Drop It

by FakeKeys

Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 -

For as much as it could, the city of Fillydelphia was slowly going to sleep. Its inhabitants leaving the streets to regain the comfort of their homes, far from the stress of their day job and the agitation of the city, some scrambling to catch the last items on their groceries list or running to catch the last trains leading out of the main city.

In a renowned neighborhood near the south entrance, the tall, luxurious houses were lightning off one by one, leaving only the street lamps to spot the dark night. At merely a quarter past ten, all but one of them still emitted light.

Viola liked living there, in the tranquility of the suburb areas, were they were safe from the nightly agitation of the city and still only a short car ride from most of the services. Sure, if somepony was poor or insane enough they could also use the very well designed city trains, but that was not Viola's style. She was a pony of grace and style, she had high social standards, and the simple though of having to squeeze between a plumber and a street artist on the way back home sent shivers down her spine.

The tan mare looked back at the book she was reading, leaving the starry skies for somepony else to admire. At her side, silently scribbling on a impressive pile of parchments was her husband, Revision. The couple was completely silent, only disturbed by the humming of Revision's magic and the occasional turning of a page.

''Is it any good?'' The stallion asked in a tone lacking any real interest.

''It is slowly boring me to sleep, honey. You know this is why I read your books'' the earth pony replied without any hint of subtlety.

The stallion kept writing without any change in his expression, as if the conversation was only a formality he knew how to go through by heart. ''And yet, I still sell them.'' Revision paused an instant before raising an eyebrow. ''I will never understand this society.''

''You don't have to. I'm here for that'' the mare remarked instantly.

A long pause followed. The kind of uneasy silence that would make anypony feel awkward. But the Philamornica were used to it, it was this silence that reigned over their house, only being broken for important matter or mandatory casual talk at set moments. It was almost ironic that a musician could enjoy silence as much as to command it in their house but truth be told, it was only a matter of control. Variables were something Viola feared more than everything else, she didn't like to be unable to predict what would happen and when, she liked order, pacing - control. Her stress level was directly linked to the number of unknown she had to deal with. Right now it was pretty low, but one in particular was bugging her, a small buzzing in her ear, denying her absolute peace.

''Have we received any news from Octavia yet?'' The mare took her eyes off her book a moment, directing them towards her husband. She could never quite tell what the gray unicorn was thinking. He was always so focused, so stoic, undisturbed by his surroundings. Getting any kind of reaction from him was quite the task. So much that Viola couldn't remember how they first fell in love for all the bits in the world. Revision himself was not quite sure.

''Its Sunday, love, mail isn't delivered on Sundays'' the stallion casually replied. ''Beside, we sent it Tuesday, she'll probably only get it tomorrow.''

The mare snapped her eyes back at her book. ''I though you had paid for priority postage.''

''I did dear'' he replied, going back to writing. ''That extra bit isn't going to get the letter teleported you know.''

The mare chuckled dryly. ''That would be a great idea, teleporting mail. Get some use of all those waste-of-a-horn lying around in the streets.'' Viola paused a moment before slapping her book on the sheets, turning towards her husband. ''Like this Vinyl Scratch.'' She pronounced the name with discernible disgust. ''I can't believe its going to be two years now, can you believe it ? I really though our little Octavia was more intellige-

''You're getting worked up and rambling again, honey'' Revision cut off, clearly used to this kind of reaction from his wife.

Viola only stopped for a moment before continuing ''And I should'' she replied. ''And so should you. It's our daughter we're talking about, she deserves more than that.''

Revision sighed. ''As far as I'm concerned, our little girl have a job in the royal orchestra and a steady marefriend. At twenty-three that is pretty much as good as it could get.''

''A job offer, in the royal orchestra'' Viola corrected. ''And her having a steady marefriend is precisely what I'm worried about. Especially since it had to be this particular individual.''

Viola was going downhill, again, Revision knew these conversations too well. So much that he didn't know why he even bothered arguing anymore. Maybe that deep within himself he still had a hint of hope his wife would eventually let go of her grudge. The stallion took a deep breath. ''Homosexuality has been officially recognized and accepted for well over five hundred years Viola'' he simply noted, his eyes still directed at the manuscript.

''It doesn't mean I have to like it.'' the mare replied, putting her book back on her nightstand. ''Besides, if it had been anypony else, maybe I would not have cared so much.''

The mare's voice trailed off before becoming completely silent, noticing she was now speaking to herself. After all this time she couldn't really blame Revision for ignoring her rambling against Vinyl, but she simply couldn't accept it. It was not only because Vinyl was a mare, it was a question of standards, ethics, principles. Sure, the relationship between her daughter and the unicorn was going well for now, but who knows what that wretched DJ would end up transforming Octavia into? Her poor girl had already started cussing. Admittedly in a very tame manner - only once or twice when Viola and her were fighting - but cussing nonetheless.

She had to do something about it, even if it meant having to intercede directly in her daughter's live, she wouldn't let anypony destroy the social standing she took so long to establish for her family.

''What was in this letter that was so important anyway?''

VIola bit her lips. She wasn't feeling bad about what she did -she never did- but she did forget to talk to her husband about it. Now was as good a time as any, she though. ''I told her we were cutting off the bits.'' she dryly said, looking straight at the wall.

Revision detached his eyes from his manuscript, raising an eyebrow. ''You did what now?''

Viola kept avoiding her husband's stare. ''I told them... I told them we were not going to pay for their apartment anymore.''

The stallion frowned in confusion, trying to grasp his wife's logic. ''Why? We don't need those bits don't we?''

''Officially, they are to put Bemol through college.''

Revision frowned even more. ''And since Bemol scored a scholarship I assume the real reason is slightly different now is it?

Viola shifted uncomfortably, trying to find a way of putting her twisted plan under a light that would make it seem logical; It was harder than she though.

''I just wanted them to realize that life may not always be that easy and that they needed to grow up to survive in this world.'' She turned slowly to her husband as her tone gained in confidence. ''They need to find good jobs and get a routine going, get a stable life.''

Revision chuckled sarcastically. ''It's funny how every time you say 'They' or 'Them' I keep hearing 'Vinyl Scratch' and 'That damned pony'.''

''And why is that funny?'' she replied, slightly insulted.

Revision sighed and levitated his work back on his study, turning back towards Viola.''You're right, it's not. Are you so hellbent on hating that unicorn that you are ready to make both of their lives miserable?'' His tone was slightly accusative, but mainly confused. He knew his wife could be pretty obsessive about some things, but never he saw her so focused on somepony else's life, even her daughter's.

''You're exaggerating hon, I'm not making their lives miserable by forcing them to work a bit harder, everypony needs to work for what they have. That's how life works.'' Viola straightened up to sit properly as she spoke, her ears perked forward. She knew her arguments were generic and flawed, but she couldn't let it show.

''This, again.'' Revision shook his head slightly and sat up to be level with his wife. ''You and I both know Octavia is working very hard on her professional career. That little scheme of yours is clearly directed towards Vinyl, not both of them.'' The stallion's tone was still neutral, but slowly hardening ''What if they just decide to move downtown? Or completely away from Canterlot?''

''They can't, that's what leases are for and we just renewed theirs a couple of weeks ago.'' Viola replied with a smirk of victory.

The stallion sighed at the ceiling, shocked by his wife's malice. ''I really don't get you. There are so many ways this could go wrong. They could easily end up breaking up because of this.'' After a second his eyes widened as he saw his wife's reaction to his last sentence; she smiled. A subtle, wicked grin. Revision shook his head in disappointment. ''That's exactly the point isn't it?''

Viola reacted violently to the her husband accusing stare, throwing a hoof in the air. ''You talk like this would be a bad thing!''

''Yes, it would!'' Viola shrunk a bit at her husband's tone, Revision continued ''I never really liked Vinyl either, but I can respect her because she makes our little girl happy. In case you haven't noticed, this is something that did not happen very often in her life.''

Viola immediately stood down, frowning slightly. ''W- What do you mean by that?''

''I mean that Octavia was not a happy child, and it was painfully obvious. Don't tell me you never picked on it, we both did'' The stallion's ears lowered in shame as did Viola's. They never really talked about it, but somehow they knew they haven't been the parents they could have been - the child psychologist told them that much. They never quite listened, being too preoccupied by their respective careers and aspiration to sit down and make sure their foals were happy.

''I only want the best for our child. You know that. I want Octavia to be successful, to live a decent life'' Viola stuttered, visibly trying to convince herself as much as her husband.

''And what about what she wants?'' Revision calmly asked, regaining his usual tone.

Viola shook her head, regaining her composure. ''She don't know what she want, she's too young for that! Her little... fillyfooling phase is proving that.'' She waved a hoof around, prompting her husband to sigh in disappointment one last time. Preferring to end the conversation when it was still manageable Revision turned off his reading light and slipped back into his sheets.

''No wonder she hates us...'' he mumbled before turning away from his wife and closing his eyes.

Viola stared at her husband's back for a moment before turning to the window. Octavia didn't hate them, she just didn't understand her parent's motives. Viola understood life, and if she learned anything from it, it was that you should never expect to be happy all the time. Problems happen, ponies do bad things, events don't turn out how they are supposed to. Sacrificing happiness for stability was the only logical way lo go through life. When you are not happy you cannot be sad; you stay neutral. You live a neutral, easy life and you try and make great things with it.

The mare looked longingly at the moon. Rehearsing her little theory in her head, convincing herself it was flawless, logical. She had control over her own life, she couldn't let Octavia lose control over hers because she had feelings for another mare, as simple as that.

Viola slipped back into her sheets and turned off her own reading lamp, her gaze still focused on the moon.

As simple as that, she though.

AUTHOR'S NOTE -

Hey! I know it's been a long time, this -admittedly short- chapter have been sitting on my desktop for a couple of weeks now but I haven't heard from my pre-readers, so I'll just release it as it is right now as some sort of kick start to put me back into writing the rest. Feel free to point out the mistakes I made but most importantly, if you have comments about the actual story please do write them! I'll work on my English grammar, but I don't have any notions in creative writing, I need those if I am to keep going!

Comments

[Twilicorn]

Great chapter! I love this story so far, and I have to agree with Vinyl about Octavia's mom. Strongly, strongly, strongly agree. Keep it up!

[xanshriekal]

I like this depiction of Octavia's parents. You've kept the general view of her mother but it's more tame and easier to deal with; she feels like a more realistic character. I also like that her father is still around and the banter between the two of them is quite nice.