//------------------------------// // Chapter Three // Story: A Change of Pace // by Swaglestia //------------------------------// A Change of Pace Chapter Three A/N: I finally updated, haha. Sorry to keep you guys waiting so long! You know how busy the holiday season is. Anyways, I hope you enjoy. :3 Fun fact: I don't hate Ke$ha. Actually, I totally have a rampant girl-crush on her. With a final deep hum of the cello, Octavia concluded her day-long session of aiding Vinyl, relishing in the fact that she could finally take a break and rest her aching hoof. It was no secret that musicians, particularly ones that lacked the assets of magic, often strained their muscles to dangerous limits depending on their instrument of choice. Octavia could recall several of her fellow bandmates whose hooves would become limp, antagonized with the stress of constantly resting in an unnatural position. To reverse this, surgery was needed and that was something Octavia was dead set on avoiding like the plague. Now, she took an almost ridiculous amount of precaution, scared beyond belief that the twinge of pain and tightening she had recently began to feel would mark the end of her career. The cellist shook her foreleg, already feeling her ligaments breathe a sigh of contentment at loosening up. She returned to all-fours as she rested the large instrument on the only spacious wall in the room, her hind legs feeling equally as harrowed. She was a firm believer of the notion that classical musicians, particularly those of the earth pony persuasion, were severely under-credited for the amount of effort expended to train their body to contort in such ways. However, that was life, and she was strangely accustomed to feeling less than appreciated. "Well, I think that about wraps it up," Vinyl began as she stored away the record that their work for the day was copied onto, her satisfaction and joy seeming almost tangible. The zest and hope she once remembered so fondly was returning in small portions, although she always tried not to get too confident; that was surely the enabler of her last downfall. Her outward pride subdued, however, when she noticed Octavia stretching, small traces of a wince on her face signifying some form of pain. "Speaking of wrapping, I'd better get you a brace. You all right?" Octavia immediately ceased her post-playing procedure and looked up, almost caught off guard that the unicorn had noticed something so subtle in her features. "Yes, I'm fine." She half-lied, not necessarily feeling apt to tell Vinyl that she was secretly petrified out of her wits that she eventually might need to surgically have the muscles in her foreleg tinkered with like a toy. "Nothing to worry about, really." Vinyl was anything but convinced. "Nope, I've heard of this." An aura engulfed her horn, the magic ensnaring Octavia's foreleg as well. She brought the appendage to eye level, studying it carefully without even removing her sunglasses. "Hoof-el Tunnel, or some fancy doctor name like that, right?" The cellist nodded, the magic's grip feeling odd and foreign, almost as if somepony was injecting a constant stream of ice cold liquid through her bones. "Vinyl, honestly, how can you get a good look while wearing those things?" She motioned her free hoof to at least touch the peculiar shades, but Vinyl instinctively dodged as if a football was about to collide with her face. "It's not important." The unicorn laughed, either amused by something Octavia couldn't quite understand or just trying to divert from the subject; either way, she found the arcane accessory unnerving and obnoxious, for lack of a better word. A filly-ish thought crossed her mind that the glasses were permanently ingrained onto the DJ like a body part, but the rational side of her deemed it a preposterous concept. Vinyl released the foreleg from its mystic captivity and plopped down lazily on her flank as Octavia rubbed her newly-freed hoof, attempting to regain feeling from the outlandish sensation of magic. Without notice, the DJ gripped the earth pony's foreleg with both hooves and gently pressed down, just enough pressure to feel the extent of the tightened muscles. The cellist froze a bit, her own private bubble being invaded. She had never quite felt comfortable when somepony touched her, preferring to keep an ample amount personal space. "What are you doi-" "I'm helping you out." The unicorn frowned, getting a clearer picture of the damage; she couldn't even fathom the discomfort that Octavia might have been experiencing. She had some earth pony guitarist and drummer friends, and Hoof-el Tunnel was said to be quite debilitating when left untreated. "Ouch. Ya know, you should really do something about this." A veil of stupidity immediately hung over her mind. Wow, Captain Obvious. When did you get so smart? Octavia's downcast expression was accompanied by a sigh, truly not wanting to be reminded of the perplexing fact. "Something unfortunate will happen to somepony around you," she began, as Vinyl carefully kneaded the sore tendons and listened intently. "And you automatically assume that it won't happen to you because, if truth be told, ninety-percent of the things in the world won't happen to you. Then you begin to see the signs, but deny it; I guess we're all ignorant in that aspect." She gave a forlorn chuckle, gazing back at her cello and not wanting to imagine the day when she would have to part with it. "But don't mind me, I'm merely being melodramatic." "You wanna know what I think?" Vinyl said, still tenderly rubbing the screaming muscles and silently relishing in the fact that she was so gloriously close to the grey mare. "I think you think too much and that thinking too much causes stress and that's probably why your muscles hate you." She gave an exaggerative ear-to-ear grin. Before Octavia could protest, the DJ kneaded deeper into the aching flesh which caused an involuntary whimper to flee from the earth pony's throat. "Dear Celestia, where did you learn how to do this?" She gasped, exasperated. As Vinyl increased the pressure, Octavia wanted to succumb to the urge of simply melting like goo into the floor; this was exactly what she needed. "I work the turntables for a living." Vinyl smirked. "I gotta know how to work my hooves and find all the sweet spots." For added effect, she clicked her tongue and winked, although she wasn't quite sure Octavia caught it through the sunglasses. Stupid move, strike two. She had forgotten how self-conscious liking somepony else made her feel, which didn't cater to her carefree and outgoing demeanor very well; in fact, she concluded that the two were sufficiently incompatible. "Hey, I have an idea!" She exclaimed suddenly, content with the notion that just popped into her brain. "Hmm?" Octavia replied drowsily, the comfort of the spontaneous massage driving her eyelids to close half-way and the awareness of her surroundings to diminish almost completely. "Let's go out tonight," Vinyl beamed, ceasing the massage. "Ya know, to celebrate the pure awesomeness we just created." Octavia genuinely contemplated it; Vinyl turned out not to be so bad or obnoxious as she had previously assumed, and she owed the DJ one for the kindness of the massage. Oh, what the hay, I have nothing else planned. Or anything better to do, for that matter. She assumed that something good could possibly manifest itself out of having just a tiny bit of fun. "That sounds wonderful, Vinyl." "Sweet!" Vinyl smiled (she's always smiling... Octavia mused rather thoughtfully) and trotted towards the door of the room. "I need to clean myself up real quick. Make yourself at home." Octavia wasn't necessarily one to take up that offer, being inclined to respect a pony's home and possessions. So, she merely followed Vinyl out of the studio and sat on the worn couch, the old leather being surprisingly comfortable and causing her to sink into its cushions. She took a look around the apartment, curious to comprehend the inner workings and psyche of the quirky unicorn. It seemed uncharacteristic, but Vinyl's abode was actually quite basic and plain in its scheme; almost everything was a mere black and white, whereas Octavia expected a plethora of vibrant hues and abuse of the color wheel. She presumed the residence of a DJ who prided herself on sheer creativity would be involved in the concept of orderly chaos that helped pump the blood of inspiration. Alas, her impression was invalid. Black and white. Everything. Octavia heard the water running from the other side of the apartment, along with what sounded like an ensemble of shuffling, bumping into various objects, and shrieks of ow! The earth pony smirked and rolled her eyes, wondering how the DJ didn't end up in a full body cast. Slightly over the low roar of the water, Octavia could have sworn she heard... singing? "Wake up in the mornin', feelin' like P. Filly," it began, a melody the cellist only wished she could forget. "Grab my glasses, I'm out the door. I'm gonna hit this city!" Curiosity killed the pony as Octavia slowly rose from her place on the couch and made her way over to the source of the noise. She stealthily maneuvered towards the bathroom, tip-hoofing her way like a spy in the aged cartoons she used to watch as a filly. She pressed an alert ear to the door as more horrendously off-key and out of tune singing seared the atmosphere. "DON'T STOP, MAKE IT POP. P0N-3, BLOW MY SPEAKERS UP. TONIGHT I'MMA FIGHT 'TILL WE SEE THE SUNLIGHT." The song continued, as did the torture on the cellist's ears. Between Vinyl's obvious lack of vocal ability and the fact that the song itself could be deemed hazardous to mental health, Octavia was a mere five seconds away from strangling herself with her own bowtie. "Ain't got a care in the world, but got plenty of beer." One... Octavia thought morbidly, reaching up to her bowtie for dramatic effect. "Ain't got no money in my pocket, but I'm already here." Two... "And now the dudes are lining up," Three... "'Cause they hear we got swagger." Four... "Goodbye, cruel world." The earth pony pretended to tighten the small pink cloth around her neck and began to choke mockingly. In the midst of her pseudo-cide, she heard the life-saving noise of the water shutting off, the song halting as well. Vinyl opened the door and steam flowed from the bathroom as if there had been a raging fire, stepping back in surprise as she came nose-to-nose with Octavia. The cellist cocked an eyebrow. "'P0N-3, blow my speakers up?' Really?" Vinyl chuckled nervously and shrugged, her mane still slightly dripping. As if to specifically cater to Octavia's annoyance, the sunglasses were still adorned on the DJ's snout, as cryptic and enticing and aggravating as ever. "We're gonna pretend that never happened." Vinyl said, the antsy laugh still ringing through her voice. "You ready to go?" Octavia gave a short chortle and shook her head, amused. "As ready as I'll ever be." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Vinyl, really, where are we going?" The earth pony lagged behind as she attempted to keep up the pace with her friend (I suppose she's earned that title...), the DJ nearly sprinting with excitement. "Trust me," she said, weaving through pedestrians and any other objects that interfered with arriving at her destination. "You're gonna love it." The pair careened through one of the more upscale districts of Canterlot, Vinyl rushing headfirst through the populated streets as Octavia muttered quick pardon me's to the poor civilians that were nearly trampled by the unicorn's brutish behavior. Octavia had been to this part of the city only a few times, although never for leisure or to relish in the finer things in life; the only reason she stepped hoof there was merely to perform for the insanely rich only to be rewarded with their noses in the air, the Gala included. The cellist was so consumed in bitter recollection that she failed to realize Vinyl had stopped completely in front of a building with extremely elaborate architecture, resulting in her crashing into the DJ and toppling her over. The momentary shock forced Octavia into a dumbfounded daze, her vision dotted with brightly colored stars as if her eyes had been replaced with scoops of rainbow sprinkled ice cream. Through the mental fog, she felt her head on something warm. It was soft, like fine velvet, and it smelled of fresh soap... The crash had landed her right on top of Vinyl. Octavia's eyes widened as reality collided with her the same way she had with Vinyl. With unmatched haste, she quickly jumped off of the DJ and collected herself accordingly. She felt the blood race to her cheeks and she mumbled something that faintly sounded like, "terribly sorry about that." She proceeded to lend a hoof to the pony she had nearly given a concussion, concluding that the least she could do was aid her back to standing upright. Meanwhile, still paralyzed with an unexplainable embarrassment, the unicorn's blush mirrored that of Octavia's, although she was certain that the reasons behind them were worlds apart. The feeling was blissful, of course, but Vinyl decided to keep that detail a secret. As much as she wanted to pull the cellist back down on top of her, she did what she was best at: covering it up with a laugh. "Geez, Octavia," she said as she grabbed the earth pony's outstretched hoof and regained her composure, silently thanking Celestia that she wasn't born a pegasus. "I haven't even gotten you drunk yet and you're already all over me." Octavia grunted in annoyance, resisting the urge to push the egotistical unicorn back down and simply walk away; rationality was her strongpoint, though, so she chose to ignore Vinyl's spontaneous remarks that were increasingly becoming easier to get used to. She surveyed the building that the DJ had led her to, the new-age design capturing her interest. It stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the rest of the city, harshly contrasting with the traditional Canterlot architecture that surrounded it on either side. All of its windows were tinted pitch black and the entire structure was painted a deep purple. It lacked a proper sign or lettering that indicated what breed of establishment it was, that little detail making Octavia's stomach unsettle into an anxious knot. The two musicians entered the peculiar building, the inside proving to be even more outlandish. Despite its oddities, Octavia couldn't help but feel impressed; the place was obviously much more lavish and tasteful than she had expected, especially considering that it had been Vinyl's idea. The bar was a sleek polished black with an impeccable shine to it, the walls adopting the same scheme as well. Other than that, its entire area and perimeter were the same purple as the exterior; purple tables, seats, plush couches, stage, and-... "Vinyl, are those stripper poles?!" "Well, would you look at that! Those definitely weren't here last time." The DJ smirked as they took their seats at the bar, Octavia unable to tell if she was blatantly lying or if it was an attempt at another one of those horrid, under-the-radar jokes of hers; she was betting heavily on the latter. The cellist brushed it off with a small laugh. You could at least try to loosen up some. The nagging voice that always seemed to make itself known buzzed around her ear in a fly's fashion, beginning to sound too much like the unicorn seated next to her. Live a little, or else they'll start calling you Uptight-Octy. She sighed inwardly and assumed that the grating voice had a point, noticing her reflection in the glimmer of the wood. A petite mare, in which Octavia assumed was the bartender, approached the pair, her hair perched on top of her head in a rather crude sloppy bun. Her tired eyes seemed to instantly become aglow at the sight of Vinyl, and her pace towards them increased. "Hiya, Vinyl!" Octavia observed that the bartender's voice sounded particularly similar to a dragons' nails being dragged violently down a chalkboard or an irreparably out of tune violin. "Hey, Everclear." The unicorn smiled back, kindness resonating through the gesture. "Gimme two glasses of the strongest stuff ya got." "Coming right up!" she piped; awkwardly chipper, in Octavia's opinion. Before she turned away, Everclear glanced between the pair and smoothly added, "It's on the house tonight." Vinyl's smile swelled as she gave a quick nod of appreciation. Octavia, on the other hoof, did not share the sentiment and was anything but amused. "So," She turned in her seat to completely face the DJ, her voice laced with thick sarcasm. "Do you know every bartender in Equestria, or just Canterlot?" "D'aww." Vinyl chimed as if speaking to a filly. "Is fancy-schmancy Octavia jelly-welly?" "Hardly, Vinyl." The cellist scoffed, her snout turned up to the air. "Jealousy is a foreign concept to me." The DJ was about to retort when Everclear returned, her bun bouncing up and down with each step, antagonizing Octavia's lack of patience for mares like this. She placed the drinks in front of them, the bartender mumbling something to Vinyl that the cellist chose to tune out. The babbling, high-pitched voice was like an engine that ran off of pure helium and its agitating nature made the dark brown liquid appear more and more inviting. As Everclear returned to her job (if you could even call that an actual job, Octavia grimaced bitterly), Vinyl raised her glass up for a toast, eyes shining brightly behind the shades. "I can't thank you enough, Octavia." Her voice was low and almost distantly thoughtful in approach, catching the cellist off guard. "For awesomeness!" Octavia's glass met Vinyl's. "For awesomeness."