//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: The Music That Moved Her // Story: Vinyl and Octavia: Ponyville Duet // by generalsnaz //------------------------------// Chapter 7: The Music That Moved Her It was the second time in her life Octavia woke up next to a snoring pony, and it wouldn't be the last at the rate things were going. However, this time she didn't flinch and run away, but instead just smiled and giggled to herself. It was like a sleep-over, and she had never participated in one before. Her school filly days were filled with acquaintances her age, but they never associated outside of class. It was uptown Canterlot, after all, and a slumber party would be unheard of. In her adult life, the friends Octavia made in the ensemble certainly didn't enjoy that brand of fun either. They had plentiful tea parties, visited art galleries and theatre performances and other such (super fancy) activities, but the way Octavia spent time with her Canterlot friends was fundamentally different than what she had experienced with Vinyl so far. Beauty Brass and the others seemed to simply... want to be in each other's company. Just having another pony there was plentiful enjoyment enough. It been enough for Octavia as well; her only relationships in Canterlot had been of mutual respect and relative silence. Being with Vinyl was different. Completely, totally different. Vinyl had to engage. Small talk wasn't near enough for her: she would tell you her opinion and if you didn't agree, she would demand to know why. If there was silence, she would be the one to break it. If you mentioned something boring, she would dismiss it and talk about something exciting. If there was anything she wanted to do, she would make you join her, and wouldn't take "no" for an answer. And she would constantly have that radical smile. Contemplating on all this, Octavia rose from Vinyl's bed. The thought of her Canterlot friends and her home made her a little uneasy. She hadn't been gone long, but she still missed them. The letter she sent yesterday morning would probably arrive at Frederick's door that day. It simply stated she would be leaving town for a (possibly) extended period of time. Octavia wasn't sure what would happen when she came to Ponyville, or how long this... whatever she had with Vinyl, would last. What did she have with Vinyl? She briefly thought of the kiss she received last night, but shook it off with haste. 'I am sorry brain, but I am simply not going to engage in frivolous arguments with you. Vinyl and I are going to spend today talking about music, and that is all that is going to occur. Have I made myself clear?' Her thoughts didn't respond. (I'm beginning to think Octavia is a bit crazy.) Satisfied, the cellist descended to the main room and beamed at the cleanliness of it all. The house simply sparkled and reflected the hard work she put into fixing it up. Although the kitchen had been cleaned as well, it was still frighteningly empty. Without any food in the house, Octavia feared Vinyl would resort to eating pizza every day again... and she'd probably make her join in. The thought of that much grease made the cellist sick, and encouraged her to go shopping. And that she did! After ensuring she had plentiful bits, she took an outing to the market street (still the only place she knew the location of.) The market was just as busy as it was yesterday, even in the morning. There were stalls for just about everything a pony could ask for, and shoppers traveled between them buying goods. Octavia utilized her finely tuned pony-avoiding skills she learned at the wedding to make her way through the masses of small town residents. She quite easily found everything needed to stock a respectable kitchen: ice for the icebox, pots and pans, eating utensils, plates, milk, cooking necessities, and enough food for a week or so. Although she had several conversations with the friendly Ponyville vendors (none of which were interesting enough to repeat), she didn't sight Applejack anywhere in the market. There was an apple stand that looked identical to the one she manned yesterday, but a large soft-spoken red stallion was watching it instead. Her mission a success, Octavia returned to Vinyl's house and unpacked. Stomach growling, she began to make a suitable breakfast. Soon a heavenly aroma rose from the kitchen and made its way to the second floor. Shortly thereafter, a messy-haired Vinyl Scratch tumbled down the stairs (literally.) "Octavia, you making food!?" Vinyl said hungrily as she came into the kitchen, rubbing the bump on her head. "Yes, well... Your original intention was for me to prepare your meals during my visit, was it not?" Octavia replied, remembering the train trip. After a quick glance, she noticed that Vinyl had put her purple shades on. "That's not the only reason I wanted you here..." Vinyl admitted, blushing a little. "Oh, is that so? It certainly seemed to be the deciding factor, and I must say I do not mind at all. ...But Vinyl... you can take those glasses off. It will not bother me, and I simply do not understand how you can see at all with them on," Octavia spoke definitively as she continued her cooking. "You, uh... get used to it," Vinyl said, sheepishly taking them off. "You're sure it's okay? That you're okay?" Octavia took a quick look at Vinyl's vibrant eyes before smiling and shrugging it off, "It appears so." This seemed to relax the DJ quite a bit. She bounded over to the stove to look at Octavia's fixings. "Aw, nice! Flapjacks! Haven't had these in forever!" Vinyl's eyes gleamed with joy. "Flap-whats? I am making hotcakes, Vinyl," the cello player pointed out. (They were both wrong. They're called pancakes.) "I have an assortment of fruits to put in the batter and cream to put on top." "Huh? I don't need all that fancy junk in it, Octavia. Just gimmie plain ol' flapjacks! And throw some butter and syrup on 'em while you're at it." (...they're not flapjacks. They're called pancakes.) "Was that a command I just heard come from your mouth?" Octavia asked shrewdly. "Nah, of course not! I'm just askin' politely," Vinyl wrapped her hoof around Octavia giving her a side hug. "Please, friend?" "Oh alright..." Octavia admitted defeat with that double combo of a hug and the 'friend' line. "I will make your... 'flapper-jacks' plain." (Pancakes! They're called pancakes! Get it right, you two!) "Sweet!" Vinyl celebrated her victory. Not too much later, Octavia finished the cooking. "Um, Vinyl... where should we eat?" she asked as there was no table for them to sit at. In fact there was only one piece of furniture in the house besides the bed. "On the couch, duh," Vinyl replied, as if it couldn't be more obvious. "Lovely..." Octavia mumbled as she settled onto the old worn out couch with her pancakes. It was more comfortable than she expected, and definitely had the support. She must have made a noise as she came to that realization, because Vinyl responded. "Nice, isn't it?" The unicorn grinned like someone had given her an award. "Good for sitting, not for sleeping." Using her magic, she picked up several records from the (now neatly organized) stacks across the room. She brought them over and began to look them over. "Oh, are you going to play music?" Octavia asked excitedly. It was honestly what she had been waiting for. "Yep. I always have something on when I'm not working." The DJ picked out a record and hovered it over to her sound system. "You... work from home?" "Well, sorta... sometimes," Vinyl set the record down and moved the needle into place. With a glorious burst of energy from her horn, the machine activated and lo and behold, music began to play. "Your large phonograph runs on magic?" Octavia asked, astounded at the ingenious invention. "Yeah, these systems are kind of a 'unicorns-only' thing. Same with my keyboard," Vinyl explained as she bit into her breakfast. Before Octavia could inquire further, a very soothing guitar melody filled the room, and a mare with a beautiful voice started to sing. The words she formed spoke of her love, the pony of her affections. She was meant for this pony, and she knew it from the first moment she saw their face. Each note she hit perfectly complimented the musical accompaniment. Soft, but steady percussion began as the mare began to recite idioms about love and how they were wonderfully true. The chorus began as another mare joined in the singing, both confident in the power of love to get you through any hardships. (It was a pretty darn beautiful song. Too bad you only get to- *cough* err... uh... Nevermind.) The song was enthralling and just as wonderful as Octavia remembered. She closed her eyes and swayed her head to the beat. The rhythmic drumming kept tempo, as the words and melodies spoke to her softly and simply. It wasn't a grand and lengthy masterpiece like Octavia was used to. Like what she had performed for years. It didn't need to be: it was good without being overly ambitious. It still resonated with the heart, and it felt warm, comfortable, and wonderful. Octavia felt like she could fall asleep right then and there, and let the song be the soundtrack to her dreams. "Oh, my. This is a lovely song," Octavia said after a minute or two. "You played this one at the wedding." "Uh-huh. Yeah, it's pretty sweet," Vinyl mumbled through her pancake filled mouth. "Your food's getting cold." "What genre is this? Who is this artist?" Octavia asked excitedly, eyes glimmering with pure enthusiasm. "Uh, it's pop, of course? And it's Tegantail and Saramane. They're these twin sisters who play music together, but the unusual thing is they're both into mares, so they're-" Vinyl stopped and her eyes widened. Their situation as two musician mares who barely knew each other sitting together listening to song about love at first sight by a pair of gay musician mares must have appeared awfully suspicious, especially after that accidental kiss. (Real smooth, Vinyl.) Luckily for her, Octavia's mind was on something else for a change. "What is 'pop?' How did it originate?" she asked. "Huh?" Vinyl blushed, a little stunned Octavia didn't start throwing accusations at her. "Oh, it's- wait, you don't know what pop is!?" "No, I do not!" Octavia squealed happily. "It's 'popular' music, Octavia! It's what most ponies listen to!" Vinyl explained, understandably upset that her friend didn't know this very basic music fact. "Oh, that is so fascinating!" Octavia clapped her hooves excitedly. "What in the world of Equestria have you been listening to your whole life?" Vinyl asked as she watched Octavia finally take the first dainty bite of her pancake. The cellist chewed slowly and dabbed her lips with a napkin before responding in a cheerful, but rather sophisticated manner. "Canterlot is home to a wide variety of orchestral musical ensembles, and I am confident to say I have been in attendance to at least one performance of each. I have also been witness to every opera or musical that has been performed in Canterlot. When I am not attending such performances, I enjoy listening to the classical works of Beehoofen, Clop-pan, Hay-den, or my absolute favorite: Timberwolfgang Amadeus Mozart." Octavia beamed with confidence that her musical tastes were impressive. "Oh my Celestia... I have a hay of a lot to teach you..." Vinyl said, stunned beyond all belief. "Precisely! I cannot wait," Octavia wiggled with excitement and took another bite. The song finished and another started while Octavia was busy chewing. Panicked, she struggled to swallow as fast as she could and even forgot the napkin when she was done. "Vinyl, may we listen to that song again, please?" she asked quickly. "Huh? Why? This next song's good too," Vinyl said dismissively. "I did not get to hear all of that song though, and I really quite enjoyed it," Octavia pouted. (So unladylike.) "Yeah, but you'll enjoy this one too. We can go back later." "But, because of our conversation, I missed much of the message of the song, and couldn't appreciate the craftsmanship of the music," Octavia thoroughly explained. "Um. No, it's okay," Vinyl proclaimed, finishing off her pancake. "Just let the music run in the background. Don't think about it." "My apologies, but I would like to hear that song once more, Miss Vinyl," Octavia stated coldly. "Well, I want to move on, Octy. And I control the magic," Vinyl pointed to her horn, smugly. "I am your guest, and I feel you are being a bit stubborn and inhospitable," the cellist complained, starting to feel irritated. "Filly, this is my house and these are my rules and ain't no pony gonna tell this DJ what song to play! That's my job!" Vinyl raised her voice, her short fuse now blown. Octavia quickly matched her in volume. "Well I would imagine a disc jockey of any sort of caliber would consider the requests of her audience, lest they be spat out and replaced as any useless piece of refuse would!" Octavia had gone on the offensive with those insults. "Oh! So you want to see some spitting, huh!? I'll show you some spitting if you want, Octy!" Vinyl got to her hooves and the glow from her horn intensified with her anger. "Miss Vinyl, please! I would like- to- see- you- try!" Octavia followed suit and rose to a standing position. "Fine then! Here's what I think of your prissy high class food!" Vinyl then proceeded to hock a nasty spit wad directly at Octavia's plate, landing directly on her unfinished fruity and whipped cream covered pancake. (Holy crap, things just hit the fan.) "WHAT IN EQUESTRIA DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" Octavia screamed. "I have never, in all my years, seen such disgraceful, disrespectful, disgusting behavior! After all I did for you, how dare you treat me this way!?" "Don't think you didn't buckin' deserve it! You came into MY LIFE and came into MY HOUSE like you owned the buckin' place and told ME WHAT TO DO!!!" "Oh, so THAT'S how you TRULY FEEL, is it?" Octavia accused, hurt. "MAYBE IT IS!!!" Vinyl's horn grew dangerously bright. "Well I wouldn't HAVE to fix EVERY LITTLE MESS if you hadn't MADE THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE!!! If I was your mother, I would have taught you HOW TO LIVE YOUR LIFE WITH AT LEAST ONE SHRED OF DECENCY!!!" "IF YOU WERE MY MOTHER, AT LEAST I'D FINALLY HAVE A BUCKIN' MOTHER!!!" With that, Vinyl's magic peaked, and with a tremendous crash, the music player exploded, shattering the record and utterly destroying the speakers. Both ponies instinctively ducked at the noise, and the shrapnel scarcely missed them both. After the initial shock was over, they looked to see what had happened. "No... no... no no no no no!" Vinyl rushed over to the chaotic and smoky mess. The explosion had taken out her keyboard as well and the whole back side of the room was charred. She frantically tried to do something... anything. But to no avail. It was in ruins. "Vinyl, I- I-" Octavia was at a loss for words, though her heartbeat still had plenty to say. The anger in her dissipated almost as quickly as it had risen due to the shockwave and the sight of so much destruction. And she had already begun to cry moments ago, so there was no need to form new tears. 'Oh my Celestia, what just happened? How could I let a petty argument turn so vile? How could I get so angry? Enough to make Vinyl do this?' "Vinyl," she began again, "I didn't-" "JUST GET OUT!!!" Vinyl screeched, through tears. "JUST LEAVE LIKE EVERYPONY ELSE!!!" It was what Octavia wanted to do anyway. Run away. And she did. She ran out that door and into the town she didn't know, away from the pony she wished she did.