The Vinyling
by HopeMetal
The story I am about to tell you is a very strange tale indeed. If my memory serves me correctly, it was a nice December evening, for me, that is. However, the victim of this story was not quite so lucky, for you see, it was a night filled with running and swinging 2x4s. I believe the names of the two ponies this tale is about are Octavia and Vinyl Scratch, I may be wrong, but that doesn't diminish these two mares, for they truly were in a certain place, at a certain time. Perhaps I am beginning to babble, maybe I am not, but we should at least try to get the story going, so here I go.
It indeed was a nice December evening when it began. Luna's moon (If you read that in a pervy way, I will murder you with acid.) reflected the rays of the non present sun, which is brought into the sky every dawn by a certain Princess, but I am babbling again. Anyway, the sky was clear that evening, and the snow that had fallen during the day was packed into a white blanket, stretching as far as the eye could see. Also, there was a certain mare who had tripped, and found her face in the snow...
"Stop fooling around, Vinyl," the calm voice of a not so white mare extended her muffled - since she was holding a lantern between her teeth - tendrils of attention towards the mare with her face in the snow. The mare with her face in snow, referred to as Vinyl, brought her face out of the whiteness. The shades that the mare had been wearing were covered in snow. She moved her hoof to the temple of the snazzy eye-wear to raise them up, revealing her maroon eyes, which were pointed at the mare before them.
"Chill, Tavi, I just tripped," she said.
"I think we're lost, hold this," the mare, referred to as Tavi, muffled out and handed the lantern to her companion. She stepped up to the side of Vinyl, who had sat on her haunches in the snow, and accessed her saddlebag. With her head in the bag, she bypassed a pouch of bits and bit into a piece of folded paper. She pulled her head out of the bag and tossed the paper onto the snow next to her, before getting down to her knees and unfolding it.
The paper unfolded six times, revealing a map. Vinyl had moved her head over it, shining the light of the lantern upon the paper. It displayed various shapes and lines, positioned into patterns that resembled the area which the map encompassed. Straight and curved lines represented a trail, whilst triangles and semi-circles represented mountains and hills.
The gray mare, who rested her knees in the snow, shivered. It was not a warm night, in fact, it was rather cold. The cold made it hard to focus on the map and find their bearings, so shelter had become a higher priority. As the mare stood up from the cold snow, Vinyl had rested the lantern onto the ground, and held binoculars in a magical aura in front of her face, looking through them. She turned her upper body from left to right, looking over the surroundings.
"I think I see something over there," she said and brought the binoculars up to the other mare, who then looked through them as well.
"Yes, it does seem that there is something there," she responded, "We should have a closer look."
"Right," Vinyl nodded.
***
There was indeed something there. The two mares had approached a tall, wooden structure. The area that the structure took up suggested that it was a mansion of sorts. A sign stating 'Abandoned' was nailed next to the entryway. The mansion itself was not quite old, it was built in a style similar to that of Manehattan. As a matter of fact, the mansion had been kept in pristine condition.
"Looks okay," Vinyl commented.
"It should help to beat the cold," Octavia added.
"So we're going inside?"
"After you."
With that, Vinyl trotted up to the door and nudged it slightly; it wasn't locked. The mare then pushed the door open and it creaked loudly. She then stepped inside and held the door open with her hind leg, letting her companion inside, whilst admiring the interior. It was a tall hall with a staircase opposite the doors, it was quite roomy. There were two wide doorways on the side walls opposite each other, leading into different rooms; on the left, it was a living room, on the right - a hallway. A fancy chandelier dangled from the ceiling.
"Looks nice, too," she said.
"Indeed," Octavia nodded in agreement, after closing the door. The only source of illumination was her lantern.
"Let's have a look around," Vinyl offered.
"So be it."
The sound of hooves on wood accompanied them as they trotted towards the living room. The ornate entryway passed over them and they entered the living room. It was a roomy space with another chandelier, this one - less ornate then the one in the main hall. There was a large, rectangular table in the center of the room, with three armchairs positioned around it. Two pointed at the fireplace behind the third. There was a window, as well. The moon's glow seeped into the room, showering it in bleak, blue light. The two mares trotted around the table and towards another entryway leading into a hallway. There was another window to the left of them, and the hallway extended into their right, ending with another window.
Turning to the longer side of the hallway, there were now tapestries to their right, and a few doors to the left. The mares neglected the dark doors as they trotted down the hall. Tapestries showing various scenes in multiple colors passed by them as they did. Slowly, the window on the end of the hallway was being approached, and, to the right of the mares, there was another hallway - the one from the right wall of the main hall, as revealed by a familiar door frame. There was another door frame, leading into a long and high hall, opposite the frame leading from the main hall. On the end of the hallway, there was yet another window.
The two mares did not enter the other hall, instead, they looked through the door frame leading into it, and deduced that it was a dining room, as suggested by the long table surrounded by chairs. The mares now started to make their way up the staircase in the main hall. After the first flight of stairs, there was a large mosaic window, with the light of the moon seeping through, colored by the glass. The second flight of stairs led them to a long, wide hallway, spreading to both flights of stairs. There was a painting on the wall between the stairs.
There was another large window on the end of the hallway, as well as another pair of entryways like in the main hall. Once they have returned from exploring the second floor, the mares trotted up to the window.
"And that concludes the tour," Vinyl said with a smile on her face.
"Right," her companion nodded, "Well, we should figure out where we are now."
***
The map had been spread on the table in the living room. Fire in the fireplace illuminated the room with a warm, orange glow. Vinyl Scratch sat in the armchair to the right, whilst Octavia sat in the chair opposite the table. They had been looking through the map, searching for any familiarities.
"And then we came this way," Vinyl said as she tapped the map with her hoof.
"Are you sure?" Octavia asked with doubt.
"Positive."
"So we went this way," she said as she moved her hoof across the map, "And we ended up here."
Vinyl Scratch nodded.
Octavia returned her gaze to the map. After a moment of consideration she spoke.
"Okay. Well, the nearest town to us is Twinkledorf, so we should head there next."
"Uh-huh."
"Anyway, I'm calling it a day. You can stay up if you want, as long as you don't make too much noise," Octavia said as she rose from her seat.
"I'll try."
"Good," the gray mare replied before trotting out of the room, leaving Vinyl staring at the dancing flame in the fireplace.
***
Octavia's head rested on the white pillow and her body weighed down on the mattress. The bed was unsurprisingly comfortable. She dreamed about what it would be like to live in a mansion like this; with many servants to assist her. It was a shame she could not afford such a lifestyle, but a filly can dream, can't she? Well, it wasn't going to be the case anyway. She had been woken up by a loud bag.
"Ugh, Vinyl," she mumbled as her eyes opened. She yawned as she got out of bed.
The mare trotted up to her lantern, resting in the corner. She reached into her saddlebag, which lied next to the lantern, and pulled out a box of matches. She took a match out of the box in her teeth and stroked it on the side of the box, igniting it. Octavia used the match to light the lantern.
With the lantern held in her teeth, she slowly nudged the door of the bedroom open and trotted into the hallway. The lantern shone it's warm glow through the darkness. Octavia moved through the hallway, accompanied by the steps of her hooves.
As she made her way down the stairs of the main hall, she heard nothing - no sign of her companion anywhere. She stood still in the middle of the room, with the lantern resting on the floor in front of her. Now, she was getting worried. Though Vinyl Scratch tends to go away without telling her, she would always return. Why was this time different, you ask? Well, it usually didn't happen in the middle of the night, and it was in a familiar location. This time, however, it was the middle of the night and it was an unfamiliar place.
Suddenly, Octavia felt something breathing on her. She turned around to see that it was the pony she had been looking for, only something was different about her. It wasn't her hair or anything like that, it was the fact that her face was decorated by a demented grin. One of her eyes were twitching.
"Hello, Tavi," she said, "As you can tell, I'm crazy."
The pony to whom she was talking to stared back.
"Yeah. I was bored, so I drank a bunch of old booze. And now, for no apparent reason, I'm going to murder you."
"Come again?"
"I said, I'm going to kill you."
"And how, may I ask, would you go about doing that?"
"With this bad boy," Vinyl replied while pulling a hunk of wood, seemingly, out of nowhere.
"Really? A 2x4?"
"Well, I was planning on using an ax, but sadly, I couldn't find one."
"Honestly, an ax would be a much more suitable weapon."
"I know. Okay, time for murder!" Vinyl replied and took a downwards swing with her wood, aiming for Octavia's head. Fortunately, she dashed for the living room.
"Hey! No running!" Vinyl shouted and began creeping towards her.
Once in the living room, Octavia slipped behind the table. With her hooves on the bottom of the table, she tipped it over and it fell with a loud bang. She then curled up behind the makeshift barrier, hoping that Vinyl's madness would cloud her logical thinking, unfortunately, that wouldn't be the case. The hiding mare heard hoofsteps approach her.
Vinyl's insanity filled expression peeked from the edge of the barrier. She pulled the hunk of wood over her head and swung down. Once again, Octavia managed to escape and dash for the hallway. She galloped to the end of the hallway, and looked back. She saw Vinyl slowly creeping towards her.
Octavia dashed through the next hallway and rushed into the dining room to hide under the table. After a moment of cowering in fear, she built up the will to stick her head out from under the tablecloth. With no sight of a murderous Vinyl Scratch, she crawled out and cautiously sneaked towards the kitchen. Slowly, she pushed herself through the door. Once the door was free of her obstruction, it swung backwards through the door frame with a wobble and back into the kitchen several times before stopping completely.
Octavia sneaked through the kitchen, crouched to the floor in a crawl. She hid behind the counter and pulled her head up, holding her hooves on the edge. A knife laying on the surface caught her attention. She wondered why Vinyl would not instead use the knife to try to murder her, as her eyes moved across the sharp edge of the blade. Shaking her head she trotted out through a different door and into a hallway.
***
Octavia sat in an armchair in the second floor living room, staring into the dancing flame. Her gaze shifted around the room. She noticed an open cupboard she had neglected before. Also, there were several empty bottles on the table, and a few on the floor. The mare slowly trotted up to the table and moved her nose up to a bottle. The heavy stench of mold entered her nostrils and she winced in disgust. When Vinyl said old booze, she really meant it! Because apparently, booze can get moldy.
Speaking of Vinyl Scratch, she was, coincidentally, behind her. Octavia turned slowly, with an expression of fear on her face.
"Told you, old booze," Vinyl said and moved her 2x4 above her head.
"Again with the 2x4?!"
"AX!!"
"WHATEVER!!!"
Vinyl swung the 2x4, but missed as Octavia moved her head out of the way. The wood rebounded off the floor with a thud, whilst Octavia turned around, throwing her tail up into Vinyl's face, and galloped away.
"Stand still for once!" Vinyl shouted as she returned to her senses.
With her hoofsteps echoing through the darkness, Octavia galloped through the hall and down the stairs. Vinyl followed her creepily. Down the flight of stairs, the gray mare rapidly descended the rest of the staircase. She misplaced her hoof in her panic and rolled down the steps like a barrel. A light barrel, I must add. Most likely empty, but used for- I am babbling again! I should really stop that! Where was I? Oh, yeah.
Octavia rolled down the steps like a light, empty barrel and crashed at the bottom. Her head spun, but she slowly regained her regular eyesight. Vinyl, who had stopped at the top of the steps, stared at the lying mare. She leaped at her like that one crazy pony at parties, who jumps into a crowd and then they- Babbling is not fun!
Vinyl jumped from the top of the steps, with her efficient murder weapon raised up for a smash, like a crazy pony at a party who jumps into crowds. Her intentions were horrifically clear as she descended through the air. Time seemed to slow down for Octavia as she, with a rush of adrenaline, tried to get out of the way.
Vinyl's face impacted the floor with a loud bang. The impact made her quite dizzy, giving Octavia enough time to gallop towards a door which they had neglected during their tour. Looked like the door to the basement, if you ask me, but that's just because it was.
The mare descended into the darkness and curled up in the corner, waiting. She waited for a few moments. A few, long, fearful moments. Hoofsteps began sounding behind the door, coming down the steps. Slowly, they got louder and louder until they suddenly stopped. A loud bang on the door struck fear into Octavia.
"Ow," a muffled voice said behind the door. The door was flung open, "HERE'S VINYL!!!"
The demented mare's gaze moved around the darkness. Octavia hoped that she would avoid detection, as the basement proved to be a dead end. But she was simply not lucky enough tonight. Vinyl approached her target with menacing speed and grinned sadistically at the cowering mare before her. Slowly, she raised her murder device with murderous intent of murder. Then, she swung...
*bounce*
Wait, that doesn't sound like bones breaking and squishy brains sploshing (yes that's not a real word, shut up) everywhere.
*bounce*
Octavia looked up and found a bouncy ball on her head. Said ball bounced away across the floor and up to a wall. Vinyl's expression could be described as 'What the hell?'.
"Um, where is your 2x4?" the mare questioned.
Vinyl shrugged, "I must have lost it somewhere. Sorry, Tavi, I won't be able to murder you until I find it."
And with that, she departed.
***
The sound of rushing water interrupted the silence. Octavia let out a sigh of relief as she splashed water on her face. Galloping around can really tire out a pony, especially if said galloping is induced by a crazy, murderous friend. Octavia stared at her reflection in the mirror, when she was interrupted by ringing. She turned to find a phone on the wall.
"Who puts a phone in a bathroom?" she asked herself, before picking it up. To her surprise, the only sound from the other end was loud breathing. The mare held the receiver to her ear for a few moments before answering.
"If this is supposed to be a joke, it's not funny in the slightest."
She put the receiver back onto the phone and returned to staring at her reflection. The staring went on for a couple of minutes, before hoofsteps interrupted the silence. Octavia turned around to find Vinyl Scratch once again.
"Hello again, Tavi. I found my 2x4," she said before swinging her weapon.
Octavia evaded the wood and it crashed into the mirror, sending shards of broken glass falling to the white tiles of the floor. While Vinyl Scratch took her time to realise what had just happened, Octavia was already galloping away, down the hallway.
***
Octavia pushed the doors open, leading herself into a large backyard type of structure. She spotted a metal fence with a gate in front of her and she pushed through it. Now, she found herself in a large, stone paved clearing, surrounded by hedges. The moon was slowly dipping under the horizon and the sky was slowly brightening. Octavia would stay and admire the sunrise, but there was a crazy mare chasing her, so she opted to lose her in the hedge maze that surrounded the clearing.
With the hoofsteps of her assailant gaining on her, Octavia rushed into one of the openings in the hedge. The greenness of the hedges whizzed past her as she galloped through the maze. After several twists and turns, she found herself in a dead end. Hoofsteps approached her, and soon, Vinyl Scratch was nearing her prey.
She lunged towards her and swung the wood. Octavia quickly jumped out of the way and the 2x4 became lodged into the hedge.
"This hedge seems legit," said Vinyl as she tried to pull it out of the greenness.
"Idiot," Octavia responded and galloped away.
The mare galloped through the maze, running from her assailant. How much longer will this last? How much longer will Octavia have to keep running like this? How much longer will Vinyl keep chasing her? Such thoughts sounded through her mind as her hoofsteps were being absorbed by the thick, green hedge. Slowly, the morning sun peeked from the horizon, showering the white snow with it's bright, orange light. The light spread into the hedge maze, vanquishing the darkness.
There was no sign of Vinyl Scratch anywhere. So, with the morning light, Octavia began to retrace her steps through the maze. Slowly, she approached the clearing at the start of the maze. She stepped onto the stone of the clearing and there, in the center, was Vinyl Scratch, lying on the ground. Her 2x4 was nowhere to be found, however.
Octavia approached the sleeping mare carefully, and gently nudged her companion. Vinyl Scratch slowly opened her eyes to the bright light of the morning.
"W- What happened?" she asked, sleepily.
Octavia sat on her haunches in front of her companion, "You mean you don't remember anything?"
Vinyl Scratch pondered, trying to remember what could have happened during the night. All she remembered, however, was being left by Octavia when she went to sleep. Everything after that point was just a big blur.
"Nope," she responded and looked back at Octavia, who had curled up next to her. A light snore escaped from her mouth signifying that she had fallen asleep. The night was quite a long one. And if staying up all night didn't tire her out enough, then running away from swinging 2x4s did.
"Oh, Tavi, you're such a night owl," Vinyl commented.
***
And so ends our grand tale of running and swinging 2x4s. Perhaps I have babbled too much during it, but it doesn't diminish the value of this story. We have learned that booze can get moldy for some reason, even though it probably shouldn't. And 2x4s can and will turn into bouncy balls last second, when bones are supposed to break and brains fly all over the place. Luckily, it did, and I did not have to describe such things which would no doubt force me add the 'gore' tag.
Later that afternoon, Vinyl Scratch and Octavia continued their sightseeing trip in the direction of Twinkledorf, not talking about that certain December night ever again...
Fin
Author's Note
If you have any concerns with this, go ahead and comment. I oblige you to do it, people. The last part seems to have come out a little wonky, but I need confirmation if it seemed a little bland near the end.
