A Tale of Two Mares

by CharmingChaos

A Holiday to Remember

Octavia flopped back on the hotel room bed, exhausted and sad. The pair had packed their things hastliy and booked it to the nearest hotel as fast as possible, with Sonata screaming at them that she would call the police until they were completely out of hearing range.

"Don't worry, 'Tavi-babe. Celestia, I'm glad I can call you that again now. Remember that I love you, that's all that matters. We'll still have Heart's Warming Eve, Vinyl and 'Tavi style, remember? Oh, I know I must sound incredibly stupid right now. But 'Tavi, you gotta believe me. You'll be okay, promise."

Octavia sniffed as Vinyl caressed her cheek, wiping away a tear. "I know, Vinyl. But still I knew this would happen. I guess... some stupid part of me just hoped my parents wouldn't be so narrow-minded."

"Octy, sugar, there's something you should know about me. Something I should have told you a long time ago." Vinyl said, her scratchy voice cracking slightly.

"Really?" Octavia looked at her with large eyes, wondering whether or not to believe her.

"Yeah." Vinyl took a deep breath, shifting so that Octavia's head rested in her lap. Okay, here goes nothing. "Octy, when I was seventeen, my parents... passed away--"

"Oh, Vinyl, that's awful. I'm so sorry--"

"Shut up. Let me finish my story before you go all sympathetic goo-goo on me, okay? Anyways, you're right. It was awful. They... died... in a crash. My father was drunk, and he..." She sniffed, concentrating on fiddling with a strand of Octavia's hair to keep herself distracted. "He drove off a pier, right here in Manehatten."

"Naturally, I was devastated. That's the reason I dropped out of highschool. I spent a year on the street, but then I met somepony who helped me get back to a steady place, get a job, the works. She helped me discover my love of dj-ing-- I got my cutie mark from playing the drums in seventh grade; I was a late bloomer.

"This mare meant the world to me. The thing that shocked me most was how unsteady she was, switching from loving me to hating me in the blink of an eye. But eventually she turned on me completely. As it turns out, the reason for her sudden change of heart was my fame, which popped up seemingly overnight. She had had a dream of being famous ever since she was a filly, and I guess it was just too much to see me follow her impossible dream with such ease.

"There is one last thing, and for this I would like to apologize. Octavia, it's my fault your parents turned us out, and it makes me feel awful.

"'Tav, the mare who helped me so much was your mother."

Octavia gasped, and Vinyl realized how tightly she was pulling the scrap of mane she had been playing with. Hastily, she let go, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, 'Tavi. You have every right to be angry at me. if you choose to never see me again, I-I'll understand. But I'll never forgive myself for ruining a family like this."

Octavia sat up, pulling Vinyl into a tight hug. "I'm not mad, Vinyl. Just sad. But did you really think I would blame you for this? Whatever you say, I know my mother. She hates fillyfoolers with a remarkable amount of passion, who knows why. So, even if all that you said was true, I still wouldn't blame you. I love you, Vinyl. Nothing can change that. Especially when I know the truth."

"What?"

"I know that's not all true, even if you may think it is. Sonata had a sister, named Forte for her incredible singing voice, who looked nearly identical to Sonata, though she was a few years older. Forte was severely bipolar, often flipping from delighted to howling mad in a matter of seconds. Forte did have a dream of becoming famous, and while she was for a few years, her fame died quickly, leaving the poor mare bitter and with a permanent loathing for all ponies who manage to keep their fame.

"Unfortunately, Forte died a few years ago due to a terrible case of cancer of the lung, for as you surely remember, the mare smoked a pipe day and night."

Now it was Vinyl's turn to be surprised. "Then it isn't my fault? I still feel terrible, but if it has nothing to do with me, I think, no, wait a minute. You're the one who just got disowned. Who cares about me? It's still you that needs comforting."

"It's not your fault in the least, Scratchy. Most likely-- no, I'm sure of it, my mother had never seen hair nor hide of you until I brought you into their home. And don't worry about me. My mother is an old snob; I knew that all along, but my father can sometimes convince her to step down a bit. i suppose, however, this time he was overpowered. Or, perhaps they simply have the same set of values."

"Really, Vinyl, don't worry your sweet, fuzzy blue head about it. I'm fine. Your story, and untangling it back to reality, has distracted me enough to put this nonsense behind us. Now, how about some good, old-fashioned, hay fries and veggie burgers for dinner? I know the best spot in town to get them."

Comments

[Pwnytown]

I'm liking this story more and more! The short and sweet updates keep me checking my email for updates lol. Have all of my likes!

[RainbowShy1241]

Yay a fourth update today... I love that, you update so fast. But you should cool down a little cause then you might lose the ability to update fast and end up hardly updating at all. All that said, I hope to see more soon.

[CharmingChaos]

Thanks for all the likes and stuff. And, I must admit, two of the chapters i uploaded today were written yesterday, so i'm not quite so amazing as you might think. Also, this much time spent typing away at my computer merely indicates that I have no life whatsoever. But i don't give a flying buck. Ponies are my life, at the moment.

[Adenbadens]

I really like your story (VinylxOctavia is my OTP) But your pacing seems a little fast. From "'Tav, that mare who helped me was your mother" to "Then it isn't my fault?" I was like: Octavia had an aunt? That raised Vinyl? And now she's dead just like that? I get that you're telling us a bit of their past while getting both of them through what just happened to them, but it seems a little... soap-opera-ish.

That said I like that they don't always get along, and have completely different viewpoints on everything. Vinyl's comment a chapter or two back of "Can we make out now?" sounded a lot like her! Overall it's a good story you've got going here and I definitely want to see more!

[Tofty]

I really liked what you did with Octavia's thoughts on all the homophobia, I thought it was quite interesting.

More on topic, great story! I'll definitely be tracking this

[The Writer of Fate]

Wow...

Talk about pointless filler.

I agree with Adenbadens, though. Your pacing is rather fast...

[masterbrony13]

STILL TOO SHORT!!!!!

[danabler42]

Yeah, I'm gonna go with the other two on this one, this story is moving very fast. And....yeah, it does seem soap-opera-ish. And this chapter is mostly dialog, you don't even see any action description for the most part. dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Redheart_gasp.png

Look. I'm gonna give you a very solid piece of advice. Writing a story, is like......driving a standard shift car (this analogy is easy for me considering I drive a '98 Jetta). You have to have a good balance between clutch and gas, just as you have to have a good balance between dialog and description. Imagine the dialog being the clutch and description being the gas. If you try to get the car moving from a complete stop simply by letting out the clutch, there's a 99% chance you're going to drag the engine down and stall the car. But give it too much gas, and you'll be needlessly over-revving the engine, and when the clutch does let out, it will either jerk the car forward or spin the tires. You have to find that perfect balance and be smooth with it. The same goes for writing a story. You have to balance description and dialog. But once you get the story/car moving, and into the second chapter/gear, don't get overzealous with the dialog/clutch again. It takes a steady, even balance. Now, from reading your train chapter, and a couple others, it seems you are more than capable of this, it just may take you a bit of practice to master. Just like it took me practice to master my car. If you try hard at it, you'll get the hang of it.

[Admiral Hoofsome]

Damn, It's like we have a soap opera up in here! (I still totally love it though)

Sonata had a sister, named Forte for her incredible singing voice, who looked nearly identical to Sonata, though she was a few years older. Forte was severely bipolar, often flipping from delighted to howling mad in a matter of seconds. Forte did have a dream of becoming famous, and while she was for a few years, her fame died quickly, leaving the poor mare bitter and with a permanent loathing for all ponies who manage to keep their fame.
"Unfortunately, Forte died a few years ago due to a terrible case of cancer of the lung, for as you surely remember, the mare smoked a pipe day and night."

"No Tavi, she didn't! For you see I AM ACTUALLY YOUR MOTHER'S TWIN SISTER! The cancer was just an ingenious ruse so that my sister would never expect it when I came back to claim you, who are truly MY daughter!'

[Lucky424]

I have the feeling that they'll bump in to dad on the way.

[moonrose]

awwwww this what love is. comforting each other when times are tough

[moonrose]

2186634
Pffffffffffffftttt ahahahahahahha thou hast made my day

[Banshee]

Smoking a pipe cannot give you lung cancer. Unlike cigarette smokers pipe smokers do not inhale. A pipe smoker, however, is more likely to get mouth cancer.