Vinyl Scratch is Lyra's foster sister. Octavia just wants to get to know her better again.
“My foster sister just got here,” Lyra said. “Her name’s Vinyl Scratch, maybe you’ve heard of her?”
Octavia was about to say how ridiculous Lyra was being, and there wasn’t a chance in the world she’d have met this pony before, but for some reason the name did seem familiar to her.
The last light of the setting sun cascaded down the city streets of Canterlot, creating a picturesque view for those still outside. Among those enjoying this view, were the students from Canterlot High participating in the school’s orchestra.
Inside the school there still remained two ponies. A grey earth pony hummed to herself quietly, tucking her cello into her open case making sure everything was in place before flipping it shut and closing the latch. The first day of practice had been difficult for Octavia. While she had branded the conductor as a particularly mean individual, she somehow felt like he was focusing on her more than others. Before she could put more thought into the day’s events, a mint green hoof tapped her shoulder. She turned around, her eyes following the foreleg up to it’s owner’s familiar face.
“Ready to go, Octavia?” Lyra asked, a grin making it’s way to her face as usual.
“I think so,” Octavia replied trying her best to muster a smile of her own. The pair made their way out of the back of the auditorium, taking a few turns through the hallways before they reached the front entrance of the school. From there, they took a left down the sidewalk at a mildly slow pace. It wasn’t long before Octavia was poked in the side again.
“Yes, Lyra?” Octavia said, rolling her eyes.
“Guess what’s happening tomorrow?” Lyra asked, her grin still plastered on her face. Octavia was used to similar conversations that had happened to start in pretty much the same way.
“Is this the one about the robot-unicorn butler again, Lyra?” Octavia groaned, several previous memories coming to mind. “I thought I told you I didn’t want to hear that ‘based on a true story’ stuff again.”
Lyra shook her head, then raising a hoof to her chin as if in thought. “Well it is about a unicorn, just not a robot one, and hopefully she won’t try to kill us as well.”
Octavia stared at her incredulously.
“Okay, okay, let me explain,” Lyra said. “My mom kind of applied at some agency to be eligible to foster a pony. Then just the other day we got a notification that they found someone, and that they were going to be moving in soon, which happens to be tomorrow. ”
Octavia nodded, taking it all in.
“I’m not quite sure on all of the specifics though,” Lyra frowned. “My mom wanted me to do some kind of formal introduction and meet her like that instead of just reading information about her.”
“Do you even know anything about this mare then?” Octavia asked.
Lyra shrugged. “Only thing I know is that she’s our age and a unicorn.”
The rest of their walk was silent before they reached the door to Octavia’s apartment building.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Lyra,” Octavia said waving goodbye as Lyra continued down the street.
“Later,” Lyra replied over her shoulder.
Octavia pushed the door open making her way up a flight of stairs before stopping at the door to her family’s apartment. She then pulled a key out of the side of her cello case and slid it into the lock, turning it until it clicked and the door opened.
Octavia walked into the living room, not expecting anyone else to be home yet, she was surprised to find her mother sitting on one of the couches.
“Did you have a nice day at school, Dear?”
“It was fine,” Octavia mumbled, shifting uncomfortably. Her mother looked disdainfully at the instrument case on Octavia’s back.
“I thought you said you weren’t participating in the orchestra this year to focus on your studies like I wanted you do?”
Octavia flinched. “I had a little bit of a last-minute change in mind.”
Her mother sighed, shaking her head. “The chances of you becoming anything significant in the music world are quite slim, I thought I told you this before?”
“Yes, but-”
“Honestly I don’t why you’re even trying again,” Octavia’s mother interrupted, “Even ponies who don’t have musical cutie marks can become exceptional by practice, what makes you think anyone would take a second look at you?” Her mother paused for a moment, looking Octavia directly in the eyes. “I just want what’s best for you, Octavia. I don’t want you to throw your academic career away on pursuing an unrealistic endeavor.”
Octavia thought of several responses that would be frowned upon in public, but in the end only said nothing and stormed off to her room and slamming the door as loud as possible.
“Her own damn cutie mark can go buck itself,” Octavia muttered. Seeing first-hand how happy her mother was with her life, Octavia was determined to completely disregard everything that had just been said to her.
She slung the cello case off of her back and put it on the floor carefully. Flipping the latch, Octavia opened the case lifting the instrument out of its confines and placing it on her bed. A minute later, she was sitting on the edge of her bed balancing the cello carefully in one hoof with her bow in the other. Her enthusiasm had been reduced by the neighbors’ requirement of using a mute. Last time she had practiced without it, a complaint had come in from a particularly eccentric neighbor had sent in a complaint. It hadn’t quite helped with her parents’ standing on a musical career. The black object clamped over the bridge already looked out of place.
Octavia drew the bow across the strings, playing a couple lines from memory. It didn’t feel anything like when she had just played at school. The sound felt incomplete and broken to Octavia, the mute was obviously performing it’s job. She frowned, her hooves itching to rip off the mute and play the instrument as loud as possible, maybe even find a microphone with an amp.
Octavia frustratedly pressed the bow into the strings harder producing a sound not all that different from a rooster’s call. As calmly as she could, she placed the cello back into the case, making sure she wouldn’t damage it, before diving onto her bed and burying her face into her pillows.
“At least today was Friday,” Octavia said softly, cracking a small smile. There was some comfort in knowing the weekend was here, and the task of school was out of the way for at least a couple of days.
Octavia reached out blindly with one hoof for the radio on her nightstand next to her bed. A few moments later the relaxing notes of classical instruments filled the air in her room. Anybody who underestimated music’s ability to calm anyone down was clearly a fool in Octavia’s mind.
Octavia wasn’t sure how long she’d been lying there before she was jarred out of her trance by the noise of a buzzing cellphone. Octavia rolled out of bed, stretching her legs before picking up the phone. Recognizing the number to be Lyra’s, she accepted the call.
“Hello, Lyra.”
“Hey, Octavia, Guess what?”
Octavia was severely tempted to hang up right there. “What.”
“My foster sister just got here,” Lyra said. “Her name’s Vinyl Scratch, maybe you’ve heard of her?”
Octavia was about to say how ridiculous Lyra was being, and there wasn’t a chance in the world she’d have met this pony before, but for some reason the name did seem familiar to her. “I- maybe?” Octavia could hear indistinct muttering in the background between two ponies.
“Well she says she does,” Lyra said, “Something about your parents knowing each other when you were younger?”
“So you do know her then!” Lyra exclaimed, her voice echoing loudly through the phone’s speaker.
Octavia ran a hoof through her mane. “Yes, it’s just been quite some time since I’ve seen her.” She furrowed her brow. “Though I thought she was with her father still.”
“Do you think something happened to him then?” Lyra asked worriedly.
“Possibly,” Octavia said dully.
Ignoring this, Lyra went on. “How did you know her anyways?”
“It was because of my mother that I met her actually,” Octavia said. “She was collaborating on a project combining their mutual talents.”
“So, a sales pitch or something like that then?” Lyra asked.
“Not quite,” Octavia frowned, glancing at her cello case. “Mother hadn’t gotten into that field yet. Anyways, you wanted to know know how we met.”
~-~
9 Years Ago
“It’s so good to see you again,” Octavia’s mother said, pulling someone unfamiliar to Octavia into a hug.
The warm summer air of Canterlot’s Central Park put her at ease though, as well as the other filly sitting next to her mother’s friend. While their parents ranted on about something, Octavia was surprised to find the other filly suddenly directly in front of her.
“My name’s Vinyl Scratch, what’s your name?” She asked enthusiastically.
Taken aback by the abruptness of her speech, Octavia spoke hesitantly. “Uh- Octavia.”
“Octavia, huh?” Vinyl said, tilting her head. “That’s a nice name.’
“Your name is nice as well,” Octavia said politely.
“Thanks,” Vinyl replied.
They fell silent for a little bit after that, their parents still locked in conversation. Octavia with little else to do, looked Vinyl over again. Aside from her vibrant blue mane, another thing caught Octavia’s eye; her cutie mark. The fact that it was musically related already pulled her in, but the fact that the eighth notes were backwards really annoyed her.
“If you don’t mind me asking, why is your mark backwards?” Octavia asked, pointing at it.
Vinyl looked hurriedly down, seemingly panicked before relaxing. “What do you mean?” Vinyl asked in confusion. “It’s the same as it’s always been.”
“So you didn’t have some kind of freak accident with an accordion then?” Octavia asked.
“Uh, no?”
“Why are the eighth notes backwards then?”
“Are they?” Vinyl asked even further purplexed. “I didn’t know that.”
“Do you not know what eighth notes look like?” Octavia stared at Vinyl in disbelief.
“Nope,” Vinyl replied, smiling now.
“How in Equestria did you ever get your mark then?” Octavia seethed.
Vinyl shrugged. “It just kind of happened while I was screwing around on my mom’s computer.”
This was the last straw for Octavia. “How could you possibly even dream of composing without a basic understanding of sheet music?”
Vinyl seemed unphased by her outburst and simply said, “I’m gonna be a DJ of course!”
“Do they even let fillies into clubs?” Octavia chuckled.
Vinyl deflated a bit at this, before perking up again. “It’s a work in progress.”
“I’ll bet,” Octavia snorted.
“Well, what about you then?” Vinyl asked indignantly. “I don’t see you mark at all yet.” Octavia offered no response. Retreating slightly, Vinyl asked, “What do you think your mark might be?”
Octavia looked uncertain at this. “I’m not sure.”
“Well what would you like it to be then?” Vinyl persisted. “This should be easy to answer.”
Octavia smiled, it was easier to answer. “Something musical of course.” Octavia raised a hoof in thought. “Maybe my mother could help me with it, I could learn how to play a violin or something.”
Vinyl chuckled. “I kind of got that classical vibe from you anyways.”
Octavia tried not to let on just how much Vinyl’s words actually meant to her, restricting herself to just a smile instead of an excited, “Do you think so?”.
“Octavia, Dear, it’s time to go.” Her mother had finally stopped her conversation with Vinyl’s mother.
“Already?” Octavia whined.
“Yes, already. Come on now, we’re going to be late.”
“Bye, Vinyl,” Octavia said, being pulled gently away by her mother.
“See you soon, Tavi.”
‘Tavi,’ Octavia thought. ‘I kind of like that nickname.’
~-~
“And that was the first time we met.”
“It sounds like you two were adorable as fillies.” Lyra’s voice game though the phone cheerful and light-hearted. “I take it you saw her pretty often after that?”
“At least twice a month,” Octavia replied. “The release dates for their project always kept on getting pushed back for some reason, so they worked on it for years.”
“What happened then?”
Octavia pursed her lips. “I don’t think I am at liberty to say as it might infringe on Vinyl’s privacy.”
“C’mon, Octavia,” Lyra groaned. “If I’m going to be living with her I should at least know more about her if I need to help or something.”
“Then you can ask her yourself,” Octavia retorted.
“But they are your memories of this event as well,” Lyra shot back. “Please?”
‘I’m going to regret this.’ Octavia sighed. “Fine. I reserve the right to leave out what I need to though.”
“Fair enough.”
~-~
6 Years Ago
Octavia and Vinyl sat next to each other in Vinyl’s livingroom, talking softly. Octavia’s mom was somewhere upstairs with both of Vinyl’s parents. The day’s sunshine had gone away about an hour ago making everything seem darker in the house with just lights illuminating everything.
“How bad is it, Vinyl?” Octavia asked worriedly.
Vinyl looked completely grief-stricken, a shadow of the mare Octavia had come to know over the past couple of years.
“It’s really bucking bad,” Vinyl sniffled. “The doctors said they can’t do anything about it now.” Vinyl’s sniffles turned into full blown sobs as Octavia pulled her into a hug. “She’s terminal.”
Vinyl stayed in Octavia’s embrace until Octavia’s mother came down the stairs sometime later with Vinyl’s father. The look on Octavia’s mother’s face was almost a mirror of Vinyl’s, while Vinyl’s father maintained a stoic complexion. Vinyl reluctantly separated herself from Octavia, making room for her father on the couch, while Octavia’s mother took the armchair.
Octavia opened her mouth to speak, trying to think of anything to say, but quickly shut it unable to come up with anything that fit the current situation. When Vinyl’s father finally spoke, Octavia wasn’t listening anymore. She was watching her mother’s expression. To a casual observer, her mother might appear to be calm and collected now, but Octavia saw something different. To her, the look of disgust and hate was evident on her face. Octavia followed her mother’s gaze to find it on Vinyl’s father. It was obvious she knew something Octavia did not.
Vinyl motioned for Octavia to come with her to one of the other rooms to give their parents space. As Vinyl tried to get up thought, her father made her sit back down. “Keep out guests company, will you?”
Vinyl seemed to grimace. “Okay, Dad.”
Octavia’s mother intervened quickly. “We’ll be fine. You and Octavia can go play.”
Octavia started in confusion at her, but Vinyl was already halfway out the door, so Octavia quickly followed her out instead.
A couple hours later, Octavia and her mother were standing outside the front door after saying their goodbyes. Her mother looked dejectedly at the house. “I don’t think you’ll be seeing much of Vinyl anymore, Octavia.”
“Why not?” Octavia asked in shock.
“Without Juniper anymore…” Her mother trailed off, an unreadable expression on her face. “Her father wants her to focus more on other things rather than being with friends now.”
Octavia sniffled quietly, taking one last look back at the house.
“It’s probably for the best,” Her mother said softly, as if trying to convince herself.
~-~
“That was the last time I saw her,” Octavia said quietly. There was no response from the phone. “Lyra, are you still there?”
“Yeah, I just,” Lyra trailed off, her words faltering. “It’s a lot to take in.” Octavia nodded, even though Lyra couldn’t see her. “What do you think happened with her dad?”
Octavia scowled. “Nothing good, that’s for sure.”
“Listen, I’ve got to go,” Lyra said, “We can talk more tomorrow.”
“Goodbye, Lyra.”
“Bye.”
Then the line went dead, leaving Octavia feeling completely alone in her room. She was tempted to walk into the other room and make amends with her mother at that very moment, but felt it wouldn’t be the time for it.
Spotting her cello again, her idea from before popped back into her mind. Opening her door and making her way down the hallway, she found herself at the closet. She clicked the latch, and pulled it open, her eyes scanning its dark interior.
On the floor of the closet she found what she was looking for, an amp. She dragged it out of the closet, and with some effort, into her room. She was satisfied with it, until she realized she was missing something. Making her way to the closet again, she looked for a microphone. Finally after a moments searching, she saw it on the top shelf of the closet next to a brown cardboard box.
Stretching to pull it down, she took at swipe at it and missed, accidently hitting the box and making it fall from the shelf. She tried awkwardly to catch it with her other hoof, but only succeeded in possibly breaking its fall. It made a noise similar to glass breaking as it hit the ground. Octavia stood as still as she possibly could.
“Octavia, what was that?”
Buck. “It was a box falling,” Octavia called back hesitantly. Honesty was the best policy in her mind, but maybe not in this case. She could hear her mother jump to her hooves before hearing more quickened steps coming down the hallway.
Her mother instantly scooped up the box, checking to see if it’s contents were unbroken. From Octavia’s view, she could see rounded black edges poking out of the top of the box, while the side had a label on it with, ‘Col. w/J. Alb. 1-3’ squeezed onto it.
Her mother sighed in relief. “Oh, thank Celestia they’re fine.” Octavia’s relief was short-lived as she looked suspiciously back at her. “What were you trying to do anyways?”
Deciding honesty was the best policy in most situations, Octavia replied, “Nothing, Mom.”
She seemed to let Octavia’s flimsy answer drop, Putting the box back at the top of the closet. “Just remember to do your homework at least, Octavia.”
“I’ll get right on it,” Octavia called over her back, sprinting down the hallway back to her room.
The late morning rays of sunlight seeped into the Heartstring’s residence. With both of her parent’s out for the day, she was left alone with Vinyl who was sitting at the dining room table while Lyra was busy in the kitchen making breakfast for the two of them.
“So, where’d you live before this?” Lyra asked across the Island separating the two rooms. She had an idea that it was somewhere closeby from Octavia’s story yesterday. Vinyl didn’t seem to look uncomfortable at her rather forward question.
“Just a town over or so,” Vinyl said vaguely. “I’ve been to Canterlot a couple times, but that was only when…”
“When what?” Lyra prompted.
“My Mom’s projects,” Vinyl mumbled.
“Oh.”
Vinyl’s response seemed to show everything she was feeling in Lyra’s eyes. The blatant way she talked about her mom showed many nights of tears that had long since run out. There was something to fill every hole in Lyra’s opinion, she wondered what it was with Vinyl.
“It’s not like it’s a secret she’s dead or anything,” Vinyl replied good-naturedly, the past seconds seemingly forgotten. “I wouldn’t be here if nothing happened.”
Lyra gave Vinyl an odd stare. Just the tone in which Vinyl had replied put her off, scattering anything she was thinking about before.
“I guess,” Lyra said hesitantly.
Trying to redirect the conversation, Vinyl asked, “Any thoughts on what we're doing today?”
“We have all day until about six for dinner back here,” Lyra said thoughtfully. “Maybe we should meet up with Octavia somewhere?”
Vinyl’s eyes brightened. “That’d be fantastic, I haven’t seen her in so long.”
“I’ll call her after we finish eating,” Lyra said, crunching on her own food.
“What’s she been up to recently?” Vinyl asked, taking a bite of her own food, “Anything new?”
“Define new?” Lyra asked. Despite Octavia’s insightful stories from earlier, she still had no idea what either had been or were doing when last they had met.
“I dunno,” Vinyl said. “Just anything different, you know, joined a jazz band, composed heavy metal, founded a cult. The usual stuff.”
Lyra blinked. “Uh, no? She is in the school’s orchestra with me though.”
“Playing the violin, then?”
“No…” Lyra trailed off. “Why would she be playing that?”
“She’s doesn’t play the violin anymore?”
“Just the cello as far as I know,” Lyra responded.
“Cello,” Vinyl mused. “Wonder why.”
Lyra didn’t say anything to this, in favor of finishing off her breakfast. She gathered up her dishes, and made her way to the sink. “You done with everything yet, Vinyl?”
Vinyl popped up next to her a few seconds later with her empty plate and her mouth completely full.
“Mmph.”
Lyra sighed. “Thanks for the plates, Vinyl.”
Vinyl mumbled something back that sounded like, “No problem”, but it was hard to tell. Vinyl wandered off somewhere in the house while Lyra washed the dishes. It wasn’t long before she put the last dish into the washer.
“I’m gonna call Octavia now,” Lyra called upstairs. No response. “Vinyl?” She called again. Still no response. She made her way up the stairs, reaching the upper hallway. The door adjacent to her one was closed shut, light could be seen streaming through the bottom crack.
Walking up to it, she knocked on the door thrice, once again with no response. Growing concerned for Vinyl, she opened the door. Vinyl was sitting on the other side of the room, facing away from her at a desk with her laptop in front of her. Loud music was audible from the headset she could see Vinyl wearing from across the room.
Lyra made her way over to Vinyl’s side, tapping her shoulder. She didn’t even seem to notice that. Finally Lyra resorted to pulling one side of the headphones away from Vinyl’s ears.
“Vinyl!” she shouted, causing her to jump and fall off the side of the chair.
“Oh hey,” Vinyl said sardonically.
“Don’t give me that, I tried everything else,” Lyra said.
“Whatever.”
Lyra glanced at the computer screen. “What were you doing anyways?”
The screen had several applications open on it, but also on screen were several music bars with various instrument names with patterns following them.
“Was messing around with music while talking with some ponies I knew,” Vinyl said, closing the laptop.
“Ah,” Lyra said. “Anyone I might know this time?”
“Just a couple of my exes.”
“But there were more th-” Lyra stopped mid-sentence.
“What?” Vinyl glared.
“N-Nevermind,” Lyra backtracked. “I just came up here to let you know I was going to call and see if Octavia was available today.”
“What are you waiting for, then?” Vinyl grinned, all traces of previous resentment disappearing.
“Alright,” Lyra chuckled awkwardly. “Didn’t know you were that excited to see her.”
“You’d be too if you hadn’t seen a friend in forever,” Vinyl retorted.
Lyra simply snorted, trying to keep down her laughter while she dialed Octavia’s number on her phone. The phone rang twice before it was answered.
“Hello?” Octavia’s voice came through the phone loud and clear.
“You’re coming over,” Lyra said flatly.
“When? I just-”
“Now.”
“But I have-”
“No buts!” Lyra stated emphatically. “Right now.”
She heard Octavia groan through the phone. “Five minutes.” Then she heard the phone go dead.
“She’ll be over soon,” Lyra said to Vinyl.
“Awesome.” Vinyl was already lost in her computer again, but not without a discernable positive difference in her demeanour.
“I’ll uh, leave you alone then I guess.” Lyra said awkwardly. “To get ready, that is.”
“Alright.”
Lyra backed out of the room, shutting the door. After a few moments she could hear music emanating from Vinyl’s room, this time louder than before. Going into her own room she could still faintly hear the music.
“That mare,” Lyra sighed, rolling her eyes. For the most part, Vinyl seemed okay to her in the short period of time they had known each other. She stared at the analog clock in her room, counting down the minutes until she expected Octavia was supposed arrive.
Lyra began to hum a tune softly before transitioning into singing the same song she was humming. She must’ve lost track of time because it wasn’t before Vinyl opened her door with the pony she was waiting for standing right next to her.
Lyra cut off her attempt at singing, coughing awkwardly. “Hey, fancy seeing you here...”
“Fantastic singing,” Octavia said, her voice filled with mirth.
“Just let it go,” Lyra groaned, pushing past them into the hallway.
“Funny you should talk about let it-”
“NOPE.”
“Whatever you say, Idina.”
The pair followed Lyra down the stairs to the first floor.
“When did you get those glasses, Vinyl?”
“Oh, these things?” Vinyl said, taking them off her head. “Eh, a while ago. It helps with the DJ image.”
“They still don’t let you into clubs, do they?”
“Uh- well.”
Lyra sighed at their antics, pushing open the front door. “Let’s go get ice cream or something.”
“It’s the middle of winter,” Vinyl stared blankly.
“Exactly,” Lyra grinned. “No lines!”
Vinyl couldn’t argue with that. “Fair enough.”
Octavia still looked pensive. “Are you sure about this?”
“Please, Tavi?” Vinyl said pulling back her ears making her eyes as wide as possible.
Octavia displayed admirable restraint for all of about two seconds. “Fine, Vinyl.”
Vinyl was still wearing a triumphant smile by the time they were at the corner of their street. They started off towards the center of Canterlot, Lyra checking the street signs frequently to make sure they weren’t going to get lost. The closer they got to the center of town, the more the flow of moving ponies increased.
“Is it always like this here?” Vinyl asked, sidestepping a pony who ran by them with a briefcase.
“Pretty much,” Lyra said, getting off the sidewalk in an effort to stay next to Vinyl and Octavia. “This is definitely one of the busier areas of Canterlot though, being the center and all.”
Two turns and a side street later, they reached their destination. The sign on the shop simply advertised, ‘Ice Cream’, in plain red block lettering. Vinyl gave Lyra an unimpressed look, while Lyra gave her a look that seemed to say, ‘Just wait’.
They pushed the door open, stepping inside. The place gave off a retro vibe with its alternating black and white tiles. The parlor was completely empty besides the stallion behind the counter.
“Welcome,” he said. “What can I get for y’all today?”
Lyra stepped up to the counter first, giving Octavia and Vinyl time to think. “Can I get a mint chocolate chip sundae please?”
The stallion nodded, taking a few scoops and plopping them into a silver bowl. “Anything on it?”
Lyra’s eyes sparkled. “Do you have any of those chocolate, what are they.” Her brows furrowed trying to remember. “Oh right- bon bons.” A few of those went onto the dish.
Vinyl poked Octavia’s side. “Bon bons on ice cream?”
Octavia shrugged. “It’s something they do here, Lyra likes them a lot. She tells me it’s good at least.”
“If you say so.”
Lyra finished making her order, walking away to get some napkins, prompting Octavia to order next. Octavia ordered a generic sundae while Vinyl went for a more unconventional butterscotch.
At this time, Lyra came back insisting on paying for all of them. A minute later they were all seated at the seats by the parlor’s front window, giving them an adequate view of the street.
“This ice cream will blow you mind, Vinyl,” Lyra said, already having taken two humungous bites out of her ice cream.
Vinyl glanced at the various plaques tacked onto the opposite wall, stating various awards for competitions. “I guessed it might be pretty good,” she said, gesturing to them.
Octavia nodded. “This place has been around at least as long as I’ve been here. It was founded by a couple sharing a particular affinity with ice cream apparently.”
Lyra piped up. “It always sticks with the original flavors they started with though.”
Octavia took a spoonful of her own bowl. “The classics always are the best.”
Vinyl snorted putting down her spoon, clearly trying to contain her incoming laughter.
Octavia stared at her. “What’s so funny?”
“Its nothing- I just- youknowwhatnevermind.” Vinyl tried to put on her most innocent grin as possible. Naturally, she looked more suspicious than before.
Octavia gave Vinyl another sideways glance. “Right.”
Vinyl took this opportunity to taste her own dessert. Her eyes grew as wide as saucers. “where has this been all of my life?”
The others were too busy with their own ice creams to say anything to this. It wasn’t long before they heard the saddest sound in the world; the sound of a spoon hitting the empty bottom of a bowl.
“Well that’s depressing,” Lyra sighed.
Vinyl gave a sorrowful look at her own bowl, Octavia thought that Vinyl might even burst into tears.
“We can come back here some other time,” Octavia reassured Vinyl.
“Easy for you to say when you’ve been here before,” Vinyl complained.
They left after returning their empty bowls to the counter.
“Hope to see you soon,” the stallion called after them.
Finally outside, the cool crisp air hit them, almost making Vinyl regret eating ice cream. Almost.
“Where are we going anyways?” Vinyl asked as they stood on the sidealk.
“No idea at all,” Lyra said. “Back home, I guess?”
Vinyl smiled. “Oh, right.” Home. “It is home isn’t it?” She lived with someone who was now her sister, ponies who were now her parents. It was a nice feeling, to have a home where you felt you belonged.
The trio strolled down the sidewalks back to their street, wrapped up in idle conversation. On their way home, several shops had ended up catching Vinyl’s eye, consequently causing them to make frequent stops. The temperature began to drop to lower than it had already been that day, and they all were beginning to shiver slightly. The streetlights were on by now, illuminating the slight darkness that had began to set over Canterlot. It wasn’t long before they turned the corner onto their street, which remained void of activity.
Octavia looked up at the sky and frowned. Their trip had taken a lot more time than she thought it was going to. “I really should be getting back home now actually.”
“Already?” Vinyl pouted.
“If I get home any later, there are certain individuals who wouldn’t be thrilled by it,” Octavia gestured towards her home, before wrapping Vinyl in a quick hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Vinyl and Lyra watched Octavia dash off down the street. Vinyl shuffled around a bit, all of her enthusiasm and cheer from just a few moments ago felt gone to her. “Let’s just go back to your home now.”
Lyra nodded, not having heard all of Vinyl’s words due to a sudden gust of wind. “Sounds good to me.”
They closed the short distance to the house, and Lyra opened the door, quickly stepping inside out of the cold. Lyra collapsed onto the couch, stretching herself out. “Why does it have to be so cold here?”
Vinyl seemed rather unamused at Lyra's antics.
"Where are your parents anyways?" Vinyl asked. "I thought they were supposed to be home by now."
Lyra's smile faltered for a second. "This happens sometimes," she said waving a hoof. "It's not a big deal, they'll probably be home soon."
Several hours later, the Heartstrings still hadn't returned. Which had forced the embaressed Lyra to make dinner for the two of them.
The pair had eaten dinner in relative silence. Only interrupted when Lyra was reassuring Vinyl that their parents were indeed coming home. Vinyl noticed that Lyra was shifting around nervously for the majority of the meal as well. She vaguely wondered if it was because of her and not just her parent's absence.
They apologized to Vinyl, saying they had been held up on their way out and simply lost track of time. The plain truth was, Vinyl's impressions of them were already flimsy.
Any bravado that had disappeared from Lyra earlier had returned in full force. With her spouting off about random things without any real reason and trying her best it seemed to distract Vinyl from something.
Vinyl shrugged it off, attributing it to her tired conscience. She said goodnight to everyone and headed upstairs to her room, turning off her lights and flopping onto her bed.
To Vinyl, not much had really changed from moving to here so far with adults. At least the other ponies her age seemed nicer than back in her old home. All of the two she had met so far. And it was really just one new pony in retrospect.
In her old school, she had grown up with plenty of friends. Between middle school and high school though, standards had seemed to have changed without her even realizing it.
Suddenly her friends weren't able to hang out as often as they used to, claiming schoolwork to be the reason.
Then there was the topic of relationships. In a little over a year she had multiple exes that had barely lasted a week.
Ideas began to pop into her head every time she broke up or was broken up with. Am I not good enough? Is there something wrong with me? Is it my fault things didn't work out?
Complete and utter panic. Then a few days later, she'd be dating someone else again.
She wasn't sure why she kept on the way she did, but she had. The idea of not having someone to say she "loved" was terrifying. And she expected the same back. Vinyl wanted to believe they weren't incapable of trusting each other. She wanted to believe they weren't expecting anything from her because she dated around. She wanted to believe she wasn't lying to herself.
It was easier now, away from the source of her discomforts. Away from all the ponies in her old school. Away from the stress and anxiety her father presented. Right now, life seemed to be on an upward trend for her.
Plus there was the idea of having a family again. She hadn't been with the Heartstrings that long yet, but felt comfortable being around. She made sure to be more careful around them though, she didn't want to make the same type of mistake again with trusting in others too easily.
Vinyl rolled over on her side and sighed, sleep seemed impossible to her right now. It had been for a while. She reached to her side blindly in the dark, feeling for her laptop. It took her a bit before she pulled it over to her and flipped open the screen.
She began to play around with various instrument noises and other assorted sounds. It was going to be a long night.
In the room just adjacent to her, Lyra was struggling with a very similar problem. She opted instead for just staring at the ceiling with music playing softly from her radio.
Her thoughts were more focused on the day's events rather than the distant past however.
She wasn't sure how much worse the night could have gone. The Vinyl Scratch that had been there during the day was definitely not the same one that had stayed once Octavia had left to go home.
During the entire day, she was sure Vinyl had gravitated towards Octavia. Lyra didn't feel like she knew all that much more about Vinyl except that she still seemed like an okay mare.
That was the problem. Then later, Lyra felt like she had been invisible back home to Vinyl. She wasn't Lyra, foster sister. She felt more like Lyra, Octavia's friend.
If Lyra hadn't known Octavia she was sure that Vinyl wouldn't have said nearly as much to her as she had. Vinyl might have even hated her, there was no way to be sure.
Vinyl had essentially locked herself up when Octavia left. Lyra assumed it had something to do with their familiarity with each other. She couldn't be certain though, maybe Vinyl had simply been worn out from her whole ordeal.
I'll have to get to know Vinyl at her own pace, Lyra decided. Octavia clearly needs to give me lessons on how to effectively hold a conversation with Vinyl.
Lyra's mind wandered further, thinking more about Vinyl. She knew a bit about Vinyl's personality from seeing her today and what Octavia had told her. It really wasn't enough for Lyra.
One thing she had noticed was Vinyl also possessed some type of interest in music of some variety, more than likely electronic. Lyra was sure that could work in her favor.
As the last note of the song drew itself out, Lyra decided that everything that day could have gone worse.
Trying to be a sister was hard work, but tomorrow was full of opportunities for her to try again.