• Published 4th Apr 2012
  • 9,325 Views, 334 Comments

Mixing Relationships - Aryn240



Vinyl Scratch and Octavia Shipping; OC characters. Music contest

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Chapter 7

***Sorry about the long wait! Have an extra-long chapter to make up for it!- Aryn***

Chapter 7

“So, he actually tried to...hit on you?”

“Yep! What a loser. I hope some of the spit got in his eyes.”

The musically-inclined mares were in front of Vinyl’s apartment, waiting in the cold while the white unicorn pulled out her keys. Octavia had just been informed of the full contents of Vinyl’s run-in with Vibrant, and was as offended as the unicorn was.

“I would have shoved a cello bow down his throat! Two at once indeed!

The blue-maned pony laughed as she finally opened the door. “Yeah. I wish Lyrica could have heard that. She’d have-” She cut off, momentarily shocked by something that had just occurred to her.

“Vinyl? What? What is it?”

“He knew I was... That we... that I was... with you.” The DJ pony blushed slightly, unsure of how to phrase it.

Octavia, however, smiled. “Oh, is that all? He probably just assumed that because he saw us at dinner.”

Vinyl’s shoulders relaxed, then slumped. “Oh, right.”

The note of disappointment was not lost on the grey pony. Her face took on the same indecisive look that the DJ had noticed earlier in the night, when she had just appeared in the club, and the unicorn suspected she was about to hear what had caused that particular hesitation.

Octavia took a deep breath. “Besides. Maybe we shouldn’t worry too much about that, anymore.”

Vinyl turned to her, her head rising, and used her magic to remove her shades, revealing her brilliant ruby-red eyes. The snow swirled gently around them as she contemplated the earth pony. Octavia waited with bated breath for the coming response she knew had the possibility to be life-changing.

“Really?”

The cellist laughed. “Truly, Vinyl? That’s all you want to say?”

Vinyl blinked. “What? What else am I supposed to say?”

Octavia’s smile remained as she sighed. “Oh, nothing. Let’s just go inside, shall we? I’m cold, and I think we can talk about this much more after we win. I intend to beat those two if it’s the last thing I do!”

The white unicorn shook off her confusion and grinned. “Isn’t that a little cliche, Tavi?”

“I don’t care! You need more cultural exposure, anyway.”

“I watch Saturday morning cartoons. Isn’t that enough?”

“It’s actually more than I expected.”

“Ha! See? I do have good taste!”

“You have a taste. Nopony ever said anything about ‘good’.”

“I did!”

“That doesn’t count.”

“Well, fine! Then what taste do I have?”

Octavia smirked. “An excellent one in mares.”

“...Oh, I walked right into that, didn’t I?”

“Absolutely. Now can we finish this?”

Vinyl replaced her shades as they wandered into the apartment, Octavia setting her cello down. She wouldn’t need it, they had since recorded all of the acoustic tracks they’d need, and now the rest was up to the DJ’s magic and the cellist’s opinion. Still, it made her feel better to have it with her.

Vinyl was already down the hall. “Come on, Tavi! Let’s finish it!”

“Can we please standardize the tempo and lower the bass a little this time?”

“Silly Tavi! That’s not how you drop the bass! Not by turning it down!” Vinyl had the board loaded up.

“How, then?”

“I’ll show you......... you just DROP THE BASSS!!!!!”

“Ah. So by screaming, and by adding lots of bass while reducing the other instruments. Wouldn’t ‘ADD MORE BASS’ make more sense? Dropping sounds like you are, in fact, attempting to lower it.”

“Stop trying to analyze manestream catchphrases, come in here, and help me DROP THE-”

“Alright, I’m coming! Just stop yelling!”

“-BASS.”

“I heard that!”

*** *** ***

Octavia opened her eyes. Darkness. She blinked a few times, trying to clear her vision of sleep, and sat up. Her eyes began to focus and adjust better. She saw Vinyl’s mane on the pillow beside hers, and smiled gently at the sleeping form. Why was she awake...?

THUD.

The reason for her interrupted sleep suddenly became apparent. A loud noise came from outside, then a muffled word. Sounded like a curse. The cellist began to tense up.

Vinyl’s bedroom was fairly plain; and, since Octavia was there, relatively neat. Moonlight spilled into the room in a thin white beam from the partially open curtains, illuminating the floor in a diagonal line. Glancing out, the earth pony could see that it had stopped snowing.

She rose to her hooves. Glancing back at the still-sleeping Vinyl, she began to trot towards the door. She paused hesitantly when another oath came from outside, but strengthened her resolve and continued out of the bedroom and into the hallway.

The noises were coming from somewhere outside the living room. Tavi trotted down the hall slowly, pausing at the entrance of the room to peer carefully around the corner.

One of the windows in the living room had an odd glow coming from behind its blinds. The earth pony gasped and took a few steps back when she saw a shadow move across it. She was about to return to the bedroom to rouse Vinyl and call the police when a few more words from outside stopped her.

Come on, Vibrant! You spend so much bucking time bragging about how strong you are, you can’t even open a measly window? Pathetic!

“Shut it, Lyrica. Why are we here, anyway?”

“I told you! We have to find out what they’re entering in the contest and steal it!”

“Alright. Just don’t make any noise.”

“Don’t tell me what to do.”

Well, Octavia thought, That’s that mystery solved. I suppose I should do something. Or...

Glancing carefully back towards the window to make sure it wasn’t open yet, she made her way cautiously towards the window. Smiling to herself, she positioned herself as close as she dared, deep in shadow.

It wasn’t a long wait. Vibrant had the window jimmied open soon, and stuck his head in. Tavi held her position, waiting for better prey. The head retreated, and, with a loud whisper of “Ladies first!”, was replaced with Lyrica’s. The blue unicorn looked carefully around the seemingly deserted rom, then began to climb inside.

Octavia waited until she had both of her forelegs inside, then made her move. Stepping forward quickly, she brought her mouth very close to her pianist’s ear, and, in a calm and controlling tone of voice, she said,

“Going somewhere?”

Lyrica’s reaction was immediate and gratifying. Her eyes bulged, her mouth opened to scream, and her entire body jumped. A second before emitting what would have been an earsplitting screech, her reason kicked in and she clamped a hoof over her mouth. In the act of doing so, however, she knocked herself off balance, and her other foreleg went out and her back hooves scrambled for purchase before slipping straight out backwards. Octavia heard not one, but two muffled grunts of pain, and grinned as she realized that Vibrant had been standing directly behind Lyrica when her hooves collided with his skull.

Lyrica was recovering her hooves and looking rapidly around the room, trying to catch sight of Octavia, who was still ensconced in a shadow. The blue mare pulled herself completely into the apartment, falling again as she did so. She sprang shakily to her hooves, and finally perceived where the grey of the earth pony separated from the black of the night. She glared.

Octavia stifled a giggle at the pianist’s rumpled mane, torn clothes, and general appearance. Lyrica had obviously chosen her own outfit for her little raid. She was wearing a turtleneck spray-painted black in most places and sporting a rip, and a ski mask which looked like it had been turned backwards and had more holes cut in it, including one for her mane, which stuck out at odd angles. Her eyes peered through two holes cut in a slit-shape, and what little of her expression could be seen suggested she was quite unhappy.

What are you looking at?”

The cellist couldn’t hold it anymore. “Did a three year old filly dress you, or did you come up with that... outfit all on your own?”

“What? No! I mean- This is a breaking and entering... What was it, Vibrant?”

From behind: “Camouflage.”

Lyrica turned back. “That, yeah.”

Octavia laughed harder.

“VIBRANT!”

The large stallion poked his head back through the window and caught sight of the grey earth pony. “So one of them is up. Great. I think it’s time for her to go back to sleep.

He climbed through the window (much more gracefully than Lyrica) and stepped menacingly towards the cellist. She took a step back, her laughter banished, and her eyes widened as the stallion raised the crowbar he had used to open the window high with his magic. Octavia’s eyes were locked onto the the weapon as began to come down, closer, faster-

A yawn echoed around the room, and action halted. Standing in the hallway leading from the bedroom, Vinyl had appeared, her mane askey and her glasses left behind. With sleep-deprived eyes, she inspected the room, then, seemingly finding nothing awry about it, proceeded to shamble through it to the kitchen. The two unicorns and the earth pony gaped as the DJ pony opened her fridge, removed a jug of milk with her magic, and drank straight from it.

A moment later, Vinyl stopped drinking, and let out a contented breath. She replaced the milk and closed the fridge door, then turned to the rest of the living room. Her eyes popped open.

“What are you- Tavi- What- What’s going on?

The cellist looked back to the two intruders, who were still dumbfounded by the delayed response, and rolled her eyes at them.

“That’s just the way she is.”

Vinyl’s expression grew even more confused. “I’m.... what? Huh?”

Vibrant hefted his crowbar in his magic again. Octavia glanced nervously at the DJ.

“Er, well, you see, we have two unexpected transients, and they seem to have somewhat dubious or, even malicious intentions, and-”

Octavia ducked as the crowbar came down, a swishing blow that surely would have knocked her unconscious. Vinyl was still staring incredulously at the scene before her.

“Smaller words, Tavi!”

The earth pony yelped as the crowbar came down again. Lyrica had now joined in, and was using her magic to toss various objects from around the room. Octavia took a deep breath and let out,

“Bad ponies come to do big harm! There! Simple enough?”

“Ohhhh.... Why didn’t you just say that?”

Octavia took a glancing blow from a clock and staggered a bit before regaining her balance.

“VINYL!”

“Oh! Right, right.”

The white unicorn added her own magic to the fray. Vinyl’s apartment was rapidly being demolished, to the point where it looked even worse than usual.

All of a sudden, Lyrica stopped her assault and glanced around. The battle continued about her as she spotted the hallway and began to gallop towards it. Octavia caught sight of her as she went.

Vinyl! She’s heading towards the studio!”

The blue-maned unicorn glanced up from the furious battle she was engaged in. Realizing exactly what the earth pony had said, she threw one last lamp at Vibrant, catching just above his left foreleg, and knocking him over. Without stopping to look, she DJ mare leapt onto and then over her couch, and disappeared down the hall in pursuit of Lyrica.

Octavia made to follow her, then paused, glancing back to see Vibrant on the floor. Sighing, she moved cautiously over to where he lay, peering closely at his form in the pale moonlight. He was breathing regularly, but the cellist could see that he must have struck his head on the sofa leg when he went down. He’ll be out for while-

The earth pony whirled at the sound of more fighting. A few low shouts came from down the hall. Leaving Vibrant on the floor, she broke into a gallop. As she approached the studio, she could make out a flurry of insults in both Vinyl and Lyrica’s voices.

“Snob!”

“Spawn of Discord!”

“Moron!”

“Brute!”

Octavia entered the recording studio to find the two unicorns with horns locked, each furiously attacking the other with her magic. Vinyl stood between the blue mare and the bank of controls, valiantly defending their music. Shouts continued to emanate from the two.

“Bite my flank! You floozy!”

“You uneducated dunce!”

“Your coltfriend is a cheater, too!”

Lyrica growled. “You’re just jealous! I know you’re with Octavia every night. At least I have taste! You couldn’t do any better than a stuffy, boring, earth pony?

The cellist wasn’t remotely surprised by the pianist’s opinion of her, but she had heard enough. Spotting her cello case lying against the wall, she raised it high in her hooves and brought it down neatly on the thick part of Lyrica’s skull, knocking the unicorn out cold. Vinyl gaped at her. Octavia looked back at her.

“What?”

“Tavi, you... That was awesome!

“Thank you, Vinyl.”

“Is your cello okay?”

“I certainly hope so. It should be; the case is a sturdy construction. It’s certainly been through more than your decks have, believe me. The gentlecolt unicorn I purchased it from promised me it was infused with a protection spell.”

“Wow. And you believed him?”

“Not at the time, but it was a good deal and a good fit for my particular instrument. Looking back, however, he may have been telling the truth.”

“So what are we going to do with them?”

“I’m not sure. Let’s get her out by the other one in the living room.”

“Righto.”

Vinyl lifted Lyrica’s unconscious form in her magic and they began to move out the door.

THUD.

“Vinyl! We’re not going to murder them! Watch her head!”

The unicorn smirked. “Oops. Clumsy me.”

“We don’t want to give her any worse mental deficiency than she already has.”

“You really are mean.”

“Hush. You know it’s true. Besides, I’m not the one hitting her head on doors.”

Vinyl winked. “I told you, that was an accident.”

“Of course.”

They reached the living room, and Vinyl dumped Lyrica unceremoniously next to her coltfriend.

Octavia sighed. “I need a drink.”

The white unicorn grinned. “Alright! I’ve got tequila, vodka, and even some of that disgusting wine stuff somewhere! Oh, and last week I picked up-”

“No! I need a drink of water. Water.

Vinyl was visibly disappointed. “Oh.”

“I think I can guess what you were thinking...”

“You know me.” Vinyl winked again. “Alright, hold on.”

She trotted into the kitchen and returned a minute later, carrying two glasses of (what was hopefully) water in her magic. She placed one in Octavia’s hooves, then settled on the couch next to her with the other

“So what are we gonna do?”

“I don’t know, Vinyl. I suppose we should call the police.”

“Can we loot their stuff?”

“No!”

“Please?!”

“Look at this place! You have enough junk already!”

“Hey, wait, that’s right! You can’t blame me for the mess anymore! It was their fault!” She gestured with a hoof at the two still unconscious bodies on the floor.

“What about the mess in the rest of the other parts of the apartment?”

“Uhh... aliens?”

“Like the ones who stole your brain!”

“Ha ha. You know, I happen to be- Hey, watch it!”

The cellist had balanced her glass precariously on the arm of the couch, and she turned just in time to see it tip. The water spilled over the side and onto the unconscious form of Vibrant below. Octavia, leaning over the side, let out an “eep!” as she waited for him to open his eyes, but he continued to breath regularly, and his eyes remained closed.

She turned back to see Vinyl hefting the broken lamp in her magic again and motioned for her to stop.

“Don’t worry, he’s still out.”

Vinyl seemed let down. “Can I hit him anyway?”

“No. ...Hey, come here. Look at him.”

The DJ looked over the edge of the couch. “Ha! His mane!”

The stallion’s normally immaculate mane was matted and wet where the water had hit it, and was still bright and stuck up where it hadn’t. Vinyl cracked up.

“He looks like a red and yellow peacock!”

Octavia began to giggle too, and peeked back over the edge at Vibrant. “He does! He does!”

“Oh! We should take a picture and spread it around!”

“Haha... no, no. I dearly wish we could, but we have to call the authorities. They did break in.”

“Aww, Tavi...”

“We’ve already wasted a fair amount of time. If we don’t call right now, there might be problems.”

“Oh, whatever...”

“Come on, you.”

The pair retreated to the kitchen to make their call.

*** *** ***

Hearing the voices retreating, Vibrant cracked one eye open, just a fraction. Thank Celestia, they were finally leaving. Keeping his body low, he rolled over, inadvertently kicking Lyrica in the flank. No matter, she could take it.

He got to his hooves in a crouch, still keeping behind the couch. A loud giggle from the next room made him grimace. Laugh at my mane... They’d pay. But right now, the important thing was to get out before authority of any kind was called in.

He shivered inadvertently. The wind was blowing through his wet mane, and he turned. The window! The mares had been stupid enough to leave it open, and cold winter air was blowing through it. Well, that suited him just fine. Time to go.

“Lyrica!”

Lyrica!

The pianist opened her eyes and stared at him.

“We have to go. Now.”

She still seemed a little asleep. “Wuzzat?”

Fighting to keep his voice low, Vibrant leaned in close to her. “Listen to me. We need to leave. If we don’t, we stand a chance of being arrested. This terrible bucking plan was all you’re damned idea, so get your bucking flank up before they call the police.

At that her eyes flew open and she sat up quickly. “What did you just say to me?”

The stallion didn’t waste time with a face-off. Instead, after checking to make sure the other two were still in the kitchen- arguing with somepony on the phone, that was mares for you- he began to move stealthily towards the window, with Lyrica somewhat behind him.

Vibrant reached the window and stepped easily through it, as before, into the cold of the winter night. His hooves made imprints in the snow next to the ones they had made coming in. Damn. He’d have to take care of the tracks.

He turned around and stepped aside to allow Lyrica to exit. She got one foreleg over, then slipped on the snow under her and fell forward. Her back hooves shot out from under her like earlier, and she inadvertently bucked the windowsill with a loud CRACK.

Both unicorns froze. From within:

“Did you hear something?”

“What? Uh, yeah, maybe.”

“Maybe? How does one ‘maybe’ hear something?”

“You- I don’t know. Nevermind. I’ll go check it.”

“Thank you. I’ll continue to try to raise the authorities, who seem to enjoy sleeping a little to much to help the people. I cannot believe that one colt hung up on us...”

Vibrant immediately grasped the situation and turned to leave. Lyrica, however, stood still, her recent knock on the head still affecting her cognitive processes. Vinyl’s head came into view, and the eyes of both mares widened.

Tavi! The prisoners are escaping!”

“ ‘The prisoners’? Wait, we’re not a jail!”

“Well, they’re getting away!”

Lyrica finally reacted. “Vibrant! Do something!”

Through the window, the stallion could see the blue-maned mare galloping towards the window, her horn beginning to glow. With no time to lose, he lifted Lyrica with his own magic and threw her roughly down the alley before turning to follow himself.

Behind him, he heard a loud ‘WHUMP’ and turned to see a large pile of snow from the adjourning roof sitting where they had been a moment ago. Throwing snow at me didn’t work this time, he thought with a grin. As a bonus, the snow would prevent them from being followed quickly and would cover a large amount of their tracks.

It almost couldn’t have failed better.

*** *** ***

Vinyl stood at the window. The pile of snow had just blocked any hope of getting through the window, and all she could do was watch as the two ponies who had just broken into her home and threatened her and Tavi escaped. She felt like a failure. At least they were both okay.

As if to confirm this statement, Octavia trotted into the room with a sigh of exasperation. “Those.. those incompetent, loathsome, lackadaisical foals can’t be troubled to wake up. I suppose since they’re gone that it really isn’t worth-” She stopped when she saw Vinyl, and, without another word, moved next to her at the window. She took in what had happened and how her favorite mare was feeling, and silently rubbed her neck against the unicorn’s.

“Don’t worry about it. We’re both fine, and getting them arrested would have just meant a lot of legal shenanigans for us.”

“But they got away!”

“So? Actually, their attempt at thievery was so lacking it was comical. I don’t think we’ll see them again in the middle of the night, either.”

“I don’t know, Tavi...”

The grey mare turned the other pony’s head away from the window with a hoof and kissed her tenderly for a moment. In a stern voice, she said, “Forget about it. We’ll deal with whatever happens tomorrow.” Then, with a sensitive smile, she added, “For right now, I’d truly like just to fall back asleep. In the hooves of a certain somepony.”

Vinyl blushed red beneath her white coat and smiled back, feeling the call of sleep herself. She closed the window, then turned and followed Octavia back down the hall, and to the comforting darkness beyond.

*** *** ***

***Author’s note:

Well, that was fun! We’re getting closer to the music festival, only a few chapters left till we get there.

I want to take a quick second here and give a shoutout to a friend of mine who recently did a reading of the first chapter of this fanfic. He goes by DaWeed aKaPinkiePie, and for English being his second language, it’s not bad. Check it out here if you’re interested in hearing the first chapter again.

As always, I appreciate any comments/opinions/things you guys would care to share! Tell me what you liked, what you didn’t like, what you thought needed more purple elephants, etc! (Well, maybe not the purple elephants.) Hope you enjoyed reading!***