6
Flailing Wildly
Octavia closed her eyes as the music overcame her. Her hooves moved up and down the strings on her cello, and a sweet, mournful tone rang out, locking the musician in a serene fantasy. She felt as though she were on the biggest stage in Canterlot, playing for an audience that was completely silent as the music washed over them in wave upon wave of calm grace. She slid the bow back and forth, back and forth, over the strings. Right now, she was playing from the soul. Right now, she understood what music was all about.
Right now... Octavia was one with the music.
Meanwhile, Vinyl bopped her head as the drilling guitars of heavy metal roared out of her headphones as she sat on the couch behind Octavia, reading a Maredevil comic book. She turned the page, and then felt something poke her foreleg. Vinyl set down the comic book and looked up to see Octavia prodding her with her cello bow.
"WHAT?" Vinyl asked loudly; her headphones were at a very high volume.
Octavia's mouth moved, but then she realized Vinyl couldn't hear anything and she gestured for Vinyl to take off her headphones. Vinyl did so reluctantly.
"Honestly, Vinyl," Octavia sighed, "You're going to give yourself hearing damage..."
"Sorry, Tavi, but Griffallica songs need to be played LOUD!" Vinyl declared passionately, "Anyway, what were you saying?"
"I was only inquiring as to why you haven't been near your DJ stand in a few days," Tavi rolled her eyes, "Isn't that your main source of income?"
"Hey, I have an album out there!" Vinyl argued, "Remember? 'DJ-PON3'? And you said naming an album after myself was a bad idea. Ha!"
"An album that's only sold in the most unreputable music stores in Canterlot that attract ruffians and juveniles," Octavia retorted.
"What about 'Music4Ponies'? That store sells my album!"
"Like I said..."
"You're just jealous," Vinyl crossed her arms and laid back on the couch, "And anyway, what about you? I haven't seen you go out to band practice in the last few days. Aren't you guys supposed to meet every other day?"
To this, Octavia had no comeback. For a moment, Vinyl saw her expression break, but that broken look was gone as soon as it had appeared and Vinyl wondered if she'd just imagined it. Octavia looked down at the floor, appearing to think for a moment, and then she took a deep breath and looked back at Vinyl.
"Look, Vinyl-" Octavia began, but then there came a loud whoosh-ing sound from outside the house. It sounded as though wind from every direction was connecting at one spot directly outside the house, "What's that?"
"Derpy and the Doctor," Vinyl replied instantly. She remembered hearing the same sound and seeing a big blue box when they had come to visit her in the hospital. She still didn't know what the deal was with the giant box because nopony bothered to explain it to her. Maybe now she could get some answers.
Yes, answers! Vinyl rose from the couch, accidentally knocking her comic onto the floor, and marched over to the front door as the sound faded and somepony knocked. Already, she was going over what she was going to say in her head. She wasn't going to let them distract her; no, she was going to demand answers and with Celestia as her witness, she was going to get some!
She opened the door to see the Doctor in his usual bowtie standing next to Derpy, who was holding a plate covered in tinfoil, which she thrust at Vinyl.
"Here! I made you cookies!" Derpy smiled. Vinyl gasped and grabbed the plate.
"Oh my Tia, cookies!" Vinyl pulled off the tinfoil to reveal a plate of warm, freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies. She picked one up with her magic and devoured one whole, then turned to Tavi and spoke through a mouthful of cookie, "Mm... Tavi, check it out: cookies!"
"Vinyl, aren't you going to invite them inside?" Octavia asked impatiently.
"Oh yeah. Come on in, guys," Vinyl ushered them in, her previous mission now entirely forgotten, and Derpy giggled as she followed the Doctor inside.
"Thank you, Vinyl," Derpy greeted as Vinyl handed her back the cookies, "Hello Octavia!"
"Ah. Playing the ol' cello, are we?" The Doctor asked with a grin, eyeing Tavi's instrument, "I swear Octavia, you can play that better than anypony I've ever met!"
"Thanks, Doctor," Octavia smiled, but Vinyl noticed a sort of sadness to her smile. Vinyl narrowed her eyes at her friend as the first inklings that something was wrong started to dawn on her.
"Here, Octavia, you gotta try one of these cookies!" Derpy exclaimed, carrying the plate over to Octavia, but her hoof landed on the comic book that Vinyl had carelessly dropped on the floor and slid. Derpy yelped as she lost her balance and fell forward. Vinyl and Octavia gasped in unison and the Doctor ran forward as Derpy landed on the plate with a loud crack as the glass plate shattered, throwing cookie chunks and shards of glass all over.
"Ditzy!" the Doctor grabbed her shoulders, "Are you alright?!"
"Y-yeah... I think... I think I'm fine," Derpy whimpered, lifting her foreleg toward the couch to pull herself up, and Octavia screamed. A large chunk of glass was stuck in Derpy's leg, not very far, but far enough to draw blood. Vinyl moved forward, feeling woozy as she did so, toward Derpy's leg.
"Derpy, I'm going to pull the glass out," Vinyl said, determined, but the Doctor quickly held up his hoof.
"No! No! You can't!" his eyes widened, "That glass is the only thing keeping the blood inside her! We need a Band-Aid or something...!"
Octavia ran from the room toward the hallway closet where a first-aid kit was located and hurried back less than a minute later with the first-aid kit. The Doctor opened it and ripped out a band-aid before looking back up at Vinyl.
"Now Vinyl, you can pull it out- WITH MAGIC! WITH YOUR MAGIC!" the Doctor quickly yelled when Vinyl moved her hooves toward the glass. Vinyl took a deep breath and then her unicorn horn began to glow. The piece of glass pulled itself out of Derpy's foreleg, and Derpy winced before the Doctor pulled out a bottle of rubbing alcohol, "Need to sanatize the wound..."
"Yaaaaaaahh!" Derpy cried out in pain as he poured a few large drops on her cut before putting the band-aid on top.
"There we go..." the Doctor breathed, and Octavia and Vinyl relaxed as Derpy panted heavily.
"Well... this visit has gone spectacularly so far," Octavia said, getting a few chuckles from Derpy and Vinyl while the Doctor grinned, "Come with me, Derpy, I'll help you clean the blood off your leg."
"Sorry about the mess, Octavia..." Derpy apologized sheepishly, crawling off the floor weakly and limping on her injured leg, "I-I'll clean it up, I promise."
"Doctor and I can handle that," Vinyl volunteered as Octavia led Derpy to the bathroom, and then they heard the running water of the sink a few seconds later, "You handled that pretty well."
"Ditzy should be fine in a week or two," the Doctor shrugged, brushing the cookie pieces and shattered glass on the floor into a small pile.
"You know how to handle a lot of different kinds of situations, don't you?" Vinyl asked, picking up a few loose shards of glass with her magic.
"Well... I don't like to brag about it," the Doctor grinned, "But you'd be surprised, Vinyl."
"What if... uh... what if somepony was having nightmares?" Vinyl asked, trying to sound as casual as she could, but she could feel her voice shaking, "Nightmares filled with, like, dark magic. What would you, um, do?"
"Strange thing, magic," the Doctor stopped picking up glass and stared at the wall vacantly for a second, "Never really understand it... what's the difference between light and dark magic? One pony's dark magic is another's light."
"So you're saying it's a good thing that pony is having those nightmares? What if they're, like, hallucinating about them during the day?"
"I'd try to find the source of the nightmares," the Doctor replied, "All dreams come from somewhere."
"What if that pony has looked for a source, but couldn't find one?"
"And here's where the dark magic part comes in," the Doctor answered with a sly, clever grin, "That pony probably looked for a source when they were awake, but what about in their nightmares?"
"You think the source of the nightmares is INSIDE the dream itself?" Vinyl blinked in astonishment.
"Again, I'm not very familiar with magic, Vinyl. I'm more of a science pony myself, but magic still has to obey the laws of logic. There's something casting the magic, and there's the effects of the magic itself. If there's nothing casting the magic in the real world and all of the dark magic seems to stem from the nightmares, then the logical answer would be that the caster is inside that pony's nightmare."
"And how would that pony stop it?"
"And that," the Doctor finished, "Is what I don't know."
Octavia and Derpy re-entered the room just after Vinyl and the Doctor finished sweeping up the few remaining pieces of glass and cookie crumbs. Derpy's Band-Aid was still slightly damp from having her leg cleaned, but all of the blood was cleaned off. She still limped slightly, but it could have been worse. She hadn't damaged anything major, and the cut would heal itself soon.
"Did you guys save any cookies?" Derpy asked eagerly, but the Doctor and Vinyl exchanged a worried look.
"Actually... no Ditzy," the Doctor sighed sadly.
"Look on the bright side," Vinyl suggested with a smile, "At least I had one. How's your leg?"
"Hurts pretty bad," Derpy said, lifting her foreleg off the ground to examine it, "But I think I can manage. Especially since I can just fly around instead of walk."
"The good news is that it'll heal," the Doctor said, "Maybe within a month too."
"That'd be great," Derpy sighed in relief, "The sooner the better."
~~~~~~
After Derpy and the Doctor had left and Octavia put her cello in its case (which was strange; Vinyl noticed that she only put her cello in its case when she was taking it to a concert or to band practice, but instead Tavi put it in the closet), Vinyl put on her shades and got her headphones and trotted toward the front door.
"Later, Octy! I'm gonna be gone a while!" Vinyl called to Octavia.
"Where are you going?" Tavi hurried into the room where she surveyed Vinyl suspiciously, "To find work, I hope?"
"Actually, yes," Vinyl said pridefully, "I'm gonna trot over to the Verdant- you know, that one nightclub?- and get a gig there. DJ-P0N3 hasn't had a gig in a while."
"I do wish you'd stop referring to yourself with that ghastly name," Octavia sighed.
"You're just upset that I called you 'C3LL0-P0N3' that one time," Vinyl scoffed, "And I'm telling you, that name is cool!"
"If you say so, Vinyl," Octavia rolled her eyes and retreated back into the kitchen where she was making something for dinner. Octavia was fond of trying out new recipes in times of turmoil, just to keep her mind off her troubles. Today, she was trying a new recipe that she assured Vinyl would be "simply spectacular".
Vinyl still had her doubts.
Today, the streets of Canterlot were moderately filled. There was enough room to walk around freely, while at the same time trendy ponies were everywhere. Once outside, Vinyl put on her headphones and trotted to the beat of the music. She bopped her head to the music as well, and did this until she arrived in the most popular part of Canterlot, the Trendy District, she liked to call it. The Verdant nightclub was just ahead, and through the glass windows she could see that it was almost empty because it was just after noon, yet Vinyl noticed somepony in a green hoodie inside trot out of her line of view.
Vinyl was about to trot across the street to the nightclub, and then she felt somepony roughly tap her shoulder. Vinyl used her magic to pull off her headphones and turned around to see a gray stallion with tiny spectacles and a yellow mare with an expensive-looking hairdo glaring at her. Vinyl gulped, wondering what she'd done to upset these two strangers. Had she disturbed them during one of her late-night wubs experiments? Were they at her last gig when she had accidentally knocked over a table and spilled drinks on a few ponies?
"You're Miss Vinyl Scratch, correct?" the stallion asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That's me," Vinyl said, forcing a grin, "You can call me DJ-P0N3."
"My name is Jet Set, and this is my wife, Upper Crust," Jet Set introduced himself.
"Charmed, I'm sure," Upper Crust said stiffly.
"You're Octavia Melody's roommate?"
Oh man, Vinyl thought, Were these snobs at the party that night?
"Yeah? So?"
"We need you to deliver a message to her for us," Upper Crust cleared her throat, "Tell Octavia that never again will we hire her to perform at any of our social events, nor will we trust her as a pony ever again."
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Vinyl demanded, "Octavia is a great pony!"
"Ugh," Upper Crust made a noise. It was an odd noise, like a mixture of a scoff, a chuckle, and a groan. Upper Crust then held up her hoof and whispered to her husband, though it was more of a stage-whisper that Vinyl was meant to overhear, "Miss Scratch must be more small-minded than I thought..."
"I heard that," Vinyl growled, "You better watch it, lady."
"Oh, there's no need for such hostile words," Jet Set intervened, peering at Vinyl through his spectacles, "You did know about the party, correct?"
"What party?" Vinyl narrowed her eyes. She was never invited to the really fancy Canterlot parties, but she was invited to almost every party that involved something alcoholic. Vinyl often wondered if it was just because the pony throwing the party needed music, and this might have been why Octavia was her best friend. She'd never admit it, but Octavia was the only pony she really felt close with. Right now, these two upper-class posers were threatening to ruin the closeness she felt if they really knew something about Octavia that she didn't.
"I thought not," Jet Set sniffed. Vinyl detected a note of smugness.
"A few days ago, we asked Octavia to get her band to perform at an anniversary party at our private estate and offered her payment of 500 bits," Upper Crust explained as Vinyl listened, her feeling of dread growing bigger and bigger, "Octavia was on her way to practice with her ensemble at the time, and she promised she would tell them about our party. Less than an hour later, we saw Octavia again."
"She appeared rather dazed, now that I think about it," Jet Set added.
"She confirmed that her band had agreed to perform. When the day of the party came, Octavia's ensemble was nowhere to be found," Upper Crust finished. Though they couldn't see Vinyl's eyes behind her shades, her eyes were wide with shock, "So, again, we would like for you to deliver a message to that... that flake. She is not a serious musician; instead, she is an untrustworthy pony that will no longer have any business at a party of ours."
"I... Octavia wouldn't..." Vinyl struggled to find the right words. When she was unable to produce exactly what she wanted to say, she instead turned around and began trotting in the other direction.
"Does this mean you'll deliver our message?" Jet Set called after her.
"Sure. After I have a talk with Octavia's band members..." Vinyl growled a reply. Behind her, she heard Jet Set mention something about being late to the opening of Sassy Saddles' new boutique, and the couple started trotting again.
Something wasn't right. Vinyl had felt it, but had thought that she didn't have the right to investigate after she and Octavia had just rekindled. Now, she was determined to find out what happened. Why was Tavi so distant lately? Why had she been reluctant to play her cello? Something happened with her band, and Vinyl was going to make them tell her what.
For Octavia.
~~~~~~
Vinyl stuck out in the posh neighborhood Octavia's band practiced in. Ponies with slicked-back manes couldn't help but stare at her wild, neon one, and she overheard a few whispers about "that mare's ghastly sunglasses". She had been tempted to yell at this inconsiderate ponies that they were SHADES, not SUNGLASSES, but she knew that she had to force herself to remain focused on what she was doing NOW.
She had only been to Clef Clavichord's home twice. One time when she'd followed Octavia to band practice, and the other time when she interrupted band practice to ask Octavia if she'd pick up donuts on the way home. Octavia had been really confused about how Vinyl was willing to go six blocks out of her way to ask her to get donuts, but not two blocks to get the donuts herself. In the end though, surprisingly, Octavia returned with the donuts. An awkward silence had ensued when she walked in with the donut box to find Vinyl sitting on the couch with a box of donuts that she'd gotten after disturbing Octavia's band practice.
Clavichord's house was humongous. Vinyl had always thought that it would be incredible to hold a wild house party here, but she knew that if Clavichord was anything like Octavia (if anything, he was more uptight than Octy), there was no way he'd ever go for it. Vinyl had often wondered how Clavichord could afford so many expensive things, but Octavia couldn't. In fact, late at night during her darkest moments, Vinyl seriously thought that Octavia would have a more expensive lifestyle if she wasn't dealing with Vinyl's antics all the time.
Vinyl trotted up the walk to the front door of Clavichord's place, and rapped her hoof on the door.
"Aw man... forgot about the soundproof room!" Vinyl silently cursed herself when she remembered that Octavia's band practiced in a soundproof room. They might not even have been able to hear her knocking.
But a moment later, a mare with a blue coat holding a tuba answered the door, only to look at Vinyl with a mix of confusion and disgust, as if she didn't know why Vinyl was there, but knew it couldn't be for a good reason because of the punkish way she looked.
"Um, can I help you?" Senza asked, scrunching her nose. The way she said it really ticked Vinyl off, but she was determined not to let Senza know that.
"Senza, you know me," Vinyl sighed, "Remember? I'm Octavia's roommate?"
"Oh. Octavia," Senza groaned. She looked like she was about to say more, but suddenly Clavichord appeared behind her and he trotted to the front door.
"Vinyl Scratch?" he asked, "To what do I owe the unexpected... erm, pleasure of your visit?"
"What happened to Octavia?" she demanded, "She's been acting differently lately, and I know it has something to do with you guys, so spill. What happened?"
"Um... Octavia... didn't tell you?" Clavichord stammered.
"Wait, she didn't?" Senza's eyes widened in glee.
"What? What happened?! What didn't she tell me?" Vinyl pleaded, "I need to know!"
"Octavia, well... she isn't a part of this ensemble anymore," Clavichord said sheepishly, "I admit, we didn't part on the best terms, but-"
"Octavia didn't tell you she got kicked out of the band?!" Senza laughed, and Vinyl glared at her, "Guess you two must not be very good friends if she doesn't trust you with something that important, huh?"
"Octavia is my best friend!" Vinyl argued, a little too loudly.
"So why didn't she tell you, huh? Why didn't she tell her 'best friend', Miss Scratch?" Senza retorted with a snicker as Clavichord watched, looking completely helpless. Behind him, Tremolo Hymn trotted into the room to see what was going on.
"Look, Vinyl, Octavia is a wonderful cellist, but there's a significant difference between her and us," Clavichord explained, "Not just playing style, but her musical tastes vary considerably from ours... oh, and the concerts..."
"Dear Celestia, she was always such a nuisance at concerts," Senza rolled her eyes.
"The point of an ensemble like ours is to show up, perform, and then leave," Clavichord sniffed, "We must be professional. Octavia wasn't like that; whereas we would leave the concert and maintain our appearance, Octavia would always stay behind and talk to everypony. Even the delinquents such as yourself."
"And what's wrong with that?" Vinyl demanded. To this, Clavichord looked a little taken aback.
"Well, uh... a reputable musician associating with the lowlifes of Canterlot? That's why Octavia didn't very well fit in with us," Clavichord explained, "We'd leave, and she'd still be at the venue talking with ponies that we would never be seen with."
"Actually, Vinyl," Senza chimed in, "Maybe Octavia is like that because of you. A respectable cellist sharing a house with a crazy DJ like you? Living with you has done something to her."
"Yeah. It HAS. She's more accepting of ponies that are different," Vinyl grit her teeth, "Which is more than I can say for you stuck-ups. And Senza, you're not going to try to blame me for you kicking Octavia out of your band!"
"I think we're done here," Clavichord started to close the door, "Goodbye Vinyl."
"No! You're going to stand here and explain to me why in Equestria you kicked the best cellist ever out of your band!" Vinyl pressed her hooves in the door, stopping Clavichord from closing it and even forcing it open a few inches.
"She's crazy! Crazy!" Senza howled.
"Explain!" Vinyl screamed.
"What's going on?" a thin stallion poked his head out of the soundproof room next to Tremolo. In his hoof, he held a cello bow. Octavia's replacement!
"Hey, I know you!" Vinyl exclaimed, "You were trying to score something from a dealer outside the Peppermint nightclub! I saw you after a gig one time! You're a user! They replaced Octavia with you?!"
"That's enough, Vinyl Scratch!" Clavichord declared, finally closing the door with Senza's help, "Good day!"
"Prick," Vinyl cursed, trotting away from Clef Clavichord's place. And sure, Clavichord had been rude, but he had told Vinyl what she needed to know about Octavia's behavior. Now, she had to get home. Octavia had a lot of explaining to do.
~~~~~~
Vinyl arrived home and opened the door. Immediately, she could smell the faint scent of something burning, but it was fading as though somepony had taken care of it already. Octavia sat at the kitchen table, eating a slice of pizza. The large white pizza box sat on the table next to Octavia, and Vinyl noticed that it was cheese pizza. When the two of them couldn't agree on toppings, they just ordered cheese.
"Oh, hello Vinyl," Octavia greeted, "I've taken the liberty of picking up a pizza for dinner. Did you get the job at Verdant?"
"Octavia," Vinyl took a deep breath as she closed the door behind her, "We need to talk..."