The Life and Times of a Travelling Band

by Bman3601

Wish You Were Here

Once again, Octavia found herself at odds with her arch nemesis, the window at the head of her bed. The cursed sunlight once again drained in through the malevolent transparent sheet, and threatened the very existence of Octavia's peaceful slumber. Octavia would have none of that, however. She was going to get some more sleep. She resolved that she would finally beat her arch nemesis, and she did just that, by smothering her head with the pillow. Soon after, she was back in the peaceful land of slumber.

At least, that is, until the door was knocked upon several hours later.

Oops! Octavia thought. She had forgotten about the visitors coming to see about her apartment. Unfortunately, her lack of time forced her to abandon her morning routine, only allowing for a quick hoofing down of her bedraggled hair. Swinging the door open a little too hard on accident, she put on her best greeting grin, but probably only succeeded in looking like a maniac.

Disappointingly, the pony at the door was not Vinyl, but Octavia couldn't just turn somepony away like that, in case Vinyl didn't show up later.

"Hi, are you here for the room?"

The other pony, however, just raised an eyebrow. "Um... no. I'm your mailman. Here's your mail,"

Handing Octavia the mail, he was soon off to other apartments in the complex, leaving Octavia to contemplate just how strange she had just looked.

Stepping back inside, she laid the envelopes and newspaper on her living room table and trotted to the bathroom to do her morning routine.
As she adjusted her bow tie, a knocking from the front door once again interrupted her routine.

I'm quite the popular mare this morning, Octavia chuckled to herself on the way to the door.

Using actual control of the door handle this time, Octavia got a much better reaction out of the mare standing in the doorway.

"Hi! Are you here for the room?" She asked again.

"Yup. It's a pretty sweet deal," The blue mare replied. She wasn't Vinyl, but Octavia still needed the bits one way or another.

After showing her around for several hours, and having the mare nitpick each and every detail, they were unable to come to an agreement.

Closing the door gently behind the leaving mare, Octavia sighed.

Well, this is Canterlot, after all. She grumbled.

Grunting in frustration, she fetched the morning's newspaper from the table and began to read. As she made her way to the classifieds, she was further assured that her ad was in the paper. Funny, she had expected more people to call, rather than just show up at the address.

Either way, she still held on blindly to the hope that Vinyl would come by sometime before somepony else sealed the deal. At least she had a prior history with Vinyl, no matter how brief, rather than having to share the apartment with some complete stranger. Plus, she knew Vinyl could drink, which was always a plus.

Folding the paper up and chunking it into the pile with the rest of the old newspapers, she idly hummed. Soon, another knock on the door startled her. After scolding herself for being startled by something so silly, she once again opened the door to find somepony she didn't know standing there.

Sighing inwardly, she began the tour. It was going to be a long day.

***

Hours later, as the sun's final light sank over the horizon, she led the fifth pony to visit that day to the door, locking it behind him. Octavia's mood had begun souring after the third. It was never any different with those ponies. Always some minute detail bugging them. Damned Canterlot nobles.

Octavia wondered if she should maybe look into moving out of the city. She'd always heard Manehatten was a nice place for the artistically inclined.

Regardless, the day had been entirely useless. She still had no roommate to share the rent with, Vinyl still hadn't come by, and she doubted, at that point, that she even would. Perhaps Vinyl really didn't read the paper. Typical.

Slouching down on her couch once again with a sigh, she turned on the radio and listened to some soothing classical music for a while. It was 8'O clock, nopony else would be coming by. Closing her eyes and reclining on the couch, she relaxed while humming to the melody. Funny, she thought, I don't remember being tir-

Sometime later, she was awoken by a rapping on the door. It was not, as many may believe, the kind of rapping that concerns knocking. Yawning, she stepped in the general direction of the noise. Squinting at the clock, she confirmed that the time was 10:30 Pm. As she got closer, the noise became clearer. Confused, she wondered who would be literally rapping at her door at that time of night.

Swinging the door wide, she beheld a strange mint-green unicorn dressed in a dark hoodie, lost in her own world.

"-and if I had one wish, I'd ask for an ass big enough for the whole world to k-" Noticing Octavia for the first time, the unicorn cleared her throat and chuckled nervously.

"H-hey, I'm here for the room," She greeted, inviting herself in.

Closing the door behind her, Octavia turned to the mare and considered her. The mare indeed looked very shady, even with her hood off, and Octavia felt as though she should be careful and watch her closely, especially since it was so late at night.

"Yes, well, the time on the ad was listed til eight, but I suppose I can give you the tour anyway," Octavia replied. Stepping into the hallway, she led the mare to where she would sleep, eat, and whatever else she may decide to do on her own time.

"Rad, I'm likin' the feel of the place. I see you have a cello, looks pretty cool," She complimented.

Octavia stared wide eyed at the mare. She actually knows what a cello is?

"What? I don't look like the type to know my instruments?" The mare interrogated, reading Octavia like a book. Gulping, Octavia nodded sheepishly. The strange mare, however, just grinned and pulled the bottom of her hoodie up slightly, exposing to Octavia her cutie mark.

"Yeah, I'm a bit of a musician myself. Name's Lyra, by the way," The mare shot back, extending a hoof, expecting a hoof-bump. Octavia shook the hoof, and introduced herself. Lyra chuckled and turned to look out the window.

Why does everyone keep laughing at my hoofshakes? Is there something wrong with my hooves? Octavia questioned inwardly, raising a hoof and inspecting it closely. She looked up from her hoof to see Lyra eyeing her with a cocked eyebrow and smirk. Slowly lowering her hoof, she chuckled nervously and found the ground to be suddenly interesting to look at.

"Well, I'm really likin' the place. It ain't got that stuffy feel that most of this city does. I'll take it," Lyra reckoned.

Freezing up, Octavia came to the realization that she was really about to rent the room away. Looking downcast, she realized that Vinyl would be on the street in another hour and a half, with no way for Octavia to find her.

Mistaking Octavia's pained expression for second-guessing, Lyra quickly spoke up, not wanting to lose the deal she was getting.
"Alright, how's about... 3 months rent in advance, on the spot?" She inquired, pulling out a rather large sack of bits and handing it to Octavia.

"Oh, no, it's not that, you don't have t-"

"Hey, listen, I really gotta pee. Where's the bathroom?" Lyra interrupted, not allowing Octavia to protest.

Pointing in the general direction, Octavia received a quick thanks. Left alone in her hallway, she carried the bits into her living room and sat the bag on the table. She thought of how much Vinyl could use the money. At that very moment, however, another quick succession of knocks broke her from her thoughts.

Trotting over to the door, she got ready to deliver the bad news, that somepony had already bought the room.

Opening the door, she opened her mouth to speak, and froze as she saw the mare with the electric-blue mane standing out of breath.

"Hey, Octy," She huffed, struggling to catch her breath. "Listen, I know I'm a bit *huff* late, but I have your bits right *huff* here."

Leading Vinyl into the living room, she tried desperately to think of some way to solve the predicament she was in.

"Wow, pretty nice place you got here, Octy. So, where do I sleep?" Vinyl inquired with a confident grin. A dreadfully confident grin, Octavia thought, not without a tinge of sadness.

Octavia felt like doing anything besides grinning. Facing Vinyl, she delivered the news all at once, not looking her in the eyes.

"I'm sorry, Vinyl, but the room has already been rented out. I tried waiting for you, but a mare showed up a few minutes ago and bought the room out."

Vinyl visibly deflated, the grin no longer present on her face. Nodding slowly, she turned back towards the door.

"Ah, yeah. I understand. Well, it was still nice seeing you again. See ya around, I guess," Vinyl replied, twisting the doorknob.

Octavia, not wanting to just throw her friend out on the street, handed her a hoofful of bits and bargained, "If you come back tomorrow, I might be able to find a bed or something for you to sleep on. You can stay here, at least until you get back on your hooves."

"Nah, it's cool, Octy. I can't be a burden on you like that," Vinyl rejected, forcing a smile that was dangerously close to cracking. Octavia swore she saw her eyes tear up ever so slightly.

"Nonsense! I can't let you just live out on the street," Octavia protested, grabbing Vinyl's tail with her hoof.

"Listen, it's really nice of you to try and all, bu-"

"Could it be? IS THAT VINYL-FUCKIN'-SCRATCH? Get the hell ouutt," Lyra yelled, charging into the living room.

Octavia nearly turned around and scolded Lyra for being rude, but noticed the grin on her face at the last minute. Looking between her and Vinyl, and noticing that they shared the same expression, Octavia released Vinyl's tail and watched patiently.

"LYRA! It's been so long! How've ya been?" Vinyl asked, rapidly cheering up again.

They came together in a forceful hug, and gave each other hoof bumps after they broke apart.

"Oh, I've been cool. Just got a room here," Lyra answered, grinning. "How 'bout you?"

Vinyl's grin dropped for a moment before she answered. "Eh, I've been better, I guess. Lost my job, apartment, and I just generally just can't seem to win," She replied.

"Aw, man. Do you have somewhere to stay tonight?" Lyra investigated, laying a comforting hoof on her good friend's shoulder.

"No, actually, but it's cool. I can probably get into a hotel or somethin-"

"Nah, you're bunkin' with me," Lyra interrupted in a no-nonsense kind of way.

Vinyl, having had her mind made up for her, turned to Octavia.

"I dunno, you'd have to ask Octy. I dunno if she'd want to have both of us under the same roof," Vinyl replied, rubbing the back of her neck nervously.

Octavia attempted to reply so fast that she tripped up on most of the sentence. "Ofcourse I'dhavyo here," Clearing her throat, she began again. "I mean, of course, I would love to have you here, Vinyl. I can't let you spend the night out by yourself in a dingy hotel. Come to think of it, I don't even know of any hotels in Canterlot,"

"There aren't any," Vinyl admitted.

"Then you're staying," Octavia retaliated. Chuckling to herself, she remarked innocently, "Besides, you two seem to be alright, what's the worst that could happen?"

Octavia would later deeply regret making the remark to the point of completely denying having ever asked.

Several minutes later, they had all gotten settled, with Octavia sleeping in her normal bed, and Lyra and Vinyl sharing the queen sized bed Octavia had gotten ready for her new roommates.

It was a strange feeling to Octavia, having others in her house. It was not, however, an unwelcome feeling. Even with all the problems in her life, she felt that having others around would help her confidence in tackling them. Drifting slowly into the land of slumber, Octavia felt strangely serene in her new situation.

Several hours later, however, the serenity was completely shattered by the constant, repeating thunking noise emanating from the bed beside hers. Turning her head towards the sleeping forms of the other mares, she beheld a sight that struck her as giggle-worthy.

Vinyl and Lyra lay exactly opposite each other on the bed. Each pony would rythymatically kick the other in the head after such an act was done to her own noggin. Back and forth this went, all the while Octavia's urge to burst out laughing grew. Removing herself from the room, she only returned when she had gotten all the giggles out of her system. Completely deficient of laughter, she laid herself back into bed and dozed off once more.

******

It seemed that her arch nemesis was not going to show that morning. Smiling into her pillow, Octavia sighed contently. Nuzzling further into the comfort, she thought a single thing. Life is good.

And so, life was indeed good for a long while afterward. For many long periods of time onward, Octavia saw nothing but good fortune and fate. Things were really beginning to look up.

That is, until the horrid crash emanating from the kitchen occured only minutes later.

Shooting from her bed entirely, Octavia landed head-first onto the hardwood flooring. Rubbing her aching muzzle, she glanced over to the bed adjacent to hers. Both ponies were absent.

Creeping into the hallway and proceeding to the kitchen then afterwards, Octavia was mortified at the atrocity she beheld.

The once spotless tile flooring had been entirely caked over by a hardened mixture of flour and water. The walls, ceiling, and window in the general vicinity of the stove had been smeared by the charred remains of something that may have, at one point, been actually edible. Finally taking in the two startled unicorns sharing sheepish grins, Octavia cleared her throat and furrowed her brow.

"Well, hey there, Octy. Lyra and I were gonna make you some breakfast, as a... er... gift!" Vinyl beamed, nervous at what Octavia would say.

Octavia, however, put a cheerful smile on her face and reassured her friend. "Okay!" Stepping back out of the kitchen, the two unicorns also shared a sigh of relief, at least until one of them tried fighting the other for custody rights of the entire sigh.

"So..." Lyra began, beginning to take in the mess that they had made. "Ya think she's mad?"

"Pfft! We're in the clear, I don't even think she even noticed the mes-"

Vinyl would probably have enjoyed finishing her sentence, but, unfortunately, a very angry grey missile with a pink bowtie at that very point had decided to tackle the poor unicorn. The missile had nearly succeeded in throttling the aforementioned poor unicorn before Lyra was able to pull her off. Lyra was not, however, able to keep Octavia from yelling silly things like "OF COURSE I NOTICED THE MESS YOU DOLT," and "VINYL SCRATCH I SWEAR TO CELESTIA IF YOU DON'T CLEAN THIS MESS RIGHT NOW,"

Over the course of the next hour, Lyra and Vinyl cleaned the entire kitchen, down to every molecule, under the close inspection of Octavia. As the cleaning wrapped up, Vinyl dropped the washcloth into the sink mid rinse, stared out the window in an eerie manner, turned toward the door, and began trotting in a zombie-like manner.

"Um... Vinyl? Are you alright?" Octavia asked, not entirely sure what to make of the strange situation.

Vinyl turned on a perfect 90 degree angle and looked Octavia in the eyes with her creepy, blank stare.

"My DJing equipment! I left it at my old apartment! I have to go get it," Vinyl yelled, swinging the door wide as she made her dramatic exit. Chasing her out the door, the other two mares were able to calm her into slowing down.

"Come to think of it, there's probably some stuff I need to pick up too. I'm gonna go get it, see you two later," Lyra began, trotting off in some direction away from the apartment. Turning to Vinyl, Octavia shot her a reassuring smile.

"Very well, I'll help you carry what you need,"

Vinyl huffed and looked back at Octavia as they walked onward.

"Yeah, if any of it's even still there," She replied.

"What do you mean?"

"My rent ran out yesterday, the apartment's not mine. Knowing the asshole landlord, he probably gave all my equipment away to the first pony he saw, just to screw with me,"

Octavia reserved from asking anymore questions along the way. Clearly Vinyl did not have much hope, and nothing Octavia could say would change that.

Sighing, Octavia followed Vinyl through the concrete jungle. It was going to be a long day.

Author's Note:

Sorry about the long wait for this chapter. Comments and criticism welcome!

Comments

[Carbon Shield]

I'm liking this Fic so far