Elemental Duet

by Limescale

Chapter 2

“Well, that was certainly different.” Harpo panted as he and Octavia headed back to their boat.

“Yes but in a way that seemed to suit you just fine.” The grey mare replied, surreptitiously eyeing how her companion’s legs trembled with each step from the vigorous dancing. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you looking so carefree and happy before.”

Harpo stumbled as his weary muscles faltered in keeping his body supported. The passing locals did him the service of not laughing at his plight, not that the stallion would’ve cared.

“I honestly didn’t even know I had it in me. It was like the music just demanded I follow what it told me…” He said with a dreamy look on his face. “Almost a shame I didn’t see you doing likewise.”

Octavia looked down at the notes she’d been scribbling all throughout the kanikapila, her interpretation of what the strange unicorn known as Vinyl Scratch had communicated to the masses with her music.

“I was instructed in my own way.” Octavia said distantly. “Honestly, I’ve got some thinking to do after witnessing that. I trust the laundry can wait a few more hours?”

Harpo noted they were passing a laundromat and chuckled.

“I think I may need to find a spot to stretch out in the sun. It’s been too long since these bones were put through such strenuous activity.” He grunted, much to Octavia’s mirth. While age had done very little to tarnish the stallion’s features, the years spent doing little besides playing his harp and enjoying the high life were starting to show. Granted he was hardly an old fogey, but he still had at least an extra decade on her.

“Better pace yourself then, they did mention this little event of theirs lasts the entire week.” She smiled, and then politely stifled a giggle as Harpo took offense.

“Hey now! Least I was out there rather than sitting on the side lines! Just you watch! I’ll be doing the same thing tomorrow!” He declared before deliberately walking off to find somewhere to rest.

“I look forward to seeing that.” Octavia replied snidely before spotting a small café by the marina. Grabbing a table she looked over her notes again, glad to be afforded some privacy so she could analyze what Vinyl’s music had said to her. As out of both her comfort zone and realm of knowledge as it may have been, the power it demonstrated over all who’d listened could not be ignored. That was what Octavia yearned to reproduce with her own work, a composition that would have the entire audience at the Canterlot Symphony Hall enraptured by each note.

The only problem was, of course, how did one translate music produced via electronic machinery to that which could be done with traditional instruments?

Signaling a member of staff, Octavia ordered a glass of water and sat back, staring blankly at the sheets of paper on the table. She could of course just try playing what she’d heard on her cello, but that’d defeat the purpose of trying to come up with something of her own making, not to mention there was no guarantee she could replicate the same effect. Using the same manner of mechanical aid to alter the sound (she’d had the forethought to pack a tape recorder for her trip) was also out since that wasn’t her style. She needed something pure, untainted and with the same raw passion as what she’d heard at the resort. If only she could work out how….

“You know, not that I wish to nay say another pony’s preferences, but there’s water back at the resort too. You don’t need to come all the way out here to hydrate yourself.”

Octavia looked up from her musings to see the unexpected figure of none other than the DJ who was now responsible for her mental turmoil.

“Well the marina and my boat are out here so I have cause to want to linger in this direction.” The grey mare replied while adopting a perfectly composed and pretty position in her seat. It was mostly done to egg on the white unicorn but Octavia did love showing off her breeding as a Canterlot resident from time to time. “By the same bit, what are you doing out here as the one who’s meant to be wowing the crowds back at said resort?”

Vinyl lifted her shades and gave Octavia a weird look before smirking.

“Staff takes too long to restock the snack bar in my room so I decided to hit the marketplace for some munchies.” She held up a shopping bag filled with various tropical fruits, nuts and fresh veggies. “The natives here have quite the knack for rearing all manner of tasty treats from their farms. Care to try some with me?”

Octavia arched a curious eyebrow, and then gestured to an empty seat by her table. “By all means.”

Vinyl sat down and set the bag on the table, sorting through her purchases for what looked the most appetizing.

“I never did catch your name back there at the resort by the way.”

“It’s Octavia. Octavia Melody Philharmonica.” The grey mare replied, to a very bemused grin.

“Well, obviously I was right about you being a fellow musician with that handle, but at the same time…really? Doesn’t that get to be a bit of a mouthful to say at times?” Vinyl inquired. Octavia now looked confused.

“Well some do prefer to shorten it.” She replied cautiously as Vinyl picked up a knife and sliced through some manner of red fruit decorated with green leafy fringes.

“Alright then, Tavi, here you go!” Vinyl levitated half of the fruit over to the now very bewildered looking earth pony. “Know what this is?”

Octavia plucked the offering out of the unicorn’s magic. She noticed that it looked even stranger on the inside, its pulp a pristine white filled with dozens of tiny black seeds. For a moment Octavia found herself pondering if she was in fact supposed to eat the bizarre assortment of colors or just admire the artistry that nature had put into its formation.

“I haven’t the foggiest idea.” She admitted, to another laugh.

“It’s known as a pitaya, or more commonly a ‘dragon fruit’. Originally it’s from the Far East, around the border between Neighpon and the dragon lands there. Over the years though it’s found its way across the tropical regions and is now grown pretty much anywhere where there’s tons of heat and humidity.” Vinyl messily bit into her half, smearing juice and seeds all over her mouth. “It’s known for having a very creamy sweet flavor, perfect thing to refresh yourself on a hot day!”

With her curiosity now rising again, Octavia daintily nibbled upon the fruit. Her eyes went wide as the flesh yielded a sensation that could almost be described as liquid ice cream, indeed rich and yet quenching.

“That is…huh.” Octavia took a larger bite and savored how the fruit seemed to melt in her mouth. “It’s a nice change from apples, that’s for certain.”

Vinyl smiled. “I generally try to grab them whenever I visit this region.”

Octavia’s ears perked. “You travel much?”

“Wherever my job or my music takes me. Yeah the crowds and the publicity may be in Canterlot and Manehattan and the other big cities, but out here….” The unicorn sighed happily. “Here is where the elements are!”

The grey mare’s ears rose every higher. “The elements?”

“Yeah, earth, water, fire, wind, rain, thunder, the natural aspects that go into making the music of life possible.” Vinyl replied. Noting that she had completely lost the one listening, the unicorn pushed her shades onto her forehead and leaned forward. “Tell me, when you were listening to my beats, what words would you say best described what you heard?”

Octavia looked down at her notes, picking out a tactfully apt selection from what she’d written on the unicorn’s unusual music.

“Well, ‘loud’ definitely….‘chaotic’ would fit too…but I’d also describe it as ‘primordial’, ‘raw’, ‘wild’….” The mare broke off as her instinctive aversion to anything different was derailed by her recalling what had pulled her towards the DJ’s work. “It was also full of passion, a love for creating something out of little more than basic notes. A masterpiece formed from simple, unrefined foundations…no finesse, no gentrification, just unbridled, beautiful rhythm….”

Silence held as Octavia searched her notes for some other words to describe her opinion. When no more could be found she looked up to see Vinyl was biting her lip while a strange sparkle of enthrall danced in her ruby eyes.

“Wow that started off typical, then got downright sappy!” The unicorn chortled. “I expected to hear the first few words you used but the rest….well, you hit upon what I strive for, even if you weren’t aware of it. My beats are meant to evoke that raw energy that’s infused into the elements of life. Just like Celestia used six of said elements to create harmony in the old myths, dubtrot works on bringing music out of the basic essence that’s all around us. It’s also why I treasure getting to work gigs in places like this because out here there’s no urbanization or mass of ponies getting in the way. Out here, you can really find true inspiration!”

Vinyl’s chatter grew more animated as she delved into the core of both her passion and her profession, and Octavia was now hanging eagerly on every word.

“Such was my own reason for venturing beyond the mainland…hmmm…” Octavia pondered. "So your secret is basically that you listen to what the world around you has to say, then translate that into your music? That's how it's able to grip the listener and speak to them so...clearly?"

Vinyl turned her gaze away, chewing over Octavia's improvised dissection of her methods. Finally she just smiled and shrugged.

"I suppose you could call it that."

Octavia reached for the dragon fruit and took another bite. She now studied the flavor not as simply something to delight her taste buds but as Vinyl had described: a creation made possible from little more than the elements that had gone into helping it grow and ripen.

“If you’ll excuse me, Miss Scratch, I need to get back to my boat. You’ve given me much to think about.”

Vinyl watched as the grey mare stood and retied her sarong, pulling it tightly around her svelte figure. Her eyes slowly tracked Octavia’s passage as she grabbed her notes and walked away from the café, the breeze giving her coal black mane just the right amount of flow as she headed down towards the marina.

“You and me both, Tavi. You and me both.” The unicorn smiled while pulling her shades back down over her eyes.

Author's Note:

Yeah still haven't managed to get the next chapter of my other main work finished so here's the next in my little OctaScratch fic as compensation. Bit shorter but I did a decent job of explaining how the title fits into things...least I hope I did.

Tell me what you think.

Comments

[narusakufan]

That was pretty cool the way Octavia and Vinyl interacted to each other. I can't wait to see how this goes next.

[Limescale]

6615704 Very glad you're enjoying this thus far!

[narusakufan]

6619734 Indeed I am.

[BlackStealth08]

Yeah this was great. Excellent story keep ut up!