I am on stage.
I am in a studio.
I am riding a train across Equestria.
I am anywhere but here.
Magenta breaths...
Golden shivers...
I am awash in Scribbler's orange purrs.
I lean against the wall of my bedroom, bathed in the purple breaths seeping from the other side...
The violet froth of all of her unfulfilled dreams...
The fitful streams of indigo flickering in between.
It tastes of her tears... her sniffling nostrils... the pitch in her voice at the first taste of wine as we sit on the patio watching the sun set.
And all of that shatters as she whimpers again...
Shivering.
Locked up in an indigo voice, secured by this psychopath's claws.
This freak...
This happenstance monster who's sliced his way into our lives like a patchwork splinter.
"Can't you take a hint, snow horse?!" Talonsmith sneers at me in the black, black hallway. His claws remain pressed to Octavia's vulnerable chest. "I said beat it! Take your shades and scram! And if you breathe of word of this to the Princess—"
"Don't you d-dare threaten m-my friend," Octavia suddenly hisses in a splash of purple. Her teary eyes flare as she shudders with a newfound fury. "Haven't you d-done enough already?!"
I grimace.
I shiver.
Tavi, no...
"Shut up..." He snarls. "Some help you've been! I have a good mind to break the door open with your sorry skull, ya damned glue stick—"
"You'll g-get nothing from this." Purple and indigo. Swaying. Dipping. So very close to sobbing. "You have to understand that." Her eyes dart my way. "Vine... love... please... you m-must leave..."
No...
Patchwork growling. "Shut your trap unless I'm telling you to speak..."
Please, Goddess, no...
He's out of his mind. He's got her strung up like a rabbit about to be skinned.
Celestia, please...
"It'll be okay, Vinyl..." Octavia smiles through her tears. It's a fragile thing. Like breathing for the first time through a layer of ice. "You m-must go now." The indigo returns. She's shivering. I feel my knees go weak. Heart pounding like thunder. "Get help. Get help from somepony who—"
"Did you hear a word I said?!" His beak clatters. He's a twitching, spastic organism. Something half-pretending to be civilized, crumbling before us, bringing the full weight of his inside-out world over my best friend. My best friend. "Rrrrgh... damned horses. I don't have time for this." Claws glint in the light.
A bridge beneath snow. The glint of strings.
A teary smile from the riverside.
"Go." Love.
She doesn't say the last word. She can't. Not with four sharp talons knifing through her chest, digging, spilling blood. Her eyes bulge, the purplest they've ever been. And then she's tossed limply to the floor in a puddle of her own juices.
I no longer see her. All I see is Talonsmith's blinking face, for I'm charging into him horn-first.
He's faster than lightning. I'm not. His second punch lands in my gut before my nerves can register the first. My spine ricohets with crimson flashes of pain. I awake from the eternal moment, gasping, and that's when a fifth punch slams across my skull. I fly back, skidding across a warm, wet floor.
Another red splash, and I'm collapsed against the opposite wall of the corridor, curled up in a fetal position. Claws scrape towards me, accompanied by sandpaper hisses.
"...Tartarus... snkkkt... forsaken p-pack mules..." He clutches his neck. A puncture wound lingers there, bleeding—right at horn level. I suddenly realize how wet my forehead feels. "Should never... snkkkt... have signed that treaty with you. The steward's blind." Schiiing! He raises his talons above me. "But not as blind as I'm going to make you—"
Something heavy soars in like a missile, slamming right into him. There's a patchwork squawk. Talonsmith's voice is suddenly a barrel of seagulls shrieking in agony, followed by several punishing thuds that squeeze the oxygen out of his raspy lungs. I look over to see flickers and flashes of gold, followed by a blue mane, tossing. White teeth, snarling.
"Rrrrrghh!" A golden voice, burning like a swift sunrise, and Flash Sentry heaves Talonsmith over his shoulder for one last bodyslam into the black surface of the harmonic domain. Crimson ripples beautifully in all directions. Talonsmith tries getting up, sputtering, cursing. A savage metal horseshoe to the beak splits his resolve down the center, and the mad griffon falls into a dull slump, wheezing.
Flash Sentry stands up, catching his breath. He looks at Talonsmith, at me, then at the quivering spectacle to the left of us... bathed in squeaks of indigo.
Oh Goddess.
Oh Goddess, I can't look.
Celestia help me...
I turn and look anyway. My blood turns to ice. I wish I could say the same about hers.
Octavia quivers, a wet meaty center to a black velvet flower. Her hoof claws at the air. The shivering movement pulls the bile up out of my gut. Her eyes stream with tears. A foaming trickle of white vomit laces her muzzle. Her chest...
Goddess no...
I crawl towards her. Deflated. Numb. My ears tickle with the red clicks of a pair of hoof-cuffs being manacled around Talonsmith's limbs. Then—in a literal flash—the guard squats at Octavia's side. I watch as he takes the deep breath of his life, and then he speaks in breathy golds and yellows.
"Hello, Miss Melody. Pretty exciting stuff, huh?"
"Mmmmfffghh..." She gurgles, eyes darting about. "Mmmmnshglkkt—gonnadieee...?"
I cover my muzzle with my forelimbs.
"Heh. Not on my watch. Besides... brave mares earn themselves several lives." The deepest of gulps. "Sorta like cats. You have any cats, Miss Melody?"
"Mrmmmff... grkglllfg... Sssscribbler..."
"Heh. Silly name for a cat. You should get a second one. Name it. Name it. Uh. Spike." Only now do I notice how swiftly Flash Sentry's hooves are traveling up and down Octavia's figure, checking the puncture wounds under her blouse, the blood collecting along the folds of her dress. "On second thought, cats stink. Get a dog. They'll look after you more."
"Mmmmmm-goddessss..." Sweet, saccharine waves of indigo. Oh Celestia. "Oh goddess... g-gonna die..."
"Hey..."
"Don't want... d-don't want—"
"Hey. Miss Melody. Octavia, look at me." Flash clasps his hooves over hers, glaring. Eyes strong. Like iron. "You're going to be alright. I just need you to stay calm. Even breaths. Keep your eyes open—Octavia. Eyes open, you got it?"
Octavia merely pants... pants... squeaks...
Flash gulps hard. His skin is a cascade of glinting sweat from a mile away. He fumbles. He reaches into his armor and pulls out crystalline shard. He breathes into it... gives the thing a shake... and breathes once again. A warm rosy glow emanates from the object. It casts shadows across the room, including mine. Flash notices it, and he whips his eyes in my direction, panting.
Another gulp, and he murmurs through a panting smile. "Vinyl Scratch. Hey. Come here." Swallowing once more, he waves frantically, voice hissing: "Come come come come..."
I rush. I scamper over towards him. My bruises are a world away.
"Guess what, Octavia?" Flash smiles down at the wounded soul. "Your best friend Vinyl's here! Everything's gonna be okay—" He turns towards me, eyes narrow. "Vinyl." A dull whisper. "Did you take Magic 101 in Grade School?"
I stand there, shivering. Octavia's voice changes in pitch. The indigo dips, mixing with turquoise. I shudder, eyes welling with tears. Oh goddess please—
"Vinyl. Vinyl." He shakes my shoulder. "Look at me."
I do so, trembling.
"Magic 101? Yes? No?"
I nod.
"Magic 102?"
I nod again.
"How about Advanced Magic 201?"
I gulp... then shake my head.
"Well, that's okay. Really." He clears his throat, holding the shard up. "Do you know how to maintain a basic aura spell?"
I nod, shivering.
"Good. Here." He plants the rosy crystal in my hooves. "Feel for the leylines. Then connect with it. Maintain the magic field as long as you can. Do you think you can do that?"
Magenta bursts, and yet I nod.
"Okay. Come here. Come come..." He pulls me over to Octavia's side. My shivering knees nearly slip on the blood. Goddess, the blood... "Look here, Vinyl. See?" He moves my hooves until I'm leaning over, placing the shard gently against Octavia's chest. "I'm going to need you to stay here with your friend, Vinyl. Keep the shard pressed to her chest. Maintain the aura's magic field. Think you can do that?"
I shiver... shiver... and nod.
"This is going to stop the blood from flowing out for a while. Just for a while, okay? I have to go and fetch some medical assitance. I saw Nurse Redheart at the Gala just minutes ago. It should only take a minute to go grab her. Maybe two." Flash Sentry takes a deep breath. "I won't be gone for long. I promise. Can you look after your friend Tavi while I'm gone?"
I struggle not to sob. I'm dizzy by the time I nod again.
"Good." He pats my shoulder. "Good good." He flaps his wings, hovering right above us... above Tavi. "Tavi? Your friend Vinyl is going to take care of you, alright? Don't move. Your chest might start to feel a bit weird... fuzzy, even, but that's the crystal doing its work. And Vinyl's going to make sure the crystal stays charged. I'll be right back with a doctor who can make you all better. Got it?"
"Mmmmfff..." Octavia's eyes roll back as she sputters. "...V-Vine...?"
"That's right. She's right beside you. It's going to be okay." Flash flies two feet, then looks back at me. "Keep the crystal charged." He points. "Make sure she doesn't go unconscious." Then, in a burst of air, he soars down the corridor.
I shake... shudder... then keep my trembling hooves clasped around the shard. It glistens with a pink shine... but then there are more colors than that. A glossy bed of crimson blood lingers beneath her... beneath us. The aura fluctuates, nearly fading. I fight it with a magenta hiss, re-stabilizing the leylines. I concentrate... navigating the strings... deep salvos of a cellist's base... keeping me grounded... keeping her alive... the two of us together.
Seconds limp by.
Eons...
Tavi...
"Vine..."
T-Tavi...
I gaze down at her. My shades are lopsided. I try to smile.
Her voice doesn't help much. "Your... your muzzle..." A hoof lifts up, shivering. She gargles on something, and more vomit trickles out of her mouth. "...so bruised..." A shudder. "Bloody sod..."
I clasp her hoof in mind. Gnashing my teeth. Holding the shard against her wounded chest with the other limb.
Don't move.
Tavi, please...
"You... grkkkt..." Tavi's eyes twitch, dancing on either side of me. "...sh-shouldn't have to see this..."
I swallow a lump, forcing her hoof back down by her side. I place two hooves against the crystal, charging it with extra mana. A final symphony to keep her alive.
Please, stay alive...
"It... it's my fault..."
Please...
"Shouldn't... sh-shouldn't have wandered off..."
Please, Tavi...
"Just... so confused... so angry..." Eyes rolling back. Breath dipping. Indigo to tan to turquoise. "...why, Vinyl...?"
No...
"Why, love...?"
No!
I shake her head, gnashing my teeth.
Her eyes flutter wide open. A gasp. The crystal strobes with pink, and her voice jolts into purple.
Not like this...
I shake and whimper.
Not so soon...
"Mrmmffngh... Vine, why..." A hiss. A wheeze. "Why are you crying?"
I can't stop it.
It's an icy slope and everything's melting.
I slide down it... slide towards her.
A horn that's pulsating. A mare that's weeping into the snow.
Never been alive before.
Never.
Not until...
Magenta and magenta.
Waves of it, washing around me.
Around us.
It brings her closer to the surface than any crystal, and as the numbing waters drown me, it pushes her to the top. She counters with a healthy breath... a confused breath... gazing down at me from above the depths.
"Vine? Vinyl?"
I fall. I fade. The crimson dissipates as I drift down the frozen river.
"Vine, what... what did you just say...?"
And then...
I collapse.
Empty... black...
Unconscious.
......
o.o
Ah. Shit.
... I want to scream because of that cliffhanger, but I'm too stunned.
I feel so many emotions about this, yet I have no words.
Well, that went as poorly as possible. Hope flash gets back in time with redheart and twilight.
Also, attacking the retinue of a foreign dignitary will get you hanging from a rope in most countries. Hope we see talonsmith swinging for this.
I just googled what the title means and...
6656911 same. I didn't think this would happen.
THE SHIP HAS SAILED!
IN the bloodiest way possible. WHY!?
Why do you do this to us?
Thank Celestia for Flash arriving in time. He actually seemed to handle the situation pretty well.
OH PLEASE! Please... let it be that Octavia heard everything Vinyl was just thinking in her mind since their leylines are connected or whatever. PLEASE!
6657036 I really, really hope she did. And added an "I love you" to it.
Okay then.
Here we go.
Time to find out just how good pony healing magic is, although if I'm reading that last bit right, Vinyl doesn't know her own strength. Or just doesn't care what it'll cost her to dig that deep.
Also time to see what kind of mare Skirts' Twilight Sparkle is...
this can't be the second to last chapter...
nononononononononononono.
6657133
I know! We still haven't gotten an explanation for what caused Vinyl to keep on saying "She saved my life"
How many chapters has it been since that question was posed, anyways?
6656974 Because It's a Skirts fic,
Blood for Goddess Damn Searo.
6657243 I think I may need to read his other things.
6657270 By all means, go for it. Be advised, though: Some of his undertakings are a bit...lengthy.
6657309 Which ones?
YOU HAVE ME STRUNG TO YOUR EVERY LAST WORD!
Damnit Shortskirts! You've got me ridiculously eager for the next chapter, right when I thought I couldn't look forward to it more than the previous. UGH! I'm normally a patient person but this tale of yours is pushing my patience to its limits! The intrigue, the backstory, the music, the action, the cliffhangers!
I feel like an addict who needs their fix. And I've been reading all damn day!
To have achieved that.... well done you wonderful lemur, you!
6657332
Background Pony, for one, is very long. But I promise, every chapter will deliver a day's worth of emotional content. It's that good.
6657332 Well, there are a few flavors of Skirts. There's Background Pony, whose prose is almost as colorful as this one. It can get a bit depressing, and it's pretty long, but the concept behind it is extremely interesting, and it contains some really beautiful moments. Austraeoh, which is posted to one of his alternate accounts, is the longest thing he's written. It's an adventure fic. Quality wise, that one is up and down. It's actually really good right about now, though. His last daily is Appledashery, also on an alt. account. It was originally intended to be a typical shipfic, but things went Skirtsian. It's pretty long (~800,000 words) and a little aimless. Of his current dailies, it's probably the least popular. It varies between adventure and slice of life.
Skirts has also written a number of shorter fics, but I'm not extremely familiar with that catalog. A few I recommend are "Gift", which is a nice, thoughtful little fic, and "Plush Ado About Nothing", which is a fluffy comedy piece.
Hope that helped.
6657128
One with lots of rules I think.
And thus, Vinyl saved her life.
Anyway, I love how you make Flash act calm and collected like a real army talking to distressed civilian.
I wonder what Vinyl said.
6657557 I love you I hope
6657416
6657332
Don't forget all of his Nuzzle Trilogy!
He wrote three stories all about ponies nuzzling each other. It's awesome. I recommend reading it in order.
Really though, probably my second-favorite fic by SS&E, besides Gift, is Refraction. A wonderful exploration of could-have beens, the meaning of friendship, and the purpose of living.
The music set the tone for this chapter perfectly.
I just got a delightful case of the shivers... I am also very sad...
DAMN IT! Someone bring me this Griffon so I can skin him alive and cook him.
I'm in the mood for chicken.
one
I fail to see how Talonsmith could possibly reach a point where he was allowed into any government position. What sort of idiot mistakes a minstrel for a secret guard, when normal guards are scattered throughout the event? Was this griffon government thrown together piecemeal out of volunteers or something?
Also, great ending. Odds are high you gave us a love confession in this chapter, so all we need now is a detailed flashback to Vine's suicide attempt and some kind of answer from Octy.
Calling it now, Vinyl burns through everything keeping Octy alive, her life flashes before her eyes, and Octy gives her answer at the funeral.
Good to see somepony lives up to his name. Thank goodness someone around that castle has good group awareness skills, certainly earned their place as a Captain, that's for sure.
Equestria, buck your HMO's and Medicare. Love someone enough and you can heal almost anything, at a price at times, but thems the way things go.
Well, it only took 20.3k refreshes but it was nice to finally dive into this chapter. Well worth the loss of an F5 key. Eeyup.
Damn, generally I outright despise your musical taste but this time it fits like a glove. Enough sorrow for the sad parts yet a faint tinge of maybe-it-isn't-so-bad to keep the reader hopeful.
HOLY SHIT
I'm pretty sure Flash meant to say "Vinyl" there.
Oh crap, I really hope that spell can hold on its own for a while after she charged the crystal.
Does this mean we've only got one chapter to go?
6657617 COol!
6657416 So that's what he/she is good at! Prose! Thanks!
*Searches up definition of Penultimate. Reads*
OH NO THIS BETTER NOT BE THE SECOND-TO-LAST CHAPTER OR IM GOING TO MURDER SOMETHING [probably my computer but still]
6658414 Could just be referring to the current arc, still Vine's secret is out. Going to be hard to close something like this with all the loose threads though if it really were to end in just 2k-4k more words.
6657332
The End of Ponies is a favorite of mine (next to the Austraeoh series) and is a fantastic work, but it's unfortunately going to be a long time before he gets back to work on it (also, it is quite long).
Other favorites are Background Pony, Scale, Refraction, The Last Tears in Tartarus, Until the Last Pony is Ferried, There is Love Beyond What Lingers, Couchtavia, and The Numbers Don't Lie, just to name a few.
Assuming that Octavia survives all this, I'd say that Flash Sentry has definitely earned the love of a princess for this act.
If only she'd give him a second chance, and say to hell with the consequences.
Don't you dare, Skirts!
So, uh, does this mean Equestria is now at war with Griffonstone?
6659065
That's really up to Griffonstone and whether they insist on his immunity, I suppose. I'd kind of look forward to (but suspect it won't feature in the story) Twilight or Celestia calmly explaining that "Talonsmith is either under arrest for attempted murder, or a prisoner of war. Your choice."
Holy crow!? Where'd he come from!? Did not see that coming.
Wow, either i'm slipping at spotting incoming twists or that came completely out of left field. Either way, good job!
6659441
And now it turned out that he wasn't even the real ambassador. Yeah, I guess nope on the war.
I only saw on the second read-through that Vinyl actually got him with her horn, and didn't just get her flank kicked until Flash showed up. That felt satisfying.
Dat red herring doe.
O_O ...That....was intense.
Holy shit, Skirts, you magnificent wordsmith sumbitch. This chapter was intense and tear-jerking and just insane. I gotta admit though, the last bit lost me super crazy, but I think I got the gist of it. Just... damn. Next chapter!
~SolidFire