Waking up was something that I was beginning to appreciate more and more everyday, for a variety of reasons that I'd rather not think about. The unfamiliar sound of a gentle tweeting sound coming from my window stirred me from sleep, being rare for how deep in the city I lived. I usually took it as a good omen for the day to come - Mom said that was a healthy way of looking at it, but then again she always woke up to birds on her and Father's estate.
Wishful thinking I suppose.
Another odd thing about waking up this morning was having my vision filled with slivers of hair that made up my bangs, something that could be attributed to how little time I had had for proper hygiene such as combing as of late.
My eyes skimmed around the room that had been growing distant from me as of late - cello in corner with a thin film of dust gathering on it. I needed to practice today, possibly go to a spot in town with Vinyl and play a little - but not in a sunny part of town, possibly outside the theater. Moving on from that idea, odd aches and pains began surfacing from all over my body - particularly my limbs and neck, as if I had been wearing a tight hoof band, but they were in oddly... intimate areas as well.
'I wonder why I might be...' My thoughts trailed off as my memory of last night began to jog and my cheeks began to heat.
"Oh...my..." Was all I could manage to stammer as my memories raced over all the talks mother had given me about a particular subject containing and avian and flying insect.
Though, my racing mind hit a wall as the smell of freshly brewed tea graced my nose, which followed with the grumbling of my stomach.
"I wonder if Vinyl and her mother are already up." I mumbled to myself, though the answer was obvious judging from the absence of a white mare next to me. It was odd, considering Vinyl didn't exactly strike me as a morning person.
A first for everyone I suppose.
I slid myself over to the side of the bed, pushing the comforter off of myself with a tinge of regret and letting my hind legs dangle off so my hooves could rest gently on the carpet. I eventually managed to get myself over to the door, morning fatigue still weighing on me like a cloak of lead as I opened the door to the hallway and stumbled out.
Or as far as I could get into the hall at least, it was a bit hard with the plush wall of white chest in the way.
I normally would've tried to remove myself out of instinct, but the aches pulsing through my bones seemed to force me to melt into Vinyl, as if it were part instinct.
"Well dear, I appreciate the gesture. I'd thought you'd still be asleep after last night." The voice of definitely-not-Vinyl chuckled with amusement.
I suppose shock and embarrassment should have been my first reactions, and they were mentally, but physically I could manage no more than a grumble, but didn't budge. A few more seconds might help on the trek to the living room.
"Need some help dear?" Vinyl's mother asked, mockingly in a way, but not devoid of kindness.
"No." I replied curtly, hearing the whining of a horn.
"I'll be in the living room then." She replied, with two uncomfortably bright flashes of light shortly following, along with the support of Vinyl's mother disappearing.
'Teleporting at this early in the morning? At least she took the courtesy of steadying me.' I thought to myself as I began trudging forwards.
Admittedly, it wasn't that bad - I could've moved on my own if I truly wanted, but being able to and being willing to are two completely different prospects.
Walking into the living room, I was greeted by a pleasant surprise; a cup of tea wrapped in a neon blue haze. When I looked to find Vinyl’s gaze on the couch however, I found her soft and feathered looking mane nestled into a corner of the sofa as she breathed rhythmically.
"Thank you Vinyl." I said gratefully, but also exhausted.
"She won't hear you dear, but I'm sure she appreciates your gratitude." Vinyl's mother commented, walking from out of the kitchen with a cup of her own.
"What do you mean by that?" I asked quizzically, getting what seemed like a giggle from Vinyl's mother as my legs began to recover from numbness.
"She's asleep dear. Has been since a couple of hours ago." She continued happily.
"Then how's she..." I began, but mumbled off as I kept looking at the cup still floating in the air.
"Oh, It's something she does fairly often, believe it or not. Her instincts still function when she's in a deep sleep - just watch." She said, taking a stirring spoon and tossing it over the couch towards Vinyl, only to have it wrapped in blue and remain stagnant in the air until Vinyl's mother reached forwards and grabbed it with her hoof.
I found that I could only stare at the spoon in a mix of awe and wonder.
"You wouldn't believe how helpful it was with doing the dishes when she was younger. Just toss something towards her and she'd hold it until you picked it up again. Though, if you throw it fast enough she'll shoot it out of the air, so you have to find the sweet spot." She continued.
"But as for why she floated you over a cup of tea, I have no idea. Usually all her ‘sleep magic’ is in response to the environment around her, not about manipulating it." She continued.
"Maybe you just mean that much to her." Vinyl's mother said in hushed whisper, teasing and slightly serious.
I began moving towards the couch, eyes locked onto the cup as it floated along with me until I finally sat down on the middle cushion of the couch and took it out of the air. Vinyl's mother shortly joined us as the room drifted into a silence as I took a few sips.
The silence brought out the various aches and pains that throbbed from my limbs and neck, as well as a few other places, but this silence wasn’t tense - something that was sadly rare - but more of a relaxing one where one might sit back and look at nothing in particular.
"So, I'm willing to guess that you play that box with strings in your room?"
I choked on my tea.
"B-box with strings? You mean my cello?" I stammered, offended at her naming of my neglected pride and joy.
"Seems I've hit a nerve." She said slyly, but also offering a nervous chuckle.
"Do you play?" I asked, the memory of Vinyl being an expert on music bringing up the idea that her mother might be even wiser. Though she did just address a cello as 'a box with strings'.
"I assume you ask that based on Vinyl's expertise?" She asked before letting out a sigh.
I nodded.
"Unfortunately that's Vinyl's niche, and I doubt you'll ever meet anyone more knowledgeable on the subject of music." She said, wistful but still with much respect towards her daughter's achievements in music.
I cast a glance over to Vinyl, curled up facing the cushions so that not even her face was visible.
"Just how far does she span in that subject?" I asked.
"It’s easier to say where she doesn’t. Give her music notes and any instrument and she'll play it better than the person who made it can." Her mother commented, no hint of jest or boasting in her voice.
Silence was my only comment as I mulled over the answer.
"She's spent lifetimes devoting herself to her craft - something that most vampires don't do. Usually our urges override the idea of mastering anything, like an addiction of sorts, but she even fasted in order to properly devote herself to music." Vinyl's mother went on, taking occasional sips of her tea.
"But my words don't do justice, take her to a concert hall around here and ask her to play something, or anything really. Then watch as the 'poverty stricken, shaggy, street mare’ makes heads turn and jaws drop." She said, pride more than audible. She also made it obvious that she had heard the haughty scrutiny that Vinyl commonly received.
T'was a miracle that there hadn't been a jump in deaths around town with Vinyl's mother knowing about that.
"However dear, a better conversation to be had - or an equally valuable one I should say - is your future." She said, garnering my attention. I looked to her and found that both her eyes were open a tad and with a serious gaze in them as I realized what she meant.
"Tha...That's right." I stammered.
It was odd that I didn't feel as guilty as I did about giving up my normalcy, but something felt right about how I had come to the decision. It felt comfortable.
Telling my parent's was going to be a nightmare.
"So...I've...become a vampire?" I said, though it was more of a question to Vinyl's mom.
Though, when I looked to her, she seemed very grim at my statement.
"You've been given something that my daughter has never even considered giving to anyone. Tarnish it, and it will be your undoing. This is the last time I will be stern with you over this matter, as I've learned through many years that I don't like to repeat myself - and that I often don't need to." She said, her icy demeanor being interrupted by a mewl from Vinyl.
She let out a heavy sigh, eyes shutting and her serious attitude falling as if it had been a facade the entire time.
"I mean no offense, but I'm beginning to get offended by your distrust of me." I said, albeit meekly, but honestly. She had warned me about crossing her or Vinyl enough times to make my head spin.
It was a few seconds, though they felt like hours, before she spoke again - strain seeming to go through the lids of her eyes as she mull over something in her mind. Though when she did, she spoke with a certain amount of trust that wasn't heard in her past warning.
"Perhaps you're different." She said simply, almost as if she didn't quite trust the words that came from her own mouth.
"My daughter seems to think so, but she's also not the wisest." She said, another tired sigh following shortly after. Her icy blue eyes cracking back open slightly - like a gate to a land unseen in them before - and lingered on Vinyl before a small smile formed.
"'Different'? What do you mean by that?" I asked curiously, brow rising.
"She sees a difference in you compared others, present in your actions and reactions to things. Like your innocence, or how you-" Vinyl's mother began to say, only to get cut off at the end.
"-question everything." Another voice spoke in a sort of soft and mellow tone that sent shivers down my spine. It was a certain sound that held lifetimes of experience, sage and slow because they knew that there was time to spare - and that these words were meant to be taken to the heart, as they came from someone's own.
I turned my head slightly to Vinyl, watching as she rose up slowly, like the sun she evaded for the most part. She kept speaking as she lifted herself up, continuing to stare down until she was almost entirely upright before leaning back into the armrest of the sofa and meet my gaze. I also noted Vinyl's mother looking respectfully at her daughter's, eyes still open, taking in the sound of her words in a similar way that I was.
"You think way too much, and make a subtle change in your breathing when you do. Your eyes flicker as you speak to people, learning things and reacting to them. You're naive and innocent, not that I'm one to speak about that, but at the same time are fully aware of the nature of people."
A bit of silence before she continued, neither me or her mother thinking of adding in a comment.
"There's a lot to love about you Tavi - more than one could list and more than you give yourself credit for - but that's just another reason to do it."
When she finished speaking, her eyes sort of shifted to reveal that they were filled with bliss - and also a hint of guilt. It was only after that that I felt the heat in my cheeks.
"I got told something you might like to hear - or maybe not, I don't know. It went: 'Life's a song, one that you make yourself, and love is like the lyrics that can only be added by another that you must choose.'" She said, her tone more gentle now, but also more serious than it had been when she was talking to me.
My eyes widened a bit as the words bounced around in my head for a few seconds before settling in a very delicate place. A place that had, arguably, been the whole reason I met Vinyl.
A few seconds after she said it, her face filled with a light blush that turned her white cheeks a shade of light pink as she smiled with a bit of embarrassment, but also a bit of nervousness as if she were worried what I would make out of what she had said.
“Jeez that’s cheesy. More like of one of those quotes you keep in your head but don’t ever say out loud.” She said, chuckling lightly as her hoof found that commonly rubbed place on the back of her neck.
"You..." Was all I could get out as I felt my throat begin to burn slightly as my eyes welled a little, getting a simple nod from Vinyl as she recomposed herself.
Admittedly, this entire scenario was a bit awkward - and would definitely would be seen as cheesy if it were on a sidewalk or somewhere public. Then again, you'd expect to see some haughty noble saying it, not someone like Vinyl - it gave the words meaning and honesty when she said them.
And all I could do was let tears run free as I thought of who had said those words.
“T-Tavi? Shi-.” Vinyl cursed, her voice sounding panicked and self scolding.
“Language.” The voice of Vinyl’s mother said, hardly any hint of seriousness, out of amusement at Vinyl’s ability to misread my emotions.
“Sorr-” She began, but I cut her off as I all but bounded onto her in an eager embrace, my still welling tears flowing more freely into her quickly dampening chest.
*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*...Vinyl’s Mother*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*
“You sure you have to go Mom?” My daughter asked, eyes looking at me with obvious sadness, but also a repressed feeling of concern. The concern wasn’t for herself, but, rather foolishly, for me.
The question she was really asking me was ‘Are you sure you want to leave, Mom?’
But in truth, I wanted them to have their own time to themselves - to see how they went on without me and possibly check up with them farther down the road. I’d let time be the test for Octavia’s words and Vinyl’s opinion - as it had been in the past. Vinyl was a smart girl when it came to judgement, and that grey mare seemed level headed enough to understand the promise in my threats.
“Sadly, I do dear. As much as I’d love to stay and give you some proper maternal attention, I know that you both need some alone time to yourselves.” I teased, getting that adorable blush to surface across her pale cheeks - which one she blushed at I had no idea, though it was probably both.
“M-Mom...” She said, trying to make herself small.
“Too-da-loo you two, be sure to write.” I said, waving one final goodbye to my blushing daughter and her equally red mare-friend who was trying to calm offer sympathy.
The door shut gently and a sigh left my lips.
“I love my job as a mother.” I said to myself quietly, a charge of magic flowing to my horn being triggered by the thought of the outside of the city, and a white umbrella from that grey mare’s closet.
A small breeze flowing through my mane signified that I had arrived my destination, as well as the satisfying crunch of the grass and dirt beneath my hooves as my weight settled in.
The sun’s warmth quickly turned to an unbearable, searing burn as I opened my newly acquired umbrella and shielded myself. The image of my daughter standing on the grassy plains filled my eyes, a steady stream of steam rolling off of her as she simply brushed aside the brunt feeling of cremation.
‘You beautiful, foolish daughter of mine.’
I turned my head to my next destination - anywhere. I figured I might travel from town to town on my way out, gathering a few snacks from some unsuspecting ponies on the way. Where I wanted to settle and for how long was up to me, for now at least.
A smile graced my lips as I felt a pair of eyes start watching me again, not daring to take any action, but simply observing.
They had been watching me for a while now, but they had become careless after I reunited with my daughter - as if they got excited at her appearance and started making careless mistakes. They didn’t seem to be keen on my awareness of them.
‘Though, I feel as though I won’t be wandering for long.’ I thought to myself, setting one hoof in front of the other as I started walking, their eyes calmly following me as I went.
I opened my own for a peek, and felt them quickly hide. Admittedly, I wasn’t looking at them.
‘Enjoy your rest, dear daughter, while you can.’