//------------------------------// // Chapter Five // Story: Dual Melody // by Coolestninja1242 //------------------------------// Chapter Five A dreamless sleep. At long last a dreamless sleep. I think I may cry. I can feel the sun on my face, I can feel Vinyl next to me, I can hear her snore softly, can smell her scent, and I can feed off her love for me. I don’t want to. I don’t want to be able to feed off of her like this any more. I don’t want to ever leave this amazing moment. I don’t want to tell her that I’m a changeling. I open my eyes slightly. I can see Vinyl smiling back at me in her sleep. My chest feels heavy. “She looks so peaceful…” I sigh, my voice is no more than a whisper. I lightly cup her face with my hoof only to be greeted by drool covering my hoof and rolling down my foreleg. She is the most adorable thing I could ever imagine. I giggle a little bit. “Gross.” Vinyl’s eyes flicker open. They are more red then normal, but then again she must have on hell of a hang over right now. She smiles at me and then winces in pain. “Mornin’ Tavi…” She mutters rolling over on her back. “Sorry ‘bout last night…” I say nothing, I just roll over wrapping myself in her foreleg, nuzzling her a bit. I hear Vinyl chuckle, it echoes in my ear as her chest moves up and down. “Weird question Tavi…” Her voice is light but at the same time filled with pain. Her head must feel like its going to split. “Did you propose last night and then turn into Lyra, or was that some crazy dream I had?” She laughs. “I don‘t really remember much of last night. I mean that was a dream right? But you coulda proposed I think.” I freeze up. She had a dream about me proposing…and then turning into Lyra? I nervously laugh it off, “What nonsense Vinyl…of course it was just a dream.” Tell her! I need to tell her now! Tell her now! Vinyl laughs opening the side table drawer with her magic, her dark gray magic, my color magic. “Yeah, you’re right…“ She needs to know. I have to tell her. I have to tell her now before either of us do something we’ll regret! “It doesn’t matter any way…I‘ve been wanting to do this for a while.” She smiles looking lovingly at the small box she pulled out of the drawer. “Even talked to my boss, Loan Shark about buying this thing. It cost a lot of money…but you know what he says, “Fish are friends not food” so he was happy to help me out.” She laughs a little but I can see the pain from the head ache she clearly has. Oh god, that’s what she meant last night by “Fish are friends not fish.” she got money from Loan Shark. Why in Equestria would she do that? I examine the box. Its not a really big box. In fact it’s a really small box, and it’s covered in red velvet. She goes to open it with her hoof, “Octavia…I’ve been thinking this over for a while now. Last night I decided I’d trade all the parties, all the mares, all the stallions, all the booze, all the drugs and even my career to spend my whole life with you…” It sounds like she’s struggling to form the words, finally she takes a deep breath and asks, “Octavia Melody will you marry me?” She flips open the box and in it is a lovely engagement ring. My tongue turns to lead. I want to scream “yes” loud enough for everypony to hear, and ignore the fact that I’m a changeling. I want to ignore the fact that Vinyl still doesn’t know and ignore the ever growing, every looming fact that when she finds out she might change her mind. “I…” I manage to peep out. Tears well up in my eyes, Vinyl likely thinks they’re tears of joy but, in reality I‘m suffering more than ever. “Vinyl…I’m a…“ I can’t get the words out. My hooves are stone and my tongue is steal. She needs to know, I can‘t hold it back any longer. “Vinyl…I’m a…I’m a changeling!” I yell it. I yell it loud enough so that everypony can hear. “W-what?” Vinyl asks taken back. “Changeling!” I repeat much louder than I had before and much louder than I intended to. “I’m a changeling…Vinyl…I love you so much, so very, very much, but you need to know that…that everything inside of me thinks we can be together. I’m sorry.” I lower my head…dropping the act. She looks on in horror. “Please, Vinyl understand…I wanted to tell you sooner.” My voice doesn’t sound like mine right now but she needs to see me this way. “Those…nightmares I had. They were always about the same thing. Vinyl, they were about this. How you’d react to seeing me…like this.” She needs to feel me this way. She needs to know how sorry I am. “I’m so very, very, sorry.” She can‘t focus and her magic stops the box from floating mid-air it lands on our mattress with the lightest of thuds, “Sorry!? You’re sorry?” She seems a tad upset. “You lied to me.” I can see her physically shaking. I put a hoof on her shoulder to comfort her, she looks at it. It’s full of holes, she looks me in the eyes, my great, big, massive, glazed over, bright, blue eyes and says, “You’ve been lying to me for over a year! I was…I was going to marry you! I love you, I LOVED you and you lied to me!” This is almost exactly how it goes in my dream. She pushes off my hoof. “Anything else I should know Ms. Melody…oh wait you’re not even really Octavia Melody are you?” Her face grows dark and cold. She jumps on top of me. We both tumble to the floor. “What did you do with her!? What did you do with Tavi!? I swear you little insect if you hurt one hair on my Octavia’s head I will blast you all the way to Saddle Arabia!” She’s foaming at the mouth and her horn is sparking with deadly magic. I’ve never seen Vinyl this angry, it’s both heart warming and terrifying. I’m both the cause and the focus of that anger, I am a horrible, horrible, pony. I’m sure there’s a joke in there some where about changelings being horrible ponies to begin with but now really isn’t the time. “Nothing!” I cry. “I didn’t do anything to your Octavia! I am your Octavia…” I let the disguise of Octavia Melody fold back over my changeling skin, it feels more natural this way. Vinyl grows very quiet again, she‘s still on top of me holding me down. “There…there was never a real Octavia Melody…I made up the name.” I have to tell her everything. If she ever meant anything to me…Means anything to me at all, she has to know. “I…I saw this mare she looked…almost like me. Her fur was yellow and her mane was-” Vinyl cuts me off, “Dark blue. I’m such an idiot. That’s Fiddlesticks.” She says in an explaining tone. She looks tired now, tired and annoyed. I’ve never seen Vinyl just look an emotion, there was always that hint of Vinyl in it. This is just wrong. “She’s a really nice, down to Earth mare, and I can’t believe I never noticed the resemblance.” She puts her face in her hoofs getting off of me. I sit up finishing my story, “Yes well…I changed myself to look like her so I could get into Canterlot long before the wedding. The queens plan made no sense what so ever. I was going to start the invasion myself…Then I met you.” I feel one last weak spark of love fly off of Vinyl and I move closer. “We grew close…and I realized that I really and truly loved you. It…it hurts to tell you all this. It hurts to have you find out this way…” My body weighs a ton right now. I shouldn’t have let it come this far. I shouldn’t have left with her to begin with. I’m such a terrible pony…er…changeling. Then again I’ve been feeding off of this pony for over a year before I was found out so I suppose I’m a good changeling but still I am most definitely a horrible pony. “Vinyl…I really do truly love you. I’m so very sorry it has to be this way.” Vinyl narrows her eyes, I can still feel small weak pulses of love flow off of her in waves. “Have you ever fed off of me?” She asks looking more serious than I have ever seen her. I know this is going to be the moment that defines the future for Vinyl and I. If I really do mean everything I just said, if I really do love Vinyl I have to be honest. No more lies. I hesitate, “Yes.” I can’t look her in the eye. She hates me right now I can feel it. Hell, I could feel it even if I wasn’t a changeling. Then again if I wasn’t a changeling we wouldn’t be having the conversation. “Vinyl it’s hard to explain…I can’t control it! I swear if I could just turn it off that would make things so much simpler….” I can turn it off, I could leave. That would shut it off. I could have told Vinyl sooner I’m sure the love would have stopped flowing then. I could have not left with her to begin with or I could end my own life that would defiantly halt the process. She puts up her hooves as if trying to rationalize things. She looks at her hooves, then at me, then back to her hooves and finally says, “That explains why I’ve been getting so skinny.” She says more to herself than me. She looks more tired than I’ve ever seen her before. “Get out.” She’s very hurt but I won’t be defeated so easily. “Vinyl I-” She cuts me off again, “Octavia…or what ever your real name is, just go. I can’t deal with this right now. Just leave.” I feel a spark of anger grow in me if only for an instant, “I could have made you love me!” I don’t know why I yelled that. I shouldn’t have yelled that. I am so horrible. Why would I say that? Stop saying stupid things you stupid twit and just leave! Learn when you’re not wanted! It’s too late the words already left my mouth. I feel horrible, I feel worse feeling all the fear and anger coming off of Vinyl. I need to fix this, “Vinyl…I swear I never meant to hurt you. I didn’t want to feed off of you but I never made you love me either and I could have!” Nice save! Clearly everything will be fine now right? I feel only pain and anger coming off of Vinyl, if anything I made it worse. Before there was hope that she might forgive me. Hope that she might look past the idea that I am a shape shifting monster that was using her as a food supply but now she can‘t even look in my direction. “I can’t even stand to look at you right now. J…just go!” I can see her tears very clearly and it breaks my heart, or it would if I had a heart to break. I quietly stand up, exit the bed room, leave the living room, and pass out of the apartment. There’s no point in me staying and trying to fix it. She needs to cool off. If I want to make this work I need to give her space, but maybe it’s best if I don’t let this work. Should I stay then? I notice a picture of us on the way out and grab it from the side table its on with out a second thought. The second I’m out of the apartment I begin to hear loud, angry cries and that I can’t stand. I cling to the photo and with my own eyes burning with tears I walk next door and knock gently on the door. I hear something crash down from our apartment, I ignore it. She’s fine, just likely breaking anything that was mine. In hindsight that sounded awfully like my cello. Lyra luckily answers the door. “She…kicked me out.” My voice rings out hallow and dead. Lyra lets me in but I can still see the disapproval and rage on Vinyl’s face, I can still hear her cry and I can still feel the hate ooze off of her like slime from a dead dogs eye. I cling to the frame of the photo. We look so happy in it. Lyra leads me over to her sofa, “Tell me everything that happened.” I shake my head the tears now burning my eyes. Its too fresh. I can’t. I’m not even sure what happened any more and it was minutes ago. “Alright, we’ll take it slowly…Did you tell Vinyl?” I nod. “So, she freaked out.” I nod again. “Anything else I should know?” “She proposed…then I told her. I messed up Lyra…I really messed up.” Lyra’s eyes grow visibly wide, “Vinyl proposed to you!?” She hops of the sofa. “That’s huge! I mean…Tavia it’s not your fault, you are who you are but, Luna in Canterlot! The only pony who’s less willing to commit then Vinyl Scratch is well…” “You?” She’s taken back for a moment and then replies, “Well uh…Yeah me, or at least the old me. I mean, I was going to say Happy Pills but you know. I’m sorry Tavia it’s just really surprising to have Vinyl do something so…huh…I don’t wanna say rash because Vinyl always is running into things horn first but, at the same time I can’t think of a better word.” I smile at this, rash is absolutely the right word for Vinyl but Lyra is right it really doesn’t seem to fit this situation. “How about spontaneous?” I offer. Lyra nods with a smile and a wink, “That sounds about right. Wow…V really, really likes you…” “Liked.” I correct. Anything Vinyl had for me is gone now. I blew it. I blew it and I didn’t do anything but tell her the truth. Be yourself my flank. “It’s over between us Lyra and quiet frankly its for the best…I can‘t keep feeding off her. I can‘t keep hurting her like this…I love her too much for that.” Its true. I really do love Vinyl. I can’t explain it because as a changeling I’m not suppose to be able to feel love this way. Love is suppose to only be a food source to me but I love Vinyl Scratch more than anything, or anyone in the world. I can feel something from the other room. It feels like anger, fear, and candy? Wait, that can’t be right…candy doesn’t have a feel or at least not how I’m using the word. Out of no where BonBon rushes into the room from what I assume is their bed room. She tackles me to the floor. My head bounces and I give a loud “Oof!” BonBon is dragged off of me by a tan force of magic, Lyra’s I am assuming. “Whoa now Bonny! What’s gotten into you!?” Lyra’s horn is glowing the same color that surrounds BonBon, its also the same color as her fur. Interesting, so Vinyl wasn’t lying to me about that. Good to know. “I herd everything!” BonBon yells struggling against the magic. “Lyra let me go! She’s not Octavia she’s a changeling!” Oh no. I forgot our bed rooms are right next to each other. BonBon must have herd everything! Wait, she said she herd everything. So, I guess she did hear everything. Oops. “What’er you talking about Bonny? Tavia’s not a changeling she’s an earth pony. Changelings are evil and feed off of love and stuff like that! Tavia’s nice and eats pancakes and hay fries and stuff like that. Right Tavia? Come on Tavia tell her.” Lyra say’s nudging me in the side with the fakest smile I’ve ever seen, and that’s a lot coming from a changeling. I see no point in lying to BonBon, “Lyra…let it go. She knows.” Lyra sets Bon Bon down on the sofa genially. Then gives her the biggest, saddest puppy dog eyes I’ve ever seen. “Bon Bon please don’t be mad at Lyra. I made her promise not to tell.” I sigh deeply as Bon Bon glares at Lyra and I poised to attack. “I…I’m a changeling. I always have been and I always will be. Nothing can change that just like nothing can change what I’ve done. I should have never left with Vinyl in the first place. I should have never gotten on that train.” Lyra looks down trotted, “Yeah, but Octavia…that thing I told you…about Bonny and me? Remember?” What in Celestia’s name is she talking about. Oh! I get it, “Oh, yes! Lyra still smokes.” I know that isn’t what she meant but at the same time I feel like Lyra needs punished. It might just be me not wanting to suffer alone, but still. “SHE WHAT!?” Bon Bon yells glaring down at Lyra, who I swear to Celstia shank down in size. “You said you quite! You and Vinyl both quite! That was the deal Lyra! I mean…ugh! You know what those things can do to you! No wonder your fur has reeked lately.” “Yes, Bon Bon I know but that not what I meant!” I don’t think I’ve ever herd Lyra yell. I mean I’ve herd her scream like a little filly. I’ve herd her cry out in pain, but I’ve never really herd her shout like this. Good work Octavia not only have you messed up your own relationship but you might have ruined Lyra’s too. You’re a great friend. “Bon Bon…If it wasn’t for Tavia I probably would have left you a long time ago. You remember how I was? Moving from mare to mare not caring who got hurt. Yeah, well Octavia and Vinyl changed that. They made me think that maybe I had somepony worth keeping around. So yeah, hate Tavia for being a changeling but if it wasn’t for that changeling you wouldn’t be married right now.” I’m touched really, and here I am trying to make Lyra suffer when she just said the nicest thing anyone has ever said about me ever. Bon Bon on the other hoof does not look so moved, “So, you still smoke.” She says in a matter of fact tone. Lyra nods. “Its only once in a while and you promise to really quit this time?” Lyra again nods. “Alright Lyra I forgive you.” They hug tightly, a little too tightly, should I…should I go in the other room? “So how long has our neighbor been a changeling?” Bon Bon asks me. “Um…forever. I don’t remember being hatched in an egg or anything. I know that’s the on going theory of where changelings come from. Though, the first thing I can really remember is me thinking how stupid the queens plan for taking over Canterlot was. I remember a story…Well I think it was a story. It was about an empire made of light or something like that. I remember it being very bright. We lived there before, or so the story goes…and we weren’t like this. We were normal…something about a usurper king and a love potion..? I’m not exactly sure where changelings come from and I am one.” I’m already being honest with everypony I may as well continue that trend. Everything I just said is true. I don’t know how I came to exist. There are no signs of eggs in our hive but at the same time I see how ponies came to that conclusion. It’s interesting that nopony seems to know much about changelings, its odd that most changelings also don’t know much about changelings either. We talk for hours. Bon Bon asks me more questions, I answer them truthfully. Some of the questions aren’t even about me being a changeling. Like this one for example, “So, why did you leave with Vinyl any way?” The only thing that comes out of my mouth is a long train of, “uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh….?” Why did I leave with Vinyl to begin with. I take a moment to regain myself. “At first…I thought she’d be a good way to get close to the bride and groom. Originally I had all intentions of just replacing her at the party, but we talked on the train and she was…she’s amazing.” I can’t help but smile. “We started talking music and the way she talked was just so wonderful. The fire she had in her eyes, the passion she has for her art is so…wonderful. I don’t think I knew it at the time but I fell for her instantly. So, instead of replacing her I simply joined her as her guest. Thinking back on it I had forgotten all about the invasion until it happened. Those first few days with Vinyl were magical. I never wanted that feeling to go away. I just liked being around her. Then after the invasion happened…well I saved Vinyl from some other changelings. They likely saw it as me claming my food, but that wasn’t it. I just really didn’t want them to hurt her. I still don’t. That was the first time I felt a…uhhh…a little spark of love come off her for me. As nice as that was…that probably should have been the moment I left.” It feels wonderful to get all of that out in the open. Bon Bon rubs her chin with her hoof, “Well…” She finally says after a long delay. “It doesn’t sound like you brain washed her or anything…that’s a plus.” She is still looking at me with shifty, untrusting eyes. “It’s getting late…I should start dinner. Do you want to stay for dinner Octavia?” She smiles at me getting down from the sofa. She believes me good, it’s nice to know I didn’t ruin my friendship with Bon Bon and Lyra. “I’m not exactly sure what changelings eat…so you might have to help me.” I smile back, “That’s alright Bon Bon. I’m not very hungry any way…we can eat it just doesn’t fill us. It’s hard to explain. I’ve eaten before and it seems like I can digest pony food just fine but it never makes me full.” “I think you explained it just fine.” Lyra laughs. Bon Bon on the other hoof doesn’t look amused one bit. Lyra must have noticed this too because in a very nervous tone she asks, “So Bonny Bon, my Bonniest of all the Bon Bon bon’s, what’s for supper?” I’ve never herd anything quiet so annoying, but at the same time quiet as sweet. Bon Bon must just find it sweet because she is turning a bit red in the cheeks. She sighs trying to calm down. “If Octavia isn’t joining us I guess I can make your favorite Lyra.” “You?” Lyra says in a flirtatious voice. Bon Bon lights up like Manehatten on Hearts Warming Eve. “The other favorite Lyra! You know, the one that’s food.” She’s trying really hard to suppress her emotions right now I can tell. It’s another one of those oh so amazing things you can do when you’re a changeling. Feed off of love, ruin lives, lie to everypony about who you are, sense emotions, heal yourself, almost always be forced to do what ever queen Swiss cheese hooves tells you too, these are all things that come with being a changeling. Lyra smiles, I can feel the love between these two. It’s so heart warming, or it would be if I had a heart to warm. I think that’s why we have to eat love. I think that’s why I never feel full. Somewhere along the line the changelings lost their hearts. Somewhere along the line we became monsters. I hear a familiar creek from a front door I know only too well. It’s the door to our apartment, or it was the door to the apartment I shared with Vinyl. It’s only been a few hours but I miss her already. Wait, what time is it any way. Seven o’clock? Why’s she leaving. She wouldn’t have work for several hours. I don’t like this. I don’t like this one bit. “I think I herd Vinyl just walk out the door.” Really good ears, that’s another thing changelings have. Really good hearing. She’s still sniffling a bit, I can feel the pain and sorrow all the way from here. Lyra peaks out the front door, “Yup, that’s V leaving alright. Can see her white flank going down the stairs.” Panic sets in right away. Where’s she going, is she going to do something drastic, why now and not any of the hours that had come before this? She’s been in there alone all day. That can’t be healthy. I mean, I’ve had Lyra and Bon Bon to keep me company, cheer me up a tad. Vinyl has been alone this whole time. My panic is made worse by Lyra saying, “She looks really down Tavia…You know, not her normal Vinyl-y, self.” I push Lyra away from the peep hole in the door, taking a look myself. Lyra’s right, “She looks awful.” I feel a pain in my chest. An emptiness, a sadness I had only really felt once before, this morning when I was kicked out. I grab Lyra by her shoulders and stare her straight in the eyes, more panicked than ever. “Lyra!” I only manage to yell her name out. Come on now Octavia use your words. “Uh…yeah?” She looks very uncomfortable. Bon Bon looks like she wants to rip my spine out, dip it in some caramel and sell it to some nice school fillies. “I…I need you to go with her.” “Go with her? As in you want me to tag along with V?” Why is this so hard. I just want Lyra to go along with Vinyl to make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid, or that no pony tries to hurt her, or worse comfort her. That came out wrong. I…I still really love Vinyl. I simply don’t want some full of himself colt thinking he can just waltz up and make moves on my Scratchy! I grab Lyra tighter, “Please…I just don’t want anything to happen to her. Please Lyra I’m begging you to go with her.” “Don’t I get a say in this?” Bon Bon interrupts. Lyra pushes my hooves off, “Sorry Bonny but you don’t.” Bon Bon looks positively homicidal. “I get how Tavia feels. If you were pissed at me and I was staying with them I’d totally ask Tavia or V to do the same thing.” “But what about dinner?” Lyra smiles, I feel like she’s trying to act cooler than she actually is. Frankly she’s just coming off goofy to me, but I think Bon Bon is buying it. “It’s just gonna have to wait Bon Bon.” Lyra walks over to her wife giving her a gentle hug. “I promise I won’t be out late, I won’t hit on anypony, and I’ll keep Vinyl safe.” She says that last part to me. “After all what are friends for?” Lyra walks out the door. The last thing I hear from her is, “Hey V wait up! Lyra’s coming out to party! Woo! Woo!” Celstia I hope everything goes alright.