In this chapter you get to see what other parts of Fanon I use. Once again, I do it for the sakes of the story so it isn't for no reason. I also invent a form of public transport.

Vinyl unlocked the door to her place and the pair entered, Octavia standing awkwardly around the entrance.

“Make yourself comfortable, sit down whilst I get you a drink.” Vinyl walked into the kitchen and began messing around with the refrigerator.

Octavia spied her Double Bass resting on the couch and swiftly moved to join it, she opened the case and had a quick check to make sure it was fine. She sighed in relief, Octavia closed it back up and began staring out of the window whilst waiting for Vinyl.

“I thought I said lighten up?” Vinyl's voice came from close by, she had walked over to the nearby coffee table and put the drinks down, “You like orange juice right?”

Octavia accepted the orange juice with a thank you, “I was just waiting for you to return, how was I not 'lightened up?'”

Vinyl sat down on a couch opposite Octavia, “Your posture I suppose, you look like you're in some kind of finishing school for rich fillies or something.”

Octavia laughed, “Finishing school? Me? My family never had the money for that.”

Octavia sighed, “My parents owned a rock farm outside of Ponyville, I grew up there.”

“My parents would never say,” Octavia admitted with a sigh, “There was no talking, there was no smiling, there were only rocks. We rotated the rocks between the fields surrounding the farm each day and that was that. If people wanted rocks they'd come to us.”

“So depressing that my sister decided to leave home as a filly and abandon her duties, we aren't exactly on the best terms. Last I heard, she lives over a cake shop.”

The mischievous glint appeared once more in Vinyl Scratch's eyes, hidden by her sunglasses, “You know what we need? A holiday!”

Octavia began spluttering something about not having time, but Vinyl ignored it, “It's only for the weekend and I thought we could use the time to do some bonding and perhaps some market research if we have time between the getting-to-know-each-other.”

“Market research for what?” Octavia asked, she seemed slightly more receptive to the idea than before.

Vinyl threw up her hooves like it was obvious, “We want to know what the average pony on the street wants in their musical experience and taking some time off to experiment is a great way to find out. We need to get away from the city and into nature, you know... going back to our roots or something.”

“Ooh, I had a great time at a gig a while back, met some great ponies at this fashion show I was hired to DJ. It was some place in Ponyville, the air is really fresh out there, let's you clear your mind and shake the cobwebs off your brain.”

“Yeah, yeah, we don't want to interrupt anything going on, just break loose for a while.”

Vinyl somehow produced a calendar from behind the couch, “Well, it's Friday now and it's half past one, so if we catch a sky cab, we should be in Ponyville before three, easy.”

“Now!? I can't go now, I'm not ready!” Octavia almost fell off the couch in shock.

“You've got a bit of money on you and a few basic necessities, that's all you need. Think of it as your first lesson in cutting loose and enjoying life!”

“Your old personal life coach!” Vinyl got up off the couch and pointed an accusing hoof at Octavia, “You bored him to death with your boringly safe lifestyle!”

Octavia brought a hoof to her forehead, “I guess I walked into that one. If you honestly believe it will benefit the music, our friendship and my own scruples, then I say lead on little pony.”

Octavia sighed as she watched Vinyl march through a door by the kitchen, 'what have I gotten myself into?' She turned dejectedly towards the window again and began scanning the skyline she wouldn't see for a few days.

Vinyl had a hoof on Octavia's shoulder as they waited for their sky cab to arrive, almost as if to keep her in place so she didn't change her mind.

The Sky Rank was a large building on a fairly open tract of land on the outskirts of Canterlot, chariots of all sizes and styles were lined up and ready to take off.

When the pair were called forwards, they went through a back door in the waiting room and out onto the runway, two pilot pegasi greeted them, both wearing official flight suits and matching goggles, “I hear this is only a short flight into Ponyville, am I correct?” One of the pilots asked.

“Sure are Cap'n!” Vinyl answered with a giggle, Octavia blushed embarrassedly.

“Just follow us and we'll get you loaded onto the chariot, you have no luggage?” The other pilot asked.

“Only carry-on,” Octavia replied, “My companion thought it was easier that way.”

Together, the four ponies got locked and loaded into the chariot, with Octavia and Vinyl in the back and the two pilots making some last minute, pre-flight checks.

“Once we're in the air,” the first pilot said, “You'll want to hold on, I know you're secured by the straps but it's better for everyone if you just hold on.”

Octavia looked at Vinyl, obviously flustered. It wasn't exactly the most comforting thing to say when you're about to go flying through the air at breakneck speeds in an open top chariot, but as he said, they were strapped in, there was no turning back now.

“Wahoo! Let's get this show on the road!” Vinyl shouted. She was either fearless or just plain ignorant, Octavia mused.

With a lurch, the pegasus pilots began a simultaneous trot that drove them faster and faster until the edge of the runway loomed nearer, Octavia covered her eyes as the chariot flew over the edge, she could hear Vinyl shouting “Whee!” There was a small drop, but the pegasi caught themselves and were up and away before they could fall any further. Octavia risked looking and dropped her hooves, which immediately found the nearest surface to steady herself on, luckily, the ride was fairly smooth.

Octavia's only response was a silent scream, her lungs didn't seem to want to work. She didn't have to wait for much longer though, the small town of Ponyville loomed below them, a mere suburb compared to Canterlot, but it had a rustic charm about it. Something about the place just made it look like a great place to live. This thought calmed Octavia down, she was still tense, but at least she could stand keeping her eyes open.

Vinyl yawned, it had only been ten minutes since they had landed in Ponyville, but she was already looking bored, “I'd forgotten how boring Ponyville actually is.”

“Hey, wait a minute,” Octavia interrupted suddenly, “What did you just call me?”

Vinyl grinned sheepishly, “In the interest of saving time, I shortened your name.”

“I don't think so, that's like half the syllables, are you aware how long it takes to say two syllables? Besides, it's cute.”

Octavia bristled, how Vinyl knew how to push her buttons after so little time together was nothing short of spectacular. 'Spectacularly annoying,' Octavia thought.

Vinyl suddenly stopped, looking around for something, “Why don't you have a look around town, I've got to see an old friend.”

Octavia jumped at the chance, “Okay then, I imagine a place like this has a fascinating history and culture. I may even find it as inspiring as you seem to think this place is.”

“Yeah, yeah, you go... inspire yourself, I'll find you when I'm done.” Vinyl turned, heading left down a wide open street, “It's a small town, it shouldn't take too long!” She called.

Octavia had walked for fifteen minutes, but she hadn't been able to find any shop that sold musical instruments, she found one that sold only quills and sofas, a bizarre combination of items, but no musical instruments. This was unfortunate, Octavia had always found playing her Double Bass as a massive source of comfort. As it was, Octavia had to hold onto the niggling in the back of her mind, the little squirming ball of annoyance that had Vinyl's face. How she had been talked into making an impulsive, unplanned trip to a place she'd never been, she'll never know.

Perhaps it was the sincerity in Vinyl's voice when she talked about music. Octavia had always found people like that, those who lived and breathed music, to be fascinating stores of knowledge that she could tap. She was a student, in essence, willing to learn from anyone who was willing to teach her. Everything Vinyl had to say was so new and interesting that Octavia couldn't help but take it in.

'That doesn't make her any less infuriating though,' Octavia thought as she wandered silently through Ponyville's quiet streets. Without realising it, Octavia had managed to walk herself into the town square, where the Town Hall dominated the majority of the skyline.

“Vinyl did say I should explore. No doubt the Town Hall has a fascinating store of local history, perhaps they offer tours.” Octavia said this aloud to herself, a passing lavender unicorn gave her a strange glance as she walked by. Octavia turned away quickly, feeling rather embarrassed, talking to oneself wasn't exactly the most sane thing to do. Octavia looked around at the unicorn, she had the sudden feeling that she had seen her before. She pushed it from her mind for the time being.

Octavia entered the Town Hall, marvelling at the wide open entrance hall, it had more than enough room for the entire town if it really needed it. Up above her at the end of the hall was a balcony, 'Used for making speeches perhaps?'

Several important looking ponies rushed by, all of them carrying documents of some kind, as Octavia watched them pass, a security pony approached and stood before her, “Do you need anything?” he asked.

Octavia looked up at the to see a cobalt stallion with a security badge affixed to his chest, “Oh, hello officer,” Octavia said, feeling slightly intimidated.

The security pony fixed her with a fierce glare, “Do you need anything?” He asked again.

“Oh, er... I was wondering if you offered any tours around the Town Hall?” Octavia forced a smile and added, “I'm sightseeing.”

The security pony chuckled knowingly, as though he was in on a joke that Octavia was unaware of, “There are no tours, there's nothing to see anyway.”

Octavia turned tail and marched away, she wasn't very impressed with the security pony's attitude, “He could have just said they didn't offer tours instead of being a jerk about it.” Octavia seemed vaguely aware of a few ponies nearby, but she didn't seem to care about that right now. Her previous annoyance at Vinyl boiled over into her annoyance at the security pony and she was feeling rather on edge at the moment.

In a moment of weakness, Octavia began wishing that Vinyl were actually with her right now, annoying as she was, she always made for interesting company. She would probably make Ponyville's seemingly meagre tourist attractions look more fun at least. Octavia wasn't really paying attention to where she was going, her hooves just walked themselves along with the rest of the pedestrian traffic and when she looked up, she noticed that she was in a makeshift market of sorts. Various wooden stalls had been set-up along the sides of the street, there were stalls selling carrots, celery, oranges and other produce like...

Octavia jumped, an orange earth pony had shouted at her from the stall, “Y'all lookin' mighty hungry there, no finer food than Sweet Apple Acres apples.”

Even Octavia had to admit that it was a tempting offer, she walked over to inspect the merchandise. Looking at the stall owner, Octavia had another feeling that she had seen her before, maybe it was the hat or maybe it was the apples, “Didn't I see you at the Grand Galloping Gala?” She hoped she was right.

The Earth Pony looked surprised, “Well shoot, Ah didn't figure you as a local, but Ah wouldn't have guessed you were one of those hoity-toity Canterlot types.”

Octavia laughed alarmingly, “I'm far from what you would call a 'hoity-toity Canterlot type', I was playing in the band that night.”

She raised an eyebrow, “All Ah know is, nopony seemed to care for my apples. The name is Applejack by the way.”

“It's nice to meet you Applejack,” Octavia smiled, “And if it's any consolation, I happened to think that your apple treats were fantastic. I'll take an apple fritter please.” Octavia took a few bits from her saddlebag and handed them over

Applejack took the bits and put them in a bag under the counter, “Thank you kindly,” she handed Octavia an apple fritter, “So what brings you to Ponyville?”

“I'm only in town for the weekend, my friend convinced me to go on a short vacation with her,” she took a bite of the fritter, “This is really good. Anyway, I'm just taking in the sights whilst she visits an old friend.”

Applejack chuckled, “Ain’t nothin' much to see in Ponyville, we've got pretty much what we need to keep on turnin' and nothin' else. It's a pretty nice place to keep on turnin' though, mind you.”

Octavia nodded in agreement, it was far more beautiful out here than it was in the hustle and bustle of Canterlot. “Me and my friend came out here specifically for a little inspiration actually. We, for want of a better term, are in a band together, so we're using this time to properly get to know each other.”

Applejack looked as though she was trying to picture exactly what a Double Bass was in her mind, “That's one o' those big, upright violins right?”

Applejack looked as if she was going to object to that in some way, but thought against it, “So where are you stayin' tonight?”

“There's nothin' in the way of hotels in Ponyville, so Ah figure you'll be stayin' with somepony.”

“Oh,” Octavia suddenly stopped, her mind trying to scramble itself back into line, “I imagine my friend has something planned, but I honestly can't say.”

Applejack gave a good-natured smile, “If ya find yourself stuck for lodgin', Sweet Apple Acres isn't that far outta town, we've got plenty o' room.”

“Thank you for the kind offer, I'll make sure to tell my friend. Small details such as sleeping often seem to slip her mind.” As soon as Octavia said it, she had to wonder if Vinyl had planned on sleeping at all. “Thank you for the food and the conversation, it really helped.”

“Don't mention it.” Applejack waved goodbye as Octavia made her way further into town.

It wasn't long after her encounter with Applejack that Vinyl Scratch finally decided to join her. Octavia had found a bench near a delightful looking fountain and took the time to have a sit down when Vinyl suddenly sat down next to her.

“Where did you come from and how did you find me?” Octavia asked, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart after the small shock.

“So, have you finished catching up with your friend?” Octavia asked, taking a deep breath to further calm herself down.

“For the time being, yes. For now however, I require your services at a little shop called Sugar Cube Corner.” Vinyl got up and started poking the grey mare with her horn to get her to move.

Octavia stood, if only to escape the prodding, looking a little confused, “What are you talking about?”

“I prefer the term 'enigmatic'.” Vinyl smiled mischievously and laughed loudly, scaring away several birds in the area. She span Octavia around and began poking her again until she started walking.

So after being dragged half way across Ponyville to Sugar Cube Corner, Octavia was pushed into the little bakery and met by a tumultuous roar of “Surprise!” Then she locked eyes with the most exuberant pony in attendance, streamers caught in her mane, glitter everywhere and the party seemed to stop. Everypony noticed the serious expression on Pinkie's face, an expression that some in the room had never seen on the pink party pony before, it shocked them all into silence.

A purple-maned unicorn tried to ask if Pinkie was alright, but she was shrugged off. The earth pony choosing to walk slowly, as if dazed, towards the entrance where Octavia was, covered in streamers and confetti.

“Well... This didn't go as planned.” It was Vinyl who broke the tense silence, the other ponies seemed to drift away and quietly continue the party, “I'll just let you two have a little privacy shall I?” Vinyl tried to slip away into the crowd, but Octavia grabbed her by the tail, pulling her back and away from the party.

“What are you playing at?” Octavia said in a violent whisper, murderous intent in her eyes.

“Okay,” Vinyl admitted, “There's the slightest chance that I may have had ulterior motives when I proposed this vacation.”

Vinyl backed away, looking apologetic, “When I heard the story about your sister and what you said about her, I realised that I knew who she was. So I felt I owed it to two of my friends, who just happen to be estranged sisters, by re-uniting them.”

Vinyl grinned, “She throws the best parties in Ponyville, of course I know her.”

Octavia sighed, “Look, I can see that you meant well, but this just isn't something you spring on a pony.”

“Don't I get a say in this conversation?” Pinkie had jumped, almost literally, in between the two ponies, she wore a goofy smile and said happily, “I'd much prefer it if you two were having fun instead of a boring old argument. Enjoy your 'welcome to Ponyville' party Octy!” She bounced away and poured herself and several other ponies a glass of punch.

“It's rude to ignore the host of a party, you know.” Vinyl said, trying to gauge Octavia's state of mind.

“It's better than sitting around and moping I suppose.” Octavia said, sounding defeated.

Octavia tried her best to forget everything and have fun, but Vinyl's betrayal (for Octavia had, perhaps melodramatically, began thinking of it as such) stuck in her mind and put her in the wrong mood for enjoying a party.

Not that the party was bad, far from it. The music was upbeat, Octavia saw Vinyl dancing merrily with a bunch of random ponies. The food and drink were good, at several points during the party, Pinkie appeared at Octavia's shoulder and shoved plates of food at her and refilled her cup with punch, she seemed too wrapped up in her hostess duties to stick around for too long however. Even the atmosphere was good, quite a few ponies Octavia had never even seen before had approached her to say hello and welcome. She was glad to see that Applejack had managed to get to the party, the earth pony seemed shocked that Octavia and Pinkie were sisters, “Like an apple being related to an orange,” she remarked.

When Pinkie announced that karaoke was going to take place, Octavia groaned, she couldn't sing worth a damn and the hostess would undoubtedly call upon the guest of honour to begin the festivities.

Sure enough, Pinkie called her name and asked her to come up 'on stage'. Immediately (and even though she wouldn't admit it) gladly, Vinyl appeared at her shoulder, “Wanna duet?”

“Because, Tavi,” Vinyl said, matter-of-factly, “Deep down, you want to let loose and enjoy yourself, really deep down. I'm just a convenient excuse to make you feel better about doing it.”

Had she not been wearing the sunglasses, Octavia would have seen the wink, but instead, all she got was the mischievous grin, “I've got more than enough awesome for the both of us, besides, I know the perfect song.”

Even Octavia had to admit that the karaoke was actually kinda fun. Vinyl got really into it by dancing and exaggerating her voice at the chorus, she was actually quite a good singer as well. With the help of her exuberance, Octavia managed to stop caring about what the crowd thought of her singing and instead just tried singing to entertain the crowd. Pinkie even jumped on stage with her own microphone for the final chorus.

Octavia left the stage to a rousing cheer, although she didn't know how much of it was hers, but she did know that she was finally starting to enjoy herself. Pinkie clapped a hoof on her shoulder and said, “Welcome to the herd, sister.” She turned away and dashed off, presumably because she had spotted something shiny, Octavia wasn't entirely sure.

A bit of searching lead Octavia to a table near the back of the room, Vinyl was sat alone, swirling a glass of punch with her magic, “Something wrong, Vinyl?” Octavia asked, wondering about her bizarre behaviour. Bizarre for Vinyl anyway.

“Can you not hear that?” She replied dreamily, not even bothering to look at Octavia.

“Hear what?” She spun around and she spotted immediately what Vinyl was talking about, a pegasus pony had replaced her on stage and was singing a fairly slow rock song, incredibly well. As soon as she thought it though, the song picked up and became slightly faster. “Who's that?” Octavia asked.

Vinyl sighed, she kept forgetting about Octavia's lack of knowledge about anything that wasn't classical and several centuries old. “The song is by a band called 'Wings' and she's a pegasus pony. That may be as far as the comparison goes, but it would have at least got a chuckle amongst a more musically diverse audience.”

The unicorn took a sip of punch and stayed silent for a few seconds, “So what do you think?”

Octavia narrowed her eyes and sat down in the seat next to Vinyl, “Think about what?” Her eyes drifted towards the stage, “Oh, of the singing? She's very talented, but it seems quite raw, I'd say she hasn't had any formal training. Still better than you though.”

Vinyl took her eyes off the stage and glared at Octavia for a second, “So you agree with me.” Another sip of punch, “Part two of my question, what do you think about turning our duet into a trio?”

“A singer huh?” Octavia scratched her chin with a hoof, “I could be convinced.”

Vinyl slammed her punch into the table, a look of fiery determination in her eyes, a look obscured by her omnipresent sunglasses, “Perfect.”

>_< I dislike writing Applejack's dialogue. It's so hard to capture her Southern twang.

And if anypony wants to know, the song being sung at the end by Wings was "Band on the Run" because it's so kick ass it exists in Equestria.

Friendship is Music

by Earl Grey

Part 3