“You didn’t have to lie to him Tav, he knows I had a gig last night. He was AT the bar.” The girl informed her roommate as she stood up from her bed and moved around a few of the empty energy drink cans on her floor in an attempt to find her phone. She discovered it submerged in a half drained glass of OJ. Like always the little trooper still functioned perfectly and revealed she had quite a few missed calls from the pissed off earthbound that was currently glaring daggers at her.
Octavia’s face however switched to shock as she seemed to hear Vinyl for the first time. “Wait, I’m sorry, I must have misheard you; did you say that our professor, Dr. Noteworthy was at your… ravers bar last night…?” she asked slowly as if to make sure she was hearing herself correctly as well. Vinyl picked up a random glow stick that seemed to still have some juice left in it and shook it a little watching the light in it come back with a satisfied grin.
“Yup, never knew Doc to be much for my type of scene either but there he was chugging back electric screwdrivers like they were fruit juice or something. Guy isn’t a half bad dancer either.” she commented as she started to pick up a few articles of clothing to test if they were still wearable or not.
“That would explain why he had everyone sit in near silence and why he was applying eye drops every ten minutes or so…” Octavia commented with a small groan. She then remembered why she had come in and went back into full ranting mode. “But that aside you STILL shouldn’t be sleeping through this Vinyl it’s our last day before-!”
“Summer vacation I known Tavi, I HAVE been in school before you know…? I think I get how the process works now.” Vinyl retorted with a flat face at the classical fan. Octavia again opened her mouth to snap something back at her roommate when Vinyl interrupted her again. “And yes I DO remember that you, me, and Neon are going to be doing our last broad cast in less than an hour. Which also means you should let me get ready and not be standing in my room like a pissed of badger and yelling at me for sleeping through a boring morning that I probably would have slept through anyways.” Vinyl pointed out as she used her light blue magic to levitate the dark haired girl from her room and back out into the hallway before slamming the door in her face before she could get out another word. Vinyl listened closely, at first there was no sound. ‘That’s Tavi piecing together everything I just said…’ then there was a loud thud on the wall. ‘And that’s her taking it out on the wall… again.’ Then there was the stomping of heeled feet as Octavia marched out of their dorm and slammed the door behind her. ‘And that’s her storming out in a huff to vent on her way to the station. Better get in the shower now, if I’m late she might actually kill me this time.’ She mused as she chuckled a little. She walked into her bathroom and grabbed the last clean towel she had from the linen closet and slipped her goggles from her face and set them in their enchanted case that she kept in the cabinet above her toilet. She took no risks when it came to her goggles.
Half an hour later she was showered, dressed, and munching on a candy bar as she grabbed her electric blue skateboard and darted out of the dorm her white jacket flowing behind her as she rushed to put it on and race towards the closing golden elevator doors. “Hold that elevator!” she called as she ran for it. A hand caught the doors and they slid back open allowing Vinyl to skid to a halt inside it as she quickly gulped down the last of her candy bar and turned to thank her savior. “Oh, Heartstrings. Visiting your girlfriend again…?” she asked with a sly smirk at the mint and white haired lyre player that shared the elevator with her. Lyra sighed and rolled her eyes at the comment as the doors closed.
“Quiet you, I don’t assume with you and Octy so unless you want to face Bon-Bon’s wrath I would suggest you stop with the gay jokes and just accept that we’re friends… JUST friends.” She added with a sharp glare when the DJ waggled her eyebrows playfully at the girl.
“Aw, chill out Ly, you know I’m only kidding around. You and Bonnie can confess your undying love for each other any time you want, just remember that Pinks already called dips on planning the wedding.” Vinyl laughed. Lyra again groaned and facepalmed as the elevator stopped in the lobby and both of them got out and walked towards the front door.
“Vi, you’ve got enough to worry about. I saw Octy stomp through here earlier, and just like it always is I’m pretty sure you’re at fault for this one as well.” Lyra stated with a smirk. Vinyl faked a dramatic gasp at the accusation.
“My dear Lyra, are you implying I would cause our dear friend Octavia grief over something…?! How scandalous!” Vinyl quipped in her best imitation of Octavia’s own accent. It was pretty dead on and made Lyra crack a grin.
“Yes, I am. Now get a move on before I have to explain to Doc why his two best musicians got in a fight and one of them is dead and the other is in prison.” Lyra retorted sticking her tongue out at the girl.
“Just one question.” Vinyl prompted as she set down her favored mode of transport on the white sidewalk. “Which one’s dead and which ones in prison…?” she asked. Lyra only grinned and turned to walk in the opposite direction.
“Use your imagination Scratch, if you need me I’ll be signing yearbooks over lunch.” She called before she dispersed into the crowd of students that flooded the sidewalks.
Vinyl chuckled a little as she kicked off on her skateboard towards Everfree Radio Station, the name they had given the station they now ran and operated all on their own. They had a few more people acting as support that had joined the radio club in the last few months but it was still just Vinyl, Neon, and Octavia at the head doing most of the heavy lifting. The three had started up the radio station not expecting much, maybe a few listeners across the school and maybe the town but nothing major. So it was a great surprise when on the very first day they had almost the entire school tuned into them. Octavia had almost fainted when she saw the numbers and Vinyl and Neon had to implement their first on-air improvise… Meaning Vinyl took the mike and blasted Dubstep into the ears of their listeners, which they loved by the way. After Octavia had recovered she took it in stride and rolled with it. Something that impressed Vinyl to no end, though she would have never said it aloud.
After the first broadcast their popularity only grew, so much so that others outside the fair town of Ponyville began to want to listen in as well. Octavia proved herself to be resourceful to say the least, she quickly started opening sponsorship deals with local shops and bigger companies outside Ponyville, soon they had a steady income so they could upgrade their tower. To Octavia’s eternal shock she found Vinyl Scratch the next morning hanging upside down from a now very impressive looking radio tower by a tangle of wires completely asleep after she had spent the entire night ‘teching out’ the radio station. By Teching out she meant that she had literally upgraded the entire station by herself in one night. After that show of dedication Octavia placed her in charge of the station’s mechanics without a second thought. If it had wires and circuit boards it was Vinyl’s job to keep it in check. That’s when she roped a dozen or so lackeys into helping her out. They helped out greatly, they kept the place spotless, did whatever was asked of them, and fawned over Vinyl like she was a goddess. Life was good.
Neon watched the little radio project he had started grow into an empire day by day and rode it out as the face of Everfree Radio, while Octavia became its voice and mind. Neon publicized everywhere, posters on walls around the school and in town, on the internet, in person with everyone he talked to, and he somehow managed to get a blimp to fly around in three different huge cities; all he gave as an explanation for that was that a friend owed him a favor. With Neon advertising and bringing in the listeners and sponsors, Octavia managing the finances and keeping a close schedule for everyone to follow, and Vinyl maintaining everything on the home front and corralling her own set of dedicated workers the Everfree Radio Station became the only student run radio station to be broadcasted across the entire nation of Equestria.
Of course, the three had their own internal conflicts as well, Vinyl and Octavia’s conflicting personality’s being the usual problem. While Octavia held everything in a tight orderly grip Vinyl always came in wild blue hair blazing as she wrecked havoc on Octavia’s peaceful life pushing her buttons wherever she could. Of course Octavia pushed back, always doing little things like tidying up Vinyl’s ‘organized mess’ whenever she left her desk in ruins. But one thing that remained Vinyl’s favorite form of torture against Octavia was being late on purpose. She came to a stop outside the radio station and looked at her phone to check the time. She was a minute early. She sat down on her skateboard and pulled out an energy drink and an apple from her bag. She popped the top to the drink and leaned back against the brick wall sipping it and occasionally biting into her apple. Five minutes later she finished and calmly stood up dusting off her jeans a little before shouldering her drawstring bag again and kicking up her board into her hand as she walked into the station with a grin plastered on her face. Octavia was standing in the doorway with the opposite expression on her face as her normally light pink eyes darkened and narrowed as she glared at the slightly taller girl in front of her.
“I was watching the security feed Vinyl… really? You just HAD to take a snack break and be late RIGHT OUTSIDE?!” She asked grabbing the attention of a few guys that were reorganizing the collection of vinyl records on the seemingly endless shelves.
Vinyl smiled a cocky grin and nudged past Octavia leaving her board leaning against the door. “Well you won’t let me eat or drink in the Air room so I had to get it out of the way.” She explained with a glance and a smirk back at the earthbound as she used her magic to open the door to just said room.
“Oh save it, you don’t give a rat’s arse about that rule Scratch, the evidence is on the shelf next to my desk.” Octavia retorted with a sour look and a pointed finger at the white shelf beside a neat looking desk that had many colorful energy drinks and candy bars lining it, a sign hung above it that read: ‘Confiscated items. DO NOT TOUCH, THIS MEANS YOU VINYL.’.
Vinyl glanced at it amused as she set to work on getting her station set up for the broadcast that would be starting in less than ten minutes. She noticed a teal haired teenage Alicorn sitting in her black office chair playing a PSP. “Woona? What are you doing here? Did you finally say yes to Neon and you’re here on some kind of weird last-day date…?” she asked the game loving princess.
Luna’s eyes never left the game as she responded. “In his dreams, I’m here because Octavia requested I say a word of goodbye to our fellow students, and I thought you and I could do a skit together for the finale.” Luna mused as she rapidly clicked the buttons on the handheld console her cutiemark themed headphones plugged in but only on one ear so she could still hear.
“Awesome! What’d ya have in mind? Messing with Tavi? A song? Or maybe a little bit of story time?” Vinyl offered sitting on a clear spot on her desk while she used her magic to prepare her equipment.
Octavia was sitting in her chair going through a list of scheduled sets and announcements they’d be making in the show. “Oh please Vinyl, Luna is a princess! She’s above things like your immature pranks and silly stor-“
“A bit of all three.” Luna responded tuning out Octavia as she defeated the final boss and let the victory music play. A small grin appeared on her face as she glanced up at Vinyl who shared her expression.
“Ooooooh, Burn Tavi. Okay Woon, let’s discuss this in my private office.” Vinyl chuckled as she leapt off the desk and grabbed the back of the wheelie chair and rolled Luna towards a plain oak door at the back of the Air room.
“Vinyl that’s not an office it’s the restroom!” Octavia called after her. In response blue magic enveloped a sign that stuck itself over the plaque of a toilet and instead now boasted a picture of Vinyl’s face and big gold letters spelling OFFICE for everyone to read. Octavia groaned and slumped in her chair rubbing her temples. Behind her Neon came in and chuckled as he started to rub her shoulders.
“She’s not even here five minutes and you’re already slouching. Are you sure you wanna keep this going over the summer…?” he asked playfully as Octavia’s shoulders began to relax a little from his rubbing.
“No, but I already promised our sponsors a summer time special so I don’t have any other choice. Vinyl IS a big part of this after all…” she muttered as she sighed and tipped her head back so she could see up into his deep blue eyes. He smiled at the girl giving her his best impression of Vinyl with his grin.
“Don’t worry Octy, you two will find SOMETHING you have in common eventually. Maybe you just have to get to know her a bit better.” He offered. The two were very close friends, so much so that Octavia often caught herself thinking of him as another brother. Her parents certainly liked him enough for him to be a part of their crazy family. Although her mother kept teasing her saying he could be MARRIED in but Octavia was nowhere near ready for that kind of relationship and even if she was it wouldn’t be with Neon. Nothing against him but she like guys with more refined personalities and who didn’t remind her of her dreadful pain-in-the-arse roommate.
“Thanks Neon, I needed that…” she responded with a kind smile in turn. The smile vanished when Vinyl and Luna emerged from the bathroom turned office giggling like little girls and glancing at her. She slowly stood and leaned towards her male co-host. “If I get arrested today for assault and battery of my roommate will you call my mother to bail me out?”
“I’ll do you one better, I’ll come in and bail you out myself.” He returned with another smile, this one more his style. Octavia nodded and was about to thank him when her watch beeped and she looked down at it quickly. “Oh bullocks, okay everyone in your places! We go live in five minutes!” she announced making sure the helpers outside could hear her before she shut the door ensuring the soundproof seal of the room. Vinyl let Luna keep her seat and chose instead to stand at her control panel as she fitted her headset on and started fine tuning her settings to ensure that all the mikes were in perfect working order. She gave a thumbs up at Octavia and Neon who were sitting in the hosting seats testing out their mikes and making small adjustments of their own. Luna was watching with a small note of fascination at all the equipment that went into the station, she had been here before but never really paid attention to it all. Vinyl was watching the clock and counted down with her hand before signaling to Tavi and turning on the green light as she hit the intro button and a catchy jingle played before it faded into Octavia’s soothing voice.
“Hello everybody and welcome to a very special broadcast of Everfree Radio, for those of you who are listening in from outside our lovely Ponyville Academy and University this is the last day of school for us.” Vinyl inserted a sound effect here “But don’t worry we here at Everfree Radio have some exciting news for you, starting one week from today we will be bringing you a 24 hour broadcast for the entire length of the summer.” Vinyl added a much happier effect here
“See…? Our wonderful studio audience is pleased with it! Now where are my manners, I haven’t introduced myself or my wonderful co-hosts yet! I’m your host Octavia and beside me is the ever charming Neon Lights,”
“Charming doesn’t begin to describe me Octy.” He commented.
“And our tech producer and personal DJ Miss Vinyl Scratch.” Octavia finished. Vinyl played a thundering applauding sound effect here as she took a few bows to some invisible spectators.
“Thank you, thank you, I know I’m awesome.” She mused into the mike that was built into her headset. Octavia rolled her eyes before continuing.
“And we have a very special guest today but she’s currently battling a monstrous looking minotaur right now so we’ll bring her on a little bit later, for now let’s have a word from our generous sponsors, Neon?” she offered handing the reigns over to her cohost while she shut off her mike and rolled her chair back a little to where Vinyl was standing. “You’ve got the set ready to go on after Neon’s done with the sponsor’s…?” she asked. The DJ grinned and gave her a thumbs up moving her mike out of her face.
“No worries Tavi, I’ve gotcha covered.” She responded without missing a beat when Neon signaled her to play one of the sponsor’s jingles. Octavia smiled her previous worries briefly vanishing in light of Vinyl’s dependency in the studio.
‘Maybe I should give her a bit of a chance… She can’t be THAT bad under all that… Vinyl.’
Two hours later:
Octavia walked out of the studio in a huff with Vinyl hot on her tail and Neon and Luna back a little ways still laughing their asses off. “Tavi! It wasn’t that bad!” Vinyl protested. Octavia spun on heel and pointed a finger in Vinyl face her pink eyes burning with hatred.
“You magically deepened my voice to make me sound like James Earl Jones and then forced me to sing a musical rendition of The Lion King over a live broadcast with over two million people listening…! Tell me how that isn’t ‘So bad’!” she roared her eyes like death weapon of their own. Vinyl gave her a weak smile as she swallowed hard.
“B-because of you we actually hit over THREE million people…! A new high!” she countered. Octavia’s face dropped for a second before it turned into a serene mask of tranquility as she lightly patted Vinyl’s shoulder.
“That’s wonderful. If you’ll excuse me Vinyl, I have to pack my belongings so that I can transport them back to my house. I’m going to be attending the Canterlot Summer Sun Celebration tonight and I need time to prepare.” She stated formally. Inside Vinyl felt herself go cold, but not because of Octavia’s change in attitude.
“W-wait… you’re going all the way to Canterlot for a party…? When the Princess is going to be here in your home town? Why the effort?” she asked the classical musician as she kept pace with her.
Octavia sighed not really wanting to deal with Vinyl anymore. “If you must know it’s because we received a personal invitation from an old friend of my mother’s. I don’t suppose you’ve heard of Fancy Pants…?” she asked eyeing the DJ carefully. Vinyl was nothing if not a good actress, at least in her face. If Octavia could have seen her eyes she would have been screwed. Octavia sighed after the extended period of silence. “Really Vinyl, I thought even you knew better! Fancy Pants is the biggest influence in Canterlot next to the royal family! He’s born from the high noble family Pantaleon and owns over half of the major businesses in Canterlot, INCLUDING that record company you obsess over, Victory Records…!” She explained exasperated with her roommate. Vinyl made a good act of a light bulb going off in her head.
“Oh yeah! I remember that guy! Never knew his name though, his wife’s some hot shot model though and I hear he named the company after his niece so I guess he’s pretty cool… well, as cool as those sharks at the top can get anyways.” She commented. Octavia sighed and rolled her eyes.
“Yes, and that niece you mentioned is reported to be at this party every year and my Mother is dying to introduce me to her. Supposedly she’s a musician as well, one I will add who has twice the class that you do Vinyl Scratch.” Octavia added to emphasize that she was still very much angry with the other girl.
“Awww, Tavi! Come on, you like my crazy antics! They help loosen that ten foot pole you have shoved up your ass so you can breathe a little.” Vinyl countered with a cocky grin plastered on her face as they approached the dorms.
“I do NOT have anything of the sorts inside me I assure you, and you’ve just proven my point with such a crass comment.” Octavia retorted before she stuck her nose in the air and huffed as she walked into the lobby of their wing. The attendant smiled at them and waved but the pair walked right past her not seeming to notice her at all as they traded banter.
When the elevator stopped at the top floor they got off still arguing back and forth. When they approached the door however Vinyl froze just before she could swipe her card key and sniffed the air a little. ‘English Leather cologne and the distinct flavor of wintergreen mint… fuck me there’s only one old guy I know that smells like that.’ Vinyl moved like a viper striking its prey, she quickly snapped open the door and got inside shutting and locking the door behind her before Octavia could so much as blink.
Said earthbound quickly started pounding on the door. “Vinyl?! Open the door this instant! I need to get my things from my room before four so I demand you open this door post haste…!” she roared pounding on it furiously. On the other side Vinyl winced knowing that Octavia would be pissed later but there was a lot more at stake here than just her temper. Vinyl lifted her goggles up on top of her head to look the man who stood before her and give him a proper glare with her blood red eyes.
“Jaxon I swear on Celestia’s hot white ass that you are the most demonically evil old man alive.” She hissed through her clenched teeth. The older man who stood proudly at just over six feet tall with pure white hair that was groomed perfectly and a suit that fitted perfectly for his title of butler. Her Uncle’s personal butler at that. His deep grey eyes twinkled as he smiled and bowed at the waist his light grey wings unfurling a bit as he did so.
“I apologize for the intrusion Madam Victoria but my orders were quite clear, I am to bring you to the estate to be prepped for the party at once.” He explained with a British accent that made Octavia’s sound Equestrian.
Vinyl quickly grabbed him by the collar and dragged him away from the door and towards the balcony. “I don’t CARE what your orders are, my personal orders that I gave out when I transferred to this school was that no servants from ANY of the estates, main or not, were to come onto the school grounds unless it was a valid emergency! THIS is not an emergency and you’re in my ROOM, you know, where I live… with my ROOMMATE!” She snarled as she pushed him out to the balcony. “Now go out to the front gate and wait for me there! And for the love of Luna tell me you did not already take my bags down…” she whined. He bowed again now standing on the railing as his wings spread.
“I’m sorry milady but yes, the staff has already taken your bags. But do not worry, we took great care in making sure your equipment wasn’t harmed.” He explained with a kind smile.
“I’m not worried about that! I can fix whatever those monkey’s break but I can’t explain to Tavi how my room went from being comfortably messy to barren and spotless in the three hours we were gone!” she hissed back clearly agitated with him now.
He bowed again. “If I may Madam, why not cast an illusionary charm to make it look like your room is still intact, then when it is time to leave you make it so it looks as if you have all your luggage.” He offered. Vinyl froze for a second rubbing her chin in thought. The door pounding was getting worse and it snapped her back to reality.
“Great Idea. Almost enough to make up for this! Now get OUT!” She ordered shoving him off the balcony knowing he was capable of flying safely. She quickly pulled on her goggles again and placed an illusion spell in her room, it wasn’t perfect but Tavi wouldn’t notice the waviness unless she got really close. She went to the front door and pulled it open just as Octavia was getting ready to charge it open. She ran in like a football player and flipped over the couch spectacularly landing on the coffee table and groaning. “Whoa… kinda wish I had a camera for that one…” Vinyl chuckled as she walked over to help Octavia up. Vinyl offered out a hand to the girl and gave her a reluctant smile. Octavia glared at her with dagger like eyes and stood up without Vinyl’s help. She didn’t say a word to her just stood up and walked right towards her room slamming the door hard so that the sound was sure to be heard by all their neighbors.
Speaking of neighbors, Rainbow Dash stuck her head in from the still open hallway door and saw Vinyl standing there stunned. “Whoa, what’d ya do to piss her off that bad Scratch…? Break her Cello…?” she asked her two toned blue haired friend as she walked into the room properly. Vinyl sighed and shook her head.
“Nah, nothing like that… would you do me a favor and not say anything about this to any of the other’s Dash…?” she asked her cyan winged friend.
“Sure thing pal, but… hey I saw this old dude come in here a little while ago, is any of your stuff missing…?” she asked looking around to see if anything was out of place. Vinyl tensed for a second before she responded.
“Him…? Oh, uh, no. That’s just my Gramps. He likes to come in and surprise me from time to time but he gets over bearing so I threw him out before he could embarrass me in front of Tavi. Could ya not mention that too…?”
“Overbearing family that’s super embarrassing? Girl I’m with you there; don’t worry, secret’s safe with me. Now I’ve gotta dash, still got a TON of work to do for that celebration tonight. And Rarity’s been complaining for like an hour about how the lighting has to be cast into town hall just perfect for her decorations to sparkle. ” Rainbow complained as she walked towards the door.
“Dude, seriously? It’s going to be night time, not much light out at night, cloudy or not.” Vinyl chuckled.
“Try telling that to HER in the state she’s been in! But anyways, I need to get over to the library to help Pinkie with something, she called me about ten minutes ago screaming something about needing my help for some big party. She almost sounded hysteric. Catch ya later Scratch! ” she called as she dashed into the room and then jumped out the open window to take flight. Vinyl shut the door and sighed in relief as she walked over and shut the open window as well.
“That was way too close for comfort… I need a freaking candy bar or something.” She grumbled as she went to the fridge to get one of her snacks. She opened it and instead of her normally junk food stocked side being filled with all kinds of sweet and savory treats she found it now looked much more like Octavia’s side which was filled with fruits, vegetables, yogurts, and other things that girls her age were ‘supposed’ to eat. On a large sprig of broccoli that sat where her chocolate used to be was a taped note with her name written on it.
‘Victoria- Really my dear? Candy and soda for meals? What am I going to do with you? Try some of these instead. Your body will be relieved to finally get some nutrients. –Yours truly, Jaxon Paxton Wilkinson Servant of the Pantaleon Family’
Vinyl’s eyes got a little darker as she crumpled the paper in her hand and roared loudly enough that the butler who was just approaching the limousine that was parked on the outer rim of the school’s pick-up circle heard it and couldn’t help but smile.
***
The next hour was spent packing everything they owned into suit cases, or in Vinyl’s case pretending to and instead sitting in her bare room browsing the internet on her phone to find ways to kill people without leaving any kind of evidence. All in all it was very productive. They both emerged at the same time carrying their first sets of suitcases; silently they went back into their rooms for more until the living room was complete with two decent piles of bags. Vinyl was just carrying out her last one which was actually her keyboard strapped around her back and her backpack in her hand, the keyboard was an illusion but the bag in her hand was real. Vinyl set the keyboard in its black case on the rest of her ‘pile’ and turned to face Octavia.
“Hey Tavi… I don’t know if you’re still mad at me but in case you are, I’m sorry ya know..? I wasn’t thinking about all the people that would be listening when we did that and when we got here I-“ She was interrupted by Octavia walking over and placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.
“I heard Vinyl…”
Inside Vinyl’s mind her world came to a crashing halt. She heard what…? Her talking with Jaxon?! ‘Oh fuck me… I’m going to have to explain all that to her and she’s going to never look at me the same again! Ugh! Stupid Jaxon! Why’d he have to go and ruin everything?! Just when I thought I could finally leave all that behind too… fuck, well no sense in denying it now…’ Vinyl swallowed hard and looked down at her bright white combat boots. “I’m really sorry I didn’t tell you before I just-“
Octavia smiled as she made Vinyl look back at her face. “Vinyl, it’s okay! I understand what it’s like to have embarrassing family too!” she explained her pink eyes once more brightened and not trying to make her combust into the fiery pits of hell. Vinyl tripped over her words there as she tried to process the sudden change.
“Wait… what?” she asked dumbly not understanding what the dark haired cello player was saying.
“Your grandfather! I completely understand! I love my grandparents to death but they can be so embarrassing! They call me all kinds of childish nicknames and dress like they live on a tropical island!” she added with a small laugh of her own. Vinyl blinked in shock for a few seconds before she regained the ability to speak.
“OH, Yeah totally! Gramps is like… well I’ll spare you the gory details but he’s got the weirdest taste in colognes! His favorite is English Leather and he chews this really powerful mint gum all the time so when I caught wind of that before I opened the door I knew I had to get him out of here before he could break out the baby photos and old tapes!” she laughed scratching the back of her head nervously.
Octavia smiled nodded in agreement. “I understand completely, and are you serious…? English Leather and mint?! The sounds like quite the odd pairing even for the elderly. Speaking of embarrassing family I should probably get going before my father decides to come up here with my brothers to help me carry out my stuff.” she sighed turning towards her pile and hefting the bags onto her shoulders. Blue aura however took the pressure off her and the remainder of her bags floated off the floor and into the air. She turned to see Vinyl with her hands encased in the magic she was using and she winked at Octavia.
“Consider it a make-up present for the stunt I pulled earlier. I can come back for my stuff but you’re in a time crunch.” Vinyl explained with a smile on her face as she walked towards the door the bags floating beside her. Octavia was stunned by the gesture but smiled all the same.
“Thank you Vinyl, that’s very generous of you. But please at least allow me to carry my backpack and Cello case.” She responded pointing at the two objects Vinyl held in her magic. Vinyl quickly realized that she had grabbed the cello and as such was breaking one of the few rules they had set for each other when they first met. She set it down next to Octavia and quickly apologized.
“Sorry! I grabbed it without thinking and-“ a finger was placed on her lips as Octavia strode past her and into the hall.
“It’s fine Vinyl, I don’t mind as much as I thought I would… besides, you technically didn’t touch it.” She reasoned. Vinyl could have pointed out that magic was literally just and extension of her being and therefore a part of her but decided against it. She instead just smiled back as they walked down the hall together.
“You know… for a prissy classical type you’re not half bad Octavia.” Vinyl announced as they boarded the elevator.
“And for a DJ raver from hell you can be quite charming Vinyl.” She complimented back.
“Hey now, charming is Neon’s shtick, not mine. I prefer badass or just plain radical. And I swear on Luna’s moon that if you so much as think the words ‘pretty’ or ‘cute’ I will make sure we’re roommates next year and lull you to sleep every night with a Dubstep remix of ‘Baby’.” Vinyl added sharply. Octavia who had been about to open her mouth quickly clamped it shut. She might have been able to deal with Vinyl for a whole extra year but that farce of a song was bad enough on its own without Vinyl’s horrid wubs amping it up.
“Fine… you’re adorable” she concluded as the doors shut with Vinyl slowly turning to face her.
***
“And that’s the story of how Octavia lost her hearing and Vinyl got arrested for playing obscene music in a public area.” Twilight concluded with a firm nod.
Nyx looked at her mother confused. “But… Octavia can hear just fine Mom…?” Nyx pointed out confused by the statement. Spike rolled his eyes and groaned.
“That was Twi’s attempt at a joke. It was terrible by the way. Vinyl didn’t get her arrested until her 18th birthday and Octavia was with her in that jail cell.” Spike informed the younger Alicorn.
“Ohhhhh, that makes a lot more sense. Wait, Vinyl getting arrested I can understand, that happens pretty much every weekend; but how did she get Tavi arrested…?” Nyx asked curious.
Twilight grinned a little. “She started a bar fight.”
“Vinyl?”
“No, Octavia.”
“. . .”
“Yeah, that was pretty much our response when they told us about it the next morning.” Spike chuckled at the expression on the girl’s pale face.
“How-“
“We’ll tell you another time, for now let’s get back to the story.”
***
Vinyl and Octavia walked all the way down to the main entrance where many cars were lined up waiting for students to board them. Octavia was rubbing her arm where Vinyl had punched her and Vinyl was standing on her tip toes trying to look over the crowd to see if she could locate Octavia’s father. “So what’s your dad drive anyways…?” she asked the earthbound.
“Oh believe me… you’ll know it when you see it…” Octavia responded simply. Her ears flickered a bit and she turned towards the left side of the street that lead up to the academy. “Oh? How odd, looks like Mom’s driving today.” She mused as she heard the distant sound of an engine roaring and tires screeching on asphalt. She pulled out a set of ear plugs and handed another to Vinyl shouting over them. “You’re going to want to put those in!”
Vinyl hesitated but did as she was told eying Tavi suspiciously. Her attention however was grabbed when THIS pulled into the driveway with a booming stereo system that had the ground vibrating and pounding with death metal. If that impression wasn’t enough it had a train horn on top of it that blared loud enough to blow the Rainbow right out of Dash. Vinyl looked over at her friend her eyes wide. “I thought you said your mom was driving today!” she shouted over the thumping music.
“She is!” Octavia responded as the car shut off and an older pegasus version of Octavia hoisted herself out of the driver’s window and waved over the top of the truck at her.
“Hiiiiiii Honey~! Sorry about the noise! Your father had to stay longer at the bar tonight!” she called before she realized she still had her music blaring and reached in the car to shut it off to the great pleasure of everyone in the town. Vinyl blinked a few times not even bothering to try and fix her hair, which now defied all laws of gravity as it stood straight back and pulled out her ear plugs.
“Tavi, don’t take this the wrong way, but I think I’m in love with your mom.” Vinyl stated without a single moment’s hesitation.
“I get that a lot when my friends meet her. Come say hi Vinyl.” She giggled pulling her magically talented friend towards the monster truck. As they approached the vehicle the back doors opened and three young boys in crash helmets leapt down from it and ran towards her eventually reaching her and tackling her to the ground in a hug.
“Octavia!” they all cried out as they pinned her.
“You have no idea how weird it’s been since you left!”
“Mom and Dad have been all gross and mushy with us!”
“And they don’t even let us play teen rated games anymore because they think we’re ‘growing up too fast’ or something!”
“MAKE IT STOOOOOOP!!!!” They all exclaimed at once whimpering slightly as they pointed at the supposed harpy in question. Grace smiled as she approached them smiling in a way that reminded Vinyl far too much of Octavia. Unfortunately for her the woman saw something familiar about Vinyl as well.
“Well hello there, I’m sorry for that racket I made coming in; my name is Grace Philharmonica, I’m Octavia’s mother. You must be the Vinyl Scratch my daughter has so much to talk about every time she comes home.” She mused her eyes glinting with familiarity. Vinyl didn’t flinch however as she reached out and shook the woman’s hand.
“That’s me, Vinyl Awesome Scratch, born DJ extraordinaire. You’ve gotta be kidding me though! Tavi how’d you turn out so lame with a rocking Mom like this raising you?!” she asked jabbing a thumb in the direction of the older looking Octavia.
Octavia huffed as she tried to unsuccessfully remove one of her little brothers from her person. “I did not turn out ‘lame’ as you put it Vinyl and I assure you that my mother is every bit an etiquette fanatic as I am. Button would you PLEASE be so kind as to stop nuzzling me, and Rumble, Shady if you do not separate yourselves from my legs in the next fifteen seconds so that I can stand I will be forced to tell those adorable little girls you seem to have a fancy for that you each wrote exactly seven horrendously cheesy love letters to them before you chickened out at the last second.” The three boys quickly leapt off of her and stood uniformly like soldiers awaiting orders as she dragged herself back to her feet. “Much better, now Vinyl I’d like to introduce you to my personal source of hell when you aren’t around my little brothers Shady Daze, Rumble, and Button Mash. Boys, this is Vinyl Scratch, she’s been annoying me for you while I’ve been at school.”
“’Sup kiddos?” she asked fist bumping each of them at their shared ‘Enjoys annoying Tavi’ trait.
“Nothing much DJ PON3.” They responded as one.
“Whoa there, how do you three little rascals know my stage name…? You seem a bit young for the club scene.” She noted eying each of them.
“We listen to your music from your website that other fans like us put up!” Shady explained as Button pulled out a laptop from his bag and opened it to reveal a black web page that looked like it had stage lights flashing in the back of it just like a rave.
“You have fans…?” Octavia asked curiously.
“I have a website…?!” Vinyl asked just as shocked. She took the laptop from the boy and scrolled through it. “By Celestia’s beard! Who made this?! There’s songs on here that I made all the way back in middle school!” she exclaimed scrolling through the long list.
“You made your own music in MIDDLE SCHOOL?!” Octavia asked getting more shocked by the minute.
“Yeah Tav’s, I’ve been composing since I was four but what I’D like to know is how anyone got ahold of this stuff! The only place I keep it is on my- Rift…” she snarled as she came to a realization.
“Rift…?” Octavia questioned.
“My good for nothing pig of a brother! He stole my flash drive some time last year and I never found out what he did with it! Guess now I know… but why the hell would he put my music out if he hated it so much…?” Vinyl asked her anger still there but it was being sated by the confusion she felt by her brother’s actions.
“I don’t know…” Octavia was interrupted by her watch beeping. “Oh bullocks! Mother we’re going to be late!” she gasped as she quickly started loading her bags into the oversized vehicle which Vinyl helped with by using her magic. Button took the laptop back from Vinyl and helped load the bags along with his brothers. When the bags were loaded Grace and the boys had climbed into the car again quickly and Octavia was about to join them when she stopped and turned on heel before running over and wrapping her arms around Vinyl and hugging her. “Try not to be so negative all the time Vinyl, I know you might not think it but your brother might have had a good reason for doing this. Ask him about it the next time you see him alright?” she asked pulling away slightly to look into the tinted goggles that covered her friend’s eyes. Vinyl nodded and she smiled and tapped the glass on the goggles. “And for Faust’s sake take those thing’s off for a bit, you’re going to hurt your eyes somehow if you wear them for too long!” she laughed before she darted back to the truck putting on her own crash helmet and gave one last glance back at Vinyl. She silently motioned to plug her ears before she rolled up her window and Vinyl quickly stumbled to put in the ear buds she still had in her hands.
She got them in just as the monster roared to life and took off speeding out of the driveway leaving the smell of burning rubber and broken ear drums in its wake. Vinyl slowly pulled out the ear plugs and put them in her pocket feeling for the hard plastic case of the device she always carried with her. She brought out the simple black device and held it in her open palm staring down at it as she had thousands of times before. Her thumb instinctively went over the back of it and she could feel the carved initials under her touch. ‘Maybe… maybe he put it out there so I could find her…’
“Madam…?” an English accent asked behind her. She turned around to see Jaxon standing there looking at her with a concerned look in his deep grey eyes. “Are you alright…?” he asked a little quieter this time. Vinyl looked once more at the device in her hand before putting it in her pocket and facing him once more.
“No, but I will be. Let’s go Jax.” She stated striding towards the long black stretch limousine that was to drive her to the airport so she could helicopter to the party where her mother and Uncle were already waiting for her. ‘No… not me. They’re waiting for Victoria.’ She thought as she pulled her goggles off her face and produced their case from her bag carefully setting them in it before closing it shut and looking out the window of the car with a look of solemn duty on her face. “You’re going to get your wish Tavi, whether you know it or not…”
***
5:59 PM Canterlot, Pantaleon Main Estate:
Victoria hurried down the corridor her long black cocktail dress gliding slightly behind her as she carried the front of it in one hand and a small black purse in her other hand as her knee high Louis Vuitton black leather boots clicked against the marble tile as she ran. Her two toned blue hair that was completely straight except for the ends which were curled delicately was gently touching the tops of her shoulder blades as she raced to the ballroom where her Uncle was waiting.
It was a long standing deal she made with her mother, once a year during the Summer Sun Celebration she would attend her Uncle’s formal party that lasted for over straight hours not as Vinyl Scratch, the rambunctious rowdy raver that loved nothing more than to suck down energy drinks and blast her eardrums out with Dubstep; but instead as Victoria Harmonia Pantaleon, the highly cultured and very talented niece of Fancy Pants, the most powerful man in Canterlot and head of the Pantaleon family. He knew full well her situation and loved both her true self and this fake one. He didn’t like that his sister made her daughter pretend to be something she wasn’t but living in Canterlot had its drawbacks and the biggest one being that image is everything. So for her Uncle’s sake, not her mother’s, Vinyl put aside the glow sticks and turntables for one night and exchanged them for a pretty dress and a posh accent that made Hoity Toity look like a pauper in comparison. She became Victoria, the daughter her mother always wanted.
But now Victoria was running late because there was a make-up malfunction back in the prep room. She noticed a familiar object leaning on the wall a little bit further down the hall and quickly snatched it up knowing it would save her time. She kicked off on the skateboard crouching low and holding up the skirt of her dress so that it wouldn’t catch on its wheels. After grinding the stair rail all the way down to the main hall she quickly did a flip with her board and tossed it into a nearby floral bush and righted herself quickly before calmly walking towards the two grand white doors that were engraved with gold. Two servants stood at either side of them and they gave her a smile.
“Cutting it a bit close this year aren’t you Madam Victoria…?” asked one of them.
“It’s fashionable to be a little late boys, now if you’ll pardon me I have a crowd to woo.” Victoria giggled lightly as she pulled out a pure black fan that had am electric blue eighth note stamped on it as she unfolded it and partially hid her face with it. The two servants opened the door and Victoria was illuminated with the golden light of the ballroom that was beneath the balcony she entered the room from. ‘Its show time you classy snobs.’
***
Octavia stepped out from the limousine that had drove them and took the offered hand of the chauffeur as he helped her and her mother from the vehicle and motioned them down a long white carpet that had deep blue decorative edges along its entire length. But Octavia wasn’t staring at the carpet, she was much too taken by the grand site of the estate to notice a small detail like the carpet she was walking on.
The architecture looked French inspired with Greek twists thrown in here and there, the expansive garden that lea up to it was filled with flowers that bloomed in every color imaginable while the deep green hedges added a maze like detail to it. At the end of the walk way a large lighted fountain sprayed up into the starry night sky while a proud statue of an older man with a long cane and earnest looking eyes sat in the center of the ring of golden fountain sprays watching over the guests as they flooded into the house. Speaking of which the main building itself was at the top of an impressive set of white marble steps and was framed by huge towering pillars of white marble that held up the overhanging roof which also appeared to be made of white marble, except when Octavia stepped under it she could see that the entire underside of the over hand was illuminated by soft golden light and had a beautiful mural that was carved and painted in stunning detail. It depicted the heavens that Faust was said to hail from, where an entire Alicorn race watched over the people of earth and pushed them along their individual paths in life by marking each of them with their true destiny.
Octavia felt the pink treble clef that sat square in between her shoulder blades tingle slightly as she looked into the expressive eyes of the Mother Goddess herself. Great works of art like this always gave her shivers but this felt much more intense. This building was ancient, almost as old as the castle… come to think of it the two share a similar build. The inside was even more impressive than she could have imagined. They passed through the grand white doors that were held open by white and blue trimmed uniformed servants and Octavia’s breath left her as she realized that the very walls of this place were works of art on their own. Murals with detail that made her feel like she was feeling everything the portrayed characters did caught her eye on almost every single wall in the main hall they were walking down. As they emerged into the atrium she saw that there was an open circle in the center of it that went down and up through the entire house, at the very bottom level a gorgeous fountain sprayed a tall spire of water that stopped just short of the floor she was on and it was illuminated silver by the moonlight that came in from the large glass panes that made up the dome on the roof of the very top floor.
It was a truly beautiful sight but she felt a tug on her light grey dress that went down to her ankles but had a slip that went all the way up her calf to reveal the simple black stiletto’s she wore under them. The dress itself was the same slate grey all around except for the very edges which were trimmed with black lace and was strapless and was open and dipped low along her back to reveal the pink treble clef that matched both her eyes and the simple bowtie she wore around her neck.
“Octavia, we should move on to the ball room, Fancy is expecting me and I wouldn’t want to keep him waiting.” Her mother informed her with a gentle smile. Her mother wore a more elegant dress than her, although to Octavia her mother could wear footie pajama’s and still outclass her. It was a beautiful blue-grey just like her gorgeous wings and had light purple trim along the very edges as well as along the laces of the elbow length gloves she wore to match the dress. Both mother and daughter were more the type for simple elegance rather than elaborate beauty. And it suited them well, they got impressed looks and turned heads no matter where they walked. They made their way into the grand ball room and yet again Octavia was blown away by its artistic appearance. The ceiling was once more decorated in a beautiful and quite angelic piece but this time it depicted not the grand creator herself but instead her two benevolent daughters. It felt strange to Octavia to think that just a few hours ago one of those two daughters was sitting in her radio station laughing with Vinyl as she humiliated herself on a live broadcast.
She looked around to see the rest of the room was decorated in a similar manner, with the Sun and the Moon goddesses being the focus of the art work that literally surrounded her from every angle. Her senses snapped back to reality when her mother tugged on her arm and pointed a little ways away.
“Oh! There he is! And he has Fleur with him! Wonderful!” she exclaimed as she used her wings to hover a bit as she made her way over to where the host and hostess stood surrounded by their guests, Octavia followed close behind her mother. When they got to the man Octavia could finally see him and his elegant wife for the first time in person and not on a magazine cover. They were every bit as perfect if not more so.
Fancy pants stood tall and proud built sturdily for a Unicorn, who were normally much smaller by comparison, he had finely groomed soft blue hair and a charming matching mustache as well. He wore a dapper looking suit with a bow tie that matched his hair and a monocle that had a golden chain that lead into his left breast pocket. Soft light blue eyes smiled at them as they approached. His companion and wife, the infamous Fleur de Lis, was standing beside him chatting happily with a pair of guests. She wore a tightly fitted but elegantly gorgeous white gown that was strapless but had light pink laces along her back most likely acting as a corset. The laces matched perfectly with the light fluffy color of her long wavy hair that had just a few creamy white streaks running through it that almost blended right into her light colored hair. Upon feeling a slight nudge from her husband she turned her naturally sultry gaze to the approaching pair and her eyes lit up at once as she squealed like a school girl and rushed to embrace one of her closest friends.
“Grace ma chère it has been far too long! Your darling baby girl is all grown up now into a stunning young woman! Shame on you for not bringing her to see us sooner!” Fleur chastised with a small huff as she wagged a finger at Grace. Grace only smiled back and giggled.
“I know, I know, I’m a terrible person. Octavia dear this is Fleur de Lis, the last of my friends from the Olympics that you haven’t gotten to meet yet. Well, technically you have but you were very young at the time.” She added introducing the two formally. Octavia curtsied to the woman.
“Pleasure to meet you mi Lady.” Octavia greeted. Fleur quickly took the girl’s chin up and kissed her on both cheeks before twirling her around happily in a hug.
“Oh she’s such a belle! I could simply die I’m so happy right now! Fancy dear, I think I feel faint~!” she gasped dramatically fanning herself with her hand. Fancy Pants, the man of the hour, walked over holding a flute of wine that looked chilled in each hand and he handed one to each of the women.
“Yes darling I’m sure you do, drink this to cool off. Grace, my wife wasn’t joking when she said the last time we saw you was for young Octavia’s second birthday! And now look at her! She’s the spitting image of you! And such charming manners as well. Good day to you young lady, I’m Felix Theodosius Alfred Pantaleon X, although I much prefer the nickname my older sister gave me, Fancy Pants.” He stated with a formal bow to the girl. She curtsied back holding back the rather inappropriate squeal of delight she wanted to give that THE Fancy Pants was speaking with her.
“I’m quite honored to be here Fancy, my mother has spoken endlessly about you and your wife. She spoke of your natural generous nature and Fleur’s kind and yet some times silly nature and I could not help but be drawn a little closer to you two through her stories. And everything I’ve read about you in the newspapers or heard on the news only confirms the idea that you are both the pinnacle of class.” Octavia complimented with a true smile at both of them. Fleur stared back at her astonished and speechless for a second before she tipped back her flute and drained it before setting the empty glass on a passing servant’s tray and taking another full one from it. Fancy smiled at her and was about to say something when there was a tap on his shoulder and he turned around to see a woman with hair much like his wife’s only darker and with eyes that mirrored his own perfectly.
“Oh, Harmony, how delightful you could join us. You remember Grace from Fleur’s Olympics’ team. This is her daughter Octavia. Ladies this is my older sister Harmony Step.” He introduced the two Philharmonica’s gave polite curtsies but Harmony looked a little too rushed to do more than politely nod at them before addressing her brother in a whispered tone. “What?! She still hasn’t… Oh my, alright I’ll send a few servants to-“
There was a loud gong sounding from the high balcony that over looked the entire ballroom. Everyone present stopped and looked up at the servant that had rung the gong. “Announcing her grace Madam Victoria Harmonia Pantaleon, daughter of High Lady Harmony Phoebe Stela Pantaleon.” He announced tapping his large scepter on the ground twice for emphasis.
Octavia looked to the balcony to see the girl that was walking in. Octavia’s eyes almost popped out of her head. The girl wore a fitted black cocktail dress that trailed ever so slightly behind her and was slitted up to her thigh for maximum movement; it had no frilly edges or really any sense of décor to it other than the fingerless black gloves that went all the way to her shoulders and had electric blue laces that went up her forearm. But what had Octavia really reeling wasn’t the dress itself but the girl who wore it instead. Two toned electric blue hair, slim figure and moon like pale complexion, and a presence that just screamed ‘LOOK AT ME I’M HERE’. This girl was in every way a mirror image of Vinyl.
Octavia shook her head. No, she wasn’t. Vinyl’s hair was shorter than that and wouldn’t be caught dead in a place like this. Plus their names were completely different and she didn’t have those Faust-awful gog-
Octavia’s eyes met the approaching girl’s eyes and her insides froze. Clear ruby red irises looked right at her emphasized by the light layer of eyeliner and eye shadow she wore. Forget her hair, those eyes were definitely the most eye catching thing about her. It wasn’t until Fancy Pants had placed a hand on her shoulder and started talking that the world’s sights and sounds came rushing back to Octavia all at once.
“Octavia I’d like you to meet my lovely niece Victoria; Victoria this is Octavia Philharmonica she’s the daughter of Grace Skylark, now Grace Philharmonica.” He informed her as both girls curtsied to one another.
“How do you do?” they both asked at once before they realized their mistake and Victoria giggled a little before speaking again.
“Well that’s one way to make a first impression, charmed to meet you at last Octavia Uncle and Auntie tell me so much about you and your mother. I’m also proud to say I’m a rather avid fan of the radio show you host.” She declared her gentle voice very unlike the harsh and slightly raspy voice that Vinyl possessed, and her dialect was so much easier on the ears as well.
“Oh, really? Well thank you for listening, I’m sure my co hosts would be thrilled to know that our little student project has reached even your ears.” Octavia responded with a brilliant smile. “You know, and please don’t take this the wrong way, but you sort of look like one of my co hosts, which is why I was a little out of sorts when you first walked in.” she admitted rubbing her arm a little embarrassment.
Victoria let out a melodic laugh that sounded like music all on its own and had Octavia melting a little just from the sound. “Well that’s quite amusing my dear, just please tell me it’s that ever charming Neon, charming or not I’d rather not compared to a male.” Victoria asked with a smile that could light up the night sky if she chose to.
‘Oh Faust where did THAT come from?! Keep it steady Tavi, no need to- Did I really just call myself by Vinyl’s silly nickname? I really need something to drink…’ “Fortunately no, you remind me of my friend Vinyl, only in looks of course! You two are at opposite spectrum's when it comes to personality.” Octavia explained as she quickly caught a waiter that was passing by with cocktails (virgin as they were marked with a little blue ribbon around the stem). Taking one of the drinks off the platter she sipped at it to calm her nerves. She noticed that Victoria was sipping at a drink too and found it a little odd that the drink was bright green.
“Green Apple Daiquiri with a sour twist, it’s my personal favorite.” She explained as she sipped at it daintily.
‘Vinyl’s favorite energy drink is sour green apple Amp… No. Stop. This is Victoria, not Vinyl. Two completely different people, the proof is her- Where’s her cutiemark?’ Octavia noticed for the first time that the girl, despite an impressive show of skin, had no visible cutiemark on her body. ‘Maybe she doesn’t have one yet… no, Fancy already said her talent is music, so where’s the mark?’ she internally inquired all the meanwhile Victoria stood across from her calmly sipping her drink while having an internal battle of her own.
***
‘YOU FRIGGIN’ DIPSHIT! OF COURSE TAVI IS GOING TO REMEMBER SOUR APPLE IS MY FAVORITE DRINK! WHY DIDN’T YOU GRAB A STRAWBERRY LIKE HER TO THROW HER OFF?!’ the inner Vinyl screamed. Externally she was much more serene and decided to offer a different broach of conversation now that the adults had wondered off leaving them alone. “So Octavia, what do you think this year’s theme will be?” she asked the dark haired girl across from her.
Octavia seemed to snap out of her trance and looked up blinking a few times at the girl. “I’m sorry, but what theme are you referring to? The Gala or perhaps the Canterlot Garden Party…?” she asked obviously confused.
Victoria giggled and shook her head. “No, neither of those, I mean the mystery theme for THIS celebration. Did you not know about it…?” she asked amused by the earthbound’s reaction.
Octavia’s cheeks flushed a little as she looked down at her glass and swirled the liquid around it a little. “N-no… I can’t say I did, would you mind too terribly if I inquired about it?” she asked carefully trying to not embarrass herself further.
“Don’t feel ashamed darling, I doubt most of the people here know about it. Every year my Aunt and Uncle pick a secret theme that they reveal once all the guests have arrived. Then with a grand show of it they use their combined magic to transform everyone present to match the theme. It’s different every year of course, no repeats. We’ve had everything from a Snow-Ball to a Toga party. It’s very amusing to say the least, but one thing always stays the constant. The spell they use to transform the guests to the theme wears off at sunrise, much like the classic tale of Cinderella. My Uncle always had a thing for underlying lessons. He says that for one night a year these people can let go and just be something completely different from how they normally are, and when it’s all over they can put everything on the spell’s influence. I find it quite enthralling, how about you?” she asked turning from where she had been looking out into the night sky through a huge clear glass pane that stretched from floor to ceiling and faced directly east so that the glorious full moon was in full view for all to see.
“Oh, um… it sounds fascinating. Do you know how they do it? I mean to say that that kind of power, even among that Canterlot elite, is almost un-attainable. ” Octavia asked back honestly quite curious at how just two people had enough magic to influence so many for an entire night.
“The Family Jewels of course!” Victoria declared like it was the most obvious thing in the world. When Octavia gave her a confused look she mentally facepalmed. ‘Okay, that was pretty bad, anyone who isn’t from Canterlot probably doesn’t know about them…’ “Sorry dear, you’re so much like one of the Canterlot folk I keep forgetting you are not actually from here. The Pantaleon jewels are enchanted gems passed down since our ancestor Felix Theodosius Alfred Pantaleon, the first of course, helped build this city from the mountain side. He took two gems that he found at the heart of the mountain, one a very vivid blue that no one had ever seen before, and one that was clear and pure as the first snowfall of winter, and shrank each of them into the size of a pea. Despite the size the gems were charged with enormous amounts of magic, magic that Celestia says rival’s Star Swirl the bearded when brought together. The gems were then taken and crafted into two rings that each had three sacred words and half of a crest carved into them. When the rings are joined so that the crest is complete and the words are chanted as one the power in them conforms to the will of whoever wears them. It’s a fascinating piece of history really.” She finished with a bright smile.
Octavia’s eyes were wide. “That’s amazing Victoria! Your family helped make the city of Canterlot?!” she asked enthralled by the tale she had just heard.
Victoria was more than happy she had found something to keep Octavia’s wandering mind focused. “Oh yes, Felix was a legend! His magic was so advanced for his time that scholars today can’t even compare it to any one branch of magic. The closest comparison they could draw was to Celestia’s personal protégé Twilight Sparkle. And as you well now she is a very special case.” Victoria explained.
“That’s… quite astonishing. And your Uncle is the one who wields the rings now?” Octavia asked further.
“Oh Heavens no! That much power in one body would burn out your crest! The power is divided evenly between two holders, and according to tradition the rings are given to the first born male and his wife. Together the two of them head the family and control the magic in the rings with all the grace and humility our family is known for.”
“That’s amazing… I never knew there was so much history behind the man and woman my mother always told so many fond stories of! To think they control magic on par with Star-Swirl… But, hold on. This may be a little personal but… isn’t your uncle the same age my mother? And your Aunt as well?” Octavia asked noticing a distinct lack of something in that formula.
“Why yes, they are. Given I believe Uncle is actually a year or so older but yes they are around the same age.” She responded.
“So… oh Faust this is going to sound terrible, why don’t they have children of their own?” Octavia knew she was stepping on thin ice here but her curiosity was too strong to ignore.
Victoria’s happy expression faded slightly and her eyes darkened as she looked down at her now empty glass. “I thought everyone already knew about that…” she murmured.
“Pardon?” Octavia asked not being able to hear her muttering over the sound of the crowd of people. Victoria set her glass down on a nearby table and stood up turning around and motioning for Octavia to follow. Octavia set her own glass down and followed albeit a bit reluctantly. Victoria lead her out of the ballroom and up to the next floor and down a corridor to a set of strong looking oak doors. She pushed it open and ushered Octavia inside without a word. She shut the door and let it click shut before she let her tension fade away.
“This… this is my Uncle’s personal office. It’s where he spends most of his time when he isn’t out socializing with the Canterlot elite or checking up on business affairs. Tell me Octavia, what do you see?” she asked motioning to the room around her.
Octavia looked around the room from where she stood. “Well, he has quite the collection of books… and I’d give him five stars for the decor he has in here. It truly make it feel like I stepped foot in a portal to the dark ages.” She replied after she noticed that the only thing from the modern ages that was in this room was the humming computer that sat on the large desk at the center of it all. The desk however brought her attention. She walked over and went behind it to find that it was littered with frame after frame of family photos. With just him and Fleur on various vacations around the world, with him much younger with his sister, Victoria’s mother, beside him and their parents behind them; and dominating the space was pictures of him and Victoria alongside a boy who had short cut bright blonde hair and the same ruby eyes that Victoria had. They ranged from when the two were infants all the way up to more recent pictures where they were teenagers, but the fact remained that they took up more frames than any other person. Victoria had come up beside her when she was staring wide eyed at the photos and she reached forward with a gloved hand and picked up one where she was in his arms and he was playfully hanging her upside down and tickling her so that she was red-faced from laughing so hard.
“My uncle… it’s saddening to say but he was more like a father to me than my actual father. He went to all my recitals, congratulated me when I did well in school, comforted me when I cried because I did poorly, sang me to sleep when I was too scared of the stories my brother told me before bed, and he was the one who was always there to talk when I just needed a breather from it all.” Victoria explained without looking up from the picture. She was hardened by years of emotional damage and she didn’t cry but she could feel her eyes mist up as she set the picture down and reached under the desk. Something clicked and a small panel opened up in the front part of the desk. Victoria reached in and removed the folded photo and handed it to Octavia. The girl carefully took it and gently unfolded it to reveal an image of a much younger Fancy Pants sans mustache and monocle with a very tired looking Fleur de Lis laying in a hospital bed cradling a small pink bundle in her arms. “That, is the first Victoria Harmony Pantaleon, my older cousin my exactly three months. She died in my Aunt’s arms ten minutes after this photo was taken.” She explained. Octavia looked up at her shocked and wide eyed at the revelation.
“I’m so sorry-“
“Don’t be. It’s not your fault or anyone’s for that matter. They learned that my Aunt had a condition that made her body unable to properly nourish a child of her own. Throughout her pregnancy the doctors realized that the baby was underweight but put it on my aunt being a naturally petite woman. They didn’t know she was starving in there. After she was born her body went into shock and it couldn’t handle the stress so she just… died. My Uncle… he was never the same after that. When my brother and I were born and my mother named me after my late cousin he was outraged. Saying that I would only haunt him while he watched me grow knowing I was only a shadow of what could never be for him. He was scared. Terrified to even so much as look at me. Me, nothing more than an infant at the time and he was scared of me!” she chuckled a little bit hollowly.
Octavia seemed to regain her ability to speak for a second. “What changed…?”
Victoria glanced up at her and her smile turned genuine as she picked up a photo of her Aunt cradling an infant version of herself in her arms. “Fleur did. She was scared too, scared that if she held another infant in her arms that it too would wither away like her daughter had. But… when she saw me cry nonstop in the arms of my parents something in her changed. She walked over and took me out of my father’s arms and sat down in a simple rocking chair and sang to me until I stopped crying and eventually fell asleep. My uncle saw this and it caused a domino effect. Soon enough he was holding me AND my brother in his arms and for the first time in months he smiled. After that he vowed he’d never again ignore me for selfish purposes, that if Faust didn’t want him to be a father then he’d be the best Uncle anyone had ever known. And he kept that promise. It was obvious from a young age that my parents played favorites, choosing my brother over myself. But I could live with that because my aunt uncle favorited me over him. It’s shallow and petty at the core but from it grew real tender love, love that I wouldn’t replace for anything in the world. I’d give up music before I gave up my Uncle.” She stated firmly as she looked Octavia straight in the eyes and never let her gaze wander. Well, not until it fell back on the photo Octavia still held in her hands. Her gaze softened and she gently set down the picture frame she held back on the desk and took the photo from Octavia. “I’ll never be able to replace the daughter he lost, but I don’t need to. And he doesn’t want me to either. He’s perfectly content with never being a father because he has me instead. That’s why they don’t have any children Octavia, not because they can’t, but because they don’t need any.”
Octavia was silent for a full minute and just when Victoria was staring to think that perhaps this was a bit much to be sharing with Octavia when she had just met ‘Victoria’ Octavia spoke. “Then… if they don’t have a child… who will take Fancy’s position once he’s retired…?” she asked not understanding how the process would work.
Victoria laughed throwing her head back in the process and having to collapse in her uncle’s office chair so she didn’t completely fall over. ‘I lay out a heart wrenching tale for her on a silver platter and THAT’S what she has to ask after it all? Classic Tavi.’ When she calmed down she pulled a small handkerchief from her purse and dabbed at where the tears had made her makeup run. “Oh you are gem Octavia, to answer that question I’ll give you a bit more of my family’s history. When Felix the first passed he left his will and testament to his oldest son, it laid out how he wanted his possessions to be distributed and of course the rings came with a special set of instructions. They were to be handed down generation after generation, as the magic in them prevents them from breaking of being effected by time at all, to the eldest son of the last one to possess the ring. If they didn’t have a son it was to go to the most capable daughter. And if they had no children the ring was to go to the closest relative to the bloodline that showed the characteristics the family embodied. Which according to our family’s crest is Devotion, Tolerance, and above all else Compassion. He didn’t want the ring’s power to become a weapon, so he made sure that it would never fall into the hands of someone who would use it as such. Unfortunately as my great grandfather found out the hard way the ring cannot be worn by anyone who doesn’t share a direct bloodline connection to Felix, he had attempted to give it to his adopted son who embodied all three traits perfectly but when he put on the ring it rejected him and showed it by crippling him for life.”
Octavia processed this for a few seconds before responding. “So… he can pick who he wants as long as they’re related?” she asked carefully.
“That’s the short version yes.” Victoria responded with a small giggle as she placed the photo back in its hidey hole and walked towards the door.
“So, he’s chosen your brother…? Being the closest male relative?”
“Oh thank Faust no!” Victoria responded quickly turning on heel her eyes wide. She quickly collected herself and cleared her throat before continuing. “My brother does not… shall we say portray the qualities the family is supposed to embody. He would abuse its power for personal gain. Instead he found a more suitable replacement, his niece who he loved and pampered like his own daughter. ” She explained in a calmer tone.
“Oh…” Gears started to turn slowly in Octavia’s head and Victoria smiled amused with her puzzled friend’s look and counted down on her fingers how long it would take for the light to go on in her head.
‘Three, two, one…’
“YOU’RE THE HEIR TO THE-!!!!” She was cut off by light blue magic zippering her mouth shut. Victoria smiled her hand still glowing with the aura.
“Please do try and keep it down Octavia, we’re not formally announcing it until my sixteenth birthday.” She explained as she unzipped the girl’s mouth to let her speak again.
“That’s incredible Victoria! I’m so happy for you!” Octavia exclaimed in a much more reasonable tone.
Victoria smiled at her in return. “Why thank you Octavia, but I’m going to have to insist you just call me Tori, Victoria sound much to formal for friends.” She explained offering out a gloved hand for Octavia to take. Octavia however froze her mind instantly becoming a flurry of static and intense cloudiness.
“Tori… that’s… oh dear.” Octavia breathed as she felt her consciousness leaving her.
“Octavia…? Tavi!” Vinyl finally shouted just as Octavia began to fall over her eyes fluttering shut. She caught the earthbound by holding her in her magic and rushing over to catch her quickly in her arms. “Tavi, can you hear me…? I’m sorry! Whatever I did to trigger this I’m sorry; just stay with me, don’t black out yet.” Vinyl urged holding her a little tighter as tears began to mist her eyes. Just then the door flew open and two pegisai stood in the door way, one a male with pure white hair and light grey wings and the other a female with deep blue-grey wings and charcoal grey hair so like the girl she was holding. Jaxon had brought Grace to save them.
Grace rushed over and kneeled beside them resting a hand over her daughter’s heart to feel if it as beating. She felt it still pounding a healthy beat and her chest rose and fell with steady breath. She sighed in relief and looked up at the black dressed girl who had caught her. “She’s fine, just unconscious. She’ll wake up shortly once the relapse fades. I heard that you had taken her up here from Jaxon and got worried, you should know by now her condition is very unstable Vinyl.” Grace sighed in relief and exasperation. Vinyl didn’t even bother asking how she knew it was her, she was a close friend of her Uncle and likely knew from the moment she saw her standing beside Octavia.
“I know, I’m sorry. But all I told her was to call me Tori instead of Victoria. I didn’t know that name was connected to her relapses.” Vinyl explained looking back down at the unconscious girl in her arms.
“Neither did I, she must have had a new flashback that caused it. But to be on the safe side I think we should just have her keep calling you Victoria.” Grace explained with a solemn look down at her daughter. She carefully moved a strand of hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. Jaxon came up behind them in his normally silent manner.
“Should we move her to the infirmary…?” he offered. Quickly Vinyl’s eyes widened and her head snapped up.
“NO!” When she realized she had snapped at him she quickly corrected herself. “Sorry Jax but… no. Tavi hates doctors as much as I do. She’d only freak out more if she woke up surrounded by white walls with that gross sterile scent in the air.” Vinyl explained as she stood up still holding Octavia. She handed her to Grace who had stood up as well. “There’s a room up on the next floor that Fleur uses as a mediation room. It’s got a big couch you can lay her down on and some incents you can burn to help bring her around faster. Jaxon will show you where to go, I have to go back to the party. People start to notice if Victoria goes missing for too long.” She explained turning her back to them and walking towards the open door.
“Vinyl…” Grace’s voice stopped her and she turned her head a bit to look at the older woman. “Thank you, for being such a good friend for my Octavia.”
Vinyl smiled one last time at her and gave her a thumbs up before turning back to face the hall and putting the mask of Victoria back on for the night as she strode confidently back towards the ball room where her uncle and his many guests awaited her presence.
***
Octavia’s eyes opened up to reveal she was in the back of her mother’s Monster which was driving down a long winding road that looked like it was on a large seaside cliff since she could see over the edge of it and it lead all the way down to a rocky shore line that stretched endlessly as far as she could see.
“Is this really still Equestria mum…?” it seemed Octavia didn’t have control over her body but was just seeing through it.
“Yes darling, I can’t believe I’ve never taken you and your brothers out here to Dragon Cliffs, it’s a great place to go swimming! Not many people come here because they think the water is dangerous. But I know a secret little cove not too far from here that’s absolutely gorgeous and has crystal clear water so you can see all the way down to the bottom. I’ll have to take you here again some time.” She commented with a happy hum. Octavia’s eyes went back to the coast line and once again her mouth spoke without her controlling it.
“Mum, do I have to go to camp for the whole summer…? Why can’t I just practice at home like I usually do?” she asked her tone much more reserved than it had been before. It was obvious she was very nervous.
“Octavia sweetheart, you can’t just hide away in your room all day and play your cello! You have to let people hear you! And a sweet girl like you could use some friends your own age.” She emphasized the last part and it made Octavia wince.
“Mr. Brass is my friend…” she muttered dejectedly.
“Octavia, he brought his daughter to meet you and you stuck your head in a tuba avoid talking to her.” Her mother replied in a flat tone. Octavia felt her cheeks heat up as she retreated behind her hair and looked out the window to avoid the subject further. She heard her mother sigh and she offered something else as bait. “Maybe you’ll get your Cutiemark while you’re at camp!”
Octavia’s ears perked at this and she slowly got a faint smile across her lips. “Maybe…” she breathed.
Her vision blurred and the next time it became clear she was hopping off the foot railing of the Monster with the familiar weight of her cello across her back. Her mother came up beside her with a rolling suitcase and a duffel bag in her hands as she nudged Octavia towards a large archway that had a trail cut into it that lead up to a little hill that had a cabin on it and a flagpole with the Equestrian flag on top and another flag beneath that with an eighth note and a treble clef on it. Outside of it a table was set up and several parents were in line while a few counselors signed their children into the camp. Grace and Octavia got in line just behind a burly blonde man that was holding a tiny blue haired girl’s hand in his own as she looked around the camp with a dejected boredom in her features. Octavia couldn’t see her eyes because they were covered by her long blue hair that she now noticed had lighter blue streaks in it. She wore a loose white sun dress and matching sandals. With her pale complexion Octavia swore up and down that the girl glowed in the sunlight.
‘What an odd character…’ both young and older Octavia thought at once.
The tall male reached the front of the line and he grunted a name at the counselors that Octavia didn’t catch. He let go of the girls hand to sign a few sheets of paper on a clipboard and then was pointed in a direction which he walked towards carrying several large bags on his shoulders and back while he held the little girl’s hand firmly. Grace stepped forward next and Octavia with her.
“Octavia Philharmonica. I’m her mother Grace.” She stated supplying the information to the counselor they stood in front of. The counselor looked familiar to older Octavia but she couldn’t place from where.
“Here you are, welcome to camp Harmonia Octavia, you’ll be in cabin 10 with a young lady name Victoria. That was her ahead of you actually. Just walk down this path here and follow the signs to the cabins. Parents are permitted to help their child to the cabin but we ask that they leave as soon as the child is settled.” He explained more to Grace than Octavia. Both of them however bowed a little and thanked him in unison before walking off in the direction he pointed. Octavia’s eyes wandered all around the beautiful scenery. The camp was surrounded by lush greenery no matter where she looked, like it was in the middle of a dense forest, but the mountains she saw that surrounded the horizon in every direction told her that she was in a large valley. She was so occupied looking at the scenery she ran right into the leg of the tall blonde man she’d seen earlier. He was standing in front of a set of steps that led up to a cabin. He looked down at the fallen girl and his deep green eyes that seemed too small for his large square head widened when he saw that it was a child who had bumped into him. He kneeled down and helped her up.
“Sorry kid, shouldn’t be standing in the middle of the path like that. You alright?” he asked.
Octavia retracted a little scared by this man who was built like he lifted entire buildings for a living. But it was lessened when his tone was revealed to be gentler than she would have first imagined. She nodded weakly and stood up with his help and at last her mother caught up to her in time to see the large man assisting her daughter back to her feet.
“Oh I’m sorry sir, she got a little ahead of me and I was a little lost by the signs.” Grace panted not used to carrying heavy loads and running after her daughter who had taken off like a bullet. The man gave her a polite smile and helped take the bags off the frail looking woman.
“It’s not a problem, I was just talking with my daughter. Is your daughter staying here?” he asked in turn.
“Oh um, if this is cabin ten than yes she is.” Grace replied politely and added a thank you when he took the heavy bags from her.
“And so it is, Victoria you introduce yourself to your new roommate while I put these in the cabin.” He ordered nudging the small pale girl forward as he walked past her and into the wooden cabin with the screen door shutting behind him as he went. Grace joined him shortly after leaving Octavia standing nervously staring at the smaller girl whose blue hair was still covering her eyes but Octavia could tell she was looking at her by the way her head was positioned. Surprisingly Octavia made the first move walking a little closer to her and offering out her hand to the girl.
“I-I’m Octavia Philharmonica, it’s nice to meet you Victoria.” She greeted as she held out her hand for the girl to take. Carefully the little girl reached out and shook it but still didn’t say anything. Octavia thought she was mute until she heard a small snort of laughter come from the girl. “What’s so funny…?” she asked slightly offended.
The girl looked up revealing a pair of ruby red irises that contrasted against her long messy blue hair stunningly. “I finally met someone with a worse name than mine.” She responded in a high pitched raspy voice that sounded like it belonged on a twelve ear old boy, not a frail looking girl with a questionable age of 8 (the minimum age for the camp, although she looked much smaller).
“Excuse me! My name is not weird!” Octavia protested loudly. The girl snorted in laughter again while Octavia’s face grew hot with embarrassment.
“Yes it is! I don’t know ANYONE with a name like Philharmonica and I know half the nobles in Canterlot!” she laughed bending over a little as she did so.
“Oh YOU know half the nobles in Canterlot…? You look half my age, how can you know possibly know half the nobles in Canterlot?” Octavia inquired crossing her arms as she grew more agitated at the girl. The blue haired girl stopped laughing and her face got serious as she stood and combed the hair back out of her face so that it was neatly parted and looked far more respectable than the mess it had been before; it also revealed the girl to be a magic user by the crest in the center of her forehead. She offered out her hand to the girl again.
“My name is Victoria Harmoia Pantaleon, child of the noble house Pantaleon, oldest family in Canterlot. It’s a pleasure to meet your acquaintance Ms. Philharmonica.” She stated as Octavia slowly reached over and shook her hand.
“Wait… Pantaleon? Like as in Felix Pantaleon, Fancy Pants, the man who owns like half of Canterlot, THAT Pantaleon?!” Octavia asked in stunned disbelief.
Victoria winced a little at that. “Yeesh, Uncle wasn’t kidding when he said normal people freak out over us. Yes THAT Pantaleon, and for records sake I’m nine years old, not four.” she added with a small glare.
“I’m SO sorry about that Victoria, I was just mad that you were laughing and-!”
She was cut off by Victoria pinching her lips together so she couldn’t continue talking. “Cool your jets there Tavi, I’m not some big shot like my uncle or any kind of prim and proper figure like my Aunt, I’m just plain ol’ me.” she explained before releasing the taller girl’s lips so that she could talk again.
“Tavi…?” Octavia asked after a brief pause.
Victoria laughed at that and smiled at her. “You have a one track mind don’t you? I have a rule for names, two syllables is the limit. Oc-ta-vi-a. You double that rule. So I changed it to Tavi.” She explained with a shrug.
“Oh, so wait then how come your name breaks that rule?” Octavia asked after a moment.
“It doesn’t, nobody calls me Victoria except old people. You call me Tori.” She replied with a grin that was hauntingly familiar to her. Before she could question it further she felt her vision going black again and this time the pleasant scent of honey and nutmeg entered her senses.
***
Octavia sat up panting heavily and her body covered in a light coating of sweat. She looked around the room quickly to find she was in an unfamiliar place but there was a familiar face sitting beside her on the couch she was laying on. “Mother! What… what happened to Tori? And the camp we were- Oh I feel faint again…” she muttered pressing a palm to her forehead and lying back to rest her head on the arm of the couch. Grace turned as Jaxon walked in with a silver platter that had a simple glass of cold water in the center of it.
“Relax dear, you’re fine. You just had another one of your relapses. Here, drink this.” Grace said offering the water to Octavia. Octavia took it and sat up enough to drink it down quickly and then set it on the ebony coffee table that stood beside the couch she was laying on. She also noticed a few lit incents burning in a small bowl on it. Slowly she started to remember what had happened before she blacked out.
“It was so… vivid this time. Frighteningly so. The girl, I saw her this time mother! And I can still remember her-“ Octavia’s eyes quickly shot open and she flew off the couch running out of the room without another word. The girl in her dream, it was Victoria. Or was it Vinyl? She acted like a combination of the two. Either way, Victoria had triggered the memory. Maybe she knew something about it. Octavia didn’t even notice she had left her shoes behind in the room or that her mother was calling after her as she flew down the hall to try and catch up to her daughter. But Octavia was no lay about, she may not have shown it but she had a very strict exercise routine that kept her body trim and apparently allowed her to out run a former Olympian. Octavia turned down the last flight of stairs and made a beeline down the grand hallway. Somewhere in her panicked mind she actually heard the sound of three loud gongs being chimed as she bounded through the hall towards the ballroom. She also barely registered the voice of Fancy Pants ringing in her ears.
“This year’s hidden theme will be,” he seemed to pause just as Octavia’s hands grabbed onto the handles of the grand doors that the servants stood by. She threw them open just as his voice rang out clearly and her vision was blinded by a white light. “Magical Masquerade!”
When Octavia’s vision returned she found herself staring down at herself in shock. She now wore a dress of the same color as her old one but it was much grander with a deeper grey corset that matched her hair hugging her stomach and a lace choker around her neck that had a pink bow around it that matched nicely with her eyes. Speaking of her eyes she reached up to touch her face and felt the unfamiliar weight of a mask on it. She quickly ran to a mirror back out in the hall and found her face masked mysteriously by a pure white mask that had electric blue edges around it and the eyes of it were lined with stunning rubies that twinkled under the dim light of the hall. On the cheekbone of her mask she saw a black backwards eighth note engraved into it. Her fingers traced the note while she listened to Fancy Pants continue talking in the back ground his voice seeming to come from the very walls themselves now.
“Now, you may all notice that your masks don’t exactly match your ensembles and the marks carved into them are not your own. Your task is to track down and trade masks with the person who has the mark engraved on your masks, but be warned, you’ve been scattered across the property randomly. If you find your match before the sun rises and the spell wears off you’ll have succeeded in your hunt. The first pair to make it back to this ball room with their correct masks on will win our grand prize for the evening which, as always, will remain a secret until the winner is revealed. Your hunt starts now.” He declared as a loud gong sounded across the entire property. Octavia’s eyes narrowed and she quickly took off in search of her match. She had a very good idea of who it was and she would be damned to the statue garden before she would let her get away without some kind of explanation.
Octavia scoured the grounds looking for the red eyed blue haired girl she had just met named Victoria who may or may not be the mystery girl that had haunted her for six years of her life and/or the annoying DJ she had been forced to live with for three and a half months now. It however could be compared to searching for a needle in a hay stack. The Pantaleon property was huge, so much so that even with over a thousand guests attending the party she only ever bumped into one of them during her entire search. The property was too large to search, it would be impossible to check every nook and cranny for the girl she sought out.
“Ohhh… this is hopeless. I’m not a unicorn, I can’t find people just by using a little bit of Magic, and I’m not a pegasus like mother so I can’t just fly in the air to get a bird’s eye view. I’m just a sorry excuse for an Earthbound who gets too caught up in what’s going on around her to see anything else…” she muttered to herself.
‘Then stop looking with your eyes.’
Octavia’s eyes shot open and she looked around quickly for the familiar voice. “Vinyl…?”
‘You’re a musician right? Well then stop thinking about how everyone else’s music will sound so much better than yours and just listen. Close your eyes and follow the sound of your instrument. My uncle always says that true Musicians are at one with their instruments, and no matter what they play you will always be able to hear a little of their music in their souls.’
Octavia felt the voice fading back into wherever it had come from and she closed her eyes to take in a deep breath. ‘Listen for the instruments… let it guide you.’ Octavia repeated it like a mantra in her mind and slowly she felt the world around her fade to grey and for a very faint trickle of light blue color to shine just a little bit in the distance. She could hear it. The faint chimes of a piano what seemed like a thousand miles away. She followed it; actually she ran towards it her heels being carried in her hands so that they wouldn’t hinder her running. She kept her eyes shut, trusting her ears to guide her instead. As she got closer she noticed the music was growing louder and mingling with more instruments with every step she took. When she thought the music was going to overwhelm her she opened her eyes to see two simple white doors in front of her. There was nothing special at all about the doors to separate them from the others that lined the hall but that was only to someone who was just looking with their eyes. Behind the door Octavia could hear it. The saddening and yet compelling piano music that had brought her there. Only this time it wasn’t just in her head. She opened the doors to reveal a pitch black room where the only source of light was the blue aurora’s of musical note that flowed through the air from a single white grand piano in the center of the room that had a spotlight shined on it.
The pianist at its keys did not open her eyes or stop playing, she merely spoke to the girl who had entered the room.
“I see you found me, not so easy in a big house like this.” She mused without breaking her musical stride. Octavia slowly walked forward and around the piano so she could see the girl properly. Gone was the sleek black dress she had worn before and instead it was replaced by a long white gown that reminded Octavia of a toga. But around her stomach there was an electric blue set of laces that went up her back and wrapped around her front to form a corset. Contrastingly her face was covered by a dark grey mask that had a set of deep grey feathers pluming from its sides and a light pink border around the outer edge of the mask that made the matching pink treble clef on her cheek stand out even more.
“What… what are you playing?” she asked not recognizing the piece from anything she’d heard performed before. The girl didn’t stop playing, just continued as her head turned towards Octavia a bit her eyes remaining closed.
“You don’t recognize it…? Well, I don’t blame you. It’s probably been buried in your head for so long it’s been drowned out. Okay, poor choice of words there but you get the point.” She added with a small chuckle.
After a moments pause of Octavia listening to the music she dared ask the question that had been at the front of her mind since she walked in the door. “Who are you…?”
That made the piano stop. The girl slowly stood from the bench she sat on and strode towards Octavia eyes still shut as she stopped in front of the girl. “I’ll answer that question with another question, this one multiple choice. Who do you want me to be?” she held up a single fingertip that glowed with light blue magic and formed into the image of a girl in a long flowing dress with elegantly long hair and a charming smile on her flawless face.
“ Is the answer A. Victoria, the niece to the most powerful man in Canterlot and heir to power and wealth that people have fought to obtain a fraction of for centuries?”
Her second finger came up beside the first and the magic formed into the image of a wild haired raver that was spinning records in front of her with her goggles strapped to her face and a cocky excited grin on her face. “Or perhaps it’s B. Vinyl Scratch, your pain in the ass roommate that you never knew much about but grew on anyways.”
Her third and final finger came up to form an image of a small girl with messy hair that went past her shoulders and looked to be playing a song on a piano. “Or is the answer C. Tori, the phantom girl who’s haunted your dreams since your accident at band camp six years ago? An incident you remember nothing about other than fleeting little wisps of memories that are triggered by random things and send you into relapses that give you terrible dizzy spells and as of late have been knocking you full on unconscious…?”
The three images danced before her eyes in the wispy flames of her blue magic. “Which is it Octavia, tell me who I am.”
Octavia’s mind spun, so many images, so many sounds all rushing to her at once. She saw Tori when they were in band camp together being paired together for their assigned duets, she saw them standing on stage Octavia with her Cello and Tori playing on a grand piano and both of them earning a standing ovation from the crowd after they’d finished. She saw their music teacher praising them and quickly assigning them to work together on a final project that would leave the crowd in tears. She remembered spending night after night composing beside the girl and having her teach her how to write music for instruments other than a cello.
She saw the look on her only friend’s face when she pulled the dusty old sheet off that mixing board and then watched her completely re-wire it to get it working again. She remembered seeing the spark in her eyes when she was playing with it and then suggesting that they use it in their finale song. She remembered that they spent the entire night after that completely re-writing their sheet music and even going so far as to offer Tori her flash drive to store the music on and then watching Tori mix it all into the soundboard and watching her work on it until she passed out from exhaustion. She remembered standing beside Tori skipping rocks along the riverbed and giving her a name that she didn’t hate, one that didn’t already belong to someone else and was made just for her. She remembered going into the nearby shop just after that and buying a set of weird looking goggles and writing along the inside strap of them her message to her only friend in the world and then gifting it to her a short while later. She remembered seeing the joy across her face when she read her words and quickly put on the goggles for the first time ever.
She saw Vinyl pacing back and forth in their cabin late at night restless because of the final performance they had the next day. She remembered agreeing to go to the river to calm her nerves and she remembered thinking only about how scared and lost she would have been without Vinyl in her life. Then she remembered hearing the water. The cold dark water that rushed at them in a tidal wave after the heavy rains from the day before caught up to it. She remembered Vinyl screaming out for her to hold on as she struggled to keep the churning waters from sucking them both under. Then she remembered hearing their music, but she wasn’t just hearing it, she saw it in the air around them slowly picking them up out of the water and carrying them to safety on the bank. She remembered seeing Vinyl shrouded by the music notes the flash drive she had given her glowing in her palm as the blue magic surged outwards and upwards into the sky to light the heavens with their music. She remembered thinking about how beautiful that looked and how she wanted so much to recreate it in her own music so that people would cry with emotion just as she did before her consciousness faded to black just as Vinyl collapsed to her knees and fell beside her still clutching the flash drive tightly in her hand and her goggles hanging around her neck and the shimmering image of a backwards eighth note appearing on her arm.
Octavia’s eyes snapped to the present where she saw the white dressed girl in front of her still waiting for an answer. Her eyes fell on the three images that floated in front of her eyes and she smiled softly before she reached forward and waved a hand through all three of them dissipating them all.
“I want you to be who you want. Whether that be a perfect heiress, a DJ with enough skill to convert the entire Canterlot Symphony into ravers, or just the stupidly stubborn hero who saved me from drowning with the most amazing display of magic I’ve ever seen. Victoria, Vinyl, Tori, they’re names. Names for the most arrogant, sloppy, smart, beautiful, and brave girl I’ve ever met.” Octavia responded her enlightened smile humbling the only set of eyes that would ever see it.
Those two deep magenta eyes opened and blinked a few times before a hand reached forward and took the mask off her face and switched it with the one on Octavia’s. “You say the sweetest things sometimes Tavi.” She chuckled. “But uh, fair warning. You might want to hang onto me, tightly.” She added before roping her arms around the shorter girl and Octavia reacting on instinct alone and clutching her close. She blinked and felt her body being pulled and warped the what felt like a pin hole before it all came slamming back in her face as her body reappeared in the ballroom in front of Fancy Pants and Fleur who sat in two plush looking dining chairs that looked much more like thrones.
“Oh Vinyl, do you always have to win? Can’t you at least give the other’s a fool’s hope?” He sighed sipping his wine.
“No can do FP, I’m not the losing type anyways. But Tavi here is the one who found me so technically she won.” Vinyl laughed nudging the nauseous looking girl forward.
Fancy looked down at the girl curiously before he realized that she was an earthbound and had probably just teleported for the first time. “Jaxon, get Miss Philharmonica a cup of ginger tea for her motion sickness.” He ordered turning to the butler beside him. Jaxon bowed deeply before spreading his wings and making his way out of the room at a speed that would have made Rainbow envious. He returned seconds later holding a steaming cup on a platter for Octavia to take. She accepted gratefully and sipped at it to let the effects steep into her. She felt her head clear from the scent alone and the warm but sharp taste made her stomach stop doing flips.
“Thank you Fancy, I appreciate your hospitality.” She stated with a small curtsey to him.
“Think nothing of it my dear, now have a seat while we discuss your prize.” He responded motioning to a luxurious looking couch that had appeared behind them. Vinyl sat down first surprisingly crossing her legs and accepting another steaming drink that Jaxon offered her. Octavia casted her a glance as she blew on the tea.
Vinyl noticed the look and rolled her eyes. “I didn’t say I HATED tea Tavi, just most teas. Masala Chai just happens to be my favorite.” She explained holding up the tea a little bit and inhaling its sweet scent before sipping it herself with a surprising lack of slurp. Vinyl noticed her dumbfounded look and realized she must have still been confused by the seemingly flawless transition she had gone through. She sighed reverting her speech to that of Victoria again. “Look darling, if you need an explanation think of it this way, I’m two sides of the same coin. I can be just as prim and proper and make a good show of being the heiress of this estate,” her voice went back to being the raspier voice that belonged to Vinyl “Or I can be a chillax totally flippin’ awesome raver side that grinds your nerves into dust. But both of them are me. When I’m drinking tea and sitting back in a garden socializing with the Canterlot elite I’m fantasizing about throwing half of them into a mosh pit to see them torn apart; and when I’m raving at a good hotspot but I’m getting a major head ache from it all I can think about is going home and drinking a giant steaming cup of lemon honey ginger tea to clear it. I’m the best of both worlds.” She chuckled grinning the unmistakable grin of the DJ who had made her life a living hell. Octavia felt a ghost of a smile make its way onto her face despite herself.
“Well I’m thankful for that then, maybe your classier side will find its way into the open a bit more often. Now Fancy, I’m sure you have a long list of questions for us.” Octavia sighed turning back to face the blue masked man.
“Oh no, I’m quite up to speed on you two’s current situation, there is a reason I’m the head of this house you know.” He chuckled before he reached over and joined his hand with Fleur’s and both of their rings glowed before many magical screens surrounded them in an orbital circle. He reached forward and touched one so that it flipped around and enlarged itself for them to see. It played what seemed like a movie of their adventures throughout the night, including both sides of their shared memories from camp. “It’s quite the powerful gift I possess, being able to link the minds and hearts of those around me if only for one night.” He continued as he and Fleur stood and walked towards them.
“We have our reasons for doing what we do dearest Octavia, inviting you here, choosing the masquerade, making sure that your memories were resurfaced through the influence of Pantaleon magic. Given I’m actually very surprised it worked on you Vinyl, normally we’re immune to its effects.” Fleur noted with a light air of curiosity in her bell like voice.
Vinyl shrugged. “I let it take me. Seemed like it had something important to do so I let it. But uh, correct me if I’m wrong here but won’t the spells effects vanish at sunrise…?” Vinyl countered. Fancy Pants sighed and nodded.
“Unfortunately yes, the spells effects are cancelled by the rising of the sun. The only way you two would be able to keep the memories you have now would be if you were exposed to the magic for a longer period of time. And the sun yields to no man’s will.” Fancy stated sounding more philosophical than he had originally intended.
“So, we won’t remember anything from tonight…?” Octavia asked curiously.
Fleur responded with a small sad smile. “You may, but if you do it will feel more like a dream than an actual memory and it will eventually fade.”
“I see…” Octavia breathed looking back down into her cup of tea.
“Well that bites.” Vinyl huffed with a frown of her own. “Can’t you just zap us with a bit more juice from the gems so that we get exposed to it faster?” she asked her Uncle.
“Not if you like having control of your own mind. Need I remind you of great cousin Gemstar?” he pointed out. Vinyl frowned and grumbled under her breath the reply seeming to satisfy her. “Well screw it then, we’ll just have to make tonight something we CAN’T forget!” Vinyl declared before standing up quickly and grabbing Octavia by the wrist pulling her up beside her. “How long do we have until sunrise…?”
Fancy looked at the starry heavens outside. “About three hours, what are you planning Vinyl?” he asked his niece. She didn’t respond just grinned and pulled out something from a hidden pocket in her dress and removed her mask before placing it on her face. She looked up goggles strapped to her face and grinning like a Cheshire cat.
“What I do best, I’m going to make some music. Come on Tavi, to my mixing board!” she announced triumphantly running out of the room dragging a very confused Octavia with her. When they left the room Fleur turned to her husband with a knowing smile on her face.
“So when were you going to tell them that the reward was a memory spell that would let them keep the memory’s they make tonight…?” she asked her husband.
He chuckled as he collected a glass of wine from a nearby table. “Oh dear me, did I forget to mention that to them…? Oh well, let them have their fun.” He mused as he sipped at his wine.
Fleur playfully hit him in the shoulder. “I married a very mean man.”
“And you wouldn’t have done the same…?”
“. . . Point.” She stated simply before she tipped back her own glass and drained it.
***
“Vinyl, you know I would never do it but I swear to Faust if you don’t release my wrist and stop dragging me through this mansion like a dog on a choke chain you’re going to wake up in a hospital bed with blunt force trauma to the head.” Octavia growled when she felt her wrist start to dislocate like her shoulder had five minutes ago. Vinyl quickly released her and chuckled nervously as she came to a stop in front of a door.
“Sorry, here. Hold still.” She ordered before touching Octavia’s wrist with her finger and then doing the same to her shoulder. Octavia felt her shoulder and wrist pop back into place and the soreness that had been starting to set into them to vanish. She rolled her shoulder a bit to test it while she rubbed her wrist.
“Well that’s a useful spell…” she murmured.
“Yeah, you’d be surprised at how many times I injure myself DJ’ing it up in the club. Come on, the music room is through here and we’re burning precious moonlight.” Vinyl urged opening up the door and leaving it open for Octavia as she hit a switch next to the door and a room that literally looked like a professional music studio was revealed by overhead lights. Vinyl quickly walked over to a large spread mixing board that was twice as large as her portable one, she pointed at a door that was attached to the room. “The instruments are in there, there should be a cello a little ways in on your right. I know it isn’t your usual one but we’ll have to improvise a bit here.” She explained as she was adjusting dials along the board.
Octavia was still very confused but went along with whatever Vinyl was plotting. She went to the door and opened it before feeling around the entrance for a light switch. She found it and her eyes widened in amazement at the sight before her. Hung on walls or on display on pedestals, behind glass cases, or just standing along the wall were hundreds and hundreds of instruments. All of them were neatly polished and looked to be made with exquisite tastes in mind. There was everything from accordions to xylophones and bass guitars to violins all around her. She felt her eyes mist up at the beauty of it all before she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Vinyl giving her a confused look.
“What’s the hold up…?” she noticed Octavia stunned speechless at the room and couldn’t help but laugh. “You really need to get used to me surprising you Tavi, this is only my personal collection, you’d probably die and be playing with the angels if you saw my Uncle’s collection. Now hurry up and pick a cello so we can start.” She ordered before turning on heel and going into the other room again.
Octavia was more stunned than she was before. ‘PERSONAL collection?! What kind of allowance does she get that she can buy all these instruments?!’ Octavia internally monologued while she walked towards the string section and selected a finely crafted cello that had caught her eye when she walked in. True to her careful eye it was the same make as her personal cello, surprising considering it was a custom job. She walked back out and she quickly found a shocking revelation. The wall in front of the mixing stand was folding up like a blind to reveal a tinted window that looked into a small recording room. Vinyl walked from the mixing board to what looked like just another section of the wall but when she pushed on it the panel went inwards before sliding out of the way to let her into the recording room. Octavia slowly walked in looking around and noticing that the wall had piano keyboards of different sizes and brands hanging on the wall with a stand that probably fitted all of them next to one of the two mike set ups in the room. “Let me guess, private recording studio…?” she asked her fellow musician.
“Bingo.” Vinyl replied as she pulled of a standard looking keyboard and brought it over to the stand latching it into place before she went back out of the room. Octavia decided not to question it and instead turned her curious mind to another topic.
“Vinyl, correct me if I’m wrong but as I recall you can’t play string instruments. Why have so many if you can’t play them…?” she asked the blue haired girl as she re-entered the room with a binder and a pencil in her hand. She sat down at her keyboard and opened the binder and started flipping through it using her magic while she looked up at Octavia with a smile, not a grin, and honest smile as she pointed the pencil she had in her hand right at Octavia.
“Because of you. Ever since I woke up in the hospital bed all I could think about was playing with you again. Staying up late at night and composing until we both passed out together and then waking up in the morning and laughing at each other’s bed head just like the night before the accident. So whenever I saw a string instrument the thought ‘what if I could play this with her’ took over and I found myself buying it without so much as a second thought. It was funny, I could never remember you specifically, just little things about you. Like how you wrinkle your nose every time somebody cusses, or how for all your fussing about my eating habits you hate vegetables with a burning passion, or how frustrated you got when someone used the word wanker wrong in front of you.” She laughed as she started scribbling down some things on a few sheets of music. Octavia frowned at her.
“I do not wrinkle my nose every time somebody swears in front of me!” Octavia snapped.
“Bullshit.” Vinyl pulled out her phone quick as lightning and snapped a picture of Octavia with her magic. She turned the phone around to show her the picture of Octavia with her nose wrinkled in what looked like disgust.
“I’d appreciate it very much if you deleted that horrid picture from your phone.” The classical lover sighed pinching the bridge of her nose as she felt a headache coming on.
“S’okay, I’ve got a better one set as your contact icon anyways.” Vinyl shrugged as she deleted the photo. Octavia’s eye twitched when she said that.
“And what, pray tell did you set as my contact icon…?”
“Call me and find out treble clef.” Vinyl countered with a devious smirk that did not spell good tidings for Octavia. Octavia pulled out her own phone from her person and dialed Vinyl’s number. First she heard [url= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3bczScmRUE]THIS and she looked at the girl with a flat face.
“Really Vinyl? A t-rex?”
“It’s not a T-Rex it’s Godzilla! And give it a second, oh there you are. Man that cold really did a number on you didn’t?” Vinyl snickered as she turned the phone towards Octavia to see. It was a picture of when Octavia had gotten a cold a few months ago and A. already looked disgusting and B. was mid sneeze. Octavia quickly tried to snatch the phone out of Vinyl’s hands her face bright cherry red. “Ah ah ah, one false move and this plus the entire album I have of other pictures like this gets posted on Facebook. And I have A LOT of friends on Facebook.” She snickered holding her thumb over the button threateningly.
“Okay… forgo me asking how you got those pictures, WHY do you have an entire album of me in such scandalous situations…?” Octavia asked slowly.
“I needed leverage in case you ever decided to murder me.” Vinyl responded simply.
“You’re smarter than you look.”
“And you don’t have to worry about me posting them, I don’t pull that with friends. Unless they prank me first, then it’s fair game.” She explained as she patted Octavia’s head as she did so. “And for your information TAVI I got straight A’s… except for in gym. I swear coach has it out for me…” she grumbled.
“You sat in the bleachers the entire time listening to music and yelling at the people who practicing sports.” Octavia dead panned.
“I was impersonating coach! I thought imitation was supposed to be the highest form of flattery!”
“Not when you walk into the gym on exam day with a fiery wig on, costume make up to make you look eighty years old, and a whistle that sounded like a fire alarm!” Octavia shouted back.
“Geez, everyone’s a critic… I don’t know how Pinks does it so easily. Anyways, there. I’m done making the changes.” She sighed handing the sheet she’d been marking up to Octavia. Octavia cocked an eyebrow at it as she took it and read it over.
“. . . Okay, I give up, what am I looking at?” she asked the pianist turned DJ.
“Well, you know the song Over The Rainbow by Harold Arlen…?” Vinyl asked smiling at the girl.
“Of course, it has over six academy awards just by itself when it was made for the classic movie The Wizard of Oz.” Octavia responded her knowledge of classic music far exceeding what people would call ‘average’.
“Okay, now do you know the old Shaker song Simple Gifts…?” Vinyl continued.
“To a lesser note but yes, I have played it a few times.”
“Well a few years ago I was going through some of my old compositions and noticed that I had made a cello version of Simple Gifts and I had a Piano version of Over the Rainbow that was right beside it. I got to looking at it and noticed that the two songs almost perfectly harmonized naturally. So the gears started to turn in my head and I started composing. I didn’t leave my room for three days except when my mother dragged me out by my ear eat. The end result was this. But I was at an impasse to put it into actual music because I had no one to play the cello piece. But now I do!” she explained grinning as she bounced a little on her stool. She pointed at a few of the details on it. “I adjusted some of the notes on it so it’d be easier for you to play, I can play the piano part first so you can get a feel for what it’ll sound like if you want.” Vinyl offered. Octavia nodded slowly handing her back the sheet music. Vinyl laughed and pushed it back towards her. “Girl please, I could play this in my sleep. Besides, I have a photographic memory. Here, hold these.” She stated as she took off her goggles and handed them to Octavia who was still partially stunned that Vinyl would take them off at all. Vinyl had closed her eyes from the moment she took them off and her hands hovered above the keys of her piano for a second before she began to play.
To Octavia it sounded like a tropical version of the classic song that she had found herself singing far too often as a child, being on her mother’s list of ‘top ten songs I must always play when we get in the car for more than ten minutes’. Just the piano alone was enough to let her mind wander. She closed her eyes with Vinyl and imagined herself playing alongside her with the cello she still held in her hands. Unconsciously she started tapping out the beat of the song on the side of her cello. Vinyl noticed her sharp ears picking up the addition and making a note to tell Tavi about it when she was finished playing. When the piano piece came to a close Vinyl opened her eyes to look over at her friend only to see she had small tears forming in her eyes.
“Octavia! Are you okay?!” Vinyl asked quickly rushing over to the girl whose light pink eyes shot open at the panicked exclamation. She realized she had been crying while listening to it and laughed a little as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
“Yes, I’m fine. I’d just forgotten how powerful your piano playing can be. Mr. Arpeggio wasn’t lying when he said you could move a crowd to tears.” Octavia laughed. Seeing she was alright and not sad Vinyl sighed in relief and took her goggles back from her before sitting back down on the stool. She put the goggles around her neck and then turned back to face Octavia.
“Alright, now that mine’s done how about you practice your part a bit. I heard you getting into the rhythm while I was playing so I assume you have an idea of how to play it.” Vinyl noted stating her observations. Octavia’s cheeks tinted pink at the mention of her habit.
“Well, yes, I do. It seems old habits die hard and you make it impossible for me not to want to join in… is it alright if I add in a few of my own tweaks to the song?” she asked the pianist.
Vinyl grinned at her. “What did you have in mind?”
***
An hour and a half later Vinyl was sitting at her recording table with Octavia watching her over her shoulder as she worked. Normally she would have hated this, not liking people being close to her while doing something as personal as pouring yourself into your work like she did; but Octavia was a special case. She had ears that were just as sharp as hers and made good suggestions for additions or tweaks in the song editing process.
“Mmm, go back four counts and play it again.” Octavia instructed. The disk jockey complied listening closely to it. “There, in between that transition between the main tempo and the new one you should make it so the music just stops for a few counts before it picks up again.”
“And add in a muted symbol roll for effect?” Vinyl asked with a grin which Octavia mirrored.
“You read my mind Tori.” She quickly covered her mouth when she realized her mistake but Vinyl only chuckled a little at it.
“Don’t sweat it Tavi, if it’s you I don’t mind. ‘sides, kinda sounds cool doesn’t it? Tavi and Tori. Like we belong on a music album cover or something.” She laughed as she started lengthening the music’s transition and adding in a symbol roll to it lowering its volume and mixing it in so it blended easier. “How’s it sound now?” she asked playing it again from just before the pause. Octavia listened and nodded her approval.
“Sounds perfect, but let’s play it all the way from the top to make sure.” She replied reaching forward along one of the sliders that she knew rewound the song and brought it all the way back to the beginning and listened (SONG). They had added in the underline sound of waves crashing against a shore line to the back ground after Tavi pointed out that it sounded a little tropical when it came together. The effect was amazing and it landed both of them with a satisfied smile once it was over. Vinyl clicked a few controls on the control panel and it played a small melody before she pulled out her flash drive from it and held it up for Octavia to see.
“This thing you gave me is amazing by the way, six years of me storing music on it and it hasn’t so much as glitched. AND it went through the river just like we did! I say the thing is indestructible.” She joked with an amused giggle. Octavia laughed as well but was shaking her head while she did so.
“I can’t believe the two things I gave you are your prized possessions. So much so that you, how did you phrase it, ‘Opened up a can whoop-ass’ on one of your classmates when he tried to take the goggles off your face and ended up cracking them?”
“Hey, no body touches the goggles ‘cept me. And you too now I guess. I still hate my eyes you know.” Vinyl pointed out as she fiddled with the goggles that were still around her neck. More than once she had caught Octavia staring at her eyes and it was starting to affect her confidence.
“You realize they’ve been magenta this entire time right?” Octavia asked. Vinyl’s eyes widened as she looked up in shock.
“No way, they never turn that color!” she exclaimed as she stood up and went over to a door that lead to an attached bathroom with a mirror in it. Sure as shit her eyes were a gentle hue of magenta and even had a lighter pink around her pupils. “Well To quote AJ,sell me to the circus and call me a rodeo clown look at that! Six years of my uncle trying to get them to change and you show up for an hour and they pretty much lock in that color!” she laughed walking back into the room. She noticed Octavia was staring off into the distance her eyes glassed over. “Tavi…?”
Octavia came back her eyes clearing as she blinked a few times. “Oh, sorry. I was just, remembering when you first told me about them… your eyes I mean. Why you liked to hide them behind those cheap plastic sunglasses before I gave you the goggles. You know, I gave them to you hoping you’d be motivated to hide less. They didn’t look very comfortable.” She pointed out.
“They weren’t at first. It took me a while to break them in, but after they did I never took them off. I even fell asleep with them on sometimes. I noticed when I wore them Rift didn’t tease me as much, like I was camouflaged and he couldn’t see me. And people at school didn’t stare at me like I was a freak anymore. I felt normal, safe wearing them. And without the eyes to pair us together people stopped associating me with Rift too. It was a win-win. But more importantly, they were my link to you. The blurry little girl with the accent that confused me but comforted me at the same time. I never wore them when I played the piano though. I felt like I didn’t need to, that just playing it was comforting enough… and I swore that every time I closed my eyes I could still hear faint sound of a cello beside me, like playing the piano somehow brought you back to me if only for one more song…” Vinyl seemed to realize exactly what she was saying and froze before her cheeks reddened a little and she scratched the back of her head nervously. “Ya know, because we were like super close… and stuff. Not that we’re not now it’s just that we-! Oh for the love of Pete I’m turning into one of those mushy girls…” she complained after facepalming and leaving it there.
Octavia had tears in her eyes again but not from music this time, Vinyl’s words were enough this time. She laughed a little and set a gentle hand on Vinyl’s shoulder. “You know Vinyl, I’m starting to like this side of you more and more. First you get enthrallingly poetic and then you blush? Must be my lucky day, I wish I had a camera. Oh, wait.” She grinned and whipped out her phone to reveal it had a blipping red dot in the top let corner of it. “Silly me, I must have accidentally recorded all of that! Huh, I bet Neon would LOVE to see this…” she mused focusing the camera on Vinyl’s now bright red face.
“N-not cool Tavi! I pour my heart out to you and you use it as blackmail?!” Vinyl snapped trying to hide behind things in the room so Octavia couldn’t see her face.
Octavia gave her a flat look. “You made me sing ‘Can you feel the love tonight’ in a man’s voice with over three million people listening and you have an entire photo-album of my most embarrassing moments on your phone.”
“Oh… right… that.” Vinyl muttered. “So, uh… you turn that off and never mention the video again and I’ll make sure those photo’s never see the light of day…?” Vinyl offered peeking out from behind the couch in the corner. Octavia cocked an eyebrow prompting her to go on. Vinyl sighed and rested her cheek against her palm. “AND I’ll apologize on air about the song…” she grumbled. Octavia beamed and clicked a button on her phone that made the phone go off.
“Good, and I have that on video as well so you can’t get out of it. Now get off the floor, you’re getting your dress dirty.” Octavia chastised offering out a hand to help her up.
“Are you absolutely SURE you and Rarity aren’t related…?” Vinyl asked as she stood up and ignored the dust stains on her white dress. Octavia frowned and glared at her.
“For the hundredth time Vinyl, YES. Rarity and I share no blood relation what so ever. I don’t even HAVE a mage in my family tree for at least six generations!” Octavia sighed rubbing her temples.
“Her dad’s an Earthbound.” Vinyl pointed out as she started to power off her equipment and shut everything down.
“I have my family tree written in up to the year detail Vinyl, starting over two hundred years ago. Rarity is nowhere on it!” Octavia sighed to which Vinyl snickered as she hid away her recording studio yet again and walked towards the door taking Octavia by the arm and pulling her towards it as she did so.
“I know, I’m just screwing with you Tavi, come on. I want to get out of this dress. It’s starting to feel like one of the servants put itching powder in it.” She complained trying to shift the dress so it was touching as little of her skin as possible.
“Where are you going to get a change of clothes in here…?” Octavia asked as the girl pulled her down the hall.
“Pfft, my room, where else?”
“You have your own room at your uncle’s?”
“Yeah, it’s at the top of my tower in the east wing.”
“You have your own TOWER?!”
“Wow, you really need to get out more. Half the girls in Canterlot have their own tower.” Vinyl chuckled. Octavia felt herself getting lightheaded. Vinyl elbowed her lightly in the side. “Hey, don’t faint on me. I’m not carrying your ass all the way up to my room.”
Octavia frowned and wrinkled her nose a little. “I doubt you have the strength to actually lift your own suitcases without magic so I don’t particularly trust you carrying me anyways.”
“Hey! I can so! You saw me carry in my system without magic! That thing weighs 200 pounds for crying out loud!” Vinyl complained her voice cracking a little as they came to an open spiraling staircase that lead up further than Octavia could see. She swallowed hard.
“I don’t recall seeing something this tall from outside, do we have to climb all the up there?” she asked her eyes darting to the blue haired girl beside her. Vinyl laughed and shook her head.
“No Tavi, it’s an illusion spell to throw off guests that wander this far into the mansion. Just like the one hiding the elevator.” She mused as she walked forward and waved her glowing hand in front of the large center column. The image of it moved like rippling water and dissolved revealing an elevator door that opened for Vinyl who looked back over her shoulder at Octavia. “Are you going to stand there mouth gaping open all night or are you going to join me?” she asked raising an eyebrow and smirking a little. Octavia quickly slid into the elevator just as the doors started to close shut.
“Not a word Scratch, not. A. Word.” Octavia stated firmly as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
“I wasn’t going to! I was just going to point out that you might want to change too since I can’t imagine that dress being too comfy either. Octavia shifted a little from foot to foot. The dress she wore was tolerable, but those accursed heels…
“Maybe I should… though I doubt any of your clothes will fit me. You’re built like a twig Vinyl dear, while I-“
“Have curves that would make grown women jealous?”
“I was GOING to say built as my race should be but thank you for putting it in such a blunt and slightly questionable manner.” Octavia deadpanned.
“Anytime Tavi, and no need to question me. I do what I want.” She declared with a small snicker as the elevator came to a stop and she stepped out of it. Octavia had to think for a moment before the pun made sense to her and she wrinkled her nose again.
“You could AT LEAST be more subtle Vi- by the bronzed arse of Celestia this room is HUGE!” Octavia exclaimed as she walked through an archway into the open room that went up three floors and had architecture that would have made Octavia believe she had just walked into a Greek palace instead of a bedroom.
“Yeah, I know. MESSAI get me one of my usual outfits and lay it out for me on my bed, I’ll be up in a minute.” Vinyl called to the air. Octavia gave her a look like she’d gone crazy when a voice came from the air around her making the earthbound jump in fright.
“Yes Vinyl, also what am I to call your guest?” the soft female voice asked.
“Huh? Oh that’s Octavia Philharmonica, but save her in as Tavi.” Vinyl ordered with a wave of her hand as she walked over to a kitchen area that had its own built in bar (stocked with non-alcoholic mixes… mostly). Vinyl pulled out one of her sour apple energy drinks and popped the top on it as she walked up to the stairs before realizing that Octavia was still standing where she had come in frozen in place and her eyes darting in every direction. Vinyl choked a little on her drink when she realized she’d forgotten to tell Tavi about her personal choice in a house keeper. She leapt back over the railing and walked back towards Octavia. “Aw shit Tavi, I’m sorry. I forgot to tell you about Messai, she kinda runs things up here. You know, picks up after me and makes sure the place doesn’t get dusty while I’m gone.”
“You have a GHOST as a house keeper?!” Octavia asked in shock. It was Vinyl’s turn to be stunned before she burst out laughing. She collapsed to the floor doubled over as she went into hysterics, effectively spilling her drink all over her dress.
“Whoo… ghost as a house keeper…! That’s rich even coming from you Tavi!” Vinyl laughed as she started to wind down from her fit. A tissue floated over to her in a white aura.
“You cried a little on that one Vinyl, and it’s going to take me forever to dry clean that dress thanks to your fit.” The voice sighed as Vinyl took the offered tissue and wiped her eyes with it.
“Well it was funny first off, and second just use the chemical bath if you’re going to be so nitpicky about it.” She chuckled before she turned her attention back to Octavia who was now even more confused than she was before. “Anyways Octavia, that ‘Ghostly house keeper’ you’re referring to is Messai; the Magically Enhanced Semi-Sentient Artificial Intelligence. She’s a prototype my Uncle started back when he was in college and I picked back up and finished a few years ago. He’s in the process of patenting her so he can sell her as the next ‘big thing’ in the science world… so again shh.” She mused putting a finger to her lips and grinning a little as she did so.
“Y-you made a robot that thinks for itself and you’re using it as a maid? Why am I not surprised?” Octavia groaned as she rubbed her temples in frustration. A familiar scent hit her nose and she looked beside her to find a steaming cup of tea floating on a plate about a foot away from her.
“My scans show that you have a headache in your frontal lobes. In my experience this is usually caused by Vinyl and solved with lemon ginger honey tea.” Messai informed her as Octavia took the cup and plate from the magical hold.
Vinyl smiled and nodded until she realized that was an insult. “Hey!”
“Thank you… so, Vinyl really made you?” Octavia asked curiously as she sipped at the tea.
“In part. Fancy Pants is the one who initially sparked me to life using the magic of his family gems. But he couldn’t figure out the mechanics of how to actually ‘build’ me, so he set me aside until Vinyl picked up where he left off after finding my half-finished form in a storage locker under the house. She would have won an award for it had she not given the credit to her Uncle instead.” Messai explained to the dark haired cello player.
“Really? Why’d you give up an award if you were the one who deserved it Vinyl?” She asked turning to face her blue haired counterpart.
Vinyl shrugged sipping her can of liquid energy. “I was like 11. I didn’t want that kind of attention thrown on me. I already had the music scholars drooling at my feet over this.” She stated before waving her hand and turning on a nearby stereo and letting her magic make the music dance in the air for a few seconds before she cut it off. “I didn’t need techno geeks bowing at my feet too.”
“So… your portable turn table…? You lied when you said you bought that didn’t you?” Octavia asked hesitantly.
“Not entirely… I did buy it… as two broken record players, a couple old computers, a couple crates of scrap, and an old boot.” Vinyl listed.
“An… old boot?”
“I used the strings as pulleys and the lining on it as insulation. I swear when I run the thing for too long I can still smell feet… Tavi, why are you looking at me like I kill babies?” Vinyl asked noticing the shocked look on her friends face and her twitching eye.
“Y-you’re the real-life Tony Stark! Only instead of a mechanized suit of armor you make high tech sound equipment out of scrap metal and old computers!”
“And the sub woofers out of some scrap wood, old shag carpeting, and a broken boom box I found. It was my lucky day.” Vinyl added with a happy grin until she noticed Tavi’s hand was shaking bad enough that her tea was starting to spill. Vinyl reached forward and gently took the cup from her setting it on the coffee table. “Annnnnd that’s enough caffeine for you. Messai could you get me a paper bag and a cold compress? I think she’s about to start hyperventilating.”
Five minutes later Octavia was breathing into a paper bag more slowly than she had before and the ice pack she had on her head was being removed with the aid of Vinyl’s magic. “Y-you’re… not human.” Octavia managed to get out as she set the bag down and as collecting herself.
“Hey Tavi, that hurts. I get enough crap about my eyes from everyone else, now you’re agreeing with them?” Vinyl asked only half offended by the comment.
“I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT YOUR BLOODY EYES YOU NUTTER I’M TALKING ABOUT HOW YOU TOOK RUBISH AND TURNED IT INTO A SOUNDSYSTEM THAT BELONGS IN A SCI-FI MOVIE!!!” Octavia roared back in her face.
“Wooooow, your accent gets really bad when you’re angry.” Vinyl noted completely blowing off the fact that Octavia of all people was screaming.
“I’M NOT ANGRY!!!” She roared back making Vinyl’s hair stand on end freeze like that.
“Okay… you’re not angry. So why don’t you just calmly sit down and have some nice soothing Earl Grey tea…? That’s your favorite right?” Vinyl asked snapping her fingers so that Messai quickly brought the tea cup forward for Octavia to drink. Octavia opened her mouth to shout again and Vinyl jumped forward and tackled her pouring the tea down her throat and forcing her to swallow it before she could talk again. Octavia blinked and her eyes seemed to come into focus again.
“Vinyl… I realize we’ve re-discovered our pasts together and we’ve made a ton of new memories that I’m going to cherish forever, but could you please explain to me why you are currently pinning me down to a couch and straddling me…?” Octavia asked with a blank stare.
“Because your inner Brit was throwing a tantrum and I had to tranquilize it with tea.” Vinyl answered simply as she rolled off Octavia and stood back on her own two legs beside the couch. “Now come on, let’s get out of these dresses.”
Octavia gave her a horrified look and Vinyl quickly caught herself.
“Okay, poor choice of words there. Let’s change out of these dresses and into something that doesn’t make me feel like we just time traveled into the Victorian ages.” Vinyl rephrased as she pointed her thumb towards the stairs.
Octavia was silent for a moment before she cautiously looked over at Vinyl. “You don’t have a time machine up there do you…?”
“Nah, figured I’d wait until after I graduate to try advanced stuff like that. Come on!” Vinyl urged pulling her up and towards the stairs before Octavia could have another panic attack. Vinyl led Octavia up to the top floor of the enormous room and into a very spacious club-themed bedroom. The black lights above their heads made Vinyl’s white dress glow when they walked in and all the neon signs around the room reflect enough to pull her eyes in every direction at once. Octavia quickly had to rub her eyes when they started to get sore at once. Vinyl noticed and quickly fixed this by clapping her hands and making the regular lights in her room come on instead. “Sorry about that, I forget you’re not used to it like I am. Come on, closet’s this way, Messai will help you find something to wear.” Vinyl said as she walked towards a door on the right side of the room. Octavia was right behind her until Vinyl opened the door and held out her arm to stop Octavia before she could see inside it. “Okay Tavi, don’t freak out. The closet is a little bit bigger than normal and it has a really cool floor that’ll mess with your head alright?”
“Thank you for the warning this time.” Octavia nodded before she strode past Vinyl and into the room as the blue haired girl flicked on the lights to reveal that they were on a small railed platform that over looked a three story closet that was shaped like a cylinder with the clothing rack lining all available wall space. The floor literally looked like a deep black tunnel with lights lining it all the way down it’s never ending tunnel. Octavia smiled remembering this from a carnival she had attended when she was younger. “Infinite mirror trick…?” she guessed.
“Yup! Cool isn’t it?” Vinyl asked as she walked forward to the platform’s controls and lowered them down to the glass floor. She stepped off it and jumped on the glass floor grinning. “Fiber glass too so no chance of it breaking. I’m going back up to change, Messai already took your measurements when you walked in, just ask her to show you your options.” Vinyl explained as she walked back to the platform and pressed the rise button. Octavia watched her go before she looked around a bit nervously.
“Um… Messai?” Octavia asked to the air.
“Yes Tavi?”
“Show me my options…?” she offered.
“Of course, here you go.” came the reply before the hangers on the walls all started moving like a cyclone of color. When it stopped she noticed that the clothing that before had been more suited to Vinyl’s tastes were replaced with more classy and girlier options instead. The two feet between the bottom of the hanging outfits and the floor was now filled with racks of shoes as well, all in her size.
“A girl could get used to this…” she breathed as she started to look around. “Messai, show me your top ten picks.” She ordered after she realized it would take too long to go through all of them.
“I’m assuming you mean for everyday wear, here you are. They’ll be directly in front of you.” She replied as the hangers a few feet from Octavia shifted again and this time she couldn’t help but squeal just a little at the choices presented to her. How the disembodied voice knew her favorite styles she couldn’t fathom, but at that moment she couldn’t have cared less. ‘They have flat heeled boots~!’ she squealed internally.
Back in the main bedroom Vinyl had just finished changing into a simpler outfit of black denim jeans and a white v-neck shirt with faded musical scores across the front of it. Her feet were socked but she hadn’t put on the white sneakers Messai had picked out for her simply because she just wanted to lay on the bed for a bit. Not fall asleep mind you, just wanted something soft to lie down on for a bit.
It seemed like seconds later she heard footsteps come into the room and Vinyl slowly sat up yawning just a little as her vision cleared and she rubbed her eyes. “Mm, that didn’t take too long what’d you- whoa.” Vinyl’s eyes widened as she saw Octavia standing beside her in an open white button up blouse with a light pink form fitting camisole under it, a deep grey skirt with a white studded belt slanted across her hips and heelless boots that went just about four inches above her ankle. In lay man terms, she looked hot.
“Like it?” she asked spinning around a little and giggling as she did so. “Messai picked it out, and I can’t say no to heelless boots.”
Vinyl quickly hid her eyes by pulling her goggles on over them and adopting her casual grin again. “Looks rockin’ on you Tavi, now come on! I know the perfect spot for watching the sun rise.” She exclaimed as she pulled Tavi towards another door on the opposite side of the room. It hid behind it a set of spiraling stairs which they both climbed until they came to the roof which Octavia could see had an unlatching panel on it. Vinyl opened it and let it swing open before hoisting herself up and then turning to help Octavia up as well. When she came into the moonlight bathed night air her breath caught at the sight before her.
The city of Canterlot was famous for its size and grandeur being the only city in the entire world to take up an entire mountain side, the common consensus was the higher up on the mountain you lived the richer you were, and next to the castle itself the Pantaleon house was the highest house in Canterlot, and it showed thanks to the gorgeous view of the twinkling city that spanned out below them as they stood on the roof of the grand estate.
“Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction when I first came up here too. Hey, you see that little dot down there in the valley? That’s Ponyville. You can see the school from here too. Oh, and up there a little further out in the horizon floating in the sky? That’s Cloudsdale.” Vinyl declared pointing out the cloud city with her sharp eyes. Octavia let out a breath as she took it all in.
“Your ancestor had an impeccable taste in real-estate Vinyl. This view is incredible!” Octavia breathed as she was still taking it all in.
“Yeah, guy makes a pretty decent city too doesn’t he?” Vinyl laughed as she sat down on the slanted roof and rested her chin on her bent knees.
“How much of it did he make…?” Octavia inquired.
“Well, he helped with the castle a lot, built the upper ring, most of the middle, and a few of the lower districts as well. You’d be surprised at how little this city has changed in the last few thousand years… well, architecturally speaking anyways. Obviously people have upgraded things here and there and built in their own buildings. But you can tell its Felix’s work because every one of the buildings has our family crest on it somewhere.” Vinyl explained.
“Your crest…?” Octavia asked. Vinyl’s hand glowed with her light blue aura and the air shimmered for a second before the aura formed itself into a picture . “Pietate, Pietas, Patientiam…?” she asked curiously.
“Devotion, Tolerance, and Compassion. The three things we try to embody. The swan, in case you’re wondering, is a symbol of harmony, or in some cases music. I like the music part of it.” Vinyl explained with a small grin.
“And this, V shape down the center of it…?”
“Symbol of the builders. It’s supposed to represent how we helped build Canterlot. The colors in it are a representation of peace and strength, the peace we wish to bring and the strength we need to bring it. It was one of the first things my Uncle taught me about our family.” Vinyl explained her face surprisingly straight for a change.
“I never would have pegged you for the family type Vinyl, considering your relationship with your actual family I mean.” Octavia giggled as she sat in a similar position as Vinyl but with her hands at her sides instead.
“Yeah, well… they’re kinda why I’m like this actually. They set the example of what I didn’t want to be when I grow up. That if I ever have kids I’m not gonna ignore them, or judge them like they did me. And if I have more than one I’m not going to play favorites.” She explained as she rested her chin in her palm and looked out into the twinkling city below her.
“Oh Faust…” Octavia gasped her eyes widening in horror.
“What?! Did you slip?!” Vinyl asked turning her head towards the cellist.
“No… I just imagined you as a mother… and tinier versions of you running around and wreaking havoc on this beautiful land! It was horrifying.” Octavia shuttered. Vinyl rolled her eyes and pushed Octavia playfully in the shoulder.
“Oh like a little you wouldn’t be just as scary? You’ve got a nasty temper sometimes Tavi. And you’ve got pegasus in your blood. Imagine a pissed off little kid that can fly and scream like you do. That’s called a harpy.” Vinyl retorted. Octavia’s brow twitched before she decked Vinyl in the arm enough to send her rolling off the roof and over the edge. Octavia quickly jumped up when she realized this.
“VINYL!!!”
“It’s cool! I’m fine!” Vinyl announced as her head and shoulders came back into view from over the edge. She rubbed her arm where Octavia had punched her. “Ow, you hit hard for a band geek.” Vinyl commented. Octavia noticed her crest nor hands were glowing with the tell-tale signs of magic.
“How are you… doing that?” she asked curiously edging forward a bit on the roof.
“What? This? Magic carpet.” Vinyl explained with a shrug as she hovered a bit higher to reveal she was in fact standing on a flying carpet.
“You… have a flying carpet?” Octavia asked like she was trying to convince herself.
“Well yeah, they’re all the rage in Arabia. FP brought it back after his last trip there. It’s got a spell on it that makes it impossible to fall off, here watch.” Vinyl ordered before lowering herself on it like she was surfing as the carpet soared high into the sky and she did one long backwards looptiloop and a corkscrew before she leveled out back in front of Octavia grinning hanging upside down right in front of her for a second before righting herself again. “See? Didn’t so much as lift off of it. It also has a homing signal to catch you if you fall off something, which is why I’m not a pancake on the ground right now. Whoa, that’d be really depressing for you wouldn’t it? Since you’re the one who knocked me off and stuff.” Vinyl observed tapping her chin in thought.
Octavia was a little dizzy however. “I-I thought flying carpets were myth’s! Like mermaids and fairies!”
“Really Octavia, after all you’ve seen today is this really something to freak out over?” Vinyl sighed. Octavia’s panic went away and she shrugged her shoulders.
“I suppose on a day where I found out you have a sensible side and an IQ over 12, flying carpets are one of the more probable possibilities.” Octavia quipped with a sly smirk at the DJ who had been nodding up until that comment.
“Hey!” Octavia burst out in a fit of giggles and Vinyl couldn’t help but smile a little despite the insult. ‘You know, when she actually smiles and acts normal for a change she’s actually kinda pretty… better not say that out loud, she’ll think I’m hitting on her. And that’d be creepy. Wait, would it? I’m pretty sure she’s straight. Like 99.9% sure she’s straight… then again there was that one time I caught her staring at Dash… maybe she’s bi-curious? Maybe I should ask her. No, that’ll just land me in the hospital. Alright, looks like I’ll have to find out the old fashioned way. By carefully analyzing her social patterns and making a judgment based on my findings. Who should I use as the bait though? Oh, right… me. But I suck at flirting. Like REALLY suck at flirting. Or words in general. The only way I can ever get through to people is-‘ A little light bulb went off in her head as a plan began to form and Octavia righted herself wiping a hysteric tear from her eye.
“Oh my I needed that laugh. I’m sorry Vinyl, but that was just too perfect of an opportunity to pass up.” Octavia sighed with a satisfied smile on her face.
“It’s cool Tavi. Hey, you wanna try this thing out next?” she asked the earthbound as she flew directly upside down in front of her so that her multihued blue hair fell around her like a curtain and her eyes, thanks to her goggles being on top of her head now, were shining a brilliant shade of magenta as they met Octavia’s own light pink orbs.
“I-I don’t think that’s such a good idea Vinyl, we earthbound’s are really more meant to stay on the ground. Flying isn’t something we normally like unless we’re in an airplane or in a hot air balloon or something of the like.” Octavia explained eying the exquisitely intricate rug that Vinyl was standing upside down on. Vinyl flipped back up and now hovered in front of her still grinning.
“And you think us Unicorns are any different? It took me AGES to get used to riding on this thing! Between you and me I get motion sick real easy so I had more than enough issues just keeping my lunch down during my first few flights. And YOU’RE half pegasus, you’re a lot better cut out for this than I am, I’m not kidding when I say we haven’t had anything besides unicorns in our family for over… one two, eight generations” Vinyl explained counting off on her fingers.
“Wow that’s… really bad for the gene pool actually, how are you not an inbred mutant yet?” Octavia asked not believing one could go eight generations without some form of verity.
“I think my brother took most of that hit for me. He is the oldest, by two minutes but that’s not the point. Point is that you’re probably going to be better at this than I was. Come on, hop up here.” She said motioning for Octavia to join her on the carpet that was hovering about a foot off the roof’s level. Octavia bit her lip a little but stepped onto the carpet if only because she’d watched Aladdin one too many times as a kid and the idea of riding on a magic carpet at all was one of her childhood dreams come true. “Great, okay. Now the carpet doesn’t require magic so it’ll go on its own. Now right now because I was the first on it I’m in control of it so I’ll just show you how to fly it before cutting you loose. Ever ride a skateboard before Tavi?”
“Um, once, I believe. Thunder got me on one when I was much younger. He tied pillows to my stomach and back and gave me a pot for a helmet before he pushed me down the hill on his skateboard.” Octavia explained.
“Well, that sounds… traumatic.”
“No actually it was quite fun! Although Grams almost pulled his ear off when she was dragging me back in the house and my mum snapped the board in half after she got me off it… but I still remember how I steered it!” Octavia concluded with a small smile.
“Good, that’ll save me some time then. Now the only difference is that if you want to go up you lean back a little like so.” Vinyl explained as she leaned back a little and the carpet started to raise higher and higher into the air. “And, of course, if you want to go back down…” Vinyl got a wicked grin on her face.
“Vinyl, on second thought, I don’t think this is such a good ideAAAAAAAAAAA-!!!!!!!!” Octavia screamed as they dived down into what she assumed was the gardens since all she could see was a rush of green come at her as she clutched onto Vinyl’s leg while she screamed. Vinyl leveled out and went speeding past a few people that were still searching for their mask’s true owners. Vinyl laughed like a mad woman as she wove in between tall spiral like trees and then pulled back up high into the sky so that they were flying just beneath the clouds. She chuckled and tapped Octavia on the shoulder as she was still clutching her leg.
“We’re safe now, you can relax.” Vinyl mused as they were now gently gliding calmly in the sky. Octavia slowly released her grip on Vinyl but didn’t stand up. Vinyl noticed her shaken form and tapped her chin in thought. She looked down at her pocket where the flash drive was and then at the carpet and a light bulb went off in her head. “Hey Tavi, you know what’ll help you calm down?” Vinyl asked pulling out her flash drive and surrounding it in her magical aura.
“No. And I’d rather not guess if it’s YOU who thought of it.” Octavia hissed before a familiar melody started to play in the air. Combined with what they were riding on Octavia’s face deadpanned as Vinyl began to sing where the lyrics started.
“I can show you the world.”
“Vinyl, no. I’m not singing that corny song while we’re riding on this thing.”
“Shining, Shimmering, Splendid!” Vinyl continued grinning all the while. “Tell me Princess, now when did you last let your heart decide?” She took Octavia by the shoulders as she guided the carpet to move a little faster soaring over the beautiful expanse of the estate gardens and picking a single flower from one of the bushes as they passed it and offered it to Octavia as she continued singing. “I can open your eyes,”
Octavia frowned at the flower rolling her eyes and crossing her arms facing away from Vinyl as she knocked it out of her hands. “No Vinyl.”
“Take you wonder by wonder! Over sideways and under, on a magic carpet ride. A whooooooooole new world~!” She sang as she dipped the carpet back up towards the sky and aimed for the clouds. She started ducking and weaving through them. “A new fantastic point of view! No-one to tell us no, or where to go! Or say we’re only dreaming.” Vinyl sang grinning at her flying companion whose face was showing signs of her obvious breaking demeanor. Right on cue she snapped.
“A whole new Wooooorld~! A dazzling place I never knew!” Octavia’s harmonic voice trilled out no longer able to hold back against one of her favorite classic songs from her childhood. “But when I’m way up here, it’s crystal clear, now I’m in a whole new world with you.” She sang giving Vinyl a brilliant smile as the magic user picked up her verse making the carpet go in a full arch now that Octavia seemed okay with the flight.
“Now I’m in a whole new world with you!”
“Unbelievable sights, indescribable feeling! Soaring, tumbling, freewheeling through an endless diamond sky! A whole new woooooorld~!” Octavia sang as she brought her hands to her eyes while Vinyl went into a nose dive right over a sparkling lake.
“Don’t you dare close your eyes!” Vinyl added removing Octavia’s hands quickly.
“A hundred thousand things to see!”
“Hold your breath it get’s better,” Vinyl commented and sang .
“I’m like a shooting star, I’ve come so far! I can’t go back to where I used to be,” Octavia sang as they passed by a balcony where Fancy Pants, Fleur, Grace, and a good crowd of people were gathering to watch the sun rise. Upon seeing her daughter on a flying carpet with some girl she had only just met Vinyl’s mother’s jaw and plate promptly fell as she stared at them whiz past her in slow motion. Vinyl laughed and shrugged when Octavia looked at her.
“A whole neeeeew world~!”
“Every turn a surprise,”
“With new horizons to pursue,”
“Every moment red-letter”
“I’ll chase them anywhere, there’s time to spare. Let me share this whole new world with you.” they sang together as they slowed down into a drop below the tree line that surrounded the lake. Vinyl picked an apple from the tree that they passed under and rolled it down her arm and into Octavia’s lap.
“A whole new world…”
“A whole new world,” Octavia mirrored smiling softly at her duet partner.
“That’s where we’ll be,”
“That’s where we’ll be…”
“A thrilling chase,”
“A wondrous place…”
“For you and me…”
The song came to an end just as fireworks went off above their heads signaling that dawn was coming. Vinyl flew them up high into the sky again and let the carpet hover where it was just above the cloud line. “Hey, scardey cat, you remember how you told me you like the view from the roof…?” Vinyl asked softly. Octavia opened one eye and slowly nodded still dazed from the warm feeling the song had given her. “Well open your eyes and tell me how you like the view now.” She ordered as she gently helped Octavia stand up once more. Octavia slowly opened her other eye and felt the breath leave her as she saw the sweeping landscape of the encircling mountain range and the luscious green valley that her hometown sat in the middle of. Beyond that she could see an endless sweep of green with the occasional dotting of starry twinkling lights that marked a city in that area. Even Canterlot looked small from up there but what caught her attention more was how vivid the night sky looked now that she was away from the city lights. She could see every galaxy, ever cluster of stars, every constellation, and all of it was framed perfectly by the slowly setting full moon. Octavia felt tears stinging her eyes as she stood frozen watching the dark clouds of the night floated lazily beneath them. Slowly she reached down and touched one letting her hand catch onto some of the water vapors as they swirled around her hand and then dissipated when she took it out.
“Vinyl this is…”
“Amazing? Yeah, I know. I’ve watched this same exact scene hundreds of times before… although shockingly enough I’m not as tired as I usually am… and this is my first time ever watching the sunrise with someone else…” Vinyl admitted scratching the back of her head as she sat cross legged on the carpet they were floating on.
“The first time ever…? But I thought you went to this party every-“
“I always sneak off towards the end of it to come up on the roof to watch it by myself. It was like my transition switch between Victoria and Vinyl… Victoria by night, Vinyl by day. Kinda backwards now that I’m thinking about it.” Vinyl admitted as Octavia sat down beside her.
“Indeed it is…” Octavia sighed as she looked again out at the scene. Despite the beauty her mind couldn’t help but get a negative itch. “Vinyl…” the blue haired girl looked over at her curiously. “Do you really think the music will work for us? Re-trigger our memories of tonight I mean.” She asked wanting to know the DJ’s thoughts on the matter.
Vinyl blinked for a second before she slowly turned back to the stars and let her eyes close as she felt the night around her. “No… no I don’t.” Octavia’s eyes dropped a little at that. “But,” Vinyl continued making her perk back up. “It doesn’t matter because I had fun doing it. All of it. Especially our most recent little performance, I don’t think my mom’s EVER going to get those stains out of her dress!” She laughed before flashing Octavia an earnest smile. “And I’m hoping you did too, Octavia.” Vinyl replied her eyes once more a light hue of magenta. Octavia found herself entranced by it all, the setting, the person talking to her, the words she was saying, the song that still lingered in her ears, all of it. It made her head start to cloud which made it hard to respond at first but eventually she seemed to find her tongue again.
“I did… more fun than I can ever remember having actually…” Octavia responded as she felt the blood pounding in her ears. ‘Oh wonderful, this high altitude is making me light headed… no, I was lightheaded on the roof as well so it can’t be the altitude, not fully anyways. Is it Vinyl? Did I actually catch her air-headedness? Is that even a word? Okay, I’m not bonkers my heart rate is definitely speeding up now. And now my head’s over run with thoughts about that annoying- no… she isn’t annoying… oh who am I kidding she’s the most annoying damn girl on earth but…’ Octavia was still staring into the eyes that had eluded her for so long. ‘She’s definitely a very attractive annoyance… Wait, I’m straight! Right…? Come to think about it I never have actually LOOKED at someone and been especially attracted to them, male OR female… am I a-sexual? Can that happen in humans? Is Vinyl getting closer to me?!’ she thought frantically when she noticed that Vinyl’s head was indeed leaning a little bit closer to her own.
“Well I’m glad to hear that then.” She breathed. ‘What am I doing…? This was supposed to be an experiment! She looks like she’s about to faint again for crying out loud and you’re making a move?! Real classy Scratch. Nice show of self-control. You’re a real- what was that?’ Her thoughts were interrupted by something inside her shifting. Something in the air felt… wrong. Very very wrong. She looked straight to where she felt the disturbance and saw the large full moon staring back in her face.
Octavia blinked and noticed where her friend’s gaze had gone. “Something wrong Vinyl…?” Octavia asked knowing a Unicorn’s senses were much more sensitive than the other race’s.
“Does… does the moon look different to you?” Vinyl asked pointing at the white orb. Octavia blinked a few times looking at it curiously.
“Actually, now that you mention it, it does… I can’t place how though.” Octavia commented.
The hairs on the back of Vinyl’s neck were starting to stand on end. She looked closer and noticed something much more horrifying about the white glowing orb, it wasn’t setting anymore. It was rising; and even more terrifying was the missing visage of the maiden in its white complexion. Vinyl quickly stood on her feet and lowered her goggles onto her face before grabbing up Octavia quickly.
“Vinyl, what’s-?!”
“Close your eyes and don’t open them until I tell you to. And hold on to me, tightly.” Vinyl ordered. She didn’t ask, or leave any room for Octavia to think this was anything but an order. The girl she was clutching onto as they nosedived back towards the estate wasn’t Vinyl Scratch the fun-loving DJ that liked to joke around and mess with her head. This was Victoria Pantaleon, a very serious and very uncompromising being. As they leveled out along the gardens she used her magic to round up any and all of the people she saw wandering them and carried them in her hold despite their loud protests. When she came to the front doors of the mansion she kicked them open and unloaded everyone she had inside of it and gently laid her hand on Octavia’s shoulder. “Open your eyes and listen to me Octavia.” When two rose irises looked up at her she continued. “I want you to go to the ball room, run don’t walk and don’t stop for anything or anyone. When you get there get to my uncle and tell him that phoenix has burned out and that the nightingale is rising. And do not for any circumstance leave this building I don’t care if your own mother tries to drag you out STAY INSIDE. Am I clear?” Vinyl asked as she pulled off her goggles to reveal deep blood red eyes looking into Octavia’s very being.
“Y-yes.” Octavia replied with a quick nod and a hard swallow.
“Good, now get going. As for the rest of you,” Vinyl continued raising her voice so that the guests could hear her. “Your stay here at the Pantaleon manner has been extended until further notice, All hell is about to break loose and none of you want to get caught up in it. I suggest going to the ball room if you want to know more but know this, within the hour the entire nation of Equestria will be put on lockdown until whatever is happening outside is resolved.” She declared. She turned to the hired royal guards that were standing watch beside the door. “Get in contact with the rest of your squadron, there’s still people out in the gardens and around the property. I want them inside this building and then I want this estate put on lockdown, no one gets out and more importantly nothing’s going to get in. Am I clear?” she barked. The two soldiers saluted her before the pegisai took off and the unicorn placed his glowing hands to his head to contact his other guards. Vinyl looked again to the slowly rising moon that was just visible from the open door.
“I don’t know what happened to you Luna, but you’d better get your shit in order, because I’ll be damned if I’m letting you anywhere near my city.” She growled before she threw herself back onto the flying carpet and took off to do another sweep of the property.