Octavia couldn't believe it. Royal Equestrian, the famous cruise line, had finally hired her orchestra… and she had been put in a room with her. She wasn’t surprised that her orchestra had booked a double room for her, not at all – while the cruise company was paying them, due to an administrative error, they’d had to pay for their own rooms. What did surprise Miss Octavia Philharmonica was that she had been booked not in a room with another member of the orchestra, but instead in a room with that vile hooligan who called herself a “DJ,” one Miss Vinyl Scratch. As it turned out, the DJ had been hired to preform in the on-ship club, while the orchestra would be playing at the events held in the ballroom. In other words, the events with actual class. She had already discussed the terms of staying in the same room with the DJ, who had been rather dismayed at the “No blaring dubstep” and “no getting drunk in the room” rules (and had been somewhat confused at the “never touch my cello” one), but had agreed to them after noticing the validity of Octavia’s threat to throw her off the ship if she did otherwise.
Octavia sat alone in her shared room. It was only the first night on the cruise, but Vinyl Scratch was already at the club, DJing for the more rambunctious crowd. As for Octavia, the orchestra would not be preforming until the formal opening dinner the following evening, so she had the evening to herself. She had wondered why the opening dinner was on the second day, but eventually justified it to herself as tomorrow would be the first full day on the ship. The massive, twelve-story, thirteen-hundred-passenger ESS Harmonius had been commissioned and christened by Princess Celestia herself in celebration of Miss Twilight Sparkle and her friends once again saving Equestria with the magic of the Elements of Harmony. Octavia smiled, mentally replacing that garish pink earth mare with an image of herself, bearing the Element of Laughter around her neck. Despite keeping the appearance of being a stiff Canterlot mare, her closest friends knew of her softer, happier side, and how much she really did love to laugh. As she imagined this she gave a light chuckle, before shaking the image from her mind and sipping on the glass of wine she’d poured for herself. As more of the wine left the glass, Octavia once more found her mind drifting towards fanciful adventures with the Elements of Harmony. Mental images of herself defeating Discord, banishing Nightmare Moon, or trying to save the wedding of her best friend’s brother came to her as her mind became further clouded with the alcohol. She brought the glass to her lips once more, only to find the glass had no wine left to give. She sighed, and glanced at the clock on the wall.
Eleven thirty… I’ve had a couple glasses of wine, it would be wise to stop now and go to bed, and get a good night’s sleep, the gray earth mare thought.
And so she did. Or at least she tried.
Some hours later, Octavia awoke to a rather subdued knocking on the door. Rubbing her eyes with her hooves, she looked at the clock.
Three seventeen… AM? Whoever’s knocking better have a damn good reason…. It was then that she realized Vinyl Scratch wasn’t in her bed, and in an instant she made the connection.
“Umm… Miss Octavia? I forgot my key in the room before I left to go DJing…” a muffled, apologetic voice came through the door.
Ugh. What an idiot.
“Anyway… would you mind letting me in? I’d like to get some sleep…” Vinyl’s voice continued as Octavia rolled out of her bed and shuffled to the door.
“Honestly, Miss Scratch,” Octavia said groggily, a hoof on the door handle, “I’m sure any of the dozens of stallions in your club would have offered to share his bed for the night. Probably several of the mares, too. Why couldn’t you sleep with one of them, like you usual-” Octavia’s voice was cut off as a hoof slapped her across the face. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw the anger burning in the eyes of the snow-white unicorn mare. Her first thought was to wonder why this ruffian lacked her glasses. Her second was how beautiful Miss Scratch’s brilliant ruby eyes were, despite the anger. Her third was to question why she’d been slapped.
“Miss Scratch! What on ear-”
“Shut up! I’m not a whore! The papers are a load of shit! The one night I decide to crash at one of the partygoers’ apartments happens to be the one night he also had his reporter friend sleep over! We shared a bed but didn’t do anything! But no! That reporter dragged my name through the mud, taking pictures of us passed out drunk in a bed! And now fucking everypony thinks I am fucking everypony! Sure I haven’t been completely straight-laced,” the anger in Vinyl’s voice broke, giving way to what Octavia thought sounded like sorrow, “but I’ve never even had a stable relationship last long enough to get that far! And now the one pony who I thought might have respect for me as a fellow musician thinks I’m a slut! Great! And on top of that, someone stole my glasses! Those were the last thing my dad gave to me before… before….” Vinyl Scratch trailed off before breaking into sobs.
Octavia’s eyes softened a little as she noticed the tears on Vinyl’s cheeks. “Miss Scratch, please, it’s three in the morning and you’re making a scene-”
“You’re damn right I’m making a scene! I-” Vinyl stumbled forward, ending up with her face buried in Octavia’s neck
The pity in Octavia’s heart evaporated in a second as she smelled the alcohol on her extremely drunk roommate. “Miss Scratch. It is three in the morning. You are drunk. You are making a scene. Get in the room and go to bed. We can sort this out in the morning.”
Despite the liquor, Vinyl noticed the sternness in her roommate’s voice, and complied. She moped over to her bed and flopped down. A few final sobs choked out of her throat before she passed out. Octavia wondered how she could go from so worked up to asleep in mere minutes, before returning to her own bed and falling asleep.
She awoke a few hours later, this time of her own accord. The clock now read 10:37. She hastily rolled out of bed and rushed to the bathroom.
Late, late, late, going to be late for practice, going to be late…
A couple strips of hay-bacon in her mouth and her cello slung over her back, Octavia opened the door and began to leave. She turned, and noticed her roommate still asleep, snoring loudly. She trotted back inside and scribbled a note.
Miss Scratch,
I apologize for the assumptions I’ve made about you, and I am perfectly willing to sit and talk things out with you. Unfortunately, I have to attend a rehearsal for the orchestra. I should be back by 3:00 this afternoon, if you’re still here. I’ll see you later, I guess.
She left the note on the bathroom counter, and quickly made her way out the door, accidentally letting it slam behind her. She hoped it hadn’t woken Vinyl, but didn’t have time to check, if she planned on arriving on time for her 11:00 rehearsal.
In truth, the slamming door had caused Vinyl to wake up. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, before rolling out of bed and onto the floor. Rubbing her sore flank, she got to her hooves and shambled into the bathroom to shower. She saw the note on the counter, read it quickly, and got in the shower. Her head was sore, she was still mad at that fancy-pants Octavia, and her glasses were still missing. She stayed in the shower for at least forty-five minutes, letting the warm, relaxing water wash over her body and idly creating and popping bubbles of water with magic. It was something that amused her – doing simple, pointless tasks with magic. It was a good way to stay fit, magically, too. A unicorn had to practice magic, at least a little, every so often, or they might lose their abilities. At any rate, after steaming in the shower long enough to clear her head, and went back to her bed. She considered turning on the television and just chilling until Octavia returned, but thought better of it.
This is a cruise. I can watch TV at home. I should go up on deck, enjoy the pool, something… just not watch TV. That’s not what this is for.
As Vinyl went to leave, she made sure to have her room key hanging around her neck, so as to avoid another incident with her roommate. Heading down the hall and up the stairs, Vinyl reached the upper deck of the enormous ship and drew in a deep breath. The air was cool and refreshing, and carried a mild salty flavor too. It felt exactly as sea air should, she thought. Up on the top of the ship, the slight rolling of the ship was more noticeable, but not enough to set her off. It was, apparently, enough to make some other ponies sick, and she winced as an older stallion hurled over the railing, his wife patting him on the back while trying not to look at the puking pony.
Walking further towards the bow of the ship, she noticed ponies sunbathing, napping, reading books, or just casually conversing with friends, relatives, and lovers. The white unicorn couldn’t help but feel a little envious of the pairs of rather obviously romantically involved ponies, loving kisses and unashamed cuddling on the lavish deck chairs under the ocean sun. She blushed a little as she passed a mint-green unicorn and her earth mare lover who probably should have been considering heading back to their room, making her way towards the pool. The water sloshed back and forth gently, mirroring the slight rocking of the ship. She slipped her room key into one of the cubbies near the pool before sliding into the water, catching a mouthful of the chlorinated… salt water? They must get water from the ocean and treat it, she thought, that’s pretty clever.
Splashing and swimming until it no longer amused her, Vinyl Scratch glanced at the giant clock mounted over the pool. Two thirty? I should probably head back to the room… She climbed out of the pool, toweled off, grabbed her key, and headed back below decks. Approaching her room, she levitated the key from around her neck, inserting it into the lock and twisting, only to find that the door was already open. She pushed it aside and trotted in, only to see Octavia sitting on her bed. Her eyes narrowed and she opened her mouth to let loose some snide comment about self-respecting musicians, then noticed Octavia was holding something in her hooves – a pair of black-rimmed sunglasses with purple lenses. Swiping them from Octavia’s hooves, Vinyl Scratch magically returned them to her face, still glaring at the gray earth mare.
“Miss Scratch, I-”
“Look. We both made some regrettable decisions last night. I was… slightly inebriated… and you made some assumptions about me based on what the papers said. I don’t blame you for your reaction, but I wish you had gotten to know me before going off like that. Thanks for getting my glasses back.” Vinyl Scratch sighed.
“Miss Scratch. That’s what I was trying to say – I’m sorry I made those assumptions. I’m not happy you staggered back to the room, drunk, at three in the morning, but at the same time I’m glad you did get back and didn’t ‘crash’ somewhere else, as you might put it. Whether or not I personally know or like you, I certainly wish you no ill will or bodily harm.”
“That’s… actually really nice of you. Say, how did you find my glasses?”
Octavia blushed a little, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof, before awkwardly beginning, “I… I kinda asked the Captain to make an announcement… He’s a really nice stallion, with a beard an-”
“You just asked him to ask the pony who stole my glasses to bring them back?” Vinyl asked, incredulous.
“Well, no… I agreed to do a private performance for the crew… and the pony that returned your glasses gets an autographed copy of each of your albums,” Octavia replied, blushing a little more.
Vinyl raised an eyebrow, before inquiring, “That I can deal with, but… a ‘private performance,’ huh?”
It took Octavia a moment to realize the implication the DJ Unicorn was making.
“N-no! That’s not what that means!” Octavia’s face flushed completely red, and she contemplated throwing something at Miss Scratch, if there had been anything on hoof to throw. Vinyl Scratch threw her head back in laughter.
“So… I know we kinda got off on the wrong hoof,” she offered, looking over at the irate earth mare, “So how about we make a deal? I go to your concert, and you come to my nightclub when it’s over? We both learn some more about each other’s music, and maybe get a little mutual respect going?”
“I’d prefer not to, but I see the value in the venture. Very well, Miss Scratch. Just, please, behave yourself at the concert.”
“Wouldn’t dream of doing otherwise. So, see you tonight?”
“Yes. See you tonight.”
***
Octavia stood on the stage, staring into the audience. Hundreds of ponies, her parents included, bedecked in their finest suits and dresses, including a few white unicorn mares – but not a single one of them with the telltale disheveled two-tone blue mane.
Why am I not surprised, she thought to herself, sighing. I should have known she wouldn’t show up. She probably still expects me to go to the club afterw- hmm? What’s this? Oh! She’s here! … what is she wearing.
In waltzed Vinyl Scratch, wearing what appeared to be a glowing dress. As she approached the stage, making her way towards the front row, it became more apparent that she was indeed wearing a glowing dress – or, more accurately, a dress with active glow sticks integrated in the design. Octavia couldn’t believe what she was seeing. It was almost as though it were intended to be formal wear for a rave. It was extremely odd, but at the same time, it was beautiful – a gorgeous, white, flowing creation with blue and green glow sticks following the neckline, with red and purple glow sticks providing soft glows on her haunches and legs to enhance the effect the dress had on her form. To say it was stunning would have been an understatement. It was beyond anything she’d ever seen, and must have been a nightmare to design. Octavia watched as the light cast from her roommate’s form shifted and changed, elegantly casting their dim, shadowy lighting along the floor and the ponies she walked past. As always, her familiar purple shades covered her eyes. A few ponies in the crowed shot disgruntled glances at her, but most simply appeared shocked.
Octavia heard a pony cough next to her and was brought back to reality, and realized she had been staring at the unicorn with her mouth slightly open. Her head swiveled to locate the origin of the cough, and she saw Beauty Brass smile and wink at her, as if saying, “I won’t tell anypony.”
Octavia facehoofed and looked over at the conductor, who looked mildly frustrated, and raised the baton, the various musicians all shifting slightly in preparation to play. The baton flicked once and the orchestra began.
For Vinyl Scratch, to say it was “enrapturing” would have been an understatement. The music was so completely different from what she was used to making and playing, and she loved every moment of it. The deep, smooth sounds resonating from Octavia’s cello were slow, calming, and simply elegant. Contrary to what normally happened when she listened to music, she felt her heart rate drop as the soothing audio filtered into her head. It was… beautiful. She found her eyes glued to Octavia, the gray mare not even looking at the conductor – she had her eyes closed and moved like she was in a whole different world. She didn’t need to watch the conductor. She just knew what to play, and when to play it. It was truly amazing. Suddenly, Vinyl was aware that the only instrument still playing was Octavia’s cello, and that a spotlight shown down on the gray mare.
She’s truly at the top of her game, Vinyl thought, breathless. She must be the best living cellist. And I’m sharing a room with her. For a week. Surely she could teach me something about rhythm, tune, something, anything to make my music better.
Octavia picked up the pace of her playing, the acoustics of the massive room making it sound like there were actually several ponies playing the same song, slightly out of sync, creating a euphoric effect for the stunned DJ. When Octavia finished playing, she flung her bow and arm out in a perfectly straight line, before bringing it back across her body, bowing, her chest heaving. Before the cellist was standing upright again, Vinyl Scratch had stood up and was clapping as loud as she could.
“Yeah! Go Octavia! That was AWESOME!” the unicorn yelled, before realizing that she perhaps had the wrong reaction. Lowering her voice several decibels, she continued clapping, “Er, I mean, bravo! Bravo! Yes, bravo!” Vinyl was a little embarrassed at this point, but not particularly bothered by the fact that the other ponies weren’t cheering equally as loud for the utterly astounding performance she had just witnessed. As she turned to chastise them, an angry voice hissed at her from the stage.
“Miss Scratch!” Octavia whispered crossly, “This is not the appropriate manner to express your appreciation of this performance!”
“I… I’m sorry… I just thought…” now Vinyl cared about the embarrassment. She thought she’d done something nice, something right, and shown her respect for the cellist. Tears began to form in the corners of her eyes when a voice neither mare recognized burst from somewhere in the middle of the audience.
“She’s right, you know! Why should we be so restrained when those entertaining us have gone so all-out? I say, rock on pony girl! Your music is beautiful, and so are you!” Murmurs of approval began to spread through the crowd, and Octavia blushed a bit at the complement, and searched the crowd, trying to find the source of the voice. Unfortunately, before she could, the volume and commotion gradually increased to a roar of cheers and whoops and stamping ponies. Octavia thought she saw a yellow stallion with an orange and yellow mane smile and wink at her, before following the rest of the orchestra off the stage and through the crowd. She motioned with her head for Vinyl to follow her as she passed, and mouthed “To the room” at her, before exiting the room just behind Beauty Brass.
“So, was that your marefriend? The one in the glow-stick-dress?” the chipper, light-blue earth mare piped up.
“My marefriend? Why I never – I met her last night! She’s a hooligan, a ruffian! And I don’t even like mares!” Octavia’s face turned a deep shade of red as her mind created ideas of her and that rapscallion DJ together on a date, at a movie, in be- she shook her head, as if to clear the thoughts, her blush only deepening.
“It’s ok. Your secret is safe with me!” Beauty Brass chirped, turning down the hall, “Well, my room’s down this way. See you tomorrow, Tavi!”
“Yeah, see you tomorrow, Brass.” Octavia turned down the stairs to head to her own room. She arrived to find that Vinyl had somehow beaten her back.
“Miss Scratch. What the hell were you doing?”
“I was… cheering! Why shouldn’t I cheer for such a performance! You put your heart and soul into that, why shouldn’t I do that in my praise of it?”
“I… well… it’s just…! That was a classy event! You don’t cheer and whoop at fancy things!” Octavia sputtered, surprised at her inability to come up with a legitimate reply.
“Well, I certainly hope you realize you can cheer all you want at the club tonight. I hope you have as much fun as I did at your concert…” Vinyl was magically disrobing, disenchanting the glow sticks and teleporting the dress off of her body.
“Where did you get that dress, anyway, Miss Scratch?” Octavia inquired, “It’s beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“I got it from Rarity, as a thank-you present for overseeing the music at a few of her fashion shows. She’s so generous, but hey, I guess that’s to be expected. And why do you call me ‘Miss Scratch’ all the time? You don’t have to be so formal. You can call my Vinyl if you want.”
“Very well… Vinyl… wait, you met Rarity? The Element of Generosity?”
“You did too, didn’t you? Wasn’t she at that garden-party thing you played for that one time?”
“How did you know I played at a Canterlot Garden Party?”
Vinyl blushed. “Erm, lucky guess?” She rubbed a hoof against the back of her head, nervously, “Anyway... I need to go start getting ready for tonight. So yeah see you later bye!” Vinyl hastily bolted out the door, closing it behind her.
Well, that was odd… is she… stalking me? No, that’s absurd… Octavia rested her cello in the corner. Hmm, nine forty-eight? Vinyl said to show up at eleven… well, I guess I’ve got about an hour before I need to leave… Octavia decided the best way to spend the hour would be to take a shower and freshen up a little, and then settled down to read some of “Stallion in a Strange Land,” an older science-fiction novel authored by a pony with the name of Hooflein. The hour passed all too quickly, and she began her trip up to the club.
As she expected, upon entering the nightclub, she was met with an auditory assault that sounded like a… a washing machine having angry sex with a drum kit. She chuckled at the mental image, but only had a moment between beats to think clearly, before another wall of sound impacted her skull. She looked around for the source of the cranial torture, and unsurprisingly, located an ecstatic-looking Vinyl Scratch spinning records with her magic. She caught the DJ’s attention and gave a quick nod of acknowledgement before trotting to the bar. As she ordered her first drink of the night, the song changed – no longer was it the angry, violent, eardrum-violating “music” that ponies these days liked to call “dubstep,” but a softer, if equally fast, dance track that she thought she recognized as what was known as “trance.” If she was honest with herself, she liked this music. Then again, maybe the drink she’d ordered was stronger than she’d thought at first. Before she knew it, a white unicorn mare had seated herself on the barstool next to her.
“Hey there! I’m glad you came! You havin’ a good time?” The white unicorn was practically yelling in order to be heard over the blaring music.
“I’m not sure if I’d say I’m having fun, but it’s certainly less unpleasant than I was expecting,” Octavia replied, raising her voice enough to be heard.
“Well, thanks, I guess?” One of Vinyl’s eyebrows arched quizzically from behind her glasses, before continuing, “Well, I’ve got to get back to the turntables. You enjoy yourself, Miss Octavia, ya hear?” And with that, Vinyl was off and heading back to the DJ stand.
“That mare…” Octavia held her head in her hooves. Her drink had been stronger than she’d originally thought. Perhaps that was why she ordered another. And then a third. And possibly a fourth – she’d lost count at two. Before she knew what she was doing, she had been dragged onto the dance floor (or possibly had stumbled there of her own volition) and was, well, trying to dance, despite both her massive alcohol intake and her inexperience. The last thing she remembered before blacking out was Vinyl Scratch raising her glasses just a smidge and giving her an encouraging wink.
From her position in the DJ’s booth, Vinyl thought Octavia was having the time of her life – until she collapsed. Figuring that the obvious had happened, Vinyl nodded her head at her fellow DJ, indicating he should take over, before rushing down to the floor to pick up her roommate. She could smell the alcohol on the unconscious, “refined” cellist, and mentally commended her for having been standing that long after leaving the bar so totally inebriated. Magically slinging her over her back, Vinyl Scratch began making her way through the crowd and towards the exit of the club.
Vinyl had to admit she was a little disappointed the night had ended so early, but given how Octavia had been looking out for her when she was drunk, the DJ couldn’t help but feel obligated to return the favor. Stumbling a little on the stairs under the weight of an extra pony, Vinyl eventually made it back to her shared room, plopping the surprisingly heavy mare down on her bed before laying down in her own.
Well, look who’s a lightweight, Vinyl laughed to herself, well I suppose that’s not really fair. Even I would have passed out from all that, heh. With a final mental snicker, Vinyl Scratch found herself drifting to sleep at the earliest hour in months: 2:30 am.
Unfortunately, going to sleep earlier did not result in more sleep for the unicorn. She awoke with a start as a deep bass rumble rode through the ship. I’m five decks below the club… why can I hear the bass? Even I would never play it that loud… She jumped again as she felt another shudder roll through the ship. Wait… felt? Vinyl jumped out of her bed with a small splash and walked to the door, feeling as though the world were slanted. Why is there water on the fl… oh fuck, fuck, FUCK!!
“Octavia! Octavia, wake up! Octavia!” Vinyl Scratch was in full panic mode, violently shaking the passed-out cellist. When she didn’t wake up, Vinyl tentatively brought a hoof up and slapped Octavia across the face. Her efforts to wake the pony were met with a drunken snore of indifference. Vinyl rushed to the door and opened it, sticking her head out, glancing left and right down the hall, terrified. To one side, the deck went upwards, and to the other, a wall of water approaching ominously. Vinyl ran back to Octavia and threw her over her back with magic, and went to head out of the room. Two hooves out the door, she realized that if worst came to worst, carrying Octavia in the ocean would be almost impossible. Looking for anything that might float, Vinyl magically snagged the cello case from the corner, carrying it in her light blue aura as she trudged out into the hall. Normally, she would have headed left out of her room to get to the top deck, but that seemed out of the question at the moment. With a grunt, she turned right and trotted as fast as she could on the uphill grade that should have been a level hall. Another rumble took the ship, this time accompanied with the unpleasant groan of sheet metal warping and tearing.
Damn it… why of all times did this have to happen on the night my roommate is drunk off her ass… Vinyl approached the stairs, and feeling the water rushing past her feet, noticed that the source of the incoming flood seemed to be up the stairs. Groaning in frustration, Vinyl continued up the hallway.
No… the water… why is it getting faster? It seemed that the closer she got to the bow of the ship, the quantity of water flowing past her hooves was only increasing. She looked back over her shoulder, blowing Octavia’s tail out of the way, and noticed the water was rapidly approaching her. Another tremor – no, an explosion – rocked the ship, and Vinyl realized there was only one way out.
Oh please let this work… one hundred fifty meters up, seventy-five sideways, one hundred meters forward… account for a passenger and an item… please don’t be in water… Vinyl held her breath and concentrated, feeling the toll on her body already. She wasn’t good at teleporting, much less with a passenger and an item. Then a pulse of energy and a flash of blue – and she was in open air, several meters above the water. She fell, landing on the hard surface of the water, the impact jarring her back to her senses. She dropped the cello case, and, remarkably, it was floating on the surface. With her last remaining strength, she moved Octavia on top of the case and dragged herself up next to her.
Where are the lifeboats? Why are there no lifeboats…? Why… lifeboats…
She slipped into unconsciousness.