Entertain Them
Hunger.
It gnawed at her stomach like a disease.
Vinyl’s eyes opened slowly, her vision blurry from the prolonged sleep. The world was dim, but not dark. The sun was probably up… not that it mattered much. She blinked a few times, trying to get the moisture out of her eyes. She’d have reached up to brush the sleepiness away, but her leg wouldn’t move.
At last, her vision cleared. She saw the white tile of the ceiling, the lines crisscrossing in a maze that seemed to stretch infinitely. She traced the lines, trying to make some sense of them, to see the pattern. Her sleepy mind disobeyed, distracting her from the task as it tried to remind her of an empty stomach. She wished she could focus on those lines forever…
She let her eyes drift, seeking some other distraction. Her head lolled sideways, taking in the sights. The shelves of the store were empty, boxes strewn about like trash. One shelf had fallen over and was leaning heavily against the wall. A lone, shriveled red hoof was poking out from beneath it, unmoving. A dried, red stain encircled the still appendage. Her vision passed over it, as it had a hundred times before.
Her gaze slipped by the old sales adds, many ripped and indecipherable, to the windows that were boarded up. The edge of the store’s front entrance was barely visible, but she couldn’t see the pile of junk that she’d set in front of it. Her ears perked just slightly to the scraping sounds outside. They’d never get in.
Was that a blessing or a curse?
Vinyl let her eyes roam the floor, covered in trash and dirt and empty boxes. There was a small lump lying not far from her, curled into a ball. The flesh reeked, flies buzzing about and tiny white things squirming around from the holes they’d managed to eat through. It was such a small lump. Every time she saw it, that was all Vinyl could think about.
It was so small…
Her vision landed on the bag. It was right there, the cans poking out like the sweetest fruit. On instinct, she tried to reach for it. Her hoof was already stretched out to its fullest extent. She strained and grunted, the pain within her driving her to pull and tug and grope feebly. She even considered using magic…
No. No matter what, she wouldn’t do that. She remembered watching the guards at the barricade, from the safety of her apartment window as they stood their ground against them.
They didn’t last long.
That had been a hard lesson, a terrible one. No, magic was out of the question.
So Vinyl grasped, stretching as far as she could, gritting her teeth and holding her breath as her hoof just barely grazed the faux leather. So close, so horribly, tantalizingly close…
At last she relaxed, gasping for breath as she stared at the accursed thing. Her eyes traced the edge of one of the cans; she could just taste the vegetables within. Or was it beans? She couldn’t remember.
She had to look. She knew she did. Her head turned, but her eyes shot closed before she completed that distressingly slow revolution. The numbness made it so obvious even without looking. But she had to look…
Her left foreleg was smashed beneath the sign. Her coat was black beyond the metal rod that held her in place. It wouldn’t move. No amount of struggling would free it, and even if she were willing to use her magic, the sign was far too big. The image of a cheerful clown pony mascot grinned above her, as if in delighted mockery. High above was a long, continuous window that ran all along the back of the building. A single pane above her head was open, taunting her with its invitation to freedom. She could just make out a line of blue sky along the edge.
One of them. That was all it took, just one. How he managed to climb up the makeshift stairs, Vinyl would never know. Her head rolled back to eye the once-golden helmet, now dented and stained an unpleasant, reddish brown. Its owner was nowhere to be seen, lost amongst the metal that was the sign. He hadn’t come for her, though. Vinyl had been so relieved at the time.
She wasn’t so sure anymore.
Her stomach ached. She didn’t want to think on it.
Her eyes went back to the ceiling, slowly tracing the lines. Lines… so many lines.
Just look at the lines. Don’t think about the pain, or the numbness, or the bag, or that so very small lump with its squirming white things.
Look at the lines.
Forever.
Just look at the lines…
It took some time for Vinyl to realize that the noise wasn’t in her head. It was a constant, intent banging that resounded in her eardrums and pulled her gradually from her reverie. She blinked, slowly, her mind sluggish in its recovery. The pangs in her stomach faded only a little as she let her head roll to the side, her ear perking to follow the noise.
Was one of them trying to get in?
What else could it be?
For a moment, just a single, tender moment, her heart began to pound and her blood ran cold, but the feeling faded just as quickly and she relaxed. She thought on her stomach and how badly it hurt, on the memories of everything she’d come to accept as ‘normal.’ She let the tension in her body drop.
Vinyl relaxed, taking long, slow breaths as she listened to the banging. She stared up at the ceiling and studied the lines.
Wood clattered to the floor as the noise came to the end, then there came the sound of crunching glass on the tile floor. With what little energy she had left, Vinyl once again turned her head to the inside of the store; she wanted to see them when they came. Better to know who it was.
The faint clopping of hooves reached her ears, but it was indeed very quiet. It was coming from near one of the walls, moving closer. It would be crossing the shelves at the corner in a few seconds…
The first thing Vinyl saw was the sword. It looked like the kind the Royal Guards sometimes wore, but the dark stains told of regular use. The next thing was the muzzle, a dark grey mouth wrapped about the handle. Mulberry eyes beneath a messy tangle of dark fringe peered around the corner, sharp and ready for combat.
Those eyes locked on Vinyl… and widened. The sword dropped to the floor.
Vinyl thought she was hallucinating. She just about had to be.
“V… Vinyl Scratch?” Octavia stepped out from behind the shelf, gaping at her schoolmate.
Vinyl opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Her mind was numb with a shock her body wasn’t prepared to cope with. She wanted to reach out to Octavia, to call her name, but all she could manage was a feeble shift of her leg.
“Oh my goodness…” Octavia approached slowly. “It’s… I never thought I’d see you again. Even before this all started.” She paused a safe distance away and reached a slow, trembling hoof towards her. “Are you… I mean…”
It took so much effort, but Vinyl managed to shake her head. Octavia tapped Vinyl’s leg once, twice. She crept a little closer and held her hoof on Vinyl’s chest. She began to relax as she stared into her eyes.
“I can’t believe it.”
The tears came unbidden. Vinyl hadn’t known she had any left. Of all the ponies who might find her. Her mind drifted back to arguments in the dorms, to months of self-denial and sexual frustration, to tears of regret. There were so many things she should have said back then…
She opened her mouth once more, trying to say something, anything, but a low moan was all she could manage.
The sound made Octavia back away, her lips trembling as she swiftly retracted her hoof. Vinyl saw the look in her eyes and felt cold. Mind frantic, body all but immobile, she turned her eyes to the overturned bag at Octavia’s side. Her leg shifted just slightly, reaching for it in futility, her eyes drifting back to Octavia.
Octavia chewed her lip as she observed the prostrate pony. “Are you… hungry? Let me see…” She kept a cautious distance as she grabbed the bag and began to look through it. She kept glancing back at Vinyl, her pretty mulberry eyes watering. “Don’t you have anything not in a can? H-how am I suppose to open these?”
Vinyl’s tears came back. Though she couldn’t speak, she worked her lips over and over again: Please. Feed Me. Please.
“I know, I know. Umm… here.” She pulled one of the cans out – green beans – and set it on its side. She retrieved her sword and, being careful with her aim, brought it down on the can. The tin split easily, and she was able to pull off the top half of the can with little effort. Vinyl’s eyes widened as she saw some of the beans spill over the floor.
“Sorry! I’m trying.” Octavia was breathing heavily, tears in her eyes as she tried not to spill anymore of the life-giving vegetables. She sat next to Vinyl and carefully dropped a few beans into her waiting mouth.
They were delicious, but Vinyl barely had the strength to chew.
The sight of her eating finally broke Octavia; she leaned over her old school mate and sobbed. “G-Goddess, my p-prayers are answered! If I can save j-just one pony…”
She wept for a little while, and Vinyl watched with a weak smile. The instant she had her strength back, she would hold that mare and never let her go.
Like she should have years ago.
“I’m s-sorry…” Octavia wiped her eyes clean and grabbed same more beans. “You must be starved, and here I am having a breakdown.” She snapped the beans into small portions and dropped them into Vinyl’s eager mouth. Vinyl relished the taste, relished the opportunity to eat… relished being alive.
Vinyl studied the silent Octavia as she ate. The pony had grown some muscle, undoubtedly due to the efforts of survival. Though she was smiling, she had bags under her eyes and a certain, worn manner to her movements. Vinyl knew every inch of what Octavia must have been going through over the past few months. She’d always thought of her as such a gentle, feeble pony… and now this.
Once the last of the beans had been eaten, Octavia began looking through the bag once more. “You were going on a food run, weren’t you? I was, too.” She glanced back at her saddle, then the bag, then Vinyl. “Hmm… I guess I can always come back for it tomorrow. I’ll bring you to the theater first.”
She walked around Vinyl, who made no attempt to speak. She knew it was a fruitless endeavor, and probably would be for a long time. Instead she merely watched as Octavia examined the fallen sign and Vinyl’s black leg. She had a deep frown, her tail tucked between her legs as she pressed at the clown’s face.
“This is a problem,” she muttered. “I don’t know how I’m going to move this.”
Vinyl grunted and began the slow, agonizing process of moving her free foreleg. Octavia turned to watch in silence, a helpless frown on her face. After what seemed an eternity, Vinyl was able to get her leg over her chest and to the other side. She pressed weakly right where the dead tissue started and rubbed her hoof back and forth, her eyes locked with Octavia’s.
Octavia watched motion with a frown, tapping her chin… then her ears flattened and she stepped back. “Are you sure?”
Vinyl nodded.
“Well…” Octavia chewed her lip, eyes darting between the pinned leg and Vinyl’s pleading eyes. “If there’s no other way.”
She found her sword and lifted it in her mouth. Slowly, she walked about so that she was standing over Vinyl’s stomach, lowered her head to touch the black flesh with the blade. She raised and lowered the weapon a few times, getting her aim, then cast fretful eyes towards Vinyl.
Vinyl nodded and gradually turned her head away, closing her eyes in preparation.
Seconds passed. She swallowed, gritted her teeth feebly and hoped it would be painless.
There was a loud thwack.
“Shaurry,” Octavia mumbled through the sword grip, “bld’sh dll.”
Another thwack, and another. Vinyl didn’t feel a thing, save for the jerk as the blade left dead flesh. The last hit emitted a metallic ring as the blade hit the floor, and her body rolled a little with the loss of the sign’s hold. Vinyl opened her eyes with a relieved sigh.
The sword hit the ground and Octavia stood over her. “You’re okay? It… it didn’t hurt?”
Vinyl managed to turn her head and look. Her leg now ended in an ugly stump right where the colors turned black. There was no blood. She didn’t find the sensation awkward, though. It actually felt no different than it had for the past several days. How odd, that she could grow accustomed to not having a leg so quickly.
She looked up at Octavia’s concerned face and gave a weak smile. Thank you, she mouthed.
Octavia gave a nervous laugh and relaxed. “‘Thank you for cutting my leg off, Octy. Never could have done it without you.’ How surreal is this?”
Vinyl might have laughed too, had she the energy.
It took some work, but Octavia was eventually able to lift Vinyl onto her back. Vinyl’s head hung loosely beside Octavia’s, her legs dangling as the pony stood to her full height. Octavia grabbed her sword and set it in a sheath at her side before leaving the store through a shattered window.
The streets were empty, or at least as empty as Vinyl had become accustomed to. Her eye roamed the unmoving bodies, scanned the accumulated trash in the corners and the burned out structures with their blackened windows like empty eye sockets. Signs warning of the end of days flapped loosely in a feeble breeze. Those used to amuse her. She doubted whoever put them up had been expecting this.
The once-vibrant city of Canterlot was now little more than a skeleton of paved roads and gutted buildings.
“Amazing, isn’t it?” Octavia shifted to better Vinyl’s balance on her back. “It’s almost peaceful, really.”
Vinyl gave a weak smile.
Octavia continued. “I remember when I first moved here after college. I thought the city was so big, so full of life. It intimidated me at first. I felt like the ponies here wanted to swallow me and spit me back out.”
They turned down a lonely street, Vinyl’s eyes drifting to a record store she used to frequent. The glass had been shattered, the merchandise scattered about like the useless junk it now was.
“I was still such a foal back then.” Octavia glanced at Vinyl with a smile. “Was it the same for you? Probably not. You always struck me as the big city type.”
She turned her eyes forward, her smile fading. “I never thought I could be so lonely.”
Vinyl opened her mouth, sucked in a deep breath… and closed it. She didn’t have to try to know she wouldn’t be able to respond, no matter how much she wanted to. How long would it be before she could? Days?
Her eyes roamed to the street signs as the road began to incline. Octavia said they were going to a theater, but it seemed more like they were going for the aerial district.
“I can’t wait to show you to the others,” Octavia whispered. “I’m sure they’ll be glad to see another survivor. Well… I guess ‘survivor’ isn’t the right word for them.”
Vinyl’s eyes widened at the prospect. She’d gone so long without seeing another living soul. Could there really be a hidden community that she’d not found in all these months? The corners of her mouth turned up in another smile at the thought of finally having somepony to talk to other than herself.
They came upon a large, half-finished wall of hastily-constructed brick. A few withered forms still hung from the small ramparts. The area was charred in spots.
“Sorry,” Octavia whispered as she turned down a side street, leaving the wall behind. “We have to get to the arts district, but it safer to take the long way. I learned it’s not a good idea to go downtown.”
They walked on in silence for a while, Vinyl watching the paving stones drift past. Octavia’s fur rubbed against her cheek. After all that had happened, she still felt soft. Warm, too. So warm… Vinyl missed warmth. She wanted to wrap her legs about her savior and let her body heat consume her. It was so nice to remember that a pony’s body wasn’t supposed to be cold.
They came to the airdock, where lines upon lines of wooden and stone platforms stretched out beyond the Canterlot Cliffside. No airships waited for them, no yachts hosting fancy nobles. The only airship present was smashed into the port authority headquarters, its stern rising at a shallow angle and the balloons shredded.
“Did you witness the carnage here?” Octavia glanced back at Vinyl as they walked alongside the steep drop. Vinyl was glad her head was on the left so that she couldn’t see the bottom of the mountain hundreds of feet below.
“I saw it,” Octavia said, her voice subdued. “It’s one of my most vivid memories of the fall. The masses crowding the Cliffside, the ship crews fighting to keep them at bay. I remember watching Blueblood on his yacht, ordering his crew to kill any refugees who dared to board. His was one of the few to get out before they hit the crowds.”
A shiver ran down the pony’s back. Vinyl listened intently. It was all she could offer.
“You should have seen them, Vinyl. So many attempted to just… jump, like they thought the airships might catch them. Perhaps falling was a better option.”
She paused, leaning sideways. Vinyl realized she must be looking over the edge.
“A lot of ships went down before they could cut their moorings. Too many ponies, too few guards to hold them back, too many of them stampeding into the crowds. It was hideous. I hid in one of the storage sheds with a few others, y’know? We realized there was no salvation in the air.”
Octavia moved on, her pace slow. “It’s funny, but now this is one of the safest neighborhoods in the city. It’s almost like they remember to be scared of heights.”
It did strike Vinyl as odd. They hadn’t encountered a single one since they left the store. It didn’t seem normal.
Huh… ‘normal.’ At what point did the definition of that word change so drastically?
The streets were tinted red. Vinyl glanced up as best she could, noting the steadily-descending sun between the shattered buildings.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Octavia followed her gaze. “Even now, the city at dusk is a beautiful sight. Makes you wonder if one of the princesses is still around, doesn’t it?” She sighed and turned her face away. “They’re not in the castle, though. Fancy checked.”
As she turned away from the Cliffside and entered an alleyway, she glanced back with a beaming smile. “Oh, that’s right, you don’t know. I’ve made friends with Fancy Pants and his wife, Fleur. He was so miserable when she got sick, though. That’s why he went to the castle, he was hoping Celestia might still be around to save her.”
Vinyl managed to make a sympathetic whimper of a response. Her eyes were set on the dark openings in the buildings surrounding them. There was one place where a wall had caved in, the interior of the structure black and ominous. A shriveled hind leg was poking out of the rubble, the cutie mark on the flank indecipherable amongst the bite marks. The bottom half of the leg was nothing but bone, eliciting a tremble through her body.
They passed beneath the lopsided stern of the airship, Octavia stepping through the debris with practiced ease. There was another shape, a head, shoulders and arms pinned beneath a long wooden beam. It had paws and a beak, and was covered in gashes and sores. The damage was so severe that it was truly anonymous.
A chef’s hat lay trampled a few inches away, stained black with dried blood. Vinyl wondered if it was his.
Hers?
Its.
Should she be more horrified?
Probably.
When they passed on to the next street, the air was filled with a low moaning. Vinyl’s head slowly rose to the sound, but Octavia ignored it and turned down the street. The movement let Vinyl spot a nearby jewelry store, its windows sealed with criss-crossing iron bars.
One of them was on the other side, its body pressed against the iron and its jaw snapping. Its dress was little more than silken rags, black with mildew and the remnants of rot. Drool dripped from its broken teeth as it emitted another long, low groan. It’s one eye locked with Vinyl as its head slowly turned to follow the passing ponies.
Vinyl only turned her head aside and closed her eyes.
“You get used to it, don’t you?” Octavia sighed. “That first night was so… I still don’t want to think about it. So many of them, all sick. Sometimes I wonder why I never got sick. The first time I had to really defend myself was…”
She shook her head and glanced back with a smile. “It doesn’t matter. Things have changed so much. You have to look to the future, y’know? So that’s what I did. And the future is indeed bright.”
Vinyl wanted to raise an eyebrow, or shake her head. She did neither.
“You remember how I told you I’d be famous someday? It took a disaster, but I finally did it. I have so many fans now, Vinyl, you can’t even imagine. I perform every night for the ponies I’ve found. Even Fancy approves! He says I should have been discovered years ago. Can you imagine the doors his nod opened up for me?”
Vinyl eyed her, then turned her gaze upon the buildings they were passing. Her vision settled on the blackened skeleton of the Royal Canterlot Museum, its steps littered with withering husks impaled by swords and spears. The front entry stood open, one of the doors little more than shattered wood and splinters and the other lying flat on the ground outside the building. A spear pierced a thin form to the wood, like an insect in a display case.
She turned her head back to Octavia, who was staring ahead with eyes shining brightly.
“I know things look bad,” she said, “but really, it’s getting better. We’ll find a way, I know we will. I was so scared for a while, because they wouldn’t eat. I thought they’d all die. When I found Fancy sick in the castle, I really felt it was over.”
Octavia glanced back at Vinyl with a beaming smile. “But now there’s you. I can’t explain how I feel. After the way things went between us in college… well, to be honest, I cried a few nights afterwards. It hurt, Vinyl.”
She turned her head forward once more with a sigh, making her way into another alleyway. “Can you imagine how different things might have been if I had been honest?”
Vinyl’s eyes widened a touch. Her heart beat a little faster at her savior’s tone and she tried to express herself by rubbing her cheek against Octavia’s neck.
The pony reached up to stroke Vinyl’s cheek. “There, there. It’s in the past, and we have a whole future ahead of us. I can’t wait to introduce you to everypony! When they see you, see that you can eat, surely they’ll do the same. They’ll know that there’s a chance. Maybe… maybe you’ll even talk, too.”
Vinyl pursed her lips and stared up at Octavia, brow furrowed as she thought on her words.
Oblivious, Octavia went on. “We’re almost there. Y’know, when I first thought to go to the theater, I thought it would be a nice place to end it. Never imagined I’d start a community, much less lead it. Who knew a place designed for the arts could make such a strong fortified position? I wouldn’t have. Oh—” she paused once they were out in the street, “—looks like we have another applicant.”
Vinyl heard the moaning, but she couldn’t move her head to the other side of Octavia for a proper view. Her savior shifted before taking a few steps back.
“This is unfortunate. I only have one seat left. There’s just not enough room for two more. Oh, what to do, what to do?”
The snarls grew louder. Vinyl squirmed a little, trying to raise her head enough to see over Octavia’s neck, but it was no use. If only she had the energy…
Octavia patted her cheek once again. “Don’t worry, Vinyl. I’m not going to choose a stranger over an old friend. What kind of pony would I be?”
She took a few more steps back. Vinyl could hear its body dragging across paving stones.
“I really hate to do it… but I guess there’s no other option. I can’t have it banging on my door at night. I’m sorry Vinyl, but I don’t think I can do it right with you on my back. You understand, don’t you?”
Octavia walked down the road a short distance before dropping to her knees. She deposited Vinyl as gently as she could on the curb, then turned around to face it. Though her neck protested, Vinyl managed to turn her head. She was looking between Octavia’s hooves and was at last able to see the approaching threat.
It was a crystal pony, of all things. Or at least, it used to be. Its coat still reflected the twilight, but it was dull and foggy like the surface of polished rock, and had none of the usual transparency. Half the pony’s face had been chewed off, leaving muscle tissue dangling freely and a large amount of lower jawbone exposed. It dragged itself forward on cracked forehooves, the hind legs little more than bloody muscle tissue and exposed bone.
Octavia took a few steps towards it. “You must be from the ballet group. What were you performing, Crystal Chalice? It was earning rave reviews. Quite the resumé.”
The crystal pony groaned, its dull head leaning back to look up with sightless eyes and its teeth clicking.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not accepting applications anymore. I’m not sure you’d be of much use in your condition, anyway.”
Vinyl would have gaped if she could raise her head enough to properly drop her jaw. She watched Octavia’s backside, mind humming with possibilities.
The crystal pony dragged itself a little closer, its snarl causing a black, bubbly substance to slip out of its mouth where the jawbone was exposed. It hit the ground in a nauseating slop.
Octavia held her ground. “Please, if you don’t back down I’ll be forced to take certain measures.”
Vinyl listened to the words, trying to make sense of them. She eyed the sheathed sword at Octavia’s side.
More moist growling as the crystal pony dragged itself a little closer to Octavia’s legs.
With a sigh, Octavia shook her head. “I’d help you if I could, but… I’m sorry.” She reached back and grabbed the sword handle in her mouth. The metallic ring of the weapon leaving its sheath echoed through the streets.
She held the weapon ready, her neck tensing as the crystal pony came within a couple feet. Her voice worked around the sword handle. “Lasht chansh.”
The crystal pony pressed its hooves to the ground, lifting its body up as it craned its neck for Octavia’s chest. It gave a long, throaty sound that was somewhere between a hiss and a growl.
Octavia’s head swung about and the blade smacked the side of the pony’s face. It toppled to its side, still growling as the blade came down on its head again and again. Vinyl watched with a sick feeling in her gut as it squirmed and kicked at its attacker.
How strange. Vinyl had done similar things on so many occasions, but watching Octavia do it… The sight wrenched her heart. She thought back on that kind, confident pony from her college days, the one that only wanted to play her cello and hated Vinyl’s music. The one who always moved with so much grace, who spoke in that haughty tone whenever Vinyl came around, who had such pretty mulberry eyes when she was staring off into space. The image was enough to bring a tear to her eye.
The crystal pony at last stopped moving. Octavia took a moment to wipe the muck off her sword before sheathing it. “I’m sorry, but I tried to warn you.”
She turned and paused upon seeing her friend. “Vinyl?”
Vinyl only closed her eyes, tears rolling down her cheeks.
“I… I’m sorry. I had to.” She felt Octavia holding her. “I didn’t want to. I had no choice. Please understand. If there was another way… but they’re sick. They don’t get it. Someday, m-maybe…”
They remained that way for a few seconds, Vinyl thinking on days long gone. It didn’t last; Octavia stood and began lifting her enfeebled friend once more. “Come on, it’s going to be dark soon. Can’t stay out on the streets at night.”
Safely on Octavia’s back, Vinyl’s eyes avoided the crystal pony as they walked past it. She couldn’t miss the long line of black gunk that marked its path, though.
“Y’know, that reminds me of Sapphire Shores. I got to talk to her before things got bad.” Octavia turned down one more street. “She was just coming back from her Crystalline Sensation tour. She told me that right after she left, the entire Empire went silent.
“Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? It gives me hope. Maybe Princess Cadance found a way to use the Crystal Heart to protect her ponies. That would be nice, wouldn’t it?”
She turned and began walking up some steps. Vinyl’s eyes rolled up to find them approaching a large building, its exterior made of smooth stone. She noted how strangely pristine the stonework was, free of dark blemishes. A few cracks here, a chipped off piece of concrete there, but compared to most of Canterlot it seemed spotless.
“Welcome to the Temple of Music. Pretty fancy name for a theater, don’t you think?” Octavia pushed through a large wooden door. Vinyl got one last look at the outside world, which was just starting to lose the last touch of sunlight. Then the door closed and she was enshrouded in darkness. They walked a short distance before Octavia set her down on the hardwood floor.
“You just wait here, okay? I’ve got to seal the entrance.” Octavia’s hoofsteps echoed in the dark, and soon there came a grinding sound.
As Vinyl’s eyes slowly grew accustomed to the shadows, she spotted Octavia pushing something large. A desk, perhaps? It had to be a significant weight, and the pony groaned as her legs wobbled against it. Seeing that let Vinyl really appreciate how toned the earth pony had become since the last time she’d seen her.
At last the desk was in place. Octavia leaned over it, panting heavily and brushing her unkempt fringe from her face. Her head turned to Vinyl. “Give me… a moment,” she panted. “It’s not so easy without… without the boys. They’re all too sick to help.”
Vinyl blinked as weariness came over her. It caught her entirely off guard… but then it wasn’t like she was full of energy these days. She didn’t want to sleep, though. She wanted to listen to Octavia, to catch up, to talk. There was so much to say…
She opened her mouth and tried one more time. All that came out was a feeble sound, though she might have heard the faintest “Oct…” in there.
Octavia stood up straight and brushed herself off before turning to Vinyl with a smile. “I know, you’re eager to meet everypony. Well you’re in luck: I have a show tonight, and one seat left! I’ll let you watch it, then introduce you to everypony. Doesn’t that sound nice?”
Vinyl’s stomach rumbled her response.
Octavia giggled as she went to pick her up once more. “Maybe that’s why they won’t eat; they don’t know they’re hungry. They don’t have such obvious tells, after all. We’ll get you something proper from storage after the show, okay?”
Despite everything, Vinyl allowed herself to relax. She was with the most important pony of her life. A second chance was being granted to her, and she was willing to take it.
She really would rather eat while watching, though.
“You’re going to be proud of me, Vinyl, I just know it! Wait till you meet everypony. Fancy, Fleur, Sapphire, even Hoity Toity and Photo Finish! All the big names are here, just waiting to watch me perform. I know they’re not exactly your idea of fun, but I think you’ll warm up to them before too long.”
Vinyl grumbled her agreement, her eyes tracing the lines in the wood as she was carried deeper into the dark of the theater. Her head rose just a fraction as Octavia stopped before a large, red door.
“Okay, you ready? They’ll all be seated already, so I’ll just set you down quietly in your seat and introduce you up on stage, if that’s all right.”
Octavia turned her head to look Vinyl in the eye, her hoof rising to rub the pony’s chin tenderly. “I’m really glad you’re here, Vinyl. Really. It means so much to me…” She sighed, the two staring into one another’s eyes.
Vinyl was enraptured by the sparkle in those mulberry pools. Oh, if only she had the strength to move her head a little higher! She pressed her forehead against Octavia’s muzzle and hoped the message came through. Octavia pressed back with a smile.
They lingered that way for some time, Vinyl delighting in a kind of contact she thought she’d never find again, but then Octavia pulled back.
“Oh, what are we doing?” she asked with a giggle and a blush. “We’re leaving everypony waiting. Come on, then.” She pushed her way through the door.
The auditorium was dark and quiet. Vinyl’s eyes went to the nearest chairs, her eyes settling on numerous ponies. They were still as the grave. Initially.
Heads began to turn as Octavia’s hoofsteps echoed in the open space.
A moan caught Vinyl’s ears.
It was joined by another.
And another.
A feeble gasp escaped her lips as she stared at rotted flesh, chewed up faces and exposed bone. They lurched in their seats, straining against belts and ropes and chains as they snarled and snapped their teeth at the two ponies. Hooves stretched out, waving slowly in the air as the unforgiving stench of decay hit Vinyl’s nostrils.
“Yes, everypony, I’m back,” Octavia said with cheer. “And look, I brought us a new friend! She’s a little rough around the edges, but I promise you’ll all come to love her.”
Vinyl’s wide eyes went to her savior. Her lips trembled as she fought to find words.
“No, Jet.” Octavia waved away the bony tip of a grey leg. “I told you, I don’t have any quills to sign autographs.” She paused before another hoof with a blush and a hoof to her cheek. “Now really, Trenderhoof, I already told you I’m not interested. I’m saving my heart for a certain special somepony.”
She winked at Vinyl, who was gasping for air. A frail whimper escaped her lips as she tried to cry out.
“Guess what? You get to sit next to the most popular fashion model in Canterlot!”
Octavia turned to an empty seat. Vinyl let out a cry so feeble she almost didn’t hear it herself.
The pony might have been pink once, but by now most of her fur had rotted off, leaving plains of dirty brown hide exposed. Parts of her body were black with dead tissue and there were putrid holes were chunks of flesh had been ripped away from her ribs, shoulders and neck. Her tongue hung through a hole between her lower jaw and throat, twisting and turning as she stared and tugged against thin ropes that held her against the back of the seat.
“Fleur, I’d like you to meet Vinyl. She’s an old friend, so please treat her with all the kindness and compassion you do me.”
Panicked whimpers escaped Vinyl’s lips as she tried to shake her head, but it was no use; Octavia set her down in the chair next to Fleur. She fell back against the seat, her lips working frantically to mouth her discomfort, but Octavia only patted her mane with a smile.
“Don’t worry, Vinyl. I promise, Fleur’s an angel. Just play nice and you’ll get along wonderfully.” She rubbed her cheek against Vinyl’s with a grin.
“Alright, I need to get on stage. Feel free to get acquainted. See you after the show!”
Vinyl stared after her, her breath coming in long, deep gasps. Her foreleg trembled on the legrest, but she couldn’t raise it more than an inch or so. She strained to scream, forcing her lungs to work, but all she could manage was a barely audible “Octavia…”
The click of teeth caught her attention. She turned her eyes upon her neighbor, who was leaning towards her and snapping. That tongue rolled upwards, threatening to caress Vinyl’s cheek.
Vinyl fought against her own body, screaming silently as she shifted just the tiniest distance away. The motion only made Fleur tense a little more and emit a moan.
Vinyl’s eyes darted about as the noise grew louder. The pony in the seat before her was thrashing, his toothless mouth opening and closing as he tried to get a look at her. She could hear the one behind emitting a gurgling sound and could just imagine it inches away from the back of her head. Tears dripped down her cheeks as she gazed at an auditorium coming alive with squirming, groaning and snarling bodies.
Every. Single. Seat.
Her body scarcely moved, but in her head she was shrieking. Her remaining foreleg shifted just enough to fall off the legrest, and she pressed it against the outside of the chair. Her body moved by an infinitesimal amount. She glanced out of the corner of her eye and noticed Fleur had moved a little closer. Her vision fell upon the pony’s foreleg, little more than bone and rotting muscle bound by ropes to the legrest… and both were failing.
Whimpers and whistling breaths arose from Vinyl’s throat as she pushed against the chair with everything she had. Her head shook, tears welled in her eyes, her heart tried to beat its way out of her chest! She was moving, millimeter by millimeter, but Fleur’s leg cracked and slipped. She slid over a short ways, her tongue waving about. It just barely touched Vinyl’s cheek.
Vinyl’s weight was finally far enough over to let her fall a little, and she found herself leaning over the legrest. Her head dangled over the aisle as she tried to push herself over. Fleur’s groaning grew more pronounced, ringing through Vinyl’s mind with crystal clarity over the din of the rest of the auditorium.
“Good evening, everypony.”
Her eyes went to the stage. Octavia was there, surrounded by candles and holding her cello. She gazed out at the crowd with a beaming smile.
Vinyl tried to scream for her. She managed only a hoarse wind.
“Thank you all for coming tonight. You have no idea how much it means to have your support.”
The auditorium erupted in snarls and moans, to which she bowed flamboyantly.
Vinyl heard the crack of bone. Fleur’s growls grew closer.
“Tonight we have a very special new member in the audience,” Octavia continued, pointing with her bow. “Vinyl Scratch is an old and dear friend of mine from my college days. Please welcome her into the community and help her feel like she belongs. I can see she’s already become very close with our beloved Fleur de Lis. Careful, Vinyl, her husband gets jealous.”
The moans intensified, bodies pressing against their bonds as they focused on the giggling Octavia.
Vinyl heaved a silent sob as she failed to get over the legrest. She realized that she might be able to do it if she used her magic. The thought left her feeling cold.
“I’ve decided to play a house favorite tonight, Hooftosky’s Sonnet Naturale. I think that’s an appropriate song for welcoming our new friend, don’t you?”
Octavia turned her head sideways and perked her ears, smiling as the audience groaned as one.
Fleur let out another snarl. Vinyl closed her eyes and tried to focus on her horn. She ground her teeth and strained, fighting to summon up the magic she’d denied herself for so long. Her lips worked in a silent prayer.
“Glad you all concur! Now, without further ado, let us begin this magical night.”
Vinyl felt herself rise. It wasn’t much, and it made her head throb… but she fought to hold it and move her body. Fleur’s snarling grew closer as another snap filled the air.
She moved with a jerk, her center of gravity at last going over the legrest. As she toppled, however, there was a last, loud snap and a ripping sound. Vinyl collapsed to her shoulder, her hind legs dangling over the side of the leg rest. She pressed her hooves against the floor and tried to pull her disobedient body.
Pain ran up one of her hind legs. She opened her mouth to scream.
Whatever sound she might have managed was drowned out by the slow, mellow tones of a cello.
Vinyl’s cheek hit the floor as pain seared through her. Her leg was thrashing beyond her control. She made no attempt to extract it. She just let the tears flow and stared up to the stage.
Octavia had her eyes closed as she swayed to the song. Through the pain and the sinking feeling in her gut, Vinyl was able to listen. For the first time in her life, she really listened. It wasn’t a bad song, not really. Octavia was so much better than Vinyl would have ever admitted before.
Why hadn’t she told her?
Vinyl’s body was like ice. She felt her leg drop, heard the distinct growling. How long before the next bite? Would she even feel it?
Her eyes didn’t leave Octavia, even as her vision began to blur and the numbness began to pass over her.
It gnawed at her mind like a disease.
Hunger.
Author's Note
My last addition to the Them Universe... for now. I look forward to seeing how Bob's three stories come out.
This was actually the very first of the set that I wrote, but because we made the decision to publish in reverse-chronological order this one had to come out last. While chatting with Bob over the subject of expanding the Them universe, I suddenly had an image of Octavia playing for a crowd of zomponies... so here you go.
