Music We Cherish

Vinyl trotted out of the shower and smiled at Octavia. She put her saddlebags on and Octavia did the same.

"Ready to go, Tavi?"

"Stop calling me- Fine, let's go." Octavia waved the stupid nickname off and walked to the door.

Vinyl followed and opened the door for Octavia. It took Octavia by surprise, since she yelped a little bit.

Vinyl giggled a bit, then put on a straight face when looked at with bold eyes. "Uh, sorry, just trying to be, heh, nice."

"Please tell no pony of my yelp. Please." Octavia glared.

"Hmm," Vinyl Scratch pretended to think it over, stroking her chin.

"Not funny."

"Okay, okay. I won't tell a soul!" Vinyl giggled a last time.

The two ponies trotted out and down the halls, getting lost for the second time that day. They found a map and finally made it out. Vinyl had copied the map with magic and used it to navigate. They stood in the elevator by themselves, and went down to the first floor. The metal doors clanked and clacked as they opened, and the two ponies cantered out or the titanium box.

"Bye girls!" The mare at the desk waved kindly.

"Bye!" The two mares said in unison, then giggled at the same time.

"In... sync!" They said in perfect sync. They started laughing uncontrollably.

After a minute of calming down and rubbing aching tummies, they galloped out and down to the street. Vinyl looked both ways and they trotted across the street quickly. The pair eventually came to a clothing shoppe called the Saddler's Store. They walked in and went to the dress area immediately.

"Listen, Octavia, I know you're being super helpful and stuff, but I prefer this dress. Could we just... get it fixed up a bit?"

Octavia stared blankly at her for a moment, then smiled sweetly. "Sure, we'll get it hemmed and fixed up, don't worry!"

Octavia pulled Vinyl along as they went to the help desk. Octavia trotted up bravely, while Vinyl hung behind her and held her forehoof with her other hoof.

"Hello, welcome to Saddler's Store, how may I help you?" The stallion smiled and greeted the two mares sweetly.

"Good afternoon sir, I would like to get a dress repaired, and please, make the condition better, but do not completely tear it up, please." Octavia asked so politely and smiled sweetly.

"Of course, madam. Hoof me the dress and I'll repair it right now!" The deep blue stallion smiled sweetly.

Vinyl used her magic to levitate the dirty, tattered, and torn dress out of her bag, a bit embarrassed.

"Oh, I've seen this dress before! It was bought by a client from a while ago! I'm quite amazed that it lasted this long!"

"You know my grandmother?" Vinyl asked in confusion.

"Why yes, when I was just a tiny colt! She came in and bought the custom dress herself! That was over 50 years ago! She told me she gave it to her daughter who in turn gave it to her daughter! I'm glad you're keeping the family tradition alive!"

"Y-Yeah, my mom died a while ago so..."

"Oh, I'm sorry I brought it up, I'll fix it up." The stallion lost his smile.

While the stallion sewed and cut and cleaned the dress, Octavia talked to Vinyl.

"I'm sorry your mother died. It must've been really hard. How old were you, if you don't mind me asking,"

"I was about 5 or 6. Yeah, pretty rough from then on. We had a good life, but once her check stopped coming, it got hard. I miss her, so I use her dress all the time."

"Misses? I finished."

"Wow, that was quick!" Vinyl commented.

"Well, they don't call me Needle Speed for nothin'!"

He levitated the dress back to its owner, who looked at the dress. It was clean. It wasn't torn. It was in the perfect condition. Vinyl opened her bag and pulled out 19 bits, and tried to pay. Octavia stopped her and put her money back in her bag.

"Ah ah ah! I said I would take you shopping, so, I'm paying." Octavia got her bit bag out and paid 19 bits, plus 5 for a tip.

"Thanks, Tavi."

"Thank you for your business! Come back soon!" The stallion waved as they exited the store.

The two ponies walked back out into the summer heat. They eventually galloped to the vinyl store and felt relieved when the AC blasted. They giggled and cooled off by the AC, until Vinyl went to the new sells.

"Ah, the famous DJ-P0N3! How's it going? We got your new mix out!" The store owner, Slam Jam, smiled proudly as he pointed to the new vinyls.

The two DJ's hoof-fived and smiled, then went about their business. Octavia found a vinyl about a classic dubstep remix, and asked,:

"Do you have a record player I could listen to this with?"

"Sure do, it's over there."

Octavia walked over to the station and put the record on the track. She put the lid down and it started to play. She listened to it and loved it.

"This is pretty good, how much?"

"Hmm, that one is 30 bits. But I can give the DJ here a 50% discount," The clerk winked. "15 bits."

Vinyl and Tavi smiled at each other while the grey mare paid. Vinyl looked at a record by her mother. Her mother's stage name was DJ-UN1C0RN. Vinyl brought it to the register and Octavia insisted on paying and did. Afterwards, the pair walked outside and hailed a cab, which they took to their dorm. They used their map and got to the room with less than 5 mix ups.