Dusty Records
“So Vinyl,” Twilight began as she took another sip from her coffee, “what have you been up to lately?”
“Oh, just the usual: messing with Skippy, researching some of the old classical pieces I found in the radio station’s cellar, mixing down some new dubtrot, doing paperwork, running parties, doing my show... nothing out of the ordinary.”
A stern look formed across Twilight’s face. “So igniting Octavia’s cello in the middle of a rendition of Sarabande isn’t out of the ordinary to you?”
“Hehe... yeah... I’d rather not talk about that. But hey what about you? What spel-”
“Oh no no no, you don’t get to shrug that off. What made you do that to the poor mare?” she asked crossly. I realized that she wouldn’t let me wiggle out of this one.
“I... I was confused. I was mad at her and just wanted her out of the way.”
“Why were you mad at her?”
Finally, a chance for me to stand my ground. “She touched my soundboard without permission! I had every right to-”
“No no, why were you mad at her? You were mad at her before she messed with your equipment... why?”
I stared at the bottom of my empty mug for a few moments as Twilight kept watching me intently. Out of the corner of my eye I could see her patiently waiting for a reply, but I didn’t really know what to say.
“I... I don’t know. This is all just so... not me...”
Twilight must have realized that she had backed me into a corner. I felt her hoof softly rest on my shoulder as the tears began to stream down my muzzle again.
“Hey... you’re okay. I’m sorry for pushing you like this...”
I only just finished bawling my eyes out about Octavia, and now Twilight was prying into my personal life more than I was comfortable with... could this day get any worse?
“Listen, can we go somewhere? I think a walk through the park could help you cool off and clear your head,” she said as she tilted her head towards the town square. The soothing flow of sympathy coming from her was helping, but I was still dreading the conversation that I knew was coming.
Even through my roiling emotions, it would be nice to feel the wind rustle through my mane as I shared my thoughts with someone caring.
“Come on! I know just the place to go.”
Twilight started running full steam towards the forest while I was still getting off of my stool, I had to move quickly in order to keep up.
“So Twilight,” I puffed, “where exactly are we going?”
“Oh, nowhere you would know.”
Puzzled, I followed her as we trotted out of town and into a wooded area.
We continued to walk for quite some time as Twilight left me to my thoughts. The silence between us was a little disconcerting.
I wonder why she’s taking me somewhere far away... oh horseapples... is she going to try to end me? I know that she took Octavia’s side but would she ever be that extreme?
“Hey, you seem quiet... are you alright?” Her sudden conversation starter made me jump, but I answered nonetheless.
“Oh, just wondering how Octavia is doing...”
“Vinyl, it’s only been less than an hour! I thought you didn’t want to be around her.”
“I do! Well, I don’t... I don’t know! This is all just so...”
“Frustrating?” Twilight interjected.
“I was going to say painful... I can’t stand being around her because we’re always tugging at each other’s manes and kicking at each other’s hooves. I still have so many mixed feelings for her, and if she could find it in her to actually forgive me for what I’ve done... then I would forgive her.”
“Why don’t you tell her that? It seems like your regret is sincere... I think she’d forgive you if you told her what you have just told me.”
She promptly looked into my eyes and put on the cutest smile I had ever seen...
It helped, but I still felt wary.
“I don’t think now is a good time. She’s just in the hospital a-”
“There is never a good time, believe me. You need to do it and you need to do it now before you lose your confidence.”
I have confidence right now?
“Maybe... I’ll think about it.”
She looked into my eyes again. “You need to do this, please, for both your sakes.”
Well... she’s pushing a thorn in my side.
“Fine... but I’ll need someone to help me when I’m kicked down.”
The thought of one of Octavia’s first lashouts floated to the forefront of my mind, causing my exhausted tear ducts to begin filling my eyes up once again.
Twilight slowed down and nuzzled against me. I couldn’t tell if she was trying to be nurturing or... flirtatious?
“Hey look! We’re here!”
I looked up as my jaw promptly dropped as I gazed upon the unparalleled beauty that lay before me.
Everything there was full of life, not a single rock out of place. The light lazily flickered through the leaves as I finished making my way through the thick forest.
This was... new to say the least. In all of my years I have never seen such a calm, still place. I felt like I could lie down on a thick patch of moss and let my mind rest for hours.
“Twilight... what...” I tried to form words, but the sheer peace and tranquility had me stammering. I hadn’t seen such a peaceful and beautiful place before...
“Welcome to my haven!” she said ecstatically. “This is where I come to think and read. Fluttershy showed me this place awhile back and ever since then I have always come here in my spare time.”
“Why did you bring me here? I mean this is amazing, don’t get me wrong... but why?”
“Well, I wanted you to be able to have a quiet place to think about everything that is going on in your life. This is your chance to breathe in the air and soothe your frayed nerves.”
“Breathe in the air... Breathe In The Air... oh Celestia, the radio station!”
I don’t know why Twilight’s words immediately made me think of Pinkie Floyd, but Skippy had probably finished fixing the transmitter and there wasn’t any other DJ’s scheduled to be in today.
I turned tail and began to canter away, “Look I have to go, but I’ll be ba- OW!”
A field of purple light formed around my tail, bringing me to a quick and painful stop.
“Oh no no no. From what I’ve heard you’ve been going through hell for the past couple days. You need this time to yourself. Now sit down and relax.”
Well then... how nurturing of her.
Her motherly nature was... unnerving, but I still enjoyed her company. At least she wasn’t as bad as Pinkie Pie...
She was right though, I had been driving myself crazy over the past couple days.
“Here, have a seat!” she said as her horn pulled me over to a nearby rock.
“Uh.... thanks?” Even though she was helping me relax, I was not amused at being hoisted by my tail.
I got comfortable on the ground, tucking my hooves beneath me and letting my body have some much needed relaxation time.
I didn’t expect this peace to last long though. I knew that Twilight was about to launch back into her conversation and pick at my brain like a bird rooting around looking for that one extra juicy worm. Instead, however, she lay down next to me and nuzzled against my neck.
“You know... for such an outgoing mare, I’ve always felt something... special... towards you,” she said in a quiet, sweet voice.
“You do remember the reason why you brought me out to relax... right?” I said, hoping that I wasn’t about to have another mare-related incident. Sadly my hopes were dashed.
“Of course I do! You wanted to get away from Octavia... and what better way to do that than to lose yourself with another mare?
Right... what to do... what t-mmph!
I widened my eyes, only to see that Twilight had arched her neck around and locked muzzles with me.
My mind was filling to the brim with things I could do to get out of this... but then one thought drifted to the forefront of my mind; why would I want to get out of this?
I hesitated as the thought of Octavia filled me with a longing, sorrowful sensation. The sensation of having this sweet, beautiful mare in my grasp caused these thoughts to dissipate rather quickly.
Just as I had accepted the idea and was beginning to push into the kiss, she pulled away.
“I... I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that... it’s just I’ve never met someone with such a love for history, and even though you like music history and I like... everything else history... I still feel like the same passion is there. That, plus with Spike around I just haven’t been able to find anypony that’s been willing to put up with me and-”
I realized that she was just desperate for somepony to hold her and love her, and although I didn’t feel any love towards her on a romantic level... I still wanted to help her.
So here I am turning the tables, as I lock my lips with Twilight’s... interesting.
No regrets went through my mind as the minutes turned into hours while she and I held each other close, happily snuggling and basking in the sun together; completely at peace, without a care in the world.
The light began to fade as the sun hid behind the trees in the valleys that lay afar, Twilight took notice to this.
“Hey... Spike is spending the night at Rarity’s. Want to come back to the library for some tea?”
My coat wasn’t doing much to keep the cold at bay, and my stomach was officially running on empty, so my usual ‘what could possibly go wrong’ attitude took over.
“You know, a cup of tea sounds great!”
I hopped up and extended a hoof towards Twilight to help her up. She blushed at the premise and accepted my help gladly.
As we began to stumble our way through the dark, I felt Twilight lean against me. I looked at her and noticed a rather cheeky expression on her face.
“You know... we don’t have to walk back home. I have something better in mind.”
She flashed a seductive glance as she set her horn aglow. I expected some odd alternative form of transportation to occur; wings, levitation boots, helium balloon...
...Jet pack?
A blinding light encompassed our bodies, causing me to shield my eyes. The light, however, left as quickly as it arrived. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust, and when I could finally see again the environment around me was completely different.
Less trees and more... books?
“Welcome to my library!” Twilight said with a sheepish smile.
“How... how did you just do that?” I stammered. I was surprised that I could come up with any words at all after such an odd experience.
“There are a lot of benefits that come with being a student of Celestia. Having access to the Canterlot Archives is just one of the perks. You just experienced my very own teleportation spell, made through a combination of Starswirl’s spell and a little bit of my own ingenuity,” she replied proudly.
“Well... I could go for some tea after that. Any chance of a nice sit down?”
I was still tingling after such an odd experience, but I decided to play it off.
Twilight gestured towards a nearby chair and floated a cup of tea onto the table in front of me.
We seemed to sit there for eternity, I continued to sit there sipping tea quietly as Twilight sat by the fire reading her books. I would think that she would be more talkative, but she must’ve noticed that I had quite a day, so she was giving me space to breathe.
For once, I decided to fill the quiet air with my voice, instead of my music.
“I caused it.” Twilight’s head whipped around in puzzlement, so I continued. "After that we grew distant, what with Octi delving into classical music while I fell hard into the club scene... it just seemed convenient to blame the breakup on musical differences, but, the more I think about it... the more I think that I am completely, utterly wrong.” Twilight’s look of curiosity was quickly replaced by concern and worry. She seemed as if she was more worried by me than what I was saying. “You see, a couple of years ago back in college, we were frolicking through a field by Fluttershy’s house. We were just goofing off when we should..... we sho.... we-”
The thoughts of days gone by had officially fried my emotions for the day, which probably isn’t the best thing to do several days in a row... I started to feel a dull nausea build in the pit of my stomach until Twilight snuggled close to me and put a hoof around me. The hug was nice in a strange kind of way. With her continuing to comfort me, I carried on.
“We should’ve been studying for our finals, but I had parties coming up and she had concerts to perform at, so we wanted to have one last night together before things became hectic for a couple months. We went out for breakfast, went shopping, went dancing... I’m not really the dancing sort, but for her, I at least tried.”
Twilight snickered at the thought, and promptly nudged me to continue.
“It was a great day. Not a single thing went wrong until we went to the meadow... I lay down in the grass as she pulled her cello from the case that she had been lugging around all day... I could never figure out why she would carry it around wherever she went or what it meant to her.”
Twilight interjected, “Did you ever find out why?”
“Now that is another story entirely. She didn’t grow up in one of the best parts of town. Her parents bucked her out when she was barely through foalhood... all because they wanted to see her fail as she had her first taste of the real world... but she was determined to make a name for herself. She had been able to play her mother’s cello from time to time and had gotten really good at it, but she would always want play and make use of her obvious, raw talent. After years of doing work at shops around town, the old rock farm, even sweeping the streets of Canterlot... she had managed to make a life for herself by moving off of her friends couch and into her own tiny apartment and finally managed to get a cello that she could call her own. That cello, that was bought from the result of all her strenuous work... it was the very cello that she brought to the meadow that night .”
I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and to gather my thoughts. I continued as I noticed Twilight raising an eyebrow, curious as to why I had stopped talking.
“When she started to play... it was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before...her music was soft, slow and filled with obvious passion and emotion. She played song after beautiful song as the stars moved across the sky until the trees prepared themselves for the light of a new day. But she was so persistent... she never wanted to stop playing. She just kept on seducing me with her songs of beauty and passion, but after several hours she finally became so tired from playing that she put her cello down and collapsed in a heap next to me. I was about to join her in a lovely slumber until a thought dawned on me.... ‘maybe I can play this thing too! That’ll impress Octavia for sure.’ This however was not the best of ideas...”
The purple mare became much more alert and worried as I continued to tell the story.
“I set my horn aglow to pick up the bow to fumble with it in an attempt to tighten it, only to give up and try playing with the bow still loose. She seemed to take no notice though, so I continued as if I knew what I was doing. It was only when I placed the bow against the strings when Octavia cringed, but I continued to try mimicking what I had seen Octavia do earlier... I encompassed the cello’s neck with a spell in an attempt to properly press the necessary strings down. I kept on pressing more and more but not a single recognizable note would come through... So I tried pressing more and more and-”
“Vinyl, what happened?” Twilight interjected.
“The neck... it snapped clean in two. Just... right there in the field. The strings bent and loosened as the neck fell to the ground, leaving me holding the broken remains of her life’s work.”
“Doesn’t she know that accidents just happen sometimes?”
“Of course she doesn’t! Accidents just don’t happen in her strange made up world... I apologized to her profusely, but all she did was pack her things and run away from me crying... never making eye contact and never e... eve...”
What am I doing? I can’t just keep pouring my emotions onto this poor mare... buck up.
“She never even said goodbye... I didn’t see her for months after the fact, until she applied for a job at The Horn. And even when we began working together... we just never reconnected.”
Twilight had no words to say for a moment, it seemed like she had frozen in time after the shock of hearing my tale of woe.
“So let me get this straight... she left you because of a cello? That seems a little... harsh.”
“It wasn’t just the cello, it was the premise! I destroyed something that she had worked so hard to get, only to have me end its life before its time... I completely understand why she left me... I deserve no sympathy for what I caused.”
Twilight came closer and pecked me on the cheek, “Vinyl... she had no right to do that to you. From what I’ve heard, you treated her like Celestia herself, only to have her leave you after one mistake. If anything, she should be apologizing to you.”
From what she heard?
“What have you heard exactly? How do you know about all of this?”
The loud sigh that followed was not very promising.
“That story is for another day... I think it’s time that you go to bed.”
Well, she’d make a good mother one day, that’s for sure.
“All I want to do is know how you know all of this. Can’t you tell me?”
She glared at me for a moment, but replied to my question nonetheless.
“She... we went to highschool together.”
“That’s it? Why were you so hesitant to tell me, then?”
A more serious look fell across her face. “Because she lived with me while we were in high school... and things didn’t end well, okay?”
She... wha?!
“Octavia never told me that... Twi I’m sorry that she hurt you too but... how did she end up hurting you?”
“I... don’t think I’m ready to tell that story. Not yet.”
Feeling the seriousness and overall annoyance radiating from her, It seemed best to help her relax.
“Hey... c’mere.”
Twilight approached me as I leaned my neck out to meet her.
“You don’t have to worry about Octavia anymore, and neither do I.”
“Well actually we do because she’s kinda in the hospital and-”
A quick peck seemed to be enough to relax her racing mind, even though it seemed to be the equivalent of tape holding a dam...
“Oh Vinyl, I know that we’ve both gone through tough times... I’ll be able to tell you that story one day, and then I think you’ll understand.”
She kissed me again before turning away, only to leave my mind even more confused... but for once in a very long time. I felt a warm sensation welling up within me. I hadn’t intended to become close to such a pony, but it just felt so... right.
End Of Chapter 5
Author’s notes:
I got this chapter out FAST! I KNOW!
My apologies for the wait, I have been doing a lot of nerdy server work combined with radio work and... well finals aren’t important but there was that too.
Now summer has come, and with that more time to write! Chapter 6 should be here soon.
I’d like to thank my editors and pre-readers Dawn Fade, FrozenPyro, Istalir, KaraSkakalac, The Wiseless Stallion and SunsetSpecter (continuity checker).
More is on the way! Never fear!