//------------------------------// // Memories of me // Story: Shards of Memories // by JunkerKun //------------------------------// *Yawn* The gray earth pony loudly yawned and rubbed her eyes before opening them. The clock was been showing eleven so without a second thought the mare stood up from the bed. “Funny,” she had been thinking while brushing her teeth “It has been three days and I still can’t stop thinking about that DJ. She looks so familiar, Even if I don’t remember her performing in Canterlot before...” The cellist was lost in thoughts for a while, but a few seconds later, she  just shrugged and got back to brushing. “Eh. Probably saw somepony who looks like her. It’s not that surprising.” she came to a conclusion she had already come at the last three days. After brushing her teeth and mane, the pony went to the fridge. There, on the door, a little piece of paper had been hanging - a to-do list the mare wrote yesterday. “Hm... okay, first one is to clean the house.” This one didn’t take too much time. The cellist’s house wasn’t too big and had only one floor. The first fifteen years she had been living with her parents, but after a while decided to get her own place. Her parents weren’t against it and even helped her with finding a good place. It was a silent and nice neighborhood, where no one disturbed one another without a reason. The kind of something the musician liked. “Second one...” the mare continued down the list “Shopping. Ugh.” If there was something the cellist didn’t like to do, it was shopping. Walking around the market, looking for something that will catch your eye, had never been her favorite thing. To big of crowds, to many ponies all in one place. It was like those dubtrot concerts she went to once. But thanks to pre-made meals she had been buying, she only had to go to one stall, and stock up on them. So, putting a broom aside, the pony took a bag and went outside. The weather was nice. Unlike in the beginning of the week it was warm and the scarf became quite useless. Of course it had been only temporal - the winter wasn’t too far away, after all. The pony breathed deeply and looked around. Not a single soul around, which wasn’t surprising - at that time everyone should be at their jobs. She loved the quiet of ot. If it wasn’t for her own day-off, the cellist herself would’ve been on a rehearsal, practicing before her performance. “Look out!” A loud cry reached mare’s ears and a moment later, she was knocked away from her door. When the rolling stopped, the cellist saw someone’s back in the front of her face. “Ugh...” groaned this someone “Stupid bag...” “Excuse me, but can you get off me first?” the musician politely asked. “Oh, sorry, my bad. Octavia?” “Evening? What the bloody hell are you doing here?” “Delivering some mail, what else can I do?” Evening Star pointed at her bag. If one took a careful look at it, the reason for the pegasus crashing was obvious - a belt was wrapped around her wing, and prevented it from flapping. Figuring this out, Octavia shook her head. “You should be careful, Evening.” “I know, I know. Are you okay? It would be really bad if you have injured your hoof.” “No, I’m alright. Well, I’ve got to go do some shopping.” “Oh, wait for me then, I need to do shopping to!” “Sure.” “But... do you mind walking to the end of the street with me?” *** After delivering the rest of the mail, the pegasus was free. Finally the two mares headed to the market. Evening remembered how three days ago she went there with another pony. “Come to think of it,” she thought “I haven’t seen her since then.” But even if she hadn’t seen her in a while, she had nothing to worry about. The lights in the pony’s house were on at evenings and they were turning off at the right time. And that was pretty much the only sign that Evening’s neighbor was alive and nothing bad had happened to her. “So, what do you need at the market?” Evening Star asked Octavia “Pre-made dinner again?” “Yep.” Octavia shortly answered. “And why don’t you learn how to cook?” “Nah, it’s too hard for me. I can’t even cook soup.” This sparked something in her head, but it didn’t come to frutition. “Are you kidding?” “No, I’m serious. So, pre-made meals are not my whim, they are my need.” “Well, I might have, but I don’t remember - it was too long ago.” She can feel a memory bubbling up in the back of her mind, but not doing anything productive. While talking, mares entered the market and merged with the crowd. As soon as Evening was in, she literally flew to a fruit pavilion and bought a pack of strawberries. “Strawberries?” Octavia lifted her eyebrow, for it wasn’t like her friend to buy strawberries. But some friend of hers had loved strawberries. Who was it? “Yup...  “ Evening chewed before answering “I never liked them before, you know. It’s Vinyl who made me love them.” “Vinyl?” “Yeah, you know, that famous DJ. She came here four days ago and lives next to me.” “Huh...” The back of her mind bubbles even more furiosly. “So, we went to the market three days ago, and then argued about berries. And that’s when she convinced me that not every strawberry is sour. Funny, it all begun with a can of strawberry cookies.” The mention of cookies lets the memory that had been bubbling loose. “Hey, Tavi, you like cookies?” “Of course! Who doesn’t?” “And which flavor do you like?” “Apple!” “And I like strawberry. There is something nice in it, like... like... Argh, I can’t describe it!” “Hey, I think I’ve seen a jar of strawberry cookies in the cupboard!” “Neat! Let’s go get it!” Octavia shook her head. The memory came back, but why did it bring back such powerful feelings with it? While the mare had been thinking, Evening finished eating berries and threw an empty package to the trashcan. Shortly after that she pulled Octavia to the next pavilion. There she bought vegetables and took a packet from the vendor. This packet was so big that it barely fit inside her bag. Now, if the mail pegasus wanted to buy something else, she had to carry next packet in her mouth. Which she actually did after buying a lot of cupcakes. “So, who is this Vinyl?” Octavia asked. “Huh? Well, she had been my neighbor since we were fillies.” Evening said “But she moved to another city when she was... fourteen, I think.” More connections inside her head. “And she became a famous DJ?” “Pretty much. I’m not surprised though - she graduated from the musical academy, so I guess it is something she likes.” “The musical academy? But I graduateed there too... Is it possible that I actually know this mare?” Octavia stopped. There were no memories of that time in her head, but something told her she was not completely wrong. A second recollection bursts into her mind. “A musical academy? Why?” “I want to become a famous musician!” “A famous musician, huh? Hm... It’s not a bad idea...” “What do you mean?” “I’ll go there with you!” “What?! We don’t need the  academy destroyed!” “Don’t worry, I’ll be very careful.” “This again...” Octavia whispered. “Huh? Did you say something?” Evening asked, confused. “No, it’s nothing. Okay, let’s begin the shopp.. Oh...” only now the cellist realized that her companion already had everything she needs. As fast as she could, the mare got to the pavilion she needed and bought a bunch of pre-made meals. Six big packages barely fit inside of her bag, but somehow she managed to pack them. And they were everything she wanted to buy. Watching this Evening Star just shook her head. Pre-made meals obviously weren’t an appetizing meal to her. With that their shopping was over and all they had to do now is just get to their homes. “Are you busy?” Octavia asked when they got to her house “You can stay for a while if you want.” “Sure,” Evening quickly answered “Come to think of it, I’ve never been at your place before.” “You’ll be disappointed if you were imagining it as a place with bunch of cellos and bows.” “What? I didn’t... well, maybe once, but...” The cellist giggled and opened the door, letting her companion in. As soon as the mare was inside, she began running around, carefully looking at everything she could see. Only after two laps around the entire house, this little tornado stopped and said: “Nice place. Comfortable and not too big.” “Thanks. Actually, the main reason I bought it is that no one disturbs you here.” “Oh... that’s... nice?” Lively Evening couldn’t understand why someone would want to live in silence. Peace had been just killing her, and she couldn’t stand still even for a few seconds. One moment you could see her in one place and after you blink, she could be somewhere far away. “Want some tea?” the cellist shouted into the deep of the house. “Yeah, please!” the answer coming from there didn’t make her wait. Octavia nodded to herself and began brewing the tea. It was the only thing she could cook without failing it. Well, if brewing a tea could be considered as cooking. “Octavia!” she heard Evening’s cry “You didn’t tell me you know Vinyl!” “What? No I don’t” “Then how do you explain this?” Evening Star said from behind the musician. She showed Octavia a little album which, Octavia was sure, she left at her parents’ house. It contained a bunch of photos, and each one of them showed two little fillies: one with gray coat and dark gray mane and the filly with a pale-yellow coat and blue mane with cyan stripes. She looked just like the mare that came to the philharmonic building three days ago. “We’re late, we’re so late!” “Don’t sweat it, Tavi, we’re fine!” “We are late for our graduation ceremony, damn it! It’s NOT fine!” Two mares have been running toward the musical academy. Both of them were putting on their robes on the run and holding their caps with their mouths. Soon they were at the entrance and this is when they realized that the passes were left at their homes. “Rrrrgh...” Octavia groaned “And what are we going to do now?” “Don’t worry; I’ve got it in my hooves” Saying this, Vinyl used the levitation spell and moved both her and her friend behind the wall. “Oh yeah, I forgot that you can do that. Now run!” And their race against the time continued. Where are these memories coming from? A spark flashes across her mind. “We’ve been in the academy together.” “Really?” “She went there because of me. And I... and I had completely forgotten about her...” The spark reawakens an entire section of her memory. “Octavia?” “Where is she now?” Evening looked at the clock. It showed eight in the evening. “I think she should be at the station right now.” “What?!” “Yeah, I think she said something about going back to Manehattan today...” Octavia ran outside without saying the word and leaving Evening in confusion. She watched the owner of the house running to the railway station and smiled. “Well, I don’t think she would mind if I actually drank the tea without her.” She was just glad that Octavia didn’t notice little letters on the cover of the album. They were shaping two words which were the name of the owner. “Evening Star” “Well,” the pegasus said to herself as if answering to Octavia “Someone had to make those photos, right? You both are still such a pain in the flank. And what she doesn’t know can’t hurt her.” *** The train had been ready to begin its way. By now all the passengers were in their seats already. All but one. Vinyl sighed, depressed Vinyl Scratch was standing in front of the carriage and still hadn’t decided if she should go back to Manehattan. Sure she had a house there, but after coming back to Canterlot, she realized that there is no place better than your home town. Everything she had left behind came back to her, making her realize how much she had missed since leaving. “Vinyl!” a distant cry reached her ears. “Must be just my imagination.” the musician thought. “Vinyl!” she heard the cry again, closer than before. And when the unicorn turned around, she couldn’t believe her own eyes. “Octavia?” Octavia huffs “Made it...” “What are you doing here?” “SORRY!” Octavia shouted when she caught her breath. “Wha...” Vinyl was surprised. “I’m sorry, Vinyl... I’m sorry I forgot about you... I’ve been mad at you... I wanted to bring back those times... Why didn’t you remind me? Ponies forget things, important things! I...” The unicorn hugged her friend. “It’s all my fault. I haven’t even written you a letter in these five years.” “I thought you’ve forgotten about me...” “No, I haven’t. See these sunglasses? I always wear them; they reminded me of you all these years.” The train whistled, noting everyone around that soon it will depart. Octavia looked at the mare in front of her with her eyes covered in tears and silently said: “Don’t go away. Please, don’t leave me again.” “I won’t.” The last whistle had sounded and the train moved. Slowly it began to gain speed and passengers who’ve been looking in windows could see two mares, hugging each other on the platform.