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Just Lost! Part 14,639 words
Just Lost! Part 22,018 words

Just Lost! Part 1

Octavia stared at the page in deep thought, her brow creasing under her mane and her tongue on her lip. Slowly, she brought her pink pen down to the page and slowly etched a circle. Satisfied, she looked at her companion triumphantly. ”I win again. Best 5 out of 9?”

Vinyl stared at the paper in shock, no words coming from her. Finally, she crumpled the paper and threw it back into her saddlebag. “I would have won more if you hadn’t cheated!” Vinyl crossed her forelegs and looked out the window at the scenery passing by.

Octavia scoffed, pointing a hoof to herself with her mouth open in shock. “Me? I did no such thing.You just have no idea how to play the game.” She looked at Vinyl who obviously was not paying any attention. Octavia pouted visibly and started to turn to the aisle. “At least I would be less of a sore loser.”

Vinyl slowly turned her head to face Octavia. “How dare you accuse me of being a sore loser! And of course I know how to play four square!” She looked back out the window. “Oooohh! Check it out! There’s a tunnel coming up!”

Octavia quickly turned around and climbed over Vinyl to look out the window. “Really? I must see this.” She stared outside for a moment before sitting back down. “Tunnel; hold your breath!” She proceeded to gulp in air and froze in her seat.

As Octavia froze looking forward, Vinyl quickly sucked in air and held it as she continued to look out the window. As the train proceeded to enter the tunnel, the train coach they were sitting in descended into a darkened state. As the two fillies sat still in their seats, their teacher walked down the aisle. She looked at Octavia and Vinyl curiously, “How are you two doing?”

The two fillies just looked at their teacher silently, then at each other. They both knew that the first one to start breathing while they traveled through the tunnel would lose. “Are you two doing okay? Is there something wrong?” The teacher was concerned. “I’m not leaving until you tell me what’s going on. Octavia, did Vinyl Scratch do something to you that you’d like to tell me about?” Octavia looked at the teacher and shook her head before looking straight ahead. “What about you, Vinyl? Did Octavia do something to you?” Vinyl looked at the teacher, her face visibly turning slightly blue. The teacher approached her with concern visibly on her face. “Vinyl Scratch, what’s wrong?” She turned to Octavia, “What did you to Vinyl Scratch?

Vinyl couldn’t take it anymore. She quickly took a deep breath of air. “This tunnel is taking forever!!!!” Just then, the train left the tunnel. Vinyl’s head fell into her hooves, and she let out a wail.

Octavia let out a large sigh and pointed at Vinyl, smiling smugly. “It’s alright, Vinyl. Not everypony can perform under pressure. Thankfully, it is in my blood. “ She then turned to the teacher, “I am sorry about not replying to you earlier, Vinyl Scratch and I were having a competition. Everything is perfectly fine.” She added an innocent grin to prove her point.

“I would have won if you hadn’t cheated!” Vinyl crossed her forelegs once again and looked at the teacher, who was staring back at her. “What’re you lookin’ at!?” Octavia’s mouth dropped astonishment, looking at Vinyl. She then looked at their teacher, who was looking at both of them with an intense glare.

She cleared her throat angrily, “Well, I am looking at two fillies who get to have recess in the classroom tomorrow.” Their teacher proceeded to walk away as Octavia shot an angry look at Vinyl.

“Vinyl, what in the world was that for? Now I have to sit in the classroom because of you. I’m not talking to you.” Octavia then crossed her forehooves and stared madly at the seat in front of her.

“You know you can’t stay mad at me for very long. And staying inside for recess could be fun!” Vinyl enthusiastically looked at Octavia, but she was still looking forward. Vinyl began to frown and looked out the window again. “Hey, look! We’re here!”

Octavia climbed over Vinyl again and looked out the window at the approaching city. She then glared back at Vinyl before poking her on her snout. “This. Isn’t. Over.” Octavia sat back in her seat and pulled her saddlebags onto the seat to get ready to go.

Their teacher called out loudly from the front of the train car, “Alright, everypony. We will be arriving at Canterlot Station very shortly. Make sure you have all your belongings and your buddy. That goes for you two especially, Candle Wick and Strong Winds.” Octavia turned around and peaked over her seat to the back where the two colts were sitting in the back seat.

The light blue pegasus on the right was staring dumbly at the ceiling with his mouth open while the brown colt to his left was huddled in his seat. Suddenly, he swung around to face the pegasus and grasped the pegasus’ hoof tightly. The brown colt stared at the bewildered pegasus and uttered one word, “Forever.”

Vinyl poked her head over the seat as well to look at the two colts. “Five bits says they get lost.”

The two fillies continued to watch the others, but Octavia quickly replied. “You’re on.” They both slowly slid back down in their seats.

The train slowly entered Canterlot Station where outside the windows all manner of ponies were seen making their way around the large building. The two fillies heard the train car’s door opening, and turned to see the train conductor trotting in slowly.

The conductor was a large grey stallion with a bushy brown mustache and was always smiling. He removed his cap to show his balding head, running a hoof through his receding mane before returning the cap to his head. The conductor called attention to himself in his light hearted voice,”Alright my fillies and gentlecolts, we are arriving in the Canterlot Station. Time to get off! Before you leave, check for all your belongings.” He paused to look at one small filly in the front who looked back at her seat to realize she left her stuffed pony on the seat. “Wouldn’t want you to lose your traveling companion, would we?”

The little filly shook her head quickly, grinning. “I wouldn’t want to have to look for my Rosie. Thanks, mister!”

The rest of the train car came alive with the class getting all their belongings and preparing to get off the train. Octavia hopped off her seat and quickly ran through a mental checklist of the items in her saddlebag, all the items neatly placed inside. That looks like everything, she thought as she closed her bag. She looked over to Vinyl who was having troubles with her saddlebag. Octavia noticed that the bag seemed lumpy and disorganized, occasionally seeing random items haphazardly shoved in there. She smirked and shook her head at her friend’s obvious lack of organization, but made no effort to help her. Serves her right for calling me a cheater.

Once more, their teacher called the class’ attention to her at the front, calling loudly over the chaos of fillies and colts trying to get ready. “Now, listen once more. We are leaving now, so if you haven’t checked for all your items and we leave it, chances are it won’t be here when we get back. Anyways, find your pony pal and follow me out in a neat, organized fashion. No pushing, shoving, or any sort of foalplay.” With that, she walked by the conductor through the doorway.

Quickly, the class formed a mostly organized line and proceeded to go through the door. Octavia looked to Vinyl to see if she was ready. Seeing that she was right behind her, Octavia started to get into line. However, Vinyl quickly pulled her tail to stop her from continuing. Octavia looked back at her friend questioningly, to which Vinyl said, “I think we should wait for some ponies to pass us so we can be towards the end of the line.”

Octavia looked at Vinyl with some skepticism, but shrugged nonetheless. The two fillies then waited for a majority of the class to trot slowly past them before Vinyl pushed Octavia roughly out into the aisle. Octavia then glared at Vinyl and promised to herself that there would be revenge for Vinyl’s many transgressions, but continued to amble along with the line.

As Octavia and Vinyl began to exit the train, Vinyl stopped and began fumbling around with her saddlebag some more. Octavia noticed her friend’s sudden halt and turned around, starting to get a little impatient. “You know if we don’t hurry up, the class will be back from the field trip before we even get off the train. Are you coming or what?”

“You go on; I’ll be out soon,” Vinyl told Octavia. Octavia was only able to see her friend take a piece of paper out of her saddlebag before she stepped off of the train.

Octavia entered Canterlot Station and was amazed at the size of the large building and the seemingly cacophonous sound of many ponies in one place. She quickly got out of the line and sat fairly close to where she got off the train so she could wait for Vinyl. She then started to adjust her bowtie, fluffing it in very specific ways that she wanted while she watched the crowds of ponies move around the station. Once that was done, she tried to occupy herself with other mindless tasks, like smoothing her mane and dusting off her hooves.

After what seemed like five years of waiting, Octavia got impatient with Vinyl and decided to go in and drag her out if need be. Just as Octavia was about to put a hoof on the step of the train, Vinyl quickly appeared in the doorway right in front of her, startling Octavia and making her rear up on her hind legs and almost fall backwards. “Whoa, calm down there, Octavia! It’s just me; no need to jump for joy.”

Octavia settled back onto her hooves and glared at the smirking filly in front of her. “Jump for joy? You nearly made me jump right out of my skin. What on Celestia’s continent took you so long?”

“Oh, uh... I was just making sure I had everything. Again. You can never be too sure.” Vinyl gave a quick grin to ease Octavia’s mind, but she noticed that Octavia seemed unamused.

“Considering you have half of Ponyville thrust into that large and uncouth bag of yours, I wouldn’t be surprised if you forgot at least one thing. Regardless,” Octavia continued, looking around for the rest of their class. “We had better catch up to the rest of the class, or else we’re going to have more problems than recesses inside.”

“I already said recess inside couldn’t be that bad, but alright; let’s catch up with them.” Vinyl trotted alongside Octavia until they finally reached the rest of their classmates.

Vinyl didn’t notice the small shudder that passed through Octavia at the thought of indoor recess. A worse fate I couldn’t even fathom, she thought grimly.

The teacher stopped in the middle of the station, quickly counting all her students. Satisfied, she gestured for them to gather around her. Vinyl and Octavia moved closer but still remained behind everypony. “So, it looks like we’re all here. That means it’s time to head to the museum. Keep an eye on your partner, watch out for other ponies, and follow my lead. We’ll be there shortly. ” With that, the teacher began leading the class out of the busy station and onto the street. Vinyl and Octavia made sure to keep up, but found it slightly difficult to weave around other ponies.

As the class drew closer to the museum, Vinyl looked to her right and saw something shiny that caught her eye. “Oooohh, what’s that?” Vinyl left the line of students to go investigate this object.

Octavia noticed her friend’s sudden departure from the group. “Vinyl! Get back here this instant” Octavia quickly looked at the line, biting her lip while she turned to see her companion running into the crowd of ponies walking on the street. She took one last look at the class before giving chase to Vinyl.

Octavia called after her friend, but Vinyl was already out of distance. Huffing angrily, Octavia chased after Vinyl as she got further and further away from the class, attempting to catch up with her and bring her back to the line. She quickly weaved through a few ponies that were in a group together, which earned her a bit of shouting. However, this move caused her to get really close to Vinyl, almost close enough to reach her. Although she was starting to get tired, she couldn’t give up now. Almost... Octavia thought, right behind Vinyl. She started to reach out, and....

Unfortunately, Vinyl decided she couldn’t find the sparkly item she had seen earlier and stopped abruptly, causing Octavia to collide right into her. Needless to say, what followed was a brutal scuffle involving a confused white filly being strangled by a seething grey pony with a pink bowtie askew. All the ponies around looked at them with questioning and concerned looks, but continued on their ways.

After a few minutes of particularly violent actions, Octavia sat away from Vinyl and started to collect herself, sticking her muzzle into the air and adjusting her bowtie and mane. Vinyl Scratch continued to lie face down spread-eagled on the ground, and didn’t move. After a few seconds of playing dead, Vinyl finally began to move. She slowly got herself back up on her hooves and looked fearfully at her companion, to which Octavia returned with cold silence.

“It was right here! I swear!” Vinyl frantically looked about for the illusive sparkly item in question, dashing to and fro, often resorting to interrogating innocent bystanders in her quest to find her lost beloved shiny. Meanwhile, Octavia discovered the ability to double facehoof. After a moment, she got up and waited for Vinyl to pass her. As her friend dashed by her once more, Octavia reached out a hoof and caught the white filly by the tail.

With a yelp, Vinyl stopped dead in her tracks. She looked back at Octavia with anger and said, “Unhoof me, you foul beast! Unless you’ve found my shiny, I insist you let me go!” Octavia returned Vinyl’s glare with mild surprise, raising her eyebrow slightly.

“Vinyl, that was just about the most intelligent sounding sentence you have ever managed to string together. Nonetheless, I would like to point out that it’s entirely possible that the shiny thing you’re searching for could have very well been attached to any one of these ponies.” Octavia waited for the revelation to dawn on her friend.

“You’re right! We’ve got to search every single pony in Canterlot for my shiny!” With renewed vigor, Vinyl Scratch attempted to pull away from Octavia’s grasp. Octavia resisted the urge to facehoof again, but instead waited for Vinyl to pull once more before releasing Vinyl’s tail, allowing Vinyl to go speeding into the nearest group of passing businessponies. Smirking, started trotting back the way they came, choosing not to address the ensuing chaos from the ponypile behind her.

As Octavia started making her way, Vinyl somehow managed to extricate herself out of the pile and came speeding towards her, grabbing her by the collar and pulling her quickly away, screaming, “Oh my Celestia! They’re coming after me; we’ve gotta get outta here! Quickly; into that alleyway!” Vinyl dragged Octavia toward the alleyway and spotted a formidable hiding spot. She proceeded to swing a screaming Octavia into the air and throw her into a dumpster. Vinyl jumped in after her and closed the lid.

Vinyl then held Octavia’s muzzle closed and shushed her which received a glare from the grey pony.

Octavia started to reach for her companion’s throat, but froze when she heard shouting coming from outside the dumpster. The two fillies listened in to the approaching sounds of what they guessed were the businessponies.

One businesspony said in a deep voice, “Where did those fillies run off to?! They can’t have gone far.”

They heard another stallion throw something against a wall before shouting in a higher voice, “They think they can just run away from us! They’ve gotta be around here!”

The sounds of the stallions searching around the dumpster was heard, causing the two fillies to grow fearful. However, they heard a quick trotting of another pony. “Hey boss, I think I saw ‘em go that way, let’s get ‘em before dere gone!”

The sound of many hooves leaving caused Octavia and Vinyl Scratch to relax a little bit. They stayed motionless for a little longer before getting out of the dumpster. However, they heard a small crunching coming from the other part of the dumpster. They slowly turned to find the source of the noise, and were shocked at the sight of a large, shabby rat chewing on part of a used diaper as it stared at them hungrily.

Octavia practically exploded out of the dumpster and ran the opposite way they came through the alleyway, screaming loudly. Meanwhile, Vinyl crawled slowly out of the dumpster, her back hooves dangling off the side of the dumpster. She let go of the dumpster and fell unceremoniously onto the ground. She sat up and looked up at the dumpster. “Thanks for your hospitality, Mr. Rat!” The rat’s head poked out over the side of the dumpster and hissed menacingly before disappearing into the dumpster, the lid closing over it once more. Vinyl wrinkled her nose in response, “How rude!”

The white filly rubbed the back of her head with a forehoof and looked around the alleyway for her companion. I wonder where she ran off too, thought Vinyl. I better go look for her.

Vinyl Scratch proceeded to go the way Octavia went and started to search the crowds for her. Although there were no signs of her friend, Vinyl continued to search the busy streets. However, she began to notice that many of the ponies passing by were looking at her in confusion and disgust, often trying to avoid her as she passed. Vinyl started to get discouraged and confused, wondering why they were avoiding her. What’s wrong with everypony? Thought Vinyl sadly. What’s wrong with me?

Fairly soon, Vinyl started to pass a cafe when a pink mare with a pearl necklace burst out of the door, screaming “My eyes!” and disappeared into the busy street. Vinyl stood wide-eyed and watched the mare disappear before deciding to investigate the source of her repulsion.

Inside the rustic cafe, the peaceful sound of orchestral music playing and the sweet aroma of roasted coffee. Despite the welcoming atmosphere, there was something rather off about the cafe. All the customers were braced against the far wall, staring at the opposite part of the room. Curiously, Vinyl looked over at the object in question and was happy to see Octavia sitting in a wooden chair facing outside.

Vinyl quickly made her way over to the table Octavia was seated at and took a seat across from her, smiling in excitement. “There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you!”

Octavia didn’t respond to the white filly’s presence and instead continued to stare straight ahead, both hooves shakily resting around a rather large white mug filled with steaming tea. One of her eyes was twitching slightly, and she murmured quietly, “I’ve seen dreadful things.” Vinyl looked at her friend with furrowed brows.

Before Vinyl was able to question her compatriot further, a pony cleared their throat to get their attention. Vinyl turned around and saw that a dark green mare barista with a short brown mane was standing cautiously behind them, her wide eyes showing that she was scared of both of the two fillies. “Excuse me, little fillies, I don’t mean to bother you,” she smiled weakly,”but you’re scaring our other patrons. I was hoping that maybe you two to could go outside?“

Vinyl looked at the barista and then at the other ponies in the cafe. “You think we’re too ugly?”

“What? No, that’s not what I said!” The mare physically backed up in shock at the remark.

“I’m sorry if our ugliness has offended you.” Vinyl quickly put on a pouting face towards the mare, who upon looking at Vinyl, looked immediately guilt-ridden. The barista started to reply, but Vinyl interrupted, ”We will remove our ugliness from this cafe, so you and your customers can go about your day. I’m sorry if we have inconvenienced you.” With that, Vinyl grabbed on to Octavia’s bowtie and began dragging her out of the cafe.

Octavia frantically grasped after her mug of tea and the comfort of the table she was at, but to no avail. Suddenly, she stopped and turned her head towards Vinyl, glaring. What can only be described as a menacing hiss halted Vinyl’s progress towards the door, along with further frightening the rest of the cafe occupants.

“Uuuhh... Octavia? Are you okay?” Vinyl asked. When she turned to look at her companion, her facial expression immediately changed to a fearful one. What stared back at Vinyl was the epitome of hatred. “Is this because I touched your bowtie?”

Octavia lunged at Vinyl. “Oh no, Vinyl Scratch. This isn’t just about touching my bowtie.” Octavia continued to advance on her compatriot. Her eyes were piercing into Vinyl’s soul, while everypony in the cafe was too scared and absorbed in this confrontation to move. “This is about how you managed to drag us away from the class for a shiny object. Then, you dragged me into a dumpster where we had to lie in wait in filth. Not to mention that whenever anything is going according to plan, you manage to completely and utterly ruin it. Now, we’re utterly lost and separated from our class. That is why I’m standing here seething at you, drinking this filth and having to put up with these--”

Octavia pointed at the crowd behind Vinyl, still glaring at her. Vinyl was leaning away from Octavia, which allowed her to tower over her more. Octavia paused to think of a fitting word, which Vinyl volunteered, “Proletarians?”

“Proletarians, yes. I cannot believe that this is what my life has become and I-- Wait, what word did you just use?”

“I don’t know.” Octavia looked at her angrily.

“What do you mean you don’t know?! This is another thing. You have random spots of intelligence, but just as quickly as you get them, they disappear, leaving me with a basically primitive filly that can’t even spell to save her life, and I can’t believe that I’m stuck with you here in Canterlot and I--”

Vinyl looked at her companion in bewilderment. Octavia had stopped shouting, and was now sitting on the floor on her haunches. She also seemed like she was on the verge of tears.

“I just can’t stand the idea of being lost forever in Canterlot, and I-I don’t want to get in trouble, and I smell terrible, and I just want my parents, and-and-and--”

Now, Octavia was crying heavily, tears freely streaming down her cheeks. Vinyl stepped closer to Octavia. “Oh no; don’t cry!” Vinyl began to hug her friend. “Look, I understand that I got us into this mess, and I’m gonna help get us out of it!” Vinyl ended the hug and held Octavia by the shoulders, looking her in the eyes. “We’re gonna go find our class; but first we should get ourselves cleaned up so we don’t stink-up all of canterlot.”

Octavia looked down and sniffled for a bit before looking back at Vinyl Scratch. “Alright. Thanks, Vinyl.” She giggled a little, and wiped her eyes. “I bet I look like quite a ruffian. A nice bath would do me wonders.” Vinyl laughed a little at the grey filly, both smiling happily.

Now that the crisis was defused, the other patrons of the cafe started to relax. One particularly brave orange stallion looked at the two fillies with disdain. “This is all well and good,” he commented, “but can I go now?”

Octavia responded by turning her head towards him and glaring menacingly. The stallion backed away, frightened, and then bolted out of the cafe.

Octavia then turned back to Vinyl. “I feel like we should do the same.” Vinyl responded with a smile and a nod.

The two broke the embrace and started towards the door. However, upon passing the barista, Octavia went over to the tip jar. Carefully, she fished out a bit and put it in her saddlebag, glaring back at the barista. “The service was terrible.” With that, she followed the white filly out of the shop.

The two fillies started to walk through the streets, but remembered that they still stank very badly due to the hateful comments and averted paths of many worried citizens. As they continued walking along in a half-hearted attempt to find their class, the duo spotted a gran fountain down the street and then looked at each other. “Do you promise not to make an attempt on my life? I’d hate to be drowned after all of this...” Vinyl looked at Octavia, concerned.

Octavia stared at her and gave her a shrug before galloping towards the fountain. Vinyl soon started to follow her.

The two fillies jumped into the fountain with large splashes and immersed themselves in the refreshing water. Vinyl grinned at nearby passers, and ruffled her now wet mane.

As Octavia emerged from under the water, Vinyl watched with wide eyes as her grey counterpart tossed her black mane gracefully away from her face. The sun shone on her waterlogged mane and coat, giving her a beautiful glow.

That’s when Vinyl decided to splash her with a big dose of fountain water.

Coughing and spluttering, the grey mare glared back towards Vinyl, and furiously started flinging water in her direction. Soon enough, an all out water war was underway, eliciting giggles from both the fillies as their troubles seemed to wash away with the water.

However, their merriment caused more ponies to stop and look at them, some even holding shocked conversations about the two fillies. Octavia paused her watery assault as she noticed all of the stares they were getting, and grew increasingly annoyed with the attention. She yelled at them, “Do you mind!?” With that, the audience that Octavia and Vinyl had attracted began to break up and continue what they were previously doing.

All but five ponies in suits.

Vinyl stopped splashing her friend and looked at the five remaining stallions, her face paling as she realized just who they were.

The businessponies from earlier, she remembered with dread.

The smallest of the stallions, a brown one with a greased back grey mane, sneered at the two fillies. “There they are! Get ‘em, boys!”

To Be Continued

Author's Note:

Thanks for reading this chapter! (Well, technically half of a chapter) We hope you enjoyed it!
Sorry it took so long to release; we hardly had any time to work on it.
As always, Vinyl and Octavia's song picks are below.

Octavia's Pick: