05. Feigned

[05] Feigned

An owl hoot echoed through the valley surrounding the hotel as Vinyl wrapped herself up in her blankets. The telltale hum of levitation magic surrounded her cell phone as she brought it closer to her to examine it. Flipping it open with a flick of magic, she was instantly greeted with a bright pink welcome screen sprinkled with aqua and magenta flowers, bordering and showcasing the phone company's logo.

She tapped the directional pad to the left twice, trying to navigate to her text messaging application. She mistapped and accidentally touched a number, bringing up the dialpad. With a grunt, she spammed the home key with her hoof, bringing her back to her main menu. With more frustration, she finally found her way to her messaging app. She clicked the contact 'Emerald' and began to type.

Vinyl paused, a sentence into her message. How would she go about saying this? She shrugged and continued. She typed more, fixing some occasional errors with the small keyboard.. There. She clicked the button on the top right that depicted an envelope, and with a swoosh, the message was off.

She clicked back and noticed a "1" displaying on her sent items folder, so she clicked it. She read the message over and blushed. Why did she just send that!? Unlike a letter, you can reread the things you've sent! This is so embarassing...

~

Emerald clicked the multicolored orb in the bottom left corner of his computer screen, preparing it to shut down. Just then, his phone by his computer vibrated twice. Curiously, he picked it up with his hoof, scrolling over to his notifications bar. A text from Vinyl! He tapped it and began reading.

Thank you for coming out with me yesterday. I certainly have my flaws, but I certainly look forward to working with you in the future.

Emerald brought himself to smile, taking his glasses off and holding the phone close to him as if it was a love letter from a long lost lover. He allowed himself a chuckle as he locked the phone and put it back in its place, ready to go to sleep.

~

Vinyl trotted downstairs into the lounge, where she was to eat an early 5:00 breakfast. She needed to go to the grocerie store directly after to pick up some food, should she get hungry in the middle of the night after one of her frequent nightmares.

She loved the bluish glow of the rising morning sun, punctuated by a good warm breakfast to start off a good day. Too many good memories were tied in to fresh morning skies, one of the few things Vinyl still found solace in.

Pouring herself a cup of coffee, she was met by Sable at the coffee machine. She wasn't wearing her regular Secret Service uniform, but rather a set of soft pink pajamas to match her ruffled, bed-ridden mane. Under her half lidded eyes, she noticed Vinyl causing her ears to lift themselves up. She again tilted her head towards Vinyl.

"Good morning..." she said meekly, staring blankly into Vinyl's eyes. Vinyl acknowledged her with a nod and brought her coffee and bread back to the table. She pulled out a chair, but not before being stopped by a familiar hoof.

"So this is where you were," Emerald noticed, kneeling down in front of Vinyl. "Good morning, Miss Vinyl!

"Good morning."

"I appreciate the text message you sent me last night," he said with a smile. Vinyl perked up, eyes now wide open. Damn.

She jumped up from her chair. "Give me that!" she yelled quietly, reaching for his phone. He held it away much like a parent would to a filly. "Give me that phone! I need to erase it!"

"Impossible," he teased, keeping the phone away in a dance.

"What do you mean, 'impossible'?" she mocked, desperately trying to get the phone.

"I already have it saved on my computer, backed up on an SD card; I also had it printed, laminated, and stored in a safe only I know the combo to."

"Who the hell does that!?"

~

The mockingjays in the cherry blossoms sang louder as the morning sun rose above the horizon. The soft sweep of downy flake brushed across Vinyl as she walked home along the long hill from the convenient store to pick up some groceries for later. The sun began to peek through the gaps in the trees, illuminating the sidewalk.

It was such a beautiful day outside. Vinyl used to always live a somewhat nocturnal life in Canterlot as a DJ, sleeping throughout days like this and waking up at midnight to go to performances and parties. Though she missed the nightlife, her occasional nightmares about them reminded her not to. Living a regular life seemed to be such a nice change of pace from before.

Yawning, she walked up to the top of the hill where the complex rested upon. She noticed Octavia and another Secret Service agent peeking around the corner, past the gate towards the complex. "What are you two-"

"Shh," Octavia cut Vinyl off.

"It might prove difficult to get in at the moment - oh! - we haven't met, have we?" the agent bubbled. "I'm Lyra, Octavia's Secret Service agent! You're even cuter than I expected!" The mare was wearing the basic uniform, outlined with badges and pins she added on herself. Her mane was a striking pale green with a minty green coat to match. Her viridian green colors reminded Vinyl of chewing gum. She dismissed the thought.

"Shh!" Octavia stifled, pulling Vinyl close and pointing her towards the gate. Her heart froze.

"She's beautiful," Lyra whispered.

"Mhm," Octavia confirmed, shifting around to get a better view.

In front of the door, she spotted Emerald and another mare, close to each other while talking. Vinyl couldn't make out the mare's features aside from her styled purple hair and off-white coat, but her form was enviable. Almost mistakable for a model handpicked by Photo Finish. The carefully styled royal purple mane was enough to turn heads. She seemed to be blushing to Emerald, leaning into him with lust. Vinyl gasped, struck with conflicting feelings, not knowing how to react. Slowly, the mare leaned up, gently, tenderly, and caressed Emerald's lips with her own. Vinyl found herself in the center of the gate, completely visible if he so looked.

"Ooooh!" Lyra crooned, breaking the silence and fortuitously capturing Emerald's attention. He quickly broke the kiss at the sight of Vinyl standing in the middle of the walkway that led to the hotel. He pushed the mare away, staring into Vinyl's eyes, a silence ensuing that no one wished for.

~

"So, you're saying she's not your marefriend?" Octavia asked, pouring herself a cup of coffee. She quickly brought it out of the coffee maker, curtly pulling out a chair to sit on. She didn't want to miss a word of this conversation.

Emerald blinked and shook his head. "Correct," he announced with a remorseful tone. "She confessed her feelings for me some time ago, and I rejected her. She said she would give up on me if I kissed her."

"Oh, you ladies man," Lyra cooed.

"Is it normal to kiss someone for a reason like that?" Octavia interrupted.

"Of course! It comes with no burden or responsibility - completely normal," Lyra countered.

"Your view of normal is disturbing."

"I'm not saying I do it, it's just a healthy thing to do."

No burden or responsibility... Lyra's words bounced around in her mind, triggering memories of her backstabbing staff that used her purely for money. Their acts of kindness were staged, simply to make their star happy. That's all I ever was to them...

Vinyl abruptly stood up, fast enough to knock over the chair she was sitting on. She stared hardly at the table for a few moments, letting her actions sink in their minds. "I'm going to my room," she mentioned with a dark voice, storming off towards the elevator.

"Miss Vinyl!" Emerald took off after her, kicking the toppled chair aside as he ran to her in the elevator room. Finally catching up, he was gasping for breath. "Miss Vinyl?" he asked, confused at her sudden behavior.

She started up. "You can be that nice to someone with no real feeling behind it?" she asked in a firm whisper. "It's completely empty... Do you not think you treated her dishonestly?"

Emerald sighed, a remorseful expression upon his face. "I truly am sorry..."

"Are you?"

Emerald bowed his head, and followed Vinyl through the opened elevator doors. He sighed. "If you tell me not to do that, I will never do it again."

"That's what I mean by being dishonest!" Vinyl snapped, turning her back on him. "I had no idea you were so filthy!"

Emerald gasped, his eyes opening wide before he closed them again to suppress his tears.

"You are absolutely right," he agreed. "I am not someone that is in any position to serve you. It appears that ever since we met, I've become so happy that I've forgotten that fact. Perhaps... I cannot live up to your expectations." The elevator halted its ascent, stopping at level four.

Vinyl snorted. "Hmm? Then this means our contract is void," she said, grinning with her back still turned to him. The elevator doors opened.

"If that is what you wish," Emerald concluded.

"Very well." Slowly, Vinyl turned around with her eyes not once leaving the ground. A cocky grin that wasn't visible to him formed on her face as she walked past him, outside of the elevator and into the room. "Then thank you for all of your help." The elevator doors closed behind her, leaving her to be by herself on the empty floor. She heard it begin its descent as it went down to the lounge once more.

Vinyl sat back, and slumped against the wall. Tears brimmed her eyes as the weight of her actions just dawned on her.

What have I done?