Fangs

by Sapphic

A Place To Call Home

Vinyl's song ended, but no claps or cheers were given. The room remained quiet and still, all except for Vinyl, who was getting up from her place at the piano. She walked off the stage and took a seat somewhere in the crowd.

I wasn't just surprised, I was pleasantly surprised. I was shocked that Vinyl could, in my opinion, best two highly established pianists, all while seeming to be happy and relaxed. There was a difference between the two sides; Fredric and his companion were playing for not only just winning, they were playing to humiliate Vinyl. They tried hard and played hard and, as a result, were sweating hard and breathing hard by the end of their pieces.

Vinyl was playing for fun, and as a result, she was playing in a relaxed manner. She wasn't intimidated by an experienced opponent, she was happy to have one. The fact that she was seemingly breathing at the same pace was enough to prove that to me.

The room stood still for a few seconds, that is, until I got up and began the slow clap. I couldn't let such a beautiful piece go without the proper applause, it just wouldn't be right. It seemed that I wasn't the only one to think that either since the old white stallion got up as well, joining the clap and was soon followed by my parents, Fancy Pants, Hoity Toity and Photo Finish, until nearly the entire VIP table was giving her a standing ovation. Some others from the crowd reluctantly got up and joined the clap, and in the end only about fifteen ponies out of the entire room were clapping.

Fancy was the first to move, other than Vinyl who went back to the crowd, and went up to the stage with his microphone ready. The spotlight shone down on him as he stood tall with an estatic smile on his face and began to speak.

"Wow." Was all he said at first, but it was the exact thought on the mind of everypony in the building. He stood there after that for a few second before continuing.

He looked outward into the crowd and gestured for a few ponies to come up. I could only assume that they were the 'hidden judges' Fancy Pants had mentioned beforehand.

"Judges, if you would." Fancy called out, confirming my suspicions.

I watched closely as a grand total of three ponies rose to go join Fancy on the stage. I noticed that one was the old white stallion that had been the one to join me in my applause for Vinyl, another was the 'high and mighty' Prince himself. I knew that Prince Blueblood would choose Fredric over Vinyl, mainly because he thinks down upon anypony with less wealth and social status than himself, but he despised the lower and middle class; that left it all up to the last judge. I figured that the last one was a bit more reluctant to get on stage, since they didn't appear until a while later, but eventually whoever it was got there. That was when my heart sunk.

Beauty was the last judge.

They all huddled into a small circle and numerous whispers were heard in the still dead silent room.

Meanwhile, I felt my anger beginning to boil once again. It just wasn't fair, the judges were biased. I knew that the only one with a solid sense of judgment was the old white stallion. I didn't know if Fancy was allowed to vote, and I'm sure if he was he would vote for Vinyl.

The huddle dispersed and the 'judges' returned to their seats, save for Fancy Pants who remained on stage.

"Vinyl Scratch, would you please return to the stage." He spoke out over the crowd.

He waited for a moment for Vinyl to return, and when she did return, he gave her a hug. He disregarded the fact she was covered in dirt and grime, a fact most elite would emphasize, and gave her a pat on the back before releasing her.

"Dear, if you would please?" A white mare with a flowing pink mane got up and walked to a back room before returning with a small, but beautiful, trophy in her lively pink aura. Atop the trophy sat a small golden piano with the figure of a pony playing it. She strode up to Fancy and got on stage to place it in his hoof.

Under the better lighting I could see more clearly who this mare was. I recognized her as the model that had came to Canterlot, and inevitably decided to stay thanks to the development of some love life that had crowded the news. 'Fleur de lis' was her name, if my memory serves right, and judging by the kiss she gave Fancy Pants, I had found the 'love life' that had crowded the media for several few weeks.

Fancy held the trophy high for all to see before he said the words I had been on the edge of my seat for.

"And the winner of the duel is..." I felt my heart begin to race in anticipation.

It was when I noticed the crestfallen look in his eye that I knew who the winner was before he even said it.

"Fredric." He said bluntly; his tone wasn't nearly as happy and cheerful as it usually was.

Despite the false winner, the audience erupted in an explosive applause, all except for a select few. I remained seated, as did the white stallion beside me, my parents, and basically all who had cheered for Vinyl. We knew how the selected winner wasn't deserving of the prize, and I was sure that even the ones cheering knew it too.

I got up from my seat and made my way towards the exit; I was done with this foolish self righteous crowd. As I stormed over to the exit, something caught my eye, or somepony to be more specific.

I saw Vinyl, sitting at a small table with a few other ponies I couldn't make out through the crowd, but they didn't matter, the only one that I needed to see was Vinyl. She was facing away from me, so I couldn't see her face, but that didn't stop me from beginning to trot over to her table.

When I came closer, one of the ponies at the table must have told her that I was coming because she turned around and looked dead at me. At first, her face kept the same emotion, a flat and stoic one, but after about a second or two, her face softened and I saw a smile form at the edge of her mouth. I took that as both a generally good sign, and as a sign of telling me to come join her.

I didn't hesitate to get over to the table, I had figured out by now that Vinyl was quite the illusive one since she was able to seemingly disappear without a trace, and I had no plans of letting that happen again.

As I approached the table, I finally found out the identities of its other occupants. In a pair of seats across from Vinyl sat Lyra and her mare friend, though I wasn't actually surprised at their appearance since all of the Symphony was invited, I did wonder if they knew Vinyl, or if they were just sitting there by chance. They did look up and smiled at me when I came into visual though.

"Hello Octavia." Lyra said in a friendly tone and a warming smile. "How are you?" I returned the smile along with my answer.

"Doing fine Lyra, and I hope you two are as well." She and Bon Bon nodded, both with smiles on their faces, before wandering off into their own conversation, leaving me to talk with Vinyl.

Quite the awkward feat, but I was willing to try.

I was about to speak until she gestured towards a chair. I hadn't planned on talking inside the building, or really even talking outside of it for that matter.

I took the seat next to her and faced her, only to see her gazing elsewhere. She was looking up at the stage, or rather, above the stage. She seemed to be staring into the stage light and smiling at it, as if it were something cast down from the heavens above. I took a second to try and rationalize what she was doing, but I was at a loss; I could never figure her out.

As much as I wanted to discuss with her about her hidden ability to play the piano, there were more pressing matters to attend to, so I put that on the checklist of 'things to talk about with Vinyl'. It went right along with 'What did you do to me that night?' and 'What makes you tick?', I was sure the last one was just as much of an answer as it was a question. I don't think even she knows what makes her tick.

"Vinyl..." Was all I said, I probably wanted to say more, but that was all I could seem to force from my throat.

She turned to me, the smile toned itself down, but there was still a smile there nonetheless.

"Yeah?" Her tone was rather shaky, as if she had trouble saying the words. I was concerned for her, but I pressed on to my issue.

"Do you mind if we talk...in private." I added the 'in private' part after taking a quick glance around at the ponies surrounding us. I was sure near all of them didn't care what we would talk about, but I wanted all risks eliminated; especially after Vinyl's latest feat that was bound to attract some attention.

"Uh...No, that's fine." She said as she got up from her chair and waited for me. I didn't take much time searching for a back exit of some sort. Since she couldn't go into the sunlight, it might be tricky finding some place to talk. Instead, I walked over to the front exit, Vinyl following close behind. When I reached the front door, I found that the sun was still up, but it was at a position that left a sliver of shade along the edge of the building's foundation; it was more than enough for Vinyl to walk along.

"This way." I said curtly as I walked out into the sunlight, but I stood near the door and waited for her. She poked her head out first, making sure not to enter said sunlight, and took a few curious glances around until she found the shade that I had. She gave me one curious look, one that I returned with a short nod, before slipping into the shade.

As I heard the door shut behind her, the silence became more noticeable and it left a wide gap for conversation. A gap that I attempted to seize, but an unexpected other seized first.

"Hey, um, I just want to say that I'm..." She trailed off into silence, taking time to think of something, and I swore that I saw an expression cross her face, but it was gone before I could distinguish it. I didn't interject, it would not only be rude, but I wanted to hear what she had to say.

"That I'm sorry." She finally spoke out, Her head was held low with ears folded, though her tone was as shaky as ever, I could hear the sympathetic tone as clear as day, I might even call it depressed. It wasn't only heart warming to see her face up to her actions and apologize, nopony ever does that around here, but it was also respectable for the same reason.

It were things like this that made me care for her, such a rare being in the wastelands of Canterlot society don't deserve to be discarded, and to think that I almost did just that makes me sick. Vinyl was an interesting one, but not in a bad way. She carried with her a passion for fun, and an aura of respect. She truly was one in a million.

Now as I have said before, I am not good with emotions, and that also means coping with them, and right now, I could feel not only a respect for this mare, but a love that needed to be expressed. So I did what even I thought unthinkable.

I kissed her.

She struggled and tensed at first, but she eventually relaxed into and even went as far as to embrace it by wrapping a hoof around me, pulling me closer.

Though the kiss was brief and only lasting about a second, the effects it had were amazing.

I felt electricity pour through me when we kissed. It was similar to all those times before when we had made contact and I felt a slight jolt or a shiver run down my back, only this time it was huge and felt amazing. But the feeling was also accompanied by an awkward haze of doubt. What if she didn't like it?

As we pulled away I felt my cheeks begin to burn a bright red and the gaze she gave me wasn't helping them.

"I-I'm s-sorry, I d-didn-" I stuttered, trying to apologize, but something interrupted me, closing my lips before I could continue.

They just so happened to be her own soft lips, this time embracing me. The effects it had however, were not different in the slightest. We fell to the ground thanks to our poor footing, she landed on top, but that didn't stop her from giving me one of the best, and only for that matter, kiss of my life.

When she stopped her kiss, she wrapped a hoof around me and pulled me close for a hug, putting her mouth up to my ear to whisper a few words that would make me shake,.

"Don't be." Though only two words long, they meant a lot to me.

She let me go and looked at me with her scarlet eyes, but they were different from before. They used to be full of a certain sadness, now they were only full of joy.

"I'm sorry for kicking you out Vinyl..." I said with a lowered head as I stared at the ground. I had planned on giving her this whole speech about how stupid I was for doing such a thing, but I liked this way a lot more, there was much less talking.

"It's okay...you just made it up to me." I didn't have to look at her to see her cocky smile.

"And I'm sorry I, uh...drank your blood...and stuff." Her tone was nearly a perfect match of my own; reluctant and truly sorry.

"Don't be." I said with my own cocky smile as I took her into another hug. At first I just relaxed in her grip, which was just about the most pleasant thing that I had ever felt, until I heard her whisper one more thing.

"Thank you..." She whispered as she wrapped herself around me in a rather warming hug, even nuzzling my chest, sending a tingle through my body. She held the comforting hug for awhile and, when I was on the brink of just taking a nap right then and there, when she finally let go and pushed herself off of me, only to stare me in the eyes, captivating me with her own.

"I hate to ask this, but are we rooming again?" The anxiousness and happiness was still clear in her voice.

I smiled with a wicked intent before pulling her into a kiss, this time putting a little bit more effort into it, and I could tell she noticed when she let out a soft moan from the embrace. As I pulled away with the same devious smile I told her my answer.

"Does that answer your question?" I asked rhetorically. She smiled widely before removing her self from me and lifting to the ground, even taking the courtesy to help me up as well.

"Yeah." Was all she simply said, but it wasn't what she said, it was how she said it, that got to me. She said it in a tone that one might use when day dreaming or looking out into a sunset; a tone of euphoria.

"So what'cha wanna do now?" She asked suddenly. I could only blink at the question.

Now that I had finally gotten her back and 'all was well', I honestly didn't know what to do. It seemed like all the effort I had put into tracking her down was for nothing since, now that she was back, we were seemingly back at square one. I thought of a variety of things ranging from the theater to just simply doing what she wanted to do, but an idea came to me that beat all of the others.

"Want to get dinner?" I asked; of course eating dinner wasn't my only motive behind this suggestion, now I could finally sit down with her and ask her the things that had plagued my mental checklist for all this time and just spend time with her in general. Luckily she seemed to love the idea, but first thing was first: She needed a bath. Now that I was up close, I could see the true damage of her time Celestia knows where when she was presumably homeless.

"That sounds great!" As much as I hated putting off our game of twenty questions, she needed to get cleaned.

"Vinyl. do you mind, maybe, taking a shower or something first?" I added sheepishly. I didn't know if this counted as rude or not, but I don't think it was the same as saying 'Vinyl, you really need a bath.'

She looked at me, and then at herself before looking back and smiling sheepishly.

"Yeah, I could probably use one..." I smiled at her before looking up to the sky. It was still light out and she probably couldn't get that far.

'How did she get here anyways?' I asked myself before asking her.

"Vinyl, how did you get here?" I asked with a cocked brow, only getting another sheepish smile out of the mare in question.

"Oh, I used this thing." She said before going back inside for a brief second before coming out with a large black umbrella."

"Really?" I dead panned.

"Yep!" She said as she unfurled the umbrella and held it with her magic. I looked down at the shadow it created and, as shady as it may look, it did get the job done right. I sighed before heading out in the way of my apartment, my roommate trotting right beside me with the umbrella held above us both. I put my hoof over my saddlebags and felt for the glasses that I needed to return to her, and as soon as I felt them I relaxed. They were special to her for some reason, so now they were special to me.