Episode 1: Wubs and Dubs
The somewhat quiet night was shattered with a strangled yell, and the tinkling of broken glass as a set of turntables blasted out the window of a two-story flat; a light blue aura propelling them forward. “Celestia bucking dammit!!!”
Vinyl Scratch stomped down the steps and out the front door, giving her turntables a swift kick before continuing on her way. Beside her floated a small group of bottles, each with an earth pony bucking an apple tree, a lampshade on his head. Stumbling, Vinyl cursed again and pulled off her shades, crushing them under her hoof without a care. Her eyes darted about blindly, a cold glaze covering bloodshot red eyes as she made way to one of the few spots in town that gave her any peace.
Pushing past some of the foliage near the edge of town just past the border between Sweet Apple Acres and Whitetail Wood, she plodded up a cleared path with only the moon for a guiding light. She continued upwards for several minutes through the somewhat thick forest until she emerged in a large field where even Luna’s night felt ever so closer to touching her. Vinyl looked up at the moon and sighed, slowly walking towards the cliff edge at the end of the field, where she sat down and let her hind hooves dangle freely as she set down the bottles.
Grasping one of the opened bottles with her magic, she lifted it up to her mouth, tilting her head back as she steadily knocked the rest of the strong alcohol back, nearly choking on the burning in her throat. Sighing, she licked her lips and looked out beyond the cliff at the forest that laid below.
“Tavi...I—” Vinyl stopped and bit her lip, trembling a bit as she tried to find the right words to say.
“I...I miss you so much....” She confessed quietly, grabbing another bottle and opening it, staring down the neck of it with a sad frown.
“In all the months since you’ve gone missing, things have just never really...you know, been the same. At first everypony was worried when you went missing and...we all tried looking for you.” Her shoulders tensed up as a scornful look dripping with rage broke on her muzzle. “Then...then those bucking jack mules all gave up after two months! Two months!!!” She seethed with anger, her magic squeezing the bottle until cracks began to appear in it. Bringing it to her lips, she drank the entire bottle in one go before throwing it over the cliff, relishing in the explosion of glass and startled cries from the wildlife.
"I’m...*hic*...the only pony still lookin’. I don’t care that it’s been over six bucking months!” Vinyl screamed to the heavens, her expression darkening further. “I’m going to find you, even if it *hic* kills me!!!”
Vinyl Scratch magicked over another bottle and drank deeply from it before also throwing it off the cliff, her emotions becoming a melting pot of anger, spite, and sorrow.
"I've been doing my besht, tahvi... yuh'd bedduh be doin thuh same." She reached a hoof out, trying to grab another bottle, only to find that they were all gone. "Tch, fersht mah besht frnd, now mah besht drenk. Eryshing's leaven me..." Vinyl hung her head, a sob escaping as she leaned forward, staring straight down where a few small sparkles showed where her booze bottles had gone. "Tha booz is closhur...Jusht gotta leeeeeen a biiit more. Jusht a bit mo', n' Ah -hic- Ah c'n be wif dem again."
Her balance began to teeter forward over the edge, the glass shards shining like stars to her. Just as she stretched her forehooves forward, something grabbed her by the shoulders and dragged her a fair distance away with ease.
Vinyl frowned and looked for the source of her frustration, only to see purple.
“Shebrry...Pfunch?” She asked drunkenly with a lopsided grin, tilting her head and falling onto her side.
Berry Punch sighed and faced-hoof. “Vinyl, what the buck were you thinking coming out here by yourself at this time of night? You know we’ve gone over this at least a thousand times before! If you want to grieve, I understand and can’t stop you from whatever coping method you use, but for the love of Luna, stay in your house!” She said sternly, the concern clean on her face.
Vinyl just hiccuped, turning her face away and trying to get back on her hooves. “No-hic-now lishen ‘ere, Berriariari.... Imma... I’m a grown mare’n... uh... I c’n hic can take carra m’self. Just... turn off the moon, wulja?” Vinyl raised a hoof over her face, groaning as the deep-cutting light of the moon pierced her eyes and drilled straight into her brain. “I’s too early fer it tuh be liek dish...”
Berry laid down beside her friend, running a hoof along Vinyl’s cheek softly. “Vinyl, you can’t stay like this forever... You need to go forward.”
Vinyl gasped, her eyes suddenly focused. “No.”
“Vinyl... Is this what Octavia would want? If she showed up tomorrow, would she like what she saw? Or would she be disgusted?”
Vinyl was shaking her head, tears streaming down her cheeks. “No, no, no no no nononononono! No!”
“Vinyl—”
“Shadduuuup!” Vinyl panted as she held her head, the strength leaving her as fast as it had come. “Just... shudup... please,” she whimpered, closing her eyes tight against the flood of tears. “I just... I killed ‘er, dinn’t I? Didn’t I, Berry?!” Vinyl let herself slump to the ground once more. “I lost her in a teleport. I can’t do a group teleport, but she was too close when I jumped. Not close enough, though...” Vinyl whimpered again as Berry wrapped her forelegs around her.
“Vinyl, you know as well as I do that even if she had died during it, her body would have turned up somewhere. She’s still out there, Vinny. She’s still alive. She just needs help getting back. She needs help coming home, that’s all.”
Vinyl nodded, unable or unwilling to argue further. “She’s scared, isn’t she? Alone. Cold. Lost... She needs my help, Berry. She needs me...”
Vinyl trailed off, her breathing calm, her body relaxed. Berry sat with her, rocking her back and forth slowly, before finally picking her up and making her way back towards town. “Don’t worry, Vinyl,” Berry whispered over her shoulder. “Octavia will be just fine, you’ll see. She’s a resourceful girl, she can take care of herself.”
“Gyah! Huah! Hyeeah!” Octavia panted, her hand quivering as she tried to hold her stance.
“Octavia, relax your stance. Bring your right foot forward more. Control your breathing. Look at your opponent. Don’t forget about your surroundings. Stay calm, focused.”
Octavia gulped back a lungful of air, shifting her weight forward until her arm stopped shaking. Her opponent, a 16 year old col- boy with short-cropped hair and dark eyes looked back, his stare boring into her, his face a mask of discipline.
“Good, you may rest.” In an instant after the man watching them spoke, the boy’s eyes returned to the cheerful goofiness that had made her smile when she’d first walked into the dojo. He only took his training seriously, and she was glad to have someone as a sparring partner. He’d pushed her hard in the past few weeks, with different training techniques he’d been taught and others he’d developed. Of course, since he was also the sensei’s grandson, he’d been training a lot longer than even some of the older students.
He was also a total flirt. “That was good, Oc-chan, very good! You’ve been getting better, and so quickly! I’ve never seen a girl that could punch so hard with such little training!”
That was something else she’d found. Apparently, she had kept most of her strength, if not her mass. While toning her muscles would be a pain in Equestria, here she was already stronger than when she’d first arrived. Taking the compliment at face value, she bowed and returned to her seat on the mats to watch the next pair spar. As the two boys stood and took their places, she looked around the small mirror-walled room that made up most of the dojo and smiled. It reminded her of a dance hall she used to go to as a young filly, and it was far from being different when compared to self-defense training houses found in Equestria.
Henry gave her a thumbs up from where he sat, smiling at her performance. She nodded back, taking a calming breath as she turned back to watch the two currently sparring.
They were definitely much more skilled than she was, and they knew each other well enough that they looked more as if they were dancing than fighting. Those two are younger than I am, but are also stronger, and far better trained. They must have a great drive to excel to be where they are now at such an age. Most foals would only just be getting into an apprenticeship with somepony that has a similar cutie mark to their own. Humans really can be amazing. One of the fighters misjudged his stance, and ended up tripping. His opponent brought a hand down in a swift chop, halting at the base of the neck, giving a gentle tap to let the loser know he’d lost. The two stepped away, both breathing somewhat heavily, and bowed before taking their seats.
“Next week I wish to see you again, and remember what you’ve learned. If you can find the time, then practice your stances, breathing techniques, or even meditate for an hour. Class is dismissed.” The sensei bowed, holding the position as the class did the same.
As the class disbanded and headed towards the locker rooms in the back, the sensei spoke once more. “Ah, Miss Octavia, please, I’d have a word.”
Octavia shot her sparring partner a look, who gave her a reassuring grin. Turning back to her sensei, she gave him a deep bow. “Yes, Sensei?”
“Come now, you can call me Mr. Yoshitaka now that class is over, or Master Yoshi if you prefer to be formal.”
“Master Yoshi, then. What do you wish to talk about?”
“Your performance, my dear. Please, sit with me.” Octavia did as she was told, sitting on her knees as women were apparently supposed to and waited for Yoshi to do the same.
“You’ve improved greatly since you first showed up with the mute man over there,” he said, nodding towards Henry with a small smile. “But you still keep trying to follow a stance that is not in this style’s teachings. I’m going to assume that you had learned from a different defense class? Tae-kwon-do, perhaps? Kung Fu may have a few... similarities, but if you are going to train under different arts, you must prepare your body to handle and recognize both. Just as how I had to prepare my mind to learn English, so students like you would understand. Learning to fight is just like learning to speak: you use your entire body, and even the slightest hesitation or mistake can lead to bad things. Just how a single word misspoken can start a war, so can a single step misplaced be what lets someone attacking you deal the final blow. Trying to learn too much at once can be stressful, Miss Octavia, and I do not like burdening my students with undue work.”
“Don’t worry, Master Yoshi,” Octavia said as she placed her forehead to the mat, bowing completely. “I am up to the task, and I shall do my best. It is true this isn’t in the same style as I first tried learning, but I’ll find the rhythm and then I can show you how good I can be.”
Master Yoshi laughed. “Good, good, my dear! It always makes me happy to hear that there are still those who value my teachings to actually put forth effort! Now away with you! Class is over, and I believe your friend is getting impatient.” Octavia nodded and, with a smile to Henry, trotted into the girl’s locker room to change.
“Go, Totadile!”
“Pika-pi! Chuuu!!!”
“You’re right, we can’t let them get away! Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!”
Octavia turned from the television and the odd show she’d found a week prior when she felt Henry tap her shoulder. “Is dinner ready, Henry?” Henry nodded, giving her a small smile as she turned off the TV and made her way towards the table, pausing only long enough to pet Fortissimo, taking a seat across from her house mate.
Henry sat down and dipped his egg roll in sweet and sour sauce, eagerly biting into it.
Octavia followed suit, her stomach feeling like an empty hole a mile wide after all the training she’d done that afternoon. After her Kung Fu classes, she’d gone to the gym and lifted weights for half an hour, before running laps on the indoor track. She still wasn’t as fast as she had been as a pony, but with only half the legs, she could only run half the speed. She was always practically starving by the time they got back to Henry’s apartment, and today they had a wide variety of oriental food, some home-cooked, other delivered.
Henry tapped the table to draw Octavia’s attention, and motioned with his hand. Without thought, Octavia motioned back in a similar way, adding a thumbs-up to the end. Henry smiled as he took another bite, his slate left forgotten on the table as the two shared a pantomimed conversation.
The gestures were something they’d come to associate to certain instances. Do you like your food? How’s the water, too hot? That looks good on you. What do you think? Human faces weren’t as expressive as equine faces were in Equestria (Octavia didn’t even want to think about the ponies she’d seen here on Earth, they were creepy...), but she and Henry had been living together now for a long time. Even though he had friends other than her, Octavia had seen how they’d come around every now and then, but otherwise Henry was alone. There was always something that they missed out on, a trip to the movies, a night at a club, a day just spent hanging out in the park. With such little contact, it was no wonder Henry seemed so distant. She’d helped with that, she could tell, but she wanted to do more...
“Hey, Henry, I was wondering...” Henry looked up, nodding so she knew he was listening. “Can we go to an amusement park? Tomorrow, maybe?” Henry thought about it, and shrugged noncommittally, waving a hand to say ‘maybe.’ Octavia smiled and dug into her meal with renewed vigor. She was going to make this work.
The two of them worked, diligently washing all the dishes. Octavia dipped them in the soapy water, handed them to Henry, who’d scrub them clean before giving them back to Octavia to rinse them off and place them on the rack.
After several minutes of straight cleaning, Octavia accidently dropped a plate into the sink, splashing Henry. He pouted playfully as she giggled loudly before shuddering when cold water drenched her entire shirt.
Henry mutely laughed with the hose still in his hands, smirking widely as Octavia took a stance.
“Oh...it. Is. On~!” Octavia shouted playfully, splashing him with soapy water in the face.
Henry wiped his face off and sprayed her again, ducking low to avoid another splash that soaked Fortissimo who had been calmly eating from his food bowl.
Fortissimo turned around and jumped at them, barking loudly as the three playfully fought. Soon enough, the kitchen was a soapy, watery mess with two people and a tired puppy panting slightly as they sat on the floor in a pile.
Octavia began to chuckle, and Henry began to tremble as the two of them tried to catch their breath. “Oh, Henry, this reminds me of cleaning with Vinyl. She’d always make it a competition to stave off tedium. ‘Who can make the most bottles into the trash can?’ or ‘Let’s spin dry these dishes!’ Oh, that one I made her clean up herself, and I made her promise not to bring her turntables into the kitchen ever again.” Octavia sighed wistfully, her smile shrinking slightly before fading completely. “I miss her. I miss my friends, my band. They’ve most likely replaced me already, by now. It’d be completely foolish of me to expect them to hold my position open for longer than a month...”
Octavia sighed again, resting her hands on the counter. “I wonder how they’ve been doing since I left. Have they gotten better? Hit hard times? We weren’t the greatest of friends, but we were still band members... I wonder if Pinkamena’s thrown a search party, or if that party’s over? How long did it take before they gave up, or are they still searching?”
Henry put a hand on Octavia’s shoulder, pulling her into a soft embrace. Tears silently rolled down her face as her body started shaking. “I’m sorry, Henry, I just... I’m s-sorry...” Henry just continued to hold her, letting her pour her emotions out. She hid her emotions well, even better than he did, probably. But, even so... Even he knew that everyone had to cry once in a while .
Vinyl’s eyes moved back and forth as they followed Ponyville’s only librarian, Twilight Sparkle. The studious mare had been contemplating her request before her eyes widened as an idea came forth.
“Vinyl, there might actually be a way to trace your magic back to Octavia and figure out where sh—” Before Twilight could even finish explaining, Vinyl Scratch hugged her so tightly, she felt her windpipe throbbing for air.
“C-can’t...breathe...” Twilight mustered out pathetically.
“Sorry!” Vinyl said with a chuckle, letting Twilight fall into a heap on the floor.
The librarian recomposed herself, clearing her throat before continuing her spiel. “As I was saying, we can trace it back to the source, but its going to take a lot of energy and time for this to work.”
Vinyl’s posture deflated at the big caveat. “How long are we talking?”
Twilight pursed her lips, wetting them as she tried to stall herself. “It could be days, weeks, months...even years before I could find the magical signature to trace back.”
“YEARS!?”
“I’m really sorry Vinyl, but it’s a very complex spell that takes a lot concentration to be able to properly focus, channel, and hold for lengthy periods at a time.”
The DJ stood up and slowly walked to the door. “It’s fine. Thanks, Twilight....just uh...try your best I guess...” She said sadly, her eyes brimming with tears as she walked out the door before Twilight could stop her.
Twilight sat on her haunches and sighed. “I owe this to her...She’s been a wreck ever since Octavia went missing.” A fire burned in her purple eyes as she stood up and began to magic several books towards her study table. “Spike!”
“Way ahead of ya, Twilight!” The baby dragon threw open the door to the library’s kitchen, a steaming pot of coffee and a mug in his claws. “If there’s one thing you can accuse me of being when it comes to you and books, Twi, it’s being genre savvy. Speaking of, it looks like you don’t have Moogle’s Infinite Search or Sting’s Aether Archiver out. Want me to grab them for you?”
“Not right now, Spike, though maybe in a little while. If you could get Vinyl and bring her back so Barken Mad’s Magical Hound can get a ‘scent’ of her magical aura, that’d be great. It would help to lessen the time I’ll need.”
“You got it, Twi!” With a small salute, Spike ran out the library’s front door, leaving the purple unicorn alone with her books and her first cup of coffee. It was already shaping up to be a long night, and the sun was still high in the sky.
“We’ll find her, Vinyl, trust me. Pinkie’s been asking me for help, too, and I just need time. All I know is that she’s not anywhere in Equestria. But we’ll find her,” Twilight whispered to herself as she levitated over a stack of scrolls and quills. “I Pinkie Promise.”