//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3: MIA 
// Story: Harmonic Melody 
// by Nailah 
//------------------------------//

Vinyl let out a long, groaning yawn, wiping the sleep dust from her eyelids, and blinking. She stretched out her forearms on the bed, before scooting up to an upright position.
“Man last night was lit. I really ought to take Tavi’s advice and chill out for a bit. Besides, I did promise her we’d go to the Gala together. Where is Tavi?” she questioned as she noticed her roommate was mysteriously missing. 
“Weird. It’s not like Tavi to just leave unannounced.” Vinyl Scratch got up and began looking around Octavia’s side of the place. Searching for a sign of a note, or something that might give her a clue as to where she had vanished off to in such a hurry. She tilted her head out the window, the sun was up. Maybe she was already at the train station? No note, no signs of anything off. Something wasn’t right and she was going to figure out what happened.
“I’m going to find you Tavi. I promise.” Vinyl Scratch spoke, she walked over to Octavia’s cello. It was still here, she touched her hoof against the case. She flinched slightly, and shook her head. No she wasn’t going to let this get to her. Vinyl put on her shades and dashed out the door to begin her search, she only hoped that wherever Tavi was, she was safe.

~~~~~
Dylan felt the sweat drops pouring down his face, as he held his hands on his head, muttering under his breath.
“Damn...no one is ever going to believe me when I tell them I’ve discovered a talking pony. Just my luck though...what am I going to do with her? I can’t keep her, she’s not like a pet. Besides that would be weird right?”
“You do know I can hear you right?” retorted Octavia giving him a slight raise of an eyebrow, and crossing her arms once more. 
“Sorry. Why am I apologizing? You suddenly appear in my room and you just expect me to act like this is normal?” questioned Dylan.
“I accept your apology, and the first thing you need to do is stop treating me like I’m different. Why not consider me a friend. Let us work together. Nothing will get solved if all you do is spend your time thinking I’m strange. To me you are strange. Let’s at least agree to work together. You remind me of someone I know, I noticed you like music? Seems we may have something in common.” Octavia spoke fluently, trying to get him to understand. Things were never simple, the world was complicated and a mess and if they wanted to fix this, they’d have to at least agree to work together and be friends.
“Okay you’re right. I’m sorry. It’s just...I never expected any of this.” Dylan replied, finally moving his arms down to his sides, and looking at her once more. Dylan couldn’t help staring at her again, for a pony she had this shine to her gray coat, and her mane almost seemed to glow, and her eyes...sparked something within him.
“It’s okay. It seems like we both have things to figure out. This school you speak of. Why can’t I come?” questioned Octavia. After all she wasn’t sure she could stand spending three days couped up in a young teenage boy’s bedroom. She might be a bit stir crazy by the end of it.
“Well...um you’re a pony. We don’t have talking ponies in this world.” explained Dylan, rubbing the back of his head. He didn’t know why he had to explain this to her, he thought that fact would be obvious by how he had reacted to her. 
“Right.” Octavia replied, flatly. Her expression dulled, and her head sunk slightly. “Seems like I have no choice but to stay here. Where can I sleep?” 
“You can have my bed. I don’t mind taking the floor.” suggested Dylan.
“It would be improper of me to take your bed from you. And I’m not sleeping in the closet.” Octavia scoffed up her nose at the mere thought of doing so.
“Well...if you won’t take my bed because you don’t want me to lose it, then the only other option is the floor.” Dylan suggested, as in the back of his head he was fighting inside with saying something silly like why don’t we sleep together. No. That was crazy, and he didn’t even know why he was thinking that.
“Very well. I can adapt.” Octavia replied as she was already glancing around for the most comfortable spot. She might as well try to get comfortable, who knew how long she’d be here for. She supposed she should try to get along with this human, no matter how strange he was.
“Well, I’m going to go get my shower now. You just hang tight alright?”
“Alright.” replied Octavia, even if she wasn’t sure of certain human terms yet. She was fairly sure of what a shower was. However she didn’t plan to investigate this matter further. Bathing was a private thing, and she would just stay here. 
Dylan grabbed a spare pair of shorts, and waved to Octavia before opening the door, and closing it behind him.
“Finally. I’m alone. So this is the human world. It’s not quite as Twilight described it.” Octavia stood up to all fours and took a tour around the room. She didn’t even want to go back to his closet. That strange area had a musky odor to it, and she didn’t care to find out what the cause of it was. Probably something about being males. Why was it that males always had this odd musk to them?
Octavia hopped up on the bed, the covers were soft and rather soothing. She felt like she could just curl up in them and drift off to sleep and after today’s events she was already feeling dreary, but it was only morning. She couldn’t sleep. She had to keep figuring out as much as she could. She was taking a page from Twilight. 
Find the source of the strange magic, and then she would be able to finally return to Vinyl. She promised herself once she returned to her own world, she was going to address the situation with her, to figure out where to go from here. How did she feel? Were she and Vinyl friends, or was there more to it she simply hadn’t noticed? So many questions, and Octavia felt like it would take all bloody day to answer them.
Dylan opened the door to the bathroom which was off to the left from where his bedroom was, so it wasn’t like he was far away from the strange talking pony in his room. He locked the door, and let out a heavy sigh as he leaned his hands onto the sink’s countertop looking at his reflection in the mirror.
“I am not crazy. I’m not unstable because I talked to a pony. Nope. I’ll feel so much better after I get clean and get ready for school. Man, how am I going to tell Rebecca about this? Like...should I even tell the band? I can’t possibly keep Octavia a secret forever. Yeah. I’ve got to tell the band, they’ll know what to do.” He let go of his grip on the counter, and stripped out of his shirt first, tossing it to the side. He then went to the shower, turning on the water and checking the heat of the running current with his right hand, once it was suitable, he removed the rest of his clothing, his shorts and boxers, putting them on top of his shirt, before stepping into the shower. The water fell down straight onto his chest, he leaned his head back, letting out a soft sigh of relief.
He reached for his washcloth, and his body soap, lathering it onto the cloth. Dylan lathered his face first, scrubbing the grime and dirt.
“Man everyone is going to think I’m crazy or something, but she is kind of cute.” 
Dylan blushed slightly as he lathered up his face, scrubbing out the grime and dirt, while avoiding getting suds in his eyes.
“I wonder what Rebecca would think if she knew I thought a pony was adorable. She’d probably smack me and reprimand me; she's got me wrapped around her finger.” Dylan sighed as he moved to his arms and chest, he couldn’t help thinking more of the pony while he attended to getting squeaky clean.
“Why do I feel drawn to her? Why do I even care? I mean she’s just a pony...but she is a person too. Ugh!” he hit his hand against the shower wall, causing a slight thumping. What was it about her that intrigued him? 
He continued washing down his sides and waist, before moving to his back, and in between his toes, before finally taking the time to wash his manhood.
“I wonder if she has teats like a real horse…” he quickly shook that thought out of his head. He was only going to help her get back to whatever strange magical world she came from, he was certainly not going to fuck her.
He always preferred showering in the morning, that way he was ready for a long day at school. At the very least he had his band and he wasn’t a nobody so school wasn’t so bad. Just annoying. After he finished lathering up, he reached for the shampoo, putting it into his palms, and then scrubbing it into his brown wavy locks, he closed his eyes, and lowered his head to go under the jet stream of water. After he was clean, he reached for his towel, eyes closed, and wiped his face before opening his eyes once more. He reached for his new pair of clothes putting them on, and then picking up his old clothes and walking out of the bathroom and into his bedroom, and tossing his dirty clothes into the hamper.
He turned his attention to Octavia, she was sitting on his computer chair, seeming like she was deep in thought studying his machine. He just shook his head.
“That’s a computer.” he stated as he got dressed, not seeming to mind that she was in the same room as him. It wasn’t like he was embarrassed at his form. He wasn’t muscular but he wasn’t flabby either, he was just a normal guy with a love of music.
“I know what a computer is.” Octavia scoffed up her nose.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed.” Dylan retorted, scratching the back of his head, and walking over to Octavia, standing right behind her, he looked at what she was looking at. Something about magic she managed to bring up on Google.
“Magic? Like the game?” questioned Dylan. Octavia tilted her head back towards Dylan.
“Game? No magic isn’t a game. It’s serious business. I believe if I can find some source of magic in this world, it may be a key in getting me back to my homelands of Equestria.”
“What in the world is Equestria?” questioned Dylan.
“It’s a world filled with magic and well other ponies like me. I don’t know how I got here, but if I can find a source of magic in your world, I may be able to use it to go home.” Octavia explained. Granted, she was no Twilight, but she had listened to enough Twilight Sparkle’s theories on magic to have a grasp of what to look for. Maybe not exactly how to use it, but she would have to figure that out once she actually found magic that wasn’t just a game.
“Well I need to go to school now. Promise me you’ll stay here and try to be quiet.”
Octavia sighed, ears drooping slightly, and biting her bottom lip. “Very well, I will stay here, but you had better come back.”
He petted the top of her mane, causing her locks to get all ruffled up and make her look like a mess.
“Don’t worry Tavi, I’ll come back I promise.” Dylan said as he smiled at her, waved to her and headed out the door.
Octavia sighed again, and fixed her mane with her forehooves. “I’ll have to remind him not to call me that, only Vinyl can call me cute nicknames.” she huffed crossing her arms, before going back to the computer to read more on Magic. Though most of what she was finding wasn’t really anything that would aid her in getting home. Octavia felt lost adrift in this strange new world, and she was going to have to rely on this human at least for now, until she figured out a way back to the place she loved, back to the person she cared for. Do I like Vinyl more than a friend? She felt her heart thumping faster and faster as she pictured her in her mind. 
“Don’t worry Vinyl, no matter what I will find my way back to you.” Octavia wouldn’t give up. Because she knew deep down, Vinyl wouldn’t stop looking for her.