"Vinyl, it's only a physical," Octavia murmurs, trying to solace me with satin circles of purple velvet. "You've had dozens of them over the past seven years! If not hundreds!"
It barely works. I lumber towards the front entrance of the Castle, staring limply through cold shades at the yellow-framed sheet of paper in the middle of the folder that Princess Twilight Sparkle has given me. I try not sigh, or else I might trip over myself. I'm only marginally successful.
"Besides, Her Majesty has made it abundantly clear," Octavia says. "This is a mandatory step in our hiring process. And can she really be blamed?" The mare tosses her mane back, trotting tall and proud as we make our way to the place's exit. Royal guards and servants continue rattling about in red gaggles on either side of us. "She's opening up her Palace—her very home to an entire cornucopia of humble pony workers. One if one of us secretly harbored some contagious illness? Her Majesty can't afford that! An examination is not only proper, but simply healthy! And what's more, she's promising to fund it completely!" She smiles my way. "When was the last time you had the luxury of that, huh?"
My ears only droop all the harder.
"Oh, love, please." That's enough to stab me, ripping me from my loathsome thoughts. "You're not a little foal anymore. If anything, you should be quite used to these sorts of medical trips. Why's it bothering you so?" She arches an eyebrow. "Because somepony other than me is making you go through with it?"
I bite my lip.
She smirks ever so slightly. "Would it make it easier if I went with you again? Like last time?"
I scuffle to a stop, shaking my head vigorously.
No...
I'm done with her hoof-holding me.
She shouldn't have to... I mean she doesn't deserve—
"Because I'm more than willing." She smiles. "I'll be undergoing a physical too, of course. It won't be out of the way."
I facehoof, shuddering.
"Awwwww... now don't be that way, darling." Octavia turns to face me. "Look."
I stare down at the floor.
"Vine, look at me."
I lift my head up, face long.
She smiles gently. "Even if the doctors don't have anything different to say than they have the past seven years, remember... you are strong." Deep, heavy purple. "You've overcome so much, and you've made a masterpiece of it all." She rests a soft hoof on my shoulder, speaking with an even softer tongue. "The masterpiece that is you... whom I'm so very proud to be associated with... even if I envy her talents from time to time." She finishes this with a well-meaning wink.
She deserves a smile. So I give her one.
"Yes... do rejoice..." She smiles. "It's just a physical. And besides!" She spins about and skips gleefully for the door, mane and tail flouncing. "We're royal minstrels now! Heeeee! Nothing can bring us down—"
Whud! Octavia bumps hard into a muscular chest.
She falls down. "Ooof!" As the red burst fades, she rubs her flank, wincing. "Ow... my goodness!"
I jolt, wincing all over. Before I can rush over to her, an outstretched wing of orange feathers blocks me.
"Whoah, there!" A voice. A very very... masculine voice. I'm too overcome by the absurd breathiness of it to even define a color. "Horseapples! Even in this place, I can't stop being a klutz!" He drops a heavy crate full of armor onto the crystalline floor with a red thud! "Miss, I am so... so sorry." He leans down, reaching a gentlecoltly orange hoof to help Octavia up. "Are you hurt?"
"No, I... I think I'm..." Octavia looks up. Then something happens that I haven't sensed... well... ever, actually. It's hard to describe, but it's almost as if her voice dips past purple... beneath indigo... and into a deep dark place too brackish to comprehend. The closest thing I have to compare it to is... is... cerulean? No, that's not it. I can't think right now, I can only hear Octavia's voice... her murmuring voice as she drips: "I'm the absolute best I've felt all day."
I lean my head at a crooked angle. I tilt my gaze towards the stallion.
He lifts Octavia briskly up to her hooves. His wings fold at his sides, and that's when I finally get a view of his angular muzzle poking out of a crystalline helmet. The colt... er... I mean stallion's coat is a bright orange, like Scribbler's purrs just before feeding time. It unnerves me.
"Well, that's good to know! I thought for a second there that I totally plowed you!" he says with a chuckle.
"Yes. Eheheheheheh..." Octavia's giggles dip and rise, dip and rise. She slowly tucks a lock of mahogany mane hair behind her ear. Uh oh. "Imagine that..."
"As a royal guard, it's my duty to protect the citizens and royal subjects who visit this castle," he says. "Not knock them into the ground!" He bows low. "I promise, it won't happen ever again."
"Oh, perish the thought!" Octavia says with a coy grin. "Then... uhm... you are one of the guards that the Princess hired to guard the Castle?"
"Eheheh..." A slight rosiness crosses the stallion's cheekbones. With a slight heave, he muscles the crate of armor back onto his supple flank. "I guess that's one way of putting it." He glances at our rear ends. A deep part of me twitches—until I realize he's studying our cutie marks. "Oh! Wow! You two must be the royal minstrels that Twi—er... that the Princess has hired!"
"Yes. As a matter of fact, that is quite true! Erm... as of today, that is!" Octavia curtsies with the most grace I've seen since her last concert performance. "I'm Vinyl Melody an this is my good friend Octavia Scratch... erm..." She winces. "What I mean is, we're Taviscratch—" She winces harder, the purple dipping, dissolving. "I-I mean—!"
He chuckles. "I think I get it. Well, hey! If we're both stationed here at the Castle, then we'll likely run into each other again! Er... well... heheh..." He winks. "You know what I mean."
"Yes. Uhm... quite."
The stallion glances down the hall at the source of much crimson clattering. "Well, I-I'd best be off. If I don't help set up the armory P.D.Q., my Captain is going to hang my flank from a flagpole for all of Ponyville to see."
"Mmmm... wouldn't that be a shame."
"Harmony's blessings!" He salutes, and trots firmly off.
Octavia turns her head and stares after him... and stares and stares and stares.
I look at her. I look at the distant stallion. I levitate my folder of sheets, pretend to shuffle them, and slap the thing shut with a crimson clap.
If I know Octavia, that's enough to snap her out of it. And I'm right. The mare jolts, looking my way. "Uhm... where were we, exactly?" She brightens, her violet voice returning, chasing the blush away. "Oh! But of course! I do believe a celebration is in order!" She trots gaily out the Palace entrance. The extra spring in her step is not lost to me. "I have a good mind to buy Scribbler a bag of treats! Heeee! Life is most certainly handsome—Good! 'Good' is what I meant..."
I shuffle after her, dragging my tail. I tongue the inside of my mouth in deep thought...
And then I find it... the color... the tone of his voice.
Brown. Deep, deep brown.
And, no, it's not mud...
Ugh, Flash Sentry.
Oh no, and Octavia is interested in him
Poor Vinyl...
It might be the shipping goggles talking, but did Vinyl seem a little... jealous? Something about Octavia's reaction seemed to bother her.
Better hold onto your waifu, girl.
A physical? That's all? *shrug* Ah well...
Flashtavia? Eh...why not. Random crackshipping and all that just to see where stuff goes, but not during the course of this story.
mandatory
What if
Also, Flash Sentry.
This is you right now:
Shipping is fine within the context of the story but Hasbro did a disservice to us all by creating that orange chucklefuck. And the blue/orange color scheme is terrible and always has been. "Complementary" colors my ass.
Flash Sentry, I am just vary curious. Why does he get a lot of hate?
Don't hate me for it, I really don't know why. I don't really have an opinion on him,
Awesome chapter though, and poor Scratchy Dx
6384029 Heeheehee, you said Chucklefuck
Celestia damn it all. You did this to me, Skirts! I denounced the horror that is Flashlight and here I am, Flap Santry in the wind, tears rolling down my cheeks in pure frustrated agony.
And you made it even worse because now Octavia is pining for that meathead! Empty skies, Vinyl doesn't deserve this. The horror! The drama! The not-so-secretly wishing Vinyl drowns him to solve all her issues!
>And, no, it's not mud...
Waifu stealer AND plot-kisser? Flash, you creepy brown-nosing, poop-voiced-pegasus.
Bucking waifu stealer! Octascratch needs to happen, just pony up and kiss her vine!
6384113 There's a playlist!
6384142
This is true, actually. That means the events of Background Pony never occured, if we're to go entirely by canon established by the show.
Err, What is brown again? What's the significance of brown?
...Is this going to leave the Featured Box anytime soon?...
6384190 Not from what I can see
6384204
Well, apparently, in a later bit the castle is described as emanating black, which is supposedly harmony. But I don't get why Rainbow's voice would have that quality.
YES!
YES YOU ARE!
REMEMBER THAT!
6384190
Not unless he starts updating this like a normal author and not the word-machine he clearly is.
6384204 I kinda know now thanks to one comment, but I ain't saying what it is, you'll have to find out yourself darling~
What are you the innuendo fairy!
I've got nothing against you Flash but you have to die for our ship here, still looks like Vinyl might find an ally in Twilight it getting Flash away from Tavi. Although on the bright side he hadn't shown much of an interest in Tavi so far so it might be all one sided, which would still be torture on Vinyl if her roommate keeps going on about him.
6384253
Ah ok Thank you!
6384087 copy/paste this comment here!
6381450
What Vinyl needs to tell Tavi isn't something you need a language for.
Oh, Luna...she did....
FLAAAAAAASH! You've done it again!
Argh!
I sense a shitstorm approaching. =D
I read this before it was popular.
encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSXEYdsw-JLkBfPWWnztOEOp8bxjIytign2d0-HK9s257ygQKxV
(*your)
No, this can't be, a straight horse in a gay horse world? Blasphemy.
Flash Sentry is the new Stu Leaves, who is the old new Flash Sentry.
…FLAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!
Poor Vinyl.
Well, don't hold back, Vinyl.
6384714
Who said Flash was straight? I've seen a Mac x Bulk Biceps fic, he could totally be gay.
That said... Ugh, Flash. And not even human Flash who is simply a generic teen rocker nice guy. Pony Flash is outright nothing but a troll face. And it's not like this is being played straight where the author is intending this to be a relationship the fans are supposed to be ok with (certainly not on Octavia's end anyway). This is meant to be a teeth grinder no matter how it goes... It's written for us to dislike him, the fact that many already do just makes it easier.
6384870 i get a bad vibe from him.
What if he is the one who hurt V?
Nah.
Maybe?
6384832 GORDON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh wait...
6385828 DIIIIIIIIIIIVE!
As if she didn't have enough shit going on...
Octavia was just–
...
...
...
Phoenix.exe has stopped working.
Who is this guy and why am I supposed to dislike him?
6386231 *Initiates hard reboot*
I do not like this guy. not one bit. Like an over-muscled
Stu Leavesgeneric love triangle counterpoint with none of the charm.6384070 From what I can tell, mainly because he has the gall to be written as a male love interest for a female character. Apparently, that is a thing that should never be or some road apples like that.
I notice someone has already downvoted your comment for daring to question the unwarranted hate.
6384070
6388536
mostly two reasons i can think of
1.) he's bland as fudge. if you have to force a love interest on a character, then at least make him somewhat interesting and not a generic gary stu.
2.) he represents everything bad with equestria girls. many of us like mlp because it breaks with the usual cliche girl show tropes, where the biggest thread for a character is "to get lost in a field of dancing dandelions, or some sugary crap like that", so seeing equestria girls revert to those old tropes and adding in a love interest for really no reason, despite the need of having a love interest in it, left a pretty sour taste in our mouths. i mean really, what is the point of flash? he has no purpose for being there at all, and he is in no way relevant to the story. it doesn't even really make sense for twilight to be interested in him in the first place, considering she's a pony and he a human. if he was at least in any way important to the story, but he isn't even that... really, the only reason flash exists, is because it's a girls show and a girls show needs a love plot in it and that's just dumb.
so overall it isn't really flash we hate, he's just a symbol for something else that we dislike.
I had a good smile on my face while reading this one; needed that today.
Chapter title is just icing on the cake.
6388536 Hmm, well I guess that makes sense.
Goddamn it Dx Well I did expect a downvote, shite.
6388823 Why thank you and the other gentleman for explaining that, now it is clear.
I guess that does make sense, he is a overused trope. I dont think his character is bad tho, but how he's written and used is.
6388536 The more I ask people the more it seems to be that for the most part, thats all he is. A male love intrest for a female character with no other traits really extrapolated on. He got a little more character in the second movie but he is kinda blank as a character. Theres nothing given on what he aspires to do, or his personality apart from competitive regarding music.
Theres not much too him, and while I don't quite get the passion with which hes hated, i can understand why he is disliked.
Ooh! Jealous, jealous Vinyl!
Octy, I've got bad news for you! Flash is off the market, I'm afraid; he's Twi's coltfriend!
Dammit! I've said it once, and I'll say it again,
off Flash Sentry! Nopony likes you!
Flash, you need to go die at the hands (hooves?) of Emperor Ming the Merciless. Either that, or fuck yourself with a chainsaw.
6845985 Too late! I fucked him with anal beads comprised of plasma grenades last week!
Oh com'on!!
This is too much like Stu Leaves and AJ...I don't think I can go through that again.
Sorry Flash (not really) but Vinyl was there first. Go bother Twilight...