Does the Silence Make my Words Cut Less?
The small home of Vinyl Scratch, resident DJ, and master of setting the mood for the bleakest of parties. Need to lighten things up? She's gotcha covered with a hip-hop vibe that reaches down to your hooves. Want something mellow that brings a wave of nostalgia for a loved one beyond the grave? She'll have you in tears of joy. Point is, that emotions through music were what made Vinyl as good as she is.
"I swear to the Sun! If that stuck-up, prissy, blue-blooded witch sends one more complaint through, I'm going to blast her whole roof off with my speakers!" Vinyl wasn't so good at her own emotions, as she currently paced back and forth, mane in disarray... well, more than usual. Her deep red eyes practically glowed with scorn. "And worst yet - ohohoho - my freakin' best crossfader's gone on the fritz and I'm stuck with no gigs, and possibly the most important piece of equipment to shift the mood out the window!"
The one she vomited this out to? Her roommate. He sat there, tracing her pace slowly without a word. His coat was a dark grey almost charcoal pigment compared to her snow-white fur. A white mane with unkempt, curly bangs, a single red lock arching across from the right side of his mane. His eyes were silver, like starlight, and his cutie mark resembled a bullseye. The outer ring was red, the second grey, and the third crimson with two 'Ss', leaving his talent a complete mystery to all.
He frowned softly, his natural resting face with big silver eyes intent on following her until her scarlet orbs locked with his, but he couldn't maintain eye contact for long, but listened. "Gah, sorry dude, I'm just... really striking out these last three days," She fell to her sofa with a huff, hoof over her eyes. "What the heck am I supposed to do? My wallet's tight as is, I have that... mare, breathing down my neck every other week, and now my crossfader's caput."
A deadpan expression is what she got, and his hoof flopping in the general direction of their neighbor's house through the wall. "I could be a Princess of Equestria and she'd still find a way to hate my guts." He shrugged, 'fair enough' is what Vinyl guessed. Then, staring at her blurred reflection in her shades, she decided the rip the bandaid off. "She insulted my eyes this time, been a while since that's happened."
Now, her silent roommate wasn't one to get angry at... well, anything. So when Vinyl stole a glance and saw just the faint twitch in his brow made a chill run down her back to her tail. Since he never talked, when he expressed emotion it had more of an impact, be it good or bad. In reality, the terms like 'demon', 'vampire', even 'Changeling' hurt a lot more than she admitted to show, "D-dude, relax, it's fine, I know she's just a pain in the rear, pfft, not the first time I've been called a 'demon from Tartarus'," She waved her hooves sarcastically, only to earn a long sigh across from her.
Saying nothing, as usual, he stood up and motioned with his hoof that he was going to go out. "Huh? Wait, what for?" She was still a little emotionally drained so it felt like a stab to the chest after basically dumping her feelings out on him.
All he did was flash a tiny smile, picked up his saddlebags, and waved before leaving for the door, and in turn, leaving Vinyl confused, annoyed, and utterly alone.
"And that's been the extent of my day, what the heck am I supposed to do...?" Vinyl slumped in her seat outside a small cafe in town, the grey clouds starting to roll in thanks to the Weather Team above, she swore her eyes caught a glimpse of rainbow streaks. Her eyes fell to her two closest friends, Bon-Bon and Lyra.
The cream-coated mare went to speak but her mint-tinted companion munched on a cupcake while speaking. "Sure he ain't tryin' to just avoid ya while yer thrown' a hissy fit?" Lyra asked, and Vinyl's head hit the table with a whine.
"I'm a terrible roommate~" A dark swirl of clouds surrounded the DJ as Bon-Bon slapped Lyra on the back of the head, addressing Vinyl with a calm expression and firm eyes.
"Vinyl, look at me," Two red eyes peeked up through electric blue bangs. "How long have you been roommates with Silent?"
"Two months," She answered, not sure where Bon was going with this.
"Hm, okay, and in that time, has he ever given you a reason to think he hates you or doesn't want to be around you?" Bon-Bon pressed, sipping the last of her tea.
Vinyl thought about it, yet, nothing ever met that description. He always kept silent, not like she ever asked if he was actually mute or not. Not once did he seem to complain about her antics aside from steering her in a better direction. That's right, he kept her head on straight when she jumped to quickly. "No... no, never -- he's basically the reason I'm not homeless if I'm honest."
Bon-Bon sighed, smiling softly. "Then I have no reason to believe he loathes you,"
"Really think so?" From Vinyl's tone, she was very clearly worried that may not be the case.
Nodding, Bon-bon patted her friend's hoof assuringly, "Certainly, in fact, I can make a safe bet he's planning to make your day better when you get back."
"Better make it quick, rain's nearly here," Lyra pointed her hoof at the sky, shrugging. "Uh, sorry for that, y'know, makin' ya feel bad."
"You still need to work on keeping those thoughts private," Bon rolled her eyes at the mint-green mare.
"Hey, I can do that! You just say it's unhealthy, make up your mind!" Lyra protested, earning a small breathy laugh from the musician as she adjusted her shades over her unique eyes again.
"Thanks for this, just... listening, y'know?" Vinyl wasn't good with softer words, but the pair got the message, waving curtly.
"Anytime, dude!" Lyra grinned, biting down the last of her cupcake.
"Let us know if everything works out," Bon-Bon added.
With a nod, Vinyl made her way back home with a little more confidence in her step. They were right, things will be alright.
"Universe, do me a favor, and go buck yourself," Vinyl huffed, blowing a wet bang off her shades now dripping wet. Outside, the sky had opened up and it was fierce. The downside about her living quarters? Bon-Bon and Lyra lived nearly on the opposite side of Ponyville. Guess how much fun that was running to escape the rainfall?
Levitating a blue towel over from the kitchen, Vinyl dried her face, using her magic to pat down her fur until the warm air dried the rest. Sniffing, she could tell food was already being prepped, not that it ever changed. This was good, it meant she hadn't just made her roommate disappear, she... certainly didn't like the idea of being alone anymore. It was funny, really, she never would've cared about living on her own, time with her thoughts, all the time in the world to work on music and new mixes. Now, she shared that world with another, and it was... warmer, a pleasant warmth.
Appearing like a ghost, Vinyl jumped back when she nearly ran into the stallion in question, his gaze blinking twice until she recovered. "Geez, dude, you sure you can't cast magic or something?" He tapped his forehead and she rolled her eyes, placing her shades on the coffee table with a field of magic. "Figure of speech, dummy, seriously though, how do you do it?"
He made a flick with his right hoof, acting as if he had a cloak over his body to conceal himself. Vinyl chuckled behind her hoof, shoving him. "Invisibility cloak, sure, I'll buy it." Then she frowned, seeing him smirk as if he was a cat who caught a canary. "What? Is my mane sticking up like a got struck by lightning or something?"
All Slendy did was point at the coffee table, specifically, the spot beyond her shades. The item in question didn't click yet, a mini Vinyl had to run and pull the cord to turn on the lightbulb in her head. When it did, her eyes sparkled like rubies under a torch, and her jaw nearly fell from her face. Sat perfectly on the table wasn't her personal equipment, no, that would be obvious and much easier to wrap her head around. Instead, a brand new crossfader sat all sparkly and new, it even had a new product smell. Stuck on the top was a small note.
'I'm not a tech-wiz like you, nor do I have any idea what is good or bad, so, I took your broken crossfader and had a guy sell me one as good or better than it, so... ta-da, brand new fader -- Signed, your friendly neighborhood Slendy'. There was even a small smiley face at the end. If Vinyl was honest, that last part was just comical.
"Butwhathuh?" Her words spat out in a heap, blinking several times. She pointed at the device, then to him, then back to the fader, then to Slendy who gave a curt wave. "Dude... this... this is too much, like, seriously, my old one was pretty steep, and-and-and just, I-I can't-" Vinyl, master of words everypony.
Slendy shrugged like it was no big deal, which it was, but he didn't seem phased at all, in fact, Vinyl swore he was enjoying her reaction by the stupid smirk on his face. She liked it, okay, she loved it but now her emotions were all over the place like before. Gratitude and anger were the two biggest contenders in her heart. I mean, he just wasted Bits on something that was her problem to fix, he didn't need to do this at all, and it bothered her because she felt like it was her fault for guilt-tripping him with her tantrum earlier. And gratitude because she couldn't afford a new one, at least, not one as high-end as her old crossfader. After a war, a peace treaty, and a hoof shake, her emotions settled on one.
*Thwack!*
Slendy recoiled, nodding to himself quickly. "You damn well deserved it! I swear on the Princesses, if you ever do something like this again, wasting your Bits on my problems I will throw you into a bush full of Poison Joke!" Her hoof prodded against his nose, and he nodded once, secretly crossing his hooves in his head. Vinyl huffed, eyes closed. "Good."
The next step is what took Slendy by surprise the most. Vinyl, with the awkwardness of a blind pony, wrapped her hooves around his neck, bringing his head down against her chest as she dipped her head against his mane. She was still quite damp from the rain but he didn't seem to fuss over it. The embarrassment crept onto Vinyl's pearl white cheeks but she managed to speak softer, that twang in her voice gone.
"Thank you," Two words, soft-spoken and more feminine than Vinyl ever let on, but it made Slendy's eyes widen a little, listening to her heartbeat drum away nervously. He raised a hoof to pat her back softly before she pulled away, that warmth disappearing when she looked around to distract herself. "...i-i'll pay ya back, and... stuff..."
He shrugged, motioning to the kitchen. "Right, yeah, dinner sounds uh great!, Heh..." She cleared her throat as Slendy rolled his eyes, leaving her to fawn over her new equipment before turning to look back at the charcoal pony staring back at her. To her shock, his lips parted to mouth three words. Even without a voice, it was the first time he did anything close to the real deal.
'Anytime, DJ Vinyl' He nodded, and turned back to the kitchen, leaving the musician speechless yet again. But she did smile, in fact, she didn't stop smiling for the rest of the day.
End