//------------------------------//
// Part 8 
// Story: Manhattan Ballad 
// by ObCom 
//------------------------------//

Vinyl slowly faded back into consciousness and felt something less than normal. She was in her bed, that much was certain. The sheets were soft as usual and were also rubbing against her bare flesh. She had noticed the presence and smell of another body as soon as she could, but she didn’t want to look, lest it all fade into a dream. Then the person shifted, somehow moving closer as if they had no other goal in life than to merge with Vinyl. The DJ’s body soon reminded her why she was awake and she cursed. 
After extracting herself from the swirling, all entangling mass that is Octavia, Vinyl stumbled in the dark room and went to the bathroom. A quick look at the clock said 9 am. Far too early to be awake, Vinyl decided and went back to the bedroom. 
In the light pouring in from the open door, Vinyl was able to see Octavia on the bed. Her heart stopped for a moment and her face heated up. Still sleeping, Octavia groped the sheets, undoubtedly looking for her companion. Vinyl slipped in with a grin. When Octavia’s probing fingers found her again, she pulled Vinyl with surprising strength and speed for someone who was asleep. I was on the bottom, wasn’t I? Vinyl wondered. A sudden memory and the soreness of her body confirmed her thoughts. She wore a smile as she drifted off again. 

The bed was empty when Vinyl woke up. She found herself pawing at the sheets Octavia had occupied and quickly stopped when she noticed the smell of breakfast. A quick sniff carried the promise of eggs, toast, and coffee, something that she never bought until Octavia had moved in. Now she couldn’t go a single morning without it. Her stomach rumbling, she stumbled out of bed and put on the first shirt and shorts that she could find.
Octavia looked over her shoulder when the bedroom door opened and gave Vinyl a smile that made her heart race. Her long hair was disheveled and her clothes were, like Vinyl, freshly picked off the floor. Vinyl saw the table was already set, with one plate full of food while Octavia was busy at the stove making another. “Good morning, Vinyl,” Octavia said.
“It most certainly is,” Vinyl replied and filled a mug of coffee, unaware that there was one waiting for her on the table. She turned, fresh cup in hand, and saw the table again. “Ah shoot,” she muttered. 
Octavia had just watched the scene unfold and couldn’t stop herself from laughing. Now that she was closer, Vinyl saw that Octavia was wearing a shirt with an adorable cat trying to make pizza. Where had she seen that shirt before? Octavia didn’t have one; she often delved into her plethora of gray attire. A sip of coffee made everything clearer. The shirt belonged to Vinyl.  
“You know, Vinyl, I’ve been thinking,” Octavia began, looking at the eggs in the pan. Vinyl’s heart raced. If this was going where she thought it would be going, she was ready. “About last ni—” 	
Vinyl reached out and put her free hand on Octavia’s wrist. “Shhh,” she said, putting her mug down. To her relief, Octavia’s rant was cut off and she put her hands on both sides of Octavia’s face, forcing her to look her in the eye. Vinyl hoped she was giving a warm gaze instead of a glare, but it seemed to do the trick. “There will be plenty of time to talk about that afterwards. For now, let’s just eat this delicious breakfast you set out for us, hm?” Octavia bit her lip. That action, combined with her large, lavender eyes was enough to make Vinyl’s fingers feel like they were tingling. Octavia took a deep breath, smiled, and said okay. 
Sharing the smile, Vinyl let go and was about to take a seat when a thought occurred to her. Octavia had pushed her eggs onto a plate and was about to pick it up when Vinyl’s arms shot out from behind and embraced her. Burying her face into Octavia’s hair, which mostly smelled like bed and sweat, Vinyl purred, “But just so you know, I don’t regret one bit of it.” Before pulling away, she kissed the back of Octavia’s neck.
She waited for Octavia to turn around with a big smile. When she did, Vinyl saw that Octavia was wearing a large, sloppy smile and her eyes were clouded over. It would have been cute, if she didn’t look like she’d drop the plate. “C’mon, Tavi, let’s have some breakfast.” Broken out of her trance, Octavia set her food on the table and the two began eating. 
All throughout breakfast, the two exchanged glances and smiles, and sometimes broke out giggling for no reason. The talk after might be important, but neither of them gave it much thought. For now, they were happy for what felt like the first times in their lives. Depression, sadness, those were emotions that they faced every day, so the two readily cast those thoughts out of their meal. They would be waiting, of course, clawing at the glass bubble the two had put over themselves. But for now, the two had found a shelter from the turbulent storm. 

The bubble shattered when breakfast was done. Reality walked up to the pair with a large chair and a shit eating grin and sat back to watch the show. Both of them had finished eating, so there were no distractions. Vinyl had sensed Octavia’s mood shifting near the end of breakfast. She leaned back with her second coffee mug and took a sip. If Octavia had something prepared, she decided to let her talk first. Thankfully, the other woman seemed hesitant to start. Vinyl sipped her coffee again and kept eye contact. She never knew just how precious a simple thing like silence could be and would like to hear more of it. 
“What was last night, Vinyl?” 
Any thoughts completely vanished from her mind and, faced with a blank slate, Vinyl nearly panicked. “W-what do you mean?” 
“Last night. You know, where you pinned me on the couch and we made out? I’m well aware that you don’t regret it, and neither do I, but what did it all mean to you?” 
“It meant we both had a good time?” Vinyl asked with a hopeful smile. 
Octavia’s mood darkened. “I see. I guess I was wrong about you, Vinyl.” She stood up and was about to clean the table when Vinyl understood the meaning behind her words. Octavia wanted something more concrete than being listed as a fuckbuddy. She wanted to know that she was being appreciated as a person and not used for release. 
Vinyl couldn’t stop herself from gasping at her own stupidity. “Wait!” she said and held up a hand. Octavia looked at her like she was a piece of gum under her shoe. “I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant.” Those searing, lavender orbs were still standing up, and Vinyl decided that she was waiting for an explanation. “What I meant to say was that, last night was…” she took a sip of coffee and shook her head. 
“Last night was great, Tavi.” Vinyl furrowed her brow and tried to think of what to say next. A sip of coffee was absolutely welcomed, but the admission didn’t seem to make Octavia feel any better. “Yesterday, when I saw that… scene. It was terrible. Absolutely everything was going to shit and I was lucky to have gotten off the street. When I was sitting there, watching everyone run around in chaos, the only thing that kept me from joining them was you.” Vinyl inwardly winced at how cheesy that sounded. She had to cut back on the movies. “And that wasn’t the first time that’s happened. The Reclamation has everyone confused, but just when I’m about to lose my head, I just think of you being here and it just makes me feel better.” Octavia’s brow softened, but Vinyl found that she wasn’t quite done talking. She had to completely reassure Octavia. Reaching out, she took Octavia’s hands and held them tightly. “You’re not just some passing fling to me, Octavia. I really, really like you, and I’d like to see where we’ll go if you want.” 
Octavia’s face had gradually softened during Vinyl’s rant. Sensing that Vinyl was done, she opened her mouth to speak but stopped when she realized something. Instead of talking, Octavia started laughing. Vinyl’s eyes darted around in confusion before finally resting on the clock. Two minutes passed before Octavia stopped. She leaned back and wiped a tear from her eye. 
“You done?” Vinyl asked, to which the other woman nodded vigorously. “What was that all about?” 
Octavia took a deep breath, still fighting back some of the laughter. “Oh you have no idea how relieved I am to hear you say that,” she began. “And I am sure that my actions last night have told you how I feel about you.” Vinyl nodded. “But there’s just one thing, dear, that I think we both forgot.” She got out of her chair and walked over to Vinyl’s side, wrapping her arms around the DJ and put her lips against her ear. “We didn’t think about the Reclamation.” 
Vinyl shivered at the warm breath against her ear but was still confused. “What about it?” 
“I never thought I would be the one explaining the repercussions to you, Vinyl,” Octavia said, deciding that she didn’t want to stand anymore and sat on Vinyl’s lap. She giggled at Vinyl’s confusion and kissed her brow. “Even though we both want this to last, it’s not going to. My father will send his little cronies here and he will whisk me away to a place of complete ‘safety’ for my ‘well-being.’” Octavia’s smile was almost manic. Was she having a breakdown? Did Vinyl want to be pinned down when she snapped? 
“Guess I forgot about that,” Vinyl said with a half-hearted chuckle. “So now what?” 
Octavia leaned in until their noses touched and Vinyl could only see her lavender eyes. “There are several things we could do,” she said, lowering her voice. Octavia’s eyes were full of lust and Vinyl felt her heart racing. “Tell me, Vinyl, what is Shield?” 
“Huh?” Vinyl’s mind was fogging with Octavia’s proximity. Her touch, her scent, her eyes made thinking difficult. “It’s something with uh,” she licked her lips. “It’s a gel or liquid that they pump you with when you get augments. Something about making the body accept the new tech faster. Why?” 
“And that’s all that’s needed to make someone ‘impure’ right?” 
Vinyl’s eyes widened. “You want to get augments?” 
Octavia shrugged. “It might have crossed my mind,” she teased. 
“But Bass Leader said that—”
“Oh he can go fuck himself,” Octavia said. “I’m not asking because of him, and I’m not asking because I want to screw you over, I am genuinely curious. Without augments, it feels like I’m being left behind of the rest of the human race. I look around and see everyone waving their hands and staring at me because I’m different. And now there are soldiers dragging people like me away to go somewhere? I am scared, Scratch, and if a little augment is the only thing that is going to keep me from the soldiers, I think it’s a pretty small price to pay.” 
“And your dad?” 
“He probably wants me ‘pure’ so I can reproduce and build his legacy. Make no mistake; he has no one’s interests at heart but his own.” Octavia got off of Vinyl and went to the bathroom. “I trust you can do the dishes.” 
“Yeah, sure,” Vinyl said to an empty room. 

Applejack didn’t wake up at Twilight’s desk as she expected. Crisp, pristine, warm sheets covered her body. The pillow underneath felt like a giant cloud. The room was dark, but she knew she was in Twilight’s room. She let out a loud yawn as she sat up, stretching her arms and back until she heard a satisfying crack. The two half-moons on the sides of her eyes lit up, casting a faint blue glow into the room. Her heads-up display showed that she had been asleep for hours. “Must’ve been more tired than I thought,” she muttered. 
The door opened and the lights turned on. Twilight stood in the doorway, holding a tray of food and wearing a smile. As soon as Applejack saw her, the rest of the room melted away. She had seen the clean, bare surroundings enough time to walk around with her eyes closed. The woman walking towards her, however, was a sight she never got tired of. “Why aren’t you naked?” Applejack asked, eyes taking in every inch of Twilight’s uniform. 
Twilight’s grin grew. “Good morning to you too. And don’t worry, I ravaged you last night. It’s a shame you were too tired to remember.” 
Applejack leaned back, closed her eyes, and sniffed. “Liar. But I’m pretty awake right now.” She opened her eyes to half-mast and was rewarded by Twilight’s adorable blush, completely evident despite her dark skin. 
“That you are, but we’ve been together long enough for me to know that your breath is rancid in the morning. Now eat up.” 
“Yes, Commander,” Applejack droned and accepted the tray. A bowl of oatmeal, an apple, and a cup of coffee stared at her. Twilight was about to sit on the bed when Applejack said, “Careful there, Twi. If you get too close, I might just tear that uniform off of ya.” 
Twilight sat down regardless. “I agree, it has been a long time since I’ve seen you,” she said, locking her shining eyes on Applejack’s. “I’ve missed all of you so much, but you came back alone. Where are Rarity and Fluttershy?” 
Applejack cleared her throat and put the tray aside. “Well, there’s a reason behind that. Mission’s goin’ well, but there’s been some confusion out there, and not just between us three. Ever since we were sent out, there hasn’t been a bit of information from here. Rarity sent me back for a bit of fact findin’.” 
There was a flicker of nervousness in Twilight’s eyes. Applejack wondered if she was sent back because of her relationship with their commander. She could see past Twilight’s fancy wordplay and see what was happening, exactly. “What’s goin’ on, Twi? You sent us out to Mars of all places, when no one even thought of settling there, with blue prints and supplies. There’s plenty of room for a lot of people out there.” 
Twilight sighed, her nose slightly flaring and her left eye twitched for a brief moment. She looked like she wanted to say something. Applejack put her hand on Twilight’s shoulder and gave a reassuring smile. “How’s Rainbow doin’? I know she’s around here somewhere.” 
“I am a terrible person.” The words hung in the air, gradually filling it with confusion and self-pity. Applejack didn’t know what to make of Twilight’s statement. She was about to speak when Twilight abruptly stood up and walked out of the room. Applejack sat on the bed and blinked before exploding into motion. She tore off the pajamas and put on her uniform, which was folded in a neat pile on a dresser. There hadn’t been enough time to put on her leather jacket, which she now carried over her shoulder. 
Twilight’s room was connected to her office, a true testament to her work ethic. The view behind Twilight was, as always, the gentle curve of Earth below. She had always liked to see the planet she worked so hard to protect. The woman herself was sitting at her desk, idly pulling up documents out of air. Applejack walked around the desk to stand beside Twilight, eyes scanning Twilight’s work. 
“What is this?” Applejack gasped. “Reclamation? Augments are our demise?” She put her hands on the desk and leaned in. “Acquire any and all non-augmented persons to be immediately processed by any means necessary.” She took a deep breath and stepped back. Twilight hadn’t moved, preferring to sink into her chair. “Twi, what have you been doin’?”
Twilight idly waved a hand at the text. “Celestia’s orders,” she croaked. “If augments are going to kill off humanity, she wanted to preserve the people that could still reproduce and put them on Mars so they wouldn’t be tempted to get the augments themselves. That would be less people who could create offspring.” 
Applejack felt her jaw tighten. “And are these people just volunteering? Do they know what’s goin’ to happen to them?” 
Twilight slowly shook her head. “Any means necessary,” she repeated. 
Applejack closed her eyes, trying to absorb this information and accept it in a reasonable manner. She failed. “This,” she began, waving a hand at the documents, “is just evil.” 
“I know!” Twilight blurted. “I know how terrible this all sounds, but these are Celestia’s personal orders! Surely she wouldn’t be doing this if there was no other way.”  
“Twi, sugar,” Applejack choked out. “I know you’re stressed out, but if this is truly going to be the end of us, would you rather be surrounded by your family or scared an’ alone, knowin’ that you’ll never see ‘em again?”  
“I… I never even thought of that.” 
“Then it sounds like there’s only one thing left to do,” Applejack drawled. She put on her hat and headed for the door. “I’m goin’ down there, and I’m gonna stop this thing.” At the door, she turned to look at Twilight. “You comin’?” 
“I don’t know.”
Applejack bit back the bile in her throat. She swallowed and felt it filling the cracks in her heart. “Twi,” she said, voice slowly rising, “you said it yourself that this makes you feel terrible. I’m giving you a chance to make things right.” She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. Seeing Twilight’s downcast expression hurt her more than she thought. “It’s a tough call, and I’m going right now. I’d like to see you down there, sometime. I love you,” she said and walked away before Twilight said anything. 
The changing hallways passed quickly and she was already in the hangar when she noticed something was wrong. Every guard was staring at her. Part of her suspected betrayal, but she knew Twilight would never stoop so low. No, there was something else at play. She unbuckled her holsters, a move that was undoubtedly seen by every guard, and strolled toward her ship. Someone had gone and made a perfectly clear line for her, completely devoid of cover. How considerate.
In the complete silence that settled in the hangar, Applejack’s only hint came from a reflection. Behind her, one of the soldiers had raised their gun, aiming directly at her. Swearing, she took off at a sprint, kicking full power to her leg augments to go faster. The guards started shooting, sending bullets everywhere around her. Applejack tucked her head down and threw herself behind her ship. Bullets pinged off of the metal for a second before the soldiers stopped. Sucking in a breath, Applejack quickly pulled herself into the cockpit and closed the canopy before anyone could react. 
She punched in the start-up sequence and felt the ship come to life beneath her. The guards were fanning out and started shooting again when they realized what was happening, but their small arms were no longer a threat. Adrenaline pumping through her veins, Applejack flew out of the hangar, brow sweating as she waited to hear Camelot’s defenses locking on. 
A minute passed and nothing happened. She let out an explosive sigh and shook her head. Realization was sinking in. She was officially a traitor now. Those troops were well within their rights to shoot at her. “No goin’ back now,” she muttered and took her ship into Earth’s atmosphere. 

Vinyl climbed the steps to her apartment. Her hands had finally stopped shaking from nerves, but she couldn’t help but be excited. After Octavia had stepped out of the shower, they had another conversation about her getting augments. Vinyl’s defenses had been paper thin out of her own design. She had decided that Bass Leader could go fuck himself. He had had a lot of time to collect his daughter before. As far as Vinyl was concerned, his time was up. And if Octavia wanted augments, who could stop her? With a spring in her step, Vinyl had left the apartment to find a shop that would take the job.
The nerves had settled in once she was out of the door. How would she do this? There were soldiers everywhere, and they would undoubtedly be searching the chop shops. Or maybe they wouldn’t because there wouldn’t be any ‘pure’ humans there? Not to mention the risk involved in transporting Octavia to the location once an agreement was made, but that could wait until later. 
There were several clinics in the area, and Vinyl went to all of them. Broaching the subject with the practitioners had left her terrified, but one of them, a woman called Frankie, had agreed. The job would be done that night, all Vinyl had to do was get Octavia and run her over to…
Was that smoke?  
Vinyl sniffed again. All of her nerves came flying back as she ran up the stairs. None of her neighbors were out in the hall, all of their doors slammed shut and probably barricaded. Except for hers. 
“Oh no,” Vinyl whispered. She opened her messenger bag and pulled out the pistol. “No no no no,” she repeated as she ran to the apartment. This was just a coincidence. The smoke was someone’s bad cooking. The silence was caused by everyone being asleep or out on the town. The door was open because of her own carelessness. Octavia sure would give her hell for that. But the facts didn’t lie. 
As she got closer, she saw that the door was blown off of the hinges. No sounds came from within the apartment, but she still held the gun up as she entered. “Tavi?” she said. “This isn’t funny!” 
She opened the bedroom door. No Octavia. The bathroom. No Octavia. Holding her breath, Vinyl bent down at the meat locker and rapped it. The locker opened, and it was empty. Vinyl felt the hot tears boiling behind her eyes and she let the gun fall to the floor. That’s it, she thought. Game over, end of story. The Empire has her. I failed her. 
Vinyl collapsed onto the couch and choked out a sob. The coarse cushion against her cheek still smelled like her. It made sense, Octavia had been sleeping on the couch ever since she arrived. Vinyl took off her goggles and decided to let it all out. She cursed at the top of her lungs when she wasn’t sobbing too hard. The burden of guilt squeezed down on her, forcing out every tear that she had until the cushion had a sizeable stain. It’s over, she repeated to herself. I’ll never see her again. 
A faint ping woke her up. Vinyl slowly rose from the couch and sniffled. She ran her arm under her nose to get rid of the snot that had accompanied the tears. With her other hand, she picked up her goggles and slipped them on. She just wanted to go back to sleep. At least Octavia was there. She waved her free hand, maneuvering through her display to get to her messages. 
“Oh fuck me,” she whispered. The message was from Bass Leader. His men would be coming shortly. Vinyl’s hand fell limply to her side and she looked around the apartment. A minute passed before a chuckle, low and devoid of joy, bubbled from her lips.