Octavia had always loved night-time.

When the sun settled, and she was still awake, she would leave her bed, open the big window on the north side of her room, and gaze through the darkness, listening to the faint little sounds of her surroundings: the wind blowing through the leaves, the birds moving in the trees, the few cars passing by the manor, the footsteps of the staff members upstairs… It was her part of the day, her own little moments of tranquility. She was alone, yes, but it was not like school or dinner with her family: she enjoyed this loneliness, this calm space, free of worries or duties. At her lowest points, she would look at the stars in the black sky, close her eyes and let the cold air give her goosebumps. It gave her the strength to carry on.

But this wasn’t her lowest point. This wasn’t low at all. In fact, she had never been so thrilled in her whole entire life. She felt that tranquility, as if she was looking through the window, only a million times better.

“Yo, it’s time to go get our fuck on!”

Well, minus the calm part.

“For the love of God Lyra, turn it down a bit…”

“Screw that Bon-Bon! Don’t you realize?! We just had the coolest, Splinter-Cellish adventure, and now we’re on our way to an awesome party!” She then turned to face Octavia. “And Tavi is with us! What could be better?!”

Octavia smiled at her friend’s enthusiasm. She still hadn’t fully realize what had just happened, what she was doing, and the risk her friends had taken, and were taking, just to have her have a good time.

“Octavia, are you okay?” Bon-Bon asked, “I know this is a bit much, and I know you must be scared. I certainly hope we took the good decision by bringing you along like this…”

“Of course it was the good decision!” Lyra replied, feet on the glove compartment, arranging her short hair with her hands, before getting punched in the shoulder by the pianist.

“I’m fine, do not worry Bon-Bon. I guess I’m only a tad… shaken up by the past hour. It has been quite the unexpected journey, but I appreciate being here with you. It would almost make me forget the possible consequences of my actions…”

“Yeah, that’s the spirit, boï!! Now Vinyl, step on it and turn the volume up!”

Octavia looked at her blue-haired friend, at the wheel of her unusual but certainly appropriate car. She was happy, Octavia could feel it. Happy like she had never seen her before. Smiling, laughing (as much as she could, which was as much as she could simulate a stroke without scaring her friends) and jiggling on her seat. The DJ turned the radio volume to an obnoxiously high level, and for the first time, Octavia didn’t mind the decibels forcing their way through her ears. She was happy.

She looked at the buildings passing by, lit only by a few bright windows.

Octavia had always loved night-time.

And this night was going to be unique.

Vinyl looked at her friend on the back seat, and smiled.

“Jeez, Octavia looks legit happy. I thought that she would be panicked and asking us to turn back, but it looks like her nanny found the right words.”

She squinted to look at the road. It what already immersed in darkness, and the DJ had to pay close attention to the signs and potential cars. She didn’t like to pay attention. Not really her thing.

“Hey dude, looks like our little doll over there is starting to enjoy the taste of freedom! Bravo to us! Well, to me. I did all the job, really.”

“...”

“Whaddya mean, “copilot”? Can’t you see the road? Do you need glasses?”

Vinyl raised an eyebrow. Why would she ever need glasses? She kept her left hand on the wheel, and used the remaining one to communicate with her friend.

“Ah, I’m just messing with you. As usual, as usual, I know. So, are you gonna tell us how you distracted that guard?”

Vinyl smiled, and used her right hand to simulated a back-and-forth movement in front of her mouth.

“What?!”

“WHAT?!” Bon-Bon’s voice screamed from behind Vinyl’s seat.

“I’m sorry, what?” Octavia uttered, with a visible incomprehension.

“O-Octavia, dear, don’t listen to that…” Bon-Bon calmly advised, putting both her hands on the cellist’s ears. “Now, what the hell Vinyl?”

“Did you blow this guy?! For real?!” Lyra yelled, jaw sweeping the car floor.

The DJ rolled her eyes, shaking her head, and using her free hand to inform Lyra. Sorry Bon-Bon, no text and drive. No write and drive either. But it didn’t quite roll of the tongue.

“Oh Jeez, thank God…” Lyra expired, collapsing in her seat.

“What?”

“Yes, what?” Octavia repeated, with an innocent, almost naive, look on her face, “What does “blow” mean in that context?”

“Wait, did you hear all of this?”

“Of course Bon-Bon! You let go of my ears just a few seconds after… What happened?”

“...Nothing! Vinyl was just telling me how she made the guard look at the car battery, then “accidentally” dropped the hood on the dude’s fingers. She then…” She continued as Vinyl continued waving her fingers vigorously, “...Proposed him some bandages and rubbing alcohol, which Bon-Bon had brought with us as well becaaaauuuse…?”

“You never know.”

“...Because you never know, I guess. So yeah, that kept him occupied for a good five minutes, more than enough for us to perform our little fence-climbing trick.”

“You mean for me to perform my little fence-climbing trick?”

“Shut it!”

“...”

“No, I didn’t seat on my ass and watch her do all the work! I strategically stayed in the bushes for cover.”

Her friend’s magenta eyes were so filled with judgment that they could open a courthouse and nobody would ask any question.

“But hey, I least I caught Octavia! High five on that, girl!”

Octavia hesitated while looking at the risen palm, wondering what could be the meaning of this move.

“It’s a high five, Tavi.” Bon-Bon smiled. Here, let me show you.”

She then slapped her friend’s opened hand, surprising Octavia, who was most likely expecting something quite different.

“Now, your turn!”

Octavia stayed still for one or two seconds before timidly raising her own hand, gently tapping it against Lyra’s.

“Heeeeyyyyyy, that’s my girl! Oy Vinyl! Are we there yet?”

Instead of a spoken (well, signed, really) answer, she got hit on the head by her seat as the car stopped on an empty parking lot.
The street was completely empty. A stray white cat passed by the now silent car, only to run away in a nearby alley. An owl hooted from atop their heads, in a large tree decorating one of the many front gardens of the area.

Everything was silent.

Except one house.One house wasn’t silent at all.

And it was really pink.

“Okay! This is our stop girls!” Lyra yelled like she was a train conductor, as Vinyl turned off the engine and grabbed the blue-and-white headphones resting on the center console.

“Oh my, it is incredibly dark…” Octavia muttered. “You would think that they would have installed lights in this part of the city…”

“Aaaawwww Tavi are you scared of the dark?” Bon-Bon asked with a kind, yet amused smile.

“I… I am not!”

“Well don’t worry, look over here!”

The cellist took a peek through the window, before stopping on an obnoxiously coloured house, with multicolor lights beaming out of the windows, and loud music coming from the opened garage. It was strange, but beautiful. Like a nightlight in the dark, an iridescent pink gem in the black of the night. A very loud and kind of scary gem.

Lyra jumped out of the car, and proceeded to open the door on Octavia’s side, bowing down as the girl stepped on the pavement.

“Lyra, please…” the girl giggled awkwardly.

“Your turn, princess!” The mint-haired girl said to the pianist, still sitting in the back.

“Lyra, instead of joking around, go help your actual partner!” Bon-Bon mocked, pointing at the DJ trying to sign a peace treaty between what her arms could carry and the amount of music material she had brought.

“Her… partner?” Octavia asked, obviously confused.

Bon-Bon’s and Lyra’s hearts ceased to function for a second.

“Yeah, Octavia, you know, Vinyl and her have been friends for quite some time now, I just used the first word that came to my mind!” the pianist explained, with a few drops of sweat rolling down her neck.

“Oh, yes, of course. You’re right Bon-Bon.”

As Octavia watched her friend run to the back of the car to help carry the heavy duffle bags, the picture of Vinyl and Lyra kissing in the locker room made her way back in her head.
Partners… Were her two best friends romantically involved? Did Bon-Bon know? If yes, why wouldn’t she tell her? Were they afraid of how she might react?

“Maybe they are right. I have no idea how I would react to such a thing. I’m… not even certain I understand this situation… Maybe I’m just overthinking all of this, maybe they just kissed one time, by mistake. Or maybe they did not even kiss, maybe I missaw the whole thing…”

“Hey Octavia! You’re coming or what?”

The cellist jumped when she heard her name spoken from Lyra’s mouth. The three girls were already crossing the road, and Vinyl, with the press of a button, locked the car, triggering the blink of the blue traffic lights and a small trumpet sound.

“Or… what?”

“Nevermind, come here!” Lyra smiled, reaching the arm that wasn’t occupied by a bag, “Time to have fun!”

“Of course, I’m coming!” she answered, looking at both ends of the deserted road before crossing the pavement, regretting the lack of crosswalks.

As they walked towards the house, the sounds of teenagers talking and music playing intensified. They could smell the scents of chocolate and pizza in the air, and hear dozens of students talking, laughing and yelling to hear each others over the music.

Octavia took out her phone, which had just started vibrating:

If they can’t hear each others now, just wait until I take the matter in my own hands :P

Octavia smiled both of amusement and panic at the idea of her friend blasting her ear-shattering sound waves into her ears, when she got distracted my something else.

“Vrrrrmmmmmmm”

Some sort of buzzing sound, of Doppler effect, like a really fast car passing by. But she didn’t see anything. Was it part of the music being played on the speakers?

“Vrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmmmmm”

Again. That was certainly unusual. The intensity had changed. Definitely not from the music. And this time, just for less than a second, she could have sworn she had seen movement. Not movement from the students they could see gathered in the garage or inside the house, but something else. Something faster…

“Vrrrrmmmmm”

Like a streak.

“VRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMM”

A pink streak.

“Oh lord.”

She ran to hide behind Bon-Bon’s back. It was coming closer, whatever it was, whoever it was. And she had a pretty decent idea.

“HI GIRLS!! YOU’RE HERE!! YEEPEE!!!”

The streak had stopped right in front of them, revealing itself as a pink-haired, pink-skinned, pink-wearing girl, with both the messiest hair and the largest smile Octavia had ever seen. That was without a doubt Pinkie Pie, their fellow student who had organized this party. She was the head of the party-planning committee (although Octavia had trouble finding the use of such an association) and was known to be the funniest, and loudest, person around.

“Yes! All the four of you! I’m so excited! Are you excited? You should be, it’s the first party of the year! And you know what people do in parties? That’s right, they learn about each others and become friends! And so tonight, everyone’s gonna leave with dozens and dozens of new friends! Isn’t that fantastic?!”

Wow. That was a lot of sentences for only five seconds of total speaking time. Octavia had barely understood half of it, but the other three seemed to understand the hyperactive girl perfectly.

“Vinyl! I’m soooo glad you came! I’ve prepared a spot just for you, you’ll have plenty of space for your material! I entrust you to raise this roof all the way to space!”

Vinyl smiled at the girl, dropped the bags on the floor and took out her phone to text Pinkie Pie. Even though Octavia didn’t see the message, it was probably to thank her for inviting the four of them.

“Lyra! I’m so excited! Never really got the opportunity to talk to you that much. Oh well, we’ll fix that tonight! Also, I have tons of super duper nice friends to introduce!”

“If they’re cute, be my guest!” Lyra answered before getting ht on the back of the head by Vinyl.

“Bon-Bon!” Pinkie yelled, running from one girl to the other, “How’s your class?! Such a shame you’re not with us! But tonight you’ll get to meet everyone in our class! Isn’t that awesome?!”

“That sounds great Pinkie Pie!”

“Oh call me Pinkie, silly! Here, I heard you had a sweet tooth!”

The girl suddenly plunged her hand deep in her hair, rummaging through the pink strands, as if she was searching a bag or a shelf. She finally took out a small plastic pouch of coloured candy, which Bon-Bon accepted with a giggle and an envious look.

“Oh my.” Octavia thought, as she realized that it was her turn to be introduced. She looked in the direction of their host, but much to her surprise, she was now nowhere to be seen.

“And you have to be Octavia!”

“AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!” The cellist screamed, drawing the attention of everyone around.

Pinkie Pie was now behind her. Somehow, some way, the pink girl had escaped Octavia’s attention, and reappeared behind her back. Here she was, smiling as if nothing had just happened, as if the girl in front of her hadn’t just screamed in sheer terror.

“I’m so excited you came! You and I are gonna be the most bestest of friends! You’ll meet tons of cool people! Here, lemme give you a big warm hug!”

Octavia looked in confusion (and still a tiny bit of fear) at her interlocutor, arms raised and smile going from ear to ear. She didn’t have the faintest idea of what to do. This was a completely different world, with completely different people, from what she had known so far.

“I… I’m not really used to… hugging. But I appreciate the offer Pinkie P… Pinkie.”

“Okay! No biggie Octy! Here! I’ll show you girls around!”

“Octy?!”

Before she could protest, the overexcited girl grabbed her by the wrist, as well as Bon-Bon by the waist, as Lyra dodged the attack to take refuge behind the pianist. Octavia was scared, yes, but she had now understood that this girl had simply a more… experimental way of forming bonds. Even though her manners had progress to make, she could be a door to meeting new people. And her three friends were here with her, so what could possibly go wrong?

After a few moments, they all stopped, only to face some sort of giant, whose shadow was big enough to cover Octavia’s whole body, including the fear in her eyes.

“Heya Big Mac!” Pinkie Pie said cheerfully, waving at the giant, “AJ is in the basement, right?”

“Eyup!” The giant answered, nodding and making his long ginger hair move like crops in the wind. Looking at him more closely, he wasn’t threatening at all. In fact, there wasn’t a single pejorative thing Octavia could state about this boy at first glance. Other than the fact that he could probably crush her with his foot if he didn’t pay attention.

“Pinkie?” Lyra asked, “Who’s ‘AJ’?”

“She’s a super friend from Bon-Bon’s class! You know, the cow-girl styled one!”

“Oh yes!” Bon-Bon answered, under the confused looks of her two friends, “We haven’t had the opportunity to talk that much, but she seems very nice. Quite rough on the edges, but also generous and strong! I think you’d like her, Octavia!”

“You do?”

“Totally!” The party-planner answered, “You have tons of things in common! She lives in a big house far from downtown, she dresses and talks weird, and she’s super cool! Just like you!”

“Uhm… Thanks… Although I’m not sure about the definition of ‘coo-”

“”HEY APPLEJACK, COME OVER HERE!!!!!” Pinkie Pie shouted as loud as she possibly could into the basement staircase, making the foundations of the house tremble.

“My gosh, Pinkie! I don’t think there is need to scream like that… Your friend would most likely not appreciate…”

“What are you saying, Octy? Of course she would! She’s used to it!”

"Of course ah love it! This one right here has been screamin' in mah ears fer years now!"

Octavia gazed in shock. The girl who had just pronounced these words, and who was now shuffling Pinkie Pie’s hair, wiping a few drops of sweat from her forehead.

“Howdy y’all! Name’s Applejack, but ya can call me AJ! Excuse this one right here, she can be a tad… tirin’ sometimes.”

Wow. Octavia hadn’t understand a word of that. Pinkie Pie was not kidding when she stated that her friend had a “weird accent” (although she had difficulties picturing how this was any close to her own way of speech). She was obviously from the countryside. And by obviously, she meant that it was literally parodic to watch: with her high boots, her large hat, her freckles and ponytail, this Applejack was quite the specimen. And also the opposite (along with Vinyl) of what Octavia’s parents considered as the right social class to have a night with.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Applejack. I’m Bon-Bon, this is Octavia, and the skinny one behind me is Lyra.”

“‘The skinny one’?! Hey hey hey, fuck you!”

“I love you too.”

“Haha y’all seem like a fine bunch! Octavia, huh? Ah’ve heard quite a few words about you.”

The cellist’s cheeks instantly became crimson, as her muscles became tense and her palms sweaty.

“Oh, you… you have? Nothing too… inappropriate I hope…”

“Inappropriate? Nah sugarcube, but mah granny who works in CHS, ya know, the cafeteria lady, told me than y’all and that DJ put up quite a fight against that fellow PE teacher! Never really liked that guy, tah be honest…”

“Oh, oh my. Words really travel fast around here, don’t they…”

“Meh, ah wouldn’t worry about that. Why dontcha come with me? Ah got crates of our famous apple cider that are been keepin’ fresh in the basement! Want me tah bring you one?”

“You mean alcoholic beverages? Heavens, I’m afraid I’m far underaged… And aren’t most of the people here as well?”

“No no no, nothin’ like that at all sugarcube! No alcohol in our cider! Not the one ah brought, that is…”

Octavia looked around her, only to find the insisting looks of Lyra and Bon-Bon, as well as the slightly more insisting sign held by Pinkie Pie which said “SAY YES!!!!”.

“Well then, I guess I could accept your offer.”

“Alright! Want sum’ for you bunch as well?”

“With pleasure!”

“Yup.”

“Yoki Doki!”

“Kay! Be right back!”

“Don’t worry AJ, I’ll keep them busy!” Pinkie Pie yelled as her friend climbed down the stairs, “C’mon girls, I have tons of new people for you to meet! This is gonna be so fuuuun!”

“Oh my.” Octavia thought, “This is going to be a long night.”

What’s your name btw?

“Oh!” said the boy, reading the text and passing a hand through his blue hair, “It’s Flash. Flash Sentry. I’m in Pinkie’s class, she almost begged me to come and share my music skills with everyone here!”

You too?

“Haha yeah, along with the rest of my group. I wasn’t sure whether or not I’d go at first, but Pinkie promised me that she wouldn’t invite my ex.”

Vinyl raised one of her blue eyebrows. Both her hands were now rummaging through cables and plugs, so this guy would have to do with only her facial expressions.

“Yeah, Sunset Shimmer, a girl I used to date, don’t really know why. I’m pretty sure she was only interested in my popularity at the time, as given how she turned out, I’d say it was the good call.”

“Sunset Shimmer?! That fucking bitch who made fun of Octavia, insulted Lyra and I? God, I don’t know if I should congratulate that guy for breaking up with her or punch him for dating her in the first place. At least now that we’ve kicked the shit outta her, we’ll-”

“You know her?”

She shook her hands: What?

“You’re making a face like you know her, and not just by reputation.”

Vinyl had an awkward laugh. She freed one of her hands and grabbed her cellphone:

What? Nope, no sir no ma’am! Hey, who’s that over there?

“Oh, her? That’s Rainbow Dash. You’ve probably seen her around, she’s the captain of like, every sport team in CHS: soccer, handball, tennis, you name it.”

“Oh boy, dodged a bullet. You’re the best, girl.”

“I mean, being completely honest, I tried approaching her once. Turns out she prefers girls. Well, sucks to be her.”

“Alright, fuck this dude.”

Before Flash Sentry could protest, she stood up and left towards the kitchen, acting like she had recognized someone she knew. Anything to escape from people like that.
As she was casually walking, looking around and trying to connect names with faces, she heard someone calling her from behind a small door at the back of the garage, which she assumed led to the garden behind the house:

“Psssst, Vinyl.”

“What the shit?”

“Vinyl…”

“Oh jeez, what’s that again?”

She opened the door, only to find… nothing. Only a small shack filled with gardening tools and brooms, with another door on the right side, that most likely led outside. Other than that, nada.

Clac

She turned around slowly. The door had just been closed from someone outside the shack, in the garage. Great, what was happ-

“Hello again, bitch.”

She turned again to face Sunset Shimmer, fist risen and approaching dangerously fast towards her face.

“Oh.”

The impact knocked her against a wooden plank. As she was feeling her body letting go, she heard the other girl snicker. She closed her eyes and everything went black.

Author's Notes:

Yo! I'm... late? I don't think we can call it late now... Did it become my norm? Shit.

I've been through a rough month. Nothing sad, don't worry, just the end of the year, so that means lots of exams, lots of projects and papers to finish, also construction in my appartment..., yadi yada.

But I am now on holidays for three months, so feels good boys!
I really enjoyed writing this chapter, it just took a bit more time to start it. I tried to spend more time with some of my good friends (and, I'll be honest, some dates), so that means less time on writing! I know, I know, I hope most of you didn't loose faith in me!

Once again, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, see you in less than a month (fingers crossed baby)!

Bisous,

Saga.