//------------------------------// // Vinyl, Chapter 8: Compromising Positions // Story: Never Miss A Beat // by TaleweaverTheUnicorn //------------------------------// “Sorry colts and especially fillies, I think if I do another encore, they’ll actually kick me out!” Vinyl called, her hoarse voice amped up with magic to be heard over her music. “So thank you, and good night!” She hopped down from the stage. The Bubble she had taken before the show had mostly worn off, but gravity still pulled on her more like a suggestion than a demand, and she had been easily able to hoist herself around with magic during the show. Which was good, because her hooves were crazy sore, and no amount of potion-fueled euphoria would drown out their complaints any more. She loved dancing, but it was much easier to just flop like a ragdoll in her own magical grip at this point. Vinyl had been playing shows basically nonstop. Part of that was the garden party shaped hole in her finances. The other was that, well, any downtime at all was basically an invitation for disaster. When she wasn’t playing live, she booked studios and got hype going around a new album so she couldn’t back out of doing one. Her latest had only just hit shelves and digital distributions, but whatever. Whatever filled the hours. When even that well ran dry. . . Well. Disaster. Either mental gymnastics that tied her in knots and left her miserable, or the usual cause-and-answer to all her problems. Crossed Wires gave her a high hoof as the two swapped places, Vinyl heading backstage to rest and Wires onstage to start packing up. The filly had really been blossoming over these weeks they’d been working together. Vinyl had been busy enough to hire two other fillies to help with her equipment, since she’d taken to bringing the keyboard with her too, and Wires, ‘Wired’ as she went by now, had stepped up to show them the ropes. She’d also shaved half her mane, painted her face up, and grown out her tail. It was a really good look, honestly. If Wired wasn’t firmly in the ‘daughter’ category, Vinyl would have been all about it. As it was, Vinyl just gave the fillies following Wired a hard mom look. They wilted appropriately and kept their eyes clear of her flank. Good. Vinyl collapsed onto a couch in the greenroom. It was sorta gross, just like the bar it was in, but not gross enough to overpower her tiredness. She tucked the jacket she had been wearing under her head and willed herself to pass out. Unfortunately, she was still too full of adrenaline for that, yet way, way too tired to get up. Oh well. She supposed she could just lie here forever until she starved. That was probably fine. “Iv- Vinyl.” That got her up. “Mother.” Vinyl said, trying her hardest to keep her voice even. She blinked repeatedly, as if she’d been hit with a bright light. “Uh, you’re here, physically? That’s. . . Very unexpected, I’m going to be honest.” Harpsichord Delight, old Harpy, was a small pony, but her presence filled a room like the stench from a rotten egg. She wore an elegant half dress, short enough to stay off the ground, but far too formal for any not-wealthy-enough-to-have-a-personal-tailor pony to wear around town, especially to a dive bar. Epaulets draped over her shoulders, and two golden chains with attached ruby and emerald teardrops were tied between the buttons on her chest and her right shoulder. Her mane and tail were luxuriously long, long enough to drape along the ground were they not tied up in elaborate knots and bound with gold chain and gemstones. Two stallions flanked her, standing demurely four hoofsteps back. One was a large earth pony, the family butler, Salt and Pepper. The other- “Dad!” Vinyl straight up gasped. She rushed forward, twisting her hooves around to wrap him in a hug, which he returned in force. The two of them balanced precariously against each other for a long moment. “Vinyl.” He said, smiling. Comet Tail was a taller Canterlot breed unicorn, willowy, kept slim and trim by a regimented light exercise and diet routine. Definitely didn’t look old enough to have a daughter Vinyl’s age. Each time Vinyl saw him, the apparent age gap between him and Harpy seemed to grow, which made her laugh. She gave him a final squeeze and stepped back. “Good to see you too, Salt and Pepper.” Vinyl said, nodding at the butler. That much wasn’t a lie at least, he’d always been nice to her. “My lady.” He bowed, his rich voice rumbling like a sweet baseline. “A pleasure, as always.” “How was the charity season, pops?” Vinyl said, eying Harpy out of the corner of her eye. She was being remarkably patient by not immediately shutting down any non-her-centric conversation, which was weird as heck.  “Both enjoyable and productive.” Dad said, with a genuine smile. “The Element of Generosity did a Canterlot tour not too long ago, and seems to have inspired ponies.” “Hey, that’s awesome!”  “How are you, sweetheart?” His eyes held worry. He would never come right out and say it, but he had been worried about her ever since Harpy kicked her out. Maybe even before. “Ah you know. Keeping busy.” Vinyl smiled. “Maybe a little too busy, hmm?” He ruffled her hair gently with a touch of magic. “Indeed” Harpy interrupted. Apparently that was as far as her fragile patience would stretch. “It’s rather inspiring, save for some of these locales. Still, I have heard rumors of another album, and the sales figures for your latest release are inspiring. It seems you have really made something of yourself.” “Against all odds?” Vinyl smiled, wryly. She adjusted her shades to better block out the view of her mother. It didn’t work as well as she’d hoped, Harpy having the same piercing ruby stare that Vinyl herself did. “I didn’t say that.” Harpy’s voice was coated in audible plausible deniability.  “It’s fine, I know what you meant. And I appreciate the compliment.” Vinyl moved back towards the couch, magically fiddling with her headphones in a clear ‘buck you’ manner. “But if it’s nothing urgent, I could really use a nap. I have a few minutes left before my techs finish up, and then I’m probably getting on a train somewhere.” “Your next show is also here in Canterlot. I researched this before I came here.” Harpy brushed a speck of dust from her epaulets. “I have a proposition for you, while you are in town.” “Uh oh. And you brought Dad because. . ?” “Because this concerns the whole family. I invited Inkwell, but she is away on royal business.” Harpy took a sharp breath, as if she had stepped on a nail, and spoke quickly. “I am considering rescinding your disinheritance.” That got Vinyl’s attention.  “. . . Are you sick, or something?” She asked. Harpy could have told her Celestia was going to snuff out the sun, and that would have been less surprising to her. Vinyl wouldn’t have thought there was a force on earth that would get her to change her mind on that. It kinda pissed her off, honestly. She lived on the streets for months, and now that she was starting to make her own future, she wanted to give it back?  “I am not sick. Though your concern is touching. I appreciate it.” Harpy said, cold as winter. “If I may return the sentiment, is it true that your arrangement with Octavia Melody has been terminated?” That statement hit Vinyl like a punch to the gut. She had just managed to scrub Octy from her mind, and now this. “Yes.” She said. Her voice came out hoarse, like the no good traitor that it was.  “Unfortunate. But perhaps not unexpected.” Harpy nodded. She motioned to Salt and Pepper, who began opening a small briefcase. He constantly looked like he was about to break it to pieces. Harpy continued. “Your indiscretions with her when you were intended to spend time with Silver did not escape me, however I found myself more pleased that you were independently spending time with a proper partner than irritated with your proclivities. It caused me, with some difficulty, to combat my own disfavor for compromise.” “That’s one way to say it, I guess. If you want to say as little as possible with the most amount of words.” Vinyl chuckled, and accepted the opened briefcase. It was chock full of those little tabbed folders in two neat stacks, each with a name on it in gold letters and an inked image of a cutie mark. “What the heck is this?” “My compromise.” Harpy said. “Inside you will find dossiers on potential partners. All appropriate partners for the future Duchess of North Canterlot. The mares, this time.” “Huh.” Vinyl opened the first one. It was pretty boilerplate. Nice photograph of a pretty mare, mane a little too neat. Some basic information about her family, hobbies and talent. Pretty standard flirtations as far as nobility goes. She returned the folder to the briefcase and closed it. “I admit, it’s not what I expected, not even a little bit. I can take a look, at least.” “As for your end of this compromise,” Harpy continued on, with all the grace of a rogue carriage pulled by a bull, smashing through a china shop and the orphanage next door. “You will  select and court a partner, either from this collection or one I have approved, and you will be reinstated as Heiress. If you do not do so, not only will the disinheritance be retained formally, but you will additionally be legally compelled to return the tens of thousands of bits I have given you over the years for services that were not rendered. Along with appropriate compounding interest. I have three accountants working out the precise details now, but it is safe to assume it will not be an insignificant amount.” Vinyl sat down, hard. Her already over tired brain tried to work out exactly what that would mean for her finances. Not that she had a snowball's chance in the Sun. If it was taking three appropriately marked ponies on Harpy’s payroll to figure it out. . . Sweet unholy moon and the cursed stars above it. She had no idea how bad it could get, and that was the scariest thing.  “There’s the mom I know and love.” She managed to say, after a long moment. She wasn’t sure Harpy had blinked once in that time. “Just out of curiosity, did you buy out Tradewinds because you hadn’t yet gotten to the compromise stage of your life yet, or was it because she wasn’t worthy or whatever?” “Column A, Column B.” Harpy said, coolly. “In addition, her venture did turn out to be profitable. A worthwhile investment on all fronts. I still do not approve of her as a partner, if you were considering-” “Trust me, I wasn’t.” Vinyl hauled herself to her feet, her exhaustion from before was nothing compared to what she felt now. “I’ll look. That’s all I’m promising. I have one or two ideas of my own, maybe.” “Very good.” Harpy smiled, for the first time. “I look forward to a successful courtship. You seem to have no difficulty with that, at the very least.” She stretched out a hoof for a hug, which Vinyl gave, very, very, reluctantly. “Are we good?” Vinyl said, weakly. “Because I think I could really use my nap now.” “I believe we have accomplished what we set out to do. Thank you for your efforts, Vinyl.” Harpy turned on her heels and marched out. Vinyl hugged her dad real quick before he trotted after her. Salt and Pepper followed dutifully, as always.  Vinyl slunk back to the gross couch and dropped back onto it. Unfortunately, she was still the perfect combination of exhausted and keyed up to do little except suffer furiously. After adjusting position for about the eighth time, she pulled out her phone. She wasn’t sleeping anyway. Might as well find something to do. And despite everything, there was really only one pony she could call right now. ==== “I really needed that.” Vinyl flopped over onto her flank, nuzzling her head into Astral Brilliance’s shoulder. Astral chuffed breathlessly, and wrapped her hooves around Vinyl, digging their tips gently into her shoulder muscles. Between that and the natural, almost worrisome level of body heat coming off the pony, Vinyl felt like she was melting slowly into mush. But it was a dang nice, satisfied kind of mush. “It surprised me to receive a call back from the infamously amourous Vinyl Scratch. It seems like you have had a hard day. Perhaps a hard week, or hard month, too?” Astral murmured, working her hooves in circles that widened, tracing the outlines of Vinyls shoulder blades. “I believe the average rock is less tense than you are at the moment.” “Would it be too melodramatic to say I’ve had a hard life? Ow!” Vinyl yelped as the probing hooves found a particularly large knot and dug into it. “Apparently yes, huh?” “You have certainly been busy lately. I regret that I could not make it to more of your shows.” Astral tipped Vinyl over onto her stomach, the better to get at her back.  “Your duties keeping you busy?” Vinyl stifled some kind of embarrassing noise. Dang, filly knew her massages. “Part of what drew me to your style of music is the late hour at which it is often performed. That’s a blessing when you only regularly get free time at night.” Astral leaned her whole weight on Vinyl, pushing the breath out of her in a whump. “Obviously I have since grown fond of it for other reasons.” “You-” Vinyl wheezed, trying to suck in enough air for a laugh. “You’re really bad at this whole flirting thing.” “I’ve been told that. A lot, actually. I should probably try and learn.” Astral chuckled, letting up on the pressure, her hooves now dancing lightly up and down Vinyl’s spine. “Not that it stopped you from calling me, hmm?” “Sorry if I interrupted work or whatevs. Didn’t expect you to call back when I got the hard hang up.” Vinyl hummed contentedly. She could almost forget about her mother. Almost. At least she might be able to sleep after this. “What do you do, anyway?” “I’m a bureaucrat.” Astral said. It was a quick answer, the kind of quick that probably meant it was a practiced lie. Vinyl chuckled. Astral gave her a look that said she knew that Vinyl knew, before allowing herself to flop down, nuzzling her cheek into Vinyl’s cutie mark. “I know, not very exciting.” “I’d say you’re plenty exciting.” Vinyl grasped the air where her shades usually were with magic, and winked. “See? That’s how you flirt.” Astral didn’t reply, instead nestling deeper into the snuggle and humming. “Unrelated,” Vinyl said, trying to sound as don’t-give-a-buck as she could. “But I assume I’m not the only pony you fail at flirting with, right?” “No. . . Why?” “Just curious. Not judging. I’d say it’s a good trait. Not being stuffy.” Vinyl tried to keep her voice airy. This wasn’t exactly a maximally romantic moment, but she couldn’t really think of anyone else. Maybe Astral was chill enough that she would take a Duchess Consort title without locking Vinyl up in loveless monogamy forever. “I uh, well, my mom’s been hounding me about getting married lately, and I’m, uh. . .” “Not the marrying type?” Astral sat up, folding her hooves under her. Her voice was teasing, but Vinyl winced at the withdrawal of affection.  “I probably could be, I just have terrible luck with any long term relationships. Except business ones, I guess.” Vinyl rolled over, focusing her vision on one of the crummy paintings that likely covered holes in the hotel walls. “And my mom’s a duchess, so that doesn’t help.” “Harpsichord Delight. She’s a good leader, by all accounts.” Astral shifted, her voice more businesslike, and yet softer. “I’m uncomfortably familiar with the pressures of the peerage. You have my condolences.” “Hah!” Vinyl snorted. “Yeah, that’s about the size of it, isn’t it? At least we’re rich. In theory. I’m disinherited, technically, so. . . Anyway, that was a very smooth rejection of the question I hadn’t popped yet, well done.” “I do what I can.” Astral wrapped her longer body and hooves around Vinyl once again. “I’m sorry. I am completely honest when I say it’s not you. I really am not in a position to wed anypony at all.” “Huh.” Vinyl chewed on that for a moment. What kind of nobility wasn’t supposed to marry? That was super weird. Unless she was just a functionary? But she said- Hmm, but then why couldn’t she if she wanted? Weird. Very weird. “Well, no big deal. I’m sure I’ll figure something out. You just seemed like you could be chill about it, which would be ideal.” “Why is this necessary? You are doing well for yourself.” Astral’s question was gentle, not demanding, clearly trying to help. Vinyl felt herself curling up tighter despite it. “It doesn’t sound like you even want your title.” “Well, if I don’t, dear old mum is going to loan shark me.” Vinyl sighed, fiddling with Astrals well groomed fetlocks. “I have a friend who could look at your finances, if you like. I’m sure we can come up with a solution.” Astral gave her a squeeze.  “I could probably handle it, honestly.” Vinyl hesitated, long held truths willing themselves to be let loose after being caged up for freaking forever. She swallowed them, bitter as whiskey. “I’m just tired. Bucking exhausted, actually. Maybe this would get everypony off my back.”  “Then let’s speak no more of it.” Astral half-stood, peering over Vinyl to look at her face. “I can’t wed you, Vinyl, but I can be here, if that helps. I’m fairly sure you didn’t call me for therapy, in any event.” “Well, true.” Vinyl chuckled despite herself. “You paid for the room the whole night, right?” “I did.” “Good.” Vinyl leaned in for a kiss.