//------------------------------// // Chapter Eighteen // Story: Two's Company, Three's a Crowd // by Lithe Kamitatsy //------------------------------// Octavia stared at Lyra's front door, going over what she was going to say in her mind several times. "Go ahead and knock, Octavia. I'm sure she won't bite." Twilight urged. "I would not put it past her..." Octavia responded, raising an eyebrow. She raised a hoof to knock, but set it down again, nervous about what would transpire. "C'mon Octy! The sooner you get it over with, the better you'll feel!" Vinyl urged. "I'll even treat you to out afterward. That sound fair?" "...Vinyl, for the fifth time, you HAVE NO money." Octavia said, staring at Vinyl. "Sure I do! I-uh-just need to borrow it." Vinyl then turned to Twilight. "Can I borrow twenty bits?" Octavia shook her head and sighed. Now or never, Octavia. You can do this! She gathered whatever courage she could find and knocked on the door. She heard a yelp of surprise and the sound of objects falling to the ground. The three stared at the door, listening to what suddenly sounded like a tornado in their house, until a voice finally answered them. "One second!" it said, the voice immediately followed by the sound of rustling objects. A few moments later, the door opened and revealed a very much disheveled and out-of-breath Bonbon. "Oh, hello Octavia. Is-is there something I can do for you?" she panted, finding it odd that Octavia would actively seek out their home. "Yes, hello Bonbon. Is Lyra in? I want to have a word with her." Octavia responded. I just want to get his over with as soon as possible, and move on with my life. "It is rather important." "I see. I hope she didn't cause you anymore trouble. I honestly don't see the point in her fighting with you." Bonbon admitted, taking a step back. "Please, come in," she said. "Well, I intend to get to the bottom of that very topic." Octavia said, both Twilight and Vinyl following her in to Bonbon's home. "Thank you for letting us come into your home under such short notice. Lyra is very lucky to have somepony like you in her life." "Thank you, Octavia." Bonbon blushed. "I'm quite relieved that Lyra won't be stressing herself over this anymore. Every time she sees you it turns into a verbal Octavia-bashing session, and I've grown very tired of it," she said. "Just wait here, I'll go get Lyra." Bonbon then hurried off upstairs. Octavia, Twilight and Vinyl all took seats in the living room, chatting quietly amongst themselves when Bonbon returned with Lyra, who was protesting all the way down the stairs. "I still don't understand what you mean, Bonbon! Who's here to-" Lyra stopped short when she locked eyes with Octavia, her expression going from one of confusion to one of disdain. "What are you doing here?" she said in a vitriolic tone. "We're here to fix this, Lyra." Twilight spoke, standing up. "We're going to stop this fighting between you and Octavia. We all feel that this needs to be done," she insisted. "Now come down here and let's get you back to being friends!" Lyra reluctantly agreed, and trotted down the stairs with Bonbon behind her, in case she tried to bolt. "Vinyl, go stand at the door." Twilight ordered. "Gotcha, boss lady." Vinyl complied, standing at the door. "Hey Bonbon, got anything to eat?" "You just ate, Vinyl! How can you POSSIBLY be hungry?!" Octavia yelled, unable to comprehend. "You are on a ROLL today, Vinyl." "Octy, we've gone over this before. I have a sexy figure that is so awesome I don't NEED to watch what I eat, and the only roll I'm interested in is a jelly roll." she said, licking her lips. "...If you're not careful I will be rolling you out the door in a carpet." Octavia warned, giving her a stern look. Vinyl fell silent, allowing Twilight to continue. "Alright, Lyra, sit across from Octavia." she ordered. Lyra did as she was told, and glared at Octavia, who returned it with equal intensity. "Okay, according to what Octavia has told me, she believes that you deliberately pranked her back at the Winter Moon Festival by switching her sheet music. Lyra, how do you feel about this?" "Wha-I DID NO SUCH THING!" Lyra yelled, angry at the accusation. "Do you honestly think I'd go out of my way to mess with my OWN performance? Are you really that empty-headed?" she spat. "Not as empty-headed as YOU WILL BE!" Octavia bit back, practically lunging out of her seat. Vinyl was ready to jump just in case that was what it came to. "GIRLS! GIRLS! Calm down for a second!" Twilight yelled, raising a hoof in each mare's direction. "Lyra, tell me YOUR side of this story." Lyra settled herself back in her seat, calming herself momentarily. "All I remember, was when the song came to a grinding halt, Octavia running off stage, and the concert coming to an abrupt end. Afterward, I was talking to my old friend about how much it reminded me of another incident when I was younger." "THAT IS A LIE AND YOU KNOW IT!" Octavia yelled, furious that Lyra would deliberately try to lie her way out of this. "I overheard what you said. You said you 'had never been more embarrassed to be performing next to another pony in your life' and that it was ALL a prank! How would you know if you were not the one who did it!?" she accused, shaking from anger. "Were you not listening? I said I was talking about an incident that happened to an old band-mate of mine before that performance. Her name was Note Sheet. Her cutie mark was a musical note?" "I remember no such pony! Quit making things up to make me look like the culprit!" Octavia yelled. "Just shut up and listen for a second!" Lyra yelled in return. Octavia fell silent, but gave a small grunt of dissatisfaction as she sat back in her seat. Lyra then continued. "She had gone and written out her own note sheet for the performance, and somepony switched them out right before we performed. She got really confused, and ended up ruining the performance. I was actually talking to Note Sheet because she was in the audience, and we were joking about how it happened to her. Ugh, try not jumping to conclusions next time!" Lyra responded forcefully, sitting back in her seat. Octavia sat in silence, taking in all she had heard. "...I cannot say I do not feel bad for jumping to conclusions, but by the same token, you could have been up-front with me and told me that you had had nothing to do with it. That way, my anger would not have been misguided all this time and I would not have intentionally stepped on your tail all those years ago," she said. "That was YOU who stomped on my tail?! I had to buy a new lyre as WELL as pay for damages!" Lyra yelled, angry at the revelation. "Yes, that was me...I look back at it now and see it was a very foalish thing for me to do," Octavia said softly, looking away. Lyra simply stared at Octavia, unsure of what to do next. "...Well...I suppose it's also my fault for not figuring out why you hated me so much. I should have tried to fix it, instead of making it worse," she said, averting her eyes to Bonbon, who was positively beaming. "I'm proud of you girls. You were able to get to the bottom of this without going at each other's throats." Twilight said, relieved. "Why don't you try giving each other a hug?" Twilight suggested. She blinked in surprise when both Lyra and Octavia looked at her with dead-pan expressions. "I don't think I'm ready for that just yet," Lyra said. "Agreed...even though we have figured out the situation, there is still a lot of damage that needs to be undone...but I am not above a hoof-shake," Octavia suggested, extending her hoof. Lyra eyed it carefully, then smirked. "Fair enough," Lyra said, returning the hoof-shake. "I guess that counts," Twilight giggled. "Yeah, looked like Octy was gonna leap over the table and pummel Lyra until it stopped being funny. Not gonna lie, I kinda wanted to see Octy go Incredible Bullk." Vinyl laughed. "OCTY SMASH PUNY LYRE! OCTY BEST MUSICIAN THERE IS!" She yelled. "...I am so embarrassed...please Celestia, smite me where I stand..." Octavia muttered as she face-hoofed. Bonbon simply laughed as Lyra stifled a giggle. "Lyra...if you are not busy this evening...um...Pinkie Pie is throwing a party for me, and I would be happy if you attended." she said, hoping Lyra would accept. "A party? For what?" Lyra asked, surprised. "I am...having a baby." Octavia blushed. "Oh..." Lyra responded softly. "Congratulations, Octavia. I hope your baby is born healthy." she said. "Thank you Lyra, that means a lot." Octavia smiled. "As for attending...I'll see if I can clear up my schedule." Lyra smirked. Bonbon smiled and trotted over to her, hugging her tightly around the neck. "D'awww, how cute. Anywho, isn't it getting close to party time?" Vinyl reminded. "Pinkie mentioned something about showing up around four, and it's just about two." "Oh wow, I have to go get ready!" Twilight said, surprised. "I'll see you girls at the party." She got up and headed for the door. "Octavia, Vinyl, you're welcome to get ready at my place." "Thank you, Twilight." Octavia said, getting up from her seat. She trotted over to Lyra, and held out a hoof. "So...are we in agreement?" "Agreement about what?" Lyra asked, raising an eyebrow. "That we have put this behind us...for now at least," Octavia said with a small smile. After a few tense moments, Lyra smiled. "Yeah, that works." Bonbon was forced to wipe her eyes, both Vinyl and Twilight smiling at the scene. "Well, we'll see you later at the party! Don't be late!" Vinyl said to them, opening the door. Octavia and Twilight left Lyra and Bonbon in their living room and shut the door. "I'm very proud of you, Octy." she said as they walked towards the library. "How so?" Octavia asked, slightly confused. "Well, I didn't expect you two to actually come to some sort of an agreement like that. It was pretty cool." Vinyl winked. Octavia blushed, and simply nudged Vinyl's shoulder with a hoof. "Well, I was not going to be unreasonable. I was going to get this fixed, one way or another." "Well ya did good, Octy." Vinyl said softly, nuzzling Octavia slightly. Twilight opened the door to the library, the three entering and shutting the door, beginning to prepare for the party.