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Prologue1,689 words
Chapter 13,001 words
Chapter 23,775 words
Chapter 34,108 words
Chapter 43,019 words
Chapter 54,376 words
Chapter 64,257 words
Chapter 74,009 words
Chapter 84,188 words
Chapter 94,571 words
Chapter 104,703 words
Chapter 114,904 words
Chapter 123,681 words
Chapter 135,200 words
Chapter 144,062 words

Chapter 4

Chapter four

I woke up facing a familiar wooden view. Why do I keep waking up in strange places? And why do I keep blacking out? I was on the same couch in Twilight’s library. I could see flames dancing in the top of my vision.

“It seems as if Discord tied your life force to your flames. If they go out, you go out.”

Well that’s morbid.

“Hey, he’s coming to!” Spike shouted from right next to my ear.

“Ow, Spike, not so loud,” I covered my ear with a hoof.

“Oh, thank goodness he’s ok!” Fluttershy hovered through the door while Twilight trotted in after her.

“I was right! Yesyesyesyesyesyes-” Twilight started to bounce in place.

“Uh, sorry to burst your bubble, Twilight, but right about what?” I sat up.

“Oh! Your mane is stronger than it was when Fluttershy brought you in here, and you’re feeling better! I knew they were connected!”

“Twilight,” Spike crossed his arms. “I was the one who told you that they were.”

“You just got that from your game, Spike.”

“But I was right!”

Twilight gently pushed him away with a hoof. “What happened to you?”

“Well,” I started.

“Talk about Discord, not me.”

“Last night, I was sleeping in Fluttershy’s bed.” Her face turned beet red, and I could feel heat rushing to mine. “Nonono, her spare bed! I wasn’t-”

“I know. Get back to your story,” Twilight said gently through her blush. Fluttershy still hid behind her mane.

“I was sleeping, and then I woke up in a clearing in a forest. I saw an odd creature, with a goat head and mismatched limbs.” The color from Twilight’s face drained. She seemed to know who I was talking about. “He touched me on the forehead, and I woke up in Fluttershy’s be...spare bed. It almost felt like a dream.”

“That’s bad, that’s bad, that’s, very bad,” Twilight started to get agitated.

“Hey, Twilight! I’m fine! Really! There’s nothing to worry about!”

“You’re not what I’m worried about!” Oh, ok. Thanks. You’re nice.

“Discord’s back! That’s a very bad thing!” Twilight was still freaking out.

Fluttershy hovered in front of her face, grabbing it with both of her hooves. “Twilight, calm down.” She stared at Twilight. Just stared into her soul. Twilight visibly relaxed under the gaze. “Discord isn’t bad anymore. He wouldn’t break his promise to me. He didn’t even hurt Hot Head! If anything, Discord did good in healing him! Look! All of his scratches and scrapes are gone!”

I looked around, and sure enough, she was right. Fluttershy unwound the bandage on my head, and no trace of a wound remained underneath.

“So he had his fun with my hair. I’m cool with that. It’s pretty awesome.” I put on a grin to show that it really didn’t matter to me.

“Good. They can’t know about me.”

How many times are you going to tell me that?

“Until I think you have the idea.”

“Well I’m still writing to Princess Celestia about it,” Twilight huffed. Twilight had mentioned during dinner that she was Celestia’s personal student.
My stomach growled again. I grinned sheepishly.. “Well, I guess we never got to have that breakfast you made, huh?” I asked Fluttershy.

“Oh, I’m sorry…”

God, stop apologizing…

“So why don’t you two go back to Fluttershy’s and eat your breakfast?” Twilight asked.

I felt like the last unspoken part of that sentence was ‘and stop freeloading in my house.’ But maybe that was just me.

After another minute of awkwardness, Fluttershy and I were on our way back to her house. I didn’t even try to make conversation, and she seemed more comfortable without it. The rest of the walk would have been an uneventful stroll shared in companionable silence with the three of us, if it hadn’t been for the burning in my stomach. I wolfed down the delicious meal, giving compliments to the chef, who blushed and tried to shy away.

When we were both done, I asked my host, “So what is there to do here, Fluttershy?”

“Well, um… I’m normally taking care of my critters or hanging out with the girls. But um, I’m sorry, but I think we should, if it’s alright with you, make a quick trip to a... friend before we do anything else. But whatever you want to do is fine.” She seemed to have trouble asking me to do anything, no matter how small.

“Alright. Lead on.”

She led me back towards Ponyville, Bronze following behind. I heard faint electronic music; it sounded loud and far away. Wherever that was, it was my place to be. I wanted to follow it, but I felt bad about the idea of ditching Fluttershy. She wanted to show me something, so I was going to follow her. As we neared the small town, she led me around the edge. As if to keep me out of sight.

Fluttershy eventually escorted me to a nondescript house that looked the same as the rest. The bass was coming from this house, so loud that it hurt my ears, yet Fluttershy only looked mildly annoyed.

The door opened and a pair of white hooves pulled Fluttershy inside in a bear hug. “Fluttershy! Aw man, it’s been a while! What brings you here! And who’s your… damn.” A white creature, possibly a unicorn, was crushing Fluttershy in an embrace. She (it?) had an electric blue mane, wildly untamed, and oddly shaped purple sunglasses on, obscuring her eyes. She spoke loudly and proudly. I liked her immediately. When she saw me, her grip loosened and Fluttershy managed to escape. “Hey man, come in here.” Her voice sounded deep, almost masculine.

“Yeah, there’s not enough room for me in there. I’ll just wait out here.”

I entered and shut the door behind me. I was still under assault from the awesome bass, my ears bent back in my wince. Occasionally I would blink in recoil from an extra loud beat. She seemed to notice and her horn lit up, turning the music down. Much better.

“Vinyl, who’s at the door?” An upper class accent accompanied hoofsteps down unseen stairs. When they rounded the corner, a grey mare with a refined black mane faced us. I thought it odd how she wore only a purple bowtie. Matches her eyes, though. “Oh, hello, Fluttershy. What brings you here?” She asked my escort, but her eyes never left me.

It seemed as though Fluttershy was too afraid of the tension in the room to even speak. The grey mare spoke. “Excuse me, but may I have a word with Vinyl in private?” She pulled the white mare, ‘Vinyl,’ around the corner. I glanced at Fluttershy, who was still shaking for whatever reason, but I was paying attention to the conversation in the other room.

“Vinyl, is he another one of-?”

“I don’t know, Octy. He’s got the eyes.”

“Only one.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“I can smell-”

“What is it?”

“He smells like… me, Vinyl.”

There was a pause. “You don’t mean-”

“I think he is.”

“He couldn’t be. Maybe he’s something unique, like that one fairy. His head is on fire! Where else have you seen that?”

“Are we allowed to bring in another kind?”

“We shouldn’t do anything right now. We’ll ask Princess Luna later.”

“Ok. They’re probably waiting for us.”

I heard footsteps again. I couldn’t help but realize that I was grinning. What? I like when people talk about me. Who doesn’t? But why were they talking so loudly if they were trying to keep a secret?

Electric blue hair poked around the corner, and I quickly wiped the goofy grin off my face, instead opting to raise a curious eyebrow at the odd ponies as they came into view.

Vinyl walked up to me and offered her hoof. “Vinyl Scratch.”

I bumped it with mine. “Hot Head.”

She couldn’t hold her smile at my name.“Hot Head? That’s an awesome name! It...fits.”

I offered my hoof to the grey mare next, who shook it in a firm grip. Odd for a mare. “My name is Octavia. Nice to meet you, Hot Head.”

Vinyl turned back to Fluttershy. “So uh, Fluttershy, what brings you here?”

“Well, um,” she motioned for Vinyl to come closer, then whispered in her ear.

Vinyl nodded a couple of times while she listened. “OK… yeah… wait, what?...Oh...Are you serious?...Yeah, I could do that.”

Octavia and I looked at Vinyl curiously, knowing that we could get a better answer from her than Fluttershy. “Fluttershy tells me that you’re new here, and she wants me to help you fit in. She thinks that because of our shared condition that I would be a help.”

Shared condition? “Even though it’s wild, Vinyl, I don’t see your mane on fire.”

Vinyl didn’t even crack a smile, instead opting to simply remove her glasses. Underneath were the most beautiful red eyes I had ever seen.

It took me a second to make the connection. “Oh.” It was the only thing in my vocabulary that seemed to fit at the moment.

“So Octy and I,” Vinyl pulled the grey mare in a side hug, “are going to help you!”

I wasn’t sure what to say. These two mares, who have never even heard of me, want to help me out. Why?

“Ponies in Ponyville are friendly. They want to make friends with strangers.”

What if I were some murderer psychopath?

“I don’t even know if that’s a thing here.”

I’m still a freak.

A white hoof was waving in front of my face. “Yo! Equestria to Hot Head!”

I shook my head. “Oh, sorry. Lost in my thoughts. Sure, what did you have in mind?”

“Well, first, sunglasses!” She levitated her purple shades onto my muzzle.

Have you ever seen the world through a shade of purple?

“No, but I can see through you.”

It’s awesome!

All too soon, the tint was lifted off, with Vinyl shaking her head and Octavia wearing what was almost a disgusted look.

“Was it really that bad?” I asked.

“Yeah. Fluttershy, you don’t have to stay here if you have something else you need to be doing.” Vinyl said. I looked behind me out of the corner of my eye and saw Fluttershy fidgeting. “We’re going to be a while.”

“Okthanksbye!” she vanished. She must have been really uncomfortable here.

I looked back to my new friends… or friend. Vinyl had disappeared. I raised an eyebrow at Octavia.

“Oh, she went upstairs to see what else she had. She’ll be back.”

I heard crashes from upstairs.

“Ok. So what is it you do?”

“I’m a cellist from Canterlot.”

I have no idea what Canterlot is. “I used to play the cello.”

“Did you now?”

“Yeah, I was never really good at it. I only played it for school.”

“Oh, that’s a shame. We need more ponies that appreciate classical music.”

She seems to be the opposite of Vinyl in that regard.

“And every other one.”

“She seems to be making a lot of noise…” I said cautiously. You never know what could offend someone you just met.

“Excuse me for a moment.” She followed her housemate up the stairs.

I could hear their conversation again.

“What are you still doing up here, Vinyl?”

“I’m trying to find one that will look good on him.”

“Oh just bring the whole box down!” Octavia said impatiently.

“Fine.”

The sound of a quick kiss reached my ears. I wasn’t sure if that made me feel uncomfortable.

They came back down, a large cardboard box following Vinyl in a coat of light blue.

“So let’s see what we’ve got here…” Vinyl started digging through the box, pulling out a pair of simple black shades. She set them on my muzzle.

“Hmm… They don’t really compliment his mane very well.” Octavia remarked.

Vinyl set the simple shades down while Octavia pulled out a more sleek looking pair. Apparently they didn’t look good either. The mares took turns trying pairs of glasses on me. I didn’t mind being the center of attention of two attractive mares, but they took so long that I was hungry again by the time they had exhausted the box.

Vinyl put her hoof to her chin in thought. Her face lit up and she ran back upstairs. Octavia and I shared a confused glance as she came back down with a pair of goggles and handed them to me.

The band was yellow, and the lenses were a shade of light blue. They looked like swimming goggles.

I looked back up at Vinyl, confused. “Wouldn’t I look weird walking around outside in goggles? It’s not like it’s dusty here or anything.”

“They’re flight goggles! You’re a pegasus! Nopony will ask any questions.” Vinyl countered.

“Ok, so what about when I’m not flying? Would it not look odd if I were sitting at the cafe, eating while wearing these?”

“Well the pegasi on the weather team usually just wear them on their foreheads when they aren’t flying.”

I smirked, knowing I had won. “Exposing their... what, Vinyl?”

“...If you didn't want them, you could have just said so.”

“Nono, it’s not that I don’t want them, it’s that I want to make sure that they will work.” I quickly readjusted her point of view.

Vinyl sighed. “Why do mares pull of the sunglasses look so much better than the guys do? Even Sweetie Belle looks better in some of these than you do!”

“Ouch. Right in the pride.”

Shut up.

“Is hiding my eyes really that big of a deal? I mean, it’s not like this is making me blend in either,” I gestured toward the dancing flame on my head.

“Completely slipped my mind,” Octavia put in.

“Have you tried putting that out?” Vinyl asked, pointing at my head.

My smile died. “Yes. It’s not a good idea.”

“What happens?”

“I could die.” Well, that was if Twilight was right, but I didn’t want to take any chances.

There was silence for a few moments. I brought a somber mood into the small house.

“Well, we don’t want that,” Vinyl summed up our thoughts bluntly.

“Say Vinyl, aren’t your parents-” Octavia started. I thought I saw a warning glare pass from Vinyl, but Octavia kept going. “-something of fashion designers? Couldn’t they make something up for him?”

Vinyl thought about it for a second. “I’m not sure if they would charge for a pair. On the other hand, Rarity’s right here in town, and she’s more than generous.”

Octavia slowly put her hoof to her face. “She’s a seamstress, Vinyl.” She sounded as if she were explaining a simple concept to a small child. “She doesn’t make sunglasses.”

Vinyl suddenly pointed out the window. “Wow, it’s afternoon already! We should hurry over to Rarity’s before she closes.”

Octavia sighed. “I’m so sorry that we couldn’t find anything for you, Hot Head. We will try her parents and get back to you.”

I took that as a suggestion to leave. “Thanks for trying, though. It was nice meeting you both. Oh, and before I forget,” I added, turning to Vinyl, “was that you blasting the bass?”

Her grin took up more than half her face. “Hell yeah! You like?”

I smiled back at her. “You’ll have to introduce me to your clubs sometime.”

“Looking forward to it!” She walked me to the door, securing her shades over her eyes before opening the door. “See you later, bro!”

“Bye! Thanks again!”

The first thing I noticed was the lack of a large wolf sitting where I had left him. The next thing I noticed was that there were no ponies about. Must go to bed early here. I wandered about town, trying to remember the tour that I didn’t pay attention to, keeping an eye out or Bronze. A giant wolf, you think he’d be easy to find…

Eventually I wandered down a path that looked familiar. I continued down the way to Fluttershy’s cottage. When I got to the door, there was a note on the door.

Hot Head,

I went to Twilight’s. If I’m not back yet, meet me there.

~Fluttershy

Figures. I turned around, facing the sunset, and started down the road again. A while later, I found a familiar looking pair of simple sunglasses on the side of the road. I assumed someone had dropped them there, so I picked them up and put them on, intending to return them later. Much better.

-----

I looked at Vinyl as soon as he left. "What do you think about him?"

She looked at the door as if he was still there. "He seems like a fun guy."

“What are we going to do about him?”

She looked at me through her glasses and sighed. “You really think he could be a lycan?”

“I know what I smelled. He’s one of us. Didn't you see his tail wagging when we were trying to find him a pair of your glasses?”

She smiled. “I thought I saw that, but I wasn't sure if it was just the flame.”

“I still think we should tell Luna.”

“We will, but we've got somewhere to be, remember?” Vinyl started out the door, then stopped. “He’ll be needing these.” She levitated a single pair of glasses out of the pile.

Author's Note:

Many of you should understand my headcanon of Vinyl and Octavia. And if you don't, look at this story. http://www.fimfiction.net/story/36388/my-roommate-is-a-vampire

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