//------------------------------// // Ch 19 // Story: Fractured Soul // by JollyRogue //------------------------------// Why were Vinyl's lip's so close to mine? Were we kissing? I mean, I think this is kissing. Amnesia seems to have made me forget a lot of the basics. If I can remember right, kissing was how you showed your passion. Did Vinyl feel passionate about me? Well it did seem like she was hitting on me when I first talked to her. She also seemed to be giving me signs throughout the night. I think the better thing to think about was, why am I doing nothing about this kiss? I opened my eye's, Vinyl's presence was in my view. I moved my head to the side, breaking the contact we had shared. I started to breath in and out really hard. Vinyl and I must have been kissing for a while, because I was incredibly out of breath. I looked over towards Vinyl, who seemed to be having the same problem as me. She looked up at me and between breaths she said. "Wow... You've really... Got some endurance... Don't you?" She then winked. I felt my face raise a few degrees at the question. "I uh, I umm..." "Oh don't worry about it stretch. I wasn't implying that, unless you want to." My face felt like fire. What did Vinyl mean by "that"? She couldn't mean... No, that couldn't be... Oh crap. "Listen Vinyl..." "Listen to what?" "I-I-I don't like you in that way!" Something in Vinyl's eye's seemed snap. "What?" Vinyl said in a hushed voice. "It's just..." "It's just what?" Vinyl asked, raising her voice, as she stepped closer to me. Her eye's looking down on my shrinking form. "I, uh..." "Tell me!" "I like Pinkie!" I finally managed to blurt out. She seemed to be caught off guard by my response, and she backed away from me. Then she lowered her glasses to cover her eye's. "Oh was that it? You should have said something before." "Wait, your fine with this?" Vinyl's voice faltered. "Yeah, totally!" She turned around and made her way back to her table. Once in front of it. she pressed a small hidden button, and the table collapsed back into a box. "Listen I have to go give that crowd a performance, so I'm going to have to say see ya later, and when your done in here shut the door. I don't want anypony coming in here and messing with my stuff." Vinyl levitated the box on to her back and walked past me. My gaze followed her, and when she got to the door I spoke up. "Are you sure your fine?" Vinyl turned her head towards me, her lip started to quiver. "Yeah, it's fine..." From the corner's of her shades I could see tears running down her face. "Vinyl?" I asked hesitantly. At the mention of her name she turned her head forward, and rushed out of the room. I know I'm normally a little slow on the uptake, but I knew I had hurt her feeling's. Why was I such a stupid fool? I have caused nothing but hurt and confusion since I arrived here. I was useless. I brought my hoof up and was about to bring it down with a lot of force, when I noticed what was laying on the ground, an acoustic guitar. I slowly brought my hoof down and plucked the thickest string. The sound was exactly what it should have sounded like, a good sign that it was in tune. I looked at the neck of the guitar and saw a capo snuggled closely on the third fret of the guitar. There was even a guitar pick stuck to it. I think the guitar wanted me to play it at that point. I picked up the round instrument, and repositioned myself on my hind legs. I pulled the pick off of the capo, and brought it down onto the strings. The sound that responded from the simple motion was perfect. I had a working guitar, now what should I do? Well music was said to be born in the heart, maybe I should listen to what the heart says. I readjusted my hoof on to the neck of the guitar an struck the strings with the pick. The note that was produced sounded good so I continued, after messing around with the notes, I closed my eye's and let my mind go with the rhythm. Moving my hoof with no thought, and before I knew it I had started to sing. ♫Hey there Pinkie, you're the best darn mare I've ever seen!♫ ♫I have always said a girl that's just like you would be my dream.♫ ♫I've been sort of lonely, and I hear you're good at singing;♫ ♫Let's make a song and end this slightly sad and lonesome feeling!♫ Wait what was I saying? Was I singing a song about Pinkie? Even after I realized what I was doing I did not falter from the guitar. I took a break from singing and started to play some chords rapidly. Changing one right after the other. Then I started to sing again. ♫You're the cheeriest and most amusing mare in town,♫ ♫so what say we take a chance and turn Equestria upside-down?♫ ♫I've wanted to tell you, you make my dreams come true,♫ ♫and the least that I can do is bring those dreams right back to you!♫ I changed the order of the notes, and started to sing a new line. ♫Can you imagine what we'd be♫ ♫If you were here right now with me?♫ I opened my eye's and noticed something that shouldn't have been there, Pinkie. She stood behind the door frame, trying her best to hide, but still visible enough to look into the room. I felt like somehow the roles had been reversed, because Pinkie was the one that was embarrassed. I felt a smile spread on my face. Well let's make this moment last a little. ♫Tell me why you shine the way you do!♫ ♫You're living proof that love at first sight is really true!♫ ♫I'd rather waste my time attempting saying this.♫ ♫Than even take a chance at giving up my only kiss from you!♫ At the mention of kiss Pinkies pupil's shrunk. I flashed a wider smile and leaned into the guitar for a short solo. Then I continued singing. ♫How can I count the ways your perfect smile has helped this boy?♫ ♫I can only say your face and bouncing mane both bring me joy!♫ ♫It's kind of funny how I can hardly speak when♫ ♫I see the lights come on and one of your great songs begins!♫ Okay, I think I was just saying random streams of stuff at this point, but it didn't seem to matter, Pinkie seemed fully enticed by the song and she even walked into the room. ♫Can you imagine what we'd be♫ ♫If you were here right now with me?♫ As I said that last sentence Pinkie leaped towards me, her front hooves ready to grab me. The only thing I could do to prepare myself was to quickly say Volle Vantes and watch as the guitar flew out of my arms. Pinkie quickly collided with me, wrapping her hooves around my torso and front hooves. "Oh Jason! Do you actually mean it?" I looked down at the mare wrapped tightly around me. The courage I felt while playing lost in an instant. "Mean what?" I asked unsure of what she meant, but I had a good feeling. "What you said in that song, did you mean every word?" "I meant every single one." I said nonchalantly. “Pinkie Promise?” Pinkie asked seriously. “ummm, I guess so...” I wondered what she meant by that, but it was probably best not to question it. “Pinkie promise.” Pinkie looked up at me, a wide smile on her face. Then she looked back down and started to hug me tighter. The air in my lung's became more and more precious, and I felt I was going to pass out. "You know Pinkie, it would probably work out better if my hooves were free so I can return the hug." She loosened her grip on me. Just enough so I could slip my hooves out. Once out, I quickly wrapped them around her, and took a deep breath. This day had felt like it had gone on for ever. Numerous accounts of pain, mostly from the sun, and I might have even been drugged. None of that mattered now. I was in the hooves of the one I cared about, and she seemed to care about me. *** Celestia sat alone in her room. Taking care of some financial reports for the Equestrian games. She had just opened up a report on the previous games, when she heard wing beats outside of her balcony. Celestia got up from where she had been sitting and walked over to the entrance of her balcony. As Celestia reached the entrance, Luna had landed on the balcony. "Sister we have returned." Luna said simply, before she walked past her sister. Celestia watched as her sister walked into her room and sat down. "How was your patrol?" Celestia asked, as she turned around and walked into the room, taking a spot across from her sister. "It was good. We learned much about this Jason character." "Like what?" "Apparently Jason was a human." "Really?" A look of shock on Celestia's face. "It would seem so. It is strange though, how could a human come into this world? Humans should be limited in their travel, but here we have one, in our world!" "It has always been conceivable that one could come through. In fact there are a few spells that a unicorn could use to travel to the human world, and bring a human safely here. But I don't think that a pony here would risk using that spell, even if they could find it." "That is just it sister. I saw the way he entered our world. His memories were taken away before he was thrown into a portal." "You saw how he got here?" "Yes..." Luna said, before she told Celestia about entering Jason's dream's, and what had happened. "What we do not understand sister, is that he was just thrown into our world at random. How did he survive entering our world? He should not have even been able to enter our world. Let alone survive being changed." "I just don't have the answers to those questions at this time, but we must continue to look for an answer. *** It felt like I had been in this embrace for awhile. I opened my eye's and moved my head back. The mare in my hooves looked back at me. "So..." I said, unsure what to really say. Pinkie giggled at me before she released her hooves from around me. I got the hint and let go of her. As my hooves hit the ground, my muscle's screamed out in pain. Pinkie and I had been hugging long enough to make my muscles sore. I lifted my metal hoof over to the other hoof, and rubbed the fatigue out of it. I looked up at Pinkie, who was smiling at me. "So..." I said once again. Pinkie started to laugh. Once she had gained control of her laughter she said. "You have such a way with words." "Yeah..." Pinkie snickered. "Okay come on, let's go see the rest of your party before it ends!" She said before bursting out of the room. I took only a moment to smile before I bounded after her. As I exited the room, I noticed there was music playing. I picked up my pace. *** "Has there been any word on the army in the forest?" Luna asked Celestia. "Yes, reports tell us that their numbers have diminished." Celestia responded. "Is there something destroying their forces?" "Not that I have been able to tell." "What are we going to do about them?" Luna asked. "I'll warn Twilight about it. I have also requested that some guards be sent into Ponyville." "When are they scheduled to move out?" "Tomorrow afternoon." "And what if they are attacked before then?" "We can only hope that doesn't happen." *** The room where the party was had gone dark. The only source of light in the room was coming off of Vinyl's turntable. It covered the room in different intensities of blue, depending on how furious Vinyl spun her records. I looked over the room and spotted Pinkie. I made my way towards her. When I was next to her she yelled at the top of her lungs, "Don't you love her music!" but it sounded like a whisper compared to the background music. I nodded my head and looked at Vinyl. I might have been crazy but the second I made eye contact with her she looked away. She must have still been sore about what happened. Then a thought occurred to me. "Hey Pinkie." I yelled at Pinkie. "Yeah!?" "I was wondering, why did come to that room I was in!?" "Oh it's because Vinyl Scratch told me you were feeling down and that I should go ask you what was wrong!" Vinyl had told Pinkie to come back to see me, why did she do that? I thought she would want us apart. As I pondered the situation the music came to a stop. I looked up and saw Vinyl lean into a microphone. "Okay everypony! I think I have enough time for one more song!" Vinyl yelled towards the audience. Who responded with an "Aww..." "Now now. It's getting late. So pipe your face and listen to the last song!" Vinyl screamed as she positioned herself. "This one goes out to Jason and PInkie!" Vinyl screamed before she pushed the microphone out of the way and started to spin her records. I turned my head to the side in confusion. Why did Vinyl say that? Did she kno... I stopped mid thought as I realized what she had done. She had told Pinkie about checking up on me, because she was trying to help us get together. I looked over at Pinkie and smiled. Thanks to her the dimming light that was my life had gotten brighter. "Thanks Vinyl." I said under my breath. *** "You don't have any back up plans? What if somepony gets hurt?" Luna asked, yelling slightly at her sister. "It's all I can do on such short notice. Are troops are already stretched thin, and sending what I could took some time. I even had to use members of the night guard." "Your right sister. I'm sorry for yelling." Luna said in a hushed voice. "It's understandable Luna. I'm worried about the citizens of Ponyville as well." *** After Vinyl wrapped up her song, the party goers slowly streamed out of the store. Until Pinkie and I were the only ones left. So we started to clean up after the party. It had taken awhile but we had picked up the trash left by the party. I was doing one final check when I noticed that the light in the room Vinyl was using was still on. I made my way in when I noticed Pinkie was in the middle of the room. "What are you doing in here?" I asked Pinkie inquisitively. Pinkie looked at me with a look of surprise. "Oh, I was just looking to see if we needed any supplies." Pinkie said, before flashing me a smile and looking back at her inventory. I looked around the room. Vinyl's equipment had been taken out, leaving the baking supplies and the red couch. "Pinkie why is there a couch back here?" I asked. "What do you mean? Davenport came over earlier today and told me you ordered it. So I left it back here until you figured what you wanted to do with it." I don't remember ordering a couch. I thought as I walked towards it. I put my hoof on the cushion and tested it's consistency. This might explain what happened to that money at least. I realized that the cushion was fine so I proceeded to sit on it. As my weight sunk into the couch I realized how nice it was. It was perfect for a living room, and if it had the reading chair it would be perfect for my dream house. I opened my eye's as I realized I was no longer sitting on the couch, but instead lying at a weird angle. Pinkie was looking at me with a smile. I responded with a, "Sup." *** "What do you think we should do with Jason?" Celestia asked her sister. "We do not think we should DO anything. He is just a fool who has suffered a major loss." Luna said. "That's not what I meant." "Oh?" "What I mean is, do we send him to deal with his mess?" "So far we do not know if that army is here because of him. Even if it was I think it should be his choice." "Why do you say that?" "We know how much he has suffered, and we also do not know all the demons he carries with him." Luna responded to her sister's question with a cold tone. *** "That sure looks comfy!" Pinkie said. "Care to join me?" I said, not even realizing the extent of what I had said. Without hesitating Pinkie crawled onto the couch next to me. We were both face to face. Our mouths separated by a few centimeters. The heat of the moment was rising, mostly in my face, but before I knew it our lips were locked. The kiss was gentle and the taste of her mouth was sweet. Like how your mouth tastes after sucking on a jawbreaker. My thoughts carried me into pure bliss. *** "How much has he suffered?" Celestia asked Luna. "With what we already know of him, I can say he has suffered a lot. With what we don't know about him, we can only assume he has suffered more than anyone should. And yet I fear there is only more suffering to come." *** After Pinkie and I had kissed, I held her in my embrace as we both slowly started to fall I sleep. Once I knew she had fallen asleep I whispered as quietly as I could and made the lights turn off. I couldn't see her anymore, but I could still feel her. Still smell the amazing scent of her mane. Still hear the soft sounds of her breathing. As I felt my eyelids close the last thought I had was that I will always be with her, even if I can not be present.