//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: Intertwined Hearts // Story: Harmonic Melody // by Nailah //------------------------------// Dylan sat in the bus, in the very back seat, lounging his head against the palm of his hand, staring out the window. Even now, his mind wandered. He should be thinking about school, his band, but yet here he was thinking about Octavia. “Man… How the heck did I get wrapped up into this mess? What if the band doesn’t believe me? Heck… sometimes i don’t even believe it. A talking horse.” He paused as he could practically hear Octavia in his head. “I mean pony, she’s a talking pony not a horse…” The bus stopped and the driver shouted back at him. “Are you getting off now, or going to follow me back to the station?” Dylan stood up and walked to the front of the bus, looking briefly at the driver, apologizing. “Sorry, I was lost in thought about this girl.” “Typical teenager, now get off my bus before I have to kick you off myself.” the driver muttered, angrily. His hand gripped the joystick for the bus, as he pressed on the gas pedal ever so lightly to make it rev up, jerking the bus ever so slightly forward. Dylan hopped off the bus, rolling his eyes, as he landed his feet on the pavement. “What was his deal? Bus drivers are such a pain in the ass at times.” Shaking his head, he put his hands into the pockets of his jeans, and walked towards the school building. Trying to process how to begin to tell the band about everything that happened to him in the past few days. Dylan scratched the back of his brown locks. He tilted his head back, and sighed, as he hit one of the lockers. “Damn it. What if they don’t believe me? What if they think I’m crazy, or high.Or who knows what else... There’s a pony in my life now, and I’m not sure whether I like it or hate it.” “Dylan, dude what the heck is wrong with you? Are you feeling quite alright?” asked his fellow band member. Dylan sighed heavily. How in the world was he going to explain this? Even he thought it was crazy. He took a deep breath in, before responding. “I have a problem, some strange pony appeared in my closet, and I’m trying not to panic and figure out what to do about her.” “Wait...What? You’re telling me there’s a pony in your closet? It just magically appeared there? Dylan...are you quite alright?” asked his friend. “Stephen… Why in the world would I make this up? I think I’m crazy. I don’t know what to do.”  Stephen put a hand on his shoulder, and gave his friend a good hearty pat. “Hey, man it’s okay. Shit like this happens all the time. I’m sure we can figure out what to do about it. I mean it’s just one pony, surely it can’t be that hard to deal with.” “She is a talking pony, and she even knows how to use a computer!” Dylan began trying to explain the oddity of it all. He kicked at the ground beneath his feet, hitting the locker again. He looked back at Stephen. “I need your help. I need the band’s help. I can’t do this alone.” “Relax, man. Since when have I ever let you down?” asked Stephen, wrapping his arm around Dylan, and twisting his fist into his hair, as he pulled him tightly to his frame. Dylan paused for a moment, raising his eyebrow and giving his friend a stern glare. He crossed his arms, and blew a strand of hair out of his face. “More times than I’d like to count. But I really need you now, Stephen. This...whole thing is just…” He paused. Crazy? Insane? Unbelievable? He wasn’t sure exactly how to describe it, but as he thought of how Octavia spoke of magic, he couldn’t help but think it was all strangely fascinating. He sighed, catching his breath as he panted slightly against the locker, before lifting a fist, and giving his locker a good solid punch. “Did it help?” asked Stephen, with a raise of his eyebrow. He stood there awkwardly, fishing his hands to the sides of his ripped jeans, trying to process exactly what Dylan had told him, and whether or not, to believe it. “We should get to class. My girlfriend is taking Octavia to your house. I hope she could stay in your garage, until I can figure out what to do about everything.” Dylan explained, as he stood up, and sucked his stomach in, he had to stay calm. Octavia was right, freaking out about this whole ordeal, wouldn’t change it. He had to accept it, he had to admit he might be crushing on a magical pony. Wait...Did he just think that?  Dylan walked his way to class, slumping as he made his way to his first class of the day, algebra. Maybe some equations would get this whole thing out of his mind for now. He just hoped Rebecca would be able to transport Octavia to Stephen’s without causing any trouble. He didnt’ want either of them hurt, and he began to realize he did care about Octavia, despite not understanding much about her at all. What was his life coming too? Dylan sat down in his seat with a thump as his ass hit the chair harder than he had expected. He flushed slightly as the teacher gave him that ever so disapproving stare. He got out his book and opened it to the current page, 145. Looking at the different x’s and other symbols cleared his mind, and he began to focus on the task at hand, surviving another day of boredom. Music seemed to be the only time where Dylan felt something truly magical, something unique. “I wonder if Octavia likes music...maybe I should introduce her to the band instead of hiding her from the world.” He whispered to himself as he jotted down notes, listening to the teacher as he rambled on about the fundamentals of math and how to apply it to the real world. Dylan rolled his eyes, it wasn’t like they’d ever need these skills once they graduated. The key to success was in more than simple formulas and equations, he knew that. He found himself doodling a little sketch of a pony in his notebook, one that looked just like her, though a bit poorly drawn, he smiled as he looked down at the sketch.  “I hope you're okay, Octavia. I’ll get you home I promise…” Octavia felt her barrel hit the back of the moving van as Rebecca took another sharp turn to the left. She groaned, and visibly flinched, as she rubbed at her shoulder. She shouted as loud as she could muster. “Where are you taking me? Why are you doing this?” she asked her, though she wasn’t surprised when she was greeted with omedience silence. Octavia scowled and furrowed her brows, letting out a neigh of disapproval. She rolled her eyes, as she worked her way back to a standing position. There wasn’t much room in this container she had been thrust into by Dylan. She scoffed, as she managed to wipe off the dust accumulated on her gray fur.  She heard the wheels beginning to grind against the pavement, as she hurried to hold onto one of the four ends of the strange box holding her in. She bit her bottom lip, as the vehicle turned, and she barely managed to keep her footing.  Octavia muttered under her breath. This whole thing was ridiculous. She brushed her hoof against her mane, to try to tame the frizzy strands of hair wanting to make her look like a shattered mess. The vehicle finally stopped and halted in its tracks. Octavia blinked, as she turned towards the double doors at the end of the moving van. Rebecca would surely come to those doors, and open them. She had one chance to get away from whatever place she had been taken too, and she wasn’t going to let it slip from her. Vinyl fumbled around in their house, as she shuffled through her many DJ notes, scrambling for an address. She knew a lot of ponies from her DJing, and she knew exactly who might be able to help her get to wherever Octavia was. If Octavia couldn’t come to her, then she had to find a way to go to Octavia. Vinyl continued to shuffle around the papers, until she finally found it. The address to Lyra’s house. She lived right here in Ponyville, so she wouldn’t be hard to find, and Vinyl knew this mare knew quite a bit about strange events. Why had this happened? She just wanted her Tavi back… For Octavia to be hers, to hold her close, to kiss her. To love her, but Vinyl couldn’t deny that Octavia might not love her, the same way that she loved her. Vinyl took a deep breath, picking up the letter in her muzzle, and heading out the door. She trotted rapidly towards Lyra’s cottage. She searched her mind for what to say, how to explain what had happened, and hoping the strange mare could lead her in the right direction. To finding Octavai, to finding the answers, and fixing this whole mess. Could Twilight have done it? Possibly. But she had already bothered Twilight with her problems with not many answers. It was time to ask some pony with a bit more knowledge of outworldly craziness, and she thought Lyra was just the mare in question. Vinyl starred at the address in her hoof, as all the cottages in Ponyville looked practically identical. She’d be looking all day if she went off the looks of the building itself. She walked up to where the welcome mat was, and lifted her forehoof to the door, and knocked three times, hoping she was home. “Oh some pony is at the door, I’ll get it!” Lyra exclaimed with a bounce in her step, as she opened the door, to see Vinyl Scratch. “Oh, hey there DJ Pone3, what brings you here? Oh! Are you giving me a ticket to your next concert? That is so sweet of you!” Vinyl shook her head. “No that isn’t why I’m here. I wish that was the reason, but it’s much more dire than that. I need help. Your help.” Vinyl began. “Can I come in, it’s...kind of much to say out in the open.” Lyra blinked, studying DJ Pone3, this wasn’t like her at all, it had to be serious for her to look like a frazzled mess of her typical persona. “Yeah, come in. DJ Pone3...I mean Vinyl, what is going on? What’s gotten into you? You look…” “Like I went to Tartarus and back? Yeah...I am not sure how to explain it, but Octavia went missing yesterday through some strange black hole. I think perhaps the magic from the other world took her there.” “Wait what? Since when do you know anything about humans?” “I don’t, that’s why I came here. To ask for help.” “Well, all I know are theories, I have no clue how to actually get over to the other side of the mirror. Especially without a mirror. She was just pulled into a black hole? Sounds neat! Where is my black hole? I’d give just about anything to see a real human…” Vinyl coughed into her hoof. She gave Lyra a stern look, before tapping her hoof against her shin. “Listen, can you help me or not? I really don’t want to have to bother Twilight again if I don’t have too.” “Well...I can certainly try, but I’ve never figured out how to get there myself. So it’s going to take me time, time you probably don’t have. Um...maybe Twilight has a spell? “Already looked into that, she couldn’t find anything. And she’s got a massive library.” “I’d think you’d have to be blind to not know that. Twilight loves her books. I wonder if she loves her books…” “LYRA!” Vinyl shouted angrily, stomping her forehoof against the ground, before letting out a frustrated neigh. Lyra shrunk back, flinching, and taking a gulp of a breath. She stared at Vinyl for some time, trying to process the logistics of going to the human world and trying to contain her inner excitement, this wasn’t about her, it was about Octavia. “Well, like I said I don’t really know how to get there, so…” Lyra fidgeted nervously in her chair. Her eyes darted back and forth, as she rubbed her hoof against her head. Vinyl looked to Lyra, her eyes wide underneath her shades. She leaned forward eagerly, barely keeping herself steady in the chair. If there was any pony that could do it, it was Lyra. Sure, she wasn’t book smart like Twilight was, but she was the expert when it came to the weird and strange, and this whole thing was pretty surreal. “But I’m sure I can figure out a way to get you to the human world, but if I do that...would it be awful of me to ask to go with you?” asked Lyra, with a big grin spreading across her muzzle. “Yeah, sure. I wouldn’t mind having some pony who knows a bit more than I do, to guide me. What are humans anyways? I recall you talking about them at the Gala, but I thought you had too much cider…” “Humans are simply fascinating creatures. They have no magic, they don’t fly, and they don’t even grow their own food in the ground. They live off of their own strengths and knowledge. Isn’t that amazing?” Vinyl coughed into her hoof again. She rolled her eyes. She didn’t really come here to listen to Lyra ramble on again. She came here to find a way to get Octavia back.  Vinyl couldn’t help but to stare out the window of the cottage, as she put her hoof against the glass, letting out a sigh. “Octavia...I miss you. Please wherever you are, wait for me. I promise I’ll get you back.”