The sun broke over Ponyville that morning and the citizens greeted it as they always did - by rolling over and collectively putting a pillow over their heads. All except Octavia, who had a destination today.
Like most ponies who thought sleep was for the weak, Vinyl was nursing her aching muscles with a generous application of the notorious pain-relief medicine: caffeine. Octavia noticed a fresh cup of coffee waiting for her on the table, a delightful change from Vinyl's normally oppressive morning attitude.
"Grmp," Vinyl said.
"Well, aren't you bright and chipper this morning," Octavia said.
"Mrph."
"Glad to hear it. I've got something I need to do, so I'll skip the usual repartee."
Octavia downed the cup of coffee in one gulp and used every ounce of willpower she had to not scream. It was ice cold.
"What the!?"
Vinyl could not help but laugh. "Oh, I got you good, you wuss!"
Octavia reeled and forced her teeth not to chatter endlessly. She had to hold a hoof to them temporarily, until warmth ebbed back, and she could speak again.
"I ought to know better than to expect charity from you."
"Bah, don't be a sore loser. That right there is called endearment. We only hurt the ones we love."
"Indeed. To return the favour, why don't I send you to the emergency room? Maybe they could do some work on that ugly scar on your face."
Vinyl's eyes bulged, hidden behind her glasses, as always. "What scar?"
"Your mouth. If it were sewn shut, I'd consider it quite an improvement."
Vinyl touched her hooves to her heart. "I can feel it right here, I always knew you cared beneath that gruff, unlovable exterior."
Octavia snuck delicately into the living room. Hist was asleep, but not in his customary bizarre pose. This time, he had selected a different bizarre pose, where his head was resting on the floor while his hind legs were on the couch.
"I saw a movie like that, once," Vinyl said. She had followed Octavia into the living room and was giving the same attention to Hist.
"Where a lunatic broke their back by sleeping upside-down?"
"Hell no. He was a martial-arts master and he ate raw eggs and pocket lint. He beat up two-dozen ponies at once, and it was awesome."
"But he was still a lunatic?"
"I didn't say he wasn't."
Octavia's cello case was the same place she had left it the night previous. Her quartet had squeezed a brief practice session in before Vinyl's arrival had interrupted them. For no readily apparent reason, Vinyl had been loaded down with three-hundred glowsticks, six gallons of paint, enough pomegranate juice to fill a swimming pool, three liters of sunblock, a number of blasting caps, and a whole galaxy of assorted coloured bottles of dubious origin. She had labelled them "refreshments".
Despite the short tenure of their practice session, Brass had still complimented Octavia on her technique. Octavia hadn't practiced all week, yet felt better than ever. Something about her felt crisp and capable, she could feel the music through her very bones as she moved her hooves in time. Simply touching the cello case brought a faint echo of that feeling back to her. Through her talent and years of practice, now she would bring that feeling to Hist.
"Whatcha doin' with that?" Vinyl asked as Octavia check the case over.
"I need to go practice."
"Duh, I could have told you that. For what?"
Octavia checked to make sure Hist was still asleep.
"Tonight. Tonight's the night," she said with a grin.
"Oh-hoh! Well, I do believe I have something to do tonight that will keep me away until morning, even if I don't know what it is. You want me to keep the trainee in the dark?"
"Keep him distracted, and keep him far away from Applejack's barn. I need to be perfect."
Vinyl scoffed. "Perfectly smelly. If you're going to be practicing in a building full of pig crap, at least take a shower before you stink up the stage."
"Shut up, Vinyl."
With her cello case slung on her back, Octavia navigated the streets of Ponyville. Vinyl, having nothing better to do and not quite ready to pass out from a combination of sleep deprivation, hunger, and boredom, had decided to accompany her.
"It's really bright out," Vinyl complained.
"Yes, that is what happens when the sun comes up. Do you have a hangover?"
"No, I don't drink alcohol. Not straight, anyway. Always cut it with something."
Octavia paused her walking and glared at Vinyl.
"Why did you say it like that? What do you drink, then?"
"None of your business."
Octavia put the pieces together, slowly. White coat, red eyes, fear of the sun, hates garlic, and dodges the conversation point of what she drinks: Vinyl wasn't telling her something.
"Have you told your parents?" she asked.
"Told them what?"
"That you're an undead abomination who stalks the night, feasting on the blood of the innocent and the vulnerable."
Vinyl shook her head. "I'm not into punk rock, just electronic."
"Ah, I see."
Octavia and Vinyl continued along. Vinyl cleared her throat.
"I only drink blood for performance purposes."
As they walked, Vinyl took interest in a pink pony who was staring idly into the distance. She took no notice of them as they approached, and Vinyl nudged Octavia into detouring closer to her.
"Hey hey hey," Vinyl said, letting a mischievous grin adorn her face, "If it isn't my old pal Mia."
Princess Cadence giggled and left her position, reclining against the outside of Ponyville's library.
"Scratch, it's been ages. Or a couple months, whatever," Cadence said.
"You know the Princess?" Octavia asked.
"Duh, I DJ'd her wedding. Me and Mia go miles back."
A quick hoof-bump ceremony followed, with Vinyl and the Princess creating an elaborate three-dimensional image in the air with the expert motion of their hooves. Forward, upward, bump, bump, down, bump, forward, bump. Octavia's eyes lost track of the action in mere moments.
At last, the procedure ended and Vinyl stepped away. "What takes you to Ponyville my solid sister?"
"Just a little truance. Word around the grapefruit is you've got some kind of concert going on. You're not gonna make me beat a slipknot out of your whipped head, are you?"
"Whaaaaaaaat?" Vinyl asked, drawing her head back and tilting it to the side. "I'm straight clean, baby. Straight clean."
"Nippin'. I'll see you there," Cadence said.
Cadence yawned and dismissed herself with a bow. She headed into the library and left a very confused Octavia outside.
"What did you just say?" Octavia asked.
"You never worn down on the sound? I dated a mid-towner once, I know all the lingo. One rip and I'm tingling a freeze, dig?"
"I dig," Octavia said. She most certainly did not dig.
"Mia and I got all up in the downs. We once rummied a Polish hotdog, and then got it to pay the hospital bill. Good times, but I'd never do it now. Not limber enough, for one thing. Over 18, for another."
Octavia shook her head. She needed to get a lot more sleep.
Octavia had demanded privacy, hence her selection of a remote, unused barn on the Apple family property. Vinyl left her to that and returned home to find the newblood being intimidated by a minotaur, just in front of the building. The door sat ajar, and Hist was making some effort to block it.
"Hey, A.C. Don't mind him, he's special."
"What sort of beast are you?" Thorax snarled. He took a defensive pose, ready for a fight - or flight, if the situation called for it. What remained of his sensory deprivation chamber could serve as a fortress, if needed...
"I'm a minotaur," A.C said, before spinning to address Vinyl, "VS, we need to talk."
"Well then," Vinyl said, "step into my office."
Vinyl didn't move a muscle. Thorax waited for something to happen. It didn't.
"Now that we're here," Vinyl continued, "what's up?"
"We doubled the goal. I think we're going to need to change the venue, because the stadium can't hold six-thousand."
"Six - " Vinyl said. Her voice cut out, and her throat clenched.
"Thousand. Yes."
For all the world, it seemed as though Vinyl had become frozen in time. Even gusts of wind refused to ruffle her mane, as confusion slowly seeped into A.C. and Thorax. A.C. waved his hand in front of Vinyl's glasses, and received no response in return.
"What happened?" Thorax asked.
"I don't know. Vinyl? Are you okay?"
A caterpillar, who had been making its determined way across the ground, found an enormous white towering column ahead of him. He began to scale it, his antennae having determined nothing hostile about the construction. As he ascended, he kept alive his search for more leaves to devour. The white hairs all along the column were plant-like enough that he tried a little nibble.
"Officer - "
"Damn it!" Vinyl screamed. She scratched off her foreleg, knocking the caterpillar back to the ground. It landed on its back, rolled, and continued its search as though nothing had happened.
"I am sorry, sir," Thorax said.
"Shut up, rookie. You know what? You're promoted. Good job, and all that crap. You made trial-account. No pay raise, of course, but you do get a responsibility increase."
"So, uh," A.C said, "I've got a couple other venues who we could ask. We'd need to go now if we're going to get a hold of the owners. Train leaves in twenty min - "
"I shall never fail you, Officer Scratch!" Thorax shouted. A.C. sighed and let his shoulders sag.
"So, listen up, shareware," Vinyl said, raising her chin slightly, "You've got to guard the house until Tavi gets back, 'cause I'll be gone all day. Think you can handle that?"
Thorax saluted. "Yes, sir!"
As per the hazily recollected snippets of conversations he was not part of, Thorax knew his duties as security chief consisted of two objectives: Apprehend anyone attempting to gain unauthorized access to the premises, and loudly boast about any violence inflicted during the completion of the first objective. He would worry about the second one later, for it seemed to come naturally to other security personnel in the mess hall.
Thorax organized a set of patrols to be performed every ten minutes around the perimeter of the building. He wrote them on a schedule which he had appropriated from the piles of paper which Officer Scratch routinely left in the kitchen. There were a wide range of other pieces of text on the papers, but enough open spots that Thorax could re-use them efficiently. He made a note of each patrol and whether or not it was completed, as well as who was assigned to it (Trial-Account Hist) and the level of satisfaction of the commanding officer.
Each patrol brought new dangers. Thorax was keenly aware of his waning food supply, as each moment brought him closer to starvation. However, obeying a direct order from an officer outranked such considerations, at least immediately. He would need to request leave soon.
The first two hours were uneventful. Twilight Sparkle had come requesting the notes that Octavia had made, but otherwise no pony came calling.
On the third hour, a street gang of fillies calling themselves "The Crusaders" attacked Thorax. He was unprepared for the onslaught but managed to repel the invaders before they could execute whatever diabolical plan they had cooked up. Their operation consisted of a frontal assault via wheeled vehicle, followed by profuse apologies and requests not to tell their parents. Thorax would have a full report ready for Officer Scratch when she returned.
Thorax took a break during the fourth hour. No infiltrations were attempted during that time - that he knew of.
During the fifth hour, "The Crusaders" had returned and requested to assist Thorax. They were far too young but not at all lacking in spirit, so he put them to work protecting the interior of the house.
In the sixth hour, Thorax was forced to dismiss his new helpers as too inexperienced to be useful. They had not followed standard procedure and had allowed an interloper, who had somehow gotten past Thorax, to ransack all the cookies in the kitchen. The orange one insisted on pointing out that the crumbs on their mouths and bodies were due to the resulting scuffle with the invader. Fortunately the young ones were not hurt, but security detail was definitely not in their future. They grudgingly agreed and left Thorax to his duties.
During the seventh hour, a mail pony came by and dropped off some letters. The pony left before Thorax could ask about any of their contents, but he knew enough not to attempt to open any of them without direct permission. He could, however, read the titles of them. Officer Scratch would certainly be happy to receive them, as it seemed she had both won several contests and vacations, and would be having excellent luck with the stallions if she took a certain pill. It seemed to be only good news for her!
Finally, the eighth hour brought Officer Scratch back, sans her Air Conditioning friend, and Thorax was finally relieved of his patrols. The smart rap on the head he received when he tried to provide a summary told him that she preferred written reports.
"So, Tavi hasn't come back yet?" she asked.
"No ma'am. I am uncertain as to her whereabouts."
"Good. I figured I'd need to keep an eye on you for a while longer. Any trouble with the house that is actually important, and not weird stuff involving imaginary cookie bandits?"
"No ma'am. Why the heightened security?"
Vinyl shook her head. "You're a total idiot, aren't you?"
Thorax saluted. "Yes ma'am!"
Vinyl only sighed.
As the evening went on, Vinyl retired to the living room. She was fighting every urge to close her eyes until Tavi got home, and her boredom forced her to - ugh - make conversation with the mid-towner.
"So. You're from Canterlot, right?" she asked.
"That is correct, ma'am."
"Ever go to one of my concerts?" Vinyl asked. Her chest puffed up on its own accord.
"No ma'am."
"That's okay, you only missed the best experiences of your life. I mean - I don't know if you've had kids or something yet, but I assure you, my music is way better."
"I will take your word for it, ma'am."
Having barely anything in common was not making this easy.
"What about the big changeling attack. Were you around for that?"
Thorax paused. "No ma'am, though I wish I could have been."
"Yeah, you missed some great fun."
"Fun?"
Vinyl leaped onto the coffee table and stood on her hind legs, making punching motions to accent every other word.
"Oh yeah, I beat up, like, six. And don't you tell me I'm lying, if you'd seen it you'd know."
"You could perhaps tell me about it?" Thorax asked, preparing to make mental notes. Reporting on the Canterlot Raid would not be news at the hive, but would definitely reflect well on his information gathering skills.
"Well, I was getting everything ready for my set, right? Tavi was there too, she offered to help me. We were just plugging stuff in and checking the speakers when these changelings showed up from the sky and started hassling us.
"So, I was all like, 'Hey, I don't care if you suck at skydiving, don't do it on my equipment!'"
Vinyl looked sad that Thorax hadn't laughed.
"... Nothing? Not even a smile? Okay..."
Vinyl put her best changeling impression on, which consisted of baring her teeth. Thorax waited patiently for the next part, using the downtime to compose a new song to help remember.
"Well, they didn't smile either, they were all 'Rargh!' or something, I kinda forgot. Tavi tried to tell them off. One of them shoved her and spilled her tea everywhere, and that's when it got crazy. She just looked at the spilled tea on her chest and, like, I don't even know, Hist. She just started going insane. She flipped out and punched him, or her, whatever, and then she bashed another one's face into the ground. And so I had to go pull her off the changelings and then they started coming after me, so then I had to fob them off.
"So then, I'm like, Octy we gotta get outta here!' and she was like, all silent, and she just grabs another one and totally throws him at a wall. I took some split wires and totally shocked a changeling, it was so sweet. I got whacked in the head after that, so I don't remember what happened. I woke up after it was all over, and Tavi was just setting up the rest of my equipment like nothing had even gone wrong. Hey, you okay?"
Thorax was visibly shaking, and sweat had dampened his mane. This was not helped by the fact that not many words rhymed with 'wanton brutality'.
"This has terrified me."
"Cool," Vinyl said, giving a dismissive wave.
"Why would Miss Melody do such terrible things?"
"What, play the cello?"
Vinyl waited, as Thorax continued his wide-eyed stare. Scratch frowned again, her shoulders sagging. She hopped off the table, then turned around and realigned it with the carpet.
"... Ahem. I dunno. Some things just set a pony off, you know?"
"Such as spilling her tea?" Thorax asked.
"If it's a white tea - watch the hell out. Green tea, she'd probably just break your nose."
Thorax's glassy stare belied a paralysis of both his body and of his composing ability. Scratch, being a musician, must have composed quite a ditty to memorize that battle, but he hesitated to ask her for her secrets. If anything, balling up in a corner was a much more appealing idea.