//------------------------------// // Ch 2: Sing A Song // Story: Alterverse: Aftermath // by Lord King Cocoon //------------------------------// Vinyl Scratch was at her turntables using her equipment to play synth instruments. Meanwhile, Silver Spoon was singing. “If I go crazy, then will you still call me Mare Do Well? If I’m lying there, will you pick me up after I fell? I’ll keep you by my side with my-” KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK The sudden knock on the door caused Silver Spoon to jump into the air before dashing behind Vinyl for protection. Seeing this hurt Vinyl, knowing what the foalnapping had done to her. Vinyl then sighed before heading to the door to see who it was. Opening the door, Vinyl saw that it was Trixie at the door, “Hi, is Silver Spoon and Octavia home? I just wanted to see how they are doing after the other day’s events.” “As much as she wanted to stay with Silver Spoon, Tavi had a performance in Canterlot that she couldn’t cancel just to comfort her daughter,” Vinyl said with synthesized voice, “But Silver Spoon is here. She’s hiding behind my sound system. The knock on the door freaked her out.” Trixie cringed at the thought. Obviously she didn’t intend to scare the filly. But it happened nonetheless, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare her,” Trixie apologized, “Is she okay?” “Yeah, more or less,” Vinyl said, “I’m taking care of her until Tavi gets back.” Trixie nodded before she headed towards the sound system to see Silver Spoon peek out from behind, “Silver Spoon?” Trixie said in a gentle voice, “I’m sorry for scaring you. I didn’t mean to. I came to see how you’re doing.” Silver Spoon slowly came out from behind the sound system as Vinyl went into the other room, “Y-You’re one of the ponies that saved us, right?” Trixie answered the filly with a nod, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to run. It’s just-” “Don’t be sorry. It’s not your fault,” Trixie said, “You went through a harsh experience. It’d be foolish to think you would get out of that unphased.” “Will… Will I get back to normal?” Silver Spoon asked, “Will I stop being scared at any unexpected sound?” Trixie walked over to the sofa, Silver Spoon following, “It’s expected that you’d be…” Trixie pauses as she noticed the sofa was split down the middle with two different colors. She then took a good look at the house and how it was split down the middle in two tones, “Your mother and Vinyl don’t agree on colors, do they?” “We compromised and did halvsies,” Vinyl said as she walked back in, carrying three bowls of ice cream in her magic, “It works for us.” “I’ve never really thought about it,” Silver Spoon said. “But it looks like you bought two different sofas and stuck them together,” Trixie pointed out. “That’s kind of true and not true,” Vinyl said, giving two of the three bowls to Trixie and Silver Spoon, “We did go to a shop to get ideas for the different styles. Tavi wanted the fancy classical style, and I wanted a more modern style. We made our choices and requested to get a sofa custom made. That certainly cost a pretty bit. But it’s a good quality sofa. We even got it magically enchanted to resist damage.” Vinyl used her magic to create a magical blade and cut the fabric of the sofa. After cutting, the tear just restitched itself. “That’s…different,” Trixie said hesitantly, taking a bite of ice cream, “But certainly creative.” “The enchantment is limited, so we can’t cause too much damage to it,” Vinyl specified, “But we’re not exactly rectless, so it’s not an issue. The worst this sofa gets is maybe a stain here or a demonstration of it’s magic there. Or using it as a stage.” Silver Spoon’s face went red at the mention, indicating who that applies to. “We’re getting off topic,” Trixie pointed out, “I was here to check on Silver Spoon.” “Well, a little side conversation to pass the time never hurt, right?” Vinyl asked. “I suppose,” Trixie said before returning her attention to Silver Spoon, “Anyway, where was I? Oh right. You went through a traumatic experience. It’s expected that you wouldn’t get out of it unphased. Although seeing Scootaloo earlier makes me question that assumption.” “So… I’m gonna be jumpy like this forever?” Silver Spoon whimpered? “Of course not,” Trixie said, trying to comfort the filly, “I mean, you may subconsciously be more cautious indefinitely. But your paranoia should go away in a month or two. And your jumpy behavior should be gone by the end of the week.” In truth, Trixie didn’t actually know much about the psychology of trauma victims. She was just guessing. But from what little she knows of Silver Spoon, Trixie had deducted that she is mildly introverted. This means that her jumpy behavior could simply be paranoia enhanced by introvertedness. “Do you really think I’ll be okay by next week?” Silver Spoon asked hopefully. “I’m not exactly an expert in psychology. So forgive me if I ask for a margin of error of a few days,” Trixie said, “And as I said, the jumpy part should be gone by then. You won’t be fully okay for a little while. But if it’s the jumpy part, I can see that being gone in a week. Ten days max.” “So, I’ll still be jumpy like this for a week?” “That’s right. A week feels like much longer to a filly your age than a mare my age,” Trixie said, “Saying it’ll be just a week to ten days is probably harsher for you than it would be for me.” “Well, with how boring school can be, I’m sure that there won’t be much to cause you to jump,” Vinyl said, “I mean, if you can keep track of time so that the school bell doesn’t take you off guard.” “That’s an unfortunate fact,” Trixie conceded, “But if you can get through that, then that’s all you need. On a side note, Did I hear singing earlier?” “Yeah, that was me,” Silver Spoon said bashfully. “When your mother comes from a family of musicians, music tends to come naturally to you,” Vinyl elaborated, “And when your father is known for his speaking skills, that musical talent tends to come out in the form of singing.” “Her father?” Trixie asked. “Silver Tongue,” Vinyl said. Vinyl didn’t need to say any more. Silver Tongue’s negotiation skills were legendary. “Would it be too much for me to ask you to sing a song?” Trixie asked, genuinely curious. “Well, I’ve never actually had an audience before, other than my mom and aunt Vinyl,” Silver Spoon said. “Don’t be shy, Silver,” Vinyl said as she walked over to her equipment, “You have a great voice that should be heard. Here, I’ll even get you started.” Vinyl starts up the sound system as music started to play. Silver Spoon listened to the beat of the music. Though she was nervous, she let the music wash over her. Silver Spoon then began to sing. So I know what you've been thinking That you're the only thing that's lurking in the night You aren't safe within in the shadows 'Cause tonight begins the hunt and you're in sight Moonlit eyes under still and haunting sky I can see within the soul you've stowed away Tend your fire, draw this cursed evening's ire Try your odds and you just might become the prey Trixie’s eyes began to glow as she watches the magic in the room. That adrenaline rush when weapons fly It's the fear that brings out that body high So you know that I'm stuck here paralyzed with you In a midnight clash of circumstance At the mercy of your lack of chance I will bring myself to see this challenge through It's a stalemate In a twist of fate When you're face to face with death itself Grounds of battle where no heroes dwell For a light thrill Or a cold night's chill You will be this hunter's golden prize If you leave your guard down, paralyzed Trixie watches the ambient magic in the room. It seems to flow with the music in a strange way. If she didn’t know better, she would’ve thought that the ambient magic was harmonizing with the music and dancing along. Wicked traps are set around you Not a lantern lit in sight to guide you home You've been looking for the danger And you sense my presence chilling in your bones Take your stance, I will give you one fair chance So let's make this dance a bloody masquerade Understand how this ends, and what I am You're against the night itself, so be afraid That adrenaline rush when weapons fly It's the fear that brings out that body high So you know that I'm stuck here paralyzed with you In a midnight clash of circumstance At the mercy of your lack of chance I will bring myself to see this challenge through It's a stalemate In a twist of fate When you're face to face with death itself Grounds of battle where no heroes dwell For a light thrill Or a cold night's chill You will be this hunter's golden prize If you leave your guard down, paralyzed As the darkness takes the light Shadows crawling through the night I will let you take my hoof But I hope you understood That it's always been the same Bringing thunder with the rain But you shouldn't be afraid Of the games they like to play Every moment left alone Gets to feeling more like home Leaving chills under your skin So let's start to settle in Through the multitude of eyes Taking shapes under the skies Aren't you curious to see What kind of monster you've set free You try to scream but there's no sound Try to hide but you'll be found You'll be next to bear the mark From the tendrils in the dark That adrenaline rush when weapons fly It's the fear that brings out that body high So you know that I'm stuck here paralyzed with you In a midnight clash of circumstance At the mercy of your lack of chance I will bring myself to see this challenge through It's a stalemate In a twist of fate When you're face to face with death itself Grounds of battle where no heroes dwell For a light thrill Or a cold night's chill You will be this hunter's golden prize If you leave your guard down, paralyzed The song ended, and in turn, the ambient magic stopped it’s ‘dance’. “You have quite a Grrreat and Powerful voice, Silver Spoon,” Trixie praised as the glow from her eyes faded, “Your singing is so moving that the ambient magic in the room itself was dancing along.” “Oh, my singing isn’t that good,” Silver Spoon blushed. “Oh, but I’m serious,” Trixie said, “I’ve only known of one other pony in Equestria that can cause ambient magic to react in a similar way. And that’s Princess Luna herself.” “I’m no expert on ambient magic, so I can’t validate that claim,” Vinyl said, “But as for the singing voice, Trixie is correct about your singing. It really does sound great.” “You also seem a lot less jumpy,” Trixie pointed out, “Does singing help to calm you down?” “I guess it does,” Silver Spoon admitted, “I guess I’ve never thought about it before. But whenever I feel upset, singing always does seem to help me feel better.” “Well, it seems to work well enough to carry over after the song is done,” Trixie said, “Perhaps you should consider singing more just for the sake of relieving your anxiety.” “Do you really think it would work?” “If nothing else, you have nothing to lose,” Trixie pointed out. “Best case scenario, it will get you through your anxiety quicker and easier,” Vinyl said matter of factly, “Worst case scenario, nothing changes, and you still get to do what you love. I can see no way of there being a negative scenario from this.” “What if one of my classmates hears me singing, and I end up embarrassing myself in front of them?” Silver Spoon asked. “How I see it, the only one who can embarrass you is you,” Vinyl said before elaborating, “You’re a great singer, so that’s nothing to be ashamed of. If anypony tries to tease you for your singing, it can only get under your skin if you let it. And I doubt anypony would honestly tease you about it. They would most likely want to listen rather than claim it’s bad. If a pony tries to heckle you after your done with a song, ask yourself why they would wait until the song is finished before heckling you. The most likely answer is that they wanted to hear the song to the end without interruption. If they don’t interrupt you, the most likely reason is that they liked it, but don’t want to admit to it.” “Sorry to cut the conversation short, but I should go check up on how Dinky is doing,” Trixie said. After saying their goodbyes, Trixie headed out towards the Doo residence.