Chapter 7
"This is it?" Octavia questioned Quake as the two sauntered towards a house.
"Yup that's her alright. How do I look?" Quake jokingly asked.
Through her broken breathing pattern she had developed from hauling the two of them up the steep hill she replied, "Like trash."
The two shared a laugh that was highlighted from the clanging of wind chimes that hung suspended from a wire in front of Quake's home. The house was a two story, victorian styling. Support beams covered in white, slightly chipped, pant accented the overhead roof that led in front of the entrance. The entrance way was a massive entity split between two wooden doors, one could pick and choose which to enter or exit from. A large window displayed a warm homely setting on the inside where Octavia could make out Quakes wife in her chair sitting next to a lit fire place, focusing on her book.
"Look." Quake spoke up. Octavia turned her attention from the house back to the stallion. "My wife is known for... Being a bit over dramatic. If I look half as bad as I think I do, then she's gonna get hysterical. Best let me do all the talking for a bit alright?"
"Uh, sure yeah." Octavia responded as they reached the door to the house.
Quake padded himself all over his body a few times before slumping his head down and muttering a curse. Lifting his head back he looked at Octavia with an ironic smile. "Seems I've lost my keys somewhere along this trek. Just my luck huh?" He chuckled slightly along with Octavia before he cleared his throat. He straightened his back up a bit and knocked the door several times.
An immediate motion was heard from the other side, heading closer and closer. The door creaked open a bit. All that could be seen was a small slit of the inside accompanied with a sliver of a face and one full blue eye peering through. Without even a second passing by, the door slung fully open and an audible gasp could be heard from the mare inside as she put a hoof to her mouth.
"Hi honey." Quake said as warmly as possible before a knee jerk slap struck him across the face. The stallion quickly fell to the ground from Octavia's grip.
"Oh crap, you alright Quake?!" Octavia cried as she reached down towards the stallion.
****
"I mean, it's not my fault right?! I-I mean, come on! That stuck up...Prissy... Annoying, know it all! Gah!" Vinyl cried aloud as she flailed her hooves over her head before letting them fall behind her head, slinging over the bus stops bench, almost hitting her new found friend. Her eyes focusing at the sky above before she looked over at a hefty mare, half way in a fetal position. Clearly uncomfortable with Vinyl. "You don't think I'm wrong right?" Vinyl asked as she turned her body towards the mare, lifting one of her hooves away from behind the bench to point at herself. The mare instantly shook her head as a firm 'no', maintaining the look of fear that had been in her eyes the entire time. "Ha!" Vinyl cried again as a bus pulled up to the station. "I knew I was right! She can't be the queen of I told you land forever now can she?" Vinyl proclaimed as the mare once again shook no as she got up and walked towards the bus in a hurried pace.
The door hissed as it opened for the mare who couldn't wait to shove herself into the vehicle. The driver tried to welcome her with a friendly 'hello' before being silenced by the mare. "That pony is crazy! Just drive and get us the hell out of here." She hushed at the driver. Without an hesitation the driver closed the door back up and pulled away leaving Vinyl at the stop alone.
Vinyl watched as the bus pulled away from her, still caught up on the thought of possibly being right before snapping out of her daze. "H-Hey, good talking to ya! I knew I could count on you!" She cried, "Whoever you were..." She whispered, biting her hoof in the process. Vinyl leaned back into the bench and let out a large sigh. "Doesn't matter anyways." Her ears drooped down as low as they can drop. She stayed motionless for a minute or two before crying out in anger, "Argh! What the hell good is being right if everyone is either pissed off at you, or you can't even find them!?" Her sudden burst ended and she fell back down into a slumped position on the bench.
This whole night is so fucked up... Hell who am I kidding? I'm not right, this entire thing is my fault.It's not enough that I ruined Colgate's birthday, but probably messed things up with her and Roseluck... Man, not enough that I probably messed what they had going on up, but Oct-.
Vinyl tried snapping herself out of her thoughts, slapping her face with both hooves multiple times. before slowly letting them slid down her cheeks into her lap. She sniffled a bit before clearing her throat.
"What the hell do I do Tavi?"
A rattling of a nearby trash can at the corner of the street echoed into Vinyl's ears. She glanced over it slightly before turning her gaze to its point of origin again.
"Stupid raccoons..." Another noise shook through the nights air. "Hey! Can you not see I'm having a crisis over here you filthy rodent!?" Vinyl proclaimed as loudly as she could, turning her vision back over to the trash can. She could now see the swishing of a blue and white tail dancing just above the rim of the trash can. "What the hell is that?" She questioned as she got up from her seat.
Taking very cautious steps she made her way towards the trash. During her walk various objects were being thrown out of the top of the Trash. Anything ranging from wrappers, to old moldy food, to yesterdays newspaper.
"H-Hello?" Vinyl called out as she began to use her horn to illuminate the area. The creature stopped its rummaging as the tail disappeared into the can. Vinyl repeated herself and called out to the creature again. Instantly Colgate's head popped out of the trash, a pair of panties in mouth. Startled, Vinyl shot back a foot or two before realizing it was her friend within the can.
"Colgate? holy crap, is that you?" Colgate's entire face was covered in smears of various colors. Her hair looked to be slightly singed at the tips and her pupils were now the size of saucers. Vinyl took a step forward her friend. "It's okay Colgate, Just relax. I'm here to help..." Vinyl said as calmly as she possibly could. Her heart continued racing at a steady pace from the startling she had just received. Colgate's saucers for eyes took a quick look at Vinyl's motion towards her and reacted with a large hiss. "You little shit, did you just hiss at me?!" Vinyl proclaimed in a stern voice as she took another step forward, this time with a pouted chest. Colgate let out a yelp as she shot out from the trash can and began running through the streets, leaving a trail of rubbish in her wake. "Wait! No, crap! Hey come back here!" Vinyl cried as she quickly followed in suit of the deranged mare.
****
"Well you deserved it. Dammit Quake, I was worried sick! Imagine my surprise when I walk upstairs, dinner in hoof, expecting you to be there in bed and then you're gone! Celestia only knows how in the hell you got down the stairs with that wheelchair of yours without making a ruckus." Penny Marble, Mr. Quake's wife exclaimed as her cleaning of the dishes became more intense. She took a pause and let loose a sigh, setting down the dishes before turning around from the sink. "I guess I should thank you though Ms.?"
Octavia looked up from her cup of tea that she had been given by Penny. "Oh- Uh, Octavia ma'am. And it was no problem really, it was the least I could do for somepony in trouble." Octavia smiled a bit as she set down her tea onto a brown cork coaster that rested on the wooden dining room table where her and Quake were both seated.
Quake winced a bit as he positioned himself to a more pleasing position. In addition to a reapplied casting on his broken leg, his front forearm was now hanging within a sling. His head where the cut had been exposed was not completely concealed by fabric, knitted tightly in the back by Penny Quake. "Like I said dear, I didn't mean to make you worry. I just wanted to get out of the house is all. It's been so damned frustrating having everything done for me lately. I just wanted to have a minute alone is all."
A quick huff of air was all the response Penny gave to Quake before turning around and focusing her attention back to the dishes. "Well I hope you got all the fresh air your lungs could hold. Lord knows you're not going anywhere for a while longer now." Penny said with a aggravated tone.
Octavia sipped from her tea again, darting her eyes back and forth between the two. Setting her drink back down she leaned in and hushed at Quake. "Is uh, is everything okay?"
Quake glanced at his wife's backside before leaning in towards Octavia. "Believe me this is nothing. You should have seen the kind of backlash I got when I was going through my midlife crisis and bought a boat. She's never lived that one down."
"That doesn't sound like that terrible of a thing..."
"Oh it wasn't buying the boat. It was when we first set sail. She must have fallen overboard at least ten times. Each time I died laughing." Quake chucked a bit in amusement in the memory. "She didn't speak to me for a week and made me sale the dang thing too."
Octavia shared in the laugh Quake got from his reminiscing. She leaned back in her chair and picked her cup back up for another drink, pausing halfway through. "Hey, Quake?"
"Hmm?" Quake hummed as he was taking a sip from his drink as well.
"Back at the hill," Octavia started off before setting the cup back down onto the coaster. "you said that you had a solution?" Octavia had begun to swirl her hoof on the rim of the cup a bit. "What exactly do you have in mind?"
Gulping down his drink Quake set his cup back down and looked saddened by Octavia's question. "Really? Hmm, I thought the answer would have seemed obvious. I took you to be the one who wore the brain in your relationship."
"I am!" Octavia cried out. "I mean... Vinyl has her moments... But that's besides the point." Octavia shook off her comment as she waved her hoof at Quake. " I've played through every single scenario and I honestly can't come up with a way where we end up scotch free in this. Option one, is we all get caught by the police, I loose my audition and Colgate, along with Roseluck. If I throw Vinyl under the bus, I loose my marefriend but I keep my audition and my friends. Last If I just let Colgate get captured we both loose Roseluck and Colgate." Octavia pinned her ears back and looked down at the oaken floor. "I-I just don't see any way of winning..." She muttered.
"Obviously." Quake exclaimed nonchalantly. "That's cause there is none. You can't let any of them go down cause the police know about all three of you. What do you think is going to happen when they find one of you? They're gonna ask where the other two are and so on."
"But-"
"But nothing. I hate to be the bearer of bad news hun, but you're in a no win predicament. But there is the best option available to you still."
"There is?" Octavia perked back up waiting intently for the next words to come.
"Turn yourselves in..."
Octavia instantly drooped back down. "That's a horrible idea." She pouted.
"Is it?" He questioned the mare. "Let's see. Your friend is not only a danger to herself but those around her. The longer she's out there, the larger the hole she's going to be digging. Likewise for yourselves. Each time you bail her out and try to help her escape, that's just more of aiding a fugitive and resisting arrest. Best option for everyone is to capture your friend or at least try and corner her and give yourselves up. Will you loose your friends? Maybe. But you're doing what's best in a crap situation. Will you loose your marefriend? Probably not. She's done worse from what you tell me. The least she can do is forgive you this once, especially since she's the one that dragged you into this." Quake swished around his drink before killing it off. "That's the only real option you have darling. Wether or not you choose to use it, is completely up to you."
Octavia bit her bottom lip as Quake finished speaking.
God dammit Vinyl...