• Published 15th Aug 2012
  • 6,823 Views, 350 Comments

Changin' Hooves - OneTrickPon3



Vinyl and Octavia switch bodies and learn some valuable lessons in the process

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Snooping

Vinyl wiped her eyes for what felt like the hundredth time since she left her mother's grave, though in reality it was closer to ten. Her eyes stung, she felt dead tired, her moves were sluggish, but for some reason she couldn't help but feel a little happy. I don't know why, but talking to Mom always makes me feel a little better afterwards... She paused momentarily to collect her thoughts before continuing towards Octavia's house. Who knows? Maybe it's because she's a good pony, and I know that she wouldn't be mad at me for my life choices. Although, maybe I wouldn't have run away if she didn't... The mare shook her head to rid the thought from her mind. Heh, good ponies. They seem to be hard to come by now. Every pony that I meet seems to have something they want from me. Neon just wants money, Mic and Tombstone want me to help jump start their music career, Toaster wants my body- Vinyl couldn't help but snort at the thought, my neighbors want me to shut up, and Luna wants me to become friends with Octy.

Vinyl slowed her walking pace slightly as she entered Canterlot's Upper District, nodding to the guards on duty as she passed them by. Octy huh? You know, I have a hard time pinning her down. I mean, she's stuck up, prudish, rude, bossy, mean, a bit arrogant, snooty, and a complete bore. Of all the ponies who should be looking down on me and expecting me to do things for them, I thought she would be at the top. Yet she's not... In fact, it seems to be the opposite. I don't think I've ever heard a pony ask if I was alright that many times while I'm sober...

Vinyl rounded a corner and could finally see her destination, tucked away between the high end housing. You know, maybe Luna wasn't as crazy as I thought she was. I don't think I can call Octy a friend yet but...she's a good pony. And good ponies are definitely hard to come by. Vinyl arrived at the doorstep and was about to turn the knob when she noticed a note on the door. Curious, she plucked it from the wood and read it;

Noticed you ran out in quite a hurry this morning, so
much so you forgot to shut your door. Don't worry
though, I shut and locked your door, and the key
is back in it's usual hiding place. I also checked
inside, nothing was missing. Do take care, and I
look forward to seeing you in the future.

Regards,

Frederick Horseshoepin

"Maybe good ponies aren't so rare..." Vinyl thought aloud as she read the note again. "Well, maybe I just haven't been looking lately. But more importantly, where does Octavia hide her house key?"


"No...no...no...no... Gah!"

Octavia let out a frustrated scream as she sat in front of one of the bookcases lining Vinyl's apartment. Around her was a scene that would make a librarian cry. Books were strewn about with absolutely no care to the damage they were taking to both their pages and spines. There wasn't even the decency of piling them up when she was done looking at them, instead Octavia took the liberty of tossing each and every last one of them over her shoulder.

The mare let out a deep sigh. "What am I even looking for?" the mare asked herself. "I know it seems possible, very much so actually, but is it really the right thing to do? Tearing apart somepony's apartment just to satisfy my own curiosity? And she might not even be who I think she is! Is it really worth it in the end?"

...

"Yes. Of course it is. What a silly question. Now, what exactly am I looking for?" The mare pondered this while grabbing a couple more books from the shelf, quickly flipping through them and then unceremoniously tossing them behind her. "You know, for a mare who does nothing but drink, party, and create abominations to music, she has a lot of books." She reached her hoof out again, only to find that there was no more literature to look through. "Great, there goes that option."

Octavia ran a hoof through her unkempt mane, bringing some of the colorful locks in front of her eyes. "If you are who I think you are, you had to have colored this somehow..." The thought fresh in her mind, Octavia trotted towards the apartment's bathroom. "Let's see," she said softly as she flipped on the light, "if I were an obnoxious DJ trying to hide an identity, where would I put mane dye?" The first place she looked was the shower, which to her surprise was actually pretty well cleaned, but to her simultaneous disappointment, there was no sign of any mane dyeing products. The subsequent searches of the medicine cabinet and under the sink proved to be equally fruitless.

"Oh for Celestia's sake," Octavia groaned as she exited the bathroom. "Either she is doing a really really good job at hiding her identity, or she really isn't her." She shook her head to clear her thoughts. "No, it makes too much sense not to be true. The evidence is here somewhere, I just need to find it." Octavia walked forward a few paces before she facehoofed. "Oh Celestia, when did I become so nosy?"

She continued searching throughout the apartment, trying to find something that could lead her to what she wanted. "I mean, normally I wouldn't be this way. Ponies have their secrets and their privacy, and that should be respected. It's what makes us cultured and civilized after all," she stated as she opened up several cabinets in the kitchen. "If this were a normal pony, I wouldn't be bothered so much. But this is Vinyl, and she's about as far from normal as a pony can get. Even more so if she's actually hiding her identity. But... why am I so concerned?" she asked, holding a flowerpot in her hooves. "Is it because I'm actually worried about Vinyl? Or is it because she's the missing daughter of one of the greatest violin virtuosos of all time?" The flowerpot she was holding offered no answer, so Octavia placed it back down where she found it.

"I mean... yeah I guess I am a little worried about her. She's been acting strange since this whole fiasco started. Strange for Vinyl I mean, which is definitely much stranger than normal. She's been moody, secretive, and on a short fuse. Maybe it's her time of the month? No, bad Octavia! No uncouth jokes remember?" To emphasize this point, she knocked her forehead against the wall once before continuing into the last place she hadn't looked; Vinyl's bedroom.

"In all seriousness though, even if she has been acting strange, is it really my place to find out what it is that's bothering her? Besides that, would it really be helping her if I did uncover some kind of huge secret that she's been hiding? I mean, she has to be hiding it for a reason, who am I to question her logic? As twisted and crazy as it might be that is. We aren't even friends... I think? What is she to me anyways? She's loud, obnoxious, spontaneous, vulgar, rude, uncouth, and the absolute epitome of what I strive not to be, that's what she is. On the other hoof, she's also quite levelheaded at times, caring, fun to be around, and probably the only pony I have met who didn't treat me any different just because of my name."

By the time she had finished her monologue, she had searched everyplace she could think of for some kind of clue, only to have her hooves turn up empty. "Argh! Why is this all getting so complicated!?" she whined as she flopped down onto the bed. As soon as she hit the mattress though, she heard a soft *thump* underneath. "What was that...?" Curious, she slid out of the bed and reached underneath. Her hoof searched for a few seconds before coming to rest on the hard cover of a book. "What in the world...?"

Pulling the tome from its hiding place, Octavia read the cover; Magical Makeovers; Realistic Results with a Little Magic. Octavia's eyes twinkled. "Aha!" She eagerly opened the book to the table of contents and quickly sought out what she was looking for; Lesson 8: Mane Dyeing. Flipping to the appropriate page, she began to read.

'Dyeing one's mane with magic is actually quite simple, and as such nearly any unicorn with a basic knowledge of magic can do it. The perks to magical mane dyeing are that it's more realistic looking than conventional mane dyes, as well as having the added bonus of lasting until the cancelling spell is cast, all while never losing it's color and growing with the hair itself.'

Octavia scanned the text, which was mostly consisting of the benefits, history, and cost-effectiveness of do it yourself magical mane dyeing. "Seriously, they could have turned this chapter into a pamphlet and it would have been ten times more useful." Finally, the mare spied the text she was looking for; the cancelling spell. She read the directions a couple times; they seemed simple enough, nearly foal proof as a matter of fact, but would she be able to pull it off? "I can't even levitate citrus fruit without setting it on fire. What will I tell Vinyl if this fails? 'Sorry I set your mane on fire, but I had to figure out if you were the lost daughter of a violinist?' I don't think she'd be too happy."

A few moments passed as she considered her next course of action. "...Buck it, they make wigs." She began to trot towards the bathroom before she facehoofed again. "Oh dear Celestia, now I'm becoming reckless. Is being in her body turning me into her?" Despite her irrational fear of this happening, she continued into the bathroom, book in tow, and sat in front of the mirror. "Ok, let me read over this a few more times..." she said, mentally preparing herself for what she was about to do. Finally, she set the book down and took a deep breath before closing her eyes. "Just concentrate...and..." Her horn lit up, encasing her mane in a blue glow. To say she was nervous would be an understatement; if this cancelling spell worked and Vinyl's hair was really magically dyed, then she really could be Starlight Symphony's daughter.

Though she wondered if the spell was working, she kept her eyes shut until she was sure enough time had passed. After what felt like hours, she cut off the flow to her magic. Slowly, she cracked her eyes open a little, then allowed them to open fully. Looking at her mane in the mirror, she was shocked to find that it was no longer the two-toned blue mane she was accustomed to seeing on Vinyl. Instead, her mane was now an inky black, though it was still styled in the same unkempt manner.

"It...worked..." she said softly, reaching a hoof up and touching her mane. Bringing the locks in front of her eyes, she still couldn't quite believe what she was seeing. Quickly, she rushed back into the main room to where she laid the photographs before. Bringing the photos back into the bathroom with her, she looked at herself in the mirror and the ponies in the pictures. "She looks just like her..." Octavia commented, gently stroking the image of Starlight Symphony. And indeed, the two ponies looked remarkably alike, minus the sunglasses that were currently still resting over Octavia's eyes. "Her eyes..." Octavia said before removing the sunglasses.

Looking at her reflection, she saw two brilliant magenta eyes staring back at her. "Come to think of it, this is the first time I've seen Vinyl's eyes..." Looking down at the pictures once again, she felt a tinge of disappointment. "Staccato Symphony's eyes are blue, not magenta." Giving it some thought, she wondered what Vinyl could have used to color her eyes, had she indeed done so. "Maybe contact lenses?" Octavia mused. "No, I would have felt them by now, and she doesn't have eye drops anywhere in this place."

She turned her attention back to the book; "Maybe she used magic to change her entire appearance." Flipping back through the book, she found nothing pertaining to eye color in the table of contents. "Oh come on, I'm so close...wait, what's that?" Her hoof paused over one particular chapter; Perception Spells.

'Perception spells are meant to disguise parts of the body where use of transformation magic would be too dangerous. These parts include any sensitive organs, such as the eyes, and cutie marks, though the latter is very temporary and will at best last only thirty seconds maximum. What perception spells do is alter the way other ponies see things, rather than changing the caster directly. These spells do require a lot of magic to cast initially, but this is only to maintain the spell for an extended duration. Perception spells should be recast at least once a month to replenish the magical supply of the spell, and can be cancelled at any time by the caster.'

Octavia scanned the rest of the chapter, finding the cancelling spell once again. Closing her eyes, she began to channel her magic once more. This time, she kept her eyes open and watched herself in the mirror. Slowly, she could see the brilliant magenta disappear, draining from her iris to reveal brilliant blue irises. Octavia continued to stare at her reflection in silence, utterly taken aback by what she was seeing. Finally, she overcame her shock and was able to say the one thing she's wanted to say.

"I knew it."


Vinyl Scratch was tired to say the least. Not only was she actually awake at an early time for the first time in an eternity, but she had also run through the streets of Canterlot, had an emotionally cathartic experience, and spent the last half an hour hunting for a house key that Octavia had hidden but never told her where to find it.

"Seriously, it's ALWAYS the third flowerpot..." she muttered as she collapsed on the living room couch. Tossing the candle that Luna had given her onto the table, she rolled onto her back to stare at the ceiling. "Wow, it's kind of sad that Octy's couch is more comfortable than my bed..." Closing her eyes, she could feel sleep quickly overtaking her. Until, that is, a brief flicker of light and the sound of something falling on the table next to her caused her to open her eyes. "What now?" she asked as she rolled over to investigate. The candle's wick was giving off a faint glow as it burned out, and there was a scroll lying next to it that wasn't there before. "Huh, Octy sent me mail?" she asked as she picked up the scroll.

Vinyl,

I'm terribly sorry for disturbing you this late, but something

important has come up, and I need you to come back to your

home immediately. I can't disclose what happened, but I

assure you that it's absolutely important. I await your arrival.

-Octavia

"Ugh," was Vinyl's only response as she rolled off the couch. "Whatever this is Octavia, it had better be good."

After another long walk through Canterlot, Vinyl was once again standing outside her apartment. Knocking a couple times, she announced her arrival. "Octy, it's me. Open up." The only response to Vinyl's words was a faint shimmer of magic encasing the door and opening it for her. A little perplexed, Vinyl stepped inside. "You're getting better with magic Octy, you didn't set the door on fire," she joked as she stepped through. Immediately after she was inside, she heard the door slam behind her and begin to lock itself. "Woah, Octy, what's the big idea here!?"

"I should be asking you that," came the reply as Octavia stepped into the room. Vinyl's jaw dropped as she stared wide-eyed at the mare before her. "Vinyl Scratch, or should I say Staccato Symphony, you have a lot of explaining to do," Octavia stated clearly as she stood in front of the mare.

Vinyl was quiet for a long while, her face cycling through many emotions before a calm look prevailed. "I don't." She stated simply.

"Excuse me?"

"I dont. Have to. Explain. Anything." Vinyl articulated, trying very hard to keep her voice steady.

"I'm sorry, but if it's come this far, I'm afraid you do," was Octavia's reply.

"Things never should have come this far in the first place," Vinyl shot back, her voice becoming shaky. "I don't know what possessed you to do this, nor do I know how you found out about this, but all I can say is forget it. Forget what you saw. Now. Change me back to Vinyl Scratch and forget everything."

"I can't, not until you tell me why."

"I DON'T HAVE TO TELL YOU ANYTHING!" Vinyl yelled as she swiped her hoof through the air. "You shouldn't have found out anything! I shouldn't be seeing the real me right now!"

"Vinyl calm down-"

"I AM CALM!"

"No, you're not."

"Well how do you expect me to act, huh!? I just had my biggest secret, one that I've been keeping for years, revealed not only by somepony, but somepony THAT I BARELY EVEN KNOW! How do you expect me to act, knowing that!?"

Octavia tried to calm down the hysteric mare, but kept her distance out of fear of Vinyl lashing out at her. "You can start by not shouting, sitting down, and telling me why."

"..."

"Vinyl?"

"...change me back..."

"Vinyl...?"

"Change. Me. BACK."

"Vinyl, I can't not until-"

"CHANGE ME BACK DAMMIT!" Vinyl yelled, closing the distance between the two. "Change me back!" She grabbed Octavia by her chest fur and hoisted her into the air. "Now!"

"Vinyl, what are you - AH!"

Vinyl had taken Octavia into her hooves and was now slamming the mare into the wall. "Change me back! Change me back!" Vinyl continued to assault Octavia in this manner, venting all of her frustration into physically abusing the mare in front of her. "Change me back to me! Please!"

Vinyl's voice was beginning to lose all the anger and hatred as she kept shouting. Octavia, though in great deals of pain, watched as Vinyl transformed from a raging beast to an emotionally drained pony. Vinyl's assault became less and less heated, and eventually Octavia was released from her grip.

"Please...change me back..." Vinyl started to whimper, tears forming in her eyes. Slowly, she sank to her haunches and began to cry uncontrollably, burying her face in her hooves.

Octavia let her cry for a while, partly because she felt like Vinyl had been through a lot and needed this kind of venting, and partially because she was too sore to move due to that venting. Eventually though, she spoke up.

"Vinyl?"

"..."

"...Staccato?"

"Don't call me that..." Vinyl's voice was weak, but her words carried a definite firmness to them. "Please don't call me that, that's not who I am anymore..."

"I'll remember that. Vinyl, can we talk now?"

"About what...?"

"I think you know 'about what.'"

"I know... I was just kind of hoping you forgot after I nearly gave you a concussion..."

"Wishful thinking, now can we please talk? Without shouting, without crying, and most certainly without any more harm done to me?"

"...not here..."

"What was that?"

Vinyl stood up, wiping her eyes as she did so.

"We can talk, just not here," she said, her voice having regained most of its normal tone. "If we're gonna talk about this, I want to do it somewhere where I feel safe." She looked around the room before grabbing a pen and a scrap of paper. "Meet here in an hour," she said as she scribbled something on the paper before hoofing it over to Octavia. "I need time to think."

She began to walk back towards the door and begin the process of unlocking it. "Also," she said as she undid the last lock and opened the door, "change me back to me, please?"

"Ok, since you asked me to," Octavia replied with a nod.

"Thank you," Vinyl whispered before disappearing through the door.

Author's Note:

Oh snap! Two updates in such a short time!? I hope everyone can stop calling Octavia an idiot now and start calling her snoopy instead. I kid, but really, please don't make any assumptions about my characters until this story is complete, or at least keep them private. I have my motivations, I have my ways, and I can turn these ponies into costumed super heroes that fight zombie Nazis if I wanted. Remember that.

Also, I hope everyone is ready for some life story time! Because next chapter is where Vinyl spills the beans, and I hope everyone can look forward to that. Until then (which will probably be very soon)!

Also, to those of you who showed Ludicrous Lycan some love on his story A Scratched Record, thank you! He was super excited when he first published it, and I'm happy I could help him out. If you happen to read it, drop a comment for him and tell him I sent you! Cheers everyone!