Timeless

by Hybrid-Dreamin

Outbursts and Discoveries

Vinyl and Octavia walked along the dirt road at a steady pace. It'd taken them close to half an hour to make their way down the street and reach the exit to the fake Manehattan. They hadn't spoken much since they began walking again, both still feeling some of the fatigue left over from their recent victory.

Vinyl had noticed that Octavia's bracelet was slowly regaining it's purple glow over time. She assumed it must have had something to do with Octavia using up her magic and having to recharge or something similar. Even though she knew Octavia still had to be a little tired, the silence was beginning to get on her nerves. Taking a breath, she spoke up.

"So... that certainly was something wasn't it?" Octavia just gave a small nod in response like Vinyl figured she would. "Are you sure you're okay?" Another nod. "I'm sorry I couldn't be more help back there..." Vinyl apologized out of genuine regret that she had to leave most of the battle up to Octavia.

"It's alright. It's not your fault." The gray mare finally spoke in response.

Vinyl took this as a sign that it was okay to keep talking. "You said you'd fought one of those things before the one in the town right? What was that like?"

Octavia paused a moment, trying to figure out what words to use before deciding on "Pretty much the same... maybe a little smaller, definitely slower moving... I don't like to think about it."

"Oh..." Vinyl responded, letting silence take over once again. They continued on for another hour or so before both agreeing it was time to rest again. The conversation had remained dead up until that point, and Vinyl knew there was no way Octavia would revive it, so it was up to her.

Inwardly sighing to herself, she spoke up. "That dress looked cute on you..." She said with a smirk, preparing herself for the angry response. Instead, Octavia just turned towards her while sporting a look halfway between annoyance and disbelief at what she just heard.

"Excuse me?" Was her initial response. Vinyl knew she would continue though so she cut off her chance by continuing herself instead.

"The dress that appeared when you were fighting that thing. You looked cute in it. You should just wear it all the time. It'll make the journey a little nicer. Maybe we can find you a nice bow for your hair." Vinyl said, managing to keep in her laughter.

Octavia continued to sport her annoyed and disbelieving look, but a small blush was being added to it now. "I hardly think the outfit matters! Besides, I told you it only appears whenever I activate the bracelet."

"That's lame. Here I was hoping I had a chance to travel with a pretty princess. You certainly have the overly entitled and dignified look to you... you should do something about that by the way." Vinyl responded as she leaned back against the tree they had decided to rest under, not thinking much about her words. Octavia meanwhile abruptly stood up, unable to comprehend just where Vinyl was going with all of this, her blush continuing to intensify.

"What in Celestia's name are you talking about?! I am hardly a princess. And overly entitled? I don't under-" Vinyl cut her off, hopping up to her hooves.

"You need to loosen up!" She said happily, putting her hoof around Octavia's shoulder. "Learn to enjoy things! I mean, there's not much to enjoy right now, but once we fix all this what are you gonna do? Go back to being all uptight?" Vinyl laughed.

Octavia pushed the other mare off of her rather forcefully, clearly not finding any humor in it. "If we're going speak of looks then I'd say you look "loose" enough for more than just the two of us. Also, did you take nothing away from our little "chat" before?! The fate of Equestria is at stake and you're just cracking jokes and trying to get a rise out of me!"

"I'll ignore that loose comment; now calm down, calm down. It was just a jo-"

"Just a joke?! What do you know about me?! You keep talking about how I must be snobbish and uptight! Like I'm some kind of royalty who thinks herself better than everyone else! And why? Just because I like to present myself well? Because I wear a bowtie and like to keep my hair neat and under control? Or is it because you look at me as I appear and feel bad about how YOU present yourself?!"

Vinyl was too late, only now regretting her pushing of Octavia's rather obvious buttons. She wanted to calm the situation down somehow but Octavia wasn't finished with her explosion of anger. "You speak about saving Equestria like we've already achieved it! In case you failed to notice, if it weren't for me then you would be dead two times over now and I'd have to try and save the world myself! And I'm not saying that I'd be able to do it on my own, quite the opposite. There's absolutely no way I can continue to fight monster after monster by myself while trying to find a place that I'm not sure will give me any answers or information on how to fix things. I'm not even sure if the place in question is even around anymore, and I certainly have no idea where to start looking to find a way there!" Vinyl could've sworn she saw steam rising from the gray mare's head.

"And to top it all off" Octavia said, seemingly entering the final stage of her rant. "Not only is the one other pony who can even move unable to use her magic, not only is she more concerned with resting and cracking jokes about me. She speaks to me as if she knows everything about me! You don't even know why you can't use your magic, yet you're going to sit there and judge me based on appearances?!" Octavia continued to flare, backing Vinyl up to the tree before turning around and continuing.

"Let me tell you a story. It's a story about a little filly whose parents expected nothing but perfection. They made her learn how to play the cello at a young age even though she would have rather gone to school instead of being tutored privately, or played with the other fillies her age instead of being forced to attend the gatherings her parents dictated to her. "Upper class citizens like us do not associate with those beneath them" was what her parents told her, forcing her more and more into the mold of their perfect idea of what a child should be." She took a breath before continuing.

"As the filly started growing up, she began to accept that this was just the life that she had to live. Then, after she had come of age, she did one thing, ONE. THING, that her parents so vehemently disagreed with that they deemed it necessary to kick their one and only child out of their house and cut off all contact with her forever. Would you like to know what that one thing was?" She turned to Vinyl and asked rhetorically. "That one thing was saying she didn't want to go along with an arranged marriage that they were setting up for her. AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE!" She shouted, causing Vinyl to flinch. "WHO DOES THAT?! Apparently my parents didn't like the idea of me wanting to find the pony who's right for me on my own! So they kicked me out to live on my own and take care of myself! Nopony else in my whole family would even speak to me anymore either! I had to work two jobs just to keep up with my apartment's rent, not because it was high class or fancy, but because no job that actually paid decently would accept me seeing as my only skill was playing the cello and putting on airs! And let's not even get into how I managed to finally find the apartment in the first place!" Another pause and deep breath, seemingly calming herself down a little.

"For nearly two years I had to waste away like that before I finally got a break. I managed to join a classical band after attending their tryouts. We were so well received as a band that we even played at the royal gala in Canterlot. After that I made one last attempt to contact my parents. "Maybe they'll be proud of me now. Maybe they'll acknowledge me now that I played in front of royalty!" I thought to myself. You know what I got back in response to the letter I sent?... Nothing! I started asking around to try and figure out why they wouldn't respond. I finally come to find out that they adopted another filly not long after they kicked me out. THEY REPLACED ME! THEIR ONE AND ONLY CHILD AND THEY REPLACED ME LIKE SOME KIND OF TOY!" She screamed, tears in her eyes. "As far as my parents were concerned, I died as soon as I disagreed with them. ONCE! I DISAGREED WITH THEM ONCE! I did everything they ever asked or told me to, thinking that if I didn't then they wouldn't love me. Well what do you know, I was right! And now look at me! I'm stuck in what could be the end of the world! I...I don't... I..." She stammered, her voice getting caught in her throat as more and more tears streamed down her face. She put her hooves to her mouth to try and control herself, but it was no use.

As she began to sob, she fell back onto her hind legs. Vinyl slowly made her way over and embraced her, not knowing what else to do. She didn't get pushed away, so she tightened her grip slightly as Octavia continued to scream and cry in despair. Looking up at the dark sky, Vinyl noticed tears beginning to stream down her face as well. She kept silent however, continuing to hold onto the gray pony who she knew needed some kind of comfort, even if it was a small reminder that she wasn't alone in the cruel situation they now found themselves in.

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Octavia's eyes slowly opened as she woke up. She stifled a yawn that she felt coming as she looked about. The same night air and dark sky greeted her eyes, crushing the tiny hope she somehow still had that this might all just be a dream. She sat up as she tried to brush the remaining sleepiness from her eyes.

As she became more aware and her daze slowly lifted itself, she felt something pushed up against her hind leg. When she looked down to investigate she saw Vinyl, fast asleep. Octavia's mind turned to the still fresh memory of her earlier explosion, letting out all her pent up anger and frustration. She remembered how Vinyl just sat there silently, letting her get everything out of her system. She also remembered Vinyl embracing her as she broke down, trying to comfort her.

She looked away from the sleeping mare, disgusted with herself. She'd released all her pent up anger towards the current state of things on Vinyl. While Octavia still didn't agree with the idea of Vinyl joking around when they were stuck in such dire straits, she also knew that Vinyl only meant to lighten the increasingly grim mood, something which Octavia herself was becoming fed up with.

Octavia sighed as she looked back at Vinyl, still sleeping without a care. Perhaps she envied her, the gray pony thought. The ability to lighten the mood or crack a joke no matter the situation was something Octavia never possessed. Looking at the sky in thought, she wondered if her personality would be different if she'd grown up with different parents. One's that actually loved her because she was their child and not because she just did what they told her to. Would she be a better pony because of it? Would her values and ideals be any different? Or would she still be the usually stoic, little-to-no-nonsense mare she was today.

She knew that part of her life was in the past and there was no way she could change it, but there was still a part of her that longed for the love that only a parent can give. Brushing a tear from her cheek, she laid back down on the grass. Resting her head on her hooves, she watched Vinyl as she slowly moved about in her sleep, giving the occasional grumble. Octavia smiled to herself. Her traveling companion might not be perfect, but the fact that Vinyl was still around was enough for her.

Looking to the stars and thinking about recent events, she felt a nudge against her side. She looked over and gave a small snort of amusement upon finding that Vinyl had rolled over onto her side with her mouth slightly agape, little droplets of drool falling onto the grass. Carefully closing her mouth so as not to wake her, Octavia settled herself back into a comfortable position, closing her eyes and eventually falling back to sleep.

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The music was blasting. The crowd was jumping and dancing about. She felt the rush of excitement flow over her as she moved her head in tune with the beat. She had the best seat in the house, able to see everypony before her as they lost themselves in the music and let all their cares wash away, at least for now. She could see groups of friends chatting at tables in the back of the club. Stallions trying to flirt with mares by the bar in the hopes that they might not spend another night alone. The bartender performing his tricks as he mixed drinks for the patrons, putting smiles on their faces.

She shook her head and smiled herself. This was it. This is what she lived for. This was the place she enjoyed being at the most. A place where she could leave all her worries and insecurities at the door and distract herself from the everyday grind. Nothing but her, her music, and the other ponies just looking to have a good time in one form or another.

As it came time for her to take a break she made her way over to the bar and asked for her usual. The bartender smiled at her warmly and said "sure thing Scratch, nice set by the way." She thanked him and looked back out towards the crowd, the ponies still dancing and having a good time. "Here ya go." she heard behind her as the bartender set her drink down. After another "thanks" she took a sip and looked towards the crowd again. "Where's your clique?" The bartender asked. He meant well, but it stung Vinyl in the heart all the same.

Instead of snapping though she just put on a smile and responded with "I guess they couldn't make it tonight." hoping her smile didn't look unnatural.

"That's a shame." The bartender said, bowing his head in apology as he was called away by another order.

Vinyl continued to sip away at her drink here and there. This was the third night she was scheduled to perform where her so called "friends" hadn't shown up ever since she told them she couldn't pull any strings to get them in free of charge. It wasn't as if she didn't try either. The manager just wouldn't budge. Naturally when she tried to explain things to them, it was suddenly all her fault and she obviously didn't really care about them.

Vinyl's gaze hardened without her noticing. Why did she expect anything else? That was always the name of the game when it came to her life. Everyone always thought she was just the cool DJ and wanted to hang out with her but then dumped her like trash once they realized that she had actual feelings and some kind of personality flaw they always managed to notice or make up.

She fidgeted with her custom made, tinted glasses absentmindedly as she thought about all the so called friends who had just given up on her over the years. As the time for her next set neared, she took a deep breath and put her glasses back on, the tinted shades hiding her teary eyes.

Stepping back up to her station and readying the music for the eager patrons, she knew it would be another night where she got home to her apartment only to cry herself to sleep.

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Vinyl let a large yawn out as she walked along the road, Octavia at her side but slightly ahead of her. Once the two had woken up, Octavia sheepishly apologized for her outburst which Vinyl accepted without a second thought, even if Octavia made sure to make it clear that she still didn't agree with Vinyl's joking.

"What's wrong? You just slept for nearly twelve hours." Octavia asked in regards to the yawn, glancing back.

Vinyl gave a small scoff. "How do you even know it was that long. It's impossible to tell what time it is when all you can see is night. Even the moon isn't around!" Vinyl motioned to the sky that consisted of nothing but dark clouds and a few stars.

"Well it seemed long enough..." Octavia mumbled in response, not wanting to admit that Vinyl made a good point.

"So how much longer do you think until we actually find something?" Vinyl asked absentmindedly before yawning again.

"How should I know. It took both us long enough to find that town if our stories match up, and we only ended up in... "Manehattan" because my bracelet started shining and teleported us there."

"So that's how we ended up there..." Vinyl muttered, remembering that she'd never been told just how she passed out in a rural looking town and woke up in an apartment building in a fake Manehattan.

Octavia sighed. "So unless this thing starts glowing again" she wiggled her front leg, the bracelet still stuck in place, "then our only choice is to keep walking until we see something."

"If it starts glowing and it teleports us, will I get to see you in your pretty dress again?" Vinyl smiled.

"Ugh! Enough about the dress!" Octavia groaned in annoyance knowing full well that Vinyl would never let that go.

"But it's sooooo pretty. And you looked simply lovely in it." Vinyl jokingly swooned.

"Vinyl stop..."

"What? It's just tha-"

"No, I mean STOP." Octavia commanded, physically stopping Vinyl with her leg before pointing in front of them.

Looking closer through squinted eyes, Vinyl saw what Octavia had pointed towards. Ruins of what looked like a castle of some kind. "What do you thinks' over there?" She asked.

"I don't know and I don't care. What I DO know is that it's a landmark that might give us a better vantage point to see our surroundings at least, and it might even have some kind of information at best." Octavia responded before taking off towards them.

Vinyl sighed as she began galloping after the mare. Despite that, she found she was unable to stop herself from smiling in excitement and anticipation for what they might find.