After The Party

by Charles Spratt

The Talk

“See you tomorrow, Pinkie Pie!”

“See you then, guys!” Pinkie smiled and waved goodbye to her friends, who were the last guests to leave the party she had thrown. Why had she thrown a party? Because, why not? Some days you just need to do something all of a sudden, and you just do it. This was one of those days. Either way, that wasn’t really important to Pinkie, who closed the door and looked around the room. It definitely wasn’t a small party, judging by how many times she’d blasted the party cannon, leaving an enormous mess of streamers and confetti all over the floor. She looked down at it for a moment and then looked around the now nearly empty room. The only pony who remained in the room was Vinyl Scratch, the DJ for the party, and even she was only there because she had to pack her subwoofers, turntable, and of course, her bass cannon. Pinkie stared at Vinyl for a minute. During that time, Vinyl felt eyes on the back of her neck and brought her attention to Pinkie. They locked eyes with each other awkwardly for a brief moment before Pinkie shook her head and went to the broom closet.

“What was that all about?” thought Vinyl to herself as she wheeled out one of her subwoofers. She pondered that for a moment before she smiled as she remembered the town motto about Pinkie: ‘It’s Pinkie Pie, don’t question it.’ Whatever that staring was about probably didn’t matter, it was probably nothing. However, when she went back to get the second subwoofer, it didn’t quite seem like nothing. Pinkie was busy sweeping up the confetti, which was odd, considering that Pinkie’s Party Cannon had a reverse function and could easily have sucked up all the mess with a flick and a push. Weirder than that, however, was Pinkie’s expression. Pinkie’s expression, while not flat out sad, was certainly not a happy one. It seemed... empty. Pinkie was usually bouncing around with a smile on her face, but this time, she seemed like she was unsure of something. And if she looked like that after a party, then something was definitely up. Vinyl watched Pinkie sweep for a moment, then decided that she needed to know what was going on.

“Hey Pinkie Pie, a…” began Vinyl.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” yelled Pinkie Pie, who suddenly rocketed twenty feet in the air upon hearing the voice, startling Vinyl enough to nearly launch her sunglasses off. When Pinkie landed, she turned to Vinyl and asked, “Did you hear that???”

“Hear what?” asked Vinyl. The second Pinkie heard those words, she gasped in utter shock and asked, “You can talk?”

“Yeah, I can.” Vinyl answered slowly, trying to make sense of what Pinkie was saying. “Why wouldn’t I be able to?”

“Oh, okay. It’s just that, well, I always thought you were a mute, since I’ve never heard you say anything before. Ever.” Said Pinkie Pie.

‘Am I really that quiet?’ Vinyl thought to herself.

“Anywho, I guess that explains the voice!” said Pinkie in a semi-cheerful tone, “Now, what were you saying, Vinyl?”

Vinyl rubbed her head softly for a moment, then asked, “Are you okay, Pinkie Pie?”

“What do you mean? I’m perfectly fine, as always! I mean, I threw a party didn’t I? If I were sick, why would I throw a party?” Said Pinkie, who seemed to be getting a bit defensive for some reason.

Vinyl shook her head and said, “No Pinkie, I’m not asking if you’re sick. I’m asking if there’s something on your mind.”

Pinkie’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. After they went back to normal size, she asked, “How did you know that?”

“It’s not exactly a secret, Pinkie. If there wasn’t something on your mind, then you’d probably be smiling while you cleaned, especially after a party like that one.” Vinyl replied.

Pinkie sighed and said, “Ok, yes, there is something on my mind. Before I begin though, I’d like to ask if there’s a couch around here that I could lie down on.”

“You tell me. You’re the one who set the place up.”

“Fair enough.” Said Pinkie, who went to the stage Vinyl was standing on and sat down on the edge. Vinyl sat down next to her, and they began their conversation.

“Well, I’ve just been wondering about my existence.” Began Pinkie, “I mean, would the other ponies actually miss me if I… went missing, let’s say?”

“Of course they would, Pinkie. Without you, I don’t think Ponyville would be a particularly happy place!” replied Vinyl.

Pinkie let out a deep sigh and said, “I was kinda worried you’d say that, Vinyl.” Vinyl tilted her head in confusion, unable to comprehend why Pinkie didn’t like her answer. Pinkie noticed the confusion on the DJ’s face, even with the sunglasses masking her eyes, and explained.

“It’s just that, yeah, my parties are fun and all, and everypony would probably be less happy without me, but I don’t know if that’s all they’d miss. I mean, when you think about it, after the party ends, everypony just goes back to square one eventually, feeling however they did before the party started. If all I can do is create smiles by party/zaniness, then that seems like kind of an unfulfilling life, since it can’t last. I just don’t know if there’s anything others see in me outside of my party attitude. Would they miss me for me, or would they just miss me because they lost their ‘pick-me-up’?”

Vinyl thought about her response carefully. She may not be good at psychiatry (like, at all), but she knew she had to be careful how she answered this question, otherwise the pony next to her might end up leaving town forever.

“Well, I don’t know how everypony would act, but I can safely say that I would miss you for more than just your parties and innate ability to make others smile, as would your friends. I’ve liked you since I first met you, but it wasn’t because of your parties or your insistence on making others smile. That was just the icing on the cake” Vinyl said after a while.

“Really? What was the cake then?” asked Pinkie.

“Well, how can I say this? You are basically creativity made flesh in my eyes. Whenever I see you, I see a pony who not only thinks outside the box, but breaks down all four walls of said box. I mean, you have a Party Cannon, for Celestia’s sake! A piece of heavy artillery designed to blast out streamers, balloons, and various other party items! There’s no way you just bought something like that at a store… is there?”

Pinkie looked over and said, “Okay, I’ll give you that. I did make the Party Cannon myself.”

Vinyl nodded and said, “See what I’m getting at here? Your desire to make others smile was strong enough to create something so out of nowhere, so random, all because it would make that task easier.”

“What exactly are you getting at, Vinyl? Yes, I made a Cannon strictly for celebrations. Yes, I think differently in how I do what I do. What does that prove? It’s still for making others smile, you know? If I were to disappear, wouldn’t that creativity just fall into the ‘pick-me-up’ category?” asked Pinkie.

Vinyl put a hoof to her chin. Who would’ve thought making Ms. ‘Smile, Smile, Smile’ smile would be this difficult? She thought for a moment, then said, “Well, that depends. Has your creativity inspired anypony? If it did, then it wouldn’t just be a pick me up.”

“Alrighty then, Vinyl Scratch, you clearly you have an example, so let’s hear it. Can you name anypony who’s been inspired by me?” asked Pinkie in a somewhat skeptical voice.

“Cheese Sandwich”

“Oh…” said Pinkie as she remembered. Vinyl had a point. Cheese had sung a song about how he never would’ve become a party pony if it weren’t for Pinkie Pie, and the point really hit home.

“Even so, that’s just one pony who doesn’t even live around here” Said Pinkie after a bit of contemplation, “Do you know any others, preferably ones who live here in Ponyville?”

Vinyl let off a grin, and said, “Yeah, me.”

“You? But, you were a DJ even before I got to Ponyville! How did I inspire you?”

“While it’s true that I was a DJ before I met you, that wasn’t what I was referring to. Can you guess what I am referring to?”

Pinkie stared at Vinyl for a moment. She then took off Vinyl’s shades, looked through them, looked at the now shades free DJ, and then gave the sunglasses back to her. After that detour, Pinkie said, “I don’t know. What are you referring to?”

“I’m referring to my actual career as a musician.” Vinyl answered.

“Huh?” Pinkie asked, her head tilting to the side. Vinyl nodded.

“I may have been a DJ before you got here, but I didn’t actually start writing music until that time at the Canterlot wedding. You remember that day, right? I was just watching along with the rest of the crowd, when you just pulled me out of the crowd all of a sudden, gave me one record and a bunch of various switches and buttons for alterations, and just said to wing it, which I did, despite my heart nearly pounding out of my chest. After the wedding was done though, I felt something inside me change. I suddenly felt that I had to try writing some more songs in this freestyle way. When I got back home, I immediately started ‘winging’ some songs. As you already know, they went viral, and made me into the musical star that I am today. I never would’ve been able to do that if it weren’t for your out of nowhere choice for that wedding’s music” Said Vinyl, taking off her sunglasses as she said that. Pinkie stared at Vinyl, taking in everything the DJ had just told her.

“So to answer your first question Pinkie, yes, all of Ponyville would miss you if you were to disappear. However, why they’d miss you would depend on the pony. While there will no doubt be those who just miss the smiles you bring, others would miss you because you are the creative spark that brings out the best in others. I know that’s the case with me, and I’m positive the same is true for your friends, although examples for that would have to come from them personally.” Said Vinyl.

Pinkie continued to stare at Vinyl for a moment, then looked down at her cutie mark for another moment. After a bit of this, she looked up at Vinyl and asked, “Do you truly mean that, Vinyl Scratch?”

“I meant every single word I said, Pinkie Pie. I can Pinkie Promise you on that!” Replied Vinyl with a small grin as she used her right hoof to follow the motions.

Pinkie stared at her for another moment, before saying, “Vinyl?”

“Yeah?” the white unicorn asked.

“Thanks for the talk.” Pinkie said in a gracious yet still relatively calm voice. “I really haven’t felt sure about anything lately, which is probably why I decided to throw this party. Thanks for helping straighten everything in my mind out.”

Vinyl chuckled softly. “Don’t mention it, Pinkie. I just did what I felt I had to, nothing more.” she said as she put her sunshades back on.

Pinkie smiled and hopped off of the stage. She walked to her party cannon, flipped the switch, and sucked all the mess back into her Party Cannon. She then started rolling the cannon back to Sugarcube Corner. Before she left though, she looked over her shoulder and said, “See you later, Vinyl!”

“Later, Pinkie!” Vinyl replied as she watched Pinkie leave. After Pinkie had left, Vinyl went back to loading up her stuff. As she worked, only one thought ran through her head. Eventually, once she finished, she finally spoke once more.

"Wow, who would've thought?" Vinyl said to herself.

Comments

[Arkan0id]

Great story! Liked, favorited, and I'll feature it on the blog I work for!

[Charles Spratt]

4594408 Wow, Thanks!

[Tsuguri]

Not bad. A nice simple what if with not a lot of psycho babble. You could have made it a heavy piece with Pinkies doubt, I've even read one were Dash didn't answer the question nearly as well and in a sad fix it had predictable sad results. This didn't go anywhere near heavy and kept it nice and fluffy. A nice read.

Now, I do feel compelled to point out that a "one shot" generally referrers to a story with just one chapter with no intentions of continuing the current setup. The whole doing something in one sitting is more of a challenge, either supplied or personal, to test writing skills.

[Charles Spratt]

4594712 Glad you liked it! Also, thanks for clarifying what one shot meant!

[Bugmac101]

wow. the plot was well thought out. Me:

[RockMonster6]

the first thing that came into my head (not a dirty joke )was this face

[MelancholyIguana]

Hey Charles. I thought I would start off with the bad things first. To begin with, there are a couple of times where words are used repeatedly in close proximity. This can be easily rectified through the use of a thesaurus. An example would be :

Pinkie stared at Vinyl for a minute. During that minute, Vinyl noticed she was being stared at and brought her attention back at Pinkie. They stared at each other awkwardly for a moment

This could be changed to:

Pinkie stared at Vinyl for a minute. During that time, Vinyl felt eyes on the back of her neck and brought her attention to Pinkie. They locked eyes with each other awkwardly for a brief moment...

I also thought that the joke about vinyl never talking before causing Pinkie to jump it of her skin was a little rushed in its delivery and was glanced over too quickly.

As a final point before I move onto the good things, I thought maybe a slight physical change in Pinkie's appearance could have been a nice touch. Maybe her bright pink colour dulls a little or her hair, while still curly, could have become a little more limp.

Overall, I kinda get the feeling you were still trying to find your feet with this.

Now... ONTO THE GOOD STUFF... HUZZAH

[MelancholyIguana]

What I liked.

First off, the grammar is fine. I can't fault you there. The Ms. Smile Smile Smile sentence through me a little, but I think that is more my ignorance if anything.

The characters' interactions with each other is good. You get a real warmth from this. Vinyl is true to her character whilst Pinkie is in a more docile state. Being one who's personality has developed into much the same as Pinkie's, I found this story rather gripping. I'm not gonna lie, I think Pinkie may share my context-sensitive manic depression and I have had this exact conversation in my mind before. The questions Pinkie asked were all relevant and the answers received were like that of a friend (which I think Pinkie has been to us all really)... Jeez I've been rambling

OK next thing. You clearly know your stuff. I get the feeling that you researched into this prior to writing which is a good sign.

Finally, I think that this is a pretty good example that not every story needs action, death, comedy or rediculous plots. It shows the power of character development as well as character interactions between those we don't get to normally see together. And is why I watch this show.

Its simply written, short and sweet and most importantly- conveys an idea. I never wrote a story without having an idea. Unfortunately this idea normally comes at the end and I have to lay bread crumbs back to the beginning, but the idea is discovered, presented, explored and resolved. Start, middle and end.

[MelancholyIguana]

Overall, I thought this was good. A very good story. I will check out some of you later works.

Whilst there are a few things to improve on, as there always are, I am happy that this story was not an endless one like so many others.

Hope my endless rambling helped

[MelancholyIguana]

Oh god its 1'oclock. I'm gonna be tired tomorrow lol

[Charles Spratt]

5746387 Hmm... interesting. I hadn't considered that certain phrases got repetitive. And yes, that phrase does go better than what I had. Also, for the slight change idea, I did consider that at first, but cut it because I didn't want to give the impression that she was depressed, since she, y'know, wasn't. As for the joke... well, can't say much, really. I thought it was a funny idea, so I added it in. I guess I could've slowed it down a bit, though.
5746467

Finally, I think that this is a pretty good example that not every story needs action, death, comedy or rediculous plots.

I agree. That's literally all I have to say.
5746482 I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the review!

[MelancholyIguana]

5746753 you are very much welcome

And in regards to how you don't want her to look depressed, I think that ultimately this story is your creation and if you want to keep it as it is then by all means, keep it as it is

[HapHazred]

I've reviewed your story for the goodfic bin (at last) and I had a really hard time deciding what to do with it, since it's a very nice piece, with very little to dislike, but doesn't do all that much to make it very memorable either. In the end, I've decided to reject it for now, but frankly, with just a handful of tweaks, I think this'd be a very nice addition to the bin.

If you do have it looked at, be sure to give me a call.

Details are here.

[Pankrazius]

this was a good one. Very interesting touch. And a nice depiction of Vinyl. Liked and faved.

[Charles Spratt]

6475252 Thanks! Glad you enjoyed!

[Ultimus Pendragon]

This story is brought to you on behalf of the group: Angry Review Recovery Group.

Name of story: The Talk by Charles Spratt.

Grammar score of out 10: 7.5

Pros: While I rarely read stories where Vinyl is concerned I tend to look away from, not since I hate her, I just find the fact she's the only character in MLP that has to yet to talk which is weird to me. But this one was done rather the way I would imagine a scenario with her Pinkie happening would go about, which is nice. Pinkie's issue, while valid is kinda of unneeded. I'm sure this was fleshed out in Party Of One, where Pinkie should have learned not expect the worst: from herself, and especially her friends. Everypony Pinkie has met loves her, but do have their limits when it comes to what she does. I find it nice that Vinyl is helping out other than one of her main friends: a change of pace. The way it was gone about could be different to a small extent. The chat about inspiration with Cheese Sandwich also had me thinking.

Cons: just a few, but not a whole biggie: just small things to improve your writing. This is probably just a small lookover, but periods at the end of your sentence, like I said maybe just a small mistake. Second, you should avoid, and I admittedly do this too, but avoid: the lavender unicorn syndrome after your have already introduced the character's name to the story. Before then, to me would be okay.

Notes: Nothing at the moment, just take the time to think about the scenario in front of you and after and you will be on your way, slowly but surely you can be on your way.

[SpiritOfDancingFlames]

Yeah! Vinyl Scratch in the house! ^-^ wOOt!
I liked this. For one, Vinyl wasn't doing drugs. (That seems to be a popular theme) And she was in-character, too ^-^
Also, I ask myself Pinkie's question sometimes, I can relate.
Brilliant story, love it! ^-^ I rate this: Ten and a quarter muffins out of ten!
~SoDF

P.S. I totally read all of Vinyl's stuff in Nowacking's voice.

[Wizard83]

This is the one of the best stories I have read on here. Good job!

[MixMassBasher]

Lovely character interaction