Paradiso

by Syvvak

Chapter 9

        "Vinyl! What are you doing back here?" Mrs. Motherbee asked as she opened the door.
        "Mom said Breezey had an appointment and Dad had to get to work, so I decided we would make rounds and say hi," the white unicorn replied with a broad smile.
        "Of course. So," Mrs. Motherbee said, waving Vinyl and Octavia inside, "are you going to introduce me to your friend, Vinyl?"
        "Again? You're a hassle, filly." Octavia shot a glare at the DJ. "Fine. Octavia, this is Mrs. Motherbee. She's pretty much our resident wisemare. Ooh, and bread-maker... pony. Yeah... Mrs. Motherbee, this is Octavia. She's my marefriend."
        The elderly caramel-colored mare looked Octavia over for a few moments, making both musicians uncomfortable. Eventually, Mrs. Motherbee smiled. "A pleasure to finally meet you, my dear. I must apologize for the mess," she said, looking around the room at random scattered debris. "I have been watching some of the grandfoals and we all know how they love cleaning up after themselves."
        "Nice to meet you, too," Octavia said, shaking the mare's proffered hoof. "And fret not about the mess. I have grown accustomed to it."
        "Ah, yes. You are Vinyl's marefriend. Of course you'd be use to a messy household." The two mares turned to Vinyl, whose mouth was agape, closing from time to time, like a fish out of water.
        "I see how it is," the DJ said as the other mares started laughing. "Make me the butt of all your jokes. Fine." She turned towards what Octavia assumed led to the kitchen. "I'll just go eat all the bread while you make fun of me."
        "Oh, yes. The bread. You should bring me and your marefriend some as well, please," Mrs. Motherbee said as Vinyl walked away.
        "Maybe I will, maybe I won't," was all she said.
        Octavia worriedly watched after the seemingly angered mare. "Should we go apologize to her? She seemed upset."
        "She's just being melodramatic, Octavia. Trust me, I've known her since she was a filly," the elderly mare said with a loving smile.
        "It's just... this has happened a lot recently and I am afraid it may be starting to bother her." Octavia continued to stare at the doorway Vinyl walked through, her brow creased with worry.
        Mrs. Motherbee pursed her lips as she thought. "Well, it may be best if you talked to her about it if you believe that is so," she said after a moment. "You may want to give her some time to simmer down, in case she really is upset."
        Octavia turned to face the mare, giving her a slight smile. "Okay. I'll wait till we leave. Thanks."
        "Think nothing of it. 'Tis what I do. Now, come along. No point standing here all day." She turned and started walking towards the back of the house, which could be seen from where they stood. "Vinyl! We'll be out back when you're done." No response.
        As they walked, Octavia took everything in. The house had a comforting feel about it. Pictures were hanging on the cream colored walls. Trophies, more pictures, and assorted trinkets sat on shelves and stands. One pony in some of the pictures looked familiar, but she didn't stop long enough to figure it out.
        When they stepped onto the porch, Octavia looked around. A small picket fence surrounded the yard, with baskets of flowers hanging at seemingly-random intervals. Flowers were planted all around: a rose bush in the far corner, some gardenias close to the porch, snapdragons, forget-me-nots, and other flowers she couldn't name framed the majority of the fence. A small pond surrounded by stone benches sat near the middle, right beneath a tree that Octavia believed was holding pears.
        "It's beautiful," Octavia said in awe, sitting at a picnic table just off the porch.
        "Thank you. It took me a while to get everything right, as well as plenty of hard work." Both mares sat in silence for a few moments, before Mrs. Motherbee spoke up.
        "I thought I recognized you when I first saw you, but wasn't entirely sure. Now, I have no doubt." Octavia sat in silence, unsure of what the mare was talking about. "My daughter told me a lot about you. It seemed as though every letter she sent me was mostly about you."
        "I'm sorry," Octavia said, "but I seem to have missed something. Who's your daughter?"
        Mrs. Motherbee turned toward the cellist. Seeing confusion plain on her face, she chuckled. "I apologize. Sometimes I speak ahead of myself. Hold on a second," she said, rising from her seat. "Let me go get something."
        Octavia just nodded as she walked away. The grey mare just sat there, trying to figure out who the caramel mare could be. She heard Vinyl talking loudly, though she couldn't quite make out what she was saying. She heard an excited filly say something when Vinyl stopped talking.
        "I apologize for taking so long," Octavia heard Mrs. Motherbee say from behind her. Turning around, she saw the mare walking towards her, ruffling her wings, the apron the baker normally wore no longer covering them for the first time since Octavia had seen her. "The youngers got me that cooking apron, so I always wear it while I cook when they're around. It's nice and all, but it cramps up my wings. Could always cut holes for 'em, but I don't want to ruin it."
        Sitting across from Octavia, Mrs. Motherbee placed a picture frame upon the table and pushed it toward her. "Took me a minute to find. Somepony moved it."
        Octavia looked at the picture within the ornate wooden frame. It was slightly worn with age, but she had no trouble making it out. In the picture were eight ponies sitting under a tree. On the right, five unicorn foals, whose ages appeared to vary between five and eight, were beaming at the camera. On the left, a white pegasus mare with a brown mane, the only adult, stood above two earth pony fillies with a smile on her face.
        The youngest of the two earth ponies, about six months old, was leaning up against the older, who was almost ten. Neither was paying attention to the camera. The younger, with a deep grey coat and a striking silver mane, was looking at something on the ground while the older, with a grey coat, black mane, and lavender eyes, was watching the filly.
        A caterpillar, Octavia thought. It was an orange and black caterpillar she was looking at. I almost thought she would try to eat it. The memory brought a smile to her lips, as well as feelings of guilt and remorse to her heart. Looking back up at the elderly pegasus, she saw a soft smile.
        "Caring Wing is my youngest daughter. She moved to Canterlot, oh, about twenty-three years ago, I think. Her older brother, whose foals are inside, told her about a job he heard about while travelling that he thought might interest her, since he knew she loved working with foals." Mrs. Motherbee let out a chuckle. "Oh, and it did. Took the first train out of town she could. As you know, she got it."
        The caramel pegasus' face dropped a bit. "She loved her job, as you probably know," --Octavia smiled and nodded-- "but she barely had any time to herself. She was barely ever able to visit or make a social life. I stopped by from time to time, but even that could be hard." The elder mare ran a hoof through her greyed mane and sighed. "But she wrote, told me what was going on, how everypony was doing, and always mentioned you." Octavia blushed.
        "When she sent that picture, she told me how you had taken to that filly like a bee to honey. Barely left her side, even tried to convince Carrie that you didn't need to go to school anymore so you could stay with her. Raised her like she was your sister." Mrs. Motherbee stopped talking for a moment when she saw tears in Octavia's eyes.
        The cellist felt regret building up in her chest as the tears began to pour over. Looking back at the picture, she tried to rationalize what she did. Everything she thought of fell flat as tears dropped on the glass.
        She felt a weight beside her as a wing pulled her close. The motherly embrace helped calm her. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath to help gain some composure. When she exhaled, she heard Mrs. Motherbee begin to speak again, though with a softer voice.
        "When you left, she wrote me a letter. She told me how she was so proud of you, but was sad to see you go. She said they all were, especially that little filly," she said, nodding at the picture. Octavia felt another wave of guilt. "All of her letters since have been... She doesn't write me as much anymore."
        Both mares sat in silence. Octavia stared into the pond as her mind raced. When she finally composed herself, she wiped her eyes and asked a question she was unsure if she wanted to know the answer to. "Is... do you know if she is still there?"
        "I-" Mrs. Motherbee began, but was cut off by Vinyl.
        "You guys want some butter?" she yelled from the kitchen.
        Mrs. Motherbee looked at Octavia, who shook her head, before shouting back. "No thank you."
        "'Kay."
        Turning back to the grey earth pony, she gave her a slight squeeze with her wing. "The last letter I got said she was." Octavia felt a glimmer of hope at the words. "That was almost two months ago, though. I think it was after she got her Cutie Mark."
        Octavia sighed. Unsure of what to say, she laid her head on the pegasus' shoulder and whispered, "Thank you."
        "You're welcome, Octavia. Now," Mrs. Motherbee said after a brief pause, removing her wing from Octavia's side as the grey mare pulled away, "I do believe my granddaughter is a fan of your music, and she is an inquisitive one, so-"
        "Taaaaviiii~," Vinyl said in a sing-song voice. She was carrying a tray with five plates, an equal number of cups, three loaves of bread, and two pitchers; one with orange juice and one with water. Beside her was a young pegasus colt with a dark brown coat and dark green mane. Peeking out from behind the unicorn, Octavia saw a caramel colored unicorn filly with a silver mane. When the filly noticed her looking, she hid behind Vinyl.
        Placing the tray on the table, Vinyl used her magic to pull the shy filly out in front of Octavia, causing the filly to vainly yelp in protest. "You have a fan."

        "Hey, Octavia?" Vinyl said. They were walking back to the house her parents lived in, having finally finished saying hello to her old neighbors and friends. Most meetings were short, since they had stayed at Mrs. Motherbee's house for far longer than either mare had anticipated and they didn't want to intrude on anyone’s evening plans.
        "Yes, Vinyl?" Octavia leaned into the unicorn, causing her to have to sidestep to avoid tumbling over from the unexpected weight.
        "Why were you crying?" The question caught Octavia off-guard. She slowed her pace and looked at her hooves.
        "If I told you I don't know what you're talking about, would you believe me?" she asked.
        "If I said I didn't, would you tell me?"
        "If I said I don't want to talk about it right now, would you drop it?"
        "If I said I would, would you know that I am here for you and am willing to listen to you ramble about your problems and feelings, no matter how small and insignificant you believe them to be?" Vinyl replied softly after a brief pause, during which she entwined her tail with the distraught cellist's.
        Octavia turned her head to see Vinyl smiling at her. She smiled back and gave her a lingering kiss. Pulling away, she said, "Yes."
        The mares continued on in a content silence. Upon reaching the door, Octavia stopped. "How did you know I was crying?" she inquired.
        "Your cheeks were still wet when I got outside," Vinyl stated simply with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "I didn't want to say anything about it there, so it wouldn't draw attention to you."
        "Even when doing something nice, she does it so it benefits her. She did it so I didn't get attention," Octavia said exasperatedly, opening the door and entering the house.
        "Hey! That is not what I meant!" Vinyl shouted, following the grey mare into the house.
        "Sure, sure. Keep telling yourself that. Whatever helps you sleep at night," Octavia replied with a smirk, walking into the living room.
        Sidling up beside her, Vinyl whispered breathily into her ear. "I can think of something that would help me sleep at night."
        Octavia’s cheeks were warmed by the sudden influx of blood in them. Slightly turning her head, she whispered back. "Vinyl! Your family is sitting not five steps away and you say something like that?"
        "Firstly," Vinyl began, still whispering, "I whispered so they didn't hear me. Secondly, I was referring to a warm glass of milk and you rubbing my tummy while singing to me. I don't know what you were tal- OCTAVIA!" The sudden shout caused the other four ponies to start. "How could you insinuate something like that?! My family is right there!"
        Octavia stood unmoving, her mouth agape and eyes wide with utter disbelief. Her blush intensified. "You- I- You... Hello Copper. Ruby. Stormy. How was your day?" she asked, strain evident in her voice.
        "Work," Copper said, his tone so serious, it was as though he were a doctor telling a patient there was nothing that could be done to help them with a life-threatening condition, or a general telling his subordinates a massive attack force was coming their way and they would all die.
        "Well," Ruby said, leaning away from Copper and giving him a wary glance, "me and Breezey went to the dentist, then went shopping."
        "Toy!" Octavia heard the aforementioned filly squeel with delight. From her spot on the floor, Stormy Breeze lifted a little toy dinosaur above her head with both hooves. Suddenly, the toy was encased in a golden aura, floating just above the little filly's hooves and rotating slowly.
        All five ponies looked on in awe; four reminded of games Vinyl liked to play, one entranced by her toy, which was now floating away. Giving a little grunt, Stormy Breeze reached for the toy. When she realized she was unable to get it back, her eyes started to tear up and her bottom lip quivered.
        Before the dams broke and the wails came, the golden aura was replaced by a blue, which floated the toy back to the filly's grasping hooves. Releasing the magic, Vinyl walked over and sat before the filly.
        "That's a mighty fine toy ya got," she said with a smile. They filly responded by waving the dinosaur around and saying words nobody understood. "Can I play with it?"
        The filly looked at Vinyl's outstretched hoof warrily, pulling the toy closer to herself. Looking down at the toy, she slowly nodded and gave it to her older sister. The other three ponies looked upon the sweet scene, though it also brought an ache to Octavia's heart.
        "I-" She cleared her throat when she felt her voice crack. "I'm going to get something to drink. Would anybody else like anything?"
        "Water," was all Copper said, followed by a "thank you".
        "Duice!" Stormy Breeze said after Vinyl asked her in simpler terms.
        "Pop!" Vinyl said, imitating the filly.
        "No," Octavia said. She walked out of the room, Vinyl staring after her in disbelief. Copper looked at Ruby and nodded toward the kitchen. Knowing what he meant, she stood up and followed the cellist.
        "So, not even going to see if I wanted anything?" she asked when she made it into the kitchen. Octavia, preparing to open a cabinet, started when she heard the other mare's voice. Turning around, she blushed.
        "I'm sorry. I- Busy day. And I couldn't give Vinyl a chance to respond. Would you like anything to drink, Ruby?" she asked, turning back to the cabinet.
        "No, Dear. Thank you though." She stood in the doorway as Octavia placed four cups, one a sippie-cup, on a tray and walked to the fridge. When Ruby noticed her hesitate, she spoke up. "Silver label."
        "Ah, thank you." The cellist pulled out a bottle with a silver label that was filled with a light-orange juice. Pouring some into the cup, she heard Vinyl making what she assumed were dinosaur noises, making Stormy laugh. "They get along so well. You're lucky to have such wonderful daughters."
        "Thank you, Octavia. I always imagined they would, but I was unsure if it was just wishful thinking. I didn't know how Vinyl would react." She let out a sigh, looking into the living room at her daughters. "We found out the day she left. It's why I was still awake when she got home. I wanted to tell her as soon as I could. I thought it would make her so happy."
        Octavia didn't say anything. She was unsure of what to say, so she continued getting drinks. Replacing the juice, she grabbed a two-liter bottle that said 'Rock & Rye!', which she recalled Vinyl raving about. She also pulled out a pitcher labeled 'tea'. As she poured the liquids into cups, she heard Ruby speak again.
        "Do you have any siblings, Octavia?"
        "I-" Octavia stopped. She placed the tea back on the table and stared into the swirling liquid. "A sister."
        "Older or younger?"
        "Younger. She... she'll turn eleven in a few months."
        "I thought so." At Octavia's questioning glance, Ruby elaborated. "The way you were looking at Vinyl and Stormy, I figured you probably had a sister."
        Octavia felt tears well in her eyes. "I haven't seen her for a few years. I- I moved out when I turned eighteen and I... haven't made time to see her." She let her head hang as the tears fell again.
        Ruby sidled up beside her, wrapping her in a warm hug, which she was quick to return. Not letting go, Ruby spoke. "You told me this morning you were on vacation. Why not go visit her when you leave here?"
        It wasn't the first time she had thought about it. When Vinyl had told her about leaving her family, she remembered leaving her own. She wanted to say something to Vinyl, but she didn't want to add another problem to their ever-increasing list. After visiting Mrs. Motherbee, she had decided she would tell her when they left, as she had promised with the 'Bloopermare' incident.
        Octavia just nodded into the blue unicorn's shoulder. Pulling away after a minute, she wiped her eyes. Ruby gave her a soft smile as her horn lit up with magic and floated the beverages back to the refrigerator. As Octavia went to fill the last glass up with water, she heard Ruby speak.
        "Octavia, I have a favor to ask of you."
        Turning around when the cup was full, she smiled. "Yes?"
        "I know it is sudden, so I don't want you to feel obligated or anything," Ruby began. “When I was out the other day, I ran into a friend. We haven't seen each other in a few years, so she invited me and Copper to dinner, to catch up and all. I told her yes and she has reservations for tonight.
        "I know Vinyl will probably say yes without a second thought," the mare continued with a chuckle, "but I don't know if she knows how to properly take care of Stormy, even for just a few hours, so I wanted to check with you first. Since you said you have a sister, I assume you know how to take care of a foal?" Octavia gave a nod. "Now, if you don't feel comfortable, Mrs. Motherbee was originally going to watch her and I’m sure she still will, but I figured Vinyl would enjoy spending some time with her, especially since you're only here for a few days."
        Octavia smiled. "If Vinyl wants to, I will gladly help."
        "Thank you, Dear. I will go ask her, though she will probably say yes." As she walked toward the doorway, Ruby turned back towards Octavia. "Oh, and you may want to refill that cup."
        As she heard Ruby begin talking to Vinyl, Octavia looked at the cup; she had drank the water without realizing it. Chuckling to herself, the cellist turned around and let the glass fill back up with water. As she place it back on the tray, she heard Vinyl say, "I'll have to ask Octavia, but I would love to."
        Turning around, Octavia heard "Okay", followed by what sounded like Copper and Ruby expressing their surprise at Vinyl’s response, as hoofsteps approached. Vinyl walked into the kitchen with a grin on her face. "Hey, Babe," she said, approaching Octavia and pecking her on the lips.
        "Hello."
        "So, Mom and Dad were wanting to go to dinner and asked if I wanted to watch Breezey while they were out," Vinyl began, kicking a hoof. "I didn't want to say yes if you didn't want to watch her." She looked away bashfully.
        "Are you asking me permission?" Octavia asked, raising an eyebrow.
        "I- I was wondering if you would help me," Vinyl said with a blush. "I've never taken care of a foal before and was hoping you would be willing to help me."
        "I would love to."
        "Sweet! Thanks, Tavi." Vinyl gave her another brief kiss, causing Octavia to smile. "Wait. Do you even know how to take care of a foal, or are we both going into this blind?"
        Octavia turned around and placed the tray upon her back. "I do."
        "Really? Since when?"
        "Later," was all Octavia said as she left the kitchen. Shrugging, Vinyl followed her.
        "She said yes," Vinyl said as Octavia sat the tray on the coffee table in the middle of the room and passed Copper his water.
        "Thank you," he said with a smile.
        She smiled back and gave Stormy her cup.
        "Fank oo, Tabi," the filly said, quickly putting the cup to her lips.
        "You're welcome, Stormy." As she turned back to the tray, she saw Vinyl's aura surround the cup of Rock & Rye. Placing a hoof over the cup, she said, "That one is mine, Dear."
        Vinyl tilted her head and scrunched her face in confusion. "But it's pop. I asked for pop."
        "And I said 'no'. I got you tea," the cellist said, raising the cup to her lips. She heard Copper start snickering.
        "But-"
        "You had plenty of pop while we were at Mrs. Motherbee's. Drinking something else won't kill you."
        Copper kept snickering while Vinyl grabbed the tea with her magic, grumbling all the while. When she took a sip, her face lit up. "Dad's Southern Sweet Tea!"
        Octavia sighed and hung her head as Copper Girder let out a hearty laugh.
        "It's even sweeter than pop. Thanks, Tavi!"
        "It still isn't pop," Octavia said after a moment, smirking, "so I still win."
        Vinyl's face dropped as Copper laughed even harder and her mother let out a chuckle.