//------------------------------// // Family // Story: Philharmonic // by Quilty //------------------------------// Philharmonic Chapter 2. “OCTAVIA! GET YOUR FLANK OUT OF BED!” Vinyl Scratch hollered as she made breakfast for herself and her roommate. A mesmerising aroma of pancakes and syrup wafted through the apartment. Vinyl heard Octavia mumble into her pillow before giving a loud yawn that echoed through the poor acoustics of their apartment giving her voice a fragmented and airy quality. She walked down still wearing a dressing gown, bags under her eyes betraying the fact that her posture and facial expressions tried to hide, she had a bad night. “Coffee?” Vinyl asked. Octavia only mumbled in affirmation as she rubbed the last traces of sleep from her eyes. “Latte or Cappuccino?” Vinyl asked. “Latte,” Octavia answered as Vinyl returned her attention to the pancakes that were now ready to be served. She piled them up on a single plate and put them at the table where Octavia was sitting. She returned her attention to making coffee as Octavia took a pancake and began cutting it with no finesse or prescribed pattern. Vinyl heard a whoosh of steam and poured out a Latte for Octavia as well as an Espresso for herself. She sat down and looked at Octavia. “Where’d all that enthusiasm head, huh? Vinyl asked. Octavia looked at her for a moment before the question registered in her sleep deprived and tired mind. “I’m just tired,” Octavia assured her and she yawned. Vinyl smiled and wolfed down her pancake. Octavia let loose a small giggle and sipped her Latte. There was a knock on the door and Vinyl rushed out to open it. A smile erupted on her face as she immediately recognised the couple at her door. “May we come in?” A white unicorn with a blue mane and a small but noticeable moustache asked accompanied by a fragile looking white mare with slender legs and a mane that had a similar colour to cotton candy. Vinyl nodded and allowed the couple inside. Octavia looked at the couple for a while before either party said anything. “Congratulations on getting in, dear,” FancyPants said to Octavia. Octavia looked at him, her face filled with worry, confusion and happiness. “Yes, eet is tres magnifique,” Fleur De Lis told Octavia as she hugged Octavia. “How did you find out?” Vinyl asked. “We’ve been attending the event for several years, and when the Princesses asked us to recommend somepony we could think of no one else but you Octavia, and did you check the date on the invitation?” FancyPants asked. Octavia’s eyes sparkled with glee. “Thank you so so much!” she shouted as she gripped the two of them tightly. Vinyl walked over to the envelope to check the date. The envelope said two weeks from yesterday. What was on then? And as Vinyl looked at a calendar it clicked. “Octavia, the orchestra is on the night of your birthday!” Vinyl shouted. Octavia looked at FancyPants and Fleur with tears of happiness and hugged them even tighter. “Thank you so much,” Octavia whispered. “Don’t mention it dear,” FancyPants rubbed a hoof through her hair. Vinyl looked at the embrace and thought about joining in. ----- “Who’s she, Uncle?” “That’s Octavia; she doesn’t have a home, so she’s going to stay with me and Fleur,” “Why not?” “I don’t know Vivi, but she wants to stay with us and she says she has no parents,” “What’s her cutie mark?” “It’s a bit blurry but it looks like a treble clef,” “What’s that?” “It’s a musical symbol,” “Could I learn music one day?” “I don’t see why not, by the way Vivi, how is school?” “It’s really fun! But there’s this weird filly there, her name’s Midnight or something like that,” “Is it Twilight?” “Yeah, Twilight! That’s it! She doesn’t talk to other ponies,” “Oh, do you know why?” “No, she seems nice, she’s really clever too, did you hear that she gets classes with Celestia?” “I might have heard about that, maybe you could try being friends with Twilight?” “I’ll try; she doesn’t have a lot of friends,” “Oh, that’s not good,” “She said she was friends with Celestia’s niece,” “Ah, Mi Amore Cadenza, yes, Twilight’s brother is also training to be part of Celestia’s royal guard,” “Wow, she’s got a cool family!” “Her father and I were friends when we were colts; we had a few escapades,” “What did you do?” “I’ll tell you when you’re older,” “Oh, I smell dinner!” “Well then, let’s go get some Vivi,” ------ “Are you Octavia?” I asked. She nodded. “Why’re you so quiet?” I looked at her; she had a scared, confused look on her face. As if she was unsure of what was going on. She turned and ran and I was left perplexed. If you told that me that she would be friends with this quiet mare she would have met the idea with some degree of scepticism. But times change and so do the ones that are carried by it. ------ The embrace between FancyPants, Fleur and Octavia had broken up and Octavia had uncharacteristic happy breakdown. “C’mon Octavia, remember what we were supposed to be doing today?” Vinyl asked. Octavia composed herself and looked at Vinyl for a moment. “Oh, yeah, shopping,” Octavia rolled her eyes. Vinyl walked over to her saddlebag with her money in it before she was stopped by FancyPants. “Since Fleur and I have nothing on our schedule for today, we’d be more that glad to come with you to Ponyville and we’ll also pay for whatever expenses you might need, to an extent of course,” He chuckled. “Uh, thanks,” Vinyl said sheepishly, not willing to decline such a generous offer. Fleur was giving an in depth explanation of what happened at the event to Octavia while Vinyl packed luggage for both mares. They packed lightly on the assumption that they wouldn’t be staying more than a single night with Vinyl even leaving her trademark glasses at home. When the party reached the train station they had to wait another twelve minutes before a train to Ponyville would be arriving leaving Vinyl and Octavia to their own devices in the station. Vinyl looked in fascination at an assortment of knickknacks while Octavia wandered around a sweet shop. Both mares were caught up in window shopping and were surprised when they heard the whistle signifying their train had arrived. Both mares bolted to the platform with their tickets held out. They hopped on the train and it began moving. Vinyl wiped an imaginary drop of sweat off and walked to the compartment where FancyPants and Fleur were waiting. Vinyl had an ecstatic grin on her face while FancyPants and Fleur were talking about taxes and the diarchy. “Hoo boy, this is gonna be a trainwreck,” Octavia whispered under her breath.