“I’m truly sorry for her behavior,” Perfect Portrait—Vinyl’s mother—said as she pushed an ice pack to Octavia’s head. “She’s not usually this,” she twirled her hoof as she looked up in thought to find the right word. “Much,” she decided.
“But she isn’t entirely to blame,” Octavia’s mother chimed in, turning a stern look at her daughter, causing her to wince in expectation of the coming chewing out. “You should know better than to act like that, Octavia! Purposely antagonizing her while she obviously wasn’t in complete control of her faculties.”
“Miss Duster, it doesn’t seem fair to Octavia to blame her for Vinyls actions. She was obviously drunk,” Portrait rebutted.
“Exactly,” the mare replied. “If it was obvious to us, it should have been obvious to Octavia.” The mare in question withered as her mother turned her gaze back to look at her. “So that’s why she’s going to apologize for her her part in tonight’s debacle, isn’t she?”
“But Mom—” Ruby started as Octavia deflated.
“Isn’t she?” Feather Duster interrupted.
“Yes, mother,” the dejected mare said, starting to stand up.
“I hardly think this is necessary,” Vinyl’s mother reiterated.
At that moment, Steady Beat returned to the room. “Vinyl’s in her room. I’m so sorry for what she did. I don’t know what came over her.”
"Oh, Octavia's fine," replied her mother with a dismissive wave of her hoof. "Nothing would have happened if she hadn't provoked her. She'll just go up and apologize to Miss Scratch."
"Uh, you do know she's drunk, right? I'm not sure she'll really want to listen to an apology right now."
"Yes, exactly!" said Octavia loudly, smiling gratefully at him. "I'm sure that if I go up now, anything I say will just make it worse."
Octavia's mother shook her head and pointed towards the stairs. "That doesn't matter. At least if you try you can say you apologised even if she doesn't accept it. She's going to be your sister-in-law, and you had better learn how to get along with her."
"And if she tries to kill me again?" said Octavia icily, glaring up at her mother.
"Just bring her up another beer and she won't lay a hoof on ya," called her father from the other side of the room.
Feather Duster spun around and glared at her husband, but he didn't seem to notice as he continued speaking. With a small laugh, he said "And even if she did, I'm sure my little Tavi could handle her."
"Third Shift," she growled, "I think you should stop talking now."
Third Shift finally noticed his wife glaring at him and shrunk under her gaze. "It was just a joke, dear," he said quietly, staring pointedly at the ground.
Octavia snorted at his behavior and turned towards the stairs. "Mr Beat, would you mind showing me to Vinyl's room?" she asked coolly. "I'd prefer to get this over with quickly."
"S-sure," he stuttered. Quickly, he turned around and started up the stairs with Octavia following him.
They reached the first landing and started up to the second floor in silence. Halfway up these stairs, Steady Beat began to speak. “Look, I’m really sorry for what Vinyl did. She just hasn’t been herself recently. I’ve tried to talk to her but she just,” He gestured helplessly before continuing. “Well, Vinyl just isn’t the best at talking, and even when she wants to, I’m not the best at listening.”
"Well maybe you should take some lessons from my sister. It's always been something she's been," she paused, "exceedingly good at," replied Octavia, still with the cold edge to her voice.
When they reached the second floor, Steady led Octavia to an unassuming wooden door with light streaming through the crack beneath it. When he reached the door, he turned back to look at Octavia embarrassedly, scratching the back of his neck with a hoof. "Look, I'm sure she's really sorry about what happened, please don't stay annoyed at her."
Octavia stared at him for a few seconds before she shook her head and let out a small laugh. "No, I'm not going to be mad at her for long. I still think she's wrong and I stand by what I said before about your music, but she was drunk and really, if someone said that about my music, I would have likely acted the same way. But you? No, I think I shall remain angry with you."
"What? Look, I was drunk, she came on to me. I said I was sorry," protested Steady. "She said it was fine, we're okay."
Octavia snorted. "My sister would forgive you if you tried to murder her. She is the kindest creature on this planet. But you? You made her cry. The last pony who made her cry ended up in hospital for three weeks and I was suspended for most of that school year." She stepped towards him and pressed her nose against his, hiding her satisfaction with practiced ease as his ears flattened and he tried to shrink away from her. "And I have no regrets about that."
Satisfied, she pulled away from him, leaving him standing backed up to the door and shaking. "Fortunately for you," she continued, "I have been asked not to do the same to you. She still thinks you are salvageable—for whatever reason." She smiled at him sweetly. "Now, would you please move so I can get this out of the way and leave?"
Steady nodded dumbly and stepped out of the way. "Thank you," said Octavia, her voice full of derision. She walked over to to the door and took a deep breath, straightening her bow tie before she pushed it open.
When she saw inside the room she almost gasped. It had to be one of the most tidy and organised bedrooms she had ever seen, even more so than hers. No small feat, considering her mother was a maid to a very rich clean freak of a noble.
Everything was neat and seemed to almost shine from spotlessness. It was large, but also rather spartan, not much in it besides a hardwood desk with what looked like her music making equipment taking up most of the space on it, a few bookshelves, a chest of drawers, and a small bed with Vinyl lying down on it looking at the ceiling.
Octavia coughed politely, but the unicorn ignored her, not moving apart from a hoof tapping idly against the bedsheets. She must be listening to something.
Octavia rolled her eyes and walked up to the bed. Looking over Vinyl's prone form, she noticed that Vinyl still had her tinted sunglasses on, and she had put on some headphones which seemed to be pounding in time with Vinyl's hoof taps. She still seemed to be unaware of Octavia's presence.
Octavia waved her hoof over the DJ's face but still received no reaction. Rolling her eyes, she poked one of her outstretched hooves. Vinyl jerked up, her glasses almost falling off her nose and her headphones slipping off her ears to around her neck. Octavia winced at the volume coming through them.
Vinyl pulled her shades the rest of the way off her face and brought her hoof up to rub her eyes. They were still closed the whole time. Octavia realised now that she had never seen her eyes before. Shaking her head and putting them back on, Vinyl seemed to stare at Octavia, her expression unreadable through the large lenses.
“It’s you. What do you want?” she asked, venom in her voice.
Octavia rolled her eyes and held out a hoof in a peaceful gesture before replying, “I was sent up to apologise, so—" she gestured helplessly for a moment "—I’m sorry for insulting your music.”
Vinyl seemed to stare at the hoof for a few seconds before shaking her head and batting the hoof aside. "Nuh uh. You don't mean it. You're just coming up 'cause they made you. Come back when you're actually sorry."
Octavia huffed and pulled back her hoof, an indignant look on her face. "Oh, come off it. I don't want to have to lie to everypony downstairs. Just accept the apology, and you can get back to listening to whatever that noise is meant to be and I'll be out of your mane."
"You think I care about what you want?" she said, crossing her forelegs indignantly. "You insulted pretty much the only thing that I actually have a talent in. You don't even care enough to really apologise."
"Well it's not my fault that your special talent is in something that doesn't require any!"
Vinyl froze for a few seconds, her head turned downwards. Octavia wondered whether she had gone too far. Suddenly, Vinyl raised a hoof and pointed at her door, her eyes still looking downwards. In a small voice—barely above a whisper but harder than the densest iron—she said, "Out."
Octavia blinked. "I beg your pardon?"
"Get out." she replied slightly louder, looking up.
The unbroken gaze that the mare's mirrored shades gave her unnerved Octavia slightly, and she shifted in place for a moment before steeling herself. She planted her feet feet firmly and took a deep breath before saying, "No, I'm not leaving until you accept the apology."
Vinyl let out a hollow laugh. "You really don't get it, do you? You think I'll take your apology? All you've done is insult me and make one half assed apology. And while I'm talking about you, at least—" Vinyl stopped in mid sentence and took a shaky breath. “Just leave.”
Octavia arched an eyebrow. “Make me.”
I wonder if this is what pegasi feel like, Octavia couldn’t help but think as she felt all four of her feet off the ground.
Her reverie, however, was short lived as gravity re-asserted itself, bringing her shoulder down on the edge of a stair. Hard. She half-bounced, half-slid down the remaining stairs, settling to a stop at the feet of the surprised families of both mares. Vinyl turned around without saying a word and returned to her room, with headphones repositioned and a slight stumble.
There was a surprised moment of silence throughout the house, broken at a length by the mare laying unceremoniously on the floor.
“Ow.”