> Vinyl and Octavia: Roommates Are Magic
>  by Jam Rocker
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> What Have I Done...?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

   What have I done...? Please, somepony tell me, what region in my mind thought it was okay to become roommates with Vinyl Scratch? I mean, sure, she was a nice pony in reality. She's honest, funny, beautiful, she has a nice flank (not that I stare at her flank, heh heh)... But I've seen her apartment before. And I know the things she does when I'm not around. I mean, seriously, in her last apartment, she had a pee corner! And she owned a bathroom! And it was even more disgusting when she tried to hide the pee corner with  a chair, and I sat there for the whole day wondering what the smell was! In conclusion, I must've been high or something when she asked me if I wanted to buy an apartment with her. 

So, if you haven't concluded already, I'm Octavia Philharmonica, a professional cellist who, at the moment, is living in Manehattan. By some weird chance, I've happened to stumble across a pony named Vinyl Scratch, and since the five months we've met, I guess you can say we're best friends now. The whole friendship started out as arguing to musical theories, and then our friendship began to bloom. Away from Vinyl being a complete slob and maniac, and she's actually great! It's just that... you know, she's a snob. And here home is a wreck. And now we're moving in with each other. 

When moving into the apartment, not only was it a pain in the neck, but my fears were just getting worse. Vinyl Scratch, DJ PON-3 of Equestria, was the hoarder of assorted junk. She owned four disco balls! "It's one for each room! I even got a mini disco ball for the bathroom! Cool, huh Tavi?" She said. Does this mean she's going to have parties in each room? Because I've seen that before... And let me tell you, it was not pretty. Away from her disco ball collection, she had her DJ sets, collection of headphones, about fifty pairs of socks (yeah, I don't understand either)... She even had a box just for broken records! "I'll fix them someday!" She said, throwing them into her closet. She had fifty pairs of her purple tinted glasses, of course. I've only took a three-second glimpse at her eyes once, and let me tell you why she covers them... It changes color! I swear, when I saw it, it was first purple, and then it was red! I think that's why she never told me what color it was. It's because there is no permanent color! I will get back to that theory when I see her eyes again. 

The rest of her things were simple too messy to comprehend. The only real furniture or kitchen things that she brought in was just a coffee machine, a small sofa, and these two weird contraptions... It's a washing machine of some sort, and something she calls her "bass cannon". I'm not completely sure what it is or how it works, but I know it will only end in destruction... I was terrified by almost everything she moved (even her coffee machine), but it was the last box that simply had me in awe. It was a black case. It was a medium size and had a shape of a violin, but was just bigger, and I've seen it before...

"You play the viola, Vinyl?" I said, grabbing the case with my hooves and looking at her in surprise. She automatically grabbed it back with her magic and blushed madly. 

"What the! Oh... Um... This isn't what it looks like!"

"Oh, this is exactly what it looks like! You play the viola! I didn't think you'd play something as classy as this!"

"It was just in middle school okay?" She put it back in the box and closed it. "I don't play it anymore, but it's what got me into music..."

Is Vinyl showing... feelings? Wow, never in my whole life of knowing her, have I ever seen her show feelings!

"Wow, Vinyl. I didn't know you had it in you. Are you showing... feelings?" I smiled and gave her the "puppy eyes" look.

"Wh- hm- sdaw- HUH?" Vinyl couldn't even form words now. This was great! "I'm not showing feelings, nor will you ever see me show feelings!"

"Oh, hush! I just saw you show me what I saw were feelings! I saw them with my own eyes!" 

She threw the box into her room. "Oh, whatever..."

"Wait!"

"What?"

"...Can you play me a song?" I grinned as hard as I can. 

"What!? No! I told you already, I don't play viola anymore."

"Then why do you still have one?"

She stood silent for five seconds. Score one for team Octavia!

"Because! I... umm... keep it for the memory!"

"Oh fine, fine. I'll stop teasing you... For now." I gave her a sinister look.

"Okay... " She looked at me, scared of what I was planning. "So anyways, since this is the first day of our apartment together, I was thinking we celebrate!"

"NO." 

She followed me into my room, saying "please" thousands of times.

"Please, please, please, please, PLEASE? I can invite Lyra and the gang! I have beer!" 

"Next time. I want to enjoy the first day! And you know I don't drink!"

She gave me that "Are you serious?" stare. 

"Oh, that's not what you said last time when you were at the club, and you started grinding on me after drinking-"

"DON'T TALK ABOUT THAT! I told you to never speak of that moment as long as I live!" 

"But that night was so awesome! Octavia, your are the drinking master! You're better than me! You have to embrace your gift!"

"The only gift I have and will ever embrace is plaiyng my cello... And cooking. That's it! I'm not a drinker!"

By the time we were done moving, it had already become eight o clock. We spent the rest of the night watching The Trotting Dead (choice made by Vinyl Scratch), and debating our almighty debate of whether dubstep or classical is better (it's been months in the making, but I think I'm starting to win). 

I yawned. "Okay, well, it's already eleven. I think I'm going to sleep."

"Okay. Well, I'll be up early tomorrow to work on some stuff. Do you want me to make breaky?"

My eyes went wide, and I turned around instantly. I wasn't going to let the Disaster of 11 happen again. 

"NO! No, please. I'll make breakfast. Just... let me do it. Please."

"Okay... Goodnight Tavi!"

"Goodnight Vinyl."

Well, that wasn't that bad. Maybe I'm just overreacting on the whole situation. Vinyl seems suitable to be a roommate, I'll probably just have to clean up her mess time by time... I can't believe it. I think this might actually work. Well, I think I'm going to sleep now. 





I popped up in the Blueblood Concert Hall stage, looking forward as thousands of ponies were cheering and screaming my name. My cello was leaned up on me, and from what it looked like, I just finished one of my songs. They were throwing roses, flowers of all sorts. 

"Octavia! That was the most beautiful concert we have ever seen! Rolling Stones just declared you as best musician in the world!" The suited spokespony handed me a Rolling Stones magazine with me on the cover.

"Oh my! Thank you so much! I've worked my whole life for this!"

"You also won a Nobel Peace prize!"

"Why?"

"For being amazing!"

The crowd cheered even louder as I was handed the award, and I stared in awe as I grabbed it. 

"You also won the lottery, but that's not important now. Princess Celestia is here to congratulate and thank you."

"Princess Celestia? Why is she thanking me?"

Princess Celestia walked gracefully up the stage, and bowed down to me. I watched in pure amazement.

"Octavia Philharmonica of Manehattan, I came here to thank you for defeating Discord and Chrysalis yesterday. Without you, Equestria would've surely been destroyed. With that in mind, I'd like you to take my pupil's place and become one of the Elements of Harmony!"

"OH MY CELESTIA. Are you serious? What element am I taking?"

"Magic!"

"Why magic?"

"Because your music is magical!"

The crowd started to loudly cheer again as Celestia magically put the crown on my head. This was the best day of my life!

Suddenly, the crowd went silent as the horrid sounds of things unimaginable started to play in the backround. 

I know this sound... My eyes squinted and my nose crinkled when the word popped in my mind. Oh no... Dubstep.

Everyone turned around to see Vinyl Scratch, on her turntables at the back of the concert room. 

"This concert was boring as buck! I know what you guys would like... MAH BASS CANNON!" 

"NOO VINYL DON'T DO I-"

An explosion of sound blew all my flowers, my magazine, my peace prize, my element crown, away to oblivion. Everyone in the crowd ripped off their suits and dresses and turned around to dance to Vinyl's music. 

The spokespony came back up to me, with my mouth still open in surprise. 

"I'm sorry, but Vinyl was changed to best musician, your nobel peace prize broke from the blast of that pony's cannon, and you didn't actually win the lottery. See ya!" He stage dived into the crowd as he left. 

"This next one goes out to Octavia, with a special message from me," Vinyl said, talking into the microphone she had. "WAKE UP!"

I woke up in my bed and snapped to a sitting position, breathing heavily from the dream I just witnessed. Everything was back to the way it was, except one thing... I still heard the music from my dream. 

Why? Oh Goddesses, why, of all things to stay the same from my dream, it had to be Vinyl's music!?

I walked tiredly out of my room and to the kitchen, to see Vinyl not on her turntables, but at her dishwasher?

"Oh, good morning Tavi, just cleaning some of the dishes from my old apartment." She screamed over the obnoxious music that came from the machine.

"Why is your dishwasher making such loud noises!?"

"It cleans the dishes with wubs! It cleans them with a microscopic level! HOLD ON..."

She turned off the machine and took one white dish out. I noticed it's shine, and how clean it was from how it was at Vinyl's apartment. But I wasn't going to go through that whole dishwasher just to have slightly cleaner dishes... I think I'm just going to hoof-wash them. 

"So, what's for fast-break, oh might grey one? How was your Noble Peace Prize?"

From how annoyed I was that morning, she still got me to chuckle. 

"I'm thinking pancakes. And how'd you know about my dream?"

"Octavia, you have the same dream like all the time. You're in the concert hall, ponies cheer for you, you win all these random stuff, then it all gets destroyed by whether me, or your alarm clock. You even mumble your thank yous in your sleep!"

She started to imitate my accent in a straight face, and I started to laugh.

"'Oh, why thank you so much Princess Celestia, I've always wanted to be an element!'"

"Oh, stop it! Just let me make my pancakes in peace."

"Yeah, okay... Oh yeah, and I invited some ponies over this afternoon for a... small get together."

I looked at her and gave her a "What are you thinking?" look.

"Small get-together?"

"Yupp." She smiled.

This was going to be a long day. 





Hey you guys and gals! Jam Rocker here. So this is a small idea I had and I just wanted to see how this would go. This is going to get crazier and weirder throughout the story, so just wait. I hope you enjoy!


   

   

   
> Fire Coming out of The Apartment's Window
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

   "SMALL GET-TOGETHER, YEAAAAH!" Vinyl Scratch screamed at nowhere in particular, as ponies of all colors started to come into the new apartment. It was only twelve in the afternoon... It was only the first official day of the new apartment... And there were like fifty ponies in the confined space! What the buck, Vinyl!? Small get-together, my flank!

I walked towards Vinyl Scratch, slamming my hooves to the floor with each step (not that anypony could've heard it, due to the loud music that banged my eardrums). When I found her in the kitchen, she was drinking a beer and talking with two other ponies who I didn't know at all.

"Vinyl, you wretched she-devil!" I whispered very loudly into her ear. "You said it was going to be a small get-together!"

"It is! All these ponies are getting together in a place that's small!" She gave me an open-mouthed grin. "Get it?" 

"You..." I didn't want to say what I wanted to say, because I had some words in my mind that would've even put Vinyl to shock. "How many ponies did you invite?!"

"I only invited ten ponies! I swear! But then those ten ponies started to invite other ponies, and those ponies started to invite other ponies, and then they made this event on Hoofbook... On the bright side, at least these ponies seem well mannered!" 

"FLAMING POTATO ON THE LOOSE! WOOOO!" A green-maned stallion screamed in the kitchen, throwing it to one of his friends at the other side of the room. His trajectory with his throw went horribly wrong, causing him to throw the potato straight out of the window. 

The music was turned off, and silence ensued throughout the apartment. We lived at the second floor of the apartment complex. Everypony listened as the potato hit the floor... Or something. I'm pretty sure an old pony just screamed, "OUCH." More silence was assured in the apartment.

"...Don't worry guys... BECAUSE I HAVE ANOTHER FLAMING POTATO! WOOOOOOH!"

The whole crowd cheered, the music was turned back on, and ponies went back to dancing and drinking or whatever they were doing. 

"...Well mannered, you say?"

"I swear, I did not invite him!"

"Well then, who did you invite?" 

"Okay! I invited..." She looked up to the ceiling to speed her thoughts. "Lyra, Bon Bon, Derpy, Time Turner, Carrot Top, Colgate, Beat Snapper, Jam Rocker, Eleanor, and Pinkie Pie!" 

I gasped at when she said the last name. 

"Pinkie Pie?! Pinkie Pie's here!?!"

"Well, she has to come all the way from Ponyville, and I gave her a late invite, so I don't think she's here... at the moment."

The door slammed open, and the pink mare ran in, got onto her two hooves, and put on a menacing look, breathing heavily. Everypony stopped again, staring at her from the door. The music stopped and the room went silent.

"Everypony..... LET'S GET THIS PARTY-"

"Small get-together," Vinyl corrected.

"-SMALL GET-TOGETHER STARTED!"

In a blink of an eye, she brought out her party cannon, and sent it exploding with a smash of a hoof. Everypony cheered loudly, and the whole party sped up. This is why I feared Pinkie Pie. Once Pinkie Pie is at a party, it doesn't become a party anymore. It becomes a moment in history... And I'm not sure if that's meant to be positive or negative. 

I stared with a twitching eye at the sight that was going on in my new living room. All the stains... All the trash... I can already smell odors that I didn't want to smell when I come to my so-called "home"... This was becoming another Vinyl apartment!

My train of thought crashed when a burning food item hit me in the face. Noticing it was on fire, my eyes went wide, and I picked it up and threw it out the window before it had a chance to burn my hooves.

"Stop it with the flaming potatoes, will you!?"

The green-maned stallion scoffed and turned off the stove. 

Vinyl Scratch came back to me in the kitchen after five minutes of dancing. Here was another chance for me.

"Vinyl, stop this party immediately! The neighbors will complain! Ponies will call the police on us! Do you really want to clean up this mess!?"

Vinyl chuckled. "First off, it's a small get-together. And from what I noticed, all of our neighbors are here, small get-together-ing, and this apartment is pretty separated from other buildings for anypony to call the police. And don't worry about the clean up, I got that handled. I got this planned Tavi, I actually looked over this stuff before agreeing to the apartment." She winked at me, and then turned around to the fridge. She opened it and took out a bottle.

"Octavia, you need to lighten up. You know what you need?"

No... Don't do it Vinyl, please don't be what I think it is.

She smacked the brown bottle onto the table and smiled deviously. I swear, beer was a refreshment made by Discord himself.

"Vinyl! I'm not drinking! You know what happens when I drink!"

"You're amazing when you drink! Please, at least try to enjoy the small get-together! Just have one beer. All I'm asking is for you to have one." She showed me her puppy-dog eyes. Buck... I hate those puppy-dog eyes.

"Just have one beer. For me." She patted my back and trotted back to the living room. All the other ponies that were hanging out in the kitchen followed Vinyl, so it ended up with just me in the room. The beer and me. I stared it down like it was poison, waiting for me to drink it and die. I've had bad problems with alcohol, and I didn't want to go back to the same problems before. 

Just have one bottle, Octavia, lighten up. My inner voice said.

"Nooo..." I answered back.

It's a party, you have to enjoy yourself at a party... 

"Small get-together... ther... ther..." An echo-ish voice of Vinyl corrected in my mind.

...Small get-together...

"No drinking...?" I said, sweating as I stared down the bottle some more. Beer is so delicious, so wonderful, so tasty... It was like sunshine in a bottle.

Vinyl told you to drink. You don't want to let Vinyl down, don't you?

"No I don't... But drinking is nothing but... b-but trouble."

It's just one bottle. Do it for Vinyl Scratch.

"Wubs wubs wubs wubs wubs...." The echo-ish voice of Vinyl came back into my mind. I ignored it. 

"Okay..." I gave up. I grabbed the bottle and opened the top with the refrigerator cap-opener. "It's just one bottle.. Right?"

I put the bottle to my mouth and took a gulp of the drink. My eyes went wide in amazement, and I started to drink more. And more.... And more.... I drank so much that I had to stop just to catch my breathe. I checked the bottle and found that I finished it in one take. 

Oh my goddess, it's been so long since I've had a beer... 

As I said before, beer was like sunshine in a bottle. And oh boy, do I love sunshine... I went to the fridge, got another beer, and drank that one until I was finished. I was still fine, right? I can control myself... After one more beer.

I finished that beer. Maybe I'll have another one.

I finished that beer. I'll have just three more...

That one felt like it had less than the other beers. I'll just have a couple more in case...

Wow, I didn't notice how great this small get-together was!





Hey you guys and gals! Wow, this was a really fast update. I would wait until next week to take this out, but I didn't think the first chapter was enough to introduce this story overall. I just wanted to put out a little more... Don't expect updates to be this fast. Anyways, enjoy! Comment, like, and favorite! 
   
> Vinylmania 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

   I had a dream that there were three ponies. They were all mares. They had tattoos of things I didn't even want to know, printed right above their skull cutie marks. We were all in a dark alley, and I was crowded by the local dumpster. The two other mares held me up by my two front hooves, and the main pony just kept punching me. She kept punching and punching, hitting me in the face, at the stomach, on my shoulders... But as she kept punching me, sparks were coming out of my body. Something was happening. I was transforming! I kept getting punched and punched, but as the punching kept getting even more numb, it happened.

I transformed into a squirrel. 

Now, you may think I'm pretty crazy, right? Well, I woke up on the floor of my new living room, smelling like sweat, farts, and beer. Lots and lots of beer. I felt like I was digging my nose into a hobo when I woke up to my own scent. 

I hate beer. 

I flipped to my other side, dazed and confused. It felt like hours since I had fell to the ground, and I had no idea what had happened since I started chugging down those bottles and bottles of beer from the afternoon. 

Oh no... I'm becoming a Vinyl!

I sat up, and started to notice my surroundings. Everything was dark, toned down, everything even had a small purple color to it.

"Vinyl," I said, slurring my words a little bit. "Where are you? Why is everything so dark?!"

A purple Vinyl walked up and crouched down to me, smiling.

"Hey, buddy. You're finally awake. How do you feel?"

"I feel tired. And smelly. And sweaty. Why is everything so... distorted!?"

"Oh, you're wearing one of my shades. We put it on you halfway through the small get-together. Do you want to take them off?" 

Oh. 

"Yes, please."

She magically lifted me to our green couch, and propped me up. Wait... Green couch? I thought the one we moved into the apartment was blue... I'd have to consult that with her later. 

"Okay, I'm going to lift these glasses up. Things are going to change a lot, and it's probably going to sting a little bit."

"I got it, I got it... Just, take them off. Please."

She slowly lifted them off, and I found out what she meant about it stinging. Everything went from dark, calming, purple to an instant, bright reality. I see why Vinyl wore it all the time. It was like a pain reliever for her whole view of this world. I also see why she can take all of her partying without dying from headache. Now I just have to learn how she goes through all her concerts without blowing her ears off... Is it secret ear plugs? Sound inducing headphones, maybe? The world may never know.

I squinted my eyes and closed them away from the last bit of sunlight coming out the window. It looked like it was just about sunset, and that made me just put my head back down to the couch.

"What time is it? What happened?" 

"Uhh..." Vinyl looked to the middle of her hoof. She wasn't wearing a watch... "It's about seven o' clock. Almost nighttime. And that, my dear Octavia, is a long story."

"Only seven? I'm surprised they all left so early."

"Oh yeah, they all left." She gave me her toothy grin again. "They were starting to turn it into a party instead of a small get-together, so I kicked them all out before the small get-together had it's time to transform. They took the so-called 'party' to the local park." She scoffed. "Who needs them anyways?"

"Oh... That's good." I blinked and squinted while trying to open my eyes again. My head slightly throbbed of pain, but I still wanted to know the answers. "So, tell me what happened. Did I do anything stupid?" 

"Umm... Uhh... Ehhh....." She looked away from me.... Or I think she did, glasses and all.

"Tell me Vinyl, I need to know."

"Again, it's a long story. Do you really want the truth? You can't handle the truth..."

"Vinyl, I can handle the truth. And everybody is gone. I can take a long story."

"...Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure that you're sure?"

"Yes."

"Are you completely sure that you're sure that you're sure?"

"YES VINYL, JUST TELL ME." I grabbed the pair of shades that she had just took off me and put it back on. My headache was starting to come back.

She sighed, then smiled. "Okay, Octavia. If you ask for it."

She looked to the corner of the ceiling and pointed her hoof at it. I... I don't even-

"VINYL'S P.O.V., YEEEEEAAAAAAHHHH!"





Hey guys! It's Vinyl Scratch, a.k.a., DJ PON-3, the badest pony around! So, I like to make dubstep music, eat food, make pranks, bake (though I'm not good at it), fool around with Tavi, swim-

Vinyl, get on with it!

Okay, okay. Sheesh Octy, so pushy... So, going back to the party. 

So, after performing my wonderfully crafted plan to get Octavia to drink some beer, I left the kitchen and started dancing with Pinkie Pie and the folks. The music was blasting, the ponies were sweating and drinking, and it was a regular day in the life for me. After about ten minutes of dancing, that's when it happened.

Octavia came out of the room, drunk as buck, and screamed/slurred out, with her accent and ladylike stuff almost completely gone, "HEY PONIES, YOU CALL THIS A PARTY-"

"Small get-together," I corrected her. I needed to make sure ponies knew about that. Parties and small get-togethers are completely different things. 

She pointed at me with one of her hoofs. "Buck you." I squealed in joy. I never saw drunk-Octavia often, but everytime I did, it was a blast.

"Anyways, you call this a small get-together!? I'll show you guys how to small get-togethefuasha!" She almost fell down when she said that. Everypony cheered anyways. 

She took another pony's beer and started to dance with me in the middle of the living room. And let me tell you, it was hot! 

Vinyl! How dare you!

Like, figuratively and literally! Away from all the body heat and sweat, she was there, dancing and grinding all over me.

...

There's only been about two other times that I've seen Octavia really drunk. And I think this has been an oncoming occurrence... Everytime she gets really drunk, she always grinds up on me. One time, there wasn't even any music! She just got to me side, and started to grind me up! Like, is this supposed to be sign or something? 

Ehh... Uh... fsahddasdiuahiuhda

I never tried to take advantage of her when she was drunk... But dang Celestia, she always makes me think about it! The grinding is very powerful, and let's just say it gives me very dirty thoughts... Wink wink.

So anyways, back to the story. So after an hour of dancing/grinding, she starts to mumble stuff that I couldn't even understand. Away from the really loud music and her mumbling, it went a little like this...

She put her hoof on my back. "Vvvinyl... you're like, the.. the... the best-sfdha.... And like, I-I want youhu tooooo do somethang for me..." She then got up to my ear and whispered. 

"Put me..." Mumble, mumble, mumble. "...Bed, then pound..." Mumble, mumble, mumble. "...So hard, that I scream..." Mumble, mumble, mumble. "And then I'll put my mouth on..." Mumble, mumble, mumble. "...And I don't care if I can't breathe, I'm going to stick my mouth in so far..." Mumble, mumble, mumble. "...Be so sexy, and I'll want you to spank..." Mumble, mumble, mumble. "...Flank like a cherry, and you'll scream with joy too." 

OKAY, I CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH, I CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!

Sorry Tavi, we went too far to stop. ANYWAYS... 

I was so surprised when she told me this! Though I didn't hear it all, I can guess what she was talking about. After she told me, she started laughing, gave me a wink, and headed to the fridge again to get more beer.

You gotta love drunk-Octavia. 

Well, after that, the whole day went like a breeze. Fifty more people came in, Octavia drank like fifty more bottles of beer, more dancing all of that. Let's see what Octavia did throughout that time...

She broke three of my records, made like twenty more flaming potatoes to throw out the window, threw up a few times... She kept jumping on ponies' backs screaming "WHERE'S MY PONYBALL!? I NEED TO CATCH YOU!" (I have to admit, that was funny as heck)... She put our couch on fire! That was awesome! 

Halfway through the small get-together, she even put one of my shades on and acted like she was DJing the party! That was great! 

So by five o' clock, she was partying and dancing and grinding some more (she even gave me a few kisses, but I'm not going to talk about that for now), and then she just collapsed! Just fell down in the middle of dancing and went to sleep! 

After that, me and the ponies had a discussion on the small get-together turning to a party, and they all left to the park! 

Well, that's all the important stuff that happened for Octavia's drunkenness. VINYL SCRATCH, OUT.





"Well, that was eye-opening..." I said, sitting down on the couch regularly now. (It's me, Octavia. Thank Celestia that I'm back.)

"Yeah.... It was pretty awesome actually, if you ask me."

I sighed. Why did this always have to happen? The grinding, the dirty talk, the nonsensical things I do... It's all a big routine everytime I'm drunk! 

I decided to distract myself from the topic, and looked around the room.

"Man, this place is a wreck... How are we going to clean this up."

Vinyl gave me her trademark grin again. "Again, I had this all planned out. My cleaning ponies should be coming any second now..." 

The doorbell rang.

"Like right now!"

She opened the door, and ten mares with cleaning suits came in. 

"The whole place! Just scrub everything until it looks new again." Vinyl told them, and they nodded and got to work. "Well, they're not going to be done for another two hours or three. Want to go out to eat or something?" 

I had no choice... But I was also really hungry. I nodded, washed my hooves, tried to look as clean as I could, and we walked out the door. 





So here's a new chapter. This chapter's not really that important, just explains what happened throughout the whole small get-together... It was necessary, I swear! Heh heh... Anyways, I hope you enjoy, point out any mistakes if you see them, blah blah blah... ALSO! This is a little thing I'm starting to try out. Since chapter two, have you noticed the weird chapter names? Well, they're music references that I'm always trying to make up and make noticeable enough. So for the first people to tell me what chapter 2 and 3 are referencing to, I'll try to get their O.C on the next chapter. Let's just see how that goes, and maybe I'll do it on every chapter. So... yeah!  

   

> Classy Mares (Don't Kiss in Bars)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

   "Vinyl, are you serious?" I hissed at the white pony beside me. "After I get hungover from too much beer, you expect me to go to a bar with you?"

"We won't drink, I swear! Or at least not too much. Maybe I'll have myself a bottle... I didn't get to drink at the small get-together, yah know?" 

Vinyl Scratch and I walked into the local bar, taking a seat by the windows and waiting to be ordered. Vinyl had such a way of doing things.

What does she call it again... Post-appreciation? Yeah, right now, she's post-appreciating the small get-together.

You see, when Vinyl does things in her life, she rates them by excitement with a mental scale. For example, let's just call ten a really awesome day, and one being a smash-your-head-into-the-wall-until-you-pass-out experience. 

There's two rules to this mental scale: You can go from a low number, like a two, automatically to a high number, like a seven, but you can never go from a high number, like ten, down to a low number, like a three. That's recalled as "dangerously boring at a really fast pace" to Vinyl Scratch. So the thing she does to avoid the really fast slope from a high number to a low number is post-appreciation. This is pretty much just a small version to whatever exciting thing she does so she doesn't go dangerously down on the mental scale. Like, if she was going down from a ten to a two, it's like putting a six in the middle.

Do you get what I'm saying?

So, for example, if she just had a great time skiing, she'd hang around at an ice-cream parlor before going home. Or if she just had a great time being a DJ for a club, she'd have an after-party hangout before ending the great day. For the small get-together she had just had now, she's post-appreciating it by going to a bar. This was all unconsciously planned out; I've been through it enough times to notice. 

"So, what are yah going to order, Octy?" Vinyl said, then drinking her bottle of beer that she got at the front counter. I looked to the menu quickly, forgetting that we were there to eat.

"Uhh... Huh. I guess I'll have the number two..."

Vinyl spat her drink to the side of the table.

"What?! What happened!?"

The white mare burst out laughing. "Ha! Y-you want... to eat p-poop!" 

Same old Vinyl.





Five months and thirteen days ago

The Music Go Round, a nice little music shop at the outskirts of Canterlot, and one of my most favorite places to go. Not only do they have the greatest sounding cellos around, but they have any instrument you can possibly name, from nice guitars to omnichords at the whatever-year-and-can't-find-anywhere-else edition. In a nutshell, this was my heaven on Equestria. 

I went there on a beautiful Summer afternoon, and I took a seat to where all the cellos were. I took down a regular-sized cello, a brown hazel finish and carved etchings to the sides to be exact, and began to play my music. 

I closed my eyes, let the music take it's course, let it breathe through the cello and through me, and let everything I thought go. There were reasons why my cutie mark was a clef: I don't mean to brag, but that was my talent. I was a music mare through thick and thin, and it's one thing that will never leave me. 

(Now, don't you go around asking me why my cutie mark is a treble clef when I play on bass clef! It was the first clef I began to learn to read, okay!?)

It was five minutes before I squinted my eyes open and noticed a white mare looking towards me from behind a stack of violin cases. She had blue-flared hair, headphones leaning from her neck, and glasses that made her look mysterious. She had her eyes closed and smile on her face, as if she were letting the music through too. When she opened her eyes and noticed me glancing at her, she gave me a smirk, and then walked away.

Who would have known... The first time Vinyl gave me her trademark smirk.

I sighed, and decided to play on with my music. Five minutes later, that's when I heard it.

Scratching sounds, drums beats, sound effects... Everything that sounded like a complete mishmash of trash, yet sounding so well when put together. There's was also something put in there, something that made it complete, something that sounded so... familiar.

It was the cello music I was just playing!

I put down the cello and walked down the hallway of the music store. I followed the sound, making my way until I was finally to the other side of The Music Go Round, the electronics area, to be exact. And there she was.

The white mare was working on the turntables, hitting what looked like hundreds of buttons and making beats while my cello music looped. I couldn't believe what I was thinking, because I thought it sounded great! 

She finally noticed that I was there watching and blushed.

"Uhh... What's up?" She put her headphones off her ears.

I closed my mouth that was just hung down with amazement. 

"What did you just do?"

"Huh?"

"Right now, with my music, and those... things."

"Oh." She scoffed. "I just remixed it, duh."

"How did you- what did it-... Huh?"

"I heard the sleepy cello music, so I brought a recorder and recorded it while you were sleep-playing. After that, I just brought it back, starting doing work on it, and here we are now!" She grinned. I felt insulted.

"Sleepy!? What do you mean 'sleepy cello music'!?"

"Uh, it was pretty boring music."

"First off, I was not sleep-playing, I was becoming one with the music. I was letting it speak for itself, and letting the music takeover. Second, it wasn't 'sleepy cello music'!" 

"It was too!"

I smirked. "Really? I opened my eyes for a second, and you looked like you were enjoying it. Quite a lot, actually."

She blushed. Score one for Octavia.

"Well you looked like you were enjoying my music! Your mouth was hung down and your eyes were wide open and everything! Looked like you were pretty amazed to me." She smirked again.

Dang it. Score one for mystery mare. Tie game. 

"Well, I was, and, BLEH!" I was flustered from the conversation, so I decided to just let it be and leave. 

"Wait!" I heard her say, climbing off the turntables to talk to me some more. "Is it okay if I use your cello music for my next album?"

"Album for what? Who are you, anyways?"

She grinned again. "I'm Vinyl Scratch, a.k.a., DJ PON-3, famous DJ and dubstep artist."

I looked at her with a straight face. "I never heard of you."

"WHAT? Well who are you?"

"I'm Octavia Philharmonica, the lead cellist for the Equestrian Quartet and symphony." 

"Ha, I never heard of you either."

"WHAT?"

"Exactly. Now can I use your music?"

I thought of it for a second, and thought that if she was going to use it, I might as well got some cash from it.

"Well, there are some copyright regulations I might have to do..."

"Well then let's talk about it!" With her magic, she took out a black record and a pen, and started to write down something onto the cover of it.

"Here yah go, Octopia. Meet me at my studio in Manehattan next week so we could talk about it. I gotta run, gig stuff and all that crap. Seeya!"

She put it on my back and ran out with a mixtape before she had the chance to hear me scream, "MY NAME'S NOT OCTOPIA YOU IDIOT!" 

I looked at the record when she left. It was her first debut record, and to the top of it, it said in messy writing, Vinyl Scratch, 902 Lumineer Drive, Scratch Studios, and her number. 

And that's how I got to meet Vinyl Scratch. Yes, I met her all because I wanted the money. Who would've known that the bits were going to get me a best friend too?

In all seriousness, she did take out the song, and it became one of her best hits on the CD. She was going to call it "Octopia", but I begged her not too, for many reasons.





We ate, we talked, and Vinyl drank like twenty bottles of beer (that evil little substance). Yes, I made sure not to drink any, for three reasons.

One: Beer is evil.

Two: If I drank more beer, I would probably die from alcoholic poisoning. 

Three: Who knows what evil would happen if me and Vinyl drank a lot together.

Away from that, it was the life. 

"Hey Octavia, didn't think I'd see you at a bar this late, heh." I turned my head to see a reddish-brown stallion in a black vest, holding a notepad in his bag. 

"Story Weaver! I haven't seen you since college! Working in a bar, I see."

"Yeah, well, my new story is still in editing, so I need a second job to keep my bills paid. I actually kind of like this job, yeah know."

I smiled. "Good! Good."

"Heh. Well I'm here to give you your bill. Just leave it on the table before you leave," He said as he waved back to me while walking away.

"Will do! Thanks, Story Weaver." 

As I put my bits to the table, I looked at Vinyl, who was putting her face against her arms in a sleeping position. I sighed. 

I pushed the beer bottles away from Vinyl and pushed her lightly.

"Vinyl... Vinyl? It's time to go."

She twitched and looked up with confusion. "Whah? Mom?"

"This isn't your mom. It's Octavia. And we've been at the bar for three hours and then you passed out." 

She started speaking in gibberish before finally replying something I could understand. "Mustard... I love.... I love orchestras... Their so preeeettty...."

I burst out laughing. I couldn't let an opportunity like that pass!

"Oh you do now? More than dubstep?"

"Sdoasds... Yes?" She replied before putting her head back to the table. I laughed some more.

"And what do you like about orchestras, little Vinyl Scratch?"

"You." She said sleepily. 

What. She meant that as a friend right? Maybe she was just drunk or something, and all of this were just a lie....

"Octavia, I needa tell yah somethin... Come here."

"What?" I moved closer to hear what she was saying. 

"Closer..."

I moved in closer.

"Closer than that, Tavi..."

I moved in so close that my ear was just an inch away from her face. She then put her hoof to my cheek, turned my face towards her, and did something that I never thought she'd ever do.

She kissed me. 

After five second of confusion from me but complete focus from her, she let go of the kiss. 

"You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do that, heh..." Her face slammed into the table and she was out cold.

"Wh-wha... WHAT?"





After much struggle, I managed to get Vinyl Scratch home with the help of Story Weaver and his friends. We put her right onto her bed, and she continued her slumber in peace. 

The home was spotless too, so that was good. There were no stains or smells that I disliked, and it looked as new as when Vinyl and I bought it. It almost looked newer than that. I would've been in awe, if I weren't distracted. 

Now, that kiss. How do I even react to something like that? I mean, I can't say I didn't enjoy it... 

But that's wrong, Octavia! How would my family react if I went out with a crazy DJ mare? What would my friends think? How would I even think about myself like that?! 

I mean, Vinyl is great... Ponies don't know her like I do. She's actually nice and caring, but also adventurous and fearless. Everything I wished I was. And I can't deny that she's cute... But I'm not... And she's probably not... and how do you even know if... sudhifauiiuiu.

I think I'll sleep this all off. She probably won't remember what happened anyways. 





Hello! Long time no see you guys and gals. Well, this is out now. Sorry for such a late update, I've been on a writer's block and I've been procrastinating A LOT... But I'm happy this is out now! Sorry if it was a little rushed at the end, but I had to put it in if I wanted to start the romantic play. Also, new chapter title reference, and in my opinion, it's a hard one. Ha. I put a hint of the band name in the story somewhere, so you can try and find it and the name of the song if you want your O.C in the story! Thanks for reading. 

   



   

   
   

   

   

   
> 99 Problems (And Vinyl Scratch is One)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

   Silence. 

Can you hear silence? Is it just a stupid oxymoron, or can you actually hear the silence in things? Like, if you've spent your entire life listening to the backround sounds of birds before you slept, then one day, it suddenly stopped?

Some may fear silence, but me... Oh Celestia. Silence is like a dear old friend, one that I never see often, but one that I love. 

There may be many negative effects to a drunk Vinyl Scratch, but the one positive effect is that due to her crazy night of blurs, she's too tired to do her daily routine of whatever she wants to do in the morning. So no weird sound-making contraptions, no early morning DJ sessions, no Resident Evil Pony playing, just silence. 

Now, you may be asking why I miss silence when I've just been living with Vinyl for two days. But let me tell you this: I live in Manehattan, and my best friend is a crazy DJ party mare. I've heard police alarms, screaming maniacs, and at very occasional times, Vinyl calling me at two in the morning because she's scared after watching Ponynormal Activity 3 by herself or whatever the reason is. Also, there's been hundreds of forced sleepovers from Vinyl, and at many hard times, hitting rock bottom and having to move in with a friend for a couple days. Vinyl and I both! 

Okay, I'm getting off topic here... So in conclusion, it was surprisingly a very peaceful night, and one that I cherished. Maybe except the dream... My dream was a little different from the usual nightmare of losing my Nobel Peace Prize. 

It was Vinyl. And the weirdest thing is that it was just... Vinyl. No random outburst of her destroying my original dream, just her. Sitting on a park bench. With me. 

What does that even mean? 

I was interrupted from my thought of the dream to hear Vinyl's door opening, and her hoofsteps clonking to the kitchen. I checked my clock, and noticing that it was already 10:00, I decided that it was perfect time to come up to and have some breakfast with her. 

I walked through the white hallway that separated the rooms from the kitchen and living room to find Vinyl at the dinner table, half asleep while waiting for her coffee to brew. Her blue hair was more ruffled than usual, and her front hooves were on the table and leaned up to her face, which she put down to cover her face from the light. 

"Good morning Vinyl Scratch," I greeted, her head popping up with slight confusion.

"Oh, hey Tavi..." She put her face down to the table without her hooves covering. "Man... What happened last night? I think I blanked out at the bar..."

"Yeah, you did." 

"Oh... Well, what happened?"

I blushed lightly, memories of the yesternight coming back to my mind. I decided that the detail of the kiss was best to be untold. (Yes, yesternight is a real word. Don't let any other pony tell you differently.)

"Uh... You just passed out, and I got some of my friends that worked at the bar to carry you back home. That was it."

"Dang it." She scratched her head on the table and sighed. 

"Why 'dang it'?" 

"Oh, nothing... It's dumb... It's just that I had this dream, and yeah... Nevermind."

... Oh please don't tell me she remembered the kiss ...

"What was the dream about?"

She blushed lightly too.

No. Celestia, take mercy on me! 

"Oh! Um... Space..." I couldn't tell for sure (her shades and all), but I was positive that she was looking around the kitchen. "Toasters! These crazy toasters... From space. I was hoping they were real because... I love space toasters."

If she had pants on, she'd be rolling on the floor in flames.

"Oh, that's... Peculiar. Heh." I heard a ring from the kitchen counter.

"There's my coffee! Heh heh... You want a cup?" 

Escape the awkwardness, Octavia...

"Yes please." 

After a minute, she magically put the cups on the table and we took a second to drink. 

"Hey, Octavia..."

"Yes?" 

"What day is it today?" She looked at me with a serious and straight face. She had to be kidding...

"...Sunday."

"Oh, oh yeah... I knew that... Wait, what? It's Sunday already!?"

I chuckled. "Yes, it's Sunday. Good thing your work is in the afternoon, or you'd be fired from your own record company."

"Why would I fire myself? I'm like..." She puffed her chest out. "DAH BOSS. And plus, today is a slow day. Just work with this one stallion, work on album, then I'm done!" 

"Man, you lucky mare, getting paid for almost nothing at all."

"Hey, I do my work good, and you know that!... Wait, what are you gonna do all day? Your work doesn't start until Monday."

"Yeah, huh..." I thought about it for a while. I might as well do the whole weekend with Vinyl since it was still the first weekend of moving in. Plus, Vinyl's studio is pretty interesting, and dare I say, fun. "Would you be okay if I came with you to your studio? Just to observe, maybe?"

She gave me her trademark grin. "Octavia Philharmonica, of course you can. You know the buttons and place and stuff in the studio and building, so you can help out in case I need an extra hoof! It's just me today, anyways." She grinned even more. "And after, we can go eat or something... Or see a movie! You down, filly?"

I sighed and acted like I was thinking about it. She always thinks that I think about accepting her plans, but I really don't. One of the reasons I spend time with her is because she's actually really exciting and fun, but I don't admit that to her. That would be like giving money to the pony who stabs you with a knife, it would just help the succumbing evil. 

"Yeah, I guess. But I get to pick the movie."

"What?! But I'm planning a surprise! I'll let you play in the instrument room in the building for exchange of that privilege!" 

"You already let me play in the instrument room, automatic privilege."

"I'll let you do whatever you want in the building! I'll give you my passkeys!" 

"You already let me have that privilege too!" I smiled. I was winning.

"Well I'll take away that privilege if you don't let me pick the movie."

"Fine, fine... You can pick the movie." 

"Yes! Quick, make breakfast. I have to be there in an hour and a half to get the equipment ready." 





"So daffodil sandwich or daisy sandwich? Or fruit salad! That's pretty much equal to a daisy or daffodil sandwich," Vinyl said casually as we walked the sidewalk near the tall, grey building to Vinyl's recording studio. 

"Does it really matter?" 

She stopped and gasped. "Yes! The qualities of such sandwiches and salad can be the difference to a good lunch, or an awesome lunch! But it's to the opinion of our separate taste buds to choose for ourselves! It's a pretty big deal."

That... Was actually pretty well said from Vinyl.

"If that's the case... What fruits are in the fruit salad, what is the size of both the fruit salad and the sandwiches, and can you add condiments to such sandwiches?"

"Apple, grapes, watermelons, oranges, and maybe a slice of pineapple here and there. The bowl that the fruit salad is in is the same as two cereal bowls from the apartment, and the sandwiches are as big as three quarters of a foot long. Also, yes, but only mayonnaise." 

"Hmm... I guess I'd get the fruit salad. More choices of fruits than just a sandwich."

"Interesting choice... We're here!" She stopped at tall grey building that were the same as all the others, but instead of the dilapidated paint that were upon the other ones, the one that Vinyl's studio was in had new refurnished paint, and a shiny gloss to all the windows. 

We walked inside to the change to walk over the red, smooth floors, and clear white walls with pictures of artists and musicians from a plethora of different times. Vinyl's studio wasn't the whole building (it was only a floor that was shared with another artist), but the building she chose to work in was the most ravishing of any one in Manehattan. It was ironic to me, that a dirty DJ pony like Vinyl would be making her sweat-making music from a beautiful building like the one she worked in. 

We walked through the front desk worker to the elevator on the other side of the gigantic room. 

"Good afternoon Ms.Scratch and Ms.Philharmonica," the light green pony at the front desk said at Vinyl and me. 

"What's up Frosty?" Vinyl asked the pegasus with a half smile and half confusion. Frosty was the stallion that worked the front desk.

"Pretty good, pretty good. How's are you two this fine afternoon?" He  smiled.

"Oh, cool, cool. We just moved to an apartment together," She bumped the side of my stomach. "Had a small get-together yesterday, small get-togethered, then we got drunk. I should invite you next time, Frosty. Never seen you party before." The elevator finally opened, and she waved a hoof back at him before walking in. "See yah!" 

We went up the elevator shaft to floor five, to where Vinyl and another stallion (and on occasion, two) shared the whole floor to their music businesses. In retrospect, that was completely fine, great actually, because not only were the booths completely sound proof so one business wouldn't affect the other, but there was more than fifteen rooms on the whole floor, and Vinyl owned seven to herself (the extra room between Vinyl and the other stallion was the lavish bathroom). For Celestia's sake, Vinyl had so many rooms, that she made herself a sleeping/play room, just in case she was so caught in her work that she'd just go across the hall and sleep there! 

"So Deadp0ny is coming by in twenty minutes to do some collab stuff with me, and I have to get my equipment ready." She handed me her white passkey tied with a light-green lanyard. "Here's the passkey. Do what you want, just stay low so they don't notice I give you my passkey for stuff, heh." 

I grabbed the lanyard. "Okay,Vinyl. I'll be back in an hour to check on you too." I winked as I was walking away and left the room. 

Yes. This is the moment I have been waiting for. The passkey that Vinyl gives me is like a key to heaven itself.

The passkey allows me to go to any room that requires you to own property in the building, and let's just say that those rooms are, as Vinyl says it, "awesome as heck". They have buffet kitchens! They have instrument rooms! They have an exercise room, a reading room, a swimming pool, and so much more! I went back into the elevator and pressed the button for floor twenty-three, where the buffet was. 

When the elevator finally dinged, I went down the hall to the left, all the way to the golden doors that said "Dining Hall". I inserted the passkey into the side slot, the door dinged just like the elevator, and I was let inside. Through the doors was a beautiful and humongous dining hall, with the fancy tables, waiter pones, and everything. The whole finesse. Vinyl always disliked the Dining Hall because of the classy music they play, but she always made it through them. Away from that, one of the reasons why I love the Dining Hall is because all ponies come, from the high-standard classy ponies, to the ponies just like Vinyl. And both types seem to be okay with each other eating at the same place! It's quite a innovation, if you ask me. 

I went inside and took a seat to one of the unused tables. It looked like a slow day, today, so only a few ponies were there. I sat up and prepared to get my food (it was still a buffet in the end, even with all the fanciness).  

After a few minutes, I got back to my table with my food carried by a waiter pony. I didn't get too much food, just some salad, an apple pie, and a banana. I have to keep my posture, you know!

After about fifteen minutes of eating, I became full and was left there with my thoughts while listening to the classy music on the radio. I thought about my job. I thought about the new apartment. And for the most of it, I thought about Vinyl. After thinking about it, I've come to notice that I know barely anything about her! Of course I know about the regular, best-friend-gotta-know type of stuff, like what's her favorite color (VInyl's is blue), what's her favorite food (daffodil sandwiches), what's her favorite place to go (it's the same as mine, Music Go Round)... But what about her family? How'd she end up in Manehattan? I haven't even seen her eyes, for Celestia's sake! Vinyl has got to be one of the most mysterious ponies I've ever known! And for the one question that makes may be a little bit awkward... Which type... Or what kind of... Er... How... Which type of pony is she accustomed to liking...?

Oh, whatever... DOES SHE LIKE STALLIONS OR MARES!?

I mean, any other way, that would be completely fine. Studies show that a good forty percent of Equestria is gay/lesbian, so it's not that big of a deal anymore. But the fact that I don't know if Vinyl is or not makes me a little bit worried, and it would change everything if she was (not changing the way I look at her, but the whole kiss-kiss situation would change). Wait a minute... I don't even know if I like mares or stallions! I've never been attracted to anypony in my whole life! Is that bad? 

"Umm, hello, Octavia?" A small voice said from behind me, while tapping my shoulder. I got out of my thinking phase to look behind me.

"Oh, greetings Highwinds!" I said. Highwinds was this light-blue pegasus that is the marefriend (or some friend) to the pony next door to Vinyl. It wasn't a surprise that she was using the passkey of him, just like me using the passkey of Vinyl. 

"Oh, thank goodness, you replied. I saw you here and I was trying to call you for the last five minutes. I thought you weren't Octavia since you didn't reply."

I blushed and checked the clock. I was sitting there thinking for twenty minutes... 

"Oh... Sorry." I said blushing. And then I did some type of "squee" sound... I don't understand how ponies do that. 

"It's quite fine. Would it be alright if I sat down with you? You seem lonely."

"Yes, of course! And I was just thinking. How's Treble?" Treble was the pony next door. 

"Oh, Treble's fine. Always busy as always. How's Vinyl?"

"The usual... She had a 'small get-together' yesterday... Then she got drunk and she k-" Oh wait. I'm not supposed to mention that. "...couldn't get up, so my friends and I had to carry her home. Heh." 

"Really now? I thought she'd be nice to you. She talks about you all the time. So how was your-"

"Wait, what was that!? She talks about me all the time?"

She scoffed. "Of course! I'm not here with Treble everyday, but on almost all the days when I'm here and I see Treble and Vinyl talking by the water cooler, she's usually talking about you. To me, it sounds a lot like a crush..." She leaned up to the table and winked at me.

"Oh man..." I rested my hooves and face on the table.

"Oh, do you not swing that way? Sorry I went a little too far."

"No... It's not that I don't swing that way... Or I'm not sure. It's just that this whole predicament is confusing me."

"Predicament?"

"Highwinds, can you keep a tiny secret for me?"

"Of course."

If I wanted to find out more about this Vinyl situation, I had to let her know. I explained to her about the kiss Vinyl shot at me while she was drunk, and all the things I've been thinking since it happened. I talked about how I was confused about what kind of pony I liked, and if I liked Vinyl that way... After about twenty minutes, I explained all of it to her.

"So..." I said, leaning up to the table like she did before. "What do I do?"

She had leaned up against her chair since I started talking. She had her hoof on her chin like she was thinking too.

"I think you're making this too complicated. I can end your problems with just two, maybe three questions, you know."

"Really?" 

"Yes. But you're going to have to be honest to me. Not the usual 'Vinyl did something crazy and I got mad' type of things you usually tell me. You have to go deeper than that, okay?"

I gulped. "Okay."

She smiled. "Okay. Here's my first question. You ready for it?"

"I'm ready."

"Who is Vinyl Scratch?"

"...What?"

"Describe her to me."

"Um... Vinyl Scratch is a DJ that makes dubstep music... She likes to party, do her job, and she likes to watch movies and go to restaurants, even though she gets kicked out of half the ones she goes to... She's exciting, adventurous, she doesn't like following many rules, and she likes to change things up everyday, which always seems to surprise me. She's also really comfortable to get along with. And some may be surprised, but she's really nice. She orders soup when I'm sick... She can't make soup. Last time she tried that, my apartment almost caught fire, heh. Did I mention she was a horrible cook? Away from that, she's really great. She's the closest pony out of anypony who isn't in my family... She's kind of amazing."

"You're smiling."

"What?"

"You're smiling. You smiled when you said most of that."

She was right. And I didn't even notice.

"Next question," Highwinds said, sitting up straight. "How do you feel when you see Vinyl? Be honest."

"Um... I feel a little worried everytime I see her. I never know what she plans."

"Is that all you feel? Just worried?"

"Well, of course not... I guess you can say that I also feel... Excited. Excitedly worried. And... Happy. She's one of the only friends that's ever been really close to me, and she's fun to be with. She's makes me feel like I'm not that uptight like how everypony says I am." This time I noticed I was smiling when I said that too.

"Good answer." She looked smug.

"Yeah... So is there anything else? How did that help?"

"Well, I have one more question."

"Yes?"

"After hearing yourself say all of that, tell me. Do you like Vinyl Scratch?" 

How did she do that?

"...Oh Celestia. I think I might like Vinyl Scratch! What will she think!? What will my mother think!? And what if she doesn't like me back!? I've never been in this type of situation in my life!"

"Don't worry, from what I think, Vinyl might like you too."

"But what I do!?"

She looked me straight in the eye with the seriousness of a... Serious pony. 

Not the best metaphor I've had. 

"Just be yourself, Octavia."

I stared back into her eyes until I noticed the clock behind her. 

"Oh, it's already three o' clock... I told Vinyl I'd be back in an hour." I got up and hugged Highwinds. "Thank you for everything."

"It's all good. Tell Vinyl I said hi. And good luck!"

I gulped. 





I got back to Vinyl's studio to find Vinyl sitting next to dark-blue stallion with a big mouse head on. Some DJs can be very peculiar. 

"Oh, hey Tavi! Perfect timing! We were about to record, and I needed someone to handle the outside of the booth while me and Dead here jam it up."

Play it cool, Octavia. Be yourself.

"I'd be happy to help." I said, smiling. 

"Good! Oh yeah, and this is Deadp0ny. Deadp0ny, this is my partner in crime, Octavia."

We shook hands. Shaking hands with a giant-head mouse pony that plays music. That's a first. 

"Dang Tavi, why do you look like you're sweating? Did you go to the exercise room or something?"

Play it cool... This is like any normal day, Octavia.

"Oh! I'm just sweating because it was so... Humid in the Dining Hall. And Highwinds said hello."

"Oh okay. And Highwinds... The marefriend of Treble?"

"Indeed."

"Cool, cool. Well, let's get on with this!" 

Vinyl and the other DJ went inside her black encased music booth, while I just stayed out to help them record. There's nothing to it, really. All I had to do was make a new file on the computer, press the big red button on the giant sound board, press it again when they're done, then repeat the whole routine for every new song. There was just one problem...

They played about thirty songs. 





"Whew!" Vinyl panted while walking out the booth. "Well, that was awesome. It was fun working with yah, Deadp0ny."

He bowed his big mouse head, then it flashed on the whole screen of it, "Thanks Vinyl S."

What kind of witchcraft is this?

"Hah! You're the bomb. See ya!" 

I waved at him before he left the room. 

"Isn't he just the best? A big mouse head. Who would've thought that?" Vinyl said, chuckling at the door he just left from.

"Well you wear big funny glasses."

"Awe. That was low, Tavi." 

We laughed together. Maybe this wasn't as hard as I thought. 

"Wait, what time is it?" 

I checked the clock on her computer desktop. "Seven. Why?"

"Movie time! Dang it, it starts at 7:20, so we got to go now if we're going to walk there..."

"Wait, you didn't even tell me what movie we were going to see!"

"It's a surprise!" She did her trademark grin. Evil is bound to happen.





"They made a Ponynormal Activity 4?" I asked, looking at the movie titles above the theater. 

"Yup! It's a sequel to the original, and not all those lousy prequels." She scoffed. "Come on!"

"Seriously, Vinyl Scratch? Out of every movie, you have to pick this one?"

She looked back to me with a devilish smile. "Are you... Scaaarrreed?"

I blushed. "No!"

"Well, come on!"





It was dark. Cold. Quiet. There are times when silence is your friend, and there are times when silence is your sworn enemy. This was the time.

I shivered as I walked through the darkness of the hallways throughout me and Vinyl's apartment. Making my way through the half-house, I made it all the way to the kitchen with nothing grabbing my hooves. 

No flickering lights? Check.

No ominous shadows lurking over me? Check.

No swinging chandeliers? I don't think we even have any chandeliers. 

Nothing touching my tail? Check...? Something brushed over it. 

"AHHHHHHHH!" I jumped up in a flurry of motions until I hit the floor with a loud thump. 

"AHHHHH!" Vinyl screamed back at me. "Why'd you scream?!?" She went back to a whispering voice.

"Why'd you touch my tail?!"

"I wanted to make sure you were here... I can't see a thing." She put on her puppy dog face. 

"Well take off your glasses you dolt!"

"No! You know I can't do that! Now get me my water!"

"Out of any night you could have done this, you had to get thirsty tonight... Why can't you do this yourself?!"

"...I'm scared."  

"Yeah, I told you it was a bad idea to watch that-" Something was making a tapping noise outside. We both stood in the middle of the kitchen, as white as snow.

"W-what was that?" She whispered as she slowly turned to me. 

"It's p-probably just a cat or something, nothing to worry abou-"

Something hit the kitchen window, and Vinyl and I screamed and jumped in an instant. 

"AHHHHHHHH!" We screamed in unison, running back to Vinyl's room.



   
   
> Here (In Your Hooves) 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

   Vinyl and I sat in the middle of her room, in the darkness of Luna's night. 

There are times when I worry about Vinyl. I mean, I'll be honest, I was quite jumpy after watching the movie, but when I looked back at Vinyl, she looked three times as scared and jumpy as me. 

"Vinyl, are you okay?" I asked, hoping to calm her down. 

"Y-y-yeah... I'm g-good. I'm good." 

"Vinyl, if there was anything outside our apartment, we're safe now."

"NOWHERE IS SAFE."

I ignored that comment and continued to sit down and catch my breathe... Wait, back to that first sentence... I'm in Vinyl's room? And I didn't sit on anything that would probably cause me to throw up if I looked at it? 

After my eyes started to get used to the darkness, I looked around and stared in astonishment at how clean her dark blue room was. It was almost spotless! At one corner, there was her big bed with clean, white sheets. The sheets were even fixed! It looked as if she hadn't even slept in it yet! At another corner of her room there was some disk jockey equipment that she was able to fit inside, and at the last corner was her desk. The only thing that looked slightly messy was the slew of papers on it, and that looked like it was meant to be messy! 

I looked up to the ceiling to find a disco ball... Or five.

I didn't let her hang up the disco balls in each room... Apparently she doesn't waste. 

After about a minute of looking around her room, she got up hastily and began to try to get to her bed.

She was trying. With her shades still on, she put her one hoof out and began to walk like a blind pony. 

"Vinyl, you know if you just took off those shades, you could get to your bed with no problem." I tried to reason with her, I really did. 

"No... I-I got this..."

After her hoof finally touching the bed, she jumped onto it quickly and covered herself in sheets, still shivering. 

"Wow. That movie really did scare you. Why did you pick that movie if you knew you were going to be so frightened by it?"

"I-I dunno... I was actually hoping it was going to scare you more, and I was going to laugh at your misery..." She put her head down on a pillow. "I hate it when plans backfire." 

I chuckled a bit and continued to look around. There weren't that much stuff on the walls except a few posters of some artists and a small frame of her family. (Both of her parents and sister are from Ponyville... Who would've known?) 

When I got to her desk, I decided to look over all the papers that were causing the small mess. And of course, they were just jotted ideas for songs to remix, some addresses and numbers from what was probably clients, and a few notes here and there, most of them going along the lines of "Don't forget - Get Derpy lava lamp" and "Ponyville - Pee fountain - P. Pie - Spike the friggin epic dragon - Tea party"... I won't even ask. 

As I began to put the papers back where I found them, I noticed that one of the desk drawers were slightly open. Being the civilized and privacy-caring mare like myself, I closed the drawer... Then I opened it completely to see what was inside. 

I'm in Vinyl's room. She never cared about my privacy... So you can say that this is fair.

To my not-so-surprising surprise, I found CDs. I quickly looked through them, all of them being what I was expecting of the coveted DJ PON-3...

Sapphire Shores... Deadp0ny... Deadp0ny... Pinkie Pie... Ellie Gouldwing.. Skrillex... Woah. What is this I found?

At the sight of the last disks at the bottom of the pile, I gasped. 

"What?" Vinyl said, instantly waking from her small sleep. 

"Oh my Celestia..."

"What? What happened? Did a chandelier shake?"

"Wh... But how..."

She fell off the bed. "OCTAVIA? WHERE ARE YOU!? WHAT HAPPENED?"

"...You listen to Vivaldi?"

Her whole face and even her ears turned into a bright red color. 

"Uh... N-no. I'm just holding it... For my mom!"

"Are you holding Bach for your mom too? And... My CD?"

She put her hoof out and blindly walked her way to the desk. When she finally got on front of me, she ran her hoof from the side of my face all the way to my stomach, found my arm, and tried to grab the CD out of my hand.

Good thing she couldn't see or she'd notice that I was blushing too...

Uh, anyways, back to what happened. 

I put my hoof behind me to stop her from grabbing it out of my hooves, and from trying to grab it, she accidentally hit her hoof on the desk, and hissed in pain. 

"Vinyl! Are you alright? I swear, take off those shades! It's nighttime and those things make you blind!" 

"No... I can't!" 

That was my chance. I frowned deeply and looked straight at her shades. "Vinyl, we've been best friends for months. The bestest friends... For months! We even live together now! And you won't take off a pair of shades in front of me... Does that mean I'm not good enough of a friend to you? Do you not trust me?" I sniffled a bit to really hit it home. 

She turned around dramatically and looked over her shoulder. "You can't... You can't handle the truth."

Okay, I know this is am important part in my story about living with Vinyl, but she had to have gotten that from a movie. That was so dramatic and cheesy... Anyways...

"Vinyl, if there is something wrong with your eyes, or there is something different about them, I won't think any different about you! I won't even tell anypony. I'll act like I forgot anything about seeing your eyes if you want me to. I just want to know..." I trotted up to her and put my hoof around her shoulder. "I've known you for way too long to not know."

Vinyl sniffled a bit. "Are you sure you're ready? You won't say anything bad about it or leave me because you're scared?"

I looked straight into her eyes... Or her shades. "Yes, Vinyl."

She sighed deeply and got up on her four hooves. She sighed again. "Okay... You promise?"

"I promise Vinyl."

This was it!

As she began to lift her shades up, something bright began to leak out. I squinted my eyes and covered them with my hoof as the brightness began to get even brighter, and it being the the nighttime, the darkness wasn't helping my eyes get used to it at all. 

When I began to get used to the light, I did the impossible, and looked to what was causing it. To my real surprise, I stared in amazement. I stared at her eyes.


Red. 

Bright, blood red. And I need to emphasize that they were really bright. 

"They're... They're... Wow. They're beautiful."

She looked away from me, but with her shades off. "In grade school for unicorns at Canterlot, foals used to call my eyes devil eyes... They always used to call me possessed, and a she devil, and all this crap... I couldn't even go to the movies, or get invited to my classmates' sleepover parties... My eyes were so bright, it was too distracting for ponies. So at fifth grade, I bought a pair of shades, and my family moved back to Ponyville. I never took them off, I changed how ponies looked at me, made a collection of shades, then I found these purple ones," She tossed the shades she was talking about onto the bed as she sat down. "And I never took them off. I became a DJ, moved back to Canterlot for business... Here I am now." She sniffled some more and I sat next to her and handed her a tissue to blow her nose. 

Who would've known?

I didn't even know where to start, but I thought the best guess was to give her a hug. "I'm sorry Vinyl..."

She hugged me back. "You didn't do anything wrong..."

"But I did! All these times I've tried to force you to take off your shades! If I knew why you wore them, I would've never asked."

"Well, I should have just told you instead of hiding my stupid eyes from you... I should've known you'd understand..." 

"Hey. Don't say your eyes are stupid. Your eyes are damn beautiful. They're amazing! I don't know what kind of unicorns were at Canterlot, because if I were them, I'd be jealous."

"Don't say that... These eyes ruined my life!"

I stopped the long hug and looked straight into her eyes with my quizzical look. Wow, looking straight into her eyes. That's something I can get used to. 

"Really now? What if you never found your shades to hide your eyes? What if you never went to Ponyville to find your first ever DJ set like you always talked about? And even if somehow you found your musical talent and became a DJ in Canterlot, DJ PON-3 without her famous shades? Think about how different that would be!" 

She looked away. "You make my eyes sound like they're good things."

"Because they are!" 

Out of the whole conversation, she finally smiled. "Octavia... You're the first pony to ever say good things about my eyes... Thanks."

"You're welcome."

After hearing her yawn, I finally decided to check what time it was. I looked around her room for a clock, until I finally noticed a small alarm by the side of her bed.

1:24.

"Wow, you sound quite sleepy. Maybe it's time for us to, as many ponies say, 'hit the hay'."

"Yeah, okay..."

I began to leave the room, until Vinyl stopped me. "Wait!"

"What?"

"...Do you... Uh... Want to sleep in my room? I'm still... kinda scared." She blushed and made a squee sound. I still don't know how ponies do that!

"Really? After this whole conversation, I'd think that you'd forget about the ghosts from the movie already."

"Please... It'll be like a sleepover!" She grinned. 

"Oh, fine..."

What did I have to lose?

I got back into the room and looked around again.

"Um... So do I sleep on the floor or do I..."

"Uh... I have space on my bed. So we can... share."

"Okay."

I got onto the bed, laid down next to her, and tried to stop myself from blushing. 

Keep it cool, Octavia. Stay natural. This is just two friends sharing a friendly bed for a friendly sleepover.

Vinyl turned around on her bed and smiled at me. "Good night Ta- wow! Without shades, I can see you so much clearer now... And you're not slightly purple! Woah!"

I laughed lightly. "Now that I know, could you not wear the shades that often when it's just us alone?"

"Sure." She yawned again. "Good night!"

"Good night Vinyl."

And so I laid there, left with my thoughts. This was a very... Interesting day. I found out I liked Vinyl, Vinyl might like me, and I got her to show me her eyes... I didn't know I was this productive. 

As I began to think more, a thought was left in my mind... Where was this going to lead me? I haven't been this close with anypony in my life! I've never been in a situation like this. And what if Vinyl doesn't even like me? I don't want to lose her friendship, nor do I want to lose anything that I have with her. To be honest, I didn't have a lot of friends before her... And I'm pretty sure that if I searched the whole land of Equestria, I wouldn't find a pony just like her. 

Before I had a chance to continue my thinking, I felt Vinyl move around on her bed, and then a white hoof showed up near my stomach. She must have unconsciously moved and hugged me, thinking I was a pillow or something...

She was so warm. And her bed was so soft. As sleep began to take over my mind, I smiled lightly at the feeling of Vinyl holding me.

I know that sounded really cheesy, but cheesy things can still be true.

I could get used to something like this.

   

   
> Octavia and All Her Friends
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

   The next morning, I woke up happily on Vinyl's soft bed, hugging one of her gigantic pillows. For me, it was one of those mornings where you never wanted to get out of bed. Why start the day? Why can't I just close my eyes and sleep through the whole morning, not caring about any responsibilities, or how my hair looked, or how I was sharing an apartment with my best friend in which I hope can be more than a best friend and whom I think is totally attractive... Why can't the world be more like that?

And then it hit me... Vinyl doesn't have any gigantic pillows.

I opened my eyes slowly to see my face cuddled up to white fur. After a night of slight twisting and turning I found that Vinyl and I ended up sleeping cuddled together, with our legs entwined, and my face pressed up to her chest as she hugged me.

Doctor, help! I'm so red, I think I became a big tomato! 

Actually, from the quite relaxing feeling of the bed, and the warmness that came from Vinyl, I had a wonderful sleep! And waking up to realize that I was cuddling with her didn't make me that embarrassed... Just excited, as all. 

I brought my head back to the pillow, and from the movements I made, Vinyl slowly squinted her eyes too, the redness of them leaking through. 

I yawned. "Good morning, beautiful." 

Heh... Wait. What did I just say?

She yawned too, looking barely awake. "Good morning... Sexy."

Wait wait wait... What did she just say!?

"Uh... What?"

"Sexy?" She murmured, looking as if she was going back to sleep.

"Okay, never mind that..." I closed my eyes, hoping I could go back to sleep on this wonderful and lazy Monday...

Monday... Oh dang it.

I turned around tiredly and checked the time on Vinyl's small alarm clock.

9:36 

I sat quickly, startling Vinyl. "Oh buck, practice starts in twenty minutes!"





As much as I loved spending time with Vinyl by sleeping with her (just sleep, you dirty little ducks), I had a job to do. We still have bills to pay for the apartment! Our fridge is almost empty! 

I took a quick shower, combed my hair, and got my cello packed in its case and on my back to bring to the studio. 

"Vinyl, I gotta go to work now, lock the door." I said, taking a quick peak into the room before I left. Vinyl looked so cute when sleeping! With her shades off and her hair messier than usual and such... Those type of moments made me feel like I knew the real her. Not just DJ PON-3. I knew Vinyl Scratch, the coolest pony in Equestria. (Don't get that mixed up with fastest flier in Equestria, Vinyl warned me that it's that element bearer, Rainbow Dash.) 

Looking back at the bed, my heart skipped a beat at thinking that I slept and cuddled with Vinyl... I mean... I slept with Vinyl. On her bed! And I cuddled with her! 

I watched her as she squirmed around under her sheets.

"No..." She murmured, still looking like she was sleeping. She extended her hooves out. "Come back to bed..."

I blushed, and my heart skipped a beat again. She wanted me to come back to bed with her! I wished every night could've been like last night... But I know for a fact that Vinyl isn't going to be scared every night. And what am I going to say? Am I just going to tell her that I want to sleep with her again? How weird would that be! Unless I make a move, last night was probably going to be the last... And I'm pretty sure I'm too nervous to make any moves, and too stupid in this whole love thing to make any moves that wouldn't be awkward.

Wait... Did I just say love? Now I'm getting way over my head...

"Uh... Sorry Vinyl, but I have to go to work... But if I didn't have work, I would've loved to sleep with- I mean not that I'm... Or... M-maybe tonight we could sleep together again... Wait! Not that I'm saying that, but not saying that I didn't enjoy but... Oh..." I facehoofed. I made things so much weirder. "... Bye Vinyl." 

I watched as she smiled happily with her eyes closed, like she was content with my reply. As for me, I felt two times dumber with what I just said. 

For now, I left that in the back of my mind. I had work to get to. 





Some may think that carrying a big cello on your back will trotting four blocks would be tiring, but after carrying a cello for so long, I barely notice the weight. 

I busted through the main brown doors to where the empty concert hall was. 

"Sorry I'm late you guys," I said, finally putting my cello down. My three other coworkers stared at me for a second, then went straight to greeting.

"MORNING OCTAVIA," Beauty Brass said, getting her sousaphone ready to play. She had been deaf at her right ear since she was a little filly... Sometimes we have to remind her about her voice levels.

"Good morning, Miss Octavia." Harpo muttered with a smile. He was the blueish stallion that played the harp... He never said too much words. I think Beauty Brass took it away from him for her to use. 

"Octavia! You made it! We thought you got sick or something," Frederic said, stepping away from his piano to greet me. Frederic Horseshoepin was the brown-coated piano player, and was the leader of the quartet. He's the one that always gets us performing at wonderful places, and always making sure that we're playing at our best. He's the one that even got us our gig at the Grand Galloping Gala! Even though Pinkie Pie ruined most of it...

Oh, Octavia, I didn't ruin your performance! I just made it a little more interesting, as all! Anyways, I shouldn't be interrupting this story... I'll see you by the end of this chapter! Byeee~~~! 

...What was that?

Uh, anyways...

"No, I just accidentally slept in, as all." I said, putting my cello down. "Greetings, everypony. Sorry I'm late."

"Oh, twenty minutes of missing practice won't hurt us too much. We already know all the songs! But try not to do it again, okay Octavia?" Frederic said, getting back to his black classical piano.

"Oh, of course! I promise you that this is the first and last time of me being late."

Beauty Brass finally got the sousaphone around herself. "Speaking about your lateness, what got you to sleep in? If you don't mind me asking... I mean, for three years..." She looked up to ceiling as if she was thinking. "YEAH! You've never been late!"

Harpo leaned to Beauty Brass and whispered, "You're voice, Beauty Brass."

"Oops, sorry." She squeed. 

Maybe us ponies are all chew toys in another dimension. 

"Oh, I just had quite a night with Vinyl... Scratch..." I had just noticed by the time the words left my mouth that what I said could make a whole lot of ponies assume what I could've been doing with Vinyl. 

I blushed as the three musicians stared at me confusedly. 

"Oh, it's not what you think! It's just that we watched a scary movie yesterday, and she kept me up all night because she was scared, and y-y-yeah!"

The whole group stared at me for a couple more seconds, then broke into laughter.

Frederic wiped a tear out of his eye. "It's okay Octavia. I mean, we know you like Vinyl and mares and all, but we know you wouldn't take it too far at such a short time."

"Yes, thank you Frederic... WAIT! H-how'd you know!?" If I wasn't blushing enough, I must have looked like a giant cherry. 

"YES!" Frederic and Harpo screamed (or Frederic screamed and Harpo just mouthed the word), jumping in the air and high-hoofing each other. 

"Awe dang it!" Beauty Brass said, burying her head in her hooves. "WAIT! Did you ever have sex with Vinyl?" 

Everypony went silent for my reply, completely serious with her question. Were they seriously wondering about this!?

"Buh-shwa- No! I didn't have sex with Vinyl!"

That just caused Beauty Brass to hit the floor even harder and Frederic and Harpo to cheer even louder. 

"Okay, Beauty Brass. Ten bits each for me and Harpo here." He left out his brown hoof, and Beauty Brass sadly took out two small bags to put onto it.

"Wha... Wha!? SOMEPONY EXPLAIN! I'm so confused!!!" I mustered out. 

Frederic laughed again and finally explained all that was happening. "Oh, Octavia, we knew since three months ago that you started liking Vinyl.  And since we heard that you were getting an apartment with her, we decided to take up  some friendly bets." Frederic turned around and tossed the small bag of bits to Harpo. "We all definitively agreed that you were probably a fillyfooler, and even if you didn't know it, you liked this Vinyl Scratch character. But Beauty Brass said that we wouldn't be able to get you to admit it until one week after you settle into your apartment. Harpo and I believed that we'd get you to say it before that week. That was five bits each for Harpo and I. She also believed that even though you wouldn't tell us that you liked Vinyl yet, you already slept with her. Another five bits for Harpo and I!" 

I managed to find some words to say. "Eh... But... How... How'd you guys know!?"

"Octavia, almost every day of practice or before a performance, you always talk about her! It's Vinyl this, Vinyl that, Vinyl accidentally broke this, I need to get home so I can Vinyl that." The whole group chuckled lightly. "It's quite cute, actually."

"Oh..." I facehoofed, not sure how to reply. "You guys didn't tell anypony right!? Honestly, I'm not sure how to tell Vinyl... I'm not sure how to do anything in this whole situation..."

"Awwwwwww," they said in unison. 

"Oh, Octavia, just be yourself. That's all it would take. I only met Vinyl a couple times, but I'm quite sure she might like you. You were all she talked about."

"Meh..." I still couldn't believe they knew all about this and made bets out of it. 

"Well," Frederic walked back to his piano. "We have one more hour, and then we have two meetings to perform at."

The rest of the quartet muttered their last replies and went to their instruments.

I sighed. Was it that noticeable that I liked Vinyl? I thought about all the things I had been saying and doing the last couple months, all the way to when I found out they knew by the bets. And then I thought about their bets...

...Their bets.

"Ew! Beauty Brass! You'd think I'd rut Vinyl even before I'd have the sense to tell you guys that I even like her!?"

Beauty Brass blushed and then looked to the floor. "I'm a really bad better." 





By the time we finished practice and the two small performances, it had already been six in the evening, and Celestia's sun had already started to sink back down.

Everypony in the quartet had packed their instruments into their cases and had begun to leave the concert room in which we practiced. 

"Ahh," Frederic said, stretching his neck. "Good performances everypony. We are getting really spot-on with our pieces."

Beauty Brass nodded. "True. We did really good!"

I nodded along with her. "Yeah, maybe you can book us into performing for the Grand Galloping Gala again! We surely are prepared for it."

Harpo nodded... Yeah. He just nodded.

"Not going to lie to you guys, I am trying. Princess Celestia may let us play again since last time kind of ruined it for us. And that Gala is just two months away! So if she does, we need to be prepared."

"True, true..." I looked down the grey sidewalks and saw four attractive, model-worthy mares walking down the street, all looking as if they were searching for something.

The first pink mare kept looking around until she looked at the four of us. "There he is!"

They all ran up to Harpo and crowded around him. 

"Oh, Harpo, we thought we'd never find you!" The first one said.

"We're here to pick you up from your job." The second one said seductively. 

The last two just giggled and snuggled around him.

"Bye, friends." Harpo whispered towards us as him and his marefriends started to walk away. We just waved back, completely stunned at the sight we just saw.

"Wha... How did he... THAT PIMP." Beauty Brass said, still confused from what she just saw. I just stood next to her with my mouth completely open. Frederic seemed to be doing the same until he spoke up.

"How did he... WHAT? How did he get all those mares?!... Uh... Bye you guys! See you tomorrow!" He ran off towards Harpo's direction. "Harpo, wait! Let me have a mare!" We heard him scream as he galloped away. 

Beauty Brass just shook her head and sighed. "Well, I guess it's just the two of us. I'm pretty sure your apartment is at the same direction as mine, so would you like to walk with me?"

"I'd love to," I said with a smile. 

If none of you know, Beauty Brass, Harpo, Frederic, and I were never just quartet acquaintances. We had started off as college friends in the same music class, and we thought that making a quartet would be fun to do. After performing at a few school performances and some wonderful comments from the audiences, we decided to take it a little farther, and pursue it as a real career. So, after getting our musical degrees, we rented out some times at a concert hall to practice at, made some advertisements, and performed at all the places that we could, as long as we got paid. 

I'll admit, there had been some times where performances had gone sour, or money went short (that was one of the reasons why I moved in with Vinyl), but we persevered through it. Now we're known as one of the best quartets you can call for a performance! We even performed at the Gala! 

I'll also admit that these ponies were not only the ponies I worked with. They are my genuine friends! And by genuine, I meant only friends who actually knew me... But genuine! 

If you think that sounds sad, I have lots of friends now!... Okay, fine, I still don't have that much friends. But I have Vinyl! 

Beauty Brass and I walked three blocks until we got to an exceedingly empty street, with only a couple small apartment buildings put together.

"Wow," Beauty said, looking around. "This place is like a lost island. There is almost nothing down this street part!"

"Yeah, I know." I sighed. "I think that's why Vinyl liked it. If she has parties here, there won't be that much neighbors to complain."

We laughed together.

"Well, my apartment is two more blocks away, and my coltfriend is waiting up for me. Be nice to Vinyl, okay? She's a keeper." She winked at me as she started to walk away. 

"Uh... Okay. Bye Beauty Brass!"

"BYE!" 

I waved back, then started to walk up the apartment stairs. I got the keys from my cello pocket, and unlocked the door. As I opened the door and walked in, I saw a conscious Vinyl Scratch sitting in the kitchen, but she was talking with another pony. They stopped their talking and looked back at me.

"Hiya Octy! I told you that you'd see me by the end of the chapter!"

"P-Pinkie Pie!?" 
   

   
   
   

   

   
> Undercover Pynkie
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

   "P-Pinkie Pie!? What are you doing here!?" I asked, unsure of what plans she had. 

If there was anything I learned throughout my time living, it is that Pinkie Pie is Pinkie Pie... At most times, that shouldn't be taken easily. 

If she was to wear a sweater and have sleeves, there would be tricks up them! She's unpredictable and powerful... She's an element, for Celestia's sake! Ponyfolk all around Equestria know and respect her, and she can get away with anything! She can ruin my life in a matter of just feeling like she wants to ruin my life... She almost did it at the Gala! And the scariest thing about her is...

She eats so much, and she never gains a pound! 

"I'm just visiting my two favorite musical buddies! Well, that's what I'd usually say, but we all know that I'm here because the author thinks I'm crucial to keeping the plot of this story interesting and that I can help you guys with your ever-growing relationship, blah blah blah. But that's what you'd think I'd say, when really the author just loves me in all of his stories!" She finally breathed after saying whatever she was saying and giggled. Then she looked to the corner of the kitchen and waved. "Hi Jam Rocker! You're looking sleepy!"





A teenage boy woke up from his quick sleep on his chair. It was midnight, and he was wearing his regular blue pajamas and thick-rimmed, slightly-broken-but-fixed-with-a-paperclip prescription glasses. He was surrounded by instruments of all sorts, guitars, pianos, ukuleles... I guess that's why he was known as Jam Rocker to some people. But right now, he wasn't paying attention to that. He was paying attention to his laptop that presided on his desk.

He tiredly waved at it. "Hey Pinkie... And the fourth wall has been broken once again." He yawned.

Jam cracked his neck and began to type on his laptop about two certain music mares.

"Oh, Pinkie Pie..." 





"Oh, you, Jam!" Pinkie said, staring at the corner.

Vinyl laughed her sides off. "Pinkie, you're a mystery. Who the heck is Jam Rocker and why are you staring at the corner? And what story plot whatever are you talkin about?"

"Jam Rocker is this humaaaaa- Pony I know who's a friend of mine. And this is the story!" She smiled at Vinyl while extending her hooves out into the air.

"This?"

She scoffed playfully. "Aren't we all stories in the end?"

Pinkie Pie is Pinkie Pie... And Pinkie Pie who is Pinkie Pie makes Octavia who is Octavia very worried. 

"Okay, but seriously," I said, putting my cello down in the living room. "Not to be rude or anything, but why are you here?"

Vinyl put a hoof over Pinkie's shoulder. "Tavi, be cool. She's just here because she had to send some cupcakes here in Manehattan and she decided to visit. I told her she could visit anytime."

"Just seeing how you guys are going! You know, gotta make sure that you guys are fine, and that living together is going... good." She looked straight into my eyes and smiled happily... Almost too happily. It even felt a little devilish.

It almost felt like she knew something.

While the mare of pinkness continued to knowingly stare at me, Vinyl Scratch scoffed. "It's not going good... It's going great! Octy here gets a little snooty time by time, but so far, it's tolerable."

"Vinyl!"

"Well," She said, completely turning the topic. "I'm starved. Let's eat, shall we? Pinkie brought some apple stuff from Ponyville!"





Vinyl, Pinkie Pie, and I sat at the small, brown dinner table, Vinyl and I across from each other, and Pinkie in the middle, watching and smiling at us. 

I don't know what she's planning, but she's planning something for sure. She looked at me again and gave an over-expressive smile, then winking at me before digging into her apple pie.

I shuddered.

Vinyl took a gigantic chomp into her fritter and then broke the silence. "So, Pinks. How is it at Ponyville? I kinda miss the place." 

"Oh, it's Ponyville as usual! Nothing that interesting happening, Derpy took a vacation to Canterlot, Twilight is trying to stalk me again to see how my Pinkie sense works... Nothing too bad other than another carriage almost drove down that giant hill." She swallowed another piece of pie in one bite, then put her hoof to her chin. "Somepony really needs to fix that." 

"Oh! That giant hill at the edge of Ponyville? I used to go tobogganing down that thing... And Derpy took a vacation to Canterlot? I can't believe she didn't tell me, I could've met her there. Hm."

"Well, it was a surprise vacation. You wanna know why she went there?"

"Why?"

She knocked her hoof to the table while grinning madly. "She's Princess Luna's best friend! She gets free vacations just so they can play videogames together at the castle! Who would've known?" 

"Woah! How does that even happen?" 

"I know right! That's so cool!"

As Vinyl and Pinkie continued to talk about Derpy and Luna's friendship, I ate my apple pie slowly with a fork. 

It was actually a little weird, watching Pinkie Pie talk to Vinyl like a regular friend (compared to Pinkie's usual standards). She wasn't jumping around, or running, or taking out random things out of the cupboards that I didn't remember I put... She was just there. Talking. And to be honest, I was actually enjoying the conversation they were having! I mean, seriously. When does a pony become best friends with a princess?

"So, Octavia, I never asked you. How's the apartment with Vinyl?" She asked, bringing back the overdone smile and knocking out my train of thought.

"Oh, um, it's quite well. Vinyl has been quite the roommate so far."

"I can imagine." She winked at me. 

What the heck is going on!?

I coughed awkwardly. 

"Man," Vinyl said, not noticing any awkwardness between me and Pinkie... Or maybe she's just used to it. Who knows?
"These pies and fritters are so good. It's like heaven!" 

"Yupp," the pink mare said. "Straight from the sweetest apple acre you'll ever find in Equestria! You know, when they make the apples, they- UHSUDIDOJSD!"

Now this is a moment that came by so fast, that in retelling this, I completely forgot what she exactly said. So I just decided to write in "UHSUDIDOJSD" as a filler... It did kind of sound like that.

Vinyl and I rushed off our chairs as Pinkie fell to the ground. 

"WOAH WHAT THE!?" Vinyl rushed to Pinkie.

"OH MY CELESTIA WHAT HAPPENED!?" I screamed, going to the other side of the bleeding Pinkie.

"Ow ow ow ow ow ow!!! I stabbed myself with my eating knife!" She held her right hoof down on the middle of her left hoof, trying to stop the blood from trickling out... It wasn't. 

"Again!? Crap! Pinkie, I told you this before, you watch where your hooves are before you start cutting!" Vinyl got up and began to search all the cabinets, looking for bandages. 

Apparently this has happened before. 

"Ow, that was like five years ago! Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow! Do you guys have a first aid kit or something!?"

I pointed my hoof at the cabinet over the sink. "Vinyl! We put all the aid things at that cabinet! Hurry up!"

"It's not there! Where'd you put it!?"

"I never used the first aid kit! Where'd YOU put it!?"

"As surprising as this is, I never used it either!" Vinyl dropped everything she was holding with her magic and ran around the apartment searching. 

I began to completely panic. "Well, you're Pinkie Pie! Can't you just magically pop up okay!?"

Pinkie stopped her hissing to look straight into my eyes with an "are you kidding" face. "Octavia, I'm an earth pony just like you. I can't heal myself."

"Really?! Out of everything you can do, you can't heal yourself!?... Uh... VINYL!" 

"WHAT!?" I heard from the bathroom. 

"ANY LUCK!?"

"NO!"

"WELL CAN'T YOU USE A SPELL TO HEAL HER OR SOMETHING!?"

She stuck her head out of the bathroom and looked at me with the same face Pinkie did. "Octavia, unicorns can't just do every single spell ever made. You have to learn the spell, and unicorns usually just learn the spells that's to their talent. Do I look a nurse!?" Vinyl came out levitating a towel and put it over Pinkie's wound. "Okay, okay, okay... I'm going to go around the building and get a first aid kit from one of our neighbors!"

"I'll go too! It'll make us twice as fast!"

"No!" Pinkie said, still on the floor. "Octavia, stay with me."

"Why!?"

"If I die, I need someone to hear my last words! I have a speech!"

Vinyl was already out the door. "It's okay Octavia... I got this..." My hearing of her got lesser until I couldn't hear a thing. 

"Wait!... Oh... Okay." I sighed and sat near Pinkie. But there was one thing I noticed that she shouldn't be doing while accidentally stabbing herself with a knife...

She was smiling. 

I gulped. 

There was blood all over the floor and Pinkie Pie was smiling. The whole situation sounded like something out of my nightmares.

"Octy, can you close the door? It's freezing outside."

"Uh... I'd rather, um... Not."

She flashed one more creepy smile and tilted her head slightly. "Do it please."

By the time, I was already flushed white. I got up and slowly walked to the door, thinking about the actions that I could've done while she was still down.

I could have ran out the door and left her there, sparing the little time I had left until she got better and found me... I could have jumped out the window, just to make it more dramatic too. 

I took my hoof to the doorknob and closed the door, with me still in the room. I know that if I was to run away, she'd find me, and she'd make my murder much more bloody and torturous than it can already be. Might as well listen to her so she can spare me less pain... Thinking back at this, it was horrible logic.

Oh well.

After I closed the door, her smile got less creepy and more "Pinkie", and after taking a huge breathe, she got up and hugged me while screaming nonsensical things.

"OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH!" She said, hugging me and jumping up and down, leaving me completely confused.

"Pinkie!? PUT - ME - DOWN - PLEASE!!!"

She stopped jumping, but continued to hug. I noticed that there were no blood stains on me, nor any cut or slice on her hoof that was flowing blood.

"Pinkie Pie!? Wha- You were bleeding just a second ago!"

"Oh, Octavia! I just healed myself!"

"But...But... You said you couldn't do that!"

"Oh..." She put her hoof up to her face and went into what looked like deep thinking. Then a light bulb of some sort popped over her head. "Ah! I lied."

WHAT THE BUCK PINKIE.

I facehoofed. I've been doing a lot of those lately. 

She jumped around the room again. "Anyways, I can't believe it!!!" 

"What?"

"You like Vinyl Scratch!"

There are pinnacle moments in my life where I the vaults of my mind look to the sky and ask, "Celestia, why'd you have to do this to me?" This was certainly a moment. 

Buck.

Pinkie Pie knows my inner secrets. 

"What the!? How'd you know? Does everypony know now!?" 

"I don't know. Do you want me to tell everypony?"

"NO."

"Okay then! Well, I was working at the Bakery a couple hours ago, and I got an ear flop, eye twitch, leg wiggle, mane pop, eye twitch, ear flop, tummy rumble combo! And that had to mean that somewhere, there are two of my friends that live together and have the same gender that secretly like each other! And after a lot of thinking and my great sense of smell, it led me back here! So, I made an excuse to come here, and investigated, and I concluded that it is you two." She crossed her hooves, proud of her explanation.

"...Investigated?"

"Uh, yeah! By the time I came here, Vinyl just came out of bed, and she smelled like you! While she was in the bathroom, I sneaked to her room, and found locks of your hair on the pillows! And you smell like her too! Also, she's been using your shampoo." She skipped around me, then stopped right behind me. "And plus, you just admitted it. So... Give me the updates on it." 

I blushed, closed my eyes, and gulped. "Don't... Don't tell Vinyl. I'm not ready to face that kind of situation yet. She's going to be here any second." 

"Oh, that's almost impossible! There's no first aid kits or bandages in this whole apartment!" 

"Wait... What!?" 

"I staged this whole thing once I smelled Vinyl on you! I knew that if Vinyl liked you, she'd tell me already, but I didn't want to jump to conclusions, so I did this so I can have this time to talk to you!"

"Pinkie, you are the only pony I've ever met that is insaner than Vinyl. That makes me very worried and even a little terrified of you."

"Oh, Octavia, can't you see the things I can do for you in your little problem? I can help you get Vinyl, without Vinyl, or even you noticing! All the information you ever need. Almost like... A wingpony."

I stared at her, but this time, it wasn't just with suspicion... It was with curiosity.

"A... wingpony?"

"Yup! I know it sounds silly, knowing that I'm not a pegasus and all, but the type of wingpony that can help you," She touched her hoof at my chest, "get with Vinyl." 

"...It depends. How would you help?"

"As crazy as it seems, I can pretty stealthy. It'll just be small, little things. You wouldn't even notice that I did it... Help you two get the perfect seats at a movie, make sure restaurants aren't booked if you ever feel like going with her, put some things at some places... It's completely harmless." She grinned at me. 

As crazy as I sounded, I was actually curious to see where that would lead.

"...No harm done? You promise you won't tie up Vinyl and force her to like me or something crazy like that?"

"No harm done and no crazy business. I cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" She made the gesture by sticking her hoof in her eye."

I bit my lip and thought for a second. This was Pinkie Pie we were talking about...

"Come on, Octavia... I can really help..." She said by my ear, making me think more.

I think she's completely bonkers. If I had an arch nemesis, it would be her. And I despise her... But...

"...Okay. Deal." I stuck out my hoof and she shook it excitedly.

"Yay! Pinkie Pie, the wingpony! Still sounds a little silly since I don't have wings, but I'll get used to it." 

"Yeah yeah, I know... Again, I don't want anything crazy. I just want the small packages you were talking about."

"Got it! I won't let you down, Octavia." After reassuring that, her body began to go into an onslaught of twitches. "Oh! Vinyl Scratch is almost coming back."

"Okay... Wait!"

"What?"

"...So you investigated..."

"I did investigate..."

"Well, my friends who somehow end up knowing keeps telling me things they see... and..."

"And...?"

"So... Vinyl Scratch doesn't like me... At the moment?"

"Spoilers." She winked at me. 

Vinyl Scratch barged into the room, breathing heavily. "OH CELESTIA. After searching the whole building, I had to run two blocks to get to the store and buy some bandages. All the kits are gone! Nopony in the building has... Them..." She looked and saw that Pinkie Pie was up and standing, her wound completely gone. "How...?"

Pinkie Pie giggled. "Well, after what felt like countless hours of waiting for you, I finally had lost so much blood and was about to die, until Octavia cried over me and her tears healed me! She has healing tears! Who would've known?"  

Pinkie Pie stood up and put her hoof behind her back and grabbed a bottle from thin air, then laid it on our counter. "Well, would you look at the time, I need to go now! Sorry you had to run a lot and we couldn't really hang that long, so here's some fresh apple cider alcohol. Drink with Octavia next time you celebrate." She hugged Vinyl, then winked and mouthed "make sure you drink that with her" to me over her shoulder. "Seeya! Bye Octavia! Thanks for saving me!" She waved while skipping out the door. 

I waved back at her. "Bye Pinkie." 

After the door was shut, Vinyl slowly looked to me. "Uh... What just happened?" 

After all that had happened and the crazy deal I just agreed to, I actually smiled and chuckled a bit. 

"Pinkie Pie happened." 





Rhapsody was a tan unicorn who had to have a late shift at his record company. He was tired, but proud of himself, and all of his hard word. He had his own studio! And he was even able to get it at one of the most fanciest buildings in Manehattan, the one where the famous DJ, Vinyl Scratch, even worked at! As he walked out of the elevator to get out of the building and go home, something caught his eye.

There, the front desk pegasus, Frosty, sat with a confused face and first aid kits all around him. 

"Um... Frosty?"

"Yes, Mr.Rhapsody?"

"...Why do you have like a hundred first aid kits?"

"I don't know, sir. I fell asleep and woke up, and they were just here." 


   
   

   

  
> An Afternoon Train to Ponyville (Vinyl's Family Part 1)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

   Now, after Pinkie's crude visiting, and finding all the first aid kits at Vinyl's studio building (I don't, I don't even), life went pretty slow for a few days.

I will admit, the few days of my life which you have been reading has been the most exciting in months.

My life isn't that exciting. Out of everything, Vinyl is the only thing in my life which is exciting. That's why moving into an apartment with her has caused a story to rise.

Okay, I know that sounds sad that Vinyl is the only thing in my life that's exciting... But I have other things too! I go to balls and galas time by time! One time, my cello's tuning pegs turned crazy minutes before a performance, and I had to fix them at the last second!... One time I accidentally bought brown cinnamon poptarts instead of smores poptarts.

Somepony please tell me they've had that same problem... They're almost the exact same design! 

Anyways, about three days have passed since Pinkie's visiting. I'm not saying that nothing interesting happened the past mid-week, but I only write the things I want to remember, and the out-of-the-ordinary situations only happened momentarily. 

And in a way, I don't want to remember them. 

...





Tuesday

As I was going to the table to eat my breakfast this morning, something particular strange happened... Vinyl must have worked very hard to get this all together.

"VINYL!" I screamed, staring a real, live octopus slithering and squirming upon the kitchen table. Vinyl popped out from behind the counter.

"TA-DA! It's an octopus! Octavia, octopus... Get it?" 





Wednesday

Actually... Nothing interesting happened today. Wednesdays are very boring. 





Thursday

"Hey, Octavia!" Vinyl said, holding something in a white paper with her magic.

"Hello, Vinyl. What are you holding?"

"Oh, nothing, just got a fish from the super-" She then dropped what was a fish onto the floor. She was already trying to hold her giggles. "Oops, it looks like I dropped the-"

"Enough, I get it... And that's a salmon." 





Yeah, that's all the things that happened the past three days that are worth telling. Other than that, I had work, read a book or two, ate a leftover pie, then worked some more... Yeah.

Did I make any progress on the Vinyl situation? No... For now, I keep this secret until I find something plausible to do. I'm not going to risk any stupid things! I still have the drinks Pinkie gave us though... I'm worried to drink them. For now, I've just stored them in the cabinet and hoped that I won't have to see it for some time... 

I've seen Pinkie at parties. I've seen the things she can handle to drink. And I'm not exactly the best when it comes to drinking, no matter what Vinyl says. 

At this particular Friday, there were no concerts or meetings I had to attend to, and there was also no practice, so I simply stayed home and watched more of The Trotting Dead.

What a scintillating idea... Zombie ponies. Am I the only who thinks that it wouldn't be that bad? 

I mean, seriously. They're dead ponies who could trot. If there were to be real zombie ponies, I bet they'd be too dead to even walk up stairs... They're dead! 

Okay, maybe this day would end up like my whole week, and I'd just spend these words blabbering on about what I'm going to eat or how I'd last in a zombie apocalypse.

Or so I thought.

Vinyl slammed through the door and said something inaudible with her huffs of breathing. 

Vinyl was supposed to be at the studio at the time she came, dropping bass beats and remixing songs. Why would she come in the middle of work?

"What happened?! Vinyl, speak clearly." I said, pausing the exciting television show.

Vinyl huffed through her words. "Dad... Accident... Ponyville... Now..." She fell on the floor and continued to breathe deeply. She apparently ran the whole way back to the apartment. 

"Your father got in an accident? How!?"

"Hit... By a moving cart. I need to visit... Next train in twenty minutes. I need to get my monthly pass... Whew! Man. Can you get it for me? First desk drawer..."

"Okay!" I ran to her room, found it, and she magically grasped it and set it down on the table when I came back.

"Thanks... Now let me catch my breathe for a second." After a minute, she jumped back on her feet. "Okay! I'll be back tomorrow, I'll probably spend the night there."

"Wait!"

"What?"

I had a weekend of boredom and I wanted to meet Vinyl's family.... And I didn't want her to be alone. It had to be done.

"...I want to come."

"Really now? You sure? I'm kinda in a hurry, and Ponyville isn't exactly the classiest place around..."

"No, I insist! I don't want you to be alone on the ride. And I have nothing to do the whole weekend, I might as well help you."

"...You got a train pass already?"

I ran back to my room, then came back with it in my mouth. 

It's a hard life for an earth pony.

I spit it out. "Of course."

Out of the whole conversation we've had since she barged in, she finally smiled. "Well then. Let's go, Tavi." 





Vinyl and I rode a cart (ironically) to the train station, showed our passes, and took our seats on the train. For some reason, the whole train was crowded with ponies going to Ponyville and the towns near it, and Vinyl and I had to sit pressed up to each other on a window seat.

I know it wasn't a good time to think about, but man... Vinyl is so soft. 

How can a pony who's so irresponsible and active all the time be so soft?

I was the one between Vinyl and the window, and I didn't have that much space, so I slowly relaxed myself by Vinyl's body. She was looking off somewhere, but I felt that she started relaxing too. 

As surprising as it sounds (knowing that I have been friends with Vinyl for quite a long time), I've never heard Vinyl talk about her family... Or at least specifically talk about them. 

Of course there's the usual "I'm going to visit since it's my sister's birthday" or "my mom made the best pumpkin pies", but she had never gone into the topic of actually talking about them. 

I know that Vinyl's family is a general musical family. What do they play? Are they DJs like Vinyl? 

And her sister. I barely even know her name! I know it was something about a note... 

I looked at her, and she seemed to be deep in thought. As weird as it sounds, I studied the facial features I could see (due to her shades), and noticed the small bead of sweat running down her cheek, and the small frown stapled to her face. She noticed me staring, unfortunately. 

"What?" She asked. 

"Oops! Sorry. You just seem really worried about your dad. Are you okay?"

"Oh. Yeah, I'm fine. It's just that, you know... I'm worried if he's okay." 

"Ahhh. Well, I know it's not the best time, but can you tell me about your family? I mean, I've known you for so long and I don't know a thing about them." 

"I've never told you anything about my fam?"

I looked at her with an "are you serious" face. "You never told me anything other than you have a father, mother, and sister, and your sister has a really soft mane."

"Well she does!"

"Well, can I have more information please?"  

She giggled for the first time since she got on the train.

"Okay, let's see... My dad's name is Record Spinner. My mom's name is Mezzo-Forte. Ponies call her Mez. And my sister's name is Crescendo. I call her C-Note for short. Um, my whole family are Ponyville ponies... My dad was a DJ. He thought me the whole thing. That's why I really care about him." 

"Wow, see? Why didn't I know these things before? And what do your sister and mother play?"

She slyly smiled. "Well, I didn't want to tell you because I was sure you'd freak. My sister is a violinist and my mother is a cellist like you." 

You should've seen my jaw drop.

"WHAT?" I said loudly. Half of the ponies in the train looked at me, and I squee'd. 

One day, ponykind will have explanations to this occurence of squee's. One day, we will know. 

I lowered my voice. "What?!"

She laughed. "Well, I was going to tell you, but then I was sure you'd all go 'I can't believe more than half your family plays my instruments dead Celestia' on me! That's why I decided to just leave the topic alone." 

I just sighed and leaned on her shoulder. I decided to not answer that because I knew it was true.

She even had the accent right.

"Well, is that why you first learned how to play the viola?" I grinned. "Wow! So your mother tried to get you into the orchestra business, but your father turned you around to become a disk jockey! Your family is basically in half, correct?"

"Pretty much! But it's not something they all fight about. It's actually what makes my family kinda cool, heh. My mom and pops are very different from each other."

"Wow..." I was still leaning on her shoulder, and I was starting to get tired. 

Darn her and her surprisingly soft fur! 

The conversation died out and it was oddly a very long ride from Manehattan to Ponyville, so my eyelids slowly started to get heavy and sleep slowly went around me.

After what felt like just a minute of sleep, Vinyl shook me.

"Yo, Tavi, we're here." 

Ponyville. What a quaint town it always was.