"Drop It"
Octavia sets the hand down, exchanging it for her cup of tea, and continues to stare incredulously at the white Unicorn standing on the other side of the table.
"Aww yeah. I can drop some sick beats and you can-" Vinyl gives Octavia a double waggle of her eyebrows, "-get charged off it. It’s a win-win situation."
The light stone gray pony’s cheeks show the slight blush she is trying to desperately hide behind the cup. "Yes Vinyl, that is a possibility, but-" clearing her throat, "-please try to maintain yourself." Octavia gestures with her hoof, "We do have company over."
The howling wind outside and occasional clap of thunder do little to cover Lyra's chuckles at Octavia's frustration. She can't help but think about Bon Bon and be amused by the interaction between the Cellist and the DJ. Smiling, the mint green mare speaks between the escalating thunderclaps, "I don't mind. I find it nice to know that you're not always a huge stick-in-the-mud Octavia," her voice laced with enough sugar to fell Pinkie Pie.
Vinyl snorts, spitting out a little of the chilled amber liquid she'd been taking an occasional sip of. "I know right?" She trots over to the couch. "If it weren't for her home life," the DJ leans against Octavia, wrapping her right foreleg around her, "I'd think the reason she can stand up straight while playing-" she pats Octavia's shoulder, "-is a giant stick up her rump." Good natured laughter erupts from the two unicorns, while the loan earth pony scowls at them. A flash of lightning backlights Octavia, giving her a more menacing look.
Removing the DJ's hoof from around her, she raises the cup to her mouth. "Vinyl, you're sleeping on the couch tonight." Octavia takes a sip of her tea as Vinyl's ears lay flat against her head in a hurt manner, her eyes growing larger than would seem possible. Octavia gives her a quick glance. "Sorry, that won't work on me. Now," raising the hand, "how do I use this?"
Back in her zone, the white unicorn perks right up, levitating the entire table to the side, presenting a wide open space for them to work in. “Well, first put it on your right hoof," grabbing the hand from Octavia's grasp and sliding it onto the cellist's hoof, "like so and then-" pressing a button near the hoof-line, "-press here and the hand secures itself. Now take it for a spin."
Turning her hoof to stare at the foreign object now attached to hit, Octavia begins to move it when she stops. "Lyra, would you be a dear and step back, I do not want you getting injured if this should blow up in our faces."
"Hey, I'm offended that you think so lowly of my creations, Tavi."
Hearing this, the mint-green Unicorn puts a few body lengths between her and the daring pair of mares. "Good luck with your hand, Octavia."
Exchanging knowing nods between them, Octavia concentrates and uses the hand to grasp a tea cup set on her end table. "This isn't so ba-" The hand contracts, crushing the delicate china into hundreds of fragments and spilling the warm liquid all over the carpet, "-aaaaaah…" Octavia freezes, staring at the broken cup.
Looking between Octavia and the mess Vinyl raises her signature shades, "I'm going to have to check my notes."
Levitating the hand off the still stunned mare, Vinyl sets takes it and heads back to her work room, "This won't take long."
Snapping out of the shock, Octavia whips her head towards the retreating unicorn, giving her a stare that could melt stone, "Vinyl Sonorous Scratch, you come back here this instant and clean this up!"
Waving her hoof nonchalantly, the DJ stops at the door to the workshop, "Technological advancement now," she steps through the doorway, "ancient artifacts later." The closing of the door finishes her statement with a thud.
"Ancient Artifact? ANCIENT ARTIFACT?! That was from my Great Grandmother's tea set. It’s a family heirloom." The irate earth pony begins to stomp towards the door but finds her leg wrapped in Lyra's familiar shimmer of golden magic.
"Octavia, why don't you calm down and take a seat while Vinyl adjusts your hand?"
Octavia glances at the pile of dust, "But…but…"
Lyra looks down and smiles, "Don't worry. I've broken enough things at home that I've had to learn a spell to mend them or we'd have gone destitute replacing everything."
The amber glow recedes from Octavia's leg and engulfs what used to be the cup. A tornado of energy and particles rises from the floor, spiraling towards the table. The cyclone collapses releasing a vibrant flash that temporarily blinds the two mares.
Blinking repeatedly, Octavia looks towards the table, "Did it work?"
"I'm not sure; I'm still waiting for my vision to clear."
A few seconds of blinking later and they see the fruit of Lyra's spell.
"It’s perfect, thank you!" The happy mare wraps Lyra in a crushing hug.
"Oct..via…can't-" she forces out, "-can't breathe…earth…pony…"
Realizing what she's doing, the gray mare releases her friend, "My utmost of apologies. Sometimes I forget my own strength."
Lyra raises her hoof and waves it, "It’s fine," she takes a deep, steading breath, "I'm just glad I could help."
Octavia bumps the table while sitting down causing the cup's handle to fall off. Before Lyra can say anything, Octavia intercedes, "I'll get the glue…"
--------------
Thirty minutes later the sound of the storm slowly fades, replaced by a steady beat emanating from the back room. The two mares in the sitting room are barely aware of it until the insulated door swings open and the full force of the music assaults their ears.
"It sounds like Vinyl has completed the adjustments." Octavia yells, "Let us hope we do not have need of your mending spell this time, Lyra."
Thankfully for the two's ringing ears the noise soon dies down. The music is replaced by the sound of the door shutting and hooves on wood. The white unicorn canters towards them with the hand wrapped in her signature magical glow.
Lyra adjusts her position, "So, Vinyl, did yah manage to fix Octavia's hand?" Getting off the couch, the mint green unicorn hops over to look at the hand.
"Aww yeah. I got it this time," she sets the hand onto the gray mare's right forehoof, securing it with a hiss of gas. "I forgot to account for Tavi's magic."
Lyra nods her head, but Octavia's puzzlement shows she doesn't understand, "Magic? Outside of the base pony magic I don't have any."
Shaking her head the DJ continues, "What did they teach you in school, Treble Clef? I mean what the hay?"
"I beg your pardon, but I attended the most prestigious music school in all of Manehatten," the earth mare spits back.
Sighing, the unicorn face-hoofs, "Those focused schools always miss the basics. Your hooves baby, your hooves." Not letting her rant be interrupted Vinyl continues, "Pegasus magic is in the wings, Unicorn magic is in the horn, and Earth Pony magic is in the hooves." She points her hoof at the mare in question, "It lets them tend the plants and gives them their freakish strength…" she doubles back, "Um...no offense."
"None taken." Octavia examines her hand, grasping the situation, "If I understand correctly, my dear unicorns, the reason I pulverized the cup was because of the magic in my hoof, yes?"
Jumping into the conversation, Lyra happily answers, "Yup! All my hoof has is the ambient pony magic," Flexing her forelegs as best she can and doing a very bad Haystrian accent, "yours are filled with awesome earth pony magical might!"
Vinyl bursts into laughter, which is swiftly joined by Lyra's guffaws.
"I'm surrounded by comedians," Octavia deadpans. "Now, if you two are done, shall we get onto making sure these modifications work?
"Trust me, Tavi," Vinyl brushes her electric blue mane back and wipes a tear from her eye, "It'll work. Now -" grabbing the empty teapot in her blue magic and tosses it at Octavia, "-catch."
Not thinking but acting, the earth pony grabs the flying projectile in her hand. "What do you think you are doing?!” The irate mare holds the pot in her hand and gestures at it with her other hoof, "This is an antique!"
"Chill, looks it’s fine. Not like you broke it or anything."
Octavia looks down at the teapot and the hand holding it. "I see," she takes a calming breath; "It looks like the adjustments you made are adequate."
"Neat, we're handmates now!" the bubbly mint unicorn exclaims.
A small smile graces Octavia's mouth, "To a point, I guess so."
"Enough chit-chat," Vinyl wrenches the teapot from Octavia's hand, "let’s try out that bass." The DJ looks at Lyra, "You may want to backup."
Lyra backs up towards the door again as Vinyl trots to the kitchen and retrieves a class of water.
"Now Tavi, stand like you do when you play your cello and aim the bass on the hand-" the DJ sets the glass onto an end table directly across from the gray mare "-at this glass of water."
Hesitantly, Octavia assumes her standard position and raises her right foreleg towards the glass. "Like this?"
"Yup, now imagine forcing your strength into your right forehoof and you should release a small shockwave that should agitate the water."
Octavia scrunches her face, "I'm trying, but nothing's happening."
"Try harder."
Beads of sweet roll down her face as she focuses and tries her best to force it and grunts, "It’s not working."
Lyra begins to speak, but Vinyl gives her a wink, "Oh come on babe, you're not trying hard enough. I mean, remember that thing you said couldn't be done the other night? We made it happen."
Octavia blushes, "VINYL SCRA-" A sonic shockwave pulses from the hand interrupting her words. The glass of water shatters. Octavia is knocked off her hooves, into the couch, and then into the wall.
"OCTAVIA!" a noticeably paler Vinyl screams as she rushes over to the debris. "Please be okay." She grabs a fire extinguisher from where the couch once sat and drags it to her with magic. Taking aim, she prepares to spray the inevitable fire.
Shakily, Octavia gets back on her hooves. "I'm fin-" her statement interrupted as the frantic DJ sprays her head to tail in white foam.
Lyra, broken from her stupor by the incident, grabs one of the towels from earlier and starts to clean up her friend.
"Oh Celestia, I'm sorry. I didn't know that would happen. Please," she takes a ragged breath, "forgive me."
"I'm fine Vinyl, albeit sticky, but my Earth Pony durability saved me from any real harm." Looking at the ruined couch behind her, she adds "Though I cannot say the same for our couch."
Looking at the couch, the DJ's ears flatten against her head. "Yeah, I'll get it replaced in the morning. I think we need more quills for composing anyways." She looks at their guest, "Lyra thanks for the cool toy and the help, but it looks like the storm's stopped now. Bon Bon’s probably wondering where you went."
Setting the towel down, the other unicorn looks outside, "You're right on both counts. Bonny tends to think I'm getting into trouble when I'm out late." She turns towards the door, levitating her saddlebags onto her back, "Thanks for the tea and take care."
Octavia finishes brushing herself off, "Thank you, I will try. Also, do try and be on time for tomorrow's practice."
"I'll try." She opens the door and takes a step out before stopping and turning towards them. "Why was there a fire extinguisher under the couch?"
The gray mare answers, "We have five."
Her ears flared, Vinyl puffs her chest out, "On this floor alone!"
"If I might ask, why?"
Octavia turns to Vinyl, "How many of your creations have exploded in the past two weeks?"
Flattening her ears to the side of her head again, the DJ's response is barely over a whisper, "seven…fifteen if you count ones that just burst into flames."
Lyra looks at the pair with a slightly cocked head, "Well, I guess that explains that." Waving her hand over her head she continues, "See you tomorrow, Octavia, and see you around, Bug Eyes."
"Catch yah 'round the flip side, Harpass." The amber magic of the departing unicorn closes the door to the house.
"Now Vinyl, would you mind taking this," she removes the hand and sets it down on the floor, "and adjusting the bass so that this does not happen again?"
"Sure, Tavi, I'll adjust it and then come up to bed."
Octavia turns towards the staircase, "You are still sleeping on the couch tonight."
"But…but it’s a pile of firewood now."
With a playful smile on her face she turns towards the downtrodden unicorn, "Not my problem."
Taking the hand in her blue aura, the DJ heads towards the back room to adjust the hand and inflate the air mattress.
"That is, unless you can beat me upstairs."
The white pony's ears perk right up and the hand is sent through the air to land on top of the dishwasher in the nearby kitchen. “Don't have to tell me twice." The chuckling gray mare is swiftly passed by a blue and white blur, the sound of rapid hoof falls on the wooden steps and floor telling of her haste.
Sighing to herself, she speaks in a loving whisper, "You're a fun loving, irresponsible goof, but you are my lovable goof."
------------------
In the skies above the sleeping town of Ponyville an exhausted Thunderlane collapses onto one of the last remaining clouds. "That was one hell of a storm." He looks left, right, up, and down, "I should get a damn medal for handling it on my own. Punishment my ass."
He pulls back his left foreleg.
"Stupid Rainbow Dash."
He slams it into the cloud: The cloud beneath him thins.
"Stupid mares."
He slams his right foreleg into the cloud: More cloud gives way.
"Stupid black claw thingy!"
He slams both front legs into the cloud in angry frustration as the remnants of the cloud begin to break apart.
"That made me-" the cloud fully dissipates and the luckless pegasus plummets to the muddy ground below, nearly drenching a passing Lyra as a deep puddle breaks his fall "-feel better."
"Oh hey, Thunderlane, nice of you to drop by," the chipper unicorn exclaims.
Getting up, Thunderlane shakes the mud from his dark coat and tries to put on the best front he can for the mare, "Hah, I guess I did drop by."
Raising her hand towards the Dusky stallion, Lyra waves, "Anyways, it’s late and I should get home. Good work on the storm!" Lyra trots off, waving her hand the entire way.
"Thanks." The pegasus responds, looking up just in time to see the iHand attached firmly to Lyra's hoof as she disappears into the darkened streets. "Wait… That was the claw!" He thinks for a moment. "It's her fault. It’s all her fault." His bright smile returns, but this time with a slight twist of a snarl. "And tomorrow the entire town will know it!"
Still too tired to fly, but with a new spring in his step the stallion walks towards his home that floats on the outskirts of the town.
-------------------
The next morning the sun dawns over Ponyville, its rays slowly evaporating the remnants of the previous night's storm. The early rising shop ponies begin their days with little care of the increasing humidity or muddy roads. They do what they always do, with joy in their hearts and a song in their head. With practiced ease the myriad of mares and stallions brush leaves from their stalls, setup their signs, and place fresh goods onto the counter for the inevitable crowds to peruse. Little is spoken in regards to the chaos that occurred the previous morning: It's Ponyville after all, where chaos is a daily occurrence.
With time to spare after having just set her last flowers out, Rose canters over to the Apple family stand to get one of their fresh apples for breakfast.
With a friendly wave she addresses the merchant, "Morning Applejack, it’s nice to see you in town this morning."
"Mornin', Rose." she nods, "I was supposed ta have been here yesterday, but Big Mac had some business in town so he came instead a me."
Rose chuckles, "It’s kind of good he did, we had some trouble yesterday with Thunderlane."
Snorting slightly the farm mare retorts, "Mac told me about that durned chicken. It’s a good thing Mac was here or," the orange mare turns and makes a bucking motion, "I'd have bucked him inta next week." Calming down, the orange pony turns back to Rose, "Anyways, what can I do ya for?"
"I'll just take an apple."
Applejack Reaches for one of the larger Fuji apples and tosses it to Rose. "It's on the house Rose, fer havin ta deal with Thunderlane yesterday."
"Thanks, I appreciate it." Seven deep bongs from the clock tower echo across the square, "Wish I could stay and chat, but it looks like we'll have customers any moment now." With a nod of her head Rose canters back to her stall, enjoying the apple as she goes.
A few blocks away from the market another morning ritual is beginning.
An upper floor window opens as Vinyl Scratch sticks her head out, "Good morning, Ponyville!" she screams as a resounding bass thud resonates across the neighborhood. Leaving the window open to let the breeze flow through, the DJ heads to the kitchen to give her morning sermon.
"Door locked, let’s rock." The DJ throws a switch and the house is suddenly bombarded by tremors originating from the dishwasher. Octavia's hand, left there from the night before, vibrates as well. Upstairs an angry grunt can be heard from Octavia, who unlike the unicorn is not a morning pony.
Standing in the middle of the room Vinyl watches as a cloud of her magic dances across the kitchen making breakfast for the pair. Eggs are scrambled in their shells by one of the DJ's sonic creation as toast is buttered.
Vinyl yells upstairs, "Breakfast will be ready soonish, Tavi," another flash of her magic and the coffee pot begins disgorging its rich ambrosia.
A few minutes later and the noise subsides, the dishwasher's job done and the dishes cleaned at the microscopic level. The silence lasts for mere moments as it’s broken by Octavia's hooves on the wooden stairs.
A long yawn escapes the gray earth pony as she rubs some sleep from her eyes, "Must you always make a racket so early Vinyl?" She stifles another yawn, "Some ponies like to sleep in."
The DJ sets the breakfast on the table, her magical aura dissipating like morning dew. She adjusts her shades, rears back and speaks, "But Tavi, Bass is god and I'm its pope!"
Octavia doesn't reply at all, she just sits down and drinks her coffee. Minutes pass with only the occasional sounds of summer insects and the clanking of silverware on plates as the pair enjoys their breakfast in silence. Finished, Octavia carries her dishes to the sink, but instead sets them on the counter.
"Vinyl, you ran the dishwasher, yes?"
"Of course, didn't you hear it running?"
"Indeed, I did, but pray tell, why is the sink still full of dishes?"
Vinyl's magic creates a glowing 0 in mid-air. "Let’s see, I loaded it after dinner, but then there was my pre-bed snack-" the number changes to 1, "-my pre-midnight snack," 2, "my post-midnight snack," 3, "pre-breakfast snack," 4, "and then breakfast." The number changes to a large glowing 5. "So, um, yeah, 5 sets of dishes."
Octavia face-hoofs, "And how is it you don't look like a blimp?"
"Dunno, how does Pinkie stay in shape?"
"Point." Octavia refills her mug, "Still, please unload, load, and…uggg…fire…the dishwasher" She sets the coffee mug onto her back as she heads out of the kitchen, "I will be in the study reviewing my solo piece for tonight."
"Gotcha, Tavi, I'll cast a silencing charm around the study. That'll keep the wubs down." The DJ's horn glows and a sheen of blue magic condenses over a door on the far side of the main room. "Have fun. After I finish here I'll be in my workshop tinkering. Come get me if you need me." The DJ begins the task of cleaning the kitchen as the earth mare heads to review her sheet music. The hand sits forgotten on top of the dishwasher.
----------
A few hours later and the morning calm gives way to the hustle and bustle of the day. The market is in full swing and the bartering voices merge with the sounds of commerce, creating a music all its own. Visitors disembarking from the trains are greeted by the lively tune and some join in, adding their unique accents and mannerisms to the tableau. Other than the humidity, everything and everypony was doing just fine.
A small unicorn filly, no older than those in Ms. Cheerilee's class approaches Rose's stall, "Ma'am, may I please get one of your Lilies?" She speaks in a sophisticated Manehatten accent, "My mother loves them oh so much and I would like to get her one."
Rose can't help but smile, "Of course." She grabs one of her most vibrant Lilies and hands it to the filly who easily grabs it in her magic. "That will be one bit."
The young pony retrieves the proper amount and levitates it to the counter, "Thank you, Ma'am." She sets the flower into her saddlebag, "I’d best be going; my mother only gave me fifteen minutes to look around before we catch our connecting train." And with that the filly runs off towards the train station.
Still smiling, the cream colored earth mare nudges the bit into the cash box. That was just adorable, she thinks to herself. While that lily is normally three bits, I just had to give her a discount. Looking at the clear sky she sighs, "I'm glad today is so much more normal."
A small cloud in the distance starts making its way to the market place. Many ponies discount it as a pegasus providing their own napping location; probably Rainbow Dash. The cloud settles over the center and Thunderlane extricates himself from his disguise. Turning his back on the cloud, the dusky pegasus rears back and delivers a grand kick to the cloud, releasing a deafening clap of thunder. All eyes in the market turn towards him and the cloud.
Rose jerks her head towards the noise in shock. "The hay?" Her eyes settle on the stallion and in an instant her good mood is gone, replaced by anger, "What the hay does he want?"
Thunderlane momentarily basks in the attention, but quickly returns to his task. Clearing his throat he speaks, "Citizens of Ponyville! I come not to apologize for what occurred yesterday, but to reveal the true," he dodges a rock, "true culprit." He lowers himself closer to the ground, "We need to find Lyra! It was her fault!"
The crowd murmurs in confusion. An unknown voice comes from the crowd, "How is it Lyra's fault? She wasn't even here."
The crowd’s murmurs turn to anger as another voice chimes in, "Yeah, if you're going to use a scapegoat, at least choose somepony that was here!"
"I swear it was her, or at least her fault." He clears his throat, "I saw a black claw causing all of the havoc and Lyra had a black claw on last night when I saw her." The crowd looks in disbelief. "I swear it was the One-Clawed mare! The One-Clawed Mare!"
Drawn by the thunderclap, the pegasus twins Flitter and Cloudchaser approach Thunderlane from above. With a quick nod between the two they wrap their fore hooves around Thunderlane's own and begin to drag him off. Cloudchaser whispers into Thunderlane's ear, "Cool it, you can go crazy later. No sense in blaming an innocent pony with something so outlandish".
The younger of the two, Flitter, addresses the crowd below, "My apologies, everypony. Thunderlane here has taken too many blows to the head and doesn't know what he's saying. We'll take it from here."
"I Swear on Celestia that it was the One-Clawed Mare!" Thunderlane screams as he struggles against the surprisingly strong mares.
"Aw cool it yah hothead," yells Applejack.
"No, you cool it! I know what I saw. It was the One-Clawed M…" His rant is cut short as an apple launched by a powerful buck strikes him in the head, knocking him out. The twins shrug and carry their now unconscious passenger to the locker rooms.
Turning her head towards her sister, Cloudchaser poses the question on both their minds, "So, where we gonna dump him? He needs to wake up."
Thinking for a minute, Flitter comes to an idea, "I know, it’s still early; we can dump him in the showers and set it on cold. That should wake him up."
"But the stallion locker room doesn't have showers.”
"So? Like I said, it’s still early. We can drop him in the mares’ showers, grab some ice, and then take him to the common room when he wakes up. Nopony will be the wiser."
"Good idea!"
Their choice made, the twins arrive at the locker rooms and set their cargo down in the showers, leaving just as the cold water begins to cascade over the prone stallion. They head for their next stop, the kitchen, for the ice bags.
Opening the chest where the myriad sizes of ice bags are stored, Cloudchaser grabs one of the larger ones with her mouth. Next to her, Flitter looks over a flier stuck to the large staff fridge.
Reading it, Flitter's mouth begins to water, "Oh, it looks like Pinkie is debuting a new über muffin this morning, let’s go check it out."
Cloudchaser drops the bag onto the floor and trots over to the fridge, "Let me see." After a quick read her stomach growls. "Yeah, let’s go."
The two mares rush out, the thought of a good breakfast pushing the Stallion and the melting ice bag out of both their minds.
----------
"I feel pretty." A voice sings.
"Huh? What?" The groggy stallion spits out, "Where am I?"
"Oh so pretty," the voice continues.
Thunderlane looks around, noticing the running water, the clouds, and more importantly the lavish fixtures.
"I feel pretty and witty and bright."
His face pales.
"And I pity."
I'm in the mares’ locker room. How did I end up in the mares’ locker room?
"Any girl who isn't me tonight."
And who is singing? She has a nice voice though. Breaking his contemplation he turns off the water and slowly tries to creep out of the dangerous location he awoke in.
His hoof falls betray him, "Is anypony there?" He recognizes that voice. The other shower turns off, "If you are, you didn't hear anything, got it?" Thunderlane gulps as the mare comes out dripping wet.
Being a healthy stallion he can't control himself as his wings snap to full attention. The gust the action creates blows the towel off of the mare's multi chromatic mane.
Rainbow Dash smirks, "Hay yeah I know I' fine, but try and reign it in." She blinks a few times as she recognizes the other pony. With venom in her voice she speaks a single word, "Thunderlane."
"Um…hi?"
-------------
Halfway across town at Sugarcube Corner, the late-morning rush is in full swing as the Cakes and their live-in assistant Pinkie Pie move back and forth between the kitchen and counter. Every trip making sure there is a constant stream of baked goods flowing to the waiting customers. Sitting at one of the far corner tables are the twins Flitter and Cloudchaser, enjoying the large muffin they had recently purchased.
Flitter takes a break from the über muffin and casts a quick glance over to the clock, "We should get going sis; we've been here for 30 minutes already. Any longer and we'll be late for work."
Taking a drink of water to help swallow the remnants of her most recent portion, the elder sister responds, "You're probably right. I'll go ask the Cakes for a to-go bag." Cloudchaser gets up and heads toward the counter, while Flitter is left with the remaining portion of muffin, with half of it gone it’s still the size of a stallion's head.
Flitter hums a little tune to herself as she ponders out loud, "I feel like I've forgotten something."
At the counter, Cloudchaser waits for a free moment to ask for the bag. Seeing Mrs. Cake take a quick breather between customers, she waves her hoof to get the older mare's attention.
"Excuse me, Mrs. Cake?"
Looking around, Cup Cake spies the pegasus and trots on over, "How can I help you dear? Not here for another muffin are you?" she chuckles at an unsaid joke.
Looking over her shoulder at her waiting sister she shakes her head, "No, we actually need a to-go bag. There is no way we can finish it before work."
"Yes, it is a rather ambitious creation, but Derpy has already ordered one a day for the next 4 weeks." They both laugh as the mailmare's love of the baked good is well known. Still chuckling, Cup Cake gets the bag and hoofs it to Cloudchaser. "Have a nice day."
"Thanks, I'll try." She trots back to the table where Flitter quickly helps her move the muffin into the bag. Shortly thereafter the two of them exit the building, heading back to the locker rooms. On their way out they pass Lyra, who gives them a casual wave with her hand.
Seeing the muffin laden bag, the mint unicorn only gets hungrier. I can't wait to order one of those. Waiting her turn, Lyra passes the time by counting on her fingers.
Mr. Cake addresses the absent minded unicorn, "Good morning, Lyra. How can I help you?
"Huh?" she looks up at Carrot Cake, "Oh, sorry. Can I get one of those large muffins?"
The lanky earth pony thinks for a moment, "We don't have any right now, but let me check with Pinkie to see if there are any in the oven."
"Okay."
The stallion disappears behind the cantina doors and reappears moments later, "You're in luck, we have two of the chocolate chip oatmeal über muffins just about ready." He looks at the clock, "It'll just be a couple minutes."
Lyra smiles and bounces slightly, "Okay. I can wait. Could you make it to-go? I want to share it with some friends."
"Gotcha." He taps the register some, "That'll be 20 bits."
Lyra uses the iHand to open her saddlebag and removes the needed bits.
Mr. Cake looks at the iHand curiously "What is that on your hoof, Lyra?"
"Oh, it’s my hand," she says as if it’s obvious.
"I see." He watches as she sets the bits onto the counter and then scratches her chin. "That’s interesting, why would you nee-" his sentence is interrupted by the cry of his twin foals. His wife hurriedly trots into the nursery to attend to her babies. That sounded like a diaper cry, he thinks to himself. "You know, for us earth ponies that might not be such a bad thing. Changing diapers…pulling baked goods out of the oven…all with your mouth." he rattles off a few more uses in his head before continuing, "where do you think I could get one?"
"Well, I found mine, but I bet Vinyl would be willing to make you one like she did for Octavia."
"Hmm, I bet I could swing a deal with her. Thanks."
A pink blur appears with a box balanced on its head. "Hi, Lyra!" She deposits the box on the counter and is gone in the blink of an eye, a "Bye, Lyra!" reaches the counter shortly after the doors to the kitchen swing shut.
Looking at the package, the mint mare grabs it in her magic, "Thanks for the muffin. If I see Vinyl, I'll let her know you'd be in the market for one of these hands." She levitates the package onto her back and trots off as Mr. Cake begins to help the next customer.
Lyra looks at the central clock tower and nods her head, "Yup, I'm going to be early for rehearsal today and I'm bringing food." Thinking about the treat, she almost walks into Berry Punch, one of the local beverage vendors. "Oh, sorry BP, I was thinking about this new muffin and completely spaced out.”
The slightly stumbling mare looks at Lyra with half glazed eyes, "No problem, I wasn't looking where I was going either." Tapping her hoof to her head, the mare thinks for a bit, "Wait, you play with Noteworthy, right?"
Lyra nods her head, "Actually I have practice with him and the rest of the ensemble later today. Why do you ask?"
Berry Punch roots around in her saddlebag and pulls out a large bottle of liquid. The fluid has no color of its own, but appears to split any light that passes through it into a brilliant rainbow spectrum. Setting the bottle down the Earth pony is once again free to speak. "I owe him this for a loss at poker last week. Think you can deliver it for me?"
Grabbing the bottle with the iHand, Lyra slides it into her saddlebag, "Sure, not a problem." She glances back at the bottle. "What is it, anyways?"
Looking back, it seems Berry Punch has already walked off. "Oh well," Lyra notes as she trots off to the hall.
---------
Rainbow Dash marches back and forth in front of the three other pegasi standing in the planning room, her anger spent after reading Flitter, Cloudchaser, and Thunderlane the riot act for their respective behaviors. Stopping in front of the twins, she snaps to attention. "Girls, what part of leaving an unconscious pony unattended under running water made sense?"
Straightening up, Flitter and Cloudchaser speak as one, "It didn't Ma'am!"
Rainbow Dash nods, "Correct, for that you two will have to pull a double shift for the next week." The two chastised mares’ ears flatten against their heads, "You'll be working the six hour midday and midnight shifts." She looks each in the eye, "Is that understood?"
The twins respond in unison, "Yes Ma'am!"
"Good", Rainbow Dash turns ninety degrees and trots down to Thunderlane, who straightens up as she approaches. "As for you, you will work a single nightshift with the twins."
He looks taken aback, "Why? What did I do?"
Dash looks him straight in his eyes, "You tried to blame an innocent pony for your behavior yesterday."
"But…"
"No buts! You're better than this. We're better than this. As your supervisor, your behavior is treated as my behavior. I expect nothing but perfection from this weather team. Thunderlane, how many from our team got accepted to the academy?"
"Five Ma'am." The stallion responds quickly.
"Correct. We've churned out a lot of Wonderbolt prospects and I intend to keep doing it. Do all three of you understand?"
"Ma'am, yes Ma'am." The trio of chastised pegasi respond.
Her voice drops to a whisper that only the stallion can hear, "And if I find out you told any pony about what you overheard I will knock you down to snowflake counter next winter. Understood?" Thunderlane nods in assent. She trots to the center and turns her back on them, "Dismissed."
----------
Less than an hour later at the Scratch/Melody house, Octavia is preparing to leave for the pre-show rehearsal. She casually looks at the large grandfather clock to check the time as she gathers her spare strings and tuning key.
Mentally checking each item off, the earth pony is down to the last one. "Vinyl? Where's that hand you crafted for me?"
The DJ doesn't answer. Looking towards the workshop, Octavia notices that the door is shut. Shaking her head a little, she trots over and opens the door.
"Vinyl, where did you place my hand after you made the adjustments?"
Vinyl looks up from her current project and thinks to herself, crap, I never did tweak it. "I put it on top of the dishwasher," she responds. Not like she'll trigger it again. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?
Setting down the electronic device she is working on, the white unicorn heads out the door after the cellist. "Oh, Tavi, I meant to show this to ya last night, but I forgot when the couch…issue… happened."
The earth pony sets the hand down and turns towards Vinyl. "Oh? What pray tell is that?"
The DJ grins, "Oh, you'll love it." She levitates the hand, "Raise your hoof, you're wearing it to the rehearsal."
"While I saw Lyra walk in it with some effort, I cannot walk with three legs whilst carrying my cello."
"See, that’s another place where this differs from that iHand of hers." The DJ slips the hand onto Octavia's raised hoof, "It has a walk mode"
Octavia is rather confused at this, "‘Walk mode’?"
"Yup," the energetic unicorn responds," Just press the button to the left of the release and it will fold around your forehoof and just the bass will be under your hoof," She levitates in a set of larger, dress, horseshoes, "about as thick as these."
Curious about this function, Octavia depresses the button with her other hoof and immediately a light next to the sonic crystal glows a bright orange. The sound of small motors and sliding parts fills the air as the hand transforms. The hand splits in half with one portion sitting snuggly against the foreleg. The palm rotates to align with the bottom of the hoof and is pulled taut. Finally, a protective iris door spirals to cover the sensitive portions of the bass. All complete, the red light turns green and then seconds later dims till it is off.
The DJ's smile is a mile wide, "See? Cool right?"
Placing some weight on the boot like device, the gray mare nods, "Indeed. Very cool." She looks at the three horseshoes that Vinyl had levitated into the main room, "I would assume I am to wear them with this?”
"Yep, unless you want to walk funny," Vinyl smirks, "like the other morning." She chuckles.
Octavia clears her throat, "Yes, like the other day when I fell asleep on the floor of my study."
"Oh, you're no fun."
Putting on the other shoes, Octavia secures her saddlebag as Vinyl levitates the cello case onto the earth pony's back, securing it with its strap.
Octavia turns towards the door, but twists her head to see the white unicorn, "I shall see you later tonight after the show."
"Take care, Tavi," the DJ smiles, "Bring the house down with your awesome music powered by an awesomer hand!"
Shaking her head in amusement, Octavia heads out to the venue.
---------
At the show hall, Lyra has finished setting up the über muffin and two pitchers of ice water in the green room. Her saddlebag sits on the counter where she has easy access to it. The town clock releases one long chime followed by a shorter one indicating that it’s now 1pm, the designated time for everypony to gather for practice. The three other members of the group enter in short order, Octavia taking up the rear.
Happily Lyra greets them, "Yo, nice of y'all to join me."
The other musicians freeze in place giving the mint mare incredulous looks.
Octavia is the first to recover, "You're…you're…"
"Early," finishes Noteworthy. "Such a rare occasion." He glances over at the table where the food and drinks sit. "Ah, and you brought some refreshments; how thoughtful," he says as his bags are set onto the counter.
"Yup" Lyra says as she uses her iHand to grab a cup of water and take a drink.
Setting her cello down, Octavia turns towards the others, "Yes, very kind of you, but where did you get such a large muffin? Special order?"
Lyra shakes her head, "Nope, new item Pinkie Pie cooked up."
"Well, that makes sense," states Octavia plainly. "So, before we indulge, shall we practice?"
With a chorus of nods and ascents, they grab their respective instruments and head for the stage.
----------
Four hours later the quartet is enjoying the über muffin as they make small talk.
Noteworthy sets down his water cup and sighs a bit, "I kinda hope Berry Punch has gotten in my special order." He takes another sip of water, "I was hoping to have some after finishing tonight’s show."
Lyra's ears perk up, "Oh, actually-" she levitates over her saddlebags, "-I think this may be what you are looking for." The mint unicorn rummages around for a moment before extracting the bottle of alcohol. "Here it is."
"That’s it!" He excitedly takes it in his hooves and inspects the bottle, "How did you wind up with it?"
"I 'ran' into BP on my way here and she asked me to give it to you." The mint unicorn looks at the bottle as the liquid splits the light into rainbows, "What is it?"
Noteworthy chuckles some, "It's a bottle of Dark Side of the Moonshine."
Thinking for a minute, Lyra responds, "I don't recognize it."
"I'm not surprised at all. This is from the first batch in over 1000 years." He holds the liquid to the light so that the full spectrum of colors shines across the room.
Having sat quietly, Octavia adds her own question, "1000 years? Really?"
Some more chuckles herald Noteworthy's response, "Well, the brew mistress kind of took an…ahem…extended…vacation."
Realization dawning on them, everypony has a nice laugh.
----------
A few hours later outside of the concert hall, a trio of pegasi relax on a small cloud embankment, listening to the show through the open windows.
Flitter turns towards her sister, "Why are we out here, anyways?"
"Because the two of you almost killed me this morning." Thunderlane states bluntly.
"Oh right, so how about the weather?" Flitter continues without missing a beat. Thunderlane just rolls his eyes.
Cloudchaser answers with a yawn, "Nonexistent." She pats the cloud they are laying on, "If we'd not brought this from White Tail woods, we'd have no clouds to sit on at all."
Also bored, Thunderlane begins to do some tricks to work off some of the excess energy his impromptu nap earlier gave him. The twins roll over to watch his demonstration.
-----
The music inside the hall reaches a crescendo as the quartet finishes performing their penultimate song. Octavia switches her hand into its regular mode and prepares for the final song, her solo.
"Good luck," whispers Lyra as Octavia takes center stage and draws her bow back.
-----
Outside, the pegasus stallion has grown tired with his showboating and lands on the cloud, a flap of his wings moving it next to the wall so they can hear the cello better.
"So, Thunderlane," Flitter scoots up to the stallion, "I heard you're strong." She gives her sister a playful wink, "So strong in fact that I heard even the Wonderbolts are worried about you stealing their thunder."
Fully taken in by the mare's words the stallion smiles, "Yeah," Thunderlane gets up and slicks back his mane, "I'm kind of awesome." He poses as the cello's song reaches its peak.
Joining in on her sister's game, Cloudchaser jumps in, "Yeah," she makes a seductive pouty face, "how strong are you?"
-----
Inside, Octavia and the audience are so caught up in the music that they do not notice the baleful red glow of the light emanating from her hand.
-----
"How strong am I?" Thunderlane asks. "Strong enough to beat Horsepower in a lifting competition." Well, with wings only.
"Oh?" Flitter asks. "Then show us."
-----
The song finishes and the crowd erupts into a thunderous applause. Octavia smiles at her bandmates.
-----
"I would, but even the slightest hit from me would destroy this wall." He rears back in a mock buck, "Like this."
-----
Octavia takes a sweeping bow, her hand ending with a flourish as the light on her hand dims and a thunderous noise echoes across the hall.
-----
The wall explodes in a shower of wood and stone just as Thunderlane's mock buck lands. Flitter and Cloudchaser alternate their stares between the wall and the pegasus who kicked it. At the same time, all of the ponies in the concert hall are also looking at the stallion still in mid buck. Octavia only looks at her hand, wondering if it was her fault.
Still looking at the twins, Thunderlane states loudly and with every bit of cockiness he can muster: "See, I told you." The shouts of anger from the concert hall interrupt his revelry as he turns towards them. "I mean…Oops?"