//------------------------------// // A Prelude to Darkness // Story: Spare Some Change? // by Nadir //------------------------------// A week passed. Then two. Then a third just as quickly. Suddenly, it’d been a full two months and life had gone on. Octavia and Vinyl’s relationship deepened all the more, the two of them no longer quite so scared to go out together. They’d even started saying they were marefriends, and Octavia introduced Vinyl as such. For the reticent, reclusive mare Octavia, that step had felt massive, but she couldn’t help but smile as she remembered the first time she’d done it. Things quieted down. The ‘private investigators’, whoever they were, didn’t come around again. Vinyl’s past life didn’t come back to bite her, though Fancy didn’t discover anything more about the ‘who’ that chased them. Then again, it didn’t matter anymore. Not when Vinyl and Octavia lived a life that few dreamed to hold. The two went on dates, went to the opera, played music together, and could simply enjoy each other’s company. Their intimacy grew all the while. The first kiss opened the flood gates as it were, spiling forth all sorts of affection that Octavia hadn’t dared to dream would be her own. They kissed, they snuggled, every accidental touch felt magical. While the two of them hadn’t taken ‘the plunge’ so to speak, Octavia couldn’t possibly be happier if she tried. Things went well for once, both in her personal and professional life. Apparently, her playing had gone through something of a renaissance, flawless and inventive at the same time. Perhaps having a source of inspiration helped with that.  Like all good things, their happiness eventually found itself interrupted. A certain weekend day ended with them at a night club, drinking and laughing their cares away. “You are a hell of a dancer, Vinyl! Where in the world did you learn how to do stuff like that?” Octavia asked, looking sidelong at her companion as they walked the dark streets. The two of them dressed to the nines, Octavia in a glimmering, slinky purple dress and Vinyl in a snazzy two piece, blue suit to match her mane.  “You know, here or there,” Vinyl answered, as casual as could be. “I spent a lot of time in clubs just like that growing up. I may have, uh, snuck in before I could legally get in there. You know, no harm no foul, right?” The question would be accompanied with a half grin and a small jab to Octavia’s side, teasing and nothing more. The two of them finally reached the small garden path towards Octavia’s home, familiar territory and a sign that they could sleep soon. Octavia already looked forward to sleeping beside her love.  The grey pony laughed, shaking her head to and fro. “Your brazenness never surprises me, dear,” she cooed, the hint of affection, of care, ever so obvious in the way she spoke. “Some day, you’re going to have to-” Octavia’s words died in her throat, if only because she’d seen her house as they managed to get halfway down the path. Red paint, or what she hoped was paint, stained the front of her house in a big, red X. The two front windows, beautiful, bay windows lay shattered across the ground, broken into pieces. On the front doorstep, a canvas bag stained red rested, waiting for the two ponies to return home. She couldn’t speak, not with the horror right in front of her face. For a second, Octavia’s muzzle worked without anything coming out. Vinyl reacted first in the end, her magic surrounding the canvas bag and instantly throwing it into Octavia’s trash can. It went with quite a bit of vitriol, the top of the can yanked open, the bag thrown down, and the top slammed shut. Only as the noise rang through the night did Octavia finally manage to recover from her stupid. “Vinyl, what’s-” Once more, she’d be interrupted, this time by Vinyl starting to drag her along, looking to pull her away from the path and back onto the street. She let it happen. Vinyl glanced over her shoulder as the light spilled onto the pair once more, streetlights illuminating the two of them and leaving them in their own little world of light. “We need to leave, Octavia. We need to find somewhere else to sleep tonight. Do you have enough money to get security for your house?” she asked. Vinyl’s expression and cadence had changed. It was perverted from that carefree, loving expression and happy joy she’d had just a few moments ago. Instead, the mare looked panicked, eyes set in a hard, cold glare as she searched for whoever had done this. It didn’t look like she’d actually find someone. After all, who would stay after doing something like this? “I- maybe?” Octavia answered, her mind spinning at a million miles a second just to catch up. “I know somewhere we can go! Fancy Pants lives a couple blocks down, I-I can take us there.” It wouldn’t be a far walk, and if Fancy couldn’t give them shelter, she didn’t know who could. Vinyl nodded, offering a smile even if it did look stressed, and a bit frantic. “Okay, good, good. Lead the way, Octy. Be quick. These people don’t mess around, not when they-” This time, Octavia interrupted Vinyl. “Who are these people!?” Octavia asked. Panic flared through her, tail lashing behind her with every breath, ears back on her head. “Who would do this to my house, Vinyl? Who would do this?” She leaned forward, invading Vinyl's personal space and getting deathly close to the other mare. Vinyl’s ears pressed back and she withdrew, looking like she’d coiled up from the worry. “I’ll explain everything, Octy, I swear. Just get use to Fancy’s first, it’s not safe here.” She wouldn’t get off that easily. For a few seconds, Octavia kept her gaze locked on Vinyl’s, as if staring in to her very soul. Eventually, she nodded her head, a brisk, quick nod. Octavia turned on her hooves, stomping her way towards Fancy’s house, leading them back towards the sidewalk. “You better have some answers for me, or I swear to Celestia-” It seemed the night had interruptions to spare, as Vinyl took her turn at it. “What? You’re going to kick me out? You’re gonna do what exactly? I can leave if you want! I can leave right now!” Now that, that gave Octavia pause, even stopping again in the middle of the street. She turned, eyes gone sad, ears drooping rather than back. Vinyl had stopped a couple feet behind her, leaving more distance between the two of them then there had been in weeks “I- Nothing. I’m not going to do anything. I’m just emotional right now, I think that’s perfectly understandable given the circumstances!” At some point, the grey mare’s voice rose a few octaves, tail flicking back and forth fast as a hurricane. Only a grimace answered her at first. Vinyl even took a step back, moving away from Octavia. Eventually, she sighed, glancing down at her own hooves. “No, no, that’s fair. Look, let’s just get to your friend’s house and then we can talk, alright? Please, just give me that.” A nod, a look measuring her partner carefully. “Okay, let’s get to Fancy’s.” And that would be that. The rest of the trip would be spent in silence. On the clip clop of their hooves as well as the sound of labored breathing filled the air. Octavia fumed, not just because her house suffered, but because Vinyl kept something from her, something so important and potentially dangerous. Had she not realized how much this could come back to hurt them? She’d have to talk about it. Vinyl trotted along with her head and tail both drooping down as far as they could go. Luckily, the trip didn’t last long. A few blocks, two or three total, and they’d find themselves at the steps of a veritable mansion. Fancy’s house inside of Canterlot practically had its own block and looked as traditional as they came. White marble edifice, gargoyle like structures on top, and it’s own garden path entryway. Not much of it could be seen this late at night, though small magic lights lit the path towards the door. Octavia knocked. Two quick knocks, the two mares left to awkwardly wait on the doorstep. Thankfully, it didn’t take long for the door to be opened, but it wouldn’t be Fancy, instead a stallion in a butler’s uniform, one conveniently named Butler from what Octavia remembered. It also seemed like he remembered her. “Miss Philharmonic. Isn’t it a bit late for a visit?” Haughty, a little stuck up, the same old Butler as usual.  “Is Fancy home? I have a personal request of him, one private in nature.” Octavia responded in kind, all the high class folks talked in the same way, like a game in a way. A nod first, and then an actual answer. “Sir Pants is home tonight, though he isn’t accepting visitors currently.” Then, begrudgingly: “But perhaps he’d make an exception for you. Please, come and sit. I’ll fetch Sir Pants.”  The foyer hadn’t changed from the last time Octavia came over. Hardwood floors, bright colored walls, a wonderful, Ponysian rug in the center and a wide couch with two chairs on each side of a low coffee table. Every high class home had the same look, and Fancy’s didn’t deviate from the standard.  Vinyl took her seat first, stiffly, awkwardly, but settling in after a few seconds. Naturally, Octavia took the chair across from her lover, the tension thick enough to be cut with a knife.  The silence didn’t last forever. “Octy, I’m sorry,” Vinyl blurted out, shifting in her seat. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen, I didn’t want you to be in danger or any of that. It’s why I tried to disappear the first day, but-” “Why didn’t you tell me about this earlier?” Octavia interrupted. The hurt still echoed strongly, the short time of the walk not washing away all the betrayal, all the shock not going away.  Again, Vinyl shifted, scooting around like the chair was made out of stone. “Because, I was worried. And I thought that since nothing had happened, maybe they would finally leave me alone! I- I haven’t had anypony actually care for so long, I just wanted to actually have somepony for at least a little bit. I’m sorry, Octy, I’m so sorry that it ended up coming to this. I never thought it would! I thought we’d have more time and-” Octavia kept having to interrupt, if only because Vinyl seemed like she’d ramble all night otherwise. “Look, it happened. We have to get passed that, it happened and there’s nothing that can be done about that. But, we can do something about the future. Vinyl, you need to tell me who these people are. You need to tell me what’s happening, I need to know. If I keep having to flounder around in the dark, nothing is going to change and we’re just going to be targets again. You realize that, right? Let me help. Let Fancy help. You have people who care about you know, okay?” Octavia had started the words in a huff and ended them in a near whisper, the fire in her heart dulling into worry and concern instead.  And Vinyl recognized that. Octavia could tell by the way she sat up a little more, by the way Vinyl looked at her more directly instead of looking like tears were on the horizon. “Okay. Okay, we can talk about it. I swear.” The sound of somepony clearing their throat drew the pairs’ attention towards one of the doors that connected the foyer to the rest of the mansion. Fancy stood, still in a nightcap and all, a bit rankled but with a small smile etched on his face. “Well, I do hope that I can be privy to this conversation as well. How can I help?” he asked. Octavia let herself smile: this had to work.