//------------------------------// // Discovery // Story: Identity Theft // by FauxShores //------------------------------// It was going on noon in Equestria, and Vinyl and Octavia were still asleep. It had been a long night, and they had slept far past sunrise as Vinyl had predicted. Vinyl’s room had no windows, and the only light that made its way inside came from under the door. When Vinyl woke she was surprised at how warm her chest was. It was not uncomfortable, but more of an unusual sensation. In all of her years she had never woken with someone so close to her. Vinyl smiled as she remembered the events of last night. She hugged her roommate again and dug the side of her head into her pillow. She wondered why she had never felt this close to one of her friends. The guys would never be caught together like this. She wondered if they were watching her right now. She knew there was no way she could ever know and quickly dropped the thought. Instead she focused on her new best friend. Octavia was curled up tighter than Vinyl could have imagined possible. Her hair hung a bit in front of her face and Vinyl pushed it up and to the side. Regardless of how much pain Tavi was in last night, Vinyl thought she looked content. It was dark in the room, but Vinyl felt far too rested for it to be early in the morning. Carefully, she unwrapped her friend and pulled the blanket up over her. Slowly, she sneaked out of the bed and left the room to check on the time. It was going on noon. Good thing I don’t have anything to do today. On that note, Vinyl pondered what exactly she would do with her time. She considered tinkering with her DJ equipment, but she decided the first course of action would be to take a shower. Maybe it was because of the extra heat while sleeping last night, but she felt sweaty. This should be interesting. Vinyl walked into the apartment’s bathroom. The main difference between Earth and Equestrian bathrooms were the size of the showers. The shower here was much larger than the one she remembered from home and it seemed to have an extra showerhead. Huh. She turned a handle on the wall and water quickly poured down the upper showerhead. She let it warm up for a few moments and she slowly stepped inside. She had heard that cold showers could be very relaxing but she was never fond of them. She made sure the water was as hot as she could tolerate after she stepped inside. She let the hot water pour through her mane. She used to have fairly long hair on earth, so she was used to cleaning a head full of it. She stood looking straight into the stream of water, letting it dance across her face. She hoped that their apartment had a good water heater, because she had always taken long showers. She absently turned to the side of the shower and tried to rest her forehead against the wall like she used to. She stubbed her horn on the tile as she tried to lean forward. Ow. She rubbed her appendage with her hoof in slight frustration. Well that’s annoying. She decided it would be best to just stand in the middle when she took her showers. After a few minutes of relaxation she remembered why she was in the shower in the first place. She looked through the selection of shampoos and conditioners in a rack on the side of the wall. There was an assortment of fancy shampoos, gels and body wash products on one side of the rack. Vinyl assumed that they must be Octavia’s. Vinyl checked the other side of the rack to find just two bottles. There were two different kinds of Axe shampoos and she couldn’t help but laugh. Vinyl would use Axe. She lifted a bottle of it out of the rack with her magic and squeezed a bit out over her mane. With a spare hoof she massaged the product into her mane and closed her eyes to keep any from causing her irritation. When her mane felt clean she washed the suds from her body. She was about to get out when she realized something. I still feel sweaty. She thought about why she wouldn’t feel clean when it hit her. Oh god. I have to clean my entire coat. Vinyl sighed. It took her a few minutes to wash her mane, who knew how long it would take to wash her entire coat. She looked around the shower to see if there was an easier way to wash herself than to use shampoo all over. She noticed that the other showerhead rested quite a bit lower than the one she was using earlier. She also noticed a hoof sized plate next to it. She figured it must be there to switch shower heads. I wonder what this does… She pressed the pad with her hoof and was immediately shot in the face with a heavy stream of water. She turned to the side and cursed the water jet. I swear to god… She took a deep breath and tried not to get too mad at the shower. Her eyes hurt a bit, but the jet felt good against her side. She figured the jet must be how ponies wash their coats. That thing needs a warning sticker. She slowly turned her body so the jet could wash the sweat off of her sides and flank. It was like a massage and she was beginning to enjoy it. She continued her spin until she was facing away from the nozzle. She was starting to feel very clean and relaxed. She didn’t fully think out her plan however, as her turning quickly led to being sprayed in a very sensitive area. “EEEP!” She squealed as she jumped and turned in the air. She quickly sat on her rump. It wasn’t a painful sensation, but the spray definitely caught her off guard. As she sat there the nozzle blasted the side of her head with a steady stream of water. I will fucking end you. She scooted over to the shower head and turned it off. The gentle spray of the first head returned. So much better. She finished her shower still a bit twitchy from her surprise. The next time she showered she was going to watch the pervy jet like a hawk. She levitated a towel down from the rack and started to dry herself off. She must have spent five minutes scrubbing herself but she was still damp. How the hell do these ponies get dry? She decided damp was better than soaking and let her coat be. She made sure her mane was nearly dry before she left the bathroom. As she entered the living room she saw Octavia sitting on the couch. “Hey Tavi.” She said smiling. Octavia turned around and burst out laughing. “Oh my god.” She laughed. “What happened to your mane?” Vinyl blushed. She had completely forgotten to check how she looked in the mirror before she left the bathroom. She quickly trotted back into the room, Octavia laughing behind her. Vinyl wiped the mirror down with a towel to get rid of the fog. When she saw her mane she couldn’t help but laugh too. Oh jeeze. She sneaked past Octavia into her bedroom and grabbed the brush that she had found yesterday morning. She sat down on her bed in front of her mirror and tried to figure out what she was going to do. I guess I’ll just brush it out and go from there. It took longer than she expected it to, but eventually Vinyl returned to the living room. Her mane resembled her signature style close enough for her to stop trying for it. Octavia must have thought so as well. ”Oh, so you do know how to use a brush.” She laughed. “You had me worried there.” Vinyl ignored her and made a beeline to the fridge. She didn’t know what she was going to make, but she was going to eat something. “I think I’ll take a shower now that you are done with it.” Octavia said as she walked into the bathroom. Vinyl laughed. “The shower is a perv, be careful!” She yelled. She’ll find out the hard way. Vinyl continued her raid of foodstuffs. She found an assortment of breads and cheeses and what appeared to be a shelf entirely dedicated to different kinds of flowers. She grabbed what she thought looked good out onto the kitchen counter. Hoof to her mouth she pondered what to make. A dandelion and hayseed sandwich sounds great right now. She put away the other flowers and greens and started cutting the hayseed bread. She was halfway done preparing her meal when something occurred to her. I’ve never eaten a dandelion. I’ve never had hayseed bread. How do I remember that it tastes good? She stared at the flowers. They somehow seemed familiar, but she knew she had never eaten one before. She shook the feeling off and finished making her lunch. Must be instinct or something. She took her plate over to the couch. She had a habit of watching TV while eating since she was young. The couch was a place to eat in her heart. As she got settled she took her first bite of the sandwich. It was a simple flavor, but it was welcomed. I guess I’m just a natural chef. She leaned into her next bite when she heard a noise from the other room. “EEEP!” came a panicked scream from the shower. Vinyl smiled. It was turning out to be a good day after all. * * * Vinyl sat on her bed looking at all of her sound equipment. Most of it was familiar. She had experience playing with a cover band when she was younger. The amps and cables all made sense to her., still, she couldn’t keep from staring at the stuff she had never seen before. Among these were various things she assumed to be useful in DJ-ing. There was what appeared to be a turn table, a few different mixers and phasers and a collection of CD’s. She hopped off of the bed. She was going to need to understand this stuff eventually; she figured she might as well start now. She walked over to her turn table. It appeared to be digital, which was a relief. It still looked like an old school vinyl mixer, but it could mix digital tracks electronically. At least I don’t have to work with old records. She examined the table a bit closer. The discs seemed to resemble records, but when tampered with they would just adjust digital properties of the music. Vinyl laughed to herself. Guess I get to scratch vinyl after all. She browsed over the rest of her equipment. For a pony who made a living with music, her base capitol seemed to be rather small. I wonder if I have any stuff in storage? She knew an apartment could only hold so much stuff. Maybe this was just her mobile equipment for shows. She walked back out to the living room. It was still early by her standards, but the sun had already started to set. Octavia seemed to be taking a nap on the couch. “Hey Tavi.” Vinyl said. Octavia responded with a grumble. Vinyl rolled her eyes. You don’t take a nap this late in the evening. It ruins your sleep schedule. “I’m gonna go check to see if we have anything in storage somewhere. Wanna come with?” Vinyl asked. Octavia rolled onto her feet. “Yeah, I guess.” She said. Vinyl frowned. “You seem so enthusiastic. What if we have like, a cello farm or something?” Octavia smiled. “Okay, one, I don’t think cellos grow on farms, and two, I’ve never played a cello in my life.” Vinyl smiled. “The great Octavia can’t play the cello?” she joked. Octavia grinned. “Guess I don’t live up to the role. I used to play bass though as a kid. Maybe they are similar.” Vinyl smiled. “Only one way to find out.” She said. “To the cello farm!” she mocked as she headed for the door. Octavia shook her head as she followed her friend. She reminded her of her old friends. She hadn’t had a good friend in a long time. * * * Vinyl and Octavia stood at the front desk of their apartment complexes main building. They were next in line to talk with the only person working so late at night. Finally a peach colored mare with her boyfriend got a replacement key for their apartment and headed for the door. “Hey Vinyl, hey Octavia, how can I help you mares tonight?” A ruby colored mare asked them. She seems nice enough. “Hi.” Vinyl said. “Octavia and I were wondering if we had anything in storage?” The mare had a puzzled look on her face. “Storage?” she asked. “I don’t believe you have anything stored with us.” Vinyl sighed. “No electronic equipment?” She asked. “Or a cello farm?” The mare blinked in confusion. Octavia stepped up to the desk. “She’s kidding. Thanks though.” She said. The mare shrugged as they turned to leave. “I’m sure anything you might have misplaced is in your recording studio. Maybe try cleaning the place?” She added. Vinyl stopped. She turned around slowly with the most giddy childish grin she could manage. “Did you say recording studio?” * * * Vinyl sprinted for the address that the mare had given her. It was only a block away, but she was too excited to walk. Octavia followed closely behind. “You have your own recording studio?” She asked her friend. Vinyl came to a halt at the front door to the building. It was decent sized, and she could only imagine what was inside it. “Yeah.” She responded. “My own recording studio. I didn’t even know Vinyl made music.” She fiddled with the key. “I thought she just DJ’d.” With an audible click the door opened. Vinyl stepped inside her studio for the first time and nearly fell over. It’s beautiful. It wasn’t especially large, but Vinyl’s studio was definitely functional. The walls were coated in anti-reverb mufflers and the ground was covered in wires. The back wall had a number of guitars and a few other things like a tambourine and microphones littered across it. What caught Vinyl’s eyes though was inside a soundproof recording box. That’s the most incredible drum kit, and it’s mine. She pointed towards the room and looked at her friend. She made the most high pitched noise Octavia had ever heard in her life. Vinyl took off towards the room, squee-ing like a little filly all the way. She quickly opened the door and searched for a pair of drum sticks. She found them on the ground and tried to pick them up. For a moment she had the most horrified look on her face. I can’t play these with hooves. She lifted the drum sticks with her magic and tried to play a quiet beat on the hi-hat. It only took a few seconds to realize she couldn’t control how hard she was hitting. She lowered the drum sticks in defeat. For the first time since waking up in Equestria she missed her old life. I can’t play drums any more. Octavia could tell what was going through her friends mind. She looked to the ground. It wasn’t her problem, but she still felt bad for her. As her gaze crossed the ground she noticed something strange. There was a pair of gloves, no, gauntlets, that had a strange appendage on the side. She studied them quickly and got an idea. Vinyl was sitting slumped on her drum throne when she came in. “Vinyl, I think I found something.” Octavia said. Vinyl looked to her friend. “What is it?” She asked. Octavia winced. It was the first time she had heard her friend sound depressed. “I think these will let you drum.” She said. Vinyl’s ears perked up a bit. “I think you put these on, and the drum sticks can sit in this little thing right here” She said pointing to the contraption. Vinyl looked them over. The slots were definitely meant for holding drumsticks. The only question was how much control they would give her. “Let me try those on.” She said. She took the gauntlets and strapped them onto her hooves with her teeth. She used her magic to lift the drumsticks into the little slots on the sides of the drumming ware. These actually feel pretty natural. She positioned her hooves on the proper foot pedals. She was sitting a lot taller than she was used to, but her hooves felt even more solid on the pedals than they did when she was on Earth. This isn’t nearly as awkward as I was expecting. She set off with an easy rhythm. It was simple, but it was performed flawlessly. Octavia knew her friend was a good drummer, but she always thought she may have been sizing herself up a bit. She was quite surprised when Vinyl picked up the tempo and complexity. Vinyl wrapped up her warm up with a smile. She stripped her gauntlets off and walked over to her friend. “That was great” She said. “It’s just like at home.” Octavia smiled. Her friend showed off some impressive beats. She wasn’t a percussionist however, and drums alone didn’t quite satisfy her musical tastes. She got an idea. “Do you think you have any music in this place?” She asked. Vinyl’s eyes lit up. “I don’t know.” She said. “I bet it wouldn’t be too hard to bring music here.” They searched the main room for material for Vinyl to jam to. They found a couple albums that they recognized to be Equestrianized, like 'The All Amareican Rejects, Jethro Colt, and Bob Marely' but also a few whose names were untouched, like 'Jimi Hendrix, Green Day and Linkin Park'. Vinyl kept searching. She could jam along to any of those bands, but she wanted to find a song she knew by heart. She lifted up a stray throw pillow and giggled. Found it. She took the disc to the player and popped it in. “Find something good?” Octavia asked. Vinyl smiled. “Yeah. I think so.” Vinyl put back on her gauntlets and asked her friend for one last favor. “Hey Tavi?” she asked. “Play track five!” Octavia nodded and pressed the skip button appropriately. “You ready?” she asked. Vinyl nodded in excitement. The music started and Octavia’s ears immediately rose. It didn’t take much for her to recognize a song from one of her favorite bands. Vinyl’s work on the high hat was good to say the least. It wasn’t a hard drum beat, but the execution was nearly flawless. She’s not bad. Octavia thought. A few bars ran and Vinyl opened the first verse with a snare riff. Octavia was excited to hear a drum performance, but what Vinyl did next caught her completely off guard. Vinyl started to sing. It was a song Octavia had heard a thousand times before. She followed the lyrics along in her head. Push it out, fake a smile, avert disaster just in time. Octavia was stunned. Vinyl’s drumming alone was impressive, but her vocals weren’t bad either. She stood there, jaw slacked and listened as Vinyl continued with the first verse. I need a drink, cause in a while, worthless answers from friends of mine. Octavia couldn’t help but smile. She was expecting nothing like this from her friend. She watched as Vinyl got completely lost in her music. Her mane bobbed gently back and forth as she gracefully moved from snare to tom and crash to ride. It’s dumb to ask, cool to ignore, girls possess me but they’re never mine. Octavia saw her friend play the riffs with such ease, she knew she must have played this song countless times. The drums were spot on, but Octavia was paying more attention to Vinyl’s voice than anything. She sang in a way that most artists have to train for. Each syllable was drenched in emotion. The way Vinyl held her eyes closed and bobbed to the rhythm told Octavia exactly what she needed to know. She’s singing from experience. She thought. Vinyl’s voice echoed with a tenderness she could never have achieved on Earth. It was soft, it was gentle, it was feminine. Octavia knew there was a reason Vinyl picked this song. Whatever the reason, she was glad she did. I made my entrance, Avoided hazards, Checked my engine I fell behind. Vinyl opened her eyes for a brief instrumental part. She looked to Octavia and saw the biggest smile on her face. Vinyl smiled back and gave focus back to her drums. Octavia couldn’t restrain herself any longer. She had listened to this band since she was just a kid. To Vinyl’s surprise, Octavia joined her on the Chorus. She makes me feel like it’s raining outside. They both sang. Octavia knew she wasn’t much of a singer, but she didn’t care. This opportunity was too good to pass up. And when the storm’s gone I’m all torn up inside. I’m always nervous on, days like this like the prom. I get too scared to move ‘cause I’m a fucking boy. Octavia laughed to herself at the last line. She never pictured herself singing along to this song with anyone, but she was glad she made an exception. Her friend continued on with the song. Octavia watched her perform more closely than she would have thought. Vinyl’s every movement, every nod of her head, Octavia followed. Not even the steady rise and fall of her chest escaped her knowing. Octavia was surprised by what she paid attention to most. It wasn’t the beat, or the singing that Vinyl was able to create. The room became almost silent to Octavia. The only thing she cared about was a pair of bright rubies trying to hide behind a cyan forest of a mane. They were outstanding. Every glint of ambient light that managed to streak across them cast off more elegantly than she could have ever imagined. She lost herself in the growing tides of a sea of red. She was completely left behind by reality. She was hopelessly lost, but she had never felt so certain of her location. She had never felt like this before. ”Did you like it?” Octavia snapped out of her daydream. Blushing hard she turned her head away. “Yes,” she said. “Oh god, yes it was amazing.” Vinyl caught her blush. She wasn’t sure exactly why she was blushing, but she caught it. “I’m glad you enjoyed it.” She said, taking her gauntlets off again. “It felt really good to play.” Octavia smiled as she walked to the CD player to get the disc back. It felt good to watch. Vinyl closed the door to the sound room and placed her keys in her bag. “That’s enough of that for me tonight.” She said. “I’m pretty tired.” Octavia nodded, still a bit embarrassed by her previous train of thought. “Yeah, me too” The two mares exchange small talk on the way home. It was nothing important but Octavia enjoyed every moment of it. When they got home Vinyl poured herself a glass of juice and retreated to her room. “Night Tavi, today was real fun.” Octavia gently smiled. “Yeah, it was. Night Vinyl.” She watched her friend enter her room and close the door. She stared at the door for a good five minutes. She wished she could be in there again, like the night before. She had felt so good being close to somepony. Vinyl was the first mare in her life to be so perfect. She walked back to her room and laid down in her bed. She stared at the ceiling as she waited for sleep to overcome her. She felt a bit anxious. She wasn’t sure what Vinyl thought of her, but she was beginning to realize something very quick. She was starting to see Vinyl as more than a friend.