After the fight

by BronyAugustus

A Weakness

Vinyl stepped out of the bathroom, her mane wrapped in a towel, and walked into the living room. She had forgotten how nice a warm shower felt.
She sat on the couch, and she suddenly came to a realisation.

"Octavia! You kept the couch?"

"Yeah. There were too many memories in it to just give it away."

Vinyl smiled and sat back down. She watched TV with Octavia for an hour, and suddenly remembered her appointment.

"Octavia! I'm late to pick up my Veteran's check!"

"Than let's go!"

701 3rd street, 3:40

Octavia stepped out into the street, Vinyl close behind. As they crossed the street, Vinyl struck up a conversation.

"So, how is everypony doing?"

"Derpy and the doctor got married, last I'd heard they were about to have their second kid. Dinky is in college, studying to become a teacher. Lyra and bonbon are the owners of a big candy store chain, along with Pinkie Pie. Last I heard of Berry punch, she was receiving treatment for her alcoholism, and she and Colgate were finally going steady. It's about time."

"And what about you. How did you end up back in Canterlot?"

"Well, after you left, I started having trouble keeping up on the rent on the house. And since I didn't really need a place that big for just me, and since mom was willing to help me now that you were out of the picture, I decided to come back to Canterlot. It is home, after all. Mom wants me to join the family business, but I really don't care for it. Mom's been paying for the apartment, and I've been picking up a few performances here and there for spending money." She looked off into the distance, a forlorn look on her face.

Vinyl sensed she was holding something back, but decided not to pry.

"I know it's a little early for dinner, but I haven't had anything all day."

"Sure. Any place you have in mind?"

"How about that restaurant where we had our first date."

She blushed "Sure"

The Prench Terrace, 4:10

Vinyl and Octavia entered the restaurant, and both were struck by nostalgia. It had been two decades since that date, but the place had hardly changed. The brick walls, adorned with vines, the old wooden tables, even the carpet was the same. For a brief moment, they both were teens again...

"Tavi! Darling! You're a little early this evening! And I see you've brought some company!"

Vinyl turned her head to see a short red pony with an impressive mustache hurrying to greet them. Octavia smiled, and shouted out:

"Hey Cheval! My friend here was hungry and we thought we'd drop in for a late lunch."

Cheval looked at Vinyl for a second.

"Why, she is all skin and bones! Come, sit! I will make you some thing to eat. Any friend of Tavi's is a friend of mine!"

He hurried back to the kitchen. Vinyl and Octavia picked a table beside a window and sat down.

"So, he's the new owner?"

"Yeah. The last one retired three years ago. Cheval bought it as is, and I played on the first night he re opened. We've been close friends ever since."

"He didn't change anything?"

"Nope. He liked it as it was. I've been coming in every thursday since he bought the place."

Cheval approached the table, wine glasses in his magic field following him.

"Shall there be any wine tonight?"

Before Vinyl could answer, Octavia reached across the table and put her hoof on Vinyl's lips.

"No, thank you. Water will be fine."

Cheval smiled and walked away, leaving behind the glasses.

Vinyl, however, was not amused.

"What in tartarus was that about!?!"

"I told you: If you're going to stay with me, I'm not going to let you drink."

"I have a damn good reason to want to drink!"

"I don't care! I'm not going to let you waste yourself like you did when you got back! It's not good and you know it."

Vinyl was standing now.

"Here we go again, you always know best! No matter what, you refuse to see things from my point of view! I'm going back to the apartment." She turned and walked away.

"Yeah run away, like you did back in ponyville those years ago!"

Vinyl turned, a fire in her eyes, and slowly walked up to Octavia.

"DON'T YOU DARE CALL ME A COWARD AGAIN!!!" She was right in front of Octavia now, almost touching her. "You weren't there when your close friends, ponies who you had known for months, with whom you shared every trial and hardship, every triumph and joy, were bleeding to death on some faust-forsaken field, moaning out in pain, and there is nothing you can do to help them, or even comfort them. Because if you show so much as a hoof to the enemy, you'll join them in the mud and blood until you die! I faced death at stony creek. There were more than a thousand of us when the night began. By the time the sun rose, by the time the reinforcements arrived, there were seventeen of us, all surrounded on the top of martyrs' hill. I survived the massacre of stony creek. So don't EVER call me a coward again."

As Octavia sat in stunned silence, Vinyl walked out, an angry look on her face. By the time Cheval returned, she was sobbing into the table, remembering that painful night years ago...

Ponyville, 5 years ago.

A door opened, spilling light onto the cobblestone street. Vinyl, clearly drunk, sauntered out of it. Turning, she yells into the opened door.

"I don't need this, damn it! All you want to do is try to make me perfect. You don't care about me as I am. You're...You're just as bad as your mother. I HATE you. I never want to be near you again. You weren't with me in the war. How can you think that you can understand me."

Octavia watched from the window as Vinyl disappeared into the night, a terrible feeling coming over her. She somehow knew that she wouldn't see Vinyl again. And if she did, she obviously wouldn't want to be with her ever again. She walked into the bathroom and sat on the edge of the tub and wept for over an hour. When she looked up, the first thing she saw was a bottle of pain killers. Vinyl had come home drunk and cut up, like many nights recently, and Octavia had set out the pain killers for the next morning, when Vinyl was in pain from her many cuts.

"Maybe they can get rid of my pain, if I take enough."

Comments

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

Because if you show so much as a hoof to the enemy, you'll join them in the mid and blood until you die

I think you mean "mud"

My dad was a WWII combat vet. He was one of the liberation forces at Dachau (major concentration camp) & part of the clean up crew. It wrecked him for life. One of the things I learned is that some of the people you pity in the abstract are DAMNED hard to pity (or even tolerate) up close and personal.

[BronyAugustus]

Thanks for the point out. I don't have editor at the moment. And thanks for the story. I have tried, with my few resources, to create some degree of accuracy. Any input is welcome.