The train rattles.
My eyelids are heavy... but I can't sleep. Not now. There's no time for anything but hunting.
I feel the crimson squeal of brakes against the rails.
Another subway. Another cornucopia of smells. I exit, stumbling, tugging my luggage behind me. Several sighs fly loose on magenta wings, but I can't stop to sight-see. I have to trot clear across town—which is both easy and impossible at the same time. After all, this is Manetreal.
As soon as I'm at street level, I hoof it to the nearest art district. The city boulevards shrink into narrow walkways, replacing asphalt with brick. Everything feels distinctly Stirropean. The last time I toured here, I couldn't even pretend to pronounce the names of the neighborhoods in my head. It's one of the only moments in my adult life where felt quietly comfortable with being mute.
I pass by multiple night clubs and cafes, and part of me rues the fact that I'm here only for a search. But it doesn't matter. I have to keep looking. There's a fire burning deep inside of me. I must keep it kindled. I have to maintain this pace... this canter... this manic gallop into tomorrow.
The only way I can stay sane...
The only way I can remain in one piece... ...
... ... ...is if I can still create.
But before I start—like any good painter—I must have a firm foundation.
And so... I hit the stores.
Record shops. Music shops. Anything with signage that resembles a music note—I dash in. I pilfer... scour... I rummage through.
I try thrift stores.
Antique stores.
Even multi-register department stores that couldn't be caught dead selling anything but Countess Coloratura albums...
I search them all...
...and I find nothing.
My breaths are heavy... but I can weather them.
After all, what did I expect?
Doesn't matter what continent, city, island, or province...
...so long as it exists in Equestria, my hopes are slim.
It doesn't stop the fire from burning inside me. However, the body attached to the flame is fleeting. If I want to continue this search, I have to do so sanely. If after all of this trouble I'm too tired to even see what I'm looking for with my own shaded eyes...
Well...
Some sleep can't hurt.
So I find myself a cheap hotel. The mare in the front lobby is an adorable thing whose muzzle drops upon instantly recognizing me. Before I know it, I've signed my name for her, and then I take my keys up to the third floor.
What's happening to me?
Am I being warm? Receptive?
...am I smiling?
I'm too tired to tell... or care.
I collapse on the bed, facing away from the window. The yawns drag me under, but I keep my mind alert for as long as I can afford to.
Tomorrow, I hit Manehattan.
If I can't find what I'm looking for there...
...then Celestia help me.
Is she looking for a replacement of her Cyan Sings album?
She wants to find her record so she can confess her undying love in her own voice!
I'm liking this. For all its frantic pacing and nebulousness, there's something therapeutic happening here. Little by little, Vinyl seems to be healing.
Skirts, I swear to everything that moves in the multiverse, if you don't give Vinyl her happy ending, I will find you.
And write you a firmly worded e-mail expressing my disapproval.
I'm curious as to what she is looking for... another Cyan Sings album? Or is it something else...
Good show.
6740428 Why am I imaging her doing the boombox scene
You idiot. Go to Sacramento and find DJ Capricorn. She has a copy thatyou still haven't freakin' signed yet.Edit: Ignore me I'm dumb and can't do the brain memory thing.
media.giphy.com/media/6mnp45e41uzZe/giphy.gif
6740441 yay
6740428 i like that idea even if its not true im gonna go with it!
also is this the 5TH chapter TODAY?! holy cow skirts! i love this!
6740450 Isn't that the copy she passed to Scratch? The same one she shattered in rage?
6740444 Imagine if he uses this song
6740428
I like this idea too, but she'll have to find Tavi after she makes the vocal track. Tavi who doesn't seem to want to be found. It won't be easy, but this could be a way for this story to still have a happy ending.
Too bad for Vinyl that they don't have the internet. She'd probably find what she's looking for in a jiffy.
Then again luckily they don't have the internet, otherwise they'd be corrupt beyond all redemption
Just a city mare
Born and raised in south Detrot
She took the midnight train goin' anywhere...
6740426
6740447
Seems to be. I mean she started her search in the Blues section, under the letter C. Cyan and Cerulean are the only Blues that come to mind starting with C
6742798
That is true, very true.
6741545 I know that song... I can't remember the name, but
6741545 Just a small town mare, living in a lonely world, she took midnight train going annyyywhhheeeerrre. Streetlights, peopoooollleeee! Don't stop believing! Don't make us stop believing Skirts, happy ending please.
6740450 I was thinking the same thing tbh. Lol.
Fun fact:
Montreal's subway system uses rubber wheels so it has no metal squeal.
Cool stuff.