The trek to Vinyl’s house didn’t take long. The Doctor and Octavia had walked only a couple blocks away from Sugar Cube Corner before Octavia stopped. Much like the other houses, there wasn’t much to this one, just a simple two-story house.
“Huh,” Octavia said, “that’s odd.”
“What is?” the Doctor asked.
“It’s so quiet.” Octavia walked toward the door, leaving the Doctor in slight confusion. She knocked and lightly shouted, “Vinyl, are you in there?”
After a few seconds, the door opened. A white unicorn mare was on the other side. She had an electric blue mane and tail and a double eighth-note cutie mark. She was also wearing purple tinted sunglasses that hid her eyes from view.
“Oh, hey, Tavi,” she said with a slightly tomboyish tone. “What’s up? Who’s your friend?” She looked at the Doctor.
“I came to look for you,” Octavia replied. “You’re over a half-hour late. And to answer your second question, this is Time Turner. He’s new in Ponyville, and he offered to help me find you.”
“Nice to meet you, Timey. Name’s Vinyl Scratch.” Vinyl said. The Doctor winced at the nickname he had just been given. “Yeah, sorry ‘bout that, Tavi. I’m just having trouble looking for the right one.”
“One what?” the Doctor asked.
“Record,” Vinyl answered.
The Doctor looked past Vinyl into the main room; to put it mildly, it was an absolute mess. The variety of items on the floor was surprising, with records being among the most numerous.
“Gee, one would think that a record would be easiest to find,” he thought aloud.
“It’s always been like this,” Octavia explained. “Vinyl, I keep telling you that if you want to find anything in this house, you’ll have to clean it.”
“I can find stuff,” Vinyl responded. “I just have trouble looking for the right stuff.”
“Why do you need a record, anyway?” the Doctor asked. “I thought you were a musician.”
“What, you mean being a DJ ain’t the same thing?” Vinyl shot back.
“Er, well,” the Doctor started, “it’s just that when I heard you were part of a band, I would have expected, you know, an instrument of some kind.”
“I do have an instrument,” Vinyl said. “My amps. I provide the sound gear for the girls’ instruments and use my own records to give them just the right ambience.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Take our piece for the celebration tomorrow,” Vinyl replied. “We’re going for a slow, gentle piece, but with a bit of grandiosity, something to compliment the princess.”
“I see,” the Doctor said. He brought a hoof to his chin. “This is just a suggestion, but do you have any Beat Hooven records?”
“Beat Hooven?” Vinyl repeated. “Wait a second!” She ran back into the room and started shifting aside some of the records on the floor. “Aha!” she exclaimed. Using her magic, she lifted one of the discs and looked at the title. “Beat Hooven’s 9th Symphony. Perfect! You, sir,” she pointed to the Doctor, “are a genius.”
“Well,” the Doctor replied, “I don’t like to brag…”
“I’ll see you at the park, Tavi,” Vinyl said. As she galloped past them, still holding the record, she yelled back, “Nice meeting you, Timey!”
“Vinyl, wait, I—!” Octavia started, but she stopped when Vinyl was out of earshot. “I was going to ask her to help me find Lyra,” she whispered.
“You still have me, right?” the Doctor remarked.
“I suppose. Let’s look around, then. See if you can find a mint green unicorn; she’ll probably have her lyre with her. She never goes anywhere without it.”
“So, does Vinyl always do that?” the Doctor asked. Having walked throughout the town in silence looking for this Lyra was starting to make the search even more tedious.
“Which ‘that’?” Octavia responded. “The mess, the attitude, her insistence that being a DJ is a musical endeavor…?”
“I was talking about the nicknames. I noticed she called you ‘Tavi,’ and she was pretty quick to give me the name ‘Timey.’ Rather unsettling, really.”
“Just another thing Vinyl has little respect for: one’s given name. Unless it’s herself or a figure of authority, you can expect that anypony that gives her their name will have a new one in less than two seconds.”
“I’m sensing you don’t particularly like her.”
“I admit that my ideas on social decorum differ greatly from hers, but I do respect her as a friend and her skill in sound technology. I’ve learned to accept these… quirks, shall we call them, as part of who she is.”
As she spoke, Octavia only kept her eyes on the Doctor minimally; she was more focused on finding Lyra, as evidenced by her constantly shifting her head around in all directions. So far, though, it had been in vain. Even though the Doctor didn’t know exactly what Lyra looked like, he couldn’t find anyone matching the description Octavia had given him.
After a while, though, he started to hear something. He tried to separate the sound from the other noises of the town; they may have been few, but they still made it hard to discern what exactly he was hearing.
“Octavia, do you hear that?” he asked.
“Hear what?”
“I’m not sure. It sounds…” The Doctor stopped for a bit and strained to listen for the sound. “Soothing. Let’s go check it out.”
“But what about Lyra?”
“Do we have any better leads?” He trotted off in what he hoped was the direction of the sound. Octavia sighed and followed him.
The Doctor headed toward a more peaceful part of town; there weren’t a lot of ponies around, so the sound started to become clearer. The Doctor found it to be more than soothing, but also musical. Even Octavia started to notice. They both continued running toward the sound.
Finally, they stopped as they watched a unicorn under a tree, mint green in color, with a mane and tail of pale blue and white, playing a lyre that was wrapped in golden magic. The lyre she had looked like the one on her flank.
The Doctor could tell Octavia wanted to call out to the unicorn, who was obviously their missing Lyra, but she never made a sound. And to be honest, the Doctor didn’t want her to; the melody Lyra was playing was far too beautiful to interrupt. The two stood there for a few more minutes before Lyra finally ended her song.
“Lovely as always, Lyra,” Octavia said. Lyra looked up in surprise.
“Oh, hi, Octavia,” she said. Suddenly, her face had a spark of realization. “Oh, did I miss practice?”
“Yes and no,” Octavia answered. “It is now almost a quarter till four, but we haven’t started yet. We only recently found Vinyl.”
“Sorry about that,” Lyra apologized. “I guess I just wanted to spend a few minutes just playing for fun and it, well, turned into almost an hour.” She turned and saw the Doctor. “Who’s he?”
“This is Time Turner,” Octavia responded. “And if it weren’t for him, I probably wouldn’t have found you so quickly.”
Lyra stood up, levitating her lyre to her back, sealing it in place with her magic. “Nice to meet you, Turner. I’m Lyra Heartstrings.”
“Pleasure meeting you as well,” the Doctor returned. “Well, since you’ve found your companions, Octavia, I guess I’ll be on my way.”
“What’s the rush?” Lyra asked.
“I just got into town today,” he replied, “and I’d like to see more of it before finding a place to stay for the night.”
“But tomorrow’s the Summer Sun Celebration,” Lyra pointed out. “Everypony’s supposed to stay up to watch the sunrise. Don’t you know that?”
As a matter of fact, I don’t, he thought, but I can’t really tell you why, now can I? “I suppose it’s been a long time since I last celebrated,” he said. “I’ve been… traveling for more than a few years now and I don’t usually make it to any cities or towns in time for some of the major celebrations.”
“Really?” Octavia asked. “How is that possible?”
Ah, a question I can answer, he thought. “When you’re me, time is merely something that is allowed to be. Days could pass you by and you might never know it. I prefer to live in the present, not worrying too much about the future, nor looking back toward the past with regret.”
“Well, you’re here now,” Lyra pointed out, “so you might as well celebrate it right. Why don’t you come with us to watch our rehearsal?”
“Really?”
“I have to agree with Lyra on this,” Octavia added. “You went out of your way to help total strangers. Let us at least give you a taste of what you’ll be experiencing tomorrow.”
The Doctor thought about this. Sense told him that he couldn’t afford to waste any more time; he was going to be stuck on this world for a long time, and he needed to find a support system. Also, he didn’t want to form any attachments for the time being; experience with his past companions was plaguing him harder than it ever had before. On the other hoof, it didn’t seem right to turn down the offer of somepony he helped.
Just then, he felt his stomach rumble again. He had never eaten the muffin he got at Sugar Cube Corner. Looking at their faces, it was obvious Octavia and Lyra heard it too. The Doctor chuckled in embarrassment. “I guess I can stand to rest a spell.”
“Just follow us, Mr. Turner,” Octavia said.
The park was quite spacious. It wasn’t hard to find the spot for the girls’ rehearsal. Of course, the Doctor probably would have figured it out even if the park was crowded. The large speakers were what gave it away, likely belonging to Vinyl.
He and the girls headed toward the speakers. He could see Vinyl checking the wires and hooking them up to a turntable. When they finally arrived, Vinyl looked up from her work.
“Hey, ladies,” she said. “You’re just in time. I just got the amps hooked up and we’re ready to go.”
“Just promise us you won’t be too loud this time,” Octavia said.
“Come on, Tavi, I’ve kept a good track record,” Vinyl replied.
“She’s right, Octavia,” Lyra added with a smirk. “Four days in a row is the best she’s done so far.”
“Can’t tell if that’s helpful or not, Ly,” Vinyl said disappointedly. She then noticed the third member of their group. “Oh, hey, Timey. Come to listen to some rockin’ tunes?”
“Well, they offered,” the Doctor replied, “and I do need to rest after walking across town today.”
“Cool,” Vinyl said. “There’s a park bench over there,” she pointed to the side. “It’s got the best acoustics in the whole park.” The Doctor thanked her for the recommendation and sat down while the girls began to set up. He slipped off his saddlebags and pulled out the muffin he had bought earlier. It was still in the wrapper, so when he took it out, it was still soft.
He bit into the muffin, tasting the flavor. Not only was it soft, but it still had a certain moistness that made the flavor that much more satisfying. I’ll have to make it a point to go back there often.
The girls started playing. In addition to Lyra’s lyre and Vinyl’s sound equipment, Octavia had a cello. Both of the stringed instruments made graceful notes that blended well together. The whole piece was just as Vinyl had described: simple and gentle, but with a sense of majesty. The sounds from the lyre were fast-paced but smooth, and the cello sounded slow and deliberate. The Doctor also noticed the sound of Vinyl’s Beat Hooven record in the background. He had been skeptical at first, but now that he heard it, the record did somehow enhance the experience; it was played at just the right volume, not too quiet, but not so loud that it overshadowed the other two. In fact, the Doctor had to strain his ears to separate the sound of the record from the others.
The girls continued playing for long time, about half an hour, stopping occasionally to address some problems with their playing or the composition. The Doctor watched with curiosity at these three friends, each of whom was very different from the others: Vinyl was brash and outspoken, Octavia had a strong sense of class and etiquette, and Lyra seemed content to be in her own little world. Yet they all worked together to play some good music.
This caused the Doctor to think of the friends he had made throughout his life. He quickly stopped thinking too much of them, though, since a lot of them, more than he cared and especially recently, were forced to leave him. He didn’t want to shun those who might become close, but he learned that one way or another, even close friends have to say good-bye. And he hated good-byes.
The trio played their music one final time, ending with a grand finish. The Doctor looked up from his musings and clapped his hooves together. “Bravo, ladies,” he said.
“We are so ready for tomorrow!” Vinyl nearly shouted.
“Yes, I must agree,” Octavia added. “This is probably as close to perfect as we can make it.”
“Glad you liked it, Turner,” Lyra said.
“Well, what isn’t to like?” the Doctor replied. “The way the music blended so well with a prerecorded piece was fantastic.”
“Don’t forget, Timey,” Vinyl said, “you suggested it.”
“I merely suggested a composer,” he pointed out. “It was you who picked the song. I didn’t even know if you had that kind of music.”
“Hey, the future DJ-PON3 has to study all kinds of music, am I right?”
“DJ-PON3?” the Doctor asked
“Stage name,” Vinyl explained. “It’s a work in progress.” Octavia sighed while Lyra giggled.
Then she gasped. “Oh, I almost forgot,” she said. She turned to the Doctor. “Turner, there’s a party tonight at Sweet Apple Acres for the Summer Sun Celebration. Why don’t you come?”
“But I thought the celebration was tomorrow.”
“It is,” Lyra answered, much to the Doctor’s confusion, “but we always have a party the night before. Keeps us awake for the sunrise.”
The Doctor thought for a second. “If that’s how things are done here,” he mused, “then I suppose it wouldn’t hurt.”
“Great!” Lyra said. “Party starts at nine.”
“I’ll be there,” he affirmed. “I think I’ll continue looking around town until then.” He replaced his saddlebags and cantered off, waving his farewell to the girls.