An Apple Scratch toward the World.

by Mariacheat-Brony


First meetings (rewrite of the Magic of Music)

        After recovering from her fangirl attack, and strongly whacking the back of her blonde sister’s head, Vinyl was lead by Twilight to the room that had been reserved for her and Applejack, who had followed her sister with a mocking grin. Vinyl’s retaliation had the sole effect hurting her own hand.

        While Applejack had settled their things in the rather luxurious room, Twilight had briefed Vinyl on what was expected of her. She had to get to the main ballroom as soon as possible to start her rehearsal.

        After a quick shower to refresh herself from the journey to the castle and a change of clothes, Vinyl left Applejack settle in while she walked to the ballroom, following one of the very practical maps of the place Twilight had given them. She took a deep breath before entering the aforementioned room, finding it already decorated for the upcoming wedding.

        Her gaze was quickly attracted to the stage set near the large French windows that gave access to the balcony. On stage, a young woman wearing a black performing suit, a white collar and a pink bow tie, with long, silk-like, black hair was busy tuning her instrument: a beautifully crafted cello.

        Vinyl recognized the woman instantly. It was Octavia Philharmonica, one of the most talented musicians in the country, whose talent had made her famous at the age of sixteen, and recruited into the Council of Harmony at eighteen. Vinyl couldn’t help but to feel incredibly tiny at the sight of the black haired beauty. Yes, because the Gods had also gifted Octavia with something other than her incredible musical talent.

        Vinyl shook her head to stop the lustful part of her mind, which was well developed due to years of hanging out with her and her sister’s best friend Cloud, from drifting her gaze lower than socially acceptable. When her mind was clear enough to her liking, Vinyl signaled her presence.

“Lady Philharmonica,” she called politely, but nervously.

“Hum?” Octavia turned around to face who had just called her. “Good afternoon, Miss,” she said politely. “Can I help you?”

“I was instructed to come here to meet you,” Vinyl explained. “My name’s Vinyl Apple.”

“Oh! Right!” Octavia said with a genuine smile while inviting Vinyl to come on stage. “I’ve been waiting for your arrival!”

“That’s what I’d heard from Lady Sparkle,” Vinyl replied casually as possible, shaking hands with her favorite musician. “Pleased to meet you, Lady Philharmonica.”

“Pleased to meet you as well, Miss Apple,” Octavia replied. “You sure got the Princesses and me curious about you!”

“What do you mean?” Vinyl asked in confusion.

“Well, the woman who passed the audition, Lyrica Heartstrings, was ecstatic about your performance,” Octavia explained. “She even said that she had never been that thrilled by a new musician since myself.” she blinked.

“I wasn’t that good,” Vinyl said with an embarrassed blush.

“That’s not what she said,” Octavia assured with a smile, before frowning when she noticed Vinyl lacked something. “Why didn’t you bring your instrument?” she asked in puzzlement.

“I did,” Vinyl replied with a small chuckle as her hand started to glow in a light blue aura.

“Ha, you know the spell to teleport objects to where you are?” she asked in a mix of realization and surprise. “According to Twilight, it’s a rather difficult spell,” she noted with a pinch of admiration.

“Huh… Did Miss Heartstrings tell you what my instrument is?” Vinyl asked with a cocked eyebrow while her magic was creating a dozens of small, floating, blue strings.

“Now that you make me think about it, no, she didn’t,” Octavia said after scratching her chin with a pensive frown. “Does it matter? Since I’m about to see it.”

“You’re already seeing it actually!” Vinyl pointed at the floating strings.

Octavia looked at the floating strings with a skeptical frown. “Is this a joke of some sort?” she cast an accusatory glare at Vinyl. “Rainbow sent you to impersonate Miss Apple, didn’t she?”

Vinyl raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“I wasn’t born yesterday, you know?” Octavia crossed her arms with an angry frown. “You can go tell Rainbow that her pranks are becoming more and more tedious than funny,” she added in a sour tone.

“Listen,” Vinyl said calmly. “I’m not some impersonator, and it’s not a lame prank,” she explained firmly.

“Sure,” Octavia said sarcastically. “Please, just go! I’m waiting for a musician, not a cheap fair illusionist,” she added coldly.

        Vinyl blinked at what was implied about her before narrowing her red eyes at the cellist. Vinyl might have been a huge fan of Octavia, but she couldn’t let the famous cellist look down on her, even if it was because of a big misunderstanding.

        In an instant, Vinyl focused more magic in her hands, tripling the amount of magic strings, and doubling their length. Octavia took a step back with a small shriek, thinking the blue haired Titanian was about to attack her.

        She was proven wrong when she saw the strings forming various shapes: racks, circles, squares, and spheres for most parts. Octavia noticed that Vinyl had closed her eyes with a concentrated expression before she moved one of her magicked fingers. Then she heard it.

“What in the world …” Octavia whispered in shock while the combined melody of a piano and a guitar started to resonate in the entire ballroom. “Where does….?”

        When the sound of a cello added itself to the music, Octavia’s gaze fell on the magical strings Vinyl had conjured, finally noticing that some of them were glowing brightly, others were flickering intensely.

Could it be…. her doing? Octavia thought as she glanced at Vinyl.

The blue haired woman’s fingers were nearly dancing in perfect synchronization with the floating strings, which were changing shapes as the music went crescendo, or when she could perceive an instrument replacing another.

        Octavia decided to simply watch the ballet offered by the light blue strings. At the moment a violin played pizzicato joined the melody, two long, flickering strings caught the cellist’s attention by spinning around each other in an endless double helix form. When she heard the violin being played by a bow, the two strings took the shape of the infinity symbol.

        Vinyl kept her magic active for a long time, a lot longer time than Octavia had thought. She had noticed that the Titanian in front of her had lost herself to the music very quickly after beginning her performance, but Octavia couldn’t bear to stop it, her right foot tapping to the rhythm of the music.

        During the blue-haired woman’s performance, Octavia had recognized the sounds of at least a dozens of different instruments, while being mesmerized by the beautiful show of blue lights offered by Vinyl’s magical strings.

        Eventually, the music started to become quieter as numerous strings dissipated themselves into thin air. Vinyl slowly closed her fists, which progressively shined less every seconds. When the ballroom became silent, Vinyl opened her eyes, finding an awed Octavia in front of her.

“I-I think I owe you a huge deal of apologizes, Miss Apple,” Octavia said in an embarrassed tone.

“That you do,” Vinyl said with a slow nod. “But, you seem to have liked it, so I can say we’re clear,” she added with small smile

“It was fantastic!” Octavia assured with a nod. “I had no idea Titanian magic could be used like that!” she commented excitedly.

“It’s not really surprising, my dear,” a motherly woman’s voice chimed in with a chuckle. “You’re speaking to that spell’s creator.”

“Ha! Princess, I didn’t notice you were there!” Octavia said casually, looking above Vinyl’s shoulder.

        Vinyl looked at where Octavia was looking at, freezing when she saw a tall, tanned woman climbing on stage, wearing a regal, white dress, with teal, light blue, pink and light purple hair that were flowing to an unexisting breeze.

“I was having a stroll in the gardens when I heard the musicians play. Or should I use the singular form?” Princess Celestia asked with a chuckle, her magenta eyes gazed on Vinyl, who quickly kneeled on the ground with solemnity. “Please, stand up, Magic Musician Vinyl Apple,” she demanded in a gentle, warm tone.

“You..You know my name, your Highness?” Vinyl asked in a surprised tone, slowly standing up.

“You’re quite famous in Manehatten University,” Celestia replied with a soft smile. “And, I try to stay aware of what happens in the schools that carry my name.”

“You knew she could play music with magic?” Octavia asked the monarch in shock. “You could have told me that, I’d not have been so uncouth to her! Again, I deeply apologize for that, Miss Apple,” she added softly for Vinyl.

“You didn’t ask, Octavia,” Celestia replied, giggling playfully. “Now, I heard about your magic, but I’d like to hear from you how it works. If you don’t mind?” she asked the blue haired musician.

“Huh, you want ME to explain a spell to you?” Vinyl asked in dumbfounded expression.

The monarch nodded. “That’s the beautiful thing about magic,” Celestia replied with a smile. “You can live with it for more than four thousand years, and still having to learn about all the wonders it can create. Besides, I think Octavia would really like to know how it works as well," she added with a knowing glance at the cellist.

“Indeed!" Octavia nodded excitedly. "That should be very interesting!"

“I guess that should be okay then,” Vinyl said as casually as possible, the immortal monarch and her idol both genuinely curious about her magic made her bit nervous.

“Perfect!” Celestia smiled happily. “Why don’t we settle down at one of the tables?” she asked, pointing at the numerous tables placed around the ballroom.

        The two musicians nodded before the Sun Princess lead them to the table the closest to the stage. Once they were all sit around the table, Vinyl took a short breath before speaking.

“The mechanic of the spell is akin to how a string instrument, for example a cello, is played,” Vinyl explained, glancing at Octavia before conjuring a small blue string, and a miniature bow with her magic. “You rub the bow across the string and you obtain a sound.” The small magical bow slided on the string, making a small note. “Surely you know why, considering you’re a talented musician,” she said to Octavia.

The cellist nodded. “The strings of an instrument vibrate, thus creating sounds.”

“That’s the key of this spell,” Vinyl agreed. “With the strings I create with magic, I can make vibrations that are the exact copy of the ones created by an instrument.” The string she had conjured took the shape of a circle. “By changing the frequency of the vibrations, or the shape of the strings, I can switch between instruments.” The string took the form of an pentagram before flickering intensively before the sound of a cello were replaced by one of a piano. “Or play more than one at a time.” The string divided in two, one still in the shape of a pentagram, maintaining the sound of the piano, the other took the shape of the infinity before making a violin heard in the room.

“Fascinating!” Celestia whispered in a slightly awed tone, earning a short nod of approval from Octavia. “How did you develop such affinity with sound magic?”

“I..I don’t really know, your Highness,” Vinyl replied with puzzlement. “As far as I remember that’s the type of magic I always did. I remember my first magic manifestation.” she chuckled softly in remembrance. “My brother’s ears buzzed for four hours.”

“You remember that?” Celestia asked in a surprised tone. “How old were you?”

“Huh...I was about six and half. Why?” Vinyl asked in confusion.

“Are you sure that was your first time doing magic?” Celestia asked with a puzzled curiosity. Vinyl slowly nodded. “That’s odd,” she whispered to herself.

“What is it, your Highness?” Octavia asked.

“It’s nothing serious, Octavia,” Celestia said with a dismissive wave, before turning to Vinyl. “It’s just that you were really old for your first magic manifestation,” she added softly.

“I know I was a late bloomer,” Vinyl replied with a sad tone. “My first years weren’t really the most appropriate for magic developpement.”

Noticing the uneasiness and sadness in her fellow musician’s voice, Octavia decided to change the subject.

“Anyway, how many instruments can you play with your magic?” Octavia asked eagerly.

“Hum, about five to a very decent level of qualification,” Vinyl replied after thinking for a bit. “Piano, cello, violin, drum and guitar!” she specified. “The rest is more sloppy than the those five, unless I got enough time to prepare.”

“That’s impressive!” Octavia smiled while Celestia nodded. “Can you do anything else?”

“Well, there’s that little trick.” Vinyl smiled, bringing two finger shining in a light blue aura on her throat.

“What does it do?” Celestia asked with a cocked eyebrow after noticing nothing happened.

“It does this!” Vinyl replied with Celestia’s voice, startling Octavia. “And I can change it easily,” she added in the perfect imitation of the cellist voice.

“Most impressive!” Celestia chuckled while Octavia blinked in confusion at hearing herself from another mouth. “How did you do to imitate our voices that quickly?”

“I was blessed with good ears,” Vinyl explained in her own voice. “But, that’s just for the fun. I can do a lot more with my sonic strings, but explaining that would take a long time.”

“Oh, dear! You’re right!” Celestia said before glancing at the clock. “The wedding is only a few days away, and here I am encroaching on your rehearsal time!” She stood up from her chair. “I’m going to leave you work in peace, but I hope to continue this conversation over dinner tonight, Miss Apple!” she added with small smile before heading out of the room.

“Huh...sure,” Vinyl replied uneasily.

“Great! I’ll see you tonight, Miss Apple. That invitation goes for your plus-one as well. Octavia, I’m counting on you to tell her where to join us.” she added to the cellist as she stepped outside the room.

“I will, your Highness!” Octavia called before standing up and facing Vinyl. “How about we get this rehearsal started?”

“Sure!” Vinyl answered with certitude this time.

“Will it be ok for you to cast that spell throughout the whole rehearsal, Miss Apple?” Octavia asked with worry. “I don’t want you to overexert yourself!”

“We Apples are known to last, Lady Philharmonica!” Vinyl assured with a nod. “Don’t worry that pretty little head of yours,” she added without thinking.

        Both musicians’ cheeks turned bright red when they realized what Vinyl had just said.

“Huh...I’m sorry, I kinda forgot who I was talking to. I hope I didn’t offend you,” Vinyl stammered in embarrassment. “I didn’t mean what I said… Not that I find you not pretty or anything but,.... Oh, sweet Epona!” she muttered while facepalming. Keep digging, Vinyl! You must be halfway to Neighpon. It would be bad to stop now.

“It’s okay,” Octavia reassured, twirling a lock of her hair while blushing softly. “I get it, Miss Apple. Let’s just get back to music.”

“Sure thing!” Vinyl nodded in relief. “Just can I ask you a little something?” Octavia nodded. “Can you drop the “Miss Apple” thing, and call me Vinyl?” she asked.

Octavia smiled softly. “On one condition! You’ll have to call me Octavia!”

Vinyl smiled as well. “I can do that!”

********

        The afternoon had been quite an adventure for Applejack. As soon as she had settled her sister and her things in their allocated room, Pinkie had come to ask if she could keep her company. Given she had nothing to do, Applejack accepted.

The excited pink-haired girl had lead Applejack to the kitchens, in which she had come to taste a few dishes the chef had planned for the wedding. At some point, Applejack was asked to taste as well, and like whenever someone asked for her opinion, she gave it without ceremony.

Needless to say, the kitchen staff hadn’t really appreciated to know that, in Applejack’s opinion, all the fancy looking food they had prepared for the taste test lacked something really important: taste.

After a rather long, and loud exchange of courtesies between her and the kitchen staff, Applejack was challenged to cook for them if she knew better than him and his kitchen help. Something she eagerly complied to. The blissful smiles on the chef Allez Cuisine, his staff, and Pinkie’s faces after tasting Applejack’s rather simple cooking was extremely satisfactory. That was how Applejack had been recruited in the kitchens for the time of the wedding, with a decent salary no less.

Happy with herself, Applejack had returned to her room to do her evening exercises. While in the middle of them, Vinyl had come to tell her that were invited for dinner by the princess Celestia. After getting changed real quick, Vinyl had ordered her blonde sister to take a shower and to wear one of the “fancy clothes”, as Applejack called them, she had packed for her before heading to the dining room.

Applejack interrupted her evening routine to hop in the shower, before getting dressed. She had decided to trade her usual orange shirt and blue jeans, by a classical pair of black pants, and a white, strapless bustier with a deep blue jacket on top. She also decided to leave her trademark stetson in the room. If the princess had invited her sister and her, Applejack wasn’t going to make her sister embarrassed by coming dressed like a dirty farm girl.

After getting ready, Applejack got out of her room, and headed for the dining room, two stories below. As she reached the second floor of the stairs, Applejack heard a rather displeased discussion between a man and a woman.

“As I already told you, Prince Blueblood,” a purple haired beauty, wearing a tight white dress, with a fancy accent said in a pinch of annoyance. “I’m expected for dinner with your most esteemed aunts, and I’m running late.”

“Now, now, Lady Rarity,” the blond prince with long hair, and wearing a white tuxedo replied with a charming tone. “No need to hurry like that, my aunts would probably accept your apologies for being fashionably late,” he added with a chuckle.

“While it may be true, I’m supposed to meet with the others of the Council to meet the musician selected for the wedding,” Lady Rarity explained in a low tone. “I’ll see you another time, Prince Blueblood.”

        Applejack cocked an eyebrow at the blond prince still holding back the lady with curly purple hair. It was pretty obvious this Lady Rarity wanted nothing to do with this Prince Blueblood, even for Applejack who had a real problem at perceiving undertoned messages. When she saw the prince holding back the lady by taking her hand before she chased it away, Applejack headed to the duo.

“‘Scuse me, but Ah think the lady here said she didn’t have time for ya,” Applejack said slowly to the prince, who looked back at her with a cocked eyebrow. “More than once.”

“Why, thank you, Miss…?” Lady Rarity asked for Applejack’s name.

“Apple! Jacquelyn Apple, ma Lady,” Applejack replied politely.

“Well, Miss Apple,” Blueblood replied slowly. “I think you’re exceeding what’s asked of you,” he added with glare.

“Huh?” Applejack replied in confusion. “Exceedin’ what’s asked of me?” she repeated slowly.

“Yeah!” Blueblood nodded. “Didn’t someone tell you? A servant like you speaks only when she’s asked something, nothing more.”

“Wha...What did ya call me?” Applejack frowned in anger. “Ah am nobody’s servant!” she growled threateningly.

“Miss Apple, calm down,” Lady Rarity whispered while resting a small reassuring hand on the farmer’s shoulder. “He’s not worth your time,” she added in a venomous murmur.

Blueblood blinked. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed things,” he said calmly in front of Applejack. The blonde woman snorted before turning her back on Blueblood and heading to the staircase. “After all, a woman with such weird accent could not be a servant.”

“What did ya just say ‘bout ma accent?” Applejack growled as she glanced back at the prince.

“That it doesn’t fit a servant from the Castle,” Blueblood replied casually. “On the other hand, it fits wonderfully to an evening escort, I should have realized which one of the two you were.”

        Rarity gasped at what the Prince insinuated, only to gasp louder in pure shock when the blonde woman suddenly punched his nose with a clearly audible crack before Blueblood screamed in pain, and fell on the ground. Applejack grabbed the collar of the prince angrily.

“Say that again! AH DARE YA... AH DOUBLE-DARE YA, YOU SPINELESS PRICK!” Applejack shouted in fury while slapping the prince a few times as he was calling the guards for help.

        It didn’t take more than ten seconds for a squad of five guards arrived to try to separate the farmer from the begging prince, only to earn themselves a few hits from the farmer. Lady Rarity brought her hand to her mouth, too shocked to by the violent display of the blonde woman, while also completely awed by how easily she could take care of the guards.

        The first one had passed his armored arm around her neck to pull her away from the shrieking Prince, only to be flipped over Applejack after she had grabbed his shoulder with her own arm. The guard landed heavily on his back before Applejack stomped his chest for good measure, making him gasp in pain.

        A Jupitarian guard spread his wings to dive at her, hoping to tackle the blonde farmer to the ground. As he was about to reach Applejack, she jumped in the air high enough to be above the winged guard as he passed. The guard didn’t even get a chance to look up before two booted feet pushed hard on his back, sending him crashing into his already decommissioned colleague.

        Two of the three remaining guards charged her from both sides at the same time. Applejack grabbed the back of each one’s head before slamming them together, a loud clang resonating in the corridor when the two helmets slammed into each other. The guards’ eyes spun for a few seconds before the both collapsed on their colleagues.

        Applejack heard some movement behind her, and turned around with a threatening glare. While the last guard gulped in fear when the farmer faced him, unbeknownst to the fact she wasn’t even acknowledging him. During her move, Applejack’s gaze fell on Lady Rarity.

When the farmer’s eyes met the noble’s, Applejack stopped. In the sapphire blue eyes, she saw something she didn’t like at all: fear. The lady she had wanted to help earlier was scared by what she was doing. Applejack’s green eyes lost all their furious glint while she stopped clenching her fists. She slowly raised her hands in a surrendering gesture, while hanging her head low, too much ashamed with herself to even look at someone, especially the purple-haired beauty.

The four guards recovered with low grunts before Prince Blueblood, his broken nose dripping with red blood while his face was covered in dark blue patches where Applejack had punched him, ordered the guards to throw the farmer in the dungeons.

Vinyl is gonna be pissed when she finds out. Applejack thought with sadness as the guards were handcuffing her. Ah’ve really done it this time! she let out a long, shameful sigh.