//------------------------------// // Coffee and Explanation // Story: Bass and Double Bass // by Solent Spray //------------------------------// "So, ummm........." Octavia begin, but she couldn't think of anything to say. Well, she could think of one subject but Octavia didn't really what to talk about it. Octavia had seen how much anger had been her music partner's expression when she saw Professor Songnote back in the music hall. Octavia and the girl; who she was pretty sure was called 'Vinyl' by now, were now sitting in a LunaBucks store off the main square in the Music District trying to start a conversation. Two cups of coffee were on the table between them along with 'Vinyl's' notepad and pen. Octavia's instrument was rest up against her chair, and 'Vinyl's' satchel was slung up against her own chair as well. "Look, just say it. I won't hold it against you seeing as you have a right to know by now." Octavia swallowed the lump in her throat and asked the question that had been on her mind since leaving her audition. "So, ummm.........." Octavia started up again. "...You and Professor Songnote?" 'Vinyl' rolled her eyes. "Before I start my story of how I know Songnote, it would be easier if we actually knew the names of each other. My name is Vinyl Scratch and I apologise for crashing into you at the Bus station earlier." "Ohh, I had completely forgotten about that. Sorry and don't mention it, there has been worse things that have ever happened to me." "Really!?!? What about???" "Umm....well this one time I decide it would be a good idea to annoy Pointville's librarian by rearranging all of the music section's literature into other sections so she would have to go through the entire library to find everything." "That doesn't sound too bad." Octavia snorted with laughter. "You are from Pointville are you? The librarian Ms. Sparkle pretty much loves everything to be order and I know she spent an entire week to sort everything thing out. After that she banned me from the library for eight months or until a got hold a copy of Star Swirls 'Extremely Advanced Extreme Theories for the Advanced'." "......what???" "Yeah, I know. It doesn't sound like a real book to me either. But in answer to your previous question: my name is Octavia Melody and I never really got chance to thank you properly before. So, umm....thanks." Vinyl snorted with laughter, and wrote back. "Hey, look lets call it even." "Done, ummm...your story about you and the Professor..." Octavia prompted. Vinyl's mood soured slightly, but sighed. Vinyl, just get this over and done with! "Basically......she is was my mother." Octavia read Vinyl's sentence, then re-read it, then re-read it again. Finally she looked back Vinyl, her face full of confusion. "...was?" Octavia finally managed to say weakly "Songnote hasn't been my mother for about three years." "Ummm...what happened three years ago" Octavia asked suddenly regretting opening this old would for Vinyl, clearly it wasn't a happy experience for her. But so far everyone who had experienced dealings with Professor Songnote, had never come away from it happy. Vinyl signed again, but this time out of frustration, sadness and slight hint of anger. "She and my father kicked out to fend for myself on the streets." "Ohh Celestia, I'm so sorry, Vinyl. I didn't know, w-we don't have to talk about this if you don't want to." Octavia was trying to backtrack, but Vinyl already had the plaster in her metaphorical fingers, she just needed to rip it off. "No, no it's fine. I kinda of want to talk about, you're only the third person who knows." "Ummm, ok. Third?" "My friends, Heavy Note and Passion Stripe. Without them I wouldn't be here." "They sound like good friends." "Yeah, they are. I first met them about a month after being kicked out to fend for myself, I met Heavy first and well..." Vinyl chuckled at an inner joke. "It wasn't the best of first impression I could have made, but he saw past that." "What happened?" "To be honest, I don't really have a very good memory of that time. Well, for obvious reasons, but apart from that I was half delirious from dehydration and hunger. I think I tried to steal his mobile so I could get something to eat" "Well, a phone call for some help is never a bad idea." "Octavia.....I tried to eat Heavy's mobile." Vinyl replied, while staring at her deadpanned. "Ohh..." Octavia expressed, getting the reasons behind Vinyl's meaning. "Well, at least its a good thing that its hard to chew through plastic." Vinyl snickered. "Ok, I'll admit that was a good one!" "Thanks, what happened after you tried to eat your friend's mobile?" Octavia chuckled moving the topic back to Vinyl's history. "Well, I suppose that's why he took me in and help me. He saw me in such desperate need that I was willing to do anything to survive, he took me back to his apartment here in Canterlot and that's when I first met Passion as well." Vinyl chuckled again. "The first time she saw me, I was completely dishevelled and probably smelt pretty bad. You should have heard her shouting at Heavy, hell I think all of Canterlot heard Passion Stripe." "After Passion quite literally shouted herself hoarse at Heavy Note, she took me to get cleaned of all the muck and grime that I had 'acquired'. Passion also cooked the decent meal I had in that month, and trust me when I say that nothing beats a home cooked meal especially after scourging out of bins." "Both Heavy and Passion had difficulty with my......disability but with time and patience from all three of us we had managed to communicate with each other. After that I tried everything to help them out and repay them, which lead me to music and performing. Heavy Note listened to me once and signed me up for the music event I would agree to, he said 'I've never seen anyone with that amount of natural talent you have, V!'" Octavia looked impressed at this. But Vinyl was already scribbling down her next sentences'. "Wait, it gets better. Immediately after that Passion Stripe smacked him around the head and started shouted at him again, saying that he never gave her compliments like that. She held that over his head for roughly two weeks before he apologized with a candlelit dinner for Passion and him complete with 'tone setting' background music from me!" Both girls fell into laughter; Vinyl's still silent, while Octavia had even gone as far as to have tears in her eyes. After they had finished, Octavia moved their discussion onto a different topic. "I've been meaning to ask you, how did you get so good with music? It can't be all natural, could it?" "Most of it is natural I think, but I was taught grand piano when I was around 10 years old." "Was that with......" "Yeah, it was with my mother. Probably the only good thing she ever did for me......" "Again, I'm sorry Vinyl." "Nah, don't be. I finally faced her and proved her wrong. But to answer your previous question, I think my talent at music is all natural, at least with classical music." "What do you mean?" "I mentioned before that Heavy Note got me into performing right?" "Right." "Yeah, it wasn't classical music. The songs and music I usually play is with the Underground Canterlot Music variety, you know; Modern House, EDM, Drum&Bass as well as Dubstep." "Oh, well I guess that explains the hair then. I didn't think that blue was a natural colour." Vinyl smiled at that comment, pulling at her hair to illustrate her next point. "What this? Yeah, I got it done with Passion Stripe after living with them for about six months. If you want I could get yours done.....I'm thinking orange highlights would be good!" "Uhh, thanks but no thanks Vinyl, believe it or not this isn't my hair's original colour." Vinyl raised an eyebrow at that, but Octavia continued. "It used to be half the length it is now and coloured a natural blonde." "Ok, I can see that happening....how about blonde hightlights then?" ".......maybe....." Octavia said shrewdly. Octavia looked at the clock on the store's wall; 13:00 "Vinyl, I'm going to have to catch a train back to Pointville." "Awww...." "But I'll be in Canterlot in two weeks time, would you mind if we met up again?" "I'll do one better" Vinyl scribbled down two different notes and passed them to Octavia; one had a phone number, the other had an address. "When you next come around stop on by. I'll introduce you to Passion Stripe and Heavy Note." "Thanks, I'll like that." Both girls got up and left the store chain, stopping outside then separating; Octavia back to the Bus and Train Station and Vinyl back to the Warehouse District. But before either of them where out of sight of the other, both turned back and waved goodbye.