Filly Friends

by thehalfelf

Creak

Creak

A line of myself, Mother, Father, Vinyl, and a single guardspony - the one Father called Silver Sentinel - passed the line of Father’s old orchestral friends on our way to the study. Father broke off; I heard him apologizing again as we walked into the dark-paneled study. Mother fussed around our guests before passing Father to head towards the kitchen and the tea set.

The room sat in awkward silence until Mother returned minutes later, tea floating behind her. She hoofed out a cup to everypony, including plenty of sugar for Vinyl; she knew I didn’t drink tea.

“Now then, what is this all about?” Father asked, normal joking tone nowhere to be found.

The guardspony shed his helmet and picked up the tea in one joint motion. He took a sip and nodded appreciatively at Mother. “My partner and I investigated a report earlier today, sometime around four, about a theft from a fruit stall. It’s one we’ve had several times in the past. We found nothing at that one, but on our way back to our office we caught Miss Vinyl here taking some lettuce from another stall.”

With all the attention on her, Vinyl hung her head, but said nothing. I briefly saw Mother’s eyes flash over to me, but the next time I blinked they were gone.

“When we took her back to our station,” the guard continued, “we decided to forego the usual procedure. Neither stall owner wanted to press charges on a foal. So we decided to just scare her, and take her back to her parents, but when we asked who they were, she refused to answer, even refused to give her name for over an hour. Until, finally, she gave yours, Legatus.”

“Octavia, sweetie,” Mother said softly. “Do you know who Vinyl’s parents are?”

I shook my head no. Until recently, I didn’t know anything about her family at all.

Both Father and the guard fixed me with a look. “Miss Octavia, if you know anything, we need to know. We can’t just turn Miss Vinyl loose, we’ll have to process her into the system if we can’t find her parents.”

“You could just let me go?” Vinyl whispered.

The guard stood up. “Well, I’m sorry to bother you, Mister Philharmonica, we’ll be on our way. Miss Vinyl, if you please?” He waved a hoof, motioning toward the door to the study and the front door beyond.

Vinyl bit her lip, reluctant to rise from her chair. “I... My parents...” She took a deep, shuddering breath. “My, um, my dad p-passed away last year. Mom... Mom didn’t do so well...”

The guard walked over and crouched down next to her. “Hey, it’s okay. But I need a name. Let’s get you back home.”

Vinyl whispered something to the guard too soft for me to hear and he nodded. The two of them stood and moved towards the door to the study. Mother and Father jumped to their hooves to follow.

“Hey, Tavi?” Vinyl muttered, almost too quiet for me to hear. “See you at the park tomorrow?”

I nodded quickly, and Mother smiles. “I’ll bring lunch,” she said, and then they were gone. I could hear them talking, but the hallway and the mostly closed door to the study muffled most of it. The front door closed and two sets of hooves walked off the hardwood of the entry and into what I think is the parlor.

My own hooves happily took my weight and quietly moved me towards my room, and past the parlor.

“--ven know the situation, though. You weren’t the most upstanding member of Manehatten growing up, now were you?” Mother half-teased, half-chided.

I paused, just out of sight of the parlor door. Father groaned in frustration. “It was one time, because my mom--”

“Serenade was off on tour, your foalsitter used the grocery money to buy cloud dust and you were hungry, I remember,’ Mother said softly. I felt my ears perk up. Cloud dust?

Father’s chair creaked; I could almost picture him shuffling around, pulling his hind legs beneath him. “Only one way to see for myself, I suppose. Mind if I join you two for lunch tomorrow?”

Their conversation shifted to more boring things, so I slipped past the door and up towards my room. The blankets on my bed floofed out as I flopped down. So much had happened; the day felt so long. As I slowly drifted off to sleep, lulled by the gentle patter of rain, the only thought I could focus on is that Vinyl was okay.

The next morning passed in a blur of activity. Two hours of cello practice with Father. Make sandwiches for all of us with Mother. Help Father look for, give up on finding, and buy a new picnic basket and blanket. It all slid to a halt in the lingering noontime drizzle.

“That’s anticlimactic.” Father closed the door and gently set down the picnic stuff. He then took a half step back and glanced at Mother, “Well, it should clear up here soon. My second cousin twice removed on my Father’s side was--”

“--Was a pegasus, yes we know, dear,” Mother finished.

Just as Father predicted, the rain stopped in less than an hour, and we made our way down the rain-slicked streets toward the park. I could hear the shrieking of the swing long before I could see it, once again. Father and Mother left to go find a somewhat dry place to eat, while I went to get Vinyl.

She was on the swing, coat soaked through, but the large grin on her face told me that she didn’t care. Red eyes locked with mine and she soon threw herself off of the swing, landing in a heap just a few feet in front of me. She sprang back up and shook the wood from her scraggly mane. “‘Sup, Tavi?”

“We brought food,” I said instead of my normal greeting. “Just sandwiches and fruit, nothing fancy.”

Her head snapped up and locked onto my parents laying out a blanket in a dry-ish spot. She took off at a fast trot towards them, leading me until we were almost on top of them. By the time we reached the blanket, I was in the lead. Vinyl slowly walked behind me, refusing to look my parents in the eye.

“I’m sorry,” she muttered to a small stain on the picnic blanket, “I didn’t mean to cause any problems yesterday.”

Mother smiled and patted the blanket next to her. “Come on, there’s no need to apologize. No harm done.” Father offered a small smile, but said nothing. I started to wonder if this was planned ahead of time. It was unlike Father to not speak.

While Vinyl and I took our places on the mat, the food danced out of the basket in a charcoal aura. Fresh flower sandwiches, picked directly from the garden, and a bunch of different fruits from the morning market. Four to-go cups of water later, and lunch was served.

Talking was pushed off for a few more minutes as everypony got settled and started eating. I couldn’t help but look toward Vinyl, who was making the most noise I’ve ever heard from a pony eating. While Father was almost openly staring, Mother contented herself with the occasional glance, doing her best to focus on her own food.

Vinyl was also one of the only unicorns I’d seen who ate without using her horn. She grabbed a slice of apple by balancing it on the side of a forehoof and throwing it toward her face, most of the time her aim was correct; the other times lay scattered across the blanket in front of her or in the grass somewhere behind.

“So Vinyl, do you... hmm...” Mother looked to Father as he spoke, but I couldn’t tell whether she silenced him or his words just fizzled out.

“Yeah, I can see how this might be... weird,” Vinyl replied, as she gave my parents the exact same look she gave me when she said my name wrong. “So... hi, my name is Vinyl Scratch. I live with just my mom, my special talent is musical arran... arren.... Arang....”

“Arrangement?” Mother questioned.

Another grin. “Yeah, that one!”

Her smile pulled a grin from my parents. “As is mine,” Father said. “Octavia falls more with her Mother, I am afraid, more creators than producers.”

Vinyl didn’t reply, instead choosing to stare at her as-of-yet untouched sandwich. Mother looked at Father again, this time with more disappointment.

I scooted a little bit closer to her. “What’s wrong? Don’t like daffodil?” I whispered as quiet as I can. Mother wasn’t the type to take offense that easily, but I could see why my friend may not have wanted to make even more of a bad impression.

The unicorn replied almost so quiet I couldn’t hear. “I can’t pick it up.”

My mind flashed back to how Vinyl swung, how she pushed the merry-go-round. “Oh.” Scooting back to my spot, I tried my best to show her how I eat: carefully. Carefully sandwich the sandwich between hooves. Carefully bring to mouth. Take small bites to avoid dropping the food.

Out of the corner of my eye I watch Vinyl attempt the same. It went well enough, but I still made a note to help Mother clean the blanket when we returned home.

With the food finished, we both returned to the playground at a slow walk, too full to run. When we were far enough from my parents that I didn’t think they could hear, I stepped closer to Vinyl.

“Hey,” I said as we approach the play equipment. “You... didn’t get in trouble last night, did you?”

Vinyl hopped up onto the first level of castle. She didn’t answer, but she didn’t look at me either. Her ears drooped slightly.

I awkwardly clambered up as well and placed a hoof on her back. Her coat was still damp, and chilled me through my own.

“Y-Yeah, Mom was.... Was not feeling well when I got home. She didn’t even realize I had been gone.” Vinyl laid down on the wet, wooden castle floor and pulled me down with her. “She sent me to my room and talked with the guard for a little bit. I didn’t talk to her last night, and she was still asleep when I left.”

She looked to me and grinned. “I left a note this time, though.”

My mouth dropped open as I stared at the unicorn. My jaw worked up and down a few times, trying to speak, but there were no words. “That’s not why you got in trouble with the Guard,” I said, quick and quiet. “You stole!”

“There isn’t much food in the house right now, and Mom was too asleep to wake up and give me a couple of bits for lunch,” Vinyl replied, smile falling.

“Oh.” The sky darkened as the pegasi began their preparation for a major storm next week. I almost wished I knew some pegasi, just to ask why the weather had been so bad.

I suppose I could have asked Father. He was part pegasus...

While I thought, Vinyl jumped to her hooves. I looked upward, preparing to get up as well, when a white block gently tapped the tip of my muzzle.

“Boop. You’re it!” Vinyl shouted before she took off down the musical bridge to another part of the castle. She finished crossing in the time it took me to get up, and she was up to the second level as I approached the bridge. Our gazes locked across the bridge, and, if I didn’t know better, I would think she’d never stop smiling.

<><><><>

I flopped down in one of the overstuffed chairs in the parlor, hours later. Father plopped down in the chair next to mine, just as out of breath. From the hall I could hear Mother close the door and sigh dramatically.

“Honestly you two,” she said, “I’m not sure which one of you is closer to a foal.”

“It was important.” Father rotated himself around in the chair until he was mostly upright.

“For our little Octavia and her new friend to be terrorized by a great oaf in half a suit?” Mother glared his mouth shut, then tossed her head towards the back of the house. “Come on, ‘Great Dragon’, you get to help clean up from the picnic.”

I watched as Father slowly got out of the chair and slunk out of the room. A quiet voice in the back of my head tried to say something about helping too, but the chair was just so comfy. All leather-y and not raining-y. My sore legs stretched out into the emptiness and a long yawn escaped my muzzle.

Maybe I’ll close my eyes, I thought, just for a moment.

Father’s deep voice roused me from my afternoon nap. “--prised to see you again so soon. Want to si--. Oh, Octavia is still in here. We can go to the study instead.”

My head slowly rose to see Father leading a familiar looking stallion through the hall toward his office. I listened for a moment, trying to locate Mother without actually getting up, but the rest of the house was silent.

Wait, I could just barely make out words from Father’s study, they must not have shut the door all the way. Mother kept telling me that my curiosity was going to get me in trouble, but I’d been doing really good, other than yesterday. My ears still strained up, trying to hear what little they could, but after a few minutes they started to hurt. I slid from the chair - deciding to just go to bed - when I heard something from down the hall.

Vinyl’s name.

“Now, Octavia, you really need to be careful, or that curiosity will get you in trouble!”

I squeezed my eyes shut. Father seemed to really like Vinyl today, maybe they’re just talking about that? That stallion could be a friend of his from his Orchestra, just catching up on an off day.

Then it hit me: that stallion, he was one of the guards who brought Vinyl last night, just out of his armor. They all look the same in it; it’s hard to recognize them without it. And if the guard was back, that could mean Vinyl was in trouble. Before the thought even finished, I was out the door, creeping down the hallway. I stopped against the wall, right next to Father’s study.

Now that I could hear him talk, the Guard was much more recognizable. “I just don’t like it. You weren’t there, Legatus, the place is a mess. Smells like it hasn't been cleaned in weeks. By Celestia’s beard, the mare didn’t even know her filly was missing.”

Father hemmed softly, a sign that he was listening but had nothing to say. One of his chairs creaked, followed by the sound of hooves on the floor, pacing.

“I don’t know what to do. If I launch an investigation, they’ll pull the filly into the foster system, but I just don’t know if that would be a good idea for her.” The hooves spun around and began walking in the other direction. “She’s so young, taking her from her mom and putting her with a bunch of strange ponies couldn’t do any good... I can’t take her in, Lilly would kill me, and it would invite the question of conflict of interest. I just don’t know...”

The guard talked around in a few more circles before falling into one of the chairs. “I just don’t know,” he said again.

There was a pause, broken by Father’s chair creaking forward. I could almost picture him getting ready to say something--

I jumped as hooves wrapped around my lower barrel and pulled me away from the door. Mother stood behind me, a starn glare on her face. “Octavia Philharmonica, I’ve told you before not to snoop,” she whispered, making sure that Father didn’t hear. She might be mad, but Father would be furious.

“But-- I... and Vinyl... and...” The words didn’t seem to want to work right; this wasn’t the first time my traitor tongue had turned on me. I finished much quieter, “I just wanted to make sure she was okay.”

Mother’s eyebrows creased. “Go up to your room, we’ll talk about this later. I need to talk with your Father.”

Up the stairs I went, ears plastered to my head, tail practically dragging along the floor. I didn’t even bother to start a light as I crawled into my room, and plopped myself down on my window nook. There wasn’t even any rain to watch, I just... didn’t want to look at anything else.

Some time passed before my door creaked open. “Why is it so dark in here?” Father asked, lighting the lamp. I turned my head, watching Mother’s reflection as she walked in behind him and shut the door. They both sat down on my bed and watched me, silent.

“Sorry,” I muttered to the glass.

The bed creaked as Father rose and moved to sit on the floor next to my perch. “I’m not angry,” he said. “It’s normal to want to watch out for our friends, that’s why we have them.”

“But you shouldn’t eavesdrop,” Mother chimed in. “If you have a problem or concern, say it. Don’t listen into private conversations.”

Father’s reflection looked up at Mother, and she fell silent again. “Do you understand what’s going on?” he asked.

I shook my head no.

A blob of coat pressed against my back, and I leaned into Father’s touch. “Your friend Vinyl... her home isn’t like yours. Your Mother and I love you very much, and we would never let anything bad happen, or not take care of you. Vinyl’s Mother, who I’m sure loves her daughter just as much, has some... problems.

“I met Silver Sentinel in the Royal Canterlot Conservatory before he enlisted, which is why he came to me. He is worried about Vinyl’s home life, but he can’t launch an investigation until she is somewhere safe. He came to me, and your Mother, because he trusts us to do the right thing...”

His voice faltered, letting Mother take up the reigns again. “Octavia, this is very out of the ordinary, but Silver Sentinel has asked us to take in Vinyl while the Guard investigates her home.” For the first time since I hid in my room, I looked away from the window, back at Mother. Vinyl living here?

Mother’s face was motionless, she stared right into my eyes. “She needs somewhere to live, and since you two are close, we didn’t think it would be a problem.”

My imagination made several pictures: Vinyl and Father trying to sneak into the kitchen while Mother cooks, Rosin making Vinyl practice an instrument, Vinyl with us on the train to Manehatten to visit Grandma Serenade, the summer like one big sleepover.

Vinyl lying around bored while I looked out the window, Mother taking time to make sure Vinyl brushed her mane and teeth before tucking her into bed, Father making a book of music for Vinyl as she decided to finally pick up and play an instrument, like she’d always wanted. A small part of me started to hurt.

“I don’t really know he--” I started to say, but Father’s deeper voice cuts me off.

“We aren’t going to replace you,” he muttered. “In any case, it’s only temporary. A couple of weeks at most, is what Sentinel thinks.”

Mother stood up from the bed. “Think about it. If you really don’t want her here, just tell us, we won’t think any less of you. Silver Sentinel still has to approve it with his captain, so we have a few days to decide.”

She walked over and kissed me on the back of the head before joining Father in wrapping me in a hug. “We both love you,” Father’s voice rumbled across my side. “Good night, Octavia.”

They left, dousing the light like I asked.

I could ask that they not let Vinyl stay here. I didn’t know her well, and it might be weird, but I also wanted to get to know her better. Other than Symphonia, she was my only friend.

Friends help each other. Friends share.

For the first time in weeks, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go to the park tomorrow.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the late upload guys. I'm moving out of my home state in a few weeks, so I spent the weekend with some friends and got home late. For the same reason, the editing may be a bit spotty because I made quick do it all, and for my editor he doesn't always do the editing thing. He says he forgets.

Either way I hope you enjoy. We're about... a third through the first part? Ish.

It's an exact science.

I hope you all have an awesome week, and I'll see you all next Monday. On time, this time.

Comments

[Halsenbert]

Emotions I knew it.

[Dusty Old Qrow]

So many feels.