The Things Tavi Says

by shortskirtsandexplosions

Lovely Things

Author's Note:

It takes me five minutes to get used to... walking on all fours again.

Then another five minutes to get a read on Princess Twilight Sparkle.

Since emerging through the portal, she's been pacing wildly back and forth before the mirror. Her eyes are distant, her ears folded back under a cloud of anxiety.

At last, after gulping a lump down her throat, she turns towards me.

I blink behind my shades.

She shuffles closer, plops down on her haunches, and speaks to me in a quiet tone. "You have to understand, Vinyl. What you saw over there... what happened between the... the other Vinyl and the other Octavia. Well..." She grimaces slightly, then recomposes herself. "It's a completely different universe. It's not a mirror. I mean... we took a mirror to get there, but that doesn't mean that every single thing that happens in that universe is an exactly duplicate of what happens here... or even wh-what's possible here! After all, that dimension is just as old as ours, if not older, and even Starswirl made visits to it and... and..."

I gaze at her, shivering slightly. It's getting harder and harder to contain my own breaths.

She sees it... and she sighs. "Are you familiar with the butterfly effect? Even the smallest variations in causality—Vinyl—expand exponentially to create dramatically different results. Who knows what actually happened to that Vinyl in the past to have affected her life in such a way to... to..."

I raise an eyebrow.

She bites her lip, then hangs her head. "... ... ...I'm... I'm sorry that I had to throw you into a place that was so strange and overwhelming, Vinyl. It's just that... I-I'm so powerless in that universe, and I didn't know of a better... or a faster way of saving the other you. And as soon as I hypothesized that your abilities would function on the other side of the mirror, I knew you would be perfect for saving your doppelganger. And you were, Vinyl! You saved her... you saved the day!" She smiles... but then that smile dissipates. "But you have to understand that what happens on that side must stay on that side. It would be presumptuous to assume that anything in this realm could be recreate—"

Using telekinesis for the first time since returning, I lift two pens out of my saddlebag and immediately twirl them in the air: "Then. Why. Do. You. Recreate. Him?"

Twilight blinks. Her lips move, as if to retort, but the Princess has nothing. She slumps down on folded knees, shuddering a bit. Her vacant eyes stare into the crystalline floor of the palace's basement.

"You... you h-have to understand," she murmurs, her voice tiny... vulnerable... like a foal's. "The first time I arrived on that side. I was so lost. So confused. Everything was riding on me and my ability to retrieve the crown. And—out of nowhere—he showed up to help me. His fingers gently clapsed mine, and... and it felt like everything made sense. It was something special... something different than friendship. Not better—but magical in its own right." She gulps. "And... and it g-gave me strength, Vinyl. It gave me confidence in myself. And... and even now, as I think about it, I-I just feel an abundance of warmth and... and meaning." She looks up at me. "And when I met this world's Flash, we just... we just connected, you know? Everything about us and who we are and what we do just... just feels so—"

My pens twirl: "But. It. Did. Not. Start. With. Him."

Twilight gapes. She bites her lip, glancing aside.

I stare at her in quiet sympathy.

She sniffles, rubbing a hoof across her eyelids. "I... I-I've faced Nightmare Moon. And monsters." She gulps. "A changeling queen and a centaur bent on world domination. And even still... after all of those crises... nothing frightens me... nothing makes me feel more anxious than when I'm in the presence of him on that side." She stifles a whimper. "I no longer feel the magic... or the charm. Just this... deep... bone-chilling sense of unease. And the worst part is, Vinyl, is that I know..." She closes her eyes. "I know that it's all my fault... for setting it all up for a collapse. But the worst of it is..." She gazes over at me again, eyes moist. "...just who will it collapse on?"

I exhale with a magenta sigh and gesture: "You. Should. Tell. Him."

She bites her lip. Eventually, she nods. Her next breath is a wilting one: "And I suppose you sh-should tell her... too, Vinyl."

I feel my blood freezing over.

Twilight stands up, shivering slightly. "I... uhm..." A gulp. "Anything, Vinyl. Just... just anything. And it will be yours. As best as I can make it happen. But even more importantly than that..." She shuffles over, and I gasp to find myself on the receiving end of a hug. "You have my deepest... deepest gratitude. And I-I hope you still respect me enough to be a friend."

I grimace slightly at that, then usher it away with a genuine smile. I hug her back, easing her shivers slightly. Sometime, several meandering thoughts later, I look past her shoulder at the mirror from which we came.

The ripples in the portal make it impossible to see myself with any clarity. Perhaps... just maybe... that's the way it's always been.

Comments

[RoboRed]

Definitely one of the more awkward conversations...

I like how Vinyl's blank speech is written spaced out like that. Gives it a lot more force. Whether or not she means those words with that much force, I'm not sure.

[YoshiFawful64]

"And I suppose you sh-should tell her... too, Vinyl."

Well, that, if nothing else, confirms that pony Vinyl is also interested in Tavi. Now we just need to wait about 400 chapters for her to actually tell her — this is a Skirts fic, after all.

[berrytone]

I always love the way you write Twilight. Not much else to add besides that, for now.

[Lightning Bearer]

Well, that pretty much confirms it. Now... to see if anything comes of it. A recurring theme I've noticed in Skirts' work is his protagonists tend to deny themselves chances to be happy or to get what they really want. Sometimes that denial is a noble sacrifice (Background Pony) and other times it seems to be something more psychological (Appledashery). Even if Vinyl has a thing for Octavia and if anything is to come of it, I'd be surprised if Vinyl made the first move of her own volition.

[MidnightReflection]

"Are you familiar with the butterfly effect?

Yes Twilight, I know what Until Dawn is. And I will never let Emily keep that damn flare gun.

"I... I-I've faced Nightmare Moon. And monsters." She gulps. "A changeling queen and a centaur bent on world domination. And even still... after all of those crises... nothing frightens me... nothing makes me feel more anxious than when I'm in the presence of him on that side." She stifles a whimper. "I no longer feel the magic... or the charm. Just this... deep... bone-chilling sense of unease.

Twilight, this is because human Flash is a fucking douche. Good for you to finally notice it.

[Sam the Anti-Ninja]

6595758 Not so much a douche as another Hasbro copout character with no significant backstory created solely for the purpose of fulfilling a romantic interest for Twilight, but who fails to do so because of the glaring contrast of his nice guy demeanor with a stereotypical bad boy image. Wait, that last bit perfectly describes a douche, doesn't it?
...
Why, Hasbro? Why did you create this meaningless douche?

[TinyPlaidNinjas]

"Then. Why. Do. You. Recreate. Him?"

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ArmorPiercingQuestion

[heptaPon]

or even wh-what's possible hear!

*here

[BenRG]

Twilight is a good pony and I think that she genuinely dreads telling human!Flash that it could never happen. Moon Dancer's nearly-deadly despair probably still haunts her and she doesn't want to break another heart. That said... sometimes, the best way is to make the pain quick, sudden and thus less drawn-out.

Twilight is also right that Vinyl is on hooves of clay if she's about to start accusing other ponies of refusing to tell others the truth about their feelings.

[Telaros]

Dang. Heavy chapter. That was deep. Poor Twi. Poor V.

[nerevars]

I'm surprised that people just know Vinyl's feeling to Octavia after all of the hints Skirt has left all over the place.

Anyway, yeah, this arc feels like a Chandler's Law, but well, it makes this more interesting now

Found a typo btw

or even wh-what's possible hear!

[Dragon Eye]

OMG SHIPPING

[Whiteout]

The ripples in the portal make it impossible to see myself with any clarity. Perhaps... just maybe... that's the way it's always been.

You're so close, Vinyl. C'mon, girl. Real introspection is going to hurt, but you of all ponies know that sometimes pain is worth it. You'll damn near kill yourself just to say her name...

[TheifofZ]

Finish reading the chapter, and the comments. And then the lyrics on the song start up.

Anyway, it's about damn time that someone confronted Twilight about it. And that someone confronted Vinyl about her own issue.
This continues to be awesome.

[Dustchu]

Hmm hmm hmm, Twi.. bout time someone confronted ya about Flashy boy~

Nice job Skirts

[SparklingVynegar]

This just got a lot more... I dunno.

I was gonna say emotional, bit it sorta has been already. Then complicated or complex came up, but we were sort of already there, too.

I don't really get why I feel things have changed, but they definitely have.

I'm over 100 chapters in and I've never been more motivated to read the rest of this story!