Octavia's Reprise

by Venates

Chapter Eight

The three mares sat and talked in the familiar kitchen for hours, and for a good portion of it Octavia was hoping her torso would regain its normal shape after being on the receiving end of a rib-crushing hug. Vinyl had one as well, although Octavia had yet to see her wince with any of her movements.

“Well, it really sounds like you’re doing quite well for yourself, Vinyl!” Minor’s coat and mane were somewhat paler than Octavia remembered, and a few wrinkles were forming around her eyes, but otherwise she looked exactly the way Octavia remembered her.

“Heck yeah, I am! The Manehattan clubs just can’t get enough of me!”

“Well, I still wish you had found yourself outside of those things, but I am glad that you found something that makes you happy.”

“Aw, they’re not that bad, Minor. I mean, okay, yeah, they’re bad, but that’s what security is for.” Vinyl laughed, and Minor game a small chuckle in return. Octavia took a small sip of her tea, thoughts slightly removed from the conversation.

“I’m just glad to see the two of you getting along again,” Minor said, her eyes returning to her daughter for a moment. “I was really afraid that you both lost something special forever.”

“Yeah, me too,” Vinyl began. “Then this one just shows up out of the blue, going on about how dumb she’s been,” the DJ finished, a hoof jabbing briefly in the direction of the cellist.

“Vinyl, I don’t think I said—”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, my words, not yours.” Vinyl gave her old friend a smirk.

Minor tittered again at the playful banter between the two girls she watched grow up. She set her tea down and gazed at the kitchen’s clock. “Oh, dear me, it’s getting late. I should probably let you girls get some sleep. I’m sure you have a full day ahead of you, reliving the glory years and what not.”

“No plans yet, but I’m sure we can figure something out.” Vinyl hopped off her seat and magically moved her tea cup and saucer to the kitchen sink. She gave a wide yawn. “Same room as always?”

“Yes, dear,” Minor said, her staple warm smile across her face. “I know a lot has changed, but the rooms in the house are still right where you left them.”

“No, I meant— Never mind. Octy, you comin’?”

She and Minor both looked at Octavia, who calmly set her tea down before addressing the question. “I think I might stay up a little later to talk to my mom some more, if that’s okay…”

Vinyl shrugged. “Yeah, sure. Just don’t wake me up.” She turned to leave. “Oh, and don’t keep your mom up too late either. She’s not as young as she used to be.”

“Oh, I could still run circles around you, young filly,” Minor smiled. Vinyl gave a small chuckle and a wave before disappearing to Octavia’s old bedroom.

Without the DJ, the kitchen was rather quiet. Despite Octavia saying she wanted a conversation alone, she was having a hard time making one happen. “…Mother, I—”

“Oh, don’t say ‘mother’ dear,” Minor chided. “You called me ‘Mom’ before, you called me ‘Mom’ when you got here, and you can call me ‘Mom’ now. And I know you used that Canterlot accent a lot when you were younger, but you really don’t need to use it on me…”

“Mother, that’s simply how I speak,” Octavia said, her tea now forgotten. “I know I wasn’t born or raised with it, but I assure you that it’s very much become a part of who I am.”

“Yes… I can see that.” Minor took a small sip from her cup, letting her words hang in the air for a moment. “Octavia… Why are you here right now?”

The cellist was starting to wonder if anypony was going to just be happy to see her, and not question her motives behind visits. “I don’t understand… Are you… Are you not happy to see me?”

“Honey, seeing you again probably just added a few years to my life. But the last time I saw you… Well, I felt like you didn’t care whether or not you ever saw me again. Honestly, a few months ago when Discord was here—”

“I’m sorry!”

Minor looked up at her daughter, surprised at the interruption. Fact was, Octavia had been beating herself up over the idea of the deity being so close to turning her mother into a play thing ever since the name was first dropped that day. Her recent trend of breaking perfect composure once again asserted itself into her life.

“I should have called!” Octavia continued. “I heard that monster attacked Ponyville, and I didn’t even think to check to see if you were okay! I’m the worst daughter in the world! You could have been gone for all I knew, and I never even—” her words were stopped by a gentle hoof over her muzzle.

“Let me finish, dear,” Minor said, smiling softly. “I wasn’t actually in Ponyville at the time. I went to see a few friends in Trottingham the day before he arrived. I was never in any danger.”

“But I still could have called!” Octavia moaned. “I could have found out… to know for sure…”

“I know, dear,” Minor cooed. “And to be honest, I was rather hurt that you hadn’t, despite not hearing from you in so long. I was told Canterlot had similar troubles. I also could have called you, but I didn’t. Do you know why?”

Octavia sniffed. “Because I never gave you my number?”

Minor laughed. “Sweetheart, your number is on the counter by the phone. A mother has her ways,” she said in response to her daughter’s open mouth.

“Then why didn’t you call?” Octavia asked.

“Because I knew you didn’t want me to,” Minor said, taking another sip of her tea. “I wanted nothing more than to hear my daughter’s voice again, but I also wanted her to be happy, and at the time I believed hearing from me would have had the opposite effect on her.”

“Then how did you know I was okay?” Octavia asked. “I know you, Mother. You wouldn’t have rested until you knew.”

“Nor did I,” her mother laughed. “But I didn’t have to wait too long. I get Canterlot papers, you know.” Minor stood up and walked over to a series of drawers next to the refrigerator. She opened the bottommost one, extracted a few newspapers from it, and placed them on the table between herself and her daughter. “They’re really quite fond of your performances there. Although most of them say the exact same things, give or take a few words.”

Octavia looked over the periodicals in front of her in disbelief. “You get ‘The Canterlot Times’?”

Minor nodded. “And a few others, but you seem to be in that one the most.

“Mother… These are expensive papers. The cost to have them shipped out here alone—”

“Is nothing compared to knowing that my daughter is living her dream every single day.” The aging mare smiled.

Octavia was at a complete loss for words.

“I’m glad to see you and Vinyl getting along again.” Minor said, trying to help Octavia find more words to speak. “Tell me, what sparked the idea of you two catching up?”

“Oh, um… I’ll tell you another time, Mother,” Octavia said. She didn’t need to keep Minor up all night in grief of how close her daughter came to an untimely end.

“…Are things alright with Vinyl, dear?” Octavia looked at her mother. It was always hard to hide things from her.

“Well… When we got here… I don’t know. You just seemed happier to see her than to see me. I mean, you guys just kept talking and talking and—”

“Octavia.” Minor turned her daughter’s face towards her own so she could wipe the tears from her cheeks. “In all respects, Vinyl was like a daughter to me as well. When you two had your fight, I didn’t see her anymore either. I’m guessing she felt like she wasn’t allowed to see me, not being your friend anymore. Am I right?” Octavia nodded. “That poor thing has been through some real troubles in her life. I think she lost the only family she’d ever had that day. I’m just glad she found her way back here, one way or another.” Minor pulled her daughter into a close hug, careful not to bruise anymore ribs. “As far as she and I talking so much, you only have yourself to blame, dear. You weren’t exactly too talkative.”

Octavia sniffed. When she said nothing, Minor continued. “If you did feel like I was treating her differently than you… Well, maybe that’s because I was still hurt. Vinyl was taken away from me. You, Octavia… You left on your own free will.”

Octavia stopped trying to hold her tears back. She was doing a terrible job anyway. “I am so, so sorry, mother. I am such a terrible daughter…”

“Sweetheart…” Minor moved Octavia’s head so she could look into her eyes. “You are the furthest thing from a terrible daughter. Yes, I was hurt, and now I’m starting to regret saying so because I can see how much distress it’s given you. But you are not a terrible daughter. The fact that you are right here, right now, tells me that you still love me as much as you did when you were a filly. And that is something a terrible daughter could never do. As far as I’m concerned, no harm was ever done. You are here, and you are still my little girl.”

Octavia hiccupped and moved back into her mother’s embrace. “I love you, Mom…”

A tear other than Octavia’s mixed with her own. “I love you too. And I always will. No matter what.”

After a very long hug and a box or two of tissues, Octavia finally let her mother get some rest. The grey mare walked down the hall to her foalhood bedroom, opening the door quietly to avoid waking her sleeping friend. Her friend, however, didn’t seem to be sleeping.

“Oh, hey,” Vinyl said, undoing her reclined position on Octavia’s bed to hop off of it. “I suppose you’ll be wanting your bed to yourself then?”

“Oh, um… I… I suppose…”

“That’s cool. I’m actually pretty okay with sleeping on floors… I guess you probably got rid of the second bed in here when you got older, huh?”

“Not exactly,” Octavia said, shifting a few sheets on the bed. “We just kind of shoved them together. I was getting too big for one, after all.”

“Oh… Yeah, I guess that makes sense. What are you doing?” Vinyl asked, her friend continuing to fuss over some loose sheets.

“Separating them.” Octavia gave the mattress a solid tug. It moved, but the way the sheets folded in its absence suggested a second sat right next to it.

“Here, let me help…” Vinyl grabbed the mattress in her magical aura, gently tugging at it and setting it down on the floor. She slid it across to the wall opposite the bed as Octavia fished some spare bedding from the closet.

“Thanks,” Vinyl said after having two pillows and a few blankets handed to her.

“Think nothing of it. No weird stains, either.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

The two mares settled into their respective beds, their legs dangling over the edge of their mattresses. They laid there, each trying to drift off to sleep. Well, for the most part.

“Vinyl?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m really glad you convinced me to come down here.”

The DJ chuckled. “Yeah… Me too.”

- * - * - * -

Octavia was almost skipping back to her room. She opened and closed her bedroom door with enthusiasm, forgetting that she had a guest. She almost didn’t see a blue mane flinch under a blanket on the floor. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to wake you!”

“Nah, it’s okay…” Vinyl grumbled. She rubbed her magenta eyes a little, and brought herself up to a sitting position. “I was having a really hard time down here anyway…”

Octavia looked at her sadly. “Sorry, I know my room’s floor isn’t the softest in the world… Would you sleep better on the couch do you think?”

“No, that would be weird,” the unicorn said. “Besides, after sharing a room with you all semester I’m kind of used to hearing you snore when I sleep. Is that weird?”

“I do not snore!”

“You do too! It’s like this: ‘woooo’…”

“You’re lying!” the grey filly accused, though she couldn’t help but giggle at the noises coming from her friend’s mouth.

“Well, I suppose you’ll never know, now, will you?” Vinyl gave Octavia the same smile she always gave Octavia whenever she was having a little fun at her expense. It irritated her, but Octavia also knew that it was just her thing. Vinyl stretched and returned to the position she had been sleeping in previously.

“Hey, do you want to sleep in the bed?” Octavia asked.

“What? But then where will you sleep?”

“The bed too,” Octavia said, shyly circling the ground with one of her hooves. “I mean, if you don’t feel like sharing…”

“No! I mean, I think it would be okay if we shared a bed. I bet it’s lots better than the floor…”

“Okay!” Octavia pounced onto her mattress, Vinyl soon doing the same. “And in the morning, we can ask my dad if he can build a second bed. With how long you’re going to be here, I think it makes sense.”

“Yeah, it kind of does. Your family is so nice,” Vinyl said into her pillow, eyes closed.

“Our family. We’re sharing, remember? Stop forgetting!”

Vinyl gave a soft laugh. “Hey, if we’re sharing a mom and dad, does that make us sisters?”

Octavia considered this for a moment. “Yeah, I suppose it does.”

“Good. I’m glad we’re sisters.”

“Me too.”

“And not like the sisters back at the house in Manehattan. They’re old.” Both fillies giggled at Vinyl’s comment.

A thought suddenly occurred to Octavia. “Hey, Vinyl, do you need me to play my violin to get you to go to sleep again?” When her friend didn’t respond, Octavia propped herself up to peer into her roommate’s face. After seeing closed eyes and a belly softly rising and falling, Octavia decided to follow her friend into slumber.

- * -

Octavia’s eyes fluttered opened as the smell of breakfast reached her nose. She gave both eyes a good rub before noticing that the mattress on the floor was missing its occupant. Giving herself a good stretch and allowing feeling to return to the legs that lost a battle with gravity during the night, she carefully stood up and hobbled towards the kitchen. She could hear two voices growing louder as she got close.

“So, the manager’s freaking out, right?” The DJ’s voice was speaking excitedly. “He’s all ‘what are we gonna do, we don’t have a back-up…’ and I was just barely close enough to hear all this. Well, turns out, the deck on the stage was in one of my magazines, and I pretty much memorized the review on it. So I went up to him, and I was all, ‘Hey, I could totally take over’, and he kind of looked at me like I was just some wannabe off the street, and I could tell he wasn’t going to say anything nice, so I said, ‘Hey, it’s either that, or everypony here leaves when they find out there’s no music,’ and that got him thinking.”

“Oh, my! Don’t tell me he took you up on that?” Octavia’s mother sounded overly invested in the anecdote.

Vinyl laughed. “’Course he did, or I wouldn’t be telling this story. Anyway, I get up there, and it’s weird, ‘cause it felt just like it did in this dream I had, like, two days before. Freaky, right? And it all worked exactly the way I imagined it would. I tell ya, that reviewer was spot on. I mean, the bass dial was a little more sensitive than I expected, but I let it slide since I really got the room’s attention that way.”

“Honestly, dear, I’m still a little surprised you wanted to touch that thing after what happened to that poor stallion…”

“Minor, nothing was going to stop me from getting on that stage.” Vinyl chuckled. “But yeah, long story short, I rocked that club as hard as I knew I could, and, well, ‘rest is history.”

“Fascinating…” Minor said, not a single trace of sarcasm in her voice. “So when did these glasses of yours come into play?”

“Oh, you’re really not going to believe the story on that one…”

“Ahem.” Minor and Vinyl both turned to look at the source of the noise. “Good morning,” Octavia said, sitting down at the table.

“Morning, Octy!” Vinyl said cheerfully. “You’re okay with eggs again, right? Your mom’s giving me a few tips. Did you know how much better they are when you add milk?”

Still getting over a morning grumpiness, Octavia suppressed the urge to roll her eyes and instead just gave her old friend a smile. “Here, fresh batch,” Vinyl said, sliding gold and brown scrambled eggs onto a plate in front of the cellist.

“Thank you, Vinyl,” Octavia said, happy to have an excuse to replace the previous egg flavor that was still floating around in her mouth for some reason or another.

Minor sat opposite her daughter, fresh cup of tea in tow. “So have you girls decided what you want to do today?” she asked.

“Nah, we didn’t get the chance to talk much last night,” Vinyl said, her words half true.

“Well, I’m sure there’s plenty of old haunts for you girls to explore,” Minor said, taking a sip, flinching slightly at the sensation of a not-yet-cool liquid hitting her lips and tongue.

“I’m sure,” Vinyl said grinning. “I’ve already eaten, Octy, so we can leave whenever you’re good.”

“Duly noted,” Octavia said, a petite forkful of yellow fluff reaching for her mouth.

“I’ll go ahead and leave you girls to it,” Minor said getting up from the table. “I need to pick up some groceries if you girls plan on being here another day or two, and I’m sure you don’t want to spend this entire little venture with an old fogey like me.”

“Minor, don’t even. Wait, what about your tea?”

“Oh, Vinyl, it’s far too hot at the moment. By the time I get back I’m sure it’ll be just right.”

Vinyl shrugged. “If you say so.”

“I do.” Minor smiled. “Just put the dishes in the sink when you’re done, and lock the door before you leave,” she said, leaving through it as she did.

“I cannot believe. How nice your mom still is,” Vinyl said once the front door shut behind the subject of her statement.

Octavia couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yeah… I’m glad she hasn’t changed much.”

“Considering how much else has? You and me both.” Vinyl sat down, sighing as she did so. “So you got any ideas on where we should go first?”

“I was thinking maybe we could go by the farm. The sunrise was always really nice there.”

The room got quiet. Vinyl spoke with hesitation. “Octy… Are you sure?”

“My father isn’t there anymore, Vinyl,” Octavia said, rising and placing her plate in the kitchen sink.

“I know, it’s just…” Vinyl trailed off, her gaze avoiding Octavia’s. After a beat, her ears perked up, and a sad look of concern was replaced by a sly grin. “Ooooh… I think somepony wants to see Big Macintosh again!”

“Vinyl!” Octavia’s head whipped around, her eyes wide in shock. The unicorn laughed.

“Well, I see that’s still a hot button! Or maybe you want him to push a hot button… Nudge nudge, wink wink.”

“Vinyl, that is not funny!” Octavia said, her features scrunching up slightly, though eyes still round.

“Remember when you finally told your mom you had a crush on him? Remember when she told you you’re related through that cousin of yours?”

“Yes I remember!” Octavia hissed. The DJ’s smile was unwavering.

Vinyl laughed. “I’m just messing with you, Tavs. You know that.”

“I know, Vinyl,” Octavia sighed. “I’d really rather you not bring that up if we do stumble across him though.”

“Oh, come on! I bet he’d get a good laugh out of it.”

“He might. I would die of embarrassment!”

“And I of laughing.”

The pair did wind up taking their first stroll around the dirt roads near Sweet Apple Acres, named after the charming country family that ran it. They did see the stallion mentioned at breakfast plowing a field in the distance, but they never approached him, despite Octavia’s ribs' new bruises from the frequent nudges by her counterpart.

“Do you think the west orchard still has that fruit bat problem?”

“I’d really rather not find out.”

Every few steps brought back a different memory to the girls, most of them prompting a giggle or two at least, a moment when they had to stop to regain their composure at best. The highlight was most likely stumbling across an old tree house, in which they spent one night before being chased out in the morning by a very angry orange filly a year or two younger than themselves.

“Country folk sure do have some creative names for people they don’t like,” Vinyl mused.

“Yes, well… On the other hoof it was rather silly of us to assume no one actually owned the tree house.”

“Yeah, probably. Looks like somepony is taking really good care of it now. I wonder if that orange pony is still around.”

“I wonder if her hat is still too large for her head.”

Satisfied with their morning walk, the girls decided to head into town for a spell, commenting on and reminiscing over old memories all the while. As the sun started to set, they agreed to look for something to eat. Some of their favorite places from their youth were still around, but a few others closed or changed hooves and now served an entirely different menu.

“What about this place?” Vinyl asked. “Looks like a big gingerbread house.”

“It was a bakery the last time I was here… It looks more like a desert shop now. I don’t think I’d want to just eat sweets and pretend as though I had a decent meal.”

“C’mon, you’re on vacation,” Vinyl said, dragging her friend by a foreleg.

As they stepped inside the shop, Octavia looked around to confirm that it was still a bakery, and there didn’t appear to be any place to sit inside. She opened her mouth to speak to Vinyl, but before she could the DJ in question rang a bell at the counter.

“Just a second!” A raspy, almost nasally voice sounded from another room. The voice sounded friendly, if perhaps a little stressed. A short, plump, light-blue mare with a swirled pink mane came around a corner, smiling at them dearly. Octavia could hardly believe the voice came from her. She didn’t have to for long, though, as when she spoke it was with a voice as sweet as the confectioneries in her store.

“And what can I help you two with?” the mare asked.

“Just about everything,” Vinyl said, craning her neck in every direction, each pastry reflecting off her glasses, mouth salivating past her stretched grin ever so slightly.

“Well, you’ve come to the right place!”

“PUMPKIN!”

“Yes, dear?” the mare called to the first voice, still out of sight.

“Oh, not you, honey-bun! Our daughter! Pumpkin Cake, put the down, young lady! Oof!” a small sound like wood on brick echoed from an unseen location.

The mare at the counter sighed. “Could you girls excuse me for just one moment?” She disappeared back the way she came from for a spell, allowing Octavia and Vinyl to exchange a quick glance. When the mare returned, a small amount of flour showed through her usually pink mane. “Sorry, dearies… Newborns. They can be quite the hooffull, especially without Pinkie around…

“Wait, Pinkie Pie?” Vinyl asked. Octavia stiffened. “She works here?”

“Oh, why yes! Not today though… Why, do you know her?”

The DJ laughed. “We met at the wedding last week. Quite the party animal, that one.”

“Don’t I know it,” the blue mare grumbled. Octavia relaxed a little at this comment.

“Shoot, and I would have really liked to see her again, too,” Vinyl said, Octavia quietly disagreeing. “Is she around town at all?”

“No, she went with her friends to Canterlot just the other day. Took her ‘party cannon’ and everything! Though, it does seem like a bit much just for a test…”

“Oh, that thing with Twilight. I gotchya.”

“Wait, that mare is a part of that group?” Octavia asked. “The one that supposedly stopped Nightmare Moon and Discord?”

“Did, dear,” The mare behind the counter corrected. Octavia was about to respond when the shop owner cut her off. “You seem familiar, miss. Are you from around here?”

Octavia closed her mouth again, unsure how to respond. Vinyl did for her. “She used to be. Octy, for real, it’s okay to talk to ponies once in a while.”

“’Octy’? Oh! Octavia!” The blue mare’s expression increased happily. “I do remember you! Oh, we had barely just moved in the last time I saw you, but I see your mother almost every day. She’s been a real help more times than I can count, I’ll have you know.”

“I… I’m glad to hear it,” Octavia said with a smile.

“Oh! But listen to me go on! You girls are hungry, right?” Vinyl nodded with fervor.

“Can I have a ‘lemon surprise’?” she asked, pointing to a plate behind a glass case.

“You're lucky,” the owner said with a smile. “Those usually tend to go pretty fast. And for you, hun?”

“Hm?” Octavia had been lost in her thoughts for a moment. “Oh, uh… could I just have an apple?”

“Of course. Chocolate covered or caramel?”

“Oh, uh… Just the apple, if that’s alright…”

The blue mare looked disheartened, but said nothing. She put the two orders on the counter, and Vinyl insisted she pay. They took their treats to the park, which was thankfully mostly unchanged. They walked almost out of habit to one bench in particular overlooking a small pond. Other ponies walked and played around them. A soft harp could be heard between bouts of laughter.

“It’s really weird… Being back an' all,” Vinyl said, her first words since her first bite of muffin.

Octavia nodded, but when she noticed that Vinyl was looking elsewhere she spoke her agreement. “Yeah, it is. I can’t believe how much has changed.”

“I can’t believe what’s still the same.” Vinyl took another bit of her pastry, finishing it off. She crumpled up its paper wrapping and used her magic to float it over to a nearby waste bin.

“It really kind of put things into perspective,” Octavia said, after a brief moment.

“What does?” Vinyl asked. She looked up at her friend, watching the small waves of the pond reflected in lavender eyes.

“Everything,” Octavia said simply. When Vinyl didn’t respond, she continued, “Everything that’s happened the last few years. How things changed ponies. Changed me…”

“Aw, don’t be like that, Octy…” Vinyl said, trying to console her friend. “I mean, yeah, you changed a lot… But look at where we’re at now. We used to spend almost every day during the summer in this park. I know you’re not the same pony you used to be, but… I’m glad part of her is still in there somewhere.”

Octavia broke her gaze with the water to smile at her friend. As she looked into her own reflection in the DJ’s glasses, a thought occurred to her. “Vinyl, why do you wear those?”

“What?” Sunset had turned into dusk, and with it most of the ponies in the park had already left for their homes. The evening was now the quietest it had been.

“Your sunglasses. The sun’s down, Vinyl. You were about to tell my mother this morning about them.”

The DJ shrugged. “They make me look cool.”

Octavia shook her head. “Since when do you care about looks?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Vinyl asked, her tone defensive.

“Nothing! I always just thought you didn’t care what other ponies thought. I mean, with how much teasing you received for your mane in school, I thought if you cared what was said you would have done something about it.”

“I liked my mane, Octy. Still do. I wasn’t the kind of pony who would pretend to be somepony else just so that other ponies would like her.”

Octavia sighed. “Vinyl, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“No, I’m sorry.” Vinyl’s eyes squinted visibly behind her glasses, a hoof rising to rub her temple. “I shouldn’t have said that. You don’t deserve it.”

“I kind of do…” Everything was still for a moment, save for a soft rising moon. “But in all seriousness, you really don’t need those glasses at this hour. If I may…?” Octavia reached for the glasses upon her friend’s face.

“What? No way!” Vinyl fell over backwards avoiding Octavia’s reach, landing on her back. Some switch in Octavia’s mind flipped, and she smiled down at the DJ.

“Unhoof those glasses!”

“Back off!”

A foal-like glee overcoming her, Octavia dove from the bench and onto her friend. The two mares struggled in the dirt, one covering her face in defense. Octavia laughed like a little filly; she could somehow see why Vinyl had always enjoyed teasing her growing up. Vinyl managed to turn herself over, sitting low on her four hooves. Octavia took the opportunity to snatch the glasses from behind, her body weight holding the unicorn down.

“Ha ha!” Octavia sidled off her friend, narrowly avoiding the swipe of a white hoof. She stood on her hind legs for a moment, gazing at her prize with a wide grin.

“Okay, Octy… Give ‘em back.”

“I just got them!” Octavia placed them on her frame. “Is this how you really see the world? My, it’s a lot of purple…”

“Octavia. Give. Them. Back.”

The grey mare looked over at the DJ, a look a fury not seen in years upon it. Her elation dying, Octavia slowly removed the glasses to hand them back over to their owner. “I’m sorry, Vinyl, I didn’t mean to…” She gasped. She couldn’t help it. With the glasses removed and true color restored the world, she could tell that something was very, very wrong. Her friend’s once beautiful magenta eyes were now a deep blood red.

“Get a good look, Octy?”

Author's Note:

Author's Note can be found here.

Comments

[Venates]

3958696 Wait no longer! Hope this (rather long) chapter keeps you interested, friend!

[Shadow_Wolf]

Mmmm...love it!

[FashionablyHospitable]

“I wonder if her hat is still too large for her head.”

...picturing

[FashionablyHospitable]

Plot !