Octaviaverse: Music Duel.by TheSuperponyChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 1Summer in Equestria could get hot. As in sweating your soul out hot. Lunch time was particularly excruciating. The rays of the sun would hit the ground hard enough to turn ice cream into a puddle in the blink of an eye. Just a few minutes outside would be enough to have anypony sweating and asking for a glass of icy water. Double so for ponies with dark coats and manes, as dark colors heat faster. Which meant that Octavia was melting by the time she reached the picnic. Carrying her violin only made it worse. "I thought you said you would bring the cello." Minuette said. Octavia shot her a glare in response. She was not in the mood for debate. Luckily, the shadow was cool, washing all of the heat away as soon she stepped in it. Whoever suggested having a picnic under a tree should be given a medal. "She came, and thats what matters." Fleur said, moving so as to give Octavia some space to lay down on the small blanket. "Better than staying cooped up in the tree house." "You're one to talk! I can close the tavern down and you're still up writing! Its like you don't need to sleep or something." Berry said. She opened a small basket, revealing some tasty looking sandwiches. One of them was immediately enveloped in Minuette's magic. "I forgot to have breakfast this morning. Lots of work." she answered as all of them gave her a look. Repairs on her house had finished yesterday. Flitter and Cloudchaser were a bit depressed about seeing her leave, but quickly got over it once the picnic came up. Specially Cloudchaser. "Look at that cloud..." She muttered as she pointed a hoof at the sky. The branch where she was lying on was surprising strong, thus able to support her. Flitter looked up. There was a cloud alright. It didn't really look anything though. Then again, Cloudchaser had a rather peculiar way of looking a things. Octavia pulled out her instrument. Now that the heat was gone, she was up and read to play her beautiful music. She had been practicing for a while now. It was only natural that she would want to show off at one point or another. She was a musician after all. "What are you gonna play? Something fancy?" Fleur asked. "Not really." Octavia placed the bow on the strings. "I composed something a few days ago." "Really? Lets hear it then!" Flitter cheered. Octavia grinned and started playing. Everypony became quiet as to listen better to to the melodic tune. Octavia closed her eyes in concentration. Minutes passed immersed in melody as the violin played away. It wasn't a violent tune, nor a sad requiem. It was just music, designed to pass the time. But it was wonderful. Octavia combined the bow with playing the strings with her hooves. It was amazing to say the least. However, as beautiful as it was, all good things had to end, and after a few more minutes, Octavia stopped playing, gently putting the violin and bow back in their case. Her friends all started clapping. "That was amazing! You composed it?" Fleur asked. Octavia nodded and bowed. "That I did. It took me a couple of days to practice it though." "I liked the part where you played with your hooves. I don't think I could do the same thing with my magic." Minuette noted. "You made in this in a couple of days? Sounds hard to believe." Minuette said, taking a bite out of a sandwich. Octavia smirked. "Well, when you are a musician of my level, coming up with this things is rather easy." she grabbed an apple that was hidden between the sandwiches. "You just have to imagine the song in your head." "Sounds hard. You must have been working all day on them." Flitter said. Octavia chuckled. She loved being recognized for her work. Like any good musician. The rest of the picnic went away on friendly chat. Just Octavia had done a flawless job with her music, Berry had done the same thing with her sandwiches. As heat increased a little, Octavia scooted further into the shadow. She did not need to boil herself alive, thank you very much. "Where's Hugin?" Berry asked. "I haven't seen him since Fiddlesticks left." "He flew back to Canterlot. Said he had to go pick up something." Octavia answered. "He'll be back soon right?" Flitter asked. "Maybe this afternoon." Octavia shrugged. It was actually kind of nice to not have the constant snarking of her feathered housemate. One of this days she was going to throw her bow at him. But not today. Today, she relaxed with her friends and her music. What anypony else ask for? "Speaking of picking up things. I'm afraid I need to go pick a copy of a book I ordered." Fleur stood up. "Sorry I have to leave so suddenly, but I have been waiting for this for a while now." "Now you know how it feels." Octavia thought. Unfortunately, her smugness was short lived, as one pony leaving was all it took for the picnic to slowly but surely start to disarm itself. Berry left to open the tavern, while Minuette went to continue her work. Flitter and Cloudchaser said something about having to go home before Thunderlane saw them or something among those lines. Either way, she found herself walking back to the tree house, violin on her back, after barely being out for an hour. At least she got to play her music in front of her friends. That was the important thing right? "You look hot. And not in the fun way." Drat. "I thought you were going to arrive later." Octavia closed the door. Hugin was standing on the table, smirking her face off. At least, as smirking as best as a crow could. "I hurried up, just to keep you company." Hugin made a dramatic gesture with his wings. "Why, did you miss me?" "Put this back in its spot." Hugin chuckled, but complied, flying towards her and grabbing the violin case by the handle. Octavia went to her desk, preparing her notes for composing. "Don't you think its a bit hot to be inside?" Hugin said. "Its hot enough outside to be inside. Let me work." "You just finished composing something yesterday. Take a break or something." Octavia ignored him. She had to keep composing. What else was she going to do? Graffiti? "You cold at least have some lunch first. Helps the imagination." Hugin suggested. "I just came back from a picnic." "I meant a real lunch." Octavia sighed irritated, but complied. She didn't feel hungry. She wasn't Minuette. If she was hungry, she ate. Reaching the kitchen, and with some help from Hugin, prepared a jar with icy water and lemon tea. She wanted some cold tea. The princess had been nice enough to send her some lemon tea. Not her favorite, but close. "No food?" "No food." Placing it on a tray, along with a glass, Octavia brought everything back to the table. Maybe she didn't really feel like composing at the moment. Maybe all she wanted at the moment was a nice glass of ice tea while sitting down. She brought the glass to her lips, eager to have a large sip. And she would have, had not her windows blasted open, letting in what could be described as a dragon mating with a metallic tower sounded. The glass went crashing down, spilling tea all over the floor. Octavia nearly fell from her chair had she not grabbed the edge of the table. That, however, left her ears to be assaulted by the infernal sound. In mere seconds she was feeling the beginnings of a rather nasty migraine. "What is that noise?!" she shouted. "I think its music!" Hugin replied, flying above her, clearly disoriented by the sound. Just as suddenly as it came, the sound disappeared. Silence returned with a vengeance. It was almost creepy. "I think I went deaf on one of my ear canals." Hugin rubbed his head with a wing. Octavia winced, still reeling a bit from the sudden noise. She opened one eye. To her surprise, all of her windows were intact. It was a different story once she walked outside though, as she almost bumped with another pony, who was complaining about having to fix his window. "What happened?" She thought. "Hey Octavia, come check this out!" Cloudchaser yelled from above her, cheerfully oblivious to the irritation around her. Still a bit dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events, Octavia followed her friend, careful to not bump into anypony of the slowly growing crowd. A metallic cart had stopped right in front of the town hall. One of the side opened violenty. Almost immediately, a black platform extended from it. On top of it were two loudspeakers, along with a third, table looking box. A unicorn mare, completely white in color except for her cutie mark and mane, walked on stage, wearing a rather stylish set of purple glasses. "What is all this?" Octavia asked out loud. "This? Oh nothing..." the mare answered, her horn flicking with magic. "Just the stage for my awesome performance." "Performance?" Flitter asked. "Are you a magician?" "Wha-no!" I'm a musician! You can call me Vinyl Scratch..." The unicorn mare, giving a rather dramatic flick of of her electric blue mane, placed a couple of vinyl discs on the table. "Or better yet, DJ-PON3!" And with that, lights went on and the sound came forth, booming out of the boxes that she placed around her stage. Even in the middle of the day, it was a rather spectacular show show. Some ponies even began tapping their hooves at the rather rhythmic music. Even Cloudchaser had begun dancing a little on the air. But not everypony was amused. Groans of frustration soon came up, but were drowned by the music blasting out of the loudspeakers. Octavia pulled Cloudchaser down by her tail. The noise was once again raping her ears, promoting the small headache to mild migraine. "What is this noise?" Octavia asked loudly. "What?" Cloudchaser asked, just as loudly. "I said, what is this noise?!" "What?!" "What is this racket?!" Suddenly, everything went silent. The music stopped so suddenly that even some echoes of Octavia' question lingered on the air. Everypony turned towards her. Even the DJ had pulled her glasses up, revealing a pair of rather offended eyes. "What?" Octavia cleared her throat, feeling a bit self conscious. That had been a bit more laud than planned. "I asked..." she walked towards the stage. "What is this all this noise?" Vinyl blinked a couple of times before giving a chuckle. Octavia couldn't help but to feel a little ridiculed. "This, my dark colored friend, is not 'noise. Its dubstep." "Never heard of it." Octavia snarked. Now she knew the name of the aberration. "Not surprised. Its a rather new genre of music." Vinyl gave her discs a couple spins. The slicing sound was like sandpaper on Octavia's brain. "Music. You call this music." she snarked. "Uh, yeah." "You call this scrapping, loud, shrieking racket...music." "Yes. I do." Vinyl dropped her smirk. "Is there a problem with it?" Octavia climbed on the stage, standing right in Vinyl's face. "There is a problem. Its a very hot summer day here. Naturally, I wanted to cool off with a nice cup of ice tea. And just as I was about to have a nice cold sip..." she pointed a hoof towards one of the speakers. "Your so called 'music' starts blasting away, sending my cup crashing down, along with my tea." "So you're making all this scandal because you couldn't hold your cup properly." Vinyl replied. "Its not my fault you don't have magic." "Excuse me?!" Octavia growled. "All I wanted was to have a nice, relaxing cup of tea.! And me not having magic has nothing to with how well I can old my cup!" "Oh really? Maybe it wouldn't have fallen you held with magic. Or maybe your'e just jealous because I can use my magic to play some really cool stuff, while you can't, eh Miss Clef?" Vinyl smirked. "I don't magic to play music. I can perfectly perform and create beautiful music with my hooves. Even the most basic of my practice routines are better than that garbage you call dubstep!" "Say what?! And what do you play anyway? Let em guess, that old thing that grannies listen to?!" "How dare you!?" The crowd of ponies shifted their sights from one mare to the other as insults and arguments flew back and forth. However, far at the end of the crowd, Cloudchaser sat, eating some popcorn while watching the argument. "Whats going on?" Flitter asked, landing besides her sister. "Octavia is arguing with the DJ." Even all the way there, the screaming and shouting could be heard perfectly. "Think we should stop them?" Flitter asked. "We should." Fleur answered as she stopped besides them. On her side was a bag, holding what seemed to be a book. The arguing increased in volume. "Before she makes a rash decision or something like that." The three friends started walking towards the stage, gently pushing ponies out if their way. However, the closer they got, the thicker the crowd would get. Flitter suggested flying there, but quickly changed her mind once she realized that there was no place to land nearby. "Listen, I'm sorry If my music ruined your afternoon. Maybe if you had your windows closed you wouldn't have this problem!" "They were closed. Your garbage blasted them open!" Fleur hastened her pace as the argument heated up. Things were getting out of hoof. She had to act. "Octavia! I want to show you something!" she called as she reached the stage. "What thing? Cloudchaser asked Flitter. Octavia all but ignored her friend. "You should take your dubstep somewhere its liked. Like the slums or something." Octavia snarked. Vinyl was about to retort, but Fleur beat her to it. Octavia's bow tie glowed with pink magic, which dragged it, and Octavia's head with it, to face Fleur. "Octavia, you need to calm down!" Fleur chastised. "Remember what happened with Fiddlesticks." Octavia glanced at Vinyl, who was waiting for a remark to shoot down. She looked at Fleur's pleading eyes. She sighed deeply. "I am done with this debate." She started approaching the edge of the stage. "I shall leave you to this trashy material." "So you made all this ruckus and you just walk away? So much for classical music." Vinyl mocked. Octavia was about to turn and reply, but Fleur grabbed her hoof. There was a small staircase on the side of the stage. She walked towards it, doing her best to ignore the unicorn behind her. Maybe she just needed to- BOOM Slam! Everypony gasped as Octavia fell on the ground, hard. Her still ringed from the musical blast that had pushed her from the stage. After a few seconds, the dizziness started to fade, allowing Octavia to hear the only sound that was going on. Snickering. "Ups. My hoof must've slipped." Vinyl said sarcastically. "Did you like the free dose?" Octavia stood up slowly. Her body was trembling, but not from pain, or shame. It was fury. "Octavia..." Fleur whispered, trying to stop her friend. But Octavia would not be stopped now. She climbed back on the stage, planting herself right in front of Vinyl, who didn't back down one bit. Tension between the two mares could almost be seen. "How dare you do that to me." Octavia growled. "Thats what you get for insulting other ponies's preferences."Vinyl growled back. Octavia was seething. "I do not call garbage a preference." ""Then you have a problem sister." Vinyl put her glasses back on. "And who are you to start criticizing other's works? Some kinda expert?" "Compared to you..."Octavia laughed bitterly. "I am an expert among experts." "Then why don't you prove it then?" Whispers and murmurs ran across the crowd. Flitter and Fleur exchanged a worried glance. "Are you challenging me?" Octavia asked. "What if I am?" The whispering increased. "Then I accept your challenge. Tonight, you and me play our best. The loser has to accept that her music is worse." "And who will be the judge?" Octavia looked around, finding Fleur, Flitter and Cloudchaser with ease. She pointed a hoof towards them. She was about to name them, but Vinyl got ahead of her. "Oh no. I saw you talking to the unicorn before. Its not fair if we have your friends for judges right?" she smirked. "How about we pick three ponies at the moment of judging? Let everypony hear our music first." "Its not going to make a difference. I accept your conditions." "Its on then!" Vinyl cheered. "You and me, tonight! A clash of music! A duel between artists! This is gonna be awesome!" Octavia didn't cheer or laugh or smirk. She was angry. She was going to show this mare what a real musician was. After all, it was her special talent. And talent was everything. Chapter 2"A duel...with a DJ..." Hugin said. Octavia didn't answer. She didn't even look. With all the care of the world, she turned one of the pegs of her violin, following it by playing a single note. She repeated the process. And then she repeated again. And again. And then once more, until a whole ten minutes had passed. After a particularly long note, Octavia moved on to the next peg. Hugin flew to the table. "You've been doing that for more than an hour." Hugin flew to the table, landing right in front of her. "Afraid you'll snap a string and lose?" Octavia shot him a glare, but continued her work. The sun was already setting on the horizon. It wouldn't be long before the night arrived, along with the duel. "I'm still having a hard time believing all this. Are you sure this is a good idea?" "I have to show that unicorn what real music is." Octavia placed the bow on the table. "And what a real musician is like." " A real musician? Like you?" Hugin asked sarcastically. "Nopony is better qualified at the moment." Hugin rolled his eyes. Octavia placed the violin in its case. If she was going to duel, she was going to do it with her finest instrument. "I think this is a bad idea Octavia. I can feel it on my feathers." "Nopony asked for your opinion Hugin." "Your funeral." and with that, Hugin flew out the window, leaving octavia alone in the tree house. Octavia breathed in relief. It was irritating enough to deal with this duel without Hugin snarking his way around. She looked outside. The last rays if the sun were disappearing. Some stars were already visible on the night sky. It was going to be a clear night. A single knock on the door brought Octavia out of her sky gazing. Upon opening the door, she found herself face to face with Fleur. Normally octavia would have considered this a pleasant meeting, but Fleur's serious stare told her otherwise. "You really are going through with this?" she asked. "Indeed." Octavia answered. "She challenged me to a music duel and I accepted." "Couldn't you have just walked away?" "She's the one who blasted me with that dreadful noise!" Octavia replied. "After you insulted her music." Fleur noted. Octavia didn't reply. Fleur took that as a sign to step in. "Look. You can still end this peacefully. There's no need for all this Octavia." "There is when you play something as horrid as she does." "She does what she loves. You do to. I wont say that I like her music, but she has her taste. Everypony is entitled to their own tastes and distastes." "Not everything is a matter of taste Fleur. Somethings are fact." Octavia hoisted the violin on her bask "There is something called music, which is what I play, and there is something call a racket, which what that Vinyl plays. I am going to show her that." Fleur sighed irritatedly. This was not going according to plan. She could only hope that the other side of said plan was working. It wasn't really a plan though. It was more of a desperate attempt to avoid a confrontation. Granted, it wasn't a physical confrontation, bit it was filled with venom and fueled by a grudge. That was a bad mix. Couldn't ponies just stop fighting altogether? And to make matters more unstable, other side of the plan required to talk down Vinyl Scratch, the one who had issued the duel in the first place. And better pony for that work than the two most well intentioned pegasi in Equestria. "Where do you think is the door to this thing?" Flitter flew around Vinyl's cart. Everything on the surface of the cart was sealed shut. The couple of windows that decorated the black exterior were closed and the scenario had been pulled in. There was no sound coming from inside either. "I don't think she's even in there..." Flitter muttered knocking on one of the sides of the cart. "Who?" Cloudchaser asked. "What are you doing?" The twins turned around in surprise. Standing behind them was none other than Vinyl Scratch, holding a corn soda with her magic and looking rather unamused. "Well, we, ah, we were looking for you to, eh, talk and-" Flitter stammered. "I remember you." Vinyl pointed a hoof towards them. "You were besides that unicorn who tried stopping the snob." "Well, yeah, her is Fleur. Anyways, Octavia has a short temper, and we thought that maybe-" "I liked your music." Cloudchaser blurted. "Maybe you could tell that to your friend." Vinyl snarked. "Anyways..." Flitter interrupted. "Octavia has a bit of a temper, and we thought that maybe you could, ah, pull back?" Vinyl raised her glasses. Her red eyes went from merely unamused to slightly angry. Flitter and Cloudchaser even stepped a little. Vinyl took a sip from her drink before talking. A nice, long, cold sip. "That snob climbed on my stage started insulting my music. The music that not only I like, but that I play for a living." she took another sip. "So no. I will not pull back. I'll wait for her on the stage, see who's the real musician here." Flitter and Cloudchaser shared a concerned look before flying away, knowing that they had done all that they could. Before long, a familiar light pink spot appeared on their sights. Fleur walked aimlessly through the town. Perfect for them to just land in front of her. "Flitter? Cloudchaser?" Fleur called once they landed in front of her. "How did it go on your end?" "Didn't work. Vinyl is set on going on with the duel." Flitter answered. "Did you convince Octavia?" Cloudchaser added., but was dismayed when Fleur nodded in a negative way. "She's just as set as she was when she accepted the duel before." Fleur sighed tiredly. "I swear, that mare has the pride of a griffon." Between all the fuzzing, running and talking, time went on unstopped, until finally, the sun was gone and the moon was now just beginning her climb on the sky. The stars twinkled and the light of the celestial body illuminated the land. "Its almost as if the night goddess wanted to see our duel..." Octavia thought as she walked through the town. Few ponies were on the streets. Not surprising really. Most of the town would be at the town hall where Vinyl had parked her cart. Indeed, as she she got closer and closer, talks and discussions could be heard more and more. Before long, she had arrived at the stage. "Ready for this?" Vinyl was standing on the stage, grinning widely. Lights were set in varying colors, shifting from one to the next. The town was circling the cart. Octavia didn't say anything, instead choosing to climb on the stage. Whisper and murmurs were heard a soon Octavia planted herself in front of the DJ. One of those murmurs was of a rather sweet voice. A voice that was very concerned at the moment. "Oh dear. This is not good." Fleur said. "Where are Berry and Minuette?" "Berry said she was going to come once she was done working on the tavern." Flitter answered. "Minuette locked her house, so there's no way in knowing." "And Cloudchaser?" Flitter pointed a hoof up. Cloudchaser was flying higher than anypony, her gaze fixated on the stage and the ponies on it. "I tried to call her attention, but she is completely focused on the duel." Fleur would have tried calling her, but the electric sound of Vinyl's table drowned everything else. It was short sound, meant to caught the attention of the crowd. Vinyl herself had moved behind the table, ready to do her part. Octavia had taken out her violin and bow, and was ready to play whatever she wanted. "Alrighty then. Lets set the rules." Vinyl placed her shades on. "Since I challenged you, you set the first rule." "We will play three songs each. Not long songs mind you. We don't wan't to be here all night now do we?" Octavia smirked. "You're the one who should be worrying about that, but alright." Vinyl's grin dropped a little. "We can't anypony we know act as a judge." "Anything else?" Octavia's smirk dropped. "Nope." Vinyl's horn glowed. "Want me to start?" Octavia didn't answer, but placed her bow down. Vinyl's smirk turned into a grin. A rumbling sound began to emit from the loudspeakers. It was barely noticeable for the first few seconds, but ti soon began growing in volume, with sudden drops and ups. Octavia cringed as the rhythm reached its apex, the very air around her quaking with every second. Vinyl however, seemed to be ecstatic, bobbing her head up and down, as if the duel was merely and excuse to play her music. "How's that?" Vinyl asked as the music died down. "Weren't expecting that were you?" "You are right. I was expecting quality." Octavia placed her bow on the violin. "Now its my turn." The music flowed from her instrument in a slow and dignified manner. The single sound served almost as a contrast to the mixed bass of the dubstep. It was the same thing with the musicians, for while Vinyl played in a wild manner fit for a cheerful party, Octavia had closed her eyes, focusing only on her music. Vinyl didn't say anything, but her gaze went from focused to bored to completely distracted in a span of minutes, not that Octavia noticed anyways. "And that..." she said as the last note finished. "Is true music." "I thought you said short songs." "Twelve minutes is not a long song. Besides, its not my fault if you can keep your magic up for more than a couple of minutes." Octavia grinned. Vinyl frowned, though it was partially hidden by her glasses. One could still see that she was angry now. She activated her again, this time with more force. "This is not going on well." Fleur said. "Magic shouldn't forced like that. Specially on machinery." "Why?" Flitter asked. "Have you ever filled a ballon with air?" Fleur answered. "What happens when you fill it with to much air in a sudden manner?" "Ready for round two ya' little snob?" Vinyl growled as the music started picking once more. Something was different though. The first song was chaotic and unfocused, clearly made more for demonstration than actual art. This one was different. It was more rhythmical, more focused. And Octavia could tell. If she had looked down, she would have seen one of her hooves shifting a little to the tune. The music wasn't to loud either, almost as if to deny her the complaining. "Alright. Your move." Vinyl said, cutting the off the noise just as the song ended. The crowd was completely silent. Octavia placed the bow on the cello. A short yet sharp sound echoed from the brusque movement. "Hope you enjoy this." Just like Vinyl had played a more cohesive and organized song, Octavia moved for a more aggressive approach, playing her music loud enough to make a small echo across town. Her hoof held the instrument with masterful precision and grace. Eith minutes of harmonious string music passed. "There. I finished." Octavia grinned. "I didn't need magic, nor machines or anything to make beautiful music. Unlike others." "So what? You think you're better than me cuz you can do all that?!" Vinyl shouted. "No." Octavia walked closer to Vinyl. "I know it." Murmurs and whispers started raising across the crowd. Octavia smirked. Vinyl, on the other hoof, was visibly angry. Not even her glasses could hide the fury behind them. As with anypony who had just been insulted, she reacted in an predictable manner. By lashing out. "Oh yeah?! Oh yeah?!" Vinyl pushed Octavia out of the stage with a powerful flick of her magic. Octavia landed hard on the ground, right in front of the stage. Her violin went flying on the air, where to she could not see. Fleur and Flitter immediately went to help their friend, but Octavia didn't look at them. Her attention was completely focused on the stage, and the completely furious mare on it. "You think you're better than me, cuz you play some old thing that my grandad hears?! Is that it?!" Vinyl shouted, putting her loudspeaker in motion. The sound was increasingly louder with each second that passed. "You're nothing you hear me?! Just some pedantic earth pony who thinks she all high and mighty cuz she can play with her hooves!" Vinyl pointed a hoof towards Octavia. The music kept increasing. "But you know what?! I'm the better musician here, cuz I stay witht he times! I play what ponies hear today!" Octavia cringed as the volume kept increasing. Her ears as the very air around them quaked with music. She felt some pressure on her back. Fleur had tripped fallen on top of her, completely disoriented by the blasting music. Octavia carefully placed he friend on the ground, then turned back to the stage. She had to stop this. "Vinyl!" shouted, trying to out speak the music. "Its too loud! You have to stop it!" But her words didn't even reach her own ears. Vinyl shake her head to the music, now so loud that be recognized as such. The lights were now going at their most mighty strength, sending multicolored beams in every direction. A strong, dense smell started to fill the air. "Octavia!" Fleur shouted from the floor."You've got to get away from there!" BOOM!! The last thing Octavia's maind manage to record was the ground heading towards her at a rather dangerous speed. The everything went black. Seconds, minutes, hours. Time seemed to morph into something completely alien as her mind drifted back and forth from unconsciousness. Brief flashes of light passed through her eyes. Sounds were just blurred whispers that quickly faded on the darkness. "...tavia..." Wait, that one was more coherent. The darkness started fading, as the flashes of light started increasing in frequency. "Oct...wake up!" Octavia opened her eyes a little. The darkness was gone, now replaced with the night sky. Standing around her were Fleur and the twins, the three of them visibly worried. "Wha...what happened?" Octavia mumbled, sitting up. "The stage exploded." Cloudchaser said. "I got your violin!" Octavia looked around. The crowd had scattered. Of the cart, only the floor and the wheels remained. Everything else had been blown away from the explosion. And apparently, it wasn't the only thing that had been blown away. The entire ground of town was sparkling. "Looks like every single glass in town exploded too..." Octavia thought. As her eyes focused on the cart, another concern sprung to her head. "Vinyl. Where is Vinyl!?" she asked frantically. The twins looked at each other. Fleur didn't say anything. "Where is she?!" "Here." Berry and Minuette walked towards them. On Berry's back lied the unmoving form of Vinyl. She had some burns and bruises, along with some scratches, but really serious though. "Is.. is she alright?" Flitter asked. "She's unconscious." Berry laid the unicorn on the ground.. "Other than that, I don't know." "What are you doing out here?" Cloudchaser asked. "I was just about to close the tavern, when suddenly every single glass I have explodes, along with many bottles that were still half filled." Berry answered "I want an explanation. And some compensation too." "I came out to see what the ruckus was all about. I never expected this though." Minuette added. Suddenly, a roar filled the air. A deep, loud feral roar that echoed in the air for several seconds. Even after it ended, the entire town had gone deathly silent. "That can't be good..." Berry commented. Slow, powerful stomps could be heard, each stronger than last. The ground beneath them trembled as the stomps started closer and closer.The girls looked to the forest. Trees shook and fell as the monster that passed through them increased its pace. "Its coming right here." Minuette backed away a little. Ponies ran and hid as a large shadow stepped out of woods. A deep growling could be heard. The shadow left the woods, finally reaching the town. The light of the moon shone on its back, and it was not a pretty sight, for standing right at the entrance of the town was a giant silver wolf. Its back was as high as the tallest house. Its red shot eyes were contorted with fury, as saliva dripped from its bared fangs. One of its gigantic paws stepped forward, making the entire ground quake. "I you told it was real." Berry nudged Minuette. The fenrir wolf howled to the moon before charging forwards, destroying any abandoned food stand, any sign any anything that stood in its way. Octavia however, noticed something else. Something that chilled her blood. It was making a beeline for them. "Move!" Minuette shouted. The six bearers barely managed to jump out of the way, or fly in the case of the twins, before the fenrir wolf ran through, crushing the land beneath them. And kept going, until he reached the leftovers of Vinyl's cart. Without wasting a second, it started slashing and bitting the pieces, ripping it apart with eldritch ferocity. "What is that thing doing here?!" Octavia asked as the more earth bound ponies hid behind a corner. Minutte and Fleur placed Vinyl against the wall. "Its must have woken up with the explosion or something. It does look rather angry." Berry answered. As if to agree with her, a large chunk of the stage landed in front of them. "If that thing hears us, we're dead meat. We have to get out of here." Minuette said. Flitter and Cloudchaser fluttered on the sky, quietly trying to follow their friends without alerting the beast. "What about her?" Fleur said. Vinyl shifted a little, but didn't wake up. "Lets take her with us." The fenrir wolf chewed and snarled as it decimated the cart. Meanwhile, four ponies, plus a fifth, unmoving one, quietly made their way behind it, doing their bests to not step hard on the ground, let alone make any noise. They dared not run or trot. They barely dared breathing. Octavia silently followed Minuette. Her body was focused on the task at hand, but her mind was somewhere else. Mainly on how Vinyl had snapped and caused all this, pushed and edged on by her. Her ego had driven her to this. She could have just walked away. She could have done anything except do all this. "Fleur was right..." she whispered. "Look out!" Octavia looked up. The world seemed to slow down as her violin fell through the air, closing in on the ground at crashing speed. Without thinking, she stretched her hooves forward, saving her instrument from certain doom. With the extra momentum, she gave a step forward, stepping on a large piece of glass. Crack. The fenrir wolf stopped butchering the cart. His ears twitched as the sound reached them. His gaze turned towards the ponies. Specifically, the one that produced the sound. "Everypony run!" Minuette shouted. The houses trembled as the fenrir wolf roared with all its might, charging with unrestrained fury. Four ponies, one of them unconscious being carried, ran away from the beast, but a fifth one didn't. "Octavia, get away!" Fleur yelled. But Octavia couldn't. Between holding her violin and hearing the savage roar of the beast, she was completely paralyzed. Her entire body trembled both from terror and the ground trembling with each step closer from the beast. The wolf seemed to notice, as he changed his uncontrolled dash to a slow, yet menacing walk, being only a couple of houses away from his potential victim. "Run!" "Get out of there!" But she didn't. All Octavia could see where the glistening fangs of the beast, now mere meters away from here and closing in. Even from there Octavia could smell the rotten smell of the monster's breath. As the fenrir wolf raised a paw a tile fell on its head, breaking in half. "Leave her alone!" Cloudchaser shouted. The fenrir wolf roared at her but quickly returned his attention towards his earlier pray. Or he would have, if it was still there. Flitter grunted as she carried Octavia, barely above the ground, placing her near the rest of the group. "Don't freeze up like that Octavia, you'll get killed!" Berry said. Free from her stupor, Octavia opened her mouth to reply, but Minuette beat her to it. "Lets go while its distracted!" Having given the violin to Flitter, Octavia began running after her friends. Their advantage was short lived however, as the wolf shifted his attention to the clopping noise of their hooves. Not wasting a second, he chased after them, baring fangs and claws. "He's gonna catch up at that rate!" Berry shouted. Cloudchaser threw pebbles, rocks and a couple of tiles, but nothing deviated the beast from its prey. Octavia could feel her body hurting after all of the nights events. She gave a quick glance to her friends. They were just as tired and scared as her. Her arrogance and temper and gotten all of them in this situation. "If my pride in my skill led to this..." she skidded to a sudden stop. "Then it will led us out of here." Being the last one of the group, her stop went unnoticed by the unicorns and the earth pony, but not by the pegasi. Flitter nearly dropped the violin as she brusquely turned around. Just as she was about to shout, Octavia's words reached her. "Flitter, throw me the violin!" Octavai extended her hooves to the sky. "Now!" "But-" "Do it now Flitter! You Cloudchaser, throw me the bow!" The twins gave each other an unsure look before complying. Octavia stumbled a bit as she stood up, the sudden weight of the instrument pulling her down a bit. Without wasting a second, she took her playing position, placing the violin bow on the strings. The wolf increased its pace, eager to chow down the morsel that so willingly stood still in its place. Octavia gritted her teeth, tightening her grip on the bow. She took a single, deep breath. "Here it goes..." she whispered and began playing, making sure to strike every note as masterfully as she could. The wolf's dash continued on, but something was different. The savage breathing was slowly decreasing, as was the roughness of the paws hitting the ground. Soon enough, the music reached the rest of the running gang. Berry turned her head, and came to halt in shock, nearly tripping the Fleur and Minuette. They would have complained and shouted, had their attention not been grabbed by the show before them. Octavia stood still, playing her violin like there was no tomorrow. In front of her, swaying a little and droopy of eyes, stood the fenrir wolf. Whatever rage he had been channeling before seemed to have completely vanished. Octavia gave a quick glance to the beast. Careful not to stumble a bit or trip, she gave step backwards. Like a little puppy, the wolf gave a small step forwards. "I'm sober and I don't believe it..." Berry muttered, ignoring the slight groan that came from the unicorn on her back. Octavia's hooves burned more and more with each step. Ponies were not supposed to walk on two hooves, and now she knew why. But she didn't stop. She couldn't. The gigantic wolf followed her, hiptonized by the music. Who knew what would happen if she stopped playing while in the middle of town? "Just a little more..." she thought as she saw the trees of the forest become clear on her sights. Ignoring the surge of fear that crossed her spine, Octavia stopped at the entrance of the Everfree forest. holding her breath, she stopped playing and made a beeline fore a large tree, hiding behind the thick trunk. The wolf remained dazed for a few more seconds, but eventually snapped back into reality. To Octavia's surprise, the fen rir wolf didn't roar or snap or anything of the like. Instead, it sniffed the air a couple of times. Its's ears flicked a couple of times before falling limply on his head. With a final huff, it entered the woods, leaving for parts unknown. Octavia remained still for nearly five minutes, not wanting to risk being heard or seen by the monster. If she was quiet enough, she could- "Octavia! You did it!" Cloudchaser shouted. Octavia tackled her to the ground, jabbing a hoof on her mouth. "Quiet." she growled. Cloudchaser blinked a couple of times before nodding. Octavia sighed at removed the hoof. The adrenalin was leaving her body, replaced with overwhelming tiredness. "Boy, you should have the look on the faces of everypony! They were almost drooling, can you believe it!" Cloudchaser laughed, leaping on the air. Octavia chuckled before her friend's words truly registered on her mind. "Others...Where are the others?!" she asked frantically. "Right where you left them." Faster than a speeding spell, Octavia ran through the town, almost bumping against the ponies that dared coming out of their houses. Before long, she reached her freinds, which were huddled around Octavia. "Octavia!" Berry called. Octavia opened her mouth to say something, but fine placed punch from Berry shut her up, sending her to the ground. Fleur immediately rushed to her aid. "Don't you ever do something like that again, you hear me?!" Berry shouted. Octavia rubbed her mouth, feeling some blood in it. She would have answered, but a groan coming from the ground grabbed her attention. Vinyl stirred. She couldn't hear anything. She slowly opened her eyes. Her vision blurred for a few seconds before regaining focus. She was surrounded by Octavia and three other ponies. Wait a minute. She recognized the pink unicorn. And the pegasi that were floating above them too. And Octavia. She was sweating and had a bruised lip. She was saying something. But she couldn't hear it. The two other ponies around her, a purple earth pony and a blue unicorn were talking to each other. She couldn't hear them. She turned her head. She could see ponies walking around, point at the broken widows. Talking. Stepping on the glass. Opening and closing doors. But she couldn't hear them. "No..." she whispered. She couldn't hear the glass cracking. "No." she said. She couldn't hear the voices of the town, or of the ponies that surrounded her. "NOOO!" she screamed. But she couldn't hear herself. Chapter 3The morning sun climbed over the sky, bathing the land with its warmth. It would have been welcomed, had the events of last night not happen at all. Octavia hadn't been wrong when she guessed that every single piece of glass in town had been destroyed. Even her her tree house had suffered the consequences of the duel. A duel that could have been avoided, had she controlled her temper. "We're lucky that it was summer." Hugin said as he ate his corn. "We would have probably frozen ourselves to death if it had been winter." Octavia didn't answer, instead taking a sip from her cup of tea. Her mind kept returning to the duel and its outcome. After every pony calmed down, Vinyl had been taken to the local hospital. Two thin trails of blood were coming out of her ears. Her anguished face still haunted Octavia. Another sip. She ignored the small burst of pain that surged on her front legs. Her flanks were even worse, after been used in ways that they weren't built for. "I should see how the others are doing…" she thought. As she was about to leave, she noticed that she wasn't wearing her bow tie. For a brief second she considered wearing it, but decided against it. It was warm already, soon it would be hot. Besides, she really wasn't in the mood. Ponyville was a town of hard workers and it showed. Most of the glass had already been swept away by the cleaning crews. The remains of Vinyl's cart had been piled up near the town hall. It didn't take a genius to see that it was mostly ruined. A brief flash of the wolf's fangs crossed Octavia's eyes. She picked up the pace. Her first stop was the Sweeping Pony. There was a sign on the door that said CLOSED DUE TO REPAIRS. She unconsciously rubbed her cheek. Berry had done quite a number on her mouth. The doctor said she was lucky to not have lost a tooth. "I'm lucky to be alive…" she thought bitterly. She knocked on the door. "Can't see see the sign?" a young voice called from inside. Octavia didn't have to guess who it belonged too. She knocked again. A loud groan, followed by hard hoof steps approached the door. "We're…its you." Ruby Pinch said from the door. "Yes. Is your sister home? I would like to speak with her." "Sorry to disappoint you, but she's not. She went to to market to replace the glasses that your stupid duel broke." Ruby growled. "Now I have to waste my time cleaning up the mess." "When is she coming back?" Octavia asked, doing her best to ignore the angry tone of the filly. "Who knows." Ruby began closing the door. "An hour, maybe two." And without another word, she slammed the door on Octavia's face. Not wanting to waste time, she moved away from the tavern. A few ponies gave her some glares, but nothing beyond that. "Hey Octavia!" Flitter and Cloudchaser descended in front of her. They were carrying a broom and a empty trash can respectively. Flitter had volunteered for helping in cleaning up the place. Cloudchaser simply followed her sister. "Whats up?" Flitter asked. "The sky?" Cloudchaser answered, though she was mostly ignored. "I'm just seeing how every pony is doing." Octavia answered. "You two seem to be in a very active mood." "Cloudy and I have helping around. Don't want any cut foals now do we?" "No…no we don.t" Octavia replied. "Anyways, if you are so busy helping, then I won't keep you. Is Minuette in her house?" "Mmm I don't know. She said that she had a commission for some door pieces though…" Octavia thanked her and continued on her way. She was glad that the two youngest bearers were taking the whole incident so well. She could only hope that Minuette and Fleur would be just as calm about it. Probably not. "Minuette, are you there?" she knocked on the door. Nopony answered. She was about to knock again when the door opened, revealing a tired Minuette. "Yes, Octavia? What can I do for you?" "I am trying to see how every pony is doing." Octavia answered. "Are you alright?" "Every single glass in my house was shattered. I stayed up until very late fixing the chaos that was the house. I had to get up before sunrise to change the windows and now I have to skip lunch if I wan't to keep my work quota intact." "Oh…do you, uh, do you wan't any help?" "No thanks." Minuette began closing the door. "I would to handle this thing by myself. I have enough in my plate without keeping you from making things worse. Now if you excuse me, I have things to do." As she walked away, Octavia's mind debated between feeling offended or unsurprised. Was Minuette being too careful about her way of doing things? Or was she referring to last night? "I don't think I want to know the answer…." she thought. Her thoughts came to a halt as she reached her final destination for the moment. Fleur's house. Now that she could pay more attention towards it, she realized that it was a rather expensive house. It wasn't big, but it was certainly lavish. Fine wood was used. Pale pink painted in just the right amount and tone. Not the kind of two stories high house that a young writer should be able to afford. The windows were gone though. Expected, but not welcomed. Of course, all that meant rubbish, since inside was the mare that had been against the whole duel thing since the beginning, and that Octavia had brushed off like nothing. And now she had to talk to her to make sure she was alright from yesterday. "You can come in Octavia" Octavia briefly wondered how was it that Fleur she was outside. Then she noticed the empty windows. "She probably saw me before I even reached the door…" she mentally snarked. The inside of Fleur's house was just as decorated as the exterior. High quality tables, plenty of decorations. A small bronze sun hanged on one of the walls. "Do you like it? My parents gave it to me when I graduated from high school." The house consisted of a single, long hallway that was connected to many rooms, like the living room, the kitchen, the dinning room, etc. From one at the very end, Fleur stepped out. "Good morning Octavia." she asked politely. "How can I help you?" "I…"Octavia struggled a little to find her words. "I wanted to see how every pony was doing." "Well, other than having all of my windows blown away to parts unknown, I would say that I'm dandy." Fleur answered. "Really? I thought you would be a bit more angry about. Or something like that…" Octavia muttered the last part. "Angry? Oh no, why in the world would I be angry?" Fleur replied. "It won't get my windows back will it? Nor it will change the fact that all this happened. Getting angry won't solve my problems Octavia." Just like Minuette, Fleur was taking the subtle approach. Of course, for a writer, she was being as subtle as a freight train. "I know I lost my temper back then, and I'm sorry for that. I shouldn't have done all this. But she…" "Octavia, stop and think a little." Fleur said sternly. "Its not just that you allowed your temper get the best of you. Its the fact you provoked and riled Vinyl all the way." "She blasted me off the stage!" Octavia replied angrily. "Yes, after you spent ten minutes insulting her music." Fleur answered. "Vinyl challenged you, but you provoked her into doing so. And then, not happy with that, you continued mocking her. Until she snapped." Octavia was unable to look at Fleur as last nights events flowed through her mind once more. "You said you wanted to see how everypony was doing, right?" Fleur said. "Then why aren't you at the hospital?" Octavia didn't answer. Without another word, she started walking towards the door. She was about to leave when Fleur's voice stopped her once more. "I'm not mad at you for being angry Octavia. Anypony would have gotten angry in that situation. But there are ways to deal with that anger." Fleur passed for a second. "And ways that should be avoided." Her words echoed in Octavia's mind as she walked through the town. Her gaze directed itself towards a small hill right on the edge of town, where the Ponyville hospital stood. "Maybe I should go there." The sun was now nearing its peak. Some ponies around her, thankful for driving the fenrir wolf out, vocally claimed their gratitude. Others, less than pleased with the outcome of the unnecessary situation, decided to walk away from her, whispering and muttering as she passed. "Guess my popularity will be low for a while…" The distracting environment, coupled with Fleur's words still ringing in her mind, was enough for her to bump into something. Or somepony. "Hey watch it pal, I don't wanna have to go and buy all this things again." "Berry?" "Oh!" Morning Octavia!" Berry replied cheerfully. She was carrying bags on either side of her body. Noise of glass against glass echoed each time she moved a little. "Are you alright?" Berry asked. "You look kinda down." "A wolf attacked town yesterday, a DJ lies on the hospital and half the town thinks its all my fault." Octavia replied. "Including Fleur." "Well…its not all your fault." Berry smiled. "From what I hear, that Vinyl mare sure has a temper." "I'm not sure that makes me feel better." "Just think of it. You acted poorly, true, but Vinyl reacted just as bad, if not worst. You didn't use violence after all, did you?" Berry glanced at the hospital. "It takes two to tango, as they like to say." "I guess that makes sense." Octavia said. "But…" Berry closed in on Octavia, giving her the most potent of angry glares. "If you ever run off like that without telling me your plan, a fist sandwich will the be the least of your problems, got it?" she growled. Octavia gulped and nodded. "Perfect, now if you excuse me, I gotta get back to the tavern before Ruby throws a tantrum or something." And with that final note, Berry left, leaving Octavia alone. All of her friends had been visited, all of their thoughts had been heard and their opinions taken into account. All that remained was one thing. Although hospital tended to have a bad reputation, the one in Ponyville had hight standards, probably from being so close to the capitol. Clean floors, trained doctors and nurses. As soon as she entered, the secretary at the entrance seemed to guess why she was here, and pointed her hoof to the left. The desk had to way two doors on either side. The rest of the hospital was no different than any other. Staff coming and going, entering and leaving rooms. It wasn't hard to find Vinyl's room, since it was on the first floor. Her name was placed on the door, and right under it, a picture of her cutie mark. Now that she saw it, Octavia realized she had never actually seen Vinyl's cutie mark, being to busy insulting each other. "A vinyl disc…of course…." she muttered. She raised a hoof to knock on the door, but lowered when she remembered why Vinyl was in there. After a few seconds of hesitation, she entered the room. Vinyl sat on her table, reading a magazine. There was a bored look oner face. Her red eyes scanned each page in a dejected manner. Octavia approached the bed. "You could have knocked." Octavia blinked in surprise. She could hear her?! "Don't look so shocked." Vinyl pointed to her ears. A a black plug was inside of it. "Its a magical hearing device." She placed down the magazine on her lap. "Its pretty lousy though. You would have had to knock pretty hard." Octavia opened her mouth to speak, but Vinyl beat her to it. "If you came here to gloat or pity me, then I'm gonna have to ask you to leave." Octavia frowned. She could feel temper start to rise. After everything that had happened, the last thing she needed was more confrontation. With a deep breath, she cooled herself down. "I didn't came to do one thing or the other." She started. "I…I came to apologize." "Come again?" "I came to apologize." Octavia repeated. "I shouldn't have acted the way I did. You are a musician in your own way, as much as I don't want to accept it. I also shouldn't have kept teasing you like that." "Well, I appreciate the apology. Not thats its any good though." Vinyl looked at her. "You admit to being wrong. Okay, so what? I'm still here and I'm still deaf." "I said I was sorry. If you-" "Well, sorry isn't gonna cut it!" Vinyl interrupted her. "What am I supposed to do? Go around saying 'hey, I can't hear my own tunes, but hire me anyway'?" "You said your hearing devices work." Octavia replied. "Yeah, barely. You're right besides me and it sounds like if a pillow was inside my ears." Vinyl laid on her bed and turned around. "So congrats. I won't be able to make more dubstep. Happy?" "No, I am not. I'm sorry I things got out of control, but it wasn't my intention. You could have stopped too!" "I already accepted your apology, so why don't you just leave me alone and go home already." Vinyl said. "Maybe you can play your stupid violin." Tense silence followed. Not a word was muttered between the two mares for several seconds. "I don't believe this. Look at me." Getting no response, Octavia grabbed Vinyl and forced her to face. "I said look at me." Vinyl blinked a couple of times in anger and surprise, but didn't say anything. Octavia took that as her cue to continue. "I caused all this. This whole thing began because I began mocking you. True enough, but you know what? I also lost things!" Octavia released Vinyl. "Half the towns holds me responsible for whole things. My friends think that I am some sort of neurotic wrath bomb and now I have to tell my teacher about what happened. I-" She paused mid-sentece as her own words hit her like a train. The princess. She was going to have to tell the princess. She failed on the task that she was given and now she was going to have to tell her. Anger began eroding away as horror started to grow inside if her. It must have been pretty obvious, because Vinyl grabbed her shoulder. "Hey. Hey!" Vinyl shook her a little. "Calm down, alright?! Geez, sorry I put like that I…I was wrong okay?!" "No!" Octavia quickly shot her down. "No, you are not wrong." "Uh….okay?" "Look, I just…"Octavia paused, wondering on how to continue. "I was wrong. I really, really shouldn't have treated you like that. I was foolish and did a foolish thing. I'm sorry you are deaf. I really am. But almost everypony is blaming me. Even some of my friends. I just…" "Hey." Vinyl bopped her head. "Stop that. After seeing you all high and mighty on stage, it feels wrong to see you like this. Look, its both your fault and mine, got it? You shouldn't have acted like a plot head, and I shouldn't have snapped like that. Deal?" She extended her hoof. Octavia eyed it warily before extending her own. The hoof bump echoed in the small room. Octavia gave a mental sigh of relief as she removed her leg. Some of the tension had vanished. "Can your ears be healed?" Octavia asked, regaining most of her stern composure. She did made an effort to tone it done though, lest she started the whole thing all over again. "They said an operation can be done." Vinyl grimaced. "But not here. I would have to go to Canterlot. And even then, its expensive." "Maybe I could help you pay for it." Octavia said. "I can go get some money to get you going." "Thanks, but no thanks. I can get the money by myself." "Then at least let me get the money for train ticket or something." Octavia insisted. "Let me do my part." "Alright." Vinyl agreed. A little too fast, but Octavia didn't notice. "You go fetch your money. I'll be waiting right here." Without wasting a minute, Octavia left the hospital. She ignored the fact that it was lunch time. She had a mission now. She could truly fix things, at least partially. She nearly bumped into somepony, but she managed to stop at the last second. "Whats the hurry?" Fleur asked. Octavia quickly explained the story, eager to continue her way. She wasn't running mind you. The pain in her legs wouldn't let her. But she could trot. And that was enough for now. "I'm glad you are trying to fix things like this. That is one way to deal with things." Fleur said. "But why are you going to your house? The bank is closer." "I don't want to do all the paperwork." Octavia answered. "Mind if I tag along then? I want to meet this Vinyl. The right way." Octavia nodded. A few minutes later, they made their way to the tree house. Hugin was happily munching a corn. There was a plate with a couple more, already devoured by the hungry crow. "You are going to get fat feathers." Octavia said. "Teleportation magic has to be maintained. Besides, its not like you eat of it." Octavia didn't answer, going up to her room instead. On her night desk was a small bag. Perfect. "This should do…" she thought as she bit the bag, placing in on a small bag. Fleur was patiently waiting downstairs, talking with Hugin. "All set?" she asked once she noticed Octavia walk down the stairs. "Yes. Lets go." Octavia couldn't say that she was in a good mood, but she was slowly getting there. Maybe this could end in a happy note. The hospital soon came into view. The uphill trail forced Octavia to slow down a little, but it was fine. Now that she was here, she could relax a little. The hospital was just as pristine as before when they entered. Even better. Octavia didn't say anything to the secretary, instead choosing to go directly to Vinyl's room. She could some shuffling from behind her, but she didn't care. "Alright Vinyl, here is the…" she stopped as soon as she entered the room. The completely empty room. There was no Vinyl on the bed. No purple shades on the night desk. There was nothing save a white bed. "I tried to warn you, but you went in too fast." The secretary said behind her. "She left almost as soon as you were out of sight." Octavia entered the room, as if she was expecting something of Vinyl to pop out of somewhere. Fleur wanted to say something, but nothing came to mind. "So she just left. Without even waiting to tell me anything." Octavia grunted. "Without even letting me help her." "Octavia…" Fleur said. "I know." Octavia replied. "She left you this though." The secretary, a unicorn, levitated a letter towards Octavia. She placed it on her bag. "She said it was for you and you alone." Fleur followed Octavia silently as they left the hospital. Once outside, Octavia let out a long, tired sigh. "So much things happening in so little time." she said. Fleur didn't say anything, even when Octavia turned around to face her. "I'm going to head home and read this, so I will see you later." Octavia started leaving. "I guess that will teach not to get angry." Octavia didn't wait for Fleur to reply. She just wanted to go home. She was hungry. She was surprisingly tired and she just wanted to get the whole thing over with. Hugin was about to say something, but one look of Octavia's grumpy face was enough to keep him quiet. A low growl resonated in the library. Octavia's grumpy face was now mixed with a bit of embarrassment. "There are some hay sandwiches left." Hugin noted. Octavia silently thanked him before placing the bag back in its place. Before long, she had a small plate of sandwiches placed on the table in from of her. She took a seat, opening the letter and placing right besides the plate. "Whats that?" Hugin asked. "A letter from the DJ." Without another word, Octavia began reading, taking a bite from one of the sandwiches. Octavia. If you are reading this, then I'm long gone by now. I know you said you wanted to help, and I appreciate the thought, I really do. But lets face it, you may be the reason why this whole thing started, but I could and should have ended it. You're responsible for the duel and the fight. I'm responsible for my deafness and the wolf thing. Long story short, I can't let you pay for this. Not with money at least. You said you wanted to do your part. I will not forget that. I will need your help one day. Remember that. Vinyl. PS: Sorry for the short letter. I was in a bit of hurry to leave. "Yet she had time to write a post script…." Octavia snarked. After a few more minutes, she finished her lunch. She then placed the plate and the letter away. "From the look on your face, I'd say you've had one heck of a rough day." Hugin said. Octavia sent him a glare, but didn't say anything. "What now?" Hugin asked from the table. Octavia looked at him, then at the remains of Vinyl's cart. She could see them from her window. A few ponies were standing besides it, dismantling and taking away the pieces. It wouldn't be long before the whole thing was gone. "Bring me a letter and a quill. And some ink." "You're gonna write a letter to the DJ?" "Not to her." Before long, the three items were on her working desk, ready for use. Octavia brought her chair and prepared herself for writing. Dear princess Twilight. For many years, I have been told I have a bit of a temper. Most of the time I would simply brush these accusations off, not caring who said them. Even when you were the one to warn me, I would storm off, calling you a fool. I have been proved wrong. In the worst possible way. Yesterday, a DJ came into town, blasting her music at ridiculous levels of noise. I decided to stand up to her. Not happy with that, I began belittling her and her music. When she began taunting back, I started to provoke her until she challenged me to a duel. Nobody won that night. Although the duel started with normality it soon took a turn for the worse. I didn't stop provoking her until she snapped. I won't bore you with the details of what happened afterwards, but I think it would be wise to stay away from the Everfree forest for a few days. Or weeks. After everything calmed down, Vinyl, the DJ, was taken to the hospital, screaming and crying. I was later told that she was left completely deaf after her cart exploded from excessive magical input. The next day, after some words with my friends and making sure they were alright, I went to visit her. It was tense. We managed to reach some sort of agreement, so don't worry about having an angry DJ after me. She left before I could do my part though. She didn't even warn me about it. I really wanted to make things right and she just left. So now I am here, writing to you about this, unable to do anything else. My temper and my arrogance lead to a situation that could have been avoided, with a musician turned deaf and with half the town holding me responsible for the whole fiasco. I learned a valuable lesson today. Getting angry is normal. But acting on such anger, letting it cloud one's judgement, is when problems will start surfacing. Coupled with excessive pride and stubbornness is a recipe for disaster. Like I said before, I learned a valuable lesson today. I just wished I learned it another way. Your student Octavia Clef. Octavia closed the letter and handed it to Hugin, who quickly made it vanish between his black wings. "Okay, its done. What next?" Hugin asked. "Composing? Practicing?" Octavia eyed her instruments. The idea did sound really tempting, but not right now. There had been enough noise for now. "No." Octavia said. Looking around, she saw the book of the elements of harmony on one of the shelves. Without thinking it, she pulled it out, along with a bag to carry it. "I think I'm going to find myself a nice shade and read." Octavia placed bag, with the book inside, on her side. "Do you wish to join me?" Hugin eyed her suspiciously for a few seconds before flying towards her and landing on her back. Octavia gave the library one last glance before she closed the door behind her. The sun beamed above her. It wasn't as hot as yesterday, but it was still pretty warm. She could feel her mood improving already.
Chapter 1Summer in Equestria could get hot. As in sweating your soul out hot. Lunch time was particularly excruciating. The rays of the sun would hit the ground hard enough to turn ice cream into a puddle in the blink of an eye. Just a few minutes outside would be enough to have anypony sweating and asking for a glass of icy water. Double so for ponies with dark coats and manes, as dark colors heat faster. Which meant that Octavia was melting by the time she reached the picnic. Carrying her violin only made it worse. "I thought you said you would bring the cello." Minuette said. Octavia shot her a glare in response. She was not in the mood for debate. Luckily, the shadow was cool, washing all of the heat away as soon she stepped in it. Whoever suggested having a picnic under a tree should be given a medal. "She came, and thats what matters." Fleur said, moving so as to give Octavia some space to lay down on the small blanket. "Better than staying cooped up in the tree house." "You're one to talk! I can close the tavern down and you're still up writing! Its like you don't need to sleep or something." Berry said. She opened a small basket, revealing some tasty looking sandwiches. One of them was immediately enveloped in Minuette's magic. "I forgot to have breakfast this morning. Lots of work." she answered as all of them gave her a look. Repairs on her house had finished yesterday. Flitter and Cloudchaser were a bit depressed about seeing her leave, but quickly got over it once the picnic came up. Specially Cloudchaser. "Look at that cloud..." She muttered as she pointed a hoof at the sky. The branch where she was lying on was surprising strong, thus able to support her. Flitter looked up. There was a cloud alright. It didn't really look anything though. Then again, Cloudchaser had a rather peculiar way of looking a things. Octavia pulled out her instrument. Now that the heat was gone, she was up and read to play her beautiful music. She had been practicing for a while now. It was only natural that she would want to show off at one point or another. She was a musician after all. "What are you gonna play? Something fancy?" Fleur asked. "Not really." Octavia placed the bow on the strings. "I composed something a few days ago." "Really? Lets hear it then!" Flitter cheered. Octavia grinned and started playing. Everypony became quiet as to listen better to to the melodic tune. Octavia closed her eyes in concentration. Minutes passed immersed in melody as the violin played away. It wasn't a violent tune, nor a sad requiem. It was just music, designed to pass the time. But it was wonderful. Octavia combined the bow with playing the strings with her hooves. It was amazing to say the least. However, as beautiful as it was, all good things had to end, and after a few more minutes, Octavia stopped playing, gently putting the violin and bow back in their case. Her friends all started clapping. "That was amazing! You composed it?" Fleur asked. Octavia nodded and bowed. "That I did. It took me a couple of days to practice it though." "I liked the part where you played with your hooves. I don't think I could do the same thing with my magic." Minuette noted. "You made in this in a couple of days? Sounds hard to believe." Minuette said, taking a bite out of a sandwich. Octavia smirked. "Well, when you are a musician of my level, coming up with this things is rather easy." she grabbed an apple that was hidden between the sandwiches. "You just have to imagine the song in your head." "Sounds hard. You must have been working all day on them." Flitter said. Octavia chuckled. She loved being recognized for her work. Like any good musician. The rest of the picnic went away on friendly chat. Just Octavia had done a flawless job with her music, Berry had done the same thing with her sandwiches. As heat increased a little, Octavia scooted further into the shadow. She did not need to boil herself alive, thank you very much. "Where's Hugin?" Berry asked. "I haven't seen him since Fiddlesticks left." "He flew back to Canterlot. Said he had to go pick up something." Octavia answered. "He'll be back soon right?" Flitter asked. "Maybe this afternoon." Octavia shrugged. It was actually kind of nice to not have the constant snarking of her feathered housemate. One of this days she was going to throw her bow at him. But not today. Today, she relaxed with her friends and her music. What anypony else ask for? "Speaking of picking up things. I'm afraid I need to go pick a copy of a book I ordered." Fleur stood up. "Sorry I have to leave so suddenly, but I have been waiting for this for a while now." "Now you know how it feels." Octavia thought. Unfortunately, her smugness was short lived, as one pony leaving was all it took for the picnic to slowly but surely start to disarm itself. Berry left to open the tavern, while Minuette went to continue her work. Flitter and Cloudchaser said something about having to go home before Thunderlane saw them or something among those lines. Either way, she found herself walking back to the tree house, violin on her back, after barely being out for an hour. At least she got to play her music in front of her friends. That was the important thing right? "You look hot. And not in the fun way." Drat. "I thought you were going to arrive later." Octavia closed the door. Hugin was standing on the table, smirking her face off. At least, as smirking as best as a crow could. "I hurried up, just to keep you company." Hugin made a dramatic gesture with his wings. "Why, did you miss me?" "Put this back in its spot." Hugin chuckled, but complied, flying towards her and grabbing the violin case by the handle. Octavia went to her desk, preparing her notes for composing. "Don't you think its a bit hot to be inside?" Hugin said. "Its hot enough outside to be inside. Let me work." "You just finished composing something yesterday. Take a break or something." Octavia ignored him. She had to keep composing. What else was she going to do? Graffiti? "You cold at least have some lunch first. Helps the imagination." Hugin suggested. "I just came back from a picnic." "I meant a real lunch." Octavia sighed irritated, but complied. She didn't feel hungry. She wasn't Minuette. If she was hungry, she ate. Reaching the kitchen, and with some help from Hugin, prepared a jar with icy water and lemon tea. She wanted some cold tea. The princess had been nice enough to send her some lemon tea. Not her favorite, but close. "No food?" "No food." Placing it on a tray, along with a glass, Octavia brought everything back to the table. Maybe she didn't really feel like composing at the moment. Maybe all she wanted at the moment was a nice glass of ice tea while sitting down. She brought the glass to her lips, eager to have a large sip. And she would have, had not her windows blasted open, letting in what could be described as a dragon mating with a metallic tower sounded. The glass went crashing down, spilling tea all over the floor. Octavia nearly fell from her chair had she not grabbed the edge of the table. That, however, left her ears to be assaulted by the infernal sound. In mere seconds she was feeling the beginnings of a rather nasty migraine. "What is that noise?!" she shouted. "I think its music!" Hugin replied, flying above her, clearly disoriented by the sound. Just as suddenly as it came, the sound disappeared. Silence returned with a vengeance. It was almost creepy. "I think I went deaf on one of my ear canals." Hugin rubbed his head with a wing. Octavia winced, still reeling a bit from the sudden noise. She opened one eye. To her surprise, all of her windows were intact. It was a different story once she walked outside though, as she almost bumped with another pony, who was complaining about having to fix his window. "What happened?" She thought. "Hey Octavia, come check this out!" Cloudchaser yelled from above her, cheerfully oblivious to the irritation around her. Still a bit dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events, Octavia followed her friend, careful to not bump into anypony of the slowly growing crowd. A metallic cart had stopped right in front of the town hall. One of the side opened violenty. Almost immediately, a black platform extended from it. On top of it were two loudspeakers, along with a third, table looking box. A unicorn mare, completely white in color except for her cutie mark and mane, walked on stage, wearing a rather stylish set of purple glasses. "What is all this?" Octavia asked out loud. "This? Oh nothing..." the mare answered, her horn flicking with magic. "Just the stage for my awesome performance." "Performance?" Flitter asked. "Are you a magician?" "Wha-no!" I'm a musician! You can call me Vinyl Scratch..." The unicorn mare, giving a rather dramatic flick of of her electric blue mane, placed a couple of vinyl discs on the table. "Or better yet, DJ-PON3!" And with that, lights went on and the sound came forth, booming out of the boxes that she placed around her stage. Even in the middle of the day, it was a rather spectacular show show. Some ponies even began tapping their hooves at the rather rhythmic music. Even Cloudchaser had begun dancing a little on the air. But not everypony was amused. Groans of frustration soon came up, but were drowned by the music blasting out of the loudspeakers. Octavia pulled Cloudchaser down by her tail. The noise was once again raping her ears, promoting the small headache to mild migraine. "What is this noise?" Octavia asked loudly. "What?" Cloudchaser asked, just as loudly. "I said, what is this noise?!" "What?!" "What is this racket?!" Suddenly, everything went silent. The music stopped so suddenly that even some echoes of Octavia' question lingered on the air. Everypony turned towards her. Even the DJ had pulled her glasses up, revealing a pair of rather offended eyes. "What?" Octavia cleared her throat, feeling a bit self conscious. That had been a bit more laud than planned. "I asked..." she walked towards the stage. "What is this all this noise?" Vinyl blinked a couple of times before giving a chuckle. Octavia couldn't help but to feel a little ridiculed. "This, my dark colored friend, is not 'noise. Its dubstep." "Never heard of it." Octavia snarked. Now she knew the name of the aberration. "Not surprised. Its a rather new genre of music." Vinyl gave her discs a couple spins. The slicing sound was like sandpaper on Octavia's brain. "Music. You call this music." she snarked. "Uh, yeah." "You call this scrapping, loud, shrieking racket...music." "Yes. I do." Vinyl dropped her smirk. "Is there a problem with it?" Octavia climbed on the stage, standing right in Vinyl's face. "There is a problem. Its a very hot summer day here. Naturally, I wanted to cool off with a nice cup of ice tea. And just as I was about to have a nice cold sip..." she pointed a hoof towards one of the speakers. "Your so called 'music' starts blasting away, sending my cup crashing down, along with my tea." "So you're making all this scandal because you couldn't hold your cup properly." Vinyl replied. "Its not my fault you don't have magic." "Excuse me?!" Octavia growled. "All I wanted was to have a nice, relaxing cup of tea.! And me not having magic has nothing to with how well I can old my cup!" "Oh really? Maybe it wouldn't have fallen you held with magic. Or maybe your'e just jealous because I can use my magic to play some really cool stuff, while you can't, eh Miss Clef?" Vinyl smirked. "I don't magic to play music. I can perfectly perform and create beautiful music with my hooves. Even the most basic of my practice routines are better than that garbage you call dubstep!" "Say what?! And what do you play anyway? Let em guess, that old thing that grannies listen to?!" "How dare you!?" The crowd of ponies shifted their sights from one mare to the other as insults and arguments flew back and forth. However, far at the end of the crowd, Cloudchaser sat, eating some popcorn while watching the argument. "Whats going on?" Flitter asked, landing besides her sister. "Octavia is arguing with the DJ." Even all the way there, the screaming and shouting could be heard perfectly. "Think we should stop them?" Flitter asked. "We should." Fleur answered as she stopped besides them. On her side was a bag, holding what seemed to be a book. The arguing increased in volume. "Before she makes a rash decision or something like that." The three friends started walking towards the stage, gently pushing ponies out if their way. However, the closer they got, the thicker the crowd would get. Flitter suggested flying there, but quickly changed her mind once she realized that there was no place to land nearby. "Listen, I'm sorry If my music ruined your afternoon. Maybe if you had your windows closed you wouldn't have this problem!" "They were closed. Your garbage blasted them open!" Fleur hastened her pace as the argument heated up. Things were getting out of hoof. She had to act. "Octavia! I want to show you something!" she called as she reached the stage. "What thing? Cloudchaser asked Flitter. Octavia all but ignored her friend. "You should take your dubstep somewhere its liked. Like the slums or something." Octavia snarked. Vinyl was about to retort, but Fleur beat her to it. Octavia's bow tie glowed with pink magic, which dragged it, and Octavia's head with it, to face Fleur. "Octavia, you need to calm down!" Fleur chastised. "Remember what happened with Fiddlesticks." Octavia glanced at Vinyl, who was waiting for a remark to shoot down. She looked at Fleur's pleading eyes. She sighed deeply. "I am done with this debate." She started approaching the edge of the stage. "I shall leave you to this trashy material." "So you made all this ruckus and you just walk away? So much for classical music." Vinyl mocked. Octavia was about to turn and reply, but Fleur grabbed her hoof. There was a small staircase on the side of the stage. She walked towards it, doing her best to ignore the unicorn behind her. Maybe she just needed to- BOOM Slam! Everypony gasped as Octavia fell on the ground, hard. Her still ringed from the musical blast that had pushed her from the stage. After a few seconds, the dizziness started to fade, allowing Octavia to hear the only sound that was going on. Snickering. "Ups. My hoof must've slipped." Vinyl said sarcastically. "Did you like the free dose?" Octavia stood up slowly. Her body was trembling, but not from pain, or shame. It was fury. "Octavia..." Fleur whispered, trying to stop her friend. But Octavia would not be stopped now. She climbed back on the stage, planting herself right in front of Vinyl, who didn't back down one bit. Tension between the two mares could almost be seen. "How dare you do that to me." Octavia growled. "Thats what you get for insulting other ponies's preferences."Vinyl growled back. Octavia was seething. "I do not call garbage a preference." ""Then you have a problem sister." Vinyl put her glasses back on. "And who are you to start criticizing other's works? Some kinda expert?" "Compared to you..."Octavia laughed bitterly. "I am an expert among experts." "Then why don't you prove it then?" Whispers and murmurs ran across the crowd. Flitter and Fleur exchanged a worried glance. "Are you challenging me?" Octavia asked. "What if I am?" The whispering increased. "Then I accept your challenge. Tonight, you and me play our best. The loser has to accept that her music is worse." "And who will be the judge?" Octavia looked around, finding Fleur, Flitter and Cloudchaser with ease. She pointed a hoof towards them. She was about to name them, but Vinyl got ahead of her. "Oh no. I saw you talking to the unicorn before. Its not fair if we have your friends for judges right?" she smirked. "How about we pick three ponies at the moment of judging? Let everypony hear our music first." "Its not going to make a difference. I accept your conditions." "Its on then!" Vinyl cheered. "You and me, tonight! A clash of music! A duel between artists! This is gonna be awesome!" Octavia didn't cheer or laugh or smirk. She was angry. She was going to show this mare what a real musician was. After all, it was her special talent. And talent was everything.
Chapter 2"A duel...with a DJ..." Hugin said. Octavia didn't answer. She didn't even look. With all the care of the world, she turned one of the pegs of her violin, following it by playing a single note. She repeated the process. And then she repeated again. And again. And then once more, until a whole ten minutes had passed. After a particularly long note, Octavia moved on to the next peg. Hugin flew to the table. "You've been doing that for more than an hour." Hugin flew to the table, landing right in front of her. "Afraid you'll snap a string and lose?" Octavia shot him a glare, but continued her work. The sun was already setting on the horizon. It wouldn't be long before the night arrived, along with the duel. "I'm still having a hard time believing all this. Are you sure this is a good idea?" "I have to show that unicorn what real music is." Octavia placed the bow on the table. "And what a real musician is like." " A real musician? Like you?" Hugin asked sarcastically. "Nopony is better qualified at the moment." Hugin rolled his eyes. Octavia placed the violin in its case. If she was going to duel, she was going to do it with her finest instrument. "I think this is a bad idea Octavia. I can feel it on my feathers." "Nopony asked for your opinion Hugin." "Your funeral." and with that, Hugin flew out the window, leaving octavia alone in the tree house. Octavia breathed in relief. It was irritating enough to deal with this duel without Hugin snarking his way around. She looked outside. The last rays if the sun were disappearing. Some stars were already visible on the night sky. It was going to be a clear night. A single knock on the door brought Octavia out of her sky gazing. Upon opening the door, she found herself face to face with Fleur. Normally octavia would have considered this a pleasant meeting, but Fleur's serious stare told her otherwise. "You really are going through with this?" she asked. "Indeed." Octavia answered. "She challenged me to a music duel and I accepted." "Couldn't you have just walked away?" "She's the one who blasted me with that dreadful noise!" Octavia replied. "After you insulted her music." Fleur noted. Octavia didn't reply. Fleur took that as a sign to step in. "Look. You can still end this peacefully. There's no need for all this Octavia." "There is when you play something as horrid as she does." "She does what she loves. You do to. I wont say that I like her music, but she has her taste. Everypony is entitled to their own tastes and distastes." "Not everything is a matter of taste Fleur. Somethings are fact." Octavia hoisted the violin on her bask "There is something called music, which is what I play, and there is something call a racket, which what that Vinyl plays. I am going to show her that." Fleur sighed irritatedly. This was not going according to plan. She could only hope that the other side of said plan was working. It wasn't really a plan though. It was more of a desperate attempt to avoid a confrontation. Granted, it wasn't a physical confrontation, bit it was filled with venom and fueled by a grudge. That was a bad mix. Couldn't ponies just stop fighting altogether? And to make matters more unstable, other side of the plan required to talk down Vinyl Scratch, the one who had issued the duel in the first place. And better pony for that work than the two most well intentioned pegasi in Equestria. "Where do you think is the door to this thing?" Flitter flew around Vinyl's cart. Everything on the surface of the cart was sealed shut. The couple of windows that decorated the black exterior were closed and the scenario had been pulled in. There was no sound coming from inside either. "I don't think she's even in there..." Flitter muttered knocking on one of the sides of the cart. "Who?" Cloudchaser asked. "What are you doing?" The twins turned around in surprise. Standing behind them was none other than Vinyl Scratch, holding a corn soda with her magic and looking rather unamused. "Well, we, ah, we were looking for you to, eh, talk and-" Flitter stammered. "I remember you." Vinyl pointed a hoof towards them. "You were besides that unicorn who tried stopping the snob." "Well, yeah, her is Fleur. Anyways, Octavia has a short temper, and we thought that maybe-" "I liked your music." Cloudchaser blurted. "Maybe you could tell that to your friend." Vinyl snarked. "Anyways..." Flitter interrupted. "Octavia has a bit of a temper, and we thought that maybe you could, ah, pull back?" Vinyl raised her glasses. Her red eyes went from merely unamused to slightly angry. Flitter and Cloudchaser even stepped a little. Vinyl took a sip from her drink before talking. A nice, long, cold sip. "That snob climbed on my stage started insulting my music. The music that not only I like, but that I play for a living." she took another sip. "So no. I will not pull back. I'll wait for her on the stage, see who's the real musician here." Flitter and Cloudchaser shared a concerned look before flying away, knowing that they had done all that they could. Before long, a familiar light pink spot appeared on their sights. Fleur walked aimlessly through the town. Perfect for them to just land in front of her. "Flitter? Cloudchaser?" Fleur called once they landed in front of her. "How did it go on your end?" "Didn't work. Vinyl is set on going on with the duel." Flitter answered. "Did you convince Octavia?" Cloudchaser added., but was dismayed when Fleur nodded in a negative way. "She's just as set as she was when she accepted the duel before." Fleur sighed tiredly. "I swear, that mare has the pride of a griffon." Between all the fuzzing, running and talking, time went on unstopped, until finally, the sun was gone and the moon was now just beginning her climb on the sky. The stars twinkled and the light of the celestial body illuminated the land. "Its almost as if the night goddess wanted to see our duel..." Octavia thought as she walked through the town. Few ponies were on the streets. Not surprising really. Most of the town would be at the town hall where Vinyl had parked her cart. Indeed, as she she got closer and closer, talks and discussions could be heard more and more. Before long, she had arrived at the stage. "Ready for this?" Vinyl was standing on the stage, grinning widely. Lights were set in varying colors, shifting from one to the next. The town was circling the cart. Octavia didn't say anything, instead choosing to climb on the stage. Whisper and murmurs were heard a soon Octavia planted herself in front of the DJ. One of those murmurs was of a rather sweet voice. A voice that was very concerned at the moment. "Oh dear. This is not good." Fleur said. "Where are Berry and Minuette?" "Berry said she was going to come once she was done working on the tavern." Flitter answered. "Minuette locked her house, so there's no way in knowing." "And Cloudchaser?" Flitter pointed a hoof up. Cloudchaser was flying higher than anypony, her gaze fixated on the stage and the ponies on it. "I tried to call her attention, but she is completely focused on the duel." Fleur would have tried calling her, but the electric sound of Vinyl's table drowned everything else. It was short sound, meant to caught the attention of the crowd. Vinyl herself had moved behind the table, ready to do her part. Octavia had taken out her violin and bow, and was ready to play whatever she wanted. "Alrighty then. Lets set the rules." Vinyl placed her shades on. "Since I challenged you, you set the first rule." "We will play three songs each. Not long songs mind you. We don't wan't to be here all night now do we?" Octavia smirked. "You're the one who should be worrying about that, but alright." Vinyl's grin dropped a little. "We can't anypony we know act as a judge." "Anything else?" Octavia's smirk dropped. "Nope." Vinyl's horn glowed. "Want me to start?" Octavia didn't answer, but placed her bow down. Vinyl's smirk turned into a grin. A rumbling sound began to emit from the loudspeakers. It was barely noticeable for the first few seconds, but ti soon began growing in volume, with sudden drops and ups. Octavia cringed as the rhythm reached its apex, the very air around her quaking with every second. Vinyl however, seemed to be ecstatic, bobbing her head up and down, as if the duel was merely and excuse to play her music. "How's that?" Vinyl asked as the music died down. "Weren't expecting that were you?" "You are right. I was expecting quality." Octavia placed her bow on the violin. "Now its my turn." The music flowed from her instrument in a slow and dignified manner. The single sound served almost as a contrast to the mixed bass of the dubstep. It was the same thing with the musicians, for while Vinyl played in a wild manner fit for a cheerful party, Octavia had closed her eyes, focusing only on her music. Vinyl didn't say anything, but her gaze went from focused to bored to completely distracted in a span of minutes, not that Octavia noticed anyways. "And that..." she said as the last note finished. "Is true music." "I thought you said short songs." "Twelve minutes is not a long song. Besides, its not my fault if you can keep your magic up for more than a couple of minutes." Octavia grinned. Vinyl frowned, though it was partially hidden by her glasses. One could still see that she was angry now. She activated her again, this time with more force. "This is not going on well." Fleur said. "Magic shouldn't forced like that. Specially on machinery." "Why?" Flitter asked. "Have you ever filled a ballon with air?" Fleur answered. "What happens when you fill it with to much air in a sudden manner?" "Ready for round two ya' little snob?" Vinyl growled as the music started picking once more. Something was different though. The first song was chaotic and unfocused, clearly made more for demonstration than actual art. This one was different. It was more rhythmical, more focused. And Octavia could tell. If she had looked down, she would have seen one of her hooves shifting a little to the tune. The music wasn't to loud either, almost as if to deny her the complaining. "Alright. Your move." Vinyl said, cutting the off the noise just as the song ended. The crowd was completely silent. Octavia placed the bow on the cello. A short yet sharp sound echoed from the brusque movement. "Hope you enjoy this." Just like Vinyl had played a more cohesive and organized song, Octavia moved for a more aggressive approach, playing her music loud enough to make a small echo across town. Her hoof held the instrument with masterful precision and grace. Eith minutes of harmonious string music passed. "There. I finished." Octavia grinned. "I didn't need magic, nor machines or anything to make beautiful music. Unlike others." "So what? You think you're better than me cuz you can do all that?!" Vinyl shouted. "No." Octavia walked closer to Vinyl. "I know it." Murmurs and whispers started raising across the crowd. Octavia smirked. Vinyl, on the other hoof, was visibly angry. Not even her glasses could hide the fury behind them. As with anypony who had just been insulted, she reacted in an predictable manner. By lashing out. "Oh yeah?! Oh yeah?!" Vinyl pushed Octavia out of the stage with a powerful flick of her magic. Octavia landed hard on the ground, right in front of the stage. Her violin went flying on the air, where to she could not see. Fleur and Flitter immediately went to help their friend, but Octavia didn't look at them. Her attention was completely focused on the stage, and the completely furious mare on it. "You think you're better than me, cuz you play some old thing that my grandad hears?! Is that it?!" Vinyl shouted, putting her loudspeaker in motion. The sound was increasingly louder with each second that passed. "You're nothing you hear me?! Just some pedantic earth pony who thinks she all high and mighty cuz she can play with her hooves!" Vinyl pointed a hoof towards Octavia. The music kept increasing. "But you know what?! I'm the better musician here, cuz I stay witht he times! I play what ponies hear today!" Octavia cringed as the volume kept increasing. Her ears as the very air around them quaked with music. She felt some pressure on her back. Fleur had tripped fallen on top of her, completely disoriented by the blasting music. Octavia carefully placed he friend on the ground, then turned back to the stage. She had to stop this. "Vinyl!" shouted, trying to out speak the music. "Its too loud! You have to stop it!" But her words didn't even reach her own ears. Vinyl shake her head to the music, now so loud that be recognized as such. The lights were now going at their most mighty strength, sending multicolored beams in every direction. A strong, dense smell started to fill the air. "Octavia!" Fleur shouted from the floor."You've got to get away from there!" BOOM!! The last thing Octavia's maind manage to record was the ground heading towards her at a rather dangerous speed. The everything went black. Seconds, minutes, hours. Time seemed to morph into something completely alien as her mind drifted back and forth from unconsciousness. Brief flashes of light passed through her eyes. Sounds were just blurred whispers that quickly faded on the darkness. "...tavia..." Wait, that one was more coherent. The darkness started fading, as the flashes of light started increasing in frequency. "Oct...wake up!" Octavia opened her eyes a little. The darkness was gone, now replaced with the night sky. Standing around her were Fleur and the twins, the three of them visibly worried. "Wha...what happened?" Octavia mumbled, sitting up. "The stage exploded." Cloudchaser said. "I got your violin!" Octavia looked around. The crowd had scattered. Of the cart, only the floor and the wheels remained. Everything else had been blown away from the explosion. And apparently, it wasn't the only thing that had been blown away. The entire ground of town was sparkling. "Looks like every single glass in town exploded too..." Octavia thought. As her eyes focused on the cart, another concern sprung to her head. "Vinyl. Where is Vinyl!?" she asked frantically. The twins looked at each other. Fleur didn't say anything. "Where is she?!" "Here." Berry and Minuette walked towards them. On Berry's back lied the unmoving form of Vinyl. She had some burns and bruises, along with some scratches, but really serious though. "Is.. is she alright?" Flitter asked. "She's unconscious." Berry laid the unicorn on the ground.. "Other than that, I don't know." "What are you doing out here?" Cloudchaser asked. "I was just about to close the tavern, when suddenly every single glass I have explodes, along with many bottles that were still half filled." Berry answered "I want an explanation. And some compensation too." "I came out to see what the ruckus was all about. I never expected this though." Minuette added. Suddenly, a roar filled the air. A deep, loud feral roar that echoed in the air for several seconds. Even after it ended, the entire town had gone deathly silent. "That can't be good..." Berry commented. Slow, powerful stomps could be heard, each stronger than last. The ground beneath them trembled as the stomps started closer and closer.The girls looked to the forest. Trees shook and fell as the monster that passed through them increased its pace. "Its coming right here." Minuette backed away a little. Ponies ran and hid as a large shadow stepped out of woods. A deep growling could be heard. The shadow left the woods, finally reaching the town. The light of the moon shone on its back, and it was not a pretty sight, for standing right at the entrance of the town was a giant silver wolf. Its back was as high as the tallest house. Its red shot eyes were contorted with fury, as saliva dripped from its bared fangs. One of its gigantic paws stepped forward, making the entire ground quake. "I you told it was real." Berry nudged Minuette. The fenrir wolf howled to the moon before charging forwards, destroying any abandoned food stand, any sign any anything that stood in its way. Octavia however, noticed something else. Something that chilled her blood. It was making a beeline for them. "Move!" Minuette shouted. The six bearers barely managed to jump out of the way, or fly in the case of the twins, before the fenrir wolf ran through, crushing the land beneath them. And kept going, until he reached the leftovers of Vinyl's cart. Without wasting a second, it started slashing and bitting the pieces, ripping it apart with eldritch ferocity. "What is that thing doing here?!" Octavia asked as the more earth bound ponies hid behind a corner. Minutte and Fleur placed Vinyl against the wall. "Its must have woken up with the explosion or something. It does look rather angry." Berry answered. As if to agree with her, a large chunk of the stage landed in front of them. "If that thing hears us, we're dead meat. We have to get out of here." Minuette said. Flitter and Cloudchaser fluttered on the sky, quietly trying to follow their friends without alerting the beast. "What about her?" Fleur said. Vinyl shifted a little, but didn't wake up. "Lets take her with us." The fenrir wolf chewed and snarled as it decimated the cart. Meanwhile, four ponies, plus a fifth, unmoving one, quietly made their way behind it, doing their bests to not step hard on the ground, let alone make any noise. They dared not run or trot. They barely dared breathing. Octavia silently followed Minuette. Her body was focused on the task at hand, but her mind was somewhere else. Mainly on how Vinyl had snapped and caused all this, pushed and edged on by her. Her ego had driven her to this. She could have just walked away. She could have done anything except do all this. "Fleur was right..." she whispered. "Look out!" Octavia looked up. The world seemed to slow down as her violin fell through the air, closing in on the ground at crashing speed. Without thinking, she stretched her hooves forward, saving her instrument from certain doom. With the extra momentum, she gave a step forward, stepping on a large piece of glass. Crack. The fenrir wolf stopped butchering the cart. His ears twitched as the sound reached them. His gaze turned towards the ponies. Specifically, the one that produced the sound. "Everypony run!" Minuette shouted. The houses trembled as the fenrir wolf roared with all its might, charging with unrestrained fury. Four ponies, one of them unconscious being carried, ran away from the beast, but a fifth one didn't. "Octavia, get away!" Fleur yelled. But Octavia couldn't. Between holding her violin and hearing the savage roar of the beast, she was completely paralyzed. Her entire body trembled both from terror and the ground trembling with each step closer from the beast. The wolf seemed to notice, as he changed his uncontrolled dash to a slow, yet menacing walk, being only a couple of houses away from his potential victim. "Run!" "Get out of there!" But she didn't. All Octavia could see where the glistening fangs of the beast, now mere meters away from here and closing in. Even from there Octavia could smell the rotten smell of the monster's breath. As the fenrir wolf raised a paw a tile fell on its head, breaking in half. "Leave her alone!" Cloudchaser shouted. The fenrir wolf roared at her but quickly returned his attention towards his earlier pray. Or he would have, if it was still there. Flitter grunted as she carried Octavia, barely above the ground, placing her near the rest of the group. "Don't freeze up like that Octavia, you'll get killed!" Berry said. Free from her stupor, Octavia opened her mouth to reply, but Minuette beat her to it. "Lets go while its distracted!" Having given the violin to Flitter, Octavia began running after her friends. Their advantage was short lived however, as the wolf shifted his attention to the clopping noise of their hooves. Not wasting a second, he chased after them, baring fangs and claws. "He's gonna catch up at that rate!" Berry shouted. Cloudchaser threw pebbles, rocks and a couple of tiles, but nothing deviated the beast from its prey. Octavia could feel her body hurting after all of the nights events. She gave a quick glance to her friends. They were just as tired and scared as her. Her arrogance and temper and gotten all of them in this situation. "If my pride in my skill led to this..." she skidded to a sudden stop. "Then it will led us out of here." Being the last one of the group, her stop went unnoticed by the unicorns and the earth pony, but not by the pegasi. Flitter nearly dropped the violin as she brusquely turned around. Just as she was about to shout, Octavia's words reached her. "Flitter, throw me the violin!" Octavai extended her hooves to the sky. "Now!" "But-" "Do it now Flitter! You Cloudchaser, throw me the bow!" The twins gave each other an unsure look before complying. Octavia stumbled a bit as she stood up, the sudden weight of the instrument pulling her down a bit. Without wasting a second, she took her playing position, placing the violin bow on the strings. The wolf increased its pace, eager to chow down the morsel that so willingly stood still in its place. Octavia gritted her teeth, tightening her grip on the bow. She took a single, deep breath. "Here it goes..." she whispered and began playing, making sure to strike every note as masterfully as she could. The wolf's dash continued on, but something was different. The savage breathing was slowly decreasing, as was the roughness of the paws hitting the ground. Soon enough, the music reached the rest of the running gang. Berry turned her head, and came to halt in shock, nearly tripping the Fleur and Minuette. They would have complained and shouted, had their attention not been grabbed by the show before them. Octavia stood still, playing her violin like there was no tomorrow. In front of her, swaying a little and droopy of eyes, stood the fenrir wolf. Whatever rage he had been channeling before seemed to have completely vanished. Octavia gave a quick glance to the beast. Careful not to stumble a bit or trip, she gave step backwards. Like a little puppy, the wolf gave a small step forwards. "I'm sober and I don't believe it..." Berry muttered, ignoring the slight groan that came from the unicorn on her back. Octavia's hooves burned more and more with each step. Ponies were not supposed to walk on two hooves, and now she knew why. But she didn't stop. She couldn't. The gigantic wolf followed her, hiptonized by the music. Who knew what would happen if she stopped playing while in the middle of town? "Just a little more..." she thought as she saw the trees of the forest become clear on her sights. Ignoring the surge of fear that crossed her spine, Octavia stopped at the entrance of the Everfree forest. holding her breath, she stopped playing and made a beeline fore a large tree, hiding behind the thick trunk. The wolf remained dazed for a few more seconds, but eventually snapped back into reality. To Octavia's surprise, the fen rir wolf didn't roar or snap or anything of the like. Instead, it sniffed the air a couple of times. Its's ears flicked a couple of times before falling limply on his head. With a final huff, it entered the woods, leaving for parts unknown. Octavia remained still for nearly five minutes, not wanting to risk being heard or seen by the monster. If she was quiet enough, she could- "Octavia! You did it!" Cloudchaser shouted. Octavia tackled her to the ground, jabbing a hoof on her mouth. "Quiet." she growled. Cloudchaser blinked a couple of times before nodding. Octavia sighed at removed the hoof. The adrenalin was leaving her body, replaced with overwhelming tiredness. "Boy, you should have the look on the faces of everypony! They were almost drooling, can you believe it!" Cloudchaser laughed, leaping on the air. Octavia chuckled before her friend's words truly registered on her mind. "Others...Where are the others?!" she asked frantically. "Right where you left them." Faster than a speeding spell, Octavia ran through the town, almost bumping against the ponies that dared coming out of their houses. Before long, she reached her freinds, which were huddled around Octavia. "Octavia!" Berry called. Octavia opened her mouth to say something, but fine placed punch from Berry shut her up, sending her to the ground. Fleur immediately rushed to her aid. "Don't you ever do something like that again, you hear me?!" Berry shouted. Octavia rubbed her mouth, feeling some blood in it. She would have answered, but a groan coming from the ground grabbed her attention. Vinyl stirred. She couldn't hear anything. She slowly opened her eyes. Her vision blurred for a few seconds before regaining focus. She was surrounded by Octavia and three other ponies. Wait a minute. She recognized the pink unicorn. And the pegasi that were floating above them too. And Octavia. She was sweating and had a bruised lip. She was saying something. But she couldn't hear it. The two other ponies around her, a purple earth pony and a blue unicorn were talking to each other. She couldn't hear them. She turned her head. She could see ponies walking around, point at the broken widows. Talking. Stepping on the glass. Opening and closing doors. But she couldn't hear them. "No..." she whispered. She couldn't hear the glass cracking. "No." she said. She couldn't hear the voices of the town, or of the ponies that surrounded her. "NOOO!" she screamed. But she couldn't hear herself.
Chapter 3The morning sun climbed over the sky, bathing the land with its warmth. It would have been welcomed, had the events of last night not happen at all. Octavia hadn't been wrong when she guessed that every single piece of glass in town had been destroyed. Even her her tree house had suffered the consequences of the duel. A duel that could have been avoided, had she controlled her temper. "We're lucky that it was summer." Hugin said as he ate his corn. "We would have probably frozen ourselves to death if it had been winter." Octavia didn't answer, instead taking a sip from her cup of tea. Her mind kept returning to the duel and its outcome. After every pony calmed down, Vinyl had been taken to the local hospital. Two thin trails of blood were coming out of her ears. Her anguished face still haunted Octavia. Another sip. She ignored the small burst of pain that surged on her front legs. Her flanks were even worse, after been used in ways that they weren't built for. "I should see how the others are doing…" she thought. As she was about to leave, she noticed that she wasn't wearing her bow tie. For a brief second she considered wearing it, but decided against it. It was warm already, soon it would be hot. Besides, she really wasn't in the mood. Ponyville was a town of hard workers and it showed. Most of the glass had already been swept away by the cleaning crews. The remains of Vinyl's cart had been piled up near the town hall. It didn't take a genius to see that it was mostly ruined. A brief flash of the wolf's fangs crossed Octavia's eyes. She picked up the pace. Her first stop was the Sweeping Pony. There was a sign on the door that said CLOSED DUE TO REPAIRS. She unconsciously rubbed her cheek. Berry had done quite a number on her mouth. The doctor said she was lucky to not have lost a tooth. "I'm lucky to be alive…" she thought bitterly. She knocked on the door. "Can't see see the sign?" a young voice called from inside. Octavia didn't have to guess who it belonged too. She knocked again. A loud groan, followed by hard hoof steps approached the door. "We're…its you." Ruby Pinch said from the door. "Yes. Is your sister home? I would like to speak with her." "Sorry to disappoint you, but she's not. She went to to market to replace the glasses that your stupid duel broke." Ruby growled. "Now I have to waste my time cleaning up the mess." "When is she coming back?" Octavia asked, doing her best to ignore the angry tone of the filly. "Who knows." Ruby began closing the door. "An hour, maybe two." And without another word, she slammed the door on Octavia's face. Not wanting to waste time, she moved away from the tavern. A few ponies gave her some glares, but nothing beyond that. "Hey Octavia!" Flitter and Cloudchaser descended in front of her. They were carrying a broom and a empty trash can respectively. Flitter had volunteered for helping in cleaning up the place. Cloudchaser simply followed her sister. "Whats up?" Flitter asked. "The sky?" Cloudchaser answered, though she was mostly ignored. "I'm just seeing how every pony is doing." Octavia answered. "You two seem to be in a very active mood." "Cloudy and I have helping around. Don't want any cut foals now do we?" "No…no we don.t" Octavia replied. "Anyways, if you are so busy helping, then I won't keep you. Is Minuette in her house?" "Mmm I don't know. She said that she had a commission for some door pieces though…" Octavia thanked her and continued on her way. She was glad that the two youngest bearers were taking the whole incident so well. She could only hope that Minuette and Fleur would be just as calm about it. Probably not. "Minuette, are you there?" she knocked on the door. Nopony answered. She was about to knock again when the door opened, revealing a tired Minuette. "Yes, Octavia? What can I do for you?" "I am trying to see how every pony is doing." Octavia answered. "Are you alright?" "Every single glass in my house was shattered. I stayed up until very late fixing the chaos that was the house. I had to get up before sunrise to change the windows and now I have to skip lunch if I wan't to keep my work quota intact." "Oh…do you, uh, do you wan't any help?" "No thanks." Minuette began closing the door. "I would to handle this thing by myself. I have enough in my plate without keeping you from making things worse. Now if you excuse me, I have things to do." As she walked away, Octavia's mind debated between feeling offended or unsurprised. Was Minuette being too careful about her way of doing things? Or was she referring to last night? "I don't think I want to know the answer…." she thought. Her thoughts came to a halt as she reached her final destination for the moment. Fleur's house. Now that she could pay more attention towards it, she realized that it was a rather expensive house. It wasn't big, but it was certainly lavish. Fine wood was used. Pale pink painted in just the right amount and tone. Not the kind of two stories high house that a young writer should be able to afford. The windows were gone though. Expected, but not welcomed. Of course, all that meant rubbish, since inside was the mare that had been against the whole duel thing since the beginning, and that Octavia had brushed off like nothing. And now she had to talk to her to make sure she was alright from yesterday. "You can come in Octavia" Octavia briefly wondered how was it that Fleur she was outside. Then she noticed the empty windows. "She probably saw me before I even reached the door…" she mentally snarked. The inside of Fleur's house was just as decorated as the exterior. High quality tables, plenty of decorations. A small bronze sun hanged on one of the walls. "Do you like it? My parents gave it to me when I graduated from high school." The house consisted of a single, long hallway that was connected to many rooms, like the living room, the kitchen, the dinning room, etc. From one at the very end, Fleur stepped out. "Good morning Octavia." she asked politely. "How can I help you?" "I…"Octavia struggled a little to find her words. "I wanted to see how every pony was doing." "Well, other than having all of my windows blown away to parts unknown, I would say that I'm dandy." Fleur answered. "Really? I thought you would be a bit more angry about. Or something like that…" Octavia muttered the last part. "Angry? Oh no, why in the world would I be angry?" Fleur replied. "It won't get my windows back will it? Nor it will change the fact that all this happened. Getting angry won't solve my problems Octavia." Just like Minuette, Fleur was taking the subtle approach. Of course, for a writer, she was being as subtle as a freight train. "I know I lost my temper back then, and I'm sorry for that. I shouldn't have done all this. But she…" "Octavia, stop and think a little." Fleur said sternly. "Its not just that you allowed your temper get the best of you. Its the fact you provoked and riled Vinyl all the way." "She blasted me off the stage!" Octavia replied angrily. "Yes, after you spent ten minutes insulting her music." Fleur answered. "Vinyl challenged you, but you provoked her into doing so. And then, not happy with that, you continued mocking her. Until she snapped." Octavia was unable to look at Fleur as last nights events flowed through her mind once more. "You said you wanted to see how everypony was doing, right?" Fleur said. "Then why aren't you at the hospital?" Octavia didn't answer. Without another word, she started walking towards the door. She was about to leave when Fleur's voice stopped her once more. "I'm not mad at you for being angry Octavia. Anypony would have gotten angry in that situation. But there are ways to deal with that anger." Fleur passed for a second. "And ways that should be avoided." Her words echoed in Octavia's mind as she walked through the town. Her gaze directed itself towards a small hill right on the edge of town, where the Ponyville hospital stood. "Maybe I should go there." The sun was now nearing its peak. Some ponies around her, thankful for driving the fenrir wolf out, vocally claimed their gratitude. Others, less than pleased with the outcome of the unnecessary situation, decided to walk away from her, whispering and muttering as she passed. "Guess my popularity will be low for a while…" The distracting environment, coupled with Fleur's words still ringing in her mind, was enough for her to bump into something. Or somepony. "Hey watch it pal, I don't wanna have to go and buy all this things again." "Berry?" "Oh!" Morning Octavia!" Berry replied cheerfully. She was carrying bags on either side of her body. Noise of glass against glass echoed each time she moved a little. "Are you alright?" Berry asked. "You look kinda down." "A wolf attacked town yesterday, a DJ lies on the hospital and half the town thinks its all my fault." Octavia replied. "Including Fleur." "Well…its not all your fault." Berry smiled. "From what I hear, that Vinyl mare sure has a temper." "I'm not sure that makes me feel better." "Just think of it. You acted poorly, true, but Vinyl reacted just as bad, if not worst. You didn't use violence after all, did you?" Berry glanced at the hospital. "It takes two to tango, as they like to say." "I guess that makes sense." Octavia said. "But…" Berry closed in on Octavia, giving her the most potent of angry glares. "If you ever run off like that without telling me your plan, a fist sandwich will the be the least of your problems, got it?" she growled. Octavia gulped and nodded. "Perfect, now if you excuse me, I gotta get back to the tavern before Ruby throws a tantrum or something." And with that final note, Berry left, leaving Octavia alone. All of her friends had been visited, all of their thoughts had been heard and their opinions taken into account. All that remained was one thing. Although hospital tended to have a bad reputation, the one in Ponyville had hight standards, probably from being so close to the capitol. Clean floors, trained doctors and nurses. As soon as she entered, the secretary at the entrance seemed to guess why she was here, and pointed her hoof to the left. The desk had to way two doors on either side. The rest of the hospital was no different than any other. Staff coming and going, entering and leaving rooms. It wasn't hard to find Vinyl's room, since it was on the first floor. Her name was placed on the door, and right under it, a picture of her cutie mark. Now that she saw it, Octavia realized she had never actually seen Vinyl's cutie mark, being to busy insulting each other. "A vinyl disc…of course…." she muttered. She raised a hoof to knock on the door, but lowered when she remembered why Vinyl was in there. After a few seconds of hesitation, she entered the room. Vinyl sat on her table, reading a magazine. There was a bored look oner face. Her red eyes scanned each page in a dejected manner. Octavia approached the bed. "You could have knocked." Octavia blinked in surprise. She could hear her?! "Don't look so shocked." Vinyl pointed to her ears. A a black plug was inside of it. "Its a magical hearing device." She placed down the magazine on her lap. "Its pretty lousy though. You would have had to knock pretty hard." Octavia opened her mouth to speak, but Vinyl beat her to it. "If you came here to gloat or pity me, then I'm gonna have to ask you to leave." Octavia frowned. She could feel temper start to rise. After everything that had happened, the last thing she needed was more confrontation. With a deep breath, she cooled herself down. "I didn't came to do one thing or the other." She started. "I…I came to apologize." "Come again?" "I came to apologize." Octavia repeated. "I shouldn't have acted the way I did. You are a musician in your own way, as much as I don't want to accept it. I also shouldn't have kept teasing you like that." "Well, I appreciate the apology. Not thats its any good though." Vinyl looked at her. "You admit to being wrong. Okay, so what? I'm still here and I'm still deaf." "I said I was sorry. If you-" "Well, sorry isn't gonna cut it!" Vinyl interrupted her. "What am I supposed to do? Go around saying 'hey, I can't hear my own tunes, but hire me anyway'?" "You said your hearing devices work." Octavia replied. "Yeah, barely. You're right besides me and it sounds like if a pillow was inside my ears." Vinyl laid on her bed and turned around. "So congrats. I won't be able to make more dubstep. Happy?" "No, I am not. I'm sorry I things got out of control, but it wasn't my intention. You could have stopped too!" "I already accepted your apology, so why don't you just leave me alone and go home already." Vinyl said. "Maybe you can play your stupid violin." Tense silence followed. Not a word was muttered between the two mares for several seconds. "I don't believe this. Look at me." Getting no response, Octavia grabbed Vinyl and forced her to face. "I said look at me." Vinyl blinked a couple of times in anger and surprise, but didn't say anything. Octavia took that as her cue to continue. "I caused all this. This whole thing began because I began mocking you. True enough, but you know what? I also lost things!" Octavia released Vinyl. "Half the towns holds me responsible for whole things. My friends think that I am some sort of neurotic wrath bomb and now I have to tell my teacher about what happened. I-" She paused mid-sentece as her own words hit her like a train. The princess. She was going to have to tell the princess. She failed on the task that she was given and now she was going to have to tell her. Anger began eroding away as horror started to grow inside if her. It must have been pretty obvious, because Vinyl grabbed her shoulder. "Hey. Hey!" Vinyl shook her a little. "Calm down, alright?! Geez, sorry I put like that I…I was wrong okay?!" "No!" Octavia quickly shot her down. "No, you are not wrong." "Uh….okay?" "Look, I just…"Octavia paused, wondering on how to continue. "I was wrong. I really, really shouldn't have treated you like that. I was foolish and did a foolish thing. I'm sorry you are deaf. I really am. But almost everypony is blaming me. Even some of my friends. I just…" "Hey." Vinyl bopped her head. "Stop that. After seeing you all high and mighty on stage, it feels wrong to see you like this. Look, its both your fault and mine, got it? You shouldn't have acted like a plot head, and I shouldn't have snapped like that. Deal?" She extended her hoof. Octavia eyed it warily before extending her own. The hoof bump echoed in the small room. Octavia gave a mental sigh of relief as she removed her leg. Some of the tension had vanished. "Can your ears be healed?" Octavia asked, regaining most of her stern composure. She did made an effort to tone it done though, lest she started the whole thing all over again. "They said an operation can be done." Vinyl grimaced. "But not here. I would have to go to Canterlot. And even then, its expensive." "Maybe I could help you pay for it." Octavia said. "I can go get some money to get you going." "Thanks, but no thanks. I can get the money by myself." "Then at least let me get the money for train ticket or something." Octavia insisted. "Let me do my part." "Alright." Vinyl agreed. A little too fast, but Octavia didn't notice. "You go fetch your money. I'll be waiting right here." Without wasting a minute, Octavia left the hospital. She ignored the fact that it was lunch time. She had a mission now. She could truly fix things, at least partially. She nearly bumped into somepony, but she managed to stop at the last second. "Whats the hurry?" Fleur asked. Octavia quickly explained the story, eager to continue her way. She wasn't running mind you. The pain in her legs wouldn't let her. But she could trot. And that was enough for now. "I'm glad you are trying to fix things like this. That is one way to deal with things." Fleur said. "But why are you going to your house? The bank is closer." "I don't want to do all the paperwork." Octavia answered. "Mind if I tag along then? I want to meet this Vinyl. The right way." Octavia nodded. A few minutes later, they made their way to the tree house. Hugin was happily munching a corn. There was a plate with a couple more, already devoured by the hungry crow. "You are going to get fat feathers." Octavia said. "Teleportation magic has to be maintained. Besides, its not like you eat of it." Octavia didn't answer, going up to her room instead. On her night desk was a small bag. Perfect. "This should do…" she thought as she bit the bag, placing in on a small bag. Fleur was patiently waiting downstairs, talking with Hugin. "All set?" she asked once she noticed Octavia walk down the stairs. "Yes. Lets go." Octavia couldn't say that she was in a good mood, but she was slowly getting there. Maybe this could end in a happy note. The hospital soon came into view. The uphill trail forced Octavia to slow down a little, but it was fine. Now that she was here, she could relax a little. The hospital was just as pristine as before when they entered. Even better. Octavia didn't say anything to the secretary, instead choosing to go directly to Vinyl's room. She could some shuffling from behind her, but she didn't care. "Alright Vinyl, here is the…" she stopped as soon as she entered the room. The completely empty room. There was no Vinyl on the bed. No purple shades on the night desk. There was nothing save a white bed. "I tried to warn you, but you went in too fast." The secretary said behind her. "She left almost as soon as you were out of sight." Octavia entered the room, as if she was expecting something of Vinyl to pop out of somewhere. Fleur wanted to say something, but nothing came to mind. "So she just left. Without even waiting to tell me anything." Octavia grunted. "Without even letting me help her." "Octavia…" Fleur said. "I know." Octavia replied. "She left you this though." The secretary, a unicorn, levitated a letter towards Octavia. She placed it on her bag. "She said it was for you and you alone." Fleur followed Octavia silently as they left the hospital. Once outside, Octavia let out a long, tired sigh. "So much things happening in so little time." she said. Fleur didn't say anything, even when Octavia turned around to face her. "I'm going to head home and read this, so I will see you later." Octavia started leaving. "I guess that will teach not to get angry." Octavia didn't wait for Fleur to reply. She just wanted to go home. She was hungry. She was surprisingly tired and she just wanted to get the whole thing over with. Hugin was about to say something, but one look of Octavia's grumpy face was enough to keep him quiet. A low growl resonated in the library. Octavia's grumpy face was now mixed with a bit of embarrassment. "There are some hay sandwiches left." Hugin noted. Octavia silently thanked him before placing the bag back in its place. Before long, she had a small plate of sandwiches placed on the table in from of her. She took a seat, opening the letter and placing right besides the plate. "Whats that?" Hugin asked. "A letter from the DJ." Without another word, Octavia began reading, taking a bite from one of the sandwiches. Octavia. If you are reading this, then I'm long gone by now. I know you said you wanted to help, and I appreciate the thought, I really do. But lets face it, you may be the reason why this whole thing started, but I could and should have ended it. You're responsible for the duel and the fight. I'm responsible for my deafness and the wolf thing. Long story short, I can't let you pay for this. Not with money at least. You said you wanted to do your part. I will not forget that. I will need your help one day. Remember that. Vinyl. PS: Sorry for the short letter. I was in a bit of hurry to leave. "Yet she had time to write a post script…." Octavia snarked. After a few more minutes, she finished her lunch. She then placed the plate and the letter away. "From the look on your face, I'd say you've had one heck of a rough day." Hugin said. Octavia sent him a glare, but didn't say anything. "What now?" Hugin asked from the table. Octavia looked at him, then at the remains of Vinyl's cart. She could see them from her window. A few ponies were standing besides it, dismantling and taking away the pieces. It wouldn't be long before the whole thing was gone. "Bring me a letter and a quill. And some ink." "You're gonna write a letter to the DJ?" "Not to her." Before long, the three items were on her working desk, ready for use. Octavia brought her chair and prepared herself for writing. Dear princess Twilight. For many years, I have been told I have a bit of a temper. Most of the time I would simply brush these accusations off, not caring who said them. Even when you were the one to warn me, I would storm off, calling you a fool. I have been proved wrong. In the worst possible way. Yesterday, a DJ came into town, blasting her music at ridiculous levels of noise. I decided to stand up to her. Not happy with that, I began belittling her and her music. When she began taunting back, I started to provoke her until she challenged me to a duel. Nobody won that night. Although the duel started with normality it soon took a turn for the worse. I didn't stop provoking her until she snapped. I won't bore you with the details of what happened afterwards, but I think it would be wise to stay away from the Everfree forest for a few days. Or weeks. After everything calmed down, Vinyl, the DJ, was taken to the hospital, screaming and crying. I was later told that she was left completely deaf after her cart exploded from excessive magical input. The next day, after some words with my friends and making sure they were alright, I went to visit her. It was tense. We managed to reach some sort of agreement, so don't worry about having an angry DJ after me. She left before I could do my part though. She didn't even warn me about it. I really wanted to make things right and she just left. So now I am here, writing to you about this, unable to do anything else. My temper and my arrogance lead to a situation that could have been avoided, with a musician turned deaf and with half the town holding me responsible for the whole fiasco. I learned a valuable lesson today. Getting angry is normal. But acting on such anger, letting it cloud one's judgement, is when problems will start surfacing. Coupled with excessive pride and stubbornness is a recipe for disaster. Like I said before, I learned a valuable lesson today. I just wished I learned it another way. Your student Octavia Clef. Octavia closed the letter and handed it to Hugin, who quickly made it vanish between his black wings. "Okay, its done. What next?" Hugin asked. "Composing? Practicing?" Octavia eyed her instruments. The idea did sound really tempting, but not right now. There had been enough noise for now. "No." Octavia said. Looking around, she saw the book of the elements of harmony on one of the shelves. Without thinking it, she pulled it out, along with a bag to carry it. "I think I'm going to find myself a nice shade and read." Octavia placed bag, with the book inside, on her side. "Do you wish to join me?" Hugin eyed her suspiciously for a few seconds before flying towards her and landing on her back. Octavia gave the library one last glance before she closed the door behind her. The sun beamed above her. It wasn't as hot as yesterday, but it was still pretty warm. She could feel her mood improving already.
