//------------------------------// // Screech // Story: Filly Friends // by thehalfelf //------------------------------// Screech I woke up what felt like seconds after falling asleep.  Slowly, so as to not disturb the fur blanket pressed against my back, I stretched.  One after another my legs popped, complaining about just how long they were stuck in that position.  From my position on the bed I couldn’t see Vinyl’s only clock.  I just hoped that I hadn’t kept us down so long that she couldn’t go to Night-Glo as she’d wanted. “Vinyl,” I whispered, nudging her with a shoulder.  “Come on, Vinyl, wake up.” She sleep-muttered something suspiciously like, “dunwanna. Can’t make me.” There was a small part of me, I can admit now, that took pleasure in rising to the challenge.  Bracing all four hooves against the wall, I pushed, sending her sprawling off the bed and to the soft carpet of discarded blankets on the floor. I then pretended to still be asleep when she raised her head over the edge of the bed.  It was a struggle to resist the urge to laugh as I felt her eyes glare holes in my back, but focusing on keeping my breathing steady and even saw me through. “Tavi?” she whispered.  “You awake?” She waited a few seconds for an answer before slowly and carefully crawling back into bed.  She wrapped a forehoof around my barrel and settled in to sleep some more. I gave it about two minutes, right until I felt her breathing start to steady out before I did it all again.  Thanks to her hoof, this time we both went tumbling off the bed. We stayed in a heap on the floor, her stunned and a little confused, while I giggled like an idiot.  Vinyl turned to face me slowly.  “Not the first time I’ve been kicked out of somepony’s bed.  Probably the first time it’s been mine, though.” The latest giggle died on the way out.  “You often find yourself in other ponies’ beds?” “Ah, well, no…”  Vinyl scrambled into a sitting position.  “It was just a joke, really.” I thought back to when we cleaned Vinyl’s stuff from Hazelblossom’s apartment.  It was a one bedroom apartment, and he’d referred to it as their bedroom… “You went out with Hazelblossom?” I asked as the pieces all clicked into place. It almost looked like she was going to deny it.  “Yeah.  Well, kind of,” she admitted in a small voice. A few different possible next sentences ran through my head, but all that came out was a monotone, “uh-huh.” “I wasn’t going to tell you about it,” she replied, looking down.  “Nothing actually really happened.  The couch I was sleeping on started really messing with me.  I was having a really hard time sleeping, so he offered to let me use his bed for a while and he slept on the couch instead.  After that, whenever we had to go somewhere he called them ‘dates.’  It was kind of weird, but I went along with it because it seemed harmless.” She paused there, likely waiting for me to say something.  I didn’t, just gave her a small smile. Vinyl returned it hesitantly, and kept going.  “Like I said, nothing really happened.  Our heat went out one winter, so we had to sleep in the same bed to stay warm.  He tried to, like, kiss me a couple of times, but I always pushed him away.  That’s when he started acting like an ass, and soon after that I ran into Legatus again and moved here.” “Sorry for not saying anything,” she finished.  “I didn’t think it really mattered.” She waited for me to respond, her uncovered eyes never breaking contact with mine.  It was weird to think of Hazelblossom and Vinyl being together, though if it was as uninvolved as Vinyl said, “together” might be a bit of a stretch. “You’re right, it doesn’t,” I eventually said.  “It just caught me off guard, I think.” She stood and moved forward slightly, planting a light kiss on my forehead.  “If you’re fine, I’m fine.  It’s not like his weirdness changes anything with us, right?” “Right,” I agreed. With a twist of her head, Vinyl pulled her glasses from the nightstand and placed them firmly on her face.  “Now then, it’s the perfect time to hit the club.  Party time!” She looked at me expectantly, her smile infectious.  “Party time,” I conceded. Vinyl took a couple of minutes to whack her mane back into shape.  She then stood around impatiently while I spent much longer attempting to wrangle my own hair into some semblance of order.  By the time I was done, she was practically bouncing from hoof to hoof.  As soon as I set the brush down, she ran behind me and started pushing. I was thankfully able to get the door open before I was pushed into it. We walked the familiar path from campus in a comfortable silence, making good time through the mostly empty streets.  At the club, we were waved through the non-existent line without the bouncer even pausing to check our names.  Vinyl put in our normal drink order downstairs, which we collected upstairs in the lounge before going to our normal table. “Any particular reason you wanted to come here tonight?” I asked, looking over the balcony to the half-full club below.  It was early evening on a weekday, there wasn’t even a live DJ playing. Vinyl shrugged.  “It’s just something to do.  I like coming out here and chatting with the other ponies, and chatting with the DJs and bartenders.  Night-Glo is really different from The Underground, or any other club I’ve been to.” I’d only ever been to two: where we were right now, and the one in Manehatten we both went to as fillies.  But given my limited experience, I had to agree.  “That makes sense.” “I was wondering why you showed up at my room,” Vinyl continued, leaning forward onto the table.  “You never take naps, ever.  Did you want to sleep with me that much?” “Vinyl!” I gasped.  “Why’d you have to say it like that?” “Like what?  We both know what happened.” “Yeah, but you made it sound so…”  I spun a hoof, waiting for the right word to come to mind.  “Indecent.” “Did you not like it?  Was… Was I not good enough?” I could practically hear the crocodile tears welling up behind her glasses.  “I’m starting to wonder how long you can keep this up for.” “I can keep going as long as you want me to,” she whispered, leaning even further over the table, until our muzzles were only apart by a few inches.  “How long can you keep going?” It would have been easy to just explain about my recommendation, but I was having a hard time working up the courage to.  That meant there was only one way to distract her: play into her own joke.  “Are you really sure you can keep up?” I asked, failing to keep my voice level. Vinyl took almost a full second to process.  She fell back into her chair, laughing in surprise.  “I was not expecting that.” Feeling a rush of courage, I mirrored our earlier position.  “Why did you stop?  I thought you would keep going as long as I wanted?” I hummed at her.  The table pressed uncomfortably into my stomach, but watching Vinyl freeze up again was worth it. “You, uh, you spend too much time around me,” she responded once I’d settled back into my own seat. “I guess I could stop.”  I made a show of standing up to leave, but stopped as soon as I looked out over the dance floor.  “Is that Hazelblossom?  What’s he doing here?” “That’s a weird way to continue that joke,” Vinyl replied, laughing some more.  She stopped after seeing my face and stood as well.  “Seriously?  Where?” I pointed down to a small group at the main floor’s bar.  A stallion was arguing with the bartender, drawing a small crowd of onlookers.  Vinyl spun around and stalked towards the exit to the lounge.  I tried to call after her, but she didn’t turn around, so I followed behind. With her longer legs, Vinyl made it to the main floor before I did, though I wasn’t far behind.  It was hard to hear what was going on over the music, so she started pushing her way through the crowd.  I followed behind, apologizing for both of us.  Once we were towards the front, Hazelblossom’s voice was unmistakable. “So you guys just don’t take this kind of stuff seriously then?  I’m saying that one of your people stole my music.  I want compensation, and her fired.”  Hazelblossom had pushed aside two of the stools to get as close as possible to the bar. Sensing the impending fight, I tried to wrap a forehoof around Vinyl, to keep her from charging her ex. It didn’t work.  She broke free of my hold without much effort, pushing past the outer edge of the crowd and pulling me partway with her.  “You got a problem, Hazelblossom?” she asked. The stallion spun quickly, knocking a stool to the floor.  His gaze slipped over her, then myself, then back to Vinyl.  “Why do I always see you together?” He spat. “We’re friends,” Vinyl retorted, “we spend time together.  Why do I always see you alone?” Hazelblossom’s jaw clenched.  “I’m not here to listen to you mouth off.  Let me talk to your boss.” “Don’t have one.”  Vinyl set one of the stools upright and sat in it, making her just slightly taller than Hazelblossom.  I moved as well, to stand next to her. “Whoever decided to let you play my music here, then.”  He paused as the house music changed songs to something Vinyl had made.  “Like this one, right here!” Vinyl listened for a moment.  “Weird, could have sworn this was my song.  I’ve got all the pieces and everything.  Might even have the original mix on vinyl somewhere back home…” “Then explain how it sounds almost exactly like something I mixed years ago.”  I was barely able to resist the temptation to knock the smug smile off Hazelblossom’s face. Somehow, Vinyl resisted as well, though her voice froze to a hard edge.  “That’s a great point.  Unless you could explain how your style radically shifted close to mine, one would have to assume that I’m the one who mixed both.  Wouldn’t that be weird.” You wouldn’t have been able to hear it over the background music, but I swear the crowd gasped in shock. “T-Thats not the point, Vinyl.  I made my music first,” Hazelblossom said. Vinyl simply stared at the stallion.  As close as I was, I could just barely see the muscle under one of her eyes twitching.  I poked her gently with a hoof to get her attention, then nodded towards the nearest staff door.  She nodded slightly. I purposely walked between Vinyl and Hazelblossom to address the bartender.  “I’d like to speak with management, please.” He smiled and nodded, extending a hoof towards the very same door.  “Of course, miss.  Through that door, down the hallway, knock on the last door on the right.” “Thank you.”  I turned to push through the crowd again, only to find Hazelblossom blocking my way. “Why don’t we go together?” he said, once again hiding behind a cocky smirk. “Yeah, I don’t think so,” Vinyl said.  “How about you stay out here with me, and we’ll let Tavi go get the boss man.” “And let her tell some crazy lie to silence my complaint?”  Hazelblossom shook his head.  “No chance.” “Tavi wouldn’t lie, even if she needed to,” Vinyl snarled.  She pushed her way up into his face, which still looked weird, given their height difference. Hazelblossom took a step back when confronted with the angry white unicorn, letting me slip back into the crowd.  Right before I reached the door, somepony opened it from the other side.  Midnight Oil himself stepped out, followed by one of the larger doorponies. He nodded to me, but didn’t stop walking towards the bar.  “Apologies for my late arrival, I was just informed of our guest’s arrival.” I fell in step next to him.  “I was just coming to get you, actually.” “I thank you,” he addressed me, then gently cleared his throat behind a pony in the clump of onlookers.  “Begging your pardon, ma’am, I think I’m needed past you.” Midnight Oil never once raised his voice, or pushed through ponies.  Just like when Vinyl and I first met him, he seemingly melted through crowds until we were at the bar itself. I retook my place next to Vinyl as Midnight Oil cleared his throat.  “I was told somepony was looking for management?” “Finally!” Hazelblossom shouted, throwing his hooves up.  “I’m here to lodge a complaint about one of your DJs stealing my music.  I’d also like to speak about your employees stonewalling me.” The bar owner nodded along to Hazelblossom’s words.  “Yes, I am aware of the first baseless complaint.  As for the second, I was informed as soon as you asked, but I simply had some pressing matters to attend to first.” “Baseless?  So you aren’t going to do anything about it?”  Somehow, Hazelblossom managed to get even louder.  He stretched out to his full height, standing over a full head taller than Vinyl and myself, and about a half head over Midnight Oil. Midnight Oil stood his ground, calmly looking up at the other stallion.  “Yes, baseless.  I’ve heard similar allegations from your colleagues from The Underground, but none of you have actually been able to provide evidence.  The supposed stolen music matches Vinyl’s style almost perfectly, adjusting for a slight difference in time.  In addition, she regularly delivers new music to me, but I haven’t heard of you creating anything new in quite some time.” Hazelblossom spluttered, trying to regain his momentum.  “Well, at least do something about your rude staff.  This stallion ignored my questions and refused to take me to see you and Vinyl was just downright unpleasant.” “I apologize for the rudeness.  However, our staff were following the proper procedure and alerted me right away.  Also, Vinyl isn’t an employee; she is a contractor at best.” “So you aren’t going to do anything?” “No, I am not, unless I am provided evidence; I am pleased with Vinyl’s performance and that of the rest of my staff as well.  Now then, you’ve caused quite a scene here.  I’m going to have to ask you to leave my establishment until such time that you have sufficient evidence to prove my employees or contractors of wrongdoing.” Hazelblossom blinked.  “Wait, you’re kicking me out?” “Indeed,” Midnight Oil replied.  The doorpony took a single step forward, easily drawing Hazelblossom’s attention.  “Have a pleasant evening.” “Yeah, whatever.  This isn’t over,” he said to Vinyl, then pushed his way through the crowd, and out of the building. Vinyl looked after him and shook her head.  “Idiot.  Did he really think that was going to work?” “Maybe,” I offered.  “Maybe he just wanted to stir up trouble.” “Probably,” Vinyl scoffed.  “Oh, while we’re here…” Turning around quickly, she bounded off after Midnight Oil, trying to catch him before he retreated to his office.  Being a little slower, I didn’t catch up until after they’d already started talking. Midnight Oil nodded to something Vinyl said I hadn’t heard.  “That should be fine.  Have a pleasant evening, and please try to avoid stirring up more trouble, hmm?” “No promises!”  Vinyl turned back to me as Midnight Oil disappeared into the back hallways.  “Good news, Tavi, I’ve got work off for our trip.” I stared at her and blinked once, slowly.  “You mean our trip to Las Pegasus to see Father’s show?” “Yup.” “The one I told you about months ago?” “Yup.” “The one that we leave for in a week and a half?” She beamed at me.  “Yup!  Isn’t that great?” I rubbed the edge of my hoof against my forehead, attempting to massage away the impending headache.  Why hadn’t I asked her about it sooner?  When Father had given me the tickets, I gave Vinyl hers the very next day, but that had been weeks ago.  “And did you have a plan for if he said no?” “But he didn’t. It’s fine, Tavi, it’s fine.”  She waved a hoof for emphasis, trying to bat my own hoof from my face. “You owe me a drink,” I grumbled, pushing her towards the entrance to the lounge.  With everything that happened in the last few days, I’d almost forgotten about the trip Father had promised me.  We would be there for a week, long enough to see the show at least twice and explore the city besides. I would also have a chance to talk to Father about my recommendation to his orchestra.  He wasn’t actually responsible for it - that was left to his aid - but he might be able to do something to rescind it.  Given how she’d handled asking for time off of her DJ work, I’d probably also have to keep an eye on Vinyl to make sure she was actually ready. As we climbed back to the lounge, I decided to not tell her about my recommendation, yet.  Once we were in Las Pegasus and I’d had a chance to talk to Father, I’d be able to tell Vinyl everything, including how I’d solved the problem.