Paradiso

by Syvvak

Chapter 11

        Vinyl stretched, the light of the morning sun warming her face. She rolled over, reaching for her marefriend. Her hooves met the soft, smooth texture of her blanket. With a sigh, she rolled out of the bed, deciding it was better to get up than lie alone.
        After using the facilities, she trotted down the stairs, the smell of waffles guiding her. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she turned to see Octavia and Stormy Breeze playing on the living room floor. Despite her churning stomach, she went to tell the mares good morning.
        “Mornin’, Tav,” she said, kissing the back of the cellist’s head. “Mornin’, Sis.” She ruffled the filly’s mane as she walked past.
        “Good morning, Vinyl. Sleep well?” The earth pony turned slightly to face Vinyl as she spoke.
        “Good enough. I’mma grab some grub.” She began walking towards the kitchen when she heard Stormy Breeze speak up.
        “Kitty,” the little filly squealed.
        “What?” Vinyl questioned, puzzled. She turned back to see Octavia and Stormy laughing. Her confusion was quickly replaced with anger. “You said you wouldn’t tell anypony!”
        “Oh, come on, Vinyl. She’s just a filly. Besides,” Octavia said, standing and turning towards the distraught unicorn, Stormy Breeze upon her back, “she made me think of that day.”
        “How does Stormy remind you of me being viciously mauled by a cat?” the DJ said with a scowl.
        “Not Stormy, silly filly. Her cat.” Stormy stood up on her hind legs and presented a thing of Vinyl’s nightmares: a creamy white feline with chocolate brown ears and circles around its eyes, as well as a few lighter brown patches throughout her body. Most of its tail was also brown. The color of DEMONS! And its face seemed to be set in a permanent scowl.
        “AHHHH! Get it away from me!” Vinyl began to backpedal as she screamed, her eyes not leaving the ball of evil.
        “Aww, is Vinyl afwaid of the wittle kitty?”
        The unicorn looked to Octavia, her mouth open to respond. When her eyes met the cellist face, she froze.
        “What’s wrong dear?”
        “Sissy?” Vinyl looked to the little filly. She screamed.

        “What’s wrong?! Are you alright?” Copper said, having crashed through Vinyl’s bedroom door. He saw Octavia holding a crying Vinyl. Octavia looked up to him and nodded.
        “She just had a bad dream and fell out of bed. She’ll be okay.” She gave him a little smile.
        “Oh, okay. Uh, sorry for bursting in here like that,” Copper said, a sheepish smile on his face, rubbing his eyes. He looked to his crying daughter. “I heard her scream and…” He trailed off.
        “I understand, Copper. It is fine.”
        Copper nodded. “Good night, girls.” He began to leave the room.
        “Good night, Copper,” he heard Octavia say.
        “Night, Daddy. Love you.” Copper felt his heart twinge as he closed the door.
        “I love you, too, Vinyl,” he whispered as he walked back to his room. As he walked through the door, closing it behind him, he saw Ruby laying there, having gotten Stormy Breeze back to sleep, a smirk lining her face. “What?”
        “So…?” she said, her eyes not leaving the stallion, as he climbed into the bed with her.
        “She’s fine. She just had a bad dream.” Copper raised an eyebrow when Ruby began snickering.
        “S-so, uh.” Ruby cleared her throat, trying to hold back her laughter. “It, uh, didn’t once cross your mind, as you rushed into our daughter’s room in the middle of the night, she might be a, uh… screamer?” As Copper’s face dropped, Ruby burst out in laughter.
        “RUBY! That’s our daughter!” Copper said, his face a mix of embarrassment and indignation.
        “But you could have just walked in on her having sex!”
        “I was concerned for her safety! She screamed and there was a thump,” Copper stated, trying to defend what he did, a blush adorning his cheeks.
        “She was in her BEDROOM with her MAREFRIEND! She screamed while ALONE with her LOVER! Did that not cross your mind?” Ruby continued to laugh.
“NO! I was concerned for my daughter’s safety,” Copper said through gritted teeth, his tone leaving no room for misinterpretation. Ruby’s laughter stopped. “I heard her scream and feared she was in trouble, so I went to help, as I will do every time I think my daughter is in danger.”
A tense silence hung in the air. Copper glared at Ruby. Ruby straightened up on the bed and reached out to her husband.
“Copper…” Ruby tried, and failed, to calm the upset stallion.
“I’m sleeping on the couch. Good night.” At that, Copper left the room, leaving a shameful Ruby alone in bed, her mind eventually drifting towards her returned daughter before returning to a restless sleep.

        Octavia held the weeping mare as Copper closed the door. Stroking Vinyl’s mane, she whispered sweet nothings into her ear, hoping to help calm the mare. They sat in each other’s embrace while they heard Copper and Ruby arguing. Eventually, it quieted and she heard hoofsteps going down the stairs.
        “Vinyl,” she said, not releasing the mare, “are you okay?” She felt Vinyl shake her head into her shoulder. “Are you going to tell me about it?” Another shake. “If you will not tell me, Vinyl, neither of us will be going back to sleep.”
Vinyl pulled the concerned cellist closer. “But you’ll laugh at me. You’ll think I was being stupid.”
        “Vinyl, I think you are being stupid fairly often--” she felt the mare slacken her embrace “--but I don’t think you are right now. But how am I supposed to help you if you won’t tell me anything?” Octavia rubbed the mare’s back while she waited for a response.
        “Okay,” Vinyl whispered. She began scooting back, so she could look at Octavia while she talked, but was held firmly in place by the strong earth pony.
        “No. You will stay right here while you tell me,” the cellist said, nuzzling the DJ’s neck.
        Vinyl hugged Octavia tighter. “Okay,” she said, and began explaining her dream. Octavia stroked her blue mane, listening intently.
        “...and then you chased me upstairs into my room. As soon as I walked in, I was chained to the bed and there were bars over the windows and door.” Vinyl sniffled and hugged Octavia tighter. “Mom and Dad came to the doorway when I screamed for help. Mom smiled and said it was what I get for running away and they weren’t gonna let me leave again.”
        Octavia didn’t let go of the distraught mare, just continued her sweet caressing as the mare’s crying began again. “So you’re afraid that they are angry that you left and will try to keep you from leaving? And maybe that me and your sister will agree with them?”
Vinyl nodded and sniffled. “Do you think they’re mad at me, Octavia?”
        She squeezed Vinyl tighter and nuzzled her neck. “I can’t tell you if they are upset with you or not. I can tell you that they love you and that, if they are still upset about you leaving, they will forgive you.”
        Vinyl buried her face deeper into the grey cellist’s shoulder. “Thank you, Octavia,” she whispered. “It sounds better when you say it.” Pulling away, she kissed the mare.
        Octavia smiled into the kiss. “You’re welcome. Now,” she said, looking at her now content lover, “I think we should try to get some more sleep. We will probably have a lot to do tomorrow.”