When Vinyl reached the finals of the Canterlot musical competition, she met a grey mare called Octavia, and despite both of their intentions, fate pulled them together.
Vinyl meets Octavia, Vinyl talks to Octavia, both get caught up trying to prove a point
What is wub? Wub is a concept; it is finding that right pulse of beat, and like it, love is finding the right pulsing beat for existing in harmony.
It was a sunny morning in the small town of Ponyville, however a certain blue maned unicorn was in no state to appreciate it. Vinyl scratch was lying in bed, half under the covers, trying to shake off the effects of a particularly harsh night of drinking, and failing horribly.
After a few minutes of this, Vinyl was traumatised by the distinctive and regrettable wub of her doorbell. Swearing to personally gut the pony that had been unfortunate enough to wake her, she stumbled towards the door, and found a very crumpled package on her doormat. Looking up, Vinyl saw Derpy flying off into the sunrise.
Overcome with curiosity, Vinyl looked over the package for a sender, and found that it had come from the one and only Octavia. Vinyl had met Octavia about a week ago when they had both reached the finals of the Canterlot musical competition, naturally, Vinyl had made fun of the other pony's classical style, only to find that Octavia had been just as ready to make fun of Vinyl's own style, which she defined as "inelegant, unskilled, unrefined noise making", to which Vinyl had replied that Octavia could go hug the base she had dropped. Needless to say it was love at first sight.
Now fully wondering what in Equestria Octavia would have sent to her, Vinyl tore open the package and found a pair of purple tinted glasses in it, with a note attached. The note read:
"dear Vinyl, it has come to my realisation that your music can only be so terrible, because you cannot see what it is that you are doing, so at an aim to fix that, I picked up these glasses for you, and I would like to see you this weekend to see how much they have improved your performance"
Vinyl fell back, half in amazement and half in laughter. In a moment of rashness, she took the glasses and placed them on her snout, a quick look at the mirror showed her usually red eyes veiled by the purple glass, and to be honest, she was actually seeing a bit better, but that was probably just the placebo effect. In any case she had three days to get ready to mix circles around a certain cellist.
That weekend, Vinyl stood waiting for Octavia outside the restaurant she had specified. Going against all her common sense, she had dressed herself formally in an attempt to prove to Octavia that she could be sophisticated if she tried, her sunglasses perched upon her snout to complete her outfit. Earlier that evening she had almost killed herself by trying to go the extra mile by putting on a tie, after she had stopped strangulating herself, she had opted to simply wear a bow tie.
After only 5 minutes, Octavia appeared at the corner of the street. Vinyl was tempted to go and meet her, but she held her ground in an attempt to appear aloof, she was going to put on an act, in an attempt to prove to Octavia that she could be formal. But to be honest she would much rather be in a nightclub.
A few hours later, Vinyl reflected upon the events of the night. Short of asking for beer instead of wine, and accidentally breaking every other rule of etiquette in the book, Vinyl thought she had done all right for the first time. This was supported by the fact that Octavia was still with her and she seemed to used up her ration of scowls for the night,
"Why don't we go back to my place" Vinyl asked
"Mines closer" Octavia replied” but it may be too refined for you to bear" she continued
"Hey I can do formal, your the one who can't handle the wub" Vinyl replied
"What wub, all I hear is unrefined electronic noise" Octavia chortled
"Hey, wub is my life" Vinyl protested "we're going to a nightclub now" Vinyl declared.
A few minutes and a slightly irritated Octavia later, the duo stood outside Vinyl's favourite nightclub.
“This place is a dump" Octavia pronounced as they entered the building
"Bet you can't stand 10 minutes in here" Vinyl replied
“I can last however long I please; I am simply stating a fact" Octavia retorted.
After a round of drinks, Vinyl was told that it was time for her to take the turntables;
"Time for me to cause a bassquake" she told Octavia, to which Octavia simply rolled her eyes.
As Vinyl took the stage in a roar of dubstep, Octavia returned to her drink, and looked around the club. It was actually a very clean place upon inspection, despite how packed it was. As she pondered this, the DJ Vinyl had relieved approached,
"Names Neon Lights, let me show you the sights" he said, To which Octavia could only roll her eyes
"I'm here with Vinyl" she said
"That old scratched record, seriously" Neon proclaimed
“that old scratched record that can turn circles around you" Octavia retorted
“Whatever" Neon said, and he walked off with such a swagger that Octavia felt compelled to hit him over the head with her cello, before remembering that she had left it at home.
After an hour of mixing and drinking respectively, Vinyl and Octavia were once again sitting at the same table. However, this time Octavia was drunk beyond belief, much to Vinyl's amusement.
"That comes to 1567 bits" the waiter said, and Vinyl's jaw dropped in amazement, she looked across the table to Octavia, wondering how such a small mare could hold so much alcohol
“How did that even happen" Vinyl asked
"She did kind of empty our stock of Chardoneigh, we'll have to get some more from dan marephy's" the waiter said “just because it's you, I'll hold the bill for the moment and we can work it out when she's sober" the waiter added
"Thanks" Vinyl said "now I just need to take her home" she continued
"Take her to your place, you actually know where it is" the waiter suggested
"Good idea" Vinyl said, "see you tomorrow" she told the waiter as she left.
It was early in the morning, when Vinyl dragged Octavia into her apartment, thankfully the carriage driver had been willing to help, or Vinyl would never have managed it. She laid Octavia onto the bed, for now, she would sleep on the couch, and tomorrow Octavia would hear an awful lot about how lightweight she was, but for now, Vinyl passed out on the couch, and for the first time in a while, it wasn't due to alcohol.
Octavia woke the next morning in a strange bed, that was not her own. She looked around for anything familiar, and was gifted by the sight of Vinyl asleep on the couch, in a position that would make master gymnasts envious. Octavia moved to get out of the bed, only to have a huge amount of blood rush to her head causing her to groan in pain, she couldn't quite remember the night before, but judging from her headache, it had involved copious amounts of alcohol. With great effort, Octavia pulled herself out of bed, and stumbled into the adjoining room which she assumed was the bathroom, she pushed the pile of records off the sink, and clutched onto the sink, desperately trying to hold back her vomit, a task at which she unfortunately failed. Octavia searched the cabinet above the sink for anything that would help with her hangover, or at least take the taste of her stomach contents out of her mouth. If she ever saw another bottle of alcohol again, it would be far too soon. Octavia was stopped from her search when Vinyl walked in like a creature that had risen from the dead. “How much did you drink” Octavia asked “Huh, what, I barely managed to get a single drink in last night” Vinyl replied “Then why do you look like Discord used you to clean his lavatory” Octavia asked “Hey! This is what I usually look like in the mornings” Vinyl retorted “Not so loud, you’re making my head split open” Octavia groaned “Aww, looks like little Tavi can’t hold her liquor” Vinyl chuckled, if looks could kill, Vinyl would have been a dead mare, but needless to say, she had received her fair share of nasty looks in her career, and so she barely even noticed Octavia’s glare. “If you need something for that hangover, I think there’s something in my bedside table” Vinyl said “Thank you, I shall get it immediately” Octavia replied in relief “Um, no actually I’ll get it, there’s some stuff in that table that I’d rather you didn’t see” Vinyl replied “Whatever, just be quick” Octavia snapped “No need to be so prude Tavi” Vinyl said “And don’t call me that” Octavia shouted “You didn't seem to mind last night” Vinyl said, and promptly ducked and retreated from the room before Octavia could find something to throw. After hours of tiptoeing around each other, Octavia felt well enough to attempt civilized communication for an extended period of time, and once Vinyl was certain that her organs were not at risk, she brought Octavia up to speed on the events that had transpired the night before. “To sum it up, you got drunk while I was on stage, and blew away about 1500 bits on chardoneigh” Vinyl proclaimed “1500 bits! How did I even drink that much” Octavia exclaimed “I have no idea, I was on stage for most of it” Vinyl replied “Well, how are we going to pay that off” Octavia asked “We could try this” vinyl said as she handed Octavia a flyer. It said: “FREDDIE MARECUREY PRESENTS: THE EQUESTRIA MUSIC COMPETITION, come and test your music to see who shall be crowned EQUESTRIAS BEST MUSICIAN, 10,000 BIT PRIZE POOL. “Are you suggesting we win this” Octavia asked “Well, we don’t have to win it, I mean; we only need enough to pay off the debt” Vinyl replied “Well I can certainly win this” Octavia retorted “I don’t think so, Lyra is entering this as well” Vinyl said Octavia felt herself bristle in fury, Lyra was the only musician in Equestria she considered her equal, and she was also the pony who had stolen the Canterlot musical Award from her “Lyra was simply lucky during the finals, nothing more” Octavia said indignantly “Sure, believe what you want Tavi, but are we entering this” Vinyl said. Octavia felt the tips of her ears go red, as much as she hated to admit it, that name was growing on her, and she was utterly convinced that she would never be able to get Vinyl to stop using it anyway. “Very well, it will be the perfect opportunity to show that foolish unicorn who the better pony is!” Octavia said “I figured you’d say that, there’s just one thing, but it shouldn't be a problem, I was going to enter myself, but apparently the solo contest is filled up, only the duo contest still has spots. Octavia screamed mentally, of course all her friends had tours at the moment, that was the only reason she had wanted to see this confounded mare in front of her, she racked her mind desperately for anyone that she might be able to get to help her. “It’s unfortunate, but I don’t believe that I will able to participate then” Octavia eventually said “I was going to ask neon last night myself, but he was too drunk, and I doubt he’ll have sobered up properly in time to prepare” Vinyl said “but I have an idea that is so crazy it might work” she continued “What on earth did you have in mind” Octavia asked intrigued despite her better nature “Well, I’m willing to bet the judges will have never seen a combination of dubstep and classical” Vinyl said with a glint in her eye that made Octavia very nervous “What exactly are you suggesting Vinyl” Octavia said with a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach “Well, neither of us have partners, and we both have a reason to win this, so why don’t we team up” Vinyl said. Octavia searched her mind for any other ideas, but finding none, she was forced to consider the DJ’s proposal “Seeing as I have no alternative, I will accept your offer, however I must demand that you do not embarrass me” Octavia said “Alright! Let’s get to practicing” Vinyl said with a grin that was worthy of discord himself, Octavia had a feeling that this could only end in disaster, she only hoped that she was wrong, and that the crazy DJ she was looking at was actually the pinnacle of maturity. She highly doubted it.