Chapter 6: Red (Into the Scratch Household Pt. 3)
Chapter 6: Red
(Into the Scratch Household Pt. 3)
"Ugh... Miss Vinyl... we simply must fix your living conditions if I am to stay here for any period of time," Octavia protested to Vinyl as they entered the unicorn's home.
"What!? What's wrong with how it is?" Vinyl defended her house, while simultaneously dropping her uneaten apples in some vacant corner of the room.
"Well- just look at it!" Octavia presented Vinyl with the obvious mess before them with a hoof gesture.
"Yeah... it's pretty comfy, isn't it?" Vinyl dismissed the irritated cellist.
"It is positively filthy, Miss Vinyl."
"Filthy?" Vinyl kicked a pizza box open and saw a green slice of... something. She rubbed her chin thoughtfully and squinted her eyes as she looked around through her trademark purple shades. "Nah," she decided. "Doesn't need cleaning for another three weeks, at least."
"Well, I am afraid that schedule has been changed. I am cleaning it now..." Octavia started.
"You... you can't do that," Vinyl interjected.
"...and you are helping me," Octavia finished.
"What? Nooo! Come oooon, Octy! Let's go see a movie instead!" Vinyl pouted, prancing on her hoof tips. "There's this really bad one I wanna see again, and we can like, make fun of it through the whole thing! It'll be fun! I swear you'll have a good time!"
"Hmmm. I suppose I might enjoy that." Octavia crisscrossed through the mess to the closet. The high class mare had never actually seen a film before (too busy with theatre, opera, symphonies and all that), so going to the movies seemed like an interesting idea. "But first thing's first. We are going to clean your house!" she said triumphantly, opening the closet in expectation of finding cleaning tools. There were none, of course.
"Miss Vinyl... where is your broom?"
"Um... under something?" Vinyl answered sheepishly, not actually knowing herself.
Octavia let out an exasperated sigh, "I cannot believe this..."
Vinyl began to worry. If the sophisticated Octavia got too annoyed with her, she could very well end up leaving. (That wouldn't do.) So she reluctantly gave in.
"Okay, okay," Vinyl sighed. "I'll find the broom and we can clean up." The DJ gave the cellist a far-from-happy smile.
"Wonderful!" Octavia beamed. Having the homeowner's blessing made her task much simpler. "I shall clean this area. Miss Vinyl, could you possibly clean your bedroom by yourself? I wouldn't want to intrude on your private space." It was true, she felt pretty guilty about sleeping there earlier. (Too tired at the time to care, though.)
"Yeah, okay. Sure..." Vinyl groaned. Luckily, the mare remembered some items of significant embarrassment and her face turned red. "YES! I should probably do the bedroom by myself! OH HEY! The broom might be up there too, I'll just go get it!" She galloped up the stairs before Octavia could respond.
'She is acting odd,' Octavia thought. 'Then again... that seems to be normal for her.' Promptly, she put it out of mind.
The two ponies began the cleaning process. Vinyl discovered the long lost broom, as well as buckets and wash cloths (all of which were covered with pizza grease.) Vinyl primarily stayed upstairs, but occasionally went outside to wash her clothes in a bucket. Octavia cleaned the main room and kitchen, but avoided Vinyl's musical equipment, not having a clue what was what with it. Aside from scrubbing and organizing, Octavia had the lovely task of removing all the trash from the premises, so she used her thoughts to distract herself from the... smell. However, those thoughts turned uncomfortably toward convincing herself to tell Vinyl the truth.
'It needs to be done. Miss Applejack is right; she will not mind that I had an odd reason to seek her out. I must confess as to why I came to Ponyville. I must, or else this trip will be for naught. Have confidence Octavia Melody. You have performed before thousands; you can confide in one pony.' She breathed deep with every self-encouraging thought.
"Nice, Octy! It actually looks pretty good down here!" Vinyl interrupted the cellist's inner pep talk as she came down the stairs. Octavia had just about finished removing all the garbage and had straightened up the record pile. Most of the stains had been scrubbed away as well. Vinyl absentmindedly levitated the sunglasses she was always wearing off her face to get a better look. "Way better than when I clean it by myself."
"Yes, I believe I did a bang-up job. I- oh... Celestia..." The unsuspecting Octavia had looked into Vinyl's now exposed eyes.
They were red. They were so incredibly red. Octavia had never seen such an impossible color. It was deep. It was sharp, like the color itself could cut you. It was beautiful. It pulled her in. She felt like she was falling forward. She couldn't see Vinyl's face, all she could hope to focus on were those eyes. Glowing. Burning. It was... unsettling. Unnatural, almost. It made Octavia uneasy. Her stomach suddenly churned. Her throat closed. Sweat rolled down her neck. Her head began to ache. She tried to recoil and take several steps back, but her body refused to move.
A flash of purple sealed off the flaming eyes when Vinyl put her shades back on. Octavia snapped back to her senses and fell to her flank.
"I'm sorry!" a suddenly distraught Vinyl cried. "You weren't supposed to see them! I- I didn't mean to freak you out!"
'What... just happened...?' Octavia thought in shock. She took several gasping breaths as she regained control of her own lungs.
"Look, please don't scream, okay?" Vinyl begged desperately. "I- I won't take them off again, I swear! I swear! Just- just don't run away, okay!? Please, please don't run away!"
There was something wrong with Vinyl, Octavia realized. With her eyes. Some part of her unicorn magic? A curse? Octavia knew nothing about the world of magic, being an earth pony. The only thing she knew for sure was... Vinyl was upset.
"Please don't hate me! Please don't leave!" Vinyl continued to plead through forming tears.
In that moment, time became frozen for Octavia. The stillness of the universe silenced the hundreds of thoughts that had been wreaking havoc inside her all day. All the stress and worry was gone and in one instant... a singular concept was all that appeared to her. It was all she ever needed to understand.
'She was keeping a secret too. She was afraid I would push her away. Neither one of us... wanted the other to leave. In a way, we are... the same.'
As the muted world faded and reality returned, Octavia made her decision.
"Vinyl," Octavia calmly said, but Vinyl continued to panic, spouting apologizes and begging forgiveness. "Vinyl," Octavia tried again, a little louder. Still no effect. "VINYL!" she finally shouted at her loudest. It worked: Vinyl froze and with her legs buckling, fell to her flank.
"W....what?" Vinyl croaked as tears began to trickle out from under those violet shades. The two musicians sat not too far apart, both on their rears like young fillies playing in the dirt.
Taking the advice of a certain apple farmer, Octavia gave Vinyl the warmest of smiles and confessed.
"I saw you perform yesterday."
"...What?" Vinyl rubbed her face. "You did?"
"Mmmhmm," Octavia nodded, still smiling brightly. "And I loved it."
"R-really?" Vinyl responded, beginning to calm down.
"Yes, Vinyl. In fact I came to Ponyville... specifically to find you. You see, I hoped we could talk about music together, and... well, become friends, to be perfectly honest."
"You... came after me? You wanted to be friends?" Vinyl asked, scooting towards Octavia.
"That is correct, Vinyl. I hope you do not find that odd," Octavia said, glancing away for a moment. "I hope you do not find me odd."
"No! No, that's not weird! You're not weird," Vinyl defended, getting closer.
"Good. I was beginning to think I was," Octavia giggled a little. "We can be friends then?" The two ponies now sat across from each other.
"Of course! I... kinda thought we already were..." Vinyl scratched the back of her neck sheepishly.
'She accepts me. I shall accept her.' Octavia thought. "Well, Vinyl my friend, may I please see your eyes again?" she asked sweetly.
"What!? No! Octavia, my eyes- they freak ponies out for some reason. They even make me sick when I see them in the mirror." Vinyl curled up. "Almost everypony who's seen my eyes screamed, or ran away, or ..." Vinyl trailed off, trying to forget something.
"Your eyes are powerful, Vinyl. I have seen that. I do not know why, but they are. However, they are also beautiful. They are your eyes, and I wish to see them again." The cellist's voice was soothing and Vinyl couldn't help but hang on every word.
"You... do?" Vinyl sniffled.
"Yes. What is wrong with wanting to see your friend's eyes? I will not be frightened. I promise." Octavia waited for Vinyl to remove the sunglasses herself, but the unicorn didn't make any moves. Taking the initiative, Octavia slowly reached over. She lightly brushed Vinyl's cheek before taking the glasses. The DJ didn't resist, but kept her eyes shut tight as her protective shades floated away. "Vinyl... please..." Octavia started.
"Okay! ...okay..." Vinyl blurted. The reluctant unicorn took a deep breath and, upon releasing it, opened her eyes.
From Octavia's perspective, Vinyl, and everything around her, simply faded away and was replaced by those eyes. Those monstrously red eyes. They were reality. They were the universe now. They pulled at Octavia with a force she couldn't comprehend. Nopony could possibly comprehend this. A monstrous wind blew in reverse, sucking her very being towards those eyes, though her body never moved an inch. They were beautiful... and it hurt. But she wasn't scared of them. Not anymore. She couldn't be; the face they were attached to belonged to her friend. A friend she desperately wanted to be with. A friend who was more worried than Octavia could ever imagine.
The two stared into each other's eyes for the longest time. Neither spoke a word. Octavia was determined to beat this, somehow. She had to. Even when her stomach began to heave, she commanded it to stop. Even when her throat threatened to close, she forced it open. Even when her head split and the pain became unbearable, she continued. The seconds passed like hours, days, eternities... but Octavia stood her ground.
In the end... she prevailed.
Slowly but surely, the pulling subsided, her body began to feel relief and to Octavia, Vinyl reappeared. The cellist heaved a heavy sigh of relief. Her pain ended and the world around her became clear. Had it worn off? Did she adjust to it somehow? She didn't know, nor did she care. All that mattered is she could now see her friend... An extremely worried looking friend. A friend with gorgeous red eyes.
"Octavia... are you okay?" Vinyl whimpered, seeing her friend finally move.
Although she was sore and aching, Octavia just gave a smile and said with a raspy voice, "Yes, I am quite alright. As I told you earlier, Vinyl, you have beautiful eyes."
Vinyl couldn't hold back the tears that swelled up. It was simply too much. A mountain of painful memories had just been beaten down in that moment and one very pleasant thought remained.
She grabbed Octavia and kissed her.
(Oh, my!)
So there Octavia was, sitting in a house far from her home in Canterlot, kissing a mare she didn't know existed nearly a day ago. It was absolutely absurd, but she accepted it.
(Just briefly.)
Their wonderful embrace didn't last long. After a moment both ponies realized what was happening and they separated in shock.
"Oh my Celestia! I'm sorry, Octavia!" Vinyl pleaded, blushing madly. "I didn't mean to! I'm just- really, really happy someone could stand to look at me, and- and- and I just lost it!"
"Oh, that is... quite alright," Octavia replied, beet red. She cleared her throat. "It is understandable."
"...You're not mad at me... are you?" Vinyl asked sheepishly. "We're... still friends right?"
"After everything I just went through, we had better be," Octavia giggled. Vinyl soon joined her.
'Wasn't that nice?' a nasty little voice in Octavia's head commented.
'Now is not the time, you,' she told it.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
"Are you absolutely certain you do not mind me sleeping here, Vinyl?" Octavia asked, already wrapped up in the blanket on Vinyl's bed.
"Of course I don't mind! I would never make you sleep on that couch! ...And I don't really want to sleep on it either," Vinyl confessed from the other side of the bed. The two ponies giggled in the darkness, both blushing ridiculously.
"Do not forget, you promised to teach me about those songs you played sometime tomorrow. You will remember, will you not?" Octavia asked, looking into her friend's eyes, completely unaffected by their strange power.
"I won't forget, Octavia. Promise," Vinyl replied, looking straight back into hers.
"Oh! You... stopped calling me Octy?" Octavia finally noticed.
"Well, you didn't look like you liked it..." Vinyl admitted. (It was true, she didn't like it.) "And you stopped calling me 'Miss Vinyl,' didn't you?"
Octavia thought for moment.
"I suppose I did."
OH SNAP! What was that all about!?
And yes, I know Vinyl's canon eye color is purple, not red. But they're red in Vinyl and Octavia: University Days which I highly respect, so I decided from the get go they'd be red in this.
But you know...I could let the story end here and be satisfied...
..... BUT HELL NO I'M WRITING AN EPIC. WE JUST GETTING STARTED IN HERE.
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I thought her glasses where purple, and they where always red/some form of red-ish color.
-smirks- Hypnotic
3605080
*Points down to Clever Girl*
3605141
Yeah I got a lot of *cough* free time at work.
3604911
??? Her glasses have always been purple. Fans thought her eyes were red until they revealed them to be purpleish in the show.
3605186 I fail to see your point sir..
3605214
Thought you were being clever. You did smirk after all.
3605232 -nods happily- Oh, yes, clever and a bit slow apparently.
first i was like
but then i was all like 
3605437
Eh, I wish I could say my story has nothing but new material planned, but I admit I'm quite fond of certain clichés. But I'll try to make them as fresh and interesting as possible if they happen to crop up. (I couldn't resist the 'waking up to someone you didn't expect' after all :3 )
In terms of conflict... I have some minor ones thrown in throughout the whole ordeal and a major one at the end (that I've actually foreshadowed a teeny-tiny bit. ...if you look closely...
) But I'll see what I can do to set things in motion a little earlier. I'm no literary master after all, this is the first thing I've written that wasn't just a short story.
3606170
Mr. PonyMan, I have a flowchart of my story right here on this sheet of paper. We've covered the top left corner so far.
ohmahgawd so much to come.
Hope it doesn't become stale after too long!
I also like how Vinyl's eyes are portrayed as red instead of purple or magenta. They're more unique that way and give a lot of character to Vinyl.
Also, I love the little pictures you incorporate at the end of each chapter! PEW! PEW! PEW!
As Nowacking's Vinyl Scratch would say: "ALRIGHT! LASER SHOW!"
3609596
Dude, I literally just got that exact comment about the laser show on my DeviantArt for that picture.
Keep up the awesome work love it love it love it mate!
Oh boy this is fun!
I am ready for the next chapter and amazed that I missed this yesterday. What was I thinking to scroll past it!!
3621762
You were thinking you should probably avoid me, because I look dangerous.
...and you were right!!!
Next chapter should be up tonight. Unless I feel like it needs to be double checked 50 more times.
3619927
Thanks! I'll do my best!
But that might not be good enough....
Then again it could be plenty!
3620741
Oh no you don't! No one has fun on my watch!
No wait, I got that mixed up. No one makes fun of my watch. Totally different subject. Oops!
Vinyl's canon eye color is purple? I will always see them as red, but several people told me magenta...
Do you know what Vinyl would be boss at? Laser Tag.
Holy crap! The way you wrote Vinyl's insecurities about her eyes makes me love her even more!!!! HNNNNGGGGG! *heart bursting*
Still loving it!
Man, I'm pretty much enjoying your story, but those comics at the end are never what I'm expecting, hahah.
3605186
They are cerise / magenta in the show, not purple-ish
I actually like the red eyes more, don't know why, but I do.
Nope. They're a DARK red in the show. Slightly purple, but still MOSTLY red. They're not, like, Crimson/blood red, granted, but still.
yes for not being satisfied and writing more
ooo I have the best tow pictures for how I feel......
but I lost them when I transferd computers
3609645
I love your art, honestly I'd love to do an art trade someday, but about the story:
Was that a little X-Men 3 action going on with Vinyl's eyes? Reminded me too much of Cyclops and Jean Gray at the river. Amazing story, I love the characters.
Also! Octavia seems a bit.... socially odd....
-Cannot process a situation without taking time out to do so.
-Unable to pick up on slight hints of humor
-Mechanical, almost computerized organisation of thoughts
-Needing a solid basis before having an opinion on a person or situation
-Shy
-Again, computerized thinking and comprehension
-Large and overtly sophisticated vocabulary.
She's a lot like me... I like her!
That description of Vinyl's eyes is the most intense, in depth description I have ever read and it is easily the most beautifully written thing that has ever been on my computer screen.
Wooow, the most clearest description on Vinyl's eyes I have ever read
*cheers*
I appaud that!
Too many stories on this site end with the happy pay-off having only just started, and I'm left feeling a little dissatisfied, mo matter how good the story has been up to that point.
*clicks 'next' to keep reading*
.
This reminds me of one comic author who had a very creative explanation for this when her actual eye color was revealed: http://ask-canterlot-musicians.tumblr.com/tagged/caomstory/chrono/page/7 third post from the top on this page, I recommend reading the rest of the comic from the beginning as well, the story is brilliant.
Huh. I wonder why remembering objects of that nature would make Vinyl recall that the broom was also in that particular portion of her personal pony palac—oh my!!!
Yes’m, Scratchy was just waiting for the right pony to come along and sweep her off her hooves!
