Grey Eyes

by Smakleapp

Sleep

So your telling me-

Yes. She knew it all along.

Damn. Never knew she fucking had it in her.

Vinyl, I don’t like that talk.

Oh come off it. Ya just went and talked about some crazy sex filled story.

Some? Were you not listening?

Nah, I was. But I was also listening to these sweet potato fries telling me how delicious they are.

You're impossible sometimes.

Heh...

...

Yo, wanna hear a story I have myself?

Sure. As long as it’s not too vulgar.

Careful, you’re being hypocritical.

I promise you I’m not.

Betty getting mad at her boyfriend for not pleasing her aint vulgar?

Hmmf. It was implied.

Implied my flank.

Vinyl!

Octy, want to hear the fucking story or not?

...sure.

Ok well, I have a friend in the business, and he
basically promoted concerts on a small level. Gets paid or whatever. So he’s telling me how one night he’s pitching my concert with some catchy slogan I forgot, and everyone’s eating it up. Like, mauling him for those tickets. Said it was the craziest shit he ever saw, excuse the language. That show, I remember, was absolutely insane. It was an energy unlike any other show. And the first show he did. The very first.

So...

So, Rude Octy, is that I hired the guy. He’s my advertisement guy now. And he’s done absolute wonders.

Vinyl, I heard about the new hire. What’s the story.?

Ms. Rude, take a fucking seat. Hold on a minute.

Okay, okay.

Ok, sooooooo, he has been having a few troubles lately with his personal life. And it’s crazy because he’s the type of stallion who seems to have a great life. Well, his sister suffered a panic attack a couple days ago, not the first time it happened either.

Oh Celestia, that’s terrible. Was he ok?

Aight, well yeah, he was a bit shaken up.

I could imagine.

Well, he came to me yesterday. Said he had a pitch. His sister, um, well, had a saying. He told me she said ‘The ones that live the longest die the quickest.’ Well he knew exactly what that meant. She would explain it to him and whatnot. Apparently it means that if you spend so much time on doing boring shit, your life will fizz out so quickly and nopony will ever, ever care.

Vinyl, how is this a story?

Because Neighstein, he goes up and says he knows the pitch. A twist. The Young Truly Live.

...

Ehh?

...

...Octy?

...I dun get it.

Oh cmon. Why not?

Wouldn't that turn down the elderly?

Yeah, Grandpa listens to Wub Wub 5000.

You never know.

Oh I do. And I know it’s genius. Be young again. They’ll eat that shit up.

Isn't it about, I don’t know, liking your music?

Well, yeah but-

I don’t really get the story here Vinyl.

No, it’s about how my guy came up with this genius phrase that you don’t understand.

I understand it. That’s why I don’t think it’s great for a concert.

Why? Wouldn’t you want to be young again?

No.

Oh cmon, you do.

No, I really don’t.

Oh, really? Why?

Because when you're a tiny filly, everything is so constricted. Everything is so linear in the way you do things and see things.

I don’t mean seven years old, Octy.

I don’t either. I’m just saying that telling ponies to be young again can lead them down a spiral of childish behaviors.

What the fuck is this autocratic bullshit Octy?

What?

Young, every fucking pony wants to be young!

You're making a scene.

I’m not making a bloody scene. How the hell are you convincing me ponies are absolutely fucking dandy with getting older?

They’re not, and that’s the problem.

It’s a story! Quit with the philosophical bullshit Octy.

Fine! Fine!

...

...

...

...

No, Octy-

No, you're right. It’s a catchy saying.

No Octy, listen-

Vinyl, I realized what you need to do in your part of the business to succeed. I’m sorry I intruded.

Wait, you don’t-

More wine?

...

Hmm?

Yeah, ok.

Red this time?

Honestly, how about a Jack Haynials?

Yeah, no.

Heh, red it is.

---

At this point the city was resting. There was very little sound coming out of the gray outside. Pillaging finally died down after ponies discovered the risks were too high. It was peaceful, at this point. Made some think nothing was wrong. If they didn’t know better, they would be running outside, smiling in the warm sun.

The sun was a luxury.

The gray skies would block both it and the moon. It was never day. It was never night. It was only gray.

A figure began to walk along the road. She wasn’t stiff, if anything moving as lucid as possible. She was a gray mare, which perfectly matched the scene around her. She carried a pack on her back, and a bat she chomped down on in her mouth. Her head moved from building to building, ears straight as an arrow. She was keen on any sound, any at all. Sweat dripped off of her fluffy muzzle and onto the ground. After minutes down the road, the earth mare entered inside a store. A music store.

It was an overall small store, one room. It had almost nothing here except pianos too durable to break. There was a poster of the gray mare herself winking. Believe and Achieve, that’s what she thought it said. She hesitated not for this room though. She quickly made her way to the back room.

A smallish storage closet, meant to block out the noise from the outside. It would be perfect. Gingerly placing the bat down, the mare took off her sack and pulled out a curled up air mattress. It took her 5 minutes to blow it up, each breath done to be quiet in case there were any prowlers outside.

She took out a can of beans, and dented it with the bat. She waited seconds after the small ding before she continued on. She grabbed a spoon, and smiled at her manners that still persevered after all that happened. She began to eagerly eat the cold beans, chomping and munching. She pulled a book out of her pack.

Poems of Intellectual Minds

She smiled as she closed her eyes and opened to a random page. When she opened them, she saw a short poem she hadn’t read yet.

Restless- By Elly Dan

With a snort through her nose, the mare began reading.

I need sleep
Time to put this head down
But no matter what I try
I know the world spins around

And no matter what anyone says
I can’t get too low
Because what everyone says
Is I need to let it go

Short. That was her first thought. Short. Too short. She read it again.

I need sleep
Time to put this head down
But no matter what I try
I know the world spins around

And no matter what anyone says
I can’t get too low
Because what everyone says
Is I need to let it go

Again.

I need sleep
Time to put this head down
But no matter what I try
I know the world spins around-

Again.

Ineedsleep
Timetooutthisheaddown
ButnomatterwhatItry
Iknowtheworldspinsaround

Again.

I need sleep

I need sleep

I need sleep

I need sleep to sleep to sleep I need to sleep let me sleep why can’t I sleep please sleep I need to sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep let me sleep I don’t want to dream sleeeeepepepeepepdjfjdjd-

The lone lightbulb that was on before shone a single light on a sleeping mare, as she unconsciously cried among the dead. She slept, and was granted with a present. A dreamless sleep.

---

Transcript of Bucky's Palace Final Episode Interruption

[a scene of Bucky from Bucky's Palace]

Why hi y’all! This is another episode of Bucky's Palace! I’m Bucky! I wish I could show you my friends, but that brings bad news kiddos. This is unfortunately the final episode ever of Bucky's Palace. I know we had so much fun with our fluffy friends, but hey, I got one more lesson for you kiddos! Now, we are in Fillydelphia right now kids, because you might have heard about the big bad accident in Canterlot! Well there is nothing to be afraid of! Buckys here! So here’s the lesson! You-

[interrupted by the mere sound of the live show out on by Little Kettles filmed a week before. Image still is Bucky, audio playing over his mouth]

Daisy, Daisy! Give me your answer-

It doesn’t matter if your scared, you-

All for the love of you-

Stay calm-

I’ll never smile again-

And if it does spread-

Until I smile at you-

Be ready-

Thank you! Thank you! Have a good night!

Ok Bucky signing off. Good luck kiddos! Let’s sing the Bucky song while we leave! Ready? Bucky is your-

…

[one final unknown interruption]

Good night.

Comments

[Valuable Ashes]

This is a weird chapter... a good kinda weird

[Twinsez]

So it’s pretty obvious Octavia is one of our main characters, and we already get a pretty good idea of what she will be like in this story.

The issue of youth is already rampant in this story. The kid was the only survivor of the locust attack in the last chapter. Vinyls speech about youth. And the audio transcript of a kids show at the end of this particular chapter. And the poem here is a big one.

Octavia believes that one should accept growing older as it expands our perspective of the world. However, this world is challenging that. Canterlot is gray, so there’s no bigger worldview here. We see Octavia has clearly already learned to survive here, evidenced of her bat and food. Her worldview here is to survive, and in that it becomes linear and, therefore, youthful.

The poem is important. I believe it’s meaning is that sleep is a necessary in order to relax from the troubles of the world, and approach it again the next day. However, when Octavia reads it, she just sees as she needs sleep, and not the second part. That’s reminiscent of a child who needs to sleep, but it doesn’t hold much meaning. Octavia wants to sleep most likely because she wants to get away from the hell that is Canterlot, but she won’t let it go. The world keeps spinning, and from her ramblings in her mind, she can get too low. Poems Of Intellectual Minds.
Pretty ironic, huh?

I’m excited to see what happens with Octavia, and how other survirors react. Is there anypony who’s trying to find some greater meaning behind this whole thing? Probably Twilight. And whether Vinyl is alive is or not will also probably influence the path Octavia is going to take, or maybe already took.

And I’m patiently waiting for Luna to show up based on those tags. So... make it happen author.