Music Makes The Heart

by TheVulpineHero1

12) All The Roadrunning

-All The Roadrunning-
(Dire Straits; Emmylou Harris; Mark Knopfler)

---

The sun had already passed its zenith when Octavia woke to a house that was surprisingly empty, surprisingly dull. She didn't live a lavish existence, didn't collect fritter away her savings on oakwood end-tables or mahogany-backed mirrors. What furniture she had was simple, hard-wearing, and had been worn hard accordingly. On the top of her dressing-table, touched slightly by the afternoon sun, lay an unfinished letter of- what? Resignation? Protest? Apology? It seemed to veer from one to the other. She groaned even to think of it, rolled over to lay on her back and quiz the ceiling.

The situation, as it was- banished from the orchestra. On remand, technically, sitting out as penance for the crime of actually playing her best for once. Awaiting judgement at the end of a two-week decision making period, her fate held in the uncertain hooves of the board of directors- a board of directors still furiously trying to manage the damage she had caused. She had left the house to buy food, and to make some pitiful efforts at trimming her garden; that was all.

Very distantly, muffled by the closed windows, she could hear the sound of somepony hammering at her door.

"Octavia?" Vinyl's voice said, drifting at the very edge of the audible range. "Octavia? Tavi? We need to talk."

Grudgingly, she dragged herself from her bed and downstairs, nearly knocking over one of her flowerpots as she did so, and opened the door. Vinyl marched in without greeting, swept the room with her eyes. She was carrying saddlebags.

"Hello to you, too, Vinyl. How have you been?" Octavia yawned, all politeness and no content. Vinyl shot her a look, took in her appearance; her eyes were narrowed, flashing, calculating.

"Occupied. Making sure you still have a job at the end of next week. Your maestro's an idiot," Vinyl seethed, before scouring the room again and tossing her head at the collection of bottles on the kitchen counter. "How much did you drink?"

Octavia cast her mind back; the second day, crushing unemployment. A few bottles of wine along with her normal groceries, bought with her last paycheck. Peaceful blackness. "As much as I wanted to, and not a drop less," she hedged for lack of anything better. "I'm a grown mare, anyway. I can do as I like. What's this you say about the maestro?"

"We had words," Vinyl said darkly. Octavia was struck by the thought of her, cool and ruthless, cutting the maestro apart with poorly formed sentences and barely concealed malice.

"And?"

"I told him that if he couldn't handle talent in his orchestra, we'd find somepony who could. Read these," Vinyl said, and took out a bundle of paper from her bags. "I identified eleven places you'd do well in. Pick three to audition for."

Octavia scanned the paper, eyes growing wider with each page. "Canterlot, Fillydelphia, Manehattan...Vinyl, these are all in different towns! I know that needs must if it comes to it, but to just pack up and leave Ponyville? I don't want to abandon everything I've build up here."

"You won't. You'll do three auditions to spread your name and back up the story. Then next week I'll tell the maestro you've been offered a position at the Canterlot Harmonics. The maestro there went to the same school as yours, and they despise each other. He's going to double your paycheck and whip the rest of the Ponyville orchestra into shape, just to spite Canterlot, and you're going to accept it and then play however you want," Vinyl said, shaking her head disdainfully as she rattled it off.

"We're manipulating him? But, Vinyl...That feels like cheating."

"Welcome to the music business," the unicorn snorted.

Just for a second, Octavia imagined a much younger Vinyl Scratch, extroverted, generous and wide-eyed, trying to make it on her own in the music industry.

"So. Do I get a thank you for saving your career?" Vinyl asked, her attention returning to the wine bottles. She was peering at the labels almost academically.

"Of course, Vinyl. I would kiss you, but I've got the most terrible morning breath. Why, pray tell, are you so interested in those wine bottles?" Octavia asked, looking a little more closely at the bundle of papers on the table.

"I like wine. Your taste is terrible," she said. "Invite me next time. I'll bring the good stuff."

"Oh, a connoisseur? Perhaps I should call you Vino. I'm afraid I was rather more interested in the quantity than the quality when I bought it," Octavia replied absently.

"You worried me. Shutting yourself up like this," Vinyl said quietly. Almost cautiously.

Octavia took a moment. Chewed over her thoughts. Honesty or tact, she wondered? How could she explain that, at first, she'd been angry- angry at herself for getting jealous and wanting those stupid glasses, angry at Vinyl for suggesting her 'condition' and ultimately getting her into this mess? But she wanted to avoid hurting her, since she'd gone to such lengths to fix the whole thing. Did she want to avoid that so badly that she would lie to her?

She realised, with a sinking feeling, that the answer was yes.

"Forgive me, Vinyl. I wasn't feeling myself. At least now you know how I felt when you pulled your little disappearing act."

"So I do," Vinyl shrugged. "Can I take a look around while you read? You've got a weird house."

"You mean 'interesting'. I see no harm in it, so long as you stay out of my bedroom. It's a little too much of a mess to warrant showing."

"That so? Fine," Vinyl said, and wandered off towards the stairs. A few seconds later, she came back wearing a smirk. "Just to warn you- if I ever get into your bedroom, I won't waste time looking at the carpet."

Octavia spluttered and felt her cheeks light up. "Very funny," she scowled. "Uncouth DJs these days..."

"Not as bad as boozy cellists," Vinyl finished. "...you look a bit more cheerful, anyway."

"So, the punishment for being gloomy is having to sit through your comedy routine?" Octavia snorted. "One of these days, Vinyl Scratch, I shall have to teach you how to make a joke without propositioning me."

"Not sure that's a skill I want to learn."

"Thanks, Vi. As bad as your jokes are, it's nice that you try," Octavia sighed.

"I'm 'Vi' now...? Fine by me. You finished picking?"

"Well...I probably ought to at least try out for Canterlot, since that's where we say I'm going. Beyond that, I could stand a trip to Manehattan, and my mother lives near Fillydelphia. I'd like to visit," she replied.

"I'll be going with you, you know. Live-in manager."

"All the more reason to visit my mother, then. I can introduce you."

Vinyl looked at her doubtfully. "You're either brave, or crazy."

"Crazy, I expect," Octavia replied. "But that's never stopped anypony."

"Cool with me. I'll try not to wreck your mom's house," Vinyl said with a shrug, and drew a glass of water from the sink. "Drink this."

"Why?"

"Duh. To get rid of your morning breath," Vinyl replied. "I'm collecting on that kiss."

Comments

[NotsoAwesme]

So cute

[SkyWalker]

Sneaky Vinyl is sneaky. And hey, parent meeting time. That ought to be interesting. And I really love the way you're developing the pairing. It's fun and cute at the same time. Tho it's kinda bothering me how Vinyl always seems to one-up Octavia. I'd like her to best Vinyl sometime for a change

[TheVulpineHero1]

573990
Then you'll probably like the next chapter, once I've written it. I can't always accurately predict what I'll do next, but parents have a way of making everypony else in the room look like an idiot.

[Omgzors]

I lol'd at the last line.

[Penultimate Dream]

This is fantastic so far! I love the whole "Vinyl's a genious" thing. It's a refreshing change from her usual dopey portrayal. She actually reminds me quite a bit of Spike Speigel. Keep up the good work!

[TheVulpineHero1]

Wow, I knew there was something I was forgetting...
580667
In general, it takes place in Ponyville. Not sure what the canon is on where Octavia and Vinyl actually live, but I'm filing it under acceptable breaks from reality. Assume for the sake of convinience that there is a hypothetical music hall in hypothetical Ponyville.
576341
The last line is just pure fluff. I liked the Vino pun, myself.
615562
Vinyl's usually portrayed as dopey? Huh...nothing in her appearance suggests that character trait for me. Guess it must be an evolved fanon thing. Also, yes! Cowboy Bebop for the win.

[Penultimate Dream]

616165
Perhaps dopey is the wrong word (not the brightest crayon in the box, but not necessarily stupid, and definitely whimsical). Certainly how I've seen her portrayed in fanon though. While I find that image endearing, I definitely like how you've shown her. Electronic music is incredibly complicated and requires a certain intellect to do well. The dual-personality aspect with the shades is also interesting. I myself find it easier to be more confident when wearing them, as if no one can really see you. Love what you have going so far, and yes, Cowboy Bebop is amazing

[Therizzen]

"Did she wanted to avoid that so badly that she would lie to her?"

I do believe that that "wanted" should be want.

Anyway, I'm gonna take the time here on this last chapter to now gush about your wonderful grasp on dialogue. You, sir, have a wonderful grasp on dialogue

Seriously though, it's always smooth and it always flows well, and the characters you've built seem to stay relatively in character throughout. The progression is also very well done. It's not too quick and its not slow either, I'd say around he perfect pacing; that is, unless you plan on writing a drama soaked romance. Eh, all in all, you write fantastic fluff

Now write it faster

[TheVulpineHero1]

641737
Hoo, boy. Time to do some good ol' fashioned quoting and replying.

Chapter 1: Yeah, I figured something relatively minor and aesthetic like eye colour could quite justifiably be changed if it enhanced the story in some way; personally, I think the red eyes help Vinyl's characterisation by maybe implying deeper confidence issues. So, yeah, screw canon.

Chapter 2: Glad to hear it! You wouldn't believe how many times I've been told 'You'd be a decent writer if you'd just stop writing all that short crap'. I like to think I'm good at the short crap. :c

Chapter 3: Yeaaaah. You'll find that, since I consider Vinyl to be by far the more interesting character (aesthetically, anyway, since her looks were what I based her personality on), I don't develop Octavia nearly as well. She's starting to have a little more voice now, though. Also, it is very weird how many people get a kick out of the Pinkie Pie one night stand implication.

Chapter 4: Funny story about this chapter. You might remember a blog post in which I mentioned I once started but aborted a crossover fic between MLP and Gurren Lagann. Dunno if you know anything about Gurren Lagann, but basically it's one of the very best giant robot mecha animes, notable in that its robots are literally powered by the spirit of manliness and awesome. Like, explicitly. It is completely insane and awesome, and I was resolved that any fanfic I wrote containing it would be likewise.
Guess where I recycled Vinyl's DJing scene from. Of course, I did edit it majorly; it'd be cheating if I didn't. Mind you, if I'd done that crossover, the entire story would have been like that scene. Can you even imagine? (Also, Vinyl would have been the pony version of Kamina, because she is the only one with glasses awesome enough. Obviously, this Vinyl has evolved somewhat differently. )

Chapter 5 & 6: Man, I am all about those quirks. Again, it comes from ye olde drabbles; if you only have 100 words, you can only really afford to give a character one salient point of description, so you'd better make it count. As time has gone on, it's become increasing a habit to include those little
quirks and tics even when I do have room to describe, because they're just so good at building character. Glad you like them; I'm sure not everyone does, but they're just a staple of my writing style and the way I develop characters these days.

Chapter 7: A giant did not knock down my door and present me with an admission to Hogwarts on my eleventh birthday. I am still deeply resentful about this.

Chapter 8: Whoops. I'll fix those the moment I get time. The longer my work, the sloppier my editing gets... Also, dat metaphor. What.

Chapter 9: I'm told one of the nice things about this story is the way Vinyl is initially a jerk, but still has likeable moments. The person who told me that (I won't name names, because I'm never sure if people are happy for me to name names) was surprised that I didn't actually plan it out, just like the rest of my stories. All dumb luck and instinct, I'm afraid.

Chapter 10: Because I write slower than British Rail when there's leaves on the track, is why. Also because I habitually ignore fanon. That too. I doubt too many fans of traditional Vinyl/Octavia are quite as in love with Jerk!Vinyl as I am.

Chapter 11: Yay! Another Raocow fan! (As you've probably guessed, I'm a huge videogames nerd and actually watch a whole ton of Let's Plays. Raocow's not my favourite LPer, but the way he talks is just hypnotic, somehow...)

Chapter 12: More slips and flubs as the story gets longer! I'll get right on that. Also, I'm glad to hear about the dialogue; I have an almost pathological fear of it, and I don't like having too much dialogue in my stories in general. Of course, because thematically the relationship is all about Vinyl learning how to actually communicate with Tavi, it sort've has to include a lot of dialogue for me to practice what the story is preaching.
Also, I'm wooooooooorking on it! Chapter 13's about half done now. You wouldn't believe how long it takes me to write 1300 words when I'm making sure they're all good ones...

Thanks so much for reviewing and letting me know what you think! It's a great feeling when someone takes the time to go through and review each chapter one by one, even though they don't have to.

[Frantic Starz]

She didn't live a lavish existence, didn't collect fritter away her savings on oakwood end-tables or mahogany-backed mirrors.

She didn't live a lavish existence, didn't fritter away her savings on oakwood end-tables or mahogany-backed mirrors.
The collect after didn't does not belong.