A gray breath.
She leans a hoof forward, turning a pen slowly around atop the table, aiming it away from us, towards us, and away again.
Another gray breath.
Her lips press together.
And then... words...
"I remember one time... over a year ago. It was the Running of the Leaves. I entered the first race I ever participated in. It was... an invigorating experience. I followed every tip and trick that the books I read on endurance races taught me. In the end, I even finished in fifth place! And yet... my enthusiasm was cut short... because not long after I crossed the finish line, two of the best friends I had ever made got into a horrible... nasty fight. I remember how embarrassed I felt. Ashamed, even. But I didn't have to chastise them. For one, it wasn't my place. And—for another—Princess Celestia was there to witness everything. Just her bold presence alone was enough to convince my friends of the horrible mistakes that they had made. Before my very eyes, a supremely ugly friendship problem... more or less amended itself. And ever since then—with an exception of Discord's mind-altering influence—I've not had to witness my friends go to such lows ever again."
With a deep sigh, Princess Twilight Sparkle looks up from across the table within the Royal Throne Room.
Her lavender brow furrows.
Eyes burning.
"Over twelve months have passed. I am now an alicorn... the Princess of Friendship. It is no longer just my function to learn... but to teach... and to govern. Unlike the old days, I no longer have the luxury of Princess Celestia looking over my shoulder, influencing things... or even fixing them. It is up to me to ensure that this part of the kingdom—Ponyville—abides by harmonious law and ethics. And unlike Celestia or Luna or Cadance—who act with individual authority—I must take into account the members of my Council. After all, a Princess of Friendship does not earn her throne on her lonesome. We are all in on this together. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Spike... and even my servants."
She leans forward, staring rigidly at me.
"Vinyl Scratch, when you auditioned to become a Royal Minstrel, you entered into an accord with something higher than yourself... higher than all of us. Access to the Castle and its amenities was not given to you freely. There was a price to pay... a price of commitment... a promise to abide by the rules of harmony and friendship and good will to all equine kind. I witnessed every moment of your talent blossoming since you arrived here. As a representative of the Castle of Friendship, you excelled, and you never ceased to make me proud of you... until now."
I bow my head. I feel the shivers coming on. Her voice continues pouring into my ears, taking on a blue tint.
"I've heard multiple accounts of what happened. I know that Opulence Von Melody overstepped his bounds. He's certainly not the most harmonious pony. If I was in your place, I'd detest him too. As a matter of fact, I spent most of the last few days brainstorming with Spike, looking for a legal loophole to counteract his measures to relocate his daughter. Nopony liked him; he pressed everyone's buttons just the right way. I certainly found him more than just a little bit disagreeable. But that's not the issue here. Opulence was never a member of the Court of Friendship. You were. And what you did not only broke the laws established to maintain peace and serenity in Ponyville... but it was unbecoming of a representative of Friendship. Smashing his face in with furniture? Did you ever... ever stop to think of the ramifications such despicable violence might have, Miss Scratch? Did it occur to you that we might be having this unpleasant conversation at the tail end of it? Have you... h-have you taken the opportunity to imagine how Octavia will react to what you did to her very own father?"
A momentary, naked pause.
She gets up out of her table and paces about, drawn in circles by a weighted sigh.
"Life is complicated, for sure. Things are hardly black or white in reality. No doubt the wounds you and Octavia have with Opulence run deep... deeper than I'll ever have the good fortune of knowing... or understanding. I wish with my whole heart that I could grasp exactly what's going on here... what horrible things Opulence may have done in the past or what issues Octavia may have had with him... that it would have motivated you to do something so impulsively sociopathic. I doubt I'll ever know the full story. But that's not the issue here. Whatever you and Octavia have always known... or always felt... it was in your heart and mind the very moment you joined this Court. Therefore, it was your responsibility to deal with such elements reasonably, like an adult, and adhering to the rules of Friendship and Harmony—all of which you broke the very moment you assaulted another citizen inside a public hospital. I mean... how am I going to clean up after this? If I invite delegates over to future Friendship Galas, will they have reason to fear my very own subjects attacking them over a foul glare or a poorly-timed joke?! I mean... you didn't just put your own reputation on the line, Vinyl. You compromised mine and that of all of my closest friends, now!"
Biting my lip, I stare up at her like a guilty filly.
She sees it. She stifles a groan. Trotting over to my side, Twilight rests a hoof on my shoulder.
"I'm responsible for other things too, of course. Take Talonsmith Jr for example..." She shudders. "Not a night has gone by since when I haven't... ached inside for allowing such a breach of security to take place. Octavia suffered for it... and so have you. No doubt this has put you under a great deal of stress. I know... I understand how protective you must feel about her. And with how strained things have been lately, it's not exactly a stretch of the imagination to envision you cracking under the pressure. But that still doesn't change the commitment you've made... that we've all made, and your actions are in direct violation of that. And... and it simply cannot stand, Vinyl. It can't. Consider how lucky... how incredibly fortunate we are that Opulence Von Melody chose not to press charges, because a stallion as greedy and avaricious as him could very easily have taken this situation all the way to the Upper Echelon of the Equestrian Judicial System and humiliated the whole Court if we wanted to. That is why... a v-very good reason why we must strive to be better than other ponies... and better than ourselves."
She leans back. Her breath turns a denser gray, and that's how I know that things are about to crumble.
"When it all comes down to it, Miss Scratch, the Court and its reputation will suffer if there's no penalty enacted for this incident. However... the Court is not entirely present at the moment. I have to meet up with the rest of my friends so that we can collectively decide your fate—that is... your fate as a minstrel of the Royal House of Friendship. But until then, I cannot in good faith act as though nothing horrible transpired. Thus, it is with a heavy heart that I, Princess Twilight Sparkle, must suspend you indefinitely. Until it is decided otherwise, you are no longer a minstrel of the Royal Court, and the Castle premises shall be off-limits to you except by official invitation as scheduled by Spike or myself. When the members of the Court meet and make their decision, I shall have the Royal Guard summon you so that you will be told your future within the halls of this Palace. But I cannot promise you anything, Miss Scratch. And—to be perfectly honest—I... w-wouldn't put my hopes up."
I nod. I understand.
She sees it, and I think it hurts her almost as it does me. "You're dismissed," she murmurs, turning towards her throne.
I stand up. My legs are a lot more numb than I anticipate. Nevertheless, I turn and begin my long shuffle towards the exit.
"Vinyl..." Her voice is frayed. Gray tatters.
I turn and look towards her.
She doesn't have the strength to look back. I cannot blame her. "From what I hear, Octavia is getting along quite well. She's back at home, waiting for you. I suggest you go see her." The Princess' shoulders shake. At last, she glances back, eyes glossy... glossier. "This is between you and me, Miss Scratch. But I..." A sniffle. Tears form. "I-I have never quite felt comfortable with Friendship being distilled into a quantifiable form: a tiara, a throne, an entire castle. What I've done today, and what I do tomorrow—I do for Equestria. It is my duty. As for yours?" A shuddering breath. "It is very much possible, I b-believe... to be a horrible representative of the Court... and yet a stellar representative of friendship. No matter what happens from this day forward, I believe... I know... that Octavia is very... v-very lucky." A heavy gulp. "Just as I h-have been."
I stare at her.
She turns her back again, and that's when I know I should be leaving.
And so I do.
Musicmaker's gotta face the music at some point.
(also yay Tron)
Can she PLEASE go to rehab?
It's not as if she cares about her reputation as a celebrity, only as a friend. Career assassination be damned, Vinyl needs professional help.
Can't say Vinyl didn't deserve it, but dayum.
Yeah...
You know I don't think it was until just now that I felt true empathy for Vinyl... I know what it's like to be so damaged that you cannot function in an organization.
The mental need she had to attach herself to Octavia was in some ways noble, but... It's not healthy. It's more obsession than love.
I... I don't even know what to make of it.
Can't say I'm surprised.
6696525 I understand how she feels..
My many empathies with Vinyl. I seriously hope that Rainbow or AJ makes a convincing case for what Vinyl did. I feel they'll definitely be on her side.
6696608 I can see them doing that.
Have her be a maid for a year as punishment.
Or...
Talk.
Did that long speech on harmony come off as hypocritical to anyone else? Twilight out and out said that the system is corrupt enough for him to pay his way all the way up to the top and win out (granted, not all that different from the U.S. system, but that's not exactly praise). A system like that is hardly conducive to a harmonious society. Hitting him with a chair might have been a little bit over the top, but frankly I'm with vinyl here. He was practically begging for it.
6696509 Eh, he had it coming. The chair might have been a little overboard, but he really needed that.
My heart is in tatters.
This chapter really hit me.
deep.
I am sobbing.
I get Twilights case and everything.
But you cannot really on one hoof hire someone because they have such great friendship, and on the other immediately reprimand them when they do something stupid precisely because of said friendship.
There is some sort of paradox there.
Vinyl's rash anger and the consquenses of it were forshadowed when she threw the album a Sweetie Belle, and was reprimanded by Rarity. While this is a bitter turn of events, it is not something out of the blue. Also, I think Twilight handles the situation very well. At least in this story, she has truly grown into her wings.
I got no words to say for this chapter... That guy got what he deserved, and I hope AJ and Dash stand with Vinyl on this matter, I can see the two of them coming up with a convincing argument.
Nice job.
6696779
That was the point of Twilight's speech though. Vinyl did what needed to be done to save her friend. She's not being reprimanded for that though, she's in trouble because what she did has potential political backlash. Twilight's doing this to avoid the kingdom looking bad.
Personally, I think Vinyl did the right thing. If someone was essentially using my friend's injuries as an excuse to push their own agenda, I'd probably want to deck them for it.
"Let me tell you something, Lady Twilight.
When manipulators get away scot free, knowing that the worst they have to fear is a strict talking to - it encourages others to follow in their stead.
When they bend laws to do so - then laws become a stake driven into society, rather than a backbone for it to rely on.
When those who try to stop them are punished - it's a signal for the rest to abandon hope.
When all of this happens in the name of harmony - then this harmony is worth shit.
You may construct a shelter out of laws, hiding from the world in it - but look outside, and you will see old man Revenge waiting patienty for law to slip.
And if you don't want your shelter to be blown to pieces, then you better ensure that law and justice remain synonyms."
"I can tell you what someone deserves for branding their child's psyche like this. They should have their life taken apart, piece by piece, with no discernible enemy to lash out against. And when they are left with nothing, when everything they valued is taken, destroyed or turned against them - then, and only then they should be given permission to die. You think it's harsh? But the damage they've done will live on, repeating itself through generations, and you will be there to see it."
I know that hindsight's 20/20 and all... but maybe the staff of the Princess of Friendship should have to undergo some psychiatric evaluation along with their physicals before being hired. I'm pretty sure Vinyl's results would have thrown up some red flags, and then there could have been some deliberation before hiring someone who is demonstrably emotionally volatile.
Just a suggestion for anyone out there who's thinking about assembling a royal court anytime soon.
6696608 6696699 6696779 6696969
Honestly, I think both Vinyl's and Twilight's decisions were perfectly justified.
But just because what you did was justified, doesn't make it right.
Vinyl did what she did because she cannot speak. She couldn't scream back. She couldn't communicate. If she could, no doubt she wouldn't have thrown the chair, and instead, she would merely have been satisfied putting Opulence in his place. But that option was not available to her. And so she threw a chair.
Fact of the matter is, she literally committed battery against Opulence. Even if he doesn't press charges, all of Equestria will know the story that will undoubtedly be sanitized of any motive or detail. Hell, it could easily be sensationalized into something different: "Respected musician throws chair at father visiting daughter in hospital". People will see that, associate that with Vinyl, and by proxy also associate it with her employers.
It's clear that Twilight doesn't want to do this. But Twilight is right. She holds a powerful, influential position in Equestria, one that has the capacity to do great things for its people. She can't sacrifice all of that just to protect one person who acted entirely of her own accord. There is no hypocrisy here. It is simply Twilight acting as a leader should, and making the hard decisions that no one else can, for the greater good of Equestria and her citizens.
Opulence did something wrong, but Vinyl did something VERY wrong. And, at the day, that's the way the cookie crumbles.
6697152 Well, I did say I saw Twilight's point, and why she did what she did.
I just said that this was somewhat paradoxical.
Sometimes, what's legal isn't right and what's right isn't legal. I have a hunch that Vinyl is going to actually get off relatively light, all in all. Dash, AJ and Spike will absolutely go to bat for her, Fluttershy won't like the violence but will understand the reason, Pinkie probably despises Opulence... leaving Rarity as the holdout. I wonder if Vinyl will get a chance to explain herself.
Vinyl? Get help. If you don't, the next time you snap, you're going to kill somepony and end up spending the rest of your life in a padded cell. Worse, it may not be somepony who arguably deserves it but an innocent like Sweetie Belle who inadvertently triggers you.
The horrible thing? There is a part of her, a very small part, that believes that is all she deserves - to be locked away and forgotten.
6696490
Agreed; she needs anger management therapy at the very least.
6696699
Hypocritical, and lecturing someone who literally can't talk back. Not to mention that she failed in her own responsibilities here as Octavia's liege when Twi opted to let Tavi's father essentially pony nap her without interfering. You're a Princess, Sparkle. That means you have a responsibility to your sworn people to defend them, and instead of exercising command you dithered until Vinyl had to resort to violent action as that is the only power she could bring to bear.
I would have loved to see Vinyl's response being simply a scrawled 'If you could protect your people, I wouldn't have to. I quit.'
Twilight, your optimism is adorable. Never lose it.
As for reality, the Law and the courts fail on a daily basis to dispense Justice. At some point, Natural Justice has to have its say.
This is Vinyl safeguarding Octavia's future, which most certainly would have been utterly destroyed by Opulence, the only way she could. How Harmonic is that? How Harmonic would it have been to allow what he was planning to happen to one's own friend?
It was a shit situation all around, but for Harmony to work, everyone has to play by the same rules. Opulence didn't. He is a fool that believes himself above rules and that his wealth means he is right. There's no arguing with such people, and there is no Harmony to be found in a heart that's frozen over, either.
This guy deserved to be clubbed one, because Wrath is a language everyone speaks. Vinyl did what she did for all the right reasons. She gets a pass in my book.
Wait wait wait- Little miss 'Give all the magic of the alicorns to Tirek because muh friendships' is actually going to talk shit about the possible might-have-beens of defending friends?
I imagine Rarity's already not so pleasant opinion on miss Vine might show up here, even if she'd be all too sympathetic for what's happened recently. Long as Rarity keeps her trap shut about the whole Sweetie almost getting faceplanted with a CD case (It was the CD right? I forget. I don't think it was the player she threw) then Vine would be less screwed I guess as being viewed as some sociopath that would lash out against anyone who ticks her off at the slightest provocation. :P
Damn... Vine really hasn't been putting on a good impression for these ponies lately, has she?
Hard to say how Flutters and Rares would vote. AJ probably be the most understanding, but what example would she be if she condoned violence against fellow ponies? Not that I know how she'd react anyhow, not like the CMC be present anyways during the talks.
Well, at least we get a break from all this for awhile and see how Octi is holding up. Wonder how she'd react to Vine's... handling of her father and what the deal is up with their daughter father shtick. Best of luck to ya Vine!
WARNING: POSSIBLY UNPOPULAR OPINION
Twilight Sparkle, the pony who ANNIHILATED Tirek for friendship's sake, who DECIMATED an entire people who were starving and looking for a sustainable source of food the only way they knew how, cares about ponies' opinions on violence in favour of friendship? What is going on? She's a princess. She has Celestia, Luna and Cadance to back her up in politics. Screw Opulence and the assholes who are going to spread rumours to make him look like the victim. Considering what Twilight did for friendship, this is barely anything. And if she had done something similar, she'd have been given an award.
-GentlemanPirate
So for the second time, Vinyl isn't even given a chance to tell her side of the story.
I get that Twilight already knows what happened, I get that Vinyl fucked up, but for god's sake, one would figure that, before bashing someone for fucking up, the logical step is giving that someone a chance to speak.
I wish I had a way of providing comic relief, but I got nothing.
6697152
Headline: "DJ ends tirade of verbaly abusive father with chair"
Everyone at the hospital saw Opulence's verbal abuse of Tavi's friends. I also don't have to be a mind reader to be able to tell that Octavia clearly has undiagnosed PTSD from the abuse of her father. In court, he would be taken down so fast.
6697658
But that would require Twilight admitting that she screwed up in letting it get that far, and she's done enough of that lately that she'd rather not.
I know It sounds bad, but If I were vinyl I would go home and write my letter of resignation to the castle of friendship.
I would also say goodbye to tavi and I would move to the country where there is not as many quarrels with others. if not but to keep the ones she cares about safe and still employed. tavi would still have the option of working because she did not act in the slightest, and vinyl would not be a danger to people. you can't fix everyone, you know?
6697743
How on earth do you call what Twilight's saying 'hypocritical?' She totally agrees with what Vinyl did, in her heart. But law is law.
You CANNOT go around assaulting people just because you don't like them, and they are saying things about your friends that you don't like. You can't. Full stop. This is something you learn at your mother's knee.
Opulence very well COULD take Vinyl to court. And he would win, the minute the prosecuting attorney establishes for the judge and jury that he never laid a hand on her. He was just talking and got Vinyl angry. Vinyl, however, flung the chair.
She could get jail time. However, a sympathetic court would probably just fine her and let her go.
AsTwilight mentioned, this would be an utter farking political nightmare for the newest princess just starting out. Heck, IS. The newspapers would be all over it the minute they got word that one of her employees assaulted a fellow coworker's FATHER in the freaking hospital. The WHY would be an afterthought.
She *had* to suspend her during the course of the investigation, and she probably will get fired. Twilight didn't like it, or think it was fair, but she has to follow the law.
Look. Opulence may be someone that you might want to throw out a window, and he may not be getting along with Octavia, but as her father, he does have right of family to see to his daughter's care in her incapacitation. Twilight is right. There is virtually NOTHING she can do in that case, from a legal standpoint. If family wants to move her, as long as the doctors caring for her think it's fine and sign off on the transfer, BOOM. Done.
If Vinyl was her *spouse* , or someone Octi had legally given governorship to in case of illness - her father would be shoved down the rights of access and wouldn't have a leg to stand on, in that case. Vinyl, then, COULD say no.
When Octavia wakes up, if she does NOT want to be there, she has avenues as a legal adult. If her dad tried to restrain her then....no. All Vinyl would have to do is make some noise to Twilight that she believed Octi's rights as a legal adult are being denied - hell, Octi could appeal to the crown - and the Princesses would be well able to lower the boom within the law.