Epilogue: The Encore
[v]
Vinyl licked some sweat from her lips, working the copper wires into place. She contorted her face in concentration as she poured every ounce of her attention into the piece. Her latest invention sputtered to life as electricity danced through it's circuits and Vinyl let out a relieved sigh, leaning back, glad that it hadn't exploded this time.
She wiped her forehead with a hoof; using magic on something so precise always wore her out really quickly. She admired her handiwork, tilting her head to the side. Was that wire connected properly? Giving a faint shrug, she decided that the only way to find out would be to fire it up.
Octavia snuggled into the pillow Vinyl had left behind when she'd woken up. She had grown to be a very heavy sleeper, ever since the wedding. It was like a burden had been lifted off her and now she was able to sleep more soundly.
The first wave of dubtrot shook the floor, making the whole bed rattle. Octavia sat up, dazed.
"Wha...?" The second drop was heavier and, by some unknown miracle, made Octavia go airborne. She landed with a grunt and grumbled heatedly under her breath.
"Vinyl... Vinyl Scratch!" She shouted, but her voice was muffled by the blaring music. "Ugh! The dishes again!?" Groggy, she pulled herself up and started downstairs.
As usual, the rocking pound of the bass reduced her attempts to walk down the stairs into a barrel roll of misery. Finally through that ordeal, Octavia pushed herself up and dusted herself off.
She continued into the kitchen, expecting to see Vinyl at her usual place, cooking something – most likely eggs – with the dishwasher blaring out dubtrot. However, the kitchen was surprisingly empty and the dishwasher was, in fact, not on. Octavia raised an eyebrow, jumping when another loud drop hit from a few rooms over.
Furniture had been pushed aside for Vinyl's work. The unicorn in question was in the middle of the room, head-banging to the pounding music all around her. As far as Octavia could tell, she was leaning towards the device making the music to keep herself from being bowled over by literal shock-waves that were coming off it. Octavia needed to turn her hearing-aids off; she was confident that her ears would bleed if she didn't.
This latest creation was an odd one; despite the level of sound it produced, it was no bigger than Octavia's hoof. Vinyl had it sitting atop a small table, plugged into one of Vinyl's generators. Octavia made her way into the room, past her head-bobbing lover and over to her machine. She didn't hesitate, pressing the first button she saw. Unfortunately, all this accomplished was to change the song.
"Huh? Oh, hey Tavi! Mornin'! How're you feelin'?"
Octavia just gave Vinyl a level stare and tapped her ear with a hoof.
"Oh, yeah." Closing the small distance, Vinyl hit a different button, stopping the music. She couldn't feign ignorance under Octavia's stare. Once Octavia could hear again, she chuckled meekly. "Sorry, I just had to be sure it worked."
"Well, it does," Octavia responded, fixing her mane as best as she could. She peered over the object, morbidly curious. "What did you make this time?"
"An alarm clock." Vinyl turned it around, showing Octavia the time, glowing on the front of the screen. "I was trying it out with max volume. It sounded pretty sick, so I got a little lost in it. Sorry for wakin' you up."
Octavia observed the device with a more critical eye, then smiled. "No, it's okay. I suppose you know it does it's job now." Octavia turned to look at Vinyl, her soulmate, and chuckled. "You know, I think this might be your greatest invention yet. It actually puts your explosive music to good use."
"My greatest invention? Even more great than the Dubtrot Sunglasses?"
"Certainly more than the dubtrot sunglasses." Octavia waved a hoof, beckoning Vinyl closer. When the DJ obliged, Octavia draped a hoof over her, pulling her in even closer, kissing Vinyl lightly on the cheek. "If I may offer a suggestion, though?"
"Yeah?" Vinyl asked, always happy to include Octavia in her inventing.
"Try to make it wake somepony up without physically throwing them off the bed, okay?"
Vinyl paused a moment, then started laughing uproariously. "But that's half the fun!" She patted Octavia and nodded her consent."All right, you win. I'll turn it down a bit. But I ain't compromising on the floor-shaking. That's my favorite part."
"No doubt." Octavia chuckled, giving Vinyl another kiss. Just another day, Octavia thought.
Another day in paradise.
