//------------------------------//
// 2 Octavia's Tale 
// Story: Spook For Yourself 
// by Brass Polish 
//------------------------------//

	Vinyl Scratch was useless when it came to repairing things. Barely a month went by when she woke up to find she or a party guest had damaged something, and her efforts to hide the damage before Octavia found out were nearly always futile. It seemed she would never learn that duct tape is a dead giveaway. As for this hole in the floor, Vinyl was having a terrible time with the measurements, and she found sawing difficult to do with magic. She’d just given up and decided to use her hooves to saw the wood manually when she heard the familiar heavy hoofsteps that could only come from somepony carrying something heavy.
“Aw, fudge monsters. She’s back,” Vinyl groaned.
In the seconds she had before Octavia entered the room, she threw a pillow over the hole and kicked her planks of wood against the wall.

For the first time since they’d moved in together, Octavia didn’t call Vinyl out on a hidden problem within a minute of returning home.
“How’s it hanging, Tavi?” Vinyl asked, as if prompting her roommate to point out the obvious problem in their house.
Octavia didn’t answer right away. She just gazed at Vinyl Scratch for a moment before rushing over and hugging her.
“Vinyl,” she said, a quiver in her voice, “I’ve been so worried about you.”
“Uh…”
Octavia pulled back, her cello case sliding off her back. “I’ve heard a dreadful story in Canterlot. The triangle player in the royal symphony has gone through a dreadful ordeal.”
“Did he realize he bangs a bent metal rod for a living?” Vinyl sniffed.
“No, no,” Octavia shook her head. “He’s seen a ghost.”
“A ghost?” repeated Vinyl Scratch. “Cool.”
Octavia grasped Vinyl’s shoulders. “It isn’t cool, Vinyl. It nearly had his horn!”
“Wha?”

Octavia sat on the floor in front of Vinyl Scratch; too close to the hole in the floor for the DJ’s liking.
“There was a student at Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns,” Octavia explained.
Vinyl Scratch took a seat as well.
“She was a top drawer student and an adroit magician,” Octavia went on. “But she…”
“Wait. And android magician?” asked Vinyl, tilting her head.
Octavia sighed. “No, no. Adroit. It means skilled and capable.”
“Oh. OK. So what was the problem?”
“There was a terrible accident with a potion,” Octavia explained. “Mixing potions was the only subject she struggled with. One day, she was mixing a potion on her down time to try and make it right after failing the first time. But she didn’t manage to do it correctly this time. In fact, she made an even worse mistake.”
Octavia gulped, and pressed on.
“Her brew gave off poisonous fumes. It made her horn hurt. She managed to dispose of her muddled up potion before its fumes could harm anyone else. But her horn was in utter agony when she tried to use magic.”
“So what did she do?” asked Vinyl.
“The school’s doctors discovered that she’d gotten an illness that would soon spread from her horn and cause her whole body pain unless… unless…” Octavia shuddered, clearly having trouble with the subject.
Vinyl Scratch caught on and her eye’s widened so much, Octavia could see them from behind her shades.
“Did she have to have her horn surgically removed?!” she gasped.
Octavia nodded.
“Whoa! That’s a bummer,” Vinyl rubbed her foreleg. “I mean, horns aren’t legally allowed to be transplanted. There’s no way she could find a donor.”
“That didn’t stop her from looking,” Octavia told her.
Vinyl Scratch gave her head a shake. “Wha?”
“It is widely believed that after the procedure to remove her infected horn, the magic potential in her refused to lie dormant,” said Octavia. “It welled up inside her until her final days, and allowed her to leave an imprint behind after her funeral. And from then on, she’s been roaming Equestria looking for a unicorn whose horn she could harvest. And it’s that very ghost my colleague swears he narrowly escaped.”
“So you were worried that I might’ve had my horn snatched by that ghost?” Vinyl asked with a grin. “I’m real touched, Octy.”

Vinyl Scratch gave Octavia a friendly noogie. As the cellist pulled back, she accidentally kicked the pillow aside. She looked down and goggled at what she’d uncovered.
“Vinyl, why is there a hole in the floor?!” she demanded.
“It was a stupid groundhog,” Vinyl Scratch growled. “I swear. Ask that softy, Fluttershy. It tried to dig its first den and ended up in ours.”
Octavia nodded. She had heard this story already from Rainbow Dash and Derpy, who were lying in wait outside, but she let Vinyl give her explanation for the sake of carrying on with the plan.
“So it’s not your fault for a change?” Octavia asked. “Congratulations.”
“Whatever,” groaned Vinyl Scratch. “Anyway, the groundhog whisperer asked the weather team to cover the sky with clouds so the moon wouldn’t raise the tide and flood this dumb den.”
“Lucky for us,” Octavia remarked.
“Huh?”
“If water got into this tunnel,” Octavia pointed to the hole in the floor, “it would have gotten into our house as well.”
“Oh, snap! You’re right,” Vinyl Scratch jumped. “Huh. I hope those clouds are enough to keep the tide from rising.”
“Oh, I’m sure they are,” said Octavia. “But if you’re feeling nervous…”
“Yeah, I’m more nervous than when you told me that bogus ghost story,” nodded Vinyl Scratch.
“Perhaps you’ll settle down if you looked to see if you can see any moonlight,” Octavia suggested.

Rainbow Dash was outside the house with her ear pressed against the door.
Groundhog whisperer? she thought bitterly. I’m so glad Octavia agreed to this. This’ll teach you to cheek Fluttershy.
Now that she’d heard the cue from Octavia, she waved to Derpy, who was waiting on the other side of the house. Derpy waved back with an excited smirk, and the two pegasi began flapping their wings while remaining standing on the ground. Their aim was directed at the Derpy-shaped cloud they’d brought with them. They’d let it hover just above the window that was facing the direction of the pond. Now they were propelling it towards the window just as it opened.

Vinyl Scratch hadn’t even gotten a glance at the cloudy night sky before she was compelled to step away from the open window by the sight of a ghostly shape floating towards her.
“What is that?!” she exclaimed.
Octavia feigned fear. “It’s the ghost!”
Rainbow Dash and Derpy managed to stifle their laughter as they wafted their cloud imprint into the house, but something happened that neither they nor Octavia had anticipated. Vinyl’s shock subsided as she felt a draft enter the house through the window. She quickly suspected that someone was blowing a prop in her face. She lit her horn to try and catch out any silent pranksters outside with her loudening spell. That was when the ghostly prop passed right through her. Her pupils shrank. Her jaw dropped. Her horn was still glowing.

If Luna had still been living on the moon, she would have had to cover her ears from Vinyl Scratch’s magically magnified scream of terror. The whole of the sleeping community of Equestria was at the very least disturbed by this screech. As for the citizens of Ponyville, not one head was resting peacefully on a pillow. All over town, ponies were jumping out of their beds as if mouse traps had snapped on their ears. The first sight that greeted their eyes upon walking up was shattered glass bursting into their rooms. Windows, mirrors, drinking glasses and spectacle lenses were breaking in every home, plant and office. There was an understandable amount of panic and pain going around, but for four ponies in particular, it was perhaps the worst experience of their lives. Rainbow Dash and Derpy had been shoved into an outside wall of another house by this gale-force noise. Octavia had perhaps the full front of the impact. She felt as though someone was shoving her against the wall with a bed mattress. She couldn’t move or even see. All she could do was hear the scream that was clawing into her ears. And as for Vinyl Scratch, her fright at seeing a real ghost which caused her to lose control of her loudening spell was replaced by panic at the violently shaking room she was standing in. This ordeal lasted a good seven seconds, and had done an hour’s worth of damage.

Every single Ponyville citizen had a pair of ringing ears. There were shards of glass virtually everywhere, making mobility extremely difficult. Conversation would be near impossible. But there was hope for communication yet. Twilight and Spike were well on the case. With his thick hide, Spike was able to walk around without being injured by the broken glass. He had soon cleared a path for Twilight, who had to avoid flying for the time being so that she didn’t blow the glass shards around. The first thing she did was light the code red lamps around town, and then she sent a message of glowing purple letters in the sky, which could easily be read against the dark clouds. Then when she could safely get to her desk, she wrote a message to Princess Luna requesting immediate medical and janitorial help. After much gesturing, Spike had sent the note on to Canterlot and Twilight flew out of Ponyville Castle to survey the whole of the damage. High above, her bright, violet message read “Please remain where you are and wait for help to arrive.” It would be a long night for Twilight, who manoeuvred around town checking up on each pony and providing assistance. Spike was also in for a great deal of toil as he wandered across Ponyville with his dustpan and brush.

Princess Luna soon arrived along with a team of medical and janitorial ponies. Slowly but surely, the buildings were cleared of all fragments of broken windows and mirrors, and ponies were being treated for ear trauma. Ponyville Hospital was the first building to have all of its glass shards removed, and as most of the staff had been victimized, a group of volunteers led by Zecora took over the building bringing medicine and instruments from their homes to see to the patients. Gradually, ponies were leaving the hospital with their hearing fully restored. There was little doubt what the source of the “scream heard across Equestria”, as it had been dubbed, was. Many had identified the voice they’d heard as Vinyl Scratch’s, and it wasn’t a little known fact that her magical talent was making things louder. Vinyl herself was in no condition to divulge any details as she was one of the four ponies whose treatment was taking a long time. The other three were Octavia, Derpy, and Rainbow Dash. From this information, Twilight had supposed that Vinyl Scratch’s scream was prompted by a prank spearheaded by Rainbow. For now, she would have to wait to get any definite answers.

About a week after that annoying night, Twilight was flying above Ponyville looking around. Most of the square holes in the town’s buildings had been refilled with fresh windows. Ponies were out and about, and chatter could be hard amongst them. Everyone was talking a little louder than normal, but it appeared as though no one was entirely deaf. Twilight spotted Bon Bon and Twist leaving Sugarcube Corner. Twist was wearing a new pair of glasses. Bon Bon was carrying an ice cream sundae in a tall soda glass.
“Well, it looks like things are getting better,” Twilight sighed.
At that moment, she saw Rainbow Dash and Derpy flying towards her.
“Oh. You’re out of the hospital,” she remarked.
“Hey, Twilight,” said Rainbow Dash. “I have an apology to make.”
“What’s that?” asked Twilight, sure that her guess had been correct.
“It’s my fault Vinyl Scratch screamed and lost control of her magic,” Rainbow Dash confessed. “I came up with a dumb idea to scare her with a fake ghost made outta cloud.”
“I was involved too,” put in Derpy. “I’m the one who made that imprint because I got stuck above the cloud cover that night.”
“And we found out Octavia heard a spooky story in Canterlot that was perfect for the set up,” finished Rainbow. “So we made Vinyl think a ghost was after her horn.”

Twilight nodded and looked at the two pegasi’s apologetic faces.
“To be honest, I never would have expected this much damage to come out of a random need to prank somepony,” she said.
“Well, it wasn’t really random,” ventured Rainbow. “I was hoping for a chance to get even with Vinyl Scratch for what she said to Fluttershy.”
“Oh? What’s this about?” inquired Twilight.
“Well, after that groundhog made that hole in her floor, Vinyl was talking down to Fluttershy for babying it,” said Rainbow Dash.
“I see,” said Twilight. “And did Fluttershy take it really hard?”
“Well, yeah,” Rainbow answered. “How could she not?”
“Well, what was Fluttershy like after Vinyl insulted her?” asked Twilight.
“How do you think? She was really upset,” said Rainbow Dash.
“I’ll bet she was,” Twilight nodded. “But one question. Are you absolutely certain?”
Rainbow Dash was taken aback. “Maybe my hearing isn’t quite back to normal. Could ya ask me that again?”
“Are you absolutely certain that Fluttershy was really upset about what Vinyl Scratch said to her?” repeated Twilight.
“Yes!” said Rainbow Dash. “Come one, Twilight. You know Fluttershy.”
“Uh, huh. And you do too, right?” asked Twilight.
“Heck, yeah!” nodded Rainbow. “Hey, me and her grew up in Cloudsdale together. I guess you could say we’re lifelong friends. So yeah, I know her really well.”

Twilight rubbed her chin. She had a slight smile on her face.
“Um…” Derpy had been hoping to get a word in for a few minutes now. “Would it be alright if me and Rainbow went home? We kinda wanna see what’s happened to our houses.”
“You go ahead, Derpy,” said Twilight. “Rainbow, I want you to do something before you go back to your house.”
“What’s that?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“I want you to go back to the hospital and visit Vinyl Scratch,” said Twilight. “Right away.”
Rainbow Dash frowned. “You want me to apologize to her?”
“When you get to her room,” Twilight answered, “you can decide what you want to do from there.”
Before Rainbow Dash could reply, Twilight turned around and flew away.

Rainbow Dash wasn’t too thrilled about returning to the hospital after spending a week in the ear trauma ward.
“Does Twilight expect me to feel sorry for Vinyl when I see her?” she wondered.
The first pony Rainbow met was Nurse Redheart, who had recovered from her own hearing problems and was now back at work.
“Princess Twilight wants me to visit Vinyl Scratch,” said Rainbow Dash.
Nurse Redheart nodded and stood aside. “Room 426. She has another visitor there right now, and her hearing’s completely back to normal. So knock first.”
“Gotcha,” Rainbow Dash replied as she made her way to the stairwell.

Rainbow Dash supposed Pinkie Pie or Neon Lights might be visiting Vinyl Scratch, but when she got to the right door, she heard a voice coming from the other side that sounded familiar. But it was hard to pinpoint because Rainbow had never heard that voice sound quite this forceful before.
“Let’s see if you can repeat anything I’m saying!” the voice’s owner said before clearing her throat and continuing. “I have spent the last week tending to deafened animals!”
“I have spent the last week pretending to defend anime!” Vinyl Scratch’s voice attempted to echo.
“Uh, close!” said the first voice. “And please remember, you don’t need to raise your voice for me! My hearing is just fine!”
“Right. Sorry,” said Vinyl’s voice calmly.

Rainbow Dash knocked, wanting to see for herself if the visitor was who she thought it was.
“Someone just knocked!”
“Oh. Enter!” Vinyl called.
Rainbow Dash opened the door and there was Fluttershy standing at the foot of Vinyl Scratch’s bed.
“Oh! Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy beamed. “Are you all better?”
“Yeah, I should be fine,” replied Rainbow Dash. “What about you?”
“I’m alright, thank you,” smiled Fluttershy.
“Great. Uh…”
Rainbow Dash spotted a brightly coloured basket half full of comfort food.
“Did you bring that?” she asked Fluttershy.
“Uh, huh. I knew Vinyl Scratch must have suffered the most even though she was the cause of the damage to Ponyville,” said Fluttershy, looking suddenly sad. “I didn’t mention this to her, but some ponies are angry at her for screaming like that. I find it so unfair. She didn’t mean to lose control. She was just scared by something.”
Rainbow Dash understood what Twilight’s objective was now.
“You were really concerned about Vinyl Scratch, weren’t you?” she asked.
“Ever so much,” nodded Fluttershy.
“And what about what she said to you before this happened?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“Well, yes, it was hurtful,” said Fluttershy, “but I couldn’t hold it against her. I know that her job means she has to stay awake late. It’s only natural she’d be short with ponies from time to time. Besides, I wouldn’t be too pleased if I found a hole in my floor either.”

“I thought I knew you really well, Fluttershy,” said Rainbow Dash. “But I guess I can’t possibly know how you think. I should never have acted on my assumptions about you. I can’t act on your behalf if I have no clue how you really feel.”
“Oh. Well that’s alright, Rainbow Dash,” smiled Fluttershy. “I appreciate the thought. I know you care about me.”
“Thanks for understanding,” said Rainbow Dash as she and Fluttershy hugged.
“Um, I’m kind of in the dark here,” came Vinyl’s voice.
The two pegasi went red when they realized that Vinyl Scratch hadn’t heard a word of their conversation.
“I’d just speak into her ear if I were you,” suggested Fluttershy. “She’s not quite ready for long-distance hearing and shouting might make her ears throb.”
Rainbow Dash nodded, walked up to Vinyl’s bed and leaned into her ear.
“I want to apologize for that prank,” she said. “Me and Derpy made that ghost out of cloud and Octavia agreed to help us.”
“Really?! Tavi was in on it?” Vinyl asked with wide eyes. “Didn’t know she had it in her. Well, lesson learned. No more scaring Tavi.”
“Oh. Huh. She’ll be happy to hear that… when she’s finally able to,” smirked Rainbow Dash.
Vinyl hadn’t heard this and once again, was left oblivious as Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy chuckled.