DJ PON-3's Event Final Round! (Flux/Clandestine)

[RainbowFoxxy]

 

Vinyl had finished a few rounds of speed dating. They had been pleasant enough, if only being chances to kick back and get to know some new faces. Well, one of the faces she had already known, but a chance to spend a little time chatting up Inkbrand was never unwelcome. That stallion always managed to give Vinyl the good feelings, even if she tried her hardest to contain herself. She allowed herself a sly smile, thinking that perhaps he might visit her in the DJ booth tomorrow night at the rave. She smiled again, happy with the success of this event. She had made some bits and if the course of the many conversations were evidence enough some great relationships may have started as well. Tomorrow night would be a treat, seeing who ended up with who out on the dance floor.

 

The white unicorn leaned forward over her disks, giving the speed daters a treat of scratch infused beats through the interior of the coffee house that had been disguised as a much more hip place than it sometimes was. Vinyl knew Joe liked to keep his shop a little on the old school side which was cool, but this event had required a little extra in the vibe department. Overall it had come off as a success as far as she was concerned!

 

She ended her riff on an upbeat, swinging the mic around to her muzzle.

 

"Alright everypony! I hope you're havin' a sweet time with your dating round! Guess what? it's time for the last match up! Slide to your left and meet the pony, or griffon, or diamond dog of your dreams!" She lowered her shades and winked at a couple that looked disappointed to be ending their discussion. "And don't forget, any connections you make tonight you can use at the rave tomorrow!"

 

The DJ kicked up the tunes as the daters switched places and then lowered the volume so the last round could begin!

[PyroBlaze]

Flux hummed happily to herself as she moved into her new position. So far, this event had been going great for her. Not only had she made at least three friends so far, two of them might become much more than that, depending on how things went at the rave and such. She was certainly up for either of those two previous partners to actually become her date, they were both fun to be with, and they were both interested in her! She could only hope this next one would be just as great as the others.

 

From the looks of things, this one would be interesting too. The unicorn that she assumed to be her new partner appeared to be the military type... Well, she wasn't sure how well their personalities would mesh, but she hoped they could become friends, at least. Flux gave a friendly smile and wave to the mare, waiting for her to come over to the table.

[Zealot]

As usual with most social gatherings, Clandestine had turned up a little late. Still, it hadn't seemed to bother any pony and they'd happily let her slide in along with a few other late arrivals. It was a bit of an awkward mishmash of position shuffling and reorganisation, but they'd managed to make it work somehow. Not that it really mattered to Clandestine all that much, she was quite content as long as she got to participate. After all, that was why she was here and if they'd not let her in then it would have been a waste of time. Gotten dressed up for nothing.

 

Indeed, that was why she'd been late. The soldier had underestimated just how long it would take her to get ready. Which was probably fine, she'd never really had to get ready for speed dating before. She'd never done it. Such a thought would have been absurd until a few months ago. Her support group as well as a few of her friends had urged her to try new things. To have fun and try to meet other ponies. So far it had been quite unsuccessful, and the mare's resolve was starting to flag. Clandestine hadn't let that stop her from making an effort though. When the flier came around she had decided to go, no matter the consequence. Even if it was after her usual jousting practice...

 

The mare's inexperience could quite possibly be misconstrued as a lack of effort, when in actual fact Clandestine had tried very hard to make herself look pretty for the occasion. Or at the very least, passable as a pony who hadn't spent all morning jousting. There was a large bruise on her right shoulder where repeated lance blows had bruised her skin, her coat was dull and despite her best efforts her mane was still a bit of a mess. Granted, it might look like she was going for a windswept look, but to anyone with a decent fashion sense it looked a mess. Still, she had tried. She really had, and although Clandestine knew she hadn't been successful. Well, admitting it was another thing entirely. The mare was wearing an old black party dress that she'd got as a present some years ago. While it still looked new, that was only because she'd barely worn it. A knife was concealed as usual, strapped to her front right leg.

 

Her first date hadn't gone all that well she felt. After all, she's nearly broke Inkbrand's leg. Or worse. Nearly breaking somepony's leg was an improvement though, right? She hadn't actually done anything and she had managed to stop herself before she did something she knew she'd regret. Granted the stallion probably didn't want to talk to her ever again and the look of surprise he had given her had stung her. At least he'd offered her a drink at the rave. She would need one by the time this was over. 

 

Her second had been less of a disaster. She felt she had presented herself well, even if the griffon had appeared half scared of her. Granted he probably wasn't her type, but at least she had half a shot at being a friend. That was enough she supposed, and maybe she could have a drink with him at the rave. Still, by the rate her dates were going she thought she might end up going home by herself and getting drunk there to forget it all. Clandestine had plenty of whisky at her place, and that plan didn't sound half bad.

 

Still, maybe her next date would be an improvement again. Clandestine smiled as she walked over, and returned the mare's wave with a curt nod. That was immediately quite interesting, she was being set up with a mare. Granted, she didn't mind that. The soldier went both ways, though she had definitely put on her ticket that she preferred stallions. Right? It didn't matter, she guessed that a friend would be better than nothing.

 

Clandestine stumbled into her chair and gave the mare a big fake creepy smile, just like she'd practised. "Hi," she greeted her date. "Lieutenant... I mean. Hi, I'm Clandestine." The soldier bit her tongue to resist spurting out her serial number yet again. Still, that was good right, she'd successfully recovered and introduced herself? Well, at least she was getting good at that. Her face grew serious for a moment and lost it's smile as she adopted a more down to earth tone, "Look. I don't do touching ok. Just so we're clear, no hugging or whatever. Alright?" she asked before smiling yet again. "I can't do touching yet I'm afraid. So, what's your name, what do you do?" she asked. Yes, that was good, just like she'd practised with her support group. The soldier awaited the mare's reaction.

[PyroBlaze]

Flux tilted her head to the side at the mare's introduction. She giggled after a moment as the word processed. Yep, definitely a military pony.

"Hiya! I'm Flux!" She chirped happily, about to say more when Clandestine continued, saying not to touch her. Flux frowned at that, tilting her head to the side. No touching? Why not? "Umm... Alright..." She answered, still confused as to why.

"Oh! I do all sorts of stuff! Make friends, travel around, do odd jobs, it's all fun!" She said happily, her expression changing from a frown to a smile on a matter of a second. "What kinda stuff do you do?"

[Zealot]

Well, that had gone well. The mare introduced herself as Flux and seemed quite happy in Clandestine's presence. That was good right? At least she hadn't run away screaming like that one time she tried to talk to a mare at the coffee house. That little episode had really dented her pride. Still, the soldier gave a little nod at that and leaned back a little in her chair to study the mare. She was purple, with a spiky or curly mane and had a lean physique. Of course, she couldn't tell much else. There was a table in the way. Still, Clandestine supposed that was a good look. In fact, maybe she could try and imitate that at some point. She took a brief look upwards at her own mess of a mane. Perhaps not. At least the mare seemed to know how to style a mane. There was a slight smile from Clandestine as she thought maybe if she befriended Flux, she could show her how. Though she still had to see if she would like her though.

 

Clandestine snapped back to the conversation as Flux seemed confused about her statement about touching. Uh oh, had she said something wrong? The griffon had seemed fine with it, why was Flux confused? Still, she seemed to accept that after a moment and Clandestine breathed an inward sigh of relief. She sort of felt like she owed the mare an explanation, though that would take time they didn't have. Besides, she wasn't sure quite how to explain it anyway. Nor did she really care to.

 

So, it seemed that she had been set up with another wanderer. Clandestine smiled at that, clearly that sort of lifestyle was in or something. "I can imagine," she replied. Clandestine heard her ask a question and shrugged. She figured that was self explanatory, being a soldier was all she knew. Then again, she didn't say she was still at it. "I've been to quite a few places myself," she began. "Usually the bloody way though. I was a soldier till about a year ago when I quit. I'm freelance now. I work as a bodyguard, caravan guard, private contractor." Clandestine shudders a little as she admits, "I'm a mercenary. For all extents and purposes."

 

And that was it. Yet again she had run out of things to ask it seemed. If she was honest, she'd not expected to get this far at all. Still, something was bugging her. Flux seemed like a nice pony, and in Clandestine's experience that meant there was something wrong with them. Why else would they be speed-dating, trying to find somepony? Didn't she have it easy making friends? If she did, why come to something like this? "You know, you seem nice and friendly. Somehow I don't think you have much of a problem making friends, or whatever. So why come to this? I mean, I'm just trying to find my hooves," she said this a little nervously and shuffled uncomfortably. "Surely somepony like you is already taken right?" It likely sounded like the soldier was trying to flirt, or that she was being quite direct. Clandestine wasn't, she didn't even know if that was appropriate to ask or not. She was simply curious, and that showed on her face.

[PyroBlaze]

Flux listened as Clandestine spoke more, smiling widely at the mare as she listened. A mercenary? That sounded interesting, though she would probably be more interested if it didn't involve fighting. Not that she had anything against those that fought, as it was necessary sometimes, but she preferred making friends over fighting people, so she tended to not get into fights if she could help it.

 

The mare tilted her head as Clandestine began asking questions about why the disguised changeling was even here. She giggled a bit at that, taking a pause to think up her answer before she gave it.

 

"Well, I like making friends, and this seemed like a good way to make some pretty quickly. Plus, it seemed fun! And no, I am not taken, unfortunately. That's another reason I came here, to possibly find a special someone!" She said happily. "And don't worry so much, I'm sure you'll get into the swing of things!" She added, smiling widely. She spotted the DJ heading back to the booth, which she took to mean they were out of time, which made her frown momentarily.

 

"Looks like we ran out of time... Aww..." She said before brightening up again. "It was great meeting you, Clandy! I hope to see you at the rave later!"

[Zealot]

Clandestine glanced up as she heard Flux giggle. She frowned, slightly confused. What was so funny? It was an honest question right? Or had she just said something wrong. No, she didn't think so. Then again, she could have been saying the wrong thing all night and she wouldn't have known. Still, they seemed to be getting along well and the soldier sighed slightly as Flux answered. Nope, she hadn't said something wrong. At least one of her dates was going to go ok, even if it was just going to be friends and nothing more. 

 

Still Clandestine was surprised to hear that, while she was good at making friends, she liked doing it. So that was why she was here, just to make friends. The soldier smiled at that, though was also surprised to hear that the mare was still single. She found that a little hard to believe, though her mind twigged slightly. Maybe there was something wrong with her, just as she thought. Granted, they had only been getting to know each other for a minute or two, so Clandestine felt certain there was another side to her. Why else would a pretty mare like her be single. Then again, maybe she was just new in town. Nevertheless, Flux liked making friends and Clandestine knew she was in dire need of them. The soldier smiled again and nodded her head at the thought of finding a special somepony. She had figured that was why she was here too, though she would be quite happy with just a friend. 

 

The soldier shrugged at the encouragement. She would like to think she was getting it, but it was all so alien to her. She belonged on a battlefield, not a bar talking to a strange mare. "I try," was all she had to say to that. "But yeah, I guess I'm here to find a special somepony too. If such a thing exists for me. Or heck, I'd even go for a little fun. A friend would be good too... or just practice I guess." She shrugged again, still wondering if all that was true. "I have to get past touching first I think."

 

She glanced at the DJ booth after Flux said their time was up and nodded, a little sullenly. "Yeah sure. It was nice to meet you too Flux. I'll be there, at the end of the bar getting very drunk. I think I need to forget this past hour. I'd be happy to remember I made a friend though, so yeah. Thanks. I'll see you there." With that, the soldier rose and stretched her legs, ready to depart. Though in truth, she had quite liked Flux. Perhaps she would see her again at the rave.