I shuffle off the train... step down onto the Salt Lick City station's platform... and I see him.
The blink that my eyes perform could nearly shatter my shades.
Instead, my vision refocuses, and he's still there. His black and white body hums with something greener than the high mountain air around us. He must have just arrived by zeppelin or something. Did he try beating me here?
I expect nothing and everything. Then he closes the distance between us. His smile his warm, and the amber streams from his muzzle are even warmer.
"Good to see ya, girl," Roadie Beau says, grinning. It is a soft smile. A soft friend.
I instantly feel a lump in my throat. I had expected to see him, but not so soon.
He knows this. He knows everything. "Somethin' wrong?" he asks, his eyebrow arching.
I hold a hoof up. Taking a deep breath, I reach back into my wheeled luggage. The hiss of a steam engine fills my eyes with a crimson cloud. I stay focused, and then I retrieve the item. Turning around, I put on a brave smile, then hand him an antique vinyl.
He blinks. I'm surprised that he's surprised. Nevertheless, he accepts the gift, turning it over and smirking.
"Hah... well, slap my saddle. 'Coltfriend'... and in mint condition, too."
I smile at him, squirming slightly.
He snickers. "It's a dayum good album, but... in all honesty, Vine..." Beau smirks up at me. "I kinda... st-stopped bein' such a big fan of Colt George a long time ago. I mean... y'know... after he did that... thing... with the dude... erm... from Norwhinny..."
I bite my lip.
"But, shoot, I've been wantin' to have a decent collection of mint condition classics. So who best than to get me started than you, eh, girl?" He tilts his head up and grins at me. A blink. "Wait... didja... ... ...?"
I flinch slightly, looking away from him.
"...didja get this for me 'cuz... cuz you thought I was somehow cross with ya?" He leans back, shaking his head. "Tch... girl, y'know I'm always gonna lurve ya like a brother!"
I look at him with what can only be a kindergarten pouty-face.
"Look... how long have we worked with one another, huh?" He leans in and winks. "I know perfectly well that ya dun have to have a singin' voice to be a diva." He sticks his tongue out. "Or a melodramatic one at that."
I smile back, blushing slightly.
"Besides... you've got a right to yer privacy. We all do. Just... y'know... dun leave me high-and-dry with a bunch of freeloadin' suckups the next time somepony accidentally crosses yer wires, ya feel me?"
A single burst of magenta breath leaves my smirking muzzle. I nod vehemently.
"Heheh... then it's a deal."
I nod some more. Then, sighing, I reach out and rub his fuzzy mohawk of a mane. The sensation sends orange bubbles flittering between us.
"Glad to have you back, girl." He motions with his head, then trots off. "Hotel's over there. Let the invasion of Salt Lick City begin! Haha! Woo!"
I linger behind him, fidgeting slightly.
He notices it, of course. I see him look behind his shoulder. "Everything cool, girl?"
I smile nervously. I lick my lips and smile again.
"Sorry." He shrugs. "I didn't bring any with me this time."
I stare at him. No Dr. Pony? What happened to our partnership?
"Pffft... dun give me that look!" He chuckles. "Dun you know what city we're in, girl?" He shrugs along. "Now come on. Let's mosey. Hotel's expecting."
I smirk.
That's very funny, Beau. Now where's the Dr. Pony?
He continues shuffling off.
My smile fades, and I feel the first of many... many trembles.
No...
Seriously...
Where is the Dr. Pony...?
Oh no. XD;;;
You better get that Dr. Pony, or heads gonna roll
bet she's gonna be like this by the end of the tour!
verbicidemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/sylvester-cat-cigarettes-coffee.gif
Ponk Things.
Why would there be no Dr Pony in... oh for the love of Luna!
You have put a version of that caffeine hating group in Equestria?
That cannot be! How would Celestia let a place where she found not have tea, or Luna & Twilight get coffee, be ALLOWED TO EXIST?
Yeah, where is it? Just had it over on the table right next to where I'm reading this, and now it's gone... Where did it go!?
I drank it...
Surely there are at least a few good, wholesome, heathen establishments in that city that provide Dr Pony.
6521752 Meanwhile, I -being a member of that caffiene hating group- am sitting here reading this while drinking Dr. Pepper. (Btw, it's not the whole group, just like, a quarter of us. Unfortunately, that quarter lives in Salt Lake, so yeah.)
6521732 Them feels... I only knew about him for a few months, but I miss Ponky. Also, I get the impression this is exactly how it would be if ss&e went to visit Ponky.
heads are going to roll, Salt Lick is going to burn, and the world will tremble unless V gets her Dr. Pony.
nice job!
Dat video dough, nice.
C-could Salt Lick City be....a DRY TOWN?
Yay, no hard feelings!
Also, Vinyl's addiction and everyone's suspicions confirmed by the last words. I think that sometime soon an intervention will have to happen.
Uh oh.
This is going to go SO badly...
... ... I give her three days.
I just remembered she's in Salt Lick City. Lulz.
6521716
Ha! Tell me about it!
Just had my sisters wedding on the weekend and wine/alcohol was a-plenty...... but NO CAFFEINE!!!!!?!!?!!?!?!
NO COFFEE????!!!?!
and certainly no Dr Pony.
6522650
I give her five hours
6521716
So true, man.
6524284
I give her an hour, Caffeine withdrawal hits fast.
As a mormon, I approve of this silliness.
I don't understand the mormon hate for caffine. Addiction? Understandable. But caffine? No.
I've got some bad news, Vinyl. Octavia has called Beau ahead and she's ordered him to put you on cold turkey from that stuff!
I was kinda hoping for some shipping…
6525973 It's an addictive mood-altering substance. I'm not too surprised that some group somewhere has banned it.
I'm fairly sure this is my first review on this fic, and I'm going to use it to sort of summarize my thoughts on the story so far. So... This will probably be really long. Maybe just skim it haha.
It really is an absolutely fascinating piece. The way you present non-verbal life with synesthesia and laughter (and in Vinyl's case, verbal) syncope (which I'm sure you already know is just a fancy way of saying a there's a medical condition that makes a person faint when they laugh. You probably know more about than I do, if only for the sake of necessary research you'd have to do to give life to the story's main character) mixed together with unicorn magic is really unique. Your portrayal of Vinyl is a great hook, because there's always more questions I want to know the answer to about her.
DJ Capricorn must have either been mildly obsessed or following Vinyl for a very long time. Judging by Vinyl's reaction, she never really thought about the release of that album so soon after her accident. I don't know exactly what Beau was trying to tell Vinyl when he assured her no one knows, but I guess it must be something to do with the accident or aftermath of it that he gleaned from her. I know you mention Vinyl being raised in a big city, but as a background pony, I have no idea whether she had parents there to care for her or not. If she did/does, it obviously doesn't cross her mind often.
There's one of the interesting juxtapositions about her characterization that does end up making sense: Vinyl Scratch presents herself - even in her own mind - as generally okay with everything about being herself; like in an earlier chapter when Trenderhoof (the poor, lost cad of a soul) says he's sorry she's 'a mute' and Vinyl's reaction is confusion and a bit of offense at his wording, because according to her thoughts, she isn't sorry about it (and I love the distinction you make between the use of the noun to describe a *pony herself* rather than to describe a *condition*, or almost any other way of putting it. It reminds me of how some people get understandably offended if someone says they or a friend/family member 'is Autistic', rather than that the person 'has Autism'. Because they're a PERSON, not a condition. We don't say people who *have* cancer are cancerous! etc. We don't like conditions, or individual traits even, to be definitions of ourselves).
Vinyl even seems to not think of her condition as a problem; she doesn't see a reason to 'improve' anything about it during ear check-up, and obviously she can't make the doctor see that the way she thinks of her resulting lifestyle being a 'gift' is so different than his way of understanding it.
So, all that said, she seems very together and kind of zen sometimes. But then we have the after-party bar scene. When the memory of 'Cyan Sings' (I assume her birth name, or a separate stage name, because 'Vinyl Scratch' sounds almost as much a stage name as DJ-P0N3) is put in her face (and I imagine the record serves as a symbol of the traumatic injury that essentially made her who she is as a success by being DJ-P0N3 and resulted in Vinyl's 'gift', which she seems to like living with - though I've wondered whether or not she thinks that way because she knows 'normal' isn't an option anymore, and she's the kind of pony that tries to make the best of things, and she tells herself things are better in their own strange way now. Maybe it's both), she absolutely looses her ability to think, and there's just blind panic.
I'm not saying she *isn't* kind of zen and relatively more together than most anyone would reasonably be after all she's been through and what she struggles with (which I suppose we have enough parallels of to understand what she means most of the time from her first person perspective, but I'm guessing the actual sensing of emotions or presences - like knowing Octavia is home by looking at their house - without even hearing voices comes from magical talent), but her reaction in the 'crisis' scene shows a much deeper, more realistic character who deals with PTSD along with everything else.
You did a great job with that. Trauma reactions aren't logical, remembering the event and subsequent emotions following it can't be wiped away by positive thinking about the present in cases like PTSD, and those emotions are not something you can logic away in the moment of a panic attack. Some things aren't in our conscious control if we're caught off guard and shocked, and Vinyl is the same way. It's exceptionally relatable, and I think it was a great idea for a scene to give a bit more of a view of Vinyl to us readers, to make of it what we will. I was surprised when she shoved Beau away after nuzzling him, though, but even that makes a kind of sense. She really appreciates him, but she *just CAN'T* deal calmly right then, and had to bolt before it got worse.
Personally, I think that Vinyl's codependency on/with Tavi is probably unhealthy, but if it's something that helps her get through life in that moment, I obviously can't judge it. She's an intelligent adult after all. It's hinted that Vinyl understands that what they have has a shelf life, because Octavia says things about wanting a stallion and foals. But on her side, Vinyl just wants to be with Tavi. And while it seems like she's in love with her, I'm not sure how much of that is due to their long association and innate understanding, or the vague and oft mentioned life threatening event from which Octavia saved her, causing Vinyl to idolize her.
The reference to Octavia saving Vinyl's life could either be a real event that as a reader I don't know about yet (plus I haven't watched any of the movies - Equestria Girls in particular weirds me out as a concept. As one critic said when they heard it was originally being made, 'Because that must be exactly what everyone wants. Their favorite well known characters who are magical multicolored ponies, but now instead they're humans going to high school. It makes perfect sense,' to paraphrase it anyway, it was probably much funnier than that. Also, I'm sure I miss a lot that happens on the show even when I'm watching it, so there are always canon elements - which categorically do not include the comics, according to Faust and Hasbro - that I might miss), or it could be something more abstract, like Octavia got her out of a really dark mental place.
Though, I can't help but wonder why Octavia never learned their version of sign language. Or maybe she did at one point, but Vinyl feels like Tavi needs her as a silent sounding board, so she never really practiced telling Octavia things with words if she can explain them through action. Octavia did mention she knew Twilight wasn't doing it right, at least, so she's familiar with it (and poor Twilight - she tries so hard, but that was still hilarious). Even though it's described as a Unicorn invention, there's no reason that I can think of that an Earth pony couldn't *understand* it, even without the dexterity magic gives the 'speaker' to move the straws or sticks.
I thought the introduction of the Blank Language (and the understanding that without fingers, ponies would need a medium to make anything but the most vague impressions, at which point they may as well be using body language/expressions and would be better off writing) was very clever, by the way.
It's another juxtaposition; Vinyl feels like a very independent mare, and I think she is. It's a facet of her, like her confidence, DJ persona, and her PTSD issues are all facets of her, no one trait takes away from the others. But maybe she's only confident in that independence because she has Octavia to be mentally dependent on... I'm not sure if I'm saying that well enough to make sense.
I guess I'm not sure because I don't know anything about her life as Vinyl Scratch before Octavia came along. 1) Since both are young adults, I'd say no older than the equivalent of 30 at most; 2) the accident happened when Vinyl was old enough to have an independent, just-blooming musical career; 3) they've lived together for more than seven years... it doesn't sound like Vinyl could have had much time dealing with her changed sensory perception and communication without Tavi there. Maybe Octavia WAS the one who got her out of the building, though with her being an earth pony, at least on the show, it seems unlikely.
Anyway, to me it's a sort of bittersweet sad deal, like a much more intimate version of Spike's obsession with Rarity, which I know some people ship, but I just can't see it working. Octavia definitely admires and respects Vinyl, but it just doesn't seem to be the same way Vinyl feels for her, or Vinyl would know it already probably.
It all makes me wonder how much of her personality Vinyl's had to redevelop, either consciously or subconsciously, due to her need to 'make Octavia happy', when making Octavia (or anyone) happy isn't something another person can actually do. Just being there and supporting her, letting her know she's always appreciated, sometimes cheering her up and suggesting getting a kitten haha, is the best Vinyl can do to make Octavia happy, I think. And Vinyl is doing her best. Especially since Octavia's unhappiness stems at least partially from her upbringing and having the idea she wasn't good enough drilled into her by her father.
I'm sure it's a motivator as much as a hindrance, but success is never truly success unless someone is content with both the achievement and content who they are. Otherwise, one will always be chasing some illusory 'bigger thing', because the good or even great thing can never be enough.
I probably adore Beau partially for that reason - he seems to feel comfortable in his stripes. Then again, he's written in such a way that you'd have to be a very ...unique? person to not love Beau. It's really nice to see that Vinyl has good, trustworthy, and level headed company when she's away from home. He's exactly the kind of guy you'd want to have around on the road - he's a solid familiar presence, a sensitive showman (show stallion?) who can read a crowd, a smooth talker who can quickly save a conversation, an extremely capable employee - though they feel more like partners - and most importantly an extremely understanding and good friend. They definitely seem like family most of the time.
As far as the scenes with Sweetie Belle go, I admit I'm like Rarity on overdrive with the wanting quiet from children, especially if the children aren't direct family. It was obvious that she was written to be trying hard but also to be rather annoying, at least, which is very in character. It's nice that Sweetie is finding an independent direction, though, with Octavia's and Vinyl's help. I just rarely ever have liked kids, even when I was one (I was like Twilight, basically - 'I have a book, ma'am, I'll stay in for recess, please.' haha), and the CMCs, while... cute, I suppose... are probably the most annoying part of the show for me. I mean, I'm not actively mean or dismissive to kids, but I will find excuses to go to another room for a few minutes fairly often if I have to deal with them for any length of time. ...Kind of ironic since I'm reading fic based on a show I watched that's aimed at children. It does give my niece and I something to talk about, though, because I have no idea how to relate to a four-year-old at all haha.
But, kids grow up, and I have very distinct memories of being a terribly annoying one myself. Sweetie Belle is probably that age where grownups probably don't seem to 'get' her and she thinks she knows better than other ponies and that no one has ever gone through the things she's going through, all that stuff, while simultaneously not understanding who she really is and looking for guidance and affirmation.
She has a good heart, but until the prefrontal cortex finishes developing (for humans, that doesn't even happen until early or even mid-20's!), a child literally cannot see the logic in doing or not doing certain things that adults do. Basically, even if the CMCs are told not to do something specifically, they won't realize all the complex ideas behind WHY they shouldn't do whatever it is unless it's all spelled out, which means they're probably going to do whatever it is they're specifically not supposed to do anyway. Their brain hasn't finished wiring cause and effect quite right yet, and they don't have experiences yet to tell them some things will almost always turn out bad. I find that transition stage interesting; it's self centered, yes, but because kids are still defining their 'self'. But when I see someone trying to *reason* with their three-year-old in a store, it makes me want to shake my head. They're asking them to think about things in a way that *doesn't even exist* to them yet hahaha, which is probably why, 'Because I said so,' is such a common phrase among parents.
The fact that Vinyl saving the filly's life and getting hurt worked out to help her and Octavia both use Sweetie's voice to make beautiful music is kind of one of those great 'there's no such thing as accidents' examples. That, or an illustration of how someone can make a good thing come out of a bad thing if they think of it from the right perspective. That is particularly great, because the general tone of this story seems very rooted in exploring good things happening because of bad things, and the idea of many different perspectives being the reason people think and behave in certain ways that might seem strange to someone else.
As for this chapter in Salt Lick City, I assume the no Dr. Pony/no caffeine deal is like their version of our no alcohol and other 'blue laws' in some cities. Easy enough to bring in, probably, but not sold there. I always thought it was odd that such an obviously religious thing could be held onto in some places today, even though as a law it restricts others of unrelated faiths (I live in New York City, and my husband and I sometimes go to an Asian grocery store in Edgewater, New Jersey, where the only things open on Sundays are necessities like hospitals and grocery stores. And even in the grocery store, the appliance section is actually roped and certain shelves are taped over on Sunday, because it's illegal to sell those things on that day in Edgewater. It's ridiculous, at least to me, but at least I don't have to live with it!)
It's funny that Vinyl didn't consider that implication or think to bring her own Dr. Pony stash, or at least some caffeine pills, with her equipment. She should have a cooler disguised as an amp case reserved for that now, just in case haha. She had to know, and if she didn't, Bon Bon and Lyra did mention it. But she must not have gotten it, because she's definitely surprised she can't get a Dr. Pony.
Anyway, that was practically an essay, sorry!
Honestly, the reason I'm just now reviewing all this is that I saw you were at 899 positive votes, and I was honored to click to make it an even 900. It made me think that, as popular as this story is, and as many reviews as it has gotten, I should at least tell you how interesting and compelling I find the whole thing you've built here.
-Corvid
Guys, Mormons drink soda. GIVE THAT CREATURE SOME DOGGONE DR PONY BEFORE HER WRATH IS UNLEASHED!!!!!!!! Also, I know I'm way too late to change the story. Boo hoo.