Hearts Beat

by mushroompone

Zany

It has now been about three years.

Vinyl and I argued about when, exactly, our relationship had started. There were many possible answers; the day we had met, our first kiss, the night we had, um… reconciled. The morning following our reconciliation.

We never really managed to settle. Settling would reduce our story to something much briefer than it had truly been. And stories matter.

To say that things had changed would be a gross understatement. In fact, so very much had changed that I doubt I’d be able to summarize it accurately. My life was always changing, after all. I met new ponies, visited new places, and took on new challenges every day. It was my job, after all!

It has been about a month since my friends and I faced the Pony of Shadows. There’s been a lull, lately, in cutie map assignments, and I’ve been using the time to work on a personal project of mine.

Vinyl’s presence in my life has become comforting and familiar. She’s moved in, but her music is taking off, and she often leaves to go on brief tours through Canterlot and Manehattan. She’s often apologetic about it, but I’m trying to train her out of it! I leave a lot, too, after all.

Anyway.

Our relationship was steady and true. Vinyl meshed well with all of my friends, often distributing spare tickets to Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, aiding Rarity with networking and “connecting to the youth” (even though they’re the same age), even working on a small cactus garden with Fluttershy and Applejack.

To put it simply, nothing truly “major” happened after moving in together. Nothing worth telling, that is.

Until one morning in early March, when Vinyl was feeling chatty.

“I’m bored,” Vinyl said, leaning back in her chair.

“Bored?” I repeated. “You’re never bored.”

“Well, I am now!” Vinyl insisted. “It’s a new feeling. I dunno what to do with myself.”

I chuckled and shook my head a little, returning to the array of books I had open on my desk.

Vinyl perked up a little, then trotted over to my side. “What are you doing? Anything interesting?”

I did not look up from my book. “I’m researching educational methods and standards out of Canterlot.”

Vinyl sighed, and faked wobbly knees. “That’s even more boring than nothing…”

I turned to glare at her.

“For me. Not for you, of course,” Vinyl corrected quickly. She flashed me a smile. “Come on. There’s gotta be something to do. Aren’t you guys always going on adventures and stuff? How do I go on an adventure, huh?”

“Maybe start by going outside?” I suggested.

Vinyl paused, then looked up at the window over my desk. It was a gorgeous day out, especially being so close to winter wrap-up. Celestia herself must have been as eager for spring as we all were, for the heat of the sun was rapidly melting the small snow drifts. Birds were singing. The air was brisk, but lovely. A great day to spend outdoors.

“Nah,” Vinyl said. “Not today.”

I laughed. “Sometimes you’re worse than the Cutie Mark Crusaders, you know that?”

Vinyl flipped her mane dramatically. “I’m youthful, Twilight. You’re just jealous ‘cause you’re, like, a billion years old in there.”

“I’m an old soul!” I argued, still laughing.

“Yeah, yeah,” Vinyl agreed. She wrapped a leg around my shoulders and kissed me gently on the head. “I’ll be honest, I thought life with you was gonna be a lot crazier than it is.”

I scoffed.”What’s that supposed to mean?”

Vinyl shrugged. “Well, y’know. You and your friends are always going on crazy adventures and fighting monsters and stuff. But I feel like I’m just doing the same old stuff. How come I don’t get to go on all your zany friendship missions, huh?”

I couldn’t have scripted it better myself. Nopony could have.

I turned to Vinyl, preparing my very best lecture voice for my explanation of the cutie map, when a little shimmer and a pulse of light cut me off.

Down on my flank, my cutie mark was pulsing and shining, calling me downstairs to look at the map.

Vinyl threw her head back. “Oh, you are kidding me!” She complained.

“I’m sorry, Vi, looks like I’d better--” But the words were caught in my throat.

Vinyl’s flank was shimmering and pulsing, too… just like mine.

I pointed, wordlessly, my mouth hanging open.

Vinyl’s eyes grew wide, and her head snapped back to look at her flank.

She looked slowly back up to me, grinning like a maniac. “No way,” she said.

“How did--”

“No way!” Vinyl was jumping up and down now, her smile wider than I’d ever seen. “No way, no way!”

I stood up, still unable to form a whole thought.

Vinyl was bouncing around the room like a filly. She had quite the leap, actually. “I gotta wish for stuff out loud more often!”

“I--” I kept staring at her flank, trying to figure out if it was really real.

Sure, the map had called Starlight. And Spike. But they were… well, they were connected. Somehow how. They were all tangled up in the roots of the Tree of Harmony. They had things to learn about friendship but, more importantly, things to teach about friendship.

Vinyl, as much as I cared for her, didn’t seem to belong to that group.

“Uh…” I kept trying to find a nice way to ask if I could check her flank and make sure she wasn’t faking it.

“Let’s go downstairs!” Vinyl exclaimed. “I can’t wait to see where we’re going!”

I was silent for a moment. My brows furrowed.

Vinyl’s frantic leaping came to a slow stop, and she looked at me with her head cocked to one side. “What’s wrong, Twi? You okay?”

I blinked, and quickly painted on a happy face. “Yeah, of course! L-let’s-- let’s go downstairs!”

Vinyl didn’t wait to see if I would follow, just darted out of the room and down the stairs as fast as she could.

After a moment’s hesitation, I followed her.

It was silly. To divide the ponies of my life into compartments like this, especially such hazily-defined compartments. That was an old Twilight thing. You’re new Twilight! One-big-happy-family Twilight!

By the time I reached the bottom of the stairs, there was a knock at the door.

Vinyl zipped over and opened it up, revealing a smiling Pinkie Pie.

“Heya, Vinyl! I’m here for-- ohmigosh!” Pinkie drew in a gigantic gasp, pointing at Vinyl’s flank. “You’re coming with us?!”

Vinyl said nothing, just beamed.

“That’s so amazing!” Pinkie squealed. She tackled Vinyl to the floor in a brief, but violent, hug. “I knew you’d get to come with us someday!”

I looked over at the map. Me, Vinyl, and Pinkie Pie, all swirling around the tiny hamlet of Sire’s Hollow.

What could they possibly need from the three of us?

---

Vinyl and Pinkie all but exploded off the train when it pulled into the station, babbling excitedly about past friendship problems we had faced, as well as wondering quite loudly about what the issue might be here.

I followed behind them as quietly as I could manage.

Evena short train ride was enough to make me feel deeply guilty about my reaction to Vinyl’s call.

I supposed it was the imposter syndrome bubbling up in me. Though that was probably just a convenient excuse.

“So…” Vinyl paused a moment, looking around at this new town. “What exactly do you guys do? Like, to find the problem?”

I came to sand between Vinyl and Pinkie. “It usually just kind of finds its way to us. It’s not an exact science… unfortunately.”

Vinyl chuckled and gave me a bit of a noogie.

“Oh, Twilight. You feel it with your heart!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Hearts can be an exact science if you try, you know. You just need practice!”

“What does it feel like when your heart talks, exactly?” Vinyl asked.

Pinkie’s face scrunched up. “It doesn’t talk, really. You have to play hot or cold!”

Vinyl laughed. “Are you serious!”

“Super serious!” Pinkie agreed. She winked at Vinyl, then began bouncing into town.

Vinyl and I followed her at a distance, allowing her occasional shouts of “cold!” or “freezing!” to guide us.

“Is it weird that I’m really excited?” Vinyl asked softly. “Like really excited.”

I giggled. “It’s not weird. Just don’t get your hopes up, okay? These things are usually pretty mundane.”

Vinyl scoffed. “Maybe to you. But I don’t get to do this kinda thing. Like, help ponies and teach them and stuff. I can’t believe somepony out there needs me. Me specifically. It makes me feel… good. Really good, actually.”

Was that it?

I didn’t want anypony to need Vinyl but me?

No, no. That was truly crazy. After all, nothing made me happier than watching Vinyl integrate herself with my friends and family. I was the Princess of Friendship! And that wasn’t just a title, it was something in my bones.

What was it that was making me so nervous?

“I know exactly what you mean,” I said. “I think I’m still surprised that ponies need me. I don’t usually feel very useful.”

Vinyl’s brows furrowed. “Are you kidding? You’re amazing. It’s just that you’re a little focused on other ponies to handle your own crap… that’s probably why you feel so useless. You’re definitely useless to yourself.”

“Gee, thanks,” I muttered.

“That’s why you have me, though!” Vinyl said, beaming. “I’m the perfect pony to yell at you when you’re being crazy. Plus, I have no qualms physically wrestling you away from problems, should it get to that point. It’s the perfect combination.”

I smiled a little. “Do you think about this stuff a lot? Like.. our relationship?”

Vinyl chuckled. “Twilight, I may not look it, but I’m an artist. Thinking about feelings and junk is kinda required.”

I laughed. “Wow. Feelings, math, science, electronics… what don’t you do?”

“Whistle,” Vinyl said. To prove it, she puckered her lips and blew, making nothing but a hollow and spitty sound. “See? Nothin’.”

“Well, if you ever need a whistler for one of your songs, you got me,” I said, nudging her gently.

Vinyl smiled at me. “Aw, thanks, Twi. I knew I started dating you for a reason.”

I giggled. Vinyl leaned into me a bit, pushing me off course. I leaned back into her.

I should have felt better, but I somehow felt… worse?

“Hot!” Pinkie Pie shouted. “Hot! Hot! Hot!”

Vinyl and I exchanged a look, then broke into a gallop towards Pinkie Pie’s voice. I hoped against hope she wasn’t shouting directly in the face of a friendship problem.

We rounded a corner into a back alley and found Pinkie Pie standing there, facing away from us.

“Right here!” Vinyl exclaimed. “Where’s the problem? Is it a fight?”

Pinkie turned around to shush us, then pointed out the other end of the alley.

Vinyl looked at me, shrugged, and snuck towards Pinkie Pie. I followed just behind her, using my height to get a glimpse over her.

On the other side of the alley was a small river. More of a creek, to be honest. It was sort of picturesque; crystal clear water, a bed of smooth stones, and a large boulder sitting on its bank. It was the kind of thing you’d see in a painting hanging in the dentist’s office.

Atop the boulder sat a small filly. A blank flank, I noticed. Her cheek was compressed onto one hoof, and she stared down at the running water of the creek with a deeply plaintive look in her shimmering green eyes.

As we watched, she used her magic to lift a small pebble. She studied it for a moment, then hurled it into the river. This seemed to bring her no joy whatsoever.

She slumped slowly to the ground and leaned her head back against the rock, letting out a long sigh as she did so. She kicked the very tips of her brown hooves in the water.

“What’s wrong with her?” Vinyl asked.

“She’s just so… sad,” Pinkie commented. “What could make a little filly so sad?”

“Maybe she wants to get her cutie mark?” Vinyl suggested.

I shook my head. “I doubt it. The map would’ve called the cutie mark crusaders for help with that.”

Pinkie scoffed. “We can help with cutie marks!”

“Yeah, Twilight!” Vinyl agreed. “We can totally help!”

“But we all have different talents!” I argued. “Why would the map call the three of us to help with a cutie mark? What talent could she possibly have?”

Pinkie chewed her lip. “Magical… musical… baking?” she suggested haltingly.

Vinyl grimaced at her.

“I don’t think that’s it,” I said.

“Huh.” Pinkie nodded slowly. “I’ll keep brainstorming.”

“Princess?” a tiny voice asked.

The three of us leapt backwards as one group, clinging to one another in shock and surprise.

The filly was standing right in front of us, brushing unruly green bangs out of her eyes with one hoof. “What are you doing here?”

“Uh…”

This was always my least favorite part. What was I supposed to say without sounding like a total dweeb? How was I supposed to announce to this little filly that I was here to help her with whatever was bothering her, and she’d better open up to me about it?

“Are you here to help with my friendship problem?” the filly asked.

“Wow,” Vinyl commented. “You’re smart, that’s exactly why we’re here.”

Author's Note:

Well, I meant to get through a lot more of this story today, but that's alright! We hit 2k, and it was gonna be 2-part anywho.

Comments

[Bagginses]

Now that you've run out of letters whats the next chapter gonna be called

[Gojira_Tanaka]

Maybe number rhymes?

[CrossoverFanficReader]

10217074
Damn, you know you're good when a multi billion dollar company takes enough time to tell you to 'get offa our property before we sue you for so much your great great grandkids will be working to pay it off.' in a politically correct and non aggressive way.

[Midknight Defender]

10219296
Aardvark something something something.

[Shinkicker]

Now, to go backwards through the alphabet for chapter names!

Smart little filly, but it should have gotten around that Twi and the gang show up to save the day like some sort of Therapist/Avengers team.