//------------------------------// // A Warm Summer Evening // Story: A Scratch at Romance // by Midnight Ice Cream //------------------------------// I walk towards Vinyl, my face stern. She sees me, she seems worried, “What happened?” She asks, “Did you win the debate? Tavi don’t worry, even if you didn’t we can still see each other, right?” I keep the stern face on for a few more moments, savouring the scene, “Oh no need for all that Vinyl, I won the debate,” I said modestly, “I won.” “Fantastic Tavi!” Vinyl places her hooves on my shoulders, “That’s awesome!” “It is, isn’t it? But like you said, we’d have seen each other regardless of what happened. Anyway, what isn’t so awesome is the day ahead of us. So forgive me for not being as enthusiastic as you are. I’ve only one free lesson today, and that is needed for studying. So I’ll see you straight after school?” “Sure.” “Splendid,” We walk towards the school, “Oh, and before I forget. Do you fancy doing anything this weekend?” “Sure, whacha have in mind?” “Well, if we go down the mountain this time, there’s a lovely river that feeds into the valley. I thought we could go down there. Perhaps if you are willing, we could make it a late night one? Even till early morning? The weather is scheduled to be good, after all.” “Sounds like fun. I’m sure I can fit it in somewhere.” “Splendid.” ****** The rest of the week was incredibly enjoyable. Vinyl and I would visit my house every evening. While there wasn’t any wine, we got by. We would chat, dance, play music (well I would, let’s say Vinyl is more tolerant of my music than I am of hers), and just waste the hours away. As Friday evening loomed, we became more and more ecstatic over our plans. By now we had decided on a full course of action. We would head down to the riverbank with several bottles of wine and/or beer, an assortment of items to make a fire, light snacks, and an old record player. Vinyl argued we should take sleeping bags, but I convinced her otherwise. Unless my predictions about the weather were wrong, we’d not be needing them. By the end of Friday lunchtime, Vinyl and I sign in and promptly bugger off from school. We make our way to my house, of course nobody is there, so I write a note on the dining room table. I had mentioned this before, but it’s only polite to let your parents know of your absence, assuming they notice in the first place. Beyond that, we collect our things, saddle up, and leave. As we leave, Vinyl mentions that we should head to her place. I can’t see why not. So we head off over there, “Might I ask why we’re headed this way, Vinyl?” “Oh trust me, I’ve got somethin’ you’ll love!” “I do, but I’m curious. What could it possibly be?” “I aint tellin’. You’ll find out when you do.” “I’m intrigued Vinyl, but honestly if you hype it up too much it may disappoint.” “Now that’s a risk I’m willing to take.” “Alright then, I hope it’s worth it.” When we reach Vinyl’s house, I am politely asked to wait outside. After a little grumbling I agree, I must admit I’m curious, I wonder what’s inside. But before long my curiosity turns into boredom, and that into a little joy as I hear the door open, “So, what was the surprise?” I ask. “Check this out! You know that old record player you have? Well let’s just say they don’t call me Vinyl for nothin’,” Vinyl took out plastic bag, which contained about ten, pristine singles. They must have been thirty years old. Early rock and roll type music, not my thing, but I could appreciate the collection. “Impressive. Truly, didn’t think you’d be into that type of stuff.” “Oh Moon Yea! It’s history Tavi, you gotta learn it to understand the modern stuff. Plus it’s really bouncy and shit, so I figure it’s good party music, right?” “Point.” “So where we going?” “Just follow me.” Vinyl and I walk down a hill, which within fifteen minutes takes us towards the castle gates, “Urgh, these things are so ugly,” Says Vinyl. “I rather like them. Regardless, I imagine they’re useful. Or at least were at some point. What I like about this city is the sense of history, didn’t you say that was important?” “Yea, but there’s nothing new. I mean, yea I like some of the oldies, but c’mon. I like it because it formed the new stuff,” She pointed towards the walls, “This just seems like old, old and old. Nothing new here. It’s been the same old shit for hundreds of years.” “Yes, but that’s because the same old shit works Vinyl.” “Yea, but take Manehattan-” “They’re not really comparable. Manehattan is just all new, and Canterlot is it’s opposite. They just have entirely different roles, and purposes.” “Yea, but Manehattan just feels more alive, you know? Just way more active, alive.” “Are you sure this isn’t just the nostalgia speaking?” “I dunno, but this place is just old. Feels like a place full of old cronies, and snobs.” “Well you’d not be wrong, but Canterlot has her charm. I’m sure Manehattan has her own brand of unpleasant too,” Vinyl and I walked through the castle gates. “Hey, don’t those shut at night?” “Nah, they’re always open unless there’s a threat, which is never. Not that it really matters anyway. So unless some olden times monster screws us over, we’re fine. And in that unlikely event, we’ll probably get missed anyway.” “Okay, so as I was saying… What were we even talking about?” “I have no idea, Manehattan or something.” “Oh yea… Manehattan is new, and Canterlot old. I like the new.” “Well, each to their own, Vinyl. I believe it’s just where we’re born. I enjoy Canterlot because I’m used to it. The fast paced lifestyle of Manehattan sounds to me like a kind of hell. I like the tranquility of Canterlot, that and I couldn’t live anywhere without a starry night.” “I’ll give you that, Canterlot does have some real pretty nights.” “See! Better than what you’d get in Manehattan.” “Yea, but there’s no excitement here.” “Hey!” I say in mock annoyance, “What about me!” “You know what I mean. It just doesn’t feel exciting, save a few key elements.” I smile, “I can tell you one thing, Vinyl, you’re probably the most exciting thing that I’ve experienced from Manehattan.” “Yea, but I’m the only thing you’ve experienced from Manehattan.” “Doesn’t stop the truth in my words, does it?” “Thanks.” “Pleasure.” Content that there was no need to talk, we continue our walk in a comfortable silence. I take the time to admire the scenery. The trees offered small shade, as we made our way down the winding roads around Canterlot. “Hey Tavi?” “Yes?” “Do you know where you’re going?” “Yes, but I’m not taking the fastest route.” “Why?! Celestia, Tavi! Why?!” “Because it’s nice.” “But we could be there by now!” “Vinyl, not everything is about speed. One can also enjoy the journey.” “Don’t come up with that hippie crap, Tavi. You can enjoy being there more than getting there.” “Well in Manehattan, all you had to enjoy was a subway or some such nonsense, but don’t you admire the scenery?” “Yea, but I’m tired!” She groaned. “Fine! We’ll head the fastest route, this way.” I change direction, and make my way towards a forest, at first Vinyl is confused but she is placated when we reach a new footpath, “This is the fastest path.” “Awesome.” “But don’t you see my point? The last one had lots more, loads more trees, a gorgeous light.” “Look Tavi it’s all new to me, so this is still pretty impressive.” “Makes sense I suppose, it is rather nice.” ***** “We’re nearly there now.” “Awesome.” The thick layers of brambles and other bushes slowly part, until there are nothing but a few great oaks between us and the riverbank. The riverbank is a small but wonderful patch of grass that is rarely visited due to how hard it is to get there. Flowing beside it the river lazily runs her way downhill, acting as a backdrop to the beautiful mountain landscape, just wide and deep enough to swim comfortably, but not too large as to be ugly. “So what do you think?” “Pretty cool Tavi.” “Have you seen anything remotely like this before?” I plant myself under the oak closest to the river, and drop my saddle bags. “Nope. I’m impressed.” “Good.” “But why do you constantly try to impress me Tavi?” “Canterlot patriotism I suppose, that and I do like this place,” I let out a yawn, “I don’t know, isn’t that what friends do?” “I guess,” Vinyl plonks herself next to me and yawns with me. “Good. But sorry, I’m rather tired now.” The lazy afternoon sun warms the summer air as Vinyl and I doze off under the tree. I wake up every so often to see the shade has moved slightly further, and that Vinyl is blissfully asleep. The next time I wake up is to the sound of a splash, and a shriek, “COLD SO COLD!” Urgh, I did forget to warn her, didn’t I? I take a second to compose myself before standing up and walking towards the river. Vinyl is huddled in a ball on the grass shivering. “Oh yes, I should have warned you about that. Are you okay?” “D-d-d-doe-s-s it-t-t t-t l-look l-like I’m o-okay?” “A little cold perhaps, but the sun will warm you I’m sure,” I walk towards the river, remove my bowtie, fold it, place it somewhere convenient. “Could you make sure that’s safe for me please?” “Tavi, why do you wear a bowtie?” “Well they’re c- nevermind. I just like formal attire.” I slide into the water like a ship being launched. I must say, Vinyl is quite the wimp when it comes to cold, I just find it refreshing, “See? Not too bad.” Vinyl mumbles some insult from her perch, how adorable. I swim my way back and forth a few times, before climbing up back on the grass and shaking all of the water off, “You’re still shivering?” I sit down next to her, and she leans on me. I place a hoof around her, and embrace her. “Thanks,” She mumbles. “You are funny sometimes Vinyl,” We sit there for a moment, before I pull away, “We should make a fire!” Vinyl grumbles a little, but doesn’t resist or move as I head towards the saddle bags. I had in them a few old newspapers and some kindling. Larger logs should be easy to find here, although they might be a bit harder to break considering I forgot an axe. I grab both bags and bring them up to Vinyl. By now the sun is clearly casting shadows on the land, but the place by the river will be the last to fall to the shadows. Without words I prepare the fire, it’s something I’ve done countless times before. Find rocks, make circle, place kindling and paper, light fire. Boom. Now I need to find larger logs, “Vinyl, would you be a dear and find some logs?” “Why don’t you do it? I need to warm up.” “Urgh, do you even know how to maintain a fire?” “Sure I do.” “FINE!” I walk into the woods for a short while, to discover a few promising bits of wood. A few cuts and bruises later, I’m able to bring back a considerable pile, only to find that Vinyl let the fire out, “Urgh!” I collapse on the floor. “Urm, yea… So that happened.” I pick myself up, “You could at least look like you’re trying to light it. Isn’t that what your horn is for?” “That’s racist.” “I don’t care anymore. Just levitate those logs over here.” She looks genuinely guilty, “Okay,” Her levitation is certainly some shabby shite, but it gets the job done. I light the fire again, and tend to it for about half an hour before it is comfortably burning. We sit there staring at the fire for a few moments before Vinyl pokes me, “Hey,” I ignore her, “Hey,” Again, “Tavi?” “What?!” “Sorry.” “Apology accepted, sorry for being moody about it.” “No problem,” We stare into the flames for a few more moments, “Wanna get the booze out?” “Or the record player?” I smile, “Let’s see if those oldies still hold up.” “That’s what I’m talking about!” “Well, stop sitting there and put them on then!” Vinyl levitated the archaic record player from my saddle bag, and placed it on the floor. She then proceeded to collect her records, “What shall I play?” “What have we got?” “Oh yea! This one! Shama Lama Doo Wop,” She says, confused as to how to pronounce it, “That name alone deserves being played.” “Go for it.” The music just gets to the chase, an acapella pop song, quintessential of the 1950s. Short, sweet, but a load of fun. Halfway through Vinyl starts to dance, and by the end she offers me a hoof, and who would I be to deny her? She uses her magic to change the side, and we are given another jolly pop song. Neither of us is much of a dancer, but it’s fun nonetheless, as we prance our way around the riverbank to relics of the fifties. I’ve never truly appreciated that kind of pop music till now, but Vinyl really knows how to set the mood with this stuff. The only slight pauses are when Vinyl has to wind up the archaic record player, which aren’t long anyway since that horn is a bloody wonder. It’s only when I notice it getting dark I begin to tire. I wipe a line of sweat from my brow and continue dancing for one last song before I simply collapse, followed by Vinyl. We stare into the sky, grinning like fillies skipping class for the first time, “That was wonderful Vinyl.” “Thanks,” Vinyl put on another record. This time the song was at a much slower pace, but it fit the mood beautifully, as we stared into the sky. “I’m surprised at how good you’re able to set the tone with these songs.” “Well I’ll admit, I did kinda get to know them for this evening.” I turn my head towards her, “Really? Just to make this work?” “Yea.” “Oh Vinyl.” “Your smile is all the thanks I need.” “Well take a thanks as well.” “Aww Tavi.” I stand up and curl myself up next to the fire, followed closely by Vinyl. It’s not even that cold, I just love watching the flames, “You’re a really good dancer, you know that?” I say. “You’re not awful yourself.” “No need to patronize me.” “Hey if I was good by your standards, then you must’ve been awesome.” “Yes, well, let’s agree we were both awful.” “Alright,” Vinyl floated over a beer, “Want one?” “No thanks. But put them in the river would you?” “Why?” “They’re probably warm.” Vinyl pops the can open and takes a swig, “Yup. Eww, gross,” She says before taking another swig and dropping the rest of the cans in the water. “Told you. Could you pass over a moon bar?” “Sure,” Vinyl throws me one of the chocolates. “Thanks,” I put another log on the fire and tend to it, “I really love fire.” “Yea, it’s pretty.” “I like the whole decay of it. When I look at it, I find it humbling. It was the same a while back with that conversation with Golden Tiara.” “Oh?” “Well, it makes it feel as if all my problems will just vanish. It’s why I like looking at eternal views.” “Eternal views?” “Like the sky or the sea, things that are just simply above me.” “I get ya. So you think that it’s just nice not to feel responsible for everything all the time?” “Pretty much.” “I can get that. Especially with a hella stress.” “Oh?” “Yea one time,” Vinyl swigged her beer, “It was the birthday of my marefriend, well at the time she wasn’t. So we’d all arranged to meet at this tram stop. But nopony showed, cept’ me. Woah, that was stressful. Do you know how hard it is to keep somepony entertained when their supposed friends dump on them like that?” “Must have been difficult.” “Damn right it was. See, me, if I make a promise I don’t break it. Friends don’t do that.” “What was she like?” “I dunno how to describe her. She was, well,” Vinyl took a sip of her beer, “When you get to know somepony on a really deep level you don’t think of their surface traits. I guess we had the same taste in music. She’s always the party type. She just does whatever she wants.” “Why didn’t anyone go to her party then?” “I never said she was good at it. She had her way for pissing off ponies.” “How?” Vinyl chuckled, “Well they found her a little weird, you know, not quite sane. Ponies were kinda scared of her. She’d be nice all of a sudden, them bam!” Vinyl thumped her hooves together, “She’d go nuts on ya. Voices in her head, you know.” “Must’ve been tough dealing with that.” “Yea, but you got used to it. She found it hard to trust ponies, but once you got it, she was loyal as a dog.” “Then why did she break up with you?” “Well, that’s really quite heartbreaking,” Vinyl took another swig, “She’d built up to it. She denied it at first, but then just accepted it. She felt like I had betrayed her,” Vinyl looked sad. She wasn’t quite crying, but I could see her pain. “Do you want to stop talking about it?” “No, no, it’s good to get it out,” There was a pause. “Could you get me a glass of wine please?” “Yea, sure,” Vinyl levitated me a glass of wine before taking out another beer. “So tell me, is that why you miss Manehattan so much?” “Among other things, but yea, I miss her. The thing is that I just worry, she needs someone to handle her safely, and I’m not sure she’s responsible enough to look after herself.” “I hope she fares well. Does she have good parents, family?” “Well I made damn sure my friends will take care of her. She lives with her brother, sweet fellah, I trust he can handle her.” “I hope so,” I take a sip from my wine, “I really do, truly I am sorry for this whole affair.” “It’s not your fault.” “I know, but that doesn’t discount my sympathy does it?” “Thanks Tavi, you’ve been an awesome friend.” I smile, “Thank you, Vinyl. I’ve never been called that before, I’ll admit it feels good.” “Well, it makes me feel good to make you feel good.” “Good,” Vinyl moves right next to me, “This has been a good day,” I stifle a yawn. By now the sky has lost any remnants of the golden glow of the sun and is lit only by the cold light of the silvery moon. I take another sip of wine. “Yea, it has,” Vinyl turned to me and smiled, “Not in the way I expected though.” “Nor me. I rather imagined more party type activities.” “Yea, well we did kinda have that.” “True,” My eyes begin to close, and I let out another yawn, “We did do that.” “Do you wanna sleep?” “If you wouldn’t mind.” “Go ahead.” “Oh, and Vinyl?” “Yea.” “May I lean on you?” “Sure.” I lean on Vinyl’s shoulder and within a few minutes I’m sound asleep.