//------------------------------// // Chapter Two // Story: Dark Blue // by Saph //------------------------------// The late morning rays of sunlight seeped into the Heartstring’s residence. With both of her parent’s out for the day, she was left alone with Vinyl who was sitting at the dining room table while Lyra was busy in the kitchen making breakfast for the two of them. “So, where’d you live before this?” Lyra asked across the Island separating the two rooms. She had an idea that it was somewhere closeby from Octavia’s story yesterday. Vinyl didn’t seem to look uncomfortable at her rather forward question. “Just a town over or so,” Vinyl said vaguely. “I’ve been to Canterlot a couple times, but that was only when…” “When what?” Lyra prompted. “My Mom’s projects,” Vinyl mumbled. “Oh.” Vinyl’s response seemed to show everything she was feeling in Lyra’s eyes. The blatant way she talked about her mom showed many nights of tears that had long since run out. There was something to fill every hole in Lyra’s opinion, she wondered what it was with Vinyl. “It’s not like it’s a secret she’s dead or anything,” Vinyl replied good-naturedly, the past seconds seemingly forgotten. “I wouldn’t be here if nothing happened.” Lyra gave Vinyl an odd stare. Just the tone in which Vinyl had replied put her off, scattering anything she was thinking about before. “I guess,” Lyra said hesitantly. Trying to redirect the conversation, Vinyl asked, “Any thoughts on what we're doing today?” “We have all day until about six for dinner back here,” Lyra said thoughtfully. “Maybe we should meet up with Octavia somewhere?” Vinyl’s eyes brightened. “That’d be fantastic, I haven’t seen her in so long.” “I’ll call her after we finish eating,” Lyra said, crunching on her own food. “What’s she been up to recently?” Vinyl asked, taking a bite of her own food, “Anything new?” “Define new?” Lyra asked. Despite Octavia’s insightful stories from earlier, she still had no idea what either had been or were doing when last they had met. “I dunno,” Vinyl said. “Just anything different, you know, joined a jazz band, composed heavy metal, founded a cult. The usual stuff.” Lyra blinked. “Uh, no? She is in the school’s orchestra with me though.” “Playing the violin, then?” “No…” Lyra trailed off. “Why would she be playing that?” “She’s doesn’t play the violin anymore?” “Just the cello as far as I know,” Lyra responded. “Cello,” Vinyl mused. “Wonder why.” Lyra didn’t say anything to this, in favor of finishing off her breakfast. She gathered up her dishes, and made her way to the sink. “You done with everything yet, Vinyl?” Vinyl popped up next to her a few seconds later with her empty plate and her mouth completely full. “Mmph.” Lyra sighed. “Thanks for the plates, Vinyl.” Vinyl mumbled something back that sounded like, “No problem”, but it was hard to tell. Vinyl wandered off somewhere in the house while Lyra washed the dishes. It wasn’t long before she put the last dish into the washer. “I’m gonna call Octavia now,” Lyra called upstairs. No response. “Vinyl?” She called again. Still no response. She made her way up the stairs, reaching the upper hallway. The door adjacent to her one was closed shut, light could be seen streaming through the bottom crack. Walking up to it, she knocked on the door thrice, once again with no response. Growing concerned for Vinyl, she opened the door. Vinyl was sitting on the other side of the room, facing away from her at a desk with her laptop in front of her. Loud music was audible from the headset she could see Vinyl wearing from across the room. Lyra made her way over to Vinyl’s side, tapping her shoulder. She didn’t even seem to notice that. Finally Lyra resorted to pulling one side of the headphones away from Vinyl’s ears. “Vinyl!” she shouted, causing her to jump and fall off the side of the chair. “Oh hey,” Vinyl said sardonically. “Don’t give me that, I tried everything else,” Lyra said. “Whatever.” Lyra glanced at the computer screen. “What were you doing anyways?” The screen had several applications open on it, but also on screen were several music bars with various instrument names with patterns following them. “Was messing around with music while talking with some ponies I knew,” Vinyl said, closing the laptop. “Ah,” Lyra said. “Anyone I might know this time?” “Just a couple of my exes.” “But there were more th-” Lyra stopped mid-sentence. “What?” Vinyl glared. “N-Nevermind,” Lyra backtracked. “I just came up here to let you know I was going to call and see if Octavia was available today.” “What are you waiting for, then?” Vinyl grinned, all traces of previous resentment disappearing. “Alright,” Lyra chuckled awkwardly. “Didn’t know you were that excited to see her.” “You’d be too if you hadn’t seen a friend in forever,” Vinyl retorted. Lyra simply snorted, trying to keep down her laughter while she dialed Octavia’s number on her phone. The phone rang twice before it was answered. “Hello?” Octavia’s voice came through the phone loud and clear. “You’re coming over,” Lyra said flatly. “When? I just-” “Now.” “But I have-” “No buts!” Lyra stated emphatically. “Right now.” She heard Octavia groan through the phone. “Five minutes.” Then she heard the phone go dead. “She’ll be over soon,” Lyra said to Vinyl. “Awesome.” Vinyl was already lost in her computer again, but not without a discernable positive difference in her demeanour. “I’ll uh, leave you alone then I guess.” Lyra said awkwardly. “To get ready, that is.” “Alright.” Lyra backed out of the room, shutting the door. After a few moments she could hear music emanating from Vinyl’s room, this time louder than before. Going into her own room she could still faintly hear the music. “That mare,” Lyra sighed, rolling her eyes. For the most part, Vinyl seemed okay to her in the short period of time they had known each other. She stared at the analog clock in her room, counting down the minutes until she expected Octavia was supposed arrive. Lyra began to hum a tune softly before transitioning into singing the same song she was humming. She must’ve lost track of time because it wasn’t before Vinyl opened her door with the pony she was waiting for standing right next to her. Lyra cut off her attempt at singing, coughing awkwardly. “Hey, fancy seeing you here...” “Fantastic singing,” Octavia said, her voice filled with mirth. “Just let it go,” Lyra groaned, pushing past them into the hallway. “Funny you should talk about let it-” “NOPE.” “Whatever you say, Idina.” The pair followed Lyra down the stairs to the first floor. “When did you get those glasses, Vinyl?” “Oh, these things?” Vinyl said, taking them off her head. “Eh, a while ago. It helps with the DJ image.” “They still don’t let you into clubs, do they?” “Uh- well.” Lyra sighed at their antics, pushing open the front door. “Let’s go get ice cream or something.” “It’s the middle of winter,” Vinyl stared blankly. “Exactly,” Lyra grinned. “No lines!” Vinyl couldn’t argue with that. “Fair enough.” Octavia still looked pensive. “Are you sure about this?” “Please, Tavi?” Vinyl said pulling back her ears making her eyes as wide as possible. Octavia displayed admirable restraint for all of about two seconds. “Fine, Vinyl.” Vinyl was still wearing a triumphant smile by the time they were at the corner of their street. They started off towards the center of Canterlot, Lyra checking the street signs frequently to make sure they weren’t going to get lost. The closer they got to the center of town, the more the flow of moving ponies increased. “Is it always like this here?” Vinyl asked, sidestepping a pony who ran by them with a briefcase. “Pretty much,” Lyra said, getting off the sidewalk in an effort to stay next to Vinyl and Octavia. “This is definitely one of the busier areas of Canterlot though, being the center and all.” Two turns and a side street later, they reached their destination. The sign on the shop simply advertised, ‘Ice Cream’, in plain red block lettering. Vinyl gave Lyra an unimpressed look, while Lyra gave her a look that seemed to say, ‘Just wait’. They pushed the door open, stepping inside. The place gave off a retro vibe with its alternating black and white tiles. The parlor was completely empty besides the stallion behind the counter. “Welcome,” he said. “What can I get for y’all today?” Lyra stepped up to the counter first, giving Octavia and Vinyl time to think. “Can I get a mint chocolate chip sundae please?” The stallion nodded, taking a few scoops and plopping them into a silver bowl. “Anything on it?” Lyra’s eyes sparkled. “Do you have any of those chocolate, what are they.” Her brows furrowed trying to remember. “Oh right- bon bons.” A few of those went onto the dish. Vinyl poked Octavia’s side. “Bon bons on ice cream?” Octavia shrugged. “It’s something they do here, Lyra likes them a lot. She tells me it’s good at least.” “If you say so.” Lyra finished making her order, walking away to get some napkins, prompting Octavia to order next. Octavia ordered a generic sundae while Vinyl went for a more unconventional butterscotch. At this time, Lyra came back insisting on paying for all of them. A minute later they were all seated at the seats by the parlor’s front window, giving them an adequate view of the street. “This ice cream will blow you mind, Vinyl,” Lyra said, already having taken two humungous bites out of her ice cream. Vinyl glanced at the various plaques tacked onto the opposite wall, stating various awards for competitions. “I guessed it might be pretty good,” she said, gesturing to them. Octavia nodded. “This place has been around at least as long as I’ve been here. It was founded by a couple sharing a particular affinity with ice cream apparently.” Lyra piped up. “It always sticks with the original flavors they started with though.” Octavia took a spoonful of her own bowl. “The classics always are the best.” Vinyl snorted putting down her spoon, clearly trying to contain her incoming laughter. Octavia stared at her. “What’s so funny?” “Its nothing- I just- youknowwhatnevermind.” Vinyl tried to put on her most innocent grin as possible. Naturally, she looked more suspicious than before. Octavia gave Vinyl another sideways glance. “Right.” Vinyl took this opportunity to taste her own dessert. Her eyes grew as wide as saucers. “where has this been all of my life?” The others were too busy with their own ice creams to say anything to this. It wasn’t long before they heard the saddest sound in the world; the sound of a spoon hitting the empty bottom of a bowl. “Well that’s depressing,” Lyra sighed. Vinyl gave a sorrowful look at her own bowl, Octavia thought that Vinyl might even burst into tears. “We can come back here some other time,” Octavia reassured Vinyl. “Easy for you to say when you’ve been here before,” Vinyl complained. They left after returning their empty bowls to the counter. “Hope to see you soon,” the stallion called after them. Finally outside, the cool crisp air hit them, almost making Vinyl regret eating ice cream. Almost. “Where are we going anyways?” Vinyl asked as they stood on the sidealk. “No idea at all,” Lyra said. “Back home, I guess?” Vinyl smiled. “Oh, right.” Home. “It is home isn’t it?” She lived with someone who was now her sister, ponies who were now her parents. It was a nice feeling, to have a home where you felt you belonged.