//------------------------------// // Who In the World...? // Story: Changin' Hooves // by OneTrickPon3 //------------------------------// "Ok...now she said blue was the underlying beat...or was it yellow? Wait, what are these red discs for? Oh Celestia, why didn't I pay more attention to her." It hadn't been a terribly long time since Vinyl Scratch left the apartment, and Octavia was sitting in the middle of the pile of records that Vinyl had just finished telling her how to use, though the otherwise intelligent mare was at a complete loss at what to do with them. Admittedly, she would have a better understanding of what to do with all the vinyl surrounding her, if she had paid more than a fraction of her attention to Vinyl's explanation rather than diverting it to insulting the mare any chance she got. Oh why must I be so difficult with her. She continued to stare at the discs, eyeing each one critically before reaching out her hoof. "Ok, I think I'll go with...this one," she said as she picked up a blue disc marked with the words 'Electro-House 15', "and this one," as she held up a red disc marked 'PR Dubstep 2.' She carefully made her way over to the turntable laid out in front of her, both discs balanced on her front hooves as she walked on her back two. Even though she had a rough understanding of magic and could use it to some extent, the memories of her burning lemons to a crisp were still fresh in her mind, so she didn't want to take any chances. With as much delicacy as she could muster, she placed each disc on a separate turntable and put on the headphones lying on the center console. Flipping the switch and hearing the machinery emit a high pitched whine indicating that it was indeed ready to use, she took a deep breath. "Well, here goes nothing I guess," she said shakily in an attempt to keep herself calm. Slowly, almost reluctantly, she donned the DJ's headphones. They slid comfortably over her ears and, to her surprise, nearly drowned out all the sound around her. These must be pretty high end if they cancel that much noise. It really makes me wonder what she spends all of her bits on if she can afford things like this but can't afford a decent place to live. Pushing her thoughts aside, she placed her hoof over the button that would start the music, but didn't press it quite yet. Maybe it was fear, maybe it was disgust, but something was preventing her from flipping the switch and letting the wubs flow. You can do this Octavia. It's just music, or whatever passes for it nowadays. It can't hurt you if you play it. With those words of assurance in mind, she took a final deep breath and pressed the button. Immediately her ears were assaulted by a cacophony of noise, the mixing of two genres of music never meant to mix combined with the complete lack of any sort of bass caused the cultured mare to shriek. "MY EARS! MY EARS ARE BLEEDING!" Octavia shouted as she ripped the headphones off of her and covered her ears up as tight as she could. "MAKE IT STOP!" Acting purely out of instinct, Octavia grabbed the power cable to the machine producing the infernal racket and tugged with all her might, causing the machine to shut down with a low pitched whine. Breathing heavily in relief, Octavia scowled at the setup, disdain marking every feature on her face. "And she calls that music, ha!" Sitting back on her haunches, the mare began to massage her temples, a futile attempt to alleviate an oncoming headache. "Dear Celestia, I need some actual music right now. Maybe Vinyl has some actual music somewhere around this hellhole. Not holding my breath, but..." Her words trailed off as she began to walk towards a bookshelf tucked in the corner of the room. "...if she had that violin, maybe there's a small chance." Her hooves quickly carried her to her destination, and her eyes trailed to the hole where the violin had rested once before. To her surprise, she found the instrument packed away with care right where she had taken it from earlier. I didn't even notice that she put it back... Without realizing she did so, she took the violin from its resting place on the bookcase and opened the case. Now that she had a better look at the instrument, she could truly admire it. Though it was in remarkable condition, she could tell the instrument was quite old, nearly twenty years old if she had to guess. The wood was still in excellent condition, but the telltale signs of aging were there to the trained eye; slight scratches and scuffs from years of use, the strings were not completely neglected but did show signs of rust near the tuning pegs, and the bow had slight fraying along the middle. Still in perfect playing condition, but definitely old. "Why are you here?" Octavia whispered to the instrument as she brought you to bear. "You should be in the hands of an artisan, played in front of the finest crowds Equestria has to offer, yet here you are sitting nearly forgotten in a deejay's run down apartment. Why?" While she was speaking, she had prepared herself to draw the bow for the first time. While the violin was not her instrument of choice, she was still able to play it at a somewhat comfortable level. Slowly, almost agonizingly so, she drew the bow across the strings to produce a low tone. She let the sound continue for several seconds before she began to practice scales out of habit. After a couple minutes, she let the instrument slide from her shoulder and sighed sadly. "Oh how I miss playing my cello..." She quietly began to pack away the violin with the utmost care. "I will play you again, as you deserve to be played, I promise," she whispered to the instrument before quietly closing the case. "Now to put you away where you belong," she said as she carefully slid the case back on the shelf. As soon as the instrument came to rest however, the shelf decided that it had had enough. Without warning, and without any time for Octavia to react, the shelf collapsed, spilling not only the violin, but several magazines, books, and a box onto the floor, leaving Octavia dumbfounded. "Oh for Celestia's sake, IS EVERYTHING IN THIS PLACE ON THE VERGE OF FALLING APART!?" she yelled as she slammed her hoof in anger. Immediately afterwards, she heard the sound of more things falling in the other room, causing her eye to twitch. "Oh now you're just trying to get on my nerves..." With yet another heavy sigh, she began to pick the fallen objects up from their place on the floor. "I swear, the next time I see that mare I'm giving her a piece of my mind. Having a living space this deplorable is bad enough, but to have nearly everything she owns being on the verge of falling apart? That really grinds my gears." By the time she had finished her small rant, the magazines and violin were in a resting place in the corner of the room, out of reach of being tripped over but still accessible if need be. "I swear, I will never figure out that mare," she said as she began to pick up the box that had fallen. As soon as she had lifted it though, the bottom gave out and its contents rained down on the floor. Octavia was about to scream yet again when she noticed the things that had spilled out on the floor. The first thing she noticed were several dozen pages of sheet music, some professionally printed and others drawn on pages with pre-printed staff marks on it. There were also several newspaper articles, photographs, and certificates, but the thing that really drew her eye was a single record in a white case. Ignoring the other clutter for now, she picked up the case and examined it. It had no indication of what was inside, nor any sort of information really. To her, it seemed to be a white record case with a printed black treble clef. "I wonder what this is..." the mare thought out loud. Briefly, she was terrified it was more of that so called 'music' that Vinyl made, but she quickly pushed that notion aside. "No, if it were any of that, it would be with the rest. Not hidden away with...all this..." Slowly, she carried the record over to the DJ's turntable, removing the records that she had placed on there earlier with equal parts care and disgust. She didn't want to have to owe Vinyl anything after all, so she wasn't about to break anything intentionally, as much as she felt they deserved it. After removing the offensive discs, she placed the new one onto one of the turntables and plugged the machine back in. The machine eagerly whined back to life, seemingly eager to please with the promise of music. After donning the headphones once again, Octavia finally pressed play. Ok sweetie, can you play it one more time for me? Aww, but mommy, I’ve already played it for you like ten times. I know sweetie, but please, play it one more time, just for me? Aww...ok. But you have to promise me something if I’m gonna do this again. Promise you something? What do you want sweetie? If I play this one more time, you have to promise to get better okay? *sounds of soft laughter* Ok sweetie, I promise. I’ll try my best to get better. Alright mommy, this is just for you. Octavia listened to the melody, one so simple in nature but at the same time so moving, she couldn’t help but well up all the same. Who wrote that absolutely beautiful song? Moreover, why is it sitting forgotten in Vinyl’s home of all places? Her thoughts were pushed to the back of her mind when she heard the voices speaking again. That was absolutely beautiful honey. Tell me, what was its name again? *sounds of a filly’s laughter* Silly mommy, you of all ponies should know you never name a song until it’s done. Oh? It’s not done yet? NOPE! And it won’t be done until you get better, just like you promised. Alright sweetie, mommy will definitely get better now, I want to hear this song of yours when it’s done. That’s a promise. Octavia could hear the warmth emanating from the mother’s words, which were nearly cut off by the sound of a door opening in the background. Miss Symphony? Yes? I regret to inform you that visiting hours are over. I’ll have to escort your daughter out now. Please say your goodbyes. Aww, do I have to go mommy? I’m afraid so sweetie, the hospital is very strict about these things, and I don’t want to worry the doctors any more than I already have. Ok… Octavia could hear the disappointment in the filly’s voice, and it nearly broke her heart. Come here sweetie, give mommy a hug goodbye. … I love you, my little Staccato. I love you too mommy. Octavia sat there in silence long after the recording had finished. To say that she was at a loss for words would be the understatement of the millennium; she was utterly stunned and deeply curious at what she just heard. Who...were those ponies? And why are they on a recording in Vinyl's home? I...I need to find out more. Overcome by curiosity, Octavia slowly made her way back to the box the record had come from, the only thing on her mind to find out more about those two ponies and that song. As much as she would hate to admit it, this was probably the only time the mare ignored sheet music in her life. She eagerly pushed the sheets aside, as they were not going to sate her curiosity. She snatched up the few photographs lying near the music, scanning them with a critical eye. Each photograph showed what seemed to be a happy family; a tan earth pony stallion, a snow white unicorn mare, and a snow white, blank-flanked unicorn filly. The mother and filly looked nearly identical, each sporting the same snow white coat and ink black mane. Looking through all of the photos, the same two unicorns could always be seen together, smiles broad and bright on their faces. Octavia couldn't help but smile at the joy emanating from the two. It was after flipping through a few of these photographs that Octavia noticed the mare's cutie mark; an ink black treble clef, the same as the one on the record case. "This just keeps getting more confusing..." Octavia muttered to herself as she flipped through to the last photograph. It was the same two unicorns, although this time only one of them was smiling. The mare was lying in a hospital bed with several IVs placed in her foreleg along with several wires running to various medical machines around the bed. Despite all this, she still had the same warm smile as she had before. The filly, however, was not so joyful. Instead, she had a sad expression on her face and clung to her mother as if she were going to disappear otherwise. Around her was the unwired foreleg of her mother, embracing the young filly in a motherly way. It made Octavia's heart break just looking at it. She quietly placed the photograph down, away from the others, and turned her attention to the various newspaper articles. 'Rising Star of Manehattan; Starlight Symphony' 'The Light Keeps Shining; Starlight Symphony's Rise to the Top' 'Scandal!? Starlight Symphony Announces Pregnancy' 'Starlight Symphony to Continue Playing While Being a Mother' 'Tragedy; Starlight Symphony's Final Song' Octavia read each of the headlines and looked at the associated pictures; each one was of the same unicorn mare she saw in all the photographs. Yet there was something else, something about the name Starlight Symphony that seemed familiar. It was right on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't quite recall. The last article, however, would jog her memory. Obituaries (4E) Starlight Symphony It was on a beautiful Sunday morning that the shining star of Manehattan burned out. Starlight Symphony, renowned violin player and devoted mother, left this life and journeyed to the next after a long battle with lymphatic cancer. Starlight Symphony was regarded by her friends and peers to be a kind soul, one whom nopony would regret calling a friend. Her rise to fame began with her first appearance with the Manehattan Symphony Orchestra, upon which she was catapulted to stardom with numerous sold out solo performances and multiple recordings reaching near platinum status. Her marriage and subsequent pregnancy sparked scandal among the ponies of the music world, but she held her head high and continued to shine bright. She is survived by her husband Iron Works and daughter Staccato Symphony. She will be dearly missed as a performer, as a wife, and most certainly as a mother. Funeral services are to take place next Saturday at Manehattan's Central Park at 2:00 pm. Visitation will begin at 11 am and last until the service. The mayor of Manehattan has bestowed Starlight Symphony with an honorary key to the city, to be accepted by her surviving family members at the burial. Octavia let the news article flutter from her hooves down to the floor. "Starlight Symphony..." she whispered. "The violin virtuoso from Manehattan..." Octavia finally started to remember. "Mother and Father took me to the funeral to pay respects... I remember now..." She looked back down to the article. "I think... I met her daughter... there was a sad filly always standing by the casket. She never talked much, but I tried to make friends with her while Mother and Father were talking to other ponies. But... why does Vinyl have all these things? She would have been about my age when this happened, and she said she's lived in Canterlot her entire life... Unless..." Silence reigned over the small apartment for what felt like hours. "I'm definitely bringing this up... She's hiding something important, and I need to figure out why."