“I cannot believe you!” Octavia shouted, slamming her hands on the kitchen table. “This is something you needed to discuss with me before you automatically accepted!”
I opened my mouth to object, but she kept going.
“Vinyl, we can barely afford to feed ourselves and still make rent! You don’t have a steady job anymore, and playing at Discord’s doesn’t pay as well as it used to!” She stopped shouting for a moment, breathing heavily. Her hair had fallen down in her eyes, her makeup had run down her cheeks and her teeth were tinged red where she’d bitten her lip a few minutes ago. “How are we supposed to support a third person for any length of time?!”
“I… I don’t know…” I said miserably. I hated to admit it, but she was right. After I quit my job at the guitar shop and lost my only means of transporting my sound equipment, I had absolutely no means of making money. “I didn’t think about that…”
“Are you sure?! You seemed fairly certain we could handle it when you volunteered to let the princess stay in MY house!” she screamed leaning over the table to get in my face. “You seem to forget, dear Vinyl, that you moved in with me!”
“Tavi, I’m—”
“Don’t even!” she spat, baring her teeth at me. “If you think any apology will make up for this, it won’t! I’ve been lenient with you about getting a job because I understand not having a vehicle! But no more! Either you find a new job soon or…” She trailed off, her eyes drifting away from mine. She turned her head to the left and muttered, “’…or you can find a new play to stay…”
“Octavia…” I reached across the table to touch her hand, but she snatched it away.
“No, Vinyl. You’ve truly messed up this time,” she said quietly, standing up straight. She looked me dead in the eyes. “You have until this mess with Applejack is resolved to find a new job. I’d wager… that doesn’t give you much time.”
“I’ll… I’ll talk to Neon this weekend…” I said quietly as she walked around the table. Her response was as harsh as it was immediate. The back of Octavia’s hand came crashing into my cheek, causing me to tumble off of the stool and onto the floor.
“Don’t be STUPID, Vinyl!” she screamed, grabbing me by Roma’s jacket and pushing me back against the counter. “I told you not to set foot in that place ever again!”
“That’s not your call,” I whispered. I could feel my lips pulling back away from my teeth. “It’s a job, right?” I said a little louder. “That’s all that matters, right?! That we can make rent and be comfortable?!” I tried to push her off, but she merely pushed back harder, until I was pushed up far enough that I sat on the counter.
“I won’t have you put yourself in that position!” she shouted, pulling my face close. “I care about you, Vinyl! I won’t let that asshole touch you EVER again!”
“That’s n—” I was cut off by the front door slamming closed. My eyes widened as I turned to see Roma walking towards his bike. I’d forgotten he was sitting in the living room, waiting for us to finish… “Shit!” I squirmed out of Octavia’s grip and sprinted into the living room and through the front door, only to find him pulling out into the street.
He didn’t even look back as he rode away.
“Vinyl! You need to see this…”
I came back into the living room to see Octavia holding a note with a paperclip over the top. I strode forward and snatched it out of her hand.
Sorry for the trouble. I’ll figure something else out. I really shouldn’t have asked. I mean, it’s not your problem. It’s mine.
Just do yourself a favor. Stay away from me until we get this mess sorted out. Jackie won’t hurt you if we aren’t involved. Attached to this note is about three hundred dollars. I was planning to give it to you so having Twilight over wouldn’t be that troublesome… But I hope it helps with the rent. Use some of it for cab fare to get back and forth to school.
-Roma
I clenched the edges of the note as my hands curled into fists, tearing the edges. I reread it several times, and I kept coming back to that one sentence.
He… he had the nerve to…
I screamed.
Long and loud, I screamed and threw the note across the room, watching as a mass of green spread away from it. “FUCKING ASSHOLE!!!” I was suddenly aware that tears were streaming down my cheeks. I didn’t care. I was angry. I needed to hit something. I screamed again and brought my fist down knuckle-first on our wooden coffee table. It hurt.
I didn’t care.
I did it again, hitting with the side of my hand. It still hurt. I did it again. Hurt. I did it again. And again. My vision started blurring… I hit again. And again. And again and again can’t see straight and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again someone’s screaming and again and again and again and again… my fist stopped.
“Vinyl, stop!” Octavia screamed, causing my vision to slip back into focus. “Look at what you’re doing!” I looked down at the table. Covered in blood. I looked at my hand. Also covered in blood. Hand hurt. Lots of blood. Blood everywhere. Blood on the carpet. Blood on jacket. Blood on jeans. Blood on…
Blood…
On jacket…
Roma…
Jacket…
Blood…
Roma…
My world went black.
I woke up in my bed and immediately looked around. I didn’t remember going to bed… the last thing I remembered was… Oh. I looked down at my hand, which was covered in bandages and stuck in a Ziploc bag. Half of the bandages were stained red. The sleeve of Roma’s jacket was pulled up and tied with a cloth belt… and it was noticeably blood-free. I looked up to see Octavia was sitting beside my bed, her head laid against it on top of her arms, being all adorable and shit.
I smiled and looked over at the window. It was dark outside. A glance at my clock said it was 9:30 pm.
Well, someone was going to get an earful at school in the morning.
I closed my eyes and put my hands over my stomach.
Oddly enough, sleep came easily.
~Rend~
He and I stood under the arbor, staring each other down like two wolves. He was angry, I was angry, and neither of us was going to back down. His eyes kept darting down to my right hand. He wasn’t wearing his coat today. He was clad in a tight, red turtleneck sweater emblazoned with his mark of a speech bubble surrounding a heart, just over where his actual heart was. His hair was in a tight braid, giving him a very refined look when coupled with his red shades.
“Vee, I t—”
“Shut up,” I said harshly. He flinched. “I’m a pretty level headed gal most of the time, but do you know what happens when I lose my temper, Roma?” He stayed silent. “I do things-stupid things, like bashing my hand on a coffee table repeatedly until I bleed on everything.” As his eyes widened, I moved towards him, continuing my rant. “Do you know why I lost my temper, Roma?”
“Because… I left the way I did?”
I stopped a foot away from him. “No,” I answered sharply, bringing my hand across his face. “Because you PITIED me, Roma!” I felt something wet slide down my cheek, but I ignored it. He started to object, but I cut him off. “Don’t say you didn’t! I know you did! Do you know how much that hurts, Roma? It hurts a lot!” I stopped and slammed a fist against his chest. “It doesn’t matter if it’s for money, my health, my feelings, it hurts!” I hit him again. “Don’t you ever do that again! Don’t ever pity me like that!” I started beating on his chest repeatedly, each hit producing a dull thump that tore at my heart. “I want you to see me as an equal! I want you to treat me like I’m no different from you! Is that too much to ask of people? Is it so wrong that I want them to treat me like I’m normal?!” as I continued hitting his chest, I felt two strong hands clamp down on my shoulder and push me back.
“I can’t do that, Vinyl,” Roma said softly. His eyes were focused on the ground to his left. They were narrowed behind his scarlet glasses and his brow was furrowed, while his jaw was set in anger. “I can’t treat you like you’re normal.” He turned to look at me, and I could see something in his eyes… it wasn’t pity… Was it… sympathy? “Because here’s the thing, Vee, you’re not normal!”
“No… don’t…”
“You are different!” he shouted, leaning down to get in my face. “You’re sick and you’re weak,” he hissed. “I don’t care how much you hate it; you’re going to need help in the future!”
“Stop it, Roma!”
“No! You listen to me, Vinyl!” he scolded. I stared wide-eyed at him as he continued. “You’re weak, but you’re special! There are people all around you who care about you! Lean on them! They are there for you, and nothing is going to change that! You’re too proud Vinyl…”
I clenched my teeth and balled my fists. “And how would you know?! How would you know what it’s like to be p—” I stopped short when he held up his bare hands in front of my face.
“I am a mechanic, a fortune teller and a musician. My hands are vital to me in every aspect of my life…” he trailed off briefly, glancing at the ground, then back up to my eyes. “Whether it’s working on Gravity, playing Ophelia, reading tarot cards or palms, I need my hands to do it… When I lost that, how do you think people felt about me?” he asked. His voice was starting to grow tense, and it… it scared me. “Don’t ever think I don’t understand being helpless,” he growled. “That’s why I left you that money after Octavia vetoed… my request. I understand.”
I stared up at his face for a moment before I came back to my senses. I looked down at his feet and smiled grimly. “Yeah, you’re right. I shouldn’t have lost my temper. I’m sorry, Roma.”
I felt his hand land on my head and ruffle my hair. “Apology accepted.”
“Gah! Don’t do that! It takes work to get my hair like this!” I playfully shooed his hand way by flailing mine over my head.
“Well I… We have a guest,” Roma said somberly, prompting me to turn around.
Standing maybe seven yards away was Trixie Lulamoon, silvery-blue hair flowing in a wind that apparently was completely missing me and Roma. I immediately scowled at her and ducked behind Roma. “What are you doing here?!”
“I asked her to come,” Roma explained, stepping towards Trixie. “She’s going to drive Gravity.”
“Hello, Roma,” Trixie said quietly, a pained look on her face. I noticed that she didn’t have her cape on today, much in the same way that Roma wasn’t wearing his trench coat. Instead, she was clad in a slightly more elegant outfit, consisting of a simple navy blue maxi dress, a short, pale blue cardigan and a pair of elegant sandals. “Trixie was… rather happy to get your call last night.”
“Trixie… I’m sorry. I promi—”
“You don’t need to apologize, Roma,” she said with a sad smile. “Trixie doesn’t really… deserve it, now does she?”
“Probably not, knowing you!” I snapped, backing away slowly.
“Vee, why would you say that?”
“You don’t know, do you?” I asked, glaring at Trixie. “This bi—”
“Trixie attempted to coerce Vinyl Scratch into becoming her lackey…” Trixie paused and chewed on her lip for a moment, before continuing. “The result was a scuffle in which Trixie kicked Vinyl Scratch in the stomach, and ended in Octavia Melody, Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon coming to her aid. Trixie was… harshly beaten.”
There was silence for a moment and no one moved a muscle for fear of breaking that silence.
“Trixie will… Trixie will just be going.”
“Trixie will be doing no such thing,” Roma said, smiling at who was, at this point, clearly an old friend. “It’s very clear that you regret your actions. And for that, I’m willing to give you another chance.” He then held out a hand, offering it to Trixie to shake. “I’m also still willing to fill my end of our deal.”
Trixie stared at him in shock for a moment, much in the same way I did, before walking over to Roma and taking his hand. “Trixie thanks you, Roma…” She trailed off, blushing. “Should we… do it now?”
“Do what?” I asked, stepping up beside them. They were smiling at each other… oh no… “You guys aren’t…”
They ignored me. Instead, Roma’s smile turned into a mischievous smirk as he whispered to Trixie, “I don’t see why not.”
“That’s it,” I said, throwing my arms in the air, “I’m out!” Unfortunately, I didn’t move. I couldn’t. For some reason, I wanted to see this. Their heads tilted towards each other, closing their eyes. “I mean it, I’m leaving!” I wasn’t. Their faces came within an inch of each other, and it happened.
Roma brought his lips against hers and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. Trixie’s arms snaked their way up around Roma’s neck. I stared in shock as she stood on her toes and leaned against him. She wasn’t much taller than me… is that what it would look like if we kissed?
After almost a minute, Trixie separated from him and put her hands on his shoulder. She looked so sad… Why? She just kissed an incredibly gorgeous man. She should be ecstatic!
“Your heart wasn’t in it,” she said quietly, closing her eyes and tilting her head down. “Your kiss used to make Trixie feel special… but it’s empty now. It makes Trixie feel like you do not care about her.” She snapped her gaze back up to his face, panic clearly spreading over her face. “D-do not get Trixie wrong! She knows you still care! B—”
“But it doesn’t feel like it?”
She hung her head again. “No… It does not.”
“Sorry,” Roma said quietly, before pulling Trixie into a tight hug.
Her head had wound up facing me, so I got to witness the adorable expression she was wearing. She had a very faint, almost nonexistent smile on her face and her eyes were shut. She looked like she was sleeping… “At least your embrace hasn’t changed…”
I felt tears welling up in my eyes as I watched them. It was a beautiful moment… She was remembering what it must have been like when they (I assume) were still together. He wanted to make her happy and let her relive those days, but he couldn’t.
And then… the mood was utterly butchered.
“HOLD ZAT POSE!!!” shouted a very obnoxious woman with a heavy German accent. “Set up de lights!” Photo Finish shouted, sprinting to where I was standing. Roma and Trixie started to separate, but Photo Finish’s assistants pushed them back together.
Photo suddenly rammed into my shoulder, knocking me down. “Hey! What the hell are you doing?” I shouted.
“I, Photo Finish, am capturing… da magicks!” she whispered excitedly. “Back to how jou vere!”
“You are not taking a picture of us like this,” Roma said sharply, pulling away from Trixie. The assistants tried to push him back, but he stood fast and didn’t budge one bit. “I will not allow it.”
“Try und ztop me,” Photo Finish said coldly. Her tone made me shudder at its icy determination. “De Vize Principal has asked me to capture photos of de students.”
“Roma, think about it,” Trixie said softly. “This could be good for your image… both our images, actually.”
“Oh yeah? How so?”
“People see you as a cold… um…” She trailed off, biting her lip.
I chimed in. “The word you’re looking for is ‘dick,’” I said playfully as I sat back on my knees.
“Yes, that… As for Trixie… They see Trixie as arrogant and wicked. This will give them a softer visage of us!” she explained excitedly.
“You think so?” Roma asked cautiously, turning his eyes to the ground. They darted from left to right, a sign I’d come to recognize as him processing a situation. “Yeah… I think you’re right…”
“So den. You vill allow me to capture your photograph?” Photo Finish asked, crossing her arms.
“Ja,” Roma said with a smirk. “Nimm das verdammte Bild.”
Wait… Roma spoke German?
The photographer mirrored his expression. “Holen Sie sich in Position,” she replied, holding out an open hand. It looked like a gesture telling him to hurry up. “Und help Vinyl Scratch up,” she added, pointing at her assistants.
“What? She too good to stand up on her own?” one of them countered, receiving a scowl not only from Roma, but Trixie and Photo Finish as well. Those two also knew about me… Would they blow my secret like Roma had with AJ?
“Vinyl recently suffered an injury to her ankle and wrist. She has a little bit of trouble getting up,” Roma said instantly, shocking me with how easily the lie came to him. The assistants promptly came over and hoisted me up onto my feet. I made a show of staggering on my left foot, just to sell the lie. Photo looked at me in an odd way, with her chin cupped between her thumb and forefinger.
“Vinyl Scratch, I vant jou in ze photo.”
A unanimous “What?” echoed between everyone gathered.
“Ja. Da former lovers reminisce a life gone by, vhile de current lover watches,” she explained slowly, as though she weren’t entirely certain of herself.
“News flash, Finish: Vinyl and I are just friends.”
“Really? Trixie thought there was something between you as well…”
“Seriously?” I asked, throwing my hands up. “Why the hell would you think that? How have we, in any way, given the impression that we are dating?”
“Is mostly you, Vinyl Scratch. Da vay jou look at him sends zat message.
My face turned bright red. “I don’t… I… But…Just… Both of you shut up! Take the damn picture so we can get on with our lives.”
Photo smirked at me in a knowing way and held her camera up. “Jou know jou cannot hide from me, Fräulein Scratch…” she muttered, “I vill always see Straight through jou.”
~Rend~
It was late; way too fucking late to be having a meeting in Octavia’s living room. And yet, a number of individuals were gathered around our quaint little coffee table, which was now laden with mostly empty pizza boxes. Roma, Tavi, and I sat on our couch, while our guests sat or stood opposite us. My gaze swept across those gathered.
Trixie, Lyra, Bon Bon, and Sunset all stared back at us in uncomfortable silence after learning of our plans involving the princess.
“So… a shotgun…” Lyra said shakily, eyeing the nickel finished Remington on the table. “Not really sure how I feel about that…”
“Roma, none of us know how to use this thing,” Sunset said pointedly, crossing her arms.
“I do.” All eyes turned to Bon Bon, who was looking at the ground.
Lyra slowly backed away from her. “You what?”
Bon Bon responded by grabbing the shotgun, then pulled the pump back and began loading the bright red shells that were on the table into it. When she was finished, she lipped one through the ejector port (I know gun speak!) and pushed the pump forward again, then hoisted it onto her shoulder. “I know guns. Plain and simple.”
“You… you told me you’d never used a gun!”
“I know you don’t like them…”
“It doesn’t matter!” Lyra shouted. “That’s something you should have told me! You lied me Bon Bon!”
“Everyone has secrets,” Roma said quietly, pulling a flat, red lollipop out of his inner jacket pocket. “I have quite a few myself.” He popped the candy in his mouth before continuing. “I mean, it’s not pretty, but everyone has them. It’s just a thing.”
“How can you be so casual about this?!” Lyra screamed, slamming her hand down on the table. “She fucking lied to me, Roma!”
“I’m blasé. And if you think this is bad…” Roma tilted his sunglasses down and glare at Lyra over them. “You should hear some of mine. Personally, I don’t see where Bonnie’s secret hobby is such a big deal. I mean, it could be way worse.”
“How?!”
“She could be lying about her name. Or she could be a monster hunter. Or an undercover spy.”
Trixie slapped her palm against her head and sighed.
“Okay yeah…” Lyra conceded, sitting back down in the armchair behind her. “That would be pretty rough.” She snapped her head around to look at Bon Bon. “We’re gonna talk about this later.”
“…Okay.”
“Now that that’s settled,” Octavia said calmly, standing and planting the point of her rapier’s scabbard firmly on the floor and resting her hands on the pommel. It was a beautiful sword, with a Spanish cross etched onto the clamshell guard and a silver, wire wrapped grip.* “Let’s get down to the actual plan.”
Roma accepted his shotgun back from Bon Bon and pulled a long black revolver out of his coat and held up beside his head, pointed at the ceiling. Supposedly, it was just a paintball gun… but I was dubious. “We have to assume that Jackie will be aware that we’re bringing the princess into this world. It’s the safest course of action.”
“You keep talking about Applejack like she’s so dangerous,” Trixie cut in, “What exactly is she capable of?”
Roma sighed, pulling his lollipop out. “Muay Thai, Judo, Jujitsu, Krav Maga, Karate, archery… I could go on, if you’d like?”
“Please don’t. And you? Trixie has always wondered what you can do.”
“None of those. Kenjutsu, Greco-Roman wrestling, a bit of kick boxing, all self taught. I mostly rely on weapons that make fighting easier. Hence, I love guns.”
“I see,” Trixie said, nodding, before turning to Octavia. “And what about you? Trixie’s seen you lugging that sword around school before.”
“No, the one you saw was blunt, used for my hobby, historical European martial arts-HEMA for short. This is not. I am skilled with a number of European weapons, including sabers, longswords, rapiers, cutlasses, sword and shield, German messers of varying types… I’m probably forgetting a few.”
Everyone except me stared at Octavia in shock.
Roma spoke first. “Jesus.”
“Indeed,” Octavia said proudly.
“Anyway!” I said loudly, getting everyone’s attention. “The plan. Should we discuss it, or keep bragging about our abilities? Cuz I’m not too shabby with a knife.”
“Of course,” Roma said calmly, holstering his revolver and setting his shotgun back on the table. “Vee, you take this one.”
“Thank you,” I said politely as I stood up. “Since Trixie and I are the only ones with a license, she’ll be driving. Roma’s car doesn’t have power steering, which sucks.”
“Whatcha gonna do? It was designed in the seventies.”
“Roma and Octavia will be the motorcycle escort. The rest of you are in the car and will be armed with one of these,” I explained, reaching behind me and pulling a black paintball pistol out of my waistband. “This is a a paintball gun. We have about six of these. They hold six rounds. They'll be loaded with pepper powder, so as to non-lethally incapacitate any attacker. I got some of this in my face. It freakin' hurt.
“If your parents ask, we’re all working on a school project,” I continued as Roma began handing each person present a paintball pistol and a can of practice ammo. “Roma will teach you to use the gun. I’ll be working on getting our route planned out.”
“During school, I’ll be skipping first period so I can teach Octavia to ride. Bonnie, you and I have first period together. I’ll need you to get my work.”
“Done.”
“So then, we’re all agreed, we meet back here starting tomorrow night?” I received nods all around. “Alright then! Now, let’s have us a sleep over!”
“Trixie brought movies!”
Roma turned to her with wide eyes. “You didn’t bring…”
“She did! Tinkerbell and the Legend of the Neverbeast!”
“…You suck… so much right now…”
Trixie tilted her head in confusion. “Trixie thought you loved that one…”
“I do! But it…” Roma’s face flushed red. “You know…”
I smiled at Roma as I grabbed his arm and pulled him up stairs. “Never would’ve pegged you for a crier,” I said playfully as I showed him to the guest room. I received a playful punch on the arm in response. “You can change into your pajamas in here.”
“Thanks,” he said, and waited patiently for me to leave.
When I came back downstairs, all the other girls (save Octavia, who also changed upstairs for obvious reasons) had pulled their sleeping clothes out and were ready to start changing. With a nod from me, each of them started taking their clothes off. I took a moment to admire each of their physiques as I slipped my shirt off.
Lyra was slim and had smaller breasts, but she was well proportioned. Her smaller chest matched well with her narrow hips and tight stomach. In stark contrast, Bon Bon had a fuller figure, but wasn’t quite fat. Her c-cup breasts looked like they’d make good pillows, while her arms looked like they could squash my head against the aforementioned tits.
Trixie was ideal in every aspect of her body, with curvaceous hips, a substantial bosom and reasonably thick arms and legs. Yet this seemed to contradict the well kept six-pack she proudly displayed. My eyes darted down to her star-spangled panties and a blush fromed on my cheeks. Who the hell wears a thong to a sleepover? Someone who recently discovered that her ex was still single… Lovlely.
I turned my gaze to Sunset, and her elegant figure. Unlike the others, she had a toned body, yet she wasn’t as tightly toned as Lyra or Rainbow Dash. She was… perfect. And then I noticed the scars on her back. None of them were that big, but they were numerous and all of them prominent. I counter thirty of them crisscrossing all over the area between her shoulders. She must have felt me looking, because she turned her head and looked at me over her shoulder.
“He… threw me through a window…” She said quietly, holding her jacket close to her chest. “I wasn’t wearing this, so when I landed on it, the glass sliced my back to ribbons…”
“R-Roma?” I asked as tears started welling in her eyes.
“Yeah…” she whispered somberly.
“He’s not like that anymore, is he?” Lyra asked, crossing her arms. “He told us he used to have some anger issues…”
Sunset turned her head up and gave a haughty laugh. “Used to?” She whispered, looking at Lyra out of the corner of her eye. “He didn’t use to have problems… he has problems, Lyra. He will always have them…”
“And I’ll always keep a tight rein on them.” Every one turned to see Roma coming down the steps, followed closely by Octavia, who had a look on her face I couldn’t quite identify. All I could tell was that it looked sad. “Enough of this depressing talk!” he shouted, holding his hand up in front of him, like some hero from an old play. “Let us watch sappy, heart wrenching animated movies about fairies and heroic beasts!”
“Dude,” Lyra started holding a hand to her head, “it’s just Tinkerbell… Is it that sad?”
“It made Roma cry…” Trixie said casually, holding up a DVD box. “Trust Trixie, it is pretty heartbreaking.
One hour later:
Roma and Octavia sat on either side of me on the couch, bawling their eyes out and holding me tight. To be fair, every one was crying and had a cuddle partner. I just had two.
“Oh God! Gruuu-hhuuufff…” Octavia wailed, hugging my arm to her chest.
“I knooooww…” Roma replied, copying Octavia’s action.
“I… really don’t see how this is so sad…” I said, watching as the Neverbeast laid down and went to sleep for a thousand years. “And why are you both cuddling me?”
“Be-because you’re the perfect size to cuddle!” Roma said, pulling me tighter.
“I-isn’t she, though?!” Octavia said, nestling in even closer.
“This is fucking ridiculous…” I whispered, unheard over the movie. “Still, not too bad of a flic…”
I looked down at Roma’s tear-streaked face and smiled warmly at him, before patting my lap and raising my arm. I quickly did the same for Octavia as they both laid their heads in my lap. With a contented sigh, I stroked their heads lovingly.
My two most precious friends…
I loved them.
Eventually, we all fell asleep in that position and spent the night that way.