//------------------------------// // Ghosts From The Past // Story: Simple Melodies are for Fillies // by bahatumay //------------------------------// Octavia knocked on the studio door and then pushed it open. “Knock, knock,” she said. Vinyl turned around in her chair to face the door. “Hi, Octavia,” she said. “Fancy seeing you here.” Octavia's eyes widened slightly as she saw her. “Vinyl, you are aware that you are stark naked, right?” Vinyl shrugged, apparently completely unconcerned about the show she was putting on. “Yeah. Our a/c went out last night, so this is how I'm coping.” Octavia waved a hand disarmingly. “Oh, no need to apologize. I must say, that’s a good look on you. But now, I feel a bit overdressed. And we can't have that, now, can we?” She slowly brought a hand up and began unbuttoning her blouse. Vinyl watched in fascination as Octavia slowly unbuttoned her shirt and exposed her body. Her eyes widened slightly. “You don't wear a bra to record?” “They were all dirty,” Octavia shrugged as her shirt fell to the floor. Her belt came undone next, followed by her skirt. Vinyl took in her gray panties emblazoned with her purple cutie mark. Octavia noticed she was staring, and moved closer. “I suppose it goes without saying that you like what you see?” “Oh yes,” Vinyl breathed. Octavia straightened up and clasped her hands behind her back, both getting them out of the way and pressing her chest out even further. “You can take off my panties if you'd like,” she offered. Vinyl was so excited she… oh, no! No! Not now! Not yet! Not-! Vinyl grit her teeth and groaned in frustration as her body hit its peak, very much against her will. When she'd finished shaking, she lay back on her bed, panting. Her fantasy was gone now, likely to never return. She felt disappointed (and somewhat betrayed by her own body) that she hadn't made it to the end. Maybe next time. I have got to see her again, she mused as she used her magic to pick her pants back up from off the floor. But what kind of excuse could I use? It never crossed Vinyl's mind that Octavia might want to see her just to see her. She tried to brainstorm ideas as she washed her hands. Octavia, mare, bisexual; loved music and performing, instrument of choice a cello, but proficient in all string instruments; born… Wait. She left the water running as she sprinted over and checked the calendar. Her eyes widened. “Holy cats! That's today!” * * * Octavia looked up at the knock in the door. She squinted. There was no way he'd remember... She quickly opened the door and her eyes widened. Vinyl Scratch stood there, smiling widely. “Happy birthday!” she proclaimed. She lifted her hands, revealing that she held a German chocolate cake in her magic beside her. Octavia laughed. “Thank you! Come in! How did you know?” “Uh...” Vinyl tried to remember where she'd seen that. Where had she seen that? She didn't want to sound like an obsessed stalker. “Biography on your fifth cd?” she guessed. Octavia nodded. “Oh. Right. The release date was my birthday. My agent thought she was so clever with that one. And the cake?” “Cover art on your fourth cd.” Vinyl grinned sheepishly. “I have them all.” That wasn't creepy, right? DJ Pon-3 had fans who framed all her singles and she didn't find that creepy. The guy who had wanted to catch her sweat on a signed poster of her, though. That had been creepy. Octavia chuckled lightly. “That one was a prop; I actually don't care much for German chocolate cake,” she admitted. “Y- you don't?” Vinyl said, feeling slightly distraught (and somewhat lied to). Octavia shook her head. “My heritage aside, the coconut flakes get stuck in my teeth,” she admitted. “Oh…” Vinyl bit her lower lip and set the cake down on the counter. “Well, I… uh…” “I appreciate the thought, though.” Her voice took a slightly darker tone. “He didn't even remember at all.” Vinyl knew instantly who she was referring to. “Oh, now that's just not right,” she said angrily. Righteous indignation coursed through her veins. “I'll tell you what. If he doesn't do something nice for you tonight, I'll take you out to dinner myself. Anywhere you want.” “Really?” “Yeah. Anywhere. Just come by at seven or so if nothing happens. You remember where I live.” “I believe that can be arranged,” Octavia said with a genuine smile. * * * Vinyl tugged at her shirt collar. It had been a heat of the moment thing when she'd offered to take Octavia out; the words had just tumbled out and now that seven pm was nearing, she was getting increasingly nervous at the idea of actually following through on what she'd said. She'd dressed up nearly an hour before at six, and she was now pacing around the house nervously. You don't just abandon a beautiful mare like Octavia. It was more than likely that she had managed to find a date, or something else important or fun to do, and Vinyl had gotten herself all dressed up for nothing. She took another drink of water, her current method of calming herself. Her fingernails had already been pretty much worked over, she had chewed the skin on the tip of her right pinky down to where it kindof tasted like baby carrots, and she had run out of mints to crunch instead. Then again, there was a chance that she wouldn't, though, and there Vinyl would step in. She took another drink. Would Octavia find it offensive that she had paid for all of their dates to date? She could ask her to pay tonight- No. Vinyl shook her head. Not on her birthday. Vinyl would have to pay. No, she'd willingly pay. But would that count as a present? Vinyl gasped as she realized she hadn't gotten Octavia anything, except for that cake earlier. Vinyl had just started to wonder how it would play out if her present was taking off her shirt for her when the doorbell rang. She sprinted back to the door and there stood Octavia. “Octavia!” Octavia smiled. She had on a lovely evening dress, and Vinyl felt a spark of relief that she hadn't been overdressed. “Hello, Vinyl,” she said. “So, nothing tonight?” Vinyl said. “No.” She sighed. “To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure what else I expected.” Vinyl held out her arm. “Then allow me to escort you tonight, fair abandoned maiden,” she said. Octavia giggled, and she placed her arm around Vinyl's. “Why, thank you,” she said. * * * Vinyl grinned appreciatively as she swirled the ice cubes in her glass. “All-you-can-eat sushi, huh?” she asked, looking up from the order form. “Not quite what I would have expected.” To Vinyl's surprise, Octavia blushed slightly as she marked her choices. “Yes, well… my father would bring me to places like this after my performances to celebrate. Mother liked to emphasize healthy eating for me; Father would tell her to shove it. But never to her face, of course; and never in those exact words.” Vinyl cracked a smile. “Of course.” “Instead, we'd come to places like this and gorge ourselves whenever she was out of town. It was our little secret.” It was Octavia's turn to smile wryly. “They would try and play me against each other. There was much they did not agree upon.” “Do they still fight?” Vinyl asked. This opened up a whole new fear, that she would need to meet Octavia's parents. She brought her straw to her mouth and took another drink to distract herself as she considered this. She was not looking forward to that. She really wasn’t that great at handling conflict. Especially since she and her own mother didn’t get along that well. If she couldn't even get along with her own mother, how was she supposed to get along with someone else's? “No; they seem to have put aside their differences now that they're both laying next to each other in the graveyard at St. Ninian's.” Vinyl flinched and choked on her water. When she recovered, she said, “Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't know… and this time I really didn't…” Octavia rested a hand on her shoulder. “It's ok,” she said. “It's been a good seven years since the train accident. Besides, I'm a big mare; I can take care of myself.” At 'big mare', Vinyl's eyes briefly flicked down to Octavia's chest, but she managed to bring them back up before she noticed. Something suddenly occurred to her. “Was it about the time of your second cd?” she asked. Octavia raised an eyebrow and withdrew her hand. “Yes,” she said slowly. “Why?” Vinyl smiled. “That's the cd that got me interested in your music. I could just feel the emotion you put in your music, and I could feel your pain through the music. I was so impressed that I've been following you ever since.” She paused, and then reddened to about the shade of the tablecloth as she realized that she had probably just insinuated that the deaths of Octavia's parents had been a good thing. Luckily for Vinyl, the waiter returned to take their orders, providing a convenient diversion. They had ordered some spring rolls for appetizers, and these quickly arrived. Vinyl also got her glass of water refilled. “So how are your ensemblemates doing?” she asked as she started on this new one. Octavia chuckled as she expertly manipulated her chopsticks and picked up a spring roll. “That's not a real word, Vinyl.” “It should be,” Vinyl insisted as she struggled with her own set of chopsticks. “What else do you call them?” “Well, Fredrick has tried to get us to call him the Grand Pianomaster; but that has never really caught on, for obvious reasons.” Vinyl cracked a smile which turned into more of a frown as she dropped her spring roll for what must have been the fifth time. But before she gave in to her frustration and just magically constructed a fork, she froze; Octavia had reached over and placed her hand on hers, adjusting the chopsticks. Her fingers gently manipulated Vinyl's into the proper position. “Now try,” she said. “Use your index finger to move the top one; the bottom one stays in place.” Vinyl tried this. She managed to pick one up and carry it halfway to her mouth… and then it slipped and fell to the table. Octavia smiled encouragingly, so Vinyl tried again. When she obtained the same result for the fourth time, though, she'd had enough. Scowling, Vinyl dropped her chopsticks, lit her hand, and just tossed the spring roll into her mouth with magic. Octavia giggled, and Vinyl blushed again. It wasn’t exactly good manners to use magic around people who couldn’t. And then Octavia opened her mouth invitingly. Vinyl’s heart raced as she realized that she wanted her to give her one, too. Blushing furiously, she lit her hand again and gently tossed another one over. Octavia caught it and cracked a smile while keeping her mouth closed. She politely chewed and swallowed before explaining. “My father used to do that; throw his food as if he were a hibachi chef. He thought he was pretty funny.” Vinyl chuckled, relieved… and also with a feeling of something welling up inside her. She wanted Octavia more than ever now. It was then that Vinyl realized her nervous habit of drinking water had come back to bite her when she was suddenly seized with an urgent need to go to the bathroom. This was also followed by the awful realization that there's no real classy way to excuse yourself to the bathroom. To distract herself, she did the first thing that came to mind: take another drink of water. The irony of this made her giggle. Octavia tilted her head, wordlessly asking for clarification. “Nothing,” Vinyl said too quickly. “I just really have to pee.” Octavia raised an eyebrow. “And you find that amusing?” “N- no,” Vinyl said, taking another drink of water to buy herself time to think of a good answer before pausing and cracking a smile again. It was a vicious cycle of failure, really, that’s all it was. This time Octavia understood, and she giggled, hiding her mouth behind her hand. “I assume you don't need a chaperone?” “Nah,” Vinyl said, getting up. Maybe she could curl up into a corner and die of embarrassment in the corner stall of the bathroom, away from everyone else. That was a good plan. “Forget I said anything.” “I will. Come back soon,” Octavia said with a wink. Vinyl left as quickly as she could. Octavia smiled as she settled down into her seat and watched her walk away. Admittedly, this birthday hadn't started out very well; but Vinyl was doing more than her part to make it good. She made a sincere effort. Sure, she was clumsy and awkward, and maybe a bit tactless at times; but she was honest and she made an effort. She cared about Octavia and thought about her happiness, and if her constant eye glances were any indication, she was a big fan of Octavia's body. And it didn't hurt that she was also a musician who loved her craft and was, in a word, adorable. She was smaller but not too petite, and still feminine, with soft curves and those brilliantly-colored eyes… She was definitely someone Octavia could see spending the rest of her life with. Octavia took a drink of her soft drink as she began to plan a certain break-up speech for the next time she met up with a certain stallion. The only problem with that is, sometimes the phrase 'speak of disharmony and it shall appear' is not just a saying. “There you are.” Octavia swallowed what she had in her mouth and set her glass down without looking at her soon-to-be-ex-coltfriend. “Took you long enough to notice I was missing,” Octavia said coolly. “I don't know if I'm more impressed that you actually looked for me, or that you remembered where my favorite place was.” He finally noticed the second plate. “Oh, you whore; you're cheating on me, aren't you?” he accused. “I'm breaking up with you.” Octavia's voice was as hard as steel. “We're through. Vinyl actually cares, and remembers important events like, oh, I don't know…” Her eyes narrowed. “My concerts and my birthday.” “I'm not losing you.” “Oh, it is far too late for that,” Octavia said with the tiniest hint of a smirk. “Is it? Come with me, or I'll develop those pictures I took last winter.” Octavia felt a cold chill run up her spine. “Which pictures?” she asked innocently. “Oh, you remember... The ones from your private show at my parents' cabin?” “I thought you said you were going to destroy those,” Octavia said through clenched teeth. “I say a lot of things,” he grinned. “So do you. You said you love me.” “I do,” Octavia said, tensing ever so slightly. “Did,” she corrected quietly. “Do,” he corrected angrily. “I'm not going to lie,” Octavia said loftily. “I haven't felt anything from you or towards you in a long time. I'd say nearly five months, really.” He scowled, but managed to remain in control of his voice. “That's too bad. Now, either feel like getting up and coming with me, or the whole world will know what you felt like showing me.” Octavia ground her teeth together, but she could see no alternative. If those pictures got out, her career would be over. Her face burning brightly from suppressed rage and embarrassment, Octavia stood up and followed him out. * * * Vinyl returned as quickly as she could. “Heh, yeah, sorry about that… Hey, have you tried the soap in there? It's this grainy, powdery kind, and you push the bottom thing up and it comes out. Smells really good…” Her voice trailed off when she realized that the booth was empty. Vinyl slowly sat back in her seat. “She left,” she whispered in disbelief. “Sh- she left me.” She turned to the waiter, who had walked up behind her. “Where did she go?” “She left with another guy with a music cutie mark.” Vinyl bit her lower lip. “What did he look like?” Her teeth sank deeper into her lip as she heard the description. That guy sounded all too familiar. She lowered her head to the table and exhaled. Silent sobs shook her body. “Should I ask the kitchen to cancel your order?” the waiter asked tactfully. “Yeah,” Vinyl said numbly, reaching for her spoon and grabbing her chopstick instead. “And bring me a big thing of ice cream.” Who was she kidding? She'd never had a chance with her. Not with someone like Octavia. “We don't actually serve ice cream,” he admitted. Vinyl exhaled even more deeply and lay still. * * * Vinyl opened the door to her apartment and trudged in. She paused long enough to half-heartedly pull the door shut with her foot and then continued walking. Lyra grinned widely at the sound of her roommate entering. She lit her hand and flicked over a small bag full of shiny bits. “Here,” she said. “Fifty bits, just like we said.” Vinyl didn't even raise her hand to catch them; instead, she numbly let them bounce off her stomach. She didn't flinch or even slow down as she continued walking. Lyra paused. “Vinyl?” Vinyl didn't even stop walking as she headed to bed. She climbed in and mechanically pulled the covers over her face, without even bothering to take off her shoes. “…Vinyl?”