Octavia woke the next morning in a strange bed, that was not her own. She looked around for anything familiar, and was gifted by the sight of Vinyl asleep on the couch, in a position that would make master gymnasts envious. Octavia moved to get out of the bed, only to have a huge amount of blood rush to her head causing her to groan in pain, she couldn't quite remember the night before, but judging from her headache, it had involved copious amounts of alcohol. With great effort, Octavia pulled herself out of bed, and stumbled into the adjoining room which she assumed was the bathroom, she pushed the pile of records off the sink, and clutched onto the sink, desperately trying to hold back her vomit, a task at which she unfortunately failed.
Octavia searched the cabinet above the sink for anything that would help with her hangover, or at least take the taste of her stomach contents out of her mouth. If she ever saw another bottle of alcohol again, it would be far too soon. Octavia was stopped from her search when Vinyl walked in like a creature that had risen from the dead.
“How much did you drink” Octavia asked
“Huh, what, I barely managed to get a single drink in last night” Vinyl replied
“Then why do you look like Discord used you to clean his lavatory” Octavia asked
“Hey! This is what I usually look like in the mornings” Vinyl retorted
“Not so loud, you’re making my head split open” Octavia groaned
“Aww, looks like little Tavi can’t hold her liquor” Vinyl chuckled, if looks could kill, Vinyl would have been a dead mare, but needless to say, she had received her fair share of nasty looks in her career, and so she barely even noticed Octavia’s glare.
“If you need something for that hangover, I think there’s something in my bedside table” Vinyl said
“Thank you, I shall get it immediately” Octavia replied in relief
“Um, no actually I’ll get it, there’s some stuff in that table that I’d rather you didn’t see” Vinyl replied
“Whatever, just be quick” Octavia snapped
“No need to be so prude Tavi” Vinyl said
“And don’t call me that” Octavia shouted
“You didn't seem to mind last night” Vinyl said, and promptly ducked and retreated from the room before Octavia could find something to throw. After hours of tiptoeing around each other, Octavia felt well enough to attempt civilized communication for an extended period of time, and once Vinyl was certain that her organs were not at risk, she brought Octavia up to speed on the events that had transpired the night before.
“To sum it up, you got drunk while I was on stage, and blew away about 1500 bits on chardoneigh” Vinyl proclaimed
“1500 bits! How did I even drink that much” Octavia exclaimed
“I have no idea, I was on stage for most of it” Vinyl replied
“Well, how are we going to pay that off” Octavia asked
“We could try this” vinyl said as she handed Octavia a flyer. It said: “FREDDIE MARECUREY PRESENTS: THE EQUESTRIA MUSIC COMPETITION, come and test your music to see who shall be crowned EQUESTRIAS BEST MUSICIAN, 10,000 BIT PRIZE POOL.
“Are you suggesting we win this” Octavia asked
“Well, we don’t have to win it, I mean; we only need enough to pay off the debt” Vinyl replied
“Well I can certainly win this” Octavia retorted
“I don’t think so, Lyra is entering this as well” Vinyl said
Octavia felt herself bristle in fury, Lyra was the only musician in Equestria she considered her equal, and she was also the pony who had stolen the Canterlot musical Award from her
“Lyra was simply lucky during the finals, nothing more” Octavia said indignantly
“Sure, believe what you want Tavi, but are we entering this” Vinyl said. Octavia felt the tips of her ears go red, as much as she hated to admit it, that name was growing on her, and she was utterly convinced that she would never be able to get Vinyl to stop using it anyway.
“Very well, it will be the perfect opportunity to show that foolish unicorn who the better pony is!” Octavia said
“I figured you’d say that, there’s just one thing, but it shouldn't be a problem, I was going to enter myself, but apparently the solo contest is filled up, only the duo contest still has spots. Octavia screamed mentally, of course all her friends had tours at the moment, that was the only reason she had wanted to see this confounded mare in front of her, she racked her mind desperately for anyone that she might be able to get to help her.
“It’s unfortunate, but I don’t believe that I will able to participate then” Octavia eventually said
“I was going to ask neon last night myself, but he was too drunk, and I doubt he’ll have sobered up properly in time to prepare” Vinyl said “but I have an idea that is so crazy it might work” she continued
“What on earth did you have in mind” Octavia asked intrigued despite her better nature
“Well, I’m willing to bet the judges will have never seen a combination of dubstep and classical” Vinyl said with a glint in her eye that made Octavia very nervous
“What exactly are you suggesting Vinyl” Octavia said with a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach
“Well, neither of us have partners, and we both have a reason to win this, so why don’t we team up” Vinyl said. Octavia searched her mind for any other ideas, but finding none, she was forced to consider the DJ’s proposal
“Seeing as I have no alternative, I will accept your offer, however I must demand that you do not embarrass me” Octavia said
“Alright! Let’s get to practicing” Vinyl said with a grin that was worthy of discord himself, Octavia had a feeling that this could only end in disaster, she only hoped that she was wrong, and that the crazy DJ she was looking at was actually the pinnacle of maturity. She highly doubted it.