Romance and the Fate of Equestria

Chapter One Hundred and Sixty-One

DJ P0n-3 and Blinkie Pie walked down the streets of Ponyville at sunset, both of them weaving slightly from tipsiness, but Blinkie far more so.

Currently, she was laughing so hard that she was coughing. "Goodness, Vinyl…" she gasped. "I may not look it, but this is the most fun I've had in a long time."

Vinyl could see what she meant; Blinkie's smile was very strained. Clearly she was unaccustomed to smiling or laughing at all.

Inspired by Blinkie's expression of bliss, Vinyl grinned and tilted her head, going in for a kiss.

Blinkie recoiled, stiffening. "Whawhawha—whoa. What the heck?"

"Uh…" Vinyl said blankly. "Er… I dunno, this has never 'appened to me before… I fort tha's where we were… tha'…" She trailed off, slouching and hanging her head.

"…Did you think this was a date?" Blinkie demanded.

"…Was it not?" Vinyl returned weakly. "Tha's wha' I asked… tha's wha' I asked Inkie to set us up for."

"Really," Blinkie said flatly. She screwed up her face in fury. "Ooh, that's—she told me you wanted to be friends with me."

"Tha' bitch!" Vinyl scoffed playfully.

"That bitch," Blinkie agreed darkly.

"Playin' us for a couple o' saps…"

"That complete, absolute BITCH!" Blinkie snarled, stomping her hoof.

Vinyl reeled back on her hooves. "Whoa. You're actually angry."

"Of course I am!" Blinkie screeched, tears gushing from her eyes. "This was a horrible, mean prank! Inkie knows I don't have any friends! How could she do this?"

Vinyl looked down at the street and thought hard. "Inkie knows you don't 'ave any friends," she said softly.

Blinkie glared. "I just said that."

"Yeah, but wha' if… wha' if tha's wha' this was all abou'?" Vinyl pressed. "She sets up this prank, and… maybe we're meant t' make friends after. You know, bond over it. Tha's the only explanation I can fink of. She's no' a mean one, Inkie. She'll frow some zingers my way, but she wouldn' do this wiffout… some kindness. Maybe she wan'ed us to be friends. I mean, she's doin' a good job so far. We've already got somefing in common."

"Right," Blinkie said dully. "We both want to find Inkie and kill her."

"Tha's the spirit!" Vinyl chirped. "Let's go and tell 'er off for this dirty-irty trick, eh?"

"Yes… sure, let's…" Blinkie muttered. After a few moments of silence, she asked, "So, you asked her to set us up on a date? Do you have, like, a crush on me?"

"Erm… kinda?" Vinyl said uneasily. "Uhhhhh… now tha' you're past the shock of, er, not knowin' I fort this was a date, is there any chance…?"

Blinkie blinked for several moments, not processing the question. "No," she said sharply. "Noooo. You… you do still wanna be my friend even if I'm straight, right?"

"Of course." She sighed. "This is exactly what I went frough wiv your sister. Eurgh! Screw it, it's so damn 'ard."

"What is?"

"Datin' chicks," Vinyl said aggressively. "Nine times ou' of ten, they're no' even of compa'ible orien'ation, whatever the 'ell tha' means. I don' get it. I like everypony. Not bein' attracted to somepony because of their gender of all things? I find that paten'ly ridiculous, personally… but I guess tha's jus' me. Screw it, I can' navigate tha' scene anymore. I'm goin' back to stallions. No longer on the, whatchacallit, spectrum. I am straigh' now!"

"You… you can do that?" Blinkie said blankly.

"Well, I can, I don' fink it's a… a common fing… it's messed up, really. 'Ey, you all righ'?"

"Am I all right? Oh… sure. I just… I don't know what to say now. I don't think I've ever met somepony who was gay before. Or… on the spectrum, if you will."

"Well, the general idea is to treat them the same way you treat everypony else," Vinyl said dryly.

"Right!" Blinkie said, relieved. "Right, of course. I'm sorry."

There was silence.

"I still don't really know what to say," Blinkie said apologetically.

More silence.

"Do you enjoy it?" she said lamely.

"Oh, I love it," Vinyl said appreciatively. "Loads o' fun. I fink everypony should sample a li'l bit of both at leas' once in their lives, before they settle down. I'm at tha' point, I fink… the settlin' down point… kinda why I asked… abou'… you…" She shrugged. "So! On the matter of findin' Inkie and givin' 'er a piece of our minds. 'Ow abou' we go do tha', friend?"

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Endnotes

So… Braeburn's visit, Big Daddy's visit, and now this Vinyl/Blinkie thing. Three storylines which have been introduced and then resolved in the space of only two (non-consecutive) chapters, and don't really affect anything overarching. How about that? Apparently, I'm capable of filler now. …Hrmm. Is that good or bad?