//------------------------------//
// Spiral 
// Story: The Tunes Are A-Changin' 
// by ShadeJak 
//------------------------------//

	Several hours later Tavi and I had gotten through to the end of the third season, as well as the movie that had followed. I suppose I can see why the show had its appeal and went a couple decades past its intended audience, but it wasn’t really my thing.

Of course, that could have just been because both of us knew behind this sugar bowl show something seriously fucked up had happened with the villain who I noticed was voiced by Q from Star Trek. If he’d reformed, what happened that made all this happen? Hell, how could a TV show be real?

That, and another pressing issue…

"Not one scene dedicated to us? Not one speaking role?!" Tavi asked indignantly as she finished an apple slice. “Three seasons and a movie in and not a word from either of our representations on here?”

"Tavi, cool down, babe…" I said, patting her shoulder with my forehoof.

“You… or human girl-you in the movie had plenty of screentime and she didn’t say anything either!” she continued. The movie was certainly a departure in setting from the series, but otherwise didn’t seem any better or worse then the show.

“Uhhh…” I attempted, but was at a loss of words.

“All the version of me in the cartoon does is stand in the background playing cello,” she protested. "We’re not going to learn anything about ourselves this way, Vinyl!"

“Babe, what’re you getting at?” I asked, cocking my head in confusion as I looked over at her.

"How does anyone know how to characterize us?" she demanded.

Okay, good point. It was a little odd from what I saw on the wiki could come from two characters that seemed to just be eye candy for the background. I had a scene here or there, but nothing that really stood out aside from being there for fans to spot in a crowd. For the most part all Tavi was seen doing was being part of an orchestra. "Babe..." I began.

"I am angry, Vinyl!" Tavi said, gritting her teeth.

"Ok but wait, wait just hear me out,” I explained, raising my hooves up defensively. "What if... we're not turning into ponies from the show?"

Octavia gave me the deadpan stare I always got when I said something stupid. "Have you looked in the mirror lately?" she asked in an equally deadpan tone.

"No, no, that explains why the ponies we turned into are so similar to us. All that Discord dick had to go by was a... a name, and what, a trading card? That's the only thing that really changed, is our names!" I explained.

"So what you are saying is that, aside from the name Octavia Melody is not like me because I was destined to be her, but..." Tavi began, narrowing one eye and raising her eyebrow as she waited for me to finish.

"Because she was based on you all along!" I finished with a grin, reclining against the armrest.

A moment of silence followed before Octavia spoke again. “Vinyl… that makes absolutely no bleeding sense…” she said. “This show existed since 2010. We were born in 1995. Fifteen years apart. I don’t seem to recall any random encounters with the show’s creator where I’d give her my life story,” she explained. “Look, if there’s one thing that links all of this it’s that people who claimed to have it happening to them that we are to assume aren’t daft fans going through a disturbing level of wish fulfillment were all turning twenty-five when it started…” she looked back at the tv, where Season 4’s premiere waited to be switched on. “I don’t think we’re going to learn anything else from the show; it’s quite evident neither of the ponies we turned into are particularly important. We may have to look online for answers.”

“Fine, fine. I guess that is kinda out-there,” I replied, sighing a little. “I mean, when I saw the stuff about us—I mean, Vinyl and Octavia on the card profiles, it seemed a little close to home…” I explained. “I mean, it said Octavia was a cellist from high society, that Vinyl was a deejay who loved techno and modern music, and suggested they were close.”

“It called them friends, Vinyl,” Octavia replied with an eyeroll. “I think we’ve progressed slightly further then that.”

“Well, there’s only so much one can get away with in a show aimed for young girls,” I said, hopping down from the couch and nudging the on switch to our desktop with my hoof. With a little struggle, I managed to get onto the chair, moving to the side so Tavi could try and fit with me, but it proved a mistake that resulted in me falling on my face. “Not a word…” I muttered, blowing my mane out of my face and receiving the inevitable giggles from my girlfriend.

A few tries later and she sat in my lap, my forelegs around her as I leaned against the backrest. In a way, the decrease in size had its advantages; this being one of them. Even Tavi seemed not to mind so much as she attempted to move the mouse with her forehoof. It took a few attempts but I managed to float a pen over the keyboard to type in the names so we could do the search and soon we were on the page for Vinyl Scratch, or as she was apparently also called, “DJ PON-3”. What kind of ridiculous name is that, anyway? Yeah I was over-the-top when I was deejaying for clubs but I never really considered myself big enough for a stage name. Then again, I’m sure if I called myself something like “V-1 Cee” Livvy would have probably gone to desperate lengths to get me to change it.

“It figures,” Octavia said. “So it looks like you had an entire scene dedicated to the Equestria Girls version of you to promote the second movie, but you…” her ears drooped. “…still remain stoic as ever.”

“C’mon, Tavi! There’s gotta be something out there that expands on us a little! I mean, like I said, there’s only so much a kid’s show’s gonna get away with even in a more progressive time like this!” I said. “Maybe the fans picked up on something?”

“I’m not sure looking at fan material is such a good idea, Vinyl,” my girlfriend said, turning and looking at me, worried.

“Aww, c’mon, babe! How bad can it possibly be?” I asked with a grin, using my magic to move the mouse to the back tab and doing a new search.

~

“Uhhh… Tavi? You’re not backing outta this,” I muttered, my eyes wide as could be as my gaze remained fixed on the monitor screen.

“…I’m worried if I touch anything I’ll contract some ghastly infection,” Tavi replied, also frozen in place.

Seeing no other way to get the image that had made even someone like me uncomfortable I used my magic to try and move the mouse to the back tab. Click, dammit! CLICK! I thought to myself angrily as I focused on it, knowing every second was another second for the image to burn into my poor girlfriend’s mind. With just an extra bit of will, the mouse clicked and we were free.

“Oh, thank god!” Octavia gasped in relief, brushing back her mane with her forehoof.

“Do you think unicorns really use their horns for—” I began.

“NO! DON’T! Please, Vinyl. The image was bad enough, no questions!” my girlfriend snapped, cutting me off. “What is wrong with this bloody fanbase?!” she fumed, “Is there any hope they could come up with something a little more mature? In the tasteful sense, I mean?”

I sighed, knowing we were basically diving back into the shark tank but we needed answers. Using my magic, I got a new search made. Thankfully this one lead us to results Octavia could handle; countless fanart and vectors of… us… nothing smutty but more just… dunno the word… tender, I guess. Like a feel-good romance novel’s pictures that I couldn’t help but get the warm fuzzies over.

“You’re getting good at this, you know…”

“Hm?” I looked down at my girlfriend.

“That magic you have,” she explained. “You’ve only had it for a day, now, and you’re progressing rather remarkably.”

I winced at that. Why DID it seem so easy… so… natural for me? I’d been trying not to think about it, but Discord’s words had made more and more sense. This… body I was now wearing… a part of me felt so good like this, but whenever the thought crossed my mind it made me feel sick to my stomach soon after. I couldn’t live as an alien horse-thing! Even with the talk we had, I wasn’t going to just throw away everything that defined who I was.

…But what DID define who I was and what was just a part of who Vinyl Scratch was? Fans could come to some crazy theories, and with the two of us as ponies who barely got any development in the show, maybe it wasn’t too hard a stretch to say all was fair in what defined who they were. Still, some things seemed pretty consistent. Vinyl was a deejay, into modern music like techno, metal and punk rock, remixing, and the like. She was eccentric and playful, just like I would be if I wasn’t having identity problems. Octavia was posh, sophisticated, refined, and was apparently from the kingdom of Canterlot, which was basically the peak of upper-class lifestyle in this world of Equestria. They were a lot like us, right down to their special talents they were known for.

Equestria was real, but how did it end up getting a show made about it? Why did it take so long to happen if we'd somehow been connected to it since we were born? Why were there previous versions that hadn’t been used?

My thoughts were derailed as Tavi accessed a video called Epic Wub Time, which made me forget all about what I’d been thinking. I had to admit, it was pretty impressive for fan work. The voices were surprisingly accurate and the personalities were, too, the one difference was they were more depicted as odd-couple roommates. Other videos, however, played it differently and more… intimately.

“Hm, wonder if I really can make a bass cannon,” I mused. “What I could do with that to this Discord freak and those stupid cops next time they give us trouble!”

“Vinyl, I may not be a major in engineering or technological sciences, but even I can tell something with that much power would sooner throw you halfway across town with the recoil alone then obliterate an opponent,” my girlfriend said dryly.

“Aw crush my dreams, why doncha?” I asked with an eyeroll. “What’re you gonna do? Serenade them with your classical music till they fall asleep?”

“As opposed to making their ears bleed with random noises and beats that schoolchildren pass as music these days?” Tavi asked.

“Hey, at least my music appeals to the new generation. Yours just plays in stuffy old mens’ studies!” I replied, grinning.
“I’ll have you know that Beethoven had more musical talent in his bloody nosehairs then your Daft Maws or Dead Punks!” she snapped smugly. Okay, it was on, now…

“Talent for helping people like me fight insomnia!” I shouted, my muzzle pushing against hers.

“As opposed to wishing for deafness!” she yelled, pushing back.

A second passed, both of us huffing in eachother’s faces on the lounge chair, still holding one-another to keep from falling off. And then, the other shoe dropped and we did the only thing we could think to do.

We laughed. Granted she simply held her hoof to her mouth and laughed more softly while I just let loose, causing both of us to fall from the chair to the floor.

“Is it odd that this all seems so normal… even like this?” Tavi asked me after another moment of silence.

"Yeah, it kinda does... but after all this I'm not gonna complain," I said with a smile. “I dunno about you, but suddenly I’m really hungry,” I said, climbing off her. “You know, I’m in the mood for a pizza, how about you?” I asked, floating my phone from the coffee table and nudging it open with my forehoof. “I may be stuck like this but it doesn’t mean I can’t still enjoy pizza… just gotta remember no pepperoni anymore,” I muttered bitterly.

“Vinyl? Say you do happen to order one, how do you expect to explain everything to the delivery boy when a small, white, talking unicorn with a blue mane answers the door? Either way one of us is going to need to,” my girlfriend asked.

Shit. I hadn’t really thought about that. “Look, I kinda have this feeling the only way we're gonna get food now till we figure out how to cook without hands is by ordering out,” I said, carefully getting to the number of the pizza place on my speed dial. Two minutes later, my order was secure and paid.

“I can not believe you did that,” Octavia said flatly as I walked past her and lay down.

“Why?” I asked. “Look, all we gotta do is slide out the money for him to take through the mail slot and grab the pizza soon as he leaves!"

"What we need some idea of what to do next and...” Octavia began, and my eyes immediately widened.

“Aw FUCK ME…” I shouted.

“What?”

“My gig! I’m supposed to have a gig tonight!” I said, scrambling back up on my hooves and pacing back and forth. “Dammit, how am I gonna go there like this?!”

It was Tavi’s turn to go pale, or as pale as she could under a slate-gray fur coat.

“Orchestra practice. They’re going to drop me if I miss out again, especially after last time when I left early!”

Crap, now she was panicking. "Hey, babe, let's just be calm about this... it's not gonna get any crazier on its own," I replied, trying to calm down.

As if to answer what I'd just said, my phone immediately started ringing. “Oh god, PLEASE don’t be Jay, please oh please oh PLEASE don’t be Jay…” I muttered, slowly approaching and sure enough, God was not on my side. I could say that Jay and I were on pretty good terms, practically buddies as he owned a club and helped me get a couple gigs there when times were slow for me… hell I’d been working on one when my hair first started going blue. He was pretty cool but I also knew he was the type who kept calling till I picked up. I looked at Octavia, who sat down and raised her hooves indicating she’d be unable to answer it herself. Sighing, I floated the phone up and opened it. With any luck he might mistake me for her.

“Hey,” I said.

“Olivia? Is that you?” I heard Jay’s voice ask on the other end of the phone. Right...it'd slipped my mind for a second that II now had a girl's voice; came with the girl parts and everything else about me that now fit the female gender.

“Uh yeah, yeah it is! How might you be?” I asked, trying and failing miserably to sound as British as possible in my state of panic.

“Look, is Vic there, I need to talk with him about that gig he was preparing for my club tonight,” he replied.

“Uh… look… he’s… really not feeling well, he’s come down with a rather alarming illness,” I said, still trying to keep up my impression of my girlfriend, and judging from the facehoof she was making I could see she was not particularly impressed by it.

“Seriously? Now? I can’t cancel on this short a notice! I got a full house!” he replied, clearly freaked to hell, not that I could blame him. If I’d had the sense to call yesterday or the day before it would have gone more smoothly but now… god I was fucked like a cabin boy on a pirate ship. How was I gonna explain I turned into a female horse alien?

“Look, I don’t know how to fuckin’ say this but this isn’t a good time!” I said, promptly slapping my hoof to my mouth when I realized I’d severely broke character. Not once in the many years Olivia and I had been together did she ever use words like that.

“…Vic?! Is this some kinda joke?!” Jay asked. “Dude, I dunno why you're doing funny voices at a time like this, but you’re my buddy and all, so I can let this slide this once. Look, I’ll be right over, if you’re so serious you can’t make it I can at least pick up the tracks and get one of the guys to play it if you can write some directions for them. I’m in a really serious crunch here, canceling is completely outta the question!”

“I… I…” I stammered, and heard the phone go silent signifying the call was over.

“Vinyl?” Octavia asked, cocking her head as she looked at me. I released my magical grip on the phone and let it fall on the carpeted floor and silently climbed on to the sofa, where I proceeded to lay down, draw in a deep breath, hug the nearest pillow to my face, and let loose every swear word I knew as loudly as I could, my hind legs kicking and flailing about as they threatened to dig into the cushions while I continued to vent out my anger and frustration that managed to go from bad to 7th Circle of Hell in the last few minutes; a lone, logical thought passing through my mind as quickly as it had come to be replaced by more anger.

I was really gonna need that pizza by the time this was over…