“How are you liking the town so far, Silverbolt?” Octavia asked, turning her head to see the mare trailing just behind.

Silverbolt threw on a smirk before answering, “It’s great. Couldn’t ask for anything better.”

“You said you moved from Canterlot, yes?”

“Yeah.”

Octavia smiled as she looked into the distance where the lights of an evening Canterlot were just visible on the mountain. “I used to live there too when I was just a filly.”

“Mm,” she mmed, “What made you decide to move here?”

“Oh that’s a long story. I’ll keep short and say Vinyl and I became friends some years back and decided it would be to both of our benefits to share the rent on a home. Roommates.” Pushing a few strands of loose hair into place, she continued, “We settled here mostly because of cheaper rent, but it’s still a fair place to live. Right, Vinyl?”

The unicorn’s ears perked up in surprise. “Huh? What?”

“Ponyville’s a pleasant place?”

“Oh, uh yeah.”

Silverbolt glanced between the two mares as they shared a hard stare. Vinyl’s only protection came from her tinted glasses. “You two alrig—”

“Yes, we’re fine,” Octavia said as she broke away from Vinyl. Slowing her pace to trot beside Silverbolt, she said, “Please don’t mind my friend. She’s been rather moody as of late. I practically had to force her out to come meet you today.”

“Huh? Something bothering her?”

“Yes. However, she’s keeping it to herself no matter how much I pry. I suspect it had to do with that thing she made friends with.”

“Thing?”

Octavia nodded. “Don’t ask me how she did it, but she found and befriended a mythical creature. I know nothing except what she’s told me, and that’s little to begin with.”

“O…kay then.”

“Trust me, I feel the same way,” she sighed, “As strange as the ordeal is, I ask you to not bring it up. If she won’t tell me, then I doubt she’d appreciate another pony pestering her.”

“That’s fine… Though….”

“Hm?”

Nudging up on Octavia’s shoulder, Silverbolt said, “Just how curious are you to know what she’s hiding?”

“Silverbolt?” she asked, shooting off a suspicious glance, “What are you suggesting?”

“Well… We’re heading to a bar and drinks tend to make people more talkative…” she replied, trailing off innocently.

“Ah! Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?”

“…Maybe?”

“How rude! Why, I should… I…!” She heaved a sigh. “Fine. I’m in. As much as I hate to say it, I like the way you’re thinking.”

“Thanks, I think.”

“Besides,” she said, speeding up her pace to catch up to Vinyl, “It’s not like this is the first time I’ve gotten her drunk beyond reason.”

“Sounds like a plan… Wait, what?” Silverbolt called before scampering off to not be left behind.

Arriving at the bar proved as easily said as done. Taking Octavia’s recommendation, they found themselves seated at local bar just outside of the busy portion of town. “Not too busy nor bland,” she’d mentioned.

As they all took their seats at a booth, Silverbolt darned a smirk as she glanced between the two other mares. “So…”

“Yes, dear?”

“Huh?”

She chuckled. “Oh, I don’t know. That never fails to get everyone’s attention. So really, anything happening around here? Around Ponyville?”

“Mm… I don’t believe so. Nothing official, anyway. If you’re looking for a good time, Pinkie Pie at Sugercube Corner is always throwing parties. Why, it’s like every day is a holiday for her even if she has to make one up.”

“Really? Sounds like a real party gal.”

“She is known as the town’s resident party pony after all. She goes as far as to throw parties for each and every pony that vis—”

“Ehem,” Vinyl coughed as she jabbed her shoulder against Octavia’s.

The earth pony’s eyes widened, followed by a guilty smile drawing across her face. “Er, right. She throws parties a lot.”

“…Yeah,” Silverbolt said, slowly nodding her head. Turning toward Vinyl, she said, “How about you? You’re a DJ, right?”

“Huh? Oh, you bet I am,” she replied, flashing a modest grin, “The one and only DJ-PON3.”

“Something tells me you’re not a fan of classical like your friend here, huh?”

“Nope! I’m all about electronic. I often supply the music for the parties Pinkie throws.”

“That must be sweet. I’ve always been a fan of rock, myself.”

“Yeah? I just got an album’s worth of rock songs, but there like nothing you’ve ever heard before. It’ll blow your socks off!”

“I’ll be sure to wear socks when I hear them. Who’re they by?”

At that, Vinyl’s smile drooped. “Uh, I don’t really know… You see, it’s a long story on how I got those recordings… Yeah.”

Is that what Octavia was getting at? Silverbolt wondered as she watched the remnants of the DJ’s excitement slip away. Before she could do anymore, her thoughts were cut off as a set of menus were brought by to their table by the waitress. With a shrug and a thanks, the gold-coated mare shifted her attention to it. After looking over for a minute, Silverbolt let out a “hm…” sound.

“Something the matter?” Octavia asked, looking up from her own menu.

“Oh, nothing. Just looking for something to order. Mostly for something to drink.”

“Anything particular in mind? I could recommend something.”

Silverbolt shook her head. “Not that. It’s just that everything here seems rather weak. Like this one here,” she said, pointing out one selection.

Before Octavia could reply, Vinyl spoke up. “Whoa now, hold your horses. You’re joking, right?”

“No.”

The unicorn magicked her glasses up onto her horn, revealing her blood-red eyes swimming with incredulousness. “That’s the strongest thing they serve here. I should know.”

“Really? From what I’m reading, it’s got almost no alcohol in it.”

“Buh! Seriously? It’s got a ton. You some kind of superpony who never gets hammered or something?”

Octavia glanced between her new friend and her flustered friend a few times before realization shown in her eyes. Sneaking a wink at Silverbolt, she said, “I do have to agree with her, Vinyl. It’s not that much. Maybe you’re just a… erm...”

“Just a what?” she repeated, eyes narrowing as they locked onto the earth pony.

“Just a… how you say, lightweight?”

For a few seconds there was silence. Then there was the sound of a mare jumping up from her booth and stomping to the counter. Finally there was the demand of “Waitress! Get me two of the strongest drinks you’ve got!”

The two ponies left at the table watched the spectacle before sharing a mutual glance with each other. Octavia’s hoof shot to her lips as she tried to hold back a fit of giggles. “I daresay, Silverbolt, that was some clever thinking on your part. Thank Celestia I realized what you were doing before the moment passed.”

“Actually… I was just being honest,” she admitted as she rubbed the back of her head, “I wasn’t even thinking of our little plan.”

She blinked. “Oh. Well then. I’d say everything still worked out for the best, fortunately.”

Silverbolt only smiled in return. Funny how things work out, she thought, still thinking of the drinks. She was certainly no alcoholic, but she would admit to loving a drink every now and then. She was sure that she loved strong liquor, but she couldn’t quite remember just like a few other things as of recent. …Maybe that one’s just because I get to drunk to recall afterwards...

As Vinyl plunked back down onto her seat, two mugs of cider finding their own seats on the table, the mare shot a glare at Silverbolt. “You. Me. Bottom’s up. Right now.”

Silverbolt raised an eyebrow before glancing back at Octavia. “She always like this?”

Octavia nodded.

“Hey, I’m right here!”

“And we still love you, darling.”

Vinyl facehoofed. “Whatever. Now, there is no way that you believe this is nothing.”

“Well I do believe that.”

“…You’re asking for it.” Swiping up a mug with her magic, Vinyl smirked. “Prove it then.”

Silverbolt glanced at the mug then back to the challenge written across the unicorn’s face. With her own wry grin, she nodded. “Sure thing. But only if you drink with me.”

“I’m way ahead of you.”

“You better hope so, ‘cause you’re going to be struggling to keep up.”

“Ooh! That’s some tough talk for a mare who doesn’t know what color she is.”

The earth pony let a few cackles fly. “Dream on. Now enough talk. On with the show!”

“About time!” Vinyl sneered, levitating the mug by her lips. “Octavia? You watching?”

“I wish I wasn’t.”

“Ha! Glad you are, ‘cause I want a witness to tell me I won. You ready?”

“More than you are,” Silverbolt replied.

“Great. Bottom’s up in three…”

“Two…”

“One!”

Silverbolt gasped as her vision suddenly blurred, and she found herself lying across a couch, one hoof hanging off and the other cuddling an empty mug. “Wha?” she moaned as a splitting headache ran through her skull.

“Oh. You’re awake,” Octavia said, walking into view beside her.

“A-awake?”

“You and Vinyl have been passed all night.”

“All night?! But I was just about to have a drink a few moments ago!”

“Is that what you remember, dear? I guess that drink really was too strong for you.”

“…Aw.” Her lips curled into a pout, but her thoughts were elsewhere. Could’ve sworn that was nothing for me… Shaking her head, she pushed herself into a sitting position. “So what happened?”

Smirking like a mother who’d caught their foal in the cookie jar, Octavia answered, “I had to lead you two back home before you went completely incoherent. You’re in our house in case you haven’t noticed.”

Silverbolt forced her vision to clear, allowing her to see the place for herself. It was a similar layout to her own, save for the place being littered with musical devices. A soundboard was there, a keyboard was here, and cords were just plain everywhere. “How’s Vinyl?”

“See for yourself,” she said, stepping aside to point to the other booth couch. Sure enough, the DJ was passed out and snoring.

The mare chuckled a few times only to end up biting her lip in a cringe as another spike of pain hit her head. “Ugh…”

“And that, my friend, is why I only drink on special occasions,” Octavia commented.

“Yeah, yeah… Uh, anything else happen last night? It is tomorrow, right?”

“Yes it is. And nothing too notable happened other than each of you spouting complete nonsense.”

“Yeah?”

“Mmhm. Remember our little plan? Instead of telling me anything, Vinyl went off on some ridiculous story about her friend running away on a one-mare mission to conquer the Crystal Empire.”

Silverbolt let out a few hangover-fueled laughs. “What about me?”

Octavia shook her head. “If you think Vinyl was silly, then hear this. You started obsessing over yourself. You kept staring at your hoof in awe or playing with your reflection as if it was a game. It probably was to you.”

“Heheh…” was her only response as she looked away, trying to hide the embarrassed blush on her face.

“Want some coffee for that hangover?”

“That works?”

“I’d say it’s better than nothing.”

“Sure then.”

As the gray-coated mare left for the kitchen, Silverbolt leaned back into the couch cushions. “That was a mistake, eh, Vinyl?”

Vinyl kept on snoring.

In a headache-filled hour later, the house was alive with a melody of drunken laughter. “And that’s how I got banned from The Royal Orchestra’s concerts,” Vinyl finished, having finally awakened earlier. As the latest round of joking died down, the DJ let out a sigh. “You know, Silverbolt, you remind of someone I know.”

“I do?”

“Yeah. Funny enough, she’s also someone I just met…” She cleared her throat. “Ya know, sorry I was all mopey last night, but I’m just worried about that person.”

“Worried?” Silverbolt replied, glancing toward Octavia. The cellist twitched her head back to Vinyl’s direction.

“Yeah, but don’t you start worrying for me! It’s just a personal thing between us. It’ll be fine.”

Getting the hint to shift gears, she said, “Don’t worry about last night. You were fine. From what I can remember, anyway.”

“Heh, yeah. Oh, and guess what?”

“Wha—”

Vinyl jabbed her hoof toward the mare. “Told ya so.” She promptly cackled at the glare she received. “Oh Celestia… Hey! Want to hear that music I mentioned last night?”

“Sure. I’m surprised you remember that.”

“Heh.” Hopping up from the couch, Vinyl trotted to a sound board before flipping the power switch. After fiddling with the panel for a few moments, she winked at Silverbolt before hitting the playback button.

A wall of distortion blasted through the speakers, nearly causing Silverbolt to jump in surprise. “Ugh, this one…” she heard Octavia say, but she paid the words no mind. I… know that song, she thought, Yeah, I’m sure of it. What was it called? K—

“Agh!” she cried, her hooves reaching up to clutch her head. The other two mares recoiled back at her reaction, but Octavia recovered first to signal to turn it off.

“Um… is it really that bad?” Vinyl asked, trotting over with a bit of unease in her step.

“No, no, just… bad headache,” Silverbolt replied, “I’ve been getting them.”

“Then having a hangover certainly wouldn’t help,” Octavia added, “Perhaps we should keep things quiet.”

Silverbolt found no reason to disagree. “Though, I swear I’ve heard that song before.”

“You have? That doesn’t make any sense,” Vinyl said.

“Why’s that?”

“Because… reasons,” she said, looking away, “Long story.”

“Uh-huh.” With a shrug, Silverbolt got to her hooves. “Well, I think it’s about time I head home if you don’t mind. It was a blast meeting you two.”

“Oh, we don’t mind at all,” Octavia said, Vinyl nodding along, “It was a pleasure to meet you too.”

“See ya later!”

“See you! Oh, wait! Let me pay you two back for the drinks.”

“Nonsense. It’s on us, dear. Consider it a welcoming gift.”

She nodded. “Heh, thanks. Until next time then!” With a final goodbye, she was on her way to the house next door.

Meanwhile, Vinyl watched her departure, a multitude of thoughts running through her mind. “You know, Octavia, she is a lot like Ryan.”

“I wouldn’t know. I’d like to know how she knew your supposedly alien music.”

“It is alien music. Maybe she just heard something similar to it…” Vinyl frowned. “Not that there’s anyting similar to it out there right now.

“…Maybe.”