Chapter 44: A Little Tenderness
Fluffer Duster’s jaw nearly hit her plate. “Really? That long ago?”
“Really. All the way back from when she was a kid in Cloudsdale,” Vinyl explained with a smile. “Summer’s first entry is about somepony named Doctor Limbis recommending that she start writing a diary to help her remember things.”
“That doesn’t sound good. Did she say why?”
“No. Or at least I don’t think so. When I say a kid, we’re talking about really young here. Like, no cutie mark young. Sometimes there’s just a crayon drawing.”
“I might be able to shed some light on that,” Dapper interjected with a hoof to his mouth as he finished the bite of his sandwich. “It didn’t occur often, but there were times when Lady Summers became overwhelmed. At its worst, she’d forget where she was or who she was with and panic.”
Fluffter Duster gasped. “Oh no! That sounds awful!”
“Oui. Suede had this thing… how can I say?” Éclair trailed. ~Fleur, can you tell her that your father had a habit of reminding me of things a lot? Even when I found it annoying, he just couldn’t break the habit.~
Fluffer Duster leaned closer. ~He must’ve really cared about you both.~
~Yes he… wait. You speak Prench, Miss Fluffer Duster?~
~Yes I do. It’s one of the reasons Mr. Fancy Pants hired me.~
Éclair clapped her hooves and giggled with glee. ~You sound so natural too! Are you Prench?~
Fluffer Duster flinched from the sudden shift in Éclair’s attention. ~N-no, ma’am. I’m from Cirriucuse. Even though it’s a wandering settlement, it never floats out that far from Equestria. My school taught it growing up and I just kept going.~
~Pardon me,~ Dapper interjected. ~Not everything will speaking on a Prance table.~
Éclair tilted her head. ~What?~
~I think he meant to say ‘not everypony can speak Prench at the table,’~ Fluffer Duster guessed. ~Oh, right! He must mean Vinyl. She can’t speak any Prench at all.~
Vinyl perked up at hearing her name. “Sorry, what about me and Prench?”
Dapper’s mustache rustled from a brief chortle. “Don’t worry about it, Miss Vinyl. We simply forgot our manners.”
Fancy Pants savored another sip from his wine glass as he watched the scene unfold before him. He couldn’t recall the last time his dinner table had been filled with such lovely ponies. Parties had filled the dining halls in a garish rainbow of coat colors and luxury garbs plenty of times, but not a single aristocratic event could hold a candle to a simple meal with the ponies he cherished.
Visions of such lively mealtimes often played in his daydreams. Laughs and love would abound. He’d ask his kids about their day and they’d chipperly report in a long, winding, and unintelligible story. At least until their rebellious teens, when the conversations would be laced with complaints and linguistic flourishes that’d be lost on him. In retaliation, he’d borrow some puns from Steeplechase and drown their angst in terrible jokes. It’d all work out after he mended the rift with ice cream. A perfectly imperfect mess.
However, this wasn’t a dream. Vinyl’s new mane style reminded him of that every time he looked in her direction. Éclair and Fleur were only here because he’d made a terrible mistake. Today was the first day Vinyl had been allowed out of bed and back to some semblance of normalcy. Despite the work they’d done to hide her stitches, Fancy couldn’t unsee the injury that kept her locked away.
When she’d first gotten hurt, Fancy had stayed by her side while the doctor stitched her back up. Vinyl had slept through most of it, but being there for her was the least he could do. From there, the others had stepped up to help. Fleur and Fluffer Duster had kept her head clean and bandaged while Éclair and Dapper prepared her meals. However, the most important job was to keep watch, as Vinyl had proven to be a terribly impatient patient.
More than once, somepony had found her digging through Summers’ boxes by hoof and had to corral her back into bed. The last thing the recovering mare needed was to do something that aggravated her injury, but the ever-industrious Vinyl wasn’t content with simply waiting around to heal up. They’d all reached an agreement to help her research within reason, as long as everypony else did the legwork. Even Fancy had managed to squeeze in an hour or so. However, halfway through his shift, she’d gotten too dizzy to read and had to stop and rest.
“Fancy? You alright?” Vinyl asked in concern, stirring him from his thoughts.
“Oh, of course,” he dismissed, quickly lifting his drink in his magic to make sure he wasn’t stress casting. “Why would I be anything but?”
“You’re just…” Vinyl trailed as she glanced at the wine bottle for a second before looking back at him, “really quiet.”
“Not to worry. I was just listening in.” Fancy smirked as he took the bottle he was working through in his hoof. It was much lighter than he’d realized after working through it alone. “Besides, it will take a little more than Palomino Pinot Noir to down this stallion.”
“We can stop talking about Summers if it’s making you uncomfortable,” Vinyl suggested with a forced smile.
“Nonsense. Mother would never make me uncomfortable.” And it was true. As long as they weren’t talking about when he showed up in her life, Fancy was fine. “Besides, you all are just so passionate about finding out more about her past. It truly warms my heart.”
Vinyl laughed to herself as she rubbed the back of her neck, trying to buy what he was selling. “Yeah. I almost feel like I know her. I wish I really did.”
“She would’ve enjoyed your company so much, Vinyl. I’m sure you two would’ve been fast friends.”
The briefest of smiles crossed the mare’s face before it fell back to her plate. “I guess. She was friends with everypony.”
“‘Everypony worth being friendly to’ rather. It was a good policy that I am trying to put more into practice these days.”
“Oh really, Pantsy?” Fleur purred, her tail swishing with fiendish delight. “And how many friends do you have with your little dip back into high society diplomacy?”
Fancy laughed to himself as he emptied the last of the bottle into his glass. “Very few, as it turns out. But I’m certain that comes as no surprise to you, Fleur.”
Fleur’s grin fell away immediately. “Wait, what?”
Fancy paused. That hadn’t played as well as he’d wanted.
“It’s true. Outside of the ones I’ve personally invited to take part in the summit, I can’t think of anypony, save Princess Celestia and Luna.” Seeing the equal shock on Fleur and Éclair’s faces, he took a bite of his salad to think of a way to salvage things. He didn’t want to worry everypony over nothing. “Don’t get it twisted. Some of the council members are among the finest ponies in their fields, but I wouldn’t consider any of them to be my friends. None of them are particularly worth the trouble. Simply business.”
“Well, what about the Crystal Ponies?” Fleur asked.
“I haven’t met any yet. I’m merely assisting Luna with the planning and executing of several functions over the course of the summit. Furthermore, I will be serving her in an advisory role for negotiations when the time comes. As for the Imperial Empress, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza? I suppose we’ll just have to see if we can be friends this time around.”
“There is no joy in your working?” Éclair pressed in concern.
Fancy tapped his hoof in thought as his eyes wandered over towards Vinyl who was watching him like a hawk. While he could easily lie and say it was nothing, assuming Fleur let it slide, they’d still worry, Vinyl especially. The sharp DJ was decidedly familiar with the hidden depths of purported nothings.
“I wouldn’t go so far as to say that. Neither Luna nor myself particularly enjoy our meetings with the other council members. The worst being when there is a disagreement. But I do think it’s good to be working for the betterment of our national relations again. All I meant to say was as far as my mother’s policy is concerned…”
“Trust me, I know a thing or two about those kinds of ‘friends’ you’ve been with. I can tell who’s real and who’s talkin’ jive. Been there, Sugar Bear.”
Fancy washed the sting down his throat with another sip of wine. “Let’s just say that I’ve discovered that the well’s running a little drier than I first thought.”
An uncomfortable stillness settled over the table after throwing a proverbial wet towel over the bustle. Sensing his mask was slipping, Fancy shot the rest of his drink down in one last gulp and stood up from the table. “If you will excuse me.”
“Where are you going, Sir?” Dapper inquired.
“I just think I need to step out for a moment. Please continue your pleasant conversation,” Fancy answered with a diplomatic smile.
He didn’t want them to worry over nothing, but knew he was asking for the impossible. He retreated from the dining hall with inconspicuous haste to the closest exit. The last thing he needed to be during a warm family dinner was a killjoy. Everypony deserved to be happy, even if he wasn’t. Vinyl had been through so much already because of him. At the very least, she deserved a nice meal.
Fancy threw open the double doors to the patio outside, meeting the warm pastels of the setting sun contrasted by the cold wind of the waning winter. It wasn’t unpleasant thanks to his sweater, but it wouldn’t be enough to keep Mount Canterhorn’s air from chilling him to the bone for long. When it got too uncomfortable, he’d make his way towards the kitchen and whip up a warm drink of something. Coffee sounded nice. He could add a little cognac to it to settle his nerves.
“Settling nerves,” Fancy mumbled to himself. “That’s a good thing to question.”
As he watched the sky gradually darken, the kingmaker wondered what he was feeling. A relentless guilt weighed on his shoulders, but that wasn’t all that was there. Jealousy? Envy? Irritation? He couldn’t pin it down exactly. It was petty all the same, just as it always was. Beyond the threshold, there was a living dream playing out before his eyes both familiar and foreign. The actors were all there playing a part, but their roles were all wrong. Fancy wasn’t a father. Éclair wasn’t his wife. His children were nowhere to be seen. They’d been rewritten as an estranged sister and her best friend. It was all being performed live in his house, but this wasn’t his home. Fancy simply owned the Suede Shoes Estate.
“Maybe I’ll ask Dapper about it once he follows me out.”
As if on cue, the sound of the door behind him turned his attention back to Equestria. What he didn’t expect was the pony giving chase, nearly tripping over her unsteady hooves in pursuit.
“Vinyl?” His heart dropped as she ran towards him, wearing nothing but the fur on her body. “What the bloody Hades are you doing out here? It’s freezing!”
Another cold gust blew her mane in her face to reinforce his point. She seized up with a bitter wince at the icy wind, but laughed it off. “Yeah. I guess I could ask you the same thing, huh?”
“I came out here for some fresh air.” He automatically began reaching for his coat, only to be reminded again that he wasn’t wearing it. He whispered a curse under his breath before giving the shivering mare his full attention. “You can’t be out here. You’re still recovering.”
Vinyl took a hissing breath through her teeth as another strong gust blew against them. The eye below her wound twitched from pain, but she powered through it. “I guess you’re right. We should really go back inside then, huh?”
”I’ll be along in a moment,” he quickly assured, trying to usher her back to the warmth of the mansion. “Head back in and finish your dinner.”
“Already did! I kinda, sorta, scarfed it all down to come get you.”
“And nopony thought to stop you in your condition?” Fancy asked, aghast.
“No, they did, but I said I’d just be a minute after I got you. So let’s go before they start worrying about us.”
Fancy sighed as his head sank in frustration. He usually expected this level of winding obstinance from Fleur. “Please, Vinyl. You’re barely standing as is. Just go back inside.”
Vinyl forced an uneven laugh through her shivers and smiled despite herself. “I totally will, but not without you. Now stop being stubborn and let’s go already.”
“I’m not being stubborn, Vinyl, you are!” Fancy barked back in anger, immediately regretting raising his voice as she shrank back from him. He took a deep breath to collect his thoughts as the stress built in his horn. “Please. You shouldn’t be out here.”
Vinyl shook the fear away and stepped forward. “And neither should you, but here we are.”
They were getting nowhere fast and Vinyl was plainly suffering. All because of him again. The shivering mare dipped her head down from the biting wind, showing the top of her shorn side where her stitches were. Such cold exposure couldn’t be good for them. Fancy couldn’t fathom why in Equestria Vinyl had followed him out here in her condition.
“Okay! You win! I’ll go inside!” Fancy shouted over the billowing wind. He turned towards the edge of the patio and trotted through the old, frozen snow towards the other side of the house.
Vinyl looked up and balked seeing him walking away from the dining hall’s doors. “Wait!” she called out, and chased after him with an uneven gait over the slick ground.
“What are you doing?” Fancy cried as he rushed over to her side in case she fell over.
“What are you doing? The door’s back over there!” she yelled back.
“I was going to the kitchen for a drink.”
“Guess I’m going with you then,” she said with a chuckle as she struggled to stay warm.
“For Celestia’s…” Fancy heaved a trailing sigh, having lost the will to argue with her. He took Vinyl by the hoof and did his best to put his body between hers and the freezing air. He could feel her shaking against him as she leaned into his barrel for what little warmth he could provide. For once, he was glad he had a little extra weight on him to soften her journey.
It didn’t take long to guide her to the kitchen’s double doors. He barely managed to dig his keys out from his sweater’s pocket to unlock the door with his hooves. Fancy didn’t even want to risk dropping them with his unstable magic.
Seeing him struggle with the door, Vinyl looked down at her shaking hooves. “S-sorry.”
“None of that now. Let’s just get inside.” As he turned the knob, another blast of wind blew the doors open for the pair. He quickly shuffled them both inside and slammed them back shut, locking the cold outside. He ripped his sweater off and clumsily wrapped it around Vinyl to try to get her warm again.
“I’m f-fine, Fancy,” she assured weakly. “We were only out there for like a min—”
“I don’t care how long it was, you’re still recovering! That was very irresponsible!” he rebuked firmly. His frustration burned out at seeing her crestfallen face. “Sorry. That came out wrong, but still. Why?”
“I… I just didn’t want you to feel lonely.”
Fancy’s mouth ran dry. He swallowed the lump in his throat plastered on a soft smile. “I wasn’t alone. How could I be with all of you here?”
“No,” she muttered while focusing on the floor. “I know what alone looks like.”
Fancy closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Even in her state, Vinyl could still see clearly. He couldn’t help but laugh to himself. “I can’t seem to get anything past you, can I?”
“Yeah, right. I’m the one everypony can read like a book.”
“Well, it looks like you’re starting to read us back. Or at least me.”
“Guess it takes one to know one, huh?” There was one of her smiles again. A small one that managed to shine in the dwindling sunlight. He turned away from the glow and headed over to their instant hot drink drawer to begin whipping something up for her.
“Do you feel like tea or cocoa?” Fancy asked.
Her brief happiness faded as she slumped into the sweater wrapped around her. “Cocoa, I guess.”
“Don’t worry about anything, Vinyl. I’m fine,” Fancy assured as he levitated a packet of premium cocoa for her while picking a decaf roasted blend for himself. “See? Magic.”
A flickering relief reflected in her deep eyes that shimmered with an underlying sadness. Vinyl was struggling to maintain eye contact as her gaze darted away, filled with a deep shame. “Sorry, Fancy.”
“It’s quite alright. You were just checking on me. I just wish you didn’t get hurt in the process.”
Vinyl ears flopped down against her head. “I’m fine though. I’m just a little frosted.”
“You’re going to have to do better than that to get one past me. How do you really feel?”
She slumped lower over the counter, digging into the sweater’s warmth. “It’s like each stitch is clawing into my skull, and everything feels a little sideways.”
Fancy turned away and hid his pained grimace under the guise of preparing their drinks. He grabbed two mugs from the stockpile of generic guest tableware, the ones they’d used the last time they’d met in the kitchen. Had he just swallowed his pride and followed her back in.
“I’ll grab some medicine for you once I’m done with this,” he promised.
After filling a coffee pot with water and setting it to boil, he wandered over to the wine cooler to find his cognac. Part of him wondered if Vinyl would mention anything since she’d brought up the wine at dinner. To his mild surprise, she still said nothing as he sat the bottle on the counter. However, the mare’s worried eyes became transfixed on the booze.
“Well? Go on,” Fancy suggested with a weary smirk.
“What?”
“Something’s clearly on your mind.”
“No, I’m good.” Vinyl hid behind the sweater’s warmth, but continued glancing at the bottle of cognac.
Fancy chuckled dryly to himself as he stared at the pot. “Alright, but I also don’t enjoy uncomfortable silences. It’s a good strategy for applying pressure during adversarial negotiations, but I don’t think either of us is interested in coercing the other.”
Vinyl nodded in agreement as she shuffled her hooves. After finding her strength, she looked back to Fancy. “Am I making you uncomfortable?”
“What?” Fancy recoiled from the mere notion. “No! Merciful heavens, no! Where did you get that idea? I always enjoy your company, at least when you’re not risking your health.”
“Oh… that’s good.”
The room went quiet again with her returning to contemplating the cognac. “Was that all?”
“What did you think I’d ask?”
He looked down at his cup, briefly considering dousing the grounds in alcohol and drinking it straight. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe about my liberal drinking tonight, or the good old ‘what’s wrong’ standby. Some sort of platitude or cliché.”
“Sorry,” she said as she looked away.
“You are, are you?” Fancy chuckled to himself and leaned over the counter. “I wish I was surprised. You’re always so quick to jump to those apologies of yours.”
“I—” Vinyl wrung her hooves anxiously, holding back the apology dancing on her tongue. “I don’t know what else to say.”
“I know. I think the worst thing is that you always mean it too. Even when it doesn’t make any sense.” Fancy leaned over the counter to catch her eyes. “Don’t you ever get tired of it? If you don’t, you really should. You shouldn’t feel the need to say sorry about everything when you’re right on the mark so often.”
“Right. Because I always have great takes.”
“You do, though. Truly. Almost too much at times. Your perspective always gives me something to think about. So many things that I’ve never thought to consider.”
Vinyl sat there, stunned and confused by everything coming out of Fancy’s mouth. He couldn’t help but laugh.
“Let’s see if I can clear this up a bit with an example. Lets see, one thing that has really weighed on the back of my mind…” Fancy questioned aloud as he thought back through their times together. “Oh! You know, I still haven’t been able to think of a better icebreaker.”
Vinyl raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”
“You forgot? Well, quite a lot happened that day, so I don’t blame you. You were such a firebrand with your impassioned rebuking answer of the question ‘what would you want your cutie mark to be.’ Frankly, it was enlightening. It made me ask myself some uncomfortable questions that the world has always been screaming at me, but I’ve just been too comfortable to pay any mind.”
“Oh!” Vinyl’s ears perked up for a moment, but then they fell down as she thought about it more. “Oh, right. I guess I was a little harsh.”
“Come now, Vinyl. Don’t take it back!” Fancy jovially objected. “I’ve tried a few different conversation starters out, but nothing more has compelled me than that ‘what if’ proposition. You are so attached to yours, it made me wonder why I don’t feel the same about mine.”
“So wait. Are you telling me that you, the Kingmaker of Canterlot, don’t like your cutie mark?”
“I don’t think I’d go that far. I’ve simply never had the same passion about it. I enjoy what I can do with my talents. Reaping the rewards of it can feel pretty vindicating at times. However, I wouldn’t say I feel satisfied.” Fancy couldn’t help but chuckle at himself with a rueful smile. “This must sound incredibly dumb coming from a stallion like me.”
“A little, yeah. But I think I get it,” she muttered as she pulled Fancy’s sweater closer to her face for warmth. “It’s like me wanting to be successful, but I don’t want to be rich. Like how does a musician succeed without selling tickets and records?”
“I suppose it would depend on how you define success,” Fancy pondered aloud as the pot began steaming. Not wanting to wait for it to be boiling hot, he snatched it off the heater and poured the water into both cups before reaching for the cognac for his own drink.
“I may have been a successful diplomat, but truthfully, I started for all the wrong reasons. I was just blindly chasing prestige. The position was little more than bragging rights to me, and it took a long time for Princess Celestia’s guidance to temper me into a better pony—somepony Mother would actually be proud of. While I am grateful to her highness for the opportunity, I don’t think I ever really wanted it. I just thought I did and kept going with it because it was working. Even when I pivoted to the private sector, all of the success felt so… unrewarding.”
Fancy took a deep, shuddering breath, filling his nostrils with the smell of decaf. He wanted to pour the liquor in to dull the pain, but it’d come back. He couldn’t drink his way through reality.
“I wonder if Mother ever felt like this?” Fancy asked as he looked down to the crowns painted on his side. “She was a talented singer, yet fate had labeled her a spa pony. In that same vein, is this my fate? Am I really supposed to be the Kingmaker of Canterlot? Her majesty’s most capable envoy? The steward of the Suede Shoes Estate?” He turned back to face Vinyl with a wistful smile. “You were absolutely right that day, Vinyl. It’s all just so empty.”
What little color was on Vinyl’s face drained. She bit her lip and fidgeted on her stool, likely scrambling to say anything that wasn’t an apology. Fancy was worried she’d fall out of her seat from the stress.
“It’s okay, Vinyl. Don’t worry about it,” he assured softly.
“B-but I can’t! Not after hearing something like that.”
“This is nothing you need to concern yourself with. Just keep shining as brilliantly as you always do. That’s more than enough for me.”
Like the last light of day, Vinyl’s rebuttal died on her lips as she sank back down into her seat with the sunset. Fancy smiled softly and pushed her drink towards her as he stood up with his coffee and bottle of cognac. He turned away and began to walk towards the hallway as moonlight filled the room.
“I’ll go grab your medicine along with somepony to help you to your room,” Fancy promised. “I think I should be alone for a bit.”
As he reached for the door latch, he heard a sharp ping of metal falling to the floor. Then, an electric blue aura overpowered his own weak grasp on his drinks and jerked it away. He whipped back around to see Vinyl wincing in pain as she slammed the coffee and cognac back onto the kitchen island.
“What in blazes are you doing?”
“I’m… fine!” she seethed back through the pain.
“Clearly you’re not!”
“W-well…” The mare hesitated as she tried to find her words. “What about you? You’re not okay either!”
Fancy froze briefly, but shook the accusation away. “That’s neither here nor there, Vinyl. Now, please put the ring back on while I go grab your medicine.”
“No need. I got some right here.” Vinyl snatched the cognac and popped the cork by hoof with ease before pouring it into her hot chocolate.
Fancy’s heart dropped into the pit of his stomach. He tried to fire a spell to stop her, but he couldn’t concentrate. “Don’t drink that!” Fancy begged as he sprinted for the table.
Ignoring his pleas, Vinyl stirred the mixture with her magic before gulping the entire steamy concoction down in one go. She slammed the cup down, coughing the biting liquor away before staring daggers at Fancy Pants. “There! Good as new. Now sit back down.”
“Sit down?” Fancy asked in disbelief. “I need to get you to the doctor’s! You can’t mix alcohol and medication!”
“I’ll be fine. Haven’t had any since this morning, so sit down already!”
“You can’t expect me to simply—”
“Please…” Vinyl put a hoof to her head and massaged her temples with a groan. “Just sit. I’m sick of yelling.”
Against his better judgment, Fancy pulled his seat around and sat down. A small smile crossed the mare’s lips before her aching ripped it away again. Fancy quickly ducked down and grabbed the dampening ring by hoof and offered it to her.
“Thanks,” she muttered as she slid it back on. The two sat in silence. The mare covered her eyes and laid her head down on the cool countertop.
“Can I get you anything?” Fancy offered.
“Another hot chocolate without the booze would be nice, I guess.”
“Alright. Coming right up,” he said while pouring some more water into the kettle to boil.
“Thanks, and sorry.”
Fancy frowned at the apology, but said nothing as he levitated another cocoa packet out of the drawer. “Are you sure you’re going to be alright?”
“I’ve mixed way harder stuff with alcohol than painkillers. And it’s not like I’m drinking myself under the table with a barely hard chocolate.” A brief look of concern crossed her face at her accidental admission. “Please don’t ask.”
Fancy offered a sympathetic smile. “I won’t if you don’t ask me about several concoctions this stallion tried in his wilder days.”
“Deal,” Vinyl moaned.
Both ponies sat in the dark, with only the soft moonlight shining through the windows. The wind howled intermittently, gusts blowing against the door. Vinyl sighed as she pulled the sweater around herself as best she could. Fancy wanted something to lighten the mood, but as his failing mark would have when it came to her these days, nothing sprang to mind.
After a few fuming moments, Vinyl turned away and stared at her empty mug. She rolled it around in her hooves as a somber smile crossed her lips. “You know, before all of this happened, I thought I was doing great. I was making it all on my own like I was supposed to, pulling myself forward by my reins, y’know? It was really tough, but I kept it going. I was independent, confident, and working how I wanted. But, then? It all came crashing down.” Vinyl’s face fell with the bitter memories. “I thought I lost everything. But you know, looking back now, I realize something.”
“And what is that?”
“I was miserable, Fancy. I was always so miserable and lonely, but I was too busy to notice. Or maybe I did, but I just buried it deep down—like I do with everything—and tried to ignore it. But now? Even if I finish archiving the collection, figure out Cacophony’s work, and sell a billion records from now until the day I die, I don’t want to be independent. I never want to be if it means I have to be alone again.
“I like having friends. I like having a family. I like living some place where I can come back, and somepony is there to welcome me home. It’s so nice.” Vinyl wiped her nose with the back of her leg and smiled through the sadness on her face. “I never thought a simple hello could be so magical. I never want to go back. I can’t.”
Fancy returned it with a soft smile of his own. “You’ll never have to. You have Éclair and Fleur now.”
“And you do too. So why do you say you should be alone? Why can’t you just enjoy it?” Vinyl bit her lip with an envious sorrow burning in her eyes. “I’d have given anything to have somepony like Éclair or Dapper or Summers growing up. What’s stopping you?”
Fancy furrowed his brow as he sat completely still, letting the question linger in the air as it choked the life out of the moment. It always did and always would stop him from taking what he wanted; from admitting his deepest desires. Fleur had asked similar things a million times, and he’d said the same thing every time.
Fancy closed his eyes and prepared for the onslaught. “It’s complicated.”
Vinyl waited for him to say something else, but when it was clear he wasn’t going to, she just sighed. “Okay.”
A deafening nothing filled the air as Fancy waited for her to say something else. He cracked open an eye, expecting to see Vinyl leaning in, but she was deeply buried in Fancy’s sweater.
Fancy blinked. It didn’t make sense. His answer was unacceptable, he knew that. It was purposely and plainly vague. Fancy waited for her to say something else, but she kept her head down. He leaned over, worried that the cognac was affecting her condition. Just when he got close, Vinyl shifted her head back up, her gaze flickering up to his. Their eyes met in the middle. The only sound that broke the silence was the whistling winds just beyond the door. For a moment, they simply sat and stared at each other.
Vinyl peeked out from the borrowed sweater. Luna’s waxing light from outside gently scattered across her eyes and pooled in the corner, revealing every intricate detail of her iris in soft, moonkissed magentas. The diadem of color banded around with a cascading beauty which burned with an unspoken understanding. Complicated was enough for her. Not that she wasn’t curious, but because she knew how complications worked. The fear of trying to uncomplicate such feelings with something as clumsy as words.
“I think the water’s done,” Vinyl said as her eyes looked away from his.
With the spell broken, Fancy blinked back to reality and shook his head. “Oh! My apologies.” Fancy coughed into his fetlock and looked up at the incredibly interesting ceiling. “I was just concerned if the medicine was mixing poorly with the liquor.”
“Still here. Just a little thirsty with a pounding headache. Kinda sleepy.”
Fancy smirked back at her before returning to preparing the cocoa. “Just be sure to enjoy the drink this time.”
Vinyl nodded. “I wasn’t a fan of the spiked chocolate anyway.”
“Agreed. I think I’ll stick to the lighter drinks for the rest of the evening.” He levitated the cognac back to the wine cooler and shot a genuine smile back to Vinyl. “I don’t know about you, but I’ve had my fill of cold kitchens.”
“Okay. Where are we going?” she asked, still committed to not letting Fancy be by himself.
“I think you could use a warm fireplace, and I believe Dapper moved a couch into your room. Shall we head that way?” He levitated a few packets of coffee and cocoa out of the drawer and stood up from his seat, offering a hoof to Vinyl.
She took the hoof up from Fancy, slowly getting up from her stool. “Can we go to the study instead? I’ve been cooped up in the back of the mansion for like three days now.”
“Of course. Can you walk by yourself?”
“Umm… No,” she lied as she kept a hold of his hoof and buried her face in his sweater.
Fancy snickered to himself. “Very well, just keep close to me and I’ll make sure you’re warm all the way there.”
The brilliant glow of Vinyl’s radiant smile put any heat his meager fireplace could give off to shame. “Thanks.”
“You’re quite welcome. I’ll take your gratitude over your apology any day, Vinyl.”
The smaller mare nodded with a blush and leaned into his side for support, resting her head on his neck. He could feel her breathing steady and relax as she leaned into his bare body, fur brushing against fur. It was almost tempting for him to enjoy it as well, if not for Vinyl’s stitches hiding in plain sight in his periphery. It was a harsh reminder that kept him tied to reality. No matter how relaxed Vinyl felt next to him, he wasn’t able to do the same.
Her presence wasn’t unwelcome, but despite the cold, her unstated eagerness carried a worrying undercurrent of something more. Fancy had lost count of how many times he’d entertained similar scenes with Éclair in mind. Around this point, their tails would carefully twirl together in a sidelong embrace as they walked entwined in love. But this wasn’t Éclair de Lune. This was Vinyl Scratch. If anypony caught them together like this, no matter how much he denied it, the optics would prove disastrous for any future he could envision for her.
Vinyl didn’t deserve that. A sweet, beautiful, one-of-a-kind mare like Vinyl deserved the world. One that didn’t only let her talents beam as bright as her smile, but was filled with family, friends, and a warm home that would love her forever. He almost envied whomever it was she wound up with. Feeling her precious light leaning against him, Fancy knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that whomever gave her that world would be one of the luckiest creatures alive.
If you find a simple mistake in the GSP (Grammar, Spelling, or Punctuation), please let me know through a private message rather than leaving it in the comment section. Leave the discussions to discussions. Thank you for reading.
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Yet another heartwarming chapter. Clad to see that Fancy seems to finally be on the road to seeing the obvious.
Oh come on you two! You were so close!
Fancy, du Idiot....
Happy birthday! Thanks for another wonderful chapter
Good thing that wasn't the end of her story.
Thanks for the new chapter.
They are making progress....slowly but they are still making it.
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Slow and steady burn.
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Frustrating, yes, but hopefully believable. I try not to rely on tropes too much, but this is just where they are at.
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Thankies!
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Has to do research on what she'd be taking and alcohol consumption to ensure that didn’t happen.
Should be execution. EDIT: On second thought, both work. I'm just far too used to doing it one way and not the other to a point where it sounds unnatural to my ears.
Fancy really tries so hard to remain distant even though he wants that warmth- that closeness provided by friends and family. I suppose I can relate to that. Being alone for so long makes the loneliness... addicting, in a way.
*Slams face into wall repeatedly*
Ah, this was where I left off commenting. I think I remember vigorously complaining about Fancy's denseness in the edit, and it sure feels that way here. Everything he's ever wanted is inches away and he can't even begin to see it. A fascinating dichotomy, these two are.