//------------------------------// // Her Idol // Story: F.R.I.E.N.D.S of Equestria: Party Squad // by ChaseTheChangeling //------------------------------// Vinyl looked over her comics again with a small smile, her heart beating quickly as she continued the adventures of her favorite heroes. Her hands slid over the fine gloss of the paper, the smell of old boxes and dust heavy on its pages. Her room was that of an average reckless adult, her floor was covered in trash and clothes, old pizza boxes and soda cans littered her tables, her bed was a tangle of sheets, and her work desk was covered in papers and useless tech she planned to fix later. Her computer was at the opposite of her door, the large speakers and audio mixing gear laying neatly next to it. Her music items were the only things that were clean, dust free and shiny, not a single thing on them. Vinyl sat in the still quiet of her room for a few minutes before hearing the sounds of a soft cello playing in the next room over. Vinyl stretched her arms out and yawned; she must have been sitting there for a while if her roommate was already practicing. Vinyl stood slowly, moving over to her bedroom door and swung it open, only for it to catch on some of her discarded clothing, her own shirt hanging loosely, and boxers peeking only slightly from below it. She trudged to the next door, the hallway spotless save for a few pictures and a small table holding a picture of her and her roommate at a carnival. Vinyl smiled as she looked over the picture again. She could never not smile at it. Her roommate and her long charcoal black hair done up in a ponytail, her usual formal clothing traded in for a short sleeve shirt that read "I'm with Sexy" Vinyl had convinced her to wear, and her short jeans, a large wad of cotton candy on a small cone and a wide smile on her face. Vinyl herself had worn a typical beater with short trip pants, chains hanging from them and a thick black belt, her tattoos showing, and her pierced tongue out, a large stuffed bear in her arms that she had won, only to give it to her roommate as a gift. A gift that the posh girl had said was one of the best gifts she had ever received. Vinyl laughed at that; saying that a girl of her standing should have gotten nothing less of gold plated teddy bears and platinum jewelry. When Vinyl had said that, her roommate blushed and chuckled shyly, she was always bad with compliments like that. "Vinyl... are you still staring at that silly old picture of us?" came a soft voice from the door Vinyl had intended on reaching before. "Oh... huh?" Vinyl asked as she raised her head looking for the source of the voice before laying her eyes on the young olive skinned girl, her long black hair falling over her soft shoulders, her grey vest covering her white button up, held together at the top with her trademark pink bow tie. Her violet eyes sparkled as she gave Vinyl a shy smile. "Uh, yeah, Tavi, I love this picture!" "I do too..." Below the picture was a small bundle of scribbles they could still slightly make out, reading: "Vinyl Scratch and Octavia Melody 1949" "It's been a while since we went out to places like that huh?" Vinyl asked moving the picture a bit and grimacing at the amount of dust that had collected over it. "Only about two years I think." Octavia said with a grin. "We could always go out again. Nothing is stopping us." "Money?" Vinyl added quickly. "We have enough money, trust me." "I guess, but how long can we keep borrowing your parent's money?" "They said that their money is my money, so it is not a matter of borrowing, it is a matter of it being our money to use if we want to." Vinyl's frown grew and she scratched her head. "I guess so, but do they know that you're paying for me too?" "You don't have to worry about that , Vinyl, I will always be sure that you come first, no matter what." Octavia put her hand on Vinyl's shoulder giving her a reassuring smile. "I guess so..." "My music wasn't bothering you was it?" Octavia asked quickly as she walked to the living room. "Tavi, you know I love your music!" Vinyl said returning to her normal loud self. "Ah yes, but it is just practice, I fumble every now and again so it isn't like you're listening to me actually play anything." "It doesn't matter to me, I just love the fact that you're playing that makes me love it." Octavia said nothing as she lowered her head and smiled again, a slight blush forming over her face as she reached the small living room; it's simple couch up against the wall and coffee table in the middle, a TV on the opposite side by the door. The window was left with drawn curtains so that the strips of sunlight caught small bits of dust drifting peacefully in the air, that is until Vinyl ran up and karate chopped the air, causing the dust to fly desperately avoiding her assault. Octavia gave her a scolding look, only to be negated by her smile. "Vinyl, must you do that every time we come in here?" "It's fun, you know?" Vinyl said before flopping onto the couch, the cushions immediately accepting her as she snuggled into the soft pillows that also lay there. Octavia sat down slowly, her long black pants reaching up from her ankles as she moved, a practiced hand finding the TV remote and instantly flicking on the static laced screen until an image appeared. "I wonder what's on the news today..." Octavia wondered out loud, turning quickly to her roommate who was playing with a metal slinky. "I hope they're not going to lecture everybody about the dreaded Burs outbreak again, you know it's just a government scam to distract us from what's really going on." Vinyl said and chuckled as the slinky jumped from her hands and landed on the floor. The TV's sound came on and an older woman with long purple and white hair came on screen a bright smile on her face as the cameras rolled. "On a more positive note, the Burs outbreak is slowing down, and people are getting better, the reports of the one hundred people in custody to be treated are-" "I knew it!" Vinyl scowled as the woman continued, "They are just using this to cover up some government scandal! There is no way that there was some deadly overly contagious illness that just so happened to be fixed and contained in a few months!" Octavia rolled her eyes before hearing another update. This time a man with a short blue hair cut and a nice blue suite was seen, he held in his ear piece as he was being fed information. "Oh, yes... of coarse...." The man said as he straighten up and gave a sure smile. "Something I"m sure all of you have been dying to hear! The dreaded Mistress Strings has been defeated again by the White Unicorn and her Party Squad! What a hero! We have not had a chance to interview her, but we are planning on trying to catch her before she disappears again." A brief clip of Whit Unicorn was shown speaking with a few reporters before her team rushed off in their own directions. "We understand that the privacy of our heroes are important, but has anyone ever wanted know who they really are? What do they do? How do they live? As far as we know, these heroes live normal day to day lives, hiding their powers to remain unnoticed by the public for the safety of themselves and family. How do you know your very neighbor isn't a superhero, a savior of people and loved by all? This goes for villains as well, who may not actually be living in a mountain side cave as previously believed! As far as villains go, we only have one major pain, and that is the evil Mistress Strings." A small photo of the woman was shown, her face covered by a large black veil of a mask, the only thing showing through being her teeth and hungry eyes. "We plan to detain this menace to society and have her unmasked! We already have a few leads on the woman and hope to have her captured soon." Vinyl shut of the TV and sighed. "What a woman!" "Who do you mean?" Octavia asked slowly without moving her eyes from the now blank screen. "White Unicorn!" Vinyl chirped as she leaned forward from her seat, "She's everything I wanted to be as a child! Fast, cunning smart, a real bad ass!" "Ah yes... I can see why you like her so much. She is a shining beacon of pure good isn't she?" Octavia rolled her shoulders and turned to smile at Vinyl, she always loved it when she would get caught up in her superhero speeches. "Hell yeah! Could you imagine being a hero like her? Like, all that fame and love? To have people want to be you? And be with you? Can you imagine the groupies she must have?" "Oh yes, I could only imagine how that would feel." "And it must feel good! WOO! The rush of being up there in the sky! And those eye laser things she has! And the canons! The feeling of defeating that asshole Mistress Strings over and over again!" "Now I wouldn't go so far as to call her an asshole..." "But think about it, she kinda is, she steals and destroys, she hurts people, Tavi." "I don't think the news has ever reported a body count after her... actions..." "But that makes her bad too, her actions, what she does, she's stealing and destroying things." "Do you ever think about why she does that?" "I don't understand why you have such a soft spot for the villains of Equestria, Tavi, why not just worship the heroes like the rest of us?" "Because villains are people too, they don't get to be worshiped for their hard work and energy." "That's because their hard work is making other people's lives a living hell..." Octavia bit her lip, and closed her eyes, trying her best to let out a smooth sigh. She stood up from the couch and walked towards the hallway before turning around. "Vinyl..." she asked quietly. "Yes, Tavi?" Vinyl asked switching the TV on. "D-do you still want to go to the carnival?" "Of coarse! But we'll have to budget it, I haven't had a gig in a while, so you know... We may be a bit short on cash." "I'll talk to my parents... how does a week from now sound?" "Sounds good... but why so long if you're just going to talk to them about it?" "It may take a little... persuasion...." With that, Octavia left the living room and returned to her bed room, locking the door in place. Her room was neat, orderly, the floor was swept, her instruments in place, although her bed was a mess and her desk had papers scattered across it, the rest of the room was immaculate. She sighed as she went to her bed, a single tear falling from her eye as she thought over her plans. She would have to be quick about this. With another forced sigh she leaned back in her bed, her arms supporting her weight against the soft sheets. "She must never know I'm everything she hates in a person..."