//------------------------------// // New Home // Story: A Tale of Two Mares // by CharmingChaos //------------------------------// Tambourine bounced eagerly in her highchair at the La Villa Fillitaliano, levitating her favourite doll, Princess, up and down on the table. Her two mothers were lost in conversation, discussing which of the familiar dishes on the menu to order when the waitress came back. They didn't have much time to think about little Tamby, but the filly didn't mind. La Villa Fillitaliano was a homey restaurant, not more then a few blocks away from their new house, and, because they hadn't had time to go grocery shopping quite yet, Octavia and Vinyl had agreed it seemed like a good choice for their first dinner in their new neighborhood. "So, Octy, what do ya think of Pony Valley so far?" Vinyl questioned. "Did I do a good job?" Octavia nodded, sipping her water. "You did, Vin'. It seems like a perfect place to raise a filly. I just wish we could have waited a bit longer. Our anniversary may be kind of low-key this year, we can't possibly find a foalsitter on such short notice." "Oh, pish. This is San Franciscolt, 'Tavi. Of course we can." "How? We don't know anypony, remember?" "True, but there's an all-pony school right around the corner from our house, silly. I'm absolutely sure we can find some highschool filly or something who's willing to foalsit for us. They may even have a list or something. I'll check it out in the morning, okay?" "Tomorrow morning won't work, because I have to go try out for the SF Symphony. You have to stay home and take care of Tamby, remember?" "Oh." Vinyl looked disappointed. "Right then, we can both go in the afternoon. Sound good?" "Do you think we can take her with us?" "Aw, Tamby's not so little anymore. Of course we can." "If you're looking for a foalsitter, I may know one," the waitress interrupted with a shy smile. "Oh, I'm so sorry. My boss says I need to stop butting into ponies' conversations, but sometimes I just can't help it. Are you ready to take you order?" "Not quite," Octavia said. "And don't worry, you may have saved us a bunch of trouble. Do you really know a foalsitter?" "Well," the young mare hesitated. "Kind of. Y'see, she's my little sister, name's Whistle Wish? She just turned thirteen, and my parents said she could start foalsitting in the neighborhood about then. She doesn't have much experience, but she's very eager, and she hasn't made any major mistakes yet." "Hm," Vinyl said thoughtfully. "Well, I suppose it won't hurt. We just moved here, so our daughter may be a little scared. Do you think Whistle could handle it?" "Oh! You two are both the mothers? How wonderful. I love ponies who aren't afraid to stand out. But I don't know if Wishy can handle a four year old. Tell you what, I'll give you my phone number, and you can call me tomorrow evening. I can ask Wishy before then. Do you live near here?" "Only a few blocks away," Octavia volunteered, lifting Tambourine out of her highchair to ask her about dinner. "Tamby darling, do you like pasta for dinner?" Tambourine nodded. "Yes, Mama." "Alright, in that case, I think we're ready. I'll have the fettucini alfredo, please. And I suppose pasta with butter will do for Tambourine. Have you decided yet, Vin'?" "Oh! Uh, yeah, I guess. How about that one? I can't pronounce any of this stuff, so I guess pointing will have to do. Is it good?" "The risotto alla zucca?" the coral-colored waitress asked, pronouncing it perfectly. "Gesundheit," Vinyl nodded. "But yes, that one. Is it?" "Yes, in my opinion. It's made with butternut squash, which some ponies dislike, in rice. I think it's delicious." "Alright then. I'll have that." Vinyl shut her menu decisively, and the two ponies leaned back to wait for their meals. "The waitress was awfully sweet, don't you think?" Octavia said, watching the girl bustle about. "She can't be more then nineteen, poor thing. I hope she doesn't lose her job for being too friendly." "I doubt she will. But if she does, she could always move to Ponyville. I'm sure the Cakes would enjoy a new apprentice. I hear Pinkie may leave them soon." I doubt that. Mr and Mrs Cake are like a second family to Pinkie Pie. Why would she leave them?" "Well, she and Dash are still going strong, and I think Dash is in the Wonderbolts now, but I'm not sure. She has no need for the money anymore, that's for sure." "Come to think of it, I seem to remember seeing Rainbow's picture in the paper. Maybe you're right." "Look at us, gossiping like a pair of old mares. What are we, ninety years old?" "You're right. We should really mind our own business. Look, here comes the food. This is certainly a speedy restaurant." oOo Two hours later, Vinyl tiphoofed into the sunny yellow room which had Tambourine's pink, castle-shaped bed in it with a peaceful smile. She crossed the room and knelt next to the bed, shaking the furry grey shoulder closest to the edge. "Octy, wake up," she whispered, kissing her marefriend's cheek to wake her. "It's eight o'clock, Tamby's been asleep for an hour, and you need to came talk to me. I'm bored." The charcoal mare groaned, blinking at Vinyl as she woke up. "Oh, it's you. What're you doing here?" "Waking you up so our filly can sleep in peace. Come on, Octy." Octavia rolled off the tiny bed, landing softly on her hooves. "Okay, I'm coming. Thanks for waking me up, I guess." "You guess?" Vinyl snorted as they left the dim room. "Would you rather sleep with your filly then your marefriend?" "No. But I was asleep, and it was comfortable." Octavia pointed out. "But our Princess bed is better then hers. Ours is as big as Celestia's according to the salespony." "Hah. Everypony in this house has a princess bed of some kind." "You're right. But ours is Princess sized, and hers is only Canterlot-Castle shaped." "True. But it was comfortable." They made it to the master ("Do you think this is the Mistress Bedroom in our case?" Vinyl had asked earlier.) bedroom, and Vinyl patted it with a hoof. "Bet this one's more comfortable. Go one, it's extra soft and springy." Octavia flopped down unceremoniously. "You're right, Vin'. Goodnight." "What? It's only eight thirty! Wake up, Octy! We have stuff to do, ponies to see!" "I'm not seeing anypony tonight but you, Vinyl," Octavia's voice came muffled from the pillow. "That's fine with me, but can we at least watch a movie or something? I want to see how stuff looks on our badflank new tv." Octavia propped herself up on her pillows. "Okay. But what do we see? You refuse to watch Dr Whooves, which I don't understand, because it seems right up your alley, and i can't think of anything else at the moment - I'm too tired." "You're turning into an old granny, Octy. Tired at eight thirty, tsk, tsk. And Dr Whooves is stupid. I'm not watching it." "Have you ever seen Dr Whooves?" Octavia asked scornfully. "No," Vinyl looked stubborn. "But it's a foal's show. I don't watch anything that's made for ponies less then half my age." "You watch "Only Human," don't you?" "That's different." "Hypocrite." Octavia playfully swatted her marefriend. "It's designed for fillies Tambourine's age. At least Dr Whooves is for foals twelve and up." "Only Human is different. There's a whole fandom for it." "Same with the Doctor." Octavia pulled Vinyl by the hoof onto the bed and gave her a sad look. "Just try it, please?" "Ugh, fine. Only for you, 'Tavi." Vinyl pushed back the covers and curled up close to Octavia, pressing their two bodies as tight together as she could. "Vinyl, you're squishing me," Octavia complained, wriggling a few inched away. "Too bad, that's the price you gotta pay for making me watch this crap." oOo "There. That was Dr Whooves. He saved Equestria, was a badflank, and he lives in a blue box thingie that can travel through time. Do you still hate it?" Vinyl glared at Octavia. "No. Curse you, Octy. I hate being wrong. Sorry, Dr Whooves is awesome, stop teasing me, please." Octavia gasped. "Oh, praise Celestia, I think I just witnessed a miracle. The esteemed scoundrel, Vinyl Scratch, has admitted she was wrong about something, and said please, in the same sentence! I never expected even one of those things to happen! I feel blessed." "Oh, shut up, Octy. I say please. Sometimes." "Make me!" Octavia giggled. Vinyl sat back for a moment, making her gloat even more. Then she sprang forward, like a cat, and furiously began to tickle her helpless marefriend's exposed stomach. Octavia shrieked and stuffed the blanket in her mouth. "St-stop! Vin-- ahaha! Vinyl, we'll wake Tambouri-hi-hine!" "Tambourine, Shmambourine. She can stay awake all night, for all I care. You insulted me, and now, you're going to pay for it!" She swooped in once again, hooves and muzzle digging into any of Octavia's exposed flesh with a practiced ease. "Took me nearly five years," Vinyl grunted as she felt Octavia begin to fight back, wiggling a hoof in Vinyl's sensitive armpit. "But I think I've finally found every one of your ticklish spots!" At last they lay back, exhausted from their mini-war. Octavia patted Vinyl's hoof with her own. "Truce?" Vinyl nodded, panting. "Yeah. But can we make out to seal the deal? That tickling fight really turned me on." "You're turned on by the weirdest things, Vin'. And I'm not sure if I trust you. This could just be a way to get me close enough to tickle again." Octavia said warily. "Do I ever lie about being turned on?" Vinyl asked, sarcastic. "And if you don't trust me, I won't trust you, and then I might be convinced I have to force you into kissing me with more tickling!" "I doubt that would work. I could probably charge you with rape or something." "Whatever." Octavia scooted closer again and tilted her face upward. "Well? What are you waiting for?" When Vinyl had finally had enough, they were both even more out of breath then before. Octavia sighed, a short, outward huff of air that made Vinyl's chest tingle where she could feel it. "Hey Octy?" She asked softly, yawning. "...yeah?" "We should get married, Octy." Octavia sat up from where she lay with her head on Vinyl's shoulder, twisting her head around to look at her. "What makes you say that all the sudden?" "Oh, I don't know. I mean, we've been together for like, forever, and we still get along amazingly, most of the time. And you're supposed to get married if you really love somepony, right?" "That's very sweet of you, Vin'. I didn't think of you as the marrying type. But I wouldn't mind a bit. I think it's a great idea." There was a long silence before anypony spoke again. "That was weird," Vinyl observed finally, breaking the silence. "...What was?" "I just proposed to you." "...yeah?... and I said yes. What was weird about it?" "And we're both laying here completely chill, like nothing even happened." "I see what you mean." Octavia looked thoughtful. "Well, maybe it's go something to do with the fact that you just kinda suggested it and I just kinda agreed it was a nice idea, and there wasn't any romantic dinner and a ring and all that bullshit that usually comes with a proposal." "That was the most me-ish thing I've ever heard come out of your mouth." Vinyl said, grinning as she wrapped her arms around her now-fiance. "Was it? I guess hanging around with a common scoundrel DJ rubs off on a pony. Serves me right, I guess." "Serves you right? What's that supposed to mean?" "It means I deserve it, hanging around with a crazy mare like yourself." "Who're you calling crazy, Crazy?" Vinyl poked Octavia's shoulder playfully. "Oh, be glad you're crazy. I wouldn't be marrying you if you weren't." "In that case, Octy, I must say I've never been happier to be called mentally unstable in all my life." Octavia pulled Vinyl down so they were both laying flat on the mattress, nestled in one another's embrace. "Goodnight, Fiance. I love you." Vinyl sighed, closing her eyes as she remembered all the years spent together. "Love you too, Octy."