Music Makes The Heart

by TheVulpineHero1

14) Three Is Family

-Three [3] Is Family-
(Dana Dawson)

---

The house that Octavia's mother led them to was not large, like the vast manses of aristocrats or even Vinyl's own empty abode, but was big enough to speak of a comfortable existence. Here and there were hung small baskets of hanging flowers, filled with buttery yellows, carrying all the signs of an enthusiastic but untalented gardener. Likewise, the front garden had been lavished plentifully with effort, although there were areas where the pattern of flowers changed conspicuously, as if some hungry pony had been desperate for a snack. In some places, mercifully few, the clean white plaster of the walls had been worn away to reveal a core of red brick. One of the windows had a vaguely pegasus-shaped hole in it.

"I see you've not had chance to put any columns or arches in yet," Octavia remarked dryly, casting an eye about the place. "But daffodils, mother? Really? What happened to that beautiful arrangement of roses and carnations I left you with?"

"Oh, hush. Just because you've got a bit of a green hoof, Octavia, doesn't mean everypony does. Some ponies have to settle for the type of flower that doesn't die quite so easily," her mother replied good-naturedly. "Besides, I have always maintained that daffodils are quite the equal of roses in the flavour department."

"That's because you can cook," Octavia grumbled. "Raw, they're like chewing earwax."

Vinyl didn't say much of anything, but listened intently. From the words that were spoken, she scooped out the information: good at gardening. Doesn't like daffodils raw. Can't cook. She filed it away in her brain for later, the way she did with half-made melodies and potential hooks.

"Vinyl? You seem like you're miles away. Come on. I know my mother's attempts at gardening are...eye-catching, but generally houses are best enjoyed from the inside," Octavia called.

"You got witty all of a sudden," Vinyl answered with studied nonchalance, and followed.

"There truly is nothing like a home field advantage, I suppose. Besides, you like it."

"Mm."

On the inside, the house was of a different character. The wallpaper was chosen with care, discreet and subtle patterns running along the walls. Shelves were dotted around with the randomness that only comes with planning, great slabs of mahogany holding up books as thick as a foreleg. There were loveseats in every room, tucked away into corners as if in case of emergency; they were cushioned in red, backed with wicker, as much art as furniture. Octavia gave a gusty, wistful sigh. This was the house she had grown up in, so long ago, where she had played and slept and lived.

"I kept your room exactly how you left it, dear, against my better judgement," Octavia's mother said, removing 'The Hat', as Vinyl had already begun to think of it, and depositing it on a well hidden hat stand. It rested upon it like the bloom of a great, carnivorous flower, and there was something inherently ridiculous about the whole thing.

"Oh dear. I suppose I'd best clean it out, if we're going to be staying the night. There are probably things growing in there that would be foolish to spend the evening with," Octavia deadpanned.

"Should I help?" Vinyl asked, although the real message was clear: can I get out of being alone with your mom?

"Aha, well, ahem, no. I wasn't the cleanliest of ponies as a teenager, and I wouldn't like you to see the result. Besides, I have a few things I'd like to check on, in privacy if possible," the earth pony replied, with the faintest hints of a blush. Without explaining further, she forged on up the stairs and disappeared from sight, nothing more than a set of hoofsteps on the floorboards above.

Vinyl turned to look at Octavia's mother, to size her up without The Hat to trap her eye. She was the spitting image of an older Octavia, but had a pronounced streak of pink in her mane that the musician lacked. She watched Vinyl with undisguised interest. Neither of them spoke for quite some time.

"So, Velour-"

"Vinyl."

"Yes, yes. I knew it had something to do with chairs. Anyway, you seem to me to be a very practical kind of pony. You don't mind if I cut to the chase, as it were?" the mare asked, with all the sweetness of an ageing matriarch. Vinyl narrowed her eyes. She was familiar with that little trick. It was one of those questions with no right answer. If you protested, you weren't a practical pony, lost points in whatever little test they were about to put you through. If you didn't, you were a pushover, and lost points anyway. In lieu of any better solution, the DJ simply shrugged.

"Well, I wanted to ask you just how far you'd gotten with my daughter," Octavia's mother said. The room suddenly became tense in a way that no amount of soft loveseats and mahogany bookshelves could ever alleviate. A few seconds passed where the only sound was Octavia dropping something upstairs.

"So, she told you in her letter, huh?" Vinyl replied, and nudged her temple. Her postured stiffened.

"No, but I am her mother. We tend to pick up on these things," she explained, not unkindly. "Are you going to answer the question?"

Vinyl considered it. She still felt very much as if she was being tested, being asked to prove something. It wasn't a sensation she liked. It set her hackles rising, so to speak. Worse was the fact that she was currently losing whatever little contest was going on. Her opponent already knew stuff about her, including the relationship with Octavia, but all Vinyl knew about her was that she had a strange taste in hats and couldn't garden to save her life. Vinyl Scratch was not used to not having the edge in a conversation. She wanted it back.

Raising her chin, flaring her nostrils, staring straight into the eyes of the enemy, Vinyl said, in a tone so deliberate that there could be no mistaking her implication, "She snores."

Octavia's mother clopped her hooves together. "Oh, wonderful! I suppose I don't have to tell you to use protection, but between you and me, dear, a little mouthwash before and afterwards never hurt anypony-"

"W...what?" Vinyl spat. Somewhere in the back of her head, a little voice whispered: She didn't miss a beat.

"Oh, don't look at me like that, Miss Vinyl. I gave birth to the mare you're kissing, so it isn't as though I don't know the mechanics. From one mare to another, I got up to more than my fair share of horseplay in my college days. I assure you, anything you girls have done, I did backwards in rollerskates," she said conversationally. She didn't even blush.

"I..was just kidding about having slept with her," Vinyl said finally, after finding her tongue. It appeared to have tried to escape to her knees.

"Oh, really? That's a pity," Octavia's mother said, and as far as Vinyl could tell, she absolutely meant it. "Oh well. There's plenty of time. I wasn't kidding about the mouthwash, by the way. When my daughter comes down tomorrow and kisses me on the cheek before she goes to audition, I expect her breath to be minty fresh, regardless of what you two have been up to."

Vinyl sighed. There were times to make a stand, and there were times to accept that somepony had you beat. "Yes ma'am."

She was saved from further embarrassment by Octavia's hoofsteps descending the stairs. "Well, the room's tolerable. A few things have gone missing, though," she called.

"Oh, those magazines under your bed? I was just about to tell Vinyl about those. You wouldn't believe the things she was looking at, dear," Octavia's mom winked.

"I bet I wouldn't. I'll carry our stuff up," Vinyl replied, and disappeared rather sharply to the second floor. Octavia watched her go past, and shrugged. Better to put it down to Vinyl just being Vinyl.

"I like your friend, Octavia," her mother said, very calmly. "She's...gutsy."

"That's...um, well-described. Has she been giving you trouble?" she asked, brow creasing. "She means well, but she's bad at phrasing it."

"Trouble? Oh, no. She's not caused any trouble for me in the slightest," her mother smiled, plopping down on the loveseat. "In fact, it's quite the opposite..."

---

A/N: Vinyl = pwn'd. This was so. Much. Fun. Octavia's mom is now my favouritest pony forever.

Comments

[Darkdrake]

great as usual

[Therizzen]

That was hilarious! And oh gawd, I'm gonna be honest, some of the implications sent my mind straight into the gutter

Anyway, I really like how you threw in the little bit about gardening, it's not entirely big at all, but it's something different that most don't ever associate with Octavia. And then you had Vinyl "file it away", it's great to see Vinyl so awkward about the relationship, more so than Octavia, even if she doesn't show it.

Ah yes, another thing about your Vinyl I like is how straight forward and curt she can be in some of her responses. It gives her an air of nonchalance--I'm pretty sure that's how you described it in the story anyway--and a carefree attitude, (I'm quite sure she's nervous regardless though, what with the brush against her temple).

Also, this line:

I assure you, anything you girls have done, I did backwards in rollerskates

That's just awesome~
(By the by, you need to enter down again in the paragraph that that speech is in; it's connected to Vinyl's speech as well, just so you know)

[Kuki-Shift]

She was outmatched from the beginning, and I can't even feel sorry for her. Good show. :)

[SatoshiKyu]

Vinyl soundly defeated? BLASPHEMY!

Also hilarious.

YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED!

[TheVulpineHero1]

719455
Woohoo! Previous standards have been upheld. Oh yeah!
719536
Paragraph spacing error has been fixed! Phew. I always seem to miss at least one of the dang things. Also, those implications. They are true. All of them. Except the one where Vinyl lied.
The thing about the gardening is pretty much to avoid flat characterisation. I'm all too aware of the trap of 'This pony has a musical note for a cutie mark! They do music all the time, every day!" Everypony has a hobby, and it seems gardening is Octavia's. (I did actually throw a teeny-tiny hint to it earlier in the story, since the only things she does when depressed over her prospective unemployment is buy food and trim her garden, but it really was a very tiny hint.) And, of course, Vinyl's secretly just as in the dark about how relationships work as Octavia, but tries to make it out alive with some dignity intact. Also, now that I think about it, backwards in rollerskates gives some strange implications, considering the rest of the conversations...Brain bleach that one!
719539
The moral of the story is that you can never out-balls your prospective mother-in-law.
719552
Blasphemy? Like, one of the most common comments I get is, "Oh, I really like how it's going, but I sort've wish Vinyl would get taken down a peg or two". A whole bunch of people just got their wishes granted, in a way that was funny and extremely fun to write! If that's wrong, well, I don't wanna be right.

[Fillyfooler]

And here is where I lost it
"Oh, wonderful! I suppose I don't have to tell you to use protection, but between you and me, dear, a little mouthwash before and afterwards never hurt anypony-" I just lost it

Anyway can't wait to see more.

[SatoshiKyu]

719686

Vinyl's peg-level is perfect right where it is! Anyone who says otherwise is wrong. The kind of wrong that inevitably culminates in leaders ordering bombs dropped on the wrong cities.

[SkyWalker]

Oh, my eyes. My lungs. My belly. So much laughter can't be hold on this mere human body of mine

Gotta tell you, I hoped it was Octavia who one-up'd Vinyl, but this is just... this is PRICELESS! This is GENIUS! This is SPARTA! No, wait, what?

Backwards in rollerskates in now canon. Oooh, Vinyl, I can't believe you lost a conversation by landslide. I bet there's no magazine quiz for that

Now, I really like Octavia's mom physical appearance. Very similar to her daughter's, but different where it stands up. Really good.

[DaMagiks]

I agree! Octavia's mother is indeed best pony to have pwned Vinyl like that. (The mouthwash and the rollerskates I was first then )
But are we getting a real name for the mother soon?

[Donnys Boy]

OctaMom is best mom! I loved all the little details, about the gardening, the flowers, the interior of the house. All those little things that make it feel as though I'm there and as though these characters are real. I also liked that, even though the main interaction was between Vinyl and Octavia's mother, I still got a sense of Vinyl's relationship with Octavia--a relationship filled with mutual respect, competition, tension, uncertainty, etc., etc.

Plus, of course, Octavia's mom completely throwing Vinyl off her game was wonderful and hilarious to see. Also, OctaMom is very, very wise:

Octavia's mother clopped her hooves together. "Oh, wonderful! I suppose I don't have to tell you to use protection, but between you and me, dear, a little mouthwash before and afterwards never hurt anypony-"

This is excellent advice. I hope I remember if for the day one of my children brings home a girlfriend or boyfriend.

[Therizzen]

719686

If there is one thing about your characters, it's that they are never portrayed in any flat form. You've thrown in plenty of little personality tweaks, both subtle and blatant. Just another reason why I like your writing ~

Also, the rollerskates didn't bother me so much as give me an image of an older Octavia in a ridiculously extravagant hat riding backwards in said rollerskates (which in itself is weird I guess )

It was more this:

"Oh, wonderful! I suppose I don't have to tell you to use protection, but between you and me, dear, a little mouthwash before and afterwards never hurt anypony-"

Now you just think real hard about that

[TheVulpineHero1]

719703
That was the first line I thought of when I was coming up with the chapter, and to be honest everything else is either building up to it or paying off on it. It's just so good, though.
719714
If it makes you feel better, Vinyl's pegging is only reduced when OctaMom is in the building, and after these next couple of chapers, I have absolutely no plans to reprise her again in this story. I don't think I could reliably write such an awesome pony into the story without her dominating it.
721044
Yeah, I have no problems admitting that I was giggling all the way through writing this chapter. It's actually the only chapter of this story that's been done in a single sitting, even the first- I generally do half of the chapter then leave it a couple of days, to hopefully get some distance on what I've already written before finishing it. Tavi's slowly getting more even with Vinyl-- just in the form of snarking off her. (Probably my favourite part of this chapter is how Vinyl's trying to be all 'OH SNAP' and then Tavi's Mom's like 'OH CLAP CLAP, ALSO HAVE SOME PROTIPS'.)
721684
I'm probably not going to give her a real name, if only because if I named her it would take away even more attention from Vinyl and Tavi. Considering she already dominated a whole chapter by herself, I'd pretty much be obliged to count her as an OC if I named her. Besides, she (sadly) won't be in the story for too much longer anyways, so it'd kind of be a waste. If I ever write another story with these versions of Vinyl and Octavia in them, though, I'll be sure to use and name her.
721994
I was sort've worried that OctaMom was dominating the chapter, but hey. It gave me a chance to switch from Octavia to Vinyl as a viewpoint character, so I'm pleased about that. Also, do not blame me if you embarass your kids in front of their potential spouses and they start to hate you for it.
722175
Well, I try my best. ...Also, if ever this story gets really really popular and gets fanart (besides bamfglasses!Octavia, of course), I want to see a picture of backwards rollerskates OctaMom.
...real hard? Wait...Silly rabbit, mouthwash goes in the mouth!

[Steel Resolve]

Brilliant!

[LiamsShadow]

Just as a point of interest, Vulpy is like Octavia's mother, in real life....all the time....X10.....yeah, just let that process a moment

[TheVulpineHero1]

731040
Nah, not really. Brilliance is reserved for far more serious stories than this. Speaking of, I keep meaning to comment on Green, but keep getting distracted or interrupted at inopportune times. I feel I should apologise, since it's rare to find a story that's good, interesting and regularly updated, and a shame to let it go without the feedback it deserves.

737170
I am more of a jerk than Octavia's mother. She always has your best interests at heart, whereas I just like to mess with people's heads.
Also...if I'm like OctaMom, that means you must be Vinyl, since you're consistently being owned by somebody in a wicked awesome hat.

[Steel Resolve]

746269 When you have time my friend, I appreciate knowing its being read. And I meant that btw, within a given standard of brilliance. Octamom unsettling Vinyl is a stroke of genius. And that line... good god mouth wash... So much said with so little.

[Less_than_good]

"I assure you, anything you girls have done, I did backwards in rollerskates"
That has to be my favourite line in any fanfic so far; Octy's mum is best pony!

[SkyWalker]

I miss the updates on this fic