It was cold day out, and she lacked proper attire, but Octavia had other things on her mind than the weather. A young girl, in a new town, going to a new school for the first time, Octavia was nervous. She tried to stay optimistic, but as the bus pulled up to her driveway, she couldn’t help but hesitate before stepping on. As she began to make her way down the aisle, however, her fears were replaced with utter astonishment, as some of the strangest hair colors she had ever seen met her eyes. There was a girl with hot pink hair, a girl with purple hair, a girl with purple hair along with a pink highlight, and strangest of all was an athletic looking girl who had every color of the rainbow in her hair. She knew that hair dying was becoming popular among adults, but these girls were her age, third graders for crying out loud! As she moved further towards the back, she did see some more natural hair colors; there was a blond girl and orange-haired girl sitting together, the blond having a peculiar set of eyes.
There were some others, but Octavia’s observations were cut short by the realization that she had reached the back of the bus without taking a seat. How stupid I must look, she thought to herself. She turned around and started looking for an empty seat. She could only see two, one next to a boy at least a year younger than her with bright green spiky hair, but she wouldn’t be caught dead next to a boy. Her only other option was a girl sporting headphones two rows up from where Octavia stood. Quickly, she took her seat, yet the girl next to her didn’t seem to take notice. She remained indulged in some sort of wacky electronic music, from what Octavia could hear blasting from the girl’s headphones. Accompanying them was a head of dark and lightning blue hair that looked as if it were trying its hardest to push against the oppressing headphones. Other than that, the girl was quite ordinary, if not a little bit tomboyish, judging from her clothing articles. Octavia decided it was best to leave her alone, and rode the rest of the way to school in silence.
Three days later, Octavia was once again next to the blue-haired girl, but this time with a bit more knowledge about her. She was Vinyl Scratch, a cheery but tough girl, with a knack for running her mouth. This often landed her in the principal's office, though she doesn’t appear to mind. The only time Vinyl could stop talking was when she was listening to music, but it was dangerous to disturb her while she was ‘in her element.’ Though, as the circumstances stood, Octavia hadn’t made many, perhaps any, real friends, and they did share an interest in music, albeit very different styles. Hesitantly, Octavia lightly tapped Vinyl on the shoulder.
“Alright punk, you’ve got five seconds to…oh, it’s you, what do you want?” Vinyl asked as she let down her fist. It took a few moments for Octavia to reorient herself, as she was quite shaken by Vinyl’s aggressiveness. However, she was once again stunned when she looked into Vinyl’s face and saw two ruby red eyes staring back at her. They were the brightest and most beautiful things Octavia had ever seen.
“Uhh, hellooo…” Scratch was now waving her hand in front of Octavia’s face, trying to snap her back into reality.
“Oh, sorry,” Octavia said, shaking herself “it’s just those red eyes…Are they tinted contacts?”
“Nope!” Vinyl said proudly, “All natural, you aren’t going to find another pair like these out there. But I know you didn’t risk me flipping on you just to ask about my eyes, so what may I help you with this fine morning?”
Octavia stammered, trying to find something to say, “I…uhh…yeah, what’s with all these crazy hair colors?”
“Oh, that.” Vinyl leaned back, “You’re the new kid, right? Story is that Rarity, the fashion diva over there with the dark purple hair started getting her hair dyed after begging her parents for three weeks straight. Some parents of the other kids liked the look, and soon they were all lining up to get their kids hair dyed, mine included.” Vinyl looked up at her own hair, and sighed. “I hate it when parents force you to do stuff. I could care less about my hair, but now every other Saturday I have to waste an hour of my life at a hair salon because my mom makes me.”
“I hear you loud and clear,” Octavia said, “my parents are the worst. It’s all work and no play with them, and I’m sick of it. They can even turn something that I enjoy into a chore. Like at my seventh birthday, my aunt Tessie gave me her old Ukulele, and I had a lots of fun playing it. My dad then assumed that I was ‘gifted’ and not a week later we were at the music store trying out all these string instruments. Some of them are bigger than me! Can you believe that?”
“No way,” Vinyl exclaimed, “how can a person play something that’s bigger than them?”
“Beats me,” Octavia shrugged. “Anyway, now I have to go to a music instructor every week for violin lessons. I enjoy playing the instrument, but being forced into it takes out some of the fun.”
“Huh,” Vinyl said, “you know, I like music alot too. maybe not the same, uhh...what’s that word for a type of music?”
“genre?”
“That’s the one! Maybe not the same genre of music as you, but I do really like music.”
“Really?” Octavia asked, astonished, “nobody really cared about music at my old school.”
“Well, you’re not alone anymore,” she stuck out a hand, but this time to shake rather than to hit, “Name’s Vinyl Scratch.”
Octavia decided to not mention that she already knew Vinyl’s name, replying with “Octavia,” and shaking the outstretched hand.
“So, does this make us friends?” Octavia asked, anxious.
“Of course!” Vinyl exclaimed. “Never hurts to have a lot of friends, right? Now, let me point out a few people you should know around here. The girl in the pink is Pinkemena, though we just call her Pinkie Pie…”