The Tunes Are A-Changin'

by ShadeJak

Of Pizza and Ponies

I consider myself a reasonable and often level-headed woman for the most part, I attempt to plan out my days to ensure I can avoid finding myself without solutions to problems, but I will admit Vic had always been more spontaneous and able to roll with the punches, so to speak as a result. This, however, it appeared, was not one of those times. If turning into a small female unicorn wasn’t already presumably taxing, nor the discovery that the characters we’d turned into had far more significance to the fanbase of the show they’d originated from then the show’s canonical material itself weren’t the straw that broke the camel’s back, then it would seem an unexpected and unavoidable visit from someone whom she would not find a way out of directly interacting with most certainly did.

“Vinyl,” I muttered when my boyfriend-turned-marefriend finally finished using what I assume to be every manner of profanity she had learned in her life of growing up in the New Jersey suburban area. “Are you quite finished? I don’t think yelling obscenities into a pillow is going to change the fact that your friend is going to be over here shortly and he will need to be provided a reasonable explanation as to why two small, talking horses are there to greet him at the door.”

“Mmmmfffoo…” Vinyl muttered, finally pushing the pillow aside clumsily with her hoof. “What do I do? Just open the fucking door and stand there with a big dumb smile on my adorable pony face?” she asked with an eyeroll. “Maybe he’ll just take the remix, go home and think he’s stoned off his ass again.”

“…Again?” I asked.

Vinyl rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “Yeah, well, when the club closes down the bongs come out,” she explained.

“…Vinyl, didn’t you learn anything from that beach party we went to over our last spring break at college?” I muttered while facehoofing. Vic was the best thing that ever happened to me, but given the places and people he sometimes got gigs for, it would have been foolish of me to assume none of them were of an unsavory lot.

“Babe, I had no way of knowing the lady selling that cake had seriously laced it!” Vinyl protested, climbing down from the couch. I sighed, remembering that experience; I’d been fortunate to get Vic to the hospital before anything especially bad had happened. “Besides, you know I’d never touch the stuff,” she rolled her eyes a bit. “…knowingly, anyway.”

“Well, as glad as I am to hear that, it doesn’t change the situation at hoof,” I explained, wincing when I realized I’d said hoof instead of hand.

“Well, he’s always been good about paying me in cash, so at least it means more money. Just gotta figure out how to give the disc to him,” Vinyl mused, rubbing her chin with her forehoof.

“You spent five minutes venting your spleen into a pillow, Vinyl. It’d better be fast because I can’t say I know your friend enough to solve this for you,” I replied.

“Chill, babe. Just let me handle—” A crisp knock at the door and her eyes nearly bugged out. “Fuck me…” she muttered.

“Yes?” I called, approaching the door.

“Spencer-Ravensdale, right? Your pizza’s here,” the male voice on the other side of the door said, prompting me to glance over at Vinyl who let out a sigh of relief.

“Um… thank you,” I said, leaning against the door and glancing down at the mail slot. “Let me get the money and I’ll slide it right through.”

Vinyl searched through the pockets of her cargos she’d still left on the couch after this transformation had completed itself and pulled her wallet out with her teeth, focusing on it for a moment to take out a $10, floating it over to me. Rolling my eyes, I opened my mouth and took it in my teeth, walking back over to the door and nudging the slot up with my hoof before sliding the money through. “You’re welcome to keep the change. Consider it a tip for being so fast,” I said urgently.

“Uh… okay, thank you,” the deliveryboy said, and a few seconds later I could hear him leaving, getting a sigh of relief out of me.

“Well, I suppose that could have gone worse,” I said dryly, only to have Vinyl rush over to the door and pull the knob with her teeth as she leaned against it, opening the door and falling on her back in the process.

“Oh goodness, are you alright, Vinyl?” I asked, not wanting to leave the door open longer then necessary.

“I’m fine babe, just let me grab the pizza real quick!” she answered, getting up and trotting outside to lift it up with her magic.

She suddenly froze, the pizza falling back to the floor before it had made it an inch in the air.

“Vinyl, what’s wrong?” I asked, she remained silent, staring to her left with her eyes and mouth wide open.

“J-Jay?!” Vinyl stammered, prompting me to rush to the door and peer out against my better judgment. Outside only a few feet from us was a thin young man who looked around our age with shaggy blond hair and a five o clock shadow, all in all someone I featured would be the type that fit Vic’s earlier description.

“What in the hell?!” he muttered, staring agape at Vinyl and myself.

Vinyl laughed nervously and nudged the pizza towards me with her hind hoof. “Hey, Jay, dude! What’s up! Yeah, that phone call must’ve been way weird, huh? Well now that you’re here how’s about you hand me that cash and I’ll hand you that mix and we can go on with our lives, whaddya say?” she asked, causing me to facehoof in disbelief as she apparently decided to adopt the method she so sarcastically offered previously on dealing with him. Jay simply stood there, frozen in place as he slowly raised his finger and pointed at her wordlessly.

“Vinyl, honestly?!” I muttered.

“You… you’re…” Jay stammered, falling to his knees and continuing to point and stare.

“I’m what? Dude, did you get a whiff of the bong before you got here?” Vinyl asked, causing me to facehoof again at her desperate attempts. Then again, I wasn’t exactly drawing up alternatives. Sighing, I slowly stepped out.

“Look, we can’t exactly explain it ourselves, but something has happened to Vin-…Vic and myself. I gather you are going to spend the rest of the day wondering what you are seeing and run the risk on our part by telling others if I do not intervene, so perhaps it may be in our… and your best interest you listen well,” I explained, looking back at the door. “Would you be willing to come inside so we’re not out in the open?”

He did not respond, but managed a small nod as he stood himself up and followed me in, Vinyl trailing behind as she levitated the pizza again and brought it inside with her.

~

“Dude, stop starin’! It’s way rude!” Vinyl protested. “Yes, it’s me, Vic! I know I look a little different but it’s me in here!”

“A little different?!” Jay asked, speaking for the first time. “You’re Vinyl Scratch and Octavia!”

Both of us stared agape. “Dude, you watched that fucking show?” Vinyl asked.

“Who didn’t? Aside from you guys, I guess,” he said. “I mean, I wasn’t… like, obsessed or anything, but hey, everyone’s got a guilty pleasure!”

“So that’s what you’ve been doing when you said you were hitting the bong!” Vinyl said, realization on her face.

“Oh, no, I’d get high as the heavens, alright. Just, I usually watched the show, too,” he explained. He stared at Vinyl again. “Vic, buddy, are you a…” he pointed at Vinyl’s hindquarters.

“Minus my man card? Yeah,” Vinyl replied bitterly with a rather horselike snort as her ears drooped for a second.

“Whoa, what’s that feel like?” Jay asked, causing me to facehoof for the umpteenth time.

“Like I’m a horse with a vagina! Whaddya think it feels like?” Vinyl snapped, sitting down indignantly. I couldn't blame her, that question was rather absurd to ask.

“Sorry, just… damn,” he muttered. “This explains a lot…”

“What do you mean, this explains a lot?”

“Well, look don’t judge me, I sometimes troll the fan forums, usually when I’m high enough to be more creative about it, but anyway, there was like a buncha those brony freaks saying they were turning into ponies. I thought it was some kinda stupid roleplay so I was like, trolling ‘em and sayin’ crazy shit like I woke up a little hoarse and stuff, totally pissin' them off and all, and—”

“Dude, that pun's terrible,” Vinyl deadpanned.

“I have to agree,” I added, wondering what in the world he and Vic were like when they were spending time around one-another, but on second thought, it may have been for the best that I didn't. “But get to the point, please.”

“Yeah, well it was starting since, like the beginning of May,” he continued.

“We noticed. We looked around online as well. I suppose now I know who that dullard who couldn’t type was…” I replied, giving him a look.

“I just… can’t believe it’s real, I mean I should, what with you guys being here looking like that…” he stammered.

“Well, look, here’s your mix, you got my cash?” Vinyl asked, clearly trying to change the subject as she floated the cd to her friend’s hands, only for her to yank it up with her magic before he could take it. “And since we’re like, buddies and go back a bit, can you please promise you won’t tell anyone about this?” she asked, slowly approaching and, to my utter astonishment, attempted the puppy-dog eyes on him.

A moment of silence followed before Jay spoke up again.

“Vic, dude… you’re so adorable, can I please hug you?” he asked with a big grin, prompting Vic to grimace and back away. Immediately Jay let out a laugh. “Just messing with ya, man,” he said. “Sure, I can keep quiet. It’s not like anyone would believe me, right?”

“Don’t be too sure. I don’t need a buncha freaks in desperate need of soap and a stairmaster showin’ up at my door. Could be a body count,” Vinyl replied. “Just keep this quiet, got it?”

“Yeah, sure. I got your back,” Jay said, getting up and taking a roll of money out of his jacket and laying it on the table as he swiped the cd from the air. “Thanks for the mix, Vic… shame you won’t reconsider deejaying at my place. I bet the clubbers’ll love ya!”

Vinyl smiled and rolled her eyes. “I would look pretty boss at the turntables like this, wouldn’t I? At least if those fanart pictures are right,” she said in what I assumed was sarcasm.

“Still, you’d better figure out what you’re gonna do next, I mean, you can’t stay locked up in here forever, right?” Jay asked.

“No, obviously we can’t,” I replied as I stood next to Vinyl. “But we’ll work on that.”

“Heh, and it looks like the fanart pictures were right about something else, too,” he answered with a wink as he headed to the door, causing me to cock my head in confusion before looking and Vinyl and realizing what he meant.

One more facehoof from me before he bid his farewells and was out the door.

“Well… okay, I guess that didn’t go too badly,” Vinyl replied. “Still, that seriously is gonna change the way I look at him!”

I could feel the annoyance override any relief I should have felt from how it had gone. While it was fortunate that Vic’s friend was a closeted fan of the show, and that he didn’t faint at the sight of us. “Vinyl, do you realize that what we’d experienced was nothing more then pure, dumb luck?” I asked.

“Babe…” she began.

“What if he fainted or called the police? The fact he was secretly a fan of the show was probably all that stopped him from any sort of panic!" I said, leaving her wordless. "Others... others who see us might call animal control or something and we'd be on the bloody run in no time!" I could feel the rant coming on. "And furthermore, even then he has a point! How long is it going to be till we need to get out? Our rent’s covered for the month but I doubt we’ll be able to stay here that long,” I said. “We obviously need to keep our eyes online, as much as I’d rather not with what we’ve seen the fanbase to be capable of…” I muttered, letting out an exasperated groan. “This is so bloody unbearable!” I shouted, trotting in place before realizing what I was doing and hung my head. A second later, I could feel Vinyl put her hoof around me.

“Livvy…” she said, using the name I could remember but felt like I was losing. “I dunno what’s gonna happen, but I know sooner or later, something’s gonna pop up. When it does, we’re gonna be ready for it, and we’re gonna face it head-on!” she explained.

“Vic…” I began, looking up at her eyes. It was amazing, really. Behind those beautiful.. ugh… behind those eyes, I could see him in there.

“C’mon, let’s enjoy this pizza before it gets cold, it’s from our favorite place!” she said, getting an eyeroll out of me. “In the meantime maybe we can put that show back on, see if maybe we’re in the later eps!”

“I certainly hope so…” I muttered. There weren’t many other options.

~

Alas, it didn’t yield many results. Two seasons further and still neither of us had any more relevance to the story then we did in the previous ones. There had also been the matter of eating dinner. While Vinyl got to enjoy the comfort of using her magic to hold slices so she could eat them with ease, I found myself in the extremely undignified position of having nothing to hold my food with short of shoving my face into it like a lowly animal. Even as I was able to nudge a slice upward with my hoof and take small bites to spare some manner of sophistication I liked to believe I was still capable of, I still found myself thinking that between myself and her, the wrong one was provided the magic horn…

It had been getting rather late at night when we reached the final episode of Season 5, where a volcano’s eruption had unleashed all the malevolence of Tartarus, their equivalent to Hell, onto Equestria. Celestia had entrusted Discord to use his power to aid in stopping a powerful demon from laying waste to the kingdom. At first, Discord proved helpful, and the creature was sealed away once more…

And then, betrayal occurred. I shuddered as the distorted creature suddenly cast the Sun Princess into the open inferno, letting out a terrible laugh that seemed to grow louder and began to echo around me, as though he were suddenly in the room with us.

“Vinyl? Do you…?” I asked, feeling my body go numb as I suddenly watched the episode playing again.

The episode suddenly shifted to Canterlot, Discord fired some kind of magic at each of the mane six, disintegrating them on contact… their agonized screams were unlike anything I ever heard as I watched their bodies crumble apart and blow away like dust before breaking the fourth wall and informing all who were watching that this was how Equestria was unmade, but even that did not prepare me for what happened next, as my thoughts instinctively went to a diner in Manehattan…

I thought about the two ponies hiding together, holding one-another in fear of what was happening to their world.

Vinyl and Octavia.

The bright flash of light that appeared before them as they cowered there, shaking all over, and there stood Discord, grinning down at them as he hovered in the air.

“Would you like to see how Equestria ended?” he asked them. “Too bad, because you won’t be around long enough for it, my little musicians…”

I wanted to flush the memories out, I tried desperately not to think about it, but all that came to mind was how when Octavia spoke everything she'd said in that memory, for the first and I feared, last time, she was speaking, fearing for the life of the pony she loved. Vinyl trying to fight him off but it was no use. Discord easily bested her. The look of horror and despair...

"So often the great die before their time!" the draconequus' voice mused in my mind as he stood there, before he turned and sneered at me like he knew he was being recorded or being thought about, "Oh, their music will live on in our hearts, won't it?" he asked with a grin as he snapped his claw.

It suddenly felt as though a fog had cleared, or as if I'd woken from a dream as I saw I was laying on the couch, watching as the somber tone played with the ending credits to the final episode. "Vinyl?" I asked, looking over at her as she sat there, her jaw hanging open and her eyes wide with shock.

"Babe, I think I spaced out for a second, just... thinkin' about what happened earlier," she said, before looking back at the TV and shuddering. "But this... I mean, who puts that on a show for young girls? And how would the show..."

"The same thing happened to me, it's weird but does it feel like you were still watching it?" I asked, hopping from the sofa to the computer and nudging the mouse with my hoof after climbing onto the chair. Vinyl joined soon after, typing in a search for the show's finale to see if that madness we'd just witnessed were real.

"Whaaa?" she asked. "There's like a buncha edits and arguments over how it ended! People seem to be remembering it differently! No one said anything about one with us!"

Slowly, my forelegs fell to my sides as I slouched in the chair, my ears drooping as the thing we'd considered, the thing that possibly only denial has kept us from determining even after the chaos god himself had appeared in the flesh before us had all but proven to us came more and more clear. "Vinyl... match the usernames with the posts regarding the different endings and look for anything recent..." I said softly.

Nodding, Vinyl used her magic and did so, choosing a random name of someone insisting they remembered it differently and clicking on it, and found the most recent posting on the wiki site for the show. To my, and without doubt Vinyl's horror, it corresponded to a post about experiencing changes similar to those we had experienced on their twenty-fifth birthday. Vinyl looked up the name of the pony the poster had described, and both of us stared.

"Discord... he..." she began.

"...Was telling the truth..." I said. "All of this... us as ponies... the fact it looks like only we saw that ending with the two ponies we turned into... an entire scene dedicated to them when the show never bothered to give them such attention before... our..." I took a few breaths. "Our relationship, everything, Vinyl, it's without a doubt, now... there's too much evidence."

Before this, I'd considered, weighed the possibility, but even then a part of me found it too preposterous because I still felt like me, like the past twenty-five years were completely real. The question of how much of me was Octavia and how much of me was me had played in my mind and now with all this, it felt all the more certain that everything I was had just been... made from this pony. I looked at Vinyl, who was clearly reaching the same conclusion.

"I think I need a shower..." she muttered.

Author's Note:

And up went another chapter! Earthbound and Overlord references lurking within.

Did some edit-er-y in the final scene of this one after being told of something I'd since forgotten.

Comments

[ferret]

Oh lordy I knew the pizza guy would totally buy their story, and Vic's buddy would just walk up right when they opened the door to get the pizza.

Be more stealthy, electric blue haired pony!

Only Olivia could pull off eating a piece of cheese pizza with only her mouth, and still make it look dainty and sophisticated.

[Lt Rainbow Slash]

love it!

[Eclair the Pegasus]

Absolutely cannot wait for the next chapter!

[Scarlet Storm]

Amazing