"A second litter box? Hmmmm..." Octavia speaks over the burgundy bass reverberations of her cello strings. "I quite like that idea, actually. Sound advice. How fortunate that you would have run into Fluttershy this morning."
I nod, carefully packing away my turntable and clasping the metal trunk shut. I then turn towards another crate, sliding my instruments into their foam housing before closing it as well.
"I'll be sure to buy some new litter in addition," my roommate says. Her violet voice rolls over my shoulders like a gentle massage. "No sense in Miss Fluttershy getting rid of her own supply. Celestia knows if she might stumble upon more stray kittens like Scribbler in the future. Still, it was a nice gesture." She pauses, striking a complicated note on her instrument. I don't know how she can even converse and orchestrate at the same time. She's the talented one, not me. "Then again, everything to do with that mare is kind, don't you think?"
I float both containers towards the door where a suitcase on wheels is already resting. The day is dull and dim outside the windows, and the green hum of the world turns pale with the advent of night. I find it hard not to yawn.
"How long will you be in Baltimare, love?"
And just like that, I'm awake again. I pierce through the purple cloud and hold up two hooves.
"Two days?" She blinks, then squints at me. Somehow, she always looks five times more elegant when her eyes are thin. "Then again... eheheh..." She chuckles between the undulating bass notes. "It's hard to tell whether you're trying to say two or twenty." She glances down at her bow as she masterfully slices at the strings. "I swear, the stars should have granted us digits just for ponies like you."
I roll my eyes and trot across the room to the fridge.
"I hope you're not craving more of that accursed beverage," she grumbles, her voice rippling with a savage satin tear. "It's getting awfully late for caffeine. You need your sleep if you're to make the train tomorrow morning."
A bemused smile crosses my lips. I asked for a roommate, not a mother. With quiet grace, I open the fridge and pull out the makings for a lettuce sandwich.
"Hmmm." She sees it. She sees everything... that is, almost everything. "Very well. A full stomach would be good for a change," she murmurs. "You're an energetic pony, Vine, but you could stand to have more meat on your bones. Ermm... I-I mean that in the nicest way possible."
If you insist.
I decide to add a few carrot slices between the toasted slices of bread, if only to silence her nagging.
"I do hope the... you-know-what doesn't arrive while you're gone."
I pause, looking up at her with an arched eyebrow.
"Okay..." She groans, striking the wrong note. We both wince, and after a few breaths later she resumes: "So I admit it. I'm still impatient for a response. But I would enjoy it all the more if you were here to celebrate with me, assuming we were selected... in th-the end." She gulps. "But honestly, Vinyl, we submitted the application to Her Majesty's... erm... tree castle ages ago! It wouldn't be like Princess Twilight to ignore us." A long, dry pause. "Would it?"
I shrug and continue to fix my sandwich, adding a liberal amount of dressing.
"And... I don't suppose you... saw Her Highness this morning right after you ran into Fluttershy?"
My face tilts up to meet hers with a dull expression.
"Erm... right. I won't press the subject anymore." Tavi sighs. She stops playing, her limp figure slumping against the frame of her cello in an immortal symbol of ennui. I swear, they could make a poster of this image right here and now and it would send a dozen dreadnaughts off to war. "I... I-I don't mean to sound terribly jealous, love, but lately it feels like you've been stricken by glorious lightning bolts of inspiration, slapping together record after record, and here I am sitting on my worthless arse, soaking in your good bits while failing to have a single performance to show for myself!"
I bite my lip. My shaded eyes travel to a stack of freshly made records on my side of the foyer. Even now, I swear, they resonate with a trademark violet aura...
"Mmmm... just listen to me, Vine. I suppose it does no good for me to prattle on and on like a depressed widow." She looks at me with sleepy eyes, and the hint of a smile blossoms from underneath. "You're such a good friend. So patient and understanding. I... I promise..." She clenches her teeth, yet commits to the next delivery: "I promise that if I should receive a letter from the Princess, I shan't open it until you have returned safely so we can share together in the triumph." She gulps. "Or the defeat..."
In response, I smile. I daringly lower the shades and wink one eye in her direction. The gesture is heartfelt, but I nearly collapse from the dizzying effect it has on my nerves. Swift as lighting, I return the comfortingly dark shades to their normal resting spot and continue with my breaded masterpiece.
"But do be careful in Baltimare, darling," Octavia says. Her bass strings resume, carrying her purple voice towards me on gentle waves. "I do hear that the locals have been rather... urban as of late."
My stomach growls. It's the closest thing to a titter I have to offer.
They'd damn well better be urban.