[Author's Note: Apparently the story doesn't really pick up until chapter 2. I've been told that this chapter is a tad bit boring... ]
"A cruise? Like, a boat?" Vinyl asked, taking her poptart out of the toaster. She flipped the steaming pastry, landing it on a small napkin she had laying out.
Lyra sighed. The blunt look on her face matched her slumped shoulders, but she was determined to stay polite. The weight of stress laid heavily on her friend's dark, sunken eyes, despite her still buoyant demeanor. "Yes, Vinyl, a boat. A fancy boat, with many high class ponies."
Vinyl took her burnt pastry from her kitchen to her living room, falling atop her dark green couch. The broken springs prodding through were tough to adjust to, but with a bit of hip swaying, Vinyl hunched over with a grin. "Well why do I have to go? You know I can't stand ponies with their heads up their arse."
Lyra came in and sat beside her. She took her time getting comfortable; it was hard to do, given Vinyl Scratch's old apartment. It was an absolute mess, with random items sprawled loose, and old wrappers and dishes everywhere. To top it off, it smelled rank, like a collection of body odor samples. "Octavia says otherwise," she said, turning away from the repulsive mess.
Vinyl stopped chewing her pop tart and sighed. "Yeah," she said through a mouth full of food, "Let's not talk about her for now."
"Why not? Is something bothering you?" Lyra's eyes darted, sticking to Vinyl, waiting, watching like a filly would watch candy.
"I just said I don't want to talk about it," Vinyl said. She levitated her pastry to her cheap wooden coffee table, and crossed her forelegs, giving a small huff. Her head shot away from Lyra, facing one of the few windows in the small apartment.
She leaned over to her friend with a sly little smile. "You're lying," she whispered with a grin.
"Oh would you shut up?" Vinyl said, a scowl across her face. Lyra bounced back, darting her deep amber eyes.
She sighed. "Hey, we're friends. Good friends, too. Why not tell me about it? Maybe I can help, who knows?"
Vinyl flashed an aggressive snarl, but retracted and slunk down into her couch soon after. "I... I dunno. It's Tav. I mean, I love her and all, but she's just ugh sometimes." She rolled her eyes and shook her head. With her magic, she brought the pop tart back to her mouth, and took a bite. Tiny chunks of food expulsed as she continued, "We had another argument, and I may have stepped over the line."
"How so?" Lyra asked, looking around at the cobwebs in the corners to escape the spittle.
Vinyl swallowed her bite and shrugged. "Eh, she was mad about me touching her cello or something."
Lyra shot her a fiery gaze.
"Alright, fine. I spilled a bit of vodka on the thing. But it wasn't much!"
Lyra's face went flat, her eyes stony and lips pursed. "You know how special that thing is to her. I know I'd kill Bonbon if she even looked at my lyre wrong."
"Yeah, well, it's not like she hasn't messed up my equipment before," Vinyl said, snorting and taking another bite of the cooled tart.
"Vinyl, your equipment is replaceable-"
"This is expensive stuff!"
"-but that cello holds a lot of sentiments," Lyra said, turning away. There was a short moment of silence that followed, but Lyra's eyes still trained themselves on Vinyl. "What happened next?" Vinyl muttered something under her breath. "Vinyl..."
She stomped her hooves down on the couch. "I told her to screw off, okay?"
"Calm down," Lyra said, sighing. "Tell the whole story. I'm not going to get mad, I swear."
Vinyl scoffed. "It started when she began yelling. She's been doing that a lot recently, ya know." She eyed Lyra, taking a bite of the toasty pastry. "So yeah, anyways I yelled back. Who wouldn't, huh? Here was Tav, screaming in my face for something I didn't mean to do. I had to stand up for myself."
After she swallowed, she took another bite of the quickly diminishing thing, getting crumbs everywhere. "She was rambling about how I'm so clumsy, and how I need to 'clean up'. So I told her she was just being uptight. One thing led to another, and, well, we decided that we just needed some time away from each other. Good thing I kept this apartment."
"Don't you feel guilty or something?" Lyra asked.
Vinyl sighed and ate the last chunk of the pop tart, her eyes falling to meet the floor. "Eh, a little. But she practically booted me out! That's just... ugh. Sometimes I wonder if it's even still there. That 'spark', ya know? The spark of love, or something."
"You don't think she hates you, do you?"
"How am I supposed to tell?" She gulped the bite down. "All we do is argue now."
Lyra sunk deeper into the couch. "I see."
"Yeah, uh, look, let's change the subject. I really don't wanna talk about Tav right now," she said, her eyes still trained on her carpet. "Say, where did you get the cruise tickets anyhow?"
Lyra perked up. Her smile was beaming. "Oh yeah! Well, hold onto your seat. I was invited to play for the dinners there! This is a fancy, prestigious cruise line too!"
"Really? That's awesome," Vinyl said with a encouraging nudge. "So they just gave you the tickets, or did you have to buy them?"
"Oh I could never afford them! A ticket for this line is normally a thousand bits or more per pony," she explained, displaying her empty hooves to Vinyl. "And we have upper class cabins!"
Vinyl's eyes shot wide. "Wow. Totally not worth it, in my opinion."
"So you don't want to come?" Lyra asked, eyes, ears, and head dropping.
"They gave you two tickets, and you want to take me instead of Bonbon? You two hit the rocks too?"
Lyra eyed her friend suspiciously. "Two? They gave me four. Weren't you paying attention earlier?"
"Yeah, I thought you said two is all. Anyways, who else is coming? There's you, Bonbon, and me, but that leaves one ticket," Vinyl said, placing her head on her hoof as she mulled over the possibilities of the fourth guest.
Lyra slammed her hoof to her face. "Octavia, of course."
Vinyl gasped. "You want me to get cramped on a boat with Tav for two weeks?"
"Oh c'mon, you two love each other. You girls are just hitting some hard times, that's all. A vacation would be good for the both of you," said Lyra, who was now on her hooves. "Why don't you mull it over for a while? The cruise is two weeks away; just let me know when you've decided. I have to go find Bonbon, we're shopping for some fancy dresses to wear." She winked to Vinyl. "If you're coming, you may want to do the same. I'm sure Octavia would lend you the money if it meant making you appear high class."
Vinyl's mouth hung agape, her tongue in position. Lyra threw on her saddlebags, and opened the apartment door. "Octavia's coming, and it'd mean the world to her if you came too, I'm sure." The wooden door curtly shut behind her, leaving Vinyl to wallow.
***
"A cruise. What am I suppose to do on a stuck up cruise?" she mumbled to herself. She rubbed her back, grimacing. Falling from the sofa to the floor, she continued talking. "I'm not going."
Vinyl sauntered back into the kitchen. On the stove clock, in flashy red led lights, the time read four-thirty. With a heavy sigh between gritted teeth she took a left through her kitchen, leading her into a small hallway that was the rest of her apartment. There were two doors in this dank hall, both on the left; one being the bedroom, and the other being the bath.
Down this hallway she went, grinding her hooves on the strangely soft carpet beneath them. The whole apartment, with the exception of the kitchen, had the same rustic look as the hallway. Bland, brown walls spanned either side, linking with the chipping ceiling and the dirty floors. There was hardly anything on the walls; a picture here, a record there. Not much, though. "Leave for a month," she said under her breath.
She nudged the wooden door to her bathroom open, revealing a window-lit white tiled room with no more than a sink, mirror, toilet and shower. Vinyl started up the water with her magic, not bothering to close the door. Who would see her, anyways? A burglar? A small chuckle slipped her lips as she adjusted the water dials.
Once the dials were at their sweet spot, she shoved off and returned to the mirror. Steam began to rise as Vinyl stared into her reflection. The idea of a burglar was slightly amusing, but soon her mind was searching for new forms of entertainment. She found herself staring into her vivid crimson eyes, examining her lightning blue mane, and her soft white coat. A deviant white smile swelled on her as she complemented herself with a wink.
Chuckling at her gesture, she turned away from the fogging mirror and stepped towards her shower. The white tub was being sprayed with lukewarm water; she soon realized that she had forgotten to pay a bill or two. She groaned and griped her way into the shower, pulling her blue curtain closed behind her.
A minute or two into the semi-cold shower, Vinyl found herself thinking over the cruise idea once again. She was in the middle of scrubbing the grease from her mane when the thoughts began to flood her mind. "I'm not going," She told herself, harshly spitting out a small bit of shampoo. But even though her stubborn mind disagreed with the trip, she found that Lyra's words still rang in her head.
"It'd mean the world to her if you came too"
"Tav." She frowned. Octavia was her marefriend after all; Vinyl hated disappointing her, even now. She scrubbed harder as though it would bring some alleviation.
"I'm right here," a familiar, tight voice said. Vinyl jumped at the sound, quickly peeking out of her curtains. "It's interesting to see that you think of me in the shower though."
"Oh, um, Tav? What are you doing here?" Vinyl asked, warmth filing her cheeks. The brick red heat was vivid under her wet, bleach white coat.
Octavia, standing in the bathroom doorway, rolled her eyes and said, "I have a spare key, remember? Look, I'll be on the couch when you finish. Just hurry up, will you?"
Octavia turned from the door way with a flat expression, slowly walking off. Vinyl's heart was pounding harder than the initial shock; she soon began to fidget, bouncing from one hoof to another. She vigorously shook her wet head, flinging droplets of water from it.
The rest of her shower was rushed; vigorous scrubbing, harsh lathering, all just so she could breathe again. Wiping the rest of her oily coat down in a quick cleansing motion, she shut the water off and hopped out. The steam in the room had fled through the doorway. This meant the mirror was clear. Quickly, she went to it, and propped herself up on the sink. With her light magic she brought her towel to her from atop the toilet and dried herself.
Everything on her frizzed. Her mane, tail, and fur all popped to their full extent - an easy fix for a her. She brought her brush up from the sink, running the coarse bristles through her mane first, untangling and undoing all the knots. Then, it went to her tail to do the same. When both had been restored to their normally sharp look, Vinyl took care of her coat. The brush ran through it only a few times to get the knots out. She kept going though, a soothed sigh breathing out.
It had been more than a few minutes, and now it was simply stalling. She tossed the brush on the small sink counter, and, without haste, exited the warm bathroom.
Octavia was staring out the apartment window when Vinyl entered the living room. The clock in the kitchen read five now - she had spent longer in the shower than she had thought. Then again, a scrambled mind has a way of eating time. Sighing, she trotted over to the couch and slumped down.
Octavia held her chest tightly, taking in deep breaths as she shot Vinyl a menacing look. "Don't do that!"
"Sorry Tav," Vinyl said, gulping and backing away.
"You should be! Nopony with any manners, no matter how inadequate, would scare an unnerved pony! It's just flat out rude!" she said, crossing her forelegs and turning from the scene.
Vinyl bit her tongue, her face reddening and strained. "Octavia-" She rarely used the her full name anymore. "-I said I was sorry. What more do you want?"
"Well... It might help if you cleaned this place up. Honestly, how can you live in such a sty?"
"Hey, now it's my apartment, I'll do whatever I want with it!" Vinyl leaned forward, face redder still.
Octavia relaxed her posture, sinking into the couch. "Yes, well I didn't come here to fight."
Vinyl, however, did not relax in the slightest; her body tensed, and her jaw clenched. "Are you sure? Cuz you're doing a pretty good job of it."
"I'd ask you to be reasonable here, but I see that it is out of the question," said Octavia with a snort.
"Was it reasonable to kick me out, huh?"
The situation was exasperating by the second. Octavia's posture stiffened again, her teeth bared. "I'll admit, it may have been a tad irrational, but you had it coming! Spilling that nasty vodka on my cello, and then having the nerve to tell me to 'buck off'." She crossed her forelegs, and scooted away from Vinyl.
"You were shouting in my face! What's up with that? It was an accident!" Vinyl threw her hooves out, displaying their purity under the lamplight.
"And that's another thing, Vinyl Scratch!" Octavia's tone was getting harsh. "You never own up to your mistakes! An apology, even if you had given a proper one, is not worth three hundred bits of repair money, mind you!"
"Oh, so it's money you want? Fine, I'll pay you back!"
"That's not what I'm talking about, Vinyl!" she spoke, condescendingly darting her eyes.
Vinyl abruptly stood. "Don't talk down to me! I'm not a filly!" she exclaimed.
"You are most certainly behaving as one!" said Octavia.
Eyes darted, Vinyl slowly got in Octavia's face. She stared right into those pinkish-purple eyes. "What do you want? It's not to make up, apparently."
"I came here to talk about the cruise," Octavia said with stunning composure. She backed away from her marefriend, who, in turn, mirrored the motion. As Vinyl sat back up on the couch, Octavia said, "And no, I am not here to make amends. When I said that I didn't want to see you for a long while, I meant it."
Vinyl scowled, a low growl slipping loose. She stomped her hoof down on the beaten sofa, a low thud accompanying a poof of dust. "I'm not going on that cruise."
"Oh is that so? I suppose you just don't care of what your good friend has gotten you then?" she said, scoffing. "You truly are inconsiderate."
Vinyl snapped her jaw. "I care about Lyra, and I'm happy that she got the job. It's just, fancy cruises aren't my thing. And I don't need you to lecture me on it!"
"Lecture you? It's rather hard to lecture someone with such a hard head as yourself," Octavia said. VInyl had no response to the castigation; she just sat and fumed through grinding teeth. "Now you listen to me. We are going on that cruise, a happy couple or not. It's for our friend, and her happy relationship."
Vinyl frowned. "You know, maybe we'd be happy if you respected my opinion at least half of the time," she said, her face softening.
"Don't change the subject," Octavia said, pointing an accusing hoof. "Vinyl, if you want to keep what's left of this relationship, you'll be going on that cruise. Do I make myself clear?"
She turned away. "Yeah..."
Octavia stood, shaking her sepia mane back into place. "Good. Well all right then, I really must be going. I need a glass of fine merlot to calm my nerves." She sighed as she headed to the door at the front of the room.
"Bye, dear," Vinyl said with a huff.
Octavia rolled her eyes, and slammed the door behind her as she left.
***
Alone, Vinyl Scratch sat on her couch with a bottle of the finest vodka seven bits could buy. Green Apple Clearpony, the label read - not that she could read the label now. The room whirled at the speed of a merry-go-round, gently spinning with a slight bounce. She swayed to the twirl in complete disharmony, a sour mix of alcohol and sweat covering her as she did so. Her lips were unreadable; one corner curved up, the other shooting down.
In the background, there was soft music spreading through the air. She had no idea what she was putting on at the time she grabbed a record, but now she realized it to be one of Octavia's records: Moonlight Sonata, or something of that sort. "Tav's favorite song," she sarcastically said, sighing and hiccuping in unison.
A soft, nostalgic smile arced on her lips, despite the music being too slow for her tastes. Memories flooded her ears on the gentle melody, igniting a flame within her chest - the warmth was much more intense than the vodka she was swirling around with her magic. In the dark room, with only the moonlight coming in from the small window, Vinyl smiled as the visions flooded her mind.
There was when they first met, surprisingly at none other than the Royal Canterlot Garden Party. She had taken up an extra job as a stewardess there, and was busy serving hors d'oeurves to the multiple guests when who other than the garden band called for her. Vinyl had obliged their request, getting them what they asked for: prawns in cocktail sauce. Unfortunately for her, she ended up bringing them some sort of crackers with a creamy sauce atop them. Octavia simply giggled and showed her what a prawn was, and boom, a new friend was made.
A transition cut through her wasted mind. She found herself now watching over her first kiss with that awesome mare. They were out in the rain, under a tree or something. Vinyl squeezed her eyes and tightened her jaw. She remembered the feeling vividly, the rush when their lips met, the sweet taste of her flavored lip balm... It was almost like kissing one of the goddesses themselves. Octavia had the softest lips she'd ever touched, and when they met, it was instantly known that they were meant for each other.
Then there was the time when they made the decision to move in together. This was at least six months into their relationship, but Vinyl thought the move was overdue anyways. The two had decided that she would move in with Octavia, seeing as she had an extravagant house on the upside of Canterlot. While she never really cared for that stuck up city, Vinyl accepted the offer anyways. Anything for Tav, as it were at the time. And so long ago, when Vinyl's smiles became increasingly rare, Octavia was nice enough to make her summer house in Ponyville her main place. The happy couple moved back with ease. From then on, Vinyl was able to lax up on her DJ'ing, and she and Octavia had been fine.
About four or five months later, there was nothing left but shouting. They had their arguments before, as any relationship would, but... it was never quite like this. In previous agitated periods, they would simply fight, apologize, and have some make up fun in bed. Now, however, the make up sex stopped, their smiles waned, and everything jaded..
Vinyl's eyes creaked open, breath invading her lungs. She took a good swig of her vodka, gulping down all she could before her brain could recognize what burning was. It wasn't long until she hacked up a storm. Too much vodka in too little time, and she felt ready to give it all back. Gripping her gut as hard as she could, she assured herself she would be fine with soft, slurred coos. As she released her death grip from her belly, things gradually grew fuzzier. But even as her room spun around her, Vinyl went back to her memories. Now, the music had changed to Requiem for a Pony, a slight, genuine smile graced her quivering lips.
Her mind had skipped back but a few days now; she could see herself in Octavia's house as she was three days earlier. The cello, in its open case, was stained with a good bit of Everpony Vodka. Vinyl's drunken stupor wasn't as bad on that day - she could stand, and wasn't bending over the toilet - but it was enough for her to almost shatter her relationship via the tipping of her bottle. The clear liquid stained Octavia's prized possession. She could remember the eloquent mare losing it - Octavia exploded. Vinyl couldn't remember the exact words exchanged, but they caused her new smile to fade, even now.
When she had decided, in all her drunken glory, that she had had enough, Vinyl finally told Octavia to buck herself. Everything happened so fast after that: she was immediately kicked out, Tav screaming about how she didn't want to see her again for years to come. At first Vinyl fell into a hermit state, receding deep within her blank stare, sputtering of how it was all over. But Octavia said otherwise. Well, actually she said they'd talk.
And talk they did. About a day later, the booted Vinyl was getting settled back into her apartment. She would come here at least once a month since she moved in with Octavia, simply for a bit of nostalgic joy. Well Octavia showed up, and laid down her commands. They were more like conditions than anything else, but Vinyl had listened unbiased. First, Octavia didn't want to see her for a while. Second, when she finally cooled off, Vinyl had to get her act straight. Thirdly, Vinyl was subject to do whatever Octavia told her to do. She said it was 'over watch'. Vinyl snorted and turned away.
Now she was up to date, yet a grimace on her face, and a blankness in her hazed eyes.
***
A sharp sound sent Vinyl flying from the couch. "What the hay," she asked the floor. She pressed her hooves to her temples, a sharp snarl of pain scrunching her face.
The sharp sound came again, echoing to her very core. It sounded like a jackhammer on the sidewalk. "Vinyl? Are you in there?" a voice called. It was sweet, familiar, and a bit too concerned. "Vinyl?" it called again.
"Ah... Ah'm comin!" she called back. Slowly, she managed to get a hoof up onto her living room table for support. Her tense muscles put up a fight, though; minutes before she even managed to get her chest off the ground.
The pounding came again, her legs nearly giving way. Faltering, but not falling, she continued her minute-long push up. "Ah...I said I'm coming!" She said. Growling and grumbling, Vinyl managed to get to her hooves and break from the coffee table. After a good bit of stumbling around the room, and almost landing in the kitchen, she eventually slammed into the door face first.
When the searing pain that ripped through her head subsided, she walked herself up the door. "What?" she asked, pulling the door open.
Bonbon gasped."Oh my, you look terrible."
Lyra was standing next to her. "You do. What happened last night?"
"Hey girls." Vinyl yawned, turning away. "Why don't you come in. And quit with the hammering. It's too early in the morning to make that much noise."
"Early?" Lyra asked, raising an eyebrow. She and Bonbon entered the messy place, and took a seat on Vinyl's couch.
She never really cared what ponies did in her home, so she just closed the door and went to sit next to them. "Yeah. It's gotta be like, what, eight in the morning or something," she yawned again, plopping down on her former bed.
"Ah, I think I found out what's up," Bonbon said, shaking her head with a sigh. The empty bottle of vodka sat in her hooves.
Vinyl rubbed eyes to see the object in question. "Oh yeah..."
"It's midday," Lyra said bluntly. Her tail wrapped around Bonbon's, pulling the her back from the empty bottle.
"Yeah, oops." Vinyl shrugged.
"Anyways," Lyra said, poking Vinyl to see if she was awake. She was hunching forward, almost falling off the couch. The little tap did the trick though; instantly she was up and attentive again. "Have you thought about the cruise?"
Cruise... When her mind registered the word at long last, it sent a barrage of messages up and out. She didn't want to be plagued with this stupid thing right now, especially with the hangover she had. But it seemed as though she had no choice. Eyes shut, head shaking, she fumbled her words with her nonsensical lip movements.
Her mind got to work, scanning it's options and outcomes. She didn't want to go - Celestia knew she didn't want to go - but if she didn't, Octavia would end their relationship altogether. Things may not be the best right now, but it was clear just how much worse they could get.
Besides, this was for her friend. She needed to support Lyra as much as any good friend could! Vinyl gave herself a curt nod, quickly regretting it and slamming her hooves to her temples. After a few moments, she was ready to let go, and get back to thinking. Lyra would be so happy to have her come - not that she knew why, though. But if it made her happy... Her gaze drifted right, to Lyra. A weak smile flashed across her face.
She didn't want to go; that had to be obvious by now. Just yesterday she had actually said it. Conflicted and confused, Vinyl snarled at nothing. The sunlight that beamed in through the window made it easy to see.
Now Bonbon was staring at her, anxiety alight in her focused eyes. Vinyl grew more and more nervous, switching between the two ponies, then down to the vodka bottle, then to Octavia's record that lay lifeless on the player.
"Vinyl? Have you... made up your mind? Are you alright?" Bonbon asked, looking around at nothing in particular.
All she had to do was say no. She could deal with Octavia later, and maybe work something else out. She just say no...
"Alright, I'll go," Vinyl said, biting her lip.
Lyra's face brightened with excitement. "Oh this is so great!" she said. "C'mon, go get cleaned up! This is a fancy cruise, so we have some shopping to do: maybe visit a hairstylist, buy a few dresses, oh and those shades of yours aren't coming-"
While the Lyra was busy acting like a school filly, Vinyl thought of the bright side: she still had Octavia. Maybe this would be good - she might get the chance to fix things between the two of them. Or completely destroy them, but Vinyl wasn't exactly known for being pessimistic; in her view, she had a chance.
So really this was more for Octavia than Lyra, even if the premises wasn't. And it would be nice to have a vacation, she reasoned. All she had to do was congratulate Lyra a lot, be nice, avoid Octavia, and relax at the spa or whatever ponies are supposed to do on cruises. Piece of cake.