> A City of Opportunities
>  by Sasha Nein
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> An Extremely Long Introduction
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Octavia marched down the ancient halls of En Reach, an old mountain fortress near the Neighagra Falls. To the casual observer it would look fairly normal if a bit stiff, but anypony here would know better. Realizing her surroundings, Octavia slowed down and loosened her gait, it wouldn’t do to look frustrated. After all, she had gotten what she wanted... Mostly.

She sighed. “I supposed I did get posted in Canterlot, but I should have known they wouldn’t have made my assignment that easy.”

Octavia snorted, of course it wouldn’t be easy. They knew everything about her: likes, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, pressure points... There was nothing her teachers did not know about her. They probably were snickering to themselves right now for having foiled her fantasies.

As that thought passed through her mind, she straightened herself up and proceeded to her rooms. 

“I will enjoy my time in Canterlot. If they are going to assign me as an anonymous bodyguard to some new, upstart DJ then I’m going to prove I can handle it.” 

She would probably be forced to endure crowds of rabid fans, most of which would be trying their hardest to get close to their idol. Through this she would have to remain close enough in case the mare’s squalling sycophants weren’t concealing a more dangerous purpose. To top it all off, she would have to be listening to the artless racket that those ponies adored the whole time. Her being forced to experience that ungodly type of music was most likely going to be the topper on these series of tests; she was going pass with flying colors or die trying.

The halls of the fortress quickly melted away and soon she stood before her personal quarters. She slid open the door and stepped inside. The room was a small cubicle, identical to the many others that lined the hall except that it was slightly larger being a corner room. She had a dresser, small desk, and bathroom all packed in with a few cushions on the floor which served as her bed. Coming from a respected family within the Order did have a few perks, the corner rooms were usually reserved for special ponies.

While the room was barely larger than the others, not many other initiates had their own personal living area. Most rooms bunked two or three ponies, regardless of there being an empty room next door. Octavia had this room to herself, something she was grateful for ever since she had graduated from being a trainee. 

The dark walls were obscured by a number of tapestries of various sizes. A few depicted epic battle scenes of dragons and manticores, while others sported simple patterns to assist trainees and initiates as they practiced their meditation. The tapestries were the most decorative pieces in the room as her furniture was as practical as it could get. 

More than once she had gotten a splinter using the oak desk, but the years of use had softened the edges into rounded corners. It had been a number of years since the desk relinquished it’s last barb. Her bedding was made up of half a dozen grey cushions spread along the floor which she stacked it up against the wall every day to make room for walking.

But, as these were all things anypony got, it did not make her room special. No, what made this room special was the bathroom. Of course, there was nothing special about the bathroom itself, but having a place to relieve and clean yourself in private was something Octavia treasured. Her time as a trainee had not been enjoyable with their public facilities. She kept her bathroom in prime condition, diligently cleaning it every week. It was the most precious thing she had, besides her cello.

As meager as it was, Octavia found herself growing uneasy at the prospect of leaving it. Sighing, she moved to the desk where a note had been left. She knew what was inside the envelope. Instructions on her assignment, locations of her new home, habits of the pony she was to watch, and one ticket to Canterlot. She would have to review everything on the train.

Her unease did not last long. Octavia was excited to be heading to Canterlot. She had been allowed to observe as a musician one of the operations that were being conducted at a Gala of the Canterlot Elite. Of course, it had not gone well because of a certain pink pony, but that had not been the point. The atmosphere had been amazing and she had been able to practice her musical skills in public to boot.

Unfortunately, she still had a week left of training. She was sure a lot of it would probably end up being physical. Octavia poked around in her room for a few minutes. Sighing she shuffled off to her next session early.


*

“...Four! Five! Six! HALT!” A strong, male voice rang out across the courtyard.

Octavia halted the movement of her training sword, inches from hitting the mare in front of her again. Sweat dripped off her form as the heavy breaths of both ponies fogged the air in front of them. The ground was frozen and the swords, made of bamboo sticks tied together, were just as stiff. Already six welts were making themselves prominent on the mare in front of her.

She lowered her sword and dropped back onto her front hooves, her opponent doing the same. The fighting style she used with swords demanded the use of forehooves; it had taken her a long time to master standing, and then moving, on only two. But now she was an expert, it had been a piece of cake to outmaneuver the mare in front of her.

“Valerie what was that?” The stallion who spoke earlier yelled at the mare across from Octavia, his voice rose an octave as he continued. “You barely even defended yourself, how do you expect to handle yourself in a real fight?!”

“Sh-she’s so fast!” The mare bit her lip, glancing at Octavia before turning back to the stallion.

“Then you should not engage her straight on!” He cried, exasperation evident in his voice. “Make her move, get her off balance! Use the terrain to your advantage, know their strengths and weaknesses!”

Valerie took a deep breath. “Yes Ma-”

“AGAIN!” He roared.

Octavia returned to her upright stance, grasping her sword in both forehooves. 

“Her stance is firm, but limiting, she isn’t going to be moving to surprise me.” Octavia searched her opponent’s eyes, but found no telling signs of her next move.

Soon she grew tired of waiting and lunged. She expected her quarry to dodge; it was what she would have done after being told off. So, it came as a complete surprise as the mare ducked low and dove forwards.

She supposed it was a good tactic. Normally that tackle could have been easily avoided, but when you are in the air... It is rather hard to avoid things. It certainly caught her off guard as well, she did not expect Valerie to be so aggressive. However, Octavia’s mental analysis was cut short as she was tackled, the momentum carrying them both to the ground.

Octavia felt the air whoosh out of her as she landed heavily on her back. She kicked instinctively and felt them connect with her attacker’s chest. The mare fell back and they both scrambled to their hooves. Octavia was still trying to regain her breath and her opponent pressed her advantage.

Remaining cool, Octavia parried the blows and scored herself a strike before the mare backed off. She breathed deeply, trying to regain her breath; her movements painfully sluggish. Octavia initiated again with a lunge, but Valerie dodged and scored a hit across her flank. Landing with a roll she came back up with a twist to face Valerie and parried a second blow. Moving in close, she denied any further use of the training swords and punched as hard as she could into the mare’s stomach.

The mare retched and dropped her sword, but had the sense to rip Octavia’s weapon out of her grasp as well. They tumbled to the ground together in a wrestling match. It took a matter of moments for Octavia to gain the advantage and trap Valerie in a headlock.

She had to disengage as Valerie dropped to the ground and grabbed one of the swords. Diving towards the other weapon, she rolled once again and came back up in time to prepare herself as the other mare bore down on her.

The stallion roared out three more hits before the mare backed off, frustration clear on her features. Octavia remained calm and waited this time for the mare to come to her. Valerie feinted, but Octavia observed how her weight shifted and dodged the real swing. As she scored another flurry of blows, the stallion watching roared them into inertia.

Valerie threw her sword down in frustration. “It’s not fair! I can’t beat her! I don’t see why I must suffer through this every day!”

“Silence Valerie!” The stallion said firmly. “Winning isn’t everything. You should be proud you scored more hits this round than you ever have, and lasted a good thirty seconds longer!”

“But it means nothing in the real world!” She shouted back. “What if-”

The stallion overrode her,“That is not the point of this session! Go speak to Master Pai Mai about all you have said and done in this training session.”

Valerie stormed off with a slight limp and wet eyes. Octavia for her part kept her eyes on the ground. Many of the students did their best to keep their rivalries to the training ground and Octavia was no exception. She liked Valerie, and would probably be spending time with her later... if she wasn’t too upset. To say anything was to condemn the other mare and embarrass her further.

The stallion turned back to Octavia. “You were very sloppy there at the last, Octavia. Since your master will be occupied for the next half hour, I will continue to instruct you. Bring the swords and prove to me that was just a one time occurrence.”

“Great, now it is my turn to get beat up.” Octavia thought sourly, turning to retrieve the weapons. Closing her eyes, she said a quick prayer.


*

A few hours later Octavia limped back to her room and threw herself into the shower. Groaning as the sweat and grime came off. The warm water soothing her aching and bruised limbs. She sat for a few minutes with her eyes closed against the wall before turning the water off.

Climbing out, she grabbed a towel and rubbed herself down. Her aching limbs made reaching some spots rather unpleasant. Once done, she sat down and began the arduous job of brushing out her damp hair; it combed easier wet. Most kept their mane and tail short so that it did not impede their movements. But, Octavia liked her long tail and mane. It helped that she had been practicing with it her whole life, most ponies were recruited as young adults and did not have that luxury of time.

A short time later Octavia made her way to the mess hall. When compared to the main entrance auditorium of the mountain castle it was not a large room. At full capacity it might accommodate a quarter the fortress’ inhabitants. Because of this size problem, and the fact that training was conducted at fickle times the teachers set, food was always available and ponies could come and go as they pleased.

A clattering from behind the buffet reached Octavia’s ears, reminding her of the dueling she had just finished. The cooks, if not shouting at each other, were trying to impale each other on spatulas and whisks. The smells, however, were much more appealing than the armpit she had been locked under.

Filling a meager plate of food she moved to a table and began to eat. The rice tasted old and dry while the vegetables disintegrated at a touch. Octavia tried not to think of how long they had to have been steamed before that was even possible. She wished the cooks would replace the food bins at the same time each day, so she would know when to come for something above barely edible.

While she was picking at her food a pony came and slumped down in a chair opposite her. She looked up to see Valerie hunched over with a scowl. But it wasn’t long before she was snickering at the faces Octavia was making with each bite.

“Feel better?” Octavia asked, taking a long drink from her glass.

“How come you get some easy stalker assignment while I have to stay here and work through the Temple.” Valerie whined.

“I’ve already been through the Temple you know, Valerie. It’s time for me to move on,” Octavia said quietly.

Valerie snorted and rolled her eyes. “Yea yea... You’re the best at combat I’ve seen from any ninja except some teachers and the masters. I guess being raised a ninja helps with some of that.”

“Yea,” Octavia agreed. “But I assure you, my social skills are horrible. Those tests were harder than the meditation!”

“That’s so dumb!” Valerie threw up her hooves in mock despair. “They are holding you back from being a ninja because you can’t walk up to other ponies and say ‘hi’! That means you just get to stand around beating up on ponies like poor little me! It’s not fair!”

“Relax Valerie, they aren’t holding me back, I’m moving forward to my final task and first assignment.” Octavia caught her eye. “Hey, I’m leaving in a few days. Let’s just have some fun and forget about today, okay?”

Valerie lowered her hooves and gave Octavia a questioning look. “Did you have something in mind that you wanted to do?”

Octavia grinned. “Well, I have some free time this evening, would you like to come listen to me play? You may use the shower too if you want. This might be your last--”

Octavia was cut off as Valerie squealed as she hopped off her chair and ran to her room for wash items. Octavia grin widened as the mare hurried off. Emotions were always kept under wraps among the ninjas, but Valerie had never lost her exuberant attitude. Although she would never admit it, Octavia loved how she wore her personality on her sleeve. It felt so fresh compared to her life among the stoic masters and teachers.


*




Octavia stood tuning her cello as Valerie watched raptly. She never understood how the blue mare could sit so still and listen to her play. But sit she did, idly brushing her freshly showered and damp mane as she waited for the music to begin. Octavia took a deep breath and sifted through what she could play; a small sense of pride blooming in her chest at the large repertoire she had to choose from. She had more songs and styles to play on her cello than she ever had for combat.

Here, with her cello, Octavia could become another pony. No need for swords or martial arts. No need for espionage skill or masks. With her music, she could be a somepony in a world she had never belonged to.

She touched her bow to the strings, softly drawing it across them to create something that had never been heard before. It did not take much before Octavia lost herself in the music and her thoughts. Almost without her realizing, the cello came alive in her hooves... It always did, playing felt so easy and natural. Octavia’s audience of one slowed her brushing as she was enraptured by the seeming orchestra that floated out of the instrument.

Did she want to always be a ninja? Octavia wasn’t sure; growing up to be a ninja was all she knew, besides her music. But ever since her place at that Gala she had realized that there might be more out there she could be interested in and be good at.

Valerie had her eyes closed; the music relaxing her mind after a day of both physical and mental strain. Octavia was good at combat, and had been very hard to get to know. Valerie had taken it upon herself to break through the introverted barriers the grey pony had erected around herself. It hadn’t been easy, but the rewards were well worth it. Who knew Octavia had such amazing skills outside swinging a sword? Her cooking sucked though; Valerie shuddered at that memory. She stopped thinking and quickly lost herself in the music again.

Still lost in her thoughts, Octavia was oblivious to Valerie’s movements. She couldn’t just quit being a ninja... How could she? It had been her whole life; and the organization didn’t just let it’s secrets and assets run around without a leash. She understood why of course, ninjas were supposed to be secret, that did not work well when members stopped caring and left to tell their stories. She scowled, her music taking a more determined note.

Growing up a ninja had saved her from having to be “broken” like new young adult recruits. Octavia still maintained very much her sense of independence and self will. In fact, it had been encouraged by the master who trained her. She may be antisocial, but that did not mean she cared nothing about having a life of her own someday.

 This assignment would provide a lot of answers. At least, that’s what Octavia was hoping for. She couldn’t see where this little adventure would take her, but she hoped that a lot of doors would be opened to her during this assignment.

Octavia had never killed anypony before, she wasn’t sure she wanted to. But, being a ninja meant she would have to kill eventually. It certainly gave her reservations... Octavia had thought about leaving many times before, running through the arguments just as she was now. It all came back around to one overwhelming fact: there was no way she was not becoming a ninja, they wouldn't let her leave after all the years she had been steeped in the organization. This meant killing would be inevitable, that or be killed someday. It was a fact she just had to face.

Octavia let the bow fall away from her cello. She glanced over to where Valerie was sitting; the mare was dozing with a small smile on her face. Octavia could not understand how the mare was always so happy. Sure, she got down sometimes during a tough day, but the grueling day in and day out regimen never got to her.

The “breaking” process wasn’t anything tremendously violent, it was very much like the Equestrian hoof-camp. Ponies coming out of it obeyed orders without question or hesitation. Valerie was no different in that respect, but a lot of the more personal traits to a pony’s character were usually beaten out. Not Valerie though, her bubbly attitude stumped even the grimmest instructors.

Shrugging, the grey mare carefully packed her cello away before waking up her friend. Valerie opened her eyes to a light shake.

“It’s late, Valerie, and I must be up early.” Octavia said, getting up and heading for the bathroom.

“Ha! No earlier than you usually wake up Octy!” Valerie grinned impishly as Octavia glared at her.

“My name is Oct-”

“Yes yes we know Octavia!” Valerie interrupted with a flick of her hoof. “Sheesh, you act as if nicknames are tabo, especially yours.”

Octavia's face scrunched up as a flurry of different thoughts ran through her mind. She opened her mouth to rebuff when Valerie laughed. The sky blue mare moved close and gave her friend a quick hug.

“Well, I guess this is it. Thanks for letting me listen Octavia, it is always beautiful. I hope you do well.” Valerie squeezed extra hard for a moment before releasing the grey mare and moving to exit.

Slightly bemused, and maybe smirking a little, Octavia prepared for her last night at En Reach.




*


Octavia opened her eyes. She rolled over and grabbed for the small clock on the floor next to the wall. -5 A.M.- Standard wake up time. The same time she woke up every morning. She rolled off the cushions and stumbled into the shower. The green walls softened the glaring light of the fluorescent bulb above her as she turned on the water.

Standing in the shower, Octavia couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to call her own shots. She had been training and under the influence of superiors for so long she wasn’t sure if she could function without them. She had spent time on her own before and knew how to be independent, she did! But this time the situation called for her to be smart and mature on her own.

Eventually she stepped out and toweled off. Ever since she could walk she had been learning to be a ninja. They adamantly refused to allow her the right of being an official ninja until she was socially accepted as an adult though. It irked her, but it also made sense. Ninjas rarely operated behind a black mask in the middle of the night anymore. In today’s world she had to blend in; that meant staying within legal boundaries and out in the open.

She began to gather up her belongings, it did not take long. Being part of a ninja organization did not afford her many luxuries. Her cello, a few bathroom essentials and a picture of her family were all she cared to take. Then, filling her saddlebags with ninja essentials, she left the rest of her belongings at the door. They would be picked up and transported separately, her main focus now was her new target.

Although she encountered a number of other ninjas and trainees during her trip through the castle, she spoke to none. A few initiates made a number of rude hoof gestures as she passed, but wisely did nothing else. Rivalries and trouble making were expressly forbidden. Any conflicts were kept strictly to the training rings. Self control was one of the first and most important things learned in being a ninja, Octavia was no exception. She breezed by her passive aggressors, knowing that they were envious of her easy assignment.

An hour later she had walked down from the mountain fortress to a small village which the ninjas maintained as their source of news and commerce. The train station was the busiest place, most all the ponies were there in makeshift market stalls or small stores nearby. Moving to the landing, Octavia spotted her personal master waiting for her and headed towards him.

Many said Octavia was something of a prodigy in the ninja world while others would simply wave it off as her being the only pony raised from birth to be a ninja. Either way, she was extremely talented in her combat skills. The talent was enough to garner the attention of one of the highest ranking ponies in the whole order, a master, who took her under his metaphorical wing despite her young age. Her musical skills were nothing to scoff at either, but they were something Octavia cultivated herself and did not show off to many ponies.

He faced her as she approached. She gave a small bow, but that was it. Formalities and titles meant little; but the respect did count.

“Hello Octavia, I see you are getting to go where you wished.”

“Yes indeed sir, I hope that I may find the assignment enjoyable,” she responded, keeping her gaze lowered.

The stallion laughed, but quickly regained his seriousness. “Remember to watch your back and pay attention to your surroundings. Canterlot may seem a pleasant place to those who wish it to be, but I’m certain you will be finding out about a number of unpleasant things in the months to come.”

“I will.”

He nodded, then continued, “you know that the Order will always be watching, do not become careless and you may quickly find yourself a fully fledged ninja. Especially that you are now of age.”

The train whistle blew and he waved her on-board. She took a deep breath and gave a small wave back before turning to her new life. A life of adventure she hoped; anything to break up the monotony of training day in and day out. Already, just being on the train by herself was more deviation than she could ever remember experiencing. It was exhilarating, any trepidation she felt was lost in the new-found feelings she had never been allowed to have before.

Being raised in the fortress made for a secluded lifestyle, but she was by no means an amateur when it came to dealing with ponies. Her master had made sure to take her on many outings and she had plenty of interaction with the world. In fact, part of her training included a disciplined understanding of the common, exploitable habits of ponies. Her master had instructed her in these affairs on several occasions, where she mingled with the crowd according to his wishes. However, despite the nature of all the outings, they had all been with her master, who expected that she conduct herself according to his whims. Now? She could act however she wished and interact with whomever she cared to.

It was an overwhelming prospect. Octavia could remember a number of her assignments where she wished to have had time to talk to ponies going about their day. She could hardly begin to imagine where she could begin. The music shops she always wanted to stop in were open to her; the musicians and their extravagant works were now at her disposal. All she had to do was find time. She hoped her target was lazy.

Lost in her thoughts, Octavia found herself a compartment and pulled out her information on Vinyl Scratch. She stared blankly for a few minutes before she realized she was getting nowhere. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, she emptied her thoughts. She calmed her jittering hooves and and allowed her excitement to be tucked away.

Opening her eyes, she focused on the paper.


__________________________________________________


Target: Vinyl (Scratch) Star


Nickname(s): DJ-P0N3
Age: 22
Gender: Mare
Profession: Disk Jockey, Music Artist-Composer
Education: Double major; Master in Theory-Composition and Bachelor in Strategic Communication*
Sexual Preference: Unknown
Parents: Count and Countess, Olive and Record Star
Schedule: Everyday but Tuesdays and Thursdays she works from 7pm - 2am at the La Rouge. Usually stays home when not working, does make random visits around town and to different restaurants on off days for pleasure.
Additional Information (bio): Vinyl Scratch has had a rather privileged upbringing among the Canterlot elite. However from what has been gathered she is no slouch and very independant. She was at the top of all her classes, and to have achieved two degrees plus landed herself a permanent job at age 22 is impressive. It seems she also insisted on paying her own way through her schooling.** So far the job looks to be solid with good pay, at this rate school debts should be paid off within five or so years.

*It would seem her minor was in Vocal Performance and she has dabbled more than a little in it with her profession. It would also be wise to point out her familiarity with stringed and brass instruments; she is surprisingly versatile and has an understanding of a large variety.

**Little to nothing is know about her relationship with her parents. There does not to seem to be much of a rivalry however, but it might just be kept under wraps because of their station in society.
        

_________________________________________________________


Octavia snorted. Familiarity with instruments her flank! No self respecting musician could have respect for orchestral equipment and yet be a Disk Jockey. What amazed her was that the mare was actually fraternizing around in nightclubs when she came from such a high class family. It seemed clear that there was tension in that, but Octavia would have to learn more it seemed.

“Unfortunate that I have to remain anonymous, I’ll probably never hear the story of Vinyl’s parents having heart attacks when they found out where she worked.” Octavia smirked at the thought, imagining the shocked, white faces of two ponies finding out through a stray piece of news the DJ would have left lying around. Or, maybe it had yet to happen, this was a fairly new job after all.
        
She laid back in her seat and watched the mountains slide by; her mind picking through the various pages of information that were now splayed across the seats. Octavia closed her eyes and began committing everything to memory. Occasionally she would peek at a sheet, but for the most part the memorization came easy.

Before she even realized it, the train was approaching it’s destination. Quickly gathering her things, she waited for the train to stop. The train slid into the station with hardly a sound and came to a stop with a small jolt. She joined the line of ponies leaving the car, moving slowly until she had room to step out of the line and make for the station exit through the crowd.


*

Octavia took a deep breath and looked around. Canterlot, she was finally here. She might have a job to do, but she was going to enjoy every moment of her time here.

Taking stock of her surroundings, she pulled out a map that had been enclosed with the note she received. Outside the train station was a large square which did well to disperse the masses of ponies exiting the building behind her. It was not shaped like a square of course, it was more of a massive oval, surrounded on all sides with various stores, restaurants and tourist shops. There was a small park area in the center, allowing ponies to relax or play at their leisure. Octavia thought that was really smart, since it allowed for new ponies entering Canterlot a chance to stretch their legs but also have plenty of city activity to participate in if they desired.

Taking a moment to plot her course, Octavia began to move off towards her destination. The ponies surrounding her were mostly engaged in shopping and a lot of of them seemed to be families, considering the number of children around. Continuing to look around she hoped to spot anything that she might want to visit later.

Much to her chagrin, she did not spot a single pony that she thought was of the upper class. The most primly dressed pony was her, and she was only wearing a bow tie. There were also no stores in the immediate vicinity other than gift shops or food stands. 

She moved off through the buildings, slightly disappointed that nothing caught her eye. It seemed with every step her stay in Canterlot was becoming more boring. Maybe it was for the best. Octavia mused on that, realizing she had been extremely inattentive in looking for potential dangers. She could have been stabbed half a dozen times in the time she had been ogling at the sites. It was getting late too; she was wasting time. Shaking herself and picking up her pace, Octavia moved deeper into the city.

Before long the buildings began to take on more of a Victorian architecture. Octavia realized her destination was leading her into older parts of the city, and older usually meant more expensive. She was getting closer to the palace, she could tell every time she got a peek through the tall buildings. But she had still been expecting to be looking for a hole in the wall of a club, not something among these nice homes and stores.

The La Rouge came into view just as the sun disappeared behind the buildings. It was surrounded by a number of other businesses all packed together. The front sported a large neon lit sign, every portion of it being in good condition. There were a couple of liquor stores, a bar and a few restaurants. A few other surrounding stores were closed, but for the most part lights still shone from within, casting faint shadows across the square in the twilight.

What struck Octavia first was how busy the small area was. Then came amazement as she noticed no trash anywhere, it was surprisingly well maintained for the amount of ponies it was attracting. She did not even realize that the square outside the train station had been an absolute mess until she saw how clean it was here.

From her direction there was almost no traffic. But back from towards the palace, where the higher class homes were, there was a constant trickle of ponies moving to and from the square. The still open stores buzzed with activity and there was already a line growing outside the club.

As she drew closer, she could hear and feel the beat of the music radiating outwards. There was a low murmur of talk permeating the air. Not loud enough to mimic the daily routine of busy markets, but it was enough to imply a heavy sense of camaraderie and ponies enjoying themselves. Octavia moved up the side of the growing line towards two large stallions who were guarding the door. She stiffened as she felt the eyes of almost all the ponies she passed latch onto her, she could almost feel the curiosity and jealousy oozing off them as she presented another present from the note: a VIP pass.

The stares, she realized, was probably because nopony knew her and that most of them were wondering who she was to have already garnered such an item. As the bouncer nodded her through after checking the pass, she turned firmly away from the staring ponies and made her way inside. She heard a couple of cat calls as her flank came into view. Saddlebags could only cover so much it seemed. Her eyes bulged and she almost stopped... almost. The nerve of these ponies! Back at En Reach that would not have happened unless somepony wanted a beating!

High class ponies, pshaw! She had been expecting to be hit on a couple of times earlier, but her expectations had suddenly gone way up once she realized the club was not a dump. Octavia forced herself to keep walking, telling herself it wasn’t worth the trouble. “they are just jealous of some new pony getting what they can’t have.” She thought smugly. Still, those expectations just got ruined.

A sour smirk crawled its way onto her features as she made her way to the bar. The pony she was replacing would be waiting for her to show up there. All she had to do now was wait for her responsibilities to be officially assigned.

She ordered a drink, hoping it would take the edge off her shattered respect for the ponies. She was worried it wouldn’t though. In her profession, she had to know how to fight under any circumstance. This meant that she had been forced to get drunk a number of times to learn how to fight while inebriated. One glass wasn’t going to be enough. To top it off she knew getting drunk on the job was out of the question, she needed to stay focused. So, that meant remembering those ponies outside and what they did.

“Hello Octavia,” a quiet voice behind her spoke. “You are almost late, and already drinking I see.”

Barely keeping herself from jumping like a startled kitten and spinning around, she took a small sip of her drink hoping to cover up any reaction that might have leaked out. 

“Where is the DJ?” She asked coolly as she put the cup down.

She heard a slight shifting behind her. “In the back, but she hasn’t come out yet. I’m sure you will figure out who she is easily enough. Good luck.”

There was more movement behind her, then silence. Or, at least as quiet as it could be in the club. Octavia realized that she had not paid attention to any of the sound within the club upon entering. She had been so preoccupied with the vulgarity of the stallions outside she had not noticed the pounding bass in the background. It wasn’t as loud as she imagined club music to be, so perhaps that was why it had not caught her immediate attention.

The ponies already dancing seemed rather mellow... Actually, overall, the club seemed a little empty. Octavia wondered why there was a line outside. She glanced back at the door and in a flash realized that ponies had been slowly entering all along. How did she miss that the line had been moving? Growling at her lack of attentiveness she did another sweep of the large room.

Most of the room was filled with partying ponies. There were a few who were already heavily inebriated and a number well on their way. They mingled throughout the crowd or slumped in their seats. Along the bar was where most of the chatting was happening, she could already see more than one stallion looking for a hookup. To her surprise, there were even a few mares making some moves.

Two ponies were all Octavia could identify as potential threats. Both were stallions, one was slightly overweight with a dark green coat and was sitting in a dark corner. The other was nearly drunk and making an ass of himself. Despite that, Octavia could tell he could handle himself. She hoped he wouldn’t get violent, especially around her target.

Although she was not overly worried, they were both earth ponies. Their strength was nothing to scoff at, there was a reason why most bouncers were earth ponies the size of draft horses. Two unicorn stallions would have a hard time overcoming Octavia even without her combat skills. Brute strength against brute strength, Octavia had a fair chance. 

What made unicorns dangerous was their magic, not strength. While it was near impossible for an average unicorn to grab and hold flesh, they could still use even the smallest of sticks or whatnot to trip up their opponents and thus gain an advantage.

Pegasi were a whole different matter. They were more hardy than earth ponies, but still not as strong. It took quite a bit of injury to subdue a pegasus. Then, add flying on top of that and it made them a force to be reckoned with just the same as earth ponies or unicorns.

Thankfully, Octavia had practice fighting against all the pony races. She was confident in her abilities to defeat one or two of each race. A blade went a long way in giving her an advantage against other earth ponies. For the others, it all came down to agility and awareness.

She looked up at the stage and as if on that cue the lights dimmed as the music stopped. The ponies all turned their faces to the stage as a silhouette appeared. Octavia snorted to herself as artificial fog swirled around the figure. She didn’t see what the big deal was, but the anticipation from the ponies on the floor was almost palpable.

There was a loud buzz as a mic cut in and loud shuffling as a mic appeared next to the mouth of the hidden pony on stage.

A rough, yet distinctly female voice called through the speakers, almost blasting Octavia off her bar stool.

“Helloooo Canterlot! Today is my one week of working for you birthday! How is everypony?”

The cheers were enough, Octavia jammed her hooves in her ears, slipping off her stool in the process.

“Well guess what?” The lights on stage flashed on, illuminating a white unicorn. “I’ve got a collab song that has been finished but I haven’t gotten it published yet, you wanna hear it?”

Octavia had a hard time deciding if it was the cheers, or the voice, that was hurting her ears more. But as the music began it blew both options out of the water. Octavia was convinced that she would not be able to hear by morning.

The resounding electronic bass drove the ponies on the dance floor into a frenzy. Octavia watched in horrified fascination as the club turned from it’s laid back atmosphere into a powerhouse of pony sweat and flailing limbs. Everywhere she turned ponies were bouncing to the beat or making a beeline for the dance floor. A huge flow of ponies flooded into the club, turning the place into a packed mass of bodies. Octavia was quickly crammed in between two mares ordering drinks.

“Orange Juice with a shot of vodka... er, make that a double.”

“May I get a bottle of Tequila and two glasses please?”

Her eyes bulged at both mare’s starting drinks. Octavia could only imagine why they would want to be inebriated so quickly. True, she wasn’t helping her case by sitting with a half filled glass of spirits, but it was quite obvious these mares were looking to get drunk quick. However, Octavia was sure to make sure she remained well within her tolerance limit; she couldn’t say the same for the mare who was walking away with her bottle.

Looking at the clock, Octavia groaned when it only said nine-thirty. She emptied her glass and put her head in her hooves. It was going to be a long night.

“Hey there babe. You don’t look like you’re having a good time.” Octavia tilted her head to the side to observe the stallion that had to all but shout to make himself heard even while standing next to her.

He sat down on a stool next to her and eventually gained the bartender’s attention. He nodded towards Octavia’s glass. “I’d like to refill her glass, give me one of what she’s drinking as well.”

The bartender took the glass but waited for Octavia to nod. The stallion turned back to her as he lounged against the bar.

“So, I saw you walk in with that pass, I like the way you ignored those crass ponies out there. I’d like to apologize for their behavior, they are jealous is all.”

He paused to gauge her reaction, but Octavia opted to ignore him. He continued, unabated.

“I know most all the ponies who come here and I think it’s safe to say you are new considering I’ve not seen you before. If you don’t mind me asking where are you from?”

Yes she did mind. But, she didn’t have anything better to do. Octavia decided now would be a good of time as any to go over her cover story.

“Manehattan.” She said.

Clearly expecting more, the stallion waited a moment. When he did not receive more information he continued smoothly.

“Manehattan huh. I have a cousin out there. He is a theater hand there.”

“I doubt it,” Octavia thought.

The bartender returned with the drinks and the stallion thanked him before pushing one of the glasses towards Octavia.

“What theater does he work at?” Octavia asked.

The stallion hesitated for a second, if she had not been looking Octavia would have missed it.

“It’s the Portobello Theater, they do live performances.” The stallion put a hoof to his chin and appeared to be lost in thought before he continued. “It’s on... on... Heh! You know, I can’t remember where it is! It’s been a few years since I’ve talked with him at all.” The stallion looked rueful and stared at his glass.

“Oh he’s good.” Octavia was impressed with his smooth reply. 

However, she had never heard of any theater that did live performances called the Portobello in Manehattan, and that was the main city she had spent her socializing time in. She was quite certain there was no theater of that name there, but she decided to play along, challenging herself to see how long it would take her before he slipped up.

“Hm, well that’s interesting I am a musician myself and I’ve never heard of that theater. It must be pretty low class,” She said airily, taking a modest sip from her glass.

The stallion chuckled nervously and took a gulp of his drink. He coughed as it went down, but managed to regain control of himself.

“Well, you are right of course, it is a pretty low class place. I would imagine somepony of your prestige wouldn’t know anything about it. You should tell me about your accomplishments!”

“I’ve played in a number of places actually.” Octavia began. “My most prestigious accomplishment would have to be that I’ve played at the Grand Galloping Gala. But other accomplishments include winning the Manehattan Music Masterpieces contest three different years as well as being the longest running champion in Equestrian Stringed Duels.” Octavia listed off easily. Nothing new there, those were real achievements for her, not to brag or anything though.

The stallion gave her a once over with wide eyes before taking another liberal gulp of his drink. Octavia was amused to observe his cheeks flushing with the alcohol. 

“What a lightweight,” she snickered to herself. 

If he wasn't careful with his drinking he would find himself out on the back street in the morning.

“You don’t say.” He said slowly. “My you sure have been around, it’s a shame I've not heard of you but I guess classical musicians just don’t get the same kind of popularity as other types of music.”

Octavia gave a sour glance towards the stage as the stallion finished his drink. The thundering song had ended, but the mad DJ was now mixing what seemed like four different songs together. Octavia could not understand how the ponies near the stage’s speakers had not collapsed to the floor in agony.

“The name’s Wild, Wild Card.” The stallion said, bringing Octavia back to her surroundings.

“Octavia.” She supplied taking another sip, trying not to roll her eyes.

For his part, Wild Card was beginning to have a little trouble sitting on his stool. That did not bother him however, and very quickly he scooted it closer to Octavia and put a foreleg around her lower back... extremely low back she observed.

Well, at least, he tried to. As soon as his hoof reached her opposite flank, she grabbed it and twisted hard, flinging the stallion off his stool. Jumping off her own stool in the motion, she continued pushing the stallion to the floor. He yelled in agony as she held his foreleg behind his back as she pushed on his back.

“I don’t think I’m as drunk as you are buddy, and certainly not enough for those kinds of moves. Wouldn't you agree?” Octavia gave a tweak of the stallions leg.

“Yes!” He cried.

“I don’t want to see you try that again, with me or any other mares got it?”

“Okay!” The stallion whimpered into the floor, tears leaking out of his clenched eyes.

“And for the record, there is no theater in Manehattan called the Portobello,” she growled.

Octavia gave the stallion’s arm an extra tweak, extracting a pained cry, before she dropped his foreleg. Leaving the whimpering stallion she stood up, noticing many of the surrounding patrons staring at her slack jawed. The bartender might have had a slight smirk she thought, but his mouth was a little too far open to tell as well.

At her glare, the ponies quickly turned back to their own vices and did not give her a second glance. Huffing, Octavia picked up her glass from the bar and moved to find herself a corner to settle down in as far from the music as possible, while still being able to see Vinyl.

The rest of the night passed rather uneventfully. Nopony bothered Octavia and she was able to observe everything from her corner. As the crowd finally thinned a considerable amount she made her way to the bar.

“Hey, I was wondering if there is any way I could get an autograph from tonight’s DJ?” Octavia asked as the bartender came around.

The stallion regarded her warily for a moment.

Octavia continued quickly, “I thought she did a lot better than a lot of places I’ve been to. I’m seriously considering coming back. I might even have a business proposition for the mare.”

Octavia hoped she didn’t overdo it. Thankfully the bartender lit up when she said she would be back.

“You could probably catch her as she leaves through the back door, you can run around right now if you want,” he said with a grin.

Smiling and thanking the stallion, she turned and left. Moving around back to where the DJ was supposed to exit, she hid herself and waited. It was not a cold night, but the air had a slight nip to it. Octavia noticed, but she remained mostly unaffected. The alcohol she had consumed kept her warm as she hunkered in the shadows.

It was not long before the DJ exited the building. The mare took a deep breath and began to walk out of the alley. Octavia followed at a distance since there were no ponies with which she could blend. She relied solely on the shadows and silence.

The DJ moved quickly, cutting through alleys and streets, clearly sure of her destination. Suddenly the DJ stopped and looked back, pricking her ears. Octavia raised an eyebrow. She was well hidden, and had made no noise in her last move. Octavia knew about feeling eyes on your back, so she was not surprised that the DJ was slightly nervous, especially this late at night.

After a few more minutes of moving, the DJ paused again. This time she turned around quickly and peered behind her. Octavia, for her part, was already well hidden again. She had also increased her following distance as an extra precaution.

“Wow, this is one paranoid filly.” Octavia almost giggled out loud.

The DJ hesitantly began moving once again, but this time she moved quicker. Octavia realized this only when the white mare cut into an alley and out of sight. Cursing under her breath, Octavia picked up her pace and moved towards the entrance.

A sudden scream and shouting pierced the dead night. Octavia’s blood ran cold as it originated from the alley she was heading for. She broke into a flat out sprint as she reached into her saddlebags for her katana. Sword in mouth, she skidded around the corner in time to see one of four stallions shoving Vinyl Scratch against a brick wall. An anti magic ring was already forced around the base of her horn.

In an instant Octavia identified the one who shoved Vinyl as the large, dark green stallion she had seen in the bar. The other stallion who was with him was there as well, but the two other stallions were new to her.

The katana magically extended with a sharp ring as she activated the special button on her weapon’s handle. She bounded forward and transferred the katana to her hooves, observing her surroundings as she did so. The ground was dark, uneven cobblestone and the walls were relatively flat red brick. The building opposite Vinyl had windows higher up. There were a few trash cans at the far entrance, but for the most part the alley was clear of debris and refuse.

The two new stallions carried blades. One was a unicorn and the other a pegasus. Both earth ponies she had seen in the bar were weaponless, but that did not fool Octavia into thinking they were harmless. As an earth pony, she outmatched average males from other races in sheer strength, and she was just a female. A plan formed in her mind as she closed the distance between her and the other ponies. The only warning the stallions received was the widening of Vinyls eyes and a soft thumping from behind.

She targeted the unicorn first: Always remove their ability to cast magic spells. An earthbound pony at least had a chance in combatting a pegasus, unlike a unicorn who could steal your weapon or lift you if they were strong enough. If she was quick, she could eliminate both threats from the start.

Barreling into the unicorn, she slammed his head into the wall next to Vinyl. She turned and lashed out at the pegasus with her katana. He was fast, but not fast enough to avoid her opening his foreleg with a deep gash. He jerked back, but in his panic he flapped his wings too hard and slammed against the other wall. Observing that both earth ponies were still in shock, she closed in on the pegasus. He had his sword out, but Octavia deftly slipped past his defenses and ruined his injured foreleg for good as well as placing a deep gash across his middle.

She was forcibly disengaged as one of the earth ponies wrapped a hoof around her neck and jerked her back. Forcing back a choking cough and hardening her neck, Octavia kicked back with all her might between the stallion’s legs. That was a nice advantage of fighting while standing on two legs... If anypony grabbed her from behind, they left themselves quite vulnerable.

Unfortunately for her, the stallion was wearing plenty of padding there. Octavia cursed again for not noticing it. However, her kick was enough for him to loosen his grip on her in surprise, if not a little pain. She twisted out of his hold in time to find the unicorn getting to his feet, holding his own weapon in his hooves with blood running down his forehead.

Before he could decide to get ahold of Vinyl, Octavia rolled towards the collapsed mare. As she came up she engaged the unicorn stallion in a flurry of blows. To her surprise, the stallion met her head on, if clumsily. She pressed her few seconds of advantage and drove him back to the earth ponies who rushed her.

Bouncing backwards deftly she avoided their grasp and sliced open the chest of one stallion while the dark green earth pony dodged her swings.

“Run you idiot!” Octavia gasped, giving the DJ a fierce shove with her hoof.

Vinyl scrambled towards the trash cans while Octavia watched the earth pony warily. She noticed the unicorn’s eyes woozily following the retreating mare. He held his head in one hoof and his sword with the other. Octavia decided she needed to end this quickly before the unicorn regained control of his mental abilities.

She charged the earth pony, tactfully using controlled swings as she advanced. He fell back and the unicorn was forced to meet her. As she began to duel him, it quickly became apparent he was not as proficient as her. It also worked in her favor that he seemed to be having trouble focusing. She quickly scored a couple of hits, but nothing definite.

Before she could finish the unicorn, the earth pony once again charged in. However, this time he came in underneath a swing from his partner, leaving Octavia to decide whom to block. It was a good plan, but Octavia was ready for that sort of mov. In fact, she had been hoping for it. She retreated from the blow towards the wall. As she deflected the swing, she used the wall to perform a side flip over the earth pony. She then rolled back, following the stallion as he dug his hooves in to stop himself.

Before he realized what happened, Octavia decapitated him on the spot. However, the heavy swing she used left her off balance and on the wrong hoof to take advantage of the unicorn who was left. In a desperate attempt to catch him off guard she attempted what Valerie had done to her. It was by more luck than design that he stumbled to the side right at that moment. She barely fell into a roll to pull out of the failed tackle.

She spun around and firmly planted herself as he quickly moved to engage. After a few blows, he seemed to focus behind her for just a moment before switching from attacking her, to defending his position. Octavia gave little thought to this as she pushed him back. One, two steps before he slipped on the remains of his decapitated fellow. With a cry he fell back, but it was drowned out as Octavia screamed herself.

A fiery burning pierced her side and it felt like it dug a mile deep. She could feel something wiggling around and tearing her skin even more. Octavia jerked away and felt a resistance that pulled at her hide before it vanished. Unfortunately she could still feel whatever it was still stuck in her, but thankfully it was no being moved by somepony. She looked down and behind her to see the pegasus face down after stabbing her with a small, but wicked looking knife, desperately clutching his spilling insides. He had tried to hang onto the knife, but Octavia’s movements had broken his weak grasp.

Having no choice but to leave the knife, Octavia charged the unicorn who had taken off towards Vinyl. She could feel the knife grinding against her ribs. It was causing her more agony than she had ever felt during all her years of training to be a ninja, but she endured. Thankfully for her, the unicorn was not making fast progress. He noticed Octavia’s advance and quickly turned to face her.

In a painfully heightened state, Octavia engaged in a short duel with the unicorn, her bones grinding against the blade jammed inside her. Her adrenaline rush and superior skill soon won out and she incapacitated the unicorn with a thrust. Octavia stood there, her breaths coming in painful gasps. She spun around and looked for the pegasus, but he had not moved from his faceplant. The whole encounter had barely lasted thirty seconds, but she was more out of breath than after a half mile sprint. Her limbs shook with unused adrenaline her body was pumping through her.

Bile rose in her throat as she glanced at the knife still stuck in her midsection. She sank down against the wall. Gritting her teeth she closed her eyes and grabbed the knife handle. She pulled, grinding her jaw and whimpering, desperately trying to think of happy moments with her cello. After what seemed ages, the tip finally left her body and she threw it away. She sank down further as she crammed her hoof over the opening, desperately trying to stem the flow of her crimson red life essence. She slide to the side as she looked around for the white unicorn she had been protecting.

She felt a flood of relief as she noticed the shocked mare cowering near the trash cans, giving her the strangest look.

“It sure would be nice to have some of that tequila right now.” Octavia thought, her mind briefly touching on the two mares from earlier. Her eyes fluttered and she noticed the DJ slowly getting up and moving closer. 

She blinked sluggishly, confused at how the DJ was now standing over her.

“She sure can move fast,” Octavia thought as she blacked out.

> Not Dead Yet
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Extra Note: All R63 changes have been removed, if you see a mistake please let me know.**

_______________________________________________


Beep

Beep

Octavia’s eyes flickered and her brain began to slowly turn its lights back on.

Beep

“Heart monitor.” The thought drifted to the surface of Octavia’s mind slowly, floating in the air before her like a jellyfish being pushed and prodded by the slow waves of sensation rolling over her. “Hospital. Can’t think. Drugs. Probably... full of anesthetic.” 

Beep

The air smelled sterile, that almost too clean smell which implied somepony had been trying hard to get odors out of the air. Octavia was lying on a bed which was propped at about a forty degree angle. She could feel a moderate layer of blankets covering her up to her chest and a tight layer of padding around her middle. It was thicker on her side and she quickly identified it as gauze. 

Beep.. beep

Finally forcing her eyes open, the hospital room she had expected to see came into view. It was slightly blurred and she tried blinking it away. Instead, her eyes watered when it did not help clear her vision. Squeezing her eyes back shut, she lifted a sluggish hoof to rub them. Relaxing back against the pillows she headed back into her memories, recalling why she was here.

Images of the night before came into view. She flew through the nightclub and seeing the DJ for the first time. Her chat with the bartender as things died down, then walking out of the bar to wait for Vinyl to appear. Slowing down, she recalled her stalking.

She was such an idiot for not realizing there might have been others following the DJ. Octavia knew she had been hidden, but did not even think twice that others might have been following the same target. Octavia did not even think to check the rooftops, let alone follow from that high.

The fight came back to her in a rush. Looking back she felt like an idiot for not making sure the pegasus was, at the least, incapacitated. But at least she had protected her target. At least she was pretty sure, her memory was a little hazy towards the end.

Octavia opened her eyes again in alarm at that last thought. Where was her target now? How had she gotten to the hospital? Had she failed? She glanced underneath the blankets at her bandaged wound as more questions buzzed through her mind.

Beep.. beep.. beep.. beep..

She glanced at the monitor, it had increased its rate by almost half its current amount. Octavia closed her eyes and laid back down, taking a few deep breaths. There was nothing to worry about yet, she just needed to wait for information.

“Oh hey! You’re awake!”

Octavia’s eyes flew open at the voice. She turned to see a white pony hopping up from a waiting chair near the window. She blinked, thankfully clearing her vision, and observed it was a white unicorn. More specifically, the DJ she had almost died for the night previous.

She said nothing as he approached. To say she was thrilled would be a lie. But then, Octavia was pleasantly surprised the mare stuck around.

“At least it was respectful, to make sure the pony who saved your life was in good hooves.” 

The DJ stopped at the bedside and stood awkwardly for a moment. She was still wearing the shades from the night before.

“Listen, I...” she hesitated. Slowly she pulled her shades off. “I don’t know you, but I just want you to know I’m really... thankful, for you saving me.”

Octavia remained silent. She was busy running through all the procedures and protocols that she had at her disposal if she ever had to talk with her target. For some reason, there was none that was titled: “Your Target Saved Your Life After You Saved Theirs and You are Now Cornered in a Hospital Bed: What Do?”

“Sooo, I’m Vinyl Scratch. A part time, and if I do say so myself, very skilled DJ. Who are you?” Vinyl said giving Octavia a grin.

“I’m Octavia.” She responded slowly.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Octavia.” The DJ said formally, giving a slight bow. Octavia raised an eyebrow as the mare straightened up with a smirk. 

“So,” the DJ continued, “how in the world did you learn to fight like that? And where did you get that awesome sword? I’d like to buy one.”

“I... Uhh...” Octavia closed her mouth with a click. What did this mare know about her now? What could she tell her? Or, most importantly, did she even want to tell her anything? One thing for sure, Octavia was growing irritated with how close the mare was continuing to stand next to the bed. They weren’t anywhere near that friendly and the DJ seemed to have no knowledge of personal space.

“Um, well I suppose you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” Vinyl said, backing off slightly. “I guess it is a little overwhelming after what you’ve just been through and here I am rambling on like that crazy uncle.”

“Ya think?”  Octavia grimaced slightly, but once again said nothing. The silence began to stretch out and the white unicorn shifted nervously.

“I’m just really curious as to why you...I mean, not that I’m not super grateful and all but... I’m just wondering why-” 

The door to the hospital room opened right then and Octavia held in a sigh of relief that the awkward, one sided conversation was over. However, her blood chilled slightly as she saw who walked through the door. A stallion wearing a snappy white shirt and blue-green tie walked in, he had a small gold tie tack with a symbol of the Order on it.

“Octavia darling! Your mother informed me as soon as she could about what happened! I came as quickly as I could! I told her letting our daughter take those martial arts lessons would pay off! I can’t imagine what might have happened otherwise.” The stallion gave a decent shudder, but it seemed forced to Octavia.

He continued smoothly, “You must be Vinyl, I talked with the authorities before I came in. I would like to thank you for bringing my daughter in after what happened, I bet you were both terrified.”

Vinyl gave a nervous laugh. “Heh, yea. I thought I was a goner when they slapped that magic suppressor on my horn. Then Octavia showed up, so it was the least I could do.”

“Indeed.” The stallion said. “I hope you don’t mind, but I would really like to chat with my daughter privately for just a moment.”

“Oh sure, no problem.” Vinyl said, moving towards the door.

The stallion walked her out. “Just for a moment you know, but please don’t go anywhere, I’d like to speak with you again, if that’s alright?”

“I’ll wait here in the hall then.”

“Thank you.” The stallion smiled as he closed the door on her.

He stood there for a moment before sighing and turning back to Octavia. He didn’t look at her as he approached the end of the bed. He stood there for a moment staring at the blankets. Octavia fiddled with her hooves and waited.

She wasn’t sure who this was, there were so many agents who had not set a foot in the fortress during her lifetime. But one thing she was sure of was that this stallion probably knew everything about last night and had the authority to give her an earful.

“Well Octavia, you may call me Bret.” He said, looking at her. She glanced at him, but did not retain eye contact.

“I’ll just get right to it. You screwed up during the fight and were compromised. From what I hear, it was a stupid mistake. In doing so, you have gone and ruined your cover.” He paused for a moment and straightened his tie. “Now, usually things do get complicated if you have to step in and save your target, but usually our agents aren't being dragged to the hospital by the target afterwards.”

Octavia took a deep breath and let it out slowly. But she said nothing.

The stallion kept talking. “However, this situation can still be salvaged. You are lucky you are getting a second chance with this.” Octavia perked her ears and glanced up, but the stallion was giving her a glare and she quickly averted her gaze again.

“We’ve been having trouble keeping up with the details of Vinyl Scratch’s progress. So this is where you come in now. You have been ordered to befriend your target. You will be our new source of information on her personal life.”

Octavia’s eyes widened and she quickly opened her mouth. “What? No! I don’t want to--”

“You will Octavia, it isn’t like you can refuse.” The stallion growled, leaning in closer.

Octavia glowered, but said no more.

“Now, a cover has been set up for you. You won’t be able to spend all your time with her. She isn’t stupid, and she will begin to wonder why you never leave. We can’t allow that.” Octavia raised an eyebrow as he continued. “A new agent will be set to following Scratch half the time. You will undergo training here at Canterlot in our headquarters on these off days. You will keep the same general as a musician, and you will be doing, well, we decided to leave that to you. You can handle that part without our intervention, yes? At least, I hope you can."

Octavia groaned and buried her head in her hooves. Great, the guild hall here was run by a notoriously brutal teacher. That, coupled with her having to befriend the DJ seemed like an overabundance of punishment. But, there was nothing she could do about it.

“You got all that Octavia?” The stallion asked.

“Yes.”

“Alright, well I’m leaving. More details will be sent to your apartment. I’ll send Vinyl back in. She will be informed that the whole situation has been taken care of legally and encouraged to remain quiet. I want you to spend some time getting to know her; maybe set up some times for you to get together in the future. Yes?”

“Okay,” she mumbled.

“Alright then. Not to sound rude, but I hope I won’t have to meet with you again.” He paused, leaning in as if to say more, but then shut his mouth and turned away.

“Goodbye Octavia.” He said briskly and walked out the door.

“Bye...”

Octavia sat by herself for, she counted, a minute and forty-eight seconds, fuming silently the whole time. It just wasn’t fair! The punishment was way over the top and she had no choice but to endure it. Now she was going to have to make friends with some DJ and make up excuses as to why she kept coming back from music classes or concerts with bruises.

The DJ -No, she would have to stop calling her that- Vinyl walked back in. Octavia took a deep breath and tried to give a sincere smile and not grimace.

“Thank you for bringing me to the hospital. Sorry for not saying much earlier, I was still a little overwhelmed.” she said.

“Hey, no problem,” Vinyl responded, “I guess your dad squared away everything about the incident. It seems I was lucky you were coming home late from that party, huh?” The mare moved over to the bedside.

“Uh, yea... it was. Good thing I didn’t drink much either.” Octavia added, cottoning onto her new cover.

“Well, I’ll be going to work tonight if I’m going to keep this quiet.” Vinyl made to move off. “Which means, I had better get going, it’s 4 P.M. and I should be setting up.”

Octavia opened her mouth to ask the mare to wait, but drew a blank. She didn’t want to say, “Hey wait, I want to go out and spend some time with you.” That would just be weird.

But she was saved as Vinyl hesitated at the end of the bed.

“Hey, Octavia, I’d like to get you dinner sometime or something. It’s the least I can do.” The mare hesitated again. “I mean, if you don’t want to then-”

“No! No, it’s alright. I’d love to get to know you better actually.” Octavia interrupted.

Vinyl beamed. “Great! Tell you what, I’ll come back after work and hang out a bit and we can decide on something.”

Octavia forced a smile and shuffled her blankets. The smile quickly turned into a grimace as the movement pulled at her side. Vinyl dropped her grin.

“Hey, I’ll let the doctor know you’re awake, I bet the painkillers are wearing off.”

“Thanks.”

Vinyl grinned again and headed out, replacing her signature shades. 

Octavia sighed as she heard the door click shut. She leaned back and closed her eyes. It would be a few days before she would be fit for anything. Judging by the lack of extensive monitoring equipment, she guessed her wound wasn’t that bad. Which probably meant she would be lucky to get a week of down time.

She relaxed and tried to drift off, but the new changes forced on her were replaying in her mind. Breathing deeply, she tried to quiet her thoughts. It took a few moments, but eventually she was able to calm down by convincing herself the future would deal with itself. 

Slowly, Vinyl floated to the forefront of her thoughts. She sifted through all the interaction she had had with the mare. She had been loud, impersonal and downright crazy at the club. But to her surprise, she had conducted herself responsibly, if too exuberantly, here at the hospital. She was wary of her immediate request for dinner though. Octavia was no expert on relationships herself, but it seemed that dinner was a rather personal and important thing to start with. 

Still, the unicorn was an open book. Every posture, every glance had been sincere, and she probably just wanted to be friends. It helped when she had pulled off those ridiculous sunglasses. She had striking crimson red eyes, and as mesmerising as they were, they spoke volumes as to what the mare was thinking. Octavia snorted weakly in amusement. Perhaps this DJ, Vinyl, could be interesting. Only time would tell.

Soon, her mind released the rest of her worries, and she fell into a deep, peaceful slumber. Lulled by the gentle, warm comfort of the hospital bed, something that her own cushions at En Reach had never obtained over the years. Octavia slept deeply. Even when the nurse snuck into her room, checking to ensure that she was well, and to leave a glass of water and a small bottle of painkillers, Octavia didn't so much as twitch.





> At the Canterlot Guild Hall
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Octavia looked up at the large false front of the Canterlot guild hall. It was a small, mundane office building; perfect for stowing away ponies for days at a time inconspicuously. She really didn’t want to go in and subject herself to the hours upon hours of pointless training that she already understood. Especially here, in Canterlot of all places. The one place she had never desired to visit the local guildhall in.

It had barely been a month ago when she had met a pony who had been transferred from Canterlot to the main fortress. The horror stories he had told did little to help her trepidation, yet she forced herself to walk forward and open the door.

She carefully made her way inside, taking smaller than normal steps to avoid aggravating her healing wound. Being released on the weekend allowed her a couple of extra days to sit at home, which she was grateful for. It allowed her a chance to take a little time on figuring out her schedule as well as healing a little more. She did not want it breaking open during combat training today.

Upon entering, there was a small lobby which branched off into three large hallways which were all studded with office doors. There was a receptionist desk angled diagonally in one of the corners. The pony sitting there looked bored out of their mind. She was idly swiping a pencil back and forth across a scribbled piece of paper with her gaze fixated on a clock against the far wall.

Walking over to the mare, Octavia gave a polite cough. The mare blinked and sat back, taking a deep breath while focusing her gaze on Octavia.

“Yes?” She asked. “How may I help you?”

“My name is Octavia, I’m a newly transferred initiate.”

The mare frowned slightly and opened one of her desk drawers to pull out a file. With a tired sigh she removed a rather thin one and plopped it onto the desk. Octavia watched as she flipped through it.

“Ah, I’m not sure if I’m in there or not,” Octavia said. “I’m on assignment you see. I was supplied with this paper to give you.” Octavia pulled a sheet out of her saddlebags and laid it on the desk.

Sighing, the mare took it and gave it a once over. “Alright, this will do. You will need to go to office eight sixty-seven down the left hall there. The keycode to get to the lower floors is five three zero nine.”

Octavia raised an eyebrow as she walked off. If this was the ground floor, yet had eight hundred numbers on all the doors, it made there being a basement rather obvious. At least, that was what she thought. It has remained a secret this long so maybe the system worked just fine.

Entering room eight hundred sixty-seven she realized that it was not an office, but a conference room. There was a janitorial closet on the wall opposite her, yet it had a keypad lock on it. Octavia rolled her eyes, secured broom closets were certainly not conspicuous. She skirted the large desk that took up most of the room and ignored a few half erased scribbles on a marker board. Reaching the closet she punched in the four digit code and opened the door.

“They really need to add a spring or something to that.” Octavia grumbled silently, thinking of how many more times she would have to deal with the door.

The stairs ended one floor down where they opened up to a large atrium. It looked like a general living area with little circles of couches or pillows and a small snack bar in one corner. On the opposite wall were more stairs.

This room was empty, so she continued to move deeper into the building. The next two floors were dormitories. They were empty as well. Walking down to the four hundreds level she finally encountered some life in the hideout, it was the dining hall. 

There were some cooks going about their duties, although they were much quieter than they were back at En Reach. There were also a dozen or so ponies eating quietly at separate tables. Octavia squared her shoulders and moved to the nearest pony.

The mare watched her approach, a look of trepidation becoming apparent the closer Octavia got. When she was close enough to speak, Octavia cleared her throat as the mare all but sank into her chair avoiding Octavia’s gaze.

“Um, hello?” Octavia ventured.

The mare took a deep breath and finally turned her gaze towards Octavia when she did not leave. But she was still refusing to look her in the eye. Octavia gave an exasperated sigh.

“Listen, I just need to find the head teacher, do you know where he is?” As soon as the words left her mouth the mare flinched and pointed at the stairs.

“He’s in the training hall,” she said quietly.

“Thank you very much,” Octavia responded.

Octavia headed back for the stairs and made her way further down. She came upon the library on the next floor. However, once she reached the floor below it the doors on the landing were closed. She peeked inside and immediately realized it was the training hall. The ponies inside were all sparring or honing their athletic skills in apparent silence.

Opening the door she was met with a wave of sound. Octavia flattened her ears at the sudden rush of noise. The clattering of hooves on concrete floors as well as the smacking of training swords filled the air. This must be the reason for the doors, all this noise was sure to be distracting for the open library goers above. Judging from how silent things had been on the other side, the doors were most likely enchanted with sound dampeners of some sort.

As she walked inside she noticed that there was also a healthy dose of yelling. This was normal at En Reach, what with all the trainers banging new recruits into shape. But there was one voice that was obnoxiously loud and it permeated throughout the entire chamber. Octavia could not pick up all the words over the clatter, but what she did understand was not encouraging. She made her way towards it, guessing that her worst nightmares were probably true.

As she moved around the chalked out training rings she began to notice how all the ponies became more quiet and subdued the closer they were to the shouting. When she finally got a clear view of where the loud trainer was, her jaw dropped in shock. It was quickly replaced with outrage and she felt her face heat in anger.

Who she assumed to be the notorious head of the guild here was a large, pale green stallion. While he was a unicorn, his muscles stood out on his body to what seemed almost a painful degree. But that wasn’t what was bothering or shocking to her. He was currently dueling a small, sky blue pegasus colt in a ring, shouting at him the whole time.

While he was yelling instructions to the colt, they were almost so fast even Octavia could barely pick them up. But they were also laced with condescending comments and insults as the stallion continually broke past the pegasus’ defense and gave him unmercifully brutal hits. It made Octavia’s blood boil to see the colt on the verge of tears yet unable to pause even for an instant for fear of not being able to get back up.

All of the ponies surrounding the ring were doing their best not to watch; Octavia noted a fair number of them had a healthy amount of bruises as well. She guessed they were probably required, or forced to observe the match since they looked as though they would rather be anywhere but here.

As Octavia stepped up to the edge of the ring, the ponies around her shied away leaving her standing alone in view of the trainer. He noticed her at once and stopped shouting. He backed off a moment on the colt as he turned to face her.

Octavia straightened to the perfect “at attention” stance as he walked over. Her side burned slightly, but she ignored it and remained straight as the teacher stepped towards her. He stood almost a head taller than her, but she stood her ground and kept her eyes fixed on his chest. He began to circle her, probably judging her physique but she thought he was spending a little too much time on her rear half for that.

“So,” he finally said, “I’ve heard all kinds of things about you Octavia. To be honest I was rather impressed with everything ponies were saying.” He stopped circling her and stood on her left, just inside her peripheral vision. He continued, “I must say I was rather disappointed when the first thing you do on your own is get stabbed.”

Irritating, to say the least, that the first he said to her was derogatory. But Octavia knew he was looking to get a rise out of her, so she gave no reaction. She allowed the irritation of the jibe to simmer away, instead opting to glance at the young pegasus who was now slumping on his hooves.

The stallion noticed her glance and he turned his attention back to the colt.

“Hey!” He barked. “I did not give you leave to relax your stance, straighten up!”

He magicked up his sword and gave the young colt a blow to his black legs, causing him to collapse and pitch forward with a cry. The surrounding ponies all flinched and averted their gazes from the colt, Octavia, and the teacher. Octavia could feel her body heating in anger, but she remained still. However, she could not help the slight frown that crept onto her features.

“Where are the papers Bret had you fill out?” The stallion asked harshly.

“In my saddlebags, sir,” Octavia responded, opting for true military fashion.

“Why didn’t you take them straight to my office?” He took a step closer to her.

Octavia didn’t miss a beat. “I was instructed to present them to you, sir.”

The stallion blinked and remained silent for a moment. “Octavia - 1, musclewad - 0.” Octavia crowed to herself.

“Do you like my teaching methods initiate?” He asked, abruptly changing to a contemplative tone.

Octavia floundered for a moment, but he continued before she could compile an answer.

“I find that it hardens the body and mind very efficiently. Of course, it doesn’t have a one hundred percent success rate, but the ninja’s I turn out are the best when it does. It is quite the art to push ponies as far as they can go without ruining them. Sometimes there are regrettable losses, but I think that this young colt will do well, don’t you?”

“I do not believe it works any better than the training at the fortress, sir.” Octavia said.

The stallion sneered. “And how do you know that?” He asked.

“I have bested five of the masters, Sir, and they have all beaten any initiates you have sent.”

There was a quiet wave of whispers that ran through the listening ponies, but it stopped at the first shift of a muscle from the large stallion. He raised an eyebrow at Octavia before responding.

“I always did find mares to have more arrogance and harder to crack, it’s little wonder they don’t make good ninja’s,” he said coolly.

Octavia was sure even the deafest pony could hear a pin drop right then in the training room. She did not grace the silence with her voice, instead she focused on not grinding her teeth.

The stallion grunted, giving her a triumphant smirk. “Take the papers to my office and run back home girl. It would be a shame if you reinjured that flank in combat today.”

Octavia narrowed her eyes, and stuck her jaw forward, but she turned abruptly and stomped out. She kept marching as she heard his shouting pick back up, ordering in a new trainee for a beating. The deafening clatter of fighting started back up almost instantaneously. But she could feel all eyes were on her as she made her way to the stairs. “Well, he is certainly living up to his reputation,” she thought sourly.

When the doors finally closed behind her and cut out the sound, she flipped around and drove her back hooves into the wall. It made a loud ringing which bounced off the walls and most likely disturbing everypony in the library, but she didn’t care. The action felt good and relieved her irritation almost instantly. She looked at the wall, the two dents she had made were hardly noticeable on the already pockmarked cement. 

Taking a deep breath, she was pleased to notice her wound was no worse for wear. Snorting at the jibe the stallion made at her flank, she placed a hoof on the stairs when she realized that she had no idea where his office was. She wondered who to ask, not about to return to the training room. She decided on checking the library since the ponies in the dining hall had been rather skittish.

She was about to begin moving up the stairs when the doors behind her opened and the small, blue, pegasus colt who the trainer had been “training” hurried out. He shut the door hurriedly and leaned against it, beginning to heave heavy sobs as he sank to the floor.

Octavia’s heart almost broke, almost. Her life as a ninja didn’t allow for such weaknesses. Yet, she hesitated on the first stair, unsure of what to do as he had yet to notice her. She carefully placed a hoof on the next step, but even as quiet as she was, the stairwell made the slight sound echo painfully. Despite the noise the colt was making, he still heard it and instantly opened his eyes and stared at her.

Neither of them moved for a moment, then the colt looked away. He quickly dried his eyes and stood up, his legs shaking slightly.

“I’m not weak you know,” he rasped.

“Of course not,” Octavia responded.

He glanced at her. “You know, most ponies don’t stand up to him like that. Any that do he quickly beats up and they don’t do it again.”

“We’ll see,” Octavia growled.

“It was pretty stupid of you to do that, he is harder on mares I think. He doesn’t like them much.” the colt said, glancing at her again.

Octavia glowered, but said nothing. She had certainly noticed that in his attitude.

The colt finally looked at her, his eyes were still wet and she could already see bruises forming on top of half healed ones.

“Did you really beat five masters?” he asked.

Octavia stepped off the stair. “Well, yes, but to be honest they weren’t the best combat ninjas. The ones I bested spend most of their time in books and not fighting.”

“Are you staying here long?”

Octavia nodded. The colt glanced away as tears began to leak out of his eyes again.

“Hey kid,” Octavia began, walking towards the colt, “are you--”

“Hey, back off filly!” He snarled, backing against the wall.

“Woah woah! I’m not gonna hurt you kid.” Octavia said, stepping back.

The colt stared at her a moment before glancing away. “I can’t beat anypony here,” he said quietly. Even in the stairwell Octavia had to strain to hear his words. “I’m the youngest here, yet Teacher Spardis keeps saying that is no excuse.” He paused, sniffing loudly. “I try... I try and try and try, but he pushes all the other ponies just as hard. I can’t ever get a one up on anypony. Now I’m going to have to fight you, and I’ll lose.”

“Woah slow down there, you can’t be sure about that ye--”

“But he will!” The colt cried, interrupting her again. “He always does, and then when I fail he... he--” the colt sobbed again, breaking down against the wall.

Octavia moved to his side and he did not resist her putting a foreleg around him.

“Hey there, it’ll be alright,” she cooed awkwardly. “What’s your name?”

“Stormy, Stormy Sky,” he said, his voice cracking.

“How long have you been here Stormy?”

“Almost three years now, I was five when I wandered in the office doors in the middle of winter as an orphan. Before I knew it they took me downstairs and... and--” he stopped, unable to continue.

“And they never let you go,” Octavia finished. The colt nodded.

“I tried running once...” the colt trailed off with a shudder. Octavia ground her teeth.

“They said I was really sick when they took me in.” The colt said quickly, seeing the look in her eyes. “I don’t remember much of it but I do know that I’m not as strong as other pegasi my age even though I don’t look it; and that I would probably have died if they hadn’t done something.”

Octavia said nothing, instead sitting there thinking about her own fantasies of running away... To not have a care in the world or a single obligation. The colt glanced down at her hoof around his shoulders. His eyes widened and he quickly pushed her off and got up.

“Um, listen, thanks a lot, but please don’t tell anypony about this,” he begged. “I know you don’t owe me anything but if anypony finds out I--”

“Relax Stormy,” Octavia said firmly. “How about we both hold each other accountable. I won’t tell anypony about you if you don’t tell anypony about me?”

“I-- Okay,” he said with a nervous grin.

They stood there in silence for a moment before Octavia moved for the stairs. She placed a hoof on the first step, but hesitated.

“Hey, where is Teacher Spardis’ office?” she asked.

“Oh, um.. It’s on the dormitory floors next to-- I’ll just take you, I’m heading that way anyway,” Stormy said, beginning to struggle up the stairs.

Octavia walked beside him, observing his progress and watching him grimace with every other step. He deliberately ignored her and moved a little faster each time he did see her staring at him. Once they reached the dormitories floor he set off with a slight limp.

They made a few turns down the halls before he stopped at the end of one of the hallways at a larger than normal room.

“Hey,” she began, but paused. Stormy stopped and looked at her questioningly. “I know this will just be more work and pain for you, but I can help you. I can teach you proper combat unlike that sloppy lout of a teacher, Spardis.”

The colt flinched at the name and gave a fearful glance at the closed door. But when he turned back his eyes were guarded. “You would teach me?” He asked doubtfully.

Octavia nodded. “Listen, Stormy, I’m not gonna say this will be easy, but it is a far cry from getting beat up by him. I can teach you a number of techniques that you can practice on your own to enhance your strength as well as your focus and combat skills.”

The colt glanced back at the door before looking at her again, this time with wide eyes. “Do you think it would help?” He asked hopefully. “I want more than anything to stop being beaten all the time.”

“Listen kid, if these techniques that I use -which helped me beat five of the best ninja’s in Equestria- don’t help, nothing will,” she said confidently.

The colt stood still for a moment, glancing at her then back at the door. But soon enough he looked at her and set his jaw. “Alright, I...” he took a deep breath, “I’ll try, I’ll try my best to learn what you can teach me.”

Octavia gave him a level look. “No, Stormy, there is no try, there is only do, or do not. Trying gets you nowhere, it gives you reason to fail. But if you will learn, then you will become faster, stronger and better.”

With that she turned and opened the door, walking into the room and leaving the colt in the hall.

> The Dinner (Part 1)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Getting a day off at the Canterlot University happened almost as often as Celestia took vacations. Which, needless to say, was never. All students were required to live on campus making bad weather a bad excuse to miss classes. To make that fact worse, students were required to take at least sixteen hours every semester, with eighteen recommended, until they finished their degree. The university did it’s best to get ponies in and out so that more could be accepted each year.

After powering through the university with classes throughout the year, Vinyl Scratch was reveling in the easy hours of her new job. She had two separate days all to herself and she did not have to be in to work until early evenings every other day. It was an abrupt change in lifestyle that she was taking like a fish to water. Getting a chance to be in the sunlight was something Vinyl sorely missed. Her university days as well as her current job usually kept her from enjoying anytime in the outdoors, but now she was having a chance to soak up as many rays as she pleased. 

The white mare bounced along one of the many popularized streets of Canterlot. She pushed her shades farther up her nose; they were for more than just the bright sun and she was not about to let them fall off from her exuberant pace. Her first day out a week ago, she realized that a lot of ponies from Canterlot picked up on her identity. It was not easy being a noble trying to fraternize with the regular class; the shades helped stave off unwanted attention of all kinds. It also helped keep her record clean, while she did not care at all for the life her parents led, she maintained enough respect to not let her lifestyle ruin their reputation.

Having only eaten a light breakfast from one of the many exquisite doughnut shops in town, she kept an eye out for any promising food stands. As it was the first day off of her week, she had quite a few plans for what she wanted to do for the rest of the day. While most of them revolved around a new mare in town she had met, they were still hours away. Now she had to divide her attention between choosing a suitable place for the dinner tonight, but still find time to see more of Canterlot.

All weekend she had made time to see Octavia for a few minutes each day before work. Tonight was going to be her treat. It was the least she could do. In Vinyl’s eyes, she hadn’t thanked the mare enough, but she could tell that Octavia was not that thrilled to be in her company. Which was a shame in her opinion, the mare needed to relax a bit and enjoy life a little more. That was something her parents did not get enough of either, but Vinyl made sure they loosened up sometimes.

Stopping at a promising apple stand, Vinyl browsed the selection. The bright red skins coupled with their size made her mouth water. She pulled a few bits out of her saddle back and magicked them over to the vendor. Then, pocketing one of the two apples she purchased, Vinyl munched on the other as she continued pondering her predicament of this night’s plans.

Vinyl was determined to make the gray mare enjoy herself. But, as she continued down the street she was coming up with blanks on how to make the evening engaging. She did not want to take Octavia to a very classy restaurant because of her own noble status. She hated the pampering the owners did for even the lowest of nobility. Yet, she didn’t want to get her fast food either, that was most certainly inappropriate for this sort of gesture.

As she walked, she kept to the main streets and in sight of as many ponies as possible. While the stallion at the hospital had given her some pointers, she was still doing her utmost to remain in populated places even during the day. It was hard to get out over the weekend before work like she had been doing, but she had forced herself to put on a confident face and act like nothing had happened.

Her observations revealed a music store across the pony filled street. Vinyl looked up at one of the many clock towers in Canterlot before deciding to check it out. She had plenty of time to take to browse what the little shop offered before she needed to pick up Octavia. Double checking for any rogue taxi carriages she plunged crossways through the busy street to the door of the store. 

The door jingled as she entered, although the sound was almost drowned out by the crowd behind her. Closing the door, the clopping of hooves upon cobblestone was completely silenced. Vinyl nodded in appreciation at the magically maintained acoustics within the small shop. There was a small amount of activity as a number of ponies were quietly inspecting or testing various instruments and Vinyl sauntered up to some of the nearest instruments to begin her own analysis.

“Hello!” Vinyl felt her hair stand on end at the sudden voice behind her.

She turned quickly to see a mare opening her mouth with a smile. “Welcome to Smooth Sounds, are you looking for anything in particular?”

“Na, I’m just browsing, but thanks!” Vinyl flashed the mare a grin.

The mare gave a small nod. “Alright, don’t hesitate to ask any questions you might have.”

“Will do,” Vinyl said, turning back to the instrument before her.

Vinyl identified it as a clarinet. It was made very simply and had no decorations to speak of. But when Vinyl tested the instrument she was pleased to find it produced excellent sound. Putting the instrument back in its case, she tested a few other instruments of the same brand. They were all very simple, but their sound was excellent and they all had very reasonable prices.

Impressed Vinyl moved deeper into the store, toying with various percussion, stringed and brass instruments. From what Vinyl could tell everything had stellar quality, but the deeper she went the prices began to soar as the instruments began adding decorations and features. She toyed with a mini grand piano for a short time before finally deciding it was time to leave. 

While she worked as a DJ and was starting to produce her own pop music, she could not help but enjoy the pure sounds of classical instruments. Synthesizing was all well and cool, but instruments could only be remixed so many times before you lost sight of what made the sound special in the first place. Vinyl hoped to someday have a small studio packed with instruments so that she could record her own sound.

Giving a nod to the mare who welcomed her, she exited the store and rejoined the busy Canterlot day. To her dismay she had spent well over an hour within the shop. Vinyl turned and headed up the street, exploring farther into the city for a place to eat that evening.

Yep, with this job she hoped to be raking in the bits within a year or two. Then she could start buying the things she wanted and possibly begin looking at where she wanted to go with her career. Vinyl almost began bouncing along again, but the night of her attack surfaced in her mind.

Two years was a long time. She was barely out of the university and she had already fallen victim to assault. Vinyl eyed the streets with caution; they were beginning to thin out as the heat of the day was beginning to kick in with force. She increased her pace as she looped around town, never going more than a mile or so from her apartment.

After stopping at a number of other food stands and small stores, she finally stumbled upon a restaurant she liked. It was not fancy, but it certainly had a professional air about it. Vinyl booked herself a dinner for two in a few hours. Stepping back into view of a clocktower, Vinyl was pleased to find that she still had time to get home and clean up before meeting Octavia. She had been rather surprised to find that the gray mare lived so close.

About halfway to her apartment the traffic picked back up once more as ponies began heading home for the day. It did not help her unease as the sun began long shadows from the tall spires of the palace. There was still plenty of daylight left, but Vinyl wanted to meet Octavia before the sun dropped below the city walls in a couple hours.

Vinyl felt a little guilty wanting to spend time with Octavia. If she was honest the gray mare made her feel safe when she was out doing things.

Vinyl guiltily wondered if Octavia might get suspicious if she spent too much time around her. On the one hoof she was a little angry she felt safer around the gray mare. But on the other, that safety was a good feeling. But she didn’t want to be mooching off Octavia’s unknowing protection.

Reaching her apartment safely, she dropped her saddlebags behind the door as she entered. Flipping on the lights she navigated the jungle that was her floor. Everywhere there were half full boxes containing all the items from her years at the university. They had all barely made it into the living area and she had done hardly anything with them since. The boxes containing essential items like clothes, toiletries and her electronics were all opened and their contents were haphazardly strewn about.

Taking up any spare remaining room in the living area was her music setup. She had two large subs on either side a set of decks along with all of her recording and synthesizing equipment. The living area opened up into the kitchen with a bar. On two separate walls were doors to the rest of the small apartment, a bedroom and a bathroom on the opposite wall.

Vinyl entered the bathroom and hopped in the shower. She quickly washed off all the sweat and grime she had accumulated in the streets. Stepping out of the shower she pulled a towel off the rack and quickly ran it through her mane, causing it to frizz into it’s standard wild look. Then, giving her reflection a critical eye she abruptly turned on her hooves and exited the bathroom.

Retrieving her saddlebags Vinyl emptied them onto the floor. Her bag of bits, the extra apple she purchased, some documents from her job and her mail all spilled out. Rummaging through the heap on her floor she retrieved her money and the apple to put back in the saddlebags.

After replacing the saddlebags near the door, Vinyl headed over to her only couch and shoved over some clutter to sit down. She glanced up at the clock, a quarter to five, she had time as it would only take her a few minutes to reach Octavia’s own apartment. Vinyl leaned back and began to fiddle with a ring puzzle that was laying on the couch.

The puzzles usually helped when she was making music, but after about thirty seconds she gave up in frustration. Waiting had never been a strong suit for Vinyl, and here she was: almost an hour of free time and nothing to do. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it wasn’t such an inconvenient period. She might have sat down and messed with some music, but by the time she was oriented, and had her mind focused, it would be time to leave.

Vinyl grumbled and began to juggle a few of her things with magic. But once again self entertainment eluded her. For the next half hour she moseyed around her apartment applying her hoof to a dozen different things before she gave up and sat back down on the couch.

Waiting was terrible, a conclusion Vinyl had reached many times. Wasted time was like pouring a perfectly good soda on the ground. It accomplished nothing for her, trashed a good soda and left her feeling silly and unfulfilled. Vinyl growled quietly and checked her clock again. Still twenty minutes easily.

She moved over to her decks and began powering up the equipment. Some music would certainly be better than waiting in silence. Once everything was in place she selected herself a record and placed it on the turntable, but she hesitated.

“What if I just show up early?” Vinyl thought. “Surely Octavia wouldn’t mind?”

She seemed like the sort of mare who commended that sort of thing. Vinyl stood for a moment, considering. Being early wasn’t something she was fond of, because then she would be waiting on other ponies, just in a different location. But then, being early always made a good impression and Vinyl wanted Octavia to know she was important.

With a flick, Vinyl shut down the equipment and got up. Grabbing herself a stress ball that was lying on the couch, she added it to her saddlebags. Without a backwards glance she exited her apartment and locked the door. Energized by her own action, she moved quickly out of the building and up the street to where Octavia’s home was located.

The shadows were growing long as Vinyl traversed the apartment complex sidewalks. The lack of ponies in the fading light made her nervous enough to increase her pace. The tall three story apartment buildings loomed overhead and seemed to lean inwards. Many windows were dark yet the few that shone looked like eyes staring down on the street. In between each building were pony wide gaps that allowed the lowering sun to shine it’s last rays through like columns of orange fire. 

Passing a few more buildings she arrived at her destination with a sigh of relief. She entered the apartments and headed up three floors to the room Octavia had directed her to over the weekend. With a deep breath Vinyl knocked on the door and took a step back.

“Just play it cool Vinyl.” She thought as the door opened.

Octavia scowled into the hallway, but when her eyes hit on Vinyl she dropped the grimace in surprise.

“Oh! Hello Vinyl. I didn't expect you to be here early.”

Vinyl put on a grin and scoffed, “Oh comon, what have I done to earn a bad rep already?”

Octavia opened her mouth but nothing came out. Vinyl raised an eyebrow and leaned in. Shaking her head and rolling her eyes Octavia turned around and left the door open for Vinyl.

“I just didn't think it would be you Vinyl,” she said, walking deeper into the apartment.

“Huh, well I'd hate to be the pony who was,” Vinyl joked, entering the apartment. “That look of yours is killer. I'm glad I went to the bathroom before I came.”

Octavia stiffened and turned back to Vinyl, but a response never came. Instead the gray mare hesitated for a moment before deflating with a sigh.

“Yes, well, I am sorry about that Vinyl,” she muttered.

Surprised, Vinyl raised her eyebrows. “Whoa... Hey, you alright Tavi?”

Octavia gave Vinyl a sour look at the name and she raised a hoof in protest.

“Oh come on Octavia, you don't really expect me to spell your name out each time I want your attention do you?” Vinyl complained. “It's like... twenty syllables and I have a hard time with the two in mine!”

“Ugh, fine! So why are you so early?” Octavia asked, dropping the issue.

“Oh! Well, um...” Vinyl paused and gave an awkward grin, scuffing a hoof along the floor. “I was bored?”

Octavia facehoofed. “And you couldn't wait twenty more minutes?”

“Nope!” Vinyl grinned.

“You do realize you're going to have to wait for me to get ready right?” Octavia deadpanned.

Vinyl raised an eyebrow. “That won't take you half an hour will it?”

Octavia rolled her eyes and entered the bathroom, calling out behind her, “Just don't break anything okay?”

“Hey! That’s not fair Tavi, since when have I been destructive around you?” 

Instead of being graced with an answer, Vinyl heard a shower being turned on. With a smirk she began snooping around Octavia's apartment. However, there was very little lying around that would have given away anything about the gray mare. Stymied by the living room, Vinyl peeked into the kitchen but that was bare as well. Moving to the bedroom she finally found traces of Octavia's habits and hobbies.

Propped up in the corner was the cello that Octavia had mentioned a few times while in the hospital. The instrument’s case was open and on the floor next to it with a few musical books open and propped up against the side. Vinyl gave the cello a light strum and smiled at the well tuned note that it produced. She turned, observing that the bed was well made, only because hers was always a mess, she flipped open the one large suitcase and gave its contents a glance.

Inside were a few bow ties, probably for musical performances Vinyl guessed, one nice maroon dress, two pairs of shoes for it and... some black jumpsuits? Why in the world would Octavia pack black jumpsuits? She carefully pulled one out with her magic and opened it up. Confirming that it was a jumpsuit, and a skin tight one at that, she wondered what Octavia could possibly be doing that she needed half a dozen of them.

With a confused frown Vinyl replaced the items in the suitcase perfectly. The piece hadn't looked particularly revealing, but then, it did look like it would fit quite snugly and would certainly complement any good looking body. Vinyl shrugged and continued snooping, if that was how Octavia liked to get down who was she to argue?

There wasn't much else. The saddlebags that she had seen Octavia wear must have been in the bathroom because they weren't anywhere else in the apartment. That was a shame too, Vinyl felt like they would have told her the most about her new friend. With a shrug Vinyl headed back to the couch, as she passed the bathroom door she was rewarded by hearing the shower shut off. Good, Octavia would be out soon, they might get into their reservation early if it wasn't too crowded.

> The Dinner (Part 2)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So... uh. You play the cello sometimes, is that all you do?” Vinyl walked down the street with Octavia, doing her best to start up a casual conversation with the mare.

“Well, I am proficient with other stringed instruments as well,” Octavia said primly. “But yes, being a musician is all I do to make money. I have done some teaching on the side, but nothing major.”

Vinyl nodded and glanced at the street around them. It was dark, the street lamps having been lit an hour or so before. Their light casting shadows that danced around the lamp posts and cobblestones. She peeked down an alley as they passed and moved so that Octavia was between her and the dark recesses. Still unsatisfied, she tried to catch a whiff of any out of the ordinary smells when they passed the alleys. A heavy stench of sweat, or maybe alcohol, was what she was hoping for. Instead, there was only the faint odor of the nearby sewer drains and a fast food joint somewhere up ahead.

They continued walking in silence. Vinyl tried to calm herself when she noticed Octavia giving her, what she assumed, were incredulous glances at her nervous antics. She had to admit, it was hard not to just bolt for the restaurant. The longer they were out here, the more likely it was for them to be attacked, why play with fire? Still, she was with Octavia who had easily held off four large stallions on her own, if there was anypony Vinyl could feel safe around she figured the gray mare would be the one.

Taking a deep breath, Vinyl tried to think of something to take her mind off the trip. “So how was your first day at work here in Canterlot Octy-via.” Vinyl stumbled over the nickname, catching herself too late.

Octavia rolled her eyes, but made no comment on Vinyl’s use of her name. Instead she sighed deeply and grimaced. “I don’t really want to talk about it Vinyl, why don’t you tell me about your education instead. You were telling me you double majored?”

Vinyl gave her a confused look. “I did?”

“I- uh. Well, yes you did?” Octavia fumbled her words with a grin. Vinyl shrugged her shoulders and snagged onto the conversation topic.

“Okay, we can talk about me then,” Vinyl began. “I did double major, mainly just to get a lot of knowledge down for what I do. Back in highschool I was part of the band. I enjoyed coming up with new songs for our performances, but it was such a pain to work with others who knew things I didn’t about music production.” Vinyl paused as they scampered across the street before a carriage clattered by.

Once they were safely walking on the opposite side of the street, Vinyl pointed with a hoof.

“There’s the restaurant,” she said, pointing a ways down to a softly lit building. “Anyway, high school. Once I moved on, I decided I really liked making music, but hated doing it with other ponies. So now, hopefully with all this college learning, I’ll be able to create music on my own and have the skills to sell it to the public. But, we’ll see, I’m just getting started after all..” Vinyl finished as they came up on the door.

She danced forward and opened the door with her magic before taking an extravagant bow as she ushered Octavia in. The mare quirked an eyebrow, but thanked Vinyl as she headed inside. Giving a last glance to the surrounding street, Vinyl quickly hurried inside after Octavia.

Once through the door, Vinyl squeezed past Octavia in the small lobby and made for the small entrance counter as Octavia observed the decor. It was a nice enough place with the soft lighting complementing the dark wood interior. Short walls with distorted glass windows separated the dining areas and along the edges booths with well kempt cloth seats. Simple chandeliers hung from the open ceiling which were composed of five oval shaped lanterns and arranged in a pattern across the rafters.

It was far from packed, the late time at which Vinyl had booked their dinner meant that the rush hour had passed. Still, the small restaurant was around half full and filled with the quiet chatter of couples relaxing after their meal. Overall Vinyl found it to be a relaxing change from the furious pace she had been keeping lately. Glancing at Octavia, she saw the mare visibly relaxing at what she saw.

“She probably thought we were heading to some loud, low class bar or something... figures.” Vinyl thought, rolling her eyes. 

She turned back to the waitress at the counter who was gathering up menus and silverware. At a small gesture, the two mares followed her to a quiet booth. After being introduced to the beige colored waitress, they ordered their drinks and opened their menus. Vinyl stared at the striking red mane of the waitress as she hurried off, it would probably look amazing on stage under some neon lights.

Octavia glanced at Vinyl over her menu, she stared for a moment before Vinyl noticed.

Raising an eyebrow she asked, “Yes?” Vinyl drew the word out comically long.

Octavia stuck her tongue out at Vinyl before asking, “I was just wondering how, with all the schooling you’ve had, you ended up as a DJ in some nightclub?”

Vinyl chuckled incredulously. “Really, Octavia? You make it sound like a bad thing.” She turned back to her menu, but a glance confirmed she was still being stared at. However, the stare was now one of disbelief.

Sighing Vinyl set her menu down. “You know, if you think about it, being a DJ really isn’t that surprising when you go to school for what I did. The kind of music I make uses much of the same equipment as being a plain old DJ; so why not put those skills to use where I can for the bits?”

“Well,” Octavia mused, “I guess I just thought it was odd to see someone of your class becoming something that is usually associated wi--”

“My class? What do you mean my class?”

Octavia’s eyes widened. “O-oh, Well I just assumed that... With your schooling--”

Vinyl waved a hoof irritably as she interrupted, “No, it’s alright, forget it. Listen It’s not that big of a deal, I really like mixing music on the fly, which is standard procedure as a DJ. Who cares where I came from or what other skills I have?” Vinyl took a breath and lowered her voice. “It pays the bills after all, Octavia. I know I said I was making my own music and selling it, but I’ve yet to make any big hits so I’m not making much money off of it.”

With a nod Octavia looked back at her menu. It was a moment before she spoke again. “I suppose it makes sense, sorry for bringing it up, it seems like a sensitive topic.”

Vinyl laughed. “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten upset. Its just that I’m barely out of the university and I’ve been approached by a lot of ponies already with the same questions and incredulous looks.”

“Ah.”

No more was said on the subject and the next few minutes were filled with silence. The waitress made it back with their drinks and promptly took their orders. As they waited for their food, they made small talk on finer points of their professions. Vinyl didn’t get much insight on what Octavia did, but she did learn more about the mare’s skill with a cello and how she came to learn martial arts. It was all very fascinating for Vinyl, but soon enough their food arrived and they dug in.

Vinyl had not listened to what Octavia had ordered, so it came a surprise when she saw what the waiter had brought her. It was probably the most standard meal in the restaurant, fried rice and steamed broccoli with a simple salad. She had thought that the gray mare would have chosen something a little more exotic, after all Vinyl had ordered a shrimp platter with butter and raspberries.

She levitated the first shrimp up to eye level and gave it a critical analysis. It was a creamy white while tinged with pink around the ridges and back. Vinyl grimaced as she lowered it into the butter. Octavia watched as the unicorn brought it back up into her mouth and began chewing. It had a squishy firmness to it, like a rubber band, but it did not bother Vinyl any. When she finally swallowed she gave Octavia a large grin.

“That’s disgusting Vinyl, why did you order those?” Octavia scrunched up her face in distaste.

Vinyl picked up another shrimpling. “Why not? I wanted to see if I liked them or not, turns out they are kinda interesting tasting. You wanna try one Octavia?” Vinyl floated one of the shrimp up questioningly.

Octavia shook her head vigorously. “No thanks.” And she promptly focused on her own plate.

Vinyl popped the squishy pink morsel into her mouth as the waitress returned to confirm everything was in order. Once she left, Octavia spoke up.

“Wow, this is really good. Best rice I’ve ever had,” she said, promptly filling her mouth again.

Vinyl stole a fork full of Octavia’s rice and sampled it before scoffing, “Oh I don’t know. I know some cooks who could put any of this to shame. Well, I don’t know about the shrimp, that’s a little beyond even my extensive expertise.”

“Even better than this? I don’t know Vinyl, that seems like a tall order I think,” Octavia responded.

Vinyl narrowed her eyes. “You know Tavi, if you didn’t look so serious I’d pass this off as you joking. But, I don’t think you are. Surely you’ve had food better than this?”

“This is the best I’ve ever had Vinyl,” Octavia said, then looked down at her food and fiddled with it before continuing. “Of course, I was practically raised on cafeteria food.”

Vinyl brought a hoof down on the table forcefully, causing the plates to rattle. She ignored Octavia’s questioning look and proclaimed, “Well this injustice must be remedied! I, Vinyl Scratch, do swear on my new record that Octavia will taste the best cherry pie in existence!”

Octavia rolled her eyes. “Vinyl, it was very nice of you to bring me to this high class restaurant but you don’t need to go overboard on my account.”

Vinyl grimaced. “That’s just it, Octavia, this isn’t a “high class” restaurant. Well, it is for me I guess but that’s not the point, I just didn’t want you to feel like you were out of...” She trailed off and stared at Octavia intently.

“How can you not know what a high class restaurant is?” Vinyl asked after a moment. “I mean, with your upbringing...” She trailed off with a confused look.

With a sigh, Octavia stopped eating and carefully lowered her fork, depositing the utensil on the table with a skillful twist of her hoof.

“Vinyl, I was barely ever at home with my father and mother.” She began. “I was always being tutored by music or educational teachers. To be honest I really didn’t like being at home, so I found the martial arts to take up any spare time I might’ve had to spend at home.”

Vinyl shrugged. “Okay,” she said, disarming the conversation. Octavia seemed a little uptight about this topic and she wasn’t going to press, that’s not what they were here at dinner to do.

“Huh, she and her parents must not get along well. I didn’t notice anything when her father was at the hospital so they must keep it quiet.” Vinyl thought as she watched Octavia relax quite visibly.

The rest of the evening passed rather uneventfully. Vinyl learned a few things about Octavia through small talk and it was all quite interesting. She couldn’t quite place her hoof on it, but it didn’t seem like Octavia’s stories quite all fit together seamlessly. Ignoring the discrepancies however, Vinyl spent much of their time chatting about her own life. It seemed Octavia was the most interested in it as she continually bombarded Vinyl with questions.

She told Octavia about her parents, that they were Canterlot nobility. She explained how she had changed her name to avoid any negative attention that might come of her station. Then there was college, four and a half years of hell in her opinion. But, Vinyl admitted, she had made it that way herself with all the classes she took in an effort to be be finished early with two degrees. Then there was her new job and all the new experiences she was having, they weren’t many but were some of the most vibrant Vinyl had experienced in a long while.

One thing she noticed was that Octavia kept glancing over her shoulder with a small frown. But when Vinyl finally looked back, all she saw were a few more late night patrons. Octavia waved it off as her concentrating on what Vinyl said. If she had actually believed that, Octavia was now being rather rude as she had stopped looking past Vinyl’s shoulder. Eventually they were ushered out by the waiters who were preparing to close up for the night.

As they stepped into the lobby, they found out it was raining. Vinyl almost swore aloud, she had forgotten about the late night rain that had been scheduled! She didn’t care about the rain, in fact, she gave a loud whoop and pranced out in it. But she quickly came back to Octavia.

“Heh, sorry, Octavia, but I didn’t bring an umbrella,” she said, giving the mare an apologetic grin.

Octavia smirked. “Good thing you don’t mind getting wet then.” With that, she plodded out into the rain with Vinyl following close behind.

As they hurried back to the apartments Vinyl made it a point to jump in any puddles that had formed, her hooves making loud clops as they hit the cobblestone beneath the water. However, she was sure not to stray far from the light or Octavia. 

“It seems like somepony likes to make a mess of themselves, why am I not surprised?” Octavia rolled her eyes but was unable to hold back a chuckle.

Vinyl splashed Octavia before responding. “I never got to do this at college, or around my parents. I’m a new, and my own pony now, I’m gonna enjoy it!”

“I’m sure that you will,” Octavia said, looking up an alley with a grin. Her smile dropped, and she paused staring for such a short instant Vinyl almost missed it. Picking back up her grin she continued hurrying home as Vinyl glanced back at the dark street.

“Are you coming?” She called.

Vinyl turned back to Octavia. “Yea, but uh... What were you looking at?”

“Oh it was just the light playing tricks,” Octavia responded quickly. “C'mon, I want to get out of this rain.”

The continued on their way, but Vinyl stopped splashing around and trotted next to Octavia. While the gray mare made small talk and kept a grin on her face, Vinyl was noticing the mare sneaking glances in alleyways and up rooftops when she thought the unicorn wasn't looking.

Vinyl tried to see through the haze of raindrops as well, and to listen for anything unusual through the pounding of water, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. They even saw a few other ponies hurrying about their own business, each staying in the middle of the street and keeping their heads under wisely acquired umbrellas.

Finally, when they were almost three quarters of the way home, Octavia suddenly stopped.

“Vinyl why don’t you go on ahead, I want to go see a friend really quick.”

“What!? At this time of night?” Vinyl squeaked, suddenly feeling a little panicky.

“Relax Vinyl, she’s a night owl like you. I’ll catch you up at your apartment okay? This night isn’t quite over, I still have to thank you for dinner!” Octavia said smoothly.

“Well why don’t I just come with you?”

Octavia suddenly looked nervous. “Uh, she doesn’t really like new people Vinyl. True, she is up all night, but she’s about as antisocial as they come.”

“Uh...”

“Look, she’s part of my music... stuff. It will only take a few moments to pop in and see how she is doing. Hurry home okay? I’ll be there soon.” Octavia said giving Vinyl a push, then heading into a nearby alleyway she was swallowed up by the darkness and rain in an instant.

Vinyl stood there for a moment, at a loss for words. However the cold rain on her head quickly made her realize she was now alone, in the dark and rain. As she turned a loud shout rang out followed by a thump pierced the downpour and made her jump. In a panic, she scampered home through the now drenched streets, her anxiety level rising with each step.

Mere minutes passed by the time Vinyl was shoving a key into her apartment door, but it always seemed longer when there were those nasty imaginary goblins on your tail. With a relieved sigh, not a sob, she opened it and entered. Closing the door she leaned back against it and tried to calm her racing imagination. She had been unable to tell where the sound had come from, but it seemed too coincidental that Octavia had left at that exact moment.

Vinyl knew Octavia was able to handle herself; heck she knew it firsthand that the mare was no sissy. But she was still worried that something might happen to her new friend. Vinyl glanced up at the clock. She would give Octavia ten minutes to show up or she was heading back out to find her. How hard could it be to find two ponies standing on a doorstep... In a downpour... Maybe within a mile radius?

Vinyl grabbed an umbrella and a kitchen knife before heading back to the door, facing the clock. The minutes counted down agonizingly slow, each minute only making the unicorn more anxious. At the seven minute mark Vinyl got up and growled at herself, she was more jittery than a rabbit. Her! A nighttime goddess who had ponies from all over Canterlot bowing to her beats. Of course, they were extremely drunk but that wasn’t the point! Vinyl continued to pace in front of her door, dripping all the while as she continued to try and give herself a pep talk. Just as she felt like she could wait no longer, the clock finally reached the ten minute mark. Firming her magical grip on the kitchen knife and umbrella, she wrenched open her door and charged out.

At least, she was going to. Octavia stood in the doorway, with one hoof raised to knock, dripping all over the place. She raised her eyebrows at Vinyl who didn’t look any better, but was brandishing a kitchen knife at her. Vinyl grinned and magicked the knife back into the kitchen, wincing as she heard it thunk into the far all.

“Octavia!” Vinyl exclaimed, throwing herself forward to give the mare a soggy hug.

The mare took a moment to reciprocate the gesture, but once she did she relaxed under Vinyl’s hooves and shuffled them both inside.

“Sorry about that, Vinyl,” Octavia said. “She was delighted to see me of course, I gave her my apartment number and hopefully we will be able to spend some more time later.” Breaking the hug, Octavia gave Vinyl a questioning stare. “Why did you have a knife?” She asked.

Vinyl grinned sheepishly. “Oh, uh... Well I heard something after you ditched me and I thought you might have been... Well, you know...” she trailed off, leaving her conclusion open.

Octavia looked at the floor, embarrassed. “Oh, sorry, Vinyl... I ran into a trash can. I didn’t mean to ditch you. I just wanted to get this little errand out of the way and didn’t want you to be out in the rain any longer.”

“Hey it’s cool, at least you’re okay,” Vinyl said. “Here, let me get you a towel,” she glanced at the floor, “and me one too I guess.”

Vinyl moved past Octavia to the small bathroom and grabbed a two towels from inside her dryer. She offered one to Octavia but she declined.

“No, I need to be heading home and I’ll just be getting wet again,” she said with a shake of her head.

“Already? You sure you don’t want a drink or something?” Vinyl asked with a frown, draping a towel over herself. She gestured at her kitchen, which was little more than a bar separating it from the rest of her apartment, but Octavia shook her head.

“No, I just came over to reassure you I didn’t ditch you.” Vinyl chuckled but let Octavia continue. “I want to thank you for taking me to dinner, it was quite enjoyable.”

“No problem, Octavia, I’m glad you went out with me... I- I mean, accepted my invitation,” Vinyl corrected quickly. “It’s the least I could do, for... you know, saving me.” She finished awkwardly.

Octavia smiled and pulled Vinyl into a side hug. “Hey, just keep making that awesome music and taking me to more dinners. You will get it paid back eventually.”

Vinyl rolled her eyes at the sarcastic tone on “awesome” but grinned back at Octavia. When the gray mare pulled away she made for the door.

“I’ll see you in a couple days bright and early mmkay?” She said, pulling the door open.

Vinyl gave her a mock glare. “Don’t you dare, if it’s any time before noon I’ll be sure to pull that knife out of the wall and put it to use!”

They both laughed, and Octavia departed. Vinyl stared at the door for a moment before she sighed and moved to replace her now wet towel. That mare was odd, but it probably came natural to somepony who spent half their life learning martial arts like some kind of ninja! She couldn’t wait for their next get together. Vinyl grinned, realizing there actually was going to be another get together; it had been too long since she had a friend. Octavia was hiding something, she knew it, it was going to be fun trying to figure out what it was.

“Detective Scratch is on the Octavia case,” She thought smugly. Her eyes glinted, at least, she imagined they did, as an idea for a new song came to her.

With a short pit stop at the beverage dispenser, also know as the fridge, Vinyl headed over to her music equipment and began powering them on.
> Self Control
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 It was a beautiful day in Canterlot. The sun was shining, the morning air was cool yet the breeze carried a promise of sweltering temperatures for the near future. In the city, sounds of ponies already going about their day permeated the air as they hawked their wares or clopped along the streets. Yes, it was, as they say, picturesque.

So, it came as no surprise to Octavia that she wouldn’t be able to enjoy it. Currently she was twenty or so feet underground standing behind the desk of the only teacher in the Canterlot guild hall, giving an oral report about her day with Vinyl. It was frustrating that the teacher, Spardis, was continually interrupting her for pointless reasons, but she plowed through and tried to keep her temper in check.

“I had to decide if I wanted to try and catch whoever was following Vinyl and I, or risk losing them and continue walking home. So, of course, I told Miss Scratch to head home without me so I could confront the stalkers without her knowledge. Then I--”

“What did you tell her exactly?” Spardis interrupted, leaning forward in a chair behind his desk, putting his hooves together.

“I basically told her--”

“Basically?” Spardis interrupted again. “Initiate! I requested specific wording!”

“Well I’m not sure I can remember the exact wording sir,” Octavia said blithely, looking everywhere but at Spardis. “However,” she emphasised, “I told her not to wait up for me and I made the excuse of wanting to see a friend.”

“Alright fine, tell me how you caught the ponies unawares and incapacitated them,” Spardis said before Octavia could open her mouth to continue.

“I didn’t really catch them unawares,” Octavia said evasively. “They saw me coming in enough time to react, but I defeated them nevertheless.”

Spardis frowned. “Careless, you shouldn’t have engaged.”

“I was confident in my ability to defeat them, Vinyl Scratch was in no danger,” Octavia retorted.

The green stallion suddenly exploded, spraying spittle across at her. “She was in tremendous danger! You left her unattended and easy prey for any other agents looking to get her! You are damn lucky they weren’t smart enough to split up like that! I say again, careless!”

Octavia tried to keep her face neutral as she responded, “I was observing the area for any other potential threats much longer than the required length, I had everything under control.”

Spardis stood up. “Enough initiate,” he said forcefully, “Here is your schedule of sparring for today, get out of here and get to it.” He pushed a folder across the desk.

Octavia picked the folder up and turned to leave, but Spardis called out before she could close the door. “I want a written report of this incident on my desk when you come in again, Octavia. And a written report of every outing until you can better control that attitude of yours,” he finished smugly.

She kicked the door closed and marched down the hallway, but took a moment to gather herself at the stairs. Written reports wouldn’t be half as bad as having to speak with him orally. It was like he went looking for things he could call her out on. Nevermind what she actually got done; put new tails on Vinyl who didn’t know her habits, removed two tails who might have otherwise found Vinyl’s residence and made a move when Octavia left.

Octavia wondered what happened to the ponies she incapacitated. There was usually a secondary observer keeping tabs on agents who were directly interacting with clients. However, they were trained to remain well out of noticeable range so as to not interfere with the ninja’s senses. She wasn’t sure if the two ponies got picked up or not. Either her tail was really, really good or she didn’t have one. Considering the ship Spardis ran around here, Octavia was sure she would have noticed if they had put a tail on her. Deciding to ask about the ponies’ location later, she moved off.

It took her two flights of stairs before she calmed down enough to open the small folder. There were names of four ponies she didn’t know set to duel her before lunch. Afterwards there were six more, with tentative planning for what seemed like half the guild.

Octavia continued down the stairs towards the training hall. It seemed that the lower levels was where most of the action was in the hideout. As she walked, she kept an eye out for a clock through the dining hall. It was ten-thirty, she had spent almost two hours giving her report. Grumbling to herself, she continued down past the library and entered the training hall.

She heard the doors click shut behind her as she stood observing the chaos. At her entry half a dozen ponies lounging around the entrance jumped to their feet and trotted over. One of them looked over her shoulder at the doors before speaking.

“Um, is Spardis coming?” He asked, his eyes flickering between Octavia and the door.

“No,” Octavia responded. “Should he be?”

The ponies didn’t answer, instead they all began whispering with each other. This went on for a few seconds before an Earth pony spoke up.

“Well, we’re ready. Why are you so late anyway?”

“Who's asking?” Octavia challenged.

The pony, a stallion, took a step back, but remained calm. “Hey, relax, I'm Ferris, you were supposed to duel me today.” He took a glance at a large clock over Octavia above the double doors to the stairway. “I've been waiting for about an hour.”

Octavia sighed. “I apologize, I was stuck giving an oral report for the past two hours.” Octavia glanced around at the other ponies standing and watching her. “Why are the rest of you standing here?” She questioned.

“We're waiting for you. We all have you on our list for dueling today.”

Frowning, Octavia glanced around. “Why... Never mind, is there a place I can drop my things?” She asked, gesturing at her saddlebags.

The stallion pointed to Octavia's right. “Over there, in the corner.”

Getting a good look for the first time around the training hall, Octavia noticed that where the colt had gestured was a small area dedicated for belongings. A few lockers were lined up along the walls and benches were aligned to create a small square out onto the fighting floor. There was a thin carpet that had been wrinkled, folded then shoved to one side of the floor, blocking the lowest row of lockers.

She trotted over to the benches and pulled off her saddlebags. Stuffing the folder from Spardis into one of the pockets, she dropped them onto the floor and scooted the bags under a bench with a back hoof. Turning around, she found that all the ponies who were waiting at the door had followed her over.

Rolling her eyes, she asked, “Surely some of you have other things you could be doing?

The ponies muttered and shuffled their hooves, but none of them left. Octavia gave them all a flat stare. “Nopony has other training or things they could be doing?”

A few more moments of muttering then Ferris spoke up again. “No, we're pretty much done. Everypony here is just waiting to watch you,” he explained. “You have quite the record I hear, it will be interesting to see what you can do.”

Another pony spoke up, a mare this time. “Yea, I heard you were good, I wanna see it.”

There were a few more skeptical comments before Octavia groaned, silencing them in an instant.

“Fine,” Octavia growled. “But if you watch, then you take a turn at dueling, got it?”

She waited for a nod from each pony before she tramped over to the nearest weapon rack. There were various types of swords and knives, but they were made with either bundles of sticks wrapped together or heavy metal bars encased in thick foam to simulate weight. They were all quite standard, much like what she used back at the fortress.

Octavia selected one of the weighted swords that seemed decent and stepped away, turning to stare at the ponies until a few came forward and chose weapons.

They emptied the rack of the few nice, weighted swords. It was proper etiquette at the fortress to choose the same type of sword in training so that nopony would have an unfair advantage. Octavia was pleased to see that the customs carried over here to Canterlot. However, that meant they would have to trade off swords to duel against her with since there were so few.

Glancing out over the training floor, Octavia looked for an empty ring to practice in. She was about to start moving back around to the door to find a place when Ferris nudged her shoulder. He jabbed his head around the other side of the room.

“This way,” he said, then began walking.

It wasn't long before they found a ring towards the back of the room. They received a few stares but to Octavia's relief, nopony else began to follow them. Octavia prepared herself; removing her bow tie she had put on that morning, she used it to tie back her mane, weaving the extra slack into the folds of her hair.

As she hopped into the ring and began to stretch she noticed the other ponies doing more fidgeting than getting prepared. Shrugging to herself, Octavia continued stretching, grimacing slightly as her new scar pulled uncomfortably. Thankfully it was low and ponies didn't usually notice it unless they were looking, with any luck nopony here would try to take advantage of the weakness.

Octavia finished her stretches and moved to a corner of the ring, focusing her mind on the feel of her new sword. She gripped it in her mouth and gave it a few swings. Generally ninja's were taught to fight on two hooves, but she had training in using her mouth as well. Using it made judging the feel of new swords easier. Her inner ear garnering her more focus on the heavy weapon instead of balancing it on her hooves.

Still, nopony stepped forward and now many were giving glances back towards the doors. As the seconds ticked by they grew more agitated till the point Octavia finally spat her sword out and faced them.

“Come on, what are you ponies doing? I'm waiting to get started here,” she said.

The mare who spoke earlier turned to Octavia. “We are waiting on Teacher Spardis, he usually duels new recr-- transfers first.”

Octavia raised an eyebrow at her fumble, but chose to ignore it. “He isn't coming, when I left his office he made it clear he wouldn't be here to fight.”

This caused the ring of ponies all to turn and face Octavia. Two of them upped and left right then while the rest of them milled around. Their words were lost to the clatter around them and Octavia guessed they were now rather nervous as they kept glancing at her. She figured that usually Spardis came and “broke” new ninja's in and then left the rest of the ponies to fight them after a thorough beating.

Octavia frowned, she was irritated at the thought and wanted to get to work. It had been too long since she had last sparred. “Alright Ferris, you're first. Lets get this over with, I have a schedule to keep.”

Sensing her tone, Ferris made one last glance at the door before sighing and stepping into the ring. He grasped a practice sword in his hooves and stood up, balancing on his rear legs. As he settled into a low stance, Octavia grasped her own sword in her hooves and stood up.

“Rules are as follows,” Octavia began, swishing her sword in front of her. “Two hits to forearms or legs. Anywhere else is an instant out.”

“Agreed,” Ferris said with a nod.

Octavia continued, “I prefer to allow melee, however I'm not familiar with how you fight down here. But back at the fortress, anything goes.”

Ferris hesitated, but he nodded again. “Melee is fine, I do not have a problem with it.”

Octavia nodded and lowered herself into a combat ready stance. With a look at each other, they started the match.

They began to circle, Octavia placing a hoof to the left, then Ferris stepping to the right. They slowly moved closer, gauging each others faces like a poker player.

Octavia watched everything. Ferris wobbled, almost imperceptibly, when he was on his left hoof bringing his right around for another step. He was also very tense, his eyes slowly searching Octavia's own. As she continued to circle, she relaxed herself ever so slightly and watched as Ferris began to sweat as a result.

It had been her experience that putting on a show of confidence only helped her in a fight. Her opponents either grew nervous at her relaxed state, or overconfident thinking that she was being too sure of herself, thus prone to making mistakes. She had used each situation to her advantage more than once. In this case, Ferris noticing her stance was making him nervous; The rumors already circulating around the hideout about her prowess were probably turning themselves over in his mind at that very moment.

Tired with waiting, Octavia quickly closed the distance between her and Ferris. He tried to back off but she was too fast and he was forced to parry her thrust. He tried to swing his defense into an easy strike back at her but Octavia had already spun out of his reach and was coming at him again.

This time, Ferris stepped forward into her swing. He tried to grab her as he knocked her sword away but she ducked under his his forearm and grabbed him at the shoulder. Before he could react Octavia had twisted his back hooves out from under him and slammed him down onto his back, knocking most of the wind out of him.

She disengaged by hopping backwards as he flailed wildly with his sword as he got up, breathing hard. Octavia was stronger than he had anticipated, she could see it in his eyes and how suddenly he was keeping his distance. She gave him a moment to recuperate, engaging only in a few brief bouts of swordplay.

Octavia feinted, swinging out of a thrust into his right forearm. Ferris tried to block but he was already off balance and only managed to keep her from, what would have been, slicing off his whole arm if it had been real swords. As it was, he was going to have a large bruise above his elbow.

As he reeled away, trying to gain his balance, Octavia closed the distance once again and got inside his guard. Ferris dropped his sword and grabbed her own sword hoof. Instead of trying to break away she twisted into Ferris so that he was almost hugging her from behind. With a swift hit to his arm, and a simultaneous jab at his belly, he caved in on top of her. But Octavia wasn't finished and as soon as his weight started to press down on her she flipped him over her back and brought him crashing down in front of her, this time taking all the wind out of him.

Octavia moved forward as he rolled over to get up. He lunged, trying to tackle her but she dodged him while swinging at his midsection. The heavy sword connected with a loud smack as he powered through it only to fall in a heap once again.

He struggled to his hooves again, but remained doubled over in pain as he tried to regain his breath. Octavia gave him a questioning look and asked, “By the rules that was a killing blow, however we may continue fighting if you wish?”

Ferris hesitated, glancing at her, then at his sword, then back again. “If you will allow it,” he wheezed. “I'm finished.”

Octavia looked at the ponies watching her. She realized suddenly that she could refuse Ferris' offer and continue to fight him in his weakened state. It was probably something Spardis had enforced on the ponies and taken advantage of more than once. She glanced disgustedly back at Ferris, who was clutching his midsection and watching her warily. She suspected he was waiting for her to take full advantage of the situation and beat him till he couldn't stand.

She turned away with a grimace. “Get out of the ring Ferris, I'm not fighting anypony who can no longer defend themselves.”

Turning her head slightly, Octavia watched him shuffle off to the side as another pony entered into the ring. She hadn’t hurt Ferris bad, he would be out of breath for the next few minutes and probably wake up with a few nasty bruises, but that was it. Hopefully he, and the other ponies, wouldn’t hold her winnings against her. She had seen too much cruelty from Spardis already and she didn’t want to be spurned like he obviously was.

Octavia watched the next pony limber up. It was the mare who had spoken up earlier, she was a pegasus, something Octavia hadn't noticed before. Analyzing her, Octavia decided she was pretty much average. Her agility was good, but that came with being a pegasus; her flexibility decent and the way she handled her sword was fine although it seemed a little heavy for her.

She turned to fully face the mare. “Same rules. Anything goes, you may use your wings.”

The mare nodded and readied herself and they began to circle. Octavia monitored the mare’s hoof work as well as her eyes. She was cautious and viewed Octavia with respect, but it was clear she expected to be better than Ferris. Her movement was more sure and she did not display nervousness. However, she was not used to the heavier sword, Octavia could tell by the way her muscles stood out when holding it up; the mare practiced with the wooden swords most of the time and her forearms were not used to holding the extra weight.

The corner of Octavia's mouth twitched with a smirk, she couldn't help it. Fighting back at the fortress was hard, ponies there gave as little indication as she did. Here, Octavia felt a little sorry for how poorly trained everypony was, but on the other hoof she was confident she could win a match against any of these ponies without breaking a sweat.

Octavia almost grimaced when the mare lunged forward, she had almost a whole second of warning before the mare actually started moving. Angling slightly, Octavia prepared to parry the blow and shunt the mare past her, but at the last moment the mare twisted out of the thrust and spun into a swing in midair, using her wings to stay aloft. Caught off guard, Octavia disengaged with a roll forwards, underneath the mare.


It was a good move, Octavia decided. The mare must work on that quite a lot. As she came back up from her roll and spun around she saw a look of shock on the mare's face. Octavia gave her a flat stare, but said nothing, clearly this mare thought she would have gotten a hit in.

The mare lunged again, but continued through with her thrust. Octavia parried the blow while stepping aside, allowing the mare to tumble forward from her momentum. Instead of pressing her attack Octavia waited for the mare to get up. They began to circle again, this time the mare had an irritated frown on her face as she decided on her next move.

Octavia did not wait, instead she closed the distance quickly, baiting the mare to attack first. She did, and Octavia locked swords with her, shoving them aside and closing into a melee. Against an earth pony who had just defeated a stronger male in a melee fight, the pegasus made the right choice in trying to disengage; she tried to fly over Octavia while twisting her sword out from its trap.

However, Octavia was ready. She let go of her sword and leaped up, grabbing the pegasus around her middle and pulling her to the ground. Octavia landed on her rear hooves and promptly twisted the mare around and grabbed her wings. In the instant that Octavia could have done some serious damage to her feathery appendages, she felt the pegasus tense up and try to pull away on instinct. Instead of winning the fight there Octavia instead kicked the mare in the back, shoving her to the floor roughly but leaving her wings alone.

She cartwheeled to her sword and grabbed it while spinning around to face the pegasus who was just getting up herself. The mare was clearly shaken, all too aware of what could have happened to her wings. Octavia pushed her advantage on the distraught mare, the mind battles were just as important as the physical and Octavia forced her own feelings of sympathy aside as she attacked the unprepared pegasus.

It was clear that ponies here did not handle melee well and she was going to use that to her advantage. That Spardis was not doing a good job here, if she could defeat ponies, both mentally and physically this fast, then there was something seriously wrong with their training. Octavia decided that these ponies needed some serious help in becoming better, and practice without beating them down was the best way she could think of.

The pegasus was defeated in seconds, Octavia scoring solid hits to her shoulder and thigh as she took advantage of the mare's sluggish swordplay. The hit to her thigh knocked the mare to the ground but she quickly got back up and charged Octavia again.

For her part, Octavia was slightly surprised that the mare charged her again. Assuming it was an attack spurred by frustration and anger Octavia bullied in past the mare's swing and grabbed her roughly, throwing her to the ground and trapping her beneath a knee.

“Enough!” Octavia growled, looking at the mare. She watched as disbelief, confusion and then relief all flashed through the mare's eyes when she realized Octavia was done fighting. The pegasus dropped her gaze and relaxed.

“I... Sorry, I didn't think you were finished.” She said, struggling to breathe with Octavia's weight on her.

Removing herself, Octavia offered a hoof to the mare who hesitated before taking it. She decided it was time to make her intentions clear.

“I'm here training only because I've been required by my superiors.” Octavia turned to the rest of the ponies and continued, “I'm not here to usurp any positions or take advantage of any rules. When the victory requirements are met in a duel, I will allow you to walk off the ring and would appreciate if you would do the same for me.” She stopped and waiting for responses, but all she received were blank stares.

“I don't know what kind of twisted system you got going here, but where I come from, rules for a duel are to be met exactly, no modifying or extra advantages given before or after a match.”

Octavia turned to the mare and gave a tiny bow. “Thank you for the duel, I hope we can chat later.”

The mare gave her a wary nod before turning away. Octavia glanced around at the ponies, the silence between them was so heavy she felt like she could cut it. As she looked around for something to latch onto in the otherwise noisy room, her eyes fell on the blue pegasus colt she had met a few days ago.

It looked as though he was being given a lesson in hoof to hoof combat. She watched as the trainer, a stallion, went through the motions of a move before executing it against the colt. Octavia grimaced as the colt was floored, but at least the stallion waited for the colt to get up before going through the motions again slowly.

Octavia decided it was time for lunch. She turned back to the ponies who were still there, seeing another mare already in the ring and ready for combat.

Octavia held up a hoof. “If you don't mind, I would like to take a break and eat. I'll be back in about an hour.”

With that she turned and exited the ring. Making for the colt, she wove around two more training rings before reaching his circle. He was facing away from her, once again trying to block the move the trainer was showing him. Octavia winced as the small colt tried to defend himself from the stronger stallion, ending up being shoved to the ground once again.

The stallion frowned at her as she approached. He walked over when she halted at the edge of the ring. “Are you Octavia?” he asked.

“I am,” she responded, watching the colt get to his hooves and face her, his face unreadable.

“Well,” the trainer said, rubbing the back of his head. “What can I do for you?”

Octavia nodded at the colt. “I’d like to take him for an hour.”

The stallion frowned. “Unless you’ve got permissions from Spardis... I don’t think it would be--”

“I don’t need anypony’s approval for what I wish to do, sir. If you are afraid of any repercussions I’ll take responsibility.” Octavia paused, gauging his reaction before adding, “I’m sure you don’t want to be here so let me take him off your hooves.”

The stallion hesitated and glanced between her and the colt. “Alright alright, but if anything happens it’s on you.”

“Very well.” Octavia gestured at the colt. “Come on, I’m taking you to lunch.”

“Yes ma’am,” the colt responded, hurrying after her.

Taking one look at the buffet counter in the dining hall, Octavia turned on her hoof and left. Stormy hurried behind her, almost trotting to keep up with her longer strides.

“Are we not eating lunch?” he asked.

Octavia looked down at his confused features. “I’m taking you out to get some good food.”

> Nothing Is Ever Easy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Octavia smiled as Stormy’s eyes widened in realization. They were going out into Canterlot for a meal. Octavia was just as excited with the freedom she had as he seemed to go outside. If it hadn’t been for Vinyl she probably would have been eating in the dining hall herself. But that mare had opened Octavia’s eyes to realize that there was good food always available out in Canterlot.

When they finally reached the top, or ground, floor and headed for the receptionist desk, Stormy began to slow down. He glanced nervously at the desk, then the door, and then back at Octavia. She raised an eyebrow and did not slow down, heading up to the receptionist desk. Signing herself and the colt out, she turned and made for the door, noticing the look of anxiety deepening on the colt’s face.

“Hey kid, come on.” Octavia felt the receptionist’s eyes on her as the colt scampered out of the office doors behind her.

Stormy Sky squinted and covered his eyes with a hoof. Octavia noted he didn’t even try to use one of his wings, although she wasn’t sure if they were long enough. She reminded herself again to talk to somepony about wings; get the young pegasus to talk with somepony who knew what they were doing with them.

It didn’t take them long to reach a small market area nearby. Octavia watched as Stormy, despite his squinting and hobbling on three legs, tried to look at everything.

“Hey, Stormy, how long has it been since you’ve been outside?”

“I dunno,” Stormy said absently, peering at a market stall selling fur hats. “I’ve only ever been outside to run around the block of the office building with a trainer, that is usually every other day. But I don’t ever remember being out this far.”

Octavia looked askance. “You’ve never even been taken on any shopping runs or errands?”

“I... Nope.”

It took Octavia a moment to process his response. If he had not been out for... a long time, then he probably didn't have a clue to how things worked in the real world. She was angry that the ninjas in Canterlot did nothing to acclimate him to his environment. Even in her secluded lifestyle she had been taken out on excursions on a regular basis her whole life. If it was her, she would have--

A voice interrupted her train of thought. “Octavia?” Stormy nudged her and pointed. “What are those?”

She looked to see him still staring at the fur hats. Deciding to indulge his curiosity, and her own, she led him to the stand. Each hat had a unique look and every one was made from the fur of a different animal. They were each labeled, with a rather large amount of detail, into what each was comprised of and how much they were being sold for.

“Good afternoon, miss!” The stallion behind the counter gave them both a wide smile. “I would like to point out that this fur was collected with the utmost care from each animal and is nothing but the finest quality!”

Octavia nodded and smiled, but her attention was focused on Stormy who had already moved up close on the hats. He had put one on was and staring at himself in the complementary mirror. After a moment, he pulled the hat off and tossed it haphazardly back onto it's display hook before grabbing another hat and repeating the process.

As she absently straightened the hat on the hook, Octavia noticed it's price: Ninety-five bits. Blown away by the price, she took a closer look at the details of the hat. It seemed to be made entirely from a single squirrel's tail hair and was sewn together quite expertly. It had a small note that made up most of the label:

Guaranteed by the Element of Harmony, Miss Fluttershy, to have been produced without harming a single animal. All natural squirrel tail hair, compliments of Mr. Timmy. A fifteen year collection from brushing.

Every other hat Octavia looked at had Fluttershy's name and cutie mark on the label. Each was unique in how the hair or fur had been collected, but all of them seemed to have been collected with an extravegant amount of care and intimacy with the animal. The only time Octavia had seen Fluttershy had been at that disaster of a Gala and she was anything but gentle and close with the animals there.

“Are you sure the furs were supplied by this Fluttershy?” Octavia asked the stallion.

“Well of course,” he replied, frowning at her.

Octavia put on a surprised face. “Really? Do you know her? I've never met her before but I keep hearing good things.”

The stallion leaned in over the counter. “Most certainly! I've not had the pleasure of meeting her myself since, Violet, my partner, does all the interaction with the mare. But I keep hearing how good the little pegasus is with animals. She and Violet are great friends, she gets all the fur from Fluttershy at a great price... especially for its amazing quality.”

The stallion would have continued, but Octavia cut in when he drew breath. “Gosh it must be fantastic to be business partners with an Element of Harmony,” she praised. “Although I heard she had a less than reputable encounter at the Grand Galloping Gala a while back, I read that her relations weren't that good with the palace wildlife and made quite a--”

“Well I wouldn't know about that,” the stallion interrupted loftily. “Sounds like to me your sources are a little misinformed. I've heard nothing but good reports from my Violet.” The stallion stopped with his mouth open before continuing in a milder tone. “But, well, you never know, I don't know much about the pegasus myself.

Octavia made a duck face and turned to Stormy, pretending to contemplate the new information. The young colt had been through all but one of the hats, which he was now trying on. He had tossed each hat back onto its stand lazily leaving the display much worse for wear.

“Stormy, I need you to straighten those back up nicely, please.” Octavia commanded, her tone emulating a mother's, ‘do as you're told’, voice.

The pegasus raised an eyebrow at her before glancing at the hats, stallion, then back at her. Turning her back on the vendor, she gave Stormy a look that said, “I'm going to kick your ass if you don't do what I say”. He immediately began to straighten up the stand as she turned back and gave the stallion a smile.

“Thank you for your time and letting Stormy look at the hats.” She stepped away and helped Stormy straighten the last few before they both left the stand.

They walked in silence down the busy street for a few minutes. Octavia kept an eye out for promising restaurants for them to stop at. However, she had no idea what to choose. It would have been much easier if Vinyl had been with them; that crazy mare knew more about food than Octavia would in her whole lifetime. She turned to see Stormy lagging behind, almost disappearing into the crowd of ponies on the street.

She stopped and waited for him to catch up, he would have kept on walking but Octavia put out a hoof and stopped him.

“Hey, what are you thinking about?” She asked.

Stormy stared at her, his eyes boring into her own. “What you did, you reminded me of... of my mother.” He said hesitantly. “I remember she would... Why did you act like that?”

Octavia looked at him for a long minute. “Stormy I know you've not had any chance to be an owner of any special or meaningful items, but I want you to imagine that you did.” Octavia pulled Stormy to a nearby bench and sat him down. “Imagine if you had your own room within the guild hall. Imagine you had your own weapons and armor, soft sheets, an extra pillow, a picture of your family and your very own shelf of awards you had won. Say I come into that room and start messing around with those hard earned trophy cups, mess up your bed and take your pillow. Would that make you mad?”

Stormy said nothing, but Octavia watched him glance back at the hat stand before continuing.

“This isn't exactly the same situation, but that pony was being nice to let us look at the hats and perhaps buy one. If you want others to treat your things with care and respect, then you have to do the same with theirs.” Octavia paused as Stormy frowned. “Hey,” she said, demanding his attention. “This is serious stuff you've got to learn, especially being a ninja. A lot of times you are hiding out in the open and have to fit in... And to fit in you need to know how to socialize, alright?”

Stormy nodded as he faced her. “Yes, ma'am.”

“Good, now enough of this. We are out here to have fun and eat food.” Octavia got up, and dragged Stormy with her, making sure he didn't fall behind. “Also, if you call me ma'am again I'll throw you down one of these sewer drains.”

Stormy couldn't help but laugh a little at that, he picked up his hooves and followed Octavia with renewed vigor. She eventually decided on a small, sit down, salad buffet she had seen before they reached the hat salespony. It was an outside diner, a rather commonplace setting in Canterlot. It's positioning on the side of a mountain afforded a spectacular view for buildings in the right spots.

They took their seats at a table next to a low wall which afforded them a view out over a small corner of the city before the lush landscape beyond. They were near some of the lowest parts in Canterlot at the moment, among the common and middle-class areas that made up most of the city. There was not a terrible amount of higher up city, but there was enough to house plenty of expensive homes as well as a few small market areas, very much like the one with the club Vinyl worked at.

But it was impossible to see those parts now, the giant mountain cliffs hiding all but the peaks of the houses near the edge in the next tier of the city. It did not matter anyway, Stormy only had eyes for the grand view below his hooves. Octavia smiled to herself, realizing he most likely couldn’t ever remember seeing a view this good. She knew how breathtaking it was the first time she was in Canterlot, and she let him continue to stare without interruption.

Octavia picked up a menu as Stormy continued to ogle the sights. She only had her experience with Vinyl to go on for dining out, but the fifteen bits per meal here seemed reasonable. Indeed, half the price per meal than the night with Vinyl seemed to be an excellent deal. She was aware that the food might not be as good since it was cheaper, but this place had plenty of ponies at it so it couldn’t be all that bad.

“What would you like to eat Stormy?”

The colt tore his eyes away from the scenery and glanced at the menu in her hooves before picking up his own. “What is this?” he asked, opening it up.

“That is your menu. It lists everything this restaurant will make for you.” Octavia leaned over the table and pointed to an item inside. “See? It even gives you a small description of what each thing is as well as how much it costs.”

Stormy was silent for a moment as he made use of his newfound knowledge. But a moment later he laid his menu down. “I don’t have any bits. That means I can’t get anything, right?”

It took Octavia a moment to respond. “Well, yes. But you don’t need to worry about it, I have enough to pay for the both of us.”

“Oh, okay.” Stormy hesitantly picked his menu back up. He browsed the menu for the next few minutes until a waitress arrived with water.

“Are we ready to order?” she asked brightly.

“I think--” Octavia hesitated, looking at Stormy who was glancing between her and the waitress. “Have you chosen something yet?”

Stormy looked back at his menu. “No, I don’t know what to choose. What is Teriyaki sauce?”

“I don’t think you would like that hon,” the waitress cut in before Octavia could answer. “That caters to our more, carnivorous clientele.” She glanced at Octavia as she asked, “Would you like me to choose something for you?” Octavia returned the glance with a small smile.

“Yea, sure,” Stormy said slowly.

She turned to Octavia. “And what would you like ma’am?”

“Your Green Salad will do just fine.”

“Alrighty then, It’ll be a few minutes. Thank you!” The waitress smiled and continued her rounds of the tables.

They watched her leave, at a loss for what to do. Octavia fiddled with her glass as Stormy’s attention became riveted by the pepper grinder. She watched as ponies milled about the open cafe. The tables were filling up quickly, the lunch hour was singing its siren song it seemed. She spotted a pickpocket getting very rich as he lifted a few fat wallets from some unsecured saddlebags. She did nothing about it however, she was on her lunch break after all.

“What is an Element of Harmony?” Stormy asked suddenly.

Octavia looked at him in surprise. “The Elements?” she asked. Stormy stared blankly at her. “Nobody ever told you about them?” Stormy shook his head mutely. She frowned and sighed, crossing her hooves on the table.

“Okay, the elements are ponies, six of them to be exact.” She had his attention, and as she continued his eyes began to widen. “They are bearers of a certain magic. Not your typical unicorn manipulation stuff you see all the time. No, it’s more like... like a powerful force that can do anything. It’s rather hard to describe, I’ve never seen it myself but from what I know there hasn’t been a task that they couldn’t complete. There are six facets to this power: Loyalty, Honesty, Laughter, Kindness, Generosity and Magic, pure Magic. Once again, not the simple stuff most all unicorns can do. Each pony embodies one of these elements and together they form perfect Harmony which probably surpasses the power of even Celestia herself.

“Now, I’m sure you have heard that Princess Luna has returned?” she questioned, pulling Stormy out of his silence.

“Y-yea, it was big talk in the guild about a year ago. I only remember because we had no training that day and night since we celebrated instead.”

Octavia leaned in as she responded, “Well, it was the Elements of Harmony who brought her back from a thousand years on the moon. I’ve heard different stories from a number of different ponies on how, but the Elements were in each one.” Octavia sat back in her chair. “Apparently they are all living in Ponyville right now, a small town south of here.”

“Wow,” was all Stormy could say. He remained silent as he digested the information. Octavia was beginning to like him for that. Stormy was still young... very young. But he displayed a level of comprehension and understanding that belied his age. She had been around enough foals to know that they wouldn’t have cared or paid attention to a conversation like this as well as Stormy was; and he didn’t ask stupid questions. But then again... none of those colts or fillies had it as hard as Stormy did. 

She frowned, even she hadn’t been pushed as hard as Stormy was... is. Sure she had worked hard, but she could remember times when she was allowed to play or do whatever she wanted. Stormy’s life though? It was just like all the other adults in the guild, a rigid lifestyle filled with brutal training and a stringent calendar. 

That had been a long time ago though. Octavia’s thoughts wandered to more recent events. Hanging out with Vinyl had been one of her first chances at “playtime” in the past five or six years. She had thoroughly enjoyed it too... Well, Vinyl was a little tough to enjoy being with, but she had a good taste in food and was willing to just relax and talk about nothing important. That was something she had not done in ages.

Octavia sighed, wishing she could drop everything and relax again. Maybe learn more about how Vinyl partied. From what she had described, it seemed enjoyable. But she wasn’t sure she was ready to trust Scratch’s judgement on more than food.

“Octavia?” A voice called, pulling her out of her thoughts.

“Hmm, Yes?”

Stormy was frowning, seemingly struggling with his next words. “I... you... when you were talking to that stallion at the hat stand, you sure seemed awful nice to him.”

Octavia snorted and smirked. “Remember what I was telling you earlier about socializing and being nice?” She waited for his nod before speaking again. “Well, being nice to him made him like me, and since he liked me then he was willing to answer questions I had for him.

“Ponies don’t just tell you everything because you ask kid. You have to get on their good side or garner some kind of leverage over them. Getting on that stallion’s good side was the easiest and fastest way, in that situation, to get what I wanted.”

“And did you get what you wanted?” Stormy asked.

Octavia gave him a smug smile. “Of course.”

Finally their lunches came. Octavia took the time to begin instructing him on ideas she had put together for his private training. She told him, “Physically, you are being pushed to your limits, you aren’t going to get any stronger except with age.”

Instead, she would show him a yoga type regimen which would assist in his balance, reaction time and flexibility. Strength wasn’t everything, there were more ways to improve the body other than pounding it to a pulp in the ring or on the track.

Then, when he had time, he would go to the library and read a few books she had picked out. The more knowledge one could soak up on tactics, logic and reasoning, quick thinking and different combat styles, the smarter they would become in fighting other ponies. 

But, of course, nothing trained better than cold, hard and grueling practice. But he was already getting plenty of that. Octavia assured him that as long as he stayed strong and kept his head, he would get better. Learning from his losses, watching what his opponents did required him to remain calm and calculating.

She continued instructing him on various things as they walked back to the guild. Octavia made it a point to hurry as they were already overdue on their lunch break, but she made the most of the little time they had. It wasn’t long before they were walking through the office doors and nodding to the half asleep receptionist in the lobby.

As they walked down the stairs to the main floors of the guild, a thought struck her.

“Hey, Stormy, what do you know about the gangs and criminals around Canterlot? Do you ever hear about shady organizations that the guild has to deal with?”

The colt said nothing for a moment. “I hear some of the ninjas who come in from assignments talk about criminals sometimes. I know there are a couple of large gangs, but I don’t know much else about it, sorry.”

“Hey, no problem, thanks though. Would you mind keeping your ears open for anything else you might hear about them?” Octavia asked.

“Sure!” Stormy exclaimed, hopping excitedly at the prospect of getting to return a service to Octavia.

As they reached the next landing on the stairwell, Octavia saw Spardis; he was standing at the door to his office, watching them. She urged Stormy forward and down the stairs before he noticed. She glanced at Spardis again, both of them exchanging glares.

They split at the library as Stormy had lessons there. Octavia continued back into the training hall where she met up with the ponies who were waiting for her. Most of them were sparring lazily, but a few others had drinks from the mess hall, which she assumed were from their own recent lunches.

It didn’t take her long to get back to sparring. It seemed she had plenty of candidates and she quickly fell into a groove. A lot of the ponies weren’t the best that the guild hall had to offer, but now and again she would fight a tougher opponent. However, each and every one of them fell under her training blade.

She wasn’t sure how many hours she fought. Now and again she would get a break and refresh herself. But it seemed Spardis had set up quite the grind for her. Normally she would have had half a dozen fights spaced throughout the day back at the fortress, but at this rate she would be through each pony at the guild within the week.

Eventually she noticed that quite a ring of observers had accumulated around her. It must have been getting late as Stormy had appeared and was at the front. Spardis had shown up as well and he did not look pleased.

Octavia wiped her sweat soaked mane back behind her ears, she had long since abandoned her hair tie as it kept slipping and settled herself for her next contestant. An Earth Pony, standard build, male. He was probably stronger than her, but he did not look as athletic or flexible. His attitude was defensive, and his stance reflected it.

They began to circle, slowly closing the distance between them. Octavia waited patiently, she was tired and had been taking advantage of any passiveness she could to recuperate. Eventually he lunged forward and tried to feint. His maneuver was clear as day to Octavia and she slid around him smoothly. She tangled their swords together and disarmed him before tripping him. By the time he realized what had happened, he was in a headlock on the ground.

A few hours before, she had made it clear to all the ponies facing her that she was willing to let them walk once they had been bested once. Once they acknowledged defeat she would let them off without any backstabbing or cheap hits. Most all the ponies were taking the offer, they seemed relieved at the easy back out. She wondered if many of them were losing on purpose but Spardis’ presence made her realize that most of the ponies had been giving it their all from the start.

As the stallion retreated she yawned and turned her back to Spardis. “I was always told a student is only as good as the teacher. A saying I hold in high respect.”

One could have heard a pin drop after that statement. Not a word was said for the longest time until Octavia cleared her throat. “Anypony else ready?” she asked, turning to stare at Spardis. The question wasn’t directed to anypony else, and they all knew it.

Spardis stared at her for a long moment before turning to the ponies waiting to duel her. “I want the next four of you in there now,” was all he said.

Two of the ponies hesitantly stepped into the ring. 

“Um, sir, isn’t that--”

Spardis interrupted the stallion cooly, “If all of you don’t get in there now, I will duel each one of you separately until I decide you’ve learned not to disobey me.”

The other two ponies promptly stepped in and picked up training swords. As they prepared themselves, Spardis spoke again. “This is no longer a sparring match,” he glanced at Octavia and gave her a malicious grin. “This will be a straight up brawl. Nopony leaves the ring until one side or the other can no longer fight.”

Octavia gave Spardis a long look. No words were said but the tension in the air was palpable. He had just broken all the unspoken rules of respect, honor and chivalry in the ninja order. But, if she walked, that would unfortunately reflect rather badly on her; especially after beating a third of the guild in one on one combat.

The four ponies advanced on her together, splitting up and trying to surround. Octavia crouched and moved to her right, forcing the ponies to adjust their own movements. The pony on her right, the only mare, backed off as Octavia approached, unwilling to be the first to engage. They all knew what would happen if they failed, none of them wanted to be the first to go down.

Now was the time for unorthodox tactics. Spardis had made this a brawl; so Octavia was certainly going to take advantage of that opportunity. Many ponies had a chance to see her fight, she needed to change it up and keep her opponents on the back hoof.

She took the initiative and lunged to her left, tackling the surprised stallion and bringing him to the ground. But she had no time to inflict a hit on him before the other ponies were on top of her. Sensing their approach even as she had begun her lunge, she rolled over the stallion and landed on her hooves with her sword ready.

They came in fast, the two standing stallions engaged her in a flurry of swordplay as the mare circled behind. Octavia tried to push one of them back but their swordplay held her at bay. She watched as the downed stallion got to his hooves and moved to rejoin the fight. Watching her opponents eyes, she waited for the mare who was behind her to make her move.

The mare came in with a swing of her sword. Octavia watched the eyes of two stallions move with the swing and ducked just in time. She spun around and swung at the unsuspecting mare. At least, Octavia thought she was unsuspecting. The mare was ready, it seemed she had expected to miss and she quickly rolled inside Octavia’s swing, dropping her own sword and uppercutting Octavia. 

She reeled and was grabbed by the mare as the stallions advanced. Her forelegs trapped at her sides, Octavia pushed up as hard as she could, sending her over the mare who barely managed to hold on. Both mares narrowly avoided being clobbered by two brutal swings from the stallions and landed heavily, Octavia landing on top and knocking the wind from the mare.

Freed from the grab, Octavia rolled away, narrowly avoiding another swing from one of the stallions. She rolled back on the sword and snapped it before it could be withdrawn. The splintered end scraped across her side as the stallion retreated.

The other two stallions were now upon her and she took a heavy blow to her back as she rolled into the legs of one of them. Ignoring the pain she grappled with the hooves of the stallion as he kicked her forcefully in the face. She was able to shove him away, but there were still two stallions above her and she was on the ground. 

She used her hooves to blunt most of their blows and swings, but she was unable to trip them up or get her legs under her. Octavia could see the mare staggering to her feet, still struggling to breathe as she fumbled for her own sword. The stallion she had downed moments before was scurrying to pick up the sword the mare had ripped from Octavia.

With a growl, almost a yell, Octavia coiled her body and lunged up, trying to ignore the stinging blows to her neck and middle. Luckily, she was not thrown off balance and was primed to tackle her aggressors. They continued to press their attack and Octavia took the opportunity to slide around the swings and grab one of the stallions from behind. She grabbed one of his hooves and twisted it behind him, causing him to cry out in pain. Unfortunately this meant he dropped his sword and all she had was a meat shield.

She kicked him between his legs and dropped him as he went limp with a strangled groan. The remaining three ponies surrounded her. Octavia panted heavily, one of her eyes had started to swell closed and she was bleeding from the shallow cuts in her side. The two stallions, however, looked quite fresh. It was only the mare who was having a hard time breathing, but she still held her sword steady.

Octavia advanced and the mare fell back. “Clever girl,” she thought. The three ponies maintained their distance from Octavia, which was fine with her. She was running out of energy and the moment of respite gave her a chance to control her breathing.

Once again she noticed one of the stallions glance behind her, but any reasons for the action skipped her mind as she planned what to do next. Then, she was grabbed roughly from behind and received a kick between her own legs; it probably wasn’t as damaging as what she had done to the stallion, but it still hurt. Then she was thrown over the head of her attacker and slammed into the ground behind him. It was the stallion she thought she had incapacitated. He was breathing heavily and standing a little awkwardly, but he was still very much alive. He kicked her again in the stomach and she curled around his leg, grabbing it and twisting, bringing him to the ground. The other ponies fell on her and disentangled them, roughly shoving her away and taking a few more hits at her, striking near her exposed scar until she lay still.

The only sounds that could be heard throughout the whole training floor was the heavy breathing of the combatting ponies and weak coughing from Octavia. Spardis turned and pushed his way through the large ring of ponies. Octavia watched him go, following his retreat with her good eye. Her gaze swept past Stormy who was standing at the front, starting at her in disbelief.

As the four ponies limped their way out of the ring, Octavia turned away from the diminishing crowd and pushed herself up. Gritting back a groan, she gathered her hooves together and headed towards the exit and locker rooms. All the ponies avoided looking at her or getting in the way. When she reached the entrance to the back rooms, there was a mass exodus of ponies, all trying to get out without touching her.

She ignored them for the most part, there was a shower in here that had her name on it. A cold shower... it might just quench the rage she was feeling right then. The pain was nothing, she had learned a long time ago to deal with the burning and keep it locked away from her rational mind. 

No, what was really eating away at her was how much Spardis was getting away with here. She could not fathom what he was trying to achieve. He was certainly not winning any medals with the rest of the guild. Rage at how nopony stood up to him burned more than her black eye.

She entered the large, public shower room. It was the only one in the whole guild and was just a large room with almost two dozen shower heads sticking out of the walls. Privacy was never something prized within the guild, but Octavia was grateful for its emptiness as she dragged her body underneath a shower head and fumbled with the valve knob. 

Her breath caught as a rain of icy water hit her face and bruises. Maneuvering the spray towards the wall, she leaned against it and closed her eyes as the cold water washed over her. It soothed her burning side and swollen face, but her thoughts continued to smolder.

Octavia did not know how long she stood underneath the deluge, but when she opened her eyes she found Stormy watching her from the large doorway of the showers. She sighed and turned away, exhausted and.... humiliated? “Certainly not!” she thought vehemently. New rage at her situation boiled to the top.

No, she was not humiliated. That was an emotion for a pony who could do nothing about their situation. She was angry, and that anger was going to be put to good use. Spardis was going down, that was where her feelings would go... into revenge.

“Hey kid,” she croaked. Stormy looked away quickly and Octavia knew that look. It was one of disappointment, one she had seen many times back at the fortress. It burned, to see it from the young colt. Clearing her throat, she continued, “I bet that was pretty shocking to see huh? Did you think I would win?”

Stormy said nothing. It was easy to tell what he had been, at least, hoping for.

“You know, another thing I was taught at the fortress was to never give up fighting until you were dead, but also to pick your battles wisely.” Octavia shifted, wincing as she did so. Beginning to shiver she placed a hoof on the knob and twisted, warming the water. “It was easier for me to take a beating out there physically than to walk away and lose the respect of everypony instantly.

“Take tonight’s lesson to your grave kid. I will continue fighting, Spardis isn’t going to break me that easily and ponies are going to see it. In a weeks time I’ll have more respect and support from members here than if I had walked out of the training hall tonight.” Octavia’s voice became dark, almost too quiet for Stormy to hear. He pricked his ears forward to catch her muttering. “If that bastard thinks I’m just going to put on blinders and do what he says he’s got another thing coming.” 

She pounded the shower wall with a hoof, startling Stormy into retreating. His hoof steps pulled her out of her dark reverie and she began to clean herself up. She had things to do, standing in the shower was not one of them.
> Interlude: A Study in Vinyl
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Canterlot has always been at the tail end of the industrial revolution. Many said it was the presence of the Royal Sisters that dulled the inspiration and drive to become more self sufficient. That, in their regal shadows, all ponies felt safe to live their lives as they always had.

While the rest of Equestria's many cities were booming with new inventions by productive Earth pony engineers, the citizens of Canterlot basked in the glow of their goddesses. It was, oddly enough, the princesses themselves who welcomed the technological changes into their lives before the rest of the city would catch on.

Sometimes a noble, or venturous businesspony, would invest in one of the many new gizmos that were being distributed through the rest of Equestria. It was usually in an attempt to create the demand. then monopolize the availability or usage of that item. Generally, it worked, and a handful of shrewd ponies had been getting rich in the capital of Equestria.

Vinyl Scratch was no different. While she didn't own the club she worked in per say. She was at the forefront of its creation and actively participating in its success. Many long hours were spent with her behind a desk writing letters and communicating with key ponies in Canterlot, trying to convince them of the opportunities that the extreme night life could bring to the city.

Of course, this was but a stepping stone for her own plans. Vinyl had dreams and put a lot of thought into achieving them. One wouldn't normally associate planning with the wild party animal; her lifestyle of boisterous behavior appeared childish and immature to many of the Canterlot elite.

Still, her cutting edge music and sick beats brought in the ponies. As long as that happened, Vinyl's promised bonus for her vision grew ever larger; not to mention the popularity she was garnering with the ponies of Canterlot. Soon, she would blow this joint and get a place of her own. But for now, she catered to the next generation of Canterlot's elite.

Pulling out of her reverie, Vinyl peeked out onto the club’s dance floor from backstage. The night was beginning to spin up, ponies were already dancing to the generic music oozing moderately out of the speakers. The bar was half full and there was a steady trickle coming in the doors. It was time to get the party rolling in full force.

A few moments of organizing later, which was mostly just popping on her shades and fuzzing her mane, she popped out onto stage. The few already dancing cheered her appearance while others began pouring out of the woodwork, waiting for Vinyl to begin her set. Fiddling with her equipment to build up suspense, she waited a few minutes longer before flipping on a microphone and holding it up in her magic.

“BOOM BABY!” Vinyl's voice, quite literally, boomed through the large speakers of the nightclub. With a flamboyant nudge, her first song began playing. Before long, she lost herself in the mixing. It was the start of another night filled with bone vibrating sound and feverish grinding.

That was one thing she had come to dislike about Canterlot's youth. She wasn't entirely sure this could be applied to the whole city, but in her location many of the young adults weren't so... adulty. Their snobbish attitudes, pathetic dancing, deep pocket books and smug smiles rubbed her all the wrong ways.

Sure, she had grown up here. But, before she had moved away for school, or fallen in love with music, she did not know any better. Coming back, assisting in the integration of new music, she began to realize that ponies here did not view themselves to be on the same plane as the rest of Equestria. It irked her that ponies with twice the business prestige conducted themselves more humbly than those here in the city. Here, the only real pride was in blood and proximity to the Royal Sisters, and they flaunted it.

They walked into the club their first night and thought they knew how everything should be done. Many of the colts used the dance floor as an excuse to get close to the mares they had brought. Any etiquette they might have had was thrown out the window. It made Vinyl feel sorry for those mares sometimes, but that was hard when they acted no better than the stallions who brought them. Not a single one of them could exert self control or even hold their drinks.

Vinyl had seen a few places in Manehattan that got rowdy, but this took the cake. She could take almost every kid here and still they acted tough while drunk. Half the time they would aim things her way, both physical or verbal, and it wouldn't take much to send them packing. Yep, if she ran things, it would be a lot different out there.

She snorted with irritation as ponies lined up at the bar, already half drunk from their first round of shots. Every night, always the same thing. One or two colts would be kicked out not two hours into her set. Surely they would get the idea and realize that the same behavior had gotten their friends banned the night before.

Still, it was hard not to love her job, even if the ponies were immature and spoiled brats. The pound of the music, the screams of the revelers, a song transition that only she knew had been brilliant, all of it catered to her pleasure nodes. Even if she was stuck here for a while longer, it would all be worth it when she could make the rules under a roof of her own.

As her thoughts drifted around while working her set, her vibrant features soured as recent events began churning through her mind. The attack on her life had been unsettling. She had not expected anypony from this city to be so dangerous or aggressive. Before coming back to Canterlot, she had seen the shrewd protection a number of the club DJs received. Vinyl never dreamed she would need something like that here, it shattered everything she knew about her hometown.

Purging her thoughts, Vinyl focused on her music. She held a hoof up to one of her earphones as she bobbed thoughtfully to its beat. The sound blasting out of the large, stage speakers was a fairly simple remix, but if fit well with her next choice.

After a few deft ministrations, a flourish or two, and the song was ready. Dropping her headphones she disappeared from the stage, there was a drink with her name on it. She tried not to show it, but underneath she was having a hard time keeping her composure.

If it hadn't been for that stallion's shrewd words, she might have already beat a hasty exit from Canterlot. Still, Octavia's father had made a point, no matter how strange of a pony he was. Vinyl reminded herself to ask the gray mare about him. In all honesty, they both seemed... odd, to her. He had basically told her it wouldn't do her any good to run.

It made sense. At least, his words had at the time. If she ran, she would be backing out on her contract and forfeiting any chance to own a club of her own here. Then, she would never face her new found fear of Canterlot which would probably keep her from ever returning. On top of that, she owed Octavia. Vinyl's whole life was centered around promises and fair play. It only made sense to return at least some semblance of gratitude.

The whole thing about getting over her fear seemed dumb now. But, she still owed Octavia. No matter how weird that mare was, Vinyl was going to find some way to pay her back. Hopefully it wouldn't involve another life threaten- Enope! Enough of that!

Vinyl left the bar, her short list of songs were finishing up soon. She needed to get the main event started. Pushing her thoughts away, she returned to her equipment on stage.

Nothing too fancy tonight. She had no new songs to debut or mix, no fanfare or extra cool set, no special guests, it was all rather standard. But that didn't matter, it never did. The ponies on the dance floor couldn't complain when Vinyl took the stage.

She still couldn’t help but think about the walk home though. The thought that there were ponies out there that could, and would, hurt her was unsettling. Maybe she should rent a cab, did they run this late? Hiring a bodyguard seemed more and more like a good idea. Maybe she should stay at the club tonight.

As she continued to idly mix and cue up more songs, Octavia returned to the forefront of her thoughts. Why had that mare saved her? It was dangerous to be out at night, no matter what training you had. What mare in their right mind would risk their life in the dead of night for somepony they didn’t even know? Against armed stallions no less.

Vinyl didn’t know, but the more she thought about it, the stranger it seemed. The unlikeliness of the situation warred with Octavia’s explanation of coincidence. She would have to ask the gray mare about it again. Something didn’t add up, especially after that dinner with her.





The thing Vinyl liked the most about her job was that time always passed quickly when she started playing on her equipment. It took a hoof on her shoulder to realize that it was getting late. Indeed, when she looked up at the large digital clock on the wall above the dance floor, it informed her it was almost 1 a.m..

She began wrapping up her set. With a few deft movements she brought her song to a close and engaged one of her generic loops to play for the rest of the night. A few ponies always lingered until closing time which was still a couple hours away. She had to stick around until then of course, but most of the time nobody complained as they were either engaged in their own... activities... or just too drunk to care.

Being an employee allowed her a few drinks for free, although she was rather peeved it wasn’t unlimited. Still, she was going to take full advantage of what little she could tonight. There was a scary trip home waiting for her and a little confidence boost certainly wouldn’t hurt.

She plunked down on a stool, leaning against the bar as she waited to be served. As late as it was, the barkeep was beginning to clean things up and wasn’t at the counter. Vinyl figured he was in the back at the sink from faint clanking sounds.

It only took a minute before he was back out. “What can I get you?”

Vinyl blew a halfhearted raspberry. “I don’t know, surprise me. Just don't skimp on the kick.”

The bartender nodded and turned away. Vinyl laid her head on the counter and tried to relax, but a voice from behind made her jump. “Rough night, Vinyl?”

“Celestia, Reeves!” Vinyl cursed, looking around at the pony who had spoken. She continued as the mare took a seat next to her. “What are you doing here at this time of night?”

“You hired me,” the mare deadpanned. “It took a little bit, but I’ve adjusted. It’s bad form on my part to get paid and not try to work with your hours.”

Vinyl nodded. It made sense, although it was more than she was expecting. When she had hired the cream colored mare to help with the legal side of her work, this wasn’t in the contract. All she had ‘officially’ agreed to do was help Vinyl promote and sell her music. It was nice to see that the healthy amount of bits she was paying for this gave her a few extra perks.

“So, what’s up?”

The bartender appeared with her drink, interrupting the conversation for a moment. Reeves ordered herself something fruity, but Vinyl promptly forgot the name as she almost choked taking a sip from her glass. Whatever it was, it was strong! But, somehow, it still tasted quite good!

The mare turned back to her. “We need to talk, about your music.” Vinyl said nothing, but turned to show that she was paying attention.

The mare chewed on her lip a moment, seeming to form a plan of attack in her mind. “There’s only so much I can do when you work on song in a collaboration setting. Now, I know it’s certainly good and all that your last song was so popular, but I’ll tell you now, it wasn’t because of you.”

Vinyl opened her mouth to protest but Reeves overrode her. “Listen, Vinyl, when ponies hear a new song, the music is certainly key in whether or not they like it, but it’s the singer that gets the glory. You can certainly compose something that people would like listening to, and not have lyrics, but it will always remain a background song used at conventions or parties.

“No, if you want your name to become as popular as I’m thinking you do, and I know, you’ve told me, then you’ve got to get your name on a cover. You have to sing, or at least start collaborating for minor parts. Because, that gets us money much faster. Unless we have those bits, I can’t advertise your skills well enough for DJ-P0N3 to take off. As is, your talents just aren’t going to cut it, there are plenty of other artists out there doing the same things you are.”

Reeves stopped talking as the bartender returned with her drink. She took a sip, watching Vinyl play with a straw.

As the silence stretched on longer, Vinyl finally responded. “Alright, that makes sense. What do you think I should do then?”

The aqua maned mare blinked a few times. “I... well...” she laughed. “Well that was easier than I expected.”

Vinyl removed her glasses, allowing the room to loose it’s darker, violet tint. “What? You thought I was going to argue with you? Pfft! That’s not what I hired your help for.”

“Of course,” Reeves grinned. “Most other artists I’ve worked with probably wouldn’t agree though.

“Anyway, I actually happen to have a plan for what you should do. Firstly, it wo--”

“Ohhh! That’s not who I think it is, is it?” A voice cut through Reeves’ words from a ways down the bar.

Another mare trotted up, a glass held in her magical field. This one was a rather dark green, though glossy, with a maroon mane that looked quite striking under the flashing lights of the nightclub.

Vinyl rolled her eyes when she finally identified who it was. She then realized her senses were already slowing and she hadn’t even finished her drink yet, what had the bartender put in this!? It didn’t matter, but she should probably be done for the night.

“Hello, Moonchaser, this isn’t exactly the time, or place, for a pony like you to be is it?” She asked snidely.

“That’s none of your business,” Moonchaser said haughtily. “However, I’ll tell you what is your business: Listening to my advice.”

“No,” Vinyl gasped obnoxiously, “and here I was expecting to gloat over--”

“Listen well, Vinyl!” Moonchaser cut in. “You had better be careful about what names you start disrespecting or outperforming here in Canterlot. Things don’t work the same way around here as I’m sure they do in those fly holes you came from. You had best cool those composing jets of yours or you will get burned!”

She turned tail and left, dropping her drink on the counter as she exited. The glass wobbled and fell over, forcing the bartender to scramble before it rolled and shattered on the floor. He gave Vinyl a disapproving glance, but saved the frown for the retreating mare.

“Well,” Reeves said, tossing her drink back. “That killed the mood. Listen Vinyl, I’ll drop by before you head out to work tomorrow and give you an outline of what I think we should do, I’m going to go back to bed.”

“Okay.”

She got up. “Also, don’t listen to what she said. She just pissed because your first hit outshone her latest song. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you about some of the shenanigans rivals can get up to when they feel threatened.”

Vinyl nodded towards Reeves, but was still lost in her own thoughts. After a hasty goodbye, the mare left, leaving Vinyl to her thoughts. That conversation did nothing to assuage her fears of walking home. Now, there were suddenly ideas of conspiracies against her swimming in her mind. The whole of Canterlot’s musically inclined were against her, maybe they had been the ones to order the hit on her? No, it couldn’t have been, it was the very day her song had come out.

With a grimace Vinyl finished her drink with a gulp. As the fiery liquid made its way down her throat she coughed slightly. Wheezing, she tried to clear her throat. That was some hard stuff!

She waved off the bartender. “No, I'm done for tonight. I'll see you tomorrow.”

Vinyl got up and made her way to the door. After being able to make it five steps and only tripping once, she declared herself fit to walk home.

The bathrooms were located along Vinyl's path to the exit. So, it was lucky that she bumped into none other than Octavia exiting the mares room. They stumbled around for a moment. Actually, it was more like the gray mare grabbing a tottering Vinyl and steadying her.

“Vinyl!”

“Oh! Hi there, Tavi!” Vinyl giggled. “Funny seeing you here, too bad I'm just leaving through.”

Octavia's deadpan voice snapped Vinyl into focus. “You weren't planning on walking home like this were you?”

“Hey,” Vinyl countered, “I'm perfectly capable of walking ho...” She trailed off, staring hard at Octavia.

It seemed the mare was wearing rather copious amounts of makeup. She confirmed it by leaning in closer and wiping off a small portion before Octavia pushed her away.

“Wha' happened to you?” she asked incredulously.

“I...” Octavia hesitated, glancing over Vinyl's shoulder. “It was a- a work accident. I'm fine.”

Vinyl took in the rest of Octavia, now noticing quite a few more discolored splotches along her body. She then noticed the slumped, exhausted posture that the mare was exhibiting. It wasn't often an Earth Pony appeared that tired, they seemed to be able to power on for hours.

Vinyl's tone turned serious. “Octavia, if there is some stallion who's-”

“It's nothing like that,” Octavia said quickly... A little too quickly in Vinyl's opinion. “We were moving a cart full of s-stuff at work yesterday. I was careless and pulled a lot of things down on top my of myself.”

“Jeeze, 'Ta-via,” Vinyl stuttered. “Are you sure you should be up and around?”

Octavia pushed Vinyl towards the door. “I just needed to get away from everypony for a bit.”

“Then, what are you doing here?” Vinyl asked, trying to turn around but Octavia continued to push her out.

“I came to watch you play, idiot,” she said.

“Oh.”

They finally made it outside. Octavia marched Vinyl forward, her stoic features and the fresh air sobering the unicorn back up. As they walked in silence, Vinyl glanced at the gray mare a number of times before she finally spoke.

“Octavia? Are you sure you're alright?”

“I'm fine,” Octavia said shortly.

“You don't look fine.”

The gray mare said nothing, at least, nothing intelligible in her low growling.

More walking in silence, Vinyl racked her brain for something to talk about but drew blanks. She still knew very little about the mare. Although Vinyl was glad that Octavia continued showing up, it was rather convenient that she was here to walk home with her.

Vinyl wasn't complaining, far from it, she was glad for the company and the already tested protection. But, if she was Octavia, she'd be at home right now skipping work because of nasty bruising like that. And, admittedly, she wouldn't be that quick to jump up and go watch the gray mare play her classical music at some coffee shop either.

Was Octavia showing interest in her? 'Coming on', as they say? Vinyl was getting mixed feelings from the mare. One moment she was all happy and excited to be hanging out with Vinyl, then the unicorn would say something and for a split second Octavia would give her a look that shattered all her theories.

Na... Na that couldn’t be it. There was something fishy going on with Octavia. Vinyl couldn’t quite get a grasp on it, but she was going to bide her time until she figured it out.

“Well, nevermind that,” she said, trying to pick up the conversation again. “You’re obviously hurting, let’s get you home.”

Octavia scoffed. “Please, I could still out... I mean, I could still carry you home and be just fine.”

“Awesome, I’ll just go back and have a few more shots of that crazy stuff I had.” Vinyl fistpumped and turned back.

The Earth Pony was quick to grab her. “Um, no. Let’s go Vinyl, just because I can carry you doesn’t mean I want to.”

“Ha! I do-”

She stopped as she spotted a large, red stallion walking up the street and making a beeline for Vinyl.

“Alright, Vinyl. I don’t know what you said to Moonchaser, but I darn well know what you’ve been doing to her music. You’re going to pay for all the insults right here.”

Vinyl’s eyebrows shot up and she backpedalled while opening her mouth to speak. But Octavia cut in front of her and gave the stallion a cold glare.

“I’m not sure who you think you are,” Octavia said quietly. “But I think you had best think twice about that.”

The stallion glanced at Octavia, then did a double take. He recoiled with a startled nicker. “You’re Octavia!” 

He glanced back at Vinyl, his brow darkening. But, he looked at Octavia again and promptly retreated. He called back over his shoulder as he trotted away. “This isn’t over, Vinyl! You’ve not heard the last of us.”












> The Tempest Before The Storm
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“This isn’t over, Vinyl! You’ve not heard the last of us!”

That statement couldn’t have been any more blatant of a threat. That stallion practically said that he was behind the attack on Vinyl. Octavia had made it a point the next time she was free from training at the guild hall to track him down.

That free time came sooner than she expected. She had practically been forced out of the guild hall by Spardis on account of her being, ‘not fit for training.’ While she knew he was doing it only to dig at her, since she was perfectly capable of fighting as she was, she still couldn’t shake her anger at his blatant disrespect.  It was frustrating, but at least it gave her time to pursue this stallion instead. 

She was now sitting in her apartment on the only piece of furniture in her small living room, a small couch. There were a few small piles of papers on Moonchaser, who the stallion, apparently, worked for. Octavia rifled through them, trying to ascertain any hostile intentions or motives from the mare.

It seemed Moonchaser was a fairly popular musician in the classical world of Canterlot, which, Octavia was quickly coming to realize, was a big deal. The sheer amount of ponies pursuing any kind of artistic career here was overwhelming. So, when somepony started making a name for themselves here, they must be phenomenal.

It was no secret that Vinyl was certainly causing a ripple, but Octavia had not realized the extent of that until she had been out inquiring after that stallion. Every pony she had been directed to had something or another to say about the intrusive, and abrasive, white unicorn. She found that a little odd, Vinyl was anything but abrasive around her. 

Even so, when she had finally gotten to a few ponies who were close friends with Moonchaser, there was no more tension there than she had seen anywhere else. Yes, Vinyl was a problem, her new style of music had potential to upset the entire monopolization that classical music concerts had over the population in Canterlot. It was a big cause for alarm to be sure, but so far nopony had expressed any intentions of physical harm or detriment.

Octavia sighed and leaned back on the couch. She had gotten her hooves on records of Moonchaser’s past achievements. Some of them certainly seemed impressive enough, but she still wasn’t any more of a sensation than a dozen other names. There was nothing there to suggest murderous intent. No, Octavia was pretty sure she had just wasted an entire day on a red herring.

But then, what if it wasn’t? After all, she hadn’t been through any private documents belonging to Moonchaser. She could be connected to a larger plot and not tell her friends. It was perfectly feasible, if she was running a large operation from the shadows, the less paperwork and knowledgeable ponies, the better.

Sighing again, Octavia rubbed her eyes and got up from her couch. Moving to her kitchen and opening the refrigerator she stared at its vacant insides. How long had she been living here and hadn’t stocked it yet? With a roll of her eyes she retreated to her bedside and retrieved her saddlebags. Food was on her mind, and the nearest place to get it was Vinyl’s apartment... she hoped.

In no time at all she was outside Vinyl’s door. She pounded on the door for almost a whole minute before she got a response from the other side.

“-OFF! I’m coming!” A muffled voice shouted. A few more minutes of banging and an eyeball appeared at the peephole. Octavia raised an eyebrow.

The door opened. Vinyl looked bedraggled, Octavia winced inwardly for not thinking of the time, it was barely lunch time. The DJ had probably been up all night.

Still, Vinyl beamed at her. “Tavi!”

Octavia grimaced.

“Oh, Octavia, right.” Vinyl rolled her eyes before pulling Octavia inside. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m hungry,” she stated simply.

They both stood there silently for a moment before Octavia’s stomach made its displeased presence known.

Vinyl rolled her eyes again. “You don’t have food? Don’t tell me you’ve never ordered in before.”

Octavia frowned. “Ordered in?”

The unicorn laughed and shook her head. “Whatever, don’t worry about it. I’m not sure I got much more than you. But, you can have at whatever you find.”

“Did I wake you up?”

“Na...” Vinyl glanced away from Octavia, but then grinned sheepishly and rubbed her mane. “Well yea, but I should probably be up anyway. Don’t worry about it, go get some food. I wanna show you something when you’re ready.”

She pushed Octavia into the kitchen then scampered down her only hallway into a room. It didn’t take but a minute before sound began emanating from down the hall. While probably not loud enough to be disturbing during the day, it was certainly enough for Octavia to hear clearly only a few rooms away. 

With a shake of her head, the gray mare began rooting around for edibles. Like Vinyl had said, there was very little to eat in her own refrigerator. Instead, it was filled with three full gallons of milk. As she continued to search, the sounds cut out from the back room and were suddenly replaced with something resembling a song.

It was nothing like she had ever heard before. She had never heard any instrument that made sounds like it. She was snapped out of her reverie as her stomach once again grumbled its displeasure. Finally, Octavia stumbled across a cupboard packed with cereal boxes.

That would do. Rummaging around till she found the required utensils, she pulled one of the jugs of milk out and poured herself a bowl of the least sugary cereal she could find. Then, carefully picking up the bowl in one hoof, she stood up and carried it down the hallway.

As she got closer she began to feel the floor vibrating softly. But she barely noticed as she was intent on finding out how Vinyl was making that... unique... noise. Coming around the corner, she found Vinyl standing in front of a large electronic device, packed with sliders, buttons and dials. The crazy unicorn was wearing a set of... Well, she couldn't recall their name, but she knew they emitted recorded sound through speakers. She was wearing them cocked so that only one of the small cups was over one ear while the other was folded behind in a way that Octavia knew would drive her mad. But, it didn't seem to bother Vinyl, her hooves flew across the panel of the strange instrument in a manner born of practice.

The sound was coming out of, everywhere in the small room. As she glanced about she spotted half a dozen fairly large speakers packed around the walls. Vinyl must be doing something digitally with whatever it was she was using, to produce sound out of the speakers. If Octavia was honest with herself, it was fascinating.

Scanning the room further revealed a plethora of instruments crammed everywhere. They ranged from brass to stringed to even a mini grand in the corner. That must have been a pain to get in here. But, as her gaze swept back to Vinyl she was distracted by the large grin on the unicorn’s face as she played blissfully away.

Octavia sat entranced, barely remembering to eat her food as she watched Vinyl dive into the finale of the song. Her hooves flew across the board while her magic controlled even more dials. But, she didn’t stop as she came off the climax of the song. Instead, opting to fiddle around for a minute longer as she drew Octavia along into a wind down. As the song came to a close, Octavia grinned at how smoothly it faded out, giving her a good feeling of completion.

She finished her last bite of food and set the bowl aside. “That was pretty good, Vinyl. It sounded so, unique. What is that instrument you used called? How does it work?”

“Slow up there, Tavi,” Vinyl laughed. “This piece is called a synthesizer,” she gestured at the panel with all the sliders and dials with the keyboard below them. “But there is a lot more that goes into making all those sounds than just this.”

Vinyl stepped out from around her equipment and approached some of her instruments. “But, before that, you told me you could play. So, I wanna hear you before I do any more.”

Octavia hesitated and blinked. “I... Okay. Well, it’s been a few we.. days since I last last played.” 

That was a bit of an understatement, if she was honest. Ever since arriving in Canterlot she had been too busy to play at all. It had been a few weeks at this point, she was probably rusty beyond repair. Thankfully, Vinyl was too busy trying to extricate a bow from a mess of others to notice her nervousness.

With a gulp of apprehension she took a proffered instrument from Vinyl. It was a bass, very much like her own, although as soon as it touched her hooves she could tell it was of lower quality. No, it wasn’t trash, far from it, but clearly the unicorn didn’t have the same love, or taste, for the instrument as she did.

“Sorry about the mess, yours is probably nicer, but a mare’s gotta draw the line somewhere,” Vinyl said. “These were expensive enough!”

Octavia said nothing, instead focusing on tuning the instrument. Leaning the instrument against the wall, she deftly turned the knobs with her hoof as she plucked the strings with the other. It took her a moment to recall the correct pitch to mind, but with a note from Vinyl’s keyboard she picked up the sounds.

“Do you have anything for me to play?” she asked.

“Yea... Sure,” Vinyl said.

But, as Octavia maneuvered the instrument so that she could stand behind it on her back hooves and play it, Vinyl simply sat staring.

Octavia quirked an eyebrow, breaking Vinyl out of her reverie. “S-sorry! I’ve never seen an Earth Pony play before!” she said quickly, turning to shuffle through a few music books in embarrassment. “It’s actually rather fascinating. I can’t wait to see how well you play.”

She quickly grabbed an old music book filled with classic classical pieces and pulled it open to a random page. Then she put it on a pedestal so that Octavia could read it.

“Vinyl,” Octavia began, frowning disapprovingly. “At least let me start at the beginning. It’s bad form to begin in the middle, not to mention putting a strain on my already underused skills.”

Octavia laid the bow to the strings as Vinyl flipped back to the beginning of the piece. It was Beethooven, of course. It would be fairly rude of Vinyl to try and have her play something from somepony she had never heard of, or practiced for. Thankfully, this way, she easily recognized the music and could play more from memory than having to actually read the music.

She pushed the bow across the strings to begin and cringed when it gave off an uncelestial screech. Octavia cleared her throat sheepishly, repositioning her forelegs before trying again.

The sound flowed smoothly from the bass this time, bathing Vinyl’s cluttered studio with pure, unadulterated music. Octavia grinned as she quickly picked up the beginning of the song, recalling the lines with ease. Vinyl, for her part, sat entranced at the jaw dropping performance of an Earth pony actually playing such a complicated instrument.

Octavia closed her eyes, reveling in the peaceful calm that washed over her. It had been too long since she had last played, she had forgotten how soothing it was. Playing helped her relax, to cleanse herself of the stress from her physical life. She needed to do this more often, perhaps then going back to the guild hall would be easier.

She faltered, the sound from her instrument going dead, as she forgot the next notes from the piece. Octavia glanced down at the sheets, looking to see where she left off.

“Why did you stop?” Vinyl queried. “That was really good!”

“I- um. I lost my place,” Octavia mumbled, her eyes flicking through the lines. “Oh, here... Sorry, let me start again.”

Adjusting herself, Octavia restarted, this time focusing more on playing. She felt awkward, having Vinyl watch and not having a bow in her hooves since before saving the DJ in the alley. Still, the music fell away easily before her strings and she soon forgot Vinyl.

As the piece progressed, the notes came faster and the playing became harder. It was only a matter of time before she slipped and hit a note much flatter than it should have been. At the jarring sound Vinyl opened her eyes and lifted her head from where she had laid down on the floor.

“Sorry,” Octavia mumbled again, continuing to play. “It’s been a while.”

She missed another note and she closed her mouth while slowing down, focusing her gaze back on the sheets before her. Thankfully, Vinyl didn’t say a word, she sat there silently, simply staring as Octavia worked through the complicated climax of the song.

Octavia played through the whole piece. Even as she came to the end of the finale, she still felt unsatisfied. Turning the page to the next song she laid her bow to the strings and began playing once again.

This new song, Octavia realized, was more of a cadenza than an orchestral piece. There were many allegros and reprises that didn’t really sound great while cutting in and out of a simple beat before picking up another melody.

Deciding to take it in stride, Octavia focused less on the sheet music and instead began improvising what felt right to her. She didn’t notice Vinyl, who had sat up and was now watching her intently as she played to a rhythm only she could hear.

She lost track of how long she played. It could have been a few minutes, or a number of hours. The world seemed to fall away leaving only the music and notes in her head waiting to be played. Closing her eyes, she let the notes on the sheet dissipate while continuing to play. Allegros, adagios, sonatinas, tempos, melodies, tremolos and much more came and were conquered by her strings.

Eventually, Octavia brought her song to a close, ending her impromptu recital with a flourish. She smiled as Vinyl stamped her hooves in approval. It had been too long since she had played, now she felt able to conquer anything.

“That was brilliant!” the unicorn praised. “I mean, I’m not that big of a classical fan, but I know how much skill it takes to be that good! Can you play any other instruments that well?”

Octavia dropped to all four hooves and carefully laid the instrument down. “I’ve dabbled. I can play quite a few, although strings are my preferred choice,” she said demurely. Quite honestly, it hadn’t ever been hard for her to pick up and play any instrument, but she never had the time.

“Wow... wow.” Vinyl gaped, but then gathered herself and retreated to her synthesizer. Rummaging through a cupboard beneath it, she continued in a muffled voice, “This gives me a totally awesome idea. I gotta talk to Reeves about this.”

Vinyl popped out of the cupboard to look at Octavia, who was perusing the rest of the instruments in the room. “Do you think you could-” Vinyl stopped and Octavia turned to stare at her questioningly.

After a few blinks, Vinyl started again. “I mean, I’m not sure about your schedule, but would you be willing to come play some segments sometime? I think I could put together some stuff that’s really cool, if, you’re up for it?”

Octavia shrugged. “I don’t see why not,” she replied after a moment. “It would certainly be nice to start playing regularly again.” 

Vinyl narrowed her eyes as she contemplated what the gray mare said. Octavia, for her part, quickly interjected on the unicorn’s musings. “I-It’s just, I spend so much time teaching now,” she said quickly. “I’m watching and teaching ponies to play more often than not. It leaves little time for myself. But I’m sure I could make time for whatever you need.”

“Okay,” Vinyl said, after a pause. “Sure, we’ll see how this fits in for you.” She turned back to her cupboard and pulled out a few disks and records. “Get back to me on that, okay?”

“Of course,” Octavia responded.

Still fiddling with her music, Vinyl missed Octavia picking up and trying a number of other instruments. It wasn’t until a watch hanging from a string on one of her speakers started beeping that Vinyl finally returned to reality.

Shutting the watch off she turned to see Octavia fiddling with a guitar. How that mare was playing it with her hooves was beyond her, but she had constructed a tune that was quite pleasing to the ear. Vinyl would never admit it to anypony, but now and again it was nice to sit back and enjoy a simple acoustic piece. Of course, promptly afterwards she would try to remix it into something better, but she made sure that was the only thing ponies knew about.

Moving to stand next to the gray mare she gave her a slight nudge, pulling the earth pony out of her reverie. “Hey, look, I gotta get moving. I have work soon and I’d like to talk with a couple of ponies about our idea on working together.”

It took Vinyl only a few moments to gather her things and then usher Octavia out of her apartment and lock it up. “Do you have things you need to do this evening?” she asked as they walked. 

Octavia nodded. “Indeed I do. There are things I need to prepare for tomorrow so I had best get back home. I should probably look into shopping as well I suppose.” After a pause she added, “Thank you, by the way, for letting me use your instruments.”

“No problem. And I’ll have to teach you about ordering food,” Vinyl snickered.

“I’m sure it will be an enlightening experience.”





Harsh fluorescent lighting accentuated the uncomfortable looking furniture in the Canterlot Guild Hall’s dormitory lounge. The pristine condition of the chairs and tables seemed to express their disuse through the lack of ponies. It looked like a dentist, or bank, lobby. If Octavia didn’t know better, she would have imagined that’s what she’d walked into.

Yet, the stairs in the back kept her imagination at bay. Below were plenty of floors filled with life, and not all of it friendly. Still, she wasn’t worried, today she was ready. At least, she would be after getting some something to eat. The last thing she had eaten had been a bowl of cereal at Vinyl’s; not exactly the healthiest of meals.

That problem was quickly rectified however, and before long Octavia walked into the training hall. Supposedly Spardis had a locker reserved for her and was supposed to be putting her schedule inside it. However, it came as little surprise that when she found and opened the locker, there was no folder inside.

“Good, you’re here,” a voice from behind her said.

Turning around, she found Spardis holding her folder in his magic as he smirked at her. “I made some modifications to your folder,” he continued. “I figure we start with the group sparring today, might as well start where you left off.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Very well. Shall I get started then?” she asked, holding a hoof out for the folder.

“Of course. I’ve reserved you a ring and have ponies ready, follow me.” Spardis turned away, ignoring her hoof and not dropping his smirk. If she didn’t already have such a bad opinion of the stallion, she probably would have been rather put out at his smug attitude.

As they approached the ring Octavia noticed a few ponies she didn’t recognize huddled together whispering to each other. They kept glancing at over at her and Spardis as they approached, making the topic of their discussion clear.

Paying them no mind, Octavia approached one of the weapon racks and began choosing herself a weapon. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the group of ponies finally pushing a reluctant pegasus towards Spardis. He walked towards the large unicorn hesitantly, clearly wishing he was anywhere else in the world. Keeping her attention on the rack in front of her, Octavia strained her peripherals to catch what he said.

“E-excuse me, Sir,” The young stallion began, “I- we, uh. We don’t think it’s a good idea for us to fight her. Octavia I mean.”

Spardis turned to stare at the stallion, who began to visibly wilt. “I mean, she’s beaten everypony that’s better than us...” The stallion gulped. “It’s just that, we may as well...”

He trailed off as Spardis continued to stare at him. As he began to walk away, Spardis halted him with his words.

“You will be fighting her whether you like it or not. I am well aware of your, disappointing, skill level. But that is why there are five of you and one of her. I suggest you use that to your advantage,” he said coldly before turning to Octavia. “Enter the ring, I don’t have all day.”

“Don’t you have more important things to be doing than watch me, sir?” Octavia queried contemptuously.

Spardis smirked again. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

At his insistence, the five ponies she was facing reluctantly entered the ring and faced Octavia. “If any of you hold back in the slightest, I will personally see to your punishment immediately following this match,” Spardis added as he signaled the start of the match.

With that statement, the attention of the five ponies snapped towards Octavia. She gave them little time to contemplate their position, advancing on them with sure, relaxed steps. They weren’t slow, but she certainly wasn’t charging. They were merely a confident stride as she approached them, locking eyes with the pony in the center.

There were two stallions and three mares. Two pegasi, two earth ponies and one unicorn. At a glance, it seemed the earth pony stallion was the most inexperienced of them all. His stance was too rigid, his focus set too much on Octavia. He would be her first target, it wasn’t the skill levels of her opponents that were her concern, it was the numbers. She needed to whittle down their ability to surround her before they formed a plan to do just that.

As she expected, the ponies grew nervous and split, leaving the inexperienced one in the middle as a target for Octavia. She swung her sword at him and he deflected more out of instinct than actually realizing she was attacking him. His face betrayed his shock at parrying her first blow, but it was short lived as she moved in close and hoofed him in the gut. As he doubled over, she brought her sword down across his back, hard, forcing him to the ground and clearly marking him ‘out’.

Spinning around, she faced the remaining four, who were just now realizing they had missed their chance to attack. But, they had little time to gather their wits as Octavia advanced once again, using the same, sure stride. It wasn’t so fast as to force them to commit to a defensive action, yet not slow enough to give them time to think about what was happening. 

The walk wasn’t something she had been taught, but rather an action she had settled on through her intuition. From what she had gathered, these ponies had less skill than any of the ponies she had already faced. While that wasn’t saying much in her opinion, they still realized that she was better than any of them by a long shot, which put her ahead psychologically from the start. 

At Octavia’s advance, instead of splitting apart, the four ponies grouped together in a line and waited for her to attack. Breaking out of her advance, she moved quickly to the left of their line and closed with the pony on the end. The ponies scrambled to adjust for her move, the mare on the end retreating from confronting her as the rest moved to reform the line facing Octavia.

But, their moves were imperfect, unpracticed, and unsure as they came together. It didn’t take a genius to see that. Octavia continued to analyze her opponents, continually summing them up as they moved. The earth pony mare seemed the most relaxed. It wasn’t a confident stance that she had, but one that spoke of hours of practice. That mare would have to be last.

However, the remaining stallion, a pegasus, was becoming increasingly agitated. He was getting careless in his footwork and was focusing too much on observing Octavia. No, what all the ponies should have been doing was putting a plan together. They needed to surround her, force her attention in one direction and not let her wriggle out. But, they were ignoring each other, and Octavia was taking advantage of it.

Octavia began to play on their lack of teamwork as she poked and prodded at every point of their defense. Their fighting style and personalities becoming evident to her as she noticed how each of them reacted. It took time, weeks or even months, for  the different races to learn how to cooperate in a fight. So, it was no surprise that they couldn’t predict each other’s movements. For Octavia, it was just another tick on her failure list for Spardis.

The remaining stallion was becoming frustrated. She could tell he wanted to charge, his aggressive nature was playing havoc in their passive defense. It wouldn’t be long before he initiated an attack and lost the support of his team mates, all she had to do was keep prodding him.

One of the mares, the unicorn, was simply terrified. Octavia felt sorry for her. She probably had watched the fights from a few days ago and had not expected to be pulled into this one. Not to mention the repercussions from Spardis, who was probably going to ‘punish’ these ponies afterwards merely for failing. It made Octavia grind her teeth, but she remained focused on the fight.

Her confident demeanor and decisive action were tools, she didn’t need them wasted by thinking about the troll standing just outside the ring. Octavia pushed forward again, this time instigating an attack on the stallion before dancing away as the others tried to surround her. The stallion tried to pursue her, but quickly fell back when none of the mares followed.

Octavia caught his gaze and smirked, causing his features to darken. One of the mares caught his reaction and gave him a quick shove. She seemed to realize what Octavia was doing to the stallion and tried to calm him down, but Octavia gave them no time, this time charging in and attacking the terrified mare straight on.

A flurry of blows were exchanged and Octavia scored a hit on the mare before backing off. They had not tried to surround her that time, as two of them had been distracted. As she retreated, they realized their error and the stallion charged her while the mares looked on in surprise.

It was over in seconds, Octavia met the stallion head on and turned his blade while delivering a hoof to his muzzle. As he tottered past her from his momentum she turned and laid into his backside with her sword before pushing him out of the ring, where he fell heavily. 

Foolish pegasus, he would be fine in a few minutes, and would have a few things to think about. Maybe it would be good to talk to him later about keeping himself under control. It didn’t matter if he was a stallion fighting a mare, charging an earth pony like that was foolish. Even without the testosterone advantage, an earth pony mare was no pushover, especially one of Octavia’s caliber.

Returning her attention to the three remaining mares, Octavia focused on the mare who had tried to keep the stallion in check. She seemed to be the smartest and most level headed of them all. Her form was good, she was confident in herself although it was apparent on her features she expected to lose.

That was her mistake right there. Octavia locked eyes with the mare and advanced. She watched as the mare steeled herself visibly and stepped forward to meet her. The two remaining mares quickly gave her space and began to circle Octavia.

Giving them no time to get farther than a couple paces, Octavia lunged at the mare and engaged her in a bout of swordplay. The two flanking mares immediately moved to overwhelm Octavia, but she broke off from engaging the more confident mare and pushed towards the scared unicorn. Locking their swords between their bodies, she quickly rolled around the mare so she was behind her and held her sword up to her neck.

It was a clear sign of victory. The mare quickly dropped her sword and raised her hooves crying, “Yield! Please, yield!”

Octava pushed her to the side as she kept an eye on the remaining two mares. “Exit the ring, now!” she said, keeping the clamoring unicorn in her peripherals until she exited the ring.

The confident mare, an earth pony, kept her focus on Octavia. The other one, the last pegasus, was glancing worriedly at Spardis. Probably considering her options of giving up now and facing his wrath, or the pounding she expected to receive from Octavia’s blade.

Observing them for a moment, Octavia ran through her assessments of them. The earth pony was still going to be last. She needed to keep the pegasus at the front of the fight somehow, and finish her off quickly. Her best option, that she could see, was to simply use their mismatched footwork against them. With that in mind, she took a step forwards.

Whatever idle thoughts were perusing their way through the heads of the onlookers was silenced as Octavia strode forward. Both mares facing her stepped forward to meet her, but she sidestepped and focused her attack on the pegasus. She was able to parry the blows Octavia sent her way before her partner adjusted and moved to engage. 

However, Octavia continued to rotate, forcing the pegasus in between both earth ponies. She did not relent in her attack, continually thwarting their attempts to reposition. Within moments, Octavia saw her chance and darted in past the pegasus' defense and struck a strong blow to her right shoulder, knocking her to the ground. 

The earth pony, now with a clear path, lunged forward in frustration, and maybe a little desperation, straight towards Octavia. She cleared the gap quickly, tangling both their swords between them as she drove Octavia to the ground. 

If by luck or design, she was on top and already pinning Octavia’s back legs down. However, the mare failed to realize her advantage, focusing instead on fighting Octavia’s front hooves. With a heave, Octavia displaced the grappling mare and scrambled upright. She then tackled her aggressor before she could get her own hooves under her, thus forcing the mare over onto her stomach.

Grabbing one of the mare’s forelegs, Octavia bent it backwards as she placed a knee in the small of the mare’s back to keep her down. The earth pony pushed hard, trying to give her back legs leverage and turn her body around, but Octavia did not budge. Instead, she twisted harder on the mare’s leg, forcing it back farther than it was meant to go. The mare stilled, not wishing to injure herself further.

They sat panting for a moment before Octavia gasped, “Yield, or I will push harder.”

It took the mare a moment to gather her breath. “Alright, I yield,” she gasped.

Octavia released the mare’s leg gently, knowing it would probably need an ice pack later.

There was dead silence apart from their heavy panting. Nopony moved except for Octavia who stood up and turned to face Spardis. The silence continued as they stared each other down. There was a slight shuffling as the downed earth pony rolled to her hooves and limped away. Octavia ignored her however, instead daring Spardis to make the first move.

What was he going to do? She knew he had it in for her, and he was probably seething after seeing her win. Actually, the more pressing question was: What could he do? Octavia hadn’t seen him fight, or been in Canterlot long enough to know anything about any assets he might have. 

Quite honestly, it didn’t matter to her. Right here, and now, was the concern. She was fairly certain she could take him in a fight, she was on par with the best back at the fortress. But, he had this guild locked under his iron hoof. Maybe he could force them to subdue her and then he could... No, that was getting ridiculous. Octavia forced her mind to still as she continued to gaze into his stoic features.

Finally he shifted. He turned, and without a word, walked out of the training hall. Ponies parted like a wave as he passed through them, each with their eyes locked on the ground. It wasn’t until the doors swung shut that whispers began to erupt throughout the hall.

Octavia blinked, finally turning away from where Spardis had left and moved to the edge of the ring. While she could certainly tell there were quiet conversations all around her, most of the ponies she could see were still silently staring. It was a little unnerving, but she gathered her things and left for the showers as calmly as she could. 




There wasn’t much else to do after Spardis had run off. Octavia hadn’t seen him once since he had left the training hall. Unfortunately he still had a hoof on her folder, so she had no list of sparring partners. She also didn’t feel it was wise to walk up and ask any of the ponies staring if they wished to practice.

Instead, she simply whiled away her time on an exercise mat. She would have left, as she could be spending her time more productively elsewhere. But, that might give Spardis fodder for the fire. 

So, she stayed, exercising and meditating. The quiet time always helped her think; it cleared her unruly thoughts and helped her focus on more pressing problems. Problems like Vinyl, or Cloudy Skies.

The more time she spent in this place, the more she was convinced it was no place for a young colt like Cloudy. Octavia grimaced as she flowed through balancing stances, it was frustrating to no end that she was powerless to make changes here.

Then there was Vinyl Scratch. The crazy DJ who actually was rather enjoyable to be around. Octavia was so convinced she’d hate the mare she almost didn’t even give her a chance to prove herself. Now she was on call to perform  for the producer slash DJ, something she had never done in her life.

Another new thing was that she felt nervous. Nervous about performing. Yes, she got good at playing various instruments; but it had been a vice, nothing more. All young students at the castle were required to find some activity they enjoyed to practice in their down time, Octavia was no different. She had settled on the instruments when her cutie mark appeared while trying them out. Many of the ninjas did this, as the main portion of their lives were dedicated to serving the Order.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she felt a pony shuffling nearby. Keeping her eyes closed as if she was still meditating, she listened. The pony was watching her, that much was easy to tell. Nopony had approached her since Spardis had left, that fact in tandem with their proximity led her to believe they wished to speak with her. Yet, as they had not yet fully approached, he, or she, must be nervous about disturbing her.

At least, that was what she concluded. Still listening, she observed more shuffling. Her observer was clearly agitated, but whether it was nervousness, irritation or uncertainty, she couldn’t tell. Octavia was leaning towards nervousness; their constant, soft hoof-falls betrayed their anxiety. The soft vibrations in the floor implied a pony of small stature, or they were very light hoofed.  A small gust of air tickled her fur. It didn’t carry the odor of somepony’s mouth, but rather the sweaty stench of the training room air.

Octavia allowed herself a small smile of triumph. “Hello, Stormy,” she said before opening her eyes.

The young colt immediately stopped his indecisive dancing and his wings flared in shock, blasting Octavia with another rush of air. He ogled in disbelief for a moment before stuttering, “H-how did you know it was me?”

“Magic!” Octavia smirked.

The colt’s eyes narrowed. “Really?” he asked skeptically.

“It has to be if you can’t explain it, right?” Octavia countered, challenging the colt’s intellect.

Stormy thought for a moment before responding slowly, “Of course not! There’s lots of things I don’t understand but aren’t magic!”

“You sound pretty sure,” Octavia said, tilting her head with a small smile. “Can you name a few of these things?”

“I- uh.” Stormy floundered for a moment, then perked up. “Like today when you beat all those ponies! I’m pretty sure you didn’t use any magic, but I still don’t know how you did it.”

Octavia raised an eyebrow, letting her unasked question sink in. Stormy’s countenance clouded once again as he realized that his once sure conclusions didn’t seem so solid anymore. 

“At least, I don’t think you did...” he trailed off lamely, scuffing at the ground and suddenly looking like he wanted to disappear.

“Hey, come on now,” Octavia said as brightly as she could. “Think about it. Surely there is some reason why you thought I didn’t use magic? Some logical explanation?”

Stormy looked back up at her, but he still looked skeptical. “I don’t think that you used magic, but maybe somepony else was helping you be faster and stronger?”

“That is a good guess,” Octavia encouraged. “But you’re missing a few key signs.”

Standing upright, Octavia led Stormy to a nearby bench as she continued to coach him. “If I had been given magical help, then somepony would have noticed the magic being used. It’s not hard to tell when a unicorn is applying effects to something or somepony.

“No, the only way I could have used magic in that fight was if I had an object imbued with it before hoof, which I didn’t. We were only using practice swords. As for my speed and strength, realize that I am an earth pony who has trained hard. It’s not so hard to believe that I could hold my own against unicorns and pegasi.”

She paused for a moment, admiring the way Stormy seemed to absorb the information. “Anyway, as for how I knew it was you. You made a lot of noise,” she concluded with a grin.

“Wow, really?” he breathed.

Octavia merely nodded. She reached under the bench and pulled out her saddlebags. Reaching inside she pulled out a book and handed it to the colt. “Here, this is a book on wings and how to take care of them. I suggest you read it carefully cover to cover and apply what it tells you.”

Cloudy all but snatched it out of her hooves, his hooves already flinging the cover back before he stopped and glanced hesitantly back at her. “I- Is this for me? Can I keep it?”

“Most certainly,” Octavia responded with a nod.  She tapped the cover of the book. “I’m afraid I can’t tell you much about your wings, but this should help you a lot if you dedicate some time to it.”

She then gave Stormy a piercing look, causing him to shrink a little. “You are a pegasus, Stormy. I may not know much about feathers, but I do know that they are what make you special and strong. If you take care of them, they will take care of you, trust me.”
> Interlude: The Valley of Vinyl
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The mountain air of Canterlot washed through the shadowed streets, cooling the recently sun warmed cobblestones. Evening came early in the city, its positioning on the mountain and high walls hid the bright rays of the sun well before darkness claimed much of Equestria. Still, a pleasant twilight lingered between the buildings as Vinyl Scratch trotted towards the club, La Rouge, where she worked.

It would remain this way for another hour or so before the sun dipped below the horizon and stopped glinting off the highest towers in the city. Having lived most of her life here, it was nothing new or special to Vinyl. She still loved it though, despite her recent adventures. There was something about the city, something magical; maybe it was the princesses, maybe it was just in the stones, but this place was where she belonged.

She took a left, away from the palace, veering off her course towards the club. It was better to take the longer, safer road into the nobles district. She glanced down the street she was avoiding. She didn’t go there anymore, she’d learned her lesson. Cutting through the alleys so near to Discord’s Playground was dangerous.

Some ponies might call her paranoid, but she didn’t believe a word of what anypony else said. Her encounter wasn’t just a mugging. Anypony could see that she had no saddlebags or anything of value, she hardly ever took anything to work.

No, she wasn’t so naive to think that anypony would be so dumb as to risk a simple mugging on a mare with no saddlebags. They had other intentions; she remembered how they were acting, and the weapons they had brought.

She also thought it was highly convenient that some mare she had never seen before had stepped in and, single hoofed, beaten Celestia knows how many stallions. Something was going on, something involving her, somehow... some way. She didn’t know what Octavia was up to, but as grateful as Vinyl was that the earth pony stuck around, that mare had all kinds of shady written over her.

Her thoughts shattered as she stepped into the club entrance and a voice called out to her.

“Hey, Vinyl! There you are!” Reeves hurried towards her, clearly having been waiting inside the doors. “You’re nearly late,” she concluded disapprovingly.

“But I’m nooot!” Vinyl trilled with a smirk. “How nice of you to show up right when I need you, I have some stuffs to talk about.”

Reeves narrowed her eyes. “Stuffs?”

“Yea," Vinyl waved the mare into the club. "Come on, I need to get set up or I will be late.”

“Fine, but I’ve had a few brainwaves myself. We need to talk about your-”

“Oh, I know!” Vinyl interrupted enthusiastically. “I’ve got it all worked out. See, I met this mare, well actually it was more like she saved my... Eh, nevermind, that’s not important. But anway, she’s really good at-”

This time, Reeves interrupted, rather testily. “Vinyl! This is the very thing we’re trying to get away from. You don’t need or want any other ponies taking the spotlight away from you again. We need to-”

“No no no, it’s not like that at all. Listen, if she and I cou-”

“Vinyl Scratch!” Reeves exclaimed, exasperated. “Didn’t you just tell me barely a day ago that you were going to follow my advice?”

Both mares pushed past the final group of ponies and let themselves into the back rooms. Vinyl started again, oblivious to her manager’s frustration. “I am listening, I got this great idea for a new song and I’ll be the one putting it all together, vocals and all!”

“See!” Reeves jumped in. “See? That right there is why you’re never going to...” She trailed off as Vinyl’s words sunk in. “Wait, you’ll be singing?”

“Sure, why not?” Vinyl breezed past her flabbergasted employee as she quickly gelled her mane in preparation for the night. “I did take a few singing classes in school. It’s part of the job and musical education after all!”

Reeves was silent for a moment while Vinyl moved into the small room behind the main stage of the club. The musically inclined mare began switching on the power to all her equipment that was in front of the backdrop.

It wasn’t a delicate procedure, but if a pony didn't know what they were doing, they could potentially ruin equipment if they powered things on in an incorrect sequence or didn't run through the proper checks. Vinyl trusted nopony else to know what they were doing, and made it clear that unless it was another DJ, approved by her, nopony was to touch her stuff.

Satisfied that everything was in order, Vinyl turned back to Reeves. “So, anyway, this mare is a musician." Vinyl waved a hoof vaguely. "You know, the kind that play instruments at those high class parties and things at the palace and such?” 

Vinyl paused for half a second as she shot her manager an expectant look, but then she barreled on without waiting for a response. “I know, I found it hard to believe myself. What are the odds I’d run into somepony like that in a back alley? Well, long story short, she’s totally up to playing some lines for me live, in my little studio! Neat huh?”

Reeves was now staring at Vinyl, her face contorted in concentration as she tried to work out what her (nearly insane) employer said. After sorting it out, she pulled her mind back to reality and found Vinyl staring at her expectantly with their noses almost touching.

Jerking back, Reeves placed a hoof on Vinyl’s chest to further distance herself. “Celestia, back off Vinyl! You’re really weird sometimes, you know that?”

“It takes one to know one,” Vinyl retorted with a smirk.

“I... Whatever.” Reeves grumbled. “So, you’re publishing this new idea, song rather, on your own?”

Vinyl nodded.

“And this other mare. She’s not going to steal your work or demand all the space on the cover?”

Vinyl nodded again.

“Are you sure?”

Vinyl put a hoof to her chin. “Well, I barely got her to agree to take the time to come do anything. I doubt she’s looking for any recognition out of this. But if you’re so worried I’m sure you could write up some papers or something, like a contract, and make sure she doesn’t try to pulling anything over on us. If that would make you happy.”

Reeves mulled over the words for a moment. It wasn’t until Vinyl tapped her that she looked back up. “Uh, you’re doing that weird phase out thing again. I gotta get out and start my set, if you want we can talk again in a few hours.”

“Right, sorry.” Reeves said quickly. “No, this is good. I like the idea of writing up a contract, I’ll go do that here soon. I’ve got a few errands to run first.”

“Oh!” Vinyl bonked her hoof to her forehead. “I almost forgot. I need you to do something.”

Vinyl put on her shades and opened the door onto the stage slightly before turning back. “You know Moonchaser right? Listen, there was this big stallion that was with her, I’d like you to find out who he is and what he does.”

Reeves frowned.“What? No!” She stepped closer to Vinyl. “What big stallion? Why do you want me to spy on somepony all of a sudden?”

Vinyl opened the door fully and began backing out, whispering back to Reeves. “Just do it, please? And don’t let anyone know you’re poking around.”

“Look Vinyl,” Reeves whispered back fiercely. “I’m not a snooper, I just pretend I know how to advertise!”

“C’mon, Reeves! I’ll cut you a bonus if you do this.”

The indignant mare pulled up short, raising an eyebrow. “Was he really that hot?” she deadpanned.

“What? Oh please,” Vinyl scoffed. “Listen, just get it done and we’ll talk about this again after I’m done working.”

With that Vinyl turned away from her hired hoof and pranced out on stage. Turning away with a shake of her head, Reeves felt the floor shudder as the crowd out on the club floor raised a cheer.

> The Dam Breaks
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Octavia opened her eyes, after a moment she turned and looked at her clock: 5 am. Standard wake up time. The same she had been doing for the past ten years. There was nothing strange about it, her internal clock was just doing what it usually did.

With a groan, Octavia raised a hoof and rubbed her face. The hours she had been keeping for the past few weeks had been playing havoc on her body. Having been a mare of routine for so long, staying up for all hours of the night was beginning to take its toll.

Octavia rolled over and closed her eyes. Curse that internal, body clock thing! She had just come from her training at the guildhall a few hours before, dead tired, yet here she was, awake. After a moment she threw her blankets off and got out of bed. Her mind was too busy for sleep.

There were so many changes in her lifestyle, frustrations she didn't know could exist, ponies that were different, she was no longer being just a ninja. No longer was she trapped in a castle hidden away in the middle of nowhere, forced to bang swords around day in and day out. She was out, engaging the world with more freedom than she knew what to do with.

This Vinyl Scratch had come and asked her, her! for help in making a new song. Octavia couldn’t begin to describe how torn she was. On the one hoof, she had a job to do. A job she couldn't ignore or it would mean a quick retirement, probably at the point of somepony's sword.

But then, on the other hoof, she was so excited to be offered a chance of doing something she loved doing. Never in all her years at En Reach had she been given a chance to do what she wanted, or even a choice for that matter. It was a new experience for her, one that she was finding to be increasingly complicated and nerve wracking.

Octavia wandered to her apartment window and looked out. The street lamps were fewer here near the housing, but she could still make out everything below her. Vinyl's apartment windows were still black, the mare probably wasn’t back yet. For being such a crazy party animal on stage, the mare was surprisingly responsible for, and dedicated to, her club.

Ninja was never a term Octavia was expressly fond of being referred to as. She liked to think of herself as a well educated mare that could easily settle down into a life that ponies considered “normal” and still be happy. In her opinion, a ninja could, and would, never do that; instead choosing a life of secrecy, deception and blood.

Yet, a ninja was still a very apt street term to her lifestyle and skill set. Even within the Order, her prowess with a blade was considered uncanny. She could disappear into nearby shadows or blend with a crowd seamlessly and do a number of other very ninja-like things. Nopony knew the real Octavia, not even those she didn’t hide from back home, let alone a pony like Vinyl Scratch.

So, was there even a place for her in Scratch's world? Octavia certainly didn't know the answer. Being a ninja was much different than being a DJ, or any normal pony with a normal life... Whatever that was.

Octavia's eyes wandered down the street, passing decorative bushes, the sidewalk, street lamps and trash. She didn't have anything in particular she was looking for, but she couldn't help but wish something would be there to give her answers. A big board with instructions, maybe some kind of sign. Anything really. Something that would tell her what to do or how to proceed.

As it was, following orders was the most comfortable course of action, but she couldn't keep the little niggling thoughts of “what if” from her mind. What if she ran out on the Order? What if she started making her own music? What if she tried to make a life for herself somewhere? 

This world, it was like being born all over again. Sure, she was working a lot, but the few times she’d had a chance to experience Canterlot were fantastic! Everypony heard stories back in En Reach. She’d been out herself even, but to truly experience the freedom and many intricacies the city had to offer, whenever she wanted, was something Octavia had never experience before.

Still, the one thing she kept coming back to was how the Order ruthlessly hunted down deserters. She had seen it, once. They brought a pony back to the castle and made an example of him in front of all the students. Octavia shuddered, pushing the thought away. She didn't want to face that kind of fate.

It took a moment for her to tear her eyes away from the street drains and look back at the windows of Vinyl's apartment. There were a lot of answers Octavia didn't have. The longer she spent with the DJ the more prevalent those gaps in her knowledge became. It was frustrating, and a little scary.

Sighing, Octavia made to turn away, but movement from behind the windows of Vinyl's apartment made her stop and look closer. It was hard to see in the shadows, but there was somepony moving around in the apartment.

It was possible that Miss Scratch had returned, but why would she return home and leave the lights out? Vinyl always turned her lights on when returning. Normal ponies turned on their lights. As high up as she was, Octavia could easily see more than one pony inside the apartment. If she hazarded a guess, nopony would be able to see anything from street level.

A sinking feeling began making its way through Octavia. Something was wrong; even if Vinyl had brought back somepony to bed with, the ponies were not engaged in debaucherous activities Octavia assumed would happen when the lights were out.

Turning away from the window, Octavia hurried to her saddlebags and removed her sword. Carefully stowing it in her mane, she exited her rooms cautiously and made her way outside. Vinyl was usually home around this time, if it really was her then Octavia would just make a quick, simple check up on her, then leave. It was better safe than sorry, after all.

It took only a moment for her to cross the street and enter the apartment building Vinyl’s rooms were in. Extending her sword, the magical ring permeating the lobby. Octavia quietly ascended the stairs with the blade held firmly in her teeth.

Once she reached the second floor she began moving down the hallway of apartment doors. Not making a sound, she approached Vinyl’s apartment. Inching along the wall, she came to the the door. It was closed with no sign of forced entry. Nonetheless, Octavia tested the handle.

She winced as the door opened with a creak that seemed ten times louder than it should have been. After a moment’s hesitation, Octavia slipped inside. The dead silence instantly made her hackles rise, yet she cautiously took a step forward. Instinct screamed at her to stop, so she did. Seconds after, a faint whistle of air flew through the air towards her. 

Octavia dropped without hesitating, feeling a rush of air past her ear and a flash of silver from the corner of her eye. She tumbled forward, spinning around and rolling to her hooves in the same movement.

Two ponies moved from the shadow of the doorway into the dim, street lit room. They fell upon her immediately, their weapons glinting in the gloom as they were swung. Still clenching her sword in her jaw, Octavia tightened her grip and swung to counter.

A sharp clang resonated through the room as steel met steel, Octavia hoped it wouldn’t attract Vinyl’s neighbors. She needed to end this quickly, and anonymously. Her unicorn charge was due back anytime, and if she found out there were ponies brawling in her apartment....

Octavia wasn’t sure she’d get many more, if any, freebies from the guild. She was quite certain that if she failed she’d never get back out of the fortress; doomed to sit around in practice rooms for the rest of her young life.

Octavia shoved back hard against the pony who locked swords with her. She was pleased to find the stallion, or mare, stumbled backwards. It was probably a pegasus; an earth pony wouldn’t have been so easily overpowered and a unicorn most likely would have been using magic by now.

The other pony prevented Octavia from pursuing her advantage with a quick engage. Octavia fell back as the stallion, revealed now from the light of the street, pressed aggressively. He was an earth pony, Octavia didn’t need to see wings to know. His blows were slow, but each hit she blocked jarred her body from muzzle to tail.

Still backing away, Octavia looked for an opening. The weapon the stallion was using was large and heavy, clearly not designed for subtlety, but to survive the brutal style of its owner. This gave Octavia confidence, if she was fast enough she could maneuver around one of his next swings and end things quickly. She was just grateful he wasn’t using a hammer, that would have been harder for her to defend against.

Seeing her opportunity, Octavia deflected the next blow from the stallion, causing him to stagger to the side and his sword to flop uselessly down in front of him. If her weapon hadn’t been enchanted, she was sure it would have broken by now. She tried to follow through with a responsive slice of her own, but the other pony had recovered and drew her attention with a charge.

Octavia swerved smoothly around the foolish pony and let them rush into the glass sliding doors to the balcony behind her. The pony, who was a pegasus, and male, barely began to slide down in a daze before Octavia rapped him again with her sword pommel, ensuring he was completely knocked out.

As she turned back around to engage the other stallion, she decided it would be best to not make a bloody mess in Vinyl’s apartment. Not waiting for the stallion to engage, Octavia bullied forward and locked him out from using his large weapon.

It was a large pipe, she realized. Tangling her sword with it, she forced both weapons out of hoof as she tackled the stallion. Octavia, moving at lightning speed, wrenched the pony around and captured his forehooves behind his back while getting herself a stranglehold around his neck.

There was a dull pop and a pained grunt from the stallion as Octavia twisted one of his forelegs out of its socket. The arm immediately went limp, allowing Octavia to firm her grip and keep the stallion from shaking her off.

Once the stallion had long sinced stopped kicking, Octavia finally released him. There was no telling how long the other pony would be out, but she had merely caused the one she strangled to pass out from lack of air. He would be awake again soon. As much as she would have liked to simply finish the job right then, she had other worries.

Quickly dragging the bodies out onto the balcony, Octavia hunkered down and waited with baited breath. If Vinyl was already in the building and on her way up to her room, Octavia probably was already done for. But, she was hoping that the mare would come walking up the street any second...

“Ah, Yes! There she is!” Octavia crowed to herself. 

Vinyl Scratch may have been nervous about walking the streets long after dark on her own, but anypony could have mistaken their own home as a safe haven. As it was, the mare didn’t even glance up at the windows or small balcony above. She hurried into the lobby and made for the stairs, unaware that almost directly above her, Octavia laid in wait.

Octavia, for her part, waited for Vinyl to enter the building before she grabbed the unconscious pegasus and dumped him over the side of the balcony. She made sure his hooves went first, but she didn’t think it would matter anyway; if a two story fall broke his legs, then it would have broken any other part of his body as well.

Barely pausing to wait for a soft thump, Octavia turned and grabbed the earth pony. He was much more solid than the pegasus and she had trouble getting the pony up and over the side, but she managed. Unable to maneuver him like the pegasus, she unceremoniously heaved the stallion over the rail. 

There was a much louder thump this time, along with a shark clack that she couldn’t decide was either a bone cracking or just a hoof hitting pavement. Shrugging, she turned away from the balcony just in time to hear a faint jangle at the door.

Octavia glanced around wildly. There was nothing for it, she quickly shut the balcony doors and swung herself over the edge of the rails. It was rather difficult to grab onto the ledge with hooves, but she managed. It was just in time too, the lights flicked on in the room, illuminating the world above Octavia.

Unable to hear anything beyond the glass doors, Octavia shimmied along the edge until she could brace herself against the apartment wall and peek up over the balcony floor. She saw Vinyl spread eagled on her sofa, oblivious to the large pipe lying right behind it.

“Damnit!” After all she’d done to be careful and clean up, she’d still missed the obvious. Her own sword was lying nearby, but the pegasus’ weapon she couldn’t see anywhere. 

Her limbs were beginning to burn, but she was helpless. Octavia was already making up excuses to just appear on her balcony, but none of them seemed at all plausible.

“... Just decided to break in?” 

“... Had been rock -apartment- climbing?” 

“I also left this big ass pipe on your floor for no reason.”

Maybe if she let Vinyl keep the weapon she’d forget about Octavia’s lame excuses....

Suddenly, Vinyl sat up and after a moment of rubbing her eyes and yawning, she made for the bathroom next to the front door. Octavia waited until the door shut, then scrambled back up over the rails and quietly opened the balcony doors.

Slipping inside, she gathered the weapons as quietly as she could. Stuffing her blade in her mane, she grabbed the bar of metal in her teeth and quickly searched for the other weapon.

Nothing, under the couch, behind the coffee table, in the little kitchen. Running out of time and options, Octavia made for the door. Praising her luck that it hadn’t been locked yet, she slipped outside, at least, she tried to. The end of the pipe caught on the doorframe with a clunk that made Octavia wilt inside.

Her heart burning and spine tingling, she scurried through the door and closed it. She felt like a filly trying to snag a few cookies from the cook all over again. It was absurd, she had just finished disposing of two ponies flawlessly and she was freaking out over being caught by Vinyl, of all ponies.

Taking a deep breath, she hurried along the hall and down the stairs to the lobby doors. There were two ponies who required her attention. She tossed the pipe into an alleyway and put away her own sword, then rummaged through one of the pony’s saddlebags for binding cords.





Octavia marched through the unsavory streets of Canterlot’s slums. They weren’t large, or even that trashy, but the ponies of Canterlot knew it was not a place for honorable folk to be wandering around at night. Although it was not so much honorable as it was incapable in Octavia’s opinion. 

After fighting the two ponies, she hauled them to the guild immediately. She had found a note on one of the ponies detailing information on Vinyl and their job. There was a stamped logo at the bottom of the page. It had only taken a few questions from a few of the other guild residents for her to get it identified. 

Then, she went home and back to bed, sleeping the rest of the late morning and early afternoon away. It felt refreshing, and a little liberating, to sleep whenever she felt like it. Still, she was a mare of action and her body eventually demanded just that. Early evening found Octavia on the streets of Canterlot, enjoying a sinful overdose of hayfries.

Evidently there were a few gangs within the city who would do pretty much anything for anypony so long as they had the bits. Contacting them, however, seemed to be her biggest problem. The only thing she had to go on was an address, courtesy of one of the guild mares. It came with a cautionary warning that stirring up trouble was a bad idea.

It didn’t take her long to find the location on the note, it was a pub, or bar of sorts. There was a dingy neon light labeling it the “Grumpy Unicorn.” Adjusting her saddlebags, and thanking her lucky stars there wasn’t a racy picture to go with the name, Octavia opened the door and stepped inside.

The typical bar scene greeted her entrance. A smoky interior that was poorly lit with trashy jazz playing from a jukebox in the corner. There were a surprising number of ponies inside, two unicorns and an earth pony playing pool near the jukebox and a smattering of others sitting at the bar or conversing at one of the few tables crammed near the entrance.

She got a few glances, a leer from a drunk, but other than that everypony ignored her. Except for one, the bartender. He was a large pegasus with a five o-clock shadow and greasy hair. His eyes followed her as she approached the bar, his rag filled hoof not stopping in their polishing of a shot glass.

“Tha’ pretty face looks like it needs a drink or two,” he sneered as she sat on a barstool.

“Sounds good to me,” she responded. “A shot of your hardest bourbon.”

The pegasus smirked and set the glass he had been polishing in front of her. He pulled a bottle out from under the counter. “Wild Pegasus, straight from New Baltimare,” he said, staring intently at the gray mare. Octavia rolled her eyes and threw a few bits onto the counter before the bartender’s smirk widened and he poured the brown concoction.

Octavia took the glass and threw it back. She swallowed, being careful not to inhale until it was all the way down. The burn made her eyes tear up, but she blinked them back as she held in a cough. It was definitely some of the strongest liquor she’d ever had, although it would probably take a couple more shots to make her tipsy. It also tasted like dirt. Whichever sorry sod invented this concentrated excuse for a drink needed to be put down.

The bartender chuckled. “Another?”

Octavia nodded, sniffing and rubbing her running nose. “This stuff is terrible.”

This time the rough pegasus laughed, although it was subdued. “Not many ponies can walk in and down a shot o’ this stuff like that!” He watched her sip her next shot frugally. “So, what can I do ya for?”

The gray mare put down her glass and pulled out the note, showing him only the gang member logo. “I’m looking for somepony.”

The bartender appraised Octavia before responding, his face neutral. “I see,” he said. “I suggest either walking back out from wherever you came from, filly. Or, take another shot first.” The pegasus gestured with a wing. “Over by the pool table. Don’t make a mess I have to clean up.”

With that, the pegasus left the bottle next to Octavia and moved down the counter. He grabbed another glass and began polishing it, studiously ignoring the gray mare. Typical bartender drama, Octavia wasn’t impressed. 

The guild made and received regular reports about what factions or ponies they needed to watch out for, briefing their agents when they were likely to encounter such problems. Octavia had never heard nor seen of this particular group. It seemed likely the bartender was overreacting. Probably because she was a mare looking for less than savory types. Of course, in a place like this, one would hope any pony would know what they were getting into.

Ignoring the bottle on the counter, Octavia meandered towards the pool table. The ponies playing ignored her, and she gave them no reason not to. Settling herself down in a corner, she pretended to nurse her shot of liquor and watched them play. One was a unicorn, the other an earth pony. Both handled their pool cues with precision in either mouth or magic as they nonchalantly competed.

In all of the plays, shows or demonstrations Octavia had watched or participated in, there was always something going on. One didn’t spend ten bits on a night of entertainment that consisted of nothing happening. They went for action, for the unbelievable and fantastic.

Real life was much more boring. Octavia liked to think she kept a fairly low profile; not engaging in fights and picking them even less. But, sitting in this bar with a small glass of poison, waiting for something to happen was testing how deep her well of patience really was. The ponies at the pool table had played a dozen games nonstop and showed no signs of quitting. It had been hours, her ploy of pretending to drink had long since disintegrated in favor of a moody brood.

Ponies had come and gone, each assessed, judged and cataloged in her mind. They all seemed like normal, low class ponies looking for a cheap drink, except for the ones at the pool table. Nopony played billiards for four hours straight, except maybe those weird olympic players, but these fools were not that good.

The hour was growing late, or in the case of most ponies, early. Heads were drooping along the bar as ponies mumbled for their next drink or shuffled out. The pool players were becoming sluggish with their movements as well, making frequent glances towards the clock. The bartender had stopped throwing glances in Octavia’s direction, the late hour sapping his apparent concern.

Octavia herself was becoming drowsy. It was hard to keep her eyes from drooping as she sat there. It would have helped if she could move, but she had been here long enough to become a part of the scenery, which had been her goal in the first place. There was no moving now.

Just when the clock ticked past five in the morning, the front door of the bar opened and two ponies entered. Octavia heard the dull thud as it closed again, but in her catatonic state she merely continued to stare towards the pool table.

It wasn’t until the two ponies sauntered into her vision that her brain turned over in surprise. It was Moondancer and her hulk of a bodyguard. It all made sense now, why else would a musician need that kind of muscle? Because she came here, to hire ponies for whatever dirty work she had!

Octavia didn’t move, she still needed proof before nailing the musician to the wall. From her corner she watched silently as Moondancer marched for the ponies playing pool.

“Where’s Joe? We need to talk,” the singer grated.

“Keep your voice down, idiot!” one of the stallions hissed. “If you got a problem you can take it up with me.”

“I was told I would receive notice as soon as the job was done.” Moondancer retorted, barely lowering her voice. “It’s six hours overdue.”

The stallion carefully laid his pool cue on the table, his partner doing the same. “When the job is done, we’ll send the notice.” He cast a critical eye over the remaining occupants in the bar. “Stop making a scene, this is sensitive business.”

“Of course it is you fool!” Moondancer hissed, leaning in. “If you had gotten the job done then I would have been informed hours ago! Now let me in to see your boss before things get ugly!”

As if on cue, her large bodyguard stepped forward and cracked his neck. The two stallions at the table grew noticeably paler, but held their ground.

“Why don’t I just inform him you’re here,” the spokes-stallion gulped.

Moondancer glared. “Hurry up.”

Backing away slowly, the stallion stepped aside as his unicorn partner magicked up a pool cue and aimed it at the wall. He slid it into a slot Octavia hadn’t noticed and drew it upward. A click sounded, and the wall swung inward.

The earth pony stallion slipped inside and closed the door promptly, denying anypony a view of what lay beyond. Moondancer stood, huffing impatiently as the remaining stallions glared at each other. Octavia sat patiently, as inert as the ponies passed out along the bar.

It took a few minutes, Moondancer growing more agitated all the while, before the stallion returned with another unicorn.

“Moondancer,” the new stallion greeted, his gaze sweeping the room. “Let’s talk inside, shall we?”

Octavia resisted the urge to snort as Moondancer huffed again and poked her nose in the air as she stepped into the passageway after the unicorn. To her surprise, both of the stallions tending the pool table followed after the musician’s hulking bodyguard, closing the door behind them.

She counted to a hundred before moving. Getting up, Octavia stretched her legs and cautiously approached the hidden door. She couldn’t see through the latch and instead pressed an ear up to the wall, listening for any signs of movement beyond.

When she was satisfied, she quickly grabbed one of the pool cues with her mouth and inserted it into the slot just as the unicorn had done. Lifting it upwards she was rewarded with a faint click as it unlatched the door. She pushed it in, revealing an empty, narrow corridor.

The walls inside were a dark oak. Dingy lighting reflected off of the walls, projecting grime for all to see. Octavia stepped inside and closed the door, but didn’t latch it. She quickly reached into a saddlebag and pulled out her weapon before advancing.

Much to her chagrin, the floor creaked each time Octavia put a hoof down. She slowly rounded a corner in the hall and was faced with two doors on either side of her. Thankfully, it was easy to distinguish which one the ponies were all behind, as raised voices were leaking into the narrow hallway.

Stopping to listen, she could pick out two different males and Moondancer. 

“... Just done as I had asked!” the mare was saying. It seemed Moondancer was displeased, judging by her tone.

The stallion seemed to be calmer, his voice being harder to catch. “... complications at... no news... may be involved.”

“That shouldn’t matter!” Moondancer responded heatedly. “How many goons have you sent now? Just get the job done or I’ll bring this up with him!”

A pause, then the other stallion spoke, “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Oh no? Watch me.” There was a sudden shuffling and the first stallion spoke up again. “Now hold on a moment, we’ve got...”

Whatever he was going to say died as Moondancer ripped the door open, revealing Octavia. There was a stunned silence, then the grey earth pony surged forward and knocked the shady singer back into the room. Moondancer yelped in surprise and alarm as she was shunted back into a desk dominating the center of the room, right past the three shocked guard stallions.

Even as they began to act, Octavia spun and sent a hoof up in between the rear legs of the singer’s gorrilla, causing him to reach tones that even Moondancer would be proud to hit. The remaining stallions jumped forward and tried to grapple the grey mare, but she slipped around them like a knife through butter.

Ignoring the guards, Octavia leapt over the desk and pounced the shocked unicorn behind it. Tackling him through an unoccupied desk chair, she brought him to the floor and rapped his head against it.

“Come here, nag!” the earth pony guard snarled. He grabbed Octavia by the neck and yanked her back.

They grappled briefly, the stallion’s superior strength keeping Octavia locked in a chokehold. She heard a faint, short ring of metal. ‘The unicorn.’

Octavia grabbed the stallion’s foreleg wrapped around her throat, and with power born of desperation she flipped her legs and body upward, twisting the stallion over backwards. He lost his grip and the gray mare squirmed free. Without wasting even a second gasping for breath, she barreled into the unicorn who was advancing on her with a knife.

Sometimes a unicorn’s greatest gift was their largest weakness. Yes, he had magic, but he was currently levitating the knife away from his body, giving Octavia an easy line of attack. Her tackle broke his concentration and the knife clattered to the floor. She quickly banged his head against the floor while simultaneously putting a hoof in his gut. He didn’t get up.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the largest stallion recovering from his crippling ailment enough to stand. It wouldn’t be long before he was back in the fight. Octavia barrelled into the stallion who had gripped her and tripped him.

Instead of pursuing the attack, she stepped back behind the desk and quickly nosed open her saddlebags. She withdrew her sword and swung it out, the magical blade extending into existence as the two stallions and mare faced each other down. The room suddenly became deathly silent except for the heavy breathing of each pony.

After a moment, both stallions turned and scrambled through the door. Octavia let them go, gratefully heaving in lungfuls of air. There were two ponies here who would probably yield the information she wanted with a simple search. Carefully positioning her sword on her back for easy access, the ninja began rummaging through the desk and Moondancer’s saddlebags.

It only took a minute for her to decide there were no records. Octavia snorted. “Of course there wouldn’t be. Who would keep a record of criminal operations?”

The downed guard was groaning and moving. Moondancer was much the same. Octavia needed information and had no time. She was certain backup would be arriving soon, unless those two cowards were more foolish than she gave them credit.

Pursing her lips, Octavia put away her sword and slug the pop singer over her back. She’d finish this business in a more secluded environment.




Moondancer’s first thoughts were filled with pain. Her head hurt, her body was hurt and she was bouncing up and down on something very uncomfortable. She began to panic, she didn’t know what was going on and her senses still weren’t working. 

She tried to move, although it was more like she began to flail. Immediately something restricted her movements and slammed her against something. Eerily, it shocked her into awareness. Still unable to move, Moondancer suddenly realized she was being held against a wall by the strong hoof of a gray pony.

Following the leg with her eyes, she found it attached to an earth pony mare who was fumbling with keys at a door. Her stomach dropped as memories came flooding back, identifying this mare as Octavia, a ninja who had just barged in on her unsavory meeting with Joe and... and that was all she remembered.

Moondancer was no idiot though. This mare had clearly cleaned the room out and taken her hostage. Now she was taking her... Celestia knew where! Moondancer held back a sob, clinging to the faint hope that she was just overthinking things, or dreaming.

“W-where are we?” she stammered, the words spilling from her lips before she could think.

The mare just grunted as she fumbled with one hoof on the door. Moondancer opened her mouth again, but the gray mare pushed cruelly on her throat, cutting her off with a gurgle.

After a moment, the door opened. Octavia grabbed her roughly and threw her inside. She landed in a heap and lay there, trembling. The mare was strong, uncannily strong. Moondancer tried to compose herself, but the door slammed and the lock clicked into place. Without thinking, Moondancer tried to scramble to her hooves. 

She had barely reached full height when she was grabbed roughly again and shunted down a narrow hallway.

“Where are we g-going?” she asked.

There was no response, instead they entered a small kitchen. It was unnaturally bare. Moondancer’s own kitchen was a mess, and she barely ever ate there. They entered and her eyes latched onto the knife holder as they approached. Her mind went into overdrive and she yanked backwards, but the mare’s grip was firm, not allowing her to move more than a few inches before she was being shoved forward again.

Moondancer struggled harder. She lit her horn, trying to pull anything towards her that she could use, but the earth pony flicked her horn with a hoof, hard, sending a ringing pain through her head. A dry sob escaped her lips. 

They passed the knife stand, but Moondancer didn’t try to use her magic again. The singer heaved a shuddering sigh of relief as Octavia yanked her towards a drawer near the sink, but it was short lived. It may not be death by knife, but what kind of kitchen utensils were in that drawer? This earth pony was mad!

The gray mare pulled out a roll of heavy tape from the drawer and pulled Moondancer out of the kitchen. They entered a nearby bathroom and she was thrown mercilessly into the bath tub. She tripped and fell inside, her legs flailing uselessly in the air.

“W-what are you doing?!” Moondancer asked hysterically, her voice rising an octave as the earth pony approached. “What do you w-want?”

“Shaddup!” Octavia barked. She grabbed the singer’s legs and began wrapping them tightly.

Moondancer struggled briefly, but the gray mare twisted her hoof painfully until she lay still. Her captor tied her rear legs, then her front legs, then both of them together. After a moment of staring at her, Octavia ripped off another piece of tape and leaned in close, causing her to flinch.

“You make any noise, and I come back in here and break a lot more than that hoof, got it?” she whispered icily.

Moondancer nodded shakily. “Y-yes.”

“Good.” Octavia pushed the piece onto Moondancer’s mouth and turned away.

After a moment, she turned back around with a thick, black ring. She placed it over Moondancer’s horn then taped it into place. Immediately the singer lost everything. Any hope or confidence she had fled along with her magic.

She sobbed behind the tape, her vision becoming blurry as she watched the gray mare with a terrified gaze. Octavia hesitated a moment, but then turned away quickly and left the bathroom, turning off the light and shutting the door, leaving her in complete darkness.

...
...
...

Moondancer didn’t know how long she lay there, but it was long enough for her to silently rid herself of any and all tears she had. She didn’t try to move from the tub, she wasn’t sure if she could. Without her magic, she felt like a small filly again. 

Still, being left in the tub filled her with trepidation. True, the mare hadn’t filled it with water, not yet anyway, but she couldn’t think of any reason why she was being kept alive except for sport. Unable to stop fantasizing about what cruel torture was awaiting her, Moondancer began sobbing again.

...
...
...

The door opened. Moondancer cringed as the light flicked on, blinding her. Her eyes watered as she kept them open, trying to lay eyes on her captor. Her stomach dropped as she found her. Octavia approached the tub and the singer tried to shrink back, unable to keep herself from trembling.

This was it, whatever was going to happen to her was going to happen now. She was helpless and alone. Nopony was ever going to find her body. This mare was going to cut her into pieces, grind her up and wash her down the drain with a little bit of acid. Moondancer clenched her eyes shut, unfortunately amplifying her hearing as her captor clopped forward.

There was silence. Then, a hoof descended to her mouth. She jerked involuntarily, but the hoof remained and pulled, removing the tape covering her mouth. Moondancer gasped, suddenly realizing how hard she was breathing. She cautiously opened her eyes, and found Octavia glaring down at her. She clenched them shut again.

“Who hired you?” Octavia’s voice wasn’t loud, but Moondancer flinched all the same.

After a moment, the singer opened her eyes and looked the mare towering over her.

“Who hired you?” the mare repeated.

Moondancer’s features became confused. “W-what?”

Octavia suddenly leaned in and slammed a hoof down, narrowly missing the unicorn’s head. Moondancer jerked, hitting the back of the tub.

“Let’s not make things complicated,” the gray mare growled. “You answer my questions and you might see the light of day again, possibly fully intact. Now, who hired you to kill Vinyl Scratch?”

The blood drained from Moondancer’s face. “I-I-” she stammered.

“Who?” Octavia demanded.

“I can’t tell you!” Moondancer wailed. “If he finds out he’ll just kill me too!”

“There’s not going to be anything left for him to kill in a minute!” Octavia swore. “You can not tell me and I’ll make you wish you could die! Or, you can tell me now and have a chance to run.”

Moondancer sobbed. “It doesn’t make any difference! I screwed up and he doesn’t like that. You will kill me faster than he will.” She looked up into her captor’s face with a wild stare. “He’ll kill us both, he doesn’t even want the DJ!”

Octavia grabbed the terrified mare. “Horse crackers! You’ve gone at that DJ more than once already!”

“Because he was trying to get to you!” Moondancer shrieked.

Silence. Moondancer thumped back into the tub as she was dropped. Eventually the mare spoke. “Why?”

“I-I don’t know.” The singer gulped, then continued louder, “I swear I don’t know! You ninjas are all the same, killing and messing around with other ponies lives! I was only doing-”

“Us ninjas?” Octavia cut in sharply. She grabbed Moondancer again and shook her. “What ninjas? Who are you working for?”

“I d-don’t know!” Moondancer rattled out. “He was a big bloke, a unicorn with lots of muscles. I didn’t c-catch his name. I-I’m sorry! I swear I never meant to do anything to Vinyl Scratch!” she babbled. “But he came to me a few weeks ago and... and, and...” her voice trailed off. “He hurt me,” she whispered.

Moondancer’s eyes suddenly darted into Octavia’s own. “I had to wear dresses for two weeks to cover what he did! He said if I went to the authorities he’d be back! Please, I didn’t want to do it!”

They stood silently for a moment, Moondancer hanging half out of the tub in Octavia’s grip. Moondancer suddenly realized it was just her trembling, but the mare holding her as well. After a long moment Octavia eased her to the floor and stepped out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her once again.

...
...
...

The door opened. Octavia stood there for a long moment before moving inside. Moondancer’s breathing quickened, but she was too exhausted to say anything. She lay limply, as Octavia approached and stood over her. They were silent, staring at each other.

Finally, Octavia reached down and began untaping Moondancer’s hooves. She watched disbelieving as she was unwrapped. “You have five minutes to clean yourself up and come out into the sitting room,” Octavia said. “Leave your horn wrapped.”

Moondancer nodded, suddenly aware that she had wet herself somewhere along the way and that it smelled anything but fresh in the bathroom. Octavia placed a clock on the counter and left, closing the door behind her. Shakily, Moondancer moved to the sink and turned on the tap. 

The gray mare had left a rag on the sink. Wasting no time, Moondancer fumbled it around in her hooves and began scrubbing her fur. She tried to drink a little out of the tap, but was only able to choke down a few gulps. Next she tried to clean up her streaked mascara and pulled off her one remaining eyelash extension.

Five minutes passed quickly. Moondancer exited the bathroom, feeling only slightly less disgusting than before. She was going to need much more than a shower to feel clean after this. The thought of cleanliness gave her hope, though. She wasn’t dead yet, and the singer was pretty sure that if Octavia was going to kill her she wouldn’t be letting her out.

She stepped cautiously down the hall. She found a bedroom, then an office. Moving further along the hallway, she came around a bend and saw, what she assumed, was the entrance to an apartment.

Moondancer moved cautiously forward. She passed the kitchen, but there was nopony inside. All that was left was the large sitting room, and the door beyond. Poking her head around the end of the hallway, her eyes landed immediately on the earth pony standing in the center of the room, staring at her. Swallowing nervously, Moondancer glanced once as the door, then stepped into the room and approached the mare.

“Sit,” Octavia commanded.

Moondancer sat.

After a moment, Octavia approached and leaned to face her directly. “Now here’s what’s going to happen.” She murmured, her tone icy. “You have two hours to pack whatever precious belongings you have. You will gather what bits you own and leave Canterlot forever. If you value your life, you’ll never sing or be in the public eye again. You will find some place quiet to settle down, understand?”

Moondancer gulped and nodded. The mare continued, “I will be watching you the entire way, and if you try to contact anypony I will personally make sure you exit the city by the quickest means possible, over a cliff.”

“Y-yes ma’am.” Moondancer whispered, clenching her eyes shut.

Octavia pulled the ring off Moondancer’s horn and stood up, marching to the door. “Then get out of here,” she demanded.

Moondancer scuttled to the door and into the hall. She glanced back into Octavia’s dark features and took off galloping out of the building, towards her own home, tears of relief and trepidation leaking out of her eyes.





Octavia closed the door with a snap and collapsed against it. She sank to the floor and put her head in her hooves with a trembling sigh. Moondancer had been absolutely terrified of her. If the non stop shivering and dilated eyes hadn’t queued her in, then the stink in the tub would have removed any doubt.

Sure, Octavia had fought, hurt and even killed plenty of ponies. But never had she been in such a position of such dominance and abused it so. It made her feel sick. Nopony should be able to do that to another, to think that there were some out there that enjoyed torturing other ponies.

Never in her wildest and darkest dreams had she even contemplated going through with whatever terrors Moondancer had conceived. Octavia knew that leaving the mare in the dark room, completely helpless, would terrify her. But even she was unprepared for the level of sheer terror she had inspired. Still... She had gotten what she’d wanted, maybe. 

She took a deep breath. It was a good thing Moondancer hadn’t put up a fight; Octavia wasn’t sure she could have gone through with her threats. Her thoughts drifted to Vinyl, the reason she had kidnapped Moondancer in the first place. Would she give up her job at physical torture? It wasn’t like she didn’t hurt ponies all the time... What made this different?

Octavia put her head in her hooves. “Focus! Now’s not the time for this!” Moral dilemmas could wait. She hadn’t tortured the unicorn, so she could move on. She’d cross those bridges later. Now, she needed to think.

Spardis, it had to be him. What other stallion fit the description of a big, hulking unicorn ninja? But he wasn’t after Vinyl, he was only trying to get Octavia, and get her quietly. Octavia sat, trying to make sense of the situation.

 “Why go after Vinyl?”

She couldn’t figure it out, but that didn’t matter much now. It was clear Spardis was operating outside the Order’s jurisdiction. They didn’t leave blazed trails like this unicorn was doing. Spardis wanted her dead for personal reasons, and if she wasn’t careful Vinyl might die too.

Grabbing a cushion, she settled down behind the door to try and sleep. No place was safe now, but she needed rest if she wanted to confront Spardis. Octavia only hoped that Vinyl would be safe for a few hours.
> Rising Action
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Octavia woke with a groan. The morning sun had risen enough to cast its light across the apartment floor and shine on the groggy mare. She rolled over and hit the door she had camped out against a few hours prior. Grumbling, she stretched and stood, gathering her bearings as her foggy mind began reminding her she needed to be busy.

Squinting at the clock, a sense of urgency eked its way into her body. She had been asleep for almost five hours! Vinyl was in her flat, alone. The last time Octavia had seen her was when she had rousted the ponies from the DJ’s apartment, over a day ago.

Gathering her saddlebags, she dumped her sword and few other important essentials inside before slinging it over her back. She wasn’t sure what to expect, but extra gauze and a rope were never bad items to bring in her line of work. Grabbing an apple from the kitchen, she hurried out the door.

Just a quick check on Vinyl, then she was going straight for the guild hall. She was pretty sure Spardis didn’t suspect she knew, but if she was right, he was trying to kill her. As it was, Octavia was pretty sure she had surprise on her side. But, before she acted, she needed proof. 

Her suspicions weren’t enough, it would look bad for her if she ran in and stabbed Spardis then found out he only hated her a little bit. It could still be some random pony somewhere, who only looked like Spardis, that wanted her guts on his wall.

Disposing of her apple core in a trash bin outside Vinyl’s apartment building, she hurried inside and up the stairs. Careful not to make a sound, she made her way along the hall until she reached the DJ’s home. She tested the door, it was locked.

Trying not to feel relieved just yet, Octavia knocked on the door. She waited, but there was no response. She knocked again. It wasn’t until she was pounding on the door and considering bucking it down when a shout permeated from the other side.

“What. The. Buck?!” the DJ exclaimed, ripping the door open.

Vinyl stared accusingly at Octavia’s raised hoof. “This had better be good!” she groused. Her eyes were red and her mane was mussed as if she had been sleeping.

“Of course!” Octavia replied automatically. “Everything’s good, I mean.”

Vinyl narrowed her eyes at Octavia who smiled nervously. “Bye,” she said suddenly, turning to leave.

“Oh no you don’t!” The unicorn reached out and grabbed Octavia with a hoof. 

She instinctively pulled back, grabbing Vinyl’s hoof and beginning to twist before she stopped suddenly. There was a moment of silence, then Octavia let go. “I-I really should be going,” she forced out.

“No,” Vinyl stated, frowning as she jerked back her hoof. “No, you woke me up for something, let’s hear it.”

“I... just wanted to say hello, is all.” She tried to grin again, but faltered under Vinyl’s intense stare. “Look, I’m busy and have things to do. Maybe next time.”

“What things?” the unicorn inquired, narrowing her eyes.

“Uh... shopping.”

Vinyl eventually responded through her glare, “Fine, but we’ve got business that needs taken care of. So you need to be back here when you’re done.”

“Business?” Octavia asked, dumbly.

“Yes, you goose!” Vinyl exclaimed. She reached back inside her apartment and yanked out a small stack of papers. “You said you’d play some music! Well I got a little contract thingy here from my agent. It basically says you’ll get paid for your work and that nopony gets to cheat anypony. You know, that yickity yuck fine print stuff.” The unicorn paused, glancing at the papers before muttering, “Jeez, look at all this, it’s like she gets off on writing all...”

“T-that’s nice, Vinyl.” Octavia interjected. “Maybe... Maybe after I’m done we can sit down and look it over.”

Vinyl looked back at the nervous mare. “Look, if you’re getting cold hooves, we don—”

“No no, it’s not that,” Octavia interrupted again. “It’s just... Look, we’ll talk later, alright? Don’t do anything, crazy.”

Octavia spun promptly and marched towards the stairs, leaving a frowning unicorn staring after her. She blew out a sigh of relief as soon as she was out of eyeshot. That unicorn made for some of the most uncomfortable and frustrating conversations. Octavia couldn’t understand why she was so tongue tied around the mare.

Taking a deep breath, Octavia brought herself back to reality. “Okay, gotta be focused for this.” There was no way she was walking into the guild hall without being ready for anything.

It took her a moment, but slowly her frustrations and the white unicorn faded into the back of her mind, content to wait until later for further analysis. Stepping out of the apartment building, Octavia galloped down the streets of Canterlot. She knew something was up, but not knowing what it was made her nervous about leaving Vinyl alone. The sooner she got back, the better.





In a short time, Octavia arrived at the unsuspecting office building. She slowed and took a moment to catch her breath and cool down. While Canterlot was up on the side of a mountain, the summer heat wasn’t completely abated. It didn’t help that the altitude still wasn’t something she was entirely accustomed to.

Once she was breathing normally, Octavia opened the door and marched inside, making a beeline for the hidden stairwell. She rattled her saddlebags, feeling the comfortable shake of her sword inside. If anything was going to happen, she would be ready for it.

Octavia wasn’t sure what to do as she stepped into the lounge. She needed to do some digging on Spardis, but going about that quietly wasn’t something she was sure she could get away with. She had been told the stallion knew about pretty much everything that happened in the guild hall, and she wasn’t sure if Spardis finding out was worth the risk or not.

Continuing her march deeper, Octavia eventually found her way to the library. There hadn’t been anypony in the mess hall or the dormitories, as usual. It seemed odd to her, because back at the castle there were always ponies eating or sleeping, the schedules of everypony being staggered so that there weren’t masses of ponies all trying to do the same thing.

But here, everypony was always either fighting, or studying. Mostly fighting though, running through drills with more fervor than a starving pony to a banquet. It was as if the repetition was somehow going to transcend them into alicorns. Yet, despite how absurd the idea was, it seemed to fit.

As soon as she stepped onto the library floor, the few ponies scattered, quickly finding themselves an excuse to be hidden away in the bookshelves. Octavia approached the small help desk, manned by a stallion who suddenly seemed he was trying become invisible, despite his earth pony origins.

Octavia tapped the desk. “Excuse me?”

The stallion fumbled for a moment before focusing on her with an intense stare. “Shouldn’t you be in the training hall, or out doing things?”

“Whatever things you may be referring to have lead me in here,” Octavia responded pointedly. She leaned over the desk before continuing, “So, let’s get down to it. I want to— No, wait.” Octavia paused and pulled back with a frown. She then pointed accusingly at the stallion. “First, I want to know what everypony’s problem is. Why does it seem like everypony in this miserable hole is avoiding me? I’m pretty sure if anypony has the plague, it would be you, what with all your wasting away in the dark.”

“Uh, well,” The stallion glanced away from Octavia. “Maybe if you... uh... Showered more often, then maybe pon— Erk!”

Octavia grabbed the stallion and pulled in forward, smacking his face onto the desk. “Listen you spineless freak! You’ve got about two seconds to give me a satisfactory answer before I find out how dirty I can get!” Octavia jerked the stallion again. “And when I say I find out, that’s because you’re going to be the test material!”

“Hey, buck you lady!” The stallion forced out around the counter.

Quickly deciding it would be too difficult to pull the stallion across the table, Octavia shoved the stallion back into his chair and sent him careening into the wall with a crash. As she leapt over the table, she noted a couple of heads poking out from further back in the library, but they didn’t make any other moves.

The stallion quickly tried to intercept the mare with a hoof, but Octavia batted it aside and punched the vulnerable stallion in the gut. He tried to twist away and kick her, but she deflected the blow once again and responded with a kick of her own. The stallion crumpled, wheezing as he tried to catch his breath.

Grabbing the pony, Octavia heaved and lifted him upright and shoved him against the wall. If it had been anything other than an earth pony, she might have been able to lift him off his hooves. But, earth ponies were heavy, and the time spent in the practice room had kept this one fit. As it was, she hoped she was being intimidating enough.

“Alright buddy, let’s try this again,” she growled. “I seriously doubt I smell anywhere near as bad as you or anyone else here. This whole place reeks but you’ve all spent too much time in it to even realize! So, I’ll ask again, what’s the big deal with avoiding me, huh?”

“Okay, okay! I’ll talk!” the stallion wheezed. “All I know is, Spardis doesn’t like you. Not that he likes any of the rest of us, but you really seem to grate on him. If Spardis doesn’t like a pony, it’s better for the rest of us to just stay out of the way until the pony... disappears.”

“What do you know about any of the operations he runs here in the city?”

“I don’t know!” the stallion gasped. “There’s hardly anything that goes on here in the capital. I don’t think anypony has been out for the past year or so. From what I hear the guild has this place locked down pretty tight.”

Octavia gave an annoyed grunt. A small movement in the corner of her eye made her turn. One of the ponies, a pegasus mare, was sneaking past the desk for the door. As soon as she noticed Octavia staring, she bolted.

Dropping the still wheezing stallion, Octavia moved deeper into the library. It took a few minutes of playing cat and mouse, but she finally caught a couple others. They didn’t put up as much struggle as the stallion at the desk, but when questioned their answers were no better. 

After letting the last one go, Octavia looked around. The library was deserted. Feeling her frustration rise, she decided it was time to go. Yes, it seemed like Spardis was a royal ass, but none of the ponies hinted at him doing anything more sinister than beating a few ponies to a pulp in the ring.

That thought sent a searing brand through her already tumultuous emotions. Sure, she’d had her fair share bruises and humiliation growing up in En Reach, but even the worst moments had been instructional. When Spardis had forced her into an unfair fight while he watched, it had been the most debasing thing she had ever endured. There had been no point of the exercise except for him to gloat for something he’d done nothing to achieve.

Contemplating these thoughts and trying to quell her seething temper, Octavia began the trek back up to the sunlit world. As she levelled out in the lounge area and moved towards the hidden staircase to the offices, she spotted the stallion himself. Spardis was standing down the hallway to his office, conversing with the blue pegasus who had skittered out of the library.

When he saw Octavia, he frowned deeply. The large stallion took a step forward, pushing the pegasus aside. Despite her anger, Octavia did not stop and quickened her pace to the exit. She would deal with his shady operations and bullying at a later date. For now, it was time to return to her charge.

The sudden reminder that Vinyl was waiting jolted her into a canter. Until she could figure out who was responsible for the continued attacks on the mare, Octavia was not inclined to spend any more time away from her than necessary. If this hadn’t been such an important mission in her career, she might have asked for additional help in watching over the DJ. 

She was clearly having her multitasking and priorities tested. Octavia wasn’t about to cave to the pressure. A little discomfort now was much better than another six years, or longer, back at the castle.





Octavia knocked on the now rather familiar door of Vinyl Scratch. She shifted uncomfortably, feeling the few bags of groceries she’d picked up as an excuse. She hadn’t known half the names of all the exotic fruits and vegetables in the marketplace. It had been a struggle just to find a few carrots or a potato, things she knew the name of.

The door opened, revealing the white unicorn in all her... Unkempt glory. Octavia frowned. “Don’t you ever comb your mane?”

“Mane?” Vinyl grinned. “What’s that?” Her eyes darted to the sacks slung across Octavia’s back. “Oh, you weren’t kidding. Well good, I was getting a mite peckish!”

The gray mare said nothing as the vegetables were magicked off her back and carried deeper into the apartment. The unicorn was still chatting away as she left the door open and Octavia standing outside. With a bemused frown, she stepped inside, closing and locking the door behind her.

As she stepped into the kitchen the unicorn already had the bags emptied. “Carrots, potatoes and celery?” Vinyl asked incredulously. “Were you raised on a farm or something? Yuk!” 

“Well, when you don’t know—” Octavia stopped and started over. “I like simple foods, alright?”

“Whatever.” The unicorn waved a dismissive hoof. “Help me peel these so we can put them in a pot or something. Then we can go play for a bit.”

Octavia sighed, but accepted a kitchen knife from the unicorn and sat down next to the bag of potatoes. “Why are we peeling these?”

“Because skins are gross?” Vinyl quipped. “Oh wait, don’t tell me you’re one of those health nuts.” 

“What?”

“I’ll have you know I have a very diverse diet,” Vinyl continued, ignoring Octavia’s confusion. “I also eat nuts, not ones like you of course, but the hard and small kind.” The unicorn snorted at her joke, staring at Octavia with a smirk on her face.

Octavia stared back, blinked, then pulled a potato towards herself and began peeling it.

“Oh come on!” Vinyl exclaimed. “You could at least tell me that was the worst pun you’ve ever heard! You’re such a brick wall!”

Octavia grunted, but continued peeling. It was proving to be an interesting task. She had never done this before, but it was rather straightforward. The oblong vegetable cupped nicely into one hoof, while she carefully maneuvered the knife in her other.  The unicorn continued to stare, and she continued to ignore.

Eventually, Vinyl spoke again. “You’re really good at that.”

Octavia froze, suddenly realizing she had no idea if peeling vegetables was supposed to be hard or not. It seemed so, the unicorn was surprised, if only slightly. 

“I saw one of those fancy cooks do some pretty fancy stuff once, are you sure you didn’t lead a double life and have amnesia or something?” Vinyl questioned. “Because you seem to have a really odd skillset.”

Unsure of what to say, and wishing she had simply gone home, Octavia resumed peeling. 

“Because, you know,” Vinyl continued, “it would explain how you don’t know what half the things in the market are, yet still have a very upper class career, but live in an apartment next to yours truly. Sort of.

“Or maybe you’re just some sort of alien who’s integrating themselves patchwork like into our society!” Vinyl paused, but received no reaction. “Or you just lived on a rock farm and you really are a brick wall, disguised as a pony.”

“Celestia, Vinyl! Give it a rest will you?”

“The wall speaks!” the unicorn exclaimed. “Everypony bow down and listen to the words of wisdom it imparts only once every millenia!”

“Scratch,” Octavia growled.

The DJ snorted. “Fine fine, I give. You win. You seriously need to relax though, girl.”

“I am relaxed.”

“Uh huh.”

The next few minutes passed in silence, but the unicorn continued to bounce around the kitchen as she sliced, gathered and seasoned the vegetables. Once they were all in the pot and on her stove, she beckoned Octavia down the hallway to her small studio.

Vinyl stepped over to her equipment arrayed at one end and began shuffling through a stack of papers. “Okay, so I’ve got a few ideas for what we can start with. Go grab a few of the stringed instruments, a violin or something.” She continued shuffling. “I had a— Ahah!”

The mare ripped out a reef of papers and brandished them. “Here we are!” she crowed. “Notes and... Well, notes!” Vinyl separated out a few pages and hoofed them to Octavia. “Word notes for me, music notes for you.”

Octavia took the music sheets and looked them over. They didn’t look hard at all, most of them were just small snippets and various chords. She looked at Vinyl. “I don’t get it, these aren’t a song. What am I doing?”

“You’re uh... Here.” Vinyl glanced around the cluttered room. Finding a spot she deemed suitable, she began clearing out a space for Octavia to set up. Using her magic, she maneuvered a chair and hooked up a microphone.

“Alright, you just play those lines right next to the mic. You can practice as many times as you want to get it right, just let me know when you’re ready and I’ll start recording.”

“But, this is just random gibberish.”

“Don’t worry about it, auntie Vinyl speaks gibberish.”

Octavia sighed. “Alright, fine.”

Placing the music sheets on a stand the unicorn had thoughtfully provided, Octavia selected herself a few different instruments. As she fiddled with the tuning and sounded off a few chords, the world began to fall away. It had been a while since she’d picked up her own piece, but it felt right to be playing again.

She started with one of Vinyl’s violins, taking the notes slow and playing them with deliberation. Octavia didn’t know how long she plunked around, but when she finally turned to tell the unicorn she was ready the unicorn had turned away and was lost in her own world. She was singing. 

Octavia stared. Vinyl had a pair of headphones on and had her own sheet in front of her. She wasn’t singing loudly, although Octavia was still surprised she hadn’t noticed sooner. What really surprised her, though, was that the unicorn’s normally rough tone was carrying a tune in a surprisingly smooth alto.

After a few minutes, Vinyl looked over and saw Octavia watching her. She ripped the headphones off hastily. “You ready?”

Octavia nodded.
“Right then,” Vinyl said, excitedly running her hooves over a few dials on her mixing board. “Just nod once when you’re ready to begin playing. As soon as you remove your bow, I’ll stop the recording. All you need to do is give me about five seconds and I’ll be ready again.” The unicorn turned to Octavia. “Ready when you are.”

Taking a breath and preparing herself, Octavia nodded once and began playing. The minutes turned into hours as she went through piece after piece and instrument after instrument. It was the first time her music was serving a purpose outside her own entertainment. She’d heard about music being a profession in the outside world, but back at the castle it meant nothing. Yet now, here she was, making music.

It wasn’t as grand or thrilling as she had thought, but she trusted that Vinyl knew what she was doing. Octavia glanced at the unicorn a few times, she was always bouncing or smiling to whatever was being played. This may not be the stage, like she had seen some musicians be, but it was still music and she was getting to play.

After a while, Vinyl expressed her satisfaction at what they had. To finalize the song she would use her equipment. Octavia tried to ask for a completion date, but Vinyl waved her away. She didn’t know how long it would take, saying that you couldn’t rush perfection. But she did offer the rest of the room and instruments to Octavia, which was enough for her.

Octavia pulled up a double bass very similar to her own and began to play. There wasn’t much else for her to do, but she didn’t mind. It beat watching Vinyl’s apartment through her own window with nothing to do.

Eventually Vinyl looked up at the clock and took off her headphones. “Well, it’s getting late, I need to be at the club in an hour.”

Setting down the bass with an internal sigh of regret, Octavia asked, “How is the song coming along?”

Vinyl grinned. “You know, it’s possible to get pretty much every sound under the sun loaded into this machine, but there’s just something about recording pieces on your own. The music just clicks.”

“So...”

“It’s gonna be amazing, Tavi. I think I can have it done by tomorrow, you should be at the club and we’ll display our awesomeness to the world.”

Octavia grimaced at the nickname. “I’m sure it will, Vinyl. I think I’ll go now, thank you for letting me play. It’s been too long.”

“Don’t you do this as a job?”

“I... Well, I don’t get to play much,” Octavia stammered. 

Vinyl grimaced, but let it drop. They walked out of the building together. The unicorn turned and headed deeper into the city. “See you around!”

Octavia waved, waiting for the unicorn to get out of sight. With a sigh, she began plodding after the unicorn. Guard duty wasn’t turning out to be very fun, she was beginning to think that this wasn’t a test anymore. She hadn’t noticed there being any surveillance of her activities since the first week, before she had been injured.

She was writing reports and turning them in. That was what operators did since they didn’t need anypony watching to see how they were doing. Did this mean she had been unceremoniously raised to full member of the order? Or was she being punished? Maybe they saw her injury as a failure.

Whatever the case, befriending the unicorn, but also trying to keep up a false identity, was starting to become a trial. The unicorn seemed rather oblivious, but it was only a matter of time before she said something that really caught Octavia off guard.

Sighing, Octavia picked up her pace. It was bad form to not be watching her charge while on the job. Until she could come up with a plan to truly determine Spardis’ innocence, she wasn’t going to let Vinyl get into trouble. 

She would spend the next day or two with Vinyl and plan. The unicorn had tried to play it cool, but Octavia could tell the mare was practically vibrating about the song she was making. It seemed clear that Vinyl wanted Octavia around for when she would publish it, or whatever. She just hoped that it would be good.

While Octavia had grown up being told such frivolous activities were a waste of her time and talent, she couldn’t help but wonder how well the her music would be received. Even now, as calm and focused as she was on tailing Vinyl, she couldn’t help but feel nervous about how good her and Vinyl’s music would be.

Only time would tell. Octavia could barely wait.

> Interlude: The Hound of (The) Vinyl
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Come on, Octavia. Trust me, this is going to be great!” Vinyl pushed the protesting mare into the back rooms of the club. She decided that the shy mare wouldn’t do well sitting in front of the stage on the dance floor. So this was the next best thing. 

There was a curtain backdrop behind the stage which allowed Vinyl easy access to a small breakroom while working her sets. This would be the best place to get Octavia great sound without terrifying her.

“I don’t see why I can’t sit at one of the tables,” Octavia argued.

Vinyl rolled her eyes. “The tables are at the back, there’s going to be easily over a hundred ponies between you and the speakers. That’s no way to listen to your debut song.”

 “So it’s my song now?”

“Well if you insist, I’ll let you out on stage and take credit for it,” Vinyl teased.

“Back here seems fine,” came the quick reply.

“That’s the spirit!” Vinyl crowed.

After a few more hurried instructions, Vinyl popped out on the stage. The dance floor was mostly empty, despite the mellow soundtrack playing. Many of the ponies were saving energy for the show. She waved as a cheer went up, but made no changes to the track. She wasn’t ready yet.

She liked to be sure all of her equipment was in working order. There was nothing worse than having her mixer board calibrated wrong or something catch fire. Not that anything had caught fire, yet, but somepony had messed with her board once and she had started without realizing it. While it had been nothing she couldn’t fix, it had killed the mood. That had been a disaster in itself.

Grunting in satisfaction, Vinyl grabbed some earplugs from a small container behind her equipment. Slipping off stage, she looked around the small lounge for Octavia.  “Alright,” she began, finding the mare on a couch. “First off, it’s going to get really, really loud. Even back here. So take these.”

Vinyl offered the earplugs with a grin. “Next, don’t wander off, drink anything, or use the restrooms. If you need to go, I suggest going now, but not after the show starts. Things get messy.”

Octavia frowned. “This is starting to seem like a mistake.”
“Nonsense,” Vinyl scoffed. “There’s a few ground rules for anything you do, it’s just common sense. Just follow what I say and tonight’ll be a blast!

“I gotta get out there now,” Vinyl scampered back to the stage. “See you in an hour or two!”

Last she saw was Octavia trying to stuff the earplugs in her ears. She couldn’t decide if it was hilarious, or cute. The mare clearly didn’t know what she was doing. Oh well, she’d help Octavia fix them later.

Stepping back out on stage, another cheer rose and this time Vinyl pumped a hoof and flicked on a microphone. “Everypony ready for some jammin’?” she shouted, her voice reverberating through the speakers and club.

A roar rose from the crowd; ponies downed the last of their drinks or surged to their hooves, eager to get as close to the stage as possible. Vinyl couldn’t help but grin. She put on her headphones and savored how they muffled the din around her.

Preparing her first track, Vinyl leaned back to the microphone. “Well let’s not waste time!”

The crowd surged again, Vinyl flicked her hoof and began the magic. A technical pony may have questioned the term, but to the DJ that’s precisely what it was, magic. The power music held over the masses was staggering. Many never noticed what could be achieved with even the simplest musical number, but Vinyl was well aware of the influence music had on ponies. 

She could control the mood of the entire dance floor, her whim dictating the speed and intensity of the throbbing mass below her. With the right notes, she could influence a pony to reach for aspirations he’d never known he had. At least, that was what she liked to think.

As it so happened, she had a goal in mind for the night. Most of her set was going to be buildup for her new song, which she was going to play as a finale. While her set was lively, she refrained from playing anything climactic. The plan was to keep the masses below entertained, yet not exhausting them before her spectacular end.

Vinyl continued to play, the late night all too soon giving way to early morning. A few VIPs made their way through the lounge Octavia was sitting in, but the mare wasn’t much of a conversationalist. She would have laughed at the stoic earth pony if she hadn’t been on stage. Each time Vinyl peeked back, she would see Octavia sitting, awkwardly trying to ignore the other ponies and pretending to be engrossed in the music.

Finally the time came for Vinyl to begin wrapping up. The club was open for another two hours yet, but they usually wanted ponies to be winding down and actually on their way out by closing time. Tonight though, she was ending her set with a bang.

Phasing out her current song, she fed in a faster song and turned up the bass. Not a lot, enough for ponies to notice, but not blow them off the dance floor. Next she would play a couple of club favorites and rile the crowd up, then she would conclude.

Vinyl grinned as the ponies below her surged with the music. Any of the ponies who had been nursing drinks were now on the dance floor as well, their bodies drawn to the beat and the need to move. A glance back at Octavia revealed the mare peeking around the curtain, her eyes wide at the crazy spectacle.

As the last song came to its conclusion, Vinyl dropped out the bass and turned the volume down as she flipped on a mic.

“I hope everypony had a good time tonight!” she yelled, subtly loading up her final song. It took a moment before the roar of the crowd dissipated and she could continue. “You're all in luck tonight! I've got an exclusive debut song to drop. Composed by yours truly, with added touches by a very special friend.” Vinyl turned slightly and gave Octavia a wink, laughing to herself when the mare recoiled back behind the curtain.

As the crowd surged again, Vinyl threw in a deep bass intro, drowning out the screaming ponies and shaking the entire building, then jumped the song right into the chorus. Ponies weren’t looking for great lyrics this time of night, but with a little love and tweaking they’d listen to anything.

Actually, starting the song with the chorus didn’t seem like a bad idea for when she published it. Getting ponies interested in the beat and music might pull them in to listen to the rest of the song. Shaking her head, Vinyl refocused on finishing the set. She’d think about that later.

When the song ended, Vinyl let another deep bass tone reverberate throughout the club for a few seconds. It wasn’t as powerful, but it was a clear signal that the night was over. She flipped on a mic for a final time. “That’s it for DJ p0n-3! Peace out, ladies!”

Cutting off all the music, Vinyl began powering down her equipment. To her surprise, the entire floor erupted in applause. Ponies stamped the floor or threw their hooves in the air wildly. Vinyl grinned, her pride surging as she looked out across the sea of pleased ponies. Vinyl waved, increasing the screams. 

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the bouncers moving forward. Giving a quick salute, Vinyl exited the stage. While the praise was unbelievably satisfying, it was probably best if she didn’t drive the crowd into a frenzy. She’d seen that happen once or twice, it wasn’t pretty.

Back in the lounge, Vinyl grabbed Octavia’s hooves and spun her around, still grinning madly. “Did you see that?” she gushed. “They loved it! We did amazing!”

Octavia shook her head. “You were quite amazing, I didn’t do anything.”

“Hm, you’re right about one thing,” Vinyl agreed. “I was pretty amazing.” The DJ looked Octavia in the eye. “But you still did something, that song didn’t make itself. So, good job!”

“I’m glad it was actually meaningful, for once,” Octavia muttered, looking away.

Vinyl ignored the comment, still high on her rush. She bounced around the lounge, helping herself to a drink from the mini bar. Satisfied with her selection, Vinyl flopped onto a couch with a grin plastered on her features. Reeves was going to be ecstatic.

The door from the front banged open, startling the unicorn. She fumbled with the drink in her magic as Octavia surged to her hooves. It was one of the bouncers.

“We have a situation. You’ve really stirred up the crowd, Vinyl. They want to see you,” he said with a frown. “You need to take care of this, we don’t have enough ponies on hoof to deal with this crowd if things get unruly.”

“What are they doing?” Vinyl asked worriedly.

“Right now they’re just refusing to leave, but so far nopony has tried to get back here through Bruises and Barney, yet. Many of them are demanding an announcement.”

Vinyl blinked. “An announcement? From me? For what?”

“I would imagine they want to know where to get your new song,” the stallion deadpanned.

Octavia stepped forward. “Tell everypony that Vinyl will give a small speech outside as soon as the club closes. Keep a path clear so we can leave easily. Hopefully this will calm everypony and give Vinyl a moment to come up with something.”

The stallion nodded, “We’ll give it a shot, but are you sure it’s not safer for her to just come back out on stage?”

“If we want to get ponies out, this will be the best way,” Octavia said with a shake of her head. “Just keep a path through the crowd clear, I can take care of Vinyl.”

“I’m right here, you know,” Vinyl groused.

The stallion nodded again. “Alright then, it’ll be up to you, miss. I’ll make the announcement.”

With that he left. Vinyl peeked out through the cracked door and saw the large mass of ponies still milling about. She chuckled nervously. “Woops! I didn’t expect this to happen.”

“Don’t worry about it. Just tell them you’ll be publishing the record somewhere and that you’re happy they liked it,” Octavia said absentmindedly as she moved to peek out around the curtain.

“Hey!” Vinyl pointed a hoof accusingly at Octavia. “What do you mean take care of me?”

Octavia frowned at the DJ before turning back to the curtain. “This doesn’t look all that good, Vinyl. You need to say something short and quick, and then we’re hurrying home. Hopefully we can lose anypony curious enough to follow.”

“Jeez, what’s the big deal?”

“Do you want hundreds of fan ponies hanging around your apartment?” Octavia asked irritably. “No, I didn’t think so. I doubt the landlord would be very happy either.”

“Well,” Vinyl drawled. “It wouldn’t be too bad.”

What was wrong with a few fans? Ponies looking to praise you for everything you do. Ponies grovelling at your hooves, copying your dress style, wanting autographs, prying into your personal life. Vinyl caught Octavia giving her a deadpan stare.

“Okay, fine,” she acquiesced. “Maybe it would be a little invasive.”

“It looks like the ponies are filing out,” Octavia said, sighing in relief. “Have you got down what you want to say?”

Vinyl waved her hoof airily. “Na, I just let the words flow. It’s easier and less stressful.”

“Whatever, let’s go.”

Grimacing, Vinyl stood. The gray mare’s stoic tone grated on her good mood. “Octavia, relax will you?”

“I am relaxed,” the mare responded.

“Really?” Vinyl deadpanned. “Because you look like you’ve been sitting in a freezer.”

Octavia paused at the door, her face slowly scrunching as she processed Vinyl’s words. “What?” she eventually responded.

Vinyl resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “Nevermind, let’s go,” she said, moving to join Octavia at the door.

The club was now silent, the masses having only just vacated the building. The two mares made their way towards the main entrance. Vinyl could see a crowd gathered beyond the glass doors, waiting for the ponies inside to appear.

She felt a thrill of excitement surge through limbs. All of these ponies were waiting for her. Waiting to hear her voice. It was exhilarating, although a glance at the gray mare beside her showed the feeling was not mutual. 

Vinyl bumped the apprehensive mare. “Hey, relax! This is going to be great!”

Octavia only grunted, putting her trademark stoic expression on as she gestured forward.

Rolling her eyes, Vinyl cleared her throat and ran a hoof through her mane to ruffle it. Satisfied, she burst out the doors, only vaguely aware of Octavia following behind. There was a pathway cleared through the crowd and out into the little square, just like Octavia had asked. Two large ponies, who she recognized as Bruises and Barney, stood at the end of the path, keeping it clear. Vinyl wondered how many ponies they were going to wake up as she reared, causing the crowd to erupt in a cheer.

“Helloooo again, everypony!” she crowed once the crowd quieted. “So, you liked my song, huh?”

Vinyl smirked as the crowd roared and stamped their hooves again. “Alright everypony, two things,” she continued. “First: news will be posted on the club bulletin board with a publish date for my song before the week is out! So be sure to come back so you don’t miss it! Second--” But her words were drowned out as ponies began stamping their hooves.

 Vinyl wasn’t finished.  “Second!” she repeated, holding out her hooves to quiet the crowd. “I heard you guys were a little unruly about leaving. That’s totally not cool guys! Next time you get excited about the stuff I do, stay chill! If you tear up the club, then there won’t be one! So let’s not have any of that.”

Pausing, Vinyl looked out over the silent ponies and their guilty expressions. “Now, I trust everypony to not let this happen again. So,” she emphasized loudly, “let’s hear one last scream for who’s their best DJ!” 

As the ponies stamped and cheered once again, Vinyl laughed and jumped forward. This was the life, she was living everything she had dreamed of. Somehow she had hit it big, and now had the fame. Money would come with time, she was sure, but what made her the happiest was seeing how much joy she had brought to these ponies with just a little music.

Riding on her euphoric high, Vinyl cantered down the aisle between the ponies. She bumped hooves with those in front. Seeing a few ponies waving scraps of paper, Vinyl made a mental note to get herself an autograph pen.

Not that she could have stopped to sign anything anyway. Vinyl noted with annoyance that anytime she lagged, Octavia, and the bouncer, were there to push her forward. Who did they think they were anyway, her bodyguards? That might not be a bad idea, she’d have to look into hiring one.

Just as her mind turned to the darker aspects of her recent life, a mare stepped out in front of her. Time suddenly seemed to freeze as Vinyl noticed she was brandishing a knife. In that split second thousands of thoughts flashed through her brain, the most prominent of which being: The only direction I can move is forward and she is too damn close! 

Then, just as suddenly, Octavia was there and the world sped up. Vinyl was pushed to the side into the ponies who were still cheering. As she tumbled, she watched Octavia slide around the mare who was already in the motion of stabbing, then her vision was filled with hooves and fur.

By the time the crowd realized what was going on, had gasped, and Vinyl gotten back up, the fight was over. Octavia was rifling through the pony’s saddlebags for some reason. She stood in stunned silence at the mare now laying on the ground, the knife under the hoof of the bouncer that had walked out with them. 

“I-is she—” Vinyl gulped. “... Dead?”

Octavia glanced up at Vinyl, but said nothing. After a moment, her features darkened as she pulled out a small scrap of paper. The gray mare stood suddenly, grabbed Vinyl and hurriedly ushered her away from the crowd. She paused for a moment to speak to the bouncer, who nodded at what she said, but Vinyl didn’t pay attention. Glancing back, Vinyl noticed a splash of blood she had missed before. 

She was barely aware of Octavia ushering her through the dark streets. It had happened again. Why was she being targeted for murder? She had almost died again. What had she done to deserve this? If Octavia hadn’t been there...

Blinking, Vinyl looked around. Octavia, where was she? They were heading up stairs in some building. It was dingy and the walls were covered in a horrible blue paint job. Their hooves clattered on the steps and echoed around the bare stairwell. “W-where are we going?” she asked, her voice croaking.

“I’m taking you to my apartment,” Octavia responded tersely. “Something is up, and I have a pretty good idea of how to fix this.”

Vinyl’s eyes dilated. “Fix what?” 

“It doesn’t matter,” Octavia responded with a shake of her head. “You just need to lay low here for a few hours and I’ll take care of everything.”

“Shouldn’t we go to the authorities?” Vinyl asked worriedly.

“They can’t help with this.”

“W-what?!” Vinyl choked. She backed away from Octavia, although it wasn’t far before she hit the wall in the narrow stairwell. “How can not going to the guard help?”

Octavia grimaced and glanced around before pinning Vinyl against the wall. “Listen, Vinyl. I don’t have a lot of time to explain. But trust me when I say this, I’m here to keep you safe and whatever ponies are trying to get to you have just tipped their cards.” She pushed Vinyl up the stairs. “I don’t have time to waste, this is the best I’ve got right now.”

Vinyl was silent for a moment, but her thoughts were filled with her last glimpse of the mare, one half of her face splashed with blood. “Is that mare dead?” she managed to choke out.

The gray earth pony was silent for a moment. Then her features darkened and she jerked back, pulling Vinyl further up the stairs. “No.”

Octavia hurried to the door, but paused before exiting. “If I’m not... Get out of town, and fast. I’ve got some clothes you can disguise yourself with in here somewhere. I’m sorry, but that’s all I can say right now. I’ll see you later.” Beginning to close the door, Octavia repeated, “Remember, two hours!”

Then, she was gone. Vinyl stared unseeing at the closed door. She was unable to shake the image of the mare jumping at her, out of nowhere, with knife in hoof. That instant was frozen in her mind. She had been unable to move, only stare at what she knew was certain doom, unable to contemplate why, or how.

But then, Octavia had just been there. How did she appear and disappear like that? It made no sense, Vinyl knew the earth pony had been behind her, she clearly remembered the irritation she’d felt from the insistent hooves pushing her forward. Yes, Octavia had pushed her aside before stepping forward, but nopony could react that fast, could they?

Vinyl slumped to the floor and squeezed her eyes shut. She tried to focus on what had happened. Taking a ragged breath, she tried to clear her mind, but the mare appeared in her mind again and she opened her eyes with a gasp.

Standing shakily, Vinyl inhaled rather noisily. It wasn’t a sniffle, only foals cried when they were scared. She wandered into the small kitchen area and found a roll of paper towels while she blinked rapidly and tried to calm her breathing.

Vinyl couldn’t decide if she was more terrified of being targeted again, or how Octavia was beginning to have this knack of always being in the right place at the right time. Yes, she was grateful, she owed her life to the mare... Twice now. But, what was really going on here?

Her thoughts snapped back to her first meeting with the mare only weeks prior. That time, her life did have a chance to flash before her eyes, but Octavia had saved her at the last second. Why did ponies want to murder her? Why did Octavia save her? Where did Octavia come from?

Vinyl sunk to the floor again and clutched the paper towels to her chest. Octavia... Things didn’t add up with that mare. She had overlooked all of those stutters and avoided questions before, but they all seemed painfully obvious now. Why was Octavia spending so much time with her when she was clearly so uncomfortable being with her? No, she didn’t know that Octavia disliked her. Maybe she was just a nervous mare. But... Why would she be nervous if she could kick flank like she had done? Twice! 

Blinking a few more times, Vinyl wiped her eyes with one of the paper towels. Her breathing had slowed, but it wasn’t any more calm. She was exhausted, but her body felt like it was wired to detonate at a moment’s notice. She glanced towards the door, Octavia’s warning suddenly ringing in her head.

Maybe she should just leave now? Maybe the ponies weren’t after her, but the earth pony. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time... twice. Would she be safer if she got away from Octavia? She’d certainly not had any problems up until she’d met the mare. She’d lived two decades without any life threatening problems!

Doubt wormed its way into her thoughts as she tried to analyse the situation from multiple angles. It sure didn’t seem like Octavia was the target. If anything, she’d seemed prepared to run interference for Vinyl. She seemed to always be on edge, though, especially in large crowds; almost as if she expected something to happen.

The minutes ticked by, but Vinyl didn’t move. The only sound in the apartment was an occasional rustle and snuffle by the mare cowering in the kitchen. Octavia had saved her twice already, if the gray mare had wanted her dead, Vinyl was pretty sure that could have been taken care of a long time ago. No, she would stay, but that mare was giving her answers when she got back.

> The Action Peaks
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Octavia quickly trotted through the streets of Canterlot. She would have galloped, but the morning bustle had already begun. Bumping into ponies and attracting attention to herself was the last thing she needed. 

She couldn’t be sure how much Spardis knew she knew, but it would probably be best to simply be as discreet as possible in finding him. Of course, her charge was back at her apartment in a rather terrible state, so spending all day sneaking around to find the stallion was less than ideal. A quick in and out of the guild hall was what she needed. With any luck, nopony would know it was her.

Dodging around a fast moving coach, she swung down an alley behind the office building which hid the guild hall. Panting slightly, Octavia calmed her features and nudged her weapon through the saddlebag on her flank. She should probably come up with a name instead of ‘the office building’, it wasn’t very specific. But, what else could she call it? After a moment, she shook her head and strode through the back door of the building and for the hidden staircase; names didn’t matter right now.

Octavia paused. What was she doing? What would charging in on Spardis achieve? She hardly had anything to convict the stallion of what he’d done; he could easily explain what she had away. Was she going to kill him? Could she kill him? She’d not seen him fight. Those weren’t reliable odds. What was worse, unless she was able to get the jump on him he would be able to bring his unicorn power to bear and even any swordsponyship odds. 

What would she do if she did kill him? It would be hard to explain her position. It was possible that she’d be executed herself for acting so rashly on such weak evidence. At the very least she was looking at time in a cell somewhere if she didn’t run. 

Octavia grimaced. Running. That wasn’t a very pleasurable choice either. In her time at the fortress, she’d heard about a few runners and they were always caught eventually. Running would also solidify any suspicion of guilt, which would not help her case at all.

Shaking her head to dispel her doubts, Octavia moved forward. She entered the conference room which hid the stairwell to the basement, and closed the door. As she descended the steps she steeled her resolve. Spardis was guilty, she knew. He needed to be eliminated now before he had another chance to try and kill Vinyl.

Stepping as quietly as she could, Octavia descended into the lounge outside the main dormitories of the hideout. Thankfully, it was late enough in the morning that nopony was still lingering around. With any luck, Spardis would be in his office on the next level, alone. If not... Well, she could wait for a few minutes.

Moving across the lounge to the stairs on the far wall, Octavia drew her sword. She wasn’t sure there was anypony she could trust, but hopefully she wouldn’t have to spill any innocent blood. Of course, innocent was relative. She had to be careful as Spardis had lackeys and ninjas who were loyal to him.

As she reached the bottom of the second flight of stairs, she heard the clop of somepony’s hooves coming down the corridor towards the stairwell. They were light, and at quick intervals. Whoever it was, they were small and definitely not her quarry. Taking a deep breath, Octavia waited just around the corner on the last step. If she was quick enough, she could just knock the pony out and be on her way.

Just as the pony came into view, Octavia swung with her sword hilt. Midswing, Octavia’s mind caught up with her actions as she realized pony was actually Stormy Skies. Thankfully, he was much too low for Octavia’s swing to hit him. Unfortunately, she overbalanced in her surprise and nearly tripped over the colt. With a few dancing steps that made her feel foolish, and a surprised jump from Stormy, she was able to avoid a collision with him. 

“Octavia!” the colt squeaked, “what are you doing?” His surprised features scrunched in confusion.

“Apologies, Stormy,” Octavia gasped. “I tripped on the last step there, thank Celestia I didn’t hit you.”

Stormy’s eyes glanced at the stairs, then back at Octavia in disbelief. “Right, well, thanks I— Oh! Octavia!” He, in turn, gasped. “The guildmaster was looking for you! He just sent four ponies to your apartment to get you!”

Octavia took a step away from the colt. “That’s nice. Look I—” Octavia stopped. “What? My apartment?”

The colt nodded with a scowl. “Yep, he seemed pretty upset about something. He told me to tell him the exact moment the ninjas left to find you. It would probably be good if you— Hey, wait, his office isn’t that way!”

Octavia ignored the colt as she bounded back up the stairs. She fumed silently to herself, this wasn’t what she was expecting at all. She was so close, but if she engaged Spardis now, she would lose Vinyl and it would all be for nothing. Spardis would just have to wait. She was such an idiot! Why did she leave Vinyl in her apartment? With ninjas after Octavia, hiding ponies in her own home for safety was dumb.

She skittered to a halt at the top of the stairs as a thought hit her. If Spardis was out to get Vinyl, why did he just send ponies to her apartment? He must be keeping closer tabs on her than she thought. Still, how was he able to get information on her whereabouts so fast? Or, maybe he didn’t know, and was looking for Octavia for some reason? Octavia shook her head, it didn’t matter right now, there were four ninja ponies about to make ponychops of Vinyl.

The receptionist didn’t even blink as she burst out into the main lobby. Without pause, Octavia barreled through the front doors and onto the street. Breaking into a hectic gallop, she wildly dodged carriages and surprised ponies. Home wasn’t far, which was unfortunate as it would give her little time to catch up. If she was lucky, it would be a brawl in the hallways. If not... well, she’d deal with that when the time came.

Each second felt like an entire minute of wasted time. She pushed her limbs harder while wishing the streets had been empty. Thoughtlessly she vaulted over a cart of apples and spun around various ponies who all cried out in alarm or outrage. Once, she careened into a stallion who had suddenly popped out of a small shop. She’d grabbed him as they spun about, using him as a stabilizer as various items fell out of his saddlebags. Octavia didn’t waste her breath apologizing as she broke back into her hazardous run.

After a few short minutes, she was finally at the door of her apartment building. Shoving thoughts of being too late to the back of her mind, she charged up the stairs to her rooms. Pausing on the landing to grab her sword, she sprinted down the hall.

As she arrived, she noticed the door was ajar and the jamb splintered. She bit down on her weapon’s handle and it extended with a ring. Without pause, she dived through the doorway into a roll. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of silver buzz angrily overhead and chunk into the open door. Rolling to her hooves she was met with two ponies, ninjas, armed with wakizashis charging at her through the small living room.

She moved to meet them and time seemed to slow as they swung in unison. Their moves were predictable, they would be off balance if she stood back just enough to let them complete their swing. Octavia chanced a glance down the hall as she stood still. There, in the closet at the far end, she saw a sliver of white behind the folding doors.

In her mind, she hesitated. Vinyl was going to see this, and it was going to be messy. If Octavia did this, her cover would be blown for sure. Yet, as the two ponies staggered forward her body moved of its own accord. There was no other option, if she was going to act, now was the time.

Stepping around the pony on the left, she shunted him forward into the pony that had tried to decapitate her at the door. Spinning fluidly, she brought her sword around to intercept the blade of the  pony on the right. He was a pegasus, and she easily shoved him back.

Pressing her attack, she delivered a series of quick blows against the pegasus who struggled to deflect them. It took her barely two short seconds to weasel her way through his defense and slice him across his chest. She continued forward into the collapsing stallion and swung him around behind her.

One of the ponies, a unicorn, dodged the body. The other was not so fortunate and went down in a heap. Octavia almost felt sorry for the unicorn, he was holding his sword out in front of him with his magic and she slipped past it in an instant, ramming the hilt of her sword into the unfortunate stallion’s throat. He staggered back in pain and surprise, but his features quickly changed to shock as the gray mare expertly slid her blade between his ribs.

The final stallion, an earth pony, watched warily as Octavia pulled her blade out of the unicorn. She grinned, causing him to stumble backward in alarm and glance towards the door. Octavia sprinted forward and the stallion scrambled sideways, hoping to get around her towards the exit. He didn’t make it two steps before Octavia sliced his legs out from under him. His scream of pain was cut short quickly.

The sudden silence accentuated Octavia’s panting as she stood still, listening to her surroundings. A faint rustle from the closet and a groan from the bleeding unicorn were the only sounds. She turned and faced him, causing the stallion to grimace in terror and scramble backwards. Octavia noticed, with grim confirmation, that she had seen this pony before. He was one of Spardis’ lackeys; always hanging in the background of the training room at the guild hall. 

She set her jaw and tightened her grip on her sword. The stallion opened his mouth, no doubt in a desperate beg for mercy as she strode towards him, but before he could say anything Octavia slammed the hilt of her sword into his temple and knocked him out. He would probably bleed to death soon, but she didn’t have the heart to kill him. Not with him staring at her like that.

It took only a glance at the pegasus to confirm her blow was fatal, pegasi were never that still. His eyes were wide open, but glazed with death. There was a pool of blood spreading out from the slice in his chest. She had gone right through the bone like it had been paper; pegasi, while light and quick, weren’t the sturdiest of ponies.

Trembling with adrenaline and fear of her current situation, Octavia quickly cleaned her weapon and put it away. Distractedly, Octavia wiped her muzzle and pulled away a red smeared hoof. She didn’t know what to do. These ponies had attacked first; Spardis had attacked first. Surely she would be forgiven killing fellow ninjas, right? It seemed only fair, yet she had experience that fair wasn’t exactly a standard code that the Order followed.

Walking carefully down the hall, she came to a stop in front of the closet that Vinyl was inside. Slowly, she opened the doors to find the unicorn cowering in the farthest corner and giving Octavia a wild look.

Taking a deep breath, Octavia sat down in the hallway. “Hey, it’s me, Vinyl. You’re safe now.”

“What are you?” the unicorn asked in an agast voice. 

Octavia frowned. “I’m an earth pony.”

Vinyl’s ears flattened back and she grimaced, but then she suddenly seemed to steel herself and stood up to look down at Octavia. “No, that’s not what I’m talking about. I think you know what I mean,” she waved emphatically down the hallway. “What the buck is this?”

“Vinyl, I can explain this,” Octavia began as she glanced at the bodies on the floor, “but we need to leave, now.”

The unicorn’s mouth opened, but then slowly shut. She glanced down the hallway, then back to Octavia. She swallowed. “I don’t know what is going on here, but since you haven’t killed me too I guess I may as well trust you.” Vinyl paused before she continued with a nod. “So I can get my answers later if you insist we need to run now. But tell me one thing, why aren’t we calling the authorities?”

“Because I don’t think they will get here in time, or that they will believe what happened,” Octavia said readily. “I know who is trying to kill you, Vinyl. I can put a stop to it right now, but we have to move.”

Vinyl glanced at the bodies on the floor. “You think more will, are, coming to get us?”

Octavia nodded.

“Fine, then. I said I’d trust you, so let’s go.” Vinyl took a shaky step out of the closet.

Octavia blew out a sigh of relief, that hadn’t been hard. “Okay,” she said, grabbing Vinyl’s hoof. The mare flinched at the contact, but allowed herself to be led forward. “I shouldn’t have left you here, that was dumb. We need to get out of here before Spardis realizes what happened.”

Pulling her hoof out of Octavia’s suddenly, Vinyl’s eyes turned down to the mutilated ponies now before her and she stopped. “Dear Celestia,” she whispered, “Am I dreaming?” She looked up at Octavia, her eyes wide from the mess before her. “Please tell me this is just a dream... A vivid, blood splattered nightmare.”

Octavia stepped back and took Vinyl by the withers, carefully directing her around the bodies. “Listen, I’m sorry I left you here. You were never supposed to see anything like this. Ponyfeathers, I wasn’t supposed to have to do anything like this!”

There wasn’t anything Octavia could do about the blood seeping over the floor, or the cloying smell that was beginning to permeate the room. They were things she had long ago gotten used to, but Vinyl looked like she was going to throw up.

Ushering the unicorn into the hallway, Octavia turned and closed what was left of her door. She stood silently for a moment, contemplating her options, then led her charge down the stairs and into the lobby bathroom. After making sure nopony had noticed them, she locked the door and turned to regard herself and vinyl in the mirror.

Blood was spattered along her neck and muzzle from when she’d sliced the pegasus. She could feel the blood that had smeared on her hooves drying into her fur. It cracked as she turned to the sink and began rinsing it off. 

Octavia watched her hooves, it felt like they belonged to somepony else. They no longer shook, as she thought they should have been. Instead, all she felt was a numbness. Killing those ponies was so easy it was disgusting. Blood and gore didn’t bother her, but actual killing was something else. 


It didn’t help, either, that these ponies, too, had been trained killers who were dedicated to the same lifestyle as she. The penalty for killing a fellow ninja was death. Spardis condemned himself, and those around him, to die because of the stunts he pulled. Octavia hadn’t been the most attentive to the lectures on rules and regulations, but when rogue ninjas were put down the ponies that did it bore no consequences. 

With detached calmness, she realized what her next step would have to be. 

Spardis needed to die.

She didn’t know what his motives were, or how he’d remained in power in Canterlot for so long. But it all pointed to some very shady business in Octavia’s mind. Better for everypony to sort out this situation after he was dead; she was done taking chances.

A short cough brought Octavia back to reality. Shutting off the water she turned to Vinyl. The unicorn was standing straighter, and while her stance was still cautious she seemed to have regained a modicum of confidence.

“Alright,” Octavia rasped. She paused and cleared her throat. “Alright, as I said, I know who is after you, Vinyl. It seems they are starting to get desperate, so I think it would be best if you came with me until I deal with them.”

“I... Um...” Vinyl stammered for a moment. “Look, I, uh, don’t really know what’s going on here, but wouldn’t it be best for me to hide away somewhere safe? You know, if I go with you, and they’re after me, wouldn’t you have to be... You know...”

Octavia shook her head as Vinyl trailed off. “Absolutely not, this is definitely safer. I just tried to hide you away and look what happened. I’m afraid that as soon as we step out of this building we’ll be watched, so I can’t leave you anywhere.”

“Okay, what about—”

“There’s no time,” Octavia interrupted with a shake of her head. “We need to move now. It’s either cut and run, or face these ponies before they have time to react; and I’m no runner.”

Octavia pushed Vinyl out the door and into the busy streets of Canterlot. As they walked, she continued to whisper in Vinyl’s ear as she kept an eye on their surroundings. “We don’t have far to go, but if anything happens then just find a wall and back up to it. I can take care of anything just so long as it’s in a single direction.”

They approached the office building concealing the guild hall and Octavia pulled them off to the side for a final time. She turned to Vinyl, but the unicorn spoke first.

“That’s enough, Octavia. I get it. I’ll follow you in there and do what you told me, but after this is over—” Vinyl paused and gulped, but then steeled herself and poked Octavia in the chest. “If we survive, then you owe me answers. I may be a terrified little filly here, but my irritation at being in the dark on why ponies are after my guts is getting hard to ignore. So, after this is done, we’re gonna find a nice little corner and you’re going to answer my questions, got it?”

Octavia grimaced. “Fine, whatever. Just stay away from anypony in there. Any one of them could slice you up in a heartbeat.”

“Please, I can—” Vinyl stopped, snapping her jaw shut. “Fine, whatever.”

“Let’s go.” Octavia stepped towards the door. For better or worse, Octavia readied herself to play the cards she’d drawn.




> And Then The Climax!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ponies lived in a utopia built from their own ignorance and apathy. Sure, they had a good life doing the things that they thought were important, but giving no thought to anything outside their own little circle of awareness. In a world where there was a guarantee of zero conflict and no crime, it would be the perfect life. A utopia.

But, that ignorance was still a dangerous problem. Equestria wasn’t the only country in their world, and ponies didn’t get along with every other species. What if something happened? What if ponies were forced to wake up from the dream they called life? She wasn’t sure they could deal with it.

At least, that was Octavia’s opinion.

There were a few ponies here and there, like herself, that saw the world through different eyes. She wasn’t sure it was better, living with the knowledge that she could lie, steal or even kill to get what she wanted. Sure, she might be able to live a much more successful life, if she was careful. But she wasn’t happy, not by a long shot. In fact, she spent most of her days stressed and constantly worrying about one thing or another.

Octavia stood on the busy Canterlot street outside the office building which housed the guild hall she had become acquainted with. She spared a scornful glance at the city ponies around her, but the look was lost among the throng which lived and breathed an aura of superiority. Those who noticed her gaze returned it with no less vigor.

It was like they said: ‘Ignorance is bliss.’ Up until you find a knife in your gut, was Octavia’s addendum to the maxim. Was it better to live an enjoyable life with no worries, but be susceptible to the machinations of those around you, or live a knowledgeable and safe life at the cost of happiness? Was ignorance worth the cost of falling off the cliff with only enough time to realize that it happened, but not why?

Regardless of the answer, Octavia was pretty sure she wasn’t ever going to find out. Her life already was filled with all of the dirty things ponies were capable of doing. Underhoof business ploys, brutality and other unmentionables were only some of the things she’d seen with her own eyes. She was usually able to discern if somepony was screwing her over and was always watching over her shoulder in case somepony tried to swipe something out of her saddlebags.

Shaking her head, Octavia scanned the area for anypony that looked like a threat. But, to her relief, it didn’t seem like her presence had been noticed yet. Getting in was never a problem. A building with no guards attracted little attention here. Yet it never hurt to be cautious. 

In Canterlot, she’d had no incidents outside of protecting Vinyl. Indeed, most of Equestria was grand and safe to live in; filled with ponies who wanted nothing more than to be a part of a community and to build a world for themselves. But back at home, and even in the seedier parts of Manehattan when she’d been there as a student, there was always somepony waiting for just the right moment to get at you or your things.

She glanced back at Vinyl. The mare’s features had calmed and showed none of the horror of the brutal fight that had occurred less than an hour before. Maybe she would be able to go back to her life once this was over. The DJ had been on the cusp of becoming one of the biggest ponies in the city before this, it shouldn’t take much effort to tip things over the edge and leave this grisly business in the past.

Octavia began to cross the street, the white unicorn at her heels. Once this was over, she hoped to remain here. Vinyl had relit a tiny flame of music in her soul and she wanted nothing more than to help it grow, but she had to get through this first.

As she pushed open the door to the office building, Octavia purged her philosophical musings out of mind. Now was the time for action, not fantasizing. There were things to be done, and she wasn’t about to be caught unawares. 

She didn’t even think, automatically checking the corners around the door as she stepped inside. Her eyes took in the lobby, searching for potential threats or any telltale signs of traps or ambushes. 

The assessment was over quickly, however, as the room looked the same as it always had. The two chairs and small coffee table with magazines on it were spaced out to the right of the door. A large, fake plant stood to her left, looking extremely out of place by itself. Then, at the back of the lobby near the large hallway leading to the rest of the building sat the large, ugly reception desk. The mare that was always sitting there looked as sluggish as the clock behind her.

It was almost like the environment exuded a sense of apathy and calm, instantly lulling anypony foolish enough to step inside into a dulled, comfortable state that begged for them to slump into one of the chairs for a nap. Octavia could feel it affecting her already. If only things weren’t just so darn calm!

She glanced at the receptionist slumped over the desk, completely oblivious to their entrance. Octavia trotted forward, her hooves clacking on the flat marble. As she approached the mare looked up, a glazed look of disinterest on her features. Her eyes slid around Octavia like water and settled on the white unicorn trotting slightly behind.

Octavia continued to trot right up and around the desk as the receptionist’s eyes widened and she pointed at Vinyl. “Octavia!” she accused. “What is that mare doing here? This is a huge violation of— Wh-what are you doing?”

The mare finally noticed Octavia hadn’t stopped and was now around the desk. She leaned back in her chair as the gray mare reached out and trapped her against it. She pushed against Octavia’s foreleg, but to no avail.

“None of that,” Octavia said harshly, lifting her other hoof threateningly.

The mare dropped both her legs she was trying to use to pry Octavia off with. Her eyes were wide and her breaths were starting to come short and fast. “What’s g-going on? What do you want?”

Octavia didn’t respond, instead looking at the mare’s face as she compiled what she knew about the mare. She’d seen the receptionist a few times in Spardis’ office, so she knew about the whole secret base thing. But, she’d never been deeper, and based on her reaction she wasn’t a member of the Order.

Unless she was a really good actor, she had no combat training. It seemed that she didn’t know what Spardis was up to and was merely a buffer to turn away curious ponies. Octavia wondered how much she got paid to sit there day in and day out.

A mare cleared her throat. “Uh, is that really necessary, Octavia? I get being careful and all, but she looks as terrified as me.”

Octavia glanced at Vinyl, then back to the mare, who seemed even more frightened now. She let go of the mare and stepped back. “I apologize, miss...” Octavia blinked,  realizing the entire time she’d been here she hadn’t asked the receptionist’s name even though she came through nearly every day. She stood awkwardly for a moment, then soldiered on. “There seem to be a few loyalty issues within the guild right now. We’re not sure who to trust.”

“I-I wouldn’t know about that, I just sit here—”

“I know,” Octavia interrupted. “And I suggest you keep doing that. If anypony comes in don’t tell them you saw us.” She turned and nodded for Vinyl to follow her into the building. “Also,” she called back, “you had better be there when I come back out, got it?”

The mare nodded, but Octavia’s eyes were focused down the hallway. She trotted forward, digging her sword out of her saddlebags and seeing Vinyl following a couple steps back.

They passed a number of rooms, some filled with tables and chairs. Others were set up for a single occupant and yet more filled with cubicles having barely enough room to squeeze a chair into. Octavia had seen a few of the meeting rooms being used, but not with any regularity. She wondered if hiding Vinyl in one of them would be a smart choice.

She’d be out of the way and nopony would possibly think to look in all of them for her. After all, they probably weren’t expecting to see Octavia show up right now anyway, let alone her pulling Vinyl along with her. Still, luck had not been with her and it had almost cost Vinyl her life. Somehow they knew, had eyes on her that she hadn’t noticed.

Octavia glanced back at Vinyl again. It took her barely a second to decide. Vinyl would come with her; she’d promised to look after her. She’d made her bed, now she was going to lay in it and damn the consequences.

Punching in the door code to the farce janitor closet, Octavia revealed the stairs down to the main guild hall. As they descended she pulled out her sword, gripping it in her mouth. There wasn’t much sense in trying to be quiet on the echoey stairwell, but Octavia wasn’t going to be caught unawares.

Fortunately, there was nopony in the lounge, as per usual for this time of day. The unused couches almost seemed out of place. If they had voices Octavia imagined they’d be rather indignant at the lack of use they got. Their only company was the flicker of florescent lights and a faint hum coming from the ventilation ducts.

“Yeesh, so this is where ninjas live, huh?” Vinyl scoffed. “Not that impressed; could this get any more cliché?” Octavia could almost feel the bravado oozing off her words. “I mean, secret doors, underground lair, what else? Where’s the torture chamber?”

“We’re not a bunch of psychopaths, Vinyl. It’s really not that much different than any other job a pony has.” Octavia frowned. “At least, not all of us are crazy. And I don’t live here, my apartment is just a block away from yours, remember?”

Vinyl chuckled nervously. “Oh, heh, right. I knew that.”

“Hush now,” Octavia ordered as they approached the next set of stairs. “Stay close, and when we get to the office just wait outside. If somepony comes... Well...”

“I got it,” Vinyl interjected into her lull, “don’t worry about me. Just do whatever it is you need and let’s get out of here.”

Octavia nodded and they descended the stairs. When they reached the bottom she peeked around the stairwell into an empty hallway. It was what she expected, but it still made her nervous not having eyes on anypony. She knew Spardis kept most of them on strict work regimens and it was unlikely they’d find somepony wandering the office halls, but she still wanted to know where ponies were.

The hallway seemed to lengthen as she moved along. Vinyl’s presence was making her nervous. There were so many things that could go wrong here. Too many opportunities to be caught unawares and be sliced in two before you knew it. 

That always irked Octavia when it came to ninja stories. They were always made out to be long and dramatic with lots of fancy moves and too much flair. The actual life of a ninja couldn’t be any further from that. When a pony was trained to slip past defenses and get the kill, and trained to do that well, then there’s not much that can stop them. 

Even if that target was another ninja, which made her nervous. It all came down to who chose the right moves. It was more about mind games than actual physical prowess. Sure, she’d had some spectacular sparring matches, but usually they were over in just a few seconds. Even then her opponent was ready and waiting to fight. Getting the drop on somepony else gave an unbelievably large advantage.

Octavia shook her head. There was no way anypony got here before her, but if there was somepony keeping an eye on things, they’d be close behind. She needed to end this now. His office door was just ahead and it was slightly ajar. It was always like that when he was in.

She tiptoed up and pointed a hoof at the floor next to the door, indicating for Vinyl to wait. Not waiting to see what the DJ did, Octavia aligned herself with the door. She charged, throwing her forelegs forward and slamming the door open.

Her eyes took in the small office. A desk sat near the back in the center with a wooden chair on her side for guests. A bookshelf to the left contained a number of titles as well as a few odds and ends. Behind the desk on the wall was a typical landscape picture.

Instantly her eyes snapped to the only other pony in the room. The stallion in question sat behind his desk in a high backed office chair. At her intrusion his head jerked up. When his eyes landed on her they widened. However, he recovered quickly as Octavia charged across the small office. Shoving backwards, he picked up a blade that seemed to have been leaning against the desk as Octavia took a flying leap at him.


It might not have been the best move, but she needed to get in close and there was a desk in the way. She was reasonably sure he wouldn’t have enough time to counter her aggressiveness, and she was right. Still, he was able to dodge in time, which leveled the playing field as she was forced to recover from the dive.

She closed again. Never give a unicorn a chance to use their magic. It was especially worrying that he was using his hooves to wield his sword. Sooner or later he would be able to put that horn to use and that could easily turn any fight in his favor.

“You’re supposed to be dead!” Spardis yelled, meeting Octavia head on.

Octavia parried smoothly, still feeling jarred as she directed the force of his blow away as she slid around it. He swung hard, but predictably and slow. She wasn’t sure if he was working himself into a frenzy or if this was just how he fought. Whatever the case, she wanted this over quickly.

He staggered as Octavia’s evade threw him off balance. In a flash she moved forward and brought her own blade in against his flank. Spardis was quick, though, and managed to shy away. It was not enough to keep her from drawing blood. He hissed in pain and spun back around to face her. This time he didn’t attack, but instead watched her warily. 

“You look tired, Octavia,” Spardis said suddenly, smirking a little. “Been on your toes quite a bit recently, I imagine.”

“No more than usual.” Octavia paused, a dig of her own springing to mind. “It has been much easier here than back at the fortress. This city has turned you into a sluggard.”

“It sets in quickly, too,” Spardis countered smoothly. “You almost died on your first day here!”

Octavia pursed her lips and said nothing. The comment stung her pride and she wasn’t about to engage Spardis in a battle of words. She was here to kill him, not be delayed or distracted. It seemed the stallion had other ideas as he chose that moment to move, putting the desk between them.

“It’s a shame, really, that it took you this long to figure things out.” Spardis paused and smirked. “You’re fitting in quite well around here.”

“Even if I tried I’ll never be a scumbag like you!” Octavia scoffed, feeling her hackles rise.

She began to skirt the desk, but Spardis rotated to keep it between them. Snorting, Octavia moved back until she was next to the bookshelf. Immediately standing on her rear legs she heaved on it, tipping the case over. It spilled books and a few baubles before landing with a loud bang on the desk, effectively walling off the stalemate circle.

As Octavia skirted back around the desk to trap Spardis in the office, the stallion’s smirk faded. “Thought you could screw the guild, and me in the process, huh?” she taunted.

Spardis chuckled. “The guild? This had nothing to do with the guild you mule.”

“Hell if it didn’t!” Octavia snorted.

She charged and Spardis met her head. He parried her blow and smashed their swords between them as he tried to grapple her. They went down in a heap, each trying to wrestle the other into submission. Soon, the air was filled only with their grunts and panting.

The stallion was large for a unicorn, and he had the benefit of testosterone on his side. However, Octavia was as fit as an earth pony could be. Spardis was able to pull Octavia into a headlock, but she bodily lifted him on her back and crashed back into the desk to dislodge him.

He jabbed at her with a hoof, but she turned it away as she spun around and bucked him across the room. Spardis flipped over the desk and crashed into the wooden chair, breaking it into pieces.

Octavia lept over the desk as Spardis backpedaled sluggishly. “You really think killing me is going to solve your problems?” he yelled frantically. “I wasn’t even after that bucking disk jockey!”

Octavia kept moving, giving Spardis no time to get to his hooves as she bucked him again. 

“Ponyfeathers! You’re a lying murderer who brutalizes the ponies under him,” Octavia shot at him heatedly. “I witnessed your ponies trying to kill Vinyl! I’ve got all the evidence I need to convict your sorry flank!”

Spardis didn’t move from where he had been thrown against the wall. Octavia’s last kick had connected with his face, cutting it open where the edge of her hoof had connected.  A nasty U shaped bruise was forming under the flesh that hadn’t broken. He chuckled weakly. “You naive... Bitch. I wasn’t after that... That marshmallow.” Octavia stepped forward but he met her eyes and continued. “I’ve been after you.”

She stopped dead, but then grabbed him. “What do you mean?” she demanded, shaking him.

The stallion laughed, but it turned into a cough. Octavia dropped him and went to retrieve her sword. Spardis continued, his words slurring. “I won’t lie, the file the guild sent me was damn impressive. I imagine they were looking to replace me with you. I’m not going to let that happen.”

Octavia paused, then began striding back towards him stoically. Spardis began scrambling back along the wall, his movements jerky as he continued to talk frantically. “Killing me isn’t going to fix this! You think I didn’t anticipate you coming? I sent an entire report back to the guild about how you’ve gone rogue and taken the DJ with you!”

It took him a moment to finish and by then Octavia was standing over him, but she hesitated in her swing. “You lying scumbag. Your bluffing won’t save you. I can, and will, kill you and then you won’t be around to hide what you’ve done!”

“That doesn’t matter you ass!” Spardis slurred, blood dripping down his cheek. “Stick around, fool. See what happens. I was quite thorough with the report.” He laughed, but it turned into a wheezing cough. “I even labeled that annoying disk jockey as a partner in crime.”

He never finished. Octavia ran her blade into his open mouth, shoving it through his skull until it thunked into the wall behind him. No more sound came out of his mouth, but his body twitched violently for a moment, then was still.

Octavia stood for a moment longer, then pulled her weapon out with a heave and wiped it shakily on the stallion’s leg. Taking a deep breath, she put her blade away and stepped out of the office.

Vinyl’s eyes suddenly widened and shot past Octavia. She whirled instantly, mentally cursing herself for putting away her sword. Then her eyes landed on a pony standing at the bottom of the stairs. It was Stormy Skies.

The colt stood silently, a forehoof frozen in midair as his eyes darted over Octavia then to Vinyl behind her. Octavia swallowed and turned to Vinyl. “We must go.”

They trotted up to Stormy, who backed up a few paces. Octavia paused at the bottom of the stairs while Vinyl began taking them two at a time. 

“I’m sorry,” she said finally. “I hope someday you understand what happened here, but I am sorry you had to be a part of this.” She turned to go up the stairs. “Keep up those drills I taught you, and find a pegasus to teach you about your wings.”

With that she hurried after Vinyl. They ran out of the guild hall and through the reception area. The receptionist cringed as they stormed past, but Octavia ignored her. Then they were outside, the open sky above them and the bustling streets of Canterlot before them.

Octavia grabbed Vinyl’s hoof and drug her down the street. Soon, they were lost in the sea of ponies. Another anonymous pair of Equestrians hurrying about their personal business.
> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Ha! Can you believe it?” Vinyl cheered, skipping down a busy street with Octavia at her heels. “A commission from the... Who were they again?”

Octavia sighed in exasperation, but she couldn’t hide a smile. “Manehattan Music Club, Vinyl.” She shook her head. “It’s not like it’s hard to remember.”

Vinyl laughed; an easy, carefree sound that Octavia was finding infectious. “Who cares about their name? We just got the dream job for any music artist. No office obligations, no set work hours. We don’t even have to live here!”

The audition had worried Octavia, but Vinyl had blown them all away with her compilation and on the spot DJ abilities. While Vinyl may not get to be in the direct limelight with this job, it was still an amazing position. All they had to do to make a steady paycheck was to mail in a reasonable amount of music every month.

The unicorn DJ suddenly veered off the sidewalk and into a ring of tables. “Shall we celebrate with lunch?”

Manehattan. It was so different from Canterlot. The streets were clogged with ponies and they went on for miles. It was certainly seedier than Equestria’s capital, but no less grand with its architecture and vastness. Everywhere there were shops, vendors, restaurants and businesses of all kinds packed in and around the buildings which housed more respectable establishments. Above most of these stores were homes that the owners lived in. A pony could live his entire life on just a single street.

Here there was no ‘upper class’. There were no ‘market’ or ‘clothing’ sections for shoppers. Canterlot was gridded off into clearly defined sectors, but Manehattan was a sprawl. A pony might never know what he would find around the next corner. In some cases it was a little dangerous, but not as bad as some places Octavia had been to.

The cafe Vinyl had selected was made up of a few tables and chairs, a gangly zebra at a large grill and a large stallion watching a money box. Still, the food smelled, and looked, excellent. You had to be good, if you wanted to thrive in this city.

“The only problem will be finding a place for us to set up our equipment.” Vinyl continued, seeing Octavia’s confused expression, “You know... With us moving so much?”

Octavia slumped. “I’m sorry, Vinyl...”

The zebra brought over two large helpings of hay fries and grilled vegetables. When the restaurant only served one thing it made the selection easy to choose from and the wait time negligible. Octavia nodded to him as he set them down on the table.

“Don’t be,” Vinyl said after he left. “Besides, it’s not like we’ve got very much anymore after Trottingham.” Octavia winced, but Vinyl didn’t seem to notice. “All we need is a place without stairs. I’m sure that after our first commission we’ll have more than enough bits to get a place anywhere we want.”

Octavia nodded, not really paying attention anymore. She dug into her food zealously. Spending the morning walking around Manehattan would give anypony an appetite. Her eyes never stayed in once place, though. They roamed over a giggling couple walking past their table to the lone stallion sitting on the other side of the cook. He was keeping an eye on them, probably making sure they didn’t bolt before paying. 

There wasn’t much of interest to see. The roiling mass of ponies in the streets was constantly shifting and changing. It was a good place for them to be, always moving and in public, but it made for stressful and long days.

“...in Ponyville.”

Octavia shifted and shrugged. A small town would be nice. While it would be easy to know if anypony was watching or following them, it was also easier to be found. Was it worth the compromise? At the worst they would just have to leave.

Her eyes moved back across the street... And landed on the giggling couple from before. They had found their own table a ways down. The mare was staring right at her, but looked away quickly when she caught Octavia’s gaze. She wouldn’t have given it a second thought if it wasn’t for the fact that she was sitting opposite her stallionfriend, while in a booth, and he was staring at her as well.

“... Hello?” Octavia’s attention snapped back to Vinyl who was waving a hoof in front of her. “Are you even listening?”

“I apologize. What did you ask?” She took a bite of her fries, but watched the booth out of the corner of her eye.

Vinyl rolled her eyes. “I was just making suggestions other than Ponyville. There’s plenty of other cities. We could try Las Pegasus.”

Vinyl continued speaking, but her attention drifted back to the couple at the booth. The stallion glanced at her, but then turned to his mare and said something. She seemed to laugh, but afterwards he glanced back at Octavia again.

“You want to go to Ponyville now?” Octavia asked, cutting off Vinyl.

“And I... What?” Vinyl leaned back and gave Octavia an incredulous look.

Octavia looked at Vinyl. “I say we grab our things and hop on a train right now to Ponyville.”

Vinyl narrowed her eyes at Octavia, but said nothing. Octavia raised an eyebrow and took a bite of her lunch, then glanced at the couple in the booth again. Vinyl turned and followed her gaze across the street.

After a moment she turned back to Octavia with a frown. “If you think that would be best, I’m fine with it.”

Octavia nodded. “Wait here, I will pay the bill.”

She stood and walked towards the stallion near the grill. “Enjoy your meal?” he rumbled with a small smile.

“Very much, thank you.”

After a moment of pleasantries Octavia hoofed him a few bits and returned to Vinyl. “Let’s go.”

As they walked out of the cafe, Octavia glanced at the booth again. It was empty. She narrowed her eyes and glanced around them while urging Vinyl to hurry. Just as an empty street would draw attention to them, a full street had its own cons. It was only a matter of time before somepony would get a drop on her in such a large crowd. It only took one mistake from her before it was over.

Yes, Ponyville would do just fine.


The End.