Swag! · 4:25pm May 27th, 2013
Without a doubt, the Soul Well was one of the most popular hang out spots for all ghouls in the Ponyville sector of the Underworld. Vampires, the undead, eldrich abominations, and all manner of dark creatures sat at mist-surrounded tables within. Skull-lamps lined the rock-encrusted walls, though their light wasn't required in excess for most. It was a relaxed atmosphere, really. One where the souls of the damned were served in fancy glasses complete with rotten olives, one where dark, gothic poetry was often read in strange, ancient languages upon a dusty stage, and one where many of the creatures, wise in their years, spent their time reading books.
It was fine for nearly everyghoul there... save for one individual.
On a bench on stage she sat, slumped over with a dreary look on her face. She was a unicorn-turned vampire with two purple shades that obscured two fiery red eyes, one that in her current natural form, beheld a crooked, black horn. With it, she summoned a misty, black magic that was used to strum an ancient looking blues guitar. From it came an ancient, strange, and dissonant melody. One with no structure a normal creature could understand.
Still, the dark ones below could, and seemed to appreciate it, though they showed no enthusiasm for it. There was no dancing, no life... the place was nothing but a shared coffin.
She sighed, glancing at a clock on the wall. It was three until high moon, or as those above called it, three until midnight. Normally, she would be on the path to Ponyville by now, through a series of twisting caverns leading to an ancient portal. But that was not the case anymore. The world above was not her's anymore. It hadn't been for nearly a year. The gates had closed. She was trapped below for now, barred from going topside except for feeding.
Trapped in boredom.
She glanced to the door. The younger ones would be arriving soon. Eager chupacabras, shadow spirits, vampires, and the like, all vying for the more potent souls sold at the place. Though still, even when intoxicated on their energies, their own energy was less then par, and they did not appreciate the entertainers sense of music, either.
Wubstep... its eloquent structure. Its strange sound that could be soothing to both dark and light ears alike. One that everypony and ghoul could enjoy if given the chance.
She winced. Or perhaps she was just kidding herself... her life in the light was over... her old shades were not fit for the land of darkness. Most dark creatures were just too different: they enjoyed different things. And one day, she feared, she may become like them, when her age in the new life would outweigh the old.
Just as she felt like falling asleep, something a vampire rarely needed, the door to the tavern creaked open. In it trotted one of the stranger ghouls below. He wore a tattered outfit, and while on his off hours he would be quite chatty, lively, and even flirtatious, but when he was on the job... he was all business.
She didn't like it when he was in that mode.
The entertainer gave him a glare as he approached her, before glancing down as her guitar, trying to ignore him completely. Yet, it was never that easy with him.
"Ms. Scratch," he spoke. He was now at the edge of the stage.
She narrowed her eyes, glancing away from him.
"It's not like you to be so silent, you know."
She continued to look away as her playing became, if possible, even more dissonant and minor.
"When in ghoulville, do what the ghouls do."
A beat of silence.
"That's not you."
Finally, she glanced at the stallion, her eyes narrowed.
"Maybe, but all good things come to an end, don't they?"
"And no mistake is fatal."
Scratch gave a sarcastic chuckle. "It might as well be." She held up a hoof. "If you could call it a mistake."
The Guardian returned it with a slight smile. "Are you sure?"
"About which thing?"
"It being fatal."
Vinyl squinted an eyebrows, his gaze intensifying on the Guardian.
"The hell do you want from me?"
The Guardian narrowed his eyes. "I want you to fix your mistake."
Vinyl scoffed. "It wasn't even a mistake! She deserved it!"
She then closed her eyes, sighing and glancing down.
"Well... at the time I thought she did." She then glanced back up at the Guardian, her expression stern, but sad. "Imagine it, Guardian. Imagine you were nothing, your childhood taken from you, your home non-existent, and imagine you were dying... alone. Would you want it to happen, or would you rather take a helping hoof and buck all the crap thrown at you?"
The stallion remained silent.
Scratch took a deep breath. "You can't understand, can you? It may sound weird, but I think you've lived for so long you've forgotten what it means to truly be alive! It's why you fought so hard to trap me down here. Away from what I cared about!"
She swallowed painfully, an image of a certain mare flashing in her mind. She expected the Guardian's eyes to be cold, apathetic when she found the nerve to look into them again, yet instead... she found only sympathy.
"If I really felt that, why would I be here willing to give you a second chance?" he asked.
She threw him another sarcastic laugh. "Yeah... uh huh. It sounds like you only want me to clear my conscience! Well, it's clear as the skies above, sir!"
The Guardian raised an eyebrow. "Is it?"
Scratch remained silent.
He took a step forward, his eyes piercing her own like a Nightshade Arrow.
"Don't let my sympathy make you think you can try to yank me around, Vinyl," he growled. "You stole a Light Stone, one of the few we had, and let it fall from your grasp. You lived above without permission, exposing not only yourself but everyghoul in the underworld to danger. To top it off, you created the first new vampire in thirty years without even taking her under your wing! And you don't think you deserve to be punished?! After defying your new responsibilities!? You are arrogant, reckless, and impulsive as they come!"
Vinyl opened her mouth to say something, but soon shut it, her rage turning to such a shame that felt as if it were clenching her heart.
The Guardian took a deep breath at that, but smiling once again Vinyl's way. "But do you want to know the reason why is pisses me off so much?"
She gave a miserable groan, once again looking downward. "Do I look like I have any bucks to give?"
The Guardian rolled his eyes, before sighing forth: "It's because looking at you is like looking into a mirror into my past."
Vinyl's eyes widened.
okay, this sounds like it could amount to something but I at least will need a bit more to think on than a partial chapter