The Hollow Kingdom of Octavia

Exhibit A

In grade school, it was always Vinyl and Octavia or Octavia and Vinyl. They were those two fillies. If there had been a coupon for them, the pair would have been labeled "2-4-1" across their foreheads. As they grew up, that never really changed. They so loved one another that every effort was made to stay as close as possible. Octavia picked Canterlot Conservatory to study in. Vinyl got a job at a Canterlot nightclub. They found a flat together.

Their love has always been unconditional. There are no expected behaviors to keep the fire of friendship alight. This is good since the two have very different dispositions and lifestyles. Octavia enjoys playing the cello, drinking tea, and her guiltiest pleasure is the occasional sweet treat after dinner. Vinyl Scratch enjoys loud, electronic music, most recreational drugs, and her guiltiest pleasure is getting fucked in the ass.

Octavia, partaking in a pleasant cup of tea while secretly pining for a doughnut, thinks back to the day Vinyl discovered the wonderful world of anal sex. They were still in school back in Manehattan, and Octavia still remembers their teacher scolding Vinyl for insisting for standing during the lecture. Vinyl had raved during lunch to Octavia about what she had drunkenly discovered with that scraggly colt from Biology while Octavia helped her tend to the hangover. It was not the first time or last time Vinyl had discovered something. Octavia has many memories just like that one.

The only reason Octavia recalls that particular memory this morning is because Vinyl had raised a bit of drunken hell last night when the stallion she had seduced refused to "plug her dirty hole." The stallion was escorted out by a few thrown bottles before Octavia simply passed out on the couch. Octavia threw a blanket on her and called it a night.

Now it is early afternoon, so Octavia figures Vinyl should awaken sometime soon. As wild and crazy as the unicorn is, she's fairly predictable. Octavia isn't surprised when she stumbles in, grumbles inaudibly for Octavia to make her some real food, groveles about how her partner last night was no good, and there was certainly no surprise when Vinyl forgot what his name was. Octavia just fixed her friend a bowl of hot oats before returning to her tea before it got too cold.

"Hey, you wanna do me a huge favor?" Vinyl asks, surprising Octavia. Vinyl hardly wants for anything aside from a cooked meal and a weather report. Vinyl Scratch rarely requests a favor, and only once every one thousand years did she ever ask for a "huge" one. "Please say yes because I pretty much made all the arrangements already."

"Well, you may as well go ahead and ask then," Octavia replies.

"I've got a buddy who needs to lay low for a while," Vinyl says, putting her two front hooves together in that classic begging, pleading gesture. Considering the company Vinyl keeps and harbors inside her nightclub, she was not in short supply of buds who had reason to lay low. If one doesn't find themselves with a stomach for rape, murder, kidnap or some combination of the three, the underground drug trade is a good way to get the Royal Guard onto your back. "So I told him he could crash here for the night before he catches his train tomorrow afternoon."

"Will he be sleeping in your room or on the couch?"

"The couch, of course," Vinyl replies. Octavia didn't question why Vinyl thought she needed to check with Octavia before letting a friend sleep on their sofa, but inviting one or two ponies over for a night of sexual deviancy could go forward without ever consulting the roommate. The answer probably had something to do with hard liquor. At any rate, it is rare for Vinyl to invite a stallion over and not fool around with him.

"What exactly did this stallion do?" Octavia dares to ask. She had a strict No-Murderers-or-Rapists Policy when it came to guests evading the law. Vinyl kept better company than that, but Octavia still wants to draw the line. It's her way of making everything a bit more okay.

"One of his dealers got busted," Vinyl tells her. "He's pretty sure the pony is gonna snitch, so he's making some last minute arrangements with his partners tonight. After that he's gonna get on a train for hopefully greener pastures." Vinyl shovels a piping hot spoonful of oatmeal into her mouth and swallows it in one go. "No pun intended."

"Does the pun have to do with weed or money?" Octavia asks, but Vinyl just shrugs.

"Just don't tell anypony, alright?" Vinyl tells her friend after another heap of oatmeal. "The Helmet Heads would love to know what you and I know."

"Right, right." Octavia rolls her eyes. For once, she wishes Vinyl could forgo the reminder not the blab about her shady dealings; a sign of trust would be welcome.

"So, anything big going on with you?" Vinyl asks, putting her spoon down on the table. She levitates the bowl to her face and laps up the oats still clinging to the sides. Octavia considers Vinyl's table manners a lost cause.

"Nothing out of the usual. There's a royal visit from the Crystal Empire today, so the string quartet is going to play at a dinner with the princesses." Octavia is the First Chair Cellist for the Canterlot Orchestra and the regular Cellist for the Royal String Quartet. When it came to playing at an event attended by the richest, most powerful and influential ponies in all of Equestria, she is unflappable. Vinyl is always impressed with her composure.

"Dang. I don't think I could concentrate with all those guards around." This is not for the reason one might suspect without possessing the same level of perversion as Vinyl. "You're such a virgin."

"Yes, and I'm also going to be late if I don't hurry," Octavia says, glancing up at the clock on the wall.

"You're never late."

"And that's exactly why I have to leave." Octavia gets up and leaves the kitchen, her flatmate trotting right behind her. She gathers up her books into her saddlebags and prepares to leave. "I'm not going to be back until much later. When is your friend coming?"

"I'll be back early to let him in," Vinyl answers. "So, I'll probably get back before you. Don't freak out when you get back."

Octavia couldn't help but laugh aloud at Vinyl's last warning.

"Please, why would I freak out?"

Octavia could not have known the answer to that question.