House Arrest

by King X2

Hour Three: Static in the Attic

H O U R T H R E E

Vinyl was so caught up in dancing, it was several moments before she realized that everything had gone dark. When she finally came to, however, she laughed to herself at the scene.

“Hehehe, I guess the power just couldn’t handle my level of awesome!”

Vinyl wasn’t worried; she had blown the power many times before. In fact, blowing the power in Equestria was a sign of luck for a disc jockey. Rather than assume it was a faulty power supply, they believed it just meant a good party. Sometimes to achieve the best party, you had to blow a few circuit breakers.

“Don’t worry, folks! Vinyl’s on top of it!” she said happily, making her way through the ‘crowd’ in the darkness. “The party hasn’t even begun to—“

“Nice going, fuzzhead,” whispered a sudden voice.

“Hey what?” she said, turning her head to the voice as she was just about to descend a flight of stairs to the basement. She lit up her horn to illuminate the area, but nopony was there.

“Neon, is that you dude?” Vinyl said, sweat tingling her neck once more. She never saw him come in, and there was no way he had regained consciousness yet. She had hit him pretty hard.

Silence again.

“Look, dude, I’m sorry for knockin’ you out but I can explain—”

“Fuzzhead…”

“HEY now—” Vinyl whirled around so fast she nearly lost her balance. But no matter where her horn shined, she was met with an empty living room.

“I’ll show you fuzzhead you gimpy little mule now COME OUT!” she yelled into the abyss.

Vinyl’s heart was thumping as silence reigned throughout the home. Finally, shaking it off, Vinyl hurried down the basement stairs to reset the power.

“Fuzzhead…hah, can’t hide with the lights on,” she mumbled to herself as she descended the stairs. “Muahahaha…”

Vinyl’s hooves met concrete as she stepped into the basement, which was almost pitch black. Stepping around baskets of laundry, (all of it was Octavia’s; Vinyl owned virtually no amount of clothing) Vinyl laughed to herself in a rather creepy tone as she approached the circuit box.

“Nopony’s gonna outsmart the Scratch…nopony…hehehehe…”

Vinyl magicked open the door to the box and flipped the breaker all the way off, to reset it. She then flipped the switch back to the ‘ON’ position, closed the door, and proceeded to climb the stairs again.

“Wait a minute…” she said, noticing that the landing above was still as dark as before. “Must not have waited long enough…”

Shrugging off her mistake, she returned to the circuit breaker box and reset the power once more. She climbed on top of the washing machine and waited for a full minute.

“And there we go,” Vinyl whispered a minute later, flipping the switch back to its ‘ON’ position.

Yet, once again, Vinyl noticed the power had still not returned.

“Oh so that’s how it’s going to be, is it?” said Vinyl, gearing up for a challenge.

She shot a beam of electric blue light from her horn toward the circuit box, making the lights above her flicker very briefly.

“How’d you like that, you stupid circuit box? Take some more!”

Vinyl hit the box with an even more powerful beam of magic, making the lights above her flash fully. But as quick as they came on, with a faint pop, they returned to darkness.

“Such a fool…thought you could get rid of me…”

“What?” said Vinyl, panic beginning to seep into her mind. She tripped over a laundry basket and fell to the group, catapulting a basket of Octavia’s clothes onto her.

“This can’t be happening,” she said, clutching her head underneath the pile of laundry. Where were these voices coming from? They seemed so real…like they were whispering from the mouth of a pony right next to her. It was like she was going crazy…no way, Vinyl Scratch wasn’t a lunatic…but the voices…what was going on?

Shaking slightly, Vinyl emerged from the pile and tried once again to restore the electricity. But only darkness remained.

Vinyl could feel her heartbeat increasing in pace as she tried to think of another solution.

“It’s just the power, dude,” she said quietly to herself, the shaking now reaching her vocal cords. She crawled up the stairs, into the living room, then fell onto the L-shaped couch.

“It’s just the power, folks!” she said, forcing a very trembling laugh. Don’t you worry, I’ll figure it out! I’m still in control! Still...still in control...,” she ended in a terrified whisper.

“No, Fuzzhead. Octavia is in control…”

“GyaaaAH SHUT UP!” screamed Vinyl, flying off the couch. She shot a jet of electric light, green this time, out of her horn toward the voice in panic. But immediately after casting the spell she knew she had made a terrible mistake; as though everything had been reduced to slow motion, Vinyl watched horrifically as the spell ricocheted off the edge of the coffee table and directly into her heap of equipment.

Her beautiful turntable, the speakers, the controller—everything—were blasted into pieces. Shards of plastic, metal and glass flew everywhere, narrowly missing Vinyl as she sheltered her face. The bits and pieces sparked with electricity, the remnants of the green spell still within them.
Vinyl fell to all four knees.

The most profound silence yet ringed through the house. A dim light cast its grim glow on the pile below, giving it the effect that a murder had just taken place. But it was more than a murder; it was a massacre. Each and every piece was an individual body. What she was looking at was a battlefield. A battlefield that had just been hit by a nuclear bomb.

Vinyl’s mouth hung agape in shock, but no words escaped. She was simply at a loss for words. First she had been grounded, then the power had gone out, and now she had—Vinyl tried to swallow a lump in her throat—destroyed—she twitched—destroyed her equipment!

“You know you deserve it…”

“No, man. No…,” Vinyl said, crawling to her hooves, trying to shut out the static of madness that was trying to overcome her. She crawled toward the kitchen sink, not daring to look down at the mess of pieces, and turned on the water. She had to wake herself up.

“This is a nightmare. I gotta wake up. Come on, wake up!” she said as she stuck her head under the cold water. She splashed it in her face desperately.

“Got—to wake—up. Got—to—wake—”

She fell from the sink dramatically and onto the floor, tears now joining the cold water dripping down her face.

“Party’s over, everyone,” she sobbed quietly. Vinyl Scratch, the mighty disc jockey, celebrity and party host of the highest prestige, was reduced to the fetal position. And nopony was there to care.

▒ ▒ ▒

“What’s the matter now?” said Sledge.

It was intermission. Many ponies were now filing out of the main theater into the hallways to stretch their legs. Sledge was complementing Octavia’s mane for the seventeenth time when she suddenly inhaled a sharp breath of air and stopped dead in her tracks.

She didn’t know why, but Octavia had a sudden urge to run from the building. Something wasn’t right.

“Did I offend you, m’lady? Oh no, please forgive me, I just—”

“No, you’re fine, handsome,” said Octavia, looking around. I just need to…use the restroom. Be right back—”

Octavia cantered away towards a set of doors far down the hall.

“…Handsome, huh?” said Sledge, grinning stupidly.

Just before reaching a long line of mares outside the female restroom, Octavia ducked behind a group of ponies and pushed open an outside glass door. A couple fiercely embraced with each other broke apart awkwardly as Octavia hurried past, but she paid them no attention. After a few minutes, she reached an overlook, which, thankfully, was deserted.

“Oh you’re such rubbish, Octavia,” she said to herself, finding a metal railing and putting her front two forelegs onto it. Far below, she could see the forests of Everfree and the tiny pinprick lights of Ponyville.

She was a monster, making Vinyl stay home all alone while she went out and everypony else had fun. A big, loud and (although hard to believe) fun party was going on in Ponyville, but Vinyl wasn’t there to be a part of it. Okay, so Vinyl had upset her far too many times than she would have liked, but she couldn’t stand being the bad pony. She could have at least allowed her a friend to keep her company…or three…

Octavia remained there for several minutes, mulling everything over until the sound of a canter of hooves met her ears.

“’Scuse me, ma’am,” said a deep voice approaching her. A couple of royal guards, fully suited, came up to meet her.

“Yyyes, gentlecolts?” said Octavia, stepping back onto the ground and facing them quizzically. Were they coming to punish her for imprisoning Vinyl?

“Sorry to disturb, but we received an alert that a pony was assaulted on Lower Canterlot.”
Octavia gasped.
“We’ve yet to capture them, so we’re advising wandering ponies even up here in Upper Canterlot to remain indoors until we do.”

“Oh my—well,” best of luck to you stallions,” she said, relieved. “I hope you find that ruffian,” said Octavia, nodding.

“Oh we will, don’t you worry, ma’am. Are you attending the play at the royal theater tonight?”

“Yes, the play just got let out for intermission.”

“Mind if we escort you back?”

“Not at all!”

When they returned to the area of glass doors right outside the hallway, (the fervent couple was nowhere to be seen) Octavia thanked the guards and turned to them with a question.

“Um—excuse me, sorry, but who did the assailant look like?”

“Our report said it was a white unicorn with a blue mane, but they weren’t positive on the mane color. I would keep an eye out for such a pony just in case.”

Octavia thought immediately of Vinyl, but dismissed the thought just as quickly. Vinyl may have been an irresponsible friend, but she wasn’t a criminal. Instead, she nodded in thanks and bade them farewell.

“Miss Octavia, intermission is just about over,” said Sledge as Octavia returned to the hallway. “Where have you been?”

“Oh—um…the other restrooms just across the way. These were much too crowded.”

“Oh, right, don’t worry, I understand,” said Sledge, remembering how easy stallions had it compared to mares when it came to restrooms. “Shall we return?”

“To the what? Oh—oh yes—of course,” said Octavia, not thinking straight. The subject of the assault was still on her mind.

When they returned to their positions in the theater, the lights dimmed once again and curtains opened to reveal a graveyard on set.

Just before the intermission, a character had been murdered with a knife, and now the funeral was taking place. Octavia felt even worse than she did during intermission, for she felt like she was being mocked. Although she had never brandished a knife for anything except for cutting endless amounts of Vinyl’s sandwiches, she could have stabbed her for the way she felt. Swallowing the guilt as best as she could, she turned to Sledge.

“So I heard something interesting…,” whispered Octavia as the act began. Sledge leaned in to listen.

Octavia told him about what the Canterlot guards had told her, but took care to make it sound like she had overheard it in the restroom.

To Octavia’s surprise, Sledge wasn’t fazed by the news at all.

“Yup, we get stuff like that all the time in Canterlot. My fellow guards have it taken care of.”

Octavia, however, didn’t feel altogether reassured. Something still seemed to be wrong. Her thoughts kept jumping to Vinyl, but she kept denying them. She knew five ponies off the top of her head that had white fur and blue manes, one of which lived down the street from her. It was just too unlikely.

But she still felt horrible about what she had done. She kept glancing toward the exit, tapping a hoof on the ground indecisively.

“You’re not gonna leave, are you?” whispered Sledge as though he could read her thoughts.

Clang went the heavy sound of a bell on stage. A coffin was lowering into the floor, while a group of ponies dressed in black mourned around it.

“Woe is us! How could it be? Such a scourge upon our family!” cried out an actress with a curly red mane.

Octavia didn’t answer.

“Listen, I’m a royal guard—”

“No, really?” thought Octavia.

“—And as royal guards, we have to enforce the law. We cannot afford to be pushovers.” Octavia’s ears perked up.

“Excuse me, sir, I am not a pushover,” she said, loud enough to make the row behind look down at them. Sledge was shocked by her offended look.

“No of course not, my good lady!” he said, smiling up at the row to assure them all was well. “All I’m saying,” he added, reducing his voice back to a whisper, “is to get a point across, sometimes you have to force it. Which is why they call it enforcing.”

“Yes, of course, but…,” Octavia knew it was true, but she could have dealt with Vinyl with less anger. That wasn’t who she was.

“Please, I insist you stay,” said Sledge, putting a hoof gently on her shoulder. “The final two acts are worth staying for. You mustn’t miss them, Octavia.”

“Well…,” Octavia mulled the whole situation over again and sighed.

“It would be rude of me to leave…”

“She’ll be just fine, I promise. Nopony ever died from staying home on a Friday night you know. Unless you live in a volcano.”

Octavia giggled. “True.”

They settled back into a casual commentary on the play, Octavia’s thoughts of Vinyl once again fleeing from her mind. Concluding the scene was a flock of paper crows, enchanted to fly by themselves across the stage, and the sounds of the heavy bells once again. The scene was hauntingly pretty, albeit disturbing.

Clang.

Clang.

Clang.

▒ ▒ ▒

Bing!

Vinyl’s head turned sharply towards the front door at the sound of the doorbell. It felt like she had been on the kitchen floor for years. Assuming the doorbell wasn’t another figment of her imagination, she carefully walked over toward the window to see who was outside.

Peering out of the blinds, she was met with an unexpected sight: no less than eight Canterlot guards, two of which were at the front door.
“They really must not have anything better to do tonight,” she said, annoyed. She was just about to hurry and open the front door when she heard one of them speak.

“They found Mr. Lights’ body in these bushes right here. If I’m not mistaken, this is where she lives. Miss Scratch would also fit the description.”

“Vinyl Scratch? The musician?”

“I can’t believe it either. Royal Guards!”

The sound of the doorbell rang through the house again. Vinyl’s blood went cold. Her worst fears had been confirmed.

“ROYAL GUARDS!” the guard shouted, pounding on the locked door. Vinyl’s heart was pounding just as loud in her ears. “We have a warrant for your arrest!”

Vinyl was frozen to the spot, unable to fathom why she was experiencing such extreme misfortune. She couldn’t be arrested! Not now! Octavia would come home to not just a mess, but no power and an imprisoned roommate! If that wasn’t grounds to kick her out forever, she didn’t know what was!

“THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!”

No, they weren’t going to capture her. Her reputation would be destroyed. Her life would be over. Nope.

“Oh man—oh man—what am I gonna do—oh man—” Gasped Vinyl, sprinting across the living room and back down the basement stairs. Nope. Adrenaline, fear and the worst cold chill she had ever felt was rushing through her body like the rapids of a river. Nope. She could hear the continued pounding on the front door upstairs, following by what sounded like even more hoof steps of other guards. Nope. Nope Nope.

“Where’migonna hide where’migonna hide,” she gasped, lightning the darkness with her horn. Apart from the washer and dryer, all she could see was a bunch of shelves, a door leading to a pantry and the window to a window well.

Escape. Was the first thought that came to her mind when she saw the window well, but then she remembered Octavia.

“No dude…must not escape…gotta hide…”

She wrenched open the door to the pantry, looked around inside, but closed it again.

“Nope…”

Vinyl considered just crawling into the window well and hoping that the darkness would conceal her, but as she drew nearer a web full of spiders met the light from her horn.

“Ugh—way sketchy—no way…”

Vinyl was just about to consider running all the way upstairs to her room when she heard the front door burst open and the shouts of guards thundering through the house.

With only a split second’s worth of thinking, Vinyl wrenched open the door of the dryer, pulled out a few of Octavia’s damp dresses, and then stuffed herself into it. She magicked the dresses back into the dryer to conceal her body and shut the door, praying that none of the guards had heard her. And then she waited.

A second passed.

Two seconds.

Ten seconds.

Twenty.

After about a minute, Vinyl’s heart skipped a beat as she heard the sound of hoofsteps descend the staircase.

“While we search down here, let’s see if we can restore the power,” said a deep voice. Vinyl could just barely see the glow of flashlights coming from outside the dryer. If she would have decided to push the spider aside and hide in the window well, they for sure would have found her. The smallest of triumphs roared in her chest at her wise decision. Well, if baby kittens with speech impediments counted as roars.

“Nope, nothin’,” said a guard. “Smart pony, blowin’ the power to make it hard for us to find her. Too bad she don’t know we got lightsticks.”

“…They’re called flashlights, Dimbus,” said the other guard.

“It’s a metal thing shaped like a stick that shines light. It’s a lightstick.”

“Whatever. Shine your ‘light stick’ under those shelves.”

“K…just did. Seein’ just a bunch of cement. Man this floor is clean.”

“I know, it’s like…,” Vinyl could heard the first guard bend down, “somepony scrubbed it all clean.”

“Heh, freak,” said Dimbus. Vinyl felt a hot surge of anger. Nopony talked to Tavi like that…well, except her…

Vinyl nearly blew her cover as she moved in an attempt to escape the dryer. Thankfully, a guard from upstairs had shouted at the exact same time the dryer squeaked as she moved inside of it.

“She’s not up here, Cloud Scraper!” shouted a horribly gruff voice. “Any luck down there with you and Dimbus?”

“Not yet, sir!” said Cloud Scraper. “She may have fled!”

“Maybe. But did you look everywhere? She’s not that big. Check the washer and dryer!”

Vinyl’s heart stopped as she heard a hoof grasp the dryer door.

T W O H O U R S R E M A I N

Comments

[King X2]

Sorry for the long absence folks! I've been busy with a lot of things, as well as I've been working on other stories (one which I had to cut the power on due to it sucking horribly). I want to get this story done by June!

[Reeve]

For some reason I wasn't alerted to this story being updated, despite it being under my favourites. Regardless, amazing chapter as always, can't wait to see more

[Aramadon]

4426468
I had the exact same problem. I don't really understand it.
However, I may have a few other stories acting similarly, as my number of "favorites" unread chapters shows a higher number than I actually see when I open up my list of chapters to read.

Anyways, it's really escalated. Wow, events happen quickly. (I kind of thought that Vinyl collapsing unconscious would be the end until Octavia showed up.)

[DNA Hochburger]

So at the scene where Octavia returns from the 'restroom' you wrote Vinyl instead of Octavia.