4
Vinyl wandered into "The Dragon's Claw" at sunset in a daze, her shades perched on her unicorn horn unceremoniously, as though Vinyl had forgotten they were there. Heads turned as Vinyl, mane even more disheveled than usual and a sleepy expression on her face, trotted straight up to the bar and took a seat on a barstool.
"Mystic Amethyst, please..." Vinyl requested to the stallion behind the counter. The stallion, who had been standing facing away from Vinyl, now turned around.
"Wha- Vinyl?" Diamond Rough asked incredulously, eyes going wide, "What are you doing? You don't drink!"
"It's been a rough day," Vinyl replied, rubbing her eye with her hoof, "Dear Celestia, I need a drink. Look, I can pay for it..."
"What's wrong, Vinyl?" Diamond asked, leaning on the counter as he surveyed Vinyl's tired appearance suspiciously, "You aren't a drinker. What're you doing?"
"I don't know, man..." Vinyl sighed, putting both hooves to her forehead, "Things are just... I can't..."
Vinyl noticed somepony else seated at the counter, a blue mare with two bracelets that read "REBEL", gazing at her. Vinyl turned to her like a snake lashing out.
"What the buck are you staring at?!" She spat out, startling the mare, who quickly looked away.
"Vinyl!" Diamond Rough gasped.
"It's the same thing all over Canterlot!" Vinyl exclaimed, slamming her hoof down on the counter, "I went into the music store today to buy the new Iron Manen album, and everypony there was staring at me the entire time! Ponies kept bucking glancing at me as I trotted down the street! And now I come in here and I can't even get a drink without everypony bucking watching me! What's there to look at?!"
"Vinyl, it's just..." Diamond lowered his head, "Somepony died, Vinyl. Stories about the death of Primary Alley are going around. Everypony thinks you're a murderer and, well... you're not exactly helping to prove them wrong."
"Buck Primary Alley," Vinyl cursed, "He was bucking scum. Can you just get me a drink? I don't want to talk about this right now."
Diamond shook his head as he turned, grabbing a purple bottle of Mystic Amethyst and a shot glass and setting them on the counter.
"It seems to me that you need somepony to talk to right now, Vinyl," Diamond said as he poured the alcohol into the glass, "It also seems to me that Primary isn't the only thing on your mind."
"I don't give a dirty parasprite what anypony says," Vinyl said emotionlessly, watching Diamond finish pouring her drink, "It's just... I think I'm going crazy, Diamond..."
"Why haven't you talked to that mare you live with?" Diamond questioned, putting the bottle back on the shelf, "Octave, I think her name is?"
"Octavia."
"Yeah, her," Diamond said, turning back toward Vinyl, "I thought you two were good friends. Can't she help you? You don't have to suffer in silence with whatever it is that's happening, Vinyl."
"I don't know, Diamond..." Vinyl said glumly, staring down at the floor, "Things are just falling apart lately. I think I'm going crazy and she doesn't even realize it."
"Oh, she probably realizes it, Vinyl," Diamond said, a small twinkle in his eye indicating that he had been in the same position once before, "She's just too afraid to confront you about it. What you need to do is talk to her."
"But-"
"No," Diamond interrupted firmly, "I know you think you're invincible, Vinyl Scratch, but you're not. Even DJ-P0N3 could use friends."
One of the stallions who worked at the Dragon's Claw called to Diamond, who cast Vinyl an apologetic grin before hurrying over. Vinyl stared into her drink, and briefly considered what Diamond had said. Her eyes glistened with the tears of many sleepless, lonely nights as she thought about Octavia. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and imagined herself falling. Finally, she sighed deeply and hopped off the barstool, leaving two golden bits and an untouched Mystic Amethyst on the counter as she trotted out the door into the bustling streets of Canterlot.
* * *
Octavia was having one of the worst days of her life.
She had woken up from a nightmare of unimaginable terror to start off the day, and though she had forgotten what the nightmare was about, she still remembered the cold fingers of fear that had gripped her heart. After that, her morning progressed as usual. She had gotten out of bed, put her bowtie on, and eaten her usual morning breakfast, which consisted of a donut and a cup of coffee. The living room was empty with no sign of the ditzy mare that had slept on their couch; She assumed that Derpy had left at some point during the night.
As Octavia continued with her morning routine, Vinyl hurried into the kitchen, looking wide-eyed as though she had also awoken from a nightmare. Octavia smiled and happily greeted her strange friend, but Vinyl kept staring as she cautiously trotted over to where Tavi stood and hesitantly poked her.
"What are you doing?" Octavia asked as Vinyl poked her again, wondering if her wild friend had experimented with cocaine with some of her rambunctious friends.
"Tavi?" Vinyl questioned uncertainly, "Is that you?"
"Of course it's me, Vinyl," Octavia answered tiredly, "Is something wrong?"
"Where were you last night?"
"What?" Octavia cocked her head to the side, "What do you mean? I went to bed after everypony left last night. Well, I mean, everypony except Derpy."
"That can't be... how...?" Vinyl seemed at a loss for words as she slowly turned away from Octavia, staggering toward the front door.
"Where are you going?" Octavia called after Vinyl, tempted to stop her disoriented roommate from leaving.
"I-I-I need to, uh, to think," Vinyl replied, opening the front door, "Don't worry, I-I'll be b-back later."
"Don't you want anything to eat?" Octavia asked, taking a bite of her donut. The door slammed shut behind Vinyl.
Octavia shrugged. After all, she was accustomed to Vinyl's unusual morning behaviors after living with her for so long. There had been several mornings when Vinyl had stumbled into the kitchen, stolen Tavi's donut, ate it in one bite, and then sleepwalked back to her room. Still, there was something different about Vinyl this morning, but Octavia couldn't quite put her hoof on it.
Brushing it off as typical DJ-P0N3 weirdness, Octavia finished her donut and gulped down her coffee before grabbing her cello case, securing it to her saddlebag, and stepping out into the morning Canterlot streets on her way to band practice.
While Canterlot had a reputation as an "upper-class" city, being home to Royalty and all, Octavia was noticing quite a few more punk ponies storming the streets as though determined to conquer the mountainside city. Octavia secretly wished for the wild ponies to relocate to some disorderly town like Dodge Junction or Ponyville where they could go as crazy as they wanted. Surprisingly, Vinyl shared Tavi's sentiments, but her main complaint seemed to be "longer lines at the music store".
Tavi trotted past Jet Set and Upper Crust, Equestria's trendiest married couple. She had seen them at a few of the parties that she and her ensemble had played, but had always seen them as the type of ponies who ruined Canterlot's reputation with their snobby attitudes and obsession with being important. Not to mention, the fact that they were always glued to whoever was the most popular pony at a party was annoying. Octavia thought it was pitiful to pretend to like somepony else just to keep up appearances.
"Jet Set! Upper Crust!" Octavia jovially greeted them, shaking both of their hooves, "What a surprise to see you two around and about on this fine morning!"
"Terrific seeing you today, Octavia," Jet Set said, keeping his snout in the air.
"Oh, we simply adored your performance at Moondancer's party last Sunday," Upper Crust praised, "Quite enticing, if I do say so myself."
"The other ponies in the band will be delighted to hear that," Octavia thanked her with a grateful smile, "Speaking of which, I'm off to band practice now, so I suppose I'll see you some other time?"
"Actually, we were going to ask you to play at our anniversary party next Saturday," Jet Set revealed, "Would 500 bits be enough, or...?"
"500?!" Octavia repeated, turning to him with her jaw hanging open in surprise. Usually, her band played for 100 bits... maybe 200, "I-I mean, um, of course! 500 should cover it. I'll tell the others and we'll get back to you as soon as we can."
"Wonderful!" Jet Set and Upper Crust said in unison.
Octavia continued on her way, still awestruck at the news. They'd be playing for 500 bits... there were three other ponies in the band, so four shares total. That'd be... 125 bits for each pony? Octavia would be able to afford that new cello she wanted... maybe get a new bowtie... maybe be able to replace the vase in the house that Vinyl had broken...
She was practically bursting with excitement when she arrived at Clef Clavichord's home to begin band practice.
Clavichord lived in a two-story Canterlot home that was significantly larger than the house shared by Octavia and Vinyl. In fact, out of everypony in the ensemble, Clef had the biggest house, which was why they stored their instruments there and practiced in a special, soundproofed room. Octavia clambered up the walk to the front door. From inside came the muffled, hypnotic, majestic sounds of somepony playing a harp. Octavia impatiently rapped her hoof on the door.
"Clef! It's Octavia!" she hollered, "I've got big news!"
Senza Sousaphone, the tuba player, opened the door, casting a disgusted grimace at Octavia as though she were something unpleasant that Senza had stepped in. Octavia was too excited to notice as she pushed past Senza and hurried into the living room where Clef and Tremolo Hymn were sitting, the latter moving his hooves over the harpstrings of his harp as they sat awaiting Octavia's arrival. Octavia strolled into the living room with Senza following behind her, a wide smile on her face as the two stallions looked up.
"You won't believe this," Octavia began, "I-"
Clef sighed, holding up his hoof for silence. Octavia's voice faltered and then she stood, blinking in confusion. Clef sighed, subconsciously placing a hoof on his red bowtie. He looked down at the floor, neither he or Senza or Tremolo daring to meet Tavi's gaze. A fearful sense of dark foreboding began to grow in the pits of Octavia's stomach as she looked around at her solemn, stonefaced band members.
"What's going on?" Tavi squeaked, already knowing what was going on, but refusing to accept it.
"Octavia, we've played a lot of... wonderful concerts together..." Clef began, finally looking up with his green eyes to stare into Tavi's purple ones, "And we've had so much... uh, fun together in our band practices, but..."
"You're out," Senza interrupted, plainly confirming Octavia's worst fears. Octavia turned to Senza as Clef sighed, her eyes faintly glistening as the truth began to sink in.
"W-what...?" She whispered, a sense of helplessness seizing her in its cruel grasp.
"You're out of the band, Octavia," Senza repeated, "We decided on it yesterday after you left. In fact, we've already found a replacement cellist. It's been fun, but here's where we part ways."
"You... you..." Octavia looked away from Senza's smug face to Clef, who was looking at the floor, and then to Tremolo, who was pretending to be examining his harp.
"It's not that you're a bad cellist, Tavi..." Clef said quietly, "It's just... you don't really, uh, fit in with us. Your musical tastes are a bit different than ours. And this other pony is a lot better. Er, I mean-"
"But what about the concert at the Summer Sun Celebration?!" Octavia interrupted, unable to keep the desperation out of her voice, "What about the time we played in that concert hall in Manehatten? What about the Grand Galloping Gala?! Doesn't that mean anything to you? To any of you?"
Clef looked away, silent. Tremolo continued to toy with his harp, pretending it was important.
"I think it's time for you to leave," Senza spoke from behind Octavia. Tavi slowly turned around and stared at Senza, who was trying (and failing) to hide the glee in her face. Senza never had liked Octavia. Tavi looked around at her other two former bandmates for any kind of support. Finding none and fighting back tears, Octavia finally broke into a run, pushing Senza aside as she threw open the door to Clef Clavichord's home, galloping outside back into Canterlot.
She didn't stop running until she was almost home. Memories of past concerts came back to slap her, the stinging pain of loneliness threatening to make the mare fall to the ground in a sobbing mess. It couldn't be true. She had been with those ponies for so long...
"Octavia!"
Surprised, Tavi glanced in the direction of the pony that had just spoken. Upper Crust, with Jet Set looking on, hurried across the street over to Octavia.
"Good to see you again," Upper Crust said, "And again, we're really excited to have your ensemble performing at our anniversary party!"
"Right... the party..." Octavia murmured as Upper Crust trotted away. A small, devious grin slowly grew on her face, "Of course the ensemble will be there. In fact, I think I've already told them..."
It seemed that Jet Set and Upper Crust would just have to throw a party without music.
* * *
Alone in the house, sitting at the table and flipping through the newspaper, Octavia sipped from a mug filled with hot chocolate. No matter how many times she looked through the classified section, there wasn't anypony asking for a dedicated cellist. Seeing as Octavia was currently unemployed with barely enough bits to last her the rest of the month and nopony was looking for a musician, she would have to try to find another line of work. Octavia was bitter about her unceremonious dismissal from the ensemble, and felt no remorse for not telling them about Jet Set and Upper Crust's party. After all, the ensemble would be to blame for ruining everything, not Octavia.
But somehow, revenge on Senza Sousaphone didn't exactly warm her heart.
Octavia's cello sat in its case in her bedroom. She was unsure of the next time she would play it... if she ever played it again. It hurt too much to know that ponies she had the utmost trust in would just betray her like that. The ensemble was like her own family, and now...
Her ear perked up when she heard the front door open and slam shut. A moment later, Vinyl rushed into the room, her eyes gleeful behind her purple shades and a wide smile showing off all of her teeth on her face. Tavi surveyed Vinyl blankly, unimpressed.
"Octavia, there's something I want to talk to you about..." Vinyl began, taking a deep breath. Octavia didn't know that Vinyl had thought about what she was going to say almost 10 times on the trot home from the Dragon's Claw.
"Not right now, Vinyl," Octavia dismissed, looking back at the newspaper. Vinyl stopped.
"What?"
"I said not right now. I'm busy."
Vinyl blinked a few times, "But... but Octavia, it's really important. I-I-"
"I don't care, Vinyl!" Tavi snapped, glaring at the stunned unicorn, "I'm too busy right now to be playing your stupid games! I have far more important things to do!"
"But I... Octavia-"
"Just leave me alone, Vinyl," Octavia hissed, her eyes narrowing as she flipped through the want ads for what felt like the hundredth time.
"I-I... I can't believe..." Vinyl stood there looking like she had just been punched, and then she broke out of her trance and headed for her room, "Fine! I'll just leave you alone! Obviously that stupid newspaper is more important than your best friend!"
Octavia said nothing as Vinyl stomped to her room, slamming the door behind her hard enough to make Tavi's hot chocolate tip over, causing it to spill across the table and fall onto the floor. Octavia sighed, closing the newspaper as she went to get something to clean up the mess with. Something alcoholic was starting to sound really good to her, Octavia mused as she began to wipe up the spilled beverage.
Dear Celestia, she needed a drink.