How to Live a Daily Life

by Smaug

Final Farewell

Vinyl stared at the door in front of her.

She was standing outside of Fluttershy's cottage, wondering if knocking would give the yellow Pegasus a heart attack.

Maybe I could sneak in? She thought. She shook her head. Nah, I wouldn't go to that extent. She clicked her tongue in thought. Should she take a chance and actually knock? It was the civilized thing to do. So, hesitating, she knocked on the door.

She could have sworn she heard a small squeak from somewhere inside, so she spoke up. "Hello?" She asked, loudly. "Is anyone home?"

No response. She knocked again. Another squeak. Somepony was definitely home, and she knew it must be Fluttershy. Who else would be here? The giant grizzly bear standing behind her?

Vinyl's fur went paler than it already was. She slowly turned herself around.

There standing there was a massive grizzly bear, growling and slobbering all over the place.

Vinyl laughed nervously. "Um...uh... n-nice bear! Bi-i-ig cuddly teddy bear..." She stammered.

The bear narrowed it's eyes and showed more of it's teeth. Vinyl gulped.

"Mr. Bea-a-ar? Ple-e-ease don't hurt me. I was only tr-trying to see if anypony was h-home..." She said, whimpering.

The bear snarled, blowing air from it's nose, messing up Vinyl's hairstyle. She swallowed. "This isn't going to end well, is it..."

The bear reared up on it's hind legs and raised it's front above it, roaring while it did it. It was about to bring itself down upon Vinyl. She closed her eyes, and readied herself for the blow.

But it never came. She opened an eye and looked up.

There, floating above her, with the bear's paws in her hooves, was Fluttershy, staring angrily at the beast, who, compared to Fluttershy, seemed as fear-filled as Vinyl did to it.

"Just what do you think you're doing?!" Fluttershy said forcefully to the bear. "You know I'm the only pony who can take the kinks out your back!" She floated to the ground, and the bear hung it's head. "If I ever see you threaten a pony like that again, you'll have to find somepony else to give you your stress-relieving massages. Do you understand?" She asked.

The bear nodded quickly, grunting in it's speech patterns. Fluttershy smiled softly. "Good. Thank you, Mr. Bear." She looked at Vinyl, who had apparently fainted from what had just happened. Fluttershy sighed. "You may have to give me a few hours before I can treat you, though. Is that alright?" She asked, looking back up at the bear, who nodded appreciatively. "Good." Said Fluttershy. "Now, go get some rest, and I'll come find you when I'm done with my guest here."

With that, the bear got on all four of it's legs, and walked away. Fluttershy turned back to Vinyl and sighed. "I was really hoping something like this wouldn't happen..."

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

Fluttershy set Vinyl down on the couch. She looked at her. "She just needs some waking up, that's all..." She slowly took the pony's glasses off and set them down on the mantle opposite of the couch. She silently walked into the kitchen, poured herself a glass of water, and sat down at her table.

Angel hopped up on to the table and pointed at Vinyl. Fluttershy nodded. "Yes, that is her." Angel made a few squeaking sounds to which Fluttershy again nodded. "Yes, Angel. I am sure. That is Vinyl Scratch on my couch." Angel squeaked a few angry-sounding squeaks, to which Fluttershy said. "Angel, I know what I am doing. She was in danger, and I had no other choice." Angel scoffed and bounced away. Fluttershy winced, and sipped from her water. She turned to look at Vinyl. She laughed softly. "To think, the mare I've been trying and trying to talk to is in my home..." She turned back to her drink and stared at it. "Oh, what will I do when she wakes up? What will she do? Oh my goodness, this could be bad, very bad..."

She looked out the window. Birds were sitting on the window sill, singing something Fluttershy seemed to understand, as she was bobbing back and forth to the tune.

Then, a much louder whistling started coming from the living room. Fluttershy stopped dead. She peaked around the corner, and surely enough, sitting there looking around was Vinyl Scratch, awake as ever.

"Oh dear..."

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

Vinyl kept whistling, hoping she'd get somepony's attention. She looked around. Bird cages galore, mouse holes evenly placed along the wall... Yep, this was definitely the inside of Fluttershy's house, just as Pinkie Pie had said. It was dark, but it was a sort of comforting darkness. Not too dark, but not too much light. She liked it this way.

Her ears perked up. A crashing sound came from the other room. She got up, and slowly walked over. "Hello?" She whispered. "Is somepony here?"

She stepped into what seemed to be a kitchen. She saw a plate broken into thousands of pieces laying on the floor, and in front of it, a yellow Pegasus covering her eyes with her hooves, shaking intensely. Definitely Fluttershy.

Vinyl walked over to her. "Hey, are you okay?" She asked.

"J-Just fine thank you!" Fluttershy said rather quickly, and turned further from Vinyl's vision.

Vinyl stepped closer to her. "Uh... did you break that plate?" She asked.

Fluttershy peered out from behind her hooves to look at Vinyl, still hiding most of her face. "P-Plate? A b-broken plate, you say?" She asked quietly.

Vinyl nodded. "Yeah, the one behind you on the ground there." She pointed at it with her hoof.

Fluttershy looked at it. "O-Oh, so that's what that was... W-Well, thank you! You can go now, d-don't need to stay around this place, w-why not go see Pinkie Pie? S-She's always-"

"Fluttershy." Vinyl interrupted. Fluttershy squeaked. Vinyl slowly put her hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. "I'm here to talk to you."

Fluttershy shut her eyes tight and curled up even more. "O-Oh? About what?" She asked, nervously.

Vinyl sat down beside her. "I think you know what. What's with the stalker-thing, and the avoiding me? Am I really that bad looking that you can't just come and talk to me?"

Fluttershy shook her head, but didn't release one word.

Vinyl sighed. "Fluttershy, what is it? Are you afraid of me? Afraid of my status or something?"

Again, Fluttershy simply shook her head.

"Then what is it?"

Fluttershy just shook her head. She was trembling, and Vinyl was going to figure out why. She trotted around Fluttershy to sit in front of her.

"Fluttershy, please please please look at me. I want to know what's wrong. Please!" She asked, desperate.

Fluttershy slowly put her hooves down, looking at the floor. She sighed. "I'm very sorry, Ms. Scratch...It's not anything about you I find intimidating... I'm just, well, shy, you see, and, well, um..." She trailed off.

"And what?" Vinyl asked, eagerly.

Fluttershy looked up at her. "It's just... well, I'm a really big fan of your work, and... well..."

"Well what?"

Fluttershy shrugged gently. "I'm just... shy. It is in my name, after all. Oh, I hope that didn't sound rude!" She quickly added.

Vinyl shook her head. "No no, don't worry, not at all. It's fine, and I understand completely. But you've got to understand that not all celebponies are mean and scary. I mean hey, I'm sitting here on your floor trying to work this out."

Fluttershy looked back at the floor. "I'm sorry... I tried, I really did, but, well, um... it's just so difficult, and I'm sure you understand that, too..."

Vinyl nodded. "Of course I do. It's happened to me before, you know."

Fluttershy looked back up at her. "R-Really?"

Vinyl nodded her head. "Oh yeah! It was when I first went to meet the Daft Ponies backstage. They were standing there, and so was I, but I was still in the doorway trembling. They came over, smiled, and simply asked my name. I told them, and they said that my name had music all over it. I kept getting more and more comfortable the more they spoke, and eventually I was sitting in their backstage room, drinking pop and watching them work. They let me play around with their equipment a bit, and it was definitely one of the best moments of my entire life." She looked back down at Fluttershy. "How are you feeling right now, Fluttershy?" She asked.

Fluttershy slowly sat up, and held her legs close to her chest. "Well, I am getting much more comfortable, I suppose. You are a very nice pony by the way." She said, smiling softly.

Vinyl smiled back. "Well thank you! So are you, once you start speaking." She said, winking. "So anyways, I'd like to ask about the whole 'stalking me' thing..."

"Oh! That. Well, um. You see, that's what I meant by trying to talk to you. Ever since Iron Will came to town, I've been trying to boost myself to new heights. Not well, entirely new heights, but the ones where I can, well, you know. Socialize easier."

Vinyl raised an eyebrow. "You took lessons from Iron Will?" She asked, dumbfounded.

Fluttershy nodded. "Yes. I'm not particularly proud of how I, well, took his advice, but um, my friends showed me what I should have done, and well, the rest is history. And Iron Will is really a nice Minotaur, he just doesn't understand his own strengths and weaknesses fully." She added. "And I am sorry I seemed like I was, well... stalking you. Really, I am."

Vinyl nodded. "Hey, it's alright. You tried to do what you wanted to." She stood back up. "How about we go grab a bite to eat or something?"

Fluttershy nodded, and got up. "That sounds just perfect." She said. "I'll just clean up this plate, and then we can go. If that's alright with you, of course."

Vinyl smiled. "Of course! I'll wait."

Fluttershy scooped up the plate's remains and threw them in the garbage. She turned to Vinyl and smiled. "Well. Let's go! If you want to, still."

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

"I'll just have the salt and hay fries, thank you."

The waiter smiled and turned to Fluttershy. "And for you, miss?"

Fluttershy mumbled.

"I'm sorry miss, I didn't quite here you." The waiter said.

"Justasalad..." She said quietly.

"Say again?" Said the waiter.

Vinyl stopped Fluttershy. "I think she wants a Daisy Sunflower salad. Am I right?"

Fluttershy nodded. The waiter smiled, and walked away.

Fluttershy looked at Vinyl. "Thanks..." She said.

Vinyl smiled. "Anytime! Now. I want to ask you something."

Fluttershy tilted her head. "And what's that?"

Vinyl smirked. "Why such a quiet pony such as yourself is a fan of my blaring beats."

Fluttershy laughed. "Oh! Well, um. Okay. I can do that. It's Rainbow Dash's fault. Well, not her fault, no, but because of her that I like your music. She introduced it to me, more rather. I think the first song I heard was one you worked on with Pinkie Pie. I think it was your remix of 'Equestrian Girls'. I heard it, and, I must say, and I mean this complementing of course, that I've never heard something quite like it! Your music was captivating and so unique! I usually listen to, well, piano music, because it calms all of the animals.

"But every now and then, I'd make room in the basement for little dance parties for the animals. They love doing it, even the birds and mice! The monkeys, mostly, but they're monkeys. They like anything! Your music is what motivates me to go to parties. As I'm really shy, I can just go and listen to the music and not talk to, well, strangers."

Vinyl blushed. "Aw... That really is one of the most sincere things a fan has ever told me!"

She embraced Fluttershy in an affectionate hug. Fluttershy, however shocked by the embrace, returned the hug.

"Your food, madams."

They both unhooked from each other to find the waiter standing at the table, smiling and waiting patiently.

"Oh! Thank you." Vinyl said, and took their food for them. The waiter bowed and walked away. Vinyl passed Fluttershy her food, and they began to eat.

Vinyl moaned with satisfaction. "Oh wow, they do the fries good here. What's this place called again?" She asked Fluttershy.

Fluttershy swallowed her food. " 'Le Neigh Merveille'. It's half french and Equish for 'The Marvellous Neigh'. Rarity and I come here after our spa treatments." She sighed. "I still have to ask her to order my food..."

Vinyl giggled a bit. "Hey, oh well! If you're not ready, you're not ready. She is the Element of Generosity after all."

Fluttershy smiled. "Yes, she sure is. What's the food like for you?" She asked.

Vinyl nodded, her mouth full. "It'th delithith!" She swallowed. "Sorry, I meant, it's delicious! This is the most pure salt I've ever had. And the fries, they taste like they were just made from freshly made hay. Oh Celestia, I'm glad you took me here."

Fluttershy bowed her head. "I'm glad I did, too. You turned out to be nicer than what news reports you to be like."

Vinyl rolled her eyes. "Ugh. Fox News. I hate them... Foxes. Such a sly group of animals. Them, and Howmare Stern. They just focus on negativity." She turned her eyes back to Fluttershy. "I'm just glad ponies like you can really get to know me. And I'm glad I can really get to know ponies like you. So... thank you. Thank you so much." She hugged Fluttershy again, who instantly returned it.

Fluttershy smiled. "You're welcome... and thank you."

"For what?" Asked Vinyl.

"For being the best musician ever."

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

"TEN MINUTES, MISS VINYL!"

The concert was going to start then. In ten minutes. Vinyl sat there in front of her backstage mirror, looking at her reflection. She looked at the magenta glasses in her hooves. They covered her true coloured eyes for years during performances, out of fear that her rare-coloured eyes would strike shock into the hearts of her fans.

But, over the span of a month, she had learned so much. To step out of your comfort zone and try new things. To make new friends at any opportunity.To push yourself to achieve. And to face your fears.

She smiled. She sat the glasses down. She would face her fear tonight. She would let the world herself see her fans through her true colours, and not hide behind what she feared most.

A knock came at the door. "Come in," Vinyl said, loudly enough for the pony to hear.

Vinyl watched in the mirror as a grey mare with a black mane and bowtie strode into the room. She spun around in her chair.

The mare smiled. "Hello, Vinyl."

Vinyl jumped into her. " 'Tavia! Oh my gosh you're here!" She pulled out of the hug, and held Octavia at arm's length. "What are you doing here?" She asked.

Octavia laughed. "Well, sit down, and I'll tell you." She said.

Vinyl sat back down in her chair, and Octavia sat herself on a couch. "So," She began, "I've missed you horribly."

Vinyl grinned. "I've missed you. More than I thought I could."

Octavia raised a brow and smirked. "Oh? And where does this come from?"

Vinyl looked out of the window. "Well, this town. I've forgotten so much about it." She stared at herself in the mirror. "I found who I really could be. I was shown to not hide, to not get so worried... And all of it made me think of my best friend I've ever had, the one who's tried to show me these things for years now." She looked at Octavia. "I'm so sorry..."

Octavia shook her head. "No no no, do not be sorry, Vinyl. Never be sorry for who you are. I only tried to show you your full potential. I knew I wasn't able to, I was just hoping I could try. I knew you needed a bigger push. That's why I ended up letting you come back here, was to get that push from other ponies."

Vinyl smiled. "And it worked. Pinkie Pie and all of her friends helped you to help me. I have you and all of them to thank for helping me."

"And we thank you, Vinyl Scratch."

Both mares turned around to see the six elements standing inside the doorway. Vinyl got up out of her chair. "For what?" She asked.

"For visiting us, silly!" Pinkie Pie said.

"You proved t'us that aneh'pony, even th' big fame'us tah'p like ya'll, can do, or try, aneh'thing." Applejack said.

"You showed me how to take control of myself when something really overly-exciting happens!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"You proved to me that anypony should not be taken for granted." Rarity added.

"And to me, you showed me to step outside of my own comfort zone." Twilight said.

Fluttershy stepped forward. "And you've shown to me that anypony can be caring, even strangers. Thank you."

"Thank you!" They all shouted.

Vinyl blushed. "Aw, girls... thank you. You showed me so much, and more. I could've never chosen a better place to vacate." She hugged them one by one. "Thank you all."

"ONE MINUTE!" Yelled the stage manager.

Vinyl sucked in her breath. "Alright. I've got a show to do."

Vinyl and the others walked out. Octavia grinned.

"I'm so proud of you."

/\ \/ /\ \/ /\

Epilogue

Vinyl stood on the train platform with Octavia and the Elements.

Pinkie Pie hugged them. "You two will come back right? I barely got to hangout with you, Octavia! One night is not enough."

Octavia laughed. "Oh, Pinkie, of course. Vinyl's already wanting to come back, aren't you, Vinyl?"

Vinyl nodded. " 'Course I am! How could I not?"

Pinkie beamed. "Yes! I'll make sure to put two beds in the guest room!"

The three of them laughed. Twilight walked up to them, shaking while she did so.

"Oh!" Octavia exclaimed. "You're Twilight, correct? Pinkie was telling me about you last night!"

Twilight slowly nodded. "Yes, I'm Sparlight Tarkle. Uh, I mean, Twilight Sparkle! I'm... a big fan of your work, Miss Crescendo." She said, rather quietly.

Octavia laughed. "Aw, well! This is a first! I don't have many fans myself." She winked at Twilight. "Thank you, Miss Sparkle."

Twilight hugged her. Octavia was taken back, but returned the gesture. "You're welcome." Said Twilight.

"We'll have to keep in touch, I think!" Octavia told her. "Here's my address card." She handed it to Twilight, who put it in her saddle bag.

"Thank you, Miss Crescendo." She looked at Vinyl, "And thank you, Vinyl."

Vinyl nodded. "Thank you, too. So very much."

"Last call for Canterlot!" The conductor announced.

"Well, here we go." Vinyl said. "Time to go, then."

Octavia nodded. "It is."

They stepped onto the train. It lurched, and began rolling along the track. Vinyl and Octavia waved to the Elements, who waved back, bidding them goodbyes and safe journeys.

Vinyl slumped back into her chair once the Elements were out of sight. "I miss them already..." She sobbed.

Octavia put her hoof on Vinyl's. "Hey, it's alright. You can always come back. Besides," She sat back in her chair. "I did miss you."

Vinyl smiled. "I know, And I missed you too." She looked out the window as Canterlot Mountain approached. "Hey. Whatya say we come back next week?"

"Vinyl, I think that's a little early." She said sternly.

"No no, not for long!" She said. "For a dinner, maybe." She grinned. "I know a great place."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And that's the conclusion! Thank you all who stayed with the story, I appreciate you guys immensely.

The ending might seem a bit rushed, but I tried. I have a bunch more other stories I wanna do, little one shots, but I did try. I didn't really explain Vinyl and Octavia's relationship, as there's been many versions of it, all the same idea. Vinyl is improper, Octavia wants to teach her differently. I'm sure you understand.
Alsoit'shardtofocusonotherthingsafteryousitinatheaterforeighthourswatchingBatmanBeginsTheDarkKnightandthepremiereofTheDarkKnightRises

What? Anyways. Thank you so so much for sticking with the story. SO much.

On a side note, another, more known story ended tonight, a favourite of mine: Anthropology. It's a great read, and I definitely recommend you check it out!

And I didn't write the concert because I have no idea how to write a concert. So instead, I'll give you the imaginary track list so you can imagine how it went down in your head!

Track 1:Bombers Over Ibiza (Junkie XL Remix)

Track 2: Galaxy Mask (Jan Waterman Remix)

Track 3: Mpire by Moguai

Track 4: Four Loko by Candyland, Dirtyrock

Track 5: Party With Pinkie (VIP) by Alex S.

Track 6: Boooring! by Assertive Fluttershy

Track 7: Spectrum by Zedd Ft. Matthew Koma

Track 8: Save the World (Knife Party Remix) by Swedish House Mafia

That is all. Thank you everyone so much for reading! Look forward to future projects!

Comments

[BitSmith]

3...2...1... YAY!

[BitSmith]

Can't wait to see what you have for us next!

[Smaug]

956201 I'm already working on it!~

[Kaidan]

This is a great Vinyl story, and the fact you avoided the over-done Vinyl/Octy relationship/shipping wasgood idea. I have not seen a slice of life for either of them that focused on anything but what I mentioned above. I will be recommending it to my friends. (Posting on my phone I know the grammar is horrible.)