Hearts Beat

by mushroompone

Past

Vinyl-

Hi. It’s me.

I hope this letter reaches you. I’ve tried a few times now, but I think my magic is still on the mend, so the letters could be anywhere, really.

I know things got really crazy over the past few… months, I guess. But I miss hanging out with you.

Our friendship is in need of a good dose of TLC. Let’s meet up at the club where we first met, and try to have a little fun!

Let me know what night works for you.

Here’s hoping this letter gets to you!

-Twilight

I sat back, read over my letter.

I had gotten better at this. Even I had to admit that.

Writing these letters was starting to feel like an exercise in futility, though. I wrote one a day, for the past five days, and sent it with a magical blast to Vinyl's location. It wasn’t unlike the spell used to contact ponies through the crystal pool… but, this time, it was much easier to focus on the intended recipient.

Mentally, that is. Physically… my head was still on the mend, post-concussion. Doing magic kind of felt like passing a kidney stone.

I would have just posted the letter through her mail slot--or, heck, gone over to speak with her face-to-face--but, wherever she was, it wasn't at the old house. Octavia wasn't there, either. I had spent a good few hours sitting on the porch, waiting for somepony to come by, and nopony did.

But I would fold up this letter, tuck it in an envelope, and send it off. Just like the others.

As I was rooting around in my desk drawer for a new box of envelopes, I heard a small sound downstairs. It was a bit like the fluttering of a bird's wings, with a gentle metallic squealing accentuating each wingbeat.

I paused and pricked an ear. I rolled the drawer shut as quietly as possible.

"Spike?" I yelled.

I could have sworn I heard a far-away groan. "Yeah?" The sound echoed down the halls of the castle.

"Can you check the door? I think I heard the mail slot."

This time, I definitely heard a groan. Longer and louder and twice as dramatic.

"Please?"

"Yeah…"

Spike's claws tapped delicately on the crystal floors, even with his exaggerated stomp-drag, stomp-drag gait. Once I heard him hit the stairs, I resumed searching my drawer for an envelope.

Just as I was sealing my newest letter shut, Spike knocked on my door.

"Twilight? You got a letter," he said, holding out a plain, white envelope.

"Oh!" I reached out to take it from him. "Thank you, Spike!"

I turned back to my desk and began to search for a letter opener. Everything was so much harder without magic… how did earth ponies and pegasi do it?

"How's your head?"

"Oh… it's been better, that's for sure." I laughed lightly, which made my head throb a bit.

The letter opener sliced cleanly through the top of the envelope. I blew into it, and a piece of notebook paper fluttered away from the side.

"Spike, could you…?" I held the envelope out to him.

Spiked reached into the envelope and pulled out the letter with his claws. "Well, you seem more Twilight-y now," Spike said. "So that's a relief."

I giggled. "Thanks, Spike."

Spike smiled, in that little-boy way where he really didn't want to be caught doing it, and handed me the letter.

Twi-

Happy to hear you're getting better! I thought your brain was gonna be soup forever hahaha

I got one of your letters. Sorry if you've been writing to me for a while, I swear this was the first one I got.

Let's meet up tonight at 9. I'll be in the corner.

-Vinyl

---

I got there early.

It's not that I wanted to be there before her. In fact, I didn't really want to be at the club at all. I just figured that was the best place to handle… you know. Friendship stuff. Since it was where our friendship started… and it was in public.

The corner seat was not as comfortable as it had been before. I’m not entirely certain if the change was in the seat or in myself.

I sat up as straight as I could, with my front hooves tucked delicately on behind the other. I’m sure I gave the impression of a nervous bird with the way I surveyed the crowd, my head flicking towards every small source of motion or sound in the place.

Was I aware that I was sitting like a student outside the principal's office? Yes.

Could I stop? No.

The music was different tonight. Very different. I didn’t have the words to describe it, exactly. It was probably played in a different key, or maybe a different mode, and it featured different instruments. But it wasn’t these standard elements that made it feel different, not really. No, there was something about this music that made my chest ache, and my head swim.

Maybe it was the concussion.

When Vinyl walked through the door, I was sucked right back to the moment that we met. Nervous, confused, othered. Wearing the same singular blue glowstick around my neck and just waiting for things to stop moving. Stop making sound. I wanted it to be still.

This was her place. I was the intruder.

Vinyl spotted me almost immediately. She smiled, but not a bright smile. This smile was kind of… relieved, almost. Bittersweet.

She moved towards me slowly. She had a funny hitch in her step, a kind of saunter that made her look even more a part of this place.

"Hey," she said. "You came."

I snorted. "Of course! How are you?"

Vinyl pushed her shades up above her horn, nestled into her mane. Her eyes had a curious new hue to them, a sort of pink to the red. Although maybe that was the colored floodlights.

"You kept the ear plugs, huh? I brought a spare pair for you." Vinyl held out two more of the little orange pellets.

"Of course I kept them," I said, tapping my ear.

Vinyl smiled. "That's pretty cute, princess."

I blushed and looked down at my lap. My own little private smile curled my lips. "Erm… I feel like things got crazy lately."

Vinyl flopped down into the seat beside me with a huge sigh. "Yeah. They did."

"But our friendship is really important to me," I said. “I don’t wanna stop seeing you just because… you know. We can still be friends.”

It was as if I'd shot Vinyl through the heart. She sort of looked up at the word ‘friendship’, but not at me, just at a distant spot on the wall. It was a quick motion. Purely reactionary. As the mood lighting danced over her face, I could see the look of… disappointment, I suppose. But deeper than that. A strong and vital disappointment that was making her rethink things.

"Sure, princess," Vinyl said. "Friends."

I could almost see the gears of her mind grind to a halt as she sat, her gaze wavering slightly, still not looking at me. She, at last, hung her head again, looking down at her hooves on the couch.

I swallowed. "So, what's new?"

The disappointment returned, with double the shock. "Uh…" She paused. Paused long enough to be considered a statue. Long enough that I thought maybe Vinyl wasn't exactly up for small talk.

"S-sorry… should we maybe talk about--" My voice suddenly caught in my throat. I coughed lightly. "Should we talk about… stuff?"

At last, Vinyl looked up at me. She was a good bit shorter than me when we were sitting like this. How had I not noticed that before?

"Uh… do you wanna talk about… stuff?" Vinyl asked haltingly.

I rubbed the back of my head. "If this was somepony else's problem, I would tell them to talk it out."

“But it’s our thing,” Vinyl said. “And it’s not a problem, really, it’s a… it’s just a thing, I dunno.”

I nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t be sorry!” Vinyl laughed lightly. “Don’t be sorry. Really.”

I smiled tentatively. I have a feeling it looked a lot like Vinyl’s smile. “Okay.”

If we didn’t know better, we could have called it friendship. But this still didn’t feel like friendship. Friendship made you laugh ‘til your cheeks hurt, made you breathless from doing stupid stuff together, made you want to stop time forever while you all sat around your coffee table playing board games.

It didn’t make your chest hurt. It didn’t make your stomach flutter. It didn’t make you feel dizzy every time you talked. That was something else entirely.

The current performer finished his act. The dull sound of stomping hooves washed over me. Then, a fuzzy voice announcing someone new. The ear plugs made him sound like he was announcing from somewhere deep underwater.

A small group of ponies ambled into the stage. They all seemed to be carrying pretty traditional instruments.

I removed one ear plug curiously.

The drummer counted off on his sticks… and the lead guitar began to play.

A simple phrase. A few repeated notes. Like a lone voice, almost. There was something about the phrase that seemed… incomplete. Questioning. Sort of sad, or maybe reminiscent of a simpler time. The sound was raw in a way I’d never heard before, the difference between a trained singer and someone wailing along with a sad song on the radio.

“What would you call this music?” I asked Vinyl. “It’s different.”

“Uh…” Vinyl rubbed the back of her head thoughtfully. “Probably indie rock, or grunge. You like it?”

I chewed on my lip thoughtfully. “I dunno. It makes me feel… sad.”

“Good sad or bad sad?” Vinyl asked.

I looked down at Vinyl. “Good sad, I guess.”

Vinyl smiled a one-sided smile and nodded. “I shoulda pegged you as a grunge girl a long time ago.”

I chuckled breathlessly. “Why’s that?”

Vinyl shrugged. “Grunge is music for ponies who are different. Especially ponies who hate the things that make them different.”

I must have given her a strange look.

“Ah, that sounds all cutesy. It’s like--” She sighed. The words were in her mind, but not on her tongue. “It’s for ponies that feel alone, I guess. That’s how I hear it, anyway. And you seem to me like the kind of girl who used to be a little filly laying in bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking really hard and feeling like shit.”

I narrowed my eyes. “That’s… specific.”

Vinyl shrugged. "I was that filly, too. I know one when I see one."

It made my chest ache.

I remember what it was like. Being a filly, that is. Feeling so alone and isolated from my peers, and yet loving wallowing in that feeling. Partly because it made me feel superior, I guess. But mostly because that time laying in bed and listening to music was the one time I wasn't under any kind of pressure.

That sounds sadder than it was.

Then again… maybe it doesn't.

But Vinyl had missed that part of her foalhood, too. That made it less sad. Definitely.

A bassist joined the guitarist. Its sound was deep and rich, a perfect singular tone. It supported the guitar’s lonesome wailing perfectly.

“Was that too deep?” Vinyl asked. “Sometimes I say weird shit when I talk about music. You gotta stop me if I get weird.”

“No!” Without thinking, I put my hoof on Vinyl’s. “I’d never ask you to stop.”

Vinyl blushed. She avoided my gaze, but did not remove her hoof.

Realizing my mistake, I slowly removed my hoof. “I… I talk that way about books all the time.”

Vinyl grinned. “Yeah?”

I giggled. “Yeah. Probably way too much.”

“Aw, come on, Twi. You couldn’t talk too much if you tried,” Vinyl said.

“What?!” I snorted. “You should try spending more time with me. I always talk too much.”

Vinyl scoffed. “I know you talk a lot, princess. I meant, like-- no matter how much you talk, it would never be too much.”

It was my turn to blush. Desperately trying to avoid Vinyl’s eyes, I looked up at the stage. The guitarist and the bassist had started to sing together, hitting their tones in a way that sounded like a singular voice echoing up from a very deep canyon. They sort of sang to each other, I noticed. Working in sync. Like they were the only two ponies in the room.

I'm sure there's a musical term for it.

Or maybe not.

“So… if you were a grunge girl, what’s with all the dance music?” I asked.

Vinyl shook her head. “I told you, Twi-- the DJ thing is just a gig. I gotta pay the bills somehow. Music is my thing.

“You know, I got my cutie mark laying in bed. I was listening to a record on a crappy, old record-player and feeling like dogshit because I’d failed some exam at school. My parents are both teachers, and a part of me thought that meant I’d have to be a teacher, too.”

I chuckled lightly.

Vinyl looked over at me slyly. “I was laying there in bed, and I closed my eyes…” She did so, tilting her head back a little. “And I listened to the music. I remember singing along a little. And the longer I laid there, the more I felt this burning in my chest.” She put a hoof on her sternum.

I did the same, almost unconsciously.

“And I sort of… channeled it through my horn,” Vinyl said. She opened her eyes and looked at me. “It sounds corny, but it made the music sound so much clearer, even on that terrible old record-player. It felt like the band was there with me, feeling the same thing. Like we were all playing together.”

I smiled down at her. If I had only seen her… if I had never spoken to her, never sat with her in a place like this… I would have no idea. Does anypony know? Does anypony know how absolutely wonderful Vinyl Scratch is?

Vinyl chuckled a bit. “Twi, you look all teary. Stories like that really get to the Princess of Friendship, huh?”

“Maybe a little,” I said, with a sheepish little smile.

Vinyl smiled. “It’s sweet. You’ve got something special in you, y’know.”

I scoffed.

“Hey, I’m serious,” Vinyl said. “There’s a lot of ponies out there who are, like, fake nice. They just do good stuff because they think other ponies will like them or pat them on the back or whatever. But you’re not like that at all, are you?”

“Gosh, I hope not,” I said, laughing a little.

“You’re not, you’re not! Ah, that sounded so dumb when I said it.” Vinyl but her face in her hooves. “You’re, like, actually good. That’s what I meant. If nopony was watching, you’d still be good.”

I sighed. “That’s nice of you to say, but I haven’t always been like that.”

Vinyl scoffed. “Who cares about ‘always’? You’re good now. That’s all I can ask, y’know? I used to be a classic rock snob, but I’m mature now.” She made a funny face and gestured to herself, attempting an air of refinement but stopping sort at fake-snooty.

I laughed.

Vinyl laughed, too.

Then we were quiet. A good, peaceful quiet.

The song hit another lull. Only the guitar player, back to his old riff.

No… not quite true. The bass was still playing, now playing its own phrase, but so skillfully weaving itself around the notes of the guitar that it sounded like one inextricable whole. The musicians were looking at each as they played, watching closely as their hooves moved along the strings, as they plucked in unison…

"Hey." Vinyl reached out and put a hoof on mine.

I jolted a little bit. The music had absorbed me so thoroughly that I could hardly remember where I was.

"I… I've said a lot of stupid stuff lately,” Vinyl said. “And I'm really sorry, Twi."

My breath hitched in my throat at her touch. "I thought we weren’t going to talk about--”

"I'm serious, princess," Vinyl said, almost pleading. She pressed her hoof against mine a little harder, and I felt the blood rush to my head. "I'm sorry."

"Oh." I was honestly surprised by Vinyl's apology. Her hoof on mine… my heart was pounding against my ribcage. "There's nothing to be sorry for."

Vinyl shook her head. "Of course there is, princess. I put you in such an awful position, and I was so wrapped up in my own crap that I couldn’t see--” She stopped, sighed, and shook her head. “I wish I knew how to make it right, or take it back, but the best I can do is apologize."

I blinked. "Well… thank you."

My face was hot. Really hot. Was I blushing? Blushing hard?

Oh, Celestia, my stomach, too-- my head was reeling, my stomach fluttering, my chest aching…

Was I ready to talk about this?

"And--" Vinyl stopped to take a deep breath. "I just-- I feel like I was always running away, or you were running away, or something was interrupting us. There was always something there to stop us from just… just talking, y'know?"

I nodded. It felt like my jaw was wired shut.

"So I guess I wanted to ask you. H-how you… feel." She looked down at her lap. Her hoof withdrew from mine very slowly. Like she was ashamed.

"I… miss you," I said. The blush was creeping across my face rapidly, feeling more like a rash now. "And I still want to… t-to spend time with you."

My heart was pounding.

I’d messed up.

I wasn’t ready to talk to her again. I still liked her. I still thought she was smart and cool and amazing and gorgeous and I couldn’t just be friends, I couldn’t, I couldn’t!

Vinyl swallowed. "Twilight, I gotta tell you something.”.

I couldn’t even nod anymore. I just stared at her, doe-eyed and confused.

"I'm sorry. I wanted tonight to be really easy and casual, I really did. But…”

I still couldn’t speak. Wake up, Twilight!

"I broke up with Octavia," Vinyl said.

Well.

That wasn’t what I expected.

Broken up?

Like… broken up broken up?

But… they had lived together.

For a long time.

Was it because of me? Was it because Vinyl was confused, now, too? Had I done this, had I ruined her relationship?

"Wh--" I shook my head slightly. "When?"

Vinyl put her face in her hooves. "About a week ago. I'm going crazy, Twilight."

I reached out to stroke her shoulder, but thought better of it and withdrew my hoof. "I'm sorry, Vinyl."

Vinyl sighed, a long and tortured sound. The kind of sound you make when you're doing everything you can not to cry, or maybe just prove to other ponies that you’re definitely not crying. No way. I wouldn’t cry over this.

"It’s weird, though," Vinyl said. "I'm not sad. I'm sort of… relieved. Does that make me a bad pony?" She looked up at me. Her eyes were huge.

Like instinct, my Mentorship Mode kicked on.

"No! No, of course not," I said. "Don't be silly, of course it doesn't."

The song ended, with only the sound of the guitar echoing through the room. The room began to stomp their hooves once again.

"Let's go back to my place, okay?" I said.

Vinyl took a shaky breath. "Now?"

I smiled weakly. "This isn't the right time to be in a place like this."

"You don't mind, do you?" Vinyl asked.

"Of course not."

She let out a huge breath. "Oh, thank you. Thank you, Twi-- I’m sorry, I really just wanted to hang out, I swear." She looked up at me. “I just wanted to be with you right now.”

I stood up. "Seriously, Vinyl, it’s nothing."

Vinyl stood, too. I could see, now, that the hitch in her step was an uncomfortable limp. Probably from couch-surfing. That the vibrant red in her eyes was not the spark of joy and friendship… it was from crying.

We left the club in silence and began to walk back towards my castle.

"Do… do you wanna talk about it?" I asked.

Vinyl nickered lightly. "Oh, Celestia, what is there to say?"

"Well… what happened?" I asked. "I-if you don't mind me asking."

Vinyl blinked slowly. "No, no. I don't mind." She sighed. "I dunno. She went home and her-- her parents were divorced. Apparently it made her rethink some stuff. She decided she didn't want a relationship she had to work at."

I cocked my head. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I dunno. I think that she wants something… easier. Or somepony easier, I guess." Vinyl kicked at a stone in the street and watched it slitter away. "We just didn't make sense."

I nodded slowly. But I didn't understand.

"I-- I was questioning it too, y'know," Vinyl said, her voice barely about a whisper. "I think I felt some stuff I hadn't felt before… not just with her. Maybe ever."

My heart sped up, crawling its way up into my throat. I tried to steady my breathing, but I don't think I was successful. "Oh?"

Vinyl sighed. "Yeah. I think it helped me realize I was in the wrong place, y'know?"

"Right."

"I mean, you met Tavi. What did you think of her?" Vinyl asked.

"Uh…" What did I think of Octavia? Oh, jeez… what did I think of Octavia?

"You can be honest."

I chuckled under my breath. "I dunno. She seemed okay to me."

“You can be really honest.”

I took a deep breath. “I-- I didn’t really get you guys.”

"Yeah." Vinyl nodded. "We never had much in common. We really only got together because we were both figuring ourselves out and happened to be doing it near each other, y’know? I guess it wasn't enough."

We turned a corner together. The castle was at the end of the road.

"Are you doing okay?" I asked softly.

"Like I said, I'm just not that sad," Vinyl said. "I miss her, I guess. But not romantically. Like… she was just a pony who was in my life for four years and now… she's not. It feels weird to not be planning my day around her, or talking to her about little stuff, or just being near her… y’know?"

The night air was fresh and crisp. The breeze picked up for a moment, and I shivered.

“Yeah. I do,” I said.

I kind of knew what that was like. Not romantically. But to lose somepony like that. Have them in your life for so long and then just… not. It felt weird. Even if you didn't particularly like the pony in question. But especially if you did.

Vinyl fell a few steps behind me as we approached the castle. I slipped my key into the lock and twisted.

The castle was dark. By now, although we'd barely been at the club twenty minutes, Spike would be in bed.

"Would you like some tea?" I offered, flicking on the lights.

Vinyl was looking up at the ceiling, her jaw agape. "Uh… do you have honey?"

"Sure do," I said.

We ambled into the kitchen together, hoofsteps echoing arrhythmically on the crystal floors.

The kitchen was small. Not at all what came to mind with the phrase “castle kitchen”. Pinkie probably would have been disappointed, but I didn’t use the kitchen for much besides tea and toast, so it suited me fine.

I crouched down to pull out the kettle from a low cabinet. "Where are you living now?" I asked. "I just-- you're not still living with Octavia, are you?"

Vinyl jumped up onto the counter and sat down. "No. I'm crashing with some friends. Lyra and BonBon, I've known them forever." She was looking down at her back hooves, swinging tem idly over the tile floor.

I walked the kettle over to the sink, turned the water on, and forced the kettle under the stream. "I guess… they know Octavia, too, then?" I asked.

Vinyl nodded. "Yep."

I opened my mouth to respond, but thought better of it.

I dropped the filled kettle down on the front burner a little harder than I meant to. The metal casing of the burner rattled.

"Magic’s still on the mend, huh?"

I laughed sarcastically. "How did you know?" I had to stretch all the way across the stovetop to reach the controls.

"Whoa!" Vinyl hopped down from the counter. "Better let me do that, princess."

She came to my side, and sort of hip-checked me out of the way. Not hard enough for me to actually go anywhere, of course; more like a subtle instruction. I withdrew my hoof, but didn’t move away. Just held onto my mane to keep it out of the way of the flame.

Vinyl’s flank was touching mine. Almost touching. It was hairs-against-hairs, a prickly feeling that made me shiver.

She turned on the flame with her magic. The kettle started to rumble.

Vinyl stepped to the side--separating us, but only barely--and looked at me expectantly.

"Why do you keep calling me princess?" I asked.

"Oh." Vinyl's eyes flicked upwards. "I dunno. I thought it was, like, a cool nickname. Do you not like it?"

We were close. Not touching, but close. We hadn't been this close since game night, I thought. Since she was leaning in to kiss me, her breath on my neck, her eyes fixed on mine…

"I just feel like… I mean, I don't really feel like a princess. Not all the time," I said.

"Don't you want to?" Vinyl asked.

"Not always," I said. I rubbed my foreleg absent-mindedly. "Sometimes. But most of the time I just wanna be normal. Especially when I'm with… friends."

Vinyl smiled a little bit. Another sad smile. "I hear ya, Twi."

I smiled back in affirmation.

The kettle kept rumbling.

I felt like I could still hear the music from the club. Like it was rumbling in my ears, along with the kettle. Like the best was synched to the best of my heart, hammering against my ribs, desperate to escape.

"You said…" I licked my lips. "You said that, uh. Some things had made you rethink… stuff."

Vinyl's cheeks bloomed. "Uh, yeah. Just general things, y'know? Like… life. In general."

I cocked my head. "Oh?"

"Yeah, y'know." Vinyl shrugged. "Sometimes stuff just happens and… stuff happened. I dunno."

"Hm."

The rumble was quieting, replaced by a burgeoning whistle.

I snapped out of my closeness to Vinyl, bustling over to the nearby cabinet filled with mugs. Then, staring at the open cabinet, I realized that maybe I shouldn't try to retrieve breakable objects from a position above my head without magic.

"Uh, Vinyl, could you…?" I pointed up at the cabinet.

"Oh, sure!" She rushed to my side once again, all too eager to help out.

She levitated two mugs downs and placed them on the counter.

"Thanks," I said.

"Sure." Vinyl shuffled her hooves a bit. "Let me guess: tea bags are also somewhere high up?"

“That one,” I said, pointing to my left.

Vinyl squeezed around behind me and opened the cabinet. There was something easy about the way we moved together in here, I thought. Such a small space, and yet we wouldn’t have needed more.

She popped opened a box and dropped one tea bag into each mug.

Then, without asking, she passed me again, holding both mugs in her magic. She turned off the stovetop. The whistling of the kettle died out quickly.

I watched quietly as Vinyl gently poured the hot water into each mug. She was so focused.

“Alright,” Vinyl said, placing the kettle back on the stovetop. “Three minutes to tea. Impressed?”

I chuckled. “It’s only tea, Vinyl.”

“Hey, hey-- Princess Celestia pays good money for somepony to fix her tea.” Vinyl smirked. “If it’s good enough for her, it’s good enough for me.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” I said, suppressing a giggle.

“But it sounds good,” Vinyl said. “And that’s the name of the game in music.”

“I can’t argue with that,” I said.

The tea sat quietly on the counter.

Vinyl and I stood quietly across from one another.

I mean, you tell me what I was supposed to say in this scenario. What do you say to a pony you’re clearly interested in when she breaks up with her marefriend? I’m sorry? Yay, me?

Three minutes was a really long time when you had to keep yourself from talking.

I wanted Vinyl to talk. I wanted her to just tell me what was going on in her head. Just be clear with me about what she wanted, how she thought of me, who I was to her. I just wanted her to talk and talk and talk and I would gladly stand and listen through the night and into the morning.

"Is it cold in here?" I asked suddenly.

Vinyl seemed surprised. "Um… no, not really. Are you cold?"

I shrugged. "N-no, but it… it gets cold in here sometimes."

"Huh."

What a stupid thing to ask.

At least say something that makes sense if you're gonna fill the silence, Twilight.

"You can sleep here tonight," I said. "If you want. If it's not too cold."

Vinyl shook her head. "It's not cold, I told you."

"So you'll stay here?"

"Nah." Vinyl looked at me. "Lyra and BonBon live pretty close. I don't need to put you out like that."

"It wouldn't put me out," I insisted.

"It's really okay, Twi," Vinyl said. "I have a place to stay."

"Okay."

I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Is that awful of me?

I wanted her here. I wanted her close. I wanted to wake up to her sleeping on my couch, make her some breakfast, talk more by the light of day. I wanted her to be near me when I woke up.

"That's about it for the tea," Vinyl said.

"Already?" I asked.

Vinyl nodded, winked at me. "Don't worry. I've got an amazing internal timer. I've done this with Octavia a thousand times."

"Right," I said.

Vinyl made a vague motion that was adjacent to a shrug, yet somehow expressed something entirely different. She moved to the mugs on the counter.

I clambered up onto a stool at the corner of my marble kitchen island.

I watched Vinyl in a sort of haze as she pulled out the tea bags, squeezed them dry, and tossed them into the trash. She spotted the honey out on the counter, found the spoons on her own, and began to add a spoonful to each mug.

I could see her there for a long time. I could see her doing this every evening while we sat at the island and talked.

"Here ya go," she said, setting my mug down in front of me.

Vinyl took her seat at the corner beside me. Her tail did this funny little flick as it settled along the wooden rungs of the stool.

"Thank you," I said.

Vinyl smiled. Then she puckered her lips and blew gently over the top of the mug, watching the steam scatter and reform.

I looked down into my mug. Even in the dark liquid, I could see my reflection; tired. A little sad. A little happy.

“Twilight?”

“Hm?” I lifted my head quite suddenly to look at Vinyl. I’m sure I looked like a confused animal.

“Do you… do you remember what you said when I came to visit you?” Vinyl asked. “When you were hurt.”

I squinted at her. “Uh…” I tried to recall, but the memories were all hazy, smothered in vaseline and stuffed with cotton. “Like, specifically?”

“Yeah,” Vinyl said.

Wow. Turns out remembering was like passing a kidney stone, too. “I… not anything specific. Why, what do you remember?”

Vinyl took a deep breath. “You said… you said that…” She let the breath out, took in another. “What happened in the bookstore. You said I couldn’t take it back, because it was ours. And you meant it.”

I scoffed. “What?! No… no, that doesn’t sound like me.” I was shaking my head a lot, probably more than anypony would ever need to. “No, I wouldn't say that.”

“You did, though,” Vinyl said. “You said you meant it.”

“No, no I wouldn't say--”

Did I, though?

“If it was just-- just talk, that’s fine,” Vinyl said. Her voice was sort of straining. “It’s cool. Really. We’ll just move on."

She looked at me. Bloodshot tendrils reached into her shimmering eyes.

"But… look, I'm feeling really jerked around lately. I need to know where we stand."

Me, too.

"So… did you mean it?"

My heart skipped a beat.

Did I?

I didn't remember saying it.

"I, uh…" I couldn't stop blinking. Why was I blinking so much? "I… I don't really remember--"

"Do you mean it… now?" Vinyl asked. "If you said it now, would you mean it?"

"I--" My breathing was so heavy and fast. I could hardly control it. "Vinyl, I--"

"Come on, Twilight, you owe me this," Vinyl said.

"Yes!" I blurted.

Everything stopped.

Vinyl's eyes stared straight into mine, her mouth open the tiniest bit. Her chest was heaving, too. Was she as nervous as I was? Had she always been?

"No! I mean… yes. But that doesn't matter, because--"

"Y-yes?" Vinyl repeated.

I sighed. I felt like I was going to cry for some reason. "Yes, okay? Yes. I meant it."

"And you still do?" Vinyl asked. Her voice was barely more than a whisper.

"I…"

I looked at her.

And I saw a mare who was like me in all the important ways.

She liked music the way I liked books; anything she could get her hooves on was fair game. She just wanted to fill herself with as many melodies as she could, and share them freely with everypony she knew.

She had been lonely, too. She had felt out of place for so long. She knew what it was like to be an outsider.

She cared. She cared about things, whether they were worth caring about or not.

And… she was beautiful.

I lifted my hoof. Tentatively.

Vinyl's eyes did not leave mine.

I touched her jaw. She shivered a little, but still looked right at me.

"Yes," I said.

Vinyl sorted of chuckled. Just one short sound of relief and happiness. The fur on her neck rippled with the sound.

She didn't say anything. I'm not sure she could have.

Her hoof reached behind my head, and she pulled me close.

It was our second kiss.

It was twice as magical as the first.

Comments

[Thought Prism]

👏👏👏

[Lore Horse]

"Spike, could you…?" I held the envelope out to him.

As I read this I couldn't help but picture Twilight sitting back holding out the envelope and pushing on the corners so it opens slightly with a nervous grin and her ears tilted backwards and Spike just staring at her. If I had the artistic talent I would attempt to recreate it.

[Lore Horse]

Oh, also good chapter.

[mushroompone]

10200590
that's the image I was picturing when I wrote it!!

[Venerable Ro]

Yey, these silly ponies are figuring things out,

[Midknight Defender]

"I miss her, I guess. But not romantically.

Like a friend that isn't around anymore. Twilight: friendship problem. Do yo thing! *manually activates cutie map alert function*

[Deynarth]

10200776
That would be awkward as all hell for her tho
I mean , could you imagine fixing your girlfriend's friendship with her Ex , when you are the one said Ex was dumped for ?

[mushroompone]

10201343
Wow hahaha yeah that WOULD be awkward....

So awkward that it would be downright evil of me, the author, to put Twilight in a position like that........... Say around chapter "U"...... Just hypothetically of course........

[Midknight Defender]

10201374
10201343

I mean, technically Octavia initiated the dumping, even if the discussion of it made it more of a mutual, bidirectional dump, so... not quite that awkward?

[Lore Horse]

Mentally, that is. Physically… my head was still on the mend, post-concussion. Doing magic kind of felt like passing a kidney stone.

I know what a kidney stone feels like and I got a migraine just thinking about that particular feeling going through your head........ This is a good story but I hate this line right here.