• Published 31st Dec 2019
  • 1,464 Views, 155 Comments

Filly Friends - thehalfelf



In the morning, Vinyl Scratch would be leaving, and Octavia didn’t know if she would ever see her again.

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Swish

Swish

The first night of VInyl’s stay was amazing. After our new dinner, we just sat up in my room and talked for hours. We started with the normal getting-to-know-you type questions.

I told her how Mother and Father had spent a lot of bits to help me get my cutie mark. They were convinced that it would be music related, so as soon as I hit an age where they thought it would appear, they rented out a music store.

A whole store. For a whole day.

I spent it with them, Rosin, and Miss Strings. Father tried to teach me composing, Miss Strings taught me how to read and write sheet music for multiple different styles of instrument. Mother didn’t try to force me on anything, preferring instead to serve as moral support when the day started to grow long and I started to worry.

Rosin, after lounging around all day, called them all idiots, knocked me down, and pushed a cello on top of me.

It was a small cello. And it worked.

Vinyl was shocked, not that I had a cello pushed on top of me, but that she also got her cutie mark at the exact same store, about a month before. They were running an exhibit on a new range of mixing boards. She was messing with one, with the aid of the shop owner, and got her cutie mark right there on the street.

For weeks she came back, just to play around with the equipment, but never had the bits to buy one, so the shop’s owner gave her a deal. She mixed music - new and original - for him to sell exclusively, and she got some older equipment to take home on lease.

I couldn't help it, I had to ask why she never had any bits. I knew from Father that, by Equestrian law, if someone made something and gave it to someone else to sell, they were entitled to a portion of the bits made.

She didn’t answer. I changed the subject.

We talked about the park, and Father’s concerts and Mother’s music. Vinyl had a lot of questions about school. I had questions too, but... I didn’t want to upset her.

At some point, I fell asleep in my window nook. We were mid-conversation, about something relating to colors, but it’d been a long day.

I woke up a few hours later, a fuzzy blanket wrapped across my back, my side pressed up against something warm. Breath tickled my ear slowly, rhythmically, keeping me from going back to sleep. I tried to push the thing away, but it grunted and pushed me back against the window.

The cool glass woke me even further. I tried to turn my head but the warm lump against me grunted and nuzzled back against me. “Mmno, Stuffkins, not ready to get up,” Vinyl said.

“My name is Octavia,” I said without thinking. Vinyl woke up with an oddly cute snort, and quickly jumped off the bench in my nook with a shout, taking the blanket with her.

She crashed to the floor with an audible “oof” and, in attempting to get back up, tangled herself in the blanket and fell again.

Vinyl stayed on the floor for almost an entire minute. “Forget that.”

My answer was delayed as the door suddenly opened. Mother, her mane dishevelled and sticking up on one side, poked her head into the room. She glanced at the filly-shaped blanket bulge, and to me by the window, and nodded. “Breakfast will be on soon,” she said softly before leaving and shutting the door quietly.

“So, Stuffkins?” I asked with a smirk.

Vinyl poked her head from the blanket. “I told you to forget that.”.

My smirk evolved into a full grin. I hopped down from the bench and, with a gentle bite and twist of my head, flipped the blanket back to the bed. Robbed of her covering the unicorn scooted forward, hiding her muzzle under my bed. “It’s really dusty down here,” her voice floated back out.

“Too dusty to sleep?” I crawled up onto the bed, pushing my hooves in front of me to smooth out the blanket.

Vinyl pulled her head out, just far enough for me to see one crimson eye. “I couldn’t find another blanket and you looked cold.”

I opened my mouth, shut it. I didn’t remember being cold, Mother kept the house pretty warm year round, but... “There is a blanket in your room too.”

Vinyl shrugged. Any response was, once again, cut off by Mother calling us down to breakfast. Just the three of us sat down to eat. Father’s show started in just under a week, so he wasn’t likely to be home much.

We ate in a comfortable silence, at least until Vinyl finished eating. “So, Tavi, what do you do every day?”

“My name is Octavia,” I replied while processing her question. “Well, since school is out and Father’s show is almost here, I’ve been busy helping clean for any guests.”

“And going to the park,” Mother added.

I ducked my head slightly, cheeks warming up. “I-It’s always very busy when Father has a show.”

Mother stared pointedly at my empty plate. “But not too busy to prohibit practicing, I think.”

Vinyl snorted into her toast.

I sighed, took my plate to the kitchen, and trudged back to my room. Vinyl was already waiting, still munching on her last piece of toast. She watched as I unpacked my cello, set it up, found my balance, and checked the tuning.

I practiced for an hour, as is the norm. Vinyl, on a couple of occasions joined in with a beat, but mostly seemed content to watch and listen. She sat - the quietest I’d seen her - until I finally deemed it enough and packed my instrument back away.

It was weird; not something I could put my hoof on for some time, but practice wasn’t quite as boring as I was used to. I would learn much later exactly why, naturally when it was too late to enjoy it further.

<><><><><>

A week later, Mother and I took Vinyl dress shopping. Father’s concert was the next day, and - though Vinyl had more clothes than she or I thought - she had nothing Mother deemed fancy enough to “shield her from high society.” We finished breakfast, I finished practicing with Vinyl, grabbed my small bag of spending bits, and the three of us headed for Canterlot proper.

I didn’t normally go into the city, only see it from my window. We walked from the neighborhood, up towards the center of the city. A show like Father’s, especially on opening night, always attracted a certain kind of crowd. Wealthier ponies, ones known across the city.

Those ponies all live in the upper part of the city, near the castle. The shops and restaurants they all go to are there. Mother does not. She and Father both preferred a small clothes store, near the train station on the southern side of town. A little boutique, full of one-size-fits-all dresses.

“Ah, Miss Melody, always a pleasure, always a pleasure!” a young, squat unicorn mare squealed as Mother walked into the shop. “You are here for something for the show tonight, yes?”

Mother smiled, moving to hug the other mare. “Yes, Cross, you know we wouldn’t come anywhere else. I’ll need something for myself, Octavia, and her friend here.” Mother moved out of the way and motioned at Vinyl and I.

The shop owner bustled over to us, nearly knocking over a rack of dresses. “Ah yes, the lovely Octavia, my how you’ve grown!” I smiled as she turned to Vinyl. Cross leaned in close to Vinyl, carefully looking her over from muzzle to rump.

“U-Uhm...:” Vinyl squirmed, scrunching her muzzle as Cross came back around the other side. “What’s... Tavi...?”

“Excellent, this will do, this will do!” Cross spun, quickly shutting the door and flipping the sign to closed. She bustled to the back of her store, moving aside a rack of ties to clear the store room door. Mother followed close behind as did I, making note of Vinyl’s red eyes darting towards the exit.

The back room of Cross’ Stitch Shop was strange. One half was a complete disaster of a storeroom, with racks and boxes of clothes everywhere. The other half was spotless except for two ponequins, bolts of fabric, and an assortment of needles and threads. The middle of the space had a single, raised platform.

Cross deftly navigated her maze of stock and waited impatiently next to the platform. “Come, come, I want the white one. So much I could do!”

Vinyl folded her ears, but climbed to the platform. “My name is Vinyl.” The seamstress went to work with a passion, bolts and swafts of fabric flew around, held against and flipped around Vinyl as she did her best to weather the maelstrom. Any piece deemed worthy enough found itself stuck to a ponequin.

In minutes it was done, although rough. A black dress, understated but lovely, streaked with a dark blue that complemented Vinyl’s mane. Vinyl herself stepped from the platform and plopped down next to Mother.

Which meant it was my turn.

I tried to put on a better show than Vinyl, but by the time my ten minutes were up, I found myself sitting on the other side of Mother. My own dress was similar to Vinyl’s a white streaked with gray that all flowed and swirled together. Mother okayed both designs, then stopped on the platform herself. She handled everything much better than we did.

We were in and out in an hour, with a promise to have the dresses by the next day. Vinyl let out a shaky breath as the shop door closed behind us. “Is it always that scary getting dresses?”

Mother thought for a moment. “No, but Cross is one of the best. I’ve known her since school, and she always does great work.”

She turned to look at me. “Did you bring your bits?”

I nodded and held up the little bag.

“We have more shopping to do?” Vinyl asked, looking a little green in the cheeks.

“Well, that is entirely up to Octavia.” Mother turned and began walking down the street in the direction of home. “How about it? We can do either the music store, or a candy shop.”

We fell into step behind Mother and traded a look. “Well?” I asked Vinyl, “do you have a preference?”

“I mean... I don’t have any bits. You pick.”

I stopped for a moment to pull open the bag. I pulled about half of the bits out and hoofed them to VInyl. “And now you do. Where would you go?”

“I think Tavi wants to go to the music store,” Vinyl said after a pause. “So I want to go to the candy store.”

Mother shook her head, but didn’t hide her smile.

We spent almost all of the rest of the afternoon in a small local candy shop, a ten minute walk from home. Vinyl looked so happy walking around with myself, Mother, and the owner of the store. We probably ended up sampling almost everything there, and when we went to check out, Vinyl’s bag was definitely twice as big as mine.

In comparison, we spent hardly any time at the music store. Just long enough to pick up some supplies for myself and Mother, and a harmonica for VInyl. We were in and out in less than half an hour, and on our way home after.

The walk home was fun. Vinyl and I were both loud, maybe because of the sugar, but Mother just kept walking along with a small smile. At least, until we came in sight of the house. Silver Sentinel stood outside, in uniform. Mother motioned to us to stay then moved towards him. They spoke briefly. I saw Mother nod, and Sentinel turned to walk down the street.

“Your mother goes before a judge next week, Vinyl,” Mother said as we approached her. “You’ll have to be there.”

Vinyl’s ears twitched once. She took a deep breath and blinked, slowly. “Okay,” she said softly, then opened the door and walked inside. I heard her climb the stairs and enter her room.

I waited all night, but Vinyl never left her room. When she didn’t come down after Mother called her for dinner, I ate as fast as I could, and took a plate to her room myself. I knocked on the door. “Vinyl, I have dinner, if you’re hungry.”

She didn’t answer, so I settled down to wait. I woke up hours later, still lying next to the door, under a blanket Mother must have put down on me. She’d also covered Vinyl’s plate, still undisturbed where I’d left it. “Good morning,” I said through her door before going to ask Mother for breakfast.

Hours later, sometime around noon, I heard somepony throw the front door open. Mother was downstairs in the parlor with two family friends, waiting for the concert that night. The bang of the door rebounding back to shut was covered by a mare shouting, “oh Miss Melody!”

Recognizing Cross’ voice, I crawled forward. Peering around the baniser, I saw Cross drop off the dresses on the hall table and head into the parlor. Mother greeted her and the pair walked back into the hallway. Cross stopped at the foot of the stairs, and Mother came up, heading to get her bits.

She gave me a look as she passed by, then glanced at Vinyl’s door and the plate of cold food outside it. “She still hasn’t come out?”

I shook my head. “I’ve been giving her space like you said. I’m worried.”

Mother mussed my mane with a hoof. “She’ll be alright, Octavia. It’ll be rough, I’m sure, but you can make it through a lot with good friends by your side.” She grabbed a pouch of bits and the plate of food on the way back downstairs. I glanced back at Vinyl’s door again, then headed downstairs myself. I took both of our dresses up to my room and hung them on a rail in my closet, ready for tonight.

An hour or so later, midway into practice, the door to my room opened. Vinyl poked her muzzle in, waiting for my nod to come in fully. She plopped onto my bed, as she’d done all week, and watched as I played through scales and several short parts of songs. She never said a word, but did help me pack my cello.

“Are you excited for tonight?” I asked after snapping the cello case shut.

Vinyl nodded. “The dresses are here?”

I nodded over towards the closet where our dresses hung. She pulled out hers first, then mine, and looked them over carefully.

“I’m never going to be able to pay your mom back for this,” she muttered.

“I don’t recall ever asking you to,” Mother said, poking her head in the door. “Put those dresses up until later so they don’t wrinkle.”

She continued down the hall, bringing her dress along to do the same. I took the dresses from Vinyl and hung them back up. By the time I turned back around Vinyl had planted herself on the bed. I took my normal place on the window seat and waited.

“I don’t want to go,” she finally whispered. At my curious noise she continued, “back with mom. The guardpony told me that if a judge says she’s okay, I have to go back with her, but I don’t want to.”

I slipped off the bench and moved to the foot of the bed. Taking a seat on the floor, I put a hoof on Vinyl’s leg. “We can always go to the park,” I replied softly.

“Not if she makes us move again. We came from Manehatten.”

“Oh.”

Vinyl got up and walked towards my door. “I’m still kinda tired, I’m gonna rest before the concert tonight.”

Author's Note:

I don't have a snarky AN for you guys this week, so just pretend I did one? See you all next week