Chapter 7: Reason #2
Vinyl was nervous. REALLY nervous. Octavia and Twilight were idly chatting about their childhoods and comparing the Canterlot nobility to the Trottingham rich population and Vinyl couldn’t help but dread the coming days. She was going back home, but she wasn’t going back home. She was an alicorn now, but not only was she an alicorn coming home to a UNICORN family, but she was bringing a MARE home with her! But, not only is she an alicorn now and bringing a mare home with her, that mare was the EX PRINCESS OF EQUESTRIA TWILIGHT SPARKLE.
“Vinyl, please, for the love of Celestia calm down. Even I can feel it from here.” Octavia said softly, nudging her friend. Vinyl looked around the train car at her and Twilight and sighed heavily. Twilight had been glancing over every few seconds and now her face just showed worry. Of course, Twilight knew exactly what this was about. They had had the conversation at least thirteen times in the two weeks before their trip to Trottingham.
“Octy, you KNOW my dad. If he doesn’t freak out about me being an alicorn, he’s going to freak out about me bringing home a mare and not a proper nobleman. And if he doesn’t freak out about all of that, I don’t know, he’ll probably find something else to freak out about. I just hope he’s too busy to show his face like last year.” Vinyl replied. Octavia was silent for a moment, but Twilight spoke up.
“At least that’ll be all you have to deal with. You DID send the letter telling them we’ll be arriving in disguise right?” The Ex-Princess asked. Vinyl rubbed her face and nodded.
“I mean yeah, but I addressed it to mom. Dad probably doesn’t even know anything that’s been happening with me. He’s so obsessed with his riches that he barely even comes home anymore from what mom and Emerald wrote. She knows everything, at least. Well, not everything. But she won’t be surprised by any of it…” The new alicorn explained.
“Then we’ll just have to hope he isn’t there. Worst comes to pass we can always pull the ‘don’t act like an ass in the presence of an ex-princess of Equestria’ card.” Octavia sighed. The car was silent for a little while longer.
“You really think he hasn’t looked at a newspaper in over a month?” Twilight asked. Vinyl nodded.
“He doesn’t believe in the news. He has a butler bring him the stocks and anything they think is appropriate for him and that’s it. I mean, I don’t read the paper either, but mom told me that the staff left out everything about me since they didn’t want him going crazy when I wasn’t there to defend myself.” The DJ answered.
“Why is she still with that cretin anyways? The only thing he hasn’t done is strike them.” Octavia asked, a bit of poison in her tone. She did NOT like him. Vinyl snorted.
“He tried that once. When I left, he smacked me right across the face. I was fifteen, and we couldn’t really believe it. He apologized, actually, he didn’t mean to actually do it. I still kicked him in the gut and stormed out though, the only reason I even come back is because he apologized. Mom told me in her last letter that he almost struck her though, and she said the only reason she hasn’t left him is because she’s between contracts and is trying to save enough to put Emerald through university without him.” Vinyl explained, proud of the memory apparently.
“That’s horrid! What did she do to him in return? Record Scratch was not one to be subdued like that.” Octavia exclaimed. Vinyl grinned a very dark grin. The other two knew that grin, it usually happened when she was personally kicking some asshole out of her club. This was far worse, though.
“Dad was never great with magic. He actually flunked out of university because of it. Mom, however, was almost as gifted as I am with it. He almost struck her because he physically couldn’t. She stopped his hoof, turned him upside down, and had nearly the entire house’s furniture gang up on him to freak him out. He spent way more time at work since then, the tables have finally turned in his mind, but they were never on his side in the first place.” Vinyl replied. Octavia smiled at that. Twilight had a thoughtful frown on her face, she’d been keeping it the entire time Vinyl talked about her father. Vinyl had noticed, but only now decided to bring it up.
“You alright,Twi? We can always kick him out if he’s there and he’s nasty to you.” The new alicorn asked, putting a wing on Twilight’s shoulder. That seemed to bring her out of her thoughts as she unconsciously leaned into the wing.
“Oh? Oh, it’s not that I’m worried about. Canterlot nobles get heinous and nasty in court every day… I was just thinking about something…” Twilight replied.
“We’ll talk about it later, then, I’m done talking about this downer shit. I can’t wait to see your folks, Octy! How are they holding up?” Vinyl changed the subject and the conversation lightened up considerably at that. The rest of the train ride went by swiftly and before they knew it the trio were standing in front of a large mansion.
Vinyl and Twilight had taken illusional unicorn disguises. Vinyl had a grey coat and an alternating black and neon green mane and tail that was nearly as long as Twilight’s usually was. Twilight had a white coat and simple brown mane and tail, her mane carefully cut and short like a librarian’s. Twilight was, however, staring in awe at the carriage in front of the door. It held the sparkle family crest on it.
“Ah, Octavia there you are!” A butler at the door said when the trio walked up. He trotted over and inclined his head respectfully to her. “The Scratch family is here as usual, but after seeing all the news the madam of the house decided to invite the Sparkle family as well. All of them.” The stallion sai, putting extra emphasis on the ‘all of them’ part. Vinyl and Octavia seemed a little confused at that part, but Twilight’s eyes lit up.
“Shining and Cadence are here?!” She exclaimed. The stallion nodded slowly and turned back to Octavia.
“Miss Octavia, who are your friends? I wasn’t aware you were bringing any other guests. SPeaking of that, where is miss Vinyl and miss Twilight?” He asked. Octavia facehooved.
“Sergei, you got the message right? About disguises?” the musician blanched. The butler nodded slowly before realizing just what she was saying.
“Oh! Yes of course, my apologies. Those are very well crafted disguises, I had almost forgotten about it…” The stallion said, taking a step back in embarrassment. “Right this way, madams! Miss Vinyl, I will warn you that your father has decided to grace us with his… presence… tonight.” The butler continued. The mood immediately fell.
“Ah hell, guess it’s better to deal with this now rather than later.” She grumbled. As they entered the little room before actually entering the house, knocking snow off of their hooves and such, Vinyl dropped her disguise. Sergei was a little surprised at the drastic change in size and the addition of wings, but it was only for a second. Twilight, however, was standing there frozen still. The inner door was open, and she saw a certain unicorn and his wife standing there, staring back.
“Uh, can I help you?” Shining asked cautiously, not having noticed the others. There was a flash of movement before he was surprised by the unfamiliar mare crashing into him with a hug. She was a LOT heavier than she looked. “H-Hey! What are…” He started, though when he looked to Cadence she was giggling.
“I thought you’d be better at seeing through simple illusions, love.” The alicorn of love giggled. He looked back at the mare, who was now looking up with embarrassment.
“Oh! Sorry! I forgot!” She exclaimed. His face immediately went from confusion to joy as the young mare that had now stepped back quickly turned back to the lavender alicorn he knew.
“Twily! I should have known you’d come in disguise! Ah, and there’s the lucky mare I’ve heard so much about. Vinyl, right?” Shining asked as Vinyl stepped in as the two hugged again.
“Yo, big brother right? Nice to meet you.” She said, holding out a hoof and giving him a good shake.
“I am. Normally I’d be grilling you like I did last time someone tried to date her, but judging by everything that’s happened so far I really don’t need to. You’ve got a good head on you, don’t prove me wrong though. I may not be head of the Canterlot royal guard anymore, but I can pull so many strings you’d be drowning in yarn.” The Stallion said, the last part just a tiny bit threatening. Vinyl snorted.
“You don’t have to threaten me. Even without all of this freaky shit going on I don’t think I have it in me to prove you wrong. Even when I’m drunk. Which, if my father is here, I’m going to be VERY by the end of.” She replied. Twilight gave her a bit of a concerned look.
“Don’t worry, he’ll be perfectly civil or I’ll toss him out myself. Miss Record has already informed me I am allowed to do so.” A new voice said as another well dressed stallion entered.
“Vincent, how’s it been?!” Vinyl exclaimed, bumping hooves with the butler.
“Much better now that your mother finally decided to go ahead with the divorce. We’ll be moving, since the house is 100% his, but we don’t know where. He doesn’t know about it yet. Do you have any suggestions?” The stallion asked.
“Canterlot or Ponyville for sure. Edinspur if they really want to keep up with the whole richy-rich thing. Manehattan if they want to have the thrill of getting mugged every month.” Vinyl replied quickly. He chuckled softly.
“Alright, let’s get in there. Mom and Dad are inside already.” Shining said. They all nodded and entered as a large unit. The large foyer had a massive fireplace that was lit and more than enough furniture to seat everyone in attendance comfortably. The conversation screeched to a halt at the sight of not one, not two, but THREE alicorns entering the room. Cadence and Shining quickly rushed over to Dawn and Dusk Sparkle, a mare and a stallion quickly rushed over to them to speak with Octavia, and a mare and a young filly rushed over to Vinyl.
“Veronica, I’m glad you could make it! And you must be the lovely Twilight Sparkle. Heavens knows nobody would have thought I’d be joining TWO princesses for dinner.” Vinyl quickly hugged her and her little sister before Record Scratch quickly hugged Twilight ,surprising the mare.
“O-Oh, um, I’m not a princess anymore. That’s what started this whole thing, really…” Twilight said, looking at Vinyl with a warm smile.
“Used to be a princess, either way, it’s an incredible experience! And my little Veronica isn’t so little anymore! She told me much through letters, but I can’t wait to hear the story!” Record said happily.
“Veronica, you’re so much taller than me now! I can’t even jump onto your back anymore!” Emerald said happily. The little filly was about the CMC’s age, and she was indeed hopping up for effect. Vinyl rolled her eyes and swept the filly up in her wings, placing her unceremoniously on her back. “Weeee!” the filly squealed.
“Veronica? Is that your actual name? I knew you said you changed it ,but you never said what it was.” Twilight said with a little smirk.
“Veronica Ramona Scratch is her name, and I won’t have her called anything else.” A slightly annoyed stallion said, having now joined the group. Vinyl’s father did not look like a kind stallion and the mood immediately fell as his voice carried around the room.
“We’re not having this argument again. For now, will you please behave. I don’t want to have a shouting match in front of my girlfriend and her family.” Vinyl said, rubbing her face and looking down at the stallion. She smirked at that. Now it was his turn to be looked down upon. His look hardened as he got a good look at her, and her new stature.
“Behave? You’re the one acting like a child. Drop this foolish disguise, I won’t be talked down to by my own daughter.” The stallion said. Vinyl gave him a confused look.
“Actually, she’s a fully fledged alicorn. W-” Twilight started, but the stallion put his hoof up and gave her a dirty look. She was actually taken aback by it.
“I wasn’t speaking to you. If memory serves, you gave up your crown. What an idiotic thing to do, to give up something like that. You might be even more of a failure than my daughter if you can’t even handle a crown.” The stallion said. Everyone just stared at him in shock. There was a dead silence until someone started laughing. Vinyl let out a little chuckle, everyone staring at her.
“Oh man, you really don’t know what you’re doing? And SHE’S the idiot? Let’s take stock of your situation, dad. You insulted my girlfriend and I. So that’s two ponies here who want to kick your ass. But, my girlfriend’s entire family is here, one of which is the Princess of the crystal empire and the other one literally used to be in charge of the ENTIRE royal guard. Four more, so that’s a total of six. All six of us can wipe the floor with you, both physically and magically, on our own. And my girlfriend just so happens to be the LITERAL avatar of MAGIC. You’re lucky she hasn’t turned you into a plant or something already.” Vinyl challenged him. He seemed unimpressed.
“The Sparkle family are here as guests, and Shining Armor is no longer the head of the royal guard. He has no authority over them.” The stallion retorted. Vinyl was about to retort when SHining himself stepped up.
“I’m going to let all of this slide because yes, we are guests. And you’re right, I’m not in that position anymore. Which means I no longer have political obligations not to crack you in the jaw with all I’ve got for that. You’ve insulted not only ex-equestrian royalty, but you’ve insulted Crystal Empire royalty, twice now. By Equestria’s standards that’s at least a year in jail for the insult alone, let alone the political repercussions on you and your house.” Shining explained almost monotonously, using his old tone he used to give drunks and rioters when they needed spooking. Cadence stepped up then.
“And not to mention everyone you’ve insulted are personal friends, and even the personal student of Princess Celestia, you could kiss every ounce of wealth and prestige you have goodbye.” The alicorn said as she, for once, didn’t have a single ounce of love in her tone. The stallion finally took a step back and looked at everyone.
“You and I are going to talk about this later… For now, though, I sincerely apologize for my insult.” The stallion said, though neither his tone or expression were genuine, and the hissed words were more than what Vinyl needed to snort.
“Like hell we are. I’ll be happy to have a civilized conversation with you, dad, but so help me if it’s anything but and you’ll be wishing we threw you out now. Vincent, do me a favor and get him newspaper clippings from the past month, let him catch up on what’s going on. I don’t want to have to explain anything to him if I can help it.” Vinyl said, pushing past him and motioning for everyone else to follow back into the foyer proper. The butler in question did a salute and trotted off with Sergei.
Taught Strings was silent for most of the discussion, only speaking when addressed directly, he mostly stared at Vinyl and Twilight between reading various newspapers on the side. When dinner was ready, they moved to the large dining hall. Everyone sat together, even Strings, he chose a seat next to his wife across from Vinyl and Twilight. He had finished reading and finally spoke again halfway through the meal.
“So, Veronica, what are your plans with all of this? You got into the inner circles with this… relationship… I must say, I’m rather proud of what you’ve done. The abandoned crown is now yours for the taking, is it not?” The stallion asked. The table went silent. Twilight looked insulted, and Vinyl looked like she was going to throw something. She took a deep breath, though, and took a rather large drink from her wine before speaking.
“Like hell I’m taking any kind of crown. I’m expanding my club, probably opening a branch in ponyville so I can be with Twilight there, maybe even buy a house there and move. The last thing I want to do is be a damned princess.” She replied. His eyes narrowed.
“So, nothing I’ve taught you has stuck in your thick skull I see. Too afraid you’ll fail like you have every single other one of my expectations? What use is a noble partner, especially another mare, when she’s already given up her title.” Strings practically spat. The table went silent again until Vinyl broke the silence once more.
“Yep, you guessed it. Not the failing part, the expectations part. I’ve made it my goal in life to ignore every single one of your expectations, because I know if I did that then I’d actually be a half decent pony. And you better watch what you say. You can talk hot shit about me and everything I do, but if you say another goddamn word about Twilight then you’re going to find out just how powerful an alicorn really is when they want to kick your ass.” Vinyl slowly explained, her tone filled with hate.
Cadence was very slowly inching the now scared little filly beside Record Scratch to her. She could sense what was going to happen, and she was thankful the filly didn’t protest when she picked the little unicorn up and started softly whispering happy thoughts into her ear while she cut off sound to the filly from any other source with a spell. Record noticed and gave her an appreciative look before Strings finally opened up his mouth again.
“You wouldn’t dare lay a hoof on me, you’re a failure to the family. You and that damned girlfriend of yours are little more than street rats to me now, apparently not even the regal blood of an alicorn can fix how terribly you’ve destroyed your image. Both of you, get out of my sight. I can’t stand to look at you anymore.” Strings practically growled. There was a particular look of amusement on the faces of Vinyl’s parents, he was talking like this was his home. There was the sound of a chair pushing out, someone standing up, and then a resolute smack as Record smacked her husband so hard it nearly threw him off the chair. He looked dumbfounded for a moment.
“How dare you…” he said softly in shock. It quickly turned to fury as he lifted his hoof.
“HOW DARE YOU!” He screamed and made to strike her back. She barely even flinched, but was surprised when no strike came. She looked and noticed not only a light blue barrier had appeared around her, the same color as Shining Armor’s magic, but an amalgamate of the magic from the three alicorns in the room were holding the hoof in place. When he realized what happened he seemed to almost panic before glaring at the alicorns.
“I don’t need this. Let me go, I’m going home. None of you are welcome in my home ever again.” He spat out. Twilight and Cadence seemed satisfied with that, but when he tried to drop back down to the floor he found that Vinyl’s teal magic still covered his foreleg.
“Hey dad, remember that one time you hit me? I thought you apologized because you didn’t mean it. I realized now that you apologized to maintain your perfect image.” She started. The stallion’s eyes widened slightly in horror as he felt pressure on his foreleg increase. “You’ve tried to break me, you’ve tried to break mom, and you’ve even tried to break Emerald. She’s a fucking FILLY. And you SCREAM at her when she does anything you don’t tell her to do. It’s my turn now.” Vinyl said, going from a cool tone to one of fury. There was a very distinct crunch before he crumpled to the ground, the bones in his front right foreleg probably resembling dust at this point.
“Fine, you animal! Vincent, help me get out of here!” The stallion practically howled as he tried to stand.
“I’m terribly sorry sir, but miss Record Scratch is the name of my employer. Afterall, you haven't signed my checks even once.” The butler replied. He glared at everyone in the room.
“Here, let me help you.” Cadence said, once again not a single drop of love in the room. She did pick him up in her magic rather gently, she didn’t particularly want to hurt him any more. She levitated him, kicking and screaming, right out of the new open doors and slammed them shut. She then quickly looked down at the filly in her lap, who was looking up at her with wide eyes after her sweet whispers had stopped.
“Is… is Daddy finally gone?” She asked in a whimper.
“Daddy’s gone, dear, and we never have to see him again.” Record said with a deep breath, retaking her seat and graciously taking the filly back in her magic to place on her own lap.
“Yay!” The filly yelled excitedly, burying her face in her mother’s coat. The mood elated after that.
“While I don’t exactly condone something like that, miss Veronica… I’m finding myself surprised you didn’t do more.” Cadence said. Vinyl snorted.
“A month ago he’d be in the hospital if he tried that shit… But you guys, you all helping out and sticking out for mom… I almost wanted to show him mercy after he realized just how far up shit creek he was without a paddle. You guys are alright.” Vinyl replied.
“I don’t know how scum like that even gets so far in life…” Shining grumbled.
“It’s all money. I married him because he was quite the charmer in his youth, but after my record business took off he basically did a hostile takeover with it and tried to turn it into a corporation. He really turned nasty when I refused to sell to him, but he did steal just about everything but the name.” Record explained. Vinyl looked shocked at that.
“Wait, I thought you sold to him already. Couldn’t you have left him with the money that would have brought you?” Vinyl asked.
“Of course not, we were married by then. Do you think he would have let me keep all that money? I would have done it too, especially after you left and it was difficult to find a good sitter for Emerald when the Philharmonics were out of town, but he never let me have the one demand I had.” Record answered.
“What was the demand?” Octavia asked when nobody else did.
“He wanted to boycott the DJ PON-3 section, in every store. My demand was to keep it as it was.” She replied, looking at Vinyl. The young alicorn looked stunned at that, confusion marring her face.
“Wait, I thought you didn’t approve of my stuff?” The alicorn asked. Record chuckled.
“I don’t particularly like some of it, but a lot of it I’ve found to enjoy when your father was out of the house. Especially the joint records you and miss Octavia worked on. And regardless of my personal tastes, it was something you loved. I may not have wanted you to become a DJ and make techno music, but it was your passion. You’ve grown into a fine mare, regardless of what your father thinks, and so it was my pride that I would not let him abolish.” The older mare replied. The table was once again silent, though that was quickly broken and the sound of teleportation whisked Vinyl next to her mother to practically knock her out of her chair with a hug.
“I love you, mom.” She said softly, a little sniffle escaping as well. The scene was quite heartwarming already, but then little Emerald jumped onto Vinyl’s face to share the embrace.
“I love you Veronica!” The filly exclaimed.
“Of COURSE I love you too, Emerald. All of you here, too. I was worried sick about this… but now, I don’t think it could have gone any better.” Vinyl said, quickly hugging her mother and sister again before walking around and hugging everyone in attendance as she passed, thanking them for their support and/or friendship. When she finally got to Twilight, the alicorn of magic took the initiative and pecked her on the lips before pulling her into her recently vacated seat.
“Alright, now that all of the family issues are dealt with the kitchen staff worked very hard on dessert and I don’t want to be the one to tell them it’s not needed.” Sergei said.
“Way to ruin the moment, Sergei.” Octavia called with a laugh.
“OH, I WANT DESSERT!” Emerald exclaimed, Record placing her in her seat so she could happily bounce her hooves on the table. The mood remained happy and loving for the rest of the night, especially after the Philharmonics brought out the brandy after putting Emerald to bed.
Vinyl was sitting in front of the fireplace, swirling around the last little bit of brandy left in her bottle. Twilight and most of the others had returned home or retired for the night, Twilight going to Vinyl’s usual room at the Philharmonic estate on their insistence. She was startled out of her thoughts when Dusk, Twilight’s father, sat down opposite her with a glass of wine in his grasp.
“I’d say you’ve quite the tolerance, but I do suppose you own a Nightclub.” He said with a smile. She grinned back, shaking the bottle in her magic before sipping it.
“I’m glad Twi’s got a dad that isn’t an asshat at least.” Vinyl said with a little smirk. It fell when she saw his face drop, though. He looked almost… guilty. Uh-oh. This probably wasn’t going to be good.
“Has Twilight ever explained why she gave up her crown?” He asked. Vinyl shrugged.
“It’s like a forty-three reason list, right? Number one is that she missed home, her friends and everything. SHe didn’t want to be bogged down by duties and formalities like Celestia always is.” She replied. Dusk nodded.
“How about reason number 2?” He asked. She shook her head. She knew maybe twenty of the reasons at this point, but number 2 was not one of them. “Simply put, number 2 is me.” He said, taking a sip from his glass and staring at the fire. Vinyl was confused, but waiting for the stallion to elaborate. She didn’t have to wait long.
“From a very young age, she was gifted. Her mother and I pushed her to get better, and she seemed to enjoy learning quite well. She was accepted into Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns a year early, and graduated three years early. She completed her university courses in months, on top of the education Celestia was giving her. She didn’t want all of that, though. She didn’t want to go in early, graduate early.
“She had gotten used to it, though… and before long we had successfully beaten into her head that her education and learning were the single most important things in her life, because she was gifted. Well, I say we… after she graduated from Celestia’s school and became her protege her mother relented, satisfied… but I was not. I continued to push her, until I pushed her so hard she started pushing herself.” The stallion explained. He took a deep breath and finished his glass.
“She would have been a lonely mare in a tower, obsessed with nothing but the pursuit of knowledge and earning greater titles. It wasn’t until Celestia sent her to Ponyville did she get a taste of anything else… She’s my greatest pride, but also my greatest regret…” He continued. Vinyl listened to him speak intently, but in the end she smiled and she leaned over to pat him on the shoulder.
“I don’t think she sees you like that. She loves you, loves all of you. You only wanted what you thought was best for her. And, while it may not have been the healthiest way to go about it, I think she’s become a damn fine mare in the process. And I still don’t see what that has to do with the whole giving up the crown thing, she earned that all by herself. Not being pushed by you.” Vinyl retorted. He smiled and put a hoof over hers for a second before she retracted it and he sighed again. The smile fell.
“Thank you. When she wrote us of her friends and exploits, that’s when I finally realized what a horrible thing I did. I kept her from that life for so long… But her second reason for giving up the crown may not be me precisely, but it was indeed my previous influence. She feels that if she stays a princess, she’ll only be meeting my expectations. What I wanted from her. We both know that isn’t the case any longer, but her entire childhood was spent with me pushing her… and it’s scarred her. She’s long forgiven me, and I’ve even let myself be forgiven… but I can never forget.” The stallion explained. Vinyl sat back in her chair for a moment before leaning forward, standing up, walking over, and hugging him again for the second time that night.
“Don’t worry, I know exactly what that’s like.” She said. He looked at her then before smiling and chuckling softly as Vinyl pulled away.
“Yes, I suppose you would. Thank you for listening to me, Vinyl… or is it Veronica?” He asked. Vinyl snorted.
“Only family calls me Veronica, so that’s up to you step-dad.” She started with a wink before finishing her own bottle. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have the comfiest pillow in the world to snuggle up to.” The alicorn replied. Dusk smiled warmly at that and stood to return to his own guest room.
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ALICORN POWER!!!!!!
Reads the chapter, sees the names of Twilight's parents, prepares a complaint, seriously, it's right here
Who? insert Owlowiscious emoticon here. Pretty sure that Twi's parent's are called Twilight Velvet and Night Light...
But then I read your author's note, and am not sure how to feel... Oh well, the story is good besides, I guess I'll keep reading...
Anyway, other than that mental tirade I had to get rid of, I kind of had a love-hate relationship with this chapter. In some ways it kind of makes sense, but in others it's really hard to follow. Really the only thing I wish I had for this chapter is context. Why is Vinyl's dad such an ass? Why does her mother and sister continue to call her Veronica, even though they support her decision to distant herself from her dad. And how on the entire face of Equestria does a nobleman allow himself to act like that in front of royalty that hold literally all the strings?
Though, it wasn't all questions I may never get answers to, I also enjoyed this chapter once I was able to distance myself from the confusing part. The conversations between the Sparkle family and Vinyl made sense. And the way Vinyl acts after crushing her dad's leg also fit other descriptions I've been formed to expect. I think overall one of my favorite parts about this chapter is it's length, I love it when an author put's their all into a chapter, really shows they care about the work. And good god this probably reaches the top 5 for my longest comments...
8563162
I've been writing since before Twilight's parents had canonical names. Those were the names I gave them then, and I haven't seen up to a part where their canonical names are given, so that's why I still call them that.
as for the rest of it... well... maybe raising all of these questions was the point? It may not have been the most well executed, but I'd say it did its job.
who knows
maybe finding those answers is supposed to be something important
So, Vinyl's full name is Veronica Ramona Scratch? Cool. Her dad is the biggest piece of shit I have ever come across.
Heh, you really made Vinyl's dad a one-dimensional asshat whose sole redeeming quality was getting his ass handed to him by nearly everyone
Still, that was just SO satisfying! I've been really surprised that Vinyl did only that... and that nobody else actually joined in at least something else.
Still, that was incredibly cathartic. Good job!
And that little heart-to-heart at the end was quite sweet as well
8564202
Yeah this is awesome.
So he is a total weak loser.
Just yesterday, I watched the finale of Chuggaaconroy's Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna, The Golden Country playthrough, and he had quite a lot to say about healing from an abusive family member. And now, I'm reading a story where Vinyl Scratch et al. kick her abusive dad's pathetic ass. Quite a fascinating coincidence.