OctaScratch pt. 4
>Resuming Case 55 observation<
Octavia was enjoying a cup of tea that she usually had for breakfast. Today the sky was clear and the sunlight drifted through her windows.
‘A perfect day for practice,’ Octavia thought with a smile and took another sip of tea. There was a knock at her door and she got up and walked over to it. “Who is it?” she asked.
“It’s Vinyl.” Octavia flinched a little at the voice.
‘I knew something like this would happen,’ she thought with a sigh and opened the door. Octavia got distracted by Vinyl’s goggles.
“Hey ‘Tavi, how you doing today?” he asked with his usual grin.
“I’m…fine. Why are you wearing pink goggles?”
“It’s not just pink, but hot pink, and for no real reason. Can I ask you something?”
“You’re going to ask even if I say no right?” Octavia asked and Vinyl nodded, “Then go ahead.”
“Alright, you remember that moss from my fridge?” Octavia nodded. “Well you’re going to love this. Turns out that moss is some kind of fast spreading moss that’s apparently so bad if we had caught it any sooner it would have spread to a whole block. As it stands though, it’s only my building that had to be quarantined, which means I’m out of a house for the near future.”
“Are you serious?” Octavia asked, already dreading what the question he wanted to ask would be.
“Yep, I am. So, with that said, would you mind if I stayed here for a bit?”
‘I knew he was going to ask that.’ Octavia thought and asked out loud, “Why don’t you stay with one of your friends if it’s that bad?”
“If that was an option I would take it, but one of them lived in the same building as me, one’s inconvenient for me, and I don’t know where the last one lives. Even then, I’m very bad at getting along with them when I stay over.”
“And a hotel is out of the question why?”
“I don’t know how long this will last and hotels can get expensive. Please ‘Tavi, it’ll just be until my building’s cleared.”
“You’re not going to stop calling me that, are you?” Vinyl shook his head and Octavia sighed. Octavia thought for a few seconds before staring into Vinyl’s goggles eyes. “On three conditions,” she started, which caused Vinyl’s ears to perk up, “You pay for your own food, I don’t want to come home to find a mess, and sometimes my ensemble comes over to practice, so no complaining when they do. Is that understood?”
“So, do what I would normally do anyway plus I get the benefit of good music? Why didn’t I try this before?” Vinyl asked with a laugh.
“So you agree to the terms?” Octavia asked.
“Yep,” Vinyl answered.
“Alright then, come on in.” Octavia moved to the side and Vinyl walked in with a small cart full of boxes. “I see you came prepared.”
“Yeah, I barely managed to get my livelihood and goggles out before I had to leave. You mind if I claim your couch?” Vinyl asked and hopped on the couch.
“I guess. Look I have to go to practice now, so don’t make a mess, got it?” Vinyl saluted Octavia, who rolled her eyes and walked over to her cello case.
“By the way, do you have a record player somewhere?” Vinyl asked.
“There should be one in the bookcase over there,” Octavia said and motioned to said bookcase. Vinyl got up and walked over to it. “Please don’t-“
“I won’t make a mess of your apartment! Don’t you have practice to go to?” Octavia sighed and opened the door.
“I mean it.”
“You can go now.” The door shut a second later and Vinyl found that record player. He grinned and levitated it over to the couch. “Alright, time to work.”
Frederick and Harpo were busy setting up for practice and waiting for Beauty Brass and Octavia to arrive. The two of them had just finished setting Harpo’s harp down.
“Where do you think the others are?” Frederick asked. Harpo shrugged and started test playing his instrument. Frederick decided to do the same when Octavia walked in. The look on her face said that this would be one of those practice sessions. “Are you alright, Octavia?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she answered setting her cello case down and took it out. Frederick shrugged and went about his business. It probably wasn’t his business anyway.
“Garbage.” Vinyl picked up what had to have been the sixth record he tried and tossed it at the wall, where it shattered. It’s a good thing he made a lot with his job, otherwise this would be a very expensive habit. He sighed and levitated the next record into the player and set the needle down.
It too was soon hurled at the wall.
“Ugh, why does popular music nowadays have to suck so badly? I need something good, something simple to listen to.” He got off the couch and walked over to Octavia’s book case. “Let’s see if ‘Tavi has anything good.” He levitated a bunch of records out and walked back to the couch with them. After sorting through them he found, shock of all shocks, they were mostly classical. He was about to give up when he came across one record he never thought he’d come across.
“No way, I didn’t figure ‘Tavi to be a fan of you.” Vinyl smiled widely and pulled the record from its sleeve. He glanced over at the frog that was sitting there staring at him. “What, is it so wrong to like the oldies?” he asked the frog. After a second of staring Vinyl sighed, “Leave me alone for a few minutes and I start talking to dolls.” He set the record on the player and put the needle on, the sound of guitar strings instantly filling the air.
‘I missed this music.’
“Sorry I’m late, the trolleys were slow,” Beauty said as she walked in.
“Beauty, thank goodness you’re here! Octavia’s been talking nonstop for almost half an hour and I don’t know what she’s talking about!” Frederick said and motioned to Octavia, who was ranting to a silent Harpo.
“And then he showed up at my apartment wearing pink goggles! I can stand the story with the moss and him staying with me for a while, but why pink?! It just doesn’t make sense!”
“Do you have any idea what she’s talking about?”
“Probably some colt or something, and as long as she doesn’t rant during practice I could really care less.”
“Yeah, I’m not too keen on hearing about her personal life either.”
“But they were pink!”
“Come on Octavia, let’s start practicing.”
Vinyl lay on the couch playing along with the record. He was actually surprised that ‘Tavi had this record since he had been looking forever for it. His playing was interrupted by a knock on the door. After checking to make sure his goggles were on, Vinyl got up and answered the door.
“Hi, I have a large celery and alfalfa pizza.”
“Ah, cool beans.” The delivery pony looked up at Vinyl and stared for a moment.
“You’re DJ Pon-3.” She said.
“The one and only baby.”
“…I’m trying so hard not to freak out right now.”
“Heh, yeah a lot of ponies say that.” The delivery pony took the pizza out and handed it over to Vinyl who took it in with his magic. “So, twenty bits was it?”
“Yeah, twenty bits.” Vinyl nodded and went inside, set the pizza on the table, and levitated a bag of bits next to him.
“Ok, that’s twenty bits plus a fifteen tip. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” She looked back and forth down the hallway a couple of times before asking, “Can I have your autograph by any chance?”
“Hahaha, sure hold on a second.” Vinyl walked back inside, grabbed a pencil and paper, and walked back to the door. “Anything in particular you want me to write?”
“No, not really,” she answered. Vinyl shrugged and quickly wrote something on the paper and handed it to the mare.
Thanks for the pizza. Hope to see you soon!
DJ Pon-3
The smile on her face practically split it in half, which in turn caused Vinyl to smile as well.
“Thank you so much, my friends are going to freak out when they see this!”
“It’s no trouble, have a nice day.”
“You too. Bye!” Vinyl waved as the mare walked away and he shut the door. He levitated a slice of pizza up and lay on the couch again. He started playing along again and looked over to where the frog was, still staring at him.
“I don’t care what ‘Tavi says, you have to have a name,” Vinyl said to the frog. “I’m still talking to dolls. I better take a shower or something.” Vinyl took the needle off the record and walked into the bathroom.
A few hours later Octavia walked into her apartment having performed flawlessly at practice despite her worries. The first thing she saw was Vinyl lying on the couch scribbling something or other on a piece of paper.
“Well at least you didn’t- what is that?!” Vinyl looked up at Octavia’s yell and looked at where she was pointing.
“Oh that? That’s trash.”
“I told you several times to not cause a mess, and why did you throw my records against the wall?!”
“They’re not your records, they’re mine.” Octavia blinked a couple times at that.
“What?”
“I didn’t like those records so I tossed them. They displeased me so they died. By the way, your frog’s gone.” Octavia blinked a couple times and looked to find that the frog was indeed gone. “It disappeared when I took a shower and this letter was in its place.” Vinyl levitated a letter toward her, which she took and read.
Dear Octavia,
I apologize for leaving again on short notice, but there is an urgent matter that requires my attention. I will try to be back as soon as possible.
Give your new coltfriend my regards.
Sincerely,
“Wait, coltfriend?!”
“So what’s his name?”
Octavia jumped a little at Vinyl’s question and looked at him.
“He doesn’t have one!” she answered.
“You were reading out loud.” Octavia blushed a little and looked away. “So, what is his name?” Octavia mumbled something after a couple moments. “I’m sorry?”
“It’s Mission, ok!” Octavia waited a moment for the inevitable laughter.
“Nice name. Better than what I had for the doll I had when I was young.” Octavia looked at him curiously.
“What did you have?” she asked.
“I had a little hydra named Dave. Would you like some Pizza?” Octavia glanced at the half eaten pizza and sighed.
“Sure.”
Dinner time rolled along quickly and Octavia was surprised that Vinyl helped her in the kitchen. She was even more surprised that he was a competent cook. There was hardly any conversation during dinner until Vinyl spoke up.
“So, you didn’t tell me you were a fan of this guy,” he said and held up the record he was listening to earlier.
“Where did you find that?” Octavia asked
“I got bored and raided your record collection. You know I’ve been looking for this record for years, could never find it.”
“I… didn’t realize you were a fan of acoustic guitar.”
“I’m an all around music fan. In fact, I think the first record I ever bought was a Beethoofen record.” That shocked Octavia.
“B-Beethoofen, really?”
“Mhmm. What was the first record you ever bought?” Octavia thought for a moment and answered after taking a bite of her food.
“It was a record of Buck’s little fugue. I would say that was what got me into classical music to begin with.”
“Wow, that’s amazing how a little thing can change your life so drastically huh?” Octavia nodded and after a few more minutes of quiet eating Vinyl smiled at her.
“What was the second album you ever bought?” Vinyl asked.
Octavia just stared at him.
It should be noted that Octavia’s apartment has only one bathroom. This, as you can imagine, cam make mornings a very interesting experience.
“Are you done in there yet?” Octavia called into the bathroom.
“Hold onto your saddle, I’m almost done,” Vinyl called back. Octavia stared flatly at the door which opened about a minute later and Vinyl walked out with a towel around his neck. “Sorry about that, I have a very specific routine.”
“So you say. It has to do with your mane, doesn’t it?”
“I have to work to look this good ‘Tavi, not like you where you just have to curl your mane and put on a bowtie. It would certainly be easier for me.”
“That’s not what I saying Mr. Scratch.”
“I DON’T DYE MY MANE!” The sheer amount of anger in his voice made Octavia back up a little. She stared at him, eyes wide, until Vinyl took a deep breath and cleared his throat. “Sorry about that. The bathroom’s free now,” Vinyl said and walked away. Octavia stared at him for a moment longer.
“Well… now I know not to say that again,” she said to herself and walked into the bathroom.
A few days passed and Vinyl was still crashing at Octavia’s apartment. She had learned that his schedule was sporadic at best. Sometimes he’d be passed out on her sofa for the whole day, others she wouldn’t see him at all. Either way, she appreciated the quiet when it happened. This day was one of those where he decided to spend the day with her.
“Hey ‘Tavi!” he yelled at her, though at this point she had gotten used to it and continued to drink her tea.
“Yes, Mr. Scratch?”
“I gotta go to the record store, wanna come?” Octavia thought for a moment and finished her cup.
“Why not? I don’t have anything special planned for today.”
“Aside from waiting for Mission,” Vinyl said with a smile.
“You be silent! I’m just worried for his safety!” Vinyl chuckled and walked over to his bag.
“Oh don’t worry, I’m sure he’s fine hanging out… wherever frogs hang out, hitting on lady frogs and the like.”
“Don’t be silly, he’s a good frog. He has a wife of five years in the Griffin Nations.” That fact just made Vinyl laugh slightly harder as he put on a pair of orange goggles.
“That’s so adorable ‘Tavi, you love the frog so much you thought up a back story for it. I wish I was that imaginative as a colt.” Vinyl laughed quietly on his way to the door with Octavia staring angrily at him while she followed.
Unfortunately Vinyl decided that he needed- needed- to go across town to the record store near his building, even though Octavia pointed out there was one not even a block from her home.
“It’s a matter of principle ‘Tavi, not convenience,” Vinyl explained, “If I don’t support my local record store, then who will?”
“I don’t know, other shoppers?”
“Oh ‘Tavi, how new to the world you are.” Vinyl smiled and patted Octavia on the head, earning an annoyed look.
“Out of curiosity, how old are you Mr. Scratch?”
“Oh wouldn’t you like to know. Here’s our stop.” The pair got off the trolley and proceeded quietly down the street.
“But seriously, how old are you, because I’m fairly certain I’m older than you.”
“I don’t know. Hey I just noticed we’re wearing compatible accessories.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“You’re wearing a blue bowtie, and blue and orange are compatible colors. That’s kind of a freaky coincidence eh?”
“This conversation is over.” Vinyl chuckled and they quietly walked for a while until they arrived at the record store. Octavia looked around the inside as Vinyl started walking around the store. Octavia decided to do the same and wandered into the classical section. Of course, Octavia being Octavia, she’d already listened to most of them even if she didn’t own them.
“Sapphire Shores has a new record? You would think I’d have heard of this.” Octavia looked up at Vinyl and, after confirming he wasn’t looking, started edging along toward another section and started looking through it. After checking on Vinyl one last time, she found what she was looking for, picked it up, and very slowly walked over to the register. “Seriously, that record has been here the whole time? Huh, guess I didn’t look hard enough before. So you find something ‘Tavi?”
“M-maybe,” Octavia answered. Vinyl joined her at the register and placed his records down.
“Expanding your horizons huh? I’m actually surprised that you chose one of my records though.”
“It’s none of your business what I choose to listen to.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” They paid for their records and started walking back. A little while later Vinyl started laughing.
“What?” Octavia asked.
“I’m just wondering what ‘business’ your frog could have.” Vinyl snickered at the thought.
“He does this every now and then, where he just disappears for a week or so. He’ll be fine.”
“Pfft, a wife in the Griffin Nations, where did you come up with that?”
“I’m serious about that.”
“I know you are, which is why it’s so funny.” Octavia and Vinyl stared at each other for a moment.
“I hate you.”
“Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me. That recording thing I talked about earlier is good to go whenever you are.”
‘How can he shrug off comments like that so easily?!’ She thought and said out loud, “Oh really, that’s good to know.”
“Yeah, but you have to tell me when you’re free about a day in advance so I can prepare. Is that good for you?” Octavia simply nodded and hoped the conversation would be over. Thankfully it was after one last comment about frogs from Vinyl.
They arrived back at Octavia’s apartment a little while later and Octavia noticed she had some mail. Vinyl settled onto the couch and started listening to his new records as Octavia sorted through the mail. One letter in particular stood out to Octavia so she read it, making sure not to read it out loud.
“Whatcha reading?” Vinyl asked.
“Nothing!” Octavia shouted and quickly walked into her room and shut the door. Vinyl shook his head and turned his attention back to the song. Honestly, not one of Sapphire Shores better songs but he could still tell where she was trying to come from.
“I’m gonna have to let her know what I think. I’m sure she’ll appreciate my opinion.”
“NO!” Vinyl looked back at Octavia’s room and, after a few moments of silence, shrugged it off.
“I wonder how we are on milk?” Vinyl got up and walked over to the fridge and opened it. “Huh, low on milk, I better go get some.” He shut the fridge and walked over to Octavia’s door.
“I REFUSE TO ACCEPT THIS!” Vinyl knocked on the door. “What is it!”
“I’m gonna get milk, you want anything while I’m out?”
“No!”
“Ok.” Vinyl grabbed his bag and was about to leave when a thought struck him and he knocked on Octavia’s door again. “Hey ‘Tavi, what’s your favorite whiskey brand?”
“Why?”
“I’m just curious, and since I’m going out anyway I might as well get you a bottle.”
“I don’t remember the exact brand, but I think there’s a bottle in one of the cupboards. Just go get your milk.”
“’Kay, I’ll be back soon.” After Vinyl checked the brand and started walking out, he thought he heard Octavia say something.
“There’s no way she can be right.”
The day Octavia and Vinyl were to do their little recording thing had arrived and Vinyl was leading Octavia and her cello down a populated street. After a while he stopped and turned to her.
“This is the place,” Vinyl said as he motioned to a building. Octavia didn’t know what to think.
“Who exactly owns this building?” she asked.
“A friend of mine, she lets me use this place from time to time.” Vinyl opened the door and motioned with a hoof. “Fillies first.”
“You’re such a gentlecolt,” Octavia said as she walked inside. The inside seemed to be a standard waiting room for buildings like this. Vinyl closed the door and lead Octavia through the building. “So how is this going to work?”
“Well usually I would just remix a song when I work with somepony, but honestly your music as it is works best on its own, so instead we’re going to start from scratch and make something new.” Vinyl opened a door and the pair walked into a recording studio.
“So you want me to play something in here and then you’ll do something later?”
“Yeah, pretty much. You’ve recorded a record before right?” Octavia’s flat stare answered well enough. “Ok, go get set up in there while I get things ready. I’ll let you know when we’re good to go.” Octavia nodded and walked into the booth and started taking her cello out.
“Is there anything in particular you want me to play?” Octavia asked. Vinyl held up a hoof through the window and pressed a couple of buttons which caused the speakers to turn on.
“Not really, I just want you to play whatever, and then I’ll do my thing afterward.”
“But what do you want me to play?”
“I don’t care, make something up.”
“It’s not that easy to just make up the music I play. It is a refined art that takes months or years in order to-“
“Hey ‘Tavi this is a two minute song, you’re not writing Beethoven. I’m sure you can throw together two minutes of music.” Vinyl shut off the speakers and motioned for Octavia to play.
Octavia sighed and rubbed her forehead in thought. After a moment she picked up her cello and bow and tested a couple notes.
“Hey make a hoof motion when you’re ready to record,” Vinyl said. Octavia didn’t respond as she tested a couple more notes. When she was satisfied she nodded at Vinyl and readied her cello. Vinyl fiddled with the console a little and gave Octavia the go ahead to play.
Octavia took a deep breath and started playing, slowly at first and going faster as she went on. Octavia closed her eyes and threw her whole being into the song.
Vinyl for his part was laughing wildly in joy. He could feel the untapped energy in this song and the ideas were flowing. But for now he had a job to do, so he took a breath and focused on the console.
“Ok ‘Tavi, let’s break for lunch,” Vinyl said through the speakers. Octavia nodded, set her cello on its stand, and exited the recording booth.
“So, how many takes have we done?” Octavia asked, “I kind of lost myself in the last few minutes.”
“We’ve only done one take. You didn’t stop playing for an hour.”
“What, then why didn’t you say something?”
“Well you gave me a lot to work with and you’re music is really pretty, so I see no problem.” Vinyl turned away with a smile and missed Octavia blushing lightly. “So do you want anything to eat?”
“I’ll… just have a sandwich. I don’t care what kind,” Octavia answered and sat in a chair.
“Alright, I’ll be back in a second.” Vinyl adjusted his goggles (yellow today) and left the room. Octavia sighed and, upon spotting a pile of magazines, picked one up and idly flipped through it. She stopped on an article concerning Hoity Toity and Photo Finish when someone knocked on the door.
“The door’s open,” Octavia called and set down the magazine. The door opened and a yellow earth pony with a blue mane walked in wearing a flashy white dress and top hat. It was none other than Sapphire Shores.
“Oh I’m sorry, I thought this was the room Vinyl Scratch was in,” she said upon seeing Octavia.
“He went to get some food, so he’ll be back soon. So what are you doing here?” Sapphire walked over and sat on a chair as she answered.
“Well, this is my recording studio. Vinyl asked if he could use it a couple of days ago and I said yes. I don’t think Vinyl’s introduced me to you yet.”
“I’m back,” Vinyl called as he walked inside levitating a couple food items next to him. “Oh hey Sapph, I didn’t expect to see you so soon. Here’s your sandwich ‘Tavi.” Vinyl sat next to Octavia and gave her the sandwich.
“Um, thank you,” Octavia said.
“So, aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend Vinyl?” Sapphire asked.
“Oh right. ‘Tavi, this is Sapphire Shores, and this is Octavia Sapph. She’s a cello player.”
“I’m surprised. You actually remember my name,” Octavia commented.
“Huh?”
“I thought I recognized you. Didn’t you play at the Grand Galloping Gala once?” Sapphire asked.
“Please don’t remind me of that,” Octavia said. Vinyl got up off the couch and walked over to the recording console.
“I see he’s in work mode,” Sapphire commented, “he’s has that same look that he always had in college.” Octavia chocked a little on the sandwich at that.
“You went to college?” she yelled at Vinyl.
“Yeah I had to do that in order to be able to make my own music. DJing pays well, but not as well as any music I make would,” Vinyl said and started listening to the recording. “I’m not really sure if we should do another take, because this one is really good.”
“I am… in shock that you went to college.”
“A lot of ponies say that when they find out about that. I don’t really understand why.”
“Anyway, how exactly do you and Vinyl know each other?” Octavia asked and took a bite from her sandwich.
“We used to date in college.” Octavia choked again but managed to swallow it and set the sandwich down.
“Maybe I shouldn’t eat right now.”
“That reminds me, how is that mare friend of yours doing?”
“We broke up,” Vinyl said flatly.
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I actually think we’re done for now ‘Tavi, I’ll have to go over all of this later.”
“So do you want me to close this up again?”
“Nah, I’ll stay here a bit longer, but you two are free to go.”
“Ok, it was nice to see you again Vinyl,” Sapphire said and gave him a light hug, “Don’t be a stranger.”
“I won’t. I’ll see you later Sapph.” Sapphire Shores let Vinyl go and started walking to the door, stopping to look at Octavia for a second.
“You’re really lucky, you know that,” she said and winked at Octavia before leaving.
“What? WE ARE NOT DATING! Why is everypony assuming that?”
“Who, you and that piano player, Frederick was it?” Vinyl asked.
“Wha- NO! Where did you get that from?!” Octavia yelled. Vinyl smirked a little and lowered his goggles to look at Octavia, who felt her skin tingle.
“Really, so you are single?” Vinyl asked.
“What, shut up! I’m going home!” Octavia walked into the recording booth and packed up her instrument.
“I love you too ‘Tavi,” Vinyl said through the speakers and started laughing madly.
“Did you hear me Mr. Scratch?” Octavia asked. Vinyl had been working on something nonstop for the last day or so and Octavia had to leave for a concert in Canterlot.
“Yeah, of course I heard ya.” Vinyl answered.
“So, you’ll be alright for the next few days?”
“Course I will.”
“Ok then, I’m leaving now. Try not to burn down the apartment while I’m gone.” Octavia strapped the cello case to her back and walked out the door. Vinyl looked up at the door and sighed a little.
“It’s about time she went grocery shopping, we’ve been running out of milk. I hope she gets back soon.”
That was more or less what happened three days ago. When Octavia and her ensemble got back to Manehattan they all went to Octavia’s home for dinner.
“I really am worried, he might still be here.” Octavia said as they stood in front of her door.
“What do you mean?” Beauty asked, “You said he’s been here for a while.”
“That’s why I’m worried.” Octavia took out her key, thankful that Vinyl had actually locked the door, and opened it. The quad walked inside and found Vinyl lying on the couch in almost the exact same position Octavia left him in. He looked over at them and slipped his headphones off.
“Oh you’re back, did you get the milk?” he asked.
“Milk? What are you talking about?”
“You were going to the grocery store weren’t you?”
“Store? You were not paying attention at all when I told you where I was going, were you?” Vinyl scratched his head a little in thought.
“So you weren’t going to the store?”
“I WAS GOING TO A CONCERT IN CANTERLOT, YOU DUMBA-“ Octavia stopped herself and took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself, “I meant that I had a concert to go to.”
“Oh, how did it go?” Vinyl asked completely unfazed.
“It went well,” Frederick answered.
“That’s nice. How long ago was this?”
“About three days ago.”
“THREE DAYS?!” Vinyl quickly tapped on the tablet he had been using and checked the date. “Huh, it has been three days. Ha ha, you know what it’s like getting lost in your work.”
“You’ve been working for three days straight?” Octavia asked and Vinyl nodded, “Are you some kind of automaton?”
“I don’t know what that word means, so no.”
“Um, should we come back later?” Beauty asked.
“No it’s fine,” Octavia said and motioned at Vinyl, “Do you see what I’ve had to put up with for the last couple of weeks?”
“I…guess?”
“…What are you trying to say?”
“Oh it’s nothing! We just… um…” Frederick stuttered.
“Are you saying you two aren’t dating?” Harpo said plainly. Octavia stared at him in horror at the thought. She also swore she heard… wait a minute.
“Mr. Scratch do you mind? I’m recoiling in horror!”
“Ah sorry,” Vinyl said and took the record off the player, “I was just wondering if we could fit this part in somehow. I guess not huh?”
“Octavia, maybe we should get dinner ready?” Beauty suggested.
“That sounds good, I haven’t eaten for a while.” Vinyl got up off the couch and waited a little for Frederick, Beauty, and Harpo to walk away a little before turning to Octavia with one of the biggest grins he ever had. “So, we’re dating huh?”
“NO WE ARE NOT!” Octavia yelled and stormed into the kitchen with Vinyl chuckling a little.
“Ok, this is what I managed to come up with. Y’know, for that collab thing,” Vinyl said holding a record.
“Uh huh,” Octavia said and took a sip of her drink. While Vinyl admitted that first take was good, Octavia had learned that he was a bit of a perfectionist. If even one thing was wrong he was liable to start the whole thing over from scratch was how he put it.
“This actually took forever to figure out what I wanted to do with it, and you have no idea how much it pained me to cut it down to these couple of minutes for this sample.”
“So play it and let me hear it.”
“Alright, put these on first,” Vinyl said and held out a pair of headphones.
“Um, ok.” Octavia took the headphones just as someone knocked on the door.
“I’ll get it,” Vinyl said and set the record to play. Octavia put the headphones on and waited as the song started. It started rather simply with a section of the song she recorded and was soon joined by a techno back track. She also thought she heard an added synthetic orchestra to it. She hummed a little in curiosity and took another sip of her drink as Vinyl walked over to the couch carrying a letter. The song’s tempo started to intensify which drew Octavia’s attention. As the song went on, she unfortunately had to admit that she liked the song.
She looked over at Vinyl who was silently reading the letter. He perked up a little, folded the letter up, and looked at Octavia with a wide smile. Octavia raised an eyebrow and took the headphones off.
“My building’s clean,” he said. “It took a while but they got all of that moss out. I can move back in whenever I can.”
“Really?” Octavia asked in mild surprise.
“Yep, see for yourself.” Vinyl handed the letter to Octavia which she took and started reading. “You realize what the means don’t you?”
“No, I don’t,” Octavia answered as she saw Vinyl roll of the couch and grab her by her shoulders.
“A house leaving party!”
“A what?” Octavia never noticed before, but every time Vinyl touched her skin felt that same electric sensation multiplied by ten. She would have thought something along the lines of ‘yet more proof that the world’s conspiring against me’ but right now she didn’t really care.
“You know, a small party, just you and me, where we just hang out and listen to music to celebrate how I’ll be out of your hair soon.” Vinyl then pulled Octavia in close and waved a hoof in front of him. “Just imagine it ‘Tavi, two great musicians just hanging out listening to music. Maybe have a couple of drinks, maybe not, we’ll see where that goes. What do you think ‘Tavi?”
‘Oh Celestia, this tingling is going to make my chest explode! I could try to decline this, but he’ll probably do it anyway. Oh why not, if he’s going to do this I might as well try to enjoy it.’
“Sure, just please stop hugging me,” Octavia said.
“Deal, go find some records you want to play and I’ll see what I’ve got.” Vinyl let Octavia go and walked over to one of his record boxes. Octavia softly sighed and rubbed her shoulder as the tingling started to go away.
‘I could use a drink,’ she thought and walked to the kitchen.
“Hey ‘Tavi, what kind of drinks do you have anyway?” Vinyl asked. Octavia opened the fridge to check.
“Milk, orange juice, and whiskey, although I’m fairly sure you won’t-“
“I’m more of a cocktail pony, but I’ll have some whiskey.” Octavia looked back at Vinyl with a raised eyebrow. “What, I liked broadening my horizons just like anypony else.”
“Alright, I was kind of in the mood for some myself.” Octavia grabbed a bottle and set it on the counter before going to get a couple of glasses. “I’ll have you know that this whiskey is pretty strong.”
“Heh, thanks for the warning ‘Tavi,” Vinyl said with a smile. Octavia couldn’t help but offer a small smile in return. After another minute of preparation they gathered in the living room around the record player, Vinyl’s choices next to him and Octavia’s next to her.
“So ‘Tavi, you want to go first or should I?” Vinyl asked.
“Does it really matter?” Octavia asked pouring herself a glass.
“No, but I thought you would like to have the choice.”
“I really don’t care.” Vinyl shrugged and picked up a record and set it in the player. The music that played was a simple high paced techno beat. “What would this be?”
“A copy of my first record, and man does this bring me back. This was made years ago.” Vinyl took a drink and stared longingly at the player.
“Really, you’ve been making music for that long?”
“Yep, but I’ve been DJing since I was a foal. That’s how I got my cutie mark after all.”
“Really? How did that come around?”
“Heh, I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.”
“That’s… kind of a complicated story.”
“Well, we have all night and, honestly, any cutie mark story is bound to be complicated.” Octavia swirled the whiskey around the glass and stared into it a little.
“Let me think about it,” she finally said and finished her glass of whiskey.
“Alright, I guess I’ll start,” Vinyl said and levitated the bottle over to refill Octavia’s glass. “Well, I guess I should start with my family since they kind of tie into this.” Octavia made a ‘go on’ motion.
“Well, I was pretty much born into music. My father was a big time folk guitarist, and I guess he still kind of is, and my mom helped him out by singing for a couple of his songs. I was born in Canterlot, the youngest of three kids.”
“Wait, you were born in Canterlot?”
“I know, I don’t act like it right? I blame my parents for that. Anyway, my older sister is kind of the black sheep of the family since she found her talent in bowling. My brother… I actually forgot what he does, light shows or something.”
“How exactly does this tie into your cutie mark?”
“I’m getting to that. See, given what my family mostly did, I always assumed my talent would be music although I didn’t know how it would come about. I was about maybe eight when my brother had this party at our house. I think he forgot I was there because it started around the time I was doing homework.”
Vinyl got distracted when the music stopped. “Oh, my choice is over, your turn to play something.”
“*sigh* ok,” Octavia said and randomly picked out one of the records and switched it with Vinyl’s record.
“Anyway, where was I?” Vinyl asked as Octavia started playing the record, Beethooven’s Fifth Symphony lightly playing. “Nice choice.”
“Thank you, and you were talking about a party.”
“Oh yeah, thanks. Well like I said, I was doing homework when this party started. Mom, Dad, and Sis were out, which left me alone with about twenty or so teenagers.”
“A foal’s worse nightmare,” Octavia said humorously.
“Yeah and it didn’t help that the DJ for that party sucked! I was about eight or nine at the time and even I could tell he sucked. Come to think of it, I think his talent was in stone masonry or something. Anyway, you can imagine how I reacted to this, what with being a dumb kid and all.”
“You confronted him in the bluntest way possible, right?”
“Pretty much, I walked right up to him and told him ‘you suck’.” Octavia set her glass down and double face hoofed.
“Really? Please tell me you weren’t that dumb.”
“Yes I was,” Vinyl said with evident pride in his voice, which made Octavia groan into her hooves. “Anyway, that was met with the standard amount of scorn you would expect and one mare even said, ‘Well then, why don’t you do better?’ So I took the challenge and, if I do say so, I did really well for a dumb kid. I at least did better than him.”
“How exactly did you do better? I can hardly see a foal doing well DJing a party for teenagers.”
“Well yeah, I was just a kid at the time, but compared to what he did I was awesome. You see, to be a good DJ you have to be able to read the crowd to see what they want to hear. You want to excite them enough that they keep listening, but you can’t excite them too much.”
“You keep saying things like that. ‘I’ve seen some bad things,’ and the like. What do you mean by that?”
“Um…” Vinyl looked around the room and motioned for Octavia to come closer, which she did. Unfortunately the things that were whispered into Octavia’s ear that night cannot be repeated without the listener suffering severe mental damage. Just…trust us on this one, you don’t want to know. When Vinyl was done with his story Octavia just stared at him.
“I entirely regret asking that,” she said and picked up the glass, “Why don’t we get back to your other story, the one without the mental scars.”
“There’s actually not much else to it, mostly because I can’t remember it. All I can really remember is music, how much fun I had doing it, and my parents being really mad when they got home. Dad chewed me and bro out for a good while before he congratulated me on my cutie mark. I didn’t even notice it appear at the time.”
“And…that’s it?”
“Yeah, pretty much. It’s kind of dull but not everyone gets their cutie mark by blowing up a castle or something.”
“I suppose not.” Octavia took a drink and looked at Vinyl’s wide grin. “What?”
“Just wondering what your story is? We’ve been pretty different so far, music and attitude wise, so I wonder if it’s the same for our foalhoods.” Octavia finished her glass and held it out to be refilled.
“I’m having trouble remembering right now,” she said. Vinyl shrugged and finished his own drink just as something caught his eye.
“Your frog has an eye patch now,” he said getting up and walking over to it. Octavia looked over to find that Mission did have an eye patch over its right eye. Vinyl chuckled a little and motioned at the doll. “You’re really committed to this aren’t you?”
“Shut up! What he does in his spare time is none of my business,” Octavia yelled and looked away with a blush.
“That’s never going to get old, it’s too adorable,” Vinyl said with another joyful laugh. Octavia growled angrily at him and felt her blood freeze a little when he noticed a nearby picture turned around.
The record came to a halt.
“What’s this?” he asked and gently pulled it off the wall and walked back over, giving the picture to Octavia as he started switching records.
“This…” she trailed away a little at the sight of the picture. ‘How long has it been?’ “…is kind of why I couldn’t remember.” Vinyl set the record to play, a soft techno beat drifting through the air.
“Really?” he asked. Octavia held the picture closer to her chest as old memories started to wash over her.
“What’s your relationship with your family like?” she asked.
“Oh jeez, it’s alright I guess. I haven’t seen any of them for a while, but we get along. Why?”
“I haven’t seen my family for a long time,” Octavia said and set the picture down so Vinyl could see it. The picture showed a happy scene, a group of three young fillies in a group hug as two older ponies watched them. Vinyl’s eye was almost immediately drawn to the filly in the middle of the hug, her cutie mark contrasted nicely with her coat color, which in turn contrasted to the other fillies’ coats, a bright pink against a dark blue and a light grey.
‘Oh no way.’
Octavia wasn’t always called that, it was a name she had chosen for herself when she had made into high society. Her real name was Inkamena Pie, born the eldest of three daughters to a small rock farm in the middle of Equestria. She and her sisters had a rough time growing up since their father was pretty old fashioned.
“If you’re not tending to the rocks, it’s a waste of time,” he would always say. That little mantra came to define the Pie sister’s life for ten years and, aside from the occasional visits from their grandmother, there was very little happiness on that farm. That’s not even getting into the expected sibling rivalry.
On this particular day at lunchtime ‘Inkie’, as her sisters called her, was sitting on her bed lovingly stroking her stuffed frog doll. She and her younger sister had an altercation earlier and she was waiting on her father. She didn’t have to wait long as the door opened to let her father in with her sister by his side.
“So, have you thought about what happened Inkamena?” he asked sternly. She could never really look her father in the eye, so she nodded at the floor. “Now it doesn’t matter who started the fight, you should know better than to bite your sister.” He pushed the pink filly forward, “I believe you might want to say something to your sister.”
Inkie looked over at her sister then down at the frog. She took a breath and-
“I’m sorry.”
She looked at her sister in surprise, as did her father.
“I shouldn’t have been playing with Mission without your permission. I-I’m sorry.” Inkie set the frog down, hopped off the bed, and walked over to her sister as light tears started to fall.
“I… shouldn’t have acted the way I did either,” she said and gave her sister a hug, “I’m sorry for biting you Pinkie.” Pinkie returned the hug and sniffed a little. “Can you promise me one thing?”
“What?”
“The next time you want to play with Mission, ask first. He’s very sensitive.” They broke the hug and Pinkie nodded.
“I will,” she said. Both sisters turned to their father.
“Alright, you two go eat. We need to finish moving the south field today,” he said and left the room. Inkie turned to Pinkie with a sad look on her face.
“Does it hurt?” she asked. Pinkie rubbed her left foreleg a little.
“A little, but I’ll be ok.”
“I really am sorry.”
“It’s ok Inkie.”
Later that day, the whole family was out gathering rocks. Rock farms are a little different from other farms since most of their exports are ores, and ores have to be nurtured with as much care as any other crop. That particular lesson was drilled into Inkie’s head until it was practically burned there. She checked on her sister’s progress and of course Pinkie was falling behind. That was how it always went; Pinkie would always be the one to finish last and would have to work the field alone.
‘Just once I wish father would let me help her,’ she thought as she pushed her last rock into place. He never would though, for whatever reason, and always insisted that they each work their own lots alone. Something about building character or the like. Bellamina finished soon after her so the both of them walked to their parents near their house. Inkie looked back at Pinkie looking sadly at them and walked into her house and up to her room with her sister.
“Do you think Pinkie will be in soon?” Bellamina asked as Inkie adjusted Mission on her bed.
“Hopefully, I don’t want her to be out too la-“ she was interrupted when the house shook with a large boom from outside and Bellamina quickly ran to Inkie hugging her tightly.
“What was that?!” Bellamina asked in panic.
“I don’t know.” The door flew open and their mother came in.
“Are you two alright?” she asked and both fillies nodded. Their mother sighed in relief before looking outside worriedly, “Have either of you seen Pinkamena?”
“She was outside a minute ago,” Inkie answered and walked over to the window at an empty field, “W-where is she?”
Neither Inkie nor her family saw Pinkie until dinner time. Even then, all she did was walk in with a complete messy mane and tail, grabbed her dinner, and walked right back out and toward the silo. She didn’t come in for bed that night either, so in the morning the entire family went out to finish working the field and they heard music coming from the silo.
“Pinkamena Diane Pie, is that you?” she heard her mother ask. Pinkie opened the door, a couple of balloons floating out of it.
“Mom! I need you and Dad and the sisters to come in here quick!” she said and closed the door. Her parents looked at each other for a moment before walking over to the door and opening it.
They did not expect streamers, a cake, punch, numerous balloons, and all other kinds of favors they had never seen before. They looked around the silo for a second before Pinkie appeared out of nowhere.
“Surprise! Do you like it, huh? It’s called a party!” Pinkie said, a party blower sounding from nowhere. The four of them stared in shocked silence, her father’s wheat stalk falling from his mouth. A silence permeated the air as Pinkie waited for her family’s reaction.
She couldn’t speak for the rest of her family, but Inkie knew how she felt about this. She had never seen anything like this before, never even been off the farm before. The room had some kind of effect on her and felt her mouth twitch rapidly.
“Aw, you don’t like it,” Pinkie said sadly and turned away from them. Inkie tried to hold it in, but she couldn’t. A few seconds later she and her family broke out in the biggest smiles they ever had. The sight made Pinkie perk up immediately. “Oh, you do like it!” she exclaimed and zoomed over to them, “I’m so happy!”
“Why do I feel like I heard this story before?” Vinyl whispered to himself.
“What did you say?” Octavia asked.
“Huh? Oh nothing, just talking to myself,” Vinyl said and waved a hoof in the air, “Please continue.”
“…Like I was saying, that was more or less how that went. My sister got her cutie mark then and when I noticed it the first time it blew my mind.” Octavia picked up her glass and took a drink, “I’m not sure you would know how that feels though.”
“Knowing your entire reason to live could be different than what you thought it was? Nope, can’t say that I have. You seemed to have taken it pretty well though.”
“You would think that would be the case, but honestly I didn’t know what to think. The thoughts swam through my head like, ‘if rocks aren’t my talent then what was?’ That went on for a couple of days until the next time my grandmother came to visit.”
“Pinkamena, I’m glad that you’re happy finding your special talent, but you still need to help us with the fields.”
“Awww.” It was about two weeks after Pinkie got her cutie mark and life on the farm had returned to normal or at least normal enough when it came to the new Pinkie. Out of all the new things, the least troublesome was her mane and tail which was now permanently puffed out and no amount of brushing could tame it. Her father sighed and looked down at her.
“Think of it this way: the sooner you get your work done, the sooner you can get back to… planning parties or whatever it is you do.” Pinkie’s ears perked up at this and she disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Her father stared in bafflement at the cloud as Inkie walked up to him.
“Father,” she said, drawing his attention.
“What is it Inkamena?”
“I… never mind.” She couldn’t say it, she couldn’t look her father in the eye and say she was having doubts about rock farming. She was good at it but, like any skill, that could be learned given enough time. Looking back on it, it never did bring her happiness. She was about to walk away when Pinkie returned with a large smile.
“I’m done!” she exclaimed joyfully. Inkie and her father looked to find that she had done her entire days work in less than a minute.
“Wh- I… W-well done Pinkamena,” her father managed to stutter out.
“Thanks Dad!” Pinkie said and hugged her father’s legs before hopping away. Inkie let out a light sigh and looked down the road out of the farm and spotted a familiar figure walking toward them. Pinkie noticed at the same time and almost instantly zoomed over to her. “Granny Pie!” The older mare laught softly and patted the young filly’s head.
“Hello there Pinkie, you’re a lot more energetic than when I was last here,” she said as Pinkie bounced around her.
“You super diddly bet I am! Look look, I got my cutie mark! It’s for party throwing!” Pinkie exclaimed as Granny Pie inspected Pinkie’s cutie mark.
“Well, it certainly suits you Pinkie and I would love to see one of your parties.” The two heard approaching hoofsteps and looked over to see Inkie and her father walking toward them. “Hello Clyde, you’re looking healthy.”
“I am mother,” he said with a nod.
“Hi Grandma,” Inkie said quietly. Granny Pie blinked a little and looked Inkie over.
“Ooh, I should throw you a party. I’ll get started right now!” Pinkie said and zoomed toward the silo. The three of them watched the pink filly disappear and Clyde sighed.
“I better get back to work. Will you be staying as long as usual mother?”
“Of course, Clyde. Do you mind if I talk to Inkamena for a moment?” Clyde simply nodded and walked to the fields. Granny Pie looked at Inkie who avoided her gaze. “Is something troubling you Inkie?”
“… No, not really,” Inkie answered.
“But you sound like something is. Come on, let’s walk for a moment.” Granny Pie walked toward the house with Inkie following behind. Pinkie bounced out of the silo and gave Bellamina a cupcake, wherever she had gotten it. “Does it have to do with Pinkie?”
“Well… not really,” Inkie answered and watched as Bellamina took a small bite of the cupcake and smiled widely at Pinkie, who smiled even wider and hugged Bellamina. “I’ve just been thinking a lot lately. I mean, Pinkie found her special talent in something other than rocks, so maybe that’s the same for me. I’m just so confused right now.” The two of them sat down near the house.
“Yes, that can happen, but that kind of curiosity can be a good thing,” Granny Pie said and looked at Pinkie bouncing around happily, “I think I have an idea. How about you and Pinkie come with me into town sometime? We can just look around a little and have a good time. Does that sound good?” Inkie thought for a moment and looked up at Granny Pie with a smile.
“Yeah, I would like that,” she said. Granny Pie smiled down at her and patted her on the head.
“Good, then we can go tomorrow if you want. I’m going to go rest for a while, we can talk some more later.” Granny Pie got up and walked into the house. Inkie sat for a moment longer before getting up and walking to the field.
Life goes on after all, and she still had work to do.
As far as she could remember, Inkie had never really been out of the farm. There was always work to do and if someone had to get something in town she would always stay behind. So really, you can imagine how she felt her first time in town. Awestruck and excited would only be scratching the surface though. Pinkie, of course, was as excited as ever.
“Now remember you two, you need to behave yourselves here,” Granny Pie said to them, “so make sure to stay close to me.”
“Don’t worry Granny Pie, I’ll be so well behaved you wouldn’t know I was here,” Pinkie said cheerfully.
“You… do remember how father agreed to let us come out here, don’t you?” Inkie asked. Pinkie, for her part, looked up and hummed in thought.
“So would it be ok if I took Pinkie and Inkamena to town tomorrow?” Granny Pie asked Clyde.
“Well I don’t know, she has a lot of work to do tomorrow,” Clyde said, “But then again-“
“Chickens!” Pinkie yelled as she entered the room, which was followed by a large bang. Clyde then found his face covered with cake batter. “Aw man, my party cannon still needs some tweaks. Back to the drawing board, I guess.” Pinkie walked out of the room and Clyde wiped some batter off his face.
“Then again, it might calm her down a little,” he said as Granny Pie laughed a little.
“Nope, not at all,” Pinkie said joyfully. Inkie sighed in exasperation.
“Never mind.”
“So girls, are you ready?” Granny Pie asked and started walking when the two girls nodded.
The day went pretty well, with the three of them visiting several shops and looked at all of their wares. Pinkie in particular was very interested in all the sweets she saw. Throughout all of this, Inkie was watching for anything that could have interested her. No matter what she looked at though, nothing had really peaked her interest. After a few hours of shopping, they made their last stop at a music store.
“This is going to be amazing! I can always use more party music!” Pinkie said.
“Now that I think about it, where did you get that first music?” Inkie asked.
“I don’t know.”
“…Of course you don’t.”
“Oh, we should get something for Bellamina!” Pinkie then bounced down one of the aisles. Inkie sighed a little and walked down one of the aisles too. She never really was into music, didn’t see the point when all she did was work rocks all day. Still she could at the very least try, so she wandered the store and looked at the records. The store also had some kind of intercom system that regularly played music throughout the store.
It was through that intercom that she first heard it. (Bach’s ‘Little’ Fugue)
It was a simple piano melody, but that was enough to stop Inkie in her tracks. The melody grew more complex as it went on and bounced around in her head. She didn’t know why but the song felt like it was calling to her.
She had to find it, so Inkie found the first attendant she could.
“Excuse me sir, do you know what this song is?” she asked.
“This is Buck’s ‘Little’ Fugue. It’s not one of my favorites personally, but that’s just me. It’s over in the classical section if you want it,” the attendant said and pointed across the store. Inkie gave her thanks and walked to the section, catching sight of Pinkie doing along the way.
“Let’s see, Buck…” she whispered as she looked through the section, very difficult considering her height. She had just spotted the record when it was levitated down to her.
“Here you go kid, have fun with it,” the attendant said with a smile.
“Uh, thank you,” she said and walked away quietly. She rejoined with Pinkie and Granny Pie as she carefully held the record in her hooves.
“Did you find something Inkie?” Granny Pie asked.
“Y-yes.”
“Ooh, what is it?” Pinkie asked trying to see the record.
“You probably won’t like it Pinkie.” Pinkie gave Inkie a confused look and was about to say something when Granny Pie cleared her throat.
“Well, are you two ready to go?” she asked and Inkie quietly nodded.
“Yep! I hope Bellamina likes what we picked out for her,” Pinkie said excitedly and bounced ahead of Granny Pie and Inkie. Inkie looked down at the record and shook a little in anticipation.
“Wait, you… actually excited about something? That’s a shocker,” Vinyl said with a chuckle. Octavia’s response was to get up, grab Vinyl’s glass, and toss the whiskey into his face.
“Can I please finish?” she asked. Vinyl laughed a little and wiped his face clean.
“Sure, I’m sorry. Anyway, you were talking about a record?” Octavia looked into Vinyl’s eyes and sighed a little at the familiar tingle.
“Well, I bought the record and took it home,” Octavia said and sat down, “My memory is kind of fuzzy, but I think I listened to it over and over for the rest of the day. It was just so entrancing to me and I couldn’t get it out of my head.”
“Would this happen to be that record?” Vinyl asked and levitated up a record.
“No, that’s my… third replacement record I think.”
“Replacement?”
“I… liked the records so much I would wear them out in a month or so,” Octavia said with a hint of embarrassment, which wasn’t helped by Vinyl’s appreciative whistle.
“So, you listened to these records so much that you just got into classical music?” Vinyl asked and set the record down, “Hey do you mind if I keep this song playing a bit longer?”
“I don’t mind, it helps me think. It’s not exactly the records that got me where I am, soon enough just listening wasn’t enough. I had to actually play these masterpieces I loved so much.” Octavia took a drink before continuing, “I think I saved up my allowance and any money I made from sales for two or three years before I finally had enough to buy my first cello. It was old and constantly out of tune, but it was my first one and I’ll never forget it.
“I practiced for months, trying to play every symphony I could either by memory or by ear. I suppose you know what it’s like to lose yourself in something you love, am I right?”
“Every moment I hear a song or play a show,” Vinyl answered with a smile.
“Well I developed that habit rather quickly, so much so that I didn’t even notice that my sisters started to sneak into wherever I practiced to listen to me.” Octavia finished her glass and set it down, “I was the last of my sisters to get my cutie mark, but that didn’t make me any less happy when it happened. And I wouldn’t trade away any of that.”
“Our experiences make us,” Vinyl said.
“Huh?”
“I sometimes like to think about what could have happened. ‘What if I had a different talent?’ and ‘What if I did this instead of that?’, but really none of it matters. Do you know why?” Octavia shook her head and Vinyl smiled softly, not that large grin Octavia had gotten used to. It somehow made her heart tremble a little. “Simply, if one little thing had changed, we wouldn’t be here right now. If I hadn’t decided to go drinking with my friends that night, I wouldn’t have met you. And you know what ‘Tavi, despite all of your complaining about me and constant anger over all the times I annoy you, I can tell you like hanging out with me. It’s really subtle, but it’s there.”
Octavia stared at her hooves with a blush, hoping Vinyl couldn’t see it, and said, “You know, that story I told you about my childhood, I’ve never told anypony that. I always thought other ponies would look down on me if they found out how I was raised.”
“Then they're idiots.” Vinyl’s statement caused Octavia to look at him in surprise. “It doesn’t matter how you were raised, it’s what you do with yourself now that defines you. And honestly, I like the idea of a high class musician coming from a rock farm, it’s a much more interesting back story than ‘grew up in Canterlot and just grew into music’. I wish I had your back story.” Octavia laughed at that.
“You obviously have never been on a rock farm, it’s a lot harder than you think. It’s all about magical lay-lines and proper positioning, so you wouldn’t last a day.”
“Yeah, true enough. So what happened to your family? You said you weren’t too close.”
“It’s not that I’m not close to them, I just haven’t seen them for years. Little Bellamina is all grown up and tending to the rock farm and… well, the less said about Pinkie, the better. I’m just too busy sometimes.”
“Well I don’t see why you can’t take a quick vacation to visit, you’re not exactly lacking on vacation days.”
“Do you really want to start on that, Mr. Scratch?” Octavia asked annoyed.
“Well-“
“And you know what, I have a couple more things I wanted to share about you.” Octavia got up and walked in front of Vinyl, leaning in close to him. “I will say that you are, without a doubt, one of the most annoying ponies I have ever met. Everything you do and, if I could go far enough, your very existence seems to serve only to cause me discomfort.” Vinyl of course knew something like this was coming, but he was still surprised when Octavia sat down and scooted closer to him.
“Uh…”
“Every time I look into those eyes of yours, I feel this shiver run through my body and I always think that I’ll lose myself in them. That’s not even taking into account the contrast they make with your mane and coat, which shouldn’t work on anypony yet you still find a way to do it.” Octavia pushed Vinyl up against the couch and scooted closer to him. “You anger me with every stab at my character, yet I still keep you around. I keep trying to get away from you but you still persist in coming into my life somehow.”
“Is this supposed to be nice?”
“Shut up. Do you know what the most annoying thing about you is? Every single thing you do should drive us apart.”
“…And?” Vinyl’s question was answered not even a second later when Octavia suddenly met her lips with his. Vinyl’s eyes widened as Octavia pushed against him and wrapped her forelegs around him. She pulled away and looked him right in the eye.
“If that’s what should happen, then why do all of those things make me love you so much? It doesn’t make any sense.” Octavia started leaning back toward Vinyl but was stopped by a hoof.
“I think you’ve had enough for tonight ‘Tavi. You have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said and tried to get up, but he didn’t get far.
“I know exactly what I’m talking about, I’ve just been in denial for the past while. And I’ll have you know that it takes more than what I’ve had tonight to get to me, so if you’re going to reject me then at least respect me enough to not use the ‘you’re too drunk’ excuse.”
“But I wasn’t… oh never mind,” Vinyl said and looked into Octavia’s purple eyes, shining slightly in the pale light, “I’ll probably get my flank kicked for this, but you know what the REA says, ‘who dares, wins.’”
“What does that-?” Octavia was interrupted when Vinyl pulled her into a kiss. She moaned into it and felt Vinyl wrap his arms around her. Her skin felt like it was on fire as she took in this new sensation. Vinyl broke the kiss long enough to drag the both of them onto the couch before diving right back into the kiss. The night devolved into a series of long kisses, licks, nuzzles, and gentle coat strokes until they both fell asleep hugging each other.
And to think, they only made it to three in the morning.
Vinyl woke up to the familiar feeling of a light hangover. He groaned a little and was a little thankful that the record player had stopped sometime in the night. He tried to get up but he felt much heavier. He happened to look down and saw that Octavia was weighing him down.
“Oh crap,” he whispered. She mumbled something and hugged Vinyl tighter. He groaned a little in discomfort and started awkwardly stroking her coat. “Hey, wake up,” he said after a minute and lightly poked Octavia’s side causing her to stir and open her eyes.
“Where am I?” she asked quietly. Vinyl was prepared for the beat down of a lifetime, but was happily surprised when Octavia didn’t do that and scooted up to meet him face to face.
“Well, I’m not in pain right now, so that’s a good sign,” Vinyl said and hugged Octavia.
“Oh quiet you.” Octavia kissed Vinyl lightly and rested against him with a sigh.
“So… are we dating now?”
“It’s not official until you actually take me out on a date, and I expect it to be good.”
“And what is your idea of a ‘good date?’”
“Anything above just ordering take out and making out on the couch. A nice dinner would be preferable.”
“Right, because that first option is best saved for the weekends,” Vinyl said and chuckled a little at Octavia’s blush, “But don’t worry, I’ll make the first date a good one.”
“One more thing,” Octavia said and leveled Vinyl’s head with hers, “My ensemble must not find out about this for a least a month. I am not giving Harpo the satisfaction of being right this soon. Understood?”
“Hahaha, yeah I got it,” Vinyl said and kissed Octavia on her forehead. Octavia giggled a little and returned the kiss.
“Well then, why don’t you get breakfast started while I get ready, would that be alright Vinyl?” Octavia asked and sat up.
“Sure thing ‘Tavi. You know, I think that’s the first time you call me ‘Vinyl’.”
“Really?” Octavia asked to which Vinyl nodded, “Huh, it probably never crossed my mind.” Octavia got off the couch and walked to her bedroom door. She looked back at Vinyl and said, “I’m serious about that first date by the way.”
“You worry too much about these things, you know that right?”
“I’m not taking any chances with you, Mr. ‘got kicked out of Stalliongrad’.” Octavia closed the door behind her and Vinyl shrugged to himself.
“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” he said and got off the couch and walked to the kitchen, “I wonder if ‘Tavi likes waffles?”
I hope this turned out well. As always any opinions are welcome.
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Is this also the ending of this shipping?
Anyway this is a good chapter with some minor spelling errors.
Just wondering how many different shippings do you intend to do with rule 63?
Magnificent. I honestly think Vinyl works SO much better as a male. You're going to have to explain how Octavia's name changed though!
Also another question.
Have you thought about submitting this story to equestria daily?
Or well these stories more like it xD
And shouldn't there be more tags?
Like Bonbon, Lyra, Trixie, Braeburn, Soarin and Spitfire?
Adawwwwwww...
Adawwwwwwwww...
Honestly, this is my favorite bit to this set of stories.
Wow! Sir, you did not disappoint.
Please continue this ship. I love it.
Also... MOAR TWIDASH!!
YAY! saw that the new chapter was Ocatvia and Vinyl and almost had to shed manly tears of joy. got to go read now so I'll comment again later.
445356
I'll answer all your questions here.
No it's not the end of this story. I can have too much fun with these two.
As many ships as I can.
troll.me/images/x-all-the-things/ship-all-the-ponies.jpg
I actually did try submitting it there once, but I never got a reply. Don't know what the deal was there.
The new tag system limits the character tags to five, so I had to make do. You can pretty much find the pairing you want from the chapter name though, so all's good.
great chapter here.
Are you ever going to fully explain what happened in Stalliongrad? cause if you did, that would make for one hell of a little side story in the background of another ship
I love these stories, and I do want to offer up something to you.
I could illustrate some things from this, mostly because I love this story.
Also, if you cant find a name on the genderswap boards, go ahead and give me a call, because it is my job.
Have a good day, my friend
445352 it was mentioned, it was because of high society
This was enjoyable.
The 63 Files have been really good so far and I can't wait to see more.
Yay, they finally got together!
445984
We'll just be waiting for more stories then
Any idea what your next story will be?
I like this ship, straight or not (but preferably straight >.<)
The long, long buildup was absolutely brilliant to the actual score.
I don't know about the Pinkie sister one.
The colours don't match and they don't seem to recognize eachother at the gala.
Woot! more OctaSratch! But I noticed one thing, you wrote lay-lines. It's actually ley-lines.
Octavia is Pinkie's sister in this....Wierd, but it not bad.
I definetly want to see more of this pair. (That and Twilight and Blitz....And please do a Fluttershy Guilder story. I know you just did a little bit on that trolling chapter of yours, but it was so interesting.)
Keep up the good work.
Sincerely,
Evo
This is probably my favourite series within these stories, its got a slightly different dynamic to most octascratch stories - can't quite put my finger on it (its not the genderbend) but it really makes it stand out to me :]
It's....beautiful.
-Delta-