//------------------------------// // Visitors // Story: The Duchess' Mansion // by PonySage86 //------------------------------// TERESA'S POV Not for the first time since I arrived at Rarity's Mansion I am confused. Rarity, Renee, Sweetie and Sarah are all standing together in front of the mansion, with the apple family and Patty to the left and Bonnie, Lyra, Chylene, and myself to the right, we all seem to be waiting for something. I lean over and ask Rarity. "Are we expecting visitors to the mansion?" "Why yes we are dear, and here they come now" Rarity, speaks as carriage turns the corner and begins coming down the road. "That's a Canterlot carriage, whose visiting? A politician of some sort?" I ask as the carriage begins to park. "Oh no one special really" Rarity and everyone else pull out head phones and put them over their ears as the carriage comes to a complete stop"It's just my cousin" Before I can open my mouth the door to the carriage is slammed open and a loud wave of sound comes rushing out of the carriage, I think it's supposed to be music, but it's so loud I can barely tell. I don't have long to think about anything as I soon find my self on the ground, the last thing I see before losing consciousness is Chylene standing over me. RARITY'S POV "Oh, is she alright?" I ask Chylene as I take my headphones off. "Yes she's OK, unconscious but OK" Chylene says while looking Teresa over, that's good at least. I look over at the elf and human women getting out of the carriage. "I think you had it up to high Vincenza" I say as the elf woman in question walks up to me. "I keep telling you to call me Vinyl Rare" Renee glares at her" What? You're not the only one who can call her that, and besides, if my music was to loud why isn't Tavi wearing headphones huh?" Vincenza says as she walks over, she is wearing black boots, black skin tight pants, and a white tank top, her hair is a shade of blue, with streaks of a lighter blue in it as well and it's as wild as ever, and her ever present purple shades block her eyes. "I am not wearing headphones, because my ears have simply grown numb to that noise you call music Vinyl" 'Tavi' says as she gets her cello case out of the carriage. Octavia is her real name, Vincenza insists on calling her Tavi though. she is wearing a white blouse and a long black skirt, she wears a simple pair of dress shoes and a pink bow-tie around her neck. Her black hair is long and falls almost half way down her torso. She pays the carriage driver before he leaves and then walks over to us. "That's just the excuse you use so you don't have to admit you like my music" Vincenza teases her. "Vinyl, you- my word.....what happened to her?" Octavia asks while pointing at Teresa. "She couldn't handle the wubs, not everyone has developed your tolerance for Vi's volume Tavi" Renee says with a laugh. "Oh man you got a newbie working here? You shoulda told me in your letter Rare, would've taken it easy on her" Everyone just stares at her "OK, that's a lie, I woulda cranked the volume up higher" Vincenza says with a grin. "Yes this is Teresa Sparkle, our new librarian, Jacqueline, Big Mac, could you two take Teresa inside to Chylene's infirmary?" I introduce Teresa, before Big Mac lifts her over his shoulder and Jacqueline gets the door and they head inside with Chylene. "Wait, Teresa Sparkle? Queen Celestia's personal student? I believe I have seen her while performing at the castle. Why is she here?" Octavia questions. "I'll explain over tea, everyone you may go back to work now" "Hey guys! great to see you! Hope you have a fun visit!" Patrica says while jumping around. "We've gotta hang out later OK?It's been to long since we've played together" Lyra says as her and Bonnie head inside. "Nice to see you again Miss Vinyl, Miss Octavia" April says politely before Granny Smith ushers her back inside. "Hey Sweetie, Hey Sarah, how you girls doing?" Vincenza asks as she kneels down to talk to the girls. "Great! It's great to see you again Vinyl!" The girls yell in unison before tackling her to the ground. "Again? Really? This happens every time we visit Vinyl" Octavia says while shaking her head. "You hear that girls? I think Tavi is jealous" Octavia is promptly tackled by cuteness. "Alright girls, head on inside and play with April, me, Rare, Vinyl, and Tavi gotta catch up" Renee picks the girls up and takes them inside. "Well, off to the tea room then" I say with a smile before following Renee inside. TERESA'S POV My head is pounding when I wake up, my eyes open to reveal a white ceiling, titling my head lets me see I'm in Chylene's Infirmary, Chylene is sitting in a nearby chair and notices that I woke up, she smiles before heading over to me. "Oh good, you're awake, Can you hear me OK? I hope Vinyl's music didn't damage your ears" "I can hear you fine. You said Vinyl?" Chylene nods "As in Vinyl Scratch? The famous DJ? How does Rarity know her?" "Well she's Rarity's cousin, her real name is Vincenza Staccato, but she really just prefers everyone call her Vinyl, I. I hope that helps" "Yes it does, thank you Chylene, and don't worry, her music didn't hurt me, I'm sure it won't be long until I look back on this and laugh" "That's good to hear, you know since everyone else already is" Hold on a second. "Beg pardon?" "Well you see um... No one had ever reacted like this to Vinyl's music before, even Octavia the first time she heard it that loud. So most of the staff finds you passing out a little bit well....... funny" Chylene says while slowing hiding more and more behind her hair. "That's just great I-Hold on...Octavia? Octavia Philharmonica? The famous Cellist? Is she here too?" "Well of course she is, her and Vinyl are dating, so it makes sense she'd come with her" Those two are dating? I never would have guessed. "Where are they now? I should properly introduce myself" I get off the infirmary bed and stretch my legs. "Their in the tea room I believe" Chylene opens her door and points to a room down the hall. "Thank you for your help Chylene, have a good day" Chylene gives me a little wave while I walk out the door. It does not take long for me to reach the tea room, I open the door a little and listen for a moment, satisfied that I am not interrupting something more important than idle chit chat I open the door all the way, and immediately all eyes turn towards me. The girl with blue hair, who I recognize as Vinyl Scratch, speaks first. "Hey sleeping beauty, you up? Or just need more wubs to sleep?" Vinyl laughs and Renee does too. Rarity and Octavia at least have the decency to not laugh out loud. "It was a little funny, I have never seen that happen before. You are Teresa Sparkle correct? I am Octavia Philharmonica, a pleasure to meet the Queen's personal student" Octavia said as she stood up from her seat and walked over to shake my hand. Vinyl stood up and walked over too. "Names Vinyl Scratch, Legendary DJ of awesomeness! You may have heard of me" Vinyl says as she shakes my hand vigorously with a big grin on her face. "Yes I have heard of you, I've just never actually heard your music before now, is it always that loud?" "Not always, but very often yes. Vinyl believes that playing her music loudly not only makes it better, but it is somehow a good luck charm" Octavia explains with an amused smile on her face. "It is though, remember, we met because of my music" "Yes because I wanted you to turn it down because I lived across the hall from you and could not hear myself think" "But you gotta admit, my music brought us together Tavi" Tavi? "I will admit that, and I will also admit I would not change anything that has happened between us" "Ummm, excuse me..... Tavi?" Oh, wait, that must be a nickname. "Yes, Tavi, it is a nickname Vinyl gave me after we met" "Yes, Vinyl does have a habit of bestowing nicknames on people. As you may have guessed my cousin is a little eccentric" Rarity explains while taking a sip of her tea. Renee starts laughing and gives Rarity a look that says 'A little?'. "Guilty as charged, but I'll admit, I'm not exactly sure what to do with Teresa Sparkle. You got any ideas Rey" Vinyl says while looking at Renee. "Nope, but I'm sure you'll figure something out Vi" Renee says while refilling Rarity's tea cup. "Come now dears, everyone take a seat, it's much nicer to sit than to stand while having a conversation" Rarity says while gesturing everyone to sit down. Vinyl sits down on the couch across from Rarity and Renee with Octavia to her left. After a moments hesitation, I sit down to Vinyl's right. "Now where were we? Ah yes, Octavia, you were telling us about your up coming performance?" Rarity inquires as Octavia picks up her cup. "Yes, well it is quite surprising actually, I am to do a solo performance for Queen Celestia and Luna, I know I have gathered some fame in the past few years. But the royal sisters actually requested me personally. I am not entirely sure why" Octavia explains while drinking her tea, Vinyl gives her an 'are you serious' look. "Maybe cause you're the greatest cello player ever? You really gotta give yourself more credit Tavi" Vinyl reassures Octavia by wrapping her arm around Octavia's shoulder. Octavia has a small blush on her face. "Oh,what piece will you be playing for them? perhaps you could play it for us? I'm sure you'll want to practice before the show" "I can do that, give me a moment to get my cello from our room" Octavia stands and begins to leave. Rarity and Renee watch her leave, and once the door closes they turn to Vinyl with large grins on their faces. "Now that she's gone, we have a very important question for you Vincenza" "Shoot Rare" Vinyl says nonchalantly before sipping her tea. "You popped the question yet Vi?" Renee asks, causing Vinyl to somehow start choking on her tea, after a few coughs she calms down. "W-what question do you mean Rey?" Vinyl asks with an uneasy smile on her face. "Will I be getting a new cousin soon? Octavia Staccato sounds nice enough doesn't it Renee?" Rarity says calmly, causing Renee to nod her head and Vinyl to begin laughing nervously. "Ahhahaha. hahahahahahaha. y-you guys are hilarious, quit joking around" Vinyl waves her hand dismissively while still laughing. "My word, do you find being with Octavia that bad?" "What? Of course not, I love being with Tavi, she's awesome! I'm just.....not ready yet" Vinyl starts strong, but gets quiet near the end. Renee reaches over and grabs Vinyl's hand. "It's OK Vi, Tavi will wait as long as you need" Renee smiles and Vinyl smiles with her. "Really now Vincenza, must we go through this every time you and Octavia visit?"Rarity asks while casually sipping her tea. "You started it Rare, you and Rey asked me that the very first time I brought Tavi here" "Nothing wrong with being curious Vincenza" "We weren't even dating yet" Vinyl deadpans. "We were just having fun Vi" "You've been pretty quiet Teresa, kinda forgot you were here" Renee says with a laugh while looking at me. "Yeah, how bout you? You got anyone special we can tease you about?" Vinyl says, causing everyone to lean towards me. "Well, no not really. I don't get out much, if I didn't want to come meet you and Tavi I probably would have just gone to read books in the library" I explain while drinking my tea. before the conversation can continue, the doors to the tea room open and Octavia walks in with her cello case on her back. "Sorry it took me so long, I had to look over my music sheet before I came back" Octavia explains while she takes her cello out of it's case and sets it up. "Where is your music sheet? It doesn't look like you have it" Octavia just smiles as she readies her bow. "I do not require it, I make it a point to memorize all pieces I play. Now, tell me what you think" Octavia closes her eyes and begins to play. It is a lovely piece, everyone sits in silence as Octavia plays, I've heard her play before, but never in a solo. Now I can understand why she is so popular. Octavia stops playing sooner than I would like. "It is not quite ready, I shall make some revisions later" Octavia says as she puts her cello away. "Wonderful as always dear, you certainly are the best" Rarity says, Renee and Vinyl are quick to give their own compliments, I join in as well. "Thank you, that means a lot coming from you three" Octavia smiles before sitting down next to Vinyl. "Well we've taken up enough of your time dears, we can't be sitting in here all day, I'm sure the others are very anxious to speak with you again" "Yeah, Patty will probably bounce off the walls she's so excited" Renee says with a laugh. I'm about to ask why, when Octavia cuts me off. "So you are not confused Ms.Sparkle, Patricia is in fact my cousin. I am aware we are not very similar, but none the less she is a part of my family" Octavia explains, not looking to happy that the things she's saying are true. "Better not leave her waiting then right Tavi?" Vinyl laughs while getting up, Octavia recovers her cello before her and Vinyl leave the room. "It is so much fun having them around" Rarity says with a smile. "You said it Rare, now if you ladies will excuse me, me and the girls are planning a prank for our musical lovebirds. I'm gonna go see what the kids have got so far" Renee says before leaving the room. "Well, I should probably get going too-" "Hold it right there" "Rarity?" "I have a-" Rarity sips from her tea before continuing "-Special assignment for you Teresa dear" "Uh......What's that?" "You're going to help me" She grins at me "With my paper work" "Do I have to?" "It's one of your jobs as librarian" Rarity explains as she stands up and heads for the door. "Just keep in mind if I'm not satisfied with your performance you're fired" she says as she opens the door, and before she closes it she says "My study, ten minutes, no pressure" OCTAVIA'S POV "Alright! Let's play!" Me and Lyra begin playing,Me standing and Lyra sitting on a chair. We are currently playing music in the mansion's kitchen. luckily for me Patricia and Bonnie are caught up in their little food war for dinner preparation. Currently the warring factions have a truce, but that will only last until me and Lyra stop playing, giving them time to plan a strategy. Mid battle musical numbers I find quite odd, but the longer I can prolong dealing with my cousin's odd behavior the better. our song soon comes to a close, and as Vinyl is the only person in here who is not currently playing an instrument or fighting, she is the only one to applaud. "Nice work guys, but could you play something a bit less.....slow maybe?" Vinyl inquires after clapping, I look to Lyra. "Is there any piece you could suggest?" She rubs her chin with her free hand before snapping her fingers and pulling a note sheet out of a bag next to her foot, she hands it over to me and I look it over. "Ah yes, I remember this one, Patricia composed it right? Very well" I hand the paper back over to Lyra before making the appropriate adjustments to my cello, I look over to Lyra and she gives me a nod. and so It begins. I will never understand this song, I am fairly certain it doesn't even sound like a cello and a lyre are playing it, I suppose this has something to do with Patricia and her general oddness. I tend not to question things when she is involved. The song is not to long and me and Lyra soon finish, Vinyl once again applauds. "I believe that will do for now" I look out onto the kitchen made battlefield and the women hiding in it "I suppose you two may continue now" And there are the magic words. Bonnie and Patricia pop out from behind their table shields and begin fighting. Me and Lyra put our instruments away. and I sit down in a chair next to Vinyl. Vinyl is the first to speak. "So Lyra, you were telling us about your theory? About these.....ponies was it?" Lyra grins from ear to ear. "Yes, but these are no ordinary ponies, their fur and manes can be all kinds of different colors. They come in three different races, like us, Earth ponies to humans, unicorns to elves and Pegasus to Avians. I have reason to believe that these ponies are very intelligent creatures, rivaling even us, they may even have their own civilizations and businesses. It's all so fascinating, especially their hooves! Their not like normal horse hooves, their fairly different actually, you see-" It is at this moment I begin to tune Lyra out, I care for my friend dearly, but there is only so much of her crazy theories about ponies and hooves that I can handle at once. She's even said they might exist in some parallel world, and some of them somehow found their way here. She even accuses the Queen of knowing something about it. I look to Vinyl, hoping we can find a way to change the topic of conversation. But she has fallen asleep, and Lyra barely seems to register other people in the room at all she is so caught up in her talk of ponies. I suppose that means I must find a way to entertain myself. "K.O! Oh yeah! I'm the best! Patty's the best!" Patricia begins hoping up and down with a defeated Bonnie on the floor, I guess the fight is over. "Well done Patricia, are you alright Bonnie?" I ask as Lyra hurries over to help Bonnie, Bonnie gives a little nod. Patricia quickly runs over to me and gives me a rather strong bear hug. "Tavi It's so good to see you, I wanted to do this earlier but I knew that Rarity and Renee would wanna talk to you so I had to wait, but then it was time to prepare dinner so I had to wait even longer and I thought I was going to explode from over excitement, which isn't the first time I've thought that was going to happen, like this one time I was making this delicious cake and I was so excited about eating it that I couldn't wait, but that's beside the point because my favorite cousin is back and I can finally give you your welcome hug!!" Patricia says at an incredibly fast pace. Good Goddesses woman use a period. Vinyl just laughs a me. 'You're next Vinyl" Patricia says in a mock threatening tone. "It is nice to see you as well Patricia, how have you been?" I ask, trying to break free from her vice like grip. "I keep telling you to call me Patty, but any way I've been great Tavi, nothing but fun, fun, fun around here, I heard you and Lyra play my piece. I knew you really liked it." She says with a grin. "I never said I did not like it Patricia, all I told you before was that it makes no sense how our instruments sound like that while playing it." I see Lyra and Bonnie walking over. "Are you OK Bonnie? I am afraid I missed the end of the battle" "Perfectly fine trust me, I just need to rest for a minute" Bonnie explains as she takes a seat. Lyra sits next to her, Vinyl looks at me from her seat and chuckles. "Patricia, if you would be so kind as to stop hugging me so I may sit down? Maybe we can have a conversation before you begin cooking?" Patricia nods her head rapidly and releases me, I sit back down as Patricia runs off and brings back. Two seats? "Are you expecting company Patricia?" She simply looks at the chair she has placed next to her own, then looks at me and shakes her head. I decide not to question her behavior. "So how you all been? Anything interesting happen while we've been gone?" Vinyl asks to prevent silence from reigning for any amount of time. "Pretty well, I've actually managed to win some fights with Patty, so that was pretty cool, I've also made some new recipes for candy, here try some" Bonnie explains before reaching into her pockets and pulling out varies candy that she passes to everyone. As always it is delicious. "I've been working on and have made some compositions, I was kinda hoping you could show them to your orchestra Tavi" Lyra says before handing me some music sheets. "These songs are lovely Lyra, such a shame my orchestra doesn't have a player as talented as you to help me play them, but it will sound wonderful anyway, thank you for your assistance" I give Lyra a smile, my orchestra in fact does not have a lyre player at all, our harpist is talented no doubt, but he is no Lyra, a little disappointing as Lyra's compositions often involve her more personal playing style, still she prefers it here with Bonnie, so we will make do without her. "I already told you I've been great Tavi! Wish you'd call me Patty though, but anyway, there's always something fun to do around here, someone to talk to or prank "One of Patricia's ears twitch"Or someone to ki-" Patricia pauses and glares at the empty seat for a moment before looking at me with her smile back on her face"Or someone to kincoct strategy's to beat Bonnie with" "You men Concoct do you not Patricia?" "Oh is that how it's pronounced? Thanks Tavi, now pretty please call me Patty? I really. really, really prefer being called Patty" Patricia says with the biggest puppy dog eyes I've ever seen. I sigh before responding" Very well Patty, you know I do not like using nicknames, but if it is that important to you I shall call you that" Yes, the girl who everyone calls by her nickname doesn't like nicknames, how ironic. And that is much how the day progressed, Me,Vinyl,Lyra,Bonnie and Patty sitting around talking, taking breaks so Patty and Bonnie could cook, and also taking breaks during meal times, but for the most part we just sat around and talked. Reminisced about the past,me and Patty told stories of when we were kids growing up in Ponyville, to sum up, we reconnected, we caught up, we had fun. I always enjoying visiting this Mansion TERESA'S POV I read books, that is what I consider fun, I also study and research all kinds of things, I once put two different chemicals on two halves of a stretch of land in the castle gardens and literally watched grass grow. I thought that was fun, I enjoyed that week of research. I find many things people find boring fun. Rarity's paperwork is the most boring thing I've ever done. It is not fun. I didn't think much of it at first since she only gets forms from Ponyville and it's a small town. But the residents don't seem to understand that they don't need the Duchess' permission on everything, There are papers asking for permission to fix windows, buy carriages, trade goods, even people asking if it's OK to take a sick day from work. "Rarity, I have a quote 'Booze refill form' from a Miss Beatrice Punch?" "Yes, she's the town's bartender, she needs to restock her alcohol, remember, you can just stamp forms that are asking for home repair or business necessities with my 'approved' stamp dear" Rarity explain's while signing papers, apparently I'm dealing with all the minor stuff that can be stamped, but still has to be read through, while Rarity has the more important forms that need to be signed. We continue like this for quite awhile, I'm amazed at how many tiny things people seek an OK on. I begin to wonder if these people all just decided to send Rarity a bunch of paper work as some kind of practical joke, but that doesn't seem very likely. Currently I'm reading a form where a man named Carl Caramel Is asking for a sick day, I raise the stamp but as I begin to lower it, the form is surrounded by a diamond shaped barrier, I look up at Rarity and she's frowning. "What do you think you're doing?" "Umm....Stamping?" "I hope that's not what you were doing, because Mr.Caramel has already used up all his sick days for the year" The diamond barrier lifts off of the paper and becomes an arrow pointing towards a cabinet "When the matter involves someone's health, such as asking for a sick day or receiving medicine for an ailment of some kind, you must check the person's file, to make sure what their asking for matches up with the information we have, it seems I forgot to mention this to you earlier so I'll let you off the hook, but please use the cabinet when necessary Ms.Sparkle, now please stamp Mr.Caramel's form 'disapproved' and let's move on" With that all said, Rarity returns to her paperwork, I sheepishly grab the other stamp and stamp the form before continuing with my work. I'm a little embarrassed now, I got so into the routine of reading and approving that I almost made a mistake. I return to my work and I'm over half way done when Rarity puts the form she just signed into the signed pile before clapping her hands and causing a small pulse of magic, it doesn't seem to do anything, but then Renee enters the study a few minutes later, the diamond emblem of her chest armor glowing softly. "You need something Rare?" Renee asks as she enters. "Yes, I have just concluded my paperwork for the evening and was hoping we could how you say 'Hang out' for awhile" "Well Duh! Like you need to ask, let's go" Renee gestures for Rarity to come with her and the two depart together, Rarity wishes me the best in concluding my paperwork before it's time for bed as she exits the room. I sigh before turning back to my work and reading the next form. "Your sending a form to ask if it's OK to send forms to ask if stuff is OK? That's- thinking about it, that kinda sounds like something I did once....weird" It's going to be a long night.