The Little Things
Chapter 5: Fear and dancing
Previous Chapter Next Chapter“No.”
A knit cap flopped to the ground, falling dejectedly amongst the ever-growing pile of fashion rejects. A pair of sunglasses, custom made for her, took the knit cap's place in front of the mirror.
“... No, not at night.”
Barricade set the glasses down on the bathroom sink and heaved a sigh. She’d been at this for the last hour and a half, shortly after cleaning up. She chewed her lip softly, and looked around at the few accessories she had left.
“Something stylish, but not over the top,” she thought, eyeing the rather pitiful number of choices that remained. She pulled out a kilt, a gift given to her by her parents right before she left. She sat down and held the plaid cloth up to the mirror, snickering a little. “Oy, ye be lookin’ right fit for dancin’!"
It too, found it's way over to the pile. Once more she huffed in exasperation. "Maybe I don't need to dress up, it's just a music thing, right?" she pondered, holding up a long scarf that shared her mane's color.
She threw the long cloth around her neck a few times, and adjusted the tassels as she looked in the mirror. She tilted her head a little, raising an eyebrow and then turning to her side before nodding gently and heading back out into the disaster that was her room.
She looked around at her belongings strewn everywhere, sighed, and flopped onto the bed.
"I have no idea what I'm doinnnng," she thought with an accompanying groan. Barricade looked over to the clock on her nightstand, and redoubled her exasperated action. "And I only have an hour or two until it starts... Fantastic."
Ding Dong.
Barricade bolted upright, ears erect and facing the door.
“Oh, please no.”
Ding Dong. “Barricade? You home?”
“Coming!” Barricade whimpered a lengthy string of explicative under her breath as she scurried to the bathroom, quickly fixing her mane. She rushed to the front door with all the silence of a pack of stampeding elephants and threw the door open.
“Hi! Hi, Beryl. You’re early.” Barricade forced the most natural fake smile she had in her arsenal.
Beryl cocked an eyebrow and smiled. “Yeah, I am. I figured I’d show you the way there and we could grab some food before the show. Sound good to you?”
Time seemed to crawl to a stop as Barricade pictured the massive crowd staring at her in the club. It was now or never, she thought. Time to cut her losses or tough it out.
“Yeah, sure. Uh—” Barricade looked around the living room area. “Let me just get ready, and we can get going.”
“What you’ve got is fine, it’s not like it’s some formal dinner or something.” Beryl snickered. “Cute scarf by the way, where’d you get it?”
Barricade could feel herself tense and blush a little. “Oh, this old thing? Eh, me Da made it for me. It’s plain, but it’s special to me.”
Beryl nodded softly, holding her necklace up with her hoof. “First thing I ever made. It’s got it’s flaws, but only if you’re looking for them, I'm still proud of it anyway.” She turned to face the street, and smirked over her shoulder. “So, ready to go? Unless you plan on inviting me in for a romantic dinner at your place.”
Barricade stared down at her friend, only to receive a sly, conniving wink in return.
“Oh, come on you big gullible cutie. If we don’t hurry up we’re not going to have time for our dinner date.”
Those last words pinned Barricade’s ears to her skull as she sulked outside after Beryl. She followed closely, watching Beryl spring gently with each step and occasionally steal a glance back at her. Finally, once they’d gotten clear of the house, Barricade mustered up her voice. “You know, I honestly can’t tell if you’re just playing with me, or if you’re serious.”
Beryl slowed down, and looked back with the most obnoxiously ambiguous grin Barricade had ever seen.
Barricade rolled her eyes with an exasperated groan. “You’re impossible. You know that?”
“Not impossible, just hard to get.” Beryl winked.
“Whatever!” Barricade chuckled nervously. “So how far is this place?”
Beryl looked up to the sun and then to a street lamp. “We’ll have enough time once we get there. It’s closer to your place than mine, that’s for sure. I live on the very outer wall in this district, not in the middle like you. Shouldn’t be more than a few more minutes, if memory serves.”
All was quiet for a few moments, which Barricade thought was surprising. In the middle of a supposedly bustling city that there were still places one could go and still find quiet; Save for the gentle clacking of hooves on the stony path, it was calming.
“It’s just around the corner,” Beryl said quietly. “Now just play it cool: bouncer tends to be a bit edgy around me.”
Those words gave Barricade pause. “What did you do to him?”
“It was just a little fire, nothing serious,” Beryl mumbled. “Besides, I’m sure he’s over it by no—”
A thunderous voice rattled Barricade’s brain in her skull.
“Golden Beryl.” A large, stout looking unicorn lowered his sunglasses and pursed his lips into an unamused line. A large patch of his mane was missing and covered with a bandage. “What a surprise, to think that you’d have the guts to show up after your little stage sparkler stunt.”
“Eh heh heh…” Beryl chuckled. “Hey, List. Looking really hot todaaahhhhh—” Beryl’s tongue flopped out of her mouth, not wanting to finish the sentence either out of self-preservation, or common sense. Barricade couldn’t decide, she just tensed a little as the bouncer glowered.
List narrowed his eyes and jerked his head toward Barricade. “Where in Equestria did you find this one?”
Beryl sashayed herself back and forth before List with a smile on her face. “Well, she and I just got initiated into the guard, today. So we’re here to celebrate.” She flicked her tail gently against his nose and bat her eyes. “You wouldn’t deny a couple of mares a night of celebration, would you?”
List grunted and lifted his clipboard. “Actually, I would.”
Beryl’s eyes went wide as she scampered up to List. “Awww, come on! DJ LP 33 1/3 is like, Barricade’s favorite? Isn’t he?” she said with an aggressive wink.
Both List and Beryl stared at Barricade. She shrank back and buried her muzzle into the folds of her scarf. List simply leveled an eternally unamused stare at her, and Beryl was frantically gesticulating with her eyebrows.
“Uh, right! Yeah! He’s my favorite, I’d really hate to miss his show.” Barricade fabricated a smile while Beryl kept throwing her hoof-signals. “You’re sure you won’t let us in? I promise to make Beryl behave.” Beryl’s eyes dilated for a split second as she froze.
List groaned. “Beryl, I like you. I really do. But I can’t keep doing this.”
“Nothing’s going to happen, List. I promise.” Beryl pinned her ears back, pointing a hoof toward Barricade. “She promised!”`
“Beryl.” List removed his glasses, revealing his intense, blue eyes. “if anything happens; boss is going to know I let you in, and I’m fired. Simple as that.”
The air hung still for a moment as the three ponies stared between themselves.
List cleared his throat and donned his glasses. “I don’t think I need to spell it out for you.” He stepped to the side, waving them through. He stopped Beryl with a foreleg and leaned down to her ear. “I’m serious, don’t make me regret this.”
“I said nothing’s going to happen, Blacklist. Relax.” Beryl gently tapped the stallion’s shoulder, eliciting a snort and glare. She quickly turned to Barricade, frantically gestured toward the door, and disappeared into the dark.
Barricade blinked, looked down to List, and mouthed a quick “sorry” before ducking her head and heading inside. The wall of heat took Barricade completely by surprise. Almost instinctively, she loosened her scarf and scanned the darkness.
Despite the number of brightly colored lights, the building was astonishingly dark. Thankfully, she didn’t find it very difficult to spot Beryl’s bright yellow amongst the ponies milling around.
“Barricade!” Beryl shouted, waving a hoof, “I went ahead and snagged a table overlooking the dance floor. Come on!”
Barricade walked over to Beryl and glared down at her. “No.”
“Eh?”
“Beryl, I get that you were just trying to think quickly under pressure, but I’m not going to lie for you again. That’s not who I am, and I don’t intend on becoming that mare anytime soon. Understood?”
Beryl jerked her head back and furrowed her brows. “Whoa, calm down there. It wasn’t anything serious—”
“It was serious to me.” Barricade softened her stare. “Look, I’m asking as a friend, just don’t ever put me in a situation like that again, please?”
Barricade felt a little guilty as Beryl folded her ears back. “I’ll do what I can to avoid it, I promise.”
Barricade nodded, “I’m going to hold you to that.”
“I hope you do, I’m awful with promises,” she said with a smirk. “Now come on, through the club, this way.”
Barricade stuck close to Beryl as she weaved through the crowd toward the back of the building. The background music thrummed in her ears, muffling Beryl’s voice. She watched her friend disappear through a nearby doorway, and quickly followed. Inside the room, were tables set out in an orderly fashion, and Beryl standing over to the side at a booth. Barricade trotted over, unpinning her ears from her head in lieu of the quieter atmosphere.
“Ladies first,” Beryl said with a smirk. “Seeing as I’m hardly fitting of a lady’s status.”
“You’d be more fitting than I would, Beryl.” Barricade snickered and shuffled into her seat. “You know that.”
Beryl rolled her eyes as she sat down, and grabbed one of the menus on the table. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Anyway, one of the things I really recommend as far as appetizers go is the deep fried veggie platter: hardly good for you, but so, so good.” Beryl’s eyes lost focus as she stared off into space.
Barricade smiled and shook her head. She flipped the menu back to the first page, and looked for the platter. “Mozzarella sticks, onion rings... oh, yeah, that does look g—” Barricade paused and winced a little. “...Fried shrimp?”
“Oh, yeah!” Beryl rubbed her chin with a hoof as she smiled. “I may get some, it’s been forever since I’ve had it.”
Barricade blinked, and shook her head. “I’m sorry. You what, lass?”
Beryl donned a perplexed look, then clapped her hooves together. “Right! You don’t know.”
“I don’t,” Barricade put her menu off to the side, “but I think you’re about to tell me.”
“That I am.” Beryl looked at the menu for a second longer, then set it aside as well. “So I’m from Los Pegasus area, you know that.”
“Right.”
“Well, it’s a bit of a tourist spot, not to say that rather fancy names show up there. Especially with their exotic tastes.” Beryl winked, “exotic and expensive tastes that need catering to.”
“Uh huh. That still doesn’t explain why—”
“I’m getting there!” Beryl grumbled. “Geez, just settle down. Anyway: because of the tourism and number of other species sharing the city, as well as its coastal location, some ponies adopt a pescatarian diet.” Beryl paused a moment, eying Barricade warily. “It’s not actually harmful to us ponies. It does make some a bit squeamish though.”
Barricade rest her chin on her hooves and squinted at Beryl. “So you eat seafood, then?”
“Ever since I was a filly. Though it’s more a ‘special occasion’ sort of thing. It’s not something I do all the time.”
“Uh huh…” Barricade kept her eyes on Beryl, as she tried to decide what exactly she felt about the whole thing.
“You should try it, it won’t kill ya, I promise.” Beryl closed her eyes and shrugged, “We’re celebrating: no better time to do something illogical and reckless. I can’t think of a more responsible irresponsible thing you could get away with.” A small smirk formed at the corner of beryl’s mouth as she eyed a pamphlet to the side. “Speaking of…”
Barricade watched her flip the paper open. “Speaking of, what?”
“Pick your poison.” Beryl winked and tossed the paper over to Barricade. The small menu slid over, revealing drinks of the alcoholic variety. “They also do custom drinks if you’re feeling brave.”
Barricade chuckled softly. “I’m feeling far from adventurous, thanks.” The menu consisted of the normal fare: mixed drinks mostly. But something managed to grasp her eye just as she was about to turn the page.
She stared a moment, her mouth hung open in awe as the picture burned into her mind’s eye. A tendril of drool crested her lower lip as the faint sound of Beryl’s voice fought for Barricade’s attention.
It was a losing battle of course, Barricade cared only for the words on the pamphlet: Dusky Drop’s Pumpkin pie cream liqueur.
“Barricade!”
Barricade blinked, and stared blankly at her friend. “Sorry, I was just…”
“Found something you like huh?” Beryl said with a playful wink. “In the mood for a shot of something strong?”
“A shot?” Barricade said with a snort. “Beryl, please. We’re celebrating,” she said, a wild grin forming on her face. “No better time to get unreasonable.”
A voice cleared its throat off to the side.“I can take your order if you’re, um, ready?”
Barricade turned to face a small pegasus stallion, holding a notepad, and looking up at her from his seat on the floor. She looked at him, then to Beryl, then back to him.
The two quickly listed off their orders to the stallion. Beryl opted for a noodle dish, while Barricade got a sweet potato with everything but the kitchen sink on it. She found it interesting that the waiter didn’t even flinch when Beryl ordered the fried shrimp. But she figured that Beryl was a regular of sorts, and that it wasn’t unexpected.
“And anything to drink for you ladies tonight?” the stallion chimed, his voice now filled with a sense of confidence.
Beryl put her hoof to her chin and paused. “Hmm, how about a mojito?”
“One Mojito! And for you, miss?”
Barricade looked down to the menu, then to the waiter. “I’d like some of that Dusky Drop’s Pumpkin Liqueur. How big a shot do you offer?”
“Well, we have a double shot glass…”
“Anything bigger than that?”
The waiter shuffled a little, his eyes darting about. “Well, we have tall glasses for standard alcoholic beverages.”
“Keep going?”
“And our steins are for those who want more than a standard portion…”
Barricade blew the hair out of her eyes and smiled down to the stallion. “And that’s the biggest glass you’ve got?”
He blinked up at her in amazement. “Short of just bringing the bottle, yes.”
“Can you do that?” Barricade’s ears perked as she grinned. “Can you just charge for the whole bottle?”
The stallion stared up at her, rooted in place and completely frozen for a good five seconds. “Yeah, I can do that…” He turned to his notepad and scribbled away, before flipping it closed. “I’ll be right back, thank you ladies.”
Beryl watched him until he was out of sight. “He’s cute,” she said, turning to Barricade and cocking an eyebrow. “So, what happened to ‘not feeling adventurous’?”
Barricade rolled her eyes with a smile. “You’re already forcing me to try seafood. Why not try something I’ve never had?”
“Hey!” Beryl put her hoof on the table and pointed to Barricade. “I’m not forcing you to try it. I just suggested it. Besides, a little food and some liquid courage before hitting the dance floor is always a good idea.”
For a moment, Barricade thought that she had heard Beryl say dance floor. She paused, and checked that she had heard her friend right. The answer was immediately apparent and written all over her face.
“I’m not going to be dancing, Beryl.”
There were a few things that Barricade expected as a response, what she didn’t expect was for Beryl to start laughing.
“Barricade, you just ordered…” Beryl stopped and took a deep breath. “You just ordered an entire bottle of pumpkin pie liqueur!”
“I don’t get it.” Barricade watched as her friend devolved into further and further incomprehensible snippets of speech. “Stop laughing and tell me what’s so funny!” she said, scrunching her nose.
It took Beryl about thirty seconds to oblige Barricade’s demands, and even then, she was still shaking from the lingering giggles. “Don’t worry about it, Barricade. You’ll figure it out.”
“I’m still not dancing.”
“Right, I’m sure.” Beryl said with a wink.
Just then, the pegasus stallion flew back into the room. He nodded to Beryl, then to Barricade, and set the drinks before each mare. “I’ll have your appetizers in a few moments. Enjoy!” he said, before darting off once more.
Barricade slowly removed the lid, and sniffed the opening. A powerful smell of pumpkin spice and alcohol overcame her as she swiftly recoiled. “Oh, geez… Beryl, this stuff could double as paint remover.”
Beryl fired a coy smirk over the lip of her glass and took another sip. “Oh come on now, a big bad Scoltish mare isn’t afraid of a little liqueur, is she?”
“Oy! I’m not scared.” Barricade pinned her ears back and stared at the open bottle. She closed her eyes and quickly raised the bottle to her mouth, and took a big gulp.
The first thing that Barricade noticed was the creamy, delicious taste of pumpkin pie. The second and third things she noticed shortly thereafter were the intense burning in her throat and the desire to spit the liquid out.
She closed her eyes and forced it down. Barricade blinked a few times, wiped the tears from her eyes and only then registered that Beryl was laughing hysterically.
“Oh my gosh, Barricade! You should have seen your face!” Beryl doubled over, laughing. “You looked so resolute and serious. But then you took a whole gulp and you just— Pfffahahaha!”
Barricade glared at her friend until she finally stopped. “There, finished?”
“Yeah, yeah… I’m good.”
“Good.” Barricade rolled her eyes and stared down at the bottle again. "Anyway, that stuff is nothing like the maregaritas my mom made back home.”
Beryl launched into another fit of hysterical laughter.
“What kind of Scoltish pony drinks maregaritas?”
Barricade shrank down in her seat, leveling a half-lidded gaze at Beryl until she finally caught her breath for the second time that evening.
“One with class! I’m only half Scoltish after all, and I was raised in Manehattan.”
“No, that’s fine. I’m just…” Beryl breathed deeply, sipped her mojito and smiled at Barricade. “You’re adorable. I’m going to just keep saying that, I don’t have a better way of putting it.”
The following silence was quickly interrupted by the metallic clink of serving trays. The smell of deep fried food filled the booth as the stallion quickly asked if everything was alright, then scurried off to a table on the opposite side of the room.
Barricade watched as Beryl eyed the shrimp, and pulled the platter closer. Beryl grabbed a single piece by what Barricade assumed was the tail, and bit into the golden-breaded morsel hungrily. Barricade couldn’t help but flinch a little and suppress her gag reflex as she scooped up a mozzarella stick.
“So… is it good?”
It wasn’t the fact that Beryl was eating something that used to be alive, nor was it the smell. It was the fact that Beryl chose to respond without swallowing first that made Barricade’s stomach turn.
“It’s delicious! You should try some, like you said you were going to.” Beryl said, pausing to swallow. “Unless the ‘wee bonnie’ is too scared to try it.”
Barricade glared back at Beryl’s constant smirk. “I’m not scared. Give me one.”
The tray quickly spun over to Barricade’s side of the table. She looked down at the dozens of deep fried shrimp. She whimpered a little and looked up at Beryl, who was regarding her with a raised eyebrow and antagonistic smile. Barricade looked over to her bottle of liqueur and sighed. She raised the bottle, took a gulp, fought back the tears and looked down at the platter once more, picking out a piece for herself and holding it up to her eyes.
I’m gunnae be okay. She thought, as she closed her eyes and brought the appetizer closer and closer to her mouth.
I’m gunnae be okay… The gentle crunch of batter let her know that she was as far as non-commitment would take her. She paused for a moment, and opened her right eye, peering across at Beryl who was motioning with her hoof to just take a bite and be done with it.
The sound of a gentle crunch was accompanied by something unlike Barricade had ever tasted. It reminded her of afternoons on a beach, or the smell of crashing waves.
She loved it.
She unscrewed the grimace from her face and chewed with a little more earnest. “This is actually kinda good.” she mumbled, covering her mouth with a hoof.
“What did I say? What did I say?” Beryl half shouted across the table, accusingly pointing a mozzarella stick at Barricade. “I said try it and you’ll like it, and guess who was right?” Beryl shoved her improvised pointing device into her mouth, smiling triumphantly. “Me, as always.”
Barricade barely registered Beryl’s victory speech, as she was currently stuffing her second shrimp into her mouth, tail and all. She was about to take her third, when she noticed Beryl snickering into her hoof.
“What’s so funny?”
Beryl snickered and closed her eyes, stifling her laughter as best she could. “It’s just that, you’re not supposed to eat the tails…”
“Oh.” Barricade sat there, shrimp tail hanging from her mouth as the pegasus arrived with their meals.
One meal and a bottle of liqueur later, Barricade was feeling pretty good, to say the least. It was an odd feeling, like her limbs were floating and half-way between her control and having minds of their own. Thankfully, they appeared to be of the agreeable sort, and didn’t want to pick a fight with her any time soon.
Beryl seemed to be equally enjoying herself, as Barricade could make out from her friend’s half glazed stare and dopey smile. Beryl shuffled out of her seat and stood a short way from the table and leveled her hoof at Barricade.
“Do you know, what time it is?”
“Um,” Barricade looked around the room for a clock, frowning when she couldn’t find one. “no?”
“It’s party time. Let’s go dancin’.”
Barricade immediately slouched in her seat. “I don’t know, Beryl, I don’t really like dan—”
“I did not drag your big, happy butt all the way from Scoltl—”
“But you didn’t, we came from my house.”
Beryl glared and waved her hoof dismissively. “Whatever, the point is: you want to go dancing, trust me.” Barricade stared back at Beryl for a moment before the earth pony continued. “Who was right about the shrimp?”
“You were.” Barricade admitted with a defeated sigh.
“Exactly.” Beryl flashed a triumphant smile as Barricade got up from her seat. “Now, I’m going to assume that this is your first time in a club?”
Barricade nodded as she walked with Beryl.
“Okay, so there’s a few rules I follow to stay safe, just…” Beryl held her head a moment and shook it gently. “That second mojito is kicking my butt. Anyway, just pay attention, okay?”
“Rule one: don't get lost.
“Rule two: don’t accept drinks from strangers, I’m serious. I don’t care how cute he is, it’s a bad idea.” Beryl lifted her eyes and looked Barricade over. “Considering that you just drank an entire bottle of liqueur, I’m going to just say no more alcohol tonight, period. You’ll really start feeling it in about thirty minutes.
“Rule two and a half: no matter what he says, he doesn’t mean it until he says it when he’s sober tomorrow morning. There are a lot of stallions here jonesing for a one-night stand, don’t let yourself get caught in their head-games.
“Rule three: don’t get lost. I’m not kidding.
Barricade ducked as they both left the restaurant portion of the club, the lights were just as bright, if not more so than before. A sharp sound drew Barricade’s attention back to Beryl as she glared up angrily at her.
“Barricade, please focus, this is important.
“Rule four: We leave together. If you go out with friends, you go home with friends. Safety lies with those you know.
“Rule five: Drink water. Like I said, you will be feeling that bottle in about half an hour. Unless you enjoy waking up with a splitting headache and the inability to differentiate your cardinal directions, drink water.
“Rules six through twenty-one are basically common sense ones. Like, say a guy is being creepy? You should probably go somewhere away from him. Blah, blah, blah. But the most important rule is number twenty-two: When you are lost, know… Um.”
Beryl stopped in her tracks, her face scrunched up tightly. She forcefully pointed up at Barricade, nearly punching her in the snout.
“Do not get lost.”
“Hey! Hey you!”
Barricade turned to see a stallion barreling through the crowd toward her.
“Barreling” was a fairly accurate term, Barricade thought. The stallion was stumbling over himself every few steps as he raised a hoof and hailed her over and over.
“Hey! Hi, can uh, can I buy you a drink?” the stallion struggled with each word as he smiled up at Barricade with glassy eyes. He was cute, well groomed, fairly well built for a unicorn.
She had no idea what she was doing.
“I’m gunnae say thanks? But no thanks, I’ve, uh I’ve had enough for tonight.” Barricade squinted an eye and recoiled slightly once she finished.
The stallion stared at her for a few moments longer than Barricade was comfortable with before he spoke. “Oh, okay then. You have a name at least?”
Barricade looked down at Beryl, who was violently gesturing toward the stallion with her head.
“Uh, Barricade.”
“Thanks!” The stallion stumbled back through the crowd, climbing up into his seat where a few other unicorn stallions pat him on the back and began talking with him.
Barricade watched and furrowed her brow. “That was weird.” She looked down, only to find Beryl smiling up at her.
“I’m so proud.”
Barricade returned the smile and nodded sagely. “Rule two.”
“That’s my girl!” Beryl shouted, gently punching Barricade in the shoulder. “Now, let’s go have some fun!”
The dance floor pulsed with life as Barricade followed Beryl into the massive throng. The red-maned unicorn was already at work, churning out the rhythmic beats that vibrated inside Barricade’s skull. She noticed how crowded it was, and how many ponies she kept bumping into, but Beryl quickly assured her that it was normal for the dance floor, and that she shouldn’t worry about it.
It was a little awkward for the first few songs, but eventually, Barricade found herself moving with the music a little easier with each minute. She couldn’t tell if she was adjusting to the music, or if it was the liqueur kicking in. Her rationality kicked in for a brief moment, and declared both to be true before it quickly vanished behind a veil of loud music and dulled senses.
But she didn’t care.
The night wore on and Barricade was having the time of her life. Beryl never left her side as the two jumped in place with the whole crowd, bobbing their heads and screaming for no readily apparent reason.
And she loved it.
She couldn’t help but wonder why she’d never tried going to a club before, or dancing, or getting into the music scene. And then the rational part of her mind chimed in: because they all stare at you. Barricade quickly squelched the thought, but a lingering doubt chewed away at her through the song until she finally looked around.
Nopony was staring.
A sense of elation coursed through Barricade as she screamed at the top of her lungs, lost in the bass and the voices and bright lights of the dance floor. She was happy in a crowd, for the first time in what felt like years.
She was actually sad when the music started to become more mellow, the crowd began to thin out, and the lights started dimming. She looked down to Beryl as the last song played and furrowed her brow. She felt a little betrayed: she was having fun, and she was happy; why would someone want to take that from her?
“Come on, Barricade, they’re closing. Let’s get you home.”
It took a moment for Barricade’s head to clear.
Beryl, home, closing, rule four.
“Rule four: leave with your friends.” Barricade half-slurred the words. “Beryl, I feel really weird.”
Beryl smiled and nudged her toward the door. “Me too, Barricade. That’s called alcohol.”
Barricade climbed the stairs out of the dance floor and out the front door, giving a small nod to Blacklist as she left. She heard Beryl stop though, and engage the bouncer for a moment.
“See? No arson.”
Blacklist rolled his eyes and smirked. “Glad you had fun, but seriously, go home, Beryl. You’re drunk.”
“Buzzed!” Beryl corrected as she cantered over to Barricade’s side. “I’ll see you later, handsome.”
Barricade didn’t catch Blacklist’s expression, but it wasn’t too hard to imagine him rolling his eyes, yet again.
The night air was cool, and actually helped clear Barricade’s head a little. She stopped at a street corner and stared at the signs while Beryl leaned against her leg. She squinted, shook her head, then squinted again; barely able to make out the the squiggly lines on the signposts.
“Barricade, can I ask you a like… huge favor?”
Eventually, Barricade deciphered the arcane squiggles and turned down the street. “What is it, lass?”
Beryl stumbled a little and matched Barricade’s pace. “I’m not going to lie, that second mojito? Shhuper bad idea.”
Barricade couldn’t help but giggle a little. She knew she had drank enough alcohol to likely kill a normal pony. But she had the advantage of size and heritage on her side. “You’re only now realizing this?”
“You can shut up.” Beryl sputtered. “Maregarita-drinking scoltish numpty.”
“Oy, that’s my word.”
Beryl waved her hoof briefly, nearly falling on her face. “Whatever, the point is: I’m way too blashted to find my way home tonight…”
Barricade never quite understood how Beryl managed to materialize in her path, nor how she managed the most debilitating filly eyes ever. But she did both of these things, flawlessly.
“... Can I crash with you tonight?”
Barricade looked down at her friend, up at the signpost, then down to Beryl again. She couldn’t really see an issue with letting her stay. She had a couch Beryl could use after all.
“Sure, it’ll be fine. We’re getting close anyway… I think.”
Barricade took a few more turns, and heaved a sigh of relief when the words “Applewood Ave.” appeared on the sign. She turned down the road and slowly trotted up to her door. The key proved exceptionally difficult to put in the lock, but after a few tries, the door swung open.
She held the door open for Beryl, then followed her friend inside.
“Do you need anything?”
Beryl groaned softly. “Rule five.”
Barricade quickly scavenged some glasses from the cupboards, and handed Beryl a drink of water. She took a sip of her own, and glanced around the room. “Well, I don’t have a whole lot, so just crash wherever. Sorry about the mess in advance.”
Beryl simply placed the water glass in the sink and waved her hoof dismissively. “Compared to some houses I’ve seen? This place is immaculate. I’ll see you in the morning.” Beryl slowly trotted out of the kitchen, groaning slightly.
Barricade decided to have another glass, but soon heard her bed calling to her. She left the kitchen and walked straight to the bathroom, turning on the sink and splashing herself in the face. The fuzziness cleared for a moment as she took a towel and dried her face off. She smiled back at her reflection, a dozen awesome moments replayed in her mind as she flicked the light off and headed back to her room.
She fumbled through the darkness, and fell into bed. The blankets felt like the best thing in Equestria as she pulled her pillow close and drifted off to sleep.
Next Chapter: Day after party problems Estimated time remaining: 11 MinutesAuthor's Notes:
Fluffomaru makes silly doodles.