"Take my hoof," she said. "Does it feel soft?"
Vinyl took her hoof. It was soft and greasy from the earthly grime, with specks of dirt adorning it all over, the layer of rushing autumn leaves never cleaning it up fully. "Yes. It feels soft."
"While you are holding my hoof, the world can't end," she said.
Vinyl pressed the grey hoof against her chest. Her heartbeat resonated against it, and she knew she could hear it. Feel it. "I know, Octavia. The world can't end while I am holding your hoof."
"Kiss me," she said. "I like it when you kiss me."
Vinyl kissed her, deeply, passionately, her lips entwined with hers, locked in a kiss of love and lust, her tongue moaning deeply into her mouth.
"When you kiss me," she said, "I don't care if the world will end."
They stood up. The forest was dark and scary, with angry, vivid shapes waltzing around in the sickly-mad green of the bonfires. The lake reflected the green, drawing a wonderful purple from the flowers, brewing a colour of sin and inspiration.
"Hold me," she said. "When you hold me, the darkness dissipates."
Vinyl held her in an embrace, feeling her soft fur against hers, feeling her chin on her shoulder, her nose brushing against her neck. The darkness stepped back, and a purplegreen explosion swallowed the forest, and the little rustic houses of the nearby village, and the birds, and the trees, and the castle with it.
"I wanted to see the castle," Vinyl said, slowly, seeing her words leave her mouth in a white puff of text. "I liked the castle here."
"We don't need the castle," she said. "It was old and dusty, and the winters were cold and miserable. The fireplace didn't work, and the servants were dull and gloomy." She smiled, taking Vinyl's hoof. "Walk with me."
Vinyl followed her, and walked with her along the narrow path. White feathers descended from the sky in dozens, floarting in the chill-stricken air. The sun shed its light on them, enticing, otherworldly.
"These are angel feathers," she said with a soft, sad smile. "These angels died because they didn't know how to love."
Vinyl nodded, walking. "I know how to love." She squeezed her hoof harder.
"You are burdening me, Vinyl," she said, dropping the smile. "You are burdening me with your ridiculous possessiveness."
"Sorry." Vinyl let go of her hoof, walking along. Her eyes were soft and distant, wavering pools of lavender. "I love you, Octavia."
"Take my hoof," she said. "Do you feel it?"
Vinyl took her hoof. "I feel it."
They walked along the path, feathers covering the green pastures of finest grass like snow, blanketing the soil.
"The earth goes for a little rest," she said. "When the world dies, it won't have anywhere to go."
Vinyl nodded, chewing on her bottom lip. "It's sad."
They walked towards the setting sun, a ridiculous disk of bright, hellish red.
"Do you see the sun?" she asked.
Vinyl nodded. "Yes. I see the sun."
"The sun was an angel once," she said. "It became a big sad ball of fire because nopony wanted to love it."
"I want to love it," Vinyl said. She took a swift step forth, outrunning her. "Let's love it, Octavia. Please."
She giggled. "Of course. We are going to love it. Forever and beyond."
Vinyl smiled. "Good. I like it."
They walked, and the sun roared a seagull's roar, rolling away to the horizon, scorching the land white and grey. Ashes floated around them, and they smiled. They walked, and the feathers on the pastures turned to tears, saturating the deep, angry soil. The castle emerged, only to be crushed again - a moment's notice. The village extended, and turned into a city, with the hustle and bustle. The sun roared, and the forest grew among the skyscrapers and coffee shops, bursting through cab windows and corner dumps. They walked, and the purplegreen fires consumed the city around them.
They walked, and the road beneath their hooves began to crumble.
"I'm scared," Vinyl said. "I don't understand."
"Nopony understands," she said, holding Vinyl's hoof firmly. "That's why they invented angels."
Vinyl nodded, content with the idea. She squeezed the hoof harder - just a little, not to burden her with her ridiculous need.
They walked, and the sun glared at them, and shot sparks of light that brought them no harm. The path crumbled, and so did the pastures around them, and the castle, and the city, and the forest, and even the purplegreen. Everything. They walked on nothingness. Nothingness was a black, creamy substance. It held no stars, but it was the night.
"Why are there no stars?" Vinyl asked, walking the nothingness by her side.
"The stars were the angels," she explained. "The angels died so that we could give the sun all the love it deserves." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Let's give the sun our love."
Vinyl closed her eyes too. "Let's give the sun our love," she repeated.
They walked, and the sun sighed in bliss, its flare blickering and softening by the moment.
They walked, and felt their own love break the bonds between them and the world around them, be it alive or dead. Even the nothingness faded, and only the sun remained, a big burning foal, ready to be unborn again, crying its thanks in solar rays.
They walked, and the sun died before them, of sheer love, exhausted but content.
