Fancy set a course of action. First, he ensured the two that a member of his security detail would always be with them. Sure, one pony could only do so much, but even the smallest of deterrence could mean the difference between life and death. It would be accompanied by a broader search, a few questions asked in the right places. The inquiring would take time, but Fancy knew ponies: the head of the royal guard, the local police precinct captain, and even a few ponies in the mob business themselves. One thing rang true no matter what class or pony you were: you knew of Fancy and you probably liked him.
That isn’t to say that Fancy knew all. He had his enemies, especially since he oft found himself in political positions. So any steps after just asking around and talking would have to be done lightly. Last, but not least, Fancy sent a couple of stallions over to help repair the damage to Octavia’s home.
All that covered most of the morning, leaving Vinyl and Octavia the afternoon to themselves, with one caveat. They absolutely mustn’t leave the house for any circumstances. To them, that meant ‘don’t leave the bed for any circumstances’.
The two had spent most of their time since Fancy left snuggled up in bed, Octavia wrapped around Vinyl and holding her close to her chest. Little was said between the two, the silence comforting in a way. Occasional checks of ‘are you okay?’ and ‘still scared?’ traded back and forth, but no more.
At some point, likely the morning, a pony brought them breakfast. They shared it together without much talking, bleary eyes and fuzzy brains cutting off any conversation before it could truly begin. Even so, life started to spur back into being, the warm food, close company, and comfort of the room bringing them back into consciousness.
Octavia leaned against Viny’s shoulder, head resting against her lover with eyes still closed. “Are you worried?” she asked, words quiet, tender. She could feel the stress biting at herself, clawing at her stomach like an animal in a cage. Of course she’d be worried. They had powerful ponies chasing them, looking for Vinyl.
Octavia could feel the nodding. What did she expect, really? “Yea. But, I mean, it’s not like they’ve caught me yet. They gotta be pretty dumb to have not got one girl, right?” she asked, with a chuckle that didn’t quite sound ‘right’.
Still, Octavia laughed with her. It felt good in a weird way, refreshing after all the terror of the last few days. Probably just chemical, but nice nonetheless. “Mhm. You’re going to be fine. We’re going to be fine,” she repeated. The two were linked now, and despite the trepidation, Octavia didn’t intend to let her go. “But we probably should get up, shouldn’t we? We can only laze about in Fancy’s comfort for so long,” she noted.
Fancy’s generosity was legendary, but even he would have limits. Then again, Octavia imagined that they’d hit her limit for mooching off somepony else long before they hit Fancy’s limit.
With a groan, Vinyl rolled over in the bed. She flopped onto her back for a second and then rolled once more, plopping onto the ground and landing on all four hooves in one fluid motion. “You’re right, you’re right. We could at least go see if he needs help or something. Maybe I could just play the piano for him again. He really liked that. Celestia, I’m tired of doing all the old instruments,” she complained.
Which brought up a question, didn’t it? One that Octavia had yet to ask. “What do you want to do, Vinyl? As in, what do you dream of?” she asked. The mare pulled herself out of the bed as well, closing the gap between the two of them and inspecting Vinyl closely.
That’s how you truly measured a soul. What did they want to do with their lives? With such an important question, Octavia expected gravitas. She expected Vinyl to take this as seriously as she had, as serious as a life. But no, typical Vinyl to laugh about it.
Vinyl shook her head, tossing that lovely blue mane of hers with a giggle, stepping away and waving a hoof at Octavia.“Oh, don’t be ridiculous. I’ll do whatever pays enough to live,” she retorted, with a grin that smiled a few too many teeth to be genuine. “Dreams are for ponies that are born rich enough to be able to pursue them. Us common folk, or those of us without a silver spoon,” she teased, before going on, “can’t really think about that kind of thing much. Ain’t worth considering when you know it’s never going to happen.”
“How… defeatist,” Octavia blurted out before she could stop herself, with no small amount of disdain on her tone.
A ‘pffft’ interrupted anything else she could say. “Oh, don’t play, Octy. I’ve seen your house, you don’t have to pretend that you weren’t one of the ones that got a free ride to do whatever they wanted. Hey, I don’t hold that against you, or any of that shit. I think it’s just important that you recognize it, ya dig?” she asked, reaching a hoof out and casually, lightly flicking Octavia’s snout.
Octavia wrinkled her nose up, absent-mindedly touching it with her own paw. She frowned all the deeper, not pleased at all with how this conversation had gone. “But you don’t really have to do that now, do you?” she asked. “You live with me. You have the time to actually follow your dreams and to live your life to the fullest. Don’t you want to?”
What came next felt like a dagger in her heart. Vinyl inspected her with the most curious of
looks before shrugging. “We probably won’t last. Like, no offense, you’re amazing and all that jazz, but ponies like us never last. We’re too different and we don’t really like, know each other yet. Do you really think it would be fair for me to start basing my life off you being there and then we break up?”
It hurt because Vinyl told the truth. It hurt because Octavia knew that they may not last but she so desperately wanted them to. Maybe they hadn’t been together long enough for that to string, but it did nonetheless.
Octavia sniffled, tears welling at the edges of her eyes. Yea, it hurt. She looked down at her own hooves and swallowed hard, working to keep the emotions in check. “I never really wanted to think of it that way,” she admitted. The words came out raw and choked up, even the most oblivious of ponies could have read her emotions.
Which meant that Vinyl actually realized how much she’d hurt Octavia. “Aw, Tartarus,” she cursed, Octavia able to hear the unicorn’s light groan. She’d feel a hoof being thrown around shoulders, Vinyl holding Octavia close.
Not enough. Not even close to enough. Not when the hurt wanted to nestle so close to her heart. “I understand,” she whispered. She did. She understood. But that didn’t make it feel okay. “I do. I know how hard things have been and we really haven’t been together for very long.” Talking about it did almost speak it into reality, and nuzzling back against the soft, white fur beside her helped as well.
Perhaps the volatility of their current situation affected her. “It’s not your fault. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have gotten emotional. Everything here is just… confusing. My life feels like it’s been turned upside down in no time. I just don’t want to think about that right now.”
“Well, how about I tell you a story, then?” Vinyl volunteered. “Sit back down, lemme tell you a story. How about, uh..” Vinyl clearly couldn’t think of anything to say. “How about the time I discovered a new type of music?” While she talked, Vinyl slowly guided Octavia back towards the bed, setting her on top of their messy, unmade sheets.
Octavia let herself get moved on over, plopping back down and laying on her side amidst all the softness. “You invented a new type of music?” she asked, arching an eyebrow up in suspicion. The sniffles still came and Octavia did have to wipe her eyes free of the budding tears, but thinking about something else would surely help.
Besides, anything that started with music between the two of them would surely go somewhere wonderful. “Oh, yea, of course. Not a complete accident either!” Vinyl decreed, chuckling while she took the seat right beside Octavia. “You know how most people, like, just play instruments? Or they play them together in a band with a singer? That sort of thing?”
Octavia nodded.
“Well, I didn’t have a band growing up, but I still wanted to make some cool shit. So, I got creative. My parents, assholes that they were, did have some cool new tech. You know there are mixers now that you can use to ‘synthesize’ different instruments?”
Octavia tilted her head to the side, not having heard of that before. “What… what do you mean synthesize?” she asked. She hadn’t heard the term before and the confusion on her face showed that.
Vinyl tilted her head, letting out a quiet ‘hmm’ noise.”You’re kidding, right? I thought you were, like, the goddess of music or something?” she asked, delicately bumping against Octavia’s shoulder in a teasing way. “But yea, it’s some pretty new stuff. Bright side of your parents being in the fuckin’ mob and all, but I did get some technology earlier than I probably should have. You ever seen a DJ with turntables? Or, uh, a mixing station?” she asked, prodding and poking for more answers.
And yet, even with the extra detail, Octavia didn’t feel any closer to the answer. “No, I don’t think I have. I hate to bring the topic back up, dear, but this does sound dangerously close to a passion, does it not?” Octavia looked over with a smug knowing expression.
“Pfft, oh cut that out,” Vinyl chastised, going as far as to lightly boop the point of Octavia’s snout. “I mean, it sorta is. I liked it, you know? I played the piano and then I added some electronic elements and… Well, it ended up being a great blend. A sort of uh, marriage between the classical aspect and something you can really shake your tail too!” Vinyl’s grin had grown while she talked and the sheer enthusiasm practically radiated off of the other mare. The two together felt warm
“You know you’re going to have to show me that sometime now, right?” Octavia asked. She looped her hoof around Vinyl’s shoulders, pulling her close so the two snuggled up tight. “You’ve brought it out of the bag and now you have to share.”
Vinyl leaned back into the cuddle, the two getting comfortable on the bed again. Maybe they wouldn’t be getting up to find Fancy anytime soon. “Yea, yea, okay. But you’re going to have to get me some equipment, and this does not count as a passion,” she restated. The words were accompanied with quite the pointed look.
Octavia chuckled and closed her eyes, her own despair and worry had started to melt away, the pleasant talk more than enough to make the existential dread disappear. “Not a passion, sure. But if nothing else, it would make me happy to see what you can do,” she cooed. Her free hoof rested on top of one of Vinyl’s, the hidden tears drying up.
“Let’s do it,” Vinyl agreed. “Wanna, uh, take a nap for a bit more? I just wanna hold you for a little longer,” Vinyl admitted, a bright, red blush on her muzzle.
And so, they did.