//------------------------------// // Catching Up // Story: Lady Octavia // by Cyber Clash //------------------------------// Vinyl walked into Octavia’s room and nudged her on the side until she felt the sleeping pony shuffle. After some groaning from Octavia, showing the servant that she was awake, Vinyl cantered downstairs to prepare a pot of oatmeal. The cellist, still in her room, got out of bed and went into the bathroom, stepping into a cold shower. She quickly washed her jet-black mane, flowing tail and her always-impeccable coat. The cellist stepped out of the shower and dried herself off. Once dry, she stepped out of the bathroom and walked toward her drawer. From it, she pulled out her bowtie, tied it around her neck, and went downstairs. Octavia looked blankly at the white mare who seemed to be pouring a form of sustenance into a bowl. She stepped into the kitchen and greeted her with her usual “Good morning.” “And to you too, my lady.” the unicorn responded. “I made some oatmeal for breakfast. Do you want any toppings?” Octavia sat down, “Lovely. I take mine with apple slices, if that won’t be too much trouble.” “No problem. I was going to cut one for the both of us.” The servant picked up a half apple from the counter and began to peel it with her magic. She did the same with the other half and then diced them both. Vinyl then took one of the bowls of oatmeal and placed the apple slices on top. She repeated the process with her bowl and levitated them both to the table. Octavia watched the steam flowing from the food. The smell of oats, milk, and apples wafted through the air, making her mouth water. She felt Vinyl sit across from her, making her jump slightly before she muttered, “Thank you for the oatmeal.” They ate in silence for a while before the unicorn cleared her throat to grab the echelon’s attention, “So, how’d it go with your mum?” The purple-eyed mare frowned, remembering the lie her mother had been told, “It isn’t really any of your concern.” “Sorry. I was just trying to make small talk,” she apologised. The cellist suddenly snapped. “Well, I don’t have time for small talk. I’m a busy mare, you know. I wouldn’t have hired you otherwise. You’d still be on the streets if it weren’t for me and my busy schedule!” The pale-coated mare took off her shades, eyes showing the anger and despair that her voice tried to hide, “And if it weren’t for me, your mother would have died without hearing a word from you.” “H-how do you know about that?” Octavia asked, astonished. “Piano Forte told me. And you-“the pair of garnet eyes squeezed shut as Vinyl cut herself off, not wanting to argue with her mistress. “Never mind. I shouldn’t get so angry with you. I’m sorry.” Octavia looked at her servant and was about to apologise as well, but she decided against it. Instead, she simply sighed, went upstairs to brush her teeth, and came back down to get her cello and head out the door. “Get ready, I’m going to place the cello on your back,” warned Vinyl. The grey mare felt the weight slowly settle on her back before turning around and nodding toward her servant. The door was magically opened for her, and she cantered off. The blue-mane unicorn shut the door and returned to the kitchen. She picked up the two bowls and washed them in the sink. She didn’t even finish her oatmeal… Vinyl Scratch put the bowls back in their place and put her purple-tinted shades back on. ------------------------------------------------- Octavia arrived to the music hall with a cello and a vexed ambience. She didn’t feel like seeing the other musicians, but she couldn’t just skip practice: it would be extremely rude and her parents would ask her about it. She walked into the room and was immediately greeted by Script, “Good morning, Miss Octavia. You look lovely today.” Script commented, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek. However, as he reached Octavia's cheek, he was stopped by her hoof. “I’m sorry, but could you please not touch me? I have been having a bad morning and I don’t want to stay in practice any longer than I have to.” The assistant’s gaze fell. Noticing this, Octavia reassured him “It isn’t you, Script. It’s just one of those days. Don’t worry.” He smiled, “Okay. I’ll try to make practice quick for you.” “I appreciate it.” Frederic cleared his throat, ending their conversation “Yes, well, if you two would be so kind as to do your jobs, practice might actually go by a bit faster.” His voice sounded desperate to move the duo along. “What happened, 'Tavia?” Beauty Brass asked, “Did you have problems with the music?” “No, not that,” Octavia sighed. “Is it about your parents, then?” joined in Harpo. The pianist groaned, making his presence felt for the second time. “Could we please move along? I have other errands to attend to today, and I would like to get finished quickly.” The cellist agreed, “Yes, I think we should start practicing. I need to be alone and the sooner that happens, the better.” The white-haired stallion silently thanked Celestia before starting everyone off. His notes were slow and dramatic, his hooves moved expertly as he closed his eyes, playing the piece by heart. Harpo joined in with an angelic harmony as he plucked each string gingerly but with determination. Beauty Brass played her sousaphone in the most sophisticated manner possible, giving the music a nice sense of jazz, but never drowning out the two strings players. Octavia came in with smooth, deep notes. She sped up a bit to pace the others, eventually evolving the music into a more energetic piece. Script watched with a small smile as the musicians played perfectly. The song ended and the purple-coated assistant nodded “You are all improving very much. I think it’s perfect.” he stated to the group. Beauty Brass sighed, “I agree that the piece is marvellous, but imagine someone singing with the music. Wouldn’t it go so well?” The cellist felt the brunette mare look at her with pleading eyes, “Beauty, I told you that neither Harmony nor Melody will be singing.” “But can we not at least try?” Frederic asked, “I think it would be lovely to have one of their voices join with our music.” The irritated mare sighed, “They don’t. Want. To sing. And I will not force them to, either.” She got up and exited the room. She desperately needed to be alone. ----------------------------------------------- A few hours later, Vinyl took a break from cleaning and went into the kitchen to prepare lunch. She opened the icebox to reveal only a couple of frozen artichokes at the very bottom of the box. Damn. How did I not notice that this morning? She closed it and grabbed a few bits Octavia had given her. Oh well, looks like I’m going shopping. The unicorn closed the door and headed toward the market. She cantered down the cobblestone path until her eyes found the ornately designed stands and shops. Luckily, there didn’t seem to be many ponies around. While the mare walked toward the market, she made a mental list of what she was to purchase. First, Vinyl Scratch went over to the carrot stand, where a lovely orange-mane pony smiled, “Hello, miss. Would you like to purchase a bundle of Golden Harvest’s carrots? They’re only two bits.” The unicorn grinned back at the earth pony, “Yes please,” she said, pulling out two coins from the pouch and let them drop on the table. “Thank you,” the farmer responded as she nudged the carrots into a bag and gave it to her customer. The shade-wearing mare nodded in thanks and repeated the process with other street vendors. With all the necessary groceries at hoof, she walked around the market to browse trivial things non-sustenance related. She was nearing a music shop when she saw a pony with a strawberry coat and luscious lavender mane and tail. The mare’s cyan eyes looked at Vinyl Scratch with delight and surprise, “Vi? Is that you?!” The white unicorn almost dropped her bags from her aura as she galloped away from her old friend. “Wait, Vinyl! Vinyl! VINYL SCRATCH!” the mare yelled. The two-toned mane mare galloped as fast as she could, but the other mare’s earth pony speed caught up to her in only a few moments. She fell to the ground as the pink pony pinned her down. “Shit. You got me.” “You’re coming with me, Scratch. We’ve got a lot to talk about,” her assailant whispered in a staid tone. The unicorn grunted before nodding reluctantly, “Fine. Now get off of me Harmony.” “Follow me to the café. We’ll sit down and talk for a while,” Harmony suggested, waiting for her friend to follow along. The servant shook her head, “No, sorry. I can’t. I’ve gotta start making lunch before Octavia gets home.” “Octavia? The cellist? You’re living with Octavia?!” the salmon-coloured mare asked, surprised. Vinyl nodded, “How could she even talk to you for more than thirty seconds?! I mean, don’t take it the wrong way, but you two would drive each other mad in a relationship. I didn’t even know she was a fillyfooler! I didn’t know you were a fillyfooler!” “She’s not into mares, Hormone. She took me into her house, and now I work for her to pay her back.” “Don’t call me Hormone, Flank Scratch!” she said, hitting her friend in banter. The unicorn chuckled, “Whatever. Anyway, I’ve gotta get home.” Just as the blue-mane filly turned to walk, the earth pony jumped to her side, “I’ll walk you home. I want you to explain everything to me along the way.” “Fine, whatever,” Vinyl sighed in irritation. They began to walk and the mare told her story, “Well, I was doing just fine with DJing until my bitch agent said I needed to get ready for a tour. I did, but while I was doing my part, she just took all the money I had in the bank. Then she got all of my stuff confiscated, convincing the guards that I was stashing drugs. I went to jail for a few weeks, got out, and lived in an alley for the past few months until Octavia came along.” “And all this time you never wrote to me?” Harmony asked, a hurt tone laced into her voice. “It’s complicated…” Vinyl replied, her sentence trailing off at the end. “Vinyl, I can accept you not wanting to stay at my house, but you could’ve at least visited, and-“ “And let you convince me to stay? To try again? Harmony, I knew that talking to you would tempt you and Mel to get me to start playing again. I’m done, okay? I want to start over. Rub away my Cutie Mark. Start something new and hope no one remembers DJ P0N-3!” the angered unicorn interjected. The other mare pursed her lips. She spoke again, her voice shaking, “I’m sorry, Vinyl. It’s just that…you’re my friend, and…I was worried about you. I wanted to know you were okay--if you were alive, even.” Vinyl chuckled angrily, “Yeah? Well, I’m doing fine. I’m Octavia’s servant, I’ve got a roof over my head, and I’m eating well. How’s that?” “You seem…angered. Is there some sort of dispute happening between you two?” the lavender singer asked, placing a hoof on Vinyl’s shoulder. The unicorn shrugged of the limb and sighed, “Sorry. It’s just…she’s acting like I’ve done something wrong, and when I ask, she doesn’t tell me anything. I mean, the first few days, she was extremely nice, and she warned me about getting stern later, but…” The lilac-maned earth pony smiled sadly, “It’s okay. I know Octavia. She did this to me too. There was some sort of rumour going around about Melody and me, and she just kept scowling at me all the time. We tried being nice to her, we even asked her what was bothering her so much, but she just shrugged me off.” “What happened then?” The pale unicorn asked with curiosity. Harmony chuckled, “One day, she just apologised to us and told us why she was so angered. We forgave her and became friends.” “So…Octavia’s angry at me because she heard something about me?” Her friend shrugged, “I can’t promise you that’s the cause, but I can promise that this will pass. Just give her some time.” Vinyl Scratch nodded, noticing their proximity toward the mansion. “Okay. Thanks for taking me home, and listening to me. I…” she removed her shades and smiled sadly at her friend, “I missed you.” Harmony felt warm tears stinging her eyes, “I missed you too.” She pulled the alabaster unicorn into a tight hug. Once she was released, the mare nodded, “I have to go, Harmony. Could we hang out this weekend, if we’re not too busy?” “Of course. And bring Octavia. We might be able to clear things up together, okay?” “Alright, cool. See you then,” the servant responded before replacing her shades upon her snout, and entering the gates. --------------------------------------- Octavia finally saw her house come into view, and sighed in relief. She couldn’t wait to rest her hooves, have a nice lunch, and perhaps get a certain issue dealt with. It truly irked her to know that her honest and loving father would lie to her mother. The cellist sighed again, this time in frustration, and walked into her home, expecting the smell of food, but only to be greeted by the sound of bags unpacking. “Were you out somewhere?” she asked her servant. “Hello, Miss Octavia. Here, let me help you with that.” A scarlet aura wrapped itself around the heavy instrument and conveyed it upstairs, letting it lean against the wall. “And to answer your question: yes. I was at the market getting food.” “I see. You took a while, considering that you just got back. What held you?” she asked as she went into the kitchen to help put everything up. “I ran into a friend. You might know her. It was Harmony,” said Vinyl Scratch. The bowtie-wearing mare stopped for a second, “Harmony, the singer? How do you know her?” The two-toned-mane mare walked over to the icebox to store a bundle of carrots, “Back when I was a DJ, we used to be best friends. Then my career crashed down, and I hadn’t talked to her since.” “Why did you stop talking? Was there some sort of argument?” the musician asked, putting away a few fruits. “No, I…I didn’t want her worrying about me, so I cut her out of my life.” “That’s a little selfish of you,” Octavia commented. “Yeah? Well, she would have freaked out if she found out where I had been. In a way, it’s a good thing I didn’t tell her anything.” She said as she stored away cheeses and tomatoes. “Hm… You know, my father is coming over later,” the cellist said, changing topics. “Really? Are you guys catching up or is it just casual?” the unicorn inquired. “Both. We are only going to drink tea and have a few snacks. We need to talk about Mother.” Vinyl Scratch sighed, “Hey, um, about that…I’m really sorry.” “For what?” the echelon asked, half in anger and half in curiosity as she finished unpacking and storing. “I know it’s tough when your parents die, and I just want you to know I’m here for you,” she assured. “I’ll be fine. It’s not as if they were really there for me before. They’re probably just being considerate of my feelings for once. Or maybe they’re just as depressed as I am about the situation, and are not concerned about me at all,” she surmised. “Don’t say that.” The servant tried, “You know-“ “Know they love me? Yes, of course. They love their perfect little cellist, who is absolutely successful, will marry a wonderful colt, have an amazing family, and will be remembered for generations to come. But they detest her mistakes, her sins, and every time she tried hard but not hard enough. Yes, they love me, oh so much,” she ranted. “Miss Octavia-“ “Oh, and what marvellous choices she makes for herself. Of course she is not just her parent’s puppets,” she said in an angered mocking tone, “Oh, what’s this? It looks like a few strings are coming loose because one of the puppeteers seems to be dying. Oh, this seems to have changed the whole act. How, oh how will the perfect cellist continue to be perfect? You know what? I’m glad she’s dying! I might actually be free for once!” “Octavia! Don’t say that!” the unicorn exclaimed before pulling the other mare into a comforting embrace. The cellist's amethyst eyes closed, tears leaking from the shut eyelids and onto Vinyl’s coat as the cellist broke down. “I do-on’t want her t-to die, Vinyl,” sobbed the cellist, “but I don’t want my parents to control me either. What am I going to do when she’s gone? What will my father do?” “Well, I…I know it doesn’t mean much to you,” the servant said in a soft voice, stroking her mistress’s mane, “but you’ve always got me to talk to. It doesn’t matter what you do, I’ll always be by your side. You can talk to me about this whenever you want.” “W-why?” she sniffed. “Why what?” “Why do you even care ab-about all this? After I’ve b-been so rude to y-you?” The white mare hugged her tighter, “Because, even though you push me away, I want to be your friend. Besides Melody and Harmony, you’re the only pony who’s got my back. Plus, you’re the reason I’ve got a roof over my head, and I’d do anything to pay you back. If this counts as anything, then I’ll do it. I’ll comfort you.” The echelon continued to cry, but unlike before, these were tears of gratefulness. She buried herself into her friend’s coat, whispering, “Thank you…Vinyl, for everything.”