Sandy didn't reply with words, instead just pointing the way and following along after the excited Vinyl. "You seem to be enjoying yourself."
"I mean, it's kinda crazy," spoke Vinyl in agreeable terms as she trotted along. "But it's also an awesome kind of crazy, you know?"
Sandy smiled, a thin gesture, perhaps worried about how the pony would react on seeing its fellow. "I can feel that way when I visit other towns. Everything is so different, and I want to see it all."
Vinyl nodded her head, one bob stronger than the usual bobbing to the beat of her music. "Yeah, exactly that." She reached the alley and was about to ask where to next when a familiar voice called out.
"Vinyl!" Octavia sat up from where she had sank to the, relatively, clear ground. "Thank Celestia! Don't let..." She trailed off as Sandy came into view just behind Vinyl.
Vinyl was hurrying for Octavia. "Octie! Miss Melody, you had me worried. Why are you taking a nap out in the open? It's not your style at all, mare."
Octavia lifted an ear at Vinyl. "You never cease to amaze me, Miss Scratch. I am here because this is the home they decided I deserve." She turned and tapped at the doghouse she was attached to. "It's a roof, and little more than that. All the amenities I deserve, isn't that right, Sandy?"
Sandy's hands were in her pockets. She watched the two, but didn't immediately join the conversation.
Vinyl trotted right past Octavia, running right into the cord that bound the mare to her new home. "What the?" She reached out to poke the thick wire she had run into. "What's this?"
Octavia raised a hoof to cover her face a moment. "That is the lead to keep me secured, because, as their pet, they are afraid I will wander away and get into mischief."
Vinyl propped up her goggles for a clearer view of the situation. She looked to the house, the cord, and lastly Octavia and back again. It clicked. "What?! No way!" She turned on Sandy. "What's the deal? Are you putting me in one of these too?"
Sandy shook her head. "I haven't been told where you will be housed yet, but it won't be a dog house."
Vinyl raised a hoof to her chest. "Well whereever that is, she's coming." She thrust the same hoof at Octavia. "We are roomies, and just because we're in a new world ain't no excuse to go changing that."
Sandy couldn't help but smile. As alarming as it was one one level, on another it was a pony standing up for its herdmate. It was adorable, and heart-tugging. "I have nothing against you two staying together. It's just Randal--"
"<What about me?>" Randal was at the mouth of the alley and approaching with a large stride. "<The useful pony isn't staying here. Besides, that's only large enough for one animal at a time.>"
Sandy visibly flinched. "<Octavia is not an animal.>" She turned to face him. "<We were just discussing that. She doesn't want to be seperated from her herd.>"
"<Tell her to encourage her friend to be useful then.>" He pointed back out of the alley. "<Until then, this way. Let's show her where she's staying.>"
Vinyl frowned from behing her goggles. "I don't know what he's saying, but it doesn't sound like 'Hey, sorry, let me fix that for you'."
Sandy shook her head at Vinyl. "He wants to show you to your home. Octavia is to stay here."
"Nope." Vinyl's horn glowed as she grabbed the end of the cord and undid the clasp, removing it from Octavia without hesitation. "She's with me." She yanked the mare over and threw an arm around her possessively.
Randal scowled at the rebellion. He showed no understanding of her words, but her actions were quite clear enough. "<Ponies.>" The word was as much a growl as a statement. "<Tell her if the other one is her pet, fine, but she will have to share her food and her space, just as anyone else in the town would have to do.>"
Sandy's expression ligthened as she echoed the statement in the musical language the ponies know, finishing it with, "You did it."
Octavia colored softly. "I am unsure I enjoy the idea of being called Vinyl's 'pet'."
Vinyl squeezed Octavia gently. "Aw, why not? I'll treat you right, Octie. Now be a good girl and let's ditch this dump."
Octavia bopped Vinyl right on the head with a hoof. "You will not address me like that."
Vinyl burst into laughter, taking the hit without a hint of actual distress. "You know I'm joking! Miss Melody, will you do me the honor of accompanying me?" She pulled her arm off Octavia and pointed the freed hoof out of the alleyway.
"I would be delighted." Octavia rose to her hooves and the two walked side-by-side.
Randal watched them a moment before looking back to Sandy. "<The helpful one should go in bunk 8.>"
"<With the other inhumans,>" finished Sandy, moving to catch up with the ponies.
Randal's hand came down on her shoulder in a firm grip, stopping her. "<That is the only logical place to put her. It is not a bad place. Do you object?>"
Sandy shook her head quickly. "<No! No, it's fine.>"
"<Good, just be sure her pet does not get its own bunk. We don't have room to spare for useless ponies.>" He released her and reached for the abandoned lead attached to the house. "<Poor Rex. He was good.>"
Sandy sighed gently. "<Yeah, he really was. That wasn't a nice way to go.>"
"<Few ways are.>" Randal abandoned the lead and the empty doghouse. "<I have other things to do.>"
They parted ways, Sandy breaking into a sprint.
Just outside the alleyway, Octavia stretched as subtly as she could. "Where exactly are you to stay?"
"Where exactly are we to stay," corrected Vinyl with a bright grin.
"Thank you, for that. I did not want to be there." Octavia looked left and right slowly, but an ear perked up and behind herself at the sound of rapidly approaching feet. They both turned in time to see Sandy rushing out of the alley.
Vinyl clopped her forehooves together. "There's our guide. So where are we staying?"
Sandy's breath was rapid from the sprint, but recovering quickly. It hadn't been a long dash. "This way." She walked past the two into the town proper, though she seemed to be heading towards the edge of it. "I hope you don't hold this whole thing against me."
Vinyl waved away the thought. "Why would I? You've been pretty cool so far I've seen. That Randal guy needs like the hugest chill pill they have though."
Octavia arched a brow. "While I don't agree with the image my compatriot summons with her words, I can't argue the basic idea. Your leader really doesn't seem to like us."
Sandy waved to a lone human male walking the opposite way of them as they went. "<Welcome back.>"
"<It's good to be back,>" agreed the fatigued-looking male. He wore brown and fluttering clothing with big goggles over his head. One of those weapons was slung over his back, jostling with a backpack he also had. "<Just finished the day's scouting. Where's Randal?>" It only seemed then that he really focused on the two equines she was guiding. "<What's their story? Surprised Randal would let some random ponies walk around town.>"
"<They aren't local,>" assured Sandy with a quirked smile. "<I'm showing them to the inhuman house, Randal's orders. He's running around, like he usually does. Last saw him that way.>" She pointed the way.
"<Thanks. See you later, Sandy.>" He swung a hand towards her with an open palm and she met it, their palms striking one another with a firm slap. The exchange of familiarity given, they parted ways.
Vinyl grinned at the exchange. "That was like a hoofbump."
Octavia nodded. "Little reason other races can't use similar gestures for some things, though I should imagine there are things you do that would be awkward for us to imitate."
Sandy walked around them, taking the lead back as she pointed to a one story but long-looking structure. "That's the inhuman house, where those who aren't human, but are part of the town, dwell."
"Like the elf?" asked Octavia, following after Sandy.
Sandy started faintly. "You're a fast learner." She smiled though. "Yes, like the elf. Can you write?"
Octavia blinked at that. "Of course I can write. Of course, it is in the same language we are speaking."
Vinyl raised a hoof. "I learned my ABCs too."
Sandy's smile diminished slightly. "A scribe that only works in sylvan is of less use. I was trying to find a way you can stop being 'that useless pony'. Look, I don't like the way he thinks about you either, but he does have a point. Everyone here pulls their weight." She spritely hopped up the few cement steps to the house's entrance. "Here we are."
Octavia shook her head slightly, but ascended the stairs with Vinyl, the both of them advancing into the building as Sandy opened the door for them. The inside was dimly lit, a few candles doing their best to chase away the gloom and doing a minimal job.
"Welcome," spoke a female voice.
Sandy's smile returned, but there was a strained note to it. "Shiela, can you see these two get one bunk?"
Vinyl turned to Sandy. "One bunk each?"
Sandy raised a finger. "One bunk. People with pets share space and food with their pets."
Octavia darkened rapidly. "I am not her pet!"
Shiela emerged from the gloom, a tall and slender vision of elfdom. "I will do this." Her words were just a little off, coming across with a thick accent that neither Octavia nor Vinyl could place. "Go on. I know this place upsets humans."
"Don't be like that," defended Sandy. "You know I'm not like that."
"You don't change it." Shiela waved a few fingers. "Go on. I will care for them."
Sandy backed towards the door. "Be good, please. Shiela's a great person. Shiela, this is Vinyl and Octavia." She gestured with two fingers at each pony as she named them. "They are guests, even if Randal awaits a role for Octavia to play."
Shiela regarded Octavia, her eyes scanning the grey mare piercingly. "Yours is a musical soul."
Vinyl pointed at herself. "What, and I'm not?! I live for da beats!"
Sandy wrapped her fingers on the knob of the door. "Get along." She closed the door gently. "Please." She walked away from the house with a little sigh.
Shiela crossed her arms, regarding the ponies. "Are we a collection for them?" Both ponies perked at her. "All female," she said as if it should be answer enough.
Vinyl lifted her shoulders in a way no normal horse could. "We were female before we got here, ya know? Don't think they went looking for it or anythin'."
Octavia nodded in agreement even as she slowly scanned their sorroundings. "Besides, from the way we've been treated, I should imagine they have no interest in us beyond a utilitarian one." She could see the bunks, one atop another in sets of two. At either side of them, a small box, perhaps to store possessions? To one side of the building, she could see what looked like it could be a kitchen.
Just as Octavia was about to go wandering, Shiela crooked a finger at one of those bunks. "We can share a space. Do you prefer to be elevated, or grounded?"
Vinyl broke into a gallop towards the bunk that Shiela had come from in the first place and made a spirited leap up onto the top bunk. "Dibs!"
Octavia smirked at her friend before regarding Shiela. "Most of the people in this town haven't shared our language, but you have. Is there a reason behind that?"
Shiela nodded lightly. "Have you not met an elf before?" When Octavia shook her head, Shiela gave a thin smile. "That is alright. We speak our own language, but it is close to Sylvan, which you are speaking. If you know one, to know the other is not too hard."
Octavia's ears shot up. "I thought your accent was thick, miss, but I can understand you remarkably well if it is another language entirely."
A subtle frown appeared. "I worked..." She aborted the thought, waving a hand. "I know Sylvan. Your friend has claimed the skyward bunk. Will you join her?"
Vinyl waved eagerly. "Yeah, come on up!"
Octavia's ears were pinned on her head, realizing her error. "Please, forgive me. I didn't mean to insult you, Shiela." Mentally, she berated herself on even mentioning an accent. "Thank you for welcoming us into your home." She folded a hoof in front of herself and dipped her front in a bow.
Shiela folded an arm across her front just under her curiously-shaped chest and bowed, returning the gesture. "It is as ash, blown away before it can trouble. There are others who stay here. Two halflings, a gnome, and a dwarf, all female, as I said."
"Did someone mention me?" A short humanoid came dashing towards them with all the energy of the child they had encountered. Her hair was a fiercely bright blue in color in clear defiance of the age itself. "Woah ha! I thought I heard hooves but thought I had just lost it! Ponies!"
Shiela gestured to the gnome. "This is Quarter Inch. She is the gnome I mentioned."
Quarter clapped her hands together, laughing. "This is great! I never thought they'd let ponies join us." She ambled up to Octavia, her grin wide and brilliant. "Are you the one?"
"The one?" Octavia arced a brow, examining the gnome. She had tools on a belt. A hammer, a screwdriver, and other such things. "Are you a repair pony?"
Quarter blinked softly before she guffawed with deep amusement. "I'm not a pony anything, except maybe a knight, but that's up to you."
Vinyl leaned from her top bunk. "How do we make you a knight?"
Quarter pointed at Vinyl. "That is exactly the right question!" She cried with all the triumph of a won battle. "In order to be a knight, I need a steed."
Octavia's ears spun back against her head. "First a pet, now a steed? No, thank you. I am not an animal."
Quarter staggered back, a hand clutching her chest. "What?! No! No no no no! I didn't mean, bugger it all. I'm already failing and we just started." Both of her hands rose to either side of her head. "A pony steed is no animal, no no no! You're magic and wise."
Shiela suddenly put a hand on Quarter's head, joining the gnome's own hands. "Silence, little one. You are overwhelming our new guests."
"Oh, sorry." Quarter smiled awkwardly up at her elven room-mate. "So... uh... if you change your mind, you let me know, alright? We'll become legends across the land!" She took off in a dead sprint, her animated footfalls receeding into the darkness.
Vinyl waved at Shiela. "Hey, are all the houses this dimly lit?" She pointed at the nearest candle. "What's up with that?"
Shiela wobbled a hand, free of the gnome as it was. "Only a few buildings have electricity, and with them, light. This house is considered least for it, as everyone who lives here can see better in the dark than a human could hope."
Octavia walked towards the kitchen, examining things as she went. Though it was dark, she could see functionally. It was, perhaps... somehow better than she could remember seeing in such dim light. When had she gained such a talent? She couldn't answer, but she didn't begrudge a small gift on an otherwise unpleasant day. "Do all ponies have better vision?"
"As far as has been told to me." Sheila glanced back at the lower bunk, but decided to follow Octavia instead. "Where are you looking for?" Her stride was not quite a match for the four-legged trot of a pony on the prowl, but she followed sedately.
Vinyl hopped down from her bunk. "What she said. What're you looking for?"
Octavia poked her head into the kitchen and quickly saw that it used to be a kitchen. The oven looked clearly broken, its top rusted and warped. With no power, she doubted the fridge that sat there was useful for much other than storage space. Her eyes lifted to the cupboards, wondering a moment. "Is there any food in this kitchen?"
Vinyl laughed as she hurried to catch up. "Oh, is that all? Looking for some snacks? Actually, I could use some too. I haven't eaten all day and fighting huge worms can really bring an appetite out in a mare, ya know?"
Shiela caught up with and passed the two talking ponies. "It is not yet meal time. Since we are new friends, I will share." She reached up to a cupboard that only she could easily reach and it opened with a metallic pop. She reached into the darkness and her hand emerged, a small burlap sack held in it. "I remember ponies prefer vegetables, but I do not have that to offer. You can eat meat, even if you would rather not." She bumped the door close with the back of the same hand before she lowered the bag into their reach.
Vinyl trotted up curiously and poked her nose right inside, sniffing. "What is this? Don't recognize it."
"Jerky," replied Shiela, gently nudging Vinyl out of the bag before pulling out a shriveled and dried slice of meat. "It is tough, chew it slowly, but it is far better than nothing."
Octavia sank to her haunches. "Why is everything so... I'm sorry, that's... unbecoming of me. Thank you." She pressed her hooves together. "You are very kind to share your food with us and we have no right to complain."
Shiela waggled the strip she held in Vinyl's direction, though her eyes were on Octavia. "Where are you from, that this is a mystery to you? Are you from Murrage? I am told they have many luxuries. Lighting through their entire city, fresh food at any time of the day... It is a paradise, if you are a cat, which you are not."
Vinyl's horn glowed as she took the slice. "Thanks." She regarded it curiously even as she opened her mouth to give it a try. "We're from Ponyville, Equestria. Nice place." She bit down on the meat roughly, but it didn't break off. She chewed harder, working at it as she suckled. "Salty..." It was a new flavor, but it wasn't stopping her from chewing away at the offered treat.
Octavia had half an eye on her friend, but most of her attention was on Shiela. "As she said, we are from Equestria. Do you know of it, perchance?"
"Is that a pony city?" She pulled a second strip from her bag and offered it towards Octavia. "I haven't heard of it, I confess."
Octavia stepped forward and sat down so she could bring a hoof up to the jerky. The elf released it and the jerky slid along her distressingly non-sticky hoof and flopped to the ground. Octavia frowned as she gathered it up between her hooves. "This world gives one thing, just to take away another." Despite that, she bit into it and learned the truth of its tough and dry nature. "It is a pony nation," she sighed out. "We really are in a whole other world, aren't we?"
Vinyl raised a hoof. "You didn't get that from the swirling vortex or the crazy attack worm?"
"I recognized the worm," countered Octavia with a huff, nibbling at the edge of the meat. She was able to work off little bits at a time without looking like an uncouth barbarian, which her friend was quite merrily doing as if she was born to it. "I don't entirely recall its name. Tats something?"
Vinyl waved the same hoof. "Whatever it was, we got it, and now we got lots of meat. Will they make this with it?" She lifted the jerky in her magic.
"Likely." Shiela nodded. "Only the highest ranking of us get to enjoy the meat before it is preserved. Perhaps Randal will have a slice, him and his partner."
"Sandy?" asked Vinyl curiously.
Shiela smiled at the idea. "Oh, no. Sandy is a good warrior, and faithful to him, but she is not his wife. They share no relationship beyond being kin of this town. His wife is a spellcaster, the best of the town."
Octavia's ears went up, abandoning her jerky a moment. "Can she send us home?!"
Shiela's smile faded. "That sounds beyond her, but I am not as experienced as she is. You will have to ask her yourself, and she does not speak sylvan, or enjoy speaking to non-humans, which we both are. She is an ideal partner to Randal. They can stew in their bigotry together."
Vinyl blew a raspberry in a rude gesture. "Forget 'em! Sandy said there's a nice town she goes to once in a while, right?"
Octavia nodded quickly at that, watching take out a last strip for herself and tuck the bag away in that high cabinet. "She did mention that. She said she would endeavor to take us with her."
Shiela shook her head. "Randal will not allow that." She pointed at Vinyl. "You're useful, or you wouldn't be here. He doesn't let useful ones leave, because any sane person wouldn't stay here, given the option." She waggled the same fingers at Octavia. "Your chances are better. You are a pet. Pets can go wherever their owner wishes."
Octavia darkened. "I am not--"
"--I know this." Shiela bit off a chunk of her jerky. "But it is how they see you. You cannot argue this."
Octavia sank in place. "So I could get away, but I'd be leaving Vinyl behind. That is entirely unacceptable."
Vinyl bobbed her head fiercely. "Yeah, we're together like PB and J!" She tried to imitate Shiela, but her teeth weren't as good at rending. She bit down harder and harder until the pressure alone was enough to break it, the jerky flying back with the sudden lack of pressure. "Yeah!"
Shiela smiled at the two. "It is good to see such loyalty. I can think of many that would not hesitate to leave behind one they once called 'friend' if the chance for better came along."
Octavia rose to her hooves, the jerky dangling from her maw. "For now, I'm staying at your side, Vinyl, even if they call you on another of those ghastly hunts. I will not be regarded as some simple beast of burden."
Vinyl hopped up and moved to Octavia's side. "You're the best, you know that? I'm sure we'll find something. You'll make me look like a chump when we figure it out."
Shiela began to walk past them, back into the main collection of bunks. "What talent do you possess? It must be something for them to bring people who are not even 'like' humans to live here."
Octavia pointed at her friend beside herself. "She can sing and play, and the act of it seems to invigorate those around her. I always thought that was just the tendancy of those who frequent your 'clubs', but I couldn't deny its effect on the warriors today."
Shiela moved to her bunk, sinking onto the lower of the beds. "And yet, I felt music from the other. Perhaps I am losing my touch, or the flow of ponies is just different enough."
Vinyl shook her head. "No way. Octie here loves music, it's just slower music." She reared up, pantomiming the act of playing a cello with sweeps of a hoof. "It's all fancy, just like she is."