//------------------------------// // Slam // Story: Filly Friends // by thehalfelf //------------------------------// Slam Three weeks after our return from Manehatten, Vinyl snuck out for the first time.  I was up early working on a project for school when I heard the stairs outside my door creak.  The other bedrooms and bathroom were both on the other side of the hallway from the landing, so I went to my door and poked my head out. Vinyl stood on the stairs, coming back up.  Her eyes locked with mine and she froze. “Hey, Tavi, just, uh, getting some water,” she whispered. I looked at her horn, which was dark.  “Right. Okay. Good night, then,” I said, and shut the door. I was almost back to my desk when Vinyl opened the door.  She slid inside and shut it softly. “So, uh, can you not tell your parents that you saw me?” she asked. Now that I could see her in the light of my desk lamp, I knew something was going on.  She had her mane tied up out of her eyes and seemed slightly out of breath. “What did you do?” I asked, turning fully from my school work. “I told you, I went to get some water,” she replied, but couldn’t quite meet my eyes when she said it. I flicked an ear and waited. “I was out with Hazelblossom,” she finally said in a low whisper.  “He’s actually from Canterlot too and was showing me some stuff.” “Vinyl!” I whispered harshly.  “It’s way past curfew. We were just grounded, why would you do something like that?” After a moment of further thought I added, “and what did he need to show you at,” I consulted a clock, “four-thirty in the morning?” “His deck.”  She was halfway into her next sentence before I realized she probably wasn’t talking about a patio.  “--this really neat setup with six different mixers all feeding into one speaker system. It’s super easy to mix together a bunch of different tracks and play them over and around each other!  He told me about it in Manehatten but my stuff here isn’t complex enough to let me do it, so he offered to let me use his deck last night, so I went to meet him after his set tonight and--” “Wait, you were out last night too?” “No, of course not!  I just meant that we talked yesterday, at night, and...”  She trailed off, spluttering a few half-formed words to try and continue. I flicked my other ear. “Yeah,” she finally admitted.  “He plays at The Underground every couple days, so I’ve been going to catch his sets.” Knowing this, the signs were obvious.  Vinyl was never a morning pony, but recently she had been even worse to get up and out the door to get to school on time.  Not only was she sneaking out at night, but even I knew about the reputation The Underground had. Everypony at school did. “I... find it hard to believe his parents let him frequent somewhere like that, and so late at night too,” I said after a few moments, for lack of something else to say.  I was beginning to wonder if Mother hadn’t been right in Manehatten. This time, Vinyl didn’t answer. “He isn’t even in school, is he?” I asked.  She shook her head in reply, and I sighed. “So how old is he, anyway?” “Three years older than me,” she answered, ears drooping.  “Please, don’t say anything to Melody or Legatus. They’ll kill me.” She was right, at least in part.  Mother might kill her; all Father would do was look disappointed.  It would have been better to tell them, have her maybe get in trouble and stop it.  It wasn’t safe to wander that part of Canterlot too late at night, after all. Not to mention that legal position Vinyl was in.  If she was doing something illegal, or was just caught by the Guard for being out after curfew, what was the chance she was going to be shuttled into the foster system? But at the same time, staring back into her wide eyes and pleading smile, I couldn’t bring myself to not agree.  “Fine, just... don’t do it anymore, okay? I don’t like lying to them.” Vinyl thanked me, promised she wouldn’t, and bid me goodnight. I ended up packing up my things and starting breakfast early.  I wasn’t able to focus anymore. <><><><><> The next few days I woke myself up early to see if Vinyl would keep her word, and she did.  I had no idea she’d started going back out again for several months, until I came home from a visit with Symphonia to an argument. Mother could be heard before I even opened the front door, which was surprising enough.  Mother was very calm, normally, and I’d only heard her upset a hooffull of times and only once or twice at me.  “--from our trip in Manehatten? Now you’re doing the same here, and skipping school for it?” I quietly pulled open our front door and slipped in.  Mother’s voice seemed to be coming from Father’s study, so I quickly tiphoofed my way over.  Father himself was probably still out, working on his next piece. Inside the study, Mother stood over Vinyl, seated in a chair, with a letter grasped in her magic tight enough to crinkle the paper in the middle.  Seeing Mother that upset was a shock in itself, but not as much as seeing several deep blue streaks in Vinyl’s mane and tail. “You’ve missed four days in the last two weeks,” Mother continued, “why?” “Well, I couldn’t go in today until the dye dried, and it took a lot longer than the box said,” Vinyl answered.  “And the other days weren’t important. I didn’t miss any tests or anything like that. I’ve just found other things to do.” “What could be more important than your schooling?” Mother asked.  She then sighed, sat, and continued in a much softer voice, “Is this why your grades are dropping?” “Who cares?”  Vinyl shrugged.  “I’m in my last year anyway.  I don’t need all these classes to graduate.  When am I ever going to use half of this stuff?” To my surprise, Mother chuckled.  “I used to think the same thing when I was your age.”  Her tone tightened again. “The difference was, I already had a scholarship to the Royal Canterlot Conservatory.  All I had to do was graduate high school and I was set on my path. You, on the other hoof, haven’t been offered the same things that I know of.  You need to keep your head in it until you know what you want to do in life.” “But I do know,” Vinyl said, looking Mother in the eye for the first time since I’d started eavesdropping.  “I want to make music. I don’t need any fancy degree or anything for that.” Mother sat forward, locking eyes with Vinyl and pushing her back with the weight of the stare.  “We have been over this. Neither Legatus or myself went to the Conservatory for the actual schooling.  The music business is all about connections. You could be the best musician in Equestria, but it won’t matter if nopony will hear your music.” “But I do have connections!  I’ve got--” Mother clacked her hoof against the polished leg of her chair.  “If you mention that stallion again, we are truly going to have a problem.  I told you he is a bad influence and you are not to be speaking with him.” “He’s not though!” Vinyl snapped.  “Just because he’s a bit older--” “--and a drop out, and has a criminal record--” Mother tried to interject, but Vinyl just kept on going. “--doesn’t mean anything.  Hay, I have a criminal record, remember?  Petty theft and loitering? Does that make me a bad influence too?” “Of course not!  Your record is due to circumstances out of your control, nopony would hold those against you.”  Mother sighed again and dropped her voice. “Legatus and I just worry about you, Vinyl. We want what’s best for you, in the long run, whether you agree or not.” Vinyl stood.  “Well, I don’t agree.  I don’t agree with any of this.  I know what I want to do. Why does everypony want to keep me from that?” I didn’t catch Mother’s reply.  Vinyl started heading towards the door to the study, so I quickly dove out of the way and into the safety of the dining room.  I listened as Vinyl stomped towards the front door, threw it open, and slammed it shut. She didn’t come home that night. <><><><><> Mother called me down to Father’s study midway through a mindless practice session the next day.  Father was there as well, which was odd for a Saturday afternoon. They asked if I’d heard from Vinyl - which I had not - and then filled me in on what was going on. Vinyl had not kept her promise to me for more than a week or two before sneaking out again.  This time, however, she was caught by Father returning late from his orchestra’s practice. She had struck the same sort of deal with him as she had me, and neither had spoken about it. Nearly a month after that, while I was out of the house, Silver Sentinel came by and informed my parents that Vinyl had been arrested the night prior and only let go on his - now a ranking member of the guard - order.  She’d been picked up near The Underground on suspicion of possession during a raid of the building. “Which, of course, was untrue,” Father hurried to elaborate.  “She was picked up in a group, not singled out herself. She was very, very adamant about that and a search after her arrest proved she had nothing.” Another raid of the same club two months later saw Hazelblossom arrested.  A search of his apartment revealed several items of Vinyl’s and she was arrested again the next day as she tried to use her spare key to enter his apartment to use his mixing equipment.   That was when Mother found out about him and had her first of many arguments about her future.  After all the time Vinyl had spent with Hazelblossom and at The Underground, she decided to pursue a career in music, specifically production and performance.  In short, she wanted to DJ professionally. My parents were not against this exactly, more worried about the route Vinyl wanted to take to achieve it.  They had both gone to the Conservatory for their music education. While it was a good institution, the three of them agreed that it was probably not the place for Vinyl.  Mother had offered to pay for Vinyl to attend a non-specialized college, but Vinyl had refused. She didn’t even want to finish high school, and was instead talking about just dropping out to make music full time. The conversation I’d overheard was the third such since everything came to light.  Vinyl had been caught sneaking out once more again, and was apparently skipping school.  Neither Mother or Father was too terribly strict, in my opinion. They probably wouldn’t have cared about Vinyl wanting to dye her mane and tail, but the fact she skipped school to do it had sparked the most recent argument. “None of that matters at the moment,” Father finished.  “We just want to make sure she’s okay.” “Do you know where she could be?” Mother asked me, distress audible in her voice.  “We haven’t talked to Silver Sentinel yet; we both decided that would be best as a last resort.” I thought for a moment.  The two of us didn’t share many friends.  I didn’t know if any of them would be able to put her up for a night, but I knew I had to find her.  I had to make sure she came home. “I don’t, but I will find out.” Mother instantly perked up slightly.  “Just tell her to come home. I’m not angry, but I do think her and I need to talk.” I hugged both of my parents and set out.  I did not know where she would be, true, but if she had a key to his apartment it seemed reasonable that she was with Hazelblossom.  Unfortunately, I didn’t know where he lived, but I knew somepony who might. One interrogation of Vinyl and my mutual friend, Lemon Drops, later and I stood outside a cramped apartment block towards the west end of the city.  Like most of the buildings out here, it wasn’t much to look at. I climbed a set of rickety wooden steps to the fourth floor, found the door to an apartment that seemed to be shaking the walkway all on it’s own, and hesitantly knocked. I had to knock five times, each one progressively harder, before the music scratched to a halt.  A few thudding hoofsteps later and Hazelblossom opened the door. Seeing him in proper light, and without his prior drape of necklaces, I could see that his coat was indeed a very light shade of brown.  He blocked most of the door, so I couldn’t see past him to see if Vinyl was there. “Yo, you’re V’s friend, yeah?” he said.  I stopped trying to peek behind him and nodded once. “Yes, my name is Octavia.  I apologize for dropping in unannounced, but is Vinyl with you?” He moved the block the door even further, though there wasn’t much point.  “Maybe. Why?” “If it’s Tavi you can just move, you big oaf,” came Vinyl’s muffled voice from inside.  Hazelblossom sighed and stepped aside, revealing my friend. “Hiya Tavi,” she said, chipper as ever. I jumped forward and pulled her into the tightest hug I could manage.  “Thank Celestia, you’re okay. We were really worried when you didn’t come home, you know,” I said into her ear. Vinyl hugged back, then chuckled.  “Yeah, I kind of lost my patience with Melody, sorry.  I left, figured I’d give us both a chance to cool off, and fell asleep here.  I was gonna come back today anyway, you didn’t have to come looking.” “Mother asked me to.  She wants you to come home so you two can talk.” Vinyl immediately hunched her shoulders and took a step back. “I don’t think she’s mad anymore,” I added quickly.  “They told me what’s been going on. I think she just overreacted and wants to make things right.” She considered that for a moment, then nodded.  “I’m heading back with Tavi!” she shouted into the apartment, then shut the door on Hazelblossom’s reply.  I half expected him to open it back up, but we left the complex without another word. “So he lives here, not in Manehatten..?,” I asked after walking several minutes in silence. Vinyl shook her head.  “Nah, he grew up there but lives here.  He was visiting family, just like we were.” We fell back into an uneasy silence.  I was reminded of the day we moved Vinyl from her mother’s house.  We left the apartment in step, but by the time we turned onto our street Vinyl was noticeably behind me.  I pretended not to notice, and waited for her to catch up on our doorstep. It was hard to read her expression, honestly.  It almost looked like she was trying to compose herself, but with that normal unfazed Vinyl facade, it was hard to tell for sure.  “Are you mad at me, Tavi?” she asked. “For breaking your promise to me, or for staying out all night without any word?” I asked, immediately regretting it as Vinyl shrunk from my tone.  I cleared my throat and dropped my voice a little. “Sorry. No, I’m not mad at you. I’m not happy that you lied to me, but I was more worried that you didn’t come home.  But I forgive you, as long as you tell me everything later today, okay?” She sniffed, smiled, and nodded.  “For sure, assuming Melody doesn’t kill me.” Vinyl didn’t wait for me to argue.  She walked forward, threw open the door and shouted, “I’m home!” Mother hurried around and poked her head around the corner from the parlor.  “Vinyl!” My friend dropped her cocky smile.  “Come on, let’s talk.” Mother nodded once and led Vinyl to Father’s office.  I slowly shut the front door and went to my room to wait.