//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Stone Cold // by M_D_Quill //------------------------------// Octavia weaved her way through the crowded streets of the city. Spending the morning and most of the afternoon with Vinyl was extremely taxing on her. As much as she liked her friend, the white unicorn's odd behaviors and eccentric ways tended to tire Octavia more than hours of practice with the strictest conductors. Soon, she found herself at the edge of her humble home. She was proud to say that even though she was not rich enough to live in the upper quarter, she still earned enough bits to be allowed to live in her two story home in an upper-middle class neighborhood. The streets were empty, most ponies at this time were still at work. She quickly made her way to the front door and unlocked it. Once inside, she dropped off her saddlebags and made her way into the music room. A variety of stringed instruments covered the walls. There were a number of harps covering one wall. They were organized by their sizes, from a lyre hanging at one end to a folk harp sitting in the corner on the other side. On another wall hung a single Stradivarius violin. The same instrument her tutor once played. Her tutor's name was Perfect Pitch, and he was a first chair violinist in the Canterlot Symphony for almost thirty years. During his career he played solos at over a dozen Gala's, and was requested by name to preform in front of Princess Celestia herself on numerous occasions. He always boasted the Princess told him that he was one of the greatest musicians to grace her courts within the past thousand years. A tear came to Octavia's eye as she lovingly dusted the ancient instrument. When she finally mangaed to get into Celestia's School, Professor Pitch singled her out form the rest of her class and taught her everything he knew. He proudly claimed that she was going to surpass him someday if she practiced hard and never gave up. She broke her gaze away from the violin and looked at her cello. It sat in the middle of the music room next to her music stand. Making her way to her pride and joy, she remembered the piece that her tutor always enjoyed and picked up the bow to play. Slowly, the strange day with Vinyl began to fade away. The stress of having her childhood hardships at the rock farm that the statue reminded her of melted away. Meeting Twilight dimmed and soon the only thing she was aware of was the magical sound of her music. But as with all good things, Octavia had to end her piece. The final note echoed throughout the house with its low calm tone. A sigh escaped her as she opened her eyes and gazed lovingly around at her prized instruments. She looked at her clock and saw that she had been playing for a few hours. She chuckled at losing track of time yet again and getting lost in her world of music. With a glance outside she saw the sun was touching the horizon and the sky was a glowing in the multitude of colors called twilight. Suddenly, a loud thud sounded below. Octavia jumped out of her chair in shock and ran out her room to the stairs. Once she reached the bottom, she noticed that her front door was slightly ajar. Cursing herself for being careless, she walked over to close and lock it. Even though crime was almost non-existent in Equestria, it never hurt to be careful. Especially when one of your friends enjoyed pranks that tended to be unhealthy for a few very expensive instruments. Her stomach growled, causing Octavia to blush. How long ago was her lunch with Vinyl? She glanced at the clock again. Almost six hours ago... she needed food. She walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge only to freeze in shock. It was stuffed from top to bottom with pink cotton candy. With a sigh, she grabbed a hand full, making a mental note to have a talk with Vinyl about her pranks. Maybe she could convince her to help clean up the mess for once... It is going to be a nightmare to get all the sticky stuff out of there. At least she didn't paint her cello green with pink polka dots again. That was embarrassing, especially since the symphony was preforming in front of the Princesses the next day. Taking a bite of the treat, she gasped in surprise. It tasted like chocolate? How on earth did she do this? Octavia took another bite and savored her unique meal. Maybe she could forgive the white mare of this prank if she was willing to give her this recipe... it was delicious. In the corner of her eye, she noticed a shape ducking out of site. Octavia giggled to herself. It seemed that Vinyl was still here. Octavia tended to practice for a few more hours before she left her music room, so she must have surprised the prankster by coming down early. I guess I can get a little revenge for the sticky mess she left in my fridge. Calmly walking into the hall, Octavia turned and made her way to the small closet under the stairs. She paused and looked both up and down the hall to see a fleeting shadow in her living room. Smiling, she opened the closet and pulled out a long tube. She carefully crept to the entrance of the living room and peaked around the corner. The shadow of her friend was cast on the wall behind her coach. Tiphoofing, she makes her way to the unsuspecting shadow. Jumping onto the coach, she puts the tube in her mouth and shouts 'Eat Poison Joke You White Nightmare!' as she fires the blue plant onto... the floor? How? How did Vinyl get away? A giggle echoed throughout the room and the coach began to glow an eerie pink color. Octavia jumped off and backed way to the opposite wall. The coach slowly rose from the ground, not because it was floating, but because the coach's legs were growing longer. One leg moved, then another. The Coach was slowly walking toward Octavia like a predator stalking up to it's prey, it's cushions cracked open and a large pink tongue rolled out and licked the coach's 'lips'. She was watching both doors that lead into the living room. "Come out and fight like a mare Vinyl!" she shouted as she gazed at the approaching furniture. Octavia had to admit that Vinyl was starting to get really good with magic if she was able to do this. She only hoped that this spell was not permanent... she couldn't afford to own a pet and she always enjoyed how comfortable this couch was. She waited until it was within a tail-length of her before she kicked off the wall and rolled under it. Once she was behind her furniture she made a break for the door to the kitchen. The living furniture was way too large to enter there. Once she made it inside a loud thump came form the living room. She glanced back to see the couch was pressed against the door frames, the large pink tongue slapping back and forth trying to reach her. Octavia giggled at the site. "If that is the best you can do, you need to do better than that!" she laughed. A quiet click sounded behind her. She turned to see the refrigerator opened and a large pink fluffy hoof reaching out from the inside. "Heh... so that is where you were hiding." Octavia giggled as she approached the pink mess. "Games over, come on... out?" What came out of the refrigerator was not her friend, but a large pink creature with glowing white eyes with purple swirls for pupils. Octavia froze. She realized that this could not be the work of Vinyl. Vinyl didn't have this much magical power... She gave a shaky grin. "Oh... um... Twilight? Did Vinyl get you into... this... too?" she stammered, slowly backing up as the pink monster lumbered it's way across the kitchen to her. She froze when she felt something slimy touch her tail. Quickly glancing back, she realized she was trapped between the pink monster and her living coach. When the coach noticed her looking back at it, it gave a large smile, reveling large pointed teeth. Octavia gulped and cowered down realizing this wasn't a practical joke! "Octy!" the Pink monster slurred. "You will come with me." "Go where? What are you?" Octavia whimpered. "You are coming with me to talk to my Daddy," the creature... slurred? No I can't say that, I used ti already... slinked? That doesn't even make sense... Oh! Look! Twilight has finally decided to visit! I looked up the path to see the beautiful purple mare named Twilight and the white mare from earlier walking up the garden path. I can't believe I am getting so many visitors these days! The two mares stopped at the base of me. Twilight looked up and greeted me in the usual manner and the other mare looked at Twilight with a funny look. Hey Twilight! You wouldn't believe what I was doing just now. You see, you are always telling stories of your friends, and I though it would be fun if I told a story too! But those birds and animals are all soooo boring... they decided to sleep through the entire thing. "Twilight? Is this the pony you came to see?" Vinyl asked. "Um... yeah..." Twilight mumbled with a blush. "Vinyl... This is Discord, spirit of chaos and disharmony. Discord, this I Vinyl Scratch, also know as DJ-Pon3." Yeah yeah. I have already met that pony. Hold on? DJ? As in music? HOLY BALDING DONKEYS BATMAN! You have music! Sing me a song! "Um... Twilight? Isn't this just a statue?" the white mare asked, clearly confused. "No," Twilight slowly replied. "He is a spirit of great power that my friends and I have had to lock away in stone so we can keep everypony safe..." She looked sad. "I wish I could of done something else though... nopony deserves to be encased in stone like this. But he is too dangerous to be allowed to roam free." Vinyl looked taken back. Her head was swerving between Twilight and me as if she couldn't believe what she heard. "Then... that is probably why I have been getting this funny vibe from him." she said. "I knew something was different with him, I just couldn't put my hoof on it." Wait? Different? There was something different... Yeah! The Crack! I cracked! I need to want something to break free! I can't believe I let my mind wander like that... I forgot I needed to want Twilight Sparkle. She is here "Different?" Twilight asked puzzled. TWILIGHT!!! I am here! Listen to me! Talk to me! "Wait?" The purple mare said, giving me a strange look. "Stand back for a second Vinyl. I need to check something." Her horn began to glow with a pink aura. The white mare backed away from Twilight and stopped at the bushes. I felt something... It was almost like eyes were touching me, examining me, checking me out... Oh Twilight, you naughty naughty unicorn. I knew you couldn't keep your horn off of me for long... That sounded a whole lot better in my head... This is all in your head There is a major difference between subconscious and conscious thoughts. Now please stop butting into my conversations! "Something is different here. But what is it?" Twilight mumbled to herself. Vinyl was gazing at something in the bushes. She plucked out a pink ball of fluff... It is the cloud that my daughter made! Oh... sorry Twilight, the cloud our daughter made. (For some reason woman get mad when you exclude them. Especially when it comes to children.) Vinyl's head glowed for a second, illuminating the cloud for a spit second. Suddenly, Twilight cried out and the cloud shot up in the air. Vinyl was looking at Twilight in shock, and Twilight was gazing at me in... fear? Oh god... I put on weight, didn't I? I knew you didn't like fat guys... "Vinyl. We have to go tell the Princess." Twilight turned and run out of the garden. "What's wrong Twilight?" Vinyl asked as she ran after the purple unicorn. And unfortunate, I don't know why Twilight ran away from me since they were already out of ear-shot. Rock for ears tend to not have a very good range for hearing... And Now I am alone ag-*WHAM*