Giving Things
"I promise you, Vinyl," Fluttershy says, her pink voice soothing—yet wavering. She swallows a lump in her throat and stands at length behind me. "I will see to it that she's comfortable here. She'll be well-fed, well-groomed, well-loved." A shuddering breath. I don't need to look to know how desperately she's attempting to smile. "It'll almost be as though the little kitten... never left."
I nod, listening to her. All the while, Scribbler pads across the wooden floor of Fluttershy's cottage. The tuxedo cat rubs up against my legs multiple times, pausing every now and then to stare—wide eyed—across the mysterious environment full of unique colors and smells. Her fur is tickling... torturing.
"Erm... I... I-I didn't mean for that to sound like it came out," Fluttershy suddenly stammers. "Scribbler looks so much healthier and fuller than when you and Tavi first adopted her. And... uhm... I'm sure that..." She gulps, her voice shaking even more. "...wherever you m-may be going, Vinyl, it's for a good reason. Please... please know that you've made Scribbler happy. You gave her a home... a life... a... a f-family..."
I lean over, squatting on all four legs. Scribbler—curious about the sudden gesture—moves in to sniff my muzzle with her tiny little nose. She raises a paw, claws tapping against the lens of my shade, and then she throws her whole tiny body against me with the softest of fur-rubs. I feel her tail lifting, tickling my nose, brushing past my ears.
"She will grow up to be a healthy cat. I promise you that, Vinyl. You... you don't have to worry one bit. Here in my cottage, she'll never run out of little animal friends to play games with. We even have a book night together..."
Scribbler strokes past me again. And something caves. I clench my eyes shut, shuddering. I reach both hooves out, scooping the feline closer. She protests once... maybe twice. Golden meows across an ocean of orange. I bury my nose in her, damming the tears. My mind is full of colors—all of them painted with the texture of velvet. This is it. This is my last taste of home. My last glimpse of Vinyl. The purple clings to Scribbler's tail. The violet leaps off her whiskers with tiny, wordless giggles.
I catch them all...
...and I give them back.
I release Scribbler, pet her confused, twitching ears... and stand up.
But before I can turn around... I am engulfed in a soft, feathery embrace.
I freeze in place, feeling as—next—Fluttershy's forelimbs encircle around me. I'm trapped in the softest, gentlest of hugs.
"Please, Vinyl... please hear me out," she murmurs into my shoulders. Her voice dips into an icy blue lake, and I realize she's holding me to keep from collapsing into sobs. "Whatever's happened to you and Tavi... whatever you m-might think you're going through right now..." A pink shudder. "You don't have to go through it alone. I heard about what happened at the hospital. The next thing I know, you... y-you resigned as royal minstrel." She stifles a whimper. "You have so much talent... so much grace. You're a j-joy to be around, Vinyl. I know you can't talk, and that must be incredibly difficult. Frustrating, even. Nevertheless... you can still speak to us... in your own way. You can share with us your feelings... even if it's just a frown... a sigh... even a sob. Please... don't do this on your own. Whatever you're doing, wherever you're going... reconsider. You have friends here in Ponyville who care very much for you. Listen to them... let us in. It's... it's what Octavia would have wanted, I'm sure."
With a calm breath, I reach back...
...and pry her limbs off of me.
She shudders, eyes wet.
I turn around, holding her forelimbs, gazing at her somber expression. With a magenta breath, I pat her fetlocks... then lower them to the floor.
"Vinyl, I..." Fluttershy bites her lip. Then, closing her eyes, she sniffles and hangs her head. "I will t-take care of Scribbler for you. I swear on my life."
That makes the two of us.
I nod. I shuffle past her. I reach the door.
Behind me, there's a shuffle... a brief and panicked scrape of claws. I hear soft, pitter-pattering steps, followed by tiny song.
The cottage door closes, cutting off the orange.
And I walk.
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Damn. Good choice for background music.
Wow... I don't have the words to fully explain just how heartbreaking it is to see Vinyl give Scribbler to Fluttershy.
I think you got the wrong name here.
Shit. If there were ever two beings that need to sit the fuck down and communicate it's these two. Meeting overreaction with overreaction is bad.
6720782
No, this is correct. Take it in context between last chapter and this particular line here. Scribbler is the last bit of Vinyl Scratch keeping her tied to Ponyville. To the simple life.
She's leaving to become DJ P0n-3. Both are facades of Cyan Sings, after all - she's just trading the mask she actually enjoyed for the only one she has left to her now. Octavia, Scribbler, their friends, those are what kept Vinyl as Vinyl. But it was mostly Tavi. Without Tavi, she's finding there's not much meaning to staying as Vinyl. If we're honest to the story, Vinyl was born when Tavi saved Cyan's life. Vinyl exists for Octavia. Octavia is gone. Vinyl dies. She can't be Vinyl, she can't be Cyan. So this is her last glimpse of Vinyl Scratch's life before she loses herself in her work.
The magnitude of her stupidity is making her very hard to sympathize with now.
*prepares for downvotes to paint the town red*
Please have them come back!
My shadow's the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone up there will find me
'till then I
Walk alone
6720818 Fuck man. That's deep.
6720868
I just calls it like I sees it. Skirts is the deep one. (And also potentially a Deep One. Can never tell with him.)
Out of everything in this story... this is what brought me to tears. Excuse me while I hug my dog.
Grab a bowl and spoon everyone. It's time for Feel-i-o's.
6720782 Maybe she's leaving Vinyl behind in order to become the DJ full tim.
I was holding it in... then this happened, and I lost it. :c
Dammit I'm supposed to write a comedy. How can I do that now when I'm sad!
Damn you, Skirt!
6720833
Pretty much, yeah. It's definitely changed my opinion of the story, because it has gone way over the top.
Kids, when one of your friends who's going through a rough breakup starts giving away all their things, making arrangements for their pets, and quitting all their responsibilities, and refusing to communicate, either get them talking or start picking out what you're wearing to the funeral.
OH GOD THE FEELS!!!
LET THE TEARS FLOW.
There's this thing called "communication" that seems to be lost on Octavia and Vinyl.
One thing I like about "Life and Times of a Winning Pony" is that at one point the characters that are involved in a messy love situation sit the fuck down and talk to each other. No signals are muddled, nobody has to assume anything, words are exchanged, clarification is given, and while everyone may not have left happy, they left with clear heads and nothing left unsaid.
In real life I pretty much force my friends to talk about their issues at points. I respect boundaries to an extent, but when it changes from "not being ready to talk" to "being too stubborn/stupid to talk", daddy goes to work. I literally saved one of my friend's relationships by physically forcing him to talk to his girlfriend in a kitchen amd, whatdoyaknow, communication made them last all the way through high school.
The point I'm trying to make here is that if Vinyl and Octavia would step back like, eight steps and just talk to each other, a pretty large plot thread in this story wouldn't exist. And it's not like I'm knocking the story at all, because I like it, but it kinda seems like Vinyl and Tavi are being made to be irrationally stubborn and reactionary just for the sake of prolonging an issue that most likely wouldn't be this bad if they just talked to each other.
In the end, I'm not gonna be an asshole and say the story's a failure if they dont get together in the end, because good story =/= happy ending, but if we get to the final chapters and a conversation over their friendship hasn't at least been attempted, I dunno what to think.
6720957
Agreed, except for the part where it took forever for the winning cast to sit down and talk. And even then it never really seemed like Cloud was listening.
>Still watching with suspicion
Skirts...
6720833
A year ago I would have agreed, but I've recently been in a similar place. Everything was collapsing and it almost destroyed me. Looking back now, I could have avoided all of it if I was better at communicating, the right things to do seem obvious now. But I didn't know that during my crisis. Most of the worlds troubles are caused by failures to communicate, and the people that need to the most, often can't. Even those who aren't mute can have trouble speaking.
6720875
I look into the abyss...
And the abyss throws exploding skirts back.
6720924
Over the top...? This level of stubbornness and lack of communication is actually normal for people who are emotionally distraught. Just because it seems that way to us, with calm minds and watching from outside - we completely forget what's it like being IN a situation. The two of them were fighting off crippling depression by being together. The moment something shattered that tranquility, WOOSH, in comes the depression - just as we saw. Which chases away things like good sense and logic. Hell, even on a chemical level that's what happens. People really underestimate how dangerous and powerful depression actually is.
Also, the others -did- try to get Vinyl to talk. And there is going to be a funeral - the sort without a corpse or anyone in attendance. As I explained above, Cyan's basically letting Vinyl Scratch die since there's no more use for her. There will only be Cyan hiding behind DJ P0n-3 now.
Possibly the worst part about this is that part of me keeps believing this'll turn out alright, only to remember this is a Skirts story.
Dammit. All the feels in the world can't measure up to the scene where she says goodbye to her kitten.
Vinyl, why are you doing this to yourself? You don't deserve this.
6720861 I never realized how much this song fits her.
Wheeeew, what a chapter man... and good music choice... really fits, really fits.
Good job.
6721247 6720833
Actually, I get Vinyl in this. Bottling things up is so easy that after some time you don't even notice you are doing it, you just do it and go on with a faint idea of "I'll fix it myself" at the back of your head.
6722016
Precisely. She's internalized for so long that that's really all she knows. Being mute sure didn't help her with being more socially and emotionally expressive. Everything she's done makes perfect sense in that vein.
Skirts , please , please, PLEASE don't romeo and juliet this. Please just this once they deserve a happy ending. Please don't let this end in purple/red. Let them have some happiness
Man this getting good!
I can't help but feel bad for Scwibbler.
goddamnit... this had me weeping like a child whos favorite toy has just been destroyed...
I have only cried due to events in a story twice in the past three years... this is the second time.