//------------------------------// // Part 7: Flashpoint // Story: You've Been Acting Strange These Last Few Days // by sethbramwell //------------------------------// Part Seven: Flashpoint And I know I shouldn't say. But you've been acting strange the last few days. And this has made me think. Your pills have cost too much. And you can't feel them working any more. So pour them down the sink and listen to me. - Excerpt from "Sleazy Bed Track" Written by The Bluetones Vinyl walked into the house, tired and with a stomach full of nerves. Doc seemed to have been staring at her all day, obviously still upset about the mishap with the baggie. While she would have thought nothing about working through the night just the other day, she was just ready to get out of there. If Tavi hadn’t touched that baggie… She thought irritably as she set her saddlebags down on the couch and stepped to the kitchen, not noticing the quiet hoofsteps approaching her from behind. She had just removed her sunglasses and noticed the vial she had left out- Damn… -when she heard the voice. “Hello, Vinyl.” Vinyl turned to face Tavi. Her house mate’s voice was calm, yet determined. “Tavi, we need to talk.” Vinyl said, trying to focus her magic to levitate the pills out of Octavia’s line of sight. It didn't work, as Octavia jumped up and snatched the floating vial from mid-air, breaking the magic’s hold on it. “Yes, we do.” Octavia stated, the vial in her hoof and her expression impassive. Vinyl’s eyes narrowed. “Give those back.” Tavi’s expression remained the same. “No, Vinyl.” she stated plainly. “First, you tell me what they are and why you need them.” “They’re nothing! And it’s none of your business, anyway!” Vinyl snapped back defensively. “Really. So they aren’t something to keep you awake longer with more energy?” Octavia replied without batting an eye. Vinyl gritted her teeth. “Back off, Tavi. You don’t even know.” She paused for a moment before continuing, “And why were you in my bag this morning?” “I wasn’t. I had to move it off my case.” “And take the bag inside?” Vinyl retorted accusingly. “It fell out, and I was worried about you,” came the simple answer “Where is it?” Vinyl said, trying to keep her angry tone suppressed. “It’s not here, Vinyl. It’s somewhere safe.” Tavi replied evenly, idly wondering if Twilight had destroyed the baggie yet. “Tavi… I need it back. It’s important.” Vinyl said, her voice starting to tremble. “No.” “I mean it!” “So do I.” the proud musician stated. Vinyl could no longer hold it in. All the stress of the day came out in an angry shout. “Come on, Octavia! Where are they?” Her hooves were starting to quiver. “I’m sorry, Vinyl. I can’t tell you.” Vinyl’s quivering hoof began to tap the floor violently. “Tavi… you don’t know what you’re doing. Tell me where they are!” Octavia swallowed hard, unnerved by Vinyl’s unfamiliar tone, but holding firm. “No, Vinyl! I will not!” Vinyl’s face wrinkled into an uncharacteristic scowl. “WHERE ARE THEY, YOU BUCKING MULE?” she suddenly shouted out furiously. Octavia drew back a step in shock. Never before had she heard her housemate use such vulgar language around her. Without warning, Vinyl lunged for the vial in her hoof. Octavia barely sidestepped it, and made a desperate run for the kitchen. “GIVE ME THOSE!” Vinyl screamed as she ran after her before freezing in horror at what she saw. Octavia was standing by the sink, the water running and the vial open in her hoof. “Stay back, Vinyl! Stay back or these go right down the drain!” “OK, OK, Tavi, I’m sorry!” Vinyl shouted desperately. “Just… just calm down, OK? I really, really need those and the others back. Please!” “No, Vinyl. You’re not getting them back.” Octavia replied evenly, feeling the water drops splash on her hoof. One twist of the hoof, and these blasted things are ruined… she thought, though she couldn’t seem to do it. On some level, she almost wanted to appease Vinyl, but she knew she couldn’t. Vinyl gave up and focused her magic on the vial, but Tavi held tight. Feeling the force of the magic aura on them, Octavia realized her choices had dwindled to one. With a grunt, she broke the aura’s focus on them and shoved the vial upside down to the drain. The pills inside fell into the darkness and were washed away by the running water. “NO!” Vinyl screamed. Octavia turned back just in time to see a white hoof flying through the air before it connected with her cheek with enough force to knock her off her feet to the floor. “No no no no no no no NO!” Vinyl shouted as she twisted the faucet off and desperately tried to focus her magic to retrieve the pills from the drain, but it was far too late. She collapsed over the sink, her head hanging as she was reduced to sobs. On the ground, Octavia looked up in a mixture of shock, anger, and fear. Her cheek was burning, and she could feel it throb painfully as she scooted back and rose to her feet again. Despite the pain, her eyes fell on Vinyl’s sobbing form with pity. She extended a hoof to touch her friend on the back. “Vinyl…” The sobbing DJ felt the contact and her despair was immediately replaced with rage. With a loud grunt, she straightened up and spun around, slapping Octavia’s hoof away. “YOU! YOU- YOU FLOCKING WORTHLESS MULE!” she screamed as Octavia drew back once more. “THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! WHY COULDN’T YOU JUST LEAVE EVERYTHING THE BUCK ALONE???” Octavia was now trembling with fear at seeing how beyond reason Vinyl had become. “Please, Vinyl!” She begged. “I just want to help you! I’m scared-“ Her words were cut off as she shrieked and ducked from a glass that was thrown at her head. It shattered on the wall behind her, the glass shards flying as she galloped to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her and locking it. It took mere moments before Vinyl was pounding furiously on the door and ranting threateningly. “You should be scared! You owe me! You owe me for what you just did! And for some new albums! If you hadn’t taken that bag, none of this would be happening, you talentless nag!” Octavia lay on her bed, her cheek burning and tears welling in her eyes as she held a pillow over her ears to try to drown out the screaming nightmare. Outside the room, Vinyl’s voice finally gave out and she leaned on Octavia’s door with booth hooves supporting her as she breathed heavily, her eyes on the floor. The burning rage slowly passed as her mind considered the situation through a haze. She was so tired. Her head pounded. The mix wasn’t done. Doc was furious with her. She was screaming and trying to beat down her best friend. What in the name of Luna is happening to me??? Her eyes looked to the blank door, and she leaned her ear to it. Vinyl could vaguely hear her friend sobbing in the room, and the sound made her heart ache with guilt. “Tavi…” she whispered regretfully. She tried to straighten up, but found herself dizzy and her stomach aching horribly. The DJ winced as she clutched at her belly and stumbled to her own room, suddenly realizing she hadn’t eaten anything all day since the meal Neon had provided hours earlier. The bedroom door closed behind her as her magic flipped on the light switch and she collapsed on her bed. Her eyes refused to be still, scanning around the room for something that could give her peace. Suddenly, they locked on something small on the floor. Something white. Something round. Is that- Vinyl jumped to the spot and picked up the small object. Just as she had hoped, it was a pill that must have been dropped from the vial that morning. Maybe… just to calm myself down… Vinyl thought as she ran to the kitchen and scooped up the cider jug that had been left on the table in the confusion. It was lukewarm, but she hardly cared as she took a drink and felt the last pill rush down her throat. Vinyl walked to the front room and collapsed on the couch as she breathed deeply and felt her nerves calm and her stomach settle just knowing that she had what she wanted… for about ten minutes. Then she was wide awake. Too awake. Too awake to sleep. She supposed this shouldn’t have been a surprise, but what to do now? She wandered to Octavia’s door once more and tried the handle, but it was still locked. Pressing her ear to the door, she could only hear quiet breathing from inside. Vinyl’s mind was again filled with guilt as she shuffled to her room and put her headphones on to try to just listen to the mix so far and escape. The pounding beats of the mix she had so carefully crafted with Neon and Doc did little to comfort her, or even distract her. Her legs wouldn’t stop twitching. Frustrated, she finally gave up and tossed the headphones aside. With that, Vinyl levitated her sunglasses to her forehead above her eyes and walked out the front door into the night, wandering and looking for something… anything to distract her from all that had happened between her and Tavi. The streets of Ponyville had grown quiet with the night as Luna’s moon glowed proudly in the sky. The silence surrounded Vinyl, leaving her alone with the echoes of her thoughts. YOU BUCKING MULE! WORTHLESS! TALENTLESS NAG! How could she have said such things to Tavi? Tavi, who had always been her friend despite so many pranks and mornings of being blasted out of bed by the Wub Dishwasher. Tavi, who always had kindness for her when nopony else in the clubs ever said anything to her as long as she kept the records spinning and the beats going. Vinyl longed for such a distraction now and sadly wished she was somewhere else like Manehattan, where the clubs wouldn’t close for another few hours, or Las Pegasus, where they wouldn’t close at all. The lonely DJ aimlessly wandered into the center of town, and realized even Sugarcube Corner, residence of Ponyville’s other big name party pony, was dark and silent. This town, usually so vibrant and colorful, had never felt so empty and drab to her. The only other place she could even think of going was Neon’s, but Doc was about the last pony in Equestria she wanted to see at all. Up ahead, a solitary park bench sat under a tree, empty and lonely. It seemed fitting somehow. Vinyl laid down on it, covering her eyes with the dark lenses of her sunglasses. The night enveloped her as she drifted off to a dreamless sleep.