The bell above the door rang softly as Vinyl Scratch and her best friend, Lyra Heartstrings, entered the small pet shop. Vinyl removed her sunglasses as she began to search the store. The snow white unicorn had just come back home to Canterlot after an exhausting, multi-city DJ gig. It had been her biggest tour so far, and she knew she should be excited, and yet she found herself at a crossroads. Although she loved the music, and the way the music made her body move, she hated the promoters, the publicity, and the paparazzi. She just wanted to enjoy her music and have other ponies enjoy it as well. But everything these days had become too commercialized.
“See anything you like?” Lyra piped up, joining her friend.
It had been Lyra’s idea to come to the store in the first place. She had not expected her best friend to have succumbed to such a deep depression. It worried her immensely.
Vinyl walked past a cage full of hamsters, smiling as she reached down to pet one with her hoof. Of course, they all scattered, causing Vinyl to laugh again. Lyra smiled too. It had seemed like forever since she had seen her friend laugh.
The white unicorn then made her way to the reptile section.
“Ooh, I’ve always wanted a snake.” She exclaimed, much to Lyra’s chagrin.
Lyra secretly hated slithery, slimy things. Even though Fluttershy had told her many times that snakes were not slimy, still they gave her the heebie jeebies.
“How about a kitten? Or a puppy?”
Vinyl made a face. “I want a cool pet. Something different.”
Lyra nodded, pushing Vinyl past the rest of the reptile section.
“What about an exotic fish?”
“Maybe, if it was an erotic fish.” Vinyl grinned.
Lyra rolled her eyes.
As they made their way down the aisles, Vinyl kept finding excuses for why each pet wasn’t to her liking. When they approached the till, they noticed a rather large aquarium behind the shopkeeper. Inside the tank was something that neither pony had ever seen before. Floating around happily with a smile on its face was a tentacled creature. The head of the creature resembled a pony, complete with a long, flowing, black mane. The body was comprised of eight tiny tentacles and there was an adorable pink bowtie wrapped around the creature’s neck.
“Whoa! What’s that?” Vinyl exclaimed.
The shopkeeper turned around and smiled. “Ah, you have a good eye. That is a very rare sea creature, called an Octaviapus.”
“Octaviapus?” Lyra asked, scratching her head. “Is it like an octopus?”
“They are related. But the Octaviapus is much, much smarter.”
Vinyl stared at the tiny creature and the creature stared back. It only took a moment but as they gazed into each other’s eyes, something amazing happened.
They both fell in love.
“I want her!” Vinyl screeched. “She’s sooooo cute!”
The Octaviapus seemed to agree as she had now floated up to the surface of the tank and poked her head up out of the water.
“SQUEEEE!” she said, happily.
“I’ll name her Octy!” Vinyl said, excitedly.
“Now hold on a second. The Octaviapus is actually not for sale.”
“No way!” Vinyl cried. “But she’s perfect.”
Octy once again seemed to agree and began to make small, sad mewling sounds.
Between Vinyl and Octy, the shopkeeper felt like his ears were about to bleed.
“Maybe it’s for the best Vinyl.” Lyra said, shaking her friend. “You aren’t the most responsible pony anyways.”
“Wait!” Vinyl grinned, using her magic to levitate a large sack of bits onto the counter. “Will this change your mind?”
The shopkeeper’s eyes widened, but he shook his head. When the pile of bits magically was doubled, he felt a lump rise in his throat.
“Okay.” He said quietly. “She’s yours. But, there is one absolutely crucial rule you must follow in the care and well being of the Octaviapus.”
The shopkeeper eyed the creature once more before scribbling out a detailed instruction on a small piece of paper.
“Just follow this rule and you should be fine.” He finished, passing her the note.
Now, most ponies would heed a good warning. But most ponies were not Vinyl Scratch. Vinyl had already forgotten about the note as she magically lifted Octy out of her tank and into her hooves. The creature fit perfectly between them and curled her tentacles around Vinyl’s forelegs, lovingly. Lyra could have sworn she heard the creature making a “cooing” noise.
“Yaay!” Vinyl danced towards the door.
Lyra shook her head and hurried to keep up with her excitable friend. She caught up to her friend half a block down the street.
“Isn’t she perfect?” Vinyl asked, nuzzling Octy.
“She’s pretty cool.” Lyra agreed, as Vinyl lifted Octy onto her head.
“Hey look at her!” Vinyl grinned as Octy wrapped herself around the unicorn’s large horn. “Hahahaha! Octy, that tickles!”
Lyra was happy to once again see her friend smiling, but she was secretly wondering what that slip of paper said and why the shopkeeper had been so hesitant to sell them the creature.
“Did you read the note?”
“What note?”
“The note with the shopkeeper’s instructions on it.”
“Nah! Rules are for losers. I threw it into the storm drain. I’m sure we’ll be fine, won’t we Octy?”
Octy smiled and tightened her grip around Vinyl’s horn. She then gazed down at Lyra, narrowing her eyes.
“SQUEE!”
“GAH!” Lyra said, smacking a hoof to her forehead. “Vinyl! They were probably important!”
“Meh!” The unicorn shrugged, too enamored with her new pet to care.
Lyra sighed and looked up at the sky. She silently prayed to Celestia that Vinyl was right.
As Lyra turned her back, Octy grinned evilly. She slowly made the cutthroat sign with one of her tentacles, sliding it across her neck. Nopony was going to come between Vinyl Scratch and herself.
Nopony.
To be continued...