An Island, Two Mares and a Bottle of Rum

Chapter One

And That's Why You Don't Trust Your Friends

***

"Free booze!"

Octavia facehoofed as she watched her unicorn friend down the fifth (sixth? seventh?) shot at the bar counter, much to the displeasure of the bartender, who shook his head and went back to cleaning the glasses. The cruise had been nice so far, if a few hours could actually define the entire experience. Vinyl had been so eager about the whole affair that the cellist just couldn't refuse. After all, when was the last time she got out with her best friend and roommate?

"Do remind, Vinyl, why have you decided to drink yourself to oblivion this time?" the grey mare wondered, shaking her head, taking a sip of wine, which, to her satisfaction, was rather admirable.

"Huh?" the DJ cocked her eyebrow. "Which of the two words you don't understand, Tavi - free or booze?" she asked, downing another shot.

"All right, I see, I see." Octavia waved her hooves in the air, while the poor bartender sighed and poured another shot of whisky for the white unicorn, who happily nodded.

"Chin-chin!" Vinyl exlaimed and swallowed the liquid in one single gulp. "Aaaah, nothing better than the ol' good Scoltish stuff." She wiped her mouth with a hoof, making Octavia frown and put on a scolding expression. "Here, Tavi, try it!" The DJ extended a hoof with the "ol' good stuff" and waved it before the cellist's muzzle.

"Vinyl, I do not think that drinking whisky would-" she began, but was cut short by the white unicorn, who suddenly shushed her and placed her hoof next to her ear.

"Wait a minute, Tavi. Is it clucking I hear?" she asked, fires of mockery already dancing in her red eyes.

"What do you-"

"Oh, that's right! You are clucking!" Vinyl exclaimed and chuckled. "I sometimes forget you're a chicken, who's afraid to try anything harder than wine or apple cider."

"I am not a-" Octavia started once more, but Vinyl already began to move about in circles, putting on her best chicken expression.

"Cluck cluck cluck cluck~"

Octavia groaned and grabbed the glass in determination. "It. Is. On."

***

Hangovers weren't the most pleasant experience a pony could face, and Octavia knew it well. In fact, life had proved otherwise. To put it simply, they were evil minions of the darkest force there was in Equestria. Probably even worse that all those red-maned black alicorns that, for some reason, could be seen much more frequently these days than they used to be. As Octavia woke up, her head splitting in two parts, which then broke down into a million tiny shards, she immediately swore it was the last time Vinyl had ever dragged her into something like this. And not the 'last last' or 'totally last' time, she mentally added, reminiscing all the times she'd broken the aforementioned oath. Just... the 'ultimately last' time.

The cellist tried to get up, but something prevented her from doing so. In fact, that something was a particular white lump, which only slightly resembled a pony, lying on top of her, snoring so loudly that if there were any windows around, they would probably be broken beyond repair.

Now that she thought about it, Octavia suddenly realised the lack of windows, as well as any other signs of civilisation around her. Her weary eyes drifted about, noticing nothing but sand, and a palm... A palm tree? What's it doing on a ship? An unpleasant shadow of suspicion crawled into her mind, making her throw Vinyl off her unceremoniously.

"Ow, Tavi... What's that for?" the unicorn mumbled, her mouth dry, her head aching. Well, good morning, headache. Long time no see, hangover! she greeted her weekly companions and began drifting into sleep again. She would have totally succeeded, given her fatigue and current condition, but an ear-piercing shriek interrupted her blissful state and led to a rather annoying and quite sudden awakening. When she raised her head, the unicorn could see her friend jumping all about the place, crying out something indistinct, though, it definitely included something along the lines of "bucking island" and "strangle Vinyl".

While the latter concept wasn't entirely unfamiliar to her (Well, we have shared our hoofful of arguments, after all), the former struck her as novel.

"Tavi, what are you-" she began, wincing from the pain.

"We're on a bucking island!" Octavia yelled, pointing her hoof at nowhere in particular. And, in fact, they were in the middle of nowhere indeed. To be exact, they were on a tiny island in the middle of the ocean, its bland sandy structure somewhat topped by a single palm tree.

"Oh." Vinyl rubbed her chin thoughtfully, looking around. "You know, I have this feeling we're not in Coltsas anymore..."

Vengeance came swfitly, and the punishing blow from Octavia's hoof was enough to make the white unicorn sober at once. I need to tell Tavi to hit me like that on Monday mornings... she mused, massaging her jaw, while the grey mare kept looking around and started screaming for help.

Vinyl sat on her haunches and enjoyed the panorama of Octavia's plot as the cellist frantically ran round and about, yelling and waving her hooves in the air, as if somepony could see or hear them on an uninhabited island.

If only I had a drink somewhere... Vinyl sighed and leaned back, preparing a witty remark concerning Octavia's rear, when her hoof suddenly touched something... something very familiar... bottle-shaped... rum!

Grabbing the object in her telekinetic grip, she saw it to be a bottle of rum - a finest, beautiful, alluring and most gripping bottle of rum she'd ever seen.

"Rum!" the DJ exclaimed happily, opening the bottle.

Upon hearing this, Octavia stopped her attempts at seeking help and turned round, only to see Vinyl happily holding a bottle of rum, a smile on her face.

Alcohol. Even. Here. Even. Now. She has the time to drink!! The grey mare's eye twitched and she moved towards Vinyl ever so slowly, her eyes sharper than ninja ponies' blades, her hooves of steel and her heart aflame.

"Give. It. To. Me," the cellist hissed and extended her hoof.

Vinyl giggled like a foal and handed the bottle to Octavia. "Sure, Tavi, didn't know you liked- Tavi, what are you doing?!"

Octavia raised the bottle above her head, determined to put an end to it as she prepared to break glass into millions of pieces.

"No, Tavi!" Vinyl's magic enveloped the grey hoof with the bottle, holding it in place. "Please, don't do it! Not the rum! Take my life, but save the rum!" she pleaded, looking into the unicorn's eyes.

Octavia sighed and put the bottle down. What shall we do?..

"You're run down, Tavi," Vinyl said sympathetically. "There's not much we can do now."

The two mares sat in silence as Vinyl took a few gulps, feeling significantly better.

"Want some?" she carefully addressed Octavia, not to trigger another outburst.

"Why would I-" Why not? One gulp can't hurt, Octavia, she told herself and shrugged. "Well, maybe a little sip..."