Chapter II: Honesty
(Another chapter. For those wondering about my other stories, don't worry. They'll still get some attention, I just didn't want to let the ideas for this chapter go to waste.)
Your anger abated slowly as you walked down the road, the clear air helping to soothe your tense body, and tense mind. You tried to force your thoughts onto matter other than your sister and the alabaster mare in your home, but no matter where you sent your trail of thought, it always came back to one of those two topics. Your sister’s presence in your life had kept you going for quite some time, and now that she was gone you began to wonder if you’d be able to continue. She’d always known how to calm you down after a day at work, and before she’d accepted your invitation to live with you you’d often have trouble dealing with your emotions.
Still, some of the lessons she’d taught you had helped, and your outbursts had been growing less frequent. Hay, throwing the coffee mug last night had been the first violent outburst in more than a month. Still, you’d hoped that you had managed to overcome that trait of yours. Clearly it would take still more time to deal with. And the funeral that you would have to arrange wouldn’t make things easier.
As you rounded the last corner on your walk you spotted your home. It was a modest affair, sporting two floors, but with the top floor having just a bedroom and a bathroom. The downstairs had a second bedroom, a second bathroom, a living room, and the kitchen. Still, it was home, and without the knowledge that Grace would be there it seemed like it was far larger than it needed to be.
And, with your home in view once more the memory of why you walked out crawled back to the forefront of your mind. You stopped in the middle of the road as you felt your temper begin to rise once again. You couldn’t let her keep you from your home, and so you’d have to deal with this problem head on. Avoiding it would only make things worse, and you couldn’t deal with the stress that would be added to your life. With a great sigh you began walking the final stretch to your home.
---/\/\ Six Years Ago: Junior Year of High School /\/\---
“Pfft, that’s all? I’ll take the points.” You, having heard some of the dares that had been presented, shook your head. This wouldn’t end well for the poor mare.
“Alright, then.” Melody’s head turned to the next pony, and then she resumed the pace of the game. Most of the other players chose to go with truth, figuring that an embarrassing answer would be the safest route. Your own question, since you chose to go with truth, was relatively tame compared to some of the other questions. They just asked you if you would mount one of the teachers back at school. You admitted that you would, but only because she had flanks that were to die for. Still, even with your explanation, it wasn’t something that you wanted to be public knowledge.
Vinyl’s dare, when it came to be her turn, was incredibly provocative, asking her to do a lap dance for each stallion in the group, and each mare who wanted it, as well. With a fair bit of grumbling she did as she was bid, giving each stallion a show that threatened to leave them with an awkward problem. When it came to be your turn the mare glared at you before she started. You enjoyed the view, but you felt bad for the alabaster unicorn. When she finished you swore that you could see a half formed tear in her eye.
Still, once she finished with the last stallion she had danced for each pony in the group, including Melody. The dares quickly started escalating in how provocative they were, and within two rounds there were just three ponies left in the circle. You, with a meager twenty points, the stallion from earlier, with almost fifty points, and Vinyl, with twenty-nine points. As the most sober pony present you began wondering if Melody would force any of the three of you to go through with the rules for losing, since nopony could take twenty, or more, shots.
“Alright you three. From this point forward we are only doing dares. And each dare is worth ten points. Pure Note, you go first, since you’re in last place.” You nod, and stare the slightly tipsy mare in the eyes.
---/\/\ The Present /\/\---
You stand before the door to your home, an imperceptible shiver running the length of your body as you rotate the knob for the door. As the door opened you stepped into your home, the smell of food cooking being the first thing to assault your senses. You raised an eyebrow as you began heading towards the kitchen, the anger you felt just moments ago having vanished at the thought of Vinyl cooking, and being replaced with pure curiosity.
“Vinyl, is that you cooking?” A sharp gasp was clearly audible from the kitchen, and you also heard something hit the floor with an incredibly unappetizing splat. You walked into the kitchen to see Vinyl adjusting the goggles that had practically become a part of her face as she looked at the mess on the floor. At one point, you assume, it had been the makings of an omelet. As it was now, it was a half cooked pile of eggs decorating the tile floor of your kitchen.
“I, um… Sorry, Note. Really, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to, you just startled me.” You just shook your head and offered a small smile. Despite your earlier anger this was at least a nice gesture, and you weren’t going to hold it against her.
“It’s okay, Vinyl. I’ll just clean it up, and you can go back to cooking. Just try not to feed the floor too much, okay. I do that often enough.” You were expecting at least a chuckle from the mare, but you didn’t get any response from her. You raised an eyebrow at the mare, and she quickly turned back to cooking, several eggs adding themselves to the pan under the influence of Vinyl’s magic.
You quickly grabbed a rag from the sink and you started cleaning up the mess. Luckily, tile was incredibly easy to clean, and so the mess took mere moments to clean. As you wrung out the rag you glanced over at the white unicorn as she cooked. Her focus was far beyond what you recalled seeing from her when she was doing anything that wasn’t musically inclined. Maybe she was trying to do you a favor so that you’d let her spend a few days here. You’d have let her stay anyway, but it was still a nice gesture.
“Are you upset about the eggs? Because I’m really sorry.”
“Vinyl, I already said that it’s okay. It’s not a big deal.” While your answer was sincere, and nearly automatic, it still gave you pause. In all the time you’d known the mare, she’d only apologized to you twice. Once when she had gotten you in the hospital, and the second time came when she got you arrested for vandalizing some property. And neither of those times had she been nearly as apologetic as this time. “Vinyl, is everything okay? You’ve never really acted like this before. I mean, if this is just the new Vinyl, okay. But I can’t really imagine you changing this much for no reason.”
Silence was your only answer for quite some time, and with each passing minute you felt like the tension in the room grew. She just kept cooking, but her motions grew a bit more erratic as she continued. At long last, though, she finished the omelet that she had been cooking, and she took it out of the pan, placing it on the counter and then resting her head on the counter. “My coltfriend dumped me last night. He and I had a big fight, and then he kicked me out, telling me that I should find somewhere else to live, since I couldn’t stay there any more.” She let out a small sob, and for just a moment you thought you saw her horn flicker. “Since he and I were in Canterlot I figured that I’d just crash at one of my friend’s places. Sadly she wasn’t home. She went out on some tour a few days ago, and it slipped my mind.”
“How did you end up here? Ponyville isn’t exactly within walking distance of Canterlot.” The mare took a few deep breaths as you spoke, and when you finished she continued.
“Yeah, I know. Anyway, after getting turned down at a few other places I wound up near the train station in Canterlot, and I figured that I’d get a ticket to someplace. When I saw the last train to depart was coming here I remembered that you lived here. So, one thing led to another, and I wound up on your doorstep.” You raised an eyebrow at the mare, and she just continued looking at the floor, small tremors running along her frame.
“And how, exactly, did you wind up drunk?”
“Oh, yeah. I may have had a bit too much to drink on the train while coming here. I wanted to dull the pain some, so I just kept drinking.” She paused for a moment, and then she looked at you. “The emotional pain, of course.”
“Vinyl, I didn’t need that kind of clarification…” Your speech trailed off, and then you looked the alabaster unicorn over once again, this time actually looking at her. Nothing seemed too out of place, at least, not until you looked at one of her legs. She didn’t seem to have the hoof entirely on the ground, and the way she shifted her weight seemed off to you. “Vinyl, did he hurt you?” You felt your temper, which had been all but forgotten rise once more. You quickly approached the mare, and she took a small step back. “Did that bastard hit you?”
“No, Note.” Her horn glowed faintly, for a moment, and the pure white coat on her front leg shimmered for a moment, letting you see the bruise that marred the otherwise pristine coat. “I fell while I was going through Canterlot, and so I had some to drink to dull the pain. More to deal with the breakup, but at least some of it was in the hopes of easing the pain in my leg.” You relaxed at her explanation. It explained the flicker of magic you saw earlier, at least.
“Is that all that happened, Vinyl? If you need to tell me anything, I’ll listen. We may not be as close as we were at one point, but if you need to tell me anything I’m here.” The mare just looked at you for a moment before she shook her head. “Okay, but consider that a standing offer. And, if you really don’t have a place to stay, I suppose you can stay here for a few days. But you’re sleeping on the couch.”
The mare just nodded at you. Then, as you started to turn to look at the food Vinyl had cooked, she stepped up to you and hugged you. You didn’t reciprocate the hug, though. She’d turned you down enough times that you saw her as a distant friend at best. You wouldn’t turn her away, since you weren’t the type of pony to do that, but you knew that you didn’t have a chance with her. Not anymore, at least.
---/\/\ Six Years Ago: Junior Year of High School /\/\---
You and Vinyl were the last two left. She had a smirk on her face, and you just frowned at Melody. Her dares were growing ever more dangerous, and you knew that you’d back down instead of doing something overly threatening. And she could forget about you doing the shots. You’d long since exceeded sixty points, and nopony could expect you to drink that much. And you were beginning to dislike the mare that you saw before you. She abused the ponies in her presence for her enjoyment, having made the stallion who had been leading the whole game lick each of her hooves clean. And that hadn’t even been the worst.
Now, with your turn complete and the blush on your face refusing to fade, Melody turned to the unicorn across from you. “Vinyl, I dare you to take one shot for each dare you’ve done so far.” The mare’s mouth dropped at the dare, but then she quickly closed it, and adopted a façade of bravado.
“Sure, that’s no problem. I’ll down them all, no problem.”
It was a problem, though. By the time she had gotten to her seventh shot she was unsteady on her hooves, and her eyes were both tearing up quite a bit. As she reached for her eighth shot her body failed, and she collapsed to the floor, shaking just a bit. A bunch of ponies near the mare just laughed at her as they put some of the shots she still had to do on the floor in front of her. Several stallions began shouting at the mare, telling her to keep drinking.
You looked from the mare on the floor to Melody, and back again. You knew that the unicorn on the floor couldn’t hope to drink the rest of her shots, and so you approached the hostess, a frown on your lips.
“Melody, call it off. It’s clear that she’s lost. That means that I’m the winner, right?” The mare’s eyes were slow to focus on you, and when they finally did focus she adopted a goofy grin.
“Yes, Note, you win.” Her words were slurred, and you pushed her upright as she began to lean to the side. “And as the winner you get to make one request of me, no matter what it is.”
“My request, then, is that you become less of a bitch. You need to quit abusing other ponies for your own amusement. And, for the record, you’re not as hot as you think. Your flanks don’t hold a candle to Miss Quizzical’s.” Without waiting for a response you went to the mare on the floor. Every set of eyes in the room was on you, and you didn’t care. Vinyl had consumed way too much alcohol, and if she didn’t get some help you didn’t know if she’d make it.
---/\/\ The Present /\/\---
You slowly put down your fork, having finished the omelet a few minutes ago. You looked up from your empty plate to look at the white unicorn sitting at the table with you. She, too, had finished her food. Without a word you got up and cleared the table, both plates, and all the utensils, floating beside you as you approached the sink. It didn’t take long to wash everything, and then you put it on the rack to dry.
“Um, hey, Note.” You turned to look at the mare, and as she came into sight you saw that she was looking at you. “Is there anything you need? I was going to do some shopping, and I was wondering if there was anything I could get you.” You thought about it for a minute before you shook your head.
“No, there’s nothing I can think of, really. Maybe some eggs, if you happen to pass by some. I’ll reimburse you if you do get some.” The mare just nodded before she rose from the seat, and began making her way towards the door. Now that you knew to look for it, the slight limp in her hoof was far more noticeable. Still, it was plausible for her to have fallen at some point in her grief. She probably couldn’t see straight well before she even arrived at the train station. Vinyl wasn’t exactly a light drinker, even in the best of cases.
As you heard the door close, you let out a massive sigh. There was more going on than Vinyl was telling you, and you needed to get to the bottom of it. Even if she had refused all of your advances, she was still a friend of yours, and you weren’t going to just let this go. You suspected that the friend she tried to visit first was Octavia, a pony that you had met independently of Vinyl. How the two of them came to be friends was well beyond your ability to fathom, but, then again, you never claimed to be an expert in these things.
A quickly drafted letter laid out your questions quite adequately, and so you rolled up the scroll, and sealed it with a bit of wax. You didn’t know how long it would take to get a response, but you knew that she would respond as soon as she was able. You occasionally wrote some of the pieces that she, and her group, played, and so the two of you were fairly close. Unlike with Vinyl, though, you knew full well that you didn’t have a shot with the cello playing earth pony. She was taken, and you were often quite jealous of the stallion she was with.
You opened the door to the outside, and then you closed it behind you as you began the short trip down the road to the pegasus post office. Even with the brevity of the trip you allowed your mind to wander. Rather than focus on the trials of high school, though, you decided to think of more recent matters. Specifically, those of your sister’s last wishes. You’d told her that she didn’t have to do this, since she was going to be fine, but she insisted. Turns out that she was right about this, and everything else, just like she had always told you.
The one thing that stood out amongst her requests was a wish for you to be the one to give the eulogy. ’Note, I want you to be the one to ramble to the ponies about how great I wasn’t. You knew me better than anypony, and so I know that you’ll show a true measure of honesty. Hay, if you want to toss a few well thought out insults in there, be my guest. Just don’t make me out to be some hero. I’m not perfect, and I don’t want you to just praise all the things I did right in my life. Just like you, I made my share of mistakes. Some far bigger than others.’
You sighed as you paused at the door to the post office. “You weren’t the only one to make mistakes, Grace. I just wish that mine hadn’t cost me Vinyl.”
(Ooh. So much potential for wild speculation. None of you will be able to guess, though. It's not nearly as obvious as you probably think it is.)
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1404640 Okay his name is note and doing things for vinyl can be taken in different ways.
1404751 They are ponies. Did I say something about person, or hands, or anything like that? I don't think I did, but if I'm wrong let me know.
1404758 No, you didn't I just shouldn't be reading at 1am.
Hmm, awww yeah this is gonna be great. I am really Into those flashbacks. Keep p the good work.
Hurray for new chapter!
im really glad you're doing this story
. outside of clopfics, there are literally NO second person shipping stories with vinyl scratch
weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/kelso-burn.jpg
1403876 i had been up for a day and a half and was about to crash. and my ipod's autocorrect is broken.
Let's see, we're supposed to gracefully inform everypony that sees our sister as some paragon that she was merely a pony, not too hard; rebuild some sort of relationship with Vinyl Scratch, could be, probably will be, much more difficult; have multiple flashbacks that inform us of our past and connections to the mare; probably beat the ever-living shit out of Vinyl's ex, going from Apples: this should be interesting; and deal with our anger issues. Seems like we've a busy schedule...
This is amazing, Jet.
1409721
Why would we do that?
Hmmm....
Octavia had a coltfriend?
I wonder if he'll be reveled....
For now, my mind will assume it's Symphonic Keys (a character from an Octavia second-person story)
Nice story man. And another favorite to you
1410159
Well, combining anger issues and the likelihood (I never was good with probability anyways) that Vinyl's ex DID hurt her, and she's hiding it, we may allow ourselves to become drunken with rage, or we might confront him and he might just be a dick anyways and initiate the fight. I'm just speculating, and once again, not that great at probability. I'll just keep my speculation to myself
You,sir, know how to create suspense. I am very, very, very excited to see whats next, and hopefully the next part will be up soon! Suspense kills me.
This is now part of the nameless romance series?
EXCELLENT
...
Yes.
1410987 Nah, Octavia's going to be getting an OC courtesy of my creative abilities. I'm not going to take someone else's work and say: There ya go, she's got a coltfriend.
Vinyl.......and Octavia.....straight shipping?
4chandata.org/images/threads/67416_1344040881046.jpg
Well, this is a first!!
Man your rly good at these