Second Chances: Between the Lines

Chapters

The Beginning
The Embarrassment
The Night Out, Part 1
The Night Out, Part 2
The Night Out, Part 3
The Crash
The First Lesson
The Shed
The Feels
The Season
The Parents
The First Time

The Beginning

Second Chances: Between the Lines
By Hero541
The Beginning

The regal Princess Celestia sat in her room in Canterlot castle, her eyes closed in concentration. To anypony from the outside, it would seem like she was about to drift to sleep. However, in her mind, images of a man’s activities flashed like very fast lights. At the moment, he was in a hotel room with a girl he’d just met only a few hours ago, and they were laying next to each other after a long bedtime escapade.

“Sister.”

Celestia opened her eyes once more, somewhat glad that her concentration had been broken. She turned back to her now open door and saw her sister, the majestic Princess Luna, standing there.

“Hello, Luna. Can I help you with something?”

“I don’t believe so. However, I do believe I can help you.”

“Help me with what?”

Luna’s expression became stern as she looked at her sister. She knew well what Celestia had been doing when she’d walked in. It was the same thing she’d been doing for the last few months.

“Are you really still pursuing that human?” she asked, staring into her elder sister’s eyes.

“I am.” replied Celestia, staring back into Luna’s own bright blue eyes, “I truly believe it’s a great opportunity to test the love in this world of ours.”

“Why would you want to initiate a test as risky as this? What if he comes here and he’s violent or destructive? What if he hurts somepony in his attempts to return home? Do you really want the blood or pain of an innocent on your hooves?”

“If there’s one thing he’s not, it’s a violent man.” said Celestia, beginning to make her way to her throne room, Luna right in step with her, “In the time I’ve watched him, the only thing I’ve seen is a lot of cynicism and anger. That, of course, is the effect of a life of sadness, loss, and loneliness, a life I’m sure he didn’t ask for.”

Luna said nothing to that. Her sister had recently become obsessed with this human, believing that he deserved a second chance to live a good life. Initially, Luna had agreed, seeing a form of her darker side, Nightmare Moon, in the human. And if there was anypony who could appreciate the blessing of a second chance, it was Luna.

However, her agreement fell apart once Celestia had said that she wanted to bring this ailing human to Equestria. When asked why, the princess of the sun simply said that if the love and happiness in the land of Equestria wasn’t enough to change this creature, then there was no hope for him to ever get better. Luna could say no more about it, instead choosing to ignore her sister’s insane ranting that this human could be changed by their kingdom.

Celestia stood from her throne and made her way out into the hall, Luna trailing behind her. They walked in silence for some time, both absorbed in their own thoughts. After some time, Celestia spoke up to her sister.

“Luna,” said Celestia suddenly, stopping in the hall and turning to face her sister, “I know that you don’t agree with my idea. You have good reason to be skeptical, after all. To bring a strange creature to our world, not knowing what he may do, or what may happen to him. However, I need your support in this matter.”

Luna looked into her sister’s violet eyes, seeing a glimmer of hope in them. If there was one thing Luna could never argue against, it was that Celestia’s judgment had been unfailing in her thousands of years ruling the land of Equestria. Even her imprisonment in the moon was a good idea to the princess of the night, more in retrospect than at the time of the event itself. If Celestia hadn’t done what she did, there’s no telling what kind of destruction could have been wrought by the power of Nightmare Moon…

“Sister, you’re right in your assessment that I don’t agree with your idea.” replied Luna, not taking her eyes off Celestia’s, “I don’t agree with this decision. I can’t say that I’ll ever agree with it till I see a change instilled in this creature. And I doubt that he will change.”

Celestia’s body slumped a little at her sister’s words.

“However,” Luna continued, “if you think it’s something that can be done, then I will support you all the way. After all, what kind of pony would I be to not appreciate a second chance to make oneself better?”

Celestia smiled and embraced her sister, wrapping her wings around the other alicorn’s blue body and hugging her tightly.

“Thank you, sister. You have no idea what it means to me that you’re there to support me in this matter.”

“That’s what sisters are for.”

The two smiled at each other for a few more moments, till Celestia got a concerned look on her face.

“What’s wrong, sister?” asked Luna, taken aback by the sudden change on her sister’s face.

“I… I feel him slipping away. Something’s gone terribly wrong.”

Luna and Celestia shared similar looks of panic, neither quite sure what to do.

“There’s something wrong with his heart.” said Celestia, her eyes shut tight, concentrating on the human’s fading life force, “It’s almost stopped beating. He’s being taken to a hospital.”

“What should we do?” asked Luna.

Celestia opened her eyes, pondering what she could do. It would be unwise to just show up out of the blue in the middle of a room of humans and take one with her, let alone the human who’s heart was failing at the time. Maybe, if she could muster the energy, she could simply grab his body in her magical power and transport him to somewhere in Equestria.

“I feel him fading fast.” she suddenly said after a few minutes of pondering, “I need to act now.”

Luna said nothing, instead watching as her sister’s horn began to glow. It glowed brighter and brighter, energy flowing out of it in waves. Celestia’s eyes were closed, her whole being focused on the fading life force of the human she wanted. After several minutes, she felt him and pulled him from his place, sending him through a magical portal and landing him in Equestria. Feeling him land, she lowered the spell used to bring him here, and checked his life force.

To her great pleasure, his life was being restored slowly. Luna walked forward and helped her sister, who had begun to wobble from the force of the exertion she had just put up. Celestia smiled, knowing in her heart of hearts that this would work.

“Did you do it?” asked Luna, supporting her sister’s larger form, “Is he here?”

“Y-yes.” replied Celestia, panting, yet still smiling as she righted herself, “I got there… just in time to save him. H-he’s in a place I know will be perfect for him.”

“Where did you send him?”

Celestia’s smile widened, “Sweet Apple Acres.”

The Embarrassment

Second Chances: Between the Lines
By Hero541
The Embarrassment

Vinyl ran from the crowd gathered around her stage, tears filling her eyes as the music floated along the air towards her. Her show had been going pretty smoothly, or so she figured it was. A few ponies had left earlier, but most stayed, and a couple had even cheered for her as she was onstage. It had been a good night so far.

However, when the time for an intermission came, she never noticed Xploshun sneak off and take control of the show. Once she noticed him on the stage beginning to play his music and make the crowd go wild, she couldn’t take it. She even saw a few ponies give her a malicious look or smile before they turned back to the stage and the performance going on there.

It was all too much for her, so she just began running away from her embarrassment. She was on her way to the Frosty Mug pub, remembering that Octavia had said she’d meet her there after the show was over. Few ponies were out at this time of night, and the few who were didn’t even acknowledge her. She was almost glad to be ignored by them now. Receiving no greeting was better than getting one that made her feel worse.

Soon, the bar came into view and she rushed into its doors. Peering around, she saw the gray mare at a table, sipping her drink slowly. The two locked eyes as Vinyl entered, and Octavia immediately became concerned. Both ponies exchanged a silent glance of understanding as Octavia stood up and paid for her drink. Vinyl stepped outside, not wanting to be seen crying by all the bar patrons.

“Vinyl, dear.” said Octavia as she exited the bar, “What happened? Your show wasn’t supposed to be done for another hour?”

“C-can we go h-home to talk about this?” said Vinyl through her tears.

“Of course we can, Vinyl.”

With that, the two made their way back to Octavia’s house, which was only a few blocks from the bar. Neither one said anything the whole way there, the only sound between the two mares was the occasional sniffle or small sob from the distraught unicorn. Soon, they approached the somewhat large dwelling, Octavia rushing to open the door. Vinyl ran inside and collapsed on the couch.

“Now, what happened?”

Slowly, and with many breakdowns along the way, Vinyl told Octavia everything that had happened. Octavia’s expression changed from one of sadness for her friend, to one of anger at the events that had transpired.

“So, he just ran up there and took over your show? Why didn’t anypony try to stop him?”

“Th-they were probably too s-scared to. He’s that r-really tall guy that s-showed up here.”

“Whatever his size, that doesn’t give him the right to upstage some innocent pony who was just trying to do a show!”

“T-Tavi, what do I do? I’ll be a laughingstock! Ponies already are saying t-that I-I don’t deserve my c-cutie mark!” wailed Vinyl, breaking down into fresh sobs.

Octavia felt guilt tug at her chest at Vinyl’s words. She could never tell her the truth, that all the ponies at that show tonight were ones she had paid to show up. Nothing would make her happier than to see Vinyl do what she loves so much and make music to entertain ponies. However, even Octavia couldn’t deny that sometimes, the music Vinyl tried to make was just so bucking awful. But, if it meant that her best friend could be happy (and that her self confidence could rise at seeing a crowd gathered to watch her) she was more than willing to throw down few bits to ponies.

“I don’t know if I wanna do this anymore.” said Vinyl, more fresh tears falling from her beautiful crimson-magenta eyes, ”I-I’m no b-bucking good at it! Maybe I w-was better off just staying at the r-radio station with Neon.”

“Vinyl, you love making music!” exclaimed Octavia, a little taken aback at her friends’ sudden words, “I know that tonight didn’t go well, but you can’t just give up. We’ll get you another show, and it’ll be wonderful.”

“NO!” shouted Vinyl, making Octavia jump a little, “I’m not doing anymore shows! All that happens is I go up there and embarrass myself and just give ponies another reason t-to m-make fun of me!”

As the unicorn was overtaken by her emotions once more, Octavia felt a rage burn in her mind. Somepony had made her friend give up all her hope. They were going to pay for this. She’d make sure of that.

“Where does this… Xploshun live? Do you know?” she asked, her voice shaking with anger.

“H-he’s staying with Rarity.”

“Very well then.” said Octavia, making up her mind as to what she was going to do come morning, “You go get to bed, dear. It’s been a terribly long night for you. Just leave this situation to me, and I’ll take care of it.”

Vinyl nodded, then climbed from the couch, giving Octavia a quick hug before heading up the stairs and to her room. Octavia remained downstairs, her rage still building. She would get no sleep that night. Somepony owed Vinyl an apology, and she would see to it that it would be made. No matter what.

The Night Out, Part 1

Second Chances: Between the Lines
By Hero541
The Night Out, Part 1

Josh descended the stairs of the boutique, headed to the front entrance to wait for Rainbow Dash. He had been in Equestria a little less than a week now, and they were fulfilling their daily obligation to go to the bar. As per usual, they would sit and talk, Josh mostly about what life for him was like back home, and Rainbow about how she wanted to join the Wonderbolts. Josh liked the fact that he at least had someone here to talk to besides Rarity on a daily basis. It helped that he could also laugh a little as Rainbow got progressively more and more drunk.

As he reached the ground floor, he looked around and saw Twilight and Rarity standing around, the purple unicorn holding out a purple dress with her magic while the white one inspected it.

“You’re sure you just want me to fix this, dear?” asked Rarity, looking the garment over with slight disgust, “I think it could use a complete overhaul.”

“That’s alright, Rarity.” responded Twilight, trying not to sound too annoyed at the stab at her clothing choice, “I just need you to fix it a little. That’s all.”

“If you insist. Oh, Josh, darling.” called Rarity as the human came into view, “Be a dear and go fetch me my work glasses, would you please?”

Josh said nothing, instead walking over to the rack of fabrics and picking up Rarity’s tiny red work glasses.

“Thank you, darling.” said Rarity as she took them from him.

“Hey there, Josh.” said Twilight, smiling up at him, “How’re you adjusting to life here?”

“It’s not been easy.” he said, plopping down in a nearby chair to wait for the rainbow pegasus, “I’m still not used to the fact that everything here is smaller. Or that I still have to duck to go in and out of doorways. But, I think I’ve pretty much accepted the possibilities of talking ponies in another world.”

Twilight giggled at his last statement.

“Glad to see you’re doing alright then.”

Josh said nothing, instead smiling a little at Twilight as he awaited the arrival of Rainbow Dash.

“So,” continued Twilight, sidling closer to Josh, “What’re you up to now?”

“I’m waiting for Rainbow to get here.” he said, “We’re headed to the Frosty Mug.”

As he finished his sentence, a knock came from the front door.

“Speaking of which…” he said, standing up and heading to open the door.

As he did so, Rainbow floated in front of him, a smile on her face as she saw Josh in the doorway.

“You ready to go?” she asked.

Josh simply nodded and ducked out the door, taking his place next to Rainbow Dash.

“Wait!”

Josh and Rainbow looked back inside to see Twilight heading towards them.

“Can I come along?” she asked, her eyes wide and hopeful, “I promise I won’t be any trouble or anything.”

Rainbow bit her lip and looked to Josh. Human and pegasus locked eyes momentarily, both wondering about the purple unicorn.

“Uuhh… Would you excuse us a moment?” asked Josh, grabbing Rainbow’s foreleg and turning her around, both of them facing away from Twilight.

“Well, Rainbow.” said Josh in a hushed whisper, “should we let her tag along or what?”

“I don’t know… Twilight’s a bit of an egghead. She might manage to nerd up every word we say.”

“In all fairness, we could use a bit of that. We don’t always have the most intelligent conversations.”

“So?”

Josh stared at Rainbow skeptically. She smiled at him sheepishly, the squeaky noise sounding. Josh ignored it.

“Let’s just be nice and take her along this one time, okay? What’s the worst that could happen anyway?” he said.

Rainbow huffed a little, but said nothing. Josh and Dash turned back to Twilight, whose eyes were still hopeful.

“Sure. You can come with us, Twi.” said Josh.

Twilight proceeded to gleefully jump around and around the human and pegasus, the whole time shouting “Yes” over and over again. Rainbow glared at Josh, who took his turn to smile sheepishly at her.

“I’m so excited!” said the giddy unicorn, hopping in place like Pinkie when she just met a new friend, “I can’t wait to get there! Oh, wait.”

In a flash of purple light, Twilight vanished momentarily. Josh and Rainbow looked at each other for a minute, wondering where she could have gone. In another instant, the light flashed again, and she stood before them once more, her saddlebags on and a book poking out from one pocket.

“I knew I had a copy of this somewhere. It’ll come in handy for later!” she said, pulling the book out with her magic and handing it to Josh.

He took it and read the front cover. Bar Etiquette 101: Interacting with Other Ponies in Social Situations Involving Alcohol. Josh fought back the urge to laugh loudly as Rainbow facehoofed.

“Even going to a bar for the night you manage to make it nerdy!” she said to the unicorn as she took back the book.

“I just want to make sure I avoid any awkward situations that could arise in such a setting.” replied Twilight, levitating the book back into her saddlebags, “This book covers all that could possibly arise in a bar. I need to be prepared!”

Josh got a huge smile on his face as he continued to ignore the urge to laugh. He turned around and began to make for the bar.

“Come on. Let’s go.”

Rainbow quickly joined him at his side as Twilight trotted behind, a contented smile on her little purple face.

“Still think this is a good idea?” asked Rainbow, peeking back at Twilight.

“It could be an interesting night.” he replied, still smiling at the thought that a book like that could even exist.

*****

Josh, Rainbow, and Frosty all sat at the bar, each one staring at Twilight. She had her face buried in her book and was reading feverishly. Not one of them had even ordered a drink yet because of it. Twilight had wanted to understand the proper protocol for doing so.

“Is she gonna be alright?” asked Frosty finally, looking to Josh.

“I think so.” replied the human, turning away from Twilight once more as Rainbow facehoofed.

“What can I get you guys then?” asked Frosty, levitating out a few glasses.

“I’ll have a boilermaker. What about you Rainbow?”

“I’ll have a… martini. Extra dry.”

“Got it.” said Frosty, grabbing out the vodka for the martini, “What about her?”

Josh looked to Twilight once more, seeing her still buried in the book. It looked like she wasn’t going to surface any time soon, so he pushed the tome down a little and addressed her.

“What’re you gonna drink, Twi?” he asked, smiling at her and resisting the urge to laugh.

“Huh?” she asked, seemingly forgetting where she was.

“Frosty here wants to know what you want to drink.” said Josh, gesturing to Frosty who had just finished making Rainbow’s drink and was now starting on the boilermaker.

“I haven’t even read what kinds of drinks there are yet!” she said, diving back into her book, “I’ve gotta pick up the pace if I’m gonna be prepared for this!”

“Slow down there, Junior.” said Josh, grabbing the book before she could continue reading, “I don’t think you’ll need this for that.”

“Josh!” she whined, attempting to focus her magic on the book once more to grab it from him, “I need that! It’ll help me understand what I need to do right now!”

“For fucks sake, Twi! You don’t need a book to understand what to do in a bar!”

Eventually, Twilight gave up trying to get the book from Josh, instead choosing to cross her forelegs and pout. Josh handed the book to Frosty over the counter.

“Keep this safe.” he said as the barkeep levitated it behind the bar, “Don’t let me forget to grab it before I leave.”

Frosty nodded and placed the book behind some liquor bottles. He then looked towards the pouting purple unicorn.

“You like orange juice, sweetheart?” he asked, smiling sweetly at her.

Twilight didn’t say anything to that, instead simply nodding her head.

“Well then,” said Frosty, levitating a bottle of orange juice, a glass, and a bottle of tequila towards himself, “I’ll make you a drink I know you’ll like. It’s called a tequila sunrise.”

“Frosty,” Josh whispered, leaning in close to whisper to the unicorn as he prepared the drink, “do you really think it’s a good idea to give her tequila as her first drink? She probably couldn’t take it very well.”

“I’ll only put a little in.” said Frosty, carefully measuring out the alcohol before pouring it into the glass.

Josh shrugged, instead turning back to his own drink. Rainbow stared at him, as if to say “I told you so” before taking a sip of her martini. Frosty soon finished making Twilight’s drink, adding a slice of orange on the rim as well as a little umbrella.

“Here you go, sweetheart.” he said, levitating the drink in front of her.

She eyed it a little cautiously, unsure of what to do first. She glanced at Rainbow who was sipping on her martini, then to Josh who had just dropped his whiskey shot into the glass of beer before him and began to drink. Slowly, she levitated the drink up and took a sip. A slight bitter taste quickly followed the orange juice, as well as a burning sensation.

“This isn’t too bad.” she finally said, smacking her lips a little as feeling returned to her tongue, “In fact, it’s really good!”

She quickly downed the drink before turning back to Frosty.

“Want another one of those?” he asked, preparing the orange juice.

“No. I think I wanna try something else!” she said excitedly, nearly bouncing up and down in her seat.

Josh and Rainbow exchanged worried glances. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all thought Josh. Once again, Rainbow glared at him in a gloating way. This was gonna be a long night for the two of them. They could feel it.

The Night Out, Part 2

Second Chances: Between the Lines
By Hero541
The Night Out, Part 2

Twilight was a fucking lightweight. Josh had figured that right off the bat, and so had Rainbow. However, neither one of them could stop her as she ordered drink after drink. In the span of only an hour, she had gone from a tequila sunrise to just straight shots of whiskey and gin. After that, she’d decided to top it all off with two martinis, a vodka tonic, and three shots of tequila.

“How the fuck is she not dying from alcohol poisoning right now?” said Josh as Twilight downed another shot of tequila.

“I don’t know, but we’d better cut her off before she does something she’ll regret.” said Rainbow, finishing her second martini.

Twilight wobbled dangerously back and forth on her stool, a huge, drunken smile painting her face. Her left eye was only half open and bloodshot. She looked towards Frosty, slurring heavily as she spoke.

“Hey, Fffrosty. I think I’m ready for another d-drink.”

“Sorry, Twilight.” responded the barkeep, grabbing her last shot glass and beginning to clean it, “I’m cutting you off for the night. You’ve had enough.”

“No. I’m good fffor another round. I p-promise.”

“Twilight! You’re drunk as fuck. You need to go home and sleep this off.” said Josh, standing and preparing to leave.

“Whoa, slow down there!” said Rainbow, grabbing Josh before he had the chance to leave, “We can’t send her home. Especially not on her own!”

“Why can’t we send her home?”

“Spike means well, but he probably won’t even know what’s wrong with her, let alone know how to help.”

Josh facepalmed at her words. He hadn’t even thought about Spike in all this. The dragon probably didn’t even know what alcohol was.

“What’re we gonna do with her then?” asked Josh, looking back to the unicorn who was still sitting there, swaying back and forth, “We can’t take her to the boutique. Rarity would kill me if she knew I let Twilight get drunk!”

“And we can’t taker her to my place.” said Rainbow putting a hoof to her chin in contemplation.

“Why not?”

“I live in a cloud house! Only pegasi can walk on clouds. Unicorns can usually use their magic to do it, but I highly doubt she’s capable of casting anything more than a levitation spell right now.”

“You live on a cloud?”

Rainbow glared at Josh.

“That’s not what’s important here!” she shouted, drawing the attention of several ponies nearby.

“Okay! Calm down. Jesus…” said Josh, raising his hands in defense.

“What about Fluttershy? I’ve heard she knows how to sober a pony up really well.” suggested Rainbow.

“Anything’s worth a try at this point, I suppose.” said Josh, turning around, “Okay, Twi. Let’s…”

Twilight was nowhere to be found at the bar. Josh looked around quickly, hoping to spot the lavender unicorn somewhere.

“Dash, where’s Twilight?”

“How the buck should I know?”

Josh once again peered around, praying deep down that Twilight was still in the bar. As he looked to the door, he saw a purple and pink tail make its way out. Without hesitation, he grabbed Rainbow’s foreleg and yanked her along, out of the bar and into the cool Ponyville night.

“What was that for?” asked the indignant pegasus, rubbing her sore shoulder.

Josh simply pointed to Twilight’s drunken form as it stumbled down the street. Together, Josh and Rainbow chased after her as she headed for Roseluck’s flower stand. They arrived to see a very confused and scared looking Roseluck watching Twilight stumble towards her.

“These ffflowers are really pretty.” said Twilight, burying her face in a bouquet of roses and inhaling deeply, “Can I have one?”

“Uh… if you pay for one you can.”

As Twilight attempted to float some bits out of her bag, Josh and Rainbow ran up and stopped her.

“Hey, guys.” Twilight said, looking up from her bag and smiling wide at Josh and Rainbow, “Where’d you go?”

“Twi, you need to stay with us, okay?” said Rainbow, grabbing the unicorn’s saddlebags in her mouth and handing them to Josh, “We need to take you to Fluttershy’s house.”

“Fffluttershy? B-but I was gonna buy a pretty flower!”

“I’ll get you a rose later, okay Twilight?” said Josh, throwing the bag over his shoulder.

“I wanna pretty flower now!” yelled Twilight, sitting on her rump and pouting once more.

“Okay! Fine!” said Josh, not wanting to make a scene, “How much for a rose?”

“Uh, two bits.” said Roseluck, pulling out a rose and handing it to Josh, “Is she gonna be okay?”

“I hope so.” replied Josh, handing over two bits from Twilight’s bag.

“There. You got your bucking rose. Now can we go?” said Rainbow, rolling her eyes.

“Yay! Pretty flower!” said Twilight, clutching the rose tightly in her hooves and staring at it drunkenly.

“Just grab her and let’s get our asses moving. I wanna get her to Fluttershy’s as fast as we can.”

Rainbow nodded, then looked to Twilight who wore the flower in her mane.

“D-does it make me look pretty?” asked the drunk unicorn, smiling at Rainbow.

“Yes. You’re very pretty. Now, can we go?”

Twilight nodded, attempting to stand up before falling face first into the ground. As she turned over, her nose started to bleed a little. She clutched it in her hooves, her eyes watering heavily. Suddenly, she began to sob uncontrollably.

“Twilight!” called Josh, kneeling down next to the crying unicorn, “Are you okay?”

“I hurt my n-nose, Joshie.” she wailed, wiping the blood away from her face, “I hurt it r-real bad.”

“I’ll get you a tissue, okay? Just stop crying.”

“B-but, Joshie?!”

“Make her stop crying!” called Rainbow over the sound of Twilight’s wailing, covering her ears with her hooves, “For the love of Celestia, make her stop!”

Thinking quickly, Josh reached up and pulled the now crushed rose out of Twilight’s mane.

“Ooh. Pretty flower. There you are.” said Twilight, ceasing her crying and clutching the flower once more.

Josh stood up to look at Roseluck, only to see the pony cowering behind her stall.

“Sorry about that, Roseluck.” he said, scratching the back of his neck nervously, “We’ll get out of your hair now.”

Roseluck said nothing. She instead chose to continue cowering in the stall. Josh bent back down and grabbed Twilight, slinging her over his shoulders so her abdomen was around his neck.

“Let’s get the fuck outta here and get this drunken chick to Fluttershy already. I can’t take much more of this.”

Rainbow nodded, floating next to Josh as he began to head towards the outskirts of town.

“Hey Joshie! Hey Rainbow!” called a loud obnoxious voice nearby.

Josh felt his heart drop into his stomach as he turned around. Pinkie Pie was bouncing gleefully towards himself and Rainbow. For the love of God thought Josh as Pinkie bounded up to them can we not get a fucking break tonight?

The Night Out, Part 3

Second Chances: Between the Lines
By Hero541
The Night Out, Part 3

“Uh, Josh.” said Pinkie, her head cocked in confusion as she looked at Twilight draped across his neck, “Why is Twilight on your neck?”

“Well, ya see…” Josh trailed off, gently setting Twilight back on the ground.

“She’s real dizzy.” said Rainbow, “We just came back from…”

“The school playground.” finished Josh.

“You guys were at the playground?” said Pinkie, watching Twilight stumble over to a nearby bush, “Why were you at the playground with Twilight?”

“Rarity wanted me to take Sweetie Belle out for a day, and Twi wanted to come along.” answered Josh, unaware of what the drunken unicorn was up to, “She spun around the merry-go-round so much. She’s really dizzy from that.”

As he finished his sentence, Twilight vomited violently into the bush. Josh and Rainbow both avoided looking at her, not wanting to see what had happened. Soon, they heard snoring from the bush, Twilight having finally passed out. Pinkie kept peering around them to see her friend lying on the ground.

“Wow.” said the party pony simply, “She must have had a lot of fun! I wish I could’ve come along! You guys’ll have to invite me next time you go. We can have a party at the playground and invite everypony!”

“Can do, Pinkie.” said Josh, watching as Rainbow headed back to check on Twilight’s unconscious form, “Now, we’ve gotta get going. Gotta get Twi back home.”

“Okay. Have a great night, you guys!”

Pinkie bounced away, humming to herself as Josh rushed back towards Twilight.

“Don’t tell me she passed out in her own fucking puke.” he said, fuming at the thought of having to pick her back up again.

“Surprisingly, no. Actually, she’s pretty clean.”

“Thank God. Let’s go before somebody else shows up to chat.”

Rainbow nodded and helped Josh lift Twilight back up on his shoulders. They trudged along the road, neither one saying much as they went along. After awhile of walking, Twilight woke up and began sputtering nonsense about whatever came to her mind.

“I just wish I c-could be as p-pretty as Rarity.” she slurred as they reached the outskirts of town, “Do you think I’m p-pretty, Joshie?”

“Yes, Twilight. For the millionth fucking time, I think you’re pretty.”

“You’re just saying that.”

Josh had to resist the urge to yell at his inebriated friend. His annoyance with her had been steadily growing as they’d made their way out of town and to Fluttershy’s cottage. If he had to tell Twilight she was pretty one more time or explain to her where they were going, he was going to lose his mind. Am I this fucking obnoxious when I’m drunk?

“There it is. Just over there.” said Rainbow, pointing to the little cottage with her hoof.

In no time, they were standing on the doorstep to the little earthen home. Rainbow knocked on the door as Twilight continued to babble incoherently. Soon, hoofsteps sounded from inside as Fluttershy made her way to the door.

“Fluttershy’s really pretty too.” said Twilight as the yellow pegasus opened the door.

“Oh. Hello, Josh. And Rainbow. And… is that Twilight on your back?”

“Yes it is. And she’s fucking wasted.” said Josh, looking down at Fluttershy, “Can you help us?”

“I don’t know what you need.”

“We need her sober. And fast.” said Rainbow.

“How much has she even had to drink anyway?” asked Fluttershy, walking around Josh to examine her drunken friend.

“Enough to do this.” replied the human.

“So can you help us Shy?”

“I think so.” said Fluttershy, walking back around to face her friends, “Bring her inside and set her on the couch. I’ll be right back.”

With that, Fluttershy disappeared around the corner into her kitchen as Josh and Rainbow made their way into the living room. Josh lay the inebriated pony on the couch, watching as she struggled to get back up.

“Aww.” she moaned, “I was liking being on your back, Joshie. That was fun!”

“I hope I don’t ever have to do this for her again.” he said, glaring at Twilight, “Why didn’t you try to talk me out of bringing her along?”

“I did!” retorted Rainbow, flying up and getting in Josh’s face, “You’re the one who had to be all friendly and stuff to her!”

“Well, you should know I have a pretty weak will.” he said, pushing the pegasus away, “It’s not hard to talk me out of shit. You must suck at it.”

Rainbow was about to scream back at Josh when Fluttershy came back into the room, a bowl filled with some kind of green liquid in her teeth.

“No need to fight, you two.” she said, placing the bowl down on a nearby table, “We’re all friends here.”

“What’s that?” asked Josh, looking at the green liquid.

“It’s a natural remedy I learned to make from Zecora.” she said, picking it back up with her wing and walking over to Twilight, “It’s used to sober up somepony whose drank too much.”

“How’s it work exactly?” asked Rainbow, watching as Fluttershy prepared to feed Twilight the liquid.

“You’ll see in a minute here.”

Turning to Twilight, Fluttershy began to coax the unicorn into drinking the green liquid.

“Okay, Twilight. It’s time to take your medicine.”

“Don’t wanna.”

“Just be a good girl and take your medicine and I’ll give you something real nice, okay?”

“Another pretty flower?”

Fluttershy looked to Josh and Rainbow, both of whom smiled sheepishly at her gaze.

“…Yes. I’ll give you another pretty flower.”

“Can I p-put it in my mane and b-be as pretty as Rarity?”

Fluttershy raised her eyebrows at that, looking once more to Josh and Rainbow.

“We’ll explain later.” said Josh, “She said a lot of stupid shit on the way here.”

The shy pegasus turned back to her inebriated friend, her bowl still clutched in her wing.

“I’ll let you put as many flowers as you want in your mane. Just drink up and we’ll get started.”

Without hesitation, Twilight grabbed the bowl from Fluttershy’s wing and swallowed down its contents, spilling much of it down her chest as her hooves fumbled the bowl in her drunken state. In only a few seconds, she downed the entire thing.

“Now, where’s those…”

She trailed off as the remedy took effect. Her eyes shot open and returned to their normal state. Her mane, which had become unkempt and tangled, straightened almost immediately, and her drunken smile vanished. Josh and Rainbow watched in awe as Twilight returned to the way she had been before she’d started drinking.

“How do ya feel, Twi?” asked Rainbow, inching towards her friend.

Twilight didn’t respond as one might think. She very quickly jumped up and looked around the room.

“Where’s a bathroom?!” she yelled, running around frantically, “I’ve gotta pee like no other!”

“Upstairs, to the right.” said Fluttershy, pointing up the stairs with a smile on her face.

In a flash of purple and indigo, Twilight shot up the stairs, slamming the door hard as she entered the lavatory.

“The remedy works by clearing all the alcohol out of somepony’s system.” said Fluttershy, answering the soon to come torrent of questions from her friends, “The only way for all of it to escape is out of the urinary system. Thus, Twilight’ll probably be in there awhile.”

Josh and Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief. At least this whole mess was finally over. They waited till Twilight was done in the bathroom (about a half-hour later) and thanked Fluttershy for her help. All three made their way out of the small cottage, Rainbow saying good night to Josh and Twilight and taking off for home. As Josh and Twilight made their way back to Ponyville, Josh explained to Twilight what had happened after she’d gotten drunk.

“I wondered why I had a crushed rose in my mane.” she said, chuckling a little at the thought, “And why my nose hurt so much.”

“You faceplanted like a champ.” said Josh, laughing a little at remembering Twilight smash her face into the ground.

As they reached the library, Twilight turned back to Josh, her ears flat against her skull.

“Thanks for walking me home, Josh. I hope I didn’t give you and Rainbow too much trouble tonight.”

Josh knelt down and patted Twilight on the head, a smile on his face.

“You’re not nearly as bad as some people I’ve had to deal with when they’re drunk. Don’t worry. It’s what friends do for each other.”

Twilight smiled at him and his gesture and words. After awhile, she reached out and hugged the human, who returned her embrace in full measure.

“There’s just one thing I’m wondering now.” said Twilight as she broke away from Josh.

“What’s that?”

“Did you remember to grab my book from the bar?”

Josh thought for a minute. Book? What…

“Mother fucker!”

Author's Note

Thanks once again to 254Ddubman for giving me the idea to do this segment. Check out his story, "Equestria, What a Place"!

The Crash

Second Chances: Between the Lines
By Hero541
The Crash

Josh awoke with a start for what seemed like the hundredth time that night. His dreams were a little less intimidating than before, but their vividness was still pretty bad. He just hoped that he didn’t wake the three fillies around his body whenever he jerked awake. Looking at them, he was surprised to see them all still sound asleep, their little colorful bodies curled tight, their minds off in their own peaceful dreams. What I’d give to have it that easy right now…

Realizing he wasn’t going to get any more sleep that night, he looked to the clock on the wall illuminated by the moonlight. Its face read about four-o-clock. Josh silently swore under his breath, wanting to get out of bed, but not disturb the little ponies he shared the bed with. After about another half-hour of lying there, he dared to move, carefully pulling his body out from under the sheets and raising a leg over the sleeping form of Sweetie Belle.

Miraculously, he didn’t disturb a single pony as he climbed out of the bed and set foot on the floor. Smiling at this, he decided he’d go downstairs and just sit for awhile, maybe even read a book. Anything to take his mind off this night, which was just one of many on his road to recovery. Making his way to the door, he was about to duck down and exit, when he heard a small yawn behind him.

Turning, he saw Apple Bloom awake, raising her tiny yellow hooves over her head and making a huge yawn.

“Where’re ya’ll goin?” inquired the filly, her mind still very hazy.

“I was just gonna go and sit downstairs for a bit.” he replied, “I can’t sleep anymore. Sorry if I woke you up, Apple Bloom. You don’t have to be up if you don’t want to.”

“Can Ah get a glass of water?” she asked, her eyes still half closed, “Ah’m powerful thirsty.”

“Sure.” Josh said, smiling and carefully reaching down to grab the little filly.

The human cradled the miniscule pony in his arms and carefully made his way down the stairs. As he reached the kitchen, he gently set Apple Bloom down on the counter and fetched a glass from the nearby cupboard, filling it with water and handing it to the tiny filly. She downed the glass in several small gulps and placed it on the counter, holding out her hooves once more. Josh picked her up, his one hand under her little rump, the other stroking her strawberry mane as her head rested on his shoulder.

Not wanting to wake Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo, he sat in a chair downstairs and gently stroked Apple Bloom’s mane. She was fast asleep in his lap, her little body rising and falling with each breath. As Josh stroked the filly, he felt his racing mind ease a little. This was a type of serenity he’d need to savor, because he knew he wouldn’t see much of it for a little while. Already, his dreams were tormenting him, and they would only get worse with time.

Slowly, the sun began to rise, and Josh still sat in the chair, Apple Bloom fast asleep on his lap. His dream played over and over in his mind, Richard’s enraged face continuing to flash before his eyes as he blinked. A chill ran down his spine as he remembered that day.

*****

“You sure about this, man? You’ve been smoking a lot today.”

“Don’t be a puss, Rich. That jackass wants a race, he’ll get a race.”

Richard had a concerned look on his face as Josh revved his own engine. The car next to them responded in kind. Josh’s eyes narrowed at the driver next to him, who responded by flipping off the budding producer.

“So, I’m gonna guess the finish’ll be that lamp post at the end of the road there.” said Josh, pointing at said object, “Bet we’ll beat his sorry ass there by about fifteen seconds or so. That pussy Vette of his ain’t got shit on this beast!”

“Just be careful, okay?” said Richard, sitting back in his seat and preparing for the worst, “You don’t need to be getting a ticket for speeding. Again.”

Josh said nothing to that, instead shifting his focus on the brightly glowing traffic light in front of him, its red hue illuminating the otherwise black night. His foot sat ready on the gas pedal, awaiting the change that would send his car shooting down the long, narrow road. He’d been smoking a lot of chronic today, but that hardly held him back. He was as sharp as ever.

The light changed to green and both cars shot forwards, peeling out and shooting gravel and dust behind them. The other car quickly gained the advantage at about 400 feet, but Josh made it up. He felt the adrenaline course through his veins as his car passed the one next to them, leaving the other driver in the dust. In no time, he’d passed the finish, the other driver trailing behind him by about ten seconds.

“Yeah! Fuck Yeah!” he shouted, slowing a little, “Told you we’d win!”

“That was fuckin awesome, bro! Totally awesome!”

Josh smiled at Richard, whose face wore an expression of excitement and glee. The two of them were so enthralled by their win against the other driver and his Corvette that they never even saw the truck barreling towards the passenger side of the car. All they heard was a single loud crash and then blackness overtook their minds.

When Josh awoke this time, he was in a bright room, surrounded by all kinds of loud beeping machines. His left leg, right arm, and head were heavily bandaged and hurt like nothing he’d ever felt before. He wore a neck brace, restricting him from looking in any particular direction except forward. One of his eyes was swollen as well, restricting his already limited vision even further.

“Oh good, you’re finally awake.” said a voice nearby.

Josh saw a tall, pretty, African-American nurse walk forward, carrying a clipboard. She flipped through the papers on it once, before looking down to Josh’s broken form and smiling.

“You gave us all quite a scare there, Mr. Daniels.” she said, checking some of the equipment attached to Josh’s body, “Things have been pretty touch and go for awhile now, what with that head injury of yours. However, it seems that no significant damage was done, and you’ll make a full recovery in no time.”

“W-w-what… h-happened t-to… me?” he managed to stammer out, his throat dry and sore.

“You were in a car accident. The other driver of the truck was pretty drunk and slammed right into your vehicle going about 45 miles an hour. You were lucky to survive an impact like that. It’s a good thing you were wearing your seat belt.”

“M-my b-b-brother…”

The nurse suddenly looked more apprehensive at his words. She placed the clipboard on the nearby table, pinching the bridge of her nose and biting her lip.

“You see… the impact was on his side of the car. That’s another reason that you’re not the worst hurt from this whole thing.”

“W-what happened to him?” asked Josh, his eyes widening in fear at her words.

“He… was killed on impact. I’m sorry. There wasn’t anything we could to for him.”

Josh felt his heart plummet. He couldn’t believe it. Richard was dead. And even worse, Josh knew it was his fault. If he hadn’t raced that guy, this might have never happened…

Hot tears flowed from Josh’s eyes. He broke down in silent sobs as the nurse apologized one more time, then left the room. It’s all my fault he thought, his body quivering at the thought of his poor brother I killed him.

*****

Josh once more felt tears flow down his face. He had inadvertently killed his one and only brother. All throughout their lives, Josh had always had Richard’s back, protecting him from anything and everything that would dare hurt him. However, Richard had died because Josh was being an idiot. Now, the memory of what he did haunted his dreams every time he stopped using.

“Hello, darling.”

Josh wiped his eyes quickly, then peered up at the staircase, watching Rarity descend.

“Why is Apple Bloom on your lap this early in the morning?” asked the unicorn, eyes locked on the little yellow filly.

“I was having a hard time sleeping last night, so the girls came in and stayed with me for the rest of the time. I got up at about 4, and Apple Bloom here needed a glass of water. I just kept her out here with me to not disturb the other girls.”

“Oh.” said Rarity, one eyebrow raised, “Why couldn’t you sleep, dear?”

“Bad dreams.”

“That’s too bad.” she said, smiling at him, her curlers in her purple-indigo mane bouncing as she sauntered over to him, “Well, tell you what. Take Apple Bloom here back up to the others and get her to bed. I’ll begin making you a big breakfast. I know you’ll need it for today.”

Josh nodded as the unicorn trotted downstairs to the kitchen. Carefully, he picked up Apple Bloom, causing her to groan in an adorably annoyed way, and took her back up to the other two fillies. As he made his way up to his room, he tried to push the thought of his dreams out of his mind, knowing he had to focus on the lesson he was to teach Vinyl today. Besides, that was the only way he was gonna get out of this world anyway.

The First Lesson

Second Chances: Between the Lines
By Hero541
The First Lesson

Josh sat in front of Vinyl, a blank expression on his face as he tried to think of something to say. The unicorn sat on her rump, staring at Josh with one eyebrow raised.

“Well?” she said, raising her hooves up and shrugging, “Are you gonna start teaching me, or do I have to learn how to read your mind?”

Josh simply continued to stare at Vinyl, his mouth beginning to fall open. He had tried all night to think of something to teach Vinyl that wouldn’t be too technical. However, the only thing he could think about at the time was how to work the equipment they’d need. Of course, Josh had inconveniently forgotten to pack up all his gear before he was whisked away to a magical world filled with talking colorful ponies…

“Let’s…” he stalled, looking around the room for some kind of inspiration for an idea, “Uh… Let’s start by…”

Vinyl facehoofed as he looked around.

“If you don’t know what you’re doing, just tell me.” she said, a little venom seeping into her voice, “That way neither of us is wasting each other’s time.”

Josh looked back to the mare, glaring at her a little. Believe me he thought if I could leave, I would. Octavia came to his mind as he thought about just leaving right now. She probably wouldn’t be too happy to hear he’d skipped out on Vinyl, especially after the little show he’d put on the day before…

“You know, Tavi told me why you’re doing this.” she said, crossing her forelegs in front of her chest, “She said you’re just doing this so you can get your bar tab paid and go home when it’s all done.”

Goddamnit, Octavia thought Josh, cringing a little as Vinyl continued to glare at him.

“Well, that’s... partially true…”

“So why are you even wasting my time?” she asked, tears beginning to flow from her eyes, “If all you care about is going home, then I can just tell Tavi to pay for your shit and you can leave.”

Josh couldn’t handle any more tears. He knelt down and tried to look into Vinyl’s eyes. She looked away from him as he reached her eye level.

“It’s true that she promised to pay my tab if I helped you,” he said, speaking as softly as he could muster, “but that doesn’t mean that I don’t wanna be here.”

“Why are you here then?” she asked, turning her attention back to him as her eyes continued to leak, “If you’re so keen on helping me, you’re doing a pretty crappy job of it.”

“Listen,” he began, sitting back in the chair he’d previously occupied, “I’ve never taught anyone anything like this before. Nobody even taught me how to do all this! I had to learn it all on my own.”

“R-really?” Vinyl stammered, now focusing back on Josh, “How is that even possible? You were so great on that stage that night…”

“To be honest, that song I played that night wasn’t my own…”

“That doesn’t matter!” she said, standing to be a little closer in eye level to him once more, “You handled yourself better than I ever could! I’ve never been able to do something like that…”

Vinyl looked away again, causing Josh to reach out to her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled as she turned back to him.

“You’ll be able to do that one day. I promise.” he said.

“No I won’t.” she said, shrugging off his hand, her body beginning to heave as she wept, “Every t-time I go up on that stage, I m-mess everything up.”

“You weren’t doing too bad that one night…” said Josh, trying to sound as comforting as he could.

“Don’t patronize me!” shouted Vinyl, glaring at him again, “I know I suck! Just say it!”

Vinyl collapsed at Josh’s feet, sobbing heavily, her hooves over her eyes. Josh knelt down next to her and hesitantly began to stroke her mane in a comforting manner. Together, the two sat there awhile, Josh continuing to carress her mane gently as the unicorn wept. Way to go, moron thought Josh, scolding himself Not only have you not taught her anything, but you’ve made her cry again.

“I’m the one who sucks here, Vinyl. Not you.” he finally said, causing the mare to look up at him.

“What do you mean?” she asked, wiping a few tears from her eyes.

“I came here to teach you, and I’ve failed on that end.” he said, hanging his head in shame, “All I’ve done is manage to upset you again and again. I’ve got one job here, and I can’t even do it right.”

Vinyl stood up once more, looking at Josh in astonishment.

“Y-you really do want to teach me?” she asked shakily.

Josh just nodded his head, not looking at Vinyl, “At first, I didn’t. I’ll admit that. But…” he stalled, thinking about what to say, “I hate to see someone suffer like you’re suffering now, especially knowing that I made it worse for you with what I did that night.”

Josh was astonished a little at his own words. When had he started to care about others? He’d never been like that back home. There, he could care less about the people around him, as long as none of them screwed with his life. But here, in this magical place filled with love and harmony…

Josh’s thought were interrupted as Vinyl reached out and hugged him tightly. He slowly returned the embrace, rubbing her back gently as he held her.

“Th-thank you.” she said, “For giving me a chance.”

“I’ll always give you a shot, no matter what.” he said, squeezing her a little tighter, “Everyone deserves a chance to prove themselves. Even you and I.”

“Sorry I didn’t really give you a chance…” she said as they broke apart and she returned to her four legs.

Josh smiled at her, “Don’t worry about it. I didn’t really deserve your trust just yet.”

She smiled back warmly, her beautiful eyes staring into his own.

“So, what’re we gonna learn today?” she asked, taking her place in front of him once more.

“We’ll figure that out eventually.” said Josh, standing and returning to the chair once more, “Now, what do you want to be able to do when this is all over?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean what kind of producer do you wanna be by the time we’re done here?”

Vinyl looked deep into his eyes, thinking over an honest answer.

“I wanna be the best producer in all of Equestria.”

Josh smiled at her and patter her head.

“I think I can do that.”

The Shed

Second Chances: Between the Lines
By Hero541
The Shed

Josh and Vinyl sat at the board and mixer, the human playing a backbeat and adding in a few effects here and there to achieve the desired effect.

“That growling sound comes from this dial here.” he said, pointing to a black dial behind the jogwheels, “If I turn it just a little…”

He turned the dial and a mechanical growling sound issued forth. Vinyl almost squealed with joy at the harsh sound. She’d learned to love the effects that made a song more intense and driving, especially the grinds and growls. However, she wasn’t really confident enough in herself to try and use all of them just yet.

“That’s gotta be one of the best sounds in a song, I think.” she said, smiling at Josh as he made the music fade out.

“It’s definitely great if you wanna get that sort of jungle sound.” said the human, turning and facing Vinyl, “Just remember that there is such thing as too much of a good thing.”

Vinyl was about to reply when the door to the shed opened and Octavia walked in.

“Your time is done for now, Josh.” she said.

“Oh. Okay then.”

Octavia could sense a little disappointment in Josh’s voice as he replied. She smiled inwardly at this, glad that he was having a good time with Vinyl.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.” he said to Vinyl, who also wore a slight expression of disappointment that Josh had to go now.

“I’ll be waiting.” she said, blushing a little.

Josh leaned down and hugged her, before turning and making his way out the shed door, past Octavia.

“You don’t seem all that eager to go.” noted the gray mare, giving Josh a smug smile.

“We were making a fair bit of progress today.” he replied, returning her smile, “I was hoping I could get her to touch the board again. She’s been a little hesitant since the window broke from her first try.”

“Well, I’ll let you two go a little longer tomorrow, if that would help.”

“That’d be great! Thanks Tavi.”

Josh turned and walked away, headed back to the boutique and to a nice nap.

“No, thank you.” said Octavia quietly as Josh walked away.

Turning, she saw Vinyl still in the shed, one speaker of the headphones to her ear, listening and moving to the beat of a song. Octavia decided to leave her be. Vinyl probably wanted to practice for a little while.

*****

Josh made his way through Ponyville central pretty slowly. It was close to noon, and the lunch rush had begun. All around him, ponies were darting around from shop to shop, trying to grab something last minute before heading back to work. Josh saw Sugarcube Corner nearby, and remembered Pinkie saying something about having something for him. He made his way towards the confectionary shop, hoping that whatever Pinkie gave him, it didn’t have coffee in it again.

He entered the shop to find that it was fairly busy. He looked all around for that weird little pink pony, knowing full well that she could pop up anywhere. As he peered around, he saw a quick flash of pink out of the corner of his eye, and felt something pushing him from behind.

“Yay! You’re here, Joshie!” he heard a voice call from behind him, “Let’s go into the kitchen! I’ve got something extra super duper awesomely fantastical for you to try!”

Josh didn’t even protest as he was pushed forward into the kitchen, narrowly ducking in time to pass through the doorway. As he felt the presence behind him leave, he looked all around and saw Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were there as well.

“Pinkie convince you to be her next lab rat too?” asked the prismatic pony, smiling as Pinkie reappeared and began preparing something.

“Hardly. I’m never one to pass up some free treats. Especially from Pinkie.”

“Didn’t her last ones make you sick?” asked Fluttershy.

“Well, in all fairness, I never told her I can’t have caffeine.” said Josh, remembering back to the breakfast cookie incident.

He thought he’d never be able to leave the bathroom again that day.

“Hey, everypony!” the party pony called, bouncing towards them with a tray on her back, “Here’s the treats!”

Pinkie placed the tray on the nearby counter and everyone gathered examined it. On the tray was a sheet of wax paper, with a golden sheet of melted sugar and peanuts on it.

“It’s peanut brittle!” said the pony, smiling wide as each of her friends broke off a piece of the treat and began eating, “Mrs. Cake finally found the perfect recipe for it and had me make some as a test to see how it is. Do you guys like it? Huh? Do ya?”

Josh, Rainbow, and Fluttershy all got a dreamy look on their faces as they chewed the delectable treat, savoring the flavor. Each one made a noise of approval and continued to chew. Pinkie beamed as her friends each ate another piece of the treat.

“Pinkie! We could use your help out here again!” called Mrs. Cake, rushing in to grab a nearby tray of cupcakes.

“Okie Dokie Loki!” said Pinkie, bounding out of the kitchen to help the Cakes, leaving Rainbow, Josh, and Fluttershy to talk amongst themselves.

Rainbow told them all about how she’d gotten a letter from the Wonderbolts saying how they wanted her to return to the academy for a little while and help Spitfire with a group of new recruits.

“I thought you had to be a part of the Wonderbolts team to do stuff like that.” said Josh, trying to recall everything Rainbow had told him about the group.

“Normally, yeah. You do.” said Rainbow through a mouthful of brittle, “But… Spitfire put in a good word for me after I left and convinced the higher-ups to let me be a cadet instructor for her!”

“That probably means you’ll be her go-for.” said Josh, thinking back to when he first started working as a DJ of sorts.

“Probably. But still, to work alongside Spitfire! It’s like my dream come true to work with her!”

“That’s really nice of them to let you do that, Rainbow.” said Fluttershy, looking towards the clock on the wall, “I… Oh my. I have to go now.”

“What’s the rush, Shy? You got something you need to do?” asked Josh.

“I’ve been needing to clean my shed for awhile now, and I know that if I don’t get started on it now, there’s no way I’ll get it done before the sun goes down.” she shuddered, “And the last thing I want to do is be outside in the d-dark.”

Josh and Rainbow exchanged glances as Fluttershy made her way out of the kitchen.

“Maybe I could give you a hand with that.” said Josh, causing both Fluttershy and Rainbow to look at him in disbelief.

“R-really? Are you sure you’d want to help me?” asked the yellow pegasus, staring at Josh.

“I don’t see why not.” he replied, smiling at the demure pony, “You could probably use the muscle to help you out anyway. I’ll just have to stop by the boutique and make sure Rarity’s okay. I may have to go get Sweetie Belle after school if she’s asleep or something.”

Fluttershy smiled once more at Josh, glad that somepony would be willing to help her.

“Thank you, Josh.” she said, turning and making her way out the kitchen doors, “I appreciate the help. I’ll warn you now though, it’s pretty bad in there.”

Josh and Rainbow followed her out, Josh saying as they left, “Come on. It’s just you. How bad could it possibly be in there?”

*****

“Dear God, Fluttershy. How long has it been since you’ve last organized this place?!”

Josh stood in the threshold to Fluttershy’s shed, in awe that there wasn’t the skeleton of some long lost pony in it somewhere. All over, there were sharp tools that Josh knew there was no way Fluttershy would use hanging from the ceiling and covered in a thick layer of dust, as well as bag after bag after bag of animal food. He turned to Fluttershy and saw her smile sheepishly. The squeaky noise sounded once more.

“There’s that goddamn noise again!” he said, peering all around for its source.

“What noise?” asked the pegasus, looking around as well.

“You can’t tell me you didn’t hear that!” exclaimed Josh, staring at Fluttershy.

“I-I d-didn’t! I swear!” she said, backing off at his sudden outburst.

“Sorry…” he said, calming down, “Maybe I’m just going crazy.”

He looked once more to the shed.

“How has no one died coming out here?” he asked, tenderly setting foot in the shack, “All it’d take is for them to trip on one of these bags and hit the floor and get a few of those tools to impale them!”

“There’s a very good reason I don’t allow ponies in here.” replied the pegasus, floating behind Josh, causing some dust to fly up from the flapping of her wings.

Josh coughed as the dust hit him and he stumbled forward, tripping on a bag of feed. As he hit the ground, the whole shed shook, causing a hanging pitchfork to fall and almost impale his leg. Fluttershy made a loud squeal as the tool landed just to the right of the human’s large leg.

“I told you!” said Josh, quickly turning over to examine the wickedly sharp tool.

He crawled away and carefully stood up, avoiding a hanging axe that looked like it had just been sharpened.

“Who hangs their tools from the ceiling like that?” asked Josh, looking to Fluttershy.

“I-I don’t know. The previous owners of this cottage just left everything they had here when they left. I hate having to come in here to get anything! I’m too afraid to move something though, in case it all crashes down!”

Fluttershy had tears pricking the corners of her eyes as she spoke, her voice becoming louder and more upset. Josh took pity on the shy pegasus and walked forward to hug her. She smiled at his touch, her tears disappearing.

“It’s not your fault that the owners before you were so lazy.” he said, smiling at her, “We’ll just get it tidied up a bit for you. Then, you won’t have anything to be afraid of out here anymore, okay?”

“O-okay.” she replied, wiping her eyes with a hoof, “So, where do we start?”

*****

Surprisingly, the cleaning and organizing of Fluttershy’s shed went pretty quickly. All they had to do was take down the tools from the ceiling and then organize all the feed for her animals. Once it was all done, they sat nearby and talked, Fluttershy petting her bunny, Angel.

“He certainly is a cute little guy.” said Josh, handing the rabbit a little piece of carrot.

Angel just stared at him, pointing at the larger carrot that Josh had in his hand. Josh smiled at the bunny and handed him the piece, which Angel greedily took and began to eat.

“Do you know what time it is, Shy? I’ll need to go get Sweets from school soon, I think.”

“Before you go, here.” she said, reaching around and brandishing a handful of bits.

“Shy, I can’t accept this.” said Josh, examining the small gold coins, “I was just being helpful.”

“I insist, Josh.” she replied, smiling at him, “Nopony’s ever offered to help me like that before. Don’t think of it as payment for that. Just think of it as a gift.”

Josh smiled and took the bits. He said his goodbyes to Fluttershy and her pets, hugging the pegasus tightly. Slowly, he made his way down the road, headed towards the schoolhouse and Sweetie Belle.

Author's Note

This one's for you, 254Ddubman. Enjoy, my friend.

The Feels

Second Chances: Between the Lines
By Hero541
The Feels

Vinyl made her way out to the shed of Octavia’s home, a daisy sandwich and glass of apple juice in her magical grip. Josh had been out there all day so far, preparing some songs for his show in two weeks, and Vinyl figured some lunch and company ought to be good for him. She loved the fact he was still willing to spend time with her, despite the fact he was often so busy, they didn’t have a whole lot of time to actually chat before he had to get back to work. However, it always did her heart some good to see him every day, whether he could talk for long or not.

Things between the unicorn mare and human had been very different since their evening they spent at the lake. Before then, they could talk and act completely normal around each other with no problems at all. Now, however, Vinyl would blush brightly and smile wide if Josh ever hugged her or made eye contact with her. Reciprocally, Josh would positively beam and act warmly to everypony if ever she was around, even if he’d been having an absolutely horrible day. Neither one truly would acknowledge it just yet, but they both knew that they were starting to become more than just student and teacher…

As Vinyl approached the door to the shed, she heard a slow synth track being played. He must be busy she thought I’ll just leave this nearby for him and wait till he’s done. She slowly opened the door and peered inside. Josh was at his soundboard, his body beginning to sway as the music played. Vinyl found herself staring at the tall human, mesmerized by his movements and the beat of the music.

A beautiful female vocal track played over the synth, its overall sound slightly distorted as Josh manipulated the board. As it played, Vinyl became lost in the beat, memories flashing through her mind. Josh turned slightly and saw the mare, smiling widely as she came into his field of vision. He turned the music up upon seeing the dreamy look on her face, wanting her to fully experience the euphoria of the song itself.

As the drop hit, a feeling of almost divine bliss washed over Vinyl. The song was slower and lighter than most of what Josh had ever played for her, though still punctuated by the occasional growl and drop off. Vinyl was taken back to the lake. Josh continued to play the music, occasionally looking back to the entranced unicorn and watching her begin to lose herself in the engrossing melody.

Vinyl felt her body begin to move in time with the beat, the beautiful song flooding her very soul. Its hypnotic tempo ensnared her, forcing forward her happiest memories and making her numb to the world around her. As her body moved and she danced, she continued to see Josh in her mind’s eye. In her head, she was sitting on the ground next to him once more, looking into his bright blue eyes. She began to move closer to him, till their faces were only inches apart.

All the while, she thought about how incredible he was to her, how he’d not even thought about giving up on her in all the time he’d been working with her. She knew that they were just friends at this point, even if they were very very close. But, in this moment, as their mouths were so close and her eyes fluttered shut, she wanted to be much more than that. She wanted to feel his lips press against her own and send wave after wave of happiness and warmth throughout her beautiful form, to feel his arms ensnare her in a loving and comforting embrace. But, more than anything, she simply wanted to be all his, to be somepony he could love and cherish forever.

Suddenly, her trance was broken and Josh’s face disappeared from her vision. Instead, the real Josh stood before her, leaning against his soundboard and smiling down at her.

“Have fun?’ he asked, smirking a little at the confused mare.

Vinyl panted slightly, a light coat of sweat covering her cream colored body, making her skin shine slightly. She looked up at Josh, blushing hard as his eyes met her own. She opened and closed her mouth, trying desperately to find her voice. All she could think to say at this moment was how much Josh meant to her and how she wanted to be with him. She wanted to tackle him to the ground and confess her true feelings for the human…

“I…” she began, trying so hard to find the words to say what she wanted.

“You… what?” asked Josh, kneeling down to hear her better.

“I… brought you lunch.” she finished lamely, feeling a lump form in her throat as she gestured to the plate and glass nearby.

“Oh…” said Josh, looking over to the food and drink, “Thanks for that. I was starting to get pretty hungry.”

Vinyl watched him rise and make for the food. Tears began to form in her eyes as she realized she had just blown her chance to tell him how she felt, that she wanted more than anything to be with him, that she… truly loved him.

“You okay?” he asked, watching as she ran for the door.

“I’m f-fine.” she stammered, her voice shaking as she began to cry, “I j-just need to b-be alone right now…”

Before Josh could say anything more, Vinyl was out the door. I’m such a bucking coward she thought as tears trailed down her face Not only am I a shitty producer, I can’t even tell him the truth about how I feel. She’d had a perfect opportunity right there to say what she’d been holding onto for so long, and she’d completely blown it apart. As far as she knew, this chance might never come around again, and she would lose him forever once he returned home. Vinyl made her way to her room, where she lay and cried till she simply fell asleep, her mind plagued by her own failure and cowardice.

She was so deeply asleep, she never noticed Josh enter her room an hour later. He knelt by her bedside, watching her beautiful cream colored chest rise and fall with each gentle breath. After watching her for awhile, he leaned in close and gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead, just below her horn. She shifted slightly in her sleep as he pulled away.

“I know, Vinyl.” he whispered, rising and heading out the door, “I love you too…”

Author's Note

I was inspired to write this chapter by the song "Days to Come" by Seven Lions.

The Season

Second Chances: Between the Lines
By Hero541
The Season

Josh stood at his board in Octavia's shed, headphones on and bobbing his head to the beat he was creating. Nomally, the human wouldn't be here by himself, but Vinyl had been missing all day. When he'd shown up to let Tavi know that he'd be working on some music today, she told him that his marefriend hadn't been feeling well, so she'd more than likely not be around to help him. Though Josh was disappointed at first, he had to admit, the solitude was actually rather nice.

He and the cream colored unicorn mare had been dating for a little more than three months now, and both couldn't be happier. Because of the popularity of their first show in Ponyville, the two had been touring all over Equestria, performing everywhere from Canterlot to Trottingham. With the rather large amount of money the two were now making, they had begun looking for a new home in Ponyville to move into, and they had just recently found a nice place in the northern area of town. With any luck, they would have the house in three weeks and both could finally move out of their respective residences with their friends and move in together.

Both producers were madly in love with one another. It was a rare occurrence to see one without the other trailing close behind anywhere in town. Today was one of the first times since they'd been seeing each other that Josh hadn't had Vinyl right by him at all times, helping him to create a decent beat, or just sitting and chatting with him if ever he got too bored.

The mare was now totally capable of handling herself at the board, and Josh had even let her take control a few times at shows. She was a fantastic mixer, and could grind a song like no one Josh had ever come across. Anytime he let her loose at the table, she'd always manage the dirtiest beat possible, wowing the crowd and making them lose their minds. All he ever had to do was give her a simple bass line, and she could turn it into one of the filthiest sounds he'd ever come across. It always excited the human to see Vinyl go to work on a song, taking it from awesome to unbelievable in only a second.

While Josh mostly handled the actual productions of the songs, Vinyl was no slouch when it came to making her own music. She could make any sort of melody she wanted, be it dubstep, electro house, progressive, trap, or even complextro. A few times, she'd even managed to produce a few behind Josh's back and reveal them to the human at a show somewhere. It always warmed Josh's heart to see the love of his life at the board, playing him a song she'd made and having a fantastic time while the crowd cheered her on.

Now, however, Josh was almost wishing he had one of those songs to listen to for some inspiration. He knew what the set for the next show would be, but he was stuck on the current new song he was producing, and found himself absolutely stymied by the music equivelent of writer's block. If only Vinyl was here he thought to himself as he tried to mess with the song a little more she'd know what this needs. So far, he had a nice, punchy kick and snare, along with a high synth lead and a few short disco samples in there for some variation. Right now, he was unsure about how to handle the next part of the chorus line, having just set a few more short samples in place to fill up the song.

After some time of frustration at the whole thing, he took his headphones off and decided to rest, figuring he'd get an idea at some point. Normally, he'd have Vinyl there to fill his time and chat with him, but that wouldn't be the case today it seemed. Josh looked back to the board and shrugged a little, deciding to give it one more go before turning in for the day. He placed his headphones on once more and restarted the set, beginning with a heavy, filthy dubstep beat. Soon, Josh was lost in the song and the world around him melted away as the hypnotic music played, putting him into a sort of electronic nirvana.

That feeling didn't last long as he suddenly heard a loud crash behind him through the beat and spun around as fast as he could to face the intruder. Vinyl stood in the door, her body quivering slightly and her breathing heavy. Her crimson magenta eyes were rather wild and they seemed to pierce the human as he stared at them. He smiled wide at the mare as she entered, barely taking note of her rather haggard state.

"Hey there, baby!" he said excitedly, making his way over to the mare and kneeling to give her a hug, "You feeling any better? Tavi said you were feeling a little under the weather."

"That bitch doesn't have a fucking clue what she's talking about." replied Vinyl, her voice rather shaky as she spoke, "I feel great, and you're about to too."

Josh stopped halfway to his marefriend, simply staring at her with his mouth agape. Vinyl never talked about Octavia like that, at least not in the time Josh had known her. She always had the utmost respect for her friend, hardly ever raising her voice to her or anything like that.

"Where the hell did that come from?" asked Josh as Vinyl began to advance on him slowly.

He didn't get an answer as Vinyl leapt up and placed her hooves on his chest, forcing him back against the soundboard. She peered up at him with a look somewhere between manic and sultry. Reaching up, she forced his head down to her own and pressed her lips to his, kissing him fiercely, her tongue probing all over in his mouth. The surprised human soon forgot all about the shock of hearing Vinyl degrade Octavia and melted into her kiss, attempting to up the intensity of his own tongue in her mouth. His attention to her was soon cut off as she reached a hoof down and began to stroke his member through his pants, causing it to begin filling with blood and become somewhat erect. Their kiss broke and he looked at her in awe, wondering where this new, incredibly libidinous version of his marefriend had come from and how he could see it more often.

"Guess what?" Vinyl whispered into his ear, lightly licking the lobe of the organ, "I really really need to fuck, and you're gonna be the one to fuck me. That sound good?"

Josh didn't have the chance to respond as Vinyl's tongue returned to his own mouth, feverishly moving all around and stealing his ability for cognitive processing of any kind. Vinyl moved from his mouth down his body, kissing, licking, and nipping all the way. Just as she was removing his shirt and preparing to do the same with his pants, a shout came from outside and forced her to turn in the direction of whoever was interrupting her. Octavia was rushing out to the shed, her own eyes wild with concern and fear. Vinyl leapt away from Josh, rushing over to the door and preparing to slam it shut on her friend.

"Vinyl! Don't do this! He's not a stallion!" shouted Octavia, rushing towards the tiny shed and the two lovers inside.

"Like Tartarus he isn't!" responded Vinyl, "And you can either get your snooty, stuck up ass in here to help please me, or you can get the fuck out and stop being a cock-blocking bitch!"

Josh stood behind Vinyl, suddenly somewhat concerned at his marefriend's sudden behavior towards her friend.

"Tavi!" he called from behind the cream colored unicorn, "What's going on? Did you do something to piss her off or what?"

"Josh! She's in her season! You've got to g-"

Tavi was cut off as Vinyl slammed the door shut, locking it with her magic. The mare turned back to her coltfriend, rushing over to continue her attentions to his body.

"Now, where were we?" she asked, beginning to nip at his chest again.

"What was all that about, babe?" asked Josh, causing Vinyl to pause and look up at him frustratedly, "What'd she mean when she said you were in your... season?"

"She's just crazy is all." responded Vinyl, returning to her original task, "It's no big deal. Besides, we've got all the time in the world to have some fun in here, and I've never seen you shy away from being able to pound my plot before."

The human was about to question Vinyl once more until she began to move her way down near his waist. Josh could still hear the gray cellist outside, yelling something muffled through the door and forcing Vinyl to angrily abandon her actions once again.

"Damn. She just won't give up, will she?" said Vinyl, walking over to the board and watching the lights flash with the beat emanating from the headphones, "Hmm... You got music going right now?"

Josh just nodded in response and Vinyl smiled wide.

"Good... Nothing like a soundtrack to fuck to."

With that, the mare unplugged the headphones and turned the volume up, causing the little shack they were in to shake as the heavy bass played aloud. Vinyl smiled even wider as the punchy song filled the entire room before turning back to her coltfriend and tackling him to the ground, kissing him even more fiercely than before. Josh was powerless to fight against her as she returned to kissing all the way down his body once more. Soon, she had made her way down to his waist again and was unbuckling his belt with her magic and quickly removing his pants, exposing his semi-erect appendage to her.

Vinyl grabbed the piece of flesh with her magic, grinning mischievously as she lightly tugged and caused Josh to open his mouth in an unheard little moan. Soon, she was tugging on it even more, causing his brain to shut down from pleasure. Again and again, she drew her magical aura across his member, causing him to let out light moans of bliss that were drowned in the sea of heavy bass that was flooding the room. After some time of wrenching his erection, the mare dove onto it suddenly, taking the entire thing in her mouth.

Josh instinctively reached out his hand and placed it on the back of her head, applying gentle pressure as she took the entire length of his erection into her mouth. He felt Vinyl's soft tongue caressing his appendage, forcing him farther and farther towards his climax. Josh was surprised that he was so close to finishing so fast. Vinyl's attention to his member was more intense than he had ever experienced before, and he began to feel that familiar sensation that indicated he was about to discharge.

However, as he felt himself getting closer and closer, Vinyl's horn glowed brightly and his oncoming climax faded away. Looking up to his marefriend, he saw her grinning up at him as she removed his appendage from her mouth.

"You're not done till I'm done." she said, circling the tip of his throbbing member with her tongue, causing him to shudder as a feeling of pleasure shot to his brain, "There are no breaks on the Vinyl Scratch train!"

With that, the unicorn dove back down onto his rock hard appendage, forcing him to let out another inaudible moan of pleasure. The music still blasted all throughout the tiny shed, and seemed to be driving Vinyl to perform harder and faster on her lover than Josh had ever thought was possible. The human could feel his tip poking her uvula as she continued to deep throat his erection over and over again, surprising Josh with how she was able to do such a thing so easily now when she almost choked eating a banana a few weeks ago.

After some time of continuing to suck his member, she stood on all four legs and positioned herself just above it, allowing the tip to just barely graze her marehood. Once again, her lips met his and she kissed him feverishly, all while trying to find the best position for him to enter her. When she settled on the perfect trajectory, she bit his lip and slammed her aching marehood onto his appendage. Josh winced in pain as her teeth closed around his lower lip, but he soon forgot all about the pain as she began to ride him like an expert cowpony, slamming into him hard and fast. Wave after wave of intense pleasure overtook his mind as he felt her already soaked walls close around him, practically begging for him to finish right then and there.

Vinyl began to whoop and cry out in ecstasy as Josh's member slid in and out of her, pushing her to her upper limits surprisingly quickly. She placed her hooves on his chest and continued to slam into him over and over again, causing her own brain to cease it's normal functions and become nothing more than a mass of gray matter in her head. The mare was running on nothing more than pure, unrestrained, untested, unfiltered, insane sexual instinct now, her mind already having been clouded by the surge of hormones that always came with this time of year. All she wanted more than anything in this world, more than any form of sustenance or safety, was to feel wave after wave of lustful, carnal, unchaste, sensual pleasure flow through her cream colored body and force her into a nirvana like nopony had ever experienced.

After some time, Josh began to feel himself nearing his limit again, only to have Vinyl's horn glow brightly and stifle his potential orgasm once more.

"I'm n-not... d-done yet!" she shouted over the music, her breathing rapid and her voice shaking from the force with which she was slamming herself into him.

Josh reached his hands out to the mare's hips in an attempt to get her to slow down, only to have her glare at him and throw his limbs away with the force of her magic.

"NO! No fuckin' way I'm gonna let you slow me down right now!" she shrieked, pinning his arms to the ground with her hooves and speeding up even more, causing Josh to actually feel slight pain in his groin.

Josh couldn't say a single thing against her at this moment. His mind was becoming more and more alert as the base of his appendage began to become sore from Vinyl's riding, but it was still battling the surges of ecstasy that threatened to overtake him at all times. Pinned and unable to fight his marefriend's rather impressive strength, all he could do was watch as she continued to slide his member all around her fiery insides.

"If you w-want these back, you'd b-better use them to p-pleasure me!" she shouted over the music once again, lifting herself off his arms.

Josh didn't know how much longer he could manage to keep this up. He'd never had sex with someone this hard before, nor had anyone had the type of endurance that Vinyl was now showing. However, he knew if he wanted to make it out of this with his dick still attached to his body and working, he'd have to give it his all and hope that'd be enough to please this sexually crazed mare.

"H-hey V-Vinyl..." he said as loudly as he could, prompting the unicorn to stop for a second and look at him questioningly.

In one quick movement that Josh hadn't expected himself to be able to perform given the stress that his endurance had been put under, he managed to grab Vinyl and roll her over onto her back, startling her for a second. Josh climbed atop her fast, inserting himself back inside her and praying that this'd be enough to do the trick. The unicorn smiled wide up at him as he took a brief break, allowing himself the opportunity to breathe and relax for a second.

"What're you waiting for?!" she shouted, bucking her hips up and into his direction, "Fuck me hard, lovercolt!"

Josh complied as the words left her mouth, slamming himself into her over and over again, causing her already loud screams of pleasure to actually increase in volume, breaking past the throbbing bass of the music that was still playing. Again and again, he pounded her insides, going faster than he ever thought he could before. The two producers were both sweating and breathing heavily, Josh actually beginning to drip onto his lover below. Vinyl's coat was shiny with perspiration from the strain Josh was putting on her endurance at the moment. She reached up her hooves and latched onto him as he continued to slam into her, sinking her teeth into his neck and causing him to wince in pain.

"W-way to g-go baby!" she yelled through her shrieks of pleasure, "I think I'm g-gonna... I'm almost... WOOHOO!"

Vinyl shook heavily and gave out one last, long shriek as she climaxed like never before. Josh pulled out just in time as he himself finished, mixing his own fluids with the now satisfied mare's. A small puddle formed next to Vinyl's marehood as she continued to spasm and shoot more and more of her pungent juices onto the wooden floor. After ten seconds, the mare was completely spent and silence fell, the song ending at the same time. Josh rolled over and collapsed next to Vinyl, lightheadedness threatening to overtake him and send him into unconsciousness.

Both producers were breathing heavily and wreaked of sweat and ejaculate. What the fuck was that all about? thought Josh as his heart rate slowly returned to normal, looking over to the now unconscious mare next to him. All of a sudden, as he felt darkness begin to overtake him, a knock sounded at the door followed by Octavia's muffled voice. The human could barely move to answer it and was forced to watch as the entryway flew open from the force of the gray mare's buck.

"Josh!" she called, rushing over to the spent human and attempting to help him sit up, "Are you alright? Did she hurt you at all?"

Josh couldn't answer even if he knew what to say. All that came out of his mouth was a garbled sentence of unintelligible gibberish.

"Oh, it's all my fault." said Octavia, looking at Josh with eyes full of concern, "I tried to warn you, but she got to you before I could get out the door. She's entered her estrus season, and she... really wanted to... well, I think you know now."

Josh's head flopped to where he could look the gray mare in her violet eyes and he stared at her in disbelief. This is normal for her? he asked internally, still unable to communicate at all through his exhaustion.

As Octavia sat there, she looked all around at the state of the shed. The puddle of bodily fluids the two lovers had managed to produce from their insane lovemaking session still sat, filling the room with its musty scent and causing Tavi to scrunch her nose at the smell. Vinyl lay in front of it, a huge smile on her face as she slept, quite the antithesis of what she was before succumbing to unconsciousness.

"Well, I'll need to get her inside before she wakes up." said Octavia, gently sliding her head under the cream colored mare and picking her up so she sat on her back, "If you thought round one was bad, just imagine how round two could be..."

"Round... two?" asked Josh, finally able to speak once again.

Tavi simply nodded as she turned to look at Josh again.

"She's going to need to be locked away for a bit till this is all over." said Octavia, turning and heading for the door, Vinyl still fast asleep on her back.

"How... long... does... it last?" asked Josh.

Tavi turned back and bit her lip, her ears flat against her head.

"About... two weeks, I'm afraid..."

With that, Tavi apologized one more time and headed back to the house, no doubt preparing to lock her best friend away so she couldn't escape again. Josh just sat there, his mind still reeling from what just happened. A single panicked thought crossed his mind as both mares disappeared around the corner of Octavia's home: I can't put up with her like that for two weeks!

The Parents

Second Chances: Between the Lines
By Hero541
The Parents

Josh sat next to Vinyl on the train weaving its way up through the mountains towards the glistening, snow laden city of Canterlot, his stomach turning over again and again as he imagined what he was in for. Unbeknownst to him, Vinyl communicated with her parents on a near constant basis, and after she’d mentioned to the two of them that she had found herself a coltfriend, they’d insisted that she come home and introduce them to him. Vinyl was insistent that it wasn’t a problem and that her folks were very nice and understanding ponies, but Josh couldn’t help but be a bit more than nervous. This was the first time in his life that he’d ever been out to visit the parents of whoever he was dating, and in his experience in Equestria, the sight of a six foot tall human was extremely intimidating to any pony who met him. The last thing he wanted to do was frighten the parents of his marefriend as soon as they met him and potentially sour he and Vinyl’s relationship in the process.

“Hey baby,” Vinyl said suddenly, causing Josh to start a little as he was pulled from his nervous reverie, “we’re almost there. You doing okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay.” Josh said, every note in his voice clearly indicating that he was anything but.

“You’re not still nervous to meet them, are you?” Vinyl asked, one eyebrow raised at her coltfriend, “I already told you that they’ll love you. They’re both extremely open-minded, so I doubt they’ll be to worried that you’re not a pony.”

“Maybe so,” Josh said, feeling his stomach do yet another backflip, “but it’s not like there’s a hundred other humans running around Equestria. I’m the only one of my kind here, Vinyl. And to be honest, my species is pretty far removed from yours.”

“Oh please.” Vinyl said, rolling her eyes, “They won’t care about that. Just relax, Josh. Everything will be just fine. I promise.”

Vinyl smiled at him and leaned in close, exchanging a quick kiss with him before pulling back and glancing out the window towards the bright city in the distance.

“Approaching Canterlot train station.” a voice called out over the train’s loudspeaker, “Please wait till we’ve come to a complete stop before removing your luggage and preparing to leave.”

Only a few moments later, the train screeched to a halt directly in front of a large, bustling train station. Josh reached up and grabbed their things from the overhead luggage rack, putting on a heavy coat for himself and handing Vinyl down her own coat and scarf, which she promptly put on as they both prepared to disembark out into the cold, snowy city. Together, the two of them shuffled out of the train and onto the platform, watching as ponies filed onto the now departing train headed for who knows where. Making their way off the platform and out into the busy street beyond, Vinyl gestured for Josh to follow her and together, the two of them began making their way through Canterlot.

Due to Josh’s size and the popularity of the two of them, they would occasionally be stopped by a passerby for an autograph or a picture. Although it was Josh’s usual instinct to ignore such things, Vinyl was always kind enough to at least acknowledge a fan who approached them, although she made it clear that both she and her partner were in a bit of a hurry. Thankfully, most ponies were understanding enough and allowed both Josh and Vinyl to proceed without any further harassment. After what seemed like an inordinately short amount of time, Josh and Vinyl made their way out and onto a nearby side street on the edge of Canterlot, walking side by side down the cobblestone road.

On either side of them rose two long rows of tall, close-set apartments. Together, Josh and Vinyl made their way past home after home, their steps crunching in the soft snow underfoot as more large, puffy flakes fluttered down all around them. Above nearly every home down the street, smoke billowed from a tiny chimney, their inhabitants undoubtedly hoping to stave off the biting cold outside. Josh couldn’t help but think of San Francisco as he passed by these colorful buildings, each one pressed right up against one another in as straight a line as possible.

“Here we are.” Vinyl said after a short time of walking, stopping and turning to face a tall, sky blue building to the right.

Josh turned as well and looked up to the home, the nervous feeling in his stomach intensifying as he looked upon it. Never before had he been so intimidated by a brightly colored building in all his life, but the thought of what may await him inside only heightened his feelings of anticipation.

“Well, let’s go then.” Vinyl said, making it halfway up the steps before turning back to Josh to see he was still standing there, “Aren’t you coming?”

Josh said nothing, fearing that if he opened his mouth he may just be sick. Vinyl rolled her eyes and descended the steps, walking back behind her coltfriend and giving him a gentle poke in the back with her horn. When she got no response from this, she instead pressed her head into the small of his back and began to push him, forcing him towards the stairs.

“Come… on… Josh!” Vinyl grunted, straining as she attempted to force her human coltfriend into moving, “You’ve already… come this far! Stop… worrying so much.”

Again, Josh said nothing. Upon noticing his continued silence, Vinyl gave into her last resort and reared back slightly, prodding Josh hard in the back with her horn. The human let out a yelp of pain and scrambled up the stairs, massaging the spot in the back where his marefriend had jabbed him and wincing as a sharp pain shot up from it. He turned and glared down at Vinyl who was rubbing her own horn and groaning slightly, clearly having hurt herself in her attempt to get Josh to move.

“The fuck was that for?” Josh asked annoyedly as Vinyl ascended the stairs to stand next to him, “You didn’t have to poke so hard!”

“Sorry.” Vinyl replied, shaking her head slightly as her own pain subsided, “I forgot my own strength. But, I’m not gonna let you skip out on this. I promise you, you’re worrying about this for nothing, Josh. My parents are gonna really love you. I know it.”

With that, Vinyl reached out her hoof and knocked on the door three times. From inside, Josh immediately heard the muffled voice of a mare calling out excitedly followed by a much deeper voice who he assumed must be Vinyl’s father. Upon hearing the sound of hoofsteps approaching the door, he suddenly forgot all about the pain still throbbing in his back. In only a matter of seconds, the front door to the building swung open, revealing a small, gray coated unicorn mare with bright yellow eyes and long blue hair, as well as a tall, teal stallion with a short, silver mane-cut and deep crimson-magenta eyes. Both had wide, beaming smiles painted across their faces at the sight of the visitors standing before them.

“Vinyl, dear!” the mare called out excitedly, rushing forward and embracing Vinyl in a tight hug, “It’s so good to see you again! We were worried that you may not be able to make it with the weather.”

“Hey, Mom.” Vinyl said, pulling away from her mother and giving her a peck on the cheek, “Sorry we’re late. The train was delayed for a bit today. We didn’t have a whole lot of snow in Ponyville, but I think they were worried about what it’d be like once we got up into the mountains.”

“Better safe than sorry.” the stallion said, now taking his own turn to hug his daughter, “So long as you were able to make it, that’s all anypony can ask for.”

“Hi, Daddy.” Vinyl said cheerfully, giving her father a small kiss on the cheek as well.

Once Vinyl broke off the embrace with her father, she stepped back and stood right next to Josh, causing both ponies in front of them to turn their attention towards the tall human before them.

“Guys, this is my coltfriend. Josh.” Vinyl said happily, beaming up at him as he stared towards Vinyl’s parents.

Much to his surprise, Vinyl’s mother’s smile never faltered as she was introduced to the human. Her father, however, wore an expression that was beyond unreadable. It was as though he’d been turned into a statue on the spot, staring up at the human that towered above him.

“Hello Josh.” Vinyl’s mother said, approaching the human and jumping up to wrap her forelegs around his midsection in a gentle hug, “It’s so nice to meet you finally. Our Vinyl here has told us much about you! My name is Silica, and this is my husband, Flint.”

“It’s… nice to meet you both.” Josh said as Silica returned to her four legs and stepped back from him to stand beside her husband.

“Well then, let’s not stand out here all day then. It’s freezing.” Vinyl’s mother said, taking a step back and gesturing behind her, “Please, both of you come in. I’ll fix us some tea and we can sit in the living room and chat.”

Vinyl followed after her mother, Josh trailing close behind her, ducking down so as to avoid hitting his head on the doorframe. As soon as both had entered, Flint shut the door behind them before turning and making his way down the hallway directly in front of them. Josh and Vinyl removed their warm coats and hung them on a nearby rack, following Flint down the hall and into a rather large living room area with a crackling fire burning in the grate on the far end. Glancing all around, Josh saw many pictures adorning the walls, some depicting a young, cream colored filly with her parents while others contained beautiful, abstract paintings placed in ornate frames. Looking towards the center of the room, Josh saw a long, mahogany stained coffee table, a deep crimson couch and two identical, puffy armchairs surrounding it.

Flint had positioned himself in one armchair while Vinyl had jumped up onto the couch, settling herself upon it and patting the cushion next to her, signaling to Josh where he ought to sit. The human walked over and plopped down beside his marefriend, feeling the soft cushion give way as he did so. Vinyl placed her hoof on his hand as he took his place next to her, smiling at him in what she undoubtedly felt was a reassuring way. And indeed it would have been had Josh not taken a moment to glance at Flint who was still silently staring at him with that stoic, unreadable expression.

“Here you go, dears.” Silica said from the nearby doorway, walking through a moment later with a tray laden with a steaming teapot and matching ornate cups in her magical grip.

As Vinyl’s mother sat the tray down, Vinyl immediately reached out with her own magic and grabbed up two cups for she and Josh, pouring them both a generous amount of tea as she did so. A small, steaming cup soon soared over to Josh who scooped it up out of the air and held it for a second, allowing the heat to warm up his freezing hands. Across from him, Silica poured out two cups for both she and her husband, floating one over to him which he grabbed up immediately and began to sip. Josh felt his stomach lurch yet again as he witnessed this, knowing that the tea was still boiling hot by this point. Clearly, this is a guy who doesn’t fuck around… he thought.

“So,” Vinyl’s mother said cheerily, placing her own teacup down onto a coaster on the coffee table, “how are things between you both?”

“Things are really good.” Vinyl replied, lifting a lump of sugar from the dish on the tea tray and adding it to her cup, “We’ve both been pretty busy for the last few weeks though. Preparing for a couple of upcoming shows we’re set to do in Manehatten and Las Pegasus.”

“Really? That sounds wonderful!” Silica said, her beaming smile never seeming to falter as she addressed the couple, “It’s so nice to see that the both of you can share a successful career with one another.”

“Well, if it weren’t for Josh, I don’t know that I would have had a career like this to begin with.” Vinyl said, laying her hoof atop Josh’s hand resting on his knee and smiling sweetly up at him.

“By the way, Josh. I would love to know how exactly it is that you became so interested in music in the first place.” Silica said, turning her sickeningly sweet gaze upon the human, “From what Vinyl has told me, your work in your own world predates anything you’ve done here by quite a wide margin.”

“Uh... “ Josh stammered, unable to come up with anything to say right away.

Between Flint and Silica, he couldn’t decide which one’s attitude towards him seemed more disconcerting. While Vinyl’s father’s continued staring at him with the blankest expression already made him uneasy, her mother’s extreme sweetness and exuberant mannerisms was even more off-putting as he wasn’t sure if she was always like this or if this was a sort of facade to mask her true nature. He wracked his brains for something, anything to answer the mare with, not wanting to sit there like an idiot and give them the wrong impression of him. Beside him, he felt Vinyl give him a small nudge in the ribs, her sweet smile replaced by a look of skepticism.

“You’re nervous to meet us, aren’t you Dear?” Silica suddenly said, interrupting Josh’s frantic search for his own voice, “Well, I can assure you there’s no need to be. My husband and I are actually very excited to finally have the chance to meet you. Our little girl here has said nothing but wonderful things about you, and we have no reason to disbelieve her. So please, don’t be worried.”

“Okay…” Josh said, still unsure but at least somewhat eased by Silica’s words, “Well, back in my world, I used to work at a rave club not far away from where I lived. I spent the first six months or so there just kind of being everyone’s errand boy before, finally, the head DJ agreed to let me play a set for the crowd one night. It went extremely well, and I fell in love with the music so much after that that I started saving up a bunch of money so I could buy all the equipment I’d need to start making my own songs. From there I just began producing whatever I could and worked my way up from the bottom.”

“Josh ended up becoming really famous back in his own world.” Vinyl interjected, causing Josh to blush a little.

“Well then, it’s no wonder why you were able to be such a successful teacher for Vinyl.” Silica said, her voice cheerier than ever, “You’re no stranger to being a big time star, are you?”

“I guess so…” Josh said, glancing around the room in an effort to find some way, any way to change the subject away from his past career, “Hey, you mind if I ask you something?”

“Oh by all means please do.” Silica replied, leaning in closer in clear anticipation.

“What is it that you guys do for a living?”

“Well, I’ve been a stay-at-home mother ever since Vinyl was born.” Silica began, beaming at her daughter across the coffee table, “And Flint here continues to run a rather lucrative business of his own, don’t you honey?”

Flint merely nodded at his wife, his gaze continuing to be fixed upon Josh before him.

“Daddy runs a private consulting firm that helps to set up mergers and acquisitions for other companies.” Vinyl added, receiving yet another nod from her father.

“That sounds… very interesting.” Josh said, realizing all too late that he sounded anything but interested in Flint’s line of work.

“It does give him quite a bit of freedom to travel.” Silica added happily, “He’s been all over Equestria in his line of work. There’s always another company out there that needs his firm’s help at some point.”

“Is that where all of these photos and paintings come from?” Josh asked, gesturing to indicate all the frames hung on the walls, “Picked them up on your travels?”

“A few of the photos are.” Silica replied, using her magic to float a small framed picture down towards Josh, “This one, for instance, was taken when we were able to accompany Flint on his trip to Hawinni’i.”

Josh grabbed the photo out of the air and began to glance over it. Present and standing before a beautiful blue lagoon were both Silica and Flint, each wearing a pair of dark sunglasses, as well as a young, cream colored filly who Josh recognized right away as a much younger Vinyl. While her parents were both smiling wide, the filly Vinyl had her eyes shut tight, a grimace on her face.

“What happened with this one, babe?” he asked, passing her the photo, a smirk forming on his face as he saw the look of embarrassment on hers, “You get sand in your eyes or something?”

“That and the sun.” Vinyl said heavily, the grimace on her own face nearly mirroring the one of her much younger self in the picture, “The camera pony insisted on getting a shot of us in the brightest spot possible. I had forgotten my glasses back in our hotel room that day. Other than that, it was a really nice trip.”

“As for the paintings you see,” Silica continued, grabbing the picture back from Vinyl and hanging it back in its previous spot, “I actually painted those myself.”

“For real?” Josh blurted, glancing up at a few pictures in amazement.

“Why yes, Dear.” Vinyl’s mother replied, “You see, with my husband away on business quite often and Vinyl gone from the house, it was really easy for me to get bored. So, I took up painting as a bit of a hobby to occupy my time. I’d taken a few art courses as a filly, and I finally was able to put them to good use.”

“Good use indeed.” Josh stated, looking from piece to piece hanging on the wall, each one more interesting and well done than the last, “You ever consider maybe selling a few of your paintings?”

“Selling them?”

“Yeah.” Josh said, “I’m not exactly an expert when it comes to art, but these are all good enough that you may be able to fetch a fair number of bits for them.”

“Hmm.” Silica pondered, placing a hoof to her chin as she considered his words, “Perhaps you have something there. I’d never really considered putting them up for sale myself. Mostly, I just give them to family members if ever we run out of room here to display them. Besides, I don’t necessarily know that these are the kinds of pieces that art critics are looking for.”

“You never know.” Josh replied, giving Silica what he hoped was an encouraging smile.

“I’ll definitely keep that idea in mind. Thank you very much, dear.” Silica said sweetly.

From beside Vinyl’s mother, Flint suddenly made a loud throat clearing sound, drawing the attention of his wife. For the first time since he’d seen her, Josh watched Silica’s sweet smile falter for just an instant before returning once again as she nodded towards her husband and jumped down from her chair, heading for the kitchen.

“Vinyl, Dear,” she said, turning back to face her daughter, “Would you mind helping me in the kitchen for a spell? I’m in the process of making lemon custard tarts for us all and I could use an extra set of hooves.”

“Um... “ Vinyl hesitated, giving her mother a look of confusion, “Sure, if you really need me that bad, I guess I can help out…”

“It’ll only take a minute, Dear.” Silica said in a rather sing-song voice, “Plus, it’ll give Josh and your father time to get to know one another!”

Vinyl shot her coltfriend a regretful look as he felt his stomach drop.

“You’re not seriously just gonna leave me here, are you?” he whispered to her, taking a moment to glance at Flint who continued to stare at him.

“Sorry.” Vinyl said pleadingly, “But… she’s really insistent. I promise, I won’t be long. Just try and talk to him. He looks rough, but my dad’s actually really sweet. You’ll see.”

With that, Vinyl gave Josh a quick kiss and then jumped down, following after her mother into the kitchen. Josh, his stomach now back to doing its usual flips, looked back up towards Flint, all words he may have been able to muster before now seemingly impossible to even so much as utter under his breath. The stallion’s nigh unreadable expression had not faltered once in the entire time he’d been looking at Josh, and that didn’t seem to be changing any time soon. At this point, Josh almost wished that Vinyl’s father was up in his face screaming obscenities and threats at him rather than continuing to gaze at him with that blank, unsettling look.

“It seems my daughter does really care for you quite a bit.” he finally said, at last ending a silence that seemed would never go away.

“Um… yeah, she does.” Josh said slowly, not entirely sure how he was supposed to answer something like that.

“And you feel the same about her?” Flint asked.

“Yeah… I mean, yes. I do.”

“I just figured I’d make sure.” Flint said, “Not to say that I doubt you, but I must admit, I’ve often found myself wondering about you since I realized that you and Vinyl were seeing one another.”

“You have?”

“Indeed. You see, Josh, I’m not a biased stallion in any way. In fact, I’d say that my wife and I are actually very open minded about many things. But, you’ll understand my… apprehension towards you since I’ve never seen or interacted with a creature of your species before. Dragons and griffins I’ve worked with in the past, but never humans.”

Josh wasn’t exactly sure where Flint intended to go with this conversation, but he at least was put slightly more at ease now that he was hearing the stallion speak to him as opposed to boring into him with his usual gaze.

“Well, we’re not exactly a dime-a-dozen here.” Josh said, hoping that he didn’t sound sarcastic with that statement.

“No, you’re not.” Flint replied simply, “So, color me surprised when I began to see you and Vinyl next to one another in the newspapers, performing onstage for thousands all across Equestria. I’ll admit that even with my more open minded thoughts, I wasn’t sure about you. It wasn’t until I actually spoke to Vinyl and she told me about you that I was able to understand what you meant to one another. At this juncture, I just have a question I’d like to ask you, and I would like you to provide me with the most honest answer you can. Do you think you can do that?”

Josh nodded, silently wondering exactly what it was that this intimidating pony could possibly ask him.

“What exactly are your intentions for my daughter?”

In an instant, Josh’s brain came to a screeching halt as the words left Flint’s mouth.

“My… intentions?” he asked confusedly.

“Yes.” Flint said, now raising an eyebrow at Josh, “I think that’s a more than reasonable question for a father to ask of his daughter’s coltfriend. Clearly, you seem to care for her, but I would like to know what it is that you intend for her. Are you looking to commit to her, or will somepony else be sitting in your same spot this time a few years from now, introducing themselves to me as Vinyl’s new coltfriend?”

Josh began pondering those words, wondering exactly what he could say in answer to them. Flint had asked for his honest answer, and Josh had no intention of lying to the stallion, but he found the phrasing of his question to be a bit strange to say the least.

“To be honest, sir,” Josh stated slowly, hoping that this would be an answer that could satisfy Flint’s request, “I don’t really think it’s that simple.”

“Oh? How so?”

“Because when it comes to Vinyl, I don’t really have any intentions per se.”

Flint raised his eyebrow even further and Josh realized that maybe his phrasing was now the one to be called into question.

“I mean… I didn’t mean it like that…” he stammered, trying hard to think of a way in which he could rectify the situation he now found himself in, “It’s just… I… Can I start over?”

“By all means.”

“You see, I was brought here because I was so out of control in my own world.” Josh began, “I’d let the fame I’d managed to acquire get to my head and I was headed down a really really destructive path. Princess Celestia brought me here to… give me a second chance, an opportunity to get myself right. I really didn’t wanna be here, and it certainly showed in my actions. I began taking advantage of the ponies here to try and get my way, to get them to send me home, back to the life I thought was perfect for me. Unfortunately, Vinyl was caught up in my stupidity, and I hurt her really badly because I couldn’t let go of my stupid ego.”

“I ended up getting in some trouble and was forced to stay here in order to repay a debt that I’d wracked up, and Octavia was the only one who was willing to help me, provided that I could teach Vinyl how to produce music. Believe me when I say that I definitely didn’t want to do it at first. I just wanted to help her out as little as I could, get my stuff paid off, and go back home. But, over time, as I worked with her more and more and saw her grow, I came to realize that… I had feelings for her. Eventually, I decided that this was the life for me, not the one I’d left back home, and I opted to stay and be with your daughter.”

“Vinyl and Octavia and the rest of our friends… they’re the whole reason I love it here, why I was so comfortable leaving behind my life on Earth. They’ve shown me a love and kindness I didn’t think I’d ever get to experience, and one that probably won’t be matched any time soon. And when it comes to your daughter, well... “

Josh suddenly couldn’t help but smile wide now, his thoughts drifting to the beautiful, kind, incredible mare in the next room.

“She’s so unbelievably special to me. I know that we’re entirely different species and that what we have technically shouldn’t be okay to either of us but… that’s not even a factor at this point and never will be. Vinyl means more to me than I can ever hope to express. So, in answer to your question of what my intentions for her are… I’d say that they’d be to love her till the day I die.”

A silence filled the room as Josh finished his speech, broken only by the light crackling of the fire in the nearby fireplace. Human and pony stared at one another, with the former wondering exactly what would happen now that he’d told Vinyl’s father exactly what had happened and how he felt about the cream colored mare. For a second, Josh began to wonder if he’d shared too much. Then, out of nowhere, Flint’s mouth broke into a wide smile and he began to chuckle a little at the human. Josh’s panic was now replaced by thorough confusion at this reaction, one that he never in a million years could have expected to come from the stallion seated before him.

“I have to say, that’s pretty good.” Flint said, causing Josh to shoot him an even more puzzled look, “You were incredibly honest with me just now, Josh. I appreciate that.”

“You… appreciate it?”

“Very much so. You see, I honestly had no idea what to expect from you when you came in here. You’re not the first companion that my daughter has brought home to meet us, but you are definitely the most unique, and I’m not just saying that because you’re a human.”

“What exactly do you mean then?” Josh asked, trying not to sound confrontational.

“Over the years, my daughter has introduced us to both stallions and mares alike that she’s taken a liking to. Not many, mind you, but enough. Some of them I thought were extremely nice and others… I didn’t exactly approve of. But, out of all of them, you have one thing that they never really did.”

“I do? What is it?”

“Whenever Vinyl is around you, she gets this look on her face that I can only describe as the highest level of nirvana. It’s as if she’s at peace with the world, and believe me when I say that for her, that’s a blessing. I’m sure you’re well aware by now that she tends to have… emotional problems.”

Josh thought for a second about that. It was true that Vinyl tended to be a bit more emotional than most mares he ran across, but it had never seemed to him like she was unstable or anything like that.

“It’s not her fault, honestly.” Flint continued, “She’s been like that since she was a little filly. Her mother and I always wondered if it was something that would just pass on, but sadly it’s plagued her all her life. However, when she’s with you, I don’t see any sign of those problems. All I see is my daughter, happy and healthy and full of hope for her future. As her parents, we’ve done our best to ensure that she’s stayed safe, maybe even taking it a bit too far at times. But, because of you, she’s so much more confident in herself and willing to step outside of her comfort zone. You have given her the knowledge and tools necessary to finally allow her to be successful, and I can’t thank you enough for that.”

Flint was now positively beaming at Josh, his crimson-magenta eyes sparkling as he gazed upon the human. Josh couldn’t believe the change he’d just witnessed in Flint, both in his actions towards him and in how he spoke about him. Internally, his heart was leaping in his chest at the realization that Vinyl’s own father was lauding him with praise that he didn’t really feel he himself deserved.

“Quite frankly, it’s been an honor to help her.” Josh said, feeling his own lips begin to form a wide smile as he spoke.

“And it’s an honor to see my daughter with somepony as fantastic as you.”

Flint and Josh continued to gaze at one another now, a very companionable silence falling between them for a time.

“I’ve gotta say, it’s… really good to hear that.” Josh said after awhile, “Because I was nervous as all hell coming over here. Plus… you’re kinda hard to get a read on, to be honest.”

“Sorry about that.” Flint chuckled, lifting his teacup and taking a sip off it, “All my years working as a business pony has given me a poker face that would stump even the greatest mind readers in Equestria. I can assure you, I didn’t mean to intimidate you or anything like that. If anything, I wanted to see how you’d react to my staring at you.”

“Well, it certainly was intimidating in its own right.” Josh said, any feelings of nervousness he’d once felt evaporating on the spot as he spoke candidly to Flint.

“You know, I’ve got something that I think may interest you.” Flint said, “In my travels around Equestria, I’ve managed to amass a rather large record collection. Vinyl always loved being able to listen to them with me, and it’s probably how she became so interested in music herself. I’d love it if you’d be willing to take a listen to a few with me.”

“Sure, I don’t see why we couldn’t.” Josh said, standing up from the couch, “Who knows? May even give me the inspiration for a new song or something.”

“That’s the spirit!” Flint said, jumping down from his own chair and beginning to make his way towards the staircase, “Well then, follow me and I’ll show you where I keep them all nowadays.”

Josh nodded and followed Flint upstairs, a wide smile on his face as he trailed after the stallion. Meanwhile, from around the corner leading to the kitchen, both Vinyl and Silica watched their respective companions ascend the stairs, smiling at the sight of them at last taking the time to bond with one another.

“That went rather well.” Silica said sweetly, turning and making he way back to the kitchen, Vinyl following behind her, “It’s nice to see the two of them finally being able to get together.”

“Yeah.” Vinyl said, grabbing up a pastry bag filled with custard and squeezing some out onto a small, star shaped cookie on a pan, “I just wish Dad wouldn’t have kept staring at Josh like that. He was nervous enough already without that.”

“Your father was just doing what he knows best, Dear.” Silica said, grabbing out another tray of finished cookies from the oven with her magic, “You should have heard him before you two even got here. He was so excited to be able to meet Josh.”

“Really?”

“Of course! With how highly you spoke of him, how could he not be? It became clear to us immediately just how special he is to you, Vinyl.”

“He certainly is.” Vinyl said quietly, her thoughts drifting upstairs to her coltfriend and her father, the both of them undoubtedly engaged in a conversation about music by now, “And I’m probably the luckiest mare in Equestria to have him.”

The First Time

Second Chances: Between the Lines
By Hero541
The First Time

Josh was on the road, making his way to Octavia’s house, a slight bounce in his step at the thought of seeing his marefriend again today. They’d been seeing each other for the last few weeks, and every single day, they found themselves more and more drawn to each other. Never for a second did Josh even consider it odd that he was head over heels in love with a pony. To him, she was no different than a human. In fact, he preferred her over every human he could have possibly been with back home.

The same went for the unicorn mare. The thought that Josh was a human wasn’t even a factor in her feelings for him. She loved him more than she could ever hope to say, despite their obvious differences. He was kind and sweet to her, and every time he held her close, she felt the love she gave to him reciprocated back at her. It was the most blissful feeling in the world, and she never wanted it to end.

Josh entered Octavia’s house, looking all around for Vinyl.

“Vinyl,” he called, “where you at, babe?”

“In the kitchen.”

Josh made his way to the small kitchen and looked to the sink. There, Vinyl stood on her hind legs, a rag in her magic and an apron around her body as she washed dishes.

“Hey Josh.” she chimed, looking around to her coltfriend, “You wanna lend a hoof real quick? I just need somepony to dry the dishes.”

“Sure.” said Josh, and he walked towards the little sink, grabbing a towel.

The two of them simply chatted for awhile, talking about all manner of things, from what they wanted to do for lunch after they were done, to where Octavia, Rarity, and Sweetie Belle were right now.

“Tavi’s away for a little bit.” said Vinyl, handing Josh another plate to dry, “Said she needed to get something for her next performance.”

“She’s probably gonna stop by Roseluck’s stall for some flowers or something. I thought I saw her headed over there on my way here.”

“Probably… There! We’re done.”

Vinyl handed the last plate to Josh, who quickly dried it and set it in the drying rack. He looked back at Vinyl, who was taking her apron off.

“You know,” he said, leaning against the counter, “you look pretty freakin’ cute in that apron.”

“You think I look cute in everything, baby.” she replied, smiling coyly at him.

“Only because it’s true.”

Vinyl walked towards him, jumping up on her hind legs once more. On her four legs, Vinyl was about three feet tall. However, at her full height, she stood about five feet tall, putting her only a foot shorter than Josh. She walked towards him and threw her forelegs around his neck. Josh responded in kind, wrapping his arms around her waist and looking into her beautiful eyes.

“Have I told you that I love you recently?” asked the unicorn, smiling up at her coltfriend.

“Not yet. Then again, I haven’t really said it to you either.” he replied, feeling her soft fur on his arms and hands as they caressed her skin.

“Well then, say it to me. But I don’t want to hear you talk when you say it.”

Josh smiled and leaned in, his lips meeting hers and kissing her lovingly. Every time they kissed, he felt his heart soar, his mind go numb as her tongue intertwined itself with his. That was the case every single time. And this time, she was being a little more fierce, making his heart race.

She refused to disconnect with him, instead jumping up and wrapping her hind legs around his body. Josh placed his hands on her rump, holding her to himself as fireworks exploded in his mind. He turned around and placed her on the counter, continuing to kiss her passionately. When they did finally disconnect, he gave her lips two more gentle pecks before moving down to her neck. Vinyl gave soft moans of pleasure as he gently kissed her neck and chest.

Her mind only thought of one thing as she felt his lips against her cream colored coat: she wanted, no, she needed him to take her right then and there. She needed to feel him inside her, becoming closer to her than ever before. As he continued to kiss and nip at her neck, her moans increased slightly, signaling to the human that she was ready for him. Josh smiled as he slowly moved down her body to her belly, planting soft kisses all the way. She placed a hoof on his head, feeling his soft short hair and attempting to push him further down.

“Jo-Josh,” she panted, waves of ecstasy flooding her body as he descended lower and lower towards her marehood, “I-I need you. I need you r-right now.”

Josh said nothing, instead moving his way back up her body till their lips met once more. Vinyl let out a disappointed moan at this, but still kissed him fiercely.

“How long did Tavi say she’d be gone today?” he said once their lips parted.

Vinyl smiled at him, more than ready for what was to come next. Josh picked her up once more and headed for the staircase, taking her to her room. It was definitely much more comfortable than the kitchen counter anyway.

*****

Only one word could be used to describe what had just occurred between these two lovers today: incredible. Vinyl lay next to Josh, her forelegs wrapped around his upper body, her eyes closed and a smile creeping across her face. Josh had an arm wrapped around her back, the other softly caressing her hoof as it lay on his chest. They both were covered in a light sheen of sweat, both unbelievably happy at the experience they had just shared.

“That was wonderful, baby.” said the unicorn at last, reaching up to kiss her lover once more, “It’s even more awesome that my first time was with somepony as incredible as you.”

“You were a virgin?” asked Josh, looking at her, a little shocked.

“Uh huh. Is that bad, or something?”

Josh smiled at the concerned look in her face and pulled her closer to himself, kissing her lightly on the forehead.

“There’s nothing wrong with that at all, baby.” he said as she nuzzled his chest, “I’m unbelievably glad I could be your first.”

Vinyl looked up and kissed him once more, feeling a loving warmth spread throughout her body. The two of them lay back down, drifting off to sleep with their arms around one another. Both thought back to what they had just shared, and both smiled as they felt the strength of their love increase tenfold.