The lights dimmed as a young grey mare walked onto the stage, towards the cello waiting center stage for her. She approached her cello, bow in hoof and took a pause, waiting instruction from the conductor who, along with most of the stage, was coated in darkness. As she saw the baton move, she began to play, and soon the entire auditorium was filled with the music of her cello. This was a joy she hadn’t felt in a long time. It didn’t take long after the first movement, for her to feel something was wrong. She was playing faster than the measure indicated. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t go any slower. She desperately looked out into the auditorium for the source and almost immediately, she found it. It was the conductor! As the speed of the baton was increasing, so was the speed of her playing.
She was left horrified that she was now under the control of the conductor. The jagged movements, and the sour notes all being performed without her consent. Soon the darkness began to fade, and she could make out the identity of the conductor. Her mind screamed, “Vinyl!” It was the white mare rapidly moving the baton with a demonic grin. She appeared to have no regard for what was happening. Octavia felt her strength fade from her, she was losing all control. As if the things she loved, her hopes, even her very being, were being forfeited to an outside source. She felt like something was slipping away. She immediately became alarmed. She knew that feeling; she was about to lose all control, on stage, in front of the entire audience.
She desperately tried to hold it in, but no matter what she did, she could not stop the creeping of the fluid. Then without warning, she could hear hissing, the same hissing she heard this morning in the kitchen. Soon she felt the relief, and the fear from emptying her bladder. Just like that, Vinyl stops waving the baton, the performance over. Vinyl dropped the baton, immediately returning Octavia’s control over her own body. She fell to her knees, expecting to land in a puddle of her own urine, but instead the ground felt warm and squishy.
Her fear instantly doubled as she pressed her hoof towards the front of her crotch and was greeted by a warm puffy resistance. She knew her worst fears had been realized - she was wearing a diaper. Her mind once again streamed through questions. How long had she been wearing it? Could they see her wet it? Was her life officially over? As she gazed over the stage she could make out Vinyl laughing at her, and soon the laughter echoed across the entire audience. Looking up to the roof, she screamed as everything went dark.
Octavia woke up once again, another haunting dream leaving her in a cold sweat. Where was she? As she shifted her vision around her room, her eyes stopped at the closed window. She noticed it was night, the sun long gone, and the moon now taking its place. How long was I out? Immediately, memories of that morning's events came flooding back in. “...Vinyl.” She then realized she was inside Vinyl’s house, lying in the bed in her room. This alarmed her as she placed her hoof on the bedsheets. Still dry. She should have been happy, but something still felt off. She wanted to figure out what it was until something caught her eye.
Next to her bed was Vinyl, sleeping on a chair with her head propped against the wall. At this point the white mare was no longer wearing a diaper, but was in her standard attire-less attire. Feelings of anger began to swell inside Octavia, until she noticed the clock hanging on the wall, which indicated the time was 9:36 pm. She was alarmed, remembering Vinyl’s mention of her late performance today. She herself knew the price missing a performance would have on a musician’s career. Ignoring the world around her, Octavia swung herself on the edge of the bed facing Vinyl, and began to shake the mare awake. “Vinyl, wake up! You have to hurry! You are already late for your performance!” After a few seconds of repeating the process, Vinyl finally woke up.
“Oh, hey Tav-, Octavia. You feeling better?” the half awake mare asked, genuinely concerned.
Octavia looked at Vinyl, confused. “I am fine, but you are late for your performance at Doge Junction. You were supposed to be there at 8:00, now it is already past 9:30. You have to hurry before it is too late!”
Vinyl yawned trying to wake up, “Oh that thing. I sent a message telling them I had to cancel hours ago.” She started rubbing the sand out of her eyes, “I am sure they got someone else to cover for me.”
Octavia was left with feelings of guilt. “Why did you cancel? You must realize what rejecting a performance does to a musician’s career!”
Vinyl looked back the the mare, perplexed by her obsession with her playing, more than her fainting spell earlier. “Listen Octavia, it’s fine. There will always be other ponies out there in need of DJs. You’ve gotta know what’s more important, and right now you were in trouble. So chill and think about yourself for a minute.”
Octavia was at odds, on one hoof, her dedication to her music was the most important thing in her life, as should be for any musician. On the other hoof, what Vinyl was saying made a lot of sense. But something else was eating at her; it was how she reacted to Vinyl. She thought, This mare is willing to risk her music for me, someone who insulted her. Sure, her way of doing things is a bit unusual, but that doesn’t mean she is a bad pony by any means. Octavia knew she had to make things right between her and her eccentric host. ”Hey Vinyl, I am sorry for my behavior earlier,” she replied solemnly, disgusted with how she had treated her gracious host.
“Hey, don’t sweat it! ...although I can’t say I handled it much better myself.” Vinyl’s face contorted into a frown as she continued. “When I received your bags, I went to go drop it off in your room. While I was setting up your cello stand, I happened to find a note with with one of bags that told me about your problem. To be honest, it was addressed from your mother. Also, I may have peered into one of the bags and saw your ‘protection’.” Vinyl said, feeling pretty low about herself.
Octavia, although upset over Vinyl’s lack of personal space, was relieved to know her master hadn’t found out about her problem. “I am sorry, I forgot to actually put on any protection. I am also sorry for ruining your bed. But, Vinyl, can I please ask you tell no pony about this!”
“Relax Octavia, I never had any intention of telling anyone. Even I wear them for pony’s sake!” Seeing the worry dissipate, Vinyl felt a bit relieved. It was the first time she had any real guest over, and at the very least she could tone down her antics. “Oh, don’t worry about the mattress. I already placed the plastic cover your mom included in the bag.”
Octavia’s face went red. So that was what the noise was this morning when I entered the bed. I must have been in such a hurry I didn’t even notice it when I took the sheets off. Her mind began to put the pieces together, So that means last night when I entered Vinyl’s house that smell was... She looked back up at the smiling mare. She was left unable to dredge up even an ounce of anger for her host. The one that was so worried about her, she would even risk her music career.
“Vinyl, is it possible for you to show me the letter my mother enclosed for me?” Octavia inquired to the sitting mare.
Vinyl’s eyes peered to the right, “Sorry. I didn’t think much of the letter, so I threw it out a while before you got here.”
Octavia, though a bit sad to have not seen this note from her mother, knew she really couldn’t blame Vinyl for her actions. Her mind began to come to ease with Vinyl. Well she really didn’t mean anything by it, and it is better my mother tell her than my master. I guess in her own way, she was probably just trying to show me that I didn’t need to be embarrassed around her.
Vinyl looked a bit uncomfortable, looking like she was trying to correctly string a sentence together. “Hey, um Octavia?” It was unusual for Octavia to see Vinyl seem at such a loss for words.
She came to the conclusion that she should forgive her. “Yes Vinyl, I forgive you for opening my things. I do hope that you will still consider instructing me,” She said with the most sincerity she could muster.
“Oh thanks... but that’s not it.” Vinyl let out a sigh as her eyes locked with Octavia. “Okay, so I am just going to come out and say it. Please don’t be mad or freak out.” Octavia nodded, whatever Vinyl was about to tell her must be extremely important. It might even be related to that letter her mother had sent. Vinyl took a deep breath, “Octavia, I think you need a change!” She said, bracing for what she felt was an inevitable freakout.
For Octavia, the world froze. Similar to a 10 kilogram weight being lifted by a counter weight of exactly 11 kilograms, her progression to reaching the correct conclusion was slow and tedious. In a daze, she placed her right hoof on the bed sheet. She could hear the distinct crinkle. This indicated she was indeed sleeping on her bed from this morning, and the plastic cover was still on it under the sheets. Her gaze shifted to Vinyl again. Her eyes were closed, she looked like she was afraid of something. Finally her gaze ended on what was wrapped around her crotch. As if the sight of it enabled her nose to pick up on a scent she ignored, she then was able to register that smell of urine coming off of her. All contained by the diaper wrapped around her waist.
At this point she was tired; she just wanted to sleep this day off. With a bored expression, she looked up at Vinyl. “Excuse me Vinyl, may I ask why I am currently wearing a diaper? I do not recall putting one on before I fell unconscious.”
Vinyl looked back at the desensitized mare. “Um, well when you passed out in the kitchen, you kind of wet yourself. So I may have changed you into one before moving you to bed.”
Octavia blinked a few times, looked at the wet diaper she was wearing, then looked back at Vinyl, all while wearing that same bored expression. “Vinyl, please leave me for the night, I will see you in the morning.”
Not wanting to tempt fate, or cause Octavia to snap, Vinyl got out of the room as quickly as possible. As Vinyl exited the door, closing it behind her, Octavia just sat there. For a while she tried to contemplate what to do, but found that her brain had shut off long ago. Through purely automatic means, Octavia got off the bed. She walked over to her luggage, which she had yet to unpack due to today’s events. After a few seconds, she grabbed a dark green bag. She was quite familiar with the bag, as it was the same one her mother had given her when her problem looked like it wasn’t going away. As she opened it, she noted her mother had filled it with diapers and other supplies just like when she first received it.
Dragging it back to her bed, Octavia pulled out a new diaper, a container of foal powder, and some wipes. Everything was a blur as she quickly repeated the process she had been perfecting for the past week. Before she knew it she was out of the wet diaper and into a dry one. She placed the used diaper in the nearby trash bin and proceeded to lie down in bed. She turned to look at the clock that indicated it was 10:00pm. Her first day was almost over, only 29 days left to go, and it couldn’t have gone worse. Octavia was ready to return back to sleep and play this day off like it never even happened. Before she closed her eyes, something that Vinyl said earlier entered her thoughts.
Wait, she said they could find another DJ, a DJ… With everything said and done, this was the tipping point for Octavia. As if her mind had entered a zen state, and this thought soon shattered her psyche. Her eyes shot open as she yelled at the top of her lungs, “SHE'S A DISK JOCKEY!!!” Octavia reached for her pillow, pulling it over her face. She then let out the loudest scream she could muster, only to have it muffled by the pillow. She continued to yell until she tired herself out from exhaustion and fell back asleep.
***
In another part of the house, on the first floor, Vinyl returned to her own room after the day’s tiring events. She opened the door to be greeted by the mess that constituted her room. Magazines, clothing, fliers, and tools were all scattered on the floor. She expertly navigated the mess that she was so familiar with and made it to her bed. As she got into her bed, she stared at the ceiling, listening to the mare upstairs finally lose her composure for a total of eight seconds.
After it all went quiet, Vinyl began to think to herself. Ahh, you blew it today Vinyl! The first day isn’t even over, and she probably already hates you. Why did you have to act so carelessly! The mare got up, sitting on the edge of her bed. She began to speak out loud, “I need to blow off some steam.” She began to open the top drawer next to her bed, but noticed the letter she placed on her side table the night before. She proceeded to close the drawer and pick up the letter which read:
Dear Miss Vinyl Scratch,
Hello, if you are reading this I want to thank you for looking after my little
Tavi for me. If I am not mistaken, Professor Horseshoepin has requested your help in
getting Tavi back to her old self. I know the professor holds you in high regard. While I
do trust his judgement as her instructor, as her mother I am concerned for my little Tavi’s
well-being.
Ever since she was a little filly, she always loved music, but she always had
difficulty making any friends. And although her music brings her great joy, I would like
her to meet other ponies that genuinely care for her. Recently she had a poor
performance, and the stress is causing her to wet the bed again. I am very sorry to
burden you like this Miss Scratch, but could you please be there for her.
Inside the dark green bag I have included some supplies to help her with her problem.
The professor has told me about your tendencies, and I feel that you are some pony
I can trust with this task.
Please be there for Tavi and help me do the one thing I am unable to do for my little girl,
be her friend.
Forever in your Debt,
Mrs. Melody
P.S. I am sorry for making you do this, but inside the bag I have included the plastic
mattress cover I use on her bed at home, please be sure to place it on her bed before she arrives.
P.P.S. I originally did not want to include this, but there should be a second part attached
to this letter, it will outline a few details that I feel you must know about regarding Tavi. It is
vital that not tell her I told you about any of this. This is my last request, please Vinyl do
this for me.
Vinyl placed the letter back down on the table, her eyes moist from recollection about her own past. Although she was mad at her old waste-of-space instructor for telling a complete stranger about her personal life, she was far more concerned for Octavia and her mother. Reading the letter reminded her of her own mom, whom she missed terribly, and she understood how helpless Octavia’s mom must feel.
Her plan was to show Octavia that she wanted to be her friend, and that she didn’t care about her problem, but she failed. She lost her temper and embarrassed her. She was disappointed in herself and that she failed Mrs. Melody. She knew she had to set things right. Forget Frederick and his stupid academy! Even if she doesn’t want to be friends with me, I will help her make friends. There are plenty of ponies in Ponyville! I am sure I can help her make a friend.
Her energy restored, she once again reached for the top drawer. Opening it, she pulled out a purple pacifier with a large nipple on it. She then proceeded to place it in her mouth and begin sucking on it. She then properly got into bed, thinking to herself. Of all the things playing at those raves got me addicted too, this had to be one of them. As she continued to suck on her pacifier, she sank into a deep sleep.