She had no idea where she was headed, but one thing was certain; she had to find out today. Using her magic, the white unicorn adjusted her purple sunglasses and sighed. So much for a great eighteenth birthday...
With each step, her two-toned blue mane grew limper, the heavy rain plastering it to her head. At least there was one good thing about this day. The young mare had always enjoyed the rain. And so, with an extra swing to her step, and a slight bobbing of her head, she smiled. There was no way she would let her parents ruin her birthday simply by threatening to sell all her belongings if she didn't find another place to live by midnight. As much as it angered her, her good for nothing parents had a point; She needed to find a new place to live.
Didn't Chalk say The Manehattan Apartment Association was able to find him a cheap place? He said he even got a roommate! Finally decided on where to go, she started to speed up her trot. So with added vigor, her white hooves carried her in the direction of the MAA.
Along the way, she found herself thinking about her new place. I hope I can get a roommate! How sweet would that be? OOH! Especially if it were somepony who loves music as much as I do! She looked down at her flank, adorned with two bridged eighth notes. They don't call me Vinyl Scratch for nothing!
Sooner than she had expected, Vinyl arrived at the MAA building. Her smile grew excessively wider as she looked through the purple tint of her shades at the window, plastered with adds for apartments for rent. She found that quite a few were from ponies looking for a roommate. Aw yeah, this is gonna be AWESOME! Finally, no more parents to tell me to turn down the wubs!
With a big, goofy smile plastered across her face, Vinyl opened the doors and stepped inside, slightly disappointed that she was no longer in the rain. But it didn't really matter to her, because she was already picturing her new home. Her new home, hopefully including an awesome roomie.
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The grey earth pony set down her mane brush and sighed, looking into the mirror one last time to check that everything was in order. She had just been informed by the MAA that somepony was interested in meeting her in regards to the room she had available. It was all very short notice, and she was told that they would be here shortly. As she fixed one last minor detail in her charcoal mane, there was a buzzing sound as the inevitable pony pressed the button for her room.
With a large smile and a bounce to her step, she trotted to the intercom and flipped the small black switch. "Octavia Philharmonica speaking, how may I help you?" she asked, already certain of the answer.
A few seconds passed in silence, then with a slightly coltish undertone, a mare's voice answered. "Yeah, I'm s'posed to talk to you about that room you got for rent. Say's on the paper they gave me that you're a musician, so I thought you would be the best choice." The mare paused for a moment before continuing with her somewhat rough voice. "My name's Vinyl, by the by. Vinyl Scratch."
Octavia was taken aback by her voice. She sounded like one of the ponies from her old school that used to always talk about getting 'crunk'. Shaking her head to both dispel her of her thoughts and fix a loose strand of her mane, Octavia replied with, "Yes, come on up," and pressed the door unlock button.
In approximately two minutes, there was a pounding on the thick wooden door of the spacey apartment. Octavia opened the door, and held out a hoof in invitation, slightly taken aback by the water-logged unicorn. She hadn't even noticed it was raining, but she wondered why anypony would walk around outside in this weather without at least a rain coat.
Instead of the expected hoofshake, the alabaster mare took the opportunity to give her a hoof-bump. Octavia was already starting to regret this. She sighed inwardly and stepped aside allowing the 'musician', as she so called herself, inside. Hopefully, she would be able to get this over with as soon as possible.
Vinyl stepped back, and smiled slightly. "Hey, Octy? You uh, might wanna duck and cover." As she noticed that the grey earth pony was not going to move, the mare decided that she might as well just show her why. With a violent shake starting from her ears, the white pony shook herself free of the rain water weighing down her coat. Octavia had to cover her face with a foreleg, fending off most of the water sprayed her way.
With a disgusted groan, Octavia moved out of the way for her visitor. Oh, please let this be over soon so I never have to see this...ruffian again! "Well, Miss Scratch, welcome to my home. Would you care for a beverage?" Octavia tried to keep her tone as inviting as possible, but the goofy smile on the mare that just very nearly ruined her mane put her off.
Scratching the back of her neck for a moment, Vinyl shook the goofy smile off of her face. "Uh, yeah, thanks Treble-clef." Octavia didn't notice the blush slowly creeping its way onto the young mare's face as she lead her into the kitchen.
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(A few minutes earlier)
Happy that she was able to get to meet her potential new roommate on such short notice, Vinyl found herself trotting downtown at a fairly brisk pace. She had made sure to put the MAA in her contacts on her new cellphone, just in case this interview didn't turn out so well. With a small map and some info on the place and pony, Vinyl made her way, not bothering to make sure she wouldn't bump into anypony else. She got a few mean looks from those she did happen to run into, but she payed them no heed as she read the information sheet, magically laminated to keep it dry.
Blah blah blah...three bedroom apartment...bay windows...come on, let's get to the stuff about this mare! In almost no time at all, Vinyl was surprised to find out that she was already at her destination, and that without thinking she had buzzed up.
"-you?"
She shook her head violently as she was snapped out of her thoughts. "Uh... Yeah, I'm s'posed to talk to you about that room you got for rent. Say's on the paper they gave me that you're a musician, so I thought you would be the best choice." Oh great, I must've sounded like a total idiot...Your name! Give her your name! but be smooth, don't mess this up, you retard! "My name's Vinyl, by the by, Vinyl Scratch." Was that smooth? What the buck is wrong with me today? I can't even think straight...
With a cautious tone, the mare replied with, "Yes, come on up," before unlocking the door to let Vinyl in. She quickly let herself into the building and, not patient enough to wait for the elevator, ran up the stairs, counting to ensure she wouldn't miss the tenth floor. Two, three, four...eight, nine, ten! With a fresh burst of speed, Vinyl reached the door of the apartment and stood there panting, still dripping wet from the rain. She took a second to gather her wits, and knocked with a powerful hoof.
A striking, ash coated mare with a long, flowing charcoal mane answered the door, and held out a hoof. Instinctively, Vinyl put her own out and hoof-bumped the obviously high-class pony. You idiot! That hoof was held out to shake, and you go ahead and bump it?! What is wrong with you? This obviously isn't somepony you met at a party! Ugh!
When the mare stepped aside to allow the water-logged unicorn entry, she instead stepped back and, with a smile and a remembered name, spoke up. She wasn't about to walk into the apartment dripping with rain water. "Hey, Octy? You uh, might wanna duck and cover." When she didn't comply, Vinyl shrugged a bit and shook herself off, doing so in such a way as to minimize the amount directed at the posh mare.
She used a leg to protect her mane, then again she stepped out of Vinyl's way with a groan.
"Well, Miss Scratch, welcome to my home. Would you care for a beverage?" Octavia asked, smiling politely. The somewhat uninviting undertone was lost on Vinyl as she processed her words, again snapped out of her thoughts. Vinyl shook her head clear and scratched her neck, nodding slightly.
"Uh, yeah, thanks Treble-clef," she responded. Octavia turned and led her to the kitchen, a blush making its home on the young mare's face as she followed, her gaze straying over the perfect form of the mare Vinyl hoped to share an apartment with.