Her Eyes

by not plu

Her Eyes

The bathroom tile was incredibly cold, cold enough to give Vinyl Scratch goosebumps despite being against a warm body. She opened her eyes to see herself staring back at her in the full length mirror. Vinyl took a deep, shaky breath, letting the familiar chemicals invade her nostrils.
“You’re going to have to take your glasses off.” Octavia quietly said as she ran a gloved hoof through Vinyl’s mane. Their eyes met in the mirror. Well, Octavia’s eyes met the purple lenses of Vinyl’s signature glasses. Vinyl bit her lip. Octavia cocked her head.
“Look, I can just do it myself. I’ve been dyeing my mane since I was a filly.” Vinyl protested as she moved to stand up. Octavia firmly pushed her back down.

Vinyl sighed as the cramped bathroom’s temperature seemed to drop even further. She suddenly felt silly and plain without her usual eccentric look, compared to her marefriend’s natural elegance. Octavia could look elegant anywhere. Vinyl instinctively ran a hoof through her dark blue mane. She knew what she wanted to say, yet the words seemed to be elusive.
“I... I trust you, Tavi. That’s why I’m letting you do this. Because I need to show you more trust. I usually don’t even let people touch my mane.” Vinyl said to Octavia’s reflection. “But... I never, ever take off my glasses. Ever. And you know that. And I still trust you and everything.” Octavia simply looked downwards, causing Vinyl’s stomach to drop.
“Vinyl... please.” Octavia sounded as if she barely had the strength to speak. Vinyl took another shaky breath and surrounded her glasses with a magical blue aura, blurring her vision. They both heard the soft click of the glasses on the tile. With a small smile, Octavia looked up at the reflection of her marefriend to finally see her eyes... shut. Octavia couldn't take it.
“God, Vinyl, it’s as if you’re a foal. You're so damn stubborn. I’m in love with you, and you can’t even trust me enough to show me your eyes. I love you. Do you honestly think I’m going to judge you for that? I don't believe you.” Vinyl remained silent as her eyes filled with tears, stinging them, as Octavia's quiet but intense voice pierced into her. Reflexively, she opened her eyes, only to see something she hadn’t seen in years. She left them open, almost dumbfounded. Frozen. She’d almost forgotten. Octavia gasped a little as tears continued to stream down Vinyl’s cheeks. The two sat there, Octavia on the edge of the tub, for what seemed like an eternity. Almost frozen in time, just staring. Breathing. Blinking. Silence. Eyes met eyes for the first time. A rush of emotions that will never have the words to be put on paper. Staring. Breathing. Blinking. Silence.

Vinyl stood in front of the mirror, a blue-enveloped hairbrush running through her mane. She bowed her head a bit to check for any spots Octavia missed. Her marefriend had been diligent, especially after what Vinyl had done for her. Octavia stepped into the bathroom, her hooves echoing softly on the tile. Vinyl turned around to greet her.
“Thank you.” Octavia said as she wrapped her hooves around Vinyl’s neck. A bit startled, Vinyl dropped the hairbrush. Octavia jumped slightly as it hit the floor, pulling herself closer to Vinyl.
“Shh, Tavi...” Vinyl whispered as she nuzzled into her marefriend’s neck.
“I love you for who you are.” Octavia reassured Vinyl. “As cliché as it sounds.” Vinyl sniffled again, tears welling back up in her eyes. Tavi let go and put her face so it was almost touching Vinyl’s. She tried looking through the glasses to see Vinyl’s eyes, but as usual, all she could see was purple. But the difference was: Octavia now understood why. She smiled slightly at her marefriend, and it wasn’t far to go for a kiss.

Octavia had seen Vinyl’s eyes, and hadn’t cared. It made Vinyl unsure of why she’d kept them hidden for so long. She’d barely formed this thought before the memories flooded back. No, not flooded, trickled. A slow enough drip for Vinyl to divert the flow. She’d be fine. But then again, Octavia loved her. Not everyone did. But the world seemed so... unchanged, even after her biggest secret was revealed. The bathroom floor was still chilled, the dye still smelled like death, and Octavia was still Octavia. Combing dye carefully through small sections of Vinyl’s mane. Octavia was surprisingly skilled at it, but then again, she done it before. Even with magic, Vinyl always found it hard dyeing her own tail, though her mane was a breeze. A sort of serenity washed over the both of them. Vinyl felt oddly philosophical, though that could’ve just been the chemicals.
“So you really don’t think any differently of me?” Vinyl asked hesitantly.
“Mmm-mm.” Octavia said, unable to speak due to the comb in her mouth. She set it down. “Well, that’s not true. I think a lot better of you now. I’m just happy you trust me completely.” Vinyl shut her eyes and smiled as shivers went up her spine. It was if she had been chained to a wall her whole life, and was suddenly set free. Vinyl wasn’t the best at metaphors. Or was that an analogy? She could never tell.
“Okay, it’s finished.” Octavia broke the jumble in Vinyl’s mind. Vinyl smiled and turned around, craning her neck to get a better view of her bluer tail. She turned her head to thank Octavia, but was silenced by a simple kiss. They’d kissed before. A lot, actually. But there was almost... relief in this kiss, from both parties. In a quick peck.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”

Comments

[Impress Me]

Hmmm. That was interesting. I don't want to sound like a jerk but this could use a few more spaces. Other than that, it wasn't bad

[LunaLover1990]

A few grammatical errors, and could use a bit more space, but all in all... Wonderful stories. Really worked up the feels in just a thousand words.

[Private Riften Guard]

I like how the word count is a exactly at 1,000.

[Impress Me]

2267009

[not plu]

2266932 2266992 I was hesitant about space, and definitely realize the issue there, but I felt like it couldn't be broken up well. But then again, I wrote this at about 2 AM, when my writing lacks common sense. That would also explain the grammatical errors, which I shall probably fix if I'm not too lazy.

2267009 It was actually super difficult to get to 1000 words. I was at about 997 when I finished it, and randomly put three extra words in.

[TrigaByte]

You need to break up your paragraphs a bit more, it's supposed ti change each time somepony talks. I love it other than that. So beautiful.

[ForlanceAbice]

Nice... Very neutral too.
I like that.

[not plu]

2268419 It does. You don't need a full double spacing, just a single one.

[artofwar77]

I feel like I've missed something.

What exactly was the issue with her eyes?

[not plu]

2277828 That's the point. That you never know.
I'm actually surprised no one has asked this yet.

[artofwar77]

2278051

I figured as much. I imagine the other readers did, too.

[SPart]

2281354 2278051
her eyes are red ?! (as rei's) so what's the big deal?

this one shot short story was nice ... but well, damn short ... you know ?

[not plu]

3337625
It never states that they're red. And most things I write are short.

[SPart]

3337959
they are red on 99,99% of all fan arts ?!

[not plu]

3338518
Who said I was aligning with fan art?

[SPart]

3338827
me
when there is no information about something, people use their own imagination to fill gaps

[Starguy135]

3338984 I imagined them as black yawning cavities where no light escapes

But maybe that's just me

[SPart]

3342263
well good? for you then

[Elric of Melnipony]

Um, you're missing indentation on several of your paragraphs.

3338518
Most fan art is incorrect. People chose red as her eye color, then stubbornly refused to change when it was revealed in the show.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2012/11/15/152730.png

[Bookish Delight]

The content itself was an uplifting joy to read.

But please edit this. As it was, I almost missed out.

[jszellmer]

2278051 Great story. At least in the context of this story, I like to believe that she's blind and has been perceiving reality through her magic.

[not plu]

3619282
That's actually awesome. Even I hadn't thought of that.

[jszellmer]

3619314 Thank you. Part of it came from her statement that she had a hard time reaching her tail and I imagined that it was because she couldn't see it and was feeling around with her magic. I keep thinking of her as having cataracts, or something similar, and that's why she doesn't like taking her glasses off: because she's afraid people will think less of her or treat her differently if the knew she was blind. Again, great story and a great read.

[KibaWR]

3619282 That's a petty nice idea actually^^ it'd be fun to play around with that^^

[KibaWR]

3436415 I guess they just do it because it looks awesome^^ Personally I dont care if they're said to be purple or red in fiction. Vinyl is awesome. Period^^

[jszellmer]

3619314 After rereading your fic, I found a flaw in my original premise:

She opened her eyes to see herself staring back at her in the full length mirror.

I missed that the first time. Still trying to come up with a workable explanation, but, for now, I'm going with the following: Unicorns are capable of perceiving reality through their magic. Touch is a simple task that most Unicorns are easily able to learn. Unicorns can also learn how to 'see' through their magic, creating images of reality in their minds, using their eyes as a focus in a complex interaction between magic, eyes and brain. Because this 'sight' (rather than perceiving reality through touch) is contingent on acting through the eyes, it has the drawback that it only works when the eyes are open. Thus, it's largely redundant except in darkness or for a blind character, which is why most regular ponies don't bother learning it, if their aware of it at all. The other drawbacks to this are an inability to perceive color and a tendency for details fade over distance, like being nearsighted. Hopefully that covers any mistakes I made.

[not plu]

3649453
Oh man, I completely forgot about that line too. But that theory is awesome! Somebody should definitely write a fic based on that.

[yamgoth]

I remember that an author did up Vinyl up as an albino and upon reading this story, that was my first impression, especially after stating that she needed to dye her hair.

Prolly not the intention of the story at all, but this is the first story I've read since then that reminded me of albino Vinyl.

[Air Heart]

I would draw a Picture of this fic, half because I want to and half because i want to draw a picture that tells 1000 words.

but I would need to show vinyl's eyes to do so, and that doesn't keep to the story very well. soo I don't know.

that said while I only Favorited it just now, I read it around a year-ish ago and enjoyed it, and I enjoy it now

[not plu]

4256906 You should totally draw a picture of this! You could just do Vinyl's eyes shut, right before she opens them.

[Air Heart]

4260518 Somehow I didn't think of that. i am not a clever pony, derp

[Spinner of Tales]

The Tali'Zorah Treatment

For when you f*cking hate your audience.

I love it.

[King of Kings]

2267042
I get it now...also, you are absolutely correct.