their voices in jovial response.
"The bar!"
Vinyl nodded sagely, closing her eyes as though deep in thought. A thought seemed to strike her.
"And could somepony, please, tell me what day it is? We've been a little busy."
Laughter rippled across the room - ExTech's schedule was renowned for its almost Gordian complexity. Some of the more naive recruits glanced at the calendar above the bar, to the great amusement of the old guard. The date was haphazardly and enthusiastically offered by the relaxing ponies as they whispered amongst themselves and downed their drinks in preparation.
"That is correct, my little ponies, if a little incoherent. But I can understand . It is, after all..."
She stepped aside, bowing to Octavia, who rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to complain. But pulling Vinyl out of a theatrical moment was a notorious exercise in futility. She was a showmare, and it couldn't be contained. Octavia sighed, then continued the spiel in a low monotone.
"The Vinyl And Tavi's Acceptance Into M.A.R.E. Memorial Party-"
"Partay."
"...Partay, Soiree, And Overall Good Time." There was a moment's pause, and the world held its breath. "Woo."
The bar erupted into cheers and chuckles from those who knew how the night was going to go. The two ponies were on fine form this year, and the act was better than ever. VInyl held up a hoof as Octavia stepped back, and the crowd lapsed back into quiet. Vinyl looked out over the expectant crowd, her face grim. Wide smiles and heckling waves greeted her. She smiled slowly, speaking with grave precision as the anticipation reached its apex.
"And could somepony... please… tell me what that means?"
As one, the crowd cried out in a convivial roar that shook the metal walls of the room before leaping to their hooves, heading for the metal counter of the bar itself.
"DRINKS FOR EVERYPONY!"
Vinyl's smile became a grin, and winked at the bartender.
"Hit it, Berry."
Berry Punch shook her head and rolled her eyes, but as the queues formed and the cider flowed, she was smiling with the rest of them. Just like every year, the Lounge was in for one hay of a night.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Okay. Tavi. I got something to say."
"Mm?"
The two friends were sat in the booth Berry had set aside for them, the same booth she had set aside since the first VATAIMMPSAOGT, looking out over the Lounge as the night progressed apace. Seasoned veterans drank their troubles away and gave silent tribute to the ponies who had saved their lives so many times wth nothing more than dedication, an unlimited research budget, and a healthy disregard for laboratory safety, while fresh recruits discovered to their alcoholic downfall why the first rule of VATAIMMPSAOGT was that nopony talked about VATAIMMPSAOGT. Octavia tore her eyes from a dancing couple she didn't recognise and met Vinyl's gaze.
"I think you're going to lose again this year. I'm just saying. Because you lose every year."
Octavia's eyebrow raised imperceptibly.
"Oh? Is that so?"
Vinyl laughed and threw a hoof out to take in the lights, the music, the joyous chaos.
"Remind me, what's that intensely powerful magical focus that I host? Oh yeah, the Element of Laughter! I'm the personification of partying, babe. Maybe you should consider that you've lost before you've even begun."
Octavia's impassive expression cracked into a smile that you would only find if you were looking for it.
"Or, maybe you should consider that I've been letting you win until now."
Vinyl scoffed, but her mocking response was tinged with uncertainty.
"Oh? And why am I supposed to believe that?"
Octavia grinned, a grin only grinned at the taste of delicious victory.
"Generosity."
A pregnant pause. A challenge issued. Just like every year.
"Oh, it is on."
~~~~~~~~~~
"Fluttershy."
"You're kidding."
"Have you seen those two together? I tell you, there is something going on there."
"I don't know, Tavi. I just don't buy Fluttershy liking mares."
"I don't know about mares, but she sure likes Lyra."
Vinyl stared into space, drink halfway to her lips as she contemplated the possibility. The Lounge was quiet now, the raucous ruckus of the opening binge fading into the pleasant warmth of company and conversation. The old groups had formed, talking quietly amongst each other and wordlessly sharing the rounds, each collection of friends upholding the tradition of the VATAIMMPSAOGT in their own way. Berry Punch dispensed bartenderly wisdom to the few ponies sat alone at the bar, those who had seen the worst the city could offer and needed a little wisdom to get through the night. All around the room stories were told, grudges were aired, loves were rekindled. And, in Vinyl and Octavia's case, gossip was swapped.
"Okay, I'll give you LyraShy for now. But I'm not calling it for definite until I see some mare-on-mare action, and I'm not talking a jokey peck on the cheek or something. It's lips-to-lips or nothing. Right, your turn."
Octavia sipped her drink daintily as she sought for the most interesting candidate through the haze that, though she would never admit it, was definitely starting to form. Her accent was slipping too, she realised as she savoured the rich flavour of Berry's finest. She had barely enunciated a 't' in hours.
The thought of well-turned speech gave her the answer she needed. She swallowed, relishing the warm liquid sliding down her throat, and she waved her mug in Vinyl's direction.
"Okay, here's a hard one... Rarity."
Vinyl looked the ceiling for a moment, swaying slightly. Octavia went to take another swig, secure in the knowledge that she had stumped her friend. But within seconds Vinyl had met her gaze and said, with solemn certainty,
"Me."
The spray of cider from Octavia's mouth hit Vinyl right in the face, and she cried out in surprise.
"Hey! What's so funny?!"
Octavia just kept laughing, a great, honest belly laugh that had her doubled over the table in fits of uncontrollable mirth. Vinyl pouted as Octavia struggled upright, wiping tears from her eyes and gasping for breath.
"You… are so... amazingly self-centred..."
Vinyl's lower lip, if possible, extended even further as she muttered,
"Just saying, she looks at me sometimes… Not my fault I'm so good-looking..."
The last had Octavia pounding the table, and Vinyl snapped.
"Well, I'm sorry for reading what I thought were signs, okay?! Sheesh!"
Octavia waved her wordlessly back into her seat as she moved to stand and, with great difficulty, regained her composure.
"Okay, okay, Vinyl. I'm sorry. Back to the game. Why you? I won't laugh… honest. "
Vinyl eyed Octavia suspiciously as their lips trembled with indignation and barely-contained laughter respectively.
"... Okay, well, when we first picked her up, she was all over me, right? Well... sometimes... when we're pulling an all-nighter and you're in Head Office… She, uh… She looks at me."
Octavia gave her a blank look.
"Seriously! I mean, I turn around she's, like… staring. Checking me out like I'm a million-bit dress! Seriously, Tavi, there is genuine hunger in those eyes! It's like being a rabbit in a searchli-stop laughing!"
But she was laughing too now, and the two of them snorted into their drinks as the predatory Rarity stalked their imaginations. Vinyl loved to see Octavia like this, without the mask and the walls and the focus. Somewhere far beneath the pony who did everything right was the pony who was everything right, and she never let the world know it.
And, though Vinyl would never admit it, that's what the VATAIMMPSAOGT was for. Letting the world, just a little part of it, know.
Octavia managed to recover enough to call over to the bar, where Berry was just moving away from a gently nodding pony, who smiled weakly as she patted his shoulder.
"Berry! Two more ciders for the guests of honour, please!"
Vinyl chuckled and poked Octavia's empty mug accusingly.
"Retreating into the competition, eh? Scared to accept the awesome truth of my devastating good looks?"
Octavia gave her a look that Vinyl knew all too well, then turned back to the bar.
"And one for Vinyl, too!"
"Oh, that's it. You're going down."
Octavia snorted.
"We both know that you're hitting the floor before me."
Vinyl hesitated, as she always did, for just a single moment. But, just like every year, she gathered herself, licked her suddenly dry lips, and carried on.
"Who said anything about the floor?"
There was a brief silence, and Berry sidled into the booth with two mugs frothing with brew. Without a word, she placed them on the table and left. Octavia lifted her mug and grinned.
"Let's see if you can laugh this one off."
They downed their drinks.
~~~~~~~~~~
Vinyl opened her eyes. Her head pounded, and the faintest hint of sunlight creeping through the space between blanket and bed sent lances of pain through her eyes. She winced and rolled over, turning to her back to the sun.
Her body met Octavia's, and her partner shifted in her sleep, some silly, childlike noise bubbling up from whatever dream she inhabited. Vinyl's heart skipped a beat in surprise before she remembered what day it was or, more accurately, what day it was yesterday. She breathed a sigh of relief.
Octavia stirred, and Vinyl rolled back over hurriedly, unwilling to be caught revelling in Octavia's presence. Some things were for the day before. With a yawn that would make a lion proud, Octavia pulled herself upright, rubbing blearily at her eyes. Vinyl followed suit, the two ponies blinking the sleep from their eyes in the midday sun.
Octavia squinted about Vinyl's apartment.
"Your place is still a mess. Didn't I tell you tidy up last year?"
Vinyl scratched her mane irritably.
"You tell me every year."
"So why don't you do it?"
"I guess I'm busy with… other things."
Octavia let out a short laugh, the clipped precision of speech that she had so gladly lost returning swiftly as normality slowly reasserted itself. Vinyl sighed and watched her as she stared into space in thought, drinking in every aspect of her and fixing it in her mind. The image would have to last her a while. Octavia spoke unexpectedly.
"So… we did it again."
And suddenly the moment was gone, and cold reality returned. Vinyl rolled her eyes and snapped a retort. She couldn't help it.
"Yeah, it's crazy, it's almost as if one of us actually wanted it."
Octavia put her head in her hooves and groaned.
"Please, Vinyl, this year's night was… perfect, in every way. Do we have to do this? Like every year? Can we not-"
Vinyl felt the anger rise, felt every perfect night come back and drive their futile end into her heart, and suddenly she couldn't hold it in anymore.
"No, Tavi! We can't not!"
Octavia jumped, recoiling from Vinyl's anger with a look of abject shock.
"Vinyl, I-"
"You're right, Tavi. We did it again. Because we do it every year. That's the whole point, right? Every year, since the day..." She stopped for a moment, that perfect memory forever able to stop her in her tracks. "Ever since the day M.A.R.E. said yes. And I just don't know if I can do it anymore."
She threw her blanket aside and leapt out of bed, trying to talk off the frustration that gripped her. She could feel the words lining up to be said, words she didn't want to say but knew she could never forgive herself for not. Octavia simply stared.
"Can't you see, Tavi? Can't you see what's right in front of you? I… Yeah, I remember the last night of college, and I remember what you said. 'We're not friends, we're sisters. We can't be more than that,' right? But you said that, and then M.A.R.E. happened, and then… this happened, and every year we gallop into this, this stupid holiday into romance, and then..."
She stopped, breathing deeply. She hadn't realised how much this hurt. She felt drained, but the words were still there, as if she hadn't even begun. She looked at Octavia's indecipherable expression with eyes edged wtih tears.
"And then you leave. You leave this… place that we've made - this amazing place where, for just one day of the year, everything is right in this stupid, whacked-out city - and you don't even look back. You just leave a note."
Octavia had stood up, sliding from the bed and gathering what little she had brought with her, placing them gently into her saddlebag. Vinyl kept talking, unable to do anything but watch herself make the mistake she had sworn she'd never make.
"But can't you even entertain the idea that maybe, just maybe this place is where we actually belong? Together?"
Octavia hoisted her saddlebag onto her back and walked toward the door. By the time she had her hoof on hte handle, Vinyl's voice was nothing more a plaintive whisper.
"... Octavia?"
Octavia stopped, her hoof hovering an inch above the handle. Vinyl couldn't see her face, but her shoulders shook. With anger? Sadness? Vinyl would have given everything she owned to know.
"I'm... I'm sorry, Vinyl. Love is a great place to visit."
She turned the handle and opened the door, stepping into the corridor beyond.
"But I wouldn't want to live there."
The door closed behind her, and she was gone.
Just like every year.
