//------------------------------// // Maddening Mages // Story: Busting Boasts // by GrassAndClouds2 //------------------------------// Octavia slowed to a trot as she approached Vinyl’s house. She could see a dim light flickering from the uppermost windows, and she heard what sounded like angry murmurs. Glancing behind her to make sure that Medley and Fluttershy were following, she took a slow breath, then stepped up to Vinyl’s door and knocked. “Vinyl. This is Octavia, with Medley and Fluttershy. We would like to talk to you.” There was no answer. “Vinyl.” Octavia knocked again. “We want to see you. Please let us in.” After a long silence, she heard a grouchy voice. “Ten seconds, Tavi.” Vinyl’s house was as dimly lit as before, this time with only a small light flickering at the very top of the dome. Vinyl was up there, lying flat on the top few bars of the jungle gym and angrily scratching away at some parchment affixed to the ceiling. Many of the other parchments had been ripped off the wall. The room didn’t just look like a bat cave anymore; with the lighting, the architecture, and the crumpled paper and other junk on the ground, it looked like some ancient ruin. “Could we please talk to you?” called up Octavia. “Time's up,” was Vinyl’s response. "Bye." Octavia hesitated. She looked back at her other two friends. “I am not certain I can do this,” she murmured. “One way to find out,” said Medley. “But... if I make a mistake, I will only hurt her worse. You two understand this sort of thing--” Fluttershy gently put a hoof over Octavia’s mouth. “We wouldn’t be giving you this chance if we didn’t think you could use it,” she said. “We believe in you, Octavia.” “Well, she does, anyway” said Medley, though her smile indicated that she wasn’t quite serious about her own lack of belief. “Come on, Tavi. You said you wanted to be a friend. This is when you show it.” Octavia took another breath and began to speak more loudly. “Vinyl, I cannot talk to you at this distance. Please come down." Vinyl made no response. Octavia frowned. She didn't think she would be able to make any progress from the ground, but Vinyl's bizarrely constructed house would make reaching her a challenge. "Could either of you two fly me up?” Medley pursed her lips. “If this jungle gym wasn’t here, sure, but as is, it’ll be a tight squeeze. If I clip a bar, we both fall down.” Fluttershy nodded. “I can go up on my own, but I’m not agile enough to take you with me... sorry...” Octavia hooked one arm around the nearest bar. “Very well. I can climb this. I exercise, and--” She tried to haul herself up, slipped, and in a few seconds, she found herself dangling upside-down six inches above the ground. “...and I feel very silly,” she muttered, as Medley and Fluttershy tried to stifle their giggles. After a few false starts, Octavia began to climb up the jungle gym in earnest. It was not as difficult as it looked; the bars were closely spaced and Octavia was able to ascend without too much contortion. There were a few horizontal segments that were more difficult, but by carefully feeling the bars out in the dim light, she was able to make it across them without incident. In this manner, she soon neared the top of the jungle gym. And then she put her weight on a bar, only for it to slip and gave way. With an awkward yelp Octavia felt herself start to pitch forward. She thrust a leg out at the next nearest bar, knowing she would be too slow. Below her, she saw Medley and Fluttershy begin to move under her. She tensed, bracing to fall on them-- But something caught her, and she felt herself floating to the next bar. Looking up, she saw Vinyl watching her. For a moment, her anger seemed forgotten, and she looked almost bemused. “Careful,” she said. “That one’s a trick bar. Falls when weight goes on it.” Octavia was stunned for a moment. “Trick...? Why would you have a trick bar?!” she demanded. Vinyl blinked. “Uh, Tavi. This is my lair. Awesome lairs need traps.” Her voice added the unspoken ‘duh.’ “But... but...” “No more traps from there, though. Come on. You want to talk? Alright, fine. Get up here and talk.” Vinyl’s horn glowed, and she illuminated a path up the rest of the jungle gym that was presumably free of trick bars. “This way's fine.” Octavia gulped, then continued up the path. Fortunately for her, she found that it was indeed safe. “I suppose I should be lucky you do not have any pits with spikes in them,” she said. “Oh, I turn those off when I’m expecting company.” Octavia looked at Vinyl. “...I have no idea if you are serious.” “Then I’m doing it right.” *** Vinyl worked in silence for a few moments as Octavia examined the score. It looked loud and angry, with a thumping beat and a lot of distortion. “Are you alright?” she asked at last. “Fine.” Octavia raised an eyebrow. “Vinyl.” Vinyl sighed. After a few moments, she said, “I work really hard, Tavi.” The comment was so obvious that Octavia was unsure how to react. She said nothing, hoping Vinyl would speak again. Vinyl obliged. “I designed every single piece of equipment for my performances. The microphones, the speakers, the pickups... everything. Do you have any idea what that takes?” Octavia shook her head. “This isn’t just acoustic magic. I have to enchant and transmute the speakers to give them the properties I need, conjure paths to move the music from my instruments to equipment, which is usually spread over an entire room, do abjurations so the feedback doesn’t turn this stuff into a pile of slag... everything. The spells in my equipment? Maybe they’re not as flashy as Trixie’s, and they’re not as theoretically solid as Twilight’s, but they’re mine. No other pony in Equestria does what I do. And do you know why?” “For your music?” “Yes. I want to be the greatest DJ in Equestria. I have such incredible music in my head, and I want to give it to the world. The magic isn’t there yet. My music isn’t there yet either; sometimes I look at what I write down and it’s so far off from what’s in my head...” Octavia squeezed Vinyl’s hoof. That was one feeling she could certainly sympathize with. “I want to be the best. And every. Single. Thing I do is geared towards that. That’s why I do so many shows, even when they don’t pay well -- I need to get my name out there. That’s why I design all this equipment. That’s why I took the gig for Trixie even though she was a complete jerk. That's why...” she trailed off. “But nopony understands.” “I understand,” said Octavia, her mouth moving before her brain had quite caught up to it. Wait. Do I? Vinyl frowned. “No you don't. I mean, I appreciate that you try, but you don't know why I do half the things that I do." "Try me," said Octavia, her brain still lagging behind her mouth by a few seconds. "Okay. Fine -- do you know why my house is so dimly lit? Think it’s ‘cause I just don’t like light?” Octavia opened her mouth to say that she didn’t know, but then she shut it again. That wasn’t the right answer. She is my friend. I need to make an effort to understand her. This is important. She shut her eyes for a few moments, working out some possibilities. When she thought of Vinyl’s shows, though, the answer struck her in a flash. “Your shows are often poorly lit,” she said. “The dance clubs and bars you specialize in have very poor lighting. You need to be able to run your equipment, fix problems, and perform without the benefit of good lighting. You are training yourself.” Vinyl let out a long breath. “Exactly right. I once had a show where the speaker blew up halfway through. I had to switch to my backups, then get it fixed, all in almost complete darkness. But this is what it takes.” She shook herself slightly. “Same with the jungle gym. I mean, yes, it’s awesome, don’t get me wrong -- but I wouldn’t need to literally live on it if that were all it was. But I have visions, sometimes, of things I want to build... speakers as big as a house, that could play for an entire city at once. Systems that require climbing inside them to fix or modify them, because they’re just that massive. I’ll need to be agile someday.” She was silent again for a few more moments. “A lot of ponies just think of me as a blue-maned idiot. I show up and play some music with a lot of drum and some distortion, and that’s all there is to my life. I am tired of ponies assuming that I'm an moron because my music is bass-heavy, and I’m tired of unicorns telling me that my magic is stupid because it’s too applied or because I don’t have a degree or it isn’t showy enough... look, I can take bad reviews. Every musician gets them. But when the so-called greatest mage of this generation tells me that I’m only fit to be one of her groveling students, or the mare who throws more parties than anypony in this province except Pinkie Pie tells an audience of thousands that I suck, it hurts.” Octavia was silent for a long moment. “We know you are more than that, Vinyl.” “We?” “We other five Bearers. You guided us through the Everfree Forest. You defeated a golem warrior set in place by the most powerful mage in Equestrian history, the Burning Sun Herself.” “Yeah, but that’s got nothing to do with music,” groused Vinyl. “Those two, Trixie and Twilight, represent the nobles and the intelligentsia. And every time I see them, and ponies like them, I feel like I’ll never break through. And never be able to play this music inside of me... because all the ponies that matter think I’m some lazy mule with nothing better to do than mess around...” Octavia was silent for several moments. Finally, she began to talk softly into the DJ's ear. “Vinyl. I know none of those things they think of you are true. We all do.” Vinyl glanced at her. “Oh yeah?” “I know you work hard, because I have walked by your house at night, unable to sleep, and I heard you working with your machines or your music despite the late hour. I know how many performances you give. I watch how hard you work at every piece of music, continually editing and modifying until you believe it to be perfect.” She gestured down at the equipment bay below them. “I am aware of how much effort you put into designing every single item you will use in any of your shows. I have seen you throw away speakers when they faltered in the narrowest frequency ranges, even though it meant you would have to build more. “And I know how much you put into your music because I listen to it. I admit that I still do not understand ‘wubstep’ entirely, but I can hear the passion and drive. Even if I do not know what your music is saying, I can hear its clarity, feel its power, and be carried by its emotional content. Your music is good, Vinyl. And it would not be good if you had grown lax anywhere along the line, in composition, practicing, constructing your equipment, or anything else. Nopony could produce what you have produced with halfhearted efforts.” She smiled at Vinyl. “Anypony who knows anything about music can tell how good you are.” There was a long moment... and then Vinyl smiled. The tension seemed to leave her body, and she lowered her quill hoof back to her side. “It’s nice to hear somepony say it now and then,” she said. "Thank you." Octavia nodded her head. Vinyl chuckled, and just like that, she was her usual merry self. “Those two are idiots. But who cares? Noble idiot, egghead idiot... whatever. I’ll outperform them both and show them. And they’re in my next song, of course.” “... they are?” “Yeah?” Vinyl pulled another parchment down from the ceiling; it was the one she had been working on when Octavia had arrived. “Let me know if you like the lyrics.” Octavia scanned them. “Vinyl, I... you cannot play this.” “Why not?” “Because... because...” Octavia tried to come up with a reason Vinyl would accept. “Uh...” Vinyl grinned. “Something the matter?” Octavia eventually managed to say, “They are not accurate. First of all, Twilight Sparkle is probably not that flexible.” Vinyl blinked. “...accuracy is overrated, Tavi. But fine. I’ll make it Trixie.” “No! I mean...” *** Some time later, Octavia carefully climbed down from the jungle gym. She felt tired and drained, but also good. I think I helped her. I really think I did. Fluttershy flew up to talk to Vinyl next, while Medley led Octavia into the other room. “Nice going,” she said. “Thank you.” Medley smiled slightly. “And you thought you were bad at being a friend. Compared to those two unicorns tonight? You rocked it.” Octavia blinked. “I helped Vinyl, but they have more--” “Okay, look. It’s easy to be friendly to happy ponies that like you. Twilight’s got a dozen ponies who think she’s the smartest pony in Equestria; of course she can be nice to them. They’d probably give her the coats off their backs if she asked for it. Trixie’s got a whole lot of ponies that she’s bribed with free stuff; of course she makes them happy. But I don’t think either of them could have cheered up Vinyl.” “You don’t?” “Twilight would probably have gone on about how her books indicate Vinyl is wrong to be sad or something, and Trixie wouldn’t care in the first place. You did.” Medley put a hoof on Octavia’s shoulder. “I know you’re still struggling, but honestly? That was a very friendly thing you did tonight.” Octavia smiled. “Thank you.” The two sat in silence for a moment before Medley got up to grab them some hay sodas from Vinyl’s ice box. “I wonder how the show went,” said Octavia, at last. “With both of them there.” “Who cares? Twilight won’t want to see Vinyl now, not after that, and Trixie’ll probably leave once the praise dries up. I doubt we’ll ever hear from them again.” *** Twilight Sparkle, graduate of the Canterlot Mage’s Academy, certified wizard (specialties: evocation, conjuration, enchantments; yes, three specialties was uncommonly many, but then again she was a very uncommon mare) trotted towards the Everfree Forest. Her face burned. Trixie had humiliated her. Gotten her on stage, then cast all sorts of gimcrack illusions, gussied up foal spells that any oaf with a horn and a few ounces of talents could produce, to embarrass her. The pusillanimous fool hadn't dared take on Twilight in any real magic duel; no, she had just done some stupid illusions to please the masses. Twilight’s magic was better; that was obvious; but how could she show that to the others? You couldn’t expect the laymare to appreciate a lovely, subtle painting over the bright nonsense of a schoolfoal, and magic was no different. Flashy, whiz-bang cantrips would always win in the mind of ponies who lacked the training and technical knowledge to appreciate true magical craft. But fine. She could deal with that. She had herself a plan, and she would not be deterred. She was Twilight Sparkle, graduate of the Canterlot Mage’s Academy, etcetera. Nothing could stop her. Smiling, she slipped into the Everfree Forest and out of sight. A few moments later, the air rippled, and Trixie Lulamoon stepped out from behind a shimmering curtain of nothingness. Her eyes narrowed as she considered her next move. Finally, she made up her mind. “Spike. Come on,” she snapped. “Aw, Trixie, can’t we go back to the wagon?” asked Spike, hurrying to catch up from his hiding place behind a big tree. “No. We’re following Twilight Sparkle,” said Trixie. “Let’s go. Quietly.” The two followed Twilight, and quickly, all three were lost to the sight of Ponyville eyes.