Roses and Violets

Chapters

I Said Hi
Tragic Sagas
Roma's Return
A Bit of Sin
The Ruination of Nothing
Healing the Scars, Part 1
Healing the Scars, Part 2
Rend the Flesh, Part 1
Interlude I: The Talk

I Said Hi

I said hi.

That’s all I did and he looked at me like I was crazy. Well, I might actually have been, but like, that’s beside the point. His eyes told me to leave him alone and his grimace said some words I wasn’t comfortable repeating, but like, he could have been a nice guy.

And then he walked around me.

See, I had kind of stepped in front of him in the hallway and made him stop walking. It was a little rude, yeah, but he always walked so quickly, there was no way I could have caught up to him. And it wasn’t so much that he walked, but glided across the floor.

So, he glided around me and kept going. There were only a couple of people in the hallway, and they all stared at me in surprise. My best friend, Octavia, walked up behind me.

“Vinyl, what did I tell you? He doesn’t speak to anyone except the teachers. I’ve only seen that once, actually,” she said to me, and put a hand on my shoulder.

“Well, yeah, but he could’ve at least said hi back. That’s just rude,” I replied, and walked off in his direction. There was something about this guy I liked, and I didn’t know what it was. I did know that whatever it was, it had prompted me to speak to him.

I’m normally the one that never says anything. When Sunset Shimmer had tried to bully me into submission, well, I kinda did what the guy just did to me. I just ignored the mean ol’ witch. Even when the Dazzlings had convinced Trixie to trap the reformed Sunset and the Rainbooms under the stage, that weird talking dog had come to get me. I followed him, helped them out, and used my epic as can be transforming car to give them a sound boost. And throughout that entire endeavor, I never said a word. It’s not that I was shy or anything, I was pretty confident and stuff, I just never really had a reason to say anything. I always threw on my headphones and lost myself in sweet, sweet dubstep.

Speaking of which… I looked around, and noticed Vice-Principal Luna watching me with a look I knew well. It said, ‘Don’t even think about it.’ So, with a dejected sigh, I moved on. The school had this dumb policy about electronics. The only time it was okay to use them was during study hall, lunch, and if you had a free period. Actually, I had my free period then, so I spoke up. “I’m on free,” I said nonchalantly, and pulled out my massive, sound canceling headphones. VP Luna nodded and went back inside her office.

I decided to give up on the guy for the day, and went outside to sit next to the giant horse statue in front of the school, hoping that Sunset and the others weren’t there. I mean, we were all cool, but I kind of just wanted to chill by myself. Thankfully, only one of them was there. It was the adorable one. She meekly waved at me, but unlike usual, she didn’t give me that awkward smile.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” I asked, halting the process of adorning my headphones. She was shy, yeah, but she was sweet. If nothing was wrong, she would always smile and wave at her friends. Even in that simple act, she somehow maintained highest level of adorable possible. It was sweet enough to give Pinkie Pie cavities.

She shifted in place a little bit, causing her boots to click quietly on the ground. “N-nothing’s really wrong… but there was this really big guy… he’s really scary.” At this, I got a little irritated. I’d only been friends with the Rainbooms for a month or so now, but a friend of mine is not someone you mess with. It’s a good way to get your butt kicked in a heartbeat. Not by me, I couldn’t do much. But I could get a good look at the guy and tell the Rainbooms.

“Where is he?” I asked calmly. It was always a bad idea to get angry around Fluttershy, because her delicate temperament made her think you were mad at her.

She pointed to her right. “Um… over there, under that tree thingy… but Vinyl he didn’t-” Her words were lost to me as I clamped my headphones on and stomped over to the aforementioned arbor. I knew the girl who had built it, her name was Rose. Cool chick, frequented the club I played at. The vicious sounds of aggrotech flooded my ears and got my blood pumping. I was getting close to the arbor now. A few more yards...

I exploded into the arbor to see him. He was just sitting there, on the ground with his back leaned against one of the arbor’s columns. He had his right leg out straight, the left folded with his knee in the air, his right arm laid out beside him, and his left arm resting on his waist, while his hand fiddled with something in his lap. For the first time, I actually looked at him. Looked carefully, and took in his features, his attire. And it stopped me dead in my tracks.

It was all so weird.

His hair was long, kind of like Octavia’s, except it hung freely around his shoulders. The color was a direct inverse to my own shocking two-tone blue. While my hair was mainly dark blue, with lighter streaks exploding through it, his was a violent red, with darker red streaks flowing through it. He was pale, like I was. He had red eyes, like I did. He wore shades, like I did. But it was all so different on him. He wore narrow shades with red lenses, and they rested on the edge of his nose so he could see whatever was in his lap. His skin was pale like the moon; mine was pale like a ghost. His eyes were red, like blood, while mine were red like wine.

His clothes were even weirder. Now, I’m not normally one to judge, seeing as I wear some pretty off-the-wall stuff, but his duds were just so… plain. He wore a simple white leather jacket over a tucked-in red t-shirt, matched with white jeans, and red pointy-toed boots. I looked at his hands; he wore several rings. One was big, with a cross emblazoned on it that sat on his left index finger. His other hand had two rings, one on the middle with a stylized emerald heart, and another on his ring finger that was just a plain band. They were all silver. But I could also see what looked like scars along the sides opposite his thumbs.

It was then I noticed that he was looking right back at me. His eyes darted back and forth, up and down, and any other direction he could manage. Even the way we looked at each other was different. I was taking him in, absorbing his features. He was examining me, cataloguing everything about me. It almost felt… dirty.

He never, ever said a word. He just stood up, put his phone in his pocket, and touched his fingers to a small device on his belt. Of course, I hadn’t noticed the headphones in his ears. They were covered by his hair. He reached up and I flinched, thinking he was going to hit me. His right middle finger touched against the center of his shades and pushed them back up.

Suddenly, Fluttershy came jogging up behind me, breathing heavily. “Vinyl! I-I tried tell you, but he didn’t do anything. He just… scared… me.”

“Oh.” I hadn’t even noticed that I had taken my headphones off. When did that happen? I gathered myself back up and looked him in the eyes. “So, hey ther—”

He walked around me again and in the process, nodded to Fluttershy, who blushed furiously.

I was speechless. This guy had he nerve to ignore me twice, nod to my friend, and not say a word. He wasn’t shy, like I had thought, he was just a jerk.

“Principal Celestia?” I asked, as I knocked on her door.

“Yes?” came her soothing voice from the other side. “Come in.”

I slowly opened the door, and walked inside. “Um… Hi.”

“Miss Scratch, if you came to make small talk, I do have things I could be doing.”

“Uh, no… I was wondering if you could tell me about that guy with the red hair,” I stated awkwardly. My face had to be as red as my eyes.

“Heath Burns?” she asked, leaning back in her chair.

“No, the other one, with hair kinda like Tavi’s, and the white clothes. Kind of a tall guy?”

“Oh." Her face faltered for a moment, which I'm pretty certain meant she was about to lie to me... "I don’t know much a bout him, myself. Quite frankly, I’d forgotten all about him. I think his name is Roman… I’m not sure. On his first day, he came by, picked up a schedule and a map, and left.” The Principal paused for a moment and crossed her arms as she looked at me with wide, concerned eyes. “Did... did something happen between you and him?”

“Not really. I said hi a couple of times and he just brushed me off,” I told her coolly, and narrowed my eyes. She was hiding something.

“Well, if anything does happen, come to me first. I don’t want to hear about anyone being pummeled by cellos or lyres.”

I smiled awkwardly. “Yes ma’am. You made that perfectly clear last time.” Of course, she would bring up that fight with Trixie. “To be fair, though, she kicked me in the stomach.”

“I don’t care. Ocatvia, Lyra, and Bon Bon all have a reputation for their tempers. I really don’t want them handling something like that on their own. I understand they want to protect you, bu-”

“Right. I’m just gonna go.” And I did just that I stood, and walked out of her office as fast as I could.

“Finyl, what’f yoh pwoblem wiff vat guy?” Lyra asked as she leaned her chair back at the lunch table.

“Lyra, please! Refrain from speaking with your mouth full. It’s appalling.”

“Gotta go with Tavi on this one, that’s pretty gross,” I said, and took a bite of my burrito. After I swallowed, I grabbed a napkin and wiped a bit of meat off my lip, a habit I picked up prom the aforementioned cellist. “And my problem is that he was a total douche to me. And the way he was looking at me…”

“Vinyl, I saw you two, he just looked at you,” Bon Bon said from behind her sandwich. “Just looked you square in the eyes.”

“Not in the hallway, I saw him again under the arbor. I thought he had messed wi— there he is!”

“What?” Octavia turned in her seat to get a glimpse of the man. “My goodness, he’s as tall as I am!”

The red man was walking over to a table that I knew very well. It was where my band mates were sitting. He walked up behind Rarity. His arm went around her and he sat a notebook on the table in front of her. He said something, but he was too far away to hear. After that, he turned and walked towards the exit, which meant he would pass by… “Hey, I gotta go. Tavi, take care of my tray?” She nodded. “Thanks! Owe ya one.” I snagged up my burrito and walked briskly out the door, and went around the corner to wait for him.

It was a moment before he came out, longer than it should have been. When he came through the wide double-doors, he looked in my general area, and strode off in the opposite direction. I silently cursed myself for assuming he would come my direction.

I made my way back to the lunch table to find Octavia and the others looking at me nervously. “Hey, what’s wrong guys?”

“He stopped at our table,” Lyra said quietly, which was definitely not like her.

“He said to tell you to leave him alone,” Bon Bon added.

I looked to Octavia for her input, but all I got was a look I didn’t usually see. The kind of look that makes you think of sad kittens. “Vinyl, I don’t think you should talk to him again. He seems… ominous,” she said gently. “I don’t like the feeling he gives off.”

“So the dude’s got bad vibes. So does Sunset,” I pointed out, but to no avail.

“Yes, but we know Sunset is good. This fellow, we don’t know anything about him. He could be a serial killer for all we know.” While my firend had a point, I’d never let that stop me before. But if this guy had Octavia rattled, it would probably be best to listen.

“Alright. I’ll leave him alone.”

Nine days had passed, and I had kept my word and left the red haired guy alone. I avoided him in the hallways, stayed away from the arbor during free period and always made an effort not to look his way at lunch.

Today, unfortunately, it was unavoidable. It was the tenth day, and I had practically forgotten about him, until he straight up stepped in front of me.

I smirked, and attempted to step around him, the way he’d done me, but all he had to do was hold out his arm to block my path. “It’s Vinyl, right?” his voice was kind of gravelly, but smooth at the same time, like a note played poorly on Tavi’s cello.

“What do you want?” I snapped, remembering how shaken my friends had been.

“I need a favor.”

“Okay, why should I help you? You’ve been a douche since I tried to introduce myself,” I stated with an intense look in my eyes, which he probably couldn’t see through my shades. They were mirrored, unlike his.

“Because it’s for Rarity. I’m sure you've noticed, but she’s sick today. I was supposed to drop some stuff off with her, but I don’t have her address.”

“Text her.”

“… or my phone,” he said, looking at the ground. Hold up, was he embarrassed?

“Fine, I’ll take you to her place after school,” I said callously, and started to walk away.

“Like, in a car?” What? I turned back to look at him. Was he stupid or something?

“Yeah, how else?”

His face started turning as red as his hair. “I… can’t do cars,” he muttered under his breath.

“Come again?”

“I just need her address, that’s all,” he said, acting like it was what he’d said before.

“Here.” I grabbed his arm and pulled up his sleeve, then scribbled the fashionista’s address down in (ironically) red ink. “Before you go, I gotta ask, what did you say to my crew?”

“I said, ‘Tell that blue haired girl to leave me alone.’ That’s all. Why?”

“They were pretty shaken up,” I said, glaring at him. Though, again, he probably couldn’t see it through my epic shades.

His eyebrows shot up like he was amused or something. “Sorry, I tend to frighten a lot of people.”

“You don’t scare me.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

"Really."

"Yes, really!"

Suddenly, the weirdo took a step towards me, and I found my back against a locker. My face started burning as he leaned down and looked into my eyes. I felt a finger against the rim of my shades and they were promptly flicked up, revealing my eyes to him. His face was so close, I could smell his breath, which oddly smelled like cherry candy. There was literally an inch between his lips and mine... and then it stopped. He pushed off the locker and took a few steps back. “You’ve got beautiful eyes, Miss Vinyl, you should show them off.”

I cleared my throat awkwardly, and stated obviously, “Yours are the same.”

“Not quite. Anyways, I best be going,” he said, then turned on the ball of his foot and walked away, waving behind him.

“What a douche…” I straightened out my dress, even through it hadn’t got messed up, and walked away towards Octavia’s class. Which was also Lyra’s class. Bon Bon was in the gym at the time, so bugging her was out of the question. But then, Lyra and Tavi were in band so… wait… “Was he wearing earrings?”

Six more days passed, and me and Red still avoided each other like the plague. He sat under the arbor during free, and I had taken to chilling by the horse statue. Sometimes, I watched him. He would sit there, and fiddle with his phone, listening to music (I assumed). Sometimes, I felt him watching me. Of course I kind of did the same thing he did. I played with my phone, listened to music, and sometimes I’d play a game on my laptop.

On the sixth day, my world went to hell. Or rather, I should say the sixth night. I had a gig at a swanky club called Crystal Palace. It was the sort of place where folks sat at tables and drank martinis and talked about how rich they were. They didn’t dance and I absolutely hated that. But the job paid well, so I took it. I had just pulled up in my sick ride, and had handed the key to the valet, when this chick bumps in to me.

“Terribly sorry, dear, I didn’t see you there!” I looked up to see this insanely skinny model-looking lady, with pink hair and a silver silk dress. “Hold on, aren’t you a little young to be here?”

“I’m the new DJ. Name’s Vinyl Scratch.”

“Scratch? Any relation to Cornelius Scratch?”

“CD Scratch is my dad,” I said bluntly.

“Oh Cornelius was such a stupendous violinist! How is he faring?”

“Well enough I guess. Uh, who are you, exactly?” I asked, feeling a little dumb for not knowing.

“Oh, I’m sorry! My name is Fleur Dis Lee. I’m a renowned model,” she said, fanning herself with her hand dramatically. Her eyes focused on something behind me. “Um, it seems that poor boy is having some trouble…”

I tuned to see the valet was sitting in my car and looking at the controls like a retard, so I walked up and leaned over the side. “Dude, there’s the ignition. Do I need to tell you where the pedals are?”

“What does the other stuff do?” he asked, indication the various switches, knobs, and slides.

“Look, pal, you don’t worry about those. Your job is to park my car, not know it inside out. So go do your freaking job.” I was probably a bit ruder than was called for, but for some reason, the guy ticked me off. He wasn’t doing his job, and that meant I couldn’t do mine.

“Right, sorry ma’am,” he said, and then the engine roared to life.

And he took off...

Right into a lamp post.

The kid went flying.

He screamed.

My car was totaled.

I dropped to my knees.

What the hell just happened?! There were screams. I heard that Fleur chick hollering for someone to help the kid. I felt tears start streaming down my face. Today was one of the rare occasions that I had on makeup, so that started running. It burned, like staring at the sun, but for the love of god, I could not close my eyes. I could not look away from the horror that had befallen my precious Wub Machine.

A hand on my shoulder snapped me out of my daze, and there was a man with a curly blue mustache kneeling beside me. “Miss Scratch, are you alright? You weren’t harmed were you?”

“N-n-n-no…” The meek word escaped my mouth, despite my attempt to stem it‘s release.. “But, my car…”

“I’m sure it was expensive…” he said, and rubbed his hand across my back. It was comforting, at least. My car wasn’t expensive, it was one of a kind. There was no other car like it in the world; I designed it myself. And then I broke down, right there, and sobbed like a little girl. “Do you want me to call someone?” I nodded meekly, and pulled out my phone and handed it to him. He scrolled through the contacts, selected one and a moment later he started speaking. “Rarity? Hello, it’s Fancy. Don’t worry, Miss Scratch is unharmed. Her car was wrecked by the valet. Yes, he’s fine as well. Your friend is… distraught. Alright. Farewell.”

“She coming?”

“No, she’s occupied. She is, however, sending someone to get you. Some fellow named Roamer. Odd name, that is.”

About twenty minutes later, a tow truck arrived, and I gave him my address so he could drop my car there. It wasn't like Tavi had one. It wouldn’t be in the way. The truck left and I was stuck waiting for my mysterious ride. I was shocked when it came moments later.

A red and white Kawasaki Ninja rolled up and lurched to a stop, and a man in a red and white jumpsuit and matching helmet dismounted. He walked over and held out a second helmet for me.

“No! You are the LAST person I want to see right now!” I screamed, and ran off in whatever direction made sense at the time. I know it was the opposite direction of home.

Once I was a few blocks away, I pulled out my phone and dialed up Tavi. It rang once, and I got an immediate answer. “VINYL SCRATCH, DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I WAS?!”

“Sorry, Octavia. I’ll be home in a few hours. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” Beep. I hung up. I didn’t have anything else to say. It rang, and I saw it was Tavi, so I hit ‘ignore’ and kept walking. It rang again. And again. And it didn’t ring a fourth time. By now, I had walked another block, and my feet hurt.

An engine hissed up beside me. Ninjas were notoriously quiet bikes, I later found out. “Vinyl.”

“Go away.”

“You know I can’t do that.”

I turned and glared at him. He flinched. “And why not?!”

“Because I’m a jerk,” he said and dismounted. He shut the bike down and walked over to me. His gait was a bit more determined than usual. “I’m a royal ass, and I've been sent to pick you up. Now here’s the deal Vinyl, get on the bike, or I will use my spare helmet to knock you unconcious and you’ll arrive home draped across my gas tank like a fox after the hunt.”

“Let’s see you try. The Rainbooms would have your head!” I snarled at him.

“Wouldn’t be the first time. Most of them don’t exactly like me, if you haven’t noticed.”

“And why the hell would that be?”

“Because I made Pinkie cry.” The quiet night street grew even quieter. When had that happened? HOW had that happened? “Now, Rarity asked me to come get you, and I intend on doing just that.”

“I don’t even know your name.”

“Roma Heart.” he replied bluntly, giving a slight bow.

“Roma… can, you like… just… come back in a little while?”

“You don’t want to go home yet, do you?”

“No…” I said, as I felt tears coming back to my eyes.

“Well, come on. I find a night ride tends to soothe one's soul.”

“Where will you take me?”

“Somewhere amazing."

“… Okay.”

I didn’t care that he was still being an ass and I didn’t think about the fact that he could take me home and rape me. I just wanted some peace and quiet.

And right now, it seemed like he was the only place I was going to get it.

Author's Note

So, unlike the other incarnations of Roma, this version is NOT a vampire. Even though, by default, that's what I designed him to be... I just didn't want this to be a Twilight clone. Anyway, there will be, at the least, three more chapters.

Tragic Sagas

True to his word Roma took me somewhere, to a place I didn’t even know existed. There was a huge hill-top, just outside of town, where you could see Canterlot in all its metropolitan glory. It was wonderful at night. Walking or riding down the street, I would always think the city was beautiful, but I never knew it was this pretty. I never knew how the city looked like it was made of mirrors and fireflies. I certainly never knew how fun a motorcycle was to ride.

The view was intoxicating. We stood there, staring out over the wondrous vista of cityscape, and neither of us said a word for a very, very long time. But it was Roma who spoke first.

“I’m sorry.” The statement took me by surprise, to say the least. I did not expect him to apologize.

“For what?” I asked, not really sure where this was going.

He sighed, and leaned back against the motorcycle. “Everything. Ignoring you, pinning you against the lockers, threatening to knock you out. All of it.”

“It’s all good. We’re friends now, right? Frie–”

“We aren’t friends, Vinyl. I know your name, you know mine, and we took a ride around town on my bike. That doesn’t make us friends.” A look crossed his face that seemed pained, but I couldn’t really tell, with all that hair hiding it from me. “Starting Monday, we go back to the way things were.”

“Why?” I asked, and moved to stand beside him.

“Because I don’t need friends.”

“Roma, everyone needs friends. Tavi taught me that,” I said calmly, and noticed that he wasn’t looking me in the face. He was staring off to the side, trying to avoid me.

“Get on the bike, I’m taking you home. It was a mistake to bring you here,” he said with a scowl, then turned and swung his leg over the bike. As he swept his hair away from his face, I swear I saw something wet on it, shining in the light from the city. And I know I wasn’t mistaking his earrings for it, because it was way too far forward. But before I could examine it, he pulled his helmet on and started up the Ninja. “Vinyl, get on.”

“This is not over,” I said, and complied. As I raised my right foot up to hike myself onto the seat, it dawned on me that I was wearing a dress. Not my normal one, that I always wore shorts under, but a regular, mid-calf length, fluttery, flared out dress, with a slit halfway up my thigh. “Uh, Roma?”

“What?”

I blushed, not really wanting to ask, but I had to. “Has there been anyone behind us tonight? Like, on the road?”

“No. Don’t worry, no one saw your underwear. Though I would suggest riding side saddle if you are concerned,” he said, and I swore I heard a faint amusement in his voice.

“Um… okay,” I said, and adjusted myself so that both feet were on the same side, but for it to be comfortable, I had to face backwards. “Go slow, okay?”

“Alright, but hold on to my shoulder anyways,” he said, concern flooding his vioce.

One I told him that I was secured, he took off slowly, then maintained a decent cruising speed. The bike was surprisingly smooth for a sport model and there wasn’t much… discomfort during the slow trip. The ride was pleasant, as neither of us spoke, and the only sound we could hear was the bike’s quiet engine, and the wind whispering in our ears. My dress fluttered behind me, giving the whole scene a kind of poetic feel. I loved when real life acted like that; it allowed me to lose myself in my own little fantasies. I usually had music to accompany my imagination, but my mp3 player had been in my car, so I let my mind take over.

I was flying. I was flying, and there was a man beneath me. I was riding on his lower back, with my legs held in a demure pose, keeping my knees together. My mount beat his wing powerfully, causing his long red hair to flutter as we undulated in the air. My dress, white as snow, flowed behind us as the wind threatened to tear it from my body. And while he wore no shirt, no trousers, he was clad in a simple cloth around his waist, acting in a similar manner to a kilt. On his hip was a simple sword, one he would use to protect me when the other angels threatened to take me away. We had committed the ultimate travesty, by falling in love. He, as an angel, was forbidden to love me, a mortal woman. We mortal beings were unclean in the eyes of the archangels, therefore to love one was something akin to mating with a dog. My lover did not care, and had even offered to be rid of his wings to be with me. I had told him that he should not throw away himself for me. To lose his wings would make him mortal, just as I was. I glanced down at him, and admired his physique; the way his back muscles rippled whenever he flapped his wings was enticing. He was a muscular man, with somewhat broad shoulders, and slightly thick arms, all toned to peak tightness. When he stood before me, he towered over my small, thin form. I loved my angel with all my heart, and he returned the feeling in kind...

“Vinyl.”

I forced myself out of the fantasy. I felt my face burning red with blush, and my heart beat psychotically in my chest. He shouldn’t have been there, he shouldn’t have invaded my fantasy like that.

“We’re almost there,” I heard him say, and I barely registered it until the bike slowed down and turned onto my street. A moment more passed, and he pulled into my driveway, stopping next to my wreckage pile of a car.

“Thanks for the lift.” I mumbled, and received a nod as I scrambled off the bike and briskly walked over to my door. I turned just in time to see Roma let the bike roll backwards freely into the street, and take off without ever looking in my direction. He wasn’t the angel in my fantasy. I had just projected Roma’s red hair onto him because it had been on my mind.

What had happened there? I didn’t know, but I was going to put the ordeal behind me.

I heard the door open behind me, and a pair of muscular grey arms wrapped around my shoulders. “Vinyl, I was really worried about you.”

“Sorry, Tavi. Stuff happens, ya know?” I said, and turned around so I could hug her waist.

“So, who was your friend?” she asked, pulling away and retreating into the house.

“Just a guy Rarity sent. Don’t worry about it,” I replied, and followed swiftly.

“Really? He looked like that fellow–”

“He was. His name is Roma, and he is a total ass; he said so himself,” I said, following Tavi into the kitchen. “Hey, question.”

She turned to me with a curious look in her eyes. “Yes?”

“Have you ever had a daydream… about someone you can’t stand?”

“A few times. I once fantasized that I was beating Lyra senseless with my cello for talking with her mouth full,” she said with an amused tone.

My face went red again. “Not that kind…”

“Oh? Oh. That Rome fellow I presume?” A grin crept across her face at the prospect.

I sat down at our little kitchen table as she went to work at the counter. “Roma. Like the tomato. And it wasn’t like, sexual or anything… but yeah. It was him.”

“I have never had one like that. I… was never one to believe in destiny, but with what happened with Sunset and the Dazzlings, I question such things now. Maybe it’s a sign?” she said softly, before turning to sit a salad in front of me. “Sorry for the lackluster meal, but I wasn’t going to cook if it was just going to get cold.”

“It’s cool, Tavi. I like lettuce,” I said sarcastically, and took a chunk on my fork.

“Vinyl, did he do anything to you?”

I nearly choked. “What the hell? No! like I would freakin let him.”

“I’m sorry, it’s just, he’s so big, and I saw him pin you against the lockers… I was worried.”

I felt all the blood drain from my face. “You saw that huh?”

“Why didn’t you call out? He could have done whatever he wanted to you. Vinyl, you are not strong. With your con–”

“Don’t. You promised you wouldn’t think less of me,” I said harshly and glared at her. Like they say, if looks could kill…

“I’m not! I’m worried! Vinyl, please, it’s getting worse! Why won’t you go to the doctor?”

“Because there’s no fucking cure! I’ve been to every goddamn doctor my parents could find that had any remote knowledge of it!” I said, almost screaming at her. I stood up and slammed my fork down on the table. “Yeah, it’s getting worse! What, you want me to lie and say I’m getting better? This low protein shit isn’t working, Octavia! I wish more than anything I could make it go away, but I can’t! No one can!”

I saw tears forming in my friend's eyes, and very quickly, they streamed down her cheeks, like someone had turned a faucet on behind her face. Her mouth hung open slightly, and her arms hung limp at her sides. “I… Vinyl…”

“I’m sorry… I just…” I couldn’t form a sentence. Now my eyes were starting to get wet, and my cheeks followed suit, almost as fast as Octavia’s had.

“It’s… it’s okay. I’m here, and I always will be, okay?” she said quietly, and walked around the table to me.

“Tavi… I’m scared… I’m really scared… I can’t even pick up my computer tower anymore…”

“Well, to be fair, the thing weighs fifty pounds,” she said with an encouraging smile. Her arms wrapped around me and pulled me close to her, forcing my head against her sizable bosom. “I’ll be your strong back, my little DJ, so don’t worry about a thing.”

“I can’t ask you to do that… you have a life to live, and I’m not gonna burden you like that.”

I was pulled away from the warmth of boobs and Octavia looked me in the eye. “I don’t give a damn if you want it or not, it’s happening, so shut up and take it.” Suddenly, her face turned red, and I couldn’t help but smile.

I playfully pushed her off, and started laughing. “And you were worried about Roma molesting me?! Geez Tavi, if you want me so bad, just say so!” I managed through the now happy tears.

“Oh shut up! You know what I meant!” she said defiantly, and turned away from me with her arms crossed. “But I am serious, Vinyl. I’m here, whenever you need me.”

“I know. Thanks, Tavi.”

Three hours later, I lay in my bed, staring at the ceiling. I couldn’t sleep, because I couldn’t stop thinking about him. Roma had actually been pretty dang nice tonight. I was also still a little riled up from my talk with Octavia, so there were two factors at play in my insomnia. Normally, my protein deficiency is treatable, with the right supplements and a low-protein diet, but I have it worse than most others.

My parents had put a lot of money into funding research for a cure, but there isn’t one, and the supplements and diets only go so far. Without enough protein, my body just isn’t very strong. I’m not helpless; I can walk, climb stairs, drive and other stuff, but lifting anything more than thirty pounds just isn’t happening. I don’t tell people because it usually puts me in an awkward position, since they almost always start treating me differently.

I wondered if Roma knew, would he treat me differently? Probably not, with how incredibly douche-y he was. But... he had seemed worried about me riding side saddle on his bike… What if he had issues too? Maybe something was wrong with him, and he didn’t want others to worry about him. That would make perfect sense, if he was intentionally pushing people away.

But there wasn’t anyone I could ask about it, so I decided to let it go for the night.

Morning came, and I found an infuriating amount of sunlight beaming through my window. I sat up with a scowl that should have very well ripped my face in half, and somehow managed to work my way into a bathrobe before going downstairs. Tavi always got really mad at me for walking around in my underwear, so I tried to make sure I had something on to cover up.

“I freakin hate Sundays,” I stated blandly as I stumbled into the kitchen. Octavia already sat at the table, fully dressed and ready to head out for church.

“I know what could cheer you uuup…” she sang, and sipped from her blue coffee mug.

“I’m not going to church, Tavi. They get one look at me, and they’ll start throwing accusations around,” I countered, grabbing some toaster waffles from the freezer, and threw two of them into the little retro red toaster.

“Not if you get cleaned up, they won’t. I know you’re not a religious girl, but neither is Norman. He just goes because his grandmother asks him to.”

“Uuuugh! I’m not going. That’s final. Besides, the Rainbooms need me at AJ’s place.”

“Um, in case you haven’t noticed, your car is totaled.”

My face drooped, and the toaster chose that moment to ding. “Oh yeah.” I had legitimately forgotten about the night before. “I’ll walk?”

“I’ll call you a cab, Vinyl.”

“Or… I could ride with him,” I said, pointing at the white motorcycle sitting in the driveway, with it’s white-clad rider currently dismounting. Today, he wore a long white coat that reached his knees, had a zipper instead of buttons and red lining. He looked really cool.

“Wait, why is he here in the first place?” Octavia asked, walking over to the window and leaning against the sill. “Vinyl, go get my rapier."

“And you’re supposed to be the godly one. He’s probably here on behalf of Rarity, so chill,” I said, taking a bite of waffle.

Roma stopped mid-step, raised an eyebrow and, I swear, he smirked at Octavia. Changing direction, he walked up to the window and reached behind him. After fishing around in his bag, he eventually produced a simple spiral bound notebook, and pulled a marker out of his pocket. He scribbled a note on random page, blew on it to dry the ink, and slapped it against the window. “Rarity sent me. Her to take Vinyl to practice.”

I laughed and grabbed a napkin and a pen, and, with my waffle hanging out of my mouth, I wrote my own note, then slapped it against the window. “I think you mean ‘herE.’ ”

He blinked and after a moment, pulled his notebook back, and his face twisted in a sarcastic scowl. He flipped the page, scribbled another note, and slapped it to the window. “Oops. Can I come in? It’s a little chilly.”

I scribbled another note. “You’re wearing a coat.”

“White does a very poor job of insulating,” he wrote back.

I chuckled and grabbed a new napkin, and slapped another note against the window. “Well, it’s not like that’s the only color you own, right?”

His eyes shot to the ground. He slapped another note. “Actually, it pretty much is. I have one outfit that is blue, but I’m not wearing a tuxedo to take you to practice.”

I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at this. “Seriously? Wow. Alright. I will have mercy,” I wrote.

Roma let loose a sigh, unleashing a cloud of steam, then slapped a note. “Thank you!”

“So, do you always do what Rarity tells you, or just certain things?” Octavia asked. She’d insisted on staying until I was ready to go with Roma. This, of course, would make her extremely late to church, and I’m pretty sure she was considering staying home. I, meanwhile, was standing at the top of the stairs, listening.

“Mm, most of the time. I owe Rarity a lot, so if she asks a favor, I typically don’t mind doing it,” the redhead replied, loudly sipping his coffee, which I had graciously made for him.

“What happened between you guys that you would owe her that much?” I cut in, trotting down the stairs with a brush currently tangled in my hair. Folks thing I don't take care of my hair, but it actually takes a lot of work to look like you just woke up.

“She saved me from my most desperate moment, and let’s leave it at that.”

“Well, that’s needlessly secretive,” My roommate commented. She stood up to untangle my brush. “Honestly, if you let it dry first, it’ll be much easier to brush.”

“Well, if your hairdryer didn’t spark whenever it gets too hot, I wouldn’t be afraid to use it.”

“Conair makes a pretty good one that comes with a diffuser. And it doesn’t spark.” We both turned to Roma in shock. “What’s with the looks?”

“You use a hairdryer?” I asked, letting my mouth curl up into a grin.

“You’re kidding, right? My hair's as long as Vice-Principal Luna’s,” he answered curtly, crossing his arms. “It takes three hours to air dry. So yes, I like to speed the process up. Hair’s actually a little damp right now.”

“Roma, how far away do you actually live?” Octavia asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

“About two miles, why?”

“Your hair was soaking wet when you left, wasn’t it?” I asked, leaning down in front of him. He avoided my eyes yet again.

“Perhaps. When Rarity asks a favor, I drop whatever I’m doing and come to her aid. Which in this case, also happens to be your aid.” His eyes finally met mine, and the dark, malevolent intensity that burned in them made me step back a bit. I won't lie, that look scared me a lot. It was like staring down a leopard at the zoo. You know it’s dangerous, and you know it could kill you, but you also know it won’t. It won’t kill you, either because it’s too smart, or because it can’t reach you. I think Roma was the first one.

“Well, I see. Vinyl, since you seem close to being ready, I will head out for church. Call me and I’ll come by Applejack’s with a taxi when you get done.”

“I’ll bring her home.”

“Oh, you really don’t have to do th–”

“I cleared out my whole day.”

“Alright. Have fun you two!” Octavia said, and ran out to door, dialing a number on her phone. After a few minutes, a brown cab pulled up to whisk her away.

“Your friend doesn’t like me much, does she?”

“Can you blame her?”

“Absolutely not.”

The ride to Sweet Apple Acres was uneventful. Boring, in fact. Roma didn’t say a word, but he did lend me a really cool-looking leather jacket, for some reason. And yes, it was white, but with a few red accents on it. I didn’t complain, since it was pretty chilly, and it was a thicker coat than what he appeared to be wearing. There was one thing I didn’t like about it though.

It was stiff. There was this weird piece on the upper back that was kind of uncomfortable, and pieces along the sleeves, torso, and shoulders felt extremely rigid. It was almost like it was armored. The weirdest thing about it though was that it fit me. Like a frickin glove. Well, around the torso, anyway. The sleeves were a little loose and a bit long, and the shoulders were a bit wide.

When we finally did arrive at the farm, Applejack stood out front, waiting for us. She looked mad. When he pulled up next to the barn, he dismounted and stepped up a few feet in front of the cowgirl.

“Jacqueline.”

“Mornin, Gypsy Bastard.”

“I’ll be using one of your trees for shade.”

"And why would you do that?"

"I'd like to use my tablet. Sunlight makes that kind of tricky."

“Don’t pick any apples.”

“I won’t.”

“Get on then.”

He complied, immediately heading off into the orchard to find a decent tree for shade, leaving an angry AJ in his wake.

“Hey Applejack Wh- HEY!” She suddenly grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me close.

“Look, Vi, I like you. You’re a good friend. That fellow ain’t. After today, stay away from him. I promise, he’s just gonna hurt you in the end,” she said sternly, her brow furrowing deeper and deeper with every word.

“AJ, we may be friends, but you can’t make me stay away from him,” I said, delicately pulling her hands off of the borrowed jacket.

“That’s why I’m asking you, as a friend, to stay the hell away from that monster.” The farmer stopped for a moment to rub where her eyebrows met before continuing. “Look, I don’t know what he told y’all, but he ain’t a good person.”

“Because he made Pinkie cry?” I asked, raising my right eyebrow. AJ seemed to pale at the question. “Why did he do it?”

“That ain’t why.”

“Then what?” I demanded, crossing my arms.

“I don’t… It’s none of your business, alright?”

“Then don…” I was distracted by an unusual sight, to put it mildly. Roma sat under the tree, with his hair tucked behind his left ear, showing off his little diamond studs, and he had taken his shades off. But those weren’t surprising. What was surprising was that he was smiling. He was staring at the tablet in his hands and smiling a little crooked half-smile. And it was beautiful. It was beautiful like a falling leaf. Sad and beautiful. Even at the current distance, I could see the sorrow in his eyes. I could see how his eyes glistened with the beginnings of tears, even though I knew he'd never let them fall.

“VI! Pay attention damn it!”

“Sorry, I got distracted,” I said, trying to hide my blush.

“Yeah, I noticed. Just get over to the barn. We got a lot of work to do. Wait, how are you gonna handle sound without your equipment?” she asked, her eyes growing wide in realization.

“All I need is two speakers, Jaqueline,” I said, making it obvious that I was annoyed.

“Don’t you ever call me that. EVER,” she said sternly, before grabbing my arm and pulling me off to the barn to practice.

Practice was boring. We just played a bunch of songs we all knew by heart. Hell I knew them by heart and I wasn’t even a core member! Sunset kept looking solemnly out of the barn, presumably at Roma, and kept missing her lines and playing out of sync. Rarity kept throwing worried glances between me and AJ, like she was afraid we were going to kill each other. Fluttershy dropped her tambourine twice, and Pinkie…well Pinkie did fine. Rainbow Dash was glaring at AJ, and I didn’t give a crap about any of it. The only reason we were even practicing was because we had agreed to play background and intermission music at one of Trixie’s magic shows. I’d never admit it, but that girl was amazing with her illusions. Total bitch, but a great magician. It should be noted that we were more than surprised when she asked us.

Suddenly, Rarity sat down her key-tar, and walked in front of the band. “Why don’t we all take a break. We’ve been at this for a while, and I just don’t think we’re getting into the mood.”

Rainbow strode out of the barn, muttering something about pizza, and Fluttershy just sat on a nearby ladder. I didn’t see what the others did to occupy their time, because Rarity grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the barn and into the orchard. It was both surprising and really annoying how many people were taking me places that day.

Rarity and I wandered around among the trees, saying absolutely nothing for almost an entire half-hour. Neither of us really wanted to say what was on our minds, but it had to get put out there. I opened my mouth to say something, but I stopped when Rarity turned to me suddenly.

“He’s fragile, you know,” she said, a really, really somber look creeping into her eyes. “He’s very fragile after Sunset. Even before Sunset, he was fragile. But Sunset kind of… well, she broke him, to put it gently.”

“What happened between them?” I asked, absolutely desperate to know.

“Sunset met Roma almost right after she crossed over, and she immediately saw him as a threat. Why, I’ll never know, because he was as shy as he could possibly be. Sunset tried to make him submit to her. When he refused, she tried a different approach. She feigned becoming his friend. She got close to him, and after a few months, they dated. Then… she betrayed him. It was a horrid affair, really, and it got a little– actually, really bloody… Vinyl, do you want me to stop?”

“Not a damn chance. I finally have a chance to get to know the jerk,” I said, crossing my arms.

“Alright, then. You should know, that Roma and I were acquainted before the incident, as he often bought clothes from the boutique. He always manages to dress in style, despite being so horribly plain in his color choices. We weren’t close, still aren’t, really. He refuses to let me get close... But there was always something about him I liked,” She stopped and put her thumb and forefinger to her chin, while the other folded around her torso. “I think... maybe it was his sense of pride. He told me once during a fitting that his were a proud people, with a rich culture, and many dark times. He’s a gypsy, you know. The–”

“You’re avoiding the subject.”

She cleared her throat and blushed a little. “Quite right, Vinyl, quite right. Just promise me, you won’t think any less of Sunset.” She waited for me to nod before continuing. “Over the course of six months, those two became seemingly perfect for each other. He would play violin for her under the arbor, and she would listen with a childish grin plastered across her face. I think, that for a while, he could have changed her. If he’d asked her back then to change her ways, I'm sure she would have. I believe they cared a lot about each other. Especially Roma. He never dated someone he didn’t care for. On their six-month anniversary, she did the worst possible thing she could have. That Saturday, after Roma finished with tennis practice and everyone else had left the school, she led him past a broom closet, then pushed him inside and locked the door.”

“That’s not so bad.”

“He was there all night, all Sunday, and all of school on Monday,” she deadpanned, and crossed her arms. “And that is not, in itself, what was horrible about it.”

“Then what made it horrible? Stop beating around the bush, and just tell me!” I shouted at her, not even realizing how angry I was getting.

Rarity cut her eyes at me and grimaced. “Roma is claustrophobic to the point of debilitation. He had a panic attack in the back seat of a car, once. He can barely stay in Principal Celestia’s office without getting extremely anxious. He is weak, as he would say. Understandably, he has more than a little trouble trusting anyone, even me.”

I just stared at her. I couldn’t believe it. I vaguely remembered him saying he couldn’t do cars. It made sense. It all made sense now. He was scared of people betraying him again. That’s why he didn’t want friends. That’s why he was so cold, and such a douche. I swallowed the huge lump rising in my throat before asking, “There’s more… is-isn’t there…?”

“I was the one who found him Monday afternoon. I saw the blood under the door. I opened the door. I was the one to witness what Sunset had done to him!" She paused for a moment to calm herself down. "He couldn’t scream anymore, because his throat was raw from screaming all weekend. He couldn’t beat on the door anymore because he had used up all his strength before Monday morning came. Even if he’d had the energy, he'd broken his hands beating on the door, and ripped most of the skin off in the process. His hands were bloody and mangled when the door finally opened. I will… NEVER forget that sight,” she said as tears started trailing down her cheeks. “When I opened that door, he was sitting on his knees, slouched over, barely breathing, with his hands, broken and bloodied, laid out on either side of him. There was blood running down his cheek, staining his clothes, where he had a massive c-cut on-on the s-side… of his face…” Rarity dropped to her knees and covered her face with her hands, and quickly started sobbing into them. “Oh my god it was so-ho hooooribuuu-huuul… H-He alm-alm-almo-host ki-hilled himself tr-trying to escape…” I could see her makeup running down onto her forearm, and I immediately dashed over and put my arms around her shoulders. She wailed for a long time before we attracted the attention of a certain rainbow-haired bicyclist, with six pizza boxes strapped to the back of her mountain bike, which pulled up right beside us. “Ohhh Gooo-hoood Romaaaa-haaa…”

“She told you the story, huh?”

“Do the rest of you really have a problem with him?” I asked, not looking up from Rarity.

“No, it’s only Fluttershy, AJ and Sunset. He and AJ have… a history. And, like, not a good one,” she said, scratching the back of her head. “I mean, even I don’t know what happened between him and Applejack. Or why he calls her Jacqueline. It’s weird.”

“Maybe I should talk to him… Sunset’s different now, so he might for–”

“I won’t.”

The three of us turned to find our red haired subject walking calmly towards us, with his tablet tucked under his arm. His hair was no longer behind his ear, and it neatly framed his elegant face.

“Why not?” Rainbow asked, opening one of the pizza boxes to take a slice, then offered it to Roma. When he refused, she shrugged and bit into it herself.

“Thanks, but no, I’m on a diet. Believe me, I tried. I know she’s reformed; I’ve seen it with my own eyes. In fact, I like what she’s become, but I just can’t forgive her. Not after that,” he said, and glanced back at the pizza box. “Got three meat?”

“Damn straight.”

“Ah screw it. I’m not getting any thinner. I’ll take one of those,” he said, licking his lips as Rainbow opened up the second box and pulled out a piece laden with meat. “Oh, how I have missed pizza.” An almost devilish grin crossed his face as he opened his mouth to take a bite, but stopped and pointed a thumb behind him. “By the way, everyone’s anxious to get back to work.”

After we returned, Roma made himself scarce by hiding behind a tree, where Sunset couldn’t see him. To my surprise, it worked. Sunset and AJ were both able to focus, and I actually enjoyed the song they were playing.

Normally I try to keep my head in line when I’m doing my job, but I couldn’t help myself this time.

I was standing in a field, watching two warriors as they prepared to duel. One bore a massive great sword, and the other, a straight saber. The wielder of the larger sword wore heavy armor, covering every part of her, save for her head, atop which rested a simple Stetson. The other, the wielder of the saber, wore lighter armor, consisting of a white long coat with a few plates of metal over his chest and back. Both had their weapons pointed at the other, and angry scowls adorning their faces.

“Please!” I begged, “Do not to this!”

The saber wielder turned to me, his crimson hair flowing around his face. “Sir Jacqueline made her choice, Lady Scratch.”

“But Lord Roma, why must you fight for me!?” I asked, putting my hands to my chest. I didn’t want them to fight, because I cared for both of them, and Sir Jacqueline was a far more experienced swordswoman than Lord Roma. She would destroy him.

“Because, My Lady, you are worth it,” was all he said to me, before turning back to his foe.

I was pulled back to my thoughts by Fluttershy, who had tapped me on the shoulder. She smiled sweetly and gestured at the rest of the Rainbooms, who were all putting away their equipment and preparing to leave. Geez, how long had I been daydreaming? I noticed Rarity had yet to leave and was sitting on her instrument case.

She looked so sad, the way she just sat there with her elbows on her knees. One hand held up her face in a way that squished her cheek up, while the other played with a piece of hay on the floor.

I stood, and was intent on talking to her, but a voice from the barn’s entrance stopped me. It was Roma, telling me it was time to go. I raised my index finger, telling him to give me a moment, to which he rolled his eyes.

“Hey.” Rarity looked up at me with a somber expression, and quickly dropped her gaze back to the ground. “You alright?” I asked, determined to make her feel better.

“No… no I don’t suppose I am. Sunset is a little angry that I told you about her misdeed,” she said, and began fiddling with a piece of hay on the floor.

“And? I was going to find out eventually.”

She sighed before continuing. “Yes, but as I’m sure you can imagine, that is a very sore topic for her. She would have preferred telling you herself, or having him tell you.”

“She’ll get over it,” I stated calmly. It may be a bit cold, but it was the truth. “Oh, by the way, thanks for sending Roma after me again. I’d hate to have to pay for a cab.”

“Vinyl, I… I didn’t send Roma. I thought you had asked him?” she said, arching her eyebrow as I shook my head. “I let slip that I was practicing with the band, and that I’d need to pick you up. He told me not to worry, and assured me he had it covered.”

“Weird.”

“Even weirder is the fact that your wearing his old racing jacket, darling,” she said with a smirk.

“Why is that weird?”

“Because that is designed as protective gear, to be worn on race tracks. He wouldn’t even let his sister wear it,” she explained, standing. She knocked on the shoulder, demonstrating the armored panels inside. “You must be special, for him to protect you like that.”

“Oh.”

To say I was confused was like saying Rarity dabbled in fashion.

Roma pulled in to my driveway and allowed me to dismount. I started to take his jacket off and hand it back to him, but he raised his hand and told me, “Hold on to it.”

“You’re coming back tomorrow, aren’t you?” I asked, draping the jacket over my shoulders.

“…Yeah.”

“I leave for school at seven thirty, alright?”

I didn’t get an answer, just the vague impression that he was smiling under his helmet as he let the bike roll backwards into the street.

I couldn’t wait to see him again.

Author's Note

So, yeah. Second chapter, not a whole lot to say. I do feel a bit like Rarity's breakdown was a little forced, but then again, a lady does keep her composure as long as she can before breaking. Don't worry, if you're anxious about finding out what happened between 'Jacqueline' and Roma, you'll find out soon enough. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and are looking forward to the next one...

Roma's Return

The water. Felt. Amazing.

I woke up cold this morning, and I needed the heat of the shower on my back. I stood facing away from the shower head, letting the water run down my back and along my gentle curves. But my front side was getting cold, so I turned towards it. I always loved hot showers, as apposed to my roommate, who would prefer to get in and get out. Seriously, that woman took ten minutes in the shower, which was mostly just to wash her hair. Me, I got up an hour early so I could have a nice, long, steamy shower. I briefly considered making it even steamier, but I decided against it.

It wasn’t long before I felt the temperature decrease, so with a dejected sigh, I finished up and shut the water off.

As I pulled my thin bathrobe on, I heard a very familiar engine hiss into my driveway and panicked. The bathroom was at the end of the upstairs hall, and my room was right next to the stairs. There were three doors between the bathroom and there. I quickly tied the robe up and sprinted out of the bathroom. I slammed into the hallway wall and dashed to the stairs, only to look down to see a familiar man in white talking to Octavia. His eyes flicked up at me, but quickly turned back to my roomie.

“On second thought,” Roma said, turning away from the door, “I think my tire pressure is down. Could be dangerous. I’ll be right back.” As he walked away, I let my breath betray my relief, then dashed into my room before Tavi could see me.

That was close. I chanced a look at the clock, and noted that he was actually pretty early. Like, twenty minutes early. Why was he here this soon? I told him seven-thirty, and yet, he was here at seven-ten. Maybe he was just like that.

As my robe fell to the floor, I plucked the necessary articles from my underwear drawer and put them on, for once being thankful I could get away with just a sports bra. Regrettably, I had small boobs. I also had a small butt, so my body was very well balanced. As a result, all the fellas loved it. I stepped over to my closet and scanned over my options.

There. Those were the ones. I tugged a pair of white jeans off of the hanger and stared at them. They were just like his… I glanced over at the white jacket on my bed. We’d look good together… They! They'd look good together! But then, I thought, yeah, so would we. Red and blue were good colors to match up, being opposites and all. Like purple and green, or black and white. I don’t know why, but I smiled at the thought. It wasn’t… an unpleasant thought. I could even see it happening, if we got to know each other better. He seemed like a pretty sweet guy under the cold exterior. After all, he volunteered twice to come get me. Yeah, I might… I might actually have liked that.

I don’t know how long I stood there staring with that stupid grin on my face, but a knock on my door startled me out of it.

“Vinyl!” my roommate called, “Roma is waiting. If you don’t hurry, you’ll be late!”

Crap! I hurriedly slithered into the white jeans and pulled on a pair of pointy boots with three inch heels and let the boot cut of my pants fall delicately around them. Next I grabbed a blue t-shirt… or I would have it weren’t in the hamper. I didn’t feel like looking for another shirt… so I did something a little stupid. Okay, I did something really stupid. I grabbed Roma’s jacket and threw it on, and zipped it up, just shy of my collar bone. It still amazed me how well the thing fit me. I was wearing his jacket with no shirt. It was comfortable. It felt, I don’t know, safe. Like a warm hug.

But it still felt dirty. It was wrong. I shouldn’t do it. But another part of my head screamed at me that it was okay.

I settled for the latter, and ran over to my little mirror on my desk. A little blue eyeliner, some mascara, and a bit of blue lipstick, and voila! I looked great. Except my hair. It was dry now, so a quick run through with my brush took care of that. The explosion of a mane was perfect for my current look. But…

I glanced over to my closet.

Yeah, I couldn’t do it. I had to wear a shirt.

~Return~

I walked out, feeling confident, and dare I say, sexy as hell. It did not go unnoticed. Roma’s eyebrows shot up, and he stared at me in faint interest.

“Got a date after school?” he asked, giving a smug smirk. Ugh, his eyes were doing that thing again. They were cataloguing my features; darting up and down and every which way he could manage.

“Nah, I just didn’t have any clean t-shirts,” I lied and strutted over to stand next to him, “and I’m not going to wear nice clothes without sprucing up a bit. Like it?”

“It’s a good look, for sure. You ready?” he asked, swinging his leg over the saddle.

“About as ready as I’ll ever be,” I huffed, and climbed on after him. Seriously? It's a good look? I guess I should have been flattered. That was probably the most I'd get out of him.

“Something wrong?” he asked, turning to look at me in a way that left him kind of hanging on the seat with his leg. It was extremely odd.

“Yeah, you saw me in my bath robe,” I lied... again.

His right eyebrow shot up. “And?”

“I was naked under it.”

“And? It’s not like I stared at you,” he said callously. As he moved back into a riding position, I noticed something missing... something long and red.

“Hey, what happened to your hair?” I asked, thumping the back of his head.

“I braided it and tucked it into my jacket. I figured you didn’t like it flying up in your face,” he said, then dropped his coat low enough for the tall collar to reveal the thick red cord beneath.

“Oh… Um… Thanks…” I managed to choke out, practically dumbfounded by his consideration.

“No problem,” he replied. He slid his helmet on, an action I quickly copied.

~Return~

The day was agonizingly slow and throughout it, I found myself picturing Roma under the arbor, staring at his tablet with that cute little half-smile on his lips. As I sat in my last class before my free period, I stared at the clock, tapping my foot and desperately wanting to dash out of the room and go see him.

After what felt like hours, the bell finally rang and I quickly packed my things before walking out of the class. It took a tremendous effort not to run.

Making my way to my locker, I deftly weaved through all of the other students, and promptly arrived in record time. I deposited my books and grabbed my laptop case. My eyes briefly lingered on the little white half-helmet sitting on the shelf.

I smiled and closed my locker, then ran my right hand over my left forearm, feeling the hard plate beneath the leather, before setting off to meet with him. The jacket meant he cared about me. It meant he didn’t want me to get hurt. It was proof that he really was nice, despite what a AJ said about him.

The crowd started to clear away as everyone started heading to their next classes, making it much easier to navigate the hallway. My thoughts still lingered on Roma, going in every direction possible, playing out multiple scenarios in my head.

He was a spy, no, he was a superhero, or even better! He was married, and he’d fallen for me, but his dedication to his wife tied him back. But it always came back to one scene:

He was an angel, forbidden to love a mortal. I lost myself in that dream again as I absent mindedly wandered down the hall.

“No, Gabriel! I’ll not let thee take her!” Roma shouted, pointing his saber (wait, it was a broadsword last time…) at the highest of the archangels. Gabriel had come to throw me into the deepest pits of hell, so that I would forever be beyond my love’s reach.

“Thou hath no say in the matter, dissenter. Hand the mortal over, and perhaps I shall allow thee back into my good graces,” the blonde woman said, walking towards Roma. Her double halo consisted of one large ring, with a smaller one floating just above it. It bore some semblance to a Stetson.

I heard a low growl escape my love’s throat, before he spoke. “Thy graces be damned! How many mortals hast thou bedded in thy time?!” he shouted, putting his left arm out to shield me from the archangel.

“That is of no concern to thee!” she replied, drawing her own weapon: a long chain that shined as though it were made of pure light. “I shall bind thee and thine impurities shall be purged as you watch her burn!”

My face twisted in fear. My love was strong, but he was no match for an archangel. I nervously grabbed hold of the arm in front of me.

“Vinyl, my love, I ask thee…” he said, turning his face to look at me. “Run. Run and do not look back. I shall hold Gabriel as I can.”

“Thou cannot hope to defeat her!” I said, raising my voice to him.

“I know. Now go!” I was pushed back as the golden chain wrapped around Roma's chest.

So I did… I ran and I did not look back. I cried, wiping my eyes with my forearm. My wails echoed throughout the valley of the damned, and my bare feet began to bleed as I continued to run. I know not how long I ran, but I did not see the archangel again…

Nor did ever I see my lover.

As I dragged myself out of the grim fantasy, I pushed open the school’s main door and spotted the familiar white-clad form of my ride to school. He was against one of the columns of the arbor again, with his head slumped over.

As I carefully mad my way over I heard a faint sound, which I immediately recognized as a very quite speaker. It was the kind you’d find on a tablet.

My eyes grew wide as I recognized the song playing. It was a love song… kind of? It was ‘Telescope,’ by Starset; a really good song. I tentatively stepped around in front of Roma, only to be greeted by his sleeping face and crooked sunglasses. It was adorable. My gaze drifted down to the tablet that had fallen from his lap and had, in the process, had the headphone jack snatched out of it. I knelt down to pick it up and my eyes widened.

Images of Roma and Sunset scrolled across the screen, with an red-orange glow accent surrounding them. It took a lot of work to make something like that. I only knew one girl who could make such a thing and it certainly seemed like something Pinkie would do; something that would make Roma smile.

Checking that he was still asleep, I sat tapped the screen to bring up the display and dragged the track bar back to the beginning. The title slide was pretty self explanatory. “Roma, please remember what this meant to you. –Pinkie.” I managed to suppress a chuckle at how utterly un-Pinkie that was. It was sweet, like something Fluttershy would say. I hit play and the song, as well as the slide show, started back up.

The first image was of Sunset and Roma on Roma’s… bicycle? It was red and white, of course. Sunset sat on the handle bars, while Roma struggled to see around her. She was smiling and so was he.

The next was a picture blatantly taken on a phone, of Roma and Sunset at the pool. Wow, he looked pretty good without a shirt. Sunset sat across his lap leaning with her hands against his chest, wide eyed and blushing, while Roma smirked, their faces only a few inches apart. I had to admit, I smiled at that too.

Coming after that, a photo taken either after or before the previous, of Sunset holding Roma’s face, kissing him hard... like, really hard, with Roma blushing and wide eyed. It was funny, but I also found myself blushing a bit at the somewhat provocative image.

Next was one taken in the rain of Roma draping a black trench coat over Sunset’s head, allowing himself to get soaked. She looked like she was yelling at him, but he only smiled in return. A caption slipped onto the lower screen that read, “Remember this? She was yelling at you to take it back so you wouldn’t get sick. I remember. Heck, I should! I took these pictures!”

The next photo was of Roma on a park bench, with Sunset leaning against his chest, and his left arm wrapped around her shoulder. There was a pained look on his face as he tried flex his left hand’s fingers. “I remember this one pretty well, cuz I d’aaawed so hard it hurt! Your arm fell asleep, but you didn’t dare wake her up. That’s how sweet you used to be. I want you to be like that again.”

Next was a picture of Roma carrying Sunset down the hallway on his back. They were both wearing gym clothes. His face was twisted in what could easily be mistaken for anger, but I could tell it was pain, while hers was a face of worry. “This is one of my favorites. You carried Sunset all the way across school grounds to the nurses office when she sprained her ankle. I remember you telling me afterwards how it threw your back out and you had to go see a chiropractor behind Sunny’s back… no pun intended.”

I couldn’t take it. They were too sweet. My face felt like my grin was about to break it. I ran the track bar forward close to the end.

An image of only Roma nearly made me drop the tablet. He had a cast on half of each hand and red-tinged bandages around part of his head. His hair was pulled up into a haphazard, mangy-looking ponytail. He wore his black trench coat and a red t-shirt. I couldn’t see anything else. He was hunched over, looking to his left, with his hand pointed at the camera. It was at that point the song changed to its orchestral ending. The face he was making, the snarl on his lips, the bared teeth, the wide, angry eyes, and even his stance all served to get his message across. ‘Leave me alone, or I’ll slaughter you, Pinkie.’

The caption this time was long, and it scrolled up the screen in a manner similar to that of movie credits.

“Roma, please! This picture? It’s not you! ‘You’ is a sweet, kind, considerate man, who would always give the shirt off his back for his friends, who never lied to us, who never betrayed us, who loved us so dearly that he’d die for us. Me and Fluttershy, we miss you. We miss you so much, so please come back! Come back and be ‘You’ again! You can make up with Applejack, and forgive Sunset, and we can all be friends! You can finally get to know Rainbow Dash! I know you always wanted to be her friend! But you never got the chance!

I know nothing can change what happened with Sunset, but… if you can’t forgive what she did, can you try to move past it? If not for me, or Fluttershy, or Rainbow, or even Applejack, then do it for ‘You.’ I miss him. All I ever see now is what ‘You’ has become and I want you back so please for the love of god come back! Come back and be my best friend again! Let me take funny pictures of you! Let me make you smile! I haven’t seen you smile in so, so long… If it weren’t for these photos, I’d think that your scowl was painted on. So, please, give me that cute, dorky, cheesy half-grin of yours. Smile, for ‘You,’ and for me, and for Fluttershy… come back to us Roma.

Yours soon,
–Pinkamena Diane Pie.”

I felt the tears before they hit and I felt my bottom lip scrunch up at the thought of how Pinkie must have felt when she was writing that last message. I could imagine her sitting in her room in the dark, sniffling over her keyboard as the tears rolled freely down her cheeks, like they did mine. My make up was running, but all I could do was grip the edges of the tablet so hard my knuckles turned white as I quietly sobbed to myself.

How could anyone do this to Pinkie? How could he live with himself after something like that?

Pale fingers curled around the bottom of the tablet and try as I might, I could not hold onto it as Roma pulled it gently out of my hands.

“You… hurt her… so much,” was all I managed to choke out.

“I know,” he said, his own voice dreadfully quite, “I want to fix things, though. I just… I don’t know how.”

“I… I do.” I wiped my eyes clean with my palms, and then wiped those on the grass. “Y-you haven’t been a friend in-in a long time, right?”

“It’s been two years, so yeah… a good while,” he answered as I scooted over close to him, “Vinyl, how can I fix this, when I’ve ruined so much of what I had?”

“It’s easy. You build it back up. Start with me,” I said, putting my right hand over his left. “Be my friend, and I’ll be yours in return, okay?”

“What about Jackie?”

“Fuck Jackie.” His eyes grew wide at my choice of words. “Look, this isn’t about her. It’s about us, okay? I can help, so let me!”

“Vinyl, why do you even care?” he asked, cutting his eyes at me. I pulled my hand away from his, and sat back on my heels.

With a sigh, I pulled my wallet out of my back pocket (yeah I know that’s a guy thing; it’s just really convenient.) and opened it up to my medical card. “You… uh, you remind me of myself about seven years ago. I’m… I’m sick, Roma. I have this disease that makes me really weak and I honestly can’t so much for myself. Yeah, I can drive, walk and I can climb stairs, but lifting thirty pounds? Dude, it just ain’t happening.” He opened his mouth to intervene, but I held up my finger, and handed him the wallet. He read over the little card and his eyes grew wider and wider. “See, when I found out about it, people started treating me differently. Like I was fragile and they thought I would break if they touched me. I got tired of it, so I shut myself off. I drove away all of my friends and for a long time, I was so, so lonely. I felt cold and I stayed that way for a while. Almost a year passed and I met Octavia. I bumped into her in the hallway and didn’t apologize. Lyra and Bon Bon, they got so mad that they pinned my to the lockers and told Tavi I was all hers. I didn’t really care. I mean, I couldn’t get free, so why try?

Octavia never hit me, like she was supposed to. She told L and BB to let me go. She asked me why I was always so lonely. I told her that I was tired of the way everyone treated me. Told her I hated being treated like glass, but I didn’t tell her it was because I was sick. I told her it was because I was small. She understood and said that she was treated like a brute, because she’s so big.” I paused for just a moment a brushed a few tears out of my eye. “She gave me her hand and asked if I wanted to be her friend. She promised that she would always see me as an equal, and never think any less of me for any reason. It was two years later that I told her I–”

I was cut off as Roma lunged forward and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. I felt a bit of moisture seep onto my shoulder. I felt his shoulders tremble, I heard his breath stagger in his throat and I knew he was trying so hard not to cry. He was sad, and happy, and guilty all at once, and it was all forcing it’s way out through his eyes. “Vinyl… will you really be my friend?” he asked quietly.

I put my arms around him, resting my hands gently on his back, and smiled warmly to him, a few more tears streaking down my cheeks. “I will. And I promise, Roma, I’ll help you fix things with your old ones.”

“…Thank you, so much…” he whispered, and tightened his arms slightly. He was strong, so it was a little hard to breathe, but I didn’t mind. He needed this and I was going to give it to him. I was going to help him.

“You're welcome, my friend.”

We stayed there for so long, just holding each other until the bell sounded for classes to change. I came to the realization that I liked being in his arms. I knew that I wanted to be in them whenever I could… I wanted to be with him. I wanted to hold him as he held me. I wanted to wake up next to him in the morning. I wanted him permanently in my life.

But I knew that it wasn’t what he wanted. He just needed a friend and that’s all I could ever be for him.

And I was going to be the best damn friend I could.

Author's Note

So yep, we've started down the path towards Roma's change, which may or may not be the next chapter's title. Sorry for the two week delay, but I've been busy. I hope you liked this chapter, and if you see anywhere I an improve, tell me in the comments.

Peace!

A Bit of Sin

It’s been two weeks since I became friends with Roma and in that short time, several things have changed. The first is that I now counted on Roma to take me everywhere, per his voluntarism, of course. He really didn’t seem to mind… The second, was that he joined my crew for lunch, and he was now friends with Lyra, Bon Bon, and Tavi. The third, was that I now caught malicious glares from Applejack whenever she saw at me. The fourth and biggest change was that he was nice. He was happy. He smiled whenever he sat with us and he rarely scowled anymore. We were all happy. Things were good and I honestly would only change one thing.

I still wanted him. I selfishly wanted to be with him, but I knew I never could. I knew he didn’t feel the same way and would never want me. So I shoved those feeling back down my throat. I made myself be his friend; made myself be what he needed. If I could, I'd change it so I didn't want him. I'd make it so I wouldn't crave his company every minute of every day.

It got hard. I won’t lie. Sometimes, it even hurt. Not much, but it was there. I… I wouldn’t call it love, but it was something. It was something good that I had to keep locked away and I hated it.

But as this world dictates, things never stay simple for long. Something always happens that ruins everything. And it was about to happen… and things were going to change. For better or for worse, I honestly couldn’t say.

~Sin~

The Ninja rolled aggressively into my driveway and Roma quickly dismounted. I watched through the peephole. Yeah, it’s creepy, but I didn’t care. Tavi was off at church, and we finally had some time together… alone.

I shivered at the thought.

I waited a few seconds after he knocked, then opened the door and gestured for him to come in. He casually strode in, carrying with him a large, rectangular metal case, reminiscent of a guitar case. There was another, slightly smaller case in his other hand. I had no idea what they were.

He seemed to catch my stare and smiled. “Entertainment,” he said, and pointed at the couch. I sat down as he pulled the armchair closer to the coffee table and sat the shorter case on the smooth wooden surface. He promptly popped the latches on the case and opened it so I couldn’t see the contents. There was a sharp click, followed by about thirteen more slightly fainter clicks. “Tell me, Vinyl. How do you feel about guns?”

“Guns are cool, I guess. Never shot one, though. Why?” I said, already knowing why he had asked.

“Because, I really, really like guns. I own two rifles and a revolver. Though, my mother keeps the revolver,” he said, then sat something on the table. It sounded heavy and metallic. “But, I’ve got plenty of practice shooting it. For now, I find these are sufficient to shoot with.”

He Suddenly held up what could have easily been mistaken for a real handgun, if not for the bright orange tip. It was nice, but it looked really old. The black paint (or is it a finish?) had scratches all along it from presumable constant use. “That looks awesome. So, you play AirSoft?”

“No. War is not something I care to experience, simulated or no. No, I like target shooting; it’s a good way to let off some steam.”

“So, is that a gun too?” I asked, pointing at the longer of his two cases.

“While that is a rifle case, it is not a rifle that resides in there.” He paused and gave me a smile that was unlike anything I had ever seen on his face, and I honestly had no idea what to make of it. All I know is that it made my heart beat about two thousand beats faster. “That, dear Vinyl, is something I should not have brought. I honestly don’t know why I did.”

I sighed and crossed my arms, giving him a bemused glared. “But what is it?”

“A secret, Vinyl. Just as private as your illness,” he said bluntly, causing me to flinch. His eyes shot to the floor and he scowled. “Sorry.”

“Nah it’s cool,” I said, failing to convince him. “So, did you bring targets or do we have to shoot tin cans?”

“I brought Styrofoam plates and a red sharpie,” he said with a smirk.

~Sin~

To say Roma was a skilled shooter was an understatement. To say he was a badass with a gun was grazing the iceberg. If I could pick a word to describe his skills, it would be ‘legendary.’ The man never missed and all of his groups were within two inches of one another. To add to his badassery, he shot one handed, which meant his hand was less stable.

Meanwhile, I couldn’t hit squat with a two handed grip. Out of the six magazines I emptied, I hit maybe ten times. With each ‘mag,’ as he called them, holding 13 rounds, I’d say that was pretty pathetic. Roma tried to assure my that it was because I was new to shooting and I needed a chance to get better. Despite my sucking, I found myself enjoying every second of it.

Two hours passed and we sat at the patio table, refilling magazines. Thank god he let me use the speed loader, because my hands were obviously not dexterous enough to load each individual BB the way he could.

“How do you do it?” I asked, casually sitting the loader and my magazine on the table. “How can you not miss? It’s not normal.”

He burst out laughing, causing my face to turn bright red in embarrassment. After a moment, he clutched his chest and started coughing.

“I-I’m sorry… but I was waiting for you to ask me that,” he said as he reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out a very small pistol. It was actually smaller than his hand. “This, Vinyl, was my first AirSoft pistol. It’s modeled after the Colt .25 vest pistol. I used this for three years until I got my first full sized pistol.”

“It is pretty small, but that doesn…” I trailed off as he pointed at the top of the gun, where the sight were. Where the sights were supposed to be, I should say. Because there weren’t any sights, save for a small groove running down the slide.

“When you have sights that small and you learn to hit a soda can from six yards, you become able to hit anything with a normal pistol at thirty,” he explained, then slid the tiny thing across the table to me. It was cute and I kind of wanted one.

“That is insane. You’re insane,” I said, sliding the little gun back to him.

“You wanna be insane to?” he asked with a grin.

“A hundred percent,” I said and picked my magazines back up to resume loading.

~Sin~

“Now, hunch your shoulders. Good,” Roma said, standing beside me with his arms crossed.

“It’s uncomfortable…” I mumbled, before pulling the trigger, hitting the edge of the plate.

My friend-turned-instructor stepped around behind me and, before I could comprehend what was happening, his hand came up to cover my left eye, while the other hand reach up to my gun and lifted it slightly. “Now, aim between the rear sights and line the front one up with the center of the plate.”

I did as he said and, to my surprise, it worked. I hit the target dead center, prompting a smile to spread across my lips.

“Um, I wouldn’t be interrupting anything, would I?” My roommate’s voice made the both of us jump and take several step away from each other.

“Not at all, Octavia, I was just teaching Vinyl the proper method of aiming a pistol,” Roma rambled, blushing furiously and taking a sudden interest in the shape of the clouds.

“Y-yeah, what he said. And it worked! Look, I hit the center!” I said, running over to where the plate was pinned to a tripod in a poor attempt to hide my own blush.

“I… see…” she said with a smirk. “Well, Roma, your phone was beeping. Apparently you missed a call.” She held out Roma’s cell, with it’s white case covered in red lilies. Freaking lilies.

“Huh, it’s Sis.” He lifted the device to his ear and listened for a moment, before his eyes grew wide, then narrowed in anger. “Romany you stupid bitch!”

Tavi and I stared at him in shock. It was rare for Roma to get mad and rarer still for him to use profanity. He caught our looks and his face turned red.

“Apparently, Romany has crashed our mother’s motorcycle and broke her arm.”

“She can’t ride?” I asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Something like mine, a 300, suuuure. Mom’s bike is an R1; a super bike. Even I’m a little afraid of it,” he explained hurriedly as he tucked his gun into the back of his jeans. “Also, she's only fourteen. Vee, I’m leaving my stuff here. I’ll be back for it tomorrow. Don’t open my rifle case!”

“Good thing we’re off school tomorrow…” Tavi said quietly as she watched the red head sprint inside the house.

“I hope his sister’s okay.” I said, collecting the scattered airsoft equipment.

~Sin~

In Tavi’s house, lunch was always at twelve thirty sharp. Possibly earlier, depending on how hungry you were. But today, Octavia sat in the living room at twelve thirty two, staring at the rifle case on the coffee table and I'd had fixed her lunch. “It’s a guitar,” she said, slowly reaching for the case’s handle. “It can’t be anything else.”

She was jolted from her trance when I sat a bowl of hot instant noodles in front of her.

“It’s none of our business and he asked us not to open it,” I scolded, receiving a wounded look from my best friend.

“But Vinyl…”

“No buts, Tavi. Eat your noodles,” I scolded, pointing a fork at her.

“Fine… but you can’t say you aren’t curious,” she replied, picking up the bowl.

“Of course I’m curious, but I’m not going to betray his trust.” I paused to blow of a fork full of noodles. “For all I care, there could be a nuclear weapon and the key to disarming it is in the case. I still wouldn’t open it.”

“And they say I’m stubborn,” she muttered, prompting me to chuckle into my ramen.

~Sin~

It was dark in my room, save for the areas where the moonlight shone in through the windows. One such area housed Roma’s rifle case, opposite of where I sat in bed with my knees to my chest. Tavi was right. It was driving my crazy to know what was in it. It took everything I had not to run over and prize it open. Roma had said he shouldn’t have brought it… but what could that mean? Was it something he was embarrassed about? Was it something he thought I would make fun of? Did the case somehow house a dark secret that he thought would make me hate him?

I suddenly realized that I was no longer in bed, and I was staring at the case from a mere foot away. It’s glossy black surface glimmered in the lunar glow and that was alluring to me as I ran my eyes across it hungrily.

And then I noticed something odd: a nameplate was located on the top, residing over the gap of the case handle.

How I had missed it, I’ll never now. The name on the plate was not that of its owner, but still one I’d heard before, even though I couldn’t place where. The little aluminum plaque bore a simple name and it was one that sent shivers down my spine.

Ophelia.

I walked hurriedly back to my bed, picking up my phone along the way, and promptly flopped down onto the soft mattress. Sitting cross-legged, I tapped my phone and went straight to the contacts. There were three options here. The former-lover-turned-hated-enemy, the acquainted tailor, or the rambunctious former friend.

I settled for the latter.

Pinkie, what is Ophelia?

The response was almost immediate.

Did he show you?

I sighed, and replied honestly. No.

Again, my phone almost immediately buzzed in my hand. Then don’t worry about it. He’ll show you when he’s ready.

That’s helpful! I sat my phone on the bedside table, and laid back letting my legs unfurl and hang off the side of the bed. “This sucks…” I muttered and glanced to my right, over towards my desk, where his jacket hanging on the back of the chair. With a sigh, I got out of bed and slowly walked over to it, barely realizing that my bath robe was hanging loosely around my shoulders and dragging across the floor. I stared at the jacket for a while, before picking it u, and hugging it to my chest. I gave the garment a small sniff and smiled faintly. It still smelled like him. Which, oddly, smelled like cherry candy.

I draped it back over the chair, before my hands found my robe’s tie and gingerly pulled at the knot. With a slight shuffle, it fell over and down to my elbows, exposing my bare upper to the cold night air. It wasn’t unpleasant, but I wasn’t going to stay naked. I let my robe fall to the floor, then picked his jacket back up and slid it on, feeling the soft liner slide over my equally soft skin. It still felt so warm… I hugged my chest, feeling him wrap his arms around me through the jacket. I closed my eyes and lost myself in fantasy as I slowly walked over to my bed.

This time, there was no fictitious setting, no valley of the damned, no knights and certainly no angels. It was just me and Roma, standing in my bedroom. He stood maybe six inches away from me, looking down at my face. He was shirtless and his eyes held a softness that I’d only seen when he watched the video at the farm. They were half lidded and their harsh scarlet irises did nothing to deter my affections to him.

My robe shifted as I reached up and placed my hands against his chest. “I’m ready,” I whispered and his face came down to gently make contact with mine.

“I love you, Vinyl,” he whispered back, after pulling an inch away.

“I love you too…”

~Sin~

Voices. I hear them, and they won’t shut the hell up. Don’t they get that some people like to sleep in when they don’t have school? But then I realized that one was Octavia, so I sat up feeling something heavy around my chest. I looked down to see his jacket and I froze. Last night’s fantasy came rushing back to me as I looked down at the sheets and my made face twist in horror. They're wet, and I knew exactly why.

Did I… to him? In HIS jacket?! There were a lot of things I wasn’t certain about at that moment, but I knew for an undeniable fact, that what I had done was absolutely, one hundred percent, wrong on so many levels! What was I thinking? Sure, I’d thought about me and him getting it on before, but… Not even Lyra would stoop this low… and that girl was always ready to go. There was a sot knock on my door, and I panicked, and I shouted out the first thing I could think of.

“I’m not decent!”

I heard Tavi say in a muffled voice for someone to go wait in the other room and after the sound of retreating footsteps, the door swung open, causing my eyes to grow wide.

“Vinyl, Ro… ma…” her eyes immediately trained on the jacket and grew wide. Those eyes shifted up to my face and spotted the tears, before they shifted down to the soaked sheets and my underwear. The door closed behind her and she walked over to Ophelia and picked the case up, then turned and headed back towards the door. Before opening it back up, she looked back me with concern in her eyes. “Vinyl, are you okay?”

“No... I'm not..." I whispered, covering my face with my hands. They still smelled like arousal.

“Alright, I’ll be right back,” she said, and left. True to her word, she returned a moment later and rushed over to me, and wrapped her arms around my shoulders. “It's okay, Vinyl... Talk to me.”

I heard an engine scream out of the driveway and I vaguely noticed it sounded different than usual.

“It's not okay, Tavi! I masturbated over a friend… Who the fuck does that?!” I said, and wrapped my arms around her waist and sobbed into her chest.

“A human being,” she said softly and lifted my face up to look at her. “Vinyl, let me tell you a secret. I find you unbelievably attractive and have, on a number of occasions, found myself wanting you. You know this.”

“You told me a few years back…”

“Four weeks ago, I did the same over you. And that wasn’t the first time,” she admitted. My jaw dropped and my eyes widened and I did everything that shocked people do. “It's perfectly normal. As they say, a woman's lust dwarfs that of a man. Now, tell me something. Do you feel relieved?”

“Relieved?”

“As though a weight has been lifted from your shoulders?” she said, and pulled me back into her embrace. “Like all the sexual tension’s just evaporated?”

“Yeah, I guess,” I muttered into her bosom. “Why do you do it though?”

“Because I knew that, if I didn’t let out that tension, I would do something both of us would regret.” Her chest vibrated with every word she spoke and that, along with her heartbeat and her speech, was enough to quell the chaos in my heart. “I never want our friendship to be ruined because I was too horny to think straight.”

“Thank you, Octavia.”

“Of course, my little DJ.”

It didn’t matter what Octavia said; I felt awful about what I had done. A very wise girl once told me that we all have the capacity for sin in our hearts, but it’s our choice whether we act on that darkness and let it take us, or whether we shut it away and let it wither and die.

I guess I had just let my darkness overcome me and I knew that I could never look at Roma the same way.

Things had changed and I couldn’t tell if it was for the better, but I had a sinking feeling that it was going to be for the worse.

Author's Note

So, yeah. That just happened. Yes, it's going to affect future chapters. Honestly, this was kind of a filler chapter, leading up to the next one; a set up chapter if you will. Yes, it's still canon to the overall story, and things are going to start changing between Roma and Vinyl, A LOT, because of it. Also, Roma is going to get fucked up soon. I'm thinking of changing the rating to 'M', what do you think? Cuz I think I'm pushing a bit.

Edit notes: changed Vinyl form being distraught to being angry at herself.
changed 'Soaked shower wall' to 'did the same over you.' really, what was I thinking the first time?
changed a few details here and there that aren't really important.

The Ruination of Nothing

Morning came Tuesday (the day after Roma picked up Ophelia) and I heard an unfamiliar engine scream into the drive way. I sat on the couch, hugging my knees to my chest in an attempt to feel some warmth. When the knock came, I sluggishly stood up and my lips scrunched up, in hatred of what I was about to do. I slowly pulled the door open about halfway and stood so that only half of my form was exposed.

“Hey Vee, ready to hit the road? I’ve got a hell of a surprise!” he said cheerfully, but his smile faded quickly when he saw my face. “Vee, what’s wrong?”

“I, uh... I can’t ride with you today… or tomorrow… for a while actually,” I said quietly, and held out for him his white and red racing jacket and starch white helmet.

“Vinyl, I asked you to hold on to that,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “What’s going on? Why can’t you ride with me?”

“It’s a… girl thing?” I said hesitantly, hoping he would take my pause as embarrassment. “Yeah, like, I’m on the cycle...”

“You’re lying, Vinyl,” he said sternly, causing me to flinch. “You had yours a week and a half ago.”

“How could you tell?” I asked quietly.

“I live with three women; I can tell. Now tell me what’s really going on.”

“I can’t,” I whispered and clenched my teeth.

“Why not?” It was less of a question, and more of a demand, like he were addressing a delinquent child.

“You’ll hate me…” I said as my face started to twist in grief.

“I would ne—”

“Don’t you lie to me!” I snapped, feeling the tears pool up around my eyes and flung the door wide open. “I can see it your eyes, Roma! You’re so full of hate and if I tell you what I did, you’ll let it all out at me!” I nearly screamed, feeling my heart start beating faster as it sank lower and lower.

My eyes widened in shock as his left palm came crashing across my face, sending me stumbling back a few steps. “Full of hate?! Of course I am! Why the hell wouldn’t I be?! But you’re fucking retarded if you think I’d EVER direct it at YOU!!!” he shouted, before turning away and walking towards the black motorcycle sitting in the driveway. He turned back briefly like he was going to say something, but he didn’t. He just grit his teeth, got on the bike, spun out in a donut, then dashed into the street, nearly hitting a cream colored sedan. I flinched, as he burnt out again and ran the stop sign at the end of the road.

“What have I done?” I asked quietly, feeling the stinging patch of red skin on my cheek, before collapsing to the ground where I quickly began sobbing into my hands.

~Ruination~

Roma wasn’t at school. And it didn’t go unnoticed by the Rainbooms. Rarity and Pinkie in particular kept casting hateful glares in my direction. All day, I kept my face down and didn’t look back at them. I was scared, to be sure. I thought something had happened to him, and that they knew about it. The crew was concerned about him too, so I told them we had a fight. They said they understood.

When free period came, I found myself absentmindedly wandering towards the arbor, it being my last sliver of hope that I would see him. But he wasn’t there. Of course he wasn’t there. He hadn’t been at school all day, so why would he be there?

I was, however, met with five very angry looking girls, one of whom bore straight hair instead of her normal cloud of pink and another of whom wasn’t even close to Roma, as far as I knew.

Pinkie, Sunset, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Derpy all stared viciously at me, and I almost recoiled in fear.

“Um… Hey,” I said weekly. “Have any of y—”

“What did you do to him?!” Pinkie shouted, grabbing a hold of my collar, and pinned me against the column closest to me. “Why the hell was he so upset when he called me?!”

“W-we had a fight… I lied to him and he saw through it.” Suddenly I was no longer against the column. I found my face slammed into the black dirt. As I spit soil from my mouth, I was rolled over and Pinkie sat on my chest with her fist held above her.

“Why?! WHY WOULD YOU LIE TO HIM?!” Her scream was punctuated by a severe punch to my cheek, followed by the taste of iron flooding my mouth. “He!” Another punch. “Trusted!” Punch. “YOU!” There wasn’t another punch, as Sunset and Rarity had pulled her off of me. “You BETRAYED him!!!"

“I know…” I whispered, letting the shame fill my voice as I stood up. “I… I did… exactly what he was afraid of…”

Fluttershy stepped forward and brought her hand backwards across the same place Roma had, causing me to fall back down. “I thought you would be different. I thought you would be the one to fix him. I thought you could help him! Roma wasn’t the only one trusting you; we were too! I was trusting you!” I was shocked to see her raise her fist and deliver another punch.

“Fluttershy, calm down!” Derpy was behind her in an instant, wrapping her arms around her torso, prompting Fluttershy to calm down a bit. “Baby, please... I don’t like it when you’re like this. It scares me.” And… I did not see that coming. At all.

Rarity released one of Pinkie’s arms, causing Sunset to put the newly deranged girl into a full nelson. “Vinyl, Roma was positively distraught when I spoke to him…”

I was offered a hand by her, which I gladly took, and she lifted me off the ground with little trouble. “Okay,” I said, brushing myself off. “But what can I do? I doubt he’ll speak with me.”

“He will. I’m taking you over to his house, and you two are going to sort this out, like the adults you are,” she said sternly, giving me more than a little reason to fear her.

“When?” I asked, already knowing, and absolutely hating, the answer.

“Tonight, after the boutique closes.”

“Alright. But why are you here?” I asked, pointing to Sunset.

“Because, no matter what happened… I… I never… Damn it Pinkie! Stop struggling!” She punctuated with a brutal head butt, causing the pink girl to go limp in her arms. “Huh, I can’t believe that actually worked. But like I was saying, no matter what happened between us, I still care about him and I want him to be happy.”

“Oh…” I had nothing else to say, so I just walked away, feeling so many angry eyes on my back.

~Ruination~

The drive was a quiet affair. Rarity no longer seemed upset at me, but worried. I hadn’t been to Roma’s place, but she had, and the stories she told me were frightening.

“Vinyl, I’m going to warn you, they aren’t exactly… normal. They’re all odd in their own way, especially Romany. If she assumes you and Roma are a couple, she is going to be furious.”

“Why would she be furious?” I asked, a little concerned at the direction the talk was headed. “Unless they like…”

“Not quite. But Roma tends to play the overprotective big brother and as a result, Romany has a sort of… brother complex,” she said, blushing as she continued, “It’s kind of adorable, sometimes.”

“Okay, what about the others?”

“His mother, Tragedy Heart, is a brute. She’s uncouth and aggressive, a far cry from the rest of the family.” She paused, biting her lip, before resolving to continue. "Dahlia Heart, his niece. She’s just… bizarre. Out of the three women, she is likely the most unstable. Something about her parents… I have no idea what happened.”

“Out of the three women? What about Roma?" I asked, turning to look at her. Her eyes narrowed and her grimace tightened.

“I’ve never seen anyone as unstable as that man.”

I stared at her in disbelief. “Whoa, hold up. I thought you guys were friends?”

A haughty laugh flooded the car and Rarity was forced to pull over until she could settle down. “Of course we are! But do you think for a moment that means that I’m going to sugar coat it?" I nodded. "Well, think again! That man is a monster, plain and simple. I’ve seen him angry and it is not pretty. That little slap he gave you? It’s nothing compared to what he did to Sunset!” She finished and continued her mad cackle, and I just stared at her in fear.

My world was becoming much darker than it had been a few weeks ago. I’d never seen Rarity like this. I’d certainly never seen Fluttershy make a fist. I’d even been beaten up by Pinkie... And now I was finding out that Roma had taken vengeance against Sunset! What the hell was going on?!

~Ruination~

Roma’s house was a simple, suburban colonial with grey walls and a black door.

Its colors made it feel depressing, with it being as dark out as it was.

As I stood at the front door with Rarity at my back, I held my hand up, terrified to knock. Who knew who would answer the door? His sister? Mother? Niece? Him? The thought of being in such unfamiliar territory frightened me.

“Knock!” Rarity hissed from behind me, causing me to jump and instinctively slam my knuckle against the door. I quickly knocked two more times, a little softer, and turned to glare at Rarity. “Oh don’t give me that look. You’re avoiding the situation. Hello Dahlia.”

I turned to look back at the door, only to find it open, with a young woman, probably a couple years younger than me, standing in it’s frame. She had long, white hair and the same pale skin as Roma, with the same bright red eyes. Those eyes seemed to be full of love and kindness, but they still seemed so cold. they didn't seem to focus on me, but rather, they bore straight through me. She was dressed oddly, her attire consisting of a long, flowing red dress, with one shoulder and a single long sleeve that billowed around her wrist. She was beautiful. “Um, hi—”

“You are the one who upset Uncle Roma? Plastic, was it?” she said sharply. She bore a peculiar accent. It was somewhat reminiscent of an Italian one, but there were traces of something middle-eastern as well.

“Um, close. It’s Vinyl… like a record?” I said sheepishly, taking a step backwards, only to find a slender hand between my shoulder blades.

“Right. I like records. They have that nice scratchy sound,” she said with a faint smile, the stepped back and waved a hand inside. “Regardless, come in. We are getting ready for dinner.”

“Do you mind terribly if we stay?” Rarity asked from behind me.

“Not at all, as long as she is here to make up with him,” she said, pointing a thumb at me.

“I am!” I said, a little too quickly, prompting the girl to smile widely at me and put her hand on my shoulder.

“Well, then come on! Uncle is in the kitchen!” she said, giving of a newfound air of exuberance, then pulled me forward into the building.

It hurt my eyes. It was all so bright and colorful that I had to blink a few times to get my vision to adjust. The sound of lively music flooded my ears. I found it charming, as the lyrics were uplifting, about singing songs in a crowd and looking forward to tomorrow.

We will dance through the night,
In the candlelight,
Warmed by the fires glooow,

We’ll drink a toast to tomorrow,
And one to days long agoooo!

I liked it; it was rustic and it made me feel like dancing… which is exactly what Dahlia started doing, giving a few twirls as she headed off into the kitchen. I looked around, failing to find the source of the music, until I spotted Rarity skipping merrily after Dahlia.

“Um… What?” I said, dumb founded.

“Oh, come now, Vinyl! A Heart dining is not something to miss, even amongst enemies! Liven up and dance!” she said, as a new song, with a quick tempo and a heavy bongo rhythm began, prompting a big smile to spread across her face. “Oooo I do love this one!”

I suddenly found both of my hands being grabbed, and I was being pulled into the kitchen, where there were several things going on at once.

There was a woman with black skin and red hair, sitting on a counter, strumming on a guitar. On the other side, a girl who looked to be a younger clone of Roma shook a tambourine furiously back and forth, while Dahlia began singing and banging on a drum that was tucked under her arm, and then... there he was.

Roma stood in a corner, sawing viciously on a violin, while the two youngest girls danced around the kitchen. He had the biggest smile on his face I had ever seen. Then he looked at me and his smile vanished.

The music stopped abruptly, and everyone’s eyes turned to me. “Um… Hi, Roma…” I said weekly, and cast my eyes to the floor. Oh God the floor was red! That is so unbelievably tacky…

“Not one, but two guests for dinner? Looks like the jam session’s cut short, girls!” Roma said, prompting a collective ‘aw’ from everyone gathered, including Rarity.

“You don’t have to stop on my account!” I blurted, then blushed when everyone started laughing. “W-what’s so funny?”

“Miss, Roma is the family cook!” said the girl who looked just like Roma. I assumed that she was Romany, especially after taking not of her left arm's cast.

“Thing is Vinyl, since you two came, I’ve got to cook even more. Not that I really mind, I enjoy cooking,” he said, pulling a smile back across his face.

“Sorry, should I leave?” I flinched when Roma scowled again. “I take that as a yes?”

“Vinyl, if you leave this kitchen, I’m going to bash you over the head with this violin,” he said, leaning back against the counter. “You came over, you’re here and you’re not leaving until… Where’s Rarity?” he said, suddenly looking around frantically.

The sudden screech of car tires drew our attention to the driveway, where an old, white Cadillac was pulling rapidly out of the driveway. Rarity stuck her head out of the window and hollered, “Sorry, but I have things to do! Good night!” She then ducked back into her car and took off.

“Well, I guess I’m staying,” I said quietly and turned back to Roma, who was pulling things out of the cabinets, drawers and fridge. I vaguely noticed that his family had already exited the room.

“Yup,” he said, and sat a large skillet on the stove. “Say, you like stir fry?”

“Never had it. Ever since I was diagnosed, I’ve been eating low protein foods. Stir fry was never really an option for me.” I paused as he gave an affirming hum, then went about throwing a number of things into the pan. “Roma, why are you being so calm about this?”

“Blasé. I’m being blasé, because it’s happened before. Difference is, we’re going to work this out tonight,” he said, and turned the stove on. “I’m not going to lest this one fester up like a wound inflicted by a door.”

“Say what?” I said, blinking in confusion.

“My hands. When I had my casts on, I couldn’t wear bandages, so they got infected. They festered.”

“Oh! Dude, that was just... terrible."

"Yeah... did not think that one through."

So... you want to talk about it now?” I asked, leaning back against the table.

“No, we’ll talk after dinner, so we can be alone.”

~Ruination~

Dinner was pleasant. And big. Like, really big. The stir fry was big enough to feed a small army.

“Come now, Miss Vinyl! Eat up! Put some meat on those bones!” Dahlia said, as she shoved the pan across the table to me. “You are like a skeleton!”

The family laughed and so did I, opting not to mention my sickness, for fear of spoiling dinner. “Oh yeah? You should see my roommate!” I said, scooping a second helping onto my plate. It was so good, I just couldn’t help myself. “She monstrously strong! Arms like a gorilla, and a temper to match!”

“Hey, I’m pretty sure Octavia would object to being called a primate!” Roma shouted happily as he accepted the pan from me.

“Well, what would you call her?”

He paused for a moment, thinking, before he raised the spatula over the table, like a sword. “She’s a giant Pangolin!” This statement elicited a groan from the table, excluding me, as Roma laughed hardily at his joke.

“What the heck is a pangolin?” I asked, earning another groan from the family.

“Pangolins are the coolest thing on the planet! They’re like ant eaters, but with scales!” he shouted, grinning from ear to ear. “We have a tree pangolin as a pet!”

“That sounds biza— wait as a pet? Is that legal?”

“We don’t know, but he’s damn adorable,” said Tragedy, scooping up a third helping of stir fry. "Dahlia rescued him in China and brought him with her."

"Rescued?"

"They eat them and use their scales for home remedies over there, even though they're endangered. It's sickening," Roma explained, scowling at the table. He suddenly lifted his face and forced a smile across his lips. "But enough of this depressing stuff!" he shouted, "Dinner is a time when the whole family is meant to smile!"

Romany stood up and pumped her fist in the air. "Yeah! let's all cheer up!" She went to lean on her broken arm, but the cast slipped and she fell face first onto the table, prompting everyone to laugh at her. Even she was laughing, despite her now-bloodied nose. I had a sneaking suspicion that her face plant was intentional.

I liked this family. They seemed to find ways to make each other smile. They were everything my family wasn't... I would've loved to be a part of this family.

I knew that couldn't happen, but it was still a nice thought.

~Ruination~

I sat on Roma's bed, with a small curl of scales in my lap, which Roma had introduced as Heiwashugi, or Shugi for short. His full name meant ‘Pacifism’ in Japanese. At least, that’s what Roma had said.

Roma sat beside me, smiling at the little ball of scales, but that soon stopped, as he scooted back onto the bed and sat cross-legged. “So,” he said, leaning back, “Mind telling me what this morning was about?”

There was absolutely no point in waiting any longer, so I decided that the best idea was to just blurt it out. “I got off thinking about you.”

“Oh. I'm flattered. You know, the last person to tell me that was…”

“Sunset?” I asked, looking over my shoulder.

“Pinkie.”

My body snapped around, eliciting an annoyed squeak from the pangolin in my lap. “Sorry, Shugi.” I looked my host dead in the eyes. “So you’re telling me that Pinkie masturbates to you?”

“Dunno if she still does, but she did. Specifically, she masturbated to what I did with her.”

“Whoa Whoa Whoooa-hoooaa… you and Pinkie got busy?” I asked, shifting again, causing my little lap warmer to uncurl and crawl onto the bed. “When did that happen?!”

“In the summer between middle school and Freshman year. Just before the Sunset incident,” he said, his face turning a slight shade of red, though his expression never changed.

“I bet she was wild.” I reached over and held out a hand for Shugi to crawl up, which he promptly did. “I can’t imagine her being any other way.”

“No, actually. She was in a funk that summer. I had promised I’d do whatever it took to cheer her up… That just happened to include getting laid,” he said with a smirk.

“I hope she was your first, at that age.”

“She was.”

“So, you’re cool with it?” I asked, holding my arm out, as Shugi hung off it by his tail. “This little dude is freakin awesome.”

“You clapping over me? Suuure. Just don’t make a habit of picturing me naked.”

I laughed, if only because I was uncertain of what else to do. I was glad he wasn’t angry. But even more so, I was glad I didn’t have to lie to him. Speaking of which… “Hey, Roma?”

“Yes?”

“Let’s make a promise, here and now,” I said as Shugi crawled around and nestled on my shoulder like a parrot. “Let’s never lie to each other. Deal?”

“Deal,” he said, holding out his hand, which I gladly shook.

“Okay, so what is Ophelia?” I asked, grinning at him.

“Nice try, but we aren’t quite to that point yet. Ophelia is special, and only certain people are allowed to see me play her.”

I sighed and pulled the little tree pangolin off my shoulder, then flopped onto my back, not realizing that it would put my head in his lap. I went sit up, but Roma's hand touched my shoulder, letting me know it was cool to stay there. I playfully lifted Shugi over me, level with Roma's face. “I guess that's fair. Say, can you take me home soon?”

“Sure, if you feel like riding a super bike at night without a helmet,” he said playfully and bopped Shugi’s nose with his index finger. The pangolin squeaked and reached out in a failed attempt to grab Roma's finger.

“As long as you don't go crazy. That reminds me, what happened to the Ninja?”

His face turned red, and he scratched the back of his head. “I uh…” He trailed off, waiting a moment before he swallowed hard, then continued, “I blew the engine out trying to get to the hospital to see Romany.”

“You really love your sister, huh?” I asked and sat Shugi down on my chest, where he curled up into a little spiky ball.

“It’s… complicated. See, when Romany was born, I was five, so I already had a grasp on the concept that I was going to have to be more responsible. When she was three…” Roma paused again and took a deep breath. “When Romany was seven, she got sick. Very, very sick. She almost died… and I was powerless to help. The thought of that happening again... just scares me. It scares me a lot”

“That’s so sweet. Rarity said you guys were close…”

“Rarity likes to call it a brother complex,” he said, grimacing. I could tell it bugged him, at least a little, that she referred to them in such a way.

“Would you do the same for me?” I asked, looking up at his face with a smile. “Would you ride like a lunatic to make sure I was okay?”

He didn’t hesitate in his answer. “Yeah, I think I would,” he said quietly, smiling back down at me.

~Ruination~

After I dismounted the R1, I turned back to Roma and smiled, as he was doing the same. He still wore his helmet, but I could see under the visor where his cheek was pushed up by a cute, dorky half-smile. I stepped up close to him and wrapped my arms around his neck, and whispered to him, “Thank you.”

His only response was to wrap his arms around my chest(Cuz, you know, I’m short) and hug me back. We only stayed like that for a moment and that wasn’t long enough for me. But, I understood that I couldn’t be clingy. I had to pull back; I had to be cool. He let go and I quickly, though reluctantly, followed suit.

As he turned to leave, I felt something wet roll down my cheek, so I quickly reached up and wiped it away before he could see it.

As he rolled out of my driveway, I waved, smiling as he gave a kind of half-salute, half-wave, then took off.

Everything was going to be A-okay, I told myself.

Just... peachy.

… I didn’t believe that for a second.

Author's Note

So, our boy seems nice, but is he really? Everyone keeps calling him a monster, but is he? Are people getting tired of my frequent chapter breaks? That last one is probable! So, I'm going to take this in kind of a dark direction that a lot of you probably won't like too much, but I ask that you please be patient with me, it'll get cheery again soon. A big thanks to Indigenous for the continued moral support, it's been really helpful in keeping my inspired to write this story. *Squee!* Bonus points to anyone who can put a name and link to the song the Heart family was singing in the comments.

Edit notes: Changed sentence structure,
lengthened dinner discussion
had Vinyl put her head in Roma's lap
changed the age that Romany got sick
Finished editing.

Healing the Scars, Part 1

It was eleven AM, the Saturday morning following the visit to Roma’s house and for the first time in a while, I found myself in a taxi.

That’s because today was special. Today, I was going to spend an entire day with Roma’s family. He wanted me to get to know them better and to be honest, I wanted to know them better too. As I glanced over my attire, I realized I might be a tad overdressed. I was clad in a pair of pressed white jeans, blue heels, Roma’s jacket, and a tight, blue, button-down blouse.

In my defense, he’d said we were going out to dinner, instead of him cooking for us all again. I didn’t know what to expect, so I decided to risk being over dressed.

As the taxi turned onto his street, my heart began to race. What if they didn’t like me? No way… They seemed to like me well enough at dinner last time. I was still nervous. Who knew what would happen in the span of the next twelve hours?

“Hey, we’re here.” My attention snapped to the driver, who was patiently waiting for me to get out.

“Right… um, how much?”

“Fifteen thirty-two,” he said calmly and held out his hand. I promptly handed him the appropriate amount before exiting. “You have a good one, Miss.”

I wished him the same, then turned towards the grey colonial. I heard the taxi behind me pull away, and the sound of its engine was replaced with that of music. I quickly deduced that the source was the garage.

As I made came within a couple of yards from the door, it promptly swung open and a girl about my height with white hair stepped out to meet me. “Hello, Miss Vinyl! Welcome back!” Dahlia was wearing noticeably less sophisticated clothing than my last visit. Instead of her bright red dress, she now wore a long, blue, purple and green tie-dye skirt and a white blouse not unlike my own.

“Um, thanks!” I said, trying to match her cheer, “It’s good to see you again Dahlia.”

“And you, as well. Please, come right in. Unfortunately, Uncle Roma will not be joining us today,” she said. I swear, I noticed a faint twitch in her eye.

“Why not?”

“On Saturdays, Uncle works on his car,” she explained as I was led into the colorful house. The walls were all white, but furniture and fixtures like the shelves, stands and the coffee table were all vibrant blues, yellows, and reds.* “He does not make exceptions.”

“Even for Rarity or Pinkie or Suns—”

“Do not mention that witch’s name in this house!” she snapped, turning to glare at me. She seemed to catch herself and her expression softened. “I am sorry. I understand you are friends with her? Please forgive me,” she said, bowing her head. “But no, he did not. Not even for Rarity or Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy.”

“I… see. Where are the others?” I asked, looking around.

“Romany is possibly hovering over Uncle and Aunt Tragedy is likely in the shower,” she said, pointing to the garage, and then upstairs. “If you will excuse, I will go tell Aunt Tragedy that you are here.”

“Alright… Should I go get Romany?”

“If you’d like. Though Uncle Roma should be kicking her out about…” She trailed off, looking through the kitchen at the garage entrance.

“Aw, Come on Roma you never let me help!” came a girlish voice from the other side of the aforementioned door.

“Yes, because the last time you tried to help, I got a monkey wrench dropped on my foot. And I didn’t even need a monkey wrench! Now be gone, dear sister!” Suddenly, the door burst open and Romany was pushed through. She was clad in a pair of white jeans and a red tank top.

“…Now,” Dahlia said with a smirk.

~ Healing ~

“So tell me, Vinyl, how did you meet my boy?” Tragedy asked as she came out of her room, in the process of putting a belt on. She was dressed in a pair of tight leather pants and an equally-tight white t-shirt. Hanging on her right hip was a large knife with a dark, wood handle and a black, s-shaped guard. It rested in a black leather sheath.

“Well, the valet crashed my car before one of my gigs. Rarity sent him to give me a ride home,” I explained, my eyes fixated on Tragedy’s figure. Damn, she was hot. I may not share my Roommate’s orientation, but even I had to admit that I found Roma’s mom attractive. “That’s when he introduced himself. I actually met him about a month prior. I bumped into him in the hallway.” Well, it wasn’t technically a lie. Tragedy’s eyes narrowed for some reason at the mention of Rarity. I guess she didn’t really approve of their relationship.

“Gig?” Romany asked from her position on the couch. She laid on her stomach, propping herself up on her elbows, kicking her feet above her.

“Yeah, I’m a DJ. I had a gig at this place called The Crystal Palace,” I said, smiling as the girl’s eyes grew to the size of golf balls. “It’s how I make rent.”

“You live alone?” Dahlia asked as she fiddled with a folded piece of paper.

“No, I have a roommate. I mentioned her last time I was here.”

“Ah, yes. The giant pangolin,” she affirmed with a smile. “You know Miss Vinyl, I also perform for rent.”

“Really? What do you do?” I paused for a moment as realization hit me like a baseball bat. “Wait, you pay rent?”

“Firstly, I sing at a local restaurant. Secondly, yes, I pay rent. I have ever since I moved in here,” she said with a kind smile. “I’d love to hear some of your music some time.”

“Only if you’ll sing for me,” I said, crossing my legs and my arms. “I mean, I heard you Tuesday, but it was just a snippet.”

“Well, you can wait until tonight, or I can sing now,” she said, standing up and moving to the other side of the living room. “We will be dining at the restaurant at which I sing.”

“I’d rather hear you now,” I said. A smile spread across her lips.

“I’ll get my guitar,” Tragedy said as she walked back towards the stairs.

“Tambourine!” Romany shouted, then rolled off the chartreuse couch and sprinted up after her mother. She was so hyperactive…

“You are in luck. Romany likes you.” I turned back to see Dahlia stand and walk over to me, holding the piece of paper she was messing with in an open palm. It was an origami rose. “She typically decides whether she likes someone within the first five minutes of meeting them.”

“Why wouldn’t she like me?” I asked as she gingerly sat on the arm of my chair. I won’t lie, that made me a bit uncomfortable… especially when she leaned in closer.

She delicately tucked the paper rose behind my ear, and smiled sweetly at me. “Because Uncle likes you,” she whispered before hopping off and laughing at my reddened face.

“So… ahem, while we’re on the subject of Roma; why does he have a car? What with the claustrophobia and all… I wouldn’t think he could drive,” I asked awkwardly. I heard a loud crash from upstairs, which prompted Dahlia to jog over to the steps.

“Go ask him yourself. I must deal with Romany…” she said briefly, and then she was gone. She sprinted up the steps so quickly I barely saw the hem of her skirt vanish over their top.

~ Healing ~

His garage was a mess. There were three different motorcycles, consisting of a black R1, a large cruiser, and a pink moped (are mopeds motorcycles?), lined up in two rows beside a large, old, black sedan, not unlike Rarity’s Cadillac in apparent age. I noticed a distinct lack of a white Ninja. In front of said motorcycles was a red and white Smart Car, which I assumed belonged to Dahlia. Scattered around the sedan were numerous tools and tables bearing small car parts, as though a tool box had been dumped on the floor.

And yet, the garage was peaceful.

It wasn’t quiet; it was far from it.

But it was peaceful.

Loud, yet mellow music permeated the air that sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it. It was beautiful, so I stopped for a moment to listen.

“It‘s Taylor Swift’s Safe and Sound.” I nearly jumped out of my skin as a certain redhead stood up from behind the sedan. He was clad in a white tank top and a pair of old blue jeans with numerous black splotches on them.

“R-Roma! Um… hi… I wasn’t trying to intrude, I just… I… Uh…” I babbled like an idiot until he smirked at me and leaned forward, folding his arms against the cars roof. I sighed and hung my head. “Hi.”

“Hi. Not that I don’t enjoy your company, but why aren’t you with the others?”

“Dahlia had to ‘deal’ with Romany… whatever that means,” I said with a shrug. I raised my eyes to look at him, and immediately they locked with his.

That’s when I noticed it: their blandness.

He was smiling, but the expression didn’t quite reach his eyes. His bright smile was only a set of lips pulled up to imitate joy. I had to admit, it was a good imitation. He couldn’t fool me though. His eyes didn’t seem to have that spark that most have. His comment about them being different from mine suddenly made a lot more sense.

His eyes, though they stood out sharply from his face, were dull and lifeless, as though they were painted on years ago and the paint was fading. I could only reason that his eyes’ state was due to all of the pain he’d felt at Sunset’s betrayal, and possibly a number of other things I wasn’t aware of.

If someone had asked me to describe them simply, there was only one thing I could say:

They were dead.

I noticed vaguely that his smile had faded. As he took his weight off of the car, I saw a large scar covering his left shoulder and extending towards the middle of his back. I couldn’t tell how far back it went.

“Vinyl, please stop staring.” I snapped back to reality with such force that it made my head spin slightly. He leaned down and opened the car’s door, then sat down in the driver’s seat and began fooling with something on the dash. “I know my scars are ugly, but please, have a bit of courtesy.”

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to… I just noticed it… is that fro—” I started to ask, but he stood up and shut the car door, effectively cutting me off and making me flinch.

“I’m gonna go get a t-shirt,” he said harshly, his voice practically dripping with anger. When he came close enough, I reached out and laid a delicate hand on his right bicep. This had the peculiar effect of stopping him dead in his tracks.

“Wait,” I whispered as I stepped closer to him. “You don’t have to hide them. They don’t bother me.”

“Liar,” he hissed, turning his head to glare at me. His brow was furrowed, his lips tight, and his eyes were burning with that same intensity they had the day he had taken me to practice. I almost recoiled, but I stilled my nerves and smiled gently at him. “Promise breaking little…”

“Not about this, Roma.”

“Then prove it!” he snapped, baring his teeth. “Prove they don’t bother you!”

Prove it? How the hell was I supposed to do that? I ran through several possibilities in my head, but I could find only one that would definitely work. I whispered softly, “Okay,” then stepped around to face the scar. I leaned in and gently pressed my lips to the rough patch of tissue. I left them there for a moment, until he pulled away.

“A-alright that was a bit extreme but you’ve made your point,” he said rapidly, blushing as though I’d… well as though I’d kissed his shoulder. Which I did.

Oh fuck.

I kissed his shoulder.

Oddly enough, aside from the salty taste of sweat, it didn’t really bother me. It was bound to happen anyways, right? No, of course not. That was ludicrous. But he was right; I’d gotten my pint across. That was all that mattered.

“Alright, so what’s this one from?” I asked, gently laying my hand across the shoulder scar. “It’s obviously not from the closet, so what?”

“Grease burn. When I was little I tripped and knocked over a deep fryer,” he explained, his blush growing slightly. “It was… excruciating.”

“I bet! Is that why you never take your jacket off?” I asked, walking over to look under the car’s hood. “Oh, wow. You’ve completely rebuilt the engine…”

He came over to stand behind me, admiring his handiwork in the engine. “No, I just like my jackets. And I’ve rebuilt more than the engine. This car was a rusted up piece of crap when my dad gave it to me. Everything you see on this car is custom. The engine is more efficient, the frame is stronger, the glass is shatter proof, and the tires are puncture proof. You can go ahead and be impressed, if you’d like.”

“Well,” I started and turned in place to smirk at him. “I might be impressed if I didn’t build the Wub Machine from scratch. No pun intended.”

As his eyes widened and his mouth gaped, I smiled at him even harder.

And then he grabbed my hands. He grabbed my hands and held them up between us as he leaned in close. “That is the single sexiest thing I have ever heard anyone say,” he said quietly, and stared deep into my eyes. They burned again… but not in the same way as before. They burned with passion, not anger. He was genuinely excited about my interest in cars.

He kind of reminded me of a puppy… he was adorable.

“Well, to be fair, the Wub Machine is electric. I don’t have much experience with combustion engines.” His smile fade a bit, though, I wasn’t sure why. So I panicked. “N-not that I don’t know combustion engines, it was just easier to make the Wub Machine electric!” I rambled, mentally kicking myself for my lack of grace.

He laughed. Loud and hard, he laughed, before taking a step back and coughing hard into his arm. “Ahem, sorry… that’s not… Look, I just realized why you hadn’t got it fixed. You can’t fix it, can you?”

I stared at him for a while, even as he smiled warmly back at me. His eyes changed yet again as I stared into them. His eyes now shone with a light of kindness, not anger or passion, but kindness. He understood why I hadn’t fixed my car. He didn’t just know; it wasn’t just ‘Oh, you can’t fix it because you’re weak.’ It was, ‘I get it. I’ve been in a similar position.’

And he had been in a similar position. I figured up the math, and realized that for one person to build a vehicle like his from only a basic frame, it would have taken more than three years. It would take longer than he’d had the scars on his hands. That meant that there’d been a period when he couldn’t work on the car because of his infirmity.

I wrapped my arms around his waist, and buried my head in his chest. “You get it,” I whispered, “You get it… you get it…” I said the same thing over and over again until I felt tears stinging my eyes, and then it happened. His arms came to wrap around my shoulders and hold me tight. This time, he was comforting me.

It was true. I couldn’t fix my car; I needed help. But Octavia was too busy with her job, and I didn’t know anyone else who could help me.

“I’ll help you.” I looked up into his eyes again, my heart burning at the sight of his gentle smile that reached all the way into his eyes. “I’ll help you fix your car, but you’ve got to do something for me.”

“J-just name it…”

“Later. First, we have a family day to take part in.”

I nodded and smiled, then set to untangling myself from his arms. “Will you join us now?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

~ Healing ~

Half an hour later, myself, Roma, Romany, and Tragedy sat around Dahlia, waiting for her cue to start playing. I was lent Roma’s tambourine and given a quick rundown on how to play it by Romany. Roma once again held a rosewood violin in the crook of his chin, which was apparently his mother’s, while Tragedy herself held her beautiful black guitar, and Romany had a pair of tribal-looking drums with a deep sound. I made a mental note to get samples from them later.

Whilst upstairs, Dahlia had fetched a violet scarf and a mass of chain and coins that jingled annoyingly when she moved them. It wasn’t until she tied them around her hips that I realized what they were. They were something I’d seen belly dancers were on TV (Dahlia called it a jingle belt, and claimed that that was actually what they were called), but I didn’t think Dahlia would be into that sort of thing. That was really stupid, considering her accent and their heritage.

I apparently had a lot to learn about gypsies.

“Alrighty, Vinyl, when I give you this signal,” Romany said, holding up two fingers, “that means use the second variation. This signal means use the third.” She held up three fingers. “Four fingers means fourth variation, and one finger obviously means go back to the first. You got all that?”

“I-I think so? I’m kind of confused… why do I get the tambourine and not the drums?” I asked nervously. “I’ve never played either but the drums have to be easier, right?”

“Actually, they aren’t,” Roma said, turning one of the tuning keys on the violin. “Trust me, the tambourine is much easier. First thing I learned to play. Come to think of it, can you actually play an instrument?”

“The kazoo,” I replied bluntly, ignoring the laugh from Tragedy.

“Well, color me impressed,” he said with an approving smirk. “I certainly can’t. Not that I really care to… I have the violin; I’m good.”

“I used a lot of kazoo samples in an older song. They’re deceptively hard to come across, so I had to make my own,” I explained.

“As they say, neat. Well, if you are all ready, we may begin,” Dahlia said, standing and moving to the center of the living room. “On cinco. Uno!”

“Dos!” Roma said putting his bow to his strings.

“Tres!” Tragedy called, raising her hand to her strings.

I was four. “Cuatro!” I shouted, raising the tambourine and my beat hand up beside my head. Roma smiled at the sight.

“Cinco!” Romany put her hands just above the drums.

Tragedy plucked a few soft notes. Dahlia sang a gentle note, and Tragedy repeated her bit. Then her tempo picked up as Dahlia began to gently shake her hips.

"Aaa-aa-aaah…”

The sound of jingling coins could be heard permeating through the room.

“Aaa-aa-aaah…”

Romany started tapping out a rhythm, and raised her hand to point at me. That wasn’t the signal.

“Aaa-aa-aaah…”

Romany’s hand pointed up, giving me the first signal. I started tapping the tambourine in time to Romany’s beat, the sound of my instrument blending in with Dahlia’s jingle belt. And then she started to sing, and by god I swear she had the voice of an angel… that happened to be Spanish.

"Suerte que en el sur hayas nacido
Y que burlemos las distancias
Suerte que es haberte conocido
Y por ti amar tierras extrañas"

I received the number two signal, and shook the tambourine in a quick spinning motion for a moment, before I got the number one signal.

"Yo puedo escalar los Andes sólo
Por ir a contar tus lunares
Contigo celebro y sufro todo
Mis alegrias y mis males"

I received the number three signal, so I started shake the instrument slower, and Dahlia’s hips slowed to match the pace. God, her hips were so entrancing, the way they shook back and forth, side to side… It was no wonder I’d heard stories about gypsies being… uh… indecent folk. But I never put much stock in the stories I heard. I knew for certain that what I was seeing wasn’t indecent; it was beautiful, and anyone who said otherwise was a fool.

"Le ro lo le lo le

Le ro lo le lo leeee

Sabes que…"

I got the flat signal, which meant stop for seven beats. Dahlia’s hips jerked back and forth as she sand the next line.

"Estoy a tus pies!
Contigo mi vida
Quiero vivir la vida
Lo que me queda de vida
Quiero vivir contigo

Contigo mi vida
Quiero vivir la vida
Lo que me queda de vida
Quiero vivir contigo…"

Tragedy began strumming her guitar harder, as Roma began sawing at his violin just as hard. I received the flat hand again. Suddenly, Dahlia’s hips began shaking even harder, jerking violently from side to side, the sound of her belt almost as loud as my tambourine, while Romany banged out several heavy beats on her drum. I almost didn’t notice when my seven beats were over, as I was fixated on Dahlia’s hips.

"Suerte que es tener labios sinceros
Para besarte con mas ganas
Suerte que mis pechos sean pequeños
Y no los confundas con montañas

Suerte que heredé las piernas firmes
Para correr si me hace falta
Y éstos tus ojos que me dicen
Que han de llorar cuando te vayas

Le ro lo le lo le

Sabes que
Estoy a tus piiieeee-heeees
Contigo mi vida
Quiero vivir la vida

Lo que me queda de vida
Contigo mi vida
Quiero vivir la vida—”

Dahlia was cut off by a loud ringing coming from her phone. Everyone stopped and locked at it. As the aforementioned singer ran over and looked at the screen, she said something that I was pretty sure meant ‘shit.’

“Mierda!” she shouted, holding her hair out of her eyes to see the screen. “It is work! I am sorry, Miss Vinyl, but I must leave!”

“It’s okay, you don’t need to apologize,” I said, stepping back when she wrapped her arms around my neck.

“Thank you for understanding. Farewell!” She separated from me and ran upstairs, returning moments later in a long blue dress. She was through the kitchen and in the garage before I could even say goodbye.

I turned to the other three Hearts. “Okay, what is with this family and hugs?” I asked, prompting a wicked grin from all three of them. “Oh no… I know that look! Don’t you dare!” I turned as I stood (thankfully having been rid of my heels a short while ago), and was promptly tackled by a large person, and a mass of red entered my field of vision on both sides. Everything seemed to slow down.

As we fell, I rolled in mid-air, turning to face three very cheerful faces, Roma’s being the closest and his smile the widest. I closed my eyes as we neared the floor, waiting for the wind to get squeezed out of me when they landed on top of me. My back impacted the starch white carpet, and that was it. There was no crushing weight on top of me. There was only a light pressure against my torso, and the vague feeling of something sitting between my legs.

I opened my eyes to see Roma’s face about four inches from my own. He was grinning wickedly, his scarlet hair forming a curtain around our faces. His breath still smelled like cherry candy. I looked over his shoulder to see Romany and Tragedy‘s heads grinning like idiots. Roma had both of his elbows planted firmly under my arms, while the connecting forearms rested under my shoulders.

He had purposely landed first because…the others didn’t know.

Man this guy was awesome.

~ Healing ~

The rest of the day was spent playing cards, video games, and learning even more interesting thing about Roma.

For instance, Roma was a talented belly dancer. So good in fact, that he was at least half as good as Dahlia. It was apparently how he kept in shape. Yet, he refused to show me.

He was also an extremely skilled fortune teller.

This is what we did in his room for the hour before it was time to head out for dinner.

“Past or future?” Roma asked, holding both of my hands. We both sat cross legged in the middle of his bed, only of foot of space between our knees. He had long since changed out of his tank top and jeans, and was now clad in his familiar white jeans, red boots, and red shirt. The only difference was that he now wore a white leather blazer over a red dress shirt with the top three buttons undone. It was a spectacular look.

“Um…” I will admit to my hesitation. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know what was in my immediate future. But then, he knew my a little of my past… but not all of it. “Past. So, how does this work?”

Roma smirked as he let go of my right hand and brought my left up to his face. “The lines of your palms, as well as most of the other features, will tell me most of what I need to know to decipher your past.” He paused and looked up at me over the rim of a pair of reading glasses. “I mean, a vague outline of your past. I’ve told lot’s of fortunes. Even Sunset’s.”

“Would this even work on her?”

“Imagine my surprise when I realized that it did.” He looked back down at my hand and started tracing the lines of my palm with his middle finger. As he reached the line going up the middle, his brow furrowed for a moment before he continued. “Broken…” he muttered under his breath.

“But she…”

His eyes widened as his finger lingered on the line in the center. “Short. Crosses.” His finger passed over the line closest to my thumb. “Curved… more crosses.” His finger traced over the top-most line. “Exes. Lot’s of exes.”

“I haven’t dated a lot… so wr—” He held up a hand, as he continued to scan my hand.

“Splinters… more crosses? Isolated lines…” He stopped examining the fold of my hand a started looking at my fingertips. “Calluses, developed at an earlier age… But not too early.” He moved to the heel of my hand. “Flat. No surprise.”

I started to ask why he wasn’t surprised, but he leaned up and smirked at me. “Something amusing?” I asked, rubbing my palm. It tickled where he had been stroking it.

“No, just interesting,” he replied, removing his glasses. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to go ahead and tell you what I found.”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

“Okay,” he started, then cleared his throat. “You were born into a comfortable life. It’s likely that your family is wealthy, or at least was. At an early age, you started working with your hands. I assume that this is where your mechanical skill originates. Soon after, you realized that you wanted to be a DJ, and as a result, your palm heels are flat, much like Rarity’s. She plays piano, so her hands rest in a similar fashion to yours when she plays. Halfway through life… you were traumatized. Twice.” My eyes widened as he crossed his arms. “The first is one I’m familiar with. The mark signified that it was a life changing event. The second mark… The second mark is one I’ve seen on a… rape victim.”

“I wasn’t raped,” I said sternly. His shoulders drooped slightly and a gentle smile spread across his face. I though about it for a moment, and I figured he was okay to tell. “But… I might as well have been.”

“I take it you’d rather let that stay buried?”

“Not to you Roma. I trust you, and I want you to trust me.” Roma moved to the head board and leaned his back against it, then pat the spot beside him. I quickly joined him, leaning sideway against him. “See, you’re right. I am from a wealthy family. My dad, CD Scratch was a successful violinist, kind of like you, so that’s how he got rich. When I was six, he got involved in politics, and his views made him even more well known.”

“I assume that it was in a bad way?”

“Yeah. He advocated for the legalization of gay marriage. He was gaining support, so a few of his opponents got together and arranged… they…” I felt myself choke up; a reminder of how much this memory hurt. “They kidnapped me, Roma. You know how scary that is?”

“Seriously? No. but the closet might be a good reference.”

“Yeah, sorry… Look, you were terrified for a couple of days, I was scared for a whole month,” I said, feeling his arm tighten around my shoulder. I leaned over further, folding my arms across my stomach. “My dad, he wouldn’t quit. No matter what they threatened to do, he kept going. To him, Roma, the rights of the many were worth losing his daughter. Thinking back, yeah, I agree wholeheartedly. But back then, I couldn’t stand that he would put something so simple like marriage before me.”

“And he won. I remember reading about it.”

“Yeah, he won.” I nestled in closer, resting my head against his chest. “He won, and they let me go. They were never even arrested. That, Roma… That is the worst part of it. The fact that they got away with it still bothers me to this day.”

“Vinyl I—”

“Alright Love birds, it’s time to go!” Tragedy called, making both of us jump a foot off the bed. Both of us rolled away, and over the edge of the bed, blushing furiously as we looked at each other. And we smiled. We smiled because of the sheer silliness of our reactions. We smiled because there was one less secret between us.

As we moved towards his door, he put a hand on my shoulder, and said softly, “Vinyl, if anyone ever tries to take you away, I will be there, and I will stop them. I promise.”

“Thanks… You really don’t know what that means to me,” I whispered, then stood on my toes and kissed his cheek lightly. “Now let’s go get some grub.”

“Now there’s a plan I can dig.”

And so, I had dinner with the Heart family in public. It was quiet. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, and there was no emotional tension permeating the air.

It was the perfect family dinner.

~ Healing ~

The next day:

“You know, Roma, when you said, ‘Something for me,’ I pictured something different,” I muttered, forcing a scowl onto my face. The truth was, I was happy. I was sitting in a crowded restaurant with Roma, and waiting for our third guest to arrive. We sat in a circular booth, with Roma facing away from the door, and myself facing it. “And I didn’t think you would ask immediately.”

“Well, if she just sees me here, she’s gonna run away. The girl is terrified of me!”

“Maybe if you hadn’t beat her half to death…”

“I was angry. People get angry, Vee. It’s a thing that happens.”

“Yeah? Not like you. Here she comes, so shut up.”

“Um, hey Vinyl, what’s up?” Sunset Shimmer asked as she walked up to the table. Her heyes promptly caught sight of the redhead across from me, and she turned to leave.

“Sunny, wait,” Roma said quietly, grabbing a hold of the girl’s wrist. “I just want to talk.”

“Fine. But if anything happens, this time, I’m calling the police. I can do that now.”

“Understood. Now come sit down. Our breadsticks are on their way. I know you like breadsticks.”

Author's Note

TO BE CONTIUED!!!

Next time... On Roses and Violets!

Bridges rebuilt! Demons laid to rest! Violent confrontations! Suffocating hugs! Romany being adorable! All this and more! Tune in *cough* whenever *cough* for the next exciting chapter of Roses and Violets... Healing the Scars, Part 2!!!

So yeah, I am soooo sorry this took so long to get up. I hope everyone is satisfied with it. We are fast approaching the first climax, and she's a screamer! Soon, we'll be dealing with AJ and Roma's final, extremely violent confrontation, and Dahlia's confrontation with Sunset. I think I made it clear enough that she hates Sunny's guts. A lot is going to happen next chapter, so I hope everyone is ready for it!

Edit: Whoops! I forgot to add this. Sorry about that.

Healing the Scars, Part 2

The three of us sat in silence for a while. Sunset fidgeted uncomfortable where she sat, constantly casting nervous glances over at Roma, while I sat beside her, calmly sipping on my Coke. Roma had insisted on me coming, though he assured me that it was more for Sunset’s sake than his own.

“So,” Sunset started, sitting her drink down on the table, “Roma. Why would you, of all people, want to talk to me, of all people?”

“I want…” Roma trailed off, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Ugh I really should have thought about what to say. Look, I can never forgive what you did to me, the same way I’m sure you can nev—”

“Already have,” Sunset said sharply.

“Um… what?”

“You heard me, Roma. I forgave you a long time ago. You were justified in your actions,” She explained, grabbing a breadstick from the middle of the table. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m still terrified of you. Hard not to be after that. In fact, it’s taking everything I’ve got not to bolt right now.”

“Was it really that bad?” I asked. When both of their gazes turned to me, I shrunk down in the booth without even realizing it.

“I broke her jaw.”

“And my arm,” Sunset added, pointing her breadstick at Roma.

Roma turned towards her. “I think I cracked your pelvis too, didn’t I?”

“In two places. Several ribs too.”

“So,” Roma said confidently. “I messed her up pretty bad.”

I stared at them both in surprise. They were being so… blasé about this whole situation. I knew for a fact that Roma was nervous about this, and Sunset had just flat out admitted to being terrified. What… what the hell was going on?

“Yeah, he fucked me up p—” Sunset was cut off by Roma’s middle finger snapping against her forehead in a savage thump.

“Language, Sunset. Language,” he said sternly, giving her a deadpan glare. “You know how I feel about profanity.”

“Ow… How… how can you possibly thump harder than before?! Really!”

“Physical therapy made my hands really strong,” Roma explained, giving a light shrug.

“Sorry…”

“No worries, Sunny, it’s in the past…” Roma trailed off, putting on a pensive expression. “…which is exactly where I want to leave it! Sunny, I want us to be cool again. But to do that, to be that, I have to let go of my hatred, and you need to let go of you completely rational fear… think that’s an option?”

Sunset cupped her chin between her thumb and forefinger, staring at the table for a moment. Finally, she lifted her chin and looked straight into her ex’s eyes. “No,” she said coldly, prompting Roma’s face to fall. “That can’t happen; not completely. What we did to each other, there’s no letting it go. We have to live with those mistakes, Roma, and we have to accept that we were both different people then… That, Roma… that is something I can do. Can you?”

Roma’s response was immediate. “Of course. I’ve accepted that you’ve changed… but what makes you think I have?”

“When was the last time you got into a fight?”

He winced at her question. “Jackie,” he said quietly.

“Why is she the last one?” Sunset asked, scooting over next to Roma. I smiled warmly at them both, although I’m sure they had completely forgotten my presence.

“Can’t bring myself to make a fist in anger… Can’t bring myself to hurt someone like I did you…” he said, gritting his teeth in an angry snarl. “Can’t bring myself to let go and be… that thing again…”

Thing? My smile disappeared, and I leaned forward. What thing? What as Roma talking about? I didn’t ask, for fear of breaking their focus on each other.

“And that there is my proof. Before, when we were together, you had no qualms about slipping into that state,” She said soothingly and put a hand on his shoulder. “And now, it bothers you to even think about it.”

I leaned forward a bit more, hoping they would talk a bit more about that ‘thing.’ It never came. Instead, Roma held up his right hand in front of Sunset.

“We cool?”

“Not yet… But we will be,” she said, smiling warmly at him and shaking his hand.

“Yay! Warm fuzzies all around!”

All three heads at the table snapped up to look at a waiter. She had pink skin, blond hair and matching golden eyes. I was acquainted with her by her association with Rose and apparently, so were Roma and Sunset.

“Hello, Lily,” Roma said casually.

Sunset was less formal. “’Sup.”

“The old usual for you two?” Lily asked, flipping her notepad out.

“Yes ma’am,” Roma answered politely, and then turned to me. “You ever been here?”

“Uh… ‘low protein,’ remember?”

“Oh! Um… she’ll have the mezzaluna,” he said, turning back to our waiter and pointing his thumb at me.

“Ooo… good choice. I’ll be back in a sec with some more breadsticks,” Lily said cheerfully, before taking our menus and leaving in a hurry.

“So…” I started, scratching at the back of my head, “What exactly is mezzaluna?”

“It’s… hard to explain. My recipe is different from Chrysalis’s,” he said calmly, before quickly scanning the room. As he let out a sigh, I briefly wondered why he’d be afraid of this Chrysalis person.

“So, who's this Chrysalis person?” I asked, and instantly regretted it.

“I am.”

My head snapped around to see a black-skinned woman with toxic-looking green hair sitting in the booth with me. She was clad in a tight green t-shirt and black jeans. Resting around her neck was a silver chain with a pink heart pendant, matching the engagement and wedding bands on her right hand. On her ears were pinned two green, skull-shaped earrings.

“Vinyl, this is my old friend Chrysalis Queen,” Roma said casually, gesturing at the woman beside me. “She’s the one who taught me to cook, and is the owner of The Changeling Queen.”

“W-where the hell where you hiding?!” I nearly shouted, causing the woman to grin wickedly, revealing a pair of pointed fangs.

“I wasn’t. I walked up to your table and sat down.”

“Look, Vee, just… don’t think too hard about it,” Roma said, putting his hand to his forehead, “Sunny and I came here every Saturday for six months and we never figured out how she does it.”

“I heard about the break up.” Chrysalis leaned forward and folded her arms on top of the table. “You know, Fluffle’s sist—”

“NO!!!” Roma shouted, standing and slamming his hands on the table, attracting a number of stares from other patrons. “Never again, Chrys, never… again… Besides, the prospect of somehow becoming even more related to you is a frightening one.”

“Speaking of which, how is my little monster doing?” Chrysalis asked, her grin spreading even further. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say her face was actually shifting it’s form… but that was impossible, right?

“My sister is doing well. Cadence is taking good care of her at Crystal Prep.”

“Good, good. I should stop by and see her soon…”

“Yes, you should,” Roma said, throwing a bit of bite into his words. “She misses her ‘other mother.’”

“I’ll be by Saturday. Now, your food is ready, so I’ll leave you to eat. I hope you enjoy it.”

“Here’s your food!” Lily sang as she strolled up and sat three plates on the table. “Funny, as soon as Sunset walked in, they started cooking this. And fortunately for you, Vinyl, mezzaluna is pre-cooked every morning, so it didn’t take long to prepare.”

“Thanks Lily. I think we’re good for now,” Roma said as our bubbly waitress sat three plates down in front of us.

“No problem! See you guys later!” As Lily turned and strode away, Roma and Sunset looked after her and both smirked.

“I still think we should have asked her…”

“Lily’s not like us, Sunny. She’s straight, and that’s all there is to it.”

“Yeah, but she liked you!”

“She’s twenty-seven, Sunny. It would’ve been statutory rape.”

“Ugh. As stubborn as ever, I see…”

“Naturally.”

“Wait!” I said, loud enough for them to stop their little back-and-forth. “You!” I pointed at Roma. “You said, ‘She’s not like us.’ And then you said, ‘She’s straight!’”

“That is correct,” Roma replied with a devious smirk.

“You’re not…” I muttered, though it was still loud enough to hear.

“It’s a little more complicated than ‘I am,’ or ‘I’m not.’”

“What are you saying?” I asked. I was terrified to know the answer (as though I didn‘t already), but I had to. I needed to know.

Roma leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table, while his fingers laced together. “It’s like this, Vee. Sexual preferences, they don’t really exist for me. I’m what you might call pansexual.”

“So… what? You’re attracted to everything?” I asked, and smiled when he nodded. That was good. That meant I still had a chance. Wait, a chance at what? Sex? Love? A few-month-long fling? If I did somehow get with him, how long would it last? Would… Would it even be worth it?

“Yes, attracted to everything, and nothing. I’m not a very lustful person, unlike my former flame, here. For me, a relationship is built around trust, love, honesty, and loyalty, even if those things turn around and stab me in the back.” Roma stopped for a moment and put a hand to Sunset’s shoulder, assuring her that he was still over everything. “If I get laid, then I get laid. It’s really of little or no consequence to me.”

“Dude, you used to get laid a lot,” Sunset said, punching him in the arm. “because of those principals.”

“Yeah, well, when you got it, you got it,” Roma said with a smirk, leaning back and crossing his arms. “I can’t help that I’m awesome.”

I smiled at them, happy that they were friends again, but my smile was little more than a mask at that point. Inside my mind, a thousand different questions buzzed around in my head. Before long, we had finished our meals and we sat there chatting about pretty much nothing and everything…

It would’ve been perfect, if I weren’t so preoccupied with that one thought.

Would a relationship with Roma be worth it, even if it ended after a short time?

~ Healing ~

Later that night, I lay in bed, staring up at my ceiling, though, I wasn’t really looking at it. My eyes just happened to be facing that direction. Two thoughts fought each other in my mind; often, I was unsure of which one was winning.

It would be worth it.

No, it wouldn’t be worth the heartbreak if he dumps you.

Heartbreak is always a risk.

Nothing is worth heartbreak.

It’s been broken before.

You didn’t love Neon.

And? I still cared a lot about him. I mean… it could have become love.

And you were fucked over, weren’t you?

Maybe. But dad always said love was worth any risk.

…

Okay, you may have a point there.

Dad was awesome.

Yeah.

And I just won an argument with myself.

Yup.

Lovely. Goodnight crazy me.

Goodnight not-crazy me. Wait, real quick, I got a question.

What?

When did we decide that we love Roma?

Huh… that is a good question…

~ Healing ~

Monday morning came, and I received a welcome sight in my driveway. Rolling from the black pavement onto the white, was a very familiar white and red motorcycle.

As I approached, I noticed something off. He didn’t have the same air as he normally did. Typically, Roma had a very relaxed air, but today, he didn’t. for starters, he didn’t get off to greet me, as he typically did. His hands were gripping tightly onto the handlebars, and his shoulders were more hunched up than usual. I slowed down and came to a stop a few feet away.

As he removed his helmet, I was met with a face I knew a bit too well. He was angry. At what, I didn’t know, but his eyes burned with that hate-filled light, and it terrified me.

“Jackie knows,” he said calmly, despite his apparent rage. “And she’s pissed.”

“I can imagine,” I said quietly, stepping forward. “But how does she know? How could she possibly know?”

“Lily. You may not be aware, but they’re both members of Canterlot’s agricultural society. They’re actually pretty good friends.”

“I see. Do the others know?” I asked, climbing onto the bike behind him. Of course, I meant the Rainbooms. My crew already knew, since I’d told them the prior night.

“No. I asked Pinkie and she says she didn’t know. Being that she and Jackie are cousins, she’d be the first one Jackie would tell.” Roma reached his hand backwards and held out a bizarre looking collar with a clear tube ending in an ear bud hanging off of it. “Put this on. It’s a radio. My family uses them when we go mountain biking. Make sure the ends pinch the front of your throat. I already switched it on, so all you have to do is press the button and talk, and I’ll be able to hear you.”

“This is… some military grade shit, Roma.” I cautiously stretched the strip of plastic around my neck, and plugged my right ear.

“No, yours is civilian grade, trust me,” my gypsy friend said casually as he began donning his. “Although, mine is mil-grade, and a lot more expensive.” He paused for a moment, before his elbow rocketed back into my gut. “And watch that mouth, Vee. I do not like profanity.”

It wasn’t a hard hit, but it was definitely a hit; enough to make me lurch forward and clamp my arms over my stomach. And then I realized what kind of position I was in. I now found myself pressing my chest into Roma’s back, my chin sticking over his shoulder. I just happened to glance down at the mirror and see Roma’s crooked grin in the reflection. “Oh you so did that on purpose.” I received a chuckle in response, alongside a stretching smile.

“I have absolutely no idea what you mean,” he said nonchalantly, and plugged his right ear with the radio tube. “Check check, how’s the volume, check check?”

“Volume’s fine, jerk.”

“Good. Ready?”

“Yeah,” I said, and clamped my hands down on his shoulders. As the bike began rolling backwards, he suddenly chuckled, before he clamped down on the brake. “Wha-at now?” I said, my voice jerking with the bike. His chuckle turned into a full-on hysterical laugh. His shoulders shook, and his head ducked forward. What was crazy was that neither of our radios were active, and I could hear his laugh perfectly through his helmet. After a moment, he pulled his helmet off and began coughing violently into his forearm. He seemed to do that a lot when he laughed… why? “What? What’s so funny?!”

“Ahem… I like them… They’re a nice size.”

“Like wh—” I stopped short and my face turned bright red. Oh my god Roma just gave me a compliment on my body. I fought back the heat rising in my chest, and smiled at him. He could see me in the mirror. I gave him a nice, soft, seductive smile, and wrapped my arms around his waist, clutching handfuls of his coat. “Yeah?” I pressed against him, and felt his entire body shudder at my touch. “How’s that?” I whispered, leaning my face over his shoulder.

“Exciting, much like this.”

“Like what?” Oh, how I wish I hadn’t asked. Suddenly, Roma was wearing his helmet, the bike was leaned sideways, and he gunned the accelerator while holding down the front break. “Oh no! No! Nooooo!” My cries were in vain as the bike’s rear tire screeched and we were suddenly spun seven hundred twenty degrees, before rocketing out into the street (Which was thankfully devoid of any cream-colored sedans). My arms clenched tight around his chest, and my face was buried into his back. I was afraid to open my eyes. But then, the world seemed to slow down. Partially, because the bike stopped.

“Sorry Vee,” Roma said softly over the radio, putting a gentle hand on my own. “I had to mess with you.” The bike rolled forward, and I instinctively gripped his coat again.

I slowly raised a hand to my radio and fumbled for the button. “Roma… Please don’t ever do that again…” My heart was pounding and I could feel it in my skull. It hurt. I don’t know why that had scared me so much… My hands were starting to hurt from gripping Roma’s coat so tightly. My knees squeezed Roma’s hips and I couldn’t bring myself to let go. Eventually, my mortal terror faded, but I still held on to his coat, Simply because it felt…

It felt right. And seeing as he didn’t complain, I can only assume that he didn’t have any problems with it.

The rest of the ride was peaceful, save for the odd flaw in the road jostling the bike every so often. But other tan that, it was nice. It was a clear day, no clouds in the sky… it was, as Roma called it, The Rider’s Day. Which made perfect sense, in my opinion.

~ Healing ~

The day up until free period was relaxed. We were only a few weeks from fall break, so curriculum was starting to slow down. All the teachers had planned in accordance with the usual three week break, but this year we would only get two weeks. As a result, lesson plans had been altered and were now spread evenly across the next four weeks.

It was nice.

But then, free period came.

I was cheerfully making my way towards the arbor, laptop in my arms, when Applejack stepped out from behind the hallway corner and started walking towards me. I scowled and turned to walk in the other direction, then ran when the sound of her boots got louder and faster. A strong hand clutched onto Roma’s jacket and pulled me backwards, sending my laptop falling to the floor, where it cracked on impact. I was thrown against the lockers, and met face-to-face with a very angry cowgirl. I glanced back down at my laptop.

“That was expensive, AJ,” I said calmly, though, I was panicking on the inside.

“Don’t care,” she said harshly. “What I do care about, is why ya’d help that bastard. I told ya’ll what’d happen to you if you stay with ‘im.”

“I’ll get hurt. But he hasn’t hurt me.”

“Not yet. Give ‘im time. He’ll screw ya’ll over just like he did me.”

“You ever going to explain that one?” I asked. She clenched her teeth, and I felt a fist crash against my right cheek, sending me sprawling across the floor.

“You think you got a right to smart off? That monster needs to pay! He hurt everyone!” she said, standing over me. “Git up, traitor.” My eyes widened at her accusation as I struggled to push myself onto my knees. Crap, I couldn’t do it! I weighed too much! My arms gave out from under me, and my face slammed into the floor. “Quit playing… around!” she said sharply, grabbing my collar and throwing me back against the wall.

“I’d advise you not do that again.” Mine and AJ’s heads snapped to the right, and saw Roma walking calmly towards us, in the process of taking off his trench coat to reveal his tight red t-shirt and the toned muscles beneath. “I may have to kick your ass.” As his coat fell away, he quickly pulled off his rings and deposited them in his pocket.

“Ya’ll… Ya’ll think y’ can threaten me?” AJ demanded, her left eye twitching.

“Yes, I can. Because I have this.” Roma pat a small black pouch on his right hip, next to his multi-tool. I had no idea what was in that pouch, but Applejack seemed to. Her eyes widened and her teeth clenched even harder.

“You cheatin’ little—”

“Now, that’s not really fair, is it? Yes, I fight dirty; always have, likely always will. But at least I don’t beat up cute girls that are physically incapable of fighting back.” I scowled for a moment at him for divulging my sickness, but then I realized something.

He called me cute.

“What’re you talkin about? She looks healthy enough t—”

“I have a protein deficiency, Applejack. I’m no stronger than your sister,” I said sharply, cutting her off. Her eyes widened for a second, but then narrowed.

“Bullshit.” Her fist slammed into my face in a backhand, and before either of us knew what was happening; before I could even hit the ground, Roma was upon her. His right palm heel smashed against the center of her eyebrows, followed quickly by his left, causing her to stumble back several steps, until his right arm went between her legs, and his left hand clamped down on her shoulder. Suddenly, she was over Roma’s shoulder, and was about to be slammed into the ground.

It was then that I noticed Roma’s expression. His brow was furrowed, his lips were drawn back, and his eyes were wide and they burned with a hateful flame. Even when he had glared at me in the garage, they hadn’t burned that bright. His current snarl sent a shiver down my spine. He looked more like an animal than a man. Time seemed to stop as his eyes swiveled to meet mine. In that instant, his snarl changed into a look of surprise, then horror, then strain as he adjusted Applejack’s position, and hurled her several feet away from him, rather than at the ground.

She landed on her hands and knees with a grunt as Roma took a fighting stance, raising both of his hands in front of him as though they were claws. Applejack quickly back-stepped and took a boxing stance. She glanced between me and Roma as I managed to crawl to my knees, and stand up against the lockers. Tears started to well up in her eyes as she stared him down. Her face scrunched up, and she chose that moment to run, wiping her eyes on her sleeve as she went.

Roma sighed and fell back on his butt, then started laughing. It started as a chuckle, then escalated to a giggle, and in a few seconds, had become a full on fit of laughter, until he stopped to cough in his arm again. “You almost got me to do it, Vee…” he said hoarsely, staring blankly at the floor in front of him.

“D-do what?”

“Lose it.”

“That’s… bad, right?”

“Very… C’mon, we need to speak to the principals. Or rather, I do…”

“O-okay…”

~ Healing ~

I sat outside Principal Luna’s office in a plastic chair, curled up with my knees to my chest as I waited for Roma to finish his discussion with both Principals. He’d been in there a while. I had no idea what they were talking about, and I really didn’t care. I was thinking about that face Roma had made.

“Can’t bring myself to let go…”

He… he hadn’t let go, there… had he? No, no… that was something else.

“…be… that thing again.”

What was it? It was rage, to be sure. But there was more. There was something deeper; something… ominous lurking beneath Roma’s skin… and it scared me. What if that something got loose? What if it turned on me? What if it consumed him? What if… what if it… was him? No, that wasn’t possible. Roma wasn’t a monster.

“…you had no qualms about slipping into that state.”

I was painfully reminded of Sunset’s words at the restaurant. There had been a point when that state had possibly been second nature. And Sunset had seen it. No, she hadn’t just seen it… she’d been on its receiving end. She’d been its victim.

She knew what it was.

A sudden shout from the office drew my attention.

“Absolutely not!” cried a voice I recognized as Principal Luna. “I’ve seen what your fights have wrought! To willingly cause that kind of… carnage… I refuse to allow it!”

“LULU! Calm down!”

“No, Sister! I’ll not be calm! You remember what he did to Miss Shimmer!”

“That wasn’t a fight!” Roma shouted, causing me to raise my eyebrows at his tone. Well, monster or not, dude had balls.

Everything went silent again, and I began to wonder why they were actually shouting. That stopped when the door beside me opened up, and Principal Celestia poked her head out.

“Miss Scratch? We’re ready for you.”

I nodded and followed her into the office. Awaiting me were Of course, both principals, Roma, and to my surprise, Sunset. My schoolmates stood on either side of VP Luna’s desk, watching me as I slowly entered. Soft orchestral music permeated throughout the office, no doubt to either mellow out visitors, or to frighten them. It had the latter effect on me.

“Have a seat, Miss Scratch,” Principal Celestia instructed, gesturing towards a vacant desk chair. “We have something to ask of you.”

“Um… okay,” I said, settling into the large leather chair. It was much to big for me, actually, so I kind of felt like a child in a grown-up’s chair. “Ask away.”

“We’ve reached an agreement, Vee,” Roma said, the shuttered light from the window casting a shadow over his face.

“We’ve decided that this is a problem that we ourselves can’t solve,” Sunset said calmly, clutching something to her chest. It was about the size of a textbook, so I assumed it was her magic journal.

“And so,” VP Luna said quietly, glaring at the desk.

Her sister picked up. “After much debate…”

“We’re going to ask the princess for help,” Sunset said, sitting the journal on VP Luna’s desk. “I don’t want to bring her into this dimension for no good reason, but Applejack needs her help.”

“Why… why does AJ need help?” I asked, folding my arms over my stomach. I felt sick.

“Jackie is, in many ways, like me. I abandoned my friends out of fear, and it has remained that way for two years. Thanks to you, I am at a point where I can get them back.” He paused for a moment, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Jackie, however, was different. She was the one to cut things off. She had her own reasons for hating me, and she’s even better at holding a grudge. She’s held on to that anger for over three years…”

“Vinyl, Miss Applejack’s anger will break her, if something is not done,” VP Luna said, her voice straining. “She will become as I once was.”

“And that is why we wish to bring Princess Twilight into our world again,” Celestia finished, gesturing toward the journal with one hand.

“What we ask of you, Vinyl,” Roma intoned coldly, “Is that you allow her to stay with you and Octavia. My family is too big, and if she stays with any of the other Rainbooms, she’ll be discovered immediately.” He turned and opened a single section of the blinds behind him. He hissed in pain and let them snap closed, before turning back to me, rubbing his eyes. “I don’t want to ask this, but you’re involved, Vee. It’s as much your problem as it is mine, now.”

“I’ll do it,” I said instantly, causing several pair of shoulders to drop in relief. “But…” Those shoulders tensed back up. “I want to know what happened.”

“With Jackie?” I nodded. “Big Mac happened. In their barn. I’m sure you can piece the rest together yourself.”

My eyes went wide, as did every other pair in the room at the revelation. “You… you fucked your best friend’s brother?!” I shouted, causing Luna and Celestia to glare at me.

“Yes, I did. Worst mistake of my life… and I’ve made some pretty big ones…” He stepped around the desk and leaned back against it, facing me. “Vee, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that what we discuss never leaves this room. You understand? Jackie can’t find out about the princess until we’re ready.”

I nodded. “So what’s the plan? How do we get her to my place without AJ knowing?” I asked, crossing my legs and moving my arms over my chest. Not going to lie, I felt pretty cool… but that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach was getting stronger.

“Gravity,” was Roma’s solitary reply. With a smirk, he specified. “My car.”

“Okay, now my last question,” I started and suddenly, I felt very unsure of myself. “is what happens… if she finds out?”

“Then Miss Applejack and Mister Heart will be drawn into a duel,” VP Luna answered coldly, glaring at me from under her bangs.

“Is that so bad?” My stomach suddenly felt very, very much like it had snakes squirming around in it.

“Jackie attacked you for helping me, Vee. If she and I fight, it’s going to be an end-all fight. One of us… One of us isn’t going to limp away.”

“You’re afraid it’ll be her?” I asked, leaning forward, resting my hands on the armrests.

“No, I’m afraid it’ll be me,” he said quietly, his voice cracking as he whispered his answer. “Vee, I scare people. It’s a fact. Sunset here, Pinkie, Fluttershy, even my own family… all of them. But Jackie… She scares me. She gets angrier than me, she’s every bit as strong as me, she a better melee fighter… and she isn’t afraid of me one bit.”

“So… she’d…”

“It’s very likely.”

“I… I see. Well then, let’s get the princess here ASAP.” I received a number of nods as that feeling in my stomach decided it wanted out. “Can someone hand me a trash can?”

Author's Note

So. Roma and Sunset are reconciling, Roma's spilled a bit more about why folks call him a monster, it's established that he understands that it's wrong.

(cheesy anime dub narrator voice... thing) And so, with hearts full of both hope and dread, our heroes decide to bring in outside help! Will Applejack learn to accept that Roma's changed? Will Princess Twilight be able to help them? Will Roma be killed by the superior fighter? Will Roma's dirty fighting prevail? What was in the tiny black pouch on his belt?

Find out in the next exciting chapter of Roses and Violets: Rending the Flesh, Part 1!

So, yeah. Shit's happening, Roma's pansexual and fucked AJ's brother. In a barn. (which isn't as fun as it sounds, really.) And also apparently that creepy ass sister Fluffle Puff has. Who actually will play a part much later in the story. Fluffle, not her sister. No spoilers.

Rend the Flesh, Part 1

“I cannot believe you!” Octavia shouted, slamming her hands on the kitchen table. “This is something you needed to discuss with me before you automatically accepted!”

I opened my mouth to object, but she kept going.

“Vinyl, we can barely afford to feed ourselves and still make rent! You don’t have a steady job anymore, and playing at Discord’s doesn’t pay as well as it used to!” She stopped shouting for a moment, breathing heavily. Her hair had fallen down in her eyes, her makeup had run down her cheeks and her teeth were tinged red where she’d bitten her lip a few minutes ago. “How are we supposed to support a third person for any length of time?!”

“I… I don’t know…” I said miserably. I hated to admit it, but she was right. After I quit my job at the guitar shop and lost my only means of transporting my sound equipment, I had absolutely no means of making money. “I didn’t think about that…”

“Are you sure?! You seemed fairly certain we could handle it when you volunteered to let the princess stay in MY house!” she screamed leaning over the table to get in my face. “You seem to forget, dear Vinyl, that you moved in with me!”

“Tavi, I’m—”

“Don’t even!” she spat, baring her teeth at me. “If you think any apology will make up for this, it won’t! I’ve been lenient with you about getting a job because I understand not having a vehicle! But no more! Either you find a new job soon or…” She trailed off, her eyes drifting away from mine. She turned her head to the left and muttered, “’…or you can find a new play to stay…”

“Octavia…” I reached across the table to touch her hand, but she snatched it away.

“No, Vinyl. You’ve truly messed up this time,” she said quietly, standing up straight. She looked me dead in the eyes. “You have until this mess with Applejack is resolved to find a new job. I’d wager… that doesn’t give you much time.”

“I’ll… I’ll talk to Neon this weekend…” I said quietly as she walked around the table. Her response was as harsh as it was immediate. The back of Octavia’s hand came crashing into my cheek, causing me to tumble off of the stool and onto the floor.

“Don’t be STUPID, Vinyl!” she screamed, grabbing me by Roma’s jacket and pushing me back against the counter. “I told you not to set foot in that place ever again!”

“That’s not your call,” I whispered. I could feel my lips pulling back away from my teeth. “It’s a job, right?” I said a little louder. “That’s all that matters, right?! That we can make rent and be comfortable?!” I tried to push her off, but she merely pushed back harder, until I was pushed up far enough that I sat on the counter.

“I won’t have you put yourself in that position!” she shouted, pulling my face close. “I care about you, Vinyl! I won’t let that asshole touch you EVER again!”

“That’s n—” I was cut off by the front door slamming closed. My eyes widened as I turned to see Roma walking towards his bike. I’d forgotten he was sitting in the living room, waiting for us to finish… “Shit!” I squirmed out of Octavia’s grip and sprinted into the living room and through the front door, only to find him pulling out into the street.

He didn’t even look back as he rode away.

“Vinyl! You need to see this…”

I came back into the living room to see Octavia holding a note with a paperclip over the top. I strode forward and snatched it out of her hand.

Sorry for the trouble. I’ll figure something else out. I really shouldn’t have asked. I mean, it’s not your problem. It’s mine.

Just do yourself a favor. Stay away from me until we get this mess sorted out. Jackie won’t hurt you if we aren’t involved. Attached to this note is about three hundred dollars. I was planning to give it to you so having Twilight over wouldn’t be that troublesome… But I hope it helps with the rent. Use some of it for cab fare to get back and forth to school.

-Roma

I clenched the edges of the note as my hands curled into fists, tearing the edges. I reread it several times, and I kept coming back to that one sentence.

He… he had the nerve to…

I screamed.

Long and loud, I screamed and threw the note across the room, watching as a mass of green spread away from it. “FUCKING ASSHOLE!!!” I was suddenly aware that tears were streaming down my cheeks. I didn’t care. I was angry. I needed to hit something. I screamed again and brought my fist down knuckle-first on our wooden coffee table. It hurt.

I didn’t care.

I did it again, hitting with the side of my hand. It still hurt. I did it again. Hurt. I did it again. And again. My vision started blurring… I hit again. And again. And again and again can’t see straight and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again someone’s screaming and again and again and again and again… my fist stopped.

“Vinyl, stop!” Octavia screamed, causing my vision to slip back into focus. “Look at what you’re doing!” I looked down at the table. Covered in blood. I looked at my hand. Also covered in blood. Hand hurt. Lots of blood. Blood everywhere. Blood on the carpet. Blood on jacket. Blood on jeans. Blood on…

Blood…

On jacket…

Roma…

Jacket…

Blood…

Roma…

My world went black.

I woke up in my bed and immediately looked around. I didn’t remember going to bed… the last thing I remembered was… Oh. I looked down at my hand, which was covered in bandages and stuck in a Ziploc bag. Half of the bandages were stained red. The sleeve of Roma’s jacket was pulled up and tied with a cloth belt… and it was noticeably blood-free. I looked up to see Octavia was sitting beside my bed, her head laid against it on top of her arms, being all adorable and shit.

I smiled and looked over at the window. It was dark outside. A glance at my clock said it was 9:30 pm.

Well, someone was going to get an earful at school in the morning.

I closed my eyes and put my hands over my stomach.

Oddly enough, sleep came easily.

~Rend~

He and I stood under the arbor, staring each other down like two wolves. He was angry, I was angry, and neither of us was going to back down. His eyes kept darting down to my right hand. He wasn’t wearing his coat today. He was clad in a tight, red turtleneck sweater emblazoned with his mark of a speech bubble surrounding a heart, just over where his actual heart was. His hair was in a tight braid, giving him a very refined look when coupled with his red shades.

“Vee, I t—”

“Shut up,” I said harshly. He flinched. “I’m a pretty level headed gal most of the time, but do you know what happens when I lose my temper, Roma?” He stayed silent. “I do things-stupid things, like bashing my hand on a coffee table repeatedly until I bleed on everything.” As his eyes widened, I moved towards him, continuing my rant. “Do you know why I lost my temper, Roma?”

“Because… I left the way I did?”

I stopped a foot away from him. “No,” I answered sharply, bringing my hand across his face. “Because you PITIED me, Roma!” I felt something wet slide down my cheek, but I ignored it. He started to object, but I cut him off. “Don’t say you didn’t! I know you did! Do you know how much that hurts, Roma? It hurts a lot!” I stopped and slammed a fist against his chest. “It doesn’t matter if it’s for money, my health, my feelings, it hurts!” I hit him again. “Don’t you ever do that again! Don’t ever pity me like that!” I started beating on his chest repeatedly, each hit producing a dull thump that tore at my heart. “I want you to see me as an equal! I want you to treat me like I’m no different from you! Is that too much to ask of people? Is it so wrong that I want them to treat me like I’m normal?!” as I continued hitting his chest, I felt two strong hands clamp down on my shoulder and push me back.

“I can’t do that, Vinyl,” Roma said softly. His eyes were focused on the ground to his left. They were narrowed behind his scarlet glasses and his brow was furrowed, while his jaw was set in anger. “I can’t treat you like you’re normal.” He turned to look at me, and I could see something in his eyes… it wasn’t pity… Was it… sympathy? “Because here’s the thing, Vee, you’re not normal!”

“No… don’t…”

“You are different!” he shouted, leaning down to get in my face. “You’re sick and you’re weak,” he hissed. “I don’t care how much you hate it; you’re going to need help in the future!”

“Stop it, Roma!”

“No! You listen to me, Vinyl!” he scolded. I stared wide-eyed at him as he continued. “You’re weak, but you’re special! There are people all around you who care about you! Lean on them! They are there for you, and nothing is going to change that! You’re too proud Vinyl…”

I clenched my teeth and balled my fists. “And how would you know?! How would you know what it’s like to be p—” I stopped short when he held up his bare hands in front of my face.

“I am a mechanic, a fortune teller and a musician. My hands are vital to me in every aspect of my life…” he trailed off briefly, glancing at the ground, then back up to my eyes. “Whether it’s working on Gravity, playing Ophelia, reading tarot cards or palms, I need my hands to do it… When I lost that, how do you think people felt about me?” he asked. His voice was starting to grow tense, and it… it scared me. “Don’t ever think I don’t understand being helpless,” he growled. “That’s why I left you that money after Octavia vetoed… my request. I understand.”

I stared up at his face for a moment before I came back to my senses. I looked down at his feet and smiled grimly. “Yeah, you’re right. I shouldn’t have lost my temper. I’m sorry, Roma.”

I felt his hand land on my head and ruffle my hair. “Apology accepted.”

“Gah! Don’t do that! It takes work to get my hair like this!” I playfully shooed his hand way by flailing mine over my head.

“Well I… We have a guest,” Roma said somberly, prompting me to turn around.

Standing maybe seven yards away was Trixie Lulamoon, silvery-blue hair flowing in a wind that apparently was completely missing me and Roma. I immediately scowled at her and ducked behind Roma. “What are you doing here?!”

“I asked her to come,” Roma explained, stepping towards Trixie. “She’s going to drive Gravity.”

“Hello, Roma,” Trixie said quietly, a pained look on her face. I noticed that she didn’t have her cape on today, much in the same way that Roma wasn’t wearing his trench coat. Instead, she was clad in a slightly more elegant outfit, consisting of a simple navy blue maxi dress, a short, pale blue cardigan and a pair of elegant sandals. “Trixie was… rather happy to get your call last night.”

“Trixie… I’m sorry. I promi—”

“You don’t need to apologize, Roma,” she said with a sad smile. “Trixie doesn’t really… deserve it, now does she?”

“Probably not, knowing you!” I snapped, backing away slowly.

“Vee, why would you say that?”

“You don’t know, do you?” I asked, glaring at Trixie. “This bi—”

“Trixie attempted to coerce Vinyl Scratch into becoming her lackey…” Trixie paused and chewed on her lip for a moment, before continuing. “The result was a scuffle in which Trixie kicked Vinyl Scratch in the stomach, and ended in Octavia Melody, Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon coming to her aid. Trixie was… harshly beaten.”

There was silence for a moment and no one moved a muscle for fear of breaking that silence.

“Trixie will… Trixie will just be going.”

“Trixie will be doing no such thing,” Roma said, smiling at who was, at this point, clearly an old friend. “It’s very clear that you regret your actions. And for that, I’m willing to give you another chance.” He then held out a hand, offering it to Trixie to shake. “I’m also still willing to fill my end of our deal.”

Trixie stared at him in shock for a moment, much in the same way I did, before walking over to Roma and taking his hand. “Trixie thanks you, Roma…” She trailed off, blushing. “Should we… do it now?”

“Do what?” I asked, stepping up beside them. They were smiling at each other… oh no… “You guys aren’t…”

They ignored me. Instead, Roma’s smile turned into a mischievous smirk as he whispered to Trixie, “I don’t see why not.”

“That’s it,” I said, throwing my arms in the air, “I’m out!” Unfortunately, I didn’t move. I couldn’t. For some reason, I wanted to see this. Their heads tilted towards each other, closing their eyes. “I mean it, I’m leaving!” I wasn’t. Their faces came within an inch of each other, and it happened.

Roma brought his lips against hers and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. Trixie’s arms snaked their way up around Roma’s neck. I stared in shock as she stood on her toes and leaned against him. She wasn’t much taller than me… is that what it would look like if we kissed?

After almost a minute, Trixie separated from him and put her hands on his shoulder. She looked so sad… Why? She just kissed an incredibly gorgeous man. She should be ecstatic!

“Your heart wasn’t in it,” she said quietly, closing her eyes and tilting her head down. “Your kiss used to make Trixie feel special… but it’s empty now. It makes Trixie feel like you do not care about her.” She snapped her gaze back up to his face, panic clearly spreading over her face. “D-do not get Trixie wrong! She knows you still care! B—”

“But it doesn’t feel like it?”

She hung her head again. “No… It does not.”

“Sorry,” Roma said quietly, before pulling Trixie into a tight hug.

Her head had wound up facing me, so I got to witness the adorable expression she was wearing. She had a very faint, almost nonexistent smile on her face and her eyes were shut. She looked like she was sleeping… “At least your embrace hasn’t changed…”

I felt tears welling up in my eyes as I watched them. It was a beautiful moment… She was remembering what it must have been like when they (I assume) were still together. He wanted to make her happy and let her relive those days, but he couldn’t.

And then… the mood was utterly butchered.

“HOLD ZAT POSE!!!” shouted a very obnoxious woman with a heavy German accent. “Set up de lights!” Photo Finish shouted, sprinting to where I was standing. Roma and Trixie started to separate, but Photo Finish’s assistants pushed them back together.

Photo suddenly rammed into my shoulder, knocking me down. “Hey! What the hell are you doing?” I shouted.

“I, Photo Finish, am capturing… da magicks!” she whispered excitedly. “Back to how jou vere!”

“You are not taking a picture of us like this,” Roma said sharply, pulling away from Trixie. The assistants tried to push him back, but he stood fast and didn’t budge one bit. “I will not allow it.”

“Try und ztop me,” Photo Finish said coldly. Her tone made me shudder at its icy determination. “De Vize Principal has asked me to capture photos of de students.”

“Roma, think about it,” Trixie said softly. “This could be good for your image… both our images, actually.”

“Oh yeah? How so?”

“People see you as a cold… um…” She trailed off, biting her lip.

I chimed in. “The word you’re looking for is ‘dick,’” I said playfully as I sat back on my knees.

“Yes, that… As for Trixie… They see Trixie as arrogant and wicked. This will give them a softer visage of us!” she explained excitedly.

“You think so?” Roma asked cautiously, turning his eyes to the ground. They darted from left to right, a sign I’d come to recognize as him processing a situation. “Yeah… I think you’re right…”

“So den. You vill allow me to capture your photograph?” Photo Finish asked, crossing her arms.

“Ja,” Roma said with a smirk. “Nimm das verdammte Bild.”

Wait… Roma spoke German?

The photographer mirrored his expression. “Holen Sie sich in Position,” she replied, holding out an open hand. It looked like a gesture telling him to hurry up. “Und help Vinyl Scratch up,” she added, pointing at her assistants.

“What? She too good to stand up on her own?” one of them countered, receiving a scowl not only from Roma, but Trixie and Photo Finish as well. Those two also knew about me… Would they blow my secret like Roma had with AJ?

“Vinyl recently suffered an injury to her ankle and wrist. She has a little bit of trouble getting up,” Roma said instantly, shocking me with how easily the lie came to him. The assistants promptly came over and hoisted me up onto my feet. I made a show of staggering on my left foot, just to sell the lie. Photo looked at me in an odd way, with her chin cupped between her thumb and forefinger.

“Vinyl Scratch, I vant jou in ze photo.”

A unanimous “What?” echoed between everyone gathered.

“Ja. Da former lovers reminisce a life gone by, vhile de current lover watches,” she explained slowly, as though she weren’t entirely certain of herself.

“News flash, Finish: Vinyl and I are just friends.”

“Really? Trixie thought there was something between you as well…”

“Seriously?” I asked, throwing my hands up. “Why the hell would you think that? How have we, in any way, given the impression that we are dating?”

“Is mostly you, Vinyl Scratch. Da vay jou look at him sends zat message.

My face turned bright red. “I don’t… I… But…Just… Both of you shut up! Take the damn picture so we can get on with our lives.”

Photo smirked at me in a knowing way and held her camera up. “Jou know jou cannot hide from me, Fräulein Scratch…” she muttered, “I vill always see Straight through jou.”

~Rend~

It was late; way too fucking late to be having a meeting in Octavia’s living room. And yet, a number of individuals were gathered around our quaint little coffee table, which was now laden with mostly empty pizza boxes. Roma, Tavi, and I sat on our couch, while our guests sat or stood opposite us. My gaze swept across those gathered.

Trixie, Lyra, Bon Bon, and Sunset all stared back at us in uncomfortable silence after learning of our plans involving the princess.

“So… a shotgun…” Lyra said shakily, eyeing the nickel finished Remington on the table. “Not really sure how I feel about that…”

“Roma, none of us know how to use this thing,” Sunset said pointedly, crossing her arms.

“I do.” All eyes turned to Bon Bon, who was looking at the ground.

Lyra slowly backed away from her. “You what?”

Bon Bon responded by grabbing the shotgun, then pulled the pump back and began loading the bright red shells that were on the table into it. When she was finished, she lipped one through the ejector port (I know gun speak!) and pushed the pump forward again, then hoisted it onto her shoulder. “I know guns. Plain and simple.”

“You… you told me you’d never used a gun!”

“I know you don’t like them…”

“It doesn’t matter!” Lyra shouted. “That’s something you should have told me! You lied me Bon Bon!”

“Everyone has secrets,” Roma said quietly, pulling a flat, red lollipop out of his inner jacket pocket. “I have quite a few myself.” He popped the candy in his mouth before continuing. “I mean, it’s not pretty, but everyone has them. It’s just a thing.”

“How can you be so casual about this?!” Lyra screamed, slamming her hand down on the table. “She fucking lied to me, Roma!”

“I’m blasé. And if you think this is bad…” Roma tilted his sunglasses down and glare at Lyra over them. “You should hear some of mine. Personally, I don’t see where Bonnie’s secret hobby is such a big deal. I mean, it could be way worse.”

“How?!”

“She could be lying about her name. Or she could be a monster hunter. Or an undercover spy.”

Trixie slapped her palm against her head and sighed.

“Okay yeah…” Lyra conceded, sitting back down in the armchair behind her. “That would be pretty rough.” She snapped her head around to look at Bon Bon. “We’re gonna talk about this later.”

“…Okay.”

“Now that that’s settled,” Octavia said calmly, standing and planting the point of her rapier’s scabbard firmly on the floor and resting her hands on the pommel. It was a beautiful sword, with a Spanish cross etched onto the clamshell guard and a silver, wire wrapped grip.* “Let’s get down to the actual plan.”

Roma accepted his shotgun back from Bon Bon and pulled a long black revolver out of his coat and held up beside his head, pointed at the ceiling. Supposedly, it was just a paintball gun… but I was dubious. “We have to assume that Jackie will be aware that we’re bringing the princess into this world. It’s the safest course of action.”

“You keep talking about Applejack like she’s so dangerous,” Trixie cut in, “What exactly is she capable of?”

Roma sighed, pulling his lollipop out. “Muay Thai, Judo, Jujitsu, Krav Maga, Karate, archery… I could go on, if you’d like?”

“Please don’t. And you? Trixie has always wondered what you can do.”

“None of those. Kenjutsu, Greco-Roman wrestling, a bit of kick boxing, all self taught. I mostly rely on weapons that make fighting easier. Hence, I love guns.”

“I see,” Trixie said, nodding, before turning to Octavia. “And what about you? Trixie’s seen you lugging that sword around school before.”

“No, the one you saw was blunt, used for my hobby, historical European martial arts-HEMA for short. This is not. I am skilled with a number of European weapons, including sabers, longswords, rapiers, cutlasses, sword and shield, German messers of varying types… I’m probably forgetting a few.”

Everyone except me stared at Octavia in shock.

Roma spoke first. “Jesus.”

“Indeed,” Octavia said proudly.

“Anyway!” I said loudly, getting everyone’s attention. “The plan. Should we discuss it, or keep bragging about our abilities? Cuz I’m not too shabby with a knife.”

“Of course,” Roma said calmly, holstering his revolver and setting his shotgun back on the table. “Vee, you take this one.”

“Thank you,” I said politely as I stood up. “Since Trixie and I are the only ones with a license, she’ll be driving. Roma’s car doesn’t have power steering, which sucks.”

“Whatcha gonna do? It was designed in the seventies.”

“Roma and Octavia will be the motorcycle escort. The rest of you are in the car and will be armed with one of these,” I explained, reaching behind me and pulling a black paintball pistol out of my waistband. “This is a a paintball gun. We have about six of these. They hold six rounds. They'll be loaded with pepper powder, so as to non-lethally incapacitate any attacker. I got some of this in my face. It freakin' hurt.

“If your parents ask, we’re all working on a school project,” I continued as Roma began handing each person present a paintball pistol and a can of practice ammo. “Roma will teach you to use the gun. I’ll be working on getting our route planned out.”

“During school, I’ll be skipping first period so I can teach Octavia to ride. Bonnie, you and I have first period together. I’ll need you to get my work.”

“Done.”

“So then, we’re all agreed, we meet back here starting tomorrow night?” I received nods all around. “Alright then! Now, let’s have us a sleep over!”

“Trixie brought movies!”

Roma turned to her with wide eyes. “You didn’t bring…”

“She did! Tinkerbell and the Legend of the Neverbeast!”

“…You suck… so much right now…”

Trixie tilted her head in confusion. “Trixie thought you loved that one…”

“I do! But it…” Roma’s face flushed red. “You know…”

I smiled at Roma as I grabbed his arm and pulled him up stairs. “Never would’ve pegged you for a crier,” I said playfully as I showed him to the guest room. I received a playful punch on the arm in response. “You can change into your pajamas in here.”

“Thanks,” he said, and waited patiently for me to leave.

When I came back downstairs, all the other girls (save Octavia, who also changed upstairs for obvious reasons) had pulled their sleeping clothes out and were ready to start changing. With a nod from me, each of them started taking their clothes off. I took a moment to admire each of their physiques as I slipped my shirt off.

Lyra was slim and had smaller breasts, but she was well proportioned. Her smaller chest matched well with her narrow hips and tight stomach. In stark contrast, Bon Bon had a fuller figure, but wasn’t quite fat. Her c-cup breasts looked like they’d make good pillows, while her arms looked like they could squash my head against the aforementioned tits.

Trixie was ideal in every aspect of her body, with curvaceous hips, a substantial bosom and reasonably thick arms and legs. Yet this seemed to contradict the well kept six-pack she proudly displayed. My eyes darted down to her star-spangled panties and a blush fromed on my cheeks. Who the hell wears a thong to a sleepover? Someone who recently discovered that her ex was still single… Lovlely.

I turned my gaze to Sunset, and her elegant figure. Unlike the others, she had a toned body, yet she wasn’t as tightly toned as Lyra or Rainbow Dash. She was… perfect. And then I noticed the scars on her back. None of them were that big, but they were numerous and all of them prominent. I counter thirty of them crisscrossing all over the area between her shoulders. She must have felt me looking, because she turned her head and looked at me over her shoulder.

“He… threw me through a window…” She said quietly, holding her jacket close to her chest. “I wasn’t wearing this, so when I landed on it, the glass sliced my back to ribbons…”

“R-Roma?” I asked as tears started welling in her eyes.

“Yeah…” she whispered somberly.

“He’s not like that anymore, is he?” Lyra asked, crossing her arms. “He told us he used to have some anger issues…”

Sunset turned her head up and gave a haughty laugh. “Used to?” She whispered, looking at Lyra out of the corner of her eye. “He didn’t use to have problems… he has problems, Lyra. He will always have them…”

“And I’ll always keep a tight rein on them.” Every one turned to see Roma coming down the steps, followed closely by Octavia, who had a look on her face I couldn’t quite identify. All I could tell was that it looked sad. “Enough of this depressing talk!” he shouted, holding his hand up in front of him, like some hero from an old play. “Let us watch sappy, heart wrenching animated movies about fairies and heroic beasts!”

“Dude,” Lyra started holding a hand to her head, “it’s just Tinkerbell… Is it that sad?”

“It made Roma cry…” Trixie said casually, holding up a DVD box. “Trust Trixie, it is pretty heartbreaking.

One hour later:

Roma and Octavia sat on either side of me on the couch, bawling their eyes out and holding me tight. To be fair, every one was crying and had a cuddle partner. I just had two.

“Oh God! Gruuu-hhuuufff…” Octavia wailed, hugging my arm to her chest.

“I knooooww…” Roma replied, copying Octavia’s action.

“I… really don’t see how this is so sad…” I said, watching as the Neverbeast laid down and went to sleep for a thousand years. “And why are you both cuddling me?”

“Be-because you’re the perfect size to cuddle!” Roma said, pulling me tighter.

“I-isn’t she, though?!” Octavia said, nestling in even closer.

“This is fucking ridiculous…” I whispered, unheard over the movie. “Still, not too bad of a flic…”

I looked down at Roma’s tear-streaked face and smiled warmly at him, before patting my lap and raising my arm. I quickly did the same for Octavia as they both laid their heads in my lap. With a contented sigh, I stroked their heads lovingly.

My two most precious friends…

I loved them.

Eventually, we all fell asleep in that position and spent the night that way.

Author's Note

Conflicts emerge in the face of our heroes' plan! How will they contend with it? What happened between Vinyl and Neon? Why doesn't Octavia want her anywhere near him? What happened between Roma and Octavia while everyone was changing? Find out in the next installments of RosesandViolets!

Next time: Interlude I, The Talk!
After that: Rend the Flesh, Part 2!

Stay tuned!

Ps. Tinkerbell and the Legend of the Neverbeast made me cry like a bitch...

Edit: I neglected to mention in the A/N that Octavia is in possession of the Windlass Steelcrafts Musketeer Rapier. Can be found HERE.

Interlude I: The Talk

As Octavia stepped out of her room, she glanced down the hall and saw that the door to the guest room was left slightly ajar. They typically kept that shut tight… Without thinking, she stepped over, her black house coat flowing around her as she went, and gently pushed the door open without a sound. This revealed to her a nearly naked Roma, clad in nothing but a pair of red briefs.

The door decided that it didn’t like Octavia sneaking around her own home, and creaked as it came to a stop.

Roma spun around and held his BB revolver up at Octavia. Before he did, though, she got a very good look at his back. It was laden with a number of horrendous scars that continued all the way down to the middle of his thighs. His front wasn’t much better off, with long, thin scars crisscrossing all over it. She counted twelve on the back and eight on the front.

“Oh, it’s you,” he said coldly, before tossing his gun onto the bed. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s alright,” She said warmly, stepping in and closing the door behind her. “I can see why you’d want to keep them hidden.”

Roma chuckled and pulled his pants on. “Yeah… They’re pretty gruesome, huh?”

“Quite. How did you get them?”

“Mostly knife fighting with Jackie. First to land a hit won, and the other had to stitch their self back up.” He paused for a moment, running his right middle finger over the longest scar on his chest, right over his heart. “This one almost killed me.”

“And the big one?” She asked, laying a hand on the scar that ran from a few inches above his elbow, over his shoulder, across his shoulder blades, and down under his left arm. “I can’t imagine this was a knife.”

“Nah, I got that when I tripped and knocked over a deep fryer,” he explained, shuddering from Octavia’s cold touch. “Out of school for two weeks.”

“That sounds unpleasant. If you and Applejack fought so much, why did you stay friends?”

“Most people don’t understand, but…” Roma sighed and sat down on the bed. “We fought because we were friends. It’s like dancing, really. Jackie and I knew each other almost perfectly, and we always knew what the other was going to do. It took a while for either of us to even come close to hitting the other.”

“Seems like the fights would get boring…” Octavia interjected, sitting down beside him.

“The idea was to move faster than the other,” he explained, touching one on his abdomen that was only a couple of inches long. “This one was a draw. She’s got one just like it.”

“Did your parents ever find out?”

“Not for a long time. It was only two years ago that Mom, Romany and Dahlia actually saw them.” He paused to let lose a grim chuckle. “They panicked, of course. Dahlia was going to kill Jackie.”

“That’s kind of funny…” Octavia said. She had thought Roma was exaggerating, but no.

He turned to look at her with a scowl. “I’m not kidding. She was literally planning to kill Jackie.”

“She… she wouldn’t have gone through with something like that, would she?”

“Yeah, she would have…” He stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. “Octavia, what I’m about to tell you never leaves this room. It’s the Heart household’s greatest secret.”

Octavia swallowed and turned fully towards Roma. “O-okay… I’ll take it to my grave.”

“See, Dahlia used to be a good old fashioned gypsy-a traveler, I should say. She’s traveled since the day she was born. You’ve never seen her, but she still dresses like she did back then. She wears long skirts and ruffled blouses and keeps her hair tied up with a scarf most times. She’s quite beautiful, really.

“Dahlia is only fifteen, and she’s been with us for six years now…” Roma laced his fingers together and looked at the floor. “I met her once when her caravan stopped in Canterlot to resupply… I think she was five then. When she was seven, her parents tried to sell her off as a harem girl.”

“That’s horrible!”

“It gets worse. They succeeded. Dahlia escaped one year later by killing her so-called master and running off into the night.” Octavia held her hands over her mouth. “She remembered my family and came and begged us to take her in… of course, who where we to deny her sanctuary?” Roma stood and began pacing back and forth. “When she was ten, her parents came back to Canterlot. I met them again. Dahlia refused to see them.”

“I should imagine so!”

“The next day, both her mother and father were found stabbed to death in their wagon, the former holding a scrap of blue cloth in her hand.” Roma stopped and turned to look Octavia square in the eye. “That scrap was from Dahlia’s favorite skirt.”

Octavia’s eyes widened as she realized what that meant. “She… she killed them? At ten years old, she killed her own parents?”

Roma flopped back down beside her and stared at the wall opposite him for a moment. “Yeah,” he said quietly, “she did… My family’s got… issues, Octavia. Most of them are pretty big.”

Octavia closed for a moment and took a deep breath. “I… I can’t say I blame her…” she said, crossing her arms. “Why tell me though? Why not take it to your grave as well?”

“It feels good to share your secrets,” he said simply, grabbing his revolver from behind him. He promptly twirled it on his index finger, smiling as it picked up more speed. “I never really liked having them… but like I said downstairs, everyone does. No way around it, really.” He paused for a moment, pursing his lips, then stopped his revolver against his fingers. “Plus, I kind of see a mirror of myself in you. We’re a lot alike, you and I.”

“I… I see. I suppose it’s my turn to share then?”

“You don’t have to, but it’d be pretty close to fair,” Roma said with a smirk. “I mean, you did see me naked.”

“Mostly! I saw you mostly naked!” she countered, punching him in the shoulder. “And besides, who wears red briefs?”

“Bikini, actually.”

Octavia’s face tinted red. “You wear women’s…”

“They’re men’s.”

“Why?”

“Keeps everything up front, so nothing gets squashed when I hit a bump,” he explained, scratching the back of his head. “I used to wear boxers… but that quickly changed when I got my motorcycle license.”

“I can only imagine…” Octavia said with a pained expression.

“So, what were you going to share?”

“Ah… Well, I suppose it’s no secret that I’m a lesbian.”

“Nope. Not in the slightest.”

“What is a secret… is what that cost me,” she said, scowling at the floor, as though it had wronged her in some way. “I can sympathize somewhat with Dahlia’s plight… I, too, was abandoned by my parents.”

Roma said nothing; he merely stared at the ceiling, listening intently.

“When I was twelve, my parents met my first girlfriend, Beauty Brass… Delightful girl, really. We’re even still in the same ensemble at Discord’s.” Octavia stopped for a moment, a little unnerved by Roma’s silence. “My parents walked in on Beauty and I making out…”

“What happened then?”

“They disowned me… For being a ‘sick, perverted little devil-whore,’ they disowned me and threw me out into the street…” she explained, clenching her hands in her lap. “Beauty’s family was kind and open-minded enough to offer me a place to stay for a while…”

“That doesn’t sound like the end…” Roma said, twirling his gun again.

“That’s because it’s not. When Beauty and I split up, I was given two months to find a new home. I enrolled in an all-girl school in upper Canterlot that had dorms, and worked every day after school to pay my way.”

“Mad props to you.”

“Thank you. That’s where I first met Vinyl… I think you know that bit.”

“Yeah, though I didn’t know that it happened at Saint Morninglight’s. I figured you all went to public school.”

“No… Lyra and Bon Bon both came from well off families and Vinyl… Well, her mother was rich. Of course she went to private school.” Octavia’s eyes widened and she slapped a palm against her forehead. “Shit! That’s supposed to be a secret!

“I already knew,” he said causally, popping the cylinder on his revolver out. “I read her palms and figured it out.” He snapped the cylinder back in and smirked. “I’m kind of awesome like that.”

“Go ahead and boast, jerk,” Octavia said, pushing him away. He countered by bumping his shoulder against hers. “I went to Morninglight’s until I graduated middle school. After that, Vinyl’s mother was kind enough to put her name on the lease for this house. I moved in, and for a while, I was okay. I eventually got rather lonely, and Vinyl moved in with me, with the promise to her mother that I look out for her. When I turned eighteen, she took her name off the lease and I put mine on it.”

“And thus, we arrive here.”

“Indeed.”

“So your life sucked too,” Roma assessed, flipping his gun upside down. He promptly held it out to Octavia. “Here, hold this while I get my shirt on.”

She twisted her hand and wrapped her fingers around the grip. “It’s… heavy…” she said slowly as he let go and her hand drooped from the weight. “But… it feels nice.”

“Well, of course it’s heavy,” Roma teased, sliding into a white t-shirt. “It is solid metal, after all.”

“I honestly had no idea that you could get solid metal BB guns, let alone a revolver…” she said, aiming down the sights. “I like it.”

“Keep it.” Octavia’s head snapped up to Roma, eyes wide with surprise.

“Why? I’m sure this was very expensive…”

“Yeah, but black was never really my color. I like silver better.”

“B-but… It’s…””

“Yours now.”

“I’ve never used one.”

“I’ll teach you.”

“…What if I don’t want it?”

“Too bad.”

“You’re insufferable.”

“So I’m told.”

The two of them shared a brief smile before that smile became a beam, and then they laughed. As friends, they shared a warm hearted laugh and enjoyed one another’s company for the brief time they had before they had to return downstairs.

As they prepared to leave the room, Octavia put a hand on Roma’s shoulder, a small smile on her lips, but her eyes were clearly burdened.

“Before we go down there,” she started quietly, her voice trembling slightly, “make me a promise…”

“Depends on what it is.”

“If… if you and Vinyl…” She paused and bit her lip, struggling to get the words out. “Promise me… you’ll always have her back; that you’ll always be there for her. Promise me that you’ll take care of her when she needs it… Promise me that she will never need to suffer in your companionship…”

“I… I promise, Octavia,” he said solemnly, putting his hand on Octavia’s where it rested on his shoulder. “For now, though, we can both look after her.”

“…Yeah.”

~I~

The rapid thump of fists against a punching bag flooded the barn as Applejack vented her frustrations on the training equipment in front of her. How could he? This was the third time he had betrayed her… and now, one of her so-called friends was betraying her too! Because of him!

With a scream, she gave one last punch, sending the two hundred pound bag swinging up to hit the beam it was hung from.

“You know…” Applejack’s head snapped around to see a tall, lanky, feminine figure in the frame of her barn door. “I don’t think anyone would hold it against you if you killed him. I certainly wouldn’t,” the woman said calmly as she stepped into the barn.

“I told ya’ll not to come around here,” Applejack hissed, grabbing her flannel shirt from a hook nearby. “You’re a bad influence on Apple Bloom.”

“But I do so enjoy seeing you stew in your anger like a fool.” The woman side-stepped to avoid being hit be a flying horseshoe.

“Leave,” AJ said coldly, narrowing her eyes at the one she once called a teacher. “NOW!” she screamed, causing the woman to take a step back.

“Very well,” she said, holding up her hands. “But you may like to know, I overheard Roma and the principals saying something about bringing a princess into this world. No idea what that’s ab¬–” She was cut off by a fist impacting her stomach.

“Thank ya kindly for the info… Now get out.”

“Very well,” the woman conceded, turning and staggering away. “Good luck, child.”

As she moved back into the barn, she spotted her reflection in the chrome grill of their tractor. There was a vibrant splash of purple in the abstract image. As she stepped closer, a scowl spread across her lips, but that was quickly replaced by a manic grin.

“Well… That’s new.”

Author's Note

Next time, on Roses and Violets: Our heroes prepare for the showdown! The drums of war sound! Roma's ability's are unmasked! Octavia claims a steed and a new skill! Vinyl earns a new friend! Blades shine in the midnight light of the moon! Blood will be shed!

Next time: Rend the Flesh, Part 2!